#We have over 10 years experience in this field.

[carryonmylovelies]

omg hey hotties 😭😭 im back !

[makeyoumine69]

Till Death Do Us Part Masterlist 🪓 | Patrick Bateman x Innocent!Fem!Reader Series

— PAIRING: Patrick Bateman x Innocent!Fem!Reader; [no y/n]

— SYNOPSIS: 1987. Your name is Rebecca Rice, you were born in Houston, Texas, but then your family moved to New York City in hopes of a better life. And it really paid off, as your father became successful in business and made several important acquisitions—the Bateman family being one of them. You and Patrick have known each other since childhood, but you have never liked each other. A golden boy from day one, he despised you because you were not as rich as he was. Fortunately, you parted ways after high school and have seen each other several times over the years, as your mother has a good relationship with Mrs. Bateman. At some point, you even thought that your teenage crush on Patrick had faded and you finally managed to build relationships with another guy, but sadly, it didn't work out because your family didn't accept him. Just like they didn't like your choice of career, but you didn't care because you always wanted to work in the medical field and help people, being a nurse was really tough. The hardest times came when one day your mother told you that in order to help your father you had to marry Patrick Bateman and you had no other choice because you didn't even know what was behind this deal, but you promised yourself that one day you would find the answers to all your questions. If you survived this marriage, of course. For it was obvious that sooner or later everyone would expect you to bring an heir into this world. The world of corruption and sin.

— CONTAINS: SMUT, ARRANGED MARRIAGE, enemies to lovers dynamics, dark explicit sexual content, drugging, breeding, misogyny, degradation, objectification, etc.

— A/N: This is my secret writing project that I've been working on all this time with one of my good friends. I couldn't stop thinking about the concept of an arranged marriage since I wrote Obsession. So I decided to make an experiment and write a story with a reader, but without y/n, who has an established background and name. I hope it works out and you will enjoy experiencing this story through Rebecca's eyes!

Amazing cover by @iron-flavored-lipgloss!💋

Chapter one — 02/07/2024

Chapter two — 05/07/2024

Chapter three — 10/07/2024

Chapter four — 13/07/2024

Chapter five — 24/07/2024

Chapter six — 03/08/2024

Chapter seven — 05/08/2024

Chapter eight — 09/08/2024

Chapter nine

Chapter ten

Related songs:

Kim Wilde — You Keep Me Hangin’ On

 Stevie Nicks — Edge of Seventeen

 Britney Spears — Criminal

Stevie Wonder—Part-Time Lover

Sade—Smooth Operator

Roxette—Listen to Your Heart

Laura Branigan—Self Control

Modern Talking—Cheri Cheri Lady

Pet Shop Boys—It’s a Sin

Miley Cyrus—Gimme What I Want

Pastel Ghost—Shadows (Slowed Version)

Britney Spears—Break The Ice

Katy Perry—E.T.

Madonna—Like a Prayer

Cascada—Everytime We Touch (Acoustic)

Thank you for your time!🖤✌

[youbutstupid]

What d’you think is the “best” trait the main bau team members have?

OH I love this question thank you so much. There’s a lot so bear with me

Hotch: his compassion for his team. He’s an extremely compassionate and empathetic leader, constantly allowing for his team to leave work if they need to and following them on their hunches, even if they seem unlikely, purely because he loves and respects each of them. Quite often Hotch is portrayed as stone faced but I’ve honestly never seen a male leading character be so openly loving to their team.

Gideon: how much he cares for the victims in his cases. Gideon is often characterised as being a bit clueless to the feelings of his team, yet he never is to the people he is trying to save because he puts his everything into it. He has always been so open and accepting in cases which was rare for a 51 year old man in 2005; he was very willing to let go of his old ways and what he used to know so that he could evolve with the changes in society in order to best help the people he was saving. We also got to see his book of the people he saved. It was amazing.

Rossi: his ability to read and help the people on the team when no one else does. I wholeheartedly believe that if Rossi was present during the Hankel case, Reid would not have gone through his addiction alone. Rossi is always the one to call out people who try to hide their problems and he puts in so much effort to help them, even using his hours outside of work to do so. We see him waking up early to help Hotch coach Jack’s football matches, him inviting Penelope over for scotch so that she can finally disconnect from technology and him hosting the cooking class, the wedding and Strauss’ funeral dinner ar his house. His character development from being weary about the team to adoring them all individually was amazing.

Reid: I love how despite him admitting that he has trouble with emotions, he is always the one doing everything he can to be an emotional support when people around him are struggling. We see him try and comfort Elle when everyone else disconnected from her, he stayed with Garcia the entire time when she was shot, he is the one to call Emily to ask if she wants to hang out when she started disconnecting due to the Doyle situation, he is the one to try and help JJ with her PTSD in season 10 and so on. He doesn’t like the idea of the people around him going through things alone despite the fact that he often tries to go through things alone and he is extremely selfless in this sense.

JJ: I am constantly inspired by how throughout the show, she is repeatedly putting in effort to try and improve herself as a person and as an agent. We never see her get cocky, even when she deserves to be like she was in the FBI from a very young age, she had one of the most challenging jobs as the press liaison and then she was able to work herself up to profiler where she was one of the most formidable people on the field. Despite how impressive she really is, the audience are never given a chance to consider it because she never boasts about it and instead spends everyday striving to be better.

Morgan: he is always willing to take on a leadership role when he has to, yet he is always willing to give it back to Hotch when he doesn’t need to take it on anymore. I’m not just referring to season 5 either, I’m talking about any time when Hotch is unable to take on his role. Morgan respects Hotch a lot and is always willing to support him by taking on the role of team leader when Hotch can’t anymore, yet he never tries to take the role permanently for himself, despite being told he could by Strauss. Despite his years of experience and his leadership skills, he is willing to give up the role because he sees it as what is best for the team and he respects Hotch too much to keep it.

Elle: her protection of women. Elle was, in my opinion, ahead of her time. She previously worked in the sex crimes division and in season 1, she was the only female profiler and she did not step away from her previous role as an advocate for women in sex crimes just so she could better ‘fit in with the men’ of the BAU; she instead brought her perspective with her and implemented it in her cases. She was the only one in episode 3 to look at the woman who was assaulted and realise how uncomfortable she must have been surrounded by men. She ended her career in the BAU fighting for women and it hurts me that the BAU lost her.

Garcia: she never, ever stops being herself, even when people question her or bring her down for it. Sadly, because Garcia is the brightest person in the room, she is quite often the one who the profilers take their frustrations out on; we have seen JJ, Morgan, Hotch, Rossi and Emily all do this. Despite this, she doesn’t waver, she doesn’t stop being the brightest person in the room just because someone is simply not in the mood for her to be because she knows that she does not need to apologise for simply existing as her authentic self. In the episode The Black Queen, 9x12, her ex tells her that they both used to make fun of girls like her, and she corrects him saying that he made fun of girls like her, this was who she always wanted to be. This is so empowering to me.

Prentiss: my love, she was so unbelievably loyal to those around her and this was clear from the beginning. She was the only one to question Reid’s suffering in season 2, she literally uprooted her life and faked her death so that her team’s lives could be protected in season 6. When she found out JJ was in danger in season 9, she was so quick to jump on a plane back to help her. When the team calls for favours whilst she is in London, she always answers to help them. When Reid got arrested and imprisoned in season 12, she didn’t once believe that he committed the crime of which he was accused and even risked her entire career tampering with possible evidence so that it couldn’t be used against him. She is loyal to a fault and so many don’t acknowledge that.

Todd: we only got Todd for 9 episodes but I loved how human she was. She was the first character to make the audience realise that none of what we were looking at was normal. By season 4, the audience became very desensitised to the crimes that we were looking at and Todd broke us out of that and she also was not afraid to call out the fact that it wasn’t normal that the profilers were desensitised either. I respect how in the end she would rather admit that she couldn’t do the job anymore than lose that human side of her. I also loved how she made sure Hotch never took JJ for granted.

Seaver: we never got to see much of Seaver’s development because of the writers, but I loved her willingness to learn. Seaver hadn’t even graduated from the academy when she joined the team, she was not a profiler, she wasn’t even a qualified FBI agent. Watching her learn and grow in such a traumatising field and take it all in her stride was so incredibly interesting to watch. I also loved watching her friendship grow with the team; going to the cinema with Reid, Morgan and Garcia, gaming night with Rossi and going out for curry with Reid. 

Blake: Blake was so incredibly talented and so unbelievably smart but instead of using it as a way to get ahead of her team, she used it as a way to relate to them and bond with them. She almost became a protective figure over them and she took that role very seriously too. It was honestly amazing watching her mind work and how easily she was able to take on her role as a profiler because of it. I know I just named multiple good qualities but it is incredible to me how much her character was able to grow and be adored in just two seasons, she had no idea what dynamic she was getting into when she joined the team yet she fit in perfectly and adapted to it so quickly in order to help them and gain their trust.

Callahan: her confidence. She went into that bullpen being unapologetically herself from the beginning and she fit herself into that team without an ounce of apprehension. She made so much effort to establish herself and she was not shy about it which I adored; she had banter with Rossi, she opened up to Reid, she carpooled with JJ, she became a close friend for Garcia and she gained Morgan’s trust all within a few episodes; the last two being hard to do as a new member of the team. I love how she didn’t question where she belonged, she knew she belonged.

Simmons: to me, Simmons was just so incredibly sweet. When he first joined and I saw that he was buff and conventionally attractive, I was weary that he was just going to be another jock detective that we see in other shows, but he wasn’t. He, again, was an incredibly strong and skilled agent yet when he arrived on the team he took everyone for who they were and never once acted like he was in any way better than them because he had skills that they did not have. He was just a nice person and that may sound like a basic description but to me, it’s the best description to give a person. I felt genuinely safe with Matt’s character on the screen because it was just lovely to see a man on the screen who was just good.

Lewis: OH I love this woman. Tara brought a new element of self assurance to the screen and also humour. She, again, was very unapologetically herself and she knew her worth, as we saw when she went through her breakup, which was so refreshing to see because it is rare you see a woman know her value and not be portrayed as cocky for doing so. She is also a character that marked her place on the team and I also love how unafraid she was to come out and say that she was dating a woman, which was a risk in itself because the BAU had never had an openly LGBTQ+ profiler before. I also loved how she brought ‘your mum’ jokes to the show because watching a 50 year old woman with a doctorate make multiple ‘your mum’ jokes is all I needed from the show if I’m honest.

Alvez: I don’t want to repeat things too much but I also love Luke’s loyalty, which is something we also saw from very early on in his time in the show. Bear in mind when Reid was in prison, Luke was only on the team for a very short period of time, yet he believed wholeheartedly that Reid was innocent and even made threats for his safety. I also love how he took Garcia’s original dislike of him in his stride and honestly embraced everything about her, whether it was her distrust in him or her ‘quirkiness’ as the team would dub it, he took it all in and loved her because of it all, not in spite of it.

[somewhere-at-the-burrow]

𝒯𝐻𝐸 𝐿𝐸𝒜𝒢𝒰𝐸 𝒞𝒰𝒫

⤹ 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐬 // 𝐊𝐞𝐧𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐊𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐬 !

(( I finally made it to a professional quidditch game! ever since I got into shifting, I have been waiting for this moment and this post is inspired by what it was like and how absolutely immersive this experience was. I only stayed for one day, so this was the main event of my shift last night! I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS FINALLY HAPPENED CAN YOU TELL IM EXCITED !! holding myself together all day until the moment i'm writing this has been unbearable and all I want to do is tell someone about this so let's begin!!))

★ it is pretty common for most professional League games to be held at a large pitch in Dartmoor. it is a permanent structure that can be visited by portkey / floo network (similar to the World Cup). for the final game in the League, many many people came to watch and the area was full of people camping out overnight to spend time at the fairgrounds !

★ I honestly did not expect the event to encompass that much space, but when we got there rows of tents and vendors lined the grassy fields and I was so grateful that my friends and I decided to come a couple hours earlier

★ in the fairgrounds, there were so many quidditch centered vendors selling a range of things from broom kits to the latest gloves to luxury brooms

★ the luxury brooms were absolutely breathtaking to look at! i am such a quidditch geek in this reality, so Cedric had to physically drag me away from this one display of a foreign racing broom that was so stunning and sleek IF I GET RICH IM COMING BACK FOR IT

★ the whole environment was more magical than I could've even imagined. the whole time we walked to the pitch, music and the sound of little trick charms surrounded us. there were tiny fireworks and whistles and bagpipes, too. it was overstimulating but in an enthralling way... I never wanted to leave, truly.

★ another thing that was completely fascinating to me was the giant pictures of the team players moving around and waving and doing all sorts of portrait shenanigans. these were on the side of the pitch!

★ ONE OF THE KESTRELS CHASERS OH MY LORD. his name was Conor Quinn and the whole time Ginny and I kept looking at each other every time we saw his poster because that man is so attractive. it came with scrutiny from the boys, but no regrets!!!

★ when the game was about to start, it was so exhilarating because it was a crowd effort. the crowd was involved in so many chants and hearing the rush of people screaming for their favorite players was so so cool (i was unashamedly chanting as well. looking back, I was kind of obnoxious but oh well! that is the experience!)

★ a chant I remember so vividly was a series of claps while people synchronized "HOLYHEAD .... HAR-PIES!". I swear the entire Harpies fanbase was there we CARRIED the chants

★ when I tell you this quidditch game was in my top five moments of life... I cried when the ball was released & I have no shame!!

★ the Harpies were behind by quite a bit in the first half of the game, and we genuinely thought they were going to lose. in this reality, the snitch is worth a different amount of points, so if Grace Belling (the Harpies seeker) would've caught it, they still would have lost

★ sometime around this point, one of the older beaters (Finn O'Cleary) got knocked off of his broom and when I say he was older I THOUGHT HE DIED. that poor guy just layed in the pitch for so long until the substitute came in and it was such a dramatic turn of events we didn't even know what to do in the stands

★ nonetheless, the Harpies caught up again and everything was so expertly planned it was AMAZING

★ the nose dives?? the sharp turns around the stands?? IT WAS SO EXPERTLY EXECUTED and Iris and I were on the edge of our seats trying to memorize the moves to use next year in quidditch

★ it's no surprise but the Harpies caught the snitch and they won!! they waited until their points were exactly 10 over before they went for the snitch, which was so risky last minute but it made for such a thrilling game!!

★ the crowd was absolutely WILD. especially since it was the seeker's first year on the professional team and she already won the League Cup. the players were flying over the chanting crowds and everything was ballistic

★ Ginny and I were throwing our hands up and I hit Harry really hard accidentally and I felt so bad and he just brushed it off saying I was having a good time. it ended up bonding us more though and we shopped around together in the final shop before we left!

★ I got the COOLEST poster for my room. i've made it a goal in each of my DRs to collect as many knickknacks as possible for my room, so this moving poster of the updated team was perfect :)

★ anyway, the party was very much still going at the fairgrounds when we left around dusk... my god the irish really did "have their pride on!!"

note: i realized i wrote so so much (and i could still write more!) but here is what it was like for me! truly one of the best nights of my life.

we ended up going home and having dinner in the garden, which i might write about as well bc that is kind of a family tradition on big days!

much love if you've read this far!!

daphne (your local harpies fanatic)

[a-very-tired-jew]

Let's Talk Expertise

This will anger some people, like my age post did, but it also needs to be said and is about something I have been seeing consistently. If you are in your undergrad and taking major courses, you are not an expert on the subject material, let alone the profession itself. You are a student who is just building their foundational knowledge for your chosen field. You have not accumulated enough knowledge on the subject matter to speak from a place of expertise, nor have you learned enough to parse through the nuance of your chosen field or reached any of the milestones to be considered as such. There's a reason why we actually have an expertise system here in the USA that is paired with the legal system and our government employment system. If you go onto a government job site and look at their listings you will see some combination of Degree, Degree + Experience, Degree + Equivalent Experience and Amount of Time. What does this mean? It means that if a job is asking for someone with a Master's degree in a specific field they will consider individuals with the appropriate degree, but they will also consider people with a Bachelor's degree and the equivalent amount of time and/or experience in their field that makes them as knowledgeable as the MS candidate. The reason for the Time/Experience component is that not everyone pursues a graduate degree, but that does not mean they lack the knowledge required. However, there is an equivalency in Time/Experience to those graduate degrees and the special knowledge they impart. This gets even more complicated in higher levels when a position is asking for a PhD + 10 years of experience, that means a BS might be right out unless they have 20+ years of experience and an MS might need 15-20 years alone. In my time as a professor I have seen scores of undergrads present themselves as their major professions when they haven't even finished their junior year. Sometimes it's benign so that they can puff up in mixed company. Other times? Not so much. Several years ago I saw an undergrad present themselves as a psychologist that was "recovering traumatic memories" and got a multitude of people falsely accused of various violent crimes. This culminated in several court cases where the student had to admit they were falsely representing themself as an expert and therefore falsely producing "evidence". In light of the ongoing conflict I have seen a number of blogs on here present themselves as historians/experts on various related subject matter, while openly admitting that they are undergrad students and/or do not work in any capacity relating to the material. The latter can be fine up to a point, but if you are not working in your field and it comes to being an expert according to the GS and/or Daubert Standards, you most likely are not making the cut. The person regularly publishing papers and working as the profession will be considered the expert over you. If all you have is a few papers to your name and no other activities relating to the subject...well it's not a good look to be considered an expert. "AVTP this is elitist! Not everyone can go to college/grad school on *subject matter*" That's right. Not everyone can go to school for psychology, history, ecology, polisci, let alone go and make it their career. These people are not experts then. Plain and simple. You don't get to call yourself an expert because you listen to podcasts or do deep dives on Wikipedia. (And note, this is not about the blogs who are posting about how they did a hyper fixation deep dive on frog naming nomenclature when they were in high school. I am talking about the persons who are presenting themselves as knowledgeable authorities and using phrases like "As a *insert specialist field here*" while they pick courses for their sophomore/junior/senior year.)

[compactstreamer]

(source)

Transcript below the cut:

Roscoe: You could say Jerma985 is something of a performance artist. He creates huge, elaborate, surreal productions complete with cast and crew, and it's all streaming live for hundreds of thousands on viewers on Twitch. NPR's Alex Cheng takes us inside Jerma's latest big show, a baseball game between clowns and magicians, to ask how—and more importantly—why?

[clip of Sportscaster continues in background: Welcome to Carshield Field, where we have Jerma Baseball Association action for you!]

Cheng: At a baseball stadium in suburban St. Louis...

[Sportscaster: ...a big-time match-up between the California Circus and the Maryland Magicians...]

Cheng: ...a team of clowns in full face makeup and baseball uniforms runs out onto the field. Those clowns played a four-hour game of baseball in real time against the Magicians in the opposing dugout, and tens of thousands of viewers tuned into the live-stream on Twitch. There were breathtaking acrobatic displays...

[Sportscaster: Actually we've got three outfielders unicycling currently!]

Cheng: ... and even the umpire himself stepped up to the plate.

[Sportscaster: The umpire is about to enter this game for California?!]

Cheng: That umpire was the mastermind behind the whole show, Jeremy Elbertson, better known as the streamer Jerma985.

