#don’t know what else to add. just. lookit

[shmorp-mcdurgen]

Rambled about body type hcs in discord and figured I’d share them here too Heehoo

I have so many discord rambles I could share here but don’t, but. Have these at least before I go to bed tonight /VLH

Also bonus au characters below the cut:

#ramblings :) #Mandela catalogue #tmc #yep I’m main tagging it. look at my headcanons boy #headcanons and shit #also gonna tag my aus #tmc alternate au #mandela prophet #tmc Labrats au #tmc monster au #don’t know what else to add. just. lookit

[imagionationstation]

So here’s what went down…

Ah, yes.

The infamous “Splinter passes on the mantle of Sensei” scene.

Possibly the most misinterpreted scene in the history of 2012turtle scenes. (Perhaps I shall get to the others someday.)

I’ve always assumed that the verdict for this scene was the same for all, and I never knew people hated, or even disliked, Splinter for his choices in this until recently. And it has been eating away at me, because I don’t think ya’ll understand what’s going on here.

Maybe you do, but…

Can I point out exactly what I saw happen here?

Yeah?

Thanks. 🤎

1: Splinter is not sleeping and is ‘distant’, making Leo worried enough to inquire about his health. He’s clearly spending every second agonizing over what’s coming, and meditation is probably his only solace from the burden of his fears. (I do the same thing when I’m anxious. Distract and distance, it helps me feel a sense of- control, I guess.) 2: Splinter does not address Leo’s question. He’s already tried to tell Leo what was going on before this, and now he wants to focus on what he feels is important. His family. He immediately changes the subject (limping in a way that has me suddenly concerned because GUYS HE HURT AND OLD AND GOING TO FIGHT FOR HIS LIFE PLEASE NO-) and asks Leo why he made him leader. 3: Leo awkwardly repeats what he said, “Because I asked to be… You said it wasn’t because of my skills…” (THAT’S ONE INTENSE OF A WEIGHT TO CARRY IF YOU REALLY THINK ABOUT IT, THE HECK-) and Splinter corrects, “I said that only to temper your ego at the time. I knew even when you were a small boy, that you would one day grow up to be the leader of this team.” -Can I just add that he’s not saying this literally. He’s the cryptic, wise, know-it-all sensei. He’s not saying, “I planned to make you soldiers and for you to lead the fight”. He’s saying, “You have always been the one to teach, protect, and lead your brothers, and there was absolutely no one else as perfect for the job.”

Seriously. Lookit baby Leo guarding them while daddy’s away. 💙💙

4: And then he throws everyone watching through a loop: “And when I pass on, to be like a father as well.” And just like us, Leo’s got a whole lot of “EXCUSE ME, WHAT?!” going down.

5: But Splinter’s going stay his cryptic self by clearing no air. (Okay, but let’s think about WHY for a moment. We know our leader in blue by now. If Leo knew exactly what he knew, martyr instincts would kick in hard core, and he would do everything it takes to make sure their father survives. And Master Splinter isn’t going to sit here and let Leo go on a suicide quest. From his POV- He’s old. He’s lived his life. He can try to accept his own death. He will not accept Leo’s.)

6: Splinter imparts this saying that I love with everything in me. “Leonardo. If I can only impart one piece of wisdom that will remain with you forever…” (Ergo, Dude, this is Important. Pay attention to what Imma about to say) “Remember. Giving guidance to your brothers and friends does not come from here…”

“It comes from here…”

THIS IS DEEP, YO. IT SAYS SO MUCH AND IT’S SO SIMPLE-

And people are MAD AT HIM FOR THIS?!

Sorry, sorry- emotions. I’m breathing. I’m breeaaathing… Okay. Yes, I get the gist of the arguments. ‘Splinter made Leo head of the household and that was a terrible thing for him to do. Leo’s too young for that responsibility, he already has the weight of being leader on his shoulders, and that’s a burden his mourning heart can’t carry. It’s cruel for him to do such a thing.’

Or-

And-

@tmntforeverinmyheart and @stardustartist, everyone’s opinion is built off of observations, beliefs, and their own POV on events, and every opinion matters. Thank you for yours. 💚

Now onto mine-

I don’t know what this quote from Splinter means to you guys, but to me, it’s his way of trying to fix things!

I think he finally realized that he done messed up. He knows that he put Leo in a position of ‘I am leader, and mission always comes first’. He’s had plenty of time to see the damage he’s done, and he’s worried of what will come off his family if he doesn’t fix it.

Leo is too far into his head. He isn’t thinking with his heart- “what will happen to my family with me gone?”. He’s thinking with his head, “lives are at stake and I’m the leader- self sacrifice it is.”

Every mission, every step, every choice is a plan, and his life is simply a factor in it. A pawn to be thrown away to complete the important task. It doesn’t hold meaning because of what Splinter told him all the way back in season one, and his father is finally realizing it. (ABOUT FREAKING TIME-)

He’s not telling him “don’t think”.

He’s saying, “Think another way.”

I feel you, @sr200916. A friend of mine said this exact same thing, and I wholeheartedly agree. And here’s some depth into why.

Kids without parents attach themselves to role models. Mother figures, father figures- kids need to be guided, and led, and hugged, and need that one person who can say “it’s okay” and magically the world is a little less dark.

And they’re just. KIDS. They left the sewers three/four years ago! Everything is still so wide and new and confusing and there’s still so much they haven’t learned or experienced- they’re kids.

And yes. Leo is a kid too. But who else are they supposed to turn to?

Karai?

She’s not a parents. She’s gone from enemy, to somewhat friend, to sister-in-college-who-drops-by-sometimes. She’s living her own life. They aren’t going to see her as anything more than their equal. Much less look upon her as a guardian.

April and Casey?

Best friends/honorary siblings. They aren’t going to fit that role.

Mutanimals? Leatherhead? Bishop?

Friends. Equals. People that they trust. But not anyone that they’re immediately going to lean on as a guardian. They need someone who they already look up to and trust to lead and guide them. They need someone who already has their well-being as a number one priority. They need someone who they can feel comfortable going to talk to when he can’t be there to lend advice.

-And I know what some of you are still thinking. But what about Leo?! He’s just a kid too!

And, hey, I’m not arguing. He absolutely is, and in a perfect, fair world, he would continue to have an adult to teach and guide him- but their world is neither perfect nor fair.

All his life, he’s had two solid goals: Make sensei proud. Protect my brothers.

He’s seen as the most mature brother for a reason. He’s had to grow up in a world where finishing school and getting/keeping a job isn’t his main concern. For about three years, he’s spent every night making sure that his brothers stay alive. In fact, he starts doing it almost unconsciously- taking responsibility of his brothers and their missions without filling Splinter in, as shown in Annihilation: Earth! Part 1, when he’s laying out the plans, and Splinter straight up asks, “What is going on?” and Leo brushes him off, essentially just telling him that there’s trouble, but they have it covered.

Splinter is speechless for a moment, but then consents, telling Leo that he’ll be near the cheese phone if they need him.

This is a huge change if you really think about it, and done very subtley. They show us how their relationship has changed- Splinter no longer has the control to give the okay. Leo no longer feels like he needs Splinter guidance or permission. He’s grown up, and he’s leading with a firm hand, just as he was born to do.

And Leo also has experience raising his brothers- who do you think was acting sensei while they were in space?

Fugtoid was Donnie’s mentor, sure, but it was Leo who the brothers turned to when things got out of hand. It was Leo who had to talk sense into them, who always has the last word, who seemed on edge 24/7 as the season progressed, seeing the dangers space held and sending away his team when the evil space station was sent to go boom.

Whether fans like it or not, a leader, a sensei, is simply who Leo is.

There’s a reason he always gets heated and offended when he thinks his place is being challenged-

Leo thrives under that sense of control, and his brother thrive knowing that the control lies in someone else’s hands.

Now, with their father gone, it’ll lie in the hands of the brother that they trust with it most (whether Raph admits it or not) because he’s proven himself time and time again to be able to handle it.

Splinter isn’t stupid. He knows his boys. He knows exactly who Leo’s younger brothers are going to turn to after he’s gone for good this time, and he needs Leo to realize this too. Perhaps he hopes the burden will be easier to bear if it’s given slowly, instead of chucked out of nowhere.

Splinter was not purposefully ‘parentifying’ Leo. There’s a reason he waited so long. Maybe he was never going to say anything at all. Maybe he was struggling with the choice, and when Leo walked in to ask if he was okay, he made a last-minute decision.

Splinter knew it was going to happen. Leo was going to become head of the household, whether or not he said anything about it. It’s how their family dynamic always shapes out- there’s a reason the fans call Leo a mother hen!

It was always going to happen. So instead of standing by and letting fate play out, Splinter decided to interviene.

He wasn’t putting the burden on Leo’s shoulder. He was reassuring his son that he could handle it. He was giving advice on how to take care of his brothers. He was trying to help, not to hurt.

Obviously Leo is going to end up hurting. Obviously, it’s going to be hard. Obviously, it’s going to be a lot to adapt too. For Splinter’s sake- their father is going to die!

But his brothers will be there for him. He may be acting sensei, but we’re shown that they have his back. (Raph’s talk with Mikey on the rooftop is a very prominent piece of proof.)

Splinter knows that no one else can do the job better, and by voicing that he’s sensei, no one else should be able to take Leo’s family away from him. At the end of the day, as the eldest, he will be the one who bears the Hamato legacy (remember, Karai is busy shaping the Foot legacy anew), but unlike Yoshi, Leo will not be alone. He’ll have family and friends to back him up when things get difficult.

It’s a heavy title, but one that Leo is ready to carry.

Except… For one pretty major flaw. A flaw Splinter encouraged, and a flaw that he knows cannot stay.

The martyr complex.

That, is what I believe the “use your heart and not your head” phrase is meant to squash. And I believe with everything in me that it does. Leo’s life is no longer just a chess game. If this pawn doesn’t come home from a mission, his team suffers. His brothers suffer.

He is no pawn, and he can’t afford to see himself as one. He cannot afford to treat his life like it’s expendable. There’s more at stake then just the mission, and deep down in his heart, he knows that. He’s no longer just a leader. He is a father, and he has a family to live for.

And… Can I just add that Splinter’s not just up and abandoning him?

When Leo doesn’t know what to do next after his father is gone- Splinter is there. When it looks like he’s been defeated by the Shredder- Splinter is there. When they face their first real threat since his passing, and Leo is in the dojo struggling with what to do- Splinter is there.

“Leonardo, I know you feel the weight of leading your family, but remember, I am always with you.”

I mean- come on! Even in the afterlife, he’s looking over him!

He knows the burden on his son’s shoulders, and he’s come to help and warn to relieve it, if only a little.

Should he also have appeared to his others sons? ABSOLUTELY!

Could he…?

Well…

Don’t get me wrong- They’d have every right to be upset if they find out that Splinter appeared to Leo and not to them. But I’m sure there was a good reason- Leo mentions “meditating for weeks” after his father’s death at one point, so his spiritual strength, place in front of the altar, and need to speak to his father could have urged down “Mr. Higher Spiritual Plane”.

That’s why Donnie couldn’t see him when he walked in. This wasn’t a ghost doing his own thing, this was a spirit summoned down by Leo. When Donnie startled him, Leo lost concentration, and Splinter disappeared.

But, it’s still going to hurt, knowing he appeared to Leo and not them…

And should he have told his other sons that he was going to die?

….No. Just, no.

For one: He only hinted at the fact with Leo because he felt it was necessary to pass on certain information, to help him prepare for what’s coming. He didn’t give him specifics, no matter how much he begged.

If he told any of the brothers- Donnie would not rest until he pressed him for every ounce of information, Mikey would not have been able to handle the thought of something happening to Splinter, and Raph probably would have died that night on the rooftop trying to stop the prediction from becoming reality.

All of them would have wanted to stay with him after the warehouse fire, and I believe Splinter separated them for a reason.

As the youngest brothers, Donnie and Mikey needed to be shielded from memories that their analytical and photographic minds would not have been able to handle. It would have broken them to see their father die.

Leonardo would spent the rest of his days hating himself for being there and not preventing it. He’d drown in the guilt and fear- because if he couldn’t doing anything, how can he be certain that he’ll be able to keep his brothers safe? How can he be trusted with their lives when he couldn’t even save their father?

This way- Leo knows he’s been sent away, and he knows Splinter’s the reason that he couldn’t protect him. The blame isn’t as strong because he wasn’t there, and that was Splinter’s fault. It’s easier to manage when there’s another to pass on the blame.

Splinter didn’t let him protect him, and by doing so, protected Leo.

Now, Splinter’s sons would have put up a fuss or gotten suspicious if one of them didn’t go with him, so he made an educated choice.

Raphael is the strongest of the brothers. Out of all of them, he’s the most likely to mentally and physically survive the battle. He doesn’t let guilt swallow him like Leo does- he turns it into anger, and uses that anger to defend his family better next time. Out of all of them, Splinter hoped that Raph would be able to handle the memories, and the show basically tells us that he does- his maturity to accepting Leo as sensei was both shocking and relieving.

Now, I’m not saying every choice made here was inherently a good one. There’s a lot of choices made in Splinter’s life that are questionable- but every choice he makes is only in his sons’s best interest. At one point, Splinter was going to run the last of his clan. He was raised to prepare for war. His sensei could have groomed him with a leader mentality, and the notion to never put his life over the sake of his clan’s, since he was supposed to lead them one day.

He’s a single dad living in the sewers who doesn’t understand the internet and fears human contact- the only way he knows to raise his children are based off experiences with his own family, and his culture. Making Leo a martyr was a mistake, and he sees that now.

So to summarize:

No one was being made a parent. Leo is a verified mother hen, and he will lead. Period. It was always going to happen, and Splinter was trying to help lead the way. He probably would have given a lot more advice had his other children not interrupted.

Yes, he made a huge mistake years ago, but now he’s trying to fix that with a simply offering of advice. Follow your heart, not your mind, because at the end of the day, the heart will always lead you and your brothers home.

No, the entire family should not have known. They would have done everything in their power to stop what could not be prevented, and that could have gotten them killed. Splinter would never allow that. Their time was not up. They would not needlessly suffer because of him. Not his boys.

Just a side note: Taking care of his brothers might not be the worst thing for our mourning boy. Not only does it give him something to focus on, but, as an older sibling, I know it sometimes brings me comfort to comfort a young sibling. Maybe it’s some buried instinct in my being to keep them happy and healthy taking over, maybe it’s because I have a tiny bit of control in the moment, or maybe it’s a feeling of accomplishment that helps battle against the aching hurt eating away at me- but it helps. It really does.

It’s not like their infants, or little kids. His brother’s can fend for themselves, and they understand their place in the world much better than they did years ago. They can protect each other.

In reality, the only thing that will change is the hovering knowledge that someone is missing.

Holy chalupa, I just wrote an essay…

Back to the episode!

The rest of this isn’t too deep. So have some reactions:

“I don’t understand… You’re fine, father-”

🎶I can see what’s happenin’ here🎶

HE CALLED HIM DADDY IN A DOJO SETTING AFTER ASSURING HIM THAT HE WAS WELL!

POOR BABY BLUE KNOWS BUT IS STUCK IN DENIAL- 😭❤️‍🩹

“Is there something you’re not telling me?”

Leo, he is trying to tell you! And he could have! If not for literally MILLISECONDS after he asks, Mikey interrupting. Splinter might have clarified! He might have said more! Hinted how he knows! Said he was so proud! Given advice! Cleared the air! THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS-

Ah, these poor naive boys and their bad timing….

Okay, but like, how am I supposed to be annoyed at these faces. AND WHY IS RAPH OH-SO JOYOUSLY COPYING MIKEY- AND DONNIE WHAT IS THAT DEAD-EYED STARE- 🤣🤣🤣

YA’LL ARE MESSING UP MY EMOTIONS IN THIS FREAKING SCENE, YO

I’M TRYING TO BE SERIOUS IN THE MOMENT

BUT EVERY TIME THEY POP UP- 🤣

Okay, but is Splinter immediately taking the invitation to spend time with his sons because he knows that he doesn’t have much longer not the most wholesome thing ever?

He can’t continue this talk with the brothers present, and they’re clearly excited to go, so why not attend and make a few more bright memories before he’s gone?

Also, I deem it illegal for rock music to be this ominous-

I blame Leo for looking despondently after them and triggering bad things are about to happen emotions. Poor blue boi.

Anyway

Splinter is not a bad father. He is imperfect, but every choice he makes is for his sons’ good. They are his world. Their lives will come before his every time, even if that means giving heartbreaking advice before he has to be taken from them. He only wants what’s best for his family.

They are his sons. He is their papa.

And that’s all there is too it. 💚❤️💜💙🧡💚

I freaking love this show…

Thanks for reading!! I did my best to double-check everything that I wasn’t sure about, so that I could be as accurate as possible! Even if I didn’t change stubborn minds, I hope I gave you guys some things to think about!

Every opinion matters! Thanks for checking out mine!

#See what I see TMNT #just watch the show and things add up #tmnt 2012 #tmnt 2k12 #teenage mutant ninja turtles #teenage mutant ninja turtles 2012 #tmnt fandom #tmnt leonardo 2012 #tmnt leo 2012 #2012 tmnt #2012 leonardo #tmnt 2012 leo #2012 leo #leonardo 2012 #leo 2012 #tmnt leonardo hamato #splinter 2012 #splinter hamato #hamato yoshi #2012 teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt leonardo #2012 donnie #donnie tmnt 2012 #donnie 2012 #2012 donatello #tmnt mikey 2012 #mikey 2012 #tmnt 2012 mikey #2012 michelangelo #2012 mikey

[oonajaeadira]

Tiny Shrine: Anubis

There’s something about spring that makes me get all crafty and I don’t know what that is. Maybe it’s the fact that I can finally get outside to spraypaint / use chemicals. Maybe it’s because the SO is finally going away to the cabin on the weekends and leaving me to my own devices. I don’t know.

So I found this box:

And it’s got this weird little grate in it?

I don’t know what it is. A humidor? Potpourri box? Is it for remains? No clue.

But the grate lifts out....

...and it reminds me of a little confessional.

And I, the perpetual altar-maker says, yes. This should be a tiny shrine. But for whom?

Dude. No brainer. My patron diety, protector of the dead, lover of the living, weigher of hearts and lord of secrets... 

WHO ELSE LOVES ANUBIS LIKE I LOVE ANUBIS?

I’ll put the photos under the cut. This is mostly for @lowlights​ since I promised her pictures of my tarot shrine and haven’t been able to work on that one (much bigger project). So she gets this for now. But maybe y’all can appreciate a little craftaganza?

We start with the outside. Let’s add his cartouche and his symbol, the ankh. Because even through Anubis is the god of the dead, he also symbolizes eternal life and appreciating all the beauty of the current one.

And on the other side, let’s add the man of the hour himself.

Hot.

Okay. I was going to do the cartouche in gold, but @feathersandfoxtails​ gave me the inspiration to keep the shrine like a little Egyptian tomb--all business on the outside and let the inside shine.

Like this.

He’s back there, but the grate gives him a little privacy.

So I learned gold leafing for this project and want to bedeck everything now. The grate was just done in gold paint tho. I kept the good stuff for his room.

Tada!!! Tiny shrine for a tiny god! There’s a little carpet (thank you, actual woven carpet bookmark) and a couple of scarabs @feathersandfoxtails​ gave me from Egypt. That little golden pot next to him is a holder for an incense cone...and when I light that sucker up and put the grate on it, it’s gonna spill out like our boy is hot boxing himself in Egyptian musk.

He’s kinda hard to see here, but you have to lookit my wee Anubis. He’s so sweet:

And now he’s got a home!!!

I’m just so tickled with how it turned out. I hope he is too.

Thank you for indulging my crafting excitements. I’ve got a whole bunch of other ones to make, so watch this space for more tiny shrines...

#tiny shrine #anubis #crafting

[absolutepokemontrash]

Beach Day!

Masterlist~

As requested by an anon, The Half Demon kids get to have their beach day! Please enjoy!

‘‘Twas a summer’s day in the Devildom, and school was out for the next couple of months, what else was there to do other than have a fun little beach vacation?

“Do we have towels?”

“Check.”

“Umbrellas?”

“Yep.”

“Beach toys?”

“Uh huh.”

L!MC and Lucifer were running through the long list of items as the rest of the family loaded everything into their (several) cars. Mammon grunted and shoved one of three umbrellas into a gap in the piles of luggage, they were all packing the rapidly filling car like they were playing a game of Tetris from hell.

“Ya know, you two can try and, I dunno, help a little?!”

Lucifer raised an eyebrow and looked up from his list. “I am helping, Mammon. I’m making sure this doesn’t end up like the last family vacation we took.”

“What happened last time?” The soft voice of A!MC piped up, they were carrying roughly four different carryon bags into one of the cars.

“Mammon forgot to pack sunscreen during our last little visit to a human world beach and we all got horrifically sunburned. That’s why this year we’ll be visiting a proper Devildom beach.” Lucifer explained.

“That stupid mistake nearly cost me my perfect skin.” Asmo grumbled, A!MC patted him on the shoulder.

“Don’t feel too bad, dad. You look great!”

“Oh little butterfly,” Asmo patted A!MC on their head, much to the kid’s delight. “Go on~.”

“Hey pop!” Mammon’s head whirled around as he looked for the source of the voice. “THINK FAST!”

A duffel bag slammed into the side of Mammon’s head, knocking him into the side of the car.

“What the hell M!MC?!”

The little culprit gave their dad a fanged megawatt smile and shrugged. “I said think fast.”

“M!MC, he can’t think fast, he doesn’t have a brain.” Asmo smirked over at Mammon, who not so graciously flipped him off. A blast of water from wiped both the smirk and some of the makeup off Asmo’s face.

“Whoops,” M!MC lowered their water gun. “Misfire.”

Lucifer massaged his temples as he watched this complete and utter chaos unfold. This was ridiculous, he turned to L!MC. “I refuse to subject you to this, I don’t was CPS to come knocking. You are riding with Lord Diavolo and I.”

“Wooop!” L!MC cheered, then paused. “Was I not riding with you two before now?”

——————

After arriving and unpacking, everyone set out to the beach, per Lucifer’s totally reasonable beach rules, no cameras within eight feet of the beach. Asmo had to compromise and take his Devilgram selfies at Diavolo’s villa in the five minute window of time before everyone set out for the beach.

While the group made their way to the beach, M!MC proudly presented their shiny new metal detector to the crowd of not too impressed family members. Well, everyone but Mammon, he was hyped as all hell to try and find buried treasure.

As M!MC and A!MC lagged behind and chattered aimlessly, something flew right into M!MC’s face. Reeling at the sudden loss of their sight, M!MC’s hands flew to their face and peeled the thing off of them. A…piece of paper..?

No, not a piece of paper, it was a map! Well, half of a map!

“Woah… Pop! Check it!” M!MC waved the piece of paper in the air. “What if we use this to find treasure or something?”

Mammon’s eyes practically sparkled as he swiped the map from M!MC. “Kid, we’re gonna be rich. Not the lame kinda rich either, we’ll be… multiple yacht rich!”

“Oh geez…” A!MC murmured.

By the time the entire group had gotten to the actual beach, Mammon and M!MC had already had the layout of their fabulous Hollywood mansion planned out and were busily describing the kinds of cars they wanted to own. Armed with only half a treasure map and a metal detector, the two set off down the beach.

L!MC, Belphie, and Satan snickered like a bunch of kids as they set up their new pink unicorn floaty. It was just perfect for just slightly ticking off Lucifer. A!MC hummed happily as they unpacked all their sand toys, perfect for making a sand-empire! The rest of the adults set up the umbrellas and beach chairs and practically deflated when all the work was finished.

