#it all comes back around to how souls work with the doll and hence why he was testing cloning without and with souls

[abimee]

also the main gist is that the three soulbonded meet a small group of researchers at the base of a tower they call the crystal tower and are trying to research it, when the group say that a mysterious magician named amon cursed them to share souls a researcher name graha claims that it would be impossible for that to have been the True amon, as he had died in the end of the allag empire centuries ago, but cant put it out of the question that Someone claiming to be amon has cursed them. The group say they had tried stopping amon who was chasing a girl, who is found by the encampment later bearing uncanny resemblance to the palmira doll, Minfillia. She claims her name is Ryne and she has no recollection of events beyond being chased by a strange magician who offered to help her, and has no clue where she came from. The group decide that the only way to figure out for sure what is going on, and who this mysterious so-called Amon is, is to go into the crystal tower and search for the magician himself, which leads down a winding path of mystery and discovery that nobody is prepared for

[zivazivc]

Pinocchio AU

Okay people want the explanation for this comic so here it goes. It’s long and complicated and MESSED UP because of course it is, this is me. I’m going to write in points because my small tired brain can’t handle good english atm but basically to sum up the Adrien was a sentimonster theory or Pinocchio AU as I like to call it:

Young married Emilie and Gabriel can’t have kids. Gabriel reluctantly accepts this fate and even brings up adoption as a possibility once, but Emilie doesn’t want to hear any of that. She’s a bit of a Marinette in the sense that she pictures this romanticized ideal life for herself and a child—her flesh and blood—HAS to be in it.

They keep trying to get a baby while other young families Emilie knows keep growing. She feels left out and hurt and depressed, then her newlywed twin sister announces she’s expecting a baby too and something within Emilie just unhinges.

She eventually lies to some of her friends, who she was out for coffee with, that she’s pregnant too. She mostly does it just to see their reaction and feel what it would be like but it quickly spirals out of control where she just starts pretending she’s pregnant until you can’t even tell if she believes it herself.

Gabriel is confused at first because he hears the news second hand (a friend/family member congratulating him) so he’s apprehensive when he approaches his wife but she convinces him that they really are getting a baby and Gabriel is ecstatic.

It’s only later at a doctor’s check up that Gabriel learns that she indeed is not pregnant. The doctor even speaks to him alone explaining that his wife is in denial and that he should make sure she goes to see a psychiatrist, something she definitely wouldn’t do alone.

Gabriel is unsuccessful with that because he’s not entirely persistent, doesn’t want to be the guy with the crazy wife having to tell everyone she lied about being pregnant, and hopelessly believes she’ll just get over it eventually.

That is until her “pregnancy is near due”—her sister already had Félix in England a few months ago—and he stumbles on her transformed with her peacock miraculous (they already have both of them) creating a sentimonster newborn.

They have a huge fight about it but because Emilie refuses to destroy it, won’t tell Gabriel where the amok is, and Gabriel can’t just hurt the baby with his hands, Emilie just… wins. Fucked up, yeah?

Now she tried creating kids before this one, using her imagination to try and blend her and Gabriel’s looks but it just wasn’t working. So she decided to copy of photos of baby Félix because he already looked almost like a copy of his mother, and Amélie and Emilie already looked alike so it’s not so weird?—is what her mind was telling her.

She didn’t dare alter his looks but she decided to give the baby Gabriel’s eye color to include the “father” in some way. (Yes in that comic I made I gave Adrien a mix of green and gray but that was mainly to get the point across to the perceptive readers)

Now we got Adrien, a normal baby boy to the whole world except for Gabriel who’s forced into his wife’s fantasy through social expectations.

Why are we only at this point and this post is already so long AAAAAAAA!!!

Adrien physically basically grows in a way where Emilie just keeps changing his appearance to match what Félix looked like a few months prior.

Mentally he’s like a robot just taking in information without really needing to learn it. So Emilie decides when he says his first word, she decides when he learns to walk,… He knows how to walk, he just wasn’t given the command to do so yet.

But even so he does develop a personality over time, just slower, because unlike a normal child who’s always testing his boundaries, how far they’re allowed to go until they’re in real trouble, Adrien just can’t misbehave. At all.

But he does have his favorite foods and favorite toys, and jokes that make him laugh the most. The problem is just that Emilie could just decide that his favorite food is strawberries and he’d just start acting accordingly, rewiring his belief. 

He also isn’t allowed to argue or be mean to others which is why Félix thinks he’s a goody two-shoes weirdo while Chloé the brat adores him.

This behavior isn’t so hard to hide with a toddler who’s fickle but it’s harder and harder as the kid grows. Which is why the family becomes very secluded over time.

Gabriel always keeps distance with his “son”. He’s not Dad, he’s Father, he doesn’t do hugs and cuddles, he doesn’t say I love you. But Adrien knows he loves him because his mom told him so and he loves him back unconditionally because Mom said that’s what families do.

Now even though Gabriel is traumatized by this whole ordeal and knowing Adrien “isn’t real” freaks him out he does soften a bit over time. I’m going to give an awful example but like someone who hates cats softening for a cat that their partner/roommate decided to get/had from before. Continuing with this example: But still becoming appalled when the cat starts acting odd/unusually.

Okay I think you get the gist. Let’s move on…

Emilie loves her son more and more as he grows and his sentimonster behaviours start bothering her more and more too. She hates being reminded that he’s not a real boy by people mentioning he looks young for his age because Emilie forgot to make him grow for a while. She hates when he does everything like he’s told. She hates that he has no real friends because they’re afraid to expose him to the outside too much and without supervision. She hates to think about his future.

Her desire for him to be real keeps growing and is what drives her to search for a solution in the miraculous spellbook.

She cracks the script after years, when Adrien is nearly a teen, and finds a way to transfer the creators soul into a sentimonster.

It’s a long process that takes time and while she falls ill to everyone around her, Adrien becomes more real.

Gabriel starts realizing what’s happening when he notices Adrien hesitate for a second when he’s playing a video game and Gabriel wants him to do something, groan when he gets bothered watching TV, huff, complain, have slightly opposing opinions to his and Emilie’s, when he argues with his mother when she tells him she’s feeling fine; when he notices his son’s eyes are greener. Or is it all in his head?

He confronts his wife too late, when she’s extremely ill already, her normally vibrant eyes dulled match Adrien’s bluish gray, and he pieces together in his head what she’s doing.

Before Gabriel could properly think what to do to stop the love of his life from turning into a lifeless doll, in a fit of panic he tries to take her wedding band (where he knows Adrien’s amok is) to get rid of Adrien instead, but is unsuccessful in getting it off her so he snatches her peacock brooch instead (which she needs to complete the spell obvs) and breaks it. (Heyoo! broken peacock miraculous. things are coming together)

Because the spell was almost complete anyway it’s Emilie who falls unconscious. But she doesn’t disappear because she’s not a real sentimonster, she just becomes dormant like one.

This is the point in the story where Gabriel makes it seem like Emilie ran away or something like that—basically disappear. Now he’s living knowing he has an almost sentimonster wife in the basement, knowing he almost killed his son (or her), and having to care for a son that suddenly became much more alive, questioning, arguing, angry, screaming, not accepting, crying, grieving, staring at him with Emilie’s eyes.

Instead of becoming a real parent, Gabriel shuts him out.

Soon Adrien evolves desires for socializing, company, getting away from the suffocating home which eventually leads to him going to a public school.

He slowly starts to live life freely without the restrictions that were put around his thoughts.

Gabriel has an even stranger relationship with Adrien now because he still loves him in a way but also holds resentment toward him. But mostly he sees him as something valuable.

The show happens here…  And now finally we get to the comic…

Gabriel gets a hold of the ladybug and black cat miraculouses. (There’s no epic fight in his lair as you see there’s no Ladybug in the comic but that’s not really important)

What’s important is that Gabriel had deciphered the miraculous spellbook with the help of Emilie’s notes and had decided to use the unification’s “wish” power to awaken Emilie.

He’s aware he’ll need to sacrifice something for the wish to come true and he’s certain Adrien should be enough because the soul inside him is literally the one thing Emilie is missing.

✨Adrien (poor boy just lost his miraculous) is taken to Gabriel’s lair, where he finds out his father is Hawk Moth, sees his mother, learns he’s a sentimonster, and that he’s going to become a sacrifice ✨

Of course the last part is not what happens. It’s Gabriel who ends up being sacrificed.

I can’t decide if Gabriel ends up sacrificing himself because he changed his mind in the last moment while Adrien was screaming for him to stop, OR  because he didn’t love Adrien enough for him to be considered an equal exchange for his wife… O.O

But anyhow…

Emilie wakes up with Gabriel’s soul within her (hence the bluish gray eyes in the comic).

Adrien is traumatized for life.

This took me hours to write… I knew there was a reason why I didn’t want to do it. I hope I didn’t forget anything and my brain made sense of it all

Well there you have it, peeps. The Pinocchio AU. It’s as messed up as my sleep schedule. Good night. 

[anystalker707]

Bubblegum Bitch [Electra Heart] (part 2)

Pairing: Pastel! Frank x Punk! Reader [lowkey 'x Gerard' as well] Word count: ~ 5 600 Genre: Enemies to lovers / Fluff / Funny / Song inspired Summary: "Oh, dear diary, I met a boy He made my doll heart light up with joy Oh, dear diary, we fell apart Welcome to the life of Electra Heart I'm Miss Sugar Pink, liquor, liquor lips Hit me with your sweet love, steal me with a kiss"

> Part 1

Requested by @angie-migel | @broke-and-overwhelmed | anon | on wattpad

Me: Frank Frnak Fucking Bubblegum Bitch Miss Sugar Pink? 😍🥰😘

Miss Sugar Pink: Hi <3

Me: Where's the book?

I can almost feel my soul leaving my body at the moment the ‘online’ under Frank’s contact name disappears, groaning as I would let my head fall forward on the table if it was otherwise clean and my work didn’t have any chance to be ruined.

Gerard raises an eyebrow from his place next to me and hums, shaking his head. “What’s up, sugar?”

“Frank disappeared with the goddamn book,” I sigh, pocketing my phone, and put my latex glove on again, “and no one else returned theirs yet, so... All I can find are extremely minor extractions from the book around and resumes that say nothing substantial.” The paintbrush dips into the black paint before I bring it closer to paint the details along Mother War’s mask.

“Are you sure you don’t want any help?” Gerard leans over to grab the deep red mix that I was using earlier for the blood drops of his thousandth version of his Demolition Lovers’ drawing.

“Yeah. I need my own perspective of the book for this and I’m already halfway through my essay and all, so... It’d be messy.” I lean over Gerard’s shoulder to take a look at his painting. “You’re so talented it makes me want to give up.”

Gerard snorts a chuckle, rolling his eyes a little. “You’re not bad, dumbass.” He presses a kiss to my cheek and rests his head on my shoulder for a moment. “But why don’t you go after Frank or something? Maybe you can find him during any of the breaks today?” He goes back to adding the spilled blood to his painting, quickly reaching for a lighter tone of red.

“That if I can find him at some point.” I dip the brush in more black paint. Frank wasn’t around yesterday and before yesterday during lunch nor at the library when he usually is, in a way the last time I saw him in person was when I was heading to the dorms and saw him dragging someone around by their hand; either way, he dismissed me quickly. Just like when I text him—well, when he even bothers to answer. “I’ll go find him today.”

Finding Frank turns out to be a harder task than I thought. Normally, it’s easy to find him given how unusual it is to find someone else with a same pastel aesthetic as his, and even the familiar faces that usually are following him around are nowhere to be seen. Okay, that’s maybe unusual; it’s not like I know his habits or something.

Still, what the fuck? Can’t he keep up to his promises or what? Yeah, he’s not dumb or anything, but he’s also not the best person when it comes to commitment and all that stuff. It doesn’t matter how many times I call him right now, I’ll even find his fucking dorm if I need to.

The ringing stops. “Hello, you’ve tried to reach Frank Iero! I can’t answer right now, but if it’s regarding my photography or Pencey Prep, feel free to message me instead! If not, I’ll get back to you as soon as possible!”

No, no, no! Fuck!

“Frank,” I huff after the beeping sound, “you fucking disappeared. Forgot our deal? Call me or else I’ll hunt you down.” The sound of the phone hanging up follows, leaving me in silence with my own anger, which isn’t exactly any better. My fingers itch to toss my phone across the campus—breathe, (y/n), you know that’s not the best option or even a good one at all, it would solve absolutely fucking nothing. Everyone is working on their fucking assignments, hence there isn’t any prevision any other copy of the book will be returned anytime soon, but there I was, thinking Frank Iero, out of all people, would keep up to his promises at least once.

As the anger finally cools down into something else—disappointment, but not sadness; not sadness—, I pull my phone up again, this time opening the browser, searching ‘rent Reductionism in Art and Brain Science’. Maybe it won’t cost me that much or maybe it’ll work using some other people’s resumes as reference with the hope the professor doesn’t count it as plagiarism.

The thoughts honestly stick to my mind during the following lectures, slipping in between the moments of focus just to drown me in the terrible reality again. It shouldn’t be that hard, right? I already knew what making a deal with Frank meant. I know his reputation, I knew this had chances to go wrong, but still. Fuck, why did he have to be like this? Things were going on so well in the beginning. He had to ruin everything.

“You’re a little quiet, sugar.” Gerard scoots a little closer, pulling me to the third option of reality—one that’s not about being stuck in my thoughts or hyper focused on a task. “Is everything alright?”

I pause and swallow before I nod. Why does the situation have such an effect on me? It’s as if something annoying and prickling buzzed under my skin continuously. “I just wanted to finish my assignment in peace. Hand in my assignment and it’d be fine.”

“Is it really about it, though?” He raises an eyebrow, and wraps an arm around my shoulders.

A sigh escapes my lips as I lean into Gerard, pressing a kiss to his cheek because maybe then he’ll avert his attention away from the subject. He smiles a little as he pulls me closer.

Even with Gerard by my side—the way he sometimes takes my hand in his or plays with my fingers a little is simply so lovely—, the lecture continues as torturing as the previous one had been, but with more intervals in which I’m not hyper focused or stuck in my own head. Things at least do feel a little better by the time I’m packing my stuff again. I should have stuck with Gerard for the whole day, but it doesn’t matter now that we are heading to our dorm, with our arms hooked.

“We can watch something tonight, if it helps,” Gerard suggests.

The idea of watching sounds good, like, having my mind off everything else for about two hours. Will I be able to truly focus on the movie, though?

“Can we just cuddle and listen to something?” I sigh softly, already trying to think about a good playlist or at least a few good songs for the occasion. “I think it would help me better.”

A smile tugs on Gerard’s lips as he nods. “Sure, sugar.”

My ringtone brings me back to reality, feeling something digging into my hip at the same time I wonder why it’s so dark until I remember I must’ve fallen asleep while talking nonsense with Gerard while we cuddled, so he’s also responsible for digging his elbow into my hip. The song continues to play in a low but still audible volume until I press down on the green sign—while trying not to get blind by the screen brightness—and press the phone to my ear.

“Hello?” I groan. What time is it, even?

“Hi!” Frank? “Just wanted to know I just listened to the voicemail and we can meet up today during our free hours so we can work on the book. Together because I haven’t had time to do it yet and I was thinking we could figure it out! Is that okay for you?”

“Frank, I— What time is it, even?” I groan, rubbing my temple a little.

“It is...” He pauses. “One fifty-three. Anyways, is it fine for you?”

“Yeah, yeah,” I breathe, “whatever. Just text me the... the time and shit, we’ll meet up, ‘kay?”

“Lovely! See you in the morning!” Frank makes a kissy sound that’s followed by the sound of a concluded call; I hum. What the fuck? At least there still are a few hours left to sleep.

The next time I wake up, it’s actually to Gerard’s allarm going off, sending both of us groaning and shifting at the same time. I’m staring at nothing when Gerard leaves the bathroom, using every ounce of self control left in my body so I won’t lie back down and continue to sleep through the first lecture.

“Do you want to go have breakfast anywhere?” Gerard sprays some of his cologne on himself and adjusts his clothes before he walks over to his bag.

Breakfast anywhere? The thought of doing anything aside from going to lecture and dying silently while the professor talks in the background seems a little too demanding. “No, thanks, Gee, sorry.” The bed creaks a little as I stand up from it, moving to grab my clothes from the dresser to head to the bathroom.

“It’s okay, just thought it’d distract you a little,” he chuckles a little, and comes closer to give me a kiss on the cheek and hug me tightly until I groan in complaint.

We’re leaving for the first lecture when I check my phone properly, getting rid of the useless notifications and taking a look at the messages—art history group, family group, someone asking for notes, unread message from the last week, Frank... Wait, Frank?

Miss Sugar Pink: 11:45 am lecture, outdoors tables near the Neuroscience building <3

What’s that supposed to mean...? Oh, the call in the middle of the night. Right, at least that’s going to be better than nothing.

Even if the lectures and the time at the library seems to pass just as slowly as yesterday, the new context makes up for it at the same time it—thankfully—gives me a new relieving feeling rather than the uncomfortable one that seemed to crawl under my skin. Still, I wonder if this is really going to work. Does Frank study in silence or does he have some habit that may disturb me? I wish things would just work out smoothly instead.

My stomach churns at seeing the clock saying 11:25 am as my hands sweat stupidly, but I guess I’ll just rent the book online in case something turns out wrong and try to borrow money from someone if things get too bad for me later. It’s not a bad plan, right? I don’t want to hear the answer.

Surprisingly enough, the pastel spot is already seen at the table in the distance when I head towards the place Frank agreed with me. He wears a cute pink shirt today and purple shorts that match his Chuck Taylors and socks, using his delicate jewelry as always, eyes covered by his red frame shades, while he sips on whatever he got in his glitter Starbucks cup. “Hello, hun!” His lips stretch in a grin at the same time he sees me—nice gloss. “How are you?”

“Hello.” I take a seat on the bench across from him with a sigh, letting my bag down beside me. “So, you disappeared.”

“Yeah, sorry! I really didn’t mean to!” He pouts a little and brings the shades up his head, setting the cup aside. Some of his stuff already lies across the table, some of his pretty pens plus the basics, and his sparkly silver pencil case sits next to his pastel green binder. Almost all of his items are covered in stickers, wow. Very... Frank. “‘Bet you didn’t hear about it, but the thing is that I met a boy who makes my doll heart beat up with joy.”

“You writing poems about your lovers now?” I raise an eyebrow, but don’t really let him answer despite his intention to, continuing to talk as I start to get my own things off my bag. “Okay, but who’s the lucky one?”

“You wouldn’t know him.” Frank shrugs a little, swinging his feet a little—an information which I didn’t really need, but am aware of due to how he ends up accidentally kicking me under the table. “But he’s from the cinema people. He’s very pretty, like— Gym rat or something, as he likes to call himself.” His lips stretch in a smile as he pulls the book from inside his bag. “I couldn’t answer you and all because I was spending time with him and things will probably be like this for a while, so I thought it’d be cool to meet up like this.”

Oh, okay. What the fuck am I supposed to say about this? It’s weird to think that Frank has other... ‘friends’. What are we, after all? I don’t think we’re even friends despite all the talks. Not as exciting as I thought it would be.

“You’re dating?” I raise an eyebrow.

Frank’s face turns a deep shade of red at the same time my heart sinks into my stomach and he hums, shrugging. “I guess so?”

“Okay.” I nod as I start to skip through the notes for my assignment until reaching a half empty page. “Congratulations.” Is this what I’m supposed to say? “I’m glad you could find someone.”

“I know, right?” Frank giggles with excitement, making me smile a little, even if it’s not because of anything we’re talking about.

“I hope he treats you like you deserve.” I press my lips together; Frank is in silence whilst observing me for a long moment, interrupted once I reach for the book. All I want is for this to be over so this feeling vanishes—it feels like someone is gripping on my throat and lungs.

“What do you mean?” Frank tilts his head.

“What do I mean what?” I furrow my eyebrows, using my finger to mark the page I stopped at.

“I don’t deserve to be treated in some specific way,” Frank chuckles, shaking his head as he takes hold of a pen, “I’m going to be treated according to what the situation allows.”

“Oh, so you’re going to let your significant other change your phone just because they said they’ll break up with you if you don’t?” I chuckle as I shake my head to myself, but... Frank isn’t laughing, so I stop, eyeing him carefully. “Frank?” He hums, tilting his head a little. “Oh, Frank, that’s not how it works!” I pinch the bridge of my nose. Fuck, I can’t scare him, though. “Look, it doesn’t matter what they want, if it invades your privacy or goes against your will, you’re not obligated to agree with it!”

“But what if they love me a lot?” Frank’s shoulders fall as he sighs, bottom lip sticking out a little. “I don’t want to hurt them!”

...Who is this and what did they do with Frank? Nevermind, (y/n), focus.

“If they truly love you, they will understand.” I exhale softly. “Look, you deserve to still have your privacy, to do whatever you want, to say no and all even if you love them and they love you. It may be weird to hear it from me or something,” I mutter with a shrug—because it does feel weird to tell him this at the same time it’s... concerning, like, how does his mind work?—, “but it’s the truth. Like, something everyone should know, everyone deserves it.” Frank looks at me quietly, and even if his eyebrows are a little low, whatever emotion he holds remains a mystery. “Sorry, I ended up ranting.”

Frank blinks and hums quietly, shaking his head. “Don’t worry.” He pulls a lollipop from inside his pencil case and pops it into his mouth.

A weird silence hovers between us, interrupted by the sound of the wind going through the trees’ leaves with some distant voices, lasting up to when Frank frowns a little and stops writing on his binder to look around.

“Something wrong?” I glance at him, finishing to write a sentence.

“Do you mind some music?” He sticks his lollipop back in his mouth after I shake my head and grabs his phone, tapping on it a few times before the characteristic introduction of Saturday Night starts playing. Fuck, Saturday Night? He goes back to writing, but the pen barely touches the paper when he looks at me again, eyebrows furrowed. “Um, do you—”

“You like Misfits?”

A red tone spreads across Frank’s cheeks as he smiles a little, eyes drifting down for a moment. “...Yeah,” he hums and pauses to get the lollipop in hand, “I really like them. Why?”

“I was expecting something like Kyary Pamyu Pamyu to start playing. I mean, no problems if you do like her, but...” I shrug a little, looking at his phone for a moment. Does he like any other rock band or is he just a Misfits fan? To be honest, knowing the kind of artists Frank likes is difficult in general since he doesn’t wear merch very often, so maybe he just listens to music casually and doesn’t need it as bad as oxygen like I do.

Frank chuckles. “Yeah, I can imagine the shock. Like, the visuals—” He motions to himself. “They don’t match, but I do like them. Like, not only them, also Metallica, Megadeth, Slipknot and all that stuff in general.”

Fucking awesome. As thrilled as it gets me, I refrain myself from doing anything rather than nod. “Ever been to a concert?”

“Not really.” Frank shakes his head and licks his lollipop, twirling his pen between the fingers of his free hand. “Never got anyone to go with me. And you?”

“Same,” I hum. We look at each other for a moment, in which I cogitate to tell him I’ll keep it in mind for the next time any of these bands decide to have a concert anywhere near us, but maybe it wouldn’t work, we aren’t even that close or anything. Frank might not like my company like this—or like my company at all. “Maybe your new partner might go with you?”

Frank snorts, rolling his eyes, and goes back to scribbling down. “It’s easier for me to give you the book instead.” Okay, then; I chuckle a little with the lack of better response, taking the book instead, skipping through the pages to one I want. “But he does take me to a few parties, y’know? I confess it’s not exactly my thing, but I will get used to it.”

“You’re not a party person?” I raise an eyebrow, glancing up to see him shaking his head. “I could swear you were.”

“No, no, I’m more of a stay at home and study person...” Frank mumbles, adjusting the binder as he starts writing on another line. “But it’s cute how he always has an arm around me, he is protective and all. I even got a ring.” He puts the lollipop in his mouth to hold up his left hand and show off the delicate golden ring around it.

“Yeah?” I raise an eyebrow, taking his hand in mine to adjust it a little; the ring is adorned by three pink stones, perfectly matching him. His fingertips are rough. “Do you play any instrument?”

Frank’s cheeks heat up and he hums quietly. “Yeah, I play the guitar.”

“True?” I grin, tracing his fingertips a little. “That’s awesome.”

His lips curl up into a shy smile as he looks down then at me again, nodding a little. “I can play something for you at some point.”

“That would be nice,” I say softly and gently let go of his hand. Despite how picturing Frank playing a guitar and something like Dig Up Her Bones is hard, it only makes me more curious about it. I hope he plays for me soon.

“—and, like, I have the whole collection, all the books,” Frank says, pausing to flip to the next page of his binder, “but I didn’t have time to read them yet and stuff.” He shrugs a little, sighing. “My books are really precious to me, y’know,” he chuckles, “I want to have my own library at some point.”

“Oh, really?” I grin wide—the idea of having your own personal library is just fantastic—and Frank nods frantically, smile widening. “I—”

“Wow, plain lunch and you two are here?” Gerard suddenly sits down next to me, raising an eyebrow as he looks down at all the materials scattered across the table.

“Lunch?” I raise an eyebrow and exhale softly once I take a look at my phone. It’s 01:34 pm already. “Wow,” I exhale, leaning back a little. My notes aren’t worth almost two hours of studying—maybe because these hours weren’t used for studying, right? There are enough notes, thankfully.

“Oh, fuck,” Frank gasps, widening his eyes as he immediately stands up, frantically tapping on his phone’s screen before starting to throw his things back inside his bag. “I’m sorry, guys, I gotta go!” He messily zips it up without even putting everything into place properly—quite weird coming from him—, and shows up between Gerard and I, pressing kisses to our cheeks and mumbling rushed farewells. My cheek ends up smeared with gloss, but... Fuck, Frank’s gloss. I must smile stupidly given Gerard’s look, but he isn’t much different from me given how red his cheeks are.

“Where do you think he’s gotta go?” Gerard raises an eyebrow, glancing back at the way Frank went.

“Maybe see his boyfriend?” I shrug. I should gather my things as well.

Gerard chuckles, but goes silent for a moment. “Wait, you’re joking, right?” He looks at me from under his lashes and widens his eyes once I shake my head in response. “Wow. Frank. Dating. Who’s the lucky one?”

“Some guy from the cinema major.” I put my notebook aside first, then start grabbing my pens... I don’t remember having a pink pen like this, a glitter gel one and strawberry scented. Hopefully returning it is enough of an excuse for him not to keep the book away from me for so long this time.

“Damn.” Gerard looks at the nothing for a moment and sighs, shrugging a little. “Anyways, let’s go get you lunch, shall we?”

Even if we don’t talk with Frank a lot, seeing him less and less often is quite unusual and missing his presence is quite uncommon, but... Well, it’s all because of the book, right? I needed the book and nothing else. We had started to text each other more often a little after we sat together to study, but he disappeared again sometime ago. Some things are just not supposed to be. Frank simply isn’t the kind of person to make friendships like this and it is okay. I should stop forgetting this whole thing is due to the book and, to be honest, he returned the book the day after we studied together, so we have no reason to talk anymore. This whole thing was due to the book. The book had a note inside when he left it outside my door after a brief knock, a folded paper between the cover and the first page. Thank you for sharing and helping, xoxoMissSugarPink—it said with a kiss mark near the signature.

At least my assignment was turned in in time and it was pretty complete, in my opinion. As far as I know, Frank’s as well.

