#all cleaned out from watermarks (yes i did it; don’t tell anyone)

[missholson]

Ralph Bates, 1970

© Mary Evans / StudioCanal Films Ltd [X]

[imjeralee]

i request that you drink plenty of water and take care of yourself !!! ·o·b after thats done, came i pretty please get headcanons with link, Kaeya and maybe Childe about an s/o who draws them one day as a confession and gives it to them? :) (maybe they already knew and saw them drawing them before ? who knows) thank you in advance!!

Thank you anon! *looks at cup of green tea beside laptop* yep I think i’m doing well in keeping myself hydrated recently hehe but thank you :3

Anyway please see below for the ask! (it’s pretty long)

Link

He was grooming one of the ponies when he saw you standing behind a tent peeking at him curiously and when he turned round properly, you quickly scampered away and he got worried so he followed you to the room you share to see you sitting on the bed with a wine red book propped up in your lap but upon his return, you immediately hid it behind your back, smiling widely at him

He wonders what it was but decides not to pry, but he later discovers it was actually a sketchbook when he’s packing up for tomorrow and you’re taking a bath and the sketchbook drops out of your pack and onto the floor, opening at a random page

He picks it up with the intention to return it to your bag but then he sees the various drawings of him in his Ancient Armour set, Hylian and Snowquill set. They’re fully coloured and it looks like you’ve spent hours on them. He didn’t know you were this artistic and wondered why you hid this from him

The date you wrote on the bottom of the page indicates that you drew all this in one day! He’s super impressed

Then he sees the note you wrote below: “To my Dearest Link, I hope you like my drawings of you. All I can think about is how lucky I am to be able to be by your side, you’ve changed my life for the better and-”

Obv half complete so now he knows why you didn’t want to show him and he respects your privacy, so he puts the sketchbook away 

Outside, he sees Beedle and goes over to see what’s new for sale. Beedle has some cool art stuff (well, it’s more like stuff that can be used for dye but can also be used as paint) so he buys some for you as a present which he will give to you later.

Next day, you get chased by a group of Bokogoblins and the book and all your drawing supplies drops out from your bag. 

You didn’t see it drop and returned to the stable, ransacking your bag like crazy only to find your stuff missing

When you realise everything must have dropped out when you got chased, you quickly leave the stable to go back to the area but it’s thunder and lightning so Link chases after you

“Link, what are you doing? Go back, the weather’s awful.” You tell him but he shakes his head, unable to leave you alone in the rain like this

He helps you with your search and you end up locating your book and your supplies which are lying in the mud

The book has been trampled over and some of the pages have been torn out. The remaining pages are soaked with dirt and grime. Your pencils are snapped in half and your paints have been left to bleed all over the grass. All of your drawings are ruined, too. This is your worst nightmare.

Link observes you silently as tears begins to form in your eyes and you look at him, sniffling slightly.

You’re experiencing a mixture of devastation, frustration, anger and exasperation - from your carelessness to the stupid bokogoblins - and this incident infuriates you so much you throw the book to the ground angrily

Before you can march away, Link grabs your wrist 

Turning round, your gazes meet and he looks at you softly, intently.

‘What’s wrong?’ he is saying. 

“I was going to use those to confess to you!” you end up roaring out by accident. 

Link looks at you, a little stunned

“N-Never mind! Everything’s ruined!!!!” 

You’re about to storm off again when Link suddenly pulls you into his chest and gives you a hug

“!” you’re so shocked you can’t speak

He pulls away though, and leads you to the hollow of a nearby tree trunk where he gestures for you to sit down to shelter from the rain whilst he glances around, then sprints back over to where the ruined sketchbook is

He picks it up and holds it against his chest as if it’s dear to him. That’s not all, you watch as he begins to pick up the remaining pages that were torn out and once he’s collected them all he returns to you, clutching the pages tightly

"Link...” you murmur breathlessly as he he kneels down in front of you before he fishes around in his pockets to reveal a random bunch of paint pots in his hand.

You’re a little confused, but realise he has some spares which he must have bought from a merchant

it’s not much but...

he nudges it to you for your offering

You gawp at him for a few moments before you smile and chuckle and upon seeing you back to your usual self again, Link smiles and helps you back onto your own feet to stand

You thank him as you cradle the paints to yourself. You will need to restart from scratch from somehow it feels ok and something tells you you don’t need to hide it from him anymore

And you return to the stable, sheltering from the rain by sharing a large leaf together

Kaeya

Let’s begin with the fact that alongside you, there is a maid who also likes Kaeya as much as you do and she’s a bit of a sneaky bugger and you don’t show your drawings to anyone or watermark your artwork until they’re complete. You can probably see where this is going

One day, Kaeya finds out you are drawing a picture of him when he comes to your office to inform you that there’s a group of abyss mages outside Mondstadt so you hurry off to dispatch it and leaving Kaeya in your office

He accidentally comes across your drawing when he sees his face on a piece of parchment and his interest is piqued so he heads over to check it out

It’s a really good sketch!!! the amount of detail is insane! he had no idea you possessed such skill and who knew that you could create such beautiful art like this? He also finds some rough doodles and sketches you made earlier on some scrap paper you had also written on so he knows it’s you

Anyway, he puts everything back to join you in battle, but not before passing a maid along the way who is heading to your room to clean up

She comes across your drawing and she’s always fancied Kaeya herself, so for some reason other than just thinking she might be able to get away with it if she’s sneaky enough, she takes your drawing and sets off with it

Meanwhile, you return to your room after the battle, take off your coat and sit comfortably in your chair, reaching for your quill

“Ah, time to get back to my drawing of Kaeya.” you say with a smile, looking at your desk.

Wait a minute.

Something is wrong.

Very wrong.

It’s GONE!

After checking the rest of your office (and its clearly not there), you rush outside, wondering what happened to it when you see Kaeya and a maid talking in the corridor

they didn’t see you, so you quickly hide

“Please accept this, captain Kaeya!” gushes the maid, presenting your drawing to him. “I drew this picture of you to show how much you mean to me.”

What in the Samachurl shit is this? 

You’re about to storm over when Kaeya takes the drawing with a delicate brow raised, studies it intently and goes, “Oh? But I’m not so sure about that.”

“W-what do you mean, Captain Kaeya?”

“There’s no watermark on it,” he points out, “....one could’ve taken anyone’s artwork and claim that it’s theirs.”

“T-That’s - ! Ah, Captain Kaeya, h-how could you think so lowly of me?”

“I’m only just stating some simple facts, that’s all. You won’t hold that against me, will you? And I’m certainly not accusing you of anything...unless you...?”

“Oh....uh....I...I-I’m so sorry, Captain Kaeya, you’re right! I-I....please excuse me!”

The maid’s too embarrassed to proceed any further and leaves, running away.

Indeed, what in the samachurl hell had just happened? 

It goes quiet and you wonder if he’s still there; you step out of your hiding place only to go nose-to-chest with Kaeya.

He greets you with a smirk. “if it isn’t the little kitten, what are you doing here?”

“Um...uh, I....that....that drawing - “

What he said is right, there’s no watermark. How can you prove it’s yours? Would he believe you if you told him?

“Hm? Ah, yes, this drawing. I was going to keep it for myself.”

“No, wait! I mean...er...it’s not finished yet-”

“So you drew this then?”

“Yes, I did. it was me.” Though you wonder if he would believe you after everything you had just heard.

“Why?”

You lamely tell him you really like him and wanted to use it to confess to him.

He watches you for a few seconds, then hands the drawing to you. “I’ll wait until you’ve finished then.”

“Huh?” You gasp. He gave it back to you so easily despite what he said to the maid! “You...you’re not-”

“I knew it was you who drew it. I recognised your style.”

“Then why didn’t you say so earlier?”

“If I said so earlier, how else would I get you to confess to me?”

“KAEYA!!!”

(from then on he’ll want you to draw him more often)

Childe

Saw you sitting on the grassy hill near Qingxu Pool drawing earlier and because he is good at sneaking up on people, you didn’t hear him as he casually leaned over to peek over your shoulder and said, “Hey girlie, what’re you up to?”

You’re like “UWAGH!” and quickly close your sketchbook before turning round to see Childe.

“N-nothing!” you exclaim, before you get up and run down the hill, leaving a very amused Childe on his own

Later, when you’ve finished your masterpiece, you nervously approach Childe and tell him, “Um....this is for you, let me know what you think.” before rushing off in a blushing mess and Childe will open the sketchbook to see that you’ve drawn a very nice portrait of him in a battle stance, wielding his bow, surrounded by his hydro blades

Childe stands, staring at the picture

Then he sees the words ‘do you like me?’ scribbled at the very bottom

Childe staring hard now

He’s used to giving people gifts but now that he’s received something so thoughtful, he’s a bit overwhelmed. he can tell you put so much effort and hardwork into this. Ah, what is this feeling? 

He closes the book without further ado and scrubs a hand over his face

he actually wasn’t expecting you to do this. he knew you were drawing him but the result is really....something else

You don’t hear him from Childe in a few days and you are so nervous and worried.

Is this a rejection? Maybe he didn’t like your picture after all...

You’re walking in the streets and sigh and sit on the stone steps of Liyue, staring at the sea, upset and dejected

But then you hear a whistle from behind and throw a glance over your shoulder to see Childe standing on a higher step, a hand in his pocket

“Hey girlie, heads up,” he tosses a paper plane into the air which makes this little loop before you stand to catch it

Looking up, Childe has gone

You unfold the paper plane to its proper size to reveal that Childe’s drawn a little sketch of you in return and he has written: ‘Yes I do’.

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #461

“this city looks so pretty, do you wanna burn it with me?”

