#there were more scenes but this one rlly surprised me with how they just let you experience it without putting words to it

[5-pp-man]

ron was crazy good this week but like. screenshots dont rlly do it justice. the silent acting and emotional beats were done rlly well.

Ron's darkened, blurry vision getting sharper as he realises he can pass on his beloved sleuthing to Toto? the light coming back into Ron's eyes as he looks at Toto trying to earnestly crack this case? cinema.

[starlightkun]

❧ word count: 17.6k ❧ genre: fluff, a sprinkle of angst & hurt/comfort, paranormal/supernatural au, ghost!jisung, established relationship, sequel to pur autre vie ❧ warnings: mentions of death, prominent side character dies prior to the beginning of the fic, depictions of grieving, more family tension/drama (yeah those assholes are back lol) ❧ extra info: this is the sequel to pur autre vie, it cannot be read as a standalone. you must read pur autre vie first! ❧ author’s note: oops i once again fell in love with a couple and cannot let them go! so here’s a sequel! i meant to post this a lot closer to the original but ended up getting stuck on some scenes and took breaks to write some other things, but it’s finally here and i rlly like how it turned out!!

“The house,” he sighed, rubbing his face. “Do you want it?”

“Like, Hyukjun’s house? The one that you just got?” You clarified. “I appreciate the offer, but I don’t have the money to buy a house.”

“No, no, you can have it,” he sounded and looked absolutely defeated.

You narrowed your eyes at him, immediately suspicious. “What’s wrong with it?”

Your stepbrother’s face screwed up as if he just ate a lemon; he clearly didn’t want to tell you the reason. “All the renters said it’s haunted,” he finally blurted out.

You shifted uncomfortably in your seat, looking around the coffee shop that you were at. Your eldest stepbrother had asked to meet with you, and you couldn’t imagine that it was anything good—certainly not just to get coffee and catch up. You hadn’t ordered anything, wanting to be able to make a quick escape if needed.

Seohyuk usually didn’t request a meeting with you. If he wanted to talk to you, he typically called to tell you he was going to stop by on his way to or from work, or just dropped by unannounced. That’s why you were extra on edge. You had arrived early, and kept checking the time every two minutes or so.

Finally, you saw him walking in, and thankfully he was alone, not accompanied by either of his younger brothers or his mother. Seohyuk was much easier to handle on his own. You made eye contact with him, but didn’t wave or make any move to stand up and greet him as he arrived at your table. He sat down across from you, looking rather disheveled. His hair was unkempt as if he’d been running his fingers through it all day and hadn’t looked in a mirror to fix it, his tie was loose and askew, his dress shirt crumpled, and his suit jacket that you knew he typically wore to work was missing entirely. He was also pink-cheeked and seemed to be trying to hide how heavily he was breathing, as if he had run here and didn’t want you to know.

“Good afternoon, Seohyuk,” you said politely, opting not to comment on his appearance.

He cleared his throat. “Good afternoon, Y/N.”

“Do you have a concern with the house? Or is this a question about possessions?” You decided to just be direct. Those were pretty much the only two things he ever contacted you about.

When your mother passed away six months ago and you moved out of her and Hyukjun’s house, the property had gone to your three stepbrothers. Which meant that your life since then had been a seemingly endless string of inquiries over you “damaging” the home while you had lived there, or you “stealing” stuff that was “rightfully” theirs when you moved out��i.e., items that were actually your mother’s, but they tried to claim were Hyukjun’s.

“The house,” he sighed, rubbing his face. “Do you want it?”

You couldn’t hide your surprise, your carefully neutral expression falling right off your face. “Wait, what?”

“Do you want the house?”

“Like, Hyukjun’s house? The one that you just got?” You clarified. “You’re... trying to sell it to me? I appreciate the offer, but I don’t have the money to buy a house.”

“No, no, you can have it,” he sounded and looked absolutely defeated.

You narrowed your eyes at him, immediately suspicious. “What’s wrong with it? What could you have done to it in six months?”

“Nothing! Nothing!” He pleaded. “It’s pretty much the same, we actually fixed up some of the wiring, stuff like that. We’ve tried to rent it out, but nobody will stay.”

“You can’t keep your renters?”

“We’ve had four different tenants, none of them lasted longer than a month.”

“What? Why? It’s a great house.”

Seohyuk’s face screwed up as if he just ate a lemon; he clearly didn’t want to tell you the reason.

“Come on, I already know somebody died in the house,” you scoffed. “What is it?”

“They all said it’s haunted,” he finally blurted out. “And I mean, you know it’s an old house, it creaks and stuff sometimes—I tried to tell them that. They said the lights would flicker, so we replaced the bulbs. Cold spots—We had a guy look at the A/C, he said it was fine. Then it was things disappearing from one room and reappearing in another room, and they swore nobody who lived there moved them. One couple said they started on a jigsaw puzzle before they went to bed and when they woke up, it was all put together.”

You slowly nodded, very carefully controlling your facial expressions as you tried to figure out what reaction you should be having to this. Skepticism? Curiosity? Unease?

“All of your tenants said stuff like that happened?” You clarified.

“Every single one,” he confirmed. “And it got worse with each new one. The first one moved out after a month. The second, two weeks. Third, a week. The last one only lasted three days.”

You squinted at him suspiciously, crossing your arms over your chest. “And why do you think I would want to live there?”

“I’m not a superstitious man whatsoever,” he adjusted his tie a bit, “but after all this, I went to the house myself to see what was going on.”

“What, did you bring a Ouija board or something?” You joked, sitting back in your chair.

“I felt ridiculous bringing it in, but yes.”

You knew you were giving him the most incredulous look ever, but he went on with his story anyway.

“I sat down with the board in the living room and asked if there was a spirit in the home. Something cold touched my hands, then the pointer moved to yes.”

“Planchette.”

“Hm?”

“It’s called a planchette,” you corrected him dryly.

“Right.”

“So what happened next?”

Seohyuk continued, “I asked if it was your mother first. I figured that was most reasonable, since she had just…”

“Passed away in the house right before all this started happening?” You filled in for him.

“Yes. But the… planchette moved to no. So then I asked if it was my dad. Again, no.”

“I still don’t see how this leads to me taking the possibly haunted house back from you,” you reminded him, desperately suppressing your giddiness.

“Look, I asked if it was an evil spirit, and it said no.”

“Why would an evil spirit tell you it was evil?”

“It hasn’t hurt anybody, or damaged anything, or done anything bad at all!” Seohyuk was practically begging now. “I mean, I’ve been thinking about it: you lived there for two years while you took care of your mom, and nothing like this happened that whole time, right?”

“No, I can’t say anything like this happened,” you tepidly agreed.

“The spirit must have been there the whole time you were there, and it only started doing this stuff once you left. I think if you go back, it should… calm down.”

You let silence hang in the air for a few moments, holding his eye contact, admittedly enjoying seeing him squirm under your gaze as he seemed to realize how crazy all of that sounded. Finally, you sighed, “I don’t know, Seohyuk, my new place is closer to my job…”

“I will pay you to take it at this point. We can’t rent it, or sell it, this has become an absolute nightmare.” He clasped his hands in front of him, quite literally begging now.

“And you’ll stop harassing me about our parents’ possessions?”

“Yes, yes.”

You pretended to contemplate this again, despite your mind being made up from the very beginning. After another agonizingly long bout of silence, you asked, “How much?”

When your mom was first put on hospice over a year ago now, you had started preparing to leave hers and Hyukjun’s house—and trying anything and everything to bring Jisung with you. You knew that once she passed, your stepbrothers wouldn’t give you much time to get out, so you had to make all your preparations long before then so you could vacate at the drop of a hat. Packing, cleaning, deciding what of your mother’s you were going to keep and what you would be donating, figuring out how to move your ghost boyfriend from one parcel of land to your new apartment.

First you’d tried taking all of the original kitchen cabinet knobs with you, but after fourteen hours, he still blipped back to the house. When a contractor was over doing some repairs, you pocketed a chunk of brick and tried that—six hours. A piece of the foundation—ten hours. Cabinet knobs, brick, and foundation—that was the longest, a full twenty-four hours; you had an overnight errand to run for your mother and tried it then.

You eventually branched out in your search for a way to move Jisung, checking out all sorts of books from the library and staying up late reading blog posts. But no matter what sort of herbs, metals, crystals, or recitation you tried, you could never beat time—he was always eventually, frustratingly, pulled back to the house.

And now here you were, in front of the house again. The flowers had seen better days, looking a little sad as you stopped to inspect their wilting petals and sandy dirt around them. You frowned to yourself, putting that near the top of your mental to-do list. The windows of the two-story townhouse were dark, and the porch swing looked like it had been sanded and re-stained along with the rest of the porch.

Turning the key in the lock of the front door, you heard the familiar click of the mechanism and wrapped your hand around the door handle. You pushed it open, slightly disappointed when you didn’t hear the usual creak of the hinges—they must have been oiled since you left. The house was quiet and dim, and you shut the door behind you.

Looking around expectantly, you called out into the seemingly empty home, “Jisung? Come on, I know it’s you—Ah!”

A weight suddenly crashing into you from the solid wall on your left cut you off, and you immediately recognized the cold arms wrapped around you.

“Y/N,” Jisung murmured under his breath, almost as if he didn’t believe it. “Y/N…”

“Jisung.” You squeezed him back, burying your face in his neck. “Oh, I’m back, Jisung.”

“You’re really-You’re really here?” He pulled back to hold your face with two hands. Jisung was just like you remembered, dark hair, dark eyes, his black cardigan and white shirt, and you were sure if you looked down, he’d have the same black pants and shoes as well.

You nodded, jangling the keys in your hand. “The house is mine. For good this time.”

“You didn’t—” His face looked both pained and touched. “How much did they charge you?”

“They paid me,” you informed him with a laugh. “Turns out it’s really hard to sell a haunted house around here.”

Jisung’s eyes widened as a plainly guilty look overtook his face, and his voice had poorly feigned obliviousness in it. “A… whaaat…? Pfft…”

“Since when have you been such a paranormal menace, Park Jisung?” You shook your head at him but couldn’t keep the amusement out of your tone. “Really, finishing people’s puzzles while they’re asleep, moving stuff around—Were you trying to make them move out?”

“I didn’t like any of them.” He crossed his arms. “The first ones fought every day and were just a bother, the second ones just worked all the time and when they were home all they talked about was their boring jobs, the third ones were just boring, and the fourth one—”

“—Was here for three days, how could you possibly have known if you liked them or not?”

“I knew,” he insisted. “He stepped on one of the flowerbeds when he was bringing in boxes and didn’t even care!”

“You actually did a Ouija board with Seohyuk?”

“I wasn’t going to, but I figured maybe I could get him to pick less shitty tenants,” he huffed. “I was thinking about spelling out your name, but I thought that might’ve been pushing it.”

“He already thinks I’m a little weird for taking the haunted house back, I’m glad you didn’t push our luck,” you said, cupping his cheek with one hand and kissing the other.

“You’re really back?” Jisung asked quietly, placing his hand over yours on his cheek.

“I’m home, Jisung,” you promised, tracing an X over the left side of your chest. “Cross my heart.”

In bed that night, you listened to Jisung’s even breathing, slowly drawn even closer to sleep by the circles his fingers traced on your back. His breath suddenly hitched and shuddered, as if suppressing a sniffle.

“Jisung?” You said his name quietly, already beginning to turn over to face him.

“It was so hard…” His face was tear-stained, and his lower lip trembled as he tried to talk. “Going from actually being somebody with you back to… nobody seeing me, or hearing me. Walking right through me. I’d done it for so long before you, I thought I could do it. But this time…”

“Jisung…” You couldn’t do much more than murmur his name. As soon as you’d reached out for him, he’d already thrown himself into your arms. You cradled his head to your chest, pressing a long kiss to his hair.

“I was so lonely,” he admitted, curling his fingers in your shirt. “I mean, I’ve been alone, but it’s never felt like-like that.”

“Shh, shh,” you soothed his sobs, gently rubbing a hand up and down his back. “I’m sorry, Jisung. I’m so sorry…”

He seemed to be trying to collect himself, wiping at his eyes as he lifted his head. “I’m sorry, Y/N. It must’ve… They kicked you out so soon after your mom passed. You didn’t even have time to grieve her.”

“It was really difficult, yeah. Especially because I didn’t have you,” you said softly, stroking his hair. “I didn’t have anybody. Felt like I was invisible, too.”

He shuffled up higher to sit up against the pillows, wrapping an arm around you, and you let him pull you under his chin. You leaned your head against him, your eyes misty. After a few blinks, the tears subsided again. You’d practically cried yourself dry in the past six months.

“I went to a grief support group the hospital holds once a week,” you continued, picking at your nails. “It helped, I guess, getting to talk about it with other people who were in the same sort of thing as me.”

“Good. I’m glad you found something to help.” He laced his fingers with yours, holding you even tighter. “I couldn’t—I hated the idea that you were going through all of that alone.”

“We’re not alone anymore,” you reminded him. “Okay?”

“Yeah, okay…” Jisung kissed your temple. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Coming back.”

“Thank you for waiting again.”

“You look very cute,” Jisung complimented you as you readjusted your outfit, poking the tip of your nose for good measure.

“Thank you,” you responded quietly, conscious of the other people nearby.

Content with your clothes, you looked around for the right person, and happened to spot a girl around your age standing further back and admiring the view as well. You and Jisung were at a riverside park that afforded a nice view of the city skyline across the water. The kitchen cabinet knobs were the easiest for you to carry about in your day-to-day life, and you found that two would usually cover Jisung for a full day out pretty well. You’d had one of the starbursts turned into a ring and another into a pendant that hung from a matching silver chain. The other six stayed in one of your tote bags in case you had something longer planned.

Approaching the girl with your phone in hand and already open to the camera, you offered a friendly smile. “Hi, I’m sorry to bother you, but would you mind taking a picture of me?”

“Oh, sure!” She agreed, taking your phone from you.

Moving back to the railing, you posed as if you were any other visitor, resting an arm on the handrail as you smiled for the camera. Jisung took his usual cue, stepping into your side and wrapping an arm around your shoulders. He did his best to jostle and move you as little as possible, assimilating to your position instead. The girl did a countdown before she took a few photos, and you made sure to make them each a little different, smiling, peace sign, poking your cheek. As always, Jisung did each changing pose with you.

After a few, you relaxed back out of your pose. “Thank you so much!”

“Here, look at them and make sure they’re good,” she said, handing your phone back. “I think something might be wrong with your camera, there’s this blur or something in the previews. It wasn’t showing up when I was shooting, but as soon as I took a picture, it was there.”

You took your phone back, looking at your pictures at an angle that she couldn’t see. And sure enough, Jisung was in all of them, hazy apparition and all.

“These are great, thank you!” You told her brightly, clicking your phone off.

She didn’t seem that invested in your strange phone camera phenomenon that was occurring, so she just gave you a skeptical look before shrugging. “Of course. Have a good day.”

“You too.”

Closing the front door behind you, you then stepped out of your shoes before heading for your living room. You were still wrapping your brain around this really being your home now. You flopped down onto the couch, Jisung beside you, and pulled your phone out to review the pictures from earlier.

“What do you think, Sungie?” You hummed, scrolling through your camera roll.

He scooted in closer to you, wrapping an arm around your shoulders and using that hand to switch between the pictures himself. He clicked his tongue contemplatively, zooming in on his “head” in one of the photos.

“Can you tell I’m winking?” He asked, squinting at the screen.

You giggled. “Not quite.”

“I like the first one and this one.”

“Me too.” You started doing a little bit of color balancing to the pictures.

“Are you hungry, baby? You didn’t get anything while we were out.”

“Oh, sure,” you replied absentmindedly.

“I’ll get you something to eat.” Jisung kissed the top of your head before standing up, and you heard his footsteps recede into the kitchen.

Content with the pictures, you opened up Instagram and got ready to draft a new post. You chose the two pictures that you and Jisung liked, then typed out your caption: ‘went to the river today.’

You’d just hit post when Jisung came back in with a plate of food for you. Setting your phone aside, you accepted the plate with a smile. “Thanks.”

“You posted them yet?” He asked, sitting back down and turning his attention to a partially-assembled jigsaw puzzle.

“Just did,” you confirmed, turning your phone back on to check your notifications. “All the usual stuff so far.”

You hadn’t set out to post pictures with your ghost boyfriend, much less make a hobby of it. When you went out, you used to be extra careful not to get him in any photos, actually. Then, when your mom was put on hospice, in her moments of lucidness she started giving you errands to run for her. She always asked for you to take pictures of yourself on all of the excursions she sent you on. She said it was because she couldn’t go with you, she wanted to be able to hear about it and see it so she could feel like she had gone with you.

At first, you hated every errand she sent you on. You didn’t want to leave her side for even a second, anxious to even use the bathroom, just in case you missed the moment she passed. But you’d begrudgingly accept the tasks, as they were usually things like ‘I want to drink this rare tea before I die,’ or ‘I want to eat a sweet from this bakery before I die.’ You only realized what she was doing when they started to become errands like ‘I always wanted to watch the sunset at this view, won’t you go and take a picture for me?’ At the time, you were still anxious that you would miss the moment, but in hindsight you felt overwhelmed with the knowledge of how loved you were, that your mom was still taking care of you in whatever way she could, even then.

Jisung would almost always accompany you on these errands, at least for however long he could. You tried to take nice pictures to show your mom wherever you went, and of yourself in those places, asking strangers to take pictures of you if you felt it appropriate—usually if she had sent you to some more touristy place. It was while someone else was taking your picture in front of some field of flowers of all places that you cracked under all the stress and burst into tears. Jisung stepped in to comfort you at the same time the older man had taken another picture—he realized that you’d started crying immediately after taking the picture and consoled you as well. Later, when you actually looked at the picture, you realized that Jisung had been captured in the photograph, a dark figure reaching towards you as you turned away from the camera to cover your face, seemingly turning into him. After that, the two of you decided to take more pictures together intentionally.

Having nothing better to do with the pictures, you shared them on your social media, figuring that nobody would naturally assume it was a real-life ghost. They didn’t, of course. Most people thought it was some kind of continued photography or photo-editing project. You didn’t expect it to draw in the outside audience that they did, though. Everybody had a different interpretation of the pictures. Some thought they were just meant to be spooky and look like a ghost, others thought the blur represented something, whether that be grief, a former relationship, mental health struggles, it really was endless. You, meanwhile, continued posting your pictures with your ghost boyfriend.

Putting your phone back down, you picked up a puzzle piece as well. You lost track of how long the two of you had been in peaceful silence, the only sounds that of the cardboard pieces sliding across the table and clicking into place when someone knocked on the door. It was a quick succession of knocks, and you and Jisung paused to look at each other.

“Are you expecting a package?” He asked.

“No.” You furrowed your brow. They knocked again, prompting you to get to your feet. “Neighbor maybe?”

When you peeked out the peephole, you spotted a woman standing there, smoothing out her designer clothes. She fixed her hair as she looked around almost nervously. You were tempted to not answer, except something about her seemed familiar, so you unlocked the latch and cracked open the door enough to show yourself, but not too wide.

