#there's also a demonic cryptid somewhere among all of this

[naffeclipse]

Lost EP makes me just sad. Imagine Venessa finding Y/N or like ANYONE else that they knew. The kids they hung out with during hunts in other chapters come to mind. TwT

Imagine Vanessa coming upon Y/N in the middle of a feeding.

I'm sure she and they would all handle it well :)

#y/n *already hates themselves for being a monster and now confronted by someone they love while acting as said monster* #vanessa *finding her missing friend after weeks of searching and their teeth are terribly sharp and there's a lot of blood on their lips* #there's also a demonic cryptid somewhere among all of this #cryptid sightings #the lost episode #vampire!y/n

[shtern-and-art]

In The Dark – a cryptid AU about Bad and Skeppy – part 1.

All text is captioned under the cut!

BACKGROUND

Story is set somewhere in the 90s – neon colors and the brink of major improvements in lgbtq+ status at least in US.

The place we’re in is a small nameless town near the forest, and let’s say it’s the US, but in my mind it has an old European country feel to it too. At least in the small old towns like this. With old buildings, and paved roads, and steep roofs, and everything.

The forest is very dense and not much light gets in the deeper parts of it, so it’s called The Dark Forest which may sound quite unoriginal. But no one really calls it that. With how many weird things happen in that forest, among the locals, it is mostly referred to as “bad forest”. To the point that it’s basically the common name for it now.

SKEPPY

Skeppy is a Thing. A supernatural thing. The sort of thing that, unlike most spn things, hangs out around humans a lot. Socialized thing. Because, due to his spn nature, he has a compulsion/tendency (and desire) to create small mayhem and chaos around himself, disrupt communities. And also because he’s a changeling and initially was brought up by people.

But the way he is, he can’t stay living in one place/town for too long, always having to bounce before people clock him, or stuff gets too intense.

He’s name is still Zak, it’s the one his human parents gave him. However, he officially changed it to something different in all records after leaving home at 18, cuz names are important for creatures, and having his real one out there might be dangerous.

Generally, he still goes by Skeppy.

Skeppy can consciously do minor mimicry and illusions (by light bending)/cause light dissociation/confusion in people and creatures around him/do other minor mind tricking fae stuff.

He is drawn to nature and shiny things, although nature can be just a potted plant, and a shiny thing – anything from a gemstone to pieces of broken glass. Skeppy doesn’t know this yet, but I’m pretty sure he can find more valuable gems and metals by pure instinct. But he never explored it properly, and he just thinks that he likes collecting pretty rocks. Skeppy has at least 3 of them on himself at any time.

Evidently, he is not fully aware of everything about himself, and he didn’t have much contact with other creatures like him.

He is just. Living his life. Going from city to city, trying to have a good time.

THE STORY

Skeppy comes to a new little town near the forest. Forests are good for him, even if he still prefers to be around people.

And he’s just chilling, trying to settle in and shake things up a bit, roaming the woods to kick up old local rumors about a werewolf.

Speaking of, the town has a LOT of old rumors with the fleur of a little-town-near-the-woods creepiness to them. Like a werewolf, yeah, and crazy cults, and people making sacrifices in the woods, all that jazz.

But it’s all alright, all quiet now. All those things are always told by an uncle of a cousin of a grandpa’s friend, and, you know. Older people. Not a lot of townsfolk believe in these stories nowadays.

So Skeppy freely roams for a while: both the town, and the woods.

BACKGROUND

Local tree logging business is starting up again – twice removed cousin of the old owners brother’s son inherited the company. He’s fresh out of college, and came to bring Industry and Movement back to the little town he visited couple summers as a kid.

Some decades ago the wood export was what kept the town moving and bustling. It chipped away at the forest for many decades, bringing jobs and new people and everything.

But something happened back then, some shady business: perhaps money laundering gone wrong, or some out-of-town mafia dealings that came with the trades. That’s what the papers said at least. For a while, there were complaints of not safe work environment, and lawsuits flying, and rabid animal attacks happening on the outskirts of town (that’s where the werewolf rumors started).

But it’s been quite some time since then. It’s all settled now, old news, and the new generation doesn’t care much, and the twice removed cousin of the old owners brother’s son can start everything anew.

There’s hope and change in the air and the factories are getting upgraded.

THE STORY

So yeah, Skeppy roams the woods, and townspeople nowadays are starting to roam deeper in the woods too! Both because the woods came closer to the town again, and because people tend to… forget. Some young people, at least, who have nothing to remember or fear in the first place. Having all their hormones to fly, and baseball bats to swing, and beer cans to shoot.

The deeper woods are dark, there are a lot of good old trees in their prime time for logging, that make a lot of dark shadows to lurk in. And those are very nice for Skeppy, who can easily fuck with packs of teenagers and with elderly berry pickers. He can make them see things, and believe things, and prop up some fake cultist memorabilia on clearings and wolf fur in the bushes near the pass. And then he’d chat up the middle-aged workers at evenings, and watch it all unfold slowly, rumors spreading across town, giving Skeppy that little, small glow of joy, which that freaky, but harmless trickery always brings him.

It’s all going well and good, even better than expected! Even with that weird forest spirit Skeppy always felt lurking deeper in the woods. That thing was alright. Just there, watching. And Skeppy didn’t do anything too bad or disrespectful, he was pretty sure.

So, when the watching becomes following, and following becomes stalking and threatening, it… doesn’t feel right. Deep in the woods, deers and rabbits keep watching Skeppy’s back, and the trees are so tall it feels like the forest floor is the bottom of the ocean.

When stags stroll through the dark to you, carrying dead animals’ bodies on their antlers, that’s a pretty bad sign, right? Almost as bad as when the shadowy figure, that kept clop-clopping around you for the last couple of weeks, starts chasing you through the trees. And Skeppy just started setting up another “pagan ritual” site near the old berry picking trail!

Turns out, the forest spirit is a dang forest demon or something! And is also an asshole, who doesn’t want Skeppy (with his little True Detective stick figures and mayhem) on his territory.

(This is pretty much where the comic happens! And, yes, Skeppy also being a creature doesn’t mean much. Because Skeppy is too annoying, and too human-like to take seriously.)

So yeah, the Asshole In The Woods chases Skeppy out of them, but Skeppy doesn’t skip towns after that, oh no. He is a stubborn bitch, and he’s already settled, and he even found a small job… and unsettling and leaving is incredibly easy, yeah, but he DIDN’T DO ANYTHING WRONG. The Asshole In The Woods will see, he’ll understand. Skeppy is good at trick- well, talking himself out of trouble. Almost as good as he is at getting in it.

So, obviously, Skeppy keeps coming back to the woods whenever he can. And if the shadow demon asshole doesn’t come out to run him off immediately, he busts out his fake werewolf furs, props occult stick figures around, puts up tents like people were camping nearby, insults the trees, and duct tapes leaflets from local businesses on the them… Because irritating other creatures is just as fun as fucking shit up for people.

And this little turf-war settling is the most fun Skeppy had in a long, long while (possible death aside).

They meet up pretty regularly, getting various irritation and scare levels from each other. And the asshole shadow forest demon is creepy and all, but despite the big bad wolf attitude he never actually tries to kill or maim Skeppy. Or so it seems. So, it’s all going well. Yeah. Just better to lay off all the occult trolling, since it seems to make the forest asshole guy especially mad and uncomfortable.

(Basically this is the early trolling period, with Skeppy being annoying and pushing the boundaries, very close to how their videos of the time went).

And, again, Skeppy didn’t meet a lot of other cryptids, and the ones he found didn’t stick around for long. Because Skeppy is too much of a little shit, and “a low-tier human bootlicker”, anyway. So yeah, maybe Skeppy IS a little bit lonely. Been lonely for a while, now, hitchhiking around the country, never staying anywhere long enough to let people get that something is wrong in the air around him, or form any kind of lasting relationship. So what.

At least this asshole will not rat him out to anyone, or run away into the night with all Skeppy’s money. Probably.

So what’s the harm if sometimes they just argue instead of trying to one-up each other in magic trickery?.. Nothing bad will happen if, from time to time, they’ll just talk instead of shouting about who’s right and who should leave. It’s alright. It doesn’t even matter. No one in the town or spn world knows or cares about any of that. About both of them.

So they hang out more often. And if each time the forest asshole looks a little less scary, and more often takes his human-like shape, well. Maybe it’s just for convenience? Anyway, it’s easier to roll your eyes and turn your back on a fuming person, than a pissed off all-encompassing shadow, so Skeppy isn’t complaining. Especially if the person-shape is so nice to look at, too.

And Skeppy doesn’t know who exactly the forest asshole is, but in the town it’s always “bad forest this” and “bad forest that”. So, in Skeppy’s head, it becomes “Bad’s forest” – because he’s “the Bad in the Forest, heheh, get it, get it?”

Bad does get it. He isn’t as impressed as he should be by Skeppy’s genius puns and naming abilities though.

Speaking of Bad. He seems to be not really aware of what’s been going on in the town for the last couple decades. He tends to mostly hang out in the minds of forest animals, help them out a bit. Or nap. Nap a lot – days, weeks, years at a time, dissolved in the shadows. Unless someone (like can shooting teenagers, tree logging companies, or Skeppy) come around to bother his peaceful, dissociated, and at times even thoughtless existence.

Bad doesn’t mind though. Or so he says. The sleeping, that is. The people, them he really minds, people from the town especially. He really wants to be left alone by them. Discovering that Skeppy wasn’t from these parts of the country was one of the reasons Bad started to warm up to him.

The other major warm up was the first time Skeppy helped Bad scare off the messy annoying kids that were littering in the woods. But he convinced Bad to do it in a long winded, silly and fun (for them, not the kids :D) way. And after a while, teamed up like this, spooking and chasing people off, stopped being an irritating chore, and instead became something Bad looked forward to. Maybe even, put off his shadowy slumber for.

It’s been a long, long time since Bad actually wanted to stay awake like that. Wanted to do something, consciously, to talk to someone. That’s why he’s a “little rusty with all this communication thing”, he admits to Skeppy.

Bad never tells him how horribly bitter, and sad, and alone he was for years and years, huddled in the shadows. How he hid from that sadness, and from the people and their voices, and from the sound of their footsteps on the leaves. He ran away from them – in the soft, inhuman minds of the animals, and restless dreams, where his mind and sense of self stretched, and scattered across the forest, forgetting itself, and just living with all the living things. Of course, Bad doesn’t tell Skeppy about that. He always had his animals, and the secret springs, and little kids tying wishing charms on the branches of the old trees… Bad is fine. He just wants to be left alone.

Or at least wanted to. Because now, after staying awake for so long, it seems that he wants other things too. To troll snotty stuck up teens and kids. To learn more about new technology. To play with the shadows on the edges of clearings, and listen to the music player left behind by one of the kids he and Skeppy chased off.

And one day. One day sunbeams are dancing around the edge of the clearing deep in the woods, and Skeppy is lounging lazily in the grass, playing with his pretty glass shards, making light refract and reform through them, sending dozens of sun bunnies crawls and jump between the peaceful trees. That day Bad feels like his skin is warm, not cooled down by the shadows. And with that warmth – on his face, and in his chest – Bad finds that he can talk about it. That he can say it.

Bad tells Skeppy that back in the day, some decades ago (time is difficult for him to take note of)… that back then. He was a human. But he isn’t now, not anymore. Now he is part of the Forest. Kind of.

Because, see, something bad, really bad happened back then, and Bad got possessed by the, well. The spirit of the forest.

And he was living like this ever since.

Masterpost / first meeting /part 1 / part 2 / part 3

#mcyt #mcyt fanart #badboyhalo #skeppy #skephalo #In The Dark #depersonalisation tw #blood tw #(just in case) #... #it's just an outline of a story #but #idk I wanted to make it at least a little more interesting #than just plain text #also hey hey hi hello #in this AU we have tHE SUN AND THE MOON DYNAMIC #because no one can stop me #i'll translate the second part of the notes #and see how I'd like too post it #like this or plain text or some other way #this book-format was fun to make #ANYWAY #if you have any questions about this AU #feel free to hit me up #:3 #I really enjoy reading all of your tags and comments! #<3

[hoodoo12]

The Ties That Bind (And How To Follow Them) 9/?

@turtlepated @mel-time @werwulfy @bunnys-beetlejuice-blog @infptarius @sweetcat-666 @strange-n-unbluusual @monsterlovinghours @rainingpaint @go-whovian-universe @fireflower1015 @genderless-cryptid

Mature. Great Old Ones and Elder Gods. Lucid dreaming.

It had felt like days stuck here. Beetlejuice finally sat down because there was nothing else to do. Chanting occasionally filled the chamber from somewhere else, and there were two times the robed figures had taken their place around the circle again, but that was it.

He found the deck of cards he’d squirreled away in his pocket plus a few other bits and bobs, but nothing worth anything.

He missed Pate. He wondered where she was, and if she was okay. Whatever these people had planned wasn’t going to be good, and as much as he wanted her to find him he also didn’t want her to get mixed up in a bunch of cultists. They tended to have sharp ceremonial knives and a hankering for blood, although he grinned to himself that neither of them were virgins!

Thinking along those lines made his smile fade quickly though, because more than anything he just wanted to be snuggled up against her.

What he needed to do was be more proactive about finding out more. It couldn’t hurt to have more information, and someone might slip up and give a hint about how to get out.

