#★❞ — letters from new york. ( answered ask )

[apricotheart]

does anzu have traumas, whether big or small, caused by the events of the series? if so, how does she handle them?

( unprompted asks / always accepting !! )

Oh yeah, absolutely. The biggest one I can think of is Battle City. Aside from nearly having a crate crush her to death and watching Yuugi almost drown in the span of a few minutes, which definitely rattled her for a while, the big obvious trauma I can think of is being possessed by Malik... and just... the Finals in general were pretty traumatic.

There were nights after Battle City was over that she woke up from nightmares of looking in the mirror and seeing a twisted, distorted reflection of herself staring back at her — typical horror movie-style. I can't recall if it was ever stated in canon ( manga or anime ), but I like to think that even if Anzu wasn't in control of her own actions, she was present. Like an outsider looking in, but powerless to do anything to stop it.

I think Anzu would definitely suffer from some undiagnosed PTSD because of it. Maybe not too overpowering, but enough that she still occasionally deals with nightmares and paranoia in the months and years afterwards.

I think being possessed kind of feeds into why Anzu is so fiercely defiant and independent post-canon. To feel so helpless, and essentially violated in a way, to not have any control over her own actions, really really bothered her and still bothers her to this day.

As far as how she deals with it, I think she handles it better than most would. Anzu isn't the type to bottle up her feelings. She needs to let them out. Talk about them. So even if she doesn't necessarily go to a therapist ( how would she possibly explain everything that happened? ), I can definitely see her talking to one of the guys. Not Yuugi, because she knows that if she unloaded all her trauma on him he'd only feel personally responsible and guilty. Probably Jonouchi, though, because they were both in that position of being possessed by Malik. He'd be able to understand where she's coming from.

[aikoionic]

I WANNA GROW UP ONCE AGAIN [ L.MK ] : TEASER!

yes it’s based loosely (heavily) on 3 idiots 👽

★彡 In college, you and mark form a strange relationship. (you think) he hates you for competing with him for being the smartest in class, while you’re just trying to get a your degree so your parents don’t marry you off to another rich families son. Years later, an old bet gives you and his two friends a chance to look for your long-lost acquaintance, who’s existence is rather elusive.

engineering major!mark lee x engineering major!reader (fem)

★彡 academic rivals, where tf did mark go after college, readers gettin married, johnny stops a plane, haechan forgets his pants, yuta is annoying, mark is gone. reader is the college headmasters daughter sorry if it isn’t obviously lol

「September 5th, Present Day, Johnny. 」 - You attack my heart, you attack my heart!

“in any case of an emergency landing, there are marked exits on either side of the plane.”

it’s days like these that johnny is reminded of how much his job absolutely sucks. it wasn’t his phobia of planes or the fact that he is thousands of feet up in the air and anything could go wrong at any time, it was the fact that he couldn’t keep any friend/relationships going as he was expected in a new country or city every week. the only thing that’s funded is the plane ride, not his entertainment, and the book infront of his face is no longer a story but instead just a bunch of letters on a page.

he often daydreams about what his life could’ve been like, you know, if he stayed with engineering and didn’t follow his passion of photography. he often thinks about college and all the great memories, along with the bad ones, he often thinks about his old friends. he often thinks about mark. mark was a strange, but a once-in-a-lifetime kind of friend, he always talked about the future and how he would love to go fishing every weekend when everybody was well in their forties. johnny feels stupid for believing that mark was right, that everyone was gonna stay friends forever. he recalls the last time he saw him, graduation. everyone was ecstatic that it was finally over, all the exams, all the stress. exactly one week after he was on a video call with haechan, complaining that mark wasn’t answering his phone. it was another week after that the messages stopped going through, and it was another month before he gave up all hope of ever seeing mark lee again.

“we kindly ask that all passengers put phones and laptops on airplane mode for the duration of this flight to new york, we wish everyone happy trave-“ , johnny feels the vibration of his phone through his pocket and the deafening ringtone follows immediately after. he bought this phone three years ago and still doesn’t know how to turn down that damn ringtone. he smiles apologetically at his neighbouring passenger as they grumpily twist and turn to get comfy again after being awaken.

“hello?”

…

“yeah, this is johnny..”

…

his face drops.