“I don’t like it when you’re quiet like this.” Gerard sighs, rolling his shoulders back a little. He leans in closer to the mirror as he smudges the red makeup around his eye, maybe uselessly trying to make it symmetrical to his other eye. “I mean, I don’t mind it when you’re quiet, but this is another type of quiet.”

Yeah, of course Gerard would notice it. “Burned out, it’s all.” It feels like a lie, weirdly enough.

“Sorry about it, sugar. I wish you could come with me and I also wish I could stay here to take care of you.” Gerard pulls his hair back with a sigh and steps closer to take a seat on the edge of the bed, shifting a little before he cups my face with both of his hands. They’re warm. Nice. “I have my phone with me, though, so don’t be afraid to call or anything, okay? Take care of yourself, drink water, you can grab the snacks from my bedside table if you want, I love you.” A smile tugs on his lips and he presses a kiss to my cheek. “In case I don’t answer, you have Bert, Jeph and Ray’s phone numbers, right?”

“Yeah, yeah, but don’t worry a lot.” I lean into his hand a little and pull Gerard for a hug. “Go have fun, you loser.”

Gerard chuckles a little, squeezing me, then finally gets up, still pacing around the room a little until he has all of his things with him and leaves for once after another rant about how I need to take care of myself.

The silence and being alone is comforting. Of course I love Gerard’s presence, but I still appreciate being alone, spread out across the bed, on my fluffy covers... There’s a knock on the door. Gerard again? Well, he does have the keys. A sigh escapes my nose as I push myself up and move to answer the door.

“Hi—” I interrupt myself with the pastel blur that squeezes between me and the doorway to get in the room, taking his shoes off on the way to my bed, where he sits down, practically throwing himself on it. “Frank...?” I raise an eyebrow, taking a look at the empty halls before I close the door again and lock it. “Uh, hi?”

“You won’t believe it,” Frank says, sounding a little breathless, and only now I notice it might be the first time I see him without any makeup, not even having eyeliner adorning his eyes. Not to mention his eyes are kinda red. “Like— That dumbass—” Frank grabs the closest pillow and screams into it. Okay, that’s not how I planned to spend my night, but what’s fucking happening to him? He’s even in his pajamas already.

“Frank...” I take a seat next to him, resting a hand on his shoulder, compelling him to immediately lean against me. “Hey, what happened, do you want to talk about it?”

“That stupid, idiot, motherfucker—” Frank interrupts himself with a soft sound—a sob?—and wraps his arms tightly around me, arms still tight around my torso. “H-He just wanted to use me or something, I don’t know, I just—” He sighs shakily and relaxes against me. “Fuck, it’s just— W-We fell apart.”

“I’m sorry about it,” I sigh softly, rubbing Frank’s back. He squeezes his way out of my grip and lies down on my bed, facing the wall as he hugs the pillow he grabbed earlier close to his chest. “Do you—”

“I don’t want to talk about it, don’t talk to me, let’s just stay in silence,” he says in a single breath. “Don’t talk. Hug me.”

It’s unclear whether sleep is clouding my mind or not, but I turn off the lights and join him. Frank feels so delicate and warm, his sweet smell filling my lungs as my nose buries into the back of his neck.

Unlike Gerard, Frank tosses around the bed a lot during his sleep between intervals of clinging to me and being as far as possible, which has me waking up in the middle of the night with a sharp inhale, staring at the darkness as Frank shifts around until resting his head on my chest.

“(Y/n), are you awake?” His whisper cuts through the thick silence of the room.

“Yes, Miss Sugar Pink.” I smile a little.

“It’s Electra Heart now.” He shifts a little, resting his hand over my chest.

“Oh?”

“Yeah,” Frank hums. His fingers trace soft patterns on my chest, bringing me a weirdly soothing feeling. “Y’know, I really like to make the people who I like happy,” he mumbles, words running one into the other with sleepiness, “I like to do whatever they want because... because they just, like, deserve it and stuff. I thought he knew that. I never take people to my dorm and I took him. I never— I even went to parties with him, these stupid parties that stink of stupid beer and stupid cigs...” He sniffles a little at the same time I feel something warm through the fabric of my shirt, so I bring a hand to play with his hair; he melts a little more into me.

“I’m so sorry, Frankie, you deserve a lot better,” I whisper. Fuck, why do my eyelids feel so heavy now? I want to keep talking. “A lot more. But you know you don’t need to sacrifice yourself to make people happy, right?”

“I’m working on it,” Frank says, small and quietly.

“Why did you come to me, Frank?” I dip my fingers into the strands on the back of his neck, caressing and massaging the skin there softly, in a way he hums in response, sighing.

“Dunno, you’re all that I have.” Frank shifts a little, almost shrugging. “We never... talked a lot, but you don’t, y’know, try to kiss or touch me or compliment me the whole time...” He pauses, only the sound of his deep and slow breaths filling the room. “I can talk with you about simple things and it feels like you know me or you care, I don’t know. No one wants to hear me talk about my books, only about my panties.” He exhales sharply through his nose, humorously. “Not you, though, not you...” He says almost in a singing tone, tracing patterns on my chest, soon pausing as he presses a kiss to it through the fabric. “Not you.”

Nothing in especial brings me back to reality—not Gerard walking in, not the sunlight or the alarm clock—, I just open my eyes and stare at the ceiling for a long moment as I think about what happened last night and allow myself to enjoy the warmth pressed to my side and the weight on my chest. He didn’t move away. On his bed, there’s Gerard, tangled in the blankets. Almost a normal Saturday. Better than one.

A sharp sigh comes from Frank as he whines something in his sleep, but tugs on my shirt to bring himself closer to me then relaxes again with a soft exhale. How is he so precious and pretty? My heart flutters a little and, fuck, fuck it if this isn’t good.

As much as cuddling is nice, I can soon feel my bladder complaining, in a way I manage to get Frank to turn around and cling to a pillow while still asleep before I rush to the bathroom as quietly as possible, already starting to get myself ready for the day. Gerard stands shirtless in the room when I’m back, potentially looking for another shirt among the mess under his bed as he pushes the articles of clothing around with his feet, being watched by Frank, who sits on the bed with crossed legs.

“Good morning,” I breathe, closing the door behind me.

“Mornin’!” Frank makes grabby hands towards me; I need to pause for a moment then step close to hug him, letting him cling to me for as long as he wants—which is until Gerard threatens to go to the bathroom, so Frank immediately rushes in ahead of him.

“What’s he doing here?” Gerard asks as soon as he hears the lock turning.

I observe the bathroom’s door for a moment and shrug lightly. “He fell apart with his ex-boyfriend or something, then he came here. I guess I could befriend him for real.”

Gerard raises his eyebrows and nods a little. He blinks slowly, nodding to himself. “Yeah, right. Remind me to update you later about the gig then you update me about the whole stuff, alright?”

“Alright,” I chuckle, moving to grab a new change of clothes.

I make my bed and I’m sitting on it again when Frank leaves the bathroom, giving place for Gerard to finally get in, and immediately comes to straddle my lap. Sweet. I’m about to hug him back when he threatens to leave my lap, so I hug him, wrapping my arms around his waist tightly until he giggles and settles down to wrapping his arms around my neck with a sigh.

“Do you like it?” Frank nuzzles the side of my face a little. “Are you okay if I’m too clingy and stuff?”

“You’re not too clingy.” I press a kiss to his cheek, internally melting at how he holds onto me. He still smells like cotton candy.

“You’re just saying things,” he sighs.

“I wouldn’t hug you back if I minded.” I hug him tightly again, which makes him squeal. “I wouldn’t have held you during the night or anything.”

He hums, giving himself a moment. “Right.”

Frank pulls back enough to face me, furrowing his eyebrows, but quickly presses his forehead to mine, then brushes our noses together a little and... he presses his lips to mine softly, and holy fuck. It’s just... the best thing ever. His lips are soft as they slide against mine just perfectly, compelling me to be careful almost as if Frank were made out of glass or something even more fragile. He hums softly, almost a soft whine, and threatens to pull away, but I deepen the kiss, leaning in more instead because... Fuck, will I ever get enough of it? What does he have? Liquor lips?

A deep red tone spreads across Frank as he pulls back, his eyes focused on my lips—I presume—not on mine. “I think I like you.”

_____________________

tagging list: @lubbockshusband | @trans-ylvania

[dat-town]

not gonna miss this chance

Characters: Han Seojun & soloist!female reader

Genre: fluff

Setting: true beauty au, set a year after the tv show’s ending timeline

Summary: Your career is on the verge of ending, hence your management puts you up to do a duet with the infamous Han Seojun. You have heard too many rumours about him to keep track of and yet, none of them could have prepared you for the feelings that came with meeting him.

Words: 4.1k

Self indulgent little snippet because he deserves happiness too.

You had heard of Han Seojun before meeting him, of course you had. Everybody who was in the industry had heard of the hot trend of a Newstagram star-turned idol and his band's shining debut from a year ago. They were told to have snatched teenage girls hearts all over Korea with their good looks and soulful music. You had heard their title track and you had to admit it was nice but nice wasn't enough in a cut-throat industry like entertainment.

Look at you, starting training at twelve, debuting at fifteen and now barely twenty-one you were on the verge of becoming a thrown away doll. Once you had been called cute and the it girl of your generation and now? People were saying you got boring just because your music had matured. Gosh, you couldn't keep singing about first love like your hit song had been for the rest of your life for god's sake. Your last album had been a flop, your company had been losing money and you were still afraid that even with a year left of your contract, they would cut you. But your manager had begged them for a chance and here it was: a collaboration with the newest love of Korea.

But the thing was, Han Seojun had quite a reputation and you didn't know who to believe. Some said he was well-mannered and hard-working. Others gossiped that he was always flirting with his makeup artists and Chen claimed he had been rude to her even when he had just been a ‘nobody’. Not that you were particularly fond of Chen either but as a fellow solo female singer you were a tad bit worried how the infamous singer would treat you.

Well, standing in front of Move Entertainment, you were just about to find out. Taking a shallow breath you followed your manager's lead, bowing to the receptionist and getting into the elevator after taking your visitor's badge. You had heard the company has gone through many changes after the executives were replaced due to the revealed Seyeon scandal but everything looked expensive, shiny and new, unlike in your small agency.

“Hey, I’m Lim Heekyung, nice to meet you. Seojun will be in a minute, too,” a woman in a pantsuit walked up to you on the right floor with a confident smile as she introduced herself. She led you to a meeting room which was apparently customized for a few people only and started preparing papers. She looked excited which was a relief and nice to see, at least someone from Move Entertainment was happy for this project apparently. You were a bit afraid they would see you like a leech, trying to cling onto their new star’s popularity.

“Shall we start? Seojun is a fan of dramatic entrances anyways,” Miss Lim laughed joyfully as if it wasn’t new to her that the idol didn’t make it on time. Ah yeah, you had heard rumours saying that he had something on the company and that was why they were so lenient with him.

You sat in silence, let your manager do the talk about the collaboration project. Seojun could play the guitar, you could play the piano, apparently it was perfect for a ballad duet, though if you used instruments yourself it added to the preparations time. But luckily, there was a songwriter named Leo at the company who had already sent in a few samples specifically for Seojun, so you didn’t have to start from zero.

“Ah, I see you started without me. What did I miss?” A tall boy opened the door wide and flipped down onto the chair across you casually. He had grown into his lanky limbs and with those wide shoulders hugged by the leather jacket, helix earrings in one ear and soft brown hair brushed to one side, it wasn’t a surprise how many female fans swooned over him. But there were a lot of handsome boys in the business, just his looks – no matter how confident he was in them based on the way he carried himself – wouldn’t make a difference.

Miss Lim patiently let Seojun know about the advances and only when she mentioned your name, did the boy glance at you. His dark brown eyes had a sharp form, just as piercing as his gaze, but the cunning smile spreading over his lips softened it a bit. He looked at you as if he wanted to see through you, to figure out how he should have approached you. You expected a snarky or arrogant comment, but in the end, he just flashed a blinding smile at you, one you could see on his posters, before turning back to Miss Lim.

“What’s the schedule?” he asked simply and you both were notified about the deadline of deciding and finalizing the song, the dates of planned recording sessions and the photoshoot. Since there would be no promotion period, it all would be done within a month and half from start to finish. You were a bit relieved hearing that and leave Move Entertainment without any confrontation.

You thought you were good at masking your wary feelings since the further meetings went well and the first recording session went okay-ish. Although both of you had been a bit scolded by the producer for not putting enough feelings into your singing. He claimed that the demo sent by Leo was much more emotional which made Seojun scoff and mumble under his nose. The PD called it for a day, making you promise to practice for next time and one by one they all left. Your manager told you that he would bring the car while you refresh yourself in the bathroom, so you really didn’t expect anyone to wait for you when you stepped out of the restroom, much less Han Seojun.

"Spit it out," he bit out barely glancing your way as he leaned against the corridor’s wall.

"What?" you spluttered as you were really taken aback by his out of blue appearance and question. The guy let out a tired sigh at your obliviousness and pushed himself away from the wall just to walk up to you, towering over your height with his.

"You look at me as if I killed your hamster or something. Which rumour about me bothers you? I fucking can't keep walking on eggshells around you, especially when it's just the two of us," he tsked and you gulped at the sudden called out. You didn’t think it bothered him, or that he was considerate enough to ‘walk on eggshells around you’, you merely thought he was so distant from everybody. It was still better than what Chen had told you.

"Oh, I… nothing. It's stupid. Sorry," you mumbled, feeling embarrassed for your your actions but Seojun apparently wasn’t satisfied without a real answer as he carried on:

"I didn't bully kids in high school but I threatened ones that deserved it, I didn't only get a pity chance from the entertainment, one of our makeup artists is actually one of my best friends, I'm not…"

"Chen told me you are rude and arrogant and have no respect for girls," you blurted out to stop him from speaking because you felt like you didn’t deserve to hear all that. He didn’t owe you any explanation for the way he was. You were just co-workers for a project after all, you had no place in his life, nor he had in yours, so he shouldn’t have been that bothered by your opinion but you understood that he felt uncomfortable due to your silent accusations.

Hearing your hasty interruption, the singer scoffed, a laugh-like sound leaving his mouth.

"Well, I have no respect for girls like Chen who harass my friends and turn their lives into hell just to go on a date with me," he said and it made you blink slowly.

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh. Check your facts before you go around believing such crap," Seojun stepped back with a roll of his eyes.

The whole situation made you feel made about how you acted, so you wished to apologise but it fell from your lips all too carelessly: "Sorry, I was just worried. This is my last chance, so–"

"Last chance?" the guy quirked a brow at you, curious but you quickly waved his question away.

"Nevermind, I just need this song to do well."

"Of course, it will. I'm Han Seojun, it will turn to gold under my hands," he grinned and made eccentric gestures as if he was about to do magic. You couldn't help a smile. “Or well, vocal chords.”

And turn it to gold, he did.

The rest of your recording sessions went smoother, even the previously grumpy PD complimented your for the development in your chemistry. Funny, you wouldn’t have thought that the wall pulled up between the two of you mattered that much, but at least you didn’t have a knot in your stomach, nor did you worry about every small thing you did around Han Seojun. He also acted more casual, more playful, joking around when both of you had a bit of time to take a breather. He snapped silly pictures, showed off with his height, smirked when he got too close but despite all his bravado and lowkey flirting, you believed even he wouldn’t have jeopardised his career over something like this.

Maybe that's why wrapping up the recording felt a tad bit weird: you got used to his presence, his jokes, his beautiful, deep voice that you could have fallen asleep to. Sure, sometimes he was cocky, a bit rough around the edges but he was a great singer and a fun guy. The project seemed to work out well and you loved it a lot, so you hoped the listeners would appreciate it as well.

But before all that you had one photo shoot together for the promotional pictures and the single's cover. You were grateful for the simple pastel colour background and elegant setting. The warm light latte colour and the clock in the background really fit the song's vibe. Luckily, your dress was decent and pretty as well, you didn't have to feel uncomfortable in it at least.  However, you didn’t expect that happy yelp coming from one of the makeup artists stepping into the dressing room. You turned to face the girl, wondering whether she was your fan judged by her excitement.

"Oh my! I'm so happy to finally meet you! Seojun told us about you so much!" she beamed at you which obviously took you back. Well, that you didn’t expect at all. He spoke of you to others? Ah. Apparently to the makeup artist who was most probably that certain one of his best friends he had told you about?

"Don't exaggerate, Imju, I mentioned her like what… once?" Seojun walked in on cue. He rolled his eyes and cleared his throat, trying to avert the topic. "How's Suho?"

You had know idea who that said guy was but after a moment or two you could breathe properly once again while listening to their chatting.

“Just the usual. He’s excited about your duet.”

“Of course, he is,” Seojun grinned, a bit snarky but you could hear the proud undertones of it. When he looked at you, you were surprised by him leaning close though as he quieted down until only you could hear it. “Don’t worry, Jugyeong is really good and just stop her if she gets too gossip-y.”

“Are you talking about me behind my back, hah, Han Seojun?” The pretty girl called Jugyeong raised her fist as if she was about to hit the idol but he just laughed it off and left you two alone when he was hurried onto the set to start with his individual shoots.

“Have you known each other for a long time?” you couldn’t help but wonder as you were seated to get your makeup from her.

“Ah, almost 4 years, I think. We went to high school together. Plus, he’s best friends with my boyfriend. Though, they are always bickering like a married couple,” Jugyeong chuckled joyfully as she started with the cushion. You closed your eyes, listening as she kept going on about the time when Seojun had been obsessed with his motorbike, getting into trouble with his mother. It was strange hearing about a whole other side of him, mama's boy but the image tugged on your mouth, making you smile even though you weren't sure you had the right to know all that. You also learned that Seojun's sister was dating Jugyeong's brother and you felt so involved with the girl's trust albeit it was your last meeting, you were sure Seojun must have only told good things about you.

Hence, you felt shy under his knowing gaze when you walked out of the dressing room. He must have known that Jugyeong couldn't shut up for the life of her, so he looked a bit uncertain, too, stretching the back of his neck, forcing a cunning smile onto his smile when you took your place next to him.

To fit the ballad's theme, the setting was a piano decorated with flowers and you were instructed to sit beside him as if you were about to play a four hands piece. As you did what you had been told, you were very much aware of the way your arms brushed, his long fingers over the keys close to yours, his smile small but genuine.

"Great, great, guys! Someone help her onto the piano and Seojun, stand in front of her," the photographer directed the next scene but before any staff members would have rushed up to you, the singer next to you shushed them.

"I can do it," he insisted as he stood up and looked you in the eyes, silently asking for permission. You nodded while holding your breath back before Seojun put his hands on your waist above the fluffy tulle skirt part and counting on three, he lifted you onto the lid of the beautiful instrument.

You crossed your legs, watching in awe as your pink skirt fell down on waves  but your breath hitched for an entirely different reason when you looked up, gaze meeting Seojun's feline eyes trained on you. You had never seen him look at you like that, lacking playfulness or suspicion or curiosity. He looked open, vulnerable, outright starstruck. Your lips parted meaning to ask something but your brain shut off when you heard the shutter of the camera go down and the director yelling compliments at you. It made you snap out of it and later, you blamed the evident blush on your cheeks on the makeup. Seojun blinked too, his guarded expression back in no time, finishing the photo shoot professionally, always lingering close to you, but never touching you. Even though you wouldn’t have minded.

"Hey," Seojun peeked into your dressing room just as you were about to leave, packing up, with a smile on his mouth and sparkles in his deep brown eyes. But unlike half an hour ago when he wore a fancy suit and looked at you like a prince would have looked at his princess, he acted just as casual as he looked in his denim jacket over dark tee. "Wanna grab something with me if you finished for today?"

His question took you back but first thing first you glanced towards your manager, eyes begging for permission which you had gotten with a sigh.

"Just be discreet and call me if you need me to pick you up," your manager shrugged, leaving you two alone with a knowing look that told you to be careful. You didn't need to be told though, you knew how much depended on the current public response to your image.

"Seems like a green light. Have you thought of anything specific?" you turned back to the boy with a subtle smile.

"Not really but I know a few less frequent, secluded places to avoid much talk about us," he said and you nodded, following his lead. Masks, caps and hoodies on, you barely talk on your way to the tent with the lovely ahjumma who welcomed Seojun (two heads taller than her) with a pinch of his cheeks and told you to get seated.

"Are you a regular here?" you inquire, carefully pulling down your mask since not many people are around.

"You could say that," the boy hummed letting you adjust to the place at your own pace, not pressuring you with extra reassessments about how safe it is there. Yet, he is so casual as if he wasn't afraid of a getting mobbed by Dispatch out of the blue. Not that it happened to you a lot of times but you heard stories and at such a crucial time in your career, you feared something like that more than anything.

"Do you want to come up to mine instead?" Seojun blurted out suddenly which made you wide eyed in a span of a moment as you splattered out a surprised yelp. "Come on, I don't mean anything by it. You just look really nervous being in the public," the singer said, his deep voice softening, soothing by the end and you needed to take a breather before answering. You didn't think it was so obvious but apparently you had never been a good liar with him.

In the end, you decided on going over to Seojun's place, so he asked the ahjumma to pack your food to go and you headed towards his flat a few blocks from the company. It was a small but cozy place, much softer and brighter than you expected, lots of pastels and photos of friends and family. While the boy busied himself in the kitchen, getting you plates, chopsticks and beer, you were encouraged to look around and you couldn't help but smile at his photos with not only his band members but high school friends, too. You had seen photos of his graduation with Jugyeong, then another one of his debut with her and another guy.  He was a recurring person on a lot of pictures, so you assumed that he was the so-called Suho.

"He's Jugyeong's boyfriend," Seojun affirmed as he walked up to you which you acknowledged with a hum and smiled at his photos with his sister and mother. The makeup artist was right when she said he was only tough on the outside.

"You knew Seyeon?" you whispered as your gaze shifted of a picture of three boys smiling widely into the camera. The middle one was the talented boy you had known  from the news of his committed suicide. Such a tragedy.

"Uhum. We were best friends. Him, Suho and me," Seojun nodded and without having to ask, he told you how they had gotten to know each other, what were their favourite past time activities and how they fell apart when he died. You could see he was hurting even now as he was talking about it, so you grazed your fingers against his knuckles as though to say you were there for him to listen, or whatever he needed.

Talking about his best friends and how a group of guys including someone named Chorong stuck by his side over the years warmed your heart. It was nice to know that not everyone had it as lonely as you who basically missed out on high school and memories from that time to be able to turn your dreams into reality. Your only friends were also in the industry but it made things both easier and harder.

"What about you? What did you mean by this being your last chance?" Seojun asked like a loaded gun but after everything he had just told you, you knew you could trust him with this and being in the industry for a while now, he must have understood, too.

You told him about the rising expectations, about your image and your company's ultimatum. It actually felt nice to talk about with someone other than your manager. Especially since Seojun seemed to understand exactly why you felt conflicted over the matter. You have given your youth to this dream of yours, so giving up on it would have felt like betraying yourself and everyone who believed in you but you weren't sure you could give it another 10 years of your life no matter how much you liked music. You had decent CSATs result, maybe you could have applied for a university program. Seojun even offered to arrange a meeting between you and Suho who was studying to become a proper songwriter.

You talked for hours and ate the tteokbokki even though it had gotten cold long ago and you couldn't remember when was the last time you had felt so light. You felt giddy even with just the tiny bit of alcohol in your system by the time you knew it was time for you to go.

Once you had felt relieved knowing that promoting your duet would be only one performance but recently, you started dreading the moment because that meant that you wouldn't have any more excuse to see Seojun. In the backstage, this time around you greeted Jugyeong like an old friend and teased to give Seojun a funny makeup before walking up to your  own assigned staff members. Your look was full of sparkles and glow fitting the silver colour of your dress, completing the ethereal vibe off the stage you were going to do and the beautiful song you had grown to love so much you held it close to your heart. The last rehearsals went smoothly and if you noticed Seojun's gaze lingering a bit too long, you didn't comment on it.

"Are you nervous?" he asked before the final recording and you knew it would have been unreasonable to deny it, so you replied with a small smile.

"A bit."

"Don't be. You're pretty and you'll do amazing," he reassured you and the way he said those words oh so easy. As if they were natural. As if he believed in you and maybe this was all the reassurance you needed because when you walked up onto the stage, not taking your eyes off his, it felt like it was just the two of you there. All the stress about not being good enough, about being judged for who you were and what you wanted to do with your life was subsided as you focused on the moment, just to sing this one song with one while trying to fight your heart's crazy beating.

You didn't really have the luxury to have crushes. You had always been concentrated on your work, you couldn't let yourself have distractions, especially since love scandals always affected girl worse than guy. At least that was what you told yourself for always putting up a wall around you and guarding your heart all too well. But during the past few weeks, between playful or flirty remarks, between smiles and ruffling hair, Seojun took apart your wall brick by brick even if he wasn't aware.

So it might have been only a few days since you had last seen him but in that rare moment of boredom, alone in your room, you realized that you missed him. Hell, you liked him and the feeling made me want to scream into your pillow as if you were a silly teenager. As if on cue, your phone buzzed with a new message and seeing the KakaoTalk ID made you shy.

duet partner, han seo jun

so...

i've been thinking

you

sounds dangerous but ok

duet partner, han seo jun

don't get sassy with me, miss

you

what have you been thinking about?

duet partner, han seo jun

that i don't want to miss my chance

there's this girl i like

i thought of asking her out

do you think she would say yes?

you

oh. well... why wouldn't she?

i mean, you are talented, handsome, funny and reliable

duet partner, han seo jun

and what about my job? it's busy and a bit crazy

don't you think it would be unfair of me to ask?

you

I think you should let her decide that

duet partner, han seo jun

okay

are you free on friday?

you

um, sure?

duet partner, han seo jun

cool, then go on a date with me?

[un2-verse]

BILLY — Kim Taehyung (3)

Synopsis: News of a Sadistic Serial Killer nicknamed “Jigsaw” is spreading around town like wildfire… the nickname stemming from the puzzle piece he cuts from every victim’s body. No one knows who he’ll trap next but in a town full of delinquents and criminals, it could never be you. Right?

Pairing: yandere!Taehyung x f!reader

genre: angst, horror, weirdly some fluff lol

Warnings: dark themes, yandere, stalking, manipulation, conditioning, mentions of abuse, suicidal ideations/attempts, self harm, murder, depictions of torture etc (basically its gorey and fucked up), angel trap, etc stabbing and guns. do not read if triggered!!!!

wordcount: 2.2k

taglist: @yes-sol-not-soul @yoongiofmine

a/n: pt 3 is here!! honestly i wasnt expecting this amount of support as i’ve never published my writing before so thank u sm ♡ i was inspired to write this one night and i had no idea where it’d go or anything but i’m happy with the way its turning out :D fun fact abt me, i’ve been obsessed w the franchise since i was little and i actually have 2 saw tattoos, one of billy and one above saying “cherish your life” since that’s pretty much the motto of saw :) and i have quite the collection of saw/billy items so why not turn my fav horror film into a fucked up love story! let me know if u would like to be added to the taglist and pls enjoy reading^^ feel free to send me asks abt the series or anything u want~ i love hearing from u guys!! :D ps— taehyung and the reader dont have much interaction in this part,, theyll definitely be more of them together in part 4 :) unedited so pls excuse any mistakes!! tysm <33 and remember these are fictional characters and do not represent bts personally in any way!!

series masterlist

part one part two

The headlines constantly named the Jigsaw Killer, Billy. The somewhat eerie little doll that had a face as white as a Calla Lily with spirals on it’s cheeks as red as the blood that was shed during the tests. Billy was always dressed in a little black suit with a red bowtie and he was (most of the time) situated on a squeaky battered tricycle. Attached was always a tape that read “play me” and when the subjects did, a chilling voice— one that could make even the world's worst predators shiver with terror— would echo around the room.

