#txt mystery

[yourfantasyfigures]

The Name Chapter: Temptation

Masterlist Info AO3

The moment he closed his eyes, he could feel that something had changed.

Words: 2251 (one shot) [completed]

Tags & Warnings: TW at the end of the post as it would be a spoiler.

Genre: elements of fanstasy, mystery, slight angst and friendship fluff [No reader insert, no romance/sex]

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the tags/warnings, feel free to contact me. Please let me know if I'm missing any tags.

Likes, reblogs and especially comments/messages are very appreciated.

Do not repost or translate without permission.

Further notes & disclaimers: info post

Taglist: @jswizzledizzle

Shoot me an ask/message if you want on or off the list (or only on for specific groups or fics)

Devil By The Window

Yeonjun awoke from a scratching noise.

At first, he had brushed it off as just a part of his imagination, the sound perfectly blending into his dream. He began twisting and turning in his bed as the scratching got louder, unease taking over his body.

Then, the scratching stopped.

Tap tap tap tap tap

It had now turned into a tapping noise, louder than the scratching had been, growing more persistent as time went on.

Finally, it had gotten too loud, too irregular.

Though his dream ebbed away, the tapping remained, unrelenting.

Yeonjun opened his left eye, peeking towards the source of the sound.

The tapping stopped as his sight landed on a bright figure, so bright that his tired eye couldn't make out any defining features. The figure was by his window, and though Yeonjun knew he should be alarmed by an intruder in the night, he didn't feel like he had to be. He felt uncomfortable, yes, but not unsafe. Something about the figure led him to continue laying still in his bed, one eye slowly blinking.

"Yeonjun"

Yeonjun's body tensed.

"I can take you to the place you've been dreaming of" the voice spoke.

Yeonjun didn't dare react.

"You will experience what you've been craving, what you've been begging for every night before you go to sleep."

Yeonjun mustered up the courage to reply.

"That's impossible" he croaked.

"It's not. I'm granting you one afternoon until the late evening."

"What's the catch?" Yeonjun mumbled, still drowsy.

"There's no catch, as long as you return in the night. If you don't, I can't help you. Now relax, close your eyes." Yeonjun caught a glimpse of the figure moving towards him as he followed the instructions.

The moment he closed his eyes, he could feel that something had changed.

Sugar Rush Ride

His sense of hearing was first to return.

There was a loud sound, constant, with a rhythm to it, but Yeonjun could not place it.

Then, he felt a poking sensation on his cheek, a slightly uncomfortable surface scratching at his skin.

Then, something was shaking his shoulder, quickly raising him from his slumber.

"Yeonjun"

Yeonjun opened his eyes, the bright sunlight blinding him for a moment.

"Come on, the others are getting ready to leave."

Finally, Yeonjun could make out the face of the person talking to him.

"Beomgyu... what is- where" he looked around, his view clearing up every time he blinked. He looked around.

The sun shined brightly in the clear blue sky, blinding Yeonjun. Shielding his eyes, he took in where he was. Blue waves, calm and rhythmical, sand underneath his fingertips.

Beomgyu who was standing in front of him impatiently gestured for him to get up.

"They're already all the way over there, stop sleeping!"

Yeonjun followed Beomgyu's gesturing hands, his eyes landing on three figures, walking towards the trees that had grown a few feet away.

"Beomgyu, is that..."

"Soobin, Kai, Taehyun. Let's go, I don't know how much time we have."

"But-"

"Come on"

Dragging Yeonjun up by his right arm, Beomgyu pulled him towards the others.

There was a cottage that appeared if you walked past three rows of trees, one Yeonjun had never seen before.

Before he could ask any questions, Taehyun had already opened the door, welcoming the others in.

"Water, herb tea or orange juice, what do you want?"

The other four looked at each other for a moment before Huening Kai spoke up first.

"Orange juice, please"

Soobin followed, asking for the same, while Yeonjun took up the offer of drinking tea, Beomgyu decided to stick to water.

When Taehyun disappeared to the kitchen to fetch the drinks, Yeonjun turned to the others.

"Am I- is this- Am I out of my mind?"

The others barely reacted, though Yeonjun could spot Soobin shaking his head in the corner of his eye.

"No? Ok. So this... this is strange, right?"

"It's not" Huening Kai replied before Yeonjun could finish his question.

"We're at the beach. We went to the beach, like, five times before this."

"But-"

"Do we not go to the beach together?" Kai's voice was low, but it didn't sound necessarily calm.

"Well yes, but-"

"Then it's normal that we're at the beach together. Nothing is strange."

Taehyun reentered the room, carrying in a tray of drinks for the others along with tea for himself.

Happy Fools

Taehyun's cottage was beautiful, simply being inside filled Yeonjun with a sense of comfort he wanted to bask in.

