#i only see like 3 of my friends from high school on a regular basis so it’d be nice to see how everyone else is doing :c

[active-mind-15]

Headcanons for Akashi when he's sad 😔

I did a cute one last night for Akashi laughing, so I thought I'd flip the script and break y'alls hearts rq with some headcanons I have for when Akashi isn't feeling all too great.

First of all, let's start with any canon material we have of Akashi being openly sad. There really isn't much. The only times we see him like that in the main series are at his mother's funeral as a child during that flashback, and then directly after he lost to Seirin. Even with the second instance, he tried to hold in his tears as best as he could and still put on a brave smile to go and shake hands with Kuroko. Aside from that, the only other instance I can think of is during the drama CD (season 3 volume 9) where he had a bit of an argument with Murasakibara.

Canonically, we know why he is almost never openly sad. With such high expectations placed on him by his father, the superintendents of Teiko, and even himself, showing sadness was a form of weakness. This is why, despite the fact that he was clearly overwhelmed with too much work throughout his entire childhood, he never complained. His father likely drilled that mentality into him to just suck it up and keep it pushing, because Akashi wasn't even allowed time to process his grief after losing his mother, the only support system he ever had. With this information in mind, let's get into my headcanons.

First of all, what makes Akashi upset? The first thing I can think of is his massive workload paired with the high expectations placed on him. There are probably some days when all of it is just too overwhelming and he gets stressed out, worried that he won't be able to handle it all. Whenever Akashi switches personalities in the series, it's always during a crucial basketball match. But I personally feel like if he's stressed with work all the time, he's constantly teetering on the edge of dissociating but ends up not. I can imagine him in his dorm after a long day of school trying to finish assignments late into the night, and he's desperately fighting to remain present and in the moment. It probably happens more than people think, and to avoid giving into his other self and letting him take over is something he has to do on a regular basis.

The second thing is when he feels like he hasn't been a good friend. Post-Winter Cup, Akashi tries really hard to reconnect with Kuroko and the other GoM more than he used to back in middle school. And given how he had to salvage his friendships with his former and current teams after almost ruining them both, post-Winter Cup Akashi is probably very insecure about his own ability to be a good friend to others. For example, in season 3 volume 9 of the drama CDs when he and Murasakibara had a quarrel, Murasakibara mentioned that Akashi had no idea how he felt at all before hanging up the phone. That comment stuck with Akashi, so much so that all three of the Uncrowned Kings noticed and essentially staged an intervention in the clubroom because Akashi looked so visibly bothered that it freaked them out. You can tell that he cares about his friends as well as what they think of him. He wants to be someone they can trust and depend on, but when he feels like he's missed the mark, he gets upset about it each and every time because, really and truly, he's trying his very best.

What does he look like when he's sad? The thing about Akashi is that he still sometimes has trouble letting himself be upset because he's busy and has no time for breakdowns (probably why he prefers to dissociate instead since he'd rather just detach himself from reality and not feel anything at all). As a result, he tends to bottle a lot of things up until they all spill out later, and I can see it manifesting in two ways.

1: panic attacks. With what this boy has been through, it would not surprise me in the slightest if he ever had panic attacks. If he somehow managed to avoid them throughout his entire childhood, then I think his first panic attack would come after losing the Winter Cup finals because this is the first time in his life he's ever lost at anything and he feels like his entire world is falling apart. He'd probably be hit with an overwhelming fear of what would happen to him after losing the finals, especially with how much his father emphasized victory and success over everything. And the idea of being a disappointment and disgracing his family name would probably just tear this poor boy apart. And these panic attacks are not pretty. He's hyperventilating and gasping through sobs that he desperately tries to quiet to no avail, and he trembles so badly that he can barely keep himself upright. Not good at all.

2: full system shutdown. Maybe I'm projecting my own personal experiences for this one, but I think if there was a day when he was just so stressed and tired or maybe he got news that was so devastating, his body would refuse to cope and he would just... switch off. That could mean sleeping in the middle of the day for long stretches of time because he can't handle being awake, and then when he is awake, his mind is static and he's totally nonverbal, normally for several hours. Also not good at all.

The only person who's ever seen him in the middle of either one of these types of breakdowns is Mibuchi. The first time was accidental because Akashi didn't have the foresight to lock the door at that moment. But after Mibuchi is able to calm him down/bring him back to reality, then for every time after, Akashi will actively seek out Mibuchi if he feels like he's on the verge of a breakdown. Eventually, he opens up about it to the other Uncrowned Kings and they're very supportive and tell Akashi to let them know if there's any way they can help him (he actually has to hold back tears for that).

I have a separate headcanon that post-Winter Cup Akashi eventually starts going to therapy because he realizes he could really use it, and so I would think with time, he develops better coping mechanisms and also knows how to calm himself down before getting to the point of a breakdown. (He still seeks Mibuchi out, though, cuz sometimes he just needs a hug. Is that so wrong?)

He also learns to just experience his emotions as they come and for what they are. Positive or negative, either way, all emotions are valid, and instead of hiding from sadness, you should feel it and then let it pass. Through that, he's able to make peace with himself and not be so hard on himself anymore.

Anyway, I have no idea where to end it, so I'll leave it here because I'm literally falling asleep as I write this. I need to go to bed. For anyone who I've punched in the gut with these headcanons... I'm not sorry. Bye now! 😃

#i told y'all it was gonna hurt #i tried to warn you #either way that's my chronic akashi brainrot indulged for the night #hoped y'all enjoyed #kuroko no basket #knb headcanons #akashi seijuro

[shoko-komi]

This special edition of The Komi Report is split into 2 posts. This is Part 1. Click here for Part 2

Hullo!  Welcome to the mildly anticipated 2023 Annual Edition of The Komi report!  What awaits you below the read more mark is the ultimate retrospective on this year in Komi Can't Communicate.  What makes it ultimate?  As far as I'm aware, it's the only one of its kind.  So I win by default. 

I've spent the past week re-reading and ruminating upon the 50 chapters of Komi that came out in 2023, and I've done my very best to boil it all down into the ultimate mega-report!!! It's a long one, so only open it when you're ready for a read!

CONTENTS

1. A Letter from the Editor 

2. 2023 in Review 

3. The Emoi Awards:  (My) Top 5 Chapters of the Year, Most Emoi Moment, Funniest Joke, and Reader’s Choice 

A Letter From the Editor

Dear Reader, 

It's been a long time since I tried to engage in fandom.  People with whom I'm not already acquainted vex, confuse, and frighten me.  So rather than seek out community, I'm inclined to keep to myself and my close inner circle of friends.  You might say that Alice can't... Alice can't com... communi........ 

But I love Komi Can't Communicate so very much.  Getting my little dose of emoi every Wednesday is the best part of my week. So, to extend the fun and keep myself from bursting; I started making reaction posts, called them The Komi Report because I like to play pretend, and here we are now! 

The Komi Report is consistent only so far as it's always unfocused. I get so wrapped up thinking about the things I want to say that I forget to say most of them. I'm scattered, I'm overly harsh, and I'm awkward. However, I amuse myself tremendously. So it's alright in the end. 

I like to imagine this is some big, serious publication with a large readership.  That's far south of true.  But there are a small handful of people who interact with the Report on a regular basis. By my personal standards, that puts me on par with the editor of the New York Times. 

So my hearty thanks to anyone reading this special edition of The Komi Report. I have endeavored, in my silly little way, to stir up a few silly little emotions in your heart. If I succeed at that, then I’m satisfied indeed. 

I wish you happy holidays, and a very happy new year.  

2023 in Review

Alice, 

The Komi Reporter

In my mind I break Komi Can't Communicate down into three major sections based on Komi's three years of high school.  Her first year is the Bronze Age, second is the Golden Age, and third (which is still, of course, ongoing) is the Silver Age.  By this naming scheme I don't mean to imply that one year is better than the other.  Only that each of them represents a distinct period of Komi's narrative and for Tomohito Oda as an artist. Talk to me about that sometime; I'll talk your ear off. 

Here I've attempted to break 2023 down into its major constituents as well.  It's messy, considering the meandering nature of serial fiction like this, but I think I've done a decent job.  How exciting for me. 

‘Kawai’ encompasses both her story arc and chapters wherein she features predominantly.  ‘Kissy Kissy’ and ‘Rumiko’ explain themselves.  ‘Emoi surprise attack’ lumps together Ogiya, Emoyama, Fuki, Yadano, and Michita's story beats because I think they're identical in tone and intent.  And ‘Komi and Hiki Reunite’ gets its own colour because I love Hiki Komorebi.  And I can do whatever I want. 

RIP the younger siblings.  Shosuke, Hitomi, Ai, and Sanjuro-Rokuro appeared only very briefly this year. Fingers crossed they get some good moments in 2024. 

To reflect on 2023 as a whole, I will discuss my general thoughts on each of these segments individually; bar Hiki and the assorted miscellany, for that would require talking too much about individual chapters and would derail everything and plunge us into a lake of fire. 

Kawai

Reddit is a hostile and alien environment to me, but I like to peruse r/komi_san every now and then to see what people are saying.  The Kawai-heavy months were particularly fun, because Ms Rami dominated conversation and polarized the entire subreddit into petty arguments, the likes of which I still chuckle about.  There were Kawai haters, Kawai lovers, Kawai haters who compared her to Yamai, Yamai lovers who tried to turn those comparisons into a positive.  It was chaos. 

(Link)

Me?  I'm a Kawai stan for life.  I'll say it at every opportunity; I love when Komi shows off her passionate side – stubborn as a mule, jealous, competitive, and a little domineering.  The study camp arc brought those parts of her right out.  So, although I didn't find Kawai all that interesting as a character at first, I was enjoying myself. 

An old flame of Tadano's - mentioned for the first time in a passing joke long, long ago - appears unexpectedly.  She's like an evil dimension Komi – down to the way her shining silver hair contrasts with Komi's dark black-purple.  There's no actual risk of her stealing Tadano away, but she undermines Komi's confidence and challenges her openly.  A challenge that's impossible to resist. 

They spar back and forth.  Kawai has the advantage in athleticism and intellect.  But when they come to the final portion of the quiz game, Kawai's self-centered attitude is her downfall yadda yadda etc. etc. 

 Then.... then.... they have that talk on the beach... 

...where she reveals her batshit insane long-term plan to watch over Tadano from afar; become the perfect bride-to-be in secret; then appear when the moment is right, drive away all competition, and sweep him off his feet???  Ice-cold kuudere/yandere bitch queen. Be still, my beating heart 💞.   

But she has the self-awareness to see things clearly – As she talks to Komi she begins to realize how her attitude has steered her wrong.  She sees how Komi and Tadano have something real; how she's been fooling herself all along.  Kawai admits that she was behaving poorly and concedes defeat.  Growth!!! 

I'm going to backflip across the room.  I felt like I had achieved nirvana the first time I read this.

I see in Kawai a girl who's been isolated for so long – stuck in an absurd romantic fantasy as a coping mechanism – that she has no concept of how to engage with people casually.  She was a lonely child, her parents died tragically, and then she was raised by people who didn't know what to do with her. She seeks meaningful connections but has an extreme, intense personality and abides by an overly literal definition of what makes a ‘family’.  Thus, her behavior is overbearing and, at times, inappropriate.  But she means well. 

Also, she's the best new character since Rumiko and she should never change ever.  

One of her lackey's has a big, gay crush on her... 

...and I hope Kawai notices her some day. 

I saw many people who were frustrated with how heavily Kawai featured in the first half of 2023. I for one think we need more of her.  Much, much more of her.  I choose not to address her... interesting relationship with her relatives.  One must turn a blind eye now and then. 

Kissy Kissy

Every romance story faces a serious problem when the lovebirds finally hook up.  How do you retain romantic tension once they're formally together?  Many stories don't.  This is perfectly fine if the story ends at the confession of love, but if the story continues then there needs to be a deeper foundation to the relationship than will-they-won't-they tension (or you can contrive a reason to split them up again).

Komi Can't Communicate has not suffered from loss of romantic tension!!! Wahoo!!!!!

I was stoked back when it became obvious Oda was going to bring Komitano together so soon before the end of the series.  I had no doubt the romance would remain compelling - Komi and Tadano are just plain old nice to see together; whatever they might be doing. 

So to find out they'll be dating for an entire third of the series???  Yes please.  In the english translated tankobon, the love triangle ended in March with the release of volume 23.  So we got Komitano officially dating in print; then a few months later, in the weekly chapters, they kissed for the first time.  What a year!!! 

Tadano is boundlessly patient and thoughtful, and he understands Komi's needs with intuition that crosses the border into mind-reading.  He became her first friend motivated only by an earnest desire to help, and never demonstrated jealousy as she became increasingly independent from him.  He's a pleasant fellow; faithful, gentle, and kind. 

Komi is.... well, she's Shoko Komi 

The build up to it is so sweet.  A festival date with just the two of them~  She's wearing the dress he chose; he's wearing a shirt with buttons on it (a step up for these shonen romance boys). 

Then it goes terribly... and you'd expect these two stress machines to be panicking.  But no, they've grown so much and bonded so deeply.  They laugh it off in the rain and retreat somewhere dry for a smooch or two... 🥰 kyaaaaaa ✿!!!  Emoi!!!  And they're both crazy flustered about kissing... but Komi gets assertive... she's kinda like that asldnalsjdnja 

The romance is alive. And between these moments, I just like seeing them together; no matter what's going on. 

Rumiko

Way back when Rumiko was introduced, she was like a revelation.  Her strong, unique personality and chemistry with the rest of the cast made her an instant series staple.  Introducing a new character for a long and complex love triangle plotline was a tricky proposition, and Oda managed it with a stroke of genius.  Such a stroke of genius that everything before Rumiko's intro feels, in retrospect, like it's missing something.  Which is not to say that pre-Rumiko KCC is bad, or that Rumiko should have entered sooner.  No. Everything about the way she was handled is perfect... 

...up to a certain point.  On a tangential note: if you think Rumitano should have been the outcome of the love triangle (hello!  you know who you are :3) I can't honestly say I disagree.  I don't agree.  But I also don't disagree. 

(Ch. 285)

(I like Rumitano and Komitano equally.  And RumiKomi) But all of this is just lead-up to the matter at hand. 

What's pertinent to this 2023 review is the way Rumiko has been handled post love triangle.  During moments of passion I've blamed it on Wakai monopolizing her time, but that's unfair.  Wakai is just fine.  His will-they-won't-they plot with Rumiko is just fine.  I do enjoy it at times.  What gets on my nerves is how reduced Rumiko feels.  At some point Oda decided she's ‘girl who makes unsightly facial expressions’ and that's so much of what we get of her when we get to see her.  Her personality has been somewhat squashed. 

Couple that with how the focus of her plot with Wakai is primarily on him.  She feels like a side character now, when in the past she was effectively a third protagonist.  It was inevitable that she step down from her peak of prominence as her role as rival-in-love came to an end, but... idk.  She's Komi's best friend (Tadano doesn't count).  She’s the Rumiko Manbagi. 

There are moments where Rumiko's personality still shines.  During her date with Tadano in particular (which was a breath of fresh air).  I also enjoyed her summer festival date with Wakai (Accidentally calling a girl ‘mum’ on the first date?  I'd die).  Those moments are lovely. But feel diluted...

^^ In this moment I felt like her relationship with Wakai might become really interesting akoakjsndnasd 

I said up above that I think KCC is in its Silver Age. Well, there's a major reason why.  The magic isn't lost, but it's faded ever so slightly without the golden lustre of our favourite gyaru's hair...... 

But who knows what'll happen next?  Oda surprises me constantly, and I think that's one of the things I love so much about this series.  Right when he starts to lose me, Oda reels me back in. A comeback for Rumiko could be right around the corner. 

Emoi Surprise Attack

This is the loosest of my categories.  What can I say?  I'm a loose girl.  No... uh... pretend I didn't say that.  It's true, but this isn't the time or place. 

These stories are related insofar as the last few months of 2023 have been a grab-bag of minor characters receiving surprising and heartfelt little stories.  Ogiya, Emoyama, Fuki, and Yadano were joke characters who never seemed destined for serious attention, but every one of them came out swinging and hit a home run... wiht our hearts............... they sent our hearts into the stands.........

Michita is new, and I hope we see her again soon. 

Anything more I have to say about these chapters would require talking about them individually, which is beyond the scope of this section.  So let's do a lightning round: 

Ogiya – PHENOMINAL 

Emoyama  – PHENOMINAL 

Also, Hello Moromi-san.  Is there a woman in your life? Can we be Mrs. And Mrs. Emoyama? 

Fuki – PHENOMINAL 

Yadano – PHENOMINAL 

Michita – PHENOMINAL 

AAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGG!!!!!!!!! (cry of Emoi) 

There you have it. 

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

So ends the overview!!  If you're bothered I didn't talk about something in particular, don't worry; the Emoi Awards get more specific.  There's sooooo much that I left out in the pursuit of brevity. 

I want to make a special note of the reveal in Ch. 407 – Interview.  Komi plans to study International Communication in university.  I was anticipating the reveal of her course of study, and I wasn't disappointed.  It could not have been anything else. 

My overall feeling about the series at the moment?  Great!!!!  I complain bitterly at times (I'm a whiny, weeny windbag) and I'm at my harshest when I'm forming first impressions.  But going over 2023 and remembering all the good times brought into perspective how much fun it's been.  It also really put into perspective how much Komi has grown as a person.  She’s so confident now compared to where she started from... 

So... yeah! 

And now the contentious business begins... 

The Emoi Awards

Paam pa du paam!!!!! (that's fanfare) 

Now it's time to get granular.  This is the cream of the crop.  The best of the blessed.  The chapters and moments that had all of us laughing, giggling, chuckling, guffawing, weeping, sobbing, and crying. 

My opinions about Komi Can't Communicate are perfect and definitive, so if you disagree with me about any of this... argue vehemently with me.  I'm not joking.  Don't be mean to me or I'll cry, but do please tell me your opinions! The more you talk to me about Komi, the more powerful I become.  Mweh heh heh heh heh heh 

Here are the categories: 

(My) Top Five Chapters of the Year

(My) Top 5 Chapters of the Year

Most Emoi Moment

Funniest Joke

Reader’s Choice

I did NOT expect this to be so hard.  I had to firmly limit myself to only five choices... and I was tearing my hair out.  This mANGA IS SO GOOD ARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!! 