Everyone knew that a doll clearly wasn’t responsible, yet they gave it the name Billy in hopes to somewhat humanise the face that instilled panic— they did not want to live in fear.

It was the only face behind the killings.

But this time, there was a different subject stuck in the test and Billy had made sure there was no way for them to survive.

“How are you scared of heights? You’re practically a giant yourself!”

“Just because I’m tall doesn’t mean I can’t be scared of heights Y/Nie.”

You had no idea how long had passed since Taehyung had turned up at the garage, you were too busy chatting away squeezed into the kitchen while your Dad, Yoongi and Hobi worked on the cars in the shop. If anyone could hear you both, they would think you’d known eachother since childhood— the playful jokes and light touches exaggerated that.

You’d only known him for a few hours really, if you added the time spent with him on the first day and now. It hadn’t seemed like all those weeks ago that you first met, he had a familiar presence, as though you had known him for years compared to the hours.

“I just wouldn’t imagine you to be scared of anything Taehyung… you seem so confident and fearless.”

You saw the way Taehyung looked at you. His eyes flashed with understanding.

“I did have my fears back then, much like yours.”

“What do you mean?” you had a rough idea on what he meant but you needed him to voice it.

A deep inhale and the words flowed from his lips before he could stop it, “The fear of living. I had been through some stuff you know, growing up. My mum was working a lot and my dad was an alcoholic, he was so fucking possessive and wouldn’t let her go anywhere without kicking off. It was a fucking shitshow and so toxic. This one time though, I’d pretended that I’d gone to school and waited outside the front door. It didn’t take long before I heard shit getting smashed and my dad shouting.” Taehyung was telling the truth only, he left out the part where he was also as possessive, if not more, than his father. Well, let's say… obsessive. “I just ran in the house and saw my dad towering over my mum and I don’t remember what happened but, I do remember my mum crying and my dad disappeared.”

Now Taehyung was lying through his teeth. He remembered clearly, almost like it was yesterday. He smashed the nearest bottle, pulled his mother away from the monster that scared her and stabbed him. Not just once, not twice but thirty-seven times. Hence the thirty seven tattoo on the palm of his right hand (the one he’d actually killed his father with). There was only Taehyung who knew what it meant, he counted every single time the broken glass pierced his father’s body, he counted with a smile on his face and a chuckle in his throat.

You were at a loss for words. Your mouth gaped in shock, eyes wide and your brain scrambled for the right thing to say. You reached over and grabbed his hand, interlacing your fingers. His thumb running back and forth along your hand. “I’m sorry, I can’t imagine what that must’ve been like.” There was no way you could relate, your mother and father were happy and in love. They had the ideal relationship, one you wished for yourself. You could empathise though.

“You don’t need to be sorry baby, it’s in the past and I’ve moved on from it. I was like you though, poisoned by the roots that keep you on the ground even though you wanted nothing more than to break free and be no longer.” A silence fell over you both before Taehyung uttered, “I wasn’t successful with my attempt so now I’m here to help you.”

Warmth spread throughout your body, a smile graced your features as you no longer felt alone.

You had a completely different idea to what those words actually meant.

It was nearing the evening when Taehyung’s car had been fixed. Yoongi popped his head in the kitchen to tell him but stopped himself so as to not interrupt the scene before him. You were laughing along to whatever Taehyung was babbling about with your hand resting on his bicep, with that look in your eyes that he hadn’t seen for years. Yoongi felt himself smile as he saw you hanging onto Taehyung's every word.

For the first time in forever, you looked alive.

Yoongi cleared his throat which drew yours and Taehyung’s attention, “Sorry to interrupt guys. We’ve finished with your car so whenever you’re ready we’ll be outside.” The infamous gummy smile overtook his features, you felt yourself beam in return.

“Thanks man! I’ll be like, five minutes.”

Yoongi nodded his head in reply and swiftly left the room.

You’d taken Tae’s hand into yours, playing with the array of rings that occupied his fingers. Solemn thoughts overtook, am I not gonna see him again? Was this, whatever this is, over before it had even begun? Your eyes stayed on his hand as you turned it over and traced your finger over the inked ‘thirty seven’ on his palm. “What does this mean?”

Taehyung didn’t think twice before he practically beamed out, “It’s my lucky number.”

The difference was, it wasn’t really his lucky number… although he did see it that way. It was the number that had stayed with him. It was something he was proud of, whenever he looked at the hand that killed his father, his chest filled with pride and a joyous feeling overtook his senses. It was his first murder. Something he relished in and thus, created the onslaught of Jigsaw killings. He targeted a certain type— those whose sins would lock them up forever if they were ever found out. Racists, murderers, rapists, drug dealers, con-men. Authoritative figures who abused their power. He even went as far as subjecting suicidal people.

You see, things aren’t sequential. Good doesn’t lead to good, nor bad to bad. People who steal, don’t get caught, they live the good life. Others lie, cheat and get elected.

Some people would call it karma but Taehyung, he called it justice.

He’d started this with one thing on his mind— those that don’t appreciate life do not deserve it.

Whenever a serial killer was on the loose, the press did what they always did. They gave them a nickname. While the public had named the doll Billy. The actual killer was named ‘Jigsaw’.

This stemmed from the jigsaw piece that was cut from the victims skin, no one knew why he was doing it or what it even stood for.

It did have a meaning although unknown to the public.

The jigsaw piece that was cut from the subjects was only ever meant to be a symbol that that subject was missing something. A vital piece of the human puzzle. The survival instinct.

After all, until a person is faced with death, it’s impossible to tell whether they have what it takes to survive.

Across town an underground abandoned warehouse, was where the next subject had found themselves.

They were suspended in the air, their feet merely dangling above the ground. The putrid smell of death lingered in every crevice, the sound of rats scurrying along the concrete floor filled their ears just as they began to stir awake.

A pain in their ribs was the overwhelming factor to them finally coming around. When they groggily opened their eyes, they were paralised with fear due to the scene in front of them.

A doll sat a few feet ahead, perched upon a tricycle. Adorned with a black suit and a red bowtie. A slow red light flashed in his eyes.

Billy.

Before the subject could even register how, when or why they found themselves trapped in a test, footsteps echoed behind them. The subject called out, “Help! Please, somebody help! I shouldn’t be here!”

A tsk reached their ears, as a disembodied voice replied, “Trust me, no one can hear you. Scream all you like. You’d just be wasting your breath, you may as well cherish it before it's gone.”

With hairs stood on end, the subject stilled. “What do you want from me?”

“I don’t want anything from you.” The man's footsteps grew louder. “I’m here to serve justice, that’s all.”

The man rounded the subject, settling in their view with only his cloaked back visible while he tended to the little doll. He touched Billy delicately—like he was a little child that he loved dearly. He combed his gloved hand through the doll's black hair and eventually pulled his fingers from the tresses to pat his head gently.

“You fucking psycho! Let me go!”

He couldn’t help but laugh at that which only infuriated the subject more causing them to shake in anger, a movement they soon ceased when they realised something was penetrating their ribs.

“I’d be very careful if I was you, we wouldn’t want you hurting yourself now… would we?” The cloaked figure spun around. An angry glint to his eye.

“What the fuck, you’re fucking crazy. Let me out, this isn’t right!” The subject tried their hardest to swing their legs, to somehow kick the man who’d imprisoned them.

“I think you’ll find it is right. You’re unworthy of the body you possess.” He inched closer, “see, when someone purposely intends to harm others, they lose their right to life.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

The man arched a brow as he replied, “Don’t play dumb. You know exactly what I’m talking about.” He felt like it was a game of cat and mouse except, he was a tiger and his subject, was the tiniest prey to mankind. “But, let me remind you! Since you can’t get your thick fucking head to work. You’re a liar, a cheater and an abuser. That ring any bells?”

The subject's face dropped.

“Ah, I see by your expression you know exactly what I’m talking about! Glad to see we’re on the same page.” He shrugged his cloak off placing it to the side of the doll. “I want to play a game.”

“What game? This isn’t a fucking game! You’re sick in the head you fucking cunt!”

The atmosphere shifted, the man remained calm while the subject went ballistic.

“What is this? What fucking game?”

“You feel the machine that’s currently occupying your ribs? Well, in about ten minutes that’s going to rip you apart. I’m proud to say that trap is my baby. I’ve been working on it especially for you! How nice is that?” he reached out to tug at the subject’s legs, tormenting them like a cat would a mouse. “Anyway, as my beautiful angel trap will rip you apart, my darling little friend Billy over here,” the subject followed the direction the man's hand pointed, “is going to match your face with the ugliness of your soul.”

“Fuck, fuck this! How do I stop it? Tell me how I fucking stop it!”

A boxy grin overtook the man's face, laughter poured from his mouth as he leaned over and slapped the subject’s leg. “This is a special game.”

“Who are you? What do you mean by ‘special game’?”

He raised himself so he stood tall and grabbed a knife from his pocket, “I’m the man you call Jigsaw.” He traced the tip of the knife along the subject’s ankle, “and when I say a special game… I mean you can’t get out.” While the subject was screaming in realisation, Taehyung walked back for his cloak, hung it over his shoulder and stalked off back the way he came. He sent one last smile to the subject as he rounded them and within the blink of an eye, he gripped the knife and slashed the subject’s achilles.

A chilling scream pierced the eerie atmosphere, the subject couldn’t string words together. Abundances of anxiety, terror and pure panic took reign of their body. Taehyung grabbed the injured muscles and forced his gloved fingers in as he gripped and twisted them, “That’s for Y/N.”

Taehyung had pressed the timer before he cut the subject’s tendons. He grabbed the tape from his pocket and threw it on the ground and with a chuckle he shouted, “Game over!”

Before he reached the end of the hallway, he heard the gunshots pierce his subjects face followed by the sound of the angel trap, even this far away Taehyung heard every crack of the ribs and the noise of the body being tore apart.

Without looking back, Taehyung rounded the corner and slammed the door shut.

He’d chosen the Angel trap for the irony, the subject that was currently hanging from the ceiling was no angel. They were a fucked up, evil, waste of space. Taehyung had done the world a favour, he’d done you a favour.

That got him thinking, how much blood would you shed in order to stay alive?

[a/n: who do we think was in the trap???👀]

[donutloverxo]

On the run

Authors note - this is a series of closly related one shots hence tagged as soft!reader. This is for Ambers challenge! Hope you like it! This is like there was only one room instead of there was only one bed.

Please do not steal or repost my works on any other site. Reblogs are welcome.

Run through - You have to go on the run with your husband and share a room with Bucky.

Warnings - smut, daddy kink, voyeurism (fucking right next to Bucky lol), cockwarming, angst

Pairing - Steve Rogers x soft!reader

Word count - 3.3k

Masterlist is linked in the bio!

You paced back and forth in your living room. It wasn’t exactly yours but it had been your home for the past four years. Your floor to ceiling windows gave you an extensive and broad view of new York City. You were on the highest floor of the tower, it made the huge city seem so city. Usually the lights soothed you whenever you were anxious. But you weren’t sure if you had ever been so scared. Scared for your husbands life, scared for your future.

Steve had broke the law. Your Steve, the Captain America. It was so ironic. He was declared a terrorist and a wanted man. You felt as if this was a fever dream. Never in a million years did you think something like this would happen.

From what you knew Steve refused to sign the accords. Which you understood, he had his reasons and they were completely valid. You hoped the team would work it out amongst themselves and come to a compromise somehow. But from the looks of it, that will never happen. No one really asked for your opinion. Even if you were like family to them, at the end of the day you were a simple accountant turned stay at home wife. A job you had to give up to be with your Steve. When it got too dangerous for you to go out in the world. You hoped maybe just maybe, Steve would do the same for you. He talked of retiring, becoming a high school professor or working on his art. And like an idiot you let yourself indulge in that fantasy and got sweeped away.

Your life wasn’t bad by any means, in fact it was too perfect. Your friends were often envious of your perfect marriage and your dutiful husband. But you wanted more for Steve. You wanted him to slow down a bit, enjoy life, to not wake up screaming in the middle of the night in a pool of his own sweat and tears. You loved all of him, but you loved him the most when he was happy. Being an Avenger took a huge toll on him. You just wanted him to be happy.

You were being ‘escorted’ to the interrogation room. You had only been there once, to see Steve. You never thought you would be the one being interrogated.

You couldn’t help but feel resentful. You were in this grey room, under the harsh fluorescent lights, being asked all sort of intrusive questions as if you were a criminal, because of him. You gave up everything for him. You completely gave yourself to him. You didn’t have much left.

“Are you sure?” The man in the black suit asked again.

“Yes I’m sure! I think I would remember if my husband contacted me” you snapped.

“Alright. Please calm down ma'am” He said and you rolled your eyes at his patronising tone “You can leave for now but you’re not allowed to leave the premises. Let us know as soon as Rogers contacts you. If you don’t you will be an accomplice to his crimes”

His words echoed in your head on the way to ‘your' apartment. You sat back on your couch ready to drown your worries and your sorrows in some wine. The portrait Steve painted of you in a short white sundress, playing with some birds like a Disney Princess, hung on your wall almost taunting you. It was all superficial wasn’t it?

All the gifts he gave you, all the sketches he made of you. Every time he held the door open for you or tenderly made love to you, looking into your eyes and staring deep into your soul. Did all of that really matter? If he didn’t consider you or your relationship while doing something as brash as – you didn’t even know what he did. His duty won over his love for you. It always would.

You should’ve known. Your mother warned you. Told you you’re not the kind of person that would be fine with being the second or even fifth priority. Too possessive, too loving. People like you only ever get their hearts broken.

What did the future hold for you? You knew Steve, or at least you thought you did. You knew he wouldn’t help a war criminal. A terrorist. Sure said terrorist was Steve’s friend, but Steve was the kind of person that held others accountable. But at the end of the day Steve was just a human and a softie. You could see him being so loyal and going till the end of the line for his buddy.

You hummed as you felt a hand caressing your cheek. The feeling of his calloused fingers felt so familiar. It was a nice dream, an escape from this dystopian reality. You’d like to live in it forever but then your eyes snapped open as you heard him call out your name.

You sat up quickly sat up straight “Steve” you blurted out as you looked at your husband. In a dark blue, red, and white which was dirty enough to be black, suit. His short blond hair a bit frizzy, his left cheek blue and purple, unlike the neat and tidy look he usually sports. You looked into his eyes, which looked so tired and exhausted.

“We have to get out of here right now” He said gravely. But then his face softened. “It’s not safe here for you doll. I can’t leave you here, where I won’t be able to protect you” he said cupping your face with his hands.

You should have asked him a million questions. If what they were saying was true. Did he really help a terrorist? Attack his friends, whom you considered your family. But you didn’t. You simply crashed your lips upon his, taking his breathe away. It was soft, sweet but needy. Just like most of your reunion kisses. “I’ll follow you anywhere Steve” You said pulling away and looking into his sky blue eyes.

He gave your forehead a soft kiss before pulling you up. Telling you to collect your things as quickly as you can. You changed into a pair of jeans and sweatshirt, packing a few more t-shirts and pants.

“Hurry up doll we don’t have long” he urged you.

You made your way out of the apartment. You were walking to the elevator thinking you would be going down on it. “No, y/n we have to take the stairs. Come on” he took your hand.

He lead you to the emergency exit, one you didn’t even know existed. He was always good at reading and remembering maps. You smiled thinking of the time he easily got you both out of a very complicated Halloween maze.

“Steve why are we going upstairs?” You asked panting and trying your best to keep up with his face. You weren’t blessed with the super serum, you weren’t a huge fan of working out either.

“We have to take the jet and leave the country” He said rubbing your back. After a few seconds he hauled you over his shoulder “Hold on” He said sprinting up the stairs.

“Wouldn’t they notice us leaving in a literal quinjet?” You asked “What happens if you get caught Steve? What will they do to you?”

“Don’t worry about that right now” You wanted to laugh. Not worry? You were literally fleeing the country. How could you not worry.

You finally made it to the terrace, shivering in Steves hold against the chilly air Steve set you down in the jet. Before working on the kinks to get it started.

Surprisingly you made it out without anyone following you but you held your breathe. Not letting your guard down until you knew you were completely safe. As soon as you were in the air Steve put the jet on stealth mode. Finally letting his back rest against his chair and letting out a deep sigh.

“Steve” you couldn’t help the quiver in your voice trying your best to hold in your tears. “what is going on? Is it true? What they were saying?”

“What were they saying?” he said quirking a brow at you.

“That you helped a terrorist and you’re like a... war criminal now” you struggled to get the words out. Uncomfortable to even think such a thing could happen.

“You really think I could do something like that” He rested his elbows on the arms of his seat staring you down.

“I don’t. That’s why I’m here. But I have a right to know what happened”

His brows remained furrowed, as if he didn’t believe you. You had no idea how he managed to turn the whole conversation around and put you on the spot. “It’s Bucky” He said, his hard face softening.

Bucky, his best friend. Steve had carried the guilt of his death on his shoulders for years. Which only got worse when he found out that Bucky was indeed alive, being used as a weapon by hydra. “They tried to frame him. He didn’t do anything wrong. He’s been suffering for years”

You briskly got up from your seat as you saw the tears escape his eyes. You were selfish. Only caring about how this whole ordeal was affecting you. You couldn’t even imagine what Steve must have gone through. You sat on his lap, hugging him close to you as he held onto you so tightly, as if you would disappear if he didn’t. “Promise me you’ll never leave me” he choked out against the crook of your neck.

You ran your fingers through his hair lightly scratching his head with your nails, in the way you knew he liked. “I would never leave you Steve. I promise”

Over five hours later you made it to Moldova. A small country in eastern Europe. Steve hid the jet, saying he would need it later, since he had to come up with a plan to rescue your friends. Which would be much harder than rescuing you, they were in a maximum security prison, in the middle of a freaking ocean.

You tried your best to not think about that when you were on your way to a motel. You were nervous to meet Bucky, who Steve said would be there with you. You had never met any of Steve’s family. Since well they were dead. Back when you started dating he wasn’t really friends with his coworkers, so you never really received ‘the shovel talk' from them.

This was nerve wracking. What if he thought you weren’t worthy of Steve? Bucky was the only link to Steve’s past, his oldest friend, surely his opinion would mean the world to Steve.

“Hey it’ll be okay” Steve said squeezing your thigh from the drivers seat, something he liked to do whenever you both drove together. “I would never let anything happen to you. You know that right?” He looked at you before looking back at the icy roads.

“It’s not that. I know you’ll keep me safe Stevie. If nothing else I believe in that” You said as he gave you a small smile “this is all just overwhelming you know? I mean would we ever get to go back?” You asked although you knew neither of you knew the answer. “and then there’s Bucky”

“What about Bucky?” he asked.

“What if... he doesn’t like me? I know it’s silly!” You whined before he could make a snarky comment “We have other things to worry about and whatever but I want to make a good impression. Is there something I should remember not to do? Or to do?” You scrunched your nose at your strange question and this stranger reality. Where you get to meet your husbands best friend at the worst timing.

“Uh...” He contemplated your words for a minute “Well don’t hug him. I know you like to do that” he let out a laugh at just how sweet and likeable you are and how Bucky would love you the second he lays his eyes on you “Don’t worry sweetheart. Bucky’s the last thing you have to worry about. You wouldn’t have to even try to get him to like you”

You finally parked at the motel. Ever the gentleman, Steve held the door open for you holding your hand as you made your way up the shaky stairs. Steve knocked three times on the door before the tall brunette whom you recognised as Bucky from all his old pictures opened the door. He let you both in. You took off your coat the room wasn’t as warm as you’d like but it was definitely better than the harsh cold outside.

You watched as Steve embraced Bucky in a hug asking him how he was doing. You tried not to let your gaze linger too long on him, but you couldn’t help but admire him. He was a few inches shorter than Steve, but he had the same alert soldiery stance as Steve and the similar Brooklyn accent. Not to mention he was one of the most handsome men you’ve ever seen. He definitely looked more aged and somehow different than in the photos.

Steve introduced you “This is my wife” He said and Bucky gave you a small smile.

“This punk couldn’t stop talking about you” He said grabbing Steve by the back of his neck.

You were happy to see that even if they both had changed over time, their friendship and bond remained the same. “Good things I hope” You playfully squint your eyes at Steve.

“I’d never say anything bad about you doll” He walked towards you kissing your forehead and putting the backpack you packed on the bed. “You must be tired, you wanna go to bed?” He sat down on the bed cracking his neck, the stress of the last few days getting to him.

You finally had a chance to look around the room. It was what you’d expect from a shady motel. White floors which were now almost yellow, torn wallpaper and an old television. But then you looked at the twin beds. Looks like you’ll have to share one with Steve. You hoped he would be able to get proper sleep, with how tired he looked he really needed it. “I’m tired?” you teased him.

After freshening up and changing into your night clothes, you settled on the bed, sighing in relief as your sore back touched the hard mattress. Out of the corner of your eye you caught a glimpse of Bucky settling in on his bed beside you and his metal hand peeking out of his long sleeved shirt. You wondered what it looked it, did it hurt him? How was he able to move it so naturally as if it’s a part of his body? You really had to bite your tongue to not let your curiosity get the best of you.

“This will have to do for tonight sweetheart” Steve said spooning you from behind and pulling you into him. You sighed out as you felt his bare and warm chest through your tank top. You wouldn’t have to worry about being chilly. Bucky turned to lay on his side away from the both of you.

You hummed as Steve snaked a hand past your tank top and resting it on your soft tummy. Drawing small random patterns on it. Bucky turned off the lights, it wasn’t completely dark, there was plenty of moonlight coming through the window. You insisted on helping Steve out of his steath suit, so you could check in on his wounds and treat them, it was a post mission ritual for you both. But Steve refused to let you in as he changed in the bathroom alone. You feared that his wounds were worse than he was letting on.

“I missed you princess” he whispered in your hair, snapping out of your thoughts. “did you miss me?”

Bucky was snoring and seemed to be in a deep slumber but just to be safe you kept your voice low “I did” You said wiggling your ass against his crotch. You weren’t surprised to find his pretty hard erection there.

“Yeah?” He smirked ghosting his fingers at the elastic of your shorts “how much” before he could dip his fingers your hands stopped him

“Not now” you whispered harshly “Bucky is sleeping right there” you scolded. How he could even think about sex right now you had no idea. You would be mortified if you Bucky woke up to find you both in the middle of it.

“We’ll just be quiet” He said slipping his fingers past your shorts and panties and between your thighs. You wanted to stop him. You really did. But you realised just how much you missed him when he brushed his fingers against your warm folds.

“I can’t be quiet! You know that” You whined as he dipped his finger in your heat. You had no idea what had gotten into him. He loved making you moan, scream and cry. Did he want Bucky to hear you both make love? Steve was more perverted than he let on but this was something even you didn’t know.

“You will try for me won’t you?” He rolled your clit between his fingers and kissed your temple to sooth your thrashing “don’t you wanna be a good girl for me? Hm?” he asked driving three of his fingers inside of you to warm you up.

You should be embarrassed at the sinful noises that your cunt was making, you could hear them clearly since you had to be quiet. But you weren’t. In the moment you just needed to cum. “I wanna cum daddy please” Your voice muffled against the pillow you had pushed your face into to drown out your moans.

“Then cum doll” he said thrusting his fingers into you with purpose.

“I wanna cum on your cock daddy” He groaned at that.

Pulling his fingers out of you. He pulled your panties and your shorts down, bringing the blankets up to your neck “You comfy princess?” You nodded. He pulled his cock out of his sweats nudging it between your buttcheeks. He pulled your bare leg placing it over his hip and holding it there as he slowly pushed into you. He pushed his other hand under you to hold onto and fondle your breasts.

In any other situation this position would be uncomfortable but right now you felt as warm and safe to be surrounded by him. You didn’t feel the need to cum anymore, content with the warmth and the weight of his cock inside you. His steady breathing and heart beat lulling you to sleep.

He didn’t like that. He snapped his hips and pushed his cock deeper inside you. “Don’t fall asleep on me now princess” He warned as he slowly fucked into you.

You dug your nails into his hand which was squeezing your breast as you tried your best to contain your moans. You let out a mewl as Steve stroked your clit while making slow love to you. You were tipped over the edge, cuming hard around his cock and on his fingers.

“Shit” He said as the pace of his thrusts increased “you’re so tight doll. So snug” He bit your ear to keep from groaning out loud. He was about to pull out of you, to clean you up with a washcloth. He wouldn’t trust the towels the hotels provided but he did see you pack a couple, he could use those.

But you tightened the grip of your leg on his hip, forcing him to stay in place. You looked over your shoulder and he could barely make out your pout in the dim light “Stay inside please. Keep me warm” You requested. He had never been good at saying no to you.

So he pecked your lips and chose to forget about the myriad of problems facing him and all of you. At least for now.

Tags will be in the reblogs! If you want to join my taglist click the link in the bio or leave me an ask!

I am sorry about the shitton of nicknames. I just like sweet nicknames ok🥺🥺

[moonshade7]

Little Nightmare HCs Go Brrrrrrrrrrrr

Spoilers? Yep.

VLN:

-Kids are kidnapped and taken to the Nest by an unknown monster.

-Six got kidnapped while in the forest

- The Pretender's dolls have tape on their neck with the name of the kid they represent.

-RCG loves makeup *hint hint*

-RCG ends up becoming the Pretender in order to save her skin. That's her place in the loop.

-The Butler is paralyzed like the Craftsman, explaining why he doesn't walk anywhere and floats instead.

-The Craftsman likes sculpting but clay is too fragile for dolls so he works with wood instead.

-The Craftsman makes Porcelain dolls for the Teacher

-Six looks up to RCG and sees her as a Sister.

-Up until RCG locks her out of the barn

-Then Six loses trust in her until RCG saves her from falling off a cliff

-RCG's "death" hurt Six so much that she vowed never to trust anyone else again

Fair warning this get's REALLY long

LN2:

-Six comes back from the Nest but gets trapped in the school for a few weeks. She resolves to violence to survive there. There Six learns to get her stomach of steel.

-When Six escapes and goes back to the Hunter's shack she sees that the Hunter (Her father most likely) is not the same.

-The Hunter chases after Six thinking she's just another kid. (Which is why he shoots her when she's running away in the comics)

-When Six sees Mono he just escaped from that place (orphanage? Different school)

-They feel a connection but aren't sure why.

-When the Hunter sees Six he realizes who she is and takes her back to the shack, giving Six her old music box.

-The Hunter takes care of her (even if he is corrupted by the signals) and feeds her.

-Six starts feeling safe until Mono breaks in to "save" her.

-Six not wanting to get hurt again tries to run from Mono and then the game continues.

-The Hunter only wants to keep Six safe with him hence why he shoots Mono.

-When they got stuck in the shack six doesn't want to use the shotgun but Mono insists that its the only way (and e's right but still)

-Six leaves the shed quickly trying to run from the sick feeling in her stomach.

-Six introduces herself to Mono for the first time on their way to the school.

