#CO-HOST TRIES TO RECOVER

[fangirlies]

Mission accomplished- (x.t)

Pairing: Xavier Thorpe x fem!reader

Summary: You only had one mission. That was to get Enid and Ajax to ask each other to the Rave'n. But you couldn't achieve it without a particular tortured artist's help.

Warnings: fluff. some cursing. (Please let me know if i should be aware of anything else)

Word count: 2k

Is there such thing as too much fluff? with me, never. Feedback is always welcomed! (It’ll make me feel better about spending the whole day on this writing) enjoy friends!

Tortured artist hm’ you thought to yourself. Why was he known as a tormented and mysterious guy? What was his story? The entire quad blurred, and the only thing you appeared to focus on was the tall brunette boy concentrating on his mural. It was beautiful you must admit. He appeared to be completely immersed in his painting. It wasn’t the first time you saw him completely fixated on his work. And it definitely wasn’t the first time you noticed him.

“Um hello… earth to y/n!” You heard snapping as you focused on Enid rather than the boy who had suddenly become a fixture in your mind.

"Yes yes, I heard you. I think you should definitely ask Ajax to the Rave'N" you weren't entirely paying attention to your best friend's 10 minute rant about reversing roles and taking pride in asking a guy to the dance for a change, but you picked up a few things here and there before your mind wandered elsewhere. Something to do with feminism? You weren't sure, but it seemed like a good idea.

You knew both Enid and Ajax had feelings for each other. In fact, everyone knew but they seemed to be the only ones who couldn’t see it. Isn't that cliche? The boy likes the girl. The girl likes the boy. They were naïve to the fact that their nerves were standing in the way of everything.

As Enid's best friend since the day you started at Nevermore, you were well aware of her crush on Ajax. It was adorable. She stared at him as if he were the only one who could complement her loud personality. She couldn't get enough of him, so you made it your goal to ensure Enid gets a happy ending. You knew she deserved it the most.

You weren’t thrilled about this Rave’N dance the school was hosting. As an outcast in your old normie school, you never got to experience these kind of things. You weren't planning to start now, no matter how much Enid pleaded.

"Are you sure it won't make me look desperate? I don’t want to ruin things with him.” Her brow wrinkled in intensity. You knew how much this meant to her.

"I don't think so, E; I think he'll be glad!" You reassured her while comforting her shoulder. "You have two and a half days to gather the courage to ask him," you said, smiling as you collected your books from the table and tossed them into your book bag.

------

The school bell rung, indicating the end of the day's final class. It also marked the start of your master plan. Mission: "Get E and A in the same room... alone."

“Psst hey, Xavier!” You really had no idea why you were whispering in the hallway. There was no one around you anymore as you tried to catch up to the tall and lanky boy. Xavier glanced around, a puzzled expression on his face. Sure, your two best friends were madly in love, but that didn't necessarily mean you and Xavier had to be friends. Acquaintances? Sure. Give each other a quick smile and a nod as you pass in the hallways? Fine. Meet in an empty corridor after class? Never.

"Hey," you finally got to him. Breathing heavily. Your gaze wandered over the attractive boy in front of you as you attempted to recover your breath. Man, he sure was perfect - even from up close. His sage-colored eyes drew you in. His long brown hair had been pulled back into a low bun. Free of imperfections, you thought.

"Did you have a question for me?" The 6-foot giant catches your attention by waving his hands. You shook your head, hoping to clear your mind of your thoughts of him. You were on a mission and were losing sight of it.

"I'm sorry." You took a second look around to make sure the coast was clear. "Enid has been dying for Ajax to invite her to the Rave'n. We all know Ajax is too pussy to ask her. So, I'm thinking we could finally force them to ask each other. tonight. The night shade library. Tell Ajax to meet you there and I’ll do the same with E. This needs to work or I'll spend the next few days listening to her overthink. So, what do say?” Repeating the plan out loud did sound crazy but you didn’t care. You wanted to see your best friend happy.

For a few moments, the boy was deafeningly silent. Perhaps you did sound a little insane.

"I'll do anything to stop hearing Ajax talk about his massive crush on her. I can’t take it anymore. I'm glad to hear that you're in the same boat as me. How does 7:30 sound to you?" Your expression brightened as your scheme began to take shape. Half of your grin was caused by the fact that this was your longest conversation with Xavier.

You two exchanged phone numbers to ensure the success of your plan. You both decided on the excuse you'd give and the time. Everything seemed to be going according to plan.

It was now 7:15 p.m.

From x.t- 7:15 A and X headed to nsl

With these code phrases, you couldn't help but chuckle. He was taking his role seriously. Gosh, he was so stupid.

To x.t- 7:16 Copy that, x. E is wrapping up and we’ll be headed your way

You continued his silly game and stuck your phone in your back pocket.

“Hey E, just wanted to say thanks for coming with me to the library. I really need that book for an essay, and I was scared to go alone," you continued your lie, resting against the bathroom door frame.

“Of course! What are best friends for if not to scare monsters away with their colorful claws?" Enid remarked, extending her sharp claws of various colors. She'll forgive your lie once she realizes what the night has in store for her.

After slipping out of your dorm room and into the hallway, the two of you discussed the latest school gossip.

To x.t- 7:28  E and I are about to enter. remember our plan. 

You hit send as the Edgar Allen Poe statue came to vision. Enid snapped her fingers twice, causing the statue to recoil and reveal a stairwell leading to the library. To Enid's surprise, she found herself face to face—no, face to chest—with Xavier.

“What the heck are you doing here?” She inquired.

"What exactly are YOU doing here?" You were amused by Xavier's stab at reverse psychology. He didn't even wait for the blonde girl to respond before walking away and vanishing into the quad.

"God, he's always so weird," she sneered as she walked down the stairs. You weren't following her down again, much to her dismay. Instead, the statue had been closed. Keeping the poor girl from fleeting.

"She'll thank me later," you reasoned as you dusted your hands. The rest of the night was up to them; your work here was already done. You started walking back to the quad and immediately jumped up in fear as you turned the corner.

“Did it work?” The towering boy emerged. He stuck around to see if your plan was a hit or miss.

You smacked his chest for inadvertently scaring you. "Yes, scaring me worked." You shrieked as you placed your palm over your heart, hoping to slow its pulse.

The giant laughed at your theatrics, revealing his perfectly white teeth. You realized that was the first time you'd ever seen him laugh. He was sexy when he wore the mysterious "bad boy" look, but this was a new look for him that you admired even more. His laughter had to be contagious. You started to laugh at this point, causing your cheeks to grow a crimson pink.

“Yes, E and A are both in position” you joked with a stern voice. Xavier nodded and walked up to a picnic table in the quad. You didn't fall far behind. He sat on the table, staring up at the sky. The quad possessed a glass ceiling, making it ideal for stargazing. You sat in the typical student seating rather than where your meal should have been put.

“You see that bright tiny circle up there?” Xavier gestured to the dark sky. You squinted your eyes and followed the path of his finger.

“Is that a star?” You questioned. "It's Venus," he explained. “Because Venus's orbit lies closer to the Sun than the Earth's, it tends to get lost in the Sun's glare. It's only visible for a few months of the year- when it's the furthest away from the Sun."

You stared at Venus in awe. It made you smile since it gleamed brighter than the other stars in the night sky. You returned your attention to Xavier, who was still gazing passionately at the planet. The fact that he was so familiar with the topic warmed your heart.

"Did you know it gets its name from the Roman goddess? It's the planet of love, beauty, and art," he says, his attention now fixed on you. When his gaze fell on you, you swore your heart skipped a beat. For a split second you wondered if you were dreaming. Or if this was a scene from The Notebook.

“How do you know all this?” You inquired. Moving alongside him on top of the picnic table.

Xavier shrugged his shoulders and turned to face Venus. "I know little about everything. I can't really tell you how I know things." The mysterious boy spoke up. Tonight was unexpected. Surprising was a better word to describe it. You never imagined it would turn out this way. You and Xavier talking, let alone star gazing. It was all strange and yet soothing at the same time. You felt safe next to him.

“Anyway, are you going to the Rave’n?” He leaned back on the table and ran his fingers through his hair, clearing it from his face.

“Me? nah, that's only for the pretty girls who have guys lining up and begging them to be their date. My mission was just to convince Enid to go." You stated the truth. You had no intention of going. Regardless of how much Enid tried to persuade you. You knew it was only a competition for guys to show up with the hottest date and for girls to show up with their finest dress. Not your scene.

“As a pretty girl yourself - I’m a little surprised you don’t have guys begging you to be their date,” he said standing up. You lowered your head to keep him from seeing the flush on your cheeks and the faint smile that threatened to leave your mouth. Did he call you pretty?

He stood in front of your seated body. Hands shoved deep in the pockets of his hoodie. You could see the cheeky smile he was now giving you as you raised your head.

“What?” Your brow wrinkled as you questioned. Small smile still trying to poke through.

"Well," he said, looking behind him. "I guess I'm first in line."

You drew your brows even closer together and tilted your head. You didn’t understand.

"Would you be willing to go with me to the dance?"

Yup. Definitely like a scene from The Notebook. You eventually cracked a smile, and you didn't care if he could see the blazing red hue on your face. Although you weren't interested in these events, how could you refuse Xavier Thorpe? THE tortured artist.

"I'd - I'd enjoy that, X," you murmured, giggling slightly. The smile that made your heart sink reappeared on his face.

“You guys are assholes!” A familiar voice came from the opposite direction. You focused your attention on the gorgon and the blonde girl approaching you. “I was absolutely shitting myself when you left me alone in there” Enid playfully tickled your sides when you found your way off the table you were previously sitting at.

Ajax had his arm around Enid's shoulder. You and Xavier exchanged a quick glance as you realized what must have happened. Knowing that your mission was successful.

"Soooo. . ?" Xavier pressed, seeking the answer we already knew.

Ajax chuckled and lowered his head. “Yes man, I asked her to be my girlfriend”

A loud squeal escaped your mouth as you hugged Enid. The two of you were jumping up and down like girls in middle school when their crush passed by them in the halls.

"Wait," Enid said quickly, turning to face her partner, "does this mean we're going to the Rave'n together?" You three were laughing at her. Of course, it meant they were going together, but to be fair, she was excited and couldn't think straight. Her boyfriend nodded while rolling his eyes and returned his arm on her shoulders.

"Well, I guess we'll see you there," Xavier said, his gaze melting you.

"Wait, wait, wait, you two?" Enid extended two fingers in the direction of you and Xavier. Her expression was priceless.

"Are you going to the Rave'n? Together?” Ajax added. If you didn't know any better, you'd think he'd stoned himself based on the shocked look on his face.

Both you and Xavier nodded your heads, a silly grin on your faces. It was now Enid's turn to shriek and draw you in for a hug.

“Oh. My. Goodness. My bestest friend and my boyfriend's best friend? We're going on a double date? I can't believe this! I've got to tell Wednesday, she called it from the minute y/n transferred here."

Enid couldn't stop raving about this "double date" for the following two days. You and Xavier joked at the fact that your mission was accomplished, but it came with a new never-ending topic to annoy you with.

Authors note: Quick! guess my favorite planet and why! I started this december 11 and got tired of packing last night so i finished it so i can feed you girlies before i leave on my trip. 