Have you ever wanted a Nikon camera? Or do you have one already? My camera before the one I have now was a Nikon D3200. I use a Canon now. Who was the last person (if anyone) you said Happy Birthday to? A friend. Do you have Photoshop? If so, how often a day do you use it? I have it, but I barely use it nowadays. I use it to edit photos for character profiles or profile pictures, add a watermark for my actual photography, and I used to make Mark-oriented gifs like crazy. They mostly did really well, so... I might wanna get back into that and get That Sweet Validation. Do you watch any shows that you know your parents wouldn’t approve of? No. Have any of your exes gotten married or had kids since your breakup? None, I think. Do either of your parents have a mental illness? My mom has depression. Can you tolerate children for a long period of time? NO. Have you ever lived with someone you felt thoroughly uncomfortable around? No. Are you into dubstep? Yeah, I tend to enjoy it. Zelda or The Sims games? Can I pick neither? lol I don't feel very much at all for The Sims, and Zelda games have always looked... boring to me? Like I've watched most of the Game Grumps' playthroughs of all the games, and they make it hilarious of course, but the games themselves? Nah. Are you terrible at assigning bands their proper genre? YES YES YES YES YES YES. Even in my preferred category, that being metal, FUCK if I know the sub-genre. Have you ever made out in a closet? No, that shit sounds claustrophobic as hell. Have you ever been to a laser tag place? Yeah, on a triple-date once! It was SO fun. How do you wanna celebrate your next birthday? Have a couple friends over, pig out at The Cheesecake Factory. o3o Do you tease your parents about them being old? No, especially not Mom. She's self-conscious about getting older. Are you in love with someone? "In love" is a bit too far, buddy. But I love someone. Have you ever ridden a unicycle? No. Have you ever wanted a pet bunny? I was VERY serious about getting a lop-eared bunny for quite a while, but we just couldn't afford to adopt one (even off Craigslist) and get a cage for it, toys, etc. Are the bottom of your feet clean? I HATE seeing the bottom of my feet. Not because they're dirty, but because it's Callus City. I ain't even fuckin jokin'. Do you like really salty food? Yeah. :x When’s the last time you bled a lot? Well, I just recently finished my cycle after not menstruating for three or four MONTHS, so you can figure that one out. Have you ever watched a needle go into your own skin? Yeah. I like to know exactly when it's coming. Have you ever seen someone get a piercing/tattoo? Yes to both. When you’re done eating finger foods, do you usually lick your fingers? Usually kasdjlf;kalsdjf shut up ok I like food. What’s the most racist thing you have ever said? As a little kid, when my really good friend (a neighborhood kid, even) asked if he thought we'd be a good couple, I told him no because "blacks and whites don't date" or something like that. It was an idea I'd never been exposed to before; the idea was so foreign to little kid me. I had no idea I was being racist. It ended in a small fight and we didn't talk for a few days 'til he came to my house telling Mom that he had to "be a man" and fix this and if that ain't the cUTEST SHIT RIGHT THERE. We were friends again after that. He's still on my Facebook, and he actually semi-recently got married! :') Do you know someone that is mute, deaf or blind? No. Have you ever spent more than two weeks in a wheelchair? No. Does weed smell good? Or no? Ugh, no. Where do you see your closest friend in ten years? Successful and happy she kept pushing. Mama to so many reptiles that are blessed with the best lives possible in human care. Got at least one amazing book out there. If she's reading this, you've fucking got this. <3 Would you like to have twins? Mother of fucking god, no. Even if I WANTED kids, do fucking not give me twins. Who was the last person you got into an argument with? My mom. Want to have kids before you’re 30? Once again, I don't want kids, but IF I did, that'd be preferable before the risk of birth defects and other issues climb with age. Does anybody have a tattoo with your name on it? My older sister has my initial. Do you think somebody’s in love with you? No. Do you think you and your best friend will be friends in ten years? Yes, I genuinely do. Who were the last people to hang out at your house? Miss Tobey, our friend and landlord. Does anyone like you? Welp... I hope he still does. Guess we'll figure that out soon. What person on your Facebook do you talk to the most? VIA Facebook? Probably my friend Lyndsey. She likes to comment on stuff I share. Do you want to fall in love? I do, but I'm also utterly horrified to and risk being hurt again. Are you interested in more than one person at the moment? No. Once I realized I was so deeply into Girt, all other romantic feelings kinda just... poofed. How was your last break up? Civil and done with both of our best interests in mind. What is the hardest thing you’ve ever had to say? Probably the first time I admitted I needed to go to the hospital for suicidal thoughts. I was so, so scared of what it was going to be like. What is the hardest thing you NEEDED to hear? That if Jason wasn't happy with me, he had every right to move on. She was right. Do you treat yourself well? No... but I'm trying to change that. What was the last song you sang out loud to? This "Set Fire to the Rain" cover. Do you take good pictures? I think I do? Have you ever done any internship? No. What’s a topic you’ve drastically changed your opinion on? Holy shit, so much, especially when it comes to morality and political stances. I am now a massive supporter and member of the LGBTQ+ community, I'm pro-trans rights, pro-choice... I've done like a dozen 180s in a lot of topics. Do you know anyone who has a PhD? I mean, some doctors, but no one in my truly personal life. Do you know anyone who works as a lawyer? Yes: my cousin. Have you ever experienced sleep paralysis? LAKSDJFKLA;JWD NEVER AND I PRAY TO THE HOLY LORD THAT I NEVER DO. Does the thought of having wrinkles when you’re older upset you? Not massively? Like literally everyone gets them and is natural and inevitable. Do you know anyone who’s struggling with addiction? I know one alcoholic, and one that's probably borderline. I also have two friends who are extremely addicted to weed. Look me in the eyes and say it's not an addictive substance and I wouldn't believe you one bit. Is there a video or computer game that you can get lost in for hours? Eh, sometimes World of Warcraft. Some days I'm really into it, and others I barely touch it. What’s your favorite Disney Channel movie? I have no clue. I don't even remember movies that were made *for* Disney exclusively. Do you ever have to do yard work? No. We have a friend from the dance studio mow the lawn. Do you have any live versions of songs in your music software? My iPod has a whole live album of Ozzy. Did you or do you listen to Britney Spears songs? Both did and do. Britney is a boss bitch. Does your favorite band have a male or female lead singer? Male. Have you seen the movie Moulin Rouge? No, but I've seen some of that P!nk music video of the song and it brings out the Gay in me. Do you have a key to anything besides your house? No. Could you ever complete a 500-piece puzzle? I've done that before. I miss doing puzzles... Have you ever been to any sort of convention? I went to a reptile expo with Sara!! I REALLY want to go to another when my legs are stronger and can handle standing and walking so much. Is your mom or dad the older parent? Mom. Have you ever tried to walk on a moving vehicle and fallen over? No????? What is your favourite kind of bread? Is there any of that in your house? Pumpernickel. No. Are/were you in the school band, and if so, what instrument did you play? I played the flute all through middle school and I wanna say half of HS. Have you ever ordered an unusual drink at a bar? Never even been to one. Have you ever been pulled aside by security at the airport? I think once for some reason I don't recall? What is your favourite seasonal candy? (only available at certain times) Gingerbread men, probs. Or chocolate bunnies!!! :') How do you feel right now? My stomach is KILLING me. I'm super excited though that Girt is coming over tomorrow. Have you ever had surgery that kept you in the hospital for over a day? No. What would you like your generation to change? How we treat nature. Is there anyone that you truly could not live without? No. I learned that is a very unhealthy mentality to have. Do you like carrots more if they’re raw, or cooked? I just hate carrots. What restaurant did you last go out to dinner at with friends? With friends? I couldn't even guess. Does your refrigerator have an ice maker or do you use ice cube trays? It has an ice maker. Do you have a favorite sibling, if any? No; I love them all. Do you have a favorite brand of clothing? I STAN CLOAK. How’s the love life? Something new might start tomorrow. I think it will. Do you watch the news? No; that shit is depressing. Who do you admire most? Mark. Do you have a favorite album? Black Rain by Ozzy Osbourne takes the cake and always will.

[thgfanficinspo]

Fear of the Water - Ch 18

Finnick deals with the fallout from Annie’s breakdown (some sexy Capitol Finnick) (Henry Cavill was my fancast for Finnick before the movie came out)

My AO3 - Chapter 1 - Jonsa - Coryo - Discovery of Witches

(ANNIE)

When I wake up, I’m in a white tube. It’s small so small and I’m strapped down – arms, legs, body, even head. There’s a whirring, buzzing sound coming from within the walls. Then there are voices.

“Aw, shit, she’s awake.”

“Should we put her back down?”

I struggle against my bonds. Are they going to kill me? Why am I here? What are they doing to me?

“Yeah, she’s gonna fuss.”

There are footsteps now – coming toward me. I try to tear my arms out of their bonds but nothing happens. I scream. The voices yell to one another and I scream and I scream and I scream. I don’t want this. Finnick and Mags said it was over now and I was safe and I don’t think they’d lie to me but maybe they did or maybe they never said it at all I don’t want to die.

There’s a sharp pain in my right thigh. Then it goes dark.

(FINNICK)

We’re supposed to go back to that damn waiting room with the grey walls and floor-length windows and fake orchid.

I skulk around in the hallway after the others have gone inside, hoping to catch a moment alone with the female doctor who flirted with me. She comes out through a doorway which she locks behind her. She’s too distracted by the papers in her hand to notice me. I clear my throat and she looks up.

“Mr. Odair. Shouldn’t you be in the waiting room?”

“It’s a bit stuffy in their for my taste,” I say. “Especially after all that drama.” I straighten up and close the space between us.

“Yes, that was really something,” she agrees. Her eyes rake my body up and down. She has to turn away.

“Have you ever seen anything like that before?”

“I haven’t personally.”