⁂

Preparations for the ceremony were well under way as the convergence drew closer, an exhilarated bubble of energy circling amongst Morena’s disciples. They had the words, they had the items, and now that they had the demon all was nearly complete. They were The Shining Circle, the Chosen of the Shapeless, and soon their venerated and revered one would be among them at last.

The demon Beetlejuice almost continuously patrolled the borders of the confining circle, probing for weaknesses but Morena was confident he would find none. He wouldn’t know it of course, but his true name was inscribed in the layers of chalk that had been drawn on the floor. She had learned it quite by chance - no, by fate in an ancient tome of celestial notations and studies. Nothing the demon could do would break the circle, and furthermore she could use his true name to command him. Which was fortuitous, since their preparations required a bit more from him than his mere presence.

With this in mind, Morena made her way in the quiet of the night to the spot where the chalk circled contained him.

“My apologies for the rather restrictive nature of our meeting,” she told him. “We have great need of you and we had to be certain you wouldn’t simply leave us before it was time.”

Beetlejuice stopped his prowl as he was spoken to. The voice he recognized as the woman’s who lead this group, who had called him a word that was part of him but he wished to never acknowledge and simply pretend it wasn’t true. At the far side of the circle, he didn’t turn back to face her.

Several responses rolled through his head. He wanted to ignore her, so there was nothing they could do with him. He wanted to rage, so they would be too frightened to approach him. He wanted to pretend to be weak and scared, and maybe they would think he was too cowed to be a threat. He wanted to play along and tell her if she’d just asked politely . . . but he still had no clue why they’d trapped him.

In the end, although he stared at the brick wall as if it was the most fascinating thing he’d ever seen, he said, “What do you want?” in as neutral a voice as he was able.

Morena smiled to herself at his posture and his question. He faced away from her, and despite the dispassion in his voice she could sense that his hackles were up. That wouldn’t do, not if she wanted to extract what she needed from him.

Before answering she set down the straight back chair she carried, giving more care than was necessary to arranging it to face the circle, letting the sounds of the chair legs scraping the floor draw his attention to what she was doing. Once she was satisfied, rather than sit she continued to stand as she addressed him.

“Right to the point? Very well then, I’ll oblige. As you’ve no doubt already discerned for yourself, we are a collective of select individuals who worship one of the Great Old Ones, the eldritch gods who were ancient long before humanity crawled from out of the muck. Very soon now there will be a celestial alignment, one that only occurs once every thousand years, and we hope to use you as a conduit to bring forth the one who sired you so that we may bask in his glory and be led to even greater power.”

She paused, allowing him to absorb her words. “But before we get to that, there’s something else I require of you, Yad al-Jauzā,” she purred, parting the seams of her robe to reveal that she wore nothing underneath and allowing it to fall from her shoulders with the gentle sound of rustling cloth.

It was surprising she hadn’t walked around to look him in the face. Beej tried to tell himself it was because his ass looked pretty damn fine itself--Pate liked to mention it--but knew this woman was in total control of whoever else she’d suckered into wearing shitty LARPing robes in the middle of a silo, so she expected him to be enthralled too.

Her lofty, self-praising summary of their activities made his shoulders tense. It was pretentious and her voice held nothing but self-assured righteousness, but more than that, it was fucking wrong.

“You’re a fucking idiot,” he replied, still deeply interested in the mortar between the bricks. “Great Old Ones don’t have any use for people. You’re fucking ants to them. Even The God of a Thousand Forms, Nyarlathotep itself doesn’t give a shit about people, as often as it comes down here to wander.”

At the sound of a chair scrapping along the stone floor, Beetlejuice finally spun on his heel, thinking he had an audience that, while obviously stupid and insane, was now waiting for him to expound.

“You’re dumb enough to think Great Old Ones and Elder Gods are the same, and even worse, that shoggoths are one of them--”

He bit his own tongue on the sentence as he got an eyeful of the woman standing just outside the circle, with one hand opening her robe at the front. A hint of either paint or a tattoo could be seen under her collar bone, and the shadow at the juncture of her thighs didn’t hide trimmed pubic hair. He couldn’t seem to drag his eyes away from the progress her fingers made, deliberately spreading the cloth further as if showcasing her nudity.

It took a few seconds to piece together her words into sentences he could understand. Something else? They already had him as a focal point to whatever bullshit they were going to attempt. A name he hadn’t heard in thousands of years? It didn’t give him the same thrill as his chosen one, but it was still nice to see it roll off someone’s lips, shiny from the fact she’d licked them right before she’d said it, the one nipple he could see peaked like it responded to it as well, her fingers slipping dangerously close to her pussy--

Lifting his lip, Beetlejuice gave a wordless snarl. There must be some other magic here, influencing him. He refused to even entertain the thought he was just a simple beast, led by his dick.

With effort, without finding out what, exactly, she wanted extra from him, he turned back around and did not allow himself to readjust the crotch of his pants, which were suddenly too tight.

⁂

He’d promised he’d watch for anything unusual, in case his wayward brother returned or something else crawled out of her cracked mirror, but Rigel mostly wanted to wait for Dziban’s return. As much as he despised being bound to it, the longer it went on the more comfortable it felt to have it near. For the lesser demon to be roaming the Netherworld without him felt distant, and idly he wondered if there was some way to see through the beast’s eyes.

Pate had retired, reluctantly, to bed. He’d insisted on her going to her room instead of trying to sleep on the couch. Demanded it, in fact. If she eked a promise out of him to remain on guard, then her compromise was to actually sleep.

His suggestion of joining her was first met with the exact response he’d expected: extreme and immediate disgust and rage. Holding up his hands palm up to her, Rigel assured her it was for nothing but protection and to see firsthand her nightmares. That almost swayed her, but she still shut the door.

Rigel smiled to himself. As if the lock he heard her engage on the doorknob would keep him out.

Pate tossed and turned for what seemed like hours, wide awake and frustrated. How in the hell was she supposed to go to sleep knowing that Rigel of all people was in the next room? His proposal wasn’t hard to understand or reason out; he would enter her mind while she dreamed and serve as a guide to help her learn what the dreams were trying to tell her. It was a simple proposition, albeit a risky one. She wasn’t too thrilled by the notion of him plundering through her mind, who knew what insidious schemes he might have in his own twisted mind.

But she was still up against a wall. She missed Beetlejuice, she wanted him back and if this was the only way to get to him then she’d do it. Pate rolled over again, lying flat on her back and gazing up at the dark ceiling. Had it really only been a few nights ago that Beetlejuice had been in this bed beside her? Where in the world was he? Was he alright? She thought again of the red haired woman with her glowing eyes and a spark of fury ignited in the midst of the hollow aching in her chest.

If she’d done anything to him, Pate would make her sorry, one way or another.

Finally, sometime after midnight, she drifted off into an uneasy sleep. It didn’t happen immediately, but she was again faced with the creeping sensation that something terrible was coming, something she couldn’t wrap her head around except to know that it was dangerous. And she was standing alone on the misty rainbow road.

It wasn’t hard to tell when Pate dropped into sleep. Her movements ceased. Her breathing became slow. A stillness had come over the room where she slept.

Dziban hadn’t returned and Rigel had no idea when it would. He told Pate he could enter her dreams while he was on the couch and that he would stay out of her bedroom, but she knew demons were liars, right? The fact that she didn’t insist on some type of contract that expressly laid out the boundaries of her apartment inferred permission, at least in his eyes.

Rigel slid through the crack between the door and its frame.

Pate shifted uneasily on her bed, but he didn’t know if that was because of him or because of whatever she saw in her dreams. His gaze wandered the room, the one more than anywhere else in this breather’s home that held an aura of his half-brother. Not that it wasn’t noticeable in other places, like the couch and the kitchen! Rigel lifted his upper lip in disgust; the idea of taking repeated, mutual pleasure with a breather was foreign and simply ridiculous. He would never understand Beetlejuice’s motivations.

Finally his eyes shifted back to Pate. She’d wound herself up in her blankets awkwardly, and he could only imagine it was due to her twisting in her sleep. Her shirt had twisted too, leaving her stomach and side exposed, and repeatedly she reached to the empty side of the bed. Each time her hand met nothing, she whimpered and withdrew, but like a compulsion, the movement was repeated.

With no sound under his feet, Rigel made his way to that side of the bed, fully understanding it was where his brother took residence. That didn’t stop him from sinking down to the mattress, cocking his head to stare at Pate.

Inside her head was a swirl of so many things it would take some time to unravel the threads. He caught glimpses of her work, of countless books in overwhelming stacks, of family, of old vacations. There were stripes everywhere, eclipsing most things, courtesy of Lawrence. There was even a rendition of himself, shifting between dapper and demonic.

Like a moth to a flame, he was compelled to move closer.

When Pate unconsciously reached out again, she made contact with him, actually calming when she touched him, and Rigel lay down beside her. One hand went to her face, and manicured fingers pushed her hair off her sweat damp forehead.

Even in her dreams, Pate continued to search for Beetlejuice.

She stood now before the red brick tower, gazing up and up to the spire that capped the imposing structure. There was a weathervane perched there, but the shape on it was not something she was familiar with. She felt a deep, visceral desire to get inside but there was no door. Was Beetlejuice being kept in there? Somehow she thought so, but how to get in to him? With no doors and the only windows far up overhead and out of her reach, there appeared to be no way to gain entry.

Growing frustrated, Pate slumped with her hands braced against the rough red brick.

What does it mean? She asked herself.

“This is your dream,” came a familiar voice in her head, emphasising the word “your”. “If you want there to be a door, simply create one.” Rigel. It felt something like relief to have him there as a ferryman, someone to help clear away the mental fog that enshrouded the pictures in her head, but she’d still have to be cautious with him there.

Create a door, he said. But how? Pate could practically feel his long-suffering sigh, exasperated by her inexperience. “Feel inside yourself, find the place where your power comes from and mold it to your will. It’s as easy as that; will and intent are everything. This is your power, yours to command if you only have the will to make it yield.”

Pate had never really attempted to take control of her unusual ability, mostly it just sort of dragged her along by the nose hairs and she did her best to cope. Taking control was a frightening but exhilarating thought. Her dream self closed her eyes and focused, searching inside herself for the wellspring where these visions originated, feeling around for the edges of it and imagining taking hold of it in both hands.

I want there to be a door in the wall, she thought firmly, squeezing her eyes tightly shut as if that would somehow help. When she opened them again a door stood before her where none had been before, wooden and forlorn looking like the tower itself.

“I did it!” her dream self cheered, triumphant and elated. “There’s a door now!”

“So open it,” came Rigel’s reply.

Pate reached out and grasped the old knob, giving it a creaking twist, and pushed the door open. She found herself at once on the hazy rainbow road. Rather than feeling deflated, she felt oddly sure of herself now. She could make it clear if she wanted, just as she’d made the door.

Once again she plumbed the depths of herself, feeling for the epicenter of her strange power and took it into her hands. Concentrating, she willed the mist away and as she watched, slowly it began to dissipate and her surroundings to sharpen.

She had been right about the rainbow road being a road; there was clearly visible asphalt, although it was badly cracked and caving in and overgrown in places with weeds. But as for all the colors, she could now see that it was graffiti, layers upon layers of graffiti all along the road in both directions and in every color imaginable. An abandoned stretch of highway in the middle of the woods, absolutely covered in spray paint from innumerable taggers. Pate felt a surge of hope, sure that this would help point her in the right direction to find her Beetlejuice.

It was interesting to watch Pate maneuver through her dream, like a child just learning they could be independent. Her excitement that something so easy as creating a door was, he hated to admit even to himself, endearing. Breathers were so simple.

She had untapped power deep inside, if she dared to rend away the barrier that it was kept behind. Of course, he’d known of people who had done just that and paid for it either with their lives or their sanity. They didn’t have a benevolent hand to ground them, like her chosen lover; they only had him to push them further and watch as they destroyed themselves.

Rigel prided himself on the number of the insane he’d ferried to the depths of the Netherworld. They were no good as office workers, but did help create the architecture and never-ending expansion of the place.

He’d agreed to help Pate, however, so he didn’t apply any untoward pressure that would put cracks in her mind. He offered more sound advice instead of questionable suggestions, and walked behind her as she went down the broken road. She was right. This place was more than just a fantasy created by her; it had a weight to it, a gravity that was more akin to something in the upper world. He had no clue where it might be, but the fact she could see and interact with a real place made him believe more sincerely she was gifted beyond the ordinary.

Pate seemed content to walk down the broken asphalt instead of shifting the world to accommodate her. Rigel followed. Time may be imperative, but it was too tempting not to take a moment to peek behind the scenes.

Keeping an eye on her back as she continued forward, Rigel stayed far enough back that the mists that crept in folded around him. Pate’s focus was before her; this was backstage.

Here he found memories of a more personal sort. There were still gaudy stripes overlaying it all, and in the gauzy fabric of them he caught glimpses of her and his half-brother together: domestic, playful, intimate. The longer he stayed watching, the more sound crept in: laughing, chatting, moaning. The nicknames. The arguments that ended in kisses. The sounds of flesh on flesh.

It was clear Beetlejuice was attached to her--desperate need was only one of his older brother’s fatal flaws--but Pate was attached to him as well.