Hang on- where was Levi- OH! There he was. He had ran right into the water and was petting Lotan. Man… Lotan was fucking massive.

“Hey, Luke,” L!MC called out. “Why are you wearing water wings? You know those things don’t work, right?”

“H-huh?” Luke tilted his head in confusion. Like a chihuahua- “What do you mean?”

“Well, water wings aren’t like life jackets, water wings only keep your arms out of water. If you start to drown, those aren’t helping.” L!MC dutifully explained. “There are documented cases in the human world of kids drowning with their arms still afloat because of the water wings.”

Luke was having such a good day forty five seconds prior, now he was petrified.

——————

“Ah, this is the life, right Sea Monster Levi?” L!MC leisurely floated around on their giant pink unicorn floatie as Levi swam around them.

Levi couldn’t exactly speak, but the terrifying eldritch shriek of delight was enough of an answer.

“See, you should go outside more often, the ocean is outside, fresh air is outside,” L!MC continued to list lovely things that just happened to be outside until Lotan poked four of his heads above water. “Lotan’s outside,”

Levi grumbled and slammed his tail into the water, sending a massive wave over to L!MC.

“Fuck.”

Those were L!MC’s last words before the wave crashed into them and tipped over the floatie, leaving them angrily starfish floating in the water. “You fucking hikikomori.”

—————

A!MC carefully placed their bucket full of sand onto the ground upside down and slowly pulled the bucket away. Perfect! That made a great castle tower! The sand-city that A!MC had concocted could put any city to shame, there was a town hall, a bank, a museum, and multiple construction projects headed by Luke. Well, the chihuahua wasn’t doing too well with his castle-building.

“Aww…” Luke pouted as his castle crumbled. “I ruined it…”

“You should add a bit of water to the sand, Luke.” A!MC said as they carefully placed some seashell decorations around their castle tower. “It’ll help stop your towers from crumbling.”

Luke vehemently shook his head. “There’s no way I’m going near that water. Not after what L!MC said…”

“Luke, L!MC’s just being a butt, you won’t drown-” A!MC was unceremoniously cut off by Lotan rising from the depths of the ocean and L!MC’s squawk of protest when he began to bat their unicorn floatie around.

“Y-yeah… I won’t drown, I’ll be eaten by a sea monster…” Luke shuddered.

“A!MC, I’m living here.” Belphie laid his towel out a little ways away from the sand-city and collapsed into a snoring heap on the sand.

“Great! A new citizen!” A!MC smiled and clapped their hands. “Beel, are you going to join us?”

Beel took a large bite out of a watermelon and sat down next to Belphie. “Yeah, I’m going to live here too.”

“We’ve got a real kingdom now!”

—————

The metal detector beeped for the thousandth time that day and M!MC and Mammon were beginning to get tired. They had found a total of 45 cents and a bottle cap, not the heaps of pirate treasure their map promised.

“Alright old man, dig.” M!MC lazily motioned towards the spot in the sand where the metal detector beeped.

“Why do I gotta dig?” Mammon whined. “You do it this time!”

“I’m holding the metal detector!” M!MC snapped. “Lookit! This shit’s heavy!”

“UUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH.” Mammon dropped to his knees and began to dig, unearthing a second bottle cap.

“Have our intrepid treasure hunters struck gold yet?” The taunting voice of Satan wormed its way into M!MC and Mammon’s ears as they both rolled their eyes.

“Why do you care, Satan?” M!MC sneered. “Shouldn’t you be off waxing philosophical about the demon condition or some other pretentious shit right now?”

Satan scoffed and shook his head. “So you haven’t found anything, shocker.”

“Ya didn’t answer the question, Satan.”

“Fine, you two dumbasses forgot to bring water after you immediately ran to go find your treasure.” Satan chucked two metal water bottles at Mammon, both of which hit him in the face. “So where’s your little treasure map?”

M!MC grumbled and pulled the map out of their pocket. “Here.”

Satan raised an eyebrow as he looked over the map, then looked back up at Mammon and M!MC. “I’d expect this level of idiocy from Mammon, but not you, M!MC.”

“WHAT WAS THAT?!” M!MC and Mammon shouted in unison.

Satan flipped the map around so it was facing the pair, he pointed at the X. “You’re supposed to be going that way,” Satan pointed back towards where they had set up the towels and umbrellas.

“…shit.” Mammon murmured. “I swear if we just wasted two fuckin’ hours on this-”

“Don’t blame me! I’m a mathematician, not a fucking geographer!” M!MC hissed.

“Actually, cartographers are the ones that make maps-”

“SHUT UP SATAN!”

——————

“Ugh… I hate the ocean now…” L!MC trudged over to Lucifer and plopped themselves down next to him. “0/10. Next year, can we go somewhere with significantly less seaweed?”

Lucifer wordlessly pulled a clump of sea-gunk out of L!MC’s hair and dropped it on the sand next to them. The fucking gunk-thing then began to MOVE-

“…is that alive?”

“Probably.”

L!MC grabbed the thing and threw it as hard as they could into the water. “I’m not allowing that eldritch terror the privilege of evolving.”

Lucifer chuckled and shook his head. “This is karma for the unicorn floaty.”

“That wasn’t even all my idea!” L!MC hugged their knees to their chest and grumbled. “Where’s Belphie, Satan and M!MC’s karma?!”

“I’m sure it’ll come soon.”

“Now would be nice…” L!MC growled.

“If you’re going to go sit and whine for the rest of the day you can walk back to the villa by yourself.”

“Ugh!” L!MC threw up their hands and walked away. “So Belphie can angst all he wants but I can’t?! This is bullshit!”

“LANGUAGE!”

—————

A!MC’s burgeoning kingdom had grown in population in the last few hours; Barbatos and Diavolo had moved in and were gleefully helping out with the construction projects (well, Dia was gleeful, Barbatos was standing off to the side holding lemonade), Simeon had joined in and was making a moat, and L!MC was designing the flag.

“Our walls will be impenetrable!” Diavolo proclaimed as he continued to reinforce the sand-walls. “No one would dare invade us!”

“Where’s our sand-army? I call dibs on being sand-general.” L!MC raised their hand. “Luke, you can be a sand soldier.”

“Huh?”

“Here’s your sand-sword.”

“L!MC this is driftwood…”

“Hit a bitch with it.”

“There will be no hitting of any bitches.” Simeon gently took the driftwood from Luke and chucked it into the ocean.

“Lame…” L!MC rolled their eyes.

A little while into the kingdom building, A!MC surveyed their land with a proud smile. Every little building was adorably decorated with shells and pebbles, the roads were laid out perfectly, the castle was stable… Ah. Perfection!

A familiar trio sauntered over looking down at their map and occasionally back up at the surrounding beach until they stopped right outside the moat outside of A!MC’s kingdom. Satan, Mammon, and M!MC looked up at the group and pointed their shovel and metal detector at them.

“Hey kiddos, and… not kiddos. We’re gonna need ya to move over. There’s treasure in the area and we gotta dig!” Mammon proclaimed, standing up straight and putting a hand on his hip.

“Uh… no?” A!MC sat down on their beach chair, but to them, it was more like a throne. “We spent forever building this, we aren’t just going to let you destroy it.”

“Can’t you build somewhere else?” M!MC waved their hand to a place farther down the beach that was just littered with holes from M!MC and Mammon’s treasure hunting. “Couldn’t have taken that long.”

“Are you stupid or just ignorant?” L!MC hissed, protectively moving in front of the sand-wall next to Diavolo. “This took literal hours. You three can piss off.”

“L!MC, don’t be dramatic.” Satan rolled his eyes, then looked to the adults. “Come on guys, this may actually lead to something historical. Can you guys move out?”

“Uh… fuck off?” Belphie sleepily looked up from his towel. “We were here first. Finders keepers.”

“Yeah,” Beel paused his job of helping clean up the toys and buckets. “Belphie napped here, this spots been claimed.”

Barbatos and Diavolo nodded in agreement.

“A!MC has claimed this land, therefore, it’s their kingdom.” Diavolo said.

“Guys, this ain’t a joke! There’s actual treasure here!” Mammon waved the map in the air.

“That doesn’t matter. our sandcastles, our rules.” Luke crossed his arms and huffed.

“Oh bullshit! Move over! Money and treasure is under your city and we’ll take it by force if we have to!” M!MC crossed his arms and glared.

“Really now~?” L!MC cooed, slamming their fist against their open palm. “Fucking try us.”

————

A fight would have broken out if it weren’t for Lucifer calling for everyone to eat. Everyone sat down on their towels and angrily munched on their macaroni salad and sandwiches.

Team Treasure hunter (it was generous to call them a team considering there was only three of them) were forming a plan to try and get passed the much larger Team Sandcastle. M!MC and Satan bounced ideas off of each other while Mammon stole everyone’s potato chips.

“So, we need to lure at least some of them away… but how?” M!MC stuck their hand into the much reduced bowl of chips and took out a fistful.

“Mmm…” Satan murmured. “Well, there’s a thief in our midst…”

M!MC knitted their eyebrows in confusion, then began to nod in understanding. “Ah… and we have someone very quick…”

Both Satan and M!MC turned to Mammon, who was polishing off the chips and counting their metal detector money. He stopped mid chew and tilted his head.

“What are ya lookin’ at?”

Over with Team Sandcastle, L!MC carefully traced Belphie’s hand onto a piece of paper with a vindictive smirk on both their faces.

“What are you doing?” Luke asked as he bit into his kebab.

“It’s an official declaration of war.” L!MC quickly finished up the tracing and proudly showed the picture of Belphie’s middle finger to the assembled team. “I think it’s very clear and concise.”

Simeon slapped a palm to his forehead as Luke let out a gasp.

“L!MC! That’s so vulgar and awful-” Luke’s irate yapping went completely ignored.

“It’s a very nice picture.” Beel calmly observed, turning over the paper in his hands.

“Enough about the declaration!” A!MC stood up and put their hands on their hips. “We need to take action immediately! I’m not letting our sand kingdom fall into their hands!”

“We know that A!MC, but we need to at least give them some kind of warning that we’re going to beat them into the ground.” L!MC said.

“They got their warning. Now is not the time for being polite, now is the time for curb stomping.”

“Is it just me,” Belphie leaned over to Beel and cartoonishly whispered. “Or is A!MC getting really intense about this?”

—————

Team Treasure Hunter’s battle plan did not go as well as they thought it would. Satan and M!MC did not factor the fact that Mammon would be stealing something and then running in sand, and next to no one can properly run in fluffy beach sand, what this poor narrator is trying to say is that Mammon got football tackled immediately because he couldn’t run after he stole something as a distraction. Oh well… at least the sand was soft…

Team Sandcastle’s superior numbers meant superior ideas, and one of their ideas was for A!MC to politely ask some of the beach dwelling creepy crawlies to attack the other team. Well uh… toes were pinched that day…

“Fools,” A!MC sat straighter in their beach chair. “All of them.”

“I’m loving the supervillain vibes, A!MC, but-”

“But nothing!” A!MC cut L!MC off with a huff. “I’m not a supervillain either!”

“Sounds like something a supervillain would say.” Belphie snickered, only to be blasted in the face with a water gun. A!MC was turning on their own people…

“Alright, everyone who dares to doubt me gets the water gun.” A!MC sneered. “My kingdom won’t fall!”

The kingdom fell.

One giant wave caused by Lotan and Levi playing in the water nearby crashed onto the beach and absolutely flattened the detailed sand kingdom. A!MC slowly moved their hair out of their eyes and turned to Lotan and Levi in the water.

“You… you…” A!MC growled, a tick forming in their right eye. “YOU SHUT-IN PIECE OF [Hello, this is the narrator, I’m very sorry but I cannot repeat what little A!MC said here. I hope you all can find it in your hearts to forgive them for this outburst, their kingdom just got destroyed after all.]”

Simeon vaulted forward and covered Luke’s ears while the rest of the group on the beach stared in wide eyed shock as their sweet little A!MC cussed out two giant sea monsters. This was… not what they expected from their beach trip…

Beel quickly recovered from his shock and scooped A!MC up into his arms. A!MC didn’t seem to care all that much as they continued to kick and scream profanity at the giant sea monsters. Beel lumbered over to Asmo and handed the screeching A!MC to him.

“This is yours.”

“…Beel dear,” Asmo looked at the practically feral child that had managed to shift into their demon form, then looked to Beel. “Are you sure?”

——————

Ever the opportunists, Team Treasure Hunter managed to dig in the area where the sand kingdom once stood. After roughly an hour of digging, Mammon struck something… wooden. Hmm…

“Hey I uh… think I found somethin’!”

“Really?” M!MC exclaimed. “Lemme see! Let’s get it out!”

“Allow me,” Diavolo motioned for everyone to move away and leaned in. He yanked a massive treasure chest out of the sand like it was nothing and plopped it onto the beach. “Oh! It is a treasure chest! How novel!”

Mammon jumped forward and yanked the chest open, inside was an absolute mess of glimmering gold and jewelry.

“DON’T TOUCH THAT.” Lucifer’s booming voice stopped Mammon dead in place. Everyone’s heads swivelled to look at him. “It’s probably cursed gold, you idiots.”

“As much as I hate to agree with Lucifer, we should at least check before we touch anything.” Satan crossed his arms and grumbled.

The gold was hella cursed and basically useless. No one went back to the villa happy.

———————

A!MC sulkily kicked off their shoes and flopped backwards onto their bed. They stared half-vacantly up at the ceiling, they were so tired despite the fact that they hadn’t even gone swimming… they had spent their entire day building that stupid sandcastle kingdom…

M!MC flopped down next to them and let out an explosive sigh. “Hey.”

“Hey.”

“Sorry about your sandcastle stuff…”

A!MC sighed and shrugged. “Yeah… sorry about your treasure…”

“Yeah… so far this trip blows.”

L!MC flopped down next to A!MC and practically deflated.

“What’s wrong with you?” M!MC asked, rolling over onto their side to look at their cousin.

“I’m in mourning…” L!MC grumbled, holding up a piece of pink stretchy plastic. “Lotan ate my unicorn floaty.”

“Aww… I’m sorry L!MC.” A!MC patted them on the shoulder. “Let’s go fight Lotan and Levi for revenge.”

“A!MC. I’m grieving, not suicidal.” L!MC said seriously, then their face melted into a grin as they began to giggle. “Dummy…”

“I’m not a dummy! I think we might have a chance!”

“Yeah, a chance of gettin’ eaten!” M!MC snickered.

“Okay… maybe…” A!MC giggled.

“Hey guys,” Simeon knocked on the door and poked his head in. “We’re making a fire for s’mores, you all better hurry up before Beel gets to everything.”

The three kids stuck their thumbs up and got ready to go. S’mores fix everything!

————

Author’s note: Okay, back in like… May, I promised I’d write a beach day episode for these characters, and it’s finally done!!

The whole sandcastle war is something that actually happened when I went to a summer camp ^.^

It was less about digging for treasure and more about who had the best sandcastles, and I shit you not, a wave slammed into the rival team’s sandcastle. It was funny as S H I T. HA! TAKE THAT RIVAL TEAM! MAYBE YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE MADE YOUR CITY SO CLOSE TO THE WATER!

#obey me #obey me! #obey me! shall we date? #obey me shall we date #Obey me MC #Obey me Fic #Obey me Lucifer #Obey me Satan #Obey me Mammon #Obey me Asmodeus #Obey me Leviathan #obey me beelzebub #Obey me Belphegor #Obey me Luke #Obey me Diavolo

[is0gild]

Ice Cream and Fire Oven Pizza - Bonus Chapter 2

Pairing: Elsa x Lea/Axel || Side Pairing: Riku x OC

Summary: Modern AU. She's an introvert ball of nerves who works at Ice Palace, a mall food court ice cream shop. He's the outgoing, sassy goofball who works at the Pizza Planet across the way. Hilarity, snark, and fluffy romcom hijinks ensue.

Word Count: 11,634

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

Credit for super friggin’ cute and super friggin’ amazing cover art goes to the super friggin’ talented ky-jane here on tumblr!

“Pssst. Raindrop. Check it out."

I paid little mind to the new conversation apparently taking form in the kitchen behind me.

"Hm…? What is it? What am I looking at here?" A pause, then a tiny gasp. "...is… is that what I think it is?"

I just kept scrolling through my phone from my seat on the couch, only listening with half an ear.

"Mm-hm! Her first one! Ain't it a beaut?"

Riku was currently out for what was looking to be a particularly long day at work for him and seeing as how we both had the day off ourselves, Lea and I had decided to hang out at my apartment and keep Rayne company. We'd settled on watching a movie, but my roommate had paused it to go get herself a drink. A few seconds later, Lea had gotten up as well, claiming to be a bit parched himself.

"Oh my god, it's so cute and little!"

We'd even brought Marshmallow with us for a visit with his auntie, especially considering Saïx would have flayed us alive if we'd stuck him with dog-sitting duty yet again. My fingers absently scritched behind one of his ears as the little pup contentedly rested his head in my lap. Though my use of "little" was strictly in the loosest sense of the term. Having had him for close to two months at this point, he'd grown quite a bit. He still looked like a puppy, mind you… there was just a lot more puppy to love now.

"I know, right? So precious, so smol. Just a wee baby hickey!"

My head jerked up at the last word, eyes wide. Then I hastily twisted around in my seat. The scene that greeted me in the kitchen was that of Lea with one finger hooked into his tee-shirt collar and tugging it down to show Rayne a tiny patch of discoloration on his skin just below and slightly to the right of his collarbone.

"Lea!" I snapped, face reddening while my hand gripped the backrest of the sofa so hard, my knuckles turned white.

They both looked at me and froze, Lea muttering, "Uh-oh."

Dropping my phone onto the cushions, I was on my feet in a heartbeat and charging towards them, "That was supposed to be private!"

"Now now, El," he soothed as he quickly moved to put the kitchen table between me and him, "how was I s'posed to know that? You never said anything about-"

"It was implied, you… you… ugh, come here!" I snarled, running around the table with Marshmallow hot on my heels, barking excitedly. Rayne just sniggered as she sidestepped out of our way.

Lea was easily able to keep ahead of me, maintaining the table as a barrier between us. "Aw, c'mon, babydoll! This was a big step for you! I was just proud of you and wanted others to share in my joy!"

"No!" I slapped one palm down on the dining surface while angrily pointing a finger at him across it. "No others! You can't tell anyone else, you hear me?!"

"Alright, alright, I won't tell any other people, I swear!" he raised both hands in a placating gesture. Then he pursed his lips to one side as his gaze averted. "Well… any more other people…"

I blanched. "...who? Who else did you already tell? Roxas? Xion?"

He scoffed, splaying his hand against his chest in offence. "Please, just what kinda man do you take me for? I'm a gentleman, I don't do any of that locker-room talk bullshit." He crossed his arms over his chest, harrumphing as if the very notion was an insult to everything he stood for. Then he gave a small shrug, "...I just told Anna."

I choked and spluttered, unable to find words for a few seconds. "My… You told my sister?!" I took off after him once more, but curse him and his freakishly long legs, the jerk was able to move fast enough to keep the table between us. Marshmallow kept prancing about down around our feet, just out of his mind and beside himself from the sudden burst of activity. Stopping once more, my hands seized the backrest of the nearest dining chair and squeezed the life out of it as I growled, "Why? Why on earth would you tell my sister?"

"Lookit it this way. See, it's like… baby taking her first steps, ya know? I just want all of baby's family and loved ones to feel included in these special lil milestones! Baby being you, of course!"

Oh, "baby" was so going to murder this boy.

"And may I just take this moment to add," oh dear lord, he did not know when to stop talking, even if his very life depended on it, "what a privilege, nay, honor it has been to have a front row seat to - not to mention be instrumental in - your sexual awakening these past several weeks and-"

I threw a coaster at him.

"Hey now, watch it, those are fragile!" Rayne chided as she scooped the other ones off the table to tuck away safely in a cupboard before taking out a different stack to hand to me. "Use these instead. They're garbage, but hard as rocks!"

"Don't give her more ammo!" Lea yelped and ducked as I rapidly chucked my freshly stocked supply of munitions at him. Once I was out, I made another dash for him. Once again, he tried to bolt. This time however, he tripped and stumbled over Marshmallow with a tiny, "Shit!" He managed to grab the edge of the table and catch himself but he'd already lost his lead, giving me a chance to close the distance. Right before I could deliver my righteous justice however, he scooped up Marshmallow and was suddenly holding the giant, squirming ball of white fluff up between us, desperately asking, "You wouldn't hit a guy holding a stupidly cute puppy, would you?"

Huffing through my nose, I narrowed my eyes on him. "Put the dog down, Lea," I said, my voice dangerously low and even.

"Seeing as how the lil furball is the only thing between me and an untimely date with my maker, I'm gonna hafta give ya a hard pass there," he chuckled weakly, inching back a step. Then he was calling over his shoulder, "Lil help, Raindrop?"

She just grinned and shook her head from where she'd taken a seat at the dining table. "Mm-mm, nope. You're on your own, Red."

"Dude. Harsh. I thought we were frien- ow!" he hissed as I took advantage of his distraction to pinch his arm. Marshmallow came in for the assist, chomping down on Lea's fingers and forcing a yelp out of him as he dropped the puppy. Giving his abused hand a shake, he scowled down at the culprit. "Et tu, Marshmallow?"

In response, he just wagged his poof of a tail and sunk his teeth into Lea's leg.

"Destroyer of Worlds, my ass. More like Destroyer of My Ankles, you lil-" Lea's grumbling died down instantly as he saw me take a menacing step towards him. Gulping, he took several steps backwards, snatching up one of the kitchen chairs to use for a makeshift shield. As I kept stalking towards him, he continued backing up until his rear hit a countertop. Sitting atop it and scooching back even further until his spine was against the wall, he stretched one foot out to press against my stomach, holding me at bay with it while he shoved the chair legs in my directions a couple times, "Back! Back I say!"

I froze, blinking at him a couple times. "...are you seriously lion-taming me right now?"

He frowned, eyes darting down to the chair he was holding, then back up to meet my gaze. "Depends. Is it turning you on, my sexy lioness?"

My eyelids drooped. "Not even a little bit."

"Then nope! No, mm-mm, definitely not what I am doing." Something suddenly started ringing back from the direction of the living room. Lea straightened up, eyes brightening, "Oo! Oo! That's your phone, isn't it? Better go answer it!"

"It can go to voicemail," I ground out through my teeth, shoving his foot off my abdomen and taking another step closer.

Still frantically using the chair to defend himself, he asked, "You sure 'bout that? Could be important!"

"It can wait."

"I'll get it!" Rayne chirped, rising and moving to the couch where I'd left my phone. Picking it up, her thumb swiped the screen and she held it up to her ear, cheerfully greeting, "Elsa's pants, she's not in them right now!"

"Rayne!" I whipped my head around to glare at her. She simply winked and blew me a kiss. Sighing, I muttered, "You're just lucky you're pregnant, otherwise you'd be next up on my kill list."

"Hey, double standards!" Lea huffed. "No fair, I can't get pregnant!"

Palm covering the lower half of the phone so it wouldn't pick up her voice, Rayne whispered, "Maybe you're just not doing it right."

"Huh… I'm game to give it a whirl." He smirked at me, "Go on, El. Put a baby in me."

My answer came in the form of grabbing two of the chair legs and giving them a hard shove, ramming the edge of the backrest into Lea's gut.

He grunted and wheezed, "Don't think that's how that's done, babe."

Before I could make a retort, Rayne was abruptly holding my phone in front of my face. "It's Larxene."