“No?” I’m not nearly as smooth as I usually am. I’m too anxious to be charming. “Annie’s something special then.” I step up behind her and move her hair away from the side of her neck. “Like you.” I press my lips to the side of her neck and she nearly collapses. I keep my arms tight around her waist and pull her against me.

She gasps my name.

“Will you tell me something?”

“What?” she asks breathlessly.

I flick the tip of my tongue over the pulse-point of her throat. “What are you planning to do with Annie Cresta?”

“Anthea!” We both look up. Her male colleague is standing at the other end of the hallway. He’s a good ten years younger than she is, but he has an air of superiority about him. And he looks pissed.

The woman – Anthea, I guess – goes ramrod straight and tosses off my arms. “It’s not –”

“We need to talk,” he says simply, his glaring eyes locked on mine. Anthea hustles down the hall and through the door the male doctor came through. He and I maintain eye contact as long as possible, until the door shuts behind him.

I growl under my breath. “Fuck.”

I’ve definitely made things worse. If that other damn doctor hadn’t come in . . .

Mags is pacing around the room with one of her hands over her mouth when I come in. Proteus stands a few feet away from me, apparently deep in thought. Eefa has made a surprise visit, which she clearly regrets. No sign of Broadsea, but that’s no surprise. He’s probably passed out in his own puke by now. I normally wouldn’t care but I feel that since Eefa made it here, he should’ve at least tried.

Proteus raises an eyebrow at me, silently asking what I found out. I shake my head.

The same two doctors as before come out to speak to us after about twenty minutes of waiting. They’re much more serious. “She did suffer trauma to the head while in the Arena,” the man says.

“But you don’t think that’s what’s causing her issues,” Proteus says.

Anthea nods. Gone is the quivering woman in the hall, replaced with someone cold and angry. She’s going out of her way to not look at me. “The tasks we had her do when she first woke up didn’t indicate any neurological or physiological issues. We did scans, too, after her tantrum at the recap, and they didn’t show anything out of the ordinary.”

“Tantrum?” I repeat.

“Then what’s wrong?” Proteus asks over me.

“We believe it’s mental illness,” the male doctor says.

None of us know what that means. We don’t have mental illness in the districts, at least not the words to describe it, but the Capitol has words for everything. They have enough leisure time to think about things like that, to come up with ailments to explain their every mood.

Our faces must betray our inability to understand because they take a different route.

The female doctor is the one to speak. “We are going to have Annie Cresta declared mentally insane.”

“What?” I spit.

Proteus speaks over me again. “Isn’t that a bit premature? She hasn’t been out of the arena for long.”

“We believe a swift announcement is in her best interest at this time,” the male doctor says.

“Her closing interview with Caesar Flickerman has been canceled,” the female says, totally ignoring our reactions. She may have succumb to my charms and looks before, but now she seems immune. “President Snow will make the announcement during that time slot instead.”

I don’t know what to say.

“What would you like us to do in the meantime?” Proteus asks after a moment, voice totally neutral. The crease between his eyebrows is the only sign that he’s troubled by all of this. The only sign.

I could kill him.

“She’s currently under anesthesia, but I recommend you board the train back to your district soon,” the woman continues. “Before anyone gets wind of this.”

“Why?” Eefa asks, brows creased.

“What do you mean, Why?” I ask.

“Why are you declaring her insane? What exactly is wrong with her?”

“Why do you think?” I snap. The first thing I hear her say in a week and she asks something stupid like that?

“I’d like to hear the diagnosis,” Eefa says.

The woman doctor sighs and looks down at her clip board. She knows we won’t understand any of it. “She shows symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, attention def –”

Proteus holds up his hand. “That’s enough.” He has no idea what any of it means, either. “Eefa?” he asks, turning to her. She nods, satisfied with what she’s heard. Maybe she was making sure they covered their bases; we generally accept that mad people are mad, but you need real proof to declare a victor mentally insane before the whole country.

“There is one piece of permanent physical damage I ought to mention,” the female doctor says. “Due to the stab wound in her abdomen, she won’t be able to conceive or carry children. There’s too much tissue damage.” No one really cares about that right now. What we care about – what I care about – is getting Annie out of here without adding to the damage that’s already been done. “I thought one of you ought to tell her once you’re back in your district and she’s had a chance to calm down.”

“I think you should get ready to leave,” the male doctor says. “She’ll be up in –” he checks his wristwatch and bobbles his head as he does the math in his head “– ninety minutes, give or take.”

“Yes,” Mags says distractedly. “Yes, of course.” She blinks several times.  “I’ll start preparing. And have Brae send for the train. Proteus, please get Annie’s stylist so we can get her ready to go.” The others go – Eefa practically sprints out – and I want to move, too, but my muscles won’t let me. Mags’s hand finds my shoulder. “She’s alive, Finnick. That’s what matters.”

I nod again because I can’t think of anything to say.

“Go. Clean up. Clear your head. I’ll be along in a few minutes. I just want to check in on her.”

When I get upstairs to our rooms, Greer rushes towards me and starts making a lot of gestures. I’m not sure what she’s asking until she runs her hand down her hair in a smooth, wavy motion. Like the way Annie’s hair falls.

“Annie?” I guess.

She nods.

I’m too tired to explain it all. “She’ll be all right.”

I start undressing before I make it all the way into my room, discarding my clothes as I go. Somes picks them up as he follows behind me.

I blast the water in the shower to its highest setting and make the temperature as cold as I can bear. I only take hot showers in the Capitol when I’ve just seen a patron. Different temperatures for different problems. It helps me compartmentalize. Keep my head straight.

I’m good at that. Compartmentalizing, keeping my mind focused on the task at hand. I always have been. A lot of victors simply can’t do that – it’s why they turn to drink or drugs. But I haven’t. And I won’t.

I don’t notice the slip of paper folded on my pillow until I start dressing. The paper is off-white and thick – the sort of expensive, heavy stuff they only use in the Capitol. I open it up, and the custom watermark at the top of the page informs me that this is from C.X.S.

President Snow has left me a handwritten note of congratulations.

The others have all gotten them, too.

Mags says he always does for the victors of the winning district. Etiquette, she says, is the most important thing to Coriolanus. Not for the first time, I wonder how well Mags knew him when they were young.

Broadsea whips a lighter out of his pocket and sets the note on fire before dropping it in an empty metal bin. He hasn’t even opened it. Eefa drops her own note into the bin; Mags gives Broadsea her letter to burn, too. I don’t know if she’s read it. Proteus tucks his away in his jacket pocket and tells me to do the same if I want to be smart. I don’t have a reason to save it; I’ve already memorized every word. But I decide to keep it anyway. In case I ever need a reminder.

Mr. Odair,

Congratulations on your very first victor. This is an exciting time for your fellow victors and all of District 4. It is an especially important time for you, as this is your first time mentoring a victor.

Of course he adds a little statement of regret at the end of my note containing a veiled threat:

I hope that you will not be bogged down by the weight of responsibility. It would be unfair for anyone to expect a young man such as  you to take on the burden of Miss Cresta’s care.

It seems innocuous enough, but it’s another little reminder to stand back and just let things unfold. Men like Finnick Odair don’t get involved with that sort of thing, and girls like Annie Cresta never really go home.

My best regards to you and your new victor,

President Coriolanus X. Snow

[miscellanyofmusings]

Neko Case Sentence Starters

“'Cause I just can't shake this feeling that I'm nothing in your eyes.”

“'Cause I still love you, even if I don't see you again.”

“'Cause my mood to burn bridges is not unlike my mood to dig ditches.”

“A woman's heart is the watermark of which I measure everything.”

“And I'm not vain enough to think that I'd have been good for you if I'd stayed.”

“And I'm still in love with you.”

“And it's ruthless that it comes as no surprise.”

“And that’s no way to tell you how much I could love you.”

“And the truth is that it comes as no surprise.”

“And there’s always someone to say it’s easy for me.”

“And you'll be in my arms again.”

“Are you tired of things going right?”

“Broken necks will line the ditch ‘til you stop it! Stop it! Stop this madness!”

“Bullies are not born. They're pressed into a form.”

“But I'm grateful that you love me.”

“But I couldn't conjure tears.”

“But it's still pretty bad luck.”

“But don't you ever shut up. Please, kid, have your say.”

“But my thoughts are with you.”

“But that rage kept following me.”

“But you'll not be my master. You're barely my guest.”

“But you come back for me.”

“Can it be a comfort between us?”

“Did someone make a fool of me before I could show ‘em how it’s done?”

“Do you wish you could stop everything and take back your love?”

“Don't cross me on neither a day.”

“Don’t feel sorry for yourself.”

“Don’t forget me; please don’t forget me.”

“Don't let 'em break your hearts, too.”

“Don’t let ‘em tell you you’re nothing.”

“Don’t make mistakes or be human. They savor your every false move.”

“Don't you hurry. Don't you worry.”

“Don't you tell me I didn't warn you.”

“Don't you try and stop me.”

“Every dial tone, every truck stop, every heartbreak, I love you more.”

“For that, I would trade you my empire for ashes.”

“Get the fuck away from me!”

“Go on, go on and scream and cry.”

“God damn the miles that take me away from you.”

“Haunt your own vampire dreams!"

“How's hope feeling today?”

“How can people not know what beauty this is?”

“How can you forget all the love we had between us?”

“I'll put my hands on the truth, by God.”

“I'll reveal myself when I'm ready.”

“I'm a Friday night girl bracing for Sunday to come.”

“I'm afraid, but it's not your fault.”

“I'm an agent of the natural world.”

“I’m an animal; you’re an animal too.”

“I'm free to covet all I please.”

“I'm going to ruin everything.”

“I’m gonna go where my urge leads no more.”

“I'm here to tell you a lie.”