As always— requests are always open! Share your thoughts! Talk to me! Get something off your mind! ✨

[plural-culture-is]

[ TW FOR ABLEISM 👍]

Plural Culture is trying to come out to your biological family as plural by unmasking and using your name in a signoff when messaging them because you AREN'T the original guy , you're a host ...

... only for them to threaten to institutionalise you for 72 hours so you can be observed like a fucking animal , say that your existence as an alter is highly triggering and confusing to them , fakeclaim you ("you're either doing this to fit in with your friends , and if you AREN'T faking it you need to fix it.") , and threaten you with an internet blackout as well as threatening to take you to therapy with the goal of basically forcing final fusion upon you . (this is right after we resplit at least 12 different people who WERE trying to fuse but they were CLEARLY hurting. they HAD to resplit to recover.)

so now , you're stuck masking in the real world , and you've been locked in front since .

others are co-conscious , and i have at least ONE other guy with me , but I've been stuck for days and I'm tired . I'm tired and anxious and I wanna go live with my partner systems asap. sick of this fuckin' house , man. idk why i tried ☹👎

.

[billys-pretty-babe]

The Angel

Pairings : Billy Hargrove x Fem!Reader

Summary : 2 years have passed since Billy was used as a host for the Mind Flayer and as soon as he recovered, he went back to California where he met you.

Picture from Pinterest

Warnings : Swearing, Karen Wheeler mentions

Word Count : 1.2k

A/N : I couldn't find a gif of him on the floor of the sauna but to me it always looked like ripped away angel wings.

You had always noticed the scars that littered his body, especially the identical large scars on his shoulder blades. Billy was insecure around you at first before he warmed up to you and now he's more than willing to take his shirt off around you, hell he hates the feeling of shirts, claims he's allergic to them.

It was summer time in Santa Barbara, the fan in your room on the highest setting and the two of you lounged around. "We should go see Top Gun." Billy looked at you and scowled, "No, you just want to see Tom Cruise shirtless." You rolled your eyes, "I'm sick of shirtless men," you said, poking fun at him.

"Oh really," your boyfriend asked as he flexed and the scars became slightly more prominent. He never talked about them but Billy noticed the way you looked at them, you never stared, you were taught that staring was rude and disrespectful. "I got these in Hawkins." You nodded, "That's the Indiana place right?" He nodded and laid down, resting his head on your black pillow.

"There was creepy shit in that town, like supernatural shit." You nodded and held his hand. "Um, it was during the summer, I can't really remember the date but I think I was fresh eighteen and I was a lifeguard at the community pool." He furrowed his brow, trying to remember some of the details, sure he had been told about things but he still tried to fill in the gaps on his own.

"There was this mom, Karen was her name, I was going to meet up with her one night at a motel six and on the way to the motel, something hit my car and shattered my windshield, it was a spiderweb shatter. I was at this abandoned warehouse and I was dragged down the stairs by this shadow monster thing." He looked at your face, trying to gage your reaction, ready for the laughs, claiming that he was funny for coming up with an absurd story but it never came.

He was met with soft eyes, eyes that were on his face trying to look for any signs of discomfort. "It did something to me, I can't remember, no matter how hard I try. I had trouble going to work because it didn't like the heat and my skin would burn and I'd get these black veins all over my body." He swallowed the lump in his throat and you rubbed his knuckles.

"It fed off energy so I gathered people, um my co-worker Heather, I don't know what happened to her afterwards. The scars on my back are from a fight in a sauna against this freaky little girl, she was friends with Max." You nodded, knowing who Max was. "They never healed, I'm not sure why. July fourth came and I don't know if you ever heard about it, probably not, I doubt it made the news here but the mall burned down." You nodded, "I heard about it, they said there were two casualties." Billy nodded, "Obviously there weren't, actually, I'm not sure about Hopper but that freaky kid, her name's El or Jane, the kids called her both."

"I was going to sacrifice her and she did this weird shit and got into my head and I felt human again for the first time in a while, even before I got turned into that weird monster. I didn't want anything to happen to her so I was going to sacrifice myself, Max was in the mall with her friends. I was horrible to her and I felt like it was the only way to show her that I cared about her. The monster hit me, here, here and here," he said as he pointed to the scars on his chest, sides and abdomen.

"Apparently someone closed the gate or whatever, I don't remember what they called it but basically, the shadow monster wasn't able to penetrate deep enough to kill me, that's how I got all of these scars." You nodded and looked at each one. "I'm sorry," you said and he looked at you. "What're you apologizing for?" You shrugged, "I don't know, I just feel like I should be sorry. Sorry that it happened to you, I don't know." Billy shook his head, "If none of that happened, I wouldn't be here with you so I guess in a way, I'm glad it happened, Just wish I didn't have the physical reminders." You nodded.

You traced some of the scars, "Your back scars remind me of an angel." He raised a brow, "Baby, I'm far from an angel," he said flirtatiously and winked at you making you laugh at him, your cheeks heating up at the reminder of the previous night that was spent with him. "They remind me of angel wings, like they were taken from you." Billy looked at you before laughing, "You're so cheesy." You groaned and flicked his nose and he laughed as he scrunched it.

"Too bad I can't call you Angel since you already call me that." Billy laughed, "Yup, it's taken, can't be used." You both laughed and he opened his arms for you to lay on his chest and you gladly got comfortable on him, putting your head under his chin. "B." He hummed, "Do you wish you could go back to Hawkins?" "No, I'm glad I got out of it. I wish I could see my sister but she'll be eighteen in a few years, she writes to me a lot plus she's coming to visit in July. She wants to meet you." You smiled against his neck, "You talk about me?" He laughed, "Yeah, of course I do, sent her one of our polaroids too. She thinks you're pretty." You smiled.

"She did mention that when she visits in July she doesn't want to hear happy screams. Whatever that means," he said, acting clueless. You both laughed and he held you tightly, you noticed he did that a lot more lately. He yawned loudly and dramatically smacked his lips and you laughed at him. "Wanna stay the night?" "Is your dad gonna try and chase me over your fence? I can't jump over it again, I ripped a pair of my pants doing that." You bit your lip, trying so hard to keep the laugh in.

"He's in Arizona for business. Won't be back until August and mom has the night shift." He nodded and leaned over to turn off the lamp as he pulled the sheet over your body, knowing that if he got too hot, he would start to panic. He felt your hand search for his and he felt you smile against him as you intertwined your fingers. Your breathing evened out and he let out a happy sigh, he was healing, the physical healing was done and over with a year ago but he was mentally and emotionally healing from everything he's ever gone through.

He still hasn't talked about his dad but maybe he will, Baby Billy still needed to heal after all. You held him slightly tighter in your sleep and he knew you were dreaming and he smiled and kissed the top of your hair before shifting a little and falling asleep with the moonlight being the only light in the room.

[pawborough]

Hey all!

First off, I want to disclose with full transparency that I’ve had a pretty severe case of “long Covid” for the better part of a month with a co-morbid case of bronchitis and a general throat infection. This put a lot of things out of whack and I do apologize. I got hit with the "tri-power beam." 

Without getting into the weeds on details, I had three scary hospital visits and a bedbound holidays, which greatly impacted my ability to work with the team and did set us back. I’ve since mostly recovered, but I still have a nasty cough, a general wheeze, and cannot use my full voice. I believe this may unfortunately end up impacting my breathing for the rest of my life, but hey I'm still kicking! 

Please stay safe, sanitary, and wear protection around other people.  

Full disclosure! This also impacted my ability to address this earlier, and to give updates, but after recovering I took some time to speak with people and conduct research. 

After speaking with experts, we’ve decided that our best course of action is to refund all previous raffle tickets and instead conduct the contest as a free sweepstakes!

There seemed to be conflicting information on our best steps forward, and at times we had experts who gave us conflicting advice or weren't certain, so we decided it was best to not base any further action on uncertain information. 

What does that mean for you? If you previously purchased a ticket, you will be refunded within 24 hours. If anyone attempts to purchase tickets, they will immediately be refunded and given a note to the sweepstakes. 

Overall, we do apologize for this flip which we are at fault for. My sickness in general made it more difficult to tend to these things earlier and I realize that is quite inconvenient. Thank you so much for your patience. 

Onto the re-host!

Prizes

For 1st place, the winner will get everything included in the Design an Accessory tier!  Valued $600 at time of purchase

This reward comes with all of the unlimited tiers available on our Kickstarter IN ADDITION to an Early Bird key! All of which includes the following: 

X1 Early Bird beta key 

X1 Beta key

X2 Luna Stones 

X1 Beta (fauna)

X1 Phantowl (fauna)

X1 Toshi (fauna)

X1 Featherbeau (fauna)

X1 Kitsugi (fauna)

X1 Protogear (accessory)

X1 Creeping Thicket (accessory)

X1 Necromantic Cloak (accessory)

X1 Iridescent Trail (accessory) X1 Gilded Helm (accessory)

X1 Sacred Scepter (accessory)

X1 Electra Crest (profile decoration)

X1 Orchard Crest (profile decoration)

X1 Angelic Crest (profile decoration)

X1 Demonic Crest (profile decoration)

X1 Opalescent Fountains (backdrop)

X1 Onyx Composites (backdrop)

X1 Moonstone pool (decor)

X1 Obsidian Sentry (decor) 

In addition, this reward provides the opportunity to design an accessory* which will be available onsite at launch! The winner will receive x10 copies of their accessory, as well as their name credited in the flavor text. 

*As explained in our campaign: this is a collaboration with our art team, meaning the final design illustration will be at the discretion of our team, and revisions from the winner will be limited. 

For 2nd place, the winner will receive a Monarch Bundle!  Valued 80$ at time of purchase

This reward comes with all of the unlimited tiers available on our Kickstarter which includes the following: 

X2 Beta keys

X2 Luna Stones 

X1 Beta (fauna)

X1 Phantowl (fauna)

X1 Toshi (fauna)

X1 Featherbeau (fauna)

X1 Kitsugi (fauna)

X1 Protogear (accessory)

X1 Creeping Thicket (accessory)

X1 Necromantic Cloak (accessory)

X1 Iridescent Trail (accessory) X1 Gilded Helm (accessory)

X1 Sacred Scepter (accessory)

X1 Electra Crest (profile decoration)

X1 Orchard Crest (profile decoration)

X1 Angelic Crest (profile decoration)

X1 Demonic Crest (profile decoration)

X1 Opalescent Fountains (backdrop)

X1 Onyx Composites (backdrop)

X1 Moonstone pool (decor)

X1 Obsidian Sentry (decor)

Lastly, all who enter will receive x1 free Romanovtsa* as consolation for entry. 

*Only x1 allotted per person regardless of ticket number. 

The Romanovtsa is a common fauna which is not meant to give those who enter a significant advantage over those who don’t. 

How to Enter 

Fill out this Google form with the necessary information. 

That’s it! No purchase necessary for entry! 

This time around, users may only enter once per individual. You do not need to be a backer to enter. 

To be transparent: Much like most anonymous events, we cannot stop you from proxying with a second email address for yourself, but we want to ask you to upkeep an honor system in fairness to other users. 

Dates

The sweepstakes start today 01/09/24 and will end next month 02/09/24 at noon EST! 

After which, all remaining attempts at entry will be considered null. 

