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villainsandvictimsalliance · 2 years

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What is a smile to a war? : bnha 367

Have you ever wanted to die? Wish for the world to end? Have you ever lose yourself for a couple of minutes and felt like you wanted something really bad to happen to yourself or everybody else?

Has someone ever made you laugh in one of those cases— and just by that you realized how much you didn't want any of it to happen?

You were just upset.

Hold this concept in your mind, would you? Because the heart of the pro-hero thesis of bnha is that a hero not only saves your body or gets rid of the villains threatening you— they also save you from yourself sometimes, from the darkness within you; they prevent future tragedies with the force of their kindness.

Kid Deku watching a video of All Might's debut:

And he's smiling!! Mom... no matter what kind of trouble you're in... he'll save you with a smile.

⠀When we were first introduced to Deku and his admiration for All Might, the one thing the story made emphasis on was All Might's smile. Why?

Because if you're afraid and you see the person rescuing you smile, you relax, it makes you feel better, it tones down your fear and anxiety.

It gives you hope.

I won't be able to put all the panels I wish I could show you to support this meta, so I'll rely on your good memory about the manga, okay?

⠀

During the Hero License arc, we learnt that being a hero is much more than just knowing how to fight. We already knew part of it from All Might's first session (take care of the situation with the minimum amount of damage to both the property and the people surrounding the fight).

We learnt that the way a hero saves a person matters. Their words, their attitude, how they carry themselves and how they approach the victims and situations, it all matters.

With Bakugou and Todoroki we learn that the job of a hero also implies daily services, like helping kids and guiding others, stuff Iida Tensei (former pro-hero Ingenium) used to do.

That's an idea that finds its development along many arcs, the maximum point being after the War arc, with Ochako's speech. When heroes were giving up, she reminded them it was not only about defeating the greater evil, but also about wanting to see everybody smile together again.

It is an echo of Nighteye lessons to Deku and Mirio, of course. An echo we see in bnha 367:

A world without smiles or honor... has no... bright future.

⠀As you know, my thesis is based on the idea that the major problem with the hero society was how they forgot what a real hero was, but not because everything was exclusively monetized (it was still part of the problem, I gotta admit). No, the major issue was exposed by Tomura Shigaraki in his first speech in front of the UA staff and students:

Violence became comfortable for the bnha world, mundane even, to the point heroes stop trying to find the root of the problems so they could treat it and the civilians stop trying to help because they thought it was the heroes jobs, not theirs. Serious issues were getting overlooked, the system was getting corrupted and the effort of the heroes was shallow, superficial, even if well-meant.

Tomura/Tenko in his thoughts:

Everyone just passed by, pretending not to see, thinking that some hero would save the day. Who decided to make the world this way?

AFO "rescuing" Tenko, kneeling down to hug him:

You'll be okay now... I am here.

⠀Let's take Nana Shimura as an example; she was a great hero, we all know, the one who trained Toshinori and taught him that the people who smiled when they were afraid were the strongest. However, she was not perfect and she shouldn't be regarded as such. She failed her son and her family, something Kotaro was right about.

Can a hero talk about justice if they sacrifice their families to save others? Why some lives matter more than others? Why are heroes allowed to decide who lives and who dies, instead of helping everyone they can equally in the measure of their context?

Bnha narration:

People... are not born equal.

What is a smile to a war?

You could ask what is the sacrifice of a kid for the safety of the world, right? A life for the safety of the entire planet?

For Endeavor, what were his children and his family for the glory of his name and the glory of the hero industry, for example?

What is Tomura to AFO? Toga to the media?

What is Deku —a quirkless kid— to an entire society of people with quirks and cool abilities?

⠀

We learned it through Kota in the Summer Camp arc and with Eri in the Overhaul arc. Both kids. One of them was a direct victim like Tomura of the hero society, the child of a broken family who had many reasons to hate what pro-heroes were; the other was a kid victim of the discrimination of quirks, a baby abandoned by her mother and used by criminal organizations for power and gain, just exactly what AFO did to Tenko/Tomura.

Deku could save Kota and Eri because he individually cared about them. No one told him there was a problem, he was actively looking. The same with Bakugo at the beginning, Deku didn't need a reason or a command, he didn't need the title or the suit, not even the quirk. He was doing the right thing.

Deku helped Kota because Kota was upset and he wanted to change that. He payed attention to Eri because she was crying. Same reason he found his way to help Bakugo, Todoroki and Iida.

What are they to Deku's journey of defeating AFO? Nothing. And everything.

Tomura talking to Doc Garaki and the LOV:

Every living, breathing thing just rubs me the wrong way. That weight in my heart is never gonna go away. So why not destroy it all?

⠀During his fight with Endeavor, AFO asked Hawks what was evil, what could be categorized as "wrong", why everybody got so easily offended. Then revealed that his main motivation of being a villain was because he wanted to make everyone bitter, everyone, inspired on those comic books villains.

In a way, it means "I am bad, everybody's bad too"

On the other hand, Tomura's motivation to destroy it all comes for the trauma of not being rescued. Why? Didn't he deserve it? Why people wouldn't help him? Isn't it because he must play the part of a villain?

Tenko asked his mother why his father hated him. Tomara also asked the UA staff what was the difference between villains and heroes using violence, the same way Toga asked Uraraka why people wouldn't help or save them (the villains).

There is real inequality in bnha: you have people like Spinner, Shinso, Hawks, Toga, Deku, Aoyama, Dabi, Tomura, Shouto, Hatsume, Aizawa... The list keeps on growing.

There are differences. Preferences even.

If you're a pretty metahuman to be used by the hero commission or a filthy "mutant" with a weak quirk, if you have a spooky quirk or a "villain" quirk, if you're quirkless or your quirk is not flashy enough or powerful enough, if you look creepy or are not "hero material", if you are hero material even if you don't want to be one...

Inequality. Discrimination. Society prescriptions.

AFO almost won, he almost made everyone mad and bitter, including Deku in bnha 367.

⠀

Go read what Nighteye told Mirio again.

The fight against AFO (and what he represents) isn't a fight of just weapons. It was a fight with the hero society itself.

Their indifference, their apathy, their prejudices...

A smile matters in a war because why the fuck would you fight for if the only thing your gonna leave behind is a bunch of broken people who wish they were dead.

Why would you rescue Eri if you're not going to fight everyday with her trauma so that she can be happy? Why would you leave Kota to live in pain and anger without his parents when you can make his life full of light again?

What about the Cultural Festival arc?

Or rescuing Deku from his suicidal mission?

Going for Bakugo and Iida and fighting for Shouto to melt his heart??? Shouto going for Dabi???

This is why what Hawks did to Twice was wrong, because he forgot the principle of a hero:

Every lives matter.

Every smile matters.

The reason Tomura doesn't see a future is 'cause no one has ever showed him otherwise. No one saved him back then and no one has saved him (yet) in 20 years. No one told him he deserved to live and be happy, no one ever stopped and tried to make him smile or laugh or ask him if he had friends or if he liked dogs.

AFO killed Tenko the day he put those hands on him and has been dragging his body around in a parade— and even when Tomura was screaming about pain and injustice and screaming about the problem of the hero society, no one listened to him, no one tried ro reach him.

Dead.

Except Deku sees him.

⠀

Every moment of the manga, every mission and arc, every panel and interaction, it has brought us here: to Deku asking AFO if Tenko/Tomura is still in there.

What is Tenko's smile to the bnha war?

Maybe the end of it. Maybe the defeat of AFO. You have a wounded animal that will try to attack you because it's in pain. Here are your options: you can kill every wounded animal you encounter or you can go search for the cause of their pain and treat it, so the next generations won't arrive at your door full of desperation and rage.

Everyone can be a hero, because everyone can do the right thing, everyone can make others smile, everyone can save someone one day just by telling a joke or being gentle.

⠀

A smile can prevent a war.

Which is more powerful than any weapon which could stop at war.

In summary, bnha is about a society ruled by violence and miscommunication learning that if they don't reach for each other, if they don't try to understand, if their only solution is to erase what make them uncomfortable... they're doomed to dissappear.

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richardsphere · 28 days

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Leverage Redemption Log: The Big Rig Job

Easter Weekend is over, time for myself lets continue. Big rig is US slang for one of those long-distance deliverytrucks right? --- Christmas tune on a truckstop. Its a christmass special i guess. (and here i was hoping for a break from the horrors of Christianity) Girlboss Tiktok Influencer... Ravi is fired. --- Yup, fuck the US Trucking industry, (i saw a John Oliver piece, this is all realistic, or at least it will be until the 3rd act twist that actually, the company is using the trucks to smuggle drugs/art/stolen goods)

huh, little note of implication that Parker has been visiting Hardisons family for christmass during the timeskip. (makes sense, but makes me worried about the whole "archie acknowledging Parker to his bio-daughter" thing in the last season of the OG series and how that ended up long-term)

Scrooge comparison. New Rule: When you are a long-running TV show, you are only allowed to use a given Christmass Special Reference once. You are allowed to repeat it over the course of the given episode but when you've made it you've burned it. I am sick of having every other season make a Grinch reference as a cheap "its christmass" indication. (Note: References to Scrooge are considered seperate from actual parodies of A Christmass Caroll for this rule, making a cheap reference in season 1 does not cost you the right to do a parody episode in season 5.) I will include into this a rule that your counters are all reset if you produce a single non-christian, Non-halloween special.

Sophie, we all know you are not going on holiday. Let Harry be realistic and pragmatic and return the darn board. (if a miracle happens and he gets to go anyway, the skiclub probably has a rental shack)

Huh, Elliot has been attending Nana's parties as well, thats nice. (If the prospect of Nana's family dinner becomes a running gag, i hope we hear just 1 reference to Mason settling into said fosterfamily)

Cheap gag that Parker doesnt know how to de-stilt herself. (come on, dont make us laugh. this is not a problem for her) --- Its Three Days Till Crimesmash, and we're getting jobs at the truck loading center. Luke has bodyguards, Paige has a floor safe. (not a clue yet as to what might be in there.) Correction: Paige is not an influencer, she's a wannabe.

The office has a coded lock on it. Sophie has to learn actual radio operator stuff.

Paige is drop-shipping a bunch of handbags. "i have worked verry hard to make us look good on paper", they're comitting fraud, and they're selling the place. (which would be good news, except that the company they're selling to is one of those Vulture Companies) This also means we now know whats in the floorsafe: The real non-forged documentation. (serious question btw, if you're engaging in fraud, why keep the legitimate documents? What is the point of forging a will if you dont throw the real one in the fireplace) --- Parker's tree has harnessed the power of the sun. Harry has limited good news: There is grounds for a class action suit. (bad news: They'll have sold by then). Goal: Get YDN to not buy then sue.

Harry has done some digging: The trucks are paid off in full. Ravi does legally own his truck. --- One botnet and one Sophie later and we've got permission to bring cameras to the active crimescene. Because Paige is an idiot. (on a related note, Sophie's colleague is observant and verry worried about what might happen if Sophie slacks off. This seems like the third act twist isnt "we're smuggling weapons" but Sophie leaves post and a trucker almost dies.) Meanwhile its time for Breanna and Elliot to have some fun, (by which i mean vandalism)

Im Jamie, this is Jamie, we've heard all the jokes. (great, both as a joke and to sell the "we're real people who have lives outside of you" by pre-empting the opening you deliberately made)

Breanna clones the Ipad and we're off to the races.

"he always wanted to do lame things, like deliver toys to orphans"... And we've kidnapped Paige. --- Screwdriver, oilslick. Elliot is playing this like a Hitman Level. Breanna just smugly whiping the "89 days since an accident" sign.

Turns out, Elliot (or at least his alter ego) is not forklift certified (someone call Your Fave Is Forklift Certified) Unfortunately, Elliot and Breanna are too good at making Luke look bad and this destroys Parkers safecracking window.

--- Parker manages to steal the safe just in time before the inspector comes into the office. YDN is out (also it seems that their father was such a good person even the vultures respected him)

And as we leave we have succesfully divided. (and unfortunately not conquered, there is always another vulture and also we're like 20 minutes into the episode) Luke is faced by his two thugs. "Big Jim" is not gonna be happy (they're in deep to the mob?) --- One Day Till Christmass, Sophie is still in denial. (also i was right they are smuggling.)

Breanna suspects the thugs might be involved.

Jamie and Jamie are back and putting the camera in Thug and Thugly's faces (Which means Breanna is probably running face ID) Reframing their deliberately engineered humiliation as the start of a Rags To Riches fantasy. Good one.

And Elliot is planting the seeds of paranoia (honestly strange Elliot didnt get fired by Luke yesterday) The farm upstate, its always the farm upstate. --- Janice has abandoned Sophie to check out a christmass present in the loading docks.

Good news: Sophie has found a potential new person to be "in charge" after they oust Luke and Paige. Bad news: They left dispatch unatended and I wouldnt be suprised to find out a truck just crashed. Ah right, the dads name is Nick, like Santa. How could i take this long to notice. (In hindsight Elliot said as much, but i thought he was just making fun of the beard) --- We're back with Harry and Parker, and Paige's open willingness to confess to her crimes on camera to what she believes to be a nationwide audience.

Luke has a gambling problem (he loves the horses about as much as Paige loves the bags). Im almost a bit sorry for Paige. Guns are in the crate that the toys are in.

Elliot gives a goon a crowbar just so he can make the goon hit himself with the crowbar.

guns are in the toytruck (I dont really care? He's not delivering the guns he's moving them away from the cameras. These guns are not gonna be used and while toys for orphans are good they're a cherry on the cake)

Breanna is in the truck (ok i care about that) --- Turns out he is delivering the guns. Sophie tells Janice whats been happening (wait, why are you English? 8.75/10)

Oh she's using the handbags to smuggle the guns? Clever girl. --- Paige threatens to tattle on the thugs (and it seems to work)

I'll be honest, this jump seems more like a Parker thing then an Elliot thing. But i think its just a case that Parker could not believably fail this jump (jumping off stuff is sort of her specialty) so she's been chained to a driverseat to make an excuse for the scene to have some tension.

