#its been a while sorry guys art block is a bitch | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

abhorrenttheorizer · 2 years

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I can't believe people still follow my antics somewhat on this platform. I hardly post anymore and when I do it's bullshit. Unfortunately, I am about to do it again 💔

A sincere apology to the people who followed me for anything other than bitching about Sky and Journey specbioposting. I've got a lot of personal issues with original designs and my refusal to accept that the Journey Tumblr fandom is effectively dead has made it so that I've unintentionally become a fandom account. Sorry for my obsessiveness, and hopefully I am able to overcome this art block and make something original for once.

With that being said, I am once again about to Journey 💔💔

CONTENT WARNING for naked birb cat creature with a fupa under the cut 💔💔💔

EXTRA CONTENT WARNING for bright image immediately under the cut. From one photosensitive lad to another, the following image is bright AF turn down your brightness pls

Also long post lol

The feet and toes are a lot thicker than I would've liked. Their feet and legs are much more slender, and the actual foot itself should be longer and thinner (damn canvas space + brush size...) but because I'm a dolt I gave this guy chunky camel feet without meaning to.

This is an adult individual of a mildly pale complexion. To avoid making the image even brighter, there's one detail I have forgotten omitted to paint. The arms gradually become paler from the shoulder to the hand, and the hands themselves are typically lily white and glow very brightly regardless of skin tone. I know in-game Rythulians lack arms, however I do not care. Beefy paw arms = funny.

Also, I have only drawn one individual. Rythulians are simultaneous hermaphrodites, and as a result don't have separate sexes or sexual dimorphism, so this adult pictured here is the only "species representative" needed to be drawn.

Anyway, Rythulians as a species, unlike their ancestors are designed for desert life (no shit). Similarly to ostriches, their lower body and legs are free of hair to induce cooling, however unlike ostriches and most other land animals Rythulians also sweat through their skin, even the skin that is covered in fur. They are also a species that is heavily tied to magic (later post), so there is much to their biology that would not feasibly make sense through Earth's standards.

Generally speaking, they're a pretty tall race. Individuals are generally anywhere between 7 and 10 feet (2.13 to 3.25 metres) tall, with long dainty legs designed for bounding across sand. They're also incredibly lightweight, as "obese" individuals barely tip the scales at 32 lbs (14.5 kg). This is due to the many unique characteristics of their internal body, which I will demonstrate in a later post :,)

The fur they have is fluffy, and somewhat dense. The pure white fur coloration serves to insulate and protect the Rythulian's upper body, cooling the brain somewhat by reflecting sunlight. The only dark hairs they have are on their facial discs. The dark hair on the facial disc serves to reduce glare, especially for their unique glowing eyes.

The strange fleshy orifice at the center of a Rythulian's chest is it's wax gland. More will be explained about this later, but the wax gland is present and almost fully functional at birth, and one of its main purposes is to melt the body's fat deposits into "wax" which is then eaten by other Rythulians, especially babies, elders, sickly individuals, and young ones. Wax production is very similar to nursing, and is essentially a non-mammalian way of producing milk. The other purpose, reserved for adults, is to release a single zygote which will then develop into a baby (after it has been feeding off of dwarf stars for around 9 months, but that's a topic for a later time).

The skin itself is loose, stretchy, and squishy in many places, while it's a bit tigher in other areas, like the legs and feet. Rythulian skin feels a bit like very soft and stretchy plush cloth, a slight nod to their symbiotic relationship to their clothing. Under the arms, they have a short band of folded skin that expands outwards similarly to that of a flying squirrel. However, this band of skin stretches from the middle of the upper arm to the waist, rather than from the wrist to the ankle. I like to think that Rythulians co-evolved and have a symbiotic relationship with their cloaks, so this flap of skin was made to aid the act of flying, gliding and soaring as the loose skin catches the air current alongside the cloak itself, and reduces fatigue to the arm.

So... I know what you're thinking...

What the hell is with that unsightly FUPA???

Well, the fupa is actually a fat and skin deposit similar to the "primordial pouches" found in cats. They serve much of the same purpose too, enabling the Rythulian to jump higher, run faster and stretch more without ripping the skin. In fact, a Rythulian's "primordial pouch" is so efficient than they can be stretched up to 6x their height without being in pain or tearing in half (this is also due to Rythulians not having a spine or cervical bones or really any traditional skeleton either, but that's a post for another time). This pouch was co-evolved as a way for modern Rythulians to deal with Guardian attacks without extreme injury, as Guardians generally attack by crushing the Rythulian and then yanking them upwards as their scarves or cloaks are torn.

Speaking of running fast and jumping high: When Rythulians are not starving to death on pilgrimage, they move very swiftly in their mountain and sandy environments, often bounding across their arid mountain environments at upwards of 10x their height horizontally and 8x their height vertically. They run swiftly as well, up to 87mph (140kmh). Unfortunately, their endurance is poor, only being able to run at top speed for around 3 minutes before complete exhaustion. After which, about an hour of rest is needed before continuing to move.

As for their arms, depending on the circumstances, their arms can be quite powerful, able to punch with enough force to break bone. Pushing, pulling, carrying, and crushing can be done with relative ease, but certain environmental factors may seriously inhibit their stamina. A Rythulian's upper body is significantly stronger than it's lower body, since the muscles required for flight take a lot of energy, and Rythulians are a flying species (provided they have cloth to help them out, which this individual clearly does not).

The feet are covered almost entirely in dense, soft fur to keep the Rythulian from sinking into the sand and also keep sand out of their sheathes.

What do I mean by "sheathes"?

Well, a Rythulian's foot is anatomically somewhere between a camel and a cat. The foot paws function like those of a cat, except the claws sheathed within the paw are blunt hooks used to latch onto mountain rocks. In short, they have retractable "hooves", a reminant of their ancestral form.

Excuse the crude animation, but here is how a "whole foot" flex works. Rythulians have 4 zygodactyl toes for climbing on steep cliffs, the front claw-hooves latching onto the rocks and the rear claw-hooves adding support by catching onto other divets within the mountains. Besides the whole foot flex, Rythulians can protract and retract each toe individually, providing a completely individualized support system based on the surface area of rocks they may stand on.

Another thing that I have mentioned in one of my earlier posts about Rythulian headcanon anatomy, is that their ears are not truly ears. Their real ears are on the sides of the head.

Rythulians have 4 earholes designed for processing different sounds. They are positionally asymmetrical, however the ears themselves are relatively in the same place, like in mammals instead of owls (in which one ear is at the top of the skull, and the other is closer to the jaw bone).

On the left ear: Upper hole for lower frequencies from above, lower hole for higher frequencies from below

On the right ear: Upper hole for higher frequencies from above, lower hole for lower frequencies from below

Because of the earhole asymmetry, Rythulians are able to triangulate like owls do and pinpoint the exact location of a sound. Their hearing is exceptionally sensitive, which was mentioned in this earlier post

The catlike rhinophores atop their heads serve a completely different purpose:

A Rythulian's actual nose is completely useless for smelling. What are their "ears" are actually their rhinophores, of which they use to detect airborne chemicals (poorly) as well as express emotion.

The rhinophores themselves have very coarse hair, much different than the normally soft, silky hair on the rest of their bodies (minus the facial whiskers). Each ear smells independently, however this is inefficient, as rhinophores are typically more effective underwater. To solve this problem, Rythulians will intertwine their rhinophores together, rubbing them vigorously in order to generate a stronger olfactory signal to the brain. This is generally not effective either, as smell is their weakest sense. An "A" for effort regardless.

Here is a head sketch of a yawning individual as an example. The lips have an odd shape, but I will explain that in a later post.

Rythulians have 16 piranha-like teeth, and a small spiny radula in place of a "tongue" (will go into why they have a radula later, it's a doozy). While they will consume plants on the occasion, and they are capable of tasting and enjoy the sweet flavor, Rythulians are obligate carnivores. Their teeth are designed to tear off small chunks of meat, to which the radula rasps into smaller chunks of meat to be swallowed whole. Their preferred prey are aquatic (fish, mollusks, cetaceans, seals, etc), but due to the arid, often barren habitats they're native to, they are not picky and will often catch and eat most things that move. They are not cannibalistic and don't favor eating other humanoid things.

Their second weakest sense is their sense of taste. They can taste all flavors that humans can, but on a much weaker intensity. The short and stubby radula is covered in small, villiform denticles that are used to shear away small chunks of meat. On the outer and rear edges of the radula are small, flatter denticle plates. These are used to shred out meat from shelled creatures such as crustaceans or mollusks. Between and sometimes around these denticles are taste receptors, of which a Rythulian has very few. However, Rythulians have a very sensitive mouth, and salty/spicy/acidic foods are generally not favored by them, as they can quickly become painful.

Denticles start off at the back of the radula, flat, before splitting and pointing upwards into "new" teeth. It's an unusual form of denticle replacements.

Anyway, that's pretty much it for this installment. Next installment, I will go over the hair texture, fur length, skin colors, and body language of my Rythulian headcanons.

Thanks for making it this far! I have no idea how to write or format things so please excuse the rambling and text walls.

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starlessskies94 · 3 years

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Consequence (Joel Miller x OC)

Summary: What if Joel survived his injuries from the Abby and Fireflies attack but ends up with really bad amnesia. He can’t remember his wife, Ellie, or the Outbreak; only before. How will his family bring back the man they once knew?Pairing: Joel Miller x OC Note: An update? Could It be? After all this time?...Yes. It is I! I come with a thousand apologies for taking so long to update. I didn't plan for it be so long but with Covid and going back to work during Covid and family stuff, I just haven't had the time but I'm back my lovelies and I really hope this chapter doesn't disappoint :)

Chapter Seven

Tommy woke up late for the first time in weeks; he didn’t often sleep in but given his late night chasing lost cattle through the town after they’d somehow managed to escape the paddocks; he figured he more than deserved it. Maria had woken him when she made to leave and insisted he stay put while she made a start on the morning checks. She kissed him goodbye and they promised to meet later for lunch together.

The morning air was crisp and fresh as he stepped down onto the path, his jacket zipped tight to fight off the dwindling cold. The snow had long since melted and there were clear telltale signs of Spring fast approaching in Jackson.

And while the cold wasn’t as biting as it had been, there was still the odd chill that needed to be shielded from with a layer or two.

It wouldn’t be long before they were preparing for a new harvest to grow throughout the year. The sacks of seeds and planting equipment appearing all over town as families began to prep the soil and start their planting as the wildflowers poked their heads through the ground to bask in the warming sunlight.

Tommy made his way through the streets heading straight for his brother’s house. It was still hard to believe that it had been a whole two months since Joel’s attack.

Two whole months since his sister in law had lost her husband; his niece, her father. And unfortunately for all of them; it didn’t seem like Joel was making any progress to getting his memories back. He tried to help of course but his brother, being the stubborn grump that he was, had only pushed his younger brother away, insisting he was capable of handling the trauma alone.

He hated seeing his brother struggling, especially when it seemed that some details were coming through. It was little things but it was better than nothing. The only problem was, it was things Joel seemed to dismiss without a second thought.

Tommy honestly believed if Joel focused on them, they’d help process bigger things. Though it certainly hadn’t helped matters that the older Miller had stopped going to his weekly check ups to help his mind improve. The head of the infirmary had voiced her concerns to Tommy a few days earlier. His constant dismissal and disregard for their importance to his slow recovery; not just frustrating the Doctor but also Tommy himself.

He just hoped he could talk some sense into his big brother.

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He knocked but no answer greeted him as he stepped inside the house. It was quiet but clean. Each room meticulously organised and tidied to within an itch of its life. He figured this was what Joel must have been filling his days with over the past few weeks. The sound of muffled hammering caught his attention, leading him up the stairs to Joel’s workshop room. The door slightly ajar. Tommy had barely entered the room before Joel acknowledged him.

“What do you want, Tommy?” Joel grunted without even bothering to turn around. Tommy just shrugged silently, his hands awkwardly stuffing into the front pockets of his jeans.

“Well good morning to you too, just stopped by to see how you’re doing.”

“As good as I can be I guess.” He muttered as he continued to work, never taking his eyes off the wood in his hands. It felt nice seeing his brother once again taking an interest in an old hobby that he had enjoyed before his injury. It felt like maybe they were finally heading in the right direction. But Tommy had to hold off, he didn’t want to push anymore than was necessary. He knew Joel well enough to know that if you pushed too far; Joel would only push back twice as hard. “Right, sorry... whatcha making?” Joel hobbled back a little from the table, giving Tommy a better view of the work in question. The long neck and the four legs beginning to take shape made his heart skip. The older man had always had a talent; that was for certain. The horses he made were always magnificent. The wolves and the deer along with any other animal the people of Jackson had asked for; were always made with utmost care. And it seemed this work of art was no different.

“I think I meant for it to be a giraffe before... everything. Figured I might as well finish it. Hell if I know who it was supposed to be for.”

“Ellie.” Tommy whispered.

“What?”

Tommy took a second for his brain to catch up with his words as he quickly cleared his throat and tried not to fidget too much. “It’s just...uh.. that it’s her birthday in a couple of months and she always liked giraffes, maybe it was meant for her?” He offered nervously. Joel just hummed casually. With a quick dismissive shake of his head and a sigh; he moved the half carved giraffe onto a nearby shelf along with his other unfinished projects. Turning to face his brother, his arm reaching out to grab his cane to steady his balance.

“Yeah, maybe...maybe Ada asked me to make it for her to give to Ellie as a gift.” He wondered out loud, stopping Tommy in his tracks.

“You talked to her?” He asked almost a little too quickly. Causing Joel to frown slightly in response at his brother’s unexplained eagerness.

“Who Ada? Briefly, why? Am I supposed to know her or something?”

“You guys were...friends I guess…” Tommy replied weakly. He knew he had to be cautious here, baby steps. They were moving into uncharted territory when it came to Ada and Ellie. Joel had only just started to accept the life they had lived in Boston as smugglers and that was before he had even had the courage to bring up the Fireflies. He needed to steer clear of things deeper than that for now and ease into the conversation he wanted to have. But his patience was starting to run thin. “Look, the reason I came by is because I was talking to Elizabeth and she said you’ve stopped going to your check ups.”

“Oh not this again Tommy!” Joel snapped, his brother rolling his eyes in frustration as Joel hobbled away from his work space and further towards the door. But Tommy was quick to stop him, stepping in the threshold and blocking Joel’s exit.

“Look I know I don’t understand what you’re going through but-”

“You’re damn right you don’t!” He yelled. "You have no idea what it’s like Tommy; to lose years of your life in an instant. Forget everything you’ve done and the people you used to care about. I don’t see how bitching about how shitty this is to the damn Doctor is going to help!”

“But you’re starting to remember things Joel! That’s a big fucking deal!”

“How?! All I’m remembering is crap no one cares about! How are horse’s names gonna help me? Or how I take my coffee in the morning? I couldn’t even remember holding my little girl in my arms after she was shot! Oh but thank the lord I could remember what colour shirt I was wearing when it happened!!”

With every word Joel got closer, his nostrils flaring in anger as blood continued to boil. But Tommy never backed down, squaring up to his big brother wasn’t unusual and certainly wasn’t the first time they’d been at odds on how to handle something. Joel’s eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched.

“It’s been two months Tommy...two months of this and it ain’t getting better any time soon. This ain’t your problem so just back off!” He hissed between gritted teeth.

“You can’t just push me away Joel, I want to help. I’m trying but you’re just being so damn stubborn.”

“Then leave, I didn’t ask you to babysit me. And I sure as hell don’t need you sticking around outta guilt.” The words stopped Tommy dead.

“What?”

“I might not remember what happened but I know enough from what you told me about Boston...You survived because of me. All those years I took care of us. Just like when we were kids. So what? You feel like you owe me? You gotta take your turn to take care of me now? You can keep it baby brother because I don’t want it. And I didn’t ask for it.” The words spit venom with every ounce of bitterness Joel had in him. And Tommy felt his lip snarl in response. The ungrateful bastard; he thought coldly, after everything he’d done to keep his brother alive on the way back to Jackson after the Fireflies had almost beaten him to death and this was what he had to say in response.

“How do I know the people who did this weren’t after you. I mean they did a pretty good number on you too right? Big brother to the rescue to save your sorry ass; yet again! You think I want to live like this?! Huh?! Trapped in a life of a man I don’t even know. A house full of memories I can’t even goddamn remember!”

That was it, Tommy was done. Joel was frustrated and angry, he knew that. He understood that. Of course he did. But to blame him for this?! How the hell was that fair? His hands shook in pure anger, chest heaving as he held back his punches as much as he could. He stumbled away from the door. His trembling hand reaching up and running through his beard in a poor attempt to calm himself.

“You know what screw you! Screw you Joel! You wanna give up, you wanna feel sorry for yourself? Fine! I’m done. You give up on your family-”

“Family?! What damn family? There’s no one left Tommy! Sarah is gone!”

“She ain’t the only one you got!” Tommy cut off without thinking. Joel’s face dropping at his brother's outburst. The younger man’s eyes widened in shock as he realised what he’d said. But it was too late to take it back now. And Tommy knew that. They both did. Perhaps now was the time to tell the truth.

“You want to know who your family is Joel? Take a look in your damn attic.”

Tommy uttered the words into the thick silence left between the two men. Before turning on his heel to leave, never giving Joel a chance to answer. Leaving the man to stew in his confession. He just hoped that somehow...Ada could forgive him for this.

#joel miller #last of us joel #the last of us part 2 #The last of us part ii #ellie williams #joel and ellie #joel x oc #joel x reader #fanfiction #StarlessSkies writes

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sherrybaby14 · 4 years

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Moral of the Story

Summary: Steve’s girl likes to party all the time and he’s at his wit’s end. Then he meets you.

Pairing: Steve Rogers x female reader.

Warnings: Alcohol, Smut, ANGST

Words: 5k

A/N: This is for the wonderful @captain-rogers-beard challenge. Congrats Doll! My prompt was “Party all the Time” by Eddie Murphy.

The music was a bit louder than you would have liked, but at least the song was catchy. You sipped on your drink as you watched the dance floor, your friend’s waving you over.

With a smirk you shook your head and lifted your drink, far too sober to dance.

“I think they want you to join them?” A voice boomed in your ear.

You did a jump as you turned to see a gorgeous blonde next to you.

“I don’t want to spill my drink.” You ran your hands down your now wet dress.

“Oh Jeez, I’m so sorry ma’am.” He reached for some cocktail napkins. “Let me buy you another.”

“It’s okay.” You began to pat your dress dry. “It’s probably better on my clothes than down my throat. I don’t drink often.”

“Me either.” He gave a warm smile.

“Then why are you in a nightclub?” You turned to the bar, trying to block out the loud music and not have to yell so much. “Here to pick up women?”

“A friend invited me.” His gaze went to the dance floor.

You followed it and saw he was looking at a dark haired man. You couldn’t see his face because it was being covered by a gorgeous brunette. She pulled away and you blinked a few times, she had to be a model, a perfect ten.

“I think your friend is going to get lucky.” You turned back to see his jaw clench up.

“Yeah, it looks like it.” He looked away, there was a pain in his eyes. “If I can’t buy you a new drink how about a cup of coffee?”

“Oh, I don’t think they sell coffee here.” You shrugged.

He erupted in laughter and you glanced around, not noticing the punch line.

“There’s a diner a block away.” He leaned against the bar. “Open twenty four hours. I know I’m a stranger, but I could get out of here and by the looks of it so could you.”

“I’m game.” You put your glass on the bar and started walking to the door.

“I’m Steve by the way.” He held out his hand.

“I know who you are.” You smiled. “I think the whole world knows who you are.”

A confused look spread across his face. The brisk nighttime air made your arm get some goosebumps, but you let out a sigh of relief when the music died down.

“That’s not the reaction I get from most people who know who I am.” Steve grabbed his chin. “Maybe I should grow a beard again.”

“Would you rather I asked for an autograph and a selfie?” You raised an eyebrow, then put the back of your hand to your forehead. “Oh Captain my Captain?”

“Alright, I get it.” Steve laughed. “So what’s your story? I guess your the one whose the stranger here.”

“It’s not like I know everything about you, just the headlines.” You winked. “Workaholic, I love my job, it keeps me busy. In my free time I do the basics, read, watch movies, attempt and fail at the newest workout craze.”

“Pilates man.” Steve pulled the diner door open. “It’s a lot harder than it looks.”

“I fall in every yoga position.” You followed Steve as he slid into a booth. “Zumba was fun, but I’m lacking in rhythm.”

“You?” Steve’s eyes went wide. “You look like you would be a great dancer.”

“I’m great at a lot of things.” You flipped over your mug. “But bad at more.”

“I’m really bad at board games. I flipped the board last time I played Monopoly.” Steve leaned back in the booth. “But I am amazing at tic-tac-toe.”

“Oh yeah?” You reached in your purse and pulled out a pen, drawing the lines on a napkin. “Prove it?”

“Even with all this coffee and stimulating conversation.” You brought your hand to your mouth to stifle the yawn. “Exhaustion is setting in. I’ve got to get to bed.”

“How far do you live from here?” Steve reached for his wallet. “It’s almost 4 am. Can I walk you home?”

“Four am?” You hadn’t checked your phone since you told your friends you were safe after vanishing, that was five hours ago.

Sure enough the device read 3:56.

“Damn.” You grabbed a menu. “Might as well order breakfast then.”

Steve looked shocked, but then nodded in agreement, not pulling a menu. The server took notice and came over.

“I’ll have a meat lovers skillet, side of country gravy, sub American cheese, eggs over easy, wheat toast?” You but the menu back.

“I’ll have the same.” Steve leaned forward.

“Really?” The waitress was confused. “Not the usual?”

“I’m being adventurous tonight.” Steve winked.

“Okay.” She walked away.

“I like the way you know what you want.” Steve leaned back. “Kind of no nonsense. It’s refreshing.”

“I wouldn’t say that.” You laughed. “Maybe when it comes to diner food at 4 am. I’ve been eating my whole life after all.”

“So why isn’t there anyone special in your life?” Steve almost seemed fidgety.

“There’s lots of special people in my life.” You smiled. “I’m very close with my parents, my siblings, have some great friends I’d call family, my coworkers are amazing too.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Steve’s eyes showed a strange wave of vulnerability.

“No reason.” You wished you had a better answer. “I’ve dated plenty, had some serious partners, some not so serious. I guess I’m picky? What about you?”

“The friend who invited me to the club tonight, it was the girl.” Steve gave a pressed smile. “We were very serious, she broke it off about two months ago. Wanted to try being friends. I agreed to give it a go. I don’t see how it’s going to work.”

The perfect 10 brunette. Your heart started to ache for the man. He was heartbroken. It was all over his face, body language. Everything clicked.

“What a bitch.” You brought your hand to your mouth and looked at him with wide eyes.

He laughed and you relaxed.

“There you go, being honest and direct again.” Steve put his elbows on the table. “I don’t think people can be friends with exes. It’s not in the cards.”

“I’ve never tried.” You were more of the it’s done it’s done type. “My philosophy is look forward. The future. Thinking about the past, it’s a dangerous trap.”

“I’m starting to think the same thing.” Steve’s eyes lit up. “She is a big party girl, I mean, she’s a model so sometimes its a networking thing. But I never really fit into her life.”

“Wait, were you guys like a tabloid couple?” You tilted your head. “Can I read all about your breakup on instagram?”

“No!” Steve rolled his eyes. “That was part of the problem. I think she wanted that. Being with me could elevate her career and it made me feel used, so I wouldn’t allow public photos. There’s a few that leaked, but nothing confirming our relationship.”

“Wow, you celebrities are a different breed.” It never once crossed your mind to post about who you were having coffee with.

“I am not a celebrity.” Steve wagged a finger at you.

“Oh I’m sorry.” You brought your hand to your chest. “Historical figure.”

Steve cracked up. His laugh was infectious and you joined, chuckling away.

“Without being too forward young lady,” Steve reached out and grabbed your hand, sparks shooting down your arm. “Could I have your telephone number?”

You knew he was bating you for a joke. But you preferred the natural type.

“Yes.” You reached for your phone, breaking the hand touch. “You can have my number.”

Noon hit and you forced yourself out of bed, six hours of sleep was doable. You began to make your mental checklist of projects for the day while you brushed your teeth.

There was a giddy ness in the back of your mind over last night. He was a cool guy and it was a fun time. Your brain started to think about work. You had to call your parents and check in, probably explain to your friends about where you went, you would leave out the Captain America angle.

You grabbed your phone and your jaw about hit the floor. There was a text from Steve already.

Are you going to say good morning?

You didn’t think you would hear from him for at least a few days. It made you smile and wiggle as you sat on the bed.

Good morning! Or afternoon?

Before you set the device down the reply bubbles started to form. You parted ways seven hours ago. It was a Saturday. This was unexpected. The bubbles disappeared and then reappeared several times. You were on the edge of your seat.

Then your phone started to vibrate. You almost threw the thing, seeing Steve’s name pop up. Instead your smile grew as you slid it to answer.

“Was good afternoon not appropriate? Technically it’s 12:15, that is literally after noon.” You tried to stifle the excitement.

“You want to have a beer with me tonight?” Steve’s voice was just as sexy over the phone. “I would say dinner, but I know you had some things to take care of. There’s this sports bar I love, I promise I won’t spill anything on you and coffee keeps us up too late.”

“I’d love to.” You didn’t see a point in trying to act coy.

“Great, nine o’clock? I’ll text you the address.” Steve’s smile carried over the phone.

“Sounds like a plan.” You ran your hand over your hair and wondered if you could get away without washing it.

“Have a great day. I”ll see you tonight.”

“Bye.” You clicked off the phone and did a little happy dance.

You didn’t see that one coming.

Your phone lit up with Steve’s message right away. You sent a thumbs up emoji. To your surprise, Steve responded:

Emojis, it’s like hyrogliphics are coming back? Why did we skip the sonnets?

You didn’t even think before responding.

You: Shall I compare thee to a Summer’s Day? Thou art more lovely and temperate.

Steve: Sonnet 18, one of the greats.

You: I stole it from Clueless.

Steve: What’s Clueless?

You woke the next morning, at your normal 8 am. Even more thrilled with the date from the night before. It was fun. It was a fantastic time. Of course the texting all day long made the conversation flow right to person-to-person.

“I can’t sleep until noon tomorrow.” You stood up from the bar stool. “Plus I hit my three beer maximum. Maybe once I know you better you can meet four beer me.”

“You’re guarded in the strangest ways.” Steve beamed at you.

“Me?” You were shocked. “I’m an open book. Nothing to hide.”

“Well would this bother you then?” Steve cupped your cheek and before you could react his face leaned in.

Warm lips met yours. You melted into him, your body felt like it was floating. Nobody in the bar paid you any attention as his tongue slid into your mouth before pulling out. A little moan came forward when he pulled away.

There was a devilish grin on his face as he grabbed your hand and kissed your knuckles.

“Let’s get you an Uber.”

All you could do was nod in a numb state. This amazing man kissed you. It was like a dream.

You were all smiles as you rolled out of bed, straight to the bathroom. Sundays were your lazy day, but you missed too much yesterday that you had to squeeze some work in. It wouldn’t be too much.

When you left the bathroom you grabbed your phone. Your heart exploded when you saw there was already a text from Steve.

Today you can say good morning. I have faith.