-Before they enter the School they play in the playground

-Some of the bullies in the school are actually nice and just want to stay out of trouble but are often peer pressured into bullying their peers.

-While in disguise Mono actually befriends a few of them briefly.

-Mono tries to break up that one fight between the three bullies but nearly gets his "head" knocked off so he just leaves.

-Throughout the entire School level Mono is inwardly panicking and blaming himself for letting Six get caught.

-When Mono saves Six she finally breaks down. Mono hugs her and hums the tune of her music box to make her feel better.

-Six jokingly suggests they chop the Teacher's head off and is surprised when Mono agrees.

-They play in the rain for a while until Six gets too cold and starts getting sick.

-Six puts on the raincoat as a homage to RCG and because it's raining.

-Mono has spare paper bags (and his head is probably cardboard :/)

-In the Hospital Mono and Six play with the X-ray and Stuffed animals for a few hours.

-Mono lets Six keep her duck but Six leaves it behind.

-Mono breaks down after the mannequins and Six (having the social skills of an agoraphobic lobster) repeats what he did for her as best as she can

-After seeing how badly Mono reacted to the Mannequin hands she grabs one and tortures it as revenge.

-Mono: Pogchamp Six. Pogchamp

-Mono burns the doctor alive because in his eyes the Doctor forced these people to be horrific abominations. Also for petty revenge

-Mono and Six warm up by the fire and take a good long nap.

-Six gets scared every time Mono goes into the TV's because she's afraid he'll go in and never come out.

-When Mono released the Thin Man Six tried her best to try and bring her with him but he kept fighting her every time she touched him so she left him in tears.

-When the Thin Man is released, he is "freed" from his form of escapism and tries to kill Mono but takes Six because she looks familiar

-When Six realizes Mono has the better hiding spot she tries to run to him but trips and calls out his name desperately.

-Six has flashbacks of RCG abandoning her like Mono.

-When she screams when she gets caught, she's screaming Mono's name.

-Mono traverse's alone blaming himself and at one point nearly jumps off the roof.

-Mono huts himself repeatedly because of his cowardice. Leaving a bunche of bruises on his face.

-The Thin Man walks toward Mono in an attempt to seem non-threatening because he's gotten over his initial anger and is now trying to save Mono from the world

-When Mono breaks his ribs on the train Shadow Six appears and tries to encourage Mono and make him feel happy again

-In the fight between Mono and the Thin Man, the Thin Man speaks in a different frequency that Mono can't hear.

-Mono literally, twists and bends the Thin Man to death (as in he snaps every bone and breaks every vertebrae).

-Monster Six is blissfully unaware of what she turned into but remembers Mono.

-She acts like a shy puppy around him

-Mono cries and blames himself for what happened to Six.

-They stay there for a while as Mono figures out what to do to get Six out (She doesn't want to leave but he doesn't realize that)

-Mono breaks the Music Box out of desperation

-When they run away Six is processing everything that happened, feeling the same rage the thin Man felt.

-We were safe here. I was safe here and you ruined it. You ruined everything

-Six drops Mono on impulse and immediately regrets it.

-The Eyes act like caretakers for Mono, trying to distract him from remembering Six and raising him to be a gentleman.

-Mono's ideal escapism is one where he can't feel pain.

-But to avoid pain you must also avoid happiness.

-Now Mono doesn't feel anything at all.

-Mono turns into the Thin Man and when Mono releases the Thin Man all those emotions basically sucker punch him in the gut (So he's pissed off and depressed at the same time.)

-Six starts feeling hungry because of all those years stuck in the tower OR because her soul is out of her body

-Shadow Six glares at Six but realizes they both need to survive to come back and save Mono. Shadow Six gestures to the picture of the Maw...

LN:

-Since the Lady has everything she wants the Mirror Monster tortures her by showing her what a monster she is.

-The Lady speaks only Japanese and doesn't like loud noises (which is why she almost never leaves her residence)

-Roger cares for the kids and tries to take care of them the best he can but he's blind is kept in the dark of what happens in the Maw.

-The Twin chefs both have problems. One can't taste and one can't smell.

-If the Twin chefs were humans (or could leave) they would try and start a cooking show.

-The reason the Twin Chefs cook/kill Six is that they think she's a rat. (Can't see very well with those masks)

-The Bellman isn't seen in the game because he's loading the Guest's suitcases into their rooms.

-The Ferryman brings kids to the Maw because he wants to save them from the world outside.

-The Maw only starts using kids when they begin to run low on supplies. The Lady doesn't care though. She used to at one point...

-Six hugs the Nomes because they remind her of when Mono wore the Nome cap.

-Six starts forgetting more and more of her life, only remembering vague things.

-The kids around the fire are all eaten by leeches or caught by the Janitor

-Shadow Six is Six's soul/child spirit. She'll want to play with the Nomes and she resents Six for dropping Mono.

-When Six's hunger gets worse Shadow Six starts dissipating more and more.

-Six never learns that RK becomes a Nome and doesn't know they're human.

-Six stopped and listened to the Lady's humming for a moment because it sounded familiar.

-When Six eats the Lady Shadow Six is at her weakest state.

-Six kills the guests so that she can free the other kids. But realizes the Maw is the safest place for them.

-Six hires a blind Janitor without even looking at how he looks and the Bellman has to clean up the mess she left behind.

-Six starts forgetting more and more of her past. Until she wakes up one day and sees a child. She turns them into a Shadow kid to feed her hunger.

-Shadow Six is nowhere to be seen at this point.

-Six pisses off the Mirror Monster and he starts torturing her.

-Then Six starts putting on a mask that she felt looked...familiar.

[jaeminscoffee]

The midnight man | l.ty

Pairing- Lee Taeyong x reader

Mentions- Lee Donghyuck, Na Jaemin, Liu YangYang, Nakamoto Yuta, Seo Johnny, Kim Doyoung, Ten Lee, Lee Dong Wook.

Genre- Horror!au, angst, crack, part fluff.

Warning(s)- Evil entity!Taeyong, Manipulation, Major character death (lmao you'll actually punch yourself towards the end), sexual themes suggested, impulsive decision making, talks with religion.

Word count- 11.83k

Synopsis- 'Lust though pleasurable, innocent and vice, thee shall stay loyal to thy partner regardless of wants. To betray thy partner is to deceive thy people and hence the kingdom. Thou shall pay for thy soul shall remain wandering, driven by the desires but, shall not be able to feel the human love thou took for a grain of salt. And all who shall follow thy steps shall face the same wrath.'

@kpopscape

This story is pure work of fiction and therefore doesn't speak about the mentioned members' personality in real life. I, in no manner, am trying to encourage hate speech towards the members so please don't come at me. This story was written using a mix of a bunch of urban legends and few made up by myself and therefore it isn't going to be spoken about the same way as it is in google. I also worked really hard on this piece and it's by far, the longest story I've written so feedbacks would mean a lot!, also it could get a little boring since i took time to focus on the side characters too. Make sure not to repost my works and sign it off as your own because that's a little disheartening and mockful towards the writer. So all credits reversed to @jaeminscoffee 2020©®

If anyone here doesn't know the story behind the midnight game, then read on! Because I've described it throughout the story! Happy reading!

29/10, Thursday, 10:57PM

"We need to do something this halloween man, Y/n come on!" 

Your friends all collectively whined as you constantly kept rejecting their proposal. 

Halloween is bullshit. It's overhyped and in all honesty, childish. You'd rather prefer staying home than go house to house and make a fool out of your existence. Not to mention you were all past the age of trick or treating. And to add on top of that came all the sugar rush you'd all go through at the end of the day. "For the last time, Hyuck we're not dressing up like crewmates and going trick or treating. I've got other things to do for the love of god" you grunt, rubbing the scrunched up skin to soothe the pain at the temples. University has been acting up again and so has life. "If your 'other things to do' is binge watch high school musical then no, you have no other better things to do" Yangyang bites back. 

"It's just, I don't feel like it anymore, alright? It feels too weird going out asking for candies when we're all literally 19 and above. It's time to up the notch." you say, plopping down.

When Haechan called for an emergency meeting in pure 'among us' style back at the guys' dorm, you'd expected it to be about something along the lines of having to console Jaemin or someone for having been stood up on a date. What you didn't expect was to have the boys prepare an entire presentation on who'd dress up as what character from among us and who'd be the impostor, do a little play and then say 'red is sus' and then ask for candies. What made it worse was that you thought they were just pulling a prank on you when in all reality, they were dead serious which made you go, 'oh, oh they aren't pretending to be stupid, they're just in their original form.'

"It won't be that bad, doll. It's a genius plan if you ask me" Jaemim chirped in on the conversation finally after looking back and forth between you, Donghyuck and Yangyang caught up in a meaningless fight. "I don't see how any of this is genius, Jaem. If this plan's anything, it's stupid." You pull out your phone after making your way all the way to the headboard of Jaemin's bed. "How about we try out one of these creepy pasta games?" Yuta finally spoke up. Jaemin's brother, an early graduate, senior and of course a dear friend of yours. Yuta, despite the age difference between your classmates and you, had little to no trouble blending in with the tiny group of yours. Probably the only one who didn't behave like a toddler and the most sane one according to you. Yuta's been an amazing planner since junior year where you first met Jaemin, Yangyang and Donghyuck who then proceeded to introduce you to their senior friend group that consists of Yuta, Johnny, Doyoung; Donghyuck's cousin and Ten. You guys had a friendship the entire campus was envious of. But two year after you getting into the university, the seniors had to graduate. But that didn't stop all your bonds from staying as strong as ever. Not even after Ten got his posting in a town a little far away from the one you guys lived in. The distance didn't change anything between you guys and you were as close as you could ever get. 

"Creepypasta?" Donghyuck inquired, looking straight at the guy who aimlessly scrolled down the screen of his device as Yuta didn't even bother looking up while passing the confused boy a nod. Sitting up cross legged from his previous side sitting posture, Yuta showed his phone screen to Donghyuck, who immediately got surrounded by the other two while you stare at the oldest in the room, slightly intrigued by the idea. "Creepypasta's like these horror-related legends that have been copied and pasted around the Internet by people who're too bored for their own sake." you explain as Haechan took the phone out of Yuta's hand who agreed to your explanation. "I read some sick games that I kinda wanna try out and see for myself," he said, looking at you with expectations and then the rest who seemed too immersed in surfing the website. 

"Yuta, you of all people should know better than to think all these made up crap's real" you say nonchalantly. 

Yuta's a huge skeptic, and so were you. Which is why you got along really well despite the mentioned age gap. The night gatherings back at the boy's dormitory or the girls (in this case, girl, yours) would always end up in narration of on spot made up stories of all genre, mostly horror because apparently according to Jaemin 'Rom-com's overhyped, sci-fi won't be fun when you narrate it out loud, mystery can easily turn boring, comedy, meh i guess, but a good horror story narrated properly, -yes, like you, Haechan- while adding jumpscares here and there could actually result in y'all being too scared to use the bathroom on your own'. And yeah, you'd startle here and there but the stories weren't believable enough for you to actually be scared. On the other hand, Haechan and Jaemin were scaredy cats. Literal toddler's who're so gullible, you could literally tell them there was an alien invasion news flash two minutes ago and they'd be hiding under their bed. And then there's Yangyang, he just doesn't care. He goes along with the plans solely for the fun of it and for the other's' (Haechan and Jaemin) reaction. "That's the point. I don't" he shuffled around to shift closer to you,

 "Which is exactly why i want to try them out" 

Maybe it's the feline that crossed over his body, maybe it was the fact that his spirit just wasn't ready to leave the human realm yet. Maybe it's the mourning of his family or maybe it's him himself knowing full too well his potential was truly wasted due to the fast departure. Whatever it was, his spirit was definitely made restless. 

The world is a cruel place where harsh actions are always sugar coated by honey like words. It's how he knew the doings of his people were wrong that made him disappointed. The practices of the people, his people, were stupid, meaningless and only harmful to the human kind. They fend off the satisfaction of their almighty even if that means that there needs to be sacrification of their loved ones, their nemesis, or them themselves. And it was his ancestors fault for starting all these practices. 

Passed down generations from generations was the curse put on the first of their bloodline by the princess he'd defied to go out and be ruthless by disregarding his duties as a husband, a father, a member of the royal courts and as a human being.

Lee Dong Wook. The root of all evil, the main reason the males of the family line faced the same wrath as him, all cursing at him but one namely enjoying his role. The pagans, dating back to the roman times era had a very, let's say, interesting method of punishing. The said lords they'd worship, the people following the religions had a strong belief that nature is sacred and that the natural cycles of birth, growth and death observed in the world around us carry profoundly spiritual meanings. Gods and goddesses of life, or say, death or anything else that exists beyond life and death, they believed in all. 

The doings of his ancestors started off innocent. Sacrifices to the lords of goodness and tranquility, a peaceful life by the towns and outskirts, forgiveness for wrong doings and of course, happiness. It's how any religious rituals would go about and all were happy until the said betrayer of the group came in with that curse of his. 'The doings of his shall be repented for all the men following shall be the one paying it,' 

At first glance when the man returned back to his royals, there were little to no suspicions of a curse being casted on him. He seemed normal to his family, his people except for the occasional forcing people to do something they despised. And it wasn't just the men of the family instead, it was all. But mostly the men, unless the same sin were to be committed by the females. Obscure behaviors have been asked to follow starting exactly at midnight to the witch's hour be it hurting your loved one, your enemy, doing sinful things, allowing self to get manipulated and mostly, shortening their own life time in the human realm. It was all unexplainable. Why was he asking people to do things like this but most of all, why are they even listening to him? 

It wasn't until they discovered that Dong Wook, for one, was never the one who returned home. On a second note, he, 'Dong Wook' mainly only targeted the men whose doings were similar to his that was fueled by the same sin that had him going. Which only remained undiscovered. The curse was unbeknownst to all still, Dong Wook himself remained undiscovered. Or proposed by the elders of the community, his body remained undiscovered while his spirit roamed restless among the people. 

The pagan romanticists are, in most cases, ignorant of the “paganism” they praise—the redeemed paganism of Christianity depicted in the transfigured water of the True Well of Life. Wrestling with the Greek gods, however, leads us to see the hyper-anthropomorphization of the gods with one intention in mind—justification of sexual lusts and displays of power over the weak.

The oldest written account of the Greek deities is from Hesiod. His Theogony, literally “birth of the gods,” charts out the genealogies of the major and minor deities in two branches. The first set of gods come into existence without sex. The second set of gods come into existence with sex; often very graphic and violent sex and they continue to have violent sex after their birth. 

As Hesiod continues to describe the birth and death of the gods and great monsters of antiquity, the chaining of Prometheus to his eternal torment is described. So too is Hades’ rape of Persephone. Battle is depicted left and right, and “a terrible din arose from their dreadful wrath, and the work of power was revealed”. Lust, sex, and war reign supreme in Hesiod’s telling of the birth of the gods. Moreover, it is from this brutality and carnality that Hesiod gives them praise—only those with enough cunning and ambition are worthy of having the praise of the muses.

That the gods birthed through sexual lust are themselves lustful was not missed by Christians of the pagan community. Though St. Augustine received the Romanized version of the Greek myths, he goes to great lengths and laborious pains—using the pagans’ own prophecies —to highlight the moral depravity of the gods in Confessions and City of God.

His sin, after all the years, was lust and the want to dominate. 

'Lust though pleasurable, innocent and vice, thee shall stay loyal to thy partner regardless of wants. To betray thy partner is to deceive thy people and hence the kingdom. Thou shall pay for thy soul shall remain wandering, driven by the desires but, shall not be able to feel the human love thou took for a grain of salt. And all who shall follow thy steps shall face the same wrath.'

Oh, how lust was a dangerous feeling. 

29/10 continued. 11:28PM

It's how you all circled around in the living room like any other day that was comical to you. Instead of reading out your own made up story, it so happened to be the Creepypastas Yuta screenshotted for what he wanted to try out and see for himself. It wasn't even his idea to read them out. Haechan and Jaemin's 'too curious for their own sake' selves were the ones who wanted to read it out loud. "How about we sit in the order of who's gonna read out what and when?" Yangyang suggested, standing up from his seat. "Yuta read out the topics and we'll pick randomly." 

"No fun! Hold up," Haechan did some pretty exaggerated hand actions before getting up and heading to his room, well, Jaemin's room to do who knows what. "Okay? I'll get the candles!" Yangyang said, him getting out of his seat too, "And I'll go get the bible, jesus christ" and Jaemin was out of his seat too. You look at Jaemin in a funny manner, as though questioning him with your eyes if he's actually going to get a bible or not, "What? I don't want to die young, I'm too hot for that" he said, before following Haechan's steps to his bedroom, "Yikes, you aren't going to die dude" 

"Okayy, I'm back, make way bitches" Haechan dictated to which he earned a few groans and a smack on the ankle from Yuta, "Jaemin! I can't find the candles!" "It's beside the Reese's cups! Second rack inside of the refrigerator!" Jaemin says while walking back up to your tiny circle with an empyre comic in his hand and a cross pendant dangling off of his neck, "That's a bible?" you question. "Shush, do not question the power of avengers and fantastic four." Jaemin replies, holding the comic up close to his chest. You all collectively dismiss it with a concerned look directed towards the male, "Are we not going to question the fact that Jaemin keeps his candles inside the fridge?" 

"So here's what we're going to do, I've got these tiny papers which have numbers from 1 to 5,because we're five people and I've folded the paper into chits, once i toss it, we pick random sheets and the number you get is when your turn to read is, any objections?" Haechan explained, "Even if you have any, keep it to yourself because I don't care" he bites in again while juggling the folded sheets in a closed palm while the other supports his body by it being planted behind him. "Okay I'm back with the candles" Yangyang finally joins in on the circle, completing it, "You took that long to find one candle?" Yuta asks, "No i was eating the reese's cups" he replied, wiping his hand on your jean clad thighs earning him a loud whine of 'Eww that's disgusting man' and a little too far from soft smacks on his shoulder, "You piece of sh-" Jaemin starts, "Okay all, Focus!" Haechan cuts him off, ready to throw the bits onto the space between the five of you in front of the now lit candle (Thank you, Yuta), and so he tossed it a little high up from the ground, letting the paper fall of his palms and onto the floor while being cautious of not throwing it anywhere near the flame. 

"Now let's arrange ourselves according to the numbers, who's number one?" Haechan asks, Yuta raises his hands while pointing at where he's sitting, "I'm not getting up, y'all arrange yourself so that the person going second is to my right and the last person would be to my left", you all look at him nonchalantly, "What?" with a shake of your head, you proceed calling out numbers, "Number two?" Haechan shoves Yangyang back to take his place beside Yuta, "bitch." Yangyang seats himself beside Haechan, followed by Jaemin and lastly, you. 

"First, Yuta!" Jaemin slurs the elders name, receiving a death glare from his cousin. Nevertheless, Yuta cleared up his throat and switched his attention to his phone screen, "The first urban legend is from Japan, ironically." He states as a matter of fact, "It's called Aka Manto."

"Aka manto is an urban legend related to toilets—particularly those in elementary schools.-"

"Is that why you take a relatively long time inside of the bathroom? Are you, you know? Tickling pickles with Aka Mant-ow! Sorry!" Yangyang was wasted as he was tackled onto the floor by Yuta, while the rest of you cracked up, "Now let's get a little serious, come onnn!" Haechan whines. 

"This phenomenon is known all over Japan, with countless variations on the same theme. It usually takes place in a specific stall in a specific bathroom in the school. Usually it is an older or seldom used bathroom, often in a stall with an older style squat toilet.  Often the fourth stall is the cursed one, as the number four is associated with death." "I'm so glad our university has only two stalls," Jaemin chimes in, suddenly grasping the cross pendant. 

"Most stories follow this general pattern: while at school late in the evening, a student suddenly finds him or herself in desperate need of a toilet. The closest restroom available is one that is normally avoided by the students; it is older and less well-kept, separated from the rest of the school, and is rumored to be haunted. But with no time to search for a different restroom, the student enters. He or she does their business, and when they have finished, they reach for the toilet paper only to find that there is none. Then they hear a strange voice" Yuta looks up from the phone screen, "“Do you want red paper? Or blue paper?”" 

"None bitch, give me the classic white,"

With a roll of his eyes, Yuta continues, "If the student answers, Red paper, moments later, they're stabbed and sliced up violently that blood seeps out of them, painting the walls of the stall red and it soaks up into their body, making them appear red", "And if the student responds blue paper, then their blood is going to be sucked up dry, leaving them dead and blue-faced on the floor."

"But! If you try to outsmart Aka Manto, by replying to question with, i don't know, "Yellow paper" then too, dead is inevitable, you will be shoved onto the floor where the spirit is said hold your head down in the dirty toilet water until you drown and well, die" Yuta ends with a shrug of his shoulder, "Seems pretty bullshit to me" and you agree alongside, though, it could be a little creepy if the existing legend did turn out to be true. "Okay next!"

Yuta leans back a little more, pressing onto your side which you took as an invitation to lean on his shoulder. When you did so, all Yuta did was beam at you and wrap his arms around you to keep you close after handing the phone over to Haechan, "If you want me to start reading you have to give it up for me. Give me the grand welcome that i deserve" the lad said in a childish voice which again only earned him a few smacks and half hearted applauds. "So this one is apparently called, the one man hide and seek" though all narrations were being taken on a lighter note, the mood set in the room gave you enough space to picture the stories, added to that came the factor that Donghyuck knows exactly how to narrate what. 

"The "One-Man Hide and Seek", also known as the "One-Man Tag," is a ritual for contacting the dead. The spirits, which are wandering restless on the Earth, are always looking for bodies to possess. In this ritual, you will summon such a spirit, by offering it a doll instead of a human body." He lowers his voice while focusing solely on the screen.

"The warnings say that if you have any psychic abilities, you may feel unwell or be prone to accidents during the ritual." He raises his eyebrows, looking at all four of you in a curious manner. The things you need for this game seems lowkey sketch"

"One stuffed doll. It must have limbs, Rice, enough to stuff the doll full. One needle, and one crimson thread. One pair of nail clippers. One sharp-edged tool, such as a knife, glass shard, or scissors. One cup of salt water. Natural salt would be best. A bathroom, with a bathtub and some form of counter. A hiding place, preferably a room purified by incense and ofuda. There must be a TV in there." Haechan's face contorts with each requirement for the game. Letting out a defeated sigh, he hands the phone over to Yangyang, "Of all the stories i could've narrated, i got chosen for this and for what? Just to contact stupid poltergeists. Just play a ouija board and go" 

Giving Haechan a sympathetic pat on the back, he takes the device. Looking through the screen he cracks up a smile, "Alright, listen up closely. This is an Urban legend classic"

"The Slender Man-" a bunch of 'aahhs' of realization resonate through the room

"-is a supernatural creature that is described as appearing as a normal human being but he is described as being 8 feet tall and he has vectors or extra appendages that are described to be as sharp as swords. The creature is known to stalk humans and cause many disappearances. He is described as a shadow creature that has a missing face. The creature fits into many mythologies in legends from nations such as germany and celts which brings up the possibility that he could be real." Yangyang pauses to add in a little more life to his reading while all of your paid full concentration to him

"A man named victor Surge found this legend and made his own version of it which he called slender man. The slender man is not exactly evil according to mythology but victor Surge’s version shows him as an evil creature that stalks humans to kill. In mythology he was actually trying to save you from a painful death by taking you to the underworld early." he ends, placing the phone down in front of him, screen down. "Kills you to save you from a death and collectively shortens your lifespan? Seems legit to me" Jaemin chimes in while the rest of you chuckle whereas Haechan pouted at the device in front of his friend, "I should've gotten that story" 

"My turn!" 

"So, ahem-" Once the focus is all on him,Jaemin  looks down onto the device containing his part of narration. "- This is an urban legend about a girl named Daruma who was a young Japanese woman that died in the bathroom, which upon entering to take a bath, it stumbled and her forehead ended up against the edge of the tube, destroying it the brain, at the same time that her eye embedded in the tube , leaving it in consequence, one-eyed key and later , dead by bleed out."  "Oh god ouch" You hiss as though your forehead was the one that hit the edge, " Her appearance as described is apparently; black hair that is entangled, her clothes rotting and made shreds. She only has one eye. Her left eye is completely open and injected with blood." "That's gruesome," Yangyang adds, earning a nod from Jaemin who's eyes were still fixated on the screen. "And apparently there's a ritual that you can follow to summon her into your house for twenty four hours straight" At the silence, he continues. "I'll shorten it, so you have to begin it right before your bedtime, shed all your clothing and enter your bathroom, turn off all the lights and fill in your bathtub, climb into it while being seated facing faucet, close your eyes and start washing your hair while chanting "Daruma-san fell down" and keep chanting that until you're done washing your hair, and yeah don't open your eyes."

"If you did it right then you'll get this image of a japanese who'll slip and fall in front of you. Even if you hear a noise behind you, do not open your eyes, no matter what it takes, Ask out loud, 'why did you fall in the bathtub' and let that hang in the air. With your eyes still closed, get up and out of the tub and be careful not to slip and do not drain the tub. Go to your room, don't turn the lights on, shut the bathroom door closed and sleep. Wake up the next day and carry on with your day and you'll apparently feel her presence alongside you all day. She'll constantly try getting close to you, when she does, scream 'Tomare!',"

"That means stop," Yuta adds to which you all hum in understanding.

"To end the game, capture her gaze from over your shoulder and say 'Kitta' which means 'I cut you loose' while swinging your arm in a chopping motion. If you followed the procedures then you'll be rewarded but if not then, run. That's all it says here" He stops, looking a little shaken at how he created an image of it all in his mind. "They didn't say how to get rid of her if you fail following the procedure?" you ask

"No." Jaemin shrugs it off

"Alright boys, my turn"

30th October, Friday, 10:53PM

It's probably how you read out your part of story telling, or it was how he felt the game was a little too unrealistic that had Yuta hooked onto the urban legend. 

Yuta found himself at his dorm doing a little more research on the midnight ritual. A backpack already consisting of all the elements required for the game, 'could it really be played just by one person?'. Whatever it was, he really wanted to do the game. He wanted someone to accompany him, of course. But knowing his friend group, not many would be ready to play it alongside. Doyoung was probably busy preparing his resumes for his job interviews. Johnny's all the way back in Chicago for a little family time. Ten was a little too far from your town so he'd feel bad calling him all the way over just to perform a probably demonic ritual. Donghyuck and Jaemin are out of the question, they'd obviously say no. Yangyang has a company party to attend as the heir. And you had to study for your test on Monday so he didn't really feel like disturbing you though, he did inform you that he was going out to have some fun and that you could join him anytime. Closing his laptop with a sigh, he gets up and walks over to where his bag was sprawled across the floor, picks it up and makes his way out of the studio apartment like dormitory after grabbing his car keys. 

Not like he believed it was real, it's incase if the legend turns out to be even the slightest of reality, he wasn't going to get his dormitory haunted, instead opting to perform it at the house he grew up in, his childhood house. That was left abandoned ever since they moved out months before his younger brother was born after his father had an episode still unknown to him inside the place. It was convenient enough to perform the ritual in and no one lives there anymore, and it was just a few minutes from where his house was anyways. 