My head rocked back slightly, my anger dispersing in an instant as my eyes darted from the mobile, then to my roomie, then back again. Why was the assistant director calling me? Brow furrowed, I finally took it from her and held it up to my ear with an uncertain, "...hello?"

"Get your ass down here. Now."

"I… o-of course! But-"

Click.

She'd hung up.

Both eyebrows shot up my forehead as I slowly lowered the phone, staring at my reflection in the now blackened screen.

"What's up, El?" Lea asked, voice immediately colored in concern as he dropped the chair and slid off the counter onto his feet.

I shook my head. "...guess I better get my ass down there."

Leaving Marshmallow in Rayne's care, Lea and I were on the road within minutes and heading towards Sunset Hill Auditorium. That was my best guess anyway as to wherever it was that Larxene wanted me to get my ass down to. I tucked in my bottom lip as I watched the buildings rush past, my fingers fidgeting with my braid.

Why was I being called in?

The not knowing had me on edge.

Our grand opening of Wicked had occurred last weekend. As was to be expected, I'd been so nervous I'd practically choked on all those butterflies jam-packed inside my stomach trying to escape. But it'd been a good nervous. An excited nervous. And in the end, it'd been so much fun and the show had gone off without a hitch.

Or at least, so I'd thought…

Maybe that's why Larxene was summoning me. Maybe I'd screwed up big time in my role without even realizing it. And I was part of the chorus no less - just one of many, so it would've had to have been one major flub on my part for her to take notice and zero in on me. We were back around to Friday now, so tonight was supposed to be our next showing, followed by several more weekends to come before the musical closed out. But maybe… if I had royally flopped super hard last week...

...oh god… was she going to kick me out of the show?

I gave a start as Lea's hand suddenly closed around mine, lacing our fingers together and stopping me from getting this close to tearing my hair out. He pulled it over to rest in his lap, brushing his thumb back and forth along my knuckles as he continued to drive one handed. "You're sure she didn't say anything else? Anything at all?"

Grimacing, I shook my head. "Nothing. Just told me to come and to be quick about it." I puffed out a sigh, staring down at my lap. "...I doubt it's anything good though. She sounded mad."

He gave an unimpressed razz of his tongue. "That hag always sounds like someone's spit in her Cheerios, so that's not saying much."

That earned him a feeble smile from me, one that swiftly faded. "...what if…" I began, but then clamped my mouth shut against the words, my frown deepening. "...there's this one scene… you remember, from when you saw it last weekend? The bit with the party, where Elphaba is pranked into wearing the witch hat? There's one part of that whole dance routine where we - the chorus that is… we're supposed to twirl to and fro, and maybe… what if I to'd when I should have fro'd and that's why she's calling me in? I to'd when I should've fro'd and wrecked the whole scene and now she's cutting me and making sure I can never, ever work in theater again and-"

"Nonsense, El," he chuckled, shaking his head as he pulled up my hand to kiss the back of it. "Your to-ing and fro-ing were perfect last week. Perfecter than perfect. Those to's and fro's were so perfect that everyone in the audience was too busy being enchanted by you to even pay any attention to the leads and whatever the hell they were doing. In fact, do you wanna know who was sitting in the very seat next to me during that showing?"

My eyelids drooped at how thick this dork was laying it on. "No, but I get the feeling you're about to tell me," I deadpanned.

He grinned big as he turned the car into a parking spot in front of the auditorium and killed the engine. "Why, it was none other than the Grand High King To-And-Fro Champion of the Universe himself! And he was so stunned, so amazed, so enthralled by your hella sick to-ing and fro-ing skills that I overheard him say," here his voice deepened theatrically, "at long last! I've found a worthy successor to bequeath my bedazzling, golden To-And-Fro Crown to!"

I scoffed, using climbing out of the car as an excuse to hide my small, traitorous smile. "Wow, there's a To-And-Fro Crown?"

"You bet your sweet booty there is!" he chirped as he exited the vehicle himself, slamming the door shut behind him.

An amused little huff escaped my nose as I joined him, slipping my hand back into his before making my way towards the entrance to the building. Then I was shooting him some suspicious side-eye. "...you're planning to make me a crown now, aren't you?"

"I dunno what you're talking about," he said a touch too innocently as we climbed the steps and walked inside.

I shot him a dull look. "Do not make me a crown."

"Oh-ho, you're getting a crown whether you like it or not, babycakes."

A soft snort escaped me as I pulled to a stop alongside the back row of audience seats. Then the chilly anxiety began to creep its way back inside my chest. Wrinkling my nose, I muttered, "It'd probably be best if I didn't take you in back with me, so just… wait here, I suppose. This should only take a few minutes… I hope."

Instead of releasing my hand as I turned to go however, his grip gently tightened as he said, "Wait, you forgot this."

"Wha-?" was all I managed to get out before he was tugging me back to him, cupping my cheek and pressing his lips to mine. For a moment, all thoughts of dread were forgotten, washed away by the waves of icy heat sent cascading throughout my body.

As he pulled away, he pressed his forehead to mine and trailed the pad of his thumb along the curve of my cheekbone, murmuring, "Whatever her High-And-Mighty Bitchiness wants, ya give her hell, you hear me?"

Face a little warm, I gave him a tiny smile and a single hesitant nod. Then I squeezed his hand before disentangling our fingers and heading towards the door that led to the backstage area.

The rooms back here were a ghost town currently. I knew however that in only a few short hours the place would be pure chaos with actors and techies alike rushing about in preparation for tonight's show. I frowned, fidgeting with my fingers as I slowly wandered from room to empty room, curious as to where exactly the fearsome assistant director might be hiding. Just when I was thinking about texting her to be sure this actually was in fact where she'd wanted me to come, I heard muffled voices. I glanced around for a second before making my way towards the dressing room as that seemed to be where they were coming from.

Poking my head through the doorway, I spotted three older women who I knew helped Sally with all the costuming for the shows here. They had a few of the costumes for the musical in hand, waving them about as they talked amongst themselves somewhat frantically. All their words were jumbling together into such a muddle of indecipherable noise, it was a wonder any of them were able to keep up with their own conversation.

Taking in a deep breath to settle my nerves before exhaling, I approached them with a polite, "Hi Flora, Fauna, Merryweather... Would any of you possibly know where Lar-"

"Ah! There you are, dear, and not a moment too soon!" The one in a red knit sweater, Flora, cried as she and the others whirled around to face me. "Come, come, there's too much to do and not enough time to do it all in! So many adjustments to make!"

And then I yelped as the three of them pounced.

Okay, maybe "pounced" was a tad strong. But they came at me brandishing tape measures in their hands and safety pins gripped between their teeth and if I'm being perfectly honest, it was a little distressing to say the least.

"Adjustments? What adj- hey, that tickles!" I squirmed as Flora, the one wearing the green hat, stretched out my arm to measure from wrist to armpit. "Adjustments to what?"

Flora smiled sweetly back at me as she wrapped the tape around my bicep now, "To the costumes, of course dear! What else?"

Well duh, I'd figured that much out! But which-

Oh! Hold on… could it be that…

"...was there an accident with one of my outfits? Did something rip and you just need to fix it?" Was that why I'd been called down here? Because if that's all it was, thank goodness!

The lady sporting a blue scarf, Merryweather, ignored my question as she straightened back up with a scowl after taking my height measurement. "Aww, phooey! You're shorter by five inches! Now we have to take up all the hemlines!"

My eyebrows knit together, "Wha… hemlines? What are you… shorter than what? Just what is going-"

"There you are!" A new voice exasperatedly joined the conversation from behind us and I turned to see Larxene striding into the room bearing a clipboard. Or rather, I tried to turn, only to have Flora flip me back around so she could resume measuring my shoulders. "Finally! You certainly took your sweet damn time!"

Wincing slightly, I began, "I… I got here as fast as I could, I-"

She sighed boredly, "Save it, I don't give a crap." Coming to a stop next to me, she eyed her clipboard as she flipped through a couple of the pages. "I got ahold of the others and they should be here any minute for our dry run. As long as no one fucks anything up, that should leave enough time to finish making sure all your costumes fit, your hair is done, and-"

"My hair? What are you doing with my... Wait, why wouldn't my- stop that," I hissed, shooing Fauna away from getting that tape cord anywhere near my bust before looking at Larxene again. "Why wouldn't my costumes fit? And dry run? What dry run? I didn't know about any more rehearsals being scheduled before the show today."

The assistant director gave me a flat look. "...Marluxia didn't tell you?" When my answer was only a blank stare, she growled in her throat, closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Of course he didn't. Why would he? He's only the damn director, ugh! Leave it to Pinkie to delegate without even bothering to tell me!" Cyan eyes locked on me once more and voice taking on what had to be the most unenthused tone in the entire history of all tones, she informed me, "Congratulations. You're Elphaba."

Sorry, I'm who now?

I blinked. Once, then twice. Then, "I'm…? Elph- Wha? Me? No, that can't- That's not- It doesn't- It's not- There's just- It couldn't- No, no, no, there must be-"

Gosh, I've always had such a way with words.

Pressing my lips together firmly and taking a second to gather my thoughts, I tried again. "Snow White-"

"Snow White has food poisoning and can't go on," Larxene enunciated as if she were explaining to a four-year-old child. "So Pinkie has shoulder-tapped you to step up and fill in. Mazel-fucking-tov, now can we move past this already?"

I frowned, barely even noticing now as the flurry of poking, prodding and measuring continued about my person. "But what about… I mean surely there must be a… an understudy! Or-"

She barked out a laugh. "An understudy? Princess please, this is community theater, what understudy?"

My gaze fell to the floor, a crease forming between my eyebrows. Then I was looking at her again, "But this just doesn't make any sense, there has to be someone else! Someone with… with more experience! Why not Tiana or-"

"Tiana's busy," Larxene rolled her eyes.

I shook my head, "Doing what?"

"Um, playing Glinda? Doi?" she arched an eyebrow at me, then scoffed. "We're not going to play musical goddamn chairs with all the leads just a few hours before the show starts. That'd be a royal shitshow, genius. So why don't I just leave all the prancy-wancy acting… stuff to you while you leave the assistant directing to me, okay?" That last word was dripping with enough sarcasm to fill a whole friggin' bucket.

"Then…" I bit down on my bottom lip, breathing shallow and mind racing, desperate to come up with any other solution. "...then one of the other girls! From the tryouts who aren't in the show! Like, oh, what was her name… Yuna?"

Larxene watched me blankly. Then she was tucking her clipboard into her armpit so she could clap her hands together once and coo in candy-coated sweetness, "Okay, yeah! Let's bring in someone who hasn't been to any rehearsals and doesn't know any of the stage layout or any of the choreography! It's perfect! Gee, why didn't I think of that?"

The mockery was neither appreciated nor lost on me.

"Fine! What about- I said stop!" Fauna had been making another shot for my bust and I stumbled out of that tangled mess of hands and measuring tape, huffing and puffing through my nose as I glanced back at them, "What are you even doing?!"

"Making sure we can get all of Snow White's costumes to fit you, dear! Now hold still, we're almost done," Flora said before they all ambushed me again.

Resigned to my fate for the moment, I turned my attention back to Larxene, "But what about one of the other girl's in the chorus? There has to be- There must be someone else who's more trained or… or would be a better fit or-"

"For fuck's sake, Snowflake, why are you fighting this so hard? Do you really need the validation of having me spell it out for you that badly?" Larxene snapped.

My head rocked back and I stared at her with eyes wide. "Wha… Validation? What are you… That's not-"

"Fine." She thrust up one hand to tick off her pinky finger, "One: you're consistent. Annoyingly so. You're the only chorus member who's shown up to every single damn one of the rehearsals. Maybe because all those other pathetic losers have more of a life than you? Don't know, don't care."

Hey now, I had a life!

...I think… it was still sort of a work in progress...

"Two," up went the next finger, "you know the show front and back and could probably recite the whole damn thing from cover to cover at the drop of a hat. You think we haven't noticed you backstage, mirroring all the other actors' stage directions and dance routines and miming along with all the lines and songs like some dumb parrot?"

Oh gosh, they saw that?! Color me mortified.

"Three, you actually got halfway decent pipes and should be able to handle Elphaba's songs at least well enough to not completely embarrass yourself."

Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence.

Jutting out one hip to plant a fist against it, Larxene stared down her nose at me. "So what's it gonna be, Shortbread? You've put in the time, you know your stuff, you got the voice… question is, you got the balls to actually do it?"

I stiffened, sucking in a breath and holding it. I'd run out of arguments to push back with. And honestly…

...did I really want to be arguing this?

The silence stretched as my heart pounded in my ears. Then finally and at long last, I gave a single yet vigorous nod. "Yes."

She smirked. "Good, cuz that was a trick question. You didn't actually have a choice, bitch."

The door to the room banged open as yet another person abruptly came sprinting into the room. She had long dark red hair beneath her newsboy cap and poking out of her shoulder bag was a crude hand-sewn doll that she was never seen without, though I'd never quite been able to figure out what it was exactly… a cat? A pig? Your guess was as good as mine. As for the girl herself, what I did know about her was that she also helped with costuming. Right now, she came bearing a giant black bottle that she waved high over her head. "Got it! Got th… the hair dye!" she panted out as she came stumbling to a stop and braced her shoulder against the wall for support, looking as if she'd just run a marathon.

"Hair dye?" my hand unconsciously went to my braid.

"Oh don't worry!" she gave an exhausted chuckle as she batted her hand through the air. "It's the kind that washes out, but it'll still look great on you!"

"Alright, wrap this up, ladies, we don't have all fucking day," Larxene snapped her fingers a couple times as she started making her way towards the exit. "Snowflake, your ass better be on stage in five so we can get this damn show on the road, got it?"

"Ah… y-yes, of course, I'll be-"

But she was already gone, slamming the door shut behind her.

"Shiki, be a dear and get these measurements to Sally," Flora finished jotting something down on two slips of paper before handing them both to the redhead. "There's a copy in there for you too, so you can grab Elphaba's nightgown for the Popular scene and start taking in the waist."

"Got it!" Shiki nodded as solemnly as a soldier being sent off to war. I was surprised she didn't salute before she darted out through a door in back that led to a deeper part of the dressing rooms.

The remaining three women were suddenly a red, green and blue whirlwind of activity as they bustled about the room, a cacophony of noise once more, flailing costumes as they went. I just kind of stood off awkwardly to one side, rubbing my elbow. Fauna noticed me long enough for a quick but friendly, "We're done, dear."

"Oh, okay," I nodded as she dashed off.

More awkward standing.

"Go on, shoo!" Merryweather impatiently whipped the outfit she was holding at me as she blurred past.

With a start, I gasped, "Right! I, uh… I'll get out of your way," before hastily retreating out the door.

I was still kind of in a state of shock. Because, come on… that was a lot to happen in the space of five minutes! Here I'd come in expecting to get cut, not to have a friggin' lead part dropped into my lap. None of this felt real. Was this a dream? Or maybe more like a nightmare, considering I'd actually been crazy enough to say yes. Oh dear god, was I even ready for this?

Feet seemingly on autopilot, I hardly realized where I was even going as I numbly walked back out towards the audience seating. Lea was slouched down in one of the chairs in back, lollipop stick poking out of one corner of his mouth and red Converse kicked up onto one of the backrests of the row in front of him as he thumbed through his phone.

Looking up as I approached, he grinned and hopped up to his feet with a chipper, "How did it go with Larxy?" But then he squinted at me with a frown. "...do I need to knock her block off? Cuz I'll do it. I don't care if she's a girl, I'll-" he cut himself off, lips pursing to the left. "Scratch that, that hag scares the everliving crap outta me. But I'll tell you what, I will definitely write her a strongly worded letter, or… ah! Passive aggressive post-it notes! That bitch is gonna be getting so many passive aggressive post-it notes from me, she'll rue the day she ever messed with my boo!"

Shaking my head slowly and still in an almost sort of trance, I said, "They're, uh… they needed to make adjustments."

One of his eyebrows quirked. "Adjustments?"

I nodded, staring off into space, eyes unfocused. "To the, um… the…" I gestured to my clothes by way of explanation. Don't think he got it. I kept going as if he had though. "And there's hair dye. And a dry run. Because of the poison."

"Poison?" he echoed again, this time slightly more alarmed.

"So they asked me to- well, I mean, I told them they should have a- you'd think they would have one, wouldn't you? But apparently no, not for community theater. So I said, well why not Tiana? But.. but Larxene didn't want to play musical chairs, and I suppose she had a point. And Yuna hasn't been around and wouldn't know any of the- not to mention all of the other girls have more of a life, so that apparently makes me the-" I suddenly inhaled sharply, digging my phone out of my pocket. "I should tell Anna."

"What? Tell Anna what?!" he asked, but I had already tapped her name in my contacts and was pressing the phone to my ear as I shushed him. His shoulders slumped and he muttered, "I have no freaking clue what's even happening."

It only rang once before a male voice answered, "City zoo, reindeer speaking."

Rolling my eyes as I also heard Anna's faint snickering in the background on the other end of the line, I said, "Hi Kristoff. Could you put my sister on please?"

Oh yeah, those two were an item now. Well, kind of… it was still new and Anna was taking it slow for once.

They were actually kind of cute together.

Though it was really weird seeing Kristoff smile so much now.

"Dweeb," came a muffled giggle from Anna, which I assumed was more so directed at my coworker than at me. There were some shuffling sounds as the phone presumably exchanged hands before she came in loud and clear in my ear with a bright, "Hey, Sis! What's up?"

At long last, a hint of a smile started to tug at my lips. "Something… something amazing has happened, you'll never guess! I-"

"Oh! I know already, and I am so friggin' proud of you, you have no idea!"

I blinked, tipping my head to one side. "You are? Wait, how could you possibly know already? I just-"

"Lea told me!" My forehead wrinkled at that as my eyes darted to him. Suddenly she let loose a piercing squeal and I flinched, holding the phone away a bit. "Ahhh! Lookit you! My big sis is all growed up and giving her man hickies! 'Bout friggin' time too!"

My right eye twitched.

Ah. Right. That. I'd almost forgotten.

My free hand snaked out to give Lea's arm another pinch and he yelped, lollipop tumbling from his lips. Fumbling to catch it, he grumbled, "Shit, El, what'd I do?"

Jabbing my fingertip against his chest at the exact spot where I'd left my mark under his shirt, I hissed, "You know what you did."

With a tiny sheepish chuckle, he scratched a spot behind his ear. "Oh yeah…"

Oh-ho, he was going to rue the day. And trust me, it wasn't going to be with passive aggressive post-it notes.

I narrowed my eyes on him as I continued my phone conversation, "First of all, I never want to hear the H-word coming out of your mouth again. You're my little sister, it's just… it's too weird." I paused with a small shudder, but then a grin slowly began fighting its way back onto my face. "Second of all… I'm Elphaba."

"...elle-fab-wha?"

I made a noise in my throat that was half sigh, half groan. What, did she sleep through the show when she saw it last week? ...honestly, I wouldn't have been surprised. "A lead. They made me a lead, okay? Th-" a gasp stifled my words as my free hand flew up to cover my mouth. It was finally actually hitting me. This was real. Saying out loud had suddenly made it so very, very real. "Oh my god, they made me a lead."

"They what?!" Anna shrieked in delight at the same time Lea surprised me by hugging my waist, picking me up and spinning me around as he laughed, "Babe, that's amazing!"

As he was putting me back down, I could hear Anna babbling, "How did this happen?! Tell me, I want to know everything! How is this even possible? Aren't all the leads filled?"

I opened my mouth to respond, but Lea started talking as well, "Did one of the stars call in sick? Shit, did she call in dead? You said something about poison, which is a thing I think we sorta glossed over and should circle back to."

Again, I took in a breath to form words. Again, I was cut off. "Did they realize how friggin' talented and beautiful and incredible you are and just write a new leading part specifically for you?"

"Was the actress poisoned? Was she murdered?" Lea then gave a dramatic mock gasp. "...did you murder her for the part?"

"What am I saying? Of course that's what they did, ah! I can't believe they friggin' wrote in a whole new character just for you! Except I can believe it and I do!"

"Cuz if you did, you know you can tell me, right? Your secret is safe with me, just damn, El... who knew beneath that whole sweet, doe-eyed routine of yours beat the heart of a ruthless, cold-blooded killer?"

"Both of you, shush!" I huffed, finally managing to get a word in edgewise. Jeez, I could barely handle one person talking to me on a good day, let alone two at the same time. To my boyfriend, I articulated slowly, "Food poisoning, Lea. Food poisoning." As he just sniggered and shrugged, I spoke into the phone, "And Anna, no, that's not how plays work. Someone fell ill, I'm just filling in." I puffed out a soft breath and hesitated, worrying my bottom lip between my teeth now. "...listen, are you busy tonight? Do you think… Would you be able to make it?"

"You want me there?! Really?" I winced at how shocked she sounded. "I mean, Sis, don't get me wrong, I'd absolutely love to go, but… me being there, that wouldn't, ya know… psych you out or make you feel more pressure?"

Restless fingers fiddling with my braid, I was silent for a few seconds. Then I gave a firm nod even though I knew she couldn't see it. "I would… really like it if you were there. Kristoff can come too, if you want."

Another eardrum bursting squeal. Don't think I was joking either. Pretty sure that was blood I felt trickling out of my ear now. "We are so there! We'll be like your groupies! We'll paint our faces and hold up signs saying how much we heart you and-"

"No!" I said quickly. Because I knew Anna. She wasn't kidding. "No face paint, no signs!"

"Oo, what's this I hear about face paint and signs?" Lea's eyes lit up.

I hung my head, pressing my fingers to the spot between my eyebrows. "Great, now you've gotten Lea's hopes up. You know how he latches on."

Giggling, Anna said, "And don't worry about inviting Mom and Dad, I'll pass the invite along to them for y-"

My shoulders stiffened. "Do not tell them! They won't care."

"But-"

"Just don't, Anna, okay? See you tonight." I scowled as my thumb pressed the 'End Call' button, silencing any further argument from her.

"Don't tell who what?" Lea asked, cocking his head slightly.

With a tiny exhale as I pocketed my phone, I said, "She wanted to invite my parents to tonight's show as well, which is ridiculous. They wouldn't want to come."

He frowned, then crossed his arms as he leaned one hip against an audience seat. "Do you want them there?"

I scrunched up my face. "...I haven't spoken to them in months. Not since that disastrous weekend you and I visited them. If the first thing they heard from me after all this time was to ask them to come see my silly little play… no, they wouldn't be interested. In fact, they'd probably be insulted. You know they discouraged my interest in theater all my life, so this would just be like a slap in the face to them. This is the last place they'd want to be, they wouldn't even be caught dead here. They won't come."

"But do you want them there?" he pressed again.

Hugging myself, I looked down, staring hard at my feet. "...Anna better listen to me. She better not tell them, or I'll-"

"What part of 'ass on stage in five' did you not understand, Princess?!" Larxene's voice was suddenly booming throughout the auditorium. I whirled around to see all the other performers had arrived and were waiting on stage with our illustrious assistant director in the front, glaring daggers at me as she impatiently tapped her foot. "Chop, chop, we don't have all day!"

"C-Coming!" I stammered back, then screwed my eyes shut as another thought struck me. I muttered, "Shoot, I was going to call Rayne too."

"Don't worry, I'll pass the message along. We'll all be there with bells and whistles on," Lea winked. I gave him a quiet thank you as I turned to rush off. Before I could take so much as a step however, Lea stopped me with a, "Hey." I glanced back at him and he grinned softly as he reminded me, "They gave you a lead."

I blinked. Then a huge smile spread across my face.

This was happening.

This was real. Like, really real.

Suddenly bubbling over with excitement and in need of an outlet, I flung myself at Lea and kissed him.