“sir, can you please put the phone away.”

“yeah, yeah, one second, please.”

he looks around frantically, he needs to get off this plane, and it’s not because he’s scared. he hastily unbuckles his seatbelt, he needs to get off this plane. he stands up quickly and wobbles, it’s about to take off.

“sir, please sit down, you could get hurt!” the flight attendant yells at him to be heard over the horribly loud plane engine.

“i-i..” he grasps his chest, trembling as if he’s in pain. all the nearby passengers shoot worried looks at the airline staff.

“i don’t- i nee-“, the plane jolts aggressively and he stumble to the ground, grip still tight on his chest.

an attendant reaches up from her seat to grab the phone next to her.

“captain, there’s is a medical emergency on board, you must stop the plane.”

~

johnny is slumped over in a wheelchair as two members of staff and an on-hand doctor rush through the terminal to get him to the hospital, he looks dead, i mean he hasn’t replied to the staff screaming in his ear to wake up. johnny slowly opens up one of his eyes, his plan worked! he’s off the plane! but how the hell was he supposed to convince the staff he’s fine and is just gonna go look for a taxi to take him home. maybe if he tells them all he needs is some rest? REST? YOU JUST FAKED A HEART ATTACK AND YOU THINK THEY’RE GONNA BELIEVE ALL YOU NEED IS REST?? johnny stops scolding himself and gets to thinking of another plan.

“wait!” suddenly, he jumps up from the wheelchair and puts his hands out to stop them. he breathes deeply a couple times, does a few jumping jacks. what is he trying to prove with this whole performance?

“i’m completely fine now! thank you! you guys carry on, i’ll handle myself from here!”

“sir, wait a minute, you’ve just had a heart atta-“

he ran.

he ran all the way down two escalators, three sets of stairs and out the main entrance. what a shit plan. now he just needs to get home, wait.., he feels around his pockets, where the fuck is his wallet? is he supposed to walk home or something? maybe he should’ve just stayed on the damn plane.

he sees a sign held up by one of the drivers sent for important businessmen, or rich kids who study abroad and get their parents to send them a driver when they come on their annual trip back home, mr. zhong chenle.

“heyy man, long time no see! where’s the car at? i’m super tired!”

“uhh… mr. zhong? is that you?”

“yeah! why, do i look different or something?”

“a lot taller than i remember..”

“growth spurt. now, where’s the car?”

“straight home, sir?” the driver asks after approximately 7 minutes of uninterrupted silence.

“yeah, but go through the downtown first, wanna see it all again, ya know.”

“whatever you say, sir.” the driver sighs, he must’ve never looked at the kids face if he thinks johnny looks anything remotely like a college student anymore. johnny picks up his phone and dials a number he’s dialled about a thousand times.

incoming call, johnny, 12:08pm.

the noise of ruffling bed sheet and pillows fills the room, and a hand groggily slaps the desk to look for their phone without using their eyes.

call accepted

“yeah, johnny, what do you want.” he says while stretching. haechan doesn’t do much on his off days but sleep in until one and play video games. he knows that as soon as he leaves his room his mother is going to give him about fifteen things to do, so he decides to just lock himself up in his room for the weekend.

“get ready in five minutes, i’m coming to pick you up.”

“why, what happened.” there was nothing johnny could say to get him out of his bed.

“yuta called, remember him?”

“yeah, ‘the silencer’” he smirked, the dumb nickname still remembered by the pair even after all these years.

“yeah well, he said that..”

“what, he said what?”

“he said.. that mark’s coming.”

haechan shot up from his bed, making his head rush at the speed.

“WHAT?”

“yeah, he said come to the campus at 1, meet him on the roof.”

he looks at the time on his smartwatch. 12:46pm.

“oh shit..”

“bro, just get ready, fast.”

“yeah, yeah i will!”

he ran toward his bathroom, brushing his teeth and washing his face simultaneously. his sister watched him curiously, confused at why he’s up and out his room at 12.

“listen, i’ll be back soon, tell mom okay?, wait, shoes.” he hastily put his shoes on and wrestled a shirt over his head. “marks back!” he grinned at his sister but she just silently stared at him, biting back a smile.

“wait, but where are you going?”

“just tell mom i’m coming back, okay?”

