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the-fiction-witch · 4 months

Text

Just Breathe With Me

Media The Artful Dodger

Character Jack Dawkins

Couple Jack X Reader

Rating Sweet as Sugar!

Requested Can you please do a Jack Dawkins x reader who has a panic attack? ( comfort/fluff no smut ) wait omg plz do 🙏 only if you're comfortable of course

Warnings: Panic Attack In great detail! Please be careful!

I opened my eyes and was forced into this world, for a few brief seconds I enjoyed my peace until the chaos ensued.

Olivia cried in her crib, her little body in her baby clothes stood up in her crib, her hands on the top of the bars as she shook them, her face red and her eyes squeezed tight with tears streaming down her face.

Luna screamed on her bed, wearing her little white nightie, she jumped up and down on her bed screaming at Martin, as he tried to take her teddy.

Martin shouted as he was took all the various teddies and toys to steal for himself, half-dressed but nothing more than his socks and trousers.

Lucas hits his stick on various things in the house, not dressed at all so he runs around naked, each hit makes a loud bang.

He even knocks off a vase causing it to smash and sending broken pieces all over the floor.

I forced myself up out of bed, my body exhausted but I had little choice but to get up and function. I quickly cleaned up the broken vase and just got on.

I briefly became an octopus or I wish I had, as I managed to cook breakfast, get each of my siblings washed, dressed, hair brushed and presentable, get myself dressed, changed Olivia, quelled four arguments and made the beds Before we even hit the top of the hour. I felt faint but Ignored it and pushed on.

And right on time once every job was done, my mother trudged down the staircase from her bedroom upstairs in her nightie, her hair matted and messy, her whole body stank of whiskey, she sat herself in the chair and snapped her fingers.

The snap caused my heart to jump from my chest to my throat, beating rapidly, I hated myself but I handed over her spirit bottle.

She immediately took an intense swig of it, and the first words out of her mouth were harsh and bitter,

"Where's my vase?"

"Lucas broke it this morning," I told her,

"Find a replacement today."

"Yes Mother," I nodded,

"And we are out of food."

"Yes, Mother I will get food at the market."

"and I need more drink."

"Yes, Mother I will get some,"

"They'll be late for the schoolhouse."

"I know, I'm just taking them." I nodded, "Come everyone school time." I told them to sort them all out with their books and what little lunch I could give them and got them all out the door on time,

"You won't see me later, I'm going out."

"Yes Mother," I sighed "Perhaps not too late-"

"Dont. Say a word." She demanded,

I nodded and just got going into town.

Of course, the town was bustling with the commotion of carriages, horses, carts and people all going about their business. I did my best with Olivia on my hip to make sure everyone else behaved and avoided getting hurt, having to juggle the three of them to the schoolhouse. a twisting in my stomach but I didn't have time to dwell on it,

As soon as they were in the school house I had to scamper my way across town to drop Olivia off at her nursery, then before I had much time I had to get myself to my work in the local tailor pushing open the door and heading in grabbing my apron as I went catching my short breath.

"You're late again!" He snapped,

"Sorry Mr Ashworth, I had to drop my siblings off," I said quickly sitting at my old rickety sewing machine almost fifteen years old this machine but still I had to use it every day to do hems and repairs, the pile as tall as me beside my table, having to go slow but not too slow or I'll never get finished, fast but not to fast as to damage the fabric, or catch my fingers, or break a needle, every time I had to rethread the machine with a new colour or type of thread for a different fabric or use I held my breath for a few seconds it took to change but every second counts and I can't afford delays. The longer the day went on I began to lose feeling in my fingertips, with tingling of pins and needles in my fingers and toes, but I pushed through even if it did mean I cut myself more often as without feeling I got dangerously close to my scissors and needles.

As soon as work was over I had to rush across town and pick up my siblings from the school house, I tried to keep them all in line as we headed to the market, and I got all the things we would need for the next few days while also batting at their hands to try and get them to settle and not steal things even if some things had to be paid for because someone ran off with them, all the while I kept feeling these flashes or heat, or chill but I don't have time to dwell on temperature.

Once I got all the food I took them home and left them to play dropping the groceries off too before I returned back to town to go looking for a replacement for my mother's vase, it was slim pickings but I managed to get one and haggle down the price to what little I had left for this month. I knew by now my legs were trembling, and my body felt like giving in but all I needed now was to pick Olivia up, go home, make dinner, do a round of baths and get everyone to bed. Ready to do all of it again tomorrow.

When a young boy ran past knocking into me sending me tumbling down to the ground the vase hitting the ground and smashing into a million little pieces.

"No... no... no no no no" I muttered trying to put it back together.

And the moment it smashed, I completely broke open.

Tears streamed down my face, as I cried hysterically, my breath short and shaky, my throat choking and tight with every breath, my mouth dry and sickly, my heart raced jumping in and out my chest, my fingers and toes numb, my head dizzy almost to faint, my every limb shook and sweated, my stomach churned and turned like a hurricane, I couldn't even think, or even begin to know where to start to fix myself.

"Oh my goodness, are you alright?" A voice asked but I couldn't pick up much about it I just was lost almost distant from my body as it went through this agony, "Come on, with me." He said helping me to my feet and leading me to a rear alley out of sight of others, he helped me to lean against the wall and began to speak to me his voice soothing, and with his every word I began to slowly feel like I was swimming like I was at sea, my body a boat and slowly I was swimming back to it. "Okay, it's okay, Just breathe. Just Breathe with me... Breath in." He asked and I did my best even if I felt so short and so breathless, "And out." He asked so I did as he asked between my tears, "Okay, Just follow me just breathe with me, In... and out." He reassured He walked me through each breath he would make me inhale for five whole seconds, hold it for five more and then release for five seconds, he walked me through this for a good while until my breathlessness began to disappear, and between my tearful eyes my vision cleared and I saw him.

He was a young man, I wouldn't say much older than me, in brown trousers, a white shirt, a blue waistcoat, a green tie, a slightly purple jacket, and a hat, he had deep chocolate eyes and seemed to genuinely want to help me.

"There we go, That a little better?" he asked and I nodded even if I still couldn't stop, "Alright, I want you to do some things for me, alright? Can you do that for me?" he asked and I nodded, "Alright, I want you to tell me three things you can hear, doesn't matter what just focus on the sounds and repeat them back to me."

For a moment I couldn't hear anything my ears ringing and burning but I knew one thing I could hear and I forced it out "You're voice."

"My voice, That's perfect," He smiled, "You think you can do another one for me?"

I tried to listen to pour all my attention into my ears and I could hear "The Market Stalls,"

"You can hear the market? That's perfect, one more for me? One more thing?"

I listened closely trying hard to hear anything else "horseshoes,"

"Horseshoes, Excellent, what do you think they're from?"

"A carriage maybe?"

"Yeah I think so too," he chuckled, "You able to tell me your name?"

"Y/n."

"Y/n, That's a very lovely name." He smiled, "I'm Jack. You feel a little better?" he asked and I nodded "Good, That's very good. Just slow down, keep breathing for me, just stay here and stay still a moment."

"I can't I need to-"

"The only thing you need to do right now is to get better. Trust me I'm a doctor. You're strung out to the limit and in the middle of a panic attack. Whatever it is I'm sure it can wait a moment." he said, "Y/n I want you to tell me three things you can see, doesn't matter what any three things."

I was nervous and still struggling but slowly my symptoms began to slow and I noticed just how fuzzy my voice was from the tears and how tunnelled my vision was, "Uhhh I uhh I see you..."

"Good, that's good you see me," he said, "Anything else?"

"The uhhh the sky."

"You see the sky, that's perfect, it's a very nice afternoon. One more I know you can do it."

"The wall, for the bakery."

"That's perfect, the bakery wall. Can you imagine all the lovely cakes, and pasties, and fresh loaves in there?"

"I uhh I can." I nodded,

"Excellent, One more little thing y/n, I want you to tell me three things you feel okay?"

as he said it I noticed just how little I really noticed but with each thing I listed to him I became more aware and more into this world again,

"I, I feel the wall."

"How does it feel?"

"Cold, uhh stoney I suppose."

"Stoney?" he laughed, "what else?"

I slightly moved my feet feeling the dusty dirt around my boots slightly move to the side like sand as I did so, "I feel the dirt, as it pushes away."

"How does it feel against your boots?"

"Rough and small"

"That's good, one more for me, just one more."

As he asked it I felt almost normal, and I noticed "Your hand." I said, His hand graced mine his fingers on my wrist checking my pulse, the other on my neck but not harshly not as if attempting to harm me or threaten my throat but merely rested there as if he was monitoring my every gasp,

"How do my hands feel?"

"Uhh Warm,"

"Good."

"They feel rough," I blushed a little trying not to giggle while also trying to you know not insult the man who helped me,

He chuckled, "Yeah, Surgeon. Sorry about that." He chuckled,

"Does that mean they are dirty?"

"I mean... yeah probably, I'm sorry for that too."

"It's okay. I uhh Thank you."

"You're welcome," He smiled, "I saw you were struggling I thought you were having a heart attack and first but no, a panic attack, Do you get these a lot?"

"unfortunately yes."

"Alright, well. The best thing I can say is to try to manage your stress so it doesn't overflow, maybe slow down a little but those three sights, sounds, and feelings are really good it help calm and ground so use it when you can alright?"

"I uhh I will do my best."

"I assume you have a stressful life?"

"Understatement."

"If I let you go right now are you going to go straight back to the level of stress you were at?"

"I uhh... I am late from picking my sister up, and I need to get a new vase for my mother, and I need to get home and do dinner and get everyone to"

"Okay. Okay." he said stopping me, "I'm getting bloody anxious just listening to that,"

"Sorry-"

"It's alright, I was heading home anyway I can come give you a hand if you like?"

"No no, I couldn't-"

"It's no trouble, you need to relax a little if I can take something off your plate anything it'll help. In fact as your doctor at this moment I insist."

"Well okay, my mother insists I come home with a new vase."

"Okay, I can find a vase. anything particular?"

"No, just a vase."

"Okay." He nods,

"I uhh but I don't have any money left."

"You let me worry about that, it's on me." He smiled, "I'll meet you back here when I'm done." he smiled heading off back to the market,

I blushed but smiled and headed on my way picking up Olivia luckily she was asleep by now, and I returned to the alley where Jack already waited with a vase in hand.

"Did I do good?"

"It's beautiful. How'd you-"

"It's best not to ask questions." he winked, "Aww who's this little lady?"

"This is Olivia." I smiled letting him see her but not wake her,

"Aww, she's beautiful, your daughter?"

"Sister, well half-sister really... though I don't honestly know." I answered, "But thank you so much, I really need to get home now,"

"Alright, I'll walk with you, so long as you don't mind,"

"Ohh no of course not, thank you."

"It's alright no trouble, here you take this, and I'll take this little lady." He smiled handing me the vase and taking Olivia letting her sleep on his shoulder as we walked, by the time we got home I felt a rush of anxiety as the house was a tip and my siblings losing their minds from being home alone so long,

"Oh no no no."

"It's okay, don't worry. You take her and get her to bed. I'll take this lot and sit with them in the garden we can have a play around and get some energy out"

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, it's no problem," he said,

"Alright, Okay everyone outside with Mr- uhh"

"Dr, Dawkins."

"Everyone out to the gardens with Dr Dawkins," I told them and of course, a chance to play outside was not passed up, he went out with them and I began work I put Olivia down to sleep in her cot and cleaned the house as best and putting the new vase on the shelf. Once done I sighed in relief and went out keeping the door open as I saw Jack helping my siblings, playing with them, playing a game of knights. Luna is a princess, Martian is a dragon and Lucas is a knight with Jack narrating them and helping them play.

I smiled and took a seat on the bench outside the front door taking a rare moment to... be at peace,

"You feel a bit better now?" He asked sitting beside me,

"Yes, thank you, Jack."

"you're very welcome. they're great, a lot of energy."

"Yeah well the get cooped up a lot."

"You know talking does wonders for anxiety." He smiled, "I'm not that sort of doctor but I'm happy to listen anyway?"

"I don't want to burden you, you've done enough."

"It's not a burden I want to help, and I admit I'm curious about you."

I chuckled a little, "Well, we live here all of us."

"All five of you?"

"Six my mother too."

"Ahh, your father?"

"Never met him."

"You said Olivia might be your half-sister, where's her father?"

"They all are my half-siblings, as far as I know. None of us have the same father, as far as I am aware. None of them have ever met them."

"I see. You're mother she a -"

"She was,"

"That explains that then."

"It does, yeah."

"Then... why are you looking after them?"

"Mother... likes to drink."

"Ohh."

"yeah."

"I see. So she just goes out and drinks all day? leaves you alone with them?"

"Pretty much, sometimes she's here just... hungover as all hell."

"So you do... everything I guess?"

"cook. clean. baths. bed. back and forth to school."

"I'm surprised you didn't crack sooner..."

"Well, sink or swim I guess."

"I suppose so, still school gives you some break time I guess."

"I wish, got to go to work while they're at school, and Olivia isn't old enough yet."

"Hold up- You work?"

"Yes."

"You have a job! on top of basically full-time caring for four kids?"

"Yes."

"what do you do?"

"Tailor's assistant in town, I run the old machine in the back doing alterations."

"Ohh my god- that's a tough busy job. You work quickly in there."

"We do, two days or less for your garment to impress he really likes that motto."

"I know, I got this repaired in like a day last time I got a rip in it," he said looking at his shirt,

"Yeah I think I remember it," I laughed looking at the familiar shirt, "Yeah, I was going fast the seam is crooked," I laughed

"Ohh? I never looked that closely at it." He laughed, "How many hours do you work?"

"Eight hours a day seven days a week."

"Holy- no wonder you're running yourself ragged. I'm a doctor and I don't work that much!"

"Well, I'm the only income coming in, got six mouths to feed."

"You are amazing, you know that?"

"I am."

"You are. That is insane, and the fact you do it with such grace. It's astonishing."

"Thank you," I blushed.

"If I may be so bold, If you need an extra pair of hands, and you do. I'm more than happy to come help."

"I couldn't ask you to do that,"

"You're not asking me, I'm asking you. You're only going to get worse unless you lighten your load, and all although panic attacks are best just ridden out... they can cause serious damage." He explained, "I want to help, even if its just little things. I can take one job off you a day, or take them for an hour and go play in the garden just, something to lighten your load a little."

"You'd really do that?"

"I would,"

"Why?"

"Becuase you need help, and as a doctor, I can't stop myself from helping those who need it. and right now... you need it more than anyone."

"Thank you Jack," I smiled leaning my head on his shoulder,

"You're welcome Y/n" He smiled, kissing my head. "Now, how about you look after them I'll get dinner on?"

"It's a deal."

"Good girl, What uhh... what am I cooking?"

"Soup,"

"Soup?"

"Yeah,"

"What kind of soup?"

"Leek soup."

"Just leek soup? you have any bread for it?"

"No."

"Okay, new plan you wait here and look after them I will get dinner as my treat."

"I can't ask you to-"

"No. No. I'm doing it. at very least getting bread if nothing else,"

"Alright."

"Good, I'll see you as soon as I can." he smiled kissing my cheek before he took his stuff and headed back toward town.

#tbs imagine #thomasbrodiesangster #tbs imagines #thomas sangster imagine #thomas brodie sangster smut #tbs smut #thomas brodie sangster imagine #thomas brodie sangster #tbs #thomas sangster #jackdawkins #jack #jack dawkins #thea #thearttfuldodger #theartfuldogger #artful dodger #the artful dodger

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writingforatwistedworld · 1 year

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Otome au

I’ve had this in my head ever since your AU came out because :) OK Mc still does the side quest and so does the storyline but they always try to take stuff from the villagers or like the side characters( I do this it doesn’t work most the time)🤣

For example mc : i’m gonna take your bread sir(Mc tried to take it but but they can’t) give me my bread

Villager: my bakery is closed you can come back another day:)

Mc : let me take your Bread SIR SIR let me take your bread STOP WALKING AWAY FROM ME SIR!!!??

Can you do Vil,epel, azul how would they react mc like that I thought it would be hilarious!!! please thank you love your stuff<3

THE BREAD! HAIL THE BREAD! EAT THE BREAD! RESPECT THE BREAD! And take the bread away from NPC's. (I hear the murder in the voice of that example NPC XD)

Otome-au

I do not take any responsibility for you reading this no matter which age group you are from!

