#I should stop drawing cassie

[gagakareem10]

Aaaand Another Cassie Drake (with a random character lol)

Or shall I say

...

Kady or Cady

[shurikensgang]

(For Valentine's Day)

"Aaaand, done," Ai said, holding an applicator and bottle of silicone tint.

Cassidy sighed. "Finally. I can't believe I let you talk me into wearing this."

Ai smirked and smugly said, "Iiiiiiiiii didn't have to do anything. You were happy to let me doll you up for Shuriken."

Cassidy's artificial blush was covered by a real one.

"I-I was most certainly not."

Ai's smirk only grew. "Suuure you weren't. You didn't fight me at all this time. Heheheh, if anything, it threw me off just how cooperative you were. I think I saw you smile as I did your wings." She giggled.

Cassidy grumbled before looking at herself in her bedroom's full body mirror, which Ai had begged her to get, even paying for part of it.

She was in her grey sleeveless dress, her legs in their heels transformation. Along with the usual brushing, her hair had been styled, the long black locks now just a bit wavy. Her visor displayed both of her red eyelights, each with a wing that was a tad bit more intricate and fancier than the usual ones Ai would draw, and her cheeks displayed a faded blush effect. Finally, her lips had been stained with a crimson silicone tint.

"I still feel like the red tint is a bit much," she said.

"Hey, T and Harlow both agreed with me on it being a good choice. And besides, this is a particularly romantic day, so if you're ever gonna get some use out of it, it makes sense to use it now."

"Whatever you say." She smiled at her younger sister. "Now are you done 'dolling me up' so I can leave?"

"Why do I feel like I should be offended in some way?" Ai shook it off. "Yeah, I'm done. I'd love to do more, but I can't hold you up."

"Thank you. I'm pretty sure Harlow left half an hour ago."

Ai stopped her sister. "Wait. Don't forget your purse."

A heavy sigh came from the older sister. She walked back to her desk and grabbed the purse sitting next to the sleeping Kobi's enclosure.

"I hope you have a great time, Cassie. Remember to give them to him."

"Yeah, yeah. Have fun at the festival."

The two sisters left the apartment and smiled at each other before heading their separate ways. Ai back to Door 1 to wait for Spectre to pick her up, and Cassidy to the gymnasium, where her first proper event in her new home was being held.

It was held in the gym. The lights were dimmed low and a bunch of drones were already there. The stage was dark, but it seemed to be getting prepped for something.

Cassidy would see the group hanging out at the now drinkable punch bowl.

Harlow was laughing with Brianna, who was wearing a nice light orange mini dress. Her hair was down and her eyes had wings on them. Abbey, who was wearing a strawberry coloured knee length dress was talking with Shuriken, who was wearing a grey tuxedo with a black tie. His hair was let down, with no beanie covering it.

Jonah was chatting with Maryam. He was wearing a maroon red tux with a navy tie, while Maryam was wearing a dark green tux-dress combo.

Brianna noticed Cassidy and smiled, beckoning her over.

[puppiesandnightlock]

LINK: lucky i’m in love with my best friend

Summary: Damian knew better then to speak unauthorized to the press, especially after the less than platonic nature of what had just occurred. Oh well, no one expected a normal press conference for a Wayne coming out, not after the last few of them.

prompt that won on the Tumblr poll: "Is Wayne heir Damian Wayne gay?" "I don't know," Damian smirks, grabbing Jon's hand. "Maybe a little."

Theoretically, Damian should have known better than to egg on the press. After all, he’d been raised in the spotlight since his mother had dropped him on his father’s doorstep, trained in PR perfection, and generally had distaste for the scandals or big things his family would cause, purposefully or not. 

But sometimes it was just so hard not to, especially when it was so amusing to see them scouting for any crumb of information, drawing their own far-fetched conclusions that made them seem even stupider to those who knew the truth.

The annual Wayne gala had arrived, and speculations about just who the Wayne boys would be bringing as their dates were up in the air. Reporters were getting antsy as they always did that time of year, sloppily hidden and jumping for scoops. Tabloids were printing off theory after theory, each more laughable than the last, especially about the youngest Wayne. 

This year, Damian was finally considered of age to be taking a proper date, despite the fact that they had never managed to catch him with a romantic partner of any kind—or at least with one of the female variety. 

Reporters swarmed the entrances of the gala, taking pictures and brandishing their microphones like swords. Damian scoffed as he looked outside the tinted window of their limo.

“Vultures, the lot of them.” 

“You’ve had years to get used to it by now.” Tim said from across the car. “Complaining only makes it worse.”

He scowled as his eldest brother pulled him into a headlock, threatening to mess up his delicately arranged hair.

“Lighten up, Baby Bat! Jon goes every year, and I think some of your school friends will show up.”

“Tt.” He made a valiant effort to push his brother away without messing up his outfit, straightening his jacket, and smoothing out the wrinkles that weren’t there.

“Who’re you tryn’ to impress?” Jason snorted, legs crossed over. Damian blessed his training, keeping his face straight and his heartbeat steady while fighting to cool his rising body temperature. 

“Just because I despise these things does not mean I wish to go looking like a slob. Although I suppose the sentiment is not often shared.”

He looked around the car, his father in the corner, Tim on his phone, Duke with his headphones blocking out the conversations, Jason with a book, and Dick at his side scrolling through social media. Cassandra and Stephanie had taken the other limo with Barbara, insisting it was a girls-only deal. Tim had decided to go with Bart, Cassie, and Kon, much to Bruce’s despair, and the three of them would be arriving on their own, in whatever shape Damian couldn’t say. 

No one responded to his quite obvious jab, as was to be expected. His brothers often remarked that he would get prickly in times like these, which was completely preposterous, but that wasn't the point. The point of this was that they were pulling up to the entrance and would be completely bombarded by people who hadn’t anything better to do than ask invasive questions and draw incriminating conclusions.

“Time to face the music!” His father said cheerily, already in his Brucie Wayne, father of six, not including the in-laws persona. 

“Dying again sounds nice, actually.” Jason muttered, shoving Dick out after Bruce. He went next, followed by Tim, Duke, and then Damian himself. 

“Damian, Damian, who’s your date for tonight? You seem to be missing one!”

“Mr. Drake-Wayne, care to comment on the recent Wayne Enterprises partnership?”

“Mr. Wayne, how is your most recent investment?”

They pushed past, stopping only to smile and wave at the cameras, making it safely through the doors and into the ballroom. Damian slipped away as Tim and Bruce were swarmed, with Dick and Duke veering off to the side to meet the girls. Jason had gone off in search of Roy Harper, no doubt, seeing as he’d invited the red-haired man as his date.

He found a relatively nice spot to hide in, scanning the room to see if any of his Gotham Academy schoolmates had been invited and if he had to avoid them. Finding none, he picked up a flute offered by a passing waiter (sparkling cider, goddammit.) and prayed to whatever deity would listen that no old people would come by to remark on how big he was getting and if he’d like to meet their granddaughter?

The dances had long since started, and he amused himself watching his family switch between making fools of themselves and actually being sweet. There was his sister, Cassandra leading Stephanie into an elegant dance, catching the awe of partygoers. 

And then there was Tim’s group, all of whom were failing spectacularly. Damian really didn’t expect much else, simply taking a picture for blackmail. As he was angling his camera, he heard rustling from behind him, making light steps as if someone were barely touching the ground. He relaxed, not even pretending to be surprised as hands came over his eyes and a chin came to rest on his shoulder.

“Guess who!” The voice of his farm boy came to his ears. “You only get one, so make sure it's good.”

“My significant annoyance.” Damian smirked, putting his flute to the side and tapping the hands over his eyes three times in a gentle gesture. 

“If that’s what you’re labeling this.” Jon grumbled, dropping his hands and glancing around to see how hidden they were before slipping his arms around Damian's waist. “I also accept better half, significant other, romantic partner, boyyyyyfriend~”

“Never say it like that again.” Damian sighed, letting the taller boy sway them back and forth to the soft music. 

They had a few seconds of silence before Jon quickly dropped his arms and pushed Damian away. Damian getting the hint and grabbing the flute of cider. The two of them went back into more of the open space, leaving some room between them.

“Hey Mom.” Jon waved, Damian just barked behind him. 

“Mrs. Lane.” He looked to the side. “Father.”

“You can call me Lois, Damian.” She said as she had since the first year of his and Jon's friendship. “Where did you boys disappear to?”

“Not causing any trouble, I hope.” Bruce grinned next to her, reaching out to ruffle his son’s hair. 

Damian dodged, with Jon standing in front of him dutifully. “No, Father. If I wished to cause a scandal, I would have done it by now.”

“I know, son.” Bruce said, tired parent bleeding into his tone. “Just watch what you’re doing. Some of the more bloodthirsty ones are out tonight, and not the ones like the Kents.”

Damian’s nose wrinkled, rolling his eyes and tugging on Jon’s suit jacket. Oh, that was something he hadn’t noticed before. “I understand, Father. However, if I am provoked, I cannot say I will mind my tongue.”

Bruce’s response was lost in the crowd as Damian pulled Jon along, unwilling to lose his partner in the masses. He wound up at a table where his siblings were residing, the two sitting at a respectable distance from each other. 

“Babies of the families!” Dick cheered as they sat down, Jon and Damian with similar expressions of distaste.

They were roped into the conversation, inching closer and closer with each moment. Damian felt an ankle hook over his, and he looked up to see Jon carrying on speaking, waving with his hands and laughing. He would be content to listen to him ramble forever. 

God, he was getting soft.

His other leg was kicked from under the table, and he turned in that direction, defense ready. He dropped it as he realized it was just Cass, who raised a teasing eyebrow at him.

“Have something to say, Cassandra?” He gritted out, daring her to say something. There was a reason Jon and he had kept their relationship under wraps for almost a year, and it certainly wasn’t for the press.

One of Damian’s siblings or Connor would find out and spread it to the next until the entirety of their stupidly large family knew, endlessly hounding both of them for the rest of the year. They would make a big deal out of nothing, insisting they couldn’t go anywhere together without a chaperone or the press seeing them, even though they were 17, dammit.

Cass looked between the two of them, shaking her head but keeping the smug look that had begun to rise. For the love of all that was holy, he hoped there wasn’t an on-going bet that she had just won. His siblings never did tire of humiliating him.

He pulled away from Jon, getting closer to his sister for better privacy. ”You are not to tell anyone; whatever you think is going on is absolutely not.” 

She shrugged at him before motioning to their father on the other side of the room. ”Better to tell now. Press are hungry.”

Better a sweet teen love story than whatever scandal was on the corner? Damian looked around their table, noting the disappearance of some couples, knowing she was correct. Leave it to him to save his siblings’ asses, yet again.

Besides, he’d rather tell them himself than have everyone find out from the gossip chain that was the super-youth community. Now, how to go about it?

”Hey.” Damian tapped on the table to catch Jon’s attention, speaking low enough that only someone with super-hearing could reach. ”Do you remember your ballroom dance lessons?”

A quick, nearly impalpable nod followed. Damian hummed in interest before asking, ”If you think you’re ready, we’ll announce it tonight. Ask me to dance in a few minutes when this dance ends and the other starts.”