The white flowers that decorated the tables and windowsills were especially eye-catching, he wasn't sure but something about them instilled a feeling of familiarity in him.

When he asked Taehyun about them, he just shrugged, answering that they were called Chrysanthemum, though he couldn't remember where he got them.

Their conversation ended there, Yeonjun's attention instead shifting onto Beomgyu who was urging them to finish their drinks and go back outside again.

Outside, Kai turned to the others with a glint in his eye.

"That patch with the pink flowers!"

Barely having finished his sentence he started running towards the goal he had set in the distance. Taehyun followed immediately after, quickly catching up to the youngest of the bunch. Beomgyu, who had been caught off for a second too long, trailed behind, though the distance between him and the other two was considerably big.

Yeonjun turned to Soobin who was still walking in a regular walking pace next to Yeonjun.

"Where's your competitive spirit, Soobin? Don't you usually join in?"

Soobin kicked something that was at his feet, Yeonjun assumed it must have been some stick or rock of some sort.

"Why aren't you joining? Weren't you the one who originally started this game?"

Yeonjun shrugged, thinking about his next answer.

"I don't know, Soobin."

"Me neither."

The oldest couldn't meet the other's eyes.

"Why doesn't that make me feel any better? Or worse?"

"I don't know, Yeonjun. I want to throw myself into it but I'm scared I'll ruin it."

"Yeah"

They were silent for a few second before Soobin's head snapped up.

"But there's no way I'm losing against you"

In a blink he had set off, leaving Yeonjun behind.

When Yeonjun finally caught up with the others, they were already comfortably laying inbetween the pink flowers, waiting for Yeonjun to arrive.

Kai, his head resting on Taehyun's stomach, blinked up at him.

"You're so slow."

"And you're childish"

Yeonjun flicked Kai's forehead, then let his own head rest on Kai's stomach.

"Kai might be childish but at least he's not old", Beomgyu pointed out.

"I'm two years older than you, that's not exactly retirement age."

"I wouldn't be too sure... is that a gray hair?"

Yeonjun squeezed his eyes shut as though that could help with tuning out Beomgyu's teasing.

Comfortable silence fell over the five.

"What do you guys think about Peter Pan?"

Beomgyu was first to respond. "What do you mean, Taehyun? As a story? I guess I liked it as a kid, I don't really remember it now."

Soobin chimed in: "Or like Peter as in the character? Cause he was kind of annoying."

"No, not that" Taehyun replied.

"As a concept. Being young forever. Never growing up."

Nobody answered at first.

"I mean" Yeonjun cleared his throat. "It doesn't make sense. You always grow up, even if your body somehow doesn't mature. You don't grow up because your body develops a certain way or because you hit a certain age, you grow up because you exist. So even Peter can't never grow up."

"But that's where Neverland comes in. It is possible there." was Taehyun's rebuttal.

"I guess so." Yeonjun responded, once again letting silence surround them.

"Would you want to go there?" Taehyun asked.

"Neverland?" Beomgyu thought for a second.

"Maybe. I don't know. For a while. I would try to enjoy it while it lasts, regardless where I was."

"What about you guys?"

After hesitating for a second, Huening Kai gave his answer.

"If I knew Peter, I would. If he was my friend and I knew he would stick by me, I think so."

"I think the idea sounds nice but it wouldn't be in reality." Soobin said. "You wouldn't know who's there and how long you can stay and what you should do. And you can't take everyone with you."

"That's true" Taehyun replied. "Forever young sounds great but I would never want to leave everyone behind."

Nobody replied after that, the sound of waves in the distance.

"Kai?"

Taehyun's voice sounded insecure, only slightly louder than a whisper.

"What are... are you crying?"

Taehyun and Yeonjun quickly sat up, looking at the youngest's face. Kai brought up his hands to hide his tears but it was too late.

"What's wrong?" Taehyun asked, worried.

Kai shook his head, silent sobs making his body tremble violently. He turned, his face now buried in Taehyun's stomach, his arms tightly wrapping around his body.

Yeonjun reached over, patting the youngest's head softly.

"Kai, what's wrong?" Taehyun asked, but he still didn't get an answer.

Yeonjun's eyes met Soobin's who gave him a light smile, his own eyes seeming to well up.

"You know you can always talk to me, right?" Taehyun asked softly.

Kai sat up, looking at Taehyun with bloodshot eyes.

He hesitated for a moment, contemplating, then hastily got up, turning around and quickly walking away.

When Taehyun was about to follow him, Yeonjun stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "I got it. You guys stay here."

Tinnitus

Kai hadn't run far, Yeonjun could easily spot him leaning against a tree.

Yeonjun leaned against the tree in front of Kai, facing him, though the younger avoided his eyes.

