#like I'm sure at least some of them had hoped to release for christmas and couldn't but like... stop it. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

e-vay · 7 months

Text

EVAY QA BULK POST 2

Here's a new assembly of asks, assorted by topics so you can browse only what interests you:

PERSONAL ASKS

Anon Asked: Have you ever watched The Nightmare Before Christmas? I was wondering if you watch it during Halloween or Christmas or do you consider it as both for the two seasons?

A: I LOVE THAT MOVIE!!! I consider it appropriate to watch for the last quarter of the whole year haha.

Anon Asked: Do you sometimes envision you and your husband as Sonic and Amy?

A: I do not, we really aren't anything like them. Ryan is very quiet and humble and shy. And yes I am forward and romantic like Amy, but unlike her, I'm an annoying little gremlin LOL!

Anon Asked: Have you ever watch 'Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'? You MIGHT like it amd I highly recommend you watching it ( but don't force yourself if you don't want to)

A: I've never actually watched it properly, but I've watched compilations of it and I really enjoyed what I saw! I love the art style of it and I like how all the turtles are unique. Plus Ben Schwartz, c'mon!

Anon Asked: Hi e-vay, have you ever played life is strange?

A: Hi! YES! I loved that game. Nana always said that she was Chloe and I was Max haha. I didn't play the sequel though.

Anon Asked: Here’s some positivity to counter that negative ask you got! What’s your favourite thing about your new style? *grabby hands* Gimme all the details!

A: I appreciate that. Honestly, I didn't purposely "change" the way I draw; art just evolves over time ¯_(ツ)_/¯ Besides, I still think my style is MY style. I feel like the characters are more on-model and expressive and don't look as flat as I used to draw. If people don't like my art anymore that's fine. I like it, so really that's all that matters.

Anon Asked: EVAY I AM DISTRAUGHT, I've been perusing your blog looking at fanfics but I keep coming across some posts that I can't access anymore like ones by kbspeeding :( Do you know of any way to read them?

A: I know, it breaks my heart, too :( To my knowledge, there's no way to access the posts of anybody who has deactivated their accounts. I wish that wasn't the case because I sincerely miss her work, but I have to respect her and others' decisions to remove their content.

MISC SONIC ASKS

Anon Asked: What do u think of the amy rose ballerina hc? I think it’s so beautifully graceful and fits her so well💗🩰?

A: I'm not sure what specific headcanon you're referencing, but I definitely believe she knows ballet! Especially her idle animations in the Boom games. That girl knows how to dance.

Anon Asked: Do you like sonic unleashed or have you ever played it?

A: I never had the chance to play it, but I love the story and I love what I've seen. I am hoping they'll re-release it for the PS4 (or PS5) so I can finally play it!

Anon Asked: If you don’t mind me asking, what do you think of Barry the Quokka, the protagonist from The murder of sonic the hedgehog? If you don’t know anything about them what do you think of their design?

A: Of course I know the trash bin king! I like his design a lot. He's super cute and I love a nervous wreck of a character. I also loved that he was just this totally normal dude who has to spend an afternoon with the most insane group of friends ever.

Anon Asked: If you had to choose, what is your favorite and your least favorite sonic game?

A: I always have a hard time answering this because there are so many styles of games and I think some are better at certain aspects than others. For example, I think Frontiers had the best writing and actor perfomances. I still think Sonic Adventure 2 has the best gameplay and replay value. And Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is my favorite of the classics because I think it's the most visually perfect and the gameplay is a lot of fun. But if I have to choose, I guess I have to go with SA2 because I never get sick of it. My least favorite is Sonic Spinball haha I suck at it.

@tonyrockstar15 asked: Hey E-Vay, have you thought of making your own Sonic Fan-Cartoon?

A: I kind of already do that with my comics :) I would love to make animations, but unfortunately I just don't have the time to do that kind of thing regularly.

Anon Asked: Do you think sonic does his taxes?

A: He has no income! But if he did make any money, I'm sure Tails would make him do it (and by that I mean, file his taxes for him because he's worried Sonic will do it wrong)

@twistedchaos101 asked: Hey, What is your expectation for the new Sonic Frontiers DLC?

A: Sweet, sweet content! By the time I'm writing this I've already played some of it and I LOVE IT! UGH, Sonic Team has been so good to us in 2023! 😭💙

Anon Asked: Hey E-Vay! Big fan of your art. I was curious to know what’s going to happen with the Hell Hath No Fury comic? Will it be continued or left up to fan interpretation following the Shadow page?

A: Thank you so much! I will finish it. It won't be left up for interpretation. I just have to get to it.

Anon Asked: Is there a possibility that everyone I mean Sonic,Shadow,Amy,Tails, Aurora and so on have some mental illness? I now that Shadow does have PTSD at some point, but does anyone else have some specific mental illness? Btw love your art ✨

A: Thank you so much for the compliment! I'm not a professional so I don't feel right diagnosing anyone with anything, even if they are fictional characters. I personally suffer from anxiety and depression so I can speak to that, but I don't think I am the person to comment on anything else.

MY OCs/AU ASKS

Here are some fun questions I received from @pccyouthleader about Aurora that I wanted to share:

Q: What are Aurora’s primary and secondary love languages?

A: I had to take the Love Language quiz as Aurora. I got her primary as Quality Time. Physical Touch and Acts of Service were nearly tied for second.

Q: Does she like practical jokes? I remember you saying at one point that sometimes she acts without considering the reactions.

A: Yes! She loves a good prank, so long as it doesn’t hurt anybody. Sometimes she doesn’t realize that not everybody enjoys a practical joke though.

Q: Is Aurora competitive?

A: She is, because she feels like she’s got a lot to prove. But not to the point where she’s going to hurt a kids feelings just so she can say she won at something. She’s always going to let little ones win.

Q: Do she have a guilty pleasure?

A: She loves reading romance novels and sometimes she writes friend-fictions like Amy does in Sonic Boom or Tina in Bob’s Burgers hahaha

Q: What quality does she most value in Shadow?

A: She loves how he is unapologetically himself, if that makes sense. Despite what he was created for, he is his own man/hedgehog and he’s forged his own path. Even when others try to put him down or break him, he knows who he is and he doesn’t back down and she’s in awe of that.

Q: Pet peeves?

A: Closed-mindedness is the main thing. Whether that’s about something important like accepting somebody for who they are, or something small like not willing to try a type of food for the first time. She doesn’t understand how people can be like that and it irks her. She also hates when people agree to something and then they flake out haha

Q: If she were shopping, what type of store would she choose and what type of item?

A: One of those record stores that has a little bit of everything. You go there for music and movies and books and they always have fun, quirky gifts. Even though the world she lives in is futuristic, she can appreciate classic things and finds them fascinating. Otherwise yeah she’d love a thrift shop because there’s always strange stuff in there. Wherever she shops, she can’t leave any store without getting something silly that she found cute.

Q: What is her most and least favorite chore?

A: Her favorite chore is spring cleaning, where everybody rummages through everything and downsizes stuff. She likes it just because of the things she’ll find that she’s forgotten about or never knew was in the house. Her least favorite chore is laundry. It’s boring and it never ends!

Q: Outside of swimming and singing, what others hobbies does she have?

A: She loves to dance, that’s a big one. I’ve also joked in the past that she’d do really well if Shadow ever brought her to a gun range, so with that in mind she’d find things like laser tag and paintball super fun

Q: I remember you saying she hadn’t traveled a lot, so if Aurora could choose anywhere to visit, what place would she most like to see?

A: She’d love to go to outer space. She’d never been to space before meeting Shadow. But she also gets that it’s a “ridiculous” dream since she hasn’t even explored all of her own planet yet. Honestly she would be happy to travel anywhere, she wants to see the whole world and beyond. She wants to experience the most of life.

Q: What is her favorite fairy tale?

A: Thumbelina. She could see herself in that story a lot: a small lady who is loved but doesn't really fit in anywhere, and gets whisked around by others trying to control what she does with her life. In the end she's rewarded for her kindness and finally finds where she belongs.

-----

@nerdk7 asked: Don’t know if you answered this question, but how did Shadow propose to Aurora? Was it sweet? Chaotic? Or both?

A: I can't reveal that yet! 🥰 I want to keep it a surprise!

@mod-bubamon asked: I have a question about cc...maybe a few im sorry I'm kinda obsessing over how adorable she is tailsxcc for life We know cc can indeed feel,but can she feel pain? Does she know about the ai art and apps? How does she feel about them? I'm sure that in winter mobians fur coats grow thicker. So did cc somehow implement that into her body? Also how much more cuddly would she get when tails fur grows out? Sorry for all the questions out of nowhere, I've been a fan since I've started tumblr a while ago.

A: Please don't ever apologize for questions. I'm happy you're so interested! And especially glad you enjoy CC! When she was in her original "drone-like" form she couldn't feel pain but she could feel fear. When she builds her Mobian body, she engineers it so she does have all kinds of feeling-receptors, including pain. Not that pain is enjoyable to her, but it's important for her to be able to have as much of the Mobian-experience as possible. I wasn't expecting AI Art to pop off the way it has so I never thought to include it in my work. CC is beyond the AI form now though, she's a full on person. Just like Sage became a full person, beyond just her programming. So I think she and Sage have the ability to create their own forms of art from their own minds. I think I've address something similar in the past: CC has the ability to just play music from her body like a speaker, but she preferred to learn how to play an instrument because she wanted to experience the art form properly. CC didn't think to include a winter coat for her Mobian body, but upon snuggling with Tails she'd definitely add that to her list of future modifications! He's the fluffiest of them all in the winter so he'd be so snuggly and warm and lovely. Thank you for following me!

@firerush asked: What does Aurora think of her Werehog form? What does she think of Shadow's or even Sonic's if that's canon?

A: She likes that she's finally tall, but other than that she doesn't like how she looks. She's very self-conscious about her werehog form. But she loves how Shadow and Sonic look as werehogs.

@jhyannarqq768 asked: How would you think if Aurora was the project while shadow was a mortal one? And i just wanted to ask how would you think if there's a another universe that Aurora it's he imortal and shadow it's the mortal?

A: Well, if she was the project she wouldn't be Aurora. She is the creation of Sonic and Amy so without them she wouldn't exist :) As far as her being immortal and Shadow being mortal: If Shadow was engineered in the 50s and he wasn't made immortal then they never would have met. He would have passed away long before she ever came around.

Anon Asked: How good of a fighter is Rory?

A: She is average as far as physical combat. She's better at diversions and dodging, using an opponents' energy against them. If she was playable in a game, I imagine she'd have a lot of QTE actions that allow her to dodge a boss and make them tire themselves out before she uses her light powers to damage them. While she attended the Young Heroes program she learned combat, but Sonic never wants her in harms' way so he instructed her to always try to distance herself from enemies so she can use her long-range light powers. But she won't back down from a fight if it means she can protect someone else.

@jordanjoebanana asked: Can the Shadora kids turn super when they have all the emeralds or is it only just Shadow,Aurora,and Sonic?

A: All the kids can go super except for the third litter (Cinder, Diamond and Boon). Those three aren't able to use chaos emeralds at all. The family does not know why.

@mysticalsuitfury asked: What led you to create a child for sonamy and naming her aurora?

A: I always make fan kids for everything I'm obsessed with. If you knew me from my Naruto days, I had a huge world of Naruto kids. So naturally I wanted to give my favorite couple of all time (Sonic and Amy) a kid! As far as the name, Aurora is my favorite name in the world. Ever since I saw Sleeping Beauty as a child, I've loved that name. So I gave my favorite name to the child of my favorite couple. Also I think it suits her personality: Colorful, cheerful, hopeful.

@twistedchaos101 asked: Aurora speaks how many languages?

A: She only speaks English.

@aurorathehedge6 asked: How old is Ruff and T-Bone since Aurora is now an adult and have kids?

A: Ruff is 8 years younger than Aurora and Tumble is 12 years younger than Aurora. For most of my comics where Aurora is not yet married, she is 20 years old.

@animeartbros asked: Do Aurora Piper and Blitz hang out much?

A: Piper and Blitz are constantly bickering so a girls' day out tends to involve a lot of yelling and picking on each other haha. It involves a lot of Aurora going "Girls, remember, your sister is your best friend for life. You don't know how lucky you are to have siblings! TT_TT Please stop fighting."

Anon Asked: Has shadow ever taught any or all of his kids how to use a gun and if so how did Aurora feel about it? | And another Anon asked: If Shadow tells his children where babies come from, I am sure that he taught them how to 'defend yourself' with a gun at a very young age ... or at least tried haha I see sometimes short comics in which Shadow tries to teach Cream how to use a gun and I can imagine that this mf would totally try to do the same with his children. Would Shadow succeed if he tried this or would Aurora stop him?

A: Gun-wielding is a part of Shadow's identity so I'd never take that aspect away from him. And Aurora actually enjoys shooting too (targets, not people!) so she doesn't feel weird about that topic. However, I believe that they are huge proponents for RESPONSIBLE GUN OWNERSHIP so they keep all their weapons securely locked up and unloaded at ALL TIMES. And Shadow wouldn't teach the kids how to shoot until they're MUCH older and responsible enough to handle such a dangerous weapon. But you'd better believe he trained them well in marksmanship via laser tag and paintball as kids!

Anon Asked: Hi! I noticed that in your Aurora-comics Sonic grows a mustache as he gets older - what made him come to that decision? And what does Amy think about it???? What about kissing Sonic with a 'stache? I, personally, think he kind of resembles Eggman so, I'm not that big of a fan but that doesn't matter! I'm more interested on their POV. I still love the way you draw them, btw. And it's really sweet to see them together through the passage of time 🥰

A: Hi and thank you so much! Honestly, the reason I gave him a mustache was just to make him appear older haha. I tried multiple ways to age him up but the mustache was the most effective. Originally, I wanted to give him something more distinguished but I ran into two problems: 1 - I didn't want people mistaking him for Uncle Chuck. 2 - I don't see Sonic taking the time to properly sculpt a mustache/beard, so I gave him something rough and simple haha. I have drawn him deciding to grow it out and Amy's reaction to it :) Amy loved it, then didn't like it, then went back to loving it because now she gets the most ticklish, delicious kisses! 🥰 The good thing about hair/fur is that it's not permanent! You can always change it :)

Anon Asked: Omg ur feeding us so WELL with the content I honestly can’t picture actual sonic canon anymore without Aurora like she is completely canon in my mind I love her so much!! Also I have a kinda weird question, if Aurora saw a gay or lesbian couple out in public as a little kid and she was curious about it, how would sonic or amy explain it to her?

A: Aw, thank you! Well the Sonic franchise has been feeding ME well this year so I have the energy to nourish you all hahaha. I'm so happy you accept Aurora 🥰 I like to think that Sonic and Amy are very accepting and loving people and would raise their children to believe that too. Also, Aurora is VERY used to seeing public displays of affection from her parents, so if she saw two people kissing or holding hands in public, no matter their gender, she'd be bouncing up and down "OOH ARE THEY IN LOVE?! ARE THEY IN LOVE??" and Sonic and Amy would be like "That's right, Tiny!"

Anon Asked: What have been going on in Aurora's mind when she was a baby?

A: I'm not sure babies think about much 😉 Just general thoughts of "Mom, Dad, Food, Joy, Sleepy" But hey I could be wrong!