Steve Rogers was perfect. Three dates in a week, not including coffee night. Every other day he wanted to see you. He made you laugh, listened to you, was always available. Sent you little comics you found funny. You giggled at the last gif he sent you of a puppy eating bubble.

You: I’ve got to head into a work meeting. I’ll text you later.

Steve: Knock ‘em dead.

Supportive too. You smiled as you slipped your phone into your pocket. It had only been a week, but you couldn’t remember the last time you connected with someone this way, if ever.

“You’re smiley.” A coworker bumped you with her arm. “It’s almost like you have a glow.”

“Just a happy person.” You shrugged. “How is your son doing? Any luck on that math test?”

“Oh he did much better!” Your coworker dropped her shoulders in relief. “That tutor was worth every penny.”

She continued to talk and you tried to listen, but your thoughts kept drifting to Steve. This was the best week of your life.

The meeting got your adrenaline pumping. You left and went straight to your office, typing away the e-mails, ready to get the new project off the ground. It was almost time to call it a day, the sun was starting to set.

That was when you picked up your phone. Two messages from Steve. Fuck. Guilt set in.

How was the meeting?

Everything okay?

You grabbed your phone and started typing.

You: Sorry work got crazy. Major project. Just leaving now.

Steve: Do you want to over to my place for dinner? Unwind? I can have a meal and some wine for you, straight away?

Unwinding with Steve sounded perfect, plus you were more interested in the version that didn’t involve a meal.

You looked down at your work clothes, your makeup probably long smeared off, but did that matter? Steve didn’t seem to care about your appearance. He wanted you for who you were. And right now that sounded perfect.

You: Do you have ice cream?

Steve: Oh my freezer is overflowing. Any flavor you like. Popsicles too.

You: I’m in. Text me your address?

Every other time you arrived at a paramour’s place for the first time you were nervous. Not this time. Your brain played a slide show of the last week. The way Steve listened, hung on your words, followed up with questions. He made you feel like the most important person in the world.

Your past experiences taught you that people were either fantastic talkers or listeners. You prided yourself on being both, but Steve seemed to fall in that same category.

With a strange confidence you hit the buzzer for his apartment. The door unlocked and you walked up the stairs, speeding up with each step.

When you got to his floor you spotted him hanging out the door, waving at you. This was going to be the hard part.

“Before I step inside, I have to let you know something.” You rehearsed this in your head a few times. “Work was insane today, and I know tomorrow is Saturday, but I have to put in a few hours. This happens about twice a year, not a common occurrence. But as much as I want to, I can’t spend the night.”

“Okay.” Steve nodded and held the door open. “Again I love your honesty.”

You walked in to see all the only lights on in the apartment two candles on the clothed kitchen table. Your heart started to sink at the thought he’d put into it, but then you noticed the meal set out at each end and began to laugh.

“Full disclosure, all I had was some TV dinners.” Steve came behind you and wrapped his arms around your waist. “And there’s no ice cream or popsicles. But I can think of something I want for dessert.”

You spun around and put your arms around his neck, pulling him in for a deep kiss. He reached underneath you and scooped you up. You wrapped your legs around his waist as he carried you, deepening the kiss.

Nothing had ever felt so right in your life. It was as if the cosmos had brought you together.

“You’re too perfect.” You pulled away as he dropped you on the bed.

“You’re a one-in-a-million.” Steve’s breath was heavy as he started to pull at your clothing.

Hands were everywhere, lips randomly touching whatever skin they could. Shoes and socks flying off with pants and shirts. You shoved his boxers down as he unhooked your bra, the feeling of your bare chests pushed together making you shudder.

Steve grabbed your panties and yanked them down as you settled back on his bed. On your back, legs spread, knees up. His arm encircled your thigh as he began to kiss. You moaned and fisted the blanket, lifting your pelvis up inviting his mouth.

He wasted no time and began to devour you. You tried to pay attention to what he was doing, but you couldn’t keep up. Was that his tongue? His lips? You cried out when something slid inside of you.

“FUCK!” Your body convulsed around his mouth.

Your chest heaved while your brain tried to keep up with the pleasure. Steve kept licking, touching, working you. Everything was frenzied. Your head collapsed to the side and you tried to regain control.

“I knew you were primed.” Steve kissed up your stomach. “But you have one more in you.”

He climbed until he was over you, his cock lining up with your entrance. Never had you came that fast from another person.

Steve pushed forward and filled your aching pussy. You squealed and grabbed onto his shoulders. Rolling your body against his.

“That’s it.” He nipped at your neck. “You were meant for me. Never felt this way before.”

You grabbed his face and pulled his lips to your own, enjoying the taste of yourself on him while he railed into you. He returned the kiss and sped up. Slamming his cock, teasing your clit while your g-spot came to life.

There was no hiding your moans and his grunts as your bodies melded together. Your breath started to tighten, and then your muscles started. The edge came fast and you flung yourself over.

Your head went back into the pillow as your screamed, it was impossible to tell if your vision went black since the room was too dark. But Steve let out a grunt and pulled out of you.

Instead of blowing all over your stomach he pushed your head down. You slid down the bed and opened your mouth.

His aim was perfect and for the second time you tasted yourself, enjoying the way he finished in your mouth, letting your lips wrap around his tip. Drinking him all down while your body shook.

“I think I’m falling in love.” Steve pushed forward before pulling out and landing on his back.

You nodded, breathless as you curled up to him. He wrapped an arm around you and pulled you close, kissing the top of your head.

You ignored the tears forming in your eyes, fighting them away. If pure happiness existed, this was it. How did you get so lucky?

Steve: I’m going to hug my pillow all night wishing it was you.

You glanced at the clock, it was already approaching midnight.

You: I’m sorry I couldn’t stay. Thank you for a wonderful night and a gourmet meal.

Steve: Get some sleep. I miss you.

You: I miss you too.

You grabbed your pillow. If Steve was pretending his was you, maybe you could do that same. A huge smile on your face as you drifted off.

You woke with a smile. Maybe Smiley could be your new nickname. You grabbed your phone eager to see what Steve had sent. To your surprise, there was no message.

All week long you’d woken up to messages. You smiled even bigger, maybe you’d finally worn him out and the man needed more sleep than you did.

You rolled out of bed to brush your teeth, thoughts filled with nothing but Steve.

Work was so intense, you turned your phone off. No distractions. When the team broke for lunch you flipped it on, your heart racing to see Steve’s messages. When the screen came to life you saw nothing.

Maybe it was wrong? Messages glitched sometimes. You clicked the app open, all you saw was your last message. It said read at 12:03 am.

You shrugged it off. Steve knew you had a big work day. He was being respectful. You thought about texting him, but you had to get back to it and didn’t want to come off as needy. It wasn’t like you could text him all afternoon.

The project finished an hour early, 4 pm on a Saturday. Everyone gave themselves a round of applause and you did a lazy golf clap as you reached for your phone.

Your heart exploded when you saw a message from Steve.

Steve: How was your day?

You: Good. I have so much to tell you!

There was no bubble response, or read receipt. You stared at your phone. Maybe turning it off had been a bad idea.

After saying goodbye to your colleagues and walking to you subway stop your phone dings with a message.

Steve: Can we meet for coffee?

You giggled.

You: Why not dinner? The real kind this time. It was a big day for me! I want to celebrate, you can supply dessert again.

Steve: Coffee. Now? First night?

Maybe he had a big day too. He’d been so supportive of you, it was due to return the favor.

You: Sure. I’ll be there in twenty.

You headed to the other subway line, more than eager for a sleepover tonight.

When you arrive at the diner you scan it, not seeing Steve anywhere. Maybe you beat him here. You were about to grab a random booth when a man in a black hoodie, baseball hat, and sunglasses sticks his hand in the air.

You smile, wondering if this is some Avenger’s mission.

“Are you going as the Unabomber for Halloween?” You slide into the booth. “I couldn’t even recognize you.”

“There’s no easy way to say this.” Steve cracked his jaw. “Ashley called me last night. Very upset.”

“Whose Ashley?” You blurted out the first thought that came to your mind.

“My ex.” He let out a huge sigh. “She’s a mess.”

“The bitch from the club?” You were a little interested in the drama.

“She’s not a bitch.” Steve put his hands on the table and your blood ran cold. “She has some problems. She is working on them. And we have a lot of history and she needs my help.”

“Oh.” You felt like your soul floated out of your body.

“You’re so perfect.” He reached out and grabbed your hands. “But she needs me. You don’t need me. We have a lot of history and I owe it to her to try.”

“Oh.” Everything went numb.

“I wanted to let you know in person and before things got too serious.” Steve squeezed your hand. “If I could take back last night, I wouldn’t. It was perfect, you’re perfect.”

“You already said that.” Your voice was getting tight.

“But I mean it.” He pushed the hood off his baseball cap. “I can’t leave her. Without me, I mean, you saw her at the club that night. She’s a disaster.”

The tears started to boil in your throat they were so deep. You yanked your hands away, thoughts flying to wild to speak clearly. You didn’t know if you wanted to scream at him or plead with him to pick you.

“I hope we can stay friends?” He let out a sigh. “I mean, you’re amazing and you made me so happy this past week. Probably the happiest I’ve been in my entire life. You’re smart, and witty, and beautiful, and you’re everything.”

The way he said week hit home. It was only a week. Not a month, not a year. Just a week. A lot of digs ran through your mind, ways you could make a joke, ways you could state your feelings. But instead you said one thing.

“Sure.” Your brain started to scream at itself.

“That’s such a relief.” Steve dropped his shoulders.

“I had a really long day.” You stood up from the booth. “Talk soon?”

You didn’t look back as you ran to the door, the tears spilling over. With a shaky hand you pulled out your phone, screaming at yourself for being so stupid to develope feelings, but smart enough to do one thing. You highlighted his contact and clicked delete.

Friends, family, whoever would talk had to listen to you cry. You didn’t hold back for them. You made sure they alternated duty. You even took a week off of work.

“If I would have stayed that night, would he have ignored her?” You sobbed to your best friend.

“No hunny.” She ran a hand through your head. “No. You got caught in a weird game.”

Steve: How do you kill a circus?

It’s a random number not saved to a contact, but you know that’s the first text you get from Steve. You know the punchline, but rather than responding you delete it. The last thing you want is to memorize his number.

You would’ve broken down and sent some very dumb stuff you would’ve regretted. It’s only been five days. He should send his girlfriend those jokes, not you.

Three days later you get another.

Steve: How are you?

You think about deleting it, you think about screaming you broke my heart, acting cool like you’re busy, or just gushing about how much you miss him and what a great guy his is.

You: Fine.

Steve: Glad to hear.

You don’t hesitate to delete the thread.

Steve: I miss you.

Your heart races. It’s been two weeks since the night you had the best sex of your life. The tears sting your eyes. You’ve been apart longer than you were together. Did he realize he made a mistake? Was he coming back to you?

You start typing: I miss

But then you stop. No. You had to frame this right. State it right. But what was there to do? Yell at him into loving you? Did you love him? Your heart hurt like it had, but this was wrong.

With a shaky finger you highlighted the number and moved it to block. The sobs came again and you cuddled your phone, regretting your choice.

The day you hit the month mark you were trying not to think about Steve, but then the celebrity hit: CAPTAIN AMERICA ENGAGED! It ran all over the headlines.

Him and his fiance were plastered everywhere. You couldn’t escape. It hit you then. You were a rebound. You were nothing. A temporary step on his life path. It hurt. It hurt more than anything. No ice cream could repair the hole one week with Steve Rogers had created.

“I’m glad we got you out tonight.” Your friend poked you in the side as she screamed in your ear. “What’s it been, months since you’ve been in a club?”

“Yep.” Two, but you tried not to think about how your last time in a nightclub ended, how it could derail your life. “But I’m here.”

You still hated the loud music. Memories of a sports bar with Steve tried to come forward, but you buried them before they could.

“Let’s dance!” She grabbed your hand.

“Not yet.” You yanked it away. “In a few drinks.”

“I’ll wait with you.” She settled next to you. “But that dance floor is inviting.”

The bodies were moving and you scanned the area. Your eyes bulged when you spotted a familiar face, tongue down a mouth.

“Is that…..is that Captain America’s fiance?” Your friend grabbed your arm, you never told them the mysterious Steve’s last name. “She’s not kissing Cap.”

She pulled out her phone ready to take a picture, but you put your hand out and lowered her arm.

A wave of clarity rushed over you.

“His girl wants to party all the time. He buys her champagne and diamonds.” A weird smile settled over you. “He thinks he can fix her.”

That was the problem. You didn’t need fixing. And if you ever did you would figure it out for yourself, with the support of people around you. Steve hit the nail on the head when he said you didn’t need him. You never would.

“Go dance.” You gave your friend a playful spank on the ass.

For the first time in two months you felt like yourself and turned back to the bar hoping to block the music.

A finger tapped your shoulder and you looked up with no jump.

“It’s loud in here.” A handsome man with dark hair looked down at you.

“There’s a coffee shop a block away.” You stood up. “Can I buy you a cup?”

“Yes.” He nodded and set his drink down.

“What’s your name?” You yelled over the music.

“Stephen.” He was right behind you.

“Do you go by Steve and what are your thoughts on needy women?” You pushed open the door to the club.

The air was hot and you rolled your shoulders back, embracing the lack of obnoxious music.

“If I went by Steve I would have introduced myself that way.” His intense eyes glared at you. “And I am a surgeon. Everyone I encounter is needy. I don’t have time for it in my personal life.”

You stifled your laughter at the response. At least Steve had taught you to speak your mind. Having a flashback to leaving the bar with him.

“Well Mr. Stranger, I will never need you.” You grinned at him. “Except for good conversation and occasional support.”

“It’s actually Doctor Strange.” He chuckled. “I think that’s the first time I laughed in months.”

“Tell me about it...literally.” You kicked at the sidewalk. “How do you kill a circus?”

The man scoffed at you and then wiped off his sleeves.

“You go for the juggler of course.”

#Steve x reader #steve rogers x reader #marvel #marvel fanfic #fanfic #fanfiction

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soyouareandrewdobson · 3 years

Text

…the ugly. SYAC: The Master Review 4

Last post I covered much of what I consider the good or passable strips of SYAC of the pre-Dobbear era. What I have admittedly not covered yet, were three certain characters of the strip that exist beside Dobson.

Persistent Pam

Curmudgeonly Carl

And… this guy I am not even sure has a name.

No, seriously. He shows up in like the 61th strip of the series for the first time and yet I never see his name mentioned once

All I know is that he is an accountant, who pities Dobson (for good reason)

And despite Dobson not liking alcohol, they regularly meet up in a bar as if they are some late 80s comedy duo

Funnily enough, he shows up way before Pam, who would have her premiere in these strips

And despite only showing up in a few strips after her premiere (mostly to make “fun” of overbearing and snarky commissioners I suppose…)

She actually managed something no other character or series by Dobson managed to get: A fanclub

Not that she would really be of any major importance afterwards.

As for Carl, he is supposed to be something like an antagonistic embodiment of Dobson’s “old” art teachers and people being stuck in old ways, who shows up for the following strips forming a sort of arc.

In addition, it is very obvious, that Carl is supposed to be a mockery of people flaming Dobson. Not helped by the fact that THIS character sheet of him made by Dobson assures us, that there were quite a few even less “endorsing” things he wanted to name the character.

Yet funnily enough, Carl turned into such a popular character with readers, Dobson was essentially “forced” to make him reappear in other strips. Not of the “classical” SYAC strips, but he showed up as the “antagonist” to Tenku in the storydriven multi pagers. Though even antagonist is a strong word, as he is essentially more of a jerkish art teacher and college advisor who is harsh on Tenku, but actually has his best interests in mind. To the point he even offers him to be his “harsher” art critic in the years till he enters college, because he wants to see him grow artistically.

However, Carl was also more of an “accident”. Cause when it came otherwise to tackling criticism or things that irked Dobson (and were not anime related) he would end up more or less creating strips that painted him in a manner where he would supposedly always look like “the better” compared to his opposition or mock it. Which is where a lot of the irk Dobson would earn over the years eventually comes from.

Now to be fair, I do not want to call every comic in that regard “strawmanning”, nor do I want to say that Dobson doesn’t have the right to also mock to a certain extend the mentality of certain “snobs” and so on. For example…

On one hand, I know there are people out there who think they are “special” by having the best tools at their disposal. When in reality you can achieve good results also with less expensive stuff. So mocking that sort of attitude is fine to me to some extend

BUT, when you also make down the line a comic like this…

… essentially making yourself come off as a “better” artist or person than others because you have “chosen” the better mass produced crap (btw, that is coming from someone who types this review on a Mac that runs Windows) , then the hypocrisy ends up to be rather strong with you.

Which is also essentially the biggest issue with the strips I am about to show. The hypocrisy of Andrew Dobson. And no, I do not mean the tumblr blog by that. I mean the simple fact, that the content of some of the soon to follow strips gets kinda muddled when you take into consideration some of the things real life Dobson had said and done either at the time or in the years to come. Well that and the way how he tries to mock issues people have with his work, not realizing how he is essentially just reassuring those “silly critics” in their opinions while making his flaws more obvious to people that may have been previously unaware of them.

But enough talk, let me just show you in quick succession examples to confirm said point.

Considering Dobson’s longterm disdain for DnD you have to wonder what the joke really is outside of him portraying DnD players as ugly nerds, supposedly too geeky even for him. Which is hilarious in hindsight as he would years later become a fan of TAZ among other things.

Less hypocritical but the set up is kinda flawed. Like, you are obviously at a convention trying to sell stuff. Why would some old dude not interested in “kids crap” be at the convention anyway? Is he just bringing someone there and just wants to go, but first needs time to belittle your life choices?

Rather hilarious in hindsight to me. Cause for someone claiming he has ideas that last for a life time and who seems rather distraught on the idea of others giving their input, he turned out to be so in need of ideas. Alex ze Pirate e.g. became from 2015 onward only defined by Dobson talking about the sexualities of his characters (and not even in comic as by that point it was discontinued, but rather in tweets and so on). Formera, which ran heavily on cheap shonen anime tropes ended up cancelled after two volumes, Cabin Rest was a failure after 20 strips, 2019 he relied primarily on cheap comics about Miraculous Ladybug and his understanding of certain genres is so bad, he can’t even think up the most basic ideas for a magical girl story.

Weirdly enough, that pitch of a garbage truck driver who fights crime? I think that could make for an enjoyable short story about a vigilante a la the Punisher or Sin-City.

The way Dobson perceives criticism, while also essentially giving a quick rundown how he appreciated criticism in his childhood way better than in adulthood. Yeah, because criticism by your parents as a kid was always VERY constructive. (looks back at certain drawings from own childhood) brrr. And sorry Dobson, but sometimes criticism by strangers is better than criticism from friends. Cause friends may mince their words. Plus people have over time given you quite some insightful criticism aside “U SUX” when it comes to comics. You were just never willing to listen

Hey Dobson, you hear that? That is the sound of your career, dying and no one caring.

Yeah, I think someone who made such “brilliant” comedy as in these comics, totally has the right not to listen to what seems to be solid theoretical advice.

BTW, that Talus comic… I swear to god the worst “joke” Dobson ever told.

Wow. You essentially make a point why you suck at drawing. While still not trying to change.

And as someone else once said: Don’t play with fire if you can’t deal with the heat, BLOCK-son!

This is not how I perceived your shit over the years. See, on one hand it is true that Alex ze Pirate e.g. has its own webpage to read the comic for free. HOWEVER most of his comics Dobson would hide from the start behind a paywall. The idea being that he would e.g. put a small reading sample of 10-15 pages up somewhere and then expect people to buy his comic for full price to get the rest. And you know, if you are e.g. a professionally published writer, that is fine. But when your average art output looks like THIS

And you expect people to pay more than 10 dollars for something that is only around 70 pages long while most people can get 200+ pages for the same amount of money that look like this…

You can frankly go and screw yourself.

On one hand I get that the joke is meant to be, that as an independent content creator you may find yourself in a weird spot where your “child friendly” work may be put in a palace between edgier stuff other creators sell at conventions. On the other hand, I find it rather insulting in hindsight, that self declared feminist Andrew Dobson portrays such competition as either psychopathic murderers or stereotypical cartoon bimbos. If modern day Dobson saw the same strip by any other person, he would be insulted on behalf of the female that she is portrayed as a bimbo, when she could also be a very smart and attractive woman who knows how to tell brave and sexy stories.

Also, I have read your “child friendly” stuff, Dobson. I would call Atea or Alex abusive bitches who like to bully orphans but child friendly? Not to forget that your work is so basic and shallow in depth, it’s like the someone tried to create a chimera out of some of the worst traits associated with Dora the Explorer, 80s toodler cartoons and the Fairly Oddparents.

I frankly hate this theory on comedy. It is true, a lot of comedy can be deprived from conflict, misunderstandings etc. Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry and other cartoons as well as screwball comedies such as Rat Race can depend on it. Heck, one of my favorite comedians of all time is Christopher Titus, who based his entire career on the misery and absurdity of his life.

But comedy is not just defined by misery and conflict.

There are for example also the following theories when it comes to comedy…

And to get back e.g. to Titus, yes, he has build a lot of his comedy on the bad stuff that happened in his life. But he is also someone who in his comedy has build a lot of punchlines on the absurdity of certain situations he has been in life but which in a way have enriched his life positively.

What I am trying to say is, comedy (and entertainment in that regard) does not just have to be defined by misery. And all things considered Dobson, you could have really tried to also just make comics wherein either you or your characters are just happy with their situation in life.

For example, this page from an Owl House fancomic?

I think it holds more entertainment value than your “joke” right here, despite not even telling a joke.

Simply because as a page overall, it tries to convey a positive emotion. Which is more than I can say about the strip.

Because of a lack of different level of thickness regarding your lines, which would trick people into perceiving depth, the fact that the fill bucket and shade layers can only do so much to cover for the rather monochromatic dull nature of your comic, the fact that your characters are not really all that complex and look rather simplicstic even compared to stuff from a comic like this…

And that is just coming from the top of my head as someone who never studied art. If any reader has something to add, I am willing to listen

And considering you could in later years never keep up to any release schedule, which among other things resulted in only three SYAC strips in total being released in 2016, I say go fuck yourself. Not to forget that even some of the worst newspaper comic strips out there tend to actually find a decent following and good jokes eventually, otherwise they would not manage to stay popular for years, if not even decades.

As someone who has worked internships a lot in life, I just want to say fuck you in all our names. Glad to see you having just as much respect for interns than any other scumbag on the planet. Probably even less respect, cause you know, in some places interns tend to get paid.

Also, there is supposedly an entire real world story going on about Dobson having worked at his former university at the time the comic came out and Chaz is based on a fellow intern.

Things are unfortunately rather vague in that regard and only hold up by demonstrative evidence such as the name of Chaz showing up in certain pages of the university and Dobson’s internship being mentioned somewhere.

Well, would you look at that: People have different opinions on your stuff.

There are ways to draw memes funny and then there are ways to fail at them

You failed.

Funnily enough, that comic rings a lot truer to text than you expect. Considering how Dobson would often emulate certain aesthetics in his comics of shows that were rather passee by the time he published his stuff, plus how he will obsess over certain trends and games for years to come (like Skyrim or his Quiet Hate Boner) while also being unaware about current trends (how do you e.g. not have heard of My Hero Academia by 2018 at least once by accident?) Dobson has always been kinda late to the party. Missing the “zeitgeist” of nerd culture and as such never quite finding an audience.

Yeah, what Pam says. Not helped by the fact that yes, the floating eyebrows are real. Look at some earlier sketches or “professionally published” comics by his and you will see that each time characters get excited, their eyebrows will suddenly split into sets of three and float higher than Pennywise’s victims.

Ironically, that fits real life Dobson at the time and later on even more so than this comic version did. Sorry, but what am I supposed to call a person who has an hate boner on anime for years for superfluous reasons, made Danny and Spot a “gaming webcomic” deliberately to piss on non Nintendo fans and has admitted in some by now deleted youtube video, that he kept a list of usernames from an old forum just to remember even years later the people that were mean to him online?

Fuck both of you. I do not expect the Sixtin Chapel in the background, but something to filll up the empty space behind you is at times needed.

The comic here is actually called politics. … ironic how things changed once a certain reality show host turned president.

Jesus Christ. I am not even that much of a Transformers fan (Prime fan for life however) but even I know that this is not supposed to be what you design the head of a Transformer like. Not even if they ever produce the Transformers equivalent of Teen Titans Go.

Too bad you still can’t stand the heat, otherwise you wouldn’t have completely disappeared last year.

When you know you are in a no win situation, and still manage to choose an even dumber option to escape. I really don’t get it. I just think the Portal reference makes the comic dated and Dobsn’s attempt at a smug face looks so stupid. Like his cheeks are falling in and his mouth is about ready to get raped by a garden hose or something.

Yeah, considering Dobson’s later constant need for safe spaces and to be in control of a situation and the narrative, which led to so many blocks over the years… if you know anything about Dobson, how this comic becomes harsher in hindsight is rather self explanatory. I just want to say one thing: There is a difference between genuine agoraphobia and just wanting to be by yourself. And I think Dobson just prefers the later on average. Which is okay, but humans still need to interact with other human beings in one form or another, even just for the sake of keeping their mental health stable. Why do you think are so many people getting depressed in times of covid lockdowns, despite many having all sorts of technical gimmicks at their disposal to at least keep boredom at bay?

And by putting himself into a bubble like that, I think Dobson has deprived himself of some of the most basic human interaction, which was likely a severe factor in his mental degeneration over the last years.

It is still a valid suggestion! Just draw some cartoon characters or a nice fantasy scenario on a mural and earn yourself some bucks. Just be sure they are not by Disney or the Mouse will tear down the school!

… Just google up the words Andrew Dobson and Samus Aran commission by ED and you will see how this comic just further shows how much Dobson seems to actually be proud of being an unproductive asshole.

And by the way, I know that any form of artistic work takes time. Just writing these review posts takes a lot of time for me. But that doesn’t change the fact that people should post and create stuff in a timely fashion, especially when there are e.g. deadlines to hold up too. And by the way, Sloth’s don’t have fingers, they have claws!

And that is it.

Sorry if I missed anything folks, but I just saw how many pages in word this is already filling up, so I call quits for this part here right now. I think I made my point about how Dobson trying to badly deflect arguments people may make against his art and work ethics via jokes clear enough, while also showing some posts that are either harsher or hilarious in hindsight.

Next time we will however address one certain issue about our main character, that has been not directly addressed here. In the meantime, have a little fun video that shows hopefully how entertainment and a certain amount of comedy can be gained NOT via misery.

youtube

#adobsoncomic #Andrew Dobson #Tom Preston #comic #webcomics #syac #so...you are a cartoonist #review #master review

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honorable-wanderings · 3 years

Text

Word of Honor - Episode 2 Part 1 - Stalking, but in like. A sexy way

(Sorry! For some reason the “readmore” isn’t working right!)

WE JOIN OUR “HEROES”....

exactly where we left them.

ZZS looks confused, offended, and slightly intrigued by the new person added into Smash Bros.

Look at him. Tryin to be all cool. Make a good first impression.

----------

I’m not really sure what kind of a power move it is wrapping up her whip and pulling her closer in a chastising way in front of the man you have already decided to try to seduce but it is a power move none the less.

And it seems to be working! :o

----------

There’s more pouting in this show than I originally anticipated.