Reaching the place and swinging the backpack over his shoulder, he makes his way into the surprisingly still intact house. Not much time to waste, looking around, Yuta slowly made his way up the wooden stairs, the wood creaking with each step he took to prove the existence of this house dated long back. The guest room shut lock from lack of human souls even when they used to live there. The paintings still hung off of a single screw, nostalgia hitting him straight as he recalled the one time he was playing catch with a neighbor's kid and ended up breaking the glass frame. The wallpaper's adhesive seemingly had gotten weaker from how they had started coming out from nooks and crannies of the walls. The place, without doubt, looked a little creepy but nonetheless felt homely. 

Switching on all switches from the main controller that was in the control room right by the end of the hallway, the entire darkness was replaced with light as the bulbs shockingly still seemed to function. The warm white colour of the lights took Yuta all the way back to his growing up years, missing all the fun he'd had there and all the memories he'd created. He, though grew up mostly by himself from how busy his parents were on the weekdays and sometimes the weekends, missed them more now that they live far off in Japan with his mother's family. Especially now that he was in the place they spent the most time together in. Shaking his head, he had no trouble navigating his way to his childhood room. Where he set the bag down.

He reached out to his back pocket to get out his phone, switching it on as the screen illuminated, 11:28PM, the screen read. To kill the time, Yuta set up all the items required in place to proceed the ritual smoothly. He pulled his laptop out of the backpack once he was all set to maybe watch something on the internet. It being other peoples attempt at the ritual he was about to perform.

11:55PM.

Yuta inhaled, having only a few more minutes until he had to proceed. He recalled your words,

"Alright boys, my turn" You snatch the phone out of Jaemin's hand who seemed really immersed in finding out more about the legend he just read out about, earning a pout from him. "I was reading" he let out in a whiny tone immediately going stoic after receiving a 'do i care' look from your end. "Okay, so the story I'm going to read out is called the midnight man, or the midnight game" You scroll back and forth through the pages the oldest of the group screenshotted. "From what he's gathered, there's not much backstory, but apparently it's a ritual or mostly a punishment that the pagan's use to punish the betrayer of the group who failed to stay loyal to their lords or the group. One of the people of the religion will summon the midnight man to an abandoned house where they lock up the said betrayer who'll then be put through god knows what by the midnight stranger," You stop to look up from the screen to look at each of your friends before letting out a sigh. 

"My take on this though is that it's highly impossible since the rules here state that once you start the ritual you aren't allowed the leave the place until the game is completely done unless you want the midnight man to follow you around for as long as you live, so unless the midnight man actually favored the pagans, there's no way they could punish the betrayer without one of the loyal ones passing away along with the one being punished" you state, "But what if, it's the midnight man that they preach? You know, like, they could be praying the midnight man" Haechan adds in a point which seemed to make sense, "That's possible too" 

"Why would someone preach an evil entity? That's so sketch" Jaemin asks perplexed. "They did a lot of sketchy things back in the days, Jaem. I wouldn't question it," Yuta chirps. "Is there any other backstory given about the midnight man?" Yangyang finally speaks up, "Well not really, but when i was taking screenshots of this it apparently started with a curse on someone whose identity is unknown to most. There was no such thing as the midnight game or ritual until the said bewitched man came back into town. I only know up to there, but there are high chances that he's probably the origin of the ritual." Yuta explains. "Why does Y/n get the best always, that's so unfair"  Haechan's dramatic self whines while leaning onto Yangyang who rolled his eyes but nonetheless threw his hands around the latter's shoulder, "Anyways, the procedure for the ritual is given here."

"You need one candle, a lighter or a match box or anything that ignites fire, a piece of paper, something to write with, a sharp object, it could be a pin, it just needs to be something sharp enough to draw blood, a wooden door, and salt for protection-" You read out, "Now why the fuck would they need blood," Jaemin asks, shaken up. "That's for them to know and us to find out" 

"Here's how the invitation for the midnight man goes. Begin prior to midnight," 

Yuta stood up from his bed, and walked up to the backpack on the floor, picking out the papers he'd brought along and took out a blunt pencil. 

"Write your full name- first, middle, and last- on the piece of paper with your writing implement." He wrote syllable by syllable, Nakamoto Yuta. "Prick your finger with the pin and squeeze until a drop of blood appears. Dot the blood on the paper and allow it to soak in. Turn off every light in your home." He took out the small safety pin he brought along from his jean pocket, pressing his fingers hard and pricked into the skin as hard as he could, keeping in mind to not draw too much blood. Yuta let the droplet fall right in the space between his last name and first. 

"Place the paper with your name and blood on it in front of the closed wooden door. Light the candle using the matches or lighter and place it on top of the paper. If you are using a taper, make sure it is placed in a candle holder." He walks up to the door and places down the paper with his name and blood on it, with the half melted scented candle he brought along. Yuta took out his phone once again, 11:59. "Knock on the door 22 times. The final knock must occur precisely when the clock chimes 12am. Open the door; then blow out the candle and close the door. Relight your candle immediately." He starts to knock on the door, drumming on the dusty wood, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22.

He checks the time once again, 12:00AM.

He leans down to pick the glass jar containing the candle, relighting it, 

"I welcome you."

Taeyong loved the tiny creatures in the human realm. They were so naive and so, stupid but weirdly smart at the same time that made playing with them ten times more interesting. The callings from them, or the way they say it in the human realm, summoning the spirit was the only way he could gain access to enter the place. Summoning wasn't even necessary. Saying his name out was more than enough for him to go up to you. Midnight man, midnight stranger, midnight visitor, pagan's god, What not had the human's named him. 

The only one besides his ancestor of said curse that enjoyed the power of punishing people was Taeyong himself. The youngest of the bloodline and the freshest of pagan's spirit, he loved the power he had. Sure he had no access to love, instead besides lust and range he felt nothing, maybe amusement too, but none other than that and he seemed perfectly fine with that. Human's always seeked lust more than love either way so he found no problem in being void of feeling a vulnerable emotion. Instead, he found love pathetic. Watching human's from where he lived, he'd seen all from men and women seeking love by going to heights of trouble only to waste away your remaining life with one partner. Leeching off of pleasure at times when you had a significant other. He always got a hearty laugh from all of that. According to him, if you want someone, get them. Instead of tailing them and trying to be a goody two shoes, just make them yours in a way that's inevitable for them to fall for you. Control how they feel. Easier said than done since he was the only one with the ability to do so, 'how fucking pitiful'.

So when he saw you and your small group of friends discussing about him, laughing at all the assumptions you made along the way, he wanted each of you to himself. "My take on this though is that it's highly impossible since the rules here state that once you start the ritual you aren't allowed to the leave the place until the game is completely done unless you want the midnight man to follow you around for as long as you live, so unless the midnight man actually favored the pagans, there's no way they could punish the betrayer without one of the loyal ones passing away along with the one being punished" you're smart and that was intriguing to him. He liked the way you thought of things and the male beside you too, you both seemed to take tales of him as a grain of salt and that, besides angering him, made him feel the want to prove himself to you. Taeyong found the other three cute, seemingly scared of him just the way he liked it. 

His ancestor's who held the same power as him, the curse actually, came to be known as said lord because of their power of manipulation and to inject in their worst nightmare into their minds that had the people divide themselves into groups. One that believed the power they had was for the good and considered them to be their god, their savior. And the other being the one's scared of their power and the fear that the same faith would bestow upon them that had them pray for forgiveness for sins they never committed. So your friend had the point a little, but it was inaccurate. They believed him. Believed Taeyong and feared his power. He loved people bowing down in front of him, eyes trembling and body shivering. It gave him a sense of dictatorship. And he had set his mind to have both of you non-believers fear him. 

Having been brought up with little to no love, Taeyong followed down the same path as his great grandfather. Not having enough time to feel the vulnerable emotion, he chose to go down the path of pleasure and power play. His powers though, seemingly stronger than the past generations, probably due to the fact that he was young, ruthless and free of care. He could make himself appear physically in the human realm in any shape and form, though he always preferred to go in his original, but less scarier form. His visuals were out of the world. He didn't have to scare people to make them obey, instead all he had to do was pretend to be there and just be himself and that only made humans seem even pathetic to him. 

"Relight your candle immediately"

12:01PM, The main event. 

"Keeping your candle in hand and your salt and matches or lighter close by, begin to move about your home. Should your candle go out, you must relight it within the next ten seconds.  If you are successful, continue moving about your home. Do not stop moving until 3:33 am. If you are unsuccessful in relighting the candle, immediately surround yourself with a circle of salt.  Remain inside the circle until 3:33 am. At 3:33 am, it is safe to stop moving or to step outside your circle of salt. You may also turn on the lights. The game Is Over."* You conclude. Hissing slightly at the sudden pain by your shoulder that was exposed from the minimalistic clothing you'd adorned, the stranger looking over it all smirked to himself. 'Got it'

Yuta opened the door again, mindful to keep his phone back in his jean pocket along with the lighter and of course, the salt be brought along. Starting from the end of the hallway, nothing seemed to change except now, the eerie silence was starting to bother him, 'Just 3 hours to go,'. He didn't miss a single corner, walking room to room, corner to corner, mindful to stay inside all the way. The temperature of certain rooms seemingly lesser than others. A cold pocket. 

"There are few warnings too," you swipe the image to go to the next one, "At 3:33 am, the Midnight Man will leave your home. After he has left, you may safely end the game. Do NOT turn on any lights during the game.  Do NOT use a flashlight during the game. Do NOT go to sleep during the game. Do NOT use a lighter instead of a candle during the game." Check. He had a lighter on him just to relight the candle anyways. 

Taeyong, following the guy seemed to be quite impressed by his bravery. Not even the slightest of shaken up as he proceeded to walk about the villa. That's good, no slip ups and he seemed too good to mess anything up either ways, and that bored the entity. Where's the fun if he just succeeded? 

To avoid the candle from going off at the sudden flickering, Yuta covered it up the best he could with his hands and checked around whether any windows were left open. Darkness engulfed the surrounding all of a sudden, the lad being taken aback, 10 seconds. He rushed to take out his lighter, 9,  pressing the button repeatedly to ignite the flame only to get a small blue flame instead, huh? 8, running back full speed happy that he was in the premises of where his backpack is, he pulled the spare lighter, a brand new one out of the side pocket, 7, repeating the same process of flicking the button over and over, 6 until a bright orange flame engulfed the dark room, 5, he immediately grabbed his candle from besides the bag, 4 reaching in close by the wick, burning himself slightly in 3-, the process. Yuta heaves out a sigh of relief, while the spirit laughs at the frantic boy. 'He's cute.'

For a breaker, he took out his phone, looking at the time that seemed to pass by quickly throughout the ritual, 2:47 AM. A little more while to go until he'd finally get it over with. "Do not attempt to provoke the Midnight Man during the game." You ended for the nth time that night, "Which idiot would-" Yangyang asks "Haechan-" Jaemin pretends to cough while blurting out his best friends name, the mentioned feigning offence while tilting his head to the side, tongue poking at the insides of his cheek. "Seems like that's pretty much it." you shrug while the older guy beside you leaning back on both of his hands, "I kinda wanna try that out" Yuta raised his eyebrows at you. "Halloween night? We all go together" you chirp in, both of you whipping your heads to look at the three perplexed boys. "Uh, I have to water my fish on halloween? She'd get pretty thirsty". Jaemin's eyes wandered about, coming up with an excuse, "And I gotta walk my rock yo, physical fitness." Haechan adds, "Can I bring my fish along? She could use some exercising". 

"Come on guys, it won't be that bad, we'll stick in a group?" You pleaded, trying your best to muster up the cutest puppy eyes. "I'm down" Yangyang shrugs. You do a tiny seal clap, looking expectedly at the other two, Yangyang and Yuta doing the same. "We stick together?" Haechan asks, to which the three of you nod your head, 

"Alright then we're down too"

[3:04AM 30th, October. ]

A few more minutes left until he'd succeed, Yuta was starting to grow tired of constantly roaming. He'd usually not the one to wear out that quickly, but for a reason unknown to him, he felt utterly sleepy, tired, hungry and just wanted to lie down. He decided to take a small break, the candle still light, dangerously flickering but yet still intact. Yuta sat by the foot of the stairs as Taeyong looked at him with the same cocky smirk on his face, contemplating whether to pop out or not. 'Maybe let's make it subtle? '

Taking up the form of a black humanoid figure, Taeyong makes his way towards Yuta whose eyes seem to be dropping low with each passing second. Upon hearing the sounds of footsteps Yuta looks up, a hand on his forehead from the sudden throbbing headache. Letting out a loud yell at the figure in front of him that disappeared almost immediately, he rushed to grab his lighter again. The sudden temperature drop made him shudder. Taking out the new lighter, he pressed the button again and again as the time limit started to exhaust, 6, at a successful fire, he reached for his candle, only for the flame to go off when it neared the candle wick. "what the fuck.." 5, "come on.." he stated in a rushed voice, sure that he just saw whatever he saw once again. Finally flicking the button one last time, he succeeded in lighting the candle. 

Contrary to popular belief, the midnight man didn't always radiate death. Sometimes he just messes around with the humans because the underworld could get a little boring. And as the curse states death and wrath is only to be faced by those who sinned and the boy playing right now seemed to be of no threat. All Taeyong wanted to do was get the guy to believe in his existence. Skeptics were like an insult to him. So if he had to prove himself and his existence on his own, then so be it. He gets some pretty good experience out of it anyways. 

Yuta stood up immediately, remembering the warning's you'd stated, "Do not stop moving until 3:33am", walking back up the stairs, he took out his phone to check the time, 3:29am. Almost. 

The same sounds of footsteps resonated from behind him, Yuta took an immediate U-turn. Going back down the stairs and roaming the empty, dark hallways, making sure to enter each and every room, keeping a mental note to thank his parents for having a slightly confusing infrastructure. The wax was almost completely out in the glass jar, but he had to hang in there for a little longer than 2 more minutes when he felt something brush his shoulder, much similar to how a friend would drape their hands over his/her friends' shoulder. He could've brushed it off as anything if it weren't for the sharp pain he felt right after the feeling of someone touching him. He's getting the proof he wants. Almost as if someone pulled his hoodie, Yuta stumbled back, letting out a shaky scream, tripping on his own foot, landing butt down onto the floor, catching a glimpse of the same humanoid figure he'd been seeing. He needs to get out of there. 

Stumbling back onto his feet, Yuta bolted it upstairs, grabbing his phone once again to check the time, 3:32am. Reaching his room, he set the candle down right beside him, vary of the windows and doors, starting to back his backpack, the sounds of rushed footsteps running start to where he is ringing through his ears, hands shakingly packing his bag. Keeping the candle closeby, contemplating whether to draw a salt circle or not since there was only less than half a minute left when the same humanoid figure neared him with fast footsteps, reaching by the door frame with a loud agonizing scream only to disappear immediately. 

Not realising the stress of tears flowing and the tresses sticking to his forehead, Yuta looked at the door frame in a perplexed yet confused manner. What the fuck was that. 

Taking out his phone once again while grabbing his backpack, laptop and the car keys in the other hand, 3:34 am. He'd made it through. After reaching the front door, not even bothering to close it, he rushed to his car, starting it before pulling up your contacts, seeing the messages he'd never sent you. 

Yuta san 1:39am: The boys said they won't make it tomorrow, it's gonna be just you and i

Y/nleE 1:43am: Why not? 

Yuta san 1:45am: Dk, they said they aren't interested. So come near xxxx tomorrow at 11:30. I'll meet you there. 

Y/nleE 1:48am: Coolsies. 

Yuta san 3:38am: Y/n don't come here, gather the boys and meet me by Haechan's dorm tomorrow. The game's no fucking joke. 

And with that he started driving away quickly to his dormitory, not once looking back at the house to see a human. Or a human like figure standing there, A bright red hair standing out due to his blood drained looking pale skin. A smirk on his face

Message not delivered. 

31st October, 22:37PM, 2020.

Today was a weird day, 

Having all plan's set two days before, you'd make sure to keep yourself ready for whatever you and your friend group were supposed to do today. You finished up all your assignments earlier that day to keep yourself free from afternoon and on. 

The weird part was that, no matter how much you kept your phone for charge, each time you tried calling one of the guys to ask for the sudden bailing out on plan, which is a shocker because they've never done that, your phone kept switching off. You could've gone all the way to their apartment, well, dorm, but you decided to wait until later to do so. Maybe a few minutes before leaving to the place Yuta texted you so that they'd have no choice but to come along. Since your last time texting with Yuta, you hadn't heard from him. Granted, he did text you quite late at night saying he's going to do god knows what and to tell you of the sudden plan change, but you hadn't heard from him after, that being weird since he literally lives a floor below yours, he could've come any moment but nope. You kept a mental note to tell him off later. 

You took out your phone once again to check if they'd sent any messages or missed calls only to have an empty chat box, other than that of your other friends that is. Added on top of that came the constant pricking feeling on your shoulder blades from the last day you hung out with the boys. The pain would appear randomly and it would be hurtful enough to draw blood, which is weird considering the fact that you kept yourself away from all sharp objects and had a full sleeve covering the area. 

One stone, two birds. Taeyong's motto. 

After having interfered with your phone, your friends, trying to keep you away from them until you'd go through the same as your other skeptic partner, Taeyong made sure that Yuta would be sick enough after returning home to keep him from even getting up from his bed. Temporary paralysis. Your other friends, of course they tried reaching out to you, only for him to cut the service to keep you away from them for a while. They got easily distracted from you ignoring their texts as they were focused on reaching out to Yuta. 

Unknown: Hey Y/n, I'm Yuta's friend. He told me you aren't replying to his texts so asked me to do so. 

Y/n: Who's this? 

Unknown: Oh! I'm Taeyong! A close friend of well, your friend XD. 

Y/n: Nice to meet you, Taeyong. I'm Y/n but it seems like you already know that. 

Unknown: Yeah :). Yuta's on his way here and told me that you'd be joining us? Are you nearby?

Y/n: He left? No, actually, I'm just leaving my place. I guess I'll meet you there? 

Taeyong: Meet ya :)

[23:22PM, 31st October, 2020 continued. ]

Hailing a cab to the address Yuta had sent you with his friends, Taeyong's number saved on your phone in case the later won't pick up, you left your place. Still feeling a little eerie from how Yuta just decided to leave you behind when he could've just offered to go together, which is pure Yuta style. He probably wasn't in the best of moods but he could've at least texted you letting you know of his departure from the apartment building. 

The journey to the given address didn't take that long surprisingly. A little towards the outskirts of the town in a much aloof part but nonetheless, doable. It's not like you'd be alone there any ways. Paying for your fare, you took your purse, brushed your fingers through your hair to tame it a little from the ride, and turned towards the building, jumping slightly at the bright haired guy sitting by the front porch. Adorning the simplest of fit, a black knee slit jeans, with a graphic tee and a black leather jacket with a chain or two. He, in no doubts, was ethereal. His pale skin stood out the most in the street light if you could call it that and his lips seemed a little drained of blood, eyes hollow yet captivating when he looked up from the dirt below him to you who still stood yards away. Smiling, he got up, making his way towards after brushing off the invisible lint from his jeans, "Hey" he offered you his hands for you to shake upon reaching you. "Hey..? Taeyong, right?" 

Wanting so badly to smirk, he only looked down with a silent snicker, looking up immediately to not look suspicious, "Yeah, Y/n..?" you nod in response, shuddering from the coldness of his skin, "Have you been out for too long? You're freezing," you exclaim, looking at him with a guilty expression and taking a mental note to hit Yuta for not arriving earlier. "Oh no, i just reached a minute or two prior to your arrival." you nod in understanding, withdrawing your hands from his hold, "By the way, Yuta called me a few minutes ago, telling me that he wouldn't make it and to just carry on" Taeyong said, looking at you with his eyebrows raised at your confused, innocent expression, his humane form threatening to change into his original form. "What? Why? It's like,-" you look down at your wrist watch, "11:50! And he's bailing out now?", smiling at you in fake sympathy, he replied, "he said he had other things to take care of," "But you said he'd left the place and was on his way here?" you ask, hands on either sides of your hip, "Last minute plan changes" Taeyong shrugs, "Anyways, let's get inside?" 

He pointed towards the front door with both his hands, gesturing you to go forward first. And so you do. You offer him a smile before turning your back towards him and making your way towards the old house, the door seemingly open. Climbing up the stairs with caution, humming at the sound of dried leaves crunching up below your feet with each footstep. Taeyong stood behind where you two had introduced yourselves for a few minutes, a few more minutes. "Taeyong? Are you not coming?" you turn around slightly, looking over your shoulder at lad standing still, "Yeah, I'm coming" he replied soullessly, still standing his group until he saw you open the door ajar and then took his first step forward. Not bothering to go too quick. 

The insides were simple, very very simple yet magnificent. The flooring seemed to be that of wooden finishing that creaked with each step you took, implying that of how old the infrastructure must be. You look around in awe, clutching at the sling bag that you carried along. You go corner to corner, not bothering to look behind to see if the friendly stranger was hot on your trail, instead seemingly being captivated by the olden time-ish wallpapers and paintings and antique pieces that the wall adorned. Taeyong on the other hand was just growing restless, 4 more minutes until he could play his next victim, he was growing frantic. He did follow you inside, instead opting to walk the opposite direction as you, towards where he'd hidden the paper with your crimson blood and name written on it, contemplating whether to just tear it and carry on proving his existence to the female in the room. 3 more minutes, he bit into his lips, "Taeyong? Look, i found something!" He heard you scream.

Puffing out a breath of frustration, Taeyong replied "Coming!" and he walked out of the room, hands in his pocket towards where you stood by the bottom of the stairs, looking at the lighter in your hand that seemed relatively unused. "I found lighter down here" you look at him with a tiny pout evident on your lips, looking back and forth between the candle and the guy, puzzled. "It must be some thugs who came here to smoke or something" He shrugged it off, taking the lighter out of your hand. It must be you over analyzing things but without a single light turned on in the villa with only your flashlight acting as a source of light, but Taeyong looked even more lifeless than before. Eyes dark ebony and dangerous, somehow intimidating, lips adorning a bright shade of red in contrast to how you saw it the first time, and his aura had seemingly darkened. 2 more minutes. You shake your head and walk up the stairs and towards a room which has it's door wide open. Choosing to lay out your things there, you stretch out a few stiff limbs, "So, me and the boys were planning on doing the midnight game, you know. One of those stupid creepy pastas? I can't believe all of them bailed out on me last minute," you speak particularly to no one in the room, assuming that Taeyong was listening to you, whose ears only perked up at the words midnight and stupid. Midnight. 00:00Am. The devil smirked to himself. Midnight, at last. 

"I mean, Yangyang, Jaemin and Haechan came off as no shock to me- they're the other friend's by the way, but Yuta, it's weird for him to at least not let me know." You keep going, scrolling through your phone screen, only for it to load suddenly, No internet access. Sighing, you pull out offline downloads, "Did he tell you anything else? Like if he's feeling unwell or something?" you ask, letting the question float in the air, waiting for a reply. Getting known even after the passing of a few seconds, a minute too maybe, "Taeyong?" you stand up from the bed, well, the bed frame and make your way outside, "Tae?" you look left and right, searching for any moving soul when you feel your phone vibrate in your hands, and the sound of notification resonates through the eerie silence. You look down at the device in your hand, one new message from Yuta san and an immediate black out of the screen. Impossible. 

You remembered full well charging your phone to a hundred percent before leaving your dorm. Hell, you even kept it on airplane mode your whole cab ride. Shrugging it off, you keep your phone beside your bag and then proceed to go out to look for your new friend? acquaintance? You didn't even know how to classify him as yet. "Tae, if you're trying to scare me, I'll give you heads up, it doesn't work on me." you chuckle, walking to the room beside the one you were previously lounging in. "It's past midnight and we both seem too uninterested to try out whatever we were supposed to anyways, how about we just head out?" you start, looking down at your wrist watch which displayed 00:09 on the screen in neon green. "I mean, it was stupid enough that my friends and i even decided to try it out knowing it's some made up shit to scare some seven olds, probably" you continue, feeling as though you're talking to the walls at the lack of response. "Taeyong, come on. I'm growing bored." 

"Tae-" "You know, the way you logicised made it seem like you're smart enough. It was impressive," you hear his voice, a little too hoarse and plain for your liking, he continued before you could muster up a reply, "But seems like you aren't all that smart after all, seeing how you believed a total stranger and are even ready to spend time with him." you look around the place, only hearing his voice but his figure to be nowhere near you, "Taeyong, what are you talking about?" you head out of the room you currently stood in, jogging to catch his voice.

"It was a little angering you know? The way you spoke about me and my followers, it was disrespectful. And I could've taken you then and there, but what to do. You seemed too cute to take your soul without a small game? Is that what you humans call it?" You feel breathing fanning the nape of your neck and a cold air following it right after, making you turn back, "Your friend got his share of play" you whip your head forward, finally seeing the male in front of you, standing by the door frame of a connective hallway, you swore you felt his presence behind you though. His infamous smirk still adorning his features. Figure a little more towering and intimidating. If you thought he couldn't have seemed more lifeless a few minutes ago, then his appearance now only seemed to prove you wrong. "So it's only fair if you got your part of the play too, right?" 

"Taeyong, you're only making your existence weird for me, let's go if you're done." He only tilted his head in amusement, "Oh it's only about to get weirder, darling" You turn back to face a blood red shot eyed male, well, Taeyong, eliciting a gasp from you, you look over your shoulder to see the place where Taeyong stood a blink of eye ago. "How..did-" His chest visibly vibrated from the hearty laugh he let out, "How did I do that?," you step back as his voice dropped even lower, only for you to bump your back into something rigid, something cold, making you let out a yelp as Taeyong seemed to stand still in front of you, "I can do a whole lot of things," you feared turning back, the insides of your stomach hurdling around as whatever was behind you reached their arms up and held you still in a vice grip. "Y/n!" you hear a voice scream from downstairs, "Y/n! Come out! We need to get out of here!" you recognize the voice as that of your friends, Yuta's. 

You squirm hard to loosen the person's grip on your shoulder. Once succeeding, you bolt down the stairs, skipping a few steps, tripping now and then but nevertheless making it down without landing face first as you hear Taeyong's laugh thunder throughout the place. You take a turn to reach the front door, where Yuta stood in all his glory. You immediately run into his embrace, ignoring how his body seemed just as cold as the one you felt from whatever Taeyong was, "Y-yuta, he's sick, let's go, we need to go!" you try pulling Yuta's body a little closer to the exit, only for him to stand his ground, wrapping his hands around you even tighter as he caressed your hair, "Oh, Y/n.." your body goes stiff as your eyebrows furrowed in confusion, that sounded nothing like your best friend, "Yuta..?" 

You try pulling your head away from the nape of his neck to look at him, "No darling, it's 'stupid made up shit''," his body vibrated once again from the laughing against yours, as you feel yourself growing scared each passing second. You try mustering up all your strength to bring it to his sides and push him away when you feel a plush yet cold muscle press against your neck, only for it to go futile. "Still made up for you?" you feel a sharp pang of pain flow through your nerves, result of him biting the skin in a manner far too away from soft, "Taeyon-g- lord--midnight man, whatever you are.. I'm --sorry" you say in a hushed voice, scared that if you voiced out a little louder, he'd pounce at you. You feel him nibble at the soft skin, making you whimper, "Oh no, darling, do not apologize. Your doings really intoxicated me. Kept me entertained for a while." 

