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zexapher · 1 day

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Vacuan Nights, Like Vacuan Days

They’re just so great together! I’d love for Jaune and Weiss to get a little downtime in Vacuo to live out a moment like this. They really deserve it, and I’d love to see Jaune’s guitar make a reappearance.

The comic here was inspired by u/Silverstar1243’s excellent piece of art, A Serenade Under the Moonlight. Send some love to them on their twitter, commission some art if you’re willing and able, they’ve made some great stuff.

You folks may have noticed I threw in a couple of references for those in the know; the Golden Oreos behind Yang (double stuffed, I might add) for the trio’s ship, Weiss liking it rough for Mallobaude’s great fic, and of course I made a whole theme around the Arabian Nights Disney song. A song, along with its Aladdin compatriots, which I spent the better part of a day finding covers for just to listen to on repeat while I worked.

This one’s now officially my longest comic project, with 14 panels, two over the past record since I added the White Knight kiss at the end. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. Not sure I’d say it was more difficult than my Vanity of Vanities post, but for this one I actually knew how to use my editing software going into it (at least somewhat).

Put a lot of work into this one, been working on it on and off since February. Took a few breaks for vacation, to make my memorial post for Rooster Teeth, and another five meme edits or so, but I came back around to it. First half was pretty easy, relatively minor edits inserting characters into scenes and so on. The second half with Jaune and Weiss was tougher though, with color correcting, merging poses, redrawing features, drawing Jaune’s entire head to fix some lighting issues, etc. Really like how the edit to make Jaune strum his guitar turned out.

The time it took to make the whole comic got me down a little, until I did a bit of math. Including my side projects since starting this, all the scripting and editing and all, I’ve been pumping out a panel every two days. That seems pretty good to me, that kind of accomplishment makes me a little proud of myself.

Really need to get around to watching the second part of the Justice League Crossover movies. It’s got a few Vacuo scenes that might make things a little more authentic instead of me just using Saphron’s house and pretending it’s a suite in Vacuo. I do love taking yet more character stills from Jaune and friends experiencing deep trauma and turning it into something positive, been making that a bit of a personal habit. And I’ve got to say, the background for Jaune and Weiss’ scene is really beautiful, pulled it from when Sun and Neptune hear Ruby’s message about Salem. That’s just a really good shot all on its own, I even saved a copy for my computer’s wallpaper after editing out the two.

Posting a big RWBY White Knight edit, watching not one but two RWBY Beyond episodes, and all on the trail of the news that RWBY’s found partners that they’re negotiating with and that the creative team is expected to stay on. And I'm sipping bubble tea. Life is good.

Anyway, pardon the long write up. I’m invested in this one, and am quite pleased with how the comic turned out. I hope you all get a kick out of it as well!

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rabbittf2x · 1 year

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Hii!! Can you write smt with the mercs where their s/o is hungarian and cant really speak english? But they will cook for them and and read for them in hungary. Thank you, and you dont have to do this if you dont want to!❤️

Love it! Hope u don’t mind I actually didn’t specify where reader is from!💖💖

Mercs with a Reader that can’t speak English

Pyro💖

It shouldn’t of really been a problem that you couldn’t speak English, since there already was a language barrier between you and Pyro. It could be really hard to understand what he was saying at times with that gas mask of his on

Most of the time, you and Pyro spent time together in a comfortable silence. He expressed his affection for you through touch, often draping an arm around your shoulder or pulling you close. A perfect evening for Pyro would consist of the two of you sitting by the fire, with your head on his shoulder <3

Pyro loved the foreign meals you cooked for him. The times the both of you sat down together and ate your cooking were very special to him. He loved the comfortable silence, and the trust he placed in you. It took a lot to be able to take his mask off in front of you, but he never regretted it. Because the way you smiled so warmly at Pyro from across the table… that was what he lived for

Pyro sat with his legs crossed, gazing upon you longingly as you read him a book. He couldn’t understand what you were saying, as it was in your language. But Pyro didn’t care. He could sit and listen to you speak your native tongue for hours without getting bored

Engineer💖

The Engineer could get sad sometimes that there was a language barrier between you two. But then again, it wasn’t a dealbreaker. He was so in love with you, so it usually didn’t matter

Engie couldn’t get enough of the foreign dishes you prepared him. Any other food he ate didn’t compare at all to what you cooked. He enjoyed eating meals with you at the table. He stole glances of you from across the way, blushing when you caught him and smiled

Engie had his arm wrapped around your shoulder as you sat flush against his side on the couch. He felt himself fall deeper and deeper in love as you gently removed the goggles from his face with a smile. When you pressed your lips against his, any doubts, issues or worries he had washed away instantly

It was impossible to wipe the grin off Engie’s face when you read to him. Everything about you was so entrancing as you just sat there by the fire comfortably, a foreign book in your lap. The language of your motherland rolled off your tongue as you read out the pages to him

You were in a fit of giggles as Engie crept over and littered your face in small kisses. Let him wrap himself around you, and he would love you forever. The poor man melted into a puddle when you purred his name, your accent driving him wild

You continued to read your book to the Engineer. You curled up on the couch, with his head on your lap. He closed his eyes and smiled, listening to your lilted voice as the fire crackled in the background

Spy💖

The Spy wouldn’t speak to you in English anyway. Let him take your hand in his, then let him bend down and kiss it. He uttered endless praise and compliments to you in French, purring to you how you were his everything

Spy preferred to eat culinary delegacies. Lucky for him, you made just that! At least that was what he thought. Spy was not expecting to like your food as much as he did. It was just another thing to add to the long list of reasons he loved you so!

This man was big on intimate, yet silent dates. He found something so romantic about the way you two didn’t even need to say anything. You were in Spy’s smoking room, his gloved hand gliding down your sides. You leaned in and pressed a kiss to his lips. His arms wrapped snug around your waist, while you grabbed a hold of his tie

Spy gazed upon you with a lazy grin as he watched you read. You both sat in lavish recliners by his fireplace, with him sipping a whisky. You read him a book from your homeland, with a smile as you did so. Spy thought you and your accent were so pretty. It was almost refreshing dating someone that couldn’t speak English. He liked the language you spoke much more

Heavy💖

It was okay that you couldn’t speak English. Heavy didn’t like to talk too much anyway. He much preferred to sit in a comfortable silence with you. Maybe even take a nap together

Lord knew Heavy liked his sandviches. He was also fond of enjoying some with you. Extra points if you silently offered him half of yours if you were too full. But what he really loved, was the sandviches you made personally

You loaded them up with all this foreign goodness from your homeland, making him one helluva sandvich. It baffled him how good they were. Your meals were his new go to, and he often craved them on the battlefield

Like said before, Heavy took many naps with you. He laid on your bed, with you snuggled up on top of him. It was favourite thing to do besides killing

Quiet time was the best time. You sat crosslegged on your bed, with Heavy laying in your lap. You ran your thumb over his stubbly cheek, muttering to him how you loved him in your native tongue. Heavy said the exact same thing back to you in Russian

You finished the evening off with you reading to him in your language. He could hardly keep his eyes open as you read softly to him. Heavy believed your voice was the loveliest thing to fall asleep to besides the screams of his enemies

Sniper💖

Sniper wasn’t a man of many words. He could live with the fact you couldn’t speak English. In fact, he quite enjoyed listening to you talk in your native tongue instead

Sniper was more touch starved than he liked to admit. You showing your love for him through touches was all he needed. He was far more invested in the physical, affectionate side of your relationship than the talking side you couldn’t even do

Sniper was more than happy to have one of your warm meals every night for dinner. He really enjoyed the food of your people, whoever they might’ve been. He was always all over you when you were cooking. He snaked his arms around your waist from behind, asking you questions you couldn’t really understand. You just laughed, twisting around in his embrace and giving him a kiss

You sat by Sniper in one of his nests with a book. His stared intently through the scope of his rifle, searching for any enemies. You read aloud to him, speaking in your language. It soothed Sniper, and helped him focus. Your lilted voice was music to his ears as he fired his gun with an extra steady hand

Boom… headshot

Scout💖

Listening to Scout speak English was harder than any other person. He talked so much, and it always really confused you. Scout didn’t care that you couldn’t understand each other’s languages. He was just grateful that you actually liked him and that you were hot

Scout spent countless hours lounging around the base with you. He had his arm slung over your shoulder, blabbering on to you even though he knew you couldn’t understand. He just liked that you sat and listened anyway, without getting bored or leaving him

Scout totally could’ve lived off your cooking. It almost reminded him of what his ma used to make, but obviously more foreign. You couldn’t believe how much food he could fit into his tiny body. You loved him for it though!

Your reading was one of the only things that made Scout act less… Scout. Your reading sessions were his rare unwinding times. He loved leaning into you, kissing you, telling you how you were the love of his life. He wrapped his arms around you as you both laid on his bed. He spooned you, burying his red face into your shoulder

You continued to read to him in your language, smiling to yourself at the feel of him holding you tight. As you flipped the page, you paused the story momentarily to tell him you loved him right back

Soldier💖

It may of taken Soldier a little bit to get used to the fact you couldn’t speak English. It was weird that no matter how loud he yelled at you, you had no idea what he was saying

But when it came to your gentle touches, and your hushed, seductive voice whispering in his ear, suddenly nothing at all ever mattered. Soldier stood there dumbfounded, a deep blush dusted across his cheeks. You giggled, gliding your hands up his uniform and playing with the grenades strapped to his chest

Soldier scarfed down your food like it was his job. Any dish from your country that contained meat in particular was immediately in his mouth. You thought it was great! You told him that you were glad to make him big and strong for war, but he obviously didn’t understand. Soldier just petted your head affectionately, uttering a quick ‘sure thing, sweetie?? :)’

Soldier didn’t have the biggest attention span, but you somehow managed to keep him while you read. He laid on his bed with his arms behind his head. You laid nestled by his side, quietly reading a book in your native language. He just watched you with a smile, liking the sound of your voice more than anything

Soldier hoped that maybe one day you two could converse properly with each other. But as of right now, being here with you like this was all he wanted

Demoman💖

You gave up long ago trying to understand what Demoman was saying. His Scottish accent was super thick, and he also slurred his words a lot from constantly being drunk

Your relationship with Demo consisted of a lot of wet, drunken kisses. There was also a lot of grabby hands, and his arms wrapped around you always

Please tell him how much he meant to you in your language as he leans against you. Tell him you loved him, and he’d slur the same about you. Demo could just about fall asleep against you. You were so warm and loving, and he was so drunk…

Demoman could get pretty snacky, seeing how much he drank all the time. He went on and on about how good your cooking was. He asked countless questions on certain dishes from your country, though you couldn’t respond. It was safe to say that Demo absolutely adored the food you prepared for him

When Demo was somehow sober, you liked to read to him. All of your books were in your native tongue, but he didn’t mind. In fact, he preferred the sound of your language over English any day

You read to him while he was drunk too though, don’t you worry. It was usually after you lead him to bed, and then he childishly begged you to read him a story. Of course you complied, nestled down next to him as you began to read. It wasn’t long until you heard Demo’s obnoxious snoring from next to you

Medic💖

Medic found you fascinating. It was hardly an issue that you couldn’t speak English. He still liked you all the same. If you weren’t German like him, he studied your language a bit so he could communicate with you better

Medic enjoyed quiet nights with you in his infirmary. Whether it was him at his desk, or operating on a patient, it was always better with you there. You often butted into whatever he was doing to attack him in kisses or cuddles. Medic always laughed gleefully at your affection, throwing his arms around you in an embrace

If he was working a bit too hard, you would bring his dinner to him in the infirmary. It was a dish from your country, made with love by you. Medic was delighted to see the food you prepared him, but more happy to see you than anything

After a hard day, whether it be on the battlefield or at his table, he craved to unwind with you at the end of it. Medic’s days were always so loud, so it was nice to be around you. You two didn’t have much to say, but the silence was heavenly

Medic never turned down you filling that silence with your lovely reading though. He loved nothing more than when you ran your fingers through his messy hair while reading one of your foreign books. It was just what he needed after a stressful day of healing

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footygirl114 · 2 years

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23 with Mapi?

You had spent your whole life looking out for yourself, you had been able to come out of the foster system and put your self through both undergrad and your masters. You worked your ass off to become one of the best physio therapists in the city and when you were asked to help out with the Barcelona woman’s team you jumped at the chance.

Little did you know that working with them would change how you view life, your single solo and never asking for help attitude went out the window when you met this team. They took you in and became the family you never had. You never told any of them your background but you had a feeling they knew you needed people.

Although the team treated you like family you knew that the care Mapi had for you went deeper then the others. From her always seeing you out for treatment she doesn’t need or could let you assistant therapist to handle. Or the coffees she would bring you on the rainy mornings, claiming she was stopping anyway. You knew she cared about you more than the rest.

Coming from your background you really did not know how to handle it, having someone actually care for you. You were so used to dealing with everything alone, and when you took the phone call you never thought you would ever have to you were prepared to do it alone.

Coming in to training you knew you were late and you knew that it was going to be a bad day, so when you walked into your office the last thing you expected was Mapi to be sitting on your training table in her training gear with a coffee in hand and a worried look on her face. “Doc thank god I was so worried” she immediately says and stands up.

“What’s wrong Mapi?” you ask her.

Shaking her head she places the coffee down and says “you are late, and you are never late. I was worried that something bad happened to you.”

Confused you ask “Why?”

“Because I care about you Y/N” she immediately says to you.

Looking at her still wit a confused expression you say “but why?”

She steps towards you and places a hand on your cheek as she says “because you are amazing, and I care about you, how your feeling, how your doing. I want to know everything about you Y/N.” you stand there staring at her not believing this when she asks “why is that so hard for you to believe Y/N? have I not shown you this?��

Standing there silently you break eye contact and look down as you say “Its hard to get used to”

“what is?”

“being someone that someone actually cares for” you tell her with a shrug.

She uses the hand that is still on your cheek and moves it under your chin to lift your face to meet her eyes when she says “well I do Y/N, and I am not going anywhere” she finishes by pressing her lips to yours in a soft kiss.

When she pulls back you pull her back in by the hips and connect your lips with hers again. Pulling back but staying close you tell her “I think I can get used to you caring if thats what I get to do all the time”

#woso imagines #woso x reader #mapi leon x reader #mapi leon imagine #mini fic

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snowdice · 10 months

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Face the Music (Sometimes Labels Shift Series)

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Relationships: Logan/Patton, (background) Patton & Virgil, Logan & Virgil

Characters:

Main: Patton, Logan

Mentioned: Virgil

Summary: Patton and Logan have a small chat about healing between Wind Symphony and Wind Symphony: The Sequel.

This is a dealing with events set after my story Sometimes Labels Fail.

Notes: Superhero AU (not that it matters), past emotional abuse, references to a nontypical trigger, though said trigger has been dealt with in therapy and is mostly under control though not gone

“You don’t have to go,” Logan said when Patton was halfway through pulling off his shirt. Patton finished pulling off the shirt to squint at him. He wasn’t wearing his glasses, so Logan’s form was blurry, but he was sitting on their bed looking at him.

“I know I don’t have to go,” said Patton. He turned to grab the sleeping shirt he’d set out and pulled it over his head.

“Virgil wouldn’t care,” Logan said. “I would be the more likely candidate to take him shopping for such a thing considering the research I’ve done into the topic anyway. I doubt he has any expectations that you will come.”

Patton frowned as he slipped his glasses back onto his face, turning Logan from a blurry mess of blue into a man wearing a blue t-shirt. “Maybe he wouldn’t,” Patton said, “but you don’t know that.”

“Patton,” Logan said, his brow creased in the way that it did only when he was attempting to do a very difficult math equation or was trying to process emotions on the fly. “You once almost had a panic attack because a musician attempted to hand you a violin.”

“That was years ago,” Patton bristled, “and I’d been having a bad day. The violin was not the problem.”

“Perhaps not,” Logan agreed, “but it was a problem.”

“A music shop is not a house of horrors for me,” Patton said. It was the truth even if it felt just a bit like a lie. What he remembered from the music shop of his childhood, the one he’d have to go to for new music books every time he completed his old ones, was an old man who would freeze Patton in place with his gaze (even when he wasn’t actually doing so with his powers), ancient instruments on the walls that Patton’s young mind had imagined being used in blood rituals, and an overwhelming sense of foreboding. He thought normal music shops probably were not like that.

Logan was still frowning, so Patton crossed to the bed and reached for his face. He kissed him on the nose.

“I want to be there,” he told Logan. “Playing the clarinet is something that Virgil loves, and I want to support him in every way I can. I will not be like my mother and that both means not making him play an instrument if he doesn’t want to and encouraging him to do so if he does want to.”

It was easier said than done. If Patton had ever gotten joy from playing a violin, he did not remember it. Thoughts of playing a musical instrument filled him with an uncomfortable squirming sensation even after all of these years. It was a knee-jerk reaction to not want Virgil to experience the same thing, but he was not his knee-jerk reactions. He’d been very careful to keep his instinctual thoughts to himself (and occasionally to Logan when it felt unhealthy to keep them bottled up).

Virgil liked playing music. It made him happy. Sometimes Patton had to remind himself of that in order to react appropriately, but that was okay. It was a little more effort in an area most people wouldn’t even have to think about, but it was worth it.

“He does want to,” Patton continued, “so even if that desire isn’t something I will ever be able to relate to, I still need to show up.”

The face between Patton’s hands still seemed unsure. “This is just a small thing,” Logan said. “We already know you’ll be going to all of his performances. You can show up for him without going on this specific outing.”

“Life is made up of small things,” Patton said, shaking his head, “and it’s also short. I am a 56-year-old man. I refuse to live my life in fear of a string instrument. Anymore.”

“Still,” Logan said, reaching up to cup Patton’s hand still on his cheek.

Patton just rolled his eyes fondly. “I appreciate the concern,” he said, “but I’m going.”

Logan opened his mouth to speak.