“A-Xiang, stop attacking random people on the street. At least wait until your martial arts don’t suck ass first.”

----------

And so the dance begins.

Look at that smirk. He knows exactly what he’s doing.

---------

Waste not your honored thanks on me, kind gentleman. I am but a lowly drunkard lying dirty and prone on the street. The error, therefore, must have been my own!

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

I got my eyes on you!!!!

To quote a kind young lady that I met quite recently. “I don’t give a FUCK”

----------

Oh wait, you’re still here?

----------

Best boy alert is going crazy!!!

We may have just met ChenLing, but I would die for him. That also seems to be the general consensus with the other characters as well.

----------

“It is dangerous outside the town walls, so I cannot allow a child like you to... ...A sword? My apologies, sir. It was wrong of me to treat you like a child. “

What? That’s not what he said?

----------

“Are you injured or ill?”

*looks into the camera like it’s the office*

----------

ZZS out here looking like a tragic renaissance painting.

“Young master can we go now? He smells D:”

“Sure just a sec! Let me just leave him my house keys!!”

“What??? Nooooo”

“What was that phrase I learned today? I don’t give a fuck?”

(On a side note I am trying to learn French atm and deadass almost wrote “fraise” instead of “phrase” even though it means “strawberry” and doesn’t have anything to do with the conversation at hand.)

----------

I came out here to enjoy the sun and some peace and quiet and some good alcohol. The peace and quiet is gone. And so is the sun. Now this dickwad’s saying I might be bad because I dress like shit? I was the nicest dressed royal assassin ever and now that I’m a hobo I’ve never been more upstanding! I haven’t even killed a single person in like a year and a half (other than myself).

At least I still have you, alcohol.

----------

Meanwhile back with these two,

A-Xiang is still mad that she lost a random fight she picked with someone who looked like a pushover.

More pouting ensues

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

“Get good”

Master KeXing reveals he knows more than he revealed to know previously when he was pretending not to know what he has now revealed he knows.

A-Xiang wants to know if he’s making shit up again.

-----------

The plot is driven forward by the playful rhyming chants of children. Honestly that’s top tier horror movie quality plot beat right there. Add a sense of foreboding to your story even though we’re still in ‘lighthearted silly time”

Good job!

----------

Zhou Zishu wonders, surely not for the last time, why everyone in the martial arts world can’t just calm the fuck down.

----------

ZZS then decides that after being accosted by random people on the street while he was snoozing and minding his own damn business that that seems like a lot of fun and decides to accost some random person on the street who was snoozing and minding their own business.

---------

Why doesn’t anyone ever believe that I’m fucking loaded? I’ve got like 2 years left and I’m gonna blow my life’s savings before I go muthafucka. You want 3 mace of silver for a half-mile boat ride? Done motherfucker did I stutter?

----------

“Hello. I’m totally not stalking you. :D”

----------

“You wanna ride my boat? ;)” he asks, shouting it across the river so that he could be heard. “What?” Zhou Zishu replies, not able to understand him over the babbling of the water.

“I said! Do! You! Want! To! Ride! My! Boat? Winky Face!”

“Did you just say “winky face??”

“Yeah I was worried you couldn’t see it from there!”

----------

Somehow today has turned out much more interesting than I had anticipatd

----------

“We’ll meet again if fated!”

“Challenge accepted”

----------

Yes I am only keeping an eye on him to make sure he doesn’t fuck with my plans. And that is the only reason. Yes. that’s why I’m going to follow him. Just this. Only that. No other reason.

----------

This place is pretty! I think this would be a great place to die!

Hun, you still have a couple years. You can always come back to die here later but like chilling in a field of flowering trees for 2 years will kinda lose its novelty if you don’t do other things too.

----------

GIVE ME YO’ FUCKIN’ MONEY!!

----------

You said I’ve already ridden and dashed so what’s the point in my paying you now? Toodles!

-----------

This place is pretty but I love how people never walk anywhere. Like the trees would look prettier if you were in them you know.

----------

HOly fuck! Being rude as shit is so fun! How have I never tried this before?

----------

Uh.. question: How did this get here? It’s clearly dry docked but it’s no where near the water. Why is it here???

Ah well. It’s free real estate

----------

WHY IS THE RUM GONE?

----------

Do I have “attack me” written on my face or something? For the love of fuck! I’m not drunk enough for this!

----------

“Meh”

“Meh? I think not good sir.”

----------

Would you believe that this wasn’t even rehearsed?

-----------

For someone who does not want people to see his chest, this is certainly a lot of chest exposed???

----------

Not sure that’s how fans work, but hell maybe I’ve just been using ‘em wrong all this time

Holy fuck is it heat seeking???

----------

Surprise!!!

-----------

Pff. Okay. Like I will ALWAYS love it when some not sharp object flies into something and sticks like it’s made of razor sharp blades. And I know TECHNICALLY it’s possible - what with a tornado being able to slam a single piece of straw through cinder block. But it will always make me smile.

(And while that is a smile at how ridiculous it is, it is with 100% legit affection and charm. I legit love it)

Just. “Thunk”

----------

Who is attacking me? Were they sent by the prince? Do they know who I am? Do I need to get serious?

Oh... It’s just that random guy again.

Well that’s okay then.

--------

I apologize for once again attacking you randomly and completely unprovoked in the middle of nowhere. My bad.

----------

“My footwork has godlike elegance huh? You shoulda seen me when I wasn’t dying.”

----------

I came here to check out dat ass again and I was not disappointed. ;)

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Don’t stand so- Don’t stand so- Don’t stand so close to me ♪

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“Why don’t we drink on my boat?“ “I don’t want to sleep with you!“ “Yet ;)”

----------

Why the fuck are you following me? Just say what you want from me already!

Bitch you invited me

-------

“He’s so good at kissing ass”

Oh just you wait.

--------

Still gonna stalk you btw! ♥♥♥

#word of honor #Shanhe Ling #zhou zishu #wen kexing #Gu Xiang #zhang chengling #spoilers #episode 2 #Long Post #Writing WoH

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youareunbearable · 3 years

Note

Catch me not having a clue who any of these gods(?) and people are, but still sitting here like, "I ship that pretty one with the gruff one, and that brown haired one with the other(?) gruff one?" without knowing names or what this is except the fanart I see you reblog, because this fandom apparently has lots of nice art

Fam i have no idea what ur talking about or when u sent this im so sorry asfkjhfkjhf but i thiiiinnnkkkk??????? it’s “Heavens Official Blessing” or Tiān Guān Cì Fú (TGCF for tagging stuff) its originally a chinese gay novel that is soooooooo long by the author Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (MXTX) who wrote 2 (two?????) other novels that I know of that are also gay historical fantasy but i personally havent actually read TGCF???? im just watching the anime and looking at the wiki and reading fanfics so i have a vague idea whats going on but not really???? so i cant really give a good review BUT i LOVE THE CHARACTERS MXTX WRITES SO MUCH AFHAFKFHKFAKF IM SO SORRY IM SHIT WITH TAGGING SO U HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IM HYPER FIXATING ON BUT

LISTEN

Pretty one and the gruff one im THINKING is He Xuan (or Ming Yi/ Ming-Xiong/Ming Bro) for the grumpy one and Shi Qingxuan for the pretty one and both are kinda gender fluid?? (more Shi Qingxuan but they both change their forms to be both women and men which is Iconic and the anime put her in the TRANS FLAG COLOUR instead of her canon white and green which is ICONIC) AND THHEYRE SO TRAGIC AND HOT AND I CRY JUST THINKING ABOUT THEIR STORY LIKE AFHDFKJAFDSGS like i want to kinda read the book just for them, the two super minor characters, but i also read somewhere that their story doesn’t really have a clean ending so im also holding back from just getting Emotionally Hurt because im a cancer and i know it’ll wreck me

I think The Two Gruff Idiots are Feng Xin (dark haired gruff boy) and Mu Qing (brown haired gruff boy) and theyre both martial gods and both knew each other for over 800 years and both tried to take care of Actual Human And Heavenly Disaster Xie Lian, failed, and tried to do it again 800 years later but with stupid glasses with moustaches in hopes that Xie Lian cant figure out that they care about him but OOPS Xie Lian does in fact have the braincell of the three of them fajfafjajf

Heres the link to watch the anime, there are 11 eps rn but it updates every weekend (I dont actually know when but i watch it on sundays) Make sure u have ur ad block on tho lol there is a manga too and the art style is TO DIE FOR like its GORGEOUS but its roughly at the same pace as the anime so eh

Heres where to read the whole thing online, just a warning its BIG AS FUCK like 244? plus extras I think??

I’d also recommend MXTX’s other books!

Mo Dao Zu Shi (or Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation/ The Untamed/MDZS) is both a Book as well as an Anime (the whole thing is on youtube) , a Live Action which you can watch on Netflix (look up Untamed, also a warning, the plot is a little different from the book and anime cause of uhhh censorship?? also i guess to make it more live drama friendly, my friends an i binged it and really liked it, but some of the fandom doesn’t), a manga which is not finished I think???? idk im not caught up, and a fucking chinese AUDIO DRAMA LIKE BITCH ITS SO WELL DONE but i have to stop listening sometimes cause like there is a difference between watching/reading characters kiss, and then like just hearing them, i get so embarrassed i have to skip the kissing scenes and god forbid i accidentally click on the smutty extras alfjajlfjalfjaljf u can find it on youtube, i linked the one i listen to but i havent finished it and i don’t think it’s all of it, but you can find other episodes/chapters easily

Its about 1 Dumb Yet So Smart gay/bi man (Wei Wuxian) who honestly tries his fucking best, fucks up everything, dies for over a decade, and then is forcefully brought back to life to solve a murder mystery with the guy who has been in Super Gay Love with him since they were teens (Lan Zhan), a bunch of teens Who Are Just Honestly Here For A Good Time And Yet (Lan Juniors, Jin Ling, and Best Boy Ouyang Zizhen ) while badly hiding his real identity from all the people he knows, including his foster brother (Jiang Cheng) who is out for blood and hunting his ass down with a whip and also Lan Zhan who is travelling with him. Also the Killer. There is a killer on the loose and is willing to murder whoever to keep their secrets. Also Nie Huaisang. I adore him and his brother Nie Mingjue, if there is one bitch u gotta remember from this summary it’s this little twink (he and his brother also have a fucking spin off movie from the live action drama THAT I HAVENT BEEN ABLE TO FIND A ENGLISH SUB VERSION AND ITS BEEN KILLING ME SINCE I STARTED WATCHING THIS SHOW LAST YEAR. GOOGLE GIVE ME MY FAVOURITE TWINK AND HIS BEAR OF A BROTHER HAVING A FUN FAMILY ROAD TRIP!!!!!!!)

My Personal Current Favourite is Scum Villain’s Self Saving System (SVSSS) which is SOOOOOOO FUNNY Like it’s not as popular cause the comic was discontinued, and the anime looks like its from 2005 with the weird 3D animation but its my current comfort media!!!

Its basically about a spite reading millennial (Shen Yuan) who died after reading a REALLY awful popular cheesy smut harem novel (think like 50 shade series but worse cause the protag had 600 wives) and was forced into the body of a minor but important villain (the protagonist’s teacher, Shen Qingqiu) from the novel who was fated to die with all his limbs cut off and his eyes and tongue plucked out and is told he has to fix the story so its not trash, he reasonably freaks the fuck out and hugs the protagonists (Luo Binghe) thigh so hard he turns him gay without realizing. Sadly, he does have to make sure certain plot points happen, which fucks him over a lot, and he thinks Luo Binghe still wants to kill him instead of love him cause he has the Emotional Intelligence of a Rock, but its so funny reading about him handling all the awful tropey stuff, like imagine u have to be a character in My Immortal But With Porn?????? without breaking out of character too much?? I wouldn’t be able to handle it ajhakfkfhjfj He also finds out that he’s not the only transmigrator in the novel either, but it doesn’t matter cause theyre both So Fucking Stupid Collectively but everyone would honestly die for the both of them

warning for this story though, the main relationship is a teacher/student relationship, but nothing happens until the student is in his 20s and also kinda not his student anymore cause he’s running hell??? but if that squicks u out i totally understand and offer you to PLEASE still enjoy some of this media, and instead of the BingQiu ship, I offer you the LiuQiu one, where both me and the main character cry over how a beautiful man/fellow immortal lord loves the main character so much that he literally fought every day for 5 years to be by his side and I Think Thats Beautiful and I kinda like this ship more than the main one tbh PLEASE just look at the art for Liu Qingge because i love him so much, he’s like if you took Lan Zhan and Jiang Cheng from MDZS and mashed them into one beautiful man the author is trying to tell me is straight but u take one look at him And Tell Me Otherwise

#anon #answering asks probably really late but i live on mobile and i dont get notifications a lot #FHAKJAKFJFAFJA SORRY FOR INFO DUMPING ON U ANON BUT PLEASE LOVE THESE #I LOVE THESE #AND MY IRL FRIENDS DONT CARE ABOUT THEM #theyre like yeah amber ill watch the drama and maybe an anime but its ok no we dont want u to keep sending us tikoks its ok #LIKE IM WEEPING PLEASE ENJOY THIS CONTENT!!!!!!!#but for real if u want a love story for the ages read TGCF i've heard its really good #SVSSS is like the less serious and shortest novel of the three but so good #and MDZS is like the most popular successful middle child that every and their mother has seen and enjoyed #MDZS #SVSSS #TGCF #MXTX #also im once again sorry about how i never tag anything im just convinced no one actually goes on my blog #but i'm always surprised when i get asks like this asking me to tag things or asking about a thing im enjoying #and therefore flooding their dashs with lol #Anonymous

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bratkook · 4 years

Text

clairvoyant. (m) part five.

masterlist.

word count: 6.4k

author’s note: wow i finally dug out my drafts and wrote another chapter for this even though its been two fucking years!!! im honestly writing this for myself because im bored and in a rut so if you read it tysm. also finally decided who it’ll be centered around so enjoy.

warnings: just good ole fashioned dry humping and kissing

Everyone around you was saying their goodbyes, thanking everyone for working so hard and you took that as your cue to start gathering the equipment up.

“Thanks Y/N, just take that to the storage room.” The photographer you and Yoongi were currently assisting pointed out to the far right. You nodded in understanding before unhooking all of the lights and tearing them down properly. A few people lingered behind, makeup artists gathering their supplies, wardrobe crew grabbing a few more snacks off the catering table, and Yoongi rolling up the white backdrop.

It was your first day on the job and it just so happened to land on a shoot day so you were trying your best to make a good first impression so they wouldn't fire you before you even really started.

So far everyone had been very welcoming and kind, no one yelling at you if you messed up a little so that got rid of your jitters. It felt nice to be able to work where you knew you could network and learn, the only photography experience you had at your old job was taking shitty pictures of the drunken idiots lying around near closing.

“So how’d you like your first assisting job?”

You looked to the left and saw Yoongi standing at the door frame of the storage room, a smile on his face and his hands holding the folded backdrop.

“It was great, seems like kind of a tease though because tomorrow we’ll be doing basic retouching on photos.”

He just shrugged after setting what he was holding down, “True, we get quite a few of these shoots though so make a good impression and someone might take you under their wing.”

You sighed as you locked the lights securely into place. Being taken under someone's wing before you finished school would be a blessing because it almost guaranteed a decent job after school was over and you were tossed into the great unknown of an art degree holding college graduate.

“Thats what I’m hoping for.”

The both of you rechecked everything was in its place and secure before turning the light off and locking up the storage room. Due to the fact the shoot day extended longer than a typical shift you were being paid overtime and let off once everything wrapped so you and Yoongi were headed to the nearest restaurant to get actual food in your system.

Your scarf was wrapped around your neck snuggly to protect from the cold wind and Yoongi draped his arm around your shoulder as you both casually walked. In this split moment you felt content, a slight feeling of everything starting to fall into place and you let yourself bask in it.

“What's got you all smiley?”

Yoongi looked at you with a small grin, his eyes focusing on your wide smile before shifting back up to your own eyes.

You just shrugged before playfully tugging his black beanie down over his eyes, earning a grunt of annoyance as he shoved it back up. “I’m just happy.”

“Are you usually not?”

There was a beat of silence as you thought it through.

“It’s not that I’m not, I’m usually just...living through it?”

He nodded in understanding, “I get you. Kind of just going through routine motions without really feeling much.”

A white cloud left your mouth in a huff as you sighed in agreement, “Exactly, don’t get me wrong there’s little tidbits of happiness scattered throughout but they’re just moments of happiness that pass as quickly as they happen. It’s been a while since I’ve felt happiness for the future and its exciting.”

You looked back over at him, seeing him nod because he fully understood. He was on the same boat as you, his parents much like yours weren’t supportive of his choice to pursue an art degree so you guys were scraping by and holding on to any thread of hope that popped up. The pair of you were just hoping everything would work out.

“Anyways, enough with the semi depressive reality check. I’m hungry and there’s this new korean barbecue place that opened up a few blocks away. Wanna text everyone and meet up for a nice family dinner.” He chuckled at the end of that, and you joined in light heartedly before whipping your phone out and sending out a group text simply saying “Korean bbq, don't be a bitch and meet here in fifteen.”

Low and behold, your group of friends were indeed not bitches, they all showed up as punctual as you would expect of them and they even brought along a straggler. This straggler went by the name of Jeon Jungkook and you couldn’t help but look at him with a smile, just seeing him trail behind Taehyung with his head slightly dipped almost like he was unsure if him being there was okay. Taehyung on the other hand paid him no mind and just waltzed in, his denim clad arms outstretched and a boxy smile on display as he approached the table you all sat around.

Him and Jungkook were the last to arrive so Tae decided to slip into the seat beside you, but not before slotting his lips against yours in a chaste kiss that seemed too casual. Like usual no one said anything and you just rolled your eyes with a smile and shoved his shoulder before redirecting your attention to Yoongi who was the master meat cooker.

Jungkook saw the small exchange and his want for coaching, as you so put it, was back. He wanted that, whatever the fuck that was that you and Tae had. Fuck, did that make him a typical fuckboy? Did this go against his morals of being a gentleman?

You had reassured him that it was fine as long as he was straightforward with whoever it involved and he had already set his eyes on someone. Now it was just a waiting game on if Jisoo the cute barista would be for it or not.

“Jungkook sit down!”

The resemblance to a deer caught in headlights was uncanny as he stared at you, realizing he had just been standing behind the only available chair as everyone stared back at him with their own food set up in front of them already.

“Oh, sorry.” His hands came up and ruffled his own hair in embarrassment before he sat down, “Just a little distracted”

Taehyung slid over an empty plate and pointed his chopsticks at him, “He’s been like this for a couple of days, what’s your deal?”

Everyone’s attention was back on Jungkook, including your own. His cheeks reddened slightly from all the eyes on him so he took it upon himself to just scoop up some rice to occupy himself. What was he supposed to say? Yeah sorry I got a lot on my mind like finding out Taehyung and Y/N fuck on the regular but aren’t dating and Y/N is gonna teach me how to do that with the cute barista everyone sees at the campus coffee shop?

“Just a school project.”

“A very hands on school project right Jungkook?” You couldn’t help but tease him, knowing exactly what’s been on his mind since you’ve been texting each other to come up with some kind of game plan on approaching Jisoo.

His eyes flicked over to you for a split second, only giving you a nod before nervously chewing on his lip. You couldn’t understand him, you really couldn’t. How could a man who looked like him be this shy when it comes to literally anyone? He could probably crush someone with his thighs for crying out loud, but here he sat with an aura surrounding him that just showed how unsure he was with himself.

He was a sweet kid, super respectful as far as you could tell, he just needed to learn that wanting to fuck someone while not wanting a relationship was completely normal. Sex was human nature and you were determined to get him to enjoy it as long as he was consenting to your help.

You kept your eyes on him, seeing him reach his plate over to get the meat Yoongi was offering him and mumbling out a thanks before turning his attention to Jin who was on his left and starting a conversation.

A small jab to your cheek via a chopstick snapped you out of your curious gaze, your fingers coming up to rub at the skin and looking to your right where Jimin was sat. “You into him?”

He had mumbled it out to you so quietly you almost didn’t hear him, a couple seconds passed before it clicked and you shook your head, “No, why?”

“You’ve been staring at him like he’s your next victim.”

You rolled your eyes at him and smiled before picking up some kimchi and shoving it into his mouth with no resistance from his part as he happily munched on it. “I don’t have victims Park Jimin.” The way his eyes slightly narrowed at you made it clear he was questioning why you were staring at him as intently as you have been, “I was just looking at him because he’s interesting don’t you think?”

Jimin shook his head because he had no idea what you even meant by that, “Interesting? He’s not a caged animal for you to observe you weirdo.” He was just teasing you, giving you a smile when he heard you laugh.

“That’s not what I mean, forget it. How was your mom’s brunch?”

At the mention of that his expression went blank and he poured himself a glass of soju and took a nice swig of it, “As amazing as you would expect.”

Jimin’s parents always went all out for these brunches, renting out the biggest places and inviting the A class elites of Seoul who would donate to whatever charity they were advocating for. They hassled Jimin every single time to network and find a girl they deemed worthy enough of him marrying and he absolutely hated it. He was the literal definition of a rebellious son, getting a kick every time he would get under their skin. Whether that was by going out on a date with someone they thought suited him and getting absolutely trashed and scaring said girl away, to getting his body tattooed and pierced against their wishes.

Jimin knew how to play his cards right, he knew his parents would never fully cut him off as long as he was somewhat compliant with a few things here and there but he wasn’t going to be molded into whatever they wanted him to be. He was their only child so in his mind who else could they possibly hand off their money to?

“I told my mom you were my date for the thanksgiving event.”

You hummed as you chewed on your food, already knowing this probably didn’t end well. “How did she take that?”

His smirk just proved your suspicion, “Super well actually. Especially when I told her I think you’re the one and I’m thinking about proposing to you.”

What?!

You choked on your food, coughing like a mad man and pounding at your chest with a closed fist. Taehyung who was sat on your left immediately handed you a glass of water and patted your back to help you out. All the while Jimin continued to stare at you with that shit eating grin on his face, pressing the edge of his glass against his lips as he waited for you to speak again.

“Jimin what the fuck I never agreed to that.”

Taehyung was now intrigued by whatever conversation you two were having so he decided to eavesdrop while pretending to eat his food.

“Relax Y/N, obviously I’m not doing that. It was a small joke.”

“It’s not a joke if your parents don’t think it is!”

He pursed his lips at you, “Damn is marrying me really that repulsive?”

Taehyung laughed to himself at that, gaining Jungkook's attention who was now looking at the exchange between you and Jimin.

“No, shut up! That’s not what I’m saying Jimin. I’m just supposed to go to scare off all the girls that wanna latch onto you, I’m not there to piss your parents off, they probably hate me enough knowing you help me whenever you can.”

Taehyung decided to stop listening at that moment, striking up a conversation with Hoseok instead. He knew how sensitive you were when it came to talking about receiving help and admitting to needing it so he knew this wasn’t his business. Jungkook on the other hand didn’t have a clue so as he stared down at his rice his ears stayed hooked on the conversation.

Jimin pressed a reassuring hand on your shoulder, “Y/N, I promise I was joking. I didn't tell my parents that, I wouldn’t put you in that position. They don’t hate you by the way.”

That was a little hard to believe, Jimin was a very giving person, especially when it came to his friends. The rest of your friends were a little more financially stable than you were so the amount of times he would take it upon himself to help you, because you had too much pride to really ask for help, surely it stood out to his parents.

“What I choose to do with my money is my business okay, my parents don't even notice where it goes half the time.”

You pushed the meat on your plate around with your chopsticks, your mood dropping down just a bit once you really remembered how much help Jimin gave you. You owed him a lot, and even though he says it's fine it doesn't make you feel any better about it.

“Hey,” Jimin slowly spoke, slouching down and looking up at you from your downcast gaze on the table, “Y/N.”

When you only pursed your lips at the sound of your name he sat back up and slung his arm around your shoulder, pulling you into his side and wrapping both arms around you. He had his chin resting on your head, seeing the rest of the guys now looking your way. Yoongi mouthing out what the fuck did you do while Jimin responded nothing mind your business.

“If I ever go overboard for whatever reason let me know and I’ll back off but if I can help you then I will and have no problems doing so okay?” He had mumbled all that next to your ear to not draw attention from everyone else.

With a deep sigh, you mumbled out an okay and tried your best to go back to the dinner you and your friends were having. Jungkook had heard the entire exchange and he wanted to say something to make you feel slightly better but there was no way he could do that without feeling like he crossed a line by eavesdropping in your conversation.

After a few moments the dinner had gone back to normal, all of you goofing around like you usually do, the guys including Jungkook in and making him feel like part of the group. When the time came to leave you felt your phone vibrate in your pocket so you slid it out to peek at the notification, momentarily confused when you saw Jungkook's name flashing on your screen when he was sat right across from you.

Regardless, you opened the thread of messages up and grinned when you read what he wrote.

Jungkook 8:45pm

Need help, Jisoo responded.

Jungkook 8:45pm

Can we go to your dorm?

Jungkook 8:45pm

Don’t want Tae to hear…

Right on cue, Taehyung slung his arm around your shoulders, not noticing how you locked your phone and slid it back into your pocket. All of you were now shuffling out of the restaurant, you and Taehyung in the middle of the swarm of your group that was now being reckless on the walk back to the dorms.

“Wanna go back to mine? I can try to get rid of Jungkook.” He whispered in your ear, kissing the side of your head swiftly as he waited for your response.

You slid your arm around his waist as you nuzzled further into his side when the wind picked up, “Can’t, Jungkook and I actually have some planning to do for his project tonight.”

At the mention of his name you could see Jungkook's back tense up from behind and you already knew he was listening in to your exchange while pretending to be invested in the ruckus Jimin was currently doing.

“Oh, planning? Is that code for fucking?” Your cheeks warmed up at his words, your palm instinctively smacking his side, “Cause, to be honest I don’t know how I would feel about you and my roommate banging.”

“Oh don’t be like that, sharing is caring right?” You teased, enjoying the suggestive look that took over his face, “But no, no fucking. I mean it when I say we’re planning for a project.”

He sighed and said alright before dropping the conversation altogether. The walk back to campus took a few minutes, your group huddled by the statue on the front corner of the campus as you said your goodbyes and dispersed. Jimin hopped into an Uber before heading to his apartment, Jin took off in his car to his own place while Namjoon, Hoseok, Yoongi and Taehyung hooked arms and stupidly walked across the quad towards the boys dorms.

You looked over at Jungkook, seeing him smile at the guys’ antics, his eyes moving back to you and seeing your hands motion for him to follow you to the girl’s dorms.

“Hey Y/N, who's this?” Joy asked with a smile from behind the front desk, hands already sliding over the notepad used for off campus guests.

“Oh, Jungkook. I’m a student here.” He slid out his wallet and handed her his student ID.

She hummed as she filled out his info in a separate notepad before handing it back with a smile. “Okay, well Jihyo’s doing her rounds for guests at 11:40 so if you’re planning on spending the night I’d recommend hiding around that time.”

Jungkooks face started to turn a light shade of red at the implication of him spending the night and now he was wondering how many times Taehyungs had to hide in your dorm on the nights he never came home and it also clicked when you’d make a swift exit out of his and Taehyungs shared room for a few moments when Namjoon made his rounds before sneaking back in when you thought no one would notice.