Two guns in a luxury sedan vs Elliot in a big rig truck. This is just not a fair fight. Wait elliots truck has SPIKES ON THE WHEELS? WHY DOES THE CHRISMTAS TRUCKS HAVE SPIKES ON THE WHEELS? --- Back from commercials, Elliot puts a half-unconcious Luke in the driver seat and calls the cops Meanwhile Breanna finds a childrens chemistry set in the christmas presents (like stealing candy from a gun-smuggling baby) Paige doesnt even get to be present for the big bust (turns out, using a Personal Brand to smuggle guns is kind of incriminating) --- Final Denoement ensues, handing presents out of of the back of the truck. (but seriously, why does the truck have wheelspikes? They didnt even matter to the chasescene choreography but it had WHEELSPIKES? Why does the Santamobile have James Bond Villain-car features?)

#leverage #leverage redemption #leverage redemption season 1 #the big rig job

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thatgayonejd · 2 years

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Another Headcannons list cause I'm bored and this is fun!

When Garroth got stabbed with a poisoned tipped knife (yes, this happens in the rewrite), Aphmau is beside herself and very worried that he was going to die. She snuck out of the village in order to go grab the herb from the Werewolves

Gene was originally going to meet up with Aphmau in the rewrite like he does in the Cannon Aphmau Rewrite (The C.A.R), but I couldn't figure out how to weave that into the story, so Gene was booted

Vlyad has been watching Aphmau for a while. Not like in a creepy way, more of 'Ayo that witch that sent you here sent me here too'

Kawaii-Chans name is now Nana because God what was Aphmau thinking naming someone cute-chan?? Her full name is Nana Yamamoto

Boldolfs wife is now Elven cause I said so and we need more representation in this story for other mythical creatures

Travis is trans and you will not be able to change my mind.

Laurence is a dragon halfling and will 100% sleep in trees for no reason.

Nana makes most of the clothing for Phoenix drop because not only is she a great baker, she's also an amazing seamstress

Nana also lives in Phoenix Drop at the beginning of the story instead of Aphmau meeting her in the woods

Also she doesn't talk in third person anymore because that was also stupid??

Nana's 'Little maids' are all dogs now that help her out

Laurence will often chew on his wings

It's like a serious problem but it doesn't hurt him so Cadenza usually let's him chew away

Donna is a half orc and her skin is like a light blue

Aphmau will sometimes say things that sound way too smart for a 'normal country bumpkin gal' and nobody says anything about it. Like, she'll talk about how the stars are in alignment or some shit and how they should travel to a place during that time as that's the safest time to travel and people are just like 'lmao okay smartass' and just... Dosent ask??

When Garroth finds out Aphmau is a princess he legit was surprised?? Like, sir, she's hinted at it multiple times and you're still surprised?! You were a friggen prince my dude.

Laurence is also surprised??? She literally saw you the first day and told you your style was wack because nothing matched and you still didn't know??

Donna is a bit warmer than everyone else, and by that i mean she's a literal fucking heater

The bathtub Aphmau wakes up in is from Meteli lol

When Nana is happy she fucking purrs.

Aphmau has a bunch of siblings that are inconsequential to the story but she remembers them all anyways because she loves them

Dales gonna be a bit of an ass the first time Aphmau meets him, but he'll get better later on.

#aphmau #aphmau minecraft diaries #minecraft diares rewrite #laurence zvhal #garroth ro'meave #aphblr #minecraft diaries

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theonceandfuturekingofalbion · 1 year

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TEEN WOLF HEADCANON TIMELINE

Hitlers family was patriarchy hunter fam.

Hitler had illegit bebe (gerard) w french woman who was an argent during? End of? War

Gerard resented women being in charge over him.

Chris not vicious/bloodthirsty and brown haired.

Kate vicious/bloodthirsty n easily manipulated by daddy n blonde/blue eyed.

Didnt have much to do w allison cuz coloring and didnt display his desired vicious traits.

But was easily manipulated later so worthy of some time n attention when he had no kate.

Gerard molested kate, turned her to pedo, groomed her

---

Talia--born 1960

Deaton--born 1963

Marin-- born 1975 (12 yrs after deaton)

---

Phoenixend--

I was thinking about your post with human papa Hale/Talia and it turned into a hc about them being the prototype sterek with Talia being this serious, regal alpha-in-the-making and this clumsy disaster of a human boy who's just a big ol' simp and was like "yeah I'm gonna marry that woman and take HER last name" idk i just had to share because your posts make my day

Ohheytherebigbadwolf--

That is my exact hc for them XD Like, Derek takes after his mom in more than just looks, aight?

Papa Hale wasn't even human-but-slightly-to-the-left like Lydia or questionably magical like Stiles, he was literally just Some Dude. Considering the decade in which he and Talia met, he was probably a stoner who was too blazed to be bothered by his gf turning furry. First time he saw her shift, he was just like, "Neato!" And Talia immediately went, "This one and no other."

Cue Nana Hale's well-meant parental despair like, "You're turning down eight suitors from established packs for that?!" Like, no, mom, you don't understand, he said my beta shift was neat and called my eyes pretty, and he thinks it's cool I can pick him up, I want this one.

Obvi, he quit smoking once Laura happened, but even then, he's just Chill. He vibes with the weird. He's like Gomez Addams. His wife is the most awesome wonderful fantastic woman ever and the greatest Alpha and the bestest mom, and his kids are just as incredible as she is, I love them so much, wanna see pictures?

---

NEMETON: northern California, Greenland, western Europe, Egypt (or Sudan), China, and Siberia in 6x16 map. Greenland, northern Africa, Toulouse in France, Zhengzhou in China, Logashkino in Siberia, and Brasília in Brazil.

NEMETON--Mikaelsons tree was also nemeton

Nemeton--both deaton and alex argent cut Nemeton down for money and power

Talia's dad fought Alexander at Nemeton n bit but died, making Talia alpha, leading to Deaton able to convince her that if Nemeton was healthy n not corrupted the hunter wouldn't have gotten that far

Alexander argent bitten May 3, 1977

NEMETON--Nemeton a branch of world tree

According to Chris Argent, a Nemeton is a sacred space used by Druids for various rituals.

He says druids picked a large, older tree in a grove to represent the center of the world.

Many believed that cutting or harming the "world tree" would bring severe problems like fires, plagues, strife, “death and destruction of all kinds” to surrounding villages. (Visionary)

Druid Emissary Alan Deaton explains that the power of the Nemeton is like a magnet that draws supernatural creatures to itself like a beacon. (Alpha Pact)

WOLF--Wolves connected to world trees per spellwork from beginning to allow werewolf and not just wolf

WOLF--Full shift wolf is sign of punishment. Spell allowing human shift removed. Most cases.

WOLF--Will eventually lead to all wolf all the time if issues not corrected

WOLF--Wolfs must protect nemeton

NEMETON--Nemton murdered when cut down

NEMETON--Spirit of murdered nemeton is The Hollow. Needs to be moved sometimes. Requires symbolic sacrifice.

NEMETON: the tree should have grown back. It was deliberately NOT ALLOWED to over the years as we see example of when sprout is snatched on screen

---

What if Weres also came about because some ppl were closer to their spirit animals more than others and they eventually got so good at connecting that they took on traits?

As generations happened, it was typical for similar spirit-bondeds to become partners/spouses/whatev AND each generation the newest youngsters took the basics from the previous generations and added to it. Expounded upon it until eventually it became a part of their genetics? Like evolution, sorta??

---

Moms carry higher percentage likelihood gonna be born a were than dads do. Like 75 to men's 50? Ish?

---

Laura--born 1984

---

Jackson's parents run off road by hunters?

He was human kid of weres?

Peter n the woman in car are bio parents?

Talia chose Malia's name and adoptive family on purpose.

(t)ALIA/(m)ALIA T(ate)

She left what she thought was a clever fucking clue.

---

Argent pendant is hexed/spelled to enhance natural allure to hide the intensifying and ever increasing corruption of the wearers psyche. A sometimes slow process, the speed at which the malicious infection grows within is dependent on the size of the wearers naturally occurring unhealthy darkness. Also enhances supes naturally occurring desire for wearer but only if supe already has desire for wearer.

---

Deucalion--took out his 1st pack when marin in last yr college

prompted her choice of councilor/therapist masters while he healed/built new pack

then he killed 2nd pack and is how became alpha of alphas

Gerard placed spell on Deucalion via neurotoxin delivery system that had side effect of blindness when mixed with mt ash

---

The Beacon Hills Nemeton remained dormant, powerless for many years until Derek Hale killed his high school girlfriend Paige among the tree's roots. This unintentional blood sacrifice powered the tree enough to allow Druid Emissary Julia Baccari to survive after being attacked and left for dead by Alpha Werewolf Kali. (The Overlooked)

---

Stiles had boa constrictor as pet (mom prolly encouraged/helped)

Stiles n rents til claudia dies. (Second grade ish.)

Noah drinks.

Coworkers get him to stop.

Scott n sm Roxie dog, attacked by rabid doberman.

Roxie died to protect. Bloody leash in hospital.

Asthma attack. Likely had allergies as kid n stressful attack caused. Once happens, avalanche.

Scott n rents til stairs. (Elementary school.)

Stiles knew, so was after met.

McCalls divorce.

Scott lives with rafe.

Stiles n Scott 'bffs'--on stiles' side at least.

---

Hale wards didn't work against kate n hunters n arson n ill intent. Why not? Deaton's greedy, skeevy butt

Deaton helped hunters at hale fire

Peter hit with spell (while in house as seen in flashbacks) that initiated w/fire and ended w fire

Kept prisoner in his own brain, occasional slip out to plot for survival, reminiscent of stiles while possessed

Puppeteered, not in control, not technically a wolf so is how escaped fire w/mt ash AND why healing didnt kick in

FIRE--Wolfsbane was used in fire and held back healing as well

FLARE--Laura n peter had disconnect b4 fire so easy/relief to abandon peter

PETER--Nurse jennifer was assigned as nurse but practiced magic.

She was Deatons student?

Got peter and started using to power spells because werewolf stamina/energy and connection to Nemeton via hale blood pact with land and tree.

Like a battery

Then spelled his healing to suuuper slow?

tho inhaled wolfabane and mt ash in burns didn't help him either

PETER--Nurse jennifer sold permission for hunters to come trophyphoto peter

Perhaps kept dosed w wolfsbane to slow healing as well. Just to be safe.

---

Julia baccari did deer spiral to set up her own chess board for revenge

Was still in area all that time, but had to recover and then rebuild magic and sacrifice enough for glamour, but couldn't do in BH or would possibly prevent alpha pack showing up

Deaton alerts laura

Argents arrive for move prep

Argents house hunted (lol even houses aren't safe fr yhem) n xferred Allison before winter break so could start 1st day back of spring semester

Peter kills laura, not cuts in half. Is hunter MO

Argents check out hale property just to be safe

Find female body with werewolf claw marks

Cut body in half to make sure wont yurn

Leave to get Allison n move in

Derek arrives in bh

Jogger finds laura

gogo teen wolf power on!

Scott bitten cuz smelled like stiles and was also connection yo stiles

Peter chose lydia for banshee AND connection to stiles

Explains peter offering stiles bite--was lucid moment

Stiles' spark would have burned away yhe strings/the spell

---

Derek loves 90's alternative

---

Tyler Lockwood and danny mahealani are cousins

---

Advanced healing: each healing causes weres to age more, hence satomi's age looking the same and Peter aging so much in 6 yrs and Derek getting older in first season.

Which goes with power thing for mothers per later discussed cuz Malia

---

Kids didn't hafta drown for LOCATION spell

Power of three blood locator spell woulda worked

Supes can find Nemeton in supe-skin

---

Juliadarach burned all of spell, n mt ash out of Deucalion

neurotoxin was long gone/was just delivery system anyways

---

Noshiko was over 800 yrs old when summoned nogi

Knew better

Doubtful 1st time noshiko did this

Wasn't 1st time loved in all that time

What if nogi was influencing things before he got loose?

Like how it seemed nemeton was reaching out for stiles.

Deaton and/or Talia's actions/inactions?

It mite explain why nemeton didnt grow until that one tiny sprout that was pulled.

Nogi draining the power reserves

Why was nogi phys form a housefly when is a fox?

Only oni were lightning bugs (agents of order)

Nogi was oni and she took his spark with way she summoned him, so altered him (Agent of chaos)

It's why he was attracted to stiles

Stiles is Spark

He kept saying 'nevwr trust a fox'

He was never in fox form (sorta makes sense tho cuz inhabited a non-shifter body) or w fox aura

Maybe nogitsune's hungers are determined by those who call them.

Like noshiko called one for fear, chaos and pain.

Maybe someone else would call one for plague-like reasons.

Maybe one is more of a burn it all type.

Maybe the foxes that are called are determined by who calls them.

Not like kira who was born by human ways.

But like noshiko coulda been called down by someone who had lost a kid or had a bunch of miscarriages n wanted to have a child.

One they wouldn't have to fear losing to death

Thunder kitsune level under celestial but related cuz made w human 'lesser' being

If had made kitsune with other celestial, woulda been celestial kira

Sooo what IF... Nogi was seen differently/understood

Fox: mischievous n clever n playful trickster rite?

But even tho they say he was the absurd age he was...

They also said kiras mom made him or summoned him or whatever rite?

So what if the way he was back at the camp and as voidstiles wasn't his natural behavior??

Im seeing a couple possibilities. It could be the WAY she did whatever corrupted or cursed or altered him. (My fave theory so far)

Or she had summoned him one way at the camp, and he woulda been back to himself when released later but absorbed all the negative/polluted magic while trapped?

Maybe by accident or maybe someone set it up that way

And the way he reacted seems rather self protective and kinda pissed off at the hand hes dealt while infected with dirty magic?

Or negative magic that clouds his thoughts or whatev?

So maybe he was trying to keep stiles safe and whole in the only way he could, with that white room?Maybe he needed stiles to figure it out n fix it? Its not like deaton wouldve if he was a reason for it.