"But now, it's angering me to know a feeble creature as you kept poking fun at my people. At me. And I want no more than to turn you into something belonging to me. Who'd worship me the way 'my people' do." He whispered against the area, lifting his head up and leaning down, making sure not to let go of his grip on you, "oh no, pretty girls aren't supposed to cry. Tsk tsk, what is this, Y/n" His eyes bore holes onto the crown of your head. "Look at me." he acted on making you look at him faster than you could, "Could you beg for forgiveness? Give me a piece of yourself?" he inched closer to your face, a small snarl escaping his throat at your scared and trembling figure, "Or you could just be my queen and come below with me, and you'd not have to cut down your lifespan" 

"Are you turned on by all of this, Y/n? Or is it out of fear?" you let out a shaky breath as the tip of his nose touched yours, "Because i can smell you from here and oh," he let out what sounded like an animalistic growl, "Is it delicious.". "Taeyong, please let me go.. I'm sorry. I really am, just please don't hurt me,-" you let out a whine of pain when you feel his other hand knot his fingers in your locks and pull it back with much aggression, immediately planting his lips onto your trembling once, bearing his fang like teeth into plush flesh to draw out blood, earning a loud high pitched scream from your end as you try your best to push him away, futile once again. His hands tighten their grip at the waist while his other hand pulled your head further back, latching onto the firm skin of your neck, treating it with the same aggression, puncturing through the skin with his teeth as your hands go limp beside your body, nevertheless, letting out a whimper from the harsh treatment, which, in all your defense couldn't be help since you still are a human with all emotion any human would feel, that including lust. You feel his cold lips curve into a smirk against where blood flowed out, lapping it up with his tongue as you feel your vision blacken the more as time went by. 

"Oh darling you're no different than me.."

4th November, 19:48Pm, 2020.

"She's awake!!" you blink multiple times to get accustomed to the blaring lights in the room, a comfortable white filling your eyesight. You move your head towards the side to find all your friends sprawled out on each side. A drip connected to your hands making you squint in confusion, "Can you hear us, Y/n?" you feel your shoulders being shaken as jolt, "Hey? Yeah i can hear you, why won't i be able to?" you ask, confusion still laced in your voice, "Because you hadn't responded to us the last time we called you. And because you've been laying dead the past few days" Jaemin spoke up first, earning a smack from his elder brother 

"Why didn't you stop when we screamed your name the other day, Y/n? You literally weren't breathing the day we found you" Yangyang inquired and stated, "And why did you leave us all on seen??" Haechan added, "Most of all, where were you even??" Yuta spoke. You hiss at all the questions being thrown at you as you try sitting up by the inclined hospital bed, "Screamed? Didn't respond? I left you on seen? That's highly impossible and where was i??" you stare blankly at the plain wall in front of you, trying to remember any such episode. The more you strained your head, the more clueless you grew. Your throat starts to grow dry so you turn your neck to check if there are any water bottles nearby, only for a sharp pain to flow through your nerves at a particular spot in your throat. You yelp at the sudden pain, "I'll get the doctor," Haechan rushed outside, when you reached out to touch your neck, feeling it with the tips of your finger, feeling in the swollen skin, the dried up blood when it all hit you. Your eyes grow wide as you start shaking, for it to be first noticed by Yuta, "Yuta, that house! The game, it's all real! I saw hi-him, his name! I swear he's real!" growing concerned at your sudden frenzy behavior, Yuta kneeled down beside your bed, holding your non-injected hand giving it a comforting behavior. 

"Calm down, angel. Tell me point by point," he encouraged you to take in a long breath, as Haechan rushed in along with the doctor whose face was half covered with a doctor's mask, "Doctor, he-he's probably out for me, you need to get me far away from here! Please" you beg with your eyes stinging with all the tears, "No one's going to get you from here, Ms. Y/n, you're safe here" You pause your frantic actions for a while. That voice sounded a little too familiar for your liking, making you think you're over analyzing everything again. The doctor gestured to your friends to leave you up to him to have a doctor to patient talk. All of your friends nodded in understanding, giving you one last reassuring smile before collectively leaving the room. 

The doctor, once after making sure that everyone left, removed his mask to reveal the oh so familiar smirk and the hair protector, rustling the same, familiar bright red hair with the same familiar pale fingers of his. Your eyes widen, mouth falls wide ajar

"Oh wait, there's one last warning, Do not assume that the Midnight Man has left your home for good at the conclusion of the game. I'm for real done now" You laugh at your friend who snatched the phone away from you,

"Pleasure to meet you again, darling"

[azuresins]

any thoughts on why sebastian is still existing and walking around at current, if Rciel is technically alive and evidently not sacrificed ?

I wasn’t sure if I was going to answer this one or not, because .... reasons. But I will anyway. Fuck it.  Sebastian explicitly stated he requires both a wish, and a sacrifice, in order to be summoned properly. He clearly used R!Ciel’s blood to physically manifest into being (we’ll come back to that later). Sebastian was also clearly confused and told Undertaker (and RCIEL to an extent) what they were seeing-- R!Ciel alive, was impossible, otherwise he couldn’t be standing there (I love that he just said that openly and didn’t care who was listening or what they made of it... anyway).  So it can also be assumed, then, that the sacrifice he requires; can not be living. That’s an important distinction, because it means it’s about more than just the blood- someone can’t sacrifice a limb, for example, and expect it to be enough.  We can assume then, that what that means, is that Sebastian has R!Ciel’s soul with him AS WELL as some of his blood. And he is certain that he still has both of those things; hence him stating that he has never seen anything quite like R!Ciel’s bizarre doll before. A walking puppet that houses his memories and keeps lingering on... Nothing more. The blood and the soul inside him must not actually belong to him (and I think that’s what all the current arcs are getting at; explaining what is required to make a bizarre doll).  Coming back to Sebastian physically manifesting: it also stands to reason Sebastian requires the blood (DNA), of the sacrifice, to take a tangible form and that’s how his magic works. He slices himself with the DNA of the sacrifice. All the animals he shape-shifts into at the beginning of his meeting with O!Ciel were jarring, but I don’t think he was trying to scare him on purpose, I think those were merely only some off-hand forms he had readily available because they were all sacrifices made by his previous contractors (NO ONE said that the sacrifice had to be human! Most of the time sacrifices to summon demons historically have been animals... sometimes even insects, and small things).  And he didn’t want to bother stepping into the new-form, until he knew that O!Ciel was committed and ready-to-work with him.  This also answers the reason why Sebastian looks a fair bit like Vincent. He doesn’t; he looks like a grown-up version of R!Ciel and to an extent he also looks a bit like O!Ciel since identical twins have the same DNA. Sebastian by-and-large represents everything that O!Ciel can not do himself because he doesn’t have the strength and is a child... but WOULD do if he could. So it makes perfect sense if you think about it. 

[petri808]

Hauntober prompt Cauldron

Nalu requested by @rougescribe

Lucy never knew the life of a witch could be so... busy. People came from far and wide to her for potions to fix everything from illnesses to money, a more prosperous garden, or finding true love hence the latest mix of ingredients bubbling in her cauldron. It was a never ending stream of people willing to pay top dollar for quick fixes and the love potions are a number one seller. And why not? Everyone wants to find love.

The fall season brought an influx of buyers tired of spending another cold winter alone. Lucy couldn’t begrudge them for it because it was very lonesome, hold up or snowed in with only fur blankets and a fire to warm you up. Imagine, a nice hot body to cuddle up with and pass away the long dreary hours... She sighs, stirring the brew as those longing emotions interrupt her concentration.

It’s been awhile since she’d had a boyfriend. A flirty warlock when life was free and settling down was the furthest thing from her mind. Loke was a lot of fun, but now Lucy wanted more than just a relationship built on sex. Someone to come home to, maybe have a family together, and grow old with. But to use your own potions on yourself broke spiritual laws, for such a selfish act was bound to backfire.

Sigh, “I wish I had time to find love...”

But there wasn’t time right now and Lucy needed to get this potion finished and bottled to restock her supplies. She adds the final stabilizing agent and utters an activation spell.

Brew thine hearts entwined

Of love that lasts for all of time

Reveal to bearer a match to be

A soul that is meant for thee.

The bubbling liquid began to glow, signaling to Lucy that the potion was being activated. She turns away momentarily to grab her ladle, when a loud boom and flash of red light catches her off guard, propelling her to the ground. “Oh, no!” Had she messed up the spell?!

When she looks up, a vision was poised in the cloud of reddish smoke hovering above the cauldron. It was of a man with pink hair and a bright smile wearing the clothing of a typical farmer in the area. Who was this male? Lucy doesn’t remember ever seeing him before. Perhaps her heart had triggered the spell... for her?

No, she shakes her head at the thought. It couldn’t be. That was merely the spell to activate the love potion not trigger it. All her thoughts of love and longing were playing tricks with her mind. Or maybe even a cruel tease. Yeah, that’s it, it was taunting her. She would never knowingly violate sacred rules. Lucy puts it out of her mind and goes back to dolling out her potion into vials for would be buyers, letting the whole incident slip away like a melting frost.

A week later, the witch ventures out of her home on a chilly but sunny morning, ready to purchase goods and supplies. The local market square was bustling because of the break in the weather, which was nice to see so many people taking advantage of it. Magnolia really was a quaint trading town and she was glad to have chosen it to settle down in.

Lucy picks up a few loaves of bread at a bakery, along with vegetables not found in her own garden from a couple of the stalls. She chats with the vendors briefly, always one to make conversation and keep up a friendly air about her to ensure a later customer base. Her patronage was also reciprocal when they’d send new customers her way. Being a trading town, passerby’s were welcomed and through word of mouth is how her potion business flourished.

The last stop is to a meat merchant which tended to be less stable because it depended on their hunting or fishing yields. One never knew what they might find day to day at such stalls, but Lucy hoped for a nice dry-aged meat like venison or even salted hare. There was a crowd of giggling women around the stall. No surprise there, brawny hunters always attracted the ladies.

While she waits her turn, Lucy sees a friend named Cana and starts up a conversation. The barfly worked at her fathers tavern in town which serviced many of the sailors that came to port. She dabbled in the psychic end of magic, giving out fortune telling and card reading by request. Cana was also great for passing along new customers in the market for potions with a hey I see love in your life, check out my friend for a love potion.

“Solstice is almost here, so I need to prepare...” Lucy’s words die away the moment her eyes land on the meat merchant. She stares forward in disbelief, glued to the man. “It can’t be!” She whispers.

Cana waves a hand in front of Lucy’s face. “Stop drooling. You didn’t know? He’s the new guy in town.”

“No... I-I haven’t been here in a week.” Pink hair and dashingly bright smile. The man was even more handsome in person. Lucy couldn’t believe her eyes. “I saw him in a vision.”

“Oh? I didn’t know you were practicing precognition.”

“I’m not, it happened when I was brewing the love potion.”

“Well in that case, go say hi!” Cana shoves the woman forward, giving Lucy a go get ‘em wink before walking away.

“Hello,” the man smiles at Lucy. “What can I interest you in today?”

‘You...’ “I um, do you have any venison?”

“Darn,” he taps his chin, “not here, but I do have some at home that should be done curing.”

“Oh, so tomorrow?”

“Well, if you’d like I could deliver some this evening after I close my stall for the day.”

Lucy blinks in surprise. “Really? You’d do that for me?”

The man smiles causing her breathing to falter. “Yeah, it’d be no problem.” He sticks out his hand. “My name’s Natsu by the way. Just moved in a couple weeks ago with my brother Zeref.”

She smiles back, her heart racing with an excitement she hadn’t felt in a long, long time. “Lucy, it’s nice to meet you.”

[missingartist]

The Witcher’s Mate Chapter 12

The sun had just pierced the night sky, given the world a rosy glow. The light was soft, and the air was warm. Not even the roosters were awake, the only noise that could be heard was the gentle creak of the stiff rope as Adva span slowly on the swing. She couldn’t remember the last time she had swung on the swing; her childhood didn’t consist of playing and jumping with pals, more cleaning and learning to cook. But before Tradi had taken from the orphanage, there had been a rope swing where she, Lesa and Peter would play for hours before being dragged in by Elsda, the kindly older woman who nursed them. Briefly, Adva’s mind drifted to her old care keeper. The towns ombudsman paid to keep the orphans of the town; it was a wealthy town, so they were few and far between, so their care had been good. Elsda had been a widow of a fisherman with one young daughter of her own to support. They were given clothes and feed and taught skills, it was a happy childhood, till the age of nine, Elsda's daughter had married a well to do spice merchant and the older woman set off to be close to her only daughter. But not before settling her wards in professions. Peter became a blacksmith and Lesa a seamstress, while she became an assistant to Tradi and subject to his experiments. Anger hitched in the back of her mind if Elsda had taken a little bit more care maybe she wouldn’t be subjected to Tradi’s awful behaviour. The anger disappeared as soon as it appeared. Adva could never hold onto anger despite how much she tried; she was a pushover. Even when Geralt brought her and whisked her away, her anger had disappeared after a week. Logic had won, and all the reason he gave subdued her anger and gave more need to fuel the passion for learning and to hone her craft.

The studies where not hard by required a lot of focus, but at the end of the day, Adva could barely force herself to sleep, hence her dawn wondering. As the swing twirled around against, a familiar hulk-like figured came into view as she spun. Geralt appeared out of nowhere, instead of his intimidating armour, he was dressed in a thin linen undershirt, and button breeches.

Geralt had a mostly sleepless night; since Triss had conjured that awful potion, there was no doubt in his mind that Adva was his mate, it drove the monster within him to want to be near her and claim her. Efforts to ignore her or avoid her exhausted him more, so Geralt subject himself to remain in her presence, near enough to calm his beast but not enough to engage the urge to take her. That morning the sound of her leaving her room drove him from trying to get several more hours sleep, Geralt followed her at a distance, watching as she swung and spun, she wore the scarlet dress he had brought her with a thin white blouse, it hitched itself ever so slightly with each movement, carefree and unrestrained, revealing a sliver of the thigh, a milky paleness that Geralt yearned to fondle. Finding himself moving, he came to a holt behind the woman.

A delicate blush coloured her pale skin which gave Geralt great pleasure, but she was thankful that the swing righted itself right, so her back was facing him, hoping that she had seen too much. Clearing her voice, she spoke, ‘Couldn’t sleep?’

‘Hmmm’

‘Me neither, suppose I’m still used to waking up before dawn to get the tavern ready.’

Geralt didn’t respond; instead, his hands softly began to push the swing. Adva giggled as the swing gained momentum, sending her higher and higher into the air. With every touch, a fizz of electric buddle against her skin. The dress she wore was thick and densely woven, and even through that, she could still feel the heat of his skin.

‘How are you feeling now… with everything?’ the smooth voice questions as he pushed her.  

‘Good… I feel better… Triss is nice. I am learning about botany at the minute. It's nice to learn things finally...’ The conversation dead in the air. There was an awkward tension between them; there had been since the events with the drowners, her forehead still tingled where he rested his head against hers. It was so intimate, so loving and tender it makes her heart flutter. In spite of herself, it did make her want something, something she didn’t know, a deep yearning inside her, but the overwhelming logic side of her won. There would be nothing between them; she was too plump and pale, not slender and chiselled like Triss. She bet even Yennefer look like she had been carved by the gods. Witchers would attract the most desired women, why on earth would Geralt cast his eyes in her direct and after spending ten long years in service to a brothel a kitchen maid, she was not about to let herself be used the way they were.

‘For what it is worth, I am sorry, for everything.’ Geralt hand stilled, seemingly waiting for an onslaught on emotions.

Instead, Geralt watched as Adva stood on the swing. It was the first time she had been able to look at him face to face. He had a handsome, exquisite face and deep-set eyes. A nervous giggle cascaded from her lips as the swing rock recklessly, Geralt hands grabbed onto her hips to steady her. The giggle died on her lip as she stared at him, despite his expressionless feature, ther was something swirling wildly in his eyes as he looked down at his hand on her broad hips. For a minute, she thought he would rip his hand from her, but instead, they tighten comfortingly into her flesh.

‘You saved me. Triss told me about what would happen with magic build-up, I would have lost my mind or started killing people, and if that didn’t happen. Vivian would have eventually forced me into whoring, as much as I hate to admit it. She always got her way, and if I didn’t, she would have sold the contract before I got to my 25th birthday to people far worse then Tradi. You took me away and brought me here, you didn’t have to, but you did so… Thank you.’ Adva smiled across at him and leaned over, pecking him on his smooth golden cheek.

The look on Geralt face was a mix of fear and shock; it was rather adorable in away. The Witcher's eyes scanned her face half expecting her to slap his face and mock him for believing that she would forgive him, but she slipped from grasp smiling and hopped off the swing, and began to make her way across the lawn.

‘Where…where are you going?’

‘Into town…Triss is giving a ‘consultation’ to the Marquis, so she said as long as I read the books, I could do what I wanted…so I thought I’d have a look around. That alright?’ Adva frowned a little as she watched the Witcher stalk over to her.

‘I am coming with you… it dangerous in new towns.’ Geralt marched ahead, leaving a confused woman to trail after him.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

What was dangerous about this town Adva could not comprehend. There were no dodgy men hanging around in doorways or whores on the street corners. It was a prosperous town. Clean and proper, men tipped their hats to each other as they passed, ladies curtsied and fanned themselves with embroidered fans. Even the vendors were finely dressed and pleasant. Yet, the Witcher walk side by side with her, like some sort of bodyguard, stopping every time she did and following ever movement she did.

By the time they had reached the town, the sun was up high in the sky, and the people flickered from one shop to the next. The shops were ornate and glistened in the light. Adva moved from shop to shop, browsing, some of the proprietors smiled and welcomed her other gave her a dismissive look, eyeing her dress with distaste before focusing in the finer dressed individuals that came into their shops, but not before Geralt gave them a steel-faced warning shot. When they entered a shop Geralt, instead of browsing the wares, chose to stand off from her watching her intensely. The Witcher observed she liked the sweetshop. The warm sugar gave the whole shop and comforting aura. Adva marvelled as the men pulling taffy, the chocolatier that crafted individual pieces of chocolate and the gelatine being poured into the moulds. But she seemed to have loved the toy shop— marvelling at the objects of such innovative design and craft. Giant rocking horse, size of actual horses guarded the door of the large shop floor; wooden toy soldiers were lined up nearly, doll and puppets laid carefully in cabinets and dolls housed of all sizes and types were on display with miniature pieces of furniture and household products were painted so lifelike that Adva was sure they were real. A little doll set caught her eye, a male and female set; they were pretty nothing extravagant, one came with a little dress, and the other came with a wooden sword.

‘Ahhh my Lady has a good eye.’ A bird-like women came into view, a homely face dressed in an elegant blue dress. My husband’s favourite, he can make working dolls that sing music and wet themselves but yet he like these things. He says they have a soul…. Men hmmm… Is madam looking for something in particular? Or are you and your husband looking for something for your children? We have some….’

‘Ohhh no, just looking.’ Adva cut off the women quickly, dropping the dolls back on the display.

‘Ah, I see…ahhhh newlyweds then…trying… or is it thinking about trying? Enjoying the practice are you?...well we have all your toy needs. Let me know if you need anything.’ The delicate women chuckled as she darted back from where she came from, leaving the pair alone in the shop.

A deep blush formed on Adva’s cheeks as she all but flew out of the shop, followed by chuckling Witcher.

‘That was not funny.’ Adva groaned trying to hide her face with her hair.

‘Hmmm’

‘Geralt’ Adva scandalised as she increased her pace up the street.

‘Least you know where to go for toys when you have little ones.’ Geralt laughed, his whole face lite up as he smiled.

Adva observed him for a moment; it was the first time she had seen him smile; it was beautiful and made him ungodly handsome. The amber of his eyes lit up like pure fire, and it allowed him to seem less threatening to those who passed him. When he smiled, he was not the Witcher or Geralt of Rivia, simply Geralt the man. The smile made her want to reach up and brush his silver locks out of his eyes, and brush her lips against his. Adva wanted to, but she couldn’t, she wouldn’t make a fool out of herself, he was partially a god, and she was her.

Shaking her head, she pulled her thoughts away for the urge to kiss him and gave him a soft smile,‘I don’t think there is any risk of that?’

‘I am sure you will have children one day…most women do.’ Geralt offered.

In honestly it was not something Geralt wanted to discuss with her. As a Witcher, he was sterile and would never be able to produce children with Adva, even if he wanted to. It was another thing on his long list that supported his determination to never mate with her; he would never be able to give her a family, and she would resent him for that which he could never endure. It was almost as painful as the thought of her laying with another man and getting pregnant, having to know that her stomach would swell with another mans child made him feel sickness he never felt before.

‘No, erm I never… never bloomed as they say.’

‘That doesn’t mean anything. Many women bloom late…’ Geralt offered sincerely.

‘It's not that…when I was younger…Tradi beat me quite viciously, can’t even remember why…it's the reason Lord Brightwater rehomed me and why the brothel was so keen on having me. The healer at the time thought it was because of that. Cersi doesn’t seem quite as convinced but… doesn’t matter I probably wasn’t going to have them anyway…’ Adva struggled, there was some hurt there deep down but like most things in her life out of her control. It wasn’t something she wanted to delve into any deeper. ‘What about you? I know Witcher can’t have children, but you adopted one right, Ciri.’ Adva prodded wanting to switch the conversation.

Geralt was pensive for a moment but broke the awkwardness between them. ‘She adopted me really; I trained her and kept her safe.’

‘Where is she now?’

‘With Yennefer.’

‘Who is Yennefer?’

‘Someone I used to be close with…but we a too different. But we are still there for Ciri... she is one of my closed friends’ Geralt slowly spoke, unsure.

‘Well, that’s good. Least your still friends and together as a family for Ciri.’ Adva smiled as they made there was back to the archway of the house. ‘This had been fun…we should do it again next time we both can’t sleep.’ Adva smiled softly before she entered the house, leaving a cloudy eyed Witcher behind him.

So what do you think?

I hope you are all well and safe. I have had some lovely messages and requests for stories so thank to you all, really gave me a kick up the bum to get writing. And some interesting prompts to explore- let me know if you have any prompts- all welcome

Please leave comments xx

@introvertedmouse @luxyash @broco8​ @threepupsinapuddle​ @shesthelastjedi​

[kkintle]

Nightmare Alley by William Lindsay Gresham; Quotes

For at Cumae I saw with my own eyes the Sibyl hanging in a bottle. And when the boys asked her, “What do you want, Sibyl?” she answered, “I want to die.” —The Satyricon

It was like a kaleidoscope—the design always changing, the particles always the same.

Stan watched them with a strange, sweet, faraway smile on his face. It was the smile of a prisoner who has found a file in a pie.

That was what everybody said and people who made love but weren’t really in love were called tramps. Molly knew several ladies who were tramps and she asked Dad one time why they were tramps and that’s what he said: that they’d let anybody hug and kiss them either for presents or money. You shouldn’t do that unless the guy was a swell guy and not likely to cross you up or take a powder on you if you were going to have a baby. Dad said you should never let anybody make love to you if you couldn’t use his toothbrush, too. He said that was a safe rule and if you followed that you couldn’t go wrong.

Questions? They’ve all got questions, Stan thought, passing out cards and envelopes. Who hasn’t? Answer their questions and you can have them, body and soul. Or just about.

Magic is all right, but if only I knew human nature like Zeena. She has the kind of magic that ought to take anybody right to the top. It’s a convincer—that act of hers. Yet nobody can do it, cold. It takes years to get that kind of smooth talk, and she’s never stumped.

She had never turned a hair, lying to Pete about him being in the bathtub. It comes natural in women, he thought. That’s the way they all do when they have guts enough. That’s the way they would all like to do. He found himself trembling.

Zeena taught him many things, some of them about magic. “Misdirection is the whole works, honey. You don’t need no fancy production boxes and trap doors and trick tables. I’ve always let on that a man that will spend his time learning misdirection can just reach in his pocket and put something in a hat and then go ahead and take it out again and everybody will sit back and gasp, wondering where it came from.”

There’s very few girls goes in for magic. And that’s the reason. A gal spends all her time learning how to attract attention to herself. Then in magic she has to unlearn all that and learn how to get the audience to look at something else. Strain’s too great. The dolls can never make it. I couldn’t. I’ve always stuck to the mental business. It don’t hurt anybody—makes plenty of friends for you wherever you go. Folks are always crazy to have their fortunes told, and what the hell— You cheer ’em up, give ’em something to wish and hope for. That’s all the preacher does every Sunday. Not much different, being a fortuneteller and a preacher, way I look at it. Everybody hopes for the best and fears the worst and the worst is generally what happens but that don’t stop us from hoping. When you stop hoping you’re in a bad way.”

And when he was up there in front of them he really believed he was doing it. And then all of a sudden he began to see that there wasn’t no magic anywhere to lean on and he had nobody to lean on in the end but himself—not me, not his friends, not Lady Luck—just himself. And he was scared he would let himself down.” “So he did?” “Yeah. He did.”

“Because here’s one thing you must never forget: a man drinks because he’s unhappy. Isn’t anything about liquor that makes a man bad. A man that’s happy can take a drink with the boys on Saturday night and come home with his pay safe in his pocket. But when a man’s miserable about something he takes a drink to forget it and one isn’t enough and he takes another snort and pretty soon the week’s pay is all gone and he gets home and sobers up and then his wife starts in on him and he’s more miserable than he was before and then his first thought is to go get drunk again and it runs around and around in a circle.”

How helpless they all looked in the ugliness of sleep. A third of life spent unconscious and corpselike. And some, the great majority, stumbled through their waking hours scarcely more awake, helpless in the face of destiny. They stumbled down a dark alley toward their deaths. They sent exploring feelers into the light and met fire and writhed back again into the darkness of their blind groping.

“The chumps,” Stan whispered. “Either too bashful to ask or too dumb to suspect.” But they were anxious to find out, all of them. As if jazzing wasn’t what they all want, the goddamned hypocrites. They all want it. Only nobody else must have it.

For every unusual question there will be fifty that you have had before. Human nature is the same everywhere. All have the same troubles. They are worried. Can control anybody by finding out what he’s afraid of. Works with question-answering act. Think out things most people are afraid of and hit them right where they live. Health, Wealth, Love. And Travel and Success. They’re all afraid of ill health, of poverty, of boredom, of failure. Fear is the key to human nature. They’re afraid….”

Find out what they are afraid of and sell it back to them.

It’s somewhere to the north of here; I’m positive of that.” It was sure-fire. All of ’em want North, Stan thought. It was the dark alley, all over again. With a light at the end of it.

They have it too—a nightmare alley. The North isn’t the end. The light will only move further on. And the fear close behind them. White and black, it made no difference.

It’s funny how you can see a girl every day for months and yet not see her, Stan thought. Then something will happen—like the way Molly’s mouth presses together when she holds the arc points and the fire starts to fly. Then you see her all different.

The geek has his whisky. The rest of them drink something else: they drink promises. They drink hope.

There is no weapon you can use against malicious envy except the confidence in your way of life as the moral and righteous one, no matter what the envious say.

But then lots of good-looking people had when they were young and that really didn’t mean a thing. It was managing to stay in show business and stay at the top that counted. Never getting to be a has-been and washed-up. That was the worst thing, to be washed-up. Only you had to save a pile of money while you were in the chips. And what with staying at the best places and buying dinners and drinks for managers and newspapermen and people they never seemed to get much ahead at the end of a season on the road. That is, the more the act was worth, the more it seemed to take to sell it.