“Thanks Joy!” You winked at her, hooking your arm around Jungkooks and dragging him away while she fluttered her fingers in a goodbye wave.

When you entered the elevator you felt Jungkook finally exhale, “Wow, she’s pretty.” Was the first thing he said.

You could only laugh in response, “Oh, I know. All the girls here are Jungkook, and I’m pretty sure they’d all let you smash if you knew how to ask them.”

And now his blushed cheeks were spreading to his ears as well, he could see it in the warped reflection the elevator doors were giving him. Could he really just ask them? He felt like that would be the quickest way to get slapped to next week.

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open, you took the lead and walked out, turning left as your hands slid out the keycard that was in the small pocket in your bag. As you entered your room you noticed Wendy was gone, her side completely spotless as normal and a cute post it note resting on your desk.

Went out for dick and by dick I mean getting absolutely hammered and crying into my street tacos, won't be back until tomorrow so feel free to get your own dick down here all night xo

Jungkook read the note as well, quickly acting like he didn’t when he heard you giggling to yourself as you set your stuff down. His eyes roamed the room, seeing the cute touches you and your roommate have added, one of which was a giant polaroid wall on your side with plenty of photos of you and your friends.

“Okay,” you clapped your hands together as you walked in front of Jungkook and set your hands on his shoulders to force him to sit on your bed, “what’s going on with Jisoo?”

He slid his phone out silently, opening up their thread of messages and handing the device over to you. You grabbed it from him and flicked up to the top of the thread.

Jungkook 3:12pm

Hey, its Jungkook. Thanks for the free coffee

Jungkook 3:12pm

And your number.

Jisoo 4:30pm

Hi! Sorry I just got off work but you’re welcome anything for my favorite customer.

You continued to scroll, seeing Jungkook and Jisoo making nice, innocent conversation with each other. Jisoo kept implying wanting to see Jungkook outside of the regular visits to the cafe while Jungkook was either very oblivious or just didn’t know how to ask her out.

“Okay, she wants you to ask her out Jungkook. Why haven’t you?” You hand his phone back to him, seeing him fidgeting with his fingers at your question.

“I don’t know. I don’t even know how to properly ask her. What's a good date suggestion?” You slipped your shoes off and shuffled up on your bed beside him, choosing to get comfy.

“If you want something short and sweet, I suggest going out to lunch somewhere near campus. You guys can talk and get to know each other and you can get a feel for this before you decide if you like her enough to pursue something or if you’d be down for something casual with her.”

He sighs at that, laying back against your bed and using one of your throw pillows to cushion his head from hitting the wall. “Okay, and if I decide I want something casual how do I bring it up? And if she’s for it and tries to get physical how do I go about it?”

“Well for one, you’re not gonna bring it up on the first date. That kinda stuff shouldn’t be discussed on a first date, not unless theres an obvious connection. I do have to advise you though, if you just want something casual you can’t treat her like you want something more.”

His thick eyebrows furrow at this, “Wait, what do you mean?”

“I mean, if after this one date you decide you just wanna sleep with her or make it a friends with benefits kinda thing you can’t take her on dates or act like a boyfriend. Odds are she’s gonna be the one to ask you what you’re looking for and its very important for you to be honest. Thats how you avoid hurting someone.”

You’re gently patting his head at this, feeling him nod along to your words, “Also, in terms of how to act if she decides to get physical then you kinda act on instinct. I know you’ve only slept with one person before but what about kissing?”

He shakes his head at this, “Not much experience there either. I told you Y/N, I feel completely clueless and I know I shouldn’t care but I don’t wanna be dubbed as the guy that sucks at everything.”

A giggle leaves you at his statement, “Jungkook that’s not gonna happen. Kissing is like second nature.”

He slides the pillow out from behind him and covers his face to let out a groan into it, “Easy for you to say, you don’t understand how many times I have to listen to Taehyung brag about how great you are.”

“At kissing?”

“Yeah, and other things.” He trails off.

All you can do is sit there and think over his words, part of you wants to suggest he go to a party with Taehyung and make out with random girls before he asks Jisoo out if he’s so worried about being bad at kissing of all things but you know he wont be up for it. Another part of you wants to suggest helping him learn, one on one, but you’re also not sure how he’d take that. Even though kissing was entirely innocent in your eyes you really don’t want to make Jungkook uncomfortable.

“Look,” you start off, sliding the pillow off his face, “I can show you, if you want.”

The fingers that were strumming on his stomach freeze at your suggestion and you immediately think you fucked up. Until his head tilts to look at you, his eyes wide in curiosity, “Really?”

He sits back up to fully look at you, “Yeah, if you want to Jungkook.”

You don’t expect him to nod as quickly as he does but considering he’s eager to learn it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. “Please, as long as it’s not awkward for you.”

You shrug and say its not because it really isn’t, Jungkooks hot and kissing is your favorite pastime so you really dont mind. Plus considering you’re the one who suggested coaching him you kind of felt a tinge of responsibility to not let him go off with zero confidence with something as simple as kissing.

He could only sit there and you know he doesn’t know how to initiate it because of the position you’re in so you stand up and go to stand right in front of him. With the height of your bed and his height when you stand right in front of his sitting frame you’re only slightly taller than him.

“Okay, lets start slow yeah?” He nods, his tongue running across his lips in anticipation. You nudge his thighs apart so you can slot between them more comfortably and gently rest your palms on his jaw, getting closer to him.

“You can touch me, whatever feels natural okay?” He can only nod again, maintaining eye contact for a moment before looking down at your lips and seeing the smile on them. His eyes flutter closed when you finally press your lips together, his lips feel soft against yours and it only lasts a moment before you’re pulling away and his lips try to chase you back.

“How was that?” He immediately asks, not noticing that his hands had found their way onto your hips.

“Good, not too stiff. We’re gonna move on now, just try to follow what I’m doing.”

Your thumb traces his bottom lip before your hands go back to cupping his jaw gently. This time he closes the distance between you two, his lips slotting between yours easily with a little more pressure than last time.

You test the waters, letting him get used to the actions of open mouth kissing, feelings his lips relax after a while. He lets out a small gasp of surprise once he feels the tip of your tongue lick the seam of his lips. The grip he has on your hips tighten and you give him a few more seconds to adjust before you take it further.

One of the hands you have on his jaw slides down to grasp the hand on your hip and you drag it up so he could cup the back of your head. Your fingers dont leave his hand until he has a decent grip on your hair.

His mouth opens up a little wider, letting you slide your tongue inside and his eyes slip open for a second at the new feeling. Its wet, and a little ticklish but the sound of your lips smacking together and the small groans of pleasure you both slip out are making a small fire light up inside him.

The hand gripping your hair tightens up and he tugs gently, kissing you harder when he hears the small moan that leaves your mouth. Its pure instinct that has you swinging your legs over his thighs and straddling him on your bed, not noticing just how comfortable you’ve gotten until you find yourself grinding down onto him and thats when you stop.

You pull back, a small string of spit pulling apart between your lips and he doesn’t seem to even notice your new position. His eyes are half lidded and his breathing is harsh and the way his tongue comes out to catch the spit on his lips makes you want to dive back in but you snapped out of it.

“See, second nature right?”

He finally seems to realize you’re on his lap when he looks down and sees how flush you are to him, “Yeah, want more practice though.” He doesn't give you time to respond before he’s using the hand still in your hair to pull you towards him again and this time he’s leading the kiss.

He tilts his head and licks his way into your mouth, groaning when your tongues tangle together. He never realized how messy kissing could be but he thought it was hot. You can tell he wants to speed up but you keep your movements slow, knowing that the buildup is the best part, the feeling of your tongues playing tag or your tongue tickling the roof of his mouth before you pull back slightly to suck on his bottom lip. Those moments were always your favorite when it came to making out.

Jungkook starts to grow more comfortable, both his hands now coming to grip the back of your head and the other sliding up right beneath your jaw as the kiss grows deeper. And that's when your hips start grinding down again, this time Jungkook notices it right away and he pulls back to let out a moan.

“Sorry, is that too much?” Your lips are shiny and he can’t look away from them, “I know we said kissing but I didn’t really ask about this.”

His hands fall limp and just as you’re about to hop off they come back to life to rest on your hips, using them to slide you back across his lap, “No, I like it. Its uh, for the experience right?”

You nod at this, not giving it much thought because you just want to go back to kissing him. The logical side of you wanted to stop because you’re just supposed to be showing him the ropes on kissing on a first date and odds are Jisso’s not gonna hop on his lap in the middle of lunch in public and do this but the other side of you wants to see him fall apart underneath you and that part of you is winning.

“Tell me if you want me to stop.” You let his hands control the motion of your hips while you go back to kissing him. The flavor of the chapstick he had on is all you can taste as the kiss grows more heated. Your hands wrap around his shoulders as you pull yourself even closer to him, speeding up the rocking of your hips and feeling Jungkook choose to place his palms on your back, wanting you just as close.

The shudder of his breath fans across your face when he pulls back to let out another groan but you don’t want to pull your lips away so you trail them down his jaw until you reach the spot just under it when his jaw meets his neck.

When he feels your tongue on his skin along with the gentle sucking he can’t help but rock his hips up into yours, “Oh fuck.” He keens, applying more pressure with his hands to encourage you to grind on him faster.

“Feel good Jungkook?” You ask, nibbling on his skin softly before trailing your way back up to his lips, not slowing down the motions of your hips.

“Yeah,” he gasps, his eyes are blown out and he knows hes about to cum in his pants like a teenager but he doesn’t care. “So good.”

“Good.” Is all you respond, your lips coming together again to resume the motion that seems familiar now.

Jungkooks moans of pleasure are becoming more frequent and the feeling of him blowing his load right underneath you is making you embarrassingly wet, but right now its all about Jungkook. You can deal with your problem later.

“Dont stop, please.” He breathes out between kisses, his eyebrows coming together when he feels his climax approaching.

“You gonna cum?” You ask him, keeping your face close enough to his where you can feel his breath tickle your cheek at the proximity.

“Fuck, yeah.”

You speed up your hips, grinding down a little harder and grabbing one of his hands again to grab your boob this time. He gives them an experimental squeeze, moaning again at the feeling of them.

“C’mon Jungkook, you can cum.” His eyes are open now, looking directly at you and when he sees the fascination in your eyes at watching him fall apart he loses it, letting out a small wine as his body tenses up, his hips coming up to rut against yours as he rides out his orgasm.

He drops his head forward to rest on your chest as you continue to grind against him to milk out the feeling, his body shuddering at every roll of your hips until he’s whimpering at the overstimulation.

You still your hips and let him bask in the feeling, his back rising and falling as he tries to catch his breath.

“Jesus christ.” Jungkook pulls back from you, a dopey smile on his face that can be attributed to post orgasm bliss. “Does kissing always lead to that?”

“No, not always, but its fun when it does.” You smile back at him. His body is definitely loosened up now and just as you’re about to speak again a hard knock comes from your door.

“Fuck, thats Jihyo making rounds.” Your arms are still around him but you know you need to answer the door before she uses her master key to unlock it for you.

Jungkook groans quietly when you get off of him, any movement on his sensitive dick being too much for him to handle right now. He’s happy he chose to wear black pants and a shirt that will definitely cover the wet spot of cum because when you stand up off of him it is glaringly obvious what it is.

The room door clicks as you slide it open and he sees you greet Jihyo with a smile, “Hey Y/N, he’s gotta be outta here in 5 minutes.”

Jungkook can only awkwardly sit on your bed as the exchange goes down, “Yeah, no problem. We were just working on a project.” He sees Jihyo look you up and down, noticing your swollen lips and disheveled hair before she looks at Jungkook who stupidly covers his lap with the pillow beside him.

“Right. I’ll be back in a few to make sure he’s gone.” You nod before stepping back and shutting the door behind you.

“Sorry about that, I forgot what time it was. Do you want me to walk you to your dorm?”

Jungkook stands up from his position, shaking his head at your offer. “No it’s fine. I really should get going now anyways, that essay for creative writing is due tomorrow and I need to finish editing it.”

“Oh shit, you’re right.” Your hands comes up to your face, your teeth going to chew on your fingernail as you think of having to edit the monstrosity of the essay you wrote while you were delirious with sleep.

“Uh thanks for–“

“For giving you the best orgasm of your life? Yeah, no problem.” You wink at him, enjoying the flustered look that immediately takes over his face.

He lets out a chuckle, happy that you’re not making this awkward, “Really though. Thank you.”

You can only shrug, “You should really text Jisoo though, she’s not gonna reject you and if you kiss her like that she’s definitely not gonna turn down any offer you give her.”

Jungkook doesn’t fully believe you but he knows he has to bite the bullet and do it. He gives you a hug and says goodnight before he shuffles out of your dorm and into the elevator.

Now that he’s in a brightly lit place he once again looks at the warped reflection in the elevator doors, using it to fix his hair the best way he can and adjust his shirt and jacket to cover the wet spot on his crotch before he exits it.

Joy spots him as hes about to leave and lets out a whistle, “Y/N take you for a wild ride huh?” She teases him and he blanks, not really knowing how to respond until the automatic excuse comes out, “We were working on a project.”

“Mhm, some project. Bye Jungkook.” She waves him off with a giggle, enjoying how flustered he gets.

Jungkook all but runs across the quad, wanting to get out of the cold as well as into his room to slide out of his sticky ass underwear and pants. He uses his key card to open the dorm buildings doors, waving at Baekhyun before hopping on the elevator and making his way up to his floor.

When he slides into his room he really wasn’t expecting to see Taehyung still awake, resting on his bed against the wall where the giant canvas of his ass was hung up.

“Oh, hello.” Taehyung spoke up first, his eyes raking over Jungkook entirely. “How was the progress on your project?”

He knew Taehyung was asking an innocent question but Jungkook couldn’t help the pang of guilt he felt at it. He knew you and Taehyung weren’t together but he still felt like he was crossing a line by letting you give him an orgasm without his roommate knowing. Especially since Taehyung always boasted about the amazing orgasms you gave him, it almost felt like those were reserved for Tae only and he had just snatched one off the shelf.

“Oh, it was good.” He spoke up quietly, walking over to his closet to grab his pajamas, “Got a lot done actually.”

Taehyung had his eyes glued to Jungkook’s back as he rummaged in his closet. There was something off about him and he just couldnt put his hands on it until Jungkook slid off his jacket and shirt for his pajama shirt and turned around without a second thought to slide his pants off.

“Dude!” Taehyund gasped in shock, his fingers pointing directly at Jungkook's cum stained pants.

Jungkook looked down with wide eyes when he realized Taehyung could clearly see. “Did you catch a glimpse of Y/N’s tits when you were studying and busted a nut in your pants or what?”

Mm well no actually just good ole fashioned dry humping is what he wanted to respond with but he chose to deny until he died. “No! I spilled something on my pants at her dorm.”

Taehyung didn’t believe his horrible excuse for a second but didn’t want to continue to tease him, “Whatever dude, go shower. I don’t blame you, she’s hot I bust a nut just looking at her too, now imagine what her pussy feels like.”

Jungkook didn’t even want to respond to his raunchy comment, simply gathering his shower cubby and towel before leaving to go shower. Except now thanks to Tae he really couldn’t stop wondering what your pussy would feel like around his dick.

#jungkook smut #bts smut #jeon jungkook #jungkook #bts #new

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crystalninjaphoenix · 4 years

Text

To Those Who Wait

Septics Inverted

A JSE Fanfic

I said this one would probably be longer, and it is! By quite a bit, actually. After the end of the last part, we jump right into the action. Jack and Sam are in a mysterious other dimension, looking for Anti. Who is there, but so is someone else...and things back in the main world, or whatever you want to call it, soon reach a head as well. Hope you guys enjoy! This one took a long time to write

Read the intro story: Part One | Part Two

Various other AU-related stuff found here

Taglist: @watermelonsinmyattic @asunachinadoll @a-humble-narcissus @odysseus-is-best-boi @acuriousquail @beerecordings @human-being-kinda @romanticslimecreature @samisabigmess @rachelclutch @septic-nebula-art @toboboby @the-parentheticals @rammypaige @amyxmiaplay @rats-this-username-is-taken @immabethehero @eridangan @bupine @violet--majesty

The air was cool. The silence was deep. Jack opened his eyes, and looked up into a crimson sky. He looked down, and the ground was made of small chips of metal, like discarded circuit boards. Blocks of metal stuck out of the ground at uneven intervals, forming a circle that he was standing in the exact center of. A quiet hissing sound filled the air. “Well...this definitely worked,” Jack muttered.

Something wiggled in his hands, and he remembered he was holding tight to Sam, pressing them to his chest. “Oh, sorry,” he said, looking down and opening his hands. “You okay?”

Sam swished their nerve-tail, and looked up at him. Their glow was...weaker. That was a bit worrying. But they assured him they were fine.

“Uh...okay,” Jack said slowly. “But if you feel, I dunno, sick or something, just tell me.” He looked back up, staring at their surroundings. Beyond the circle, there was nothing. Just an endless plain of metal chips and a red sky above. “Man, no wonder Anti prefers to spend time in the real world.”

Jack started walking, but after he took just a few steps, the ground started to shake, suddenly and violently. He staggered and looked down at the ground, just in time for the metal chips to start falling, the ground collapsing. There wasn’t even time for a proper scream, just a strangled gasp, and then he was tumbling, sliding down the metal waterfall, until suddenly landing on solid ground and immediately fall to his side. He once again held Sam close to his chest and curled around them to shield them from any stray chips still falling.

“Jesus fucking...” He trailed off into muttering, looking down at Sam again. “You okay?” Sam shook themself, and said they were fine. Jack let out a slow breath. “Okay. Good.”

Slowly, he stood up. He was now standing in...a theatre? Yes, that’s what it appeared to be. Looking out, he saw rows and rows of seats, rising, with dangling globes of red light illuminating them. He himself was standing on a stage, complete with curtains. Strange...why would he have suddenly fallen into a theatre? Actually, upon looking up, he couldn’t see any space to have fallen from. Just a bunch of overhead lights and rafters. Weird.

And there was more weird about this theatre, too. The curtains dangling on either side of him were in tatters, looking almost as though they were burned. The stage was made of metal, and pitted with holes. Whole sections of seats looked oddly...melted.

Jack walked over to the edge of the stage and slowly lowered himself to the ground. “Oh, I’m getting a bad feeling about this, Sam,” he muttered, looking closely at one of the melted sections. And that was indeed the best word to describe it, the way the chairs drooped and clumped together. Sam agreed that this was bad news.

Cautiously, Jack walked up the aisle, head darting side to side in case anything happened. Nothing did, but he still felt on edge as he approached a pair of double doors around the edge of the room. “Hang on, Sam,” he muttered, slipping them into his hoodie pocket. They didn’t protest.

The doors swung outwards, revealing more of that crimson sky from before. A path twisted downwards, curling and turning in on itself, a sloping path that rested on nothing. It led down onto what looked like a regular city street, if not for the fact that there were no buildings lining the sides. Jack hesitated before stepping onto the path; it just looked like it was floating. But it did hold his weight. He hurried downward and onto the ground.

Only moments after his shoes hit the pavement, the ground shook.

Jack yelled, but managed to keep his balance. He blinked, and suddenly, there were buildings. It now looked like a regular city, except for the floating path he’d just stepped off that led to an empty double-wide doorway. And except for the red sky and the underlying humming sound. And except for the fact that occasionally the buildings would suddenly start to flicker and glitch crazily. If Jack had any doubt that he’d ended up in Anti’s home world, it quickly vanished.

“Okay, now what?” Jack muttered. He patted his pocket. “Sam? What do you think?”

Sam poked out of the pocket and looked around at the city that had suddenly appeared. They replied that this was all very odd, and honestly it didn’t make them feel too good. They actually felt kinda nauseous.

“What? You’re an eyeball, how can you get nauseous?”

Sam said that they didn’t think they could, until now. But maybe if they followed where these glitches were coming from, they would find Anti?

“That makes sense...” Jack said slowly. He looked more carefully at the glitching buildings. Now that he was paying attention, they did seem to sort of be coming from a direction. It was like a wave of glitches would shake its way down the street. Jack headed in that direction, not noticing how the humming sound was getting louder.

After walking for what felt like a long, long while, Jack stopped. “Wait, Sam, I just realized something. Didn’t we read in the notes—the ones from that spirit, Caedmon—didn’t they say something about time not existing here?” He paused. “Wonder what that meant...”

Sam replied that they didn’t know, but that something felt wrong.

“Wrong?” What do you—” Jack cut himself off. There was something happening...in the distance. He squinted down the street. Something was moving. In fact, a lot of things were moving. Jack’s eyes widened as he realized what he was seeing: the glitches from the buildings were growing in intensity, entire houses shuddering rapidly and multiplying, covered in static. And the glitching was approaching. Quite rapidly. “Fuck—!” Jack turned and bolted.

He wasn’t nearly fast enough. The humming grew louder, turning into electronic screeching that could make anyone’s ears bleed. Soon he was swept off his feet, being thrown around by glitches.

The glitch wave crashed onto the ground. Jack landed hard on his back and stared up into the crimson sky, gasping for breath.

“Oh fuck off with that already!”

Jack felt his heart freeze. He recognized that voice.

“I get it, you can throw the place around! Now stop hiding behind this fucking fake city and actually fight me again!“

He looked in the direction it was coming from. Some ways down the street, pretty far away but still clearly within earshot, was Marvin. He had his back to Jack, thankfully, but was still easily recognizable, his hair wild and his cape in tatters. Jack slowly sat up, never taking his eyes off the lone Void.

“I know you’re heeeere!” Marvin looked from side to side, allowing Jack a glimpse of his purple eyes but luckily not noticing Jack himself. “Where are you?”

The static seemed to rise in the air, and it sounded like laughter. And words. “I͏'vé t͏ol͟d ͡yo͢u͝ béf͟ǫr͟e͠,” it said. “I'̕m̨ e͡very͢.͞.̴.wheŗe.” There was the slightest shift in tone in that last word. The barest hint of surprise, as if the voice had just noticed something strange.

Jack stiffened. He knew that voice. But where was it coming from? It certainly sounded like it was coming from everywhere.

Marvin suddenly screamed. “That’s! Not! Funny!” There was a flash of dark purple, and then a few black orbs dripping with violet spun away from Marvin. Some hit nearby walls and burned into the surface, a few melted deep grooves in the street. Jack ducked as one wild orb flew right over his head.

And then once again, the floor gave out.

Jack cried out, but this fall wasn’t nearly as long. He soon landed on a lumpy, soft surface. Pillows? He didn’t have much time to take note of it, because—

“What are you do̸in͞ģ here?! Wait, how did you even g̀ȩt here?!” Anti appeared in front of him, grabbing him by the shoulders and looking him over. “Are you h͢ųr̡t? Oh fuck, I can’t look over e͟ve̛ry̸t͟hi̸n̕g all the time! Especially not with this crazy bitch here! If something in here got you—”

“Anti, I’m fine.” Jack shrugged off his grip. “I, uh...are you alright?” He did his own once-over of Anti. He seemed alright. But he definitely looked different. His eye-patch was missing, letting his green eye shine, and so was his scarf. The wound on his neck slowly dripped blood. Glitches and static constantly tore across his body, making him seem less solid.

“What? I’m fi̧n̨e͝. Why wouldn’t I be?” Anti looked a bit confused. He glitched, and was suddenly standing.

“I dunno, I just—I got worried!” Jack climbed to his feet. “You disappeared off the face of the earth three months ago! Last I heard, you were fighting someone who almost killed you! So I...I came to check on you. Well, me and Sam.” He patted his pocket. “They’re not feeling too good, though.”

Anti stared at him silently. “You...came to check on me?” He asked in a quiet voice.

“Well...yeah,” Jack said. He looked down at his feet. “I mean...you seem alright, so I guess it was nothing, but still, it’s been a while, so—”

“No, no, I—it’s g̨re͡at,” Anti hurried to say. “But...still, h͞o̡w did you even get here?”

“Uuuuuh...it’s a long story.” Jack laughed a bit. “So me and Stacy went back to the cabin, and there was a, uh, magician guy who lives there now. So we told him all about you, cause he already seemed to know something was up, and he helped us summon this, like, ghost magician guy. And the ghost guy told us how to get here.”

“There’s a necromancer living in the cabin now?” Anti asked.

“Yeah, he’s pretty cool. I mean, kind of nerdy, but you know,” Jack said. “Apparently his ancestor knew you, which is crazy, right? Anyway, that’s who we talked to, the ghost was some magician with red magic, called Caedmon—”

“Y͡ou ta͞lk͠e͏d to ́Cáedmo͝n͢?̀!” Anti repeated in an utterly shocked tone.

“Yeah. Tiernan—that’s the necromancer—passed out for like twelve hours afterward.”

Anti stared at Jack, eyes wide. Then he laughed. A spasm of glitches ran through his body. “Oh my gods. Jack...you’re...wow.” He calmed down a bit, and his voice softened. “You...really went to all that ef̧for̢t...just to check on me?”

“Course I did,” Jack said. He tried to shrug it off, but just couldn’t. Not when Anti sounded so touched. “I mean...it wasn’t that hard. And you’re...you’re my best friend. I couldn’t just let you possibly die because of this asshole and his stupid Void powers.”

“Oh...” For once, Anti seemed at a loss for words. “Well...thank you.”

Jack nodded. “You’re welcome.” He hesitated. “So...how are you doing? I mean, you said you were fine, but there’s...still a guy out there...who looks pretty pissed...”

Anti laughed. “Marvin? He has n͟ò̧th̴in̶̢g̸ on me h̴er͞ę.” He paused. “Well, no, not nothing. He’s fucking resilient. And quick. I can’t pin him down long enough to try my plan. You said it’s been three months in the other world?” Anti rolled his eyes. “Well, certainly fucking f̶èel̷s like we’ve been fighting for that long.”

“Huh.” Jack hesitated. “Is...is there any way I can help? I mean, I’m already here. Might as well.”

“Hmm...” Anti flickered with static as he thought. “Maybe...if you could distract him, I might be able to get close enough to—only if you’re sure, of course. I’ve tried distractions before, but he’s dead-set on fighting me. But if it was y̷ou̸ as the diversion...”

Jack hesitated. He didn’t really want to face Marvin. But...if this plan of Anti’s went well, then they’d never have to deal with Marvin again. “Alright, I think I can do that.”

Anti grinned. “Ver̵y̕ gǫo̵d. Now, let’s be quick. Eventually Marvin’s going to be over his outburst. This is what I’m thinking...”

- - - - - - - - - -

The makeshift city was silent, except for the strange humming that was ever-present in the air. The buildings were slowly losing their detail, becoming mere black shapes with a white glow where windows and doors were supposed to be. Marvin stalked through the streets, not caring to notice the changes. Anti had to be here somewhere. He’d stopped with the weird glitch waves, which probably meant he was preparing something else. And if he was busy preparing, then he would be vulnerable.

There was a door up ahead that hadn’t yet lost its definition. Marvin shot a bolt of black violet towards it. The bolt hissed as it made contact, blasting pieces of the door away and melting what remained into a puddle. Behind the empty doorway, Marvin caught a glimpse of something moving. No, someone.

Marvin laughed. “I seeeee you!” He rushed forward into the building, eyes lighting up bright violet as they dripped black liquid. Splashes of black and purple danced around his hands.