Listed in order of publication (love has no hierarchy.  Except in kink).

1. Chapter 392 - Kawai is...

Kawai spends the entire study camp being a fierce enemy to Komi, then stays up late and has an emotional heart-to-heart on the beach with her, then runs 20kms all the way home... and by noon the next day she's in Komi's house to propose marriage.  And she's already been to Tadano's to do the same.  Bisexual, polyamorous, and a serious go-getter.  When Kawai wants something, she spares no expense.

My regards to the future prime minister of Japan.  It's a shame Rumiko didn't think of this first.

But seriously, though; I laughed out loud the whole way through this chapter.  I was delighted to no end.  If I ever doubted Tomohito Oda's ability to surprise me, that doubt was erased forever.  Kawai was a good character, in one fell swoop she became legendary.

I love you, Kawai. 

2. Chapter 406 - My Name is Kuro

Maybe I'm biased about Rei Natsukido. Maybe I'm biased because this was the first chapter on which I made a Komi Report. Either way, I'm biased and okay with that. Having Rei and Mira around for a visit all the way from America was so much fun, and we got the return of Komi Can't Communicate's #1 best character – Princess Elizabeth Alexandrine Georgine Jeanne Catherine Christiane. 

I love that Mira acts all cool and distant but can't stop herself from becoming invested. I love how passionate and imaginative Rei is about the game. I love how Komi is just along for the ride and she's having a blast. I love that Komi is playing a boy character. 

(Ch 169 – Playing With Dolls)

And I love their funky plush toys. 

I love you, Rei and Mira. 

3. Chapter 410 - Cicada-rrounded

Hiki Komorebi is yet another S Tier character.  Unrelated to that; her height is so funny to me.  She looks crazy tall next to the other characters - she even has a complex about it - and then you find out she's only 180cm.  Japanese people are short.   

Anyway, 

Cicada-rrounded has this complete twist in the middle where it goes from a heartwarming reunion to a battle for survival against icky bugs.  Komi and Hiki meeting again was built up for so long, and it's a beautiful moment,

and then it gets de-railed immediately in the best and funniest way possible. 

I would go so far as to say this is a perfect chapter of Komi Can't Communicate.  It's equal parts sentiment and comedy, and kills it on both fronts.  If I had to pick a #1 favourite from these 5?  I might maybe possibly be inclined to consider this one. 

I love you, Hiki. Also Akira

4. Chapter 411/412 - A Two Person Summer Festival Stroll/The Second Time

I already gushed about these two in the overview section.  What more is there to say?  Except that it's a little annoying how Tadano remains so timid about romance stuff; but it gives us so many opportunities for assertive Komi to come out, so that's alright. 

Komi is kinda like that... aosjkdoaksdokansdnajiosd.  Get it, girl. 

(Ch. 427 - Cool)

I love you, Komi and Tadano 

(This special edition of The Komi Report continues in Part 2)

#komi can't communicate #komi san wa komyushou desu #komi #komi report #the komi report #komi shoko #shoko komi

[justmeinadaze]

Unattainable Part XIII (Eddie X Theater Girl)

A/N: I am going to go cry now lol I do have one future idea for these 2 but I'm going to wait awhile before I write that. I attached a playlist of some songs got me thinking about them when I was working WISHING I was writing instead lol To all the people that said that they understood and related to Theater Girl...you are loved and beautiful. I hope you find (or found) the happiness that she herself was searching for <3 Warnings: Trauma mentions with Theater Girls parents. Mentions of alcoholism and treatment. Eddie and Theater girl being cute. Word Count: 3053

I dance on my toes outside of Ms. O’Donnell’s classroom waiting for the period to end. The bell rings as kids swarm outside into the hall. I see the familiar Dio vest and pull the leather clad arm it belongs to.

“Fucking hell!” Eddie shrieks as he stumbles into me. I giggle, pulling him down for a quick kiss. 

“So?”

“So what?”

“Don’t you do that, Eddie Munson!” I shout after him as he starts walking down the hall towards his locker. 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, my lady.” I can hear the playful tone in his voice. 

“Eddie! I’m the actor not you. Come on now. I’ve been waiting forever!”

He furrows his eyebrows as he sucks in his bottom lip. “Oh! You’re talking about the final I took?” He reaches into his jacket pocket and unfolds a piece of paper, holding it up proudly. “I got a C-.”

I squeal with delight as I jump into his arms wrapping my arms and legs around him. “Oh my god, baby! I’m so proud of you. I knew you could do it!”

“It’s all because of you. You helped me study and stuff.”

“Eddie, you did this. This was all you.” He guides me back to my feet, kissing my forehead. 

####################

“Hey.” My mother says softly from my door frame. “Eddie’s here to pick you up.” I thank her as I get up to grab my purse and take one last look in the mirror. Eddie and I were going to the annual end of the year party hosted by one of the seniors. Everyone was supposed to be there and even though he wasn’t a fan of that particular environment, Eddie wanted to hang out with his friends as much as possible before we left Hawkins. 

“I may not be home when you get back. I’m supposed to meet with a sponsor tonight and I have no idea how any of that works.” I gently smile at her admission. 

Since the evening with my father, she had been genuinely trying to get her act together. She started going to AA and regular therapy. She was home a lot more when she wasn’t at any of those places or work. My dad on the other hand seemed to get worse. I expected him to call constantly to try and talk to me but within the time frame of when I last saw him, he had only called once. I overheard my mother talking to him over the phone. 

“I am not telling her that, Danny. Are you kidding me? It’s her high school graduation…. No, you can break her heart if you want to but I’m done being that kind of parent.”

“You look beautiful, by the way.” She says reaching over to move a lose strand of hair behind my ear. I throw my arms around her, knocking her slightly off balance. This is new behavior for my mother that I’m praying works for her. If it doesn’t… at least I can saver it while it lasts. “Go on, now. Don’t keep him waiting.”

#######################

Eddie cringes slightly as he stares at the house we’re parked outside of. “Of course. Of course, it had to be Jason Carver’s house.”

“Just think of it this way. This is the last time you’ll have to see people like him on a day-to-day basis. Next time you see him will be, I don’t know, ten years from now at the reunion when he’s got a beer gut, working at his dad’s shitty company, ranting about how ‘these were the days’.” 

He beams over at me as he hops down from the driver’s side and comes around to open my door. “And by then, you and I will look all badass with your Grammy and my Oscar.” I loop my arm through his as we walk towards the party. “Everyone will be super jealous of the Freak and the Theater Geek.”

Eddie throws his head back as he cackles. “I think you just found the title for your autobiography!”

When we enter through the front door everything is already in full swing. Kids are drinking and dancing while others huddle within their cliques talking about futures they are ready to begin. Eddie finds his other Hellfire club seniors poolside by the keg and detaches from me to go join them. I find a couple of my theater friends and we sit on a few of the lawn chairs outside. I feel Eddie’s eyes occasionally checking in on me to make sure I’m ok, my knight in shining armor. 

After about an hour of mingling I notice the cup in my hand is empty. “I’m going to get some more. You guys, want anything?”

“Hey, would you mind running inside and grabbing one of those wine coolers from the fridge? I just love those.” My friend grins up at me as she puts her palms together as if she’s praying. I smile at her as I nod and make my way inside. 

Before I make it into the massive kitchen, someone grabs my wrist pulling me away. I look up to see Eddie’s wavy mane bouncing as we run up a flight of stairs. He places his index finger over his mouth in a shushing motion as he opens the door to a bedroom and guides me in with his hand on my lower back.

“Eddie!” I whisper as I giggle at him. “What are you doing?”

He locks the door behind him and leans down to gently kiss my lips. “I thought I’d give you a glimpse into 10 years from now.” 

“Aw, Eddie. That’s so gross.” I bat my eyes playfully at him as he sticks his tongue out at me. “This must be his parent’s room.” We start to wonder through taking in the surrounding. 

“Either that or a home for a small family. Jesus, this room is huge.”

“You think that’s huge? Look at this bathroom!” 

Eddie walked past me towards the walk-in closet. “Who even needs all the stuff?” He lets out a breathy laugh that causes me to turn my head and look at him. His face was smiling but something else shadowed over it in his eyes. I look back down towards the massive counter in front of me, reaching for the perfume, and squirting some away from my face. I lean in to sniff but pretend to start coughing. 

Eddie’s eyes glance toward me. “Are you ok?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I wave my hand in front of my nose. “I don’t think that’s the perfume I’d wear on my husband’s big night.”

He takes a few steps out of the closet, looking at me like I’ve gone insane. “Um, did you get married between the bedroom door and the bathroom counter?”

I playfully look towards the ceiling as I pout my lips. “No. No, no.” I turn back towards the mirror and pretend to play with my hair. “You see, my husband is a famous guitarist. I’m sure you’ve heard of his band, Corroded Coffin?” I look at him through the mirror as slow grin spread across his face. 

“Actually, no, I don’t think I have.”, he plays along, crossing his arms as he takes a few steps towards me.

I dramatically gasp, “Sir! Well, then let me tell you, you are missing out. Their last single reached number 1! It’s amazing. I love it.” I gesture towards him. “And I’m not just saying that because I’m married to a member.”

Eddie comes up beside me and leans his back against the counter. I can see through his reflection that he’s looking down at me but I pretend not to notice. 

“And what about you, miss? How did a gorgeous, award winning, number one movie in America actress come to be with a heathen like that?” He paints the picture with his hands before intertwining them in front of him. 

“Sir! First of all, he is NOT a heathen. A dork maybe but…” He chuckles as he nods. “I remember the first time I saw him he was playing this really confusing game called Dungeons and Dragons.” I grab his arm. “Have you ever heard of it?”

“I know a thing or two.”

“Good because I don’t get a damn thing no matter how hard he tries to explain it. Anyway, I was staying late after school one night rehearsing and I heard these voices screaming at the top of their lungs ‘TO THE DEATH’.” I mimic them as I watch the side Eddie’s face in the mirror as he watches me. “Then this crazy man jumped on his throne style chair and was just so into what he was doing with his friends.” I smile at the memory. “I’d never seen anyone like him before. I was so jealous of his passion. The only thing I had ever been excited about was pretending to be someone I wasn’t for a couple of hours.” I feel my mind start to drift and I reel it back in. “Then the asshole ran into me knocking me over!”

Eddie’s fingers grab my shoulder and gently turn me to face him. “I didn’t know you saw all of that.”

“I did. I was behind the curtain. You, uh, you were very mesmerizing. And that was just from behind! When you looked at me with those beautiful eyes…” I shrug as I shake my head. “Ok! No more cute crap.” I giggle as I started to move for the bedroom but Eddie’s hand pulled me back towards him. In one swift motion, he wrapped his arms around my waist and lifted me on to the counter. 

“I know you like to pretend you’re not into the romantic gestures and all that ‘cute crap’ but I also know why you do.” He cups my face into his hands. “Now, no scrunched-up faces, no sass. Baby, I love you. You are amazing and beautiful. I’m glad you stalked me.” My face starts to turn as I laugh but he holds me firm in my place. “Ah! This is serious!” He grins as he drops his hands to my sides. 

“I love you.” I wrap my arms around his neck. “I’m glad you stalked me to. To be fair though, MY stalking was more effective. I mean I got your number in 24hrs. You said you first saw me two years ago so—”

He cuts me off with a kiss and I smile against his lips. “So, are you going to make love to me now on the bathroom counter or do I have to wait another few years?”

Eddie rolls his eyes as he starts to turn away. “I don’t know with that attitude—” I pull on his leather jacket bringing him back to me. He giggles in his throat as I let out a soft moan when I feel one of his hands glide up my thigh into my skirt. His fingers graze against the outside of my panties and he groans when he feels how wet they are. 

“Eddie, please.” His lips travel down my cheek to the side of my neck. 

“Oh no, babe. Right now, I’m Eddie the Grammy winning rockstar and you’re the award-winning actress.” His fingers slide behind the cotton blocking my center and runs them over my clit. I try to lean my forehead against him but he moves back slightly out of my reach as his other hand lightly grips my chin turning me to look directly at him. “So Miss, how do you want me?” Eddie’s fingers shift back down my core as he pushes two fingers into my entrance.

My hands fly out and grab his waist pulling him forward which he allows. “Do you want soft and romantic?” His fingers begin pumping slowly into me. “Or do you want it hard…and…rough?” Between every word he thrust his digits harder into me as I cried out. “I’m fine with either one.” His forehead connected with mine as I looked up into his brown eyes. “I just want you.”

I grabbed the back of his head and smashed my mouth to his. When his tongue caressed mine, I pull him back as I licked my lips.

“I want you to fuck me like a rockstar.” 

Eddie growled pulling me off the counter, spinning me around to face the mirror. He pushed my skirt up to my waist and removed my underwear, throwing it into the void of the room. I watched him as he dug into his pocket and threw a condom on the counter as he quickly reached to unbuckle his belt. I grabbed the wrapper, tearing it open, and handing it over my shoulder to him. He kissed my shoulder as he took it from my hand and put it on. 

He reached down and lifted my left leg on to the bathroom counter. Eddie ran his cock between my slippery folds before pushing aggressively into my cunt. His arms wrap around to my front as he leaned against my back thrusting into me harder than he ever had before. My hand smacked against the mirror for leverage as I tried not to scream about how fantastic he felt. Eddie’s pace slowed but the intensity remained as he straightened his back, bringing me up with him. 

“I just realized something. Open your eyes.”

“I….I don’t know if I can. Fuck.” I whimper as I lean back against his chest. “You feel so good.”

Eddie gently grabs my jaw, centering my head. “You can do it, baby. Please.” My eyes open and meet his own looking at my reflection. “You finally get to see what I see when you cum. How fucking beautiful you look.” I watch as he licks his hand reaches down to rub fast circles on my clit. “Fuck, you feel amazing and taking me so well. Look at you. Look how gorgeous you look like this.”

The words he was grunting into my ear was enough to push me over the edge. I felt my pussy start clenching around his cock. His hand returned to my jaw. “No baby. No. Don’t close your eyes. Open them.” My body shock as I watched myself climax. My leg fell off the counter and Eddie’s arms immediately wrapped around me, keeping me steady. I placed my own over his as he started thrusting into me rapidly. His eyes locked with mine in the mirror as his hips slowed and after a couple of hard pumps, spilled into the condom.  

He delicately pulled his cock out of my hole and with one arm still holding me, he pulled off the condom and threw it in the tiny trashcan. 

“I’m going to let you go, ok?” I nodded as his arm released me and he gripped my sides turning me around to face him. Eddie pulled up his pants, buttoning them, as he went on the search for my panties. As I was pulling down my skirt, he reappeared with them, displaying them in his hand. I grinned as I took them from him and shoved them in his jacket pocket. 

“Here you go, rockstar.”

He laughed as he pulled me in for a hug. I could live in this man’s arms forever. I didn’t need a fancy house or a flashy career. This is exactly where I wanted to be. 

#########################

Eddie’s howls could be heard over the clapping as I walked across the stage to accept my diploma. I, on the other hand, barely got a chance to because as soon as Principal Higgins begrudging handed him is, Eddie quickly pulled it away and ran off stage giving our principal the finger. 

I shook my head at him when I found him after the ceremony near the front of the school. He cackled wickedly. “Ah haha! It’s mine now!” He tackled me, planted a kiss on my cheek. 

“Hey kids.” My mom’s voice was soft as she stepped forward, Wayne trailing behind. 

“Really, Ed?” Eddie gave him a faux confused look like he had no idea what he was talking about. His uncle pat his shoulder and pulled him in for a hug. “I’m proud of you, Kid.”

His nephew thanked him as Wayne bent down to give me a much softer hug. “I’m sorry your dad couldn’t make it but, you know, I’M proud of you to.”

“Do you guys want a picture?” My mother asks as Wayne backs out of frame. “Ok, smile!”

Eddie pulls me to his side as I stick my tongue out and he holds up the rock and roll symbol. Wayne rolls his eyes as he laughs to himself. My mom grins showing her all her teeth. That was the first time I saw her genuinely laugh in such a long time. Eddie leaves my side, walking over to her, and gives her a hug of his own. I watch as her hands hover for a moment before resting on his back. 

He pulls away, placing his hands on her shoulders. “I’m proud of you to.” Eddie gives her a polite smile and as he turns back towards me, I see her grin to herself. 

##########################

“Sweetheart, it’s ok.”

“I know it’s ok. I’m fine. I’m just… I can’t believe it’s finally happening.” 

Eddie reaches for my hand as we wait for the attendant to call our number for our flight. It had been 2 months since graduation and it felt like everything happened so quickly. We found an apartment near the school and Eddie found a job at a music store that sells instruments. We packed everything which for both of us wasn’t much and then spent any remaining time we had in Hawkins with our friends having fun. 

“I know. I’m excited.”

“Are you not nervous at all?”

He slides his arm around my shoulders. “Of course, I am but I’m with you. I’m safe, right?”

I cup his cheek in my hand and guide him down to my lips. “Always, my knight in shining armor.”

Eddie looks to the ceiling as our seat numbers are called. He animatedly jumps to his feet and extends his arm out towards me. “Come, my lady. Onward towards the rest of our lives.”

####################

@hufflepuffprincess24 @fanfiction-lover-24 @theoriginaldoll87

#eddie munson #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson smut #eddie munson fanfic #eddie stranger things #joseph quinn #joseph quinn fanfiction #joseph quinn smut #joseph quinn fluff #stranger things fanfiction #fan fiction #spotify #Spotify

[primeministerofantarctica]

random ducktales headcanons in no particular order

you know how some kids make up imaginary friends to blame for their mistakes? that's how phooey was born.

the triplets realize very young that trying to pin the blame on each other will only result in all of them getting grounded, so. it's so sad their secret fourth brother will explode if anyone else besides them looks at him which is why uncle donald can never see them :punch: :pensive: (<- that was dewey's idea ofc)

board games are a relatively easy way to entertain kids and pass the time for free, so donald ended up buying a lot from secondhand stores and garage sales.

huey loves strategy games. he has a junior woodchuck badge in chess playing! when he moves into the mansion he's excited to find similar games like go and shogi (also he's just, really happy to finally have someone give him a run for his money in chess)

dewey likes charades, but only when he's the one acting. he also likes pit! (that's a card game where you have to yell a lot XD)

louie's favorite game is candyland, although that usually turns into "try to catch louie switching out the cards" than actual playing. louie swears up and down that he'd never cheat and it's not his fault dewey never won.

webby's favorite game is something totally obscure you've never heard of. she's also a fan of cluedo :). (it takes like, a week for the kids to realize clue and cluedo are the same thing)

all the kids are trans (source: dude trust me)

donald sitting down at the parent-teacher conference and looking at the list of adhd symptoms the teacher handed him: wdym, these are all normal kid things? i mean, my sister was like this.