Good luck! 

Can I Still Financially Support the Project?

We’ve gotten this question a few times, and for now simply donating to our PayPal and telling your friends about us is the best way to support. We’ll look into support bundles in the future!

Unrelated Check In 

Lastly, I want to fill in on where we are with Longhairs! 

Unfortunately, I got sick basically right before the final sprint to get them to the creator. Our goal now is to have them this month as we make up for the lost time, but once again I do apologize. It is frustrating beyond belief that this happened in the middle of work! 

We’re doing our best to catch up now. I got put really out of commission and it's quite regrettable for a small team. But we're bouncing back!

This next official check in, we'll be discussing dedicated alpha and our plans for the year. Lots of exciting things as we go into this new year! 

Thank you!

[late-to-the-party-81]

To sleep, perchance to dream

AN: And here we are - 30th October, the penultimate day of Kinktober. And it wouldn't be me if I didn't go slightly off piste and go with niche character, or in this case, characters. I hope you enjoy!

I’m using dialogue prompts from this post by @nightprompts and they can be found emboldened in the text.

Kinktober 2022 Masterlist

Main Masterlist

Beta’d by @sidepartskinnyjeans

Dividers by @firefly-graphics, banners and covers by me.

Grouping: Eddie Brock x Reader x Venom

CW: Somnophilia, Tentacle (well tendril) sex, CNC, kink negotiations, exophilia, throuple, banter, explicit sexual content 

Word count: 2k

You knew when you broached the subject how they’d react; Eddie with concern and some trepidation, and Venom with outright glee and enthusiasm.

“Are you going to sleep now, Bean? How long until I…we can start?”

He coiled around your body, squeezing you gently, his eyes large, his mouth wide. You brought your hand to your mouth to cover your giggle. The symbiote really was adorable sometimes, reminding you of a large puppy, or a toddler, in how he latched onto a fun idea and wouldn’t let go.

“Slow down V. We have to all be in on this idea - comfortable with it.”  As you turned your attention to Eddie you were aware of Venom’s head resting on top of yours, no doubt his gaze aimed heavily at his host.

“So, what do you say,baby? Up for something a bit…risque? We don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

Poor Eddie looked a little flustered, although he often did anyway, and you worried for a moment that this idea of yours went a bit too far for him. However, there was a flush creeping up his neck, and if you weren’t mistaken, his sweatpants looked a little…tented. You tried not to smile. He was definitely in, he just wanted to take some time to think it through before saying yes.

“I…well, I just want to make sure that you’ve thought it through, cos we… I don’t want to hurt you.”

He gave you a wan smile and you felt your heart trip. 

Venom swung around, his head hovering between you, his annoyance palpable.

“I do not want to hurt our little Cocoa Bean either. I am not stupid, Eddie…”

You cupped Venom’s face, turning him back towards you.

“No-one is calling to you stupid, V. Are they, Eddie!”

You shot a pointed look at you human boyfriend who shook his head and waved his hands.

“No, nope. No stupid people… aliens… here.”

With that little speed bump smoothed over, you continued your conversation with Eddie.

“I trust you. I trust both of you. I wouldn’t be here at all if I didn’t. And…” You smiled at them both in turn. “It could be really fun. You in Eddie?”

He smiled back, drawing you closer to sit in his lap and Venom coiled himself around the pair of you.

“I’m in, sweetheart. If you want it, I’ll do it. And you’re right, it could be fun.

“Hooray! Eddie doesn’t suck!”

“V, be nice.”

You’d organised your plan for a few days later; a Friday night so you’d have the whole weekend to recover and decompress.

Eddie and you had had a few more discussions about what was to come, V getting very grumbly when you had to calm down his exuberance. But you were excited, and you knew Eddie was as well.

Coming out of the bathroom, dressed in a lacey negligée, that barely concealed any of your body, you smiled coyly at your partners, who were hovering in the doorway. Sashaying across the room, you perched on the side of the bed, swallowing down the two tablets you’d placed on the bedside table earlier.

“Come lay with me, you two.”

You opened your arms, welcoming them to you. Eddie had on a pair of black briefs, that snuggly hugged his hips. You lay down, Eddie’s head against your breast and Venom’s disembodied head resting on your stomach.

“It’ll take about 30 mins. And you don’t have to start straight away.”

“But we want to!”

You chuckled, Venom’s head bouncing as you did.

“I will wake up eventually, you know, if it gets to a certain level of, umm, roughness.”

Venom just grinned at you, saliva dripping from his fangs, in a look that would have been terrifying if you didn’t know him, didn’t understand his intent.

You yawned, the tablets starting to take effect, and you snuggled down into the mattress. Eddie’s voice rumbled deeply across your chest.

“And you’re still happy to go ahead, sweetheart?”

“Totally green, baby. Totally green.”

Forty mins later and you were fast asleep, your entire body relaxed in a chemically assisted slumber. Eddie looked down at you, his excitement warring with his trepidation. You wanted this. You were happy for him and V to do this to you. And the idea, well he (and V, obviously) had already jacked off in the shower more than a handful of times in the last few days just thinking about it.

“Stop being a pussy, Eddie. Our Bean is asleep now, look!”

A tendril erupted from Eddie’s body and shoved at you. You just rocked from the momentum, snuffled a bit and went back to your quiet snores.

“V! Don’t do that!”

“But I was showing you. We can start!”

Eddie rolled his eyes as Venom licked his lips.

“I know you want to Eddie….your cock is awake!”

“Fuck’s sake.” He blew out a shaky breath. “Okay. Okay. Just like normal. She’s just asleep.”

He reached out, and placed his hand on your calf. He marvelled at the softness of your skin. You’d gone all out for this fantasy, and realising that made his cock chub up more. When he slid his hand up, over your knee to your thigh, and you didn’t stir, his touch became bolder. His other hand found your other leg, and he rubbed up and down, massaging your lush flesh.

One of Venom’s tendrils appeared next to Eddie’s hand, wrapping around your thigh, snake like, creeping up towards the small lace panties you had on under the negligée. A second tendril travelled up your body, over the sheer fabric to curl over and around your breast, the tip of it over your nipple. The tendril rippled, rhythmically, and a small breathy sigh left your mouth.

Venom sniffed the air and grinned at Eddie.

“Bean likes it. She is leaking. It smells good. When do I get to taste?”

“Take it slow, you parasite. Jeez.”

“Do not call me that, Eddie. If Bean were not here I would…”

“Yeah, yeah, you big baby. It’s just that we’ve got all night. Don’t be so impatient.”

Eddie’s hands moved higher and he leant forward, pressing his lips to the skin just above the swell of your breasts.

“You’re so beautiful, sweetheart.”

He knew you couldn’t hear him, but he was used to talking to you in bed; it would have felt weirder not to.

“Can’t believe you’re letting us do this. I wonder when you’ll wake up. What will be the thing that pulls you from your slumber?”

He sealed his mouth over the breast that Venom wasn’t massaging, sucking at it, gauzy lace and all, flicking his tongue over your nipple. You sighed again, and your legs shifted, moving further apart.

“I am going to remove Bean’s underthings. I want to taste her.”

From the corner of his eye, Eddie saw Venom’s tendrils grip the waistband of your panties, and with a tug, rip them from your body.

“Careful! She paid good money for this outfit.”

“I will buy her another one”

“You don’t have any money, idiot. How are you going to do that?”

“I am not an idiot. I will just eat someone who does have money, and use theirs.”

“Eating people is not the solution to every problem, you know.”

“It might be.”

Shaking his head, Eddie decided to return to worshipping your body. He moved to your other breast, now released by Venom, and the symbiote wrapped himself around your prone legs, lifting them and holding them wide so he had full access to your pussy. 

Eddie heard Venom growl and glanced down to see his long tongue worming its way between your legs. Even in a deep sleep you reacted to the slick intrusion, your hips jerking and your mouth letting out a deep moan. Venom pulled back with a grin.

“She’s so sweet, Eddie. Come, taste.”

Eddie moved down your body, slipping between your thighs and burying his head in between them, his tongue tracing a similar, if not so deep, path. He groaned as he tasted you. He wasn’t surprised when he felt Venom’s tongue sliding in beside his own, felt Venom’s touch caressing his skin. They worked in tandem, gently coaxing the pleasure from your body. Your breathing increased, letting out small gasps in your sleep, until your body trembled and the pair felt you gush onto them.

Venom withdrew his tongue, and, manifesting more tendrils, worked to pull Eddie’s brief’s from his body.

“Fuck her, Eddie. She wants it. Want’s us!”

Eddie repositioned himself, leaning over your body, taking in the slight sheen of sweat on your skin. With Venom holding your lower body aloft, it was easy for him to sink into the warm clutch of your pussy.

“Oh, fuck!”

Your body was relaxed and welcomed him easily. He started off with slow, firm strokes, wanting to enjoy this as much as he could before you inevitably woke. He watched Venom’s tendrils cover you more; coiling around your stomach, and your breasts. Sliding down under your ass. 

Even if Eddie hadn’t heard the small whimper leave your lips, signalling that Venom had wormed his way into your tight hole, he’d have known it by the way he could feel the roiling tendrils press up against his cock through the thin wall separating them.

“V! Shit! Jesus!”

Your moans were becoming louder, your movements more pronounced and both Eddie and Venom knew you’d wake soon. Eddie’s thrusting lost rhythm momentarily when he felt Venom wrapping around his hips, trailing lower and he looked down to see inky blackness cockscrewing around his cock as it moved in and out of you. Venom squeezed, but before Eddie could utter a sound, his long tongue curled into his host’s mouth.

This was the image you woke to, a delirious Eddie rutting into you, Venom invading his mouth and a writhing fullness in your ass. A guttural moan had barely left your lips before a tendril pushed between them, gagging you, overstimulating you.

Your orgasm wracked your body, the muscles in your pussy and ass spasming, squeezing down hard on the intrusions. You squirted, covering your lovers in your spend. Venom pulled himself for your and Eddie’s mouths, allowing the latter to lean over you, and press his lips to yours. As your tongues tangled and your hands grabbed Eddie’s short hair, you felt Venom slipping his tongue into your mouth, a sloppy three-way kiss - he didn’t like being left out.

You could also feel Venom rippling around Eddie’s cock inside you, and you weren’t surprised when a few moments later Eddie let out a deep growl, filling you with his cum.

He dropped to the bed next to you, looking fucked out and sweaty. Slowly and gently, Venom retracted his tendrils from their hold on and in your body. He licked them, making appreciative noises, before they retreated back into Eddie’s body.

Your head was fuzzy, the sleeping tablets still trying to coax your body into their embrace.

“Woah!” Next to you, Eddie snorted. 

“Woah, indeed. You feeling okay, sweetheart?”

Not sure you could string a coherent sentence together, you nodded and then turned your body into Eddie’s, nuzzling in close. Feeling a butting at you hand, you lifted your arm to let Venom slip under it, joining the group hug.

“Was great. Sleep now.”

“You are going back to sleep, Bean? Does that mean you want to do it again?”

“No, you idiot. She means actual, real sleep. All of us.”

“I… am… not… an idiot!”

“Well stop acting like one.”

As Eddie and Venom continued to bicker, you allowed a soft smile to spread across your face and let yourself fall back to sleep; part of the strangest throuple ever.