“Uhm, hi?” You greeted her, keeping your tone light.

“Hi,” she immediately focused a bright, friendly smile on you. “Y/N, right?”

“Yes. You’re…?”

“Chaeyeon, I’m Seohyuk’s wife.”

“Of course.” You nodded and smiled politely, looking around uncertainly.

“It’s okay that you didn’t immediately recognize me, we only met the one time and it’s been a while,” Chaeyeon reassured you.

“Yes. It’s nice to see you again.”

“You too.” She was still smiling at you, and there was an awkward pause as you didn’t have anything to say back. Chaeyeon said, “I’m sure you’re confused why I’m here. There’s a book that Seohyuk was trying to find in his father’s things the other day and we haven’t been able to locate it. Neither of his brothers nor my mother-in-law have it, and it’s not on the list of things that we sold or donated. Would you mind checking to see if you have it?”

“My mom had a lot of books, it’s possible it got mixed in,” you agreed mildly. When she was still standing there a beat later with her expectant, shining eyes, hands clasped over her purse in front of her, you stepped back slightly from the door. “Uh, do you want to come in while I look for it?”

“Thank you.” She followed you in, and you closed the door behind her.

“I’m sorry Seohyuk sent you all the way out here and got you involved,” you said as you led her into the living room where the bookshelves were. Jisung was still sitting on the couch, and narrowed his eyes at Chaeyeon suspiciously. You shot him a warning look behind her back to behave. The last thing you needed was him spooking her or making you react in some socially unacceptable way in front of her.

“I asked to come. He was going to stop by on his way to work, but I had some errands to run, so I figured…” She trailed off wistfully. “I haven’t seen you since the wedding, you know.”

Unsure of what else to say, you replied, “Yeah, it’s been a while.”

“Here’s all her old books that I still have. What’s the title?” You asked, then paused after she read off the title from her phone. “Wait, that one?”

“Yes, is there a problem?”

You did your best not to outright roll your eyes, but didn’t entirely hide your annoyance at Seohyuk already going back on his agreement to stop harassing you over your respective parents’ things. “I know that book. It’s nice, actually one of my mom’s favorite authors. It’s in my room, wait here.”

Upstairs, you weren’t surprised that Jisung had followed you.

“He’s a dick,” he scoffed.

“Mm-hm.” You grabbed the book off your dresser. “What’s new?”

“Tell her no.”

“I’m tired, Jisung,” you sighed. “I’m tired of fighting with him about this stuff all the time. I have plenty of things to remember my mom and Hyukjun by. I mean—I have their house. If he really wants this book, he can have it. I’m done.”

Your ghost looked down at you sadly. “He did this the whole time you were gone too?”

“Pretty much, yeah.” You headed for the door. “I can’t keep her waiting.”

Descending the stairs and turning into the living room, you were pleasantly surprised to see Chaeyeon pretty much exactly where you left her. Not that you wanted to assume the worst of her, but it definitely had crossed your mind that Seohyuk had sent her here as part of some plot, no matter how nice she had been so far. But she was still in the living room, seemingly reading the spines of your collection of books, hands still on her purse.

She turned when she heard your footsteps. “You have so many books. Have you read all of these?”

“Most of them. Or had them read to me. My mom was a Literature teacher,” you explained. You held the book out to her. “Here.”

“Thanks, Y/N, Seohyuk will be really—” She accepted it, gently opening the clothbound front cover, and her eyes landed on the cover page. “The note…”

“Yeah, it was Hyukjun’s wedding gift to my mom,” you confirmed flatly.

“Keep it.” She immediately offered the book back to you.

“Huh?”

“It was a gift from his dad to your mother. I get why he wants it back, but it should be yours. I’ll talk to him.” She stepped forward to pick up your hand, putting the book into it. “I promise.”

You took it back with two hands, holding it to your chest. “Thank you. You really don’t have to go through the trouble.”

Chaeyeon smiled softly. “Are you busy?”

You couldn’t help your surprise, blinking at her. “Right now?”

“My nail appointment isn’t for another two hours. Would you like to get some tea?”

“Uhm, sure,” you accepted, despite Jisung’s wide, dumbfounded eyes.

Sat across from Chaeyeon in a teahouse, you blew on the surface of your steaming tea, tapping your nails against the side of your cup. Her fingers were elegantly wrapped around her cup, large diamond ring glinting from her left hand as she took a sip.

She set her tea down and gave you a sheepish smile. “I’m making you nervous.”

“Was it obvious?” You chuckled awkwardly, continuing to hold your own drink.

“You’re very tense.”

“Sorry, I guess I’m just surprised that you would ask me to get tea with you.”

“You’re family, too,” she said kindly, and you were straining your ears to try to find any hint of insincerity, sarcasm, or malice in her tone. She really seemed genuine in her sentiments.

“I think the two of us have a pretty tenuous connection there,” you pointed out.

“I know, but since your mom passed—Oh, how do I—” She fretted for a moment, unfolding and re-folding the napkin in her lap then tucking her hair behind her ear. “…Do you have anyone else?”

You had to refrain from looking at Jisung, who was occupying the spot next to you, still observing Chaeyeon closely. “Ah, no, not really.”

“Neither do I,” she confessed. “I mean, I have Seohyuk and his family, and they’re wonderful. But my own parents have passed, and my little sister, too. She would be around your age, actually.”

“I’m so sorry, Chaeyeon,” you said genuinely.

“I know we’re not related by blood, by any stretch of the imagination, but I hope we can at least be friends. If you’d like.”

“Wait, seriously?” Jisung retorted doubtfully.

You fidgeted with the starburst ring on your finger as you thought about Chaeyeon’s words. “I don’t want to be rude since you’re being so nice to me, but can I just ask—Why? Why you’re being so nice to me? I mean, I can’t imagine that Seohyuk has been saying anything good about me to you. No disrespect to your husband.”

“I’ve gathered that you all don’t get along very well…” She acquiesced. After taking another sip of her tea, she continued, “I was only able to meet my father-in-law once. Seohyuk thought we’d have plenty of time to get acquainted after the wedding.”

You winced as you put your tea down, an apology already on your tongue before you could stop it. “I’m sorry, Hyukjun asked me not to say anything to them. I-I still don’t know if I did the right thing, I can’t imagine what it was like for them…”

“There was no wrong choice, Y/N.” She reached for one of your hands. “It was a terrible, impossible situation for everyone involved. There was no decision you could’ve made that would’ve spared everyone’s feelings. It’s okay. Don’t be sorry for honoring his wish.”

You looked down at your hands on the tabletop between you two, then back up at her. “I interrupted you, sorry. Continue.”

“I only met Hyukjun one time, but he was fantastic, he really was. And Seohyuk always talks about how amazing his dad was, you can tell he was his hero—still is.” Her voice and her features held a fondness that you had never seen on display for your stepbrother before; you were genuinely stunned for a moment. “When Seohyuk and I started dating and we were talking about our families, he finally got around to the fact that his dad remarried, and his new wife has a daughter that his dad just absolutely adores. The way he said it, I thought you were a little kid at first, and then he mentioned you had a job.”

You couldn’t help but laugh along with her at this information, the first you’d ever heard of this.

“And he kept bringing it up every so often. That Hyukjun adored you and your mom,” she went on, giving your hand a gentle squeeze. “I sort of thought that if there’s this person who was apparently adored so much by the man that my husband—the man I love and adore—looked up to and loved, that I’d very much like to meet her.”

“My mom would have loved you,” you said softly, feeling your eyes fill with tears. “I mean, I know you met her at the wedding, and you were so lovely to her then, but if you had been able to really know her—God she would have loved you.”

“Oh, Y/N, I didn’t mean to make you cry!” Chaeyeon gasped, opening her purse and bringing out tissues to start dabbing at your eyes for you.

“It’s okay, really,” you assured her, letting her clean up your face anyway. “I think—I think I’m crying because you reminded me of her.”

She sat back on her feet. “Really?”

“Yeah, yeah.” You laughed, mostly at yourself you were pretty sure. Chaeyeon was absolutely beaming at you now, and you took another drink of your tea as Jisung rested a cool hand on your back. “I know you have to go to a nail appointment after this, but would you mind if I visited you and Seohyuk sometime?”

“And Seohyuk?” She repeated, obviously not expecting that.

“I have something to give him back.”

“I already told you, you should keep the book,” she insisted with a shake of her head.

“Other than the book.”

“Oh, then of course.”

“I still don’t know why you like coming to work with me,” you sighed, pulling on your jacket.

Jisung grabbed your bag for you, which had the other cabinet knobs you weren’t already wearing in it. “Do you want me to stay here?”

“I didn’t say that.” You slipped the bag onto your shoulder. “I just don’t get how sitting around watching me work at the office is any more interesting than sitting around here all day.”

“All the dishes are done, laundry’s folded, and I dare you to find a speck of dust in this house.”

“Yes, Jisung, you’re the perfect house husband,” you said, an amused smile playing across your lips as you went to unlock the front door. “Also not what we were talking about.”

He held the door open for you, following you out and waiting on the porch as you locked up. “I miss you when you’re at work. Is that so horrible?”

“No,” you chuckled, pocketing your keys and starting your journey to work. “I miss you too, Sungie.”

After your mom passed, your work had let you take as much time as you needed to both grieve and deal with your hasty change in living situation. Once you were ready, you slowly started a new hybrid schedule—coming into the office for a full day twice a week and working from home part-time the rest of the work week.

Your first stop after dropping your bag off at your cubicle was usually the breakroom. This morning, it seemed as though somebody had brought in donuts, and you spotted a familiar figure already hunched over them, carefully selecting one.

“Good morning, Sungchan,” you greeted your coworker brightly.

The tall man shot up straight, spinning around in place, his ID badge hitting him in the face in the process. He brought a hand up to grab his lanyard and lay it flat against his chest again as he gave you a crooked, breathless smile. “Oh! Morning, Y/N!”

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” you laughed, grabbing a mug from the cabinet to start on your morning cup of coffee.

“No, it’s okay, I was just so focused, I guess.” He pointed to the box behind him, “Mr. Choi brought donuts for everyone.”

“I see. What kind are you going to get?”

“I don’t know…” Sungchan sucked in air through his teeth regretfully. “They all look really good.”

“Pick two and we can split them.”

“Really?” He asked you, his big eyes shining at you.

“Really.”

“Well, which one do you want?”

“I don’t care, you pick.”

Sungchan made his selections, and carefully cut them into precise halves before letting you pick your pieces of each.

Loading your two donut halves up onto a napkin and grabbing your coffee mug, you gave him a single nod. “Pleasure doing business with you.”

“Thanks, Y/N!” He beamed. “I’ve got to go, I haven’t checked my email yet.”

“Ugh,” you wrinkled your nose at the thought. “Emails…”

Sungchan darted out of the breakroom, leaving just you and your ghost. You took a bite of one of the donut halves, washing it down with a long sip of your coffee. Average chain donut.

“I know you’re pouting, Jisung,” you hummed under your breath. “He’s new, he needs people to be nice to him.”

“I know, I don’t think you’re flirting,” Jisung replied, leaning against a wall and crossing his arms. “I think he’s going to think you are.”

“Too bad for him, then.”

Another one of your coworkers wandered in then, still yawning and rubbing sleep out of his eye. Shotaro looked around the breakroom expectantly. “Sungchan said there were donuts?”

“Only if you like sugary cardboard,” you informed him, dropping yours in the trashcan on your way out.

At your cubicle, you started your computer up, the sound of Sungchan clacking away at his keyboard on your left filling your ears. You took your own lanyard with your company ID out of your tote bag and set it on your desk. The ID gave you access to certain areas of the building, and while technically all employees were supposed to be wearing them at all times, nobody except brand-new employees actually followed that rule. Jisung sat in the chair at the empty cubicle to your right, kicking his feet up on the desk and humming to himself.

Shotaro finally joined your small pod of six desks at his spot across from you, and you noted that he didn’t have a donut with him. You tapped your fingers along to the melody that Jisung was humming.

“Hey, Shotaro, did you see that email that Ms. Kim sent?” Sungchan asked.

“Dude,” Shotaro groaned. “One—I just sat down. Two—Take some notes from Y/N, don’t check your email until 9:30. I promise, you’re going to be so much happier.”

“But it’s already 9:10, I mean—” Sungchan let out a distressed huff, running a hand through his hair. “What do you do for thirty minutes?”

“Get your coffee, fill up your water bottle, chat with people in the breakroom, chat with people by the copy machine, finish any work you didn’t get to yesterday, tidy up your desk, literally anything except open your email,” you listed off some ideas for him, just beginning to turn your own computer on.

“Why?”

“Because if I read an email before 9:30, and it pisses me off, I’m going to be pissed off all day,” you snorted. “It’s for everyone’s good.”

“I’m so glad you’re in the office now,” Shotaro sighed happily. “This is the kind of wisdom I missed out on when I started and you were still remote.”

“Yeah, you’re lucky I came back in at all.”

Jisung sat up in his seat, something clearly having caught his attention across the floor. “Be right back.”

You glanced up from your computer screen to see where he was going, and immediately spotted what he had: Two supervisors who also worked on your floor, Ms. Kim and Mr. Han, walking towards Ms. Kim’s office as they had a hushed conversation. They were at about the same rank as your supervisor, Mr. Choi, and with regards to work, there was nothing remarkable about them. They weren’t overseeing any of your projects, you really only knew of them in passing. But they had caught Jisung’s interest, and by extension, yours, because they had begun something of a will-they/won’t-they romance a couple months ago. You never encouraged Jisung’s snooping on your colleagues, but he needed to entertain himself somehow, and you made sure not to divulge anything he told you that wasn’t already part of the office gossip zeitgeist in conversation to your coworkers.

A few minutes later, Jisung was practically running back to you, narrowly darting around some of your other coworkers in his haste. You could see some of them shiver and look around in confusion at the sudden breeze that had blown by with seemingly no reason, peering up to try to find the air conditioning vent that must be around. Letting out a small sigh and keeping your eyes on your computer screen, you readjusted in your seat and scooted over to make just enough room for Jisung to hop up on your desk.

He happily squeezed in next to your keyboard, swinging his legs as he was clearly buzzing with news. “They’re finally doing it. They’re going on a date!”

“Hm.” You had to keep your reactions small, but felt a smile tugging at the corners of your mouth.

“I know! Ms. Kim is really worried because she doesn't want anybody here to think differently of her, but Mr. Han was just over the moon that she finally said yes! And you could tell that Ms. Kim was excited, too, obviously.”

You grabbed a notepad on your desk, scribbling a note to Jisung. ‘What kind of date?’

“They haven’t figured that out. Ms. Kim got a call before they could finish talking and Mr. Han left her office so she could take it,” he sighed, clearly disappointed.

‘Cliffhanger...’

“Hey, Y/N, does this email sound like, professional enough?” Sungchan asked, poking his head around your shared cubicle wall and through Jisung’s arm. Your ghost jerked his limb away from your coworker with a miffed look as you ripped the paper off your notepad and tossed it in your garbage can.

“Let me take a look,” you offered, going to scoot your chair over at the same time Jisung moved out of your way, back to his empty cubicle.

“Do you have a vent blowing right on your desk or something?” Sungchan shivered for dramatic effect. “I swear the air temperature dropped like ten degrees as soon as I crossed into your cubicle.”

“Cold spot!” Shotaro declared, his finger jabbing at the two of you from over the cubicles. His eyes followed a moment later. “What did I tell you?”

You scoffed, trying to skim the email in front of you again, “You were serious about that?”

“What? What is he talking about?” Sungchan looked between the two of you nervously.

“Shotaro thinks the office is—”

“—Our office is haunted,” Shotaro got up from his chair to lean forward and hiss dramatically, as if the alleged ghost was going to get him just for saying so.

Jisung, meanwhile, gasped and looked around with mock fear on his features. “A ghost! Where?!”

“You guys are ridiculous.” You shook your head.

“What did I do?” Sungchan pouted, obviously assuming that you were talking about him and Shotaro.

“You put a smiley face in your email, Sungchan,” you retorted, hitting the backspace with no mercy. “And you can’t end every sentence with an exclamation mark. The period button exists for a reason. Use it.”

“But I don’t want to sound mean…”

“One. You get one exclamation mark per email. And no smiley faces.”

“Okay…”

“Fine, everybody ignore Shotaro,” your other coworker threw his hands up as he fell back into his seat, letting the chair roll away from his desk before he scooted up again. “But when the ghost starts deleting important emails and writing in toner on the copy room wall that it’s going to kill us all, I will say I told you so.”

“Hey, there’s some ideas…” Jisung nodded along as if he were actually considering this. You shot him a look out of the corner of your eye.

“Your talents are wasted here, Shotaro. You should really be writing horror novels that exclusively take place in office buildings,” you told him, rolling back over to your own desk.

“Ah! Lunch break!” Jisung cheered as the two of you exited the building into the sunny, mild day.

“Yeah, you’ve been really hard at work,” you teased him under your breath, starting on the familiar path to a nearby park that you usually took your lunch at. It was typically pretty empty at this time of day, and you found that you could freely talk to Jisung there, a single headphone in for plausible deniability.

“I wish you had an office,” he sighed. “So we could actually talk to each other.”

“I used to,” you said, plopping down at a picnic table. “Before I moved in with my mom and Hyukjun, when I was still full-time in my old position.”

“Wait, really? What was your old position?”

“Mr. Choi’s position.”

“So Mr. Choi is in your office?”

You grabbed your lunch from your tote bag. “Hasn’t been my office in years. It’s his office.”

“But—Why—” Jisung frowned. “You haven’t said anything before.”

You shrugged. “Haven’t had a reason to bring it up, I guess.”

“You’re back now, though.”

“I couldn’t do that job anymore when I chose to help my mom and Hyukjun. Mr. Choi has been a great supervisor; there’s no point in them firing him just to put me back there now. I wasn’t expecting them to keep an office empty for me for years.”

Your ghost was quiet as he seemed to ponder this.

“Besides, if I had that job again, I’d have to be at the office every day,” you pointed out. “All day. No free time like I have now.”

“Oh.” His nose wrinkled as he presumably imagined what that would be like. “Mr. Choi can keep the office.”

“So are we doing bets on what sort of date—”

“Why is he here?” Jisung frowned and crossed his arms, focusing a suspicious glare behind you.

It was then that you heard footsteps approaching you, and you turned to see Mr. Choi coming down the sidewalk, seemingly not by accident as he focused a friendly smile on you as soon as you spotted him. He lifted his hand in a wave of greeting, and you returned the gesture, watching with interest as he stopped next to your picnic table.

“Hi, Y/N,” he said brightly, and you noticed a brown paper bag in his other hand. “Sorry, were you on a call?”

“Just finished.”

“Well, would you mind if I join you?”

“Not at all, Mr. Choi,” you indicated to the seat across from you.