"God fucking damnit, now, Snowflake!" Larxene snapped.

"Be right up!" I called as I released him, tossing him one final hasty wave over my shoulder as I dashed towards the stage.

This wasn't a dream.

This was really happening.

And I couldn't wait to get started.

Scratch that, I could wait.

Maybe hold off for another hour or two? Or, I don't know… twelve? Tomorrow! Yes, tomorrow, would be great. Or better yet, perhaps a week from now? Heck, why not round it up to a nice, even year. Sound good?

If it wasn't obvious, I was having second thoughts. Not to mention third and fourth thoughts to boot.

It was kind of hard not to when I'd made the mistake of peeking out past the curtains to see just how many people were out there. Answer? A lot. So many. Too many. How did they even all fit in there? I could swear I remember the auditorium being a lot smaller… had it grown bigger in the past couple hours? Pretty sure it had grown bigger. I mean, that was the only logical explanation for the sheer amount of people in the audience now, right? Right.

Letting go of the curtain to block out the terrifying sight once more, I drew in a slow breath and held it for a few seconds. There was about fifteen minutes left before the show was to start. Fifteen very few, very short minutes. My face and neck were painted green, along with my hands that currently shook as I wrung them together. My hair was black and still braided and very tempting to tug at, but I resisted. My costume - a formal, blue three piece skirt suit with a knit cap - still didn't quite fit right in some places, but it fit well enough. The costuming ladies had actually done a pretty amazing job in the scant time they'd had to work with, I couldn't even fathom how they'd managed to get everything done. My best guess? Magic. It was the only thing that made sense.

My pulse chugged along at what felt like a billion beats per second and… crud, my palms were clammy. I hoped that wouldn't wipe away the body paint. Ugh, you would think I wouldn't be so nervous. I mean, what was the big deal anyway? So what if I was going to be on stage in front of that huge crowd? You know what, I'd been on stage in front of a huge crowd last week too and I'd handled it just fine. True, I'd just been a part of the chorus then, whereas tonight I was Elphaba, but what was the difference, I mean really? Just a handful of solo songs, a few hundred (or was it thousand?) more lines… then of course so many more eyes focused on me… so many more chances that something could go wrong…

Dammit, I was just being silly! Repeat after me, Elsa: nothing will go wrong. Nothing will go wrong. After all, the dry run had gone smoothly, hadn't it? Almost surprisingly so. Now I just had to do the exact same thing again, only this time in front of a room full of people!

...so many, many people...

Okay, this wasn't helping. I needed to take my mind off all this anxiety and calm down. What was that old trick for dealing with stage fright? ...picture the audience naked?

I hesitated, pursing my lips to one side. Then I poked a finger through the curtains once more to take another quick look. Then I was retracting my hand to my chest, letting the curtains fall shut again.

...yeah, no. Pretending like I was performing for a nudist colony? Not helping.

Now I was only nervous and blushing. Just dandy.

A hand suddenly clapped down on my shoulder, making me jolt and swallow a small yelp.

"Don't worry, you'll be great!" someone whispered next to me. I turned my head to see Tiana smiling brightly at me, looking stunning in her poofy, sparkly Glinda dress with her hair done up in lustrous curls. "Break a leg."

It took a second for my brain to catch up and remember that that was an old theater saying for wishing me luck.

Oh gosh, were we… bonding? I wasn't quite sure, I didn't know what it looked like. Everyone here had always been nice enough to me, of course, but it's not like we interacted all that much outside of rehearsals, not really. I'd been getting slightly better with this whole human interaction thing, but I still wasn't exactly big on the concept. I didn't know what to do with this newfound showman camaraderie.

...at the very least, I should reciprocate, right?

As she moved off to get onto her floating platform that she was supposed to make her grand entrance on at the start of the show, I quietly but hastily called after her, "You, uh… y-you too! Break both of them! And… and an arm as well!" Wait, what? "In fact, I'll break them all for you and-"

Both my hands shot up to gag myself.

For the love of… Learn to quit while your ahead, you stupid useless mouth!

Breathing a muffled sigh into my fingers, I slowly lowered my hands as I glanced up at the clock hanging on the wall. The minutes were ticking by far too quickly. My body was practically vibrating with all the nervous energy coursing through it and not for the first time, I seriously considered making a break for it. I knew where the back exit was to this place and I'd been left unsupervised. Really, that was just asking for trouble. Everyone should know by now what a goddamn friggin' flight risk I was!

I pushed that oh so appealing thought to the back of my mind however, locking it up and throwing away the key. A distraction… that's what I needed right now! But where to find such a thing…?

I looked to the heavy velvet curtain once more, pausing for a few heartbeats.

You'd think I'd have learned my lesson by now, but…

Yet again, I nudged it open a smidge to peek out.

It only took me a few seconds to spot them in the audience, third row from the front and slightly towards the right. Lea, Roxas, and Xion, chatting and laughing about something. Lea abruptly got Roxas in a headlock and started mussing up his hair while Xion just cackled. I hid a tiny grin behind my fingers as I watched Rayne reach across Xion, using her playbill pamphlet to swat at Lea's elbow trying to get him to stop manhandling Roxas.

This was what I'd needed to soothe me. To look out into that sea of people and see the faces of those I cared about.

To Rayne's right, Riku just read his own playbill and wisely stayed out of the mini-brawl that'd broken out. Then next to him were Anna and Kristoff. My sister was currently making a silly face as she took a selfie of the two of them, while he sported a goofy smile and couldn't seem to take his eyes off her.

Yes, exactly what I'd needed. One look at Lea, Roxas, Xion, Rayne, Riku, Anna, Kristoff, and my parents already had me feeling so much-

Wait…

Run that list by me again?

Lea, Roxas, Xion, Rayne, Riku, Anna, Kristoff, and-

I gasped, the curtain escaping my grasp and slipping back into place.

No, no, no, what were they doing here?! They shouldn't be here! They couldn't be here! There had to be some mistake! I must have been seeing things, it must have just been some… some trick of the light! Yeah, that had to be it! All I had to do was pull the curtain aside again and see for myself that it was just some other older couple who looked ridiculously rich, ridiculously out of place, and ridiculously uncomfortable.

Swallowing hard, I tentatively reached for that thick velvet fabric once more, parting it by an inch.

...fudge. No question about it. That was definitely and without a doubt... my parents.

I released the curtains once more, frowning. A few seconds ticked by. Then I poked them to one side again.

Nope. Still there. Still them.

...maybe I should try closing and opening the curtains one more time?

Zip it, brain, you're not helping!

This just… this didn't make any sense! What were they even doing here?!

My anxious eyes darted over a couple seats from them to where Anna was still in selfie mode, finger hooked in her mouth to flash her gums while she stuck out her tongue and crossed her eyes.

My eyelids drooped.

Why that little…

I dashed over to the dressing rooms, snatching my phone out of the locker I was using for my personal items before rushing back over to the curtains, fingers furiously tapping out a text message as I went.

I will END you.

Annnnnnnd send.

Sneaking a glimpse out into the audience once more, I watched as Anna suddenly went very rigid, face pale and wide eyes locked on her phone screen. Then, as if she could sense my icy death glare on her, she looked up and directly at the tiny gap in the curtains through which I was peering. I swiped a finger slowly across my throat. She quite visibly gulped, gaze darting over to our parents. Oh yes. She knew exactly why I was going to murder her. Then her thumbs were a blur as they started tapping at her phone. I felt mine vibrate in my hands and I glanced down at it.

it wsnt me i swear thy just showd up id nevr do that 2 u plz dont kll me i luv u and thnk ur so so pretty

As she then proceeded to spam me with various heart and kiss emojis, a crease formed between my eyebrows and I looked to the crowd once more. My parents wouldn't have known to come on their own, so someone had to have told them.

If not Anna, then who…?

My gaze landed on another certain redhead, currently snickering as his fingers ruffled his hair.

...oh-ho, he wouldn't have much left to snicker about by the time I was through with him.

Glancing to my phone once more, I swapped over to my text conversation with Lea and started typing.

Left backstage door. Now.

I watched long enough to see him pull out his phone, quirk an eyebrow as he read my message, then hop up to his feet to make his way towards the requested rendezvous point. I ran behind stage, turning down a hallway and descending the steps leading to the other side of that same door. As I pulled it open a crack to peer out, I could see Lea standing there with his back to me, hands shoved into his pockets as he idly rocked on his feet while waiting. The audience murmur was dying down as the lights began to dim, indicating the show was about to start. That was okay, that still gave me roughly ten more minutes before I had to be on stage.

More than enough time to hide the body when I was through with my meddling boyfriend.

"Psssst," I hissed to get his attention, opening the door wider.

Lea spun around, took one look at me and snerked, both hands coming up to cup over his mouth. His eyes crinkled as he seemed to take a second to compose himself. Then in a whisper that shook with barely contained laughter, he said, "I'm sorry, but you make… the cutest teenage mutant ninja turtle."

Not wanting to disturb the audience as the first notes of the play's music started up, I simply rolled my eyes, grabbed him by the front of the shirt and yanked him through the door, letting it fall shut behind him.

He stumbled into me, his hands immediately going to my hips as he smirked down the few inches that separated us. "Mmm, so that's what this is? Need me to help you work off some of those pre-show jitters, huh? Wouldn't think you'd have the time to squeeze in a lil makeout sesh, but if you insist…" He gently pressed me up against the wall, pinning my body there with his. Ducking his head down, his lips found my throat as he murmured, "I'll admit, I am pretty curious to find out just how far down this green goes…"

I shivered as his kisses down my neck left a warm tingle in their wake.

...reason…

There'd been a reason I'd wanted to see him, and this wasn't it.

...unless… was it?

Wait! No! Focus, Elsa, focus! I'd wanted to talk to him about, uh… about my, uh…

"Parents!" I breathed out at last, regaining some semblance of thought as I cleared my throat. "It was you who invited my parents here, wasn't it?"

He stilled against my neck. Then he was straightening back up once more and I had to choke back a laugh. Thanks to my body paint, his mouth had now taken on a lovely shade of emerald. "Maybe… who wants to know?" he asked with a playful shrewdness. I narrowed my eyes up at him, to which he grinned, "No seriously, who? I can't tell which one you're supposed to be. Donatello? Raphael?"

"Bold of you to mock someone who's has intimate knowledge of all your weak points," I deadpanned, poking him in the side where I knew he was ticklish. He yelped and squirmed. Ah, sweet sweet vengeance. I then released a grumbling sigh. "...I told you not to tell them."

Lea struck up a finger, "Correction: you told Anna not to tell them. You never said a word about what I myself should or shouldn't do."

"But I said I didn't want them here!" I shot back, mindful to still keep my voice low.

"Did ya though?" he cocked an eyebrow at me. My hand shot out for his ticklish spot again, but he caught it with a triumphant, "Ha! But no really, you didn't. You did however give me an impressive list of excuses as to why you assumed they wouldn't wanna come."

"Because they wouldn't!" I pressed. But then I hesitated, averting my gaze before muttering, "...or rather… I thought they wouldn't." I shook my head. "...what did you even say to them?"

His shoulders gave a small shrug. "Nothing much, I don't even remember really. But cliff notes version? Something along the lines of how important this was to you and if they ever hoped to have even so much as a snowball's chance in hell of being a part of your life ever again, it'd be important to them too."

My face twisted sourly. It was kind of getting hard to stay mad at him. Especially when I had to keep staring at those toad-lips of his. But damned if I wasn't going to try. "So what, you expect me to believe you just called them up and-"

"Oh," he chuckled and shook his head, "no, I didn't call. I mean, I tried to at first, but only got as far as leaving a message with the butler. So figured, hell, got several hours to kill before curtain time... why not take a lil road trip?"

I stared at him, eyes growing round. "Oh no."

Lea beamed, "Oh yes! We had quite the pleasant chat, your folks and I. In the... Jasmine Room I believe it was this time. It was nice. Cozy. There was even tea."

A quiet snort escaped me now as my expression softened, reaching a hand up to touch his cheek. "...that was a very sweet, not to mention a very stupid and overstepping thing to do."

"If by 'stupid and overstepping' you mean 'brilliant and endearing,' then you and I are in total and one hundred percent agreement," one side of his mouth quirked. He then puffed out a smug, lofty sigh, "What can I say, I just can't help being so awesome. Try not to swoon while in the presence of the awe-inspiring greatness that is yours truly."

I gave him a blank look. "Your lips are green."

He blinked, removing one hand from my waist to poke at his lips before pulling his fingertip away to discover it was now a delightful lime color. Then he flashed his dimple, "You say that like it isn't just another example of my awesomeness."

Biting back a small smile, I idly smoothed a thumb at the corner of his mouth. "I will say I am rather fond of the way it brings out the color of your eyes."

"Now ya gone and done it," he hugged me more tightly against him. "This moment right here? You remember it good. Now when I go and start making green lipstick my new aesthetic, just remember that it's all thanks to you telling me that."

"...fudge."

He snerked before leaning his face in closer to mine now, his breath warming my lips as he whispered, "Now whaddya say to me laying some sweet green sugar on ya, babydoll?"

I spluttered in amusement, clamping a hand over his mouth before he could finish closing the distance. "And risk you ruining my makeup even further? I don't think so. Besides, I should get back, I'm sure I must be due on stage any minute."

Pulling his face free of my grasp, he now rested his forehead to mine and nuzzled our noses together. "C'mon, you're fine. One lil smooch or two won't hurt any-"

A sudden loud, ominous crackle filled the air. We both turned our heads to discover now standing at the top of the stairs was a certain assistant director with a homicidal gleam in her eye as she held up a sparking taser. Larxene shut it off, gravely intoning, "Oh you miserable little man. How shall I fry thy lame-o ass for trespassing backstage? Let me count the ways." The taser buzzed with electricity once more.

"Gottarunbabeknock'emdeadoutthere," Lea blurted out, planting a swift peck to my forehead before bolting out the door back to audience seating so fast, you'd have missed if you'd blinked.

Leaving me to face the walking, talking electrocution chair in human form all on my own.

Gee thanks, Lea. So brave. So valiant. My hero.

The big, fat chicken.

I gulped, licking my dry lips and squaring my shoulders. "Larxene, I-"

"Will you just go get ready for your cue?" she huffed, stepping aside and gesturing with the taser for me to get a move on. "I'll chew you out after the show."

Releasing a small breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding, I nodded and ran up the steps past her. As I snatched up and put on my prop glasses, picked up the student briefcase to complete my costume and got into position just offstage, I saw that it was almost time for me to make my entrance. It was just now hitting me that I'd been so distracted by having my little chat with Lea that I'd missed out on precious panicking time. As if my body were trying to make up for it all at once, my heart rate abruptly skyrocketed, blood rushed in my ears and my knees trembled.

But beneath it all was also the teeniest flash of giddiness.

This was it.

There was no time left for freaking out or worrying about what could go wrong or stressing out about my parents being in the audience.

I tensed as I heard my cue, hesitating for a beat.

There was no time left for anything except to just go out there and get on with it.

So I did. I drew in a deep breath and took that first step out onto the stage.

I will never forget those first five minutes.

Everything about it had just been so… different. Being a lead had made it all different. The warmth radiating from the stage lights above had been different. The hush from an auditorium packed with people had been different. Even the very air itself as I'd breathed it into my lungs had felt different.

Those first five minutes would stay with me forever until the day I died. Because those five minutes had been undeniably and without question…

...the absolute worst experience of my whole life.

I'd tripped and stumbled over my own two feet. I'd forgotten simple stage directions. I hadn't talked loud enough at first. When I finally did speak up, I'd stammered through half my lines and completely skipped over others all together. At one point, I'd even accidentally said somebody else's line for them.

It'd been terrible. Simply awful. Literally a nightmare. One I was pretty sure I'd had before. One I'd kept praying to wake up from but never did. I'd wanted to run off the stage. Just flee into the night and never look back. Every last molecule of my being had been all but screaming at me to do so.

But I didn't.

Somehow - and I'm still to this day not quite sure how exactly - I'd stuck it out. I stood fast and stubbornly soldiered through it. And I'm so glad I did.

Because waiting at the end of those infernal five minutes had been my first song.

From the second those opening musical notes filled the air and hit my eardrums, everything had changed. My body began to relax as the tension eased bit by bit. For that tune had reminded me why I was here. That this is something I really, really wanted to do. Had dreamed of doing ever since I was a little girl. Suddenly it no longer mattered that there was an audience out there. It didn't matter that all eyes were on me.

All that mattered was pouring my heart into my song and giving it my all.

After that, everything suddenly seemed to just click. I knew where to go. I knew what to do. I knew what to say as clearly as if I'd had the script on a teleprompter in front of me the whole time that only I could see. I was no longer scared little Elsa trying and failing miserably at playing a role. I was that role. I was Elphaba.

And it was amazing.

Perfect, in fact.

Before long, I was singing my last song with Glinda. Before long, I was making my final exit offstage with the Scarecrow as the curtains closed behind us. Before long, I was stepping out with the rest of the cast to take our bows before the applauding crowd. And before long, it was all over and I was descending down the steps into the audience area…

...where I was immediately all but tackled to the ground by Anna, Rayne, and Xion in a vicious group hug.

"Guys, if you were trying to squeeze the life out of me, you've succeeded," I wheezed, trying to wriggle free. "It's done. There's no life left in me. Now for the love of all that is good and oxygenated, let go!"

Thankfully they released me. Ah, blessed, blessed air, how I missed thee. Xion was the first to pipe up with, "Oh my god, Elsa! You were fantastic! I had no idea you were gonna be so good!"

"Good?! Please," Anna scoffed before grabbing me by the shoulders to excitedly shake me, "Sis, you crushed it!"

"My precious bab is gonna grow up to be a star!" Rayne bawled, pinching both my cheeks.

Baby hormones. Don't mind her.

Pulling my face free of her fingers, I humored them with a shy smile. "You're all very sweet, but it's okay. There's no need to exaggerate."

Anna narrowed her eyes over a grin, "Please, don't even try to give us that BS. You were phenomenal and you know it!"

I gave her a flat look. "Oh yeah, so phenomenal. Especially those first few minutes."

"Shhhh," Xion pressed a finger to my lips with a smirk. "We pretend those minutes don't exist."

A throat cleared, causing the girls to turn and part to reveal the other half of their little group, aka the boys. Lea was front and center, one corner of his lips (oh dear lord, they were still the color of grass) twitching up as he stepped forward with a colorful bouquet in hand.

I fought a losing battle to suppress my growing smile as I took the flowers from him, not failing to notice the winter honeysuckle sprinkled into the mix. Crinkling my eyes up at him, I teased, "What a totally outdated and unnecessary gesture… thanks, I hate it."

"Liar," he snorted, slipping a hand around my waist as he pressed his lips to my hair. "Way to own that stage. I mean it, El. You kicked some serious ass up there."

Anna shook her head with a soft giggle, "That's what we were trying to tell her!"

"But the goob doesn't know how to take a compliment," Rayne tsked, flicking my forehead.

"What? C'mon, don't play coy. You know you were pure awesome incarnate, way better than that other chick that usually plays her," Lea booped his fingertip to my nose.

I suddenly felt very grateful that I was still caked in body paint. All the better to hide my blush with, my dear. I scrunched up my nose and averted my gaze, "You're just saying that because you're biased."

"Oh, one hundred percent. But doesn't make it any less true!" he chirped.

I rolled my eyes.

Time for a topic change.

"Your lips are still green."

Hey, I never said anything about it being a particularly good topic change.

"And this surprises you how? I already told ya, babycakes, this is my new brand. Speaking of, time to apply a fresh coat!" And with that, he began smothering me from temple to cheek to jaw in kisses. I squirmed, smacking him with the bouquet.

"Anyone else up for a late dinner?" Riku chimed in as he joined his wife at her side, hugging an arm around her shoulders and nuzzling her cheek before turning his gaze on me. "You must be starved after blowing away the whole audience like that."

Oh gosh, if one more person complimented me, I fear I might explode. I'd never been built to handle so much attention and praise. It made me uncomfortable and I never knew how to respond, nor did I really want it. All I'd ever wanted to was to simply put on what was hopefully at least a halfway decent show.

As the others rumbled in agreement about finding somewhere to eat that'd still be open this late, I nodded as well, "Just… give me a moment to get changed and clean off all this green."

"No no, my sweet, leave it on… for later," Lea cooed into my ear, waggling his eyebrows.

A huff of a laugh escaped me. "Now you're just making it weird."

Eyes dancing, his mouth opened to retort but before he could make so much as a sound, somebody else was interjecting with, "Pardon us."

I inhaled sharply, my spine snapping ramrod straight at that voice.

Crud, I'd completely forgotten that they were here.

Our whole group suddenly fell very quiet as all eyes turned to a nearby couple standing uncertainly off to one side, watching us all warily.

My parents.

Looking just as uncomfortable and out of place as they had before the show.

As they tentatively began to approach, Roxas and Kristoff shifted to make space for them. Their eyes settled on me at first before briefly flicking over towards Lea, who still had his arms wrapped tightly around me with seemingly zero intention of removing them, propriety be damned. I had to resist the very strong urge to clap my hand over his minty lips, abruptly very aware of the fact that that was probably what'd drawn my parents' fleeting focus to him. Thankfully, they made no comment. I'm not even sure what I would have said if they had.

Looking to me once more, Mother was finally the first to break the silence that somehow felt like it'd already been going for absolute centuries. "Elsa," she began but paused, an unsure frown in place as she seemed to search for the right words. "...you... did very well."

"Yes," Father lifted his chin slightly, the epitome of stiff politeness. "The show was… adequately entertaining."

I felt Lea's muscles go rigid beside me, could see his nostrils flaring out of the corner of my eye. I was quick to place a hand to his chest, speaking up before he could. "Th-thanks… Thank you very much," I told them softly with a small bow of my head.

They looked like they may have wanted to say more, but apparently seemed to think better of it. Instead, Father went with, "It's late. We best be off."

"See you back at home," Mother told Anna, reaching over a hand to lightly brush at her cheek. My sister's eyes darted from her over to me, then back. Then she just gave a tiny nod and said nothing as our parents turned and left.

Once they were out those double doors at the far end of the auditorium, Lea grumbled, "'Adequately entertaining' my ass… what was that bullshit?"

My gaze still on where they'd exited, a slow smile spread across my lips. "That was them trying," I murmured, glancing up at him. "I think maybe I'll give them a call tomorrow."

Author's Note: Ha! You didn't SERIOUSLY think I'd include "Wicked" in this and not let Elsa get to play the role of Elphaba, did you?! For those of you who don't know, Elsa's voice actress Idina Menzel is also famous for being Elphaba in the musical "Wicked"! So of course I couldn't let El's talents be wasted in the chorus for the entire show… our ice queen bab got her time to shine! And if how Elsa came around to getting to play the part sounds possibly far fetched, it's not as much of a stretch at it might seem! I did some research into it and it's true: it's very common in community theater to not have understudies, so if someone gets sick or otherwise can't perform, often the first place they'll look for a replacement is in the chorus! Side note: I for some reason took WAY too much joy in my stupid lil Snow White and food poisoning reference, don't ask me why xD In any case, El got to do one or two more shows as Elphaba (basically finished out that specific weekend's showings) before Snow White was feeling well enough to resume the role. But Elsa definitely had a blast and is eager to hopefully get a bigger part in whatever show her community theater decides to put on next! As for her folks, don't get me wrong, they're still in the dog house and won't be off the hook for a while yet, but the olive branch has been extended, a shaky truce has been formed and an awkward phone call is now made from time to time… for now xD Also - and this won't be any time soon, mind you - but I might have to go back at some point and write out another brief one-shot just for Lea's lil visit with El's folks where he "politely" (ha!) invited them to the show xD

Thanks for reading, I super duper appreciate it! And an extra BIG thank you to those of you who’ve liked, reblogged, and followed so far, seeing those lil notifications always brings the biggest, goofiest smile to my face!