Jerma: I'm just, y'know, calling balls and strikes and doing all these wacky things. I'm just, in my mind I'm going "I hope this is funny. I hope this is funny. I hope this is funny."

Cheng: To create this high-production fantasy world, Jerma had to hire real baseball players, real circus performers, and actors from across the country who wanted to play make-believe. He gave his cast an outline of the baseball game, along with pages and pages of gags he'd come up with, but he let them make decisions on the fly.

Jerma: It's like a live comedy improv show.

Cheng: And Jerma says the real key is his relationship with his streaming audience on Twitch.

Jerma: I'm coming up with a scenario that I think is a fun time for everybody. That's all I care about.

Cheng: Cecilia D'Anastasio covers the video game industry for Bloomberg. She says these big, performance-arty shows are unusual for Twitch.

D'Anastasio: What Twitch's bread and butter is, is a streamer going about their life quite casually and playing video games and just chatting with their fanbases.

Cheng: So why does Jerma do these shows on Twitch, instead of making a movie or a TV show? Well, for one, the liveness of the platform creates a unique sense of unreality, and of course, money is always a consideration.

Jerma: Movies are expensive. Way more expensive than trying to get a bunch of people together to do a show on Twitch for a few hours.

Cheng: Jerma studied communications and video production in college. Then, about a decade ago, he started messing around on YouTube.

[clip of Jerma continues in background: Hello Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to episode one of Jermacraft!]

Cheng: Several years later, he switched his focus to Twitch. He mostly streamed normal gaming stuff, which he still does plenty of, but he also tried a couple of small, outside-the-box experiments, like hooking himself up to a lie detector to answer questions from viewers, or...

Jerma: I hired a fake family to come be my family at a family dinner.

Cheng: Jerma built a team of collaborators, some from his tight-knit viewer community, and together they started staging bigger and bigger events. Things hit a high point in August of 2021 with the Jerma985 Dollhouse Stream.

[Jerma Dollhouse theme music plays in background]

Cheng: Imagine a live-action version of the video game The Sims, on a sound stage, with a big cast and crew, and starring, of course, Jerma.

Jerma: The nature of that whole show was "I'm a person in a house, you get to decide what I get to do."

Cheng: Over three days of streams, Jerma's viewers made him simulate eating, sleeping. They even made him fight a bear.

[clip of Jerma in the dollhouse: You wanna do what?!?]

Cheng: Or at least, a guy in a bear costume.

[clip continues with Jerma yelling, bear grunting, and audience applause]

Cheng: The show was a smash hit. The third day of the Dollhouse peaked at over 100,000 concurrent viewers. That's a lot for Twitch. Cecilia D'Anastasio at Bloomberg says popular streamers can make good money on the platform.

D'Anastasio: Subscriptions, donations from fans, advertising, sponsorship deals.

Cheng: But Jerma's big shows are way more expensive than sitting in a gamer chair playing Elden Ring. They may not be on the scale of a movie, but Jerma says some of his productions can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, so he has to find big-money sponsors for his events.

Jerma: It can be a real challenge trying to convince a team of marketing people, "Hey so there's this idea, it's gonna cost a lot of money, and it's gonna be really fun, don't you think?"

Cheng: And some big sponsors are seeing the potential. Jerma says the shows are paying for themselves. For the Dollhouse stream, Coinbase chipped in, and Jerma found new sponsors for the baseball stream. Here's D'Anastasio again.

D'Anastasio: It's not that the streaming space is maturing, it's that it has matured.

Cheng: But even if Jerma's big shows are making money now, he knows there are no guarantees in the world of live-streaming.

Jerma: Nobody really knows how long this is gonna last. Does this evolve and become even larger than it is now, or does it go bust at some point?

[clip of Sportscasters continues in background: And oh my goodness, everyone clearing the dugout!--oh, clearing the bench--the Maryland Magicians... oh my goodness, this is bad!]

Cheng: Why fight for a vision that's so hard to explain and even harder to realize? Like making clowns brawl with magicians on a baseball diamond.

[Sportscasters: Oh boy--utter chaos!--This is just an all-out brawl, the mascots are stripping down...]

Jerma: Why not? It sounds like fun, and it seems like something that could make a lot of people happy, so I'm gonna do it.

Cheng: Alex Cheng, NPR News.

[instrumental outro music plays]

[randomprose]

a series of texts/letters/notes that mo guan shan has written for he tian but will never send

note: he tian left after high school

—

xx/xx/xx to: chicken dick [unsent]

are you at wherever the fuck you should be at now? hope your flight was as shitty as your goodbye was

—

xx/xx/xx

Decided to give the old college experience a try after all. The high school teachers did say my grades were good enough to apply to some. Thanks for that I guess by the way. Studying wasn’t so bad when you have help.

Tuition costs are gonna be a bitch though so I’ll have to look for scholarship and shit.

I’m keeping my promise and trying my best to be better.

—

xx-xx 01:09 PM to: chicken dick [unsent]

[photo attached: a black puppy]

ma got a new dog. the mutt followed her from the market after she shooed some bigger dogs picking on it. 

xx-xx 01:10 PM to: chicken dick [unsent]

now it switched to following me around it’s fucking annoying. i have to look where i walk or i’ll step on it and then it’ll cry non-stop. stupid mutt. 

xx-xx 01:10 PM to: chicken dick [unsent]

told ma not to name it or it’ll get attached.

—

xx-xx 10:34 AM to: chicken dick [unsent]

[photo attached: a black puppy with an orange collar]

named him tian-tian

—

xx/xx/xx

Got accepted to a university in Shanghai. Food science and tech. It feels so fucking surreal.

Ma cried when we got the acceptance letter. I legit thought it was another rejection but the envelope was different. She opened the letter because my hands were shaking. It came with a fucking scholarship. She’s on the phone now telling all our relatives about it. We’re gonna see Pa tomorrow to tell him.

I wish you were here to open the letter with me too, chicken dick.

—

xx-xx 02:38 AM to: chicken dick [unsent]

ma said there’s a chance pa could get out on parole. they’re hopeful but i don’t wanna get my hopes up. 

xx-xx 02:40 AM to: chicken dick [unsent]

sorry. idk who else to tell this to.

—

xx/xx/xx

I applied for an athletic scholarship too. Track and field. The one the school gave was just for basic tuition. This one will cover the rest. It helped that I won a couple of track meets in high school. Guess all that running from gang’s in middle school paid off, huh?

Did you ever imagine I’ll be in college with not one but two scholarship? ‘Cause I sure as hell fuckin’ didn’t. Holy fucking shit.

Still gotta work part time though. Living expenses in Shanghai is no joke. Fuck. Do you know how much cong you bing costs here? Don’t even get me started on how much a bowl of noodle is here. Unbefuckinglievable. 

It wasn’t even as good as the one we used to eat at after school. I miss eating xiaomian with you.

—

xx-xx 11:21 AM to: chicken dick [unsent]

shanghai is fucking big and confusing. and busy. 

xx-xx 11:30 AM to: chicken dick [unsent]

i missed a station and messed up my train switch.

xx-xx 01:19 PM to: chicken dick [unsent]

it’s fine. i still made it to the campus. lots of rich boys here like you btw. you would’ve fit right in.

—

xx/xx/xx

First years have to live on campus and the dorming system fucking sucks ass. And my roommate was an even bigger dick than you but at least he wasn’t a slob. No one will top you in that department I guess.

Rented a cheaper apartment off campus this year. It’s a shitty studio type, a bit cramped, but I like the privacy. It’s also closer to my part-time job and there’s this elderly couple who lives below me. I help them around sometimes and they give me food. The old landlady is a bit of a hardass though but…I think you would’ve charmed and won her over too, you smarmy ass shithead.

Rent isn’t cheap but it’s not too expensive either. If you were here, we could’ve shared an apartment. A regular one, not the high-end one you used to live in. Better for costs and splitting chores—not that you were any good at them, but you would’ve gotten better if you stayed. I wasn’t gonna tolerate your rich boy ass in college.

I know you had to leave but I wish you stayed instead. Would’ve been less lonely here.

—

xx/xx/xx

Finals exams are coming up and it’s kicking my fucking ass. Between classes and my part-time job I hardly have time to study. It’s a good thing sports training and extra-curricular activities are on pause now. But holy fucking shit why is it so hard to study?? It’s like I’m back in middle school and nothing is going in my head. How did I make it through high school?!

Yeah, yeah. I know. You were there. You tutored me and shit. Whatever, you dick. I don’t know why but it was just easier to focus with you around…but also not. It’s…you’re a distraction, but also you help me focus. Does that makes sense?

I guess what I’m trying to say is…you being around made me want to do better. 

It’s selfish but I wish it was just Jian Yi. I wish I got to keep you here with me.

—

xx/xx/xx

Exams are finally fucking done ended. I think I passed all of them. I have to pass all of them. I wanna graduate next year already. I can't be delayed. I’m so exhausted I feel like my brain is running on fumes. Bet you’ll be all smug and shit because you know you aced all your exams, you fucking smart ass. If you were here I mean. Fuck. I’m hungry but I’m too tired to get up. I want those sandwiches you used to make. If you were here would you make them for me? Would you pat my head and tell me I did a good job? When are you coming back? I miss your stupid smugass face. I miss y—

—

xx/xx/xx

I smoked a cigarette tonight. Just one. I was at a party and someone somehow had real cigarettes instead of a vape or those fancy e-cigarette shit. Does your rich boy ass use those? Or do you still prefer real nicotine? Bet you still smoke sticks you fucking edgelord.

I smoked in the balcony while my friends talked shit. Yeah, I have friends, dick head. You pick a few of those up when you do the college experience apparently. The owner of the house and the host is also my friend. Never imagined my punk ass self to hang out with college kids and get invited to honest to god normal college parties, but, fuck it. Here I am.

Zhengxi was there too. We go to the same university. Don’t think I ever mentioned that before, have I? I’m not sure what he’s taking. I think it was business? Something with a lot of math. I don’t fucking know. He’s…he’s been better. He was a fucking hot mess after Jian Yi left but now he’s…still a mess. Sometimes. I am too. After you left. But he’s trying. I am too. And some days are harder than others.

I don’t really smoke. Just felt like it tonight. Maybe it’s the alcohol (no, I’m not drunk, I barely drank) or the company. Maybe I just missed you and thought this is what you’ll do if you were here.

It was menthol. The cig I smoked. It fell cool in my lungs, calming almost, and I kind of understand why you're addicted to this shit I guess. If I didn’t hate the taste of smoke and the aftertaste maybe I’ll be too.

I didn’t hate it when you were blowing it in my mouth though.

The air in the balcony was cold. The smoke from the cig reminded me how you’d sometimes forget you still have a lighted stick between your fingers and just watch the smoke float up. I finished the stick and stubbed it twice on the ash tray before twisting it. Just like how you put it out.

—

xx/xx/xx

‘will he be sad if i leave?’ you wrote that down in your notebook. Before. In middle school. It was scratched over by ballpoint but the ink was blue and the words were written in black. It’s like you didn’t want to erase it after all. Did you want me to read it, you fuck?

Will I be sad if you leave? Guess what, dick head? I’m fucking devastated. Not really. 🖕

[bad268]

Every Step of the Way (Pablo Gavi X Barca! Reader)

Fandom: RPF/FCB

Requested: Nope, I’m testing it out. I’ve been a Barca fan since 2018, but never actually did anything with it lol. Also, I’m aware he doesn’t speak English, but my Spanish is elementary level at best, so I’ll stick to English with Spanish nicknames.

Warnings: ACL recovery discussed A LOT  (I used my sister’s experience with it so yeah)

POV: Third Person (She/her)

W.C. 2208

Summary: What's worse than one ACL injury? Two ACL Injuries!

As always, my requests are OPEN

MASTERLIST // HITLIST

~~(^Pinterest)

Within 10 seconds, the lively stadium became silent. It was a freak accident, and it never should have happened. It was a normal game against Madrid, and she had already scored the point that took the Barcelona team ahead 2-1. Looking back, maybe it was ambitious to go for another goal so soon. 

She remembered going for the kick but could not remember anything after that. Maybe she got hit by another player or maybe she twisted her leg wrong. All she knew was that it hurt like hell. It felt like her leg was on fire as she registered being carried off the field by the medical team. 

In the locker room, she learned that she had torn her ACL. That was not something she needed to hear during the height of her career. Like her boyfriend, she was one of the youngest on the team and one of the most promising talents. And now, she had to come to terms with being benched for at least nine months.

The same week that she sustained the injury, she was already in surgery. It was a fast turnaround; she felt like she was getting whiplash. Everything during that week hand blurred together, and the next thing she knew, she was in their bed at her and Pablo’s apartment with a metal knee brace. That’s when it started to set in. 

What if she could never get back to her normal? What if she could never play again? What if there are complications with her recovery? What if this…What if that…What if… What if…What if…

That’s what Pablo walked in on; his girlfriend of two years was on the verge of a panic attack as she frantically pulled at the metal brace. She was crying and screaming that she was fine. She was just dreaming. She was not actually injured because it was all in her head. 

Pablo ran forward, pulling her hands away from her knee quickly before she could do real damage. He held her hands as he watched her thrash around before finally settling down when she met his eyes. Her eyes were watery as she met his, trying to regain her sanity, until she was able to understand what he was saying. “You’re okay. You’re going to be fine, mi vida (my life). I’m here to help you every step of the way. Wait, wrong choice of words.” He was rambling, something he only did when he was extremely nervous. The thought made her smile a little as she squeezed his hands to get his attention. “How are you feeling now, mi amor(my love)?”

“My leg is on fire,” She sighed, and Pablo had to hold back the smile since he knew the thrashing and pulling at the brace did not help her in any way. If anything, it made the pain more intense. Instead of voicing these thoughts, he just moved her to sit up on the bed. “Where are we going?”

“We are going to get you out of bed and get food. Then, I can give you more pain meds,” He replied quietly as he leaned down to press a small kiss to her forehead before kneeling to make sure none of the cogs on the brace came undone. That was the last thing they needed. “What are you feeling?”

“I don’t really care, whatever gets the pain to stop faster,” She complained as he pulled her up to stand on her one good leg. He pulled her crutches over as she playfully glared at him with no *real* heat behind them. “Do I have to use the crutches? They hurt my arms.”

“I could always carry you around,” Pablo offered with a smirk as he moved his arms to be under her arms and around her back as he picked her up straight. Clearly, this was not what she envisioned, causing her to laugh. Pablo chuckled with her as he was happy she was starting to get out of the deep rut she was in moments before. “Was this what you were thinking?”

“I imagined bridal style, but now looking back, this is probably the only plausible way you could carry me,” She admitted, and she was right. He could not really hold under her knees because of the stitches and the brace. It would have been more uncomfortable for her than using the crutches. “I feel like a ragdoll.”

“The cutest ragdoll I’ve ever seen,” He joked with her, causing her to roll her eyes as she slapped at his shoulder. “Hey! I wouldn’t hit the person who’s holding you up right now.”

“You wouldn’t drop me,” She gasped in mock offense. Pablo sent her a look that said ‘Challenge me,’ and she knew it was over. He loosened his hold on her as she slowly slid down his chest. She jokingly pleaded, “No, Pablo, please. Don’t let me go!”

“I’d never leave you,” He reassured as he pulled her back up and kissed her. “I’ll be by your side every day until you’re back on the field.”

“Then you’ll break up with me?” She teased.

“No,” he chuckled bashfully as he hid his face on her shoulder. “I’ll be on the sideline then.”

~~

After a week of recovery and relaxation, she started rehab. The specialist started her out on small exercises like bending her knee and slowly putting more weight on it. It was a slow process, but she was getting to the point where she could walk unassisted. Sure, she still had to wear the metal brace and use at least one crutch, but it was so she did not strain it any more than she already had. 

And who was by her side through every appointment? Pablo. Who was there every time she needed new medication? Pablo. Who was there to carry her every time she did not want to walk because he had no backbone when it came to her? Pablo. Boyfriend of the Year, honestly.

It finally got to the point where she could go to a game a month after her initial injury. Not to play in it, but she could sit in the stands and cheer on her favorite country. She was cleared just in time to attend the final game of Spain’s European Championship qualifying group against Georgia, and of course, her favorite midfielder was playing. She was not on the sideline per se, but she was in the stands in the first row from the pitch.

She was wearing one of Pablo’s kits (obviously) as she leaned her body weight against the barrier, cheering him on. It was still early in the game, and there were no points on the board. He was doing an amazing job given that he tweaked his leg a couple of days prior in the Barcelona game. He was running like he owned the field and making some good plays. 

Within 10 seconds, the lively stadium became silent, and she felt her heart drop. All she did was blink, and suddenly, she knew something was wrong. The camera zoomed in on Pablo, who was lying flat on the ground, clutching his right knee. His face clearly showed his pain, and it hurt her to see him in pain. It took a few minutes, but he was walking back on the sideline, getting checked out.

He came back a little while later for another play. Before he even started running, she had that feeling in her gut again. It was not long after running back to the field that he was kneeling on the grass, clutching his leg as the yellow card was thrown.

It felt like forever for her. She wondered how long it felt for him. How bad did it hurt? How bad was the damage? Did he just dislocate his knee? Would he be back in later?

She did not get to delve too deep into the rabbit hole. He was walking, well limping, off the field again with some assistance, but at least he was walking. That had to have been a good sign, she thought. She turned to grab her crutch, so she could make her way up to the concourse. Maybe they would let her down into the locker room to see Pablo.

It was a little difficult given that the game resumed and people were back up and cheering, but she managed to get to the concourse without tripping or injuring herself more. She approached a couple of security guards that she knew personally. 

“Do you know if I’m allowed to go down to the field or in the locker room?” She asked, hopeful, as they stepped away to radio down to the security by the locker room. It did not take them long to go back over to her and direct her to the elevator. Once again, it felt like forever, but she made it down to the base floor. 

She hobbled her way over to the locker room where she immediately recognized one of the Barcelona physicians walking out. It was eerily quiet despite the game being in full swing just outside the hall. It filled her with nerves.

She needed to keep her composure because he needed her support more than ever. She took a minute for herself and took a few deep breaths before she pushed through the door. Despite expecting to see him injured, nothing could have really prepared her for seeing him flat on the table. 

She limped over beside him where he had one arm over his eyes and the other fist clenching as physicians assessed his knee. She made sure to stay out of the way as she grabbed his fist, unwinding his fingers to grasp at her hand. She used her other hand to run through his hair as he kept his eyes screwed shut, leaning into her. 

After a few moments, the physicians finished up. Instead of vocalizing what was wrong, they gestured to her leg before pointing at him. They stepped out of the room, and that’s when Pablo noticed they were not touching his leg anymore, causing him to lift his head and look around. She took her hand out of his hair as she sat on the table since her knee started bothering her, and when he laid his head back, it landed on her lap. She moved her hand right back to his hair as he stared up at her.

“Guess who gets to play nurse now?” She attempted to joke.

“If you’re insinuating that it’s you, we’re screwed because you’ve only been recovering for a month,” He sighed, “No offense.”

“Oh, none taken,” She replied sarcastically as she took her hand out of his hair and leaned back on it. Immediately, he started complaining as he used his hand that was not already holding hers to reach back to find the other. “No, that was mean. Say you’re sorry.”