“I'm holding out for that teenage feeling.”

“I'm in league with the the gangs, and the guns, and the crime.”

“I’m not the man you think I am.”

“I'm not your identity crisis.”

“I’m sorry to tread on your patience.”

“I'm still not so sure that that's what I wanna be.”

“I'm too much for people.”

“I'm wrapped in the depths of these deeds that have made me.”

“I've got so many things I could tell you, if my stubborn mouth doesn't let me down.”

“I've loved you so long.”

“I’ve taken it for granted my whole life, since the day I was born.”

“I am fighting to be wild.”

“I can't comprehend the ways that I miss you.”

“I can’t give up acting tough.”

“I can't make you wait 'cause I long to be forgiven.”

“I can say that I’ve lived here in honor and danger.”

“I can’t stay here to hold your hand.”

“I didn’t know what a brute I was.”

“I do my best, but I’m made of mistakes.”

“I fucked every man I wanted to be.”

“I have waited with a glacier’s patience.”

“I know it’s unkind, but my own blood is much too dangerous.”

“I left them motherless, fatherless.”

“I love girls in white leather jackets.”

“I love you better when you're wild. Suits you better if I say so.”

“I love your long shadows and your gunpowder eyes.”

“I miss how you'd sigh yourself to sleep.”

“I never wondered what made him that way.”

“I owe much to the nameless.”

“I own every bell that tolls for me.”

“I revenge myself all over myself.”

“I still taste them in my teeth.”

“I thought you were golden.”

“I want the pharaohs, but there’s only men.”

“I wanted so badly not to be me.”

“I was drop dead sad and crazy sometimes.”

“I was so stupid then.”

“If I say that black is blue, it's blue.”

“If you knew what I know, you wouldn't go to see her.”

“In the current of your life, I was an eyelash in the shipping lanes.”

“In the end I was the mean girl or somebody’s in-between girl.”

“It's not as bad as I thought it would be.”

“It’s not for you to know, but for you to weep and wonder.”

“It's the gift that keeps on getting.”

“It always has to come this.”

“It will end again in bullets fired.”

“Just because you don’t believe it doesn’t mean I didn’t mean it.”

“Let’s not waste our time thinking how that ain’t fair.”

“Life is not a constant thing.”

“Look for me. I’ll be around.”

“Maybe I should go home alone tonight.”

“Morality won't get you through the mazes.”

“My heart could break for a one-legged seagull and still afford nothing to you.”

“Nobody knows where you’re going, but they sure know where you’ve been.”

“Nobody said that love was gonna be kind.”

“Not that we would ever get away with it.”

“Nothing quite so poison as a promise.”

“Oh, look what thoughts can do.”

“Please don’t let him die.”

“Relation now means nothing, having chosen so defined.”

“She's not afraid to die.”

“So I died and went to work.”

“So if you want moral advice, I suggest you tuck it all away.”

“So sorry for the trouble, the times we've been afraid of each other.”

“Sometimes where there’s smoke, there’s just a smoke machine.”

“Surely there's a real woman coming to erase me.”

“The most tender place in my heart is for strangers.”

“The next time you say forever, I’ll punch you in your face.”

“There's a wisdom that's woe.”

“There's memories I'd pay to remove.”

“There's nothing you can do to me.”

“There's nothing you can say to me.”

“There's such deadly wolves 'round town tonight.”

“There was no hollow promise that life would reward you.”

“There was nothing to put me in love with the good life.”

“They'll use you for centuries to come.”

“They’re all so happy now that I’ve done wrong.”

“They're the ones who have to clean this mess.”

“They made me think there was something coming, really something worth waiting for.”

“They thank God their lives are much better than mine.”

“They won’t believe you when you tell them.”

“This tornado loves you.”

“This is nothing new, no television crew.”

“Those who walk without sin are so hungry.”

“Tired of trying to make everyone happy?”

“Vengeance built me hastily.”

“We'll get something to eat, like we talked about.”

“We'll see you when you're ready.”

“We're two self-fulfilling prophecies.”

“We can only laugh at these regrets.”

“We were warriors!”

“Welcome home, faithful one.”

“Welcome to this dirty business.”

“Well, I just want to say that it happened.”

“Well, instinct is dirty and morality's clean.”

“Well, you play so surprised at what you have found.”

“Were they telling me to run?”

“What's crazy is the way you think that's style.”

“What can I tell you now?”

“Why don’t you ever shut up?”

“Yes, there are things I’m still so afraid of.”

“Yes, there are things that I'm still quite sure of.”

“You'll deal with me directly.”

“You'll have to deal with me.”

“You're free to covet all you like.”

“You're made from something different than I know.”

“You’re miles from where anyone will find you.”

“You're the one that I still miss.”

“You're the top predator now.”

“You're too cool to see me cry.”

“You've made it all so very dangerous. I can't stay away.”

“You are a silent movie.”

“You can only trust yourself and sometimes that is still too much to want.”

“You can never travel back the way you've come.”

“You never came to bed. You just left me there awake.”

“You say I’m lucky to be here.”

“You took everything young from me.”

“You wanted it so badly that you believed them at the time.”

“You were a good man before you knew it.”

“Your life was much more to me.”

[fictionalarsonist]

may i request nr 9 of your recent prompts with taeyong x reader?

「 unexpected encounter 」

pairing ›_ taeyong x readerwith ›_ jaehyun ; doyoungcontent ›_ slice of life-y ; flirting ; friendshiprating ›_pgwc ›_2k

―

premise ›_After moving to a big city, you find yourself missing everything about home that you complained so much. Taeyong was one of these things, but when you two meet again, by a coincidence, he’s nothing like you remembered.    ›  One-liners Inspired Drabbles  ― #9.“Hot, gorgeous, beautiful…whatever you want to call it.”

「 ao3 | masterlist 」

The cold streets makes you shiver even with all the layers of clothes you’re wearing, you press your dry lips in a thin line, but that only harms the damaged sensible skin. You’re not much of a winter person yourself; you hate all this cold, wet streets, the chaotic traffic and the annoying, disgusting steam. It makes you think of winter back home, it’s just as cold, if not worst – but you liked winter just fine there.

You miss playing in the snow, the trees always tinkling with snow, the smell of fresh winter mornings that isn’t tainted with the toxic smell of pollution. The bone, chilling cold was as pleasing as it could get, but there’s the fireplace and the familiar faces and your favorite bakery shop. You’re not quite sure if you’re homesick because you can’t afford going back home for Christmas or if you’re just not cut out for the big city. Funny, though, you were so eager to live the pathetic small town just two, three years ago.

It’s relief seeing your colleague arrived earlier, the lights inside the shop is dimmed, the closed sign shows on the glass door. You push open the door and the bell announces you. Jaehyun raises his head to see you walking in.

“Good morning!” He greets you with a quick, tired smile.

“Morning!” You greet, smiling back at him as he goes back to work. “You beat me today,” you hear his scoff.

“Well, I might pass out during the day,” you hear him reply from under the balcony and you stop in front of it, unbuttoning your coat.

“Another night awake?”

“That fucking stupid project,” he grunts before appearing from the balcony, his face twisted in annoyance, “I swear, if no one send me their part in this I’m just gonna watermark the whole shit with my name with big, bold letters. I’m not going to give credit to anyone.”

“Can you do that, though?” Jaehyun shrugs in response, “How long ‘till deadline?”

“Uhm- four days?” He frowns, looking into the distance, “Wait, what day is today?”

“Today is the 28th”

“Three days, then” he corrects himself, looking at you, “Even if they send something I don’t think I have enough time to edit, so-” he shrugs, leaning his weight on his elbows on the balcony. “I don’t even care about the fucking prize, the shitty award or whatever- I just want a good grade, that’s all.”

“Don’t worry about it, at least you’ll make it,” you comfort him, patting one of his slumped shoulders.

“You’re right,” Jaehyun replies more energetically before pulling back.

“I’ll get ready and come out to help you real quick,” he hums as you rush to the locker room.

Inside the shop is warm and cozy and you, slowly, regain the sensibility on your fingertips, your lips, and on the tip of your nose. You go through the usual routine to get ready before meeting Jaehyun outside.

“What’s left for me?” You ask, finishing to tie your apron.

“Those two needed to be cleaned. I’m gonna get the pies-” 

“Okay,” you shrug

“The espresso machine’s already on,” he warns over his shoulder.

There’s nothing but the sounds of Jaehyun at the back while you clean the machines, but this silence is welcoming and even relaxing. It contrasts so much with the view beyond the glass door. The chaotic traffic and people walking up and down the street. You enjoy these times before opening the shop, not knowing how the rest of the day would be.

***

Taeyong looked through the car window, irritated with the stillness. The car’s been stuck in traffic, not being able to move for far too long. Clicking his tongue, he lowers the partition with an impatient sigh. His driver looks at the review mirror, waiting. Ten, sitting by his side, spares him a watchful look.

“Isn’t there anything we can do to get out of here?” Taeyong asks, impatient.

“I ‘m afraid not, sir.” The driver replies with a trained apologetic tone.

Upset, Taeyong slumps back on his seat, undoing the button of his suit, blowing air out of his lungs, trying to tone down his anger.

“Are we too far from the company?” Taeyong asks, this time his questions directed at Ten, sitting by his side.

Doyoung spares a look at the map on his phone before replying.

“I’m afraid so.”

This reply only causes Taeyong to be even more discontent with the whole situation.

“This is ridiculous,” Taeyong protests in severe exasperation.

He glances outside yet again and sees you running out the door after a client.

“Taeyong, if you-” Doyoung’s cut off when Taeyong pushes the door open, letting the frigid wintery weather in the perfectly warm, luxurious car. “Taeyong!”