Be back for next week's bonus chapter! In which there will be… BELLS! Do these bells have any particular significance to the plot of next chapter? Or are they just a brief prop and a red herring for this author's note? Stay tuned!

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

#kingdom hearts #frozen #elsa #axel #fanfiction #lea #fanfic #kingdom hearts fanfiction #frozen fanfiction #kh fanfiction #kh fanfic #frozen fanfic #kingdom hearts fanfic #axelsa #fluff #romcom #slow burn #kh3 #my writing #ice cream and fire oven pizza #rare pair #crossover pairing #humor #snark #fake dating au

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Maou-jou 9 - 12 (FINAL) | Idolish7 s2 10 - 15 (FINAL) | SLS 2

I’ve been holding off new seasonals because of other things, but after I post this I’ll have enough time to get around to them. That’s why I can’t guarantee winter 2021 seasonal tags on this post...maybe the next one will have them...

Maou-jou 9

…it seems shopping channels even are the same in the demon world.

Now even the demons have quests! (The frame is different to the princess’s, though.)

Oh! The quest failed.

Neo Alraune: in flower language, “the 2nd coming of happiness”. The worry from a little while ago was, “I’m worried about my brother.” The worry from recently: “I didn’t think about being happy that the princess didn’t kill my brother.”

The penguin demons are pretty cute!

Don’t you know how parents forbid children from sleeping until they finish all their homework? Must be something like that.

Yoku ganbarimashita! – Syalis worked hard!

LOL, mental age: 3. Poseidon likes cute things…I can’t read a lot of this…the hardsubs cover the JPN text.

They…both succeeded! (…LOL?)

Maou-jou 10

Owarinocity = Endopolis. It’s a good equivalent, if I do say so myself.

…oh yeah. What happened to Alraune? Update: There she is!

Also, that blonde guy in the infomercials doesn’t look too bad…*makes chef’s kiss gesture with one hand* Nice.

I wonder, was Twilight once human…?

LOL, there’s a goat symbol on the cleric’s pyjamas. Also “first time”, LOL.

I think they were playing shiritori at one point.

Hanamaru saikou yoku dekimashita!

Maou-jou 11

…How does one “sleep cheerfully”, anyway?

I think I saw Twilight drop something…some kind of paper…

Aw, Twilight blushing is kinda cute!

LOL, 70s shoujo style. Also, “It cannot be!”

Whoa, she cancelled it?!

I read up on this series on TV Tropes…and apparently the Demon King captured the Princess in her sleep.

Kagemusha? Like a ninja or something?

Apparently the Demon Cleric is much older than he looks.

Ooh! Hypnos is back!

A-whatsit really is abysmal levels of stupid!!! (LOL)

Maou-jou 12 (FINAL)

Who’s that one tiny guy occupying one of the Ten Kings’ seats?

*watching after Christmas, about a week after the anime finished* This is not seasonally appropriate!

…*thinks for a second, then spits* That’s the 2nd Nemu in the fall 2020 season!!!

Ooh, the head paladin doesn’t look that bad, either.

“…is it good to be…”

“…has seized the princess!”

“…that demon king is rather cute.” – See? Someone agrees with me.

Anyways, that was a fun series. See you soon!

Idolish7 s2 10

…Back at it after so long…(I can’t help it though – Crunchyroll, per month, is about double the local Funimation sublicensor’s fees, and for much less content that’s worth my money to boot!)

I’ve always thought Momo was like Sasara (HypMic), so seeing him anguished hurts me in the kokoro too…

I know Banri was involved with Re:vale somehow…this must be it.

…Male idols are also popular among men? Is this why there are 8 (!!!) idol anime in winter 2021 alone…? (Also, that’s why HypMic became popular? Multidemographic appeal crossed over with obvious merchandising opportunities?)

It’s kind of scary how Momo stepped the formality towards Yuki like that (to -san).

I guess in his heart Momo still reveres Yuki, some way or another.

The rakugo curtain really sold the moment that they (current Re:vale) were acting like an old married couple.

Yay! Silver Sky is such a cool song! Of course I recognised the intro when it came on.

…I see. The elder Kujo is entrusting his dream to Tenn, so that’s why he banned Aya from seeing Tamaki. However, it’s hard to know what to feel when Aya speaks in the vaguest terms possible.

I think that was a special ending for only this episode. I don’t know what its name is, but I guess I might recognise it on Spotify one day.

Idolish7 s2 11

LOL, Nagi’s reaction.

Considering the ‘rona is getting worse outside our very windows as we speak (type?), I think it’s correct to be concerned about your future right now.

Looking at these narrow streets reminds me of going to eat hotpot at the end of my Japan trip…only Japanese streets look like that, I think. Hong Kong’s streets are more crowded than that and America likes their suburbia.

Of course, when you say hajimemashite (nice to meet you), someone’s gotta say it back, hence the reply.

Considering there are people all over the world watching the Idolish7 anime, I would say you are telling the world about I7, Riku.

Oh! Restart Pointer! There was an MV for that one…I think it was around the time Idolish7’s MVs started getting better.

So this is the context around the new outfits! Cool!

There have been way too many puns about “idol” being…y’know, “ai (love) doll” and stuff like that…

I have one Twitter person who I follow (DejiNyucu, part of the creative team for Autumn’s Journey) because I don’t get much I7 content and they keep mentioning this “Haruki” person…and suddenly a “Haruki the Betrayer” showed up in the graffiti…they might be the same person, I think. Not Deji, but Haruki. Update: Sakura Haruki, perhaps…?

Sougo’s such a bad liar…

Sometimes, the best way to deal with things is to be direct…(I’m not very good at that, I naturally talk in a very roundabout sort of way.)

Sougo with long hair like Yuki would be really pretty… (<- has an obvious thing for guys with long hair)

Idolish7 s2 12

Nagi’s stupid accent is generally what he’s best remembered for (for me), so seeing him speak normally, and do a press conference on top of that, is…impressive.

A kabedon on top of all this! Whoa!

Shibuya 109 parody…? (I’ve seen that once or twice – parodying that means people know their stuff about Shibuya.)

I think the “it’s overflowing!” is referring to the hype in the “room”.

…this dejected Momo is worrying…(well, he is worrying and I am worrying about him.)

Oh, I see. The person responsible typed the letter so that they couldn’t be traced back. Kind of like those old movies where the culprit would cut letters out of newspapers to make threat mail, but…with even less traces than that, because cutting letters out leaves evidence.

…wow, it took a while for this ep. to have an intro…

…LOL, I just spotted Kenjiro Tsuda cited as the “fake Zero”, meaning the real one might never show up this season.

There’s something really stupid and infectious about these managers’ enthusiasm for drinking energy drinks. It puts a goofy smile on my face.

Is Musubi Tsumugi’s mother…? Update: Yes, she is.

…Wait, so the Chiba Shizuo guy is actually important?!

Idolish7 s2 13

Whenever someone says “by the way”, it means they’re changing the subject. I hate to state to obvious, but Sougo is clearly deflecting the topic of conversation from being about him.

I wonder if this guy (Haw9) is the actual Zero graffiti vandal…?

Hmph, I didn’t realise Tenn doesn’t refer to Kujo-san as his father, but…like that (“Kujo-san”) instead.

Oh hey! These are shots from Vibrato!

Most dramas can be solved with the power of Good Communication. That includes this one.

I feel like “he has a dark side” describes both Tenn and Kujo-san.

“Everyone, remember to wash your hands and gargle thoroughly.” – This is always a good thing to remember in the time of ‘rona. Reminds me of Jakurai’s line in ARB (<- this game started just after the ‘rona came down).

What did Sougo go to uni for (what specialisation)?

Idolish7 s2 14

I just realised Banri calls Momo -kun. Hmm…

Denki = electricity, LOL.

I feel like Tenn is basically Ramuda, give or take actual pink hair…guys in musical groups with pre-existing angst that they become the “centre” of. The fact Fling Posse have Saito Soma and so do Trigger strengthens the connection.

I would watch the heck out of a musical like that! Make it come true, Idolish7! (Also, today is I7 day! I’m not much of an I7 fan outside the anime, but…that’s cool!)

That shot of them jumping! I remember seeing it on the official site before!

Idolish7 s2 15 (FINAL)

There you go! I was wondering where Banri’s injury was – that was the only bit that didn’t add up for him to be Yuki’s old partner.

Hmm…Momo is 4 years younger than Yuki but 2 years younger than Banri…

This episode has a real concert vibe to it, to the point where I got startled by how loud the yell was at one point. (Even if it is mostly stills.)

LOL, lookit Okazaki!

Apparently, if you’re a hako oshi, you like all the members of a group. Someone with a green light and a pink light likes both members of Re:vale.

LOL, Usagi for Asahi beer.

…I forgot Nagi is 19.

…Ooh, I think that’s the kid from ZOOL. No wonder they needed a season 3!

That’s all. See you next time!

SLS 2

“fine and upstanding person” – That’s…hard to believe, Hayato.

I wonder how many bois Toboso designed for SLS…?

…The episode title is actually “Blank”. Not “Break”.

One of the guys’ shirts says moteki on it. That’s a period in one’s life where one enjoys more romantic attention than usual, literally “popularity season”.

The subs missed an I, so initially I knew Kiriyama’s name as “Kiryama”.

There are meant to be 2 wings, right…?

“He who controls information controls everything, right?” – For once, I’m surprised Hayato is right (and not just in that smug way of his).

“…I’m being treated like a manager.” – But Hayato is a manager! (In a sense.)

The plait guy jumps to nicknames really fast…also, why do I get the feeling Maeshima will lose the key?

I hate to say this Maeshima, but I side with your childhood friend (Kiriyama) here. As much as the anime wants me to back you, I’m watching for everyone else at this point.

That blocky building looks pretty cool. I think Zel (Archi-Anime) would like it.

Sasugai’s setup looks pretty cool, including his chair.

…hmm, Maeshima’s like me in a sense. I learn best by copying others, but memory is my best asset. If I don’t regularly train the fundamentals, I suck at everything. That said, I don’t have an eidetic memory. Also, I didn’t quite figure out Ken = Ken(sei Maeshima) until I watched long enough to connect the dots.

LOL, Derry’s. (<- reminded of a word for “butt” <- derriere)

Well, the guy’s (Souta…?) shirt does say moteki…

Kiriyama kinda looks like Jyuto (HypMic), come to think of it…Right down to his angry streak (although Jyuto has a reputation to keep as a “cool dude”, while Kiriyama is more of a Manza (Boueibu HK) and he’s more angry than he looks).

…This ED is nothing special.

…Hmm? Is that a small Terauchi and Maeshima…?

I think I’m sold for now, but I’m rooting for the other team, not Maeshima’s…not yet, anyways.

#simulcast commentary #skate-leading☆stars #idolish7 #Idolish7 Second Beat! #Maou-jou de Oyasumi #sleepy princess in the demon castle #Chesarka watches I7 #Chesarka watches Maou-jou

[thestarbirdfromtheashes]

So I just got inspired

by this post, which was a tag game, which I then decided to add some bOnUs throwback fanfic content to. Then I went to open a fic doc on my computer to work on it, and the folder that opened was a general fanfic folder.

SO.

I thought we could do a game. Have a game. Play a game. Whatever. A game.

FANFIC THROWBACK!!

The older, the better. Tag, say, as many people as the last digit of the year of the fic. So like, I’m posting a piece from 2005. So I would tag 5 people. Or however many ya want. Let’s just have fun. :)

This is from “Normal,” a Harry/Ginny fic even though I actually ship Harry/Hermione.

“So…” Ginny tried, “…you visited your parents’ house this summer?” “Yeah,” Harry replied, his voice dull.  “It gave me some ideas.” “Anything of value?” Harry shrugged.  “Some value.  I don’t really want to talk about it. “That’s smart,” Ginny said.  “ ‘Don’t talk about it’ is a terrific gameplan.” Harry spun around.  “What are you on about?” he snapped.  Ginny, as usual, was unfazed.

Well lookit that...ANGST. #whossurprised

TAGGING! @oh-nostalgiaa @kotaface @rebelle-capitan @imsfire2 @leaiorganas @aluckydenvermint @ohstardustgirl @callioope @incognitajones @pingou7 @thereigning-lorelai @cats-and-metersticks @unstable-reality @hoofgirl @sempaiko @sadieandor @grexigone @gloriouswhisperstyphoon @captainandors @riderunlove @sunburnracing @early-sunsets @ame88119 @thegiddyowl

And anyone else who sees this and wants to play! Cuz I know I forgot some of you!!

ALSO! Feel free to do old graphics! :D Love you all!! 💕💕

#tag game #fanfic throwback #harry potter #harry x ginny #old-ass fic #my work #that i never posted #ever #please play!!

[yastaghr]

What We Do For Family 1

Pairings: Geno/Reaper, Eventual Error/Reaper, Afterdeath, glitcheddeath, destructivedeath

Characters: Geno belongs to @loverofpiggies​, Reaper belongs to @renrink​, Goth (Afterdeath Fanchild) Belongs to @nekophy​

Warnings (for this Chapter): Angst, Tears

Summary:  What if Geno turned into Error after being with Reaper and having Goth?

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22254547/chapters/53141134

It wasn’t the greatest of photographs. Life’s large hands weren’t really suited to the small camera. She’d insisted on taking it, though. Reaper was glad she did. This photo was one of his most treasured possessions. He looked at it nearly every day. Lately that had gone up to nearly every hour.

He’d had a major panic attack when he realised it was starting to wear thin. Luckily Mercy had told him about this thing called a laminator. He’d dressed up from head to toe in thick clothing and gone visibly into a store that had one. The young human that helped him had thought it odd that he didn’t at least take his gloves off, but Reaper had bullshitted his way through that without admitting that he knew that Life would find a way to kill him if he took one of her creations to his realm too soon. Thus, the clothing. Whatever the hell he’d said seemed to convince the human. He laminated the picture without a fuss. It hardly cost him anything at all.

Reaper flipped the picture over and stared at the back. It had a painfully familiar scrawl on the back. Reaper still had no idea what it said. Every time he’d asked he’d been laughed off. It was both adorable and infuriating, and the infuriating quality of it only made it more attractive. Now, though, he wished for less frustration and more answers. He was pretty sure he could make out a “me” a few times...or was that a “my”? It might be a “my”. Damn. He needed to look away before his eyes started watering. He flipped the picture back over and studied it. He must know every pixel of it by now, but it still held comfort for him, so he still looked.

It was taken on a sunny day on the Surface. Green grass with scattered flowers filled the bottom of the frame. Then came Grim, Reaper’s brother, sitting cross-legged in front of everyone else, and Fresh, lounging like he didn’t have a care in the world. To his far right was Red, Underfell Sans, who had a wicked grin on his face. Next to him was Edge. He was scowling, but Reaper knew that was only because Red had just told a ridiculously bad joke. On the left side was Reaper himself, smiling into the camera with a beaming little Goth on his hip. In the middle was the hardest figure for Reaper to see, giggling into his scarf without a care in the world.

Geno looked so, so happy in this picture. Reaper could only hope that Geno was happy wherever he was now. Maybe he was even looking for a way to come home. Reaper couldn’t wait to see him again. He felt...lost without him.

“Oof!” A small little voice said as someone short ran into his legs.

Reaper looked down and smiled. At least he wasn’t alone while he waited. He still had their son Goth to take care of, and his brother to keep him sane. That didn’t stop him from searching, however.

“Dad! Lookit what I drew!”

Reaper grinned. “is it another picture of uncle fresh?” Reaper guessed. You couldn’t call it a long shot. Goth was determined to draw the terror of all artists right.

Goth pouted at him and hid his painting. “No. It’s...uh…”

Reaper carefully took the painting and smoothed it out. All the while he said, “sweetie pie, there’s nothing wrong with that. ink says that the best way to get better at drawing something is to draw it again and again. i wasn’t making fun of you. i was just guessing.”

Goth brightened up. “Oh. Okay! What do you think of this one?”

Reaper studied it seriously. “you forgot the left half of his hood on his hoodie. you can probably add it in now.”

Goth took his painting back thoughtfully. “I think I will do a new one. I don’t want eraser marks on it. It has to be perfect. If it isn’t perfect, Uncle Fresh might not like it, and if Uncle Fresh doesn’t like it then he might not go search for Mom!”

Reaper winced. So that was what this was about. How do you tell your child that they don’t need to bribe someone to get them to help with something like this?

“he’s already searching for mom, sweetie pie. everyone is, and if they aren’t already they will soon. daddie finally got time off work to go searching, too. i promise, we’re doing everything we can to find him.”

Goth sniffled and wiped off his tears with his sleeve, leaving wet stains on the white robe. “But...But...I want to help! Palette makes art of people and they like it, so I thought if I made art he’d like it and help us! I...I…”

Reaper smiled. “how about this, gothy? you can make some art for everyone who is helping us as thank you gifts! you can even use the big kid markers. okay?”

“Okay,” Goth said dubiously, “but you’re going to help!”

“Of course I will, Goth. Of course.”

=====

In a stark white landscape devoid of anything and everything, including walls, a floor, and time, a skeleton huddled and tried to hold back his sobs. He was hard to make out. Apart from his shorts and his scarf, everything he wore was white; White slippers, white socks, white t-shirt, white hoodie. The only marr on this white image was the black shorts, the red scarf, and the red bloody slash across the white of his shirt.

Geno was curled up in a way that couldn’t be comfortable. He was half on his side with his legs folded beneath him. One hand was holding a thinning piece of photo paper. On it was a familiar image: six smiling figures and one scowling one arranged on the green grass in a summer day.

“Why? Why did I have to be so stupid?” He asked the muffling silence. “We were fine the way we were. Great, even. So why did I have to go messing around with that damned machine?”

Nothing answered him that he could hear, not even the echoes of his own voice. It was like this place swallowed everything. His voice. The colours. His hopes. Him. It was terrifying. How could he ever hope to get out of a place that doesn’t even have the courtesy to provide a ceiling, walls, and floor? How could he ever hope to see his family again?

A single blue tear marred the stark white below him. It was joined by another. And another. And another. A trickle of tears turned into a torrent as the dam burst and Geno cried in earnest. Wracking sobs shook him. The picture was pressed against his chest protectively as blue streaks of tears fell down his face.

Long after the tears had dried up and the sobbing had turned into fitful sleep, those same blue streaks stayed permanently dyed into the white of Geno’s bones.  

#afterdeath #glitcheddeath #destructivedeath #goth #reapertale #reaper #geno #angst #tears #What We do for family fic #yastaghr

[badcowboy69]

Homeward Bound part 4

Yeesh...long time no write on the continuation to this saga. The story continues on Travis’ trip back to his parents’ ranch in Arizona where he tries to find any lost memories and most importantly tries to reconnect with his family.

@fuzzyelves it’s about time, huh? lol  Hopefully part 5 won’t take as long.  Previous chapters can be found in my #writings section.  Enjoy!

Placed under the cut due to length.

“Here’s to the rest of this visit going easier,” Travis muttered with a pessimistic tone in his voice while pouring a small portion of moonshine.  He toasted no one in particular then downed the liquor in one gulp.  With the very condensed tale of the past years over with, Travis felt slightly at ease.  Slightly.  He even dared to admit that he was starting to feel curious about what stories his parents had to share about his forgotten past.  Setting the jar down on the coffee table, Travis gave Riley a nod indicating to follow him and together they headed towards the bathroom.

After both men washed the day’s sweat and desert dust off their faces, necks, and arms, they proceeded back down the hall to the door that Mrs. Blackfox indicated was to Travis’ room.  However, instead of charging right in, Travis simply stood in front of the door, his hand hovering scant inches away from the worn, brass door knob.  

“Are you ok?”  Riley asked.  “I’m sure this is going to be overwhelming.  Just take your time and…”

“Ain’t that.  Lookit this,” Travis grunted, pointing at a bouquet of dried sunflowers tacked to the door.  “Thought she said this is supposed to be my room, but what’s with the flowers?  I might not remember much of anything on my past, but I know hanging flowers on my door ain’t something I’d ever do.”

Riley frowned deeply and uncomfortably ran his fingers through his red hair.  “Well,” he started slowly, trying to carefully choose his words.  “I’m not sure what traditions or cultures are out here, let alone fully in the wasteland these days, but back in my time something like this meant the person had...ummm...passed away.  It’s a memorial of sorts.”

“Buncha shit,” Travis snorted and smacked the door making Riley quirk an eyebrow.  However, Travis didn’t explain his remark.  In the back of his mind he knew all the years of torture his parents must have went through thinking he was dead was his own fault.  He knew all he had to do was ask Mister House for help or even simply get on his motorcycle drive to Hackberry, but fear of rejection always held him back.  Regardless of his memories being lost or not, the last thing he wanted to do was try to connect to where he might not be welcome or wanted.

Riley sighed heavily and felt his shoulders slump seeing that Travis’ dour mood was starting to return.  He hated seeing him like this and hoped that Travis would relax and cheer up or, even better, find a forgotten memory soon.  There was nothing he could say or do at this moment to help as this was something Travis had to overcome on his own.  Taking a quick look around, Riley spotted a few frames on the wall near the door.  Hoping to break the tension and distract Travis from the flowers, Riley offered, “Check out these photos, Travis.  Do any of these spark anything for you?” 

Without even turning to look at the pictures, Travis replied with disinterest, “Ain’t got the foggiest.”

The response was almost what Riley anticipated, but he still tried.  “Your folks seem to really like photographs.  Maybe during this reunion they can add some new pictures to their collection.  I’m also willing to bet they’d love to see those pictures you have back in the Lucky 38 showcasing your adventures through the years.  I’m sure they’d especially love the ones of you performing on stage at the Tops.  I know those are my personal favorites.”

“Maybe.”  Travis stared intently at the dried flowers on his door and twitched his moustache in annoyance.  He reached to remove them as he wasn’t “dead” anymore, but immediately changed his mind.  Although this was his room and he could probably do whatever he wished, Travis felt the removal of the flowers should be decided by his folks.  This may be his home, but being absent for so many years he felt he had to earn his place again.  Taking a deep breath and twisting the knob, Travis exclaimed, “Here goes nothing!”

The door opened with a soft whine to an average sized room.  The room was dim, but the afternoon sun managed to peek through the sides and small holes of a worn, red drape covering the single window.  Travis slowly made his way to it across the wooden floor which gave the occasional creek under his boot heels.  Leaning over a desk and carefully taking the drape, he pushed it aside allowing the sunlight to enter.  He blinked his eyes from the sudden brightness and once adjusted, Travis saw that the room faced a large corral.  He frowned seeing it was empty and briefly wondered where all the livestock could be.  Furrowing his brow, he continued to gaze at the vast property that made up the ranch while an odd sensation of longing slowly spread through him.  He wasn’t sure if it was his broken brain trying to connect back to his forgotten past or something else.  Either way, he felt an unfamiliar calm and the ends of his moustache slowly lifted into a wistful smile.

On the right past the corral, he spotted his father and two men out in the distance rolling what appeared to be wooden barrels towards the barn.  All three men seemed to be laboring hard over their work indicating that whatever was inside of the barrels was very heavy.  Travis wondered if it was alcohol of some sort in the barrels and that momentary distraction suddenly pulled him out of the previous longing.  He returned back to the present with a disappointed sigh.  I sure could use a drink about now.