Rigel would have stayed and parted the curtains to watch the two of them together more closely, but a hot ember settled in his gut. If forced to name it, he’d have grudgingly said jealousy, but he refused to dwell on it. He wasn’t jealous of Beetlejuice.

Still, it was hard to tear his eyes away from watching the two of them take pleasure with each other, even as Pate wandered further away. With one last look to sear the image of her atop his brother, her skin shiny with sweat and her body arched at the peak of pleasure, Rigel spun on his heel and fought his way back to the road to catch up with the woman he’d just spied on.

tbc . . .

#writing #fanfiction #Beetlejuice #Ties That Bind

[anistarrose]

Summary: Stan finds a recording from a fateful puppet show, a few disjointed memories fall into place, and the Pines family has some tense conversations.

Relationships: Ford Pines & Stan Pines, Dipper Pines & Ford Pines & Mabel Pines & Stan Pines

Characters: Stan Pines, Ford Pines, Dipper Pines, Mabel Pines, Bill Cipher (posthumously)

Set in early September, probably a little less than a week after Dipper and Mabel went home.

(It felt good to write some Stangst again! Title is from Monster Town by Go! Child because when I can't think of titles on my own, I go to my GF playlist for inspo, and that song jumped out at me today)

***

“We should probably bring a backup camera on the boat,” Ford mused, in a tone that made it impossible to tell whether he was talking to Stan or just to himself. “Maybe even multiple backup cameras. There’s no telling what the Arctic climate could do to their circuitry, and people hardly take cryptid reports seriously even with photographic evidence, never mind with just an eyewitness account and an excuse about a broken camera —”

“Easy, Sixer.” Stan set down his fully-packed suitcase at Ford’s feet, satisfied with its contents. “I’ve got a camcorder up in my room, or maybe in — actually, I can’t remember where I decided to keep it, but it’s probably still in the house somewhere. If I can find it, you can add it to your camera horde.”

Ford zipped open Stan’s suitcase, revealing hand-knitted sweaters and Hawaiian shirts in approximately equal numbers, and sighed. “Some brave wardrobe choices you’re making here. Or have you forgotten that the first beach we’re stopping at is in Alaska?”

“Well, someone’s gotta lead the fashion revolution in the Arctic Circle, and it sure ain’t gonna be you,” Stan called as he headed upstairs, provoking a resigned “hrmph” from Ford.

Stan decided to look for the camcorder in his bedroom first — because while his memory still had some scattered gaps, his gut instincts rarely lead him astray, and checking his room had been his first impulse. Sure enough, he found it sitting on a shelf and covered in slightly less dust than the adjacent stack of magazines, just as he ever-so-vaguely remembered it.

“Better make sure this thing works, before Ford declares it too unreliable for yeti hunts or whatever,” he muttered to himself, leaning back onto his bed and fumbling for the power button. The camcorder blinked to life, presenting an interface that was probably hopelessly outdated — but Stan didn’t care, while Ford would have no way of knowing what modern Earth technology looked like.

What’d I even record on this thing anyway? He selected a random video from June, was greeted with his own voice singing the first line of the Stan Wrong Song, and immediately deleted the recording. With a sigh and silent vow to never let Ford learn of the song’s existence, he moved on to a video from July.

Once again, it was Mabel’s handiwork — heh, no wonder I couldn’t remember what I used this thing for, since the kids were always borrowing it from me — but this time, Stan himself wasn’t in frame, though the craft supplies strewn about the living room were enough to stir dormant memories.

“Dipper! Puppet Dipper! Smile for the camera!”

Dipper yawned, then somewhat half-heartedly mimicked the motion using the sock puppet on his hand. “Puppet Dipper’s not really feeling up to it this morning.”

“Did Puppet Dipper stay up too late trying to solve a mystery? Bwap!” The footage blurred as Mabel nudged Dipper with a sock puppet of her own. “Do I need to make him a little puppet-sized pillow?”

“How about… some puppet-sized sunglasses, for a puppet detective?” Dipper suggested.

“Good idea!” Mabel agreed. “Then no one will notice when Puppet Dipper falls asleep standing up!”

Stan shook his head and smiled.

Man, I wish I’d found this back when my memories were still a mess — Mabel kinda skimmed over the whole puppet saga in her scrapbook. Wonder what else got recorded from that week…

He selected the next video chronologically, noticing that it was also the final recording on the device, and the smile vanished from his face.

“You can’t stop me!” It was Dipper’s voice, yet not Dipper’s voice — all fury and arrogance, and the camcorder’s cheap speaker crackled with static, like the voice was too much, too wrong, too alien to properly record and then replicate. “I’m a being of pure energy with NO weaknesses!”

Without a doubt, Dipper’s body was onscreen, but he was staggering towards Mabel with arms twisted at impossible angles. He lunged for the journal in her hands, eyes glinting the same gold color as the emblem of the six-fingered hand —

Stan hit the power button, rolled over on the bed, and buried his face in his pillow as the wave of memories crashed into him.

Brushing off Dipper’s sorry state as sleep deprivation, until the kid collapsed on the way out of the theater. Seeing the cuts and bruises all over Dipper’s hands as Stan helped him to his feet, and grilling the kids on what happened the whole drive to the hospital. Not getting an answer beyond “sleep deprivation.”

Not being able to give the doctor an answer beyond “sleep deprivation.”

Telling the twins’ parents it was just “sleep deprivation.”

A tense phone call, assuring Mr. and Mrs. Pines that Dipper’s recovery would be swift and tha Gravity Falls was still safe for their children. Stan’s hands shaking as he holds the phone, having no idea if that’s the truth, if he’s doing the right thing.

Mabel crying over a crumpled-up scrap of paper — a note? — she’d found in the car, and refusing to show it to Stan. Half-overheard secrets, whispered between the younger twins when they think Stan isn’t paying attention — apologies, worries, and murmurs too soft to be in any way decipherable.

Dipper, still with bags under his eyes, spending the next few days doing almost nothing but looking over his shoulder and burying his head in the journal. Stan pretending not to notice, but secretly finding it far too familiar for comfort.

Later memories, too — memories of demons, and handshakes, and feeling his body go numb. Memories of a voice, a furiously shrieking voice — both terrified and terrifying, but more than anything, alien.

Now, far too late, Stan recognized it.

***

“We’re calling the kids,” Stan barked, barging back downstairs, and Ford jumped.

“What’s wrong? Are your memories —”

“Better than they’ve ever been, actually.” Stan stormed directly to the living room table, flipping open the laptop on loan from Soos and clicking the video chat app. “Good enough to figure out something that apparently no one thought it might be important to tell me!”

“Are you sure?” Ford put a hand on Stan’s shoulder. “We can still call them, but let’s talk this through first, make sure you’re not missing any gaps —”

Stan paused, cursor an inch away from the call button beneath Dipper and Mabel’s profile picture. “Did Dipper tell you about the time Bill possessed him?”

Ford started to say something, stopped, and tried again. “I… I assumed you knew. I’m sorry.”

“Did you know I ended up taking him to the goddamn hospital afterwards?”

“No,” Ford whispered, and Stan felt Ford’s fingers dig into his shoulder. “Call the kids, Stan.”

Mabel must’ve been online, because she picked up almost immediately. The video opened with her sitting in her kitchen in Piedmont, Waddles in her lap. “Grunkle Stan! Grunkle Ford! Guess what I —”

The joy drained out of her smile when she noticed her grunkles’ grave expressions. “What’s going on?”

“Mabel, pumpkin,” Stan murmured, trying to tune out the sound of his heart thumping in his chest, “could you go get your brother?”

“I’m here, I’m here!” Dipper slid into view, almost falling off his chair, and Mabel scooted out of the way so they could both comfortably face the laptop. “Is something wrong?”

“Not anymore,” Ford explained, “but Stan and I wanted to talk about… communication, among other things — Stan? Are you sure you’re alright?”

Stan wiped the sweat from his forehead and shuddered, forcing himself to take a deep breath as he stared at the computer.

Dipper’s back home. Dipper’s safe. They’re both safe, and they’ll never have to worry about Bill again.

“Stanley?” Ford echoed, increasingly distressed. “Please, if —”

“I’ll be alright,” Stan managed, because even he wasn’t a good enough liar to convince anyone he was alright at this exact moment. “Promise. But kids, why didn’t you tell me when Bill hijacked your puppet show?”

Dipper and Mabel exchanged a guilty look.

“Was it because you thought I’d take away the journal?” Stan regretted his ‘only self-defense’ stipulation for the third journal more than almost anything else he’d said that summer, because he’d always known deep down that it wouldn’t stop the kids — and in hindsight, he would’ve much rather known what trouble the kids were getting into, not have them hide it from him with their late nights out in the woods and nonspecific excuses.

“At first,” Dipper replied. “But we ended up worrying a whole lot more about you sending us home early —”

“Your parents almost made that decision for me,” Stan admitted. “They were ready to drive up here and come get you when they heard what happened. I dunno how I convinced them to let you stay —”

He sighed. “And maybe knowing the truth wouldn’t have actually helped me that time — but it would’ve been nice to know how big a lie I was telling when I told them this town was safe for you kids, y’know?”

He regretted voicing that thought immediately, but regretted it even moreso when Dipper looked away from the camera, mumbling: “I’m sorry, Grunkle Stan.”

“Stan’s not trying to guilt you,” Ford spoke up, “but we want you to know you can talk about these things honestly with us — and that goes for both of you, Dipper and Mabel. We’d never want to punish you for something that was obviously… someone else’s fault.”

Thank god one of us has finally learned to think through what we say before we say it, Stan figured.

“I’m sorry too, kids,” he added out loud. “For getting angry at you a minute ago — ‘cause I’m not angry at you, I’m angry at Bill for what he got away with right behind my back, and I… I just…”

He brushed a finger across their digital faces, a gesture that no doubt failed to translate to the video feed Dipper and Mabel were viewing, and smiled. “Thanks for picking up so fast, ‘cause I really needed a reminder that the two of you are safe and sound and all.”

The kids smiled back, visible for just a second before Mabel leaned forward to hug her laptop and the screen went dark.

“Anytime, Grunkle Stan.”

***

“Coffee?” asked Ford, ever the early riser, as Stan trudged into the kitchen the next morning. “You look like you need it.”

“Gee, thanks, Sixer,” Stan groaned, slumping into the seat across from Ford at the kitchen table. “I’ve heard of backhand compliments, but now I’ve gotta live with your backhanded coffee offers too?”

“Sorry. I’m sympathizing, not mocking — I promise, when I woke up today, my eyes were just as bloodshot as yours are now,” Ford replied, sliding Stan a mug of steaming coffee. “How are your memories?”

It was a routine question as of late, but Stan still managed to botch it completely.

“Too good,” he muttered under his breath, and earned a quizzical look from Ford.

“Pardon?”

“…Good enough that I can remember all kinda things to feel shitty about,” Stan reluctantly admitted. “Like not even noticing when Dipper was possessed, for one thing. I spent the whole summer worrying about him, except for when he was actually in danger —”

“Oh, Stanley,” Ford sighed, “that’s not your fault. You know Bill was an expert liar; he scammed too many people to count —”

“Yeah, but I shoulda seen through it!” Stan brought his fist down on the table, and the contents of his mug sloshed precariously close to the top. “Of all people, I should’ve known better —”

“Right.” Ford grimaced. “Right. Because no one else who should’ve known better was ever tricked by a dream demon for a whole lot longer than a few hours —”

“Shit. Ford, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean it like —”

With a controlled glowering expression and deliberate motions, Ford stood, marching across the kitchen with all the fury and hesitation of a slow-moving thunderstorm.

“I didn’t mean it was your fault! I’d never — ”

“…I know.” Ford came to a halt at the door, bracing one hand against the frame. “But if you can say as much about me, then… then why can’t you just say that about yourself?”

“What?!”

“You would’ve caught on soon enough, if Mabel hadn’t defeated Bill when she did — I wasn’t there, but I’m sure of that because I know you, and I know how well you know Dipper.” Ford shook his head. “I didn’t catch on to Bill’s lies for years. I gave him free reign to hurt people for so much longer than one evening —”

He crossed his arms, and his imposing silhouette in the doorway seemed to shrink.

“So if you’re not blaming me for anything to happen this summer, then you’d better not blame yourself, you — you knucklehead.”

“Are you kidding me?” Stan leapt out of his seat. “It’s no wonder you didn’t see through Bill’s lies, when your whole life, you had me watching your back — and then I wasn’t there for you, when you needed me more than ever —”

“Because I pushed you away!” Ford shouted, whirling back around to face him. “Do you know what I realized while I was trying to fall asleep last night? That if I’d just stood up to Dad when he kicked you out, if I’d just done the right thing for once in my formative years, then the end of the world as we knew it would’ve been averted altogether! No falling for Bill’s flattery, no arguing over the zodiac, no Weirdmageddon! We could’ve had it all, but we just couldn’t live in that better world, all because I convinced myself you were suffocating me —”

“But it sounds like maybe I still am, huh?” Stan growled. “If all I do is just make you furious like this —”

“No,” Ford gasped, all the hostility in his voice and his glare immediately melting away. “No, no, absolutely not! I’m not furious at you, Stan, I’m…”

“Furious at yourself,” Stan accused, “for being even worse than me?!”

“No! Don’t even say that!”

Before Stan could process what was happening, much less protest it, Ford was hugging him, burying his face in Stan’s shoulder.