Anon Asked: Out of curiosity, I know that you ship Shadow + Aurora together (and I’m okay with that)… But what if the Time-Travel Adventure never happened?… What if Shadow never went on a Big-Space Adventure and stayed with the Others?… What if he was there to watch Aurora grow up, with the Others?… What would their relationship be like, if that happened?… Would Shadow become like Aurora’s Uncle or be like a Teacher/Mentor to her, in the ways of combat?… Or would they somehow still have a romantic relationship, instead of platonic? 😇?

A: Even if Shadow never left, I don't imagine he'd spend much time with Aurora as a child. He and Sonic are not friends, and though I'm sure he'd consider Amy a friend, I don't think they're close enough for him to want to be actively involved in their kid's life. I don't think he'd even be actively involved in Ruff and Tumble's lives if he was on-world the whole time. It'd be more of a "Oh... hey kids... just here to see your mom... goodbye..." He'd likely be more of an idol to Aurora and she wouldn't mean anything to him. That being said, I do believe in soulmates, and again Shadow is immortal so he does not age. So I believe that once she's grown up, that's when he starts to really see her for who she is and that attraction would come later in life, but that would not happen while she was a child obviously.

Anon Asked: What was the scariest movie that Aurora ever saw and how exactly did it end?

A: Aurora does not like scary movies so she avoids them haha. Sometimes she'll agree to watch a classic horror movie with Shadow because he likes that kind of thing but she still finds it terrifying haha. Aurora can sort of handle movies like Wolfman or Dracula but not anything more intense than that. She couldn't sleep for days after "Night of the Living Dead (1968)"

Anon Asked: i appreciate the effort you went thru compiling all those asks. felt like a free readers digest that was nice to read through! …and now here are more questions 😈 1- how does grandpa sonic feel about shadow’s shadoralets? i wonder if he jokingly calls em faker and lil fakers sometimes haha. 2- whats it like having amassed long time followers of your art stuff? (ive been around since the ol 2009 days)?

A: I'm so happy you enjoyed my last set of asks, Anon. I hope you return and see your question here! Grandpa!Sonic is wayyyy more accepting of his son-in-law at this point and doesn't hold (much) ill-will towards him. However he does revel in the fact that Shadow doesn't know a moment of peace now that he's got a million children haha! But he loves his grandkids to death and so does Grandma!Amy. I did an old comic (having a hard time finding it right now) where Sonic has a dream about his future grandkids and when he wakes up he calls them "Tiny Fakers" but he would never actually call his grandkids that. They're his family! I appreciate that compliment and I can't believe you've been following me for so long! I'm honored (and blown away haha!). Honestly though I don't really think about the concept of having "followers" all that much. I just look at it as I'm here having fun drawing silly things and I've been lucky enough to have other people come and enjoy it with me. I'm very thankful for the support, especially to those who have tagged along for as long as I've been online.

SHIPPING ASKS

@tatablue2004 asked: Do you like silvaze?

A: I like it enough, but I don't actively seek it out. I'm mostly indifferent to Blaze and to Silver as characters so I'm not that invested. But I do think they're cute.

@chrismantike asked: What’re your thoughts on the shadaria ship? A: 👎

Anon Asked: Sonadow yes or no?

A: Yes! I like them having a bickering, sassy relationship where they still annoy each other but they actually really care about each other.

Anon Asked: How do you feel about Sonic x selly? Would you ever draw them? Maybe for a time travel thing or a space rip or something??

A: I believe you're asking about Sally Acorn. If so, no I do not ship it and I won't draw it. If you're referring to another character, then I'm sorry but I don't know who that is.

Anon Asked: What do u think of amy being sapphic in any shape or form?

A: That's hard to say, since we've only ever seen Amy have eyes for Sonic. I'm not against it, though.

Anon Asked: In your universe, have Sonic and Amy had any suuuper big fight in the marriage? If so, what would it be like for them and how do you think it’d “affect” their relationship??

A: I mostly avoid heavy topics and fights because we get enough of that in other media and I like most of my art to be a safe place people can go to to just get a good boost of feel-good serotonin! So for my main storyline, they get into little arguments and bicker over small things because all couples do, but I try not to ever put them in a giant blow-out fight that will alter their relationship. That being said, the biggest disagreement I ever have them going through is in Aurora's Time Travel adventure (which still hasn't been published yet, sorry!). Sonic adamantly believes Aurora should not risk her life and time travel in that story and Amy disagrees. This will put tension between them for awhile, but ultimately they will be okay.

---

Thank you all for the questions! There are way more but I don't have the mental capacity to answer any more at this time lol

Evay QA Bulk Post 1

#ask me #evayqa #masterpost #masterqa #long post #bulk qa #masterask #headcanons #my au

53 notes · View notes

genork-the-fandork · 4 months

Text

Merry Digi-mas, @nsdrawsstuff ! I was your Secret Santa! (My main blog is @animegenork , but for the sake of my sanity, I post all my writing here... I know it's confusing.) It has unfortunately been a long time since I've seen Savers, and the same goes for Adventure 02; however, I do remember my impressions of Daisuke and Masaru's characters and wanted to try my hand at doing something a little goofy with them. (But mostly Daisuke, since I dabble more with Adventure content.) I hope you enjoy! [AND I'M SO SORRY ABOUT HOW LATE IN THE DAY I'M POSTING THIS!] Thank you to @digisecretsanta and @sluggybasson107 as always for hosting! 💕

Running Late

Word Count: 991 | Universe: Adventure [02] x Savers Crossover (slight Xros Wars reference) | Characters: Daisuke Motomiya, V-mon, Masaru Daimon | Dedicated to nsdrawsstuff

It was a Christmas like any other, but also extraordinary in its own way, because wasn't every Christmas spent with Digimon extraordinary?

Though he and the others had been planning their get-together for months, Daisuke had been so busy he'd kept pushing off his task. Takeru had even teased him about it the other day, asking if he'd gotten the food yet for their fête. "Of course I did," Daisuke scoffed, setting down his water glass a little more forcefully than necessary. "Who d'you think I am?"

"You," Ken had replied smoothly, coolly, even, not a hint of malice in the words. Just the truth.

Well, they were both right, dammit.

Daisuke glanced at the clock. Okay. He only had a few more minutes of his shift left. Then he could go run out for some snacks. Surely there would still be some left somewhere, right?

V-mon poked his head over the counter. "How much longer?"

"Just a few more minutes, buddy! Then we can go get the grub." As if he didn't already work in a restaurant. With plenty of food.

"Daisuke! Mind bussing that table? You can call it a day after that." His manager poked his head into the kitchen, nodding to a table that had only recently been vacated. Daisuke grinned and nodded, turning off the stove in front of him.

Was it fair to say he was practically sprinting to bus the table? Yes. So was it completely expected that he would bump into someone while he did so? Also yes. The unfortunate part of the encounter, however, was that he was holding a pile of plates, and he nearly dropped all of them. As he fumbled with the Leaning Tower of Plate, he spun to apologize to the person he'd bumped into. In the nick of time, he regained his balance. Bonus! "Sorry about that! I wasn't looking."

"No problem, man. Don't sweat it," the guy said, waving. "Be careful!"

Daisuke paused and watched the man leave the restaurant. Shaggy brown hair, dog tags, wristbands… he looked familiar. Or, at the very least, he almost seemed like some alternate version of Taichi. Back when they were kids, at least. But that could be true of just about anyone, right?

Then again, he was a Chosen Child. Coincidences weren't something to be taken lightly.

He didn't have time for this! If it was something to worry about, something else would happen. That was usually the way these things went in his life. Right now, he had a mission. And that mission was to get snacks!

V-mon paced dutifully behind him as Daisuke hurried down the street, scanning for a convenience store that would still have the types of snacks that his friends liked. And that the Digimon liked. That was the most important part, because obviously the Digimon would be eating more than half of the food.

Finally! One appeared in front of him, almost by magic (though he knew there was no such thing, unless Digimon counted), and he hurried inside. His breath fogged in front of his face as he released it, but the convenience store was fairly warm. V-mon did a full body shake, almost like a dog, stomping his feet to regain feeling. Daisuke was constantly reminded that shoes were a blessing whenever he had his partner with him.

A cursory glance at the store revealed low stocks of the kinds of chips and cookies he was looking for, but that didn't deter him. There had to be something.

Times like this, it was helpful for one to have a Digimon partner. V-mon reached further back on the lower shelves for the last of the party-size sour cream and onion chips. Now as for barbeque…

"Ah, I bet you're looking for this. Here, I grabbed two."

Daisuke looked up from his position kneeling on the floor, instantly recognizing the guy he'd bumped into earlier. "Hey, you're—"

"The one you nearly ran over? Yeah, I am." The man held out a hand, and Daisuke gripped it in his own, allowing himself to be helped to his feet. "You look like you're in a bind. Got a party or something?"

"Yeah, I said I'd get snacks, but you know… work and stuff…" Daisuke rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

The guy just nodded in understanding. "Been there. Bet you got a friend who gives you crap for it, even if he's not harsh about it?"

"In their own ways, they all do. But yeah, I got two of them."

"Ha, nice. Well, hopefully they like barbeque." With a smile, the man handed him the barbeque chips.

"Thanks." Daisuke smiled down at the chips, knowing that the Digimon (especially V-mon) would love them. When he looked up, the stranger was leaving. "Wait, at least tell me your name! If I run into you again, I'd love to repay you."

"I'm going out of town soon, so I don't think you'll see me again. But, for what it's worth, Masaru. See you around, Daisuke."

"Masaru." That name sounded familiar, kind of like how he looked like someone he'd seen before. At least, the sound of his name fit in his mouth in a way that meant he'd used it before. Right…?

Wait, but how did he know his name?

Before he could ask, Masaru was gone.

"That was strange," V-mon said, scratching his cheek with a claw.

"You're pretty strange, too, buddy," Daisuke pointed out with a playful smile, trying to shake off the swirling questions. He could ask Koushiro or Taichi or someone about this later—right now, he had snacks to obtain! "Now let's go look at the cookies."

Though he didn't run into Masaru a third time, Daisuke couldn't help but wonder if he was having as merry of a Christmas as he and the others were. Maybe he'd see him the next time he was running late with something.

Extraordinary Christmas indeed.

#digimonsecretsanta2023 #digimon drabble #gen writes #digimon adventure 02 #digimon savers

11 notes · View notes

blueathens · 2 years

Text

Dear Princess - Agape Series

ACT TWO, SCENE TWO

Song: Can You Hold Me by NF Quote: Bobby wished he knew what was going on in her head, but just like everyone else, he knew he wasn't as strong as Kasey.

A/N: Not read through, or edited. A/N 2: This piece has been in my drafts for a while, so I think it was a little rushed, but it's more of a filler chapter in a way

Previous || Next

Masterlist//Main Masterlist//Agape Masterlist

Dear Princess,

I miss you, but you scared me the last time we saw one another. You scared me. Your eyes scared me because I saw the pain I caused you. You became a ghost, you become something of my own imagination. Kasey, princess, you already were dead before I did anything to you that night, I was just helping to remove all that pain you carried.

But I also helped to just simply get rid of you because you may be too good for me, but that doesn't mean someone else can have you. You're still mine. Always will be mine.

I own you now princess.

You won't know it yet, but I'm apart of you now princess – every thought, every word, everything you do will be because of me – I've broken your little mind and I now control it.

And trust me, whatever I do, won't be pretty.

You'll never going to be able to get rid of me Kasey, I'm always going to be here, always going to be lurking in the shadows, always knowing everything you're doing. But I need you to know that everything I do, everything I've done, is out of love. Kasey I love you and I will never not love you

Love from the guy who will love you the most,

Jordan

Kasey didn't know how long she was sat in her car for, she didn't know even know how long she was staring at that letter for. But she realised she missed Christmas when a message came through her phone, making it ring and vibrate on the seat next to her.

She reaches over, seeing the time was 10am, and below the time was many notifications, but the one on the top was the one that pulled her out from her thoughts.

Owen: Just wanted to tell you that I've finished my last round of immunotherapy and that my blood work and pulmonary function tests looks good. My tumour has been reduced by 73% too. Hope you had an amazing Christmas and hope I see you again soon x

Kasey sniffles, throwing her phone back to the seat and threw her head back onto the pillow, eyes squeezing shut as her hands crumbled up the letter and threw that somewhere in her car. And with a little tired sob, her hands moved to press against her eyes as she tried to mentally prepare herself for work in half an hour.

❥๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑❥

"9-1-1, what's your emergency?"

"Sh-shark! Shark! A man's been attacked by a shark!"

"What beach are you on ma'am?"

"We're not on the beach! We're on the freeway!"

"LAFD. Make room!" Bobby yelled as him and his team walked through the makeshift path that the crowd of people have created.

"What the hell," both Buck and Kasey said, jaw's dropping at the sight of a shark gripping onto a man's arm. A few people were around the shark, trying to tug it off the man, but none of their efforts were doing anything for the man with the shark eating his arm.

"Tiger shark." A woman claimed with struggle. "We were transporting her for release into the wild. Truck jackknifed."

"Jaws!" Bobby yelled.

"Wrong type of shark, Cap." Kasey turned to look at him. "Jaws was a Great-White–" she trails off once she noticed the look of disbelief on her Captain's face. "Oh...right...right...get those Jaws...not –Jaws! Someone get this man some Jaws!" Kasey span on her heel to look at some of the 118 that stood behind her.

"I'm on it!" Eddie calls, running back to the fire truck to grab the piece of equipment the crew needed.

Kasey span around to look at the man who was in agony.

"Hey, at least you'll get a cool scar from this."

"Or no arm." Buck muttered as he made his way round to stand by Kasey's side, who gave him a quick glare.

"Or an arm with a cool scar."

"Are you sure you two are professionals?" The woman asked them through gritted teeth and the two younger firefighter looked down at the ground, lips pursed as they awaited their next instructions.

"How'd his arm get in there?" Chimney questioned, chewing on his gum as he hovered over the shark.

The man grunts and yells in pain. Kasey looks up from the ground and back at the incident at hand. "A really, really cool scar," she mumbles to herself.

"Diego was trying to get what water was left in our pump system. She can't breathe without it!" The man with the 'California Marine Life Centre' jacket told him, directing his eyesight to Diego – the man who had a shark attached to his arm – and Chimney who was just simply watching the sight.

"How much time does she have left?" Hen asked in concern.

"Minutes." The woman told her.

"Uh, do we wait that long or, just, you know..." Buck asked, raising the mechanic jaws up before being pushed back slightly by Bobby.

"No, no, don't kill her! She's come so far!" Diego grunted.

"All right, guys, we're gonna do this really carefully." Bobby told the crew. "All right, come on. Let's get in there."

"Can't we just put her to sleep for a little bit, then gently guide her grip off from Diego?" Kasey questioned Hen who began to shake her head.

"It's too risky." Was all Hen said, and Kasey took a step back to give the rest of her team room to use the Jaws. She felt helpless right now, but there wasn't much else she could do. If she even tried to stand nearer the group that kneeled by the shark, then she would just be in the way and could risk the whole plan.

So, she just stood a few steps back, her thumb and finger were pinching the bottom of her lip as she listened to Diego cries of agony gets mixed in with the sound of the Jaws. And ever so slowly, she watched the bloody arm that belonged to Diego get pulled out. It was covered in numerous bite marks, but Kasey knew that Diego would be happy that the shark and his arm would all be okay eventually.