The next day Mother got breakfast for him. He said nothing and neither did she. But she wasn’t a grownup any more. Or he wasn’t a kid any more. There were no more grownups. They lied when they got scared, just like anybody. Everybody was alike only some were bigger.

Isn’t it better to give them something to hope for? What does a regular preacher do every Sunday? Only all he does is promise. We’ll do more than promise. We’ll give ’em proof!”

The earth doesn’t age as fast as the things man makes.

“My dear friend, have you ever thought that these persons whom you have mourned as dead will never die?”

In a patch of silver the Rev. Carlisle stopped and raised his face to the full moon, where it hung desolately, agonizingly bright—a dead thing, watching the dying earth.

(...) no one he could trust. Loneliness came over him, like an avalanche of snow. He was alone. Where he had always wanted to be. You can only trust yourself. There’s a rat buried deep in everybody and they’ll rat on you if they get pushed far enough.

North south east west—cold spring heat fall—love lust tire leave—wed fight leave hate—sleep wake eat sleep—child boy man corpse—touch kiss tongue breast—strip grip press jet—wash dress pay leave—north south east west …

Then he drew away from her and turned to look at her face. As the wind quickened he saw her perfectly molded nostrils quiver, scenting spring as an animal tastes the wind. Was she an animal? Was all the mystery nothing more than that? Was she merely a sleek, golden kitten that unsheathed its claws when it had played enough and wanted solitude? But the brain that was always at work, always clicking away behind the eyes—no animal had such an organ; or was it the mark of a superanimal, a new species, something to be seen on earth in a few more centuries? Had nature sent out a feeling tentacle from the past, groping blindly into the present with a single specimen of what mankind was to be a thousand years hence?

Kids always play alike. Rough-house around until one gets hurt and then the fight starts. A couple of socks and they quit and the next minute are friends again. Oh, Christ, why do you have to grow up into a life like this one? Why do you ever have to want women, want power, make money, make love, keep up a front, sell the act, suck around some booking agent, get gypped on the check—?

(...) or whatever they wanted to do that they had become so afraid of doing that they would pay her twenty-five dollars an hour to tell them either why it was all right to do it or go on doing it or think about doing it or how they could stop doing it or stop wanting to do it or stop thinking about doing it or do something else that was almost as good or something which was bad but would make you feel better or just something to do to be able to do something.

(...) didn’t want anything of him except the knowledge that when she wanted him in the night and wanted his mouth on her and wanted him kneeling beside her, kissing her, she would have him doing all those things to her as she wanted them done and just when she wanted them done and just how she wanted them done to her because she had only what she wanted from anybody and she had let him do those things to her because she had wanted them done to her not because he could do them better than anyone else although he didn’t know if there was anybody else and didn’t want to know and it didn’t matter and she could have him any time she wanted those things done to her because that was the way she was and she was to be obeyed in all things because she held in her hand the golden thread which carried the current of life into him and she held behind her eyes the rheostat that fixed the current and she could starve him and dry him up and kill him by freezing if she wanted to and this was where he had gotten himself only it didn’t matter because as long as one end of the golden wire was embedded in his brain he could breathe and live and move and become as great as she wanted since she sent the current along the wire for him to become great with and live with and even make love to Molly

It’s a nut house. And the biggest loonies are at the top.”

“God’s sake, man, labor don’t need agitation. You can’t agitate people when they’s treated right. Labor don’t need stirring up. It need squeezing together.”

[imagitory]

The Cast of Yu-Gi-Oh...Sorted!

Hey guys! I’ve done several other posts like this for other fandoms and I’ve even Sorted some of these characters in other Sorting Hat asks in the past, but...well, I just decided, why not compile all of those thoughts in one big post to answer the question: where would the main cast of characters from Yu-Gi-Oh: Duel Monsters be Sorted, if they attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?

Yugi Mutou ~ Hufflepuff!

I’ve seen a lot of fictional Sortings favor putting “the hero” in Gryffindor with his “best friend” types all being in Hufflepuff, but Yugi, in my opinion, is a perfect example of how heroic Hufflepuff values can be. Whereas Atem uses clever strategies to outwit his opponents and save the day, Yugi’s greatest strength and magic is his compassion. It’s what transformed a bully like Jounouchi into a loyal comrade, what opened up fiery, distrustful Rebecca to friendship, what strengthened the bonds between the many different friends he’s made, and what moved the ruthless spirit of darkness inhabiting his body so much that that spirit saw him as his partner and equal. Like many Hufflepuffs I know, Yugi always puts his friends first, putting their safety and well-being over his own every time -- self-sacrifice is a tenant of Hufflepuff house, and Yugi has that in spades. Still, Yugi is just and noble enough to also protect those who might not necessarily “deserve” his help: he values all life, regardless of whose it is or how terrible that person has been to him. Yugi is warm, dedicated, loyal, and modest, and being a connoisseur of games, he also esteems fair play, hence why he reacts so bitterly to Insector Haga throwing his grandfather’s Exodia cards off the boat in an underhanded way to keep Yugi from using them to win any more duels.

Yami Yugi / Pharaoh Atem ~ Slytherin!

Atem is the yin to Yugi’s yang, the darkness to his light, and therefore the Slytherin to his Hufflepuff. Whereas Yugi’s soul room is light, airy, and open, Atem’s is a dark labyrinth of endless tunnels and traps -- and yeah, Hufflepuff’s and Slytherin’s commonrooms, despite both being underground, have that same dichotomy, with Hufflepuff’s being sunny and cheerful with a location next to the kitchens and Slytherin’s being dark and dungeon-like by the underground lake. Atem’s eternal goal is to win every game he plays, regardless of whether or not he initiates the game or not, and he will do anything to win, even if it ends up compromising his morals. (See his duel with Kaiba during Duelist Kingdom or the Orikalkos duel with Raphael for evidence of this.) When he or his friends are threatened, Atem also retaliates ruthlessly and mercilously, as Insector Haga or any of his Shadow Game victims from the early manga or season 0 can tell you. Fortunately, despite his intense drive to win at all costs, Atem does always follow the rules of whatever game he’s in and he almost always wins because he’s both clever and resourceful enough to outwit his opponents. Appropriate to Slytherins as well, he has a great desire and focus on his past, wanting to learn more about it so as to better understand who he is, what he’s supposed to do, and how he can approach the future. If Yugi showcases Hufflepuff heroism with mercy and kindness, then Atem showcases Slytherin heroism with brilliance and passion.

Katsuya Jounouchi ~ Gryffindor!

Admittedly Jounouchi does fit the hot-tempered, aggressive, yet noble stereotype of Gryffindor pretty well off-the-bat, but there’s more to it than that for me. Jounouchi is a very active person, ready to jump in to protect his friends from whatever slight is thrown their way -- all of the Gryffindors I know have a very “knight”-like affect to them where they just can’t sit back and do nothing when people are being mistreated. I would also argue that in the series, Jounouchi is motivated to become a stronger duelist not just because of him wanting to help his sister (which is why he entered Duelist Kingdom), but because he wants to improve himself. As he tells Kaiba at one point at the end of Battle City, even after he lost to Marik on a technicality (JOUNOUCHI SHOULD’VE WON THAT DUEL AND BECOME THE OWNER OF THE WINGED DRAGON OF RA AND I WILL SCREAM THAT ‘TIL THE DAY I DIE), “his Battle City isn’t over,” because he hasn’t yet earned his Red Eyes back from Yugi in the duel they promised to have after the tournament was over. And honestly, I’d say Jounouchi’s “Battle City” will probably never be over for him, because every duel he fights only makes him love the game more and makes him push himself to become even better. Jounouchi’s nobility also shines through multiple times in the show, whether it’s promising to save Ryuzaki’s soul from Dartz after he defeats him in their duel, ordering his Red Eyes Black Dragon to protect Mokuba from a blast from the Five-Headed Dragon even if it meant dooming himself, or getting Yugi the last piece of the Millennium Puzzle back after he threw it into a pond. 

Hiroto Honda ~ Hufflepuff!

Honestly, thanks to his lack of character development in the Duel Monsters anime and the shifts in his limited characterization between his manga, season 0, and anime selves, this Sorting is really tricky. In season 0 exclusively, Honda is portrayed as more of a rule-keeper and is the head of the “beautification department” (which I guess is sort of like a janitorial thing, but for students?). It hints to a love of order that seems very Ravenclaw-esque and could’ve been an interesting twist to set him apart from Jounouchi and the others, but alas, it’s something that really isn’t reflected that much in either manga!Honda or DM!Honda’s characterization. In all three mediums, though, even though he’s depicted as having been Jounouchi’s friend long before he met Yugi and Anzu, Honda still comes off as more level-headed and cautious than Jounouchi. If Jounouchi is a raging hothead, Honda is the down-to-earth voice of reason. We also see in all three mediums that Honda has a romantic side, whether it’s with classmate Miho Nosaka or Jounouchi’s little sister Shizuka, and really, it’s in that capacity that we see that Honda can be pretty darn stupid too. (Not trying to bash Honda, truly, but this guy does not know how to play the game of love at all.) In the end, no matter which series we see him in, Honda’s main motivation is sticking by his buddies. He’s no duelist and he has little interest in being so, but he deeply cares about his friends’ safety and will always be right there to protect them and cheer them on however he can. So as much as I lament that I don’t have more to work with when it comes to Honda, his loyalty and down-to-earth demeanor do seem very consistent with Hufflepuff. 

Anzu Mazaki ~ Gryffindor!

Anzu is another character whose characterization fluctuates between the manga and the two anime series. In all three mediums, she’s a dedicated, romantic person who although not being talented in Duel Monsters herself is always there to cheer her friends on in their struggles. In the manga, she’s depicted as a little more flighty and girly, using love charms and getting her romantic fortune told, and at one point even recklessly putting herself in danger in the hopes that “the other Yugi” will appear and rescue her. In season 0, we see her being braver and more vocal in standing up to people -- she tries to protect a girl from punishment after she gets caught trying to confess her feelings to Jounouchi in a love letter; she helps catch a criminal hiding out in the fast food restaurant she works in by lying about what ingredients are used in their burgers; and she resolutely decides to have her soul transferred into a doll alongside Yugi and her friends when Yami Bakura challenges them to a Monster World Shadow Game. In the Duel Monsters anime, some of that courage is shaved off of Anzu and she’s depicted as less reckless and more grounded, but there are still points where her nobility can shine through, like when she decides to fight in Yugi’s place to win Mai’s star chips or she stops Atem from attacking Insector Haga over and over again after he’s already won. Although I could very easily see Anzu fitting into Hufflepuff as well (especially in the Duel Monsters anime), upon a lot of reflection, I think that, since I would put two out of the three versions of her in this house and even the third version could still work there, Gryffindor is her ultimate best place. 

Seto Kaiba ~ Slytherin!

I’m sure a lot of you were expecting Ravenclaw, and yes, I do think Kaiba is on the cusp between Ravenclaw and Slytherin, but let me explain why Kaiba is a Snake in my mind and not an Eagle. Kaiba is a very intelligent person with a great love of achievement, yes, but his sole focus is always on getting what he wants, whether it’s defeating Yugi, winning all three Egyptian God cards and then defeating Yugi, opening up his own theme park where he can defeat Yugi -- LOL, okay, I’m partially kidding, but...yeah, Kaiba’s focus is solely on what he wants, even if it is to win at something. Ravenclaws tend to have a very “worldly” view of the world and try to find their own distinct place in it, whereas Slytherins don’t give a damn about the rest of the world as long as their inner circle is safe. Throughout the series, Kaiba consistently chooses his little brother and the well-being of his company over everything else. In fact, in the Japanese dub of the Duel Monsters anime, the reason Kaiba barely reacts to all the crazy magic stuff going on around him isn’t because he doesn’t believe it’s happening like English!Kaiba, but because he simply doesn’t care. All he cares about is beating Yugi and looking after his company and brother. Everything else going on in the background, even if it does involve unknown magics that could shake someone’s entire world view and their place in it, just isn’t that important to him. Plus Ravenclaws aren’t just known for their intelligence and love of achievement -- they’re also known for wisdom and open-mindedness, both of which are very unKaiba. Kaiba is incredibly judgmental of everyone he meets, only deigning to show respect to those very few people he deems as being on his level, and although in the Japanese dub of the Duel Monsters anime, Kaiba showed moments of deeper thought and good judgement, the only wisdom English!Kaiba showcases on a regular basis is his assortment of snarky wisecracks. But if we look at Slytherin’s values, I think they line up with Kaiba and his characterization a bit better. Ambition -- well, considering that he challenged a CEO to a game of chess just to get him and his brother adopted, forcefully took over that same CEO’s arms and weapons business, and turned the whole thing into a gaming company complete with its own gaming products, Duel Monsters tournaments, and friggin’ THEME PARK, all before he even became a legal adult, I’d say that fits. Resourcefulness -- as Kaiba brings up to both Amelda and Ziegfried, he started off with nothing and could only use his talents and smarts to outwit his stepfather, take over KaibaCorp, and make it successful. Cleverness -- Kaiba may not be the King of Games, but he’s probably the only duelist who truly stands toe-to-toe with Atem in the dueling arena without cheating. Even Bakura, another one of Atem’s most prominent rivals, has to cheat in both the manga and the anime series to try to stay ahead of him. A certain disregard for the rules -- honestly, Kaiba tends to follow the rules of whatever game he’s playing, BUUUUT he does still seem to find joy in bucking other people’s expectations and doing whatever the hell he wants because he can. I mean, this is the guy who bought an entire city to host a gaming tournament, quickly wrote a ridiculously high check to a car salesman before driving off in one of his cars without another word (does he even HAVE a driver’s license??), and who blew up his own Duel Tower on KaibaCorp island just so he and Mokuba could fly away on their Blue Eyes White Dragon jet out of the rubble. (There is a reason why in Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged, his catchphrase is “screw the rules, I’ve got money” -- just sayin’.) And honestly, as much as Kaiba claims he doesn’t look back at the past, he is still clearly haunted and defined by it. The wounds of Gozaburo’s mistreatment were so deep that Kaiba felt like he had to blow up the ruined remnants of his old headquarters just to try to move on with his life. Atem defeating him affected him so much that he spent five whole seasons and an entire movie obsessing over their rivalry and how he would eventually defeat him. Hell, in DSOD, he even tried to put the Millennium Puzzle back together in a vain attempt to get Atem to come back and duel him again, and when he failed in that, he actually made a device so he could crash Atem’s friggin’ AFTER-LIFE just to try to duel him! “Bury the past,” my ass! As much as I could see Kaiba fitting pretty well in Ravenclaw too, I think part of the reason he and Atem are so at each other’s throats all the time is because of their two massive Slytherin egos constantly trying to one-up each other.

[nadziejastar]

Why Lea and Isa Needed to Heal Each Other’s Pain With the Power of Waking

“The mind forgets, but the heart will always remember. And what is the heart's memory but love itself?” — Twan Eng Tan

Aqua: “It's the power of true love that defeated you.”

Maleficent: “I will not be defeated by something as insignificant as love.”

Aqua: “You don't even know the first thing about it. You're too clouded by darkness to see that there's something greater.”

Besides Lea and Isa, I also really love Terra, Aqua and Ventus. Terra and Aqua’s relationship also felt romantic to me. Along with Axel, she sounds like she’s speaking from experience when she mentions love — romantic love. But that’s just how I personally interpreted it. Since Aqua is one of the wisest and most mature characters in the series, I didn’t have trouble believing her when she talked about the power of love.

“All that’s left in my heart is misery and despair, and I want you to feel it!”

Her love for Terra is so great that it leads her to sacrifice herself. She doesn’t just retrieve him from the abyss; she stays in his place. Unlike Terra, Aqua didn’t have a problem controlling her darkness. She was filled with light. Yet, purely out of love for Terra, she chose to take on the burden of his darkness and despair, instead of letting him suffer alone. She didn’t have to. She wouldn’t have fallen into darkness on her own. She chose to.

Ven: “Whatever it takes. Anything to save Terra and Aqua.”

Vanitas: “Hmph, it's always about your friends, isn't it?”

Ven: “At least I have some! I've become a part of their heart, just as they've become a part of mine. My friends are my power...and I'm theirs!”

It was Terra and Aqua who helped Ventus heal after Xehanort failed at turning him into a vessel. Ventus’ heart collapsed the first time. He didn’t fight back and he became a lifeless doll. The second time around, he had the strength to willingly accept the total annihilation of his existence, all to save his two friends. Although Xehanort said he was too frail and benign to be a good vessel, I think he was wrong. His heart just needed someone to fight for.

“Aqua, Ven... One day I will set this right.”

Terra starts off thinking he just wants to be stronger, but as soon as he lets his heart do the talking, his thoughts always turn to his loved ones. The only way Xehanort can make someone his vessel is to fracture their soul, but not break their heart. Most of the subjects he tried this on during his experiments suffered the total collapse of their heart. Only very rare individuals have a heart strong enough to endure that level of darkness. Of course, the heart’s strength is totally dependent on one’s relationships with others. In order for the heart to not break, you need to have a bond that is so strong, it can withstand even the shattering of your soul.

“I’m not afraid of what the darkness holds now. Even if you do wrest control of my heart from me, even if you cast me in the deepest, darkest abyss, you’ll never sway me from the one cause that pushes me to keep on fighting. Whatever the cost, I’m ready to pay it.” 

You need to love another so much that you can stare down the deepest, darkest abyss for their sake. You need self-sacrificing love. That’s what Terra, Aqua, and Ven had. Terra had a purpose, a vow he made to his friends to set things right. The strength of his heart is initially what caused him to be used as a vessel, but it was also the strength of his heart that allowed him to wrest control from Xehanort and finally set things right.

Joshua: “By ourselves, we're no one. It's when other people look at us and see someone — that's the moment we each start to exist. All they needed was for someone to see them, connect with them.”

And while I thought the Wayfinder Trio had a mostly (but not completely) satisfying story, I cannot say the same about Lea and Isa’s story arc. The main theme of Kingdom Hearts 3 was supposed to be "ending hurt". But the story never addressed either of them healing their pain. I think Lea and Isa were supposed to have a relationship just as meaningful as Terra, Aqua, and Ven's. 

This isn’t even about personal shipping preferences (as much as I do ship them). I believe that the writers had something very beautiful planned for Lea and Isa’s relationship, but it turned out quite differently than how it was originally envisioned. Their relationship seemed to be heavily inspired by the concept of Twin Flames or Twin Souls. Same-sex ones at that, which is refreshingly unique in fiction. Twin Flames are the key to healing each other's pain.

Axel: “Love is what happens when there’s something really special between people.”

Roxas: “More special than friends? Like…if they’re best friends? Inseparable?”

Axel: “Well, you can care about your friends, but that’s not exactly it…”

The concept of having a “Twin Flame” originated in Plato’s mythic dialogue entitled “The Symposium” which wrote that human beings originally had two faces, four arms, and four legs. Under the threat of being overpowered, the gods split them in half, creating the humans we see today. Hence, it is thought that we all have one “twin” soul out there in the world. Twin Flames are a divine expression of Balance, Harmony, and Unconditional Love. 

A Twin Flame, or Twin Soul, is a person who you feel connected to not just on a physical and emotional level, but also on a spiritual level. Twin Flames are our friends, our lovers, and our teachers. They are the yins to our yangs, the suns to our moons, and the light to our darkness. Twin Flames are also our mirrors in that they reflect back to us all of our hidden fears and shadows, but also our true inner beauty and strength. In this way, Twin Flames open the door to tremendous emotional, psychological, and spiritual growth. 

Put simply, the purpose of the Twin Flame relationship is to help shed away the snakeskin of the ego, face and heal both of their wounded hearts, and transform each other into awakened beings. The love experienced between Twin Flames is said to be like Holy Fire: it burns you to ashes, but it also forges you into a new creature, like a Phoenix emerging out of the dust. Twin Flames have a reputation for coming in and out of your life. Or often some outside force stands in the way of you being together. But it seems like you’re always pulled back to them in one way or another.

“Go on, you just keep running. No matter how many times you leave, I’ll bring you back. Every time.”

Twin Flame relationships are notorious for what is called the “runner and chaser dynamic”. The chaser waits for the return of the runner, having the patience of a saint while working on their own issues as each day goes by. During this period, the chaser is hoping that the runner wakes up to their spiritual call, while at the same time healing their own past wounds. Twin Souls may share only a brief moment in time, but the chaser keeps the faith that one day their counterpart will reach out again. Months or years go by…and then… one day...they call. 

Rhyme: Aw, it's no big deal. You know what they always say — "Sometimes memories just need a little help getting out."

The runner does not understand what’s happening to them on a spiritual level. They feel like they’re losing control over their own emotions. They don’t know what to do, so their natural reaction is to run away, and chasing after them only makes them run even more. Inner healing is crucial for this type of journey to even have a chance of working out. Reuniting with your Twin Soul requires patience, and lot of inner work is necessary to be ready for them.

“And if the darkness gets ya, I promise I'll bail you out. "Dark Rescue" is my middle name.”

Well, Lea is definitely the chaser. And what could possibly be considered more “running away” than going to the Realm of Sleep? Soul fragmentation is the ultimate form of running away. You literally leave material reality because you cannot handle the pain of conscious awareness anymore. Someone else has to enter the darkest parts of your subconscious and chase down all the broken pieces of your soul just to bring you back. The main theme of Lea and Isa’s relationship is “memory”. I think Lea was going to be the one to heal Isa by using the power of waking on him and in doing so, he would be healed as well. Bringing back a person’s fragmented soul is all about healing and unconditional love.

Naminé: “Some people think pain is something you can just wipe away — and sometimes, maybe, you can. But not all pain can be erased. The only way to deal with it is to accept it head-on. And if the hurt is too great for you to bear it alone — well, then you turn to a friend close to your heart.” 

Saix has two weapons of the same shape called Light Year (a reference to Axel’s famous quote about red light) and Luminary, which is how the ancients referred to the Sun and Moon. Luminary is one of only two weapons he can upgrade to ++ status. And it is shaped like common depictions of Reiki, one which looks like an angel. Reiki is a Japanese healing technique based on the principle that someone can channel their energy into the afflicted person by means of touch, activate the natural healing processes of their body and restore their physical and emotional well-being. In Reiki, the color of a person’s aura has a specific meaning and so do colored healing gemstones.

The aura is gold, which is the strongest color to help cure all ailments. It nourishes the whole being — body, heart, and soul. It is useful for healing and mental clarity. It is simple and gentle. Gold also represents awakened spiritual power and energy. When an abundance of gold is found in the aura, the person radiates and glows, becoming like the Sun. Spiritual masters who achieve this level of enlightenment see their auras fully restored and they are able to radiate energy to heal others as well. Just like Kairi did for Sora. The weapon has a red tip. Red jasper stones are about protection, stability and security. I have no doubt that this weapon represents what Lea is to Isa.

Xaldin: “To hold something dear is to let it hold you. His heart is in thrall to it, don't you see? And that, Roxas, is ample weakness.”

In 358/2 Days, the Mystery Gear’s description is: “A weapon that draws forth its wielder's personality.” Saix’s version of this weapon is called Moon Rabbit. The story referenced by Saix’s weapon is called The Hare on the Moon.  

Morals from The Jataka: The Hare on the Moon

Long ago, the Buddha was reborn as a hare. The hare had three friends–a monkey, a jackal, and an otter. The Lord of Heaven was watching the four friends from his great palace on the peak of Mount Meru, and one day, he decided to test their virtue. The Lord of Heaven took the form of a priest, and he went to the otter and said "Friend, I am hungry. I need food before I can perform my priestly duties. Can you help me?”  And the otter offered the priest the seven fish he had gathered for his own meal.

Then the priest went to the jackal and said "Friend, I am hungry. I need food before I can perform my priestly duties. Can you help me?” And the jackal offered the priest the lizard and curdled milk he had planned to have for his own meal. Then the priest went to the monkey, and said “Friend, I am hungry. I need food before I can perform my priestly duties. Can you help me?” And the monkey offered the priest the juicy mangoes he had looked forward to eating himself.

Then the priest went to the hare and asked for food, but the hare had no food but the lush grass growing in the forest. So the hare told the priest to build a fire, and when the fire was burning, he said “I have nothing to give you to eat but myself!” Then, the hare threw himself into the fire.

The Lord of Heaven, still disguised as a priest, was astonished and deeply moved. He caused the fire to go instantly cold so that the hare was not burned, and then revealed his true form to the selfless little hare. “Dear hare,” he said, “By your great virtue you have been spared! The earth will forever remember you and this act of sacrifice you have committed.” And then The Lord of Heaven painted the wise hare’s likeness on the pale face of the Moon for all to see. 

The Lord of Heaven returned to his home on Mount Meru, and the four friends lived long and happily in their beautiful forest. And to this day, those who look up at the Moon can see the image of the selfless hare.

Xemnas: “The strength of the human heart is vast. Soon, though...we will have gained power over it! Never again will it...have power over us.”

Since this weapon in particular is said to represent the wielder’s personality, let’s examine it. The rocket and the rabbit are emanating an indigo aura, conveying integrity, devotion, deep sincerity, and wisdom. But the rocket’s occupant has a black aura. A black aura is one of the few auras that is predominantly negative. Typically, having a black aura means your natural aura is being stifled. The black aura consumes your natural aura and suppresses it, making it easier to feel hopeless and trapped. It is not the "real" you.

But the path to the moon is white. And so is the space inside the crescent moon where the star (representing the sun) would go. White represents purity and is the color most resistant to corruption. The aura on the moon is pale yellow, meaning renewed hope for the future. The rocket is taking off straight from a heart gemstone that is pink, implying that the rocket was launched by an act of love. Even the bottom of the rocket is a turquoise stone, offering protection from corruption. So much meaning in one design. And the design matches the story perfectly.

Why would the writers choose that as the weapon representing Saix’s personality unless they had a vastly different story in mind for him originally? It sounds like it would have nothing to do with him in canon. It would make sense if Isa had been “Subject X”, though. The sole test subject who didn’t have his heart collapse, causing him to become Xehanort’s unwilling vessel. I think the last thing on Isa’s mind before his soul fractured was his friend. And he was willing to sacrifice himself for Lea, out of love. And I think this is the reason that, unlike everyone else who was experimented on, his heart didn’t break. The moral of The Hare on the Moon is that unselfish love will be rewarded with a joyful rebirth. And that’s an important theme in KH3 as well. It’s how Rapunzel brings Eugene back and how Elsa brings Anna back.

A promise… We’ll meet again…in the next life. We did say that. I remember. I remember our promise.

Which is the exact same message that Lea’s Keyblade has. The Flame Liberator is based on the Phoenix. It builds its nest, which at the same time is its funeral pyre, and then it cremates itself. But it arises anew from the ashes transformed. In alchemy, the solar bird represents the idea that the end is only the beginning and is a symbol of the Philosopher’s Stone. 

“As long as we remember each other, we'll never be apart. Got it memorized?”

According to ancient lore, the process of death and rebirth happens in four stages, called Magnum Opus. The process of creating a Philosopher’s Stone involved taking a White Stone (the Moon) and turning it red. The stages are called Nigredo, Albedo, Citrinitas, and Rubedo. Both Axel and Saix have weapons that are based on these stages, going along with their respective character arcs.

“I don’t want to disappear…But still, it wouldn’t be so bad if I did. Not here.”

In alchemy, Nigredo, or blackness, means putrefaction or decomposition. Axel’s weapon is called Blaze of Glory. It represents the Phoenix’s self-immolation and also the idea of leaving behind a lasting impression before your departure.

