0-feralscientist-0

[seastarlily]

Not to be a "Negative Nancy", but if anyone, and I mean anyone thinks any member of the main voice cast sounds "too old" to be playing their characters and should retire, you're ageist and we cannot be friends.✌

[lilteamushroom]

Karasuno Team x reader pt 2

(I never expected so many people to like and want a part 2! It’s so long but it’s a good one!)

Part one:

Warnings: swearing??

The RV started up and began to move, you snickered as Ukai yelled at Tanaka and Hinata to sit their asses down. You sat on a small couch near a window next to kiyoko (Pfft let me get my gay ass outta here) Kiyoko, Suga and you talked about how long your family has had the beach house.  “My family used to go to this beach house every summer when I was younger. But as I got older we stopped going as a family and now it sits with no one living in it.” You explained to them.  “Though don’t worry about bugs and dust being in the house, my mom said she sent out some cleaners to make sure the house was clean and was stocked with food for us.” You told them.  “I wish we could do something for your parents, for doing all of this for us.” Suga sighed. You smiled “Oh don’t worry, I think someone actually using the beach house makes her very happy.” you reassured Suga.  “(Y/N), I heard you work at Ukai’s store.” Asahi chimed in. That caught you off guard. You knew they would find out and to be honest you were surprised they didn’t figure it out sooner. “Oh yeah! Its a lot of fun working there. And since the coach is my boss, it makes scheduling around practice and games much easier.” You stutter a bit.  “Thats so cool! Do you get free stuff?” Nighinoya asked from across the table.  “No- I wish I did. That would be so nice.” You say as you think of how awesome it would be to get free soda pop and sweets.

The rest of the ride there, wasn’t too bad. You put on a movie, which the guys voted on fucking The Spongebob movie. what. the. fuck. Not only that but they cheered and were so invested in the movie.

Crackheads. They are all crackheads.

The RV finally came to a stop, you looked out the window to see the old beach house from your childhood. 

They all gasped, maybe a bit dramatically. “Are you sure we are at the right place?” Daichi asked. You nodded. “This is it my friends.” you say to them as you grab your bags from under the seat. Everyone nearly jumped off the bus, you swore you watched Tanaka jump out of the window of the RV.  They all followed you to the front door.  “Wow! Is that a boat?!” Hinata asked. You nodded your head. “We can take it out sometime this week, if you want.” you offered him, he nodded happily. You pulled out the small key that had a flower key chain on it. You unlocked the door and let them inside. They all looked around in amazement. “The main room is big enough for everyone to sleep in, besides the other rooms aren’t guest rooms, the last I checked they were remodeled into a gaming room, a movie room, and a lounge/hangout area.”  “ (Y/N)!!! WHAT THE HELL.” Tanaka nearly screamed.  “WHAT?!” You yelled at him, trying your best to match his vocal range to mock him.  “THis is so CoOL!” he shouted. Ukai clapped his hands, “Set your bags down, and go get your swimsuits on.” Ukai instructed everyone. “Yes Sir!” Everyone yelled as their excitement filled the room. You went to the bathroom and changed into green plaid trunks and a yellow swim shirt. You went out to find you were one of the first people changed, which never happened. You were confused. Where was everyone else? You found them wandering the vacation house. Well you found them in pairs, first you found Hinata and Kageyama in the kitchen, then you found Tsukishima, Tadashi in the game room, Daichi, Suga and Asahi were in the lounge room, Kiyoko, Ukai an Takeda were on the back porch all sitting in on the lawn chairs put out there, Tanaka and Nishinoya were examining the boat under the deck. 

Once they were all done exploring the house, everyone met up on the beach at the volleyball net.  They underestimated how hard it actually is to play volleyball in sand. They kept slipping and falling, soon they caught on that you weren’t falling??  “ (Y/N)! How do you stay on your feet?” Hinata asked you. You smirked. “You gotta kinda, dig your feet in the sand, instead of being ontop of the sand-” You dug your foot into the sand, “-You’ll be more grounded.” You showed them. They caught on, not many falling anymore, though many still fell on their asses which was super funny to you. Nishinoya being the libero, kept face planting and getting a mouth full of sand. “Man! It sucks trying to catch the ball without getting sand in my mouth!” Noya complained.  “Maybe its because you suck.” Tanaka snickered. “Shut up! You keep on not even hitting the ball!” Noya defended.  “All right lets take a break!” Ukai yelled out. “Coach, can we go swimming?!” Hinata begged with Noya and Tanaka giving Ukai puppy eyes. Ukai sighed then smiled at them.  “Yeah sure. We are here to take a break.” Ukai laughed. Hinata, Noya, Tanaka cheered as they sprinted to the shore. Asahi came up to you “Are you gonna get in the water?” He asked. You shrug “Maybe. I’m not a huge swimmer, though I love to collect sea shells.” You say to him. “That sounds fun! I’ll come with you to look for sea shells!” Suga offered “Me too.” Kiyoko chimed in. Many of the boys splashed each other and played chicken fight. You sat high above the others on Daichi’s shoulders while Hinata was sitting on Asahi’s shoulder. You held Hinata’s hands, trying to push the other off. In the end Hinata got the upper and and Y E E T E D you into the ocean.  Everyone laughed and took turns playing chicken. Hinata and Asahi were the ones champions against everyone else. 

- - - - - - -

Soon the sun was setting and everyone was getting settled in for the night. The sea shells you got were set nicely on the window seal above the sink. The who team was sleeping in one big dog pile in the living room, in the kick ass fort they had built.  You went to brush your teeth when Nishinoya caught up with you in the bathroom. “When do you plan on telling the others about... Your secret?” He asked.  “I am tomorrow night when we sit around the fire for smores. I am nervous you know? Can you try to understand how I feel?” You asked him as you took his hand in yours. Noya felt his cheeks heat up from the contact of your hand in his. He nodded. “I’ll try my best (y/n)!” He smiled. You gave him a grin back as you let go of his hand and opened the door to the bathroom and locked it behind you. 

Your reflection looked back at you. You took off your binder that had been on for 10+ hours. You read online that you should only have it on for 6-8 hours and you shouldn’t bind when working out... You were breaking many rules when it comes to binding but it was your only way to be on the team without anyone raising any eyebrows. You stretched your hands above your head letting your chest and ribs stretch and be free. You threw on a tank top, sweatpants and a big hoodie to hide your breast size.  After getting ready for bed you went back to the living room to find the team chatting and nearly laying on top of each other. You smirked and jumped onto the pile of boys in front of you.  “Woah! (y/n)!” Tadashi laughed.  “You guys make a good pillow.” You chuckled as you laid your head on Suga’s leg. It was uncomfortable so you leaned up and wiggled your way to a small spot between Tanaka and Hinata. They all were shoulder to shoulder.  Even though they are dorks, they are family. They make your life so much better. Were you ready to tell them about everything? Or at least your gender.  Everyone kept talking til Ukai came in the room and inhaled. “GO TO BED.” He yelled then shuffled back to the room nearby. You couldn’t help but snicker before laying your head on Tanaka’s shoulder as a pillow.  You starred at the ceiling before finally dozing off to sleep.

- - - - - - - -

In the morning, you woke up 2 hours before everyone else. You wanted to make bread from scratch for them. You remembered as a child you would wake up in the morning to the smell of freshly baked bread filling the house. You wanted to do the same for the boys who took you in and made you part of their family. 

Noya shook Hinata.

“Bro bro. Do you smell that?” Noya asked. It took Hinata a minute to get himself out of his sleepy state. He sniffed the air.

“It smells like a Kneaders cafe. Like on Monday when all of the bread was just barely baked.” Hinata noted. Tanaka woke up and instantly smelled baked goods. He sprung out of bed and dashed to the kitchen.

You smiled at him when he came into the room.

“Good morning Tanaka. How are you doing?” You ask him.

“Good! What is the smell??” He asked quickly. The oven went off as you grabbed the oven mitts.

“Well everyone has been working hard so I decided to bake you guys fresh bread.” You smiled lightly as blush marks spread across your cheeks.

Tanaka grinned. “That sounds awesome!”

“I’m going to go get the rest of the team up.” You say to him “I’ll come with you!” He said as he grabbed your hand. You stood there in shook from the contact of his hand in yours. The blush on your face reddened.

“That looks pretty gay” tsukishima said from behind you coming into the room. You pulled away from Tanaka.

“Your gay four eyes!” You huff at him as you walk past him. Tanaka boomed in laughter behind you. “Dumbass. Shit like that can hive me away.” You mutter to him.

“What?! Your gonna tell the team tonight anyway.” He scoffs. You dart a glare at him as you both enter the main room where everyone was. You opened the blinds, and turned on the light.

“I made a surprise for you guys. I’m gonna make breakfast.” You inform them. Asashi groaned as he sat up. He raised his hand

“I’ll help you with breakfast (y/n).” He said as he yawned. You grinned at him. “That would be great! Thank you!” You beam at him. “The rest of you better be up in 15 minutes!” You almost hell at them. But you held back from yelling at them because you choose not to be a dick.

For now.

It had been 20 minutes and Daichi, Suga and Tadashi were still not awake. You smirked at Noya. “Wanna help me get the others up?” You asked him. “Always!” He grinned. “What you plan on doing?” Ukai asked. You looked at your cup on the counter. “I have an idea.”

You, nishinoya, and Hinata all held a cup of water as you and the rest of the team walked down the hall to the main room where you guys slept. You held your cup over Daichi’s head. You looked down on him like he was your victim. Nishinoya stood over Tadashi and Hinata over Suga. You counted down in a whisper.

Splash

The 3 of them yelled out from the sudden contact of water. The rest of you were laughing so hard that tears were forming in your eyes.

“Oi! What was that for?!” Daichi yelled.

“You weren’t up for breakfast.” You say to him almost coldly.

They apologized and got up for the day. They all changed into their swim suits when you said that it was time to take the boat out.

Noya was nearly bouncing off the walls when you got the keys out for the boat. Luckily you knew how to drive the boat. Everyone piled in as you started it up making sure it had enough gas. You drove it out fairly far the turned the key to turn it off.

“Alright guys! You can jump in and swim!” You say happily. Many of them jump in when a few stayed behind because they didn’t want to swim.

“Yo! (Y/N)!! Get in here!” Tanaka yelled waving at you from the water.

“Yeah (y/n)! Join us!” Hinata begged. You shrugged and got up from the drivers seat. You ran then jumped off the side of the boat your arms lifted in the air, your legs kicking off the deck to boost you into the air. It felt like time slowed down. Like when you go to hit the ball during a game. How you always were inspired by your teammates to do your best during a game.

You came back to reality when you hit the cold but refreshing water. The guys laughed as you reached the surface of the water. These guys were your best friends. You would do anything for them. Going through so many practice days and games. You get close to them after going through so much.

Once it got later into the day you drove the boat back and parked it. Though most of the team stayed at the beach and swam.

Soon they are going to find out your secret. Your stomach turned and did flips as you thought about tonight. When you would have to tell them who you really are. You were scared. What if they don’t accept you? What if they kick you off of the team. The only reason you go to karasuno high is for volleyball. If you got kicked off you would most likely move back into your parents house. Would they feel betrayed that you cheated the system and lied to them so you could be on a team? All these questions came to your head in waves. You forgot where you were for a while until Noya swam over to you then dunked you under water.

“(Y/n)!” He whined.

“Pay attention to me” he huffed. You stared to splash the salty water at him. “Is this the attention you wanted?” You laughed as you continued to pretend water bend at him. You swam away from him to get to shore so you could think more, of course Nishinoya followed you like a lost puppy would. You eyed Tanaka then he came over.

“Come with me for a walk.” You say to them. They nodded and followed you, walking along the shore, where the water would come up and tickle your feet every so often.

“What’s wrong (y/n)?” Nishinoya asked you. Your lip trembled. You tried to find the words.

“Well, I’m scared. I get this same feeling before a game.” You confess, your hands twiddling each other. “Scared? Of what?” Tanaka asked.

“Of tonight. I’m scared I’ll get kicked off the team. Or everyone will treat me different. I’m still the same (y/n). Or I dont know if they’ll be angry with me for lying to them for so long. Maybe they won’t want to be my friend. If that happens I will have to go back to having no friends and-“ you got cut off by Nishinoya putting a hand on your shoulder. He smiled.

“It’s okay (y/n)” he said gently. Which was weird to you because he was usually so loud. Your hand touched your cheek which was wet from tears you didn’t even know you were crying. They both brought you into a small group hug. “It’s all good (y/n)!” Tanaka laughed. “We still want you on the team. And if idiots like us still want you then I’m sure the rest of the team will too!” Tanaka encouraged. You nodded, whipping your tears away. “Thanks guys. I’m not as nervous for tonight. Still nervous but not as anxious.” You laughed. They nodded in excitement. “You got this (y/n)!” Noya cheered. You smiled from their enthusiasm.

“Thank you guys. I think I’m ready.” You say to them. They walk back to the beach house and saw the other boys some how managed to start a fire in the fire pit without setting everything on fire. “There are s’more things in the house and hot dogs of you guys are hungry.” You offer to them. They nodded and yelled at the same time as they rushed inside to grab the stuff. Ukai helped you move large logs around the fire for them to sit at.

“You ready for tonight kid?” He asked you. You didnt answer right away.

“If I’m being honest, I’m nervous. Beyond nervous. I’m scared the team won’t like me anymore.” You confess to him. He walked over to you and ruffled your hair.

“Know thing these crazies, they will accept you. Your an amazing player, and a valued member of this team. For the past 7 months you have earned a special place on this team. No matter if you were a boy, girl, black white, tall, short, this team will love you for who you are.” He tapped your forehead when he said the last part. You held in tears, wanted to hug Ukai. He truely was the best coach. You nodded to him. “Thank you coach.” You say softly. The stamped of boys came back with the s’more things and hot dog stuff. You all ate food over the fire as the sun went down. Soon it was dark. Everyone was chatting then their conversations went quiet. You made eye contact with Noya and Tanaka. They nodded to you. You were ready. You stood up. “There is something I haven’t been totally honest with you guys.” You started out. “I love this team and everyone on it. But this might change how you see me and how you play volleyball with me.” They looked at you with curiosity and a bit of confusion. “I’m... I’m a girl. Biologically I was born a female.” You confessed to them. Some were confused, some were shocked, some didn’t change there expression. “I was planning on not saying anything, but two morons walked in on me changing.” You glared at Nishinoya and Tanaka. They gave you a dorky smile. You took a breath and continued.

“I’m worried that me being a female will change how you view me and how you play with me. Or treat me for that matter. I’m still the same (y/n). The same one who cried with you, played with you, won games with you. I’m sorry I never told you guys.” You said to them. You wanted to run and hide under the covers of your bed, expecting them to yell or be disappointed. But there was silence. The silence was almost as bad as yelling.

“It’s fine if your a girl (y/n). It’s not a bad thing but why didn’t you join the girls volleyball team with michimiya?” Daichi asked. You tugged at your shirt then let it go.

“That has a bit of a story behind it. Before I came to Karasuno I went to an academy for weathly kids. They had a volleyball team but all the girls on the team joined to show off the skin tight booty shorts and the small tank tops. I joined a team to play, to gain friends, to win and to learn. All I got there was girls in skimpy outfits. I could have tried the girls team here but I didn’t want to take the chance so a little arrangement with my mom, a haircut and a binder I was a different person at a new school where no one knew who I was.” You say to them. Asahi nodded. Some still looked confused.

“The only ones who knew were the coach, and until 2 weeks ago Nishinoya and Tanaka found out.” You say to them.

Tadashi raised his hand. “What’s a binder? Sorry I feel kinda dumb for asking.” He admitted. You put your hands up “it’s okay!” You say to him Tanaka jumped up.

“It’s a wrap that goes around her boobs!” He explained loudly. You karate chopped his head

“Sit down dummy.” You say almost harshly to him. “That’s the basics of it. I wrap it around my chest so then I am flatter. Then I wear a bigger jersey so then my chest doesn’t show.” You take a breath.

“I hid this because I was scared.” Tears were filling your eyes but you didn’t let them fall.

“I was scared you were going to see me different and kick me off the team.”

Don’t let the tears fall. Do not let the tears fall.

“I didn’t have many friends before coming to Karasuno. You all are my best friends. The best people I have ever met.”

Dammit. The tears streamed down your cheeks.

“Please still let me be part of the team.” You cried bending over and bowing to them. Daichi approached you. He put a hand on your shoulder and waited for you to look up at him. You looked up and met his eyes, who had tears swelling in them too.

“You will always be accepted on this team, (y/n).” He said to you pulling you into a hug. Tadashi came up and hugged the both of you. Then Tanaka and Nishinoya. Then Hinata and Kageyama. The others followed through.

“We don’t want you to leave the team (y/n)!” Hinata cried. “Yeah don’t leave us!” Kageyama snapped. “We want you to stay.” Suga softly said. They all chimed in on how they wanted you still on the team. You couldn’t hold it in anymore. You sobbed. Simple as that. All that emotion that you had been holding in? It was coming out right now. It was a good night. It ended well with your teammates accepting who you are. You were so happy.

Now the question is, who falls in love with you, or gets blushy when ever your around?

[dcarevu]

Batman TAS: Mad as a Hatter

“Why don’t you go do something useful like… Oh, go jump in the river.”

Episode: 27 Robin: No Writer: Paul Dini Director: Frank Paur Animator: Akom Airdate: October 12, 1992 Grade: B

I was in high school when Tim Burton’s version of Alice in Wonderland showed up in theaters, and like almost everyone I knew, I could not have been more excited. I really loved the Disney version, and considering that the man involved with Beetlejuice, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Batman, and more would be giving us his take on it right as I was starting to move toward my emo-scene phase, it was a dream come true. Even now, on paper, this seems like the perfect recipe, doesn’t it? But I think most of us can agree that it just didn’t meet expectations. The first time I watched it, I wouldn’t admit to myself that I wasn’t a fan. It was dark, and strange, and Tim Burton + Alice in Wonderland. Everything I wanted! As a developing emo kid, I was supposed to like it! The reason I bring this up is because Batman the Animated Series being fused with Alice in Wonderland seems like another fantasy-combination that would have no way to turn out subpar. Mad as a Hatter is an episode that, for the most part, actually gets a lot of praise. Alas (or, for the sake of the pun, Alice), maybe the idea seemed a little bit too easy, making it easier to over-shoot, missing the mark. This is another episode featuring a crazy set-piece at the end, but it is also another episode that was handed to Akom. Christ, why. Of all the episodes. All the episodes. Why is it some of the ones with the highest reliance on visuals? This episode involved not just complicated, creative visuals, but incredibly weird ones as well that needed to be animated just right to not look like subjects from one’s fever dreams. You wanna know how that turned out? Well, I heard an, “Oh my god!” from Char as the walrus and the carpenter made their appearances. While that did make me laugh quite hard, and Akom definitely got the weirdness down, it should have looked like intentional weirdness. Beyond the animation, the story is actually decent. It is Paul Dini, so what can you really expect. But even here, I would not call it A-level material. Some strange dialogue/delivery choices, and other leaps of logic/strains on the suspension of disbelief take away from it and leave me feeling extremely neutral.