They stood in silence, letting the sounds of nature calm them down.

"What if-" Kai's voice was weak. "What if we don't go back?" Kai asked, eyes still fixated on the ground.

Yeonjun brought his hands up to his face and took a deep breath.

"Kai, no."

Finally, Kai looked at him.

"Why not? Do you really think I can let go now?"

Yeonjun took a step forward.

"I understand, Kai, you know I do. But we can't. You don't know if you can even stay or where you would go and just- just think. What that would mean. What it would really mean."

Kai squeezed his eyes shut.

"But... but..."

He drifted off, knowing it was fruitless.

"Listen, okay?" Yeonjun fixed Kai's hair. "We'll take a deep breath, go back and enjoy it. Say what we want to say, do what we want to do. And when it's time, it's time. Let's make the most of it, okay?"

Kai reached out to take Yeonjun's hand, squeezing it once and then let go.

He looked up and nodded.

Nobody asked any questions when the two returned, simply scooching over so they could sit in a circle.

Kai decided to lay down again, resting his head on Taehyun's thigh and absent-mindedly playing with the fingers of his right hand.

The five talked with no end, Beomgyu, as always, making the others laugh who themselves couldn't resist the challenge of getting back at him with a teasing joke of their own.

They spoke about their families, recalled memories and told anecdotes they had all heard before.

Yeonjun could not recall the last time the five of them sat together like this, peaceful and happy.

The sun had set a while ago and darkness replaced it's shining light.

That's when Yeonjun heard it.

Scratch scratch- scratch scratch

"No", he whispered.

Tap tap tap tap tap

"Please"

Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap

Yeonjun looked at the others.

"Come here"

He said, stretching out his arms and quickly making everyone gather in the middle. He pulled the others into a hug which they happily fell into. They squeezed each other tightly.

"I love you guys. And thank you for everything"

They continued to hold each other.

Yeonjun heard Kai sob.

The last thing Yeonjun saw was Beomgyu, his eyes closed.

And then-

.

.

.

Farewell, Neverland

"We just cleaned it up three days ago, how are there already so many?" Yeonjun muttered, pushing the leaves to the side.

When he was satisfied, Yeonjun opened his backpack.

"Look what I got you." He took out the small object.

"I actually bought it two weeks ago but I always forgot to give it to you. It's a snowglobe, see?" He shook the globe.

"Well, it's not really a snow globe. I guess you could call it a sand globe? It's got a beach inside. It reminded me of some of our trips together."

He watched in silence as the sand settled down.

"I'm just going to put it right here, next to the candle, okay?"

He hesitated for a moment, then set the globe down in front of the headstone.

"It looks nice, right?"

He let the silence of the graveyard envelop him for what must have been a minute.

There it was again, the feeling of tears stinging in his eyes, begging to be let out.

Yeonjun threw his head back, hoping it would stop them from coming.

"I don't know how I'm ever supposed to get used to this, Taehyun," he whispered.

Of course, there was no response. Just the contiuous rustling of leaves in the wind.

Two tears escaped Yeonjun's eyes before he managed to recompose himself.

He slowly got up.

"Last night I had a dream about you. I hope you had the same one."

*

Author's Note

This story was surprisingly therapeutic to write. When I conceptualized it I didn't even realize how much it was inspired by my own experience with grief and a hyperrealistic dream I had about that person. Because it was sometimes difficult to separate my writing from my experience and grief, I ended up changing the ending three times.

I will leave whether or not it was a dream up to you, dear reader, and am more than curious to hear your thoughts on it.

Do they experience this again? Will he talk to the others and realize it was real? Or not? I think I know my answers to these questions, but I will let you come up with your own.

Thank you for reading this story.

Posting this for the public to see feels very vulnerable, but I hope others can get something out of reading it - be it enjoyment or relating to it.

I never shared this aspect of my grieving process or even the fact that I have had a dream like this with anybody, so thank you for listening.

Likes, reblogs and messages are the only ways for me to see if someone is reading and enjoying my stories, so I would truly appreciate the feedback.

I have 4 chaptered fics half-finished and I'm excited to share them with you too, so stay tuned.

Thank you so much!

Trigger Warning for this Story: Major Character Death (only aftermath)

[phleb0tomist]

tumblr users will have the most inaccessible, unreadable, low contrast, flashing carrd you can possibly imagine, with a dni full of insider acronyms with no translation and numerous link buttons labelled with cryptic captions, and then go ahead and put “ableists dni and kys!” on that carrd

[familyabolisher]

you can really tell when someone is putting on this very cultivated affect of disgust towards a piece of media which depicts eg. rape, CSA, etc.—distinct from, you know, understandable discomfort, or like the state of being triggered or otherwise distressed by certain depictions of certain things, is this particular form of casual review-writing (goodreads letterboxd &c.) wherein the writer needs you to know that they were disgusted and horrified by this (even when speaking highly of it!) and oh my god they'll be having nightmares and they need therapy and they're telling you all this because they want to be thought of as a person of sufficiently upstanding morals such that the mere existence of media which depicts awful acts of violence shakes them to their very core. it's v insincere and v pathetic, and not at all conducive to engaging with the media in question.