Jisung moved from his spot with a sigh, sitting next to you instead as your supervisor sat down. Mr. Choi opened his sack lunch to bring out a bento box and small juice box, making you smile into your next bite of food.

“Cute,” you commented, pointing to the colorful vegetable slices that had been cut into star and heart shapes in one section of the container.

“My wife makes all these elaborate lunches for the kids to bring to school,” he began to explain, and though you almost expected him to be sheepish about having a childish-looking lunch, unveiling crackers in the shapes of cartoon characters, instead he just looked fond and proud. “Anything they don’t eat goes in my lunch the next day.”

“You get the scraps?” You couldn’t help but snicker.

“Yeah,” he laughed as well.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you take your lunch out of the office if it wasn’t a business lunch, Mr. Choi,” you said knowingly.

“Ah, was I obvious?” He chuckled, pulling on one of his ears nervously.

“I know you value our free time and want us to as well, so I don’t think this is work-related, right?”

“Tangentially…” The older man popped a star-shaped cucumber in his mouth. “I just… wanted to check in with you, Y/N. I hate calling people into my office for bad reasons, much less something like this. Very… confrontational.”

“I get it.” The corner of your lip twitched with a smile. “I’m alright, actually. Still taking things day by day. I miss her a lot, but it doesn’t feel like I’m… suffocating anymore.”

“Good, that’s good to hear.”

“I’m nervous, Sungie,” you admitted, taking a deep breath to try to calm your erratic heart.

“You’ll be fine, baby,” he reassured you, grabbing your hand and squeezing it gently. “You’ve dealt with him before.”

The two of you were on the way to your eldest stepbrother’s house, at the invite of his wife. Chaeyeon had reassured that Seohyuk wanted you to come over, which only knotted your stomach even more. You could deal with Seohyuk being an ass, but you weren’t used to him being… friendly. At least not without being in front of your parents.

You squeezed Jisung’s hand tighter, trying to focus on the familiar coolness of it. “I know. But what if I’m nice because I think he’s being nice, and end up revealing something that he’ll just use the next time he decides to be cruel?”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Jisung smoothed his thumb over your hand as he hushed your anxious thoughts. “You’re just returning something; nobody said you have to pour your heart out to him.”

“You’re right, you’re right.”

Double checking the address Chaeyeon sent you, you watched the house numbers go down and down until you were finally in front of 1174, your destination. You gave Jisung’s hand one last squeeze before letting it go and starting up the short driveway to their front door.

The black painted door swung open hardly a second after you had knocked, the familiar, beaming features of Chaeyeon greeting you.

“Hey, Y/N!” She threw her arms around you. “You made it!”

“Hi, Chaeyeon,” you timidly hugged her back. “Good to see you again. Thank you for inviting me over.”

“Of course, come in.” She grabbed your arm in a gentle but firm grasp, pulling you in after her. Jisung barely slipped in before she closed the door, to your amusement—he could’ve easily walked through it.

Chaeyeon had brought you into their living room, where her husband stood up from his seat on their leather couch. Seohyuk kept his hands behind his back as he nodded to you politely.

“Y/N, hello.”

“Hey, Seohyuk,” you nodded back, nearly suffocating in the tension already.

After an awkward, heavy pause, Chaeyeon piped up, bubbly as ever as she asked you, “So, you said you had something, Y/N? To give back?”

“Yeah, yeah.” You cleared your throat, reaching into your tote bag. In a small pocket separate from your cabinet knobs and other things, were two small rectangles. Taking just one more second to look at the top image, a photograph of Hyukjun when he was younger, you handed both that and the other paper out to Seohyuk.

“I found these the other day, tucked into one of my mom’s books,” you explained quietly. “I think she was using them as a bookmark.”

“What’s…” He brought out the other image from behind the first, his voice trailing off. It was his and Chaeyeon’s wedding invite, and you knew he was seeing exactly what you and your mom had seen before as he held them side by side.

“You look just like him,” Chaeyeon murmured, touching the wedding invite in awe. She looked up at you with a smile, “Thank you.”

“I don’t know what you think about my mom, or really what your guys’ relationship with her was like in your eyes,” you continued. “But to her, you were family. I wish she had been in better shape to be able to show you that, and I know she did too.”

“I’m sorry.” Seohyuk looked up from the pictures to you, a painfully sincere look on his face.

“For what?”

“I never told you that, genuinely, after your mom was diagnosed, or after she passed. I’m really sorry, for everything you’ve been through.”

You bit your bottom lip and nodded. “Me too. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about your dad’s diagnosis, even if he told me not to. It’s still… You didn’t get to prepare.”

Something distantly beeped from an adjoining room, and Chaeyeon briefly squeezed her husband’s shoulder and murmured a hushed ‘be right back’ before slipping out of the room.

“It sucked, yeah,” he admitted hoarsely. “It must’ve been hard on you, taking care of the both of them by yourself. Especially Dad, I’m sure he didn’t want anything spent on himself, he wanted everything saved up for your mom, right?”

“Yeah, the memory care aides could only do so much for late-stage lung cancer.”

“Thank you. For taking care of him and being there for him when we weren’t.” There wasn’t a trace of sarcasm or bitterness in his tone, just a honeyed warmth that nearly left you shell-shocked.

“I know you already know this, but your dad was just a really, really great guy,” you spoke past the lump in your throat as memories of your stepdad bubbled up. “I’m happy I got to know him for as long as I did. My dad died when I was young, and I didn’t have Hyukjun back then but sometimes it really felt like I did. Just felt like he’d always been there.”

“I’m sorry.” He repeated, setting the pictures down on the coffee table in front of him.

“You already said that, Seohyuk.”

“I know, but I have more stuff to apologize for.”

“Like what? Did you hire someone to secretly egg the house while I’ve been here or something?” You tepidly joked.

“No, no.” He chuckled and shook his head. “When my parents got divorced, it was good. Like, a good thing for everyone. We didn’t want our parents to get back together or anything. Our mom had boyfriends here and there, you know, but Dad never even dated. So when he, seemingly out of the blue, got married to this random woman who also had a daughter that he pretty much immediately accepted as his own, after he spent his whole life raising three sons—as I’m saying it, I can hear how asinine and juvenile this is—it felt like he was just getting himself a new family. Like we’d been replaced.”

You blinked at him, slowly nodding as you actively chose to empathize with him instead. “I’m sorry it felt like you and your brothers were pushed out. That must have hurt. Did you talk to your dad at all?”

“Not in any productive way. And really, you don’t have to apologize. I need to apologize,” he tapped his chest insistently. “We were all grown men in our twenties and thirties behaving like children because our dad was finally living his own life and getting married. It was unacceptable the way we treated you and your mom. Especially you, we were downright cruel to you sometimes, and I’m extremely sorry for that.”

“Seriously?!” Jisung finally spoke, harshly spitting the word out. “After everything they did to you? He thinks he can just—”

“I… really wasn’t expecting this when I came over. Uh, thank you.” You knew your surprise was evident on your features, there was no sense in hiding it in your words either. “I hope you don’t mind my asking… Why the change of heart?”

“My wife brought up a good point to me the other day.” He pointed to the doorway that Chaeyeon had disappeared through, a sheepish half-smile on his face. “We were jealous because Dad loved you so much. But he never loved us any less, he just always had more to give. I’d like to actually get to know his other kid that he spent his last few years with.”

“I… Me?” You pointed to yourself hesitantly.

“Yeah, you,” he laughed with a light air of teasing, though this time it didn’t feel mocking. “We were out of line at Dad’s wake. Of course you two were his family, anybody could see that. I’m sorry for all that, too.”

“He did so much more—”

“Thanks, Seohyuk,” you cut Jisung’s angry ramble off, offering your stepbrother a calm, genuine smile.

Seohyuk let out a sudden, loud, raucous sneeze, throwing his elbow up to catch it as he turned away from you.

You snickered fondly. “You sneeze like him.”

“I do?”

“Yeah.”

“I never noticed…” He lowered his elbow slowly. “Does that mean that I sneeze like a dad?”

“Don’t worry, I do t—”

Something had tickled your nose just then, and you were cut off by the both of you sneezing, nearly identical in volume.

Chaeyeon poked her head back in then, “My God, was that a grenade or you two sneezing?”

You couldn’t help but laugh, Seohyuk giving a couple airy chuckles too.

He gestured to the room where Chaeyeon was, “It’s almost dinner, would you stay and eat with us?”

“I have plans tonight,” you informed him, already thinking of the movies that you and Jisung were going to watch when you got back home.

“Another night? If you want to, no hurt feelings if you’d rather not—I haven’t made myself seem very appealing to hang out with.”

You contemplated this a moment. Your ghost took your pause as an opportunity to let you know his opinion, a loud sigh from behind you. You nodded, “…I could do next week—Monday.”

“Monday!” Seohyuk repeated enthusiastically, clapping his hands once. “Yes, Monday, we can do that. I get home from work at six, uhm, Chaeyeon, will you have appointments that afternoon?”

“Nothing after three.” Chaeyeon’s eyes were sparkling in the warm light from the nearby stylish floor lamp.

“I work in the mornings on Mondays,” you said. “What time should I arrive?”

“Seven? Yeah, dinner should be ready by then,” Seohyuk talked himself through it, flitting his wide, hopeful smile between you and Chaeyeon.

“Or you can get here closer to five and we can hang out first,” Chaeyeon offered to you.

“Or that too!”

“I’ll have some errands to run, seven will probably be the best…” You were still wary of spending so much time here at once.

“Seven it is,” Seohyuk confirmed fervently.

“Why’d you say yes?” Jisung questioned as you pulled a blanket over your laps later that night.

“Mm?” You hummed inquisitively, settling into the corner of the couch. “To dinner at Seohyuk and Chaeyeon’s?”

“Yeah. He was terrible to you, baby. Why even bother?”

You continued humming thoughtfully this time as you tried to piece together all your errant sentiments and feelings about it. “Because he’s making an effort, so I want to, too. And it’s like I said before, Sungie… I’m just tired of fighting with him. It’s so exhausting holding onto all that.”

He was still pouting thoughtfully, brow furrowed. You nudged his side teasingly, “Besides, I’ve got you to hold all my grudges for me.”

Your ghost’s face relaxed just in the slightest as he pulled you closer to plant a kiss on your cheek. “Well, I still don’t forgive him. On your behalf or mine.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.” He rested his head in the crook of your shoulder, wrapping his arms around your waist. “Worst six months of my life or afterlife without you.”

You leaned back against the arm of the couch to let him sprawl out on top of you, running a hand through his hair. “That’s fair, I suppose. But I don’t think I can really ask him to apologize to you.”

“He already believes the house is haunted, I bet you could get him on another Ouija board,” he mumbled. “Say you heard a weird noise or something.”

“You really want him back in our house so soon?” You laughed, still playing with his hair.

“No,” he huffed.

“Are you ready to pick the first movie yet or are you still sulking?”

“A couple more minutes…”

You were rushing. You were running late this morning, somehow, and it was only when you got to your bus stop that you realized you’d forgotten your tote bag.

“Whew! Right on time, huh, Sungie?” You looked around breathless at the empty bus stop. Too empty. Jisung wasn’t there, and he didn't pop up like he normally did if he wasn't immediately visible. Then you realized the distinct lack of weight on your shoulder.

“Shit!” You patted your pockets fervently for any spare knobs. You didn't even have your ring or bracelet, having taken your jewelry off in order to shower this morning. Just as you were contemplating running back for Jisung, your bus pulled up, and your decision was made for you. He would just have to stay home today.

Walking into work, you felt weirdly lonely, despite your two desk buddies immediately finding you when you arrived on your floor.

“Y/N!” Sungchan’s head was easily visible over the other personnel around him.

Shotaro was in tow, of course, and they fell into step on either side of you. “Y/N! Yes!”

“Good morning?” You squinted at them. “Is it? Should I be concerned as to why you’re so energetic this early?”

“Shotaro thinks—”

“Dude!” Shotaro scolded Sungchan, reaching behind you to smack him on the shoulder. “Tact? Hello?!”

“Oh, I would love to see how you’re going to do this with tact,” Sungchan scoffed back.

“So I should be concerned,” you surmised dryly, heading straight for the breakroom.

“No! I’m just glad you’re back!” Shotaro said brightly. “Because I have a theory.”

“About?”

“The office ghost.”

You held his eye contact for a silent moment before turning back to making your coffee.

“Listen, I swear, our office is haunted. And I think the ghost has a crush on you or something.”

You squinted at him, taking a slow sip of your coffee. “…What?”

“Well, I started keeping a tally every time something spooky happened for the past month—”

“Oh God, okay,” you sighed and rubbed your face.

“And I noticed a pattern. There’s pretty much no spooky stuff that happens on Tuesdays and Fridays. When you’re not here!”

“Maybe the ghost only works part-time, too,” you snorted.

“Listen, I’m telling you, something’s going to happen today now that you’re back,” Shotaro declared.

“Alright, whatever.” You shook your head. It being this early in the morning was bad enough, but you were going to have to go the whole day without Jisung, which meant it’d be dreadfully boring as well.

Back at your desk, you unlocked your computer and avoided your email, instead pulling up a report that you had been working on for the last few weeks. After putting the finishing touches on it, you sent off copies to the printer, and slowly stood up. You’d have to present it at a meeting right after lunch today, which was why you couldn’t try to sprint back home on your break to fetch Jisung—that would risk being tardy for your meeting.

In the vacant copy room, you leaned against the wall next to the machine printing off your report, crossing your arms over your chest and closing your eyes. Stupid presentation. One of the best parts of working remote was no longer having to present to a conference room full of people on your work. Now you didn’t even have Jisung here to cheer you on. You wondered how your ghost was faring home alone. You were sure he was keeping himself busy like he did before the two of you ever met—reading books, watching TV. Maybe he was even working in the garden in the backyard. The two of you had been working on livening up Hyukjun’s flower beds again after they’d been poorly tended to for so long while you were gone.

You let out a huff. You’d so much rather be home with Jisung in your garden, or at least have him here with you.

“Mm?” A confused noise came from elsewhere in the room, and you immediately opened your eyes and looked over towards the doorway, expecting to see one of your coworkers there coming to make copies of their own. But the door was still closed. Quickly looking around the room, you realized that you weren’t alone, though.

Jisung was looking around the room equally bewildered. You blinked at him in disbelief.

“Y/N? Baby?” He stepped towards you. “I thought you forgot all the knobs?”

“I did…” You whispered, reaching out to wipe some dirt off his cheek. “How…?”

“I don’t know.” He took your hand, rubbing circles into your palm with his thumb. “I was in the backyard weeding and then I was here.”

Remembering when you first experimented with bringing him out of the house with the cabinet knobs, you asked, “How’s your head?”

“Fine.”

Someone turned the doorknob to the copy room then, and you dropped your hand from Jisung’s, turning back towards the printer that you were waiting on. Shotaro entered with some papers, heading towards another machine to start making copies.

“Hey, is it just me, or is it way colder in here than normal?” Your coworker questioned.

“Huh?” You hadn’t even noticed.

“It’s normally the hottest room in the building, especially with the printers going—” He gestured to the machines that you two were standing at. “But I’ve got goosebumps.”

“Maybe they finally fixed the A/C in here?”

Shotaro squinted up at the ceiling panels. “I don’t think there’s a vent…”

“Maybe you’re sick.”

“Office ghost,” he declared triumphantly. “What did I tell you? You’re back, the ghost is back. It likes you.”

Jisung giggled at this as you rolled your eyes, trying to suppress your fond smile for your ghost.

“Or maybe it hates me and that’s why it’s only haunting me specifically,” you suggested sarcastically, making Jisung laugh even harder. “Have you ever—”

“Shh!” Shotaro suddenly cut you off harshly, glancing around wildly.

“What?” You looked around too, wondering what exactly he was doing. Jisung had also stopped laughing at the sudden shift in tone, also peering around curiously.

“Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“I swear, I just heard a guy laughing,” Shotaro insisted.

Suppressing your panic, you coolly offered a solution, “You probably did. The walls are really thin here.”

“It didn’t sound like anybody who works here.”

“You know how everybody in this building laughs?”

Shotaro’s face fell, and you felt a little bad for raining on the guy’s parade. “Well, no…”

Your reports had finished printing, and you grabbed all the papers from the tray, securing them in your arms. Patting your office friend on the shoulder, you gave him the best words of encouragement that you could in the moment, “I’m sure the office ghost like you too, Shotaro.”

Jisung nodded solemnly, opting not to say anything this time as he followed you out. You opened the door widely, pretending to struggle with the stack of papers in your arms for a moment so that your ghost could slip out with you. With Shotaro apparently hearing him for a second, you didn’t trust that there wasn’t some slim chance that he could accidentally get clipped by it somehow.

You toured around your floor of the office, dropping off copies of the report to each employee who would be attending the meeting so they could review it beforehand. Jisung silently shadowed you until you had dropped off all your copies except one and ended up in a newer part of the floor with rows of empty conference rooms. You ducked into one, locking the door behind you.

“How did you get here?” You kept your voice just above a whisper, patting down your pockets again, just in case you had a cabinet knob or spare piece of foundation or something that you had somehow forgotten about in there. Nothing, of course. “And did Shotaro just hear you?!”

“I don’t know!” Jisung threw his hands up, then grimaced. “Maybe?!”

“Keep your voice down!” You reminded him emphatically, gesturing for him to calm down.

He slapped a hand over his mouth with a sheepish wince, immediately switching to an even quieter whisper than yours, “Sorry… Not used to whispering.”

“I know.” You leaned against the wall, pursing your lips thoughtfully. “What exactly were you doing before you showed up here?”

“Weeding, like I said.”

“Wait, you had dirt on your face. You never get dirty.”

Jisung looked down at his hands, as if expecting to see them caked with even more dirt. They were clean, but that did nothing to help the uneasy feeling growing in you.

“It didn’t feel like when I would get yanked home.” Your ghost scrunched his nose thoughtfully. “When we were still figuring out the knobs and stuff. I mean, my head feels fine.”

“What about when I bring you with me usually?”

“No, it’s like…” He sighed as he couldn’t seem to find the right words, and switched trains of thought. “What were you doing? Before I showed up?”

“Exactly what you saw me doing. Waiting for my stuff to print,” you shrugged. “And thinking about how much I missed you, I guess.”

“Yeah, that’s what it was like.”

“Like what?”

“I got this feeling like someone had called my name, but I didn’t hear anything.”

You sighed and checked the time. “I need to get ready for my presentation this afternoon. You’ve got to stay quiet today, Sungie. I’m sorry.”

“I understand.” He nodded. “I’ll be on my best behavior.”

“For once,” you teased, pecking his cheek.

Your presentation went over fine, and after, you headed for Mr. Choi’s office, knocking on the open door to get his attention.

“Ah, Y/N, come in,” he waved you in with a smile. “How can I help you?”

“Hi, Mr. Choi.” you offered a faint smile back. “Uhm, I’m not feeling very well. I just wanted to see if I could leave early today?”

“You did look a little distracted during your presentation.” He nodded sympathetically. “Yes, go rest. And if you need to stay offline tomorrow, by all means, please do.”

