#yes there are two johnnys they are from alternate realities

[scythemichaelfaraday]

some drawings for a tmosth themed rp

most characters belong to @cat-gwyn-gunn

[ceilidho]

prompt: IKEA soap/reader fic. PART 3. (read 1, 2) tags: dubcon

-

The Christmas party presents a whole new challenge in trying to ward Johnny off.

It’s hard because at first you almost gravitate towards him, weirdly enchanted by his ugly sweater with red reindeer on the sleeves. It’s only when he finally spots you—and you shudder when you notice the way his eyes scan across the crowd of other employees, seeking you out—and he practically lights up that you snap back to reality.

He blazes a path towards you like a heat seeking missile, dodging around your other coworkers. You stand there awkwardly as he cuts across the room, wondering if maybe you should’ve just texted your manager some excuse about feeling sick and stayed home. Too late now though. 

Fortunately for you, the assistant manager intercepts before Johnny’s able to make it halfway across the room, stepping between the two of you like they don’t even realize they’ve interrupted anything. There’s a split second where you can see Johnny wrestle with the urge to push them aside, fury clear in his eyes. Maybe only to you. The assistant manager opens their mouth and talks like nothing’s amiss, like it isn’t clear that Johnny is only a handful of seconds away from causing serious harm.

Then it passes; recedes into the dark. Johnny’s blue eyes go pellucid again, unbothered by the real world. The smile that spreads across his face seems sincere; if you hadn’t been watching him that entire time, you might not have even thought that he’d harboured any violence inside of him. 

You saw it though. You saw it.

It makes sense in the context of his background. You’d never given the ex-military thing much thought, but every so often you can almost feel the ghost of its presence in the back of your mind. When his reflexes kick in or the gleam in his eyes grows dark. He doesn’t ever talk about his past life in specifics, only grand overtures meant to distract anyone listening, but what he does reveal sometimes makes your stomach clench. 

You swallow and turn back to the conversation with your other coworkers, steadfastly avoiding Johnny’s eyes peeking over the assistant manager’s head. 

The breakroom is decked out in cheap Christmas decorations, a fiber-optic tree set up in the corner, iridescent bristles shifting colours with every blink. Someone passes you a vaguely alcoholic drink and you sip at it nervously, reaching the bottom of your first cup faster than you anticipated. 

Your secret Santa gift is on a table just outside the breakroom in the hall, along with all the other gifts. Something about it draws your eyes several times throughout the evening. Maybe something you saw but didn’t register. It’s hard to keep focused on the conversation happening around you when your attention oscillates between Johnny and the gift table, but you respond hastily when someone prompts you to answer. 

It comes to light when someone clinks a spoon against their glass and directs everyone to gather in the middle of the room. Two of the warehouse guys awkwardly try to bring the table into the room without knocking any of the gifts onto the floor. There are a few casualties, but when they manage to twist it enough to get it through the door, someone pulls up a chair to stand on and read off all of the names to hand out the gifts. 

Several people coo when you’re revealed as the recipient of Johnny’s gift. There’s no reason for it to come as a shock, but your stomach clenches anyway.

He stands practically right up against you when you open it. You know the second you unwrap it that the delicate bottle of perfume in your hands must have been in the three figures. All you did was get someone a handmade mug from a local craft fair. He stares at you when you unwrap it, beaming when you give him a very controlled thank you because the alternative is screaming that this is way too expensive for you to keep. 

“Ye should put it on,” he tells you, breathing just a little heavier. “Really want ta smell it on ye.”

You don’t know what possesses you to give it a spritz on your wrist, letting him guide your hand to dab it against the base of your throat. It’s intimate enough that his eyes follow the movement of your throat when you swallow, mouth going dry. They drag up to your lips when they part, a hesitant thanks hanging off your tongue.

“Jesus Christ, get a room already,” someone near you murmurs, but it doesn’t take long for their attention to slip off you as the next gift recipient is announced. Not Johnny though. 

Your mouth snaps shut.

He hovers at your back for the rest of the gift handouts, so close that you can feel the heat radiating off him. You flinch at his bitten off groans whenever you so much as fidget, rubbing against him. Shaking him off seems like a hopeless task until someone asks if you have a lozenge, giving you an excuse to take them to your locker. 

You can feel him stalking you like a shark around the breakroom when you chat with some of your other coworkers, the smile on your face becoming forced. 

“Did’ya know Johnny actually—oh, sorry, burped—he actually paid me…to get your name?” your coworker giggles, absolutely sloshed. You’re tipsy too, but her words make you go a bit cold.

“Pardon?” you ask. The red cup crackles when your fingers tighten around it.

“He paid me. Fifty dollars. Jus’ to get your name for the…for the stupid Santa thing. The secret Santa.”

You can feel the way your mouth hangs open, just a bit. Her words echo in your head, the conversation long over. You let her prattle on, still stuck on the thought of Johnny paying someone off just for the opportunity to give you a gift. The longer you stand there and chat with your coworkers, the more difficult it gets to look normal. 

“Isn’t that something?” she prompts, nudging you with an elbow. Even the slightest touch hits you like a battering ram. 

“Yeah,” you parrot back, “it’s something.”

Perhaps you’re overdue for a conversation with Johnny about boundaries. More than overdue. The package has been signed, sealed, and delivered. It was overdue months ago, the day you started working at the same store as him. By now, you should’ve quit or transferred, hell you should’ve yelled at him that one time he stopped you in the garden section to apply his own personal Chapstick to your lips (you don’t think about how you’d bitten them raw from staring across the row of potted flowers as he stacked bag after bag of fertilizer onto a customer’s pallet before pushing it to their car, his sleeves rolled up and thick biceps on display the whole time). 

Can anyone blame you for being confused? It’s obvious what he’s offering. He does nothing to hide it. It’s also obvious that it would be, unequivocally, a terrible idea to take him up on it. 

Maybe you just need some fresh air. You make an excuse and peel off from the rest of the group, heading for the door. Someone lurches out of the shadows in the corner before you can make it out. 

“Look, bonnie—mistletoe,” Johnny teases, not letting you so much as glance up before snatching you by the hips and reeling you into him. 

The kiss he plants on you is filthy and wet. Open-mouthed too so he can slip you his tongue, licking over the roof of your mouth. Sucking your bottom lip when you can’t help the whimper that slips out and he breaks away for only a split second to whisper oh fuck under his breath. Your mind reels when he dives back in for another kiss. He’s as good of a kisser as you might have expected, messy but forceful, threading a hand into your hair to hold you in place. The way he roots you in place licks at something delicious inside of you, a secret, buried urge.

Johnny finally pulls away when he can no longer convincingly ignore the way you push on his shoulders and squirm in his arms. His lips are wet when he pulls back, a thin strand of saliva clinging between your lips. It breaks when he runs his tongue across the wetness. 

Someone whistles and Johnny grins from ear to ear, bashful under the joy brimming out of him. You stumble away the second his hands loosen on your hips, wiping a hand across your mouth.

“Good for you, John!” someone shouts through cupped hands and several of your coworkers cackle. 

This time you actually manage to make it out the door and down the hall to the employee restroom. You spend the next few minutes washing your hands until your fingertips go pruney under the warm water and you try to think of anything except the texture of Johnny’s lips. 

You touch your lips no less than three times. Each time, your fingers come back trembling. It’s what you’d long expected from Johnny, from someone that looks like him, like the physical embodiment of ‘for a good time, call…’ written in lipstick on the back of a gas station bathroom door. 

The last thing you want to do is give him an inch, throw him a bone—actually lead him on, as your coworker might say. Still, your finger trembles on your lip. You know he’d make it good. Even if he didn’t, looking like that, who could blame you? The thought makes you wince, conscience of objectifying him, but haven’t you been subject to worse by now? You’re due far more than some measly peck for how many times he’s slapped your ass, stolen your scrunchie (two so far), or said something nasty to you.

It’s not hard to track him down when he’s always hovering nearby, this time just off by the watercooler with your manager and a few other coworkers. The hand not holding a drink is buried deep in his pocket, the smile on his face strained by a mask of politeness; you can tell at a glance that he’s only playing at civility, that he’d rather be anywhere else but chatting with his boss and colleagues at the office party.

When he spots you approaching the group of them, his eyes widen, excitement bleeding back into them. It takes your breath away.

“Ah, there’s your other half, Johnny,” your manager says and you freeze. 

“Aye, so she is. She’s a good little kisser, did’ye see?” Johnny gushes, pulling you in by the waistband of your pants. You’re a bit too tipsy to protest when he slips his hand around your waist. 

It clicks into place. When he pulls you into his side, it feels like slotting into a space made just for you, unwelcome or not. You don’t even notice if your other coworkers laugh or not, fixated on his eyes. He can hardly pull them away from you. Every long shift waking up on the sofa in the breakroom with Johnny standing over you, eyes glinting like a predator’s in the woods, and every coworker’s joke about being Johnny’s girl feels like it’s been leading to this. You have to know what it’d be like. 

“Um…Johnny?” you start, tugging on his shirt gently.

“Yeah, hen? What’s it?”

“Can we…um…do you wanna go somewhere more private?”

His breathing stops, body frozen against yours. “Ye serious, kitty? You’re not joking?”

You shake your head. “Just…just one time? Maybe?”

The first sign of movement from him is a full body shudder that nearly makes you step back. The frazzled look in his eyes borders on manic, flitting around the room looking for the nearest exit. Johnny tosses the group some hasty, poorly worded goodbye (you think he even flubs your manager’s name) and tears away from them, you still glued to his side. Someone giggles as you leave. You can’t pay them any mind though, not with how frantically Johnny pulls you out of the breakroom and down the hall, his long strides nearly making you trip over your feet.

“Johnny—slow down—”

“Hen, I’ll carry ye over my shoulder to the closet, I swear.”

He nearly barrels you over with how forcefully he pushes you into the closet, hot mouth latched onto the side of your throat. You hear the sound of the lock clicking behind him. The closet is swathed in darkness, only the barest hint of light bleeding through from underneath the doorway. It’s hardly enough for you to see anything in front of you, but that almost doesn’t matter with how Johnny curls around you, his body caging you in against the shelving behind you. 

“Please, please, fuck, I cannae believe it, fuck—” Johnny groans into your neck, a pathetic desperate sound that you’ve never heard from him before. He even keens a bit. “Oh Jesus, baby, I’ve been—dinnae if ye knew or not, but I’ve been fuckin’ obsessed with ye for ages, Christ.”

You let out a laugh in disbelief, embarrassed by how breathless it sounds. “I—oh—I f-figured.”

His hands drag up and down your back, tugging at the fabric of your shirt and practically ripping it out of where it’s been tucked into your pants. If you had buttons, you think you’d burst straight off, zip off the walls and roll under one of the shelves. Johnny’s eagerness bleeds through—months of barely concealed lust unravelling right in front of you, his hands practically shaking when they grope along your sides and under your breasts. His fingers dig almost painfully into your flesh until you whimper and he murmurs a broken apology into your neck.

“Wha’d’ye want, baby? I can—fuck, anything ye want, I promise—” Johnny begs, the sound almost pitiful. It makes your pussy ache.

“Your—your mouth—” 

The speed with which he drops to his knees almost makes you flinch. His kneecaps are only saved by the carpeted floor, present nowhere else in the employee section apart from the supply closets. His hands go to the zipper and button on your jeans, yanking viciously, almost snarling when they don’t immediately come undone. When you try to help him, he bares his teeth, more animalistic than you’ve ever seen him before.

“Do these fuckin’ pants even come off?” Johnny growls, giving another yank. You hear something rip and wince.

He manages to wrench your pants down until they pool around your ankles, only enough concentration left in him to pull one leg out and drape it over his shoulder. 

“Johnny—my underwear—holy shit—” you gasp when he mashes his face into the crotch of your panties, laving his tongue over the fabric. You can feel the heat of it through the gusset of your underwear, each desperate lick trying unsuccessfully to pull them to the side. 

“Fuck, s’ry, baby, I’ll take ‘em off,” he apologizes, voice muffled where his mouth is still pressed to your pussy. Reluctant to move even an inch away from you. 

It takes him a couple more seconds before he’s able to move away just long enough to pull your underwear down as well, struggling with getting it over the leg still draped over his shoulder and nearly losing his patience twice over. 

He takes to eating you out like something he’s done for years—naturally. Crudely. Eyes fluttering shut when he drags his tongue from your slit to your clit, unabashedly enjoying himself. His moans drag through you, making you nearly shake right out of your skin. His chin is already wet when you glance down. He spreads your inner lips with two fingers to open you fully to his gaze, lapping at your clit until he can hardly pull his mouth away from your cunt. 

Johnny drags one of your hands from his hair to cradle the side of his face, turning into your palm to take a deep inhale. His eyelashes flutter against his cheeks, eyes several degrees hotter when they meet yours through the curtain of his lashes.

“Fuckin’ smell like mine too,” he growls. You jolt at his words. He draws a finger into his mouth and gives it a suck, making you trill. 

“D-don’t get any ideas,” you gasp, other hand threading through his hair now, turnabout fair play. “S’just a—ah, ah—a one-time t-thing.”

“Aye, one time, one time,” he repeats. “Gonna make it so good f’r ye, baby.”

The two fingers spreading you open push against your entrance insistently. The initial stretch makes you tug at his hair, flushing when all that does is make him moan, mouth hung open sluttily. He looks even more strung out than you, eyes dark and heady. He’s also never looked more attractive.

Shelves jab into the small of your back, the ache growing the longer he keeps you like that with one leg slung over his shoulder, your knees almost buckling. Impossible to concentrate on the voice in your head screaming that this is a bad idea, not when he runs his tongue over your clit and sucks. Not when you’re forced to clamp a palm over your mouth to drown out your sounds. 

The press of a third finger into you makes you flinch and yank at his hair, harder this time. Hard enough for Johnny to back off, an apology muttered into your wetness. The two splitting you are more than enough, you think, a bit wildly. He shouldn’t be prepping you for anything more. There’s a furrow to his brows though, a bit of frustration wedged in there. Like putting up with your complaints annoys him just a bit.

“John—c’mon, please, not so loud,” you beg.

He pumps his fingers into you, eyes trained on the spot where they disappear. The look in his eyes borders on reverent. “Always mouthin’ off, huh? Even when I’m getting ye off? On my knees ‘n everything?”

“There are p-people outside,” you hiss, clamping your hand back down over your mouth when he curls his fingers and presses up into you. 

“Yeah?” The question sounds rhetorically, almost a challenge. The smile on his lips goes wicked sharp. “God, we wouldnae want ‘em ta hear, huh? What ye pulled me away from the party for?”

You don’t know why that’s what sets you off, but it does, eyes watering with the force of your orgasm. Back arched. Your head aches from where you knocked it back into the shelf behind you. Johnny groans when you clench around his fingers.

It’s a few seconds before you feel like you can speak again. The first thing you can utter is a hiss when Johnny laps at your slit again, far too sensitive for him to still be touching you.

“You can, ah…you can let me go now,” you pant. Coming back to your body takes an age, legs still trembling, held up by Johnny’s hands alone.

His fingers grip harder into your flesh. You stare down at him. 

“Oh, pretty baby,” Johnny coos, eyes black with desire, “we’re jus’ gettin’ started.”

[lauren-no-why]

💕🎥💎!!

ok ok while my work computer is tied up crunching away at bird data:

💕 tell us about one of your favorite characters and why you like them!

Oh my god you've given me permission to just go off endlessly on Johnnie, you're a gem.

For the folks reading this who don't already know him, Johnnie Redmayne is an absolute joy. Kid brother to the two current (well, 1967 current) leaders of the World Enders gang, Johnnie is a thrillseeker, a hedonist, the type to leap before he looks, to live with zero regrets, and most of all, he just wants to have fun. There are a lot of implied but not explicit-in-text reasons for this that have to do with the World Enders being centered primarily in East LA, primarily nonwhite and/or of lower economic class, mostly young rebels during an era of counterculture but instead of the white hippie flower child route they're out there causing violence and mayhem and just loving every minute of it.

Anyway, Johnnie is also dead, murdered essentially in a drug dispute, though that's kind of underselling it but I won't rewrite the whole premise of Vide Noir here. But because this is the time and space and cosmic horror fuckery fantasy drug made from the ashes of dying stars and the void between time and space and reality or whatever, he's presumably confronted with some REALLY HORRIFIC things as his mind is slingshotted out into the void where the dead don't so much float as drown as they're fully overwhelmed with whatever goes on out there. And Johnnie? Well - who the heck does this. He's like "uhhh, no thanks! Nope, I hate this, and I'm not going peacefully, death sucks and is boring at best and really really fucked up at worst, so I'mma take a rain check and go back to where all the fun is. Seeya." And now he's a ghost, out making fun of Buck Vernon on midnight desert highways and probably causing a lot of problems for other people because that's way more fun than the alternative.

He's a character who has the potential to be saddled with so much darkness and misery, so much trauma, and I'm sure it's all in there but instead he's not going to dwell on it or make it his personality because that sucks man. He's taken the World Ender ethos to a new level - live your life how you want, die if it kills you who cares, and skipped past the dying normally part right back to the existing for the sake of finding joy in the chaos and destruction and the booze and the ladies and the not being crushed under the heel of cops and an oppressive society but instead sticking it right back to them.

Anyway this kid is hilarious and wonderful and I sure hope he surfaces in the next album and also Eddie Sandstrom is an absolute delight and he better come back to reprise his role even if he doesn't really look 18 anymore I don't really care.

I'm going to stop and move on now even though I really could keep going. Have a pic.

🎥 do you have any favorite scenes from your hyperfixation?

Buddy, it's the Dead Man's Hand scene in the movie, how could it not be. Hey Ben feel free to remake this all you like forever, you're doing great.

Also Until the Night Turns if that counts as a scene, because it does in the movie that plays in my head. Massively underrated song by the fandom, this does so much heavy lifting with the characterization and setting and people need to pay it more attention.

💎 are there any fun facts or trivia that you would like to share?

More! fun! facts! yes let's see. Oh, I think a fun one that's easy to miss is that we actually have an image of Buck Vernon's driver's license and the contents of his wallet. So now you can all know his birth date, height, eye color, etc plus the fact that he keeps SO MANY PHOTOS OF LEE with him. I love this kind of stuff. It's a movie prop that doesn't actually surface in the movie in a viewable form other than I think one of the photos, which is why this isn't on the wiki as not being in the movie itself makes it sort of borderline canon, but it's on the prop designer's website as an example of her work.

[thebibliomancer]

Earth X #2

I’m seeing a couple Things, a Giant-Sized Thing, a bearded Doom, and a whole lot of Kirby krackle. This issue must focus on the Fantastic Four.

What does this Bad Future have in store for the first family of Marvel? Nothing good, probably.

First of all, yes, Uatu is still being a massive prick. To Aaron Stack specifically and also just in general.

When Uatu is recapping the concept of the Fantastic Four for Aaron/the audience, he scornfully calls Reed’s concern for Ben Grimm something that limited Reed.

I thought Uatu liked the superheroes of Earth but he’s had a bad couple years, getting mysteriously blinded and all. Still though.

The Inhuman royal family shows up on Ben Grimm’s doorstep on their quest to find the missing prince.

Ben is actually retired from the superhero game. Retired and married to Alicia with two mini Thing children.

Alicia herself was affected by the mass empowering event. She’s got Kirby krackle eyes and can imbue life in her sculptures.

The Inhumans ask what the heck happened to the Fantastic Four while they were gone and Ben shares the sad story.

The mass empowering caused food shortages. I dunno if it’s because everyone needed so many more calories or whether the supply lines were just disrupted.

Consequently, countries began fishing EVEN MORE to feed their citizens. Which was related to the ocean and so pissed off Namor.

When the UN met to discuss the food crisis, Namor asked for a seat at the table. But the UN didn’t recognize Atlantis as a real place and told him to fuck off.

So Doom was easily able to recruit Namor in a scheme to attack the UN and hold the food supply hostage.

He who controls the hamburgers, controls the world.

Captain America and the Fantastic Four jumped into action to stop them. And Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, decides he’s got Namor.

Except Namor has him.

Namor kills Johnny. Right in front of Franklin. Who I guess has never had to really reckon with death.

(You brought him to the battle? You couldn’t get a babysitter or something?)

Enraged, Franklin uses his reality manipulation powers to wish Namor was constantly on fire.

The burning fish man flees screaming into the ocean, leaving the Terrific Three and Captain America to confront Doom.

Doom tries to bargain for his life against a FURIOUS Sue by claiming he knows what caused the mass empowering and he knows how to fix it.

Reed rejects the notion in disbelief because the mass empowering, what fucked the world, was caused by an experiment he was running to use vibranium to bring free energy to the world. Surely!

Vibranium altered the whole of humanity on a cellular level! That’s the explanation Reed believes!

(I have some doubts, given Doom suggested an alternative theory existed but never explained it.)

And then Doom exits scene pursued by Sue and both seemingly explode.

In grief, Reed takes over as Doctor Doom. Moving into Doom’s castle in Latveria and wearing Doom’s armor and working ceaselessly on trying to fix the world.

He works with equally shut-in and beardy Tony Stark over video chat but Tony is losing hope this is a problem they can fix. That maybe this is just the new normal and they’re obsolete.

These are the thoughts Tony thinks if he goes too long without shaving.

Also, in the issue, Captain America in his flag toga and Wyatt Wingfoot break into the crashed Helicarrier to use Nick Fury’s flying car to get to California to investigate the new Red Skull.

(The background info of last issue suggested that Nick Fury is dead but that there are tons of his old Life Model Decoys causing trouble around the world.)

The all-new all-different Daredevil finally appears. He’s the daredevil for a circus, the man without fear because nothing can kill him.

I cannot fathom so far why this new Daredevil gets so much focus. He appeared on the cover of issue 1 despite not appearing in person. There were posters of him in the backgrounds of some scenes in issue 1 and the Thing children were watching him on TV. And now he gets a whole extended sequence at the circus where the audience is invited to shoot flamethrowers at him.

Then minions of the Red Skull show up to kidnap the audience.

Hi Domino, Sunspot, and Sandman.

Guess there’s going to be some spot the cameo with Red Skull’s crowd.

Back of the book worldbuilding info: the mutated world has been great for some people. The Moloids enjoy surface tourism and revere Reed as a saint on the assumption he caused it.

The Skrulls and Kree have refugee populations on Earth after their forever war reduced both empires to a cinder.

And although the mutants were blamed for the mass empowering event, they blend in far too well to catch hate anymore.

Other popular theories were: the government caused it, a curse caused it, and evolution caused it.

So I’m assuming that none of those are correct and neither is Reed’s theory about the vibranium energy project being the cause.

There’s so many issues left. And this is the big mystery. The correct answer surely is not on the table yet.

So to sum up: Avengers dead, half the Fantastic Four dead, Captain America is wearing a toga, Norman Osborn runs America, mind control alien squid on the loose, and a new Red Skull causing trouble.

Earth X is a mess.

[henlp]

2017-2021 Show Round-up

.Spectacular Spider-Man - One of the best iterations of this IP, and a wonderful example of writing doing proper set-ups. Yes, I’m sad it didn’t get its full run. No, I don’t want it to continue, even if everyone involved were to come back;

.Futurama - Latter seasons are a bit poopy and less imaginative, but everything pre-movies is top notch comedy and sci-fi storytelling;

.The Batman - The first three seasons are fantastic in establishing Bats and how he handles the job and the Rogues Gallery. Has a weird thing where either character designs or their personalities don’t work too well, and the quality drops hard in the last two seasons.

.Johnny Bravo S2 & 3 - Still fucking hilarious, every single episode. S4 was dogshit, so don’t watch it, but S1 might be okay, I didn’t bother;

.Wakfu - Watch the french dub. Transitions between each season is a bit lacking, I bet they tried to tie the show to the game. Characters are loveable, animation is great, story beats a bit 'ehn’ when it comes to powers and reveals;

.Samurai Jack S1-4 - A lot of leniency has to be given to style, but most episodes work really well. One of those shows where it felt like it told every story it could, but hadn’t outstayed its welcome (pre-S5);

.Ben 10 (2005) - Fuck everything besides the original series. Has a great blend of all things paranormal, and a kid hero who’s properly characterized as a little shit with a heart of gold, learning and training to be a hero;

.Kim Possible - Surprised how decent the characters are, for teen caricatures. Not all episodes work, and some villain confrontations become slightly repetitive;

.Codename: Kids Next Door - Very absurd, especially watching it now, but the world is consistent for the most part. Worst episode is unquestionably the mini-golf one;

.Megas XLR - Pure satire of mech/kaiju/sentai media through an all-american lense. A good enough serving of what we get;

.The Mummy Animated Series - Alternate reality version of 'The Mummy Returns’. Less funny than the film, but the first season’s pretty decent;

.Jackie Chan Adventures - Outside of its finale, S4 is the best, S2 is horrible. The show itself is not good, but entertaining. Shame its namesake is no longer with us, RIP;

.The Mask Animated Series - … it’s so fucking bad. Not just from the writing, but also from the horrendous pacing and low quality animation in a lot of instances. Don’t suffer like I did, just stick with the Jim Carrey movie, because the show isn’t worth it;

.Freakazoid - The gags and the actual plot for each episode are erratic at best, and perpetually clashing at worst. Furthermore, it does NOT do a good job with presenting the titular character as an over-charged loon, both from an animation perspective and character writing. To its credit, gets better as it goes on, but not enough to recommend;

.There’s one more thing, which I’d consider one the best shows of the previous decade, in spite of its flaws. However, out of principle and spite (30/70 split), I’ll never mention or acknowledge which show it is.

[kaepopsicle]

nct dream reaction to finding out their crush likes them back

omg tea ... this should be fun... btw you’re the crush in this

nct dream reaction. their crush liking them back.