And maybe the ones he killed he saw something in them that needed to die? Either because they were bad/evil or because the negative magic felt a threat from something in them?

If it was that he got tainted with the icky magic, maybe thats deaton related?

Like deaton felt the magic/power at the nemeton n thot that's where it came from but he was using nogi as a filter?

Like laundering money but filtering n 'cleaning' magic?

The stump gained further power when Scott, Stiles Stilinski, and Allison Argent performed a druid ritual to locate their parents.

The three students' sacrificial "deaths" fully charged the Nemeton and it is now broadcasting at full power to all the supernatural elements within the Teen Wolf Universe.

In More Bad Than Good, someone pulls out a freshly grown piece of the tree which causes fireflies to form into humanoid beings.

Noshiko Yukimura reveals that the ritual done by Scott, Stiles, and Allison did to power up the Nemeton also released the Nogitsune she had imprisoned there. (The Fox and the Wolf)

Noshiko lied about their deaths powering up Nemeton

Doesn't make sense, as doesn't seem to have gotten any more powerful

Dr. Valack also explained that recharging the Nemeton also brought the Dread Doctors to Beacon Hills.

---

The Triskelion Box: Wood cut from the tree and objects made of that wood still retain some of the Nemeton's power.

Deaton used wood from the Nemeton to fashion a wooden jar, a cylindrical box, to hold Talia Hale's claws.

further proof he murdered the nemeton for his own gain

If Nemeton had actually been corrupt/needed cut down (even for natural reasons such as rot-tho pretty sure magic would keep healthy), you would NOT make magic powerful containers from it

At some point after that, the box fell into the hands of The Calaveras.

Derek, Peter, and Braeden find it hidden in a large chest made of Mountain Ash and filled with sawdust from the same type tree.

It is clearly stored in such a way as to keep supernatural creatures out.

The top of the cylinder is decorated with a carving of the triskelion (or Triskele) symbol, a popular werewolf symbol.

Inside there are five circular recesses, at the time of its discovery each held a single werewolf claw. (More Bad Than Good)

The box seems designed to be used to apply the claws as well.

Each claw sits in its own recess and when Peter's hand is jammed inside - it lines up perfectly to embed the claws under his own.

Because of the residual power, the box is used to contain the Nogitsune spirit in its housefly form. (The Divine Move)

---

So noshiko appears young in glashbacks rite? Then older during the show.

Ppl seem to think its weird but i think its cuz she had kira.

Similar to malias bio mom, power or something supernatural happens when they give life to a new supernatural creature

Like injuries that age them

Noshiko a liar 'fox n wolf don't get along'

her bestie was satomi.

She's almost as old as nogi and yet thought she could be possessed?

but if cant possess a werewolf then he cant possess her cuz shes a fox

Doesn't make sense

Had to be a human or non-shift/non-animal supe.

She woulda known that if she knew enuf to summon him

An oni is a kind of yōkai, demon, orc, ogre, or troll in Japanese folklore. Oni are mostly known for their fierce and evil nature manifested in their propensity for murder and cannibalism. Notwithstanding their evil reputation, oni possess intriguingly complex aspects that cannot be brushed away simply as evil. They are typically portrayed as hulking figures with one or more horns growing out of their heads.[2] Stereotypically, they are conceived of as red, blue, black, yellow, or white-colored, wearing loincloths of tiger pelt, and carrying iron kanabō clubs.[2] They are creatures which instill fear and feelings of danger due to their grotesque outward appearance, their wild and sometimes strange behavior and their powers.

They are predominantly male but can be female. Females becoming oni has been attributed to them being overcome with grief or jealousy.

Noshiko n nogi half siblings. He oni prince by parentage. She lesser creature by her parentage. But she has tails, able to call upon oni. Would know the secrets of how to steal his spark.

Plus why call specifically for possession of a 'demon'? Its not like she had never been in that type of sitch before in her almost 1000 yrs because humans are utter assholes.

And she didn't ever fall so hard in lurve before that at her age?

Also? Zero to defcon 100 million? Really?!

Yes instinct is to survive, but human is supposed to only be a form she takes.

So she woulda been okay.

Plus, u dont automatically bring possession by a demon as ur go-to.

Oh and since she n satomi couldn't n didn't ward the Nogitsune, how did she know he was released?

Its not like the kitsunes are all magically lojacked to each other, which wouldn't matter anyway because he stayed in bh.

So did Deaton tell her he let him out?

Or did she realize how long he could be held for?

His spark was dimmed n it brightened when he escaped?

Or it moved towards his direction?

And she was scared of him n scared to fight him. Why? Shes almost as old as him n they both in human form.

If u only have 9 tails and takes u more than 1000 yrs to get them (her box of tails only about half full) then why would u use up 2 at the beginning of a problem, especially to only get 4 oni

Plus the fact that all other kitsune seem to be both good n bad, so why wouldn't nogi?

There cant be a purely bad entity without there being a totally good entity.

Nature (even supernatural) doesn't work that way.

There is a balance.

Equal and opposite.

And we only have HER word she is celestial/heaven kitsune, which humans equate to good.

She didn't display much good tho soooo...

---

Claudia had magic

Her FTD a result of being born or newborn when Nemeton cut down?

1977 when cut down

Sheriff did 2 tours n was army ranger? I think?

They say his bday 65/75

1965 would mean he was 11 or 12 yrs older than her, but he seems guy who would've waited yo be older n settled before marriage/kids

Also works with the abuse he suffered. Lots of abused don't want kids or not sure they do

Def went to college after army tho

Is where/when met Claudia

She woulda been legal (if barely) when she n sheriff met n married

Then 26 when died, when stiles 7? 8?

It reached out and her gift activated

But it also damaged her n caused FTD or what looked like it. Whichever.

Maybe her power was linked to it?

OR, when we think of how the nemeton reached out for stiles, it reached out for claudia, and in draining her magic or tainting her magic somehow (maybe because she didnt know she had magic) thems the results.

Claudia's "disease" and then death, and then the fire.

Would also explain why sheriff (deputy at the time)wouldn't look into fire further. Distracted by grief n drowning his sorrows

Unfortunately, FTD is also associated with a shorter lifespan. Average life expectancy is 7 to 13 years after the start of symptoms.

So its likely she already had symptoms when they met n he just thought of as quirks or never actually realized the difference cuz didn't know her before symptoms

According to the Sheriff in Alpha Pact, she died 8 years ago.

According to the file seen in Silverfinger, she died in 2004.

These two combined don't match up with the fact that it was still the autumn of 2011 in Beacon Hills when this information was provided.

If she had died at midnight on January 1st 2004 it would be just 7 years, 9 months at the time the Sheriff was talking to Melissa McCall and Chris Argent under the Nemeton.

+++(altho maybe sheriff rounded the time up, and maybe is why stiles was so eager to go out n look for body that night...was around that time)

We’re going with Claudia’s death happening roughly seven years before the events of Season 3, placing it sometime in 2004.

She died after suffering from frontotemporal dementia.

According to the Sheriff in Alpha Pact, she was hospitalized and Stiles was with her when she died.

According to the file seen in Silverfinger, she was suffering symptoms similar to those her son was experiencing during the first half of Season 3(b).

In Riddled - Stiles explains that she suffered from frontotemporal dementia, a shrinkage of the brain that leads to dementia and death.

If noah conjured claudia, does mean he has magic too?

Just unaware?

Maybe is part of reason his dad was alcoholic too? Magic they didn't know about n it had negative effects

Would also explain stiles' adhd if wanted to

Natalie (Lydia's mom) n Claudia bffs in school?

Claudia Gajos, the daughter of Mieczysław Gajos and an unnamed mother, who attended Beacon Hills High School in the same class as Natalie Martin. ("Relics")

She met Noah Stilinski and was engaged to him while they were still in college.

In 1995, they gave birth to a son, named after her own father and nicknamed Stiles after Stilinski's father, Elias Stilinski. ("Sundowning")

However, in 2003, Claudia was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, a fatal disease that caused her perception of reality deteriorate rapidly.

She soon began suffering from insomnia, an inability to distinguish dreams from reality, sleepwalking, sleep paralysis, irritability, and paranoia.

STILES--Claudia had gift.

Foresight?

Got sick, still got visions.

Saw stiles as nogitsune in future.

Is also why didn't always recognize him

This put a great deal of strain on both Claudia herself and her husband and son, especially when the dementia caused her to believe Stiles was trying to kill her. ("Required Reading")

What if claudia n the sheriff weren't on best of terms?

FTD has early symptoms years ahead of diagnosis rite?

And they are often wrongly called by other names til eventually they figure it out.

It can be pure forgetfulness, which can be a hundred tiny annoyances piling up.

Mood swings which are annoying and stressful.

And lead yo a diagnosis of bipolar, which is SO OFTEN a death knell for a relationship.

So it makes sense stiles was only kid.

Besides the fact that it turns out folks with higher iq scores tend to have fewer kids

Makes sense for them to have had him 1st and then all this comes more and more prevalent b4 they r ready to have 2nd, if theyd wanted. Which i kinda feel they wouldve.

So maybe they were on the outs, maybe considering splitting, maybe just going thru several rough times. Whatev. I mean, stiles doesn't get his ignore prob yil goes away from nobody.

And noah didn't go yo hospital when he was told to. Yeah, maybe he coulda pushed it away or vlown it off, but he also would've likely accepted it as a possibility and reacted, especially when his reaction to supernatural reveal is considered.

It would also be another reason he would hit the bottle so hard.

Anger n guilt n frustration, along with grief n love.

All of that is more than enuf to drown out his kids needs.

Plus hes such a reminder.

Especially if he had found solace in the rough times by working more. So it had already become a coping mechanism.

She ended up dying in 2004 with her young son Stiles at her bedside while her husband, Stilinski, was dealing with a car accident victim at work; though the victim, a Banshee, warned Noah that he needed to leave right then if he wanted to be with her when she passed, he was a skeptic about the supernatural at this time and guessed that she was just delirious.

When he returned to the hospital, he found Stiles sitting in the hallway with his face in his hands, indicating that Claudia had in face died while he was at the crash site, just as the Banshee had predicted. ("Alpha Pact")

Stiles was 8 when she died

That hallucination of him accusing stiles coulda been all made up by stiles being so young n all the feels involved.

Or something that happened where Sheriff misplaced the blame he felt onto stiles cuz he couldn't face his own overwhelming feels.

Or a combo of the two.

It could explain why took him so long to move on. Also why he froze everything pertaining to claudia. Also why he holds her as perfect, tho she wasn't.

Stiles would've seen her as a little kid sees their parent. Perfect and amazing. So not reliable.

And that sheriff had that version of claudia dreamed up when stiles was forgotten?

Especially when u remember most ppl r not perfect, even when they r dead n u dont wanna talk smack about em or u miss em.

---

Magic Stiles:

Ohheytherebigbadwolf--

They let him play with mountain ash one (1) time and then DROPPED IT AND I'M SO SALTY.

HE MADE A 50 FOOT LINE WITH BARELY A HANDFUL.

HE BROKE THE LINE WITHOUT EVEN TOUCHING IT.

Me--

Cuz he showed up WEREWOLVES by being cooler and more badass than they were when he was "just" a human. Now he can flex a magical Spark muscle based on *belief*?! Yeah, naw. They could not allow that to be followed through because obviously Stiles would have whooped the ass of whatever stupidfuck monster came by to fuck with HIS pack and HIS town... aaannnddd stoopid-dead-but-dont-know-it-yet said *what* about his boo and his dad? Smirking Stiles has 2 words for you: "Let's play." After all, have baseball bat and attitude, will travel.

Let's face some reality. Stiles believes he can protect all these supernats he has claimed as his...and He Does. He believes he can surpass human requirements for sleep and caffeine and superbraining with his fuckton sexy brain...and. He. DOES.

Do not doubt the Stiles. The writers Knew. Stiles woulda whipped the monsters and the town and the nemeton and the werewolves into shape and Derek woulda had no choice but to be Even More Blatant about his desperate NEED for some Stiles-lurve. God damn but I miss what an amazing damned show that would've been.

Stiles: This character is a f*king angel.

Sometimes comforting.

Sometimes protective.

Sometimes avenging.

Always beautiful.

Always luminous.

Always knows how to save your ass after he leads you to temptation.

Built completely out of "you may not understand my morals, but if you are Mine, you will always benefit from them."

Stiles is the person who will stand up to derek and argue and then immediately turn around and fling himself in front of the wolf without hesitation to save him

Also: i know what the stiles triplets would be nicknamed. Mischief menace n trouble

Further proof stiles is a supe? When he was forgotten he and peter and 1 other person (prolly another supe) weren't mindless zombies like everyone else

Paige n stiles related? Via Claudia? A cousin? Paige supe is why rejected?

#teen wolf #derek hale #way too tickled by this #collaboration #We had way too much free time together to come up with all this shit #hope you enjoy

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mrkcore · 3 years

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𝐆𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔 - 𝐧.𝐣𝐦

𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: na jaemin x f!reader

𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬: jaemin as DC’s nightwing/dick greyson, hero!jaemin

𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬: you’re the one picking him up, piece by piece, even when you’re gone.

𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: angst, fluff

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠(𝐬): profanity, character deaths, blood, gun use

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 5.3k (woopwoop!)

𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨: ghost of you - 5sos, lie to me - 5sos, woke up in japan - 5sos, want you back - 5sos, more - 5sos, better man - 5sos, moving along - 5sos, thin white lies - 5sos, red desert - 5sos, lonely heart - 5sos, high - 5sos (just me being 5 seconds of summer trash)

𝐚/𝐧: part of @nct-writers collab, the heartbreak hotel (this is probably the longest fic i’m ever going to write, so pls gimmie feedback i will love you forever)

“imagine you're watching a runaway trolley barreling down the tracks straight towards five workers who you do not know and can't escape. you happen to be standing next to a switch that will divert the trolley onto a second track. here's the problem. that track has a worker on it, too, just one, but they’re not a stranger. what do you do? do you sacrifice that one person to save five?”

jaemin regrets being the hero in the story.

jaemin regrets everything.

he constantly ponders the situation playing out where he wasn’t the protagonist. people have always said, “a hero would sacrifice you to save the planet, but a villain would sacrifice the planet to save you”. jaemin always thought that was bullshit, but now he knows the despairing truth.

he regrets, he regrets, he regrets. but regret won’t bring you back.

you seemed so sure when you told him to let you go and it’d be okay, it wasn’t his fault. how was it so easy for you to think and say that? not his fault? he was basically the reason you’re dead. he just found you after so many years, now you’re gone again; but this time, it’s for real, forever.

jaemin remembers the cold tiny room he was forced to sleep in with the other children in the circus.

it was a nightmare every single day. with kids screaming, singing, laughing, and running around the room, nobody could get any sleep. what made it worse was that jaemin had no one to talk to.

none of the other boys liked him, being handsome, dubbed the “face of haly’s circus”, always talking behind your back how the boss always favoured him because he was bringing so many more views in. girls swarming around jaemin ever since him and his parents ever joined, it was so obvious that he was the most popular. jaemin never liked the attention, he was only trying to survive after all.

then, you arrived.

y/n, the confounding witch, they called you.

conjuring up little tricks for audience members, brewing up drinks to transform participants into different species of animals, and controlling birds in cages were only a few acts you could do.

the first day boss introduced you to everyone, you seemed so bright and excited to be joining. your unique eye smile, bubbly personality, and caring nature drew jaemin to you. he’s seldomly trying to calm the younger kids down so everyone can rest, but your patience and compassion towards the kids were something they weren’t used to, and eventually caved in.

soon, it became quieter in that god awful room jaemin always dreaded. but jaemin's heart beat louder in his chest than ever.

jaemin was never one to show off. like we established before, the attention jaemin got was not appreciated by him. except, it became different when you arrived.

he was constantly trying to impress you, sway you, hoping the things he did for the crowds of girls that rushed to buy tickets to see him, would work for you too.

however, that was just his wishful thinking.

you were unlike any of the interactions jaemin had with the opposite gender. you were confident, yet humble, witty, intelligent, and easy-going. he is constantly flustered whenever he is engaging in a conversation with you, but tries to act nonchalant whenever he knows you’re nearby.

after shows, girls screamed and bolted towards the entrance where jaemin stood for exit duty, to say goodbye to patrons. he’d always try to be paired with you for it, trying to make you jealous.

but of course that never happened. jaemin would always be trampled by his enthusiastic female supporters, as surges of them stopped to interact with him. flirting with them all at the same time, they all swooned over your charms. he’d always see you giggle, laughing at his bursts of confidence he’d never have with you by yourselves.

this continued for a year, until one day, you let something slip.

“ladies, ladies, i’m so glad you could join us for today.” jaemin smiled at the groups in front of him, glancing at you walking an elderly couple out of the tent. “make sure to take good care of yourselves, wouldn’t want anything happening to any of you sweet gals.” and cue the squeals.

“hope you had fun pretty boy.” you directed to him calmly, as you walked back into the circus. jaemin’s head snapped to stare at your back. he’s stunned, did you just call him a “pretty boy”?

remembering that the crowd in front of him was still there, he reacted quickly.

“i guess it’s time for me to go, i’ll catch you lovely girls at my next show, i hope.” he leaves with a wink, following your path straight towards you.

finding you in your little assigned room, jaemin barged in, gaze fixated right on you, not even thinking what to say.

“oh, jaemin, hey.” you say, not even batting an eye, you’re focused on the book in your hands. “what’s up?”

“you called me pretty boy.” he breathed out.

“yeah i did,” you’re still not paying attention to him. “what about it?”

“you think i’m pretty?” jaemin is suddenly very close to you, his hand caressing your face, lifting your line of sight up to meet his gaze.

his eyes are sparkling, cheeks a slight tint of pink, with a look of determination. of course you thought he was pretty, anyone who said otherwise would either be lying, or have never seen his gorgeous face.

jaemin must’ve been acting impulsively, because when he realized how close he was to your face, he immediately pulled back.

“i am so sorry,” he says in disbelief. “i don’t know what came over me.”

“it’s okay,” you smile at him, grabbing his hand to where it was before. “i liked it.”

jaemin is flustered again, standing completely frozen as he admires your face up close.

you’re breathtakingly beautiful. he’s known that you were attractive, but this just created even more butterflies in his stomach.

“and yes, i do think you’re pretty.” you wink at him.

and that’s where it started.

you and jaemin started spending time together more.

jaemin was still a bit nervous and frenzied at the beginning, but that melted away, and his flirty, outgoing, and annoyingly confident side was revealed to you.

you were also quite popular amongst the other boys in the circus, so when you two were seen more frequently together, they started spreading rumours about jaemin to get you two away from each other.

“oh jaemin’s just trying to use them.”

“jaemin thinks after getting with them, he’s going to cross all of the names off his list.”

“he’s such a player, y’n’s too good for him.”

of course you’d hear them more often than him, the guys would always say these kinds of things around you.

but you know they’re just trying to stir up trouble. so you ignore them.

just like how jaemin ignores the talk about you amongst his female supporters.

“she’s trying to take him away from us.”

“he’s not as happy anymore.”

“she thinks she’s all that, he’s probably just a new notch in her belt.”

of course jaemin would never listen to them. they’d never know about the secrets you had together, sneaking out of your rooms and sitting on the roof at night stargazing, your note exchanging, late night talks; they knew none of that.

“i wish things weren’t like this,” you sighed, leaning on his shoulder as you two look at the early sunrise. “i wish we could be free and do whatever we want. this is so unfair.”

jaemin has never really thought about that. every day, his head was flooded with you. but now he thinks about it, it truly was unfair.

jaemin wishes he could take you on on real dates, take you on meaningful trips to explore the rest of the world. not hidden in this awful place where you could barely talk to each other in public. jaemin wishes he could give you more.

“it’s not your fault nana,” you look up at him like you’ve read his mind and know he’s overthinking. “there’s nothing you can do.”

“yeah,” jaemin exhales. “i know.” he tries to smile when you reach up to caress his face, you look at him with so much fondness, jaemin’s worries are almost all blown away. but you know he’s going to be pondering about this for the next week.

“maybe this just how it’s meant to be, our wicked fate.”

but all the gossip got to the point where the boss heard about it, and asked you guys to talk in his office.

“i think we should end it here.” you say one night on the roof, seemingly out of the blue.

“what?” jaemin is speechless, where did that come from? did he hear you wrong?

“he literally asked us to talk,” you’re facing the ground, not even daring to look at him. “it’s serious this time.”

“so you’re going to just throw all of this away?” jaemin asks, slightly furious. “just because of what a bunch of losers are saying?”

“it’s for the best,” you’re still not looking at him. “for the both of us.”

when you finally do look up to see jaemin’s reaction, you see tears in his eyes and you wish you hadn’t looked up.

“fine, if that’s what you want.” jaemin turns around and walks away, breaking that silence.

but what jaemin didn’t know was that it broke your heart to pieces. it took you so much courage to break it off with him, but in the end, you knew what boss haly was capable of. you needed to protect him, so if this is how it needed to go, it’s for the best.

the meeting the next day went smoothly, it was easy for both of you to deny everything since jaemin was giving you the cold shoulder. you didn’t need to pretend. it was for the sake of the both of you.

after the meeting, you didn’t get the chance to talk to jaemin as he rushed to get ready for his special act today. but it’s not like he would listen to you anyways, you couldn’t blame him.

you felt the aura of the circus today, it felt off. very off.

maybe it was because you were so shaken by you and jaemin's fight. maybe it was nothing, and you were just overreacting. everything was probably fine.

except it wasn’t.

as all of the spectators settled into their seats, when you tried to peak through the curtain to see the turnout, and as expected, it was packed.

but something catches your eye. a black raven flies in, the ambience in the tent suddenly changes so fast if gives you whiplash. this isn’t good. this isn’t good at all. something bad is going to happen, really bad.

you’ve never seen that bird in your entire life, and it suddenly hits you.

someone is going to die tonight.

you pray and pray it’s going to be fine, but the unsettling energy gets to you. you need to tell someone.

“jaemin, jaemin!” you call out to him. he turns around, but when he sees you, his face turns sour. your heart sinks, but what you’re about to tell him is more important, so you brush it away.

“what do you want.” he snarls, you gulp back a sob.

“something bad’s going to happen, i can feel it.” tears are threatening to spill out of you eyes. “someone’s going to die, and i don’t know what to do.”

“oh, so now you care?” jaemin rolls his eyes. “are you jealous that it’s my show tonight and all of those girls front row are here to see me and think they have a chance with me?” you’re shocked by his words, your eyes are wide. you never thought he was capable of saying something like that. “you’re just a little witch, and it’s all just an act. let it go.” tears stream down your face as jaemin huffs and walks away, strutting into the crowd as the ringmaster announces their act: “the flying greysons!”.

and jaemin was wrong. you were right. something awful happened that day.

jaemin watches helplessly as his parents’ high wires snaps and they pummel to their death.

you were right. and he couldn’t do anything about it.

jaemin runs away that night as he leaves you in that horrible place by yourself, and you never see him again.

and here jaemin is. 10 years after the incident, a college student by day, leader of a crime fighting superhero team by night.

after the incident of his parents’ death, mr. jung jaehyun finds him on his path. crying, sobbing, and vulnerable. jaehyun takes jaemin in under his wing. providing him shelter, food, and as much support as he could. jaemin slowly realized jaehyun’s second identity: batman.

jaemin has heard of jaehyun’s street name. but he’d never thought that he’d meet him in real life, and batman would be someone so similar to him. jaehyun saw a reflection of his younger self, the grief of losing your parents, the reality check of the world being a cruel place at a young age, he didn’t want jaemin to spiral in the same way he did.

so even though jaemin lived a life of normalcy, his past never stopped coming back to haunt him.

especially you.

jaehyun dug up some information about the circus, and piles and piles of their dark secrets were revealed. so did the truth of jaemin’s parents’ deaths too. how a well-known and feared crime-lord, threatened the circus unless the owner paid extortion money. boss haly refused, and that night someone messed with the equipment for the performance, resulting in the catastrophe.

you were right all along, and jaemin didn’t listen to you. it was his fault, everything was his fault.

he even left you there by yourself, all alone, and he never got to say goodbye. oh how wishes he could see you one last time, and say all those things he wanted to these years.

nightmares woke him throughout elementary school, middle school, high school, and even sometimes during his college time.

the same dream over and over, you reaching your hand out for jaemin to grab and save, but he’s too far away. and you fade away.

inspired by what jaehyun did to help him, jaemin started to do the same.

with a bunch of lost and uncared for young kids in new york, jaemin took them under his wing like jaehyun did with him.

with help from trusted individuals he met on the street, mark, renjun, jeno, and haechan, they started to take care of chenle and jisung full time. getting them off the street, given proper shelter, food, water, clean clothes, and access to education, this was the start of the dreamies.

today was the same as any other.

jaemin’s philosophy and law studies class has just finished up and he’s walking to his favourite cafe to finish up some work.

“jaemin?” he hears a familiar voice behind him.

he turns around and sees you. you haven’t changed a bit, still as homely and comforting as he can remember.

is he in a dream right now? how is this possible?

“oh gosh, it really is you.” you laughed, the same laugh you had. jaemin feels this unknown warmth and reassurance with you here, like a weight has just been lifted off his shoulders.

“y/n.” he finally speaks. your eyes glimmer, looking at him affectionately.

“yep, right here in the flesh.” jaemin starts tearing up. “oh you big baby, why are you crying?”

jaemin pulls you in as he hugs your waist.

surprised by his emotional state, you were going to speak up again. but you choose not to. standing there, a bit awkwardly, stroking his soft hair, embracing him.

and you’re back.

jaemin learns that you recently moved to new york city recently for your journalist job position, and you’re looking for a place to move in to.

he’s quick to offer his place, even though he’s still in college, his apartment is big enough for two people.

“are you sure?” you’re hesitant to accept his suggestion. “i don't want to be a big burden. you’re probably really busy as a student.”

“no, i’m fine.” he responds, enthusiastically. “my schedule is pretty much free since i’m third year now.”

and you accept. saying you’re only going to crash for a while until you found another place.

cherishing the time you had together, during the day, jaemin went to his lectures while you went to work, but when you got home, you did everything together. to the point where jaemin barely saw the dreamies, his crime-fighting crew.

staying up to watch the stars and sunrise, talking and laughing until your eyes were threatening to close. conversing about literally anything.

but as time went by, you noticed that jaemin didn’t really want to talk about what happened back at the circus. you understood since he lost his parents that night, but he never asked you about how you left and ended up in new york. but you don’t push it, you understand that it’s a rough patch in both of you guys’ lives.

“do you have anything that you regret?” you ask one night, you truly were just curious.

“not listening to you that night.” he says, monotone. “and leaving you by yourself at the circus when i ran away.”

“jaemin…” you start, but no words leave your mouth.

“fuck!” jaemin abruptly exclaims, mood crashing, turning furious. “it’s all that bastard haly’s fault.”

you shouldn’t have asked.

“if he didn’t make that fucking circus, everything would have been fine! it’s his fault, all his fault, i’m going to get revenge and kill that son-of-a-bitch one day!” he’s yelling now. “we could have met in normal circumstances, we could’ve gotten married, created a family, enjoyed life like all of these snarky city folk. why?”

you wipe the tears that are rolling down his face as he turns to cry in your chest.

“i’m sorry i brought this up.” you pat his head as his sobs turn into soft snores, head in your lap. “maybe this just how it’s meant to be, our cruel fate.”

it’s been a year now. it doesn’t seem like you’re moving out anytime soon, but jaemin’s not complaining. he loves having you here, you’ve become a standard part of his day.

with jaemin more adapted to your appearance, he has started to become more involved with the dreamies.

helping 10-15 kids each month, the squad has advanced to milestones jaemin never thought it’d be at. he is so thankful to have the group and you there supporting him.

you’ve even discussed marriage.