Axel: We just exist. We are Nobodies. But your memories and existence end here. Aren’t you happy?

Vexen: S-Stop! I don’t want to-

Axel: Well, see you.

It represents the moment of maximum despair a person experiences; the dark night of the soul when everything seems hopeless. That darkness is a prerequisite to personal development. His words to Vexen are, in a way, referring to himself. Lea has lost everything he ever cared about. The past is gone forever. Like Aqua, he was trying to share that misery and despair with others.

“That's absurd. He won nothing, and IS nothing. He couldn't stand the emptiness of being without a heart. And THAT led to his demise. He was foolish and weak.”

Saix’s weapons are emanating a purple aura, the most sensitive and wisest of colors. This is the intuitive color in the aura, and reveals psychic power and attunement with the self. But, like the bunny’s rocket, these weapons also have a black aura. Black draws energy to it and in so doing, transforms it. It captures light and consumes it. A black aura can indicate possession by a negative entity as well as unreleased grief. The stone on the tip is black tourmaline, which is used to release negativity and blockages and gives powerful shielding and grounding.

The weapon called Orbit has a sun symbol ☉ in the middle with a Recusant’s Sigil over the sun. The Moon and Earth orbit the Sun. Like the Phoenix, the lunar phase symbolizes the constant alternation of birth and death, creation and destruction. This weapon represents the death stage.  

"Do you know what happens to those who lose their true purpose? Inevitably, they destroy themselves."

The other weapon is named Balsamic Moon. This is the symbol that Isa wears on his jacket. It is the final stage of the moon, symbolizing the death of Isa himself. Something is subconsciously gnawing away at Saix. Deep down he is utterly miserable. He thinks it's because he has no heart. I think it’s because Isa’s captured heart is wounded and in a lot of pain. It can’t stand the emptiness of losing its purpose. There’s a yellow stone on the weapon, called citrine. It carries the energies of sun as well as radiates warmth and comforting energies.

Axel and I talked for a while about the things we can't bear to lose. Axel thinks that for Nobodies, it's our pasts, because that's all we have to remember the pain of losing something.

The second stage is Albedo, meaning "whiteness". The goal of this portion of the process is to regain the original purity and receptivity of the soul. Burnout is the name of Axel’s weapon. 

Xemnas: “About Axel. The poor fool. How long will he keep chasing the illusion of friendship, when he himself lacks emotion? Trying so hard to retrieve what he has lost, when it may never have existed in the first place. He deserves nothing more than our pity.”

Burnout is a state of chronic stress that leads to physical and emotional exhaustion, cynicism, detachment, feelings of ineffectiveness, and a lack of accomplishment. I think this fits Axel pretty well after he becomes a complete person again. So often, it seems like things will never work out for him. But he never gives up.

Xigbar: Xemnas and Xehanort formed the Organization for a specific reason--round up a bunch of empty husks, hook them up to Kingdom Hearts, then fill them all with the exact same heart and mind. Translation — they were gonna turn all the members into Xehanort.

Saix’s weapons are Crescent and Gibbous. Both are shaped like the Phoenix’s wings. The crescent phases are about letting go of the past and turning one’s thoughts and attention to the future. Crescent is shaped like ⚸, the symbol for Black Moon Lilith. Technically speaking, the Black Moon Lilith is a mathematical point that's exactly in between the earth and the moon. Essentially, it's empty space. Isa has been turned into an empty vessel for Xehanort.

Xehanort: "X"... A most ancient letter. Some say "kye," but the meaning is the same. Death... A letter that spells endings.

The gibbous moon is the final stop before the full moon. It’s the homestretch. It symbolizes a time when you are so close to achieving your goal. This phase is about refinement and gratitude. The stones on the weapon are gray agate. Agate raises self-awareness, stabilizes the aura, transforms negative energy, and is a powerful conduit of spirit. This stone heals anger and lack of self worth, and enhances emotional stability.

“So you don’t need a heart to have something that you can’t bear to lose then. If that’s true, then I guess the closest thing that we Nobodies have would be memories of our past. It’s the memories that create the things that we don’t want to lose.You know, memories of the stuff we couldn't bear to lose, back when we couldn't bear to lose it.”

Citrinitas, is the third stage, meaning "yellowness." In alchemy it stands for the "transmutation of silver into gold" or the "yellowing of the lunar consciousness." The dawning of the "solar light" inherent in one's being. The weapon is named Outbreak — the sudden or violent start of something unwelcome. The final battle. I think the real reason Lea kept wearing his Organization cloak is because he could never be truly free of Organization XIII until Isa was free, too. They joined together, and Lea would only leave if it was together.

Roxas: I found out about love on today's mission — that it's something powerful.

Axel: That's true. It is. But I'll never get to experience it.

Just like with Aqua, I got the feeling that he has been in love before. Axel was optimistic when he spoke about cherishing memories of the past. But when Roxas brought up love, his attitude darkened. It depressed him to think he’d never experience that special kind of love again. 

“Inside people's memories, I can live forever.” 

The two weapons of Saix are Crocea Mors and Werewolf. Crocea Mors means “Yellow Death” in Latin. It was the sword of Julius Caesar, which was said to kill anyone it struck. Citrinitas is the “dawning of the solar consciousness”. The weapons have a yellow aura, the color of awakening. That’s why I think this is the scene where Saix would have remembered his true purpose. The irony of Xemnas calling Axel a fool shows itself here. The gemstone on Crocea Mors is azurite, which promotes insight, justice, and concentration. The one on Werewolf is red jasper again.

Sora: “...No. The hurt is what reminds me I've forgotten. It's proof there's something there, something...important. I won't run from it. It'll stay in my heart until the day I remember again.”

Axel spent all of 358/2 Days thinking Isa forgot him, but the only reason his heart never collapsed is because he didn’t forget him. Saix may remember Lea with his mind, but he doesn’t with his heart. With Berserk Saix, it’s the opposite. His heart had a purpose; a reason to keep existing. That was the very reason he was used as a vessel in the first place. But just like the selfless hare, that act of selflessness is also what saved his heart from breaking.

“Bet you don't know why the sun sets red. You see, light is made up of lots of colors. And out of all those colors, red is the one that travels the farthest.” 

Rubedo or "redness", is the final stage of magnum opus. Both gold and the Philosopher's Stone were associated with the color red. It’s the point when a person discovers their true nature. The Phoenix symbolizes the Rubedo stage and it represents the freeing of the spirit from the bounds of the physical.

Saix’s red (er, pink — close enough) weapons are Moonset and Horoscope. Moonset is the weapon that is shaped like ⚶, the astrological symbol of Vesta. She was a Roman Goddess known as “The Keeper of the Sacred Flame”. The ⚶ is a symbol of the creative flame encompassing sacred sexuality, chastity, devotion & vigilance. The eternal flame that she protected never diminished, for she was guardian of hearth and home, family and community. 

Roxas: What is it that you're so afraid of? 

Riku: Huh? Hmm... Losing something that's important.

Horoscope combines the astrological symbol for Cancer ♋ with the astrological symbol for Venus ♀. Cancer is “The Sheltered Crab” of the zodiac represented by the Moon. Those born under this sign are very modest, shy, and extremely emotional individuals. Venus was the Roman goddess of love, sex, beauty, and fertility. 

The silver gemstone represents protection. Both of these weapons radiate a pink aura. In Reiki, pink light represents the energy of love and has a very high vibration. It is tender, sensitive, sensual, affectionate, pure, and compassionate; it is associated with a new or newly revived romantic relationship. Pink light is soft and brings about gentle yet powerful healing. Red is the color of light that travels the farthest. This color heals Isa’s pain. But pink is the color of light that can heal Lea’s pain. The pain of losing something that’s important. 

Ventus: “What is the one thing you care about more than anything else?"

Riku: “Hmm... My close friends.”

The Red King and White Queen are another symbol of the Philosopher’s Stone, along with the Phoenix. Their union is called the alchemical marriage. In alchemy, 🜍 sulfur represents Sol, the fiery male element. The counterpart is ☿ mercury representing Luna, the female element. Their marriage represents the spiritual goal of alchemy. Saix has a weapon named King of the Night shaped like a combination of 🜍 and ☿. The weapon has a silver base, the color of mercury. It has an indigo aura, indicating sensitivity to others’ energy, clarity and communication. The tip is aquamarine, meaning determination, courage, enlightenment, spiritual awareness and success. Perfect for using the power of waking on someone he cares about, like a close friend.

Xion: “Riku. What do you wish?”

Riku: “More questions... All right... I wish...to recover something important that I lost.”

Saix also has another weapon called Queen of the Night. The weapon has a yellow aura; the color of sulfur. It is aquamarine, also representing courage, determination, strength, communication, and success. The gemstone is aragonite for peace and calm. The name refers to a white flower that is part of the cactus family. It is one of the rarest and most expensive flowers in the world. It only blooms for one night a year, then it closes again when the sun rises. 

This flower tends to bloom on days of a full moon, and thus is sometimes called the Flower from the Moon or Flower from the Heavens. It has a rich history in Japan, where it is known as the “Gekka Bijin” or “Beautiful Woman Under the Moonlight”. It is said that any wish prayed for while the flower is blooming will be fulfilled. Well, all Lea really wished for was to go back to the past. To once again experience the happiness that only existed in his memories. To recover something important that he lost.

Ansem the Wise: “Then, you came here, and you were questioned by three young people. That was the final key to awaken him. Sora is awake. You can go home now.”

The three questions were a test. Love is the key to use the power of waking. In the Realm of Sleep, time does not flow. The individual’s consciousness is forever frozen in time, until they are healed by someone who loves them. After their “birth by sleep”, a person is restored to exactly the same state as when they fell asleep. Like the hare on the moon, Isa’s selflessness would never be forgotten and he'd be reborn, just as he was before. And this is exactly how Isa would heal Lea’s pain. Simply by being the same person Lea remembered him to be. Or at least, that’s what I think should have happened.

Ansem the Wise: “So many are still waiting for their new beginning. Their Birth by Sleep.”

Isa’s entire character arc was meant to be about being brought back to life by Lea. When he was a kid, the symbol on his jacket was a waning crescent, the final phase of the moon symbolizing death and endings. In the ending, the new symbol on his jacket is a waxing crescent which is the first phase of the moon symbolizing rebirth and new beginnings. The star and crescent is a symbol signifying the union of the sun and moon, complementary opposites.

[365daysofsasuhina]

[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day One Hundred Forty-Eight: A Cat Walks Past ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata, Hyūga Hiashi ] [ SasuHina ] [ Verse: River Runs Deep ] [ AO3 Link ]

For as long as she can remember, Hinata has...seen things. Things...that other people can’t.

When she was young, her father simply assumed it was make-believe - creatures and beings from her imagination that she would play with and talk to.

...but her mother knew better.

Hanako had seen them too.

Out in the garden behind their home, hidden away from the rest of the village and their superstitions, she had shown her daughter the world of kami and yōkai. For on her mother’s side, and her mother’s mother, pale eyes - all seeing, as each would call them - could peer behind the veil of the mortal plane, and into that of the gods, and spirits.

“You don’t need to be afraid,” Hanako had explained when Hinata first clung to her yukata in fright at the sight of a little kami. “The spirits are powerful, yes...but they are to be respected. So long as you give them what is due, you will have nothing to fear.”

At least...so she’d first claimed. Slowly, she introduced Hinata to the idea of yōkai. Of those spirits more in tune with darkness than light.

“For all good things, so too must there be bad. Yes, some spirits may try to hurt you if they know you can see them...so you must be careful, Hinata. Be open to the gift you carry...but use it wisely. Do not be afraid...but be wary. And remember: such a gift will be coveted by some, and feared by many. Only tell those you trust. People with narrow minds and fearful hearts will harm what they do not understand.”

Hanako was a good and patient teacher. But like so many wells of knowledge...she was lost before she could be fully explored. In the weeks that followed the birth of her second child, her health declined...and Hyūga Hanako was no more.

And so many of Hinata’s questions were left unanswered.

She had nowhere else to turn.

At first, she attempted to ask her father. But he denounced such claims: told her that her mother had been delusional and sick. “Do not follow in her footsteps, Hinata,” he told her, gaze stern and earning a flinch. “There are no such things as spirits. Or, if there were...they abandoned us long ago.”

While many of Japan held such teachings in high regard, the true belief was slowly dying. Humans, in their greed and ingenuity, were slowly forgetting their gods and myths. Miko were being stripped of their power, and temples were dwindling in visitors. Only the old seemed to cling to the supernatural of their land.

And those who could see, as rare as they were.

Both warned by her mother and chastised by her father, Hinata resolved herself to bury her gift - ignore its visions and pretend the veil could no longer be pierced. Her head was kept bowed, her eyes on the ground. To her studies she kept, awaiting the day she, like her mother, would be assigned a husband, and start the cycle all over again.

The Spring of her seventeenth year, Hinata awaits outside a shop where her father has gone to do business. Dressed in a lilac kimono, she idly holds her bag at her front with both hands, staring out without seeing. Every time they go out - which is often - Hiashi has her dressed like a doll, hoping to catch a young man’s eye. He’d prefer to have her married soon, hence taking her into the village at every opportunity.

So far...it hasn’t worked as planned.

...Hinata hates going into the village. It’s crowded, carrying a myriad of smells...some of which are unpleasant. And unlike their rural estate, it feels so...dead.

Only a few tengu sit on a nearby roof, hawking and smoking as the humans pass beneath them, completely unaware. Hinata avoids looking at them directly, eyes held to a neutral place on the building across the street.

She might do her best to ignore what she sees...but a small part of her still finds a kind of relief when she sees them. A reminder that the spirits do still exist. She isn’t crazy. Nor was her mother. And humans haven’t yet completely rooted them out.

While yōkai aren’t always a pleasant thing to behold, Hinata still can’t help small smiles when she sees little spirits toddling about. Arguing tanuki ambling along, kitsune fanning their faces as they gossip. She even once saw an oni come down to their well to take a drink before making his way further down the mountain.

She’d refused to go outside for three days after that, just to be sure he was gone.

Her favorites are the little kodama that linger in the trees around their home. Such curious little things, and the only ones she interacts with directly anymore.

The thought brings a small smile to her face, lost in her daydreams as Hiashi’s voice barely carries out to her. They’re only broken when something unusual passes by in the road before her.

It takes a moment to realize why the cat catches her eye. Sleek, with black fur that stands on end around the scruff of his neck, he paces by before hopping up onto a half wall across the street. Beginning to bathe, he washes at his face, tail flicking idly.

But, wait...no…

...tails. He has two.

Hinata stiffens. Is...is that…?

As though sensing her staring, the feline looks up mid-stroke, paw raised as ruddy eyes stare right back.

...it feels like he can see her very soul.

Unable to look away, Hinata remains even as Hiashi comes back, muttering something about the shopkeep she doesn’t hear. Then on he goes about her still standing here without a single beau approaching and giving a hint of interest. Something something look more appealing, something something flutter your eyes and give a coy smile.

She doesn’t listen. She’s still staring at the nekomata, who still stares back. His eyes narrow.

“...Hinata!”

Startling as her father raises his voice, she breaks her gaze to look at him. “I...I’m sorry.” Whatever he said, it’s sure an apology is necessary. There’s always something to be blamed on her.

“Come, we’re going home. I’ll not find what I need today.”

Still a bit dazed, she simply falls into step.

Behind her, unseen, the cat follows.

Back home, Hiashi simply takes his leave, not having any further tasks for her. Yet unsettled, she moves into the back garden, sitting on a stone bench and watching mushi flutter about the flowers her mother planted before she died.

“Are you really without a husband?”

Gasping, Hinata looks over to see a man leaning on the corner of the house nearby. Arms folded, he hooks an ankle over the other, posture utterly lax and expression aloof. Dressed in black hakama and a matching haori, he looks rather unremarkable...save for the velvety ears atop his head, and the twin tails that twitch behind his knees. At his hip is a sheathed blade.

It...it’s the nekomata? Did he follow her?!

Too flabbergasted to have an answer, she just...gapes at him.

“...and that confirms you can see more than your typical human,” he goes on, tone drawling. “Funny...you don’t look like a miko…”

“I...I-I’m not…”

“But you can see like one.”

“...yes?” In truth, Hinata knows little of miko beyond the vague rumors of what they’re said to do...or, have done.

“...guess that explains it.”

“E...explains what?”

“Why you’re not married.”

A blink.

Seeing she’s confused, he sighs. “If anyone finds out about your sight...they’ll call you a witch. While powers like that would have seen you revered in years past...times are changing. Humans are losing sight of what true power and enlightenment is. You know how hard it is for someone like you to find a mate?”

Hinata’s cheeks go pink at the word ‘mate’ rather than ‘husband’.

“...but I was also unsure because miko often marry gods.”

“I...w-what?!”

“Didn’t know that particular tidbit, did you?” At that, the nekomata grins, revealing sharp teeth. “It’s true...miko are said to be the bridges between the mortal and the divine. Many take kami as mates. So when that fool you have for a father said you were still looking...it made me...curious.”

In a blink, he’s at her front, a long nail under her chin and lifting her face. Stiff in surprise, Hinata doesn’t dare move. Up close, she can see his red eyes, squinted as he examines her more closely, pupils shrunk to slits. Thick black paint lines his eyes, accented with red. Like most spirits, he’s completely without flaw - there’s not a single blemish in his skin. His hair - though untamed in the back - seems otherwise settled perfectly. Just as it should be. And he smells like incense smoke.

And blood.

After a long pause, he gives her another grin. “You’re pretty for a human,” he notes.

“T...thank you…?”

“Not sure one should accept compliments from a yōkai. Though...you aren’t exactly typical, are you?” He taps a finger to his chin, looking her over again.

Hinata can’t help the feeling she’s being appraised.

“So...what do you say, little veil-cutter?”

“Say? Say about - about what?”

“Your father wants you to find a husband. And what better husband for a miko than someone from the spirit world…?”

Slowly, pale eyes go wide. She -? But -? He -?

Still grinning like a cheshire, he amends, “I might not be a proper kami, but...better a yōkai than a human that would hate you for what you really are...right?” A hand waves. “I suppose for your sake I can go through the typical courtships your kind favor. I’ll pay your father a visit a little later. In a human guise, of course. But I think there might be some advantages to having a miko around.”

“B-but I’m not a -?”

“Maybe not trained, but you’ve clearly got the talents.” Red eyes flash. “...and those talents can be...useful.”

At a loss, Hinata can only watch as he leaps with feline grace to the wall.

“Before I go, I’ll give you my name: Uchiha Sasuke. And you will see me again.” With a wink, he disappears.

Heart pounding in her chest, Hinata tries to rationalize what just happened. A yōkai - a nekomata, no less - has decided to...to...marry her? Why?!

She can’t help but wonder what her mother would think.

...and yet…

He has a point. Her father has always insisted her talent is a sign of derangement. In this day and age, miko and those like them are condemned as witches where they were once called upon to convey the spirits’ messages. Maybe...she really would be better off with a husband not human.

Nibbling her thumbnail worriedly, Hinata glances back to the house. He said he would come calling later...should she warn her father? Tell him the man is a fraud? A yōkai? Knowing Hiashi, he’d only dismiss her. There’s little point.

...but does she really want to marry a spirit?!

     Gah, this isn't as fleshed out as I wanted Dx I didn't have time to research as much as I wanted to, so...sorry if this is a little bare-bones. I LOVE Japanese mythology, but I wasn't fully prepared to pull this off as...detailedly as I wanted.      Anywho, have a back-in-time verse mixed with myth to get a villager!Hinata and nekomata!Sasuke! Nekomata, from what little I could speed-read this late, are...not very nice. Which, to be fair...some things canon!Sasuke does aren't very nice, so...it's hopefully a believable parallel.      I might do more of this if a prompt allows, and hopefully have more time to look into the time period I want and the myth behind the yōkai more properly. For now...this is all I got lol      Anywho, time for bed! Thanks for reading~

[mst3kproject]

521: Santa Claus

Ever since they included a Christmas episode in the first Netflix season, I have been slowly coming to terms with the fact that this blog will not live long enough for me to do all the Christmas movies on Christmas.  Might as well get on with it. This one goes out to @casualcollectorlightme.

It’s Christmas Eve, and Santa Claus is setting off on his annual trip to take gifts to the children of the world.  He’s anticipating trouble: a demon named Pitch has been ordered to stop him.  If nobody gets any presents, then the children of Mexico won’t see any point in being good, and will turn to evil en masse!  Can Santa, with his friends Merlin the wizard and Vulcan the smith, thwart Pitch’s wicked plot and save Christmas?

My favourite thing about this movie is its weird portrayal of Santa, and for once I actually can explain why it fascinates me.  If you’ve ever seen the movie Mothra, you probably had a good laugh at the bit set in the foreign land of Rolisica, which shows us what Japanese people in the 60’s thought Americans were like (if you haven’t seen it then for heaven’s sake do so – it’s funny as hell).  Santa Claus is kind of a whole movie about that, because when it was made in 1959, Santa wasn’t really a thing in Mexico.  The film was an attempt to import him, and so we get to see our beloved Christmas traditions through the eyes of a people who aren’t very familiar with them.  

We begin with a tour of Santa’s workshop, which is not actually at the North Pole, but floating in space somewhere above it.  In American Christmas movies the toy factory would be staffed by elves, but this one goes for another short, energetic option: children from around the world, in the form of a parade of offensive stereotypes embodied by tone-deaf six-year-olds.  This is very strange, not only because they all seem to be singing in the snow rather than working, but because we find ourselves unavoidably wondering who these kids are.  Where are their parents, and how did they end up in Santa’s custody?  Are they orphans he took in, or is this some kind of mass kidnapping operation?  Do they get an education?  What happens to them when they grow up?

When you give it a moment’s thought, however, this setup actually makes more sense than elves.  What the hell are elves, after all?  Where do they come from and why do they work for Santa?  Nobody ever asks that, because it’s just part of the mythology (and when movies do try to offer answers they’re almost always weird and disappointing).  You might as well ask why the Easter Bunny is a rabbit. That’s just how it works.  If you haven’t grown up hearing about it, though, the idea that orphaned children get raised by Santa, helping to bring joy to the rest of the world… that's messed-up, but it works.

The same applies to Santa’s collection of magical surveillance equipment, which looks like something out of a Salvador Dali sugar high. American Christmas films, like the classic Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer or even Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, rarely go into how Santa sees you when you’re sleeping and knows when you’re awake.  Again, he just does.  Because Santa was something new to the Mexican film-makers, though, they felt like they had to explain it.  Their attempt tried for whimsy but took a wrong turn and ended up smack in the middle of fucking creepy.

It’s creepy in several ways, too.  I mean, the giant lips that speak in the voices of children’s wishes are an awful image, but there’s also the fact that Santa is spying on you directly.  He’s watching your dreams.  He’s listening to your whispered conversations.  He’s reading your fanfiction.  The Three Naughty Boys discuss how they don’t believe in any of this and Santa speaks to them, informing him that he knows very well what they’re planning!  Santa is Big Brother, always watching – and this is true of the ordinary concept of Santa Claus, too!  We sometimes make jokes about this but it seems harmless to us because we never delve into the details the way this movie does.

This thread of explaining things we don’t normally think need explanation runs through other areas of the movie as well.  Why does nobody ever wake up and see Santa Claus?  Why don’t our dogs bark at him?  Because he’s got a sleeping powder and a magic flower that can make him invisible. If that were as far as it went, then it wouldn’t be too strange.  I can see similar things appearing in something like a The Santa Clause sequel… except that there, they would probably have been made by the elves.  Since Santa Claus does not have mechanically (or dentally) gifted elves, it needs to provide another origin. Hence the inclusion of Merlin the Magician and Vulcan the Smith, which seems like a weird juxtaposition of mythology to us, but as far as the Mexicans know they’re all ‘American’ so they’re close enough.

Santa Claus also feels obliged to confront the awkward question of class differences.  Santa is supposed to be an egalitarian figure: he doesn’t care if you’re rich or poor, only if you’ve behaved yourself.  Poor kids should therefore get just as many presents as rich kids, which is manifestly not true in the real world.  Most American movies just pretend everybody is middle-class and ignore the issue completely.  Santa Claus tries to do something with it and the results are once again, weird.

There is, for example, the never-named Rich Boy who is tired of toys and just wants to know his parents love him.  Santa makes his wish come true by drugging Madre and Padre into heading home from their Christmas Eve out, and the question of whether he got any other gifts is never brought up.  The nearest thing the movie has to a main human character, however, is adorable little Lupita, whose father is out of work.  She wants a doll for Christmas and frankly any doll will do – she struggles with the idea of stealing a rag doll from a craft market, but puts it back, and Santa rewards her by bringing her a doll her parents could never afford.

And that’s nice, but what message does it send to all the well-behaved children in the real world whose parents can’t afford to buy them anything fancy?  That they weren’t good enough?  That they didn’t write a nice enough letter or say a nice enough prayer?  That Santa just doesn’t give a shit?  There’s a reason most Christmas movies don’t touch on this.

The specific doll Santa brings to Lupita also kind of bugs me… it’s just not a good present for a child like her.  Lupita is around five or six years old.  She needs a doll she can cuddle, play with, and carry around with her, like the one from the market.  The one she gets is as big as she is and wearing a fancy dress.  That’s not a toy, that’s a piece of décor.  It’s the doll that sits in the rocking chair in your grandmother’s living room and which you swear you can see move out of the corner of your eye. It’s not huggable, if she takes it anywhere it’ll get dirty or broken, and there’s a cynical part of me that thinks her parents probably sold it the next day so that they could buy food or pay the rent on their hovel or something.

Then there’s Santa’s adversary.  American Christmas movies pit Santa against bad weather, other supernatural entities like Jack Frost, and ordinary grouches like Phineas Prune.  In this movie, the villain is the devil.  This does, I guess, make a certain amount of sense, since Santa is dedicated to rewarding well-behaved children while Satan wants to collect the souls of the wicked, but we’re just not used to this meeting of religious and secular imagery.  Christmas is a Christian feast pinned to the ass of a much older Pagan solstice festival and it has never managed to really do away with this duality.  Most people keep the Christian and folk sides of Christmas pretty separate, but here we see them collide head-on.

Finally there’s the stuff that’s just plain terrifying.  Like the creepy laughing reindeer.  Or the rather complicated explanation of why Santa must make it home before sunrise.  When the sun comes up, the mechanical reindeer will turn to dust, leaving Santa unable to return to his palace in outer space.  What will happen then?  Why, he’ll starve to death, because Santa and his helpers subsist on sweets made from clouds and stardust, and cannot digest normal food!  Wait, the toy-making children, too?  What does happen to them when they grow up?  Can they return to Earth and start eating burgers like the rest of us, or do they remain children in Santa’s bondage forever? I told you this movie was weird.

Santa Claus is not as enjoyable in its own train-wrecky right as its Martian-Conquering cousin, but it is my favourite of the MST3K Christmas episodes. The movie itself is cheerful and the host sketches are a positive delight.  I particularly love everybody’s joy at the terrible Secret Santa presents, and their all-inclusive seasonal song that distilled tumblr to its essence decades before tumblr ever existed.  The very best part, however, is the awesome Christmas mods they did for the bots.  I love the snowglobe in Tom Servo’s head, and here I am once again helpless to articulate why it’s so damn funny.