“Thanks.”

Rushing to close out your programs and turn your computer off, you gave Shotaro and Sungchan hasty goodbyes before fleeing the building, Jisung on your heels.

“How do you feel?” You checked in with him quietly as you speedwalked down the sidewalks.

“Fine. Good.” He kept his voice down.

The two of you were silent until you made it home, where you grabbed your bag from the hook by the front door and took it into the living room, dumping the contents onto the floor. Immediately, you picked out the six that you kept stored in there. You jumped to your feet to run up the stairs and into your bathroom, where the other two were sitting exactly where you left them on the sink. Taking them back downstairs to show Jisung, you dropped back down to your knees to set all eight together, letting out a sigh. You knew you didn’t have any with you today, but the whole time that you were at work, there was still some non-zero chance that maybe you just hadn’t checked your pockets well enough, maybe one was somewhere, you couldn’t be absolutely sure until you saw it with your own eyes. And now you did.

“What the hell is going on?” You whispered.

“Try going down the street?” Jisung suggested. “Without anything?”

You held your hands up to show that you weren’t holding anything as you left the house—alone—and began walking down the street. You were far out of the lay lines of the property, at the end of the block, when Jisung popped up next to you.

You stared at him in shock. He stared back.

“Did you do that on purpose?” You asked. “At all?”

“I don’t know. Did you?”

“How would I have done that?”

He shrugged. “How would I?”

“It can’t be my clothes or anything, I just got like this whole outfit in the past couple months,” you huffed, still trying to brainstorm.

“Y/N, I think—” Jisung looked at you with wide eyes. “I think it’s you. I think I’m connected to you somehow.”

“I’m home!” The words were hardly out of your mouth when Jisung popped into the foyer.

He looked startled, barely sticking the landing as his head whipped around, a book in his hand. Your ghost let out a huff as he found his footing, closing the book on his thumb. “I wish you’d stop doing that. I was upstairs reading.”

“Sorry, Sungie.” You pecked his cheek, hanging your bag up. “I’m not trying, honest.”

Jisung’s annoyance quickly faded as he leaned down to kiss you. “I know, baby. I’m not mad, it just spooks me every time.”

“A ghost getting spooked,” you repeated humorously, walking further into your house.

“I’ll start on dinner.”

“Oh!” You stopped at the bottom of the stairs. “Chaeyeon called me on my way home and asked if they could drop the baby off, by the way. Apparently Seohyuk has a last-minute work thing and they couldn’t find anybody else to watch her.”

“Ah. Okay.”

After getting out of your work clothes, you found Jisung in the kitchen again, wrapping your arms around his waist and pressing your cheek to his back. “Thank you. I know it’s got to suck being here alone all day and then having people come over.”

Since the debacle with Shotaro hearing Jisung at work, you’d been erring on the side of caution and leaving Jisung home when you went to work. It made your days lonelier, and you knew he hated it too, but it was just too hard to bring him out to the same place over and over like that. Especially when you had a paranoid coworker quite literally ghost-hunting constantly.

On top of that, you hadn’t had to bring a single cabinet knob with you anywhere in order to bring Jisung along in the time since, seemingly confirming his suspicions. He was no longer anchored to the house.

“I haven’t met the baby yet,” his voice sounded like he was forcing pep into it. “I’m looking forward to it.”

When Chaeyeon had given birth, you visited the new parents and baby at their house, leaving your ghost at home for the brief meet-up. This would be the first time the family came to your place.

“They’re not staying, at least,” you reminded him. “Chaeyeon and Seohyuk. They’re just dropping SooSoo off and then picking her up after.”

“How long is she going to be here for?”

“A few hours. Don’t worry, I’ll hold her,” you teased.

Jisung snorted lightly, continuing to chop the food. “Good idea.”

Your ghost stayed upstairs while Chaeyeon and Seohyuk brought SooSoo in, handing her and all her supplies off to you. After giving you the rundown of all the basics, they rushed back out with final goodbye pecks on the cheek to both of you. You laughed and waved them off, shutting the door behind the couple.

Upon hearing the front door close, you saw Jisung hesitantly peeking down the stairs. You chuckled, “Coast is clear, Jisung.”

“I can’t believe that’s really him.” He shook his head, taking the baby’s bag off your shoulder for you.

“Who, Seohyuk?”

“Yeah,” he confirmed. “He was like… nice to you. Actually nice.”

“I keep telling you he’s been trying.” You walked into the living room, gently bouncing SooSoo in your arms.

“You’re good with her,” Jisung said, coming to stand next to you.

“You think so?” You beamed, playing with the baby’s tiny fingers. “This is the first one I’ve held.”

“Do you—” He cut himself off, staring at SooSoo with wide eyes. He slowly moved to the left, then the right. You watched his movements with confusion. He looked at you, disbelief clear on his face. “Can the baby see me?”

“What?” You looked down at her, seeing that it did appear as though her eyes were focused on a spot in the air over your shoulder where Jisung was. He moved to the right, and the baby’s eyes tracked him. He then moved to your left shoulder, and they once again followed. She continued watching him as he shifted back to hovering over your right shoulder, and you were really beginning to think that this wasn’t a coincidence.

You furrowed your brow. “Huh…”

Jisung clapped his hands directly in front of her face, and she flinched and blinked.

“Okay, okay,” you chastised him, pushing his hands away from her face. “This didn’t happen when the Kims were little, did it? It’s not like a ‘kids can see ghosts better’ thing, right?”

“No, they had no clue I was there. Babies, children, adults. Nobody ever did this.”

“Looks like you’ve got an imaginary friend, SooSoo,” you chuckled, gently tapping the tip of her nose.

“I’m not imaginary, just incorporeal,” he scoffed, but nevertheless reached around you to adjust her blanket for her.

“Do you think it has something to do with everything else?” You asked quietly. “Shotaro heard you, we don’t need the knobs anymore, now SooSoo can see you…”

“I don’t know.”

“Right. No ghost manual.”

Jisung stayed put as you sat down on the couch, readjusting the baby in your lap. You didn’t love the pensive look still on his features, especially when he didn’t seem to notice you patting the spot next to you in an invite for him to join you.

“Sungie?” You called for him quietly. “Everything okay?”

“I was thinking…” He looked at SooSoo, then held your gaze, obviously conflicted. “Do you want kids someday?”

“Oh.” You knew exactly where his mind had gone. “I-I don’t know. Definitely not right now—”

“But in the future—”

“I said I don’t know, Jisung,” you reiterated. “But what I absolutely do know, is that I love you. Okay? Can that be enough for now?”

“Okay. Yeah.” He nodded, finally joining you on the couch, wrapping an arm around your waist and pressing a kiss to your cheek. “I love you too.”

Chaeyeon and Seohyuk finally came back long after SooSoo had gone to sleep, and just before you were about to follow her lead, nodding off in a corner of the couch. Jisung stopped gently rocking the baby’s carseat when the doorbell rang, shaking your shoulder to make sure you were fully awake. You nodded, reluctantly getting to your feet as he wordlessly took off upstairs. Opening the front door, you greeted the couple, covering your mouth as a yawn escaped. You all chatted about the event as they gathered their daughter and the baby bag from the floor in front of the couch.

Chaeyeon parted the blankets around SooSoo, then rooted around through the bag that was on her husband’s shoulder. “Did she have her pink elephant when she came? I thought she did, but I don’t see it…”

“Oh, yeah, yeah.” You peered around your living room, unable to see the stuffed animal as well. “I think it might be in my room, hold on.” You held up a finger for them to wait a moment, heading for the stairs.

Jisung was already on the ground with his head and arm under the bed when you walked in. You lightly pushed the door closed behind you as he scooted back out, victoriously holding a small, pink, stuffed elephant above his head.

“Thank you, Sungie,” you said quietly, reaching out for the toy. Except he jerked it out of your reach at the last second, holding it above his head with a teasing glint in his eye. You narrowed your eyes at him, continuing to whisper, “I don’t have time for this.”

“Alright, alright,” he snickered, setting the elephant down in your waiting palm. He used his other hand to grab your wrist, pulling you closer and pecking your forehead.

You looked up, leaning in to kiss him when you heard the creak of a floorboard right outside your bedroom door.

“You need some help in—?” Seohyuk cut his own question short as he knocked on your slightly ajar door, causing it to swing open. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize you had company…”

You froze, staring between the two of them as you realized that Seohyuk’s gaze was focused directly on Jisung. Immediately, you panicked, reeling back from your ghost as you tried to stay calm, process what the hell was going on, and manage the real-life façade of whatever Seohyuk must be thinking. The further you stepped away from Jisung, the more certain you were that Seohyuk could see him, his eyes flicking between the two of you very deliberately.

“Oh, no, it’s fine, uhm, Seohyuk, this is… my friend Jisung. I told him he could stop by whenever to borrow a book, I didn’t realize…” You trailed off awkwardly, scratching the back of your neck as you shuffled even further away from your ghost.

It was Jisung’s turn to look at you incredulously, clearly upset now at being introduced as your ‘friend.’ You cleared your throat awkwardly, gesturing between them. “Jisung, this is my brother Seohyuk.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Seohyuk flashed him a brilliant smile as he offered a hand for him to shake.

You watched with bated breath as Jisung seemed to debate doing this for a moment, then took it. To your relief and bewilderment, Jisung’s hand didn’t go through Seohyuk’s, and they shook… normally.

Seohyuk then pointed at the elephant in your hand. “Ellie and I will see you downstairs, Y/N.”

You meekly held the toy out for him to take without another word. He headed out of the room, and you nearly collapsed as soon as he was out of your sight. But you didn’t have time for that yet.

“I’m sorry, just go to the pond, I’ll come get you when they’re gone, okay?” You told Jisung in a hushed voice before he could voice any of his complaints at being called your friend, surprise at Seohyuk seeing him, or anything else. You had to get your family out of the house first.

He let out a short sigh, but nodded. “Alright, alright.”

You walked him down the stairs and to the front door, keeping a polite amount of distance between you two, well aware of the two pairs of eyes watching you from the living room. Opening the front door, you gave Jisung a courteous nod. “Alright, uh, bye, Jisung.”

“Yeah, uhm, goodnight, Y/N.” His eyes darted between you and over your shoulder, and you could tell it was taking everything in him not to habitually kiss you goodbye.

“Nice to meet you, Jisung!” Seohyuk called out from the living room.

“Uh, yeah, you too!” He replied, giving a final wave over his shoulder before departing.

You nearly slammed the door shut behind him, taking a deep breath in to calm yourself down before turning around.

Seohyuk grinned at you as you walked back into the living room. “Friend, huh?”

“Oh my God, shut up.”

“I’m just saying… he didn’t leave with a book.”

“Oh, you’re the worst!” You huffed as he burst into laughter.

Chaeyeon shook her head, handing SooSoo’s carseat to her husband.

“I swear, you two bicker like real siblings now,” she commented, wrapping an arm around your shoulders protectively. “Seohyuk, leave her alone.”

“What? You didn’t see them, Chae, it was—”

“Drop it.”

“Fine, fine.” He held his free hand up, still with the same shit-eating grin.

“We’re going to get out of your hair now, hon,” Chaeyeon declared, squeezing your arm. She then looked at Seohyuk pointedly.

After giving the three of them your final goodbyes at the door, you closed it and locked it up behind them before dashing to the front window. Through a small crack between two blinds, you watched them load up Seohyuk’s new, sensible SUV before pulling away from the curb. Once you were certain they would be several streets away, you threw on a pair of shoes and ran out the door. Despite how dark it was, you knew the way to the pond by heart.

When you first entered the clearing, you couldn’t see your ghost, and your heart jumped to your throat. You took out your phone, shining the flashlight around everywhere. “Jisung?!” You cried out.

“Right here.” He appeared in front of you. “That still works, apparently.”

“God, what the hell just happened?!” You took his hand, marching back home with him in tow.

“I don’t know.”

“I mean, Seohyuk not only could hear you, but see you and touch you?!”

“I know.”

“What the fuck is going on?!”

“I don’t know.”

You lifted his hand that you were hold up, shining your flashlight directly on it. He didn’t look or feel any different—cool to the touch, and he had always had some color to him. With your fast, anxious pace, it didn’t take you long to get back home, dragging him back inside.

Just in the foyer, you stopped and indicated for him to stay right there. Holding up your phone with the camera open, you took a picture of Jisung without even looking at the screen. The suspense didn’t last long, as you swiped to view the image, nearly dropping your phone in shock. Instead of the normal shadowy glitch in frame, your ghost was staring right back, his dark eyes wide open as he looked past the camera directly at you.

You wordlessly turned the phone around to show him. He reached out towards the screen, then pulled his hand back, resting his index finger in the center of his chest.

“Th-That’s me?” He asked hesitantly. “Right?”

“Yeah, Sungie,” you replied hoarsely. “That’s you.”

“What the hell is happening?”

You bit your lip and shook your head. “I don’t know. I don’t fucking know.”

“Do you feel okay?” Jisung asked abruptly.

“Huh?” You hurried to swallow the bite of food that you had just taken. “Yeah, Sungie, I feel fine. It’s not that hot yet.”

You had taken advantage of the cool spring day to do some much-needed weeding in the gardens, and were taking a break to eat the lunch that Jisung had just made for you. He took a sip of his lemonade before setting the cup down on the porch step beside him. Another new development: he could eat and drink now. He wasn’t necessarily hungry or thirsty like you, but he enjoyed food again.

“I don’t mean the weather, I mean—” He ran a hand through his hair as he took a minute to try to piece his words together. “All this that’s been happening. I’m definitely tied to you now, not the house. But I don’t want… to be… taking anything from you. Your soul, or life force, or whatever. I don’t know what’s going on, but if you feel any worse for it, then—”

“No, God, no,” you reassured him, putting your plate aside to scoot closer to him and wrap an arm around him. “I feel just fine, I promise.”

“Would you tell me if it was making you feel worse?”

“I would tell you if I didn’t feel good, yes, but whether or not that would hypothetically be connected is an entirely different question.”

He sighed, wringing his hands between his knees. “I’m just worried, Y/N. And scared. I don’t know what’s happening to us and I don’t like that.”

“I don’t like not knowing either,” you agreed quietly. “But it’s not hurting me, okay? And it’s not hurting you—Well, other than when you stubbed your toe the other day.”

“How was I supposed to know it was going to do that?” He whined, grabbing his foot through his shoe.

Yet another new thing—Jisung could feel physical pain again. Before, the only sort of harm he would come into was his headaches if he was going from the house for too long and got pulled back. Now, if he wasn’t careful to go through an object, he could hurt himself on it just like you. Bruise and all.

“Shotaro misses you, by the way,” you informed him. “He was lamenting the lack of office ghost activity lately.”

“Funny enough, I kinda miss him too,” Jisung admitted. “It’s so boring being stuck here all day now.”

“Mr. Choi put another dinner on our calendars next week, you know…” You said cautiously. “Do you want to come?”

He blinked at you. “Like… on purpose?”

“Yeah, it’s open to significant others too. We’re pretty certain everyone can see you now,” you reminded him, thinking of all the cashiers, strangers in public, and neighbors that had interacted with Jisung at this point.

“I—Yes, okay,” he agreed happily, looking down at his lap.

“Good, you’ll need lots of practice.”

“Practice for what?!”

“SooSoo’s birthday party next month.”

Down the street from the restaurant that you were supposed to meeting your coworkers at, you stopped Jisung on the sidewalk. Fixing his collar, you reminded him, “Okay, Sungie, remember, you’ve never met these people before. You can’t say stuff that you’re not supposed to know.”

“I know, I know,” he huffed, but stayed still as you messed with his hair too.

“How long have we been dating?”

“Three years.”

“Where did we meet?”

“The library.”

“What do you do for a living?”

“I’m a… freelance… graphic designer…?” He answered uncertainly, watching your face with each syllable.

“You have got to be more convincing than that.”

“I barely understand what that is!” He replied indignantly. “What if they ask me questions?”

“You just have to say that your clients make you sign NDAs so you can’t say anything about your projects!” You said. “Or pick a different job, I don’t know! Something that’s easy to talk around. I just don’t want you getting asked questions that are hard to answer.”

He shook his head. “This was a bad idea. I shouldn’t have come.”

“No, you’re my boyfriend and I want to introduce you to my coworkers.” You took his hand, lacing your fingers together. “I want you here. I’m not going to keep you locked up forever.”

Jisung took a deep breath, squeezing your hand tight. “Alright, okay. Let’s do it.”

Pushing the door open, you immediately spotted the table of your coworkers in the corner, waving to them as you walked over. Mr. Choi stood up to greet you, giving you a one-armed hug. His wife stood up as well, kissing your cheek.

“So good to see you, sweetheart.” She was absolutely beaming as she drew back and moved her expectant gaze to Jisung next to you.

You inhaled, starting the introductions. “This is my boyfriend, Jisung. Jisung, this is my supervisor, Mr. Choi, and his wife, Dahyun.”

Mr. Choi shook Jisung’s hand, broad grin on his face. “Nice to meet you.”

“You too, sir,” Jisung coughed over the crack in his voice, giving him the best bow that he could in the cramped space of the restaurant.

You were the last ones to arrive, and Sungchan thankfully scooted over to make room for you at the very end. Hastily doing introductions between everyone, you then started looking over the menu with Jisung.

“So, what do you do, Jisung?” Sungchan asked from your other side, taking a sip of his drink.

“Oh, I’m uh, I’m a freelance…” Your ghost trailed off, and you squeezed his knee under the table to think of something fast before you would have to. “Photographer! Sorry, this menu just looks so good, I zoned out. I’m a photographer, yeah.”

Well, not the worst choice in the world.

Shotaro perked up from across the table. “Oh! Do you help Y/N with all those crazy pictures she posts?”

Jisung nodded hastily, latching onto the life preserver that your coworker had unknowingly thrown him. “Yes, yes I do.”

“They’re really cool,” Sungchan complimented him. “Is it all photo editing or is some of the effect practical?”

You looked over at your ghost to gauge if he was going to need your help on this one. He was frozen as he was clearly wracking his brain for how to answer, so you decided to swoop in.

“Some of it’s practical,” you answered for him. “But it’s a proprietary technique so he really can’t say much more than that…”

Sungchan held his hands up in surrender. “Ah, okay.”

“Do you have your own account?” Shotaro asked eagerly, bringing his phone out. “She never tags anyone.”

“So stingy with the credit,” Sungchan clicked his tongue and shook his head.

“No, I don’t,” Jisung hastily replied. “I’m not really into that sort of stuff…”

“How do you get clients then? If you’re a freelancer but you don’t have social media?”

“Well…”

Seeing that he was panicking again, you smoothly took over, “Word of mouth. He’s just that good.”

Your coworkers seemed both impressed and satisfied, nodding to themselves and each other. “Cool, cool.”

As a waiter came around to start taking everyone’s orders, you patted Jisung’s leg under the table, reassuring him that he’d passed the first part of the gauntlet. He grabbed your hand, rubbing his thumb over your knuckles.