一 mark

finds out from his friend, completely panics like a five year old when they find out they’re going to Disney; “what do I do?” “What do I do????” probably falls or passes out bc he didn’t think they would actually like him back;

“Johnny hyung what do I do??” John gets up, grabs him a suit, and throws it at him “just wear this” “I don’t know, I don’t feel like it’s me..” he rubs his arm before grabbing a hoodie and beanie; “how do I look hyung?” He had a big smile on his face. John gives him a thumbs up “go get them tiger” he smiles before scurrying out of the room, he runs to the hallway and ends up running into you. “oh my god dude hey, I- hey- iheardthatyoulikemeandilikeyoutooandand.” he stops and stares at the ground “iwaswonderingdoyouwanttouhmaybego-“ you grab his face so he would actually look at you. “yes of course” you say before he even finished. “I would love to go on a date with you mark lee”

一 renjun

jeno tells him while they were hanging out, “THEY WHAT!?” he screams as he ends up jumping up and running out the room, running into the door frame on the way out. runs away to your place in his pajamas. not caring what time it was or who sees him.

gets to your place and knocks on the door, you open it half asleep as it was late at night, “hey” he walks in before you even realize who it was. “I- uh won’t you come in?” you rub your eyes as he walks by “you like me? you like me? Like actually ??? it isn’t a prank??” You walk over still half asleep. “renjun can we talk about this later? It’s 4 am” you look over at the time, 5 past 4. “No this cANT.” He turns to you. “I’ve liked you for so long and just to find out you like me in return I’m- speechless!” “I- renjun.” You stop and look into his brown sparkly eyes, almost as if he was about to shed a tear. A smile pulls at your cheeks. “Yes yes, I like you how can I not?” He pulls you into a hug and ends up crying into your shoulder.

一 jeno

freezes when jaems told him after hanging with you the other day, “they what?” “I’m sorry what-“ jaemin rollls his eyes. “cmon jeno it’s not like they proposed to you they just like you back, now go talk to them.” jeno just stares at the ground, until jaemin decides to push him to your place...

*knock knock* you get up from your gray sofa and walk over to the door, unexpecting company, you see jeno still frozen in fear and jaemin hiding from behind his arms at his back as if he was pushing him down the hallway (which he was) “alright have fun you two” he lets go and walks down the hall, he ends up turning the corner and bringing his phone out to record. “Oh hey !” Jeno finally says as he snaps back into reality, “hi? Jeno..” you say rubbing your arm, a little nervous bc it’s the first time seeing him since you shared your feelings for him. “Is it true?” He asked , his brown eyes melting into your eyes,, you blush and look down. “Ye-“ you’re stopped by his embrace hugging around you. “I like you too.”

一 haechan

finds out from mark, “they what?? of course they do haha, took them long enough to admit it.” he smirks before running out of the practice room to go find you and tease you for it (even though he clearly likes you back)

“Y/N” he runs into the room next door , which you were relaxing on your phone, you look up startled thinking you were in trouble. “what’s wrong?” you look up at him, his brown eyes stare into your soul, they were almost burning with passion. He reaches a hand down to help you stand up, you accept and he spins you around until your chests are touching. “a little birdie told me, you like someone, someone who’s handsome, talented, funny” the realization hits you. you roll your eyes and walk away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about dongyuck. I’ve never met anyone like that.” He frowns before coming up from behind you, his breath pricking your skin. “I know you like me y/n, no need to hide, I like you too..” he smirks, you turn and look up to him with sparkles in your eyes “really??” he smiles before letting you go, “HAHA NO WHY WOULD I LIKE YOU, YOU UGLY” he rubs the top of your head, messing up your hair, and runs out of the room, cackling; before stopping at the door, “dinner; you, me, tomorrow night” he grins and skips out of the room. leaving you speechless.

一 jaemin

almost chokes to death on his coffee, “THEY WHAT- hold on hold on hold on, how do I look? I need to go talk to them!” He stands up almost immediately after watching tv with renjun. renjun looks up at him “bro cmon we have like 10 mins left let’s finish this.” jaemin looks down at him and back up “no I must confess my love for them now!” an intense scene comes on the screen “okay I’ll confess my love to them after this part”

the part is finished and he fixes his hair in the bathroom, he walks out of the room before he runs into you, “OMG Y/N.. I was just looking for you!” He smiles, you look at him, something about him was different; his eyes soft but intense. he was about to say something big you could just feel it. “so I was wondering, if you wanted to go out sometime?” He smiles and winks. You just look at him. “Sure like for dinner? Or like boba?” You not fully understanding by what he meant, you didn’t think he had any alternate motives bc it’s na jaemin, he would never like you. right? he sighs before spinning you around and gently pinning you against the hallway wall. “No, I’m asking you out, do you want to go on a date with me y/n?” you blush at his sudden reaction, you’ve never seen him so passionate about something before. “I- sure. Yes of course” he smiles “good :) see you tonight at 7”

一 chenle

at first he doesn’t really care, he’s like “ah they like me? cool” until he realized he himself had the same feelings. he quickly texts (not mark bc he doesn’t know anything) but johnny bc he would know how to talk to people better. “hyung what should I do?” johnny smiles, “flowers my little dude, flowers” chenle grins before going to the store to get the biggest bouquet of flowers he could find, he puts on a suit and gets to their house.

he knocks and fixes his tie, quickly smells himself just to double check; you open the door in pajamas and messy hair. “chenle- hi..” you say surprised of his presence and the state he was in. “was there a special occasion I missed?” you smile as you see his outfit, you lean against the door frame and look him up and down, your eyes trace to the flowers in his hand. “omg are those for me?” your heart throbbed, you liked this boy. a lot. but you didn’t want to give the satisfaction to him that easily, “I- yes these are for you” he smiles before handing them to you. “the colors match your eyes :D” you giggle. “so you think you can buy my love with flowers ??” he freezes “I no- I just-“ you chuckle at his flusteredness. “I’m just messing with you, thank you chenle.. I love them” he sighs “why would you do that to me, I got so scared” you laugh and freeze when his eyes were tracing your facial features. “w-was there a reason for you coming here? or did you just want to give me flowers?” he rubs his arm. “I just wanted to say I like you..” your cheeks pull at the sides of your mouth. hearing him say it made you warm and melt from the inside out. you sensed he was nervous and walk to him, placing your arm at his face. “you heard correctly, I like you too.” he smiles before giving you a big hug.

一 jisung

completely in shock. “:o they like me back?” Is confused bc he’s always so shy and awkward around you, he was sure that he made a fool of himself around you, but hearing from chenle that you said with your own lips you like him, he might pass out then and there

chenle ends up shoving him to the room you were in, you had your headphones in and working on your laptop, jisung fidgets with his hands before getting scared and almost backing out, luckily chenle was there and pushed him even closer to you. you don’t notice until he falls in front of you after a little too hard of a push from chenle. “omg jisung are you okay?” you quickly take off your headphones and help him up, he pulls his hand away speedily and makes little hand gestures. “yes yes I’m fine thank you.” he stares at the ground, too nervous to make eye contact. he turns and looks at chenle who gave him a “go for it” notion. he turns back to you and blushes, “so I was w-wondering if you maybe wanted to uh, to uh,” he ends up getting too shy and runs out of the room. chenle looking at you before running up to jisung, you softly blush, thinking of what he might have asked. “I can’t do it ahh” jisung says to chenle in the hallway pressing against the wall, “bro you got this! she likes you! just ask her out! she won’t bite” you come walking out which startles the two boys. “oh- sorry am I interrupting?” you ask softly. “No no you aren’t actually, we are finished.” chenle smiles before tapping jisungs shoulder and walking away. you say your byes to chenle and walk over to jisung. “hey are you okay? you seemed so nervous in there” you ask looking into his gentle eyes, he blushes before messing up his hair. you think to yourself, maybe you should be the one to ask him out. so you manage up enough courage yourself, “jisung would you like to get boba with me?” You smile and blush before realizing what you said.. “omg I’m so sorry.” You turn to walk away. “No no wait, I would love to. It’s actually what I was going to ask you.” you turn back to him and smile “really? Well okay then! It’s a date! Tomorrow at 2?” You smile, he matches your smiles and blushes “yes...” your smile was so big your eyes were gone, you skip away while jisung smiles proudly of himself and runs to go tell his hyungs.

[henpendrips]

2021 Retrospective

Thought that 2021 was as bad as 2020, if not more so? Don't worry, things WILL continue to get worse. Predicting 2028 will be peak Clown World Decade, starting out seemingly okay but going max bonkers past half-time. Precedent's been set, after all.

Now that the doom and gloom's out of the way: without repeating anything I said in previous yearly retrospectives, 2021 wasn't that eventful for me. Probably the biggest blunder might've been not using the Huion Kamvas that I got last year, even though I got it working properly in January. Not a single drawing was done with it, so a waste of money; and I had no excuse, I was locked in the house for the first half of the year, I had plenty of time. Also, my movie list being empty for the first time in over ten years was quite the bummer.

Instead of more demoralizing drivel, figured I'd just recommend some of the cartoon shows that I've (re)watched in recent years which I find to be worth a damn. Maybe if more people watch decent shows from yesteryear, they'll realize why all the horseshit 'content' that's been coming out is fucking atrocious. Not all of them are good, and they're not properly ranked in terms of quality or preference, but here they are:

.Spectacular Spider-Man - One of the best iterations of this IP, and a wonderful example of writing doing proper set-ups. Yes, I'm sad it didn't get its full run. No, I don't want it to continue, even if everyone involved were to come back;

.Futurama - Latter seasons are a bit poopy and less imaginative, but everything pre-movies is top notch comedy and sci-fi storytelling;

.The Batman - The first three seasons are fantastic in establishing Bats and how he handles the job and the Rogues Gallery. Has a weird thing where either character designs or their personalities don't work too well, and the quality drops hard in the last two seasons.

.Johnny Bravo S2 & 3 - Still fucking hilarious, every single episode. S4 was dogshit, so don't watch it, but S1 might be okay, I didn't bother;

.Wakfu - Watch the french dub. Transitions between each season is a bit lacking, I bet they tried to tie the show to the game. Characters are loveable, animation is great, story beats a bit 'ehn' when it comes to powers and reveals;

.Samurai Jack S1-4 - A lot of leniency has to be given to style, but most episodes work really well. One of those shows where it felt like it told every story it could, but hadn't outstayed its welcome (pre-S5);

.Ben 10 (2005) - Fuck everything besides the original series. Has a great blend of all things paranormal, and a kid hero who's properly characterized as a little shit with a heart of gold, learning and training to be a hero;

.Kim Possible - Surprised how decent the characters are, for teen caricatures. Not all episodes work, and some villain confrontations become slightly repetitive;

.Codename: Kids Next Door - Very absurd, especially watching it now, but the world is consistent for the most part. Worst episode is unquestionably the mini-golf one;

.Megas XLR - Pure satire of mech/kaiju/sentai media through an all-american lense. A good enough serving of what we get;

.The Mummy Animated Series - Alternate reality version of 'The Mummy Returns'. Less funny than the film, but the first season's pretty decent;

.Jackie Chan Adventures - Outside of its finale, S4 is the best, S2 is horrible. The show itself is not good, but entertaining. Shame its namesake is no longer with us, RIP;

What I DON'T recommend at ALL: The Mask Animated Series... it's so fucking bad. Not just from the writing, but also from the horrendous pacing and low quality animation in a lot of instances. Don't suffer like I did, just stick with the Jim Carrey movie, because the show isn't worth it. And Freakazoid, to its credit, gets better as it goes on, but not enough to recommend. Sucks that both of these toon-type hero shows don't work out.

Lastly, there's one more thing. One that I probably would consider one the best shows of the previous decade, in spite of its flaws. However, out of principle and spite (30/70 split), I'll never mention or acknowledge which show it is.

1And that's about it for my once-a-year vent session. See you in 2022, only 200 years for the roulette to pay off.

[solarune]

flowers in your hair

part of @neo-cult-ure​‘s colours collab! | masterlist + prologue

pairing: lee taeyong x fem!reader (feat. a nosy lee donghyuck, childhood best friend quian kun, and college best friend/co-worker johnny seo)

genre: fluff, soulmate au, florist au, coffee shop au, idiots (literally) to lovers

warnings: taeyong being too cute to be real, florist!taeyong, coffee shop owner!reader, donghyuck is annoying, reader has a nightmare, switches to taeyong’s pov for one part

word count: 10,577

summary: what you know about your soulmate taeyong in the 6 years that you’ve known him: he has 6 tattoos but is already planning on getting 4 more, he loves his dog ruby very much, he has only ever shared his banana bread recipe with one person (you), his mom makes the best kimchi jjigae in the entire world, his favorite color is pink, and he is the man of your dreams. literally.

what you don’t know about taeyong: what he looks like.

what you know about the owner of the new flower shop across the street: he has light brown hair, he’s a caffeine addict (if his cousin donghyuck picking up coffee 5 days a week says anything about it), and he is your enemy by association (according to kun). 

what you don’t know about the florist: his name.

a/n: i’ve wanted to write a florist!taeyong fic for the longest time and i finally got to!! thank you so much to @neo-cult-ure​ for reaching out to me to be part of this collab and please please please check out the rest of the fics because they were all written by some really talented writers!! thank you to @jungwoohoos​ for checking this fic over as she’s done with my others ily. hope you enjoy and feedback is always appreciated :-)

When you open your eyes, you can’t help but feel like something is off. You can’t quite put a finger on it but something feels strange. But perhaps it was that strange dream that you had last night. Something about picking a color and finding your soulmate? The details of the dream were already escaping you but it doesn’t matter because you have to start getting ready for school-

Wait. School?

You sit up in bed and realize that you’re back in your childhood bedroom. You can even hear your dad singing in the shower judging by the terrible vocals that you can hear through your closed door. But why are you at your parents’ house? You look at your bedside table and see your phone and a letter with your name on it beside it. Picking up your phone, you check the time and realize that it’s 7am but it’s the date that throws you off; it’s 8 years behind. You pick up the envelope and slide your finger under the flap, hoping that whatever was inside would help you figure out just what exactly was going on.

Dear Y/N,

You’re probably wondering what’s going on. Your memories from our reality are mixing with your memories from the reality that you’re in so life is going to be a bit confusing. Good thing I wrote this letter to explain, huh? My name is Cyan. I’m the woman you ran into and told you to pick a color to find your soulmate. Yes, that was real, it wasn’t a dream. You’re currently in an alternate universe and your goal is to find your soulmate. Once you do that, you will return back to our reality and you and your soulmate will have the memories from the alternate reality. It’s your job to not only find them in the alternate reality but in our reality as well. This sounds difficult but don’t worry. Fortunately, you and your soulmate are able to meet in your dreams. However, I don’t know the exact details about that so you’ll have to figure them out yourself. Good luck and hopefully we’ll see each other soon!

All the best,

Cyan xoxo

You sit in bed for the next 5 minutes, trying to process everything in the short letter. You have a soulmate? You’re in an alternate reality? And not only that but you’re a teenager again so now you have to go back to high school? And what about your reality? How does time work here? Is this like a Narnia thing where you’re gone for years but return at the exact moment that you left? Or are you there for a week but 10 years have passed when you go back? And what the hell did “Cyan” mean about meeting your soulmate in your-

“Y/N! Are you awake? You’re supposed to leave in 20 minutes!”

Everywhere you turned, people were always talking about soulmates. Was there ever a time that we didn’t ever know who our soulmate is? How are we able to communicate with each other in our dreams? What about the people who don’t actually end up with their soulmate in the end? But you didn’t care about that. Especially in this very moment. Soulmates, in fact, aren’t real at all.

At least, you wish they weren’t real right now.

Because then Doyoung wouldn’t have broken up with you just because he finally dreamt about his soulmate last night. You’d probably be with him right now, watching whatever cult classic movie he thinks you just have to see because you made a comment once about never watching Fight Club during 8th grade. If he hadn’t had that dumb dream, your 2 year relationship wouldn’t be a flaming pile of garbage right now and you wouldn’t have the new drugstore eyeliner that Yejin had recommended to you running down your face.

“Wanna see this video that Xiaojun sent me of his dog?” Kun asks you, effectively breaking the hour of silence that the two of you have been sitting in, the only noise coming from your spontaneous bouts of crying and the videos on Kun’s phone as he scrolls through TikTok. After seeing that state that you were in at school when Doyoung broke up with you that morning, Kun knew that he wasn’t going to leave you alone today. You turn over to face him with a sigh, your head propped up on your hand as you watch Kun’s cousin’s dog run around their living room. But even an overexcited puppy isn’t enough to lift your spirits, something that Kun notices immediately and he frowns. “Listen, Doyoung didn’t deserve you and you know that and if given permission, I wouldn’t hesitate to dropkick him for you. You’ll find your soulmate eventually, and I’m sure they’ll be everything you actually need in a partner.”

You wrinkle your nose at his words; you and Kun have been best friends since you were 5 so it’s weird to hear him saying this cheesy stuff to you sometimes. “That was really nice and I really appreciate that, Kun, but please don’t tell me that you’re about to confess your feelings to me.” You laugh loudly when your best friend shoves you, returning his glare with a smirk as you attempt to smother him in a hug. “I’ll always love you but-”

“Y/N, I’m just trying to be a good best friend,” Kun rolls his eyes as he goes back to looking at his phone. “Your life isn’t one of those fanfictions you used to read when you were 15.”

“Yeah because if it were, the universe wouldn’t have made my boyfriend of 2 years dump me the day before my birthday!”

That night, you roll over in your bed for what feels like the millionth time. You check the time on your phone again and groan at the late hour, mentally preparing yourself for the exhaustion that you’re bound to feel tomorrow. You wonder if turning 18 will feel any different. Will you dream about your soulmate tonight? Not like you’re too eager to talk to any guy in a non-platonic way but it would still be cool. You wonder what they’re like; what’s their favorite color, what’s their favorite place to go to clear their head, do they like to look at the stars just as much as you do? You feel yourself grow tired as you think about your soulmate and force yourself to not think about Doyoung, your eyes finally closing as you wonder if your soulmate likes flowers.

“Thanks for coming tonight. Want some cake?”

Someone places a slice of cake into your hands and when you look up to thank the person, all you can see are deep brown eyes. Both literally and figuratively; their eyes are very nice but they’re also blurry. You blink a couple of times and squint to get a better look at them but even when they’re standing so close to you, you can’t seem to make out any distinct features at all. You look around at all of the other partygoers and find that you can see them all just fine, so why can’t you see this person?

“My name’s Taeyong. And judging by the fact that you’re the only person in here that I can’t see, I’m going to guess that you’re my soulmate and you also can’t see me. Am I right?” they say to you, and even though you can’t see him, you can tell that there’s a smile on his face. 

You stick your hand out and, even though he can’t see you, you smile at Taeyong. “My name is Y/N.”

Taeyong shakes your hand but rather than letting go, his grip tightens ever so slightly and his hand slides across yours to grip it as he leads you away from the spot you were standing in. He takes you outside, the cool night air refreshing on your skin and the moonlight making everything glow ethereally. He sits on the grass in the middle of the yard and gestures for you to do the same, laughing quietly to himself when he sees you looking up at the night sky in awe. You take a seat next time, your eyes never leaving in the sky as you whisper, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen this many stars before.”

“Do you like looking at the stars?” Taeyong asks.

You nod, your gaze finally leaving the sky above you to look at the boy next to you. “They’re pretty. And they make me feel… seen. The light from those stars, which are most definitely dead by now, travelled millions of light years just for us to see them, and they see us too. I don’t really know how to explain it but looking at the stars just makes me feel like everything is going to be okay.”

“Whenever I visited my grandparents, my grandpa would take me outside and show me all of these constellations using his telescope. Everything I know about the stars and the planets are because of him.” Taeyong goes quiet and you wait. From the way he’s looking down and pulling up blades of grass, you can tell that what he’s going to say next is important. “He died when I was 16. Some drunk driver who couldn’t tell the difference between the road and the sidewalk. I was so sad after he died.” You place your hand on his knee as a sign of comfort, not wanting to push him since you two just met. He lets out a mirthless laugh and you can’t help but smile sympathetically. “I stayed with my grandma for that entire summer after it happened. One night I was using his telescope and I couldn’t get it to focus properly and I just got so mad that I broke it. I cried after that and my grandma found me the next morning, sleeping out in the yard next to the broken telescope. She yelled at me, not because I broke his telescope, but because I could’ve gotten sick.”

“He sounds like a great man,” you murmur. “I’m sure he’s proud of you and that he misses you just as much as you miss him.”

Taeyong hums beside you, the two of you continuing to look up at the stars in silence. “So,” he says loudly to break the silence. “Any sad childhood stories you want to tell me? Since apparently I’ve decided that that’s what we’re going to do the first time that we meet.”

You burst out laughing at that, and even though you just got your heartbroken, you think that having a soulmate won’t be that bad after all. “I think we’re going to have to at least be friends before I tell you all about my traumas.”

The boy beside you gets up and offers a hand down to you, helping you stand up. “Friends?” he asks incredulously. “We’re soulmates!”

“All I know about you is that your name is Taeyong and that you broke your dead grandpa’s telescope while stargazing,” you point out. 

You turn to look at him and your breath hitches, finally noticing that Taeyong is completely facing you and is standing very close to you. He takes both his hands in yours and you look up at him, and even though you couldn’t make out his facial features, you could feel his hands in yours and the warmth radiating off of him and that was enough. There’s this inexplicable pull in your stomach that makes you want to move even closer to him and just as you can feel yourself lift your foot up to take that first step, you panic and take a giant step back instead, letting Taeyong’s hands fall to his side.

“I’m sorry, did I do something wrong? Did I say something to offend you?” your soulmate asks, taking a step towards you but stopping when you put your hands up.

“You didn’t do anything, Taeyong, don’t worry,” you reassure him. “It’s just that…” You bite your lower lip in worry, wondering if talking about your personal life was appropriate in this situation. But he did just tell you something personal about him- “My boyfriend of 2 years broke up with me today so I’m not looking to rush into anything any time soon. I know that we’re soulmates but I need time to heal and be my own person.”

Taeyong doesn’t say anything for a bit and you wonder if you’ve told him too much. Just as you begin to think of ways to stop yourself from sleeping ever again so you don’t have to see him, he surprises you. “Out of all the people the universe could have put me together with, it just had to be you. I think we’re going to be great friends in no time!”

He holds his hand out for you and you take it, allowing him to lead you back to the party.

When you wake up, the first thing you see are the glow-in-the-dark stars on your ceiling. Even though they’re nothing like the ones you saw in your dream, you can’t help but think of your soulmate’s grandfather. After a few minutes, you realize that you don’t remember your soulmate’s name or the story he told you about his grandfather.

“Great, so all I know about him is that he likes to stargaze with his grandpa-”

“Y/N, who are you talking to? Are you getting ready for school?”

Your meetings with Taeyong usually consist of you trying to remember at least one thing about the other, hoping that the repetition will be enough to get something to stick when you wake up that morning. The two of you are in Taeyong’s dream tonight (as you usually are since you rarely dream and if you do, usually it’s about someone trying to kill you), walking through a park full of cherry blossom trees with your arms linked together. He leads you over to a bench where you both sit in silence for a bit, the two of you lost in your own separate thoughts.

“So,” Taeyong says to break the silence. “We both leave for university tomorrow.”

You look over at him to find him already looking at you, and even though you can’t see him, you know that you share the same feelings he’s experiencing right now. “I know, it’ll be weird, right? One step closer to being in the adult world and all that. What higher power decided that I’m capable of being an adult?”

Taeyong’s hand brushes over yours and hovers hesitantly before taking it in his own. You let it happen because you know that he doesn’t mean anything by it. He’s just as scared as you are, so why not find comfort in the person that’s supposed to be in your life forever? You squeeze his hand and rest your head on his shoulder, inhaling the sweet scent of the cherry blossoms before sighing deeply. Everything is about to change.

Your soulmate hums in consideration, shifting his body closer to you to make you more comfortable. “Well I don’t know about you, but I’m not going to college so I can be an adult,” he confesses. “I’m going because I want to get drunk off my ass with my friends.”

You roll your eyes at his joke, sitting up straight so you could playfully shove him. “Oh shut up, Taeyong, you know you’re gonna be the best astronomer out there.”

He shrugs in response, fiddling with your hand in his lap as he looks out at the trees in front of you. “We’ll see. Life is crazy; we might end up somewhere we weren’t even expecting.”

And Taeyong was right. Life is crazy. Yours and Taeyong’s first year at university was hard. You were pursuing a major in economics while Taeyong was pursuing a major in physics with a concentration in astronomy. The two of you were so stressed your first year that you barely got to meet in your dreams because neither of you had any; you just slept. Your lives were: wake up, go to class, do work for the rest of the day, find some time to eat in between all of that, and then sleep just enough to keep you alive. 

But you knew that you couldn’t do this for another 3 years. You ended up switching to a major in food science and nutrition with a minor in business while Taeyong switched to a major in plant science. During your time at university, the two of you tried as best as you could to remember where the other went to school so you could try to meet somewhere in the middle but the most you could remember by the end of your third year was that you both go to school in Seoul.

(“You remember that we’re both in Seoul, so that’s good!” Taeyong reassures you one night as you whine about still not being able to meet each other. “We’re one step closer!”

“Yong, Seoul is huge and there’s so many universities here. How are we supposed to narrow it down?” you pout as you lean forward to rest your forehead against his chest.

Taeyong sighs and pats your head, not knowing what else to say because he knows you’re right. But he won’t give up hope; he knows he’ll see you soon. Just as he’s about to answer, the room around you goes dark and you hear the creaking of floorboards above you. He can see the fear in your eyes when he meets your gaze and his heart begins to pound. There’s a loud bang from upstairs and you immediately run out of the building you were in. 