“I’m sorry, mi amor(my love),” He mumbled as he stuck out his bottom lip in a pout. “Will you play with my hair again now? I’m in pain. Speaking of that, did they say what they think it is?”

She smiled down at him as she put her hand back into his hair and he reached his hand back to hold her wrist there. “I know you are, and I’m sorry. At least we get to go through the same recovery.”

“You’re lying,” He gasped, eyes widening as he sat up and looked back at her. “Do they think I tore my ACL? That would mean I’m out for the season! And the EuroCup!”

“Welcome to the club,” She tried to joke, but he was not laughing. She moved so that she was sitting right next to him as she wrapped one of her arms around his shoulders and still held his hand in hers. “Hey, don’t start just yet. They probably need to take you for some X-rays and do a couple more tests. Don’t get too far ahead of yourself. You could have just strained it.”

“How long would I be out if it’s a strain?” He asked quietly, leaning back into her embrace. 

“Pretty sure it’s anywhere from three weeks to three months,” She said after she googled it. “Whatever happens, just know I’ll be with you every step of the way…wait. Not that. Wrong choice of words.”

That’s what broke him. He started laughing as he leaned onto her shoulder before whispering, “I get it.” Then, the physicians came back into the room with a gurney to take Pablo to the X-ray. He looked nervous and anxious again, but as soon as he looked over at her, he knew he would be fine. “Will you hold my hand, mi vida (my life)?”

“Of course, I will,” She answered endearingly as she stepped aside for the physicians to move him to the gurney. She grabbed her crutch and followed them toward the X-ray. He looked over at her, and at that moment, he knew that he could not live without her. They would be with each other through every step of the way, and when they were both healed, he knew just the way to thank her. 

~~~

Part 2 ->

~~~~~

© BAD268 2024. DO NOT REPOST WITHOUT PERMISSION.

[lavenderbang]

Drunk-Dazed

 Vampire! Park Sunghoon x reader

genre(s): vampire au!, non-idol au!, Sunghoon is also your tutor, mystery (not really cause dramatic irony), fluff, horror, Jake is your best friend cause I’m a simp, also feat. the rest of enhypen, mainly Heesung and Jungwon tho

Warning(s): blood/gore, swearing (obviously), biting (OBVIOUSLY), and probably crime (if you consider killing a classmate and drinking their blood a crime)

W.C: 17.2k (Sheesh this is long...)

Summary: When a fellow classmate was found dead on the soccer field with all the blood drained from them and two pierce marks in their neck, you took it upon yourself as president of the paranormal club to find the vampire. 

A/N: Y’all, when I say I am OBSESSED with Drunk-Dazed! That song literally made me an Engene overnight and honestly I can’t stop thinking about writing this fic. I don’t usually like monster stuff, but watching the MV (which is here) really inspired me. Also I love Park Sunghoon with my whole heart... anyways, Enjoy!

A/N 2: If you couldn’t tell from the previous author note and the title, this has been sitting in my drafts since the Drunk-Dazed MV dropped. It’s clearly been a long time since then, but I’m now finally posting this fic under a random spurt of inspo. I hope you enjoy it cause I love this fic (its my baby) and its been two and a half years in the making!

he’s so ethereal

“uhhh, you’re late dude,” You scoff at Jake, “Slept through your alarm?” Your best friend doesn’t respond, and only then you realize how serious he looked; Jake’s face was pale, and he seemed to fumble with his bag as he sat down beside you in his usual seat for biology. His eyes were darting all over the place before finally landing on you; you grabbed onto his hands to stop it from shaking.

“Hey, you okay?” You ask, frowning at your usually cheerful friend, “what happened?”

“I went out to the field this morning to get a bit of early practice...” He starts off, licking his lips nervously before continuing, “When I got there, there was someone laying out in the middle of the field....”

“who?” You ask but are soon interrupted by the chairman of your school and the chief of police coming into the classroom. Jake immediately looks at his shoes, not wanting to look at the two men at the front.

“Good morning everyone,” The chairman greets in a serious tone, “I have some grim news to share with you all. Now I’m deciding to share this with you because you are all young adults and deserve transparency on the situation.”

“Whats going on Jake?” You whispered to your friend, who was trembling in his seat.

“This morning at 7:32 am, were were alerted by a student that there was a body found at the soccer field.” The chairman stated solemnly. The amount of tension in your classroom was suffocating, “by 7:46, we had identified that the victim was a student by the name of Lee Geonu.”

The mood quickly turned from tense to absolute shock; You couldn’t believe that Geonu, the guy that asked you to borrow a pencil just last Tuesday was now dead. It didn’t make any sense whatsoever; its not like you were friends, but Geonu was a good guy, healthy too. 

“I know this is frightening and disturbing news, but we will only take a few more moments of your time.” The chairman turned to the chief of police and continued, “I will now turn it over to police chief Kim to bring up what’s important.”

“Thank you sir,” The police chief nodded before looking down at the document in his hands, “Now upon inspection, it seems that your classmate was found with two distinct holes in the middle of his neck on the left side, as well as a very low blood volume. As of now, we are unaware of where his blood went, but we suspect it sank into the ground.”

You feel Jake’s hand tighten in yours, eyes brimming with tears from the traumatic experience. You squeeze his hand to comfort your friend, feeling sorry that he had see something so horrific.

“Now, we think time of death occurred at around 10:00-12:00 last night,” The police chief continued, before looking up at your class, “If any of you have any information as to what happened or anything you might know about the victim that is relevant to our investigation, please don’t hesitate to come to us.”

The room was silent for a moment, aside from a few sniffles in the back along with the anxious tapping of someones shoes on the floor.

“Lastly, I’m sorry to all of you for your loss.” Chief Kim smiled sympathetically, “I want you all to know you are safe and any information you can give us can help us find whoever did this to Geonu and give him justice.”

And with that being said, the two men exited the room, leaving a atmosphere of despair and melancholy over all of your classmates. You turned to Jake, patting his shoulder gently. He sniffled, blinking back tears. As hard as it was, your teacher put you all to work on a simple worksheet, hoping that it could take your guy’s mind off the current news.

~~~

“It was weird... The holes were small, no bigger than half a centimeter.” Jake explained quietly, whispering to you as you sat down at your lunch table, only to be followed by your friends Jungwon and Heesung.

“How far apart?” You asked cautiously. You still felt worried talking about this topic with Jake, as he seemed pretty shaken up yesterday morning. Since then he seemed okay, as it was a pretty big school and he didn’t know Geonu that well, having no classes with the guy.

“Maybe an inch, inch and a half?” Jake explained, opening his bottle of ice tea to take a sip.

“Strange...” Jungwon responded before teasing shoving your shoulder with a smile, “Maybe it was a vampire, right (Y/N)?” This made the boys chuckle, obviously amused to poke fun at you and your paranormal beliefs.

“That’s what I was thinking...” You responded staring at your sandwich, deep in thought. The laughter died and the boys all looked at you confused.

“Are you serious (Y/N)..?” Heesung asked, furrowing his eyebrows at you.

“Of course,” You replied, looking up at the oldest with a frown, “What else could it be?”

“Something real? Like a human maybe..?” Jake suggested, clearly concerned with your thought process.

“That doesn’t make any sense! Who kills a guy with two small holes in the neck and drains almost all of his blood from his body?” You leaned forward, picking at your food before sighing, “Besides, you guys are in the Paranormal Activities Club too, so why don’t you believe it could be a vampire?”

“Honestly, talking about ghosts and monsters and stuff during our PAC meetings is fun,” Jungwon started off before brushing his hand through his hair and sighing, “But it was never that serious. Not like ‘I think a vampire murdered our classmate’ type of club.”

“But don’t you believe in the paranormal? isn’t that the whole point of PAC?” You asked, seriousness dripping from your tone, “I just think it’s our duty to discover if this was actually a vampire-related incident or not.”

The boys looked at you like you had three heads, letting the silence be word enough that they thought you were insane.

“I mean, if its not, then no harm no foul...” You sighed, crossing your arms across your chest passively, “But it if it, that means we have a vampire on the loose and we need to find out who it is, as the closest thing to experts this school has.”

“I mean, it could be kinda fun to look for clues and stuff...” Jungwon smiled softly.

“We’d be like the Mystery Gang from Scooby-doo!” Jake beamed, suddenly interested in the idea of investigation.

“I guess we technically have to have other club activities besides chatting to count for credit..” Heesung agreed, shaking his head at the thought of actually agreeing to a vampire hunt.

“So PAC investigation to find the vampire?” You smirked, feeling excited to maybe see a real live monster.

“Yeah it’ll be fun!” Jake finalized, taking a bite of the apple he had pulled out of his bag sometime while having this conversation, “Lets meet back at the school tonight to look for evidence.”

“No can do actually...” You interrupted, shocking your friends at the odd change in attitude of inspiring them to do this and then suddenly bailing.

“What the heck (Y/N)!?” Jungwon huffed, throwing his hands up dramatically, “Why can’t you come?”

“I’ve got Calculus tutoring tonight.” You stated simply, “but you guys can go look for clues without me tonight and you can report back at tomorrow’s PAC meeting.”

“You have a tutor?” Heesung asked, “who?” You turn in your chair and point across the lunch room to a pretty boy sitting at one of the corner tables, headphones in and doing homework.

“Park Sunghoon.” You answered simply, “We go to the campus library every Tuesday and Thursday. One day he helps me with Calc and the other day I help him with Bio.”

“He’s in our biology class?” Jake asked shocked, scratching his head sheepishly, “I didn’t even notice him...”

‘Yeah he’s pretty shy, but nice enough.” You nodded and stuffed sandwich in your face before continuing with a mouth full of bread, “I don’t think he likes me very much though.”

“I wonder why...” Heesung cringes, watching bits of sandwich squish in your mouth as you talk with it full. Before you look away, Sunghoon looks up and around the room, only to catch your gaze. He blinks a couple of times before politely nodding at you. Feeling embarrassed you got caught looking, you whipped around and faced your friends again, feeling the burning sensation crawl up your neck. Of course, this appeared as the perfect opportunity for the boys to make fun of you; but you didn’t mind, as it was nice to see some cheer from the gloomy atmosphere that was hanging around recently.

~~~

Bzzt!

You looked down at your phone to see that you had gotten a message.

Sunghoon: hey, do you mind meeting me at the front of the school for our session?

You tilt you head in confusion, but nonetheless type out a response before packing up your things you had set up for your session.

(Y/N): sure, I’ll be right there :)

Quickly making your way to the front, you see Sunghoon standing there, expression blank and scrolling through his phone. Once he sees you, He puts it away and approaches where you stand.

“Hey (Y/N) I’m sorry about this, but do you mind if I teach you somewhere else today?” He asked, worry and urgency evident in the shakiness of his voice.

“I mean, I guess,” You respond jokingly, smiling to hopefully put the boy at ease, “I would have loved it you let me know BEFORE I set all my stuff out though.”

“I know and I’m sorry about that,” Sunghoon apologized, walking out of the building with you following, “My coach changed my practice to earlier so I had to make adjustments...”

“So where are we going?” You asked, walking beside your tutor fumbling with the zipper on your binder.

“My apartment, if that’s okay.” He replied, not looking away from where his eyes focused ahead, “since my practice is earlier, I’l be saving time by not having to travel home to grab my things before going to the rink.”

“Sounds good to me...” You agreed before falling silent. You felt a weird sensation bubble up in your stomach that you had never seemed to feel before. Maybe nervousness because you’ve never been to Sunghoon’s home, but why would you be nervous about something like that?

Silence filled the air as you walked onward. The sun was starting to set, setting a warm orange glow over the environment as you walked; Even in this light, Sunghoon looked pale; his eyes looking down at his feet as his dark hair swept across his forehead with ever step. Somehow you had never noticed until now, but Sunghoon had a mole right on the edge of the bridge of his nose. You though it suited him, even though you rarely talked about things other then your respective subjects.

“So” You cleared your throat, wanting to break the silence and overall your sudden appreciation for your tutor, “You play a sport? you said your coach moved practice...”

“Ah, yeah!” Sunghoon responded with a smile, turning to look at you for the first time since leaving the school, “I do figure skating” (A/N: I had to, I love ice prince Sunghoon). You nodded, finding it surprising that out of all the sports, he picked something elegant and precise as figure skating.

“Really? That’s cool!” You praised, excited to get to know more about him, “how often do you practice?”

“every weekday,” He answered, “usually after we have our session I go home and grab all my gear and head to the rink, but for some reason my coach moved practice ahead by an hour.”

“Damn coaches, Huh?” You joked, “Always ruining a perfectly good schedule. Not that I would know, as I don’t do a sport...”

“Oh yeah, you have your own club, right?” Sunghoon recalled, making a right turn as you continued to his house, “What’s it called again..?”

“Paranormal Activities Club.” You explained, “We usually shorten it to PAC because it’s a bit wordy...”

“Catch any ghosts?” Sunghoon asked smiling cheekily.

“We don’t catch ghosts, we talk about them.” You said before cracking a smile, “Behind their back of course, like we’re in middle school” Sunghoon laughed at your silly joke, warmth radiating from deep in his chest. For some reason, it felt good to make the boy laugh; maybe it was because he was so reserved that you were happy to see him ease up a bit with you.

You arrived at Sunghoon’s apartment within about ten minutes. As you stepped in, you noticed the simplicity of it; white walls, a glass coffee table, and a bookshelf off to the right. To the left, there was a small corner kitchen and a hallway that you assumed lead to the bathroom and Sunghoon’s bedroom. The only thing to note was the furniture; a expensive looking maroon love-seat that was perpendicular with the coffee table and a deep red, velvety sofa pushed up under the window. 

“You can set your things down here and we can get started.” Sunghoon motioned to the coffee table before going into the kitchen, “want anything?”

“a glass of water would be nice,” You respond politely before setting your binder on the table. You looked at the sofa, before ultimately deciding to sit on the floor in front of it, feeling the furniture looked to expensive to touch. Sunghoon returns, placing the glass on a coaster and then on the table.

“Thank you.” You accepted the glass shyly, feeling a sense of awkwardness being in the private of his home.

“Why are you on the floor..?” Sunghoon chuckled lightly before sitting on the sofa, “there’s a sofa right behind you... I mean if your more comfortable on the floor we can sit there-”

“No I’ll move!” You exclaimed, getting up and sitting beside Sunghoon on the velvet cushions, “It just that your furniture looks so expensive...”

“Really?” He scrunched up his nose before opening his textbook and flipping through it to find the assignment, “I found these at a garage sale for like $100. Some little old Victorian lady was selling them. They’re really nice, but it’s really hard to get stains out of them...”

“Oh, I see.” You nodded, feeling the fabric under your fingertips before grabbing your pencil, “So should we get started?” Sunghoon hummed in response and you began the homework you were supposed to finish for tomorrow. 

After a bit, things went back to normal and you didn’t feel as weird or awkward; it was like every other Tuesday in the library. It wasn’t long before the sun set, and you were packing up your things to go home.

“Thank you so much for accommodating my schedule today.” Sunghoon thanked, holding his door open for you.

“No problem! It was a nice change of scenery.” You said brightly, trying to be polite about the abrupt change of plans, “Have a nice night Sunghoon; see you Thursday!” You went down to the lobby and messaged Jake, hoping that the boys actually went to the soccer field to look for evidence while you were busy.

(Y/N): [dropped 1 location]

(Y/N): hey, pick me up cause its dark and there is a vampire on the loose?

Butt-head~: Of course, your highness. It’s not like I was just about to get into the shower or anything after being out in a field for an hour...

Attached to that message was a GIF of a dirty servant from that one medieval show doing a full bow. you rolled your eyes at Jake’s sarcasm.

(Y/N): if you’re busy, I’ll just walk home alone

Butt-head~: Don’t you dare

Butt-head~: I’m literally already in my car omw

Chuckling to yourself you sit down in the lobby and do what any person would do to pass the time; scroll through memes. It isn’t long before you get another text from Jake saying he’s outside. You hurry out and hop in the passenger side of his old red car.

“Hello your highness, I hope this chariot is to your standards.” He teased in a fake posh British accent, which wasn’t far from his usual accent.

“Well, there could have been a harp or trumpets playing when I entered, but this’ll have to do,” you sighed before smiling at your silly friend. 

He suddenly turned on a loud, heavy bass song and drove in the direction of your house. You both jammed out for a bit, rolling down the windows and screaming out the lyrics at the top of your lungs. Eventually Jake turned down the music in exchange to chat with you.

“So me and Jungwon went out to the field and-” Jake started before you screeched out and stopped him.

“Don’t tell me!” You hushed, almost reaching out to put your hands over Jake’s mouth, “Wait until the meeting tomorrow!”

“I just thought you’d want to know about-” Jake started again but you shouted out to avoid hearing about what the boys found. Jake sighed and shut his mouth, clearly not going to be able to tell you about the investigation.

“Wait, where was Heesung?” You asked, quirking your eyebrows becasue you were cofused on why he wouldn’t show.

“He said he had something important to do instead.” Jake responded flatly.

“What’s more important than vampires?” You huffed.

“I know, this is the most important thing in our lives right now.”

“Exactly! This is serious stuff he was missing.”

The two of you were silent for a moment, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Though, you soon broke the silence.

“i’m sorry I wasn’t there...” You apologized, fiddling with your things and feeling a bit bad, “I failed as a president today...”

“Dude, don’t worry about it! Your trustworthy vice-prez worked very hard in your place.” Jake complimented himself and jabbed a thumb at his chest; you giggled at his antics, glad he wasn’t upset with you.

“So how was tutor session with pretty boy? I’m sure you got lots of calculus done.” Jake teased, poking your shoulder.

“As a matter of fact, we did get a lot of calculus done,” You rolled your eyes and pushed his hand away before continuing, “Besides the awkwardness of me being in his house for the first time...”

“Finally seeing pretty boy’s house? Or were you too busy kissing him to see?” Jake teased yet again, followed by gross, wet kissing sounds. You give the boy a hardy slap to the shoulder before chuckling at his antics.

“That’s the second time you called Sunghoon pretty.” You joked before cracking a big smile, “You know, if you’re so jealous of me, I could introduce you two so maybe you could kiss him.” You then copy the kissing sounds Jake made moments before only to earn a laugh and a shove. 

“Thank you for the offer, but I’ll pass.” Jake finally said and pulled up in front of your house, “Anyways, here’s your castle Your Highness.” You jumped out of Jake’s old car, collecting your things. You said a sincere thank you and waved goodbye before scurrying inside to eat and then sleep. Besides, you had a big day tomorrow filled with excitement from vampire hunting.

---------------

“Alright as all of the members of The Paranormal Activities Club have arrived, as president I officially begin this meeting.” You sat down after saying your opening speech and look at the three boys in front of you. PAC always met in room 300, so you pushed four desks together to make a meeting table. The lights were usually off as well, with only a couple of flashlights and a single candle lighting your meetings; but since there was more serious stuff to discuss this meeting, you opted to keeping the lights on.

“Now, to start off this very formal PAC Meeting, I have something to go over before we talk about the findings from last night.” You said before turning to Heesung and pouting, “Where were you? I though you were all good for the soccer field last night...”

“I thought these two knuckleheads could handle it without me,” Heesung points at Jungwon and Jake before continuing, “So I went to the public library to see if I could dig up any similar instances of killings in the same manner. I just wanted to see if there was a history of a murderer or serial killer that murdered in this way, but no luck..”