“No more talking,” Patton said, using his hands to gently push Logan back onto the bed. He leaned most of his weight on him, though his toes still touched the floor. “Just cuddles.”

Logan hesitated, but then gave in. “Very well,” he agreed and then paused a moment. “Could we perhaps cuddle in a more reasonable position?”

“No,” said Patton, tucking his head into Logan’s chest with a smile. Logan sighed under him and reached up to pat his hair.

Patton knew he’d be able to face any music store as long as Logan was with him.

“Face the music,” Patton whispered with a giggle. Logan groaned.

Want to read more? Click below!

Labeled Master Post.

My Masterpost.

#sanders sides #patton sanders #logan sanders #mentioned virgil sanders #labeled universe #sometimes labels shift #platonic moxiety #past child abuse #past emotional abuse #adriana writes #not pieces fic

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tea-with-evan-and-me · 24 days

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[Y'all I need to get this off my chest pls quoi. Evan eventually learning French... Enjoy!!!]

“Hi… um… bonjour – excuse me? I’m looking for… um…” Evan scanned his call sheet again. It was in French. “Sorry… I can’t read it…”

“Ah, Evan Peet-air?” the lovely French-speaking lady made his name sound like chocolate. He smiled nervously. “Yes, you come with me. I take you there, is quicker.”

“Thanks.” The woman led him to an open field, reachable only on foot for the day since it had rained pretty badly overnight, and the dirt paths had become mud pits. But, with wellies on, they made it.

“Voila. Madame Sharpe is over there, under the tent.”

“Thanks so much, I appreciate it.” Evan followed the path the woman had pointed out to her, and sure enough, huddled around a screen, was Amelia. The first round of shots looked incredible. “Um… hi, Amelia…”

“Evan! You made it! I was starting to get worried!” Amelia stood, moving to the back of the tent with him. “What happened?” He was a good half-hour late, not at all like him.

“I… everything is in French and I can’t read that.” He pulled out the itinerary he’d been given, and the call sheet. “My phone’s not working over here so I couldn’t use Google Translate, and the three people I asked what you said to ask didn’t speak English at all.”

“How did you say it?”

“Parrlay voow Onglay.”

“Close enough…” Amelia smiled up at him, but she took the call sheet and itinerary from him. “But I’ll find out why these are in French. I’ll give you mine for tomorrow, since we don't have the full studio out here. It’s miserable.”

“Belgian weather, though, right?” Evan grinned.

“Sure is!” Amelia sighed. “How are you finding it, anyway?”

“It’s nice. A little different to what I’d expected, but nice. Actually, no-one recognised me in the street earlier – and there’s no paps?!”

“Why do you think I moved here?” Amelia chuckled again. “It’s heaven on Earth and no-one gives a shit about who you are. It’s perfect!”

The scenes they were filming were mainly in the forest, where the ground was thankfully solid and they had cover from the trees if it did start raining. Evan, as was his typecasting, was playing a lover who’d turned out to be a psycho killer (qu’est-ce que c’est, fafafafafa… ) and Amelia was playing the girl who’d gotten away from him, but now was on the run. There was a bit of a magical twist, though, which would take them some time to get done. But by the end of that first day, Evan felt like he’d relaxed fully into the role, even though it was already exhausting.

As the first month wore on, Evan discovered a love for Belgium that he’d never expected to have. Not least because he’d been able to walk down the street and have virtually no-one know who he was, he really felt like he could turn off his brain and just exist. Amelia had taken him around Brussels to show him the sights, but he’d been content to sit in a random bar with a beer and a book and just… be. It had allowed him to relax so fully, he genuinely didn’t want to get back on the plane back to the States, and he still had two months left there.

His friends in the States, however, had identified another possible reason why he didn’t want to go back home: Amelia. It was obvious to the whole world that, if Evan were to have a little more courage, and Amelia were to believe someone could and would want her, that they’d be an unstoppable power couple that would rule the entire cinematic universe. After all of Evan’s failed relationships, and the trauma he’d been through with each (in their own different ways, of course), someone like Amelia would be perfect for him. His friends had tried to tell him that she was perfect because she’d also known trauma. She’d known abuse. She’d known the desire to just fade quietly into the background. She also had her own empire of fame: dance schools across Europe, several in the UK, and a few in the States all generated from her success as a dancer growing up. An Oscar tucked under her belt for a movie she hadn’t thought she was any good in. An actual billion in her bank, but she gave millions away to charities across the world so that she wouldn’t ever end up on the Forbes 30 under 30 list. She couldn’t really go anywhere in the UK or the US because everyone knew her – much like Evan. She understood what he needed. And she didn’t need him for his fame, either.

But Evan couldn’t bring himself to say much more than the basic conversations they’d shared. He’d wanted to open up to Amelia, wanted to tell her everything… but he couldn’t. He couldn’t risk that his heart would be broken again. Besides, Amelia deserved someone far nicer… far better. A decent actor, maybe.

Yet he found himself often sprawled across her sofa as they read out rewritten scenes together, or sitting quietly in the same room as her while she worked, and he worked or read or something. She was happy to sit with him in silence, or scrolling TikTok together, or Instagram, or watching something… he adored her company, and she clearly enjoyed his…

It was Amelia’s lifelong best friend, Charlie, who came to the rescue. Charlie organised a dinner in Brussels with her husband Brendan, Dave (Amelia’s cameraman and content editor) and his husband Tom, and one of their dancing friends, Lotta, and her partner Michel. Charlie invited Evan, and Evan accepted, because he had nothing else to do. What neither he nor Amelia realised was that the evening was actually a moment for Dave, Tom, Lotta, Michel and Brendan to see whether Charlie was insane for thinking Amelia and Evan had something, or not.

And the result was unanimous: they had fucking chemistry.

“So,” Brendan took a seat beside Evan at the dining table. Evan liked Brendan. A chill guy. “Are you going to invite Amelia to that bagel place she’s mentioned three times tonight?”

“What – no? Should I?”

“None of us like bagels, Evan.” Brendan’s eyes betrayed his excitement. “Do it! Ask her out!”

“She won’t want me.”

“How do you know?”

“Because… she deserves someone better.”

“After tonight, I think it’s clear you are better, Evan. Try it. Ask her out.” Brendan touched his shoulder lightly.

Evan was thinking about it. God, how he was thinking about it. Of course he was in love with her. That day, they’d been doing a scene in which Amelia’s character had to lose her shit and hit Evan’s character in the chest repeatedly, in that overdramatic ‘no, no, NO!’ kind of way. But Evan had flinched back when they’d been choreographing the scene out, and Amelia had immediately stopped everything and told him they’d rewrite the scene to have her character react differently.

“Why?” Evan had asked, holding himself.

“Because I’d rather rewrite a scene in a couple of minutes than have you relive whatever you’re currently reliving every time we do a take.” She placed a gentle hand on his arm. “It’s no bother, Ev. I promise. You can trust me.”

He hadn’t needed to tell her about the abuse. Hadn’t needed to explain why he didn’t like being hit, or why he had such a visceral response to women lashing out at him – even when it was scripted. She’d heard the stories. She’d put two and two together, spotted his warning signs, and taken them in her stride and fixed it for him.

Her friends were right. She was perfect.

“Alright,” Evan murmured. He smiled at Brendan tightly. “I’ll do it.”

A little while later, when they’d all gone home save for Evan and Amelia, they went for the metro.

“I’m glad you came out with us today, Evan. I think sometimes being around people who aren’t arseholes is good for you.” Amelia shuddered a little in the cool air. “Do you remember the way back to your hotel?”

“Yeah.” He looked down. A broken person. Amelia pressed her lips together.

“Tell you what,” she smiled. “I’ve got a sofa bed. You can stay with me tonight if you’d like? Then we can maybe figure that shitty couple of scenes tomorrow, over breakfast?” Evan’s face lit up a little. “Oh, and there’s this brunch place close by actually – we’ll head out, grab brunch, and you can practice your Duolingo French.”

And just like that… Evan was completely and utterly on her hook. It’s a dangerous game to play, man, said the little voice in the back of his mind. But he didn’t care. Amelia made him feel safe… and, that night, as he curled up on her sofa bed with a gorgeous view of the stars from the skylight in her rooftop apartment… he realised that he really didn’t want to leave Belgium at all.

End of Part One

oh hi!! 👋🏼 we have another story tweam. lemme read this after i leave the gym 👀

#fics

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thatgirl4815 · 2 years

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A Lovely Forest Swim (meta)

For starters, is it bad that I didn’t even think about the fact that they had to remove their clothes with handcuffs on? I see a lot of people questioning it and the thought didn’t even occur to me while watching...idk what that says about me.

But anyways: the forest swim scene. A.k.a., a moment of tenderness I was not expecting but was pleasantly surprised by. I think there’s surprisingly quite a bit to unpack here.

#1 most prominent characteristic of this scene? Playfulness. That pretty much characterizes the entire episode save for a few riveting conversations (and let’s not even talk about that ending...ouch). They giggle like little kids and genuinely seem to enjoy each other’s company. Yet again, I was so surprised by Kinn here, because this is the opposite of everything we’ve seen from him so far. It just goes to show how utterly transforming the mafia business is, and just how much of himself has been sacrificed because of it.

Kinn, ever the subtle man, suggests they hug for warmth. Why haven’t I seen anybody talk about the shoulder kisses? The definition of tender. I honestly don’t think they even realized what they were doing at this point; they were so wrapped up in each other that it didn’t matter. We’ve known since before the series aired that Kinn and Porsche have a very physical relationship, and we see that play out here. They’re on good terms as far as the playfulness/flirtation goes, but there’s still a lot of baggage to unpack. So when they naturally cave to physical touch like this, it brings my attention back to the concept of sex vs. intimacy. Sure they’re hugging “for warmth,” but their physical attraction is staggering, especially for Porsche. Porsche, who has been betrayed by Kinn on multiple occasions, leans into him so willingly here. It suggests that, while Kinn has broken Porsche’s trust, there’s still a level of unbreakable comfortability between them. The chemistry is undeniable. With the sweet guitar playing in the background, the entire scene feels appropriately woodsy and romantic.

Kinn instigates the kiss, but Porsche is a willing (notably SOBER!) participant. It’s soft and tender, just like their first kiss on the dock. It’s them giving into the moment, leaning in to the chemistry between them. If Kinn hadn’t stopped it, I think Porsche was ready for a full on make out. It’s interesting to think about how it would’ve played out if Kinn hadn’t cut it off so soon.

For some reason, I wasn’t able to find gifs of the moment when Kinn pulls away, so I’ll just post screenshots:

What I like about moments like these are the elements of contrast. Despite the fantasy world they appear to be living in, reality still creeps in. From my perspective, Kinn is contending with guilt here. It reminds me a lot of The Scene in Ep4. We see Kinn reject Porsche in a similar way there, but not for the same reason. Here, I would argue that he pulls back out of guilt more than anything else. There is probably part of Papa Korn’s warning/lecture creeping in as well, but I see it as Kinn “catching himself” in a way he did not with drugged Porsche. He knows he made a mistake, and we know he feels awful about it, so to go on kissing Porsche before they’ve acknowledged the elephant in the room would only add to his shame (and forget the fact that Porsche is sober here and clearly wants/consents to the kiss).

I was actually quite surprised that Porsche was willing to smooch after everything, but like the pier kiss scene, it seems like a product of the moment. The trust, comfortability, and desire between them, while threatened, is still very much alive. I do wonder if Porsche is surprised by himself at all here, but his facial expressions make it hard to tell. He frowns a bit afterwards, as if taking it all in, perhaps fully realizing what‘s going on; like Kinn, he’s coming back to reality, and he doesn’t like it. I’m going to assume that this moment plays into Kinn’s second apology at the end of the episode, as I believe it’s at least part of the reason why Porsche later tells Kinn that he had already forgiven him. He kisses Kinn despite the tension in their relationship, and he shocks himself for doing that, because it proves how much he’s already forgiven. From how I see it, there isn’t a conscious moment when Porsche forgives Kinn, but moments like these gradually reform the trust they had lost.

On this same note, I think it’s imperative that we look at this moment from both perspectives. I’ve noticed while reading (and re-reading) this post that thus far, I’ve elected to look at the waterfall kiss almost exclusively from Kinn’s perspective since he is the one doing the pulling away. But when I think about it from Porsche’s perspective, I’m reminded that Porsche could’ve interpreted Kinn’s hesitation very differently. As the audience, we can assume that Kinn pulls back out of guilt, but Porsche doesn’t have that same vantage point, so it makes sense that this would make him question Kinn’s feelings. From that perspective, it makes more sense why he would have some reservations about clearing the slate between them later, so to speak. I do think this moment plays into one of their conversations at the end of the episode, which I detail more here.

Ok. That was a lot. But at its most basic, we gotta love a good wet smooch when we see one.

I guess this isn’t so much a meta as it is just me rambling. But psychologically, there’s a lot to think about. The contrast between reality and fantasy is intriguing, as it could also represent the difference between the mafia life and the non-mafia life (for lack of better descriptors); it’s a distinction which will surely weigh on Kinn even more heavily after their time in the forest. Now he knows what he could have, which will make it all the more heartbreaking when it is suddenly stripped away again (as the final shootout scene indicates). In the context of KP’s relationship, I think the swimming scene represents their strong pull to each other. Their attraction persists, despite all the obstacles challenging it.

#kinnporsche #kinnporsche the series #kinn porsche #kinn x porsche #kinn and porsche #kinn #porsche #kinnporsche meta #kinnporsche episode 6 #kinnporsche ep6 #the way I audibly squealed during this scene #somehow their chemistry manages to be a perfect balance between sweet and hot #every interaction has depth in it #I think that's what makes the series so rewatchable already

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amyyythestarry · 3 months

Text

TOILET BAND HANAKO KUN!

——

CHAPTER 1: Band.

——

“… Have you heard?” She spoke softly into the microphone as soon as it was turned on along with the radio.

“There is a rule regarding that staircase that you must never break.”

Slow, rhythmic melodies played when he strummed the strings of his ginger orange guitar with a guitar pick, decorated with random cat stickers, put on by another male, that just wouldn’t come off. He left them there until he was able to find a way to get them off of his precious instrument.

“You must never step foot on the fourth step. Why? Because… You will be taken to the other side.”

“Taken, to the otherrrr side~” Sung another person, standing right beside the green haired girl, holding another microphone. Violet and mauve, covered in various stickers and paint splatters on the bottom. His voice was smooth and calm, despite the words being deep.

Then drums started, still soft and faint, the person with the sticks trying to bang as light as possible to match the tone of the start of the song. Guitar still strumming, and now a keyboard is being used.

“Down, down belowww. To the darkest, deepest, path you’ll gooo.” He continued, eyes closed and head swaying with the flow.

“Limb, from dangling limb. They’ll pull you apart, down to countless pieces.”

The drumming tempo started picking up, so did the guitar, and now the drummer and guitarist were playing more fast and furious, creating a new rough and exciting rhythm.

“Now you’ve ruined the stairs.” The girl sang.

“It’s painted with crimson blood.” He continued. “Yasuraka ni o yasumi kudasai~”

“In piecesss~”

Now the instruments were louder than before. The drums are still banging with the occasional cymbals. The bass guitar’s volume was turned up, not enough to cover the singer's voice, because it was still so quiet. And the keyboards settled with matching the singer’s vocals, it wasn’t a noisy instrument anyways, especially since the player wasn’t an aggressive typist.

They continued playing like this.

Nobody expected the short, black haired, brown skinned boy, the one who was the most childish and reckless out of them all, to actually be a good singer. Because as they kept playing, kept up with the song, and the lyrics of the boy flowed throughout the room like lovely wind, they all figured this was the best outcome for them.

The boy did add unnecessary additions to the song that weren’t there before, but heck, it was still bada**.

As they got closer to the end of the song, the drummer decided to close their eyes as did the guitarist, the typist, and the lead singer. Wanting to just feel the atmosphere of the room, the melody of their instruments and his vocals clashing together in the best way.

The song was closer to ending. The guitar slowed down again after its solo, going with the rhythm it had when they first started playing. The singer's voice was higher.

“Taken to the other siiiide, to the bottom of the underworld, the top of the stairs will take you.” The green-ette sang, voice being in the background of the main singer.

“Have you heard? Number 2?”

The singer stopped singing, and the instruments had to keep going.

The drums continued to bang, harder and louder than throughout the whole song, now that it had the spotlight. Alongside the guitar, as it became more distorted on purpose.

But as the song was now about to end, and the drummer banged on the bass, planning to end it off with a ding from the hi-hats. The time was right, and the drummer hit two of the hi-hats with each cherry wooden stick, and the sound along with the dings of the cymbals was the sound of crunchy snapping.

The song finally ended. The guitarist and typist stopped playing, because of the ending of their strain, and cause of the sound they hear almost all the time while practicing. As well as a voice grumbling from the back of the room.

“D**nit! I broke them again!”

Everyone in the room turned to the drummer, looked at him, and then at the two broken parts of the drumsticks rolling on the floor on each side of the drum set.

Mitsuba Sousuke sighed, dropping the remains of the sticks onto the floor by his feet, and rubbed his face with both hands from embarrassment and frustration.

“… Jesus, Mitsuba-chan. This is like, the fifth time..” The guitarist sweatdropped.

“Oh shut up, airhead.” Mitsuba pulled his head up from his hands and rolled his pink eyes, the left one being hidden by his curly hair.

Hyuuga Natsuhiko put his hands up when Mitsuba glared at him, and the lead singer of the group spoke up.

“Mitsubaa, you need to stop breaking the sticks!”

“It’s not my fault!” He claimed, dropping his head down and looking into his lap when being faced with amber eyes.

Yugi Tsukasa walked over to the broken pieces of dark cherry wood, picking them up and inspecting the jagged edges of the sticks.

When looking up slightly, Mitsuba expects Tsukasa to be looking at him with downcasted eyebrows, shaking his head and tutting. But instead, he sees the smaller boy smiling down at the sticks in his hand.