“‘hyuck, wait!”

“can’t, johnnys here!”

“but you don’t have pants on! donghyuck!”

her shouts fell to deaf ears and haechan raced out the house, looking around for johnnys car. he waved down the car after he saw johnny through the window. the door swung open and haechan jumped in, not even giving it a chance to stop.

“now you want to go home, right, sir?” the driver asked johnny, while haechan was busy tying his laces and trying to contain his excitement.

“yeah but go via the imperial college of engineering.”

“well.. ok sir.”

“ugh, forgot my socks dude!”

“you forgot more that just your socks, hyuck.” he stifles his laughter and points down at haechans legs.

“oh my god..”

the car swerves around a sharp corner and through the gates of the courtyard to the ICE, imperial college of engineering. johnny looks out the window in awe of his old college, which was probably the prime of his life.

the car stops and the boys jump out of the car, johnny goes around to the drivers window.

“thanks so much, now you can go back to the airport and pick up my brother, same last name - zhong!” johnny runs after haechan as he makes his way to the roof entrance.

they sprint up the steps, johnny taking down two at a time, all so that they can see their long-lost friend. they have so much to ask him, where the hell did he go, why’d he stop talking. johnny wanted to slap him and hug him at the same time but haechan just wanted his friend back. they were very close in college, they even shared a dorm room. haechan knows mark didn’t want to cut off contact from them, he knows there was something stopping him.

they make it to the roof right on time, and see yuta standing there with his back to them, staring off into the distance and checking his watch.

“mark?!” johnny completely ignored yuta and instead starts running around the roof after seeing no sign of his friend.

“hey yuta! where’s mark?!” haechan yelled, his eyes looking all around the roof, trying to find him.

yuta smirked and slowly pulled out his phone, still not facing them, waiting for them to realise he isn’t there and come over.

“welcome, guys, long time no see, huh?.” he was dressed up nicely, in a suit with the top button undone, sporting expensive shoes and jewellery, his hair was slicked back, a big difference from the untidy thing he had on his head in college.

“want something to drink?, isn’t this the same beer you guys used to drink up on this roof, late at night?” he forces them to think back to their college days, when they sat upon the roof of the engineering building and drank up to early morning, running to make it to their classes on time, hungover as fuck. he tosses the beer bottle toward haechan and he catches it right before it hits him in the stomach.

“where’s mark.” johnny was getting frustrated now, he stopped his plane with a fake heart attack to be here right now, all for mark.

“patience please, first, i want you guys to look at this.” he holds his phone up close to their faces. a picture of yuta shaking hands with a realtor infront of a big house was on the screen.

“check out that mansion behind me. $3.5 million.” yuta smiled with his teeth while showing off to them both. “swimming pool? heated. living room? oak wood flooring. my new 6496 cc lambourgini.” he swipes through a whole array of pictures showcasing all his luxuries.

you see, mark’s only academic rival wasn’t you, there also was yuta. he was an absolute pain the ass, annoying as fuck but too smart and good-looking for his own good. you, mark and yuta were fighting all year to earn the valedictorian title. always trying to out-do each other with project and homework for a good recommendation from your teacher. of course mark ended up getting it, he was so charming to some of the teachers but so insufferable to others.

“why’re you showing us all this, where’s mark?” haechan interrupted yuta’s spiel about his achievements, demanding to know why he went through all this just for mark to not even be here.

“you don’t remember?” yuta pulls up the date on his phone, the 5th of September.

haechan looked closely at the phone, “yeah that’s todays date, and what?”

yuta smiled and the two then pushed through them, walking up to a part of the wall around the door of the entrance to the roof, that looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in years, covered in green stuff you could only hope was moss. yuta pulls out a handkerchief from his pocket, kicks over a ladder covering part of the wall, and starts cleaning it.

haechan and johnny following closely behind him, curious to see what his explanation was for this.

there, carved onto the wall, was a date,

Sept 5th

“i bet you. ten years from now, we will meet here. same day, same place! and we will see who’s mor- who’s more successful” yuta slurred as he yelled sternly.

“d’you have the balls?! c’mon, tell me! tell me you’ll come back here!”