“y/n na has a nice ring to it, y’know.” jaemin beams.

“you’re such a softie.” you giggle out, but jaemin knows you like it.

jaemin knows you want to wait until you have a stable job and when he graduates, but the thought always makes him elated.

“what song would you play for our first dance at out wedding?” he asked one morning, waking up to the sun shining heavenly on you.

“hmm,” you grin. “best part, daniel caesar, h.e.r.”

“you’re perfect.” jaemin kisses your face as you cuddle into his warm chest.

imagining you in a white dress, walking up to the alter on your wedding day, saying your vows, slow dancing. you’re the only person jaemin has visioned a future with, and the only person jaemin wants a future with.

the next day, you agree to slow dance with him in the living room.

jaemin is on cloud nine.

but like the old saying, all good things must come to an end.

it’s been 5 years now.

jaemin comes home one night to the apartment door open, which is really unusual.

jaemin thinks it might be a robbery, but nothing is stolen, the apartment looked the same as it was when he left this morning.

but you’re nowhere to be found. jaemin isn’t panicked, maybe you went on a walk and forgot to close the door–

there’s a note on the dining room table.

“meet me on the top of the empire state building to see y/n, if you bring someone else, it’ll be for the last time.”

what is that supposed to mean?

was it one of the dreamies’ past enemies trying to get back at them?

nonetheless, jaemin is bolting out the door.

when he gets there, he sees the dreamies tied up, sitting and struggling at the feet of someone jaemin never thought he’d see ever again. c.c. haly, the owner of haly’s circus jaemin escaped a whole decade ago.

haly smirks as he sees jaemin approaching, but jaemin is scowling.

“what are you doing here?” jaemin snaps out, carefully advancing.

“i’m here to finish what you started.” haly says.

“how did you even find me?” jaemin snarls, stopping a fair distance between him and haly. “how did you find my friends?”

unexpectedly, haly starts to cackle loudly at his questions. turning around to reveal someone who has been absent, someone jaemin would never have thought of.

you.

jaemin’s mind is internally crashing. why are you with haly? what is going on?

“y/n, do you want to explain to our dear jaemin here what’s going on?” haly finds so much amusement playing with you both, watching this event unfold.

“jaemin, i’m so sorry.” your lips are trembling, tears are starting to flood your vision.

“so it was all a lie?” jaemin can’t believe it. “everything that happened this year, it was just you building up to just stab me in the back?”

“i did it to protect you.” you’re sobbing hard now.

“save it.” jaemin cuts you off, now focusing on haly. “what do you want.”

“i want you dead.” haly says, blankly.

“so what’s the deal.” the dreamies’ mouths were duct taped, but their muffled cries can still be heard.

haly is howling again.

“i get to kill you,” haly grins sinisterly. “and i let y/n and your little friends free.”

“if jaemin says yes, let me say one last thing to him.” your crying has stopped. “it’s the least you can do.”

jaemin is confused. are you just offering him up to haly with no fight? what are you thinking?

you look at him with pleading eyes, asking him to trust you.

the same eyes he saw that day his parents died, and he knows to trust you.

“okay,” jaemin states boldly. “i say yes. now let y/n talk to me.”

haly is stunned. how did you convince jaemin to agree so quick? maybe haly was right to use you this time. the least he could do is to let jaemin and you have time to still pretend to be in love. so haly allows you to walk up to jaemin to talk.

“y/n, what are you doing.” jaemin whispers frantically.

“trust me, trust me this time.” you glance at him with weary eyes. “when i’m walking back to haly, when i signal to you, i want you to grab your friends and run. can you do that for me?”

“what?” jaemin tries not to react to much that haly catches on, but do you hear what you’re suggesting? “you want me to just leave you here again?”

“jaemin listen to me, i’ll be fine. trust me.”

and you turn around, not letting jaemin respond.

there’s nothing he can do but go along with your plan.

and when you signal to him behind your back, jaemin grabs the dreamies and drags them away. everything is a whirlwind and happens in a flash. jaemin looks back and you’re struggling trying to get the gun out of haly’s hand.

you notice jaemin stopping.

“jaemin, fucking RUN.” you scream at him.

there’s nothing he can do. and he hates himself that he got himself in this situation again. so he runs again, like the coward he is.

jaemin runs, because literally the dreamies’ lives are depending on him. when he gets them to safety, when he unties jeno, jeno pushes him towards where they came from.

“go.” jeno is huffing trying to catch his breath after removing the duct tape off his mouth. “i’ll untie everyone else, go get her.”

jaemin looks at jeno, and turns back for you.

when jaemin arrives back at the scene, you’re on the ground. he runs panic-stricken to you, finding you bleeding out really hard.

“y/n? y/n, y/n please, are you okay?” he’s shaking you, distraught seeing you in this state.

“jaemin, i’m okay.” you say, barely any breath left in you. “i have the gun here, haly is behind the big box over there.”

“y/n, what are you talking about, we need to get you to the hospital.” jaemin tries to pick you up but you don’t allow him.

“use the gun and kill him.” you mutter out, quieter than before. “it’s what you wanted, jaemin. and he’ll be gone.” you’re smiling softly just thinking about it.

“y/n, are you insane? you’re going to die i could care less about haly, i’m taking you to the hospital–”

“jaemin let me go.” you mumble, stroking his cheek while you’re examining his pretty face for the last time. “it’ll be okay, it’s not your fault.”

“y/n…” jaemin’s tears are staining his shirt as he holds you tightly, trying to preserve your life.

“i love you, na jaemin.” a tear falls from your dazed gaze and trickles down your cold face. “i’m sorry that this is how it’s meant to be, our cruel fate.”

and you’re gone.

jaemin screams. tears dripping down his face, he picks up the gun beside you and storms towards haly.

he’s basically sitting in a pool of his own blood and has no strength to get up anymore.

“is little greyson here to get revenge for his parents and little witch y/n?” he cackles even in the last moments of his life.

“yeah i am, they didn’t die for you to see another day too.”

haly is laughing sadistically again as if jaemin just told a joke, but the laughter subsides after the bullets fire through haly’s limp body.

and he’s dead too. leaving jaemin alone, again.

it’s been 2 years since you’ve died.

here he is, waking up. still can’t sleep on your side.

he really can’t sleep on your side, because it reminds him of those times where he woke up to your warm embrace, and now it’s desolately cold.

there’s your coffee cup, the lipstick stain fades with time.

he’s saved everything you had, and hasn’t touched anything. he’s also saved everything you shared, your bed, your apartment, everything. he needs those to remind him of those bittersweet memories of you.

when jaemin was going through your stuff, he finds a piece of paper on your work desk.

my dear jaemin,

when you find this, i’m probably going to be gone. but that’s okay, and i’ll tell you why.

first of all, thank you so much for these past 5 years. thank you for showing me what living life is like, what being a part of a family is like, and what being in love is like. you told me you wished you could give me a normal life, and you really fulfilled your wish.

you must have so many questions right now, so i’m going to answer them.

i never left haly’s after you ran away. i couldn’t. because he was threatened by so many mobs and gangs everywhere, he had to kill off the other people that were a part of the circus. but he kept me. because i was the key to you. the government started an investigation into him, and he needed to keep a low-profile, but he still was angry that you didn’t die that night too. so he plotted this for years, and i just had to go along with it.

at first, i only agreed because i wanted to see you. i was young and still naive at the time, thinking that he wanted to see you too. but as i got older, i saw what he was planning. he would kill me in front of you and then take you out as well if i didn’t do as he said, so i kept quiet. i really did this to protect you.

i enjoyed every second being with you. you showed me the meaning of life i heard our patrons talk about. you showed me what true love was when i saw those elderly couples walking together as they look at each other adoringly while telling me they’ve been in love and married for decades. if i could choose to stay with you for a lifetime, i would, i would choose it a million times.

but i thought very long about this, and it truly is the only way.

remember when i asked you if you regretted anything that night? you mentioned how you regretted not listening to me, how you left me alone at the circus. and that’s when i realized, it was indeed our cruel fate.

you feel bad for me. you feel bad that you didn’t listen, you feel bad for leaving me at the circus, but it’s been over a decade. i know with me constantly here, you’re never going to stop feeling guilty, you’d never let the past go. we’re too young, too dumb, to know things like love. but i know better now.

so jaemin, i did what i had to do. the best for the both of us. you got your revenge for your parents, and you’ll stop feeling guilty because i don’t want to hold you back and keep you feeling like this forever.

i’m sorry jaemin i put you through all of this, and reminder that this is not your fault.

my love, nana, truly, truly, truly, thank you for everything. everything, everything, everything.

there wasn’t a single day where i stopped wanting you. i want you in the most innocent form, i want to say goodnight to you and give you forehead kisses and say i love you when you feel at your worst. i want you in ways where i just want to be next to you and nothing more or less. i wish i could explain your eyes, oh how i adore your angel eyes, and how the sound of your voice gives me butterflies. how your smile makes my heart skip a beat and how every time i’m with you, i feel so complete. i swear when our lips touched, i could taste the remaining years of my life. i want you to know that when i picture myself happy, it’s with you.

i’ve looked at you in millions of ways, and i have loved you in every way.

but this is how it’s meant to be, our cruel fate.

my pretty boy, i love you forever.

his tears are ruining the page, and jaemin tries to wipe his tears away to save the letter.

when he turns around, he swears he can see you. and he chases it down, with a shot of truth.

maybe if he dreams long enough, you’d tell him he’d be just fine.

walking into the living room, remembering how you guys would slow dance like it was your wedding. your wedding.

and he drowns it out, like he always does. dancing through your house, with a shot of truth, that his feet don’t dance, like the way they did with you.

jaemin knows your letter was right, he’s going to slowly get better, but he needs some time. meanwhile, he needs something help him cope, to get him by.

so he’s dancing through your house, with the ghost of you.

©mrkcore, 2021.

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radioactivepeasant · 3 years

Text

Fic Prompts: Free Day Thursday

(Everybody Lives au)

Tenko was up to something. He may have thought he was being subtle, but it was starting to be almost embarrassingly obvious that something was afoot.

At first, Izuku had thought it might be quirk related, and just let him be. Having a half finished AFO copy came with troubles of its own. Sometimes, when Tenko was at capacity for quirk storage, he had to isolate a little bit. Hana had explained it as his body trying so hard to offload one of the six quirks that he had to make sure he didnt accidentally give a random student something they didn't need.

But...when Tenko was having quirk problems, usually he told Izuku, or All Might, or Nana, or Hana. Whatever was going on now, he seemed to be spending all his time down in the Support Course workrooms. Ochako had reported that she saw him stealing Melissa from her Support Gear debates with Hatsume Mei to help him with something. Melissa had seemed to know exactly what he meant.

"I guess it wouldn't seem so weird if he wasn't avoiding me," Izuku admitted to Tenya after the third week of Tenko Weirdness. "I don't think I made him mad, because he still grins at me when he sees me, and not like Kacchan smiles because Kacchan smiles kinda like chimpanzees do it means he's about to attack but I didn't learn that until I was like eight but that doesn't matter because we're not talking about Kacchan we're talking about Tenko and-"

Tenya waved a hand stiffly to get Izuku's attention before he could spiral into too much worry. He offered a reassuring smile.

"I wouldn't worry too much. Perhaps he is merely very busy right now. Whatever he's working on in Support, he may not want you or anyone else not involved to know about it until he's satisfied with the end result."

Izuku fidgeted. "Yeah...I guess you're right. I just got used to him wanting to hang out after school."

"He and Hana quite serious about their involvement in your life, I think," Tenya mused, "It reminds me of my older brother sometimes. I'm sure when he has time, he'll be able to talk again."

The first person to directly confirm that something was weird was, as it happened, All Might. Izuku found him standing in the hallway with an odd expression on his face. Tenko was already to the stairs, snickering faintly.

"Was that Tenko?" Izuku asked, coming to stand next to his mentor.

"Uh-huh," Toshinori said, a little distracted. He shook his head. "That boy's up to something."

Izuku blinked. "You think so, too?"

With a helpless gesture, Toshinori answered, "Well, he told me to my face, "I'm up to something", so that's a pretty good indicator I'd say. He seems proud of it, whatever the something is."

Tenko had a weird sense of humor.

The second person to directly confirm his suspicions was Hana. She'd just come off a patrol -- she hated having to start over at sidekick level when she didn't know any of the local heroes -- and had caught Tenko sneaking out of the dorms. Her loud "And where are you going?" had drawn Izuku and Ochako's attention away from dish duty to see "Izuku's weird cousin" halfway out the first floor window.

"I'm going to Nunya," Tenko had answered.

"Oh gimme a break," Hana scoffed, just as Ochako had innocently asked "Nunya?"

"Nunya business!" Tenko hooted gleefully, and vanished out the window.

Hana had shaken her head in annoyance and flopped down on the couch. "Brat couldn't be more suspicious if he'd put on a trenchcoat and started playing the Pink Panther theme everywhere he went."

[[MORE]]

It wasn't until the middle of the month that Izuku finally found out what his "cousin" had been doing. With all the training and preparations, Izuku had sort of forgotten that his birthday was so close. Somewhere in the back of his mind, sure, he knew he was going to be sixteen very very soon. But it didn't register to him as particularly important. Nobody would really notice except maybe All Might. Same as always.

Until he couldn't get out of his dorm room on the weekend of the 15th, because someone had strung red, white, and blue streamers from one side of the door frame to the other. The tape holding them in place was definitely Sero's, but Izuku was fairly certain the glittery banners looked like something Aoyama would make.

The glitter that got stuck in his hair all but confirmed Aoyama's involvement.

Was it a prank? Izuku couldn't think of anything that would have warranted the beginning of a prank war. Aizawa hated those.

When he got downstairs, he found about half of his classmates waiting for him with expectant grins.

And All Might.

And Tenko.

And Hana.

And Melissa?

And Nana?

And his mom!

"Happy birthday, Deku!" Ochako yelled, startling him.

"You guys...actually remembered what day that is?" Izuku sputtered when he managed to find his voice.