“You know, I’m really starting to hate your dreams. Maybe this is why we can’t remember anything, because we’re too busy running for our lives like we’re in a horror movie!”

When you woke up that morning, all you could remember was that he hates being in your dreams.)

By the beginning of your last year, the two of you agreed to stop trying so hard to meet each other. You assume that the universe just isn’t ready for the two of you to meet yet so you might as well enjoy just spending time with each other. Taeyong agrees and surprisingly, it works. You start to remember more and more about him—small things like his dog’s name and that the scar next to his eye resembles a rose—so you start to write them down. You even make a list of things that happen every day that you would want to tell him just in case you see each other that night.

Last night, you finally remembered the recipe for his banana bread, something that took you nearly an entire year to learn. You grab your journal from your desk and write down the recipe, humming in satisfaction when you write down the last ingredient. You read over the other things you’ve learned about Taeyong over the years—his favorite color is pink, he has a dog named Ruby and she is one of the 4 most important women in his life (“Who are the others?” “You, my mom, and my sister obviously!”), he has 4 tattoos—and hear his voice in the back of your head from your first year reassuring you.

We’re one step closer.

You place the finished drink on the counter just as the bell above the door jingles, alerting you to your first customer of the day. “One medium iced caramel macchiato with almond milk,” you announce, holding out a straw and napkin for Kun to take as he walks up to you with half-closed eyes. “Busy night last night?” you tease him as he takes his first sip, laughing when you see his body relax at the first taste of caffeine. “That one’s on me since you look like you need it.”

“Xiaojun had his friends over last night,” Kun complains as he takes a seat at the counter to be near you, tracing the letters of the coffee shop's name that’s on the cup sleeve as he talks. “It’s nice living with him since we’re cousins and all but him and his friends are such enablers. But I beat all of them at Mario Kart last night, so it was worth it I guess.”

You hum in understanding and pick up a towel to clean off the counters, knowing that the usual morning rush would come in soon and you wouldn’t get a chance to clean when it did. “So what I’m hearing is that it’s actually your fault, is that right?”

“They’re enablers, Y/N, I’m telling you!” your best friend protests, his words a bit muffled due to the straw in his mouth as he takes another sip. “They know that I can’t resist playing Mario Kart when I’m drunk!”

“They got you drunk?” you repeat. “I’m starting to think that I don’t even know who you are anymore, Kun. Getting drunk on a Sunday night knowing you have work the next morning? Doesn’t sound like my best friend if you ask me.”

Kun rolls his eyes at you but just as he’s about to respond, the bell above the door jingles (quite violently) and another customer walks in with a “Good morning, Busy Bean!” You look up to find Donghyuck walking towards you, a wide smile on his face and his right hand hidden behind his back.

“And that’s my cue to leave,” Kun grumbles, gathering up his stuff as soon as he hears the younger boy’s voice. 

You laugh at that, knowing that the only reason Kun dislikes Donghyuck is because he works for the new florist across the street. But Kun’s just funny like that sometimes. He had been the only florist in town and everybody knew about his shop, A Thousand Petals. The place was beautiful and Kun was good at what he did. But then a couple of months ago, the competition rolled in. At least, that’s what it was for him. To you, the new flower shop across the street from you meant nothing other than the fact that they had replaced the burger joint that nobody went to. And let’s just say that Kun didn’t appreciate being surprised with competition on a Monday morning while being handed his daily macchiato. You gave him free coffee for a week to make up for it.

“Bye Kun!” Donghyuck shouts happily, waving to him energetically even though your best friend only grunts in response. He walks up to the counter and reveals what he was hiding behind his back: a bundle of daisies. “Some pretty flowers for a pretty girl,” he says as he hands them over to you.

You accept them with a smile, thanking him as you put them in a mason jar in front of the register. “What’ll it be today, sunshine? The usual?” you ask, even though you’re already punching in the order for 2 iced Americanos.

Donghyuck blushes at your nickname for him and his lovestruck eyes staring at you doesn’t escape your notice. You’ve grown used to the boy’s antics and know that his flirting is meaningless. “Nope,” he replies, popping the ‘p’ as he leans against the counter. “Just a muffin please. And can I get it warm?”

You nod and put in his order, taking his cash and then smiling when you see him put the change in the tip jar. “So why no coffee today?” you ask as you put his muffin in the oven. “You guys find a place better than mine?”

The boy’s jaw drops at this, his posture straightening as he looks at you in shock. “Y/N, how dare you even suggest that. You know that there’s no coffee place better than yours!” He takes one of the flowers from the jar and starts fiddling with it, his smile widening when Johnny, one of your employees, comes out from the back. “Johnny!”

Johnny’s eyes widen at the sight of him and he freezes, his cup of coffee only midway to his mouth. “Damn, I thought you’d be gone already,” he mumbles, the two of you laughing as the boy starts fake crying. Johnny takes out the muffin from the oven and hands it to Hyuck after putting it in a bag. “Thanks for coming to The Busy Bean, we hope to never see you again.”

You push Johnny on to the floor, throwing a towel at his face as you chuckle. “Johnny, stop being mean to Hyuck and go clean the tables before Mrs. Choi complains again about them being dirty.” You ignore his noise of complaint in favor of turning back to the boy still in front of you who’s already started eating.

“His Majesty doesn’t want coffee yet,” he shrugs, crumbs falling from his mouth as he answers your question. “But you know he’s a caffeine addict so he’ll probably send me over during my lunch break.” He throws out the bag and puts the flower that he left lying on the counter back into the jar. “Speaking of which, I should probably head back. See you in a few hours!”

You wave goodbye to him and watch as he crosses the street to the flower shop. Donghyuck is an interesting kid. When you first look at him, you wouldn’t think that he works at a flower shop but you found out he’s only working there for the summer because he starts university in the fall. And his cousin’s the one that owns the place so it was a guaranteed job (“My mom and his mom actually had to convince him to let me work there but you know, I basically already had it.”). Ever since he first walked into your store, he’s been trying to set you up with his cousin, swearing up and down that the two of you would be great together. You’ve always laughed it off though since you weren’t particularly looking for anything and you weren’t about to take advice from an 18 year old.

“Here they come,” Johnny announces, running back to stand behind the counter with you as the morning rush comes in. You notice that the crowd seems to be bigger than usual and you feel nervous; The Busy Bean had just recently gone through some construction and had expanded but your new employees haven’t finished training so they can’t start working until next week. Johnny can tell that you’re nervous and places a hand on your shoulder, and when you look up at him, you see him smiling down at you. “Don’t be nervous, we’ll be fine! We always are.”

When you were in college, Johnny was the first friend that you made. Being without Kun was weird and scary even though he was only a 30 minute subway ride away from you but luckily, the boy living across the hall from you was there to provide you with company. The two of you did everything together—when you weren’t busy with labs and presentations and he wasn’t busy with his research and papers, that is. You even applied for jobs at the Starbucks on campus at the beginning of your junior year, and you were pretty sure the manager would have fired the both of you for always goofing off if you weren’t his best employees.

But the day that you knew he was going to be in your life for a long time was when you finally told him your dream of opening your own coffee shop. It was something that only Kun knew, too embarrassed to tell anyone else after your parents had told you that it would never happen. Johnny had surprised you that day, promising to be your first employee once it happened. You watch him from your place behind the coffee machine, watching him talk to Mr. Park from the restaurant that the two of you always go to with a smile on his face. Aside from Kun and your store, Johnny is all you have and when he notices you staring at him and makes a face at you, you thank the universe for putting him in your life.

“I have returned!” Donghyuck announces when he walks into the cafe, true to his word about returning during his lunch break. Behind him is a man who looks to be only a few years older than him with hair the exact same color as coffee foam. You’ve never seen him before but Hyuck apparently knows him as you watch him drag the older boy up to the counter. “2 medium iced Americanos please,” he says to Johnny in a cute voice, pouting when the man behind the register denies him his order with no emotion in his voice.

“Where’s your manager? I need to tell her you’re being mean to me,” Hyuck says as he sticks his tongue out at Johnny. You walk over with their coffee and place it down on the counter with a laugh, bumping Johnny with your hip to get him away from the register.

“Maybe Johnny wouldn’t be mean to you if you didn’t try to annoy him every time you’re here, sunshine,” you tease him as you take his money. Johnny hands them straws and napkins, making sure to stick his tongue out at the teenager in retaliation. You shake your head at him when he sees that you notice. You’re surrounded by children.

“Oh, this is the owner of The Busy Bean by the way,” Hyuck says to his cousin, smirking when he notices a blush beginning to form on his cheeks. “You know, the girl that you said you think is cute when you first saw h-”

“Hi, nice to meet you,” the older boy greets you very loudly as he cuts off Donghyuck, reaching out to shake your hand with blazing cheeks. “I’m- Uh- I-I’m TY.”

You shake his hand as you stifle a giggle, finding the blush on his face cute. Donghyuck on the other hand does nothing to hide his laugh, just narrowly avoiding an elbow in his side from his cousin. “Nice to meet you, Your Majesty. I wasn’t aware that I would be in the presence of royalty today otherwise I would have rolled out the red carpet.”

“I wasn’t aware that, uh, you have such a nice smile,” the florist compliments you, making you smile as you thank him. “Your teeth are pretty,” he blurts out and you feel your smile falter as you process the compliment. Your teeth are… pretty? Johnny and Hyuck attempt to stifle their laughter at the man’s outburst, the man in question turning red as a tomato when he realizes what he said to you. He slowly starts to back away, pulling Donghyuck by the back his shirt towards the exit as he stutters out, “U-Uh I mean- S-Sorry that was weird- You uh-”

“Watch out!” you warn him, noticing a customer looking down at their phone pushing open the door right into his back. 

TY lets out an ‘oof!’ as the door hits him, stumbling forward and tripping over his own feet to regain his balance. The coffee in his hand wasn’t so lucky however, spilling all over the floor and some of it even getting on Hyuck’s white shoes. The two of them quickly rush over to get napkins, TY sputtering out apology after apology as he cleans up the mess on the floor while his cousin whines about the coffee on his new shoes. You quickly get to work on making him a new coffee while Johnny deals with the new customer. 

The pair quickly exit after you give TY his coffee, and you’re able to hear Hyuck saying, “I’m telling your mom that you spilled coffee on my new shoes. Also who the fuck calls you ‘TY’, why didn’t you just tell your name like a normal person? I can’t believe I’m related to-” before the door closes.

“Do you think that guy’s ever gonna come back?” Johnny asks you after the customer had left, gesturing towards the flower shop. 

You can see Hyuck dancing in the middle of the store while the owner laughs and you can’t help but smile. You wonder what his laugh sounds like. “I hope so.”

As you’re getting ready for bed that night, you open up the notes app on your phone to read over what you wanted to tell Taeyong about in case you saw him tonight. Even on slow days, you usually have at least one or two things to tell him, but tonight you find it empty. You hadn’t thought about him all day.

Taeyong surprises both himself and Hyuck when he decides to go back to The Busy Bean only a week after what his cousin likes to call The Incident™ (he even says “trademark” out loud, what a weirdo). The man usually isn’t one to be this brave but he can’t deny the pull that he feels towards you. You’re cute, you have a nice laugh, and he wants to make you smile again. And your iced Americanos are unmatched. Starbucks who?

Walking into the cafe, he immediately feels his hands start to sweat at the sight of you. Your hair looks extra shiny today and you’re dancing along to the song that’s playing with Johnny (kind of badly, but it’s pretty cute). Taking a deep breath, he repeats the simple order in his head one more time. One medium iced Americano, one medium iced caramel coffee, and 2 cake pops. (“If I don’t get to go, then you have to make it up to me somehow!” Hyuck protested when Taeyong told him to watch the store while he went to get coffee. So cake pops it is.) When you see Taeyong walking towards the counter, you give him the biggest smile and he swears his heart skips a beat. He knows he’s going to end up with Y/N eventually but wow, this girl sure knows how to take his breath away. 

“Welcome back, Your Majesty,” you greet him, your cheeks still slightly pink from your laughing and dancing. Taeyong notices a daisy tucked behind your ear and he realizes that it’s one of the daisies that he had shoved into Hyuck’s hands and told him to bring when he went to the store just last week. The man feels his heart skip a beat at that; you look like a goddess. “Didn’t think we would see you back here so soon. Our red carpet is at the dry cleaner’s unfortunately.”

“Oh, that’s okay,” Taeyong shrugs, playing along with your teasing. “I get treated better here than I do at my own shop anyways. Hyuck won’t stop bringing up last week to literally everyone we know.” He blushes when he brings up the events of last week but he feels immensely better when you laugh. “Thank you for replacing my coffee by the way. I can pay for it now since I left so quickly last time.”

“That one was on the house,” you say, waving your hand in the air. “Anyways, what can I get for you today?”

Taeyong makes sure to come back at least twice a week after that, much to Donghyuck’s dismay. Each time he comes, he has to force himself to go back to his own store rather than staying and talking with you and Johnny. He finds himself growing more and more comfortable with your presence, his words coming more easily to him the more he’s around you. The conversation even turns flirty at some point, something that he didn’t even think he was capable of since graduating college. Sure he’s had a few lay it on pretty thick with him when they come into the store but middle aged women aren’t exactly his type. You are more his type, if he’s being honest. You and his soulmate, Y-

“Your name is Y/N?!” Taeyong all but squeaks out, his voice cracking as he drags his eyes from Johnny to you. Could you be…?

Both you and Johnny blink at him, not understanding where this sudden outburst came from. “Uh yeah, why? Is there something wrong with that?” you joke as you continue to make his drink. 

Taeyong mentally shakes it off, subtly rolling his shoulders to rid himself of the unnecessary excitement he just felt. It’s probably just a coincidence. The universe seems to like mocking him, apparently. There’s no way he would just randomly find his soulmate like this. He couldn’t even remember where she ended up living after graduating college. “It’s nothing,” he says while shaking his head, giving Johnny a small smile as he hands over his cash. He notices the withering daisies in front of the register and makes a mental note to bring some fresh ones next time. “I’ve just always liked that name. I think it’s pretty.”

When you first created The Busy Bean, you hadn’t thought of incorporating flowers until Kun brought up that you had said you wanted to make it stand out from other cafes. That and the fact that the store’s name is based off of “a busy bee” and that, in the words of Kun, “your best friend just so happens to be the owner of the best flower shop in the city.” Unfortunately for you, your best friend and the owner of the best flower shop in the city won’t be around for an entire week because of a family emergency. And because of the store’s recent expansion and being so busy with training all of your new hires, it had completely slipped your mind to order new flowers for next month’s theme. When you had said all of this to Johnny during a lull in the morning rush, all he said in response was, “That’s rough, buddy.” (The two of you have been rewatching Avatar: The Last Airbender together recently.) What a great best friend.

After making sure that Johnny and the new hires knew exactly what they would be doing during the closing shift, you take a deep breath and do the one thing that you know Kun will never forgive you for once he finds out. “He’ll forgive you, you have no other choice,” you whisper to yourself as you cross the street towards Bloomin’ Love. You open the door and are greeted by the fresh smell of flowers, a Yiruma song softly playing in the background and fitting the atmosphere perfectly as the setting sun shines golden light into the store. It felt like you had entered a magical world.

“Welcome to Bloomin’ Love,” Hyuck greets you, not even looking up from his phone as he leans against the front counter. “Is there anything I can help you with today?”

“I don’t think your boss would be very happy if he found out that you were using your phone while there’s a customer in the store,” you tease him as you walk up to the counter, laughing when Hyuck scrambles to hide his phone and looks up with wide eyes.

The boy’s shoulders immediately deflate when he sees that it’s just you, placing his phone in front of him as he smiles at you. “Y/N, I didn’t think I would ever see you in here. Did you and Kun get into a fight or something? Did he finally get mad that you’re ‘fraternizing with the enemy’s cousin because I’m trying to get you to fraternize with the enemy’?”

You shake your head, explaining, “Kun’s out of town, he has no idea that I’m here right now. I actually need to talk to TY, is he here? I have a big order because I need new flowers for The Busy Bean next month.”

Donghyuck nods as he points towards the back, an area that you assume is restricted to customers since it’s behind the counter. “He’s in his office right now. Let me just tell him you’re here really quickly.”

He walks away quickly before you even have a chance to nod, so you take a look at the flowers around the shop. Directly behind you are bouquets of roses but what really strikes your interest are the magnolia flowers and plum blossoms along your left. You lean down to smell them, their floral scent overwhelming your senses and making you feel even calmer than you already did.

“Plum blossoms are one of my favorite flowers,” a voice says from behind you, making you jump and bump into whoever it was. You feel hands on your waist that help steady you as you sway on your feet, your eyes coming up to meet those of the man you were looking for. “Sorry about that,” TY chuckles, the tips of his ears pink as he withdraws his hands from you. “I didn’t mean to scare you. Donghyuck said you’re looking for me?”

You nod frantically, before explaining your situation to him, his eyes never leaving you as you talk. “I usually give Kun complete creative control because I don’t know much about flowers and which ones bloom during which season.”

TY nods understandingly, humming as he thinks and scans over the various plants in the store. “Flowers that only bloom during spring…” He begins to walk around, with you following a few steps behind him, his hands hovering over the flowers and his fingers occasionally brushing over their petals as he looks at each one carefully. TY suddenly stops in his tracks, one hand resting on a peony before he suddenly turns to you with a wide grin on his face. “I think I have some ideas.”

The florist brings you back to his office, and you think you see Hyuck wink at the both of you as you follow his cousin to the back but when you get a closer look, the boy’s already assumed his previous position of scrolling on his phone. As of recently, the teenager has been teasing you more and more for what he assumes are the beginnings of feelings for his cousin. And even though you swear up and down that the two of you are just friends, you can’t help but think about the possibilities some nights. Which makes you feel guilty because what about Taeyong? Your dreams with him have felt different lately, both of you distracted at one point or another, the conversation becoming awkward at some points because the both of you know that something has changed. Is this the universe testing you? Putting a man that you feel yourself growing more and more fond of with every passing day just to see if you’ll reject him in favor of the partner that it has chosen for you?

“Y/N?” the florist calls out, his hand waving in front of your face to get your attention. You jump slightly in your seat, eyes meeting his after you’re pulled out of your thoughts. “You still with me? I asked if you could give me a floor plan or something of where you put all of your flowers.”

“Oh sorry,” you apologize, heart pounding in your chest at getting caught zoning out. You pull the floor plan that you and Kun had first made 2 years ago and hand it over to TY, your eyes tracing the veins in his hands as he smooths out the paper on his desk. His hands look like they would be really nice to hold. Wait what? No, stop, think about Taeyong.

TY shares his general thought process with you, lightly drawing circles and arrows on the paper to show you where he pictures bunches of hyacinth and jasmine would be. Names like Barberton daisy, dogwood, azalea, and peony are mentioned while you nod along enthusiastically, not really knowing what any of them look like but trusting the vision in the man’s head completely. As he’s talking, you can’t help but get lost in the sound of his voice, the passion and flow of his words making your heart swell. As guilty as it makes you feel, you couldn’t help the feelings that you could feel blooming in your heart for the florist. 

The two of you stand once TY is done sharing his ideas and you’ve run out of questions to ask. You force yourself to leave rather than think up an excuse to spend more time with him, his laughter paired with the way he looks at you dangerous for your pounding heart and overly imaginative brain. He says goodbye to you with a wave but not before handing you a business card with the store’s number should you have any more questions. As you’re walking out, you can hear Hyuck teasing his cousin, and when you turn around to spare TY one last glance, you can see a blush on his cheeks as he quickly looks away, as if he was caught staring.

Just before you get into bed that night, you take one last look at the business card that you had been given just hours ago. When you read the name on the card, you feel as if time itself has come to a stop. Your breathing turns shallow as you bring the card closer to you, squeezing your eyes shut and then opening them just in case it was some weird trick of the light. But it wasn’t. Right there on the card is the one name that you weren’t expecting at all.

Lee Taeyong.

It’s just a dream, it’s just a dream, it’s just a-

You feel yourself being pulled down into the water, a hand wrapped around your ankle dragging you down to the bottom of the pool. You kick with all of your strength at the invisible attacker, your lungs screaming for air as you thrash in the water. A pair of arms wrap around your waist and pull you out of the water, the person screaming at you to stand as they tug on your arm. Coughing your lungs out, you can just barely make out Taeyong’s blurry form as he runs out onto the empty street with your hand in his.

Suddenly, an SUV with its lights on appears behind you, the driver revving the engine and accelerating very quickly towards the two of you. You just barely dodge it, the vehicle only inches away from Taeyong’s body as you pull him towards a dark house. You climb over fences and run through yards, neither of you daring to say a word in fear of whoever is after you being near. Your hand stays in his the entire time, too scared of getting separated to let go. 

You see a light approaching you and duck behind some garbage cans, willing your breathing and heart rate to slow so that you could listen for any footsteps. Taeyong quivers beside you in fear, his hand squeezing yours and when you look over at him, you can only imagine how scared he must look right now. Looking at him, you realize that there was something you wanted to talk about tonight but with every single nerve being on edge since you’re, you know, running for your life, you can’t remember what it is for the life of you. Lights from the SUV pass by, gravel crunching underneath the tires as the car goes by you very slowly. You pray to every higher power out there that they don’t catch you and you release a quiet sigh of relief when you see the car turn and drive farther away from you.

“Have I ever told you how much I hate being in your dreams?” Taeyong murmurs, his grip on your hand loosening but still not letting go. “Because I really hate being here right now.”

You huff out a laugh before slowly standing up to brush the dirt off of you. Just as you’re about to respond, you feel a hand clap over your mouth, Taeyong’s eyes widening as he screams and reaches out for you. Something sharp presses against your back just as you hear a gunshot, blood quickly soaking into Taeyong’s pants from getting shot in the thigh, before everything goes black.

You have to stop yourself from looking over your shoulder every 5 minutes because of the intense nightmare that you had yesterday. The feeling of being watched lingered with you all morning, something that Johnny noticed and was concerned about at first until you told him the reason you were acting so paranoid and jumpy. Then he just ended up teasing you and even scared you in front of a customer, falling on the floor laughing when it happened. But you couldn’t help it, the dream just felt so real and it didn’t help that Taeyong, an actual person, was there with you to make it seem all the more real. You wonder how he must be handling it, you know he’s not the biggest fan of horror movies or scary things in general.

You decide to visit Bloomin’ Love during your lunch break, the questions that you wanted to ask Taeyong still unanswered. But if you’re right and Taeyong actually is TY, then you would get your answer in a few minutes. Except it turns out that you won’t be getting your answers today.

“What do you mean he’s not here?” you ask Hyuck in disbelief, even looking towards the back to check if the office light is on in case he’s just playing a joke. “He’s your boss and one of the two people that work here, why are you here and he isn’t?”

The boy shrugs before hopping up to sit on the counter, long legs swinging as he bops along to the music that’s playing from what you assume is his own playlist. “He was here when I got here this morning but then he left after an hour and told me he’s taking the rest of the day off because he’s been feeling anxious all morning. Something about having a nightmare last night? It must have been really bad for him to take a day off because you and I both know that this store is basically his baby.”

He had a nightmare?

The bell above the door jingles as a customer comes in and immediately approaches the two of you to ask for help. You back away to let Hyuck do his job, bidding him goodbye before heading back to The Busy Bean. Hyuck’s words swirl around your head, the conversation replaying over and over as you take out the business card that you put in your pocket this morning to look at the name printed on it. 

Taeyong. Lee Taeyong, the owner of Bloomin’ Love. Lee Taeyong, who introduced himself to you as TY. Lee Taeyong, your soulmate.

After that, you become distracted during work, your eyes constantly looking at the clock to see how much longer until your shift is over. Of course the one day that you find out who your soulmate is, the one day that it would be super convenient to be able to leave work early, is the day one of your new workers can’t come in because they got food poisoning the night before. You don’t even know what you’re going to do once your shift is over though. The number on the card is the store number and you already know that Taeyong isn’t there. Maybe you could just ask Hyuck to give you his number? But then what? What would you even say? “Hey TY, it’s Y/N. Hyuck told me that you had a nightmare last night so I think you might be my soulmate”?

The universe, however, seems to have your back. At the end of your shift, just as you’re saying goodbye to Johnny and Jaemin, one of your new hires, you hear a very familiar voice call out your name. And when you turn around, there stands the exact man that you’ve been hoping but not expecting to see all day. You can’t help but smile widely when you see him and nod when he asks if you want to sit.

“These are for you, by the way,” he says as he gives you a small bouquet of pink forget-me-nots. “Pink is my favorite color but they reminded me of you when I saw them in the store just now.”

You thank them as you take the flowers from his hands, inhaling deeply before placing them down on the table. “You were in the store? Hyuck told me you took the day off.”

“I stopped by just to make sure he didn’t burn the place down,” TY chuckles and he sounds… nervous? Looking at him, you notice that he’s barely making eye contact with you, taking more interest in tracing the tattoo of a lavender plant that’s on his inner forearm. You wonder if he knows what you know, or at least what you think you know. You wonder if maybe he’s even known this entire time. 

“Do you have a soulmate, TY?” you blurt out, too impatient to indulge him with more small talk. 

He looks up at you with wide eyes at your question and you watch as the tips of his ears turn red. “I-I do,” he responds while nodding simultaneously.

“What are they like?” you ask him, telling yourself to calm down and to make sure that you’re right. It would be really embarrassing if you aren’t.

“She’s the girl of my dreams,” he jokes, laughing loudly when you groan and roll your eyes at his dumb joke. “She really is though. She’s really smart and knows exactly what she wants from life. She’s extremely hard-working but she also knows when she needs to stop and relax. She really likes strawberry cake and also likes stargazing. I actually tried making a move on her when we first met because I was young and dumb but then she told me that her boyfriend of 2 years had just broken up with her, so I felt extremely stupid that night.”