“That’s because it was a vampire, not a serial killer but whatever...” You responded passive-aggressively before smiling, “But thank you for double checking, I appreciate the work you’re putting into this.” Heesung simply gives a thumbs up and looks to the other two boys.

“Alright, so now that that’s settled,” You sated, turning to the other boys as well, “Lets go over what our investigation brought to light.”

Jake stood up and walked to the white board where there were a couple of magnets. He pulled them all off the white board and turned to you all.

“Jungwon, You have the evidence right?” He asked. Jungwon dug around in his backpack before pulling out a file-folder and scurrying up to where Jake was standing. They first began by placing random photos of the scene on the white-board, including a blurry selfie of the two of them and a picture of the sun reflected on the school windows. Jake cleared his throat, trying to appear as professional as possible.

“I will now account what happened when we arrived.”

-

“Ow, I think that’s the seventh mosquito bite!” Jungwon groaned and slapped his arm. 

The boys trudged through the surrounding trees by the field. The area where Geonu’s body was found was roped off with police tape so Jake had opted to start looking in the surrounding area instead. 

“Quit complaining, we are supposed to look for evidence of a vampire.” Jake scolded before shuffling around in the bushes.

“This is stupid.There’s no way it was a vampire.” Jungwon huffed before sifting through a pile of dead leaves, “(Y/N)’s bonkers. I can’t believe I agreed to this...”

“Maybe, but it would mean a lot to her if we just looked anyways.” Jake reasoned, pushing through-

-

“Do you really need to be telling me all this? Especially the part where you guys basically say I’m nuts?” You frown before being shushed by Jake, who continues on.

-

“Hey there’s a footprint here in the mud!” Jake pointed out before turning to Jungwon, “It could be our vampire.”

“Or a random person going through the bushes.” Jungwon huffed.

“Just give me the camera Jungwon.”

“Fine...”

-

Jake places the photo of the footprint on the white board, securing it with a magnet.

“From my deduction skills, it is around a size 7 males shoe.” Jake confirms, “I’ll be studying the tread to see what kind of shoe it is.”

“Okay sounds good.” You praised, nodding to Jungwon, “Continue on with what happened.”

-

“What exactly are we looking for that the police wouldn’t have already found?” Jungwon sighed, climbing out of the treeline onto the red gravel track that separated the woods from the field.

“Paranormal stuff.” Jake answered vaguely, walking down the path closer to where the body laid just yesterday.

 He felt a strange sense of dread looking at the police tape, remembering the graphic scene all to well. It had etched itself into his head, not letting him get a wink of sleep the night before.

“Like... this?” Jungwon asked nervously. He held up a single silver ring, holding it up to the sky to get a better look at it.

-

Jungwon pulled the ring out of the folder; he had it in a zip-lock bag, almost afraid to touch it. Jake gave him a magnet, to which he hung the bag on whiteboard beside the footprint photo.

“What is that on it..?” You asked, leaning closer to get a better look at the ring. you could see that almost three-quarters of the outside of the ring was stained with some sort of black liquid.

“It looks burned in...” Heesung suggested, squinting to see the small piece of jewelry.

“Hey, I’m not done with the evidence yet!” Jake interrupted, trying to keep your attention, “Can we please stay focused?”

-

“Do you think we should go in there?” Jungwon asked, standing right on the edge of the police tape, “I feel like at that point, we would be tampering with actual police evidence...” 

Jake fiddled with the bright yellow tape, allowing it to slide in between his fingers, assessing the option of what they should do. He looked to the spot where Geonu had been, trying his best to recall every detail he could when he discovered him. Blanking on what happened, he turned away from the tape and went back onto the path.

“I think it’s best if we go home. The photos are good and the there’s that ring you found too.” Jake decided, turning to walk to the direction of the front gate. In all honesty, he just couldn’t bring himself to got to that spot in the grass; but he couldn’t just say that to Jungwon.

“Sounds good to me, I wanna take a shower, the bush was gross.” Jungwon said, jogging to catch up to Jake. the boys walked to the entrance of the school.

“Wait! I want to get a picture!” Jungwon insisted, pulling out his camera to get a photo of the reflected sunset on the windows. Jake waited, leaning against the gate of the school and gazing at the building.

-

“This doesn’t seem very relevant to our investigation...” You chimed in before Jake groaned and rolled his eyes.

“Oh my God! Can you just listen? I was literally getting to the relevant part...” He scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest, “Don’t interrupt, Stink-ass.”

“Sorry.” you responded, promising yourself not to interrupt again until the boys were finished.

-

The school was big and made of brick and glass; but something else was catching Jake’s attention.

“Hey, that flock of crows is trying to get into the dumpster over there!” He chuckled, before jogging over to the dumpster that was on the edge of the parking lot left of the building.

“dude, its actually called a murder of crows.” Jungwon corrected, earning a ‘whatever’ from Jake, who seemed much more interested in what was attracting the crows to the dumpster. After getting a nice photo, Jungwon came over too, curiosity getting the better of him.

“It’s whatever’s in this drug store bag...” Jake deduced, pointing at the thin, white, plastic bag tied tightly on the top of the trash.

“What do you think is in there..?” Jungwon asked, voice barely above a whisper. He seemed concerned, mostly due to the big, dark spot covering the bottom of the bag.

“I guess there is only one way to find out.” Jake gulped before grabbing the bag by the handles with one finger and dropping it to the cement, “I mean, if we really want to open it...”

“What would the Mystery Gang do?” Jungwon asked, half-joking/half-seriously.

“I think they would open it.”

“Okay so lets open it then”

“You open it. I don’t want to touch it...”

“Me neither! Besides, you already touched it!”

“Yeah, so it’s your turn.”

“How about we rock paper scissors for who has to open it?”

“That sounds fair.”

-

“This is what we found in the bag, and in all honesty, I don’t feel like I should even have it because its like... actual evidence...” Jake grimaced and opened his backpack to reveal a brown paper bag.

 He rustled in it before bringing out what was inside and pinning it to the white board. The room was silent as you stared at the item, feeling a sickness bubble up into your stomach.

Pinned to the whiteboard was an over-sized, white, male’s dress shirt; all around the neckline and dripping down, soaking into the chest area was dried, brown blood that had obviously been applied wet. The cuffs of the sleeves going up the arms was also covered in the dried liquid, tainting the pure white fabric.

“What...” You begin, not really knowing what you were going to say. What you even could say.

“We have to give that to the police.” Heesung stated frantically, like it was obvious, “That’s serious piece of evidence for their investigation and we shouldn’t have that.” The rest of you didn’t respond, earning a scoff from the eldest.

“You don’t think we should keep it, right?” He asked, clearing accentuating his tone to signify how stupid he thought that idea was.

“No, I don’t think we should keep it!” You exclaimed matter-of-factly, approaching the shirt and gently touching the hem of it, “But we could get as much information we need from it...”

“You’re joking right?!” Jungwon cried, clearly disturbed.

“Look at where the... blood is.” You pointed out, having a hard time actually say the word, “If it wasn’t a vampire and was just some guy, there wouldn’t be a focus of blood on the highest part of the shirt. We need all the clues we can to find out who our secret vampire is and this shirt has some.”

“I mean, we would only have it for a little longer and then after we get all the information we can from it, we give it in, right?” Jake supported, sitting down at the makeshift table to get away from the shirt. Heesung turned to you, worry and sincerity flooding his eyes.

“(Y/N), I don’t know how comfortable I am with this...” He warned, grabbing hold of your arm, “I really think we should give this in as soon as possible, along with everything else the boys found...”

“We will.” You answered firmly, holding Heesung’s grip on your arm with the opposite hand, “Just after we get the clues we need from everything.”

“How about a vote?” Jake suggested, “All in favor of keeping the evidence for a little longer and then giving it to the police after we are done?” Jake raised his hand, followed by you raising yours. 

“All in favor of giving it to the police right after this vote?” Heesung countered and raised his hand. The three of you then looked to the youngest boy who had not voted for either.

“Jungwon?” You asked, and he looked at you and you could see the inner conflict he was going through in his head.

“We give it back as soon as we are done..?” Jungwon asked hesitantly, playing with the cuffs of his jacket nervously.

“As soon as we finish documenting all the information we need.” You reassured, “Not a minute longer than needed.” Jungwon nodded along to your words, hummed and bit his bottom lip out of habit. He tapped his foot, deep in thought before finally nodding again.

“Okay, but only if we don’t touch it without gloves or something so we don’t wreck the police evidence...” Jungwon finally decided, to which you quickly agreed to his terms.

“I guess it can’t be helped,” Heesung sighed, brushing his hair back to release his stress, “but just for the record, I’m not touching any of that and this is a bad idea...”

“Noted.” Jake finalized before standing and making his way to the door, “I’m going to sneak to the biology lab to get some gloves and tweezers to start looking for clues, you guys should start photographing the things we are giving to the police.”

With tasks assigned you all got to work in documenting any clues you felt could lead you to the identity of the vampire.

--------------

(figure) skater boy: Hey, do you mind if we are at my house again today for our session? Coach switched practice for the next two weeks...

You immediately switch directions, walking towards the front as opposed to the library where you were planning on meeting Sunghoon until he messaged you. you typed out a quick reply that consisted of the absolute poetry of ‘k’.

As you approached the lobby, you saw Sunghoon standing by the door, except he was taking to someone today. It was a guy that you had occasionally seen your tutor with, but you had never actually spoken to him before. The stranger met your gaze and smiled as you walked up to the duo.

“I hope I’m not interrupting.” You said politely, turning your attention to Sunghoon with a smile.

“Not at all, (Y/N).” He reassured, before motioning to the stranger, “ Have you met my friend Jay?” 

“I have not.” You confirm, reaching your hand out to shake the other man’s hand, “I’m (Y/N), I tutor your friend.”

“Jay. I’m friends with your tutor.” Jay joked, taking your hand and shaking it. Feeling nervous, you look at the floor before finding the perfect thing to say to be less awkward.

“Woah! I love your boots! They look really cool.” You gushed, not taking your gaze off Jay’s feet. He was wearing a pair of combat boots that went up to his mid calf, and they looked to be made of an expensive material with shiny silver buckles on them.

“Hey thanks!” He chuckled in response, tilting his foot to model them, “I ordered them custom made because I thought they’d look cooler with my own personal touch, y’know?” You hummed in response, before feeling a tug at your sleeve, gaining your attention.

“We should get going if we are going to finish the biology assignment.” Sunghoon urged then turning to his friend and smiling, “See you! I’ll message you after practice.” Jay nodded in agreement before sending you off with a ‘nice to meet you’.

You begin the walk to Sunghoon’s place in silence before you decide to break it like you did yesterday.

“Jay seems nice.” You stated simply, hoping talking about his friend would help Sunghoon open up more, “How long have you been friends?”

“A couple of years now.” Sunghoon responded before smirking to himself, “You like him?”

“Sure, he seems pretty chill.” You said, given that you only had about a minute to interact with the guy.

“He’s a good guy.” Sunghoon finalized, looking out into the distance seemingly in thought, “He’s the kind of guy to have your back no matter what.” You hummed in response, falling silent as you walked towards Sunghoon’s apartment. 

Maybe it was the fact that you were going to his house, but you felt that maybe you’d become a bit closer with the introverted boy. Maybe he at least didn’t dislike you, but you were certain he didn’t like you. But maybe that could change, just given a bit more time.

You were pulled out of your thoughts due to Sunghoon roughly grabbing your arm and pulling you to the left, just narrowly avoiding walking into the busy street. You stumbled a bit, catching your balance on Sunghoon’s shoulder.

“Watch where you’re going!” He huffed, clearly anxious, “Gosh, I thought maybe you didn’t know we had to turn here, but I didn’t expect you to try to walk into traffic.”

“Sorry, I was totally zoned out,” You apologized, letting your grip loosen from his shoulder. You both continued to walk, but he didn’t let go of your arm. For some reason you felt a warm feeling bubble up in your chest from the contact, “Thanks for yanking me to safety though.”

“Did I pull you too hard? Sorry about that, I was just worried.”

“Don’t worry about it, you were just helping me not get hit by a car.”

“Pay more attention next time. You must have been thinking about something important to zone out that badly...”

You blushed, realizing that you were in fact, thinking about Sunghoon and if he was your friend or not.

“Oh? You’re blushing. You must have been thinking about something embarrassing.” Sunghoon teased, finally letting go of you. You surprisingly felt disappointed in this action, “Maybe it was your boyfriend..?” You turned to him, confusion and embarrassment flooding your features.

“Boyfriend? I know you’re not talking about me...” You joked, looking at the sidewalk beneath your feet as you trudged along. It was Sunghoon’s turn to be confused and he tilted his head and stared at you.

“Aren’t you dating someone?” He asked to which you shook your head no; you could feel the shame of this conversation burn up from the base of your neck.

“What about the guy that picked you up on Tuesday that you always hang out with?” Sunghoon questioned you, to which you burst out laughing from the misunderstanding.

“Jake?” You spat between a fit of laughter, “No way! He’s a really good friend that’s all.” It was Sunghoon’s turn to be mortified, his ears turning red as his eyes darted anywhere but you.

“Ahhhh! I’m sorry for jumping to conclusion, you guys just seemed really close at school and the he picked you up and I just assumed and-” He rambled before you cut him off.

“It’s okay. I understand why people might think that,” You assured before smiling to yourself, “He’s my Jay.”

“Your Jay?” Sunghoon asked, finally able to turn and look at you. You catch his gaze and give him a soft smile.

“The best kind of friend that would do anything for you.” You explained simply, “My Jay.” Sunghoon seemed to understand your comparison, smirking to himself because of the cute analogy.

Soon, you make it to Sunghoon’s apartment and begin your biology work. You immediately sat on the sofa this time, not fumbling with the floor; this time, you were conscious of how close he sat beside you, the warmth of his body radiating on your side. It made you anxious suddenly, having him this close to you. You were self-conscious of everything, like how your breath smelled or the way your hair laid. This feeling was one that you couldn’t seem to shake, no matter how hard you tried to focus on teaching Sunghoon about DNA; it was driving you bonkers

“Can I use your bathroom?” You asked, bouncing your knee nervously. He nodded and motioned to the door on the left before continuing working on the question you were on. You quickly shuffled into the bathroom and locked the door behind you, taking a deep breath. You washed your hands and looked up to fix you hair in the mirror.

Only, there wasn’t a mirror there. It was just a blank wall in front of the sink.

You frowned, blinking a couple of times to make sure you weren’t just seeing things. When you finally reached out and touched the wall you finally confirmed you weren’t crazy and there really was just no bathroom mirror.

Drying your hands and heading back to the living room, you debated bringing up the bathroom mirror. Maybe he just broke it and hadn’t bought a replacement yet?

Thinking that it was no big deal, you dropped it and decided to focus on the task at hand. Sunghoon had finished the problem you were on before you left and had moved on to the next one. The whole mirror situation had shaken you from whatever you felt earlier and you were finally able to focus on biology; so much in fact that you finished the assignment early.

“You can stay a bit longer... If you want.” Sunghoon offered, biting his bottom lip and leaning forward on the sofa, “If you’ve got stuff to do, I understand too.”

“I can stay for a bit.” You agreed, putting all of your things in a neat pile by the door before taking a seat on the opposite end of the sofa as Sunghoon, “Besides, I was supposed to be here teaching anyways. And it’s not like I have a ‘boyfriend’ dying to see me.” Sunghoon buried his head in his hands and groaned, making you giggle from the successful teasing.

“I’m so sorry about that, honestly.” He apologized again before cracking an shy grin, “I just though since you spent time with him and you’re...” He trailed off shaking his head from the thought, ears turning a nice shade of pink.

“Oh wow, was Sunghoon going to say something nice to me?” You gasped, placing your hand on your chest dramatically, “Could it be that, THE Park Sunghoon doesn’t hate his biology tutor?”

“Of course I don’t hate you, I assumed we were friends!” He exclaimed.

“Friends? If we were friends, I would have known more about you.” You countered.

“Like what?”

“How about the fact that I just learned you live in an apartment, have old antique couches, and that you figure skate less than a week ago, yet I’ve tutored you all year.”

“Okay that’s fair.”

“And how about the fact that we don’t hang out other than tutoring? Not very friend-like...”

“Okay I get your point. But maybe we should.”

“Should what?”

“Hang out.”

Sunghoon shifted his weight, turning to you before saying something you never expected in a million years.

“I have a competition this weekend, do you maybe want to come watch?” Sunghoon asked, smiling sweetly at you. You taken-aback for a moment, thinking you misheard the boy in front of you. He really wanted to see you outside of tutoring?

“I.. uhh.” You stammered, blinking a couple of times before grinning up at him, “Sure. I’d love to come and cheer you on.”

“Cool. And don’t worry, Jay’ll be there too!” Sunghoon reassured you, “So that way, you wont be all alone when I’m on the ice.” 

You replied with a small ‘cool’, feeling like your soul left your body. All this time, you were worried the guy didn’t like you when it turns out that he thought you guys were friends the whole time. It made you feel good that he actually wanted to see you, a sense of pride burning in your chest.

“Well, I better get ready for practice...” Sunghoon said, subtly hinting in it being your time to leave. You caught his drift and stood, making your way to the door and picking up all your gathered things.

“I better text Jake to come get me.” You responded from the door, slipping your bag over your shoulder.

“Does he usually drive you home from our sessions?” Sunghoon asked, leaning his back against the kitchen counter, seemingly like he was about to prepare food right after you left.

“He didn’t,” You replied, shifting from foot to foot, “but since you live far from me and.... well... there was that guy Geonu a couple days ago so you can never be too careful.”

You see Sunghoon visibly stiffen at the mention of Geonu. His smile falters for a fraction of a second before he approaches you at the door. He helps you with your things and opens it for you.

“It was a terrible thing that happened to him.” Sunghoon said weakly, voice barely above a whisper as he holds the door for you, “I hope whatever monster did that to him pays for what they did.” 

You walk out into the hallway before turning back to face Sunghoon, Feeling a strange sense of dread leaving the apartment. He was smiling, but you could tell it was fake. Why...

“Stay safe (Y/N).” Sunghoon warned before waving, “Have a good night. I’ll text you about my competition later tonight!” You waved back, turning away from his door and walking down the hall to the elevator. Once in the small, confined box, you shook away that sense of dread.

“Get in loser.” Jake called to you from the red hunk of trash he called is car. Hopping in, you quickly did up your seat-belt and Jake was off.

“So, how was tutoring with pretty boy?” Jake asked in a sing-song voice. Ever since he found out about your tutor, he teased you relentlessly, calling him ‘pretty boy’ and saying some obscene remarks about how much “””work””” you guys do.

“Good.” You stated simply before grinning to yourself, “He invited me to watch his figure skating competition this weekend.”

“What! That’s totally a date!” Jake exclaimed, pushing your shoulder over and over, “(Y/N)’s got a date, (Y/N)’s got a date~”

“Shut up! It’s not a date, dumb-ass.” You pushed Jake back, shaking your head, “His friend Jay is going too, so it’s just a friend thing because we are friends.”