(cut to ten years later) della: wow dewey really takes after his mom doesn't he ^_^

donald: haha. hahaha. ha. about that.

SPEAKING OF PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES. donald is a pta mom you can't convince me otherwise. one day he's going to show helen what real homemade brownies taste like. as soon as he doesn't burn them.

louie knows how to pickpocket and is fairly good at it, he just doesn't because the first time he got caught donald looked so upset and he doesn't wanna relive that again.

high school dewey tries to force himself into dating bc he thinks that's a requirement to being a "cool, beloved, popular teen" (it is according to the movies!) Anyways he quickly realizes he's miserable and would rather walk across glass shards than kiss anyone. (then he learns about aromanticism and asexuality.)

huey used to have pretty bad meltdowns on an almost regular basis, until donald signed the boys up for jr woodchucks in kindergarten (mostly just to get them out of the house for a while) and something Clicked. finally, structure! routine! a book of set rules and expectations! (it's not like he magically stopped having meltdowns overnight but it helped him feel less overwhelmed, yk?)

feel free to add on if you have any :3

#astra rambles #personal #ducktales #long post

[arospecbandgeek]

You posted abt an OC, I am already eating good 🤭🤭

Anyway, time for questions!

1- Has she ever been in a fight? If so did she win or lose?

2- If she's dating Carcrash, has she met Giovanni? What did she think of him?

3- If bribed with 30$ would she eat dirt?

4-Given her status as a senior at SJHS what does she think of the underclassmen? And what does she plan to major in once she goes to college?

Lastly (ik your new here I don't expect you to know much Abt my ocs, but I wanted to ask it anyway. You don't have to answer if you don't wanna :)) If she met any of my own OCS, what would she think of them? Would she have a favorite? Maybe she finds them annoying because they're all sophomores?

this took me much longer than it should’ve, ill be honest. but i love my oc too much to care. length warning.

1- Has she ever been in a fight? If so did she win or lose?

Yes. Blaire got into a fight with her ex-best friend, Veronica in her sophomore year. Not a fight fight, like in the series, like with epithets, but a regular in school fight. She ended up losing, getting part of her hair ripped out, and suspended for two weeks. There’s more to this, but I don’t have all the details figured out yet.

2- If she's dating Carcrash, has she met Giovanni? What did she think of him?

Yes. Since Giovanni’s two years her senior, the two didn’t interact much pre to her dating Car Crash. Before then, they only interacted once when Giovanni threw a sword at her in middle school. But they’re currently acquaintances. The two don’t have much in common, so their conversations are mostly just small talk.

3- If bribed with 30$ would she eat dirt?

No. She’d probably get angry at whoever asked her to do that.

4-Given her status as a senior at SJHS, what does she think of the underclassmen? And what does she plan to major in once she goes to college?

She doesn’t like freshman (basically the “freshman = bad” mentality). Jennifer (her current best friend)’s sister is a freshman. She’s essentially one of those who act entitled and tough since “she’s in high school now”, and Blaire uses that as basis for all of them. She’s fine with sophomores. She sees them as “immature”, but doesn’t care too much about them. For the second part, she has no plans after high school. Being a cheerleader is really the only thing she’s passionate about. Blaire doesn’t really want to go to college, since she hates essentially every subject and is barely passing. She only applied to community college, mostly just to get her parents off her back.

Lastly (ik your new here I don't expect you to know much Abt my ocs, but I wanted to ask it anyway. You don't have to answer if you don't wanna :)) If she met any of my own OCS, what would she think of them? Would she have a favorite? Maybe she finds them annoying because they're all sophomores?

Something to add is that Blaire somewhat of an ego (not as much anymore, she goes through a whole ass character arc before the series, which is a story for another time). She’s willing to double down on almost anything, from compliments to insults. So if any of them hated or insulted her, she would hate them or insult them back by default.

But assuming they did like her:

Sabrina - Blaire would talk to her if Sabrina did first. They would be on okay terms, mostly because Blaire sees her as immature and doesn’t want to talk to her much about her day to day life, believing that Sabrina wouldn’t understand.

Bonnie - In all honesty, she’d be deathly afraid of her. Blaire used to be a bully, and has gained reputation for doing such things, but has never been too physically violent (other than that one time). So the idea of interacting with a former juvie convict scares her. She’d likely hide behind her fellow cheerleaders whenever she’s around.

Parker - They’d be the most likely to be friends, even though she sees sophomore’s as lesser. I can’t decide if she would see her as an acquaintance or would want to “adopt her” as a lot of seniors will “adopt” underclassmen to ease them into high school.

(I’m just going off the ones on your wiki since there’s a lot of them.)

thank you for the ask! 💞

#i’m only going to tag the OCs since the canon characters weren’t mentioned a lot here #epithet erased #epithet oc #epithet erased oc #sabrina ashling (sadsoftserve) #bonnie murdoch (sadsoftserve) #parker king (sadsoftserve) #sadsoftserve #bandgeek-oc #bandgeek-writings

[ruthlesslistener]

Different anon here (putting that just in case so you dont get mad or whatever), you did hit first. Claiming others are "icky" or "dangerous" is a lot more serious than you think, especially with lots of followers like you. And if you wouldn't mind me saying this, but it doesn't look like a sincere apology to me when you add the last bit that says "Well. We hurt each other so there". Can't you apologise without making things about yourself? The reply isn't meant for me, but I kinda notice you have this tendency where you make things about yourself in the end in a lot of your old replies concerning this issue you made for yourself. Which I think also helped fuel the flames to the old problems you faced. Idk, maybe its cause I'm so sick of seeing popular fanfic writers/artist control fandoms whether unintentionally or not. They also apologise like you, making the other party look bad by making it all about themselves.

(First off if this comes off as angry I apologize, I'm not angry I'm tired and confused)

I mean. Yeah I did say that it was gross, but I'm pretty sure I've already said that the error that caused the problem was that I had a completely different perception of what I was talking about than what was actually being said (a genuine error on my part), and also that I didn't realize my words had the connotations that they did, which was another misstep that lead to hurt feelings. Both of those were genuine mistakes caused by me a.) Not knowing what the fuck I was talking about and b.) me forgetting the fact that people don't have the same ideas about fiction that I do. Not really sure what else to do other than repeat that it was a mistake over and over, since the only other option would be to delete what I said but that would be dishonest and wrong. I DID fuck up.

As for the apology, I am sincere that I didn't mean to cause harm, but I am also sincere when I said that the response hit a specific trigger and hurt me as well- because it did. It did hit that specific trigger zone and I see no reason why I shouldn't be clear about it, especially since I wanted to make it apparent that I wasn't just shitting on people and dragging their name through the mud because I have some social status I wanted to flaunt or w/ever. I assumed it would make anon feel better while also asserting the fact that their behavior wasn't exactly okay either because I DID repeatedly say that I wanted the topic to be dropped and it didn't. Even the ground, try to lay down rules to prevent future conflicts, that sort of thing. It was a two-part statement- one, the apology and admittance that I was wrong, and two, the showing of vulnerability on my part to prove that I view myself as on equal standing as them and that I am also flawed and inherent to biases, while also pointing out how to not cause future conflict. I assumed that would be the most effective. I didn't even consider the fandom pov thing or power dynamics, bc this at its core was a misunderstanding between two people that had the misfortune of happening on a public platform.

I will agree that I do have an issue with talking about myself though, because to be frank, my own pov is kind of the only thing I know and so explaining my thought process as it goes is the familiar beaten path. When I say that I'm autistic and have been isolated my whole life apart from one friend (also isolated) and my immidiate family, that isn't a lie. I didn't start talking to more than the same 3 people for extended periods on a regular basis until I was 17. And those three people were my mom, my bff, and a close friend I picked up in high school when I was 15. And even then, those talking periods would be no longer than an hour at a time. This isn't a good thing by any means nor a method of excusing myself, just a means of explaining why I do it and that it's not because I think the world centers around me, just that I have to translate what I think to it for communication with other people to start making sense. Its def. something that I struggle with in even basic conversations, though I am working on that via interjecting various questions and comments about other people vs just proccing an infodump. It's most likely a low empathy issue that I still need to learn workarounds for, because I'm a very low-empathy autistic.

I CAN say that I grow more tempted to just delete and remake to start anew by the day, though, because the thought of being popular and having an influence/being on a pedestal puts me in a state dangerously close to a panic attack. The problem is that I cannot figure out a way to do that in a manner that would actually work, plus I cannot tolerate change.

But genuinely, the thought of power dynamics...it frightens me. My ideal would be a world where I can just push my thoughts and writing out and not be seen at all, except that I can't manage that because then I'd have nobody to discuss hyperfixations or special interests with. I don't WANT to have any sway over people. And its partially because of things like this- because I don't want to fuck up by tripping over an unseen landmine of a social error and then have my reaction be absorbed uncritically, or have that error be held under scrutiny. It makes me feel sick

#sorry this is probably just upsetting and frustrating to you. but i dont know how to pjrase it any other way #if i express my sorrow over the issue more clearly thats manipulative. and im not angry #nor do i think its just about me- i just dont know anything ELSE to say. i cant place myself in the other anons shoes #so this is all i have for sincerity #my apologies for that #anon #reply

[hphmmatthewluther]

The Phantom Woes of Matthew Luther: Part 4

Here we go, it’s time for the grand finale!! ( Part 1/ Part 2/ Part 3 )

Featuring:

Verna Malinda ( @gaygryffindorgal​ ) Camille Jeanes ( @camillejeaneshphm​ ) Rosie Mayfield ( @magicapandora​ )

As well as characters from: @endlessly-cursed​ @catohphm​ @stupendousbookworm​

Chapter 4: In the Flesh

 The next hour or so happened in moments for Verna. A group of students heard the commotion and wondered what was happening. They were jostled back to Ravenclaw Common Room (she didn’t even catch what the answer to the riddle was). Matthew, Merula, and Rosie tried to explain what they had seen, but before long it had devolved into a shouting match; it was argued that whoever had placed the book for Helena to find was most likely a Ravenclaw, seeing as they knew enough about the ghost to put it in the right place. As a result, with tensions high, things had quickly spiralled out of control.

 “What do you mean someone here did it?!” Andre exclaimed indignantly, “When it could be anyone who gets through the door!”

“Oh, come on, it’s fairly obvious.” Tulip insisted. “While other house members can come in, there’s no way they’d do all this to get to Helena!”

“If you ask me,” said Chase, “You, Tulip, are one of the more likely suspects, seeing how much trouble you cause on a regular basis!” “Are you insane?!” yelled Ara Black. “Look, anyone here might have done this-” Cato Reese tried to interject. “That’s just another way of accusing everyone here! Why does it have to be a Ravenclaw?!” fired back Issy Dubois.

 Things were only getting worse from there. Matthew had backed away behind Merula at this point, clearly not enjoying the noise or the atmosphere this argument was creating. Camille, too, was too overwhelmed to do much and looked on the verge of tears, while Rosie was trying to calm people down (it was not working.) Verna, however, looked from one side of the room to the other, at her friends, and her face turned into a scowl that Ismelda would be proud of. She stepped forward, past Rosie and yelled:

“WOULD YOU ALL PLEASE JUST STOP?! AREN’T YOU MEANT TO BE THE SMART HOUSE?!”

 It was as if the air had been sucked out of the room, like some enchantment had been dispelled. The Ravenclaws who had previously been close to decking each other in the face now backed away like a dog caught chewing apart a pillow. Matthew poked his head out from behind Merula. Camille moved her hands away from her ears as the noise quietened. 

Rosie looked at Verna, smiling. “Thank you…that seemed to have worked.”

Verna scanned the room. It seemed that Chase was now nowhere to be seen. “No worries. You guys alright?” she asked, turning to the rest of the group.

 Matthew and Camille both nodded silently. Merula looked between the two of them. “...and I thought the arguments in Slytherin could get nasty.” she muttered, sighing. “Ok…yeah, we’re good.” she said finally, as Matthew stepped out from behind her.

“Um…” he began, looking at the now expectant crowd of Ravenclaws. “I know it seems like someone here did it, but…I don’t think that’s the case at all. The book that Helena picked up, The Ramifications of Reflections…it’s not an easy book to find. The only copy of it in the school is in the restricted section…or at least it was.” He held up the book in his hand. “I looked in the front and it hadn't been checked out; whoever it was stole it from the library. No student would ever do that, especially not a Ravenclaw.”

 That seemed to be a satisfactory explanation for most of the Ravenclaws. As they started to awkwardly shuffle away, Matthew turned back to the others. “Okay…phew…that was…a lot. Still got ringing in my ears, blimey…”

Camille wiped her eyes. “Why did they have to start fighting like that?” she asked, her voice still shaky.

“Because they’re afraid.” Merula said. “People get angry when they get scared. Especially when they don’t know who to blame.”

Rosie raised their eyebrows. “That’s a surprisingly insightful point, Merula.” they said, smiling. “So what’s the plan now?”

Matt held up the book again. “We look through this and try to find something on the magic mirror. Then we try and find it again, and we’ll hopefully be ready to take on whoever’s behind this.”

 ***

“Bingo!” Matt said finally, after a good half an hour or so of flicking through the great tome. At once, the others gathered around him, Merula nudging the other three so that she was right by Matt’s face, leading to Rosie having to stifle a laugh. Once they had all got comfortable, Matt gestured to the page in question. “Here it is…” He pointed at the image on the page; a resplendent mirror with silver and purple decorations around the edge of it.

“That’s the one.” Verna said, looking down at the page, frowning at the image of trapped souls within the mirror.

“The Royal Sovereign Mirror”, Matthew began to read, “Is one of the great treasures of the old Changeling Kingdom. Kept in the Throne Room of the Changeling Royal, the mirror was enchanted to have a separate Reflected Realm in comparison to other mirrors. In short, unlike other mirrors, a person trapped within the Royal Sovereign Mirror is unable to access other reflective surfaces.”

 “This damn book…” Merula said, cursing under her breath. “I thought we were done with it after third-year.”

“Third year?” Camille asked. “Isn’t that when Mathieu got trapped in that mirror?”

When Matthew nodded, Verna chuckled. “Didn’t you two kiss when Matt got his body back?”

Matthew and Merula both suddenly went pink in the face. “N-NO! What?! Where’d you- No!” Merula snapped. “Keep reading, Luther!”

“A-Alright, um, When the Changeling Kingdom collapsed, the mirror was recovered and placed in Hogwarts, where the latent magic within the mirror caused it to warp from place to place, normally stored in the fourth-floor corridor, but- Ah-hah! But the mirror’s location can be tracked by following the magical trace left by it! Brilliant!”

 There was a sigh of relief from all of them. “Thank Merlin, a solution. That book is most definitely a curse and a blessing.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice.” Matthew said, “It seems to exist solely for luring people into mirrors and then getting them out again.”

“Who even wrote it?” Camille asked, trying to lean over to see the author’s name.

Matthew looked at the front cover. “...Someone named Henri Reign.”

“Doesn’t sound much like a wizarding name to me.” Merula said, frowning. “Weird.”

“Well, we can solve that mystery another time.” Rosie suggested. “Let’s solve this one first!”

 “...You’re having an idea, aren’t you Mathieu?” Camille asked as they headed out of Ravenclaw tower and towards the Grand Staircase.

“...Well, I was thinking about what you said about what happened in third year” he replied, pointing at Merula.

“Me? About you getting trapped in a mirror?” Merula had to yell a bit over the sound of the stairs swinging above them.

Verna snorted from behind them, “and then you two accidentally k-” “Yeah, anyway, Luther?!” Merula snapped suddenly.

“Guys, here’s the fourth floor!” Rosie exclaimed, as the group tried to get off the stairs before they swung back round.

“What I’m saying is it might be the same thing. Another-” he was cut off by Verna pushing open the door.

 “Alright Matt, showtime.” she said, gesturing to the wall where the mirror was. Matthew took hold of his wand and pointed it, but hesitated.

“I…sorry, it’s just…the handiwork for the spell…and…i’m usually fidgety as-is but here, when m…when Helena needs me, I-”

“Mathieu.” Camille looked up at him, smiling softly, “take it from me. You can do this. You’ve had it rough these past few days, but you’ve managed to pull yourself out of it in a way the rest of Ravenclaw couldn’t.”

“She’s right, Matty.” Rosie nodded, “You’ve got this. And we’ve got you.”

“And when all this is over we’ll be able to look back on all these ups and downs and laugh.” Verna promised.

 Taking a moment to breathe, Matthew readied his wand once again. He deftly manoeuvred it through the air, until a faint blue light began to appear at the end of it. “Revelio!” he said, and a faint purple thread became visible, stretching from where the mirror was and out through the door behind them.

“Haha, that did it, Matt!” Merula cheered, “Now let’s kick whoever it was that jinxed us in their sneaky little arse!” With that, she was running after the purple thread.

“Merula, wait-” Camille said, heading after her.

“She has such a way with words…” Verna laughed, following behind her.

“You can say that a-” Rosie began, before pausing, “Did…did she just call you Matt?”

“Uh, maybe? Was distracted. Come on, before we lose the others!” he said, failing to hide how pink he had gone.

 ***

 It was almost night now. The candles illuminated the group as they followed the thread upwards. And upwards. And upwards.

“The Astronomy Tower…” Merula complained, “of course it would end up there. Just our bloody luck.”

“On the bright side, it does give us a bit of time to prepare.” Verna pointed out. “Wands at the ready, everyone.”

They all obeyed her, keeping an eye out for any sign of moment. “I really do hate heights sometimes…” Camille was doing her best to keep her eyes on the thread, and not look down the spiral staircase.

“It’s alright, we can handle this.” Rosie said, having swapped her heels for flat shoes just in case they needed to move quickly. At long last, they came to the top floor. They walked past telescopes and other astronomy equipment, before finally seeing it. The Silver Mirror, leaning back against the wall, rattling a little in the wind. And there, in the glass, they could see Helena Ravenclaw…and Chase the reserve chaser.

 “Hang on-” began Merula. “Wasn’t he-” Camille tried to say. “Isn’t that…” Rosie and Matt said at the same time.