Seeing Travis had come out of his momentary fog, Riley smiled and gestured towards the small, makeshift bookcase he was standing in front of.  An assortment of different Nuka Cola, Sunset Sarsaparilla, and other types of bottles were arranged neatly on it.  Aside from a light covering of dust, they were all in decent condition.  “Look, Travis, it seems like you were a collector of bottles like you are now,” Riley commented, hoping that finding a small connection like this would help trigger something for his man’s destroyed memories.

Travis stepped to Riley’s side and looked over the bottles with mild interest.  “Dang, some of these I don’t even have back in Vegas.  Pretty cool.”  

Unfortunately, the spark Travis seemed to have got from seeing the bottle collection was temporary and it vanished as quickly as it came.  He flicked his fingers against a glowing Nuka Cola Quantum before turning away and drifting towards the center of the room.  Hooking his thumbs in the front pockets of his jeans, Travis slowly turned in a full circle as if trying to take in everything all at once in hopes he would find something familiar to him.  However, as he expected, he recognized absolutely nothing.  Still, he was slightly determined to find something and figured the best place to start would be his bed.  After all, there’s nothing more personal than that little bit of space.

The neatly made, full sized bed was in the corner against the wall.  It had faded, red patterned sheets and a folded patchwork quilt rested at the foot.  A rag doll of an animal that seemed to resemble a pre-war bison was laying against the pillows.  Over the headboard hung a dreamcatcher made from dried vines and adorned with feathers and colorful beads.  Next to the bed was a nightstand with an oil lamp, harmonica, a book about Native Americans that has seen better days, and a small frame with a photo inside of a teenage Travis and his father holding up two large fish, obviously proud of their catches. 

Travis sat on the bed, snatched up the frame and stared at the photo, his brow furrowed in concentration.  “Reckon we ate good that night,” he said glumly as nothing in the photograph triggered any bit of memory.  As he set the frame back on the nightstand, his eyes caught sight of a guitar wedged between the bed and the wall.  Reaching over the bed, Travis grabbed hold of the instrument’s neck and freed it.  He held it against him and gave a few strums, wincing at how out of tune it was.  “Shit, gonna have to fix that later if we stick around,” he mumbled more to himself than anything.     

Setting the guitar against the nightstand, Travis stood and chose the desk that was directly in front of the window as his next focal point.  The desk was made of wood and both it and its chair had seen better days.  The desk was far from organized and it made Riley smirk seeing that not much has changed with Travis in that aspect.  The desks back at the Lucky 38 were neat for the most part, but every now and then they could be found with stacks of papers and jalapeno stems scattered about.  Here, instead of papers and peppers, was a thick homemade journal open to a random page and a tipped over soup can with its contents of pencils strewn about.   

Reaching for the chair, Travis noticed there was a gun belt and holster draped over it, but no gun.  Taking a quick look around he found the pistol in question, half-buried under the papers on the desk.  He carefully brushed them aside to discover a .375 revolver and gun cleaning kit.  Disinterested, Travis placed the papers back over the gun then turned his attention to a crude wood carving of a yao guai.  Arching a curious eyebrow, he examined it with mild interest noticing the few chips and gouges in the wood betraying the creator’s inexperience.  “Wonder if I made these?  I mean, it sorta looks like my carving style, but ain’t as good...kinda rough and not too detailed.”

“It’s still very nice and maybe they have been recently learning how to carve.  Certainly much better than anything I could ever do.”  Riley took the yao guai from Travis and looked it over for any identification of the artist like initials or a date.  “Maybe whoever made this was your inspiration of sorts for you to do your own creations?”

Travis took the figure from Riley’s outstretched hand while his shoulders suddenly slumped.  “I reckon,” he responded softly.  He set the figure down and noticed the initials TB that were carved deeply into the wood of the desktop.  He smiled wistfully and traced over the letters with his finger.  “I mean I wish I could remember at least one damn thing around here.  Bad enough my folks are off the list, but if I could find only one thing I can remember growing up in this place…just one...”

“I understand, but the day is still young.  Don’t be discouraged.  Something might crop up when you least expect it and if not, that’s ok too,” Riley said gently while reaching for the worn book on the nightstand and carefully flipping through its pages.   

“I reckon,” Travis repeated and slowly made his way to the closet on the opposite side of the room.  He stood in front of the door and looked over the variety of cowboy pictures that were tacked all over it.  The pictures were from pre-war magazines or books and showcased cowboys in all sorts of situations and scenes either in shootouts, riding the range, or participating in a rodeo.  Some were even from advertisements promoting clothing and farming equipment.  However, the vast majority of cutouts were of shirtless cowboys striking seductive, sultry poses.  Travis smirked, “Man, if my folks don’t know I’m a confirmed bachelor, they’re really clueless.”  

Riley looked up and saw the pictures Travis was directing the comment about.  “Not necessarily. Some people can be very well aware of that fact, just...might not like to acknowledge it, unfortunately.”

Travis frowned and rolled his eyes.  “Well, gee, that’s encouraging.”

“I’m sorry.  I didn’t…”

“Don’t worry about it, Riles.  I get what ‘cha mean.”  Travis did his best to flash his partner a smile then opened the closet door.  As expected it was filled with a variety of plaid and solid colored shirts as well as plenty of jeans.  Resting on the floor were a few pairs of worn and dusty cowboy boots as well as random leather gloves and a few coiled ropes.  Travis pulled out a blue shirt and placed it against himself as if checking the size before returning it.  He continued to sift through the clothes, but like everything else, nothing seemed familiar to him.  Besides the bed, clothing would be the most intimate connection a person might have with something, but none of the articles sparked any recollection.  This is getting ridiculous, he glumly thought while shutting the door with a frustrated sigh.

Glancing around the room to see if there was anything he might have overlooked, Travis spotted a shelf he hasn’t yet examined.  It was adorned with an assortment of neatly arranged trinkets, but what really caught his attention was hanging above it.  The item in question was a long spear made out of a tree branch.  It was adorned with feathers and beads and its pointed rock tip was attached with leather straps and a strip of gray fur.  He stared at it for long moments wondering what the story was behind it.  He saw plenty of spears used by Tribals in parts of Utah and this one looked similar to them.  It got him thinking if he was truly a descendant of Tribals or even pre-war Native Americans.  He had his suspicions and hopes, but nothing was ever validated.   

Not wanting to strain his frazzled brain on thoughts about his heritage until he could speak to his parents about it, Travis focused on the items on the shelf instead.  Aside from random things such as a few nice rocks and a large pine cone, there was also a carving of a coyote and a two mason jars filled with bottle caps and marbles respectively.  However, a framed photo of a teenage Travis holding a baby animal of some kind caught and held his attention.  He stared intently at the picture for a long time, more intrigued as to what kind of creature he had rather than if the picture sparked any sort of memory or not.  The animal looked similar to the horses he’s seen in pre-war books and magazines or even the toy, Giddyup Buttercup, except this was a real being.

Noticing Travis had found something of apparent interest, Riley looked up from the book.  He could see the concentration on his partner’s face and it made him fidget in hopes that maybe Travis finally recognized something.  “What has your intense attention, babe?” Riley asked while returning the book to the nightstand then joining Travis at the shelf.

Travis gave him a side glance while nodding towards the photo.  “Check it out.  What kind of critter is that?  I mean, it looks like a pre-war...ummm….horse.  At first I thought it was one of those Buttercup toys, but this looks like the real deal.”

When Riley saw the animal in question he couldn’t believe his eyes.  He adjusted his glasses and peered closer for a better look at the photo in disbelief.  “I’ll be damned.  If I didn’t know any better I’d swear that is a horse, but from what I’ve gathered they’re long gone.  Well, at least in Boston anyway.  Travis, think back during your time at the Big Circle for that brahmin drive.  Do you remember anything like this?  I mean, you can’t exactly herd cattle on foot...at least I wouldn’t think it’d be too practical.  You and the other cowboys had to have a mount of some sort.”  Riley felt excitement rising inside of him over the possibility of horses in the Mojave. 

Sadly shaking his head no, Travis picked up a carving that was resting against the picture frame. This one resembled the animal in the photograph, but apparently as an adult.  Travis stared at it for long moments while tracing over it with his finger, admiring the craftsmanship and details.   “The few random things I remember about Big Circle, these critters ain’t one of them,” he said sorrowfully.  Suddenly furrowing his brow in frustration, Travis walked back to the bed and dropped heavily on it, still clutching the wooden horse.  He rubbed his face with a groan before resting his elbows on his knees.   Shifting his gaze up to his partner, Travis twitched his moustache and gave a weak laugh while shaking the carving.  “Ya know, had this been any ole room I would be fascinated by all of this stuff...especially the animal in the photo.  But knowing this is all my stuff and not having any recollection of it...well...it’s...it’s kinda surreal.  Does that even make sense?”

Taking a seat at Travis’ side, Riley put his arm around his shoulders and pressed an affectionate kiss on his cheek.  “Yes, it does, babe.”

“At least I got some cool stuff,”  Travis weakly laughed, leaned against Riley and closed his tired eyes.  “All this stuff and especially the photos don’t mean anything to me.  Not a damn thing.  It’s so weird seeing me doing shit in pictures, but have no memories of it.  Ain’t just surreal, it’s downright frustrating.” “Well, like I said, maybe something random will crop up for you when you least expect it.  Don’t try to force it.” Riley hoped he sounded encouraging, but deep down he knew he really couldn’t offer much.  This was all something Travis had to figure out and discover on his own.

Travis glumly nodded against him and felt Riley press a kiss on top of his head.  Pulling back, Travis nuzzled against his neck, placing a few kisses on the freckled skin.  “Thanks, Riles.  This all feels so hopeless, but I’ll try and not give up.”  

Riley heard the tiredness and frustration in his partner’s voice and his heart sank.  Had they been anyplace else but here, he would have laid back on the bed pulling Travis against him and would do his best to dole out comfort with his hands and mouth.  However, that was not an option at this point and time and instead he put his fingers under the whiskered chin of Travis and tilted his face towards him.  “That’s all you can do.  Like I’ve said earlier, you aren’t facing this alone,”  Riley said gently then pressed his lips against his partner’s.  “You have my full support in all of this and I’ll respect and honor any decision you make on how to keep moving forward here.” 

“Dang, I love you so much,” Travis smiled gratefully and returned the kiss while wrapping his arms tightly around him.  “I really cain’t wait to get outta here later and show you just how much.”  

Riley playfully nudged him and chuckled.  “There will be plenty of time for that.  I only hope there’ll be a nice, clean place in town for us to stay.” “If not, we got the camping gear.  That’s good enough for me anyways, you know that.”  Travis snickered seeing Riley flinch over the mention of camping.  “You know you love it!”

“If I wanted to get hot and sweaty at night, I’d much prefer to do it in our bedroom with you back at the Lucky 38,” Riley scoffed earning a frisky nip on his neck from his partner.  “Oh, you’re so lucky we’re not somewhere more private or I’d have to have you put your mouth to better use than that.”

Travis’ moustache lifted to a grin and Riley noticed a small spark of mischief in his crystal blue eyes.  Even though he knew Travis was caught up in the moment and the emotions were probably fleeting right now, it was still good seeing him in better spirits than the frustrated, somber mess he’s been since they arrived at the ranch.

As Riley bowed his head down to press a gentle kiss on Travis’ lips, a sharp knock at the door caused both men to jump and instantly scoot away from each other on opposite ends of the bed.  Riley found himself blushing fiercely from almost being caught and he immediately turned away, grabbing for the Native American book as a distraction.  

Although not as embarrassed, Travis still felt awkward and he cleared his throat to try and compose himself.  Grabbing the wood carving, Travis glanced at Riley to make sure he was ready before calling out, “C-come in!”

The door opened and a smiling Mrs. Blackfox stepped in.  “Dinner’s about up.  It’s your favorite, fried prairie fowl and maize,” she directed at Travis while her eyes caught the wood carving he was clutching.  “That right there…” she began, but stopped as she felt a sudden wash of emotions going through her.  “Do...do you remember that at all?” Tracy reached for the carving and held it lovingly while her finger traced over the animal’s ears and snout.  Travis shook his head no making his mother sigh softly.  “This was the last thing you did the night before you left for that New Vegas delivery.  You were so proud of this and it was the best one you made since you began learning the craft.”  She looked around the room and gave a nod to nowhere in general.  “All the figures in here and the few that are out around the house were done by you.  Each one you tried harder and harder to perfect, but this one...this was a true labor of love.”  Sighing, she handed the figure back to Travis and mustered up a supportive smile.  “Reckon that’s a story for later.  Now then, come and eat before your father inhales everything.” 

Travis sighed as he watched her go then dropped his gaze downwards to the carving.  He stared at it for long minutes, suddenly feeling rather sentimental over what his mother said about it being the last thing he did before his fateful journey to New Vegas.  He bit his lower lip as he felt tears wanting to build up in his eyes.  Furrowing his brow, Travis set the figure on the nightstand and snorted.  “Let’s make tracks...I’m gonna pass out from starvation.”

to be continued...

#travis blackfox #courier six #riley white #sole survivor #fallout new vegas #fallout 4 #writings

[piracytheorist]

My Notes on Rewatching “Call Girl”

I amuse myself by thinking that watching this film is an important rite of passage for anyone who’s an all-in Colin fan, as in, one who’ll watch anything and everything he’s in, no matter the content, theme or quality.

I actually used to think that this was a pretty bad movie... but, as you might have seen from my last few posts, I recently realized this isn’t the case. Sure, it is not your average short film, but breaking it down you realize it’s doing most things right from a filmmaking point. I mean, you don’t have to love it, but it does a great job overall.

And I mean, it’s got Colin in it. How bad can it be? ;)

Beware of spoilers, if you haven’t seen the film. And if you do wanna see it, here it is :D

~

I'm still surprised that... this is it. That's Colin freaking O'Donoghue right there. The pirate. The cowboy. The astronaut. The man the myth the legend.

Ah, early 00's.

Wait. Ok let's make a breakdown of the decoration here. There's: 1) a heart anatomy poster 2) a frame with an undiscernible picture 3) IS THAT AN ASTRONAUT FIGURE? dun_dun_dun.mp3 4) a small penguin (?) plushie with a nautical (?) hat on it 5) are those... mantis figurines stuck on the sides of the screen????

Oooooh boy you sure have some very specific decorations on your desk.

The music stops abruptly when Brendan's mother calls out to him to not close the door because she wants to see him studying. That's interesting. Also how old is Brennan supposed to be? Is he supposed to be in high school, or an adult in college? What was the age of consent in Ireland in 2003?

This vibe, though. White perfect shirt and dark vest...

The look of "I'm gonna look at hot girls with my bedroom's door open while my parents argue across the hall" ALSO YES THAT'S A MANTIS

This just makes me laugh so much. Can you imagine sweet innocent (mostly) virgin Brendan typing it and his heartbeat skyrocketing?

Seriously though, that "Welcome back Brendan" thing. With one small addition you add a whole point in his backstory about him trying to deal with his urges.

Jesus I have forgotten so much. As soon as Brendan hears his mother coming, he immediately clicks "Dump her" on the "Virtual Babe" and it just... explodes. 

With a full low-quality boom sound effect to boot. Like seriously if you were trying to hide why the f have your speakers on. You had one job, Brendan.

A rare glimpse into Brendan's room, and I'm trying to understand what the pattern on his sheets are. Maybe I'm just confused by the astronaut figurine, but it looks... vaguely... about space? Like, if you squint, the circular thing on the top left looks like Saturn's rings. No?

Also, Brendan's mom being obsessed with disinfection. That was 2003.

"I don't want filth getting into my house while I'm gone." And two hours later, her son has sex on her bed.

Oh wait, his father says "The only contact [Brendan] has with the outside world is through that bloody computer of his," in a... weird, tone? Like he's trying to placate the mother's fears of any rave party suddenly taking place in the house, but also with his tone (and maybe by using the word "bloody"? idk I'm no native speaker but it piques my interest) it doesn't seem like he's very... understanding and/or supportive of his probably very shy and/or socially awkward son.

Mom: That reminds me, block off the internet, will you? Dad: *scoffs* Why not lock him in a tower while you're at it?

He is sassy though!

Lookit him though! So sad he won't be able to create and look at Virtual BabesTM while his parents are gone.

The parent's accents strike me more towards a British one and I got confused for a bit, but then I remembered that we see Brendan use euros later, lol.

*hatching the plan to search in his father's briefcase for any cards for escort services*

This is where I started feeling that this movie is better than I’d remembered. Like, it does the job of delivering Brendan's guilt over "tresspassing" into his parents room and disobeying his mother, as well as his fear of being discovered, even though he watched his parents drive away, so he'd hear the car if they came back, in a pretty well-done and clear way.

I love how he immediately knows exactly where to look. His father's such an organized fella. Also those pills that he seems to not need immediately (thus leaving them behind for the weekend) are... something. They're put there for a reason and I wonder what that could have been.

There's not even a moment of hesitation, once he opens the briefcase. He doesn't put the card back in, he only looks briefly at his parents' photo but then he's like "Yeah. I'm doing it."

That smile as he sees the card though, lol. 

Casual reminder to have safe sex, lads.

And then the phone operator is like, full business mode. Brendan stutters for one (1) second and she's immediately like, "You want a girl?" She's like, I've had tons of people like you, lad, can't waste my time waiting until you find the courage to ask. You wanna hire or not?

OH MY GOD I JUST REALIZED The operator asks for the address, Brendan gives it, then asks how much does it cost. Then the operator says "Same as usual." BRUH she knew the address from how often his father used the service!

And then poor Brendan checks his savings and his "Uh..." says it all about how he wishes he could hire someone for longer than an hour. Bro, calm down. It's your first time.

And then he's like, waiting all anxiously by the door. I've never hired an escort service but I feel ya dude.

And of course Barbara the nosy neighbor, here to bring us to the edge of our seats, lol.

Look at how organized their fridge is. Why is that chick suddenly so eager to cook something for him? There looks to be so much food already prepared in there.

And dude. This movie has set-ups. Barbara tries to open a cupboard to like pick up ingredients to cook something, and Brendan, with a sudden "No!" rushes in and closes it. It only makes sense later, when we see that that's where he hid the money for the call girl.

Yikes she booped his nose as she left... what is he, ten? I mean even if he's supposed to be a teen here it's still... like... he's not a little boy to fucking boop his nose. No wonder her mother seems to trust her with taking care of him, with how both treat him like he's a child.

Hi there! You're gonna die :D

Shit I just noticed the portrait on the wall. Is that a... is that a fucking ruff collar his mother is wearing???? (btw I had to search to find that term with "shakespeare collar" XD)

I mean... you can't help falling for it. At first you're like, she seems too... simple for a call girl. But then you're like, who else could it be who also knows his name?

I wonder what would've happened if she hadn't asked to use the bathroom, which prompted her to look at his parents' bedroom and him to... initiate contact. Would he have mustered the courage to actually ask her about it or would he have been so flustered until she'd say something? What would she say? "You know, your mother said you would [something]" and he would FREAK THE FUCK OUT because how does his mother know? Would they have stayed there in awkward silence long enough for his mother to call, him to pick up and find out what she was really there for?

I mean, look at that! I'm speculacting the "what-ifs"! Good fucking movie!

That look, though. You suddenly go from "Aw you cute" to "WTF I know you're thirsty for it but that's... creepy"

Look at that smile, though! She is pretty nosy!

I just... I love everything about this. The way she's smiling at nosing in in her boss' bedroom. Him creeping behind her like the future killer that he is, actually scaring her. The way he says "This is my mother's room," so shy and collected. The fucking music, too. How it slowly builds up from the moment she spots the bedroom and it starts developing when Brendan kisses her.

And that kiss. So chaste and shy and yet she's like, wow yeah let's have sex now.

"You're not as shy as you look." LOL

For the pre-sex scene I just wanna link y'all to @killian-whump 's post about it, since it says it all.

Also dude the voicemail is set up from that moment too, but we've yet to hear what it includes, aside from his mother being bossy about the smallest things. "I hope you haven't gone back to bed." IF ONLY YOU KNEW. Not only what bed he's gone to, but also what he's doing on said bed.

"You don't waste much time, do you?" Lol if only you knew. And again his first response is to apologize if he did anything wrong.

And you know what? Plot twists are a hell of a lot of fun and well made when they make you go back and see things with the new perspective. Like, how chill and simple she was, why she said the last line I mentioned, the newly-known reasons why she said it was kinky to have sex in his mother's bedroom... *slams hand on table* That's a great way to do a plot twist! A fucking plus!

Like seriously, this convo: B: Have you met my father? M: No, but a lot of the other girls have though.

Pre-plot twist viewer: Wow whAT how do you say it like that Post-plot twist viewer: Yeah makes sense

M: I think he gets sympathy from them, like, you know, cause his wife's such an old witch... *realizes* Oh, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have said that! *more failed excuses and then THAT face*

And like, that's a bit inappropriate in any case but pre-plot twist you're like WTAF. And then you're like eh makes sense for frustrated employees to pity their bitchy boss' seemingly calm husband...

And there's that set-up from before. Job well done, film.

And then their argument about the money. Brendan being confused about the amount, Mandy saying she'll come back and speak to his mother about it...

Seriously though what if he'd found out the voicemail after he'd had sex and before the "confrontation"? Would he like, have sent her on her merry way with all the money and then had more sex with the actual call girl?

And then his instinct, to try and make sure his mother won't find out, is to fucking threaten the woman with a knife. Wow, a little too much, Brendan. And then his first instinct, when they're fighting, is to search and grab the knife and fucking stab her. Lbr though that's just baby Colin finding his call for playing messed-up characters.

Also how did she die so quickly. Guess I found one weakness in the plot XD

And now you're like Jesus he just murdered her but when Barbara comes a-knocking and he looks at her and exasperatedly calls her name, you're like... same, bro.

And the stupid bastard didn't even wash the blood off his arm. Like seriously, Brendan, either do a murder correctly or don't do it at all. At least you can't say he wasn't dedicated, bro sliced his own arm open. *pats head* you'll learn, my little murderous bean, you'll learn.

Brendan: I was doing the dishes. Barbara: Did your parents leave them for you to do? They must have left in a rush this morning.

Yes, Barbara, he can do the dishes, he's in an undetermined age between late teens and-

Barbara: They didn't even make their bed.

Wtf you nosy bitch.

See what I'm saying? Full character development for a character with like, two minutes of screentime.

And then the voicemail drops like an anvil. My first thought when his mother said that Mandy is nothing but trouble I was like "Yo look who's talking" but then I thought that... yeah she did creep in her boss' bedroom, actually had sex with her son in it, then pretty much talked dirt to him about her... I mean she definitely didn't deserve to die, but maybe his mother was a good judge of character for one (1) moment.

And then Lorraine appears.

And Brendan's like "Now I have money for like, three hours with her. Maybe I'll even convince her to help me hide the body too."

“OR MAYBE I’LL JUST KILL HER TOO.”

In conlusion, yup, I’m pretty glad I spent a good hour and a bit watching, analyzing, writing this review and screencapping this film. 10/10 would rewatch and review again.

#Colin O'Donoghue #/ #// #/// #//// #Call Girl

[askalt2d]

While 2D is out meeting with Jamie, Stuart takes the opportunity to make them a special dessert. 2D comes home to the delightful smell of melted chocolate and the equally delightful sight of Stuart in a yellow apron, Parker in one arm and a spatula in the other.

“–somethin’ yummy for Papa, yes we are!” Stuart is in the middle of saying, giving Parker a playful little bounce. She giggles.

“Am I interruptin’?” 2D says with a grin, hanging up his coat.

Stuart whips around. His cheeks go a little bit red. “B-bluebird! You’re earlier than you said.”