The twitch of his lips let Damian know Jon was fighting a smile and struggling to keep his nonchalance, only nodding again.

As the dance ended and the next one began, Jon stood slowly, bowing at the waist in an overly dramatic show, looking up with a grin. 

“May I have this dance, darlin’?” A hand was held out, but he stayed in a bowing position. Murmurs and muffled laughter came from their siblings, Damon rolling his eyes, the action offset by the fond expression and hint of pink on his face.

“I suppose you may.” He placed his hand in Jon’s, following until they were swept into the dance. They could both feel the eyes on them, one more accustomed than the other.

Damian could feel Jon tense and caught his eyes, impossibly blue, flecks of purple highlighting it all. They would always be the thing he could never fully capture in his artwork—icy pools, both still and stormy, pulling him in until he felt like he was drawing in their waters. 

”Don’t mind them; eyes on me, my love.” He murmured, his hand tightening from where it was draped across his shoulder and neck. Jon gave a lopsided smile, spinning them around with the rest of the pairs on the dance floor. 

”Your dad is being followed.” He remarked. ”You know this means we’re going to have to talk to them. Our parents won’t be happy this is how we decided to come out.”

“Better than news getting wind of where Todd and Harper are right now, or someone accusing my father of something.” Damian lowered his voice. “And now I can show you off, beloved. Don’t you want everyone to know I'm yours instead of speculating about all the people I could be dating?”

Jon made a huffing noise, a flush making his freckles more prominent. “You're so mean to me, D.”

“It’s not mean; it’s true.” Damian chuckled as they stepped in time with the slow rhythm. “And I'll use my knowledge of you to my advantage.”

“I'll just have to keep you happy, then.” Jon tapped his forehead with Damian's gently as he turned to face him, the other boy’s cheeks darkening.

They bow to each other as Damian whispers in response, “That shouldn’t be hard; you’ve already done it. You, Jon Kent, have my whole heart, and I have yours, and that is what makes me happy.”

“Oh my God.” Jon pressed a hand to his cheek, his face going red. “You can’t just say things like that in public; I'll explode.”

They stepped off the floor, forgetting momentarily that they had just given a major opening to expose their relationship. No one was making a big deal out of it yet, despite them all noticing. They’d stopped paying attention to the stares fairly quickly, so neither could really tell when they stopped.

Bruce was a few heads away, Lois dragging Clark through the crowds, trying to beat out Vicki Vale, who was on a warpath to them.

“We’re fucked.” Jon muttered to his boyfriend, a rare public curse leaving him. There was one more escape route open, and Damian tugged him towards it, suddenly accosted by a recorder in his face.

”Shit.” Damian backed up into Jon, who stumbled, righting himself and his boyfriend quickly. “Uh, hello? If you’d like an interview, please schedule with my father.

“Please, Mr. Wayne, just a moment of your time.” A reporter in a loose dress shirt and fitted slacks blocked their path, big hoop earrings swinging.

Watching theirs, Damian subconsciously touched the gold cuff in his own ear that connected to a chain in his lobe. “I don’t think I can-”

“Tell me, one question that I know is on everyone’s mind right now-HEY!” They yelped as they were hip-checked to the side—another two recorders in his face now.

Damian looked up in surprise as Vicki Vale replaced the earlier reporter, who was still holding out their recorder. Lois came out of the crowd, pulling her husband by his tie and holding out her own device. Clark had a notepad and a nervous look, scribbling down whatever Lois was telling him to.

"Well, Damian, let’s hear it. Is the Wayne Heir gay?” Vicki waited expectantly, with Lois and the other reporter fuming beside her.

Damian looked at the three black devices in front of him, looked at his father, who was coming up behind him, and then at the Kents, Lois, who was mouthing that he didn’t have to answer if he didn’t want to.

Then he looked at Jon. His Jon. He was tired of hiding and waiting, and he knew Jon was too. His taller boyfriend gave a tap three times to his arm, a silent permission on his side and a strengthening ‘I love you.’

He shoved down the nerves and willed his hands to stop becoming clammy, smirking at them as he leaned into the microphones.

“I don’t know.” Damian grinned, slipping his hand into Jon’s and squeezing it gently. “Maybe a little.”

Jon covered his mouth with his free hand, trying not to laugh, his mother giving him a nod. The amateur reporter smiled at him, Vicki lunging forward, before Bruce coughed loudly from behind them.

“If I could have a moment with my son, please.” He gave a pointed look at the two of them. ”Withoutrecorders.”

Vicki seemed about to retort; the other reported nodding frantically and scurrying away, not so subtly bumping into her as they passed, causing Vicki to follow after and yell.

“I know I said I wouldn't cause anything with the media, but-” Damian began, stopping as his father placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“While I wish you would have told me first so I could deal with the press properly, I want you to know that I'm proud of you and I love you how you are.”

He paused, confused, before he realized what he had technically just done and what his father was trying to say.

“Oh. Uh, thank you, Father.” 

“I would just like to say that I knew it.” Lois cut in, saving them from further awkwardness. “Jon couldn’t hide a secret about you in his life.”

“Mom!” Jon dropped his face to hide in Damian’s shoulder. “They don’t need to hear about that.”

“I would actually love to.” His boyfriend smirked as he groaned.

“I’m breaking up with you.” Jon informed him, his voice muffled by the suit. 

“You wouldn’t dare.” Damian reached up to tug on his curls. “You would perish without me, farm boy.”

“I would miss you too much.” He lifted his head from where it was buried in his shoulder before flushing and hiding again as his father cleared his throat. 

“Well, as lovely as this all is, you both need to be talked to. And sleepovers are postponed indefinitely. We are going to lay down some ground rules here, since you’re both still living with us.”

Damian sighed, while Jon groaned again. Lois laughed, reaching to ruffle both of their heads, getting the expected complaints. 

"Alright, lover boys, have your night.” She tugged on Bruce's sleeve, and Clark followed them both, leaving Jon and Damian standing in the crowd. 

“Wanna get out of here?” Jon whispered in his ear, his hands resting above his stomach and his chin on his shoulder.

“More than anything.” Damian responded, feeling the table with his siblings burning a hole in the side of his head. 

They untangle themselves from each other, slipping into the crowds and out through a window, Jon zooming them through the cloudy Gotham sky, before landing on one of their favorite spots, the rooftop of a Wayne Enterprise building. He set Damian down gently, sitting next to him, their legs swinging over the edge. 

“Well, we did that.” He bumped his shoulder, entwining his fingers with Damian’s. ”You did that.”

Damian laughed. “We did, didn’t we?”

They fell back into silence, watching the bright city lights shine below them. Damian leaned against him, letting out a breath of air. He lifted their joined hands and pressed a kiss to Jon’s, his taller boyfriend parting their hands to tug him closer, and then returned the gesture by kissing his temple.

There would be a media storm to deal with; siblings, parents, friends. But that was something for tomorrow.

Tonight, there were just the two of them, above the city and the lights, away from the cameras, where they could just be. 

[dangerpronebuddie]

Ooh!! I love your wip, please do 😭📋📋📋🥵🥵🥵💙💙😎😎😎 thanks 🥰🥰

Hi darling thank you!!! 🥰🥰 So sorry I'm answering this like three weeks late, the words have not been wording. Scrolled through my asks last night and saw this one and wrote a lot more than I was expecting to. Thank you!

Verbal Abuse fic:

“Christopher said you're seeing a therapist again,” Helena says, her mouth a thin line. Eddie never bothered telling her about therapy. She doesn't believe it helps. “Yeah,” Eddie nods. “Have been for months.” “Pity you didn't start before you traumatized your son into running away,” she says, casual as anything.

Clipboard Buck fic (oh look, Maggie's projecting):

Eddie works his jaw in thought. He wracks his brain, trying to think of his first serious crush. That friend from highschool comes to mind, but he immediately skips over him to Shannon. Before her, there really wasn't anyone. He remembers his friends fawning over Leticia Montes in third grade. He didn't understand the draw. They didn't know her very well; she was in fourth grade. Eddie didn't know a thing about her. He supposes her dark curls and blue eyes were pretty, but there wasn't anything beyond that. There was a boy in sixth grade his friend Mary was practically in love with that, objectively speaking, was attractive. Eddie still didn't get it. Whenever his friends asked him who he liked, he'd think up the most well known heartthrob as his answer. Unfortunately, he had more than a few friends who would proceed to try and set them up. The refusals became degrading after a while. Eventually, he just stopped answering them. He lost those friends, but he didn't feel all that bad about it.

Sub Eddie fic (it's less than 3 lines but it's all my brain would allow me):

“Relax,” he says softly, pressing a kiss to his inner thigh. He doesn't say it out loud, but Eddie hears it all the same. The promise they've kept to each other for years: I'll take care of you, and I trust you to take care of me.

Tanis' fic:

“Fuck, you're beautiful,” Buck says in an awed whisper. For a moment, Eddie thinks he should shy away from the attention. But he doesn't want to. This is Buck. Buck hovers over him, bracketing his head with his forearms. Eddie tips his chin up for a kiss and Buck grins as he leans down. Heat engulfs whatever softness remained from moments before. Buck nips at his lips and licks deep into his mouth, rocking down hard against him as Eddie pulls him closer, closer, closer.

Big Damn Hero (I couldn't not include this moment):

“Yeah, or you know you could… you could have mine,” Buck stammers like an idiot. Eddie does that adorable snort and shakes his hand. “Deal.” Oh, Buck was in trouble. So. Much. Trouble.

Also using this as my WIP Wednesday!

Tagged by @tizniz and @daffi-990 who both shared AMAZING stuff y'all should show some love!! 💚🩵 (p.s. I'm sorry if I haven't interacted with some tags I've gotten recently. Life's been... life, and some days even tumblr is overwhelming. Love y'all and thank you for continuing to tag me 🩷)

Tagging:

@lover-of-mine @loveyouanyway @kitteneddiediaz

@ronordmann @steadfastsaturnsrings @inell @exhuastedpigeon @hippolotamus @diazsdimples

@thekristen999 @monsterrae1 @actuallyitsellie @diazheartsbuckley @wildlife4life @theotherbuckley

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@tofanasmuse @gnoeltop @keynb @cassi-brooks @-syrup-sue @punkrock00 @shannonhutchins @lasagnatheory

[tobiasdrake]

I owe Cassie an apology.

Growing up in the 90's, I fell in love with Animorphs pretty soon after it started being published. It was my favorite series. These characters and ideas have lived rent-free in my head for thirty years. As a kid, I read their books back to back every night when I went to bed, and whenever I caught up, I went back to issue #1 and read them again.

I was obsessed. So much so that when I changed my name, I took my first name from one of their characters. My favorite, in fact; The one I related to the most.

(Ironically, I now consider myself more of a Rachel, but I was like 12 at the time.)

But I never really connected with Cassie. I was a little boy who wanted to see the characters do cool things, and she was the nag. The naysayer. The one who was always trying to get in the way of doing the cool things and fighting the bad guys.

I didn't appreciate her then.

I do now. Cassie was the moral center in a story about the corrosive morality of war. At the start of the series, the Animorphs draw lines in the sand. These are the moral guidelines. These are the lines we do not cross. We are the good guys, and this is how we stay the good guys.