“Y’know, maybe we don’t have to throw these away again? We could probably try fixing them!” He suggested, looking up at Mitsuba and giving him his usual wide toothed grin, the one Mitsuba couldn’t help but secretly admire.

The pink haired boy stilled, then slowly nodded while a small shy smile plastered on his face, along with the hotness of his cheeks coming to be.

“Um.. Yeah, maybe we could..?”

“And if that doesn’t work,” Tsukasa started again, pulling out his phone and starting to type. “I’m sure you could use broken wood for something else, right? Like, using them for some type of art pieces?”

Everyone internally questioned what kind of art piece the boy could possibly make with broken drumsticks, but they didn’t further think about that. Tsukasa could make something out of anything.

While Tsukasa was still on his phone, the green haired girl sighed.

“Well… I’m sure the song went well,” Nanamine Sakura said, pushing curly strands of hair out her face. “We’ll check it when we get back to the Broadcasting room.”

Currently, the band of pre-teens and second year teenagers are in a closed, deserted garage in the middle of nowhere where non-human beings are stranded. Nobody was in the area but them, though. So they found it a perfect place to try and finish their first song, named ‘Misaki Stairs’ in their fresh album ‘Rumor’. Since the club room they use to brainstorm and hang out in was too small for a whole band set up.

They decided they would use this garage for playing, and their club room for producing their music.

The band members agreed, and collected their belongings, getting ready to head out of the room.

Tsukasa walked over to a corner of the garage and picked up a long furry black thing, cooing at it saying, “Did you have a good nap?” The thing responded by purring into his arms.

“What is that?” Natsuhiko asked him, looking at him over his shoulder while he zipped his guitar shut in it’s black case.

Tsukasa turned to him, revealing an animal. His pet, that they didn’t even realize was here in the first place. The same pet Tsukasa let around them all the time.

Miyu, the strange cat Tsukasa always carried in his backpack, and somehow always appeared around them no matter where they were, opened its eyes to look at the confused looking band members she knew were Tsukasa’s friends. She quickly snapped her eyes at Sakura, and jumped out of her owner's arms. Walking over to Sakura and meowing at her, close by her left foot.

The black and white cat watched Sakura’s face contort into a deadpan.

“Tsukasa, why.. Is your cat in here?” She asked the boy who was gathering his backpack and putting both his and Sakura’s microphones in their respective cases.

“Oh! Because she wanted to listen to our first official song!”

They looked back down at the cat, who was bobbing its head like it was agreeing. Sakura shook the topic off, and started walking towards the button that opened the garage door.

When it opened all the way they all walked out of the garage, being faced with a scenery of mixed colors in the empty sky that belonged to the Far Shore, the realm of all supernaturals and non-human beings.

Mitsuba instantly pulled out his camera being hung around his neck, and snapped a picture of the sky above. He didn’t usually take pictures of pretty things like this, they couldn’t come close to the pretty-ness that was himself, but it was more odd than the sky of the realm of humans, and odd things deserved a snapshot.

There were also other weird things in the Far Shore too. And besides, Tsukasa was staring at it like the beautiful, strange thing it was, and he never planned on keeping the picture. As soon as it came out, and he shook it to get rid of the black, the picture showed the perfect shot and he gave it to Tsukasa.

Right inside Tsukasa's open right palm appeared a floating, misty black thing, with a small blue swirly dot in the middle. In an instant, the same black smoke clouded their vision and engulfed them with the intent of taking them somewhere else faster.

Natsuhiko spoke up, not seeing the person he wanted to speak to because of all the mist.

“Tsukasa, you also have to help me get these stickers off my guitar and case y’know! And stop tampering with them!”

He heard a giggle from the boy he was talking to.

“I’ll try!”

Once their sight became clear again, they all were in another place, and a place they knew well. The Broadcasting club, taking place in the school they all attended.

And once they settled in, they got to work. Checking over their song, edited it, and once it was deemed perfect, contacted their album cover producer and started on releasing it to their oblivious human and random supernatural audiences.

Now this was the start of The Broadcasters.

——

NEW AU ONESHOT!

Next chapter is: Band. ( 2 )

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lavenderbang · 5 months

Text

Are We Just Friends?

Best Friend! Kim Taeyoung x reader

Genre(s): Best Friend to lovers, non-idol au, fluff I guess??? some angst because I couldn’t resist, Maybe slightly suggestive if you squint, and mentions of some of the other members of cravity

Warning(s): swearing, weed use, but that’s about it

Summary: Your best friend invites you to hang out late at night; that’s expected, since you usually hang out at night, but what you didn’t you didn’t expect was him to tell you something that has been on his mind recently

A/N: I AM IN LOVE WITH KIM TAEYOUNG. Okay but actually, I just really wanted to write this because I’m a self-indulgent fic writer and I want to hang out with Youngtae so badly bruh... So I’m writing this now. I hope you enjoy :)

HE IS SO PRETTY !!!!

Dumbass: I’m outside loser :p

You quickly slipped your old fleece jacket on before stepping out into the crisp cool night. It was late; later than you would usually hang out.

But with Taeyoung’s busy work schedule, you were just glad you were able to go see him. His junky grey car sat idling beside the curb; you could always hear it before you could see it, probably due to the shitty transmission or problems with the wheel bearings that Taeyoung didn’t have the money to fix.

He worked at your town’s local grocery store, mostly stocking shelves. He said it was only until he could find something better, but three years later he still spends almost everyday arranging boxes in the back and accounting for the shipments.

“Hey nerd, what’s the plan?” You said stepping into the car and closing the door behind you. He was wearing a simple black tee-shirt and a pair of baggy jeans. He also had the bracelet you gave him for his birthday wrapped around his wrist. It was a simple silver chain, but you had an almost identical one that you wore everyday.

“Wow, not even a ‘how are you’?” Taeyoung huffed, shaking his head playfully at you, “Straight to business I see...” You couldn’t help the smile the crept up onto you face as you rolled you eyes at him.

“Okay sorry,” You said sarcastically, going to buckle up your seat belt, “How are you?” “I’m good, thanks for asking.” Taeyoung said flatly, grinning softly at you before putting his hands on his steering wheel, “Is it okay if we go down to the river? Or is it too spooky for you this late?”

You lived in a small town out in the middle of nowhere; the population was low, mostly just families that had been there for generations and the occasional newcomer coming in for work. It was tucked up in the hills and surrounded by woods; It also bordered a river, which was a hot spot for people to visit in the summer to escape the blistering heat. Even though it wasn’t too hot now, it would still be nice to sit out there in the shroud of night and get a nice summer breeze off the edge of the water.

“That sounds fine dude,” You replied, tugging at the sleeves of your jacket, “But it wouldn’t be this late if you would have invited me out sooner.”

“Sorry, some of us have a job.” Taeyoung scoffed, putting his car in drive and pulling away from your house. Without looking away from the road, he tosses his phone into your lap, “You have to DJ because I have to make sure we don’t hit anything.”

“roger that.” You hummed, scrolling through Taeyoung’s Spotify to press shuffle on a playlist titled ‘The Jams’. The song didn’t really matter, since it was just background noise anyways.

“How was work today? You were there pretty late tonight huh?” You asked only for Taeyoung to groan dramatically.

“For some reason, Serim’s dad ordered a double shipment of a bunch of our items, so I had spent ages counting them out,” Taeyoung huffed, stopping at a red light and turning to you, “Why did he do that to me?! When Serim hooked me up with this shitty job at his dad’s grocery store, I thought it was supposed to be fun!”

Taeyoung started waving his hands around as he ranted. You couldn’t help but grin; it was a habit he had that you noticed almost immediately after becoming friends. You think it must just be from him getting too worked up over stuff, because you also noticed he did it when he was excited as well.

“I thought I was supposed to be chill because Mr. Park has always been super chill when we go to their house to hang.” Taeyoung continued, “But nooo! When I work for him, he orders a double shipment out of the blue or asks me to count everything again ‘just to be sure’. I swear he purposely makes me stay longer at work.”

“Youngtae,” You hummed, pointing out the front window at the traffic lights, “Green.” Taeyoung let out a sigh before pressing on the gas.

“If you hate it so much, why do you stay working there?” You asked, rolling down the window to let the cool night air in. Taeyoung approaches the edge of town, turning down the dirt road that would lead you both to the river bank.

“I heard the gas station Minhee work at is looking for someone. You could ask him to help you out.” You suggested, earning a “mmh-hmm” in response from Taeyoung.

“Maybe, but I’m pretty sure the owner hates me for shoplifting candies when we were in middle school.” He said sheepishly, cringing at the memory and pulling off the road; he drove through the long grass to the edge of the river before putting his car in park.

“Besides, I don’t want to be in this hellhole for much longer.” Taeyoung confessed, turning his car off and taking his seat belt off.

“No?” You replied, taking your seat belt off too, opting to lean the seat back a bit more before continuing in a teasing tone, “This place doesn’t tickle your fancy?”

“Not at all,” Taeyoung chuckled, pushing his dark hair out of his face, “You guys made being here manageable, but I can’t stand being here. I feel like I’m going to be stuck.”

“I get that,” You said, staring at your hands in your lap, “We all feel the same, I think...”

“Do you have your pen on you?” Taeyoung suddenly asked. You silently pulled it out of your pocket and handed it to him. He takes a hit of it before frowning.

“What flavour of cart is this? It tastes like ass.” Taeyoung complained, handing the dab pen back to you. You take a hit of it too, humming as you let the smoke fill your lungs.

“Its blackberry I think..?” You replied, bringing the pen up to your eyes to look at it. You shrug, taking another hit of it, “I wanted to try something new. Besides, it’ s not that bad.”

Taeyoung took it from your grasp before placing it between his lips. His eyebrows furrowed as he inhaled with a disgusted look on his face.

“Remind me to never buy blackberry.” He grumbled, giving it back to you as you giggled at him. The two of you sat in silence for a moment. You glanced at Taeyoung’s side profile, as he was seemingly staring out into nothingness.

“Did you hear Seongmin got into university?” Taeyoung broke the silence, and you nodded. He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel while thinking, before leaning back, “I’m happy for him. He moves into the city sometime at the end of august. He asked me and a few of the guys if we’ll drive him in and help him move stuff into the dorm.”

“That’s really wonderful for him,” You said genuinely, eyes drifting away from Taeyoung to look out to where he was staring at. You could see the reflection of the water from the light of the moon, as it was pretty clear that night. You turned back to Taeyoung, trying to read his expression, “don’t you think its wonderful?”

“Yeah, of course.” Taeyoung said, smiling at you weakly before taking a deep breath, “Its just... I’ll miss him, y’know? I think it’s one of the big reason I haven’t left yet. I’d miss you guys too much...”

“Yeah, I understand what you mean.” You said, looking out your open window, “But I think it’ll be okay.”

Taeyoung looked at you, but you were leaned away from him against the window, closing your eyes just to bask in the night atmosphere. He could barely see you in this light, but your figure looked calm and relaxed in the light of the moon.

“You’re not worried about drifting apart?” Taeyoung asked, anxiety laced through his tone as he fidgeted in his seat. You glanced at him before sitting up in your seat.

“Not at all.” You said simply, smiling softly and brushing your hand through your hair, “I think if we all put in a effort to talk or text regularly, no distance could force our little group apart.”

You turn to face Taeyoung, who chewed his bottom lip nervously. His eyes shone like diamonds from the reflection of the sky, and you couldn’t help the grin that came across your face.

“It’s all about doing your part to nurture the relationship, y’know?” You concluded, taking your pen out and having one last hit of it before throwing it haphazardly in the cup holder.

“I guess you’re right... I’m just scared because it’ll be really different.” Taeyoung hummed. He picked at his nails, peeling the polish you did a week ago off them.

“Different doesn’t mean bad,” You replied, before smiling playfully and grabbing his hand to stop him from picking off the nail polish, “Hey, don’t pick off all my hard work!” Taeyoung chuckled at you, looking down at his fingernails and then back at you.

“Sorry.” He said and laced his fingers in between yours, “You’re right. everything will be okay. Besides, we will all move at some point, right?” You hummed in agreement, turning to look out the window again at the river.

Taeyoung’s hand was warm in yours; he felt clammy from the summer humidity, but it fit almost perfectly in yours. Like it was meant to belong there...

You sat in a comfortable silence for a few moments, nothing heard but the sound of crickets in the reeds by the river and the quiet melody of the song playing on Taeyoung’s phone.

That’s how it was with Taeyoung, comfortable.

You and him had always been close, you’d even go as far as saying he was your best friend in your little group of friends. But more recently, you’d been feeling a bit awkward around Taeyoung after an incident that happened that planted this annoying thought in the back of your head...

Jungmo had a party about a month ago at his house; His parents were out of town that weekend, so of course all of your friends were invited, plus a few other people you graduated with. Well, of course that lead to a bunch more people showing up (people you didn’t really know), but nobody really minded at the end of the day, since the more the merrier for it.

You, Taeyoung and a few of your other friends were sitting out in the backyard, overall having a good time. There were a few other people around, but you didn’t really notice to much; you were absolutely high at the time, as was Taeyoung and the boys from your friend group which were sitting with you.

“No you’re not listening to me (Y/N)!” Woobin shouted, taking slow, long blinks while putting his hands up in defense, “You would need to go to the boat, Like they do in the movie.”

“no no! I’d just swim around until the flood ended,” You argued, crossing your arms, “Besides, they didn’t even get to the boat in the movie, they just stood up on a rock and the water went away.”

“But the water only went away because of that dumbass squirrel and it’s acorn!” Woobin said with a huff, “Besides, you’ll get tired after swimming for a while. The only way to survive is getting on the boat.”

“What are you two arguing over? I can hear you yelling from inside...” Allen said with a drunken giggle, closing the patio door behind him as he sat down and cracked open the can of beer in his hand.

“How we would survive if we were in Ice Age, The Meltdown.” Taeyoung explained, grinning as he tossed his dab pen to Allen, “Ruby insists you’d die without getting to the boat and (Y/N) thinks they could just swim around until the water went away.”

“You’re both wrong and stupid,” Wonjin said playfully, wagging his finger around the circle before tapping on his head, “I’d just climb up onto the ice wall honestly.” You all let out exclamations in protest, talking about the water coming from the ice wall and Allen let out a hearty laugh at your antics.

“Youngtae,” You huffed in a whiny voice, leaning your head on his shoulder and sticking your lip out in a pout, “You think I could swim to survive, right?”

“If we are going based on the events of the movie,” Taeyoung hummed, tapping his chin clumsily while pretending to think, “I think you could swim for long enough to survive.”

“Ha!” You shouted, sticking your finger in Woobin’s face with a satisfied smile, “See? Youngtae agrees with me, which means I win!” You giggled happily and leaned more into Taeyoung, who slung his arm around your shoulder lazily.

“Whatever, I’m not listening to dumb and dumber.” Woobin said while rolling his eyes. You and Taeyoung immediately began bicker on who was dumb and who was dumber.

“I’m going in to get something to eat, anyone wanna come or need me to bring anything?” Woobin stood from his spot on the lawn and stretching his arms up over his head. Wonjin murmured something about chips while laying on his back and counting the blades of grass near his face. Allen shook his head no, before taking a sip of the drink he had in his hand.

“I wanna come! I have to pee anyways.” Taeyoung cheered, lifting you off of him to stand up. You grabbed onto Taeyoung’s arm and asked for a drink of water, to which Taeyoung acknowledged with a ‘roger that!’; then the two boys went inside, closing the patio door behind them leaving you with Wonjin and Allen and the few strangers from before. It was a girl you didn’t recognize accompanied by a guy you went to high school with, but didn’t really talk to, since he was a few grades above you.

“Hey guys, I think I took too much weed.” Wonjin said with a sigh, flicking the grass lazily, “My eyes feel like they are made of liquid and my body feels like it weighs a million pounds.”

“My mouth is just super dry...” You said, smacking your lips and touching your tongue with your index finger, “My thongue theels like thandpaper”

“You guys should have just had alcohol instead then,” Allen boasted, grabbing your arm to take your finger out of your mouth. He let out a little giggle, rubbing the back of his neck bashfully, “I mean, I had waaaaaayyy too much so I’m not any better off.”

“You probably came outside to make sure you didn’t puke on Jungmo’s carpet...” You hummed, earning a ‘bingo’ from Allen, who chuckled along with you before taking another swig from his beer and then setting the can down in the grass.

“You’ll be fine, Taeyoung is bringing you water for your precious tongue.” Wonjin said and sat up, pulling his phone out and turning it on only to put it back in his pocket. He then smiles gently to himself and snickering, “And Ruby is bringing me chips so I’ll be fine too, hehe....”

“You guys didn’t need anything, right?” Allen asked the strangers sitting off to the side. You turned to look at them and giving them both a polite smile, which they reciprocated.

“No we’re good.” The dude said simply, turning to the girl beside him and kissing her cheek with a grin. She leaned further into him as he pulled her closer, “Right baby?”

“Yeah, we are good.” She smiled at him before looking at you sweetly, “So, how long have you been dating?”

“....Huh?” You asked, furrowing your eyebrows at her, “Dating who?”

Just then, The patio door opened to reveal Woobin with a bag of tortilla chips and Taeyoung with two glasses of water in his hand.

“We have come bearing gifts!” Woobin cheered, throwing the bag of chips down onto the grass only for it to be snatched up quickly by Wonjin. Taeyoung gave you the glass gingerly, before sitting back down beside you with his own glass.

“What happened while we were gone?” Taeyoung asked, looking around at all the members in the little group.

“I was just asking your partner how long you two had been dating for?” The girl said, nodding her head towards you. You felt your eyes widen and your face heat up, as you quickly stared down at the grass. The girl turned to the boy beside her and placed a quick kiss on his lips, “Me and Christopher have been together for only a few months now, but it feel like its been forever. I was just wondering how long have you been dating for?”