“Maybe — maybe I am angry at you, after all,” Ford admitted, “but you’re my hero, Stanley. My inspiration. If am angry with you, it’s — it’s just because you’re too damn stubborn to forgive yourself…”

Stan gingerly placed a hand on Ford’s shoulder. “…Yeah, and you’re one to talk.”

“I won’t deny that,” Ford mumbled. He went quiet for a few seconds, and when he spoke up again, his voice was quieter, yet slightly more composed. “Maybe we need to just… call a truce. Find something positive to agree on. We’re both too stubborn for this argument to end with either of us admitting we were wrong —”

“At least for give-or-take the next forty years,” Stan interrupted, punctuating his words with a bitter laugh.

Ford barked out a laugh of his own, loud and cathartic, and withdrew from the hug, removing his glasses to rub his eyes. “If Dipper and Mabel were here, they would have told us to stop being stubborn old men a while ago. I wish they were here.”

“They’d probably also tell us it’s more Bill’s fault than either of ours,” Stan added. “And… I guess they’d have a point.”

“I can see the logic in that.” Ford smiled faintly. “I’m sorry for making this about me, by the way. You opened up to talk about your own issues, and I —”

“Hey, I made it about you just as much as you did, Brainiac,” Stan reminded him. “…But damn. You think we’ll ever be able to talk about our feelings without shouting our lungs out at each other?”

“We’re still no good at thinking through anything before we say it,” Ford replied, “though I guess we must be getting a little better, since we didn’t even stop speaking to each other this time.”

“Thank god. I’m tired of not talking to you.”

The two of them settled back into their seats at the table, and Stan reached for the morning paper, but Ford spoke up once more.

“I know forgiveness, especially self-forgiveness, can be… complicated,” he told Stan in a low voice, “so maybe I’m biased, speaking as someone who’d rather not grapple with my own personal guilt — but even more important than whether you forgive or blame yourself, I think, is acknowledging that you made mistakes, yet still deserve good things from the universe. And that goes for you and me both.”

Stan took a sip from his mug, pleased to find its contents were still warm. “Good things like coffee, and adventures sailing around the world?”

Ford chuckled. “My priorities exactly.”

#gravity falls #stanley pines #stanford pines #dipper pines #mabel pines #gravity falls fanfiction #rosalia writes fic

[ryqoshay]

Putting on Hairs: Audition Day

Primary Pairing? Trio?: YuuAyu... Setsu? Words: ~4.2k Rating: G, maybe light T for some implications? AU: Theater, Werewolf, Werebeast, Monster, Cryptid, Angel, Demon, Eldrich Horror

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Author’s Note: I’ve no idea how real theaters work, so anything that may be off with the timeline or proper procedure or whatever, I’ll just have to excuse as author ignorance, or handwave away by this theater being different, in many ways. That said, thank you lonelypond for fielding the questions I’ve sent thus far.

----------

“Ayumu!” A voice called from a few rows up. “Up here! Up here!”

“Yuu-chan?” Ayumu had to consciously keep her own volume down due to her surprise on seeing her girlfriend. “Shhh!” She added, holding a finger to her lips.

Yuu simply chuckled in response as Ayumu moved up the aisle. Well, it wasn’t like the twin-tailed girl was being any louder than the blonde sitting nearby. Ohara, was it? The theater’s patron, or one of them at least.

“I saved you a seat.” Yuu said with a grin as Ayumu reached her.

“Thank you.” Ayumu replied as she sat.

She was pretty sure they both knew the gesture was unnecessary as there were literally hundreds of empty seats, but it was the thought that counted. Ayumu loved that part of Yuu, always seeking little ways to make her feel special, even simple and unnecessary ones.

As for why the seats were empty, it was because this was merely an audition session. The only people in the theater today were cast and crew. And the cast were all up on stage, ready to make their bids for their potential roles. Well, all but the two leads, Yazawa and Nishikino, as they had been brought in specifically for their star power and were also sitting in the house with most of the crew.

Also, not everyone present was theater staff. There was of course, Ohara, the patron, and her driver, Matsuura. And there were the two from the catering company that had brought lunch earlier, Honoka and Rin, who insisted Ayumu refer to them by their given names when she spoke with them during the meal. She wasn’t quite sure why they were still around as they had finished cleaned up a little while back.

“I didn’t expect to see you here, Yuu-chan.” Ayumu whispered as Dia and Umi prepped the future cast for their auditions. “How did you even get in?”

“I told ‘em I was Ayumu’s girlfriend.” Yuu shrugged. “And they obviously figured out what I am, which probably helped. Although speaking of that…” She glanced around quickly, sticking out her tongue a couple times. “I’m pretty sure everyone here is like us. I don’t remember them advertising that they were only hiring monsters, but… oh sorry, supernatural beings.” She corrected.

Ayumu let her grimace relax. She had never liked the term monster as seemed to carry more negative connotations than other similar terms. And while Yuu was usually careful to avoid using the word, so many of their fellow cryptids used it that Ayumu couldn’t really fault her girlfriend for accidentally using it as well from time to time. Of course, that still didn’t mean she had to like it.

“But I don’t think there’s a single full blood human here.” Yuu continued. “And man, what a mix.” She flicked out her tongue again. “I’m getting a bit of everything. There’s gotta be a werewolf among them. And someone with feathers. At least one undead. I’m getting a bit of sea salt, so there’s probably a mermaid or the like. Sulfur, brimstone, so maybe a demon, or other fire creature I suppose, maybe both. And…” her brow furrowed, and she held her tongue out for longer than usual “that’s odd…”

“What’s odd?” Ayumu pressed.

“I don’t know. There’s something… else… here.” She shook her head. “I’ve never smelled anything like it. Heat. Flame. But not like any I’ve ever known… It’s otherworldly, and yet, not unpleasantly so. Huh…”

“Oh, I think they’re starting.”

“Right.” Yuu turned her attention to the stage where a young woman with long brown hair with some tied in a bright red ribbon was about to begin.

If Ayumu remembered right, the young woman’s name was Osaka Shizuku and had graduated alongside Nishikino Maki from Waseda, a prestigious school known for its arts degrees. For her audition, she had chosen to recite and act out a dramatic monologue in English. Ayumu felt like she had heard the lines before, though not on stage. Perhaps a movie? In any case, Shizuku left little doubt as to her skill and training, leaving Ayumu rightfully impressed.

Next up was… Nakasu Kasumi? Ayumu knew she had seen that face before. The young woman had appeared in a handful of television commercials, usually cute things aimed at a certain female demographic. Ayumu had actually purchased a few items promoted by Kasumi. As such, it came as little surprise that Kasumi’s audition resembled one of those cute commercials.

The next few auditions were a bit of a blur for Ayumu. It didn’t help that she was far less familiar with their names and faces.

But then, she stepped onto the stage. A short, raven haired young woman with an aura Ayumu could only describe as passionate. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Yuu sit up straighter as she seemed to sense something about this girl. Like the previous several others, Ayumu wasn’t familiar with this one, but something about her held her attention.

“Yuki Setsuna, was it?” Umi read from her list.

“Yes.” Setsuna confirmed.

“And what do you have for us today?”

“Well, I read the script and really enjoyed one character, so I would like to recite a few of her lines.”

“You’ve already memorized lines from the script?”

“Yes.”

“The script you were just given earlier today?”

“Yes. It was just so~ good. I couldn’t put it down.” Setsuna seemed to be actively holding back her excitement.

“Impressive.”

In a nearby seat, an orange-haired girl bounced a little, seemingly excited by the admission. Perhaps she was the one who had written the script?

“Oh, I may have also added a few lines.” Setsuna admitted. “I believe they fit the character.”

Umi gave a glance toward the orange-haired girl behind her who nodded enthusiastically.

“Very well.” Umi turned back toward the stage. “Carry on.”

Setsuna closed her eyes and took a deep breath before releasing it slowly. When she opened her eyes again, her entire demeanor had changed from restrained excitement to a fiery passion. Even from several rows up, Ayumu felt she could see flames in the young woman’s eyes.

Suddenly, Setsuna struck a dramatic pose. “At last, I have found you, foul beasts!” She practically shouted, pointing to somewhere else on stage.

Ayumu jumped a little in her seat, having not expected the outburst. She heard Yuu giggle quietly beside her.

“It is I, Artemisia Ullrin! Hunter of Horrors by trade and Collector of Cryptids by hobby.” She held her hand to her chest as the belted the lines proudly. “By order of Lady Lycaonian, I am to exterminate the infestation of werebeats suffered by her lands. You are welcome to resist, though I assure you that you shall lose. However!” Setsuna emphasized her lines with exaggerated gestures. “I offer an alternative! Surrender and be added to my collection.”

As melodramatic as the performance was, Ayumu couldn’t deny that it was quite entertaining. She watched in amusement as Setsuna skipped ahead to what she assumed to be a battle scene where she called out attacks like a cheesy hero show for kids. She knew the production was intended to be a little tongue in cheek, but Setsuna seemed intent on not just chewing, but flat out consuming the scenery, happily.

And then, seemingly all too soon, it was over.

“Bravi! Bravi!” Mari cheered, loudly, as she stood up from her seat. “Bravissimi!”

The orange-haired girl joined in standing as well, clapping and laughing. Then Yuu stood, as well several others.

“Thank you, everyone.” Setsuna bowed before standing back up with a beaming smile.

“<Where in the world have you been hiding,> Secchan?” Mari exclaimed in English

“Se-Secchan?” Setsuna blinked.

“Really, you were perfect!” The script writer added. “I love the new lines! I’ll be sure to add them!”

“It would appear you’ve earned a few fans.” Dia spoke next, fairly coolly and calmly, though Ayumu was certain she detected a touch of amusement in her tone. “That will undoubtedly play in your favor when we make our final casting decisions.”

“Thank you.” Setsuna bowed again before moving off stage to allow the next audition to proceed.

“Alright, next we have…”

Whatever else Umi was saying was lost to Ayumu as hands grabbed her shoulders.

“That was amazing!” Yuu did he best to keep her volume down. “That really got my heart racing! Actors are amazing! Theater is amazing! Ooo… I want to meet Setsuna-chan in person now!”

“-chan?!” Ayumu balked.

“I can’t wait to see the production!” Yuu continued as though she hadn’t heard Ayumu. “How long did you say it would take?”

“Well, it’s a musical, so that apparently adds more time.” Ayumu recalled. “I think I remember either Umi or Dia saying they were slotting for twelve weeks before opening night.”

“Twelve weeks?” Yuu visibly deflated a bit. “That’s like three whole months! I don’t think I can wait that long…”

Ayumu chuckled at her girlfriend’s newfound obsession. She’d seen this dozens of times before as Yuu would latch onto and hyper-focus on some new hobby or interest. “Maybe we can find some old clips of plays performed by the other Sonoda or Kurosawa theaters?”

“That’s a great idea, Ayumu!” Yuu’s eyes sparkled like emeralds. “Let’s do that tonight.”

“Alright.” Ayumu nodded in agreement.

Satisfied, Yuu settled back into her seat to watch the ongoing audition.

For her own part, Ayumu found her thoughts drifting. Artemisia? Ullrin? Lady Lycaonian? Mythology was not her strong suit, but it sounded like that wasn’t the case with the script writer either. It was almost as if she had simply Googled something about werewolves and just went with the first result that came up. Also, wasn’t Artemis already a woman? Did her name really need an -ia at the end to make the character female?

Well, the showrunners seemed fine with the ideas and the script writer and at least one of the actors were excited about them. So, who was Ayumu to judge? It wasn’t as if she herself hadn’t been entertained by Setsuna’s performance.

Setsuna… -chan… Ayumu glanced at her girlfriend. She had seen Yuu fawn over fictional woman before, but this was a first time she remembered her doing so over a living, breathing woman. And for some reason, that bothered her. Was she jealous? Ayumu shook her head to clear it of such thoughts. She was probably overthinking things and being insecure. She and Yuu had been happily dating for several years now. She shouldn’t be worrying about losing her at this point… right?

----------

“Yuu-chan, wait!” Ayumu protested as her girlfriend pulled her through a door clearly marked Employees Only. “We… I mean, you shouldn’t…”

“I just want to meet Setsuna-chan and thank her for the wonderful performance.” Yuu responded, not letting up her pace.

They rounded a corner and…

“Takasaki Yuu-san.” Dia stated solemnly as she stood in the center of the hallway.

“Oh, hi!” Yuu responded cheerfully. “You’re one of the women I met at the front door and decided to let me in. Dia-san, right?”

Dia blinked, obviously not expecting Yuu to skip a level of formality. But Yuu had been like that for the entire time Ayumu had known her. Still, Ayumu winced as she wondered how much trouble they were now in.

“Yes…” Dia confirmed.

“Right. Thank you again for letting me watch the auditions today.” Yuu continued. “They were amazing! My heart was racing pretty much the entire time. Especially with Setsuna-chan’s.”

There she goes again with -chan…

“Yuki-san did indeed give us quite the performance.” Dia agreed. “Anyway, as I was about to say, Takasaki-san, you are not employed here.”

“Nope. Not yet.” Yuu grinned.

“Not yet?” Dia raised an eyebrow.

“This whole experience has been so inspiring that I want to apply to work here.”

Ayumu also raised an eyebrow. That was news to her.