You feel like your heart is about to burst out of your chest at his words and you know that you must have a funny look on your face because TY- no, Taeyong is looking at you strangely. “What about you?” he asks, his wide eyes and head that’s tilted slightly to the side reminding you of a puppy. “What’s your soulmate like?”

You laugh and take a deep breath, mustering all of the courage to pour all of the love you’ve been wanting to show Taeyong all these years into your words. “He’s the best, honestly, I’m really lucky that he’s my soulmate,” you say softly, your eyes not once leaving Taeyong’s as you speak. “He’s really goofy and not at all afraid to be who he is. He’s very supportive too; Johnny and Kun were always there for me when college got hard, especially when I switched my major, but it was his words that always kept me going. His favorite color is pink and he absolutely adores his mom, he swears up and down that her kimchi jjigae is the best in the entire world. When we first met, he-”

You stop to look at Taeyong and you see tears in his eyes, a soft smile on his face as he listens to you talk. You take a shuddering breath and lift your hand to gently take his hand in yours; he knows. “When we first met, he told me about his grandpa and how his love for the stars came from him.” You see a single tear cascade down Taeyong’s cheek and you reach out to wipe it away. With a watery laugh, you say, “He also told me that he ended up breaking his grandpa’s telescope after he died.”

Taeyong rests his forehead against your joined hands as he laughs, his eyelashes wet with tears and his eyes shining when he looks back up at you. “I finally found you,” he whispers in awe. “After all of these years, the universe finally put you right in front of me and I didn’t even know.”

“That day, when you said that you think my name is pretty,” you say, his words playing in your mind as you remember the day you’re talking about, “did you know?”

“I was suspicious but I thought it was too good to be true,” Taeyong says as he shakes his head in disbelief. “I thought that there was no way that the girl I’ve been dreaming about for 6 years just so happens to own the coffee shop across the street.” He raises your hands to his lip to kiss the back of yours and you feel so happy that it feels like you’re practically vibrating in your seat. 

You’re about to respond when you hear Johnny call out, “Hey lovebirds, keep it PG! There are kids in here!” The two of you turn your heads towards the direction of his voice to find not only Johnny behind the counter but also Kun and Hyuck standing there. 

“Did you forget about our plans, Y/N?” Kun calls out teasingly, a smirk on his face as his eyes flicker from your hand in Taeyong’s to your face.

“Oh fuck,” you whisper, head turning to look at Taeyong with wide eyes.

He smiles at you reassuringly, kissing the back of your hand once more before letting go. “I’ll call you later?”

You nod enthusiastically, the two of you exchanging numbers before you stand up. You look up at Taeyong, not yet wanting to leave his presence. You can feel the warmth radiating off of his body and there’s a familiar pull in your stomach and this time, you allow yourself to indulge in it. He leans down just as you lean up, and as cliche as it is, it really does feel like you’re the only two there when you kiss. Taeyong tugs one of the flowers from your grasp and breaks off part of the stem, tucking the forget-me-not behind your ear and rubbing your cheek with his thumb before pressing one more kiss to your forehead and murmuring a “see you tomorrow” against your skin.

Waking up the next morning, you let yourself indulge in thoughts of yesterday, the events leading up to the kiss replaying in your head and making butterflies erupt in your stomach all over again. You and Taeyong had agreed to go on your first date today after work and you wish that someone could invent a time machine so you could just skip the work day and go on your date already. 

You sit up in bed and feel every ounce of happiness drain out of you, your surroundings unfamiliar to you. The walls are still the same color but the books on your shelf are different, your floor is carpeted, and who the heck are those people you’re with in the pictures on your wall? You even look out the window to find a completely different view. Where the hell are you?

It suddenly hits you that you’re back in the real world—or your reality at least. The past 8 years have basically just been one long dream. You jump out of bed and rush to the bathroom to check to see if there were any visible signs of aging. You let out a sigh of relief when you realize that you still look the exact same and go back to your room to check the date on your phone just to confirm. There’s an envelope with your name on it beside your phone and you feel a sense of déjà vu as you rip it open.

Dear Y/N,

Welcome back! Hopefully you’re not too disoriented after returning to our reality but I wrote this letter just in case. It’s only been a day since we first met so don’t worry, everything in your old life is still the same as it was. It’ll take a few days for memories from your life here to resurface so just take it easy for now. You should still have your memories from your alternate universe and your soulmate should have them too, so all you have to do is find them! I know this sounds hard but don’t worry; as I’m sure you already know, the universe works in mysterious ways~

See you soon, Cyan xoxo

You let yourself plop back down onto your bed, giving yourself a few minutes to process everything before taking a deep breath. Taeyong. You have to find Taeyong. Getting out of bed, you decide you get dressed and get ready for the day, a memory of your friend Yuna telling you about the new cafe across town resurfacing, so you decide to go there. You feel too cooped up in your apartment, you need to do something. 

Passing by the window of the cafe, you can’t believe your eyes when you see Cyan sitting at one of the tables. She smiles at you through the window while lifting a mug in greeting and you rush to enter the coffee shop, your hands shaking at your side as you approach her. “Good to see you, Y/N,” she greets you, standing up just as you sit opposite her. You’re about to stand as well before she gently pushes you back down with a hand on your shoulder. “These are for you,” she says as she hands you a small bouquet of pink forget-me-nots. You look down at the flowers, memories of the past 8 years (yesterday?) overwhelming you but you shake it off and look up, only to find Cyan gone. You look around frantically but it’s like she disappeared, completely vanished in thin air as you look around the coffee shop and even out the window. With a huff, you put the flowers on the table and settle your chin on your hand as you wonder what to do next.

“Are you finished with this?” an employee asks you as they point at Cyan’s empty coffee mug.

You look up, about to answer, when your breath catches in your throat, your eyes meeting very familiar brown ones that widen at the same exact time as yours. Before you stands Taeyong, a brown apron with the words “Wake Up Cafe” embroidered on it in gold tied around his waist. Standing up, you reach out to grab one of the flowers and break off part of the stem before slowly reaching out and tucking it behind his ear. His hair is different, a little longer and a dark grey color with bits of silver rather than the light brown that you’re used to, but you see the rose-shaped scar beside his shining eyes and you feel like you could cry. Taeyong’s hands cup your face and his thumbs come up to brush away tears that you didn’t even notice, the distance between your lips and his slowly decreasing.

His lips brush over yours and his eyes flicker back and forth between your eyes and your lips. “Found you.”

You chuckle at his words and close the distance, and you wonder if springtime feels just as good for the blooming flowers as the love that you can feel blooming in your chest when you kiss Taeyong.

[pochiperpe90]

The Marinelli Enigma

The most talented and dark of the Italian actors (but lives in Berlin) is the protagonist of 'Ricordi?', a movie about the importance of living in the present. «I struggled as well. I owe a lot to my wife”, he says in our interview-memory

Luca Marinelli touches things. I don't know if it's a nervous tic or a natural curiosity to investigate the textures of objects, but he must like to touch things. Waiting in front of the lift of the Milanese hotel that hosts us for the photoshoot, the most talented and enigmatic of the Italian actors stops in front of a strange human head (made of chalk?) that comes out halfway from what it should be a bucket of paint - a cross between a mini splatter sculpture and a horror movie parody prop - and sinks his finger on the skull of the "thing". He immediately retracts it, then runs it a second time in a more assertive way. As we climb the stairs that are leading us to a terrace whose access is normally closed to guests of the structure, I turn to answer a question from the photographer and surprise Marinelli in the act of passing his right hand over a plaque nailed to the wall. An information plaque, one of those with the words "emergency exit" or "roof terrace" on it, which however has the particularity of having an adhesive coating that is partly torn, hanging dangling on the top right corner. It’s precisely at that point that Marinelli's limb satisfies his tactile interest.

Dark, mysterious, tormented, are the adjectives most frequently associated with the Roman actor. Endowed with an expressive charge that widely breaks through the field of normal interpretative talent, the Marinelli enigma is the result of a reserved personality, almost elusive, crossed with the incarnation of some of the strongest characters seen on the screens in recent years. Jeeg Robot's Zingaro’s grin, Cesare's hallucinated gaze in Don't be bad, the pure madness of the Calabrian fool Primo in Danny Boyle's Trust series, are all hard to forget masks. If you've seen them, chances are you remember them. And exactly Ricordi, but with the final question mark, is the title of the film by Valerio Mieli - currently in cinemas - that Marinelli is promoting these days. It’s a highly evocative and beautiful work, a love story - yes - tormented, all played on the themes of memory, the strength and weight of the past, the difficulty of living in the present.

Ricordi? deals with the most universal themes possible. It speaks of love, of the end of loves, of the impossibility of fulfillment in the present, of memory and of the work that it exercises on individual memories.

Yes, it’s a love story, but it’s above all a film about memories. On the importance of staying in the present, of being steadfast and living this present. To be able to enjoy what is happening while it’s happening, not to let it slip away.

How are the memories of a character created?

In this movie it was simple, it was all in the script. Other times it's more complicated but I always try to do this study on the character's past. Why did it become like this? What happened to him? In the end it’s always a work on memories.

The theme of memory and therefore of memories is a central theme in the history of thought. For some, memory is the storehouse of images from the senses while for others there are also the first principles of knowledge and the guidelines of life.

My character uses the very term "store" when he talks about the memories he doesn't want to lose, yet the mind is a writer who continually recomposes the past in the light of who we are at that moment. In short, we change, they change too, the memories. They change, they grow, they dissolve.

Around 5.40 PM, at the end of the film screening, the Anteo cinema hosts the debate with questions from the audience. Marinelli, Caridi and the director will be present. From the hotel, where we finished shooting the photoshoot, to the cinema, the distance isn’t much, but the time is still limited. We arrive about ten minutes before the start of the debate. Mieli and Caridi answer questions from the press while waiting to enter the room, Marinelli does the same and signs autographs. At a certain point, the applause of the audience is heard: they liked the film. Time thirty seconds and the room ready to host the meeting opens.

The first question comes from a young student, we imagine of cinema. Very long, articulated, full of parallels with other films, that the vision of Ricordi? suggested her. Everyone is impressed. Marinelli seems quite at ease but you can see that he has a tendency to leave the field free to the two stage mates and to answer last. He’s kind, precise in his answers, he tries to be as attentive and thorough as possible.

On the other hand, I get distracted: from my lateral position with respect to the sessions of the three protagonists, I cannot help but think that there is a God with a perfect human skeleton. This deity of the bones must have appeared, he decreed "you, Caridi" and left happy when the job was finished. Very long, very thin, expanses of epidermal tissue to cover all these bone tapers that you only hope can withstand the world out there, time and carelessness, forever. Two things: first, to found the cult of the Caridi skeleton. Second, since the perfect skeleton is incidentally enveloped in a remarkable acting talent - net of some paolograssism here and there, however minority - she is offered all the main roles in all the films and then she chooses.

You live in Berlin. Speaking of memories: do you remember Italy? And Rome?

(Laughs) Yes, I remember Italy very well, also because I’m often here. I’m Roman and I love Rome. Rome is beautiful. It’s a bit aged, bruised, it's true. But it's ‘mamma Roma’.

How important is politics in your life?

It’s important, we are not alone in the world. We cannot keep hunched over smartphones in search of alternative realities. We live in community, all together. I was very moved by Greta Thunberg's speech. Those words, which come from a 16-year-old girl, have the dimension of a group destiny, of an overall humanity. Politics for me is this, everyone doing something, it’s not delegating to the representatives on duty and turning their backs and then limiting oneself to protest. Also on this aspect the importance of the present returns. This is where you need to be, here and now.

This theme of living in the present seems almost an obsession. Have you struggled in your life to live in the present?

Yes, I struggled. I have to thank my wife who has been of great help in this. I really owe her a lot.

The third time of this half day with Luca Marinelli takes place in a small room of the Anteo behind closed doors. It's me and Luca. It's time for the actual interview. Let's talk about the film, about the debate that has just ended - “when that gentleman in the room first started talking, I felt the weight, and I thought about his memories. The man's memories came to mind, only I don't know him. I got excited"- and then about life, love, politics, Italy, music -" I listen to everything, I’m a great friend of Giorgio Poi".

You always play tough or tormented characters. How do you choose the projects you will interpret?

I choose them based on the emotions a project provokes in me. For example in the case of ‘Ricordi?’ I thought the script was really full of emotions and sensations that touched my soul. Then there is another element, I like to choose based on the message the film would like to convey. Maybe it won't help, but if it brings a grain of message in the right direction, I'm glad.

However, it must be that expressiveness, that face, those eyes, to suggest to the viewer that there is a whole world of darkness behind it.

If only people knew what's behind it.

And what is it?

Nothing. There is nothing behind it.

We laugh at the successful joke and get up. After the greetings a strange thing happens. At home, when I start to listen to the interview, the audio stops unexpectedly. I check the phone and nothing, it doesn't respond. It's not a battery problem, I'm starting to worry. When even the legendary fix-everything Johnny from Chinatown baptizes the state of the device with a sharp "nothing to do, burned", I understand that I will never be able to listen to the audio of the interview. Kaputt, lost, gone forever. I decide to apply the themes of the film to life. This article is therefore the result of simple memories, in this case of mine, and it’s not certain that they are identical to those I will have tomorrow or to those of Luca Marinelli.

ROLLING STONE

Just wanted to translate this old interview for the non-italian’s fans ^^ (sorry for my English)

[stages-of-mania]

Lord Huron Timeline Masterpost

Disclaimer: A lot of this information is speculation and consists of a lot of theories. Feel free to take things with a grain of salt.

Lonesome Dreams: 

Setting: 19th century Wild West (some theories suggested could be the Middle East in the mid-20th century) 

Characters:

Huron (main character)

Blaquefut (Huron’s best friend)

Helena (Huron’s girlfriend)

nameless Helena’s Ex (we're gonna call him Sonny for convenience)

Story: (I’m sure that most of the songs are in chronological order from the album but a few of them I believe are flashbacks so I had to move them around.)

She lit a fire/one of the best love songs ever written: The story goes earlier in the timeline technically, as it’s flashing back to how Huron met Helena. This is how the pair met. She lit his fire to travel the world or something.

Ends of the earth: early on in Huron and Helena‘s relationship. He wants to travel the world but she doesn’t so they’re kinda like “let’s split up for a bit”

Setting sun/the most mindfucking song (yes this bonus track is played at the end of the song, but hear me out ): Sonny has noticed that Helena has found someone else. They both know that Huron is better for her, but Sonny’s still pissed so he goes full yandere and chases after Huron. This story was put at the end and made “unfinished” because Sonny will always have a vendetta while Huron’s alive.

Time to run: Huron and friends are being chased by Sonny’s goons. Blaqufut gets shot in the head while helping Huron escape.

lonesome dreams: now this is a bit of a stretch, but from this theory, LD is basically purgatory and Huron travels to it to rescue Blaqufut from death.

Ghost on the shore/best song: nothing too significant to the story, it’s just Huron talking about how he misses home/the Great Lakes

I will be back one day: again, nothing much, just Huron reminiscing over Helena in pursuit to find her.

Man who lives forever: again nothing too significant, just Huron not wanting to die.

Brother: this is possibly the aftermath of an altercation between Huron and Blaqufut that they resolve. It pretty much just reaffirms their friendship.

In the wind: this one actually occurs while Huron is still on the run but from Helena’s perspective. It’s basically her reminiscing over him. I think they put this one at the end because it’s spiritually the end of the album, as it discusses how long distances and death can stop love.

Lullaby: Huron finally makes it back to Helena. He’s a complete wreck but Helena’s just happy he’s back

Sidenotes: Lonesome dreams are a collection of stories from Jorge Ranger Johnson, a writer character that Ben made up. Because of this, some of lonesome dreams might not actually be real within the universe of Lord Huron. Or they might be real events and just happened to be written about by an author. 

Alternate theories suggest that Setting sun was actually about Huron the entire time and it did take place at the end of the album, causing Helena to find someone else and Huron to becoming a murderer. 

One last important thing, because these are stories and might not actually occur within the universe of Lord Huron, it is possible that there is no afterlife, as suggested in later albums.

Strange Trails: 

Setting:

1950s, somewhere in America.

George’s: A bar that several characters tend to spend time at (probably in reference to George Ranger Johnson)

Characters:

Frankie Lou: washed up singer who presumably had a failed romance that fucked up bad. Probably an alcoholic. Sings at George’s

Cobb Avery: zombie brought back to life out of vengeance. His family was killed because his boss gave him a piece of land on a sinkhole. leader of the “World Enders” gang. Basically a bunch of terrorists. Kills everyone from the company that sold him the house. Hangs out at George’s

Jonnie: member of the world Enders. Kind of trigger-happy in a thrill seeker. Probably one of the less malicious members of the group. Probably 19.

Buck Vernon: I also think another washed-up singer. What’s important though is that he suffers from hallucinations and is desperately trying to find the girl of his dreams.

Lily: some girl that every guy in town has the hots for. Hangs out at George’s

Jim: Lily's boyfriend. Hangs out at George’s.

Danielle: Young girl. The only child character, I’d say 11-14. Best character. You’re never too young to have an existential crisis.

Justine: not really important, presumably a writer.

Louisa: some random girl (Assuming that this theory is true, she might also be a witch and might’ve started out as an asshole, might also hang out at George’s)

There’s also some other guy but he was part of one song and it wasn’t significant so disregard him.

Story:

Love like ghosts: this is Frankie reminiscing over her failed relationship

When the night ends: Jonnie talking about appreciating the finer things in life while everything’s going to shit

Dead man’s hand/also best song: buck finds Avery presumably dead while wandering the desert. He buries him only to find out that Avery is still alive. Avery says that there’s no afterlife for him and he doesn’t want to go back in the grave. The pair become friends and go their separate ways.

Hurricane: just Johnny talking about living life on the edge

La belle fleur sauvage/the beautiful wildflower: just the lead singer gushing over Lily. The guy singing this only shows up in this song, but it’s just meant to establish that everyone has the hots for Lilly. The song could also be talking about Buck in his pursuit.

Fool for love: Buck goes to George’s to win over Lily, but Jim is already with her. Being delusional, buck tries to take on Jim (in the music video he gets Avery to fight him), he trashed the place and because of this is kicked out. He’s pretty optimistic but after this, he feels kind of defeated. (*Post-Rejection Depression Time*)

World ender: focuses on Avery‘s story. Follows him as he seeks vengeance and kills the people from the company that sold him the shitty house.

Meet me in the Woods: more of Frankie reminiscing over her failed romance

Yawning grave: (OK so this is the first big roadblock in the story, so the character that this song is about is very much left up to interpretation) I assume Avery has kind of calmed down But still intends to pursue the people that have wronged him.

Frozen Pines: (disappointingly) The only song about Danielle. Her parents were abducted by aliens in front of her. She is sort of in denial and refuses to leave where she is in the middle of the forest out of the delusion that they’ll come back. The song ends with her realizing that she has to move on as she attempts to leave the forest. (also, frozen Pines is the name of the motel so it could also just be that maybe Danielle is stuck at a motel which would honestly be kind of funny.)

Cursed/best love song ever written: Buck has found himself a new girl. However, due to previous failed romantic endeavors and hallucinations, he thinks that she’s an asshole trying to put a curse on him. (The song is presumably about Louisa. It’s entirely possible that Louisa was being manipulative but they sort things out)

Way out there: (The most difficult song to figure out) presumably about Avery. I can only best describe it as him having an existential crisis and him missing his dead family.

Louisa: after Buck was tempted to kick bricks, Louisa helped him out and gave him a newfound appreciation for life. Now they’re happy =]

Night we met: last song of Frankie reminiscing over her ex. Also, the lyric video confirms that Buck & Louisa either broke up or she was just a figment of his imagination, so uh, ya. Hopefully you weren't as emotionally invested in these characters as much as I was because that tore me a new one.

Sidenotes: this album definitely had the most interpretations. The biggest issues are the stories of yawning grave and way out there, as I am unsure that it is even about Avery. The real issue tho is the lack of songs about Danielle. Ben Come On!

There are also a couple connections between this album and the next

Vide Noir: 

Setting: 1960s. Detroit & Los Angeles. 

Background info: A drug called vide noir has recently been legalized. It’s basically just a hallucinogenic that destroys the fabric of reality, good times.

Characters:

Buck Vernon: Christ Ben just can’t seem to give this guy a break.

Lee Green: Buck’s new girl. Probably wants to be an actress or something.

Lady moonbeam: A medium/psychic. I think she’s black but it’s hard to tell because of the lighting.

Cobb Avery: Best Boy Electrician on “Products of the Universe” TV show. (only mentioned in 1 song)

Marsha Tanley & Dale Frander: “Products of the Universe” host; guy selling vide & its derivatives. (not in the songs)

Story:

Lost in time and space: Buck is upset because Lee left. He decides to chase after her nonetheless.

Never ever: Buck's spirits are lifted as he heads out to find Lee.

Ancient names: Buck goes to Lady Moonbeam For advice but she sees into the future and sees that Buck will become a drug addict. He’s in denial but she knows otherwise.

Wait by the river: just Buck talking about how you would do anything for Lee. Also reveals the potential of an altercation between the two of them, presumably the two of them having a fight before she left.

Secret of life: (OK this one’s a little hard, the singer is clearly Buck, but it’s hard to tell if he’s confronting either Lee or lady moonbeam) either way, whoever he is confronting has allegedly made a pact with Avery that will cause something bad to happen to Buck. Because of this, he downs a bottle of fukitol/vide noir.

Back from the edge: the MF dies but comes back (where have we seen that before)

Balancer's eye: Buck runs into God and is denied access to heaven. Either because he wasn’t supposed to die or maybe people who take drugs aren’t allowed in. Or God has really high standards and no one‘s allowed in (again, weird knowing that Blaqufut experienced purgatory and Avery said there’s no heaven at all)

When the night is over: realizing the effect of VN, Buck is becoming worried for Lee that she might overdose if he doesn’t find her soon enough

Moonbeam: Like with Louisa, Buck ran into a girl that saved him from a bad place. Hard to tell if it’s Lee (it likely isn’t because of later in the story)  or lady moonbeam.

Vide Noir: Buck talking about the effects of the drug.

Emerald star/The most depressing song ever written: after doing everything he can and fucking dying, Buck finally finds Lee but he is turned down as she would rather be a junkie. It’s also possible that she might die or be dying, judging by the fact that the second half of this song is just instrumental followed by a sudden halt at the end. {Yay, I get to experience “close to you” all over again}

Sidenotes: George ranger Johnson is a spiritual advisor for the show that Avery works on.

The events of the film are claimed to come at the end/after the album.

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

All information was aggregated from the albums, interviews with Ben, music videos, articles about the film, Products of the Universe, & whatever else I could scavenge from LH’s YouTube channel.

I’d also like to give a huge thanks to the fanbase for their theories and research. It really helped out a lot piecing this all together. I had a lot of fun discussing this with fellow Wanderers and Enders and really appreciate being a part of this fanbase.

If you have any alternative theories, timelines, etc, be sure to mention them. A huge chunk of this info will probably become obsolete when the film/next album comes along so enjoy this while we can still be optimistic.

Dear Balancer help us.

[ghostsray]

danny grows baby fangs

truce gift for @phantomofprocrastination!! happy new decade :)

word count: 3,080

____

Being friends with a rival ghost has its pros and cons. The pros are that Danny can call on them whenever he needs help fighting a bigger, badder ghost. The cons are that this does nothing to stop his ally from attacking him whenever they like.

He was awoken in the dead of night (pun intended) by his ghost sense escaping his throat. He quickly transformed and flew outside, preparing to fight a ghost wreaking havoc. Instead, he was met by Johnny, who asked for a spar.

Danny sighed and ran a hand across his face. "Really? You couldn't have picked a better time for this?"

"Of course not!" Johnny delightfully replied. "All the humans are asleep, so you don't have to worry about hurting any of them."

That was...surprisingly thoughtful. Still didn't make it any less annoying. Danny fixed him with a glare and said, "Johnny. I'm half human. I also need to sleep."

The ghost's eyes widened, and his mouth formed a circle. "Oh."

Danny rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Can you go back to the GZ so I can get back to bed?"

Unfortunately, he already knew the answer he would receive when Johnny's face twisted into a wicked smirk. "But you're already here, aren't you? And I do have some energy I need to let out..."

"Dude, I swear..."

Danny didn't have time to finish his threat because the biker ghost was already sending his shadow to attack him. Inwardly, Danny groaned. Here he thought that he was making good progress this year in befriending his previous enemies, but it turns out they're too trained in Hating Danny On Sight to fully stop torturing him.

Danny blocked another swing from the shadow. He formed a ball of ectoplasm in his hands and used its light to fend the phantom off. As he watched it retreat, he bared his teeth at Johnny with a growl, trying to convey clearly that he wasn't happy.

For some reason, Johnny had the opposite reaction. He held up a hand to hold his shadow back and stared at Danny. "Wait, do that again," he said.

Danny frowned, confused. "Do what?"

"Bare your teeth."

Danny was Hella Confused, but he did as he was asked. Johnny clapped his hands and laughed.

"You're growing baby fangs!"

"...What."

The older ghost got closer until he was floating right in front of Danny's face. He pointed at the halfa's mouth, and his face adopted the kind of expression Jazz would make if she saw a baby animal. "Right there," the ghost said with a smile, "the cutest, widdwest baby fa--"

All of a sudden, a light enveloped Johnny, and he looked down to see the halfa sucking him into a Fenton thermos. "Hey! Not fair!" he whined, his voice shrinking as he went in.

"Sorry, but you deserved it," Danny spoke into the cylinder before he closed it.

He sunk from his spot in the air until his boots touched the ground. As soon as he did, he thought about what Johnny said. Now that he noticed, his gums were hurting. When he touched them with his tongue, he felt something sharp growing among his teeth. What did Johnny say? Fangs?