“Pretty boy has a friend?” Jake asked, seemingly confused, “I thought he was a loner; Shy boy style...”

“Of course he has a friend,” You scoffed, rolling your eyes a Jake, “For your information, I met him today and complimented his really cool custom boots.” Jake seemed interested in that comment, perking up at the mention of shoes.

“That reminds me! I went searching online for the treads of our vampire’s shoes.” Jake informed you, quickly catching your attention, “But I couldn’t find anything that looked remotely close to the footprint.”

“Really?” You asked before humming in response, thinking about what to do, “Maybe you haven’t looked for the right brand?”

“There doesn’t seem to be any brand like our vampire’s shoes, but I’ll keep searching.” Jake sighed, “So far, all of the major brands were busts because they have their own distinct styles.” You tried to remember back to the photo of the footprint, thinking about if there were any distinct marking on the tread. But to no avail, your brain couldn’t produce an image of value.

“That’s really odd...” You said flatly, deep in thought, but turn to your friend with a sympathetic look in your eyes, “But I appreciate all the work you’re doing to find the evidence.”

Jake let out a small, defeated ‘thanks’ before slowing to a stop. You get out of his car (not without an awkward, sitting down car hug) and scurry inside your house, waving frantically to your friend as he pulled away.

---------------

“Did you hear the news? Apparently there was another attack down by 42 St.” Jungwon exclaimed, catching your attention from the sudden news, “They didn’t die, but the victim was hospitalized and is in serious condition...”

You had gathered in the lunch room at your usual table; it was just you and Jungwon for the moment as Heesung was busy doing a make-up exam in History.

“Hey, pretty boy lives pretty close to there!” Jake revealed, returning from a bathroom break with a bag of chips and an ice tea. He sits beside you and fiddles with the plastic bag.

“Who?” Jungwon asked, tilting his head like a puppy out of confusion.

“Sunghoon.” You replied before chewing your cuticle anxiously.

“Yes?” a voice from behind you asked, causing you and Jake to whip around to reveal the man himself. He was standing with Jay and another boy you hadn’t met before.

“Oh, we were just talking about the attack that was on the news.” Jungwon explained, glancing between you and your friend tutor. Jay stiffened, looking like he’d just seen a ghost while Sunghoon glanced between his friends.

“I heard about that,” The other boy said; he had a cute face and raven black hair that gave him a mature aura despite his adorable features, “It was only a block from your house, right Hoonie?” The group was silent, but you watched as Jay shifted his weight from foot to foot. 

“Yeah, it’s pretty close...” Sunghoon confirmed. He seemed slightly awkward, but you guessed it was because he probably wasn’t used to all the attention being on him. Jay seemed much more uncomfortable though, looking anywhere but your table. He chewed on his bottom lip before swinging his arm around Sunghoon’s shoulder.

“We should get going.” He urged, before smiling politely to you, “See you at the competition tomorrow (Y/N).” You nodded and grinned at Jay, noticing his strange behavior.

“Stay safe, Sunghoon.” You warned, earning you a soft smile from your tutor.

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry.” He replied before the boys were off, going to sit in the corner table where Sunghoon usually was found. You turned back to your friends and they looked at you expectantly.

“Please tell me I’m not the only one who thought they looked uncomfortable...” Jungwon said, eyes darting back and forth between you and Jake.

“No, they were definitely uncomfortable.” Jake said and turned to you, “What was with that Jay guy? He looked like he wanted to sprint out of here as soon as we brought the vampire subject up...”

“I don’t know.” You frowned, glancing over to their table where they seemed to be back to normal, joking and laughing, “When I first met him he seemed pretty chill but he was super on edge the whole time he was here...” Your table fell silent, cogs turning in your brain that you weren’t sure you wanted turning. Your thought process was interrupted by Heesung sliding into the chair next to Jungwon.

“Hey nerds, I just failed that History test.” Heesung said nonchalantly before switching his demeanor upon noticing your serious moods, “What’s up? You all look like you saw a ghost!”

“Hey (Y/N), you said Jay had custom boots,” Jake asked slowly, hinting at exactly what you were thinking. You nodded looking between the boys, “do you think the treads would be custom too..?”

“We think we just met our suspect for the vampire incident.” Jungwon revealed, causing the lingering tension to suffocate your group and fill your stomach with worry.

-----------------

“You know the plan right?” Heesung asked, leaning forward from the backseat of Jake’s car.

 It was 2:00 on a Saturday and you were just outside the rink in Jake’s car with the boys; you were supposed to be going to the rink to support Sunghoon but because of the groups suspicions, you take it upon yourself as president of the PAC to do some spy work on the suspected vampire Jay. 

“Of course I know the plan.” You rolled you eyes, going to open the door to get out before a flurry of ‘aye’s came from the three boys in the red car with you.

“We should go over it again once more to be sure.” Jungwon suggested, agreement coming from the other two boys. You sighed, but retraced your hand from the door handle

“Okay so you need to get his shoe size and look for burn marks from the silver ring.” Jake re-iterated for what seemed like the tenth time.

“A confession would also be useful,” Heesung stated, “But those first two things would be most important.”

“Also, check the tread to see if the shoe is actually the one we’re looking for.” Jungwon added.

“And make sure you bring up the attacks and see how he reacts.” Jake pipped in.

“and-”

“Guys,” You interrupted, clearly annoyed at how they don’t think you already know all that, “I’ve got it.”

“This is really important (Y/N), don’t let the club down.” Heesung said and grabbed your shoulder reassuringly. You nodded to your group, trying your hardest to exude confidence before opening the door and stepping out.

“Oh yeah, one last thing,” Jake called out to you before you shut the door, grinning from ear to ear, “Have fun cheering on pretty boy.” You shouted that you would before hurrying into the rink, wanting to see Sunghoon before his turn.

Ever since he said he’d text you about the competition, you had began to text back and forth nonstop. You were really starting to enjoy his company and for some reason, you couldn’t help but smile whenever you’d get a notification from him. That’s why the whole thing with Jay was so hard...

You didn’t want to jeopardize the relationship you had with Sunghoon because his best friend was allegedly a vampire. As much as you hated to admit, you really were starting to like Sunghoon and you wanted to become even closer friends with him; and you were pretty sure straight up accusing Jay of murder would not bode well for your relationship with Sunghoon....

As you entered the skating rink, you first felt a blast of coolness from the low temperatures. The second thing you felt was excitement because you could see Sunghoon tying up his skates on one of the benches across the arena. Even from across the room, you noted how beautiful he looked and you finally understood why Jake’s nickname for him was ‘pretty boy’. He wore tight fitted black pants that accentuated his long legs and a rich, red coloured shirt that made him look like a prince. 

Tearing your eyes from Sunghoon, you scanned the crowd to find Jay; you see him sitting with the boy from yesterday and yet another unknown guy in one of the very front rows. How many other friends did Sunghoon have?

You scurry over to them, before poking Jay in the shoulder.

“Is this seat taken?” You asked with a smile, causing all the boys to turn and look at you. Jay smiled and scooted over, making room for you between him and the cute boy from yesterday.

“Hey (Y/N).” He greeted as you sat down, “Glad you could make it.”

“He’s on the ice now!” The newest boy pointed out, watching as his friend got onto the ice to warm up.

“Oh yeah, you must not know these two knuckleheads,” Jay said casually, getting the attention of the two boys he was accompanying, “Don’t be shy, fellas.” 

“I’m Ni-ki.” The newest boy greeted shyly. If it was possible, he seemed even more shy than Sunghoon, eyes meeting yours for a moment before looking back out at the ice.

“My name’s Sunoo!” The cute boy from yesterday sing-songed, grabbing your hand and shaking it excitedly, “So you’re the (Y/N) Sunghoon won’t shut up about?” Jay shoved his overly excited friend for revealing that Sunghoon talked about you. You felt your cheeks heat up at the thought of Sunghoon gushing about you to his friends like a schoolgirl, but tried your best to act cool about it and like you definitely didn’t care.

Speaking of Sunghoon, there was a knock on the plexi-glass that got your attention; He stood on the ice, adorning the biggest smile you think you’ve ever seen on him. You got up and walked towards him, followed by the three other boys.

“You made it!” Sunghoon cheered, although his voice was muffled through the layer of glass between you two.

“Well, I was pretty busy, but I managed to squeeze this into my schedule.” You teased, checking your nails for the dramatic effect. The boy on the ice just chuckled at your teasing, the sound causing you to smile.

“Thanks for coming, I really appreciate it.” He thanked you sincerely.

“Of course. I wouldn’t miss it.” You said sweetly before cracking a goofy grin, “It’ll be nice to see you do something besides fail at biology.”

“Good luck out there buddy!” Jay encouraged, giving his friend a fist-bump through the glass.

“I’m sure you’ll be great.” Ni-ki assured, nodding at the boy on the ice before retreating to his seat.

“We’ll be cheering you on Hoonie!” Sunoo exclaimed, making a fist before returning to his seat as well. Sunghoon waved as he skated back to the bench to prepare for his turn, which would be happening in less that five minutes.

“After you.” You gesture for Jay to go first, swaying your hands dramatically towards the isle.

“Thank you.” He bowed, before going to his seat. You are then reminded of the task at hand, and you make a mental note to ask Jay some of the questions you prepared, trying your best to come off as natural. You sat back down in your spot between him and Sunoo.

“So, how have you been?” you asked nonchalantly, “Busy week?”

“Not really.” Jay answered simply, “Mostly schoolwork and then hanging with these dudes. You?”

“Well, just tutoring and managing my club.” You said, grinning sweetly at the boy.

“You have a club?” Sunoo gasped, before pouting, “I wish I had my own club...”

“What kind of club is it?” Jay asked, seemingly interested in what you had to say.

“It’s called the Paranormal Activities Club. PAC for short. We meet every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at around 4:00” You explained, glancing at Jay as you continues, “We talk about all sorts of paranormal stuff like ghosts, werewolves, demons... vampires...” Jay shifts in his seat at the mention of monsters, and you of course take notice of this.

“That’s really cool.” Ni-ki admitted, smirking at you before looking away.

“Yeah... cool.” Jay agreed, a hesitance slightly present in his tone.

“Do you believe in anything like that, Jay?” You asked, relaxing your demeanor and trying to seem as inconspicuous as possible.

“Me?” He said and cleared his throat, “Not really. It’s possible, but super unlikely...” You hummed in response, taking note of how he copied your stance by relaxing his back and opening his legs a bit more to seem comfortable. He wouldn’t meet your gaze though.

Interesting...

Just as you were about to say something else, The announcer came over the loud speaker and announced that it was time for the next skater to go and Sunghoon skated out to the center of the rink and stood in front of the judges. He bowed before doing a half a lap and gliding the other half with his arms spread, greeting the crowd. You clapped along with everyone else, making a mental note to put the whole vampire situation on pause and focus on Sunghoon.

He returned to the center where he waited; the music began. It was a a soft piano track and it filled the rink with the sweet melody. Sunghoon then began to skate and you could swear you felt all the air leave your lungs. 

As he glided, Sunghoon twisted and turn on his blades, spreading his arms like a delicate swan. As the song grew to a peak, He dug one of his blades into the ice and used it seemingly as a launchpad, jumping and spinning in the air like gravity didn’t effect him. As the song continued, he swiveled on one of his feet before jumping and spinning again; your eyes followed him, in awe at how beautiful and graceful he moved around on the ice. He then spun in one spot, long leg outstretched at a perfect 90 degree angle before transitioning into holding  his blade and creating a ring with his body, all while continuing his turns. You watched, almost in a trance as he moved along with the symphony, skating right by the crowd and right past the judges before launching into another jump. As the song came to a close, Sunghoon got into his finishing stance, which was his arms outstretched forward and sliding on one knee towards the judges, a 5-star smile on his face. You can feel your heart pounding in your chest from his performance, taking a moment to calm down before applauding your tutor friend. (Did I watch a ton of vids on Sunghoon skating today? Yes.)

“He did fantastic.” You whisper breathlessly to Jay, who stands and starts to holler at his friend.