Before he could say anything else Taeyong’s walking on the wet streets, with drizzling rain falling on him.

“Park the car somewhere, don’t move anywhere without us.” Doyoung orders the driver and doesn’t wait for the response, already pushing the door open and chasing after his boss with an umbrella.

***

As soon as the sign at the door shows the coffee shop is open people come in, seeking the warmth and coziness as well as the drinks. Jaehyun busies himself to serve a couple of tables as you take his place at the balcony.

“What can I get-”

“Hey, Y/n!”

You blink, not quite believing the dazzling smile directed to you belongs to the awkward boy you had a crush on back in high school. Though now, Taeyong looks nothing like he did then. It hasn’t been that long and yet, he changed more than you could ever think.

“Taeyong?” You gaped.

“Taeyong!”  Doyoung calls, hurrying after him inside the coffee shop, “If you want we can go back to the hotel and I rearrange the meeting-”

Doyoung’s words are cut off, noticing Taeyong isn’t giving him any attention. Doyoung turns to look at you, someone who looks… Quite average, nothing like Taeyong’s usual interests.

“We can discuss something like this later, Doyoung.” Taeyong says rather gentle and that gets Doyoung puzzled.

“Yes, of course. Should I get you a table?” Doyoung asks with a light frown.

“I think Y/n could do that for me. Couldn’t you?”

“Uhm- I-” You start, but protests of the customers lined up cut your words. Taeyong wasn’t even in the queue.

“Hey, dude! I don’t care if you’re here for coffee or you just wanna flirt, but get in line.” Someone says aggressively and Doyoung gets between the two people just so the other wouldn’t dare to push Taeyong as they intended to.

“Hey, Y/n!”  You hear Jaehyun whisper by your side and you jolt in surprise, “I’ll take care of this, get him a table or something”

Jaehyun’s fast at the job and you step out of the balcony. Taeyong follows you to a more private table.

“Is this place yours?” He asks when you handle him a menu.

“No, I just- work here”

“And when are you free?” He places the menu on the table without even glancing at it while you stand there, waiting to get the order.

Your eyes wander around and you can tell there are quite the number of people looking at him. It’s not everyday someone like Taeyong comes along to place like that, people like him or, at least, the way he looks right now are usually found in over the top, expensive, luxurious restaurants, ordering food which you can’t even begin to imagine the names of, let alone pronounce if you ever came across.

“Y/n?” He asks again, in an inducing tone. With that smile that knocks the wind out of your lungs. You can’t believe you still have a crush on him after so long.

“Uh- Yes. Yes, what’s your order?” You ask automatically after snapping back to reality. He chuckles charmingly.

“I asked, when are you free?”

“At seven. We close at seven.” You speak up before you could stop yourself.

“Okay, then- I’ll come back at seven, then.” He stands up and Doyoung stands up after him. “I’m really glad I got to meet you again,” his smile looked quite sincere this time.

But that’s because, for a split second you could see the face of the boy you liked back then, instead of the arrogant man that was now taking your hand and bringing to his lips. You didn’t notice Doyoung’s eyes going back and forth between the two of you.

***

As soon as the shop got more of a free time, Jaehyun came to you as you cleaned one of the tables. Your mind went back and forth that moment over and over and still- you couldn’t figure how that could possibly happen.

“Okay, so- Tell me.” He asked, standing beside you as you repeatedly wiped the table, the same spot, over and over again. “Y/n?” He called, lowering his head to notice your eyes were looking into the distance instead of the the clean spot on the table or him. “Y/n!”

His half-scream made you jump in place and look at him.

“What now? Did you really need to-”

“You weren’t even paying attention to the table. What do you want, make it invisible or something?”

“Huh?” 

He points at the table you’ve been cleaning, literally shining at this point. A wide contrast to the others.

“We have two options now, either we clean the others the same way or get this one dirty,” he says thoughtfully, looking around for a moment before looking at you, “But, seriously- Who’s that guy?”

“Who?”

“You know who,” he insists, chasing after you when you run away from him, “The guy that came here looking for you.”

“He didn’t came looking for me!”

“He came in, ordered nothing. Just talked to you and left,” Jaehyun states

“You- might have a point.”

“Who’s him?”

“He’s- He’s just someone I knew,” you try

“You knew?” He asks with scoff. “He didn’t seem dead to me.”

“Oh, c’mon, Jae! I had a crush on him when we were in high school or something, that’s all.”

“Did you date?”

“No!”

“Then, why’s he here?”

“How am I supposed to know?” You ask in frustration. You’ve been asking the same question yourself. “He’s different. He’s…”

“Hot, gorgeous, beautiful…?” Jaehyung mocks as you seem to search for words.

“Whatever you wanna call it” You say, impatient with the way he keeps joking around with you. “But I was about to say that he doesn’t look like himself. Like the guy I had the crush on. Maybe- Maybe this isn’t a good idea.”

“And- Still, you’re going with him?”

“I- You know, it might be nothing.”

“Yeah, and he might be a jerk. Look, this is what we can do for the day-  You’re leaving with me today. We can do something fun that won’t end up with you getting hurt by the morning and leave me to take care of this chaos by myself. Deal?” You watch him manner his hand to the busy but now quiet coffee shop.

“What about your project?” He shrugs

“It’s almost done, I won’t add anything from anyone else by this point, so I can seat back and do nothing. So? Deal?“

“Deal.” You shake his extended hand to you with a self-assertive smile.

[words-writ-in-starlight]

prompt for the hozier fic thing: “Like Real People Do,” maybe something with Caleb or Molly or Both? If you wanna 😬

For this ask meme, which is still open!  I have no idea what this is but I sure did enjoy writing it.

"So," Mollymauk says, leaning against the door to the room Caleb has tentatively claimed as his own.  "So."

"So," Caleb says gamely, and puts down his pen.

Molly's return still seems like a dream, impossible and untouchable, not even a month since the tiefling managed to track them down.  They're lucky they're such a distinctive--and trouble-prone--group, or Molly would never have pulled it off, even with all his blood hunter's skills.  As it was, he claims that it was a simple issue of approaching someone in each city or town he passed and asking about recent trouble, and then working his way down the list of their most distinctive members.  And so, a month ago, they returned from a minor job to find a scruffy, annoyed-looking purple tiefling leaning against their gate.  

Jester screamed, Fjord swore, and Beau punched him.  Molly had taken it with relative good grace, insulted her cheerfully, and immediately went down under their combined weight in the most violent hug Caleb has ever been involved in.

Alive he may be, but Molly's not always quite himself--a delicate way to say that sometimes Molly is not Molly, Molly is Lucien.  Whatever magic brought him back once as a clean slate failed to do the same a second time, and instead he is Molly, but a Molly written over the watermark of who he was before he was Molly.  Lucien never surfaces for long, and in the long run Molly seems to be winning out, smothering the man slowly under the weight of Molly's sheer immediate realness, but each moment of being Lucien clearly shakes Molly to his core. 

So, yes, the fact that Molly is speaking to someone tonight means that Caleb puts down his pen and closes his spellbook without a fight.

"So," Molly says for a third time.  "Beau says that you--might understand a little of my situation.  She said to ask you about Bren Aldrich Ermendrud."

The smooth movements of Caleb stopping up his ink well and closing his book don't stop, but they--stutter.

Right.  Of course.  While the extent of Caleb's past still isn't known to everyone, that he has one--and a dark one--is an open secret.  But an open secret that is almost never discussed with him, nor anyone who doesn't already know, and Molly...

There's just been so much else to tell him, so much to say, that Caleb's secrets have slipped through the cracks.

"I do not think it is the same," Caleb says, watching his hands pack up a sheaf of parchment like an automaton.  "You are not Lucien.  You are yourself, you are Mollymauk Tealeaf, and you prove as much every time you silence him.  He was a bastard, maybe--and you are a dick, maybe--but all you have of his are your skills and your scars."

"So," Mollymauk says for the fourth time, and closes the door behind him, ambling over to sit down on Caleb's bed.  He's replaced the trinkets on his horns that he had to sell for passage, costume jewelry mixed indiscriminately with real gold and even a dainty mithril chain that Jester had joyfully spent all her savings on, three days after his return.  His coat was, apparently, a lost cause, although he's been collecting fabric for another, and so instead he's taken to wearing the most outrageously bright colors he can find, purportedly in protest against the eternally dim sky.  Caleb suspects it's also because Lucien prefers black.  Today, Molly is wearing a vest in a brilliant shade of ripe-wheat-gold that clashes terribly with his scarlet eyes, and he stands out like spilled paint against the still-spartan contents of Caleb's quarters.

Caleb half-turns in his chair, so that he's facing Molly, and silently sends Frumpkin toward the bed.  His familiar rubs adoringly past Caleb's legs on his way, and Molly smiles as the cat jumps up to join him.  Frumpkin is probably adding orange cat hair to Molly's current colorful arrangement, but from the way Molly hefts him up and plops him unceremoniously into his lap for a good cuddle, it's not a concern.

"You didn't die too, right?" Molly asks, and it sounds like half a joke.  Only half, because the other half is nearly desperate.  Desperate for what, Caleb's not sure.  Reading people still isn't his strongest suit.

"No," Caleb says flatly.  "I went mad for eleven years."

Grimly, distantly, he's gratified by the way Molly blinks, obviously taken aback.  "I beg your pardon?"

"Bren--all I changed was my name, verstehen?  Do you understand?" Caleb goes on.  Logically, he knows that he's probably lost Molly already.  Hell, even he doesn't really know where he's going with this, why this is suddenly so important that Molly hear, but his mouth is opening again and he's leaning forward and he doesn't think he could do anything in the world to stop it.

"You are a different person, you are yourself and not Lucien and that is not true for me.  Beauregard should not have sent you to me.  I am--I am more like him, than like you."