“remember now? i made a bet with that idiot right here. i kept my promise, i’m back.”

johnny threw the beer bottle at yuta’s feet and started marching towards him.

“I made my plane land, he forgot his pants, all to meet mark, we’ve searched for five years, we don’t know if he’s alive. but you think he’ll show up for your silly bet?”

“no i knew he wouldn’t.” yuta smiled. “he’s too scared.”

“am i gonna punch him or are you?” johnny turned to haechan then turned on his heel to grab yuta’s shirt. haechan stopped even though he really wanted someone to punch yuta.

“well then why’d you make us come here if it was just a bet between you two?” haechan asked.

“to meet mark.. and to see where i’ve reached and where he is.”

“wait, so you know where mark is?”

yuta slowly started nodding and smiled. “well, yeah.”

“w-where is he?”

“he lives up in the mountains now, probably works in some rich guys house or something.”

johnny and haechan turn to each other and smile, they’re gonna go find their friend.

“[name], are you ready to get the dress?!” your mother screams up the stairs even though you really aren’t that far away.

“yeah mom, just gimme a minute!” it’s been five years since you got your engineering degree. you got a good job, with good money, and a good life. but, something’s always been missing from your life, something that stops you from feeling like everything was worth it. you don’t like to think it, but it’s mark. mark was someone who you hated so much in your first year, you didn’t think you would make it to graduation. your past with mark lee is strange, to say the least. you never want to admit that you found yourself falling for him in your last year. he had you thinking your life was going to be amazing forever, that you would fill the gap that been empty this whole time.

yet, here you are, about to go pick up a dress for a wedding you really, really don’t want to be apart of.

your own.

you see, you thought that getting your degree and showing that you can take care of yourself would bypass the need to get you married off to another wealthy family like yourselves, clearly not as your father doesn’t have a son and needed someone to pass his college down to, it’s been passed down by his father and his father before that and his father bef- you get the point. but they thought the best idea was to get you married. it was supposed to be your sister, but she convinced your parents that they can try again with you after she found a man, an art student, to be precise, to marry instead of your family friends son, doyoung. the same doyoung who is going to be your husband in a few days.

you miss all of you friends and especially mark. maybe you wouldn’t feel so lonely if you had kept messaging mark. a little bit after graduation, you and mark got into a fight, something about him not spending enough time with you. you can barely remember what it was about, so clearly it wasn’t important enough to be the reason your whole life changed. the last message he ever sent you was asking for forgiveness and saying something about how you should leave with him. he said he had something to tell you. but of course, you were stubborn and didn’t even check his messages until a week after and when you tried to reply, you found out he blocked you. you don’t remember his number anymore, even though about six years ago it was one you thought you could never forget.

you think of johnny and haechan. two of the funniest guys you knew. haechan was great to study with and always had a great supply of energy drinks in his bag for those all-nighters. johnny was great for advice and pep talks before big exams, if it wasn’t for him your sure you would’ve pissed yourself during your final.

but, we’re they ever really your friends? mark’s blocked you and nobody knows if he is alive or dead, and johnny and haechan slowly but surely fell out of your grasp, the less and less the phone calls and hangouts got, the more you wanted everything to go back to the way it was. when mark was here.

your phone dings, pulling you out of your trance. it’s your sister, texting you that she’s outside waiting to go dress shopping with you, wedding dress shopping.

your phone reads 2:23pm, September 5th.

a/n : yay this is gonna be really good i hope, also it’s my first kpop fic i’m sorry if it’s bad, the whole fic will be out soon but i don’t have a date. honestly if this flops i might not post it lol. also you will find out why they call him silencer later :)! if you wanna be on my tag list for when this drops just ask :)

BYE 😘

[apricotheart]

What do you imagine post-DSOD Anzu life to look like? does she visit Domino often?

( unprompted asks / always accepting !! )

I've talked a little bit about this in headcanons, but post-DSOD, Anzu ( obviously ) goes to New York to pursue her dream of becoming a professional ballerina. She currently shares a flat with three other girls from ABT's Studio Company ( one of American Ballet Theatre's dance companies ) and her schedule is very very busy, filled with hours of training and rehearsals and then performances on the weekends. She gets very little downtime, except during off-season when all dancers get about a three-week break from performances to do whatever they want.