“He did.” Jay responded, showing a sense of pride for his best friend. The boys yell words of encouragement to Sunghoon as he bows to the judges and then to the crowd. You catch his gaze and feel a certain swell in your chest when he smiles just a bit brighter at you.

~~~

“You were gliding across the ice like ‘swooooshh’ and then you jumped up and spun like ‘trrrrt’!” Ni-ki gushed, rotating his finger as you were standing by the dressing room to congratulate Sunghoon. He looked even more beautiful up close, handsome features glowing in the place he’s most comfortable.

“You were awesome Hoonie!” Sunoo agreed, smiling so bright his eyes basically disappeared in his eye smiles.

“Thank you guys, really.” Sunghoon said out of breath, brushing his sweaty locks off his forehead, “I’m glad you all came to cheer for me.”

“Of course,” Jay scoffed, “What kind of friends don’t support their friend?”

“You should have seen (Y/N) watch you,” Sunoo exposed, moving aside to make room for you to talk to Sunghoon comfortably, “She couldn’t take her eyes off of you, and stared like this.” He then did an over-dramatized of you, eyes sparkling and jaw open so wide you thought he was trying to eat an invisible cheeseburger. You felt your face heat up out of embarrassment before Jay shoves Sunoo to get him to quit.

“For the record, I did not watch you like that.” You corrected, before grinning and holding out your hand for a high-five, “But you were really cool.” Sunghoon’s already flush cheeks reddened at your comment before letting out a small ‘thank you’ and lightly high-fiving you. When your hand touched Sunghoon’s, you felt a jolt of electricity and it made you giddy.

“Should we go out for pizza or something? To celebrate?” Ni-ki suggested, earning a murmur of agreements from the group. Sunghoon mentioned he had to go change and you were secretly upset by this. Just because you were friends didn’t mean you couldn’t think he was attractive right? He looked so good in that costume, the tight-fitting pants and loose shirt that left only a little to the imagination. You ogled his exposed collarbones for a moment more as he was talking to Jay about if he’d place; Although you had just now notice something that was there.

Right above his right collarbone, there seemed to be a small burn-mark that was previously covered with makeup but now was visible due to Sunghoon’s sweat. It wasn’t very big, but it looked like it was in a starburst shape and you wondered what could have caused it. Maybe a cooking accident with oil?

The ice price disappeared in the change room and you and the rest of the boys waited out front in the lobby. When Sunghoon did emerge from the change room, you all wasted no time and began to make your way to the closest pizza joint. You walked beside Jay, watching the other two boys tease Sunghoon in-front of you.

“So...” You said, trying to fill the silence; You didn’t know how to transition in to vampire talk so effortlessly. It was a weird topic to bring up out of the blue and you didn’t know how to ask Jay about his shoes without seeming like you had a foot fetish.

“Yeah..?” Jay asked before chuckling, “You okay? You look a little on edge; something on your mind perhaps?” Perfect.

“Well, its a little late and there have been a few attacks recently...” You said wearily, stealing glaces at the boy beside you.

“Oh yeah, there have been.” Jay gulped, brushing his hair out of his eyes, “But you’ll be okay if you stay close to us.”

“Me and my club suspect its a vampire.” You stated bluntly, wanting to see how Jay would react; he stiffens, but overall keeps a good composure.

“Really?” He chuckled dryly, “That’s interesting.”

“I know you don’t believe in that kind of stuff though.”

“yeah...”

“But we are pretty serious about it. We are just trying to find out who the vampire is.”

“Do you have a suspect?”

“yeah.” You answered and turned to him, pausing before speaking slowly, “We actually do have one...”

Jay stared at you, panic concealed in his glossed over eyes. Before he could speak, the boys lead you into the restaurant.You drop the conversation as you enter the building. You all squish into a corner booth and Ni-ki orders a pizza for all of you to share.

“what’s wrong Jay? you look like you’ve seen a ghost?” Sunoo asked concerned, placing his hand on his friends shoulder.

“Nothing’s wrong.” Jay said flatly, glancing at you before smiling, “I just can’t wait to eat.”

“Dude, I’m so hungry!” Ni-ki sighed, patting his stomach for emphasis.

“I’m not actually, so I think I’ll just hang out.” Sunghoon revealed, grinning softly. You were pressed next to him in the booth and for some reason you felt nervous.

 It must have been the vampire thing. 

Definitely.

Why else would you be nervous?

“What?” Sunoo exclaimed, “How could you not be hungry? You’ve exercised all day!”

“Not sure, but I’m good on the food.” Sunghoon explained, “I think I’ll just get an ice tea.”

Just then the pizza arrived and you all (besides Sunghoon) began eating. Lots of fun was had and you swear you felt like you were with your own friend group. The boys made you laugh and you felt pretty comfortable around them, even though you had just met Ni-ki and Sunoo today.

Not long after, it was dark and you and the boys had finished the pizza and it was time for you to go home; You still hadn’t gotten any information about Jay’s shoes or a confession about vampire activities. But you had an idea to maybe reveal some information, though you didn’t really want to do it...

As you guys stood up from the table, you “accidentally” knocked over Sunghoon’s half-drunken ice tea all over your shoes, drenching your feet and the surrounding carpet with the sticky drink.

“Ahhh!” You whined, feeling the coldness of the drink seeping into your socks. The boys reacted as quick as possible, picking up the glass and informing a waitress about the accident. You guys left the restaurant, embarrassed; You sat outside on the pavement, wringing your socks out, giggling about how silly the situation was. Now was the time to really get the information you need.

“What am I gonna do about walking home?” You sighed before looking at Jay playfully, “Maybe Jay will let me borrow his super cool boots! What size are they anyways?” 

Jay chuckled and looked down at his shoes before shaking his head at you.

“No way man! I don’t trust you with my babies.” Jay joked, “besides, they are a men’s size 7, so I doubt you would be able to fit into them.” That was the same size as the print at the scene...

“I know, I’m just kidding.” You chuckled, trying to hide the thought process going on in your head, “I’ll just wear these gross sneakers home!” As you began to put your shoes on, your vision is suddenly covered by a figure crouching down in front of you. 

“Hop on.” Sunghoon urged, looking over his shoulder with a smile, “You can’t live that far from here right?” You replied with a small ‘are you sure?’, to which Sunghoon nodded yes. You picked up your shoes with one hand before wrapping your arms and legs around the ice-prince. He stood up and adjusted you on his back, placing his hands around your thighs to support your body. You felt yourself become nervous, yet excited from the close contact, bringing heat to your face from these feelings. 

“See you boys tomorrow!” Sunghoon called out to the boys as you and Sunghoon prepared to leave. Ni-ki and Sunoo waved before starting their trek in the opposite direction, bickering back and forth. Jay lingered for a moment longer, feeling a sense of anxiety bubble up in his chest. Were you close to finding out about...? He didn’t like the idea of you and Sunghoon being alone, but he trusted his friend.

“You two be careful okay?” Jay said very carefully, eyes glued to his friend, “I’ll see you tomorrow Sunghoon.” And with that, he turned to leave and quickly followed after the other two boys. You tried to get a look at the bottom of his shoes, but you couldn’t see them very well in the dark and in the distance. 

You had let Sunghoon know where you lived and the two of you were off. For a bit, the only thing that could be heard was Sunghoon’s feet against the pavement and the beating of your heart in your ears. You found comfort in the smell of his cologne and the occasional street light as Sunghoon held you close.

“Hey, you didn’t have to carry me home...” You hummed, feeling slightly guilty about making Sunghoon carry you.

“Oh, my bad. I’ll just leave you here then.” He teased, loosening his grip on you. You squealed and clung onto his shoulders and let out a flurry of “no”s. He chuckled at your reaction before shifting his grip on you to hold you closer to him. You wrapped your arms around the boy tighter, burying your face in his shoulder. It was silent again, but only for a moment before you mumbled a quiet thank you; Sunghoon hummed in response, focusing on the warmth of you against his back and the thousand thoughts stirring in his head.

“Hey (Y/N), I have to ask you something.” He finally said; You had almost fell asleep on his back, focusing only on the sounds of his breathing. His statement intrigued you, causing you to perk up off of his shoulder.

“What’s up?” You said gently, tightening your grip.

“Say you had a really good friend...” He started out, voice low and serious, “and you found out they did something really bad, but it was an accident” You frowned, getting a sudden sense of dread. You suddenly felt how cold it was outside in the dark.

“What would you do?” He finally asked, “Would you stay friends with them?”

You were quiet for a minute, thinking of how to respond to this question. You had just passed the last streetlamp on the road you were walking so it was almost pitch black except for a few stars. The night atmosphere brought in a thick tension that made you feel nervous about the subject matter of Sunghoon’s question.

“I mean, I guess it really depends on what the bad thing is.” You stated, before continuing on, “But it was an accident and if I knew they were a good person, I guess I might stay friends.” Sunghoon nodded, thinking about your answer and breathing out weakly.

“Why? Did your friend do something really bad?” You asked suddenly, Jay popping into your mind. Sunghoon’s pace quickened a bit and you could feel his heart in his chest going crazy. He seemed anxious and you though about what that could mean. He adjusted his grip on you before clearing his throat.

“Nope. I was just wondering what you’d say.” He said flatly, seemingly more confident than before. You blinked a couple times, surprised by his sudden change of tone.

“Oh okay...” You replied nonchalantly, looking up to the sky and sighing, “I mean, if you did something bad on accident, I’d still be your friend because you’re a really great guy.” You didn’t even realize what you said until it came out of your mouth. You felt you face heat up and Sunghoon let out a hearty chuckle that made you even more flustered.

“Thanks I guess.” He said through giggles, Before chewing the skin on his bottom lip and responding back, “I think you’re a really great girl too.”

“Thanks” you can’t help but squeak, making you mentally want to punch yourself. There’s suddenly tension again, but for a different reason this time. Sunghoon’s grip on your legs is softer now and you notice his thumb beginning to mindlessly draw shape on your thighs. You held his broad shoulders tighter and you could feel him take a shaky breath as yours tickled the side of his neck.

But before the tension got too thick, you had arrived at your place. Sunghoon took you to the front door and let you down off of him before turning around to face you. His cheeks were red, but you were sure it wasn’t from the cold. 

“Thanks again for taking me home.” You said, feeling like your stomach was going to explode.

“Its no problem.” Sunghoon assured you, rubbing the back on his neck to get the goosebumps to go away.

“It’s pretty late, do you want me to call you a cab?”

“No I’m alright, but thanks for the offer.”

“Are you sure? I’d hate for something to happen.”

“I’m sure.”

Sunghoon bowed his head to you, bidding you a farewell. You felt your body move towards him and before you could even think to stop yourself, you did the unthinkable.

You leaned in and placed a kiss on his cheek, right on the corner of his mouth and you swore you must have looked just as surprised as Sunghoon did; His eyes were wide and he looked as if he was frozen in time.

“I- uhmmmm....” You stammered before saying the stupidest thing in the universe, “Good job skating today. Goodnight!”

 Sunghoon blinked a couple of times, finally seeming to wake up.

“Uh- Thanks!” He exclaimed, clearly flustered, before turning to leave you door. He had his hand on his face where you kissed as he waved back at you with the other when he realized he needed to say goodbye, “I- uhh, Goodnight (Y/N)!” 

It was official, you wanted to die.

--------------------

“Jake, did you even listen to the rest of the story?” You huffed, embarrassed at your friends relentless teasing.

“If you didn’t want me to make fun of you,” Jake explained through fits of laughter, “You should have left the part where you awkwardly kissed pretty boy out of the story!”

You shoved Jake into room 300 because he was about to miss the turn into the classroom (and for your own personal gratification). Heesung and Jungwon were already there, putting the desks together to create your meeting table. Upon noticing your entrance they both greeted you and Jake before gazing at the cackling vice-president of PAC.

“What’s so funny?” Jungwon asked, pulling out all of the evidence photos from his backpack. Jake sighed, wiping a tear away and finally able to catch his breath.

“I mean, you should ask (Y/N).” He chuckled, “I’m sure she’s dying to explain.” You rolled your eyes, trying to fight your body from heating up.

“Nothing new, Jake just bullying me.” You shook your head and took your seat at the head of the table. After setting up the rest of the evidence, the boys sat down too and you officially started the meeting.

“Alright, so here’s what I got to find out about our suspect.” You said and went up to the whiteboard. You picked up a black dry erase marker and wrote Jay’s name before underlining it.

“First, when we were at the rink, I mentioned our club and asked if he believed in paranormal things and he said no, but with hesitation.” You said and wrote down a summary of what you said, “Then, when I mentioned the attacks, he got really antsy, especially after I mentioned that we were investigating for a vampire.”

“So no confession I presume?” Heesung asked, jotting notes down as you went along to keep your encounter documented after club was over and you had to erase the board.

“No, but he was very defensive any time I brought the vampire stuff up.” You explained and the boys nodded.

“And the other boys, you said they were named Sunoo and Ni-ki..?” Jungwon asked and you hummed in response, “Did they do anything suspicious?”

“Not a thing.” You said simply, “Sunoo seemed more worried about the attacks than I did. And Ni-ki was a bit more focused on pizza and figure skating than engaging in conversation.”

“However,” You continued before writing your thoughts on the board, “I have reason to believe Sunghoon knows about Jay being a vampire.”

“You do?” Heesung said, shocked at your accusation, “Why?”

“Well, I wanted to get more information about Jay’s boots, but I couldn’t bring up shoes without seeming weird so long story short, I dumped ice tea on my sneakers and Sunghoon took me home.” You said before writing a side note, “Oh and for your information, Jay’s shoe size is a 7 in men’s,  but I couldn’t get a good look at the treads.”

“Okay, that useful information.” Jungwon said and jotted that down, “But continue.”

“Anyways, He had asked me if I would stay friends with someone if they did something really bad, but I knew it was on accident.” You explained, writing the point form of that conversation on the board, “So I suspect he knows about Jay and doesn’t know what to do, stay friends or turn him in.”

“I mean, that is an oddly specific question.” Jungwon agreed, furrowing his eyebrows in thought, “Why would you ask someone that unless you specifically have an experience to go by.”

“Anything else happen?” Heesung asked, looking at you expectantly.

“Yeah (Y/N), anything else happen?” Jake, who had been quiet this whole time asked, eyes fluttering and a grin on his face. You groaned, pinching the bridge of your nose.

“Relevant to the investigation, no.” You said before sighing, “But I also gave Sunghoon a really awkward kiss on the cheek, but that’s irreverent.”

The room went up in a flurry, and you could have swore you wouldn’t have gotten a bigger reaction if you said you had found Jay to be the vampire. All the boys were talking at once and it was so loud, you almost didn’t hear a knock at the door. You shushed them before going to the door and opening it to reveal the man you were just talking about.

“Uh, hi...” Sunghoon greeted shyly. The rest of the boys peered over your shoulder to eavesdrop on the conversation until Sunghoon met their gaze, to which they looked anywhere but the doorway. You’re gaze dropped, not being able to his face, feeling the heat of nervousness and embarrassment creep up your neck.

“Hey, what’s up?” You asked, suddenly aware of all of the writing you had on  the whiteboard; You pulled the door a bit closer, blocking most of the room.

“I just wanted to uhh.... I wanted to talk to you about something.” Sunghoon mumbled, clearly nervous. The boys let out a loud ‘oooOooOoOOoO’ from behind you and you reminded yourself to hit them later. You rolled your eyes feeling bad for how your friends were being.

“Sure, let’s just go out into the hallway.” You said and closed the door behind you. It was quite out there and you finally had the courage to bring your gaze back up to his face. Your eyes settled on the spot where you had kissed him a couple nights ago and you couldn’t help the butterflies from fluttering around in your stomach.

“Before you say anything,” You sighed, trying your best to hide your embarrassment, “I’m sorry about Saturday night. I totally don’t even know what I was thinking doing that and-”

“Oh please don’t apologize!” Sunghoon interrupted frantically, before clearing this throat and fiddling with an envelope; You hadn’t even noticed he was holding it until now.

“I mean, I don’t mind you kissing me like that...” He said timidly, smirking to himself before holding the envelope out for you to take. You do take it, feeling the red wax seal on the front, “I wanted to give you that. But please don’t read it yet!”

“Alright, I’ll wait to read it.” You agreed and gripped the paper tightly, “Is that all..?”

“Well, I was also wondering if you want to come over later today?” He asked, biting his bottom lip; your eyes were trained to his mouth, but instead of his lips, you were focused on his pointed canine teeth; how cute that he had little “fangs”!

“Yeah, I’d love to, but as a date..?” You asked timidly, rocking back and forth on your feet. Sunghoon blinked and gazed at the ground, ears red.

“If you want it to be, I’d like that too...” He said and you nodded, feeling like your heart was about to explode, “So I guess just be in the lobby of my apartment by 8 and bring the letter. Please don’t read it until then.”

“I promise.” You agreed again, smiling like an idiot, “I guess I’ll see you later.”

Sunghoon said goodbye and gave you a kiss, much like you did to him a few nights ago; Only this time, his lips attached to your mouth for a moment and you felt like you could die happy. Except he tasted oddly metallic, but you were too excited to care. He waved goodbye and scurried down the hallway and disappeared from your sight.

You go back into the classroom and are met with three pairs of eyes on you. You stared at the boys and they stared back in silence.

“So are we gonna talk about pretty boy asking you out or..?�� Jake finally said and you scoffed, approaching them.

“Let’s just get back to work on things that matter!” You huffed, but couldn’t stop the grin from gracing your features.

~~~

Ice Prince: you’re almost here?

You text back a reply and quickly close your phone. Jake glanced at you before patting your shoulder reassuringly while keeping is focus on the road.

“Hey, everything will be fine.” He said and smiled, “I mean, I think you’ll probably spill water all over his floor and probably trip in the elevator, but I guess he’s into girls like that.”

“Oh god, don’t jinx me.” You groaned, pulling down the flip-up mirror in Jake’s car to check your makeup one last time. You take a tube of lip-chap out of your bag and apply another layer, worried about your lips being crusty. Jake chuckled and parked in front of Sunghoon’s building, flipping the mirror up and startling you in the process.

“You look great, dude.” He said simply and gives you a lopsided grin, “Just breathe and be yourself and everything will go great.” You take a deep breath in and thank Jake before giving him a hug.

“Hey, when you tell me all about it later, make sure to leave out all the kissing parts.” He teased, grimacing as you got out of the car, “I don’t need to hear about you and pretty boy swapping spit.”

“If I knew you’d be so jealous of me, I would have set you two up instead.” You grinned and walked towards the front door, thanking Jake for the ride before entering the lobby.

(Y/N): I’m here!

Ice Prince: Be right there to see you :)

Ice Prince: Did you bring the letter?

After reading the last message, you texted back a quick ‘yes’. Just then, the elevator doors opened to reveal Sunghoon, who beamed when he saw you. He looked almost as ethereal as when he was on the ice (almost).

He had his hair parted in the middle and a simple, over-sized white dress shirt tucked into his black jeans. The shirt felt somewhat familiar, but you couldn’t place where you’d seen one like that...

“Hey.” He said, shakiness evident in his voice, “You look so beautiful...”

“Oh thanks.” You replied, trying to hide your nervousness, “I think you look beautiful- I! Uhhhh mean handsome! You look really handsome...”

You mentally facepalmed yourself, but it must have been showing in your features because Sunghoon laughed, releasing all the tension in the room. After all, this was your calculus tutor and a friend you were with. He lead you into the elevator. Sunghoon lived on one of the top floors on his apartment complex, so you'd be in there for a minute; Sunghoon took the time to try and ease his nerves, staring at the doors and humming a soft tune.

You glanced in the mirror in the elevator, wanting to make sure your hair was perfect. And that’s when you saw it; more accurately, didn’t see it...

You were alone in the reflection.

Feeling like your eyes were deceiving you, you turned back to see Sunghoon standing there, humming away without a care in the world. You turned back to the mirror and saw that he wasn’t in the mirror. You felt your stomach drop as everything clicked together.

No mirrors in his house, the burn on his collarbone, not eating after the competition, his question that night, the metallic taste of his lips, and that stupid shirt...

“Come on (Y/N),” Sunghoon beckoned from the hallway; you hadn’t realized the doors opened and he was waiting for you. Sunghoon smiled and your eyes snapped to his sharp canines you had noticed earlier today, “Sorry, was I interrupting your daydream?”

“Not at all.” You said nervously, leaving the elevator and following Sunghoon to his place. You had to fight the urge to run away from him and not let him be alone with you in his apartment; he could be trapping you and every instinct was screaming run.

But you were curious about him. If he really was... then as the president of PAC, you needed to know. 

“Hey (Y/N), you don’t have to be afraid.” He whispered, facing his door and opening it. He held his door open to you and softly grinned, which filled you with comfort, “Its just me.”

You entered his apartment and everything looked like it had the last time you were here. It had felt like ages ago now.

You sat on the couch, feeling surprisingly calm; But you always had felt pretty calm around Sunghoon (up until recently when you started getting butterflies because of your feelings), so it made sense.

“Do you want anything?” He called from the kitchen casually, like he does when you study here. He was looking in the fridge, as if he didn’t notice the change in your behavior.

“No, I’m alright.” You hummed, sitting with your hands in you lap; the atmosphere was thick, and you watched as Sunghoon closed the fridge and approached the couch and sat beside you, “So, what do you have planned?”

“First things first, I want to address that letter I gave you,” He said and looked at your bag that was still around your shoulder; You moved it and went to take the letter out of it, shuffling around in the bag, “And then maybe we can go out somewhere or watch a movie or whatever you want.”

“Sounds good, I have it right here.” You said, still looking for it in your bag. You ducked your head to look in your bag for it, surprised you hadn’t felt it yet, but you couldn’t see it in there, “It should be in here... somewhere...”

Sunghoon watched as you start taking things out of your bag until it was empty; no letter.

“I could have sworn I brought it!” You huffed, frustrated and embarrassed you forgot the one thing you needed, “I’m so sorry. but maybe you can just tell me what it said..?”

“ahhh of course this would happen...” Sunghoon sighed, chuckling to himself, looking at the velvet cushion of the couch, “I can’t believe I have to grow the courage to actually say it, but you needed to know.”

“Maybe you don’t have to say it.” you grabbed his hands, causing him to look you in the eyes. There was a suddenly tension, and you could feel yourself growing meeker by the second, “Maybe I already know...”

Sunghoon was so close you could feel the heat radiating from his body. His eyes hid something you couldn’t read, but his expression laid stone cold. He licked his lips before responding to you, eyes not leaving yours.

“What do you know?” His voice was low, barely above a whisper.

“What you are.” You said breathlessly with your last ounce of courage. Sunghoon’s eyes flickered, leaning away from you and looking out the window. He pulls his hands from yours, placing them in his own lap.

“It was the elevator right?” He asked, continuing before you could answer, “I mean, I wouldn’t be surprised if you figured out my little secret sooner, you being the president of the vampire hunting club and all.” 

It was silent for a moment; Sunghoon still couldn’t meet your gaze, looking out the window into the lit city streets while you couldn’t stop looking at him. He was still beautiful as ever, and your eyes wandered to the mole on the bridge of his nose. You remember walking home with him that day an finally noticing it; You thought it made him look so much prettier.

He was still the same man as he was that day.

“What happened with Geonu?” You asked tentatively, leaning closer to Sunghoon to look out the window too.

“I had it all written down in the letter, but I can tell you about it because I owe you at least that much.” He said, his voice sounding weak and tired.

-

God he was so hungry. 

He was off to buy some beef to curb the cravings (Sunghoon eats it raw), but the market he went to was closed until the next morning.

But it didn’t help that he was hungry now and as time went on, his willpower was dwindling. As Sunghoon walked down the streets, hoping some fresh air would help with the intense burning in his stomach, before a familiar voice called out to him.

“Hey Sunghoon, Why are you out so late?” Jay called, jogging to catch up with Sunghoon. Jay was known to enjoy late night shenanigans, so it was no surprise to Sunghoon why he was out at night. But the smell of Jay’s sweat was killing him in ways he couldn’t explain to his friend.

“Wanted to go for a walk.” He answered flatly, trying to control his rampant desires. He kept walking, trying to get away from Jay, but his friend wouldn’t leave him alone.

“Hey dude, wait up! You don’t look so good...” Jay said, concern laced in his voice, “I’m gonna take you home okay, you need to rest up.”

As Jay reached out to touch Sunghoon, it was the last straw. Sunghoon grabbed his friend by the arm and yanked him, causing Jay to stumble to the ground in the adjacent alleyway, trying to process what was happening. Sunghoon lunged onto Jay, holding him down.

“Sunghoon get off of me!” Jay shouted, struggling to get out of the vice like grip Sunghoon had placed on his wrists. He saw the pure predatory look in his friend’s eyes and the growing of his teeth; The sight was something that would never leave Jay’s head.

“Sunghoon snap out of it!” Jay yelled, finally being able to throw Sunghoon off of his body. Sunghoon immediately made some distance between the two and burst into tears, laying on the pavement clutching his stomach.

“I’m sorry Jay...” Sunghoon cried, regaining the littlest bit of composure, “I’m.. It... It hurts so bad, Jay.”

“Hey it’s okay...” Jay said through heavy breaths, still trying to process what was going on and that this was real, “You should just go home and try to feel better okay?”

But just then, another figure appeared in mouth of the alleyway; Geonu.

He was studying late that night, stopping at the convenient store for some late night snacks. He was on his way back to the library when he hears shouting and fighting in the alleyway. And like any other person, he went to see what was going on and if he was able to help.

“Hey what’s going on? I heard shouting and fighting...” He explained, gazing at the two boys on the ground before approaching them. He stuck his hand out to Sunghoon, who was closer of the two to help him to his feet when the boy lashed out Geonu, digging his fingernails into his forearm and wailing.

Geonu pulled his arm away, crying out in pain and shuffling away from Sunghoon, holding onto the deep gash on his arm that was oozing blood. Once Sunghoon caught scent of it, his last bit of control was gone.

He lunged at Geonu, but he was quicker, stumbling to his feet and running in the direction of the school with Sunghoon in pursuit.

“Sunghoon! Wait!” Jay shouted, running after his friend to get him away from Geonu. He watched as they were heading through the front gate in the direction of the soccer feild.

Jay ran to the woods, hoping to cut off the duo; Suddenly there was a scream of anguish, sounding like Jay’s dear friend. He ran faster, emerging from the bush to see the two boys lying on the field.