Then, over the course of 54 issues, they gradually cross every one of those lines. The war gets uglier. It gets bloodier. And it makes them into people they didn't want to become. It carves them into soldiers, whether they want to be or not.

And through it all, there's Cassie. Asking the questions. Is this a line we should be crossing? Is this really the morally correct way to fight?

And sometimes, the answer is yes.

And sometimes, the answer is no. But they do it anyways. They make compromises. Even Cassie makes compromises; She's not exempt from the horrors of war.

But she keeps asking the questions. She's the only one who keeps asking the questions. Who keeps the kind of person she wants to be in her heart, even as the war struggles to shape the kind of person she's becoming.

It's what allows her to recover in the end, when Jake and Rachel and Tobias can't. It's what allows her to ultimately leave, when even Marco and Ax get caught up in the next war. Because she, alone, held tightly to her values even when she knew they had to be set aside for the moment here or there.

She never stopped asking the questions. And because of that, there never stopped being a place for her in civilian life. In a sense, she's the only one who ever truly came home.

[fantastic-nonsense]

I feel like I'm going crazy here but why does it seem that there's a strong demand among Wonder Woman fans to bring the classic costume back?

The serious answer is that the battle skirt costume is great but it's also continuing to tie Diana to an era many Wonderfans dislike, several artists refuse to be normal about it, and seeing artists default to drawing Diana in the Rebirth-era battle skirt while simultaneously drawing Bruce and Clark in their classic costumes feels very aesthetically discordant.

Also I'm gonna be real with you fam, Wonder Woman fans tend to love the classic costume because it's a banger look and when drawn well (and not by a man who clearly thinks of Diana as a pin-up doll) outsells nearly every other look she has.

Look at this. Tell me it isn't an effortlessly well-balanced and iconic look:

Also 95% of artistic efforts to do something else end up looking bad. Most of the successes are the ones that either give her shorts/hotpants (her Golden Age looks and looks modeled after those) and a couple of the battle skirt looks.

Diana has never once looked genuinely good in pants and people should just stop trying. Leave the pants to Donna and Cassie and every other Wonderfam member who has a different color scheme and aesthetic that actually allows a pants-based costume to look good.

[venusjaynie]

lil dad!billy drabble

billy hargrove x pregnant!fem!reader

warnings: mentions of: pregnancy, labour, babies etc. 99.9% fluffy fluff!

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

"Honey? I'm home!" Billy grins to himself at his cheesy opener as he walks through the front door. He expects to hear your laugh in response, but he isn't greeted with such a reaction. Confused, he calls your name a few times, and then he calls for the twins, but is again met with silence.

Billy walks through the downstairs of your house, and then he does a quick check upstairs. No sign of you, Amber or Cassidy. However, when he looks through your bedroom window, overlooking the garden, he sees you watching your daughters as they run around the garden.

Billy makes his way downstairs, stopping in the kitchen to grab a can of lemonade for himself, a bottle of water for you and a capri-sun for each of the girls, and then heading outside. He hears the girls before he actually sees them.

"Daddy!" It's Cass that greets him first, as she runs up to him and he has just enough time to set the drinks down on the grass before gathering her in his arms.

"Hey, Cassy girl. You okay?" He presses his lips to her temple and she wraps her little arms around his neck, squeezing tight and burying her head into his shoulder. Billy feels a little tug on his jacket sleeve, and he looks down to see Amber standing at his feet. He bends down so he's eye-level with her, and Cass stands beside him.

"Hi, baby." He says softly.

"Hi daddy." Amber, the shy little thing, raises her arms slightly to indicate that she wants picked up, and Billy, of course, complies. He lifts her so gently as you walk over to greet him.

"Hey, Billy."

"Hi, sweetheart, how was your day?" You pick up Cassy as you walk to Billy, and you plant a soft kiss on his lips when you reach him.

"Good. How was yours?"

"Good, but I missed my girls." You smile up at him, and he kisses you again until he's interrupted by Amber.

"Daddy, I drew you a picture today." Billy lets out an exaggerated gasp, and tells Amber he can't wait to see it and that she should go inside and show him there. Both her and Cassy run into the house to get their drawings from earlier on and Billy turns back to face you. He kneels down so he's eye-level with your belly, and he puts his hand on your small bump.

"Hi, bug." He kisses your stomach, and you think he can probably feel the butterflies fluttery around in there as he does so. "So, any ideas for a name yet?" You laugh.

"Billy, the baby's only 14 weeks, we have plenty of time. Besides, we don't even know if we're having a girl or a boy." He rolls his eyes playfully.

"Alright, alright. I've been brainstorming all day though."

"Oh, really? And what are your ideas so far."

"For a boy, how about Evan?" You tilt your head while you think.

"It's nice, but he doesn't feel like an Evan ." You reply nonchalantly, but quickly realise your mistake. "I mean, he or she." Billy stares at you, and you swear you see his eyes glistening.

"Are you serious? Are we having a boy?" You nod at him with a sheepish smile. He laughs breathlessly and wraps his arms around your waits, making sure to not squeeze too hard on your bump. "Holy shit, I'm having a boy."

"Yeah, baby, we're having a boy." He kisses you, hard, and you can't help but smile. "Hey, c'mon, let's go check out these pictures."

He follows you inside, and you find your girls on the sofa surrounded by colourful pages filled with stickers and glitter.

"Daddy, look! It's me and you and mommy and amber!" Cass runs up to the two of you with a page in hand, and points out all the members of your little family to both you and Billy, and you can't help but notice Billy's fond smile as he listens to her intently. Amber is a little more shy when showing her creations, but Billy listens all the same when she quietly explains her drawings, and he declares that both his babies artwork deserve a spot right in the middle of the fridge.

After pinning them up, the girls run off toward their playroom and Billy walks over to you, a cheeky grin playing at the lips.

"I can't believe we're having a boy."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you before."

"Sweetheart, don't apologise. We're havin' a boy, I'm gonna have a fuckin' son."

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

this is so short and rushed im sorry 😭

but anyways dad!billy 🫶🫶

[autisticandroids]

a short femslash fic rec list for @spntoxicfemslashevent

this was for feb 29 but i forgor. to post it.

collision of light and fire by match_less, hannahmeg, <1k

you know how i love a trueform exploration. this is a fabulous one. it draws character without once putting its mains into their human forms, which i'm really impressed by.

handsome housewife by angelszn, fem!dean/cassie, <1k

i am obsessed with this fic. i read it like two months ago and i did not stop thinking about it even a little afterwards.

pigtails and crayons by bloodandcream, megruby, <1k

a nice kink fic which creates a very charming dynamic in very few words, by an author who is maybe even more obsessed with meg than i am

love hurts by benighted, megjo, 2k

another kinkfic. this one has the kink as the real highlight

blood spins my head by vaguesurprise, kellydagon, 5k

really powerful piece of lesbian awakening media. if you ask me. i think about it a lot. genuinely one of my favorite spn fics released in the last year.

instrumental by slopeslippers, hannah&naomi, 6k

this one isn't even technically femslash but it so so so deserves to be here. it's wildly homoerotic in the best ways and it's hitting that perfect balance of believable character work and darkfic edginess. like truly a joy to read.

memories of my melancholy whores by kalliel, meg/various, 9k

this, a long with another non-femslash fic, is a fic i intentionally put off reading until i completed my fic dog pit. so that i wouldn't be unduly influenced. finally getting around to it was really exciting. fabulous meg character study about bodies.

as you can see from this reclist most of this is the result of meg related tagdiving. because i have kind of a meg Thing. i really should make a general megfic reclist because a lot of it is good but also a lot of it is het. anyway. happy femslash.

[laertesthelocalstranger]

Laertes waits outside the door to the room, shifting his weight from foot to foot, twisting at their hands and wishing they hadn't burned the loose threads off. They look like a petitioner gathering strength before approaching their sovereign, a little kid afraid to knock on his parent's door. And isn't that what they are?

Fae sighs, pushing through the door and into the room. They're not small anymore. This is their cabin. Their kids are sleeping in their rooms. And her dad isn't waiting on the other side anymore.

Sleep does help him. And the couch isn't very comfortable. They'd tried it, a few times. There's no sense leaving a room completely unoccupied, now that a new arrival has made need for another one. Even Marc's.

The room is dark, but not quite dusty. Laertes visits it too often for that. It's the one place in the house left untouched, the Stranger's influence seeping through the walls, but very little changed or added. Marc didn't have many possessions. Just a few pictures on the wall, some of his kids, a girl who looks uncannily like he used to, a woman fae presumes was his mother.

Laertes had only been in here once before Marc died, when he was looking for the gun. He hadn't noticed that one of the framed pictures was something they'd drawn for him. They'd cried all over again, when they first saw that.

A bench has been pulled up to the wall opposite his old bed, a little shrine put up. Nothing much, he wouldn't have liked anything fancy or complicated. Just a drawing fae'd done, using their own easel and oils, and a few unlit incense sticks. She could swear there's a track worn into the floorboards in front of it, from all the pacing fae's done.

He's burned the picture a few times, in a fit of anger. Had to remake it. Laertes isn't proud of that.

"There's a new one. His name's Luka. I think you would've liked him."

They're talking to empty air. Laertes unstrings their necklace, places it on the bench by their father's face. It makes faer chest feel lighter. It makes him unspeakably lonely.

"...He had a rifle. I wouldn't let him bring it into the house. We've had more than enough of those, haven't we?" They set themself down on the worn ground in front of it, crossing their legs and settling in.

"He didn't want to. He cried when I started burning it by mistake. Did I look that...small, to you?" Fae knows fae did. Because they were. Neither of them ever should have had those weapons. Laertes pinches their fingers and lights the incense.

"You didn't do a very good job, y'know. I'm trying to do better. Cassie started hanging out with Jack. She's working as a post boy in his office. I heard him talk about quitting soon, but I'm glad they're getting along. I used to worry I'd have to stop her from killing him." He chuckles. "God, you would've loved her."

Marc would've snapped her up as a daughter in a second, if he was still himself, the version they like to imagine is listening, somewhere. He always loved fighters.

Laertes forgets, sometimes, that they did know each other. What he did. It's not something he likes to remember. They grip their arms tighter, lapsing into silence.

"Why did you have to do it? Why couldn't you have been good to one of us?"

The favorite son of a monster, of a truly broken man. Their eyes reflect jagged light on dark wood. It's only right he'd break Laertes the same way he'd been broken.

Fae pushes himself to his feet, throwing open the curtains, letting the moonlight stream in for the first time in months. They don't think they'll change this room. Marc's scent hasn't quite faded from it. Maybe that's not such a bad thing.

"You know, I can't decide whether to be sad or angry. I want to be angry. Hell, I am angry. But the love doesn't go away. I thought it would, when I accepted what you were. But it didn't."

That only makes faer angrier. His hands start to heat up. They play with old pieces of copper and metal.

"Why do I still love you? After everything?"

There's no answer. The silence fills up the empty room, like oxygen feeding the flames. She begins to pace again, a trapped animal. It always feels like he's trapped here. Trapped beneath all of their grief, all of their rage, all the closure they never received.