The inside of the building was barren, the walls, floor, and ceiling made of a smooth black material. Red light came from bulbs mounted in the ceiling. There was a single door in the wall, made of metal. Someone was trying to pull it open. Marvin’s eyes immediately locked onto him. “Aaaanti, are you running?”

The person at the door jumped, looking over his shoulder. He managed to get the door open and disappeared inside.

“Wait a second...” This was different. Marvin realized, and he laughed. Anti wouldn’t run. He hadn’t ever run before, not the whole time Marvin had been stuck in this weird other dimension. Retreated, yes. But this wasn’t that. Because this wasn’t Anti. “Jack! How did you get here? Checking in on your glitchy friend, I bet. Where are you going? Come back!”

The door was starting to swing shut, but Marvin caught it, swinging it open with force that it slammed against the other wall. The other side was a long room, walls similarly made of black. It was probably meant to be a hallway, but it was void of any distinguishing features. Marvin glanced down at the other end. There was a staircase, barely distinguishable against the rest of the black room. Jack ran towards it, heading upward. Marvin grinned. “Stop running! I just want to talk! I just want to taaaalk!” He ran after him, heading up the stairs. Yet strangely, it felt like he was heading downward.

The staircase emerged from...a hole in the ground? That was what it looked like, at least. The ground was made of dirt, and the ceiling of the next room up was supported by rafters one might find in a basement. Bare bulbs dangled from chains, lighting up the small room. There were no doors or windows leading out. Jack was pressed against the opposite wall, hands running over the smooth surface. Upon hearing Marvin, he spun around, eyes wide. “No!” He pressed his back against the wall.

Marvin grinned wildly. “Hello Jack. How long’s it been? Feels like forever. I can’t keep track of the time in a place like this.”

“H-hey...back off!” Jack stammered.

“Why should I?” Marvin laughed, and started approaching. “Are you going to stop me? Couldn’t do much last time, could you?”

Jack flinched. He pressed closer against the wall—and suddenly it spun around. Like an entrance to a secret passage in an old movie, the wall rotated on an axis, and suddenly Jack was gone. Something clicked.

“What?!” Marvin ran forward, pounding against the wall. “Fuck this! Fuck this whole world and its fucking traps and illusions and nothing making sense!” He screamed in frustration, and hurled a blast of dark violet at the wall. The magic slid right off the black material it was made of. “Oh, of fucking course you’ve figured out some fucking way to make it resistant to my magic! Well fuck you! You don’t know the spells I have!”

Marvin stepped back against the opposite wall. He raised his hands above his head and closed his eyes. Violet magic began to gather, droplets clustering together and running down his arms, becoming a sphere of running purple magic that was black at its center. Marvin shouted, and threw his arms down. The sphere flew across the room at the opposite wall, gaining size as it went. It was almost the size of a person by the time it slammed against the wall, spattering everywhere in a bright violet explosion.

As the magic faded away, Marvin walked up to the wall again. It still looked mostly solid, just with a few dents. Except for near the bottom. It appeared the spell had been concentrated there. A small hole had been blasted through the thick material, smoking at the edges. Much too small for a person to get through, but maybe big enough for something else.

Marvin hesitated for a moment. Was this really worth it? He quickly decided that it was. Jack had somehow slipped away last time he tried to grab him, he wouldn’t let him do so again. Besides, if Jack got in here, maybe he knew a way out. So Marvin took a deep breath, and cast a spell.

Soon, a cat slipped through the hole in the bottom of the wall. A black longhair cat with four white spots on its forehead, its eyes glowing purple. The room beyond was dark, but the cat could see easily. It was a small area, about the size of a closet, and packed with pipes winding around the room, filling the little empty space there was. Jack was huddled in the corner. It wasn’t clear how he’d gotten through all the pipes, but given how this world could change at the flip of a dime, Marvin assumed the pipes had suddenly appeared.

The cat flattened his ears against his head, and started navigating through the pipes, easily squeezing through the small spaces left. What was he going to do once he got close enough? There wasn’t enough room to turn back to human form, and he couldn’t cast most spells in an animal form. But perhaps that had changed, now that he had all this new power. Yes, that made sense. Why would he be limited by shape now? Limits were a thing of the past. He started getting ready for a teleportation spell.

The air in the room started humming, vibrating with a low current of electricity.

Jack looked up, noticing the glowing purple eyes that were getting closer. “Wait, Marvin, let’s talk about this!” He said in a hushed yell.

Marvin purred, amused. Silly Jack. He can’t talk in animal form. He kept getting closer, climbing through a particularly tight gap in the pipes. All he needed was to get close enough to teleport the two of them away.

The electricity increased, causing the fur along Marvin’s tail to stand up. He didn’t notice.

“No no no, wait!” Jack tried to back up, hitting the corner. “Look, I can—I can get you out of here!”

Yes, that was the plan. Marvin lunged through one last hole in the pipes, landing on Jack’s lap. Immediately, he tried to activate the teleportation.

Instead, a strong electric shock ran through his body.

Marvin yowled, jumping backwards—right into a waiting pair of arms. He hissed, claws shooting out as he looked up, right into a glowing green eye.

“He̸͟ļ̀l͏͠o,” Anti grinned.

Green lightning shot through the air. Anti dissolved into shadows and static, yet still held tight to Marvin as he clawed and squirmed. The air was filled with electronic screeching. Jack clamped his hands over his ears. Flashes of green and purple light burst with a snap! and so he closed his eyes too.

All of a sudden, the screeching and flashing stopped. And there was laughter. “You can look n̡o̷w, Jack.”

Jack opened his eyes. Except the room was completely dark. “Uh...no I can’t.”

“What? Oh. Hang on.” The humming sound returned. Suddenly, the room fell apart, opening up like a paper diorama turning back into the two-dimensional plan it was made of. The walls hit the ground silently, seamlessly merging into a plane of blackness, lit up by scarlet light pouring from the sky. Anti grinned. “Here we are.” He chuckled. “Lo̢o͡k a͏t̵ th̛is͏.”

There was a black cat, four white dots on its forehead, lying on the floor. It slowly stood up, shaking its head and looking around. Its eyes were green.

Jack stared, still a little wary. The cat looked up at him and hissed. There was a moment of silence. Then the cat looked back down, turning its head side to side and walking in circles. It seemed confused.

“So it worked then?” Jack asked. “You took his magic?”

“No, I didn’t t̢a͝ke his magic,” Anti said. “Gods, how fucked up would that be? I just locked it away so he can’t use it.”

Jack nodded. “So now he can’t turn back.”

“Exac̀tly̧.͡”

The cat’s—Marvin’s—eyes suddenly widened, almost comically. He let out a loud scream, and turned around and started attacking Anti’s leg. Anti looked unconcerned with this, and merely bent over to pick him up, ignoring the way Marvin struggled and tried to climb out of his arms.

Jack couldn’t help but chuckle. “And we’re sure this was the best idea?”

Anti nodded. “According to Dark, the options were to kill him or somehow keep him from using magic. Dark might’ve been fine with the former, but it’s always a last resort.” He paused, expression falling. “If we’d kept fighting...”

The unfinished sentence lingered in the air.

Anti shook his head and continued. “And if we left him as a human, he would just find some ǫt͠he͞r way to cause trouble, maybe even unlock his magic again.” He looked down at the squirming cat clawing at his arm. “Wo̢u̢l̷dn't y͢ou?”

Marvin snarled.

Jack nodded slowly. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t glad that Marvin wasn’t able to cause trouble anymore. He just wanted to make sure that they’d made the right choice.

Something squirmed in his pocket, and Sam poked out. They said that this was all well and good, but they were feeling very...bad. Could they please leave this place?

“Oh shit. Yeah, of course.” Jack pulled Sam out, looking them over. Their glow was barely visible. “Anti, we have to get out of here. Sam’s not feeling too good.”

Anti nodded. “Of course.” He bent over. Suddenly, there was a cat carrier sitting on the ground. Anti dumped Marvin through the hole in the top, quickly zipping it up as the cat tried to inch his way out. “We’re bringing this a̷ssho̷l̵e̶,” he muttered. “I’m sick of having him running around here.”

“Understandable, have a nice day,” Jack said.

Anti chuckled tiredly. “Okay, so where did you come into here from? You were in the old cabin?”

“Yeah, in the room off the left hallway. It’s a storage now, for magic shit.”

“Nice.” Anti considered this. “I think I can aim for there.” He reached to the side, and his scarf, his patch, and a roll of bandages suddenly appeared in his hand. “Don’t wanna freak out anyone there,” he explained, wrapping up his neck. “Can you grab the bitch kitty?”

Marvin hissed, and rammed against the side of the cat carrier.

“Got it,” Jack said, picking up the handles of the carrier. “Let’s go. I’m sure the others are worried.”

- - - - - - - - - -

Footsteps sounded down the hall, and Stacy threw the door to the room open. “What happened?! It sounded like a bomb went off! Wait…” Her eyes scanned the area. “Where’s Jack?”

“Um…” Frederick laughed nervously. “He may have…convinced me to do the spell.”

Stacy blinked. “The spell to send him to another dimension? That we couldn’t get him back from?”

Frederick nodded hesitantly.

“What the actual fuck?!”

Everything seemed to freeze for a moment, as if someone pressed pause on real life. All of a sudden, static built up in the corner, the world stuttering. And in an instant—

“Shit!” Jack stumbled as he partially landed on a pile of boxes, which then clattered to the floor. Marvin yowled as he dropped the carrier. Anti, standing next to Jack, helped steady him. Sam wriggled out of Jack’s pocket and flew up, stuttering a bit in flight until they landed in a nearby box. They stopped moving. It was clear they were ready for a long rest.

Stacy’s head snapped toward the corner. She blinked. “...well. I guess he can come back.” She took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. “Hey Jack?”

“Hi Stace,” Jack said, waving.

“What were you thinking?!” Stacy shouted. “You can’t just jump into another dimension!”

“Hey, it worked out!” Jack flashed a smile. “Look, Anti’s here! He’s okay. We even, uh...dealt with the problem. Sorry to worry you. We must’ve been gone a while.”

Frederick, previously gaping blatantly at Anti and the way he glitched, looked over at Jack. “Um...actually, that was about twenty seconds. At most.”

“Wait, what?” Jack asked, confused.

“Time is inconsistent between here and there,” Anti explained idly, looking over Frederick. “So. Are you the magician who lives here now?”

“Me? No, I just stopped by,” Frederick said. “Tiernan lives here, he’s still asleep. I’m Frederick. And you’re Anti?”

Anti nodded. “So you sent Jack to find me.”

“...yes?” Frederick said slowly.

“Well. Thank you,” Anti said shortly. “Hello again, Stacy.”

“Hi, Anti,” Stacy said. “You’re, uh. Alright. That’s good to know.”

Anti didn’t answer, looking around the room. “This place sure has changed,” he muttered.

“Oh boy, you haven’t even seen the rest of the house yet,” Jack chuckled. “C’mon, let’s not stand around in a storage room where we could easily knock over more boxes.”

Back in the living room, Tiernan was still napping on the sofa, and Jackie and Heather were talking quietly. Heather glanced over as the group reentered the room. “Oh hey! What happened?” she asked. “Wait, who’s the new guy? A second Jack? Or maybe a second Jackie, given the eye-patch, haha. Wait, no. I’m an idiot. You’re Anti, aren’t you?”

“An—!” Jackie turned around with so much force that he almost fell off the chair. “Fuck!” He suddenly clutched his side and hissed. “Stupid fucking...” The phrase trailed off as he looked back up at Anti, face wary.

Anti stared at Jackie coldly. “Jack failed to mention you were here.”

“Sorry,” Jack said. “But, uh, it’s fine, he’s...cool.” Jackie flinched a bit at the slight hesitation before the word.

The cat carrier suddenly jolted. Marvin meowed, clawing at the mesh sides, and gave Jackie a look that screamed let me out so I can claw out your other eye.

Jackie stared at it, then suddenly shot to his feet. “Wait a second! I recognize—you—Marvin—!”

“Oh yeah, we turned Marvin into a cat,” Jack said, holding tight to the carrier handles.

Frederick whipped over to look at him. “You did what?!”

“We did not turn him into a cat!” Anti corrected hurriedly. “He turned himself into a cat, then I sealed his magic.”

“You can’t just leave someone as an animal!” Frederick protested.

“Look pretty boy, do you want the Void who burned your hand off running around?!” Anti yelled. “No? I didn’t think so!”

“Wait...” Frederick took a step back. “How do you know Marvin did that?”

“I recognize you,” Anti said, looking Frederick over. “It took me a moment, but I do. I dropped you off at that ABIM hospital. Tricky business, making sure no one saw me, and it could’ve easily ended badly. But it seems it was worth it, since you sent Jack to my home.”

Frederick stared at Anti. “You...did that?”

“Yes, I did. Please keep up.” Anti folded his arms. “I had to take my eyes off the Void to do so, too, who knows what could’ve happened in that time?”

“...oh. Well.” Frederick coughed. “Thank you. They said I would’ve died. If you...if you ever need anything—”

“No, you don’t owe me something,” Anti interrupted. “I didn’t do it in the hopes of getting a favor someday.”

Frederick let out a small breath and smiled. “If you insist.”

Jackie had an odd expression on his face. Without another word, he pushed past the rest of the group, muttering something about needing air. He then headed into the hallway. Frederick stared after him, concerned, and followed.

Jack set the cat carrier on the coffee table. Heather scooted her chair closer, staring at Marvin inside. “Y’know, he’s kind of cute, for an evil magician.”

“Clearly it’s a trick,” Stacy drawled. “Get you to lower your guard.” She glared at Marvin. “So that he can get inside a diner and fight a glitch right in front of you.”

“Huh. That’s an oddly specific example,” Heather said.

“Never mind,” Stacy chuckled. “It’s a long story.”

- - - - - - - - - -

Jackie leaned against the wall, feeling a bit dizzy. Everything was happening so fast. In just this day alone, he’d followed Jameson around Ireland, met up with Jack again, and now Anti and Marvin were here. After three months of being on his own, he was meeting up with everyone from his past in such a short time period...and they all hated him.

But wasn’t that justified? Well, for Jack and Anti, at least. He’d stood by while Jack had been hypnotized, traumatized, for two years. And in that same time period, he’d fought Anti countless times for the crime of just trying to get his friend back and stop the actual criminals in the city...criminals that included Jackie himself.

Of course, Marvin was just an asshole who’d always hated him. But...he’d hated Jackie because Jackie was a do-gooder, right? Who kept getting in his way. And who...kept lying about being a do-gooder...even to himself...when he clearly wasn’t...

Jackie felt hot tears start to gather in his eye. He quickly wiped them away before they could even fall.

“Jackie?”

“Wh—” Jackie spun around. Frederick was in the hallway. “H-hey,” he mumbled. “I’m fine, I just...needed a moment.”

Frederick frowned. “No, you’re not fine.”

Jackie didn’t answer.

“Hey.” Frederick walked up to him. “What’s wrong?”

A lot. A lot was wrong. He felt like he was spiraling out of control, down a pit in his own mind as the foundations he’d built his life on spun out from under him. He was starting to realize he...he didn’t save people. Though he claimed he did, it was a lie. He was now seeing people who really helped others, and interacting with the people he’d wronged and hurt, directly and indirectly. And then Anti...he’d never liked Anti, but here he was, having apparently saved someone’s life for no reason other than it was the right thing to do, even putting his own plan in trouble to do so. Jackie never would’ve done that. “I...” he started to say, choking on the words. “I think I might be a bad person.”

Frederick fell silent for a while. “You’ve made some bad choices,” he said in a soft voice. “You know this now. So...what are you going to do about it?”

Jackie jolted, looking up at Frederick. He wasn’t expecting that. He’d been expecting—seeking—reassurance, but not...that. It...it stung a bit. But...

‘What are you going to do about it?’

Reassurance would’ve done nothing. It wouldn’t have rang true, anyway. But...he could do something about it. He could do something about this realization. Perhaps...now that he’d faced the truth...he could find some way to change.

From the living room, someone shouted.

Frederick’s head snapped back towards the sound. “Heather?!” He looked back at Jackie, and the two of them ran back to the other room.

Heather, Stacy, Jack, and Anti had gathered around the living room window. Upon hearing the others return, Heather looked back over at them. “I-I saw—I saw Yvonne!”

“What?!” Frederick rushed over, pressing against the window with the others. Jackie followed more slowly. Outside looked mostly the same. Except for a few wisps of blue light dancing in the breeze. “That’s her magic,” Frederick recognized. “She’s here!”

“What? Why is she here?” Jackie asked. “Does that mean—”

Heather pushed through the group and ran out the front door.

“Heather! Wait! Shit!” Frederick looked at the others. “If Yvonne is still hypnotized, who knows how she’ll react to seeing her? She could attack!” And without another word, Frederick followed Heather in running outside.

“Who’s this Yvonne?” Anti asked.

“She’s a magician,” Jackie explained. “Heather’s sister, and Frederick’s partner.” He hesitated. “Jameson got to her.”

“Fuck,” Anti cursed, jittering with glitches. “If he got to her, and she’s here, then he’s not far away.” He backed away from the window. “I have to find him.” And he glitched away.

Jack also backed away from the window, dread pooling in his stomach. “Jameson is...here?”

Jackie glanced over at him. “I...Don’t worry, Jack, I’ll go look for him, too.” He took a deep breath, and headed out the front door.

Stacy remained looking out the window. If she pressed her face to the glass and looked to the side, she could barely make out flashes of emerald and sky blue light. She glanced back at Jack. “Should we go help?”

Jack shook his head. “No, I-I don’t think we should. And I...don’t...want to.” He took a deep, shuddering breath. “We’ll stay here and make sure Marvin doesn’t get into trouble.

Back on the coffee table, Marvin stopped his efforts to shove the cat carrier onto its side. He meowed, somehow sounding like a spoiled kid caught in the act of stealing from the snack jar.

“Good idea,” Stacy said.

- - - - - - - - - -

Anti zipped around the edge of the clearing in energy form. Jameson, where was Jameson? There was a strange car on the road, partly hidden in the trees. That must be how he and the magician got here.

Speaking of the magician, it seems there was a magician’s duel brewing. Yvonne, hair faded and eyes clouded, was hurling blasts of blue magic at Frederick, who conjured a shield just in time to cover himself and Heather. He sent a rope of green magic around it, wrapping around Yvonne’s waist. She sheared it off, and sent a blue breeze at Frederick’s unprotected legs, knocking him over. Heather ran forward, shouting something, tears in her eyes. Yvonne paused for the slightest moment, then sent a blast at her. It was quickly diverted by a shoot of magic from Frederick.

Jackie was outside, too, heading in the fight’s direction but staying at a safe distance. He scanned the nearby area, perhaps assuming that Jameson would be nearby.

Which he should be, shouldn’t he? He wouldn’t leave his puppet behind. After all, he hated to lose him.

Anti continued his search. Jameson couldn’t be too far.

- - - - - - - - - -

Jack sighed, and took a seat in one of the armchairs. He glanced at the sofa. “Man...Tiernan’s a really heavy sleeper, huh?”

“He’s been exhausted,” Stacy said, shrugging from her position near the window.

“Still, didn’t he wake up for a bit?”

“Yeah, and sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night because I hear a noise or something. Then I fall back asleep, especially if I had a long day.”

Jack nodded. “That makes sense.” He sighed. “Maybe we should go help—”

{/\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\}

Stacy collapsed to the floor, landing hard on her side. Jack instinctively tensed, but the gesture was useless, as he slumped back against the chair, unable to move. But his heart was racing. This had happened before. This had happened before. This had—

Footsteps sounded down the hall. Jameson entered the room, looking as proper as ever, watch clutched in his hand. His gaze swept the area. {Well. Isn’t this an interesting sight? It’s been a while, you two, hasn’t it?}

Jack’s eyes locked onto him. His instincts screamed at him to run, but his muscles wouldn’t move. Not again not again not again not—

{I’d love to stay and chat, but I’m not sure how long my distraction will last.} Jameson smiled, returning Jack’s gaze. {Perhaps we could catch up another time. You and I could have a talk.} He looked away, and turned his attention to the cat carrier on the table. Quietly, he walked over to it and leaned over, looking inside.

Marvin backed up, hissing. He turned and once again tried to knock over the carrier, but Jameson reached out and grabbed the handles, righting it at the last moment.

Jack wanted to scream. He wanted to yell for the others to come back, or even to ask what Jameson wanted. But it was impossible.

Jameson tipped his hat. {Until we meet again, farewell.} And, whistling a jaunty tune under his breath, he turned and left the way he came.

Silence filled the house.

Two minutes passed.

Five.

Ten.

Fifteen.

Jack counted them on the clock mounted on the wall, glancing at it every so often. The hands on its face moved steadily, ticking softly. The sound sent panic through his veins.

The front door slammed open. Frederick and Heather stumbled inside, Yvonne draped between them, not unconscious but seeming unresponsive. Her eyes were no longer cloudy. Jackie followed shortly after. “Hey, so we—” Frederick started to say. Then he stopped. “What happened here?!”

Jackie looked at Stacy, who was unmoving on the floor, and Jack, whose eyes darted back and forth. “Jameson was here,” Jackie muttered. “He did this. Wait a moment.” He looked at the coffee table. “Where’s Marvin?!”

The air broke. Anti appeared. “I couldn’t find—” He then looked around the scene, and his expression darkened as he quickly came to the same conclusion as Jackie. “How?! I was looking all over! Constantly!”

“I don’t know!” Jackie said. “But he took Marvin!”

“So he did,” Anti growled. He glitched over to Jack’s side. “I think I can get rid of this. Give me a moment.” After hesitating for a second, Anti’s hand turned into pixels, and he reached into the side of Jack’s head. Jack immediately shuddered, then jerked and bolted upright. “Jack, are you alright?”

Jack didn’t answer, leaning over the arm of the chair and shivering. He held up his hand, asking for a moment. Anti nodded, and glitched over to Stacy, doing the same thing.

Stacy sat up. “Oh god...that was...” She shook her head.

“It was a trap...” Heather muttered. “We got Yvonne back, but...that magician cat...”

“He’s gone,” Frederick finished grimly. “He probably can’t do much while his magic is locked—and he’s, you know, a cat—but that Jameson guy...he probably has a plan.”

“He definitely has a plan,” Anti confirmed. “That’s the kind of person he is. A little schemer.”

“Fuck him!” Jack suddenly shouted. He pounded his fist against the arm of the chair. “Fuck! Him! I hate him! He should just go off and—and—” The words dried up in his throat, and he blinked back tears. He buried his face in the back of the chair.

Anti looked at him and walked over, sitting on the chair’s arm. He put his hand on Jack’s back, leaning closer. “We’ll get rid of him,” he said in a voice low enough for only Jack to hear. ��It’s going to be okay.”

“Well...I guess we can’t do anything right now,” Frederick said slowly.

Jackie nodded. “I guess we just...make sure Yvonne is alright, and...and then we can look at what to do next.”

“Yeah...yeah, that’s a good plan,” Heather said. “Fengge, you and I should find Yvonne somewhere to rest, since Tiernan took the couch.”

“There’s a bedroom that way,” Stacy said, pointing down the hall. “Actually, I’ll show you.” She climbed to her feet and headed out, Frederick and Heather following her.

Jackie glanced over at Anti and Jack, then silently also left, heading in the opposite direction the others went. “I...I’m going to...think,” he mumbled.

Soon after the others were gone, Jack took a deep breath, and straightened. “Thanks,” he said, not sure what he was saying thanks for. He fell silent, staring out the living room window. “Anti...” he said slowly. “What did you mean by...get rid of him?”

Anti didn’t answer for a bit. “Jameson is a bit more complicated than Marvin is,” he said quietly. “There are questions there that...I still don’t know the answer to.” He paused, and looked back at Jack. “But he won’t hurt you again.”

Jack nodded. “That...that would be ideal.” He chuckled a bit.

Anti grinned, and started to laugh too. “It would, wouldn’t it?” The smile faded. “Well...we’ll find a way. It’s going to be alright. I promise.”

Jack sighed, and said nothing. The two of them stared out the window and let the time pass.

#jacksepticeye #jacksepticeye fanfiction #jacksepticegos #septic egos #septic egos au #antisepticeye #marvin the magnificent #jackieboy man #jameson jackson #brigid writes fanfiction #septics inverted au #invertedau

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imaginetrahs · 4 years

Text

5. I don’t know who that is. Sorry.

Third

Monday came faster than Solana wanted it to.

After Friday the rest of her weekend went by in a blur. Saturday and Sunday were spent with family since there wasn't much of that since she came home from camp.

Solana had just finished getting dressed, reluctantly, and made her way towards the kitchen. Jamal was sitting at the table eating a bowl of cereal. Solana knew that he would text her later about his stomach hurting from the milk, he's lactose intolerant but she didn't say anything.

"Hey, do you want a ride." Solana grabbed her bookbag from its spot by the door and slipped on her sandals.

Jamal shook his head, "I'm gonna walk with the crew. But I'll see you at lunch?" He placed his bowl in the sink and grabbed his bag too. Both of the Turner kids walked out of the house and Solana locked the door behind them. Their dad was respected because of his business but they could never be too sure.

"Yes sir." Solana walked to her car while Jamal started walking down the street toward school. "Please be safe J."

"Girl, you know I'm always safe." He turned around walking backwards and popped his collar. "They need to watch out for me cause I'm dangerous."

Because Jamal was turned around not watching where he was going, he backed into a fire hydrant and fell back. Solana rolled her eyes and got in her car, she pulled out and made her way to pick up Braelyn and Raziya.

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

"Who's your first period?" Solana, Braelyn and Raziya were still sitting in the car waiting for the first bell to ring. Each girl had their phone in their hand looking at their class schedule.

"I have Bloomberg." Solana glanced at the other girls as they groaned in protest.

"Fucking lucky." Raziya sighed out. "I have Ms. Roberts."

Solana and Braelyn let out collectives 'ooohs'. They both understood Raziya's frustration seeing as they both had her last year for English class and she was not an easy teacher.

"Well I have Ms. Carter and I'm okay with it because she's pretty chill." Braelyn opened her door and slid out along with Solana and Raziya.

Walking through the parking Solana noticed the familiar cherry red convertible parked across the street with its owner sitting in the driver seat. She tried not to make eye contact but it was hard when she could feel him staring at her.

"He's basically burning a hole in your face." Solana groaned kept walking. She was still upset about Friday but she wasn't pressed about it.

"I know." The three girls sat at one of the tables in front of the school. They continued to talk about their classes and what teachers they didn't like.

"So are you like over Oscar." Braelyn set her phone down on the table and looked at Solana. Braelyn knew that she wasn't, she just wanted to hear her say it.

"I don't know who that is." Solana shrugged her shoulders and continued her people watching. Across the way she noticed her brother and his friends sitting at a table, they must've been waiting for Cesar.

Raziya rolled her eyes, "Lana for real."

"Well technically we were never together for me to 'be over him' but I just think what he did was stupid as fuck and if he didn't want to hang with me he could've just told me that. Instead he blew me off for another girl without a call or text." Solana took her bag off and laid her head on it. "So I don't know, but I do know boys are stupid."

"Except me though, right?" Solana rolled her head to the right and seen Cesar standing there with a smirk on his face.

"No, especially you." Solana joked to him and got up to hug him. "I'm just kidding Ceas. How you been?"

He nodded his head and shrugged simultaneously. "I've been better. But hey my brother wants to talk to you."