Tag list: @christywantspizza @jobean12-blog @tuiccim @yarnforbrains @maladaptivexxdaydreaming @krissy25 @bodeckersdiamonddoll @goldylions @ohsymphony @luxeavenger @wheezy-stucky @doasyoudesireandlive @chemtrails-club @sheismarvelousworld

[romirola]

Headcanons for the Shaw Pack Co-hosting a Red Moon Association Blood Drive

Another blood donation, another day I lowkey hope that the nurse who takes my blood is named Vincent, Sam, William, or variations thereof. I didn’t see any Solaires at the drive today, but I’m sure they were around somewhere.  

I’ve posted about my headcanon that Sweetheart donates blood both on tumblr and in a fic called Cross My Heart. Then, I ended up fleshing out a little bit more about vampiric blood drives that the Red Moon Association, a charity founded by William and run in part by Sam, in a fic called Packed with Love. In that fic, David expressed the Shaw Pack’s commitment to supporting the RMA’s mission to provide a constant supply of blood to vampires living outside of cornerstone cities who don’t have access to blood bags or live donation events. I started thinking about what that support might look like… 

David: David serves as the recovery area attendant. He ensures that after people donate, they feel well and are provided ample hydration (water and a variety of juices) and snacks (including pretzels, peanut butter crackers, fruit gummies, chocolate-chip mini muffins, and more.) David selects the options with care, always making sure that everyone will like something. Occasionally, donors get shy about helping themselves to food and drinks. David, however, is not shy about informing donors of the importance of eating and drinking afterwards. Likewise, if a donor tries to skip out before they recover for  the recommended 15 minutes, David will persuasively remind them to sit down and wait for their own good. If someone begins to feel faint or dizzy, David will be at their side and call over a healer/healthcare provider to evaluate. When there is a lull or a no-show for an appointment, David rolls up his sleeve and provides his own blood through the traditional donation method, even though he detests medical procedures.  

Angel: Angel volunteers to give blood, though as an informed unempowered person, they actually opt to provide a live feeding as their donation. They had a vampire phase when they were younger and never really got over it. Angel likes to assure the vampires, especially the ones who were turned recently, that the process can be enjoyable for the donor and that a vampire should never feel guilty for taking blood ethically, because that’s how they survive. Their friendly, extraverted nature not only helps the vampire who feeds on them that day, but also encourages vampires to return for future live feedings. Angel’s preferred biting spot in the left side of their neck. 

Asher: Asher is responsible for deciding on and distributing the incentive for donors. He takes this job seriously, spending hours designing an exclusive T-Shirt, a trendy thermos, a handy tote bag, or something else, plus a matching sticker set, that sports the Red Moon Association logo. Once he finishes creating the product, Asher also ensures that he orders enough items for every appointment (plus extra in case there are walk-ins) in every size available so all donors can feel excited to show off their new merchandise. Asher will also donate, as long as Babe reminds him to schedule an appointment in time. He is open to donating either through a traditional method or as part of a live feeding. 

Babe: Babe serves as the one who checks donors in when they arrive. Babe has the job down to an art. Armed with two touchscreens/scanners, their trusty calendar, a mug for of pens, a stack of informational pamphlets about donation options, best practices, and the RMA’s mission, Babe makes sure everyone knows exactly what is happening, when it is going to happen, and where to sit as they wait for it to happen. Like David, Babe will also donate via the traditional method to fill in any gaps, though sometimes, their high blood pressure level prevents them from donating. 

Milo: Once the drive date and time is set, Milo is the one who gets the word out to all of Dahlia. He designs and disseminates ads that promote the drive to reach potential donors and potential live receipts. He also keeps a listserv of all past donors and periodically sends email updates about the upcoming drive, which means that Milo must also be responsible for any questions people might have about donating or scheduling an appointment. For those not comfortable with technology, Milo also will schedule them for a donation on the phone and then manually input the information into the system. Milo has tried to give blood in the past, but after being turned away due to his hemoglobin levels repeatedly, he has realized that a successful blood drive requires all types of support, and that he plays an important role even without giving blood. 

Sweetheart: Sweetheart has been a regular donor since they began their career at D.U.M.P. to support the vampiric community, so they are a pro when it comes to hydrating and maintaining a healthy iron level pre- and post-donation. They always make sure to time their donations so that they will be eligible for the RMA drives that the Shaw Pack hosts because they love the chance to spend time with their pack while helping others. Sweetheart has a collection of incentive gifts they have earned over the years. They prefer to donate through the traditional methods, though if asked, Sweetheart will agree to a live feeding (preferably via their wrist.) 

Darling: Darling, too, is a frequent donor as they want to do all they can to support Sam’s work with the RMA. Darling has found that when they donate, they prefer to do so in their wolf form. They claim that being in their wolf form prevents any bruising, but Sam suspects they just like the chance to show off. When they finish their donation and can move freely about the area, Darling will often check to see if anyone is nervous or scared at the sight of needles/blood. If someone is struggling, Darling likes to offer their services as an emotional support wolf to help distract them until the donation is complete. Afterwards, they might shift into their human form for a moment to remind the donor that their fear doesn’t undermine the courage they showed by making the donation or the gift they’ve provided to vampires in need. 

Sam: Sam serves in a leadership position for the RMA, so Sam organizes the drive. He arranges for the proper funding so that empowered healers and informed, unempowered healthcare providers are present and fully staffed. Sam also oversees that the donated blood is delivered safely to wherever it needs to go and coordinates transportation so that vampires living in non-cornerstone cities can attend the drive to participate in a live feeding. It’s a lot of constant work, but nothing makes Sam happier to see everyone come together to help and to support those in need. 

[umbra-vulpes]

Some Background for My Alegraves' Headcanon Life

*This is just some bg hcs for the following alegraves daily life hcs I am gonna post. Might write a short fic according to this later. I love some good old classic cheesy cliché dramas so try to bare with me.

*Please forgive my poor English.and Enjoy!

-Graves did betray the 141 and Vaqueros, however, he is not in the tank during the fight, he went underground for a while and keep trying to hunt down Shepherd and members of Konni secretly with some of his most trusted shadows and sometimes picked up some private jobs to keep the company running.

-He saw Kate and Price during one of the lead-chasing missions in Russia and decided to start giving them useful hints or information anonymously or get them out of trouble a few times secretly.

-He generally feels bad about betraying them but it was a choice that he decided and he didn’t regret it at all. After all, it was for his company and his men. He is sure if the the 141 or Vaqueros were in the same situation, they would have done the same thing he did. but he still wants to do something to make it up to them. Kate later figured out whom he is but decided to keep it silent. Price and Ghost are suspicious but not fully figured out it was Graves.

-However, the first person he actually met again after Las Almas was Rodolfo. During a mission in Mexico, He saves Rudy from an undercover mission that goes wrong and brings him back to the Vaqueros’ base. Which almost led to a bloodbath as Rudy was in very bad shape and Alejandro was blinded by anger seeing him like that and thought that Graves did that to Rudy. Luckily Rudy managed to explain everything before he passed out but it still ended up with Graves having a broken nose and fainting due to his also being injured during the escape.

-When both Rudy and Graves finally got better, Graves and the shadows offered a co-op to Alejandro. Alejandro was very opposed to it at first but Rudy managed to persuade him and he eventually agreed but with a bunch of security policy under it.

-The co-op was a great success with no betrayal and tons of fun. And they decided to extend their partnership longer and work together from time to time. That’s when they started to build trust, respect, and relationships with each other.

-Graves realized his feelings for Alejandro pretty quickly but decided to hide it due to their past history and he also has commitment issues, he really believes that Alejandro was not into him. (Rudy: smh in silence)

-Rudy and Graves became good friends during their time escaping from the Mexican drug lord and recovering in the med bay. Both always joked about how they literally tried to kill each other at first but end up saving each other ass. They seems very close together, It got to the point that Alejandro was feeling jealous of it. But it also made Alejandro realize his feelings for Graves because he didn’t know he was jealous of Graves or Rudy.

-When Alejandro finally cleared his mind and feelings for Graves, He did try to plan on a romantic date so that they could be alone together and talk about the whole thing between them and courting him seriously. But he ended up just kissing Graves in the office one night as they are together privately, talking about mission statuses and plans, and Graves was scheduled to leave for 4 months the next morning. He can’t refuse the rush of kissing Graves when the man is so close to him. And the kiss seemed to seal the deal as Graves keeps in touch with him daily during his leave and when 4 months later, Graves was back in Las Almas, they started dating officially and later on moved together and get married.

-They have a ranch together at a secret location only their most closest family and friends know. They will frequently hosting parties and dinners to celebrate successful missions.

-Graves was finally introduced back to the 141 as Alejandro’s husband four years after the betrayal, during that timeframe, The Vaqueros did work with the 141 serval times but Graves was either on his own missions , on holidays, or purposefully avoiding the 141.

-However, the 141 did know that Alejandro have a husband as they sometimes can hear Alejandro talking with his partner on the phone and Alejandro himself did mention his partner few times during some causal conversations, and he also hinted that they met his partner before. Which leads to the 141 though that Alejandro’s husband is either Rudy or someone else in the Vaqueros. And it was a jaw dropping moment for most of the 141 (except Alex who haven’t met Graves before) when Graves showed up as their emergency exfil and Alejandro just kissed and hugged him hungrily in front of them.

[sweet-sweet-petunia]

NormalTales - A Regular Podcast and Secret Santa Gift

We decided to do a little Secret Santa ficlet exchange, so here is my fic for @rumor-weed!

“Welcome to NormalTales!” Bob’s voice rang out through the speakers and earbuds of the thousands of listeners they’d amassed. “A regular podcast, for regular, human people. I’m Bob-”

“And I’m Larry!”

“And as always, we’re your co-hosts for this week’s podcast.”

“We’ve got a great show with our great crew!” Larry’s voice was peppy. “Some of our favorite returning segments and favorite returning guest stars! And of course, our lovely executive producer…”

“Can you go one show without shouting out your girlfriend?” Bob teased.

Larry, unbeknown to listeners, shook his head. “No can do, Bob. Petunia’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. The world must know!”

“Please,” Petunia laughed. “It’s a vanity title. Back on topic, guys. You’re introducing this week’s episode.”

“That’s right!” Bob was right back on script. “This week, we decided to go with a simple but important theme. Family.”

“Found or otherwise!” Larry chirped.

Bob continued to explain “As always, we gave our guest hosts the theme and let them chose what it meant to them, and what stories they wanted to tell. First up, we’ll be hearing from Archibald and Lovey, with their weekly mystery story segment.”

There was a faint bit of outro music, and then the intro, a classy piano playing a slightly offputting, perhaps menacing, piece. “Welcome back, loyal patrons” Archibald greeted. “To Murder’s In The Heir.”

“A hair rising, spine tingling story of a man killed the night before his new will was to be signed.” Lovey hammed it up for the audience at home. “Any of his heirs had motive, as they were to receive a larger sum on the previous document, but who had the guts to commit the crime?”

Back in the main studio, Bob, mic off, whispered “Is this a murder mystery? Is that allowed?”

“You did say they could do whatever they want with the theme.” Larry reminded him.