WARNINGS: Yandere themes, poison, violence, stalking, obsession, possessiveness, murder, death

Azul Ashengrotto/Vil Schoenheit/Epel Felmier-“I’m gonna take your bread sir… let me take your bread SIR SIR STOP WALKING AWAY FROM ME SIR!!!??”

Here he is sitting, watching you through his mirror, looking at how you talk with those land-dwellers (idk about what you think but bread underwater is a bit hard u know...)

And... could it be that you are hungry?

Because all he is seeing is you jumping like a madman in front of random people (you call them NPC's, right?) wanting their bread if they had one

Ok, imagine this with me, he just woke up, was done with his hair so it was... like it usually was and just put the mirror on like some TV

You following me, right? Well he was staring at it with an open mouth watching how you wanted everyones bread for the first two minutes

And once the shock is gone he is going mad

“ARE THEY NOT FEEDING YOU WELL??!”

Then he remembers that this is not your real body and just some shell so you can experience this world

But then... what are you doing? Is this something in another culture? Is he missing something here?

Poor Octopus is so confused.

Why don't you just take some fish if you want food that badly, they are practically swimming into your hand... oh, yeah, right, you not in water

Let us remember that panicked state he was in before, yes? The three people that he could also see with you in the mirror are now cursed, byproduct of his abilities (don't question it)

But you seem to like bread a lot... should he try to create a waterproof one??!

Cue you looking at your screen confused when they achievement “culinary inspiration-the merpeoples best chef” popped up

Guess you just brought bread onto the plate of fish

But no one dares to steal the recipe. Otherwise they might find themselves at the mercy of an angry outcast of the sea, the mersorcerer himself

Yeah, that garden is growing pretty neat

So... you expect this cold-hearted tyrant king to just ignore what is going on?

My dear friend, he has a magic mirror that can see and show more than any other reflecting surface

He was this close from throwing his own most prized reflective surface out of the window (again)

Life of a mirror can be hard you know? If it isn't easy with competition on the mirror market and if that doesn't kick you out of the business then it's your owner shattering you (and I'm sure a fall from a tower also does the job)

Since you know me you also know what comes next, we build the scene

He just sat there, staring at your body in this world and how it didn't move for about half an hour (you probably went to grab a bite)

He almost screamed when you suddenly jumped up and sprinted to the next baker

Oh I also forgot to mention, you were screaming “BRRREEEAAADDDD” (you doing that. Not me. I'm just an author)

That was rather... u elegant but he can pass this...

Until you go to the next person and repeat the whole “gimme your bread” thingy

I told you, that mirror better learn how to fly and that fast

You want bread? YOU WANT BREAD??! Fine, then you shall get bread

Suddenly someone appears out of nowhere, handing you a basket filled with bread, saying “in the name of the king”

Maybe he will even get so annoyed that he will try to poison his brother yet again but this time with bread (imagine, it was not an apple but bread XD)

But if you thought about giving it to one of the suitors I would advise you to forget that

You know, he has a certain special magic and he might have done something to the bread that would affect them but not you... Just might (nah he has definitely done something to it)

So bread is the way into your heart huh?

Forget his apple carving skills! *sobs* He is going to learn how to bake bread!

The kitchen looked like it was a battlefield after the first time... why was there a knife sticking out of the bowl?

But anyway, he is trying his best

But why did he decide to walk the treacherous path of bread baking?

Well... you were screaming like a madman and telling everyone to give you bread

Oh boy was he happy that the people would forget what happened after you would restart the game or loaded an earlier safe file

Lowkey embarrassed but then it struck him!

If you want bread that badly then he shall make it!

He was so motivated that he totally forgot that this body of yours can't even get hungry

Remember that he is also the poison dealer which would hand the king the poison to finally reach his goals in the plot of the game?

That left over bread which isn't 100% perfect doesn't get thrown away, no

Bread can actually soak up a lot of liquids so just a few drops of this and that... there, his next client should be pleased

Also, might use the power of the oh-so-malicious poisoned bread to make sure Neige doesn't come close, he can't have the main plot ending too fast after all (falling off a cliff hurts)

But in the end he can bake bread like a champion

Just don't take the bread from that basket. That other one is for you. Oh why? Well... he made it for that nice person you met yesterday. Had to take extra measures because of an allergy... want to deliver it with you?

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dizzybizz · 7 months

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you have unleashed a demon. i warned you.

i don't think this is going to have any structure whatsoever but i will pretend it does for my own sanity.

i want to start with some behind the scenes stuff bc obviously i do

like i only named guy that because i didn't want to think too hard about names and he has always been a silly little guy. his farms name is sail away farm,,, like the enya song. that's where it came from but really it's a SSS reference cus i will bring other SIs into this somehow. (it was from one of the ai dungeon streams... when julia wrapped up yet another accidental psychological horror story by sailing away whilst listening "to the tunes of enya")

and with remy i had already planned on romancing harvey so i wanted a name i could make a funny shipname of. their shipname is harmy (ironic isn't it ^^). stowaway farm came from some thoughts i had about remy's life before moving to pelican town. where he didn't feel welcome and like the people around him weren't keen on being seen with him. and i just liked the ring it has to it :) the two of them both having farms with "away" in the name was accidental and didn't hit me until after it was too late to change it.

here they are at the character creation screen !!!!

GUY IS MY SILLIEST LITTLE GUY. he's like a hamster or a chipmunk or other small rodents

him asf ^^^^

he's also like ponyo to me, he is very ponyocoded. his theme song would be the full version of ponyo on the cliff by the sea.

he is a biter, a chewer. he's kirby, a chainchomper... he would snack on rocks if he could. he's the breakdancing sims cat. he has bad volume control. he is an octopus, a koala, a monkey. he names a lot of his farm animals after fictional characters. but his hens are named hip, hop, cherry and pop after the lemon demon song. he would take a sip of a joja cola and go "oh, that is vile" and keep taking sips like he needs to confirm it multiple times.

him and elliott are so silly..... their shipname is gull which worked out so well it almost seems intentional. they both got ties to the ocean and beach... we love to see it. they got together the day after elliott's birthday, not only that but it was also right before elliott's 8 heart event. so it was really like guy came in before his book reading, asked him out and then was all "THAT'S MY BF EVERYONE I LOVE HIM SO MUCH" during the reading... he is his biggest cheerleader

he is best friends with emily and shane. and when emily mentioned that she would make a good clown during the stardew fair, he said "this is why we're best friends. we would be the best clowns." and he ate three burgers in a row that day. one day during blackberry season he collected 93 blackberries and was just running around the town with them on his person. him and gus have history together which i will make a whole comic about some day. whilst gaming with abigail he ran into enemies twice and got himself killed. he accidentally bought a pirate sword from marlon. he has died once. he is trying to goad alex into actually shaving his hair off because of that one throwaway comment. HE HAS TWO GARBAGE HATS. (tootsies is SO getting the other one once 1.6 is out)

^ this is what he wore for spirit's eve, called it "farmer in a rush" (he literally just took off his shorts)

i have way less on remy cus he isn't as far along and has had a mostly average time in pelican town so far.

remy is just a big dog who is scared of most things. he is a baby giraffe trying to walk for the first time. he feels very out of place in social interactions. his limbs are too long for him. he is trying his best.

he can come off as very... displeased... his resting face just looks slightly ticked off. really he's a big softie. he has some real unfortunate luck too.. except the night of the egg hunt when he had a fairy visit. he holds onto that little bit of luck there. a glimmer of hope. he had a meteor crash in the middle of his farm, luckily his crops were safe and sound tho, small mercies. weeds damaged his farm the same night the scripted earthquake hit. one day in the mines he got so lost in the dark he had to give up for the day and head up to the surface again, he was one level away from an elevator. he is financially struggling. he names his animals after food. his theme song would probably be cave in by margaux or something.

harmy is a slow-burn, strangers to friends to lovers scenario. they're delightful, i can't wait to see their relationship develop. remy kinda wanted to ask harvey to dance during the flower dance but chickened out (totally not because i only had 3 hearts with him stfu) (also those two pages aren't canon in my headcanon cus i think both of them would be oblivious and dumb as a rock. i just wanted to draw it lol. i think it takes a whileeee for either of them to ever catch feelings.)

he doesn't know many of the villagers too well. he is taking his time settling in fully and is so busy with the farm and mines and fishing and whatnot. oh y'know when sam asks you what his next song should be about?? yeah, remy said trains which has planted the idea that he is a former train kid in my head. and that's something he and harvey can bond over- i think it's really sweet :'). train and plane autism couple. remy has a sweet tooth. he feels intimidated by most villagers. i have a whole hair arc planned for him where he ends up growing his hair out once he really settles in. it's gonna be so epic. he went through 3 of emily's heart events in a row which was wild.

his chest lineup >>>>>

here's an expression sheet i started and will hopefully finish one day

i think that's all for now- I TOLD YOU IT WAS GOING TO BE A LONG POST NO?? ARE YOU HAPPY??? I AM. INFODUMPING IS AWESOME.

i ain't proofreading this are you kidding me.

y'all summoned this. my mutuals summoning my infodump demon with their summoning triangle. feeding my hyperfixation.

#long post #WAHHAHHAHAHAHHAH HMUAHAHAHHAHAHHA HEHEAHGEHGAGH #I AM SO AUTISTIC ITS WILD #stardew valley #sdv #sdv farmer #guyssailawayfarm #remysstowawayfarm #goes without saying but theyre both autistic trans n gay #uhm i think thats all #i am so normal about them #uh #oc #sure :)#i think i have spent like... uhhh probably around 4-5 hours on this?? idk. lost track. actually havent been keeping track.

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gofancyninjaworld · 1 year

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Truly the Monster King

With great thanks to @rayadraws for pointing out that most aliens are depicted as off-brand humans.

Monster King Orochi has to be one of the best-designed monsters out there. Initially, you think that he looks like Godzilla robbed a zoo's reptile house:

Or a lobster, elephant, and octopus had a three-way:

But neither of them is anywhere accurate. The truth about Orochi is this:

Orochi is like a gigantic intelligent slime mold. His parts are freely able to split and merge, search for and acquire food on their own but are able to take coordinated action.

So extensive in fact, it took twisting the whole city to crush him:

But even that was not enough. As long as his heart is intact, he can come back from anything:

Adapt to anything:

As many times as it takes:

At least, until Garou put an end to it by snatching away and destroying that heart of his.

Now that's what I call a monster! Not a knock-off human being, but a creature truly obeying its own rules, outrageously tenacious, adaptable, and incredibly lethal.

Rest well in hell, Monster King. You really deserved the moniker. May your bits soon escape containment. Be sure to thank Drive Knight properly for saving a bit of you, by eating him.

#OPM #meta #Monster King Orochi #now this is what I call good design #Murata your fingers did not cramp in vain for this guy

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asfateentertwines · 1 year

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Rotxo love

This is how I view Rotxo in my writing, he needs some focus

So first things first, physically, Rotxo is short for a na'vi

Poor boy is the na'vi equivalent of a human 5'8" - he's not really that short but also, he will be bullied relentlessly

However, he is b u i l t

He's bulky and puts on muscle easily. (Though he has a little bit of a dad bod cause as he should - like as close as fat muscular as a na'vi body can be lmao)

He keeps the sides of his head shaved and the top in a half braided, half curly look that reaches about his mid-shoulder blades

Google says na'vi are 10' so he's like ,,, 9'6"? short king

Partially why he relishes having a human mate cause like ,, he can't talk shit

He wears an obscene amount of beads and jewelry - he is the oldest brother of his 8 siblings (poor boy has three older sisters and three younger, he is one of two boys in the whole house) and they don't mess around in decorating their big brother

Onto personality, he's a big softie

But he's aggressively protective of his family - something he got from growing up with Ronal as his third mom

He grew up prepared to be Ao'nungs right hand, but he didn't always have the drive to be a warrior

He liked the idea but never felt connected to it. It was just a part of the future he was meant to reach

it wasn't until he was pulling desperately at a bomb on Payakans fin and watching Lo'ak sob over his bleeding brother that he realized why he was going to be a warrior

He always mentally attributes his finding reason in his training to Lo'ak and his strength

So he starts training and learning to fight with a newfound passion

Having always been Ao'nungs right hand, its his plan to follow at his side once he's chief and protect their people

Family is the most important thing in their culture and Tonowari has been such a prominent figure in his life that it's his goal to live and die for them

...he needs some help with the self-love and valuing his worth too man

It's part of how he and Spider bond

He's made a majority of his life around Ao'nung and being there for the clan that he forgot to care about himself or really learn about himself as his own person

He finds out he likes cooking while trying to figure out how to not poison Spider after an unfortunate courting accident

He and Lo'ak bond by combining fighting styles and their culture

It's the culture that also helps him bond with Kiri, a surprise to everyone except Spider who knew they'd get on from the start

However, his favorite hobby is fishing - which he gets teased for relentlessly

For all his mischief and jokes, he's an old man at heart

He 100% can and will disappear become he was just vibing out on the water for hours and lost track of time

During which he also attempts to bring home little gifts constantly

He gets it from his little siblings but he's the type to bring you a rock he found and say it was pretty and reminded him of you

So all of his friends have jars of shells, rocks, flowers, etc that he finds for them

However, he also has a habit of collecting strays

He just takes shit home

An octopus was the worst until he showed up two orphaned ash boys that never left

Spider is passionate that its why he fell for him and very smugly holds up that he has a solid argument

But honestly Rotxo just cannot stand someone being alone

He grew up surrounded by so much love and so many people he cared for that the thought of someone being alone when he could fix it makes him feel sick

He is fucking terrified of crabs tho

Tsireya hung one from his loincloth when they were children and ah...things got pinched

Ao'nung used it to torture him growing up and now the one thing he struggle to accept as Ewya's are crabs

Honestly crustaceans in general

He hates them

Learning Spider could eat them was a blessing and a curse

Cause one, easy food to find and two, he gets to see them die (sorry Ewya) but that also means he has to help catch crabs for his family

As teens, it wasn't horrible. But by the time they are grown with 4 kids, it's actually his nightmare

He is a practical joker

He brings it out in Ao'nung too and they can rival Lo'ak and Spider for the amount of mischief they get into

Though theirs is normally innocent and not death or war inducing

The worst thing they ever did was sink a fishing ship - Lo'ak and Spider got kidnapped, they're doing fine

Constantly torn between big brother instinct and little brother instinct

He's the big brother but also,,, 3 big sisters feels like he should have a pass

He isn't as close to them as he'd like

The oldest two are mated to other water clans and the oldest still home is distant, they don't get on super well, but he was close with all three when he was a child

Well, they played a lot.

His mothers are both very doting parents and very loving, but for some reason there was always a disconnect with his directly older sister

The other two are still friendly and loving when they visit, just not as common in his life anymore while she is just ... separate. She hasn't been herself in years

It makes him the acting oldest and he takes that very seriously

He has three little sisters and then the youngest of the family is another boy, all of which are a decent amount younger than him

It wasn't planned that way but he likes having the gap between them, it gives him enough distance to care for them but enough closeness to enjoy them still

They're as much the bane of his existence as they are the joy of it

He will boast about them relentlessly while also trying to drown one because 8 kids was simply 7 too many

Tuk loves the littles though and so he spends a lot of time babysitting with Spider or Neteyam - the two that really get the big brother thing in the two ways he normally expresses it

All in all, he is a big family-loving, lowkey gym buff, softie that needs to learn to love himself

But, until he does, he has a small army prepared to do it for him

I need to keep expanding on this but I needed these thoughts out. Rotxo really hasn't gotten the development he deserves and I can't wait to see how he gets fleshed out

#rotxo gets some character development #avatar rotxo #rocorro #rotxo #rotxo my beloved #lo'ak sully #avatar the way of water

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permanently-changing · 9 months

Text

An octopus has three whole hearts

and sometimes I lie awake thinking

about all that lub-dubbing

on the ocean floor and no one to hear it.

What kind of god gives a cephalopod

three but a human only one?

I want more thumps. I want more time.

I want to waste my love on everything.

Give me a heart for Ohio. Another

for a silk butter moon. Another

for the park bench man who swoons

for doves, his quiet hands full of crumbs.