Solana shook her head 'no' and sat back in her seat. The last thing she wanted to do was talk to Oscar right now because it would ruin her whole day and it barely started.

Cesar's phone dinged and glanced at it. He had a text from his brother. "He said if you don't go over there then he'll come over here, your choice."

Solana sighed as loud as she could and dragged her feet across the street. She could hear her friends plus Cesar laughing behind her.

Solana opened the red door and flung herself into the passenger seat while slamming the door. She slouched into the seat and crossed her arms across her chest, glaring out of the windshield.

"Yo chill out with slammin' my shit!" Oscars eyebrows knitted in frustration. First Solana wasn't answering his texts and now she's here slamming his car door.

Solana turned to him in mock sympathy. She placed her hand over her chest, "I'm sorry, let me just-", she opened the door and slammed it again.

Oscar clenched and unclenched his jaw, not wanting to lose his cool towards her. He watched her type on her phone instead of paying attention to him.

Oscar snatched the phone from Solana's hand and put it in pocket closest to the driver door. "Tell me how you feel Sol." He shifted his body towards her direction and threw his arm across the back of the car seat.

"You're an asshole." She looked at him with a stoic face. "Instead of just telling me you didn't want to hang out, you stood me up and I had to hang with my brother. Not that I mind because I love my brother, and we actually had a lot of fun, it's just you could've sent a text. And then you ditched me for Amaya, of all people."

"Are you jealous?" Oscar smirked her way.

"Of Amaya?" Solana screwed her face up and laughed wholeheartedly. "Yeah right. She's slept with literally every guy in our grade, you're just another one that got added and checked off her list. Don't feel too special."

Solana heard the bell for first period ring and grabbed the door handle to get out. "We're not together so I'm not mad, but don't invite me to hang out if you're just gonna bail." She shut the door with a shrug and made her way to class.

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

Lunch time came and to say Solana was happy was an understatement. She had two more classes to go to, being on block schedule was a gift. Solana walked through the countless bodies in the hallway to her locker. She grabbed her sketch pad for her double art class, instead of having to come all the way back to this side of the school.

Solana closed and locker her locker and made her way to the cafeteria. Her phone buzzed in her hand and she glanced at it to see a text from Oscar.

Spooky 👻

I'm picking you up later

11:25 AM

Mamas 🖤

No you're not

11:30 AM

Solana grabbed a lunch tray and went through the lunch line like every other person. She decided between the lesser evils of lunch food and went with a chicken salad. Another text came through and Siri read it in her AirPods.

Spooky 👻

Let me make it up to you

11:35 AM

Mamas 🖤

It's a little too late for that don't you think 🙂

11:36 AM

Spooky 👻

Be ready by 6

11:38 AM

Mamas 🖤

Say I do agree to this...

What am I supposed to wear?

11:40 AM

Solana walked out of the cafeteria to the outside tables and found her brother and his friends plus Braelyn and Raziya.

"Hey you's guys." Solana sat between her brother and Ruby, hugging his head. Like all of Jamals friends, Ruby had a special place in her heart, a close second to Cesar. She loved them all in her own little way.

Spooky 👻

Whatever you want baby

11:47 AM

You look good in everything

11:47 AM

Solana smirked at her phone at what Oscar said. She didn't want to toot her own horn but, he wasn't wrong.

Mamas 🖤

Whatever 🙄

11:50 AM

I'll see you later

11:51 AM

Jamal glanced over his sisters shoulder, along with Ruby, to see her texting Oscar. Neither of them said anything but glanced at each other, knowing that she could be used in their plan to talk to Oscar.

"Who you texting Sol." Raziya leaned on her hand grinning at Solana. Braelyn tilted her head at Solana and glanced to Raziya.

"Yeah, she was pretty smiley over there wasn't she Ziy?" Solana rolled her eyes with the other gazed at her, waiting for an answer.

"Don't start." Solana shot her hand out in a 'stop' motion. "Don't start."

Braelyn and Raziya threw their hands up in surrender. "Ok, fine."

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

Liked by Braezy, Shawtylowe, Spooky, JuliusCaesar, Rubennn, SwaggieJ, Monsay and 389 others

Sonshine senior year is mine 🤪

103 comments

Braezy period best 💕 15 likes

Sonshine this year is ours sis @Shawtylowe

SwaggieJ Period sis 20 likes

Sonshine jamal get tf 😂

Amilli 👻

Sonshine blocked

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Liked by Sonshine, Braezy, Amilli, Sadeyez, Eazy and 438 others

Shawtylowe do I need school or does school need me 🤔

98 comments

Sonshine period cause shit is bogus 100 likes

Shawtylowe ain't it 😩

Eazy I need you

Shawtylowe dude get tf ☹️

Latrelle answer my dms

Shawtylowe eww 🤮

Shawtylowe @Amilli bitch stop liking my shit

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Liked by Sonshine, Shawtylowe, SwaggieJ, Mario and 428 others

Braezy glad it's my last year ☺️ enjoy this outfit because after this it's sweats and hoodies 🙂

119 comments

Sonshine ong 😭

Shawtylowe you're so cute 😩💕 78 likes

Braezy thank you baby 💕

Mario hey

Braezy bye

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

Liked by Latrelle, Mario, Yourboyfriend and 365 others

Amilli I had him now you can have him back 😇

172 comments

Shawtylowe you want to beat yo ass again

Amilli you didn't beat me the first time so...

Shawtylowe you're a bird 🦆 leave my friend and he man alone or imma fuck you up ong 💁🏽‍♀️ 115 likes

Sonshine Ziy chill 😂

Latrelle get at me ma

Amilli 🤪😘

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I can't fucking stand that bitch. Raziya text the groupchat. After lunch everyone went to their respective classes. Since most of the school followed the four girls, the drama was already spreading and it was only the first day.

Amaya was the type of girl that craved drama and attention. Her name was always in something and someone always got dragged down with her. The girls were friends with Amaya, once upon a time, but then things changed. Amaya was caught up in being better than everyone, but it happens.

Solana sat in art class, the only class she really cared for. She loved art in all forms, getting this class double was amazing for her. Not to mention her teacher was one of her favorites.

There were a little less than ten minutes left of class and Solana didn't want to leave. Her leaving meant she would have to hang with Oscar, and she didn't really want to.

When the bell rang to go home, Solana took her time leaving. Lately she hasn't been able to have any 'me time' so she took this time to. Her life was hectic right now between; cheer, seeing a man that is older than her, and school starting up, she wasn't sure she'd be able to handle it.

Solana's phone dinged in her back pocket, she pulled it out and seen a text from Jamal.

J-man 🏈

My stomach hurts

3:15 PM

Can you take me home

3:16 PM

"I fucking knew it."

#oscar diaz #oscar diaz x oc #oscar diaz imagines #black girl oc #oscar diaz imagine #spooky diaz #spooky #on my block

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xianglingslesbian · 4 years

Note

spiderzuki hehehehhe and the extras for uhm ewbts!!!!!

EHEHEHE SEB KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT TO ASK <33 it got long so CUT

spider-zuki

izuki is spider-man. hanamiya is his whiny sidekick who eats spiderwebs. also izuriko bc i’m Like That TM

see this AU cannot be put in words so i’m going to add snippets:

“So...” Izuki said slowly. “You... you... know. About... my thing.”

Hanamiya nodded, still glaring. “I wanted it, you rheum-covered piece of excreta.”

That’s him, Officer! yelled the tiny spider in his head. That’s the web-eating fucker! And by the way, my name is Kumo.

“The web-eating what,” Izuki said out loud. “Also, that’s a pretty good pun.”

Fucker! Haven’t you ever heard a swear word?! And yes, it is.

“Are you talking to your spide-kick?!” Hanamiya demanded. “What’s he saying?! And how the fuck do you know I eat webs?!”

”My what.”

Don’t fucking gender me! snapped Kumo in Izuki’s head. Izuki ignored it (them?) in favour of Hanamiya’s last words sinking in.

How the fuck do you know I eat webs?!

“You eat what now?!” he shrieked.

“Webs. Keep up, eagle boy, or you’re never gonna make a good Spider-Man.”

“A good what?”

“Is this entire conversation going to be just you saying, ‘what?’, or...” Hanamiya examined his nails. Kumo remained suspiciously silent save for something that sounded a little too much like a snort.

Izuki had never wanted to punch anyone so much in his whole life.

Izuki, 23.07: Hanamiya Fucking Makoto

Izuki, 23.07: did you fucking fill the Oreos with spiderwebs again

Izuki, 23.07: I BITE INTO A COOKIE WHILE STUDYING AND I FIND SPIDERWEBS, YOU GODDAMN TURD

Izuki, 23.07: I NEEDED THE SUGAR RUSH AND INSTEAD I GET WEBS

Izuki, 23.07: I KNOW YOU’RE ONLINE

Hanamiya: read 23.07

Izuki, 23.09: FUCKING ANSWER ME YOU LITTLE BASTARD

Izuki, 23.09: YOU WEB CRAPPER

Izuki, 23.09: YOU SPIDER FETISHMAN

Hanamiya, 23.09: ...that last one... I’m listening...

Hanamiya, 23.10: also, thats a total of 300 yen to the swear jar, you little rapscallion :3

Izuki, 23.10: FUCKING FUCK YOU

Hanamiya, 23.10: that’s another 200~

Izuki, 23.11: Hey Coach?

Izuki, 23.11: I finally get what it’s like to be the one with common sense

Riko, 23.11: <3

”What the fuck is Hanamiya doing here?” asked Hyuuga incredulously. Izuki shrugged.

“He’s my pet cryptid. He likes eating webs and stuff.”

“It’s pet arachnid,” corrected Hanamiya wearily, “get it right.”

Izuki nodded. Hyuuga blinked. Then blinked again.

“Please tell me I misheard you. Both of you.”

Izuki grimaced. Hanamiya smiled happily. It was the most terrifying thing Hyuuga had ever seen.

"I kin shpiders," said Hanamiya through a mouthful of web. Izuki eyed him doubtfully.

Sure, if we ate our own webs, said Kumo in his mind. Izuki ignored the tiny spider and continued to look at Hanamiya with doubt and some worry.

"That could be toxic."

"Eagle boy, the only toxic bitch in this room is me. Got it?"

“Technically I’m Spider-boy now,” Izuki pointed out, and Hanamiya turned purple.

“DON’T FUCKING REMIND ME--”

"Who am I kidding, Hanamiya? I'm not a hero." Izuki let out a soft, derisive laugh, staring at his hands. "I'm just a teenage boy who got bitten by a radioactive spider and can do some stuff because of it. I'm just a background piece... I can't be hero material. I'm not brave, or strong, or valiant, or even cool. I make stupid puns and I'm not even good at the things I love. I can stick to things and I'm stronger than I used to be. That doesn't make me what I thought I could be. But then again, I've always been a bit of a delusional fool." His voice dropped, soft and low and sad, and his eyes were glistening with tears.

holy shit that went from 0 - 100 real fast anyway hope u enjoyed the cRaCk

ewbts extras

ok buckle in bc there are quite a few of these

best served cold - himuro, and his thoughts after the yousen match and after he [spoiler for ewbts] calls izuki

and you keep running like the sky is falling - the hyuuga-izuki fight *cries* it’s pretty nasty and awful. it’s actually a deleted scene from the verrrrry first draft of ewbts so it never made it onto ao3 but i liked it enough to keep it! i need to highkey edit and polish, and lengthen too, tho ;w;

shenpointigans - izuki/takao/kasamatsu groupchat. lowkey inspired by @moriizuki's pg for pretty gay as many of my chatfics are tbh it’s a work of art

they call me a snacc bc im a taco, 03.37: do you guys think stars have feelings

eagle-i, 03.37: its 3 fucking am, blocked

they call me a snacc bc im a taco, 03.38: then why are you up

eagle-i, 03.38: the gd notifs

eagle-i, 03.38: no-tifications. im turning them off and go to sleep or i’ll kill you

they call me a snacc bc im a taco, 03.39: ...how do you manage to make such shitty puns even when someone wakes you up

they call me a snacc bc im a taco, 03.39: shun senpai?

kasamatsu, 07.49: why are you up at 3am don’t you know 8 hours of sleep is important for teens

eagle-i, 07.50: YES KASAMOMTSU SENPAI IS RITE

eagle-i, 07.50: and did you just call my puns shitty

they call me a snacc bc im a taco, 07.53: i did. i shit you not. im sorry shun senpai dont kill me

eagle-i, 07.54: ......................forgiven

kasamatsu, 08.00: i am not a mom

eagle-i, 08.01: ok mom

they call me a snacc bc im a taco, 08.01: ok mom

kasamatsu, 08.02: i hate you kids so much

eagle-i changed kasamatsu’s nickname to certified mom

certified mom, 08.03: fuck

certified mom, 08.04: and also takao i dont think a ball of gas can have feelings but whatever makes u happy ig

they call me a snacc bc im a taco, 08.05: wow thats mean

eagle-i, 08.06: hey kazu i think stars have feelings!

they call me a snacc bc im a taco, 08.06: rlly?!?!? ur the best

eagle-i, 08.07: yes. feelings. particularly. burning desire

eagle-i, 08.07: geddit. burning

they call me a snacc bc im a taco, 08.08: .....i hate you

certified mom, 08.08: i dont get it

certified mom, 08.08: didnt you just say you loved izuki half a minute ago takao?

they call me a snacc bc im a taco, 08.09: never change kasa senpai, never change

and yeah thats it!! i do have a couple more extras in mind but i havent made docs for them yet so they’re unlisted <3 thanks for the ask!!!

#knb #seb #wips #wow this got long #LMAOOO THIS IS PURE CRACK TBH #answered

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marvinswriting · 4 years

Text

just a liability

prompt: actually wait I WANT to read scary [its a suprise] go ahead lol- bear (bc it's her idea)

Today was awful.

Most days were.

But today sucked substantially more.

Its the first day back at school since my art show. The praise and congratulations from my teachers should feel nice.

But its all a bitter reminder of the painting I threw at my newest ex-best friend.

My mom was not too happy when I came home with a first-place ribbon and no canvas but that's not the point.

I sighed, stepping onto the tiny platform. Damian wouldn't be done with theater for another twenty minutes but I can't sit in the stuffy tiny halls anymore.

The hallways were practically empty, as usual for after school hours.

Notice how I said practically.

"So what are we doing this weekend, Cady?" Gretchen asked as they walked down the hall.

Its a question shes directed to Regina so many times. I almost felt sick looking over, looking at the girl who used to be my friend.

Now cold, hard, plastic.

You made me like this-

I did. Didn't I.

I was hurt by middle school actions. I just wanted to see Regina's downfall. And I guess I did.

But at the cost of my friend.

"I'm not sure yet," Cady said thoughtfully. "It's only Monday."

"But if we want to throw another party we should spread the word now."

"Another party?" Cady stops short in shock. Right in front of the tiny pick up zone.

I turn to my sketchbook, hoping they won't notice me.

"But we just threw one last week." The concern in her voice sounded just like the old Cady. The nice Cady. My friend, Cady.

"Last week was so- well, last week!" Gretchen says. "I dunno guys." Cady says slowly.

I concentrate on the delicate lines in my sketchbook. Nice, light, thin. Happy lines if you will.

Ignore the pain of losing your friend. The only girl you've trusted since eight grade. Ignore the pain of your identity being weaponized. Nice, light, thin, happy lines.

"Janis?"

Fuck.

I look up to see Cady glancing at me. "You've been ignoring my calls."

The cold edge in her voice was exactly why. She's shiny, hard, and plastic.

"Cady, you can't be seen near the space dyke." Gretchen quickly reminds her.

"Gretchen," Cady snaps. "I can be seen with whoever I want. Regina is gone, I make the rules."

That wasn't what you were saying when you didn't invite Damian and I to your party.

It wasn't even the fact that she didn't invite us to her party. It was the fact that she threw a party. That she could have been honest and say she'd rather throw a banger then go to my art show, but she lied. She said she was in Maddison. She sure as hell wasn't.

"But that's space dy-"

"I know who it is, Gretchen." Cady snapped. I jumped back in surprise at the vicious tone of her voice. She sounded like a clone of Regina.

I almost felt sorry for Gretchen. No matter what happened, no matter who was 'in charge' she always seemed to get the short end of the stick.

Cady reaches out, lifting me up without asking.

"Hey!" My sketchbook and pencil fall down onto the platform as I'm lifted in the air.

Cady turns me over in her hand like she's never seen me before.

"Put me down!"

"Why'd you ignore my calls, Janis?"

"Cady-"

Her hand closes around me, holding me in a fist. It's not tight, unlike others who have picked me up without asking in the past. But a fist is a fucking fist.

"Cady please, this isn't like you."

"Plastic?" Cady's voice has an unfamiliar edge. "But- I thought you wanted me to be plastic? To help get rid of Regina. Isn't this what you wanted, Janis?"

No! I didn't want anything like this. At all.

"I actually wanted to thank you. For showing me how to be plastic. Because now I've met people I actually want to hang out with."

I tried to convince myself that she didn't mean it. It was all a show for Karen and Gretchen. Cady was just trying to prove herself to be plastic. There was no way she meant all these things. There was no way she-

Her fist tightened.

"You didn't think I liked hanging out with you, right?"

Yes. I did.

"You're so needy. I need this, take me there, everything just needs to be about Janis, huh?"

My arms were pinned at my sides. There was nothing I could do.

“Poor Damian has to deal with you and your bullshit."

I freeze. Yeah, insulting my sexuality was a low blow. But it wasn't the lowest blow. Cady knew that. She knew what the lowest possible insult was. And she fucking used it.

"The poor guy," A sick smile forms on Cady's face when she sees how I've reacted. Gretchen and Karen laugh from behind her, prompting Cady to continue. "Even if you weren't a tiny. You still have all those issues. Right, girls?"

She sounds just like Regina. Just bigger and with more potential to physically harm me.

Fuck.

"So many issues." Gretchen says, repeating what Cady said back to her, like a parrot. Karen just nods.

“I don’t know why I ever hung out with you.” Cady admits, releasing me from a fist and letting me fall into her hands.

"W- what?" I never stutter, but I guess I'm doing it now.

"Mhmm," Cady said, holding my arm between her two fingers, tugging at it. "You were always so weak and fragile. I didn't want the responsibility of that. You tinies can be such a liability."

"Cady. Stop, that hurts." I try tugging my arm back, only for Cady to just pinch harder.

“I could care less about how you feel, Janis.”

I'm starting to feel like this may not just be a show to prove herself to the other plastics.

I mean, what's there to prove.

Cady already rules the school.

Cady already won.

"Put me down. Please."

"And why should I?" Cady asked. Everything about her, her tone, her posture, her outfit- it reeked of plastic. I swallow, trying to push down the anxiety in my stomach.

My belief that Cady wouldn't hurt me was quickly crumbling.

"Yknow." Cady's thumb pushed me backward, pinning me down. "I'm surprised it didn't come to this sooner, Jains."

Her thumb pushed down hard, right on my chest, hurting my ribs. It probably wasn't much effort on Cady's end but it hurt like a bitch for me. My mind thinks back to all the times Damian did the same thing, more cautiously.

For him, it was a way to make sure I didn't fall off his hand or do anything reckless.

For Cady, it felt like a murder technique.

Was it that easy for Damian to just kill me this whole time? Was I so much more fragile then I realized?

I mean, Cady sure seemed to be doing it effortlessly now.

I tried to push her thumb away but it was fruitless. I could barely push off Damian's when he did it- and he pushed down a lot softer.

"I can't bre- Cady. Wait- please."

"What?" Cady grinned, lifting her thumb. "Too much for poor little Janis?"

"Space Dyke cant handle it." Gretchen smirked.

"No, she can't." Cady agreed.

The familiar sparkle in her eye was gone. The naive smile she had her first day at Northshore was gone. Her braids that ran through her hair was gone. Her socks with sandals- as horrific a fashion choice they may be- were gone.

All that was left was cold, hard, shiny, plastic.

Cady was gone.

"Hey, where's your friend?" Gretchen asked. "The gay one."

She sure as hell knows Damian's name. That was just a cruel dig.

"Oh yeah?" Cady's eyes lit up. Not in the way they used to. Now they shown in a dark taunting way. "If Damian cares about you so much, where is he now?"

Theater. He's at theater. He cares. He just doesn't know what's happening.

My mind screamed these answers but I couldn't bring myself to verbalize them. Cady's fingers curled dauntingly over me and she grinned a little wider every time I shook.

“Damian doesn’t want you around," Cady continued. "I can tell. Everyone can tell.”

"Everyone," Gretchen said.

“Stop wasting his time. Stop wasting everyone’s time.” Cady dropped me back onto the pickup zone. “Damian’s gonna get sick of you eventually. Where's poor space dyke gonna go then?"

I froze. Cady never called me space dyke. Through the years I've grown numb to the insult. After eighth grade, it became unoriginal and repetitive. But when Cady said it?

Cady leaned over the tiny pick up zone, getting uncomfortably close. "Awww, did that hurt your feelings?"

I step backward but can't bring myself to respond.

Cady laughs, bringing her pointer finger up to knock me down. "Get over it."

She smiles to Gretchen and Karen, who beam back at her like this was just another normal occurrence before the trio walks away, already picking up their original topic of weekend plans.

For a long while, I just stay sitting on the tile floor where I was knocked over. My heart was racing and my breath was heavy, something I didn't notice before. Now that I was in no immediate danger I noticed these things. Like the bruises probably forming on my torso from Cady's thumb.

All her words caught up to me.

Did Damian really find her annoying? Was it that easy to tell? I guess I did have a habit of blocking certain things out- like Cady slowly becoming cold hard plastic until it was too late. I mean, I'd be annoyed taking care of a tiny me as well.

Even if you weren't a tiny. You still have all those issues.

I get up and walk into the tiny halls. No. It wasn't true. Right?

Damian had to care, at least a little bit.

Stop wasting his time. Stop wasting everyone’s time.

I pull myself into the bathroom, not even bothering to enter a stall. It's after school. Who cares.

There are tears on my face when I look in the mirror. When did I start crying?

I hastily wipe them away, ignoring how my mascara smudges.

Why did I let her words get to me?

I didn't let Regina get to me this much?

She said the same things Regina said.

Maybe its because I trusted Cady. She was a friend.

Was.

But plastic is plastic. I should have known better.

My phone buzzes as I jump away from the mirror in surprise. It's a text from Damian.

"Hey, Jan. Where are you, I'm at the pick-up zone." I read allowed, despite nobody else being here.

My stomach twists at the thought of seeing Damian. Of making him go out of his way to get me home.

I really did need everyone to do everything for me.

The realization feels like a punch in the gut.

I quickly texted back, saying I left school early, feeling sick, sorry for not telling him.

Yeah, I felt bad for lying. I'll just take the tiny bus home. Damian shouldn't have to go out of his was to worry about me. He doesn't deserve that.

I slump down against the wall, drawing my knees close. If I'm taking the tiny bus I'm not leaving for another half hour. There's no rush.

Damian texts me telling me to get better. I know he didn't buy it. I was fine earlier. But maybe he did think I actually went home.

I felt bad for lying, but I'd feel worse being a liability.

Because that's all I was.

Space Dyke. The annoyance. The liability. The girl with issues. The one who wastes everyone's time.

I'm crying again. I can feel the wet tears sliding down my face, no doubt taking more mascara with them.

I don't bother to wipe them away.

whoops, lol- bear 2020 I WOULD LIKE TO DEFEND MYSELF AND SAY YALL ARE QUICK TO CALL CADY SOFT AND INNOCENT LIKE ACT TWO CADY HERON DOESN'T EXIST? anyway really sorry mainly to soy and alex lmao @realmisspolarbear @smallsoysauce @musicallygt

#i dont want the tags to give away whos in this fic #g/t mean girls #Giant/tiny #g/t #g/t writing

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a-wanderin-whirlybird · 4 years

Text

Sole Ender AU Its the Little Things

It's the little things that made Ryan feel safe with the Fakes. Like how Gavin and Michael always walk on his right side, never his left, so he can always see them. It's how Geoff makes sure that any Heists outdoors are occurring when it doesnt rain. It's how Jack always has an extra umbrella or Eye Patch for him. How Jeremy and Lindsay make sure to never make direct eye contact. Jeremy looks at his mouth, Lindsay watches anywhere and everywhere else.

Those little things always made Ryan feel welcome. Even after they found out about the experiments, the Lab, the Eye. But still, something felt missing, Ryan could never put his finger on it. But he felt, lost still. He didnt realize the Emptiness was caused by something so simple until one night while playing Trivial Pursuit.

"Authors last names? Fuck that! Every last bastard whose ever written a book has a weird ass last name! They could be Hilda Sasquatch or some shit!" Jeremy shouted. Jack laughed and Gavin snorted.

"Jeremy, you wrote a book." Michael reminded him.

"Well Dooley is a funny last name!" Gavin pointed out as Jeremy growled and slapped the Brit on the back of his head.

"Yeah, like Free is any better!" Jack was losing it in the background as the Lads began to bicker and wrestle. Ryan's nose scrunched as his chest tightened and the empty feeling began again.

"What's with the face Rye?" Geoff asked breaking Ryan's stare. His left eye was covered with a glittering purple and blue eye patch Gavin had made out of his Sparkles. It was a fine gift, one that Ryan treasured.

"Its, it's nothing really." Ryan insisted a bit hesitantly. Geoff shook his head.

"Suuuuuurrrre, it's really nothing." Geoff drawled sarcastically. Ryan rolled his eye.

"Your like a security camera." Ryan muttered. "You keep digging and digging."

"Yeah that's not weird at all." Geoff sighed. "But fine, I'll stop. Just remember you Can talk to us."

"I... I know Geoff." Ryan muttered as the fight before them settled. "Just. Not now?"

Geoff nodded and they all turned back to the game. Ryan hoped that he could bury that empty feeling and never touch it again.

It was just a Last Name after all.

Turns out Ryan couldnt avoid the feeling for long. It was another game night a few weeks later. Jack and Geoff were out with Gavin, so Michael, Jeremy and Lindsay insisted Ryan joined them for Mario Party.

"Right so what's got you so fucked?" Michael asked never looking away from the mini game on the screen.

"Oh elegantly put Jones." Jeremy teased. Michael knocked into Jeremy who went tumbling away and Ryan felt the hole in his chest open again.

"I dont know what you mean." Ryan said as Lindsay pressed into him.

"Bullshit you keep wincing at random! Your eye bugging you?" Lindsay asked this time. Ryan shook his head, he felt stupid he just wanted these people to stop caring so much!

"We arent going to stop caring dipshit that isnt how this works." Jeremy said. Great, Ryan thought, he said that out loud.

"Yeah! We're a crew and shit we ain't gonna not care! Somethings bugging you and we want to help!" Lindsay declared throwing her arms around Ryan and pulling him into a hug.

Ryan tensed then mumbled.

"Sorry what was that?" Michael smirked. "Cant hear you through Lindsay dude."

"I dont have a fucking last name alright? It's a small stupid thing but it drives me nuts! I feel even less human!" Ryan shouted, pushing away from Lindsay. Michael and Lindsay began to laugh.

"Dude chill. It's just a name it doesnt mean shit!" Michael wheezed.

"Yeah dude. No need to get your panties in a twist over it." Lindsay added. Ryan growled and silently rose to his feet.