“What’s he doing there?” Verna said, shocked. “To be honest with you lot, I thought he was the one behind all of this!”

“Well…yes and no.”

 All five of them turned around, and there, impossibly, was Chase. But something was off. He looked paler than usual, his hair seemed slightly frayed, his quidditch clothes didn’t seem to fit him as well as they did. “Why couldn’t you just have left him in his room?!” he snapped, pointing at Matthew. “He has made your lives far more needlessly tedious!”

“Tedious?!” exclaimed Camille, “Who are you to say that?”

“Yeah, is that the only reason you put Helena in here?” Verna asked, pointing at the mirror, “Who even are you?”

“Uh…” Matthew began, “I think…I was going to say it earlier, but…I’m fairly certain he’s a, um…”

 As Matthew stammered through his words, “Chase” began to change even further. His skin went from pale to a shade of purple, his hair went bright white, when he opened his eyes they were completely blank, and his clothes fell away to reveal an ancient-looking set of armoured robes.

“...he’s a changeling.” Matt said, finally, wincing as he realised how obvious this now was, his face becoming very very still.

The changeling laughed, stretching now they were out of their disguise. “Ugh, you do realise I had to do quidditch practice in order to stay hidden? I had to do those stupid drills and listen to that Orion kid so I could make sure things run smoothly…until they didn’t.”

 Merula clicked her tongue. “So you did all this…why, exactly? I thought there weren’t any changelings kicking around anymore.”

“Really?” Camille asked, briefly shaken out of her fear.

“Yes, it came up in History of Magic.”

Verna snorted. “You can stay awake in History of Magic?”

“If you don’t mind!” snapped the changeling. “I have waited centuries for this and will not be talked over.”

“Of course…” Rosie said, piecing things together. “You must have been the one in the mirror at first.”

“Indeed, put in there by his ancestor at the last stand of our people!” they pointed at Matthew, blank eyes full of anger. “I was one of the Royal Family’s advisors and his adorable little family member got the better of me. A truly mighty sorcerer…unlike you.”

 Matthew’s mouth twitched as the changeling continued. “I mean really, it was all so easy to send you into a mess just by having the Grey Lady gone for a while. I knew getting revenge would be simple, but goodness…what a disappointment.”

“That’s just-” “Oh you cannot-” “Shut up, you-” “Piece of-”

“SILENCE!” the changeling bellowed, as purple waves emanated from his hands, forcing all of them against the railing, their heads pushed back over the edge. All except Matthew, whose bracelet was crackling with blue electricity.

 “Fascinating. So that’s your bracelet that does all of the heavy lifting for you.” they snarled. “Probably looted from us too. What a waste of a wizard. It took four others to get you back on your feet, let alone anything else!”

“M-Mathieu…” Camille whispered, struggling against the magical enchantments, “Don’t listen…”

“You’ve been telling yourself the same thing. They’d be better off solving this without you. You’ve only held them back.”

Matthew’s face grew into more and more of a scowl. The wind howled, and the moon came into view, basking him and the changeling in its blue light.

 “You’re right…” Matt said bitterly, looking back at his friends, at Helena. “I have heard it before…that’s probably why you saying it doesn’t mean much to me.”

The changeling laughed a little. “Doesn’t change the fact that it’s true. And it doesn’t change the fact that your friends will suffer, all because you’re nothing but a worthless, woe-ridden, incapable nothing. Sorry that your friends had to find out the hard w-”

 What happened next the changeling did not expect. Blue swirls began to dance across Matthew’s arms, the wind flapped through his hair which seemed to shiver in shades of cerulean, his eyes began to lose their green, matching the rest of him, and from his forehead a glowing green began to shine. But what was happening on the inside was far more interesting. Matthew had heard all of this before, but hearing it from a centuries-old changeling who’d manipulated his house and stolen the only real mother he’d ever had was one time too many. Simply put, he had had-

“ENOUGH!”

 Several things happened in quick succession. Bright blue lightning shot out of Matthew’s hand; as it flew through the air he heard Merula gasp “Wandless magic!”. The changeling hit the railing, causing the enchantments around the others to shatter. More than that, the image of Helena and the real Chase within the mirror warped and twisted.

“Look!” Rosie exclaimed, “The Mirror! Now might be our chance! Millie, ‘rula! Verna! Help me with this…Merula?”

But the Slytherin’s attention was elsewhere at that moment. Matthew was busy laying electrified blows on the changeling, cracking their armour and sending them into more sections of the railing, lightning crackling off of Matthew’s body.

 “Woah…huh? Oh!” she said finally, racing over to help the others with the mirror. “Matthew! Send him our way!”

 Matthew turned to look at them, basking in the moonlight, before grabbing the changeling by their cuff. “I knew kicking your arse would be simple,” he said, chuckling in a voice that rang back through the centuries, “but goodness…what a disappointment.” And with that, he ran forward, graciously tossing the changeling forward, where Camille, Verna, Rosie and Merula were waiting with the mirror. In went the changeling, and out came Chase the reserve chaser and Helena Ravenclaw.

 “...Matthew?” she said, trying to get her bearings. “There was a mirror…and that awful changeling said he’d do something awful to you…I was so worried…” He looked up at her, sighing in relief, the blue fading away from him as he calmed down.

“Oh, M- uhm, Helena, you’re alright!” he said, grinning up at her, even going to hug her before remembering that was impossible. Meanwhile, Rosie and Camille were helping up Chase. “...should never have trusted that guy in the mirror…” he murmured weakly “...said he’d help me get on the team…”

“Poor guy.” Rosie sighed. “Getting scammed by a changeling must be no fun.”

Camille nodded in agreement, giving Chase a reassuring pat on the shoulder, while Verna was laughing at the changeling in the mirror. “Saw right through you from the start, mate.” she said, smirking.

 When she looked away, she was surprised to see Merula had wrapped Matthew in a hug. “You didn’t tell me you could do….that!!” Merula yelled.

“Ssh, you’ll wake everyone!” Camille hissed.

“Oh, worry not, I shall explain to any teachers that come looking.” Helena reassured her. “Thank you all for helping him. I worry for him, but…he is stronger than he knows.”

“You can say that again…” Rosie said, raising her eyebrow as Matthew tried to explain to Merula that he didn’t know what she meant by “lightning hands”. As they headed down from the Astronomy Tower, nobody bothered pointing out how Merula’s hand had slipped into Matt’s, or that his silver bracelet was still glowing faintly. The four said their goodbyes to Matthew, Helena and Chase at Ravenclaw Tower, keeping an eye out for Filch as they did so.

 “Thank you. Really.” Matthew said, wiping a tear from his eyes. “I, um…I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“Doesn’t mean you weren’t a massive help.” Merula pointed out, smirking. “See you tomorrow, Luther.”

“Actually, it’s past midnight, so you’ll see him today-”

“Oh don’t be so pedantic, Jeanes-”

They laughed until it was time for the Ravenclaws to leave, closing the door behind them, leaving the others to head back to their dormitories.

 “It’s like we learn something new about Mathieu every day.” Camille said, shaking her head. “And once again, he completely misses it.”

“I’ll make sure he knows about this.” Merula promised. “He deserves to know he can shoot lightning from his hands. Anyone would be.”

Rosie chuckled. “Aw, you two…you’re adorable together, you know that?”

“Oh…shush.”

Verna snorted. “Gotcha, ha ha. Don’t worry, we won’t tell a soul.”

“If any of you do, I’m throwing you in that mirror-” she said through gritted teeth.

“Oh don’t, I don’t want to have to deal with that changeling again…” Verna fake-lamented. They bickered and laughed along the corridors, the blue light of the moon shining overhead. 

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #the phantom woes of matthew luther #matthew luther #verna malinda #camille jeanes #rosie mayfield #merula snyde #issy dubois #ara black #cato reese

[stellarboystyles]

Chapter One — Begin Again

a/n: hiii chickens! so this is the start of a chaptered fic i've written over the past six months and she's finally ready! this story was very fun and painful to write because it's based off of the whirlwind that has been my life over the past year, so i hope you love it &lt;3

content/warnings: first base shit, oversharing and a night full of wholesome cuteness. you're welcome

"Do you remember the night we met?"

A sweet smile crept up onto her face, one she couldn’t hide, but tried to as she took another sip from the glass she was holding. 

"I do."

"Ooh, haven't heard those words in a while."

"Shut up." she laughs.

"Oi, fuck you then." he bites, failing to hide the smirk on his face behind his own glass.

"Please?"

"Easy." he warns with one finger. "Don't make me come over there."

It was easy with them, the connection they had. They've always been that way.

"Best first date ever though, right?"

"Right." she giggles at the smirk on his face before taking another sip.

"No matter how much I forget short term," he narrows, rolling his eyes for a moment at the annoying reality. "I still remember that night like it was yesterday."

March 2nd, 2019

"I can’t believe I’m doing this."

Parker's gripping her steering wheel, white knuckles and all after she rushes through the motions; putting her seatbelt on, shifting into reverse, all the while genuinely shocked by her own actions, that she’s actually going through with this. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

She repeated the same sentence over and over as she sped off down the street and into the city. It was her first first date in five years. How people do this on a regular basis, she truly can't fathom how. Who just meets up with a stranger on the internet after texting for a few days?! Parker, apparently. She's starting to question her own morals, because where did they go?

She was always the quiet kid in school. Kept her head down, never spoke out of turn and always avoided unnecessary social situations. It's more of a curse that a blessing, really. Considering it takes a lot for her to speak out against anything came with everyone else typically leaving her alone for the most part. On the other hand, as she got older she realized that it sucked to feel lonely. No matter how introverted she was, everyone wants friends. Parker grew up in a small town where if you weren't an athlete or a mean girl, no one really paid attention to you—and when they did, they never had anything nice to say. High school sucks for most of us, and she was no exception.

In other words, if you told seventeen-year-old Parker that she'd be going on a date with a stranger she's never met, she would've never believed you.

She's grown up a lot since then, though, and she's proud of that. It took years, but healing doesn't come easy. And right now, Parker was in the middle of that moment that everyone talks about.

Where you finally feel like you're ready to date again. When you've finally broken the walls down, ready to put yourself out there and see what happens.

She had a good feeling about this guy—if not she would've canceled days ago. Parker doesn't go on random dates, and if there is so much as a sliver of doubt, whether it's something they said or she's just getting an off vibe, date canceled. No energy needs to be spent on unnecessary ventures, right?

But this one felt different. She couldn't explain it...she'd never met him but she could feel in her heart that he was a good person. Sure, they've only been talking for a few days, but something about him just felt good, and right. When he talked, you could just tell he was good.

They'd "met" online, the god-forsaken dating app that most people used for casual flings or random hookups; however, they were part of the fraction of decent human beings left in the world looking for something real, and long term. To no avail of course (until now) swiping left, left and left again was exhausting. Until she saw one that piqued her interest in a way that just felt different. Of course, there were a few she’d matched with, but they never made it past hey or what's up due to either her being distracted by this one, or the typical outcome of them just not responding. Leading her to become bored of the rest. 

Harry, 20 Raleigh, NC Duke University

Not to be cliche, but to say this one was gorgeous was the understatement of the year. The goofy videos on his profile combined with the "I have a Damon Salvatore complex" in his bio definitely had her starting to crush on him.

What’s your major? was met with It’s complicated. That’s a conversation we should have on snap (:

He was really cute, no doubt about it. He had that all-American baby face, good hair—

and those eyes, my God.

It's important to mention, though, that if he was simply looks and there was no substance to him then there would've been a zero percent chance of her falling for him like she did. But there were little things that set him apart from others.

He sent her videos a lot instead of just snapping pictures, because honestly, talking is a way better form of communication. It was different and it was clear that he really tried to make each moment with her special. He'd cancelled their first date a couple of times (due to running behind because of one of his classes getting out late) and he'd told her he wanted to be able to give her all his time and attention. Which, was one of the sweetest things ever. It gave her a good feeling about tonight, for sure.

In the first video he sent to her that night, he started to explain how he was dropping out of college to go into the military, and eventually he would become an agent. She was impressed. Mostly because of the fact that he had real goals and dreams for himself, his future; something that a lot of people their age seemed to lack; drive and ambition. However, being a Virgo, she couldn't stop herself from picturing her future if they ended up together.

The CIA? What would that mean? Long distance, for sure. There was so much unknown, and Parker was slowly coming to terms with the solid fact that you can't control every part of your life. It didn't help either that her neurodivergent brain hated change, especially one so drastic. Regardless, she had to learn how to cope with this new chapter of her life. You could imagine that being newly single at 24 was not in her 5-year plan after college.

Parker's well aware of the fact that the current state of her life feels and looks just like a shitty Hallmark movie. The thought makes her want to gag, but that's what coping skills are for, right? So you're not cringing at every inconvenience at every moment? If there's one thing you need to know about Parker, it's that she hates small talk with a burning passion. If she could damn the mere idea of it back to hell, she would, because how could anyone enjoy that?! It's the number one reason she dreads first dates.

The further she got into her drive, the more nerves started to build up. Mistaking anxiety for butterflies was a feeling Parker knew all too well. Her past few boyfriends weren't exactly Romeo, so she was well versed in spotting a toxic person from a mile away.

However, with that came something more edgy. The sole idea of dating again petrified her. Getting close to someone again, being vulnerable and real just to get heartbroken again? The mere thought of it was enough to make her swear off dating ever again, but she told herself she wouldn't let it win, and she meant it.

Deep breaths. Whatever happens, happens.

It's easy to say, but as much of a control freak as Parker is over her life, so much easier said than done. She's had a 10-year plan outlined for her life since she was six years old, for Christ's sake. But that's another story for another time.

They'd decided to meet up in a parking lot, then they would both get into his car and go together. So when her peripheral picked up a car pulling up next to hers, she thought her heart wanted to beat out of her chest. It’s him, she knows it’s him, but she doesn’t react yet. Still staring down at her phone just in case it was some random person, even though the probability of that was less than likely. But if it was, how awkward would that be?!

Snapchat from Harry

She has to stop the smile creeping on her face. Now it has to be him. It was, because when she opened the snap and it was a picture of her in her car looking down at her phone, she's got a light smile on her face as she gets out of the car and walks around to the passenger's side. Moments like this happen so fast, you can't really plan for them, can you??

"That would’ve been really awkward if that wasn’t you."

They shared a laugh as she got into the car.

"So…Starbucks or Dunkin?"

"Definitely Starbucks."

"Y'know what, I respect that."

The more they talked as he drove, the more Parker realized Harry had something that was hard to find these days; that old school charm. Opening doors and all that. As soon as they walked in, Harry leaned down to her ear.

"M'gonna take a slight detour," he mumbles, one hand slipping from her waist. "Gotta pee, I'll be right back."

She looks up at him. "Do you want me to order yours?"

"Oh, no, it's ok." he assures. "I mobile ordered, I don't order in person...I'll be right back."

She didn't really have time to respond, which was probably intentional on Harry's part. On another note, how and why has she never thought of doing that?!

"Hey—"

The voice made her reluctant to turn around, because she knew it wasn't Harry.

"Is that your boyfriend?"

He was taller than her, dark hair. Nothing to write home about, but it was obvious he was trying to be semi-intimidating. She gives him an annoyed smile.

"We're on a date."

"Oh, gotcha." He nods and goes to turn around but stops. "You know he's not allowed to go on dates, right?"

"What?"

She can see Harry in her peripheral walking back towards them, thank God.

"I'm back." he turns to the guy that was talking to her, but he's already sitting back in his seat across the cafe. "What was that about?"

"Something about you not being allowed to go on dates?" she answers before thanks the barista for their drinks as they’re walking back out to his car.

"Yeah," he starts, pulling his safety belt. "We go to college together. And we're not allowed to date anyone, or like be seen out with a girl, y'know. At our school, I mean."

She nods in realization when he cuts in.

"But tomorrow's my last day, so I don't care."

He shifts the car into reverse. She almost forgot about the fact that his leaving, so really, it doesn't matter if they were seen together but Harry did a good job of easing any anxiety she could have about the possibility of getting him in trouble.

"I'll take you to my favorite spot." he mentions. “It’s a really good view.”

The drive was only a few minutes, but it felt longer. In a good way. He really wanted his hand to hold hers, but he was nervous. Little too soon too, right?

"You look really beautiful." he breathes. "I mean, you look amazing."

She bashfully thanks him, looking down at her knees while he's keeping himself from putting his hand on one of them.

"Okay," he sighs, trying to distract himself. "What music do you wanna to listen to?"

Of course, she gave him the typical response that the genre didn't matter. "It doesn't matter, anything."

"Really? 'Cause I don't think you'd like the music I listen to." he jokes.

She shakes her head dismissively in response to his satiricy. "It's fine."

"It's fine?" he teases, leaning into her as he starts messing with the aux. "I mean, it's kinda metal."

"Perfect."

He shows her two bands, and she recognizes both almost immediately.

"I grew up listening to this."

"Really?!"

"Yeah," she continues. "My dad loves rock music, we'd always listen to it when we were travelling."

"Did you travel a lot growing up?"

"Like vacations and stuff." she nods. “We used to live in the OBX.”

"Ah, gotcha." he nods before referring back to the previous conversation. "Yeah, I just went to one of their concerts, actually."

It was obvious that Harry was a passionate person; passionate about things he loved, like music. He was showing her concert videos on his phone and was telling her about the ideas and concepts behind each of his favorite bands.

"I love that...that's what makes big artists as successful as they are." she adds. "When you have something that sets you apart from everyone else."

He can't help himself, looking at her in pure disbelief for a moment before turning back, laying his head on his headrest. "You are the girl of my dreams, Parker Finn."

She lets out a giggle, rolling her eyes at the not-so-subtle remark at her Tinder bio.

girl of your dreams x

"How was your drive here, by the way?"

Okay, maybe she could tolerate some small talk...from certain people.

She also begrudgingly knows that you have to have some miniscule amount of small talk to get to know each other, so she allows it.

"It was good." she smiles. "I love driving, so--"

"Me too." he smiles. "In my hometown...I love just driving and listening to music."

"I do too!"

They quickly discovered there was a natural flow between them, something that you couldn't force. It was just there.

"So do you come to Raleigh a lot?"

Parker shakes her head. "I haven't been back in a long time."

"Well," he muses. "Today's your lucky day, because you have the best tour guide."

He leans into her, pointing at different buildings and what they are. Where he goes to school, where he used to work, stadiums and others similar.