“Me and (Y/N).... Uhhh...” Taeyoung mumbled, clearly taken aback by this girl’s question. He scooted a bit away from you, brushing his hair out of his face. The other boys looked between the two of you awkwardly, as you kept your eyes trained in your lap and the grass below.

“We aren’t a couple actually.... Just good friends, that’s all.” Taeyoung replied, embarrassment clear by the tone of his voice and the redness rising from his neck up to his ears. The girl had gone pale, letting out a quiet ‘oh’ before silence fell over the group.

“I’m sorry I assumed.” She apologized quickly, “You guys are just so touchy with each other and I saw the matching bracelets so I assumed. I’m really sorry.”

“It’s fine, you didn’t know.” Taeyoung laughed awkwardly, picking at his fingernails and looking anywhere but you beside him. You couldn’t bring yourself to look up at all. You felt your stomach sink and a horrible feeling of nausea washed over you as you tapped the edge of your water glass.

It went silent again, and you felt like everyone was holding their breath. You hated it. Were you and Taeyoung too clingy? Did people really think you guys were dating. There is no way you’d ever date Taeyoung, he’s your best friend! Why did you feel like your stomach was doing back flips and your face was on fire? You hated this whole situation; it was all too much for you right now.

You lazily checked your phone, pretending to look at the time before you downed your glass of water. You stood up, earning the attention of the rest of the group.

“Its pretty late and I had too much weed, so I’m going to go to bed.” You said with a weak smile, nodding to the couple of strangers, “Nice to meet you both.”

“Are you sure, (Y/N)?” Allen asked, standing up too. He gave you a subtle look of pity as you nodded, plastering a fake smile on your face. You felt like you were hyperventilating with all the eyes on you. It was all to much for you in this state.

“Good night boys.” You mumbled before retreating back inside, not sparing a glance at Taeyoung. Why did this situation make you so anxious. And why did this make you question your relationship with Taeyoung? Was your relationship perceived as more then friends by most people? Aren’t friends clingy anyways, or was it to a different degree you and Taeyoung? But most importantly, why did the idea of dating him not sound so bad to you when you really thought about it? You were going to be sick if you thought about it longer.

It was too much, so you pushed those thoughts as you retreated to Jungmo’s spare room and lock the door behind you, not to come out until the next morning, where nobody brought it up, not even Taeyoung.

Even when you hung out with him a week later, and then last week too, Taeyoung didn’t mention the incident at all, but you both knew it caused a change in the comfortability of your relationship...

It felt strange to hold Taeyoung’s hand after the incident. You weren’t sure what happened after you went to bed, but you were feeling a sense a relief that he did hold your hand when he needed it. It was a sign that maybe your relationship could be going back to normal maybe? Taeyoung brushed his thumb subconsciously over the back of your hand. Now buried in the relief arose a strange feeling, the one where your stomach was doing flips and your started to feel a bit warmer and that little thought of dating him crawled its way out of the back of your brain.

“Your hand is super sweaty dude.” Taeyoung laughed, giving it a little squeeze. You let out a laugh too, releasing his hand and wiping yours on your pant leg.

“Sorry, I guess I’m a little hot right now.” You confessed, “I shouldn’t have worn this shitty jacket...”

“I love that jacket, even though it’s so old and shitty,” Taeyoung said playfully, leaning over to grab near the pocket and smiling when he felt the crispy outline of a burn hole, “I remember when we all went camping last summer and you got hit by a stray spark from the campfire and it burned this hole in it. I remember you standing up so fast and me and you patting it out before it could burn you.” He chuckled at the memory, looking up at your face as you felt around the burn hole too.

“That was fun, minus me almost getting lit on fire.” You said grinning at the fond memory before looking at Taeyoung in the eyes, “We should go camping again sometime. Although, preferably when it’s not so hot outside.”

“If you’re really that hot, we could go for a swim in the river?” Taeyoung suggested nonchalantly, the corners of his mouth curling up into a cat-like grin.

“I’d love to, but do I look like I’m wearing a swimsuit stupid?” You chuckled, gesturing to your body before laughing a bit at the idea.

“Not a problem!” Taeyoung hummed, before surprising you by suddenly tugging his shirt up and over his head. Your eyes went from his bare torso back up to his face with a look of shock.

“It’s nothing you haven’t seen before because being in your underwear is basically the same thing as being in a swimsuit,” Taeyoung deduced, opening his car door and starting to undo his belt. His torso seemed to glow in the moonlight from the sheen sweat from the summer heat; he must have been just as hot as you were, but somehow you started to feel it even worse now that Taeyoung was more exposed. You couldn’t take your eyes off him and you felt your heart squeeze a bit, which was increasingly concerning.

“You coming or..?” Taeyoung asked with a smile, leaning down to make eye contact with you. His hands dipped into the top of his jeans, however he did not pull them down yet. You realized he was waiting for you to agree before doing so, which made you feel much more comfortable.

You thought for a moment. You knew this wasn’t a good idea, as the little voice in your head that arose form the party was getting stronger and you could feel the rational part of your head be clouded over by not only your other thoughts, but also the haze of your weed kicking in. You chewed you lip nervously before smiling softly back at Taeyoung.

“Fine Youngtae. Fuck it. It’s too hot” You sighed, taking your jacket off before stepping out of the car too. You piled all your clothing (besides your undergarments) haphazardly on the passenger seat and placed your shoes on the car floor in front of the seat. Now that you were out of the car in nothing but your underwear, you felt the coolness of the night air. However, you still felt just as hot, if not worse. You couldn’t shake the nervous feeling in the pit of your stomach or the beating of your heart the felt like it was going a million miles an hour from adrenaline.

Your nervousness must have showed, because you could hear a hearty laugh come from your best friend as he walked around to the front of the car.

“Relax a bit dude, it’s just me here.” He said, brushing his hair back once more. You refused to look anywhere south of his belly button, for your own sanity, but you did notice his boxers being a ugly plaid pattern from your peripheral.

“If I would have known you’d be seeing my underwear, I’d have worn nicer ones...” You said, trying to sound as casual as possible, but inside your body was on fire. Your brain was shutting down and your body felt jittery and nervous.

“Don’t worry about that, you look fine.” Taeyoung complimented, making your stomach drop. Taeyoung walked past you, going down to the very edge and walking along it, calling after you. “Come on, slow poke! The shallow area should be around here..”

You shook your head, trying to get a hold of yourself; taking a deep breath and following Taeyoung to the shallow part where people usually swam during the day. He stepped off the bank and into the water, having it come up to his ankles when he let out a few curses and curled his fingers into fists at his side.

“Brrrr! Its freezing!” He cried out, wincing at you as you laughed at how cute he was, “I’m going to become a Young-sicle after this I’m sure...”

“I guess I’ll be a (Y/N)-sicle then,” You said, stepping in beside him and feeling a shiver immediately run up your legs from the cold water. Your eyes meet Taeyoung and you both burst out in laughter at the knowing look of biting cold that you both are experiencing.

Taeyoung begins to wade out a bit further, complaining the whole time when you get an evil idea. You follow him, water getting up to around your knees with your grin growing as you close the distance between the two of you, so that you are are now standing maybe a couple feet away from each other again.

“Hey Youngtae!” You called to him to get his attention. He turned to look at you and before he had time to react, you dig your hands into the ice cold water and splash him. He shrieked due to the surprise of water hitting his body and the cool temperature of it of his skin. You laughed at his reaction, quickly doing a few more splashes so he doesn’t have time to recover, getting water all the way up to near his face.

“Quit it! It’s freezing!” He places his hands out to try and block the water from hitting him. Your laughter quickly goes from joyous to scared as he starts wading over to you.

“No wait! I’m sorry!” You said through a fit of giggles, weakly splashing at him to try and keep him away, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Youngtae, don’t!”

“You should have thought about that before you splashed me, stupid.” He giggled back, grabbing onto your arm and pulling you towards him so he can wrap his arms around your frame. You let out a squeal as he lifted you a bit, dragging you into deeper water.

“Youngtae, please don’t! I’m sorry.” You struggled against his iron grip, smacking his arms playfully, but you felt the chuckle leaving his chest as he held you still in the water.

“Sorry,” He hummed sarcastically, “Next time don’t start something you can’t finish.”

With that, Taeyoung quickly lifted you off your feet and promptly dunked you in the water, almost crushing you by laying down over you, just to make sure you couldn’t avoid the icy plunge. You screamed from the cold, while Taeyoung sucked air through his teeth at the freezing water rushing over his back. He let you go and you quickly spun around to face him before smacking him on the shoulder.

“Kim Taeyoung I swear, you’re dead meat!” You scolded while giggling at him. His expression mirrored your own, with only a slight hint of pride residing in his features.

“Hey! You were the one who splashed me first!” Taeyoung laughed, leaning back to sit in the shallow water; he crossed his legs, letting the water comfortably wade just under his collar bones. You mumbled in agreement, letting your laughter die down before you sat beside him.

The cool water was frigid at first, but after a few seconds of getting used to it, it felt refreshing. You let out a sigh of relief, feeling the heat from earlier subside even a little bit as you closed your eyes. You and Taeyoung were silent, just listening to the sound of the running water and the faint tune of Taeyoung’s car radio fill the air.

That is, until you best friend broke the silence.

“Hey, uhm.” He mumbled, causing you to open your eyes and look at him; you almost wished you didn’t. He looked beautiful, hair slightly damp, tan skin shining, soft eyes trained on you with his bottom lip slightly tucked between his teeth.

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something.” Taeyoung continued, scooting closer to you, causing the water around the two of you to ripple; much like the butterflies that arrive in your stomach from the possibilities of this conversation.

“What is it?”

“Well, I..... uhm.”

“Youngtae.” You said flatly, expression softening as you reached out for his arm to place a comforting touch to it, “talk to me.”

You could tell Taeyoung was anxious from the way his eyebrows furrowed and how his lips were pulled into a thin line. He had the same look before the talent show in middle school; It was the first time he performed in front of anyone and he was so nervous he almost threw up. But, just like now, you were there for him to make sure he was okay.

Like you’d always be.

He let out a sigh, before looking away from you, “I wanted to talk about what happened.. Y’know... at the party.”

It was your turn to be anxious now, body freezing up before you turned to look away too, focusing on the way the moon reflected off the dark water. Was this it? Did Taeyoung not want to be your friend anymore because of how you acted at the party? Did he think you were disgusted with the possibility of dating him? Would he be weirded out if he found out you felt quite the opposite?

“Look, I’m sorry.” He started out, struggling to find the words, “I know you were really uncomfortable and I.... I should have been more aware of how my behavior can be perceived by others. I know that we are just friends and I shouldn’t be so clingy...”

“Please don’t apologize! You didn’t do anything wrong.” You quickly countered, looking down at the way your body distorted through the water. You wanted nothing more than to drown yourself there.

You were the one who froze up and didn’t say a word. You were the one who left him alone to deal with the situation. You were the one who was slowly growing relationship-changing feelings... “It should be me who is apologizing.”

“For what?!” Taeyoung gasped, whipping his head to look at you.

“For making you think that I was upset with you! For leaving and making it awkward between us.”

“You weren’t upset?”

“No.” You huffed out, feeling your face heat up. You take your cold hands out of the water to pat your cheeks gently as you let out a sigh. Your mind felt cloudy and your heart beat went steady against your chest. You blamed the weed for allowing the truth to tumble out of your mouth, “I should apologize because I’m still making it awkward between us...”

“How so?” He mumbled, eyes burning holes into the side of your face as you looked out at the other shoreline. You heaved a heavy sigh, hanging you head before letting all the true thoughts and feelings you’ve been having spill out.

“Because I can’t stop thinking about how much I love you.” You confessed, words flowing from your lips much easier than you anticipated, “Not in a platonic, ‘we are best friends!’ way, but in a ‘I think about you all the time and want to wake up next to you everyday’ kind of way. I didn’t realize it until the party, but I am in love with you and I maybe always have been.”

The silence was deafening, with the only sound being the thumping of a nervous heart and the rushing of the cold water surrounding you. You drop you head, feeling the weight of what you just said.

Taeyoung was quiet beside you, seemingly from shock or being deep in thought.

You allowed the silence only for a moment before you turned to look at him. You couldn’t bear the uneasiness any longer.

“I’m so sorry.” You mumbled, your gaze catching his, “I know we are just frien-”

Taeyoung quickly cut you off by rushing forward, placing a hasty kiss on you lips. It was so quick, you weren’t even sure if it happened as you just stared at him, too stunned to speak.

He...

He kissed you?

“I’m sorry, I should have asked before I did that!” Taeyoung huffed out, running one of his wet hands through his hair as he smiled, mouth slightly agape. You noticed the redness creeping up his neck and cheeks.

“I... I’m just.” He stutters, brain seemingly short-circuited before he cleared his throat and took a deep breath to collect himself, “I just never thought you’d like me back.” “You... like me?” You asked, heart leaping into your throat.

“Well duh!” He giggled, “I mean, I thought I was pretty obvious about my feelings for you, but I just assumed you never saw me as anything more than a friend. And I’m more than happy to just be a part of your life.”

“Wow, I must’ve be blind...”

“No, just stupid.”

“Okay, that’s a bit uncalled for.”

“Sorry.” Taeyoung hummed, shifting to tuck his knees up against his chest as he wrapped his arms around them. He chewed his bottom lip nervously as his eyes darted down to the dark murky water, “So..?”

“So?”

“Now what?”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know!” Taeyoung huffed exasperated , throwing his hands in the air, causing the water around the two of you to ripple. “Are we still just friends or....” He let his voice trail on, giving you a hopeful look, “Does this change everything?”

“I mean,” You spoke softly, feeling the heat rise to your face. Why was it all of a sudden so hard to talk to Taeyoung? You felt like you were choking on the words as you cleared your throat and meekly whispered, “I wouldn’t mind a change...”

Taeyoung nodded, smile slowly spreading across his face as he registered what you said. He turned to you, scooting a bit closer so that your shoulders touched and your faces were a few inches apart.

“I think I’d like that too.” He whispered, voice just barely audible as his eyes wandered your facial features. Without another word more, you slowly leaned in, giving him plenty of time to move away before you placed you lips against his.

You were felling so many things at this moment; joy, excitement, nervousness. But above all else, you felt right.

Being here with Taeyoung, kissing him and letting yourself love him just felt right. Like it was all falling into place and meant to be. You thought about your future with your best friend and how that was all going to change; but you had hope that it would be for the better.

—————————

A/N: In my Taeyoung vibes and I just didn’t have a way to finish it so please forgive a rushed ending. I love this man SOOO much !! Believe it or not, he’s actually my main man in Cravity, even though I haven’t posted about him lol. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed!!!

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astraltrickster · 8 months

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Honestly though between AI discourse, fearmongering about basically every TOS change on every website ever, people noticing how alarming various levels of datamining are but not realizing how widespread it is and blaming all those things on singular websites, and so much more...holy fucking shit the level of computer and internet illiteracy in a population that is now so dependent on the internet is absolutely unconscionable and needs to be recognized as a MASSIVE societal failing.

"Did you know this website's TOS says they can use images you upload for ANY commercial purpose FOREVER? omg take all your stuff down NOW and stay safe!" They NEED to claim that right to display your work on a commercial website that intends to build new features over time in the first place. Fortunately for you, they know they'd lose a LOT of consumer trust if they suddenly opened up a marketplace that gave no money back to creators or otherwise started selling it and claiming all the money for themselves, because yeah, in this corporate hellscape, they probably WOULD if they could!

"I didn't consent to you scraping my image data for the 'more like this' function!" Yes you did, that's in the TOS that you didn't read, and even if you didn't Google would be doing it anyway as long as it's publicly available because legally no one can stop them.

"I can't believe they're not letting us block search engines from indexing our profiles now, only letting us discourage them, what an evil thing of this website to do!" That's all you were able to do in the first place. If it is publicly available, there is no way to block it from being indexed. Most search engines respect do-not-index requests - in fact, it's in their own best interest to do so for both consumer trust AND saving computing power - but legally and technologically there is no way to stop a webcrawler from just looking at those flags and going "how about I do anyway?" short of login-walling it or otherwise making it unavailable to the general public.

"Oh wow these geoguessr guys are impressive!" And terrifying. They should serve as a very valuable reminder to be extremely careful with what shows up in the backgrounds of your photos. You don't want to get doxxed just because someone thought it'd be cool to show off their nifty skills, especially if you're a marginalized person in any way.

"This website's TOS says they'll turn you over to the cops, never work with these evil bootlickers!" They are actually required to comply with warrants and subpoenas or else face the consequences for what YOU do themselves, and they don't know you from Adam, so why would they??? Don't use public commercial websites to talk about doing illegal shit if you don't want to get caught??? Some platforms can protect themselves by not keeping logs TO turn over in the first place (many of the better VPNs, for instance, have this as a selling point), but those have their own unique risks and it STILL doesn't protect you from people recognizing your photos or cross-platform username or other info and tracing it to platforms that DO keep logs. Yes, there are some companies that are worse than others - Facebook, for example, is notorious for volunteering info to the cops even when no one asked and the crime committed was to save a life, because they're fucking awful - but this is something you should EXPECT.

"Look at all these permissions that this platform demands! What are they doing with that!?" Yeah, it IS horrifying, now realize that none of that is unique to that platform. No, none of it is unique to Twitter, or Threads, or Bluesky, or TikTok - and the latter of which is ESPECIALLY not an excuse to pull out some racist conspiracy theories about Evil Chinamen Spying On Us Through Our Poor Innocent Youths. It is the result of 20+ years of boiling the frog when it comes to end user data protection. It's why the word "spyware" went from being a description of something we widely knew was bad to a word that old farts (like me I fucking GUESS) yell at clouds because it describes the majority of the modern internet and hardly anyone fucking notices or cares. It's only likely to get worse if shit like KOSA passes. You SHOULD be mad - but not at any one specific platform...except maybe Facebook. Arguably. Not necessarily because they're worse than any other (though they are worse than average), but because they are the one that normalized this shit.