Molly is still watching Caleb like Caleb's speaking a foreign tongue, but there's a slow-dawning wave of anger starting to make the confusion ebb out of his face.  Molly's patented self-righteous indignation, boiling to the surface over--something.  Damned if Caleb knows what.  Caleb continues, in a rush now, trying to get out in front of the riptide of Molly's determination.

"I did--terrible things.  I was glad to do them.  It does not matter what else happened or what I did afterward or anything else, all that matters is that I did them and I wanted to, when I did them.  I could have a thousand names and never change that.  You are--it is different."

For once in all his lives, Molly doesn't say anything.  There's a long moment of silence, while Caleb realizes that his heart is racing and his hands are shaking and his chest is aching and breathless.  He drags in several breaths, too quick and too shallow, and clasps his hands tight to stop their trembling.  Time for that later, he tells himself in Molly's voice.

"You are the real one, now," Caleb says when he's sure his voice won't shake.  "Not Lucien.  Eventually he will realize it and--"  Caleb raises a shaking hand to imitate smoke, being blown away on the wind, and then laces his fingers together again.

There's another moment, shorter, and then Molly lets out a breath and says, "How do you know?"

"Because you are too--too stubborn to do anything else," Caleb says, his voice shuddering over a faint, gasping laugh.  "Ha.  Long may you--long may you reign.  Lucien can eat shit."

Molly smiles, still a little distant, still riding the edge of that self-assured conviction and anger, but he smiles, and looks very much himself when he does.  “And how do you know that you are still the same man who did those terrible things?”

Caleb opens his mouth without knowing what he’s about to say--because I am, because I’ve never been anyone else, because someone has to pay for what I did and if I’m someone else then where’s the justice there--and Molly’s on his feet before Caleb can marshal a response.  Molly swoops down on him like the bird he’s named for, a flurry of bright purple and flashing metal, and kisses Caleb firmly on the forehead.

“Thank you, Mister Caleb,” Molly says, closing Caleb’s mouth with two fingers on his jaw.  “And for what it’s worth--more things change a man than a grave.”

[knadire]

Art Theft Committed by CreepypastaDotCom and Chilling Tales for Dark Nights

Hey everybody. I just wanted to tell an important story to anyone out there that’s an artist or a fan of horror media. In the wake of the mess last weekend surrounding Twitter account @RareHorror failing to attribute art they reposted to the creator and having a massive and embarrassing meltdown (which you can read more about here, language warning: http://www.pajiba.com/film_reviews/rare-horrors-twitter-meltdown-ignites-debate-over-artist-rights.php), I want to share a similar experience I’ve been having. It’s going to contain some disturbing (but fake) Photoshops and paintings so I’m sorry in advance if this sort of thing upsets you.

 So about a month ago, while talking with some friends, one of them drew my attention to how the Twitter page for CreepypastaDotCom was tweeting out about a story on their main website using an image that looked a little familiar. There was no credit to be found. After a little digging we realized that it was the work of a rather well known, found footage-style artist who goes by SlimeySwampGhost, which many of us were familiar with. After discovering this, we collectively began filling their comments section with remarks about this lack of attribution. SlimeySwampGhost himself eventually asked for credit.

After a full day with no further response from CreepypastaDotCom, I decided to scroll deeper. I discovered that for the past few months, ALL their Twitter content was made up of uncredited artwork. Every post contained an excerpt, a link to the story it was from, a handful of hashtags, and an uncredited piece of artwork. Through this, I found another account called Chilling Tales for Dark Nights. They themselves are a horror audio drama/narration channel I’ve known about for a while. Not only did they have posts identical to those made on CreepypastaDotCom’s Twitter page, but they had made even MORE promoting their podcasts, audio recordings, and YouTube videos, still using artwork that they had no ownership of.

I want to put it into perspective how much of a profit these websites are making. If you visit CreepypastaDotCom (which I do not recommend), it is filled to bursting with ads. Their most recent story, which is only 1500 words long, contains four standard and one video ad to the right, a banner across the side and bottom, and three built right into the story, between every four paragraphs or so. I have seen an even higher number on longer stories. Though not an exact number, the site Worth of Web estimates that nearly 10 000 people visit CreepypastaDotCom and it earns nearly $150 USD daily. Though their site’s lack of ads is a little less apparent in its source of income, Chilling Tales for Dark Nights offers a subscription service starting at $5 USD a month and capping at $79.99 a year, locking many of their stories and recordings behind a paywall . On top of this, Social Blade estimates their channel earning between $144 and $2.3K USD monthly. These are not small groups making a mistake; these are large companies making the active decision to omit credit, at times going out of their way to do so.

So, I decided to spend a free afternoon going on a little crusade of using a combination of Google Images and other backwards image searching services to find and credit nearly ALL of the art they reposted in their respective comments section.

The most disturbing cases I’ve seen are:

-a few artists that I was able to tag directly that stated that they hadn’t permitted them to use their art nor was it free for anyone to repost or use (at bare minimum without credit)

-multiple artists who were selling the piece they used or others as a print

-several drawings that had logos, names, signatures or watermarks cropped out of the image to even further remove credit

-a handful of concept art from indie games

The most disgusting one I found was an advertisement featured on both Twitter feeds for a book on Amazon by K Banning Kellum. Attached to this was a piece that I discovered was hand painted by François Baranger for a crowdfunded book, cropping out the full resolution to hide the space where the text was meant to be placed. They were using art from an unrelated book to advertise another. Both Banning and Baranger have made statements asking that the advert be taken down.

It took a few hours before I heard any word from either of them. CreepypastaDotCom initially excused all this to Twitter’s word count, citing that their Facebook page properly attributed the specific artist I was referring to (which they mentioned was a “friend” of theirs). I pointed out that though yes, they did credit that very specific artist on that other social media, they failed to do so with a good majority of the art they were sharing, and that they had no issue adding an additional tweet to that chain after I mentioned it but still to none of the others.

Both pages did eventually remove all of the incriminating posts, but not before blocking me immediately after this interaction.

I had this on the back of my mind until a month later, when I decided to check up on both of them after the RareHorror incident occurred. When plugging their most recent text-based stories they began using (what I hope to be) stock photographs, and most of CreepypastaDotCom’s Facebook feed now consists of memes. But all of the images that they had removed on Twitter had not ben touched on this social media page, and I also discovered an Instagram page for Chilling Tales doing the same thing. While going about making similar remarks on these respective pages, I recognized the watermark of Omega Black, who’s work was stolen by them before, directly used in a thumbnail for their podcast, which is one of the ones currently hidden behind their paywall. In fact, a majority of their recent thumbnails on their website, as well as on YouTube, have art done by other people that they have not credited. They only credit the artists that they commission art from, which they can, have, and CONTINUE to do. I have made efforts to properly attribute and ask that they remove these images as many places as I have been able.

In the middle of writing this, CreepypastaDotCom has removed ONLY the post about post about K Banning’s book, leaving up everything else, and has banned me from commenting on their Facebook page any further. Chilling Tales yet to make any sort of statement about this behaviour. Since posting this to Facebook, I have now been officially blocked on both Chilling Tales for Dark Nights and CreepypastaDotCom on there, as well as CTFDN's Instagram. The posts that got the most negative feedback over theft (belong to Francois and OmegaBlack respectively) have all been completely removed, BUT all the others are still there. All my comments linking back to their respective portfolios, ArtStations and DeviantART profiles have been wiped clean and they are left uncredited once more.

In the end I just want this sort of thing to end. It’s not right that these pages are piggybacking off of the artwork of others to generate more interest and clicks, to earn a profit that the original creators will not see a cent of. As an artist myself who has had their art mistaken for free clipart in the past I can’t image what it must be like to have your work used on a much larger scale. So if anyone from the CreepypastaDotCom or Chilling Tales for Dark Nights team is reading this, please consider removing all these. It’s neither legally nor morally right.

If anyone following me is able to, I ask that you consider addressing all this yourselves on your social media of choice. I don’t want any outright harassment, but it seems like as with most large corporations, a large group of people expressing their dissatisfaction is the only way to incite any change. As only one person there’s only so much I’ve been able to do.

Any artists following me should be extremely cautious of who is using your art and for what purpose. If this is happening to anyone I know personally I’ve got your back and I’ll do everything I can to get it removed or appropriately attributed.

If you intend on doing anything like Chilling Tales in the future, even tangentially related, the Creepypasta Wiki is a better while still expansive resource for stories. Here are also some resources you can use for royalty free or public domain photographs and images:

https://pixabay.com/

https://unsplash.com/

https://stocksnap.io/

https://www.pexels.com/

If you want to use art that you like, at least ask permission first. The worst they can say is no, and no response is NOT approval. Credit the artist, and Google Images is not a source.