As soon as the front door clicked shut behind you, Jisung let out a guttural groan, sinking to the floor against the hallway wall. He dropped his face into his hands, shaking his head.

“How do you do it?” He bemoaned.

“Do what?” You chuckled, hanging your purse up.

“Talk to that many people for so long.”

“Aw, my poor introverted ghost.” You pouted sympathetically, squatting down in front of him.

“I had friends when I was alive. A bunch. I saw them all the time. Every day!”

“Death changed you, Sungie.”

“Ugh…”

You stroked his hair. “So, do you not want to go to SooSoo’s birthday party? It’s fine if you don’t, I haven’t told them I’m bringing a guest yet, I was waiting to see how tonight went.”

Jisung lifted his head up just enough to rest his chin in his palms, squishing his cheeks up. “No, I had fun. I just… need to get used to people again. I’m not used to having to talk to people who aren’t you. I want to go to the birthday party with you. Especially since those people will be there.”

“I’m glad you had fun.” You smiled, gently tweaking his cheek. “Rule one, you can’t call them ‘those people.’ At least not to their face.”

“Fine.”

“Ready, baby?” Jisung asked as you turned the corner onto Seohyuk and Chaeyeon’s street.

“Mhm,” you responded, looking over at him skeptically. “Are you ready?”

“They’re family,” he replied seriously.

You snickered, leaning over to peck his cheek. “I almost believed you, Sungie. Good job.”

“Just don’t leave me alone with Hyukjun’s ex-wife,” he begged, breaking his facade.

“I won’t, I won’t,” you assured him. “Seohyuk says his mom’s been going to AA, though, and Joohyuk has been in anger management counseling ever since his wife left him, and that Minhyuk has totally mellowed out after experiencing empathy for the first time when he tried ayahuasca in Peru last month. So who knows, they might be better.”

“What a family,” he scoffed. “Can’t believe you’re dating a ghost and you’re like, the most normal one.”

“Debatable.”

“Okay, one of the most normal ones.”

You nodded towards the approaching house. “Get it out of your system now, there’s the front door.”

A serene smile spread across his face. “I’m done, and I’m perfectly nice now and will not bring any of that up for the rest of the afternoon.”

You had barely finished knocking when the front door swung open, Seohyuk on the other side. Your stepbrother immediately went to hug you. “Hey, Y/N. Glad you could make it.”

“Hi, Seohyuk. Wouldn’t miss it.” You patted his back. “Can’t believe she’s a year old already.”

“I know,” he sighed wistfully. Letting you go, he turned to Jisung, mischievous glint in his eye. “I’m Seohyuk, Y/N’s brother. Jisung, right?”

“Yes, it’s great to see you again.” Your ghost accepted his handshake.

You mouthed ‘cool it’ over Seohyuk’s shoulder at Jisung’s way too enthusiastic greeting, and he immediately reworked his expression, relaxing his face a bit more. Seohyuk stepped back and gestured you two inside, closing the door behind you. He guided you further in, pointing to where Jisung could put down the gift bag he had been carrying.

Chaeyeon spotted you from where she had been chatting with a few other guests, excusing herself before darting over to you, throwing her arms around your neck. “Y/N!”

“Chaeyeon!” You laughed, hugging her back. “We just got tea last week.”

“Yes, I know. Doesn’t mean I can’t be excited to see you now.”

You turned around to where Jisung was awkwardly standing a couple steps behind you and latched onto his arm, dragging him over. “Chaeyeon, this is my boyfriend Jisung. Jisung, this is my sister-in-law Chaeyeon.”

She was absolutely cheesing as she turned to Jisung, stacking both hands over her chest as she was trying to contain her excitement. “Can I hug you? You can say no, I’m a hugger, but it’s fine, I totally get it.”

“Uhm yeah?” Jisung agreed before nearly being bowled over by Chaeyeon. “Oh!”

You covered your hand in an attempt to stifle your laugh. The hug was fleeting, as Chaeyeon let him go and grabbed your arm again, her face turning serious. She leaned in, lowering her voice conspiratorially, and you had to strain your ears to hear her over the noise of all the other partygoers and children playing.

“Okay, so drinks are in the kitchen—no alcohol since Jieun is recovering, you know. We didn’t think it was necessary since it’s a kid’s birthday anyway. You already know, don’t ask Joohyuk where his wife is. And Minhyuk… for your own sake, don’t ask about his trip to South America unless you want to hear him talk about the spiritual benefits of psychedelics for two hours straight,” she debriefed you quietly. “Here, I’ll introduce you guys to some of my friends from the mom pilates class that I attend; they’re cool, I promise!”

With that, Chaeyeon took off, leaving you to catch up. You grabbed Jisung’s hand, chuckling as you followed after your sister-in-law.

Later in the party found you sat on the couch, chatting with two of Chaeyeon’s mom-ilates friends. Jisung emerged from the kitchen where he had been getting plates of food for the both of you, looking flustered as he dropped into the empty spot next to you.

“Finally,” you commented, accepting your plate from him. “What took you so long? Was there a line for the pretzels?”

“Minhyuk cornered me,” he groaned, covering his face with one hand. “I didn’t even ask about Peru, I told him you were waiting but that just made it worse. As soon as I brought you up, he started saying something about how when he was tripping, he realized how terrible they all were to you, and he started crying? I really don’t think he’s okay, like mentally…”

You let out a sputtering laugh, rubbing Jisung’s shoulder sympathetically. “Sounds rough, Sungie.”

“Leechan!” One of the moms suddenly barked out her son’s name, shooting to her feet. She shot you an annoyed look before stomping off to grab a boy from a tussle that had broken out.

The other mom that had been with you let out a sigh as she calmly finished her last bite of cake before setting her plate down and getting up as well. “Ryujin! That’s it! We’re going!”

“Remember how you asked me if I wanted kids?” You asked Jisung quietly, making sure to turn your head so only he heard you.

“Mhm?” His voice wavered.

“Yeah, no,” you scoffed. “I’ll be Aunt Y/N for the rest of my life, thanks.”

He snickered, rubbing your back. “That’s—”

Jisung suddenly froze, his eyes going wide and snapping down to the floor in front of the couch. You looked down to see what had startled him, immediately spotting your niece clambering over his feet and attempting to climb up his legs.

“SooSoo, your Uncle Jisung is not a jungle gym,” Seohyuk chastised his daughter lightly, scooping her up in his arms.

The toddler giggled, babbling as she still reached her chubby little arms out towards your ghost.

“Do you want to hold her?” Your stepbrother offered.

Jisung looked at you hesitantly. You chuckled, reaching for his plate on his lap. “Do you, Sungie? It’s okay if you don’t, but I can hold your plate for you if you want.”

“Sure?” He opened his arms as you moved the food, clearing the way for Seohyuk to deposit the birthday girl there.

“Relax, Jisung,” Seohyuk laughed. “She won’t bite. Probably.” He perked up and turned around as his name was called from across the room. “Yeah, coming, Mom!”

That left you, Jisung, and SooSoo. You poked your niece’s belly, making her laugh, the sound ringing through the air like bells. She reached for Jisung again, this time succeeding in grabbing the chain that was hanging around his neck and yanking on it. He jerked forward with it in surprise.

“Ah, gentle, sweet,” you reminded her, fishing the rest of his necklace from under his collar. He was able to sit up straight again as SooSoo was fascinated by the starburst pendant, which matched the ring on your own finger.

“She’s so…”

“Big?” You suggested humorously, playing with the single tuft of hair tied up on top of her head that reminded you of a leek. You were thinking about the first time you saw her after she was born, when she was just a few pounds, compared to now.

“Little,” Jisung finished, his voice quiet but filled with awe.

You looked at him a little funny, scooting in closer to continue your conversation at a lower volume. “You were there when the Kims were all babies, weren’t you?”

“Yeah, but I wasn’t really there,” he murmured. “And they were kinda… I don’t know, boring. They were babies, they didn’t do anything. I don’t think I learned their names until they could talk.”

You laughed much louder than you had been talking, drawing a couple passing glances. Burying your face in Jisung’s shoulder to muffle yourself, you were easily able to picture a disinterested, aloof ghost Jisung turning up his nose at a “boring” baby Seohyuk asleep in a crib. As tears eked out the sides of your eyes, you felt your ghost drop a kiss to the top of your head, the curl of his smile evident.

That night, you were happy and bone-achingly tired, but some part of your brain couldn’t seem to get the memo. With a sigh, you opened your nightstand drawer, rooting around for your bottle of sleeping meds.

Jisung shuffled out of bed. “I’ll get you a glass of water.”

The bedroom door opened, stairs squeaked, and distantly, in the dead silence of the house, you could hear the kitchen faucet. Then, the stairs squeaked again, and Jisung closed the door behind him. As you sat up to accept the cup from him, you squinted at him inquisitively.

“Did you use the door?”

He looked back at the door, blinking hurriedly as he belatedly realized what happened. “Yeah, I did. I guess I was practicing so much to make sure I didn’t walk through anything in front of your family that I forgot.”

As he climbed back into bed, you knocked back the pill and set your water aside. Ruffling Jisung’s hair, you smiled at him fondly, feeling your chest swell. “Thank you, Sungie. I love you so much. I know that all this must be so hard and scary, and you’ve been doing so much for me. Really, thank you.”

“Ah, Y/N,” he chuckled nervously, ducking his head. He picked up your hand, though, playing with your fingers as he spoke, eyes focused on your entwined hands. “Thank you. I’m… You made me real. I know we don’t know for sure what’s going on, but that’s what I believe.”

“Real?” You echoed tentatively.

His hand phased through yours, a chill zipping up your arm, then he turned solid again, fingertips skimming over your pulse point on your wrist. “I’m not human again. I-I don’t know if I ever will be. I don’t want to get our hopes up. But I’m more than I was before you.”

You grabbed his hand, wrapping yours around the back of it and closing all of his fingers except his pointer. “You’re enough for me no matter what you are, Jisung.” You lifted your hands to your chest, drawing an X over your heart. “If we woke up tomorrow and you were incorporeal again, you’d still be the love of my life.”

“You’re the love of my life and afterlife.” Jisung pulled your hands over to him, drawing one leg of the X on ‘life’ and the other on ‘afterlife.’ “Cross my heart.”

“No fair pulling the afterlife card,” you teased, using your other hand to drag him into a kiss.

He kissed you unhurriedly, caressing your cheek with the back of his fingers. When you broke away for air, he squeezed your hand, tender gaze tracing over your features. “Guess I’ll always love you more, then.”

“Nuh-uh!” You retorted childishly, even as you were beginning to struggle with keeping your eyes open.

“Getting sleepy?” He asked smugly.

“Maybe.”

“Lay down, I’ll read to you.”

“Fine, but you didn’t win.”

“Alright, alright,” he hummed, reaching for the book on his nightstand. Settling down under the covers, you let your eyes close as Jisung began reading. Your ghost’s deep voice gently started lulling you to sleep as he kept one hand clasped with yours, resting over your heart.

⤷ masterlist

TAGLIST

@annenakamura @bee-the-loser @lotties-readings @ppddpjdr @reiofsuns2001

@tearinka @yoursyuno @yutasputa69 @giirlfriendd @shaqs-oatmeal

@sofipolii01

@winkeuu

[vechter]

2024 WRITING REVIEW

tagged by @malinaa my beloved <3 tagging: @acediscowlng @androxys @burins @danishsweethearts @daringyounggrayson @mintchocochipsposts and anyone else who hasn't been tagged yet!!!

number of stories posted to ao3: i kinda went crazy in the second half of the year... 4 fics although 3 are one-shots

word counted posted for last year: 46,426 of which LBIA is a whopping 40,444 oops

fandoms i wrote for: dc comics

pairings: dickroy... my brand and my heart <3

stories with the most kudos, bookmarks and comment threads: look back in anger sweep with 432 kudos, 277 bookmarks and 71 comment threads

work i’m most proud of (and why): gotta be look back in anger just bc it was a huge undertaking... for the 2 months before i posted the first chapter, i was furiously consumed by thoughts of it every free moment... so to finally get it out was just a catharsis... relief and a moment of pride

work i’m least proud of (and why): angie, they can't say we never tried because it was just a way for me to avoid writing the final chapter of LBIA lmao and i think it kinda shows in the writing... like it feels like a very surface level read? it's sweet but it's just a bit lacklustre

share or describe a favorite review you received: anything mintchocochips comments bc she's so good at pinpointing the metaphors and the moments that are integral to the scene... like it rlly feels like she really considers each line with love and that's so, so wonderful to hear <3 also this one just hit me rlly hard too:

(special shoutout to lys's long-winded threats on shaking it off to find a higher low... consider me endeared and scared bb)

a time when writing was really, really hard: can i say this whole year... like fr the first half of this year was a LOT so i had ideas but they never came to fruition. also november. fuck that month.

a scene or character you wrote that surprised you: listen... i write what i love so anytime you guys see dickroy in my fics, it should not be a surprise. but the dick & garth scene in chapter 1 of LBIA was very fun for me bc we don't often see garth get the same love as the other members of the fab five (i'm guilty of it myself sadly)... and i just thought it was such a missed opportunity for them to connect and mull over their respective deaths + subsequent resurrections. so, to write that was really interesting bc i wanted the tether of the titans to be a different thing for them post-death.

a favourite excerpt of your writing:

i've posted a part of this before but i looove this section from it builds and builds and builds:

It’s exhausting trying to keep track of Dick’s faith in him. The glow of moments Dick will trust him implicitly, the gut-punch when Nightwing is implacable, even to him. He doesn’t know how Dick does it— how he lives like that, the uncontrolled chaos of his mind that can either be a deadly laser or an explosive bomb on a dime. There’s no pattern to it at all; Roy thought he knew all there was to know about fickleness after Ollie but Dick’s always proving him wrong. (The first lesson Oliver Queen taught him: when you pull back the bowstring, you learn how to let go.)

how did you grow as a writer last year: bro i regressed... i used to be capable of writing happy endings... i don't think i remember how to do that anymore. but tbh, i did get a lot into the visual considerations and rhetoric of prose + how it contributes to overall mood while reading. it's why LBIA is so fragmented and so densely littered with indents/parentheses.

how do you hope to grow this year: i need to write less vignette based stuff and focus more on building a flow of events in the same chunk of text... i would like to be capable of moving from point A to point B on screen itself.

who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer, beta, cheerleader, etc.): @dandeeliion elle you were the first person to really hear about LBIA and you're one of the main reasons i got the courage to put the fic out so you have my unending love and appreciation. also, @ekleiipsis for listening to all my rants... i love you mar <3 also big shoutout to the gc for just generally gassing me up and loving my writing it means the world 🥺

anything from your real life show up in your writing last year: hahahah... what if you had been performing your whole life and you didn't know who you were when that performance was taken away... what then

any new wisdom you can share with other writers: a first draft is a first draft no matter how shitty you may think it is

any projects you’re looking to starting (or finishing) this year: pre-flashpoint long fic with a focus on dick, donna and roy + their respective traumas during dickbats era/blackest night/rise of arsenal. also really want to write a dick and cass case fic where their individual strengths and weaknesses are highlighted... only for the power of teamwork to save them ultimately <3

[byizoyas]

© byizoyas

NSFW | spicy hcs what’s their biggest kink with xiao, dottore, childe

CONTENT WARNING!! : explicit sex scenes, implied suffocating in dottore’s (rlly quick and not detailed at all), detailed description of physical hurt. dacryphilia (the idea of getting sexually aroused by seeing someone in tears)

part II

XIAO

› size kink

› so the two of you didn’t have sex a lot, but it was always soft, and if you were honest with yourself, you never would’ve thought xiao was that much of a vanilla guy

› so when you slept together again after a long time being away from each other, you got surprised to see him this aroused

⸻

‘i’ve missed you’ xiao said against your skin.

you had just spent so much time away from each other that your bodies simply felt the need to feel each other again, finding their way alone.

xiao’s lips were already down on your tits, licking and biting then to stimulate you, which worked well. you caressed yourself.

‘eager are you ?’ he said before kissing your lips again. he slipped his tongue inside your mouth, both your saliva mixing together while the kiss was getting more and more sexual.

you pushed xiao on the sofa behind him, crawling over him to lead.

he had taken off his boxers already, offering you the access to his erection. he was super hard already from just a few kisses. hot kisses, true, but still; so you couldn’t help but to use his own words against him.

‘eager, are we ?’ you said, before kissing his neck. alternating between soft kisses and sucking on his skin to let your mark.

the words made him giggle a bit. ‘perhaps.’ he only replied.

he stimulated himself by masturbating his own cock alone before you finally let him fuck you.

it was too much for him, who kept on thrusting in and out of you, enjoying the various physical reactions you couldn’t control such as your heavy breathing or the soft means you let out from time to time.

he loved to contemplate them all.

‘your big cock is hurting me’ you whined, which made him stop immediately, in fear you weren’t spending a good moment.

‘should i stop love ?’ he gently asked, caressing your hair back and dropping a few kisses on your chest.

‘don’t. it’s so good to feel you inside of me.’ you reassured him.

‘but you’re so tight y/n’

your bodies had been away for a while and of course you had not slept with anyone else during that time so your body had to get used to xiao again.

the man wasn’t that big, yet it was hard to take it today. after you moaned how large he was, you noticed how his body language spoke for him. his skin was burning and he seemed even more eager to fuck you raw and dirty.

that man who was vanilla when you left him, was turned on when seeing how big he was. too big.

so you decided to play with it. if xiao was liking it, then you had the urge to please the man you loved.

‘you’re so fucking big xiao. fill me please. fill me with your huge cock ngh’

he didn’t make you wait long before speeding the pace of his thrusts. his balls clapping against your asscheeks as one of the various sex sounds we could hear in the room at this moment.

‘ngh~ xiao, fuck me harder’

your words were arousing him so much he had difficulty controlling himself and threw yourself on your back, before quickly coming back inside of you, fucking you all night long.

waiting until now to discover one of xiao’s kinks had been super worthy because he was now letting it all out as if he was hiding his size kink before, and it ended up with the two of you experimenting lots of things together.

DOTTORE

› dacryphilia

› the two of you never really talked about that sort of stuff before. since dottore wasn’t much of a sexual attracted person, you didn’t feel like talking about kinks already

› so when he ended up being the one to bring up the subject on the table, you were surprised and wanting him even more

⸻

the initiation of dottore’s kink was so formal that it kinda surprised you.

you didn’t have sex a lot since it wasn’t much dottore’s thing. and when he admitted to have felt a huge sexual attraction to you when you cried into his arms, you didn’t really know what to feel.

you’ve never heard about it before and you have had several hookups. but you truly loved dottore. and you liked to believe he loved you too even though he wasn’t the most affective person in your life. which is why you agreed to his idea.

‘shall we ?’ he asked before doing anything and you nodded yes.

you were laying on your stomach and your whole body was attached on the four corners of the bed, making your naked body, dottore’s exclusive property.