"That’s where I went to school…that’s where I used to work, and that—" he points over to the far right. "Is the best stadium in the world."

she nods. "Home of the Blue Devils."

"Exactly." he looks at her with a narrowed eye. "Y'know, I love a girl who knows sports."

"Well that is where I went to school." she mentions.

"Ah, okay. So you're not really into football."

Guess it's your lucky day."

He chuckles in disbelief. Not only is she breathtaking...he couldn't really explain it yet. He'd only just met her, but there was just something about her. Whether it was the way the moonlight glows on her face, or the way her cheeky smile gave him butterflies, he was hooked.

"So what made you want to join the military?"

He lets out a heavy sigh, running his fingers through his hair. "Well,"

She notices his apprehension. "You don’t have to tell me—"

"No, no, it’s okay." he reassures. "Basically…I’m just not happy with the direction I was going, if I stayed at school."

"I hear that."

"It’s just…I just feel like I can do so much more, y’know? For the world."

"That’s how I feel a lot." she adds. "I always think, like…if I can help just one person feel like they’re not alone, or help them get through a hard time, then I’ve done my job—but if you can help more, and make a career out of it, that’s amazing."

"Do you ever get sick of your job?"

"No." she lets a light laugh. "I love what I do. You just have to find something that you’re really passionate about."

"I love that." he hums. "I need that."

"It takes time." she adds. "At least it did for me, to get where I am now. Everyone has their thing. The thing they love. Not like a person or anything like that. It could be a hobby, something you're good at or just something you want to be good at."

"Are you doing that? You're a teacher, right? S'that what you wanna do for the rest of your life?"

"I love teaching." she admits. "But I have other passions, too."

"What are the other ones?"

She shrugs. "Guess you'll have to stick around and find out."

He catches himself staring at her in awe, but he couldn’t help himself. The high points of her face were glowing in the moonlight.

"Where did you come from?"

She turns her head, looking out at the skyline. She doesn't quite know what to say, and doesn't really have time. He places two fingers on the right side of her jaw, turning her head. She smiles out of knowing what he's doing, and her smile is contagious, leading him to quickly mirror her action.

He kisses her.

And in that moment, nothing else mattered, and everything made sense.

#EEEK i'm scared #be nice pls #harry styles fluff #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles chaptered fic #harry styles writings #harry styles x oc

[th3-art-of-dying]

I died once, but they brought me back......

Only within the last few years ( give or take a few) has it been possible to do what I did and live to tell the tale. What I did was a half gram of street grade fentynal at once. This is not exactly a good idea for a guy who didn't do opiates on a regular basis. I remember at one point hearing the doctor tell me that I had done enough to kill 3 horses. That must be the reason it took them 4 doses of narcan to revive me.

I couldn't get high. Either that or I was too high to know how high I was. I had got through an 8ball of ice by myself before my guests had arrived. When they got there, in total, there were 5 8 balls between us.

I had not injected the drug in years but because I couldn't get high, I decided it was time. I did .4 and felt nothing. So I did about a gram. Nothing. A fucking gram of ice and felt nothing. I was not happy.

Everyone else was High and having a good time. I had a half gram of fentynal in my pocket that no one knew I had. After the next two 8 balls were gone, and I should note that we did 2 8 balls in under an hour, I decided to try the fentynal to see if it would get me high.

The last thing I remember after snorting the half g was one someone saying ' dude, your going to die' and then, I did.

I stopped breathing and fell to the floor. Two of my guests were a couple of tweakers I had met on Facebook that same day. The third guest was a long time friend, nurse and the only reason I'm alive. Well, her and narcan.

It took the EMTS 17 minutes to arrive. During these 17 minutes a lot happened. I died, stopped breathing on my own. The two dudes decided to throw water on me , which did nothing. They carried me down stairs and set me down. There, my friend, Jessica, gave me CPR. I took a few breaths, and then quit breathing again.

After all this was over, Jessica told me her part of all the chaos. She had actually given me CPR multiple times. I would respond by taking a few breaths and then stop again. She said that each time it was a little harder to get me to breathe. Like I was fading.

I was fading. More specifically, I was floating. I had left my body. I don't recall at what point I left it but I know I did. Strangely, I was no longer aware of self when I began to float. I was not aware of anything at all. It was complete peace.

The only reason I even know it happened is because of them bringing me back. The 4th dose of narcan, I came to. The moment I was revived, I became aware again, but had yet to reach my body as I had managed to float a distance away.

I was in my neighbors back yard to be exact. So, 4th dose of narcan, I awaken in my neighbors backyard. I began to float back to my body. I pass over the street in front of my house. I can see the ambulance, the neighbors standing around being nosey, and a police officer walking toward the house.

The first thing I remember feeling once I hit my body was anger and cold. I was soaking wet and madder than I've ever been. They robbed me of the peace I had attained. I spoke to no one.

I thought I was in the hospital for months. However, it was only 3 hours. The doctor came in and told me to try and walk. I did, took 2 steps and started throwing up. He said " I got another OD that needs this bed. Your being discharged."

At one point I remember seeing something on the news that said the chief coroner in the state I lived was attempting to get the president to declare a state of emergency because upwards of 80% of the bodies coming through were from Fentanyl overdoses.

If this would have happened to me 3 years before it did, I would not have made it. It is crazy to me to think a person can kill themself on dope and be brought back to life. What a world we live in.

Currently to date, I have lost every friend I had in high school to fentanyl overdose. Well my circle of friends the ones I spent the most time with. My two best friends, both dead. One of them died on his way to a rehab which he was traveling to on foot. He stopped under a bridge with the girl he was with to shoot up. They both fell asleep and only she woke up. She did not even know his name and they could not identify him in the state he was in. His mother hired a private investigator to find out what happened to him. My other best friend died 20 minutes after arriving at a rehab. It's just me now.

I don't know how I'm the one who survived. I was always the one who went all out did as much as I possibly could of whatever was available yet somehow I managed to get this far. I have overdosed on drugs more times than I can remember. I have gotten hurt attempting to do ridiculous things. I have put myself in situations that I should have been shot or killed over and over again in my life. Yet I still stand. But why?

The experience was something I guess I could say I wish never happened but not because I was able to handle the drug. I wish it never happened because I didn't do the stupid things I do. However the experience did show me a couple things. First it showed me that when we die we are no longer self aware. This confirmed my theory. Secondly I determined that we do not sit idle in the state that we enter into after we die. We travel. This goes along with the theory I had that are Essence returns to the source upon death. It's not proof but it definitely kind of reinforced some things in my mind.

I had this experience and I know that death is peace. I know that death does not last forever. I was never afraid to die, but if I'm honest I think that I am now. Not as much of death itself but more of not being here for my boys. I cannot imagine leaving them in any way. My life is very difficult and it's not easy at all to be in their lives due to external forces which make it difficult for me. I go through hell just to be near them and I have not very much to live for apart from them.

I feel like I want to die a lot. My life is full of depression and anxiety and addiction. I feel misery most of the time, but I still cannot help but want to live for them. And so I'm afraid to die. I don't know what to do with myself at this point. I feel like I want to be sober and try to remember who I used to be. I do not however, know how anymore. The thought of being sober is something I just cannot imagine. For me sobriety is torture, a story for another time.

At any rate, for now, I am still here and I will try to make the best of the time I have. What more can I do?

Thank you to all who read this for your time invested with me. Much love to you all as always.

[forbidden-creepypasta]

Over the River and through the Wood

Okay guys, this is the first story that I have EVER written, and It's been something that I've wanted to at least try. So please just keep the insults to a minimum, and tell me what you think.

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I was 18 when I started smoking weed. My friends and I would just roll out through the streets of my city, blasting rap music, reminiscing about fun times as well as making our own as we went. We would pick up a sack, get some cigarillos, grab some munch food and just take a 2 hour drive through the backroads on the outskirts of my hometown.

Having just graduated high school, I considered these the most fun times of my life because I had never gotten high when I was still in school. It was a new experience, and I can easily say that pot has had a major influence on the way that I think and see situations.

So as you can imagine, when I got busted with an O in my car, I was pretty upset. I couldn't even fathom a life without marijuana now. But at the same time, it was a really dumb idea to just smoke out in a vehicle where you're pretty much easy prey for the cops to catch you.

We all got a major scare from this, as one of my friends that was with me got hit with a 20 sack as well. We all still wanted to smoke the ganj of course, but we had to find a safer way of going about it. We couldn't at our houses; our parents were a little strict about that kind of stuff.

Around this time, we all were playiing basketball on a daily basis, being summer and all. The normal place that we went to to play was really an inside swimming pool with a basketball court up the hill from it. Near the entrance to the pool building, there is a small playground near the woods. The woods themselves served as a kind of public nature preserve that had many trails throughout that all eventually connected with eachother and led out to 3 different exits.

This was already a regular smoke spot for people in the area already; we were always seeing people our age walking up the trail that was next to the basketball court into the woods, only to come back out 30 minutes later with the tell tale signs of stoners. We also saw this as the perfect place to smoke, and one night, decided to try it out.

It was my friends Kyle, Bailey, and I who went into the woods at about 11 at night or so; the girls were too scared to go there at that time. We walked for about half an hour or so, taking in the sights and surroundings, looking at the various signs posted describing what types of plants and such were nearby.

Eventually, all of the paths seemed to lead into a big circle. This was kind of a surprise to me, because the woods seemed a lot larger than the trails gave justice to. We were about to go ahead and find a place to sit so we could light up, until I noticed a somewhat hidden path that was blocked by a fallen tree branch. It was also partially hidden by leaves because it didnt even seem like a path until we started to walk it.

The trail eventually split two ways, both of which we went. To the right, a crude path led to a dead end called Honeysuckle Hollow (or so the signs depicted), while going straight led to an open area, about 40 feet or so wide, and in a circular fashion. There were signs there naming the wildlife again, but there was a sign which said "Leaves of Three: Let It Be," which we thought was kind of funny. We found a large stone bench type of thing and proceeded to spark the blunts. We started making jokes about the sign, and even named ourselves the 3 leaves after the sign, since there were 3 of us. There was another sign that showed a few different types of flowers, the top one named Larkspur. We decided to name this place "The Lark" from that point on, and after we were finished smoking, we left.

It became a regular thing smoking in the Lark. We found a trailhead (the 3rd exit) and it was pretty much a shorter way to get to our destination. This was satisfactory for awhile, but eventually we all became interested in going deeper into these woods. There was still one more trail that was the opposite direction of the entrance to the Lark, so one day we followed it.

Not surprisingly, we passed more signs, and finally came to a wooden platform, which I can only really describe as a boat dock for fishing. It had 3 benches and was surrounded by a wooden railing, about 15 by 15. This became our new place to smoke, as it offered a more comfortable place to sit and it was obviously further from the open area. There was still one more trail that ran beside this wooden platform, but it was really hard to spot because, I thought, it was just rarely ever walked.

As time went by, my curiousity of the trail heightened. My friends weren't really interested, as the whole point of this place was to smoke, not to explore. But my mind was made up. I wanted to know what other cool stuff lie in wait in these woods. It felt like I had a strong desire to just have some kind of closure on the trails: I wanted to see everything these woods had to offer. What a mistake.

One day after work, I decided to walk to the pool and through the trails to finish the trails. I had a blunt rolled up already for this adventure, and I sparked it as I got to the wooden platform. The "path" led downhill, and around some trees, then made a sharp incline upwards. There were a few somewhat visible trails that split in a lot of different directions, but none of them were really definable. I decided to just keep going straight, which was actually a pretty difficult walk, which I can now safely call a hike.

I knew that the real trails made by the Park Preservation Foundation ended at that wooden platform, because there were no signs anywhere after that point. In my mind, I thought these trails were made by other curious people (probably other stoners). Looking back, I don't know why I thought it was such a good idea to explore these trails, especially alone.

I had been smoking and walking this uphill incline for about ten minutes, examining the scenery in hopes of finding something, anything that looked interesting. But there was nothing but nature. I started to reach the top of the area, and I was about 1/4 the way through with the blunt. In other words, in the beginning stages of stonage.

At the top, the ground level was normal, but I could see that about 50 feet in front of me, there was an opening. The opening looked like it led out of the woods, but I had walked a pretty great distance; I honestly had no clue what to expect when I walked out.

As I exited the woods, I found myself in a very large, and again, circular area surrounded by trees. This area's circumference I could only estimate as being the length of 3 football fields. In all directions, all I could see past this clearing were trees. As I started to look around, I noticed two things. About 30 feet straight in front of me, there was a plain looking building, similar in size to a large one story house. Looking to my left, a small path led over to a fenced area. This is what caught my eye the most, because it was an inward barbed fence, that had caution signs on it warning about electricity.

Inside of the fenced area, there was a stone square with 4 of these things on it that resembled something like a generator or a heating unit. Directly to the left of these generators was a tall outpost. I remember thinking that it looked like what you would see guards standing on at a prison, watching for escapees. What I saw next got my blood pumping a little bit. On top of this tower, there was a windsock, which is used to detect aircraft.

I could only question what I was seeing. Why would a place out in the middle of the woods need an aircraft detector? Why were the barbed wires bet inwards? What the hell even was this place?

As I thought to myself, I took my last hit of the blunt, and was at the peak of my buzz. I walked along side of the fencing, and saw a ramp running along side of the stone platform leading to an apparent underground facility.

I'm not an idiot: I wasn't going to go adventuring underground in an unknown place to me, especially since it was obviously meant to keep people in, not out. But I was still intruiged, and a little scared at the same time. I decided to walk out towards the building I had first noticed. As I approached it, I discerned that there were actually no signs; no markings of any kind to help me figure out what it was for.

I always try to rationalize situations, but at this point I was getting wary. There were no exits to this place other than the one I came in from, and the idea of some crazed killer or something taking refuge in this building while I'm out of screaming distance would have normally jolted me. But I was high as a kite, and felt no fear.

The door seemed like it was locked, but after a few seconds of yanking at the handle, I got it open. As soon as I opened the door, I nearly fell down as I heard/saw two deer run from out of the far end of the woods to the north, towards another section to the east. My heart racing, I thought about the deer. They were the first animals of any kind that I had even ever seen in these woods. I found the fact odd to say the least, yet dismissed it as animals fearing human contact. I steeled myself, and entered the building.

The first thing that I noticed was that the inside of the building did not portray what the outside did. I looked around and saw all kind sof machinery and computers that looked pretty advanced, at least in my eyes. It reminded me of a scientific laboratory, and I kind of started to get a sick feeling, so I immediately left the building.

At this point, I didn't have that curious feeling anymore. In fact, the feeling I had was more like paranoia. As if my worst fears were coming true, I heard a door open. I immediately realized that it was the door that lead to the underground facility, and instinctively I hid behind the building I had just exited. I saw two men wearing Hazmat suits walking towards the fence that led to the open area. They proceeded to walk towards the furthest end of this clearing from the only exit. The seemed to open some kind of latch on the ground, and then I saw it.

In chains, these two scientists or whatever the hell they were pulled out a man with a black bag over his head, arms chained behind his back along with chains on his ankles. He seemed to have been drugged; he could barely stand or utter anything legible. I couldn't really tell what they were doing, but it looked like they were drawing his blood or something of that nature. I'm really glad that I decided not to explore the building, because one of the two scientists walked to the building, luckily the opposite side of it that I was hiding on, and went inside. I don't know how I can relate to you how genuinely scared I was.

After the one scientist went inside the building, I watched the other one. He seemed to be acting the part of a doctor; checking vitals, eyes, the inside of the mans mouth, etc. I didn't know what to think really. I just stood there and prayed I would have a chance to get out of this place. I then heard the door open again.

I watched as the scientist walked over to his colleague and shake his head in disappointment. The scientist who was checking the prisoners vitals and what-not proceeded to pull out a silenced pistol, and shoot the man in the head, dropping him cold.

I almost screamed. I could not even fathom what I was seeing, and believe me, I knew what I was seeing was legit. I watched these men carry the body all the way from the latch they pulled him from, over to the fenced underground area, and down the ramp through the door. As I saw the door shut, I fucking booked it. I ran all the way from the side of the building I hid behind through the clearing, hoping that no one would see me. As I reached the incline that now would slant sharply downhill, I didn't give a fuck. My adrenaline running rampant, I took long strides as I ran at pretty much a 45 degree angle downhill. I didn't stop when I reached the wooden platform signalling the end of the actual trails, nor did I stop when I reached the Lark. I didn't even stop when I was out of the woods altogether, running all the way to where the playground area was.

I finally stopped to catch my breath, and to take in what I had just seen. I thought about going to the police, but something about that place screamed "top secret government research" in my head. I thought that I might be killed just for seeing what I had seen. I had no clue what to think, and without being able to tell my friends what happened, I just plain refused to smoke in any part of those woods anymore.

If you are like me, and you smoke weed every day, you know what it does to your mind. You do not hallucinate. You do not see things that are not there, let alone what I had seen. I knew that what I had seen was something sinister and secret, yet I reveal this to you all now, years later.

I have become extremely paranoid. When I see people, I immediately think that they are working for the government. I feel like I can't trust anyone. I am at the point to where if I don't do something drastic, I will end up killing myself.

I've decided to go back to that place, during the night this time. I'm confident that no one saw me the first time, that's why I've been safe all these years. What I saw happened in daylight, so I can only imagine what kind of experiments or whatever it is they are doing there goes on during the night. This is the first message I am sending out to you all, and my second detailing what I discover tonight will be sent when I return.

Wish me luck.

Credit to:knives1990

#creepypasta #horror microfiction #creepy stories #horror fiction

[chimini3]

Makeup The Break Up

Park Jimin | Chapter 10

SERIES MASTERLIST

Pairing: Park Jimin x OC

Synopsis: What happens when Park Jimin's biggest what it comes back into his life? His friendly neighbor, childhood best friend, high school lover, and now his makeup artist?! Amidst the 2020 outbreak, the last thing he needed was Seong Areum making his heart skip a beat and fill his stomach with air. What will he do when unspoken words threaten to slip past his tongue? Would he take the chance of ruining a healing past? Or would he let her slip away once more and let himself get lost in the lights?