Below is a list of all the artists I was able to find who’s work has been stolen and left unattributed. It is not completely comprehensive since backwards image searching only goes so far, and as only one person I have only been able to track their posts back to the beginning of January due to their absolutely massive backlog of images.

https://www.deviantart.com/drfaustusau

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2331644373749140/?type=3&theater

 Gary Pullin

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2330164767230434/?type=3&theater

 Joe Webb

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2329562920623952/?type=3&theater

 https://www.deviantart.com/jflaxman

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2328831980697046/?type=3&theater

 *https://www.deviantart.com/koidl

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2326650480915196/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2326647174248860/?type=3&theater

https://www.instagram.com/p/BsnqEW_lpsc/

  https://www.deviantart.com/almanegra

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2326866630893581/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2445654418787737/?type=3&theater

https://www.instagram.com/p/BxYy84xFsc6/

 Masahiro Sawada

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2324896661090578/?type=3&theater

 https://www.deviantart.com/daverapoza

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2324062071174037/?type=3&theater

 https://www.deviantart.com/chromattix

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2324881584425419/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2440420665977779/?type=3&theater

 Emil Melmoth

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2322323768014534/?type=3&theater

 https://www.deviantart.com/kumpan/

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2322322098014701/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2433247106695135/?type=3&theater

 https://www.deviantart.com/jasonedmiston

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1955865917993656/2313320382248206/?type=3&theater

 https://www.deviantart.com/panchecco/

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2290413431205568/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2349352058417974/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2294791423874038/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2255315011155013/?type=3&theater

  https://www.deviantart.com/loish

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2286125321634379/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2338187819534398/?type=3&theater

 Ares Dragonis

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2284644478449130/?type=3&theater

 Matteo Ascente

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2282149892031922/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2327855437234303/?type=3&theater

 Klaus Wittmann

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2274267342820177/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2307437519276095/?type=3&theater

 Miklós Ligeti

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2272191189694459/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2302082193144961/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2442398692446643/?type=3&theater

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiT77ezGfzY

 Eric Felten

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2271754523071459/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2301019089917938/?type=3&theater

 Jay Zhou

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2268483903398521/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2292754607411053/?type=3&theater

 https://www.deviantart.com/danielgrzeszkiewicz

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2265915273655384/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2286888337997680/?type=3&theater

 https://www.deviantart.com/nrjin

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2260490967531148/?type=3&theater

 Alex Monge

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2354560677897112/?type=3&theater

https://www.instagram.com/p/BvIqWUTl76c/

 OmegaBlack

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2433720263314486/?type=3&theater

 https://www.deviantart.com/dloliver

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2414995095187003/?type=3&theater

 Fernando Acosta

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2262643733755474/?type=3&theater

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bss96BaFaC1/

 Pedro Silvia

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2238916129461568/?type=3&theater

https://www.instagram.com/p/BsEgbuqFJRD/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVeESsQbBl4

 https://www.deviantart.com/dominikbroniek/

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2458696254150220/?type=3&theater

https://www.instagram.com/p/BxsD7zXli7y/

https://audioboom.com/posts/7265417-the-art-of-imitation-chilling-tales-for-dark-nights

 https://www.deviantart.com/eemeling

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2454194474600398/?type=3&theater

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_zvU9u1epc

 https://www.deviantart.com/s-caruso

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2346953118657868/?type=3&theater

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bu7Wkr1FseL/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jae1pm4ui0

 Dario Puggioni

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2326173137402533/?type=3&theater

https://www.instagram.com/p/BuWnJ93lLjp/

https://youtu.be/kaLO87La0q0

 Clint Nitkev

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2309484632404717/?type=3&theater

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bt7iHxDlFzm/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97ZFM1EyBFQ

 https://www.deviantart.com/emerald-depths

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2273329246020256/?type=3&theater

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs_DQ9nlKMe/

 Blaz Porenta

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2249680588385122/?type=3&theater

https://www.instagram.com/p/BsWkhdDldGI/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd0o6Lfac9o

 https://www.deviantart.com/jflaxman/

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2244718002214714/?type=3&theater

https://www.instagram.com/p/BsOEvcVleCu/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qOOCS49RVM

[mintchocolateleaves]

Cost of Freedom (20/52)

In which the Tokyo police department get the reports from Solitary. Prison!AU

[Beginning]     [Previous Chapter]    [Next Chapter]

Tokyo MPD - 3.54 pm

“They took their time sending it over,” Aoko’s father says when she returns to division two. She, Hakuba and Ran had left for lunch after Ran’s stomach had started to growl, and after deciding on tempura, they’d left the busy police station behind. “But here are the reports from solitary. I printed copies for you.”

Her father doesn’t hand them to her, but rather to Hakuba and while it irritates Aoko that he’s trusting the teenager who dragged Kaito away over her, she doesn’t say anything.

Maybe because she knows it useless. It’s not like her father thinks she can find KID - she’d not known even when she’d been standing next to him.

Aoko shakes her head, and perches on the chair beside Ran.

“Aoko wants to read Kaito’s first,” she says, glancing at Hakuba. “Before either Hakuba or Ran-chan reads it.”

It’s a selfish request, she knows, but out of the three of them, she feels like she’s the one entitled to know what happened to him. Hakuba hesitates - clearly he wants to read them before the girls, wants to be the first one to know everything, how utterly like him. But he doesn’t hold onto the papers when Ran flicks through the pages, tugs papers from his fingers.

“Ran-san…” Hakuba says, but Ran doesn’t offer an explanation to him, simply placing the papers down in front of Aoko, offering a smile.

“We’ll look over Shinichi’s reports,” Ran says, “you read over Kuroba-kun’s, and we’ll swap in a minute, okay?”

Aoko mouths ‘thank you’ before looking down at the papers. There aren’t that many pages, no more than ten, and one glance at Kudo’s tells her that the ex-detective had gotten into far more trouble than Kaito had. (Either that, or time is a large factor. Aoko isn’t actually that sure.)

She decides not to spare the amount of pages any additional though, and instead, leans forward, both elbows on the desk, immersing herself in Kaito’s report.

Incident report - Prisoner 093253

The inmate was found attempting to escape in the gatehouse at approx. 2350.

Initial period of two days in solitary confinement has been issued by Guard: XXXX

Somehow, Aoko isn’t surprised about this incident. It’s kind of… expected when it comes to Kaito - he’s not the type of person who’s taken much notice of the rules. It’s expected of KID too, the escape artist that he is, who wouldn’t suspect him of trying to scheme his way out of prison.

This report, she skims over with only mild interest. It’s more technical than she’d expected, and Kaito doesn’t really do anything over the days. The reports did say that he was electrocuted though, but the guard who had caught him, so she suspects that he’d probably be quieter. He always did seem to be less outrageous whenever he was sick, recovering from flus and any other illnesses he’d had.

She turns the page, glances over the next incident - there are only two, if the markings (2/2) mean anything - and takes a deep breath.

Inmate was issued three days of solitary confinement following an outburst within visiting room A.

It’s not until she sees some of the transcribed outbursts he’d made that Aoko remembers to breathe again. She shudders, choppy breaths hitched as she glances over claims of innocence and death penalties and-

Aoko turns the page. She can’t keep reading Kaito’s words - they echo in her head, Kaito’s voice ringing out, sounding vaguely similar to the way he’d cried alongside her when his father had died. The next page is less painful to read over.

Well, the first half of his second visit to solitary confinement isn’t painful. He’s mostly quiet, there aren’t many notes written down. From the looks of the pages, he’s a perfect inmate, well behaved when he’s sat inside his cell.

It doesn’t seem very much like Kaito, for the first three days of solitary. He’s never been well behaved. Ever since they’d first met beneath the clocktower, Kaito had been pulling pranks and creating trouble. Never once has Aoko seen him play by the rules; he’s always had a passion for standing out, not fitting in.

Aoko sighs.

Then, she turns the page, and she sees it.

Possible visual hallucinations. Inmate’s grown more unsettled over the course of days 4-5.

Aoko bites her cheek. Her gaze lingers over the word 'unsettled’ before dragging it down to the transcribed conversation they’d written in the report. It’s not complete, starts halfway through, and while she’s certain something big had happened before hand, she’s not exactly sure whether it’s enough to lead to… this.

“The difference is easy to find.” - “Then tell me.” - “Aoko doesn’t want to.” - “Just tell me!”

Despite her best efforts, Aoko lets out a sob. It is quiet, at first. A silent shudder not unlike the tears she’d shed months ago, when she’d first found out, when she’d first learned of the connection between KID and Kaito, and the realisation that Kaito wasn’t going to catch the bus with her to their entrance exams at Musashi university. 

She wipes at her eyes the same way she had when Keiko had promised they’d go together instead, the same way she’d brushed away tears as she’d waited by the phone for her idiot best friend to call and just explain everything to her.

Her body collapses on itself as she turns the page, forcing herself to read everything, the same way it had when she’d spent an entire evening waiting for her father to come home from work. He’d solved the case, hadn’t he, so why had he kept her waiting?

She was always left behind… By the people she love, by time. By life.

Another sob. She reaches the final page, skims the contents until she’s reached the final word. When she looks up, tears blurring her sight, Hakuba and Ran haven’t seemed to notice her - she’s glad. All she needs to do is go clean herself up, and then… then she’ll be able to focus on finding Kaito, that idiot, and reading over Kudo’s file.

She pushes her seat out from beneath the table, stands. Then, at the sight of watermarks on the pages beneath her, Aoko stills. She flips the paper over.

“I’ll be back in a moment,” Aoko says, turning away from the table so that no one can see her face. She doesn’t give either Hakuba or Ran any opportunity to respond and is out of the room before either can respond.

“Ran-san…”

“Yes,” Ran says, turning to look at Saguru. She’s watched Aoko’s departure out of the corner of her eye, had seen the tears soaking paper, “I saw.”

“Should we-”

His phone buzzes in his pocket, and Saguru glances down. He glances down, reads the number on across the screen, before looking back up at Ran.

“I’ll go check on Aoko-chan.” She says, when he says it’s Hattori. “You answer that call, I’ll be back in a while.”

Saguru nods. “…Make sure she’s alright? Aoko-kun… she doesn’t like to let anyone know she’s suffering.”

Ran wraps her hands around her stomach, standing up. It sounds familiar, almost like Ran is the one being described. She remembers how hard it had been the first initial months without Shinichi, and she’d been able to visit him - Aoko… as far as she knows, hasn’t had any contact with him since his arrest.

“I will.” Ran promises, leaving the room in pursuit.

Aoko doesn’t make it to the bathroom.

She curls in on herself halfway down the second corridor, slides down the wall until she reaches the floor and lets herself cry. She’s glad for the urgency within the station, because no one stops to ask if she’s okay, to wrapped up in their own business to inquire about hers.