Off season is during the summer months, so she usually takes that time to take an extended vacation in Domino. But it's not the only time she visits. Sometimes, if time and money allows it, she'll take a quick three or four-day trip, especially if she knows something important is going on in her friends' lives. These trips don't happen very often though, because flights are expensive and it takes her several years of dancing under ABT's name before she makes a large enough salary that she can justify spending that much money on going home more often.

So, realistically, for her first few years in New York, she doesn't have much opportunity to visit. It probably isn't until she nabs the position of Soloist in ABT's main company ( several years down the line ) that she can more comfortably afford to travel. To make up for lack of travel, though, she calls and video chats with the gang in those early years as often as she can.

[apricotheart]

Not an nsfw ask, but in Anzu's mind, how does she envision her first kiss ? Is there a specific setting ? Is it something she'd not expect or something she plans ?

( unprompted asks / always accepting !! )

Anzu, in typical teenage girl fashion, always expected that her first kiss would be terribly romantic. One for the books. Something that even the movies would be envious of. The setting always changes depending on her mood or who she envisions her first kiss with, but there's always a sense of anticipation bubbling like a carbonated soda in her chest. She's expecting it, but trying not to look too eager. Desperately wanting to experience the pinnacle of teenage girlhood.

The reality, however, isn't nearly so cookie-cutter romance.

But first, a little backstory.

Anzu was not always a good friend to Yuugi. They'd known each other since elementary school and for a long time Anzu and he were glued to the hip, until about the end of middle school when she started learning about things like cliques and social acceptability. She began distancing herself from Yuugi when she realised he wasn't "cool", and that his lack of "coolness" was reflecting onto her. She was never outright mean to him. She didn't ignore him completely. But she went to his house less often and spent more time with a group of popular girls who favoured fashion and makeup and boys over card games.

Her first kiss happened at the birthday party of her then-friend and ringleader of a group of popular girls, Hoshino Natsumi. With Natsumi's parents in the other room, she'd convinced the rest of the party goers to gather around for a game of spin the bottle. Anzu, too embarrassed to admit she'd never been kissed and too stubborn to back down, plopped on a pillow next to Natsumi and hoped that the bottle would never land on her.

It did.

Anzu's first kiss was with a boy whose name she doesn't even remember now. The only thing she remembers is the other kids hollering and cackling as he took her face in his hands and kissed her so hard their teeth clacked together. He tasted like stale Cheetos and Anzu swore she'd never go to another one of Natsumi's parties.

Coincidentally, she didn't. Not long after, they started high school and the first time Anzu caught sight of Yuugi being targeted by bullies more fiercely, she stepped in and sealed her reputation as his protective best friend. Natsumi and her cronies dropped Anzu pretty quickly after that.

[apricotheart]

How did Anzu love for dance progres through her life?

( unprompted asks / always accepting !! )

Anzu has always loved to dance! There's never been a day where she didn't love it. Her mother put her in her first ballet classes when she was just four years old and she took them with the same instructor right up until her departure to New York. Even when she wasn't directly in classes, she was always finding excuses to dance. Throughout her childhood, and especially during the tumultuous time when her parents were finalising their divorce when she was in middle school, Anzu spent many hours in her room with the music cranked up and singing into a hairbrush as she spun and moved around the room. Dance has always been a huge part of her life.

However, it wasn't until she was about nine years old that she decided she wanted to pursue it professionally. That same year, she and her parents had gone to see a professional production of The Nutcracker in Tokyo. Her own dance school put on a shortened, lower budget version of the show every year for the holidays in Domino, but this was the first time she had seen a real ballet company with professional dancers perform it. She was so enamoured by the performance and the lights and the costumes that Anzu knew immediately right then that she wanted to be the Sugar Plum Fairy someday in a real production of the show.

From that moment on, every bit of money Anzu earned — whether through a weekly allowance, holidays, or picking up odd jobs all the way through high school — went to a personal New York fund. She worked hard to make the money and worked even harder to hone her skills as a ballerina and by the time she graduates high school, she's been accepted into the American Ballet Theatre's Studio Company. A year later, she is invited to audition for the Main Company.

To come full circle, she makes her debut as principal dancer three years after acceptance into ABT's Main Company, as the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker. I've actually got a couple of headcanons about Anzu's journey to New York, which you can find here and here for further reading!