Danny looked at the building sitting across from his home. The lights indoors were all turned off, and the windows perfectly reflected the street and Danny on it. Danny let himself hover an inch off the ground and floated toward the glass. Once he got close enough, he studied his reflection.

Over the years, his ghost form had changed into something a bit more...ghostly. Before, the only parts of his appearance that changed were his eye and hair colors. Now, his hair became wispy, his skin grew tinted green, and even the freckles that had long ago faded from his human skin now literally glowed in ghost form.

Danny ignored these details. (He especially ignored how uncomfortable he felt seeing himself look less and less human.) Instead, he opened his mouth and focused on the trait Johnny pointed out to him.

Sure enough, two small, white points were growing from where his canine teeth should be. Danny stared. Were those really going to grow into fangs? Honestly, he's not sure why he was surprised. Pretty much every ghost he knew had fangs. Even Vlad did, and he's a halfa too.

He grinned at his reflection, and the reflection grinned back, showing off his brand new pair of fangs. Danny tried to imagine what the would look like on him once they grow, replacing the small points with something longer and sharper.

This was a mistake.

Suddenly the image before him seemed eerily familiar. Wispy hair, almost like fire. Greenish skin bordering on teal. Growing muscles underneath his jumpsuit. And fangs.

The grin was gone from Danny's face, but the reflection still smiled. Since when had its eyes turned red?

Danny took a shaky step back.

It was him.

The thermos slipped from his hands with a clunk. He gulped.

He was turning into him.

Fire entered Danny's nose. Fire, and the smell of burning flesh. He whipped around, eyes out of focus. The Nasty Burger. It was gone. The flames licked the sky and danced on where the building once stood.

His family. His friends. He couldn't save them.

"No," he softly said, as if that could erase the scene before him.

He dropped onto his knees on the pavement. The smoke stung his eyes and filled his lungs. He couldn't breathe.

"No," he repeated, gasping and gripping onto his hairs. "No, no, no."

His eyes fell on the thermos next to him. The metal surface reflected Danny's face, but it wasn't the face he saw in the mirror yesterday. It was his face from tomorrow. Red eyes, wispy hair, and grinning at him with long, sharp fangs.

An ecto-blast shot past his ear, jolting Danny back to reality. He looked up, his eyes finally focusing on someone standing over him...someone wearing a teal jumpsuit and red goggles...his mom?

But he saw her die, didn't he? There was the explosion, and...and she was blasted apart like everyone else...and then...oh, right.

It felt like he was finally waking up. The air around him was clear. He wasn't in front of the Nasty Burger, he was in front of his own house. And even if he was there, the restaurant would still be standing. The explosion never happened. Clockwork erased that timeline.

His family was still alive. Maddie was still alive.

A fact that helpfully made itself apparent by the gun she was pointing at him.

"Why are you doing that?" his mother asked, snapping him out of his reverie.

"Doing what?" he replied.

"Pretending to cry."

Danny touched his cheeks. Was he really crying? Sure enough, his gloves came back wet.

"Answer me, phantom," Maddie's voice cut through his thoughts, sharp and bitter.

Danny let his hands fall onto his lap and gulped. "I'm not pretending."

"Of course you are," Maddie stated matter-of-factly. "Ghosts can't shed genuine tears. After all, it's not like they can feel--"

"Yes, they can," Danny suddenly snapped. "They feel! All they do is feel! That's why they're aggressive. Not because they lack emotion, but because they're created from it! Not that it matters to you, since you never listen to what I say."

Maddie's jaw dropped. As soon as the words left Danny's mouth, he knew it was out of character for him. Phantom was a smooth ghost who only spoke to tell bad puns and mock his enemies. He never snapped at anyone like that. A part of him felt ashamed for yelling at his mother, but he wasn't in the mood to feel guilty about it.

He averted his eyes and wiped at his tears. Man, he must have looked pathetic. Why was Maddie even out here? Of course, he had forgotten that his parents had almost as little sleep as he did. She was probably pulling an all-nighter working on some new invention to kill him when she noticed the ghost having a breakdown outside their house.

Danny tried to ignore the embarrassment he felt and pushed himself to his feet. If Maddie noticed the way he shook as he pulled himself up, she didn't comment on it. He took a deep breath. The smell of fire still lingered in his nose.

"Never mind," he said, not looking at her as he spoke. "I'm not in the mood to deal with you tonight." He turned away and prepared to take flight, but a hand suddenly gripped at his wrist, and he turned back to see Maddie holding on to him.

"Wait," she said. After a moment of hesitation, she let go and...lowered her gun? "Let's assume I believe what you said, about ghosts feeling emotion. Why are you crying?"

Danny had to assure himself that he wasn't dreaming. Talking and not shooting? That was new. He must have stared at her for a long time in surprise, because she frowned and urged, "Well?"

He blinked and looked down. "It's nothing."

"So you are faking?"

"What? No!"

"Then what is it?"

He bit his lip. How could he even begin to explain it? Hey, no biggie, but I sort of saw an alternate timeline where I went evil and killed you, which happened a long time ago but apparently I'm not as over it as I thought. Yeah, no. Instead, he asked, "Why do you care?"

He looked up and saw something soften in her face. Her brows knitted, but in an I'm-willing-to-hear-you kind of way, just like the days in his childhood when she sat next to him in bed, ready to soothe him as he woke up crying from another nightmare. It made him meet her eyes, forgetting for just a moment that they were supposed to be enemies. She was not Maddie the ghosthunter, but Mom.

Then the illusion broke when she said, "With how much power you have, it is my duty as a ghosthunter to make sure you dont step out of line. Anything that would cause you to act differently from usual should concern me."

His chest crumpled. Of course she didn't care, and why would she? He was a ghost. This was nothing more than another duty for her as a ghosthunter.

He tried not to show his disappointment, but it must have shown anyway because Maddie asked, "Did I say something wrong?"

"No," he lied. "Of course not."

She sighed. "Of course not." She crossed her arms and turned away, then muttered under her breath, "I don't know why I thought I could help a ghost. I can't even help my own children."

Danny guessed he wasn't meant to hear that last part, but he did. He stared at her incredulously and asked, "What?"

She stiffened, then quickly said, "Nothing. I don't need to tell you about my family life."

He took one step toward her, then immediately took a step back when she aimed her gun on him. Right, he forgot she didn't holster that.

"I mean it," she warned. "This isn't about me."

He stumbled and fell onto the pavement. Maddie stood over him, still aiming her weapon at him. Were they not just having a moment? Obviously not. Maddie Fenton was never one to have moments with a ghost.

"Really, quit breathing. I know you don't need to do that."

Danny only then noticed how hard his chest was rising and falling. He gulped. "I can't keep doing this," he suddenly spoke.

The hand holding the gun faltered. "Doing what?"

His eyes stung, but he held back his tears because he knew she would tell him he was faking again, and he didn't want that to happen. Instead, he fixed his eyes on the red goggles that covered hers and said, "Fighting you, being your enemy, until the day you die."

Maddie remained calm as she said, "You're a ghost. I'm a ghosthunter."

"That doesn't mean we have to fight." He gestured between them and added, "I mean, we were just having a conversation. At least until you pulled out your gun again."

"Is that why you brought me out here?"

"I didn't. You came on your own."

"You were acting strange," she replied. "You still didn't answer why."

His core thrummed against his chest as he continued to stare into her gun. Why are you crying? Because he's still scared of becoming his evil self. Because he doesn't want to hurt his family. Because every time he closed his eyes, he saw their scorched remains, and he doesn't want to be the person to cause that to happen.

"I don't want to be a bad ghost," he answered.

Maddie tilted her head. "That can't be it," she spoke in her snobby scientist voice. "Ghosts dont have a sense of right and wrong--"

"Would you stop making assumptions about ghost morals? I'm the ghost here, not you."

That was the second time he snapped at her. He tore his eyes away from her, instead choosing to glare at the street. Maddie was quiet. "...You're serious," she finally said.

"Yeah, no shit."

She lowered her gun...just slightly. "That still doesn't explain things," she said. "Why the sudden reaction? The tears?"

His eyes landed on the thermos that lay a few feet away, reflecting his green skin and wispy hair and glowing eyes on its surface. His gums hurt.

Danny shut his eyes and gulped back bile. "I...I did something bad, okay?" he said, his voice small. "I thought I could forget about it, but I can't. I--I don't want it to happen again."

A moment of silence hung between them, broken only by the soft whistle of the breeze. He hoped she wouldn't ask, but he knew the question was coming anyway. "What did you do?"

His hands shook. He gripped them into fists, but that did nothing to ebb his emotions.

"Phantom," Maddie urged. "What did--"

"I killed people!" The tears escaped his eyes, which opened to reveal toxic green irises that shone brighter than the streetlights. He faced Maddie, his expression contorted in guilt and pain and Ancients why do his gums still hurt as he cried, "I killed people. They died, and it was because of me. I killed them."

He waited for her to get angry at him, to shoot him. Instead, she gave him a reaction he didn't expect.

"Now I know you're faking," she said, lowering her gun completely.

He blinked away his tears. "What?"

"Feeling guilt over someone's death? Ghosts can't care about that." She held up a hand and continued, "Before you argue again about whether ghosts have morals or not, I'm talking about the concept of life and death. You're dead, so you shouldn't be able to bother over whether others are, too."

Danny sat back and let those words sink in. Was that why his alternate self had seemed so heartless? He had removed his humanity, and along with it, any sympathy he had left toward life. If Danny had fully died in that portal, would he...?

He shook his head. He didn't want to think about that. "But I don't want others to suffer the same fate I did," he argued.

"That's not what other ghosts seem to think," Maddie pointed out. "Even if your obsession was saving others, it should be easy for you to get over a few deaths after some time has passed. It simply doesn't make sense for you to care." She crouched until she was at eye level with him and inquired, "So tell me, Phantom. What makes you so different?"

"...I don't know." What else could he say without revealing his secret? He truthfully told her, "I never asked to be this way."

She scrutinized him, as if looking at him could somehow reveal the truth. After a while, she sighed and stood up...and holstered her gun.

"I can never understand you," she said. "You're just...so human. Your emotions, your thinking, your morals, even your appearance."

He perked up. "You think I look human?"

She looked at him as if he just said the dumbest thing on the planet. "Of course you do," she answered. "Even if you've changed since your first appearance, the change isn't nearly as much as it should be for such an increase in power as yours. Other ghosts your power level would look much more monstrous. But not you. You may grow claws and fangs, but you can still pass as a person."

Danny was dumbfounded. Here he was worried that he might be losing his humanity, and now he was proven wrong by none other than one of the world's leading ghost researchers, his own mother. He thought that was as much relief as he could feel, and then she said,

"You're not a bad ghost, Phantom."

He bit the insides of his mouth to keep himself from crying again because dammit he's already cried enough times this night already. Instead, he blurted out the thing that was on his mind in that moment, which was, "You're not a bad mom."

Mom faltered. For a second, Danny worried that he screwed up. He should not have said that, now she's going to try shooting him again and then everything that just happened would be a waste... But she didn't do that. He couldn't read her face well from underneath her mask, but something crossed her face. She observed him silently, and he squirmed, wondering what she saw. She opened her mouth to say something, but then changed her mind and turned away without a word, leaving the halfa behind as she went back indoors.

Danny sat in the middle of the empty street, watching his mom leave. What just happened? He wasn't sure, but Mom just left without leaving him an injury, which he didn't think could be possible. The world lit up around him as the sun rose from the east.

Shit, he had to return home before someone could walk into his room and find it empty. He fumbled around until he caught the thermos, then paused to look at his reflection. He saw...himself. No evil alternate self. No monster from the future. Just Danny Phantom, existing in the present.

He grinned, showing off his brand new pair of fangs.

Now that he thought about it, having fangs sounds pretty cool.

[missksj]

choose your hero!nct127

ﾐ☆ genre: punch inspired!au, video game au!, superhero au!

ﾐ☆ word count: 7k

ﾐ☆ warnings: mentions of greatest fears and nightmares, fighting, death, light smut but nothing too vivid, and sm ceo and dispatch make an appearance ew i know

ﾐ☆ author’s note: ah my first nct 127 headcanon and second creation on this site! yes i know it’s been a long time coming since punch dropped but ever since i saw the music video, this idea popped into my head. i heard of other nctzens talking about this aesthetic when mentioning the mv, but hopefully you like my take on it! please enjoy and look forward to more writing from me in the future! thank you so much! ps this is not proof read yikes sorry

Velvet clouds of psychedelic purple with the scattered rays of sunset hues made an unnatural background for the logo’s electric lettering with lightning strokes cracking the static screen in your stuffy apartment. Outside was a different matter. A thunderstorm jolted the placid crimson sky to a violet that only nature could create, although the graphic designers of PUNCH: NCT 127 came close. It was rather befitting for the stark opposition of the hurricane raging outside to the retro sparking aesthetic that you’ve witnessed for the ninth time, and it was the most pivotal. It was as if the thunder was the applause, the lightning rallying behind you, the pelting of the raindrops reverberating the hammering of your heart. Almost victorious in a way, the non-player hero that lurked in the background of the other eight paths taken would finally be the alternate hero to your player. He was a prize in the reverie that you constructed solely from his brief bio to the artificial mannerisms and quotes that he generated in the story lines which enabled you to project your fantasy on mundane men. The comparison was cruel, fictional characters were even crueler. Nimble fingers and darting eyes fell into a comfortable routine, familiar with the introduction story, it was a race between the controller’s buttons and the spiteful lightning that would sever the power.

[FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY]

[PROPERTY OF THE NCT 127 DIVISION UNDER THE SM AGENCY]

PRIORITY IDENTIFICATION 

[NAME]...F/N L/N

[ID #]...07201607

[STATUS]...Active

[CLASS]...Agent

[ALIAS]...Punch

[TEAM AFFILIATION]...N/A

Welcome to the NCT 127 Division, Agent L/N. I am Lee Soo-Man, the Director of the SM Agency and your guide for your latest mission: THE FINAL ROUND. On behalf of the whole SM community, we apologize for the abrupt summoning, but your presence and skills are crucial if we are going to defeat the DISPATCH terrorist. For too long, the person that cowers behind the mask that claims itself DISPATCH has tormented South Korea for too long, and only you can stop them. It cannot be done alone though, if you so choose to take on this responsibility, I will assign one of the nine superheroes of your picking to share this task. Do you accept it?

CLICK [YES] TO CONTINUE

CLICK [NO] TO RESTART

I am pleased that you have accepted the assignment. For the duration of the mission, the NEO ZONE will be the location of the base for you and your partner. Intel, equipment, and training will be at both of your disposals. Now that you have been briefed on all inner workings of the mission and the NEO ZONE, there is one last obstacle until you defeat the enemy. The selection of your partner is based on compatibility and trust, I implore you to consider wisely until you make a final decision. The designated superhero of your liking will be under one of two teams, FUTURE OR DREAMER. Both equally beneficial, but the bonds of loyalty run deep between the members, you have to determine which one of their morals you value more. Heed my warning though, with the right set of skills and talent,  you and your partner will be unstoppable but tread lightly your connection with him. After all, you are his only weakness. Which team and hero will you choose?

CLICK [TEAM FUTURE]

CLICK [TEAM DREAMER] 

You now have the option to choose your hero.

Before your perplexed mind could comprehend the change of dialogue, a streak of lightning had pierced the stillness of the undisturbed bedroom and released the tempest that was once contained to reality. With the abundance of consuming darkness, shards of glass pricking your paling skin, and tree branches pounding for entry--your white knuckles and twitching eyes fathomed the only connection you had with actuality; a plastic controller and the flickering avatar of your destined hero you chose only seconds before. Your heart had been thumping, not from the anticipation of a new adventure, no, it was pure fear that jolted your numbed muscles to sprint to sanctuary. The thunderstorm mocked your failed attempt at fleeing as another surge of electricity enveloped the room in white and sparks rippled at your ankles as you ran away but the tethering currents from the screen wrenched you back.

SOUL TRANSFUSION NOW COMPLETE_

Team Future

Taeil

Power: Pyrokinesis

A very vocal opponent when he’s on the battlefield, you might be on the other side of the area but you can always figure out where he is located by listening to his strange grunt/growl combos, enemies usually have to process the inhuman sound that came out of a small man but you just roll your eyes and toothy grin grows as you run to him for back up

Says “let’s get it!” any chance he gets, always attempts to make it your team chant before going on a mission but everyone votes no, even you

Loves to wear long sleeves as a staple piece of clothing despite his already burning temperature, he claims it eases him as if it were security blanket, and he enjoys when you tell him he looks adorable with his sleeved paws

During winter though, he always has to stock up on sweaters because you are always stealing them, whether it’s the feeling of his residual heat ghosting over your skin or look of complete adoration glazing over his eyes as he devours that look of yours, it’s a great excuse to wear one

If you had to assign ‘roles’ in the relationship, you would so be a top, he’s the most chill boy out there as you throw tantrums or squeal out of pure joy when you are finally promoted, it’s either purring hums out of his mouth or a silly smile as he gazes at you 

Physical affection is minimal between you two unless you initiate it, but it’s mostly wrapping his arm around you, it’s in no way conveying that he doesn’t love you, but rather love to him is experiencing moments with you, making memories while watching a funny movie or dancing horribly to a playlist he created

An exception is when you end up falling asleep on the couch as you two watch a movie, he secretly loves to carry you back to bed as he tucks you in and truly soaks in what you mean to him

His hair gradually transitioned to its current red as his powers grew throughout the years and he would always dye it but his genes overpowered any artificial color, not until you said you liked his hair like that, he decided to keep it

King of making you smile especially when you are down, he can’t stand seeing you sad so he insists on becoming a goofball until your sides hurt from laughing so hard

Takes training way too seriously, you always start off competing but by like the 100th crunch you are wiped but he’s still going 

Becomes sulky when his Disney Hades costume doesn’t come out as planned because his fire is red and not blue, but it was the best decision ever when you suggested Ghost Rider for the Halloween party, Taeil never looked better with just a leather jacket covering his bare skin

You finally convinced the clothing department to give you a fireproof uniform because Taeil has really bad aim, and your clothes are rags after a mission

Figured out you had a crush on Zuko when you were younger, so he would rewatch it with you and definitely cosplay Zuko, perhaps even role play with it if it’s something you were into

Having sex with Taeil was searing pain shooting through your thighs, tender love handles, heaving chests and lactic acid seeping through your muscles as he cheered you onto the last lap--it was a workout in itself with a sweltering room that reflected his aroused emotions

Both of you are constantly battling, whether it’s a rap battle or a cooking battle, Taeil is in love with the passionate side of you

Breakfast in bed is a tradition held during the weekends, he says he loves to spoil you but he just loves tasting his own food while you give him compliments on how delicious it is

Taeil is usually saved as a last resort for dangerous group missions, you’ve heard stories of his past battles as if he were legend already, but you’ve only witnessed his true power once by scorching down the enemy in one go, flames clawing his body as the inner glow within him exploded like he was a supernova--someone had to drag you out before the building collapsed on itself from the stifling heat and the roaring fire

You pinch his bouncy cheeks as often as possible just to see him roll his eyes while he fights off the widening smirk that makes his doe eyes curve into crescents, but it’s the blooming crimson of his cheeks that you indulge in, lightly sizzling your fingertips until you can’t take the pain any longer and yelp slips out, but Taeil swiftly swoops in and kisses your fingertips in an apology, it was a good pain though

It’s a normal night for both of you, 2 AM and your blabbering about everything and nothing, and Taeil always ends up the saying the same line to you as he coaxes you to sleep because he knows how grumpy you become in the morning, “I’m grateful we’re together, who would make you a fire if you were stranded on a deserted island? You definitely can’t, so, hmm, I guess it has to be me”

Johnny

Power: Lycanthropy

You’d suspect him to be bear when he morphed with his build and height, but he’s a hulking chestnut brown wolf with gentle eyes

Basically a puppy on steroids always expects a treat and good belly rub after eviscerating all his targets

Has the ability to shift at will, so during winter nights you can find him nestled around you for added warmth

During the colder months, he usually wears knitted sweaters and oversized coats in his human form because it reminds him of his fur, and he claims he likes to keep you warm while he holds you in any form

Creates video tutorials of both of you sparring with each other, lots of constructive criticism and compliments on your ‘form’

Begs you to ride him into a mission just for the sake of it, he can so see you as a badass warrior on their monstrous steed

Johnny’s favorite time of day is during the end when you wind down with him and you tell him every detail of your day despite you two being joined at the hip as partners

Always asks questions out of plain curiosity and simply in love with the sound of your voice, it’s the equivalent of you petting his sweet spot on the back of his ear

Without a doubt, he howls in bed while having sex, he’s always teetering the edge of shifting and even though you repeatedly tell him it’s fine to let go, the splintered wood of the headboard and floating feathers of a slashed pillow is evidence of how much concentration he puts in to keep you safe

Manicures and pedicures on a regular basis in the Suh household got to keep those claws clean

Adamant about not getting a pet dog with you, his excuse is he would get too jealous of another canine but his stance is weakening with your improved puppy dog eyes

Multiple jokes about ‘starting a pack’ with you

While in his wolf form, he can understand human language but he doesn’t have the ability to communicate, so both of you rely on subtle gestures

Naturally has a small smile, always nudges you with his snout, and whenever you make a joke to him, he bears his canines that are frightening to most but to you it’s comforting

Johnny’s greatest fear is if you two are ever in an argument and his anger blinds him to the point of him unconsciously shifting and accidentally harming you

Even clumsier in his wolf form, he doesn’t realize actually how massive he is which makes him a hazard to normal-sized beings

Gets most of his stances and moves from the wolves from the twilight series, he won’t admit but he’s certainly inspired by them

Sexual appetite is at a peak when the full moon comes out, growl central!!

The most treasured item you two have is a portrait of wolf-Johnny on his hind legs, attacking your face with slobbering kisses and you grinning brightly because nothing can compare to the bliss of that snapshot

Taeyong

Power: Superhuman Speed

After every assignment, Taeyong’s personal mission is to dote on you, this usually happens by using a covering or his own jacket and slinging it over your shoulders, if there is grime or blood on it, he lets out soft ‘sorry’ even though you always tell him not to

He knows it’s his job, he understands the need, but that doesn’t mean he is comfortable with the bloody side of it, and so he loves talking to you after incidents, your voice is soothing and it helps him process all the trauma, he says it’s for your sake but you know in these moments you are his crutch and you gladly accept the job

Naturally, a faster walker than you so he always manages to be a few feet ahead of you, but when he sees you fall behind, he holds your hand and  tugs lightly while matching your pace

After enhancing his speed,  he always has flushed cheeks and a glossy sheen across his forehead, so you make it a habit to kiss his forehead, cheeks, and lips to cool him down

It doesn’t work, his heart his pulsating harder than ever and does that exasperated airy laugh as an attempt to stabilize his heightened emotions while walking away so you don’t witness his even redder face

You give him piggyback rides after missions, his energy is basically depleted by then, so a jacket for a piggyback ride seems like a fair deal even though he fights you the whole way but you know he adores being cared for

You were the one to convince him to dye his hair pink in an effort to have an easier time spotting him during assignments and now he’s pink blur racing off to defeat villains

When he lightly peppers kisses on your face, the smacks get louder until he finally lands on your lips and it’s the most exaggerated sloppy sound he can make while he squeezes your cheeks

Weekdays for him are for cooking dinner, and you occasionally join to help him but mostly it’s him feeding you bits asking if everything is seasoned well and by the end, he is cursing because half the dinner is already gone

Type of boyfriend to remember you mentioning something you like and a few days later, he buys it for you or he randomly buys you things that remind him of you and leaves it for you as a surprise

Always doodling on you or leaving you notes with drawings so he can remind you that he loves you or to hydrate

After stressful missions, he just plops on top of you, his nose inhaling your scent as he forces his heart to match your rhythm, it lasts for about twenty minutes or until he can finally recharge

Taeyong’s gym locker in the NeoZone is plastered with couple photos of you two and photos of you modeling or candid while he directed you with his camera

The only way you can convince him to give you ten more pushups or five more pullups is if you bribe him with kisses and it always works

Very sacrificial, it’s one of his main flaws, he’ll get super flustered and annoyed when he sees you in the line of fire, so he’ll ultimately take all the heat and scold you after to put yourself first

His face usually has a cold blank stare to it as he observes his surroundings but once you collide into him and coil your arm around his, he grows this massive grin that only you can create

Never takes advantage of his speed with you, his surroundings are always in a constant race and he’s always anticipating the next move, but with you, your a serene presence washing over him; calming him, grounding him to capture every moment of you so it isn’t a blur but a vivid mural

Definitely tender and sensual in bed, once tried to spice things up by using his speed but he almost broke you, so now he only changes his pace if you request it

With your head on his chest every night, the last thing you hear before you fall asleep is the rapid thumping of his heart; it’s the only lullaby you’ll ever need

Yuta

Power: Supernatural Swordsmanship

Cut his hair with his kodachi and you most definitely needed to clean up the edges

Villains dread combating with Yuta, not just because he’s insane with a sword but he only talks about you and your relationship while fighting as if the opponent will answer his question of whether he should give you a cookie or ice cream cake for your birthday or even both 

Rather than making you feel better when you feel down, he would be your soundboard, a shoulder to cry one, a great pair of ears; patience and multiple ‘mhms’ as you unravel your worries while his fingers swirl on your thigh and he kisses your temple

You two could be on opposite sides of the room but his eyes would always gravitate to you and he would wait until you notice so he could meet your gaze and he would do the dorkiest faces, especially his famous lion rawr aegyo, it makes you realize how good of a father he would be

Goes wild when he sees your body tremble beneath him as the cold metal of the kodachi glides along your skin

The only thing rivaling his love for you is his love for his katana, it’s bond that can never be severed and  it’s a trust that only develops between soulmates, you could never understand but you accept and allow it to be the third partner in the relationship

It shouldn’t be possible for Yuta to look like a prince walking out of an otome game right after a battle, but there he is, glistening skin with swept hair and twinkling eyes as he sheathes his katana across his back as if he’s going to ride his horse in the Sengoku period

It’s usual occurrence to catch him absentmindedly talking to his katana, you wouldn’t be surprised if it could talk back, he can summon it by hand already, that sword and he shares one brain cell but he usually uses it as a mirror

You’re a killer couple, not only with looks and fashion but it’s quite a sight to experience as you shoot a bullet to his katana so it can ricochet at a target eighty feet away

Manages a rigorous training session before you wake up and when he’s done, he ends up collapsing on top with his sticky body as you screech at him to get off

The training facility in the NeoZone is rarely used because Yuta is a big believer in fresh air and beautiful scenery will motivate you more, so your sparring on the edge of cliffs and sprinting along the seaside

Alternates between reading books with you outside in your backyard with a makeshift picnic or both of you cuddled in bed with the open windows and the only source of light is the sun

If you have missions abroad, he convinces the agency to always give both of you one day free so you can act like tourists, nobody can say no to his dashing good looks and he knows it

One year for Christmas, you got him custom made tiny katana earrings and it’s literally the one pair he uses now, at least on his lobe

Yuta isn’t the overbearing type when it comes to jealousy, he shouldn’t have a say in what gender your friends are but when he sees a certain person obviously flirting with you it just takes slight glint of his katana to blind the intruder and they are already scurrying off 

Gets a kick out of playing real-life fruit ninja

Decided to shave a slit in his eyebrow with his katana one spontaneous night, he got out of the bathroom with a huge grin and asked, “does this make me look more badass?”