“You wish to become an actor?” Dia inquired.

Yuu shook her head. “No, I don’t really want to be on stage; I’d rather watch from the audience. But I can’t help wanting to support the amazing members of your cast in whatever way I can.”

“I see.”

“I could haul supplies around.” Yuu suggested. “Oh, I’m pretty good with my hands.” She held them out for emphasis. “So maybe I could help assemble sets or props? Ayumu has taught me a thing or two about hair and makeup, so I could definitely help her. Oh, and I worked a while as an editor for my college newspaper, so maybe I could go over the script and help there? And I did some composing for the band and orchestras, and even learned to play a couple instruments, like the piano, so I could help in the pit as well.”

Dia nodded. “I think I am starting to understand. You are essentially a jack of all trades.”

“Master of none.” Yuu confirmed.

“But better than a master of one.” Dia completed.

“Right. I’m no specialist, but I’m pretty good at picking up the basics.”

“Yuu-chan is a fast learner.” Ayumu added.

“I see.” Dia nodded. “Then I would suggest you get a resume in order and send it our way. Uehara-san should have the contact information.”

“Oh, I have that already. I was actually the one who found this place and recommended that Ayumu apply. I probably would have applied as well at that time, but I had a job then.” Yuu shrugged. “But they decided they needed to cut costs, and as I was the most recently hired, I ended up being part of that cost.”

“Well, I admire your enthusiasm and desire to help my cast and crew.” Dia smiled. “I shall look forward to working with you soon. Now, if you will excuse me, there are matters to which I must attend elsewhere.” That said, she stepped past the couple and moved down the hall.

Ayumu released a breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding. So… Dia wasn’t kicking them out after all? She wasn’t in trouble for letting a non-employee into this area?

“C’mon!” Yuu said, grabbing her hand again and shattering her thoughts. “We still gotta find Setsuna-chan. Say, do you know where her dressing room is?”

“I, uhm… know some of the rooms are off to the right.” Ayumu motioned in that direction. “Though I’m not sure if she has one assigned to her yet.”

“Well, let’s go see.”

“Uhm… alright…” Again, Ayumu was pulled down the hall.

The couple turned another corner, moved past the rooms for Yazawa and Nishikino, another without a name plate and… huh…

“She has one.” Yuu said, stopping in front of a room. “They must have just given it to her.” She indicated the paper sign taped over where the a more permanent placard would be placed. “Maybe she already got the part she wanted?”

Ayumu shrugged. She didn’t know enough about the overall process to comment.

“Setsuna-chan!” Yuu called as she knocked. “Are you in there?”

“Yes,” the young actress replied from within “you can come in.”

Yuu opened the door and stepped in.

“Uehara-san?” Setsuna turned away from whatever she was setting up on the vanity. “And… uhm…?”

“Yuu.” The twintailed girl responded. “Takasaki Yuu. I’m Ayumu’s girlfriend and they let me watch the auditions with her.”

“Ah…”

“So, you’re the source.”

“Eh?”

Yuu flicked her tongue. “Of the scent I smelled earlier.”

“Sc-scent?” Pink dusted Setsuna’s cheeks.

“Flame. Fire.” Yuu stepped closer and leaned in toward the young actress. “But not the kind I am used to… Just what are you, Setsuna-chan?”

“Yuu-chan!” Ayumu scolded, moving forward to pull her girlfriend away from Setsuna who was starting to display some defensive body language. “You shouldn’t just ask such things so bluntly.”

“Mm? Why not?” Yuu seemed confused. “I think it’s pretty obvious now that Dia-san and Umi-san intended to create a sort of haven for us here. And if we’re all going to work together, it makes sense to know what we all are.”

“Yeah, but…”

“Anyway, I’m a lamia.” Yuu indicated herself. “I’d show you, but I wore pants today.”

Well, at least she has the decency to not unceremoniously drop trou in front of someone she just met. Ayumu thought to herself. Like she so often does at home…

“But I can do this.”

Eh? Ayumu felt her cheek being pinched.

“There. As you can see, Ayumu is a moon rabbit.”

Eh? Eh?! Ayumu caught her reflection in the mirror near Setsuna. Sure enough, white, fluffy rabbit ears had sprouted on her head.

“Mohhh… Yuu-chan!” Ayumu punched her girlfriend lightly in the arm.

“What?” Yuu giggled at the playful jab. “Ayumu always looks so cute like that. I can’t help wanting to see you like that more.”

“Mmph…” Ayumu puffed her cheeks out to pout, though she couldn’t deny liking the compliment.

“They are indeed quite cute, Uehara-san.” Setsuna agreed with an amused smile.

“Oh, uhm… thank you.” Ayumu replied. “And, Ayumu is fine. Like Yuu-chan said, we’ll be working together a lot, so I don’t mind being a bit less formal.”

Setsuna’s smile grew. “I’d like that. Please feel free to call me Setsuna in return. Oh, and if you don’t mind my asking, by moon rabbit, do you mean…?”

“Well, I wasn’t actually born on the moon, if that’s what you mean.” Ayumu explained. “My ancestors were though.”

Setsuna nodded in understanding.

“But you should try her mochi, though.” Yuu spoke up. “It’s the best. Same with her rice cakes.”

Setsuna seemed to recall something. “I think you’ll find a good friend in Koizumi-san.”

“Oh yeah,” Yuu thought out loud “Ayumu, wasn’t she the one you said they brought a huge container of rice for?”

Ayumu nodded in confirmation. “I was honesty surprised how much she was able to eat, though she wasn’t the only one.”

“I suppose some of us have larger forms to feed.” Yuu shrugged. “Anyway, I gotta know the source of that fiery smell.” She turned her attention back to Setsuna. “You know what we are now, so what kind are you? Why is your fire so different than that of an ifrit, salamander, phoenix, dragon or whatever?”

“Oh, uhm…” Setsuna fidgeted a bit. “I’m a Cthughan.”

Yuu furrowed her brow in thought for a moment before something came to her and she looked up excitedly. “You mean you’re the Elder God, Cthugha?”

Setsuna shook her head. “Great Old One, actually. And I’m only a descendant of him. Cthugha is my great great great… I actually don’t know how many greats, grandfather.”

Oh, kind of like me being a descendant of rabbits who actually lived on the moon way back when. Ayumu thought.

“That’s. So. Cool!” Yuu practically squealed. “No wonder I couldn’t identify it, I’ve never met an Elder God before.”

“Great Old One.” Setsuna corrected again.

“Right, sorry. Anyway, that wasn’t actually the reason I wanted to meet you today.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I actually wanted to tell you how amazing you were in your audition and that I really hope you get the part.”

“Thank you. And they did actually already give me the role.” Setsuna said. “That’s why I’ve been setting up my stuff here.”

“I was right.” Yuu tossed over to Ayumu. “Congratulations, Setsuna-chan!” She offered the actress.

“Thank you again.” Setsuna smiled. “I really like the part.”

“It looked like it was a lot of fun to play.”

“I know right?” Ayumu detected some of the excitement Setsuna displayed before her audition.

“I haven’t read the script yet, but…

“It’s so~ good!” Setsuna seemed less able, or perhaps less willing to suppress her excitement. “I was able to talk with Chika-san, who wrote the script, and she was able to tell me a ton of things about what she had planned for possible modifications, depending on who got what parts and, oh my gosh, it all sounds amazing, and I think they already know who to cast for the main villain and while I didn’t expect that choice, Chika-san’s explanation was awesome as she revealed her plans to me and what she has planned for Yazawa-san and Nishikino-san’s characters, oh it sounds like so much fun and…” Setsuna suddenly recoiled and stepped back. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to go off like that…”

Yuu laughed. “It’s fine, it’s fine.” She dismissed. “Your excitement makes me want to see if I can track down this Chika-san and get a copy for myself.”

“You can have one of mine!” Setsuna pounced at offering.

“One of…?” Yuu asked, picking up on the word choice.

“Oh, uhm… I may have made a couple copies for myself to write ideas on after Chika-san said she would like to see what I think.” Setsuna admitted as she shuffled through a stack of papers. She started to hold out a set before pulling them back. “Wait, you don’t work here though.”

“Not yet.” Yuu admitted. “But your audition, and many of the others, inspired me to apply here so I could support the amazing actors here however I could.”

“Ah.” Setsuna nodded, holding out the papers, only to pull them back yet again. “You’re not a spy from that other theater down the street, are you?”

Yuu chuckled. “If that was the case, I’d just get my info from Ayumu.”

“Right, that makes sense.” Finally the actress gave the script to Yuu.

“I already offered to Dia-san that I could help with editing.” Yuu skimmed it excitedly. “I wonder if Chika-san would mind if I slipped in a few ideas of my own.”

“She seems pretty willing to accept ideas from others around the theater.” Setsuna said. “Both Osaka-san and Nakasu-san have offered some of their thoughts already.”

Yuu opened her mouth, but whatever she was about to say next was interrupted by her stomach growling. She giggled. “I guess it is getting a little late.”

“Let’s head home then.” Ayumu spoke up. “I’ll make dinner for us. It was nice meeting you, Setsuna-san.”

“I don’t think I can make it all the way home.” Yuu said. “Why don’t we stop at that sandwich shop along the way.”

“Alright.” Ayumu agreed.

“Wanna come with us, Setsuna-chan?”

“Eh? Me?” Setsuna seemed caught off guard by the invite.

“Yeah, that way we can talk about the script and stuff.”

“Oh, uhm, thank you, but I wouldn’t want to impose. Besides there’s still a couple things I want to do here before I head out.”

“Alright. Maybe some other time then.” With that, Yuu took Ayumu’s hand and headed for the door. “See you later, Setsuna-chan!” She called as she exited.

At first Ayumu felt relief that Setsuna had declined, but as she and Yuu walked down the hall, a sense of disappointment set it. She actually did want to talk about the upcoming play. Perhaps next time…

----------

“Ne, Yuu-chan.” Ayumu said as the couple walked home.

“Mm?”

“Would you… uhm… Would you support me if I decided to become an actress?” The way you say you want to support Setsuna-san and the others?

“Of course!” Yuu gave her a toothy grin. “I think Ayumu would be an amazing actor.”

“Really?”

Yuu chuckled. “Well yeah, the Ayumu I know and love may be shy sometimes and hesitant to try new things. But when she decides to do something, she’s the hardest worker I know. She always gives it her best. That’s one of my favorite aspects of Ayumu.”

Ayumu blushed at Yuu’s affirmations.

“So, what prompted this all of a sudden?” Yuu looked at Ayumu with sudden curiosity. “Did the auditions inspire you as well?”

“A little…” Ayumu admitted. Did she need to include her desire for Yuu to look at her the way she looked at Setsuna?

Yuu smiled. “Well, maybe tonight we should look into finding some acting classes for you to take.”

“Classes?”

“Well, I don’t know anything about acting, so I’d be no help to you there.” Yuu explained. “Though I’d be happy to help you rehearse lines or whatever. And you’ll want some knowledge before you start auditioning for roles, right? Surely there has to be some evening or night course you can take somewhere.”

“Alright.”

Yuu’s expression became whimsical. “Mm… I can imagine it now. Uehara Ayumu stars in… something something big show, the marquee proudly proclaims with flashing lights. Ayumu on stage bowing before a standing ovation. Flowers are tossed on stage by devoted fans.”

“Y-Yuu-chan…” Ayumu murmured a quiet protest.

“What? I can’t imagine my amazing girlfriend being adored by all?”

“Well… I don’t really need to be the star, do I?”

Yuu shrugged. “Even if you only want supporting roles, I’ll still happily come watch your performances.”

Ayumu smiled. She loved this side of Yuu, her unwavering and unconditional support, always willing to adapt to anything Ayumu wanted to do. It was a constant source of confidence from which she drew to take on those new things, when she did.

Maybe she was overthinking the thing with Setsuna. Yuu was just being Yuu, getting excited over a new obsession, and Setsuna’s performance just happened to be the gateway into that obsession. As for Setsuna herself, she seemed equally excited about acting as Yuu, if not more so. And as her audition proved, she had talent. Perhaps Ayumu could learn a thing or two from her through observation, or just talking with her.

“Alright.” She set her mind on her decision. “Let’s look into classes when we get home.”

----------

Author’s Note Continued in Followup Post

#YuuAyuSetsu #Takasaki Yuu #Yuki Setsuna #Uehara Ayumu #Putting on Hairs #fanfic #Love Live Nijigasaki #AU August

[euaxel]

heyyy, eonia. i’m reid, i’m twenty-three, still can’t read, and all i know about pjo is that it fucking rocks and the protag has the same learning disabilities that i do! also, i picked hypnos for this punk mainly to be mean to him and because in the hades game hypnos bullies me every time i die and i’m kiiiinda into it. hmu on discord one on one for the best plotting experience, but i’ll be around plenty to bug y’all in the gc too. you can read about bastard boy number one right here and under the cut we’ll get down to business. 