"Ryan?" Jeremy started but with a Vwoop, Ryan teleported away leaving the three others behind. In a cloud of dull sparkles.

Ryan could teleport pretty far. The farthest he ever went in one go was 20 miles. But now he didnt want to go far, just hide. And what better place to hide than one of the safe houses?

It was a small apartment closer to the suburbs of Los Santos, it was nice, if small. It was usually reserved for when someone was on a solo mission and needed to lie low, which meant that Ryan was there most. So he got to decorate.

Back at the Labs he never got to make any space his own. Everything was sterile and empty. He hated to remember the open space and clean white walls and the smell of bleach and chemicals.

Which was why this space was filled with stuff. Sure it was tidy, nothing was rotten or moldy, but Ryan used every space available. If the floor didnt have a rug there was a table or chair. If the tables didn't have Flowers, TVs, knickknacks or something on it there was usually a cup of Diet Coke. It was filled to the brim with bright plants, paintings, photos you name it.

Ryan plopped down on the couch feeling stupid. Why was he so hung up on a name? He had given himself the name Ryan sure, why not a last name?

Ryan knew why, and as that thought rose up he pushed it away. He didnt want any memories of the Labs in his head right now. Now he wanted to just sleep, he wanted to feel less... less stupid and childish.

So Ryan went off to the bedroom and buried himself deep under the covers, like he used to, and blocked out the rest of the world.

Ryan was 13 again and he sat on his cot, swinging his legs absently.

"Why dont I get one?" He heard himself ask. "Why am I only a number?"

"Names are given by family to people. You have no family and you are no longer human. You are far better than that." One of the blurred figures said. The second scoffed.

"Better? It cant even run the most basic excersise without failing ten times. Its isnt anything but a waste." Ryan couldnhear the sneer in the figure's voice as pain shot through every nerve on his body. "Failure doesnt get you a name of any kind. You are a tool, and a broken one at that. Dont forget that."

Ryan woke up with a start. Turning to the clock Ryan cursed. 3 am. He wasnt going back to sleep. Again.

Getting to his feet Ryan didnt bother to change into fresh clothes. He had slept in his jeans why not just use them again? But he grabbed a jacket and went out into the night.

Mount Chilliad loomed in the distance as Ryan walked the dark streets of Los Santos. He could have teleported where he wanted to go, or even driven. But he didnt want to. Walking felt better, it gave agency, he decided where his feet went, no one else.

"Oh Thank Fuck! I've been looking everywhere for you!" Ryan jumped, ready to fight and run from the handlers. When recognition snapped his mind from bad memories.

Standing before him was Jeremy, holding a tiny wiggling bundle of fur. A cat from what Ryan could tell. Jeremy smiled nervously, but relief was evident in the smaller man's eyes.

"Look, uh. Fuck I suck at this shit. Let's go inside yeah? We are near a place I own. Come on." Jeremy ushered Ryan towards a nearby apartment building. Ryan followed wordlessly, but obediently. At the door Jeremy hopped around a little.

"Keys, keys. Uh Hey Rye mind.holding him for a sec?" Jeremy then thrust the cat into Ryan's hands who finally got a good look at the little fur ball.

They were a tiny black kitten, fuzzy and wiggling furiously. What stood out the most was that it was missing a front leg.

The door clicked as.Ryan made eye contact with the little kitten. His chest tightened and his mind whirled as he looked into the kittens little eyes. Then it looked at Ryan's jacket and started burrowing into one of the interior pockets. Ryan felt a purr resonating out of the tiny cat from in his jacket and through his ribs. His chest began to unclench and suddenly he was.aware he was inside a studio apartment.

There were art supplies everywhere. Everything from Yarn and Knitting needles, to paints and canvases to wood sculptures, and musical instruments were strewn about. Jeremy hopped around the room over to a ragged old bed, kicking off his shoes as he went.

"Well, make yourself at home. Dont mind the mess things just get thrown around alot." Jeremy said sheepishly. Ryan picked his way through the room, his eye moving around and soaking up all the little pieces. The space felt lived in not just visited like the safe houses.

"Is this a safe house?" Ryan asked as he sat down on the bed. Jeremy shook his head.

"Nah. It's my apartment. Before I joined the Fakes I lived here. Still try to come back, sometimes you just need your own place you know?" Jeremy explained. There was a tense silence for a few minutes then Jeremy spoke.

"Michael and Lindsay were being a bitch." Ryan tensed ready to run. "No please just, hear me out?"

Ryan froze, suddenly aware he had gotten up to leave. Jeremy had his arm, and the Kitten purred even louder than before. Ryan sank back onto the bed.

"Look. I dont know what your life was like before you joined us but it obviously wasnt even a little bit good. Actually it sounds like it was fucking awful." Ryan laughed dryly.

"That's putting it lightly."

"Yeah no shit. But it's not stupid to feel shit." A pause. " If not having a Last name bugs you why dont you give yourself one?"

"Its not..."

"Not that simple yeah?" Jeremy finished Ryan nodded as the kitten crawled out on Ryan's lap.

"Alright, well. Do you think you can tell me why?" Jeremy asked. Ryan thought, eye down on the kitten as the little guy curled up on his lap without a care.

"Its not the same. It belongs to a family. I cant be a family of one." Ryan insisted and Jeremy shook his head.

"Ok two things. One. Thats a load of horseshit and who ever told you that was dumb as fuck. And two. There is more to it isnt there?" Ryan stayed silent. Running his fingers through the Kitten's fur. Jeremy began to whisper. "You're human, Rye. Just cause someone says you arent doesnt make it true. I know that one."

Ryan froze he didnt expect anyone to pick up on that. The whole Not human but was always somewhere in the back of his mind, eating at him. Jeremy wrapped himself around Ryan hugging him tightly. Ryan shook as he melted into the other man's touch, a few tears spilling out.

"You know. My family abandoned me when I was a teenager. Said I was a monster just cause I kissed both guys and girls. Not exactly dubious experiments but it is dehumanizing all the same. I kept my last name though. I did it as a big old fuck you to them. They died during one of the Fake's heists. Got to watch then burn myself. But the name never connected me to them, a name connects you to who ever you want it to." Jeremy was quiet as he spoke, his voice against Ryan's skin as he pressed into Ryan's neck.

Something was bubbling in his brain, but Ryan had no idea what it was. And right now was not the time to figure that out.

A small Meow pulled the two away from one another. The little kitten was trying to climb up Ryan's jacket between the two. As it scrambled up Jeremy laughed, and Ryan felt a chuckle escape his throat. The kitten then flung itself over Ryan's shoulder, it's one front paw kneading his shoulder blade and purring up a storm.

"I forgot this little guy was here." Jeremy said through a laugh. A pause, then Jeremy smiled softly. "Ya know, I was going to take him to the shelter. Geoff won't let me keep any animals. But I think you should take him."

"You just said-" Ryan began but Jeremy shook his head.

"I'm not allowed any animals. Geoff never said anything about you keeping a pet. And hey! Now you have another family member! You can give him a first name and a Last name of your choice!" Jeremy beamed at Ryan who smiled a little.

The sun rose as the Battle Buddies walked into the penthouse. The morning news was filling the living room, telling the story of several Petstores that had been robbed of supplies in the night.

"And what a coincidence, you both have Pet stuff." Geoff hissed as he sucked back more.coffee.

"Yeah well, Ryan's got a cat now so you gotta have toys and a litterbox to you know?" Jeremy said as he dropped a giant bag of cat food next to the kitchen Island.

"I thought I said no pets!" Geoff shouted, his voice cracking.

"Yeah but only for Jeremy." Ryan pointed out. "Abd Finnieas isnt a pet. He's family."

Geoff paused, Ryan knew the gears were turning. Geoff groaned.

"Ugh! Fine! You can keep the damn cat!" Geoff hissed. "And Finnieas? The hell kind of name is that?"

"Ih his full name is Finnieas Gavallo Haywood thank you." Ryan insisted with an air of dramatics. Jeremy giggled and kept in front of Ryan who held the kitten before him.

"A poud name Haywood! Ancient and divine! Dating all the way back to 4 hours ago!" Jeremy exclaimed. Geoff laughed.

"Alright you dolts get a move on. I'm going to text Jack and let them know you two caused the morning rukus." Geoff said. Jeremy took off down towards Ryan's room, a bag of cat toys in hand. As Ryan went to follow, Geoff got up off the couch. He placed a hand on Ryan's shoulder and gave a lop sided smile.

"Haywood's a good name. You know. I picked Ramsey myself when I built this crew. Jack took Patillo at that time to." Geoff then walked away, pulling out his cellphone and typing.

Finnieas purred as Ryan took in the unspoken message.

A name may seem like a Little Thing, but it holds importance all the same. And sometimes you need to give yourself those Little Things to heal.

#Sole Ender AU #Ender!Vagabond #A kitten has joined the party #Ryan Haywood #yes he named himself #FAHC

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wwounu · 5 years

Photo

“Jihoon’s ‘usual’ is this place?” Surprised yet not, you find yourself definitely stupid not realising that the café was the usual place Jihoon would want to meet.

“You know about this place?”

You nod at the confused Seokmin’s question. “Ran into Jihoon and Soonyoung here one time.” Which was partially true, taking away the real reason why you went.

You show a smile, wincing as the bruise remained on your cheek. Seokmin shakes his head, silently meaning to not smile due to the slight pain.

That ex could slap hard.

“They’d be at the same spot, let’s go!” You hook your arm around Seokmin’s, almost hugging it. “Is this fine?” Carefully, you ask. The male raises an eyebrow at first before he nods, unable to hold the warmth forming on his ears.

You couldn’t hold back either, you were bursting into shy giggles once you looked away and continued to brought bring inside the café, happy to greet an enthusiastically-waving Soonyoung as Jihoon shuffles away in disgust when Soonyoung’s hand hits his face.

The pair of you settle in your seats, watching as Soonyoung’s expression present a big, sad frown on his face. “Your face looks horrible.”

“Gee, thanks Soonyoung! I didn’t notice.”

“Sorry Y/N, we should’ve been there… We could’ve at least get that idiot to know where she stands.”

“It’s over now. Nothing much we can’t do,” You shrug, hoping Soonyoung’s face would change, “but I did let her hear a few things or two… Besides, this one helped me too.” You poke Seokmin’s arm and the latter swats your hand a way, playfully sticking his tongue at you.

“It was nothing…” Says Seokmin. “All I did was tell her to leave Y/N alone.”

“Good on her! Let that bitch get what she deserves! I wouldn’t mind for her to go to hell—” Soonyoung protests before Jihoon pinches his ear.

“Language! Calling her that doesn’t make you a better person than that fucking asshole is.”

Everyone looks at Jihoon, confused. He doesn’t realise the hypocrisy he just made, only thinking everyone was looking at him funny for no reason. Eventually it hit him after a late beat

“Well woe is me!” He throws his hands up into the air, breaking from his sarcastic tone to a chuckle amongst the three of you.

It didn’t take long for you to tell Soonyoung and Jihoon about the accident — it was actually the next day when you told them — but they handled it well, despite Jihoon’s outburst of anger, needing to be held back by Soonyoung and Seokmin from leaving his shift.

“I’m gonna get coffee. Usuals everyone?”

“I’m still surprised how you can remember all of our orders ‘Hoon.”

“If I can remember your order, I can remember everyone’s Soonyoung.” Jihoon looks at you. “You haven’t told me your order the last time we met, wanna come?”

Looking quickly at Seokmin, you present him a smile before you accept the male’s request. “Sure.”

The line was pretty long, which wasn’t a problem to Jihoon since he was patient, but cursed at anyone who would cut in line (“I’m looking at you, idiot in the red beanie.”).

Suddenly, Jihoon’s voice pops out out of the blue. “I find it funny that we met because Seokmin got offended about you not liking dogs.”

“Yeah. It’s pretty weird for a first meeting.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve seen worse.” Jihoon’s face strangely zones out, panicked, looking like Seokmin’s when he was talking about his friend. What was his name again? Won-something?

He comes back in a second when the line moves forward and you take the quick moment to check on Seokmin. You didn’t need to really check, since you could hear his loud laugh blend with Soonyoung’s from across the coffee shop, you just had to make sure.

Jihoon notices this, pouting his lip out slightly.

“What are Seokmin and you?”

“Jihoon can you stop scaring me like this.” You threat as his voice, yet again, scares you. But his question had got you thinking too. You never thought of it either. “Um… Friends?”

“It’s hard to believe that.”

“Okay okay! We haven’t discussed about it. Why would we? We’re fine just the way we are.”

“Fair point. You two look comfortable with each other though, so I can’t help but to ask.” Moving along the line, the coffee scent growing stronger, Jihoon speaks more. “And Seokmin can hold things in often, but never do them. You know this, right?”

You nod, now weighing up your options.

“I don’t have place to say this to you — and what the fuck do I know anyway — but as long as you’re comfortable with Seok’, that’s fine. He cherishes you a lot too. But mixed messages won’t do any good for you two if the lines of where you stand are still blurred.”

“Yeah, heard you loud and clear…” Again, you turn to Seokmin who was posing while the male across him was drawing doodles on the back of a napkin. “I don’t want him to push him too much.”

“Same goes for him, but we’ll stop talking about it, you look more like a kicked puppy the more we continue.”

“Thanks Jihoon.”

“Hm, it’s nothing.” Jihoon smiles, finally happy that they’re at the front of the line and ready to order. It amazes the moment he recited all orders so casually, the cashier — who Jihoon said was a new employee — dropped their jaw in surprise whilst processing the information, stopping once he mentioned the amount of milk and sugar to put in.

An employee walked over and greeted Jihoon as if they were best friends and took the order instead, getting to work quickly. The male stops him before going, now turning to you.

“Oh right, what would you like Y/N?”

Nervous, particularly because you didn’t actually have an order or regular to go by, you chirp, “Well… That drink you gave me last time was nice, so I’ll have that maybe?”

Jihoon looks surprised, not expecting what you said. “Oh. Okay then.” And like that he repeated an order without skipping a beat or hesitating.

Scary thing is, it was the exact taste when you had gotten it.

How does he do that?

For the rest of that period, things seemed relaxed. All of you discuss about your current courses and tell a few stories about the flower shop and tattoo parlour. You also speak up about your tattoo for the first time, letting the two males be the first to know that Seokmin did it. He was holding your pinky the whole way through — You tried so hard to not get caught off by it.

Soonyoung rants about his art block, not finding inspiration for ages, but when Seokmin and Jihoon leave briefly, you use up all that time to get as much information about this Sailor Moon Soonyoung slipped out through text.

All you got was that she was a writer, the reason why Soonyoung found inspiration again (which was so cute), bullies him with another friend of his and a bunch of incoherent giggles the more Soonyoung talked.

But when the duo came back, they were suspicious at how pink Soonyoung’s cheeks were, but brushed it off when the giggling gradually grew, thinking he was probably thinking of something stupid, like a worm with arms.

After spending almost an hour in the shop full of chattering and empty coffee mugs, the sun appearing in its golden form, Jihoon offers to go to his apartment. Something about wanting to have drinks and pizza, and Soonyoung was very enthusiastic on the idea.

When you all got to the apartment, Soonyoung landed face first on his couch, snuggling the big, fluffy and grey rabbit toy on there. Jihoon ran in, prying the plush away from the male as well as shoving him off the couch.

“Soonyoung you ass, move! You aren’t the only visitor in here. And since when can you touch Tofu?!”

Soonyoung, hurt, pouts his lips and sits up from the floor while you and Seokmin sit together on the couch closely — for Soonyoung’s sake, obviously. “What pizza are we getting?” The male on the floor asks.

Jihoon tilts his head to you and Seokmin, the strange look coming up again when looking at your proximity. “What do guys want?”

“Let’s have chicken on the pizza!”

“I’m not asking you Soonyoung — so?”

You and Seokmin meet eyes, silently discussing through what you want. It was strange however, because it was more like you were speaking with your eyes. You didn’t hear the ‘are they gonna respond or…’ from Soonyoung.

After a long silent discussion, Seokmin looks over and beams a smile. “We don’t mind!”

The short male grits his teeth, “Gosh, you’re too nice and no help. Let’s look on the site Soon’.”

“But I wanna stay here—“ Soonyoung stops his sentence when he sees the look Jihoon signals to him, which you caught too. “Oh — Oh! Yeah I’ll come with, be right back guys!” And Jihoon lifts him up (Jihoon is strong) and they leave to go to the kitchen.

“Jihoon, that mischievous brat…” You mumble when they leave, and Seokmin hears, loudly laughing. “What?”

“I’m just wondering why you’re so moody towards Jihoon, I thought you guys were fine!”

“We are! But not now. Kinda.”

Seokmin snorts, nodding. “Okay.”

“Can I ask something?”

“Shoot.” He replies, leaning on the couch as you follow, resting on top of him. “I’m tired.”

“Me too… What… What are we Seokmin?”

You physically feel the breaths in Seokmin stop, scared to turn around to look at his face, so you continue to stare at Jihoon’s ceiling.

“I—“ Seokmin chokes out, “I dunno, friends?”

“Do friends lay down like this together?”

“I mean… No, but I don’t mind you laying on me. I lie with the dogs sometimes if that counts.” The two of you chuckle at the comment, thinking about the topic further. “Do we have to be something?”

“Only if you wanna.”

“You don’t… Need to stay with me you know.” The tone of the male’s voice changes with hints of insecurity.

“I want to. I’d really like to stay.” You pick up his hand, adjusting it so its cupping your cheek. The male stifles a laugh, allowing you to roll your eyes. “See, you’re giggling over me touching your hand, that certainly isn’t a ‘friend’ thing.”

“I’m not giggling over that Blossom.”

“Okay then, I’ll just remove your hand from my face-“

“No, keep it there…” Seokmin is quick to react, a small gasp coming out of his mouth from his action.

You’re surprised too, noticing his lack of hesitation. “Seokmin? Everything alright there?”

“Yeah — Yeah… I just — Wow, I don’t know how to feel about that.”

Recently, Seokmin had started seeing someone to help him. You were the first person to know as you recommended the idea, and although Seokmin can normally act like his upbeat self to others, he still had demons to face on the lonely side of things. Again, you didn’t know if this was going to certainly help him, but it was worth a shot.

Seokmin started opening a lot more to you as well. Talking about his feelings, or when he can’t, he’d send written notes to you explaining himself.

And saying the things he wants was definitely improving.

“It’s a sign you’re getting there. You’re doing great.” You praise, pressing his hand closer to your face, trying to ignore the pain stinging through. “That deserves a reward. What should we do to celebrate?”

“Pizza and drinks sound great already. You’re here too which is a bonus too.”

“True…” You agree, snuggling more into his hand, before the pain comes back and makes you sharply inhale.

Seokmin sits up quickly, bringing you with him as he takes his hand away and turns you to look at him. The cool air was hitting the skin where his hand previously was and you missed the touch.

“Are you okay?” He’s talking about your bruise, carefully placing his hands back on your cheeks. The missing touch was gone and you felt your stomach go warm. He checks your face carefully to look at the fading mark closer, too scared to touch it. “Do you want me to get ice? Cold water?”

You shake your head. “This is nice.”

Seokmin blushes, not knowing what to say. And when moments go silent, you let the moment rest and enjoy it.

“I like you.”

Quickly opening your eyes, you face an equally-shy Seokmin who was even more speechless than before. It seems that the man himself didn’t expect to say that out loud either.

“Blossom I’m so sorry — I don’t know what went over me. This is awkward now. I should shut up. Yeah. I’m going to do that. Right about now.”

Seokmin avoids looking at you.

“… Ignore that. I dunno why I said that out loud, you were just… Pretty like that…” His voice fades out, but neither of you want to let go.

“We don’t need to rush, okay?” You reassure. “But I’m happy we think on the same wavelength.”

The male immediately perks his head up, “Does that mean-“

“Of course, I thought I was caught out easily after all this time.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,”

And you curse to yourself about the wrong move you just made, but have a plan to lighten up the mood with a joke.

“Ow, my cheek…” You fake, attempting to make a convincing-enough flinch. Seokmin falls for it, which is perfect.

He studies your face again. The plan is going well. “Are you sure you don’t need an ice pack?”

“Kiss it better maybe?”

Rather than a laugh, you get greeted by a serious look, worrying you a little. The pout on your lips retreats back the more you watch Seokmin stare at you, oddly holding in his breath.

That’s funny, this is what he usually does when he’s deciding things—

And that’s when you feel the soft tug, pulling you closer until the gap closes. Except it doesn’t. Not fully, anyway.

It’s unreal — Seokmin and you were kissing — but the male places the kiss on the corner of your lips, a move done on purpose. You smile into the thought, he probably wanted to save that time for later, not in your friend’s apartment waiting for pizza.

But that would be a fun story to tell all your friends.

He moves away, in a mix of bliss and fear. But he’s smiling. He’s smiling so brightly.

The smile doesn’t leave your face either. In fact, it grows, playfully commenting, “Wrong place, dummy.”

“I better kiss you again then.”

Seokmin’s careful with his words, but takes your comment light-heartedly and shifts his location to your bruise, lips gently pressing on the spot.

“I like this,” He adds and do too, you peck his jaw, humming in agreement.

It’s silent before the two of you burst into a spill of quiet laughter, like high school sweethearts kissing for the first time — the fluttery feeling, awkward silences all present.

“THIS IS SO CUTE I’M GOING TO DIE—“

You scream at the voice, hiding into Seokmin’s chest. Seokmin, too, says nothing but his face is as terrified, staring in the kitchen’s direction. After a while you look too, with no other than Soonyoung’s sparkly eyes watching the moment.

“You just ruined the whole mood Soonyoung!” Jihoon groans, slapping his hand over his eyes. Again, he couldn’t say much, he was adding to the scene too. “Let’s just get that pizza!”

Like earlier the shorter drags the other out by the ear, throwing some spare keys to you, but missing horribly by hitting a wall, yet continuing to tell you to lock the door and that they’ll back back in twenty minutes.

The door closes and it’s quiet again. But the silence is unmuted rapidly when you and Seokmin laugh non-stop, mainly at the duo’s sudden scene, but other than that you don’t know why you were laughing so much. It just felt nice.

Seokmin holds you, wrapping his arms and pulling you back so you’re laid down and laughing in each other’s embrace.

Sure, you don’t know what you were.

Yet whatever it was, it was nice.

OPPOSITES ATTRACT PART FIFTEEN — Tattoo Artist!Seokmin x Florist!Reader

hope this didn’t drag on too much guys! i just love hoshi and woozi a lot bye bye~ plus i love the group chat too okay bye for REAL now

one • two • three • four • five • six • seven • eight • nine • ten • eleven • twelve • thirteen • fourteen • fourteen ½ • fifteen • sixteen

masterlist

#seokmin #lee seokmin #seokmin au #seokmin texts #seokmin imagines #dokyeom #dokyeom texts #dokyeom imagines #seventeen seokmin #seventeen #seventeen imagines #seventeen texts #seventeen opposites attract au #kpop #kpop texts #kpop imagines #tattoo artist!seokmin

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angelaiswriting · 4 years

Text

The Year of the Bitch| JAN + FEB 2020

Hello, my darlings!

Long time no see, and I apologize for that. I thought I’d let you know a bit about how these first two months of my Bitch Life (lmao) have been going and I’ll do it under the cut because I doubt many will want to know about my life.

Just a spoiler: I’m working on the cover of a coming-soon book 😏 + goal for the next few months: try and don’t catch this coronavirus bs 🙃

Memory wise, I still suck ass, so #i’m sorry #i’ll forget to talk about some things.

Generally speaking, January and February are exam months because of uni and long story short, your bitch failed an exam for the first time ever. But you know what? I’m not even sad about it -- I wasn’t the day I failed (I mean, at first I was ofc, but the wait for the train home gave me time to think and I realized that I wasn’t as sad as I thought I’d be), and I’m not sad now. I think it was a great lesson -- and to put it with my brother’s words, “You gotta start failing or the real world will kick your ass.” Like,

also, considering as it was said by someone who can’t face shit for the life of him... double the energy of that gif

But yeah, at the end of the day I came to the conclusion that sometimes we have to fail in order to succeed, and that failure? Bitch, it kicked me into Hyper Motivated Bitch mode, I’m not even kidding.

Also, I learned that no matter how hard some things might seem (Economics exam, I’m looking at ya) or how little I think I know (Economics exam, still talking about your ugly ass), it’s the effort that matters and bitch *out of breath*, the effort I put into that exam!

I’ve also come to terms -- and in a peaceful way, wow, look how mature I’m getting -- with the writer’s block that’s still digesting me. I have zero (0) inspiration or motivation to write these months days, but I’m trying to get back on track by reworking a novel I’d actually like to publish one day. It’ll most likely be a long ass process, but it’s okay, it’s still a ride I’m willing to live through to the end.

The high I’ve been on for the past two months is now dropping down into a puddle of new fam problems (*dramatic exhale* -- I’m still learning how to ask for help but for once this is not the case lol), BUT I’ve been working on myself a lot ever since New Year’s. I’ve been working out, I’ve been consistent with yoga and meditation, I’m trying to build healthy habits in general AND WAIT FOR IT

I’ve been getting into the hang of Photoshop once more!!! My parents got me a drawing tablet for Christmas (I have vague memories of saying this already tho ?) and not only did it allow me to make Tatyana’s file a little more ‘personal’ in a way, buuuuuut I might’ve been getting into digital art?? 🙈 I’m loving it and despite being a newbie with this whole thing, I’m having so much fun, you guys have no idea. It relaxes me even when I make mistakes and I think this whole experience is a great teacher, considering how perfectionist I tend to get. I can fuck around, draw shitty things and still have fun while doing it, but also paint fairly decent pieces that make me proud of my horrible ones.

The most exciting part of this ‘artistic journey’ is... *drum roll* a friend of mine is going to publish a book (in Italian, so it probably won’t travel the world and you won’t see my art but who cares) and I’ve been making a book cover for her for the past... month ? ish ? I’m very slow, but I also have other things to do, so that’s okay. It’s not entirely my work since she gave me a drawing her friend made and I reworked it, BUT STILL, YA KNOW??? I’m very excited about it and happy and proud of the results I’m getting, despite it still being a WIP and all. I might even share it once the book is out, who knows! I just need validation lmao

Last but not least, I’ve been more forgiving with myself. I’ve been getting to know myself better, I got back in touch with a friend I hadn’t heard from for over a year... In a weird non-self-centered way I’ve been focusing on myself and my (mental and physical) health a lot more and while the results might not be tangible yet, I’m feeling a lot happier and that’s the vibe I wanna keep with myself for the whole fucking decade.

Before this whole coronavirus shit hit the fan I was planning trips with my dad, but now it’s all on pause. But the moral of this story is, I want to experience more -- more things, more feelings, more time out with the people (my doggo included) I love. We only live once (or, at least, we tend to forget about our past lives?) and maybe I won’t live mine to the fullest of its capabilities (your bitch is broke), but that won’t stop me from going out there when I can.

Special shout out to my cousin for still being my inspiration -- and to Arianna for adding herself to the list. They’ll never see this post and read my appreaciation, but it’s also thanks to them that the bitch inside me is thriving.

To end this rant I’d like to thank the friends that’ve been walking this path with me, most of all Ty aka Fran Fine (lol, you’re still saved like that on my phone) and Claudia for sharing it and also sharing things and experiences with me. Knowing you’re not completely alone in this truly is a good feeling and a blessing.