The couple, meanwhile, continued on, Lovey theorizing “Of course, Miss Withers, his personal nurse, had the motive, means, and physical proximity-”

“This doesn’t seem appropriate for a family-friendly podcast!” Bob harshly whispered.

“I got this.” Petunia sighed, phasing them out and back to Bob and Larry. 

“What a great story!” Bob forced out, laughing awkwardly.

Larry, however, didn’t miss a beat, his professional demeanor shining through, his ‘camera ready’ personality still on, chiming in “And now it’s Time For Tom!”

A little intro played, a generic sounding voice singing out a peppy “It’s Time For Tom!”

“That’s me!” Tom’s southern twang immediately recognizable. “Bob wants me to talk about family. An I ain’t know why he woulda thought that’s a good idea, but I’m gettin’ paid regardless.”

“Isn’t he still fighting with his dad?” Petunia whispered to Bob and Larry.

“They’re fighting?!?” Bob whispered back, frenzied. 

“Yeah, something about a half sister, or something.” Larry nodded.

“How many kids does Pa have???” Bob questioned. Up until this moment he genuinely thought there was only Tom and Rosie.

Larry bit his lip in thought for a moment, before responding “Um, at least four.”

“...why I gotta raise my own sister?” Tom continued to rant. “Just cause I’m 18? Barely an adult, not that Pa cares none. And Rosie ain’t no picnic neither! In fact-”

“Petunia?” Bob asked warily.

“Already on it.” She shook her head, bringing the broadcast back to the hosts.

“W-well, Tom sure had a lot to say about his dad, but I’m sure his dad has a lot to say, too!” Larry tried to recover. 

“Right, Larry.” Bob nodded, thankful that they were able to segue without causing too much additional commotion. “And kids listening at home, adults always say to respect your elders. But we should do more than just respect them. Let’s talk to them! Befriend them! They have a lot of interesting stories they can share!”

Petunia phased in the intro, a remix of Pa saying “b-b-b back b-b-back b-b-back in my day…”

And then the real Pa’s voice came flooding in “Welcome to Back in My Day! The part of the show where Nebby and I talk about the way things used to be!”

“Kids these days don’t even know about VCRs,” Nebby sighed “Let alone CD Walkmans…”

“Walkmans?!?” Pa cried, confused. “Don’t you remember listening to Buddy Holly on the gramophone?”

“How old do you think I am?” Nezzer pleased. 

Pa paused, before confessing “I…I knew you were younger than me. But I was thinking 10, maybe 15 years? Bob and Larry remember VCRs and Walkmans, Nebby.”

“Do you think I’m at least a generation older than those two?” Mr. Nezzer questioned, genuinely confused.

“Well, I mean, I did…”

Nezzer let out a sharp gasp, “I am 37 years young! Megan and I went to high school together! We were glee club rivals! Did I ever tell you about that? About me and Megan in the same glee club? She always got the solos!”

Bob’s eyes went wide. “Oh. Megan’s not gonna be happy about her age going on the air like that.”

“Why’s it matter?” Larry questioned, oblivious. “She has a whole son. She’s clearly not 20 anymore.”

“Not all of Bumblyburg needs to know that.” Bob bit his lip nervously.

Petunia was once again quick to jump in, cutting the Back In My Day segment off. “You’re clear.” she signaled, nodding to Larry. 

“Wasn’t that informative!” Larry smiled into the mic, “and now, on the theme of family, let’s talk about Found Family! The note I made on my phone says,” he paused, clearing his throat. “Urban Dictionary defines Found Family as the phenomenon where a group of people come to love each other like family, even though they aren't biologically related. You might have this feeling, about, say, a sports team! Which is why we’re proud to introduce our newest segment, Life’s A Bowl. Starring Bumblyburg’s favorite bowling league team!” A short, snappy intro played, the words “Life’s A Bowl!” being sung with a quick chime at the end.

“Imagine laying pipe to that.” Audrey joked.

Art Bigotti blinked, taken back, seeming…a bit impressed? “You smoke, Audrey? I didn’t know that about you.”

“That’s not what that means.” Audrey stated simply.

“Back on topic.” Bob redirected.

“Did we have a topic?” Dad, as in Junior’s Dad, questioned. “Are we just talking about the bowling team?”

“I guess.” Bob sounded tepid. “And family. Found family.”

“If we’re talking about bowling and family,” Audrey jumped in. “Petunia should be in this conversation, too.”

Bob narrowed his eyes. “She’s not on the team.”

“No,” Audrey shrugged. “But she is my ride.”

“She is there every tournament.” Dad agreed. 

“Which one’s Petunia again?” Art questioned quietly.

“The redhead.” Dad whispered back.

“All redheads are related, you know that right? They’re all-” Audrey started, but was cut off.

“That’s enough out of you.” Bob interrupted.

Audrey gasped, feigning shock. “Bobby! And here I was not even sprouting a rumor-”

“Sprouting misinformation.” Bob deadpanned. “On my podcast. And we’re supposed to be talking about found family.”

“I wish some family stayed not found…” Art mumbled under his breath.

“What was that?” Dad questioned.

Art was a little too quick in his response of “Nothing!”

Bob, desperately, tried to get the conversation back on track. “How long have we been bowling together, anyhow?”

There was a short pause. A moment of thought. Eventually it was Dad who chimed in with “3 years now, I think!”

“Has it really been that long?” Audrey gasped. “Maybe we really are a little family. We sure bicker like one.”

A beat. A long pause.

“Was that….” Petunia whispered, almost afraid of what the answer might be “...was that a successful segment?”

“I dunno,” Larry whispered back. “I don’t think we ever had one of those before.”

Petunia loudly cleared her throat, and cheerily introduced “And now a short break to focus on health and wellness!”

A few notes of music played, serving as an intro. “Hello everyone! It’s me, Larry! You remember, from the podcast? And I’m here with my good friend Goliath.”

“Hi.” came the much lower voice.

“Now, Goliath, you’re a pretty active fellow, aren’t you?” Larry asked.

“That is right.” Goliath, clearly reading off of queue cards, replied. “And being such an active guy, sometimes, I forget to stretch. And when a back as big of mine hurts, what can you do?”

“I bet sometimes you feel like you need a whole new spine.” Larry delivered his lines with a charismatic ease. “Lucky for you, you don’t need a whole spine replacement with the brand new vertebrae pillow!”

“Is this what we’re shilling?” Goliath questioned.

Larry hissed “Stick to the script.”

“My days of back pain are over!” Goliath’s voice was once again flat, clearly reading each word individually.

“And yours can be too!” Larry chirped. “Available only at StuffMart. Terms and Conditions may apply. Not approved by doctors and not an actual pillow.”

Bob, wondering why they even bothered to take that ad in the first place, shook his head, going back on script. “Well, we’ve heard from our elders on Back In My Day, now let’s hear from the future generation. Junior and Laura are back with their monthly segment - New Kids Oughta Talk!”

Much like every segment before them, Junior and Laura waited for their intro to play before calling out “Hi!”

“I’m Junior!”

“And I’m Laura!”

“And this is New Kids Oughta Talk!”

“The show where me and Junior find other kids and interview them. Kid to kid.” Laura nodded, though the listeners at home could not see that.

The excitement in Junior’s voice was palpable as he introduced “Today we have some very special guests! Let’s give a warm welcome to Egg Boy and Bathroom Girl!”

“Egg Boy and Bathroom Girl?” Bob repeated, looking at Larry and then Petunia, concerned.

“Allo allo!” The boy’s voice was peppy. “I’m Egg Boy, and this here is my best friend, Bathroom Girl!”

The girl’s voice was also friendly, but far less enthusiastic. “It’s nice to be here.”

“So,” Laura started, “How long have you two been friends?”

“I feel like I’ve known Bathroom Girl my whole life!” Egg Boy responded. “Eggs and Bathrooms just go together, like socks and shoes, peanut butter and jelly, chocolate pudding and ham…”

“Hold it, hold it!” Bob cried, “Junior, Laura, this is some kind of prank, right? Kids, what are you real names?”

“Bathroom Girl.” Bathroom Girl responded. “And he’s Egg Boy. Did we need to work on sounding more clear for the audience?”

“I know my accent can be a bit tricky.” Egg Boy sighed.

Bob sighed. “We got the two of you involved to ask real questions to real kids with real answers. Can you at least bring in someone with a real name?”

“Egg Boy is my real-”

He was cut off by Junior interrupting “And now for our next guest, Francois!”

Bob gasped, while Larry and Petunia shared a knowing look, both trying to not giggle. “Bonjour! It is tres nice to be invited to a real podcast set!”

“Welcome Francois!” Laura greeted. “Or should we say, Bienvenue?”

“You are learning!” Francois gasped. “I am tres proud!”

“I’ve been practicing too!” Junior cried excitedly. “Il pleuvait comme vache qui pisse!”

Francois raised an eyebrow curiously “But it is sunny outside.”

“I know.” Junior shrugged. “I just like saying it.”

“Now, Francois,” Laura brought things back on topic. “Today’s topic is family. Do you have any fun family stories?”

“Well, you already know my maman was adopted. Very recently. I do not know how you adopt a full grown adult, but…”

“Got anything more recent?” Junior pressed.

“Can you keep a secret?” Francois whispered, despite the fact that being on a live airing podcast meant everyone listening now and who would listen in the future would also know this secret.

Junior and Laura knew this. That didn’t stop them from cheerfully replying “Of course!!”

“My maman says I may have a step-papa soon if Bob can stop beating around the bush. I do not know what bush she is referring to, but-”

“Petunia.” Bob hissed. “Cut. Now.”

“But it’s going so well…” she tried, despite the giggles giving her away.

Larry, it seemed, was ready to jump in and put an end to the sinking ship, back on the mic. “Uhhh….that looks like all the time we have for today. Tune in next week with our next topic - magic! With a very special guest, the president of the world wide skeptics society!”

[olliethescribe]

No Crime, Only Brooches AU Drabble - to offset the angst and whatever happened under Oz’s most recent post

“So, the thing about sleight of hand is…” 

Warren was only half-listening, eyes wandering away from his cue cards and more on the person speaking. The newscaster sat restlessly in his seat, trying his hardest not to fidget with his brooch as the camera shifted between him and his guest, the amazing Mezmer-Ron. 

They were in the middle of discussing effect magic, a cornerstone in Ron’s performance. Apparently the magician had been heavily requested and, by the power of networking, the station managed to get him on after he’d disappeared from public view for a week. Warren chalked it up to eccentricity, paying absolutely no mind to the clunky bright green ring on Ron’s hand. No, he was more concerned with how handsome his guest was, looking him over up and down as best he could.

Wavy black hair neatly combed back, purple suit, and red tie. He cleaned up nicely. His mouth was moving but Warren didn’t hear a sound, batting his lashes at the man in front of him like he wasn't on live TV. It was… evident. 

“Mr. Stone?” Ron waved a hand in front of his interviewer’s face. Nothing - not a thought behind those eyes. He turned to the camera. “With that blank stare, you’d assume I got him.” The magician pulled out his pocket watch with a giggle. 

That one seemed to break through. Warren tried his best to recover from his unsubtle staring, an intern locking eyes with him off to the side, frantically shaking a cue card at him. He could do this. 

“You’re quite the talented magician! Mezmer-Ron indeed.” Warren felt as if he were going to die of embarrassment. At the least, sixty thousand people had just seen him checking this man out on-aire. He cursed his usual co-host who had called out sick that day, leaving him to deal with the magic segment alone. 