⟨ ELLIOT FLETCHER. TRANS MALE. HE/HIM. ⟩ though the mist might prevent some from seeing it, AXEL EVERETT is actually a descendent of H Y P N O S. it’s still a question of whether or not the TWENTY-TWO year old VIDEO GAME DEVELOPMENT & COMBAT TACTICS MAJOR from BROOKLYN, USA has taken after their godly parent completely, but the demigod is still known to be quite WITTY & SELF-DEPRICATING.

be advised, axel’s a pretty heavy character.  i’m gonna keep it brief for the bio & need-to-knows, tag around the parts with bold applicable triggers so you can skip around as needed, and tag this post accordingly, but just let me know if i miss anything and i’ll fix it & be safe reading. godspeed and i apologize in advance for bringing you all my personal punching bag as my first muse. 

the main triggers that are gonna come up are: parental abuse, alcoholism * major, mentions of bullying, drowning * major, religious trauma, and drug abuse with some harder drugs ( particularly, weed, pills and cocaine / nothing with needles. )

general stats. 

— full name ,  axel harley everett.  — nicknames/alias ,  axe, ax, wolverine jr, tyler durden jr, trouble, Who? - every professor he’s ever had. — house,  hypnos and mad about it.  — age, 22, as of today. also mad about it.  — gender,  trans male.    — pronouns,  he/him.  — sexual orientation, bisexual with a somewhat heavy masc lean.  — d.o.b, january 1st, 1999. ( generally unknown to anyone but maybe siblings, he will probably lie and say Nobody Knows... I Just Am unless he really fucks with you. ) — hometown,

phys. 

— height,  5′0ft even. furious about it. — eyes,  brown. — hair, brown.  — face claim, elliot fletcher.

misc.

— zodiac,  capricorn. — alignment,  chaotic good. — character inspo,  lip gallagher, steve rogers ( young ), ellie from tlou1, logan howlett, stiles stilinski ( if anyone says shit i will scream ), probably someone from euphoria but i’m too scared to watch that, peter parker ( andrew garfield ), shinsou hitoshi, finn mertens, marceline the vampire queen, dipper pines, this is all over the place but it’s there.  — most played spotify songs, passion for publication by anarbor, sober haha jk unless by hospital bracelet, nobody by mitski, class of 2013 by mitski, king princess’ cover of monster from adventure time, way too much phoebe bridgers, in love or whatever by future teens, and the entire front bottoms discography but especially in sickness & in flames with the hard way & bus beat well at the top of his loop.  — aesthetics,   bloody knuckles, left open and tipped over prescription bottles, walking on the carpet with socks to get that tingly feeling, skateboarding inside, dozing off at the bar, tangled legs in messy sheets, ten pillows on a twin sized mattress, laying down in the shower, brian sella’s cracky singing voice. 

bio. 

— axel was born and raised in brooklyn, new york, and he was claimed at thirteen, on his thirteenth birthday, by hypnos. — the day he was claimed, axel ceased contact with his human mother and his step-dad, and he attended a camp for half-bloods that wasn’t far from home. he spent his adolescence there year round for safety from monsters at home and abroad, then moved on to eonia.  — ( parental abuse tw, drowning tw begin ) i don’t want to be too graphic here so i’m going to plainly say that axel’s mother was a very, very bad person, and the man she married was absent at his best, physically abusive at worst. axel’s powers (  hypnokinesis, namely )  were potent and difficult to control at a young age, and as a deeply religious catholic woman, this scared his mother and influenced most of the animosity in their relationship. she was convinced that the defensive visions he created and his ability to put her to sleep ( an attempt to help her, on his end; insomnia plagued her and later, it would him, too ) were of demonic origin, and tried to drown him more than once; cleansing, she claimed. the worst instance was the day he was claimed, actually — new years day, 2012; his life was saved by hypnos, and that was the last he saw of her.   ( parental abuse tw, drowning tw end. )  —  that said, he’s a little ( very ) hydrophobic. poseidon kids do NOT fucking interact ( i’m kidding. kind of. he Will avoid a little though ) —  anyway! moving on. all of this aside, axel did his best to put his past behind him, and he was actually super stoked to learn that his powers came from somewhere good and that there was places out there for kids like him; to learn he wasn’t any kind of monster. ( still working on believing that, though.. marcelines monster.mp3 right here )  — he’s less stoked when he starts having trouble falling asleep, and really, it feels like a more cruel twist than any other fate has thrown at him ( his upbringing was chock full of mean twists, so that’s saying something ); and really, it’s more like insomnia just full on kicks in, but he can put other people to sleep. great, right? whatever, though — combat classes are kickass and he’s surrounded by babes that think he’s hilarious so things could be totally, way worse.  — ( bullying tw (brief) ) for the most part, axel was pretty well liked among his peers. he was bullied as a young kid (pre-claim), but he bit back and he bit back hard, and sure, some of that followed him into his teen years but he’s more confident by then; less fun to poke at, and absolutely unhinged when provoked, so people learn better of it. the only real lasting effect was one instant that hit him a little too deep in the inferiority, when he was seventeen — he fell in love with a girl, told her that, and found himself at the end of a very mean spirited prank. he shook it off like he did anything else, or at least — he told himself he did, even if the hurt hit him somewhere a little too deep rooted ( ie. being god’s most unlovable son would naturally land him here, right? ) love’s kinda stupid anyways, so what the hell, right?  (bullying tw end.)

— ( alcoholism tw, drug use tw begin ) this is already obscenely long so i’m just going to keep it to the point here and say he began drinking when he was sneaking booze in to camp at fifteen, and it just never stopped there. he’s also a massive stoner, which is all well, harmless and good for the most part; he’s always grinning, half-lidded, and has a room full of smoke at any given time. it’s the pills that do him in, and he did them at first just so he could get some shut eye, and... well. after that, because he’s dependent on them. but he keeps this part under wraps for the most part; it doesn’t have to be anyone’s problem but his, and it’s not a problem until it is one. partying’s fun, so is coke; so is taking a few too many xan’s, mdma.   ( alcoholism tw, drug use tw end )

FUN FACTS!!! 

— i swear he is not as doom and gloom as he sounds from the bio, and yeah, writing that made me so sad i feel like we absolutely must hone in on the fun and cute things about him!?!  — he loves dnd. he can talk about it for HOURS and if you let him, he absolutely will. — adventure time makes him cry. he’s a baby don’t let him fool you.  — very into cryptids, aliens, horror stories, conspiracy theories, in love with ryan from watcher, wanna be shane medej.  — he loves to draw! the one thing he loves about his power is what it’s done for his imagination, and sure, he mostly draws horror things, but it’s why he went into video game development. he wants to be a concept artist.  — his double major is in combat tactics because he loves fighting. he thinks it’s so fun. he’s a little nuts, actually — i mean, get hit in the face and come up grinning. all he’s ever wanted is to run a fight club and be the shortest, baddest little bitch on the planet.  — he tends to nod off in weird places because he doesn’t sleep enough at night, which is sad, but; he can seriously fall asleep anywhere. standing up, in a tree, you name it.  — he’s a hobby musician! he loves singing and playing guitar.  — he’s a huge flirt.  — loves to scare people. he’s harmless, though. like, honestly. he might make you think you’re seeing a walking toadstool but he’ll probably apologize later.  — he’s very much a singing in the shower type?  — clothes thief. friends and significant others beware.  — actually, just kind of a thief? but of weird, little things. like, just the left shoe. puts them in a little corner in his room that he has set up like an exhibit. “things you thought you lost lol” is written on the whiteboard on the wall above it. he likes collecting rocks too. he’s a little freak!!  — he’s better at the memory retrieval part of his power than the rest. naturally, as this mostly applies for other people. 

WANTED CONNECTIONS. im literally so tired of hearing myself talk... 

friends/squad. self explanatory!!!  he’s friendly, a class clown, and a loyal friend through and through; he’s also adaptable, and his demeanor is very relaxed and inviting. he’s probably gonna have 2-3 people that he’s really close with, and he’d do quite literally anything for them. seriously, don’t tempt him.  a best friend.  so this is kind of vague but. i’d really love for him to have one person that is just a tier above the rest? they’d know things about him that are like pulling teeth to find out ( aka, anything deeper than his most recommended podcasts and loudmouth opinions on non important things ), someone who will call him on his shit, and maybe take care of his stupid little self when he gets too fucked up, because they’d be someone he trusts enough to let them.   enemies?    he probably gets along with most people until given a reason not to? but he is a loud mouth and if one of his friends gets into drama, he will stick his nose where it doesn’t belong and he will throw hands, so it could happen.

harmless rivalries. maybe even steamy ones. he’s a little shit and he likes banter so, so, so much? if given the opportunity and if someone rubs him a certain type of way, he’s so not above being a menace, although never super maliciously. just, you know, annoying the shit out of them on purpose, for fun. he’s also not above blowing a few kisses their way.

current hookups. self explanatory too. he’s a little harlot. HFBHVFNJ. it’s gonna be kinda hard to go beyond sex with him because he’s very deep in his own insecurity but he does catch feelings, he’s just mad about it when he does. i’m mostly gonna go off chem for that though! an ex. could be on friendly terms? but, it should be noted that he could’ve ghosted someone too; or pulled from the relationship when things got serious and he couldn’t choke out that ‘i love you’, even if he felt it. worse, if he did choke it out, but they didn’t feel the same way.  siblings. hypnos kids he is gonna be so protective of all of u... family is hard for axel, i’m ngl, but he really wants one is the tragedy of it all, i guess? so he just really wants to be a good brother. he thinks hypnos is kind of a dick for making him but he tries not to fault him for his existence. fuck u dad i dont wanna be alive feels a little unfair. HDBHFDSJ. anyways he’s a good brother even if he is absolutely so reckless and terrifying in regards to himself but his siblings. his siblings he will do anything for. ALSO!!! FOUND FAMILY!!!! it would be kinda nice if he bonded with someone a little older maybe, could be outside of the hypnos house even, someone he’s kind of a bratty-little-brother type with.... or bratty older brother that takes your things and makes you laugh, y’know. 

PERSONALITY.  just tacking this part of the app on at the end too to highlight parts that i think are important for understanding who he is, and just so it’s all in one place!

toothy grins, half-lidded eyes, and keepin’ them laughing is what it’s all about, baby. axel walks with more confidence in his posture than he’s earned ( or claimed, for that matter ), and it’s the backbone of what gets him by. he’s a glowing example of the fake it ‘til you make it mentality, and he knows what he wants, usually how to get it, and doesn’t mind letting you know that. there’s an ever present mischievous glint in his eyes that says more about what to expect from him than he does, and that’s still not much? he likes to have fun, and there isn’t a whole lot of regard for righteousness or responsibility on his end, but hey! it’s usually only ever at his own expense, so what’s the damage? he’s an absolute clown and he knows it.

axel loves people. he does — you might not guess that with how elusive he is, but it’s true. there’s nothing he likes more than a good conversation with someone interesting, or maybe not even then; if there’s a sparkle in you, he’ll see it. ( might even draw it, not that you’d ever know. ) he’s warm, loyal, compassionate, relaxed, and understanding; and none of that is at the cost of being passive, or lacking passion. 

as long as the vibes are right, he’s happy to just be; though, he’s known to have a fuse for certain provocations, and will jump readily at chance to fight in someone else’s honor. also, it’s not unlike him to spar for the sake of sparring; but that’s all in good fun, no worries.

there’s no way to sugarcoat it — axel has an inferiority complex. where that stems from is something he’s more self-aware of than he’s willing to admit, but he doesn’t have the patience or the will to dissect it; much less do anything about it, and he’s as bull-headed as they come — especially regarding anything related to the psyche. how much this impacts his demeanor and relationships with others varies on the situation, but one constant is that he’s going to retreat before things get bad; even if ‘things are getting bad’ exists only as his own paranoia-born hypothetical.

things can’t go bad if you don’t let them, and he’s content to keep it that way; even if it means being stuck in the stasis of missed opportunities. it’s when he’s retreating into himself that he can get irritable, anxious, jumpy; secretive, defensive, even. he’s personable until he isn’t, essentially.

#euintro #ik elliots like 5'7 but i've never let this kid be taller than me and i will not start now #parental abuse tw #bullying tw #drug use tw #alcoholism tw #drowning tw #religious trauma tw #jesus christ whats wrong with me #anyway who wants him #Because I Dont #anyway im not fucking proofreading it JBFGHBFJFBDJSKNMA im so sorry this is a monster in length

[theradioghost]

hey, can i pester you for some podcast recs? something with a good dose of humour and not too many episodes to catch up on. a sprinkle of queer romance would be a nice bonus. my fave so far is tsco starship iris, and i also loved greater boston, wooden overcoats, the bright sessions and caravan. and thanks always for all your great recs! you’ve brought many hours of joy into my life :)

We Fix Space Junk -- Two intergalactic repairpeople -- a knowledgeable cyborg veteran and a former socialite on the run -- travel the universe meeting people and fixing things at the behest of the terrifying intergalactic corporation they’re trying to work off their debts to. Hilarious British sci-fi sitcom featuring Evil Space Capitalism, many many wonderful AI characters, and an absolutely delightful teenage space wasp-human-cow hybrid princess who is probably off accomplishing her grandiose special destiny somewhere offscreen while the main characters deal with things like their bosses possibly trying to kill them (again).

Death by Dying -- People have a tendency to die in odd ways in the small town of Crestfall, Idaho. Luckily the town also has an Obituary Writer, an eccentric and nameless but impeccably stylish fellow whose closest friend is the Angel of Death, and who has a knack for solving murders even though that’s definitely not his job description. Throw in walrus haikus, extremely rude ravens, Something Mysterious And Malevolent Lurking In The Dark Woods Outside Of Town, disappearing childhood homes, silent nuns, ghost bicycles, and three man-eating cats, and you get something like a delightful cross between Wooden Overcoats and Lemony Snicket. (Also, OW is peak Canonically Bisexual Dumbass.)