And within a second of Bobby's next instruction, Kasey watched Chimney and a few others helped to lie Diego down on the stretcher. Kasey stared at the arm with wide eyes, and her fingers began to pinch her bottom lip more, and she wouldn't have cared or even noticed if it began to bleed, because the sight in front of her made her sick to the stomach – she heard incidents of stories of sharks, but she never knew she would see one of those stories right in front of her due to how rare they were – but here she was, watching a man who would rather live with one arm than let a shark die.

"Don't let her die," Diego begs. "Please."

Kasey turns around to face the fire truck, eyes narrowing at the sight where the hose was, and with a shake of her head she rushed off to grab the hose and dragged it all the way to where Bobby stood by the shark.

She wasn't going to let this shark die – Diego didn't want that – he didn't risk his entire arm for nothing.

And on a much softer setting that was similar to the pouring of a bucket, she sprayed the shark, keeping it hydrated with water whilst Bobby watched her. He watched her keep the shark alive, and he knew he had to help the shark in some other way too.

So with another order, a firefighter climbed in front of the steering wheel of the truck, whilst the other members of the team very gently bust speedily placed a harshness round the shark, and at the all clear, Kasey stopped her spraying and was replaced with the blue jacket man with his bucket. She hurriedly put the rope back before jumping into the truck, followed by Buck.

They drove off with the shark harnessed in front of them, and the crowd of people cheering them on the side.

And they drove towards the body of water they needed to be at, lowering the shark down quick into it, and everyone watched as the shark swam out of it harness and out to sea.

❥๑━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━๑❥

"Kasey?" Bobby calls as he notices the youngest firefighter sitting on the bed she would sleep in if she ever did a full day shift. Her knees were pulled towards her chest, chin resting on top of it as she just sat in the dark. "Kasey? You're not on a full shift tonight."

"It's better than sleeping in my car again," Kasey mutters, not making one look at Bobby.

"You've been living in your car?" Bobby questioned, slowly making his way towards the girl. "Were you kicked out of your old place? Because if it's a place you needed, you know you're always welcomed–"

"No." Kasey utters, clearing her throat as she shakes her head. Her fingers moved to play with the end of her trousers. "I just can't go back there. I tried to, but every time I do, I end up in the shower, trying to wash off the blood that's not even there. Trying to wash off the feeling of him. I can't remember when I last slept either, cause that night still haunts me, no matter how many times I try to push it out of my mind; the thoughts, the sound, him, Bear...the pain....the smell...the blood... it all so haunts me."

Kasey brings her knees in closer for Bobby to sit down.

"Where is Bear now?"

"With Buck...He thinks I just wants a deeper clean of my house...which I do, but no matter how much I clean it, it still feels like it did on that night."

"Kasey," Bobby reaches forward to rub her knee.

"I'm just so terrified, Bobby. I'm always terrified. I act like I'm fine, but...but I'm scared. He knows everything, a-and that is so fucking scary." She rubs her palm over her eye as she begins to sob, and Bobby reached forwards to bring her into his arms, as if it he was creating a shield to protect her from everything. "Could you just take this pain away? It hurts, so much...help me." Her voice was so weak, so vulnerable.

Bobby was terrified too as he doesn't recall a time he has ever seen Kasey like this – she has always seemed as tough as a wall of bricks, that nothing could hurt her, but here she was, remembering that she was human and began to broke down in a man who she saw as a father.

Kasey was clutching Bobby's shoulder so hard, nails gripping in, palms steadily pushing against the clavicle, and Bobby began to wonder if it was possible for a human to break bones with their bare hands, if it was humanly possible that if they pushed hard enough his bones would snap.

Bobby didn't care though, he didn't care how many bones she may break of his, he didn't mind at all as she was the girl that he thought of as a daughter and she was crying, more like sobbing. She wouldn't stop.

Bobby believed that if she was sat in a hole in the ground then she be overflowing it by now. Her crying was deadly to hear, one of those cries that rips a heart out of one's chest, she cried as if she was in pain, and she was. She's always been in pain, suffering in the silence and this is one of the times where the bottle of emotions spilled within her, unleashing all these emotions she's been hiding from everyone.

It scared Bobby, it scared him as he has never seen Kasey like this, and he had no clue how to help her. But it was the silence that followed that scared him the most, just them two sitting in that room for three hours straight in pure silence. Bobby wished he knew what was going on in her head, but just like everyone else, he knew he wasn't as strong as Kasey.

174 notes · View notes

elizmanderson · 1 year

Text

one more sleep 'til publication day

(the muppet christmas carol (1992) is my favorite christmas movie and one of my favorite movies and I make this reference literally every time there's only one more sleep 'til anything ever)

after a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day yesterday involving a dead phone and a dying car, today I woke up to some lovely reviews from folks involved with the Remarkable Retirement blog tour, like this review from Just Geeking By (which comes along with an interview).

two days ago, we started a StoryGraph giveaway. The StoryGraph is a Black-woman-owned alternative to GoodReads (which is owned by Amazon), based in the UK. from an author perspective, they've been awesome to work with: responsive to questions, quick to update book information, and frequently helpful in unexpected ways. like, this graphic for the giveaway came from them - all I had to do was add my cover! which, with release day tomorrow, is so helpful, because it cuts down on how much time I have to spend prepping marketing materials for social media posts.

you can join The StoryGraph here, and enter the giveaway here. we're giving away three (3) hardcovers. the giveaway runs through May 18 and is open internationally (except to countries not accepting post from the U.S.).

some folks preorders have started coming in - mostly from Amazon, which has been getting the print version out for the last two days. not sure why it's been going out early, but I love seeing pictures of Edna in the wild, like this one from a friend.

because I am an ADHD trash possum, I spent most of today doing last-minute preparations for tomorrow's in-person launch party at Gathering Volumes in Perrysburg, Ohio. I still need to print out bingo cards (sorry, Edna), but I have lil prize bags ready to go for bingo winners, along with bookmarks and stickers for everyone. I...kind of have no idea how many people to expect, it could be as few as 10 or as many as 30 or more than that, but I simply do not know. so I'm bringing some cake and a deli tray and hoping for the best lol. at least I know some friends are for sure coming, so it won't be a case of "author has launch event, author is alone except for bookstore employees who were scheduled to work that day."

(if anyone's in the general vicinity of Northwest Ohio, the bookstore's event page is here. launch is 6:30-8:00p.m. EST on April 21!)

(for everyone not in the general vicinity of Northwest Ohio, I have some virtual events coming up as well. virtual events - as well as buy links - are on my linktree!)

#the remarkable retirement of edna fisher #e.m. anderson #book update #2023 debuts #debut author #indie publishing #fantasy books #queer book recs #book recs

18 notes · View notes

unladielike · 5 months

Note

As much as he hoped to not run into anyone he knew while picking up a certain series his sister pre-ordered for herself, here he was at the very same book store Vivian liked to go to, holding a newly released shoujo manga series in his hand with the girl in question absolutely having caught him red handed here. It had been some time since he sorta blew up at her for his absolutely trivial insecurities, and he did owe her an apology for it. Even though the girl was likely doing her best to ignore him right now as she turned away to mind her own business, Keith cleared his throat and turned to her, tucking the manga volume he had into the bag he had brought for easier transportation of his sister's purchases, ❝ I'm sorry about last time, ❞ he began awkwardly, unable to really look her in the eyes as he said it, ❝ I'm not the best at keeping cool when people hit nerves. ❞ He paused, thinking that Vivian probably wouldn't want to hear any excuses out of him. It made sense that she didn't. Besides, she was clearly more compatible with people like Reanne anyhow in terms of friendship and whatnot, ❝ anyway, I'll leave you be. I just wanted to apologize for that. ❞

UNPROMPTED ASKS. » always accepting!

The moment Keith entered her peripheral, Vivian wasted no time whirling around, intent on re-browsing the shounen manga again; after all, his presence alone was enough to deter her from checking out the new updates. Before she could bring herself to trot forward, however, him clearing his throat has her immediately cease, and against her better judgment, she'll slowly peek back at him over her shoulder with a single brow arched upwards, as if saying, 'What in god's name do you want?'

Truth be told, she didn't know what exactly to expect considering it wasn't as if she knew him particularly well yet; still, the subsequent apology Keith uttered was enough to make her jawline unclench, because when it came down it, she just couldn't find it in herself to stay mad at him.

"...Apology accepted, I guess," Vivian ends up sighing. "I mean... when you're clearly trying your best to be sincere, it's hard to really hold grudges, you know? Besides, I do lack the social aptitude to choose my words more carefully, so people already get mad at me a lot... in other words, I'm pretty much used to it. But yeah, consider our last altercation together water underneath the bridge." Sure enough, she then ambles over to survey the recent volumes released by Tamako Tamagoyama for the series, 'My Cat is Such a Weirdo' all while debating whether or not she should get it for Hayate's Christmas present. Of course, she still wasn't standing super close to Keith, but now that he apologized, the distance between them did at least shorten to half a meter.

"Are you here for your younger sister?" Vivian finally goes on to question, making it rather apparent she pretty much paid no heed to his last words.

@abrasife

#abrasife #║▌ ⧼ ⸢ ʚɞ ⸣︳m̲o̲d̲e̲r̲n̲. ⧽ ― ENTER THE MANLY HEROINE OF JUSTICE.#⸾ ❖︎ ⸾ ( PUBLISHED ) ⤹ •• 𝕒𝕤𝕜𝕤.#⸾ ❖︎ ⸾ ( QUEUED ) ⤹ •• 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕝𝕚𝕓𝕣𝕒𝕣𝕪.#[ /dust the cobwebs off my blog ]#[ as always severa thank you for the ask! ]#[ i hope i managed to answer it to your liking ]

2 notes · View notes

kylesvariouslistsandstuff · 10 months

Text

So Far...

We're at the halfway point now.

The first half of 2023, box office-wise for the all-animated pictures, has been kind of more of the same... In that, Disney's animated feature releases - or one, in this case - are still struggling to get big crowds that are needed to cover the gargantuan budgets pumped into these things... Universal - for the most part - is still bringing home bacon. THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE landed among the highest grossing animated movies, period. Massive opening here in the states, incredible legs for a frontloaded picture, and especially for one that got a more mixed critical reception.

About the MARIO reviews... This makes me chuckle a bit. Very online people like to use the not-amazing critical reception of recent Disney-released animated movies to knock them and also use them to explain their not great box office ("well, if they had a made *good* movies), buuuut they either say the critics are "wrong" and "hate fun" for giving MARIO so-so marks or they just ignore them entirely. Tribalism stinks. MARIO does its job, yes, but it's also based on probably one of the most recognizable IPs in the whole damn world. Take that away, I wonder what kind of money that movie would've made...

But it wasn't entirely great for Universal this year, for they bungled the release of RUBY GILLMAN, TEENAGE KRAKEN. I understand that a lot of the Illumination and DreamWorks movies on Uni's slate all got domino'd, pushing the individual movies back a couple of paces... But June 30th was the wrong time to release this, and waiting till 3 1/2 months before release date to officially announce the movie to the world was also a big mistake (rumor-mills were leaking stuff about "MEET THE GILLMANS" instead of DreamWorks doing any talking... And we're but a little over a year out from the original movie opening theatrically after KUNG FU PANDA 4 in 2024.) if you ask me.

RUBY GILLMAN would've been a perfectly serviceable mid-July release, but Christopher Nolan has way too much power as a director, mandating that Universal not release *any* movie near his precious OPPENHEIMER. What a diva. I would've settled for early September. A good amount of weeks away from MUTANT MAYHEM, and having all of September, October, and early November to itself... I still wonder why Universal thinks releasing TROLLS BAND TOGETHER three days before Disney Animation's WISH is a great idea. October's wide open, it's like right there! In fact, BAND TOGETHER comes out in October in various international territories. Why not the same in the Yoo, Ess of Ay?

So, yeah... Universal had a high high with MARIO, and a low low with RUBY GILLMAN. That picture might make little more than SPIRIT UNTAMED. Maybe MIGRATION will be a SING-esque leggy Christmas hit for Illumination, and I'm sure TROLLS BAND TOGETHER will do pretty good.

Only one Disney animated release came about this year so far, Pixar's ELEMENTAL, which opened terribly (worst opening for a Pixar film, an opening on par with what TOY STORY collected in 1995 dollars)... But it's legging it up something fierce, it's sure to get the coveted 4x multiplier. Combine that with the "A" CinemaScore grade, and it's pretty clear that audiences quite dig the picture, despite what some weirdos are insisting. That Pixar has "lost its touch" or whatever, even though people have been saying that since the early 2010s. Disney's not going to send it straight to Disney+ just yet, they're gonna try to keep this thing spinning in theaters from the looks of it, hoping those classic Pixar legs keep it afloat while everything else comes and goes. It weathered INDIANA JONES and RUBY GILLMAN just fine, I'm sure it'll still hang on when BARBIE lands. Traditionally, Pixar gives their summer animated movies a Labor Day weekend bump, so I expect ELEMENTAL to be around till at least the end of September.

Disney botched this one, marketing-wise. The trailers were basically "Here's the premise, here's some gags, please clap." No hint of its actually solid and nuanced immigrant story, surprisingly light on the romance, too. Apparently that's cooties for the boy audience that they "should" be marketing to. Meanwhile, they're hyping up WISH as this story that's "a century in the making" and they seem to be pushing it as this definitive origin story of all Disney animated classics... Like, is it really that hard to tell audiences "hey, look at how cool our painterly fantasy musical is"? I guess it's a step up from how they just showed us STRANGE WORLD with no enthusiasm, and called it a day.

Sony is perhaps the real star here. SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE is their first fully theatrically-released animated movie since... THE ANGRY BIRDS MOVIE 2, all the way back in fall 2019... MITCHELLS VS. THE MACHINES, VIVO, WISH DRAGON... All went straight to streaming. HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 4 had a limited run in select theaters, but was largely a streaming-only release... So yeah, SPIDER-VERSE Deux marks their return to theaters after a four-year hiatus, and as expected, the sequel to the sleeper hit superhero movie is doing fantastically. Landed among the biggest openers for an animated movie, and legs-wise it's doing quite fine, passing $350m here. Looks to be the 2nd highest-earning animated movie of the post-outbreak era domestically, toppling MINIONS 2. Worldwide it did quite well for itself, too, as it inches towards $700m and is Sony Animation's highest-earning movie. Wowee! It's their only release this year.

The Top 10 highest-earning animated movies of the post-outbreak era, domestically, are largely Universal and Disney releases. One Sony release - again, SPIDER-VERSE Dos - and one Warner Bros. release, DC LEAGUE OF SUPER-PETS. So for all of Disney's financial woes, they're still up in the top slots with Universal. ENCANTO, LIGHTYEAR, and ELEMENTAL all landed above $90m domestically, so they're kinda doing something right, the idea of the movies being free on Disney+ be damned. They're now trying to un-train the audience of what Chapek/Kareem Daniels' Disney - and just the market in general - conditioned them into thinking, which is easier said than done.

So while box office has been back for the most part, we're in an era where the market itself and the amount of money being spent on these movies (near $300m for INDIANA JONES 5... Just... Why?) is creating a system that is just sooooo not conducive to the individual movies. The game should be rewritten, but you know how capitalism and Hollywood go... The collapse of a ton of different movies this summer just won't make the money people see sense, apparently...