Okay, so after that paragraph above was written, I went and took the screenshots from my DVD. I was surprised. The DVD looks so much better than the Blu Ray here. This was the case with The Clock King too, and I fear it is starting to seem like a pattern. I think it all comes down to the Blu Ray release looking too clean, and way too bright at times. Because of course, the DVD is in lower definition. Shadows are lightened so that we can see all of the imperfections of Akom’s drawings. Smudges and dirt are removed, giving the people a plastic look at times. It’s not the way the show was meant to be watched (as I said, probably VHS would be my preferred way of viewing if that were feasible). This puts me in an interesting spot, because I paid near $100 for the set, and also, some episodes look absolutely phenomenal. But is it worth it when some look like absolute crap? The great-looking shows look godly. The mediocre-looking ones look horrible. I was ready to tear into how Mad as a Hatter looked and rip it a new one, but now I do not think that would be fair. No, the animation here isn’t perfect. But it’s passable. And I think that’s worth something given the frequency at which I complain about Akom. At this point, I have watched up to Robin’s Reckoning. From here, I honestly might start using the ol’ dvd’s again. It’s unfortunate, but if I go back to specific episodes that I love later on, then I’ll use the Blu Ray. Remember, I am watching these with Char who has never seen the DCAU before. I want the series to make the best possible impression, and even with the best plot ever, a bad-looking episode can make a disappointing episode. Merely getting the episodes at a higher definition, but leaving them dirty and dark would have been my preferred solution. Anyway, back to talking about the episode itself (and yes, this does slightly affect how I see the episode. At first I was giving it a C. But I think I’ll have to bump it up to B territory).

We start with episode with some cute-ass mice, only to then be introduced to a face that a mother would have a hard time loving. Jervis Tetch, aka The Mad Hatter, is a character-design, alright. I think I know what they were going for, though. He has this kooky look that makes him stand out from every other character. He certainly looks like he could play someone from Wonderland. But the problem I think comes from Akom (ironic given that last paragraph, huh?). This design could probably work, but he has such an odd model, so I think they had a tough time animating him. Or maybe he simply does not translate to movement very well in general, and there was a problem the moment his model sheet was created. Regardless, he can be pretty tough to look at sometimes. Other times, though, he does have that level of whacky which I would hope would be in an episode based on Alice in Wonderland. But we see that Jervis is working on some mind-control technology while also being smitten for a girl that works in his office named Alice. Unfortunately, Alice has a boyfriend, and like many sociopaths in real life, Jervis is not okay with this, taking matters into his own hands. First of all, her name being Alice is kinda stupid, and Char agrees. It takes parallels a little bit too far, and Char noted that it would have been more subtle if her name were something like Alycia. Alice is one of the only people that Jervis feels is nice to him, so if we follow the most sound of incel-logic, she owes him her heart, mind, and body. Not only is she nice to him, but, again, her name is Alice. And it would not surprise me if this were a main factor of why Jervis is into her. He has an Alice in Wonderland poster in his office, he takes her to a theme park of sorts that has a section which is themed after the book, he owns a Mad Hatter costume (or perhaps he obtained this from the park), he quotes the book regularly, etc. He is clearly obsessed. When we reach the point where he mentions that it is one of his favorite stories, it’s like, “Wow! No kidding!” He is not quite wired into reality, likely developing this obsession at an early age to escape from life’s burdens. But Wonderland has burdens of its own.

Jervis ends up using these mind-control cards that he created (another Alice in Wonderland-related thing) to make people basically do his bidding. He first uses them on two thugs attempting to rob him and Alice, forcing them to climb up on top of a bridge and jump into the river. Batman catches notice of this through a police broadcast, and to my surprise, the show mentions a possible suicide in progress. How often do you hear a family cartoon like this use the word “suicide”? I think this is the only time I have ever heard it, despite references occasionally popping up in shows like Spongebob. He then uses more cards on his coworkers, Alice’s fiancé, and Alice herself, creating an army of Alice in Wonderland-themed warriors to defend him from Batman when Batman finds out what’s going on and sets after him. He wants Alice all to himself, and is willing to do whatever possible to obtain her. The final battle takes place in the theme park, the big set-piece of the episode. It’s got some great looking background paintings that 100% capture the tone of the book. It is a shame that the animation done by Akom couldn’t hold up to Radomski’s work. We have moments such as Batman balancing on top of the walls of a playing card maze that I wish stressed me out a little bit more. But because of how stilted the movement is, Batman never really seems like he is having a tough time keeping balance, even though we clearly see him struggling. The fight scenes could also be much better, with more impact felt. The odd costumes that most everyone is wearing makes for some really distorted-looking characters, and it’s clear that not a lot of time was spent making them look quite right. At the same time, though, between the subject material, the gimmicks, the overall surreal nature, and the background art, it is still a lot of fun to watch, even if it is in a more campy way. It is not an episode to be taken extremely seriously. This can be a problem with Batman. The tone can fluctuate greatly from episode to episode. At the beginning, it did not matter as much. Right away we had varying quality and seriousness. I mean, we went from On Leather Wings to Christmas With the Joker. But now we are getting gothic masterpieces like Two-Face, so episodes like Mad as a Hatter feel jarring as hell. It is an episode I enjoyed more on second watch as I gathered screenshots. I loosened up and let myself have fun with it.

The Mad Hatter fails to be a sympathetic villain like I feel they might have been going for, but I do enjoy him being so delusional and sociopathic. When Alice mentions her boyfriend, he gets this scary scowl, and you know at that moment that this is no character you want to root for. When Alice’s boyfriend temporarily breaks up with her, rather than attempting to comfort her and being upset over her sorrow, he jumps for joy because he has a chance to finally swoop in (the epitome of an Internet “nice guy”). When she gets back together with her boyfriend, turned fiancé, he squeezes a bouquet of roses in frustration so hard that he bleeds. I think they were able to get away with this portion because maybe the blood could have passed off as liquid from the flowers? Which doesn’t really make a lot of sense, but for the sake of the blood being included, um, sure. It was definitely rose-goo, guys. Not blood at all… And he also blames Batman for why things ended up the way they did, even though Batman had virtually nothing to do with anything until the very end. He decided to mind-control everyone because he was being a spoiled little piss-baby who could not let the girl he supposedly loves be happy. Char did not care for the character, and jokingly mentioned that he was appropriating the Mad Hatter, doing things that he would never do. Like some batshit crazy super-fan who feels sooo connected with a character, but actually doesn’t understand them at all.

Not a perfect episode, but a grower.

See? Cute-ass mice!

Wow, I didn’t realize that we were watching Attack on Titan. (Joke inspired by Char).

The poster on the wall matches the title card/an actual illustration from the book. It’s actually a pretty dope poster.

A variety of shots showing Jervis’ face. See how inconsistent it is? It is a little similar to the Pokémon Drilbur, where it only works 2D. Adding an element of 3D illusion (such as movement) causes it to fall apart.

Oh, sure, go and rob them right after you see Batman drive by. That’s always smart.

“Please, Mr. Hat. Go easy on us.” The delivery here was wicked funny. It was so monotone, and sounded like he was faking.

I quite like this facial expression. His smile reminds me of the Cheshire Cat.

Batman + Taco Bell

I love the panic in Batman’s voice as he tries to stop them from jumping off of the bridge. It shows how concerned he is with keeping them safe.

They were able to animate this shimmer pretty damn well. Then again, how hard could it be?

A very subtle recreation of the illustration/title card.

I don’t think the background here quite comes together, the composition is off. Still neat to look at.

A close-up of the illustration.

Now this is an ugly facial expression. Gross! And it’s not like this was a quick frame. It was there long enough to notice.

This shot has a lovely glow to it. It looks quite nice. 

One of the only times they were able to get away with blood. Um. Oops. I meant flower-goo! It’s flower-goo, guys! The blood drips right onto Billy’s face. As if a hit were put on him. Awesome detail.

“Oh, do be quiet!”

Bruce whispers “Congratulations.” in such a goobery way. I love it. 

The shadow of the plants shifted in some wonky-looking ways. Also, when the Mad Hatter and Batman both arrive on the scene, she says, “This is getting too weird.” But she says it so nonchalantly. Not the best delivery.

Very sloppy-looking drawings of their faces. These costumes, though. 

Cool impact here. He just decimates that wood. I’m not sure if Storybook Land has the safest costumes. 

This is some enjoyable stuff right here. I had a lot of fun with this portion.

“Off with his head!” I should have counted how many times this line was said.

Perfect example if how cool the painted visuals are paired with some mediocre animation. Hell, I’m pretty sure Batman’s run was recycled for two of these stills.

Gee, I wonder which cards are going to move. Great Mad Hatter, pose, though. This is what I wish he looked like all the time!

The looming Jabberwock ends up falling on him, ending the adventure through Wonderland. 

There’s no reversing the damage, Jervis. You’ll never talk with her again. Was it worth it? Also, his hair totally changed color at one point. Um... Maybe he dyed it?

Char’s grade: D Next time: Dreams in Darkness

Full episode list here!

[stormyth-art]

tagged back by @suitcasesoffeathers​!!! (I’m also gonna answer my own questions in this post for @pilotpig​, thank you for being curious!! Haha

Also, sorry for all the long posts lately!!! (I just found out about the keep reading button so I’ll use that from now on!!!

1. If you could meet any fictional character in real life, who would it be and why? 

hmmm, maybe Hermione Granger? Since she could teach me all sorts of stuff about magic and tell me things that happened during the books that Harry was too oblivious of to notice. XD Hermione seems like she’d be more perceptive than him. 

2. If you could magically teleport anywhere (to a real location or fictional location), where would that be and why?

oooh, that’s fun, I’d go to Hogwarts for sure!! That would be so fun!!!

3. If you were in control of the world for a day, what would you do?

maybe just fire Trump and what’s his face vice president guy. lol, I think that’s the only thing I could do and not be scared of the repercussions. 

4. What’s the weirdest dream you’ve ever had?

I’ve had so many weird dreams lol. There is one in particular that was this whole story thing going on, but it would take too long to write the whole thing, so I’ll tell you my favourite part. So, there was this servant boy and he and the princess fell in love and blah blah blah, but eventually he took her to visit his parents in his village. He lived in this rock thing and inside everything was saran wrapped. Th counters, the couches, everything (apparently this was for easy cleanup). So eventually this bell sounded (like a warning bell in medieval times) and that meant everyone had to go and steal food from each other and it was only legal between the first and second bell. The servant guy went off to steal food and everyone was beating each other up and it was terrible and then suddenly servant dude comes rolling down this hill (the village was on a slope) on top of a giant armadillo. He just rolled the armadillo into a convenient sized hole next to his house and claimed the armadillo as his own. (I found it funny when I think about it, but typing it up sounds weird....but I guess that’s the point lol)

5. What do you do when you’re bored?

I usually just complain that I’m bored then rewatch videos I’ve already seen or watch old shows I used to like, or I’ll draw.But lately I’ve been sucked into those top 10 scary videos lol.

6. What’s the dumbest injury you’ve ever gotten? (could be from cuts/scrapes to broken limbs, etc.)

When I was maybe 7 or 8 I was playing a video game with my siblings. It was this super weird racing game on the N64 and I was really into it for some reason, and every time I made a turn I would lean my body in that direction. I was sitting on a wooden stool while playing so the stool would lean too and eventually it just toppled to one side and my head landed right into a stone fire place. It was not fun lol, I still have a scar right next to my temple.

7. Do you have anyone that you really admire/aspire to be like one day? If so, who?

hmmm, I think my parents. A combination of the two. lol, that’s kind of a boring answer but it’s true.

8. Is something that you really treasure that other people may think is dumb?

ohh, there’s this stick I have. lol, I found a stick in the woods when I was 8 and it was the perfect walking stick with a thumb hold and everything. I loved that stick and brought it with me to school sometimes. And when we moved houses I brought it with and I still have that stick in my room and I’ll probably never throw it away at this point. I don’t know why I like it so much. XD

9. What are some positive personality traits that you believe/other people say you have? (no need to be modest ;))

lol, mmm, my parents say I’m creative. My dad says I’m really, thoughtful and have interesting insight about different topics (which I disagree with lol). I’ve been told I’m empathetic and kind and all those things too haha.And every once in awhile I get that I’m funny. (which is cool since I’ve always loved making people laugh and making others happy is what I always strive to do)

10. What style do you usually sport clothes-wise?

mmm, that depends. I love dresses and skirts and girly clothes, but I also love the simple jeans and graphic t-shirt. and then there are days wear I just want to look all boyish and wear baggy pants and oversize shirts. My style is pretty non-existent haha.

11. If you could have a mountain of any food right now, what would it be?

lol! uhh chocolate probably, haha I’m always craving chocolate. I wouldn’t eat an entire mountain of it in one sitting of course though, but it would be nice to have a stash whenever I want some! XD

my own questions:

1. Are there any new hobbies or new skills you want to try/learn?

I’d like to learn violin again as well as get back into photography!

2. Do you believe in anything supernatural? (if you have stories please share, I find them fun to read)

I do lol, it seems no one I tagged does though, which is understandable. I believe in ghosts and aliens (though there is no doubt in my mind aliens exist, I don’t believe any have come to earth. The universe is just so huge there has to be another planet with life on it) I sadly don’t have any stories though.

3. What’s your favourite historical era and why?

I LOVE medieval times. The atmosphere is super cool and it was always my favourite unit in history class in grade school (in highschool when I took an ancient history course we didn’t have time for that unit and it made me mad lol) But I just love history in general so much! It’s so cool to learn about and talk about!! (This is why I’m going to write a time traveling story, since I get to do research about different era’s for it!)

4. What is one of the strangest conversations you’ve ever had?

hmm, this was like, weird for a couple reasons. This was waay back when I was in 9th grade and my friend was in 8th, so I’d go to her school after my school was done and wait for her sometimes. So at one point I was waiting in front of her class and this boy (who I’ve spoken to many times before and he was always fine then) Started asking me “do you like fairy of tails?” over and over and I was so confused what he meant so I asked him “sorry, fairy, of tails????” and he just....rolled away lol. The entire conversations he was rolling around on the walls, flip flopping from one to the other in the hall and then just rolled into his class room.

I later realized he meant the anime fairy tail, which he already knew I liked and cosplayed from so....idk what was going on with him that day. XD

5. Any inside jokes (not with me, just in general)?

‘Imagine this!’ *pretends to open cupboard*  (this one is with rieko lol, it would make no sense to anyone but us) 

6. What quote do you say the most?

the wombo quote from spongebob as well as various other spongebob quotes.

 ‘HE WAS THEIR FRIEND! AND HE BETRAYED THEM!...HE WAS THEIR FRIEND!!!’ from harry potter, I say that all the time lol

7. If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?

teleportation since that would be so convenient and I could go all over the world for significantly cheaper.

8. Favourite British drama, Korean drama and/or American drama?

British drama: ‘Merlin’

Korean Drama: ‘Good Doctor’ or ‘Hello My Twenties’

American drama: if ‘Stranger Things’ counts then that, if not ‘Once Upon a Time’, the older seasons.

9. Have you ever been in a situation that felt like you were in a movie?

All the time lol. I feel really surreal a lot. There was one time where me and my friend were walking at this park that had a farm on one side and forest with swings and slides and all that on the other (it wasn’t a super dense forest or anything, it was pretty open). We were walking at night and as the forest area came in view we saw a ton of lanterns lighting it up, some were on the ground and some were in the trees. It was weird because the day before there was nothing there. I promptly decided to do what anyone would do and force my friend to go into the forest of lanterns with me. My memories are all mixed up because for some reason I remember it being pitch black in the forest even though there were lanterns.....but anyways, eventually I saw a flashlight, I couldn’t see who was holding it but I could tell someone was coming towards us. I looked at my friend who desperately wanted to leave and I for some reason was feeling brave and wanted to talk to the person (I have no idea what compelled me to, I normally am not like that) When I turned back there was a second flashlight and then my bravery just drained and me and my friend just ran out of there. Next to the forest on the exit we took was a school so we stood in front of the school and then we heard a little girls voice say ‘what are you doing?’ and my friend screamed at the top of her lungs and scared the poor kid who went back inside the school and I laughed so hard and then we went home. lol, it felt like a horror movie but at the same time it was so fun! oh, and then the next day we went back and almost all the lanterns were gone.

10. Any funny things you did as a kid?

I also had elaborate plots for my toys. And I thought grilled cheese was girl cheese and only girls could eat it. I also truly believes ‘stupid’ was the s word. lol. Oh, and I had an obsession with toads when I was little and there were a ton in my neighborhood at the time so I would catch toads a lot.

11. Something you’re looking forward to?

when rieko is less busy and we can hang out and film and all that again lol. (even though was just went skating last week XD)  Also, I’m looking forward to the distant future when I have money and can pay to go to upcoming cons!!

[howellstvdies]

pretty long post coming up! thanks to @flcwerstudies  for tagging me! love ya, babe

1. when you have cereal, do you have more milk than cereal or more cereal than milk? 

i try and make it even, but somehow there always ends up being milk left behind. it annoys me so much

2: do you like the feeling of cold air on your cheeks on a wintery day? 

it depends. some days, i’m elsa (the cold never bother me anyway!); some days all i ever want from life is warmth and cuddles and a cat

3: what random objects do you use to bookmark your books? 

business cards, paper towels, my phone, pens, a necklace once. i nearly lost it, then

4: how do you take your coffee/tea? 

tea: two spoons of sugar and milk, but i don’t take it that much.

coffee: creamer or two spoons of sugar.

5: are you self-conscious of your smile? 

yes, it’s ridiculous

6: do you keep plants? 

not yet!

7: do you name your plants? 

i’m planning on naming them sherlock and finn, and then name some of them after bts

8: what artistic medium do you use to express your feelings? 

journaling, writing, drawing (if what i do can be considered drawing), and lots and lots of singing 

9: do you like singing/humming to yourself? 

yes, because i like the fact that i can hit power notes (like when i’m singing burn from hamilton)

10: do you sleep on your back, side, or stomach? 

stomach and side, but mostly on my tummy.

11: what’s an inner joke you have with your friends? 

so far, there’s “i could be a stripper” and “goshdarn oprah”

12: what’s your favorite planet? 

i like pluto because it’s a smol bean, and saturn because of the rings

13: what’s something that made you smile today? 

i watched america’s funniest videos with my mom

14: if you were to live with your best friend in an old flat in a big city, what would it look like? 

there would be books EVERYWHERE, and two cats lounging around, and a coffee maker, and blankets EVERYWHERE. also, high speed wifi

15: go google a weird space fact and tell us what it is! 

scientists have traced unusually regular radio signals being emitted from an unknown object in the galaxy m82.