[apricotheart]

/ Hello i wanted to send this off anon but realized we not mutuals so instead respecfully on Anon to just say: I love all your muses and ideas. I wish you would notice my blog but i understand you're selective for your comfort so i will stay away ( and admire afar dbdbf ) - i also just amazed at your own edits / icon borders. I'm deep in the yugioh fandom and was hoping you would consider making more based on characters? No rush of course!! And would pay+credit ;;

( unprompted asks / always accepting !! )

oh! this was very sweet and im sorry it took me so long to reply to! ; w ; i've actually considered making more ygo-themed icon borders, but i've got a bit of a backlog of requests to get to first before i do that. if you'd like to send any specific character requests to my graphics blog @faegfx, you are more than welcome to do so! that way i can keep track of requests all in one place. :>

[apricotheart]

Does Anzu like to go shopping? What does she usually shop for and what kind of stores does she frequent?

( unprompted asks / always accepting !! )

Anzu loves shopping, but I wouldn't describe her as a shopaholic by any means. She's more of a window-shopper and she's actually very frugal and conscious of her funds, a by-product of growing up being the responsible party for grocery shopping and making sure her mother paid the bills on time. When her parents got divorced and her father relocated to Osaka, it reduced their family income significantly. Because her mother is pretty scatter-brained and ended up having to take up two jobs just to make ends meet, it eventually fell on Anzu to keep food in the house and to write little reminders for what bills needed to be paid when.

That being said, Anzu's splurges are few and far between. The most she spends her money on is food and, even then, she'll use coupons or point rewards depending on the store, if she has to. This doesn't change very much even when she does find a steady income as a professional ballerina. She might ditch the couponing when it comes to food and be more open about dining out, but splurging on materialistic things like clothes and jewelry — as much as she loves them — is still hard for her to do.

This is also partly why she doesn't own any of the outfits she wears to big events. They're all loaned out by the designers for the promotion it gives them having someone with rising popularity wear their brand. If she does make a big purchase, it is more likely that it's for someone else rather than herself.

Anzu is surprisingly thrifty, and because New York is so ridiculously expensive to live in as it is, she prefers finding her clothes in thrift stores and touching up vintage items with smaller splurges like accessories. But like I've mentioned in a previous post, Anzu can read a room and knows when to dress it up and splurge on an outfit. If she knows she's going to be in a room full of high-profile people, she's not going to wear a second-hand dress from Salvation Army. She'll make necessary splurges when she feels they're appropriate; but she hardly ever splurges just for the sake of it. She saves her money where she can, and it's why she's able to visit back and forth between New York and Domino so often.

[apricotheart]

@duoscuri​​ said :    ❛　　——𝐀𝐍𝐙𝐔,　　❜　　her name, bittersweet as it rolls gentle off the tongue.　　❛　　why are you hiding?　　❜　　yugi asks, 𝘴𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 / 𝘷𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘦, with the intention of meeting her big, blue eyes and when they finally meet, he stares and sees right through her.　not that it's hard, 𝘯𝘰, anzu is notoriously easy to read　—　so it comes as little surprise to yugi when he notices the telltales of her heart.　　❛　　kaiba…　you don't need to hide your feelings for him.　　❜ | (  unprompted asks  /  always accepting !!  )

        𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐄𝐎𝐔𝐒. Her stomach dropped; a stone sinking to the bottom of a lake, creating a ripple effect of emotions. The first emotion to rise to the surface was shock, then panic, followed closely on its heels by anger. How did he know? Who told him? She hated the anger. She hated the way her knee-jerk response was wanting to say that it’s none of Yugi’s business, as if they hadn’t been best friends since they were little kids on the school playground. That wasn’t fair to him. The anger was quickly washed away by guilt. She could never be angry with Yugi and it had never been her intention to hide from him — she just hadn’t known how to even begin to broach the subject. 