Nestled in-between these biggies was Crunchyroll's release of SUZUME, which pulled in $10m, not the best for this kind of anime feature release, but still solid enough. A new DEMON SLAYER feature that was composed of a few episodes of the new season did its job, and a few other anime feature releases. Then you had THE AMAZING MAURICE and RALLY ROAD RACERS, released by Viva Kids (what is this company again?), the former only pulling in about $4m-ish here and the latter... I don't even know. At my theater, there was one seat - in the front row - purchased for every screening throughout the week. Can you say... Money laundering? One of these movies was a British picture, an adaptation of Terry Pratchett that went straight to streaming there... And the other was a Vanguard movie, who somehow keep making movies despite most of them not making back their budgets. That's SHREK producer John H. Williams' venture, they did VALIANT, HAPPILY N'EVER AFTER, SPACE CHIMPS, a pair of movies that almost went to theaters in the U.S. (GNOME ALONE and CHARMED) but ended up quietly debuting on streaming long after completion, and... I've lost track, GET SQUIRRELY I believe was another one?

What remains?

The highly-anticipated MUTANT MAYHEM, which could very well be a SPIDER-VERSE-esque box office sleeper for the ever-lasting world of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, bows next month. I'd imagine, because the picture was animated at Mikros, that it didn't cost too much to make. Paramount Animation has been in need of a real box office hit for a looooong while, something that isn't a SpongeBob movie, and this one might just be it.

I expect PAW PATROL 2 - also from Paramount - to play like the first one, something for the kiddies and the preschool crowd, and it makes enough to cover whatever it cost to make it.

TROLLS WORLD TOUR should open fine enough and leg it fine enough, despite WISH opening right next to it. Well, five days later, but still... It should move up a few weeks, I think. Above $80m domestically seems about right to me, $200m+ worldwide. It probably cost less than $100m to make.

WISH likely cost over $150m to make, typical of a Disney Animation film. If the marketing really gets audiences to want to shell out plenty of bucks to see it, then I expect it to perform similarly to other Thanksgiving-release Disney animated movies of the 2010s. TANGLED and MOANA being my references, because FROZEN was its own beast. Solid opening over the holiday frame, fantastic legs, and next to no competition for the rest of the season. No STAR WARS or Marvel movie opening at Christmastime, no AVATAR sequel, the only real competition being... I dunno, that Timothee Chalamet WONKA movie that Warner has coming out? I think it'll do fine. I can see it opening with around $40m for the three-day, Thanksgiving boosts it, then it goes past $150-180m domestically. Maybe even higher, if this musical - which seems engineered in every way to hit the beats of what audiences associate with a "Disney movie" - really resonates with audiences. Heck, Disney could put in the next trailer "In Theaters Only. On Disney+ in fall 2024!" Tell 'em, yeah, you're gonna have to wait to see it for free!

May they all do well...

5 notes · View notes

antipolin · 3 months

Note

Your take on Nicola in the last anon is something I have thought for a while. Just look back at her previous interviews for season 1 and season 2, she only ever talks about herself and never the leads or anyone else in the show, even the Tudum she hosted for season 2 she tried to take all the attention onto herself whenever it seemed to go onto any of the others for too long, and tried to insert herself into every response. Like when Simone and Jonny were acting up and having one of their private conversations she made a snarky comment about them to get everyone's attention back on her.

I will be surprised if we see her posting much about anyone else but herself over the next 5 or 6 months, during the promo I won't be surprised if she managed to get some interviews solo, even without Luke N to be honest. She hates sharing the spotlight with anyone.

I remember seeing someone say that when she was on GBBO with her Derry Girls costars she came across as not liking the attention off her at all, and that was before Bridgerton came out.

Her fans aren't much different to be honest, they hate any other characters or actors getting more attention than Nicola, they had a collective meltdown when British Vogue put the Kanthony picture first after the Christmas picture release, and they complained like anything back when the filming video came out and a lot of the comments were asking where Simone was, they just didn't like the attention being on anyone but Nicola.

I really hope that Kanthony, Benedict, Francesca, and yes even Eloise, take a lot of the spotlight from her for the season, it will be karma in my opinion.

I had an anon send me an ask about them meeting her at some event once. And apparently that interaction with her didn't impress the anon either.

I didn't know about her on the GBBO but after hearing the story from that other anon, I'm not totally surprised. One 'rude' or bad incident, I could chalk it up to her having a bad day.... But adding it with this one and most of the press we've seen her do, it seems to be more of a character trait than anything else.

It's funny b/c I feel like whenever one of her co-stars have big news that gets announced professionally, she 'happens' to post something that same day. Like almost to take the attention away from them and back on her. She did it the day one of Simone's Vogue shoots was released and she did it the day Luke's A Little Life casting was announced. I know she's done it in other instances too but those are the one's I remember for sure.

Again, even this past week.... She posted ONE picture that had half of LT's face in it (which I'm pretty sure was at the SNL after party) and whoever else's hands were in that pic.... And I still wonder if she felt like the comments were too much about him or something. Because after that, she's ONLY posted pictures of herself. She hasn't even bothered to post pics of her with her on screen love interest.

Meanwhile, Luke Newton at least posted that Bridgerton sibling photo of him, LT, & Claudia in front of the NYC library. And then of him and Claudia at the NY Knicks game.

She gives off HUGE narcissist vibes to me and it really is annoying for someone who's only acting strength is mid-comedy movies or shows.

Nicola fans are very annoying though. Because when she posted that SNL pic with LT there, it was 'oh they're dating!' (girl in what world please be serious) and not 'oh he's there to promote S3, he's got a big role!' (like he's S4 or something, imagine that!).... Like they can't stand the idea that anyone but her will be promoting S3 or being more charming than her in interviews.

Honestly everyone will take the spotlight from her b/c her character is so unlikable imo.

#anon #asks #anti Nicola Coughlan

0 notes

itmfluv · 2 years

Text

August-Sept Log: -Cut two friends out my life because one of them had a personality clash with me and we never hang out anyways or talk at all and the other one kept making jokes out at my expense. I didn't need the low vibrations so I'm feeling so much more happier but also mourning over the good memories. Time will heal me though so I'm not too worried, I'll let myself feel these feelings. My best friend is always here to help me feel better too. I got to say the only awkward thing about it is having a friend group and them both being friends with the two guys I cut out my life. What I told everyone is that I don't care for people to take sides with me or care at all about the situation and just be neutral-you can hang out with them I couldn't care less. Which is why I didn't go around telling anyone or ran my mouth, I just wanted them to find out on their own naturally. But unfortunately, soon enough some of our friends naturally started treating me differently which is whatever. Can't change people's opinion about you, if they choose to not fuck with you, then it's their loss. I'm just dissapointed those two guys ran their mouths when I chose not to out of respect for the fact that I knew them for two plus years. At least the ones I have around me are the ones that I know are good people. Also I don't get people. Why are some people confused, almost even shocked when you cut them out your life. It's not like you didn't see it coming. Especially we weren't speaking to eachother or hanging out for a long time, why would you even care about it. Also I absolutely hate when people makes constant jokes at someone's expense, I will laugh it off for the first few times but I really do not fuck with shady remarks being thrown at me for the sake of your enjoyment and I have told that friend several times before. One of my friends told me he might still be confused as to why I reacted the way I did in cutting him out but I'm tired of explaining myself as to why I hit a limit with people. I wish them the best of luck I have no hatred at all. -Seeing some of the best couples I know split up which is sad. Makes me realize no matter how long you've been with someone, they can still be a stranger later in life. -Sims 5 is possibly getting released next month? If there is no multiplayer option I don't want it. I already spent hundreds of dollars on sims4 only to play it for like 40 minutes and get bored.. -Speaking of money, all the money I spent on valorant, I could have bought myself a damn blackpink ticket. Also why are the blackpink concert tickets so expensive? People need to fcking sell one of their kidneys to be able to see blackpink nowadays jesus yg. -Speaking of Jennie. More photos of taehyung and jennie are released and I'm so happy they look so happy I hope it's true that man is pushing 30 he needs some good loving in his life. -Big change in life is coming and I'm going to move soon this year. Bro, I'm excited. Fk this apartment bro, people are sketchy, not friendly and um I will never forget about that lady next door who tried to steal my uber eats chipotle burrito and I caught her red handed when I opened my door. -Also going to find a nice tattoo shop when I move and start trying for apprenticing because it's always been a huge goal of mine. -Might need to get a checkup because I been feeling fatigue with stomach pains and headaches often. I hope I'm not too sick. I'm going to see my mom this december for christmas so maybe I'll feel better eating her food and being at home with the family. -Well the stomach pain could still be the gastritis and stomach lining swelling from all the alcohol I had on my birthday. Don't drink on an empty stomach and get wasted...that day was fun but I couldn't eat properly for few days and I def for sure damaged my stomach pretty good from throwing up so much...

#diary #thoughts

0 notes

moonhoures · 2 years

Note

Drabble game! I'm so torn between fluff 37 or 39, but I think 37 is my choice, lmao. And my ult bias, Jooheon Lee. 😍

Also, Merry (belated) Christmas! ❤️💚

fluff, slight angst | g/n reader x jooheon | prompt: “you wrote me a song?”

note: this is set before the release of no limit :)

Relationships were never easy for you, or at least they weren’t until you met Jooheon. With him, dating felt so natural. He was sweet and funny and warm, and when you were with him everything felt so right. When he asked you out, it felt like pieces of a puzzle finally coming together. The next two years were blissful. Sure, his job was demanding and difficult to navigate your relationship through, but the both of you did your best to make it work. It wasn’t until recently that you started to feel it; the rift of long distance between the two of you. The strenuous work wearing down your boyfriend. The insecurity settling into your conscience. You wondered if this was the beginning of the end.

“Babe? I’m home,” Jooheon announced his arrival after a long day of working in the studio—for the twelfth day in a row. Only this time, he was home at a reasonable hour instead of past ten p.m. This time, you were actually awake when he walked through the door around six thirty.

He took off his shoes at the door and walked through the house until he found you on the couch, trying to keep your eyes open to watch the rest of the TV show you had started, “______?”

You picked up your head and half-smiled, “Hi, honey.”

That’s it? Jooheon’s heart weakened when he realized that you weren’t going to ask him how work was, even though you usually did. Well, two weeks ago you would have. The two of you had barely any time to speak since he had basically been living in the studio with Changkyun working on Monsta X’s new album.

“What did you do today?” he asked you as he sat down on the couch and put his arm on the top of the cushion behind your head. He was pleasantly surprised when you immediately leaned in to him and even kissed his cheek.

“Just ran some errands, cooked lunch, and watched TV,” you shrugged, before smiling up at him to add, “I also went on Instagram today and saw an article that got posted about Monsta X. They raved about you guys and your upcoming tour, and the excitement for your new album.”

This is my chance.

“That’s great,” he mirrored your grin, then cleared his throat, “Actually, I’m glad you brought up the album. We’ve started putting together a track list, and there’s one song that I really wanted to show you.”

You sat up properly, looking at him with inquisitive eyes, “Are you allowed to do that? Since the album isn’t out yet. You won’t get in trouble will you?”

Your boyfriend laughed, shaking his head as he pulled out his phone and opened the file with the lyrics he’d been working so hard on, “Don’t worry, this is just between you and I for now . . . Well, you, me, the guys, and our producers.”

You nodded, eagerly taking his phone and reading over the lyrics he brought up for you to read. The song was titled “Just Love” and spoke about going through dark days, but looking forward to better ones. It was about keeping your love for someone through rough times with them—staying hopeful. It felt like an open love letter to you, reflecting the situation you were in now. It felt like he was saying, “even though there is this distance between us now, it won’t be this way for long. Don’t worry”. And you believed him.

“You wrote me a song?” you asked, looking up at him with tears brimming your eyes.

“Part of it, yeah,” he admitted, “I know we haven’t been able to spend much time together, and it’s been tough on the both of us. So, I wrote about that feeling. I figured people would be able to relate with it, especially the fans, since they haven’t been able to interact with us like they did before.”

You nodded solemnly, completely understanding where he was coming from, “Well, I’m sure the finished product will be lovely. I can’t wait to hear it.”

a/n: this got posted later than i wanted, but i hope you had a good christmas!! have a happy new year 🎆

#lee jooheon #monsta x #monsta x fluff #monsta x angst #jooheon fluff #jooheon angst #monsta x fanfic #monsta x imagines #monsta x scenarios #monsta x x reader #monsta x drabble #jooheon fanfic #jooheon imagines #jooheon scenarios #jooheon x reader #2K event

90 notes · View notes

wh6res · 3 years

Text

UP IN SMOKES — DOYOUNG

psych student! kdy | tw. college au, violence, a knife, GASLIGHTING, hallucination, psychosis, swearing, just pure manipulation, minor charac death, there's a court scene, this is a repost! | wc. 10k she a beast

life could’ve been simple;

you shouldn't have met kim doyoung.

what does a freshman in college hate the most other than the high-stress levels of moving into a new dorm? a shitty roomie and a smelly, moldy mattress. the girl you call roommate refuses to help move the mattress because it will ruin her new manicure. what a fucking classic.

"sounds like a 'you' problem. figure it out yourself, plain jane."

she said before heading out, annoyingly popping her bubblegum as she kicks a few of your scattered boxes by the front door. you roll your eyes; classes haven't even started yet, so why is she already making your life miserable? as much as you'd like to snap at her, you don't, merely glaring daggers at her back as she finally turns the corner of the hallway and disappears.

"bitch," you mutter under your breath.

you eye the abomination that is supposed to be your bed, cursing how you shouldn't have made a 15-minute pit stop to starbucks for a drink when you could've just bought one from the instant coffee vending machines in every corner of the hallway of this dorm building because if you didn't, maybe you could've beaten regina george wannabe from taking the better bed. sighing, you suck it up and start getting to work. life's full of shit, anyway; no point sulking.

moving a moldy mattress is easier than you thought, to say the least. you can't ask for help from the other freshmen you bumped into in the hallway because they, too, are under a huge amount of stress from the move and are busy getting their affairs in order. it was a good thing, though, that a committee was formed specifically for this day to help out the freshmen if they were to stumble upon problems or mishaps with moving in. they were all around the campus, and they prove to be way friendlier than your batch mates. since this morning, three people have already offered help in carrying your luggage — which you have politely declined.

"hey, uhm… is this the stall for the welcoming committee? oh, wait. i'm sorry, there's a sign right there —"ugh.

you mentally shut your eyes in humiliation. why do you have to be this bad, this awkward at communicating with strangers? why couldn't you be born like all those socialites who already (probably) got their contacts filled with new numbers on the first day of school or something?

"yeah, this is them — welcoming committee, i mean. how can i help you?" he smiles, sweet, radiating the epitome boy next door aura as he looks up at you from where he's sitting behind the stall. your eyes quickly land onto the name tag stuck on his varsity jacket before meeting his eyes again.

"i have an issue with my mattress. it has mold, you see..." your voice slowly trails, becoming quieter as you feel small under the weight of his piercing stare. oh, come on. he's just a guy with a beautiful face, woman the fuck up.

"really? let me see..."

he needn't finish rounding the stall when his nose is hit by the pungent smell brought forth by your mattress. frankly, you weren't that picky. you could've covered it with bedsheets and call it a day, but the odor is too strong to ignore. you mentally hope the smell didn't latch onto your clothes, especially not when someone so cute is around — what a bad first impression.