ALIENS PEOPLE!

16: what’s your favorite pasta dish? 

i haven’t really had that many pasta dishes, but i’ll eat it any day

17: what color do you really want to dye your hair?

a dark blue, with streaks of tardis blue

18: tell us about something dumb/funny you did that has since gone down in history between you and your friends and is always brought up. 

i don’t really have anything right now 

19: do you keep a journal? what do you write/draw/ in it? 

i do keep a journal. i try to write reflections and things like that, but i’m always just ranting about how stupid and cowardly i am. and there are some to-do lists. 

20: what’s your favorite eye color? 

i’m probably just saying this because i have a crush on someone with this color eyes, but blue-grey eyes make me weak at the knees.

21: talk about your favorite bag, the one that’s been to hell and back with you and that you love to pieces.

my favorite bag is my school bag, to be honest, because that’s where all the books are. 

22: are you a morning person? 

nope, i’m a night person, but i also force myself to sleep early.

23: what’s your favorite thing to do on lazy days where you have 0 obligations? 

sleep, watch netflix, watch dan and phil, read

24: is there someone out there you would trust with every single one of your secrets? 

there is one person that i’m slowly getting there with, and another person i really want to get there with, but none so far

25: what’s the weirdest place you’ve ever broken into? 

nowhere, yet

26: what are the shoes you’ve had for forever and wear with every single outfit? 

i wear my white sneakers quite a bit, but i haven’t had them for forever. i also wear my snow boots a lot, but that’s because they’re warm and i am weak.

27: what’s your favorite bubblegum flavor?

i don’t have gum that much, but i like strawberry.

28: sunrise or sunset?  

sunset.

29: what’s something really cute that one of your friends does and is totally endearing? 

omigod, there’s so many; i find almost everyone cute. one of my friends does this thing when she’s proud of herself when she looks so smug and adorable. my other friend doesn’t laugh that much, so when i make him laugh, it’s like i’ve just discovered the secrets of life. and when my friend/crush laughs, he goes pink and he scrunches his nose and i die a little bit inside. 

30: think of it: have you ever been truly scared? 

i get really scared about emotions, but i don’t think i’ve been blood-curdling scared yet. 

31: what is your opinion of socks? do you like wearing weird socks? do you sleep with socks? do you confine yourself to white sock hell? really, just talk about socks.

i love socks! i love weird socks and fuzzy socks and any socks. i try to sleep with my socks, but i remove them in the middle of the night and i don’t remember. 

32: tell us a story of something that happened to you after 3AM when you were with friends.

my cousins and i had just watched markiplier and danandphil play five nights at freddies, and we were spooked, so we started watching spongebob in the middle of the night.

33: what’s your fave pastry?

the first time i ever had a crosant with chocolate inside, i died and went to food heaven.

34: tell us about the stuffed animal you kept as a kid. what is it called? what does it look like? do you still keep it? 

i had an eeyore stuffed doll that i called doofy for some reason and i always slept with it. i had to leave it in kenya when we moved, but i’m on the hunt for another stuffed friend. 

35: do you like stationary and pretty pens and so on? do you use them often?

YES YES YES. it annoys my mom sometimes

36: which band’s sound would fit your mood right now? 

all time low’s theraphy would be my mood right now, i think.

37: do you like keeping your room messy or clean? 

clean, but sometimes, the messiness is apealing.

38: tell us about your pet peeves! 

people asking me if i’m mad when i’m just being quiet. people who are mean to teachers, complaining about them not getting grades in (70 kids, more than 100 assignments to grade, and they have a life, please just stuff it). people who gossip about other people. dramatic people. racists, mysogonists, albiests, general asses. 

39: what color do you wear the most? 

black and blue, mainly black

40: think of a piece of jewelry you own: what’s it’s story? does it have any meaning to you? 

i have a necklace that my aunt gave me a few years ago. i always wore it to feel close to her. 

41: what’s the last book you remember really, really loving?

the rosie project by graeme simsion. i got it at goodwill, and even my dad liked it. my dad very rarely likes the books i pick. 

42: do you have a favorite coffee shop? describe it! 

none yet, but there is a starbucks in our town that i’ve been to a couple of times. not only was it my first starbucks visit, but i’ve had some very good memories there. 

43: who was the last person you gazed at the stars with? 

i don’t even think i ever gazed at the stars with someone. i want to, though

44: when was the last time you remember feeling completely serene and at peace with everything? 

when we were moving and the place was quiet, and the tv was off and i’d just woken up. i sat on the couch and read and i was so calm and happy.  

45: do you trust your instincts a lot?

kinda?? i do sometimes, but i do tend to overreact and overthink, so other times i don’t.

46: tell us the worst pun you can think of.

never apollogize for your bad puns about greek gods

47: what food do you think should be banned from the universe? 

PICKLES. my god, i hate pickles so much.

48: what was your biggest fear as a kid? is it the same today? 

i was and still am scared of the dark

49: do you like buying CDs and records? what was the last one you bought?

i really like that idea, but i don’t have anything to play them on currently, so i don’t do that.

50: what’s an odd thing you collect? 

i collect clothing tags for bookmarks, but i don’t really collect things.

51: think of a person. what song do you associate with them? 

my dad. any bon jovi/rock song made in the 80s.

52: what are your favorite memes of the year so far? 

salt bae and spongebob being a chicken.

53: have you ever watched the rocky horror picture show? heathers? beetlejuice? pulp fiction? what do you think of them? 

no, not yet. i keep meaning to, but i never get round to it.

54: who’s the last person you saw with a true look of sadness on their face? 

my baby sister a few days ago. we usually leave for school at the same time, and she had to stay home because she was sick. she looked so sad when i was leaving that i could actually feel my heart break.

55: what’s the most dramatic thing you’ve ever done to prove a point?

i don’t think i’ve ever done anything dramatic.

56: what are some things you find endearing in people? 

when people laugh and it’s a full-on laugh and they very rarely do that, dimples, when people engage my stupid questions (”dragons or dinosaurs?”) and go with it, people who are okay with just sitting in the quiet but they can also stay stupid funny thins, dimples, using hands to explain things, DIMPLES

57: go listen to bohemian rhapsody. how did it make you feel? did you dramatically reenact the lyrics? 

really happy. i kept reancting lyrics and playing air guitar when it called for it. that song is fun.

58: who’s the wine mom and who’s the vodka aunt in your group of friends? why? 

i don’t really have a group of friends but i think i’d be the vodka aunt and my friend charise would be the wine mom. (sometimes it’s switched)

59: what’s your favorite myth? 

icarus and persephone and hades

60: do you like poetry? what are some of your faves?

i like it but i very rarely read it. i feel like you have to be really smart to understand poetry, and i’m not smart enough.

61: what’s the stupidest gift you’ve ever given? the stupidest one you’ve ever received? 

i gave a few of my friend nail polish, and i don’t think i’ve ever gotten a stupid gift

62: do you drink juice in the morning? which kind? 

orange juice most of the time, grape juice when i have it

63: are you fussy about your books and music? do you keep them meticulously organized or kinda leave them be? 

i leave them be most of the time. as long as they’re not getting hurt, i’m good. 

64: what color is the sky where you are right now? 

dark blue almost black

65: is there anyone you haven’t seen in a long time who you’d love to hang out with? 

i saw my cousin for the first time in MONTHS before we moved, and he’s really tall now, and he lets me cuddle him and he gives me back hugs and i miss him so much (but i’m not telling him that because he’d rub it in my face)

66: what would your ideal flower crown look like? 

small roses! peach blossoms and cherry blossoms too. one huge ass hibiscus or lotus flower as a statement piece

67: how do gloomy days where the sky is dark and the world is misty make you feel? 

cozy and sheltered, sometimes. really melancholy and silent most of the time

68: what’s winter like where you live? 

not too bad (i’ve only had one so far)

69: what are your favorite board games? 

monopoly and game of life and clue

70: have you ever used a ouija board?

no, but i knida want to??

71: what’s your favorite kind of tea? 

i don’t really have one

72: are you a person who needs to note everything down or else you’ll forget it? 

depends. if its something i care about, no. otherwise, yep

73: what are some of your worst habits? 

running away from my emotions and other people’s emotions, expecting the best out of people when i know i’m gonna get the worst

74: describe a good friend of yours without using their name or gendered pronouns.

not too loud, but very passionate. listens to a lot more rap music even though they look like a punk rock person. doesn’t look people in the eye, but looks me in the eye sometimes and makes me wanna cry. i really like him

75: tell us about your pets! 

i don't have pets!! (thanks mom)

76: is there anything you should be doing right now but aren’t? 

sleeping BUT I WILL FINISH THIS IF IT KILLS ME

77: pink or yellow lemonade? 

pink

78: are you in the minion hateclub or fanclub? 

fanclub they’re adorable

79: what’s one of the cutest things someone has ever done for you? 

making me a grilled cheese for my birthday (was my first grilled cheese)

80: what color are your bedroom walls? did you choose that color? if so, why? 

white and no. i wanna paint them tardis blue

81: describe one of your friend’s eyes using the most abstract imagery you can think of. 

the ice floating in the open sea, the color of the sky right after it’s rained

82: are/were you good in school? 

yes! i find it fun so it’s easy for me

83: what’s some of your favorite album art? 

an airplane carried me to bed by sky sailing looks really preety

84: are you planning on getting tattoos? which ones? 

i want to get slytherin in fancy font on my ankle and a semicolon on the inside of my wrist

85: do you read comics? what are your faves? 

no, but i want to 

86: do you like concept albums? which ones? 

i don’t know if i’ve heard any

87: what are some movies you think everyone should watch at least once in their lives? 

the fundamentals of caring, dead poet’s society

88: are there any artistic movements you particularly enjoy? 

i don’t really know any

89: are you close to your parents? 

yeah

90: talk about your one of you favorite cities. 

london when i was eight - warm summer days and walking to the park in the afternoon, popsicle slipping down my hand. watching cartoons with my cousins and reading in a blanket fort. merry-go-rounds and playing with sprinklers even if i’m fully dressed. going to the beach, and the day is cold and windy, the sky is grey, and it’s so beautiful my chest hurts

91: where do you plan on traveling this year? 

i wanna go to new york at some point but my parents are grade-a procrastinators and i can’t go without them

92: are you a person who drowns their pasta in cheese or a person who barely sprinkles a pinch? 

half-and-half, but more towards the barely side.

93: what’s the hairstyle you wear the most? 

braids with a right part.

94: who was the last person you know to have a birthday? 

my little cousin turned 7 a few days ago

95: what are your plans for this weekend? 

sleep and read and sleep

96: do you install your computer updates really quickly or do you procrastinate on them a lot? 

procrastination is always my situation

97: myer briggs type, zodiac sign, and hogwarts house? 

infp-t, scorpio, slytherin 

98: when’s the last time you went hiking? did you enjoy it? 

almost a year ago, not my best hiking experience. that was more about the people than the hike

99: list some songs that resonate with your soul whenever you hear them. 

for some reason, mess is mine by vance joy really makes me feel things. also, almost every single bts song i’ve ever heard

100: if you were presented with two buttons, one that allows you to go 5 years into the past, the other 5 years into the future, which one would you press? why? 

5 years in the past, with the knowledge i have know, so i can fix mistakes my over-dramatic, 10-year-old self made.

this took fifty years i swear. i tag @studiousmochi @studytherin @pinetreestudies @athenus @eintsein @educatier @elkstudies and @studylustre , and whoever wants to do this. xoxo

[stevenstamkos]

Can you do a primer on julien/pl? I'd love to write fic about them, but I just know bits of pieces from your hcs. But they're both so big and soft????

Hey! So when I started writing we’re not here to take part (we’re here to take over), I didn’t think PL/Julien would be more than a one-off pairing that I’d write once for fun, so it’s been thrilling to find that people are interested in them!

So there honestly isn’t much interaction between the two of them, I’m sad to say. They’re friends, and they’ve been teammates a few times, but the part about them together is gonna be fairly short, sorry! I’d love to tell you about them anyway, bc I love them. I’m so sorry for how long this is. This isn’t a primer, this is an essay with pictures.

Part 1. Pierre-Luc Dubois

A good French-Canadian boy from Rimouski. He was drafted in 2014, 5th overall to the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (CBSE) in the QMJHL

Look at him, he was so small. He grew up so fast :’) You might know this team as the junior team of a three-time Stanley-Cup winning Penguins goalie who is now in Vegas. Anyway! Luc’s played three seasons in the Q so far, so if he doesn’t make the NHL in 2017-2018, it’s back to juniors he’ll go. Not to Cape Breton though, but we’ll get to that later.

The Eagles are kind of tragic? But they’re good boys. They almost always make the playoffs but they just don’t make it past round 2, rip. Luc loved it there though (at least according to what he said after he found out he got traded).

So he had an incredible season in 2015-2016 leading up to the draft, posting 99 points in 62 games for a neat 1.6 PPG. (HE COULD’VE GOTTEN TRIPLE DIGITS but he got his ASS SUSPENDED for the last game of the season omfg.) This led to him going from a projected mid-to-late first rounder to top 5, and he ended up being selected 3rd overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2016 draft, to everyone’s surprise. Really, we all thought Puljujarvi was gonna go third. But nope, it was always gonna be Luc.

Btw his draft day suit? Beautiful. Even when I didn’t care about him, I loved it. Please watch the video of his draft just for the jacket lining, if nothing else.

Btw before things get dismal, I want to point out that he has the cutest friendship w my boy Thomas Chabot, bc they’ve played together a lot on national teams, so. Also has an adorable friendship with Evgeny Svechnikov, 10/10 would recommend checking that out

(That’s Svech on the left, and Max Lazarev in the middle)

Anyway Luc got cut from CBJ camp and never played a single game for them, got sent back to CBSE for the 2016-2017 season. And things didn’t go well for him because a few vital core players had left (like Svech) and Luc was not having a good season. He had like, 18 points in 20 games, not even a point per game. People were calling him a bust by like, early December.

Early December is also when he left CBSE briefly to attend Team Canada WJC camp, where he also found out that CBSE had traded him to the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. And like, Hockey Canada camp was in Boisbriand, literally in BLB’s arena. So I wonder how that felt.

Anyway, we all knew how Team Canada did. Silver. Yeah.

Have this cute photo of Luc talking to Beaner instead.

(People were still calling him a bust though bc he only got 5 assists in 7 games which is Just Not Good Enough for a third overall pick)

So after the WJCs, Luc started playing with the Armada, who were legit contenders (sorry CBSE but it’s the truth) and his production kicked back up: 37 points in 28 games, and he never went more than three games without a point. BLB was like the fifth seeded team in the Q, and Luc led them to the finals. Where they got swept by the Saint John Sea Dogs.

If I had one gif to describe Luc, it would be this one. (x) Oh but there’s also this gifset where you can clearly see him saying “Stop fucking complaining!”

Overall it was a pretty rough year for Luc. WJC silver, got ripped apart by the media, got traded from his team, made it to the finals only to get swept (and not just swept but shut out in Games 2 and 3, too). Awk.

But Luc himself is a sweet, sweet boy, tries to look chill and cool all the time and is mostly successful until he opens his mouth. He’s terrible at baseball and is pretty funny. An incompetent boy, the baby of the family, probably doted on like crazy by his family. So precious to everyone who meets him. Also was super beloved on CBSE before they traded him :( He’s feisty as hell on the ice. 100+ PIM during his draft season, and this season if he didn’t miss so many games bc of WJCs, he prob would’ve done it again or at least gotten close. Just a messy, horrible dork despite his ~suave~ persona.

Part 2. Julien Gauthier

Another good French-Canadian boy, this time from Montreal. He was drafted to the Val-d’Or Foreurs (VDO) in the Q in 2013, 6th overall, so he’s played four seasons there now and is no longer CHL-eligible because of that, so if he doesn’t make the NHL this season, he’s going to be in the AHL.

He comes from a family of body builders. And you can kind of tell.

There’s a whole feature about his family’s bodybuilding.

Anyway. Julien played for VDO since 2013-2014, winning the President’s Cup in his first season. There are pictures of him lifting the Cup, but he was like 16 and he had 24 playoff games’ worth of shitty facial hair, so you can imagine why I’m not putting a pic here.

In the 2016 draft, he was taken 21st overall by the Carolina Hurricanes, their second first-round pick (they took Beaner at 13th). Which sounds pretty good until you remember that he was projected to go like, top 10, and possibly even top 5, but after the midseason his ranking just. dropped? So that probably hurt. But he looked good at the draft and he looked happy, so that’s all that matters

(You can prob tell by now that I am very interested in draft day suits)

So Jules was sent back for the 2016-2017 season, back to VDO. He was doing really well there too, and got invited to play for Team Canada at WJCs where he posted 5 goals and 2 assists. And then immediately after WJCs were over, he got traded to the Saint John Sea Dogs (If you don’t know anything about the CHL, hmu for a more detailed explanation on why the fuck CHL teams trade away their best players).

Here’s the thing to understand about the Sea Dogs this year. They were a fucking juggernaut. They were the top-seeded team and they ate other teams for breakfast. They went 16-2 in the playoffs, sweeping three teams and only losing two games to the Chicoutimi Saguenéens in round 3. (The first time Julien faced VDO, his old team, post-trade was in round 2 and the Sea Dogs swept VDO.) And they swept BLB in the finals and made it look easy, and Julien scored four goals in two games. He only played two games in the finals though bc he got his stupid ass suspended for the final two games.

And then they lost to the Erie Otters in the Memorial Cup semifinal, but I’m allergic to that memory, so here’s Julien lifting the President’s Cup instead

Half his insta captions seem to be emojis, and it seems like 50% of the time when you communicate with him, all you’re gonna get is three emojis in response. They’re probably all goat emojis, bc that’s his nickname. Julien literally says that he uses social media to look at memes and share them with friends. He prob thinks he’s a bad boy but he’s soft as hell.

Everyone likes to tell him how big his body is, or talk to him about how big and thick he is, and he knows about it. (He…definitely knows about it.) He likes fishing and swimming and he has a super cute dog named Rosie. And he has Spongebob sheets.

Oh yes and his tongue is out like 70% of the time (x)

Part 3. Luc/Julien

I sort of made this pairing up on the spot? So there’s like, not a lot, but I can try. First can we talk about how nice they look together though. Luc is 6′3″ and 203 lbs, Julien is 6′4″ and 225 lbs. Okay just wanted to establish that.