        Anzu was not blind. She knew Yugi, probably just as well as he knew her, which is why the guilt weighed particularly heavy in this moment. She’d always sort of known Yugi may have had feelings for her. Back then, she’d tried to ignore it. It was easier that way, when her own heart was tangled in a web of confusion over whether her own feelings were towards Atem or Yugi himself. She’d been afraid — afraid that if she gave voice to her suspicions, it would ruin their friendship. She cherished Yugi far too much in her life to put it in jeopardy. So she pretended not to notice, kept it under lock and key and told herself that one day his feelings would fade and he’d find someone else. Someone more deserving. 

         ❝  Yugi...  ❞ She looked down at her hands, picking at the cuticles.  ❝  I — I wasn’t trying to hide it from you. I just...   ❞ Didn’t want to hurt you. She didn’t say this, but the implication hung in the air between them.  ❝  I needed to sort things out for myself first. I mean, let’s face it, Set—Kaiba’s not exactly someone I would have ever considered a friend, much less ——  ❞ Anzu closed her mouth, averted her gaze.  ❝  ...I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.  ❞

[apricotheart]

To go on with your headcanon about Anzu's skincare and all that, has she suffered any injuries due to her pointe shoes or no?

( unprompted asks / always accepting !! )

An excellent question! Thank you for sending this in!

Absolutely. When she was around twelve, and first started wearing pointe shoes, she rolled her ankle and had to stay off it for a good few weeks. It was the worst few weeks of her life, because she really thought she'd be unable to dance after that. It was after this incident that Anzu really started focusing on taking care of herself, and especially her feet because before that she hadn't realised just how much stress is put on the muscles and joints with pointe shoes.

There have, of course, been minor injuries from daily wear and dancing — having to adjust from ballet slippers to pointe shoes is one of the most painful experiences I've, personally, ever had. There were a lot of nights Anzu spent crying because her feet and ankles hurt so much, lots of band-aids used and calluses formed. She still experiences most of that today, too, but it's gotten better to withstand since pointe shoe production now makes things like pad inserts and toe grips to keep pain and injury at a minimum.

[apricotheart]

(( That post you reblogged is such a mood for me, tumblr really has turned to something else. ))

It really has. I remember when I first joined the rpc on tumblr in 2011, it was such a large community and you could generally write with whoever you wanted, whatever you wanted, whenever you wanted without much fuss. Which isn't to say that this was always a good thing - drama still existed and predatory people still existed, but I feel like we were at a place back then where we didn't make a spectacle of it the way we do now with callouts and such.

The rpc climate has changed so much since then. Even in just the last couple of years, it feels like it's just rapidly closing in on itself. You can't write or say anything without the fear of offending someone, or worse, being called out as "toxic" or "problematic". At some point, the rpc is going to cave in on itself and that'll be the end of it. The community as a whole has become stifling, censoring everything that isn't neatly put into a black-and-white morality. We have forgotten how to address nuances in writing. We have forgotten how to set and exercise boundaries. And like that post, we have forgotten how to communicate with each other.

And that, to me, is sad.

[apricotheart]

@raytm​ said : bakura just casually showing her a oujia board. FOR FUNSIES | (  unprompted asks  /  always accepting !!  )

NO. NOPE. SHE’S OUT. GOODBYE. 

          Have we learned nothing from our adventures with the occult, Bakura?

[apricotheart]

@drakoae​ said : hush | (  nonverbal prompts  /  accepting !!  )

        𝐈𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐅𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐇𝐎𝐓 in her blue eyes. Kaiba hadn’t even said anything, but the gesture of him lifting a finger to shush her had her sorely tempted to smack him across his stupid face. It would be deserved, she thought, with some derision. Anzu fixed him with a glare, fingers twitching at her side. 

        She’d been trying to be polite. Make conversation. Anzu didn’t particularly like long silences, especially ones as tense as this. Everyone was on edge since Jounouchi’s duel with Marik. He still hadn’t opened his eyes and Anzu didn’t know whether she wanted to scream or cry. So she’d done what she does best; she looked after everyone, making sure they were all okay before finally finding herself, much to her chagrin, alone with Seto Kaiba in the hallway. 

        Maybe it had been her nerves finally getting the best of her that prompted her to try and strike up conversation. But clearly Kaiba had seen issue with her talking and, at her wit’s end, Anzu finally snapped. 