"oh, god!" he exclaims the moment he lays eyes on it, taking a step back. “now, that has to go. and you lugged it from the fourth floor?"

ah, yes. according to tradition in these dormitories, which you've only found out today, freshmen get the curse of climbing four flights of stairs up while the seniors strut into their rooms on the ground floor like the hallway is a goddamned runway.

"doyoung! help me carry these!"

someone calls his name as you both turn your head to spot a chestnut-haired girl clad in the same varsity jacket he's wearing. you grimace at the sight of her. for someone so small, she just had to volunteer to carry all those heavy bags. however, he doesn't move in front of you and brushes her off as if she doesn't look like she's carrying rocks over her shoulders. "i'm already helping someone else! go find taeyong or something. i'm sure that shit's loitering around here somewhere!"

"oh, it's okay, you can go help her. i'll just look for someone else —"

"nah, it's fine!" you try hard to school your face into indifference when you notice his gummy smile. "plus… trust me when i say no other person from the committee will help you with this. this shit smells like my roommate's sweaty basketball socks!"

you can't help the smile forming on your face as you help him carry the mattress off to the side of the hallway, the stinky thing leaning vertically against the wall and behind a huge terracotta plant pot. "don't worry, let's report it to student affairs so they'll get you a new one. congrats! you'll have to share beds with your new roommate tonight, freshie. it'd be a great ice breaker."

the universe truly hates you.

your expression must've been a dead give away because he's suddenly patting your shoulder, regarding you with utmost sympathy. "been there, done that. i hated taeyong, too, when i met him last year. still, for some mind fuck of a miracle, we've grown to be friends and developed a talent of not wanting to kill each other every two seconds."

"highly doubt i'd be friends with a regina george-level bitch, but thanks, anyway," you mutter under your breath. suddenly, you whip your head towards him after internalizing what he just said. "you met your roommate last year? you're a sophomore?"

he scoffs, leaning down to your height to lowly mutter against your ear as he eyes the lobby's front desk. "why? do i look like some 4th year who radiates 'don't touch me' energy?"

you feel the heat on your cheeks with how close he is, only releasing an exhale when he finally gets out of your personal space. "i'm kim doyoung. you've heard it from wendy earlier, but anyway — i'm a 2nd-year psych major."

"no way!" you exclaim, a little too excited. "i'm taking psych, too!"

"oh, you are? well, if you need anything or if you don't understand stuff…" he winks. "feel free to approach me anytime."

hmm… how sweet of him.

it was only hours later that you found out who kim doyoung is in your department during the acquaintance party. and for god's sake, you found out from your best friend who is a major in english lit and has never even seen the guy. "seriously, you didn't know he's a genius? i hear the professors call him a prodigy, girl! a fucking prodigy. if i were you, i'd ask for his help in every subject."

"you know i prefer keeping to myself. how'd i know stuff like that when i have no one to talk to in the psych dorms?" you look down, making the ice cubes in your drink clink against each other. "i didn't think he was this big shot or whatever. he looks normal, and everyone treats him normally."

"well, what do you expect?" she hisses, hitting your arm. "the other students don't want to make him feel alienated or something just because he's tons smarter than them. but anyway… the real question is…"

you roll your eyes when she pauses for effect, tentatively leaning closer to whisper under her breath.

"is he cute?"

you didn't want to answer her question, but he's been stuck in your head since he offered walking with you to the student affairs office. doyoung had smiled his cute gummy smile and had even ruffled your hair before leaving you for committee duties — saying he's cute would be an understatement.

"you have no idea."

for his first act;

he gains your trust.

fast forward to one year, many things have changed, but the only constant remaining is the handsome sophomore — who is now a 3rd-year, by the way — whom you've met on your first day. coursework has been pretty tough this year. instead of the content written in your textbook, your mind is plagued by the horrible twist of fate your best friend had encountered; she didn't have enemies. or so you thought.

she disappeared in the middle of christmas break last year. her beaten up body was found only a month later, in january, floating around the university's lake. happy fucking new year.

the first time she chose to spend the holidays with you instead of her family back in her hometown, and that happens? some rotten luck you both have. it's why you didn't put it past her family to hate your guts with strong convictions. it's okay. the feeling's mutual. after all, it had been your best friends' own family, the same ones who had been so willing to take you in when you got kicked out, that were so eager to pin you as the murderer of their child. all under the argument that you have been the last person seen with her.

oh, the things her mom said about you when she had stormed into the police station, red in the face, tears streaming down her cheeks..."i warned my baby not to hang out with that — that bitch. came straight out of a cursed family, that one. abusive dad, a nutjob mom. that bitch is a danger! probably got her dad's nasty temper and beat my baby to death! i want her on the electric chair!"

in those times, you once again realize this world is fucked up and cruel in every bit of its glory as you fought tooth and nail to defend yourself. but even then, they never believed you — the law will only favor the rich . the prosecution had been so sure it was you until a certain witness appeared and presented himself before the jury.

"do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?"

doyoung raises his right hand, fixing his stare straight at the judge. "i solemnly and sincerely declare that the evidence i shall give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."

"how long have you known the defendant?" the prosecutor asks, arms crossed in front of her chest as she paces in front of the witness stand.

the boy briefly meets your gaze, and it's enough to make his heart sink. doyoung can't bear seeing you in those grey overalls when he knows it himself. you're being accused of a crime you didn't commit. "i've known her for one year."

"how'd you meet?"

and the questions went on and on; your defense attorney isn't all too keen on winning the case and had never once yelled "objection!" in her seat, but what could you expect? all the evidence kept stacking against you, and some of those you knew were even fabricated. you've never felt this hopeless in your whole twenty years of living.

"what's the point in this, anyway?" doyoung snapped in the witness stand, fiercely glaring at the prosecutor. "how is my history — or lack thereof — with the defendant any relevant to the case? you're not even asking me about evidence nor what my statement is!"

"easy there," the prosecutor retaliates, jaw locked. "i have to first measure what exactly your relationship is with the defendant for us to think twice about your statement. who knows..." the prosecutor makes a grand gesture of turning her head in your direction, affixing you with a condescending stare. "she might've just hired you to say these things."

your attorney doesn't come to your aid.

"perjury isn't my thing."

the prosecutor seems to have taken offense by the tone of doyoung's voice, but he doesn't let her speak further. "the victim isn't all sunshine and rainbows, you know. she'd been a part of a sorority and one with quite a nasty reputation in the college, too. i have to say she made very poor decisions, ones i'm sure her family didn't even know about. you see, they take their oaths and pledges very seriously. the victim wanted out. they didn't like that."

"and you have evidence to support this claim?"

without a moment to waste, he digs around the front pocket of his jeans before proudly presenting a black usb between his slender fingers. "knock yourself out."

the professor calls your name, snapping you out of your reverie. this isn't the first time your mind had transported you back to that particular day in the courtroom, where doyoung had swooped in and saved you from a lifetime in prison. the whole ordeal had been so scary, so frightening that you remember everything vividly as if it had only happened yesterday.

the classroom is empty. even your social psych professor has long packed up his stuff and is already standing by the classroom door. damn. were you that out of it?

"i'm so sorry." you mutter under your breath monotonously as you walk past him and out the door without another word. this is bad, very bad. no one would help, much less lend their notes to someone charged with murder — especially of their very own best friend. whether you were innocent or not doesn't matter to the student body. you've been ostracized, gossips of your problematic family spreading like wildfire, and the ridiculous part is only a fourth of the gossips are true.

the damage is done.

at this point, you realize with a heavy heart that you have to face doyoung again sooner or later. you haven't talked to him at all since the start of the new school year, ignoring his lighthearted greetings in the hallways, rejecting his calls, ghosting his texts. you are afraid people would judge him harshly for hanging around you. frankly, you were embarrassed to ask any more favors from him with how much he's done for you already and the fact that he had seen you in such a state of vulnerability.

but you also didn't want to fail your subjects and lose the one thing holding your life together — your scholarship.

that is why you found yourself standing before him, in his favorite spot in the library tucked behind shelves upon shelves of books, next to the windows overlooking the empty football field. he's wearing black-rimmed glasses and is clad in the usual navy blue sweater as his head turns to and fro between a textbook and his notebook. the air had been so silent, you hear the aggressive scratches his pencil makes against the paper.

you feel a little hurt when he makes no move to acknowledge your presence, but you think back to what you have been doing and figured he has a right to act this way.

"hey, doyoung." your voice is meek, hesitant.

"if you're not here to explain nor give me an acceptable reason why you've been ignoring me for the last few months, then please get out of my sight. i'm busy, as you can tell." he is brutally honest, knocking down the remaining hope you have left of ever reconciling with him.

something within you snaps, the steady streams of tears running down your cheeks as you pinned your stare on doyoung's open pencil case lying on the table. you have nobody left. your family — father, specifically speaking — has disowned you for taking a course your heart wanted, and the one friend you have lies motionless in a white coffin buried six feet under the ground. you didn't want to lose doyoung, too, no matter what role he plays in your life.

"i'm sorry," your voice cracks. "life's been… fucking shitty, and i'm sure you of all people know what i've been through. i've thanked you before for — for what you did, and i'm thanking you again right now but — i'm sorry, i'm really —"

your voice cracks when you feel him pulling you into an embrace. you feel the tension in your body breaking loose as you crumble in his arms. all those months grieving and wallowing in self-pity took such a heavy toll that you can't help but tightly clutch the sides of his hoodie, scared he'll slip through your fingers.

one of his hands comes up to push your face against the crook of his neck, muffling your cries in the silent library. doyoung felt like a jerk for snapping at you the way he did. how inconsiderate can he be? however, he felt elated because you sought him out yourself and wanted his help of all people.

his eyebrow raises in amusement.

well, not that you have a choice, anyway.

it took you a few good minutes to calm down, cringing when you see the wet patch on doyoung's sweater because of your tears.

"why don't you tell me everything, hmm? i'll help you as much as i can."

you sheepishly look down, fiddling with your fingers as you sit across him, the open textbook and notebook before him long forgotten. "well, i've been so out of it lately? my mind's just a whole bloody mess and i can't focus on any of my subjects at all and if i can't, then i'll lose the scholarship and it's the only thing i have in my life right now —"

"hey," doyoung cuts you off, placing a warm hand against your forearm to calm you down. "you won't lose that scholarship. trust me, okay? why don't we arrange tutoring sessions and i'll even lend you some of my notes from last year. what do you think?"

"okay... thank you, doyoung."

"for the record, you have me in your life, too. i'll always be here for you."

in the first session, you woke up from your deep slumber with only 15 minutes to spare from the scheduled time, but thankfully, your tutor only lives one floor down with the rest of the 3rd-years. bringing nothing with you but a pen and a pad of paper, your textbooks were destroyed as some students from your batch thought it'd be fun to throw them into the lake to "honor" your friend.

you offer a small smile when taeyong opens the door, sporting an oversized shirt and track pants, eyes wide in shock when he sees you. "hi? can i help you?"

"hello! i'm here for doyoung. he's tutoring —"

"he doesn't live here anymore. his mom bought him a place outside the campus."

what?

"i'm sorry for disturbing you, then. do you by any chance know where he lives?"

that's weird. doyoung never mentioned he's already moved out. you feel a wee bit irritated that he forgot to tell you; it would've saved you the embarrassment of interacting with the varsity player. you weren't stupid, you can see the hints of repulsion in taeyong's eyes the moment he opened that door and saw you standing before him, no doubt thinking about: oh, look, it's the crazy murderer with a fucked up family standing in front of me.

he had shut the door in your face. you stood awkwardly for a good minute in the hallway until the door reopens, taeyong handing you a small piece of paper with doyoung's new address scribbled hurriedly in black ink. he doesn't give you a chance to thank him for he's already closed the door again without another word.

you opted walking to his place instead of catching a ride because the money you have on you is enough to buy yourself dinner. to say the least, the apartment building is mediocre, not too grand, nor is it too rundown. double-checking the floor level written on the paper before pushing the elevator's button, you then realize doyoung lives on the very top floor of the building.

the hallways are painted a boring brown. some acrylic number signs plastered on the doors are broken, hanging vertically with one screw left. it says on the paper he resides in room 720. taking the right hallway, you mentally count as you eye the mahogany doors. 718… 719… there it is!

when you raise a fist to start knocking on his door, there is a tinge of hesitation surging through you. perhaps being alone with a boy in his apartment is not the best setting for a girl like you should end up in, but this is doyoung we're talking about. if he had ill intentions for you, it would've manifested a long time ago. you shake your head, feeling bad for thinking of him that way as you slowly knock on his front door. not long after, it swings open, revealing the 3rd-year in a white shirt and boxers as he lazily dries his hair off with a small towel.

"you're late," is the first thing he says to you before spinning on his heel to disappear further into his humble abode.

"you didn't exactly inform me you've moved out of the dorms. so, whose fault is it?" you retaliate, inviting yourself in and closing the front door shut.

"whatever. let's get started!" he plops himself on the floor, coffee table filled with loose papers as he struggles to find a specific one amongst the mess. "i've already scanned, exported to pdf, and emailed you my notes. it should be in your inbox by now. anyway, answer this quiz i made so i know what i'll be working on."

"you didn't really have to send your notes, doyoung. i could've just read everything from the textbook," you sit down across from him because otherwise, you'll be too distracted to remember information.

a thought crosses his mind. with what textbook?

"i just think it's missing some essence. that's why i love reading over other psych books in the library for fun. be grateful, those notes are like my babies and i don't simply give them to anyone," he looks at you pointedly. "they've all been summarized and explained in layman's terms so you wouldn't have to spend grueling hours of reading and trying to make sense of the big words as i did — i know that's not the definition of 'fun' normally, but it is for me, and that's why i do it."

"okay, doyoung. you sound so defensive when there's nothing to be defensive about," you tease, feeling pleased with the hint of red on his cheeks as he averts his gaze from yours, muttering incoherent words under his breath.

you spent the following tuesdays, thursdays, and sundays like that; hours upon hours with no one but your tutor, laptops with tangled chargers, a printed copy of his babies, and a mountain pile of loose papers filled with the specialized quizzes doyoung makes to measure your progress. the location varies from a cafe or his flat. but in what you've gathered from the time you spent with him, doyoung's a homebody. cafe tutor sessions are rare, and he always complained about how "noisy" the atmosphere was — "i can't stand it."

but the conversation hadn't always been about academics.

sure, for the first few sessions, doyoung kept an image of professionalism and had heavily insisted on it — "it's for your learning experience!" — despite your lighthearted teasing. but as time passed and he eventually grew more comfortable in your presence, you find the strict 15-minute break he had initially imposed between 45 minutes of studying turned into hours of talking about whatever; how he likes his eggs in the morning, your favorite coffee brew, his favorite show, your strongest pet peeve.

and you wholly welcomed the change, not minding that it's practically dark out whenever you go back to your miserable dorm. you feel butterflies in your stomach whenever doyoung offers to walk you home but never had you taken his offer, still cautious of other people seeing you both together despite his constant reassurances. you've already thoroughly ruined your image. you didn't want to ruin his, too.

kdy the cute tutor, 2:14 pm —last day of midterms! & its all majors today —good luck —remember what i taught u —lets get ice cream after u cant say no

you shake your head bemusedly. his texting style is the most doyoung thing he does and it's as if you can hear him say these things to you in real life. too caught up in your own world, you fail to detect another student sitting next to you and had nearly fallen off your chair in shock when they spoke.