Your hands always end up somewhere around his stomach, gliding across the lean muscles, squeezing around his hips, twiddling his piercing, you name it, you can’t keep your hands off him

Nakamoto Yuta is a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield, the pang of fear thrills you as you witness his lack of mercy and fiery anger at injustice as he slaughters anyone that stands before him, but that wicked glint in his eye softens just for you and then you see the scrawling of your name engraved on the hilt of the katana, and you know you are the only one that knows the true Yuta and you feel so blessed

Doyoung

Power: Precognition 

You beg him every possible waking minute for him to allow you to do his makeup if only to contour his insanely sharp cheekbones, he finally relents but he has a scowl on his face the whole time

You’ve become quite a baker with Doyoung but he always has to guide you so his arms snake around your waist as an excuse yet he acts completely innocent when he knows it makes you distracted

Playlist for every occasion, especially when he’s having sex with you, the house ends up feeling hollow whenever he’s away without his angelic voice but to your surprise, Doyoung leaves you secret audio files lulling you in a trance

His mouth becomes a cherished part for you, especially the way the corners of his lips curl up naturally, the small smirk instantly widening when in front of food, or the blinding white teeth as he’s gritting them when approaching an orgasm or laughing at you, not with you

It takes about five minutes for Doyoung to arrange his plushies in the right position so you both don’t ruin them as you cuddle

One arm draped over a plush and the other wrapped around your back, or him in a fetal position with his plush embraced into his chest as you act as the big spoon

Hand holding is strictly for the bedroom with him, but he knows you admire his hands often, so he’ll have him some type of connection with you when out in public; whether it’s his pinkies wrapped around yours, curved into the loop of your pants, or his delicate veiny hand wrapping around your sleeve

End up catching him more than once, gushing over the phone with his brother about how in love he is with you and you may not lurk in the background for a few minutes until you interrupt the conversation by saying hi to Donghyun

Downtime for you two is building a puzzle, coloring some pages, playing board games and him smug with his victory, watching some documentaries or kdramas, and if you two bought some new furniture for your renovating house, he would most definitely want to do it by himself as you laugh while handing him pieces

Manages to still be shy when you both kiss, it’s you who initiates the subtle peck on his pouting lips, but soon the soft curve of his lips invites you more while your hands cup his warming cheeks--he’s a contradiction of being timid but with all the confidence as he nibbles your lips as if you were a delicacy

Training for you two equals nap time, his power allows him to rely on his mind rather than his body, so when you ultimately force yourself to exercise, Doyoung is laying on the couch, lazily cheering you on

Always giving you little compliments in your earpiece as he guides you around for a recon mission, and still holds his breath when he tells you about the unforeseen event that you need to be prepared for even though he knows you can handle it with ease

Studies multitudes of intel before a mission because he can never be too prepared, and it eases his nerves knowing that he can take every precaution in ensuring your safety

Would dedicate a photo album of himself on your phone, and even send you his recent selfies, telling you to choose one of them as an updated contact photo

You clown him 24/7 but he clowns you right back, it’s always a constant playful banter between you two, his eyebrows would furrow when you called him cute, the trembling of lips broke his facade, and when he does it to you, you essentially become his baby as he bites your cheeks but tell no one or he would deny it

From the moment you two wake up until you both arrive at headquarters, he has sullen look across his features, he would brush his lips across your temple and a hoarse good morning would escape his mouth in a notion to acknowledge you, but until he gets coffee in his system his energy hasn’t been restored yet, but your use to it as you tug him to the break room with his lidded eyes

Alone time is a must for you two, it could be both of you in the same room doing your own thing without communication or different parts of the house or mostly you would leave to run errands and Doyoung stuck in his room, but at the end of the day he crawls to you and says a small ‘hey’ as if his day just started from the moment he set eyes on you

Doyoung was always on alert, aware of incoming predictions that he had no say in but easily accepted, it’s a strain on his mental being, a reason why he needs to center himself by being alone, but then you come

Your blank, just like him, you’re unpredictable and foreign to him, but it’s not until you two kiss for the first time, that a hazy premonition reveals itself in a form of two children that share your hair but his feline eyes, it’s fragile though and uncharted, he knows that he needs to do right by you to get to the last level that seemed like paradise to him

Team Dreamer

Jaehyun

Power/Being: Android

During his exoskeleton stage, Jaehyun requested that the scientists create dimples during his living tissue transplant because he heard “they’re to die for”

Definitely thought it was a weapon utilized to kill his enemies

You make a habit to poke at his dimples until you feel the exoskeleton underneath, an oddly comforting sensation that makes you realize that Jaehyun doesn’t have a heart but his actions say otherwise 

Literally the personification of steam coming out of ears in cartoons with scalding red tips, this only happens when you’re in danger or when he sees you in what he perceives as provocative

It took five hours to draw an array of tattoos on him for a disguise on a reconnaissance mission, and a certain neck tattoo was going to make you abandon the mission and your sanity

Sadly, he had to erase them because the “the bad boy” persona was an official disguise in his hardware and couldn’t be revealed to the public

Jaehyun kept one design, however, a soft beauty mark on the apple of his left cheek, he claims it’s your signature as his owner but you like the word partner better

Programs all your training sessions and signature moves to his hard drive because he believes there is no better instructor than you  (except Bruce Lee)

The first time you helped him clean his internal munition unit, you couldn’t decipher any of the weapons so you gave them your own personal nicknames, he kept correcting you but he got tired so he now calls them “wholly fist” and “boom boom pow by the BEP”

You joke around with him that because he was created on valentine’s day, he should be credited as a sexbot but he always frowned at that comment until he figured out he could turn the tables on you by saying “I could be your sexbot”

Whenever he sees another person eyeing you in what he perceives is attraction, he activates his instant kill function with laser red eyes and declaring “target locked”

Suave and intimidating when you two first meet but truly transformed into a ‘soft boy’ after downloading your Pinterest board 

Whenever both of you are out in public, eyes ogle him and mouths gawk, but Jaehyun is oblivious to it all until he turns to someone and starts up the most wholesome conversation about something mundane and you know that person melts with ease because Jaehyun was built to reflect human nature, but he was doing better than most in your opinion

Lots of arcade dates with him, he quickly figured out the algorithm of each game just so he can overflow you with gifts and so he can show off his basketballs skills because he knows you love eyeing his arms in action

When he’s with you though, he’d rather listen and absorb every action and word that you produce, he wants to immerse himself in you because he truly believes that you are all that is good about humankind

Archives every single detail that you speak, and replays it for you when you forget something or to prove you wrong, there is no in-between

Robot sex!!!! That drilling option though...oof

The moment he realizes the blaring internal alarm warning him of his elevated temperature and the shorted circuits whenever you are near, he correlates it to what humans label  “love” so he downloads files on expressing these so-called feelings

Instead of saying “I love you”, he says “I dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin you” when he first confesses, and you assume there is a chemical imbalance within him so you rush him to the infirmary but for the first time, Jaehyun stalls and his eyes are clouded with retrieved information glowing neon green until he settles on “I love...I love...I love you” (yes, he stole it from Mr. Darcy, so sue him, he’s a fracking android)

Jaehyun sometimes doubts his ability to love you and even you sometimes question if you can love a piece of metal, but then you observe him before he joins you in bed that he triples check his instant kill function is disabled and he gushes about the new song he discovered and you are so sure that he was made for you

Jungwoo

Power: Lightning Bolt Projection

Gets easily flustered with the most pouty lip ever when you call him ‘Zeus’, it was his failed superhero name when he was trainee, but to you, he is much better than that jerk of a Greek god

Dressed up as the actual Zeus once for the office Halloween party and the year after that as a lightning bolt and you a storm cloud

Whenever Jungwoo craves attention but you’re occupied with another task, he repeatedly zaps you, not enough to harm, but until you cave in yet when you want to be annoyed with him, his owlish eyes and trembling lips easily subdue you

Your shoulder is a sacred space for him, it's the perfect fit for his head to settle in with a toothy grin and the warmest ‘mhms’ as he listens to you speak

Jungwoo was never much of a fighter, his powers were swift enough to eradicate enemies with not much mobility, but training sessions with you were more than enough of an excuse to spend time with you

Lately, your skin has been electrifying, not only the amorous glow you were emitting, but everyone you came in contact with felt a slight spark

Hair treatments are a must, the frizz is wild with Jungwoo, you really need to ask about his hair products because his hair so fluffy despite the amplitude of currents running through him

While brushing your teeth with him, he always shoots out finger hearts to you and winks through the mirror, it’s a great way to start the day

Never felt more grateful for his power until you were attacked on an assignment and your heart failed, it took four shocks to revive you with streams of tears and muttering to any God to hear his prayer

He’s most himself in the rain, umbrellas have never been on your shopping list

Definitely shoots bolts out of his finger guns and then blows on them afterward, if he’s feeling flirty, an added wink explodes your heart

Your biggest cheerleader when you are kicking ass during a mission

It’s a tradition for him to rake his fingers over your back with slight ripples of electricity while you cuddle in bed, it does wonders to relax your muscles

It’s been months of practice to improve his bolt voltage and range, but he finally managed to write ‘I love you y/n” in the sky, he couldn’t help it, he’s bursting at the seams with adoration for you

Both of you in the kitchen is a sight to see, you season but he cooks the food, his specialty is slightly charred chicken

Packs both of your lunches so you can eat together on break

Gets scared easily and as a result will discharge a lightning bolt as a defense, so pranks are off-limits between the team members

Literal sparks when you kiss, numbing and exhilarating as currents pass through your molding bodies to create goosebumps and raising hairs

When he thinks of home, his first instinct is to be cradled in your arms, watching trashy movies as a thunderstorm quakes the earth

Mark

Power: Compulsion

Mark might excel in whispering but when you turn the tables on him, with your sultry murmurs, he can’t help becoming a puddle of blushing mush

Never once used actual compulsion on you, the only exception is when you figured out the surprise birthday party he was planning for you, he redirected your attention to grocery shopping

His favorite part of you is your right ear because it’s where you naturally tuck your hair at and he just loves to twirl a strand of it in his finger while he mutters sweet nothings to you

You’re his bodyguard during missions, he can’t possibly get that close to targets while they attack if you aren’t watching his back

Even when he is supposed to be acting intimidating during an assignment, he can’t help but stutter and repeat ‘uh’ a thousand times, but he gets the job done eventually

Your literally breaking sweat, contorting your body so four targets don’t reach Mark, and he’s over there oversharing with another target

“The love of my life is about to kick your ass and you aren’t going to do a single thing about it, booby head” or “make the password ‘mark and y/n forever’ or else”

Naturally whispers in his sleep with his stinky breath in your ear, and you try to push him off but he just clings onto you like a koala 

In the morning though, the slight breakage in his voice from pitched to croaky as he says good morning to you is on repeat in your head for the whole day

Mark’s give away when he is about to use compulsion is him licking his thin lips, and almost makes you get knocked out by the enemy because your already under his spell

Does a tiny dance for any occasion, from doing the laundry, stripping naked, or when you two had your first kiss

It’s the strained grunts, the heavy breathing, and the showering of hushed compliments in your ears that makes you reach your peak in bed, Mark always sounded better when he was being pleasured

To him, your voice is the loveliest sound across the universe and your adorably awkward cackle that you so desperately try to hide as he reenacts vines to you is what happiness is to him

Ice cream dates consist of him bringing a tub of ice cream to a yogurt shop because he knows you prefer it

Coughed over his first fart with you but now he loves to fart on you as you pretend you are suffocating and gagging

Has a folder in his photos dedicated to you where it ranges from blurry to candids and in during most of them he was either hyping you up or teasing you

Greets you with a ‘yo!’ whenever he enters the room

Will always buy you any lip product associated with watermelon and you’ll always buy him baseball caps for him to wear

Despite being loud for 90% of your relationship, he is most vulnerable with when he whispers his greatest fears, future goals, and nightmares to you because your the only one he can trust

With the many decibels that Mark Lee varies in, your favorite by far has to be the ascending chortle from the low HAs to the high HEEs with clapping hands and a scrunched nose that puffs out his cheeks-- it’s pure bliss to you

Haechan

Power: Light Manipulation 

Haechan is utterly in love with your cheeks, instead of biting them or pinching them, he opts to kiss them whenever he has a chance, it’s rushing heat of your blush and the swelling of your smile that he lives for

The little spoon in bed, just so he can wrap his leg around you and nestle his head in the crook of your neck just like a koala

Literally always a brat to you, it’s the many ways he shows you affections

You asked him once to paint your nails, and now he does it every Friday ever since he discovered the ‘my hands look like this so hers can look like this’ meme even though his hands just have bitten nails

A man of action, Haechan shows you love through his movements with a heart framed by his fingers or blowing a kiss

Needs to always be physically attached to you, whether it’s hugging you from behind, leaning his head on your shoulder, or falling into you when he’s in a fit of giggles, he needs you to know that he will never let you go

Snarky remarks and cheesy jokes define your relationship with Haechan

Manages to always wake up before you on those lazy mornings with you burrowed deep into his side, and he can’t help but be memorized by your presence but soon feels selfish when he moves a ray of sunlight to your eyes so he can just peek at the explosion of colors in your eyes when you flutter them open--ah yes, this is his favorite part of the day

Loves to play video games with you into the late hours of the night, especially overwatch, but your always the first one to pass out, so he makes sure to tuck you in and dim the light of the screen so it doesn’t bother you

Most nights the both of you are wide awake so you end up playing ‘what the light?’, a game where Haechan creates 3D objects out of light and you have to guess what they are before he finishes them

Oh, and shadow puppets! He’s become quite the expert with them, he creates the most ridiculous stories with them but you join him by voicing the characters

In addition to ‘I love you’ as a goodbye, you have a secret intricate handshake with him, his excuse was that if you two ever question’s one identity if ever an enemy swapped bodies, you two would know the truth with the handshake but in reality, he just loves that extra time with you before you two part 

It’s either Haechan teasing and making fun of you or he’s doting on you, there is no in-between because after all, you are his idiot

If he’s in the mood, he’ll solidify light photons into the shape of a sword and call it ‘sunflower’, he just loves to tell the tale that he took out fifteen assassins with a sunflower, but usually, he blinds them or burns them

Goes the extra mile for you to create a spotlight on you when you are giving a mission brief at headquarters, that’s the love of his life right there and he’ll make damn sure everyone notices them

Recreates Edward’s sparkling in the sun scene just so he can see you beam with laughter 

Master of mood lighting during sex, and don’t even mention when he hits his climax, bulbs flickers and lamps explode

It might be a trick of the light, but Haechan’s eyes are vividly bright and he’s drowned in golden hues of sunlight, it makes you wonder if he was plucked from the star itself

Yet, as your lips quiver and your glassy eyes blink the last remnants of tears in Haechan’s cupped hands, there is an inner glow from them as you bask in their warmth, he can’t help but proclaim that you are the sun of his world, you are the light of his life even when it feels like his is diminishing

[birdlord]

Everything I Watched in 2020

We’ll start with movies. The number in parentheses is the year of release, asterisks denote a re-watch, and titles in bold are my favourite watches of the year. Here’s 2019’s list. 

01 Little Women (19)

02 The Post (17) 

03 Molly’s Game (17)

04 * Doctor No (62)

05 Groundhog Day (93)

06 *Star Trek IV - The Voyage Home (86)

07 Knives Out (19) My last theatre experience (sob)

08 Professor Marston and his Wonder Women (17)

09 Les Miserables (98)

10 Midsommar (19) I’m not sure how *good* it is, but it does stick in the ol’ brain

11 *Manhattan Murder Mystery (93)

12 Marriage Story (19)

13 Kramer vs Kramer (79)

14 Jojo Rabbit (19)

15 J’ai perdu mon corps (19) a cute animated film about a hand detached from its body!

16 1917 (19)

17 Married to the Mob (88)

18 Klaus (19)

19 Portrait of a Lady on Fire (19) If Little Women made me want to wear a scarf criss-crossed around my torso, this one made me want to wear a cloak

20 The Last Black Man in San Francisco (19)

21 *Lawrence of Arabia (62)

22 Gone With the Wind (39)

23 Kiss Me Deadly (55)

24 Dredd (12)

25 Heartburn (86) heard a bunch about this one in the Blank Check series on Nora Ephron, sadly after I’d watched it

26 The Long Shot (19)

27 Out of Africa (85)

28 King Kong (46)

29 *Johnny Mnemonic (95)

30 Knocked Up (07)

31 Collateral (04)

32 Bird on a Wire (90)

33 The Black Dahlia (05)

34 Long Time Running (17)

35 *Magic Mike (12)

36 Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (07)

37 Cold War (18)

38 *Kramer Vs Kramer (79) yes I watched this a few months before! This was a pandemic friend group co-watch.

39 *Burn After Reading (08)

40 Last Holiday (50)

41 Fly Away Home (96)

42 *Moneyball (11) I’m sure I watch this every two years, at most??

43 Last Holiday (06) the Queen Latifah version of the 1950 movie above, lacking, of course, the brutal “poor people don’t deserve anything good” ending

44 *Safe (95)

45 Gimme Shelter (70)

46 The Daytrippers (96)

47 Experiment in Terror (62)

48 Tucker: The Man and His Dream (88)

49 My Brilliant Career (79) one of the salvations of 2020 was watching movies “with” friends. Our usual method was to video chat before the movie, sync our streaming services, and text-chat while the movie was on. 

50 Divorce Italian Style (61)

51 *Gosford Park (01) another classic comfort watch, fuck I love a G. Park

52 Hopscotch (80)

53 Brief Encounter (45)

54 Hud (63)

55 Ocean’s 8 (18)

56 *Beverly Hills Cop (84)

57 Blow the Man Down (19)

58 Constantine (05)

59 The Report (19) maddening!! How are people so consistently terrible to one another!

60 Everyday People (04)

61 Anatomy of a Murder (58)

62 Spiderman: Homecoming (17)

63 *To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (95) Of the 90s drag road movies, Priscilla is more visually striking, but this has its moments.

64 Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (92)

65 *The Truman Show (98)

66 Mona Lisa (86)

67 The Blob (58)

68 The Guard (11)

69 *Waiting for Guffman (96) RIP Fred Willard

70 Rocketman (19)

71 Outside In (18)

72 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (08) how strange to see a movie that you have known the premise for, but no details of, for over a decade

73 *Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country (91)

74 The Reader (08)

75 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (19) This was fine until it VERY MUCH WAS NOT FINE

76 The End of the Affair (99) you try to watch a fun little romp about infidelity during the Blitz, and Graham Greene can’t help but shoehorn in a friggin crisis of religious faith

77 Must Love Dogs (05) barely any dog content, where are the dogs at

78 The Rainmaker (97)

79 *Batman & Robin (97)

80 National Lampoon���s Vacation (83) Never seen any of the non-xmas Vacations, didn’t realize the children are totally different, not just actors but ages! Also, this one is blatantly racist!

81 *Mystic Pizza (88)

82 Funny Girl (68)

83 The Sons of Katie Elder (65)

84 *Knives Out (19) another re-watch within the same year!! How does this keep happening??

85 *Scott Pilgrim Vs The World (10) a real I-just-moved-away-from-Toronto nostalgia watch

86 Canadian Bacon (92) vividly recall this VHS at the video store, but I never saw it til 2020

87 *Blood Simple (85)

88 Brittany Runs a Marathon (19)

89 The Accidental Tourist (88)

90 August Osage County (13) MELO-DRAMA!!

91 Appaloosa (08)

92 The Firm (93) Feeling good about how many iconic 80s/90s video store stalwarts I watched in 2020

93 *Almost Famous (00)

94 Whisper of the Heart (95)

95 Da 5 Bloods (20)

96 Rain Man (88)

97 True Stories (86)

98 *Risky Business (83) It’s not about what you think it’s about! It never was!

99 *The Big Chill (83)

100 The Way We Were (73)

101 Safety Last (23) It’s getting so that I might have to add the first two digits to my dates...not that I watch THAT many movies from the 1920s...

102 Phantasm (79)

103 The Burrowers (08)

104 New Jack City (91)

105 The Vanishing (88)

106 Sisters (72)

107 Puberty Blues (81) Little Aussie cinema theme, here

108 Elevator to the Gallows (58)

109 Les Diaboliques (55)

110 House (77) haha WHAT no really W H A T

111 Death Line (72)

112 Cranes are Flying (57)

113 Holes (03)

114 *Lady Vengeance (05)

115 Long Weekend (78)

116 Body Double (84)

117 The Crazies (73) I love that Romero shows the utter confusion that would no doubt reign in the case of any kind of disaster. Things fall apart.

118 Waterlilies (07)

119 *You’re Next (11)

120 Event Horizon (97)

121 Venom (18) I liked it, guys, way more than most superhero fare. Has a real sense of place and the place ISN’T New York!

122 Under the Silver Lake (18) RIP Night Call

123 *Blade Runner (82)

124 *The Birds (62) interesting to see now that I’ve read the story it came from

125 *28 Days Later (02) hits REAL FUCKIN’ DIFFERENT in a pandemic

126 Life is Sweet (90)

127 *So I Married an Axe Murderer (93) find me a more 90s movie, I dare you (it’s not possible)

128 Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (67)

129 The Pelican Brief (93) 90s thrillers continue!

130 Dick Johnston is Dead (20)

131 The Bridges of Madison County (95)

132 Earth Girls are Easy (88) Geena Davis and Jeff Goldblum are so hot in this movie, no wonder they got married 

133 Better Watch Out (16)

134 Drowning Mona (00) trying for something like the Coen bros and not getting there

135 Au Revoir Les Enfants (87)

136 *Chasing Amy (97) Affleck is the least alluring movie lead...ever? I also think I gave Joey Lauren Adams’ character short shrift in my memory of the movie. It’s not good, but she’s more complicated than I recalled. 

137 Blackkklansman (18)

138 Being Frank (19)

139 Kiki’s Delivery Service (89)

140 Uncle Frank (20) why so many FRANKS

141 *National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (89) watching with pals (virtually) made it so much more fun than the usual yearly watch!

142 Half Baked (98) another, more secret Toronto nostalgia pic - RC Harris water filtration plant as a prison!

143 We’re the Millers (13)

144 All is Bright (13)

145 Defending Your Life (91)

146 Christmas Chronicles (18) I maintain that most new xmas movies are terrible, particularly now that Netflix churns them out like eggnog every year. 

147 Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse (18)

148 Reindeer Games (00) what did I say about Affleck??!? WHAT DID I SAY

149 Palm Springs (20)

150 Happiest Season (20)

151 *Metropolitan (90) it’s definitely a Christmas movie

152 Black Christmas (74)

THEATRE:HOME - 2:150 (thanks pandemic)

I usually separate out docs and fiction, but I watched almost no documentaries this year (with the exception of Dick Johnston). Reality is real enough. 

TV Series

01 - BoJack Horseman (final season) - Pretty damned poignant finish to the show, replete with actual consequences for our reformed bad boy protagonist (which is more than you can say for most antiheroes of Peak TV).

02 - *Hello Ladies - I enjoy the pure awkwardness of seeing Stephen Merchant try to perform being a Regular Person, but ultimately this show tips him too far towards a nasty, Ricky Gervais-lite sort of persona. Perhaps he was always best as a cameo appearance, or lip synching with wild eyes while Chrissy Teigen giggles?

03 - Olive Kittredge - a rough watch by times. I read the book as well, later in the year. Frances Mcdormand was the best, possibly the only, casting option for the flinty lead. One episode tips into thriller territory, which is a shock. 

04 - *The Wire S3, S4, S5 - lockdown culture! It was interesting to rewatch this, then a few months later go through an enormous, culture-level reappraisal of cop-centred narratives. 

05 - Forever - a Maya Rudolph/Fred Armisen joint that coasts on the charm of its leads. The premise is OK, but I wasn’t left wanting any more at the end. 

06 - *Catastrophe - a rewatch when my partner decided he wanted to see it, too!

07 - Red Oak - resolutely “OK” steaming dramedy, relied heavily on some pretty obvious cues to get across its 1980s setting. 