Sunghoon had Geonu on his back, holding Sunghoon with his palms firmly on his chest. However, Geonu was wearing a silver ring that was burning into Sunghoon’s flesh near Sunghoon’s collarbone, which made the boy cry out. He ripped the hand from his shoulder before twisting the silver ring off Geonu’s finger and throwing it out at the track.

Sunghoon then fiercely lunged towards his neck, sinking his fangs into the center of his throat. Geonu’s screeched out in agony but it was already done. He weakly pushed on the boy above him, trying to get him off as he grew weaker.

Sunghoon sucked and chewed at the open wounds on Geonu, feeling the burning pain in his stomach subside. He held Geonu firmly until he ceased to move.

Jay watched in horror, his head spinning. He felt like he was in a dream as he watched his closest friend turn into a vampire and kill someone. Sunghoon unlatched from Geonu, realizing what he had done. He scurried away from Geonu’s body as fast as he could before wiping the copious amounts of blood from his mouth and chin area. He gazed at the red on his hands, feeling sick.

Sunghoon let out a pained scream, sitting on his knees as he let out sobs. Jay, shaken by his friends reaction, tried to approach the boy. Sunghoon looked at him,tears in his eyes.

“I-” Sunghoon choked, “God what have I done?”

Jay stared at his friend with wide eyes, kneeling on the grass.

“I’m a monster Jay.” Sunghoon wailed, shaking and crying, “I didn’t mean for this to happen... I was just so hungry and- and I killed him Jay. I couldn’t-” He broke into heavy sobs, pulling at his hair with red spit dropping onto his knees.

“Its... It’s okay.” Jay reassured, not exactly knowing what to do, went to his friend and wrapped his arm around him to sooth him, “You’re okay...”

“I’m a Vampire Jay, but I try my best to not hurt humans.” Sunghoon sniffled, wiping his face with the back of his hand before trembling, “But I did... I killed him and I don’t know what to do... There so much red.”

Without a word, Jay took off his jacket, before reaching for the buttons on Sunghoon’s dress shirt. He didn’t know what he just saw, but Sunghoon is his best friend and whatever killed Geonu wasn’t the Sunghoon who was in front of him now. So he helped his friend rid himself of the red on his shirt before tying it up in the bag Geonu had gotten from the convenient store and wrapping his jacket around Sunghoon.

He walked his friend to his house, where he cleaned him up and put him to sleep on his bed, watching over him as he slept, trying to get the nightmarish images from this night out of his head.

-

“What I did...” Sunghoon sighed finally turning to look at you with a serious face. Tears were brimming the edges of his eyes before he swallowed, “It’s unforgivable. I’m gonna have to live with the fact that I’m a monster forever.”

You stared back blankly, not sure of what you felt. Nothing felt real at this moment; you should be horrified, angry, or even a bit stressed, however you felt surprisingly calm. You resisted the urge to reach out and touch him, not knowing how he would react.

Sunghoon sight and looked back out the window, a weak smile.

“Y’know, I don’t blame you if you want to run away,” He said nodding slowly before swallowing, “I just wanted you to know the truth and I felt that it was the only good thing to do. I totally understand if you-”

“Stop.” You interrupted, causing Sunghoon to turn to you. Before your brain registered what you were doing, you leaned in and kissed Sunghoon, hands coming up to wrap around his neck. He was shocked, but quickly kissed you back cupping your face with his hands. You broke free and he blinked expectantly a couple of times.

“Listen, I don’t know what I think, cause this is a lot to process,” You started to explain, playing nervously with the hair on his nape. You looked at Sunghoon’s face; His soft lips, his pretty eyes and his pretty features, reminding you of who was in front of you. And with that, you made up your mind

“But, I don’t hate you, and I don’t want to leave.”  You said firmly, “You aren’t a monster; you’re Sunghoon, the dork who figure skates, who studies with me every Tuesday and Thursday. You’re the guy who carried me home when my shoes were gross and the guy who my friends tease me about liking. This doesn’t change anything. You’re still you and I love you the way you are. So I’m not going anywhere.”

Sunghoon held your face, thumbs caressing your cheeks before he leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on you lips. It was quick but sweet. He whispered a ‘thank you’, finally able to relax a bit. 

You wanted nothing more than to kiss him again, so you did, leaning in and kissing him deeply. You felt dizzy, but the only thing you knew was you never wanted to stop kissing Sunghoon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“As president of the PAC, I officially begin this meeting. We have a few things on the agenda today.” You said simply, sitting down in your spot, breathing out a heavy sigh, “To start, I have an update for all of you about our vampire.”

You thought all night about what you were to do with the information that Sunghoon is a vampire. You had explained everything to him; about how you were looking for a vampire and how you had suspected his friend was the perp and not Sunghoon himself. and after much deliberation (and Sunghoon’s permission), you thought the best course of action would be to tell your friends the truth. it would be impossible to lie to them when you were so invested in-

“Is it that your boyfriend is a vampire?” Jake asked, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. You looked at him in shock, flabbergasted on how Jake came to the conclusion. Before you had the chance to speak, he nonchalantly tossed an envelope- the one Sunghoon had given to you - on the desks.

“You left this in my car when I dropped you off for your date.” Jake explained.

“So, you opened it and read it..?” you asked; Jake silently shrugged and you shook your head at him in disappointment.

“Anyways, the point is, he admits it in the letter.” Jake said simply, glancing to Heeseung and Jungwon, who looked between you and the letter, “I texted the boys about it while you were on your date.”

“And?” You asked, looking between all the boys, “What do you want to do with that information..?”

“What do you want to do, (Y/N)?” Jungwon asked, “I’m sure you have your feelings invested on what happens next?”

You took a deep breath and slumped back in your chair, “I mean, I think Sunghoon a good guy. I’ve known him for a while and obviously now that were dating, I believe it even more. I know the most logical thing is to turn him into the authorities... but truthfully I’m not sure if I can. But if you all want to, that’s your choice.”

The boys were silent before Heeseung cleared his throat.

“well, we have already talked about the next course of action.” Heeseung began, speaking gently as if you’d spook. Jake hummed, gaze soft as he watched your uneasiness rise. He swallowed before speaking, “I don’t know Sunghoon as well, but he seems nice. and he makes you happy. And I think everything will be okay if we just leave it at that.”

You felt a wave of relief wash over you as you watch Jake’s expression relax; it was as if he was just as nervous about the decision as you were.

“There was a lot of logic talk with it,” Jungwon explained, lacing his fingers together and placing his hands on the desk, “realistically, the police probably wouldn’t even believe us if we did explain everything to them, so there would be no point.”

“And we also thought it would be a cool opportunity to talk to someone who is paranormal.” Heeseung added, with a shrug and a smirk, “y’know, for more club activities.”

“Yeah! (Y/N), do you think you could get Sunghoon to come and we could interview him for our records?” Jake asked, almost jumping out of his seat because he was so excited. you chuckled at your friends, who not only seemed to be making the best out of this situation, but also who just genuienly seemed interested in supporting you and Sunghoon.

“Funny you ask,” You laughed, standing from your chair. You made your way to the door, “Because the second order of business is that we have a few new members joining out club today and I was waiting to introduce them.”

You open the door to reveal Sunghoon and Jay, who awkwardly wave at your friends.

“Sorry for the wait, you guys can go sit down at our makeshift meeting table.” You explained, watching as Sunghoon smiled at you before he leaned in a placed a kiss onto your cheek.

“Hey, uhm..” Jay began awkwardly, walking over to and pointing at the whiteboard, “Why does it say “Evidence Jay is a Vampire” on your board..?”

“Oh uhm, don’t mind that.” Jungwon squeaks sheepishly, going over to the board and quickly erasing it.

“Hey, what’s so wrong with that?” Sunghoon teased, wrapping his arm around you and nudging his friend with his other. The group let out a flurries of chuckles.

“Hey Sunghoon, come sit over here.” Jake gestures to the seat beside him, grinning wildly at your boyfriend, “I have so many questions to ask you!”

You watched as the boys settled in nicely; Jungwon was showing some of the ‘research’ of vampire Jay to human Jay, while Jake and Heeseung brought out notepads and began to ask Sunghoon about some of his habits. You couldn’t help the undeniable feeling your heart swell at the thoughts of what the future might hold. 

______________________

A/N: ITS FINALLY DONE!!! I know this writing quality probably isn’t good (it is from years ago), but I loved this concept too much and put too much work into this fic just to scrap it. I hope you enjoyed it and if not, stayed tuned for something better !!!

[doberbutts]

I mean this is a pretty hot take but I think until y'all can sit down and actually provide examples of what you mean by "privilege" instead of using the word as a means of referring to the nebulous idea that some people have it better and its Their Fault, there will continue to be absolutely braindead takes about who holds what privilege and how it conflicts with actual first-hand experience.

That's why, when I ask what male privilege I was apparently either born with or received immediately upon coming out, I get crickets.

When we talk about male privilege, we talk about getting paid more. We talk about getting hired more, and into higher-paying jobs more. We talk about being able to vote and drive and have credit cards and bank accounts. We talk about reproductive freedom and body autonomy. We talk about rape statistics, domestic violence, and other forms of violent crime. We talk about immigration and citizenship status and human trafficking. We talk about power dynamics in relationships. We talk about society's expectations for gender roles.

There's two big problems with this:

Unless a trans man is completely binary, fully stealth, and has burned every trace of his past, almost none of this is accessible to him. Trans men don't get paid more unless their gender marker is M, there's no mention of ever being anything but cisgender, and they're completely stealth. They don't get hired more, unless these things are true. Many lived lives being discouraged from chasing higher paying jobs such as STEM fields due to being seen as girls, so they're not going into these jobs more either. Similarly with voting- when I registered to vote I was non-passing, with my legal name and gender marker. To the voting office, I was a woman. To my credit card company, who has never seen my face, I'm *still* a woman, despite passing most of the time. To my bank account, which I've had since I was 8, I've never not been a woman. When I took my driver's test, I was treated as a woman.

When I asked for a hysterectomy at 20, I was told not until I was over 30, had a minimum of two children, or had a husband to sign off on it. Just like a woman. When I whacked my head as a kid and was rushed to the doctor, the doctor specifically said if I was a boy he wouldn't have bothered stitching but a girl can't have scars on her face *while he was stitching my forehead back together*. I had to fight to be allowed to cut my long hair. I had to fight to be allowed to take care of it by myself.

I have needed to leave relationships when I realized I was with a man that would hurt me for his gain. I've been assaulted by my peers for being a black woman or a black girl in a space that I was not wanted.

I was raised with the expectation that I would be a mother to a large family with a husband that kept me pregnant and likely staying at home like a typical tradwife. I was punished, physically, mentally, emotionally, socially for rejecting that life. I lost literally all my social group from before I came out. I lost a good chunk of family members too, and the ones I have left are... trying, but not perfect.

And:

Other marginalized men are also often denied access to these things either. White men might be paid more, but white women make more than men of any other race. White men might be hired more, but "Rachel" is more likely to get a call back than "Rafael". White men are more likely to be in a STEM position, but tell me when the last time you saw a Native doctor. It may have been *legal* for racially marginalized men to vote, but those who did not speak English had no ability to do so until 45 years *after* white women had the right to vote (and technically it took another 10 years for translations to actually be provided). Banks and credit companies and driver's tests and mortgage brokers and more are *known* to discriminate, between barely-legal remnants of redlining to outright illegal discrimination because they know they can get away with it.

Black and Native children are taken from their birth families and placed into foster care and adoptive homes daily due to state-sponsered genocide. It's more than just the mother that's affected by this. Black men are largely targeted by stop-and-frisk policing policies that exist to do nothing except harass and assault them for just existing in a place, and are an extreme body violation.

New studies show that men experience rape and domestic violence at roughly the equivilant rate as women, but reporting is obscenely low due to social pressures and rigid gendering of victim vs abuser policies. The demographic with the highest rate of murder victims is black men.

Single, childless adult men are not allowed to immigrate to multiple countries, including the US, on refugee status. Men of marginalized races- largely latine and asian- are trafficked by largescale construction companies and then deported or abandoned when no longer needed.

Disabled men are killed or abandoned regularly by their able-bodied partners who got tired of dealing with them.

I know more than one man who feels trapped into a place where he cannot, ever, show any emotion besides horny, hungry, or angry as a direct result of strict gender roles being pushed on him. I know more than one man who has tried to take his own life because of it.

I know more than one man who has succeeded.

And I gotta be honest the further I get in transition and the more I pass the more I think that being a man... also kinda sucks. Like it sucked when I was a woman. Doesn't really feel like it sucks less as a man. Seems to me like society treats both of these pretty poorly and I was told the grass was way greener on this side and it's, uh, not. Not really. Not when you start making cis male friends and start realizing that a lot of these guys had a lot of the same experiences you grew up being told was part of a woman's life.

And I'm not saying that these guys don't have interactions where life is better for them because they're men. Of course they do. That's patriarchy for you. But I do think it's difficult to have a "male privilege" argument when people try to argue on a 1-to-1 basis and it just straight up doesn't work like that.

And I know a lot of what I'm saying ties back to the theory of intersectionality, that this can't flatten nuance like this is directly tied to the fact that a white woman, a native woman, an asian woman, a black man, a latino man, and an arabic man, are all going to have WILDLY different experiences that you can't just "well you're [gender] so you don't experience [harm]" about because it's blatantly untrue. Especially if you continue to add marginalizations, like immigration status, religion, sexuality, transition, language, and more.

[eddiediazismyhusband]

These people will never experience the pain hearing from the causal viewers and THE SR that we who view those characters as queer, are delusional. We were told, it’s in “our heads” and what you see “is your interpretation” NOT what’s on the script. OH CANT FORGET MY FAVORITE, “go write your own SHOW”. Imagine for 6 years viewing buck as queer coded and told you were dumb and “it’s never gonna happen”. For 6 YEARS!!!! It literally took them ONE EPISODE AND MOVING TO A NEW NETWORK for bibuck to happen. And these people think this couple who ONLY HAD 3 dates (1 of them a failed one), and 2 kisses is endgame? 💀💀💀imagine your ship not having any depth to where they stopped caring about them after making buck bi💀💀💀. Where are their scenes? Oh it’s “enjoy it while it lasts”. It’s them having barely 20 minutes of screen while the “non ship” has x2 has much in 10 episodes. Did they forget their fav said this💀💀💀💀

💯no notes agree with everything you said 👏👏👏

and also even that lfj quote pissed me off when it came out bc i was like “how are you gonna stand here and tell me to be grateful for a relationship that came out of left field with no chemistry?” like even if it does lead to buddie i will still hate that whole arc because it could have been handled SO much better and without bringing back a racist character, played by a problematic person, ON TOP of causing the biggest shipping controversy to ever hit this fandom… that man has given me the ick since day one of s7 and when the cameos started and he started encouraging his fans and egging on the bullshit i was done w him.

it pisses me off bc they act like buck has to go through some sort of “queer bootcamp” before he can date eddie and im like…. no he doesn’t?? he doesn’t need some sort of “gay yoda” or whatever they called t-rex in the beginning bc there is no rulebook to being queer… so the whole notion of “working out the kinks” (which is an extra level of icky coming from someone like lfj, and looking back after the daddy joke in 7x10) never sat right with me… and the whole “what if buck got with eddie and didn’t like it?” if he meant that literally as “what if buck didn’t like it” my brother in christ theses are fictional characters, they’re not sims, the writers have full control over literally everything that happens… why would they write them if buck “wasn’t gonna like it” (which is bullshit bc we all know he 1000% fold immediately if eddie kissed him)… if he meant “what if the fandom didn’t like it” (which is an odd way to word that question if this is what he meant) WDYM IF THE FANDOM DOESNT LIKE IT EVEN HALF THE BT SHIPPERS HAVE BEEN SHIPPING BUDDIE FOR ALMOST SIX YEARS????

the whole situation drives me up s wall bc not only have we simultaneously gotten so close yet so far to getting buddie, we also now have to deal with these wack-ass fans policing people, calling queer people homophobic, sending death threats and violent hate speech to people who don’t like their ship, actively talking bad about oliver bc he clearly isn’t a fan of lfj or the way this storyline was handled, on top of having to deal with the show’s retconning of typhoid’s character and trying to brush his shit under a rug using queerness as an “excuse” and thus enabling these people to use the “homophobia” rhetoric when someone doesn’t want a boring ass rewash basic ship.

[somepsychopomp]

Winged!Ed AU ft. Hohenheim (Pt.1)

rotating an idea for an FMA(B) AU in my mind where Ed has wings that are typically folded tight against his back and hidden by his red coat. He's basically born a chimera and chooses to hide his status to avoid obvious questions and suspicions.

But I want to lay down the background details, starting here:

Xerxesians, being prodigious alchemists, would of course have dabbled in chimeras and were the first to produce "successful" chimeras- similar to Greed's crew where they pass pretty much entirely for human. Most of their test subjects would have been servants, slaves, poor folk trading their bodies for coin, etc.

that's how we get Hohenheim- or 23, the twenty-third in a long line of chimerical experiments. He himself wasn't fused with an animal, but his mother or father was. 23, in turn, was actually born with a set of wings.

(Hohenheim being born a chimera is important to note bc it means his master not only made a series of healthy chimera, but ones that could reproduce! unfounded at the time)

Hohenheim was born w/ the wings of a lesser kestrel. I chose this bird more because it fits Ed more than Ho, but I just liked a few key details about it!

The lesser kestrel occupies a territory from Germany across the Middle East all the way to East Asia, which isn't super important given that FMA is set in a fictional world but loosely speaking, it's feasible that a Xerxesian alchemist could get his hands on one for human experimentation purposes.

I like the faintly red-brown coloration the males have on the back of their wings in combination w/ that black- very Ed.

They do well in grasslands/agricultural fields but are also adaptable to urban environments & co-existing with humans.

They are birds of prey!

however, they're quite diminutive birds of prey- meaning they're small and arguably very cute. (They're like 10-13 inches in length and notably smaller than Common Kestrels & other birds of prey)

Hohenheim's wings are proportional to his body tho, giving him the ability to fly.

As a slave, his physical fitness was well tested. He can fly and glide with great agility, but he was never allowed to go far because his master always kept him tethered to prevent his escape. Hohenheim also has a trail of feathers going down his spine but interestingly enough, he lacks a kestrel tail. He supposes that's not surprising, he lacks talons or a beak or eyesight far beyond that of a human. But perhaps he carries the genes for a tail. (Foreshadowing)

As an adult post-fall of Xerxes, Hohenheim found himself lost and shell shocked.

For many years, he contemplated cutting off his wings so he could better blend in with humans. But as a living Philosopher's Stone, he felt like it would be pointless endeavor and instead learned to hide them with a long coat.

Most of his canon story is basically the same until he meets Trisha.

When he fell in love with Trisha, Hohenheim knew full well that as a born and fertile chimera himself, it's fully possible their children will be born like him. He wasn't certain how great of a chance it was, it could be a recessive trait with no hope of ever resurfacing down his family line, or it could be a guarantee.

Hohenheim first has to reveal his wings to Trisha.

Even though he fully expected her to reject him at that point, understandably so, she instead accepted Hohenheim for who and what he was. She understood the possible consequences of their relationship and was completely willing to raise a potentially chimera child, together.

cue their first son.