Genuinely, I want to take this moment to call for anyone who has been disturbed by something like this to please, PLEASE, take a brief break from Posting until you take a moment to read up just a LITTLE bit on internet safety and infosec, because this entire situation with these kinds of expectations being so widespread is...not good.

#internet safety #serious tag

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djcarnationsblog · 2 years

Note

[Prompt !! ]

Dee but he sleeps like...cat

And his family just found out

CATDEE-

...

Why did Glam not know of this sooner?

He prided himself in taking the time to know about his kids, from hobbies and likes, to dislikes and troubles. Glam liked knowing that he could easily interact with his kids in ways in which please them, and he simply likes knowing that his kids are, well, good kids.

This? This thing he didn't know about? It was so cute.

He didn't know what to expect when Ches came to his office, a dopey grin on his face as he practically dragged him from the office, down the stairs to the living room. Glam thought that perhaps the man finally got enough money to buy a better guitar, and wanted to show him.

But no, it was much better. Even Vicky and Heavy were there, respectively holding expressions of astonishment, then pure confusion.

When Glam was able to follow their gaze to the couch, he had to surpress a snort.

It was Dee, and he was sleeping. Better yet, sleeping like a cat. Curled up on the literal top of the couch for who knows what reason, lightly snoring away with his phone held limply in his hand.

It was so cute, Glam couldn't help but hold up his phone (after checking the flash and noise) and taking a few quick pictures, stifling his laughter.

"When did this start happening?" he muttered to his wife, who shrugged with a shake of her head, clearly just as amused as he was.

"What, do we have a full grown cat now?" Heavy interrupted, causing Vicky to snort. "He's a cat now. Oh no." Glam spoke teasingly.

Glam shuffled over to the couch, sitting down on it as he gestured to the kitchen, where a (conveniently place) roll of tinfoil lay. Ches was quick to catch on, snickering his ass off as he grabbed the roll and left the room, to tear a few of them off without disturbing the sleeping teen.

He came back a bit later, and the two were quick to start surrounding Glam's son with tin foil. Heavy was silently wheezing in the background, find it funny how they treated Dee like a literal cat.

Once they had finished their devious preparations, Ches went into the fridge and got out some pre-sliced cucumbers, placing them on top of the tin foil for maximum hilarity. God did Glam wanna shake that man senseless, trying instead not to breakdown laughing. He noticed Vicky recording and oh was this gonna be good.

Ches backed away, and so did Glam, looking at them all as he grinned almost deviously. Taking a second, he a finger, took a deep breath...

And whistled with deafening pitch.

It startled Dee awake in an instant, letting out a yelp as he did. He barely even processed what was going on, mind too foggy of sleep to actually identify the shininess around him as tinfoil, and the green around him as cucumbers.

But he let out a scream anyways cause clearly his mind must have seen something different, and clearly jumpstarted some kind of fright machine in him.

And he fell off the couch.

The family almost crumbled to the ground in laughter.

Dee jumped up with a start, knocking off some of the prank material as he whipped his head around, finally processing what in the world just happened. And that red shade of embarrassment consuming his face was worth it.

"DAMNIT DAD!" He exclaimed, immediately accusing (and rightly so) of his father being the originator of the chaos. "What was that for!?"

"I'm sorry! I just made a huge discovery that my son was half a cat! Can you believe it?" Dee's face of incredulity said otherwise, but Glam just thought that made it all even funnier.

"Our own fluffy kitten to snuggle with!" Vicky came in, Dee unable to escape her bear hug, though he desperately tried. "No!! No, I am not a cat- mOm!" his voice cracked in surprise when Vicky pulled him up from under the arms, shaking him around joyously.

"AAAAGH! I hate you!" Dee exclaimed, writhing in her grasp all he could. Glam wasn't gonna do it again, he knew that, he would let his son sleep like that if he wished. But he just had to do that, the idea was brilliant!!

At least he didn't mean the screams of hatred!

#DJC Drabbles #metal family #dee metal family #heavy metal family #vicky metal family #glam metal family #ches metal family

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pretzel-mansion · 4 months

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After about 13 years of constantly fighting wars on every continent - including Antarctica ‐ the United States made the decision to "Reinstate world peace once and for all" by "Rendering all foreign hostile nations incapable of counterattack through the careful implementation of weapons of mass destruction". On August 22nd, 2037, as you can probably expect, things went MAD. Some lucky few died quickly & immediately, most died in the coming few years, but a select few were actually able to survive for a respectable amount of time.

I was one of those select few, one of the best, actually. I don't need to explain all of the details as to how I survived, but let's just say military bunkers are surprisingly well-stocked with a variety of items. The only issue with my bunker-hiding strategy were the robotic weapons of war that were left there, as well as the irradiated mutants that would crawl in. But so long as I kept my eyes on the robots and the mutant's many eyes off me, I was fine. At a certain point, however, I knew I was done for. When all hope seemed lost, I hugged my daughter for the last time before passing away.

My time after death was not peaceful, but instead pure cacophony. Absolute, ear shatteringly loud noise blasted directly into my eardrums. I couldn't even make an attempt to physically block the noise, for I no longer had hands to move nor ears to cover. It sounded like millions and billions of voices, all competing to be heard the loudest. As I began to make sense of it, I could make out... boos? There were plently of other noises clogging up the airspace, but there was a resounding sound of 'boo'. I would've wondered if I was in some stupid ghost-hell version of the afterlife, but the type of boo confused me. It wasn't the 'boo!' that ghosts in horror movies would use to scare, it was the 'booooooooo' that sports fans would use to shame the losing team. I try to ask what is going on, but I am not even sure I said anything, given my lack of mouth and throat. If I did, it would've been drowned out by the boos anyways. Eventually the boos were being drowned out by a resounding 'shhhhhhh', which in turn was being drowned out by silence. A welcome but now foreign sensation, which allowed my attention to finally focus itself on a different sense - sight.

I could see a man in survival gear, sneaking through the jungle. I have a strange perpective of him, as if a drone with a camera was hovering above. If the man saw that drone, he paid it no mind. I tried to look elsewhere, but I could not. I was focused on this man, and I could feel the source of the boos and shhhs were focused as well. He must've been the last one alive on this now-hell-planet. He appeared to be searching for something, while trying to stay as hidden as possible. What he was looking for I had no idea. We followed him for days as he quietly snuck around bird-like apes and giant monsters, which must've been other creatures cruelly made by the radiation. A constant chatter would begin to form from the voices, but it was always too chaotic to parse, and the man heard none of it. The noise soon became just background to me while spectating him. Eventually, the man found what he was searching for. It looked almost exactly like a cargo crate, except covered in vines and strapped with rockets. Cheers erupted from the voices, and the man began booking it towards the crate excitedly - and uncharacteristically loudly. He enters the crate, revealing a ship-like interior, and pulls the lever at the base of the crate-ship's monitor. A roar bellows behind him, somehow more deafening than the voices. Some sort of mutant creature, with a face entirely consumed by its massive mouth, lunged towards him. He screamed in terror for a split second before joining the voices. Cacophony eruputed once again, with a unified:

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

Our vision shifts to outside this crate-ship, as its autopilot flies it out into space. Suddenly, my vision is taken over by a red box absolutely littered with names, with text spilling out everywhere. The bottom is legible:

"ALL SCRAP LOST"

I can't believe we wiped on a tier 1 planet.

#just a fun lil story #nothing to see here

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brokenmusicboxwolfe · 9 months

Text

I had intended to post photos from the convention tonight, but honestly I am as too depressed.

To be clear, this was NOT the fault of the convention. It’s a lovely convention full of enthusiastic and friendly people. I’m sure the majority will remember it joyously, as they should.

Now I did go into the convention with several disadvantages. On top of the lack of sleep, the trip began with a flat tire! (What is it with me going to this convention and flat tires?!?!) My money situation was worse than I’d expected and I couldn’t get my blasted ankle brace and boots on without agony.

At the convention I had an extreme excess of pain and serious lack of funds, neither of which makes for a ton of fun when you are spending seven hours walking around in a room full of people selling very nice things they’ve frequently put their heart and souls into. I was walking about with my sleep deprived brain only able to focus on PAIN.

See, my nature is to wander around chatting with everyone I can. I then divide up what money I have and buy some little things from as many people as I can. The more love and enthusiasm they have, the less I worry about whether it’s my thing. Over the years I’ve bought a lot of really bad comics from people I want to encourage to keep creating.

This year I just didn’t have it in me. I didn’t have the energy. I especially didn’t have the money.

When I did I talked the pain was screeching away in the background. And when folks found out I was too broke to spend, they naturally would lose interest in chatting. Sometimes it wasn’t even about the money when they would turn away as I was mid sentence.

The problem is me. Boring, useless, broke me. I’m not interesting or funny or whatever it is people like. I can’t even plug into any fandom deeply enough to be embraced. I like geeky, nerdy stuff, but I don’t have a single passion.

In the past I have been better at this. Maybe it’s like when people starve for weeks they can’t launch into a four course meal. Their bodies can’t take it. I’ve finally gone too long on my, too little human connection. I’ve starved for people, and when thrown into a room of them I’m a wreck.

I dunno. A room full of people, and everyone either with or meeting up with someone. Families. Friends. It reminds me of my being alone.

I did try to call Mom at the con. I struggled to find a place away from all the noise, but it didn’t matter. I couldn’t get her.

Somehow I just felt like such a damn freak. I wanted to feel a sense of belonging, amid folks that actually know the things I enjoy and many that actually make things. But even among geeks I’m a weirdo in so many ways. I won’t make a list. I’m too tired and sad. No point in dwelling on it. I belong nowhere. That’s just the nature of being me.

The trouble is a part of me lives in hope. I hope that this time someone will like me. This time I will make a friend. I will find some sense of connection, of belonging, a break from my isolation….

A bit much to ask of just seven hours wandering around a convention center full of strangers. I’m not special enough to pull that off. Weird, odd, but not appealing.

Again, just the nature of being me. All these decades it shouldn’t bother me. It bothers me

On a minor note about the con, my concern my Discworld shirt would inspire people to expect me to know about the subject proved utterly unfounded. I had several people ask me what the shirt was about, never having heard of Discworld or Terry Pratchett. If anyone knew they didn’t say anything. It’s a rather obscure fandom in these parts.

Anyway, this is too long a vent. The con is over for another year. I’m depressed and lonely and am feeling a sense of despair.

The central point is simply I am doomed to be an outsider. I feel a bit like someone that put their hand out as they were falling and failed to catch anything. Maybe I need to finally accept that there isn’t any point in trying anymore?

So back to another year of being alone in my hick town where not a damn person shares a single one of my interests, and 90% of my time is spent alone on the farm, in the woods or whatever.

Oh well. I’m not entirely alone. Maybe some of the animals sorta love me and I can “make friends” by sculpting them badly into being….

#my day #greenville nc comic con #depressed #i wish I could feel a sense of home

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i-hazbin-drawing · 2 years

Text

A Chance in Hell Chapter 3

Pairing: Alastor/Original Female Character

Rating: M

Chapter Specific Warnings: None

Word Count: ~11.3k

Ao3 link: Here

Prologue < Chapter 1 < Chapter 2 <You Are Here> Chapter 4

Don’t Get it Twisted

“It’s a balmy 90° Fahrenheit out today with clear skies as far as the eye can see. The temperature is on a steady climb with an expected high of 105° around 6:00 this evening, low of 50° near midnight tonight. Make sure to utilize those layers!”

The sudden voice echoing into the room caused Gwen to stir in her bed, grumbling as she shoved her face further into the pillows lining the headboard. A heavy fog swirled through her mind as the comforting weight of unconsciousness called back to her. It would be so easy to give in, cradled by an abundance of plushy softness as if she were floating along a cloud rather than snuggled up underneath her covers. She couldn’t remember her bed ever feeling quite this comfortable. Sure, a bed always felt like heaven in the early morning, but this was on a completely different level. Never before had the lull of sleep ever been this persuasive. Was it really already time to get up for work? Surely a few more minutes wouldn’t hurt.

As she rolled lazily to her side, face still firmly pressed into a pillow to avoid the morning light, she stretched an arm towards her nightstand. The buzzing voice from the radio carried on, barely registering in her mind as she searched for the source of the noise. It was actually quite strange. As far back as she could remember, she couldn’t recall ever having been woken by any sort of news report before. At least, not on her usual station of choice. No, instead she could usually look forward to the tunes of Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington or perhaps Tommy Dorsey to get her swinging each morning. It certainly was a great way to start the day when she knew in the back of her mind that the rest of it was only sure to disappoint her. However, as her hand reached to snooze the radio, the most peculiar thing happened. Her radio had seemingly disappeared.

A small noise of confusion escaped her as her hand met open air. She lowered her hand further, fingertips grazing cold, solid wood where her radio should have been as she patted the bare surface. Had she knocked it over in the middle of the night? She wasn’t normally a fidgeter in her sleep, but anything was possible. Her hand traced along the cool top of the nightstand, sliding towards the wall in search of the outlet. If she could just get to the plug, she should be able to pull the radio back within reach easily enough. Better than actually getting up to grab the thing, anyway. Not when she was as comfortable as she was.

Instead of an outlet beside the bed, however, her hand met nothing but smooth wallpaper in its place. Not a bump or scratch to be found. She groaned and rolled over further in mild irritation, trying to block out the ever droning voice in the background as she doubled her efforts to locate the missing radio plug. As she searched in vain, a thought struck her, causing her hand to freeze along the wall. Wallpaper? Wait… since when did she have wallpaper?

As she peeked out from behind one of the many pillows nestled around her, a quite unwelcome sight greeted her. A smile as bright as sunshine, and just as yellow to match, beamed at her from across the room while a pair of red eyes stared down into her own. Gwen yelped, immediately scrambling on top of the bed to put as much distance between herself and the demon as possible. A loud bang sounded as she slipped off the side of the bed, tumbling through the covers as she ducked behind the edge of the mattress. She was in fact not back in her bedroom at all. She wasn’t even in her old apartment, or the living world for that matter. She was still in hell.

“Jesus Christ!” she shouted from the floor. Her hands gripped tightly at the covers twisting between herself and the top of the bed, heart pounding beneath her ribcage as she fought to catch her breath. All thoughts of sleep had completely vanished from her mind. A sudden, eerie, old-timey laugh track sounded throughout the room, causing Gwen to peek up from her hiding spot.

“My dear, I do believe you’ve gotten things a bit turned around,” said Alastor from the other side of the room, chuckling to himself.

Gwen looked at him in disbelief before her mouth tightened into a thin line. So it hadn’t been a dream after all. She watched as the cheerful demon grabbed a hold of the curtains lazily hanging at either side of the window and opened them further, letting the bright morning light pierce into the room in full. Gwen winced, lifting a hand to block the offending rays.

“What are you doing in my room?” she asked in agitation, still trying to recover from her near heart attack. Alastor grinned over his shoulder before twisting the rest of his body around to face her. She ducked further behind the mattress.

“Why, to rouse you for breakfast of course! I do apologize for entering a lady’s room unannounced,” he said, side eyeing the door to the hallway standing ajar at the other end of the room, “But after almost a full ten minutes without response, I felt it was my duty to check in for your own wellbeing.”

Gwen pulled herself up to her elbows, resting her head atop the mattress as her legs shifted against the carpet. She let out a huff. Had she really slept through all of his knocking? She had never been a heavy sleeper in all of her life. Though, as strange as it sounded, she was apt to believe him. It wasn’t like he had really done anything to make her mistrust him. Even if he was a bit… eccentric.

“Hey wait,” she said, pulling herself up further, still nervous about using her legs to stand. “Charlie told me I didn’t need to get up early today. We’re not supposed to go over things until later.”

Alastor tutted with a smirk, shaking his head as he twirled his microphone idly in one hand. Gwen watched him anxiously as his smile stretched wider, microphone now tapping against his chin thoughtfully.

“Yes and that’s all well and good but, if I remember correctly, it wasn’t Charlie whom you made a deal with, now was it?” he said and snapped his fingers. Almost instantly, the covers whipped out from around her and underneath her hands, sending her tumbling to the floor once again as the sheets pulled taut against the mattress–clean, pressed and good as new.

“Now, better hurry and get dressed. Breakfast will be held in 20 minutes sharp down in the dining hall. I expect to see you not a minute later!” he said, voice far too chipper for Gwen’s liking as she pushed herself up off of the carpet in a daze.

Before she could object, or begin to question exactly what she was even supposed to wear, Alastor had already slipped out of the room and into the hall. Her face fell as the door slammed shut. He certainly was bossy, wasn’t he? Then again, he actually was her boss in a sense. If the deal they made had any say in the matter, that is.

With a heavy sigh, she flopped her face back onto the now pristinely made bed and groaned in frustration into the mattress. So much for getting some extra sleep, she supposed. Oh well. Better just get to it then, no sense in putting off the inevitable.

Gwen huffed as she forced herself up onto her feet, bracing herself for the inevitable pain that was sure to follow. To her pleasant surprise, however, the aches and pain from the previous night remained mysteriously absent. She stared down at her legs poking out from underneath the borrowed nightgown. No bruises either. She lifted a hand to her face, inspecting her fingertips. The light scabbing had disappeared without a trace. She blinked and wiggled her fingers as a small smile pulled at the corner of her lips. How very peculiar. Was this how things always worked down here? Seemed a bit too gracious for hell in her opinion.

She looked back down at her crinkled nightgown and the smile slipped from her face. Alastor had said she would need to change before heading downstairs for breakfast, and as much as she sincerely wished that she could just crawl back into bed and skip the whole ordeal, she couldn’t ignore the gnawing ache inside her middle. It seemed there was at least one wound that hadn’t magically healed overnight. Almost as if on cue, her stomach gave a loud growl to accentuate this fact as she wrapped an arm around her hollow belly.

A grimace crossed her face. She hadn’t eaten since her lunch hour the previous day and it was starting to show. It was a miracle she hadn’t already starved to death by now with the way her luck had been the past few days. Though, the question still remained: Where on earth was she supposed to get more clothes to change into anyway?