Ron regarded the fool in front of him with a glance, unimpressed and far too tired for this. He would’ve been completely done with him had it not been for the garish brooch adorning the newscaster’s lapel. An idea crossed the magician’s mind, one he felt like following to see where it led. 

“Thank you, love. We still have ten minutes, give or take.” The magician was handed new material to show off by a crew member. “Care to join me in this flash paper presentation? This’ll require your full attention.” He winked. 

Warren tried to resist blushing at the ‘love’ comment, remembering that Ron was from New Zealand - a land where phrases as such were casually thrown. “Of course! You’ve got my attention, every single bit of it.”

And that’s the story of how Channel Six caught fire for the first and only time in its seventy year history. 

[nyxicnymph]

Cecilias on the Tiles of Mondstadt

For the Adeptus' Abode Secret Santa hosted by @karovie ! I wrote this Kaebedo fic for *drumroll* Lepan!

This is an offshoot of my Hanahaki AU! I will be posting it to my Ao3 later <3

Kaeya/Albedo, hurt/comfort, Hanahaki (Though a different take), sick fic. 3183 words!

Please enjoy!

--

Kaeya wasn’t feeling well. His chest hurt, like he’d had a particularly bad cold, or a ridiculously rough cough. Still, he’d been through worse, so he pushed through it.

Or he tried to. 

He thought it would be a one day thing. He’d work through it, get over it, and forget it. But he didn’t. The next morning when he woke up, his chest still hurt.

It actually hurt more.

Still, Kaeya kept going. Kept working. Kept ignoring it.

But then he started coughing.

Jean finally made him take sick leave when she heard him coughing, and he was sent back home. But Kaeya was confused. He’s bunked at the headquarters for years, not because he didn’t have the money to buy a house, but because he felt safer surrounded by the people, and the impermanent feeling of it. But Jean shook her head, and told him he had to find somewhere else to stay.

So now he was sitting on the steps outside the headquarters, frantically going over the list of people he knew who didn’t stay at the headquarters. Diluc was an obvious no, though he may let Kaeya rent a room at the Angel’s Share if he’s quiet? But Kaeya isn’t sure he wants to be there. Eula had too small a house to let him camp over until he was well, and he wasn’t even sure Amber had a place. Mona could barely pay her rent, and while he enjoyed Mona’s company, he didn’t want to bother her. Rosaria lived at the church, so she wasn’t really an option for him.

Who else did he know?

Well, there was Albedo. His chest constricted at the thought of the alchemist. The problem with Albedo is that he spent most of his time in the Dragonspine, so he wasn’t around, and the Dragonspine isn’t very conducive to someone with congestion issues.

Kaeya was pretty sure he was congested, at least.

As unfortunate as it was, it seemed his best option was to suck it up and ask Diluc for a place to stay, so Kaeya stood up, and began navigating through Mondstadt. Lucky for Kaeya, Diluc was scheduled to be in the tavern today. And so Kaeya began his trek down to the tavern.

But when he reached the main plaza, he was caught by surprise. Albedo was at the alchemy station, instructing Timaeus on something. Kaeya paused and stared at Albedo, the feeling in his chest intensifying as he stared. He turned away quickly, focusing back on his self-imposed mission to get to Angel’s Share.

“Kaeya? What are you doing down here?” Albedo’s voice cut through the air, making Kaeya stop in his tracks.

Kaeya muffled a cough behind his hand as he turned around. “Well, I’m on sick leave, and banished from the headquarters until I get well again, so I’m off to ask my dear estranged brother for a place to stay.”

Albedo frowned. “I have a house here I never use. I’ve considered selling it, but since I have it, you can use it until you’re well. I can even find someone to stick around in case your condition deteriorates.”

Kaeya’s chest and throat tingled as he began, “I appreciate it, Albedo, but I’d-” A coughing fit cut him off, and he immediately covered his mouth again. When he finally stopped coughing, he realized Albedo was standing over him worriedly, and gently rubbing his back.

“You truly are unwell. You should not be out here anymore, come with me. I refuse to leave you alone here.”

Albedo gently pulled Kaeya out of the main plaza, and down a different street, eventually stopping at a nondescript house and pulling out a key. He unlocked the door, and dragged Kaeya inside.

“It’s a little bare, but it should be furnished enough to keep you comfortable while you recover.”

“Albedo-”

“No, you’re staying here. No running away this time, Kaeya. And you won’t be seeking out things to work on, unless it’s one of Klee’s spare coloring books.”

Kaeya frowned, but the itch was coming back, so instead of disagreeing, he just did as Albedo told him too.

Albedo sat Kaeya in the kitchen, and frowned around the room. “I will have to go shopping so that we have supplies.”

“We?”

Albedo turned to Kaeya and raised an eyebrow. “Did you think I would drop you here and leave you alone? Don’t be ridiculous. Sucrose has everything handled on Dragonspine, Timaeus has the city branch covered, and I was planning to take a slight vacation here in Mondstadt anyway. And since you need someone to make sure you actually rest and recover, I might as well spend my time off with you.” He stood up and shut an empty cabinet. “I’ll leave you here for the 20 minutes it will take me to visit Good Hunter and the general store. If you manage to get into something in twenty minutes, I will tie you to the bed.”

Kaeya nodded, swallowing back another cough. Once Albedo left, Kaeya let the cough out.

It hurt. Like something was forcing itself up his throat. Finally, it dislodged itself.

Something pale fell into Kaeya’s hand. He stared at it in confusion, trying to decipher what it was. He gingerly picked it up and brought it close to his eye, then hurriedly threw it in the nearest trash can.

He didn’t know how he’d swallowed a cecilia petal.

--

Two weeks later, Kaeya was even more sick.

And Albedo had noticed the flowers. Of course he had. No one could expect anything less of his observation skills. He’d immediately gone into solutions mode, trying to find something to deal with the infection without harming Kaeya or his lungs. So far he hadn’t made much headway.

Spending all this time with Albedo was beginning to make Kaeya nervous. Not because of Albedo himself, but because of Kaeya’s own feelings.

He was desperately trying to keep his walls, his carefully constructed, decorated, and camouflaged walls, from tumbling down. There was no way in hell that Kaeya could be attached to anyone beyond a fond amusement. He knew how it worked. You form an attachment, it goes well at first, and then at the first wrong turn, it all goes south. Besides, if things went wrong in the future, it would be better for him to not have as few attachments as possible.

Albedo enter Kaeya’s sickroom, distracting him from his thoughts. The alchemist set down a few books as he entered the room, and looked at the dishes on Kaeya’s bedside.

“You didn’t finish your tea,” he said simply.

“I’m not a huge fan of tea.”

Albedo searched Kaeya’s eyes, not blinking until he found whatever he was looking for. “I’ll find some way you can drink it.”

“Albedo, you don’t have to take care of me.”

“You won’t take care of yourself, we’ve discussed this. Besides, I think I’m getting close to a breakthrough on your condition.” He turned around as Kaeya tried to stifle a cough and a gag. “And none too soon, it seems. Give it to me.”

Albedo held out his hand, and Kaeya hesitated. Unbidden thoughts of putting his own hand in the perfect hand of the alchemist flew through his mind, but in the end, he did as he was told. He placed the bloodstained cecilia flower in Albedo’s hand, and then turned away to look out the window. Albedo hummed as he rolled the stem between his fingers.

“You know, cecilias are my favorite flower. They grow in an isolated, hard to reach place, but they’re strong and resilient. They’re very rare, but not extinct, and with care, we could probably bring them back.”

“I didn’t know that,” Kaeya said. He felt like Albedo was trying to say something else, but his head wasn’t very clear at the moment. Not that it had been clear the last several days, either.

“I swear I’ve read of this illness somewhere before. And of the cure. But it’s not in any of my books. Perhaps it’s in Lisa’s library.”

Kaeya watched Albedo pace around the room in thought. When the other man turned around to face him, though, Kaeya quickly tore his gaze away. Albedo still came close, and rested a hand on Kaeya’s forehead.

“But enough about that. I’ll ask her about it later. You’re getting warm, as I feared. An infection is settling into your lungs.”

As Albedo pulled away, a sudden urge came over Kaeya, to grab the alchemist’s hand, to grasp it tightly, to beg him to stay. But Kaeya was a master of repressing his urges, his emotions, everything.

Besides, Albedo was far too busy and good for a sinner like Kaeya. Still, he just…

“Albedo.” Kaeya’s voice stopped the alchemist in his tracks, and turned him away from the door.

“Yes, Kaeya?” ALbedo looked breathless, almost hopeful as he waited for Kaeya’s response.

“I…” He didn’t know what he wanted to say, but he’s come this far. “I wanted to say thank you. For taking care of me.”

Kaeya couldn’t read the look on Albedo’s face anymore, the expression seemingly caught somewhere between sadness and care. “It’s the least I could do. Don’t push yourself, Kaeya. Make sure you drink your water.”

Kaeya nodded as Albedo left the room, not for long, never for long. He couldn’t understand why, it’s not like he was going anywhere.

Kaeya coughed roughly into his hand, more blood and petals spattering the surface. He scoffed as he wiped his hand clean. Who was he kidding? He probably didn’t have much time left.

It was for the better, he guessed. No one else would be hurt by his mission, as vague as it was. No one else would have to worry about him, either.

Still, something nagged at him. Something he’d left untouched, forgotten.

“Oh, great news, Kaeya!” Albedo said as he entered the room again. “Mona stopped by, she’d been borrowing books from Lisa and turns out she found something that can probably help you. It’s a book on diseases that affect the lungs, and she said she was pretty sure she’d found something similar to your case late last night before she passed out.” Albedo frowned at that. “She needs to go to sleep earlier.”

Kaeya sat up a bit, a tidbit of hope blossoming in his chest, between his flora-filled lungs. “Shall we find out what we’re dealing with, then?”

Albedo smiled softly. “Of course.”

The two men spent the next several hours pouring over the book of maladies, Kaeya’s coughs growing more and more frequent as they did so. As the sky grew darker, Albedo stood up.

“You can keep reading, but I’m going to make dinner. If you find something, call for me. I’ll come quickly.”

Kaeya nodded as Albedo placed another cool rag on his forest before leaving. Careful to not drop the rag Albedo had oh-so-gently placed on him, Kaeya returned to perusing the book. They’d started at the beginning of the book, having nothing else to go off of, and since it was sorted alphabetically, they’d been skimming most of the sections. Right now, they were in the “H” section.

At least, they had started it before Albedo went to go make dinner.

So Kaeya was left to skim the book before him alone.

One entry suddenly gave him pause.

Hanahaki: An infectious disease originating from Inazuma. Causes flowers or other flora to grow in the lungs of a person who is in denial or unaware of incredibly strong feelings. Can be removed via verbal acknowledgement of the infected person’s feelings, but should action not be taken, the infected can perish from the infection in a month or even less in some cases. Flora may take the shape of the favorite flora of the person who the repressed or unknown feelings are towards, or may take the form of the infected’s favorite should the feelings be about something different. Frequently occurs in cases of repressed romantic affections, but not exclusive to these specific cases.