To be safe, they have a home brith without a doctor or midwife, relying instead on Hohenheim's knowledge of alkahestry and human anatomy to tend to and heal Trisha.

And at the end of it, Edward Elric is born with wings. His were characteristic of baby kestrels, puffy and white and lacking the coloration or streamlined appearance that Hohenheim had as an adult.

Turning Edward over to properly examine his body, Hoheheim is horrified to see a small, tiny tuft of a tail protruding from Edward's lower back.

Dear god, his child was even more of a chimera than him! It's devastating to think of, until...

Hohenheim and all his souls cry at the sight of Trisha cooing at Edward as if he were a normal child, kissing his forehead and soothing his chip-like cries. She loves him. She loves their child, even if he was like Hohenheim. So brave, so loving, his Trisha.

But it also terrifies Hohenheim. He knew Trisha wanted at least two children, partly so they could help on their small family farm and partly so that the children could keep each other company.

All he has to go off of is the fact that his one and only child was very visibly a chimera. Ed will always be lesser than those around him- he will always have to hide his true self. But Trisha loved him and still wanted another child with her whole heart.

So they have Alphonse. And to Hohenheim's amazement, their second child has no visible chimera traits whatsoever! He's for all intents and purposes, human! He's human, and beautiful.

And perhaps, perhaps, just perhaps...even if Hohenheim does his best to treat both his boys equally, there's just the tiniest part of him that wants to recoil at the sight of Ed in the bathtub, flapping his wings and sending up bubbles. He's arguably slow to help Trisha bind Ed's wings before he goes out to play with Winry so they aren't seen, as well as when Trisha fits Ed with some kind of outer garment like a loose sweater or coat to hide the shape of his wings. He's possibly, if one looked close enough, a tad bit reluctant to groom Ed's wings. To gently pinch his pin feathers to release them (new feathers are encased in a white sheath as they grow out to protect them before they're fully developed), or combing his feathers or anything else.

The only thing Hohenheim does persistently and with excruciating effort/attention is when he clips Edward's flight & tail feathers so that even if he tried, he couldn't fly. It's honestly better if Edward never, ever learns how to fly and never develops the desire to. Far less a chance of someone ever uncovering his condition.

Hohenheim and Trisha have the same argument many times over the course of the first few years of the boys' lives. Hohenheim, as Ed's father, wants to take responsibility for his son's unfortunate condition by severing Ed's wings and tail before he's old enough to really remember them and the procedure.

Trisha, in contrast, argues that Edward's extra extremities are perfectly healthy limbs, even if his wing muscles are underdeveloped, and that it would be a tragedy to cut out such an integral part of himself.

[mysticstronomy]

WHAT IS THE "SUN GODDESS" PARTICLE??

Blog#353

Wednesday, November 29th, 2023

Welcome back,

Over the years, scientists have managed to unveil the existence of quite a few intriguing particles, pushing the entire field of physics forward with each discovery. There's the "God Particle" for instance, aka the Higgs Boson that grants all other particles their masses. There's also the so-called "Oh My God!" particle, an unimaginably energetic cosmic ray.

named the "sun goddess" particle  —  and is fittingly extraordinary.

This particle has an energy level one million times greater than what can be generated in even humanity’s most powerful particle accelerators; it appears to have fallen to Earth in a shower of other, less energetic particles. Like the "Oh My God!" particle, these bits come from faraway regions of space and are known as cosmic rays. The particle has been dubbed "Amaterasu" after Amaterasu Ōmikami, the goddess of the sun and the universe in Japanese mythology, whose name means "shining in heaven."

And just as its mythological namesake is shrouded in mystery, so too is the Amaterasu particle.

Its discoverers, including Osaka Metropolitan University researcher Toshihiro Fujii, don’t know where the particle came from or indeed what it is. They also still aren't sure what kind of violent and powerful process could have given rise to something as energetic as Amaterasu.

"This is the most energetic charged particle ever detected by the Telescope Array experiment," Fujii told Space.com.

The hope is that, just as Amaterasu is credited with the creation of Japan according to the Shinto tradition, the Amaterasu particle can help create an entirely new branch of high-energy astrophysics.

High-energy cosmic rays are extremely rare to begin with, but Fujii said the Amaterasu particle has an energy level not seen in a staggering 30 years of cosmic ray detections.

In fact, when the researchers spotted Amaterasu with the Telescope Array experiment — involving 507 detectors spread across 270 square miles (699 square kilometers) of the high desert of Millard County, Utah —they initially thought the detection must be some kind of mistake.

"I thought it would be my mistake or bug, and then after checking the details of the event, I was excited to find it was not an error," Fujii said.

First spotted by the Telescope Array experiment on May 27, 2021, the Amaterasu particle exhibits an energy of 224 exa-electron volts (EeV). For contest, one EeV is equivalent to 10¹⁸ electron volts. This puts Amaterasu on a similar energy level to the most energetic cosmic ray ever discovered — yes, that's the "Oh My God!" particle, which was detected in Oct. 1991 by the Fly’s Eye camera in Dugway Proving Ground, Utah. The latter had an energy of 320 EeV.

"The Amaterasu particle should be an important messenger from the universe about extremely energetic phenomena, but we need to disentangle the origin of this mysterious particle," Fujii explained.

There isn’t an astrophysical object, or any cosmic event for that matter, in the direction from which the sun goddess particle appears to have come from. That's why scientists are pretty unclear on what led to its creation.

But, while the origins of the Amaterasu particle may be currently unknown, Fujii does have some avenues of investigation to follow up on. Importantly, some of these ideas could extend beyond the Standard Model of particle physics, which is the best outline we have of the universe’s particle zoo and how each of those particles interact with one another.

Originally published on www.space.com

COMING UP!!

(Saturday, December 2nd, 2023)

"HOW OLD IS OUR SOLAR SYSTEM??"

[yuurei20]

Riddle Info Compilation part 1: Upbringing

Riddle has a voice line of, “I read that the Queen of Hearts had a very amicable marriage. If there’s a secret to that, I wish I could share it with my parents.”

We do not hear much about his father, though he do know that both of his parents were (past tense?) famous magical healers.

Trey says that “Everyone where we’re from knew their names. His mom was especially talented, and she really wanted Riddle to live up to her legacy.”

We learn from Trey that every aspect of Riddle’s life growing up was planned down to the minute, including what he ate, wore, what soap he used and who his friends were.

Trey says that Riddle obediently completed every task he was assigned in order to please his parents, mastering his unique magic by the age of 10, and turning the enforcement of strict rules into a major part of his own personality.

When asked what job he would like to have in the future Riddle responds, “A…medical mage, I suppose”, saying that he was raised to take up the same mantle as his parents, but after serving as Heartslabyul’s housewarden he has taken an interest in the legal profession.

Riddle has a similar conversation with Azul, saying that becoming a medical mage was his original plan but he has developed an interest in the law. Azul recommends that he gets licensed in every field that interests him, saying, “Wth your talent, you could excel in any field you wanted. It would be a waste to settle for just one!”

Azul says, “It’s frustrating to see so clearly the difference between me and someone who’s worked hard their whole life,” and Riddle responds that he doubt that Azul would have the same ambition and drive that he does to day if he had focused solely on his studies that way that Riddle himself did as a child. 

Azul warns, “One moment of inattention and you might find me giving the valedictorian speech at graduation,” but Riddle responds, I’ll continue to stand at the fore as long as I’m in school—and after it as well. I won’t lose to anyone, ever. Not even you.”

Azul makes a comment on how “one has to make sacrifices to make their dreams a reality” which seems to resonate with Riddle.

Riddle is good at crossword puzzles because they were the only form of entertainment that he was allowed growing up. Riddle says that, as a child, he started creating his own crossword puzzles so that he could give them to Trey and Chenya one day. (He was never allowed to see Trey and Chenya again, however, prior to NRC, which would explain why he now has a collection of over 3,000 handmade crosswords.)

There are occasional references to how Riddle is still learning things about normal, everyday life for a student his age due to his harsh upbringing: he apologizes to Deuce for failing to “learn the appropriate customer etiquette” while purchasing mystery bags during News Year’s, which he heard from Cater is “a popular youth activity.”

Riddle says that he never participated in the Halloween events for children in his hometown so he is not well-informed on what goes on, but he does say that he only ends up drenched when bobbing for apples, so he may have some experience from somewhere.

Riddle says his household “wasn’t overly concerned with holidays” so they didn’t do anything in particular for Halloween.

“In fact, I wasn’t even allowed to walk around outside on days like this. I was a little jealous of kids who could dress up and go trick-or-treating.”

Epel responds, “Your parents sound really strict. But you don’t have to follow their rules now that you’re here at school, right? This is your chance to let loose and have fun!”

Riddle says he will consider it, and Epel invites him to celebrate in his hometown.

[hetalia-club]

I'm not normally one to rant or anything but here goes.

I hesitate to tag this. but I feel it needs to be said, in fact I feel it HAS to be said or I think this fandom is just going to be done for within the next 5 or so years. People need to read this and understand what is happening within the fandom and not continue this behavior or turn a blind eye to it.

This fandom has a SERIOUS problem. I don't say that lightly either. I feel like 99% of this fandom are sweet and caring people. but we have that 1%.

This 1% is killing the community in this fandom. How is it okay to message someone, demand they make a statement on THEIR blog and when they say they don't want to talk about it you then tell them you wish they would die a horrible death?

TW for suicide and SA! (you have been warned) Long rant below. (preempted note to let everyone know that I am fine, I am not posting this for people to feel bad for me. I am using my own experiences as examples, but this is not a 'me' issue this is a fandom issue)

Why is that so normalized here? The vague blogging and the call to arms people in this fandom do is actually disgusting. Picking one person and just beating them down until they eventually leave the fandom and at the SAME people will be like. "Why is the Hetalia fandom so small?" Who wants to be in a fandom where making one statement that's not even bad could get you death threats?

I don't think the fandom realizes how hurtful what they say can be. Sure you might not have liked a post someone made because you disagreed. Well then scroll down, hit the block button and carry on with your life. Why do some of you feel it is acceptable behavior to make mass posts calling out someone or going into their inbox to tell them you wish they would kill themselves?

I say I don't like Spamano and people say they want me dead. I say I don't want to talk about IRL politics on my parody Hetalia blog and my life and entire country is threatened.

I say we shouldn't insert our ships into everyone's lives and let people ship what they want and not feel forced to appease you. and you guessed it people wish terrible things onto me and my body.

I feel the only way this behavior will change is if we start calling it out more. I know it will feel repetitive but I think ignoring it is only making it worse at this point.

I know a lot of people would read this and think "If you don't like it then leave the fandom" well YOU'RE the issue. This is not normal behavior. These are not actions of someone who is mentality well. Why should I leave a fandom I've been in for 10 years because some idiot cannot handle that I don't like shipping characters together? How is that impacting their life at all?

a few months ago I made a post and it was highjacked and someone totally just took it over and added their own thing onto it talking about SA. Totally out of left field not related to what I posted at all. I simply messaged them and asked them if they could please remove the comment as I am a survivor of SA and it don't think it was funny or appropriate to add onto my post and they just said. "No I can say anything I want to. I was talking about Hetalia so it's fine." like what do you mean no!? Who responds that way? What a normal considerate person would do is say "I'm sorry of course! I can just go make my own post." but no they just left it there. It's still there, won't say which post or who it was because it doesn't matter anymore.

But this is the kind of behavior I'm talking about. This weird entitlement of everyone being so defensive and angry all the time. Just wanting to pick a fight over nothing. You never know if simply saying something like (Example) "I don't really like Austria" Could land you 100 anons all saying they wanted you to off yourself. It's like a game of Russian roulette. It's a very stressful environment for a big creator to be in. All it really takes is the wrong person to see a post you made and disagreed with and all of a sudden they are making posts about you without mentioning your name but are CLEARLY about you saying "This person hates all Austrians, they are a neo-nazi and we should all block them and send them hate and also let's just reword what they said to make it sound 100x worse because people won't read the original post and they will just believe us." Who would want to be a creator in an environment like that?

would you believe me if I told you I still to this day am getting someone in my inbox calling for my r*pe because of the stupid fucking beauty pageant poll I did? Is that not insanity? Who is that person? Wtf is their life? I personally could not imagine sending hate to anyone for any reason, and if I did it would be off of anon and I would say it with my chest. Because in order for someone to push it that far they would have to saying some absolutely terrible stuff to make me take time from my day and life to give them negative energy.

The fandom is shrinking because of the 1% driving them away. They come after artists who draw a character in a way they don't like. They come after writers for depicting a character in a way they disagree with. They go after shippers for portraying their ship 'wrong'. They will comment on people's fun little head canons and just leave the rudest most unnecessary comments thinks like "He wouldn't do that" like okay?? Thanks for your insert betty sue. And it's always when you were never trying to set someone off is when they lose their minds. They do not understand even if a blog is big and has a lot of followers it is still THAT creators blog. they are a person not an identity who just churns out content for just you and they have to say and do whatever you want.

Another thing the 1% like to do on here is they will wait for you to say something and then they will jump to attack a person who does the thing you said you dislike and they will tell that person "blog name XYZ said you are a horrible person and I agree kill yourself" That one is a near direct quote I got not too long ago. I got several like that and actually had to message said creator and say "Why are you mad at me?" and they were completely confused, had no idea how they decided to attack me because of what they said. When I tell you that the 1% are sitting there frothing at the mouth wanting to send hate and death threats I mean that 100%

It's not JUST me either. All creators in the Hetalia fandom I'm sure could tell you about upsetting hate they received and had no idea what they even did or said wrong. I have spoken to former Hetalia blogs ones who I used to call my pals before I went on my hiatus and came back. They all said they left not because they started hating Hetalia but they left for their mental health because the 1% got too bold and unchecked. This was never an issue before quarantine. I know it brought a lot of new fans and that's great! But I also feel along with bringing in some wonderful people it brought in some really dark minded people as well. Saying "Just disable anons and move on" is also not a solution. these people are still here and if they're not bothering me or you they are tormenting someone else because that's what these people do. That 'someone else' may only need the tiniest nudge at the edge and they may just actually hurt themselves. You don't know people. You don't know what everyone is going through. You don't know what someone's life is like outside of here.

PLEASE Please! stop telling people to kill themselves. Stop telling people to go get R**ed in a gutter. Get some help talk to a therapist, a friend, a trusted teacher, a life coach, your parents, your sibling. anyone! And if you don't have anyone in your life you can talk to you can message me and we can talk about what you're going through. I'm sure any other Hetalian on here would say the same thing. Bloggers are real people.

International suicide hotlines

Website to help you find a therapist in your own country and in your price range

I know I will more than likely get hate for posting this. Which is upsetting to just know is going to happen but someone needs to say this because it's getting kind of out of control these last couple months I feel.

if you read this through reblog it, spread it around let the people who NEED to see it see it.

[papers-pamphlet]

masterpost for the the lore/timeline of my amrev ocs :3

So the ocs i have are :

Giles Eleison and his lore/background

Claudia Eleison (née Difiori) and her lore/background

Josephine von Segensfeld.

there is also Carol (Giles & Claudia's daughter)

i have designs for the parents of these goobers but I won't focus on them too much.

Some stuff before we get to the timeline

here are all my tagged posts for these bozos, in order from when they were posted ! ; #Giles Eleison, #Claudia Eleison, #Josephine von Segensfeld

I also have a rp blog for Giles & Claudia, although i'm not too active there.

now onto the timeline.

BEFORE THE WAR

**Germany

Claudia Difiori is brought by her father, to Germany. See her lore.

So began a love affair between Claudia and Josephine von Segensfeld. But during a party hosted in the manor, Claudia "broke up" with Josephine because this was "unnatural" and "she had to marry a man". They had a huge fight and became bitter towards each other.

Giles Eleison is there as well. His father took him there so he may find a wife.

Giles Eleison meets Claudia Difiori, shortly after, he asks her to marry him.

**England

They both thought marriage would fix them. it did not. [1]

some years pass. Carol is born.

News of the rebellion in the American colonies reaches them. Giles reads about it one certain morning and suddenly it feels like his entire life's purpose was revealed to him.

Giles quickly leaves his home to join the army.

DURING THE WAR

Giles is thriving ! The bloodshed, violence and death is exhilarating ! He's a completely different man than who he was before !

Frederick Kenneth (@lil-gae-disaster) gains the friendship of Giles. They become drinking buddies !! [1] [2] [3]

Frederick returns from a spy mission and brings along one Joseph Hayes (@hamalicious-soup)

Giles is tasked with interrogating Joseph. [1]

Giles, for the very first time in his entire life, experiences attraction to someone. and its that man .

Joseph falls for Giles as well after seeing him covered in blood

they're tentmates :)

GILSEPHH !!!!!! [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] (I love Hamalicious's art so much genuinely)

Joseph finds a certain miniature portrait of Claudia, this is how he discovers Giles has a wife

What Claudia has been getting up to since Giles left

^^ After years of not responding to her letters, Claudia caves in to her loneliness and invites Josephine over. She sails all the way to England by herself just to see her again and so began another love affair. Despite that, Claudia is still deep in her delusions and it ends just as messy as the first time.

Cathy trynna investigate her brother

**not exactly sure where this would fit but since this is in the redcoat hamilton au, Giles would try to kill Laurens for the fun of it. But he also does find Lams "interesting"

POST-WAR, the Kenneth Farm

note: Giles was originally meant to have one ending -- he would be shot and would die alone on a field without anyone having loved him. But thanks to Joseph, his fate is split into two possible paths, or routes as i like to call them. One where he does die, and one where he ends up surviving, but pronounced dead at first.

Secret ending: Liver Failure .

Frederick reaches out to Claudia to live in the Kenneth farm

Freddie bonds with Carol !!

Claudia meets Joseph there and much awkwardness ensues [1]

Late night interaction with some of the residents [Do you not feel guilty ... for not marrying a woman? & explanation], [Which Giles Eleison did Joseph Hayes know?]

Claudia finds out about Joseph and her husband somehow and awkwardness increases tenfold

About Claudia and self-acceptance. [1] [2]

Claudia finds out about noblefarm, also she finds an actually good father figure in Gilroy

Freddie learn about one "Miss Josephine" from Carol [1]

despite that her time in the farm has been really good.

GILES DIES ROUTE

It can't stay like this forever, y'know !

after Gilroy Kenneth's death, Claudia is reminded of her own father. She quickly moves away and returns to her solitary, lonely life, spending her days as a widow and nothing more.

GILES LIVES ROUTE

GILSEPH REUNION !!! [1] [2]

silly farm shenanigans [1]

m..marriage . woah . [1]

Giles becomes a freaky priest [1] [2]

**will continue :3

extras, fun facts

Giles first started out as a character ai persona that i used to torture Laurens in front of Alexander. Also he was meant for my redcoat Lauren au at first.

Inspo for Claudia's backstory: "utang na loob"

Josephine and Freddie are cousins !

Josephine von Segensfeld and Joseph Hayes were once meant to have an arranged marriage. Josephine went livid when she found out and threw a huge hissy fit. Richard called off the marriage. [1]

a memory from giles' childhood

modern au giles :3

@marsfingershurt @lil-gae-disaster @hamalicious-soup @laurenshamiltonjr @cacaobeans