"why are your notes like that?"

you fight the urge to glare at the person, especially when you turn your head and see lee jeno looking at you in genuine curiosity. he's the only batchmate that treats you a wee bit nicer among the rest. although he isn't technically your friend, at least he doesn't look at you like you're a piece of bubblegum stuck under his shoe like all the others.

"what do you mean?"

"they're… the definitions are all jumbled up. where did you even get that?"

what? jumbled up? doyoung himself said these notes are a combination of most of the psychology books he had read last year concerning his subjects. how would it be jumbled up? then again, lee jeno was not tutored by the prodigy himself. maybe things are bound to seem "jumbled up" when information is too great to understand for a feeble mind.

just as you were about to claim these notes aren't yours, the professor has already waltzed into the classroom with a thick wad of papers — the exams. after one last concerned glance directed your way, jeno averts his gaze with a confused tilt of the head.

hours later, you walk out of the classroom with the biggest smile on your face. aced it, you thought. your hands feel numb with how much you wrote on the essay portion but it's worth it if it meant you get the full 25 points, which you no doubt will as it was a topic you surely tackled with doyoung. speaking of... he sure is a man of his word.

"what are you doing here?" you hiss, head ducked with hair framing your face as to not draw attention from the rest of the students filing out of the testing hall.

"i texted you that we're getting ice cream. remember?"

"i did. but i didn't remember agreeing."

he shoots you a comforting smile, planting his hands firmly on your shoulder. “i told you, y/n. i don't care if they all see us together, so what? we all know you didn't commit that crime and it wasn't your fault you were born into the family you had. i don't care about the trivial things, baby, so don't shy away from me, okay?"

how the fuck can you say 'no' when he's looking at you the way he is as he brushed a loose strand of hair behind your ear? doyoung's just so bewitching that he has you wrapped around his slender fingers. he seems pleased when you stumbled over your words as you come up with a reply, caught off guard by his bold gestures.

"i just — you, uhh — fine..." you gave in, rolling your eyes out of pretense.

he just had to call you 'baby' and erupt the butterflies in your stomach.

it had been doing that for the last few months now and it had only truly manifested today when he took you out for ice cream to celebrate the end of hell week. and since you didn't want to go back to your dorm yet, you asked if you guys can watch some movies in his house but it had simply become background noise to your heart-to-heart talks. and what better accompaniment than the classic, chicken and beer?

you listen to him drone on and on about the little realizations he had on some of his past lectures even when you barely understood anything he's saying. doyoung's so lucky to be extremely good at something he's so passionate about, talks about the human mind and the complexity of a person's behavior will never fail to make his eyes light up in interest.

he calls out your name.

your eyes snap open.

"why don't we get you home? it's past 10 and it's alright, stupid, you don't need to pretend to be interested in my psychological findings." he chuckled light-heartedly, stealing the can of the now room-temperature beer from your hands before you can protest.

"i wasn't dozing off, i swear."

"i caught you in the act. stop lying."

like all the other times he has you as his guest, doyoung once again offers to walk you home and you decline for the thousandth time. it really isn't that much of a long walk anyway. you don't see the need for him to go out of his way to secure your safety. plus, you were the one who insisted on hanging out in his house anyway. you weren't that thick-skinned to let him take you home, too.

"you're drunk!" he scolds.

“no, i’m not. i can perfectly handle myself."

"but —"

"bye!"

you feel a little guilty for shutting the door in his face. still, a minute longer of his persistence and you would've taken his offer. unfortunately for doyoung, you are one stubborn girl. only if you don't make brisk movements with your head, then you won't see doubles. you'll be fine, it's just a quick walk and it's not as if you're stupid enough to pass by deserted alleys.

but you had underestimated the divine prowess of your fucked up fate.

everything happened in a matter of three seconds; one, the blinding headlights illuminate your path from behind; two, you hear the loud honk, and as you turn around — three, the vehicle sends you rolling against the asphalt.

you should have taken the alleyways.

for his second act;

he alters your reality.

when you open your eyes, you thought you were dead and your spirit is wandering elsewhere — because you don't believe in trivial things like heaven and god — until an agitated doyoung comes into view. for a split second, you thought, is he dead, too?

"i'm not dead, you idiot." too dazed, you hardly register his anger. "i can perfectly handle myself, she said. i'm not drunk, she said. this wouldn't have happened if you had simply let me walk you home! you're damn fucking lucky you're alive and breathing right now!"

a person clears their throat.

"i don't think it wise to… nag at the patient the moment she wakes. don't you agree, sir?"

pink splotches on doyoung's cheek as he looks down, embarrassed at getting scolded as he stands closer to your bed. "i'm sorry, doc."

you didn't know when your vision cleared or when you started hearing normally again, but it was enough to find out what exactly had transpired on the very night of your tragic accident. a hit and run. fifty-fifty chance of surviving. doyoung getting a call from the hospital in the middle of the night —"they were trying to contact your dad, but he wasn't answering. i was the last person in your call history."

six months in a coma. but today, you wake… only to find out your world has crashed and burned.

"what do you mean i lost my scholarship?"

"baby, listen to me —"

"why did they take it away? is it because of my accident? i'm behind by one term only and i swear i can catch up. they need to let me back in the program. there must've been some mistake —"

"your gpa didn't reach the cut-off grade."

that can't be possible.

"but you tutored me!" you claim with conviction, pointing an accusatory finger at him until you groan, bowing in pain as you clutch your head.

doyoung springs into action. the chair's legs screech against the tiles as he jumps to your aid, ushering you gently back against the hospital bed despite your refusal. "you're not well. lay back down, please."

you don't hear a single word he says, not when you had lost something so crucial. "i put in the effort and learned everything you taught me... i aced those fucking mid-terms! i know i did!" you were on the brink of tearing up as doyoung settled himself in front of you.

"i… i actually saw your papers," his lips set in a thin, hard-line. "everything was all wrong, sweetheart. what happened to you? i tried reasoning with the professors, mentioned your state — you know, with your best friend dying — but they didn't relent. i'm sorry y/n. i'm so —"

gone. everything is gone. the money. the dorm. what if they ask you to pay the fees from last year? what if they ask you to pay the tuition fee for this year? you have no money, no family, no relatives. no one to help. who's even going to pay for the hospital fees?

you weren't able to process anything after that. not with the sudden news of your now revoked scholarship. doyoung pulls you in a tight hug. "i was a bad tutor," he says, snapping you out of it. "maybe i shouldn't have pushed you that hard to learn them. why were your answers even mixed up y/n? i thought you knew those topics already…"

he pulls away, observing your confused state as your eyes dart everywhere in the room. "what — how are they mixed up? i know i got them right. there has to be some mistake. you taught me those topics, remember?"

"i did... "he averts his gaze. "but i don't remember teaching them to you mixed up, darling. i think you did that all on your own."

"but… why would i mix up my answers? that's —"

"see, what i mean?" he cuts you off, raising a hand to give your cheek the most delicate caress. "you're not well, baby. you need to be treated, especially with how much you hit your head during the accident. don't worry, i'm here. we'll try asking if you can stay in the dorms at least until you find another place —"

"am i a charity case to you?"

oh, the surprise on the junior's face when you push him away as you pin him with a hard stare. you just don't get it. why is kim doyoung so adamant about helping you? in becoming your hero, even when you never asked him to be? if you let him help you this time around, that'll be the 3rd time he came to save your ass. it's not as if you're ungrateful. simply, you've had enough of his help. you don't know how a person like you, who literally has nothing, can return the favor to someone like doyoung.

"what are you saying —"

"i'm saying…" you fix him a hard stare. "you helping me out doesn't even benefit you in the slightest. so why do you do it?"

he pauses, staring at you with hesitance in his eyes as this seems to be the very first time you've truly seen him speechless. when doyoung opens his mouth, he mumbles, and you hardly make sense of what he said.

"do you really want to know why?"

you urge him on with an arched eyebrow, his softened tone creeping into your heart.

"you're someone special to me y/n. i don't know how or when i admitted it to myself, but you are, and it hurts me to see how shitty your luck is," he cracks a small grin, slowly settling back onto the hospital bed as he grabs your hand. "it's okay to seek help from others. it isn't a sign of vulnerability or weakness. i help you because i want to, and i'm more than willing to take care of you. will you let me?"

you're not blind. you've noticed the way he had slowly started coming closer as he continued to speak, hands held securely in his as he looked straight at your eyes then down at your lips. and so, you act in a way you know that will surely answer his question — with a kiss.

the man before you immediately reciprocates, overpowering your own eagerness as he curls the tips of his fingers into the roots of your hair. he pulls you close, cradling you against his chest. you can taste his desperation in the way his tongue dances against yours, the kiss transporting you into an alternate reality where your world revolves around doyoung and doyoung alone.

when he pulls away bleary-eyed, both of you ignore the thin strand of saliva connecting your lips. "how about you come live with me for the time being, my love?"

still high off his kiss and natural scent, you hardly mull over the question he asks you. "okay."

days later, after you've been discharged (he wanted to chip in for your hospital bills but you had given him a firm no), doyoung had been the one to show up at the dorm to collect all your things after leaving you in his apartment. the cutie had refused to simply drop you off and had deliberately accompanied you up the elevator, through the halls, and finally into his apartment.

"i'll be out for just a minute, sugarcube."

"oh, can you get take out?"

doyoung had smiled, playfully booping the tip of your nose. "no, because i'll be cooking for us tonight as a little celebration for you getting discharged. you'll love it; i'm making your favorite!"

it was funny how the night had been nothing but utter bliss. the foreign feeling of being taken care of sprouting in your chest as you watch him cooking from behind the counter. it felt… nice. but funny enough, as if doing a 360, you both had immediately gotten into an argument the next day.

"i don't see the need for skipping another day if i feel perfectly fine! i'll figure something out once we get there, doyoung, so can we just —"

"you' re not fine, babylove — hell, you got discharged yesterday! i'm not just about to let you back into the arena with those students. they've only grown more immature since your coma, love. i seriously don't want you near them."

"fine! then i won't talk to them. simple." you throw your hands up. "there. problem solved. now, can we please just go to uni? i need to talk to the dean and the head of student affairs, too —"

"i'm going to uni, not you."

maybe it had been the way he firmly stated his claim, the way his eyes pierced through your soul as if daring you to argue further with him that made you snap.

"i'm not a prisoner in this apartment, doyoung! don't treat me like i have the plague! i'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself — jesus christ, i've been doing it nearly half my fucking life!"

too caught up in your anger, you've failed to notice the tears pouring down his face as he sets his gaze on the floor.

"you're right," his voice cracks. "i shouldn't be pushy like that. i'm sorry. you just mean so much to me and i'm so scared of losing you again. with your coma — i just — it's like i was fighting a losing battle each day that passed when i saw you in that hospital bed. i've never felt so scared in my whole life and i hated myself for not being able to protect you that night."

his tears run like waterfalls, and when you step forward with your arms wide open, doyoung sobs harder as he pulls you against him. you hardly comprehend what he says as he spoke, shaking against your frail body as you felt his tears stain your blouse. "i'm sorry, i never should've dictated what you felt — i'm so sorry."

"no, it's okay. i was feeling a little lightheaded, anyway. i'll stay here and i can come back to school next semester, right? doyoung? just… please stop crying."

he lifts his head, staring at you with bloodshot eyes before giving your forehead a kiss. you let a relieved sigh escape your lips, melting into his warmth as you prop your chin on his shoulder. if you had only been more attentive, you would've seen the reflection of his wicked grin on the tabletops. too easy.

living with him became a blur after that incident. everything fell into a routine for the next four days as you spent the day watching netflix, eating, reading, sleeping. nothing felt fun anymore. but your peaceful life had ceased during the fifth night — the whispers, they woke you up. you can hear them from behind your door at night, and when you rouse awake, you see doyoung walking around the hallway from the tiny gap at the bottom of the door. you had sighed, falling back into your plush bed as you pray to god, he keeps it down.

but what he told you the next day rendered you speechless. "me, walking around the hallways? whispers?" he says, confused. "i was already asleep, love. knocked out cold the moment my body fell on the bed."

"but…"

he doesn't spare you a glance as he takes his sweet time skimming through his notes on the dining table, coffee in one hand. "maybe it's just the meds kicking in."

"no, surely it was real! i literally woke up in the middle of the night," you repeat. "it's okay if it was you, doyoung. i'm not mad."

he sets his coffee mug down a little too loud.

"well, you can't be mad at me, sugar, because like i said — it wasn't me," it doesn't take a genius to notice he's awfully cranky today. you observe him, dark half-moons under his eyes as he relentlessly reads his notes with instant coffee in one hand.

"you're just imagining things, okay? stop acting crazy."

for some reason, the way he had uttered certain words like 'imagining' and 'crazy' made you curl into your seat in embarrassment. he was right that your doctor did prescribe a generous amount of pills per day, but his tone made it feel off, made you feel like there was something wrong with you even when there wasn't…

right?

you didn't say a word after that and had hesitantly pecked him on the cheek before he left for school. with the amount of time you're with him, two things stood out to you — his keen sense of observation and his knack for reading people. you highly doubt he didn't notice a shift in your behavior but a part of you thinks it's just the stress talking. he is about to take his finals and had recently started on his research paper.

every psych student is required to present a paper in accordance with the department's annual theme. it could be anything from proposing a theory (if you dare) to constructing a well-developed psychology model. if you don't turn one in, you don't graduate — the paper's that important, and you've been bugging him for so long about sneaking a peek on what his study is about. but he always refused.

the next week came rolling around, and both of you had been spending every day together due to the semestral break. the arguments have significantly lessened, but your episodes — eventually, you started calling it that way because that's how doyoung labels it — have only gotten worse. you end up moving out of the guest room and into his. privacy be damned. the whispers stopped momentarily but what came next became your imminent downfall.

the first time you heard it, you thought you were dreaming. but the doorknob kept rattling aggressively even as you sat up. just as you climb off the bed, your half-asleep boyfriend asks where you're going.

"bathroom," you lied.

you were always the one to snort when it comes to the supernatural, claiming it's all bullshit. yet, as whatever outside continues to fight its way inside the room, the rattling progressing into loud bangs against the door, you're not so sure of your beliefs anymore. you're not crazy. nothing is wrong with you, and you're perfectly fine. this apartment is cursed, and you are going to prove that to doyoung.

grabbing your phone from the bedside table, you turn the flash on, pointing the camera at the door as you take a footage of the mad entity that has been playing games with you. a squeal escapes your lips when a particular bang! reverberates louder in the room than all the others. the phone slips your hand, falling onto the floorboards. you don't bother to retrieve it as you scramble to get yourself back under the blanket and into doyoung's comfortable warmth.

you snuggle yourself plush against his chest, shaking as you wrap your arms around his waist, inhaling his natural scent to anchor you back.

bang! bang! bang!

you didn't get a wink of sleep last night.

"can't the video wait? there's a new episode of start-up, and i want to watch it already!" he whines, shoving his face further on the throw pillow situated on your lap.

you giggle, shaking your head as you scroll through your gallery to find the video. i'm not imagining things. i'm not hallucinating. i'm not crazy. "here! watch... i'm telling you this apartment is haunted, and the ghost probably likes you, which is why it doesn't bother you —"

your lighthearted rambling cuts off when you notice no sound emitting from your phone. weird. you could've sworn you started recording right when the loud banging has already started. your heart drops upon the wary stare doyoung shoots you before he continues to watch the video.

no, no, no, no — please!

you quickly scoot over to his side, watching as the video unfolds before your very eyes. the shot was messy as the phone was handheld, not to mention you were panicking at the time. but the video is silent. not a single noise of a rattling doorknob or banging on the door can be heard through your phone's speakers.