Kaeya forgot how to breathe for a moment. The symptoms described, and the pictures shown, were exactly what he had been dealing with for almost… three weeks.

A jolt of fear ran through him. He was running out of time.

“No, don’t panic. There may be another option,” Kaeya told himself. Still, Albedo needed to know what he had found. So Kaeya tried to call Albedo.

Unfortunately, halfway through the name, Kaeya’s voice caught on something, and he bent over the book as he coughed.

Albedo slid to a stop right before the bed before Kaeya finished coughing, scooping up the glass of water and a washcloth, wiping Kaeya’s face with care as he stopped coughing. As Kaeya took a few deep breaths, Albedo handed him the glass, and rubbed circles into his back.

“I’m not an invalid, y’know,” Kaeya remarked finally.

“I do. But if your lungs get clogged anymore, you will be.” Albedo gently tapped on Kaeya’s shoulder blade before continuing his circles. “What did you find?”

Kaeya pointed to the section of the book that he’d been reading. Albedo read it quickly before sucking in a breath. “I see. That would seem to fit, yes.”

Kaeya looked at Albedo as the alchemist snapped the book shut and set it aside. And as Albedo turned to him, it was like Kaeya’s whole world shifted.

“Albedo…” Kaeya began, words failing him for once.

“Yes?”

Kaeya couldn’t voice the sudden, tragic thoughts that were rising to the front of his mind. He couldn’t find the words to say what he was beginning to suspect. Not that he would if he could. All these years, and Kaeya still was just a coward, a weakling.

So he settled on something more mundane. “How’s dinner coming?”

Albedo’s face twitched, like he had something he wanted to say, but didn’t. “It should be done in a few minutes. Should I help you to the table or?”

Kaeya shrugged. “Your call.”

Kaeya could feel his health deteriorating. It had been three days since he’d found that entry in the book, and he’d done nothing about it. Albedo had been more and more desperate to try and get Kaeya to say what was bothering him. Kaeya appreciated the tenacity, but he refused to burden anyone anymore.

And yet. A part of him grew more and more terrified by the day. Every time he coughed, a small part of him that sounded only twelve years old begged him to just say it. To just admit the feelings he had repressed for so long.

Albedo paced by Kaeya’s bedside. The light reflecting off of his platinum hair had Kaeya distracted until he spoke.

“There has to be something. Anything. Something I can do to help delay the process long enough to figure out what you’re repressing so we can save your life! I refuse to let you die.”

Again, Kaeya found his determination admirable, and small (but growing) part of him was tempted to come clean, to blurt it out, and to be done with it. To be well, and possibly happy, to be free.

But sinners weren’t allowed to be happy.

So Kaeya barked out a laugh that transformed into a cough, before speaking. “Albedo, I’ve repressed far too much for us to figure out what might be causing this.”

Albedo simply looked more determined. “I’ve asked someone from the Sumeru Akademiya to come help us. I refuse to let you die, Kaeya. You mean too much to m- Mondstadt.”

Kaeya raised an eyebrow. It wasn’t normal for Albedo to stammer like that. Kaeya let it go, though.

Five days after putting a name to the disease, Kaeya’s resolve was weakening. He was genuinely afraid now. The coughing was far more frequent, and the fits lasted far longer. He was coughing up two to four flowers at a time, as well.

Albedo gently brushed a loose hair out of Kaeya’s face. He had given up trying to coax things out of Kaeya the day before, but he was still determined to take care of the bedridden knight.

Kaeya discarded another flower with a sigh, and the last of resolve crumbled away. But while he was afraid to die, he was afraid almost even more so of rejection.

But he took a deep breath, and with that breath, the first step.

“Albedo. The other day, what did you say your favorite flowers were?”

Albedo’s hand movements slowed and then stopped. “Cecilias. Why?”

Kaeya worried his lower lip between his teeth. “I… Albedo…”

“What is it, Kaeya?” Albedo asked, moving so he was sitting on the bed next to Kaeya.

Kaeya felt tears pricking at the corner of his eye as he fought against his fears and insecurities. “I think…” He took another deep breath. “Albedo, I think I have feelings for you.” He didn’t pick up his head, but at Albedo’s continued silence, he continued. “I mean, romantic ones. I know I’m-”

“Kaeya.” Albedo’s voice wavered, making Kaeya pick up his head. “Do you love me?”

Kaeya felt his chest tighten just a bit as he processed the question. Then he exhaled. “Yes? I do. I love you, and I know it’s too much to ask you to return my feelings, but-”

“Do you think I did all of this for you for no other reason than just being nice?” Albedo asked, his voice still quavering. “I’ve loved you for a long time now, Kaeya.”

Kaeya felt tears running down his face as Albedo’s words sunk in and his lungs slowly cleared. “You have?”

“Yes. I never told you because I didn’t want to distract you from your work. But I can’t stand to see you think that you mean nothing to me, Kaeya, because you mean the world to me.” Albedo wiped Kaeya’s tears away. “I’ll always choose you, Kaeya.”

“Even if-”

“Always.” Albedo reaffirmed. “There is nothing you can say that will make me change my mind. You are not a sinner, you are not a traitor, you are not useless, or selfish, or untrustworthy. You are Kaeya, and that’s enough for me.”

Kaeya started Crying, leaning his head farther into Albedo’s hand, desperately trying to regain control of himself. But he couldn’t. Albedo pulled him into a hug and rubbed his back in those soothing, calming circles, and Kaeya only cried harder.

He’d been scared and stressed for far too long, and repressing pieces of himself for even longer. Now that he’d had it all out, he felt he wouldn’t be able to ever hide it again.

And yet, as he looked up into Albedo’s crystal blue eyes, and nervously returned the alchemist’s smile, he wondered.

Would it really be that bad to be a little more open, not just with other people, but with himself, too?

“Kaeya, may I?” Albedo asked, his thumb tapping gently on Kaeya’s lips.

Kaeya hesitated, but then he nodded, and leaned forward to meet Albedo in the middle.

Finally, finally, Kaeya no longer felt completely alone in the world.

~fin~

[iratusmus]

sequel episode to battle of the boy bands in which the mayor decides to host a singing competition because [reason], and the prize is a limited edition fuzzy puppy buddies figurine that was discontinued in '87. amy, upon hearing this, asks/begs/demands/convinces sonic to reform dude-itude and enter because he [did something to tick her off and this is reparations, or something].

after a lot of stupidity they show up to the competition and there's only one other band - team dark. team sonic/dude-itude is shocked, of course, and asks them what in the world theyre doing there. shadow, not expecting team sonic of all people, immediately starts grandstanding to distract from the fact of. well everything going on here, but omega loudly interrupts to tell sonic that they're there to defeat all the inferior meatbags (namely, sonic & co) in a battle of epic proportions and, as undisputed victors, claim the fuzzy puppy buddies figure for shadow's collection. (eggman, being a passionate collector, tried to enter with backup dancers orbot and cubot, but was disqualified for [stupid reason]).

omega is about to start making incredibly violent threats towards sonic & co when he sees eggman and immediately switches targets. rouge is like "omega we TALKED about this" and spends the next 5 minutes trying to stop omega from assaulting eggman in the background while amy starts geeking out and is mostly very aggressively passionate about fuzzy puppy buddies at shadow, who hasnt the faintest clue how to respond.

the battle of epic proportions begins - at first it goes fairly smoothly, but at some point tails notices something off. while team dark is singing their final bit, tails goes backstage and realizes that they're actually lipsyncing because none of them can sing. for the record the song voices are completely different and also omega's "singing" is, notably, not robotic. tails unplugs the speaker and the stage goes uncomfortably silent. everybody just Stares. rouge turns and points at nothing in the distance while saying "look! a convenient distraction!" and by the time everyone turns back they are gone.

eggman says something to the extent of "well okay now that the entertainment is over i'm done with this" and calls his robots to seize the special edition fuzzy puppy buddies figure, only for everybody to discover the case is empty (clearly rouge's handiwork). amy is DISTRAUGHT her life is RUINED its in SHAMBLES she'll NEVER RECOVER she falls to her KNEES the camera SPINS the music CRESCENDOS she starts SCREAMING in AGONY

cut to the next morning and the boom squad is sitting around amy's couch and she cheerfully says, "and then i found the figure on my doorstep when i got home!" while proudly displaying the newest addition to her collection. the end.

[en-scribed]

WRITING MASTERPOST

All my writing in one place, including both original content and the occasional fanfic! Updated as I post more.

PROJECT: Stars Collapse

An original urban fantasy story co-created with my friend @heirmyst. Immortal personified Stars live secretly on Earth. A human boy, who also happens to be hosting an otherworldly parasite, stumbles into their world. Here's everything I've written and posted for it:

MAIN CHARACTER INTRO MINISERIES (START HERE):

[SUN - King of the Sky] Meet Sol, the sun king, as he oversees a celebration.

[ARCTURUS - Guardian] Meet Arc, speeding through streets on a mission gone wrong.

[VEGA - Falling Eagle] Meet V, trying to get home in the middle of a terrible storm.

[POLARIS - North Star] Meet Polaris, leading the absolute worst Astral meeting of his career.

[ABYSS - The Brewing Storm] Meet Jade… local high school disaster.

HIDDEN HEAVENS MINISERIES (HISTORICAL):

[THE THREE BIRDS] Waqi (currently the Star Vega) leads Taira (Altair) and Dhanab (Deneb) on a mission to secure the Stars' carefully kept secret existence.

[ORION'S FINEST] Yad al-Jawza (currently the Star Betelgeuse) and her brother Rijl al-Jawza (Rigel) interfere in human affairs for fun.

[GATHERER OF GRAIN] Sunbulah (currently the Star Spica) has to save one of her patients while keeping both of their deadly secrets under wraps.

[CENTER OF THE WORLD] Sol, the beloved sun king, is presented with an endless battle and an impossible choice.

FANFICTION

Once in a blue moon. Posted on Ao3.

[Chosen] A Just Roll With It: Riptide fic. Gillion Tidestrider realizes he has something to live for. This is a problem.

[Grave Mistakes Will Take Their Toll] An Owl House fic. Hunter recovers after the trip into his uncle’s mind and tries to adjust to life as a runaway.

[A Man Who Never Learns How to Be Free (not till the day he dies)] A Schmigadoon fanfic. The Narrator observes his city as, one way or another, his end draws near.

[Promises of Glass] A Just Roll With It: The Suckening fic. Shilo and Emizel, split apart too soon after meeting, try to keep themselves alive long enough to find each other again.

Thank you for reading!

[vizthedatum]

very brief/abbreviated post of my own awareness of my autism/ADHD for the parallel co-validation during Autism Awareness Month

I don't remember if it was last night or in the past couple of nights, but I dropped my super flamboyant gold glasses (I currently have 2-3 pairs of glasses I cycle through, but I mostly wear my blue colorful ones because it makes me really really happy) and the lens came out.

I nearly had a meltdown - it's just that I don't know if people know how hard it is to manage living by yourself. Especially when you're autistic, trans, working full-time, healing from traumas, etc. (Like, I get that more able-bodied people may think I'm using it as an excuse (it's now laughable when I hear or see that sentiment from people... because they literally don't know what it's like to be executively disabled in this way... they think I'm being lazy or just making up excuses - like nah, bro, I'm impaired.))