“Yep. ‘E just wanted to talk about plannin’ for the Fing.” 2D kisses his husband’s cheek, then Parker’s. “‘Avin’ fun, bluebell?”

“Boo.” She wiggles happily.

2D grins. “I can take ‘er while ya finish your mystery surprise, love.”

“Not much of a mystery now. Or a surprise.” Stuart hands Parker over, ruffling her hair.

“I’ll act surprised anyway!”

Stuart laughs– then lets out a curse as a fleck of hot melted chocolate hits him in the cheek.

2D and Parker spend the time playing in the living room, with Parker wheeling her toy cars around while 2D provides exuberant sound effects. “Ker-boom! Scrrrrrch! Oh, no!” He nuzzles up against her, kissing her head. “Oh, no, bluebell, the lorry! Where’s it gone?”

Immediately, Parker picks up a stuffed horse. “Lo!”

“...yeah! There it is, love! Ya found it!”

She crows happily, and promptly throws the horse at her papa’s face.

It isn’t long before supper is ready, but Stuart is reluctant to interrupt his family. He leans against the wall, watching with a smile on his face as 2D enthuses with Parker over the singing light-up octopus she’d grabbed.

“Lookit the colours, sweetpea...ain’t it pretty?”

“Boo,” she agrees.

“‘At’s right, it’s blue!” It’s purple, but she’s close enough. He presses another button on the octopus. “This one’s green, can ya say green?”

“Geen!”

“That’s right!” 2D rewards her with a flurry of kisses. “Clever Parker! My clever, clever girl...”

She laughs, then looks up at Stuart. Seeing the plate in his hands, she flaps her arms excitedly. “Geh! Geh– geh...” Frustrated with trying to articulate her words, she pinches her fingers together and lifts them to her mouth, signing Food?

Yes, food, Stuart signs back. “Supper time!” he adds aloud. “We ready to eat?”

“I’ll ‘elp set the table!” 2D grins. “Parker, ya wanna go up?”

“Boo,” Parker says, reaching for him.

2D positions her safely in her high chair, then sets the table as Stuart gets ready to serve dinner– leftover salmon and mashed potatoes for the adults, with carrots, broccoli, and chicken nuggets for Parker.

“So, how’re things goin’ on the Thing?” Stuart asks while cutting Parker’s food.

“Hm–“ 2D swallows. “Good. Slow. Jamie just wanted me in for consultin’...no real progress yet, I fink. ‘E won’t tell me.”

Stuart huffs out a laugh. “What else is new, right?”

“Yeh.” 2D grins. “I’m excited, though.”

“Me too.” He coaxes Parker to take a bite of her chicken. “He ask about Parker?”

“Yeh! I told ‘im she’s doin’ good–“

“No, for the Thing.”

2D shakes his head. “Not yet.” He toys with his fork. “I dunno how I feel about her bein’ a part of sumfin’ like this...it’s gonna be a lot anyway, growin’ up wif two celebrity dads. I don’t wanna exploit her, or– or make her a part of sumfin’ she’s too little to say she don’t wanna be a part of.”

Stuart nods, relieved. “That’s what I was thinkin’, too. I’m glad you feel the same.”

“When she’s old enough, we’ll ask. But for now, no videos ‘cept for home videos.” 2D tilts his head. “Good plan?”

“Great plan.”

“Feh,” Parker adds, and pounds a tiny fist into her mashed carrots.

After dinner is finished and the plates are clean, and after a yawning Parker has been sung to and put to bed, 2D selects a film to watch while Stuart gets their dessert ready.

“Evil Dead?” he calls.

“I feel like we just saw it...”

“Wot about Army of Darkness, then?”

“Yeah, I could do that. Bruce Campbell’s well fit in that one, anyway.”

“Ha, ha, ha.” 2D knows he’s joking, but he still spares a somewhat venomous glance at the shirtless man on the DVD cover.

“Okay, it’s ready!” Stuart pokes his head out of the kitchen door. “Close your eyes, okay?”

Smiling at how cute Stuart sounds when he’s excited, 2D obediently closes his eyes. “Okay...”

Stuart sets a plate down in front of him, heaped with chocolate-covered strawberries and with two glasses of wine on the side. “Ta-da!”

He knew it was coming, but it still melts his heart. “Aw, Stu, they’re lovely!” 2D leans up and kisses him sweetly.

Stuart smells of chocolate, and his lips are warm. 2D sighs happily, arms winding up his back so he can tangle his fingers in his husband’s hair. He laps playfully at his lips, and Stuart parts them with a low hum. Their tongues meet, sending tingles down 2D’s spine. It’s nearly the most wonderful dessert he could ask for. Nearly.

“Wanna taste?” Stuart murmurs when they part.

“God, yes,” 2D says, smiling mischievously, and lowers his hands to Stuart’s belt.

“Bluebird, I worked hard on these...” Stuart doesn’t stop him.

“I could make a pun about sumfin’ bein’ hard,” 2D murmurs, smirking against his husband’s neck, “but I’ll be nice.”

“Maybe I want you to be naughty.”

“Hmm, then maybe I–“

They’re interrupted by a little distressed noise from Parker’s room.

Sighing, Stuart untangles himself. “Sounds like Miss Parker requires assistance.” He gets up from the sofa and adjusts himself, then points to the strawberries. “Don’t touch those until I get back, okay? I wanna see your face when you first taste them.”

“Got it.” 2D nods.

Stuart leaves the room, and after a moment, the sound of him singing a lullaby to Parker drifts from the nursery. 2D immediately crams three strawberries into his mouth. They’re so tasty that he almost regrets not waiting for Stuart to come back.

Sooner than expected, he hears the door to Parker’s room close again. 2D hurriedly swallows.

“She just wanted another song, so I– did you eat one of the strawberries?”

2D shakes his head, eyes wide with feigned innocence. “No!”

Trying not to smile, Stuart sits on the sofa next to him. “Then why’s there chocolate on your lips, bluebird?”

“Er–“ 2D swallows. “It’s not chocolate! It’s, er...it’s the w-wine.”

“Why’s it brown, then?”

“...must not be good wine!” Caught up in the silliness of his obvious lie, he starts to laugh.

Stuart pounces, pinning him to the sofa, hands gripping his wrists on either side of his head. 2D doesn’t stop laughing, the sound bright and joyful. Overcome with affection for the ridiculous, perfect man beneath him, Stuart kisses his husband hard, tasting the stolen sweet.

“Well,” he says finally, punctuating every other word with a kiss, “sounds like I– ought to punish– such a naughty– little thief.”

2D’s eyes sparkle. “Oh, really? Then–“

He doesn’t have a chance to finish his sentence.

They end up leaving the strawberries for another night, indulging instead in something far sweeter.

#drabble #((rated pg-13))

[wordshakerofgallifrey]

for @elozable , @mirkwoodsguardian , and @radioactivepigeons ... careful, y’all, or I’ll start to think you like my writing or something, and then I’ll get a big head ;) <3

A hand gripping his shoulder suddenly woke Jack up. 

Bolting upright, he resisted his deep, innate instinct to throw a punch. Instead, he tried to clear his fuzzy head. “Kath?”

“Jack, Jack, something---ohhhh---something’s wrong, something’s really wrong.”

His wife’s panicked voice shook the last of the sleepiness from his mind, and Jack was wide awake. “What is it, babe, what’s--what’s happenin’?”

He managed to twist around to turn on a lamp. Katherine had managed to rip the covers off her by the time he turned around, only to see blood soaked into their sheets.

Jack scrunched his eyebrows. “Nothin’ that hasn’t happened before, we’ll just change the sheets---oh shit.” His eyes went wide. “You’re pregnant.”

“No. Shit.” Katherine said through gritted teeth, holding her stomach. 

“Okay, okay, okay. Shit. We gotta---” Jack frantically stood up, rounding the bed to her side. “---Hospital. Can ya stand? We’ll get... We’ll get Pete, an’ we’ll take ya to the hospital, an’---”

“Jack.” Her voice stopped him. His six-and-a-half month pregnant wife looked more scared than he had ever seen her. “It’s too early, this---ah---this can’t be good, that’s too much blood for it to be anything but bad.” Katherine shook her head, eyes welling up.

“No, no, no, shhh, darlin’.” Jack cupped her face, trying to steady himself. He was scared, too, it was a lot of blood, but his wife didn’t need him freaking out now. “He ain’t comin’ out yet, not ‘til he’s s’posed to. We just gotta get’cha ta the hospital just ta make sure, okay?”

Katherine nodded, swallowing hard, even as tears spilled over. “Okay. Okay. Get Pete. I--I can make it to the door.”

“Ya sure?” She nodded again, and he kissed her forehead, wiping away her tears. “Okay. We’ll be okay.”

***

“Mama! I sit wit’ you?”

Jack scooped up Pete before he could climb up on the couch, looking at Katherine, who was lying on her side, in question. She nodded, looking a little wistful. She’d been on bed rest for the last month, unable to travel much further than the distance between their room and the couch without causing more bleeding. It was killing her, not being able to be as active as she wanted, go to work, or play with their son.

“Okay, buddy, but we gotta be gentle wit’ Mama, okay? Can ya be gentle?” Pete nodded enthusiastically, and Jack set him on the couch, near Katherine’s hip. She reached out a hand out to comb her fingers through Pete’s short hair, as Jack sat on the floor in front of the couch.

Pete leaned on Katherine. “Mama okay?”

“Mama’s okay, baby,” she reassured him. “Mama just has to rest a lot because of the baby.”

“Me?” Pete’s brow wrinkled in confusion, and Katherine laughed.

“No, the baby in Mama’s tummy. He’s making me tired, so I have to rest.” 

Pete reached out a tentative finger to poke her stomach. “Dis baby?”

“Yeah,” Jack said. “That’s ya lil’ brother.”

Frowning, Pete poked Katherine’s stomach again. “Stop makin’ Mama tired. I wanna play wit’ Mama.”

Katherine laughed. “Don’t worry, buddy. Mama’ll be able to play soon. But for now, can you rest with me?”

Pete yawned, face scrunching as he did, and he nodded. Stretching out, he managed to curl himself around her bump, pillowing his head on her chest. Within a minute, he was already asleep.

Jack shook his head. “Think Number Two will be this easy?” he asked, pulling a blanket over Kath and Pete.

“With the trouble he’s given me so far?” Katherine shook her head. “Who knows?”

***

“Okay, Dad, time to cut the umbilical cord.”

Jack couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief. The last two and a half months had been rough, right up to this moment. Corey---they’d finally picked a name last month---had decided to make things even tougher on Mom and Dad, trying to wedge his shoulder out before his head.

But he was out now, and Jack accepted the scissors from the nurse, cutting the cord with a much steadier hand than he had with Pete, and Corey was whisked away to be cleaned up. 

Jack moved back to stand next to Katherine in the bed, lacing their fingers together and kissing the back of her hand. She sighed, rolling her head tiredly towards him. 

“Well,” she sighed again. “That was... an adventure.”

He laughed, squeezing her hand. “Ya did great, baby.”

“I know.”

Jack laughed again, pressing a kiss to her head. 

“Alright, here he is, Dad,” one of the nurses said, bringing Corey back, swaddled in a blanket. 

Taking his son---second son---in his arms, Jack couldn’t help put marvel at this little boy who’d made their lives difficult before he even entered the world.

When he married Katherine, he didn’t think he’d ever love anyone like he loved  her. Then they had Pete, and he thought the same. 

Now, holding Corey, Jack couldn’t believe his heart was capable of feeling so full. 

He turned to allow Katherine to hold their son, just in time to see her curl in on herself, grimacing. “Kath? What--?”

“She’s losing a lot of blood!” the doctor said suddenly, and, in an instant, the room was bustling with activity. “Get her to an OR, prep a unit of whole blood!”

Before Jack could ask what was happening, the sides of her bed were pushed down, Katherine was transferred to a gurney and wheeled out of the room, leaving Jack holding Corey, completely stunned. 

***

A couple hours later, Jack had been updated on what happened to Katherine--- “It happens, sometimes, especially on a second or third child. She’ll be fine, we just have to get the bleeding stopped.”---and was sitting in a chair next to her bed, waiting for her to wake up. 

Corey’d been taken to the nursery to be fed and to sleep for a bit, and Jack was already missing him. If nothing else, there’d be someone else in the room, awake. 

It was too late to call anyone now, even though they all insisted that he wake him up when Corey came, but it felt wrong to have anyone come see Corey when Kath hadn’t even met him.

He’d called Davey and Chaya earlier, just after Kath went in to surgery, to check on Pete, who was ecstatic that his little brother was finally here and couldn’t wait to meet him the next morning. 

The door clicking open broke him out of his thoughts, and Jack looked up to see a nurse holding Corey. “Mr. Kelly? Would you like to see your son?”

He nodded, holding his arms out for his son, not able to trust his voice right now. 

She set Corey in his outstretched arms, smiling a little as she closed the door behind her. 

Corey blinked up at him. “Look at’chu,” Jack said. “I swear’s ya eyes’re already darker, kid. Ya gonna have Mama’s eyes? Pete does. An’ Mama’s eyes are the prettiest I’ve ever seen, so’s I’m okay if both ya boys get ‘em.”

Unimpressed, Corey stretched an arm out, his mouth forming a little ‘o’ as he yawned. 

“That’s ya Mama.” Jack turned him a little towards Katherine’s bed. “Ya gave her a hard time, lil’ man. She’s gonna be okay, don’ worry ‘bout that. But you’ve given us too many scares, an’ she had a couple’a problems afta’ ya came out. But’chu know what?” Corey stared past his head. “Ya Mama’s the strongest girl I know. We’re gonna be fine.” 

He wasn’t sure if he was reassuring himself or Corey at this point.

They sat there for who-knew-how-long, Jack just watching Corey drift in and out of sleep, and wait for Katherine to wake up.

“Hey,” a soft voice said next to him, startling him slightly. He looked up to see Katherine, sleepy-looking, but awake, smiling softly at them.

“Hey,” he said back, standing to sit on the edge of her bed. “Wanna meet Baby Number Two?”

She laughed a little and nodded. “Let me meet Corey.”

After she’d sat up, Jack transferred Corey into her arms. Cradling him to her chest, Katherine shifted the blanket so she could see his face better.

“Oh,” she breathed. “Look at that, Jack, he looks just like you.”

“Nah,” Jack shook his head. “I had a lotta time ta look at ‘im, Lookit those ears, that’s all you, Ace. Hair’s too light, too.”

Katherine was quiet a moment, tracing Corey’s features lightly with a finger as he settled into her.

“Kath?”

“I--I know we always talked about more than two,” Katherine said, looking at Corey rather than him. “I had six siblings growing up, you had the boys, but... I don’t know if I can go through that again. I don’t want to say never, but--”

He set a hand on her leg. “I get’cha, baby. We don’t gotta figure anythin’ out now, but y’know. I think two boys’s enough ta add to the mix.”

She looked up at him then. “For sure?” she asked, cracking a little smile.

“For sure.”

***

A Little More Than Two Years Later

They stared at the little plastic stick on the bathroom counter, the little plus sign glaring mockingly at them.

“Well... shit.”

#i actually have a hard time saying no #if you ask i'll probably write it #it just may take awhile #radioactivepigeons #elozable #mirkwoodsguardian #jack kelly #katherine plumber #pete kelly #corey kelly #newsies drabble #drabble?? #it turned out longer than I meant for it to #disney writes stuff

[lies-unfurl]

13.19 coda: the last star of mo(u)rning

not-quite-there yet d/c; 1200 words: Dean and Cas talk about Billie's prophecy and about Heaven, while leaving the most important subjects untouched. “Cat got your tongue?” Dean asks, tossing Cas a beer and slipping into the chair across from him.

Cas catches the can just in time, not looking up from the book he’s been buried in for at least an hour, since he healed up him and Sam. Dean kinda wants to sleep, but he’s mostly just happy to be home, since Sam's insistence that they stop at a motel to get patched up had cost them a good twelve hours.

“We should get a cat,” Cas murmurs, setting the beer on the table and not looking up from the book. “At least a cat would talk to me.”

That came out of nowhere. “What?”

Cas looks up just long enough to glare angel blades at him, then goes back to his book.

Dean kicks him under the table. “Why’re you in such a shitty mood?”

“I don’t know,” Cas snaps. “Why did Sam have to be the one to tell me that you’re going to die soon?”

Oh.

“Billie didn’t say she was killing me. Just that we’d be seeing each other.” He shrugs. It had been unsettling, but it’s not the first ominous statement that a being with cosmic powers has thrown his way.

“She’s Death. She can only see ahead so far as death is concerned. She wouldn’t know she’d be seeing you if you weren’t about to die. You tell me not to 'get dead'” and the air quotes aren't even funny this time, "but you can't follow your own advice!"

Dean reaches across the table and shuts Cas’s book. “Hey. Lookit me.”

When Cas finally does, something is glittering in his eyes. Dean refuses to think about that.

“I technically ‘died’ the last time I saw Billie. Didn’t stay dead, did I? It doesn’t mean anything.”

“It doesn’t – of course it means something, Dean!” His fingernails dig into the top of the table, deep enough that it’d probably be pretty painful, if he could feel it. “It means I won’t be able to protect you! My family will die, again, and it’ll be my fault, again, and–”

“Hey!” Cas’s hands feel cold and rough, and they don’t relax at all at his touch. “Even if I do die, which I won’t, it wouldn’t be your fault. I’m a big boy. I can take care of myself. Okay?”

Cas stares down where his hands are covered by Dean’s, and doesn’t say anything.

“Okay?”

Cas shakes his head, mute. He pulls his hands out from under Dean’s and covers his eyes, leaning forward so he’s balancing on his elbows, head in hands.

“Hey. Cas, buddy, what’s wrong?” He stands up, the taste of beer sour in his mouth, and walks behind his friend, laying his hands on trembling shoulders.

“Is this about what happened in Heaven?” Which Cas hasn’t talked about, just saying that the other angels won’t help. “Cas, you know they’re a bunch of dicks. Whatever they said, it wasn’t true.”

“There are twelve of us left. Maybe less.”

“Huh?” His grip on Cas’s shoulders tightens. “What’re you talking about?”

“Angels. There are twelve, eleven of us left in all of Creation. Lucifer included. There could be others hiding, but – they wouldn’t. They would have felt Heaven’s need before now. They would have returned. The rest are dead.”

“…holy shit.”

“Heaven is… …is failing. It needs angels to run. There are eight up there; it’s not enough. When they weaken, which they will, all the souls in Heaven will come crashing down to Earth. It’ll be complete chaos, everyone who has ever been worthy tossed out of Paradise, confused and upset. And it’ll be my fault.”

“Hey.” Cas has said too much for Dean to process, but he hears that last sentence loud and clear. “None of this is your fault. We’ll find a way to fix it. Like we always do.“

“We can’t. We can’t make more angels. All my siblings, Dean, I knew all of their names; we fought together for most of Time; I killed over a hundred of them while with the Leviathans alone. I can’t even remember how many, or who, I killed.”

Cas’s voice breaks on the last sentence. The angle’s shitty, with him standing and Cas in the chair, but he wraps an arm around Cas all the same. Pressed against him like this, he can feel how Cas’s chest shakes with aborted sobs, with keeping in the sound of his crying.

“I’m sorry. I… I can’t imagine, Cas. I know you weren’t always close to them, but. Family’s family.”

Cas nods, not taking his head from his hands.

“That doesn’t make it your fault. It’s not. You only ever killed when you had to, or when someone else was controlling you. And you’ve always tried to help Heaven. Don’t blame yourself.”

Cas doesn’t respond, so Dean tries a different tactic. “Hey. You know we could use you here, fighting against the freaks from that other world. But if you want to go to Heaven. Work with them, I mean. Help them. We’d understand.”

“I don’t,” Cas says, almost before Dean has finished his last sentence. “I can’t. Not after what she did to me.”

“What? Who?”

Cas stiffens. Dean reluctantly lets go of him, giving him some space.

“Naomi,” Cas finally says. “Metatron didn’t kill her, as I’d believed.”

“Naomi? The bitch who tortured you?” Cas has never talked at length about her, but Dean can still remember the haunted, horrified look in his eyes in the split second down in the crypts between when Cas was beating him and when he healed him. “Fuck, I’ll kill her myself.”

“You can’t. There are eight angels in Heaven, and she’s one of them. If she died, that might be enough to upset the balance. And I should be up there, supporting Heaven, but I can’t, not if it means working with her.” There’s an edge of panic (trauma something in his mind whispers) in Cas's tone, and Dean knows he’s being deadly serious.

“You don’t have to. I wouldn’t even had suggested it, if I’d known. And like I said, having you on our side is great." He swallows down what he actually wants to say and adds, "We need you.”

If that is, perhaps, an incomplete version of the truth, of why he doesn’t want Cas flitting back from Heaven, leaving them, leaving him – well, it doesn’t much matter.

Cas sits up straight. Dean chances to peer down at him; his eyes are red and watery, but he isn’t actively crying. Which, good. He doesn’t know if he could take actually seeing Cas cry.

“We’ll figure something out,” he says firmly, clapping Castiel’s shoulder. “If it means finding Chuck and dragging him away from whatever beach he’s sipping margaritas on, we’ll do it.”

“Of course.” Cas just stares down at the cover of the book he was reading – On the Genesis of Angels. “You should rest,” he says, not looking up. “You’ve had a long week.”

“So have you.” But Cas sleeps when he wants to, not when he needs to (and sometimes he does need to, no matter how often he insists that angels don’t sleep, Dean).

“Yes.” He keeps staring down, and then: “I don’t want to be the last of my kind, Dean.”

His throat thickens, but he forces out, “I know. It won’t come to that, Cas.”

Cas doesn’t say anything – because of course he knows Dean’s making a promise he can’t keep – and so Dean just stands there, hand on Cas’s shoulder, as if that could make any of this better.

#spn 13x19 #spn fanfic #destielfanficnet #destiel #spn coda #myfic

[mahouproject-one]

"Too weird to live, too rare to die." | Farah | Trial 4-2 | [RE: Results, Joon-Young]

All things taken into the potluck of consideration, they had to admit they sort of saw this coming out on the endless stretch of the horizon.

The vote for Mitsuo-- it was a vengeance vote really, wasn't it? A vote of pragmatism more than of any real authentic confidence or balls. The flaws were all in the fixings, looking back on those seconds before in 20/20-- why would Mitsuo Ueno cut throats for this motive? Surely the composer would be doing well to be forgotten and go incognito, if anything. This was rooted in rue, all this. Joon-Young Myung made sense. Joon-Young Myung was  the answer. And now Joon-Young Myung would kill for the second time in short follow-through. (You just couldn't trust a nice boy these days, Aphrodite almighty. Them's the breaks, them's the breaks.)

Great googly moogly; once again, it had all gone to shit. Little surprises there, miniscule minutiae of 'em. But if there was one faint, rusted, buried-in-lint-and-aged-shimmer of a silver lining to any of this shitfest shebang, it was that Farah Fujibayashi-Beauregard had narrowly dodged the bloody bullet that would have been Catching One Whole Feeling. By gods above, it had been a close shave! But, thankfully, they believed they just might be able to damn well slip past it to freedom, far away from the ticking doom that was catching The Feelings. It was great! Everything Was Totally Fine! (It was not. Probably.)

Initially, they were inclined to hesitate before embarking back to where they had once been, but something-- perhaps just how irreparably, absurdly gonzo this whole thing really was, as it flung itself off the roadrails-- pushed them away from Joon-Young, the supermodel murderer, and back to the caustic cold comforts of their little black notebook. Oh, they could visibly react to this more, with a "fuck" or a "hm..." or a "goddamn it, what am I doing" or a simiple "crikes", but they needed some sense, some sensibility, some hushed observation-- and where, pray tell, could they contextualise things into such pristine shells and shapes the way they could with writing? That was their duty. They had little more left to spread; this was but another notch on their collective bedpost of surrealism and misery, surely. They were just here to record as they witnessed.