"Fucking- answer! You did it before, why can't you just- is it that hard to face me? Everything you fucked up? Is that all I am anymore?"

Laertes stops themself just short of throwing the half-formed hunk of metal at the drawing. That's something Marc would have done, and the kids are sleeping.

"...I hope wherever you are, you regret what you didn't do. I hope you wish you'd changed." He sits back down, righting the picture. It really does look like Marc. They've gotten better.

"Being your daughter was the worst mistake I ever made. I wish it wasn't still my favorite."

She dons her pendant. Enough talking with the dead. He should save his words for those who can still hear him. And yet...

"The owners of the camp are dead. By the way. I led the attack. I was going to tell you that Luka reminds me of you, but... I remind me of you."

One day, he'll make that a thing to be proud of. One day.

"...Until next time, Dad."

He puts out the incense before the fire can spread, and curls up under a dead man's covers.

[chewbokachoi]

My writing/the real reason you're here

-confetti and fanfare-

At the moment, it's all Mortal Kombat. UPDATE: There's, like, one Babylon 5 in there now!

Song Challenges - As the link explains, I write to a song and that's that.

Ask games - Always open/have no expiration date

Completed Works:

Friday Nights - A weekly ritual between the two, Johnny finds tonight's session is bringing up something he's tried to not think about. AO3 Rating: E Chapters: 4/4 Notes: Johnny/Kenshi piece and the piece that dislodged me from my writer's block and I more or less haven't stopped since (aside from a few hurdles but ya get me)

Good Dog - Shang Tsung has gathered far more enemies than allies. Realizing that he needs somebody to keep an eye out for him, he decides to hire a bodyguard. By chance, Shang Tsung arrives just in time to hire Bi-Han, a down on his luck man-for-hire. What Shang Tsung didn't expect was for this man of ice to be immune to all his usual tricks and charm. He doesn't want to admit this draws him to his guard. And on the flip side, Bi-Han didn't think he'd ever break his no-attachments rule with the likes of such a fragile mad scientist. Inspired by the amazing art of @eo03o AO3 Rating: E Chapters: 5/5 Notes: I liked their dynamic too much and am too proud of all the random Easter eggs.

Sublimation - Five years since Bi-Han's betrayal and nothing has gotten easier. Earthrealm continues to need its defenders and everyone's starting to feel the strain. But Tomas is feeling another type of strain--he's been treated like a child more than the second in command of the Shirai Ryu as of late. When Liu Kang tasks Tomas and Hanzo to return to the Lin Kuei library, destroyed during the schism, they are ambushed by Bi-Han and Shang Tsung, who offer Tomas up to an Enenra with hopes to control it.

Things, of course, do not go according to plan. Tomas is saved by Hanzo, but Tomas is once again thrown into a life altering experience he never had a say in. Now he and his friends must learn to live with this new version of their friend. AO3 Rating: M Chapters: 5/5 Notes: Part of a series (that'll get renamed). Part 2 already in the works for it. Commentary

Works in Progress:

But a Patient Wolf - Sequel to Good Dog Shang Tsung gifts "Sai" a chance to exact revenge on Quan Chi, the ringmaster of the traveling circus he once belonged to. With that done, the two flee to Chicago. But their time in the city is cut short when Shang Tsung finally figures out where the strange and mysterious island in the East China Sea is. Bi-Han, the ever-loyal bodyguard, follows his beloved mad scientist to their new destination. There, the two discover a suspiciously preserved library full of secrets and wonders that will push the two and their relationship to the limit. AO3 Rating: M Chapters: 1/5(?) Notes: I fell in love with their dynamic. They're too hard to resist. This story will likely have a different tone than Part One/Good Dog itself, but I hope it's still enjoyable!

The Great Duo: Shang Tsung is woken up one morning to find an ex and six-year-old at his doorstep. She leaves Shang Tsung with a girl who is no doubt his daughter. Initially, he takes her in, knowing it to be wiser to have somebody as smart as him on his side. Soon enough, Shang Tsung finds he not only enjoys having the kid around, but he enjoys teaching her and training her to be just like him. AO3 Rating: T Chapters: 1/3(?) Notes: This one is very much a 'I'll update as the ideas come to me' kind of thing

To Be Haunted: Johnny and Kenshi's relationship has gotten more serious with marriage in sight. Johnny's showing his commitment by welcoming Takeda, while Kenshi still struggles to feel like a good enough parent to Cassie. What should be the next step for the growing family is hamstrung by a strange entity that has made their home its own. Their lives are quickly thrown off balance as Cassie and Takeda grow ill from the creature's presence. Johnny, Kenshi, and their friends scramble to solve the mystery of the entity before it's too late. AO3 Rating: M Chapters: 13/? Notes: I am trying to update it :(

[viarayy01-blog]

Guide to Parenting - fnaf fic

ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/50957647

something i wrote to pass the time! - enjoy!!

-x-x-x-

Roxy leaned in closer to the book, attempting to read the words lining the page. “Wait.. say it one more time?” She turned to Freddy, extremely confused. “I'll reread it again. Ehem…” Freddy cleared his throat and scanned the book pages. “To be a good parent, you must always be monitoring your children. If they seem suspicious, then that means they are doing something inherently wrong, and 110% dangerous. If they keep secrets, or hide things from you, they are going to rebel sooner or later. We don’t want that, do we?” Freddy paused and waited for Roxy’s response. “We…don’t?” Freddy gave her an encouraging look, and continued reading, “All you have to do is remember this simple acronym. A.P.P.L.E. Assess, Prod, Punish, Last chance, and… Execute?” Roxy’s confused expression did not falter, even after a second read.

“Execute? Like kill them?” Her voice started to rise. “Are you saying we have to kill the kids?” Roxy became flustered and angry, attacking Gregory was one thing, a thing he completely deserved, but why would she ever harm Cassie?

“No…” Freddy replied quickly, sensing Roxy’s worriedness. “Perhaps it means to execute the previously stated retribution. Such as, following through with the punishment. Still.. what a strange way to put it.” He trailed off, deep in his own thoughts.

“So.. we have to always watch them, and stop them if they act suspicious in any sort of way? There’s not even any danger at the apartment, aside from that security guard.” She smiled to herself, and Freddy sighed, slightly amused.

“Officer Van-…” he paused. “I mean, Vanessa would never hurt the kids, you know that Roxane.” She scoffed.

“Whatever, just keep reading.” She said irritably and waited for Freddy to continue.

After reading for 20 or so minutes more, they closed the book and tried to figure out what to do next. “Perhaps,” Freddy began, “we should go use our knowledge and test ourselves on what we’ve learned!”

“Alright!” Roxy exclaimed. “Ill deal with Cassie obviously, and you’ll take care of..” she paused and let out a mocking sigh. “Gregory.” Freddy smiled and they went to each of the kids' respective areas in the apartment.

The apartment had 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, and a joint kitchen / living room area. Vanessa’s room was completely off limits, it was where she monitored M.X.E.S and kept an eye on all things that happened at the Pizzaplex. Her walls were a dark grey. The kids bedroom was painted blue, since before Cassie arrived, Gregory had the room all to himself. The room was covered in Gregory’s drawings, mostly of strange and twisted events occurring to Vanny and Freddy respectively. One even depicted a strange rotting corpse in a bunny suit and a huge amalgamation of wires with loose animatronic heads. On Cassie's side of the room was a huge poster of a cartoon she liked and a few Roxane drawings that Gregory had drawn for her. On each of the kids bed’s were a wide array of stuffed animals. Gregory had a Freddy and Sundrop set, while Cassie had a Roxane and Chica pair. A Monty plush sat on the single desk placed in front of Cassie's bed.

Usually, the animatronics would recharge in the living room or rest in the car, which was where they got their main energy supply. Vanessa would go out every week to get a full tank of gas so that the car had enough energy to recharge Freddy and help with some of Roxy’s repairs. Right now she was out of the house, going to pick up groceries. Freddy was in charge while she was gone, and Roxy served as his only way to get anything done, due to the fact he was only a head.

Roxy picked up Freddy and brought him to Gregory, who was typing on his computer in the bedroom. Gregory looked up from his work, somewhat startled by the sudden presence of two robots. He saw Freddy and relaxed his shoulders. He looked up further to Roxy, who growled at him before storming off. He giggled and then returned his attention to Freddy.

“What’s up, Superstar?” Freddy tried to get a better look at the laptop Gregory was typing on. Gregory tensed up once again and clicked a few times, his hands moving swiftly across his laptop.

“Everything ok, Gregory? Why do you look so nervous?” Gregory tried to keep a smile on his face.

“Nothings wrong! I'm just showing you what I'm working on!” He motioned to the screen. It had a huge line of text covering it, and at the top of the tab the document was called, ‘Practice Code’. Nothing seemed too suspicious. Freddy remembered what he had read, and prepared to dig deeper into what was really going on.

“Is this for the lessons Vanessa has been giving you, Superstar?” Gregory loosened a bit, and then nodded.

“She wants me to help her when she goes to the Plex next, I have to be able to stay in the car while she goes and assess the M.X.E.S. module. It’s a lot to learn, even if I had been really good at coding before she gave me lessons.” Freddy looked over the page again, it was a simple code line that was mainly used for a debug command. Gregory may have only been experienced in coding games and more so hacking, but he was still exceptional at learning new things. “It looks great,Superstar. I'm sure Vanessa will be proud of your work.”

Gregory smiled, tilted his head and turned the laptop back towards him. “Thanks, Freddy.” He quickly tapped a few more times on his mousepad before his face turned stone cold and he began to type. What was he really working on?

__ __ __

Roxy knocked on the bathroom door. “Come in!” said Cassie, who had her hands full of makeup brushes and pallets. “Cassie? What are you doing?” Cassie turned her head away from the door, obviously hiding something. “No! Don’t look!” The bathroom was a disaster. Different colors of eyeshadow were sprawled across the mirror and counter, chunks of lipstick and loose blush were caked in the sink, somewhat clogging the drain.

“Cassie.” Roxy said sternly “I cannot see anyway.” A silence followed.

“Oh. Right.” Cassie said, sheepishly turning around to face her. Roxy felt around the bathroom, trying to find a wall to lean up against. Her hands found a towel, which she placed on the floor for her to sit on, so her rough wires and exterior wouldn’t scratch the tiles or wall.

“What’s wrong? Explain to me what you're even doing, I can only hear so much.” Cassie sighed and sat next to Roxy.

“I was putting makeup on. Again. But…” She was quiet for a second before she, unprompted, started to cry. “It looks nothing like how I wanted.” She sniffed. Roxy, startled, tried to remember the A.P.P.L.E. acronym from earlier. Her heart swelled with confidence, she was going to make everything perfect.

“So uh… to ASSESS the situation better, why don’t you explain exactly what happened.” Wow.. Roxy thought to herself, I really am the best! If she kept up at this pace with this much ease, she wouldn’t even have to get to the end of the acronym.

Cassie wiped her face, her sleeve becoming stained with mascara and eyeshadow. “Okay… it all started when I found a picture of Vanessa in her nightstand drawer.”

__ __ __

Freddy had assessed the situation, but now he had to dig deeper. “Uh.. Gregory..” He started, trying to organize his thoughts. “I think that I should go through your laptop.” Gregory stopped typing, staring blankly into his computer.