Joy Sullivan

#words #love #:

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trumai-pdf · 4 months

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SPECTACULAR

Chapter 2: Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Woman (1/2)

Master Post: Link

AO3: Link

Summary:

A week after her performance at Max Dillon's club, Gwen ends up meeting with a bizarre villian she's never met before, though their interaction ends up being rather anti climactic while she's in a hurry to meet up with her bandmates back at the school.

[ 1 ], [ x ], [ 3 ], [ 4 ],

As you could see, the life of a Superhero wasn't the most glamorous thing in the world, but for the first time in a while… something didn't go wrong. The Mary Jane’s played three full songs down at Max Dillon’s club, and sure - it wasn't anything fantastic but it was progress. The whole thing was more of an excuse to hang out- well that's how it stared. After what happened to Peter, Gwen and Mary Jane started to play together, just to sorta… think about something else? They've been friends for years, Glory and Betty came in later but Em Jay and her were the original pair. Guess that makes her the co-creator, huh? She certainly didn't act like it with how often she missed their deadlines… oh please, they usually spent their time in the music room goofing around for an hour or two and maybe playing a song or two. Though it has been a week now since their performance- maybe that'd get the group to start taking all of this more seriously… now, yet that would have to come later. This was supposed to be her day off too- though in the city that never sleeps, guess that goes for crime too, huh? Gwen, or rather Spider-Woman had found herself in the middle of a construction site, squatting down on a column set up by the workers. Buckets of cement and unfinished bricks laid out across a square of land deep in the heart of Manhattan, she stared down at a man, one who had scared off the whole crew, destroying anything in his way, just a rampage through the city… that must sound pretty intimidating, right? Maybe it's The Lizard! I hear you wondering, or- oh! Maybe Doctor Octopus, right? Well unfortunately for all of us it wasn't anybody like that, and Gwen’s confusion spoke for itself.

“Uhh-... I- I don't even know what to say about this one, dude.”

Her Lenses squinted in on this figure before her. He stood at over eight feet tall, but bear with me here-... He was more brick than body, no arms whatsoever as his face screamed out in a texture of hardened clay, with a body the shape of a rectangle. This was The Wall, and he was desperate to fight Spider-Woman… she was having such a good day, too.

“So brick brain, this how you get your kicks?” Spider-Woman laughed, arms crossed as she let her body fall forward, landing effortlessly on her feet with this mammoth of a man in front of her. “Alright…”

“Huh- OH!” Seemed like he was a smidge surprised to see her. “Uh- yeah! You're damn right I do!” The Wall shouted back, his voice deep and distorted. “The wall-crawling freak! I was starting to wonder when you would show!” His foot slammed into the ground, echoing out the lot as he struggled to keep this full wall of a body upright.

“Ah yeah, I had class- my bad.” If it wasn't obvious enough by the more than filled backpack barely staying attached with two stretches of fabric over her arms, filled with notebooks, her phone- plus those clothes she has to throw off everytime some new bad guy shows up.

“Well you listen here, this is one wall you'll never climb!” It seemed like this guy was just ignoring every word to come out of Gwen’s mouth. “Just try it! Try and lay a finger on me!”

Spider-Woman was just… baffled, and honestly wouldn't you be too? Sure, she's dealt with some weirdos but this was just bizarre. “How do I always meet the strangest men…” She whispered to herself, before readying a fist. “Alright man, you asked for it…” Was this guy just waiting on her to do something? It was impossible to tell what his intent was here- why'd he even want to fight her?! What- was she the reason he was… bitten by a radioactive wall, what the fuck- right? No matter the reason, with all the time in the world, Gwen held the fabric around her fist tight, balled up into a fist- all before bludgeoning her own hand against The Wall’s… skin? No matter what it was it hurt like hell, and it barely chipped him.

“FUCK- OW!” Spider-Woman screamed, shaking the wrist that she punched the man with- that was real brick! Why the hell did-... It's fine, it's whatever! “Agh-! That... Smarts.” With an annoyed look through the mask, she stared down the wall, still with any number of broken finger bones- ow…

“HAH!” The Wall yelled. “I told you so! Now- you'll experience the unending rage of the Wall…!” Gwen grimaced, her hands on her hips as it looked like he was about to just-... Fall on her, what- she pushed both palms against The Wall, keeping him upright.

“Wh- why? Why though?”

“What do you… mean?”

“I don't know what happened to you, but I didn't cause it so like- what's the… what's the deal, seriously.” She sounded a tad exasperated, but in reality, it was all just confusion.

“W-Well- I couldn't exactly keep living normally like this!” He yelled back.

“So?! Those two things aren't mutually exclusive! You don't HAVE to-... Alright, look- can we not just take a minute and talk about this?!”

“Why would I ever talk with you?!”

“BECAUSE THIS IS INSANE!” Gwen’s eyes were bulging out of her mask, hands out at either side of her body in an attempt to give some scope to The Wall about how moronic this all really felt.

“I-... Mgh...”

And so

They found a bench.

One that could handle the weight of an eight-foot-tall brick man. The Spider-Woman and The Wall sat side by side on a bench just near the construction site in a park, and yes- people stared, by God did people stare. The hero in white tilted her head to The Wall. It was actually a pretty nice day, even with her hand a tad mangled.

“...People are looking.” The Wall whispered.

“Ah- pshhh, don't mind them. Look- they're staring cuz of me, not you.” Oh, what's a white lie in the grand scheme of things.“Anyway, why are you… scaring off people and- trying to destroy buildings, what's the deal.” This wasn't Gwen trying to stall for time or anything, I mean why would she- this is The Wall. Even if she couldn't punch it, it's not like taking him down would take a particular amount of effort.

“I guess, I- I’m angry.” He sighed. Gwen would be too if she was a wall-...

Pffft,

Gwen snickered, against her better judgment.

“Hey!” His ‘face’ contorted in anger, leaning closer on Gwen while this steel bench they found themselves on creaked under the weight. “Don't laugh!” He shouted

“I’m not!” Her eyes, or- lenses were wide open, with both hands up as a sign of surrender, until he eventually backed off. “How did it actually happen though, like, did you fall in a vat of electric bricks, giant welder, big bucket of clay-”

“Stop.”

“Nono, c’mon, one more–” She insisted.

“I was crushed under a bunch of bricks.” He admitted, under his breath with an embarrassed tone.

Spider-Woman was more just in shock. “That CAN'T be true- no way-” She snickered. “You did NOT!” She insisted… she really wasn't trying to be insensitive but how is that even possible…? “No FUCKING way!” He just, fell under a bunch of bricks and became… The Wall! Speaking of which- “Look… all that aside, do you have a name? Like an actual name- I don't wanna keep having to call you ‘The Wall.’”

He sighed, leaning back on the bench with yet another creek. “Yeah, uh- Joshua.”

“Joshua! Hey, isn't that so much more humanising than The-goddamn-Wall!” She pat his back while speaking, or-... Where a back would be. “I guess I sorta see where you're coming from- I mean what do you even do in a situation like that?” She laughed a little again, but gave Joshua’s side a small slap, despite him being unable to feel it. “That's not an excuse to go on a tantrum around the city though, man!” She sighed again, leaning back with him, both arms casually sat behind the bench. “I don't think you're a bad dude or anything Joshua, you just… seem like you had a psycho episode or something. After turning into a wall-” She cleared her throat. “But hey man, maybe things aren't-... So bad? You're pretty sturdy, right.”

Joshua chuckled. “And a Wall.”

“Well, let's try and stay on the positives, yeah?” Spider-Woman gave a friendly wink through those massive white lenses. “I know it isn't… even remotely the same thing, but I wasn't always like this either.” That seemed to get his attention, turning as far as he could to face the bug-eyed hero. “Yeah, uh- freak accident actually. We had this school trip to Oscorp– I… knew a guy who was, close with the guy in charge there-” Gwen coughed, continuing on. “Turns out - they're making these genetically modified spiders. One got out, bit me- riiight here.” She raised up her hand, pointing to a spot near the bottom of her thumb. “Rest is history.”

“I… always figured you were a mutant.” Joshua chuckled again. “At least you got lucky with yours- I don't have any arms.”

“Maybe you can become famous. Or like… maybe they could crash monster trucks into you on TV, I dunno.” Josh laughed again. It seemed like he was at least getting a little better, he was just scared shitless it seemed. As the two were talking a beep could be heard from pretty close by… oh! Her backpack. Spider-Woman was quick to stick her hand in, feeling some denim, an old shirt, notebooks, pens- aha! Her phone. It wasn't anything overly impressive and there were any number of cracks along the screen, it kinda came with the territory. With a click of the taped-on power button, the screen barely lit up to reveal a text message from Betty, huh? Not the worst one it could've been. The text read as follows:

B.B:

‘where r u???’

“Ahhh! Right- rightright-” Gwen muttered, gaining Joshua’s attention in the process.

‘5 mins away xoxo’

She frantically typed through the fabric of her suit

“Everything good?” Even looking like he did, Josh still went through the effort to act kind, that… surprised Gwen.

“Yeah- yeah man, just… my friends, I was supposed to be at practice like twenty minutes ago.” Standing on her own two feet, and picking up her luggage- she turned back to this new friend of hers. The Wall. He was just… sorta down to earth actually.

“Ah, sorry to keep you.”

“Oh- no man, it's not your fault.” Gwen reassured.

“Yeah, it is.” Yeahh, it was.

“Well hey Josh, I know I wasn't- that helpful but if you want some real help take this advice. Head down to the station and ask for Captain Stacy.”

“But I–”

“Yeah- yeahyeah, I know. Just don't bother with any of the others, this city’s police department stinks… but that's why you gotta head to Stacy.” God. What was she doing? “I can't say that he can get your arms back or anything but he won't be freaked out by you. It'll be for the better, I like to think.”

“Mh… you sure?” It made her mad that she was so sure. “Seems risky.”

“Listen, just don't commit any more crimes, and-... Don't mention my name once you get in there, we have never met. For all intents and purposes you do not know Spider-Woman!... Kay?” She was expressive with her hand movements, backing away in the direction of the school.

Joshua sighed. “...Alright. If you're sure.”

“Yesss! See Josh, not everything is terrible– seriously, don't commit any crimes, I am SO busy!” Gwen clapped both hands together before turning her back completely, getting a running start across the park before pushing down on her palm with a pair of homemade webshooters bringing her up and off of the ground as within seconds she was airborne, zipping from one skyscraper to another as she swung in the direction of Midtown High School.

#Spectacular #gwen stacy #spider woman #Spider gwen #Transgender #Trans gwen stacy #em jay watson #felicia hardy #Black cat #betty brant #glory grant #matthew murdock #earth 65 #fanfic #fanfiction

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newmusickarl · 5 months

Text

Top 50 Albums of 2023: #20-11

20. A Kiss For The Whole World by Enter Shikari

If there’s one band that has soundtracked my 2023 more than any other, it’s St Albans’ finest Enter Shikari. Not just because this album is far and away my most played of 2023 but also because back in May, I decided to rank every single Enter Shikari song from worst to best – an article that is sadly now lost in the ether. As a result of that mammoth undertaking, they were by far my most played artist of 2023. Therefore, I couldn’t think of a better way to kick off the big Top 20 than with A Kiss For The Whole World, an album that also earned Britain’s most underrated band their first ever number one album on the UK charts earlier this year.

The last we heard from the Shikari boys before this year, it was at the height of lockdown when they were found revelling in the abyss on their most ambitious outing to date - Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible. Now with A Kiss For The Whole World, the band re-emerged from those depths, this time filled with hope, positivity and gratitude. There’s a sense of optimism in the songs here, with the band also referencing their previous work multiple times (“You’re still standing like a statue” on the title track, “Wish I was back at the Dreamer’s Hotel” on Jailbreak and “I went to live outside to find myself” on Giant Pacific Octopus to name just a few easter eggs).

It presents an interesting dynamic at the heart of the record, almost like the band know how dire the world is right now, but on the flip side they are just so grateful for their fans and the career that they’ve been able to have until now. With these contrasting emotions driving forward the writing, it all makes for a thrilling 30-minute listen that’s impactful yet joyous, and also plays out like a love letter to their fans.

Best tracks: Bloodshot/Bloodshot Coda, Jailbreak, A Kiss For The Whole World

Listen here

19. Here Come The Early Nights by Spector

There is simply nothing better than one of your favourite bands pulling out all the stops and turning in one of their best records to date. I’m pleased to say, that’s exactly what Fred MacPherson and Jed Cullen did this November, as the duo that now make up Spector delivered a record that is both equally poetic and anthemic.

Frontman Fred MacPherson has always had a distinctly unique way with words, with his sharp, witty lyrics making him one of my all-time favourite songwriters. Fourth album Here Come The Early Nights finds him in a particularly reflective mood, contemplating heartbreak, aging, political pressures and the metaphorical party coming to an end. With longtime friend and collaborator Dev Hynes (Blood Orange/Lightspeed Champion) also adding further weight to the songwriting and instrumentation at points, it’s simply an outstanding collection of songs.

The Notion is one of their best songs to date, centred on a great central guitar riff with intricate lines like “What happens after the afters?” Single Driving Home For Halloween is also jam-packed with cutting lyrics, with my personal favourite: “Been a minute since we shot the shit but I assure you I’m still full of it.” Following the horn-tastic Never Have Before, things get a bit grungier on Not Another Weekend which boasts the most hilarious lyric of the whole album: “Fear and Loathing in Leo Valley, Shaun Williamson’s Mustang Sally.” Big up Barry From Eastenders!

Despite all these great moments in the first half, it’s the final three tracks that are probably my favourites. Room With A Different View just has an instant timelessness about it, the title track is just a beautifully melancholic look at hedonistic days gone by and then All the World is Changing is a triumphant, New Order-inspired finale with its chugging, Peter Hook-esque bassline.

Had this record come out a month or two earlier so I had longer to live with it, there is a strong chance this would’ve finished in the Top 10. That said, Here Come The Early Nights feels tailor-made for this time of the year and I have no doubt this is one I will revisit constantly over the festive period and beyond. An incredible record that just connects on every level.

Best tracks: Here Come The Early Nights, Room With A Different View, The Notion

Listen here

18. Praise a Lord Who Chews but Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds) by Yves Tumor

An album that came out back in March and to which I’ve found myself continually returning. Although active since 2015, I discovered musician and producer Yves Tumor through their last record, 2020’s Heaven To A Tortured Mind. It was a fascinating record, one that seamlessly blended elements of pop, hip-hop, alternative, soul, art-rock, grunge, shoegaze – you name a genre, Yves Tumor can pull it into the mix and use it to create a wonderful collage of sound. Hot Between Worlds (because I’m not using the daft full title) is a similar story, albeit Yves has travelled further into the rock realm this time around.

God Is A Circle is a cool scene setter, opening the record on the sounds of frantic panting before some buzzy, math-rock guitars arrive. Lovely Sewer is wonderfully hypnotic, featuring these dreamy guitar passages and an uncredited female vocalist who just lifts the track into another dimension. Meteora Blues is then one of the biggest highlights, somewhat reminiscent of Smashing Pumpkins with Yves’ grungy vocals, walls of guitars and then some mesmerising, almost psychedelic breakdowns.

Obviously setting a high bar so early always runs the risk that you can’t keep the momentum up, but Hot Between Worlds just gets better as it goes along. Heaven Surrounds Us Like a Hood draws shades to the late-great Jimi Hendrix, featuring some amazing guitar work but with glossy pop-style production. Fear Evil Like Fire has been one of my most played songs of the year according to Apple Music and I’m not surprised as it features the most amazing melody, with Yves seemingly mocking himself in the lyrics for becoming his own enemy and the thing he hates. Purified by the Fire is then this thunderous instrumental, with crashing cymbals and seismic electronic blasts, before Ebony Eye closes things out in a swirl of strings.

There’s obviously a story playing out within the music, amongst all the religious imagery it’s like Yves travelling through purgatory and coming out the other side. Even after a year of spinning this I’ve still not put all the narrative pieces together, but I think in the grand scheme of things it ultimately doesn’t matter - the sheer sonic splendour that you get with this record is more than worth the price of admission. A sharply concise, wildly imaginative 35-minute listen, where Yves pulls you into all these fascinating spaces of sound which you’ll just want to keep coming back to experience again and again.