‘should i hurt you physically ? or mentally ?’ he asked. of course you had to cry real tears for it to work. and you didn’t know how to let out fake ones anyway.

you took a few minutes to yourself to think. dottore was planting kisses along your right leg, waiting for an answer, but not pressing you to obtain one.

you were both free tonight and had all the time you needed for this sexual experiment.

‘physically.’ you said.

you were too emotionally attached to dottore to handle who knows which words he would say to you to make you cry.

‘fine.’ he said, getting up and letting go of your leg.

he started softly, biting several placed on your body. his sharp teeth were hurting and you would have a mark for sure. it did hurt but it was still easy to handle so of course he had to get meaner.

he got up again, detaching his belt and revealing a semi hard cock through his underwear. he took the belt, enveloping it around his right hand and hitting you several times.

‘are you okay ?’ he asked. he didn’t really know what he was doing. he, for sure, liked it. but he didn’t want to step off your limits and even though you had thought of a safe word to make sure it’d be okay, he wanted to make you feel loved.

‘yes’ you said very lowly, the several hits with his belt had hurt you enough for your eyes to start watering. so he kept on going, sometimes biting your sensitive spots, sometimes hitting you a bit harder, and the tears started to flow down your face.

dottore pulled your hair, to check your state, and his boner got even more intense after he had seen your face drowning in tears. you were crying, and it turned him on a lot. pulling your hair too, and the way your breath was irregular also helped him getting aroused.

your makeup was getting ruined, as the tears kept on falling down. it did hurt, but that expression on dottore’s face was good enough for you to like it too.

your mascara was probably all over your face by now, mixed with tears and sweat. ‘gorgeous. absolutely, stunning.’ dottore whispered caressing your face gently before spanking you once more, harder this time.

‘nghh’ at this point you couldn’t speak. you were just crying and moaning. you were a literal mess and he loved it.

dottore kept on spanking you, and he did it so much that your ass actually hurt already, and even though you couldn’t see it to confirm you were pretty sure it was burning red.

the mix of pleasure from dottore fingering you and pain from his slaps was so good. you actually never believed you’d be into that type of thing, but it actually turned you on too; and if you started it all only to satisfy your man, you were enjoying yourself, fucking yourself on his fingers.

‘what a good slut. look at you, being so fucking good and obedient for me.’ dottore said. his hot voice was echoing in your brain, and he was truly all you could think of at the moment.

‘i’ve said, physical hurt. not words.’ you found the strength to say, and screamed when at the same moment dottore pinched your ass so hard it actually hurt.

‘but you’re so fucking wet y/n. i think you like it.’

perhaps he was right. he was treating you like a literal object with no feelings right now, doing as he pleased as much on your body than on your mind, but deep down, you adored it.

it kept on going for a few fifteen minutes but dottore quickly reached orgasm. it was the first time he was experiencing such thing and he loved that it was with you. he loved you.

and that night, he finally said it. but you knew it wasn’t just the effect of his orgasm. he genuinely loved you, and how you were making him feel normal again.

CHILDE

› exhibitionism kink

› you’ve been in a relationship with childe for a moment and when the two of you had sex it has always been a bit ‘kinky’

› but you only discovered your boyfriend’s biggest kink when someone made the mistake of flirting with you in front of him

⸻

‘what will you order, miss ?’ the waiter asked.

a few minutes ago, he was flirting with you. too bad for him, even though he was late, your boyfriend arrived just when that man asked for your number.

not professional, childe thought.

perhaps that lack of professionalism genuinely disgusted him, who was so into work. or perhaps he simply despised to see his partner getting hit on by a nobody.

‘she’ll have the same as me.’ he replied for you, quickly giving him back the menu that was resting in front of you, with his free hand while the other was busy playing with your intimacy under the table.

‘understand sir.’ he said, taking away the two menus and walking away to the bar.

‘childe sto-’ you started saying but miserably failed in ending up your sentence when he slipped two of his fingers in your dripping cunt.

‘you’re wet already, it’s so gross.’ he whispered in your ear.

your eyes looked around the restaurant, trying to hold your breath and keep calm as childe’s fingers were still pressing down there.

he kept on moving his fingers in and out of you while his thumb played with your clit, stimulating you to the point where you felt like you could orgasm anytime soon.

your body shivered under his touch and just when you kept on looking around, your eyes stopped on the waiter whose eyes were glued on you.

he seemed to be taking a small break. after all it was late and not much clients were left.

you tried to focus on the music around you, but it was fucking shitty and childe’s touch felt so much better.

‘almost fucking my fingers in public, you seem to like it too.’ childe stopped whispering in your ear, instead looking in the same direction as you. ‘oh’ he had spotted his current ‘enemy’.

who would dare trying to steal his girl ? suddenly he got pissed off again, inserting a third digit inside of you who let out a much louder noise than you expected it to be, which seemed to amuse childe who let out a soft laugh.

‘go on, moan. show him the face you’re making when i’m touching you. show him what’s mine to see all nights.’

you’ve never seen childe so aroused before, and as talkative as he usually was, right now he seemed like he would never stop talking but you loved it that way.

you didn’t take your eyes off the man who seemed to have noticed that something was off.

you wrapped an arm around childe’s shoulders. he was sitting on your left. your brows pinched together as your face turned into an ecstatic expression. ‘i’m close’ you said the lower you could do that the few people around wouldn’t hear.

‘beg for me to make you cum, y/n.’ he said, a smile glued to his lips, that would never leave his annoying provocative face.

‘please, go faster, i need to cum. please childe.’ you begged just like he requested. usually you would’ve made him wait to have what he wanted, but the eye contact felt like it would never stop, and childe visibly needed him to learn his lesson.

knowing he would not stop until the boy got it, you decided to end up that plan of his.

feeling yourself close to cum, you closed your eyes. perhaps childe would be furious about it but you found it too awkward to reach the orgasm thanks to childe’s fingers while looking at another man.

‘ngh, right there don’t you stop~’

‘a-ah yes, oh ngh childe this is so good, don’t stop.’ you moaned his name again and again, reaching orgasm twice.

only when you opened your eyes did you notice that the waiter was right next to you, giving you two your plates.

‘um. salmon salad for the two of you.’ the poor boy kept on stuttering while announcing your food.

your eyes met his once more that night, but only a few seconds before he looked away, taking a few steps away from your table.

Childe finally took his hand off from under the table, and you adjusted your panties which were dripping now.

‘did he ?’ you felt too ashamed to finish your sentence, instead letting childe do it for you. ‘hear you reach orgasm ? i believe so.’

his mocking giggle just as he seized his fork annoyed the hell out of you. ‘you knew it.’ you said, eating a few pieces of your plate without looking back at the ginger whose eyes were full of playfulness.

‘that was super hot. thanks babe.’ he kissed your cheek gently as his voice got softer.

your cheeks were still burning in embarrassment, but you’d lie to yourself saying you didn’t like it, because the only idea of childe enjoying this was enough to turn you on again.

‘that won’t happen again.’

[meiiuka]

hii!! i rlly love ur posts and i wanted to ask,

could you write fuyuhiko, ishimaru, and shuichi with a reader who ends up in the hospital alot?

if you cant/dont want to, just ignore this post! no hard feelings lol ^^ anyway, have a good day!!!

hi!! i’m so happy to hear you like my posts, it means a lot to me <3

fuyuhiko, ishimaru, and shuichi with an s/o who ends up in the hospital often:

category: headcanons, x reader, comfort, fluff

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu:

• he just wants to protect you and make you feel more safe so he holds you closely when you’re feeling sick or anxious

• whenever you end up in the hospital, he gets really anxious and can become desperate for answers

• during your stay there, consider him your guardian angel bc he will not leave your side even if you insist

• he checks on you veryyy often. and he tries to be unobvious about it sometimes but 😭 he cares so much he can’t hide it

• “i don’t care what it takes to make sure you’re okay, i would go to the ends of the goddamn earth for you, got that?”

• he’s super stubborn and needs to make sure you’re okay, so he waits in the hospital room with you

• and if he can’t? he will wait outside in the parking lot until he can

• he’s argues with the staff about letting him in so he can check on you,, sometimes it actually works

• he kisses your forehead when you fall asleep because he wants to make you sleep well

• “i love you. squeeze my hand if you’re in pain, i can take it.”

Kiyotaka Ishimaru:

• he’s alert to any signs of illness or discomfort and has learned your signals overtime

• “y/n, i do worry there may be something wrong! are you feeling ok? should i get you a water? medicine?”

• he needs to be near you in case something happens. he loves you and wants to be prepared if anything occurred

• if you end up in the hospital, it never gets less scary for him

• even if its routine, he still can’t mask his anxiety behind potentially losing the love of his life

• “i felt too worried about you to sleep properly last night… would it be okay if i asked to stay in your hospital room overnight?”

• if this means he has to sleep on the floor, so be it, he will

• he tries to avoid smothering you but tends to be really physically clingy, just in fear you may feel alone

• “my love, tell me how you are. i want to listen to your fears and pain… i’d never move an inch if you asked me to! i’m right here.”

• he takes you out on lots of dates once you’re discharged, making sure you handle yourself carefully when you go outside again

Shuichi Saihara:

• he tries to come to your door every day and texts your phone if he knows he isn’t going to be able to see you irl

• “hey… y/n, are you feeling ok today? i was worried about you last night, i couldn’t stop thinking about you.”

• he doesn’t want you to worry about him worrying, he just wants you to feel that he cares

• and he definitely does. a whole lot more than he could even express to you

• when you end up in the hospital he’s the first to show up. how did he even know you were there?

• “i just… felt like something was off. gut feeling… and i needed to see the scene.”

• he loves writing little cards and sending lots of flowers and surprises to you when you’re in the hospital— every single time no matter how many

• “oh these? yeah, some are from your family and friends, but these ones are from me.”

• and he points to a neat stack of wrapped presents and cards

• he massages your scalp and leans over to kiss your lips and hand while you lay down

• “i love you so, so much. i could never lose you, i just want you to be safe and… comfortable. i’ll hold your hand right here.”

[mathitas]

if you could, i would request a fic where nico and will argue over something (or miscommunicate) and its really bad for a while and then they have a rlly rlly cute make up and they are all good again.

I actually love this! Thanks for the suggestion Tw: blood, injury

Nico knew he got jealous often and that it was always dumb. His boyfriend, Will, was always quick to assure him, so he never really worried about it.

But this time, not only was Nico jealous, but he was also pissed.

His boyfriend had been avoiding him, and no matter how many times Nico tried to understand why, Will would just brush him off, promising it was nothing.

But then he saw him, hanging out with a child of Aphrodite he had been healing; he was taller, more muscular, and less pale-looking than Nico.

He knew better than to feel insecure; he knew Will loved him, but... why was he avoiding him?

Nico couldn't dare stand looking at them any longer, so he thought he could get his mind off things by practicing sword fighting.

But he was not able to focus; he could only think about how happy Will looked talking to that guy and how alone he felt. He was angry at Will but also at himself; was he not able to be alone like before?

"Ouch!"

He stared at his arm, blood leaking. It wasn't a bad injury, but it hurt.

He took some towels he found and put them over his injury, waiting for the blood to stop.

He didn't hurt himself badly, or at least he hoped.

So when Chiron saw him and his towels, which were now red, he ordered him to go to the infirmary.

Nico protested against it; he didn't want to see Will just yet. Chiron insisted, and he decided to listen, if he was lucky he would get away as soon as possible.

He hoped one of Will's siblings would be there, but no: he wasn't lucky that day.

When Will saw him, positioning a bloody towel on his arm, he immediately rushed towards Nico.

"Neeks! What happened?" He took his arm, and Nico sighed.

"It's nothing; just put something on it to stop the bleeding and let me go."

"What? No! It seems quite serious."

"It's nothing."

"I'm serious, Nico." "I said it's nothing!" He retired his arm, and Will took it again.

"Let me check it."

"There's no need to." "Nico, we already talked about this." "Stop it! Leave me alone, will you?!"

"What's with you today? You're making a scene! I'm just trying to help you!" "As if you care, when was the last time you talked to me properly?" "Nico, it's-" And then Nico saw that guy again; he was sitting on the infirmary bed, apparently for some check-ups.

"I'm going." "Nico!" Nico left; he felt tears falling from his eyes as he sat on his cabin's floor. He was angry at himself; he knew Will would have never done that, but now that they were fighting and it was all his fault.

However, Will followed after him.

He seemed to have cooled down now.

"Nico, I know I haven't been around lately." "I saw you with that guy," he admitted.

"Who?" "The son of Aphrodite" "Oh my gods..." "What? "I think you may be the dumbest guy I've ever met." Will laughed, sitting on the floor with Nico, hugging him from behind.

Nico didn't push him away.

"Why?" "Your birthday is coming up soon, idiot." Nico completely forgot. "Then why him?

"I was hoping he'd help me make it more romantic easily; I'm too busy with work, so I didn't have time to think about it..." "So you've been absent because you were making a surprise party for me?" "Well, it's not a surprise anymore, isn't it?" "I'm so sorry," Nico sighed, turning around and holding Will tighter.

"No, I'm sorry... Next time, tell me sooner, alright?" Nico nodded, and then he kissed him softly.

Will smiled bashfully.

"You were jealous... hehe." he said in a giddy voice, and Nico stopped kissing him, frowning.

"Shut the hell up, Solace."

Then Nico noticed something behind Will's back.

"Did you seriously bring a first-aid kit?" "Yes, give me your arm." Nico sighed and held out his arm so that his boyfriend could heal it.

[badasgirlfriend]

hii, can you please write a Jesse Swanson x reader? maybe something fluff or smut if you write, this man doesn't have enough content on this site 😭

I watched Pitch Perfect again and I'm in love with Jesse so I saw your post and I just had to ask, also it's my first time requesting and english is not my first language so sorry if something is wrong!

ur wish is my command🫡 heres a small fluff

i hope u like it<3

Love Me Like a Love Song Baby

pairings: jesse swanson x fem!oc

genre: fluff

a/n: i tried okay😭 for some reasons this was rlly hard for me to write maybe bc he was blindfolded and she couldnt hear shit😭😭 hope u like it<3

Iris was accustomed to Jesse's out-of-the-box ideas, despite often finding them to be outrageous. Still, she couldn't help but find it endearing whenever Jesse proposed his unique and fun ideas. Even if baking while blindfolded and deaf was a tad too much, she couldn't say no to spending time with him. Plus, she admitted that spending time with Jesse was one of her favorite activities.

As she laid the eggs, butter, and other ingredients on the countertop, Iris contemplated how much of a challenge this baking blindfolded endeavor would be. Despite knowing the task would be difficult, Jesse couldn't contain his smiles and excitement.

“Im not enjoying this”

Jesse chuckled as Iris yelled at him, finding her outburst utterly endearing. He tried to tell her that she was being too loud, but she didn't hear him due to the loud music on her headphones. Despite their heated harmless argument, Jesse found Iris's reactions to be adorable. As the scene became more chaotic with Jesse's flour and Iris's yelling, the two couldn't help but crack a smile. Even in their chaotic and embarrassing moments, Jesse and Iris's chemistry was unstoppable.

At Jesse's loving smile, Iris felt her heart fluttering, her eyes glued to his sweet smile. His charming smile made her heart skip a beat, as she felt breathless and unable to turn away from him. It felt like time had stopped, and Jesse and Iris were in a world of their own.

“Jesse!”

“Iris”

Jesse smirked as he dumped a generous handful of oil into the cookie batter, causing Iris's eyes to widen in surprise. As she yelled at Jesse, he laughed covering her mouth with his hand “Shhh you’re being too loud”

Jesse giggled as Iris tried to yell at him, but she couldn't. Iris's words were muffled, and she was unable to get them out. Jesse was enjoying the moment, finding Iris's attempt to yell at him absolutely adorable. As Iris continued to struggle, Jesse's soft chuckles filled the air, making the moment all the more fun and lighthearted. "Let me go!" Iris mumbled, trying to fight Jesse's hand while fighting back a smirk.

“Beg”

After a bit of struggling, Iris got tired and decided to take a different approach. So, she licked Jesse's hand, surprising Jesse and causing him to yell "disgusting" in jest while laughing.

As Jesse and Iris's moment of intimacy continued, Iris suddenly stopped and said "wait." Iris leaned in and wiped the flour off Jesse's cheek, Jesse felt his heart racing from her act of intimacy, but he was hesitant to act on his feelings of wanting to kiss her. What would happen if he did? Jesse wondered, unsure if he should make a move or not.

Jesse playfully teased Iris, saying "Careful, I'm starting to think you like me and can't seem to get enough of me." Iris, who fortunately heard Jesse despite her headphones, rolled her eyes and quipped back, "I think it's the other way around." She tried to hide her blush before playfully smacking Jesse's arm. "You like me, don't you?" Jesse asked playfully, with a smile on his face as if he already knew the answer. Iris paused before finally nodding her head

Thank god he’s blindfolded…

“I said this before” Jesse yelled and leaned closer so she could hear him “Acapella boy acapella girl” he pointed at himself and her “Aca children” Jesse teased

"Don't get ahead of yourself," Iris teased back, but she couldn't help but laugh at Jesse’s face. He had a way of getting her to crack up like no one else.

“Here” The younger girl gave him the chocolate chips, her favorite song started playing, and as she hummed along, her eyes were fixed on Jesse, even as he was still blindfolded. The lyrics "love you like a love song" brought a smile to Iris's face, as she thought about how Jesse made her feel. As she sang in a playful tone, her words "you are beautiful like a dream come alive, incredible" were meant for Jesse, he exhaled and grinned, knowing that Iris wanted to pull him to dance and that he would gladly accept “a centerfold miracle, lyrical you saved my life again”

Iris grabbed Jesse’s hand “and i want you to know baby shake that ass Jessie boy”

“I-I love you like a love song baby”

“Right back at you miss” As the two sang and twirled around, their voices harmonized perfectly, as if they were made for one another. Jesse was extra careful not to bump into anything as he spun Iris around, making sure that their movements were smooth and effortless, complementing one another perfectly. Both Iris and Jesse felt as if they were one with the song, as the joy and euphoria of their dance together filled the room

Jesse and Iris were unaware that they were each singing to each other, only knowing that the lyrics of the song expressed their shared love and adoration for one another.

They were both singing at the top of their lungs, jamming out to the song. As the lyrics "repeat-peat-peat" came on, Jesse began to tickle Iris lightly. Iris giggled in delight, hitting Jesse's shoulders lightly trying to make him stop. Jesse laughed, finding her playful reactions adorable. Their singing quickly turned into a tickling fight, as Jesse continued to try to tickle Iris, who was trying to make him stop. The playful and intimate atmosphere between the two was undeniable, as they smiled at each other as they sang and giggled.

Jesse grabbed Iris wrist making her look at him, he didn't understand what was possessed him to do this. Jesse worked up the courage to say what he had been feeling. In a soft voice, he said "I like you." Although he hoped that Iris hadn't heard him, she stopped dancing and turned to face him. She started laughing as she pointed to her headphones, indicating that she couldn't hear him.