Less is Morgue -- Riley is a paranoid, reclusive teenager with a fondness for conspiracy theories who lives in their parents’ basement. They’re also a predatory ghoul who feeds on human flesh. Evelyn is a cheerful, outgoing young woman with questionable tastes in media. She’s also a ghost, ever since she was killed by a falling stage light at a Nickelback concert 16 years ago. And since Riley dug up and ate Evelyn’s corpse, they’re roommates! Will they ever manage to record a coherent episode of their podcast without something going ridiculously wrong and/or Riley eating one of the guests? Probably not!

Victoriocity -- The steampunk buddy-cop comedy-mystery thriller you never knew you needed but definitely do! Featuring Inspector Fleet, a grouchy, extremely driven policeman looking for the murderer of the Empire’s greatest inventor, and Clara Entwhistle, an even more driven and unfailingly upbeat rookie journalist who has just arrived in the island-spanning, bizarre cityscape of alt-history Even Greater London. Come for some of my favorite sarcastic British narration since Adams and Pratchett, stay for characters-are-begrudgingly-forced-to-work-together-until-they-come-to-genuinely-and-deeply-care-about-one-another-as-friends trope. (Also for Tom “Eric Chapman” Crowley as the aforementioned grumpy detective.)

Quid Pro Euro -- From one of the other leads of Wooden Overcoats, this doesn’t have a typical plot as such but has made me laugh so hard I pulled a muscle despite the fact that I know nothing about the EU. Which is what this near-surreal, Look Around You-style comedy is about: Felix Trench’s vision of a simultaneously hilarious and terrifying alternate European Union, seen from the perspective of a serious of educational tapes from the ‘90s predicting what the EU would look like in the 21st century. It’s hard to describe this show in any way that does it justice, but it’s incredibly funny.

Time:Bombs -- A miniseries by the exalted creators of Wolf 359, which (because they are madmen) was written, recorded, and produced in the space of one week. Also, a comedy about an NYC bomb retrieval squad on New Year’s Eve, most of whom are just trying to get through the night while their leader attempts to break a record for most bombs cleared before the calendar ticks over. Chaos and hilarity ensure.

Superstition -- Wisecracking, bi, Jewish, definitely-a-private-eye-just-don’t-check-her-qualifications Jacqueline St. James receives a message from her father, which is weird, because her parents disappeared years ago. Following the trail leads Jack to Superstition, Arizona, a town in the middle of the desert where everyone’s got secrets, assorted ghosts/monsters/cryptids harrass the locals, and the missing persons rate is the highest in the nation. As a protagonist Jack is Looking For Trouble And If She Cannot Find It She Will Create It, so while Superstition isn’t a comedy per se, it’s got a fair share of laughs and is also just so, so excellent in general.

Standard Docking Procedure -- A self-declared hopepunk scifi workplace comedy about the somewhat dysfunctional staff of Pseudopolis Station, effectively a high-tech interstellar truck stop. It’s funny and heartwarming, nothing truly bad happens, and Julia Schifini is there.

Solutions to Problems -- A morally-questionable human named Janet who has defintely never done any illegal time travel and an easygoing, physically indescribably alien who likes to go by Loaf host an intergalactic advice podcast. Are you tired of your species’ insistence on solving everything via ritual combat? Not sure how to talk to your partner about whether body-swapping has a place in your sex life? Dealing with being a superpowered teenager summoned into being by the collective will of an apocalyptic groupthink cult? Janet and Loaf have you covered! Provided that Janet’s on-and-off girlfriend, the AI who supplies the air they breathe, doesn’t kill them all first. Oddly heartfelt comedy in the form of a relationship advice radio show from the Space Future.

Middle:Below -- This show’s tagline is “Remember: bad things WILL happen,” and that is basically a lie. This is actually a short, incredibly heartwarming and frequently funny show about Taylor Quinn, the only human with the ability to pass between the land of the living (aka the Middle) and the land of ghosts (the Below). Meaning, of course, that the dead call on him to fix all their problems, with the help of a girl named Heather, a ghost named Gil, and a cat named Sans. (Also, some of the most comparatively wild live shows I’ve ever heard.)

Inn Between -- Ever wonder what fantasy characters get up to between adventures, during all that time they seem to spend at inns? This show skips all the adventuring, question, and action, instead focusing on the quiet moments between where what is Definitely Not A D&D Party meet and progress from bickering strangers brought together by circumstance to close-knit found family -- all at the inn, of course. (Lots of queer folks in here also, although there’s no romance at least in the first  couple seasons.)

The Godshead Incidental -- A relatively new but very exciting and so far really enjoyable show!! Following a young woman who writes an advice column through her life in a familiar, and yet strange city where anyone might be a minor god -- your editor, your landlord, that weird guy on the street who was shouting about how he’s the God of Memory and you got into a fight with him and now you keep forgetting everything? Also, your apartment is full of pigeons now because you found out the aforementioned landlord is secretly the god of doorknobs and he’s panicking. Good luck! (Starring Ishani Kanetkar, aka Arkady from Starship Iris!)

Gal Pals Present: Overkill -- Madison, a middle schooler at a Girl Scout camp, agrees to play a game with a somewhat tastelessly bright-pink Ouija board. However, Madison doesn’t know that she’s a natural medium, and now sarcastic mid-2000s 19-year-old Aya Velasquez has joined the many ghosts who are for some reason haunting scenic Harding Park. Aya, however, will not rest until she can solve her own murder (and possibly get to know that other ghost girl a bit better, who says romance has to stop when you’re dead?). Absolutely hilarious writing of a narrator who is almost definitely wearing spectral Uggs during the entire show.

Dark Ages -- The Rivercliffe Museum of Mostly Natural History is one of the finest museums anywhere! Or it would be, if anyone ever actually visited it. Or maybe if the staff weren’t a disastrous and dysfunctional collection of criminals, weirdos, wannabe immortals, idiot bisexuals who can’t just admit they like each other, and one extremely uptight elf with no people skills. Also, it would probably help if the legendary and fearsome Dark Lord, finally returned from his millennia of dormancy to complete his prophesied conquest of the world, wasn’t hanging around watching the chaos unfold because they’ve got his crown on display. (Fantasy workplace comedy with a theme song that did not need to go that hard?)

Brimstone Valley Mall -- It’s mid-December 1999, and at one mall in South Central Pennsylvania, a group of demons are going about their evil work -- namely, working at various dinky kiosks and restaurants, hoping of achieving every demon’s dream of getting to work at Hot Topic, trying not to do too much evil because Earth is way more fun than Hell and no one wants to get promoted back home, and preparing for their band's triumphant opening performance at the upcoming Y2K party. Just one problem: their lead singer is missing. Another absolute masterwork from The Whisperforge.

Arden -- 10 years ago, Hollywood starlet Julie Capsom vanished into the woods of northern California, leaving behind a car containing a human torso that may or may not have belonged to one Ralph Montgomery. Now, private eye Brenda Bentley and reporter Bea Casely, both of whom were among the first at the scene and both of whom have their own very strong opinions on the case, are setting out to solve the mystery on their true crime podcast, Arden. Providing, of course, they can stop arguing with each other long enough to solve it. (Or, a not-really-parody-but-definitely-comedy “true crime” podcast where the crime is a retelling of Romeo and Juliet -- and even knowing that, it’s still a genuine mystery with twists and a surprise ending! -- and the hosts are wlw Beatrice and Benedick from Much Ado About Nothing. In other words, it’s perfect. Season 2 is upcoming soon and is adapting Hamlet!!)

Alba Salix/The Axe and Crown -- Another high fantasy workplace sitcom, this one a medical comedy about the titular not-very-personable witch who runs the kingdom’s House of Healing and the various shenanigans she gets into, between her somewhat scatterbrained sister and brother-in-law the king and queen and her assistants, an overly-whimsical fairy and a wannabe monk forced to do community service. The same feed contains The Axe and Crown, a spinoff set in the same world that manages to simultaneously be a sitcom about the staff of a local pub trying to stave off foreclosure and come up with schemes to beat their business rivals, and a heartfelt story about gentrification and recovery starring a gay veteran with PTSD? Which is possibly one of my favorite podcasts? (Also contains one of the most unbelievable crossover cameos possible: Leon Stamatis.)

The Adventures of Sir Rodney the Root -- Also a high fantasy comedy! When a witch transforms heroic Sir Rodney into a small piece of wood, his closest companion Sir Gilbert must set out to cure him by collecting several highly powerful and dangerous relics, accompanied by a snarky dwarfen thief, an imperious princess, a slightly creepy human child raised by fairies, a picky elf sorcerer, a dead unicorn possessed by the ghost of a stoner, and a bard who breaks the fourth wall too much for his own good. So far as I can tell, nobody is straight.

The Amelia Project -- A dark comedy about a secret organization that helps people fake their deaths. Which is honestly a pretty full summary, barring the two important points that 1. this show contains possibly the most continuity-warping crossover event of all time (it’s the center point of this absolutely chaotic diagram), and 2. in one episode Felix Trench plays a character named Bartholomew Fuckface Chucklepants Knucklecracker.

#podcast recs #bobbie recommends things #yujacha #asks #my posts

[mikeydoodledandy]

what about one where they kees

First Kisses and Much More To Come

When the chaos had all died down and Kepler was left to lick its wounds and rebuild, the folks at Amnesty Lodge had found themselves in an interesting place. Their secrets were out, but now most of the townfolk had supernatural secrets of their own, with tales of fighting demons pouring from the rifts of the Quell into the streets told amongst themselves.

Everyone had a lot of catching up to do, but Barclay and Agent Joseph Stern especially so. Stern had stuck around to aid with the rebuilding, the pair often working together when they could. If the remaining residence of Amnesty lodge noticed the warm, longing glances between them and how frequently they made excuses to hang around one another, they didn’t comment. Whatever those two had going on, they’d have to figure out on their own.

Barclay knew they needed to talk. Talk about the fact he was bigfoot, yes, but also talk about all those moments they’d shared long before Stern knew the truth about him. Those moments of brushed fingers and tender words that he’d ultimately made sure didn’t lead to anything out of fear of being found out or letting himself get to close. Things that didn’t matter anymore.

So a conversation was definitely in order, but he just couldn’t find the time to do it, with Joseph being in and out, and how busy he’d been as well. That was, at least, until a quiet winter night when everything had finally slowed down. It had been snowing heavily, forcing everyone to take a break from their rebuilding, so many of the residence had opted for a quiet night inside.

Barclay was cleaning up after dinner, many of the residence retiring to their rooms. It was quieter with Aubrey and Dani gone, their absence felt keenly, but according to Mama being able to communicate with Thacker through his old crystal, he knew they were alive and well in Sylvain, doing good work to rebuild as well.

Finishing with the washing up and hanging up his apron, Barclay made himself a cup of tea and had a seat in front of the fireplace in the now-empty lounge area, letting out a contented sigh. Snow was still falling outside, flickering in the outdoor lights surrounding the hot springs as he lost himself in the warm glow of the hearth.

However, it wasn’t long before he heard a pair of footsteps behind him, the sylph craning his next to peer over the back of the sofa to see who it was. Joseph noticed him watching, smiling warmly as he padded towards the table where they kept the coffee maker and electric kettle for the guests. He was dressed down in a comfortable sweater and jeans, his sleeves pushed up to his elbows. He had his glasses on instead of his contacts, which Barclay always thought looks good on him.

“Ah, hello Barclay. I see we both had the same idea tonight.” The agent chuckled, making himself a cup of tea. Barclay knew exactly how the other man took it, watching with amusement as the man dumped at least three spoonfuls of sugar into his drink. It didn’t matter if it was coffee or tea of any variety, Agent Joseph Stern took his hot beverages very sweet. He had to assume the man brushed his teeth well, considering he’d never had anything but a dazzling white smile.

“Guess so, good night for it.” He nodded, scooting over on the sofa as Stern came over to join him, mug in hand. The agent sat beside him, perhaps closer than one normally would with someone who was just a friend, Barclay feeling him sink into the cushion beside him. “It’s weather like this that does a good job in reminding everyone to take a break every once in a while, y’know? Gotta stop all the rush and slow down to mountain time. At this rate, I reckon we’ll be snowed in for a day or two before they can get a plow up here.”

“Goodness, I hope that won’t be too dire of a situation.” Stern glanced at the falling snow out the window with concern, but Barclay waved his worry off.

“Naw, we’re pretty well stocked on food, and even have a generator if the power goes out. Barring a medical emergency, we can keep going for a week up here, especially considering that most of the folks here don’t even need to eat, as long as we have access to the hot springs and I don’t imagine it’s going anywhere. I’d like to see the weather try and freeze that thing over.” 

“That’s good. I suppose it’s really just myself and Ms. Cobb that require physical sustenance then.” Barclay had a sip of his tea as Joseph nodded, the cryptid almost able to see the gears turning in his head. He always got like that whenever he got new information on the slyphs, always looking like he was itching to get out a notebook and write it all down. “If you don’t mind my asking, why do you eat, if you don’t have to?”