08 - Little Fires Everywhere - gulped this one down while in 14-day isolation, delicious! Every 90s suburban mom had that SUV, but not all of them had the requisite **secrets**

09 - The Great - fun historical comedy/drama! Costumes: lush. Actors: amusing. Race-blind casting: refreshing!

10 - The Crown S4 - this is the season everyone lost their everloving shit for, since it’s finally recent enough history that a fair chunk of the viewing audience is liable to recall it happening. 

11 - Ted Lasso - we resisted this one for a while (thought I did enjoy the ad campaign for NBC sports (!!) that it was based on). My view is that its best point was the comfort that the men on the show have (or develop, throughout the season) with the acknowledgement and sharing of their own feelings. Masculinity redux. 

12 - Moonbase 8 - Goodnatured in a way that makes you certain they will be crushed. 

13 - The Good Lord Bird - Ethan Hawke is really aging into the character actor we always hoped he would be! 

14 - Hollywood - frothy wish-fulfillment alternate history. I think the show would have been improved immeasurably by skipping the final episode.

[exoczn]

VERTIGO || CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER ONE • CHAPTER TWO • CHAPTER THREE • CHAPTER FOUR

m.list

Pairing: Mark Lee x Reader x Yuta

Genre: Angst, Fluff

warnings: none for this chapter

Plot: what happens when you feel like a failure yet again like always and you’re not enough in a new city and accidentally meet a stranger who is broken himself but changes your life along with his own by a short encounter near the Vancouver river

————————————————

   You woke around afternoon because you slept at 3:30 am and spent the last night listening to soft alternative music, drinking cheap wine and looking at the sky; it wasn’t starry in particular but you always liked nights like this.

   You get up to make coffee for yourself and your phone buzzes. 

Yuta: Heyyy 

Yuta: The party thing is still on, right??

 You suddenly realise that it's Saturday and start panicking. You go to your closet and start finding something to wear but you’re too confused and you feel nothing looks that good according to you. So you call Yuta immediately.

he picks up after 3 rings 

 "hello?? y/n, what's up? don’t say you can’t make it and break my heart.” he chuckles.

 “Hey no! I won't do something like that yEt but well anyway that's not why I called you. I called you because I’m confused as to what should i wear and i wanted to ask you, uhhh 

what would you be wearing?”

 “well it's just a bunch of rich kids renting an airbnb and throwing a party, nothing fancy?  He sighs and continues  “I’m literally so excited to see you again idk why but can’t wait”

You try for it to not affect you that much and stop yourself from smiling that much and continue “Yes me too”

  “anyway y/n I’ll pick you up around 10:30?”

“sure”

——————————————————————

 You started getting ready around 9 after having some leftovers from last night. You were wondering about how things in your life were going pretty smoothly and how Yuta was everything you wanted in a guy. It really had been a week since met him and he texted you the night you met him in the coffee shop. 

  You both talked about music, anime, how you felt about the city, he talked about japan and his old neighborhood where he grew up and realized you both were going to the same university and Mark too. 

   You looked yourself in the mirror. You were wearing your 560 levi’s and a black cropped tank with your chelsea boots. You wore silver hoops and a small lock necklace. You were about to finish your look with a clear lipgloss when you heard your doorbell ring and figured who it might be. 

 You finished applying your gloss quickly and rushed to open the door and saw him standing there with a smug smile on his face and his pretty eyes. His eyes were almost too pretty. He was wearing a black shirt with a pair of light washed jeans as well.

 “Oh my goodness you’re looking almost as pretty as me” he said, widening his eyes with an open mouth smile showing his perfect teeth.

Why is he so pretty? What's happening to you y/n?

 You rolled your eyes while laughing and said “ha ha ha right” sarcastically. 

  “And look! We’re matching! No wait… you copied me”

 “We’re matching, yes. I copied you, it's not even possibly possible einstein.” 

 “But anyway y/n, you look- “

  “Amaaazing, i know.” you both laughed.

  “Now, shall we?” He held out his hand and you took it.

-----

  You enter the place and see a tall guy with brown hair walking up to the two of you with a huge smile and hugs Yuta.

  “y/n this is Johnny, johnny this is y/n.”

    “Dude wow! She pretty pretty- “

  “TOLD YA” Yuta says while shrugging 

  “Hi Johnny and thanks” you shake his hand and smile.

 “Hey John, where's Mark?” 

 “You know he hates parties, he's probably in the balcony or somewhere drinking his beer.”

 You weren't much fond of parties yourself but you came anyway as you already had no social life here and didn't know anyone else other than Sehun who lived in front of you and Kaitlyn your college friend.  

  You played a round of beer pong with Yuta, Johnny, Taeyong (his other ‘bro’) and some other people. At this point you were somewhat tipsy and wanted to have some water. So you went to the kitchen to get some water for yourself and for some reason the kitchen was somewhat dark but illuminated by the light coming from outside so you didn't bother to switch on the lights. 

You walk inside, you hear somebody “Y/n?” You jump

  “MARK???!!” 

 “Yes its me, calm down.”

 “MY HEART WAS GONNA COME OUT OF MY CHEST, YOU DUMBASS!” you almost screamed

 “I'm sorry I must've startled you” he chuckles.

 “No shit sherlock”  you roll your eyes and he starts laughing, it's almost like he's squeaking. It's cute. 

 After he stops, there's awkward silence between the two of you. You gulp down the water in your glass.

  “So how are things going between you and Yuta?” he finally asks. 

  “Good” you nod your head “great, I mean. He’s a nice guy and he's funny but very cocky. I think that's why I like him that much.”

 He chuckles again “I know he can get very cocky but it is indeed funny. He might look like an asshole to people or intimidation but he's a good guy.”

  “What’s up with your ex thing btw? Do you still miss her or-” you try to make conversation and also you were genuinely curious about how he is coping up with it because the first time you saw him, he looked pathetic.

  “Oh no no i don't anymore, i don't care about her anymore and i've realized that the whole dating shit is not for me i guess. Plus i like being alone now, it's comforting and i don't have to worry about ‘how to tell her that i hate being around her friends’ thing.” 

 “Right” 

 “Also did i tell you that you look good with that haircut.”

 “Thanks” you smile. “My brother thinks i look like a 7th grader.”

 “No wayyyy. It suits you” he gives a genuine smile”

 You thank him and then you remember “Oh Yuta, Johnny and your other friends were looking for you!”

  You leave the kitchen with Mark and you see Yuta, Taeyong and Johnny near the staircase.

You walk to them and Yuta says “Oh markkk where were you? I’ve been looking for you since I walked in.” 

  “I was uh-”

  “y/n where’d you find him and where were you ???” yuta asks you this time.

  “I went to get water in the kitchen and i saw him there.”

   Yuta got asked, “Oh.. are you fine??!!” 

  You noticed him completely ignoring the other three’s existence which made you feel special but guilty for some reason. 

You shook your thoughts away and replied

  “Uhm yes i don't know, i'm good, just a little exhausted.”

  “Should i take you home?”  

  “No, it's fine, I can take the train and go back on my own.” 

  “It's not safe at this hour, I'll drop you.”

   With that you both take off after saying goodbyes to johnny, mark and taeyong. 

 ---------------------

MARKS POV/

 After y/n and Yuta left,, Taeyong went to get smirnoff and 

 Johnny asked,”Hey Mark! Uhm why do you like y/n by any chance too?” 

  He caught me off guard by asking that and there were sirens ringing in my head and i didn’t know how to respond to it but i knew that lying wouldn't be a sensible option because he would easily catch me in seconds but i still tried to act as if i didn't know what he was talking about and said

 “W-what makes you think that?” I fake laughed.

 “Listen bro idk how others didn't notice but you know you were being quite obvious. Like when he rushed next to her to ask if she's okay, your face screamed that you were sooo jealous, i don't know what you plan on doing next but i really suggest you talk to her about it bro.”

 “man, i thought of it kinda and tried asking her about what's up with the whole situation and honestly, she seemed to really like him and well i don't wanna get into whatever they have for each other by confessing it to her and like i don't even know her so it's just plain weird for me to think of anything.” I tried to justify what I was doing to him and it felt more like trying to justify myself. 

  I went ahead and told johnny about how we actually met and how back then i was a coward and not smart enough to say anything but i realized i didn't really get a chance to say something to her and started wondering about what johnny said. 

Was it that obvious? What am i trying to do? Am I a bad friend? 

 ------------------------------------

  You reached your building around 1ish and Yuta tried to ask you out on another date but this time he said it'd be a proper just you-and-him-alone-date and you thought it'd be cool because so far things were going too well and you liked him too.  

 It was weird for you to process how vocal he was about his feelings for you and you realized that's probably the most attractive thing about him, he wasn't playing games with your feelings like you're used to otherwise and it was nice for a change. 

    You would have your mind wondering about mark once a while but you’d force yourself to tap back into reality.  

[vergilthelibrarian]

Alternative Reality.

Part 2 to What If which is just a prologue. Yes, this is Yandere Jongin (I know how original). I don’t know where I’m going with this but yeah.... Enjoy!

You woke up, clutching your chest, breathing hard and shallow.

You the same nightmare again. Of a man covered in blood, a knife in hand, cooing at you about how much he loved and needed you. It freaked you out.

Why did you keep having the same dream? What was the point of it? Was it a warning from some God or was your mind simply playing tricks on you? You couldn’t tell anymore.

Sighing, you got out of bed and went to open your window, the heat from the radiator causing you to sweat. Closing your eyes at the rush of the cool winter air that met your face, you began calming your breathing.

Once you were calm, you opened your eyes, planning to go out to the kitchen for a cup of tea only to tilt your head as you noticed a shadowy figure staring at you. Your breathing became faster again and you gulped nervously.

Was it a demon? You have been off of your antipsychotic meds as you were simply to lazy to go out to your pharmacy to pick them up so it wouldn’t be a surprise to you if this was another psychotic episode you were having.

“Hello?” your voiced squeaked out. You knew it was a dumb idea to do that but you couldn’t help it, you weren’t thinking straight.

The shadowy figure then turned around and, in your eyes, seemed to have floated away once it heard your voice.

Shaking your head, deeming it a hallucination from not being on your meds, you made a mental note to pick up your medication in the morning.

~~

Once again you woke up, this time not from a nightmare. Yawning, you got out of bed, scratching the back of your head as you walked to your body length mirror to look at yourself. You had gotten top surgery 2 months ago and oh boy did you love your new chest. Your scars met in the middle of your chest but you didn’t mind. It still amazed you how much your chest looked normal in your eyes, how it looked and felt right.

After admiring yourself for a bit, you went to the bathroom to get ready for the day.

You took a shower, brushed your teeth, did your hair, took your antidepressants and your hormone shot and went back to your room to get dress. Once you were dressed, you decided to grab an apple and bottle of water as you were too lazy to even make a bowl of cereal and left your apartment to go to school.

It was your 3rd year of college and you were happy that your college journey will soon be over. Though you were thankful to be going to school for psychology, you hated waking up in the morning everyday but you had to do what you got to do if you wanted to succeed in this life.

As you walked, you bit into your apple, taking a look into your scenery. Ever since you’ve been having that same nightmare, you’ve been paranoid that someone was watching you. You told your therapist but all she suggested was taking a different antipsychotic medication which you didn’t want to do.

You sighed in relief once you made it to the train station. Swiping yourself through the turnstile, you waited patiently for the train to come when suddenly a young man walked up to you.

“Umm, does this train go to Hunter College?” he asked nervously.

You nodded your head.

“Yeah. Do you go there?” “Y-yes. I’m here from Korea. I’m an exchange student.” “Really? That’s cool. I go to Hunter too.” “Is that so? What are you majoring in if you don’t mind me asking?” “Psychology. I wanna become a psychologist in a prison and work with criminals.” “Wow… Um uh, my name is Jongin but my American name is Kai.”

“Oh, I’m y/n. Nice to meet you Jongin or Kai haha!” you laughed, sticking out your hand out to give the tall man a handshake.

Jongin smiled, taking your hand into his and shaking it. You noticed how warm his hand was. You also noticed how handsome he was too.

“So uh, Kai. What is it you’re majoring in?”

“Dance.” “That’s pretty cool. I’m not really much of a dancer.” The train soon pulled into the station and the two of you got on, continuing to talk and getting to know one another.

Kai was two years older than you and was an exchange student from South Korea. After taking some years off to think deeply about his major, he started college later than most. You asked him why he chose Hunter instead of Colombia or NYU.

He shrugged.

“I don’t know to be honest.” “If I was you, I would’ve chosen NYU but I’m broke as fuck. It’s why I went to a CUNY school instead.” He laughed a bit before asking, “What’s a CUNY?”

You two talked as the train went to the college, pausing the conversation once the train got to the destination.

Walking to the school, you noticed how immediately comfortable you were with him, forgetting all about your paranoia.

“Hey y/n!” you heard and turned around, recognizing the voice.

“Johnny! What’s up?”

“Eh, the usual.” Johnny glanced at Kai.

“Who’s this?” he asked.

“This is Kai.” you said. “Kai, this is Johnny.”

The two exchange hellos before Johnny tagged along, starting up a conversation with you.

You noticed how quiet Kai became but chalked it up to him being nervous with being new and all.

Then you heard another voice call your name. This time it was your other friend Chittaphon or Ten.

“Oh? Hey Kai.” Ten said, surprise in his voice.

“You know him?” you asked and Ten nodded.

“Yeah. Remember that day I had to go to school? It was because my dance teacher wanted me to show him around campus.”

“Ah.”

“Hi Ten.” Kai said and soon the two strike up a conversation of their own.

“So y/n… You think Kai’s cute?” Johnny asked loudly causing you to choke on your water.

“Why would you ask that?! And loud at that!” you coughed out.

Both Ten and Kai laughed as you playfully punched Johnny’s arm.

“Ow! I was just asking a question!” “Well.” Ten started “Do you find him cute?” “Uh… why are y’all putting me on the spot like this? It’s the first day of school goddamnit!” you whined, pouting. You turned to Kai. “I do find you handsome and really nice.” you then looked at both Johnny and Ten. “There, are you guys happy now?” you huffed out before speed walking away.

“Y/n, wait up!” Johnny yelled out, catching up with you.

Ten shook his head.

“My friends are idiots…” he said sighing, “But I love them.” He turned his head to look at Kai. “Come on. We’ll walk to class together.” he smiled.

~~

Kai’s P.O.V.

Kai heart fluttered as he thought about what had happened that morning.

You called him handsome.

Him.

He felt his cheeks heat up as he thought about you. You were on his mind all day long, he couldn’t stop thinking about you.

He bit his lip, trying to contain his grin.

You didn’t remember him but he remembered you.

You see, when you were 12, you made yourself an account on some random penpal website, wanting to make friends. Kai came across your profile, this was when you were still a girl, and started talking to you, thinking you were really cute. He didn’t know much English and you didn’t know a thing of Korean but somehow, with the power of google translate, you both talked and got along. Kai felt his heart speed up whenever you would message him. Whether it be talking about something good or bad, he loved talking to you.

Then one day, you deleted your profile and Kai was devastated and he did what any cat who was too curious for their own good would do. He searched you up. He remembered you say you had a Facebook account your parents didn’t know about and searched you up there.

Low and behold he found you but instead of making an account himself and talking to you once more, he instead opted to watch you. He watched you grow and changed, figuratively and literally and as he watched you on more of your social media, he noticed how in love he was with you.

He wanted to hold you, protect you, love you. He wanted you… So when you decided to go to Hunter College he set out a plan to get you, studying English the best he could, preparing for the day when you two would finally meet in person.

You didn’t remember Jongin and to him, that was okay because in the end, it will be easier for him to have you all to himself

[heyyyharry]

Chapter 15: Fright-day Night

(Halloween Special - from the Flatmate Trilogy: Two Hearts, One Home)

…in which they play treasure hunt on Halloween again.

Word count: 7.1k

Chapter 14: For Better Or Worse - Harry and Niall have a guys night, Y/N starts showing, and Layla loves her wedding dress.

What to expect in this chapter: Baby’s gender (finally) AND the biggest crossover since The Avengers!!! (Jk)

For this chapter, the Flatmate characters will meet Eddie from My Girl (Bambi’s boss). If you want to read the alternative version in which they meet Thea (Bambi in the Wattpad version), CLICK HERE

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Harry used to hate the smell of the hospital.

It reminded him of germs and sickness, and that one time he nearly died in a jet ski accident. But now that he was there so often, he'd gotten used to it. He thought he might even like it, because every time he and his wife were there, they would walk out with good news.

"I think it's a girl," Harry blurted while anxiously picking lint from his sleeve, his other hand was squeezing Y/N's. They were in the hospital's waiting room, but he already had a feeling that this might be the best day of his life.

"Why do you think so, baby?" she asked with a smile.

"Mum said if you were more into salty food, you were having a boy, and if it was a girl, then you ate lots of sweet things." He chuckled and nudged her nose with his own. "I just filled your snack drawer with sweets a few days ago, and this morning when I looked at it, it was almost empty!"

"The snack drawer was your idea!"

"Yeah, because you either woke me up at 3 AM asking me to fuck you, or to go out and buy you some sweets. Now that you have your snack drawer, I will only lose sleep for sex."

"God, you're such a teenager." Laughing and shaking her head, Y/N threaded a hand through his hair and said, "guess we'll find out if you're right in half an hour."

Half an hour felt like half a century to Harry. But once it was finally their turn, he thought he might just pass out. He didn't know it was possible to get more agitated than the last time they'd been there, but when he took the same seat and watched his wife lie down on the same examining table, his insides were on fire. It didn't matter what his baby's gender was, because he loved them and his wife, anyway. Still, he was holding his breath and couldn't ignore the shakiness in his limbs.

"Congratulations," said the woman who was rolling the scanning device on Y/N's tummy. "It's a girl."

Those three words coursed through Harry's ears like Adrenaline through his veins. He tingled from his head to his toes, wanting to jump, but he was glued to the chair and his feet were as stiff as a rock.

It's a girl, said the voice in his head. I'm having a baby girl.

Y/N was saying something to him, but all he heard was white noise, while the name was bouncing inside his head. It felt as if there was an explosion in his brain, the good sort, and it took him a few seconds to come back to reality.

"That's Asteria, baby," Y/N said, tears streaming from her eyes though she was laughing.

Harry sniffled as he brought her hand to his mouth to kiss her knuckles a few times. "Hi, Ria," he said to her baby bump. "Your dad is here."

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"Congratulations! You are the lucky ones who got invited to our joint bachelor/bachelorette/Halloween party!" Layla raised her glass as if she was making a toast at her wedding, when in reality, she and her friends were sitting in a small cafe. "Thank you, my dear future husband, for coming up with this brilliant idea."

"I came up with it, actually—"

"Shut up, Harry," she snapped at the poor guy and shushed everyone who dared to snicker. "Anyway, where was I? Ahhh, the party. So this year, I'm—"

"We."

"We're bringing back our favorite tradition—"

As Layla immediately corrected herself after Niall had corrected her, the Irish man smugly wiggled his eyebrows at Harry, who looked slightly offended for the opposite reaction he'd received. Meanwhile, everyone else was already yawning.

"If she wrote a whole speech about the Halloween game one month prior, imagine how long her wedding vow would be," Louis whispered and fist-bumped Liam while Trix and Y/N were trying not to laugh.

Layla, however, was so passionate about her special party that she just kept going, "our annual Halloween game is back!" she exclaimed and clasped both hands in front of her chest. "It's called 'Fright-day Night'. And Louis will be the host!"

As everyone turned to Louis, who did a tiny bow as if he'd just won an Oscar, Layla added, "in case anyone else's wondering why I didn’t pick one of you, well, y'all fucking sucked."

"I guess I'll...take that as a compliment!" Louis uttered as the corners of his mouth turned up. "We'll have a Halloween party after the game, so make sure you have your costumes ready."

"Yes!" Layla chimed in before Louis could steal her spotlight. "Niall and I will also participate in the game, so we know nothing about the clues or the prizes or where the party will take place. Louis will take care of that. Our only job is to follow his rules and have fun!" She tapped her finger on her lips as the chatter began. "I guess I'm done. Anyone wanna add something?"

Harry raised his hand. "I have something important to announce."

"Put your hand down, Harold. Nothing is more important than my—"

"We've just found out the baby gender."

"Oh my God, what?!" Layla shouted and everyone in the cafe snapped their heads to look at her. She appeared as if she'd seen gold when she turned to Y/N. "Bitch, you should've told me first!"

"Sorry, I was afraid you'd tell everyone else." Y/N smiled. "We wanted to tell you guys ourselves."

"Just tell me now, am I an uncle or an aunt?!" Niall blurted and quickly shook his head when everyone gave him questioning looks. "No, I mean—God! You know what I mean!"

Harry puffed out his chest and cleared his throat. "It's Asteria!"

"Yes!" Layla jumped out of her seat and smacked Liam on the back. "You owed me twenty."

"You made a bet on our baby girl?!"

"Yes!" She giggled despite the look on Harry's face and took the money from Liam, who seemed pretty bitter about losing. "I'm not surprised that I won though. I knew it all along that it was Asteria. I'm her Godmother after all."

"Aunt."

"Godmother. Deal with it." She gave Harry the finger and went on, "by the way, I'm calling her Teri. It's gonna be a special thing between Godmother Layla and baby Asteria, so none of you bitches is allowed to call her that."

"Did she just call dibs on our daughter?" Harry whispered to Y/N, who simply laughed and told him Layla was just kidding.

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.

Fall went as quickly as it had arrived. There was only one more day until Halloween.

Layla had gathered the whole group at the same cafe, "so Louis could briefly give us instructions about the game," she had said. But everyone knew it was only an excuse for her to open a discussion about what everyone was going to wear so no two of them would show up in the same costume, "for the group aesthetics," she reasoned.

"Niall and I will be Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday," she cheerfully said, sitting with her back straight and arms crossed on the table, as if she was really princess Ann in the movie. "That means none of you losers can be Audrey Hepburn or a princess. Except for Y/N."

"Why?" Trix pouted.

"Because she's pregnant with my Goddaughter."

"Harry and I will be Flynn Rider and Rapunzel," Y/N said and Trix was smiling again.

"Ooh! The other day I was just telling Liam that you two reminded me of Flynn Rider and Rapunzel because—"

"Um, I have a question," Harry cut her off, raising his hand. "What are Jack and Gemma doing here?"

"Harry!"

"What?" He flinched as his wife swatted at his chest and everyone was laughing.

"I'm one of the bridesmaids. Why can't I be here?" Gemma gave him a shrug, arching an eyebrow.

Jack, who was sitting next to her, spoke fast, "Layla told me to come. I have no idea what's going on."

"Well, young Johnny Depp, you are invited to my bachelorette/bachelor/Halloween party because we need an even number of players to play the Halloween game."

"Or we can just not include Gemma." Harry lifted his shoulders in a half shrug and this time it was Gemma who swatted him.

Niall suddenly leaned in and whispered in his ear, "Layla is obsessed with Gemma, so if I were you, I'd shut up before I got uninvited to the wedding."

"I can't get uninvited, I'm the best man."

"Maybe we don't need a best man," Layla said, and Harry gasped, turning to Niall.

"Sorry, mate." Niall pursed his lips unapologetically. "You've chosen Y/N over me many times before."

"You're kidding."

Y/N shushed the boys and started stroking Harry's hair, knowing it'd turn him to a quiet little puppy.

Now that peace had been restored, Louis turned to Jack and Gemma. "Okay, I'm just going to explain again. Every year back in college, we would get together on Halloween for a game of treasure hunt. Each year, we took turns being the host who would come up with clues, the prizes, and the rules of the game. This time, I will be the host. The game is pretty simple. I'll divide you into two teams, and—"

"Wait, we don't get to randomly draw out our team?"

"No, Liam. Harry would cheat again so he could be with Y/N."

"I didn't cheat!"

"Yes, you did," Layla chimed in. "Liam saw you!"

"I did." Liam confirmed. "But I shipped you two so I didn't say anything."

"See? Cheater!" Layla grumbled as Harry flashed a peace sign at her, unapologetically.

"Okay guys, let me finish and you can roast Harry later," said Louis who rolled his eyes in frustration. "So where was I? Aaaah, the teams. Yes, there will be two teams, four persons each. You will find out which team you're in tomorrow night. And I will give each team different clues, the treasure this year is the Halloween party. You find the party, you win."

"Sounds simple." Y/N leaned back in her chair, hands on her belly. "Where are we going to play the game this year?"

"I don't wanna spoil the surprise," Louis told them with a mischievous smile.

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.

.

"The cemetery?!"

Folding his arms, Louis chuckled at the way Layla's jaw fell open as she looked around the spooky graveyard. Rows of tombstones stood erect in silence, and in this starless misty night, the place looked like a sea of the dead. This could be the opening scene of a classic horror movie, in which a group of stupid people got murdered in a graveyard for playing a stupid Halloween game.

"If I'd known we would play in a cemetery, I would have dressed up as something else to match the aesthetic!" Layla huffed as she smoothed down her skirt.

"What's the point? You're gonna lose, anyway."

"Shut up, you stupid alien!" she glowered at Liam, who couldn't look more offended by the name.

"I am not an alien!" he objected, pointing to his hat. "I'm a space cowboy!"

"Guys, don't yell. Ria has ears now," Harry said as he hugged his wife from behind, hands on her tummy.

Appalled, Trix pointed to Y/N. "If you're Rapunzel then where's your wig?"

"It was itchy, so I took it off," Y/N explained as she tucked her hair behind her ear and looked down at her pink dress. "But you could still tell that I'm Rapunzel, right?"

"You look just like her," Jack said with a smile, and instinctively, Harry held his wife closer, not even giving her boss the second glance.

Jack was dressed as Jack Dawson, but Harry knew it was him who was the original Jack Dawson. In fact, he was Jack Dawson when he won the game with his wife. This wasn't a competition but Harry thought he'd already won.