Best tracks: Meteora Blues, Fear Evil Like Fire, Ebony Eye

Listen here

17. Laugh Track by The National

Anticipation can be a funny thing. When asked on the January episode of our podcast earlier this year what were some of my most anticipated records for the upcoming 12 months, a new album from The National was one of my picks. As one of my favourite bands, I couldn’t wait for the next instalment in their catalogue and by the time April and The First Two Pages of Frankenstein came around, my hype-o-meter had hit fever pitch. Sadly what I found, left me massively disappointed.

Whilst some fans took to the record immediately, for me Frankenstein was (and still is after numerous plays) the sound of a band seemingly out of ideas and just going through the motions. So when it was announced that The National were releasing their second album of 2023 titled Laugh Track, my expectations were hopeful but a bit more modest. Thankfully, Laugh Track turned out to be The National album I was hoping for at the start of 2023.

For me the contrasting contents is evident from the front covers of the two albums alone. Where Frankenstein is dull pink and monochromatic, Laugh Track is vivid and full of colour - which for me represents the huge difference in sound between the two. Bryan Devendorf has more of a presence whilst the Dessner brothers are stringing together interesting musical arrangements again. Matt’s lyrics suit the flow of the tracks better too, with some lines punching you in the gut like we know he can. But above everything else, a few of the songs here can stand shoulder to shoulder with The National’s very best.

A prime example is the colossal closing track Smoke Detector that sends the record into another stratosphere for me. Clocking in at just shy of eight minutes, it is like Sleep Well Beast cut The System Only Dreams In Total Darkness cranked up to 11. It sees Matt Berninger poetically rant over the top of an ominous riff as it begins to surge, the volume of his vocals steadily escalating along with it. Anchored around a heartfelt refrain of “You don’t know how much I love you, do you?”, it eventually explodes into a thrilling final couple of minutes led by the Dessner brothers’ climatic duelling guitars.

Whilst I appreciate some will still prefer Frankenstein and others may even be left lukewarm by this album as well, for me this is The National I know and love. Several songs here I immediately put alongside my favourites in their catalogue and overall, it is just a beautifully arranged record from beginning to end.

Best tracks: Smoke Detector, Weird Goodbyes, Space Invader

Listen here

16. Black Rainbows by Corinne Bailey Rae

I’ll admit, beyond her overplayed and overly twee breakout hit Put Your Records On, before this year I couldn’t name you another Corinne Bailey Rae track. With that being the case, I went into this fourth album from the British singer-songwriter with little expectation, other than a recommendation from 5-9 Editor Andrew Belt and some extremely positive reviews. As a result, I was blown away by the absolute tour de force with which I was presented.

Across the album’s ten tracks, Corinne effortlessly jumps from genre to genre whilst sharing her thoughts on subjects such as slavery, spirituality, freedom, hope and survival, all inspired by an art exhibition on Black history that she attended in Chicago. Whilst these radical style switches can be jarring at times, it also makes for an absolute thrill ride with not a single dull moment to be found. In just the opening three songs alone, Corinne flies between the rip-roaring A Spell, A Prayer, the experimental jazz of the title track before landing at the stomping rock riffs of Erasure.

It’s then in the middle section where the best songs can be found, with Corinne’s soulful cries of “I wanted to know you” gracefully gliding across the stirring arrangement on album highlight, Red Horse. She then immediately does a complete 180, firing into the full throttle garage rock of New York Transit Queen. Near 9-minute epic Put It Down is then the entire album in a nutshell, starting out as a magical slice of smooth R&B before transitioning into a pulsating buzz of electronica.

Black Rainbows is an album that on the surface sounds like it should be a hot mess, an “everything including the kitchen sink” collection of sounds and styles that would’ve quickly misfired in anyone else’s hands. Full credit to Corinne Bailey Rae though, as she keeps the project anchored and makes the dramatic transitions seem like the most natural thing in the world. An incredible record that you simply must hear and without a doubt one of the year’s most ambitiously inventive.

Best tracks: Put It Down, Red Horse, New York Transit Queen

Listen here

15. Sanguivore by Creeper

Back in October, I ranked this album third in the 5-9 Album of the Month podcast, below the debuts from both Barry Can’t Swim and SIPHO who we have already seen on this countdown. So how has this third album from Southampton-based goth rockers Creeper ended up here? Firstly, experiencing this album live at the start of November was without a doubt one of the musical highlights of my year, an incredibly theatrical live show unlike anything else I attended in 2023. Secondly, it’s an album that just puts the biggest smile on my face whenever I give it a spin.

Inspired by the likes of Jim Steinman, My Chemical Romance and Sisters of Mercy, it is a concept record that tells a vampire love story. However, the vampire in this case is meant to represent live music, with the Twilight-esque narrative told throughout the record actually a metaphor for the COVID lockdown and the eventual return of gigs and festivals. So not only is this an album that’s a ton of fun on an entirely superficial level, but if you want to scratch beneath the surface, there is a bit more to the album to which you can – excuse the deliberate pun – sink your teeth.

That’s the thematic concept, then sonically it’s a big, overly theatrical rock record with plenty of 80s-style synths and a bit of glam-rock/hair metal flair. Further Than Forever kicks things off with a 9-minute epic boasting more than a few shades of Meat Loaf classic, Bat Out of Hell. Singles Cry To Heaven and Teenage Sacrifice remind me of something you could see soundtracking Netflix series Stranger Things, with its neon glow and heavy metal energy. Elsewhere Sacred Blasphemy offers something a bit more punky and closer to the style of their debut, whilst Lovers Led Astray is a dramatic track filled with big rock riffs and spooky organs.

Sometimes music just needs to be a lot of fun to resonate and that is what Creeper delivered with Sanguivore. Without a doubt one of the best rock/metal albums of the year and one that offered the perfect soundtrack to the 2023 Halloween season.

Best tracks: Cry To Heaven, Further Than Forever, Sacred Blasphemy

Listen here

14. The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We by Mitski

When this was a very narrow runner-up on the September episode of the 5-9 Album of the Month podcast, I mentioned that I was intrigued to find out where it would land on my year-end list. Well, here it is finishing right up in 14th which, given the beautiful wintery nature of the music Mitski crafts on this her seventh album, is no surprise.

As I said on the pod back in September, this Mitski record is a good advert for why you should always listen to an album at least once on headphones. I feel like you don’t truly know a record until you’ve sat down and properly indulged in it on a good set of noise-cancelling headphones. The first time I played this album it was on in the background whilst I was cooking on the kitchen speaker, where I noticed a few nice moments but not too much really standing out. Then the second time I played it was walking to work on a cold but sunny Autumn morning, quiet roads, headphones on - and then suddenly the music and words hit me like a ton of bricks.

Every time I’ve played this record since, I’ve found myself growing more and more fond of it. Bug Like An Angel was the first track I heard and it works wonderfully as the opener, with the choir vocals joining her for a powerful start. Buffalo Replaced is then my favourite on the whole album, just beautifully written with a great piano/organ passage. Heaven also lives up to its name, with Mitski gently cooing as the orchestration swells in the background. When Memories Snow I wish was longer, as it seems to end just as it really gets going with the triumphant sound of the Ennio Morricone-inspired brass horns. Sonically it’s all majestic but the way she conveys feelings of heartbreak, isolation and disillusionment in the songwriting is just beautiful too.

Above all though, it’s an album that feels instantly timeless, with the songs sounding like they’ve been plucked from another age in the same way as a lot of Lana Del Rey’s music. A wonderful record and one I can see myself picking up again for many Autumn/Winters to come.

Best tracks: Buffalo Replaced, When Memories Snow, I Love Me After You

Listen here

13. The Greater Wings by Julie Byrne

From one gut-punch record to another, as we arrive at the third album from American singer-songwriter Julie Byrne. Missing out on the 5-9 July Album of the Month podcast through losing the public vote, it was a big “Oh, what could have been” moment, in a month where none of the albums we reviewed particularly gripped us like other months. If Julie had won that vote, I have no doubt she would’ve finished near the top of our collective Album of the Year rankings. This is a devastatingly beautiful meditation on heartache and grief that demands to be heard.

Having begun recording the album in late 2020, the project was thrown into disarray when producer for these sessions, Eric Littman, suddenly and tragically died in mid-2021. In the wake of her loss, Byrne wrote this set of songs to process her grief, also expanding her instrumental palette by bringing in synths, harps and strings to further elevate her guitar-based arrangements. With her own haunting vocals then the key component that brings it all together, the result is a deeply stirring reflection on death and sorrow unlike any I’ve ever heard.

It's hard to pick out individual moments as highlights, as this really is an album that should be experienced from beginning to end. However, the ones that resonated with me the most were the gorgeous opening title track, the understated splendour of Moonless and then the powerful, emotionally charged finale, Death Is The Diamond.

I have to once again thank friend of the blog Kiley Larsen, as this is another record I may well have missed had it not been for his recommendation back in the summer. Like Mitski, an album made to be heard at this time of year and one that leaves a huge lasting impression.

Best tracks: Death Is The Diamond, Moonless, The Greater Wings

Listen here

12. Crazymad, For Me by CMAT

If there is one artist who most definitely had a breakout year in 2023, it is Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson - better known by her stage name, CMAT. Sure, she is already a superstar over in Ireland having won the Irish Choice Prize and reached the top of the Irish Album Chart with her 2022 debut If My Wife New I'd Be Dead, but in 2023 it feels like she introduced herself to a whole new audience over here in the UK too.

Having only just released that debut last year, CMAT has wasted little time in delivering an assured follow-up that successfully builds on the foundations laid with that breakout first album, with this sophomore outing another record full of high points. It starts very strong with California and Phone Me both joyous, string-tinged pop anthems, before midway through Robbie-Williams-endorsed John Grant collaboration - Where Are Your Kids Tonight? - shines bright. However, it’s the latter section where my favourite tracks seem to appear, with the piano-driven I…Hate Who I Am When I’m Horny seeing CMAT bemoan herself and her love life.

However, Stay For Something is undoubtedly the pick of the whole bunch and although I don’t rank my Top 100 Songs of the Year (which is still to come later this month just to remind you!), this song would honestly be at the very top. Thanks to some wonderfully bluesy guitars and CMAT’s own impassioned vocal cries of “Have you found what you’re looking for”, it builds to a devastating crescendo that never fails to hit me in all the feels. Also for those who haven’t seen it yet, make sure you watch her live performance of the track on The Graham Norton Show. A real star-making moment and, for me, the TV music performance of the year - check it out here.

Whilst admittedly I hadn’t completely bought into the CMAT hype the first time around like I know some did, there are a ton of moments on Crazymad, For Me that have already had me coming back for repeated spins. A brilliant follow-up from an artist who shows no signs of slowing down her ever-gathering momentum.

Best tracks: Stay For Something, I… Hate Who I Am When I’m Horny, California

Listen here

11. For That Beautiful Feeling by The Chemical Brothers

For the past three decades, the duo of Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons have been a constant - delivering iconic, instantly recognisable dance tracks and some of the best electronic music the world has ever seen. Whilst some guitar bands are often put on a pedestal beyond their worth, The Chemical Brothers by comparison don’t always get the recognition they deserve for their longevity and consistently excellent output. Now 10 albums into their career, the Brothers are aging like fine wine, with this latest opus - titled For That Beautiful Feeling - right up there with their very best work.

As ever, the Brothers have crafted this record as a mesmerising sonic journey, with each track able to stand alone as a magnificent piece of art whilst also seamlessly segueing together to form one mind-altering experience too. It’s a balance that only the best can muster and it seems like the duo have taken the best parts of their 30 year career to forge the inspiration for this new effort. The Weight plays out like Block Rockin’ Beats Version 2.0, a hypnotic blend of hip-hop and pulsating electronica. Skipping Like A Stone is then their latest collaboration with Beck, with it’s choral-like beat ensuring it hits every bit as hard as their previous classic together, Wide Open.

Those two tracks would be enough to secure the Top 20 spot, but honestly this album is littered with incredible moments. Singles Live Again, No Reason and The Darkness That You Fear sound even better in the context of the whole, with the latter having been reworked to better fit the mould. Feels Like I Am Dreaming is then a heady 7-minute colossus, transporting you across several new dimensions during the song’s duration. Goodbye is then my pick of the whole record, with a gorgeous soul sample immersed wonderfully within transcendent beams of synths at every turn.

This is without a doubt one of the records of the year, with the duo building on 2019’s No Geography to deliver yet another late career highlight. Not only are The Chemical Brothers one of the UK’s best live acts, but after this album we should recognise them for what they are – one of our most enduring artists, period.

Best tracks: Goodbye, Skipping Like A Stone, Feels Like I Am Dreaming

Listen here

Tomorrow, I reveal the final 10 albums of the countdown – don’t miss it!

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ye-xiu · 1 year

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mutuals as svt songs & members + why please!

i love when we get to do this !!!! let’s go in svt’s age order

scoups / ash: @bisexualhobi - this works perfectly in my brain. ana is a leading figure for me in good ways and entertaining ways and they are not afraid to be honest while maintaining their boundaries and also being just ... a very fun person to be around! and an absolutely dependable friend, who just feels so solid and ride or die to me, i don’t ever have to worry where i stand with them. ash goes without saying. it’s svt’s most innovative and out-there song and fits them perfectly, and it’s like if anyone asked ana to make an svt song, that would be it.

joshua / second life: @kimtaegis - annie got josh the last time we did this, but it remains true bc if i am a deranged air sign, she is the person i somehow octopus attached myself to (sorry for being late, best friend !!!). there is a lot of depth to annie just as she is as well as to the beauty she inherently carries and how she sees the world. there is something so steadfast about her and i wish the whole world would see how great she is from the surface to every part of her. that’s also why i chose second life, it’s what i’d tell her in a song. it’s what i’d carry around in place of her wherever i am.

jeonghan / our dawn is hotter than day: @beyoonce - this makes sense for so many reasons. first of all, since our secret santa exchange, i just enjoy seeing ann on my dash - it reminds me just what a genuinely mischievous person she is while being so true to herself and so her. she keeps it real! somehow that reminds me of jeonghan, who is obviously a master trickster but true to himself. and odihtd always reminds me of ann (alongside simple) bc when it’s winter here, i know it’s summer for her.

junhui / GO!: @blingyjjong - the joy in life is about being every part of yourself, no matter how messy or not quite fitting or not exactly polished that is, as well as starting over (and over and over). it is quintessentially about getting up for your own sake. nina is always so jun-coded to me (it just makes sense to me! exuberant and yet so very real) and the song may be dk’s solo ost, but it’s a sentiment she deserves to hold in her heart all the time.

hoshi / happy ending: @ohoshi - the world has to crash and burn before i will not give you this song. it’s just so you and it’s just something i will always relate to you and i know you understand how good it is (bc it is, quite frankly, this good). the absolute unrelenting happiness i get when i listen to this song is what i get whenever we chat as well. and hoshi is a complete no-brainer, fierce as you are and determined to pull people along towards is a greener pasture. and i love and admire you for that grit, that honesty, and also for the levity you carry when i can’t.

wonwoo / fallin’ flower: @hwiyoungies - another one that is a no brainer! not only is belle my favourite wonwootual (<3) but also a person whose thoughts i usually agree with, as well as just someone very soft- and well-spoken (and rational when fandom spaces can not be that). also i still remember you liking my post about the best three svt songs being of their japanese discography, so one of those does belong to you and the beauty of fallin’ flower feels very much like your blog and posts feel to me.

woozi / vernon / all my love: @suuho - and when we will see you and woozi in the same room, only then we can be certain you are not the same person !!! anyways, anything but them would be a disservice to how i see you (the center of the world), to how you are towards the people you care about (which is extremely caring and nonsensical about it), and to how important it is for the world to know you are the very lovely grounded half of my bouncy and excited braincell but you also are the other half of me. i love no one more than you, my tiny gremlin guy with pretentious music taste, and that is why you also get all my love ...... no other song could ever say it better.

minghao / i can’t run away: @chanonara - there are not many people that i feel are subsequently so close in how i see the world, but abigail, you are one of my favourite people to talk to because you understand all of what i say with heartfelt care and i never not feel like we are on the same wavelength. the song choice may seem out of place for anyone but us, but i think you know exactly why it is here. you know where love should be placed and how.

mingyu / let me hear you say: @woozi - tumblr user yza woozi, what’s it like to feel like a very beloved backbone to my caratblr experience, because that is what you are. not to mention the distinctiveness you bring to all of your gifs, which reminds me of mingyu’s love for photography and how he uses it to document his life among and with svt. similarly expressive people! let me hear you say just feels like a song that matches your vibe, it could play in the background of your blog and posts and i’d be content!

dk / rock with you: @shownu-ssi - who else! who else but the most artistic and easily serotonin inducing person for the same type of person in my life. there is no one more fitting to when i think of dk than you. from your fierce creative spirit and singular care for the art you want to create to this only being matched by your love for people, and your love for this world, and your hope in it (and joy for the little things of it). it couldn’t be anyone else. rock with you is a song that gets me to tear up on a good day, not out of sadness, but because it reminds me so much of how happy i was this time last year. you made the colder season better, and we carry that through all the other seasons.

seungkwan / my my: @wonjinist - i just think there is something relentlessly optimistic and engaging about seungkwan and i just think that you can be the same, eri. sometimes when i have bleak days, seeing you on my dash and posting about so many different groups you love and all the songs you enjoy brings some much needed vibrancy back as well as makes me smile! my my is an mv that just feels so similar to your blog, as does the song, and i just love both a lot.

dino / hey buddy: @wonublr - hey buddy !!!!!! lee, you are easily one of my favourite people i met in caratblr, you bring such warmth and excitement and mirth to every one of our chats and just like with dino, i am simply rooting for you to succeed in everything you do and for you to express yourself any way you want to. and it’s so amazing to see every time! not to mention, thank you for making me more creative and inspiring me as well. hey buddy just fits you so well, because it has the same energy you have in my mind.