Note: super late post been caught up with some stuff but enjoyy :)) this one is kinda long and its not beta read

Word Count: 8.0k words

Around Busan

Sources of Information included in this chapter are from:

Gamcheon Culture Village Wikipedia

Some environments have changed by the time I wrote this to the time specified on the story so it might be a little confusing seeing something that didn’t exist in 2020 though please bare with me for the details 🫶

(If any information is proven false, please do not hesitate to comment and inform me of the mistake. Let us avoid spreading false news, thank you <3)

I was born and raised in Busan. We were all born and raised in Busan. Yes, the Seong sisters had just arrived after years of being away from Busan, but it wasn’t like we hadn’t had our fair share of school trips around the city. So someone tell me why we were in one huge black van that would take us around Busan? The van was one that us members would take in our tours outside the country, when separating us in different smaller cars would cause more inconvenience than driving a big van.

“Hwan ssi, I thought I booked a private tour for three people. The van you brought could fit the whole BTS and our crew.” I asked as the man that would be our tour guide for the following days could only chuckle.

“The Park Jimin ssi deserves only the best. Besides, we were ready for unexpected additions…” The middle aged man smiled past his eye glasses. He was alluding to the fact that I said he needed to tour three people though I ended up joining myself so it had turned to four, though four people definitely did not need such a big van that would surely gain the curiosity of people.

“And don’t you worry about unwanted company. These two guys would surely keep you safe.” The man lurched forward to tap the shoulder of one of the tall and muscular men that would accompany us today. Alongside the driver that was also similar in size. Oh my connections were certainly spoiling me today.

I’m always so shocked at the reach of my influence. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it, no matter how many years I’ll keep it up. It even took my family a while to adjust. Especially now that Appa had opened a bakery and he was exposed to this influence on a regular basis. JiHyun loved this lifestyle, that little brat, though occasionally I’d notice how he still can’t take in my influence.

I wonder if Areum notices my influence too. Is she impressed? The little kid who injured himself on a toilet seat was long gone and now a successful hunk of a man is what he became. Is she attracted to that?

What. Am. I. Thinking ?!

What the hell! Snap out of that Jimin.

Stay humble as always and remember that everything can be taken away if I don’t properly use it with good intentions.

I quietly groaned to myself.

Why would I call myself a successful hunk?? What the hell.

“Okay, we’ve arrived at our first destination of the day… Gamcheon Culture Village.” Hwan said in a much more gleeful tone. I associated that as an entertainer's voice. The voice and personality we take on as soon as we do our work.

The van passed by the sign saying ‘GAMCHEON Culture Village’ as it entered the smaller streets of the Gamcheon Culture Village. I’ve seen pictures of this place though I never had the time to come here before. People walking freely on the small one-laned streets had moved aside for the van to come through though I started to wonder whether our van was meant to be on these roads.

“Don’t worry, we’ll also walk on these streets later on. The van just needs us to arrive at Haneul Maru first so that we can take in the entire village.” Hwan said as if he read my mind.

I looked back outside and watched as people gathered around street stalls and seemingly every building had a different vibrant color.

The van stopped in the middle of the street as Hwan hummed and prepared to open the door. I can feel the anticipation from all of us as one of the guards got out first and assisted us in getting out of the van before the driver drove away.

“Don’t take in your surroundings yet! You haven’t seen the best part yet.” Hwan raised a finger before he led us on a small pathway between two buildings. We filed into a one file line with me right behind Hwan, Areum behind me, Ahnna behind her, and JiHyun in front of the bodyguard that was following a good distance behind.

“Watch your step everyone!” Hwan warned, before I turned the corner and swallowed at the small concrete steps.

“Hwan, what is this? Are you planning on keeping us hostage here? Perhaps kill us by accident?” I was obviously joking though I made my tone out to be accusatory.

“Of course not!” Hwan sounded offended as he sped up his climb though I kept up my careful pace.

I can hear the girls giggling behind me and I couldn’t help but have a smile on my face from how ridiculous this climb was. I can feel a few droplets of sweat arise from my heated forehead. So I pushed the sleeves of my colorblock denim jacket off my shoulders to alleviate some of the heat.

Busan was one of the warmer cities of South Korea though February was usually rainy, the skies had blessed us with a good sunny day. Good thing most of us were wearing decent clothing for both climates.

I wore a similar outfit to the one I arrived in Seoul with on Monday. Black straight cut jeans and a dark blue shirt that matched my newly colored hair. I hoped that since I wore a beanie that mostly covered my new hair at the airport that now that I’m wearing a black beret, no one would immediately notice me because of it. Though I still kept it safe and had a white mask on.

JiHyun always wore one of his hoodies though this time it was a partially zipped gray hoodie that gave him the ability to choose to warm up by zipping it all the way or unzipping it to let more air in.

Ahnna in the meanwhile wore denim straight leg pants with a white tank top and white cropped cardigan.

While Areum chose to wear a blue denim midi skirt with a black top. She tied her hair up in a temporary bun when she realized the sunny weather and even opted to leave her denim jacket at the van. I guessed she was always one to quickly break a sweat under hot weather. Even when we were teens, she always broke a sweat first when we walked towards a bus stop.

I can see Hwan reach the end of the stairs and I anticipated myself for the view, it was definitely one I shouldn’t have underestimated.

The beautifully colored buildings and houses looked so peaceful on the hillside. The sun had only started to reach its peak and the vibrant colors shone ever brighter. We could see the layered streets, twisted labyrinth-like alleys, and people busy with whatever stalls littered the streets.

“Woah! It’s so pretty!”

“Eumi unnie, let’s take pictures!” Ahnna spoke though when Hwan cleared his throat to speak we all turned to look at him with divided attention.

“Okay so… the Gamcheon Village was built during the 1920s and 1930s when the Busan city administration decided to relocate the working-class population into an area secluded from the port. So, Gamcheon underwent a lot of changes throughout the times. Gamcheon was actually only one district in the 1950s and now it’s nine. In the 70s the houses were made of wood. In the 80s and early 90s, families started getting bigger and houses started to get bigger and have multiple floors. In 2009, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism carried out a public art-themed renovation effort to convert the village into a central hub. With improvements to infrastructure, fresh paint, other home improvements, spaces for retail and museums, with the help of artists and residents the village has been reborn as Busan’s most colorful and artistic spot. And don’t worry we will be visiting these spots sooner than later.” Hwan explained as we all listened to him.

“Do residents still live here?” Areum asked.

“Yes, last time I checked it’s about 120 residents.” Hwan smiled at the girl who nodded at the information. She always had a knick for information. She wasn’t one that loved math and studying though her interest always piqued when the subject was one she wanted to learn more about. Perhaps this tour was exactly what she might’ve wanted.

“That’s not a lot. I thought you said the whole working-class population was relocated here.” She inquired and Hwan’s smile grew at the fact that the woman seemed to take note of every piece of information he said.

“Yes, the population is decreasing especially because this has become a common tourist attraction. After the renovations, about 300 houses were found abandoned and those were used to create museums instead.” Hwan smiled.

I can see JiHyun and Ahnna already wandering around the wooden view deck and taking pictures near the edge of the white fence. I honestly didn’t know why I was still listening to Hwan and Areum’s conversation, I just came here to bond with my brother and the girls though I was enjoying how Hwan answered Areum’s questions so composed and well studied. I can tell he had a lot of passion in his job.

“Jimin Hyung! Areum Noona! Come take a picture with us!” JiHyun called us over as I glanced back at Areum who nodded at the two though continued to converse with Hwan.

I walked towards the two near the edge and looked down at the streets below us. The breeze was chilly though the heat from the sun was enough to balance our temperature well.

“What’s unnie doing?” Ahnna sounded impatient as I could only chuckle at her and JiHyun as when I glanced at them they had their arms crossed in front of their chest.

“She’s always learning, no? Let her be, this is a private tour we can stay here as long as we’d like.” I said as Ahnna could only frown and ready her camera for another selfie before tapping me with a finger to smile for the camera.

“I’m sending this to Aaron. I’m a neglected child! My responsible guardian is ignoring me!” Ahnna jokingly complained as Areum glanced at her from the sides of her eyes, her eyebrows furrowed and she curved her lips into a pout that mocked and judged her sister.

It was a hilarious sight that had me holding onto my knees as I bent down from my laughter. JiHyun was laughing too as Areum finally stepped away from Hwan with a less than pleased look though I can tell from the way her cheeks tried to force down a smile that she wanted to laugh with us too.

“So bratty. I should just leave you here and go back to New York.” Areum rolled her eyes as she finally stood with us near the edge of the view deck.

“Yeah right! JiHyun and Jimin oppa would take care of me anyways!” Ahnna fought back with a voice full of sass.

“You leech! You just want to walk around the HYBE building to meet popular choreographers.” Areum softly shoved Ahnna on the shoulder as Ahnna tried to do it back though Areum continuously blocked her hand.

“I wouldn’t mind really…” I spoke without thinking.

It was true, I really wouldn’t mind. Ever since Ahnna was born I have taken a brotherly role for her and I still think our dynamic stays as it is. I’d love to help her with her studies in an art school. I did it with Jungkook and I’d do it again.

“Aish! It’s a nightmare, save yourself!” Areum softly shoved my shoulder though it was more of a tap of the tips of her fingers. I can tell that she didn’t mean to shove me and she realized it a bit too late as she already had her hand against my shoulder.

Shoulder shoving seems to be a new habit of hers. I don’t know where she got it from, she usually wasn’t like that. It was usually me and JiHyun who did it and whenever we unconditionally did it to her she’d just roll her eyes. Why am I reading into this so much? Just let the woman live, Jimin.

“Okay, serious now… Selfie for the gram!” Ahnna held up her phone to the sky with the front camera pointing down at us to show the colorful background of the Gamcheon Culture Village.

“Wait! I shouldn’t join…” I quickly stepped out of frame as the three looked at me with confusion.

“I shouldn’t appear in public media this month… The focus needs to be on the new album.” I paired it with a chuckle as I didn’t want them to not post their experience in Busan just because I couldn’t appear in social media.

“Everything doesn’t have to be posted. I’m sure we’ll have more photo opportunities later, so just join us for the selfie.” Areum said with a warm smile that made my stomach feel like it could float.

“Come on oppa, this will be for the memories and for eomma and appa.” Ahnna smiled as I relented and took my space back beside JiHyun and behind the two girls.

“Wait, I can’t see you two properly.” Ahnna tried to reach higher into the sky as JiHyun took a step closer behind Ahnna and I copied his action to come closer behind Areum.

“Don’t point it too high at the sky too! We’re gonna go blind staring at the sun!” JiHyun chuckled as he placed a hand around my shoulder.

Ahnna laughed and lowered the phone angle. I’m glad JiHyun pointed it out before we took pictures. I knew these weren’t going public but I wanted to smile with a peak of my eyes at least. I loved my eye smile but I didn’t want my eyes to entirely disappear from squinting at the sun.

“Oppa remove your mask!” Ahnna reminded me as I took the hand opposite from JiHyun, who was pressing on my side, to remove my mask. I hung the mask around my wrist before I rested my hand to the side of Areum’s shoulder before we all pressed together and smiled for the picture.

It was great. The moment felt great. It wasn’t like the happiness I feel everytime I’m on stage or when I’m with Bangtan and other friends. It wasn’t the same happiness as I felt with family either. It was a happiness that I will now start to associate with my past. A happiness that I must’ve felt before though it now felt foreign. It wasn't happiness that made my cheeks hurt from smiling, but it was happiness that left a good feeling in my stomach. A good mixture of unfamiliar airiness and warm fulfilling joy.

“We’ll be walking around the village towards our next location now. Feel free to stop and buy a few things on the way.” Hwan told us before he led the way down the staircase as we had spent a good twenty minutes on the view deck already. Just appreciating the scenery, taking pictures, and feeling the breeze on our skin.

“Is anybody hungry? It’s still a good 10 to 15 minute walk until we reach the cafe we’ll have a short break at.” Hwan asked.

“We might just buy some street foods on the walk.” JiHyun said as he walked behind Hwan and carefully looked behind him to make sure Ahnna was following behind him. Whilst Areum walked behind Ahnna and in front of me, with the bodyguard behind me.

We were halfway down the twisted staircase when I noticed Areum struggling with her midi skirt before I heard a skid of the soles of her sneakers. I didn’t see her slip though it was somewhat like a reflex for me to immediately grab her upper arm in case she fell. That all too familiar noise of shoes losing grip that I’ve heard way too often during dance practice.

“Woah…Thanks.” She breathily laughed whilst regaining composure as the rest of the group glanced up at us before continuing down the stairs more carefully.

“Careful.” I said before we continued walking down and her body posture only showed how flustered she was.

“You okay? You’re always falling nowadays…” I prolonged the silence as I took the last step and saw JiHyun and Ahnna walking towards Hwan a few meters ahead of us.

I haven’t brought up our past encounter at the photoshoot before. It mostly slipped my mind though Areum had only said to us last night that she took up a few gigs around Seoul. Was working for BigHit that day just a gig? I always thought we were careful about who we hired. Something about not wanting any spoilers to leak out considering we mostly do a lot of content weeks prior to the proper airing date. We already had six boys, excluding me of course, that were already doing a great job in spoilers. We did not need part time staff to spoil for us too, not that I’m calling Areum bad but if they let her in as a part timer then who else were they letting in?

“Ha. Ha. Ha.” Areum rolled her eyes in mocked laughter, though she wasn’t offended.

“I don’t do it on purpose.” She added.

“Uh huh.”

“I’m being serious. It just happens…”

I really wanted her to open up about the photoshoot. I wanted her to willingly talk about it instead of me bringing it up in a more direct way. Or I might just be a little scared to make it awkward for the both of us to speak about it.

We soon exited the smaller alley that led to the Haneul Maru observation deck before we went down a flight of stairs to get to the much larger one lane street.

“If you turn around actually, you’ll see that there’s a large fish made of tiny fish shaped cutouts. All throughout the village, you’ll see that these fish shaped cutouts will lead us around. And I know that you all know this since it’s practically the first thing we’re taught in school here, but Busan has the largest seaport in South Korea. The city has abundant seafood and traditional street markets where you can enjoy fresh and delectable dishes. I am also informing you to please wear beach appropriate attire for our last day since we will be spending most of it in Songdo.” Hwan smiled as we all nodded.

“Gosh, remember our Songdo visit before?” Areum spoke as the rest of the group had started walking off in a direction.

“How could I not?” I smiled and we walked side by side as we followed the group. Hwan was talking about something as JiHyun and Ahnna followed closely behind him and I assumed the guard was walking behind us. As I grew more aware of the fact that I could be recognized.

“It was a long time ago. How old were we?” Areum asked as I looked up at the sky as if it would help me remember.

“JiHyun was at most six, so you were probably seven and I was turning eight.” I remember though perhaps we were a year younger. My childhood years seemed to all merge together and every memory I have prior to meeting Areum had disappeared whilst every memory I had before confessing and getting in a relationship with Areum was childhood.

I didn’t lose my childhood when we were together. I lost it when I started thinking about the future, my future. The future that I vaguely made out was me in Seoul and dancing, that was the year I started to dream and act on it. My teenage wild and whatever you call it phase.

“I don’t remember much of that anymore. Everything is hectic in New York. It makes you forget things easily.” Areum said as I nodded along.

“I’ve been to New York and it surely does feel more hectic.”

“You have?” Areum asked with surprise and it broke my heart to know that she wasn’t keeping up with me. It wasn’t like I expected her too but damn…

I literally performed for New Year’s. How could she not know? Isn’t it like the biggest thing in New York?

“We performed in Times Square during Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.”

“You did? Wow! That’s great! I’m sure the crowds were cheering you on.” She smiled at me and I wanted to smile back, though I only forced to squint my eyes in the illusion that I smiled as the effort of smiling didn’t feel needed when I had my mask on.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t watch it. We spent New Year’s in Seoul with Aaron.” Areum apologized though I only shook my head to signal that it wasn’t worth apologizing for. Of course I knew Aaron spent New Year’s in Seoul. I saw it on her Instagram afterall.

“Aaron hyung was here? Was Mr and Mrs Seong here too?” I asked as I remember it was one of the questions I asked myself that one drunken night.

“No… just us three.” She exaggerated a smile.

I should really stop bringing up her parents. Stop it Jimin. It’s awkward and none of your business.

“Ah, you should’ve said something. Eomma and Appa could’ve celebrated with you! I might’ve gone home too if we had guests.” I proposed though Areum only shook her head at the idea.

“We shouldn’t bother—“

“Areum, you two are never a bother! Look at JiHyun, he missed you so much. You’d have to run before he chains you to Busan.” I pointed at my brother happily pointing at everything he sees with a smile brighter than I’ve seen after all these years.

“I never knew he’d be this happy to see us.”

“We’re all happy to see you guys after all these years. I’m not joking, I would've actually spent New Year in Busan and canceled New York if you reached out.”

I don’t know if that was an exaggeration or not, but I would’ve definitely tried. It’s been too long and I know I wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to spend the holidays with my family and reunited friends.

“Yeah right. You’re a busy man now, Jimin. You’d probably get yelled at by your Sejin ssi.” She warned with a joking yet serious tone that made a laugh bubble out of my throat.

“Sejin i— he can’t control me!” I doubted the next thing I was going to say as I fought back with a much more playful manner that I’d usually engage in when Taehyung was up to his more theatrical moods.

“I know you were about to say that Sejin wasn’t your boss! He’s your boss Jimin. You have to follow him or else he’ll look like he was on his last hair with you not changing for the next set.” Areum alluded to something I don’t vividly remember happening.

“What do you mean? What set?”

“When you were still watching the interviews when you and RM should’ve been changing.” She clarified as I remembered when RM had dragged me on screen to join the other members in their group interview.

I chuckled with a shake of my head. Ironic really. I wouldn’t get changed because I was watching her. I was merely baffled by her presence in the photoshoot.

“I didn’t know Sejin was angry… I thought he was in our waiting room already.” I shrugged as I really didn’t get a glimpse of our manager that time.

“How’s TXT’s manager?” I added, hoping to stay on this topic of work.

“He’s good. We don’t interact much, but he’s been kind.” Areum smiled as I was at a loss of what to respond.

“I’m a BigHit makeup artist, so it’s not like he’s my boss.” Areum added with sass and a playful manner that stayed the same after all these years.

“I guess you’re right.” I laughed.

“Your boss is Sun Jee?” I asked as I stated the name of one of HYBE’s boss that I knew was in control of the makeup and dressing department.

“No, it’s Hee Ran. I just work for BigHit, not HYBE.” She smiled as I nodded.

“For how long?”