She can hear the transcript in her head, can hear Kaito’s words as if they’re being spoken right in front of her. She doesn’t know why she’s so overwhelmed, why she feels like someone is twisting her intestines - shouldn’t she be glad that Kaito was thinking about what she’d asked?

“Just tell me!”

His words filled her lungs like water. It was her fault, wasn’t it, for the torment he’d endured? When he’d called, she’d just caused more suffering, when she should have been understanding, should have known he’d been punished enough, that she shouldn’t have added to it by making him question…

“Aoko-chan.”

Aoko stills at the voice, but refuses to look up. Instead, she closes her eyes, trying to ignore the shuffling as Ran sits beside her. Glancing through the small hole between her legs and her arms, she notices that Ran is sat cross legged beside her.

“It hurts, doesn’t it,” Ran whispers after a few minutes of silence, “to read what they’ve gone through?”

Aoko doesn’t respond.

“The last time I saw Shinichi… He asked me to give up on him.” She pauses, chokes on the words. “And… I don’t think my heart would have been able to cope with that if I hadn’t been able to talk to anyone about it.”

They’ve not talked much before, Aoko knows, but there is some sort of link between them already. They both have to live with an absence in their lives, and Aoko wonders whether Ran is hurting as much as she is.

“You genuinely think Kudo-kun is innocent?” She asks, and tries not to sob when Ran responds with a quiet, yet firm, ‘I do’. “Well… Aoko knows that Kaito is guilty. She knows that he’s KID. She just doesn’t know how to feel about it.”

The curiosity behind KID’s identity had created her, has built Aoko into the person she is today. All of the protests against KID, all the time spent hating him and… and then her curiosity had just as easily destroyed her. How stupid that she’d told herself to never trust a liar - to never trust a thief - and yet… here she is… unable to figure out where she stands.

“What was Kuroba-kun like?” Ran asks. “I always find that it’s easier to figure out how you feel, from the memories you first come up with.”

Aoko closes her eyes, lifts her head up from her arms and leans back against the wall. She wipes away her tears, and she thinks.

“Kaito was…” She racks her brain for words, pictures him in her brain and scratches at her arm with nails. “Aoko doesn’t think he loved anything more than a crowd… He probably cared more about what everyone thought than what Aoko ever did.”

Beside her, Ran reaches out a hand, taking Aoko’s. She gives it a soft squeeze.

“And… he was always close enough to touch, but never close enough to Aoko to let himself get hurt,” she says, “Kaito was always the one saving Aoko, all the time. Even though he was always such a nuisance and constantly embarrassed Aoko daily, he never let anyone else make fun of her.”

Another squeeze, and Aoko falters as she searches for words.

“We went to find a monster in school once, and Kaito tried to keep Aoko safe…” She hesitates, “Aoko just wishes…” No, the illeism doesn’t seem right… not at the moment. She pushes it away. “I just wish that I hadn’t put all my faith in him.”

Emotion crashes over her like waves to the shore - hatred for KID, guilt that it means all this time Kaito has been conflicted, sadness now he’s gone… Fear that she’ll never see him again.

“We give away things we won’t ever get back,” Ran says, and when Aoko opens her eyes, there are tears in the other girls eyes as well. “But it’s okay… Those boys probably need it more anyway.”

Aoko glances at Ran, chokes on another sob. She says, “We need to get back-”

“The investigation can wait a little longer.” Ran says. “It’s okay to have a bit of time to ourselves.”

Aoko blinks, shudders again. This time, when Ran squeezes her hand, Aoko squeezes back.

“Aoko doesn’t know who Kaito is anymore…” She whispers, and then she is sobbing again, fingers wrapping around Ran’s jumper, tears staining fabric. She lets out a wail, pain bleeding from her - the thought of never hearing Kaito’s laugh again overwhelming her until she feels like her heart is disintegrating, turning into ash.

And it hurts, because even if she doesn’t know who he is anymore, she’s still willing to love him endlessly. Because even after everything that’s happened with KID she’s still unable to let go of the red string of fate that binds them together.

It’s agonising, because in the end, he still matters the most.

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #240

end of the year one!

What did you do in 2019 that you’d never done before? Uhhhh. Wow. I honestly don't really know; not a lot. Uhhhh... oh, I was sexually involved with a girl, I worked at a deli for A WHOLE TWO HOURS!!!!, I'm still a shameful shit that being on that damn pill actually drove me to masturbating for the first time (yes, I know it's not "bad," but), OH! I very recently found myself to relate to Neo-Paganism so kinda identify as that now, I finished a full semester of college, and uhhh. It's funny, '18 and '19 kinda blur together for me, so I can't say with certainty when some certain things took place, so it doesn't even feel right putting them here? Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I didn't make one; I pretty much never do. This year, however, I just might. Like I've always thought "dude it's just another day there is literally no actual difference," but I want to focus on the actual symbolism. No, there is no physical difference, but it's the idea I want to appreciate. I want to make something about self-improvement this year, probably mostly about AvPD and its "I'm embarrassed by myself omg people think I'm weird" factor irl, because that FUUUUCKS WIIIITH MEEEEE. I want to be comfortable as me, y'know? Oh, and I should definitely work on independence. Did anyone close to you give birth? No, but my sister is pregnant. Did anyone close to you die? My dog Teddy. What countries did you visit? I didn't leave and have never left America, yaaaaay. Fun. Adventure. What would you like to have in 2020 that you lacked in 2019? An income. Let photography go somewhere or some shit, please. What date from 2019 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? November 28th, when Teddy was put down. That's something I can never forget. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Said lasting a college semester!!!! I failed my math course as I expected to, but I mean, I lasted. What was your biggest failure? To ME anyway (people have assured me otherwise from their perspectives), it would be the first "professional" wedding I shot. I put so much into that day and the DAYS of post processing, and they never bought any of the pictures. Said they were going to discuss which ones they wanted and get back to me and then poof, vanished. I was very suspicious by another person, I think family, being there taking pictures pretty much just as much as I did, even posing people, and by now I'm pretty sure they used me (or her, idk) as backup. My only guess is my pictures weren't what they wanted so they chose the route of not paying, which, TECHNICALLY, isn't against my terms of service; you just have to pay the sitting fee, you see previews w/ watermarks, and THEN you pay for each photo you actually WANT. That's a loophole I probably need to fix, because I can honestly say $20 did NOT cover my time, hyperhidrosis e x p l o s i o n, anxiety, and my previously-mentioned DAYS-long editing period. Not to mention I was and still genuinely am proud of how the pictures turned out. OKAY WOW I'm seriously ranting but yeah I'm obviously still tilted. Did you suffer illness or injury? Did I? I don't think so. At least nothing serious. I did have a fall, but the resulting bruises and twists were negligible. What was the best thing you bought? A fuckin honeybun from the school snack machine lmao. I don't have my own income, so I just get little cash from Mom if needed for when I go out or anything. Where did most of your money go? See above. So, food lol. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Sara coming on my birthday, Ozzy re-announcing his tour for next year (WITH MANSON Y'ALL!!!!!!!!!!) and Mom and I being like "um fuck yes we're going," and that's all I can think about right now. It's not common I get like, THAT excited. What song will always remind you of 2019? *shrug* None off the top of my head stand out. Compared to this time last year, are you: Happier or sadder? Older or wiser? Thinner or fatter? (I've been at a weight loss stalemate for two fucking years now, so neither.) Richer or poorer? (No personal income, and I don't know the exact financial position Mom's in compared to last year.) What do you wish you’d done more of? See Sara and Dad much more, reach out to more friends, exercise, cleaning alksdjfawei, studying. What do you wish you’d done less of? Sitting on this computer gahhhhhhhhhhhhhh- I honestly would prefer to just not dwell on this "I wish I had..." subject. How did you spend Christmas? Breakfast and gift opening with Mom and my younger sis, then we went to my older sister's house that afternoon to celebrate with her and the kids. What was your favorite TV program? I didn't watch TV. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? No. What was the best book you read? The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. What was your greatest musical discovery? Hm... I don't believe I discovered any new bands, but I got waaay more into Motionless In White. What did you want and get? Making it through my first semester in college, Teddy reaching his 13th birthday, seeing my grandmother for probably the last time, seeing Sara for my birthday, uhhh other things that aren't coming to mind. What did you want and not get? Lose more fucking weight for a change, more photography growth, new glasses, the courage to drive more and get my license, SEE SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK AS WELL AS THE LAST HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, other little things I don't wanna dwell on. What was your favorite film of this year? I do NOT get the hate of the live action The Lion King. I fucking adored it. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I don't remember other than hang out with Sara and the fam and probably eat at Olive Garden for dinner. I turned 23. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Photography reaching the level of being able to call it my *real* job. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2019? Pajamas. Just... pajamas whenever possible lmao. What kept you sane? My mom and Sara, MUSIC, gaming, Mark and the other YTers I love way too much, school getting me out of the damn house. Oh, and medication lmfao. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? The day I don't answer this with "Mark Fischbach," I IMPLORE you to commit me. What issue stirred you the most? I'm guessing you mean political? If so, the Amazon wildfires and how the fucking SA government handled it. NOTHING in the political world has ever had me that livid, heartbroken, and ashamed of the greed of the human race. Who did you miss? A good number of people, plus Teddy of course. Who was the best new person you met? Good question. Probably a teacher or adviser at school. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2019: I think more than anything, there's been a lot of focus on the fact that you can't always run at the first sign of trouble/stress. That's one of my biggest weaknesses: I flee the moment I'm under stress, but now with school, I've had to learn to fight this. It's an ongoing process, but I'm getting there. Some battles need to be fought to reach a better place.