As Gwen turned back towards the open window framing the increasingly familiar red sky, her eyes drifted back down to the nightstand beside the bed. A lump of white and pink fabric sat atop the previously bare wooden tabletop. She approached it hesitantly, eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. Those definitely hadn’t been there a minute ago, right? Or maybe she had just been too distracted by her own rude awakening to focus on anything other than the cheeky demon in her bedroom. Well, her hotel room anyway. This was most certainly not her bedroom. Her bedroom was back on the surface, cluttered with books, papers, notebooks and other various knickknacks. It definitely wasn’t some overly ritzy, gold plated monstrosity such as this.

She picked up the small pile of clothes to discover yet another dress waiting for her along with some rather long and warm looking socks. White and pink stripes coated them both as she held them in her hands. It was pretty obvious just by the style alone where these had come from, if the previous night was anything to go off of.

A surge of guilt spiked through her as her hand clenched at the dress. At this rate, she would just end up using up the poor girl’s entire closet. She really needed to find a way to get some clothes of her own instead of having to rely on the generosity of strangers. Though, the thought of actually investing in some sort of wardrobe down in this awful place was a little bit off putting. She didn’t want to feel as though she were settling down or anything. It wasn’t as if she had given up all hope of returning to the surface quite so soon. No, she just didn’t want to abuse the hospitality of the people–demons?–who had been so kind to accept and help her so readily. Just a few things of her own would be more than enough.

Then again, where was she going to get the money to pay for anything, let alone being able to find where to get the clothes themselves. She wasn’t exactly too keen on venturing back outside any time soon. Were they even going to pay her for working here? Or was her promised safety payment enough in their eyes? Besides that, was she even allowed to leave the hotel? No one had been really clear on the whole stipulations to staying there thing so far.

She sighed and shook her head. It was much too early to be filling her head with thoughts like this. She could spiral later after things had been taken care of for the day, just like she used to do back at home. For now, she would just need to get changed, make her way down to the dining hall, and figure out exactly what she had so carelessly signed herself up for the night prior. If she was lucky, it wouldn’t be anything too difficult. She could only hope that whatever it was, she would be able to stay up to their standards so she wouldn’t end up back on the street all by herself again. If she wanted to have any chance at getting back home, she would need to do whatever it was they wanted her to. Hopefully without any more outbursts on her part as well.

After finally managing to get her unruly curls to cooperate once she had finished changing into the clothes so kindly offered to her, Gwen stepped out into the hall. Several doors lined the wall across from her with golden numbers nailed to their fronts leading all the way down to the window at the far end of the hall. The same tinted sunlight from her own room filtered into the building, illuminating the many portraits hanging in between the doors. Charlie seemed to be featured in most of them, ranging far in age but always dressed in a different yet equally elaborate–and expensive–looking dress. Gwen tilted her head to the side in curiosity, stepping forward as she studied a particularly intricate painting. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she caught the gaze of one of the many disembodied eyes adorning the outer border to the frame. Goosebumps rose across the surface of her skin and she shivered. Why, oh why were those–those things all over the place? It was beyond unsettling. Perhaps she would need to ask Charlie if she could be relocated to another area of the hotel without so much… eye contact.

She seriously contemplated on asking to be moved, and not just for the uncomfortable atmosphere. As grateful as she was for Charlie giving her a room as extravagant as she had, and if a bit anxious as well over the whole ordeal, it had made her feel a bit guilty. Though the thought of asking was perhaps even more nerve-wracking than just accepting and sticking with it. She just wasn’t used to it was all.

As she recovered from her initial fright, another strange figure shifted out of the corner of her eye. She whipped her head to the side, staring down the other end of the narrow hallway towards the long archway leading to the stairs, a hand pressed over her speeding heart. For a moment everything remained still. Not a sound drifted through the hall as she kept her eyes trained on the shadows darkening the edge of the hall. She was certain she had seen something move only a moment ago. That, or this place was finally starting to get to her, and if she was being honest, she was actually surprised it had even taken this long. After another quiet moment, she took an uneasy step forward.

Her breath caught in her throat as the shadows warped at the end of the hall, a slim, wispy, black limb stretching out from the corner of the stairs, peeling itself from the wall as it stared back at her slowly widening eyes. The tips of the inky blob split, bending like smoke until a very clear silhouette of a hand shifted into view. Gwen gawked and took an anxious step back. Run, she should definitely run.

As Gwen stood rooted to the spot, the hand curled into a fist, a single finger pointing her way before beckoning her closer. She could do nothing but stare, a strangled noise escaping her as the shadow slithered backwards, sliding down against the wall and slipping out of sight. A pressure built in her chest as her lungs screamed for air, sending her into a coughing fit as she snapped back to reality. Her breath ran ragged as she gripped at the fabric against her chest. This place was just trying to kill her, wasn’t it?

Was she… was she supposed to follow it? Is that what it wanted from her? She hesitated, watching the staircase for any sign of the strange shadow hand returning. If she was actually going to show up to breakfast like Alastor had told her to, she would eventually need to venture down that way in spite of the unsettling phenomena. Then again, what part of this hotel didn’t fall under that label?

Try as she might, however, her feet remained firmly cemented to the ground as her insides twisted and wriggled like snakes. Another growl from her angry stomach urged her onward and she took another deep breath. It was just some spooky demon shadow hand from hell. Nothing to be afraid of, obviously. She gave a nervous laugh at the ludicrousness of it all as she tried to calm her racing heart.

It couldn’t touch her could it?

She shuddered as she stood in front of her hotel room door. Then, with as much strength as she could muster, she finally managed to wrench her foot from the floor to take her first tentative step towards the stairs. Northing strange slithered into view as she slowly made her way across the hall. She looked down the many carpeted steps, craning her neck to try and see all the way to the bottom as the stairs twisted down to the left. It was no use. She was just too short to see around the wall separating the two sides to the staircase. Looks like she would be going in blind then.

With bated breath, she inched her way down onto the first step. So far so good. The eyes scattered about the walls and decor flickered down to her as she eased her way around the bend, watching intently. She bit her lip as a cold sweat threatened to break out along her back as she leaned ever so slightly to peek around the wall. As she scanned the last of the stairs and the floor below, nothing strange caught her eye. No sign of the shadow from before or anything like it.

In fact, there wasn’t any sign of anything or anyone at all from where she was standing. Everyone was probably already down in the dining hall waiting for her to show up. Though just who, or what, would be waiting inside that room was a different story. If the things she saw last night were any indication, she was sure to see more than a few new nightmares once she actually reached her destination.

She finished her trek down the stairs as quietly as she could, hair standing on end as the last step creaked in betrayal. Her head snapped up, body freezing as her eyes darted from side to side for any signs of life that might have been alerted to her entrance. A pair of yellow-orange eyes in the distance met her gaze. The giant demon-cat, or Husk as she had learned, was sitting at the other side of the bar as if he had never left from when last she had seen him. A red lettered welcome sign bordered in bright neon light shined above his head, completely contrasting the very apathetic appearance of its host below.

Their eyes locked for only a moment before he raised a brow, brushing her off as he swung his head back, nearly empty bottle pressed to his lips. Gwen breathed a sigh of relief. Never before had she been so happy to be so blatantly ignored in her life. At least she wouldn’t have to try and make any sort of uncomfortable small talk while trying to keep her heart from leaping out of her chest.

She snuck a second glance at Husk as he turned away, attention directed towards the television mounted on the wall at the end of the room. A very crude version of the news seemed to be playing with the volume turned down too low to hear from where she stood. Husk grumbled to himself before sneering and downing the rest of his bottle. As he crouched beneath the bar, most likely in search of a fresh bottle at the rate he was going so early in the morning, Gwen slowly made her way out into the room.

Everything looked much different in the light of day. Well, that and the relieving lack of prying demon eyes staring down at her from upwards of three or more feet higher than the top of her own head. Gwen let her eyes wander as she cautiously walked further into the open. The dining room doors had to be around here somewhere. It would have been so much more helpful if Alastor had actually given her some sort of direction before bolting from her room. Something told her he hadn’t exactly forgotten on purpose, either. If he really wanted her to be on time one would think he would have been a bit more, well, cooperative.

As she made her way towards the other end of the room, head turning in all directions, she couldn’t help but notice the odd decorum of the lobby. Just as the outside of the hotel seemed to be a crazy collection of opposing puzzle pieces mashed together to form one atrocious visage, the inside of the hotel hadn’t really been that much of an improvement. If anything really, it only seemed to expand on the eccentricities of it all.

Countless eyes swiveled in their sockets along the twisted molding of the walls as what appeared to be deer skulls lined the top of the bar at the room's center stage. Images of elephants littered the room at odd intervals, the largest of which balanced balls atop their trunks like circus animals, sandwiched inside of the main pillars bordering the hallway at the entrance to the hotel. It was like a group of opposing interior designers had collectively barfed the room into existence.

A soft crackling emanated from the other far side of the room as a brightly lit fireplace flickered between a few cushy chairs, a couch nestled quite warmly off in the corner. Draped across the bare wooden floor lay a rug of similar pattern to the carpet coating most of the lobby. Several small tables outlined the outer walls of the rest of the room with simple wooden chairs pushed in around them, a pair to each. It really was quite a spacious room. Though, with the almost glaring lack of life, save for Husk, it was quite unsettling standing alone at its center.

A low creak in the distance caught her attention as she spun to face behind herself. Her eyes landed on a pair of double doors just off to the side of the staircase she had come down only moments ago. One door stood ajar, a soft, yellow glow leaking out from the room beyond. She took one last nervous glance at Husk behind her, grasping for a sense of safety before attempting to venture off on her own in her search for the dining hall. Just as before, her presence remained resolutely ignored. She sighed inwardly to herself before turning back to the pair of doors.

A cold spark jolted her system as another shadow sluggishly oozed out from the crack between the doors, the same hand from before once again beckoning her onward. She swallowed thickly before steeling herself, refusing to back away this time. The hand slipped back out of view as Gwen stepped in front of the doorway, breath stuttering as her hand reached uneasily towards the handle. Then, slowly, ever so slowly, she eased the door open, ready to jump back at a moment's notice.

Yet another long hallway met her eyes as she squinted forward, an arm held up protectively in front of her chest. The sheer size of the hotel was starting to sink in as she eased herself through the doorway. Just how many rooms were there in this place? Her curiosity tickled at the edge of her mind as she looked out to the plethora of new doors lining the walls, leading down towards yet another pair of double doors at the end of the hall.

The long spindly shadow of an arm slithered along the wall near the farthest door from where she stood, splintering down beneath the door. She watched as the strange snake-like appendage dripped like sludge down onto the floor, crawling its way underneath the doorway and out of sight. Her skin crawled as she shook her head. She wasn't going to run away. Nope. Already made it this far, might as well keep moving forward.

At least now she knew where she was supposed to keep heading at any rate. Or at least, she hoped so. Unless this was some elaborate way of leading her to her own grisly demise, in which case, she was unfortunately playing along a little too well. So much for her supposed bodyguard.

After what felt like an eternity, Gwen finally managed to drag herself to the far end of the hall, limbs shivering with every step. With any luck, once she passed through this door, she would finally be where she had been trying to get all morning. That, or at least hopefully not in the room of an angry monster preparing to eat her the second she stepped foot beyond the threshold. Unfortunately, there really was only one way to find out. Bracing herself, she grasped at the bronzed door handle and twisted, edging her way into the room.

A rather grand sight met her eyes as she looked out into the room before her. Perhaps a dozen monsters in all shapes and sizes were seated along a very long and extravagant dining table at the center of the room. A chandelier glittered as it dangled from the ceiling, sparkling in the soft red glow of the morning light shining in from the tall, open windows along the wall. Then, at the very end of it all stood Alastor himself, grinning widely at her from beside the head of the table, his chair pulled out behind him as if he had risen only moments ago.

Charlie sat at the head of the table, absolutely beaming at Gwen’s arrival as sparkles danced in her eyes, Vaggie smiling softly with a shake of her head to the side of her, opposite Alastor. Gwen tried to smile in return but quickly faltered, suddenly noticing the many eyes now leering at her from across the room. The silence was deafening as she stood alone at the entrance. Her legs refused to move forward, insisting on a hasty retreat from the obvious dangers filling the room as a hushed whisper broke out among the demons at the table.

“Gwen!” shouted a voice beside her, shocking her enough to have her jump almost a foot off the ground. Her head jerked to the side, finding that Alastor had suddenly appeared at her side at some point during her panic.

“So glad to see you’ve made the time to join us,” he said with glee, ushering behind her before forcefully giving her a good shove into the room. She stumbled a bit as she tried to catch her footing. “Come along now, don’t want to start our day off with cold food, do we?”

Gwen squeaked as he herded her forward past the curious stares directed her way all the way to the end of the dining table. The long line of eyes followed her as she stumbled along. Charlie gave her an apologetic smile as Gwen was all but thrown into the seat beside her, Alastor gracefully sitting in the chair to her other side. Vaggie sat across from Gwen–who was currently gripping at the tablecloth to steady herself–as she stared with pursed lips in Alastor’s direction.

Just as Gwen managed to gather herself, raising her head to speak, a plate was rushed onto the table in front of her. She quickly withdrew her hands as another set much smaller than her own darted back out of view. She turned to see Niffty hurriedly collecting a few more things from a couple of trays sitting atop a cloth draped food cart off to the side. In a flash, a glass of orange juice was thrust forward to join the plate of food already laid out for her.

“Oh! Thank you,” squeaked Gwen as Niffty finished off by snapping a rather intricately stitched cloth onto the table, silverware rolling out on top of it in perfect form.

“You’re welcome!” Niffty chirped back before zipping off with the cart down towards the other end of the table. Gwen blinked, at a loss for words. Even she was never that energetic this early in the morning. A yawn clawed its way up her throat and she raised a hand to her mouth. She definitely hadn’t gotten enough sleep for the day during her small nap. Though, you would think with how many times she found herself unconscious within the last 24 hours, that she would be feeling more well rested by now. The anxiety of it all was quite draining it seemed.

“Hello, Gwen,” said a soft voice to her left hand side. Charlie smiled at her as she lifted her head to the sound of her voice. “Sorry about all that. I hope things aren't too rough for you this morning. Are you feeling any better?”

She made a forced sort of smile, edging on a grimace as her eyes darted towards Alastor for a split second. Gwen followed her gaze, her lips parting to form a small ‘o’ as Charlie's intentions reached her. So it really had been all Alastor’s idea to wake her up this early. She gave a sheepish smile in return.

“Oh, um, I’m alright I guess,” she said quietly. “Just a bit tired.”

This was, of course, an understatement, but she wasn’t about to stress the subject any further than that.

“Well, once we get done with all of the introductions and stuff for today, you should be able to take it easy for a bit,” reassured Charlie, patting her hand gently as she did so. Gwen fought the urge to flinch away from her touch. She didn’t want to give off the impression that she was afraid of her or anything, even if it was just a little bit true for now. Charlie seemed like a wonderful person in Gwen’s opinion, but there was still no telling what she might be hiding underneath. They were in hell, after all. Surely she had to have done something to land herself down here.

“Oh, I don’t know about all that,” said Alastor with a chuckle. Gwen looked over to him, fighting the urge to sigh heavily. Because of course he would butt in with that.

“We do still need to get everything for the room in order for tomorrow, supplies and all that,” he said with a smile “Don’t want to dilly-dally, do we?”

Gwen made a face as he took a bite of food from his silver fork. Supplies? Maybe she really was just going to get stuck with some sort of painting job then. That wouldn’t be so bad. Though what he had said about ‘getting them in order’ confused her. Were they just going to be setting things up? Or perhaps they would need to go searching around the hotel for the things they needed before getting started. Either way, it wasn’t like she wouldn’t find out soon enough. Better to just focus one what she needed to for right now–the food on her plate for instance.

“You cannot be thinking what I think you are,” said Vaggie in disbelief.

Gwen half listened as she stared down at her food. She had never seen such a dish before, nor one so expertly prepared in its presentation. Was there a professional chef working at the hotel? With how expensive the entire place looked, regardless of how positively topsy turvy it all appeared, she wouldn't be all that surprised.

She gazed down at small chopped mushrooms, drizzled in a brown sauce that bordered the main dish nestled at the center of her plate. Toasted muffins with smoky, seared ham and ripe, poached tomato slices layered together and topped with a yellow cream of sorts sat before her with a healthy sprinkling of rich green chives. Her mouth watered as the enticing smell drifted up from the plate. Yet another growl groaned impatiently from her stomach. She may not know the name of the dish currently tantalizing her senses, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t eager enough to try a bite of it. Or maybe two–or six.

As she grasped at the fork resting atop the napkin beside her plate, an uncomfortable thought rooted itself in her mind. Was this safe..? She scoffed at herself. As if anything had been safe for her from the minute she had arrived in this awful world. Then again, this specific scenario did feel oddly familiar. The sight of the food shifted from appetizing to intimidating as she contemplated her situation.

She lowered her fork in hesitation as she chewed at the inside of her lip. It was true that there was no telling what ingesting food from the underworld of all places could do to her, with keeping her trapped there for eternity being only one of many unforeseeable outcomes. Her thoughts were thrust back to her days at college as a shudder tore through her. This was definitely a lot more than a couple of pomegranate seeds.

“Is the food not to your liking, my dear?” called a staticy voice to her side. She turned to see Alastor with a napkin raised politely to his lips as he looked over to her, an eyebrow raised.

“Hey now, I wasn’t finished talking to you,” snapped Vaggie, hands splayed atop the table at her sides. Gwen looked between the two, eyes wide as she froze, voice caught in her throat. Charlie patted the fuming girl’s shoulder gently, a nervous smile on her lips as her eyebrows pinched together with worry.

“We’ll talk after breakfast okay? I’m sure it’s fine,” said Charlie as she rubbed her hand soothingly along Vaggie’s arm before clasping their hands together. Vaggie let out a sigh, nostrils still flared as she slumped back in her seat, glaring daggers across the table.