“Huh.” Gregory slowly turned his head to meet Freddy, his face completely deadpan. “What do you mean? You just wanna look at the outside?” Sweat beads formed on Gregory’s forehead.

“No, I mean I want to go THROUGH your computer.” Nothing. Gregory did not change his facial formation. “Such as the files and documents. Is that a problem?” Freddy hadn’t seen Gregory so dogdey since he had taken Roxy’s eyes, he must be hiding something for sure.

Freddy opened a hatch under his ear, and a usb drive slowly whirred out. Freddy motioned to the laptop with his eyes, waiting for the computer to be plugged in.

“I…uh… I don’t want to.” Gregory said, voice wavering. “My laptop is for me and me only.” Freddy’s eyes widened. Backlash. Gregory had always been stubborn, but he usually obeyed what Freddy asked of him. He thought back to the next letter from the book. Punish. This was going to be difficult.

“Gregory, I don’t want to force you to do this, but I think its in your best interest if I go through everything on your laptop. It’s for your safety. I don’t want to take your laptop from you, but you can’t just outright say no. I’m in charge, remember?”

Gregory drew his eyebrows together, his stone cold gaze becoming dagger-like. “How are you gonna take it from me?” He said defensively, holding the laptop close to his chest. “You don’t even have arms to grab it with!”

Freddy gasped and let his eyes go wide. “What a rude thing to say! Superstar. This is your LAST CHANCE. Plug the computer in, or I'll call Vanessa and tell her how you’ve been behaving. This is your final warning.”

Gregory’s face dropped a little. He was so looking forward to going to the Plex with Vanessa. He wanted nothing more than to help, to fix all the hurt he caused when he was originally trapped at the mall. Instead of feeling scared or sad though, Gregory got angry.

__ __ __

Roxy couldn’t believe what she just heard. “You went in Vanessa’s room?? Why were you in there?” As much as Roxy disliked her former security guard, she understood wanting to have her own space.

After all, it was in her bedroom that Roxy was able to get all her feelings out, no matter how messy they were.

What else might have Cassie seen in her room? Disturbing files? Secrets? What if Cassie was fascinated with Vanessa now, and she didn’t like Roxy anymore? Roxy immediately spearheaded herself deeper.

“I don’t know… we were talking and she said something about…uhh…” She got a bit nervous about mentioning the Vanni mask, so she quickly found an alternative. “about … makeup! Yeah… makeup.” She managed to catch herself. “So I wanted to see what other makeup stuff I could find in there. But I didn’t find much, just this photo of Ness with a girl. They look around the same age.” She pulled out the photo. “They’re holding hands and leaning next to each other. I really liked the girl’s makeup, so I wanted to surprise Ness with a re-do of it myself. But, I'm not very good, and I made a mess in the bathroom. She’s been working hard at the Plex to make things right, I just wanted to do something nice for her.” She had stopped crying, but looked genuinely sad.

Roxy sat quietly with Cassie for a moment. Her thoughts quickly jumped around. Screw this stupid system. She doesn’t need a strict parent. She needs a good role model. She needs advice. Roxy pulled Cassie's hand away from her face, where she had continued to rub her makeup off.

“Listen Cassie. I understand that you wanted to do something nice for…Vanessa. But you know better than to go snooping around. You might have found something Vanessa didn’t want you to see. Something about her past she would rather keep away. I’m sure she would’ve loved to see your makeup anyway, but how about doing something else nice for her instead?” Cassie looked up at Roxy, with a look of thanks and relief.

“Okay. What could I do for her then? I don’t know what she likes to eat, otherwise we could make her something. Or maybe she would like a drawing!” Roxy looked deep in thought too, but suddenly a loud noise came from the bedroom.

“What was that?” Cassie asked. Roxy peered her head out the door, it seemed to be an argument. She stood up.

“Let’s go see… stay behind me okay?” Cassie nodded and helped Roxy up, pulling her up by her hand.

“Superstar! I warned you! I have to EXECUTE this procedure!” Freddy had extended the usb drive all the way to the computer, clicking it into place and locking it. Gregory tried to pull the USB out, tugging as hard as he could.

“No! You can’t see what’s on here! It’s MY laptop! Let go!!” Roxy burst through the door, slamming it against the wall, startling not only her but everyone else. The sounds of Gregory trying to pull his computer away from Freddy did not waver or stop.

“What is going on here!? You're scaring Cassie!” Cassie snuck around Roxy’s legs, diving between them and bolting into the room. She came between the two and tried to pull Gregory’s hands away from the computer.

“Gregory! What are you doing? Just let go!” She tugged his hands away, and pushed him away from the laptop. He stumbled a bit, running into his bed before tripping and falling back.

“Gregory! Are you okay?” Freddy called out, worried. Cassie placed the computer next to Freddy on the desk, and went to help Gregory.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to push you that far. You just wouldn’t let go!” Gregory shook his head and stood up.

“It’s not your fault Cassie, I got carried away.” He turned to Freddy, who while looking concerned also looked somewhat far away. He was analyzing the files.

“Freddy, its not what it looks like.” He quickly turned to Cassie, bracing for impact. His eyes grew wide and worried, and he mouthed out words to help get his point across. She in turn looked very worried.

“What happened? Someone tell me what’s going on?” Roxy was tapping the doorframe, trying to find a safe space to stand where she wouldn’t knock anything over.

Freddy had finished. He blinked a few times before removing the USB from the laptop, pulling it out with force. “Gregory..” His eyes readjusted into place, pinning his focus on Gregory. “Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

The laptop screen was covered in blueprints. There were photos of each animatronic, not just Roxy and Freddy, in each corner of the screen. Detailed instructions and directions were typed along the edges.

Cassie pulled Roxy into the room, and then returned to Gregory’s side.

“Sigh.. It was supposed to be a surprise, Freddy.” Cassie said guiltily. “We were working so hard to get it all done for you, before you caught on.” Gregory shuffled beside her.

“I wanted to find some way to thank you for everything you’ve done for me. I feel like I always get everyone into trouble, and never get them out. I was trying to figure out a way to save all the other animatronics from the PizzaPlex, so that Ness and I could repair their AI and hardware. So that they could be free from the virus.” He turned to his side.

“Cassie was helping me out, since she only got out of the Plex recently. She said she found someone, another animatronic, in a hidden room. She said she found Bonnie.”

Freddy was in shock. He felt so much relief over what he found, but so much distrust, too. Bonnie? It had been forever since he had heard someone else talk about him. Not even Roxy mentioned him anymore.

“Is this true, Cassie?” Roxy said from behind her. She looked so hopeful.

“Yeah.. we were going to get Chica first, then Sun— I mean… Eclipse, and Monty.”

“That’s why Vanessa has been at the Plex so much recently, she’s been trying to find the Mimic, and keep it away while I go in to lure everyone out. Once everyone was fixed, then Monty could go get Bonnie from behind the bowling alley. We were going to save everyone. And fix them. Fix you and Roxy too.”

“Superstar…this..” Freddy tried to find the words. “Thank you. I’m sorry for trying to invade your personal space. I should have never trusted that book. ” Gregory looked a bit surprised.

“What book?” He said, narrowing his eyebrows.

— — — —

Pulling the book up on her lap, Cassie read the cover. “A Guide to Parenting, by Fazbear Entertainment.” Her nose scrunched. “The Fazbear company wrote this?” She flipped through the pages, landing on the one Roxy and Freddy had been reading.

Gregory leaned in closer, resting his hand on Cassies shoulder. “The A.P.P.L.E. acronym, huh? Yeah, I remember seeing this before.” He flipped ahead a couple of pages, scanning the letters that lined them. “This is what they train all their employees off of, majority of them are parents or take care of kids majority of the day, so they're required to read this book. I always thought the ending of it was weirdly violent?” He leaned in closer, seeming to be looking for something. “Still, standard Fazbear Entertainment behavior.”

After flipping through a few pages more, the group landed on a section with detailed spring lock suit failure instructions, including a drawing that was painted on the pages. It was very gorey, to say the least. “Ohhh kay.” Cassie slammed the book shut, somewhat bewildered. “Enough of that.”

Gregory took the book from her, placing it on the coffee table. “Yeah, I don’t think that is the book that anyone should base their parenting off of.” Gregory said with a smile. His gaze ever so slightly shifted over to Freddy. Cassie slid off of the armchair and brushed off her shorts, turning to face the group.

“I think we should clean up before Ness gets home. There’s nothing better than coming home to a clean house.” She fiddled with the cuff of her shirt, someone complacent. “Plus…I don’t think she’ll like how much of a mess I made in the bathroom.” She giggled.

After cleaning up the bathroom and the rest of the house, Cassie and Gregory were sent to their rooms.

Even though everything had still worked out, they couldn’t get off scot-free. They each broke a rule, and for that they would be grounded for a week.

Their spirits were still high though, and when Ness got home, she went to her room to find a book on her bed. There was a loose paper sticking out, its edges just barely visible. She opened the book to the outstretching paper.

It was a drawing, done by Gregory. It was of Gregory and Cassie, holding a red heart with pink letters inside that said; “Thanks! :)” underneath, text in scratchy black pen wrote, (PS. GET RID OF THIS BOOK! NOT SAFE FOR THE KIDS!) that was obviously from Freddy, written by Roxy judging from the incomprehensible handwriting.

She pulled the drawing out of the book, when another paper fell out from behind it. It was a polaroid. She bent down to pick it up, flipping it over. The photo was of her and Lia. Before Vanny. Her hand glazed over the image, such a distant memory in her mind. She wished so badly to talk to Lia again, but there was no way Lia would want to. Dropping the oddly twisted book in her small mesh garbage can, she smiled to herself, put the drawing and photo on her desk, and went out to make dinner.

[tnight877]

Angels

"Cassie?"

She was tired. Everything hurt. Couldn't she just go to sleep? Her dad slept off his migraines, and his problems, and her problems, and...everything.

Yes, sleep should solve it.

"Wake up."

"Mmmmm...I don't wanna..."

"Cassie, little rockstar, please wake up."

Cassie cracked one eye open, though the darkness beyond didn't reveal much. There was some rotting smell, ash, something that smelled vaguely poisonous... She dropped her head back, pain lancing up her spine at the abrupt motion.

"Come on, get up. We need to get moving."

Cassie groaned loudly as someone pulled her out of her little crater, her eyes fluttering open. Her gaze met the black eyes of a white bear mask and she stared for a moment before hauling in a deep breath and screaming.

"Okay, okay, that's enough," the bear mask guy said, his voice rasping and dry, a hint of some European accent slipping through. He gave her a gentle shake. "Cassie, was it? Please stop, you'll draw attention to us."

Cassie stopped screaming when claws gently hooked through her torn sweater, fumbling for her fingers. Cassie looked up, meeting Roxy's blind face, the wolf's ears perking as her stripped digits curled around Cassie's fingers.

"Little rockstar," Roxy murmured. "You're okay."

"I don't feel okay," Cassie whimpered, her awareness returning in a rush of pain.

"We need to take her to the Daycare," the bear mask guy said. "They'll have the resources to patch her up." He glanced over his shoulder. "Let's hurry, though, before that thing comes back."