"Uh, we've only been plotting for like, weeks," Kaminari scoffed, "I don't forget stuff that quickly!"

Tenya took off his glasses and looked apologetic. "I hope you can excuse the way I deliberately withheld information from you," he said solemnly, "I was asked not to spoil the surprise."

Shouto looked as confused as Izuku. "I didn't know if I was supposed to say anything. I don't know how these things work."

It took some effort not to flood the room with tears. Tears were still shed, but a more human amount. Ochako and Hagakure all but dragged Izuku to one of the couches in front of the television, clearly excited.

"We told Mr. Aizawa we wanted to do something for your birthday, so he said we could have a party if we didn't make a mess!" Hagakure explained. "We don't have cake yet, but that's cuz Sato wants to go shopping first because somebody ate all the frosting."

Tokoyami glared from the kitchen. "I will not be blamed for things that Dark Shadow allegedly did when I was sleeping."

"Mmmmm, frosting!" Dark Shadow crowed, completely unrepentant.

"You are a disgrace," Tokoyami told his quirk.

"But full of frosting!"

Izuku couldn't help but laugh. Sometimes, Dark Shadow was a menace.

"So cake has to wait, and some presents can wait until cake," Toshinori said as he came to sit down on an adjacent couch, "But Melissa and Tenko didn't want to wait to give you their gift."

Izuku was floored. His friends not only remembered his birthday, they wanted to give him a gift?! He vowed to find out exactly what they wanted for their birthdays so he could repay their kindness someday.

"Is this why you keep sneaking off to Support?" Izuku asked before he could stop himself.

Tenko looked enormously pleased with himself. "Yes! Sneaky birthday business was underway." He dug through the pockets of his trenchcoat and came up with a game box. It looked like one of the Final Fantasy games that Izuku owned, but with a slightly different box cover.

"Fair warning," Tenko said as he handed the box to Izuku, "Melissa and I definitely voided this thing's warranty with the kind of mods we squeezed in there. So this is a one of a kind copy."

Melissa made a face from where she sat with Nana. "I just did the mechanical parts. He did all the programming."

Clearly, they meant for him to try it out right then and there. It took a moment to find the controller and get the tv set up, but soon enough the title screen for Final Fantasy XII came up. An option had been added to the menu in font that didn't quite match saying, "Costumes Mod".

He didn't quite know what to expect when he chose it. But then a screen full of every costume All Might had ever worn appeared. Some were locked, suggesting there were actually quests or tasks he would have to complete to get them. The ones available fit every character except Fran, though admittedly some characters looked better in the costumes than others.

Izuku turned to stare at Tenko. "You...made this?"

The Shigaraki doppelganger smirked. "You should see my other mods. I made one when I was in high school where you can make the whole party cactuars. Totally broke the cutscenes." He drooped slightly. "Of course, that mod when up in smoke with the rest of my timeline, but I could probably recreate it eventually."

He leaned over the back of the couch to tousle Izuku's hair. "Happy birthday, squirt."

Tenko pulled away and glanced at his hand. "What the- is that glitter?"

Aoyama looked away and whistled innocently.

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yurtletheturtlehenderson · 3 years

Text

COSMIC - S3:E4; Chapter Four, The Sauna Test - [Pt. 4]

A Will Byers x Reader Series

𝘔𝘪𝘬𝘦, 𝘓𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵 𝘌𝘭, 𝘔𝘢𝘹 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘠/𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘍𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘙𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘯, 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘓𝘺𝘯𝘹.

||𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

We shouldn't be doing this. I thought we all agreed? It was too risky putting her in there, even if she is backup. But Y/n insisted.

There were just too many things that could go wrong.

What if the plan didn't work? What if he caught on before he got in the sauna? What if he breaks out?

Everyone seems pretty confident in the plan, and it is a strong plan. But... they don't know the Mind Flayer like I do. They don't know how determined he is.

Especially when he's angry.

"Y/n...?" I wince internally when my voice comes out softer than I wanted.

She looks over her shoulder, away from the huddled party, and steps away with me out of earshot while Lucas finishes up the details. She took my hands in hers and gave them a gentle squeeze, already reading my thoughts.

"I'm still doing this, hon,"

I can't help but sag my shoulders, avoiding her eye and nervously I begin playing with her hands. "You don't have to though,"

"I know," she says. But with one look I can tell she's trying to bury her worry. "But we've got no other choice,"

"Yes, we do. We can wait for more backup. We could finally find Dustin? Get my mom, the chief...?"

I trail off as Y/n gives me a bittersweet smile, tracing my hands with her thumbs. My gut sinks.

"You said it yourself, Will. We need to do this as soon as possible. If it is him, he could hurt someone,"

This time it's her turn to trail off, and finally, I speak with a gentle, countering voice. "Like you?"

She sighs, sagging her head against my shoulder and lazily snaking her hands around my waist in a hug. I hug her back, trying to enjoy this moment. I can tell she is too. It's then I hear her mumble against my shoulder, "I'm too stubborn to die,"

I laugh to myself, hugging her tighter and over her shoulder I see the Party split up. Mike was tailing El, Lucas was most likely out on the hunt for a lock of some sort as he had volunteered earlier and Max stayed put with the binoculars.

Against my better judgment, I pull away and meet Y/n's eye. The look of adoration in them was hard to believe, and it still made my knees weak. Thankful again for her and this moment, I planted a kiss on the crown of her head and she smiled.

"You trust me, right?" She asked, her voice unusually delicate.

I moved my chin off of her head so I could gawk at her, completely appaled.

"What?" But she was serious, and it broke my heart. "Of course I trust you. It's him I don't trust. I know what he's capable of and... I know what he thinks of you."

Y/n doesn't say anything this time. She just looks back at our interwoven hands and then back at me. She shoots me a quick, forced smile that unintentionally told me she was feeling more and more uneasy. But because it was Y/n, she was trying to brave for others. She was putting it aside for the great good.

She shouldn't have to. She doesn't have to. I just wish she knew that.

"Come on," she says, pulling me along after Lucas. "Let's go."

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

We found Lucas in the maintenance shed, digging through multiple boxes. I fell quiet and immediately got to work searching the shelves. Behind me at the door, Y/n hesitated, almost unsure of the silent tension in the room before ultimately shrugging it off and getting to work.

So far, all I was seeing was gardening gloves and other gardening supplies like pesticides, undoubtedly for lawn maintenance in front of and around the pools.

"Uh, Will...?" Lucas asks, shooting a nervous glance between me and Y/n from over his shoulder. "Um, you know about yesterday...?" Lucas asks softly.

Y/n hesitated from beside me for a moment, and in turn, so does Lucas. But he seems determined to make things right.

"It's fine, Lucas," I say, looking up from the box. "You don't have to say anything."

"I know..." Lucas continues, closing whatever lockbox he had found himself in. He was obviously nervous doing this in front of Y/n, but I guess I couldn't blame him. "But it's just... it was a really cool campaign. " he looks between both of us now, earnestly. "both of you did a great job."

He looks back at me, and Y/n shifts by my side, a frown on her face and her mouth in a small 'o' shape.

"And Mike and I should have never-"

"I don't care anymore Lucas," I say, moving on to a new box. "I really don't. We have bigger things to worry about now,

I know he's sorry, but I also know that if I dwell on it any longer I will only grow more upset. And I was already too worried about how this was going to go.

A pile of metal in the next box caught my eye. It was a long rope of steel chains and I pulled it out of the box, showing it to them.

"This should hold him,"

They both nod, looking somewhat relieved. But as I had feared, the matter wasn't being put to bed. Y/n had turned back to Lucas with a quirked brow and an edge in her voice and asked the last question we needed in this moment.

"Mike and you shouldn't have what?"

||𝟑𝐑𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

The chain lock on the door undid itself and the azure gate swung open, allowing El to stride inside.

'A fake man' is what she was told to look for, at least that's how the others summed it up when she asked what a "dummy" looked like. Her first answer had been from Max - "easy, we both dated one" - she told El. She had rolled her eyes despite fighting back a small smile. She half expected a rebuttal from Y/n but El had turned her head just in time to see Will pulling her away, and El's shoulders sagged.

She wasn't gonna think about it, or get her hopes up. El was determined to keep her mind on the task at hand, even now as her wide eyes scoured the shelves of many peculiar items. Finally, a flash of bright red caught her eye and she knew immediately why they called it a fake man.

El picked it up off the shelf and tried not to think about how much it creeped her out. Its head, arms, and legs flopped around when she picked it up and suddenly she was filled with aggravation. But it had not been from this dummy. It had been from the one that followed her.

"Hey, I found the breakers," El didn't turn her head, she just grimaced and sighed. The last person she wanted to see now was Mike. "Woah, that thing is super creepy. Let me see it-"

He took it from her arms abruptly when she turned, and she frowned up at him. Mike didn't notice. With a goofy smile, he held it up in his arms like a puppet.

"I think this'll work. Right buddy?" His other hand moved to the dummy's chin, making it talk in a grating high pitched voice. "'Right Mike',"

El was done waiting, and she certainly wasn't impressed with his behavior. She gave him a purposeful, deadpan glare before taking the dummy back and making a break for the door. Alone.

But Mike didn't still didn't seem to take the hint. Why was he laughing and joking, she wondered. Why was he acting like nothing was wrong?

"Hey, El," he calls after her, for once sounding earnest.

Against her better judgment, she turns around.

"I just," he sighs, beginning to fight nervously. "I wanted to say..." he shifts on his feet. "You know when I said Nana was sick?" He took another, plunging deep breath. Here goes nothing, he thought."Well, she wasn't. I lied."

"I know."

El turned to leave, and Mike called out again. "Right, right, right, I just... I think it was important for you to know the context," he adds.

Her eyes tighten in a glare, she was growing impatient.

"Hopper," Mike says quickly. "he went crazy on me. Telling me I'm spending way too much time with you. He made me lie, I mean, you're the most important thing to me in the world-"

"-What if he's right?" El cut in, dropping the dummy on the ground.

"What?"

"Hop," she challenged, stepping forward.

A lazy grin took over Mike's face, a mocking grin, and he laughed dismissively. "Oh, no, no, no. He's just some angry old man who hates joy,"

The girl grits her teeth, reminded more and more of Diana's truth lasso and the Amazon warriors Max and Y/n had taught her about. And it gave her more confidence in her answer.

"But if I only see you," she explains slowly, putting on a facetious tone and jabbing a finger in his shoulder. "and I'm a different species than you, then I should be with my species more."

"What are you talking about?" Mike asks, flabbergasted as El retrieves the dummy from the floor. When she nears the gate, his jaw drops in shock when it clicks. "...Did you spy on me?"

"That's totally against the rules!" He cries, and she heaves the dummy over her shoulders.

"I make my own rules,"

And with that, El had left leaving Mike alone and in shock.

The silence had lasted only moments before a crackle of his walkie startled him.

"Mike? Are you there?"

"Yeah!" He can't help but snap, still much too in his own head.

"Where are you guys?" Max asks from her station at the car.

She hadn't left, nor had she taken her eyes off of Billy since everyone split.

"I'm coming... just hold on a second- Mike!"

Max did a double-take at the walkie when she barely heard the second voice in the background. It sounded like Y/n. But Mike had already shut off his coms. So Max shrugged, setting down her walkie and taking another hesitant look through the binoculars at her stepbrother.

"I hope it's not you," she says under her breath. "I really hope it not you."

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"Mike!"

Mike stumbled back against the shelves, startled when Y/n came storming in and he nervously closed his walkie.

She looked livid.

Will and Lucas were right on her tail, fearfully and hesitantly trying to persuade or calm her in some way.

"The hell is wrong with you, Wheeler?"

"What?!" He asked, completely dumbfounded.

"You heard me! What the hell is your problem?"

"You tell me! Apparently, I'm messing up everywhere," he exclaims, gesturing after El. "you're gonna have to be more specific,"

"Y/n, really, just let it go. I'm over it-" Will eased.

"-Well, I'm not." She spits, glowering at Mike. "Why the hell would you say that? How could you say that?!"

"Say what...?!" Mike's heart and stomach sunk 6 feet when he met the saddened eyes of Will, and he felt he might hurl. He had been kicking himself since it came out of his mouth, just as he had with his fight outside the mall with Y/n. It was getting harder and harder for Mike not to explode these days, everything instinct seemed to be the wrong one. "Oh..."

"Yeah, oh," she snarls, completely disgusted. "None of us said that to you when El was gone for a year now did we?"

Mike picks his eyes back up off the floor where he had guiltily been avoiding everyone's eye and meets her fiery glare, shifting uncomfortably on his feet. The more and more she looks at him the more he feels like he's standing on hot coals.

But despite her intimidating stature, her voice grew quieter and more intense.

"And you spent all those nights in her fort, testing the channels and calling out to her?When we all thought she was dead. Did we ever say anything so horrible?"

He shifts again, his heartbreaking and anger swelling up in his chest at himself as he recalls what he said to Will. "No, you didn't."

"No, we didn't. Because friends don't do that shit."

"No, they don't,"

"They also don't shit all over their friend, leaving him behind, mocking things important to him either," she says pointedly, now sharing that look with Lucas but it was less severe towards the Sinclair boy. "huh?"

They both nodded, and Will stayed quiet.

-"No,"

-"Huh-uh,"

She turns back to Mike, shaking her head with her arms folded over her stomach. She was still passed but the boy looked well past sorry. And suddenly her face went blank, scaring Mike.

"What?" He asks carefully.

"You drew first blood, metaphorically speaking," Y/n informed, still trying to tamper down her anger. "so you have to apologize. A real one, not a fake one, and not out of defense."

Mike fell silent again, looking between her, Lucas, and finally Will. Before he could open his mouth to speak, she finished.

"Do it when you mean it, Mike. Not because you got caught,"

And then, like deja vu, she was gone leaving him and this time, his friends in silent shock. And with one lingering look, Will had left with her.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"Erica, do you copy?"

Erica buckled the helmet under her chin, her head still getting used to the weight of two flashlights and Dustin's walkie headset.