"maybe — maybe you didn't turn the volume up?"

you hardly contain the mortification in your face when you realize the volume's at 100 already. and as if on cue, your squeal is heard in the video and the noise of the phone hitting the floor.

doyoung's silence shakes your whole being. as you kneel before him teary-eyed, your voice breaks. "i swear, i'm not crazy."

but at this point, you don't believe yourself anymore.

for his third and final act;

he triumphs.

his deprivation began in minuscule ripples.

it didn't take much effort on doyoung's end to convince you to stop studying for a year or two, at least, only until your hallucinations aren't as severe anymore. everyday felt like hell on earth as the fine line between what's real and what isn't has blurred over one too many times. in sheer paranoia of accidentally hurting him in his sleep, you moved out of his bedroom and had started sleeping in the guest room again — much to doyoung's frustration.

but he's a smart man, one that recognizes an opportunity amidst the hurdles thrown on his path.

"why does my door need a lock outside again?"

he approaches you, who’s sitting cross-legged on the bed, after screwing in the last of the screws that came with the new doorknob. doyoung is familiar with the look written on your face, has observed and studied you enough to navigate his way inside your pretty little head with ease.

he can't have you doubting him, can he?

"you know i'm all about protecting you, right?" he starts. you nodded. "i've been doing it for a year now, and i will continue to do so until you need me to. the world is a bad place, sweetheart, remember? your own best friend's mother tried framing you. your dad disowned you. you've been ostracized in the whole college... do you think i'm just like the rest of them, baby?"

doyoung has already mastered the perfect expression of a kicked-puppy, one that easily pulls at your heartstrings and has you cooing at him.

"no!" you say with conviction, reaching forward to thread your fingers through his. "i know you're different, not like any of them at all. i know you're only doing what's… best for me."

he ignores the underlying hesitance in your tone. that will be corrected, sooner or later.

doyoung tightens his hold as he kisses the back of your hand. such an innocent gesture — but such ill intentions.

"the outside lock helps me in protecting you, love. you don't need to worry about anything. just focus on getting better, alright? i'll keep the bad guys away from you."

it was during his first semester of senior year, a few months back, doyoung and a good few students of his batch had been granted the opportunity to intern for a mental hospital located near the edge of the city. he was supposed to decline the offer but you convinced him to take the spot. it had only been a two-week “job” yet it was enough for doyoung to conclude — he’d rather kill you than subject you to the horrors of what the patients have to go through in the loony bin.

eventually, the small ripples shift into unforgiving waves, dragging you into the depths as everything comes crashing down before your very own eyes.

it should have been like any other day inside the apartment. doyoung's already gone in the morning to attend classes. though not before setting a tray of your brunch on the nightstand, making sure to lock your door on his way out. he knew your nightmares and anxiety kept you up at night, resulting in longer hours of sleep during the day.

turns out, you moving out of his bedroom had been a blessing in disguise. coming home to an empty apartment has become his biggest fear yet, and you unconsciously found a solution for him. one that doesn’t have him fidgeting on his seat as he counts down the minutes ‘til he’s back by your side.

doyoung smiles unconsciously as he listens to his professor drone on and on in front of him — his mind at peace, knowing you're safe and sound in your little prison.

until he received a text that made his blood run cold.

ty, 11:34 am —im done.

meanwhile, you rouse awake once more to thunderous poundings against your bedroom door. oh no, you thought. it's happening again. this time, there'll be no doyoung barging into your room, half-asleep and hair messy, as he tries to calm you down. you throw the blankets over you as you sob, hugging your legs against your chest as you try to 'wake yourself up' from the hallucination.

the person outside calls for your name, the desperation in their tone alighting a new-found fear in your heart. you don't know what's real anymore. is this truly happening, or is it another hallucination your fucked up mind has conjured up?

"please! it's taeyong! y/n, can you hear me?"

taeyong?

slowly, your head peaks above the blanket, warily staring at the door. doyoung has warned you about these kinds of things, has practically ingrained in your mind that whoever comes looking for you will take you away from him. not to mention, doyoung slipped one time and said he isn’t friends with taeyong anymore.

the banging on the door progresses.

“are you in there? answer me! i can’t find the key!”

you don’t say anything, merely pushing the covers off your body as you keep your eyes fixed on the beating door. it looks like it’s about to pop out its hinges as taeyong relentlessly fights his way inside your room. what are you going to do? do you open the door? oh. right. you can’t do that on your own accord. the key is with doyoung and he isn’t in the apartment at the moment.

all your thoughts come to a halt when the boy outside sends the door flying open, finally breaking the lock with one powerful kick. you flinch back, his actions pushing you on your feet, wanting to place a maximum amount of distance from the intruder.

taeyong looks frantic, disheveled as he immediately notices your alarmed state. he approaches you cautiously, hands up to show his empty palms. “hey, hey… it’s just me, y/n. i’m not going to hurt you. i’m not the enemy here.”

“doyoung doesn’t know you’re here, does he?”

the look of surprise on his face is an answer in itself. for someone doyoung had proudly claimed to have “broken” you’re still quite quick to catch up on things, taeyong observed. and he doesn’t know what to feel about it — pity? guilt?

“that’s not important!” he claims, boldly surging forward to grasp your shoulders with a firm grip. taeyong felt his heart dropping when you flinch under his grasp.

“listen to me. we need to get you out of here. doyoung isn’t — he isn’t everything you thought he is!” he can’t help but raise his voice, panic surging through him because there’s not much time left and you aren’t exactly cooperating. you’ve been trying to shrug off his hold the whole time.

“do you think he actually loves you?”

“he does! stop saying bullshit!”

“doyoung never loved anyone and you want to know why? because he’s too in love with his research to care for anything else!” taeyong felt bad to have been so direct, especially when he sees the tears now falling freely down your cheeks. “listen to me, y/n! i’m not the enemy! if there’s anyone you should be pushing away, it’s doyoung! he turned you into his lab rat! you are nothing but a variable in his study! don’t you get it?”

taeyong grabs a firm but gentle hold of your head, trying to make you look at him straight in the eye for the gravity of what he’s about to say to you.

“doyoung had his eye on you since sophomore year. i told him this was a bad idea and that he should change the topic of the research and he was. fucking hell, he was about to scrap the whole thing until your bestfriend died and did you know what that psycho told me? that it was a sign for him to continue the research! and i’ve been pestering him so much that he moved out because he claimed i was going to get in the way of his discovery.

tell you what, if you can tell me right here, right now, that he has mentioned anything — anything at all — about his study to you then everything i’m saying is a lie.”

you have asked doyoung for the longest time about that research but the answers have always been the same. “not yet, my love. it’s not time for it to be seen with your eyes. soon, okay?”

with a voice not louder than a whisper, you ask. “what… what’s his research about?”

you fail to see the sorry look on taeyong’s face. “in psychology, they say a person only develops psychosis mainly through genetics or drugs. although you’re technically already a worthy “lab rat” considering your mom and upbringing, he wanted to expand the external factors of what causes the disorder — grief, grades, toxic family relations…”

you hear a ringing in your ear and a sudden urge to throw up. only, you didn’t have anything to hurl because your brunch remains untouched on your bedside.

“but he hadn’t been successful. and that’s… that’s where i came along. doyoung thought the medications he’s been giving you isn’t doing what he wanted it to and he knew he needed a little push. i was… i gave him that push. remember the whispers, the banging on the door at night? it was all me. he made me do it. you know what that means, right? you’re not crazy. you don’t need to stay here cooped up like some kind of pet, believing all his lies as if it’s written in a fucking bible —”

he stops. and if he hadn’t, you wouldn’t’ve heard the familiar beeps of the front door’s automated lock going off. doyoung’s home.

in lightning speed, taeyong has you sheltered behind him, throwing his warm coat over you in the process, hoping to give the smallest comfort amidst the chaos that’s about to erupt. there’s no point in pretending or hiding — one look at that lock and his crazy friend would know something’s off.

taeyong feels you flinching behind him with every heavy footstep against the floorboards as doyoung wastes no time in getting to your room. and when he finally appears, hands braced against the door frame, you’ve never been this scared your whole life. his eyes are drawn into slits, fixated on taeyong alone. “how fucking dare you?”

“it’s over, doyoung. give it up or you wouldn’t have to suffer a longer sentence than you’ll already get.” taeyong tried with his whole being to appear intimidating.

“what’re you saying, yong? i meant, how fucking dare you barge in here and disturb my girlfriend in her sleep? that’s not very nice of you…” doyoung sports a disarming gummy smile as he approaches, hand outstretched and beckoning towards you. “c’mere, baby. i don’t think you’ve eaten lunch yet?”

“drop the fucking act, you psycho!”

“what act?” doyoung tilts his head innocently, gaze shifting from taeyong’s and yours, who keeps peeking from over his ex-friend’s shoulder. luring you out is a piece of cake unless taeyong decides to make things a wee bit more complicated, doyoung thought. “i’m just concerned for my darl —”

“we’re leaving.” taeyong cuts him off, breaking eye contact as he places a firm grip around your wrist. he pulls you towards him, farther away from your supposed lover as he tries walking past doyoung.

but the said man pushes taeyong back with a humorless smile on his face. “and who told you that you can do that?”

a pregnant silence befalls the room as the two men size each other up. they regard each other with such hostility, you can't help but unconsciously fist the back of taeyong's sweater in nervousness, prompting the man to turn his head over his shoulder for a swift second to check up on you.

but a second is all that doyoung needed to deliver the first kick towards taeyong's legs, throwing him off his balance. if it was one thing doyoung knew, is that he needed to eliminate taeyong's agility all together if he wants to win against him.

but taeyong isn't one to back down. the moment doyoung straddles him on the floor, with a fist raised to throw a punch, taeyong grunts as he rolls them around. doyoung now receiving taeyong's rain of fists as he yells. "fuck you! you manipulative asshole!"

you sat on the corner, horrified of the scene happening before you. you've never seen doyoung this way. he has always been your sweet, caring bunny, but after everything taeyong said, you aren't so sure you even know the man you've been living with.

"everything i did, i did it for her!" you flinch at the sound of bones breaking as doyoung kicked taeyong's ribs. "she had nothing to lose! i saved her!"

the door is open, you noticed. wide-open and inviting you to make a run for it. and you would have made a run for it... but taeyong. you can't leave him behind, not when he lays there bloody and grunting in pain as doyoung lets his anger take over him. so, as stupid as may be, you did it. you had to.

"you didn't save me," you say, schooling your face into indifference as doyoung whips around, forgetting about taeyong in the bat of an eye. "you caged me in here, treated me like there's something wrong with me, gaslighted me into believing everything you said! and... what did you say? 'saved me'? you made me go through hell!"

the whole time, taeyong tries his hardest to stand upright, but his broken ribs don't allow him to. the pain too great that he had no choice but to crawl instead, arms pulling his weight as he drags himself across the floorboards, desperately trying to get doyoung's attention back on him even if it meant getting beaten to death.

meanwhile, he had his eyes trained on you the whole time you spoke, sobbing as you walk backward in fear as doyoung approached you with a dark glint in his eye. he doesn't like what you're saying; that much is very clear. he wanted to yell at you, to scream of your ungratefulness despite his constant care but instead, he says.

"i thought we were making progress, baby. i guess i have to drill everything in your brain again. you're not okay, but you will be after i treat you."

you try to fight the urge to look at taeyong as he finds his strength, silently rising up from the floor to ambush doyoung while he's so busy preaching about you.

"what i said is true, baby. do you actually think this scum over here is doing this to save you? do you actually believe everything he said? i've been here since day-1, my love. literally. and have i ever let you down? no. everything i'm doing is for us. even this damned research!"

taeyong surges forward to put him in a chokehold, but everything happened so fast, and the next thing you knew ��

"did you actually think i'd fall for that?"

you didn't know the sound of a knife cutting through flesh could sound that loud, but nothing could beat the strained gasp that tumbled through taeyong's lips as he shakily held the knife pierced through his heart. you would've been concerned about how doyoung got it so accurate in one go or where the knife even came from. but you were too busy screaming, collapsing against the wall as you let out a broken sob.

"no," you mutter. "no, no, no..."

you can't bear to avert your eyes from taeyong as he lies dying before you. the look of fear in his eyes would forever be ingrained in your mind, and no amount of brainwashing or gaslighting would ever make you forget.

doyoung killed him. you lost.

the knife clatters loudly on the floor as he slowly turns around as if he himself has yet to register what he did. you didn't know what to expect from doyoung's reaction but certainly not the eerie smile that starts spreading on his face.

"now... how about that lunch, baby?"

✉ : a repost no one asked but i respectfully dont give a fuck <3

#hmu if i missed a warning #yandere doyoung #yandere kpop #yandere nct #yandere nct 127 #tw swearing #tw manipulation #tw violence #tw knife

202 notes · View notes

mysticpetals · 3 years

Text

When we were young (1)

Pairing — Jake × f!mc (Syianne Langford)

Genre — Hogwarts!au, (reluctant) friends to lovers, humor, fluff

Word count — 1.5k

Summary — Jake and Syianne had known each other since their first year, but growing up has changed their relationship and not for the better. While one of them tries to save it, the other doesn't want anything to do with it. Whatever will they do?

Notes — so! I'm back with a Jake fic after 7372862 years lol this is honestly not my best work and I hope you guys can ignore any discrepancies in there. Hopefully, you'll enjoy it 💖 p.s I'm a Slytherin myself ;)

It was a well known fact in Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry that every Slytherin needed a Hufflepuff.

The mostly brooding house members get a bad reputation because of the work of previous students in Slytherin and that's why, it was an unspoken rule amongst the Hufflepuffs that they'd all befriend at least one Slytherin so that no one feels alone at the magical school. Because no matter which house they belonged to, no one deserves to feel as if they're not wanted.

And while the houses were much more comfortable and united with each other after the defeat of Voldemort, some stigmas ran too deep to be ignored so easily.

Jake knew this. Had known it ever since he sat down at the Slytherin table after his sorting and the older students mentioned that they'd be greeted enthusiastically by the Hufflepuffs and not to be put out by this. They'd be getting a friend for life after all, one that won't discriminate against them because of the colors they wore.

He just didn't expect his Hufflepuff to be a cheerful, bubbly and overly optimistic girl, Syianne Langford.

Don't get him wrong, he really appreciated having a friend right from the beginning of his journey at Hogwarts. It had seemed like a godsend at first, considering how shy and antisocial he tended to be. And Syianne was nice, she really was. It was just…..she was too nice. He couldn't understand how a person could be so happy at all times and as much as he appreciated her, he also didn't like spending a lot of time with her. It was confusing in the beginning, to say the least, how he could hold a civil conversation with her one day and then didn't speak to her again for two.

Now in his fifth year, he wished he had gotten anyone else other than her as he watched her enter the Potions classroom and scan the room for him. His attempts to hide himself by ducking his head seemed to not have worked as he heard her quick steps come towards him, sliding on the stool next to him.

"Hello, Jake!"

Merlin, how was she so loud? And why? It was only 11 am, and he just wanted to go to sleep. But of course, his Hufflepuff was the human embodiment of sunshine and he sighed, lifting his head and giving Syianne a strained smile.