"What's going on?" Cassie asked as the guy looped one arm under her legs and the other around her back, carefully lifting her off the ground and resting her cautiously against his chest as he stood. "Who are you?"

"A friend," he said simply. He started walking, and even though he was clearly trying to keep her steady, his steps still sent bolts of pain through her with each movement. She could hear Roxy following, the wolf's joints hissing with each step, her claws dragging along the wall to guide her. "And your other friend dropped you down an elevator shaft. Roxy and I fished you out after driving the Mimic off."

"Why?" Cassie whispered.

"My father's not getting away with another murder," the guy muttered.

"No, why would Gregory do that?" she clarified, her voice breaking. "I came here to save him..."

"He wasn't here," the guy said. "You freed the Mimic that Gregory apparently trapped here. Guess he didn't want you letting it out when you escaped."

Cassie squeezed her eyes shut as if that could erase the betrayal of her best friend. She curled into the guy's chest, his fingers tightening around her.

She took shuddering breaths, counting each one until the guy finally slowed down, kicking open some door and kneeling to lay her on dirty mats.

"Oh, no, no, no!" a loud yet friendly voice called. "We're still cleaning up! You can't be in here!"

"Sorry to burst your bubble, Eclipse, but no one's going to be visiting for a while," the guy said. Cassie opened her eyes just as Eclipse landed beside her, his rays spinning once as he took her in.

"Oh, little girl," the animatronic cooed, reaching spindly fingers towards her and ghosting them over her body. "What happened to you, starshine?"

"That doesn't matter," the guy said. "Can you help her?"

"Of course," Eclipse replied, standing and reaching into his stomach hatch. He pulled out a charred plastic box, prying the lid off and rummaging through its contents. "Oh dear, we're going to need more supplies than this. Hang tight, little one. We'll be right back."

Eclipse took off, the guy dropping into a criss cross applesauce position next to Cassie, Roxy awkwardly settling on her knees beside them.

"Roxy," Cassie started, but Roxy quickly shook her head.

"Don't worry, little rockstar," she assured her. "You did nothing wrong."

"You stuck your nose where you shouldn't have," the guy interjected. "This is no place for a little girl. And dabbling in the AR world? You'll be seeing Helpy in your peripherals for the rest of your life."

"How do you know all this stuff?" Cassie asked. "Are you a Fazbear technician?"

"Something like that." He glanced away. "I'm better at fixing robots than people, and even then I'm better at breaking the robots than fixing them." He looked down at her. "All this to say I suck at first aid. Sorry."

"Why are you dressed like that?"

"Covers up what people don't want to see."

"What's that?"

"You don't want to see."

"What's your name?"

"You ask a lot of questions."

"You saved my life," Cassie said quietly, meekly. "I...I guess I just want to know why."

"You remind me of someone."

"...who?"

Even though the bear mask was smiling, she could feel the sadness seep into his persona. He didn't reply.

"Hello again, friends!" Eclipse declared, landing and dropping bandages and some other scary looking things beside the trio. "Roxy, dear, would you mind holding her up? She's got a nasty gash on her leg that I'd like to attend to first. Here, starshine. Take these pills. They'll help with the pain."

Roxy gently lifted Cassie, the little girl letting out a pained squeak. Eclipse pressed a pair of pills into her hand, his optics flickering. "I don't have any water, I'm sorry," he said, shaking his head. "Try not to think about it, little one."

"I can go get water," the guy said, pushing himself to standing with an odd mechanical hiss. "Hopefully something that's not sewage."

He slipped out of the double doors, Cassie's focus shifting to Eclipse as he grabbed a bottle and a graying cloth. "Hold still, starshine," he said and got to work.

The guy came back with a cracked mug, water leaking slowly between the crack. He pressed it into her shaking hand, taking the pills from her and dropping them between her parted lips. "Careful," he muttered as he pressed the mug to her lips. He pulled back after she'd swallowed.

"Why wear the mask?" she asked, trying to distract herself from the sting of whatever Eclipse was doing to her leg, Roxy's digits rubbing comforting circles on her shoulders. The guy seemed to pick up on this and sighed, his shoulders drooping.

"Couple of reasons. Not to scare people, and AR access." He pointed a stern finger at her. "It's meant for adults."

"Sorry," she whispered. He shook his head.

"Too late for apologies and regrets." He crossed his arms over his chest, looking around the Daycare. "How long until she's ready to be transported?"

"At least fifteen minutes. We need to do some scans and get her medicated properly," Eclipse said. "Our little starshine shouldn't have to deal with this pain all on her own."

"Can I see?" Cassie asked. "What's under the mask? I've seen some pretty scary things."

"She's not scared of me," Roxy said, clearly trying to be humorous, though vulnerability seeped into her voice.

"You look fine, Roxy. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise," the guy told her. "Little girl, trust me, you're better off not knowing."

"Name or mask," Cassie offered boldly, wincing as Eclipse's digits brushed a tender spot. He muttered a gentle apology. The guy tilted his head.

"Little negotiator, are we? Fine. Eggs Benedict."

Cassie giggled. "That's not your name," she said with a laugh.

"That's what people call me."

"Why?"

"It's what I've gone by for a long time. Some idiot gave it to me and it just stuck."

"Okay, then what were you called before that?"

"Benedict Eggs."

She laughed again, shaking her head. "You're funny."

"Glad you think so."

"Well, since you won't tell me your real name, then you have to show me your face." She fixed him with a stern look. "Deal's a deal, right?"

His head tilted the other way. "You're not quitting, are you?"

She shook her head with a small smile. "Momma didn't raise a quitter."

"Good mother." His aura softened. "Good kid." He sighed, looking to the side and reaching up to touch the base of his mask. "Okay, fine. Promise not to scream in my face this time."

She raised her pinky. "Promise." He turned to stare at her hand and she wiggled her finger expectantly. He shook his head, reaching over and carefully curling his finger around hers. For the first time, she noticed the white bandages wrapping around each of his fingers and disappearing beneath his sleeve.

She didn't get the chance to ask about it before he was pushing the mask back to rest at an angle on his head, revealing more bandages around his neck and stitches on sickly purple skin. Cassie's eyes widened and she swallowed her words -- and disgust -- as he tilted his head and watched her expectantly.

"Michael Afton," he said. "At your service." His mouth quirked upwards, black eyes lidded and tired. "But you can call me Mike."

[tabsters]

The Twelve Days of Zodiacs - Day 8

"On the eighth day of Christmas, my Zodiacs gave to me, Eight drinkers drinking, Seven bakers baking, Six ornaments, Five ugly sweaters, Four wrapped presents, Three snowmen, Two bread rolls, And a snowball fight under a tree."

it should be noted that this story is in a modern AU, aka an AU where no magic exists. everyone is just normal and untraumatized! the modern AU names for the characters are listed below:

SGZ! Scorpio: Scott SGZ! Scutum: Jasper SGZ! Ophiuchus: Oberon SGZ! Perseus: Percy SGZ! Orion: Elliot SGZ! Centaurus: Russell

tagging @mythicalmagical-monkeyman @hyperfixation-tangentopia @maiawhimsicalt @sweet-star-cookie

next chapter is here!

"Your brother's coffee shop is pretty cute," Ciara said as they walked through the doors, the bell jingling. The place was decorated with various Christmas decorations, with wreaths, fake sprigs of mistletoe and holly, and tinsel all around. "Maybe I should work here when I'm older."

"My brother doesn't own Moonbeans Cafe," Cassie laughed, waving to the barista on duty. "There he is, though."

"Cass!" Cassie's brother—Ciara forgot his name, but she knew that it started with a D—waved the two of them over. "And Ciara, right? What do you guys want? It's on the house."

"I can pay!" Ciara announced, rummaging through her bag for her wallet. Now that she was up close, she could see that Ciara's brother's name tag read Demitri. "You don't need to do that!"

"It's fine, it's fine," Demitri said, waving her off. "We got a lot of tips earlier, anyway. Huge rush of people for lunch."

"Well, if you're sure..."

"Hot chocolate!" Cassie pointed to the menu. "With whipped cream and sprinkles."

"Uh, can I get..." Ciara scanned the menu, trying to see which item was the least expensive. She felt kind of guilty for just taking free drinks. "The peppermint mocha?"

"Coming right up!" Demitri said cheerfully. It seemed like he was the only barista on duty. Perhaps everyone else was taking a break, as there was only one other person in the coffee shop.

And then someone else walked into the shop. Ciara could physically feel her heart stop and constrict.

"Shit!" Ciara whispered, immediately going to hide herself behind Cassie. "Hide me!"

"Huh?" Cassie asked, confused, and not just because she was much shorter than Ciara and would undoubtedly be awful at hiding her. "What? Why?"

"There's...ah, there's someone from school here."

Cassie craned her head at the figure who was now sitting at one of the tables, getting their sketchbook out. Ciara was internally screaming, crying, and cursing every god she could think of.

"Who's that?" Cassie asked, eyes widening as she began to realize something. Ciara's face felt like it was on fire, and she was pretty sure she was becoming as red as a lobster. "Is that...aww, Ciara, is that your crush?"

"Not so loud," Ciara hissed, clamping her hands around Cassie's mouth and dragging her to a table far, far away from her crush. "He might hear you."

"Who is he, anyway?" Cassie asked, still trying to get a better look at him. "Have you never talked to him in your life?"

Ciara sighed, deeply. She was lucky that her crush was wearing his enormous chunky headphones, the ones he used whenever he was locking in for drawing. "He's in my art class. He's been in my classes ever since middle school. We used to be close."

He was wearing a black beanie paired with a dark gray sweater, his eyeliner swept into cat eyes. He was fidgeting with a loom band bracelet done in the colors of the trans flag, the look in his eyes filled with quiet determination.

"...Ciara? Helloooo? Earth to Ciara?" Ciara abruptly realized that she had zoned out, and that Cassie was snapping her fingers in front of her face in an attempt to resuscitate her.

"Anyway!" Ciara said loudly as Demitri called out, 'Hot chocolate and peppermint mocha!' She stood up abruptly, almost knocking her chair over. "I'm gonna go get that for us!"

She very quickly walked over, grabbed the drinks, and then speed walked back to the table. She then proceeded to down a fourth of her drink in one gulp. Cassie looked like she was part enjoying Ciara's panic and part concerned for her friend's wellbeing.

"Oh, I know that guy!" Cassie said, pointing to the man sitting behind them. Ciara turned his head to look at him. He had dark hair, and he had eyebags so dark, they looked like bruises. He was typing furiously on his laptop. His black hoodie was pulled over his head and he kept pushing his glasses up his nose. A thick purple scarf was wrapped around his neck, partially covering his mouth. There were also three empty coffee cups sitting on his table. He looked very tired and very much done with life.

"Who's that?" Ciara asked, because he looked like he was in desperate need of a nap. "And how do you know him?"

"He's a frequent customer around here. He's always here when I come to visit." Cassie shrugged. "Wanna go talk to him?"

Ciara glanced towards the figure in the corner, and decided that it was a great idea to get out of his line of sight as quickly as possible. "Yeah, let's."