Night had fallen and everyone had locked up, including their very own Scoops Ahoy. With the addition of one Dustin Henderson and Erica Sinclair of course. The girl tightens her backpack over her shoulders and stands ready at the latter.

"Mm-hmm. I copy. You nerds in position, or what?"

"Yeah, we're in position," Robin answers softly, careful not to draw any attention like last time despite the lack of company. "It's It's quiet here, so you've got the green light."

"Green light. Got it." She nods, beginning her ascent. "Commence Operation Child Endangerment."

"Can we maybe not call it that?" Robin plead.

"See you on the other side, nerds." Was her only response and the line went quiet.

Erica had begun her journey into the vents.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

After several painstaking, hair-tearing minutes the trio finally heard a response.

"Alright, nerds. I'm there,"

"Do you see anything?" Robin asks.

Erica peers through the vents with little interest.

"Yeah, I see those boring little boxes you're so excited about,"

"Any guards?"

"Negative,"

"Booby traps?" Robin inquires.

Erica scoffs as she slips the backpack off her shoulders.

"If I could see them, they'd be pretty shit traps, wouldn't they?"

Steve fights a smirk, but it wasn't hard given his stress level.

"Thank you for that," Robin deadpans.

Erica rears back her legs and with a fearsome cry she kicked out the vent and tossed her backpack out onto the floor. And nary a booby trap in sight. So far.

Her feet collided with the ground and she gave a firm nod.

"I'm in,"

Those words hit Steve harder than anything they had done all week, and he feels suddenly as if a giant weight had been placed on his lungs preventing him from breathing.

"Oh, god," he groaned into his hands.

They were sending an actual child - not to mention a child he barely knew - into certain danger for the sake of reward. Oh, he definitely went too far, this was bad. This was so very bad.

A far-off buzzing pulled his eyes back to the doors just in time to see them swing open. And out waltzed Erica who was waiting for them with a knowing look.

"Free ice cream. For. Life!"

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

A choir of crickets sings into the starless night. The warm breeze blowing in from the east enunciates the sway of the trees and carries with it the smell of chlorine drifting in from the closed pool. The concrete was still wet from today's patrons, and the last of the darkened footprints on the concrete had begun to dry. Including the trail that led all the way into the men's locker room.

Billy stood under the gentle stream of water, allowing the freezing water to soak all the way to his bones. He had been in the shower for at least an hour, trying desperately to quell the fire in his veins but he only managed to subdue it to a small ember.

Finally, he kills the water, and the locker room falls deadly quiet. Billy liked the quiet, he always had. And now more than ever.

Towel secured around his torso, he now stands at and opens his designated locker, and begins to change. His mind wanders aimlessly, anything that wasn't the obvious when suddenly, the silence is first disturbed.

The moaning of the metal door bounced off of the long stretch of lockers with an echoey tin, and Billy bristled.

"Pool's closed,"

Metal cried out to him again, finished by a shuddering clang from the door yet again.

"Hey!"

No answer.

He slams the locker shut so hard the whole row shakes and he takes off down the hall after them in a blind fury.

"YOU HEAR ME?!"

Again no answer, but Billy wouldn't accept it.

"The pool is closed!"

He throws his fists against the exit door, confused as to why it wasn't opening. Unbeknownst to him, a certain brunette was hiding in the shadows across the locker room, playing with the door - and the lock now trapping him inside - all without lifting a finger.

Angered and confused, Billy continues his assault on the door; slamming fist after fist, push after push but there was no give. He was locked inside.

And the lights cut out.

Billy was high alert now. And so was He. Billy could feel him prickle, far back in his mind but he was there. Watching.

Waiting.

"Billy," came a distant, sing-song voice.

"Who's there," he seethes.

"Billy~"

He stalked back around the corner as he echoes the mocking, sing-song voice.

"Who's there~"

More rattling preceded a chilling, squeaky laugh that echoed seemingly from everywhere. Billy takes a chance and rips open the first shower curtain, but finds nothing. The voice calls out again, once, twice. It laughs.

"You think this is funny?" He asks, in a frighteningly low voice.

The voice laughs, once again, in response and hisses another taunt. "Billy! Come and find me!"

He stalks further and further, edging the end of the brick wall as his eyes prowl across the room in search of movement.

"I find you, it is your funeral," he promises.

His eyes lock on the closing door leading to the weight room, and as if reading his thoughts, the voice eggs him on.

"Come and get me! Come on!"

Slowly he maneuvers towards the door, reaching ever so slowly for the handle. And in one swift motion, he rips it open and storms inside, finding no one but himself. At first.

"Billy!" The voice cried again, closer than ever. Another taunting laugh.

But Billy's eyes were dead set ahead on the sauna door, and more specifically the silhouette of moppy hair waiting for him behind the foggy glass window. The corners of Billy's mouth are yanked up in a disconnected smile that never quite reaches his pained eyes.

"Got you,"

His lips curl back into a snarl - an exaggerated smile - as he claps his hands and cackles, marching in for the kill.

He's already ripping open the door, face falling and realizing the truth of it all when he registers the voice clear as day and flatter and angrier than ever.

"Come and get me you piece of shit."

A fake. A goddamn fake made out of a stolen CPR dummy was the only thing waiting for him, harnessed from the ceiling. In a flood of anger, Billy steps forward and grabs the dummy in a chokehold, its rubber head hitting the ceiling with a thud. And that's when he spots it.

The walkie-talkie duct-taped to its chest and still talking to him.

"Hey. Behind you,"

Billy whirls around to find one of the girls from the night before.

El.

"Hi,"

Billy chucks the dummy into the sauna floor, but before he can do anything else, the girl flicks her head with a grunt and he's sent flying into the tile wall. It shatters where his back makes contact and he cries out in pain, falling to the floor in a heap.

"Now!" Mike cries.

The lights return with a sharp click and across the room, the Party emerges from their hiding spot in the locker rooms.

Billy's already on his feet, blood pounding in his ears just from his furious screams as he storms after El. But El is faster. She rakes one clawed hand through the air with a grunt and the door swings shut with a loud bang, where the others got to work.

Y/n had stopped at El's side where she was mostly hidden, for once allowing her best friend to shield her from the man pounding and screaming against the glass like a rabid dog. The others had already secured a smaller metal pipe through the door handle and the pipes attached to the wall, encircling it all with the rope of chains Will had discovered.

"Come on! Come on!" Mike reflexively cried, with nothing more to do but help hold the door closed and watch as Billy atta ked inches from his face.

He could feel the door moving.

At last, the click of the lock reached their ears. "Got it!" Lucas cried.

The four of them scurry back to El's side, watching in horror as Billy descended into madness before their very eyes.

The lock and chains rattled, as did the pipe and with every flinch of the door, the edge in the air grew sharper. Y/n felt a hand squeeze her own and she knew it was Will, and she gave his hand a thankful squeeze. Nobody said anything as he roared in anger, and they all feared what might happen next but not a single one of them expected what did.

His face slowly fell, his screams dying out with it as his expression turned to gasp when he noticed a particular individual.

"Max,"

His voice was a whisper, barely a breath, as he looked upon the girl. Her expression was unreadable, but it didn't take a genius to know she was trying to be brave. He looked - and sounded - betrayed. One by one, her friends look to her, her ocean eyes dead ahead on her brother.

"Do it," she says.

Releasing Y/n's hand, Will runs forward to the controls, commencing the sauna test.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

The trio, now quartet, stood packed together inside the locked room, peering over the same Imperial Panda box that was identical to the others piling the shelves. Steve handed Dustin's pocket knife back to the boy after splitting the tape. He pries the lid open, popping the remaining bit of tape, and unfolds the cardboard to reveal an unexpected sight.

The four of them peer in to get a better look at the single metal box with one indented handle in the very center. Steve sends them each a curious look before twisting the lid until he felt and heard the satisfying click and hiss of air releasing from the inside. Discarding the lid revealed to all four figures four similar handles inside corresponding cylinders; steam spilling out from all sides.

"That's definitely not Chinese food," Steve says finally.

He makes a grab for one of the cylinders but stops himself, motioning for the three.

"Uh, maybe you guys should, uh, you know stand back,"

Robin shrugs and complies, and Erica steps off the box of Kauffman Shoes she had been standing on but Dustin doesn't move. He just shakes his head defiantly.

"No,"

"Just step back, alright?" Steve says, eyeing the handle while trying to shoo the kid away.

"No,"

"Step back!"

-"no!"

-"seriously!"

-"No!" Dustin cries, growing upset. "If you die, I die,"

The room goes silent and everyone stares at Dustin as he gives Steve a challenging look. And after several moments of silence, Steve concedes.

"Okay," he finally shrugs.

Steve turns back to the handle and draws in an anxious, and unlikely-but-also-not-impossibly last breath, and unlocks the cylinder. Again, it hisses and more and more steam spills out but all eyes were on the glowing green substance in the cylinder Steve now held up.

"What the hell?" Steve gasps.

"What... is that?" Robin can't help but ask.

The billowing sound of grinding gears and squeaking pulleys rang in their ears and they all felt an invisible force sway them on their feet. They hadn't previously thought it possible, but their attention was stolen away from the mysterious glowing substance and towards the room.

"Is that just me or did the room move?" Dustin murmured.

"Booby traps," Erica croaked, for the first time sounding scared.

The room was filled with more and more clicks that only grew louder and Robin snapped into action.

"Okay, you know what? Let's just grab that and go," she says, snatching the cylinder from Steve's hands and begab securing it in Erica's backpack.

Dustin made a break for the panel, where Erica had shown him and wasted no time in pressing, "door open," but nothing happened. Just the empty clicks reaching his ears as he feverishly pressed the button over and over and tried not to panic.

"Which one do I press, Erica?"

"Just press the damn button, nerd,"

"Which one, I-" He gulps nervously, swiping at his sweating brow trying to maintain a level voice. "I'm pressing the button, okay?"

"Press 'open door'!"

"I'm pressing 'open door'!"

-"Just open the-- press the other button!" Steve cuts in, and all four of them begin shouting over one another as they spiral into a frenzy.

-"Guys, just get out of the way so she can press the button!"

"-would you stop?"

"-I'm trying!"

"-Would you let me just do it?! Would you just stop?!"

"Just open the door!"

Pulling a hail Mary, Steve hit every button he could see and a sudden jolt shook the room with the loudest clang they had heard so far. They all stilled; the room falling silent around them apart from the wailing of the gears.

A giant red barricade had unsheathed itself over the door, blocking their only exit and their stomachs dropped. Literally. The room itself was suddenly plunged at a sickening speed, knocking them into the walls and floors with terrified shrieks. As Steve gripped the shelf and the wall, trying to steady himself, his widened eyes fall on the upper wall - or lack thereof - where concrete walls and rows upon rows of lights were rushing past them all confirming to him the worst.

"Oh, shit,"

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

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dreamiesdotcom · 3 years

Text

rule #6 | l.dh

Summary: With Donghyuck, growing to love feels like a black hole, but not the depressing kind. Rather, it's something hard to get away from — like a force, a very strong force that allows no escape, and it's incredibly luminous as if going supernova.

Word Count: 3.5k

a/n: hi, this is moon from somewhere august, scheduling this post before i chicken out again :D by the time it's posted, it's already Christmas so,,, merry christmas y'all who celebrate!!!! Lots of love!!!

Just like most things involving Donghyuck, falling in love with him isn't such a good idea.

That was way too sped up, though. The best way to start this story, of course, is from the very beginning— the day human migraine number one (a.k.a Jaemin) decided to bring in evil genius Huang Renjun to the circle. That would've been fine. It just so happened that beside him sat the devil incarnate, Lee Donghyuck, and that, well, is totally all four directions far away from what's acceptable.

Rule number one to surviving this life thing: Never trust cute boys with sunshine smiles and mischief in their eyes, a.k.a Donghyuck, or Haechan, whatever name he decided to go by. That's why when he reaches his hands out over the table to your direction, you quickly dismiss his attempt — "Hi! I haven't met you yet, did you skip first period? You're Y/N, ri—"

"Please never speak to me." was your reply then, and human migraine number two (a.k.a Chenle) laughs. Jaemin nags for the rest of the break, talking about manners and getting along. The fools nod alongside him. You grumble, moody for no reason and feeling particularly mean, but you warmly smile at Mark when he arrives at your table. Somewhere along the lines, you met stares with the new boy, and you give him an indifferent look.

Donghyuck took the nonchalance as a challenge.

###

The following weeks have been infuriating.

Rule #2: At all times, seek Lee Jeno's company. Unreliable as he seems when it comes to patience, the boy is quite reasonable sometimes.

Your windows align with the sweet-faced boy, your roofs almost touching — if you tried hard enough, you two could sit together, side by side, just like this. Cold wind blows, but it doesn't make you shiver. Jeno's warm, and maybe that's why you love cuddling with him so much. Maybe.

Just maybe, that could be the reason.

"I can't hear what you're saying," he slowly says, laughter seeping through his lips. You whine at that, moving away so he could see you and you could speak clearly. His hand remains holding your chin up, endearing in a soft way, but it doesn't wash away your frown. "What were you saying?"

You groan, "I said, he's so annoying! The audacity, Lee Jeno, he had the audacity to call me ba—"

Jeno watches you with tender eyes. Your heart softens, and you forget whatever next words you had to say. Maybe things will be okay? He's here, after all. Just right next door.

At least, something is going right.

###

This new boy, it seems, is appealing to many. During his first week, people have constantly trying to 'show him around', and that excuse doesn't die down until one month. From then on, people just keep following him around with "Good morning, Haechan!", "Goodbye, Haechan!" and "How was the weekends for you, Haechan-ssi?"

To be honest, it's something you had to grow used to even way before the showed up. Having Na Jaemin and Mark Lee from the Basketball team in your circle just really has a way of putting the spotlight on your lunch table. Not to mention, Renjun, Jeno, and Jisung, who despite being quiet, just has a certain charm to them — Jaemin's words, not yours. And oh, don't even get started on Chenle. That boy is a social butterfly.