#this took 1000 years lol sorry work had me occupied #ask #anonymous

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artificialgrievand · 5 months

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==> Surprise! Serket's gifts from Callie are all wrapped and ready for opening. The first is an ornate box full of tiny glass ornaments, all of which were apparently morphed through Callie's space powers from broken glass into a variety of shapes. There are several different kinds of stars, a crescent moon, a sun (coloured green!), some hearts, a duck with three much smaller ducks, rose petals, thunderbolts, and a tiny little octopus. They're all quite smooth and sturdy, no sharp edges aside from the points on the stars and lightning, but maybe a little crude close up. Callie might be a craftsman but this project was still a whole new skill to learn. They were for her broken horn halo field-y thing Serket had going on, if they would stay aloft. If not, well, they were cute little trinkets. It's the thought that counts, right? A second box, smaller and flatter, held within it a smart phone and a golden Ultraball with a black thunderbolt embellishment. According to the box it was a "Let's Go! Ultra 3," a Rotom Phone, specifically one she'd meant to give Serket last year but thankfully held off due to the whole.... Area Zero(?) situation. The Rotom meant to inhabit the phone wasn't exactly the happiest it had been idling for the past year, but they seemed to hold that more against Callie than anything and would warm right up to Serket with time. And finally, as tradition, a box of trading cards. This time for a game Serket's never played, but Callie was eager to teach.

This has arrived several days ago, so these gifts had already made their way into the mechanoids current outfit lineups! Currently the little ducks were rowing along in circles around her head, swirling with the other glass shards and looking quite whimsical while doing so!

The phone was a melancholy little thing, but Serket was working to utilize it in her daily cataloging of monstrous activity. It had a sort of recordable encyclopedia function, and it had already helped her record some data on the Albertosaurus! All in all, a wonderful little partnership!

The cards were mysterious, and reminded Serket of her old collection of the Titan Trading Cards that she had gotten ahold of some years back.

She was going to master this style! Blue and Orange seemed like the way to go!

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blanketoctopus · 3 months

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Lesser Pacific Striped Octopus

Dear Octopus chierchiae,

I'll never be able to fully understand how much I love you. The days pass by, and I still have no clues. Try to picture a green alien outside the earth that has reached the highest level of intelligence; he would still have no idea how to explain what I feel for you.

You became part of my life around 9 years ago, and I can't be thankful enough. You are one of the unique octopus in this entire world who truly love me for who I am. You barely knew anything about me, but you still embraced me; you made me feel lovable; you made a huge effort to learn everything about me; and you truly became my friend because of who I was and am. I was an innocent, crazy, and dumb octopus who still had the chance to become besties with the most incredible octopus in the entire world. Yeah, you.

Our school at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean became my favorite place in the entire world because every day I would get to be with you. Learning everything about you, hearing your lovely voice, listening to the dumb things you used to say, sharing songs, and watching series together with you were everything I needed to be the happiest animal ever. I remember pretty well the feeling when you started to call me "best" and nothing will ever be enough to describe how happy I was. Being recognized as your best friend is among the best feelings I have ever experienced. You decided to be my best friend based on who I truly was, and that made me feel very special. Thank you for that. Calling you "best" and hearing it from you still gives me goosebumps, reminding me of the time when someone, for the first time, did that. No one in my whole life impacted me as you did.

We spent two years studying together and having the best of our lives side by side. In the second year, we became really close, and I was really excited about that. I hold on to all of our memories from that time deep in my three hearts. It is impossible not to remember you while listening to "Never Forget You", a song that means a lot to me because we used to listen and sing to it back then. It is also impossible not to think of you while watching the series we used to watch together. Those series really bonded us, and the act of watching them with you made me really happy, because I would absolutely do everything for you, and I still would. One of my favorite hobbies was to imagine fanciful scenarios where we were happy together. I loved to make plans inside my head where I was giving you gifts and going places with you. I really wanted to do and plan everything just to make you happy and lovable.

I never thought that one day I would fear losing you and not having you near me, and when I felt that for the first time when we went to different schools, I had one of the most suffering moments of my life. Going to school and knowing that you wouldn't be there was extremely hard at the beginning, and missing you became a standard feeling in my life. However, our love for each other didn't let our connection die, and even far away, our passion just grew bigger, and getting to see you became my favorite activity in the whole year. Since 8 years ago, our photos together are my cellphone's wallpaper, and octopuses used to ask all the time who was the girl in my cellphone. Every time that happened, I had the opportunity to introduce my best friend, and I never stopped talking about you day after day.

Someday, you told me that you were going to move to another ocean, and damn, I was extremely happy for you, hoping that you would have the best life ever, but it was impossible not to feel devastated about that. I used to cry a lot and tell everyone that the octopus I love the most in this world was going to move away from me. I wasn't prepared for that, and it was pretty tough. I can't express myself enough to depict what was going through my head. I remember the last days we got to be with each other, and on your last birthday here, I gave you a diary with all my feelings written there and some photos. With that, I wanted to tell you, in other words, that you are more important to me than anything else and that I will love you until the day my three hearts stop and my nine brains stop working.

I cried when you told us you were moving away. I cried when you went away. I cried while you were there. I cried everytime I thought about you. And I cry whenever I get the opportunity to be with you.

After around 4 years without seeing each other, you came to the Atlantic Ocean again. I had never been that excited when I first saw you after those many days. Being with you is my favorite thing, and those days were absolutely everything to me. Your smile, your dumb talk, the way you gossip, your smell, your eyes, your hug, and even the way you walk are among the things that make me feel delighted whenever I see you. Every single detail about you makes being away from you a harder task. You went back home after some days, and needing to say goodbye again to you was extremely painful.

And then recently, you came back after 2 years. Not a single grammar or language has enough words or expressions to detail exactly how happy I was. Sharing those days with you meant a lot to me and made me remember that you're truly the only octopus in this world who can make me feel that enchanted. On our last day together, I collapsed in tears while you were sleeping. And those were concomitantly happy and sad tears. Seeing our photos together and being with you filled my soul with joy and amusement, but recognizing that I would have to say goodbye to you again made me feel terrible. I want to be with you for the rest of my life, and I am not afraid of saying it out loud. I'll never love you less, and I'll never love you more, because I may have already reached the maximum.

You are my 'octopus'. You are my best friend. You are the love of my life. You are my Robin. And for last, you are my “Lebenslanger Schicksalsschatz.” It means a life-long treasure of destiny. This signifies that there is one octopus that everyone is destined to meet one day that they will love and treasure for life. A soul mate.

"It is not something that develops over time. It is something that happens instantaneously. It courses through you like the water of a river after a storm, filling you and emptying you all at once."

My Octopus chierchiae, I will always love you, and I will always miss every single thing about you. I will always remember you while eating pizza or listening to "unconditionally" and many other things that would take 10 long paragraphs for me to detail all of them. All of my dreams share one thing in common: being with you at the end of them. I will always be available to you. I will be waiting for you to come back to me again, just like Teddy did waiting all those years to finally be with Tracy.

With all my love,

Blanket Octopus

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todoscript · 3 years

Text

how he would ask you out

request: pls some headcanons of how the boys (shinsou/tamaki/shouto) would ask the girl they like out 🥺

characters: shinsou hitoshi, amajiki tamaki, todoroki shouto

genre: fluff

word count: 3.3k+ total, 900-1200 per character

tags: pining, confessions, fem!reader

author’s notes: sorry if this sounds rushed?? i can’t write

SHINSOU HITOSHI

two years after his enrollment into the hero course, shinsou had finally came to terms with the feelings he’s been holding for you for quite some time now.

what began as just friendly encounters and kind gestures felt like something more to him. after all, you were one of the key people that led him to transition smoothly into the class, with your helpful demeanor and coming to his aid whenever he was stressed and troubled by the new environment.

you went out of your way to organize study sessions and small arrangements to mingle and get to know the other students better.

you reiterated to him that if he ever had any questions about anything, he could always come to you.

initially, shinsou thought he was being a burden—that he was just heavy baggage that tied you down.

however, you assured he was anything but, and stated that you were more than happy to help him, even going to say you enjoyed spending time and getting to learn more about him.

at your response, shinsou was appalled at how genuine you were.

appalled… but also very grateful.

eventually, there came a point when he realized there was no mistaking the affection he felt for you—not when he subconsciously noted every one of your habits and intricacies, able to tell whatever emotions were running through you at a simple glance, or when he would stop to admire the way you decided to style your hair differently or changed your look, thinking you seemed even more charming that day by the confidence you exude.

no, at that point, he’s sure it was painfully obvious. so obvious, in fact, that kaminari and mina had chosen to skip today’s group study session in favor of letting the two of you have your “alone time”. whatever that could mean.

shinsou had grimaced over their excuse of “being too busy that day” when you had told him the reasoning they gave you over text, despite knowing their next exam was only a couple days away. recalling just how nosy and enthusiastic they could get when involved in these kinds of affairs, he had an inkling of what exactly those two were planning. you, on the other hand, seemed completely oblivious to their schemes.

however, what did latch onto your mind was the thought of spending the day with only shinsou, in his very room, sitting across from each other with your textbooks open in front of you. though you should be more attentive to your studies, you couldn’t help the palpitations beating loudly in your chest and your wandering eyes that snuck glances at him after every question you answered.

unbeknownst to you, shinsou mirrored your actions all the same, reciprocating the flustered behavior, albeit a bit more subtly.

keep calm, hitoshi. why are you getting all worked up? he would say to himself, putting on his usual facade.

although he came off as relatively calm and collected on the outside, it’s difficult to keep his emotions in check when actions never lie.

that was especially true as he reached his hand out for the eraser you two were sharing between each other. with his eyes continuing to gander down at his notes, he hadn’t noticed that you were lunging for the same thing—not until your fingers had suddenly touched and you both pulled away at a speed equivalent to making contact with fire.

his stare unfaltering, shinsou was surprised to discern the embarrassed look on your face that immediately fixed itself as you rummaged through your pencil pouch. a second later, you pulled out another eraser, one that was notably smaller than the one you were sharing.

“um.. i’ll just use this,” you offered, and shinsou rubbed the back of his neck, the whole situation more awkward than it needed to be considering you never had any trouble sharing your supplies with each other before.

through some examination of your demeanor, shinsou had made a… bold enough claim, thinking that maybe—just maybe—you held the same kind of affections for him as he did for you.

it’s like he recalled earlier—actions never lie—and shinsou didn’t let the quiver of your lips or the intense concentration at your work to avoid meeting his gaze go past his head. that’s what spurred him to finally act on his desires.

without warning, he leaned forward on his seat to lay his hand over yours that caught your attention. you met his eyes, astonished to say the least, but more so concerned by how your eyes widened before you were about to open your mouth to ask him what was wrong.

the violet-haired male beats you to your words, voice resonating firmly, “y/n.”

you blinked. “y-yeah..?”

“i know this might be a bit late coming from me, but,” you could feel his hand tighten atop yours, “after exams, do you want to catch a movie together? just the two of us?”

shinsou fought the urge to look away, bashful at how he made his declaration for your time. the warmth surging under his skin was alleviated at the smile that slowly curled on your lips as you rotate your wrist, your palm touching his. the expression washing over your features told him you’ve been waiting for him to ask you this for a while now.

“i’d love to.”

AMAJIKI TAMAKI

ever a shy and introverted individual, tamaki has never had the heart to ask you out despite years of harboring a crush on you.

every time the thought had crossed his mind, he’d reason poorly with himself that you wouldn’t be interested in him in that way.

it didn’t help that his low self-esteem only deepened that thought that had now rooted itself in his brain.

at such a prestigious school like u.a., you were bound to find someone far more compelling than him—someone with guts, confidence, and great social skills. not a guy like him who conjures the image of potatoes at every anxiety-inducing encounter he comes across.

he was relieved enough to settle himself comfortably as just your friend—a title that allowed him to stay close and keep within your circle, all the while subjecting him to simply admiring you from afar.

but his eyes that held a hidden longing for more weren’t overlooked by a fellow student of his. or to be precise, the ever curious and free-spirited, hadou nejire.

always aware of his surroundings, it was hard not to notice that peculiar stare she’d aim at him during moments where he might’ve just finished speaking to you, or when you’d pass by and his head would naturally drift in your direction.

it was like she was picking apart every detail laid on him and it made tamaki absolutely restless.

tamaki’s suspicions and anxiety were later raised during one instance at the lunch table. he was at his usual seat next to his other big three companions, mirio and the aforementioned nejire, who was eyeing him with a gleam in her eye.

even with his self-consciousness, tamaki did his best not to pay any mind to the undesired attention and munched on his plate of takoyaki—the octopus nestled in the batter sure to come in handy later in training that day.

to his dismay, you passed by their table with your tray of food in hand, and nejire did not waste any time calling you over in that cheery tone of hers.

she invited you to sit down with them. you gave her invitation some thought before ultimately placing yourself in the free spot next to mirio, with nejire and tamaki already seated across from you.

the girl was all smiles and hums while tamaki was in a state of distress, both at his friend’s odd behavior, which was starting to spell trouble, to having you pulled into all of this. mirio was just being mirio, welcoming as always.

you greeted everyone at the table, making eye contact with mirio and nejire, but tamaki evaded your line of sight. he simply waved his reply without breaking away from his balls of takoyaki.

luckily for him, you didn’t give his lack of words much thought and started digging into your own lunch. it was then that nejire found it appropriate to start up a conversation.

“y’know, y/n, i’ve been meaning to ask you this, from one girl to another,” she mused, finger waving around playfully, “are you interested in anyone here?”

upon hearing her question, tamaki almost choked on his bonito flakes, his cheeks puffed and eyes blown. meanwhile, your chewing slowed as you gave your answer some thought.

“uh… well–”

“i’d say fujita from class d is quite the looker! think you’d be interested in them?”

after swallowing the food in his mouth, tamaki began to subconsciously listen in on the conversation. he paid close attention to your responses with bated breath, a small part of him anticipating your answer highly.

“fujita’s nice and all, but i don’t think we’d really get along as a couple.”

tamaki mentally sighed, relief evident all over his face. it was then that mirio had started fitting the pieces together after watching his close friend’s brow wrinkle throughout the entire exchange before finally relaxing at your words. crossing his eyes with nejire’s only confirmed his suspicions as the girl sent him a wink.

as a friend, mirio wasn’t about to let nejire’s operations fall flat. getting up from his seat, he motioned tamaki to come with him.

“i heard they have extra yakisoba bread right now! we should go check it out!” he said as a guise to give the other two time to themselves, free from tamaki’s prying ears.

unaware that mirio had caught on so quickly, tamaki didn’t object to tagging along with him. mostly because he thought of this as an opportunity to get some fresh air and calm his racing heart, finally feeling the effects of the blood rushing to his face.

with tamaki supposedly out of earshot, nejire was free to go about her questions however she wanted.