"Hello, Syianne. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing good! I'm so excited for herbology today, I heard Professor Sprout is going to let us handle the venomous tentacula!" She chirped, practically bouncing on her stool, which teetered uncertainty. She had a wide smile on her face and Jake almost felt bad for what he was about to say.

"Why are you happy about coming in contact with a poisonous plant? One that could kill you?" He scrunched his face, not liking Herbology or the hazardous greenhouses they had to study in. They were too bright and colorful for his taste.

Syianne's eyes dimmed a little and she pouted, narrowing her eyes.

"You could at least pretend to be excited. The plant is actually very sweet once you get to know her," she grumbled and Jake looked at her in disbelief and something akin to horror.

"Her? Are you—"

"Good morning class! Let's begin today's lesson shall we?"

The Professor entered the classroom and they began the lesson. Jake would have thought that Syianne would be cross with him after he insulted her precious plants but to his chagrin, she was back to her usual self and talked to him all throughout the lesson, with him giving less than enthusiastic responses to her rapid questions. By the end of the lesson, Jake's hands were tired from stirring the potion and his ears were about to fall off.

He finally heaved a sigh of relief when the Professor said that they could leave and continue making it in the next class. He practically tossed his books in the bag and got up from his seat when a hand caught his wrist. He swivelled around to frown at Syianne who only smiled in return.

"We have Herbology next, let's go walk together?" She asked and he thought of various reasons he could use to get out of it but in the end, nodded wearily, getting a blinding smile from the girl in return.

"Great, let's go!"

The walk to Herbology greenhouses was rather pleasant. Syianne didn't speak as much, taking in the sight of the large grounds and Jake had a minute to himself. He was thinking that if it was like this all the time, he could get used to Syianne's company, before his thoughts were interrupted by Syianne grabbing his arm and yanking him towards herself.

He stumbled and almost fell onto her but at the last minute, held onto her shoulders to avoid the both of them tumbling to the ground. He raised his head to angrily berate her but froze realising how close they were to each other. Jake, never being one for close physical contact, blushed furiously, his cheeks turning the color of Griffindor's flag and sputtered, releasing her shoulders and stepping aside.

"Wh-why did you do that?" He cleared his throat but didn't have to wait for an answer as Richy Rogers, a Ravenclaw, swooshed past them on his broom, laughter ringing behind his wake and Professor McGonagall's angry voice telling him to 'come back here at once!'.

Jake turned to Syianne, awkwardly trying to thank her for saving him but she just shook her head with a smile.

"Come on, we're friends. It's what we do for each other," she said and then continued on towards the greenhouses.

Jake felt a little silly afterwards. Since growing up, he had even less interest in talking to anyone and usually remained by himself or occasionally with his half sister Lilly. He began to distance himself from Syianne, who he used to spend some time with earlier but now it was only when they had classes together. He decided that he'd try to be a little more civil with the girl who was still trying to save their friendship. He didn't have to constantly be around her but he'll try not to give dry answers in response to her never-ending questions.

The Herbology classroom was filled with nervous students with a few excited exceptions and Jake found himself stepping back when Professor Sprout placed a writhing tentacula on their table. Syianne looked like Christmas had come early as she watched the plants arms slither around the table, trying to find something to latch onto.

"Today you'll be collecting three leaves from your respective plants for your Potions inventory. These plants are still babies but that doesn't mean they can't hurt you. Be careful not to let them sting you, you'll be out for days if it happens. You can use a stunning charm to stun them and collect the leaves. Now please begin!"

Jake had even less of a desire to do anything after hearing Professor Sprout's words but Syianne was all for it, wearing her dragon hide gloves and looking at him.

Jake sighed and wore his gloves, carefully stepping towards the plant. He took out his wand to perform the stunning spell when Syianne came between him and the plant, cooing and stroking it's vines. He faltered, looking at her in disbelief as she baby talked the plant and to his surprise, the plant calmed down and stopped moving.

"How are you doing that?" He couldn't help but ask and she turned to him with a grin.

"They're babies, aren't they? So I'm just calming them down. We won't have to stun them that way. Here, you try!" She stepped aside to allow him to tackle the plant but he immediately shook his head.

"No, I'm good."

"Nonsense, it won't bite."

But alas, Jake's luck for the day seemed to have run out because as soon as Syianne stopped touching the plant, it started writhing like before and one of it's vines immediately wrapped around Jake's arm, tightening around it. Before Jake could stun him, the vines yanked him forward and his stomach collided with the corner of the table, knocking all breath out of him. He fell to his knees, wincing as the thorns cut his arm.

Just as suddenly as it had happened, Jake felt the vines release his arm and Professor Sprout leaning over him, with Syianne at his side, looking at him worriedly.

Efforts to reconcile be damned, he didn't even want to see her face right now.

"I'm afraid we might have to go to the hospital wing, dear. And don't worry about your assignment, I'm sure Syianne will manage by herself," Professor Sprout said, lifting him up and Syianne nodded rapidly at her words.

Gritting his teeth, he sent her a sharp look, making clear his dislike and took grim satisfaction in the fact that her face fell and she wasn't smiling anymore.

#duskwood #duskwood jake #everbyte duskwood #duskwood game #everbyte #jake × mc #duskwood jake × mc #jake × player #duskwood fanfic #duskwood fanfiction #duskwood hogwarts au #jake fanfic #duskwood player

71 notes · View notes

bored-storyteller · 3 years

Text

Oh my, thank you! Thanks for bringing this to me, I love Sally Face! It's one of my favorite indie games ever! I really hope it meets your expectations.

NOTES: I imagined the more adult Sal, but beyond that there are no other references to the timeline of the original story, except some canonical episodes mentioned.

34- Sally Face - Sal Fisher x Reader

"You can see me"

With a last glance at the clock, you quickly close the water bottle, at the same time grabbing the full glass in the same hand that you also hold the medicine box.

You're pretty sure you find Sal in his room, probably bent over his guitar. Surely it is for that reason that he has not paid attention to his therapy.

It doesn't happen often, in fact, it rarely happens that you have to rush to his rescue, nor do you really like doing it. You don't know how he really feels about it.

Knowing where he keeps his medicines and knowing when he has to take them doesn't make you two a couple. Not even living under the same roof makes you a couple - especially if you are not alone - nor does sharing the same room often and willingly.

In fact, even though someone often mistakes you for two young lovers, you don't really know what Sal thinks of you. As close as you feel him, you are not sure that he feels as close to you; on the other hand, he doesn't seem to share the same kind of intimacy with you that he shares with Larry or Ashley, or at least that's what you think.

Besides, you've never seen his face.

Yours is a purely selfish thought, and you are ashamed of it, but you cannot command feelings.

You know that the first time Larry saw his best friend's face was an accident, with Ash instead, she was the one who took the initiative. In neither case was Sal's will to make him show himself. Yet, despite this deep down, inside you, something stung excruciatingly.

When your friend had lifted his mask, Sal that time was not angry at the intrusiveness - as perhaps you would have done -, nor had he tried to escape later. It is logically normal that he now has less trouble showing himself around them. Sweet Sal, always so loving, so perfect.

You shouldn't feel offended. You know well that for Sal the prosthesis he wears is in effect his face, so it's not that he wants to hide from you, you are simply already seeing him.

Yet you know that under that face another is hidden, however much it may be disfigured. You can't pretend it isn't.

That slight annoyance you have repeatedly tried to ignore has slowly grown, but only now have you dared to call it by name. Because you like Sal. You really like him. And when you have understood this, when you have found the strength to admit it to yourself, everything is put in the right place; the joys, the jealousies you felt and feel… and also that desire to see him, to see beyond, to really see him.

But you'll never force on him for it. As simple as it would be to lift that mask to him with an excuse, you will never force him to show himself to you, even if you die with the regret of never having seen him. It's not the same, it's not the face you want to see, it's the trust you want him to give you. But you can't expect it, and you know it.

You could live with this obsession that has become so present in recent weeks that you can hardly forget it. Maybe it's just your mind that doesn't want to focus on your duties, and then it always wanders to him, aimlessly.

"What is Sal's face like?"

You asked Larry one day without realizing it. You didn't really know what you were doing with him, you just know that for a moment your brain was shut down, and when you woke up you whispered that question.

The astonished look of your friend had poured into you a flood of emotions so sudden that they almost made you cry for no reason: you felt guilty, selfish, reckless, stupid, meddlesome and terribly fragile.

You immediately lowered your gaze to protect yourself, muttering an "sorry, forget it" but never would have canceled that damn question. You thought Larry might misjudge you for that, but instead his big hand pulled you to him, ruffling your hair affectionately, saying nothing.

He seemed to have understood more than you hoped for, yet ...

You shake your head and your hand tightens on the glass of water. You knock on the door and softly call Sal's name.

"Yes?"

His answer comes a few seconds later and you feel safe in opening the door slowly.

It's not exactly what you imagined; he is sitting on the bed, his legs stretched out on the mattress and his back resting against the headboard. The guitar is stored in the case, but in his hands he holds a book with a dark cover.

His kind gaze meets you beyond that face that is always the same. It's amazing how expressive that guy can be under that stiff mask. That damn mask. That lovely mask.

"You didn't take them, did you?"

You ask softly as you lift the medicines to show them. Your voice is cracked against your will, and you're praying he didn't notice.

"Oh ..." his eyes snap to the clock hanging on the wall "thanks, I was completely forgetting about it."

His voice is soft, almost cheerful. He is not bothered by your gesture, or he is very good at hiding it.

You watch him get up to go to the bedside table where you put what he needed. You don't pay much attention to it, you just sit on the bed, picking up the book he was reading, making sure you keep your thumb between the pages, so as not to lose the mark he left.

You read the title and a few lines of the presentation absently. You're just trying to buy time with him, and you know it.

You hear it as he handles the pill box and plastic, and hear the rattle of the straps as they unfasten to release his mouth.

You don't watch it, you're used to the process and now, despite you insisting on staying there, you don't really want to watch it.

You don't understand much about the book, you just know it's about music.

"Do you like it?"

You ask, trying to give a semblance of normality.

"Enough ... actually I'm just at the beginning."

You just nod, not really being able to continue the conversation. Your head feels too full confused, but extremely empty at the same time, and you don't know why.

"Hey ... is everything okay?"

His voice makes you jump, as if he has stung you with a needle. Such a simple question, but you suddenly feel discovered, as if he has just proved he can read your mind. As if you were obliged to tell him the truth.

"Yup!"

You exclaim immediately, and without realizing your head jerks towards him, as if you wanted to assure him of the truthfulness of your words.

You don't notice it right away. You see only his blue eyes for a moment, he is looking at you with concern, more than he should.

At first you wonder if your attitude really is that troubling, but then you start to focus.

His hand trembles slightly around the glass of water, and out of the corner of your eye you can see his mask lying on his pillow.

He swallows the medicine by throwing his head back slightly, perhaps to take a break from your gaze, or to escape a little from the agitation, the fear he is having.

Sal, Sal's face. You are seeing him, free from his hiding place, while he drinks.

Surely he is disfigured, excruciatingly deformed. It's not just a few scratches, it's more, it's a real pain, yet you don't notice it.

Again, this is Sal. You're really seeing Sal's face, the face you've always loved, beyond the mask, like his mask.

He sits next to you, he's trying to act naturally, you see him, but you still see his fingers shaking against the cardboard as he puts the tablet away in the box. He did it for you.

Emotions explode in your chest and you don't bother holding them back. There is no time for any misunderstandings. You are free with him, you always have been, you don't know how you forgot this.

"Sal ..."

You call him softly, and he turns to you despite the hesitation. A light "tell me" sweet and helpful pronounced by the spoiled and shy lips.

Silently, you curl up against him, your arms glide smoothly around his chest, expressing your need to feel him close.

He welcomes you - he always does.

"Hey ..." is a faint call of him, as you hide against his neck to prevent your happiness from going out too violently.

"Thanks..." This is all you can say in your voice damp with emotion. Long last. You are like a child in front of the much desired Christmas present. You are so happy that you could carry the whole world on your shoulders.

"Thank you!" You repeat him with more conviction, and finally your eyes return to his sky-colored gaze. So beautiful, always so loving even in his placid surprise.

He looks at your wet eyes, so wet with affection for him. Your smile is so warm and true, and his lungs slowly empty of all the accumulated tension.

He didn't think anyone could look at him that way, not without his mask. He did not think that a look could be so full of love in front of his disfigured face, yet it seems that you are seeing an angel.

You look at him with your eyes shining with all the admiration you feel, and not because you can lie by saying that you are seeing a beautiful face, but because Sal is the most beautiful person you know.

"I-" His voice tries to say something, but it is cut off; this time it's up to him to be overwhelmed by emotion.

You approach slowly, and the tip of your nose touches his, practically non-existent, but you don't care. You cannot resist the desire to cuddle him, to touch him, to perceive him in every possible aspect of that intimacy that he has decided to give you.

At first he has a little jerk back, of surprise rather than fear, and soon after he is there again, looking for that touch. He is extremely uncertain, but he still responds to your unspoken requests, slowly letting his forehead rest on yours.

He exhales, as if he is releasing a great weight, but he immediately stiffens when you, without realizing it, are approaching his lips.

You wake up immediately from your numbness, before making a probable mistake, and try to get away, at least as long as his arms allow you.

"Please…"

That prayer from him is so feeble yet so meaningful. His gaze asks you to do it, to continue, because he wants it but he is still afraid of taking the initiative. He is putting the responsibility on you, and rightly so.

He is tense, you see it from his swallow and feel it from his tense muscles around you, but it's okay.

You approach again, slowly, gradually lowering your eyelids, a little by instinct and a little in the hope of putting him more at ease.

Kissing him is a special experience, and you like it - you wanted it so much -.

You are not intrusive, it is just a delicate touch, but it persists, leaving him time for him.

When he reciprocates, he does it slowly, unsure of how to proceed, probably troubled by the feelings he can give you or maybe just agitated by the situation. Yet, slowly, you feel it melt against you.

Slightly open your eyes to see that he too has closed them, and then you allow yourself to return to enjoy that moment, more peaceful and serene.

You huddle more, between yourselves, and let the desire flow through you, without going too far, simply enjoying the presence of each other, in your breaths that merge.

When you separate you do it only with your lips, but your gaze remains affectionate and aware.

In the end, that is nothing more than the confirmation of everything: of your knowing what time he should take his medicines and of his letting you know, of his knowing your favorite drink and which shower gel you always use, of cooking one by one. other, of looking so much like a couple for a long time already - and some of it is also the result of Larry's long tongue letting out a few too many words with his best friend.

You watch him as he puts his mask back on, and now you don't care anymore, because you know what's under it, and if that's his face then you've seen his soul.

Suddenly all your happiness is back. You are so happy that not even the bickering between Larry and Todd coming from the kitchen can upset you.

It must be something about the finished milk.

"I'm going to get it!"

You hum loud enough for the two to hear it, as you jump three steps at the same time, happily landing down the stairs.

Sal's laughter reaches you, and you turn to look at him. You like to see him happy, whatever the nature of that happiness.

"I come with you."

He tells you coming to you, reaching out his hand so that you can take it.

You're pretty sure you won't be able to stop smiling all night long.

*The image above is an old drawing of mine

#sally face #sally face x reader #sal fisher #sal fisher x reader #oneshot #request #larry johnson #sally face sal #gaming #video games

238 notes · View notes