"Oh, Cassie!" Demitri called from the counter, holding a box in his arms. "Flicker was in the back. He's been at the vet all morning, so he's kind of tired." Cassie's face lit up.

"Flicker!" Cassie rushed forward to take the box. Inside was a tiny hamster, its little mouth opening and closing as it snored. "Did you miss me? Were the vets mean to you? Hey, Scott! Look at my hamster!"

The tired-looking man glanced in their direction as they approached him. He nodded, once, and then returned to his furious typing. Ciara distantly thought that he could kick ass at typing.com.

"Aren't you going to take a break?" Cassie asked, setting the hamster box onto Scott's table. "It's the holiday season! Are you really going to spend it alone?"

Scott sighed, but shut his laptop. "Very well. I shall look at your hamster."

He bent his head down to the plastic box, watching as the tiny golden hamster slowly woke up. "Good evening, Flicker. I hope your day has been well?"

Flicker tilted its head up at the man, possibly also wondering why Scott was so tired.

"My day has been tiring. This morning was filled with many phone calls and much paperwork," Scott continued. Ciara had to stifle a laugh, because the sight of a grown man talking in such formal language to a tiny hamster was objectively hilarious. "It must be nice, living the life of a hamster."

"What do you even do?" Cassie asked as Flicker retreated back into its little hamster house. "I've asked you so many times and I never get an answer."

"I told you every time," Scott said, opening his laptop up again. "I work in a high-ranking government position."

"That's not a proper answer at all."

"I completely agree!" A new voice said, coming in from the back door. "You really must be more honest, especially when talking to me."

Ciara turned to look at the newcomer, who was a short, stout man with a bright orange jacket. He smiled up at the two girls, took a sip of his coffee, then took a seat across from Scott.

"I see you've met my friend here," He said, poking Scott's hand until he closed the laptop again. "I'm Jasper. Medic at the local hospital. He and I seem to be meeting quite a lot."

"I've seen you around!" Cassie said, sitting down next to him. "You always tip really well. My brother likes you."

"Hi, Jasper," Scott sighed, looking like he wanted to combust into thin air. "I have work to do. My job is very busy."

"You've been working for the entirety of the holidays," Jasper said cheerfully, quickly snatching the man's laptop away. "Take a break for at least one day."

Scott looked between all three of the hopeful faces before them and finally sighed once more. "Okay. If you insist."

"You're wearing the scarf I gave you!" Cassie pointed to the purple scarf around Scott's neck. Scott himself looked down at himself, seemingly noticing this himself. "The one I made you last Christmas!"

"Yes. I am. It's very warm." Scott rubbed the scarf between his fingers. "Thank you for making it for me."

"Are you wearing the mittens I gave you?" Jasper asked, leaning across the table. "I thought they suited you very well!"

Scott sighed some more, pulling two mittens out of his pocket, which had knitted scorpions on their fronts. "I took them off, but I was making good use of them earlier."

"Good!"

-

They then spent at least an hour chatting with Scott—or more like, they talked to Scott, and he gave one sentence answers. Ciara had to stifle laughs many times, because this man just seemed so blunt and straight-forward all of the time.

"Dude, I had to google 'what does stabbing feel like' once, because I was writing a horror story for English," Ciara laughed. "I got called to the principal's office and I had to spend half an hour explaining myself."

"I was stabbed once," Scott said, but Jasper quickly talked over him with some comments about how he hoped Ciara wrote stab wounds in an accurate way. 

"You wouldn't believe how many people overestimate or underestimate the amount of blood you can get from a stab wound," Jasper said, quickly getting interrupted by his ringing phone. He turned it to FaceTime. "Hello?"

"Jasper, we need you." A man with bleached white hair said, speaking while walking. A dark green mask covered his lower face. "As soon as possible. We—where on Earth are you?"

"Coffee shop, Oberon," Jasper said cheerfully. "I'll be there in a bit!"

The medic quickly stood up, shaking everyone's hands in quick succession. "Wonderful to see you all. I must be off!"

And then he exited, leaving Scott to grab at his laptop again. Scott looked up at Ciara and Cassie again. "You shouldn't be bothering with an old man like me. Go hang out with your friends. I saw you looking at that one guy earlier."

"Yes, that's right!" Cassie clapped her hands together, turning Ciara back around to look at her crush. Oh no. "You should go hang out with mystery guy."

Ciara made a couple of weak sounds of protest as Cassie pushed her closer and closer towards her crush. He didn't look up, not even as they stood directly next to him.

Cassie tapped him lightly on the shoulder, and he looked up, taking his headphones off. "Hi!"

"Hi?" He asked, looking between Cassie and Ciara. "Oh! Ciara! I didn't expect to see you here."

Ciara breathed in, out, in. "Hi, Kai."

"My brother works here," Cassie said cheerfully. "So we decided to hang out here, and then Ciara recognized you."

"I—yep, yep, I did." Ciara nodded her head up and down. She felt like a bobblehead. "How—how have you been?"

"I've been good!" Kai laid his hands in his lap, and Ciara didn't miss how Cassie was slowly inching further and further away from them. "AP Psychology has been kicking my ass, though."

"Ah—ha, yeah, me too."

"Hey, sit down." Kai gestured towards the chair across from him. He moved some of his stuff out of the way. "I wanna catch up."

So Ciara sat.

"Didn't you win an award for one of your pieces?" Kai asked, flipping through his sketchbook. "The piece that had those two girls. You've really improved since middle school, huh?"

"I mean, I guess." Ciara tapped her fingers on the table. She really wanted to see what Kai was sketching the entire time he was here. But she knew how sacred sketchbooks were to artists—she'd kill anyone that touched her own sketchbook without permission—so she kept her mouth shut.

"I was wondering, can you give me some advice?" Kai flipped to a page near the end, showing it to Ciara. "I'm planning on entering this into the spring show next year."

"Oh. Okay, sure." Ciara scrutinized the sketch, looking for areas of improvement. It was of a girl looking into a mirror, reaching her hand out. Her reflection was that of a boy’s, his hair cut shorter than the girl’s.

“Is this about…dysphoria?” Ciara asked, knowing how sensitive the subject might be to Kai. When they were in middle school, Kai had been the target of bullying and scorn. It was part of what led them to drift apart. “It’s very well drawn.”

Kai nodded. “Yeah, it is. And thank you.”

“Well, in terms of advice, I’d—" Ciara was cut off as the door opened again.

“Cassie!” It was three boys, all of them rushing towards Cassie. One of them was wearing a purple hoodie, one of them was carrying a green messenger bag, and one of them had dark blue hair. Wow, Cassie really did have a lot of friends. Ciara swallowed, turning her attention back to the sketch.

“Well, the perspective between the hand and the mirror is a bit off. I think that it would be better if the angle was slightly more like this.” Ciara made a few vague hand movements, knowing that Kai would pick up on what she was trying to convey. A pang of nostalgia resonated within her chest as she remembered how they used to do this exact same thing when they were younger.

“Oh yeah, I thought that as well. There’s a rougher sketch on the next page.”

“Alright.” Ciara turned the page, looking at the sketch on the back of the page. “Alright, yeah, so—"

A sketch on the next page caught her eye. It was of a girl with a headband, with big, dark eyes, mouth open in laughter—

It was of her. The date below the sketch was today.

That was what Kai had been working on the entire time he was here.

“What are you looking at—?” Kai asked, leaning over to look at the page. His face then paled, then went bright red, in rapid succession. Ciara might have thought it was funny, if her face wasn’t doing the exact same thing.

“Anyway!” Ciara said loudly, quickly closing the sketchbook and all but shoving it back towards Kai. Kai quickly took it and shoved it in his backpack. “The perspective’s really my only issue with it. Uh, why don’t you come back to me with the lineart and we’ll talk more?”

“Yeah, sure!” Kai nodded and smiled, just like how he used to do in middle school. Ciara could feel her heart physically skip a beat. “You still have my phone number, right?”

“I actually got a new phone in freshman year,” Ciara said, pulling out her phone. “You can put it in.”

“Nice.” Kai did a double-take when he saw her wallpaper. “Yo, is this Alien Stage? I love that series!”

“Really?” Ciara asked in disbelief. “You like Alien Stage too?”

“Are you kidding? I’m Ivan’s biggest fan.” He quickly turned his phone on, showing Ciara his lock screen. It was a piece of fanart depicting the iconic Till and Ivan kiss from Round 6. “Did you see the newest video?”

“Dude, no! My heart can’t take any more sadness after Round 6!”

Both of them laughed. Kai’s phone chimed, and there was a twinge of disappointment on his face. “Dammit, I have to go now. But it was really nice to see you again, Ra-ra.”

He used my childhood nickname. Ciara thought belatedly. “Nice to see you too, uh—"

She hesitated. Kai no longer went by the name he did when he was younger. So much had changed. Kai seemed to notice this as well.

“Kiki,” Ciara declared, and Kai laughed. “That’ll be your new nickname.”

“Alright, alright,” Kai said. “I accept the name Kiki. Oh, wait-“

He pointed above them. Ciara looked up, to find a single bundle of mistletoe above their heads. She looked back at Kai’s face, and she could tell that both of them were blushing.

“I gotta kiss you, huh?” Kai asked. He then seemed to realize that he might be overstepping quite a bit. “I mean—not that I’ll do it if you don’t want me to—"

Ciara slowly held out her hand, and Kai took that as his signal. He slowly bent his head down, delivering a quick peck onto Ciara’s knuckles.

“Okayseeyoubye!” Kai stammered out, grabbing all of his things and fleeing the cafe. Ciara stared after him, dazed.

“Yeah!” Cassie shouted suddenly, and Ciara whirled around to find her and the three boys clapping for her.

“I’m never washing my hand again,” Ciara said as she approached the table. The boys—Russel, Elliot, and Percy, as Cassie helpfully informed her—all gave her thumbs ups.

“See?” Cassie rested her head on her hands. “It turned out fine, didn’t it?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Ciara took a sip of her now room temperature mocha, smiling. “It really did turn out fine.”

this is your signal to watch alien stage please you can watch the entire thing in less than an hour I am indoctrinating all of my mutuals into the pain of alien stage PLEASEEEEEE

check out @sweet-star-cookie's starglass zodiac lore if you liked this!! questions about my lore are greatly appreciated!!

[dr-abitat-blog]

Day 9: "You look pretty pale."

T/W: Med whump, chronic illness, sickness, blood @ailesswhumptober Ian and Xander belong to @whumpsmith, Adam and Evan (mentioned) belong to @illustriousshadow, we love them so much x

Looking at me as a stranger, you wouldn't think anything of me. Just a regular seventeen year old teen, nothing special, going about their life, hanging out with their friends and studying their butt off for exams — you know, the usual stereotypes of the 'normal' teenager. Except...I'm not exactly what you'd call 'normal'. First off...I have powers. Yes, I'm still pretty new to them, but I have them all the same. In fact, I'm a sidekick-in-training alongside my friends. They know me as Borealis, because of the beautiful green essence I can make, even if it is a less flashy version of Ash and Al's. Except my version also comes with the side effect of drawing in energy from others, draining it like a sponge. Pretty impressive, huh?