“I got connected through a friend and got hired when I booked a ticket and got my visa for Seoul.” She explained briefly.

“So you’ve worked since the day you got here?”

“Not really. I don’t go to every shoot or event. BigHit has other staff too, you know. And I’m just building up my portfolio and trying to get better at it.”

“I saw your work. You’re already doing very well!” I said encouragingly though the raise of her brow had me thinking that I said something wrong.

“When did you see my work?”

Oh.

“At the photoshoot… you did TXT’s makeup and hair and it looked great!” I recovered with a forced chuckle.

“Well yes… but I wanted to be more experimental. That’s why I do gigs outside of BigHit too. You idols need to look perfect, so I can’t try anything more than a new technique on your eyeshadow.”

Yes, I know. You post them on your Instagram and they all look amazing. You can be more experimental with me. Let it be like all those years ago, when you experiment on hiding blemishes and my scar.

I wanted to say so much in reply but when Hwan turned around to connect eyes with me I knew I didn’t have the time.

“Jimin ssi, you might want to take a good look at this.” Hwan called for me as the three of them slowed down for me and Areum to walk up to.

We rounded the corner and saw a pink building called Korean Traditional Paper Art Shop with space beside it to look over the village at another angle and had photo booths lined up beside the building.

“We’ll take pictures in the photo booth?” I asked though Hwan only kept walking past the building before he turned around and looked at something behind me.

“Woah! Hyung!”

I heard JiHyun’s amazement before I turned around and saw that the Korean Traditional Paper Art Shop had a painted mural of both me and Jungkook. It was amazing and something I hadn’t even heard of before. A cloud background was behind us as both me and Jungkook held red roses. Whilst the hashtags #Jungkook #Jimin were beside our murals.

“Woah! I have to tell Jungkook about this.”

If I had my mask off then they’d definitely see my toothy smile, though I think it was obvious with the mask on that I had a smile on my face. My cheeks were so high up that I was squinting at the mural. Though I had to remind myself to be extra cautious in case there were any ARMYs around admiring the mural too.

I quickly pulled out my phone and took a picture of it to send to the group chat later.

“Want us to take a picture for you?” Areum asked though I only shook my head. It was no need. It would probably raise more suspicion on why a man that was similarly built to the man on the mural was taking an awkward photo in front of it.

“You guys want to buy something here? Our next stop is a cafe so there should be no rush.” Hwan informed us as I skimmed through the display.

“You want something?” I looked towards the two sisters as they shrugged though their eyes roamed through the display.

“Excuse me.” I called the attention of one of the vendors as an older woman came to my call.

“Yes mister? What can I get for you?”

“May I buy two sensus?” I said as I glanced at the artful folding fans that were displayed on a rack.

“Of course, just choose. The price depends on the design.” The woman smiled as she pointed at the fans for sale.

I looked over at the Seong siblings and gestured for them to choose as they tried to deny it though I insisted and they let their eyes roam at each design carefully.

“I’ll choose this.” Ahnna took a green and blue sensu from the lower rack that wasn’t displayed though similar enough to one that was on the rack.

“That will be 20,000 won.” The woman smiled and I nodded as I got my wallet out to count some cash that I’ve brought aside from my credit cards.

“And this? How much?” Areum spoke to the lady as she pointed to a sensu that had an off-white background behind a simple Cherry Blossom tree branch. Of course she went for something so elegantly simple.

“35,000 won, miss.”

“What? What’s the difference between these two?” She pointed to the one Ahnna held as her eyes tried to not widen from surprise at the price.

“This one is larger and is made from the best bamboo!” The older woman tried to impress though Areum was having none of it.

“How about 25,000 won?”

“No way, miss! This is really good quality and—“

“Don’t worry about it Eumi, I’ve got it.” I interrupted the older woman as I took out a yellow 50,000 won bill along with a 20,000 won bill to hand to the woman.

“We’ll have both ahjumma. Thank you.” I bowed as the woman looked less pleased with Areum though still packed up both fans in a bag and handed it to me. She was about to return my change though I simply shook my head as a sign for her to keep it.

“Jimin. 55,000 won on sensu? Back then they were 10,000 won each!” Areum complained as we started to walk away.

“Areum. I’m BTS.” I had a smug smile behind my mask as I said the line with much pride.

Was I being boastful? Yes.

Did I need to stay humble? Yes.

But for once I finally got to tell Areum my biggest accomplishment while she was gone and I wanted her to be proud of that.

“Aish, shh! They’ll eat you up as soon as they hear you. Then it’ll be a bigger problem for all of us.” Areum looked around as though she was checking if anyone had heard such a deep secret.

“Hyung, let's buy some!” JiHyun called me from the other side of the street as he pointed to a fresh Kkwabaegi stall. The sweet twisted doughnut smell was already hitting my nose as soon as I laid sight upon the stall.

We approached the stall and asked for ten doughnuts. JiHyun already had one in his mouth and was being held by a white paper cup whilst the rest were in a paper bag that we’d take to the cafe that Hwan said was only 3 minutes away.

“I remember loving this as a kid!” JiHyun said as he stuffed another mouthful into his mouth before he licked his lips from any stray sugar particles.

“Looks like you still do.” Areum added as we chuckled and JiHyun rolled his eyes.

“We really need to eat more in Seoul, Eumi. You know, during New Year’s we went to a traditional Korean restaurant and I didn’t know half of the things on the menu!” Ahnna complained.

“Aish, blame Appa and Aaron for that!” Areum waved a hand at her younger sister though opted to keep her eyes on the road we were walking on.

“You’re an American already. You grew up in America. It’s natural.” I stated.

I’m pretty sure there was another word for it because the situation was just that common. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard it get called ‘whitewashing’ though I’m not sure if the situation is entirely similar. I couldn’t blame Ahnna. She even speaks in half Korean and half English and she definitely had an accent from the west. Thankfully enough all of us are exposed to English and American accents so communicating with Ahnna was smooth sailing. I even see it happening to Namjoon Hyung, especially when we travel to The States and are exposed to more Western accents. Even Hobi Hyung gets it sometimes and I worry that the more we take English lessons then the more we’ll have this accent more frequently. Days are harder when I can’t slip in an ‘Okay’ in pure English form.

“That’s why you’re here to study. You get to be more in touch with your culture again, so that this time you won’t forget it so easily.” JiHyun smiled as I nodded in agreement.

“Just through this corner.” Hwan spoke from behind us as he was engaging in conversations with our guard.

We climbed up a set of stairs on the sidewalk. The village seems to have layers that you simply walk through by these staircases on the side of the road.

Hwan decided to walk in front of us to lead us to the cafe. It was good timing too because my feet were getting more exhausted the more steps I took. Now imagine if we walked all the way to our middle school earlier? I would be dead.

“Now this place is actually run by a close relative of mine and it’s a bit more private so you could take your mask off and relax more Jimin ssi.” Hwan smiled as we approached a red building that seemed to be two stories tall with a roof deck on the top.

I can tell that it was more private than the rest of the cafe’s we passed by. All the others were near the sidewalk and closer to the edge to have a view of the village.

We went into the cozy red building. The walls were painted white with black stone tiled flooring and a black brick counter that showed the staff making the drinks.

“Why don’t we take a seat on the third floor for the view? Or would you like to stay on the second floor for the air conditioning?” Hwan asked as we all piled in front of the counter.

“Let’s go to the top and when it gets too hot some of us could come back down.” I raised the idea as Hwan nodded and told the guard to go up and get us a table before he stayed with us to order.

“Hello! What can I get for you?” The barista greeted us as we all looked at the menu.

“I’ll have the coconut jelly iced tea.” JiHyun said as the woman nodded and placed his order on the register.

“I’ll have an Americ—“

“Ahh! We were just talking about this earlier…” JiHyun interrupted the girl as me and Areum let out a laugh.

“Wha—“

“Why not try something other than a coffee that’s literally called American.” JiHyun said as I let out an even louder and breathier laugh. His interruption was uncalled for, but bless my brother and his overactive nature.

“You should try something else, Ahnna. It’s too late for a coffee anyways.” Areum added as she flicked her phone on and the digits 15:07 displayed on her phone to indicate that it was three in the afternoon already.

“Okay… I’ll have a Grapefruit Ade.” Ahnna pointed to the English menu.

“And I’ll have a Blueberry Yoghurt Smoothie.” Areum said as the three of them now looked at me for my order.

“I’ll have a Green Grape Ade.” I said as the cashier inputted that in.

“I’ll have two Americanos too! But please separate our bill.” Hwan said from behind us as the cashier nodded and typed a few things on her register.

“Please separate both of our orders too please. The Yoghurt and—“

“No need. I’ll pay for it, don't worry.” I smiled as I interrupted Areum. Her lips readied to disagree though I stopped it by pulling out my newly obtained black card.

“I don’t get it? Why do they get Americanos?” Ahnna half whined.

“They’re adults.” JiHyun responded nonchalantly though Hwan also responded at the same time.

“It’s the cheapest thing there.”

“Kindly cancel his order too and add two Cappuccinos to our order.” I smiled as I could see Hwan’s mouth slightly drop at my quick action.

“Jimin ssi…”

“Hwan, I can’t pull this out and expect you to pay for your own Americanos now.” I chuckled as I waited for the register to calculate our order.

“That will be 30,500 won. Would you like any pastries added?” The register asked as I turned to the people around me as they only shook their heads no.

“We’ll have some cheese bread with that please. Just take 40,000 won from that.” The register nodded as I handed the card to her and she swiped it before letting me sign the receipt.

“We’ll call you when it’s ready.” The woman smiled before turning around to tell her colleague about the order.

“I’ll wait here for the orders. You guys can go up.” I told the group as I removed my mask and finally got to breathe in some cold conditioned air.

“I’ll stay with you.” Areum said as the rest had already started going up.

We both sat down at a nearby table as I removed my black beret and finger combed my hair.

I wonder how cool I look right now. After flashing my newly gotten invitational black card and having my blue hair out. I must look like a dream. Though I quickly brought those thoughts down and I wasn’t usually the boasting type. What was happening? I shouldn’t be thinking like that.

“Wow, so Mr. Black Card?” Areum raised a brow as she removed her hair tie and let her long hair flow down her shoulders whilst I only chuckled.

Okay Jimin. We get it, you're rich and handsome and everything let’s stay humble now.

“You want some? They might get cold soon.” I placed the bag of Kkwabaegi and Areum gladly took one out of the bag and took a bite before peeling one braid of the twist and offering it to me.

“Gosh, you still eat it that way.” I laughed and shook my head as I vividly remember Areum eating Kkwabaegi by peeling the two braids off instead of just biting into it the normal way.

“What? It’s good! I haven’t had this in forever, and it’s still warm!” She smiled as she took a bigger bite of her strand of sugar coated bread while I took the strand that she offered me.

I took a bite of the bread and instantly felt the warmth of the bread in my stomach as we ate the bread in silence. Though it wasn’t an awkward silence between past lovers. This time it felt warmer, it felt just like it used to be before. A silence that was understood as a time for us to rest our personalities and just bask in nothing but the smell of coffee.

“Excuse me ma'am and sir, your order is ready.” The cashier waved to us as I stood up and grabbed one of the trays of our drinks.

“Thank you.” I said as I turned to the other trays debating on how I would take this up the stairs.

“I’ll take this one.” Areum took the wooden tray in her arms with a smile after she had already placed the bag of twisted doughnuts to place on my wooden tray.

“Careful.” I warned seriously, though she only laughed at me.

“Don’t worry, I had my daily trip already. I won’t trip this time around.”

And she really didn’t trip as I walked behind her on the staircase. We got up to the top floor and admired the view with rest. Ahnna and Areum had even taken pictures and videos for their Instagrams that I was sure I’d see later when I opened Instagram.

The cafe had us relaxing as Hwan and I discussed the next stops we’d take in the village.

We still had dinner with my parents later on in the night so we had to travel back to Jinam-ro on time.

We went to a few more locations around the Gamcheon Culture Village. We took some pictures with the Little Prince Statue that overlooked another angle of the village. We went to buy a few more souvenirs in the Gamcheon Culture Station. We also went to see the Stairs to See Stars, though it was difficult to take pictures when other people also sat and stepped on the stairs to take pictures.

“Gosh, this is exhausting. My knees hurt.” Areum complained as we were walking towards a small museum Hwan wanted us to see.

“You’re getting old, unnie.” Ahnna laughed though it was followed by Areum bringing a weak hand up to threaten a punch.

“We’re both too old for this. I don’t get why Hwan is taking us to all these places.” I said.

“I’m taking you to all these places because last time I heard you wanted to show these locals turned foreign around so that they get to embrace their culture again.” Hwan sassily yet calmly responded.

“Yeah, but after this I think I need to lay down for the next seven days. This isn’t a break from work. This is more intense than my workout!” I exclaimed though JiHyun only snorted at me.

“You work out, hyung?” He chuckled as a mock to my ever repeating statements of working out.

“JiHyun, watch yourself.” I warned him.

“Here we are! After this we’ll just walk back to the main road and the van should be waiting to take us back to Jinam-ro. Unless you’d like to walk all the way back to Haneul Maru?” Hwan teased though both me and Areum turned in synch to glare at him.

“At least tomorrow days we’ll be spending most of it in museums.” Hwan smiled as I threw I nodded a relieved.

“Hwan, go easy on us tomorrow.” I said as the man nodded.

“Of course, Jimin ssi. We’ll be at the museum and aquarium in Hawundae, so you’ll probably end off earlier. We could book you dinner somewhere after too…” Hwan replied as he looked at me expectantly for my plans though I hadn’t really thought much about it.

“Uh… I don’t know. Are there any good places in that area?” I thought of the idea on the spot as we were already eating out tonight, a change of menu would be great from time to time.

“Yes! If anything is going to get Ahnna more familiar with South Korean culture then it’s night life in Haeundae!” JiHyun cheered as Areum’s eyes widened at the idea.

“Oppa, I’m not legal yet!” Ahnna whined as I laughed at Areum’s reaction. I placed a hand over my mask as if I still needed to conceal my open mouthed laugh behind the mask.

“No. Maybe next time, but not right now. That’s something for Aaron to have a say in.” The older sister said as my laughter subsided though a smile still fought its way up my cheeks.

“But would you join? Have you even tried the nightlife in Korea? You left before you were even legal.” I waved my brow in suggestion of a night out though the woman only rolled her eyes.

“Jimin hyung, have you tried American nightlife?” JiHyun asked in curiosity .

“Of course! It’s nice there, their whiskey is top tier!”

“And the girls?” JiHyun wiggled his brows.

I could only chuckle. Whatever I did outside of South Korea is a different story to how I usually do it here. Sometimes I was dumb enough to join house parties that I really shouldn’t have gone to, but that was that.

“Here’s the Modern Man museum! It’s pretty small, but it’s private enough for Jimin ssi to take a break from wearing your mask.” Hwan smiled as we stood outside the small building.

I removed my mask as I read the text outside the building.

Room of our Contemporaries

Contemporary Men by Shin Mugyeong

A Village Art Project in 2012.

The work expressed the busy contemporary men who are doing repetitive tasks in their daily life by visualizing the hands tapping on the keyboards or people working at the desk.

It was self explanatory.

I stepped in first since the rest were still busy reading the sign. Inside was a TV about the working man though I only skimmed through the message before JiHyun followed me in and we both entered the main room.

A brightly lit white room with glass that separated us from the artwork. About 15 machines that visualized a clear hand pressing onto nonexistent keyboards.

Namjoon Hyun had actually started to be more open about his love for art and museums. Just like Jin Hyun and Lee Hyun Hyung and their open interest in fishing that had newly started after our photoshoot. And just like fishing, I really don’t understand the appeal of looking at interpretive art.

Yes, I agree they look incredible, but Namjoon Hyung goes into rants about artworks sometimes and I really don’t understand it. Though I try to understand that art and fishing is their passion like dancing is for me.

What a weird passion, in my opinion. But it’s their life.

“Woah, this is nice!” Areum’s eyes roamed the room as I only stood in place and looked back at the room as if I was missing something.

Was there something I couldn’t see?

No there wasn’t. Perhaps Areum and Ahnna had a better eye than me since they took a good few minutes just staring at the exhibit before we exited back out.

We soon got into the van and we were back on the road after a long day. The sun had begun to set as we sat quietly in the van. The walking and standing we did throughout the day had finally taken its weight on us as the van was completely silent on the ride back to the cafe.

I told Hwan to simply drop us off at Magnate since my parents will be driving all of us to Geumcheon-Dong for dinner.

I took out my phone and started to aimlessly check important notifications that I might’ve missed. I saw the reactions of fans on our second MOTS:7 Concept photos that showed my much more vibrantly colored blue hair. I should take more precautions now since fans will be on the lookout for a blue headed male around.

Of course ARMY loves me.

ARMY loves all of us and we love ARMY back. That’s why we’re so excited for our new album Map Of The Soul: 7 and our plans for doing a world tour. It would be a great opportunity to see ARMY again.

We all could honestly say that our souls' motivation was ARMY. They give us the power to persevere through challenges and hardships. No matter the battle, no matter the dumb fights and complications we face. If ARMY was brought into the conversation then everything doesn’t matter except for ARMY.

Our new album ‘Map Of The Soul: 7’ is our fourth full-length album and shows the honest story of our journey of discovering our true selves. ‘Map Of The Soul: 7’ looks back on the seven years since our debut as seven members in one team. Our joruney to stardom wasn’t easy and smooth sailing. We faced challenges that left scars, and we now understood that these scars were part of ourselves. Our new album will show our growth as artists and I just can’t contain my excitement for this release. Considering Taehyung and I actually have a duet that included my active participation in making the lyrics and part of the production. I just can’t contain my excitement.

I just hope ARMY will love it too.

When I finished checking Weverse and ARMYs reaction to our concept photos, I then looked around and saw that JiHyun was asleep beside me whilst Areum and Ahnna were sitting behind us though they kept their eyes on the road or on their phones.

I opened Instagram and logged into my account. Seeing reposted pictures of our concept photos before I saw Areum’s account has posted a new story.

They were snippets of our trip around Gamcheon Culture Village and I couldn’t help but sigh in happiness as I looked back at the day. It was definitely different from how I expected my break would be though I wasn’t complaining.

It was great reconnecting with old friends.