I honestly have no idea when’s the first time they met each other, because Canadian boys in the same CHL league seem to all know each other from birth or something. They saw each other around during the 2014-2015 season, when Luc was a rookie and Julien a sophomore. CBSE and VDO aren’t in the same division though, so they only saw each other twice a season. And it was almost always messy lmao bc CBSE? knows no chill. Luc fit in perfectly there 3

They were very briefly teammates during Hockey Canada training camp for the 2016 WJCs, but Luc got cut from the team. Jules made it as the only undrafted guy, but Canada came home with sixth, so. Yikes.

During the 2015-2016 season, they got compared to each other a lot in Franco-Canadian media because they were the two best prospects from the Q. It was a weak year for Q draftees, but those two were up there. Julien was actually ranked above Luc at first. So there were a lot of these:

And they did interviews together:

(Did I mention that Julien had flow until right before the Combine? Raven made this gifset specifically to make me scream, which I did, very loudly.)

The good stuff really happens in 2016-2017, after they were drafted. In November, we had the GIFT of the super series (ok so it’s called the Canada-Russia series now, but whatever). Luc was made captain of Team QMJHL. He wore the C, which was a gift I did not deserve. Julien wore the A, bc of course.

They had so much chemistry on a line together. I shed a tear when I think about it. They helped each other score at least three goals that I can think of, in two games. Also, their cellies were cute, bc Julien gives good hugs (x)

They won both games and Canada won the super series. And THEN less than a month later, we have the WJCs, which is where the bulk of my feels came from. DID YOU KNOW THEY WERE STALLMATES. This seems an inconsequential detail, but I was very excited when I saw it in a random video. (Listen, when there is this little content of your rarepair…)

OH and let’s not forget the celly that started it all. Semifinal game against Team Sweden, Julien scores the go-ahead goal (and eventual game-winner), and is shoved by someone and falls on his back. Luc, in his screaming ecstasy, tries to catch him, fails completely, and decides to drop on top of him for my favorite celly of the year:

I get attacked every time I remember this celly happened. I imagine it’s even better in video form, but sadly they DIDN’T SHOW IT MUCH. Still, check out that bit until 1:36:23 though bc that’s when Luc tries to catch Julien when he’s falling and utterly fails, and decides to just. join him on the ice. It’s cute.

(Have you noticed that every time they celly together, it looks like they make out a little? I’m like 3-for-3 on this.)

And then they lost in the shootout in the gold-medal game to Team USA :( Neither of them was used in the shootout. And then they were both traded to their new, Cup-contending teams that made it to the finals, and Luc was a feisty little shit during that series and so was Julien, and it was a lot for my heart. I maintain that if Julien weren’t suspended, they would’ve fought at some point.

They got compared to each other again, during the series. Several times.

And yeah, that’s like, basically it? I love them both a lot, they’re good boys, so I figured I might like them together too, and I did. My rarepairs all subsist on daydreams and way too much knowledge about their individual QMJHL careers ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

(Matchy matchy)

[im-coming-to-you-live]

SpongeBob- Greying Gracefully

Yeah I keep forgetting I have a tumblr. Hey, this exists.

Greying Gracefully Summary: SpongeBob finds a grey hair and begins to worry about his premature aging. Rated: T for Teen; 13+ Characters: Squidward, SpongeBob, Sandy, Patrick, Mr. Krabs, Pearl, Gary Pairing(s): None Genre: Coming of age/ Friendship Word Count: 6, 058 Fic belongs to me.

SpongeBob Musical belongs to Kyle Jarrow (who wrote the book).

SpongeBob © Nickelodeon.

[X-posted from deviantART]

It was supposed to be the quintessential ‘’best day ever’’, like it was every morning. The sun was shining, and the hills were alive with the sound of music. Nothing could possibly ruin this most perfect of perfect days, that is, until SpongeBob spotted a lone grey hair, interloping among his platinum-colored tresses. His first instinct was not to panic. ‘Okay,’ he told himself, ‘No biggie. It’s only one. And hey, silver’s a pretty color, maybe no one will notice since my hair’s so light anyway,’ but when he went to go pluck it, he found another, and yet another, silver wisps upon silver wisps. He felt the color drain from his face, just as the color had from his hair. He tried to remain optimistic, but wasn’t he a little too young to be going grey? Now, at the age of 25, a few grey strands multiplied to what seemed like nearly a hundred, silently taunting him when he looked in the mirror as if to say, “You’re getting old. You’re getting old. You’re getting old.” He had never been one to fear the future. Rather, he looked forward to it. He looked forward to the day he would turn Squidward’s age and look wise and distinguished with all those lines chiseled into his face like the rocky mountains Sandy often spoke of after her trip to New Mexico last summer. Plus, Squidward’s grey scalp looked becoming to his natural sea-green locks. It reminded SpongeBob of fluffy clouds floating over the ocean surface. He looked forward to the day he would turn Mr. Krabs’s age and still look physically fit, with hardly a wrinkle albeit attractive smile lines, and a load full of pepper and salt chest hair. Yes, the older men in his life made him feel excited to grow old. ‘’To grow old,’’ he once remarked to their wrinkled noses, ‘’Would be an awfully big adventure.’’