I juggle and mask living alone really well—and I get help from my friends. But largely (especially when I'm not partnered), I do it alone. I have to do things in stages or all at once. Sometimes, I'm so spent or low on spoons that I can't do anything—I have to rest. When I do end up cleaning, it's meticulous. When I'm in chaos mode, I clutter things up.

I forgot to take out the trash last night for the third week in a row >.< I even had the trash and recycling in their appropriate cans/bins in my garage. I just forgot to take it out to the curb by this morning. I kept reminding myself, too. I tried to do all the steps to do this methodically (mind you, *my* methodical way... which I guess is the perk of living alone: you can do things your way without people hounding you or lecturing you... I had to complete many kitchen cleaning tasks before I could *almost* take the trash out. I was so close. At least it's not piling up in my kitchen).

I have to spend hours sometimes prepping myself to do a five-minute task.

I'm chronically late to friend hangouts, dates, appointments.

Sometimes, I miss medical appointments entirely because I'm having a meltdown.

I used to think my meltdowns were panic attacks FOR YEARS (and I think some of them were).

I am incredibly sensitive to noise and light. I can hear electricity.

I also crave noises - and I have noise stims. It feels contradictory but my brain wants what it wants.

I also have palpitations and get SUPER startled when I hear an unexpected noise or a very loud noise (yay PTSD /s).

I have to recover from large group settings - just kind of lying there, wide-eyed, on my back... like a dead bug. (but I don't mind going to or even hosting some large group things, sometimes? it depends on the conditions and how prepped I am)

Changes in scheduling/routines (mind you, I also have ADHD so I crave chaos and stimulation too) fuck me up.

One time, a colleague changed a major plan, and I couldn't respond. I couldn't respond even if I wanted to. It was so last-minute, and I couldn't understand the social context, and I was working really hard... ugh. I HAVEN'T TALKED TO HIM IN MONTHS NOW - and I need to at some point. >.<

I mask a lot at work because I have to - my workplace does not accommodate my neurotype. I have disability accommodations, but the institution is not a friendly environment for neurodivergent people (and I don't know if I'll ever find a workplace that is, honestly?). I mask so I can get past the social and administrative etiquette and do my actual job (which I think I'm good at). Sigh.

And more. Blegh.

[indiejones]

THE MOST ENTERTAINING FICTION OR PART-FICTION OR FACTUAL DILIP KUMAR STORY NEVER TOLD! .. ‘KHALIFA PE PATTHAR KA SAAYA!’

Many of us have heard of the story roaming the airs, since mid 1960's (1964-65), of Dilip Kumar & his tryst with the law.

Below is the full rumored account, whatever be the facts:

👇

https://www.facebook.com/292543404416746/posts/1267258656945211/?extid=5duUJptrnGjOfz5G&d=n

But given as no news filtered through from any official channels, nor any professional newspaper write-ups available for reference, one didn't bother to delve deeper much.

Till chanced upon this interview, (perhaps one of the very last interviews of Dilip Kumar, in his non-incoherent state), from as late as the year 2000-2001, upon being conferred Pakistan's highest civilian award, & the controversy around it.

Watch the last 5 mins of this interview, when the host, then journo Rajiv Shukla, openly on national TV (Dhanak TV) asks Dilip Kumar, about those oft-rumored tales from the early 60s! And here is the official answer from the horses' mouth himself, for the only time, atleast for one part of the rumor, as didn't stay in a consciously coherent state all 22 yrs thereafter to repeat it again or clarify further.

👇

(Watch from 16:00-19:10 of this 2000 Rajiv Shukla intv) 2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gw4TX9dmFZg

So here's what transpired per events narrated to us, altogether, roughly:

A man is arrested on suspicion of being a Pakistani spy, & from his diary are recovered the names of Bimal Roy, Dilip Kumar & Mehboob Khan, these 3 the man confesses to have helped him in his spying. So Calcutta police organize a raid or perhaps send a word to Bombay police to co-ordinate. Now turns out Indian Intelligence agencies on a parallel investigation, are also on the look out for a radio transmitter transmitting signals to a contact in Pakistan, that signal originating from a location somewhere in then Bombay. All collected information, including the fact that Dilip Kumar's brother had just then migrated to Pakistan, encourages them to raid the house of Dilip Kumar, & the device, whatever that is, too is recovered from him. The legend confesses that the device is his but that it's merely a Pakistani radio to hear banned Pakistani radio programs & ghazals & songs.

But does a radio really transmit signals to other nations too? We don't know. Infact we don't know about the veracity of this whole part of the story itself, except for fact that a raid was conducted at his house, as acknowledged by Dilip Kumar himself in above intvw as having been conducted at behest of a minister, all transmitter matters aside, for which no official or first hand accounts are available.

But why our suspicions get exacerbated over the transmitter issue, is how these accusations of him being a Pakistani spy are raised as a question again & again by journos, in one below instance by Pak journos themselves when in Pak to receive his Pakistan Ratna, (Since the entire controversy then hinged on why a Indian citizen was being conferred the Nishan-e-Imtiyaz, reserved specifically for outstanding services to the nation of Pakistan, people not just in India but also in Pakistan hence in quandary over what exact services had Dilip Kumar rendered to Pakistan in particular to deserve this honor). And except for the above occasion where tries to partially clarify, & seemingly goofs up big time, he tries to avoid answering the question every time, including here, on the transmitter controversy, which he easily could’ve settled by issuing an outright denial. Why didn’t he ever do so despite receiving numerous opportunities? Was he afraid his explanations would only make his case worse, hence better to be avoided totally, Nehru not around?

👇

(Watch 1:05:22-1:08:22 of this 1998 Moin Akhtar & Group intv)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIG06e8GWws

Btw, his father was deep proponent of Caliphate Raj in world ie all Muslims in any country under one Caliphate flag, alongside Ali Bros in 1920s, & he it’s big fan. 👇 (Watch 4:30-5:30 of this Ashfaq Hussain intv from 1985) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gxzUSvE2nY

Anyway, so the above is the police version or rumored version (since we don't have the actual official police account, if at all). ('Tis said this news appeared for a month in newspapers of the day too, though no clippings available from then). But hereon is per Dilip Kumar's own video testimony, of how he then rushes to PM Nehru, & Nehru swiftly issues an all-clear in writing, & the entire matter is put to rest.

And the story, true or not, we then get to hear, from Dilip Kumar, of how that man caught in Calcutta, was a Dhaka resident, who was sent with a recommendation letter by Bimal Roy's wife, as Bimal Roy's picture had already finished by then (whether that man worked in Bimal Roy's unit too, or how Mrs Bimal Roy knew this Pakistani man enough to send with a spl recommendation for an ordinary production unit job to Dilip Kumar no less, we don't know) to Dilip Kumar's film unit (he was producing the Nitin Bose directed Gunga Jumna then, so we guess the year is maybe 1960), upon which was hired in Dilip's production unit, from where he then goes on to work with Mehboob Khan (for his last produced film 'Son of India' released in 1962, we guess), then makes his way to take up no smaller a job than the private tutor of the daughter of a Session's Court Judge no less! And since the daughter is mature, who also then elopes with him to Calcutta, we guess he must be tutoring this girl from a very educated background, graduation subjects at the very least, how he got this most unique post, whether vetted by the judge or not to come to his house to teach this stuff, or whether even remotely qualified for it, we shall never know as well. But since the 2 elope, the insinuation is that the Calcutta police may perhaps have framed him in a false case on pressure from the judge, leading to the suicide note & all these big name confessions?

But since no further discussion or probe was allowed thereafter, nor do we get to hear from the other 2 film stalwarts named in the supposed police diary, Mehboob Khan & Bimal Roy, both passing away in May 1964 & Jan 1966 resp., the entire huge drama dissipates for all official purposes.

Dilip Kumar gets married, & all’s forgotten!

Relegated to mere pages on the filmy annals of time, but page-turners at that!

Other Dilip Kumar stories-

https://www.tumblr.com/indiejones/720115374898790400/the-missing-70s-dilip-kumar?source=share

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Xbox oxenfree

#Xbox oxenfree full

While he could not provide a direct answer due to contractual reasons, he still made an interesting point: Hryb was also asked by the audience how developers whose games are on Games Pass share into the revenue, whether they receive money depending on how much a game is played, or there is an agreement beforehand, or something else. They’re also working on discoverability, to give exposure to the games that subscribers may not otherwise consider. Later in the stream, Hryb mentioned that Microsoft will continue to work with developers to get titles onto the service day and date with their traditional releases. “Game Pass really shown us that your purchasing patterns can come from the genres you care about, but there is nothing to say that you won’t like another type of game if you just try it out.” He also added that it’s cool that Game Pass is curated and “very low-risk,” and mentioned that game pass proved that players can go beyond their genres of choice if they are offered the opportunity to do so.

#Xbox oxenfree full

Yet, now working with you on Game Pass, we get to find a much larger audience in a way that isn’t “how do we jam this game full of free to play mechanics” which is something that really doesn’t jive with the creatives for it.” “It’s an exciting time for developers certainly of our size, because looking at something like Game Pass, it’s a new way to get games out there, right? I think if you look a few years ago, a team of our size, even taking a swing at Oxenfree - a single-player fairly short experience - was semi-risky, and fortunately, the game paid off. Being about seven hours long, people aren’t intimidated by the time investment necessary to try them out. Krankel believes that the size of the games made by Night School is also perfect for Game Pass. He then mentioned that it’s a new way for the studio to reach new audiences and get people talking about the game to people that aren’t subscribed to Game Pass, so this actually improves sales on other platforms as well. Krankel also confirmed that thanks to the experience with Oxenfree, Night School Studio’s next game Afterparty is going to launch on Xbox Game Pass day and date with its traditional release (even if he’s not yet ready to say when that date will be). We found people who tried the game who wouldn’t have otherwise tried it, they might not have understood the genre… It has really become a super-important part of our ecosystem because it’s just really discoverable.” It was something that lifted sort of all of our sales because we found that we found a lot of new audiences. “When we brought Oxenfree to Game Pass it was really interesting because we initially thought it could cannibalize our other sales or what’s that gonna do, and actually it was just the opposite. Oxenfree co-director Sean Krankel from Night School Studio talked about what Xbox Game Pass did for his game. Due to the nature of the game it contains quite a number of ‘jump scares’.During a livestream from PAX East hosted by Microsoft’s Xbox Live Director of Programming Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb, we heard more about what the Xbox Game Pass service does for developers. The words are seen in a large speech bubble above the head of one of the characters. In this particular instance the sentence “I'd screw Clarissa" / "I'd screw Nona" is used in reference to the 2 female characters. This appears during a game in which a character is required to make a comment about another member of the group. There is also the use of sexual innuendo during a ‘party’ on a beach. However, after a short while she stands up and walks away and does not display any injuries consistent with a fall from height. Whilst so possessed, they can be raised into the air and can be heard uttering guttural spluttering noises and then fall silent and drop to the ground only to recover a short while later a character that is possessed is seen to jump from an open window, the character lands on the ground with a thump. The game features incidents in which characters are ‘possessed’ by unknown forces. The game was rated PEGI 12 for occasional non-realistic looking violence towards human characters, the use of sexual innuendo and offensive language.

[bucolic1]

https://www.bitchute.com/video/fsZjJVT3IPCS/