Barclay smirked, shaking his head fondly. He loved how curious Stern was about everything, eyes bright with excitement in learning about the creatures he’d been trying to find for so long. It seemed like his goal had never truly been to hunt them, even though that was his original pretense; he just wanted to learn. 

“Why do people do anything that has no functional purpose? It’s fun and it’s delicious, simple as that. My love for cooking stems from just how interesting it is, and how much I enjoy it. Hunger might not factor into it for me, but that’s even more reason to make sure a dish tastes good if that’s going to be the only thing I get from it.”

“That makes sense. It’s more entertainment than anything then, and humans certainly enjoy their own forms of entertainment just as much.” Joseph nodded, leaning back against the cushions.

“For what it’s worth, we enjoy those forms of entertainment too.” Barclay mused, eyes sliding over Joseph’s form as he wet his lips. “We enjoy a lot of things that humans do.”

Joseph met his gaze, a dusting of pink rising to his cheeks from the attention Barclay was giving him. “I see. What um.. What sort of things do you enjoy then?”

“Oh, all sorts of things. Food, sports, books. Good conversation. Spending quality time with handsome FBI agents.” Joseph blushed more brightly, a ruddy hue coming to Barclay’s cheeks as well. Apparently, he was feeling bold and just a little cheeky tonight, but they’d spent so long dancing around each other, he just felt ready for this to go somewhere. “Though that last one might just be me.”

“Barclay, I…” Stern put his cup down, their knees bumping together. The agent bit his lip as Barclay followed suit so he could give Joseph his full attention. “I like spending time with you too. Very much so. All this time, I thought you.. I thought you redirected my interest in you because you didn’t feel the same way, but.. in retrospect, it makes quite a bit of sense why you did. God forbid I discover your secret, no doubt.”

“Yeah, something like that.” Barclay rubbed the back of his neck, sighing softly. “I didn’t think we could be a thing, even though I really wanted it to be. Despite being someone who claimed to be literally hunting me, you’re sweet and charming and after getting to know you all these months, I can’t help but… not have feelings for you, y’know?”

“I feel quite similarly. Admittedly, despite my hinting, I wasn’t sure if a relationship with you should be something I should have been pursuing, what with my work and how I thought I’d eventually be leaving. But, considering my new orders, it seems I’ll now be around for the foreseeable future.” Joseph hesitantly reached down, taking Barclay’s hand.

“Seems that way, yeah.” Barclay jumped when Stern took his hand, not expecting it, but didn’t pull away, running his thumb over Joseph’s fingers. “So.. the whole bigfoot thing doesn’t bother you then?

“Bother me? Goodness, no.” Joseph’s face was aflame, but he was grinning, having to look away with how flustered he was, perhaps a little overwhelmed. “If anything, it’s an added bonus. Here I am, having hunted bigfoot for most of my adult life, only for me to accidentally develop feelings for him without even knowing it. It’s like something out of a fairytale. Trust me, Barclay, this is hardly a hardship.”

“Good to know.” Barclay chuckled, the two of them grinning like love-stricken fools. Another pressing matter came to mind however, Barclay’s smile faltering slightly. “In a similar vein, um.. that’s not all you don’t know about me. And I’m really hoping it doesn’t matter to you, but it’s.. something you need to know if we’re gonna go anywhere with this.”

Joseph blinked, brows knitting together in concern, nodding slowly. “Alright, I’m listening, though I doubt there’s much you could tell me, short of you being a murderer that would make me think less of you.”

“Not a murderer, despite what you seemed to think about me when you got here and didn’t know I was bigfoot. I have a pretty good idea for where those missing persons reports came from, but that can wait until later if that’s alright.” Joseph grimaced sheepishly as he seemed to recall why he’d come to Amnesty in the first place, clearing his throat in embarrassment.

“I’d love to hear it, but you’re right, that can wait until later. What was it you wanted to tell me?” He met Barclay’s eyes, expression open, and understanding. Barclay shrugged, trying to calm his nerves.

“I’m um… I’m also trans? It’s not really a big deal in Sylvain since it’s really common among animal sylphs, but I know humans kinda put more stock into that sort of stuff.” He looked away, struggling to keep eye contact. However, he felt a gentle hand on his cheek, Joseph nudging him back to looking at him. He was smiling, eyes full of affection.

“Barclay, that doesn’t make a difference to me any more than you being bigfoot does. You’re perfect just as you are, and I wouldn’t change anything about you.”

Barclay felt tears prick at the corner of his eyes, overwhelmed by joy at Joseph’s words. Without wasting another moment of time, he leaned in and kissed the man, heart rejoicing as it finally got what it had wanted for so long.

It was the first of many wonderful nights ahead of them, the two men wrapped in each other’s arms as the world outside was blanketed with snow.

#taz amnesty #sternclay #agent stern #taz barclay #taz amnesty spoilers #prompt fill #lemme know if if you think this is too long #and I'll put it partially under a cut #Anonymous

[sublimegentlemanalpaca]

Fields of study within the Fellowship of Eldritchicians...

The various fields of study within the Fellowship of Eldritchicians. All of the three main bodies of Education utilized by the FoE (Al-Amin Academy under Overseer Sinbad Al-Amin, the Maddox Academy under Overseer Morgan Maddox , and the repurposed Dom-Daniel or ‘Grey School’ under overseer Cosmin Lungu) teach this subjects. Every Eldritchician is expected to be proficient (for lack of a better phrase unrelated to DnD and the Like) in the study and sometime practice of at least three of these Fields. Archiving Information/ Verbal Magic Spells and Curses and Words of Power and the like (identification, breaking, casting, etc. identified by a Pin like a magic Wand...or just an Amulet). Taught by skilled Eldritchician available. Advance course Covered by The Eldritch Fellow Alvis Vadim Eldritch. Archivists have a little Iron book pin. Witches covered by Eldritchicians who know the subject, and the Eldritch Fellow Alphaes Viola Eldritch. Magical Items/Cursed/Magical/Mystical/Relics etc. (Identification, Understanding, retrieval, destruction, and Making(from scratch or infusing into already existing objects). Taught by an Eldritchician with said skills. Covered by the Eldritch Fellow Algimantas Varius Eldritch. A broach? ring of ten rings of Gold and Silver around an iron or Orichalcum chalice. The Undead (Ghosts/Vampires/Revenants/ and other such things). Identification, Protection, Capture, extermination, freeing, and so on. Extermination is not the go to option. Taught by skilled available Eldritchician. Advance covered by Eldritch Fellow ‘Captain/Admiral’ Albus Viggo Eldritch. Several Eldritchicians belong to this category. Not Ghost Spirits are all over in studies. Those who study with Albus get a little Lighthouse pin made of Orichalcum. Storm Elementals. Same as above, also covered by Albus. Underwater Civilizations (Mermaids, Finfolk, etc...). Identification, Capture (if necessary), Diplomacy. Also Albus. Might be treated like an elective almost? Faeries and Elves: Identification, Protection,‘etc. The FoE also concerns itself in the Political matters of the Five Courts. Often acting as a neutral party in incidents between the Courts and their familial Queens (all related I mean. I might be using the word incorrectly? Apologies). Often taught by an Eldritchician who is either a Faerie or Elf themselves. Symbol is...oh I had this...A broken Silver Crown with five points and a twig. Or a bit of Flint (Elfshot ?) with the the Silver five pointed crown around it. Or ...wait...A bit of Elfshot embedded in a Silver pin that looks like Faerie Fruit. That should work? Advance studies taught by Eldritch Fellow Alwin V Eldritch, with assistance by Preternatural Intelligentsia (an intelligence and espionage department within the FoE ) Old Rosemary Goodfellow. Demons: Mainly focused on Western, Middle Eastern, and others like Japanese as well among others? (If acceptable? Like I Will not bring Wendigo into all this for example not for me to do). Focused on Identification, defeat, summoning(when necessary) binding and unbinding. Also covers Equivocation. Taught by skilled Eldritchician, advance study covered by the Eldritch Fellow Allan V Eldritch (who will normally make people study the important subject of Astronomy before going into Demons and things). Overseer Sinbad teaches this subject from time to time at his Academy. Not sure of the Symbol yet. Possibly an Owl Feather...or a Pin resembling that one Demon who teaches you Astronomy and Languages. Not certain. Angels and Related Spirits(Identification, Communication , Summoning etc): advance covered by Aldread V Eldritch. Though he requires Alchemy as a requirement before going into Angels (Dude has modeled his look after John Dee). Pin is probably something like that Eye symbol for a Seraphim with Wings. Yokai might just be it’s own subject along with other such region specific beings (again...if acceptable?) Spirits outside of Ghosts, Faeries, etc (Like...Nature Spirits and the like not classified as anything else mentioned) covered by Alfr V Eldritch. Not sure yet of the Pin. Fantastic and Folkloric Fauna and Flora: concerns Creatures from various folklore and mythology. From various sorts of Dragon, The sort of creatures you’d find in a beastiary (spelling?) and such, to Cryptids like Nessie, the Fresno Nightcrawlers? The Jersey Devil (relevant to a particular Eldritchician) And Various Mans be they Owl, Moth, or otherwise. If anyone could point out Folklores and beliefs I should avoid for reasons of Cultural sensitivity (if that’s the right word? Correct me if I’m wrong) please point them out to me. Much appreciated. Extermination is Forbidden. Observation, Identification, Protection (for and from) and so on. This subject has its own Splinter group (Unusual Fellowship Operatives) led by Overseer Archimedes. The subject is taught by skilled Eldritchicians available and the Advance studies covered by the Eldritch Fellow Alaire Vendel Eldritch (whose more the folkloric and urban legend sort) And also the Eldritch Fellow Algernon Valentine Eldritch ( more the Fantastic like Gryphons, Dragons and so on). Mind you in the case of some (the aforementioned Mothman, Gryphons and Dragons for example) there are varying levels of...I think sentience is the word? The one where their intelligence and understanding is human or better. Whatever that word is. Included is the Hide Behind Network. Pin of a Dragon or Manticore for the Fantastic. For Alaire’s subject either a Whitled pin of a Fresno Nightcrawler or a Mothman Feather. Shadows and Primordial Darkness. Goal is identification, understanding retrieval, and such of said beings. No extermination. Only subduing. Not really taught by any Eldritchician...study of this subject is covered by Alaire Vendel Eldritch and usually only broached after the subject of Folkloric and Urban Legendary fauna. The Success of studying it is usually marked by one of two possible things. Either a Shadow Cloak, or more often a Carnwennanian Dagger of Shaded Iron. Eldritch Entities. Your Lovecraftian sort of Horrors. Identification, Protection, how to fend them off and keep them at bay. Possibly how to eliminate? But that’s usually desperate last minute everything else is falling into nothing levels of it’s all over otherwise. Taught by skilled Eldritchicians. Advance by Alewar V Eldritch. There’s also Cartography (for Underwater ruins, Eldritch locations and locales with strange and unusual geography (Mapping Faerie and Elfphame is near impossible). Taught by Overseer Sinbad Al-Amin...and no one Eldritch Fellows is solely concerned with it. Probably have an Octopus head or something (need to check on if Lovecraft’s work is Public domain...I’m sure most is? And if not...well the idea is fair game?) Combat training Just kinda necessary at times? Most Eldritchicians have some form of weapon made of Adamant. Some early Eldritchicians had Orichalcum weapons until the greater capabilities of Orichalcum were discovered and implemented. Covered by skilled Eldritchicians. Overseer Morgan insists on covering this aspect in her Academy. Albus Viggo Eldritch is sometimes involved with figuring out what best suits individual Eldritchicians. Other materials besides Grey Adamant include various sorts of Iron (Cold, Meteoric, Thunderbolt (from actual Thunderbolts), Transcendent (for ghosts) among others), Damascus Steel, and others. Related is Blacksmithing. Making weapons of all these various things. Taught by those who know it, studied by those interested but one student is required to learn it if no one chooses to. Overseer Sinbad, Albus Viggo Eldritch, and sort of Alaire are concerned with this. Sinbad knowing how to make Damascus Steel. Medical. Got to know some first aid. Covered by those Eldritchicians who know it. Eldritch Fellows rarely involved in such subjects due to never really needing such things themselves. Those who are sometimes involved are usually Alvis, Alaire, and Algimantas. The FoE have some cure alls including Legendary Ciders (Idunnian, and Hesperidean mainly), and some stores or Gorgonic Blood. Main Medical staff Include Murdann Elridge/Elric/ Eldritch but not in actual name. Yorick Johnson, and Overseer Cosmin as well concerns himself with healing arts. Medical staff just has that Asclepius thing? Secret Codes and messages are in there somewhere (special studies) as is ESP and such things. Though those don’t have advance studies with Eldritch Fellows and are covered just by other Eldritchicians. Don’t think Gods on their own will be covered...Probably? I don’t know if that’s a step...off or too far or some such? I don’t know. Hm...Okay...I think...I think that’s just about everything? Yeah. There’s some overlap in subjects due to actual overlap in subjects or due to Eldritchicians available for Teaching (not set usually. More of a rotation thing? Maybe?) and the overlap in their proficiencies. So there’s that set down as it is. For now. Probably won’t be too much change. Make of this what you will. Al, the Chronographing Cottager and Prince of Naming

#My writing #My OCs #FoE #the FoE #narrative logistics? #Sinbad Al-Amin #Morgan Maddox #Cosmin Longu #The Fellowship of Eldritchicians