‘’You have no idea, kid,’’ they both told him, but SpongeBob had to laugh. To his eyes, they both aged gracefully. But then again, he had never known them to be young. He remembered sauntering into Mr. Krabs’s office one day, only to find it empty. Instead, he found an old-fashioned picture frame stuffed into one of the desk drawers, face down. SpongeBob didn’t mean to pry but curiosity got the best of him, and so he lifted the picture frame from its hiding place and wiped away the dust which coated the glass with his sweater. He didn’t immediately recognize the young man in the black and white photo—handsome, with a strong resemblance to Mr. Krabs. It couldn’t have been, could it? SpongeBob remembered removing the photo from its frame and flipping it to the backside, but there was no date. It must have been taken around 1960-something. 1964  or '65 was his wild guess. Mr. Krabs was pictured in a Navy uniform, with inky black hair and a darker complexion than he sported now. He looked almost exotic, like Egyptian. For some reason, it was eerie and haunting. The man who went off to war would never return the same man he left.  Mr. Krabs never talked about it, but SpongeBob heard stories about what kind of man he was when he came home... Pearl’s grandmother had said she didn’t even recognize her own son. But Mr. Krabs seemed happy here, and so unaware of what was to come. The soldier smiled back at him as if he knew of his innocence. He seemed both eager for its loss and nostalgic for those few years of naiveté behind him. Deeper in the drawer, SpongeBob uncovered yet another photograph, this time of Mr. Krabs in full service dress, with his name tag centered on the right breast pocket. He wasn’t smiling in this one. Most soldiers wanted to escape the draft, probably the reason for him not following the rules (his cap was off, and his left hand was in his pocket, a rakish disregard for the regulation that a soldier in war could never, ever stick a hand in his pocket ).  The hand in the pocket was almost a silent rebellion. The pockets that were empty in the photograph would soon bulge with hand grenades, extra ammunition, food, and many of the gross of condoms they were issued before a combat jump. SpongeBob held these photos side-by-side to compare them. One soldier was happy. The other was not. They almost looked like two different people. But they were both Mr. Krabs, taken in a moment of time, months apart. Is this why he had locked them away? Could he not come to terms with his own aging that began in his mere twenties? And then there was Squidward. SpongeBob had visited his neighbor’s Eastern Island home one day only to find him hiding secrets, too. He had a library under the stairs—not nearly as impressive as SpongeBob’s but the porifera couldn’t resist—and when SpongeBob intruded when Squidward wasn’t looking, he found what appeared to be a high school year book on one of the shelves. ‘’Farlingaye High’’ it said on the cover. Inside, he found quite a few surprises. One Polaroid depicted Squidward entering his amateur piece into the school art show—he proudly held it up: a little painting of Neptune-knows-what. His mum stood beside him, beaming at her little artist son. Between her hands, she held his cheap plastic briefcase that carried all his books. It wasn’t a proper grown-up briefcase that a few of the brain-box nerds had inherited from their dads. Squidward had ‘’graffitied’’ his up a bit—but come to think of it, it was still pretty geeky. Squidward looked no different than he did now, except of course he didn’t have crow’s feet, and so SpongeBob couldn’t possibly mistake the identity. He was still tall and lanky, only this time with prominent buckteeth, bespectacled, spotty, and wore braces. He was nerdy but still charming. Actually, he kind of looked like SpongeBob. But something else was different about him. He looked genuinely happy, with the excited look of a child at Christmas in his eyes, an expression of innocent glee that SpongeBob had never seen in the older Squidward. The next Polaroid, with a stain in the right corner, depicted Squidward in a class photo, wearing a blue cardigan that his mother had probably knitted for him, and a shaggy Brady Bunch haircut that was popular at the time. Again, he looked happy. But then in his graduation photo, wearing his honorary cap and gown, his diploma in his hands, he had the all-too familiar stern look he had now. And he was only 18. What happened? ‘’ I hated German,’’ he remembered Squidward saying as he came into the library to find SpongeBob crouched over his yearbook. SpongeBob hurriedly tried to close the book and return it to its proper place, but Squidward didn’t seem to mind so much. He came up beside him and pointed at his young self and said, ‘’It was’t the subject, it was the incredibly dull, dull, dull teacher. I was always getting shouted at and sent out of the class for messing around. I was always mortified having to take that walk of shame to the door. I was such a loser. Y’know, I got picked on all the time.’’ ‘’Is that why you look so unhappy here?’’ SpongeBob asked. ‘’Yes,’’ Squidward admitted sadly, before realizing his error, and snapped, ‘’I mean no! I was itching to be done with school because, by about 13, I knew I wanted to go off to performing arts college, but I could barely afford it. Looking back, high school only lasted a few years! I should have relaxed and tried to enjoy and get more out of it.’’ And with that, he closed the book and shooed SpongeBob out of the library. He was never allowed to bring up Squidward’s high school days ever again. As SpongeBob studied his grey hairs in the bathroom mirror, he wondered what he would look like in twenty years, fifty. Seeing how rapidly Squidward and Mr. Krabs aged in their youth, when they were supposed to be in the prime of their life, he wondered what he would look like in only a few months from now. Would he forget how to smile? Would he be frowning on his 26th birthday? Was it possible to grow old before he reached 30? He didn’t mind getting old, it was inevitable, but he didn’t want to get old now. He sighed, and walking out of the bathroom, he found Gary sprawled out on his side on the bed, completely content. ‘’Gary, can I ask you an honest question?’’ The snail rustled, looking annoyed that he had been disturbed from his nap. When he finally focused his eyes on SpongeBob, he said, ‘’Do you think I look…old?’’ Gary took one look at him and replied with a sarcastic, ‘’Meow.’’ SpongeBob frowned. ‘’Gee, thanks. You’re a real pal.’’                                                                               *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ‘’ I’m only 25! I found my first grey hair and I might be going bald.’’ SpongeBob complained as Squidward sat him down in a chair. ‘’Congratulations, you’re turning into me,’’ Squidward grumbled. ‘’You lost your hair at my age?’’ SpongeBob gasped. Squidward continued to stare at SpongeBob, not amused, then pointed to his hair, which, despite a receding hairline, he mostly still had. ‘’Gracious me, now where did all my hair go?’’ ‘’Did you check between your legs? That’s where most of my hair is.’’ Squidward slapped his forehead at such disbelief. ‘’You’re such a twit.’’ The boy shrugged. ‘’I dunno. I thought maybe it was a toupee.’’ ‘’Then yank on it.’’ SpongeBob did, reaching out to grab fist fulls of Squidward’s hair to see if it was really attached to his scalp, and it must have been, because he yelped, ‘’Ouch, not so hard, you prat!’’ and he shoved SpongeBob away. Yup, it was definitely real. And soft. Synthetic hair wouldn’t be that soft.   ‘’This is awful!’’ SpongeBob began to cry into his hands. ‘’Am I gonna be all white before thirty, Squidward?’’ ‘’Mellow fucking out, SpongeBob,’’ Squidward snapped. ‘’You’re still young. You have your whole life before you.’’ ‘’Before me?’’ he wailed. ‘’No, all is over for me! I’m dying!’’ Squidward rolled his eyes. ‘’I didn’t think you were so vain. Hey, is this the same guy who said growing old would be fun?’’ ‘’Yeah, but…I’m not old. I mean, I didn’t expect to be turning grey until twenty years from now,’’ SpongeBob said, wiping his eyes on his shirt. ‘’Exactly. You’re not old. Look, sometimes you get a few grey hairs here and there, doesn’t mean you’re aging.’’ ‘’Then what’s happening to me?’’ ‘’There’s nothing wrong with you…Well, alright, there’s a million things wrong with you but a grey hair or two is the least of your problems. You’re freaking out over nothing.’’ Squidward approached him, and then with a comb in tow, he parted SpongeBob’s blonde tresses to inspect the so-called ‘’damage’’. After a few moments of brushing through SpongeBob’s hair, he shook his head and said, ‘’Oh yes, this looks very bad.’’ SpongeBob felt his heart sink. ‘’How bad?’’ ‘’Very very. More serious than I thought. Tsk tsk. There’s a few more back here you didn’t catch. You poor ol’ chap. I suppose your entire head will be all white before thirty.’’ SpongeBob clutched his chest and moaned in fright at such dreadful news. But then he heard Squidward laughing. ‘’What’s so funny?’’ he demanded through the tears welling in his eyes. ‘’I’m just messing with you!’’ Squidward chuckled. ‘’Aside from a few grey strands, your head looks completely fine. Blonde as ever. And you’re not going bald, you have enough hair to make a wig for a grape!’’ SpongeBob stood from his chair and punched Squidward in the chest. He didn’t appreciate the sarcasm, not now in a time like this when he really needed his help. ‘’Oh c’mon, SpongeBob, it was a joke!’’ Squidward tried to reason, but SpongeBob wasn’t having it. ‘’If you’re not going to help me, I’ll find someone who will,’’ SpongeBob proclaimed as he made his way to the door. ‘’Can’t you see I’m ailing? You know what, Squid, you’re so full of—‘’ ‘’Alright!’’ Squidward cut him off. ‘’No need to get nasty. I’ll just cut the greys, and give you some coloring if you want. It’s what I use.’’ This didn’t ease SpongeBob’s worries. ‘’I’m going to have to color my own hair?’’ ‘’Look, it’s not going to turn grey overnight. Those few follicles that lost their pigment won’t affect the surrounding hairs. At most, those are the only grey hairs you’ll have for awhile. As you get older, it’ll get more grey. You’ll most likely still be blonde at thirty. It’s a gradual change, SpongeBob. You get used to it.’’ ‘’Were you greying at my age?’’ Squidward sighed. ‘’Younger than you, actually. In my late teens. You’re lucky. At least you’re almost thirty, in five years. For me, it was over by thirty. It runs in the family. My cousin’s been coloring her hair since she was twenty-two. I used to wonder what propelled my mother to keep her hair dark brown at sixty, when it long ago decided it wanted to be white at twenty-eight. But I’m just as guilty as her now. Truth is, it has very little to do with fear of aging and a lot more to do with an unwillingness to look and, some might say, act my age. I’m one of those people frequently mistaken for someone much younger, and I admit I like it. So sue me.’’ SpongeBob looked at Squidward’s glorious head of hair and couldn’t blame him. Aside from sporting a white skunk stripe down the middle, you couldn’t even tell he had been coloring his hair all these years, nor could you tell he was grey under all that natural looking turquoise. He didn’t even look old, even if he had kept his hair grey. SpongeBob came back to his chair and let Squidward cut out the grey hairs before the older man sent him home with hair dye and pre-shampoo conditioner to keep the coarse, wiry grey hairs moisturized and smooth when they grew back. SpongeBob was grateful to Squidward, but at the same time, he didn’t know if he was ready to start all the daily hair treatments of his 45-year-old neighbor. ‘Well,’ he thought, trying to cheer himself up, ‘I always did think we were something like brothers, but this isn’t quite what I had in mind.’ He began to fear the worst: What if he checked into a retirement home the same day as Squidward, while his younger looking, more vital friends—with their beautiful, un-grey hair—had to pay him burdensome visits? If people remarked that Squidward looked exceptionally young for his age, he wondered if he would begin to look too old for his age. Time for a second opinion.                                                                                  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ‘’Did I ever find a grey hair?’’ Patrick echoed the question as he tread into the kitchen for another grape soda. SpongeBob followed behind him, waiting for an answer. After Patrick opened a soda and handed it to SpongeBob he said, ‘’Nope, can’t say I ever had. But if I ever found a green hair, well, that’s a different story.’’ He opened another soda, took a sip, then continued, ‘’I tried to dye my hair blue once. It turned green for some reason. Or was it lilac? Actually, what is lilac? Is that, like, yellow?’’ ‘’Purple,’’ SpongeBob explained. ‘’Lilac’s purple, Patrick.’’ ‘’Purple Patrick, maybe that was it. Hey, I didn’t know there was a color named after me!’’ In spite of himself, SpongeBob had to laugh. Patrick always found a way to cheer him up. ‘’Yeah, no, about my question…so like, never ever?’’ ‘’What was the question again?’’ ‘’If you ever found a grey hair?’’ ‘’If you ever found a grey hair?’ ‘’No, you.’’ ‘’Got it.’’ And Patrick took another lengthy chug from his soda, nearly emptying it. SpongeBob waited for him to say something else, but he didn’t. He seemed to have forgotten what they were even talking about. ‘’Patrick?’’ ‘’Yeah?’’ ‘’Well?’’ ‘’What?’’ ‘’Did you?’’ ‘’Did I what?’’ ‘’Find a grey hair?’’ He blinked, registering the question for a moment, then he suddenly seemed to comprehend. ‘’Oh right. No, I don’t think so.’’ ‘’Positive?’’ ‘’Affirmative. I mean, you can look if you want. Don’t think you’ll find anything.’’ With that, he bowed his head as low as possible, but SpongeBob still couldn’t reach so he grabbed a nearby chair and stood on top of it. But Patrick was right. As he sifted through his cotton-candy quiff, he didn’t see one hint of a silver strand. It was all beautifully bubble gum pink. SpongeBob felt a little jealous. Patrick was 28, and he hadn’t a single sign of greying anytime soon. He would probably still have pink hair at Mr. Krabs’s age. He sighed, and hopped off the chair. Patrick noticed his sour mood and asked, ‘’What’s wrong? It’s lice, isn’t it?’’ ‘’Huh? No, your hair looks fine. Great, actually.’’ ‘’Then what is it?’’ He rubbed his arm, and said, ‘’I...found a few grey hairs this morning.’’ ‘’Seriously? But you’re like, a baby!’’ Patrick joked. But SpongeBob wasn’t laughing. ‘’I’m serious.’’ ‘’Don’t worry about it, buddy. Sandy will know what to do,’’ he said, patting SpongeBob on the back. Sandy, of course. Why didn’t he think of it before? With that, he stood on his tiptoes to plant a kiss on Patrick’s forehead, but he couldn’t reach, so he kissed him on the cheek instead. ‘’Patrick, you’re a genius!’’ And he rushed to the door, but not fast enough in time, for he could hear Patrick angrily remarking as he left, ‘’What did I say?! Just ‘cause you’re turning old, don’t take it out on me! I was just trying to help! You know what, SpongeBob? Screw you! You’re a genius, and it’s showing too!‘’                                                                              *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ‘’Stress, genetics, B-12 deficiency…a lot of reasons people turn grey in their twenties,’’ Sandy explained. ‘’ When your body stops producing melanin, a pigment found in the hair follicle, your hair goes grey. Another factor that may contribute to grey hair is the buildup of hydrogen peroxide in the hair. As you grow older, the enzyme catalase that breaks down hydrogen peroxide diminishes. This leaves your hair bleached by hydrogen peroxide. But here’s what not to do: don’t pluck it. You’ll just go bald from all that trauma to your scalp. Use non-ammonia based color. All those chemicals ain’t healthy. Nutritionally focus on protein at breakfast and lunch—available energy to hair tissue is lowest in the morning, did you know that?--, keep hydrated and choose healthy snacks like yogurt, nuts and fruits. You can do all this, SpongeBob, but everyone’s different. You might be going prematurely grey and there’s nothing you can do about it. All you can do is accept yourself and move on.’’ ‘’Squidward said it’s a slow change, is that true?’’ ‘’He’s right, I reckon,’’ she nodded. ‘’Why? Did he share with you a ‘going grey’ story?’’ SpongeBob just chewed his bottom lip, which caused Sandy to burst out in a hearty laugh. ‘’Hah! I knew he colored his hair!’’ ‘’Is that bad?’’ ‘’Nah,’’ she snorted. ‘’Half the population probably does. Y’know, I just thought of something funnier than all that.’’ ‘’What?’’ ‘’ Caucasians begin to grey in their mid-30’s, Asians in their late 30’s and African Americans in their 40’s, according to a 2011 research analysis published in The Dermatologist. On average, 50 percent of the population will have 50 percent grey hair by the age of 50. Gender seems to play a role as well: Men start greying closer to 30, while women begin to notice grey hairs around 35. So don’t worry about it. Even if you turn grey sooner than all’s the rest of us, give us five more years, and we’ll be greying together.’’ With that, she slapped her knee. She thought it was a riot, but SpongeBob failed to see the humor in all this. ‘’Patrick’s a little older than me, and he hasn’t found his first silvery strand yet,’’ SpongeBob admitted sadly. ‘’Everybody’s different,’’ she shrugged. ‘’But if you’re worried about your mortality, your hair’s got nothing to do with it. You’ll live long, still. You’re a sponge, for crying out loud.’’                                                                               *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * He hoped Sandy was right, but as he left her Treedome, he wondered if he would ever be able to accept himself someday with a head full of grey or white hair. Would he be like Squidward’s mother, and continue to color his hair well into his sixties? It was a ridiculous thought, having blonde hair at that age. But as he bumped into Mr. Krabs on his way to the Krusty Krab, he realized maybe it wasn’t so ridiculous. Mr. Krabs was about 70, he realized, and he sported bright red hair. But then SpongeBob suddenly recalled the old photograph of Mr. Krabs in his navy uniform, and though the picture wasn’t in color, his hair looked too dark back then to be red, or even a burnt auburn. Did he…? ‘’Boyo, didn’t see ya there!’’ Mr. Krabs bellowed. ‘’Hey, Mr. Krabs,’’ he solemnly smiled. ‘’Say, can I ask you something?’’ Mr. Krabs narrowed his eyes into slits and scrutinized SpongeBob like a fly on the wall. ‘’If you’re asking me permission to take out me darlin’, beautiful daughter, a teenager, mind, on a date—‘’ ‘’What? No, Mr. Krabs, I—‘’ But the expression on the retired vet’s face quickly changed into a friendly smile, and he rustled SpongeBob’s hair with his meaty claw to show he meant well. ‘’I’m just joshin’, lad, relax! Should’ve seen the look on yer face! Got ya, didn’t I?’’ and he chuckled his familiar sailor’s laugh. ‘’Yeah. Heh. You got me,’’ SpongeBob tried to laugh along. ‘’Look, Mr. Krabs, I just—‘’ But Mr. Krabs wasn’t listening. He got that look in his eyes that he often did when he thought of a brilliant business venture. SpongeBob knew it all too well, because he titled his head back and rubbed his chin in deep thought. ‘’Come to think of it, that’s not a half bad idea. Could get Pearly outta me hair for a few hours. That is, if ya don’t mind.’’ ‘’Sure, whatever, but—‘’ ‘’She’s been drivin’ me crazy, that kid! Y’know how much the phone bill was this month? Calling and texting! I swear, she’s as bad as her grandmother, she’s got that phone growing right outta her ear! I caught her talkin’ to some friend at two in the mornin’! Two! What’s with kids these days?’’ ‘’It’s a mystery,’’ SpongeBob agreed. ‘’Look, can I ask you—‘’ But Mr. Krabs cut him off again. ‘’She’s eatin’ me outta house and home! I can’t wait till she finds a nice man to settle down with and move out. Well, truth be told it breaks me heart to think of it. You try to hold them as long as you can, but then a day comes when they don’t want to be around you no more. SpongeBob, never have children. You’ll live longer. I’ve been going grey since the day she was born.’’ ‘’That’s what I want to ask you about.’’ Mr. Krabs suddenly snapped his head towards SpongeBob as a dark look crossed him. ‘’You’re poppin’ me the question, ain’t ya, laddy?’’ ‘’Huh? What are you even talking about?’’ Mr. Krabs slung a strong arm around his shoulders and pulled him close. ‘’You’re a nice kid, SpongeBob. I’ve always thought of you as the son I never had. But I don’t know if you’re right for Pearl. No offense. So before you ask, I just have to say one thing: you’re already part of the family, and if you think marrying me daughter is going to get you that promotion, then think again. Because family or no family, you’re just not manager material!’’ SpongeBob blinked, and then shook his head. ‘’It’s not about Pearl.’’ Instead of growing relieved, this seemed to anger Mr. Krabs even more. ‘’What? Now you’re saying you’re too good for me daughter?’’ ‘’No, Pearl’s fine, it’s just—‘’ ‘’Just fine, eh?’’ ‘’She’s great, okay?’’ ‘’She’s pretty, right? Prettiest in all the seven seas?’’ ‘’Yes, absolutely!’’ ‘’So you do fancy her?!’’ Finally, SpongeBob had to push against the crab’s chest to knock some sense into him. ‘’Mr. Krabs, will you just listen to me!?’’ ‘’You’re not poppin’ the question?’’ ‘’No.’’ ‘’What is it, kiddo?’’ Mr. Krabs inquired, finally calming down. ‘’Well, you see…you dye your hair, right?’’ Mr. Krabs suddenly looked self-aware and his claws went instinctively to his head. ‘’What makes you say that?’’ ‘’Well…don’t get mad at me…but a long time ago, I saw this picture in your desk…’’ ‘’Oh, that one. Well, the cat was bound to come outta the bag sooner or later.’’ ‘’So…you went grey after the war?’’ SpongeBob asked. ‘’It was a few years after the war, actually, but yes, eventually I greyed at fifty.’’ ‘’That’s normal, isn’t it?’’ ‘’Sure, but I didn’t want me old Navy buddies to see how much I aged. And so I tried to find a dye that matched me natural color, with no luck. Me hair, SpongeBob, was a dark oak brown back in the day. Hard to believe, no? At least I wasn’t balding, but me friends still had dark hair at me age and I felt ashamed. So I holed up on a small Greek island, hoping that I’d be able to find au nat-ur-al hair color. Turns out that the only Greek colorings available were all unnatural hues of red.’’ ‘’Didn’t your friends say anything?’’ ‘’Nah. Me new red hair blended in with me claws so much, they forgot how dark I used to be. Why’re you asking me all this anyhow?’’ ‘’Oh,’’ SpongeBob smiled, ‘’No reason.’’ Mr. Krabs wasn’t so sure he believed him, but decided not to ask any more questions. ‘’So you’re picking up me daughter at eight and bringing her back no later than 9:30.’’ It wasn’t a request, it was a command. ‘’Take her somewhere fun, and make sure she throws out that damn shell phone!’’                                                                                *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * Maybe it was common for forty-somethings to dye their hair, and though he didn’t mind coloring well into Squidward’s age, he didn’t know if he could keep that up until his seventies. If Mr. Krabs was still dyeing his hair at his age, SpongeBob wondered if he would ever be able to escape. When do you stop? He was reminded of a dinner party a few months ago, when he, Patrick and Squidward decided to have a date, only for Squidward to crash the party. He kept complaining about how lonely and depressed he was, and when SpongeBob asked him why, his response was, ‘’Have you ever had to bury your own mother at 24?’’ He deeply sighed and lamented how he wished he knew how to die. SpongeBob and Patrick of course dismissed such talk, as this wasn’t unusual for Squidward, but his words haunted SpongeBob in that very moment. Squidward didn’t know how to stop what had been started. That’s kind of how SpongeBob felt now about obsessing over his greying hair. No one tells you how—or when—you’re supposed to stop. Intellectually, he knew there would  be a day when he would no longer color his hair. But how do you know when that day is? Will it be when his children go off to college? After his youngest child’s wedding? At the birth of his first grandchild? Or would he be the little old man in the nursing home who, with his last dying breath, demanded that the hair colorist be brought in for a final touchup? He shivered at the thought. And here he always regarded the two men he looked up to the most, Squidward and Mr. Krabs, as having aged gracefully. But they were as obsessed with their own mortality and vanity as SpongeBob was now at 25. He didn’t want to be like that forever, especially not at their age. All that stress would cause him to grey faster. And so as he went to pick up Pearl that night from the Krabs’ residence, he knew a teenage girl may be his last hope. Squidward and Mr. Krabs’s ‘’going grey’’ stories only made him feel ridiculous. A young man such as himself shouldn’t be trying to make himself look younger as though he were 45 or 70, going through a pre-existential crisis. Patrick’s grey-free locks—at 28—only made him feel envious. And Sandy’s cut and dry briefing didn’t help much either. He didn’t need lectures or experiences to help him through this. He just needed to let loose. He was about to knock on the door when it opened for him, and there stood Pearl in the doorway looking stunning as ever. Her dark hair, which was usually elaborately coiffed at the side of her head, was now pulled back into a bun with a pink bow to tie it in place. She wore an off-the-shoulder sweater over a sundress, plum in color, her long skirt ruffling in the light breeze. A silver bracelet danced on her wrist as she raised her arm to greet him. It matched her gold lipstick. As she looked into his eyes and gave him an innocent, childish smile suitable for a six-year-old, especially with that beauty mark at the top corner of her lip, all the breath left his body. ‘’Hi, SpongeBob,’’ she said. ‘’Um, hi.’’ He was surprised he could still speak. Pearl was just a kid, but she was growing up fast. Mr. Krabs suddenly interrupted them, appearing behind his daughter. ‘’Remember, have her back no later than 9:30, or I’ll make sure you never grill a single Krabby Patty for the rest of yer miserable life.’’ ‘’Daddy, stop embarrassing me,’’ Pearl teased, and kissed him on the nose before she stepped out onto the porch. SpongeBob suddenly felt underdressed in his blazer and khakis. He wasn’t even wearing dress shoes. ‘’Make sure she has the best time of her life or yer fired!’’ Mr. Krabs exclaimed before closing the door.     ‘’He doesn’t mean it. You know he’ll never fire you,’’ she reassured him. ‘’I know,’’ he said. ‘’Um, I don’t drive, so we have to walk…if that’s alright. Or we can take the city bus.’’ ‘’Walking’s fine. It’s nice tonight, huh?’’ and she stepped off the porch, waiting for him to follow. ‘’Say, I’m going for my boating license soon. If I get mine before the next date, we can take a drive down at the beach.’’ Next date? He hoped she didn’t think they were going steady, or was only using him to impress her friends because she had a 25-year-old ‘’boyfriend’’. He hoped she knew this was just a favor for her father, although he liked her well enough, but truthfully, she was just too young. Once they got to ground level, SpongeBob realized she wasn’t wearing her usual platform sneakers, but instead, she was wearing flats, perhaps in an attempt to make him feel taller and less awkward. ‘’So where’re taking me?’’ she asked, as she fished for her shell phone in her purse and began to text someone. He eyed her, hoping she wouldn’t be more interested in the phone than in him through the course of the night. ‘’Sssh,’’ she said, putting a finger to her lips when she noticed his look, ‘’Daddy tried to hide my phone but that’s why I always keep a spare. If he finds out I have this, I’m grounded until I graduate college.’’ SpongeBob shrugged. ‘’I won’t tell if you won’t.’’ She laughed. ‘’I always thought you were weird, but you’re kinda cool, SpongeBob.’’ He laughed too, and for the first time all day, he forgot about his dilemma. He looked at Pearl again, in her Maybelline cat eye, and avant-garde chandelier earrings, and wondered if she would ever worry about aging. She didn’t seem to worry about anything. Even though most teenagers never thought too far down the road—he knew at Pearl’s age, he didn’t; he never thought he would ever get old—she didn’t seem the type to develop a keen appreciation of head scarves to hide eventual hair loss, and who would learn the lesson of never traveling without an emergency box of hair color. ‘’Hey, Pearl—‘’ She closed her phone and excitedly remarked, ‘’So I just texted my friend and she said there’s this swanky new joint in town, some new Tiki bar that just opened up! Wanna go?’’ ‘’You’re not the legal drinking age,’’ he pointed out. ‘’I’ll get in trouble if—‘’ ‘’I won’t tell if you won’t,’’ she shrugged. She grabbed him by the hand and they walked towards the direction of the bar. ‘’So, SpongeBob, you were going to ask me something?’’ ‘’Um, yeah. I just…see…it’s complicated…’’ he stopped in his tracks, and when she tried to pull him, he wouldn’t budge. ‘’Who died?’’ she asked. ‘’My hair.’’ ‘’Your hair?’’ ‘’I found a grey hair this morning.’’ She raised an eyebrow at him. ‘’Rough. Hey, aren’t you only 25?’’ ‘’Yeah.’’ She approached him and, with a mischievous grin, she lightly poked his chest. ‘’Oh c’mon, you’re SpongeBob, you’re, like, supposed to be the happiest dude in Bikini Bottom! Do you think one little grey hair is gonna get him down?’’ SpongeBob looked at her, trying to smile, but it pained him to do so. ‘’I’m not always as happy as everyone thinks. I was like you yesterday. So full of life. Now I know how Squidward feels. Someday, it’s all over.’’ ‘’Nothing lasts forever,’’ Pearl said. ‘’If it did, they’d make permanent lipstick that didn’t fade throughout the day, am I right? But you don’t see me crying about it. That’s what the powder room’s for.’’ ‘’Yeah, I guess you’re right.’’ ‘’Let me tell you a story.’’ He sighed. ‘’I think I’ve heard enough today.’’ ‘’No, just listen. See, when I was a little girl I used to love playing with my grandma’s hair. It was pure white, like snow. I thought it was so pretty. I asked her, ‘Grandma, when I’m your age, will I have long flowing white hair someday?’ I wanted to know how the world saw her and how she saw herself. I also asked why she decided to stop coloring her hair and was shocked to hear that she never colored in the first place. That generally leads to mental calculations about how many schools could have been built with what people spend in pursuit of avoiding grey hair. The moral of the story is, SpongeBob, my grandma wasn’t ashamed of aging. Once she started going grey, that was it. She just let it happen. I always wanted to be like her. And even though I’m wearing make-up now, I know someday I’ll think it’s silly. All I know is, when I’m old, I’m gonna have white hair, and rock it like there’s no tomorrow. Who cares what people think? In my opinion, I think it’s childishly stupid that my dad doesn’t let his hair grey naturally. I think he looks better grey, the handsomest man in this little town.’’ She playfully nudged his shoulder when she finished. He listened to her story, and realized she was right. It’s going to happen someday. You can’t avoid it forever. Might as well throw caution to the wind, and whatever happens, happens. He smiled. He couldn’t believe he was taking advice from a 16-year-old girl, but she had a profound wisdom beneath all that typical adolescence. ‘’You know what, Pearl? You’re right.’’ ‘’Amen, lil’ brother!’’ she laughed, and held up a hand for a high-five. He returned the gesture and said, ‘’Amen, lil’ sister.’’                                                                                Fin

[dearmyblank]

dear pretty boy,

I miss you. dropping you off for your flight back home broke my fucking heart. it's hard to believe there was ever a time we hadn't met in person. you're my home, J, 2,000 miles away or face to face. these last three weeks have been like a dream and your absence has brutally woken me up. 

as you know, I'm quite silent and unemotional in person. I am a girl of few words. this is a letter to put all my thoughts about our first meeting into the world, since I'm better at writing than I am talking.

I remember going to the airport, and just pacing. people probably thought I was nuts, but the excitement robbed me of my ability to contain myself. I had butterflies, and the rush of emotions made my anxiety higher. I had to take Xanax two times before your arrival. I didn't even see you. I was too busy arguing with my friend about how I didn't care about getting in trouble for running to you. she pointed at something, and I turned and locked eyes with you for the very first time. for that split second, the only thing I could think of was "holy shit, he's gorgeous in person". we embraced, and you told me you loved me at least 3 times. my whole body was trembling, and I felt dizzy. nothing felt real. I will forever remember our first encounter. I wish I could relive it.

my family took us to dinner, and I was so full of anxiety that you took me outside. it was raining. alas, we had a sweet few minutes of alone time. you kissed me, and held me until I felt calm. normally I need space when I'm on the verge of a panic attack, but your presence instantly made me feel safe. we went back in and we shared tacos. it all felt so surreal. you were actually with me. my heart could stop pining for you to be next to me.  

when we got home, we sat on the couch and put on the SpongeBob Squarepants Movie. my head was spinning. I was in so much shock, J. we didn't even watch the movie. I was pacing again. you watched me with your big dark eyes (which are, by the way, much more mesmerizing in person) and kept asking me if I was okay. when I regained some control of myself, we goofed off and you took my phone. I chased you down for it. at one point I was on top of you, and I was just kind of like "oh. this is nice". I then asked you if you wanted to go outside with me. it was pouring rain, and that's my favorite weather (as you know). we stood out there for a good amount of time. It was 2AM, and you looked so beautiful standing in front of me with raindrops in your hair. I don't remember what we said, but I know my heart was bursting with love and happiness.

when we came back inside I told you I had to go to bed. my parents didn't want us sleeping together. you suddenly became extremely sad. this is when I showed you the letter I wrote before we met. you kissed me, and asked if I could lie down with you for a few minutes. I couldn't resist. those eyes get me every damn time.

we cuddled in your room. we talked and one thing started leading to another. the tension was high and we made love. thank god I was on birth control. that aside, everything was passionate and felt amazing. you're so perfect. I know you complain about being too skinny, but there is seriously not a single flaw. after our scandalous behavior, we had more deep conversations. I felt no less than absolute bliss.