She can’t hear you, he knew that this could be his chance to make a beautiful confession. Jesse took a deep breath, and his words came pouring out like a stream. "Iris, I like you so much. I've wanted to tell you for so long but-”

“Jesse” she giggled “I can’t hear shit” Jesse gave her a sad smile, at least he confessed. The next 30 minutes were awkward. Neither of them said a single thing, too focused on what the brunette boy said

Iris lets a sigh “and we’re done” she starts to clap in excitement, taking off her headphones Jesse took off his blindfold, his eyes took a few seconds to adjust the lightning “now all we need to is put the cookies in the oven and…”

“And wha-“ Iris leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on Jesse's lips. Jesse was caught off guard by Iris's bold action and remained still in surprise. As she pulled away, his heart was still racing and he had trouble processing the emotions that he was feeling. Iris looked at boy she liked with a mix of embarrassment and upset, as she had hoped that he would enjoy the kiss as much as she had. Iris got her message, Jesse didn't kiss her back which means he didn’t like her. This thought made Iris feel hurt, she thought he was being serious about his feelings for her. Yes, she heard everything

His confession earlier made her knees go weak but she was too shocked to even confess her own feelings, that’s why she decided to play it safe and act like she didn’t hear him

Talk about playing safe now

“I-Im sorry I didn-i thought” she embarrassed herself even more by stuttering, she ruined everything, he will probably make fun of her now “Jesse im so-“ she was cut off by Jesse lips crashing into hers

Iris's heart was beating fast as emotions of love and desire flooded her body. Jesse's lips were soft but gentle, and Iris's heart fluttered as she tasted his lips. The moment felt like an eternity, and as their lips parted, Iris's eyes were already filled with tears of joy.

Jesse pulled away from Iris, taking in the sweet moment, as he was also moved by their kiss. Their eyes locked in a moment of understanding and joy, as they both felt that their hearts had finally found each other.

Iris was completely swept away in the moment, her lips clinging back to Jesse's, as she had needed this kiss for so long. Jesse's hold on Iris was tight as his lips kept returning back to hers. As they parted, Jesse kept his gaze on Iris's lips, wanting even more of her sweet scent and flavor. They stood facing each other after their kiss, neither one wanting to be the one to break the spell between them. Their foreheads were touched and their eyes were locked, it was sweet and intimate, and Jesse felt his love for Iris growing with each second passed.

"Never apologize for kissing me, never," Jesse whispered softly to Iris, his voice breaking the spell. Iris was touched by Jesse's words, and they embraced in a loving hug. Kissing Jesse felt like coming home, and Iris's heart was filled with joy.

a/n: im thinking to write a small jesse fanfic (MAYBE) exes to lovers so lemme know if u want ir

[catastrophicdisasters]

i promised myself i wouldnt keep inflicting TUA essays on people who... probably do not want to hear them lmfao so, MORE YAPPING INTO THE VOID

i'm in the middle of my rewatch rn (i am not going to be caught up in time but we're not thinking abt that rn) and have Thoughts abt the Luther / Allison... thing

SO!!

i mean, we all agree while it's not technically incest... it's still incest, right? that said, they did kind of pop off with the dancing in the moonlight dance scene. i rlly want the dress Emmy wears, it's so pretty

BUT like, i remember watching it the first time and being like "... why?" bc it's just... it's kinda cute, but mostly it's just weird. even at the time, i didnt think it was going to last the season, i fully expected (hoped) for it to get wrapped in the "we shouldnt be doing this" by the end of s1

but watching it back it really just highlights how alone they both are? that, realistically, it was never more than a friendship / tiny crush, that just... ended up going to more places than it should've because they were just so, so isolated from normal life?

allison says it herself - "maybe you're the only person who really knows who I am and still likes me anyway". they never had any real human connection other than the rest of the Umbrellas - they were child celebrities, superheroes, even!

and Allison may have left, may have had a life outside of the academy, but when you think about it she went from being a famous child superhero to a famous actor - nobody ever knew her. it's even implied that she rumoured patrick to love her ('i heard a rumour that you love me'), so it's likely that even her husband didn't really know who she was. and also, let's face it, who in the 'real world' is really going to understand what it's like to be part of a family of superheros and raised by a robot mother and... Reginald? (im not even gonna begin to unpack what he did to those kids, jfc) other than someone else that was there, who experienced all of it, right along side you

(shared trauma, and all that)

"You're the sweetest, kindest man I've ever known" - yeah, probably because every other man she's ever met has wanted to use her for something, most likely her fame. to be able to say that they dated ~Allison Hargreeves~, one of the amazing Umbrella Academy kids, or that famous actress, and not because they actually liked her or had any interest in her as a person. or, she rumoured them to be interested in her, so the entire 'connection' she had with them was fake from the outset - entirely built on lies and superficial bullshit

(coming back to this at the start of s1e8, the way she visibly deflates and looks kind of uncomfortable/resigned when the policeman recognises her and starts acting differently. but then she takes advantage of it. admittedly, in this case, she’s trying to hunt down her sibling, but... you know?)

in fact, it's likely that none of her connections outside of the academy were ever real, so it's not surprising that Luther is the only one she felt that kind of connected to. they all talk about how Five thought he was superior to them all, even before he jumped; Viktor was left out of everything;, none of them took Klaus seriously, and i'm p sure i remember it showing him rolling a joint at a breakfast; it sounded like Diego and Luther were always at odds with each other (and if she was closest with Luther anyway, she'd take his side in any arguments); and Ben looked pretty shy, and then he was gone too.

and Luther... Luther lived to be Spaceboy, the academy's Number One. he says it, too: "I sacrificed everything for him, my entire life. I never left this house, I never had friends, and for what?". maybe Allison had these fake connections, but Luther didn't even have that

so it's not surprising that they were - or thought they were - in love with each other. they literally have no idea what real human connection looks or feels like

i don't think their relationship was ever meant to be anything other than a way to highlight that, personally

everybody else's trauma manifests in clear ways, but Allison? with her movie star life, her husband and child? she's normal! she got away! and Luther? he was happy as Spaceboy, nothing bothered him! just endless frustration at his siblings who didn't take their jobs seriously.

wrong.

and their weird little psuedo-incestuous relationship proves that

at least to me, anyway! obvs youre free to disagree with me lmao, and i havent gotten to s2 in my rewatch yet so i couldve forgotten / missed something entirely obvious

ONE DAY LEFT IM NOT READY

[ticklish-n-stuff]

Heyo friend! I just realized you're taking requests for Tickletober! If it's alright with you, I'd love to see some Blue Lock from ya! (But only if you want to :3) Could I request Day 13 with Rin and Bachira? I love the idea of Bachira being a silent as the wind when he wants to be- combined with his natural tickle monster energy, poor Rin is in for one heck of a surprise lols!

You don't have to accept this if you're not interested- either way I hope you have an amazing day! I can't wait to see what you have in store this tickletober! :3 Take care and stay hydrated!

Tickletober day #7 & #13: Flustered & Sneak attack

HII SO OK I HOPE YOU BOTH DON'T MIND THAT I COMBINED THESE TWO CAUSE I RLLY WANTED TO WRITE FOR RINBACHISAGI SO WHY NOT :3

HOPE YOU BOTH ENJOY! AND THANK YOU FOR THE KIND WORDS 💖💖💖

___________________________________________

Rin x Bachira x Isagi (romantic)

Lees: Rin, Isagi, Bachira

Lers: Rin, Isagi, Bachira

Warnings: Tickles!

___________________________________________

Oh look at that, two unsuspecting players laying calmly on their beds. Those were Bachira’s thoughts as he peaked his head through the doorframe, observing a sleepy Isagi and Rin-chan cuddling each other. The scene was very adorable, if only it could last longer, but Bachira had other plans. 

Currently, Aryu and Tokimitsu weren’t in the room. Giving Bachira the perfect opportunity to launch his surprise attack. He carefully tiptoed across the room, his footsteps as quiet as… well, everything else here was very loud usually. The brunnette perched his head to looks at the sleeping boys, a warm smile on his face, before being overtaken by his monstrous desires. 

“…Surprise!” Bachira jumped on top of the two of them, earning startled yelps and curses. Taking advantage of their sleepy state, Bachira managed to pin them down with ease.

“Bachira… I was sleeping…!” Isagi whined out, while Rin could only let out incoherent grumbles of annoyance.

“I know, I know! But trust me, I had good reason to wake you both up” with that, Bachira’s hands latched onto each torso. One hand massaging Isagi’s side, while the other vibrated against Rin’s toned stomach. 

“Wahahait! Bachirahaha..!” Isagi instantly let out a snort of laughter, trying and failing to kick his legs out. His face instantly turning flushed at the sudden attack.

“Mph…!” Rin on the other hand, being as stubborn as he was, tried muffling his sounds with his pillow. Which only caused Bachira to tickle up his ribcage until reaching his armpit. “PFFT! BACHIRA STOAHAHAP!!” the pillow flew out of his hands, revealing Rin’s giddy expression and rosy cheeks.

“Aww! You’re so cute, Rin-chan!” Bachira gave him a teasing scratch under his chin, causing the grennette to turtle up. “And you too, Isagi-kun~” he leaned over, placing a teasing kiss on Isagi’s belly.

“EEP!” Ahahaha… Bachiraaa, plehehease…!” 

The brunnette looked down, deciding to have some mercy on the tired boys. “Oh fine, is this better?~” he had now switched to gentle scratches up and down each of their arms, occassionally reaching up to their neck. It was very endearing watching the way they both purred and giggled quietly. 

“Ehehe yeah… but, why now all of a sudden?” Isagi quirked up a brow. 

“Yeah, usually you don’t attack this late” 

It was true, Bachira wasn’t one to feel to energized at night, much less disturb his loved ones. But tonight, something in him told him to do it. He wasn’t sure how to explain it. It was more than just tickling them for fun, Bachira wanted to show them love, and this was the best way he knew how to. By making them laugh. But how was he supposed to explain all that in mere words?

“Well, uhh…” the brunnette’s voice trailed off as his eyes darted all over the room, trying to find anythint to avert their attention. But before that, he was suddenly pulled down by two pairs of strong arms. Having successfully been squished between the two boys, his back against Rin’s chest and his fron against Isagi’s.

“Since you won’t talk, how about a taste of your own medicine?” Rin whispered against his ear. Even though his voice was usually monotone, there was a slight hint of playfulness behind it that Bachira couldn’t miss. The tease made his cheeks instantly flare up.

“Oh? Is our cute tickle monster flustered at the thought of being tickled?~” Isagi was now overtaken by his confident persona, much to Bachira’s dismay.

Before the brunnette could get a peep out, Rin started working his way around his neck, while Isagi was gently spidering all over his tummy and sides.

“Eep! Ehehehehe! Guhuhuys..!” he squeaked and giggled like a happy child. There wasn’t much room for him to squirm, which made this feel all the more flustering. Bachira did the poor choice of looking up at Isagi’s face. He felt his face turn a deeper crimson at the loving gaze the other was sending. And even though he couldn’t see Rin-chan’s face, the way he was holding him so closely was all that Bachira needed to know that they too loved him back. 

___________________________________________

[stgosupremacy]

MY SATOGOU GOODBYE RANT.

so yeah i said i would do one so here i am. honestly dont know how long this will be so let's get stuck in lmao <33

I'm starting after the 'im glad i met you part', bc i kind of already did a post on that anyway lol (and just wanted to add, in the dub they changed it to 'I'm sure glad i met you,' and Ash says it so soft omg i literally died on the spot watching it ;-;

(headsup ignore the fact some of the images are off a youtube channel i couldn't find the scenes💀)

so i hope this is all in order, but this bit is so so SO sweet when Goh tells him 'thanks for reaching out for me' like no surprise i was literally crying at that point like sgdxkjnfsgf it's so sweet to me that without Ash none of his journey would have really happened, but tbf you could say the same for all of his companion tbh. either way, i am very glad goh met satoshi too omg <3 🥺

theennnnnn this part is Ash just offering some sweet words of advice and comfort, talking ab their dreams ect, like, nothing too bittersweet to see here, but i guess you can say the way he said 'WE' and meant both of them is sweet lmao

OK so on the palm of our hands thing i have a few things to say

first of all i love how Ash knew that he knew what to continue with bc they are just so in sync with each other ofc <3 and OFC they had to put that scene in for the last episode, like when it was in the Mewto episode for the first time, i was honestly screaming of how cute it was LIKE THE FACT ASH MADE THE LITTLE ADD ON OF 'OUR HANDS' IN THE FIRST TIME THEY DID IT JUST MAKES IT EVEN MORE CUTER EJHSKF

but anyways as much as i love this scene because of how 'the future is in the palm of our hands', can be interpreted in some otherways, 👀 I also couldnt help but thing about something else.

after/before the Project mew stuff actually started/finished (pretty sure it was after,) we see a scene of Goh, Gary and Horace using the 'palm of our hands' phrase together, and yeah its rlly cute lmao, but i was kind of hoping it was something unique for Ash and Goh, not trying to be a fusspot, but i think the scene now feels slightly less special to me now Goh used it with some other people?

I mean sure, ash and goh were still the first people who did it, and it IS their kind of thing lmao, like they created it. Even tho it was just an initial thought, it is still really sweet that goh used it with others don't get me wrong <3

when i was watching this i was like no way this is it lol like are you not gonna confess

jokes but thankfully they made a bittttt more to it (and good bc if they left it there I would be sitting there like what)

so they start to walk away from each other and you see Goh is still quite sad while Ash is still holding up, my heart was dying </3

STOP IT WHEN GOH STOPPED AND HE WAS ABOUT TO CRY AAAAAAAAAA 🥺🥺🥺

BUT OFC

OFC ASH HAS TO CALL OUT TO HIM AND THE WAY GOH'S EYES HAVE THE LITTLE SPARKLE WHEN HE HEARS HIS VOICE 💖 The fact Ash actually thought while he was walking away 'oh shit need to check up on the bf' lol and climbed up the little hill to wave him off again is the cutest thing; CANNOT CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE this made their whole goodbye for me tbh 💕💕💕

SUPPORTIVE BROS FOR REAL <3

ofc they want each other to achieve their dreams aww

ok but THIS

the bit where they nod at each other is so comforting to me like it's weird, but it gave me a little more satisfaction i'll say, lmao. also gives you a hint that they are wrapping up the goodbyes fully so it gave me some very brief preparation time 😢

and with that, Goh runs off into the distance.

</3 (my boy has grown up sm) 🥺

OK i do love that when he runs off, he's more confident, and when it switches back to Ash, it has him watching over Goh until he can't see him anymore, which is rlly cute <333 ahhh they're so pure man

Ash runs off to his new journey too, and he begins to talk about Pallet Town to Pikachu...

Thats it

yeah

SOOOOO BASICALLY THIS IS MORE OF THE RANT SECTION:

uhmmm so first things first. Did i like the goodbye for them? Well, yeah, it was quite cute, especially the end part where Ash gives him that last bit of encouragement and called out his name, because SHEESH if they left that part out and gave them that first goodbye without Ash calling out to him, and they just left each other....yeah, i wouldn't be happy.

see, i just kind of thought they deserved a bit better. It was v cute and all, but like they've been through so much together 😭 😭 😭 😭 like I'm saying this as a shipper but still 😂 tbf if they hugged I probably would have cried but let's be honest I could cry at anything at this point

but hey what we got was pretty cute, I just would have tweaked some things because honesty this duo are literally the closest I've ever seen in the anime, and I would have hoped for a little bit more, BUT IT'S FINE IT HAPPENED *mentally counts*

9 MONTHS AGO (??? where has the time gone)

but thank you for coming to my TED talk <33

[m1ckeyb3rry]

I’m ngl I just scrolled through your blog to look at your “controversial takes” posts to find those haters wait was it the Rin additional time one because bro the age gap might not be big but the maturity one is…like especially with Rin and how he acts too omg

Bro the itoshi sibling angst was never that deep im ngl i never thought it was super sad or anything either i mean it doesn’t help that i didn’t care much for them but when you think about it its just two brothers beefing like yeah it sucks because they once had a nice relationship but i mean id arguably say i think kaisers backstory is sadder than that and i don’t even care about kaiser either…idk there’s also something off about when they did get along im not really sure how to explain it but I don’t find anything special about it either so uh

NO FR im crying at the craziness in their profiles KIYORA AND THE TWINS AND THE ASS WASHING??? WHAT aikus had me SENDING like bro being like “i like drinking! Oh haha i mean I WILL love drinking…when im 20….and of age….nope never drank before hahahahaahahah” it’s so Aiku I’ve seen people going insane over the “finding playmates” response too and HES THE MIDDLE CHILD BETWEEN TWO SISTERS just like otoya i fr read that and lost my mind like what are their sisters doing and why aren’t they teaching them respect LMFAO kuronas is so cute wdym he’d bring his hedgehog with him as his only thing to a deserted island im crying also the saga of hioris celebrity crush had me losing it from “congrats to her marriage” to “she inspired my broken bone fetish” WHAT I fr can’t wait for more tabieitaken Barou crumbs though im surprised this is all out so early!!

Oh yeah me neither LMAOO like we don’t even see bro later idgaf I also can’t imagine him playing that important of a role the main story either I also feel like chigiris injury would only happen again in the World Cup or something not mid nel so…..