[rinbylin]

莲花楼 mysterious lotus casebook ep. 27

[systemerrorbonnie]

these videos are so them coded

[djevelbl]

Quick question — how old is IM!Mugs supposed to be? Cuz in my mind he's IM!Cup's twin (even tho they're really not), yet I vividly remember this point in The Labyrinth Arc™ where IM!Cup is reminiscing about their parents and through his memory we're shown he was at the youngest a toddler when IM!Mugs was born, maybe even a little older (my headcannon is that he was 5 years old, but to each their own)

So yea. I'm very curious now (it WILL affect a story I'm making. probably at least)

[popadoot]

wilson will start a really stupid bet with house while knowing hes clinically deranged and when house DOES get out of control wilson will go out of his way to beg cuddy or foreman or anyone else to not interfere and if they refuse he will blame THEM for being too controlling or boring just to let the game continue. in conclusion i think wilson is as equally or if not more insane and maniac as house.

and to support my point he does admit it himself sometimes

[ctommy]

i miss qsmp.

[krotiation]

So like. Did we know sleeper sirens were a thing before or is this a double reveal, along with Steele's background?

[saltyfinalboss]

i love shadow wizards with no skin exposed and no visible face and a gender ambiguous design and i also love women and while in my experience those 2 things don't overlap a whole lot in the games i play , i'm very glad when it does i <3 shadow wizard women

[pishifuzul]

it's always precum this precum that nobody talks about postcum and how ANNOYING it is what do u MEAN I'm still leaking that was half an hour ago!!

[mysteryampharos]

imagine having to desperately hold out for a rescue team to go into a mystery dungeon and save you from the feral pokemon that lurk only to see that your rescuers are a pair of kids who are half your age and yet are capable of squaring up agaisnt god. whose children are these. have they even gone to school. Do they Know what school is

[squidsploitation]

another small compilation of things clogging up my screenshot folders

[amiiizuki]

somehow my thoughts right now are both

"WDYM IT'S BEEN 5 YEARS SINCE THE LAST GAME?? I THOUGHT I FIRST PLAYED IT A YEAR AGO?!?!"

and

"WDYM IT'S BEEN 5 YEARS SINCE THE LAST GAME?? I THOUGHT SALEM CAME OUT 8 YEARS AGO?!?!?"

oh, and also "WDYM THE GAME RELEASES IN 5 DAYS?? I THOUGHT IT WAS DEAD?!?"

[noblesse-raeva]

Hey don’t cry okay?

Giant spreadsheet of pokemon mystery dungeon comics…

[peri-peri-sauce]

I'm finally home and somehow well-rested so I can finally write my little paragraph about how much fun I had at the Cologne and Frankfurt gigs!

Those two days felt more like a Tumblr meetup than actual concert days 😅 I had so much fun in the queue exchanging gifts! Thank you so much for all the stickers, photocards and bracelets I received 🫶🏻

I'm so glad that I finally got to meet Jere and Jukka in Cologne. I never thought I'd meet this man in a million years, let alone while he was pantless 💀And hearing the new songs was such a treat, they were absolute bangers and I can't wait for him to release the album so I can listen to them again 😩 And I still can't believe I got to dance to Baila in Jere's TikTok that day what the fuck 😭

Also, I couldn't stop yapping to Jukka about how much I love him, his Patreon and how incredible he is as a performer and guitarist. He was smiling so much, his cheekbones were the cutest and he gave me the warmest hug ever 🥹 I was absolutely over the moon. Meeting Jere was okay too I guess 🙄 aksjfdjskhfd It was fucking amazing to meet him, and I'll never forget how his breath stunk when I got close to him 😭 but honestly I love him even more for that. You go king, pantless and with bad breath!

As for the Frankfurt gig, despite the bad weather and rain I had a blast in the queue and I got so many stickers and gifts! Also I was so fucking happy to get barricade with @mita-vittua-olivia and @arachn11da! I'll never forget how awesome this experience was 🥰

I was a little mad I didn't catch Jukka's pick even though he came up in front of me and threw it in my direction, but maybe next time I'll have better luck 😔 Also, sadly Jere didn't come out to say hi after the gig but I hope he at least got to have a good shit 🙂

Today I got a bit emo thinking about those two crazy days and I really hope I'll have the chance to go to more gigs in the future and meet y'all again! 🫶🏻