Gwen was a bit lost, having been staring down at her own plate for so long. Would it be rude to ask what they were talking about? She would have to go with yes. Even if it wasn’t, she was much too nervous to risk relighting the fuse Charlie had somehow managed to snuff out. This was, apparently, pointless however as a loud bang filled the room, sending Vaggie into another fit.

“Good mornin’ everybody!” came a familiar voice at the front of the room. Gwen followed Vaggie’s murderous gaze to see Angel standing taller than should ever be allowed at the entrance, both doors open wide as a pair of arms flung out in greeting. She involuntarily shrunk back in her chair as her heart sped up inside her chest.

“Could you try to be any louder??” spat Vaggie as Angel came sauntering over towards them with a smirk, gold tooth shining in the light.

“Sure, but I doubt you could afford it, sweetcheeks,” he snickered, pulling out a chair before plopping down next to her. Even sitting, he still easily dwarfed the small group sitting at the end of the table. It slowly dawned on her that the chairs beside them remained strangely empty as the rest of the guests had taken to the other end of the table.

Before Vaggie could stand, hushed cursing flying out from under her breath, Charlie placed her hand back on her shoulder and eased her down. This seemed to help keep things at least somewhat level as the tension thickened in the air. Grinning even wider, Angel leaned over across the table, head in hand as he rested his elbow against the tablecloth.

“Hey, I think the two a’ you should be a bit more careful. I think ya may have left a stick up her ass last night the way she’s actin’ already,” he laughed to himself as Charlie balked, Vaggie now mere seconds from strangling him.

A blur shot across the table as Angel’s arm was swept out from under him, sending his face crashing down into the table with a loud “FUCK!” He lifted himself up, one hand rubbing at his face tenderly as he shot a scowl across the table. Alastor hummed to himself as he tucked his microphone staff away before meeting the angry spider’s eyes.

“Angel, I don’t know how many times I’ve asked that you remember your manners during meals,” he said coyly, reaching once more for the fork resting on his napkin. “Please keep your elbows off of the table.”

“The fuck is wrong with you?” shouted Angel, throwing his lower arms out wide as he continued rubbing at his cheek. “What does it matter where I put my elbows ya crazy–oh! I didn’t even see you over there Curly Q. Didn’t think you’d be showin’ up ta breakfast so soon after last night.”

Gwen averted her gaze as Angel’s mismatched eyes landed on her, deciding to instead focus back on her plate of food. Her hand shook lightly as she gripped at her fork. Why did he have to notice her? Out of all the demons she had seen by now, he was still by far the most unnerving. At the very least, he served as a very real reminder that she wasn’t anywhere near the place she called home. It also didn’t help that he looked like a giant, walking, talking, fluffy pink spider either.

“Uh, hello?” he called, waving a free hand in her direction as she continued adamantly staring at her plate. It wasn’t like her to purposefully ignore another person, much less in such a rude and obvious way, but she just couldn’t bring herself to meet his gaze. She was sure the second she looked up she would freeze again and just embarrass herself. Better to just ignore the problem instead and hope it went away.

Angel let out a huff of annoyance before leaning back in his chair, turning instead to poke at his food as he grumbled to himself. Gwen found herself doing the same as the feeling slowly returned to her hands. The food on her plate beckoned once more. Well… she was stuck here anyway. It wasn’t like she really had any other choice, did she? Not like she could go without eating for long at the very least.

Scrunching her brows together with her jaw clenched tightly, she pressed the fork down into her food. The fork passed smoothly through as if she were slicing through butter as she scooped the smallest bite onto the prongs. She swallowed thickly and took a deep breath. Slowly, she brought the small morsel up to her lips. Well, here goes nothing.

She didn’t gag, she didn’t burst into flames, and she was most certainly–as far as she knew–still very much alive. In fact, so were her taste buds as the first bite of food met her tongue. She closed her eyes, savoring the taste as the flavors mixed together perfectly as a light hum escaped her. Egg, bacon, tomato and a spicy seasoned sauce all coming together as one as they danced in her mouth. Even if she hadn’t just gone without food for almost a full day, she would still insist it had been the best thing she had tasted in years. She dug in for another bite without hesitation.

It didn’t take long for her to devour the rest of her plate, sighing contentedly as the last crumb disappeared. If anything could make her feel better, it was a full stomach. Especially with such good food. If the meals were like this everyday, then maybe it wouldn’t be so bad being stuck here for a little while. Not that it would tempt her into wanting to stay, of course, but at least she could have something good to look forward to each day. Now if only she knew what time dinner was served.

“Oh wow, you must've been super hungry,” said Charlie, still slowly working away at her plate. Gwen smiled in embarrassment, bowing her head a bit.

“It was, uh… really good,” she admitted before raising her head again, “Um, do you guys have a chef working here, by the way? That was amazing.”

“Yeah, that’s Smiles over there,” answered Angel instead, jerking one of his many thumbs out towards the end of the room. Gwen’s eyes hesitantly flickered towards him before dropping, anxiously turning to check the direction he had been pointing at. Yet again, Alastor had apparently slipped out of sight without her noticing as he walked about the table, collecting empty plates as several of the other guests had already vacated the room.

“Ah,” she said intelligently. It would never have occurred to her that it was him of all people that had actually prepared their food. Maybe that was why he was so insistent on her attending personally then.

“I helped too!” piped up a cheerful voice from behind her. Gwen jumped in her seat at the sudden outburst, only just noticing Niffty pushing out the same cart from before. She certainly was a fast little thing.

“Well, thank you again then,” said Gwen with a small smile, willing herself to calm down. At this rate she was going to die of a heart attack before making it back to the surface. Niffty beamed right back, eye scrunching up in delight.

“It really was delicious,” she insisted, turning back towards the table, “No wonder everyone was here even with it being so early.”

“Well, not everybody,” corrected Charlie. “A few of our guests don’t usually show up for breakfast, but you should be able to see them at dinnertime. Though, with Baxter it’s a bit of a hit or miss.”

Gwen’s eyebrows knit in contemplation. She couldn’t fathom how anyone would turn down a free meal, especially one as good as the one she just got to indulge herself in. Then again, she had seen Husk still sitting out in the lobby behind the bar all by himself on her way to the dining hall. He had probably been up for a while now considering the events of last night. Was there a reason he hadn’t joined them?

“What about the guy out in the lobby?” asked Gwen, glancing at the doorway, “Husk, I mean.”

“Oh, you know, I don’t think I remember the last time he showed up to breakfast,” said Charlie thoughtfully, tapping a finger to her chin. “He is a little grumpy in the mornings though.”

Gwen chewed at her lip again as she digested this new information. Surely he must still be hungry, even with all the alcohol he seemed to be drowning himself in. It couldn’t be good for him.

A light flickering out of the corner of her eye caught her attention and she turned to see a small double decker silver tray a few chairs length down from her. Several muffins still littered its surface as the sun shone over the metallic plates. Her eyebrows raised as an idea struck her. Well, it couldn’t hurt to be nice, right?

“Would it be alright if I took one of those?” she asked quietly, pointing over to the tray of muffins as she looked over at Charlie. Better to ask before Alastor made his way back over towards them as he and Niffty tidied up the tables.

“Hm? Oh, yeah sure!” said Charlie with a smile, “Please help yourself.”

“Thank you,” said Gwen as she grabbed one of the clean napkins from the middle of the table, grasping at one of the muffins with it as carefully as possible to avoid shaking any crumbs onto the tablecloth. Just as she finished wrapping up the small treat, Alastor’s voice rang out from a few chairs away.

“Gwen, why don’t you go wait in the lobby while we finish up in here,” he said with several plates stacked in hand as Niffty zipped along behind him, broom working furiously against the hardwood floor. “Charlie and I need to discuss a few minor details before we get things settled.”

Gwen looked back at Charlie who seemed just as surprised as she did, offering a small smile as their eyes met. Should she just… go then? She glanced back towards the double doors to the hall nervously. Surely she wouldn’t run into anything dangerous off on her own now that the rest of the guests were wandering the hotel, would she?

“It’ll be okay,” said Charlie as Vaggie nodded, “We’ll come and get you in just a couple minutes.”

Gwen looked between the two of them before gulping down the lump in her throat. Alright, she could do this. She just needed to go wait by the bar or something until they came to get her. At least it should be safer by someone she actually sort of knew, anyway. Besides, she should start getting used to walking around the hotel so she wasn’t as prone to getting lost in its endless halls. Maybe she could get Charlie to make her up a map or something too, just in case.

Bidding her goodbyes for now, Gwen stood from her seat and made her way to the end of the room, carefully watching her step as Niffty zoomed around her, cleaning as she went. The trip back to the lobby wasn’t nearly as nerve-wracking as it had been earlier that morning. At least this time she knew which direction to walk in to find her destination. It was a lot better than wandering blindly. That, or being led along by some creepy shadow hand of course. Please, goodness let that never happen again.

With the wrapped muffin clutched in hand, Gwen opened the door to the lobby and looked about the room. It seemed Husk still hadn’t made any efforts to move from his post. A new, differently colored bottle was clutched in his hand as he looked blearily out towards the television. The news had been replaced by a strange ad featuring red skinned creatures, guns blazing as blood splashed across the screen. Gwen watched with morbid curiosity as she walked over towards the bar, disturbed by the blatantly gratuitous violence flashing across the television before the letters I.M.P popped into view. Immediate Murder Professionals? The idea that you could actually pay someone to have someone else killed so easily sent her skin crawling. Then again, should she really be that surprised?

As Gwen reached the bar, she fiddled with the napkin in her hand, careful not to pick at the contents inside. Husk turned to her as she pulled herself up onto one of the barstools. He raised a long, red feathered brow, looking her up and down before rolling his eyes and setting his bottle down.

“Alright, what do you want?” he asked in his gravelly voice, already reaching over towards the glasses.

“What?” asked Gwen in confusion before realizing he meant to take her order. “Oh! No, I didn't want anything. I, uh, I just noticed you… weren’t at breakfast so, um…”

She trailed off, losing her nerve to speak as his strange honey colored eyes stared at her from across the countertop. He grunted, picking his own bottle back up now that any impending responsibilities were extinguished. Gwen took a slow breath, bringing her hands up onto the counter to set the muffin before him, still half wrapped in the napkin. A few blue specks of blueberry poked out from the breading like dark sapphires.

“The fuck is that?” Husk asked with an almost bored expression.

“Well…” she started again, willing herself to keep talking, “I thought maybe you might be hungry out here by yourself so I-”

“Look kid, I’m gonna stop you right there,” said Husk, nudging his bottle to shove her offering back at her, “I don’t need your fucking charity, okay? Let me guess, you thought ‘oh no, the poor drunk asshole can’t even feed himself’ and grabbed the first thing you could see to make yourself feel better about it, yeah?” His voice had raised an octave while mocking her, sending a sneer her way.

“I can take care of myself, I don’t need you trying to get all buddy buddy with me,” he said as Gwen’s face fell, his words piercing her heart. “I got enough bullshit to deal with on my own, don’t go roping me into whatever mess you dragged yourself into. Just leave me alone.”

Gwen shrunk away, a guilty look on her face as she looked down towards the floor. That hadn’t gone at all how she had hoped. She hadn’t meant to be rude, she had just wanted to try getting on a positive note with one of the other workers at the hotel. Perhaps she had been a bit insensitive in her efforts to help out without realizing it. So much for trying to make nice.

As she sat in shame at the front of the bar, a cheery voice called to her from the other side of the room. Gwen lifted her head to see Charlie and Alastor waiting for her by the foot of the staircase, a small stack of papers in each of their arms. Taking one last nervous glance at Husk, already back to ignoring her as he took another swig from his bottle, she slipped off of the barstool and onto the floor. Charlie beamed as she made her way over to the two of them.

“Okay! So, we got everything ready to officially welcome you to the team!” Charlie said happily, wiggling the papers excitedly. “Room and board are fully covered, so you don’t need to worry about that. Pay is weekly on Thursdays too. Though, considering your special circumstances we’ve decided to give you this funky little debit card. It’s connected to one of my side accounts so we can just funnel the money straight to it instead of going through all the extra hassle.”

Charlie thrust a small plastic card towards her. Gwen blinked in surprise, grabbing it gently from her with both hands. Several wrestling, red spotted puppies with little black horns adorned the front causing Gwen to smile involuntarily. It was oddly adorable. She looked back up to see Charlie hugging the papers giddily to her chest.

“Do you like it? I picked it out myself,” she said with an expectant smile. Gwen couldn’t help but return with a grin of her own, giving her a small nod. Looks like she would be getting paid after all. Seemed like some things even stayed the same after death. Like the constant dependance on money for one.

“Awesome ‘possum! Alright just one more thing,” said Charlie as she handed the papers she had been cradling over to her. Gwen grabbed the papers curiously, looking down to see the words ‘CONTRACT’ in huge bold lettering lining the top of the first page. “Just official business stuff. You’re allowed to leave whenever you’d like, so don’t you worry about that. This just states that you’re here voluntarily, you agree to the pay, and all that other fun work stuff.”

Gwen glanced up from the paper, looking over to Alastor who stood quietly beside Charlie. It was almost a bit unnerving how he had managed to remain silent through her entire spiel. Instead, he stood quite patiently with his arms crossed behind his back, microphone slipped loosely through the crook in his elbow. Gwen thought back to Charlie’s words. Voluntarily. Well, that was at least partially true, she supposed.

As Charlie handed her a pen, a strange fluttering filled her chest. Sure, she had already made a deal with the devil to get this far, what difference was it really in making it official? Could she really even back out now that she had come this far? She nervously glanced up towards the pair of them, noting Alastor’s grin stretching wider as she pressed the tip of the pen to the paper. The moment she finished signing, the contract was snatched out of her grasp by the gloved demon’s hands.

“Well that’s just ducky, glad to have you properly on board!” said Alastor quite loudly, giving her hand a good shake, “Let’s head upstairs, shall we? Charlie, why don’t you finish explaining things on the way?”

He smiled as he tucked the papers casually into his suit, turning on his heel with a little tap of his shoes. He beckoned them to follow and Charlie shot another smile at her as they made their way up the stairs.

“Okay! So, what we’re going to need your help with is fixing up the ballroom on the third floor. There was uh… a bit of an accident with one of our guests–”

“Ah yes, Baxter is quite the quirky little fellow. How many rooms has he blown to bits so far? I think I stopped counting after the fourteenth or so,” interjected Alastor with a grin over his shoulder as they climbed up the second set of stairs. Charlie laughed nervously before looking back to Gwen.

“Yes, well, we have been having a problem with that, but I’m sure he’s starting to get better by now!” said Charlie, hands raised defensively. “Anyway, that’s not the point. You see, Gwen, this hotel is super important to me, and I really think it can help a lot of demons if we can just keep spreading the word and working hard.

“So, even though we haven’t exactly had any success yet, I thought it would be fun to at least celebrate the hotel's half year anniversary coming up. We were supposed to hold a huge party for all of the hotel’s staff and guests, but that kind of went awry after the um…”

“Explosion!” said Alastor helpfully, pumping his mic into the air as they reached the third floor of the hotel. “Yes, it was indeed quite a sight to behold. It was certainly one way to bring the house down!”

“Right, yeah that,” said Charlie, clearly looking uncomfortable as Alastor laughed to himself. “We thought all our hard work was going to fall through, but with you here we might actually be able to pull it off in time!”

Gwen drank in her words as they walked along the twisting hallway, eyes sliding over yet many more portraits hanging about the place. So from what she had gathered, she was going to be expected to help perform renovations in order to get things ready for a party. That didn’t seem so bad. Though, truthfully, the last time she had even touched a set of tools was back in college when her and Marcy were futzing around with the art department’s supplies in the storage closet. That was almost five years ago or so now.

Another thought struck her. Charlie had mentioned that they hadn’t had any success since the hotel’s opening, but in her opinion, it looked to have plenty of patrons. Maybe not a lot to compensate for the sheer size of the hotel itself, but it wasn’t like they didn’t have any guests at all. Was she missing something here?

“Um, Charlie?” she asked hesitantly, “What did you mean exactly by ‘success?’”

Alastor let out a small chuckle as they stepped in front of an enormous set of deep mahogany doors. Long yellow caution tape stretched from each side of the doorway, barring them from entrance. Charlie’s cheery smile slipped from her face for a moment, returning with a sad look in her eyes. Gwen closed her mouth abruptly. There she went again, stepping on people’s toes without thinking.

“I’m sorry,” she said quickly, “I didn’t mean to–”

“No, no it’s okay! Not your fault,” Charlie assured her as Alastor used one of his gloved fingers to slice through the barrier. She took a deep breath before looking skyward.

“I started this hotel with a dream,” she started, eyes filled with a new light, “On the first day of every new year, exorcists are sent down from heaven with the sole purpose of exterminating my people. It pains me to see them treated this way, and as the Princess of Hell I just couldn’t stand to sit by and watch any longer.”

Gwen stood dumbfounded as Charlie began her tale, several puzzle pieces falling into place. The portraits adorning the walls, the ridiculously large building that felt more like a mansion than any hotel she had ever seen, the exquisitely expensive looking decorations riddled throughout the place. Charlie was a princess. Her breath caught in her throat. All this time she had been in the presence of literal royalty and they had done nothing but treat her with the utmost care and compassion. That must mean all of the portraits she had seen, all of them with Charlie at varying ages and dresses, had been her real childhood right here down in hell. Charlie wasn’t a sinner at all. She was a bonafide hell born demon. And also probably the nicest person she had ever met, and that was saying something.

“So I asked myself,” Charlie continued along, pacing before the door as she talked with her hands, “what could I do that would both help solve the overpopulation crisis and save my people from becoming obliterated by heaven’s soldiers? Which is when it struck me–

“Redemption!”