“okay then, if not fujita, then who? there has to be someone, right?” the girl scooted further in her seat out of pure curiosity. “tell me, is it perhaps someone in our class?”

it was your turn to be stricken by her boldness. you tried picking at your food, stuffing it into your mouth to avoid answering, but nejire’s tenacity outmatched you.

finishing your lunch, you opened your mouth to speak, “actually, the person i’m interested in is pretty close to you…”

nejire feigned ignorance, innocently placing a finger under her chin. “who? mirio?”

“ah no, it’s tamaki, alright?!” you ended up blurting, voice hushed but frantic.

bingo. hearing exactly what she wanted, nejire returned to her original position, a triumphant grin plastered on her lips. replaying what you said out loud in your head, you buried your warm face in your hands.

unbeknownst to you, tamaki had ended up hearing the whole exchange around the corner coming back to their table as mirio lightly snickered at his revelation of an expression.

the blond patted his shoulder. “go on then, you know what to do.” he threw tamaki an encouraging thumbs-up.

the boy gulped in response before inhaling a deep breath of air to prepare himself for what would arguably be the most important yet stress-inducing moment of his life so far.

noticing you getting up to discard your tray, tamaki—through a final push from mirio—went to make his move.

hearing him suddenly call out to you, you were caught off-guard. after admitting to your crush on tamaki to nejire, you felt your cheeks get hot just seeing his face right afterward.

“oh hey, did you get your hands on those yakisoba breads?” you scraped up a way to start the conversation.

“right... that… mirio managed to get the last one in the cafeteria,” he answered. then he brought his hand to rub his elbow, fidgeting in his spot as he found it difficult to look you in the eyes again.

“tamaki? something wrong? are you upset that he got the last yakisoba bread?”

he shook his head. “no, i… it’s just… i’ve been meaning to ask you this for a long time now, but never had the courage to say it to you because i didn’t think you ever liked me that way. but…” he finally mustered the determination to face you head-on. “would you go out with me, y/n?”

at first, you were speechless—absent of words as you relayed his request in your mind over and over again. then, your eyes softened, lips easing into a smile as you reached out for his hand.

“i thought you’d never ask.”

TODOROKI SHOUTO

it’s no surprise to many that when it came to asking someone out, todoroki didn’t exactly know the first thing to do.

mostly because he’s never asked anyone out to begin with.

you were the first person he’s ever felt these kinds of emotions for, and to be frank, he wasn’t sure what to make of everything that had been going through him when that root of infatuation had started to bloom inside him.

rather than sulk or contemplate on his thoughts for too long, he surmised it was best to simply come clean and ask for advice.

but when he confessed to what had been on his mind lately, he wasn’t expecting such a vigorous response from his friends.

“i’ve been thinking about asking y/n out.”

there was a layer of uncomfortable silence amongst the group before all hell eventually broke loose.

midoriya, uraraka, and iida immediately sprung from their seats in the common room, yelling “what?!” in unison. tsuyu and her frog-like mannerisms were more idle, but still surprised nonetheless.

todoroki was unfazed by their reactions, actually expecting it to go that way considering he’s never brought up any topics of that nature before. at the very least, he’s thankful he decided to say this when it was just the five of them. compared to what the whole class’s reaction would have been like, this was incredibly tame.

todoroki was used to always listening to what others had to say and never being the subject of the conversation when it came to dating.

but now things were different. he was openly admitting to them that he was regarding someone romantically. that he possibly sought a relationship with this someone—wanting to be committed to them and become the very best person he could be right next to them. to the four, this was coming completely out of left field.

after everyone simmered down and let the news sink in, the dual-haired boy resumed his thought,

“but i’m not sure how to do it.”

though the entirety of the group never had any experiences when it came to dating, they knew enough from media and pop culture to get an idea on how to help him. more than todoroki could imagine on his own anyway.

“i know! how about we go with the romantic and suave approach!” uraraka suggested. the rest asked her to elaborate.

“it’s simple! it starts by you leaving a note on her desk right before class, saying to meet you on the rooftop of the school! before the designated time, you should wait there for her with a bouquet of flowers, and then when she arrives, confess your feelings and ask her out!”

midoriya rubbed a finger against his cheek, skeptical. “i don’t think that sounds as simple as you’re making it out to be.”

tsuyu chimed in beside him. “those kinds of ideas usually only work well in books, ochako.”

pursing her lips, uraraka gave her plan a once-over, and realized it did seem a bit more involved and out of character than what todoroki was used to.

despite sharing a few more ideas with one another, they couldn’t narrow it down to any perfect one.

that was when iida clapped his hand, bringing everyone’s attention to him.

“alright, i think we’re starting to blow this whole ‘operation’ way out of proportion,” he said.

“if you’re honest about the way you feel about her and show it sincerely, i’m sure she’ll consider your feelings. you don’t have to do anything extravagant when it comes to asking someone out.”

listening throughout every word, todoroki nodded. meanwhile the other three were astonished that their class representative could be so whimsical when it came to romance, which in turn, iida was conflicted by. however, at the very least he was glad they could help out a friend. and so, todoroki went about his day with their discussion in mind.

he found that in many occurrences, whenever he crossed by you and thought of it as a chance to ask you out, there would always be someone to come in and take your time away. leaving him to stand there awkwardly before dismissing the fated question for later.

eventually, the sky dimmed and evening arrived, and by then, the whole class was already back at their dormitory and about to have dinner.

through some rather convenient circumstances, you two were actually assigned on kitchen duty that night.

“it’s been getting pretty cold lately so i was thinking we should cook up a hot pot for everyone.” you gave your idea to him as you pulled out some ingredients from the fridge, waiting for his reply, but it came a few seconds later than you were expecting.

“right. sounds like a good idea,” todoroki answered a tad late. upon realizing it was only going to be the two of you making dinner tonight, his mind was occupied by what he and his friends spoke about earlier.

that was when he started overthinking the situation and absentmindedly half-assed his work.

“todoroki, the cut on the tofu is slightly uneven.” you reviewed his cutting board. looking down, he saw the inconsistent slices of tofu limp in front of him. if bakugou were the executive chef for the evening, he would’ve had to hear an earful from him.

“sorry…” he apologized quietly, reaching out for another cube of tofu to cut.

“is everything okay? i know you’re still learning how to cook, but i’ve seen you show some significant improvement on your knife skills recently.” you voiced your concern for him.

the white and red-haired boy stared at the white bean curd while hearing your worried tone and couldn’t find it within himself to continue the task. it was now or never he thought. he laid the knife flat on the cutting board.

“actually, i wanted to ask you something.” he turned toward you. “do you… want to go out with me?”

nothing but the sound of the fire running on the stove could be heard in the kitchen. todoroki didn’t move his eyes away from you, watching you nearly drop the plate of siu choy and shiitake mushrooms out of shock as your mouth was hanging open.

when you caught onto your bearings, you let out a small laugh. “oh… i… wasn’t expecting that,” you admitted honestly, placing the ingredients on the counter safely.

the boy furrowed his brows. “is that a no?”

“n-no! i mean that isn’t my answer! i–” you fumbled with your words, cheeks warming up now that his confession had finally sunk in. in the meantime, todoroki found your reaction quite amusing. the corner of his lip quirked into a grin.

“what i mean to say is that yes, i’d love to go out with you.” you accepted the offer wholeheartedly. todoroki would be lying if his heart wasn’t throbbing from anticipation. he’s glad he’s able to rest and put that aside.

“now let’s continue making this hot pot together!” you cheered, smiling widely and he found comfort in your words before resuming slicing the tofu.

#bnha x reader #bnha imagine #bnha headcanons #shinsou x reader #shinso x reader #tamaki x reader #todoroki x reader #mha x reader #bnha scenarios #mha headcanons #shinsou hitoshi x reader #tamaki amajiki x reader #todoroki shouto x reader #todoroki shoto x reader #bnha x y/n

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slightlysaccharine · 2 years

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SHOULD YOU FIGHT THEM: TWISTED WONDERLAND EDITION

Riddle Rosehearts

In terms of physical strength, Riddle’s got nothing. Ace easily slugged him, so you could knock him down fairly easily....but whether you should is another story. He’s constantly stressed from running a strict dorm and still has PTSD from his mother. This poor child is running on sugar and spite at this point, so if you hit him, he’d probably blow a gasket and cut your head off. Not to mention you’d have to deal with Ace, Deuce, Trey AND Cater coming for your ass.

3/10 - You could, but it wouldn’t be worth it at all.

Leona Kingscholar

PLEASE. PLEASE PUNCH HIM. This smug bastard has never worked a day in his life and is just ASKING to be punched. HUMBLE HIS SPOILED RICH ASS. I mean, he’d kick yours and flatten it the ground two seconds after you throw the punch (not to mention you’d probs get mauled by the Savanaclaw students ready to defend their leader) but it will be SATISFYING to wipe that smug ass smirk off his face for a few seconds.

8/10- Ruggie filmed the whole thing and put it on Twstube.

Azul Ashengrotto

I mean, you could, but there WILL be repercussions. Namely two very tall repercussions that will beat the everliving shit out of you. But why would you want to do that anyway? This poor boy has been through enough trauma and pain. He’s going to cry if you punch him. Do you want that? Do you want to make him cry? That’s just going to be awkward for everybody. And then the Leech twins are going to pummel you.

2/10 - You’d feel guilty right after doing the deed. Don’t punch the octopus man.

Kalim Al-Asim

WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?! Why would you want to punch this sweet sunshine boy!? He has done nothing wrong ever in his life, you monster! If you punched him, he would probably ask YOU what was wrong and apologize because he thought he did something to deserve it! Plus, you’d have to go through Jamil to even get CLOSE to punching Kalim, so is it really worth it?

0/10 - YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED. GO SIT IN THE CORNER.

Vil Schoenheit

This is really just a matter of how bad you want to do it. If you want to try your luck, go for it but its not gonna end well. Vil will catch your fist in his hand before it even comes close to his face and flip you over his shoulder onto the floor before you even have a chance to blink. And then he’ll remark about how sloppy your form was before walking away with the grace of a supermodel, so how BAD do you want to punch him?

5/10- He will embarrass you. Attempt at your own risk.

Idia Shroud

ABSOFUCKINGLUTELY DO IT. P L E A S E. KNOCK THIS LANKY BLUE INCEL ON HIS ASS. HE SMELLS LIKE ANIME AND DEPRESSION. HE HASN’T SHOWERED IN THREE DAYS. HE WANTS YOU TO DO IT. HE’S NEVER FOUGHT A DAY IN HIS LIFE AND HE WON’T START NOW. THIS IS YOUR CHANCE. FINISH H I M.

10/10 - Ortho will most DEFINITELY blast you with his laser beam, but IT’LL BE WORTH IT. DO IT ANYWAY.

Malleus Draconia

Don’t. Just don’t. Don’t even think about it, he can probably read your mind. (If not him, then his servants most DEFINITELY can.) You won’t even get five feet before being run through with a sword by Sebek. And even if you DID somehow manage to ninja around Sebek and Silver, you’d still have Lilia to worry about and that’s arguably worse. Plus, Malleus is a sweetheart. He’s just a lonely guy who wants to be your friend. Why would you hit him? You’d break his heart and then he’d curse your entire bloodline for hurting his feelings.

-10000/10- You’d be dead before you even thought about it. DO NOT PUNCH THE DRAGON.

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writemywaytoyourheart · 3 years

Text

Aim For The Heart | Chapter 2: Push and Pull

Pairing: hitman!jk x female reader

Genre: E2L, romance, drama, angst

WC: 8.2k

Warnings for this chapter: stalking, alcohol consumption, a gun, attempted murder, language (jk has a potty mouth) pls let me know if there's anything I should add!

Tag list; @hopekookies @moonchild1 @barbellastyles98 @teresaisla @ggukkieland @mwitsmejk @scuzmunkie @jaebeomsblackgf @sugaslittlekookies

summary; Jeon Jungkook is an infamous hitman, known for his inability to fail at whatever job is thrown his way. At least, up until now. Y/n, a kind-hearted and full of life teacher, is his newest target. Jeon isn't sure who would put a hit on this seemingly innocent girl, but fortunately, that isn't his problem. All he has to do is pull the trigger.

Previous → Next

Jungkook blinks up at his ceiling, his eyes dry from keeping them open for so long. The light of the sun is starting to peek through his blinds, signaling that morning has officially come. He finally looks away from his ceiling to look at the window where the light is creeping in.

Jungkook sighs and sits up, running a hand through his hair and mussing it up. He's not sure he even got a wink of sleep last night. There's something about this case that's apparently keeping him up at night, and he's barely even started.

He can't help but wonder what this girl did to make herself a target. He's not questioning whether he should go through with it, no, that's not even a question. The money on this girl's head has to be at least three if not four times as much as his previous hits.

Jungkook just wants to know what he's getting himself into, that's what's bugging him the most. He doesn't like walking into situations and not knowing everything that's going on.

He looks around his tiny studio apartment, his eyes blurry. Then, he starts to laugh to himself quietly. With a job that pays this much, he's worrying an awful lot about things that don't matter.

After another minute of delaying the inevitable, Jungkook forces himself to get up and get dressed before grabbing an apple to eat on the way.

As he locks his apartment door behind him, the neighbor's door opens and Jungkook sees a familiar face smiling brightly at him.

"Good morning, Jungkook!"

"Hi, Hoseok. How are you this morning?" Jungkook asks politely.

The older boy smiles even brighter if that's possible as he holds up a rolled-up paper, "I'm great since I've got a new paper to read. Thanks for leaving it, Kook."

Jungkook smiles, "No problem. I was getting one anyway, thought I might as well grab an extra."

Hoseok nods, "Where are you off to? I thought you didn't work at the coffee shop on Tuesdays?"

"Oh, I'm going job hunting," Jungkook responds lightly. "I'm tired of working at the coffee shop." He laughs as Hoseok pouts.

"I haven't even gotten to visit you while you work! Darn." Hoseok snaps his fingers in disappointment. "Oh well, good luck on the job hunt!"

"Thanks, Hoseok." Jungkook smiles and turns to leave, only relaxing when he hears his neighbor's door shut. That's something he doesn't like about having a friendly neighbor, he hates lying to people that seem to actually care about him.

Hoseok was always saying he wanted to visit Jungkook and get some discounted coffee. Jungkook doesn't have the heart to tell him that it was all a lie. In fact, everything he knows about him is a lie.

That's why he doesn't involve a lot of people in his life and he plans to keep it that way.

Jungkook shakes his head to clear it. He's been getting too emotional lately and his head isn't in his work.

"That stops here and now," Jungkook vows to himself as he waits at a crosswalk, watching the cars drive by.

A few minutes later, he arrives at Sunshine Kindergarten.

Jungkook is caught off guard when he sees the girl immediately. He had expected to have to wait for her arrival again today. She's sitting outside the school on the steps, a book in her hands that's long forgotten as she looks up at the sky. It looks like she's talking to someone, but when Jungkook looks around, there's no one else anywhere near her.

The girl cocks her head to the side, then starts to rock back and forth a little as she continues to talk to no one. Too curious for his own good, Jungkook crosses the street to get closer. Maybe if he gets close enough, he can hear what she's saying.

"I th-think...maybe s-sandwiches would be a good idea."

The hell?

Jungkook glances at her as he pretends to just stroll by. She's definitely talking to herself.

"No, no no no. I had a s-sandwich for l-lunch yesterday..." She bites the fingernail on her right thumb as she seems to contemplate something. She takes no notice of Jungkook while she continues to look at her book, then the sky.

"Mm, maybe tt-tteokbokki?"

Jungkook fights the urge to look at her like she's insane and just continues to walk by until he's safe to turn and keep an eye on her.

"Oooh, tteokbokki sounds y-yummy." The girl says with finality. Then she glances at her phone, notices the time, and starts putting her book in her cupcake and cookie decorated bag. A minute later, she's walking into the school and leaving his line of sight.

"What the hell..." Jungkook mutters to himself.

Who even is this girl?

_____________

Today, as Jungkook follows behind the girl as she walks home, she stops several times to talk to babies, dogs, and even a bird.

Jungkook just follows behind in disbelief.

This has to be some kind of an act.