I soon left for bed, and saw you again the next day. this is when your mental illnesses kicked back in. your anxiety and depression. we left the double date with my friend early and went home. we laid in your bed. you started venting and crying. I cried with you and did my best to reassure you. you felt happy again, and I was content.

I want to take a moment to talk about your mental health problems. I knew a lot about your OCD before we met. you made sure to go into deep detail to aid me in understanding. however, I noticed a few things you did not tell me. over Skype, it sometimes sounded like it was echoing when you said things. in person, I realized it was you repeating what you said under your breath. sometimes you repeated things once, sometimes twice. I also noticed that when taking something out of the fridge or off the shelf, you never took the first one. always the second. you told me this is because 2 is a better number than 1. I also never realized how you only take your food out the microwave when it hits certain times, and how you count how many ice cubes go into your drinks. I'm sorry you feel that you must do these rituals. your anxiety makes you extremely tense. before meeting, you told me that whenever you close your eyes, you see vivid images of horrible things happening. you hear them every so often, too. I know it must hurt and be hard to tell the difference between reality and illness.

you told me that when you're with me, you stop counting. you stop seeing things and hearing things. this is truly amazing to know, even though it is temporary. I want nothing more than to help you through your problems and be the one to love you through them. I'm really fucked up too. being on the autism spectrum and having selective mutism, I hadn't said a word to my aunt and uncle for years. when we saw them, I somehow could speak and hold a conversation. you made my social anxiety vanish. it feels good to talk like a normal person. thank you.

I think we mellow each other out a lot. we make each other less insane and more sane. you balance me out in all the right ways and I feel so whole.

I believe that your soul is peaceful, loving, kind, and pure. everything just hits you so deeply. your mental illnesses turn you into a ball of worry, which is something I truly don't think your soul is. you are gentle. you strive for everyone to be happy. you always come from a place of understanding and heart. I wish I was more like that. I'm lucky to have you help guide me into being a more sensitive human being. please remember that when you are feeling grim, it is not who you are in your core and that you are never alone. I will always be here. you're extremely strong and can control your mind enough to be happy. I promise.

I think I've laughed more in our three weeks than I ever have in my whole life. the belly laughs. the kind where your stomach hurts but you still can't stop. it felt so good, pretty boy. you're not much of a laugher yourself but it seemed as if we were always doing it. when I was being a smart ass during sex, you told me "you're the best person to have sex with". it's crazy, how comfortable we are. you and I are birds of a feather. the connection and chemistry is painfully obvious and even my mom said we're soulmates. I'm going to miss our laughter and goofy moments.

you are my favorite person. you paid for a million ubers just to go where I wanted, bought me things I really loved, carried every bag, matched every outfit with me, got food wherever I wanted, walked to my school to pick me up, always told me to be safe when we were apart, held me whenever we slept together, asked me if I was happy/warm enough/hungry, and cried with me every time I was sad. you are so fucking good to me, and so beyond selfless. you always have been. your heart is golden and I honestly don't know what I did to deserve you. you're my favorite person because of your caretaker nature. your ability to give kindness to everyone you meet. you always took the time to talk to the people we came across. you asked questions that specifically related to them and always acted interested. you're truly special. not many people are as generous or as sweet as you are.

I also love how we're completely comfortable with each other. I'm still beautiful to you with frizzy hair, morning breath, and embarrassing pjs. you're still beautiful to me with acne ointment, messy hair, and stinky farts. I never worry about looking bad in front of you. we've seen each other at our worst, and still cannot find any real flaws. you're my best friend and my partner for life. thank you for loving me despite my insanity and bad hair/face days.

you left less than a day ago, and I'm sitting here with puffy eyes and tear-stained cheeks. even my mom cried when you got on that plane. I felt like I was abandoning you by leaving the airport. I can't stop crying. I know you'll be here in less than a month to see me graduate, but everything hurts. the pain is worth it, though. worth every kiss, hug, laugh, and cry. my 18th birthday is tomorrow. I'm going to spend it wishing you were still here. I didn't get to spend your 17th birthday two months ago with you, so I guess we're even. this is harder though. we hadn't met then.

I love you. I'm doing my best to be positive, as the distance will be completely over in June. 6 years of being 2,000 miles away will finally be finished.

remember, you'll never have anything to worry about. I'll always be yours, no matter what we go through. I'm in this for the rest of my life. you make me so fucking happy, and I will always want to do the same for you. you bring out my best and love me even when I'm everything but perfect.

I'm smelling the shirt you left me, it smells like sweet rain. I adore your scent. too bad this fabric is missing the bones I'm in love with.

you are my sunshine, my pretty boy, and my goose.

see you soon.

forever yours,

your insomniac/goose

[shirohibiki]

KRUSTY KRAB PIZZA ANON, THY WILL BE DONE. i hate this so much like usual and i’m sorry like usual and i’m sorry it took so long like usual. i always do this smh. :/ anyway, anon asked me to do something related to the krusty krab pizza episode. this is dedicated to my darling @salvagedmoose for their birthday, so happy birthday!!! I LOVE YOU AND I HOPE YOU LIKE IT, AND SAME GOES TO ANON AND EVERYONE ELSE <3333

tom ‘IT TOOK THREE DAYS TO MAKE THIS POTATO SALAD!’ smith is throwing yet another tantrum over his food at the krusty krab, taking out his aggression on spongebob. (i had no idea his last name was smith but apparently it is) spongebob is obviously upset by this, and squidward is infuriated by it -- instead of bloodying his knuckles this time, though, he goes to see if he can comfort his neighbor.

it’s actually fascinating how i always write the literal same thing. i don’t get it omfg. this fic is pre-relationship, and while the feelings between them aren’t entirely mentioned, they’re certainly there. not necessarily part of the main storyline, just a one-off. as a note, i had sort of wanted to change rats into some sort of sea creature, but i couldn’t think of any that fit the pun of the movie title, so... i guess... they’re sea rats, or something.

written for my spongebob human AU, info here

“Y’know, I’ve been coming here for a LONG TIME, and I deserve only the BEST food for my loyalty. So what do I get for this? Today, I asked for my kids’ patties to be well-done. WELL. DONE. Y’know what that means? IT MEANS THERE AIN’T NO PINK IN IT, KID.”

Ah, Tom Smith. Easily the Krusty Krab’s most abrasive customer. He had a tendency to be weirdly picky about food – if anything was wrong, you would absolutely know about it. Nothing seemed to anger him more than food and nobody knew why. He didn’t always cause a fuss, but when he did, it wasn’t pretty.

The first time Spongebob experienced Tom’s wrath was long, long ago when Mr. Krabs had invented the Krusty Krab Pizza. He and Squidward had been tasked to deliver it to a customer’s house. It should have been a simple task, but… It turned into a huge journey because the pair got lost on their way. After what seemed like eons, they arrived, and Spongebob proudly presented Tom with the first Krabby Patty Pizza ever. Tom took one look at him and asked where the drink he’d ordered was. The fact of the matter was, he hadn’t actually asked for one, so Spongebob didn’t have it – thusly, Tom’s anger flared. He lambasted Spongebob for not bringing it, subsequently slamming the door in his face. There were to be plenty more incidents after that.

“You call yourself a frycook? I can cook better meat than this! Maybe I should take your job, eh?” Tom loomed menacingly over a cowering Spongebob Squarepants, who only clutched his spatula against his chest. “Go make them again, and make them RIGHT this time, kid. WELL DONE,” he snarled. He then turned on his heel, bubbles forming behind him with the motion, and stormed back to his table to wait with his children who were all, of course, complaining. Spongebob utterly deflated and slumped back to his grill to fill the order.

It was Squidward’s opinion that the customer was almost always wrong.

While many of the Krusty Krab’s patrons were polite, normal people, there were also those who were complete rotten assholes. The horror stories of customer service. The ones you prayed you wouldn’t encounter, but without fail, you would. Tom was undoubtedly the worst of them, and others like Harold were also known for occasional outbursts. It was absurd – they got to treat the employees however they wanted and never had any repercussions for it. They were always served what they were asked for. Customer service was bullshit. It was unfair. It was just plain wrong. These people could whine about the simplest of things – missing sesame seeds on their bun? Throw it out and make a new one. Fries slightly crispier and smokier than usual? Toss it and cook up a fresh batch. Romaine lettuce instead of iceberg? Better get ready to redo everything or make sure you have that refund! Go fetch your manager while you’re at it and consider yourself a failure because one single little detail was amiss. You were wrong and the customer was right. You’d always lose that battle.

How was it fair? How was it reasonable that Tom’s behavior was simply accepted? Why was he allowed to terrorize the person making his food just because the patties were slightly pinker than he wanted them to be? One could only hope he didn’t speak to his loved ones in the same way. As he watched the scene unfold from the cash register, Squidward found his jaw tightening and his fists clenching at his sides. He glared daggers in Tom’s direction. Oh, he was so ready to deck that guy. He’d done it once, and he would do it again if needed. He absolutely could not stand him. The way he treated Spongebob… It incited a fury deep within him. He didn’t quite know why it bothered him so much… He didn’t know why he cared, but he did – and actually, he could feel that he cared more now than ever. No one was allowed to treat Spongebob like that.

No one.

If there was one thing Squidward didn’t like, it was Spongebob being bullied. A tad ironic, since he had a tendency to… Not be so nice to Spongebob… But it was different! No, really, it was different. It wasn’t acceptable when he himself did mean things either, but these people! These people weren’t Spongebob’s neighbor! They didn’t secretly maybe kind of like him deep down! AND, some of them even got physical with him and THAT was just entirely unacceptable. Flats Flounder came to mind. Spongebob did all he could for his customers and Squidward couldn’t stand to see them hurt him. (His own behavior required further analysis, but he refused to believe he was on that level.)

Squidward was still seething as Tom returned to his seat. The wait wasn’t long – a defeated frycook soon emerged from the kitchen with a tray of patties. There was an audible hesitancy in his steps. “Here’s… Your order, sir,” Spongebob said in a small voice, sliding the tray onto the table. The customer sneered at him.

“Yeah, you’d better hope they’re right this time, or I’m taking this to your boss.” Spongebob said nothing as Tom cut one of the steaming patties in half to take a peek inside. Finding they were satisfactorily browned, he grunted, nodding. “Good. You managed not to mess it up. This had better not happen again. Oh, and one more thing, kid – you did remember to put at least seven ice cubes in my diet Dr. Kelp, right?” Spongebob froze with the question at first, praying he had, because he did NOT want a repeat of that pizza delivery… Or worse. Fortunately, he always made extra sure Tom’s drinks were right, so he reassured his racing mind with that fact.

“Yes, sir, I did,” he replied. Doubtful, Tom popped the lid of his drink open to check himself. Everything seemed to be in order.

“You actually managed to do it. Maybe you DO care about your customers!” Snickering, Tom waved Spongebob away. Eyes downcast, the other turned and padded back to his station. Squidward was on the verge of marching right over to the table and slamming Tom’s smug face into the burger – resisting that urge took every ounce of his self-control.

The rest of the day dragged on. Spongebob had understandably gone quiet, and Squidward spent his time thinking about all of the ways he could repay Tom for his immeasurable kindness. At closing time, Squidward watched his coworker leave carefully. “See ya,” the blond muttered impassively as he grabbed his coat and shuffled out the door, not quite paying any actual attention to those around him.

Squidward now had a few options – he could go home himself and forget about it all, he could go have a few choice words with Tom, or he could go see if Spongebob needed…

Comfort.

It seemed Squidward’s feet suddenly began moving on their own – he didn’t even have time to consider or conceptualize his decision. He was already leaving. He didn’t realize what he was doing until he was in front of a pineapple house. He paused to look up at it, wondering for a moment why he was here. It didn’t matter that much, did it..?

The aura of gloom emanating from the house said yes.

Squidward honestly just felt sad – a resonating hollowness in his chest – sure, he got yelled at by customers plenty too, but he deserved it but it was different. The little guy worked too hard to deserve that crap. He wasn’t particularly in the mood to risk getting his ass kicked at the moment, and just going home and ignoring it wasn’t actually an option either because it would never leave his mind. That left him with only one possible course of action. So, with a deep breath, he gave the front door a good firm knock. He wasn’t going to think very hard about how odd this was. He was doing what he felt – what his heart told him to do.

“Come in.”

Opening the door, he found the person he was looking for curled up in a pile of plush blankets on his couch, snacking on brownies and watching television. Gary snoozed away beside him, seemingly unbothered by the disturbance. The room was dark save for the lambent glow of the screen. “… Hey,” Squidward said lamely as he took a few steps inside, noting how tired Spongebob looked. That same unresponsive look was on his face – it was listless and tinged with melancholy. Surprisingly, there didn’t seem to be a single trace of tears.

“Hi.” It was a low, short sound that held no welcome in it. It wasn’t an unfriendly greeting per se, just… Apathetic. Spongebob’s gaze was drawn to his visitor briefly before it returned to his show. The moment hung uncomfortably; Squidward didn’t want to intrude, but… The dejection in those dull blue eyes hurt. He strode over to the couch and sat himself down next to the lethargic lump. Spongebob intruded on his brooding all the time, so whatever! He’d just have to deal with it!

“What are you watching?” Squidward asked as casually as he possibly could while he settled back. He wasn’t going to think about this at ALL. Just go with it, Squiddy. Spongebob flinched a little at the movement before eyeing him curiously, but didn’t seem to question it too much because he nodded back at the TV. He allowed his blankets to fall and pool around his waist, and set the plate of half-eaten brownies down on the table in front of them.

“Um, Ratatouille…”

“Oh?” Squidward took a look – a young man who had just been hired at an upscale restaurant was struggling to cook while a rat darted about, fixing up the food he’d been attempting to make. He wasn’t at all surprised that Spongebob had picked a movie about cooking, even if it had been a subconscious choice. “I’m shocked you’re not crying yet.”

“It’s—it’s still early in the movie.”

“Doesn’t usually stop you,” Squidward teased with a smirk. That smirk fell when he only received a sigh. He watched a few more minutes of the film, seeing Linguini’s ruthless and hateful boss criticize him, and was reminded of what had happened earlier. He wondered if Spongebob was thinking about it too… Must’ve been, with that expression.

It was time to do what he’d come here to do.

His next decision wasn’t one that was normally made lightly – it was something he didn’t usually do, nor was it something he was accustomed to. It was awkward, and if he thought about it too much he’d chicken out. Hopefully Spongebob wouldn’t make too big of a deal over it; if he did, it would reactivate Squidward’s defenses and he would inevitably flee in embarrassment. Squidward took a moment to clear his mind and focused on his sole goal of soothing his neighbor. Exhaling, he reached out and wrapped an arm gently around Spongebob’s shoulders, then tugged him close. Spongebob squeaked in surprise – he’d been tilted to the side and his head was now pressed against his friend’s chest. When he looked up, there was a question in his eyes, but no sound came from his gaping mouth. Squidward merely nodded to him to confirm that it was alright.

Spongebob was left confused – Squidward was hugging him..? Willingly? Why…

… Squidward was so magnificently warm. Spongebob soon found that he didn’t have the energy to deliberate on the implications of this. Ordinarily he would, but… Maybe he’d mull it over later. For now, he experimentally brought the blankets up over the both of them and when Squidward (startlingly) didn’t protest, he tucked himself into his side comfortably while the other kept an arm around him. Grateful for the heat, he nuzzled close.

“Who cares about the customer, Spongebob?”

“… I do.” Squidward caught a tiny hint of a smile tug at Spongebob’s lips when he responded. That pizza delivery had been a rough time, but at least they could joke about it now.

“Well I don’t, and neither should you. Look at that guy.” He gestured to Chef Skinner who was in the middle of lambasting Linguini for the umpteenth time. “They’re just like him. If they don’t care about you, why care about them?” Oh boy, he’d be having a crisis over that statement in regards to himself and his general treatment of Spongebob after he got home…

“Because I like making people happy and I like doing my job right,” Spongebob answered, slowly being lulled into complete relaxation by the sound of the beating heart against his ear, the familiar scent filling his nostrils, the warmth enveloping him, and the beautifully animated city of Paris. Squidward glanced down at his fluffy blond hair, quiet for a moment.

“… You can’t please everyone. You should put more energy into yourself – you don’t need to cater to some asshole’s every selfish whim to do your job right. He shouldn’t have the freedom to treat you like that,” he finally said. Being so unused to comforting Spongebob, his cheeks reddened a little, but he ignored the feeling. He absentmindedly gave Spongebob’s shoulder a squeeze, beginning to rub his thumb in circles against the soft fabric.

“I know… But it doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try.” A shiver ran up Spongebob’s spine. That felt nice. That felt really nice. Even the simplest of touches made him happy. Oh, heaven… He sure was one lucky guy!

“Yeah, but you really don’t have to make sure you put a certain amount of ice cubes in someone’s drink. If you don’t want to punch someone in the face for pushing you around like that, I have no problem doing it for you.” Squidward meant that, too. If that meant getting beaten up for Spongebob’s sake… Oh well. The customer wasn’t always right and he would stand by that notion. It hurt too much to see Spongebob like this – it was weird to actually… Want to comfort Spongebob, but it also felt kind of good for some reason. It eased the sorrowful ache in his chest, and he hoped it eased the one in Spongebob’s, too. He couldn’t bring himself to look into his neighbor’s eyes as he spoke, but it became exceedingly apparent that he was staring.

Spongebob gawked for a few moments, having gone scarlet – that was probably one of the nicest things Squidward had ever said to him. The man he loved had honestly just stated that he was willing to stand up for him, to defend his honor, if need be. It was… Wow. Just… Wow. He could scarcely believe it, but no – no wondering about it for now. No causing a scene. Just accept it. Let the happiness wash over you. Don’t think about it – just feel it. “… Thank you,” he whispered, tears rushing to his eyes. To stave them off, he buried his face into Squidward’s collarbone and took some deep breaths, clutching him tightly. Once calmer, he sniffled and did his best to return his concentration to the television. A movie, the comfort of a best friend, brownies, and a sleepy snail. It was a bad day turned into the best day ever!

“Mm.” Squidward said nothing – he instead kept himself preoccupied with rubbing Spongebob’s shoulder and the story of a rat and a man going against all odds and those who tried to smack them down to help each other realize their dreams. They protected one another… Just as he’d try to protect Spongebob. Tom would get what was coming to him someday.