My next goal is to find a balance between being there for myself and being there for my friends. I’m sure I’ve seemed a bit detatched lately, but it’s only been because I’ve been trying to figure my shit out. March and April (all the way through to December) will be better, I promise 💛

There’s a lot more I’ll remember only after hitting ‘post,’ but these are the very highlights of my journey so far and I really wanted to share also bc this bitch needs to be kept accountable.

Kudos to you if you made it past the ‘read more’ thing and then to the end of this very rambly post. If you want to share your progress in this Bitch Project thing, feel free to hit me up; we can cheer each other up!

Much love,

Angela

#angelaiswriting #Personal Update #personal #the bitch project #the year of the bitch #the bitch is rising

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emospritelet · 5 years

Text

Yes, I know it's been two years, I suck.

If anyone still remembers this fic, here's an update. I've written beyond this chapter, so I'm hoping it won't take too long to finish. Last time, Belle and Gold parted so she could go off to college and he could continue selling his body. We fast forward two years (I'd like to say that's the reason for the two year hiatus but that would be a lie. The truth is writer's block is a bitch and I'm easily distracted). Cover art by @evilsnowswan

[AO3 link]

Lying on her front on top of her bed, feet kicked up behind her, Belle turned the page of her book. She had been trying to lose herself in its words for the past hour, without much success: guilt gnawing at her over reading something frivolous that wasn’t on her list for class. It was early May, and finals were due to start the following week. She wasn’t too worried about them; she had put the study in, but she was tired after another semester of hard study and grabbing hours as a waitress whenever she could. She had managed to find a couple of part-time jobs in local diners, and had worked more hours than she had bargained for when she first arrived in Boston. College life had many wonderful positives, but the reality of her mounting student debt left her with an ever-present anxiety that was hard to shake. Hence the waitressing.

The sound of the apartment door opening made her look up, and she smiled as Ruby put her head around the bedroom door, dark ponytail swinging.

“Pizza tonight?” she asked, and Belle wrinkled her nose.

“Do you mind?” she asked. “I know we said we’d start eating more healthy stuff, but I’m exhausted.”

“Cheese, bread and prosciutto have to be three of the food groups,” said Ruby. “We can add in wine. That was fruit once, right?”

Belle giggled.

“Okay, I’m convinced. Call it in whenever you like.”

“I’ll do it now. Want to watch a movie later?”

“As long as it’s not something terrible, sure.”

“Come on, the terrible ones are fun!”

Ruby disappeared, and after a moment Belle heard her speaking on the phone, ordering the pizza. She soon returned, minus her jacket, hair free of its ponytail.

“So.” Ruby flopped onto the bed beside her and winked. “Tomorrow you’re officially in your twenties. Does Will have anything special planned?”

“I doubt it,” said Belle, turning the page of her book. “We broke up.”

Ruby blinked.

“What? Since when?”

“Since I decided to stop kidding myself. Namely last night.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

Belle closed the book, tossing it aside and rolling onto her back.

“I don’t know,” she sighed. “He’s a nice guy, and I know you like him.”

“Screw that,” said Ruby fiercely. “You’re my best friend! Of course I’ll support you over him! What did he do?”

“Nothing,” said Belle wearily. “It’s not him, it’s me.”

“Is that what you told him?” Ruby winced. “Ouch.”

“I know, I know…” Belle ran her hands over her face. “It’s a terrible cliché, but it was never gonna work out, I was kidding myself. To be honest, he hasn’t gotten over his ex. I told him to follow her to Europe. I think he might.”

“Wow.” Ruby shook her head. “So why did you say it was you, not him?”

“Because…” Belle screwed up her nose. “I never really tried, you know?”

“Not much point if he’s still pining after Anastasia.”

“Yeah,” said Belle gloomily. “Still, I think maybe we made each other feel better for awhile. He made me laugh, at least.”

“Well, that’s important,” said Ruby sagely.

“And I could talk to him,” added Belle. “Not about anything that mattered, not like I can with you, but at least he listened. More than most guys do.”

Ruby sniffed. “Tell me about it.”

“But,” Belle went on, “I should still never have dated him. I knew it was hopeless. All we did was go and see stupid movies and talk about crap. Like that was ever gonna help him get over her!”

“Probably better than my way of dealing with a bad break-up,” offered Ruby, and Belle grinned.

“Come on, drunken one-nighters are a rite of passage for all college students.”

“You must have missed that memo.”

“Yeah.” Belle pulled a face. “Not really my scene.”

Ruby sighed, settling back against the blankets and eyeing Belle thoughtfully.

“You’ve never really gotten over that first guy, have you?” she said frankly, and Belle shifted uncomfortably.

“I didn’t say that.”

Ruby threw up a hand in exasperation.

“Belle, you can’t keep thinking about him!” she protested. “The guy was a prostitute, it’s not like you know him! However great he was, however attentive he was, you paid him to be that way! It was all an act! You do know that, right?”

“Of course,” lied Belle. “I wasn’t even thinking about him, anyway.”

“I’m not stupid, you know.”

“I wasn’t!” she insisted. “At least - at least not much.”

“Great sex does not make a great relationship,” Ruby reminded her sternly. “Look at me! A whirlwind romance with what I thought was the person of my dreams, and three months later I’m single and miserable and wondering what the hell I did wrong!”

Belle reached out to grasp her hand and squeeze.

“You’ll meet someone new,” she said. “We - we both will. Eventually.”

“I know,” sighed Ruby. “Doesn’t stop it sucking while we wait, huh?”

“Means we concentrate in class more, though.”

“Well, that’s true. Every cloud, and all that.”

“You ready for finals?”

“As I’ll ever be.” Ruby pulled a face. “I think it’ll be okay. I haven’t screwed up in the lab in weeks. I have to ace these finals, there’s no way I want to have to take summer classes.”

“Yeah, I really need to work as much as I can, get some of this debt paid down.”

“Your dad never did come up with a surprise wad of cash, huh?” said Ruby, looking aggrieved on her behalf.

“I never expected him to, not really,” sighed Belle. “It’s cool. I’ll have paid it off by the time I’m like forty-five or something.”

They shared a grin, and Ruby pushed up on her elbows, fixing Belle with a firm stare.

“Okay,” she said resolutely. “Since we’re young, free and single, I say we celebrate your birthday together. That means a prosecco brunch with all the sugar you can eat, followed by mani-pedis and a trip to Wonderland to get the one thing every girl needs.”

“What’s that?” asked Belle suspiciously, and Ruby grinned.

“A decent vibrator.”

Gold ran a hand through his newly-cropped hair and rolled his shoulders, the interior of Wonderland a little warm for the three-piece suit he was wearing. He wasn’t sure why he had decided to don the thing for his final visit to Blue Star, but it had seemed appropriate. He had said his goodbyes to his colleagues, shaken hands and kissed cheeks, all wrapped in the armour of blue silk and fine black wool. Having agreed to accompany Jefferson to Wonderland for the purchase of some tools of the trade, he was looking forward to leaving the place empty-handed for a change. Then he could go back to his hotel room, take off the suit for the last time, and turn the final page on that chapter of his life. He couldn’t say he would be sorry to do it, however reluctant Miss Blue was to lose him as an escort.

“What do you think of these? Pretty, huh?”

Jefferson handed him a set of butt plugs in iridescent colours, and Gold raised an eyebrow.

“Does it really matter what colour they are, considering where they’re going?”

“Wow,” remarked Jefferson. “You really are off the clock, huh? Come on, give me your expert opinion while you can.”

“I’d be worried about the coating coming off,” said Gold. “Stick with the silicone ones.”

“You’re probably right.”

“What about leather cuffs?” said Gold, pointing. “You said you needed some new ones.”

“Oh yeah, thanks for the reminder.”

Jefferson went off to browse, and Gold fidgeted, fingertips toying with his hair again. It was taking a little time to get used to. The short length made the silver in it more visible, and it was strange not to have it hanging around his face, but the haircut felt right, too. Another break with the past.

“Since you’re staying in Boston, why don’t you come to dinner tonight?” said Jefferson, as he looked through the selection of cuffs and straps. “Graham’s making tacos. They’re pretty good, if you add extra hot sauce. I can promise some decent tequila, too.”

“Sounds good.”

“Come over at seven, then. You can meet our new cat, she’s adorable.”

Gold smiled. He had thought about getting a cat himself, now that he would spending more time in Storybrooke. It would be nice to have some company in the evenings. Of a different sort than he was used to.

“I’ll be there.”

Jefferson soon found what he was looking for, and paid for his choices, dropping everything into one of the recognisable turquoise bags and winking at Alice, the assistant.

“You sure you don’t want anything?” he asked, as he and Gold headed for the exit.

“Why would I?”

“Well, you never know,” said Jefferson. “Long winter nights, up in Maine, all by yourself in that big old house... A guy could get lonely.”

“I’m fine, thank you,” said Gold, and raised an eyebrow. “What are you expecting me to get, a bloody sex doll?”

Jefferson snickered.

“No! I just meant you should be prepared, just in case someone special wanders into your life. You have great skills, or so it’s rumoured. Be a shame to let ‘em go stale.”

“I’ll have more than enough to keep me busy, I assure you.”

“You should start getting out a bit more,” said Jefferson. “You know what they say, all work and no play—”

“—means I can pay the bills and get to class on time,” finished Gold, and Jefferson rolled his eyes with a dramatic sigh.

“Well, if nothing else, when you eventually decide to let someone in enough to have an actual relationship, the sex will be awesome!”

“Thank you for that ringing endorsement,” said Gold dryly. “I have a feeling it takes more than a bag of tricks to make a relationship work. You’re lucky you and Graham know all one another’s secrets.”

“You need someone you can be honest with from the start,” said Jefferson. “Given how we met, that was never an issue.”

“Well, that’s unlikely to happen in my case, hmm?”

He grasped the door handle, pulling it open, and two young women almost fell in from the street in a mass of dark hair and jumbled colours. He took a step back, opening his mouth to apologise, and whatever he had planned to say died on his lips as the first woman swept back her hair and looked up.

“Belle!” he breathed.

She stared at him, her eyes widening, a blush rising in her cheeks. Dear God, she was beautiful! Perfection. Small and slender and clad in a pale blue jacket and what looked like a yellow dress over wedge-heeled sandals, a blue beret pulled down over her chestnut curls. Her lips were full and red, parted in shock, and he remembered with painful clarity exactly how she tasted. In every way.

“Alistair,” she whispered.

He swallowed hard, taking a step back as he noticed Ruby Lucas behind her.

“I - Miss French!” he managed. “Miss Lucas. How - how lovely to see you. How are you both?”

“Fine,” said Ruby cheerfully. “We’re just having a girly shopping day for Belle’s birthday, hence the trip to this place.”

Two years today. It’s two years today since we—

“Right,” he said. “Uh - happy birthday, Miss French.”

Belle didn’t answer, and was blushing, teeth worrying her lower lip. She had dropped her gaze, fingers dancing along the brown leather strap of the purse over her shoulder. He pulled his eyes away.

“Fancy seeing you here, Mr Gold,” added Ruby. “With your - friend.”

“Yes, well, we were just - I was just—” he floundered.

“Regular shopping trip,” said Jefferson, holding up the bag. “We spend a fortune in this place, but it’s worth every cent.”

Ruby smirked, and turned back to Gold, gesturing up and down.

“That’s a new look for you,” she observed. “Like the suit. Love the hair.”

“Thank you,” said Gold numbly.

“You girls should check out the White Rabbit range,” said Jefferson helpfully. “Hits the spot others can’t quite reach, if you take my meaning. Alice will steer you right, just tell her I sent you.”

Belle closed her eyes with an expression suggesting she was enduring physical pain, and Gold desperately tried to steer the conversation onto a more appropriate topic.

“I - ah - I had forgotten you were both headed to Boston,” he said. “Are you enjoying college?”

“I - yes,” said Belle, still blushing. “Yes, thank you.”

“We have a place together, a couple of blocks away,” put in Ruby. “Studying hard, you’ll be pleased to know.”

“Good.” His power of speech appeared to have deserted him. “That’s - I’m very glad to hear it. Take care, both of you.”

He stepped to the right, and Belle stepped in front of him. There was an awkward moment that seemed to last an eternity, in which they sidestepped to try to get past one another, murmuring apologies as they each stepped in the same direction. Eventually he managed to escape with the help of Jefferson’s firm hand steering him by the shoulder. He left the store without seeing anything, and without looking back, dimly aware that Jefferson was following him. His heart was racing, and he took a couple of deep breaths before he was able to focus on anything. The sun was very bright, and he fumbled for his sunglasses, almost sighing with relief as he slipped them on and cut the glare.

“Friends of yours?” asked Jefferson, and Gold sighed.

“Two ex-students from my high school,” he said tersely. “I think we could have done without the vibrator recommendations, to be honest.”

“Oops,” said Jefferson, not sounding remotely contrite.

“Indeed.” Gold ran a hand over his face. “Of all the places to bump into those two…”

“Don’t worry, they didn’t hear us talking about anything they shouldn’t.”

“Right,” said Gold vaguely.

“You okay?” asked Jefferson. “Sometimes it’s weird when your two lives collide, you know?”

“Oh, I’m well aware,” said Gold quietly. “I’m fine, really.”

“Good.”

Jefferson leaned in, kissed his cheek and stepped back, the turquoise bag crackling against his leg.

“I’ll see you tonight,” he announced, waving a finger. “Seven o’clock! Don’t forget!”

“I’ll be there,” promised Gold, and Jefferson grinned and turned on his toes, sauntering off down the street with the bag swinging from his hand.

Gold watched him go with half an eye, his mind full of Belle. She lived nearby, with Ruby. How had he not seen her before? Admittedly he wasn’t in Boston much these days, and would be there even less now that he had given up escorting. He sent up heartfelt thanks that he had never seen her while working his second job. God, she was as beautiful as ever. Beautiful and just as hopelessly out of reach. He blinked hard, shaking his head.

“Penny for ‘em.”

Another familiar voice made him jump, and he turned with a smile.

“Neal,” he said warmly, reaching out to pull his son into a hug. Neal hugged him back, grinning, a small backpack looped over one shoulder.

“What are you doing here, Dad?” he asked. “Are you staying in Boston?”

“Only a couple of nights,” said Gold. “I was doing some shopping and finishing up a few business matters, that’s all.”

“Yeah? Who was that?”

“What?” Gold panicked for a moment before realising who Neal meant. “Oh that - that was Jefferson. He’s - a friend.”

“Oh. Okay, cool.” Neal looked him over. “You look great! What’s with the suit?”

“Oh.” Gold looked down at himself. “Yes. Well. I - uh - thought I’d try a different look. I’m not sure it’s really me.”

“That’s a hell of a different look,” observed Neal. “And you cut your hair!”

“I - yes.” Gold ran his fingers through the short strands. “Don’t you like it?”

“It looks great,” said Neal. “Although I kinda miss the - floof.”

“Floof?” said Gold flatly. “Whatever that is, I’m almost certain I never had any.”

“Have it your way,” said Neal, with a grin. He put a hand on Gold’s shoulder. “You look good, but I gotta say you look tired. Emma always says you work too hard.”

“Well…” Gold shrugged awkwardly. “Not been getting much sleep.”

“Don’t tell me you’re still working yourself into the ground for us,” warned Neal. “You don’t need to, I’m serious! I’m making good money now. No killing yourself with school and tutoring, okay?”

Gold smiled.

“You can tell Emma that I’m no longer working two jobs,” he said. “Which means I’ll have a little more time on my hands to spend with you.”

“Good. In that case, why don’t you come over tonight?” he asked. “Emma was gonna do steak, but I’m sure we could use ‘em to rustle up something for the three of us.”

“Oh, I - I can’t, I already have an appointment,” said Gold hastily.

Neal glanced down the street.

“Okay,” he said lightly. “Tomorrow, then?”

“Tomorrow would be great,” said Gold, with a smile. “I’ll bring a bottle of something. What time?”

“Come over whenever you like, Emma’s in all day. I should get back around six.” Neal glanced at his watch. “Look, I’d better go, I only came out to grab some lunch. Couldn’t face the cafeteria mac and cheese. See you tomorrow?”

“See you then.”

Gold hugged him again before Neal hurried off down the street, and he glanced after him with a tiny smile on his face. It was going to be good to be able to spend more time with his family. It would all have been worth it to give them that good start in life, the start he had never had. Time to make the most of it, and put the past behind him.

As the time approached seven, he knocked firmly on the door of the apartment Jefferson and Graham shared. They had moved in together six months earlier, and he had been over a few times for dinner when he had been in town, but not since they had adopted a cat. Jefferson answered the door with his usual enthusiasm, taking the bottle of wine Gold held out and exclaiming over it before ushering him inside. The walls had been painted a warm coffee colour, the couch dark brown leather with a paisley throw and cushions in cream, brown and olive green. There was a savoury smell of garlic and spices coming from the kitchen, and Gold sniffed appreciatively.

“Graham’s in the kitchen,” said Jefferson. “He thinks ten minutes until dinner, so what do you say I open the wine?”

“Sounds good.” Gold looked around. “The place looks great.”

“Thanks. We nearly got into a pillow fight over the colour scheme.”

"Spare me the details," said Gold, with a grin. “So, where’s your cat?”

“Oh! Let me get her!”

Jefferson put down the bottle and hurried off, returning with a long-haired white cat with black and ginger patches on her head and back. He held her up high, as though presenting her for inspection by the cat gods.

“I invite you to humbly prostrate yourself at the feet of Her Royal Highness, Princess Petunia Puffball!” he announced. “Puff for short.”

Puff looked decidedly unimpressed at being picked up, and glowered at Gold as though it was his fault, so he elected not to pet her just yet. Jefferson kissed her head, which she endured with a look of disdain, and then put her down on the couch. Gold held out a hand, and she sniffed at his fingers cautiously before butting her head against them and beginning to purr. He scratched her ears, making her fluffy tail rise up and curl over.

“I knew she’d like you!” declared Jefferson, and clapped him on the shoulder. “Come on through to the kitchen. You want some of this wine?”

“Please.”

“Just give me a second.”

Gold gave Puff a final pet, and followed Jefferson through to the kitchen, where Graham was chopping tomatoes with his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He smiled, setting down his knife to give Gold a quick hug.

“Have a seat,” he said. “Dinner won’t be long, I’m just making the salad.”

Gold took a chair, glancing around the kitchen. The walls were painted a warm terracotta colour, turquoise shelves housing recipe books, brightly-coloured pottery and assorted houseplants.

“You’ve redecorated in here too,” he observed. “It’s nice.”

“We thought we’d try for something warm and cosy,” said Jefferson. “It’ll be nice when this place is two feet deep in snow.”

“Yes, it reminds me that I really need to repaint the porch at home.”

Jefferson set a glass of wine in front of him, and Gold nodded his thanks, taking a sip.

“So,” said Graham, returning to his chopping. “No more Blue Star. How does it feel?”

“Not sure it’s sunk in yet,” he admitted. “I’ll have to find something to keep myself busy with in the evenings.”

“Any thoughts?”

“Nothing specific.” Gold took another drink. “The house could use some work; I’ve been neglecting it for the past few years. So there’s that.”

“Maybe you’ll meet someone,” suggested Graham, and Gold pulled a face.

“Unless Storybrooke has new residents I’m unaware of, doubtful.”

“There’s always online dating.”

“No thanks,” said Gold, pulling a face. “I imagine that ‘I just stopped working as a prostitute’ is something of a conversation killer with the average woman.”

“How you chose to earn a living is no one’s business,” Jefferson reminded him.

“I know,” sighed Gold. “But it’s something fairly momentous and I wouldn’t feel right keeping it to myself.”

“No one’s saying you have to give your life story on a first date.”

“I know,” he said again. “But I could probably do with some time to myself, anyway.”

“Well, you know you’re always welcome here,” said Graham. “If you ever need to get away from small town life, just call.”

“Thanks,” said Gold. “But I think I’m actually looking forward to getting back into small town life, if only because the neighbours will stop speculating about where it is I go in the evenings. Plus it’ll be good to get a full eight hours of sleep every night, for a change.”

“Well, we support you,” announced Jefferson, raising his glass. “And someday we’ll drive up to that small town of yours and you can take us out and show us the sights!”

“That should take all of ten minutes,” said Gold wryly. “Nothing ever changes in Storybrooke.”

“To boredom, nosy neighbours and a regular sleep schedule!”

They clinked glasses, Gold grinning as he did it.

Belle locked the apartment door, grasping her case in one hand as she shoved the keys into her purse. Finals were over, and she could feel the stress of late-night studying starting to leave her body, her muscles aching a little, heavy and tired. She was pleased to be done with study, and to be heading home for the summer, but there was an underlying nervousness there, a low-level twinge in her gut that she was trying to ignore. It had nothing to do with the stress of exams, of that she was well aware.

She followed Ruby downstairs to where the car was parked in the May sunshine, throwing her case into the trunk and sliding into the passenger seat. Ruby grinned widely, large sunglasses hiding most of her face.

“Next stop, Storybrooke!” she sang, and pulled away into the steady stream of cars heading north.

They were quiet as they drove out of the city, Ruby concentrating on the road ahead, and singing snatches of a song on the radio. Before too long, they reached I-95, and Ruby settled back in her seat, fingers tapping on the wheel as she picked up the pace. She glanced across at Belle.

“Want to hit The Rabbit Hole tonight?” she asked. “Could be fun to see who’s still around. I bet it’s just as crappy as when we left, but there might be some new blood in there.”

“I should probably spend some time with Dad,” said Belle. “I’m guessing Granny will be expecting you to spend at least the first couple of nights at home.”

Ruby grumbled, but nodded reluctantly.

“Your dad gonna give you some work?” she asked, and Belle wrinkled her nose.

“What he can,” she said. “He said the shop wasn’t too busy right now, though. You think I could get some diner shifts?”

“Already cleared it with Granny,” said Ruby, glancing in her mirror before overtaking the car ahead. “We probably won’t be working the same shifts, but at least it’s something.”

“Every little helps,” agreed Belle. “Assuming we didn’t flunk the finals, of course.”

Ruby sputtered in derision.

“Come on girl, we worked our pert little asses off for those exams,” she declared. “Think positive! No class until September! We have three months to have some fun and earn some cash before we head back there. And I intend to make the most of it!”

“Okay.” Belle grinned as she sat back. “I’m in. Positive outlook, here I come.”

“That’s the spirit.”

Storybrooke seemed smaller.

It was the first time that she had really noticed since leaving, and Belle wasn’t sure whether it was a good thing or not. It showed that she had grown as a person; it would be ludicrous to expect two years of college not to have had some effect on her, after all. She didn’t want to lose sight of her home, though. She didn’t want to think she could never come back.

Ruby had dropped her at her dad’s place, along with her bags, and she had spent half an hour or so putting away her things in the battered old wardrobe in her room. The house was silent; her father would not be home until around six, which was around an hour away. She decided to make a start on dinner, and hunted through the fridge to find something to throw together. Moe French was never the best at eating vegetables, but she found mushrooms, onions and garlic, and so she decided on pasta.

She was reading a book, leaning against the kitchen counter and keeping one eye on the bubbling sauce, when the sound of the front door made her glance up. Moe beamed when she saw her through the open kitchen door, and she set down the book and ran to hug him.

“I thought you were coming tomorrow!” he complained, almost squeezing the breath from her.

“I told you it was today,” she chided. “More than once!”

“My brain’s turned to shit,” he grumbled. “How’d the exams go?”

“Ruby tells me we smashed it, so I’m following her lead,” said Belle, in a dry tone. “They were fine, I think. How are you?”

“Oh, okay love, okay. Shop’s - well, we’re getting by. The Nolans had another kid, so that meant a lot of orders. And Ashley Boyd got married, so that was a good week. Getting by, getting by.”

“Doesn’t sound as though you have much need of an extra pair of hands,” she observed, and he shook his head.

“A couple of hours a day, to make deliveries and help out with the flower orders, that’s it,” he said. “Sorry, love.”

“It’s cool, Granny gave me some hours at the diner.” Belle turned to the sauce, snatching up a spoon and stirring it. “You hungry?”

“I could eat a dead bear, I’m bloody starving.”

“Go wash up then, I’ll cook the pasta.”

They ate in comfortable silence, Moe praising the creamy mushroom sauce, and Belle watched in some amusement as he cleared his plate and looked hopefully around for more.

“That’s it,” she said, taking his plate and stacking it atop her own. “You want anything else?”

“Better not.” He patted his belly. “That was great, love.”

“What do you want to do tonight?” she asked, and he looked uneasy.

“Uh - you know I said I wasn’t expecting you until tomorrow?”

“Don’t tell me,” said Belle. “Poker night.”

“I can cancel,” said Moe hastily, but she shook her head.

“Don’t bother. You go and have a good time. I can keep myself amused for one night.”

“You sure?”

Belle smiled.

“Absolutely.”

Gold finished cleaning up the kitchen, a glass of wine on the table behind him as he wiped down the counters. He rinsed the dishcloth, humming along to the music coming from the lounge. A soft, Baroque piece, soothing strings and harpsichord. Wiping his hands on the dish towel, he turned back for his wine, taking a sip as he wandered through to the lounge. It was strange not to have to plan for two or three nights out, and he was already enjoying the extra sleep. Though losing the extra money was less welcome. Worth it, he decided. Worth it to start getting your bloody self-respect back.

The first few days back in Storybrooke had left him feeling a little out of sorts, restless and jittery due to the extra time on his hands, pacing the kitchen over and over with a glass of wine in one hand as he tried to burn off excess energy. After the first weekend where he had felt as though he was going quietly mad, he had embarked on a thorough clean of the house, taking the opportunity to go through old paperwork and burn it, cleaning out the attic, and scrubbing the kitchen until it shone. He had planned to work on the garden next, although that needed little attention, as Anton came to tend it once a week. Perhaps a couple of days out at the cabin instead, reading and relaxing. At least he still had class to prepare for, so he wasn’t entirely without purpose, but he would need a serious distraction to get through the long summer break.

A hurried knock at the door made him frown, and for a moment he stood still, eerie fingertips caressing the nape of his neck and sending shivers down his spine. Goosebumps rippled over his skin, spreading down from his shoulders, and he told himself to get a bloody grip, surprised at his own nervousness. He wasn’t expecting anyone, and he wasn’t sure why an unexpected knock would make him anxious. Perhaps one of the neighbours needed help with something. Setting down his glass, he went to the door, the vague side outline of a diminutive figure visible through the rippled glass panels. Gold licked his lips, his breath held tight, a ball of iron in his chest. His heart was thudding, his pulse throbbing in his ears, and he reached out with a shaking hand, skin tingling as his fingers closed around the cool brass handle.

The evening sun was setting, the sky a pale lilac fading into peach tones at the horizon, thin knotted ropes of grey cloud outlined in coral. Belle stood on his porch, bouncing on her toes, chest heaving a little as though she had been running, dark curls glinting with reddish highlights from the sunset. Her pale skin was tinged apricot, warm and inviting, and she inhaled sharply, raising her chin.

“Hey,” she said abruptly.

He could feel emotion stir deep within him, a rising tide threatening to engulf him and sweep him away. Her eyes were shining, fixed on his, soft lips open and moist, and it was as though they had parted only yesterday. He smiled.

“Hey.”

#fic: neverland #escort!gold verse #rumbelle fic #my fic

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