CRYING FR PNGLOCK agreed at least the pngs were drawn nicely for the most part but the animation and like the effects they added to try and make it look better had me laughing maybe they’ll sneak in more Karasu scenes in the u20 match at least we’ll have a couple moments of him facing against sae plus the Rin and Shidou carding thing LOL

LMAOO epinagi fr cooking with Karasu but we seriously need more panels of him in circulation because you’re so right

AHAHSG TAKE YOUR TIME LMAOOOO omg brief touching grass moment I know the feeling LOL

Also wait Karasu x WHO NOW?? SUKUNA???????? This reminds me of that era of Sukuna and hello kitty or Cinderella or something what the

- Karasu anon

LMAOAO PLS I POST SO MUCH that’s some dedication fr…although what else should i expect from resident goat karasu anon SDKLJF 😭 anyways i try not to vague post or get into drama or anything so i won’t say which post i was referencing in specific but considering how synced up we are let it suffice to say that if you found something silly during your scrolling that’s probably what i meant HAHAHAHA

OH MY GOD OKAY THANK YOU tbh angst in blue lock is so hit or miss for me like sometimes i’m just like okay was it really ever that deep…it’s not to devalue people irl who have experiences like that and have it impact them but like in fiction i’m just like ok??? i think the only backstories that have genuinely made me feel sad have been kaiser’s, lorenzo’s, and snuffy’s literally NO one else made me mega emo (reo and hiori get honorable mentions because i feel bad for them but it’s not ANGSTY to me yk?? idk maybe to me it’s not angst without death literally looming in the background SLDKJF perhaps that’s a mira problem) and yeah ofc part of it is that i’m not rlly an itoshi stan like that but kaiser is also a part of the core four opps and i found his backstory really sad so i truly do think it’s just a personal preference thing idk

KIYORA HAD ME GASPINGGGG lowkey he’s so funny i bet he was just saying all of that with such a straight face too…truly king of goofiness i have no choice but to support LMAOAOOA omg aiku’s had me cracking up he’s actually lowkey real this is just further proof that he would be a really fun bestie SDKLFJSD like he’s just chill with truly anything…nah because the bllk phenomenon of one older and one younger sister + absolute villainy MUST be studied!! actually wait i think kunigami disproves that because he’s nice but still 2/3 is not a great look 😭 KURONA AND HIS HEDGEHOG HAD ME CRYING PLS the way it was just called hedgehog number two the entire time…okay hold on when i read that hiori had a fetish for “fractured” girls i thought it was more of like an “i like girls who are traumatized and broken” in an #icanfixthem way not him actually being into broken bones HAHAH it’s insane either way though

yeah exactly that’s the one thing w epinagi being so far behind is that so many things lose their hype because we know how it ends…imagine how much more fun team tabieita vs team nagi would be if we didn’t know that nagi wins and they steal kiyora?? honestly i find myself enjoying the epinagi chapters more so i do sometimes wish that there was that element of surprise that bllk main manga can pull off…but anyways yeah agreed i would be surprised if they injure chigiri already ig anything’s possible but who knows

AHAHAHA PRAYINGGGG WE GET GOOD KARASU SCENES IN U20 however at least my nagi and barou sides will be fed well hehe anyways yeah the effects lowkey had me giggling ik everyone’s taking it seriously and crashing out but like i’m chilling it’s just not that deep it’s like reading the manga but i get to hear karasu’s fine ass voice instead of having to imagine it yk

BRO HOLD ON HERE’S THE LINK I NEED SOMEONE ELSE TO SEE THIS 😓 i was literally so taken aback like where did this even come from??? the sukuna x cinderella (and in fact all of the disney x jjk) stuff was really random but at least disney princesses are like relevant to pop culture?? i’m so confused at how KARASU got involved SDKLFJSD idk who the og artist is either but it’s like VERY OBVIOUSLY karasu omg i wish i was there irl to see your reaction it’s just the most bizarre thing (but like i said…if that’s what the artist is into good for them ig)

HELP OKAY i finally finished i just need to proofread and then post!! i lowkey might fall asleep beforehand though so who knows if it’ll actually be posted soon or not we’ll see LMAOAOAO but anyways i will be freed at last ngl it’s kinda ass but oh well it is what it is

[natashasbitxh]

The anon that send you about how they aren't that close as friends and how they always dance around each other's. Wow anon I adore you.

That's exactly, it's there. But I was calling it the wall, like they put a wall on each other's, as if they cannot comprehend what the other is thinking but at the same time they're actually so similar. I have to say, yesterday I watched a lot of the old videos and that helped me to kind of understand this journey they are.

At first Chance wasn't afraid to look at him, he would always take an opportunity to said something to flirt, as a character or with a comment (this is important for the future).

In some videos, Shayne would be surprised how he would relate to whatever Chance has to said, an opinion or liking and then, it started slowly. Them laughing at the other jokes, also the looks came more from Chance, Shayne didn't looked that much like he was afraid of looking idk.

But the more vids later, probably like the challenge pit or the reddit one's, Shayne will be looking at Chance when he talked, I mean he was talking to everyone but he would look to Chance directly. You can see in his eyes to what direction he's was looking at.

The way he feel attacked by Mr. Peanut. The way he actually was the only one that new it was Chance secret about sleeping with a katana, for me it shows, they were actually paying more attention to the other in a silent way, by looks and listening to the other. Oh darling they would listen as if it is the most important thing.

And yet for some reason, if you see a video of them from those times and one from this times, you couldn't see any difference in the fact that they still don't know how to properly idk have like a banter. But I do feel like they understand the other more.

For example Chance doesn't flirt anymore, at least not like in the first vids, it shows he understands maybe or he just has a different mindset. To be honest I can't put into words how it is this way they interact. 'Cause Shayne it's looking a lot, but he doesn't try to be close, they just trying to see what the other is doing, like admiring from far away.

As is they are afraid of the other in a good way. I feel like they would get lost in a conversation about why they feel the same thing about a topic, and yet that would be it.

They laugh at the other's jokes more freely, they aren't super friends or anything, but maybe this will only show how great of a duo they could be, I know that Shayne is an easy person to make him laugh, but let's be honest here, nobody does it like Chance.

Another thing I would totally write is how in the theater video, you just can see how they don't know how to properly act in the scene, like yes they are acting those parts, but I do feel the emotions of just wanting to run away from both of them, they don't know how to properly act that way. It's uncomfortable in an interesting way I would say 🤨 not in a bad or good day, just curious.

I would be watching more videos, if I found where they shift I'll share it with you.

This was the closest I could get to show how I see them.

no truly, I love my anons sm u rlly come up with mind-blowing stuff!

yh, the wall makes sm sense! I rlly see it! And yes their journey is so interesting to me! U can rlly see them getting closer!!

and Chanse is such a bold person and outgoing, so I feel like he found it fun to be like that in and out of character!

everything you just said, I agree! It's been like a visible gradual build up, whether it's platonic or not!

yes, we talk abt Chanse looking all the time but Shayne has rlly started to be heavy with the eye contact too! And ur so right for saying the reddit and challenge pit vids because those r some strong lowkey shaynse vids.

OMG THANK YOU FOR REMINDING ME OF THAT!!! I completely forgot Shayne guessed correctly that it was Chanse, like he pointed at him and everything and then when it was revealed he was so mad he was right but wasn't listened too😭

I would definitely say they are visibly closer then earlier videos but yh I guess there's still that same little bit of hesitance

yh I get what you mean, a lot of admiring. And they rlly do give each other their full attention!

Well you saying abt them getting lost in a topic just reminds me of that one vid where they get lost in a convo abt nature documentaries! Like, another case of them unknowingly having something in common!

yes, Shayne rlly does laugh at Chanse! And honestly Chanse rlly laughs at Shayne too! Like before he even gets to the punchline (yes this is abt the Queen Nefertiti joke)

Them in the theater vid is so interesting to see! Just this sorta awkward vibe especially from Shayne, it's like he doesn't know what to do!

tysm for sharing ur thoughts, I always love to read them!!

[magnolia-miraculous]

M. Dupain-Cheng (aka Ladybug) Headcanons <3

Honestly she’s just a lil clumsy dummy and I love her lol. Nothing more to say, just that.

She used to do ballet when she was little. She was in the same class as Chloé (and Adrien). She used to make fun of her for being clumsy however, and this transferred over into academic school.

She really likes tea. Jasmine’s her favorite.

She also really likes gardening; she hangs out at a garden top building she knows a lot.

I retcon that a lot of the plants she has growing on her roof are actually herbs and stuff.

Lots and lots of basil.

She knows flower language and has a few books on it.

She rlly loves candles but barely ever lights them so she’s got this huge assortment of brand new candles sitting around in her room.

Tbh she does this a lot.

She has a huge collection of stationary that she never uses. She just has to get them when she sees them.

She has gel pens and post-it’s and stickers galore. It can’t be constituted but she does.

Also doesn’t really color traditionally often; she just does a lot of sketching and drawing in pen and pencil for the most part.

On the other hand, she’s an expert at digital color.

Did y’all see the Jagged Stone album??

Her parents didn’t let her have a sewing machine until she was like 12 bc yikes automated sharp thing.

Thus, she’s rlly good at sewing by hand.

There was a long period however where nearly all of her fingers were constantly covered in bandaids bc she kept sticking herself; she could have just used thimbles but honestly they just made it rlly hard.

At one point she figured out that preliminarily putting on bandaids prevented any sort of actual hurt and she began to do so, replacing the ones that had fallen off each time she went to sew again.

She’ll stick her tongue out when she’s concentrated on drawing or will make the facial expression she’s trying to portray.

Really good at pretty much anything creative that she tries her hand at. Drawing? Great. Fashion? The best. Jewelry making? Like a pro.

She uses mascara and gets into using different colors like pink n stuff.

Eyeliner that could kill a man.

She still has all of her old stuffed animals bc she was too attached to them to give them away.

She doesn’t really listen to rap music too much but she can rap rlly rlly fast which is a surprise given how much she stutters n stuff.

She can wrap the entirety of fergalicious on request.

Both of her parents unironically listen to bring me to life by evanescence and it’s subtlely driving her insane.

She’s French, Italian, and Chinese, but is like 4% aware of her own cultures.

Like, she’s not entirely French but she has no idea what’s going on in the Italian and Chinese scenes rn?? The cultural identity crisis is real lmao.

Also she calls it “patsa”. She couldn’t pronounce it as a kid for some reason and never bothered to stop. Her parents think it’s funny.

Also also Marinette is the daughter of the best baker in Paris but she’d give an arm and a leg for Little Debbie’s cakes and Hostess snacks (like zebra cakes and cosmic brownies and cherry pies and marshmallow/cream filled crap).

She eats a lot of them as of becoming ladybug bc she can afford to tbh.

Her parents chalk it up to puberty + the runs she’s been going on lately.

Hint: the runs are to cover up how she’s actually getting as fit as she is.

Sometimes Forgets to Hide her Strength and will Pick Up people or Heavy Things.

Adrien would be embarrassed to admit that he actually liked it when Marinette Carried him once.

The class secretly shares photos of her Forgetting and Picking Up.

Also, after becoming Ladybug, for some reason, flowers and plants seem to be a lot easier to care for now.

She could forget to water her basil for a week and it’s still as big and bright as ever??

This bouquet should have wilted two weeks ago?? Cut flowers literally never last this long??

Those weren’t supposed to bloom for another two weeks?? Those weren’t supposed to bloom at all??

She’s basically her own little cell tower too. Need a better connection? Go stand by Marinette.

Flexibility is insane. Also reflexes.

If you catch her by surprise, you will be thrown.

Marinette will literally talk shit abt Chat Noir and then someone will simply agree with a lil mhm or a yeah and she’ll turn around and give dozens of counterpoints to what she was just saying two seconds ago and absolutely go for the throat and slaughter them for ever even thinking about saying anything bad about Chat Noir like that like the audacity.

She keeps all the flowers he gives her as Ladybug and presses them and puts them in this giant, heavy ahh archaic lookin book she has lying around.

Tbh even she doesn’t know where it came from but yk, flowers :)

No but actually she doesn’t question it nearly as much as she should.

Or at all. Marinette what is that thing.

We all know that she thinks of her role as Ladybug and her powers as a responsibility more so than an escape like Adrien does, but I like to think that at some point (maybe after the Santa Claws incident?), she loosens up about it and begins to understand Chat’s pov on the miraculous. Obviously, she still thinks of it as something not for personal use, but she’s more open to wandering.

Sometimes when she can’t sleep (particularly because of superhero-related stress), she’ll sneak out to find a nice place to sit and look out on the city, letting the drowned-out ambience lull her to sleep.

Sometimes on cold nights, she’ll bring a blanket or a jacket or something. She also likes bringing her sketchbook.

She’s more than once awoken to the sun on her face, on the roof of a building after accidentally dozing off and had to rush home.

We love her 💞💞 ok that’s it, bye.

[timothylawrence]

OK P4 thoughts.... now that it's been like 18 hours...

overall... solid 8.5/10. i loveee murder mysteries

the dynamic between the characters carried the game more than anything

multiple moments where I laughed out loud so s/o to the writers

AND despite guessing the big twist from day one, I was pleasantly surprised by various other twists and turns in the story so yay :)

never before has a silent protagonist literally swayed my heart in such a way Yu Narukami you are my angelll

ok spoiler-y review below :)

okay. serious review time but keep in mind im fasting so like these are the rambles from that. i'll start with the positives :)

did not believe jordan when she said i would be adopting these children by the end yet here i am. every single character you met had such a sweet and profound relationship and dynamic with one another... it was so so sweet. truly the high point of the game is how the characters interact. Yukiko and Chie, Rise and Naoto, Rise and Yu, Teddie and Yosuke, Naoto and Kanji... even Yosuke and Yu..... like they were all so so so wonderfully crafted with one another... AND RISE WAS THE SHINING STARRRRR

Dojima and Nanako.... the way i thought they wouldn't have such a big role and then by the end i was crying . yeah. big bro . i love u .

I KNEW IT WAS ADACHI!!!! I LITERALLY CALLED IT FROM DAY ONE!!! DAY ONE!!!! I just couldnt stick why he was choosing the teenagers,.... hence why the twist with Namatane was so fucking good. S/O to Jordan and Fil who had to listen to me scream about how he was the killer without being able to shut me up.

Okay but in all seriousness Teddie becoming human was like the wildest part of the game like did no one else go ??

The soundtrack bangs. to be expected.

Yosuke's SL was my favorite... i dont know how teary eyed i got but whew. it was teary. the ending scene on the grass... yea... yea...

man. the icon. the star. Yu Narukami. I NEVER thought I would like the protagonist, at least not more than "he's cool", and yet by the end I was more sad than anything to say goodbye to him!!! i had so much joy playing as him, he was so funny, so loyal, his dialogue options we're just phenomenal. He felt like a real character in his own world despite never even talking. I think I'll miss him the most/

ok time for the bad stuff:

okay like atlus why do you do this thing where you create such a good amazing storyline about humanity and what makes you you only to drop the ball and opt to make things creepy or some form of phobic !!! like WHY!!!!!!!

Kanji's treatment was actually vileeeee . I hate how they chickened out in the last moment because instead of having a whole discussion abt homophobia internalized and otherwise you've just created a homophobic ass arc in the game that serves no purpose. like UGH. just go the full mile!!! go !!! let him understand there's nothing wrong wit him being gay!!! stop backing out!! You quite literally would've had a near perfect arc if you just went that extra mile and didn't make things weird !!!

also naoto........ don't even wanna trudge into the discourse here but he/him Naoto is where I stand idk. his story kinda felt really similar to my own when i was in my teens but... again...Atlus...

hey atlus can you make ONE game where there isn't 10 scenes of teenage boys being creeps or has some form of teenage fan service. please.

rlly sucks that i cant reccommend this game without caveats because atlus is.... ugh. but yes. i did enjoy it. it has some moments that are genuinely uncomfortable and made me go :///. but i can fix things as is my will as a writer etc etc.

yeah i think thats what i have for now. i loved playing this game but i think i'll love thinking abt it and plotting even more..... <33333

[cubedmango]

Yeah I saw that too which is definitely an explanation that makes sense but also makes me so sad because a lot of the blame fell onto machida and akaso for that and at least from what i’ve seen and know about them it looks a lot more likely to be their/one of their agencies… I always want to pull my hair out too because seriously men getting married yeah chief that’s about as gay as it gets but a little peck on the lips is where the line gets drawn):£: and then I wonder how it works too cause even with that scene in the drama with kurosawa’s imagination in ep 9 when they were literally in bed like man that was a big fuckin step up in terms of any physicality between them which made me wonder like okay that was fine but again actually having a visible kiss wasn’t? I just don’t understand and when the director was asked about the whole no on-screen kiss thing he said it was to put more emphasis on their ‘emotional bond’ like what😭 idk nothing really adds up but some homophobic entity pulling the strings behind them unfortunately seems to have all arrows pointing at them it really is kinda :// tho cause I loooove the movie and the beach scene but also wish so much wasn’t taken away from it cause seriously imagining that part from the manga in live action form especially knowing how much of amazing actors they are is so crazy I would have killed a man for that💔

(putting second ask below for length!)

Ah naina there’s some unconfirmed tea which you can choose to post if you want to or not idm!! Some ppl have been digging into it and think that it’s tri-stone akaso’s company and it honestly makes sense from the promotion of the movie and how the release was treated on their side for example their official account was basically silent the whole time which is super weird because for his other roles they post about them regularly and retweet the promos but for a movie where their client like that’s your actor!! was literally the main character they were radio silent?? and in fact this was during the time hiru was airing and they posted about that almost every day but barely a word about cherry magic… and even weirder on his paid for fansite thing eawd at the end of every production they post a picture with akaso and his costars but there wasn’t one with him and machida… there’s so much more I’m gonna have to go back and look for it if you want but it’s just so ????? To me

the thing abt akasos agency is actually the exact thing i saw, i didnt have any way of checking it for myself so i couldnt confirm it but if its true that explains . basically everything ?? and its so dumb too bc if theyre so intent on being homophobic why did they even let him not only act in the drama but also come back for the movie ???? like were they expecting the levels of gay to go down or what 😐 and not doing promotion for ur own actors work just bc its a queer role is ??? extremely fucked up first of all but also theyre just losing out on money themselves so ??? who knows whats going on in their brains lol

either way to me it feels like neither the actors nor crew did this stuff on their own bc the way they handled the drama+movie doesnt match at all, they wrote and acted krdcs story v carefully and respectfully without that typical baiting and pandering, and also making fujisaki aroace when she wasnt in the manga and giving her so much depth too shows they did care abt the queer rep so i doubt theyd have any problems with the kissing and all themselves ? sensei even supervised the whole thing and donated movie proceeds to marriage for all so it rlly doesnt add up that any of the crew involved would be the one opposing stuff like this .. wouldnt be surprised if it was actually those agencies or even the network higher-ups doing all this, and the actors getting blamed for it is such bs too but alas its easier to pin it on them than admit theres a more systemic homophobia at play, and fans will usually fall for any random rumor and take is as truth so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[projectdivaar]

finally finished A Study In Scarlet :3

(review (??) under the cut :3)

I actually rlly liked it (way more than a study in pink might I add)!!

i was initially very confused @ the start of pt 2 w/ the mormons?? but as it came 2 a close I found myself enjoying it and was honestly hoping that hope would have killed drebber + stangerson in the mountains earlier (but I was also counting the pages till it went back 2 watson). I didn't like John all that much but w/e. still quite enjoyed the story with him n Lucy anyways. (I actually kinda liked lucy 2).

I liked sherlock way more in this (shocker) (conan doyle can actually write, unlike some guys ik), he actually felt like a Human Guy. he'll probably just get more annoying as I get thru the novels/stories, but from this novels characterisation, he was enjoyable to read. I looked forward 2 hearing his deductions than absolutely dreading them, like I did in 1 particular TV series.

watson was a little annoying, but its tolerable. he was right when he called London a cesspool (I've never been 2 london). his most major L was being a soldier (gigantic L). tbh he felt like sherlocks own oc he inserted 2 b like "wow ur so cool". he didn't speak 4 scenes @ a time and I'd only remember he was there coz it'd end w/ sherlock saying "cmon let's go watson". gayass.

very much enjoyed wiggins. didn't enjoy how the others spoke of him. but in those moments, I have 2 remember this novel was written in like 1887 and set in 1870. I still don't enjoy it, but nthn I can do.

DIDNT enjoy the multiple monologues that were half/three quarters a chapter long. sherlock had 1 an hope had 1 an Gregson had 1 and there were 2 many 4 one novel. what the fuck. does no1 kno how 2 b consice.

overall, I quite enjoyed it. surprised it took me this long 2 go ahead an read it. 7/10, excited 2 read the sign of four.