The pair stayed together the whole night, marathoning movies and gorging on junk food. There were tears and there was laughter. As baffling as it was, Squidward had a genuinely good time. Hanging out with Spongebob wasn’t always so bad… And he seemed to be feeling better, which was all Squidward had wanted. He’d deal with whatever weird feelings arose from it later. Maybe -- just maybe -- he could sort of thank Tom in some twisted way, because his shitty actions enabled he and his neighbor to bond and gave him the chance to be a good friend for once in his life. So thanks, Tom. Your assholeishness really brought people together!

[jimlingss]

The Seven Kinds of Love

Words: 7984

Genre: Fluff, Angst, Smut

Summary: Love - an intense feeling of deep affection.

One; the first time you feel love for something other than Mr. Sprinkles, your stuffed rabbit, is at age five.  

Barely crawling from your mother’s embrace and still scared of skeletons in your closet; you were a tiny child with big dreams in the cruel world. Your parents shielded you from the harsh realities and you lived within a glass bubble but it was perfect.

One sunny afternoon, the playground looked like a dazzling place to be. So, you squirmed out of your mother’s embrace and despite your father’s worried shouts, you ran to the slide and Namjoon slides, quite literally, right into your life.

You bonk heads together and the first time you turn to him, your eyes are blurred through salt water. He’s startled when you begin to cry and he follows with his own wailing after. Both parents come running and when you point to each other, they exchange apologies. Your parents cradle you in your arms and you are sheltered before love could ever hurt you.

The second time you cross paths with Kim Namjoon is at kindergarten and he proves to be destructive as you know him as. You’re stacking a tower of blocks, going up higher than you’ve ever achieved before. Though it was insignificant, in your five year old heart, you felt the first swell of pride. But as you finished with all the blocks, twelve high and before you could even call the teacher to hear showers of compliments….Kim Namjoon walks backwards and with his elbow, knocks it completely down.

This time instead of crying, you scrunch your face and with a balled up fist, you hit as hard as your little arms can, right into his nose.

And Namjoon stands there in utter shock, mouth wide open as blood begins to trickle out. Then he cries, hard. The teachers come running and upon witnessing the scene, they pull you into time out and then you begin crying.

All the other kids turn at the sound of both your not-so-symphonic wailing and screeching. Some kids cover their ears and others begin bursting into their own tears at the shrill sounds. One kid cries so hard, they can’t breathe and they end up throwing up all over the carpet. You suspect they must’ve eaten froot loops for breakfast with their multi-colored vomit.  

It’s so bad that the teachers end up calling every single parent for an early dismissal. They’re exhausted and they let off an ear-load to both Namjoon’s parents and your’s.

Upon recommendation, you and Namjoon meet up the following weekend for a playdate.

“Here.” Namjoon suddenly turns to you, handing you his red frosted cupcake.

“What?”

“Take it.”

You glance at your parents who are busy in the kitchen, chatting with Namjoon’s. The four don’t seem to notice your interaction at the table.

“Why?” You take the cupcake from his hands, biting into it instantly to mark it as yours. You peek at your parents again, fearful that they’ll catch you eating dessert before you’ve finished your real food.

“I don’t like it.” He says with a shrug and pierces his fork into your broccoli, eating it enthusiastically. “I like broccoli.”

You stare at the boy in confusion for a long moment, crumbs of the cupcake lining your mouth. But then your lips tug into a huge grin and you giggle. “You’re weird.”

//

Tugging the picture book out of your backpack, you climb into your father’s lap. “I want to read this!”

“But honey…” Your father furrows his brows. “This is a dinosaur book. You don’t like dinosaurs...didn’t you say they were scary?”

“But Namjoon likes them!” You pout and declare with stubbornness. “So I want to read this book!”

Your father sighs and smiles before complying.

And that was love to you.

Namjoon who was a bookworm, taught you how to read and he taught you all kinds of dinosaurs. Though you were scared, you still mustered up as much courage as you could to look at the pictures. You learnt that love meant sacrifices. And that love meant he ate your broccoli for you.  

“Are you dating Namjoon?” Your classmate runs up to you on the playground, tugging on your sleeve.

“Dating?” What was that?

Whatever it was, she seems to take your silence as a yes.

“Ewwwwwwwwww….don’t you know boys have cooties?” She scrunches her face up in disgust and lets go of your sleeve, cowering away as if you had a disease.

“No he doesn’t!”

“Yes he does!”

“NO HE DOESN’T!!!!” You scream at her, sticking out your tongue and running away before she can say otherwise.

And as you stormed off, you saw Namjoon and grabbed his hand. “We’re dating!” You declare to him suddenly, stubbornness taking hold of you.

His confusion turns into a sheepish smile and he nods. “Okay.”

And it was as easy as that.

Namjoon became yours….well….he still mostly belonged to his parents and Spongebob Squarepants but he was still yours in name. You had dates at the playground where you would make him ‘it’ and he was forced to chase you around. You both collected pretty rocks and traded them with each other, sharing snacks and small kisses on the cheek.

Both sets of parents seemed to think it was absolutely adorable. And when you didn’t know any better, you made a vow to marry him.

“Are you two going to get married?” Namjoon’s mother asks with a crinkle in her eyes as you're handing raisins to him.

You hum, contemplating to yourself for a moment before nodding. “Yeah! I’ll marry him and we’ll go to Hawaii and have lots of kids and lots of cars and dinosaurs!”

You turn to him with a grin and he nods. “And a library with lots and lots of books!” He adds on and all the adults giggle happily.

But as the years passed and you looked back on it, like the skeletons in your closet - it was childish. Embarrassed, you buried the memories and distanced yourself while cringing every time you remembered again. He moved on, grew up and so did you. Like a fairytale storybook of a princess and prince, it lost it’s magic and you became disinterested, tucking it away and forgetting.

But little did you know, there were indeed skeletons in the closet and Namjoon wasn’t just a….

The second time you feel love is at the tender age of sixteen.

Two; First love.

The beginning is filled with shy glances and caught blushes. Rumours spread, ‘he totally likes you’, and before you knew it, he was mumbling a confession with a handwritten letter. You accept with enthusiasm and tears of joy. He likes you back.

It is innocent, the purest form of love. Your heart skip beats constantly and butterflies take refuge in your stomach, fluttering their wings without rest.

Walking home in silence, you look around, avoiding his eyes and he does the same. You nervously tuck a strand of hair behind your ear, letting your hand fall to your side afterwards. It accidentally grazes Taehyung’s hand and you almost flinch away. He looks down and so do you. When your eyes meet again, both of you look away. He clears his throat nervously and with a sudden streak of boldness, grabs your hand.

Biting your lip to suppress a smile, he finally speaks up. “Uh-...it’s just easier this way...you know...so our hands don’t have to hit each other.”

He mutters something incoherent afterwards with a blush on his cheeks, perhaps cursing himself for not being eloquent enough but you suppress a giggle.

When he first kisses you, it is your first and his.

Nervously scanning Taehyung’s bedroom while seated on his bed, he jumps down beside you, the bed dipping instantly. “So…” He nervously begins, stuttering.

“Let’s do this…” You whisper, taking a deep breath.

“Are you ready?” He asks you with a restrained grin, trying to muster up as much seriousness as he can.

“I’m ready.”

“Are you sure you won’t regret this?”

You smile, feeling your heart accelerating as he moves closer. “I won’t.”

His hands grab onto your shoulders and he slowly starts to tilt his head, moving closer and closer. Your eyes automatically shut tight, holding in a breath. And it happens.

Just like that, his lips and yours softly touch. His lips are soft, silk and you can feel the many layers of lip balm with the slight tingling mint of mouthwash. Like a race, your heart stops and then launches off, almost bouncing out of your chest. Butterflies swoon in your stomach and the both of you can’t help but smile against each other’s lips.

“Now what?” He murmurs against your mouth and you giggle.

“I don’t know.” You both move away from each other, stomach hurting from laughter. He topples off his bed and you wipe tears away from your eyes. After so much built tension and that was it?

After a full minute of catching breaths, he turns to you with a glint of eagerness.

“Let’s do it again.”

//

Weeks draw out into months and quickly turns into a year.

You can’t imagine your life without Taehyung and he can’t imagine his life without you.

You take a long sigh of bliss, lying on the grass side-by-side, staring up at the cotton clouds. “Y/N…” He hums your name and you turn to him.

“I think I want to marry you one day.” He muses with a grin and you giggle.

“You’re so silly.” You tousle his hair with a hand but he grabs it, interlacing his fingers in yours.

“But I’m being serious.” He muses with a pout. “We can have a house full of thousands of our kids!”

“Hey that’s too many!” You complain but he kisses your lips and all the worries about the vague future disintegrate. As long as it holds Taehyung, you know everything will be okay, no matter what happens.

“I promise.” He whispers and you believe him.

The both of you exchange promise rings, signifying that you are his and he is yours now and tomorrow. And you really did believe that he and you would stay together until the end of time. But the first love is always fleeting. The magic of rebellion, first love and fearlessness became muted through responsibilities and adulthood.   

There was so much left to do and so many people left to meet, the horizon was still new. You didn’t know yourself and neither did he. He had dreams and you had them too, crazy dreams that the world would end up crippling but you still believed in them wholeheartedly.

Taehyung became your old pair of sneakers that held so much, that you loved so much. They were filled with memories; good days, great days and the bad. But there came a time where you couldn’t slip into them anymore, couldn’t jam your feet in even if you wanted to. He couldn’t walk the great distances and paths that you wanted to go.  Both your sneakers and Taehyung, you had simply outgrown.

But when you looked back at the books, the photos and the ring, you could still taste his lips on yours, the very first kiss. But unlike how sweet it was the first time, for the rest of time it became bittersweet.

Bittersweet.

“Is anybody sitting here?” A voice asks in earshot distance and you look up. Immediately your breath hitches and automatically your head nods.

“Uh- yeah...no one’s sitting here.” You manage a small smile that he returns and he quickly takes a seat next to you.

He’s so handsome that you feel honoured for him to be speaking to a specimen like you. And you don’t realize it but your eyes are glued on him and you’re gaping but luckily he doesn’t notice. “Are you a first year?” He asks and you blink twice before answering.

“Uh yeah. Are you?”

“No, I’m a second year but I swapped my major last year so I have to take this class.” He trails off and you nod, a bit too enthusiastically. He smiles and lets out a bit of laughter in the corners of his mouth before shooting out his hand. “I’m Jin.”

You take his hand, giving it a good shake. “I’m Y/N.”

Before any other other words can be exchanged, your professor walks in and conversations quiet down. As everyone begins to pull out their notebooks to scribble down notes, you realize that you’ve forgotten your pen.

OH MY GOD Y/N! WHY ARE YOU SO STUPID?! You crouch down, digging deeper into your backpack. C’mon it has to be in here somewhere! But it’s nowhere to be found and your face starts rising with red. Your professor continues speaking, writing more and more down on the chalkboard and erasing as he goes.

You decide you’re going to have to write with your blood….that is until someone taps you on the shoulder.

You look up and it’s Jin holding out a pencil and pen. He grins at you, suppressing a giggle and you take it gratefully. You mouth a ‘thank you’ and he nods, turning back to continue writing.

Looks like you don’t have to write with your blood after all.

//

For the next couple weeks, Jin takes his spot next to yours. You can’t lie that it quickly becomes your favourite class and you purposely come early to try to catch some conversations with him, looking as good as you can which means pulling yourself up at seven in the morning.

Jin is more than his attractive looks. You learn that he can be quite childish, entering meaningless banters with you and that he likes to eat a lot, sometimes pulling out chinese takeout in the middle of class and slurping on noodles while the professor glares at him. He never fails to make you smile and your cheeks are always numb from grinning. His high pitched giggle always uplifts your heart, even when you’re entering (hell) midterms for the first time.

Dozing off on the desk, the conversations of entering students jolt you awake. As you open your eyes, you’re met with a steaming cup of much needed coffee.

Except you never bought it.

“What?” You raise your head and a familiar high-pitched giggle from the side reaches your ears.

You turn your head, met with smiling Jin. “Thought you might need that.”

A flush of pink sweeps across your cheeks and you nervously glance to the floor. You bite the bottom of your lip, trying to suppress a huge smile but ultimately failing. “Thank you. I need it badly.” You huff out a breath, grabbing the cup and taking a sip that instantly makes your chest warm and your eyes alert. “Midterms are killing me.”

“Yeah. They can be pretty rough.”

But oddly enough, when coffee is supposed to taste bitter, yours taste pretty sweet.

//

Jin’s the kindest man on the face of the planet, the golden sunshine in the midst of zombie students. Somehow your mind drifts to him when you're studying, before you sleep and anytime when life thinks it’s convenient and that’s all the time. You can’t seem to concentrate when he’s sitting beside you, sometimes tapping his pencil on the desk or clearing his throat. Your heart flutters too many times to count and you can’t seem to kill the butterflies in your stomach.

It’s love all over again.

You can’t wait any longer. Taking a deep breath, you strengthen your mind and muster up courage. Standing and grabbing your bag, you try to catch him as he leaves the classroom. “Jin wait!”

With the sound of his name, he halts outside the hallway and turns around. “Y/N, is there something wrong?”

You both shift to the side and the rest of the students stream out of the classroom. You take another breath of air, tugging onto your backpack.

I was wondering if you would like to go out for lunch sometime. You can do it Y/N….I was wondering if you would like to go out for lunch sometime…

“I was wondering-..” But just as you're about to spit the words out, a voice interrupts, a high-pitched call.

“Jin!” Whipping your head around, you’re met with the most stunning girl you’ve ever seen. Her hair is long, smile is radiant, graceful and she is beautiful, a thousand more times than you.

She waltzes to him and plants a kiss on his cheek. Your heart drops, time seems to slow down to the millisecond and you wonder if you’re even breathing anymore.

“Who is this?” She asks, turning to you.

“Ah. This is Y/N, my classmate. And Y/N this is my girlfriend, Yeomin.”

“Nice to meet you.” She grins and shakes your hand. Every single word dies in your mouth and you can only let out a squeak and a nod.

“What were you saying?” Jin asks with the tilt of his head.

You swallow hard, eyes burning with tears that threaten to flow but you bite your cheek until blood draws out. You will not cry. “Ah. Nothing...actually I have to get going now.” Your voice trails off, every syllable becoming softer and you pave over the cracks of your voice. “It was nice meeting you, Yeomin.”

You scatter off before any other words can be exchanged, before Jin can see your tears and before you can break down.

Three; it is unrequited love.

See. Hear. Feel. But never touch.

He is beside you but a million miles away. It is then that you realize that this entire time, you were worlds apart. He was a prince who was sympathetic enough to spare a few words with you, the peasant. Even if he glanced over, never in a million years would he love someone like you. And even if you were to run after him with all your might, until your sweat became your tears, you were glued to the same spot.

He belonged to someone else, loved someone else and while you watched, you yearned in secret. The stage held them and not the both of you; you were behind the curtains.

You were angry at yourself for letting your heart go so easily, angry that you brought this upon yourself, this suffering. It’s not that serious Y/N. Just stop. Stop. Just stop. But no matter how many times you repeated it to yourself, it seemed like the trickle of your tears only answered.

You would never be able to hold him in your arms, to touch his face or kiss his lips. And when you thought about how he would never be yours, you couldn’t do anything about it but cry and be angry. And you knew that it was pathetic, that you were pathetic and it was just another reason why he would never love you.

Jin never felt the same way, he would never feel the same way or even know how much he hurt you. Underneath your perfect sculpted smile was heartache. Under your perfectly planned words was heartache. He fractured you without even realizing. And you were alone. At night when he wasn’t in your arms but another girl’s, the world whispered to you, ‘suffer quietly’.

Somehow, you couldn’t look or speak to Jin anymore without the feelings of resentment...hatred... pain….and yearning.

But he was never yours to begin with.

Caught between the heat and lost in the intoxication running in your bloodstream, you tighten your hand in his hair. He moans a bit louder and then attaches his lips to your neck, marking it with blacks and blues like your heart.

“Harder Yoongi!” You choke out as he picks up his speed, thrusting in and out.

“Harder!” You choke out and he slams into you so hard that you see stars bursting behind your eyelids. You want to cry, from pleasure not pain but any tears have longed dried up.

With a grunt, he follows with his own release, trickling out from your core and down your thighs. He slides out with ease and collapses next to you. Hot breaths fill the room trying to satisfy exhausted lungs.

Yoongi never kisses you. And you never kiss him.

Four; it is lust.

Mindless sex day in and day out. When he calls, you know there’s only one thing that he wants but it’s exactly the same for you too. Between you and Yoongi, there’s only heated passion and a thirst for each other’s bodies; a convenience.

“Leaving so soon?” He props himself up with his elbow, watching as you slip on your jeans. “You want to stay?”

“It’s better if I don’t.” You reply without looking at him, focusing on buttoning your shirt. “But thanks for offering.”

You turn around once more before walking through the door. He’s on his bed, eyes closed and there’s an empty side that’s inviting you. And maybe if you slid into his sheets, he’d wrap his arms around you. Maybe in the morning, he’d make you a cup of steaming coffee and you could have a pleasant conversation. Maybe there would be a day where he wouldn’t just call you for sex, but for a hug, for comfort or just to hear your voice.

But with a small smile, you leave. Because the last thing you’d ever want to face again is a one sided love.

You didn’t want to catch feelings and you didn’t know if you could anymore. Somewhere along the way, you’ve become numb to it all. And sex with Yoongi only seemed to stir something deep within you that you thought had died long ago.

Maybe if you were in a different place, maybe if things were different, it could’ve worked out. Maybe there would be a day where you could call him yours. Maybe you would walk down the aisle in a white dress and the future would belong to the both of you. Maybe Yoongi would not just want you for your body and maybe he would love you.

Maybe underneath it all, it is love.

But all those things were maybes.

You learn how to laugh again. “Wait - so you’re telling me that you literally filled his classroom floor with cups of water?!”

Jungkook scoffs out playfully. “In my defense, he made me redo the entire project! The project that I worked on the entire semester!”

You wipe away some tears. “So how did he react?”

Jungkook’s eyes darken and he pouts his lips. “He...failed me on the midterm.”

You burst out in another fit of laughter, cheeks numb from your ear splitting grin. You must be contagious because Jungkook starts giggling too and the entire room is brimmed with joy.

Leaning back on the couch, you catch your breath. “Y/N…”

“Hm…?”

“Do you want to go out sometime?” His voice is soft and you hitch your breath. He turns to you with an unwavering gaze but his lips are bitten with nervousness. “Not just as friends….but an actual date.”

“I…”

Jungkook was a friend, a close friend and you did love him. He entered your world, helped you, supported you and made your life worth living again. The both of you were two peas and a pod. He’d crash at your house on Friday nights to watch movies and you’d crash at his for dinner on Wednesday’s. Late night conversations on the phone weren’t rare but rather intimate, sharing experiences and deep thoughts of ‘what if’. He was perfect but you weren’t willing to lose him.