The difference is that he keeps entertaining them, unlike the others who awkwardly laughs or just greets back — safe to say that sometimes, the 'goodness' of his heart gets in the way of your education and daily life. Times just like this.

Jisung's name shines brightly at the top of the list. You cling to the boy excitedly, pinching his cheeks and slightly bouncing on your heels, "You made it on the dance team, Sungie! Oh my God, oh my Go—"

"Y/N..." he drawls out, both hands resting on your shoulder as if to calm you down, but the excitement in his eyes betrays his intentions. On the other side, Renjun waves at you with the others. It makes you chuckle, and you motion for them come — that is, of course, until someone pushes you, almost sending you to the ground if not for Jisung catching you midfall.

The girl furrows her brows, "Move, you're blocking the way."

Your palms itch at that moment, and you couldn't believe just what you heard — the nerve!

"Where's your manners?" rings Donghyuck's voice from where he's slowly making way towards you with the others, a grimace on each of their faces. Attitude seeps from his gaze, the kind that would've made someone quiver. "Don't go around pushing people."

"Wh—"

"Stop." you clench your hands to fists, thanking Jisung before straightening up. Through gritted teeth, you calmly look at the girl with a scowl on her face. "Look, I'm sorry, but can you politely ask me to move next time? That's be appreciated, thank you."

After bidding the others a small smile, you turn around to make your way to the library. What? For peace? For space? Just to be as far away from the boy following you right now as possible? You don't even know at this point. You feel like your celebration is ruined and all you want is distance from the person you dislike the most — to be honest, you don't know anything about him aside from the fact that he's Lee Donghyuck and that he's annoying, and that you automatically hate him. You don't plan on knowing more. That's why before entering the library, you turn around to face him with a solemn look.

"Thank you." he halts in shock. His smile widens, but you look at him with the same seriousness in your face. "But don't do it again. I don't need saving, Lee Donghyuck."

Later that night, you grit your teeth as you write down another rule: Say your gratitude but don't get used to the way he saves you. You're not a damsel. Just hand the goddamn sword or you'll be fine with your fists — maybe your eyes for daggers, too.

####

Rule #3: Never go to him for comfort.

22nd of April, 10:35 p.m. You close your eyes and wait. The clock hits eleven and you open the door for the others, greeting everyone with a cheerful smile. "Where's Jaemin?"

Mark shrugs, "Said he has an essay. He'll be late for a bit, but he'll make it before 12."

23rd of April, 12:00 a.m, your heartbeat races. Everything's all set, everyone's in the living room. You take out your phone with a giggle, typing out 'Happy Birthday, dummy!!!' with the biggest grin on your face. Jisung judges you slightly, but he quickly forgets it when a taunting yell from Renjun comes. You sit in the kitchen, staring at the delicately decorated cake, and you wait.

One hour turns to two, then three. Your smile fades slightly, and you check your phone for replies. When nothing comes, you click over his contact shakily.

To: Star <3

Happy Birthday, dummy!!!

Hey, Jen? You're one door away from me and yet you're an hour late.

Birthday boy, you're not ditching us on your own celebration, aren't ya?

When are you coming over ;-;

From: Star <3

I'm sorry!!!

Sorry but I'll be late!

Jaeminnie really needs my help with something.

We'll be there! I'm sorry, Y/N

Your smile disappears. Sullenly making your way to the living room, you count your steps to keep your ground. You look at the others in front of you with a smile, "Go start the movie, I'll wait for Jeno and Jaemin outside. Deal?"

"Sure." Chenle chirps, his grin never fading. Must be because of cheating his way through besting Jisung, Donghyuck, Mark, and Renjun at Monopoly for the past three hours, probably ruining their friendship. Oblivious to the world, Renjun grumbles something about Jeno never being punctual, that he'd pray that trait onto him as a birthday gift. You glance at them before heading back outside, sitting down outside your door, head in between your knees.

A tear. Maybe two. Is this how heartbreak feels like? The kind of crying where you can't even make a sound because people could hear, but then even your teardrops seem to be so loud.

The door opens and you put your head up, hurriedly wiping them away. You put on your best smile until Donghyuck occupies the space beside you. He hands you a handkerchief.

"Don't," he whispers when you obviously hold down a sob, and he leans you on his chest. You cry freely there — you don't know why you let him of all people, but all you know was that you couldn't think straight; desperation blooms on your chest like fresh flowers die over time, and he doesn't judge. He just holds you — no cheesy pet name, no flirty looks, no catch. Just someone to be with.

At 4 a.m with Lee Donghyuck, the starless sky and the moon all alone looks a little less lonely. In front of you, the sun begins to rise.

Rule #4: Aaaaand if you don't follow the preceding rule, then, you're fucked. This is your mess. Good luck, you're alone on this one.

After Jeno's birthday (and after he made up to you, he spent a month doing that.) something just begins to change. A pleasant shift, according to Mark.

From that day, something in you says that maybe, just maybe, he's not so bad and you were just unfair to him. This realization must be something brought by time; slowly, you got used to Renjun and Hyuck being a part of your circle. These tutoring sessions must be a factor as well, judging how to two get to spend time alone in the same table as you can't possibly study with the others around you.

Donghyuck would do anything to evade mathematics, though. At least that's what it looks like right now, as he doodles around the margins instead of solving the problems, and then opens a topic, "Nana and Jisung looks cute together. Should've known they wouldn't be serious with each other, him and Jeno."

You roll your eyes, but not the way you did back then. It's way softer, much more affectionate. "It's been a year, let them be."

"So what? It's only been a year." he seems really determined to waste time. He even makes a show of briefly making eye contact before pouting at the paper, "You and Jeno still pretend to be just friends, but the whole school's just waiting for you two to kiss."

You chuckle, "We don't."

"You do."

"Used to." you correct. You look over to the other table, Jaemin and Jeno throwing a banter while Jisung begs them to stop before Renjun smacks them all with a book. You gaze down the notes you're studying before shrugging, "Things change."

"Example?" he tentatively asks, absentmindedly tracing the letters and numbers scattered around his notebook. You rest your chin on your palm.

"Well, now, I might like you." because honestly, you do. He's a great company, although sometimes overwhelming and annoying. Especially that most of the time when he's with Jaemin, they brew the worst ideas together and it's pretty much storm from there.

It would be a lie to say that it's not one of the things that makes you feel warm, slowly growing fond. Your voice softens as he tilts up to meet your gaze, and you flash him a saccharine smile. "Soon, it might not be because you're my friend."

Things like this make you feel like you've missed everything with Jeno, all the things you both could've had; it's like you should've been like this. It's like you should've been holding hands, or walking down the streets, or sitting on a rooftop and asking for a kiss. The kind that would send a rush of energy on your veins, shaking you back to life, losing you to the dream that is the way his lips move against you. But best friends don't do that, so you don't.

Hyuck is not Jeno, though. He's not your best friend.

With Donghyuck, growing to love feels like a black hole, but not the depressing kind. Rather, it's something hard to get away from — like a force, a very strong force that allows no escape, and it's incredibly luminous as if going supernova.

###

Rule #5: Well, seems like you can't back out now. Love him. Love him so much that the sunshine in his eyes never fades.

"Why are we celebrating Mark's last day in town?" Donghyuck sits down in the living room, looking around at the place — balloons, snacks, a cake, everyone in your friend group. He sets down his gift, "Are we that glad that he's leaving?"

Mark huffs, "You'd fucking cry once you miss me and I'm cities away, Lee Donghyuck."

"I won't miss you because I'm coming over to your dorm every day and I'm dragging everyone with me." Donghyuck smiles and even when Mark shoves him a little at that, everyone knows that he's happy the younger said that. He flashes his sly smile, "You, however... ah, what do we do? Mark might miss me so much he fails three subjects."

Everyone cackles at that, and Mark only raises his arms at surrender, saying something about not joking like that because he's honestly 'terrified to start hell', wanting to just stay here and finish school with all of you, ranting about how troublesome it is to transfer. You lean back on your loveseat, lightly kicking Hyuck's feet. "What?"

"You talk like this but you'd sulk tomorrow, wouldn't you?" You taunt, snickering. "This is false advertising."

Donghyuck gapes as the others fall over laughing. "Oi, are you trying to help me fill out all the ten reasons I hate you?"

"You have only ten for me?" you add, and for some reason, that makes the others laugh harder. "I have a hundred for you, Hyuckie."

"I could write you thousands—"

Jeno scrunches his face, hands moving to cover Donghyuck's mouth. "Just please go kiss each other."

Donghyuck tears away from his hold, rolls his eyes, and waves goodbye. He tugs you away from Jaemin and then leads you upstairs, but not before one last banter with Jeno, who, in his all confused expression, tilts his head in question, "Ya, where are you going?"

"I'm not kissing Y/N in front of you fools."

And true to his word, that's what he does.

Donghyuck smiles like the world is kind, like unending unconditional love, without boundaries nor fears. He kisses like that, too, passionate and deep. He does it like it's the end of the world, as if it's the only thing he wants to do. He does it like he's thanking every single thing that led him up to this moment. He kissed you under those stars in his balcony, a hand warm on your waist with the other softly caressing your jaw, and it seemed like it lasted forever.

Because that's the truth. The last time never feels like the last time. There had to be more to this than what the skies have laid down.

Inside your dreamy little mind, Donghyuck was eternal and the love you shared was forever. That's what happened. You thought you had forever.

You thought you had forever, but you didn't.

###

Rule #6: But that won't make him stay if he's bound to leave. Accept that and love him, still. Love him through the rain.

"Lee Jeno tripped!" yells Chenle's loud voice, gaining the attention of everybody in the room, "And fell in love with Y/N, totally whipped that they can't even shop separately!"

"Hell, Chenle, where's your mute button?" Renjun hissed, "We gotta buy presents too. Who decided to do this so late, though? It's the 24th! You guys should've done it weeks ago!"

"Let's go?" Jeno asks, blatantly ignoring Renjun as he waits for you to take his hands. You smirk, waving the folded paper to the others after entwining fingers with him.

"Bye, losers! See y'all later~" you wink. Before being dragged out the Cafe, you point at your friends' direction "Whoever had my name better give me a decent gift, or Christmas is cancelled!"

"Baby, stop that," he asks, squeezing your hands to make you calm down. Your laugh even louder. He smiles, "Who did you get?"

"Hey, Lee, you don't get special treatment just because I'm dating you. It's a secret." you roll your eyes, a skip in your step even though the weather is cold. Jeno steals a peck on your cheeks, and your eyes widen. "Lee Jeno!"

Before you could even catch him, he's already running away from you, and you're almost falling over laughing as you try to catch up to him. He meets you at the end, in front of a busy mall, and catches you with a hug. You laugh on his chest, warm against his hold.

If memories come washing over you, no one has to know. Jeno looks lovely against white. He feels like art on a Christmas day, so beautiful and warm and special. That's all that matters.

"We agreed that we wouldn't try..." Donghyuck whispers, arms around you, "if things will get too harsh on the other, didn't we?"

"Yeah... if I was to leave, Hyuck, I don't want you waiting on me." you responded, half-asleep and sincere, "But I'm only saying it because I'm not leaving."

Donghyuck laughed, "Well, just making sure that if that happens, we'll meet again, yeah?"

"Hyuck, shut up. Nobody's leaving." you groaned, stirring at the joyful yelling downstairs. "Looks like it's 12 already. Merry Christmas, baby."

"Mhm, Merry Christmas. I love you." He smiles, leaves a slow, gentle kiss on your lips. "I love you. I'll love you even more this year."

Does moving away without a word count as loving someone more than you did the past year?

"You're spacing out." Jeno smiles, "Am I that handsome?"

"You always are. Stunning." you quickly reply, a little guilty. You enter the busy room and part ways so that you could shop for your gifts, but not before deciding on a meeting point and leaving a sweet, loving kiss. "Come back, yeah?"

"Of course." he nods before parting ways. Your heart remains at peace — as planned, at the end of the day, Jeno would come back to you at the entrance. He won't leave like the other did. He won't do that to you...

Two hours before Christmas, you sit down on your own for a bit, occasionally distracted by the noise. At their loudness, you can make out Mark trying to calm everybody down, Jaemin threatening murder to keep Jisung and Mark away from the kitchen, Jeno convincing Chenle to get a dog. As you write down their yearly letters, you can't get rid of the smile on your face.

Why they decided to spend this holiday at yours, you don't really understand. Can't say you're against it, though. It's perfect; the tree all of you built together, the presents, the games you'll spend the night playing. The friendship.

Only that someone's missing. As if to lessen the pain, you write his name down on the paper — except it's not a new one, but rather, the page you've been foolishly writing your rules on; the rules that never stood a chance to save you. You trace your hands over the words, but you quickly shake nostalgia away as you turn the page over.

Hello, Donghyuck-ah!

You know the drill. For some time, you received some of my letters, didn't you? After all, we spent some years together... as enemies, as friends, as lovers. You probably memorized how it goes: I'll dwell on the year, I'll tell you how I chose your gift, I'll try to say how much I adore you, and then I'll thank you for being here.

Unfortunately this time, I can't tell you how our year went... I didn't spend it with you. I wasn't able to get you a gift, too, because I don't know if your preferences changed. And I can't thank you for being here. I can't because you're not.

Though I could still tell you that I love you, now it's kind of different. It's less of something that desperately needs you, and more of the kind that longs for you. Jeno and I got together at last. It's complicated how we happened, but we gave it a try and... just. That. You won't read this, but I still want you to know... even if this will never reach you.

Remember that we said that we'll meet again? Well, where are you? Are you happy? How's life been, miles away from home, from your friends, Hyuck-ah?

Merry Christmas. I hope you're happy.

I hope you are, of course, I do. I want you to be happy, I do. I can't wish for anything more — I want you to be happy... just that I hope you're sad sometimes, too, just like me... because of me. I want your heart to break sometimes too. I want you to cry sometimes too. In those empty spaces, I want you to remember me.

And I know you won't do any of that, but in my twisted imagination, you do. And you are.

You're the happiest you could be, but not that much — not happy enough that you'd forget me.

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