"I'm Red Riding Hood," Trix said. "In case anyone's wondering."

"No, we're not wondering. You're literally wearing a red cloak, Trix."

"Layla, don't be mean to Trix," Louis spoke, turning all heads back to him.

"What are you supposed to be?" Liam asked.

"Alastor Mad-Eye Moody from Harry Potter," he said proudly and adjusted his fake eye. "Probably the coolest costume here."

"You wish," Layla spat, rolling her eyes. "No one could beat Audrey."

The group chatted for a bit while waiting for Gemma, who showed up last. She apologized for being late because she'd had to clean pumpkin guts from her car window. "Typical Halloween prank by the kids in the neighborhood," she said.

"Princess Leia!" Liam exclaimed, pointing to Gemma's space buns.

"Um, yeah." The older Styles chuckled. "Sorry, Layla. I got this costume before you said—"

"No, no, it's totally fine!" Layla shook her head quickly. "That iconic hairstyle totally suits you!"

"Wait, why do all the girls get to be princesses except for me?!"

"Don't worry, Trix," Harry said, pointing to her heart. "Every woman is a princess in here."

"Okay, can Princess Leia or the space cowboy shoot Flynn Rider right now?"

Harry extended his middle finger toward Layla and everyone dissolved in laughter.

Clearing his throat loudly, Louis got all eyes back on him and pulled out a little box from his leather satchel. The box contained eight pieces of paper, each folded in half, on which a player's name was written. "Take the one with your name," he said. "Okay, now open it. Those who see the word 'red' go to my left. Those with 'blue' go to my right."

Harry, Layla, Gemma, and Liam went to the left. Y/N, Niall, Jack, and Trix went to the right.

"Yay! We're on the same team!" Layla squealed as she saw Gemma, who gave the girl an awkward grin, not knowing why Layla was so obsessed with her.

"Harold!" Louis shouted, making Harry and Niall flinch. "Do not switch with Niall this time! I know what color you are!"

"What?! I wasn't gonna do anything!"

"Then step away from the Irish boy!"

Groaning, Harry shoved both hands in his pockets and took a few steps back, frowning at Y/N and Jack on the opposite side. Louis then handed each team another piece of paper. "This is your first clue. It will take you to the next place where the second clue is hidden. Get your cars ready and I'll see you at the party."

As soon as Louis wished them good luck and walked away, Y/N opened her team's first clue and read the riddle aloud to the other members. "There's a man with a crooked smile, his round face is scarred with a knife."

It only took her two seconds to snap her head up to look at Jack. "Jack-o'-lantern!" they said at the same time.

"That one's easy! Let's go find one."

Niall grabbed the hood of Trix's cloak before she could run off without them. "Hold your horses, Red. Every house has one of those, it's Halloween."

Jack nodded to agree. "Maybe it's not an actual Jack-o'-lantern. Louis did say'a place', didn't he?"

"Right!" Y/N exclaimed as she tugged at his sleeve. "There's a small Halloween night market for tourists called Spooky Pumpkins. It's only a five-minute drive from here."

"Great! Let's go!" Trix said as she skipped ahead, and the others quickly followed.

"They're leaving!" Layla whined, stomping her feet like an angry little girl, but nobody on her team paid attention to her.

"Help us think and we'll be able to catch up with them!" said Liam while Harry and Gemma were still analyzing the riddle.

"It's Halloween, we're all afraid. Take your time, but don't be late," Gemma read it aloud once again as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"What the hell does it mean?"

Harry shushed Liam immediately and turned to his sister. "Gem?"

"Take your time," Gemma mumbled as she scrunched up her face. "Take your time, but don't be late. Take your time...don't be—"

"A clock!" Harry snapped his fingers. "This must refer to a clock."

"How are we gonna find a clock in a cemetery, genius?"

"Not here, genius." He glowered at Liam. "Louis said this clue would take us to another place."

"So...clock...Big Ben?" Layla asked.

"No, too far from here." Gemma shook her head. "It has to be somewhere near because it's only the first clue. We have to think smaller."

"There's a vintage clock shop near here. It only takes five minutes to drive there," Liam said and the others all agreed with him.

"Come on, let's go!"

As Harry motioned everyone to follow him and walked ahead of the group, Gemma gave Layla a nudge. "This is about Jack, right?"

"Yup." Layla nodded. "He becomes a dictator when he's jealous. But hey, we can always kill him after we've won."

"I heard that!"

Laughing, she shouted back at Harry, "I wanted you to!"

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Y/N hated night markets.

She hated being surrounded by too many strangers. She hated it when someone bumped into her or stepped on her feet and didn't apologize. She hated the distinct voices and laughter as they gave her anxiety and a headache. Being at a night market on its busiest night was a Halloween nightmare coming true. It wasn't really a phobia for Y/N, but it was close, and so she didn't want to be obvious about how uncomfortable she was. She had scared Jack enough when they were stuck in a lift last year. Unfortunately, it wasn't hard to tell that something was bothering her as she was walking so close to his side, basically attached to him.

"You alright?"

"Yeah." She looked up to give him a reassuring grin and changed the subject, "don't you have other plans on Halloween night?"

"I don't even have plans on regular nights."

His answer made her snort. "I mean, working plans. I know you don't hang like the rest of us."

"You said it like it's a bad thing." He chuckled, shaking his head. "But I'm hanging with the rest of you now, aren't I?"

"Yeah, why is that, I wonder?"

"I have a soft spot for you, not gonna lie," Jack answered without thinking, and when he noticed the look on her face, he laughed it off and added, "you're like a little sister to me. That's what I meant."

"Oh? Should I take that as a compliment?" She smiled, and he gave her a shrug.

"Many people would kill to be considered my sister. You're lucky."

Y/N let out a slight laugh as she playfully pushed his shoulder. Before either of them could say anything else, Niall jumped out from nowhere and walked right in the middle. "So..." He threw an arm over Y/N's shoulders, grinning. "What were you talking about?"

Y/N was trying her best not to laugh. "Harry tell you to—"

"Guys?" Trix's voice cut her off. All three of them paused and turned around to find Trix panting as she finally kept up with them. "Shouldn't we stop and look for clues? Why do we keep on walking?"

"We are looking for clues," Y/N said. "We need to find a pumpkin-carving knife."

"Oh, that's very specific."

She immediately shot Niall a glare. "If I want sarcasm, I would rather have Harry on this team."

"Yeah. I miss that sarcastic asshole." Niall sighed.

"Hey, where is Trix?"

Jack's question got both of them to turn their heads, but Trix wasn't there anymore. It was like she had vanished into thin air.

"Trix? Where are you?!"

"Calm down, Y/N. She's probably—"

"Trix?!" Y/N ignored Jack and called louder.

"I'm here, Y/N!"

"Trix!" Y/N let go of a harsh breath and dashed toward the girl. "Where were you going?! Stay close to us, okay?"

"Look what I've found!"

Everyone jumped back when Trix pointed a knife at them.

"Woah! Be careful with that!" Niall hissed, making the girl giggle.

"Chill. I'm not gonna stab you! I'm not Layla! Look!"

Y/N was the one who stepped forward and took the knife from Trix. She peered at the shiny blade to read the tiny words written in permanent ink.

"The paper monsters under your bed, come from the lands inside your head."

Niall's eyes brightened as Y/N handed him the knife. "Our second clue!"

"Well done, Trix!" Jack said, giving Trix the thumbs up. The girl was so proud of her achievement that she couldn't stop bouncing up and down.

"I was just following the guy in the pumpkin mask with the Harry Potter scar and I asked him about the second clue."

"Okay, that was smart. Louis was dressed up as a character from Harry Potter, so it must've been a hint. But it was also dangerous to follow a guy in a mask," Y/N said as she held onto Trix's shoulder. "Do not follow guys in masks, okay? Not when it's night and you're alone. And definitely not on Halloween."

"Oh, okay." Trix batted her eyelashes and gave her an innocent smile.

"Guys, our second clue?" Niall spoke as he waved the knife to get the others' attention. "Any idea what it's trying to say?"

"Should we look under a bed?"

"I don't think 'bed' is our keyword, Trix," said Jack as he took the knife from Niall and reread the riddle a few more times. "Hmm, paper monsters from the lands inside your head..."

"How did Lou come up with these clues!" Y/N cried out, making Niall cackle.

"The dude literally makes a living from designing computer games so..."

"I used to have monsters under my bed," Trix suddenly spoke. "My mother had to read me Alice in Wonderland every night to chase the monsters away."

"Wait, that's it!" Jack's whole face lit up. "Books! We need to find the closest bookstore."

"Paper monsters from the lands inside your head!" Y/N gasped. "Why didn't I think of that? This must refer to horror fiction."

"Yup, horror or fantasy," Jack said with a small smile. "What's the closest bookstore here?"

"I know one! Let's go!" Y/N gestured with a thumb, and the rest hurriedly followed her.

.

.

.

Harry blew out his cheeks as he read the text from Niall and put his phone away. "They've solved their second clue," he told the others.

"Have you been texting with the enemy?" Layla, who was in the backseat with Liam, grumbled at him.

"It's just Niall."

"My husband and your wife are our enemies now. Stop communicating with them."

"Guys, we're here," Gemma announced as she parked the car on the side of the road, in front of their first stop.

The clock shop was so small it blended right in with the rest of the street, probably the reason Harry had driven by it plenty of times yet he had never once noticed it before. He was the first to enter, and the rest followed him in a line because the door wasn't big enough for them to walk through at once.

The place had that spooky charm, it was dull and quiet, no other sound but the chaotic ticking of the clocks. It was exactly how Harry imagined inside a madhouse would sound like.

"Hi, may I help you?" an old lady greeted them at the entrance. In this terrible lightning of the place, her teeth looked yellow and crooked and her face was as pale as a corpse. Layla and Liam were quick to hide behind the Styles and let them do all the talking.

"Hi ma'am..." Harry stepped up to shake her hand. "This may sound stupid but...we're playing this game and we have to solve riddles to—"

"Are you friends with the short skinny boy Lewis?"

"Louis."

"Yes." The lady smiled and adjusted her small glasses. "I love that boy, he comes over to keep me company whenever he's free. Who knew his friends were also such beautiful people. You, young man, look just like a prince."

"Thanks, ma'am." Harry chuckled nervously as she pinched his cheeks. "D-do you mind if we...um...look around?"

"Not at all, dear. Go ahead," said the old lady.

The four of them split to search for their next clues. They checked every corner of the store, and the lady let them do whatever they wanted and take as much time as they needed. When Layla found the piece of paper attached to one of the clocks, the old woman had already fallen asleep in her rocking chair.

"The witch has got a brand new nose, look where she would keep her clothes."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "A witch? Does any of you happen to know a witch?"

"Or someone with a brand new nose," Liam chuckled.

"And a lot of clothes..." Gemma said.

And all three of them turned to look at Layla, whose mouth fell open. "What?! I'm not the witch!"

Liam immediately took a step back to keep a safe distance from Layla before he said, "you got a nose job last year and you'd rather die than be seen wearing the same dress twice. So, yeah..."

"Do you guys call me a witch when I'm not around?"

"Yes."

Layla shot Harry a death glare and his mouth immediately snapped shut.

"Do you live near here?" Gemma asked, and Layla shook her head. "Then it can't be Layla. We don't have much time until midnight so these places must be close to each other."

"Layla's shop is just two blocks away," Harry said as he rolled up his sleeves. "I don't think the clue refers to her closet, because Louis couldn't have broken into her house and hidden stuff in her closet, right? It must be her clothing shop."

"Fuck!" Layla suddenly raised her voice and had to double-check if she'd woken up the lady. Turning back to them, she whispered, "yesterday he told me he was there to buy clothes for his sisters! That sneaky son of a bitch!"

"Okay, that's it! That's our next clue!" Harry said as he checked the time on one of the clocks. "Let's go! If we don't hurry up, Jack will win!"

"Did he say 'Jack' instead of 'they'?" Liam asked, watching Harry bolt to the entrance without waiting for anyone.

"Yup, get used to it," Gemma and Layla said at the same time.

.

.

.

Y/N had been to this bookstore twice with Harry. It wasn't so far from where they used to live back in college. Coming here tonight, she was expecting to see the old lady who always gave her discounts because she adored Y/N and Harry's relationship, but sadly, the lady wasn't there anymore. Instead, they met a young man who looked like he could still be a student.

"Sorry, we're closed," he said, about to turn off the last light when Jack stepped in anyway.

"It says 'open until midnight'." Jack pointed to the chalkboard by the entrance, but the employee gave him a shrug.

"Well, I've got only two employees, very lazy ones, and they didn't even bother to show up tonight."

"Wait, you're the owner of the store?" Trix asked.

"Why's it a surprise?"

"You look like a teenager..."

"Trix," Y/N warned her friend before turning back to the angry man, looking at his name tag. "Eddie, can we just look around for a minute? Um...it's kind of important. Please?"

Eddie seemed reluctant as he eyed them up and eventually drew in a long breath. "Fine. Only because you're polite."

Y/N happily thanked Eddie and followed him into the store. As he turned all the lights back on, Jack and Y/N hurried to the fantasy section while Niall and Trix went to the horror section. Dust collected everywhere as far as they could see. Jack and Y/N had to cover their noses and mouths as they looked through the dirtied shelves and stands.

"How can you work in a place like this?" Y/N asked, glancing at Eddie, who was watching them with his arms dangling at his sides.

"Well, I don't have a choice. It's family business." He hung his head and mumbled, "if only I'd stayed in college..."

"There's a book called 'I have sex with an alien'?" Jack said, making Y/N laugh as she took it and checked the front and back cover.

"I think one of my two employees hid it at the back so no one could see and buy it," Eddie said as he rolled his eyes. "Anyway, do whatever you want, I need to make a phone call."

When he was gone, Jack immediately turned to Y/N. "I would really love to meet those girls," he whispered, and Y/N nodded.

"Me too."

"Hey, guys!"

"Jesus, Niall!" Y/N smacked Niall with the book, causing him to jump away. "Stop doing that!"

"Sorry!" Niall rubbed the sore spot on his arms, his face contorted. "I just wanted to say Trix and I found the clue."

"Where?!"

Trix showed up, holding a book and an iPhone 5. "We found these on the top shelf."

"The Haunting Of Hill House," Y/N read the title before looking up and beaming at her friends. "Good job, guys! We're so gonna win!"

"Well, what's on the phone?" Jack asked, and Niall gave him a half shrug.

"Don't know. It requires a passcode to unlock."

"Wait, there's a bookmark." Y/N ranked her fingers through her hair, tucked it behind her ear and then opened the book to where it was marked. On the page was a highlighted sentence that said, 'Journey ends in lovers meeting.'

"That's Shakespeare," Jack pointed out.

"Maybe Shakespeare is the passcode."

"No, it's numbers, Trix." Niall exhaled as he rubbed his chin. "Try Shakespeare's birthday or death day."

Y/N was about to pull out her phone to go on Google, but Jack already entered those numbers.

"No, it's not it," he said, shaking his head and looked up to find the other three gawking at him.

"You know Shakespeare's birthday and death day?" Y/N questioned with her eyes wide.

With a cheeky grin, he smirked. "Well, don't you?"

"Please marry me," Trix blurted, and Jack's startled reaction to her 'proposal' sent both Y/N and Niall into hysterics.

Meanwhile, the other team had just found their third clue in one of the coats in Layla's store.

"Well done, Liam!" Gemma said as she unfolded the piece of paper and read the riddle aloud, "There's a princess in disguise. To find your next clue, just follow the light."

"A princess in disguise?" Gemma raised an eyebrow at Layla. "That's you, right? Princess Anne was in disguise so she could walk around Rome freely."

"It can't be Layla twice. The host is Louis, not Niall," Harry commented, making Layla roll her eyes.

"If Niall was the host, I'd be the princess and Louis would be the witch," she grumbled with her arms crossed over her chest. "Well? If the princess in disguise isn't me then who?"

"Who else could be the princess?"

"Gemma."

"A princess but not in disguise," Gemma corrected Liam.

"Princess Leia was disguised as Boush once."

"I'm not wearing a Boush costume, aren't I?"

As the two continued to argue over Star Wars facts, Harry was still mumbling to riddle and trying to solve it on his own. "Follow the light..." He pinched his bottom lip, chewing on the inside of his cheek. "The light...I see the light...and at last, I see the light! Yes!"

Everyone looked at him as he punched the air. "Tangled! It's Tangled! The princess is Rapunzel!"

"Y/N?!" Gemma smacked her forehead.

"Yes!" Harry exclaimed, his eyes sparkled with joy. "My wife is the motherfucking princess in disguise. She is our clue!"

"But she's on the other team," Liam said, shaking his head.

Layla thought for a moment before she raised a finger. "Maybe Louis wants us to meet."

"Yes! We have to go now! Let's go!" Harry was about to run toward the entrance when Gemma grabbed him by the arm, pulling him back to them. "Not so fast, Eugene. We don't know where she is."

"Oh, shit! You're right!" he said and pulled out his phone. "I'll text her."

Gemma gave him a nod to approve. "But don't tell her she's the next clue. Not until we get there."

.

.

.

"Harry just asked me where we are."

"Why are you texting with the enemy?" Niall asked when she showed them the message. Jack, on the other hand, straightened at once.

"Journey ends in lovers meeting." He stared at Y/N intensely. "That's it. You're supposed to meet Harry again and Niall is supposed to meet Layla. That's how this game ends. We're supposed to meet the other team."

"Maybe Harry got a similar clue and he knows we have to meet," Niall said.

Trix gave a slight shrug. "Or he just misses her."

"No, Harry's very competitive," Y/N said, shaking her head. "Jack's right. He wants something from us. Should I let him know we're here?"

"Do it," Jack said and stepped closer to watch her type down the message. "But don't let him know anything about our clue. Wait until they get here."

.

.

.

"When did this place become the tourist attraction?!" Eddie cried out as he watched another group barge into his bookstore.

Harry walked straight toward his wife and gave her a hug. And when Eddie saw him, his eyes went wide. "Hey, has anyone told you that you look like—"

"We don't have time for meet and greet!" Niall interrupted the man and pulled Harry and Y/N apart, pointing a finger to his best friend's face. "No touching until you tell us why you're here."

"He's right. Show us your clue."

"Wow, so this is how it's gonna be, huh?" Harry chuckled as his wife extended her hand toward him, palm up.

"We're still playing the game. Hand me your clue," she demanded.

Harry shoved his hand into his pocket, but Layla stopped him right away, pulling him to the side by his elbow. "Show me yours first," she said, her nose stuck up.

"Guys, I don't know what this is about, but you have one hour until midnight," said Eddie, who patiently checked his watch and blew out his cheeks.

Given no other choice, Y/N pulled out the phone. "We found a phone which requires a passcode. And the clue is a Shakespeare's quote: 'Journey ends in lovers meeting.'"

"Can I have it?" Harry asked and Y/N handed him the device. Everyone went silent as they waited for him to enter the passcode.

"It worked!" He cheered, raising a fist. "I'm in!"

"It worked?!" Layla slapped a hand over her mouth as Niall jumped in joy.

"Holy shit! What?! What's the passcode?"

"Y/N's birthday." Harry grinned at his wife. "Our clue was a princess in disguise and it told us to follow the light."

"Ha. I see the light. Classic." Y/N giggled and pulled Harry's head down to kiss him on the cheek. "My husband is so smart."

"Skip the sentimental bits. We don't have much time left." Layla smacked Harry on the arm, causing him to hiss and jump away. Stealing stole the phone from her brother, Gemma quickly went through the few apps on the home screen.

"Okay. The photo roll is empty. Messages. Empty. Notes. Empty."

"Try recording," Layla spoke, and Gemma tapped on the recording app.

"There's one recording!"

"Yes, wife!" Niall wrapped his arms around Layla and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "You're the best!"

"Is this the 'I love my wife' club now? Can the rest of us leave?" Liam joked, making everyone laugh as Layla shot him a death glare.

Gemma immediately shushed them all so she could play the recording. The first few seconds were nothing but silence, but then they heard Louis' voice. He said, "you're almost there, just look for white. Enter the room and claim your prize."

And it ended.

"That was it?" Layla scoffed as she exchanged looks with Y/N. "Look for white?!"

"Yes, that's the keyword," Gemma breathed. "White. What does the color white remind you of?"

"Snow?"

"It's Halloween, not Christmas, Liam!"

"You haven't watched The Nightmare Before Christmas, haven't ya?" Eddie spoke and Layla yelled at him to stay out of this.

While everyone was arguing with each other, Y/N subtly pulled Niall aside and whispered to him, "go get your car and wait for us outside."

Though confused, Niall trusted Y/N, so he didn't question her and just snuck out when nobody wasn't looking.

"White, hmm..." Layla trailed off as she shuffled her feet, one arm folded, the other rubbing her chin. "Treasure?"

"Treasure?" Harry chortled. "Our cat?"

"Yup."

Liam and Trix snickered at her answer, but Gemma and Jack were poker-faced.

"No, Layla's got a point," Jack said. "Louis did say the treasure is the party."

"Shit!" Harry cried out, holding his head. "Treasure is with Nam and Nam told me he'd taken tonight off to be with Ben. Treasure is at Ben's place! That's where the party is!"

Gemma groaned as she stomped her foot. "Why didn't I think of that? He gave us the final clue right from the beginning!"

Harry's team hadn't had time to react to the big discovery when his wife and her team shot right through the door. Niall's car was waiting outside, and they drove away in a matter of seconds. It took the others a moment to realize what was happening and all of them dashed off, not accepting defeat.

As the door fell shut in front of his eyes, Eddie was frozen, completely flabbergasted. He needed a minute to process everything and quickly pulled out his phone to make a call.

"Mum? Can you pick me up? I think I just met a cult."

.

.

.

"If we lose because we couldn't find a parking spot, I'd be so pissed," Layla panted as she chased after the others into the building right when Y/N's team was heading toward the lift. The two sides only shared one hostile look as the door opened, and the old lady in the lift was horrified when they all ran toward her. Harry was much faster. He almost got there when he heard Niall shouted, "stop! You're hurting Y/N!" which stopped him immediately.

"Which one of you fucking pushed her—"

"Sucker!" Niall pushed Harry aside, took Y/N's hand and pulled her into the lift with Jack and Trix. It took Harry nearly a second to realize he'd been fooled, but by the time he and the others got to the lift, it had gone to the next floor.

"We can just press the emergency button to stop it!" Liam said, looking frantically from left to right. "Is there one out here?!"

"Don't be fucking crazy. Y/N is afraid of small spaces!" Harry glowered at Liam as he crossed his arms and took a deep breath.

"Now what?" Gemma asked.

"Well, now we...wait for the lift."

.

.

.

"Niall James Horan!" was the first thing Layla shouted when she burst through the door into Ben's flat. She stormed right past the party guests who were clapping for her and grabbed Niall by the arm. "I'm gonna fucking kill you!"

All eyes followed Niall as he was dragged away, until Louis got up on a table and screamed, "party!" And everyone was cheering again.

"Let's hope they won't break up before the wedding," Trix said, but Liam only laughed.

"The only thing that they'll break tonight is a bed."

"Ew, gross!" Gemma cringed, pushing him away.

"Hey, there's a bar!" Jack exclaimed, making Gemma squeal in elation.

"Wanna get a drink?" she asked.

"Yes, please." He tossed his head back and sighed in relief.

The music was earsplittingly loud. Neon lights flashed everywhere like police sirens, but much more colorful. Harry guessed Ben wasn't kidding when he said he'd go all out with parties. Pushing his way through a room full of people, Harry finally got to where his wife was sitting with Ben and Nam on the couch. Treasure was lying on her lap. The cat was wearing a party hat that said 'I am the Treasure.'

"Punny." Harry chuckled, shaking his head.

When Y/N looked up and saw him, she was overjoyed. She handed the cat to Ben and got to her feet to give him a passionate kiss.

"I'm sorry you lost, baby," she said, nudging his nose with her own as she held his face.

He secured his arms around her waist, smiling against her lips. "Liar, you're not sorry."

"No, I'm so not," she admitted, kissing him. Again, and again, and again...

It was an exciting night, a great party, but it was over too soon for the married couple. They had decided to leave early because they feared loud music would affect their baby girl. The others were way too tipsy to see them sneak out, anyway. Layla and Niall were dancing on the table, apparently enjoying their last night before being married. Liam and Louis were hitting on some girls while Gemma and Jack were karaoke-ing with Nam and Ben. What a beautiful ending for the longest night ever, Harry thought.

"I can't believe the prize was 'friendship'! The only thing this game did was tear us apart!" Harry grumbled as he carried the cat to the lift and pressed the down button. "Baby?"

Turning back, he found Y/N standing still and staring at the door to their old flat. "I miss it, H," she said, smiling at him.

"Yeah, so do I..." He walked over to where she stood, sucking in a breath. "It's been so long."

"I wonder who lives here now."

"Wanna find out?"

"Wait!" She grabbed his wrist before he could ring the doorbell. "We could just ask Ben!"

"What's the fun in that?" Harry said and pressed the doorbell, anyway.

"What the hell, Harry?! We don't know them!"

"Relax, babe. We can just say we got the wrong flat number."

Harry had just finished the sentence, and the door creaked open. The first thing they saw was a face as white as a sheet. They both screamed, causing 'the face' to scream, and the two of them screamed again as they sprinted to the lift the second it arrived.

Breath busting in and out, the woman peeled off her sheet mask and cursed at the crazy couple now that they were gone.

"Aunt Lynn? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. It was just some Halloween pranksters," she said to the person on the phone. "Anyway, tell your boyfriend I said hi."

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.

*Ending explanation for those who don’t read My Girl*: The woman who’s living in the flatmate babies’ old flat is also a character from My Girl - The MC’s aunt. :)