You weren’t willing to risk what you had with Jungkook, you didn’t want to ruin it. One wrong mistake would lead to a breakup and he’d simply be an ‘ex’. Everything was at stake and you weren’t ready. You weren’t ready for love to hurt you again.

“I….We shouldn’t.”  

He nods in response and all conversations cease, silence taking over. “Okay.”

//

He draws distance and you can’t blame him.

He stops calling and you don’t press on about it. He stops knocking on your door on Friday’s and you don’t on Wednesday’s. He stops asking about how your day is, stops asking for stories and stops pondering ‘what if’s’. Life turns back to gray and you don’t push on in fear of driving him even further.

But it is when he is gone, do you realize how much you miss him and how important he is to you. And when the time comes and you’re ready to risk it all - he’s not.

“Jungkook!” You call out to him and he turns around, smiling when he sees you.

“Y/N.”

“It’s been awhile.” Your chest heaves, catching a breath. “How are things?”

“Yeah..yeah..” He nods meekly. “It’s been good.”

You clear your throat, deciding to cut to the chase. “Do...do you want to go out for dinner some time?”

“Actually….” Jungkook scratches the back of his head, pursing his lips. “I’m dating someone now.”

“Oh..” Your mouth stretches into a smile and your head automatically nods. “You are? That’s great!”

“Thanks.”

You don’t know who he is anymore.

Your heart is torn open again, trickling blood and bandages can’t heal wounds.

You could build back a relationship with him again, as friends like you once were. You could pretend that you only wanted to go out for dinner as friends and nothing more. You could ask a million things, who this girl was and what she was like. But you didn’t want to know. You didn’t want to hide behind a mask. You didn’t want to suffer quietly, alone. “Well….I’ll see you around then?”

“Yeah.” Jungkook smiles and your heart squeezes. “For sure! We’ll catch each other sometime.”

Your cheeks are numb, not from laughing but from the perfect smile that’s all too fake. You swallow a lump in your throat. “See you.”

“Bye.”

He was perfect for you and you knew it. Jungkook loved you and he didn’t care about your imperfections. He coaxed you, talked to you and built up your self-esteem again. He cared; crashing into your home on Friday’s to make sure you weren’t lonely and dragging you on Wednesday’s to make sure you weren’t going hungry. He nestled close to you, close to your heart while carefully peeling off the bandages to reveal closed up scars.

But he opened them again, it bled and this time, he wasn’t there anymore.

Bad timing. Missed opportunities.

Five; the one who got away.

Six; it is love.

Jimin was a friend of a friend, an acquaintance of sorts and one blind date led to another, which led to a hundred more.

“Y/N…” He giggles softly, chest rumbling and you smile. “What are you doing?”

“Shhh…Just be quiet.”

Your arms are clasped around his back and his around your waist. You’ve pulled him as tightly as possible with your head rested on his chest, listening to the gentle thumps of his heartbeat. Quite envelopes the air and you enjoy his presence, just him and for once he is yours and you love him dearly.

“I love you.” You whisper out and he hums, the yellow light from the hallway seeping into the room.

“I love you too.”  

Jimin fixes you, cements your heart back together and you know he cherishes you as much as you cherish him. For once, no one loves someone more than the other; it is equal.

He hushes you in the dead of the night. “It’s okay.” He strokes his hand over the strands of your hair and you clutch his shirt tighter in your fists. The pillowcase is already soaked in your tears and he holds your shaking body close.

“You’re beautiful.” He says with utter sincerity and you truly believe him.

Your world becomes less gray and the colours seem to become more vibrant. This time, you’re not worried about the timing or him slipping through your fingers. You’re not worried that he won’t love you back or that your relationship is built on lust. He is yours and you are his.

And you truly believe that he is the one.

But he isn’t.

Life gets in the way. He’s busy and so are you. Everything falls into routine and familiarity. The both of you stop going on dates, opting to stay home to finish some chores instead, too exhausted to do anything else.

‘I promise.’

‘Let’s do it another day.’

‘Sorry.’

‘I’ll make it up to you.’

You know he loves you just as much as you love him but somewhere along the way, love became muffled, mute. When the both of you swore you would never take each other for granted, you do and so does he.

“Are you going to marry me?” You turn to him one evening at the dinner table when it’s gone silent.

He flickers his eyes up to you for a moment before turning back down to his food. “Yeah...but not now.”

“Then when?”

“I don’t know.” He answers sincerely with a shrug. “Why? You want to get married?”

“I don’t know.” You answer with a sigh.

“We both have good careers right? I don’t know if we want to go on that whole kid shebang right now.” He lifts his glass of water and takes a sip while contemplating further. “I mean in a couple years we could move further into the city, get a penthouse or something and really move up the ladder...at least that’s what I want.”

But that’s not what you want. “Jimin….” You stop eating, boring your eyes into him and he stops too. “.....what are we?””

“We’re in love.” He frowns at your question, almost scoffing at the obviousness. “Isn’t that enough?”

But it isn’t.

The both of you had different life goals, were in different places. He was taking a path that you didn’t want to take and neither was willing to compromise. For the sake of being happy, you couldn't compromise.

And just like that, you simply grew apart and fell out of love.

//

“Flight 501 to New York is ready to board. All passengers please proceed to gate 73.”

In front of the entrance, Jimin lets go of his suitcase and turns to you. He softly sighs before mustering a small smile. “So this is the end?”

You were suppose to be carrying your own suitcase, your own passport. You were suppose to leave everything behind and have a life with him. If you were trying to hang onto him, you would be leaving with him right now. But you couldn’t.

You don’t shed a single tear, quietly nodding instead. “This is the end.”

He tugs you into one last embrace. Your arms are clasped around his back and his around your waist. Your head is rested on his chest, feeling the gentle thumps of his heartbeat. In the bustle of the airport, quiet twines between you two and you close your eyes, feeling his warmth for the last time.

And when he pulls away, you don’t linger.

“Bye.” He gives a small wave and you return it with lips tugged at the side.

“Bye Jimin.”

And he enters, turning the corner and disappearing from sight.

When Jimin leaves your life, it is not full of bitterness or anger. You don’t resent him and you don’t cry either. Rather it is one of mutual agreement. You love him but you don’t.

Your friends and family are shocked. They coax and comfort you as if you’re trapped within deep devastation. They walk on eggshells and share sympathies. And you don’t blame them because they swore that you were going to marry him, that he was going to marry you. And you thought so too.

Six; it was love.

Love. You didn’t know what it was anymore. So numb to all the pain, all the people who moved in and out of your life, people that you once knew so well were now no more than strangers. At the end of the day, you realized that you only had yourself, your skin and your bones.

Loneliness became a good friend and you didn’t mind since she was an old friend, she was familiar and she never abandoned you.

But then Hoseok quite literally stumbles into your life and drives her away.

“Hhmph!” You purse your lips tighter, concentrating on holding the stack of papers without spilling them. They’re as high as a tower and you needed to get them into your office quickly. But you walk a bit too fast and you don’t dodge fast enough when some guy is walking backwards and knocks the entire stack with his elbow.

“Ahh!” The whole stack falls, spilling and coating the carpet in white.

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry!” You move your head up, ready to shoot daggers at the stranger but his sunshine smile makes you glare instead.

He quickly turns back to the ground and continues shuffling your papers into a huge messy pile. You give a long sigh thinking about how much time you’d have to spend to reorganize it all.

“I’m sorry.” He repeats himself but you wave him off. Ready to stand with the pile again, he quickly takes it from the ground. “Here let me take it.”

You shoot him another glare but he’s a steel wall and doesn’t let up. You give another exaggerated sigh, making sure he can hear before you mumble. “Follow me.”

You lead him to your office and with a nudge and the point of your finger, he places it on your desk. “I’m Hoseok.” You nod at the new found information, ready to shoo him away so you can get back to work. But the boy is oddly persistent. “Let me take you out to dinner….as a way to apologize.”

“No. It’s fine.” You wave him off.

“No. Let me take you out.” He steps forward and you step back. “I feel really bad.” He points to your tower stack of paperwork. “I know it’s a lot of work and you’ll probably have to stay overtime to organize it. And it’s my fault.”

He was right, you were going to have to stay behind to organize it all. Staring at him once again, you realize you can see pain in his eyes, as if he’s been through the exact same thing before.

“It’s fine..really Hoseok.” You add his name, pressing your hands out.

“I insist.”

“I insist that it’s fine.”

“I insist that I make up for it.”

You were already exhausted from the entire day and know he was just adding more fuel to the fire. With a drawn out sigh, anything to make him stop, you nod.

He grins and you think you swear it’s almost like sunshine itself. “Alright! I’ll wait for you after work. I work a floor down. See you then!”

And before you can protest, he’s rushed out the room.

//

Just as he promises, Hoseok is there when everyone’s clocking out. He offers some help but you wave him off, focusing on organizing instead and he sits there, watching you for a good ten minutes before you glare at him and he smiles. But you’re finished quickly and he follows behind.

“Where are we going?”

He purses his lips. “Hmm….burgers? There’s a place down the street.”

“Sounds good.”

Grabbing your coat, Hoseok follows you as you lock up the office and turn off all the lights. The elevator ride is silent except for the glances he steals at you and you almost scowl at him multiple times. You know he’s innocent and perhaps just curious but you can’t help but unleash your built up rage onto him. You’ve had a long day. You’ve had many long days, too many in a row.

Shrugging shoulders while walking, it seems like the only thing that comes from your lips are sighs. Hoseok is ahead of you but you can’t pick up the pace - your heels hurt too much, digging into the skin of your feet. He stops, turning around and you wonder what’s wrong. But he marches to you and grabs hold of your hand.

You flinch back, almost pulling away but his hand is tightly wrapped around yours. “It’s easier this way.” You frown and he smiles, a sunshine beam. “So none of us gets left behind.”

You grumble something incoherent but he continues on his way. Hoseok doesn’t drag you along or make you speed up, instead he matches your pace, taking a step when you do and stopping when you stop.

//

Beep.

With a sigh, you press the button. “What is it Margaret?”

Her voice emits from the intercom. “It’s Hoseok.”

You sigh again. “Let him in.”

Beep. Beep.

You drop your pen, turning away from the computer. Clasping your hands, you close your eyes and it tingles from the many hours spent staring at the screen.

“Y/N!” And you almost let a smile slip when he calls your name. You won’t lie that he makes you feel a whole lot better in your gray world.

Hoseok pushed himself into your life and you really didn’t mind. In fact, he grew on you and some days you dared say that you missed him. But you wouldn’t let your feelings go so easily. Your heart had crumbled a long time ago and the walls built around the ashes were impenetrable.

“Are you sleeping?”

“Resting.” You mumble and when you open your eyes, you’re met with his smile and a cup of hot coffee. “What is this?”

“Coffee. Thought you might need it.”

You hum in response, lifting the cup to your lips and taking a sip. Instantly your chest is warmed. “Thanks...but is that it?”

“How’s your day going?”

You exhale a long breath, rubbing the sides of your temples while feeling it softly pulsate under your fingers. “Hoseok….why are you doing this?”

“Because I like you.” He says without hesitation, voice is unwavering, gaze strong. And you feel scared, not of him but what you're feeling inside.  

He seems to sense your unease and instantly drop his eyes. “I….I’m sorry.”

“You...you don’t need to apologize.”

“I don’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable.”

“It’s fine.” You blink twice. “I don’t mind.”

And you really didn’t. It wasn’t like the feelings were one sided, you just weren’t quite sure what to feel anymore. You thought you had been let go of love years ago, that it wasn’t possible to love anymore. You didn’t even know what love was.

“Let’s go on a date.” He says one day while you're sitting at the dinner table together.

You stop half-way of putting the pasta in your mouth. “What?”

“Like an actual date. Not as coworkers or friends.” He twiddles with his thumbs nervously. “Or whatever this is.”

There’s a long drawn out silence and your voice refuses to choke out any sound. The clock ticks and seconds draw out to minutes.

“We shouldn’t.”

But instead of nodding or answering an ‘okay’, he doesn’t accept defeat. “Why not?”

And you can’t find an answer.

//

“Cheers to a mission successful!” You clink glasses with the two beside you before downing the rest of the drink. As it passes through your throat, it leaves a burning trail but your eyes shoot open and you’re exhilarated.

“You should slow down.” A voice chimes behind you and it’s Hoseok. He slides beside you and you scoff at him.

“Why? It’s not often we have company parties.” You swing an arm over his shoulder and he flinches, surprised from your unusual skin contact. “Drink up Hobi!”

You get a refill and clink glasses with him. You down two drinks, three which quickly turns to four. Meanwhile Hoseok has his eyes on you, slowly sipping his drink only when you prompt him to. The rest of your coworkers have long said their goodbyes, leaving to their families and loved ones. But he stays with you, waving to them and sighing when you’re snoozing on the bar.

“Let’s go, Y/N.” He moves your arm so that it’s draping over his other shoulder, supporting you as he stands.  

“No!” You slur out. “Let’s drink some moreee!”

“Nope, nope. We’re going home.”

You doze off in the back of the taxi, Hoseok constantly darting his head behind from the passenger seat to make sure you’re okay. After paying, he helps you to your door and when he asks for your keys and you don’t respond, he has to dig into your purse. It’s a miracle when he finds it and he almost wants to scream out in joy.

He plops you onto the couch, not knowing where your bedroom is. He slips off your shoes and slips his own off too, leaving them by the front. Not wanting to intrude too much, he carefully opens each door until he finds one that is undoubtedly yours. Like a gentleman, he plans to tuck you underneath your covers and take his leave. But when he returns, you’re conscious, crouched over on the sofa with open eyes.

“Y/N?” You don’t respond and he leaves to the kitchen, filling a glass of water up. He hands it to you afterwards but you don’t take it, as if frozen like a statue.

WIth a sigh, he kneels before you and takes your hand. Slowly Hoseok opens your palms up and places the cool glass between them. “Drink up.” He says softly. “You need it.”

And you listen, bringing the glass to your lips and the plain liquid douses your cracked throat. “Why are you so kind to me?” You ask him while boring your eyes into his, taking a really good look at him, soaking in every feature.

And he smiles, the tips of his lips rising and his eyes crinkling. “Why? Can’t I be kind?” He giggles, a soft rumble erupting from his mouth. “And I don’t think this is being particularly kind...isn’t this what every decent human should do?”

But you don’t answer him, instead crushing your lips onto his.

It’s a messy kiss, one full of desperation and urgency. You pull the collar of his shirt closer and you inhale, literally stealing his breath away. He’s surprised but quickly reciprocates, moving his arms behind your back to hold you. You slide your tongue out, forcing his lips to part. Shifting off the sofa and with his support, you land right into his lap.

Bodies pressed against each other, his heat tickles your throat and the bitter taste of alcohol lingers on your tongue. Your mind is blank but all you know is that you want him, you want him and you want him.

Much to your dismay, Hoseok pulls away. “Wa- wait.” Both of your chest heaves, completely breathless and trying to inhale again. His lips are stained with your lipstick, completely swollen red. His eyes are far away, pupils blown out and drowning with pleasure and ecstasy. He wants you as much as you want him, you know.

“Wait. You’re drunk.” He says but you shake your head.

“No I’m not.” Your eyes are crystal clear, unwavering and your voice doesn’t slur or shake.

You’re about to attach your lips to his again, but he places a hand on your chest, stopping you. “Wait...wait...are you sure?”

“Please…and don’t stop.”

Hoseok kisses you again. And then he’s kicking down the bedroom door, holding you in his arms. He places you on top of the sheets while you stare at him with pleading eyes, hair ragged and makeup smudged. You’re a mess. “You’re beautiful.”

He smiles and doesn’t let a second to spare before kissing you again and again.

Then he’s dragging his tongue along your neck and you moan, soft sounds slipping from your mouth. He grins along your skin and you call out his name in muffled syllables. Clothes peel off, littering the floor of your room until there’s nothing but heat, sweat, skin and kisses between the two of you.

You clutch his shoulders tightly, nails scraping along his skin as he begins pulling in. He’s plowing, pushing, pulling and dragging into you and the only things that you can think of, can spill from your lips in screams is his name. The knots in your stomach finally ease their tension as pleasure crashes down on the both of you simultaneously.

Hoseok collapses on top of you and you’re breathless, body numb from the overdose of sensations.

Without you realizing, his arms wrap around your body and he’s holding you close in a tight embrace. “Hoseok…” You mumble his name, turning your head to meet his sheepish smile. He’s against your hair, eyes fluttered close and your heart pumps. “Are you leaving now?”

His smile falters and his brows twist together in worry. “Do you want me to leave?”

No. “Didn’t you already get what you wanted?”

“Y/N….What are you talking about?” He blinks several times, mouth open. “What I want isn’t just your body. I want you. Everything of you.”

Tears trickle from your eyes, dripping onto the white pillows and his arms hold you tighter. “I love you.” He confesses and the wall crumbles down.

Warm silence envelops the room and you find your voice in whispers. “Will you break my heart?”

“I won’t.” He kisses your lips softly. “I promise.”

“You can’t promise that.”

“I just did.” He strokes your hair and wipes away your tears with the pad of his thumb. “And I will keep it.”

And Hoseok holds the ashes of your heart within his hands.

Loving him isn’t instantaneous. It isn’t the snap of a finger or a quick realization. But rather, it’s a seed that’s planted, watered and tended to over time. For the first time in your life, when you hug him, his arms wrapping around your waist and yours around his back, pulling him close, he isn’t fleeting. His love never holds the feeling of temporariness and it never fades. It was a warm feeling that settles and stays with you, in the pits of your stomach that makes you feel full again.

Your shoulders feel lighter and you allow yourself to lean on him. He makes you blush, giggle and kisses are always nervous ones, unsure ones. But there are also ones full of heated passion, lust but mostly love.

“I love you.” He whispers to you every night, lulling you to dreams and he doesn’t mind that you can’t say anything back. He grows with you, moves with you, takes your hand and walks the same path without ever deterring or leaving you behind. And you never take his love for granted.

You laugh at all his silly jokes, his playful banters that are exchanged through heat of the moments. He pouts and grins with dimples on each cheek. “I’m your hope~” He quips but it isn’t a joke to you, no matter how many times you swat him away and laugh. But behind it all, you see who he truly is. And while the two of you cry, you hold each other in arms and embraces. He kisses your tears and you wipe his away.

With patience and precision, he sews the ashes of your heart together and never lets it go.

“Hoseok…”

You call his name one Sunday afternoon while sitting on the sofa. The dawn sunshine bleeds into the room, behind the blue curtains, illuminating his sun-kissed skin. There is nothing but silence and the gentle ticking of the clock.

He hums gently, turning his head to you and smiles.

And with tears rolling down your cheeks, when you thought it wasn’t possible anymore, you told him. “I love you..so so much.”

“I love you.”

Seven; a love that lasts forever.