And, ah, wouldn't they have swayed down that merry way of the eagle eye, if only Joon-Young hadn't locked them in with that look and those words.

Dropping their journo's pen with a clack!, Farah immediately looks up to lock gaze with Joon-Young, and something flashes across their features-- quickly, swiftly, rapidly buried underneath that wry, witty, jovially doomsday manner of theirs, and yet...there's still a small, subtle sign of a knit to their eyebrows as they speak-- and their words cut in sharply, clean through the air. Has Joon-Young...perhaps touched a bit of a nerve? (Not that they'll let it show, of course-- they're not the angry type. Or the upset type. Or the rattled type. They are done with the feelings-catching for this particular day, thank you--)

"Ah, please don't let me be misunderstood, Myung-chi. You're off the markings on my musings entirely. Listen sharp, don't just lookit."

Their stare stayed steely, methodical yet merry, in a way that felt...off. Not in a drastic showing of such, just off. They just kept looking.

"Read my lips, Dash. I'll try an' be plain Jane about it. I cawed about death not matterin' much of a whit...here. The now-now, specifically. In this highly particular, reticular hellhole. The rhyme to my reasonings down this particular road? Hell, just look 'round the room, my friend-- at, say, Miyu Suzuki-chi, for an example! She killed, she suffered, she died. But...she hasn't left for any other plane but you and I's, has she? Sure, she's moved to a state of halfs-- semis-- almosts--" (Miyu has heard this before, and they wonder what it sounds to her ears in this modern context)-- "but she's still here, a voice among the haunted crowd, a vox most phantom! She's not alive-- but she is here. The state's the same with the girl you sent to th' spirit level. The sorry sucker you and our thorny Rose here are about to enable the unholy sacrifice of. Sure, you killed 'em. But you can apologise tomorrow, can'tcha? Now, if we talk in terms of what'll happen after the storm if we manage to break this establishment-- that's a tread into the murkier waters, I'll throw that to you. But 'tween all that jazz and a dash of the Labyrinths-- how y'can get eviscerated entirely and get away clean as they come!-- doesn't that render the mutual murderous aspect of Ouryuu and the sellout's game here...a mild range a'moot? In a world where you can greet your dearly departed 'fore their flesh and bones are even loosing their fresh, what are the consequences? It's death, but it's not Real Death, is it?"

It's 1:42 A.M. and Shiny regrets all of her life decisions, but unfortunately, Farah has opinions. They continue unflinchingly.

"Real Death, now-- that'd be something like my dear old gran! See, she's sailed down the river Styx-- been a good couple a'months since it being so, I'd say. But she doesn't get t'stick around. She didn't get the chance on her hands to come back, be here, stay. I'm never gonna get a note on the back of an embroidered napkin from some sleazy retro-riche old restaurant from her again. I'm never gonna watch her go on a passion-packed rant about a corp that's crooked down to its bones, or ride on the back of her motorcycle, or tell her about my history teach's hokey take on McCarthyism, or gag on a sip of that ghastly tonic she loved because it tasted like that on the tongue, or crawl int'her attic space t'look at all her old badges and posters, or-- or-- ooooor--" they were pausing, goddamnit, you're not talking about this, stop talking about it, they don't need to know, look sharp, Fan, for fuck's sake-- "...Y'get the snapshot, don'tcha? And I've known far younger cats-- younger than you an' I, even-- to croak the bucket, and they don't get those chances, either. That's Real Death, methinks. Maybe it's luckier t'be able to leave this level of existence! Or maybe it's as hot as hell wherever the rest of 'em are. But it's different. So are the cluster of consequences, too. That's what my mode is, Myung-chi. And, y'know..."

They didn't have to keep the chatter up, and they knew it. They could just stay vigilant. But there was something else, and they couldn't help but speak that truth loud, but God, couldn't they just...

"...If your personal path of ponderings ledja down the path that I think life's insignificant, I'll have t'throw in an objection on that measure, too. Life, insignificant? Not by any scale, my man! Life's a giantess, as gargantuan as the Reaper! Just 'cause my prerogatives don't add up to staying on this particular playing field for much time doesn't mean I don't place a price on it. It's a beautiful trauma! A euphoria apocalyptica! It's terrible, gorgeous, slimy, grimy, sleazy, seedy, twisted, absolutely fucked! And it's a riot! It's a privilege and pleasure t'be here, and t'have gotten the possibility to drift the continents and see all the wicked the rotten motherfuckers of this world have had t'offer up to me thus far! I wouldn't try spend it like I do if I didn't place as much fucking value on it as I do."

What were they doing? Why? Why couldn't they answer their own questions about it?

"Don'tcha think I have a life outside? Dreams? Plans? Don'tcha think I wanna write a few more pithy politicking exposés, have a few more rounds 'round the block, maybe wander a few more lands, maybe give my Julie the biggest hug I can and tell her I'd shoot a guy on-spot just t'see her crack a laugh, maybe find myself a beautiful wife with a mind like acid, maybe dismantle the capitalist machine, maybe throw a solid couple a'wrenches before letting the wax wings melt and going all Bolivian army and leaving the place a little more shook up when we plunge off Thelma & Louise style?" Their eyes got wider. "Don'tcha think I've seen the circus spectacle they saw and mused 'bout how to at least make it worth the gawk? Don'tcha wonder if I give it moxie just t'make sure it's seen? Don'tcha muse that I have that deep-down yearn to be as witnessed as much as I do my best to bear witness to this whole thing? Don'tcha think that motive might've got me by the balls just as much? Don'tcha think I would've cut throat for that motive they saddles us to if you hadn't gotten your lovely self to the game first? It's not that I 'spect you to-- I'm not looking for answers, I'm just trying t'give you this forsaken rat's idea on it. Think about it, brother. Just that alone."

And suddenly-- all the built up intensity that their face had gathered, their knitted eyebrows, their hunched shoulders, their blazing blue eyes gazing, gazing, gazing-- all dropped. And they were just...

"...Just a glimpse onto my side a'the shimmering pane, Joon-Young Myung. After that, it's yours t'make the deducions on. And frankly, comrade..."

They shrug-- and they return, to their inscrutable, intensive, ever-extending journals.

What else was there that was close to real?

#mahouichi #chrono #chapter four #trial #farah #submission

[ask-joeydrewstudios]

Henry’s Unfortunate Ink-antation [Part Two]

[submitted by: @the-elusive-blue-skittle]

Ink steadily flows from a small, two-ounce bottle and onto the wooden floor.

“Now, Henry,” Bendy grabs the new toon’s attention, tossing the empty bottle behind himself. “This! Is an ink pool.”

Henry nods, placing a finger on his chin. “I see that. So what?” “So what,” the little devil mocks. “Watch and learn, fresh meat.” Bendy proceeds to dump another bottle of ink about twenty feet away, on the other side of the room. “Stick yer arm into that puddle.” “What? Why?” “Just do it, Henry.”

Henry follows Bendy’s orders and sticks a gloved hand in the puddle of ink. Nothing happens.

Bendy whispers to the massive wolf standing next to him.  “Uh-oh… He isn’t getting the gag. What are we gonna do?” “Gee, I dunno, Bendy…” Suddenly, a lightbulb appears over Henry’s head. “Oh, I think I get it now,” he exclaims, trying again at sticking his right arm through the ink puddle on the ground. With some effort, he manages to have the other arm pop straight out of the second ink puddle. Henry grins a big, goofy grin, giggling to himself giddily. The ‘toon mindset’ is getting to him again. “This is real neat!” Bendy grins with his creator. “Good! Now try jumping through the whole thing!” “Bendy, I don’t think I can fit..” “That’s crazy talk!”

Boris decides to butt in. “That’s not crazy talk! THIS is crazy talk!“  The wolf proceeds to make a variety of babbling noises, accompanied with raspberry sounds with his tongue. Bendy is provoked to smack his best buddy upside the head to get him to stop. “Do me a favor and shut up, will ya?” “Aw, but why? Look, he’s laughin’!” “… Really?” Bendy looks across the room at Henry, who is covering his mouth and giggling like mad. He never found that stuff funny before! In fact, it’s a rare sight to see Henry smiling at anything at all! He’s usually got a bored, unimpressed expression plastered on his face.

Boris looks so pleased with himself, too.

Henry stares quizzically at the puddle on the floor. “Maybe we should add more ink.. Yeah, that’s gotta be it!” “NOW we’re talkin’,” Bendy exclaims with a mischievous smile, as he runs over to Joey’s desk to retrieve another bottle of ink. “This should do the trick!”

The little devil quickly dumps the contents of the bottle on the floor, making the large puddle even larger. “There we go! Try now, Henry.”

Henry hesitantly dips the tip of his shoe into the puddle, as if testing out the waters before jumping into a swimming pool.

“Gee, fellas, I don’t know about this…” “It’s totally fine,” Bendy confidently states, placing his hands on his hips. “I’ll fish ya out if you get stuck!”

“Well, okay,” Henry mutters, wringing his hands nervously while staring at the puddle. “Here goes nothing..”

The new toon plugs his nose and hops in the pool of ink, disappearing from sight.

…

He doesn’t come up for a while. The other boys look at each other with concern, then back at the puddle.

“Should I take a look in there, Boris?” “I dunno, Bendy… Henry’s a pretty capable guy..”

A loud SPLASH sounds from the other side of the room as Henry attempts to pull himself up out of the ink.

“Fellas… A little help here? I’m kinda… Stuck.”

Bendy runs over and takes Henry by the hand, hoisting him up out of the pool of ink. “I gotcha, Henry, don’t worry..”

Henry wipes imaginary sweat from his brow.

“Phew… That was a close one,” the new toon exclaims, flicking an ink drop from his shoulder in a way that shouldn’t be physically possible.

“It’s not too much to worry about, pally. Like I said, if ya get stuck, I’ll always come to help ya.”

Henry smiles at his toony pal. “Hahah… Thanks, Bendy.”

“Now let’s try it some more around the studio,” Bendy cheers, pumping his fists above his head in excitement. “Well, alright, if you say so…” Henry smirks playfully as he follows the other boys to the music department. He’s getting a lot more used to walking with the goofy gait of a real toon.

The trio soon reaches the music department in the basement of the studio, where Sammy is peacefully writing music in his office. Bendy ruffles through his sudden pockets for another vial of ink as Henry looks on at Sammy’s door nervously. What would happen if they all got in trouble? What would Sammy do to them? His teeth begin to chatter as his legs wobble underneath him nervously. Boris gives Henry a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

“Don’t worry, Henry. If Sammy says anything, we can just explain what happened and-”

“That’s not what I’m worried about, Boris. So far, the only ones who have seen me like this are you, Bendy, and Joey.. And you KNOW how Sammy laughs at anyone and everyone's misfortune…”

“Aw, you’re afraid of him laughin’ at you? Why, that’s no big deal at all!” “Maybe not to you, but this is just… Really embarrassing to me, you know? Maybe I can just hide until this is all over..” “Aw, nonsense, Henry! Who cares who’s laughin’ at you if you’re having a good time?” “Well, you’ve got a point, there, buddy..” Henry smiles up nervously at the wolf, tugging at his tie to find something to do with his hands. “I guess you’re right..” “I’m ALWAYS right.”

Bendy finishes up pouring ink all over the place with a smile. “Now THIS is what I call a training field!”

…

“HEY! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING, FLOODING MY OFFICE LIKE-”

Sammy pauses in the middle of his yelling to snort loudly. Uh-oh. Here it comes.

“HAHAHAH! Henry?! Is that really you down there?”

Henry crosses his arms and pouts, looking in the opposite direction with a ‘red’ face.

“Shut the heck up, Sammy..”

“HAHAHAHAH, HECK…”

Henry slowly begins dribbling ink from his form, small glops of grey ink splattering on the floor as Sammy starts to simmer down from laughing his blackened lungs out. The tiny toon chooses not to say anything, wiping his face with a goopy sleeve.

“My LORD, I haven’t had a laugh like that in ages!”

“Hey, Sammy? News flash. You’re only supposed to laugh if he does something funny. Not something he can't help,” Bendy sneers, rolling his eyes. “You wouldn’t like it very much if it happened ta you, would'ja?”

“Tch. He’s tough. He can get over it.” “Lookit ‘im! He’s a literal mess over there,” Bendy points back to the new toon, who is now kneeling on the floor with one hand pressed to his face, the other helping him keep balance on the floor. “I suggest ya get back ta work b'fore I tell Joey about this.”

Sammy swallows hard. He NEVER likes when ‘Joey hears about this’. It usually ends in him getting threatened to be fired. Sometimes, he’s even put on Ink Machine duty with Wally, which is even worse. The man blinks a few times, nodding slowly at the devil’s fierce words.

Bendy sticks his tongue out at Sammy before carefully lifting Henry over his head with both arms. Henry jumps a little, struggling, though weakly. He needs to rest, and FAST.

“Bendy,” he croaks. “Put… Put me down…”

Bendy replies, though Henry doesn’t have a chance to listen before he goes unconscious.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How long has he been living like this, in a world of black and white? He’s given up on trying to count, being this way for far longer than originally intended. The toon is only allowed to see his beloved wife twice a week, every week of every year. He misses when everything was colorful. He misses when he was tall and handsome and capable, now reduced to a small, little insignificant toon that never gets to see the light of day. He can’t even go out in disguise. Everyone would be far too suspicious.

Henry doesn’t quite fit in with humans, and for all he knows, he never will again. All thanks to that little prank that happened all that time ago. He’ll never quite fit in with toons, either, due to having previously been human, and therefore, taking on a more humanoid form than the rest of his kind.

“Another day, another dollar,” he moans to himself as he climbs multiple stools to punch in for the day. ‘A dollar for what? It’s not like I can buy anything since I’m stuck here…’

The toon hops down from the perch and drags himself over to the desk he’s wasted so much time in, and will continue to waste time in. He picks up the mug of ink sitting on his desk and takes a big, long swig. He’s used to the taste by now. It’s not like he can drink anything else.

Ever since he, himself became a character in Bendy’s cartoons, he’s never looked at life the same way. Now, he’s just a tool. A character model for the guy on the screen.

He longs for normality. For any semblance of a reminder of once being human. Henry puts his head down on his desk and begins to dribble, thinking harder and harder about his situation. He’ll never get to see his family or friends again. He’ll never have kids, or fulfill a happy life. He’s doomed forever to be the property of Mister Joey Drew.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Henry wakes up with a startled shriek. Gentle hands carefully push him back down on the warm, comfortable bed as an ice pack is placed on the toon’s forehead.

“Hey, it’s okay, Henry… You’re okay…”

“A-Alice..?” Henry rubs his eyes under his glasses and stares up at the cartoon angel. “What happened…”

“You blacked out. Bendy carried you all the way back here. Do you feel any better?” Alice asks with a hint of worry in her voice.

“Am I still melting?” The smaller toon asks, holding his right hand above his face. Nothing out of the ordinary. Well, if ordinary meant ‘a gloved hand with four fingers and a strange black outline.’

Henry begins to think about his nightmare, expression softening and contorting to one resembling intense fear and regret, though he doesn’t start to cry like he did last time.

The cartoon angel quickly notices this and wraps her light, comforting arms around Henry, stroking the back of his head with her right hand. “Henry… Please try to stay calm, okay? It took HOURS for you to reform completely.”

“Reform..?”

Henry finds intense comfort in Alice’s cozy embrace, especially with the addition of the hair stroking. It’s like his own little slice of heaven. The new toon hugs the angel back, nuzzling his head into the crook of her neck.

“Well, you basically… Puddled,” Alice states bluntly, smiling as she pets Henry’s grey hair. “That shouldn’t happen again as long as you learn to control it. I can teach you how, if you’d like.”

“That’d be great, Alice, but could you… Just hold me a little longer? Pretty please?” “Aw, how could I say 'no’ to that face?”

Henry smiles as Alice remains holding him close. This is nice. Especially after the emotional turmoil he just went through.

part one | part three | part four | part five | part six | part seven

#batim #bendy and the ink machine #bendy the demon #alice angel #henry batim #sammy lawrence #submission #more heckin toon henry #the-elusive-blue-skittle #boris the wolf #fanfic #i love this fic so much guys its so good #SO GOOD #thank you skittle this fic is literally A Blessing

[bbwstoriesxx]

Rape and Piss Fantasy

Smoke. I smell smoke. The burnt tobacco fills my senses and tickles my throat. I never allow smoking in the house let alone my room. Yet there's no denying it, someone is smoking in my room. The realization fills me with dread as I try to lay still and keep my eyes closed. My roommates are out of town, it should only be me in the apartment. My heart races as I try to remember if I locked the door before getting into bed. It doesn't matter now, I can hear them talking. All men from what I can tell. They've noticed that I'm pretending to sleep.

 "Look at this bitch, thinking she can outwit us"

"Lookit her, she's sneering"

"Well, this oughta teach 'er"

 I flinch but it is no good. His hand hits my face, bringing tears to my eyes as the sharp pain spreads across my cheek.

 My eyes fly open, my breathing fast and heavy as I get my first glimpse of my room, filled with cigarette smoke, there are three men standing over me, ski masks covering their faces. I open my mouth to scream but they're too quick and stuff something in my mouth. I register the taste of my own pussy, it's the panties I'd been wearing that night! I panic and try to sit up. I can't move, they've tied me to my bedposts. As I try to look around the room to further assess the situation, I see two more men sitting across the room, smirking at me. I'm completely naked, and tied spread eagle on my bed. I already know where this is going, I'm trying to find a way out of it, but it's inevitable. I'm naked, surrounded by at least five men in ski masks. My pussy floods with wetness as I realize there's no escape, how can it be I'm aroused?

 "Hey, bro, if I didn't no any better, I'd say she was wanting us"

"Ha! Yeah look she's even wet"

 My cheeks flush even redder. I'm totally exposed. My breath catches in my chest as one man approaches, fiddling with his belt buckle. I'm caught between wanting him to back away and wanting him to drop his pants. He does neither and runs his hand down my body. He starts with my cheek. I flinch at first, thinking he will hit me again but instead he gently, almost tenderly caresses me. For a moment I forget this is a total stranger, it's been so long since I've gotten any type of attention. I press into him as his hand wanders down my throat to my breast, a chill of pleasure runs through me as he passes over my erect nipple. I hear him chuckle softly as I try to raise my hips to meet his fingertips while they make their journey down. He takes his hand away just as he reaches my lower stomach though.

 "Oh yeah" he almost whispers to the man next to him in a deep gravely voice "She wants it"

 Oh, no. It's happening. They surround me. My moment of pleasure is replaced with fear. They untie my legs and spread them even further apart. I feel the breeze caused by their movements cool against the moisture down below. It makes me feel like I kind of have to pee.

 With my legs re-secured, their hands are all over me. Roughly grabbing at my tits, pulling at my nipples. I want to scream but the panties in my mouth prevent much noise from coming. My screams sound a lot like moans of pleasure. Something rubs along my face. It's not a hand. One of the men must've dropped his pants while I was distracted. His warm, hard cock is being rubbed along my cheeks and eyes. The other men take his lead and suddenly they're all naked from the waist down.

 "It's too bad her mouth is already full, I'd have loved to see her pretty little lips wrapped around this dick"

"Don't get any ideas, man, remember the last house?"

"Yeah, man, that bitch would've bit my cock clean off, coming at me chomping like that"

 The last house? Have they been doing this all night?

I can't suppress my moan as one of the men runs his fingers across my slit

 "We got a real juicy one boys, should be plenty for all of us" he puts his fingers in his mouth "Tastes like a slut too"

 They all laugh and then even harder as he thrusts into me, making me moan even louder. He didn't look that big but because I'd had such a long dry spell, it feels like he's splitting me. Breathe, breathe. Relax. I try to prevent the tears from streaming down my face but it's no use. I'm being molested and raped and I'm crying like a baby. There's nothing I can do about it. The restraints are too well done and the men are too many and strong. He's speeding up, oh god, he's going to cum in me.

 "Damn, she's just like a virgin" I feel his cock erupt inside me "Don't worry boys, I broke her in for ya" he laughs and pulls out. I feel empty without him filling me. I want him to put it back. His cum dribbles out of me as the next man approaches. It's like my pussy is crying to be filled.

 I hear the squelch as he takes his turn with me. The pain I felt initially is turning into pleasure and I'm once again lost in the moment. I feel my body surrender to him but he cums even faster than the first man.

 For the first time, I'm starting to feel glad there are three more men to fuck me. Later I'll wonder what kind of slut I am to enjoy this but for now I'm just glad for the gag in my mouth. If it weren't there I'd be begging them to make me cum.

 Speaking of cumming, there's goes man three. Christ, are they all two pump chumps, is that why they're doing this? Can't get a woman to stay? For a moment I consider asking them to stay with me. If I could have five fast cummers, one of them's got to get me off right?

 Number fours fills me with his ejaculate. Damn, I was getting close. Number five approaches. He's slightly larger than the rest. I'm so sensitive from all the fuckings and being so close that I feel every last bit of him as he slides in. His cock hits my cervix and I moan. I don't care if they laugh anymore, I need to cum. He slides in and out of me excruciatingly slowly. I hear his soft chuckle and recognize him as the one who caressed my cheek so gently earlier. He leans down to where he can speak to me without anyone else hearing

 "I know what you need, bitch" I gasp as he backs out and then thrusts all the way in hard. As he starts to pull out, I realize my muscles have clenched tightly around him, I'm so close to cumming "you're not getting it" he growls. He pulls out all the way and then jacks himself until he cums all over my chest and stomach.

 I've got to cool down. I want to whine and whimper and beg. But as he walks away to join the rest, I remember I don't know these men. They broke into my house and tied me up. Now that they've had their fun who knows what they'll do. So I take deep breaths and start to cool off.

 "The issue with fucking a good pussy is I always have to take a piss afterwards"

"Hey me too!" almost all of them agree

"Well" the larger one says, "we did make a mess of that toy over there, why not give her a shower"

 Oh no. They're going to piss on me? On my bed? Now I'm trying like hell to get free. Absolutely not, they are not getting their piss anywhere near me. As they once again surround me, I realize again how hopeless it all is.

 "What? Are you trying to get free? Just for that, we're going one at a time"

 And with that, the first one aims his dick at my face. I close my eyes tight as he soaks my face, neck and hair. Luckily, his stream isn't too long. I'm glad I'm not going to drown in piss.

 Some of it does start to seep through my panties as guy two aims his stream at my breasts. The taste is not as bad as I thought. And the stream isn't really unpleasant either. It's warm as it hits my sensitive nipples, almost soothing.

 As guy three takes his turn soaking me, I notice I'm getting excited again. I want to reach down to rub myself.

 Guy four comes up and decides to soak my pussy. I moan as the stream hits me. It's almost like using the shower head against my clit. But his stream ends before I can get too close.

 Guy five comes up. It's Him. His larger cock puts his stream right where I need it. I can't stop my hips from moving. My orgasm building. His stream is nice and long, he must've had to go for awhile. My breath stops, my pussy floods, I'm cumming harder than I've ever cum in my life. It doesn't stop, I don't start winding down from it until after he's stopped peeing and put his pants back on.

 As I lay there soaked and panting, I realize I will want to do this again. I wish I didn't have the gag in my mouth. I want to beg them to stay. I need them. But now they've had their fun and they're leaving.

 As the last one closes the door behind him, I untie myself and add my own piss to my soaked bed. I'll have to ask my Dom to surprise me again some night.