And as for the other reason why I'm not 'normal'...well, my health isn't exactly in the best shape. I was born infected with this rare virus, likely got it from my mom. Since then it's spread throughout my whole body. It's brought me a few close shaves with Death over the years. Each acute flare is worse than the last, until eventually...I won't make it through. Apparently I've only made it this far because of 'sacrifices' ...no one really tells me more than that.

But anyway, a part of me already accepts my destined fate —  but there is some good news. Somehow, the more energy I drain, the more it suppresses the virus, like...like I'm a parasite, feeding off of others to ensure my own survival — but that wouldn't exactly make me a 'good guy' if I went around slurping people's life force like smoothies, would it? No, thankfully, there are treatments that can help me. It's not a cure by any means, but it at least suppresses the virus enough for me to go about my days symptom-free. It increases the length of time between flares. It won't stop them, but it reduces the frequency and severity of it at least, allowing me to live my life as 'normally' as possible. I still have to watch myself, especially since the virus is contagious under certain circumstances. It spreads through bodily fluids —  especially blood. I have to be really careful not to pass it on. My energy levels also fluctuate and I need more time to rest after an injury as my body takes extra effort to heal and preserve itself. Sometimes I even have to lock myself away from my loved ones to stop me from accidentally leaching energy off of them when my reserves are running low. It's...tough, but we make it through the hard days together. 

...and today is one of those days.

"You alright, Kris?"

I peer tiredly across at Xander from my position at the handlers' desk. He sits upright in his chair, his dark eyes widening in concern. "You look pretty pale."

I bet I do.

The whole day, I've been getting the signs. Raging headache. Draining fatigue. Tight chest. All the red flags leading up to a flare. Unfortunately, I'm pretty renown for my stubborn nature and denial. I have to keep glancing at my notes repeatedly to just remember the simplest things. It's...not great, but I'm not well known for making wise decisions.

"I'm fine, Xan," I reassure him, drawing in a deep breath to get in a bit more oxygen. "Just a dumb cold. That's all."

I catch a glimpse of my face on the monitor. My skin is practically white. I'd probably be mistaken for Ghost at this point. "Seriously. Don't worry. I'm good..."

Xander just sends me a sceptical look. The concern isn't lost once as he approaches me, putting a hand on my shoulder. 

"Maybe we should get you to the Med Bay, just in case."

I merely grumble in response. His actions seem to have attracted the attention of a few of the other sidekicks in HQ. Cassie soon hurries over, blinking behind her glasses.

"Should I call Evan? You can't work if you're not well, Kris—"

"I'm fine," I emphasise, resisting the urge to snap, "Seriously, I'm just—hkk!"

I cough. My hand flies to my mouth, trying to catch it. I'm not quick enough to stop it before they see it.

Blood.

"Med Bay. Now.”

"O-okay okay...I'm going..."

I grab onto the desk for support, trying to steady myself. The world lurches around me as a faintness fills my head. I think I make it about five steps before my knees give way beneath me.

"Oh God—Kris!"

Chaos erupts around the room. I'm barely aware of anything. Just a mess of blurred faces, Hands reaching for me, turning me over, grabbing things, yelling out to one another.

"Emmett, call Evan! Dua find Ian—"

"I'm here. What happened?"

The familiar faced nurse drops to his knees beside me, feeling my pulse. 

"I-I don't know. They just started coughing up blood and then collapsed — it's the virus, isn't it?"

"From what I can smell, yes — possibly an acute flare."

I can't help but shiver slightly, coughing up more red onto the ground. Everything feels surreal around me. Fear starts to creep in.

Is this...the one? The meds had been working. Mirage said they couldn’t up them much more— am I...a-am I... going to...d-die…?

"Nngh..."

A revitalising energy spreads through me. I can't help but gasp in relief, breathing a little easier—

"All of you, step away. Get Evan and Maxwell, I'll take them through to the Med Bay — Xander, that includes you."

"B-but I can't just leave Kris to—"

"You can’t help them if you let them drain your energy whilst they're in this state."

Hands wrap around my body, gently lifting me up into a carry hold. I bring up another violent cough of blood. Ian barely flinches. "I'll update you all later. Just keep your distance and inform Frostbringer — gehen!”

I don't catch a single one of their faces as Ian hurries with me into the Med Bay. The other doctor — Elf Guy —  is there, along with Adam. Through the haze, I notice him stiffening immediately at the blood.

"Okoro's flare," Ian announces immediately, "They need oxygen and fluids — and get the protective equipment!"

The three of them quickly jump to work. Adam's blurred form rushes around to grab things, preferring to keep his distance as Ian and Elf Guy work on me. I gasp as the oxygen mask smothers my face. The suffocating sensation is horrible. At the same time, needles prick at my skin, getting venous access. The fluids go in, then the pain relief. Observations are taken. Masked faces stare back at me.

"Krissy, can you hear me?"

Ian leans in. I can just about find the energy to nod. "You're going to be alright. We'll control the flare and keep you under close monitoring."

Not working...i-it's not working...

"Adam, contact Mirage and ask her to jump here as soon as she can. Krissy, is there anyone I can call for you?"

call...

I feel my eyes drooping from exhaustion. My chest rises and falls rapidly as my body works to get the extra oxygen. More specks of blood spatter the inside of the mask. Ian moves it away from my face, delicately cleaning it. Tears start to brim in my eyes. Nausea grows in my stomach. Everything is so uncertain...a-and it scares me.

"Nngh...A-Ash...M-Mom...I-I want...w-want..."

I gasp again at the pain flaring through my chest. Gingerly, Ian places the mask back over my face and gives my shoulder a small squeeze. 

"Of course. They'll be here soon. Just rest for now. We've got you."

"Th-the...oth...hers..."

"They're fine. Right now we need to focus on you."

In the distance I notice blurred figures standing in the door opening, watching. Even now they're worried about me. I squeeze my eyes shut. 

I-I'm not ready yet...please...

More tears leak through them as more pain relief is injected into my veins. It immediately sends 

my head foggy, carrying me into a painless state. 

I-I'm not...going anywhere…

Completely exhausted, I let it take me.

..not...yet....

[dexalyys]

curly.... ive got u... multiple different questions to ask... none of which are about lore persay...(kinda- a few of em arent) SOOOO-

realistically... How long is willows hair when he doesnt have it in a braid???🤔 Cuz i be drawing her shit like Rapunzel so im lowkey curious-

2. Does nathan genuinely want willow dead and gone or is he just spouting nonsense and somewhat doesnt actually want him to power herself off🤨⁉️⁉️⁉️

Adding onto 2 ; i also noticed that in nathans link with willow he has like only 1 star marked and since with willow and Cassidy or with Sharkie and Cassidy, those two duos got like zero stars marked in their links, does that mean nate still like.... Somewhat still cares about Will??? In a sense?? Or is that like smth else?🤔

3. ik like selfshipping is allowed and whatnot but what about like.. Shipping within the canon characters???🤨 like for example... Willow x Ashton or like.. Nathan x Theo??(THESE ARE RANDOM I DONT SHIP ANY OF THESE I SWEAR-) like is shipping within the characters okay or is it like only selfshipping thats allowed on the table😭😭😭

4. (this is where my questions get more random.. Me thinks...🥲) between willow and sharkie ; who is more likely to be the more sacrificing of the two?? And plus, in a literal sense, who would be the most likely to sacrifice themselves for the others survival and whatnot???🤔🤔🤔

adding onto that... Who usually comforts the other the most?? Cuz ik pre-reboot, Willow was often shown comforting Sharkie a lot ykwim???😔

5. and finnalllyyyyy- whats ya opinion on like,,, very unlikely duos?? As in like- Willow and Cassidy, Sharkie and Cassidy, Theo and Ashton, or like Vivian and Sharkie???🤔 random question ik but im gen curious bro😭😭😭

genuinely jumped with joy seeing such a long ask

1. when not braided, it reaches to just above her hips! he also has to brush and rebraid it basically every week because his hair is naturally very fluffy and wild (blame liam’s genes) and it does Not stay contained easily.

2. you kinda answered your own question with the addendum! nate is Extremely pissed off that willow didn’t come with him, but he’s only mad about this years later because he still cares about her and because she’s important to him. he is bitter and childish about grudges but his weird obsession with her doesn’t come from nowhere. think jinx and vi but like, reversed ages (<- said by a girl who watched 2 episodes of arcane when season one came out and then never touched it again)

3. yes and yes!! selfshipping is 100% okay, and canon ships are welcome as well so long as they’re legal and respect the characters’ existing identities*! i will note that some relationships have already been developed (have i talked about minnie here yet? no? well she’s sort of implied to be theo’s love interest) but that shouldn’t stop you from having fun!!!

*in which i should remind people that the treacher sisters are both lesbians + sharkie is exclusively gay 🫶

4. sharkie without a doubt, no questions asked. they don’t feel like their life has much value outside of will, so sacrificing themself for him would be a no-brainer. willow is also the one comforting them more, but frankly it’s kinda shallow on her part. sharkie comforts her when she’s freaking out as well but is awkward about it and doesn’t know what to do so in their mind they suck at it and they’re the worst and they’re only making it worse and yadda yadda yadda. bpd thingz

5. ohhh wait i love this question ok hold on .. i’ll be exploring dynamics between the main 4 in the actual comic (so things like cassie & willow/sharkie will get expanded on) but duos like theo & ash or sharkie & viv are curious …… postcanon theo does get to hang out with ashton more but i haven’t actually considered the extent of their interactions much. sharkie would realistically never hold a conversation with viv given the circumstances but i think she’d have an energy that star would vibe with

anyway that’s now what you asked lol tldr i Love unlikely duos!!! i like exploring all sorts of character dynamics and sticking to Just canon on the basis of ‘anything else just wouldn’t happen’ is boring and lame

[loucifersbitch]

Hey, hi, hello, it is the day to say "fuck it"! I was tagged by the brilliant @spotsandsocks 💛

I haven't worked on my fanfics in a while, but this morning I had a burst of inspiration for an original work 😅 So here's a tiny snippet of what I've written so far

The white brick wall at the back of the room was a work of art. Each year, Eli’s senior students would pick a brick and decorate it however they wanted. Most would paint a symbol or words to show what that student had been most passionate about. Some used stickers to decorate them. And all were signed by the student.

All except one.

Eli stopped to trace the caduceus under Avery’s name.

Avery should have graduated last year. He had wanted to be a pediatric nurse, to help children and adolescents in any way he could. Instead, he was six feet under the ground, his epitaph reading, “Beloved daughter, sister, and niece,” underneath his deadname.

There wasn’t a day that went by that Eli didn’t wonder if they could’ve done something - anything - to prevent what had happened to Avery.

In remembrance, Avery’s classmates had painted his brick with the caduceus and his name. His best friends had designed the brick, Cassie doing the drawing and Yvette using Avery’s favorite colors to paint it.

It was the most beautiful brick on the wall.

If you've done this already, I'm very sorry for tagging you again 😅 but tagging if they haven't posted and would like to share something @mysteriouslyyounggalaxy @honestlydarkprincess @giddyupbuck @rogerzsteven @shortsighted-owl @singlethread @loveyourownsmiilee @elvensorceress @the-likesofus @gayedmundodiaz