Yeah, that's definitely what it is. This girl is better than he thought, she's got her whole act planned out to throw anyone off her track. She's going to have to do better than acting like some innocent school teacher to throw him off though.

This time, instead of heading straight home, the girl goes to an arcade. When Jungkook walks into the arcade a minute later, he spots her in the same white skirt and chunky tennis shoes, a light blue cardigan around her shoulders.

She's playing one of the games by herself, her face set into one of pure determination. Jungkook goes to a game where he can still see her and starts to play. He's more focused on making sure she doesn't leave, so he ends up losing that first round.

He doesn't really care though, he watches her carefully as she shouts in triumph. A few tickets come out of her little machine and she snags them, running to the front to trade them in for a tiny stuffie.

The girl ends up staying at the arcade for another two hours, collecting enough tickets to trade in for an octopus stuffie that's almost the size of her to go along with the tiny starfish one she got earlier.

She looks laughable as she carries her prizes out the front door and down the street, clutching the giant octopus like her life depends on it. The little starfish rides along safely in her bag.

One more stop is made as the girl gets a little cup of ice cream from a man selling it on the side of the street. The second he asked her if she wanted to buy some, it was like she couldn't say no as she hurriedly agreed and bought one scoop of ice cream. When she leaves, Jungkook goes up to the man and buys a scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream to eat while he follows her.

He hasn't had a decent meal all day and he's starving.

It's starting to get dark by the time Jungkook recognizes the streets they're on and realizes she's finally heading home. Weirdly enough, the girl turns and walks down a dark alley, even though the streetlamp near it is flickering on and off.

Doesn't she have any sense of self-preservation? Jungkook thinks to himself.

It might not be good for her, but it's definitely something that could help him out immensely. He'll have to keep tailing her for a few more days to make sure, but if she continues to use this dark alley as a shortcut, then she's practically doing his job for him.

Sure enough, they end up a lot closer to her apartment by the time they're out of the alley. So, it's a shortcut she probably uses quite often. Then Jungkook notices that she hasn't turned around to look at her surroundings this entire time.

She's making this too easy.

He could have this job over with by the end of the week if luck stays on his side. It's always a relief when it doesn't take him long to get a job done.

He's really had nothing to worry about, why was he worrying so much? It isn't his business why this girl is a target, it's his job to carry out his end of the deal, that's all.

It feels like a weight has lifted off of his shoulders as he climbs the stairs to his apartment that night. He says hello to Hoseok, who's sitting outside and reading, before making his way inside.

The first thing he does is jump in the shower, then when he's finished, he makes himself some ramen.

Jungkook sits alone at his little dining table, gently blowing on the noodles in-between his chopsticks. His hair is still damp from his shower, but he's cozy in his sweats with something close enough to a real meal than he's had all day. He gets up once to grab some kimchi and soju from the fridge, then he stays at the dining table until he's downed two bottles.

This happens every time he gets a new job. It feels good at the moment, but he knows he's going to regret it in the morning. That's the only thought that stops him from grabbing a third bottle.

By the time he's settled into bed, he's forgotten what was worrying him so much the past few days. He smiles to himself, relieved that he'll be getting that money in a week at most. He'll have to come up with a plan when he isn't hammered like he is now. That's the last thought to pass through his mind before he's out like a light.

______________

You wake up to the sound of birds chirping.

Not real birds, just the sound that you chose for your alarm. Something you're grateful that Mina helped you do. The other alarm sounds just give you anxiety when they go off.

You don't notice it at first, but by the time you've become aware of your surroundings, you realize that your legs are all tangled up with the tentacles of a giant octopus stuffie. The small starfish stuffie is laying by your head. The events of last night, you getting enough tickets to get your new little friends, makes their way into your brain.

You laugh and snuggle into it more.

No wonder you slept so soundly last night; you had something to cuddle!

You breathe deeply, after a few minutes you're awake enough to sit up and rub your eyes. Smiling to yourself at the sight of the beautiful golden light seeping in through your blinds, you sigh happily. Normally you don't like waking up, but today feels different. There's something that's shifted, but you can't tell what it is.

Maybe it's because you slept so well last night. The nightmares that usually plague your dreams, were absent. You smile at the giant octopus in your arms, "Y-You chased away all the b-bad dreams!" You exclaim, hugging it tightly to your chest, "Thanks, C-Cookie!"

You named the stuffie last night, the starfish also got a name, Smiley, due to the tiny smile stitched into its adorable little face.

You sit in bed for another minute or so, just staring into space and thinking about random things. Then you slip out of bed and hurry to the bathroom to get a quick shower. As the water pours down your head and shoulders, you start to sing a song that's been stuck in your head for a few days. Your voice cracks as you try to hit the higher notes, but you pay it no mind and keep singing your heart out.

With your hair wrapped up in a towel on top of your head, you pour yourself a bowl of your favorite cereal. You play your favorite songs as you eat and hum along to them, your mind wandering. When you're finished, you move to your room to get dressed.

Opening your closet, you stand there and scan the limited amount of clothing you have as if you had millions of choices to pick from. "One, two, three, four..." You count lowly to yourself, pointing at each shirt, skirt, and pants hanging in your closet. After a minute of debating, you decide to wear your light blue flowy skirt today instead of your favorite white one. You pull it on, then grab a white blouse along with some frilly white socks.

Mina texted you earlier to tell you how sorry she was, but she couldn't drive you today. Her work wanted her in at six o'clock sharp. You didn't need to be at work until seven. You reassured her that you would be totally fine walking. You love to walk in the mornings anyway, the fresh air always smells so nice and all the birds seem to be braver as they are out more in the morning. The whole world is just so quiet and beautiful as it wakes up.

You hum to yourself as you pull on your favorite tennis shoes. It takes you a few tries to get the laces done, but you manage.

"What should I eat f-for lunch today?" You ask yourself as you scan your fridge. You really want to try making some kimbap, but the last time you tried that without Mina's help, you ended up with a burned finger and almost lost another finger trying to cut the veggies.

So, you decide to make yourself another simple sandwich today, cheese this time. When you're done putting it together, you get out your cookie cutters and get to work. You have to contain your excitement at the heart-shaped sandwiches sitting on the counter after you're finished.

You stick to letting yourself jump around for a second to let the giddiness out, then you force yourself to calm down enough to grab a container and gently put the little sandwiches in. You grab a few more little snacky things to put in your lunch bag, then you zip it all up.

Finally, you're ready to go!

You grab your bag and sling it over your shoulder, then you snag your lunch and clutch it tightly in your fist as you make your way out of your apartment, remembering to lock the door this time.

Mina would be proud of you.

The crisp June morning air hits your nose and you breathe in deeply, a smile spreading on your face as you descend the stairs.

You make good time this morning, seeing as there isn't much to catch your attention today. You arrive at the school twenty minutes before the bell is going to ring, so you decide to sit on the steps again today like you did yesterday. It's just too nice out here to be all closed up in your classroom before your kids even get here.

You pull out your drawing pad from your bag and get comfortable on the front steps. Next, you take out your colored pencils as you scan the area, trying to figure out what you should draw today.

You see something across the street, the kind old man that runs the paper stand. Maybe you could draw him and give it to him as a present when it's all finished! You nod in excitement and get to work, your nose soon buried in your drawing pad.

______________

Jungkook had decided this morning that he would follow the girl from her home. If he was lucky and she was going to walk today it would be a perfect chance to see if she always uses the alleyway or if she had just used it by chance last night.

The girl comes out of her place around six-twenty, in a light blue skirt this time. Jungkook smirks, so she does own something that isn't just that one white skirt.

Her hair is a little messed up as if she forgot to brush it before leaving. She's got a scrunchie on her wrist, but it appears that she has no intention of using it.

Jungkook follows a little ways behind her, as he has been these past few days. With how distracted this girl gets, he could walk right behind her and she'd never notice him.

Surprisingly, she doesn't stop much on the way to the school. She skips a little, probably to the beat of the song she's listening to in her headphones. A few people, Jungkook notices, give her odd looks.

He later finds out when he hears her, that it's probably because she's talking to herself as she looks at the sky, then down to her shoes as she watches herself walk.

He shakes his head, seriously wanting to know what the story is behind this target.

She deserves an oscar, Jungkook thinks in amusement.

Then he notices that she doesn't use the alley, she just passes by it.

Maybe she'll use it again tonight, he thinks hopefully.

At one point, the girl trips over a crack in the sidewalk and lurches forward. He isn't sure why, but he finds himself stepping closer, his hands out to catch her before he realizes what he's doing. Jungkook steps back and clears his throat, watching as she catches herself anyway, and continues to skip down the sidewalk.

When they get close to the school, Jungkook crosses the street and heads over to buy a paper from the old man before finding a bench and settling down on it. He looks over the paper, expecting the girl to just go inside, but instead, she sits on the steps again.

He watches as she pulls a notebook out of her childish bag, then she pulls out a little box. Out of the little box, she takes some colored pencils. She looks across the street and he can tell she's decided to draw the old man at the paper stand.

Huh.

This girl is undoubtedly strange.

She sits and draws in concentration for a good ten minutes, then she gathers up her things and heads inside. She must be too excited about her picture because as she's skipping in she yet again trips on the last step and stumbles. The girl catches herself and continues in as if she's used to tripping over everything.

Jungkook cocks an eyebrow, then just shakes his head again and goes back to reading the paper. He's got some time to kill before school is over.

It turns out, he would see the girl before the last bell.

Jungkook thanks the man at the food stand and heads to his little bench to sit down and eat his lunch, grateful that he's going to be eating actual meals today.

He digs into the tteokbokki and fish cakes immediately. It's as delicious as he expected it to be and he tries not to groan in satisfaction at the taste of something that isn't just instant ramen noodles. But what he doesn't expect, is to see the girl coming out from the school.

Jungkook chokes on a rice cake as he scrambles to grab his paper and flip it open, covering his face. He settles his breathing enough to be able to swallow the bite that almost killed him, his eyes closed in annoyance. When he slowly peeks over the top, he sees her sitting on the front steps again, a little pink lunch sack in her lap. She moves her legs so her skirt doesn't ride up and expose anything, then she opens the lunch bag.

Jungkook watches in mounting disbelief as she pulls out what looks to be a heart-shaped sandwich.

How much weirder can this girl get?

She says something to herself before taking a big bite of the sandwich, her cheeks puffing out like a chipmunk that stuffed one too many nuts in his mouth.

He shakes his head and stabs a little rice cake before shoving it in his mouth. He isn't sure why this girl is starting to annoy the crap out of him, but she is. Jungkook looks up again when he hears a loud laugh ring out from across the street. A couple that was walking look at the girl like she's insane, but she doesn't seem to notice.

She just covers her mouth with her hand and snorts as she looks at something on her phone. Jungkook scoffs and goes back to his paper, the annoyance seeping off of him.

How can someone be so annoyingly happy all the time? Damn.

It's like she knows she's got everything she's ever wanted and she couldn't care less about anyone else's problems.

Jungkook despises people like that.

It's as if a switch goes off in him and he's suddenly really freaking pissed off. People like her think that life is so easy all the damn time. Do they ever struggle with anything?

He snaps his paper to straighten it out, trying to calm himself down before he goes into that nasty hole of becoming envious of those more fortunate than him.

Against his better judgment, Jungkook looks over the paper at her again, his chest only burning with more hatred as she starts to count the stupid little carrot sticks in the container on her lap.

Fucking annoying.

By the time Jungkook looks up again, the girl is gone. A second later, the bell signaling the end of lunch rings loudly.

Jungkook sits on the bench in a funk until the end of school bell rings. When he finally sees the target coming out of the school, he stands up and starts to follow her. The same routine he's been doing since Monday. Jungkook mulls over a few things in his head as he watches her stop at several food stands until she's got a cup of rice cakes, a scoop of ice cream, a fish cake skewer, and a mochi that's bigger than usual. He doesn't know how she is able to carry all that, but she manages.

She walks around a bit, looking into the windows of shops, her forehead pressing against the glass as she stares at a gaudy red dress. She stuffs another bite of mochi in her mouth, chewing sadly as she reluctantly drags herself away from the store window.

Jungkook looks at the dress in distaste; it's hideous. He can't imagine someone actually buying that thing, besides, it's probably way overpriced anyway.

He turns from it to keep following her, seeing that she's stopped now at a window where a few puppies are running around and playing with each other. The girl smiles at them and puts her hand up to the glass. A tiny brown puppy inches close to her hand and licks the glass that separates them.

She giggles delightedly.

Jungkook watches, emotionless.

When is she going to head home?

Finally, after what feels like hours, the girl starts taking the streets that lead back to her apartment. Jungkook sighs in relief, then he gets another nice surprise when she turns to head into the alley by her house.

A smirk spreads on his face as he enters the alley behind her. He knows what he's going to do.

_______________

The next day passes just like they have been this past week. Jungkook trails the girl from her apartment to the school, from the school back to her apartment. It's a relief to find that whenever she walks, she takes the alley by her house on the way home.

Now, Jungkook is sure what his plan is going to be.

It'll be sure to draw attention when this girl is dead, there's no doubt about it. No one is going to suspect her of being anything other than a school teacher, so why would someone kill her?

Jungkook has thought through it all. This is what he does for a living, of course he isn't going to be sloppy about it. He'll be done with this by Sunday and no one will suspect anything other than a robbery gone wrong.

He happened to overhear the conversation between the target and her friend that drives the black car. The friend will be gone by Saturday morning, out of the picture and none the wiser.

Jungkook needs to be careful today though. He also overheard them this morning talking about how they are going to be meeting up at the girl's apartment tonight. Something about doing girl shit before the friend leaves tomorrow.

So, Jungkook decides to take the day off. He heads back home, not about to be caught by this friend that's probably a lot smarter than the target.

He'll just come to her apartment tomorrow morning and the plan will be over by tomorrow night.

______________

When you see Mina's car parked out in front of the school, you start running outside excitedly, your bag bouncing as you bound down the front steps.

"M-Mina!"

She has a huge smile on her face when you open the passenger door and climb in. "Hey, girl!" Mina shouts, yanking you over to hug you. "Aren't you excited it's Friday??"

You nod, "Yes, b-but...I am g-gonna miss you." You pout.

Mina shakes her head, "Nuh-uh. Tonight we party, there shall be no tears!"

You laugh as you buckle yourself in, "Ok, I p-promise I won't cry. W-What are we going to do tonight?"

Mina smirks sneakily and nudges your arm, "Oh you'll see~"

_______________

You clap in excitement when you see what Mina has planned for you two. After you unlocked your apartment door and let her in, she had set down a few bags, then instructed you to open them.

Inside one, you found a tub of ice cream, a box of cookies, and a few bags of your favorite types of chips. In the other, there were two blankets, two pairs of fuzzy socks, and a couple different movies.

"We g-get to have m-movie night?" You jump up and down as Mina nods happily.

"Yes! Now you have to pick which movie you want to watch. Should we do romance or comedy?" She starts pulling the stuff out of the bags as you mull over the different choices.

You have a hard time deciding things a lot of the time, that's why Mina usually has you make the choice. She wants you to get some practice making decisions.

After she's set everything up, she turns back to see you on your knees, leaning over the movies that you've laid out on the ground. You're biting the nail on your thumb as you appear concerned, looking at the movies.

Your best friend laughs and moves to crouch next to you. She looks at you and speaks softly, "Do you want to laugh tonight, or do you want to get the butterflies in your tummy?"

You turn to her and a shy smile spreads on your face, "Ok, l-let's do romance!"

A few minutes later, you're cuddled up next to your best friend. You both have fuzzy socks on and blankets, keeping you warm. You each also have a spoon, scooping out the ice cream as your eyes are glued onto one of your favorite romance movies of all time.

Not even three hours have passed when you're both dead asleep on your couch. Soft snores leave Mina's mouth, both of your legs tangled up with each other. The second movie is playing in the background, long forgotten after you both fell asleep not even halfway through.

The next morning, you wake up on the couch groggily. You look around in confusion, forgetting for a minute why you're on the couch. Then you remember and you laugh to yourself as you rub your eyes. Then you look around again.

Mina isn't anywhere and you think for a moment that she's left without saying goodbye. You hang your head, trying not to cry. Then you hear the toilet flush and the water run in the bathroom. You sigh in relief and wait patiently for her to come out.