#bts #Makeup The Break Up #bts jimin #bts rm #bts jin #bts suga #bts jhope #bts v #bts jungkook #park jimin #kim namjoon #kim seokjin #min yoongi #jung hoseok #kim taehyung #jeon jungkook #bts series #bts fanfic #bts army #bts fluff #bts angst #bangtan #bangtan fanfic #bangtan fluff #park jimin x oc #kpop

[coquelicoq]

For the letter ask, can you do the letter M?

i love magnets because of that tumblr post that says no one really understands magnetism. i don't know if that's true, but it reminds me of one of my favorite things about science, which is the awareness that we only know a fraction of what there is to know. (my other favorite thing is about science is the curiosity and drive to know more than we do currently.) magnets are also fun because of the whole "opposites attract" thing, which is a cliche for a reason. also i love magnets because they allow me to stick my siblings' photos and the art they drew for me when they were little to my fridge <3

i love my tag #me when i discovered narwhals and hope to have many more opportunities to use it in the future.

i love malaphors and mondegreens and memes. i love the way our brains connect things to make new things, often on accident, and i love it when the new things are funny.

i love the moon. oh, how i love the moon. i love how lonely she is and yet how every time i look at her i know someone else is looking at her too. i love that there's just this huge body that appears in the sky every few weeks, wherever i am, and she's been doing that for eons. like, there's nothing else i can see from inside of my house that is that ancient. there's nothing else i can see on a regular basis that i know billions and billions of other people have also seen. i love how she's not visible all the time so that when she is, i still feel excited about it. i love that she can't see me back and that she doesn't care about me or about anything at all. i love my playlist of songs about the moon. i love using she/her pronouns for the moon. i love how she protects us from asteroids! when i think about the tides i get incredibly fucked up about it. we're a system! we affect each other!!!!!

speaking of. i love mutualism and mutual aid. i love that we want to help. i love that we want to be helped. i love that we want to be part of something bigger than ourselves. i love that we want to belong and to contribute.

i love it when things are meta, by which i mean i love it when things are self-referential. i love it the way i love autology, when something is an example of what it describes. i also love what tumblr calls meta, fan analysis of shows and books and whatnot, but who doesn't??

i love math. i love that math is systematic and reliable but i also love it for the exact opposite reason...i love math because it's so complex, because it's so unfinished, because it's so unpredictable. because what it's describing is complex and unfinished and unpredictable! i love the t-shirts my friends and i made in math club in high school (i, my imaginary friend) and these very bad math pickup lines i made to impress a beloved mutual.

i love mortality. i love knowing that i am mortal. i love knowing that existence is change, that things come to an end, that entropy is natural.

i love that mourning and morning are homonyms. i love that life goes on but i am changed. i love the things in life that are cyclical, that remind me that i'm part of the great turning of all things.

i love the word maybe. i love that it's a verb phrase turned into an adverb. i love the hope inherent in it. i love that you never know. you never know.

#hmmmm. i am sensing some themes haha #thank you for this ask! turns out M is a banger of a letter! she is doing so much for us!!!! #asks #not anon #luna #math #f #links

[leejungchans]

i have decided that when this semester ends i’m gonna go dye my hair something Adventurous to reward myself 🤩🤩🤩

#sol.txt #but i also have my graduation ceremony thingy in june so maybe i’ll wait until after then??? #since i kinda wanna look ✨Professional✨ in the pictures? #unless the you-know-what cases rise again we’ll probably have the ceremony so... #it’s already a whole year late bc it kept getting postponed bc of the pandemonium :( #ajjshwjd not my grade having our high school graduation ceremony after we wrap up our freshman year at uni 🤡 #i hope it happens though bc i haven’t seen my friends (unless we’re super close) in a long time so </3 #i only see like 3 of my friends from high school on a regular basis so it’d be nice to see how everyone else is doing :c

[carlisles-girl]

reputation (John Bender x FemReader)

-

a/n: I made a lemon meringue pie on Sunday, but like in the forms of little tarts and they’re so good omfg. kinda corny at the end and ass cuz I kinda gave up, but hope you enjoy lol <3 lmk if y’all want more parts to this cuz I’m kinda down to do so

-

Rumours spread over the minds of high school students like mist from an ocean on a windy day. Almost every single day there was a new rumour about somebody, majority of the time it was about the popular students talking about the other popular students, and other times it was the popular students talking about the not-so-popular students.

Whatever they said goes, because in the high school world, they were the award-winning celebrities you see on television that, most times, often get their words manipulated by the press. The press in this setting was the other students that progressed the flow of the words spoken about others.

The only way that you really associated yourself with other people than your friends was with others in your class if you needed to borrow a pencil, a teacher for asking questions, and then another - John Bender, your source of weed supply, and surprisingly a friend that leant a shoulder to lean on when you needed it, only if you allowed him to ramble to you afterwards.

Of course you did, and over time beginning at your sophomore year, you and John were on a first-name basis as well as the regular subject of gossip at the mouths of your peers.

At first it started off with the usual whenever someone was seen with John, the usual of: “Oh my god, he’s selling weed again!”

Then it slowly progressed into more romantically infused suggestions such as: “They’re totally dating! Don’t you see his arm around her waist?”

John, of course, was slightly prideful about the attention and took it as almost like a competition to get as many people talking about the two of you as possible. Often times, after school the two of you would sit on the bleachers by the football field and just talk about anything and everything.

This was one of those days, and by the time it was nearing 8pm, with the sun’s golden hue illuminating the both of your faces, and making the smoke from John’s cigarette mimic the look of perfectly painted clouds in a renaissance painting, he brought up the topic.

“Have you heard about what they’re saying?” He asked, flicking the ashes of his cigarette on the makeshift smoke tray made out of the bottom of a broken beer bottle that sat in the middle of you two.

“About us?” You asked back, looking at him, but his gaze was fixated on the slightly burning ash in the tray. Then just a few seconds after your question, he gave a small, quick nod before bringing the cigarette back up to his lips.

“Not since last weeks topic of conversation. Why, what are they saying now?” You were genuinely curious, and slightly worried since John’s body language signified that it must’ve been one of the worser ones he’s heard.

“You sure you wanna hear? It’s pretty shitty.” John said, blowing smoke from the corner of his mouth, then crushing the end of the cigarette in the tray.

“Well, it involves me so yeah, I’d like to hear it.”

John got up from where he was sitting before outstretching his hand towards you, which you took and the both of you stepped down the bleachers and made your way to the grass of the field.

“They’re saying that I got you pregnant.”

You sucked your teeth for a second before shrugging it off, “It’s not the worst thing in the world, it doesn’t bother me that much.”

John looked at you like you had just stabbed someone, eyes wide with his eyebrows furrowed before stopping any movement from him. “What?”

You paused your movements along with him, your hands still holding onto each other. “What?”

“It doesn’t bother you?”

“Not at all. There could be way more shitty things people could say.”

“Yes, but they’re saying that I got you pregnant. If someone, like, your parents, for example, found out about this rumour do you think they would take it very lightly? That someone like me did this to you?”

You looked away for a second, slowly bringing your face back to face him. “But it’s not true.”

“But if it was.”

“But it isn’t, and if it was, I wouldn’t mind.”

John’s face relaxed and he had a small smirk on his face. “You wouldn’t?”

“Right.”

At this point, the two of you began walking again, towards the front of the school, and John still had his little smirk on his face. You looked at him and noticed before smiling back at him.

“What are ya smiling about?” He asked, looking at you after he saw your smile from the corner of his right eye.

“Could ask you the same thing.”

“I asked first.” He then stopped holding your hand, bringing that same hand of his over your shoulders, bringing you in close in a slight side hug.

“Just because you’re smiling.” You said, bringing your right hand up to your right shoulder to place it over his hand. Your left arm being placed around his waist.

“Don’t get all sappy and stuff on me, now.”

#john bender #the breakfast club oneshot #the breakfast club preference #dating john bender #john bender x reader #john bender x reader oneshot #john bender oneshot #john bender imagine #john bender preference

[1990jeevas]

puts my chin in my hands n kicks my feet behind me. bff do u have any headcanons for craig and those guys, i love the way ur brain interprets these silly paper cutout guys ^_^

yaaaa ofc bestie <3

craig:

-is a movie snob but not in a "this movie needs to be the most well written film Ever" way, he's a snob in a "if this movie isnt so bad my sides hurt from laughing i just wont fucking watch it" way. seed of chucky is peak film to him

-has two left feet but likes to dance <3 his lanky body does not agree with the movement but that wont stop him from bussin it down celibate style or whatever they call it nowadays

-used to build wooden model airplanes and then paint them with tricia (i almost typed ruby somebody take my hands away), most of them are hung in her room but craig kept a few

-this mfer the type to go to college with literally zero plan, decide to take art after being undecided for as long as possible, hate art bc they make him do other types of art besides what he normally does, then drop out or smth along those lines

token:

-the worst excuse for a mom friend but the guys dont care. he can't cook. he will send them a text just saying "go bed" at like 10pm before immediately going to bed himself and not bothering to see if any of them actually Plan To Sleep. carries around bandaids but will not give them out unless they are deserved (you fell jumping off the swing? dont jump of the swing next time, bitch. no bandaid for u). literally only the mom friend bc nobody else could fill the role

-white chicks is unironically his favorite movie, right next to the medea halloween movie (incase yall forgot token canonically likes tyler perry movies. i cannot blame him. they suck so bad they're good)

-he dresses like a 60 year old dad going fishing or like he is going to the most important meeting of his life, no inbetween

-wants to learn an instrument really bad but has sucked at every single one he's tried so far, not to mention he cant read sheet music for shit.

-is the only one in his class who can write in cursive but he only learned bc both his parents wrote in cursive and he got tired of not being able to be nosey when he found notes around the house. turns out they were mostly grocery lists and appointment reminders.

clyde:

-he/they user

-^ goes thru a gender identify crisis in the 10th grade before goin nah. just a dude who likes they/them pronouns sometimes.

-is on the football team all throughout high school but only bc they need more players. everyone knows he sucks at the game. he does not gain any sort of popularity from being on the team, but he stays so he has an excuse to get out of the house more 🤷‍♀️

-dylexic AND dyscalcic. double whammy! with a side of adhd <3

-is craigs certified dance partner whenever the dude starts jamming. craig will just drag him out to the middle of the room and make him lead in a shitty foxtrot.

-speaking of craig, the height difference between them is crazy. craig gets tall, ofc, but clyde is just kinda. at his chest. face in boobies. it's like u got the absolutely twig of a man at 6'4" and then there's his bestie at 5'6", dragging him around by their linked arms.

tweek:

-despite the whole meth thing, regular coffee is actually apart of his enrichment. it's like the adhd meds he never got, without the extra upper of doing way too much meth on a day to day basis! is a fan of the starbucks iced carmel frappes.

-likes to cook when he is overwhelmed but cooking for him means being up and moving the entire time otherwise he will start to overthink again. he cant do none of that oven cook shit. give him a meal that requires a lot of prep work and watching the stove so he will be busy for a good hour and suddenly it's like he was never upset to begin with.

-an alt baby <3 screamo calms him

-^ wants to take the guys to a concert but clyde "has never listened to something not in the top 40s" donovan and craig "nearly died in the pit at a local punk gig that kenny dragged him to" tucker are against this idea.

jimmy:

-him 🤝 craig

shitty scifi movies

-^ anything with bad aliens in it will become his new obsession for like 4 months and everyone will have to hear about it. hyperfixation go brrr or whatever

-hates scripting sets for the life of him. like. will just write down jokes and hope he remembers bc he cannot be fucked to actually attempt to stick with his own plans

-speaking of scripts, he enjoys a bit of acting but, again, cannot be fucked with scripts. he hates memorizing and feels like it sounds more. well. scripted, when he actually memorizes lines, rather than just getting the jist of his lines and how his character acts and improving it. this technique has mixed results and, obviously, does not go over well with other people he is supposed to be acting with

-^ that being said he is a hit in improv classes ofc

-becomes a big fan of photography sometime in high school, is the resident phototaker both of the group and the grade. if people are posting a candid group photo, it's probably from him

#shit self #asks #fabletownz #south park #craig and those guys #craig's gang #headcanons #ok 2 rb #craig tucker #clyde donovan #token black #tolkien black #< hell #jimmy valmer #tweek tweak #kinz #bangerz #tweek tag 🗯

[hxneekyuu]

accidental kiss || tsukishima kei, ennoshita chikara, miya atsumu, lev haiba

request :  Hey Can I request a headcanon or one shot with Haikyuu characters (any of your choices) having an accidental kiss with their crush, you know, the cliché romance scene in drama's where the girl fell and male catches her and end ups kissing, or something when the girl turn around not noticing the close distance between the male, and their lips touches. Anything that is accidental

warnings : miya atsumu, Suna Gets a Haircut

a/n : so i did one of those random hq generator things bc i could only decide on one boi and that was tsukki,,, the results made me laugh so here you go -- btw these are all gonna be pre-dating bc thats just wonderful we love that

tsukishima kei

this is definitely all tsukkis fault

you two are at your house just vibing and at some point you head into the kitchen to make food

and hes leaning against the counter right in front of the cabinet you need to get to

but he has the audacity not to move the fuck outta the way when you tell him you need to get past 

so youre like ok fuck it and just reach around him to open it 

but the bowl you need is pretty high up so youre like on your tippy toes tryna get the damn thing and hes just sitting there watching you struggle 

instead of helping you like he isnt damn near 6′3″

but riiiiight as youve got the bowl, you end up grabbing it a little too forcefully and you bring like a million dishes down with it 

so ofc even though he definitely deserves it, youre not trying to concuss the poor guy with literal ceramic dishes raining down on him 

so you kinda lunge forward to stop them all from falling 

and, hearing the crash of dishes over his head, he naturally ducks because he doesnt want to die

honestly,,,, its more of a crash of your noses and foreheads but theres such chaos of like,,, trying not to die?? 

that at some point you just feel his mouth on yours and it deadass just stays there while you both are figuring out what the hell is happening 

eventually he kinda pulls back but only a little bc he knows youre struggling to hold onto the dishes and he doesnt wanna screw that up

and he doesnt even say anything he just reaches up awkwardly and helps you set the dishes back on the shelf

and then he grabs the bowl youd been trying the get the entire time and hands it to you with a completely blank face 

its a very awkward dinner im not gonna lie

mostly bc at some point he just starts cracking jokes about it and refuses to acknowledge it seriously bc he sucks

ennoshita chikara

ennoshita’s taking a break from studying with the second years on the team

mostly bc he never gets any studying done with them 

so youre studying together for a test at his house

and its just been many many hours of studying so ofc youre both exhausted

so its not surprising to him when you just pass out on your notes

but the thing is,,, your heads right on top of a sheet that he needs

and for a while he just kinda studies without it

he studies other stuff and tries to remember it on his own so he can fill in the gap in his notes

but eventually hes like fuck i really need these notes

so he just,,, tries to slide it out from under your head really carefully

and it involves a lot of him getting really close and trying to lift your head and a bunch of really soft cute things that would be super embarrassing for him to be caught doing

like,,, if you happened to wake up

which of course, you do

and youre really confused bc you can feel his breath fanning over your face and his eyes are really close but not focused on you, theyre focused on smth under your face

so you lift your head to see what hes doing

but he freaks out and moves his face when he notices youre awake

and its just a litto brush of your lips over his as your faces are passing each other

but the poor bub jumps back like you just shocked the crap out of him

and then he apologizes for like the next ten minutes and its impossible to get back to studying bc youre both just panicking internally

miya atsumu

this literally happens like it does in the movies

it all starts with a chase scene

that really you should never have been a part of

youre just minding your business walking down the hall after school on your way to get your stuff

and its pretty empty bc you had a club thing so its late afternoon and no ones around

and you just hear it

men screaming

and then he appears, barreling around the corner like his life depends on it

and youre like

this cant be good

and when he sees you hes yelling out for you like HELP ME 

but you somehow always manage to get caught in the miya twin antics so youre like

fuck no im out

but apparently youre not out bc atsumus grabbing your arm and dragging you behind him yelling smth about scissors and a haircut

and when you look back you just see suna rounding the corner, half of his little triangle haircut chopped off so he looks like a sad half onigiri,,,

but you know it was atsumu and that this man is definitely dead when suna catches him

so youre like okay fuck it i guess im helping him AGAIN 

and you get outside to a section of the school where theres still sports teams practicing and lots of people around so you hide in a corner together

but the Suna Energy is approaching so atsumu fuckin freaks and does that cheesy movie thing where he ducks his head down so he wont be seen 

but theres like a group of guys passing by and one of them just bumps into atsumus back and that shit just sends him right into you

and all he can think is “oops”

he only has one brain cell give him a break

but he just stalls completely and forgets about the whole suna thing

but ofc his hair is fucking piss yellow and suna has not forgotten

he ends up totally getting his ass beat  but after that little smooch atsumus definitely a bit keen to see you more often 

lev haiba

i fucking love this gif look at the litto shoyou go

this tall babie does not know the meaning of personal space he has no functional understanding of a Bubble

honestly he probably gets dangerously close to kissing you on a regular basis, considering you’re seatmates in class

he’s just ALWAYS in your space

at first he’s probably shy bc he doesn’t know you

but once you become friends he’s like THIS IS NOT YOUR DESK THIS IS JUST MY SECOND DESK

so every day there’s always one thing that’s super dangerous

last week it was him looking over your shoulder while you did work silently

yesterday it was him reaching across you to open the window on your left side

today he just really wants a bite of the bread you bought and are currently already eating

and when he wants smth, he gets Very Whiny

he’s so clingy and adorable that you can’t ever get mad

he’s like a little puppy how can you resist him

so when you’re finally like okay fine you can have a bite he’s like

MONCH

he doesn’t even wait for you to tear off a piece he just leans in for a bite

but you had said yes while in the middle of biting it so he essentially does that thing where you’re both biting it at the same time

but, again, he doesn’t know what personal space means

so he also doesn’t have the ability to gauge distances well

so he straight up just meets you halfway and presses his mouth to yours while he’s biting down

the boi probably doesn’t even notice

he just pulls back quickly once he has his bite and goes about his life

you literally are going to have to tell him he just kissed you

and after that he’s a total fucking mess

he doesn’t know what to do he never knows what to do

he’s just going to keep causing Chaos while he panics

#haikyuu #haikyuu x reader #tsukishima kei #tsukishima x reader #ennoshita chikara #ennoshita x reader #miya atsumu #atsumu x reader #lev haiba #lev x reader #haikyuu headcanons