She said this last part, fists in the air with a wide smile on her face, watching Gwen for any sort of reaction. A rather grainy laugh track sounded, causing them both to look over to Alastor beside the doorway to what she assumed was the ballroom. He lifted his hand to his mouth to clear his throat politely.

“My apologies,” he said with a smile. “But the idea still slays me, my dear. Absolute piffle really. Though I must say, it has been exceedingly entertaining helping things along.”

Gwen made a face, not having expected such outright dismissal to Charlie’s idea from the very man who had enlisted her help from an alleyway. Though she herself also had some qualms with the idea. Could anyone really change? She doubted it. If her experiences had taught her anything, it was that the vast majority of people were liars, cheats, and sneaks. Most people only ever cared for themselves, and to find the opposite in someone was like a wonderful breath of fresh air. One could only hope it wouldn’t turn to smoke further down the line, polluting the goodness inside.

“As you can see,” Charlie continued on as the smile hardened on her face, obviously trying to keep herself chipper, “Not many other demons have a lot of faith in our cause, but I still have hope! If we can help even one demon reform and go to heaven, then everyone else will see it’s possible and that they can change! Then everyone can be happy!”

Gwen watched as she clenched her fists in front of her chest in determination. Her head was still spinning from all that she had learned. The fact that a place like this even existed was absolutely shocking. Now the limited number of guests made more sense. Not a lot of people down in hell seemed all that eager to give up their way of life to try and improve themselves, it seemed. It hurt her to think, but her feelings swayed more towards what Alastor had said. Demons trying to be better? When they had already done so much to dig themselves this far in the hole? Surely no one could change after all of that.

She couldn’t help but admire Charlie’s determination on the other hand. Trying to accomplish such a feat must be incredibly draining, both mentally and emotionally. Especially if nothing had happened after almost half a year now. Charlie beamed at her as Gwen gave her a small smile. Alastor stood behind her, shaking his head with an eye roll before moving to open the doors. Well, if Charlie really wanted help trying to get her dream off the ground, then who was she to deny her? Gwen was happy to help. At least, while she was still trapped down here of course.

An enormous room opened up before them as Alastor pulled one of the tall doors open into the hallway, the innards of which fell black under the flickering lights above. Frayed and singed carpet was left scattered in spots, large patches missing entirely as the tiling at the center of the room pooled like melted ice cream. Black and white speckles seeped deep into the floor as it mixed with the leftover fuzz from the carpet bordering the edges of the once polished dancefloor. Gwen gasped as she stepped into the dilapidated room, turning in all directions as the weight of her new responsibility started to press down onto her.

High up along the ceiling dangled broken and fizzled lights from thin and mangled wires, the large chandelier already having crashed to the floor some time ago, crystals splintered and shattered as they sparkled like stars along the ashy floor. Everywhere she looked, more holes seemed to appear in the walls, a singular gigantic one down at the far right of the room practically bursting through to the neighboring wall. The detailed marble pillars that once lined the edges of the wall stood cracked and tilting, threatening to topple over at a moment’s notice. Even the air felt dirty as the smell of long lingering smoke with a strange hint of almonds filled her lungs.

She gave a cough and looked to the back of the room where a large stage jutted out from the wall. The curtains hanging high above were stained heavily with black soot, falling from their rods and bunching at odd angles. It was an absolute disaster. How long had Charlie said they had until the party? Was it even possible to fix a room like this in time? She turned back to see both Alastor and Charlie looking around the room.

“Yes, it is quite the calamity isn’t it?” said Alastor as he trotted into the room, skipping carelessly over the rubble littering the floor as his shoes tapped out a little melody. “But I’m sure you’ll be able to help us clean it up in a jiffy!”

Gwen balked at how casually he danced into the room, Charlie carefully following after as she watched her step. Alastor began humming a tune as he flipped through the papers filling his arms, different from the set Gwen had signed down on the main floor. From where she was standing they looked more like floorplans, the blue of one sheet particularly striking. He pulled a pen from his inner pocket and began jotting down notes as he moved along.

“I know it's, well, a lot,” said Charlie as she stood beside Gwen, rubbing the back of her neck, “But I really think with the extra help we can really pull through in time. We’ll all be working together too, so you don’t have to stress too much.”

“Who’s, uh, who’s all going to be working on it?” asked Gwen as she turned her head around, still in awe at the absolute disaster that was the ballroom. “When exactly is the party supposed to be…?”

“Well, the first of June is about eight days from now, so about a week?” said Charlie weakly, clasping her hands together as she shrugged her shoulders.

Gwen’s jaw dropped, an incredulous look on her face. Before she could comment, a stack of papers were thrust into her arms as the tap dancing demon had finally decided to rejoin them. Gwen looked down in confusion. A swirling list of cursive calligraphy met her eyes.

Drywall; 5 sheets-4’x8’

Joint compound; Five 5 gallon tubs

5 mud pans

Taping knife

Five chisels

10 boxes of vinyl flooring

Adhesive

8 gallons of pure white paint

5 paint rollers

Large pack of paint brushes

1000 sq. ft. of cherry wood floor

10 yards of general purpose wire

This was a supplies list. Alastor had mentioned supplies earlier at breakfast before he and Vaggie had gotten into that minor altercation. Was this what he had been talking about? But why had he handed the list to her? A shock of horror flooded her system as Vaggie’s earlier objection finally sunk in.

“W–wait, you don’t,” she stuttered, watching as Alastor looked at her expectantly, “Are you, am I supposed to?”

“My dear, I must say I don’t know how you expect me to answer you if you can’t finish a single one of those sentences,” he laughed, eyes flickering to Charlie as she leaned over Gwen’s shoulder to read the list.

“Uh, Al? You’re not trying to send her out to buy all of this are you?” asked Charlie hesitantly.

“Why my dear, how else does one acquire things? Unless you’ve suddenly begun to support thievery, in which case, perhaps this hotel might be working a little more backwards than you’d have preferred,” he grinned as Gwen’s hands tightened their grip on the papers, crinkling them at the edges.

“B–but, I can’t go back out there,” cried Gwen, shivering from head to toe at the very thought. “I don’t want to be alone, I thought you said you were going to keep me safe? This doesn't feel very safe to me!”

“Now, now. I never said I was going to send you out on your lonesome. That would be incredibly irresponsible of me,” he said with a shake of his head, brushing off her impending panic attack.

“So, wait, are we going together?” she asked, watching as he began walking back towards the hall.

“Me? Oh goodness, no,” he said with a laugh as Gwen’s stomach turned to lead. “I’m much too busy for that. No, but I do have the perfect person to accompany you in mind.”

Alastor flicked his wrist, microphone twirling back into his outstretched hand before he brought it up to his face. He gave a good few taps before a resounding screech echoed throughout the hallway. Charlie and Gwen both threw their hands to their ears at the sudden intrusive sound. Alastor’s brows shot to his hairline, lips closing in a tight smile before he cleared his throat as he gave it another tap. The noise silenced, a quiet radio static filling the air as he leaned forward.

“Attention all employees!” he said as he threw an arm in the air, walking farther out into the hallway. His voice echoed throughout the room as if a loudspeaker were belting his voice across the entire hotel.

“I repeat,” he continued, “Attention all employees! Would Husker please be so kind as to report to the third floor ballroom at once! Your immediate assistance is required! Thank you!”

With another flick of his wrist, the microphone vanished along with the buzzing filling their ears. Gwen rubbed at the sides of her head, still recovering from the piercing shriek ringing through the room. How had he even done that? The question vanished from her mind as his announcement set in. He had said Husker. He was sending Husk upstairs to chaperone her around the city to buy supplies. Their earlier conversation surfaced in her memories.

“Just leave me alone.”

Well this was going to be just peachy.

#hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel fanfiction #my fanfic #alastor x oc #alastor x reader #original character #hazbin hotel oc

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erisunoaakaibu · 18 days

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Spiraltown - Chapter 2: The robot

Ren gently traced her finger around the rim of the teacup, feeling the energy from the tea leaves inside, letting the images form in her mind.

This has always been how she was able to perceive the world. Despite being physically blind, Ren has the ability to “see” with her third eye. The third eye allows her to see things beyond human vision, such as energy, auras, spirits, etc. You see, everything produces some kind of vibration that’s distinctive from each other. Here I’ll put some simple illustrations to show what Ren’s “vision” might look like.

On the left is how other people see Igor, and on the right is how Ren “sees” him. It is a combination of Igor’s soul, aura and emitted energy. Note that Ren doesn’t see the background in black, it’s just how I draw so that the image can be more visible.

The same logic can be used towards living beings and inanimate objects. The stronger the aura/energy, the clearer and brighter/darker the images will be.

That’s enough lore explanation for now. I don’t want to stray far from the story. Now, let’s get back to where we were.

Upon seeing the divination result, the tall lady’s blank expression changed slightly, for the worse. Something was coming, and it seemed to be unfavorable for the blind diviner.

* * *

And then, that fateful day finally came. Nah, just saying that for extra fancy, it’s actually the following day.

It’s a rather average Saturday. Igor was chilling on his couch, playing video games with headphones covering his ears. On the table was a Donu(t) in a paper box and a cup of Deca(f) coffee, the most favored food and drink combo in town, and also Igor’s favorite thing to buy. And of course, our angry guy was so focused on his games, that he couldn’t see what was going on. Not even when his neighbor, Solanine, came over.

Solanine stood behind Igor, watching him play video games. Clearly he didn’t know that she was behind him. Well, how about a little jumpscare? Just as that thought crossed her mind, she took out a shiv in her pocket, and pressed it against the guy’s neck. “AAAAARGH!!!” Igor screamed and took off his headphones immediately, just as expected. “I knew this was the only way to make you stop.” Solanine put the shiv away. “Damn it, why are you always pulling those f*cking pranks!?! You’re going to give me a f*cking heart attack!!!” “Cuz you were too focused on the game. Anyway, I got you something, take a look.”

Behind Solanine was a huge carton box. Apparently it’s a housekeeping robot of the Roomba brand. “No way, a limited-edition Roomba? Has a built-in AI model? Can recharge itself? This is awesome! Damn, how did you get it?” “I asked an acquaintance. You always make a mess out of everything when you’re mad so I think you need an assistant. Don’t worry about the price, you know I am paid well. But still, it’s cheaper than I thought, and I’m not sure why…”

So both of them opened the carton box and started assembling the robot just as the instruction said. And then they turned it on. “Hello.” The robot spoke. It looked around, and stopped at the Donu on the table.

* * *

On the other hand, Ren was scrolling down the street. The street was surprisingly empty, without anyone around for some reason. But then, an angry scream was heard from across the street. The blind lady’s sharp ears recognized Igor’s voice immediately. Sparks of red appeared in Ren’s aura, as she darted towards Igor’s house with an astounding speed, paying no attention to the surroundings. And just as she arrived and the red in her aura died out, she noticed that the gates were open. Igor was still screaming. The blind lady slowly approached the door and gave it a few knocks. And of course, the one answering was Solanine, who was holding her phone.

“Thank goodness Ren, you’re here! Come in, you’ll understand what is going on.” Solanine tried to contact someone, but to no avail. Ren turned towards Igor, and he was yelling… a robot?

“I said: Give me back my Donu! And go clean the house!!!” “No. By the way, the Donu is delicious.” The robot replied, then consumed the rest of the Donu. Wait, it didn’t have a mouth, how did it…?

Solanine turned to the robot, and looked at her phone again, while letting out a sigh. “I knew it, I’ve been scammed. They don’t answer my calls.” Igor was furious. He started mumbling. “Damn it… this stupid robot, it’s broken! This Roomba robot… no, Roomba your *ss, it’s supposed to be a Doomba! Yes, your name is Doomba!! You stupid Doomba!!!” “Good name. I like it.” The robot replied, much to the guy’s anger. Then it turned towards Ren, waving its arm. “Hello! I am Doomba.”

Solanine started explaining. Basically she bought this housekeeping robot for Igor, but the robot seemed to suffer from some hardware damage. They thought it was just some minor damage and there would be no big deal, until they realized that the robot had become sentient, with its own emotions and thoughts. And it refused to do the housework, which it was supposed to do.

Ren observed the robot for a while. “I believe I have foreseen this in our tea leaf readings.” Her voice remained calm and even. “The huge and chaotic change in our lives.”

Well, things are becoming more and more interesting…

* * *

Author’s notes:

So I actually used a bit of Fraymakers reference here. In the scene where Ren’s aura sparked some red, it is equivalent to the Watcher using her Wrath stance. In Fraymakers, the Watcher’s Wrath stance increases her movement speed and damage output, as well as the damage she takes. So I decided to incorporate that into this chapter. There were no enemies, so the movement speed increase was the only thing taking effect here.

Also I’d like to imagine that Ren’s “vision” becomes blurry in this Wrath stance-equivalent state, only her target remains clear.

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rottmntsimp · 5 months

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I have a special request if you’re up for it 🔮

summary: Donnie (your bf) finds out you (witch! reader) are celebrating a very special milestone as a witch (a coming of age ceremony of sorts) but didn’t mention it to him because you didn’t think he would be interested. But even though he’s not really into mystical stuff, Donnie is willing to set aside his pride for this because it matters this much to you, so of course it would matter to him.

please, and thank you

Pride aside

Pairing(s): Donnie x Witch!Reader

A/N: Hey nonnie!! I'm so sorry if I messed up, I've never really done anything witch related before, but there's a first time for everything I suppose- Anyway, I did headcanons this time, 'cause I found them easier, this being my first time and all, but this was pretty fun ngl, and maybe, just maybe, if I'm ever in the zone, I might write a oneshot! Note for Anon: Next time, add a ceremony, or celebration you had in mind, since I'm not familiar with these lmao :D

Also I'm so sorry, but I kinda went off topic-

TW: really rushed 😭

Donnie

💜 - We all know Donnie has....a complicated relationship with magic and the mystics who use it

💜 - Hell, everyone knows it: April, Splinter, his brothers. Safe to say, he isn't shy about his distaste.

💜 - Now imagine everyone's shock when Donnie, the Donatello Hamato, the guy who hates magic, the guy who never once believed in Santa, the tooth fairy, witches...starts dating a witch-

💜 - Well, love wins ig 🥳

💜 - Anyway, now that I'm done with all the background information, onto the actual request!!

💜 - Ok ok, so even while in the relationship, it was clear Donnie had some sort of grudge against magic, but he tended to, or at least tried, to keep it down a notch since you guys got together

💜 - I mean, even back when you guys were still friends, either April or one of the turtles would always drag you into their shenanigans, and if you guys are hella close, make sure to share their traditions

💜 - The Lair Games, Jupiter Jim movie marathons, Lou Jitsu movie marathons, Game nights, sleepovers, you name it!

💜 - So obviously you're gonna feel the urge to share your traditions with them too!

💜 - And with your 16th birthday coming up, the day you get your familiar was finally coming!! So you decided it's the perfect time to invite your friends to one of your own traditions, especially something as big as this.

💜 - But, deciding to instead ease Donnie into it, you tell the others first [which might bite you in the ass late, but yk-]

💜 - Anyway the others are really chill!! They all get you little gifts, cuz come on! This is something to celebrate!!!!

💜 - Anyway, Donnie's most likely to find out before you get the chance to tell him

💜 - How, you ask? Well, either, one: he overheard one the others talking about it

💜 - Two: Mikey or Leo accidentally blab about it to him, not knowing he doesn't know, or from the basic inability to lie-

💜 - Either way, he's gonna feel a little excluded, and starts to get worried. Why hadn't you told him? Did he do something wrong? Did you not love him anymore?

💜 - Next time you're at the lair, expect for him to drag you to his lab, and sit you down on his bed, pulling up a chair in front of it.

💜 - He's going to express his worries about you not liking him, and will beg ask you to tell him what he did wrong so he could fix it

💜 - Man his face when you start to laugh BDSKJFDS-

💜 - Anyway, just gently explain to him how you thought he wouldn't be interested in attending, and it's all good!

💜 - ...Or at least you thought so-

💜 - After you leave, he's probably going to research everything about witches and their traditions!

💜 - Ok, ok, so time skip to the actual day, k?

💜 - It was all going according to plan, and the main event was going to happen soon! It was finally time to inherit your familiar from your grandmother!

💜 - Now, everyone gathered around, including all your friends

💜 - But as your eyes scanned the crowd, you didn't seem to be able to find the familiar purple-coded softshell anywhere

💜 - A little disappointed, but understanding, you focus on what's happening in front of you.

💜 - After inheriting you new familiar, everyone is busy cooing over it, when suddenly a flash of purple appears in your peripheral vision, and it's...Donnie!?

💜 - You have to refrain yourself from jumping on him, but the smile on your face made it clear you were elated!

💜 - "I- what?- I thought you weren't coming? You do know this is, like, heavily related to magic, right??-" "Scoff! Accusing me of not wanting to attend my own S/O's ceremony? For shame! I'd truly thought higher of you, my dear-"

💜 - Boy's gonna let out a short laugh when you smack his arm, but don't worry, the moment's not ruined <3

💜 - And no the others totally didn't know he was coming, mhm mhm

💜 - You though him attending was a big enough gift in itself, but when he pulled out a whole gift-

💜 - Holy shit, get ready to see him flustered when you give him a little kith on the cheek <33

💜 - Uh things get more complicated when other witches realize he's here...in witch town...where he destroyed the statue of Abigail the good

💜 - Expect to lose the spotlight for a hot second, while Donnie tries to win over the hearts of your fellow witches [which may or may not result in him owing them some kind of debt much to his dismay]

💜 - And as for your familiar-

💜 - It loves him, hands down.

💜 - Donnie made it a little nook for it to snuggle up in, for when the three of you hang out in his lab

💜 - What a happy little family <3

Taglist!!

@lemme-be-cringe-damnit @sleepytime-fics @ray-of-midnight-storm @hamthepan @charismakat

#rottmnt x reader #rottmnt donnie x reader #2018 donnie x reader #rise donnie x reader #simps fics #rottmnt #save rottmnt #rottmnt headcanons #rise of the tmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt donnie #rise donnie

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