When she does, you instantly stand up, "Want s-some breakfast?" You offer. She smiles sadly, "I wish I could stay for breakfast. But I have to leave now. I still have to grab my luggage and head to the airport. My flight is at ten."

You look at your phone and see that it's eight o'clock.

"Oh," You say sadly.

Mina walks over and hugs you, "Don't worry, ___. I'll be back before you know it! And I'll call you whenever I'm not working, okay?"

You nod and smile at her to reassure her that you're okay.

She leaves a few minutes later and you find yourself alone in your quiet apartment once again. Your nose twitches as you try not to tear up, then you move to the kitchen to get yourself some of your favorite cereal to cheer yourself up.

You'll have to plan some fun things for you to do while she's gone, or you might just go crazy.

______________

Jungkook has been outside the girl's apartment since eight this morning. He saw the friend leaving a little after he got there. He recognized her shoulder-length black hair immediately and he knew it was the driver.

He had smiled to himself when he saw her get into her car and drive away. He honestly can't believe the luck he's had on this job so far. This is going to be the easiest he's ever had it.

But now, he's sitting on a bench in complete and utter boredom as he waits for the girl to leave her house. It turns out, she doesn't leave her house until almost lunchtime.

By the time he sees a flash of black and grey, he's almost fallen asleep on the bench. But he jerks up the second he sees the girl hurrying down her stairs. She looks totally different today...

Jungkook is surprised to see the girl is in grey sweatpants and a long black t-shirt. A black bucket hat is on her head, seemingly hiding her bed head if the knotted bits of the hair he can see tell anything.

She's usually more put together, but then again, it is the weekend. Not everyone should be expected to go all out to look decent when they aren't working.

But there is one thing that hasn't changed; the girl is still simple as hell looking.

She doesn't have a bit of make-up on as she rubs her eyes.

He gets up to follow her once she's about two blocks away.

Jungkook shakes his head when he sees that even though her outfit is completely devoid of color today, she still has that damned bag covered in colorful treats.

It seems like today this girl is on a mission. She walks briskly and not a single thing distracts her. She only stops once, to get a small bite of lunch from a food stand. Jungkook realizes where they're headed a second before the girl stops.

She looks into the window of the store and waves at the brown puppy. It wags its tail at her and she smiles for the first time that Jungkook's seen today.

The girl goes into the store and Jungkook follows a minute later.

He sees her talking to a woman at the front. She points at the dogs in the front window and the woman nods with a smile. A minute later, the girl has the brown puppy in her arms as she's sitting in one of the little places with a bench and walls to keep the dogs that are being held from getting out.

"Can I help you, sir?"

Jungkook flinches and turns to see the woman that helped the girl looking at him with a smile. "Oh, uh...I, uh..." Jungkook looks around frantically, then he points at a little black kitten that's sitting in a big cage, staring at him.

"Can I uh...hold that kitten?"

Why the hell is he so awkward??

The woman smiles brighter and nods, "Of course! Come with me."

Jungkook tries not to groan in frustration as he follows her to the kitten's cage. This wasn't part of the plan, but whatever.

The little ball of fluff mewls when the woman takes it out and hands it to a very stressed Jungkook.

Damn it.

He flinches when the kitten licks his nose. The woman laughs, "Looks like he's finally found someone he likes. No one that's ever come in here to hold him has ever had him more than a few seconds before he freaked out."

Jungkook forces himself to smile at the employee. Then, he turns to keep an eye on the girl, pretending like he's just talking to the kitten.

"Hi, little guy." He speaks softly, his eyes shifting to see the girl hugging the puppy close to her chest.

After a few minutes, the girl reluctantly hands the puppy back to the store employee, her eyes watering as she talks to the little dog.

"I p-promise I'll come back and b-buy you next t-time, okay?" Then she hurries out of the store, making Jungkook hand the kitten to a random employee. "I might get him another time." He says in a rush before hurrying out after her.

The day is spent much like it is after she gets off work every day. The girl gets some steamed buns and walks through the park, humming along to whatever song is playing in her headphones. Jungkook strolls along behind her, going through the plan over and over again in his head to make sure he isn't missing anything.

He's pretty sure he's got it all down to the last detail, nothing should go wrong tonight. This target is quite predictable, but there's always that chance that they pull something that you don't expect. Jungkook doubts that'll happen with this girl, but he can't be positive. After all, if she is acting, then she could turn it on him in an instant.

Jungkook watches the girl doubtfully as she tries to stuff more steamed bun into her mouth than it can take.

Geez.

Then the girl suddenly plops down on the ground. Jungkook stops and sits on a nearby bench to watch her. She sets her paper bag of remaining steamed buns on the grass next to her, then pulls out the drawing notebook that Jungkook has seen her use several times this week.

The girl gets right to work, her nose stuffed into the notebook as she scribbles madly. Jungkook fights the urge to get up and look over her shoulder at what she's drawing. He used to love to draw when he was younger. When the world wasn't such a brutal place to live in and be accepted.

Jungkook leans back on the bench and tilts his head up to the sky as he closes his eyes. He gets the feeling that they're going to be here for a while. Besides, he can still hear her drawing, no need to keep an eye on her. The feeling of the warm sun on his skin makes some distant memories try and sneak their way into his brain, but Jungkook immediately blocks them out.

He takes a deep breath of the fresh June air through his nose, then blows it out through his mouth slowly. Hell, he's exhausted.

Jungkook reaches a hand up to snatch his black baseball cap off and sets it in his lap. Then he starts to massage the back of his neck, his eyes still closed. He feels like he hasn't had nearly enough sleep this week, the stress of just wanting to get this blasted job done keeping him up at night.

The sound of the girl drawing and mumbling to herself reaches Jungkook's ears as he continues to massage his neck. Then he moves down and starts to rub the tense part of his shoulder close to his neck. After that, Jungkook moves his hands to start massaging his face. He rubs his eyes and temples, moving down to his cheeks.

"Hello, mister."

Jungkook flinches at the tiny voice and his eyes fly open as he yanks his hands from his face.

There's a very very small girl standing in front of him, her long black hair in two braids on either side of her face. Her huge dark eyes stare into Jungkook's as he calms his breathing.

Fucking hell. Scared the shit out of me.

"What do you-"

Jungkook cuts himself off when the little girl steps even closer until she's standing in between his spread legs. He leans back, one of his eyebrows rising in confusion.

The hell does this girl want?

Jungkook looks around to see if he can find her mother or father. When he looks back at her, she's smiling shyly, her wide eyes still staring straight into his soul.

"What do you need?" He snaps.

She doesn't react to his sharp tone, she just reaches out and snags his baseball cap. Jungkook tries to protest but she places it on her head anyway. She looks even tinier if that's possible, his hat looking positively massive on her small head. "My name is Mi-Rah." She whispers.

Jungkook feels a twist in his stomach. This innocent child shouldn't be anywhere near someone like him. He kills people for a living.

Where on earth are her parents? Have they taught her nothing about stranger danger?

Then Mi-Rah reaches into her pocket and pulls out a piece of candy in a very crumpled wrapper. She takes Jungkook's large hand and places it into his open palm. "You look very sad, mister. Sometimes all we need to feel happy is something sweet, no matter how small."

Jungkook tears his eyes away from the little candy and looks at the tiny girl in disbelief. How old is she?

"Uh...thank you-"

"You don't have to thank me, mister. Maybe just...make someone else smile today. Give someone else a chance to be happy." The little girl says simply. Then she takes his hat off her head and places it back onto his own before turning and running off.

What the hell.

That girl spoke like an adult, but she couldn't have been any older than seven. Jungkook shakes his head, then glances at the candy. It has a bit of lint on it, there's no way in hell he's gonna eat that. So, without thinking, he stuffs it into his pocket, then his eyes shift over to where the girl is drawing.

Except she isn't there.

"Fuck." Jungkook jumps up and whips his head around, scanning the park. When he doesn't see a single sign of her, a growl leaves his throat and he starts walking. If that kid hadn't distracted him, this wouldn't have happened.

Jungkook walks around for a good two hours, but he hasn't seen the girl once. Now he's starting to panic. The sun will start going down soon.

What if she already went home?

His plan would be ruined.

Crap.

Jungkook takes his cap off and runs a hand through his hair in frustration. He doesn't want to have to wait another day to get this over with.

One more hour passes as Jungkook frantically walks around the city. He even goes to the girl's apartment to see if he can tell if she went home, but all the lights inside are off so she probably isn't in there.

After another hour, the sun is down.

Jungkook curses and kicks at a little stone on the sidewalk, watching it roll into the grass. He fucked up. He got distracted and now he's going to have to do this all over again tomorrow if he's even lucky enough that the girl will go out and stay out all day tomorrow.

After all these years, he's never lost a target before. He feels like an idiot. Out of all the hits he's had, every single one, this weird-ass kindergarten teacher is the one he loses. All because he let some kid come and distract him for a second.

He curses again and resists the urge to throw a punch at something, anything.

Jungkook turns around, ready to head home and curse himself until the day he dies. But he stops short when he sees a familiar figure walking down the street. A bucket hat covers their face, but the unmistakably ridiculous bag is hanging from her shoulder.

"Fucking hell." Jungkook sighs in relief as he watches the girl make her way towards the alley. His luck is back! The second the girl turns into the dark and desolate walkway, Jungkook follows her in.

She's singing softly to herself as she walks slowly, taking her time. As if there isn't a killer looming right behind her.

Jungkook pulls the gun he grabbed from his safe earlier out of his back pocket. The girl stops, then crouches to pick something up as Jungkook switches the safety off his gun.

He raises it slowly.

A tiny laugh slips out of the girl's mouth as she messes with something on the ground, her smaller figure crouched on the dirty cement of the alley.

Jungkook aims carefully, he's got a perfect target.

He can do it.

He can be done with this.

So, why isn't he pulling the trigger?

Jungkook shakes his head and raises the gun again.

Fuck.

The girl stands up again and starts to walk quickly.

Shit, shit, shit Jungkook scrambles after her, almost tripping on the trash piled in the alley. She happens to be the one to trip on it first. Her arms flail out and a tiny shriek leaves her mouth as she tumbles to the ground. "Ow." He hears her whimper quietly. "Owie." She pulls her right knee out from under her and pulls her sweats up enough to see the small cut on it. Ok, enough dilly-dallying Jungkook. Get it done. Jungkook raises the gun once more as the girl gets to her feet and starts to walk away. He's about to call out and get her attention so he can get her from the front. Make it look like a robbery gone bad. That's when he sees the papers on the ground that had fallen out of her bag when she fell. He doesn't know what possesses him to look closer, but he does. Shock courses through him at the drawings he sees. They're fucking terrible. They look like a four-year-old drew them, the coloring not even in the lines she drew. What the hell even is that? A fucking bird? There's something that looks kind of like an apple tree next to the deformed-looking bird thing. Another picture shows an awfully drawn lollipop. Who messes up a lollipop? Jungkook looks up at the girl, who has stopped to look at her phone. "Give someone else a chance to be happy." The tiny girl's words suddenly ring through his mind and Jungkook swallows thickly. He lowers the gun, his arm hanging limply at his side. "Damn it." The girl swivels when she hears the voice of a man behind her, but when she turns there's no one there. She glances at the dumpsters and trash bags and listens intently. When she doesn't hear anything, she quickly turns and runs out of the alley. She runs the rest of the way home, only stopping when she's gotten inside and locked her door. ________________

"Fucking stupid!" Jungkook screams and throws the gun onto his bed. Why the hell did he hesitate? He never hesitates. He's shot dozens of people dead and he never blinked an eye. Why? Why now? This is the most paying job he's ever gotten and now he's fucked it up! He got distracted. That's all. If he hadn't spoken to that kid today or seen those stupid drawings, he wouldn't have messed up. "Ok, that's it," Jungkook growls and stomps over to the file sitting on his coffee table. It's been sitting there since Sunday a week ago. He grabs it and opens it angrily, a few papers spilling out and onto the floor. He doesn't bother cleaning them up. He just grabs the last one, the folded picture of the target. Jungkook unfolds it and glares at the image of the smiling girl. "I don't give a fuck why you're a target. I'm going to fucking kill you on Monday and that's it!" Then he tears the picture in half. He tosses it onto the coffee table and slumps down onto his couch, mentally exhausted. _______________ Jungkook spends Sunday holed up in his apartment. He's never been so pissed at himself before. No more distractions. If he doesn't get this done tomorrow, he doesn't know what he'll do. This hit is driving him insane. The only time he leaves his apartment is when Hoseok knocks and asks him to come over for dinner. As much as he would rather do anything but that, he agrees with a plastered smile. Jungkook sits at Hoseok's dining table awkwardly as his neighbor plates up the fried rice he made and hands a plate to him. "Thank you." Jungkook takes it and his stomach growls the second he smells the food. This is the first homecooked meal he's had in...well as long as he can remember. Suddenly, there's a knock on the door, and Hoseok laughs, "Oh, I almost forgot! I hope you don't mind, I invited some more of my friends over." Jungkook shakes his head, "I don't mind at all." When Hoseok opens the door, Jungkook sees a tall handsome man with broad shoulders and black hair walk in. He's taken by surprise by the man's beauty for a split second before he snaps out of it and sees another man walk in. This one is shorter and his hair is bleached blonde. The first man has a huge smile on his face and the second looks like his face has been set into a permanent look of uninterest. "Hi! You must be Jungkook!" The taller man says happily, reaching a hand out to shake Jungkook's. The younger man nods, "Yes, I am." "I'm Seokjin! And this is Yoongi." The handsome man turns and points at the blonde. Yoongi nods and sends Jungkook a small smile. "Nice to meet you," Jungkook responds politely, trying not to be awkward as hell. The only person he's really spoken to as an acquaintance for years is Hoseok, and he's only known him a little less than a year. Dinner goes by rather smoothly and the food is delicious, but Jungkook is grateful when he finally steps back into his own apartment. He's usually good at faking with people, part of his job is to charm people and put all suspicion off of himself. Tonight was different though, he felt exposed and like he couldn't put up a facade with those men. He takes a long hot shower, trying to wash away all the stress from the past week. When he's out of the shower and in his shorts, Jungkook crawls into bed and turns out the light. He blankly stares into the darkness for a while, trying not to let his brain run rampid so he can sleep. But he thinks back to the dinner a little while ago, anyway. Seokjin and Yoongi were nice, and Hoseok has always been kind to him. But, Jungkook feels uncomfortable, he feels off. He just isn't cut out for friends. He's a killer. That's all he is and that's all he'll ever be. And killers are meant to be alone. ______________ Jungkook sighs as he sits on the bench in front of the school. Hopefully, this will be the last day he has to do this. The girl had already gone into the kindergarten hours ago, it's nearing the end of the school day. All he has to do is tough it out until tonight. If the girl doesn't stay out till dark, he'll just have to lure her out of her apartment later somehow. He'll figure that out when he comes to it. The bell rings and Jungkook gets up to buy a paper from the old man that he's become quite acquainted with this past week. The two of them chat it up a bit as Jungkook watches the school doors. Eventually, he sees the girl leading a long line of kids out the front doors and down into the grass to wait to be picked up. It takes a little longer than usual, but finally, all the kids are gone and the girl goes back inside. When she comes out and starts walking down the street, Jungkook follows on the other side. As he walks he keeps an eye on her, but that means he isn't looking ahead. "Umph!" Jungkook jumps back in surprise when he sees a little old woman glaring at him after he ran into her. "Oh, sorry. I'm sorry." Jungkook bows his head in apology and the old woman nods curtly before walking around him. He looks back across the street, only to groan at seeing the girl is nowhere to be seen. "Not again." Jungkook moans in dismay. Then he jumps a mile high when he feels someone tap his shoulder. "Excuse m-me, sir." Jungkook turns and his heart stops in his chest when he sees the wide eyes of a horribly familiar girl staring up at him. She's clutching a piece of paper in her hands as a smile spreads on her face when she looks at him closer. Jungkook blinks a few times, the rest of him frozen in horror at being caught. "Th-This is for you." She holds out the paper. Jungkook takes it limply, his eyes never leaving hers. When the initial shock leaves his body, Jungkook tears his eyes away from the girl and looks down at what she gave him. He squints in confusion at what he sees. Then he looks back up at his target. What the hell is this?

_____________________________

a/n: I hope you guys like this one. I wasn��t sure how I felt about it at first. Let me know what you think <3

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