        ❝  What is your problem? Does my small talk annoy you?  ❞

[apricotheart]

@drakoae​ said: side eyes. | (  unprompted asks  /  always accepting !!  )

         ❝  ⁠—— Can I help you, Kaiba??  ❞

[apricotheart]

(( Yeah, with how sad the rpc has turned in some part's, with how tumblr was in the early day's, people could pretty much talk with one another, that post made me sigh after them day's again, where people could reach to one another. ))

Anonymous asked: A sort of part 2 to the other ask? i have been trying on being the out reaching person, but apparently these day's, that is to much for some tumblr type's on here. in some cases I haven't even done that much, so yeah.. (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

Not sure if these anons are the same person, but I'm lumping them together for ease lmao. I fell asleep earlier, sorry about that!

But yes. Times are definitely different, and while it would be easy for me to write off the rpc entirely and say light the whole website on fire, I still think there's potential for it to grow and change for the better. Maybe that's just me being an optimist, or maybe I just hate to see all the years I've put into this website go to waste.

Whatever the case may be, someone somewhere has to take that first step. Like that post mentioned, this site can't begin to heal until we start being proactive in the healing process. And it's true, some people won't respond back to you or maybe won't interact with you, but we must all keep trying and reaching out to one another if we expect this hobby to last.

I've made it a personal goal to reach out to my followers more. Whether that's sending a meme they reblog, or sending them an IM or ask just to say hi. I don't expect the rpc to change anytime soon. So much damage in the last few years is going to take time to change, but I believe it can. We just have to make the effort.

[apricotheart]

@praeteritus-memories​ said :  "So...How exactly do you win this game." Atem points at the DDR machine, all but determined to 'win' as soon as he sees there's a high score screen. - Atem >:3c | (  unprompted asks  /  always accepting !!  )

        𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐌 𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐖𝐀𝐘 around a duel like no one’s business, but whether the former Pharaoh has any rhythm is something Anzu doesn’t have an answer to. Though it seems she might get one when she finds him staring at the DDR machine. 

        She suddenly recalls their little outing and feels embarrassment creeping red at the apples of her cheeks at the memory of how she’d shown off, trying to impress him. She’d won the dance off against... whatever that guy’s name was, but now the victory feels like little more than a humiliating display of self ego. Geez, how could she have been so lame? This time, she’s determined not to make such a fool of herself. 

        The platform is empty, so Anzu motions for Atem to follow her and explains the basics in a way she hopes is understandable. ❝ I’ll show you real quick. ❞ Anzu slides a couple of coins in, selects a single-player slow song on the easiest level and once the music starts up, she begins. ❝  See the arrows on screen? Each arrow corresponds to an arrow on the platform. Every time the arrow reaches the top of the screen, you tap your foot on that same spot. Like this ⁠—  ❞ A few beats pass where Anzu follows along to the music. ❝  The more accurate you are, the higher your score will be. Highest score wins. It’s easy once you get the hang of it! ❞ 

        She lets a few of the arrows miss on purpose and doesn’t seem very fazed when the screen flashes ‘FAILED’ after only a few seconds. It was only a demonstration, after all. Not a real competition. 

        ❝  Wanna give it a try? I’ll even go easy on you.  ❞ She’s teasing, of course, but it doesn’t quite mask the competitive glint in her eye.

[apricotheart]

@amaeranthos​ said :  If I ask nicely, will you please turn that song off??? ( Atem is tired ) | (  unprompted asks  /  always accepting !!  )

        𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒. Anzu has had this song on loop for three hours and if the Spirit of the Puzzle’s reaction wasn’t so damn funny, she’d have turned it off long ago. It’s a good thing she likes this song. It’s absolute Top 40 pop trash, and the boys would absolutely hate it, but she loves it. It has a good beat you can dance to, and as of right now it is serving as righteous punishment for Yami being, well, a pain in the ass. 

        Sure, maybe she is being a little harsh on him. He is, after all, dead, but hey. He’d invaded her life! He’d turned her world upside-down! The very least he deserves is some annoying music left on blast for several hours straight. It’s cosmic justice!

       Anzu glances over her shoulder. Yami, barely visible in the late-night glow of her desk lamp, looks about two seconds from a complete meltdown and she has to stifle a laugh by coughing into her fist. ❝  Sorry, what was that? You want me to repeat it again? Well, I mean... if you insist — ❞