#I was encouraged to finally do this after having that Discord conversation

[amazedingles]

Hey so, I thought I reblogged this a few months ago, but it's actually been almost a year. I hope that puts into perspective everything I'm about to say, because it's an important point and also highlight how long I've been trying to type this-- I think about this piece a lot. Not daily, but it comes up in my mind a relative amount of often, especially in conversations where we talk about art pieces that touch us.

In my original reblog, I mentioned that I'd never seen Serial Experiments Lain. I still haven't. But for some reason this piece has really stuck with me, and I think OP should know that. I shared it with some friends over Discord because we were talking about media and engagement, which, once again, brought me back to this piece. Only one of us had seen Serial Experiments Lain, but the reaction was so immediate, staggering, and heartfelt. Everyone started talking about how it made them feel, and it got us all talking about childhood memories and our own stuffed toys and how to be loved is to be changed and all of those little human things we seldom take the time for. Overall everyone was really emotionally impacted by seeing it.

And this probably isn't some technical marvel for you, but I think it's good to be reminded that things don't have to be to make an impact. Because this really did. I've been meaning to say how this piece impacted me for almost a year now. I really think you should know that even if people don't immediately say anything, the art you put out could touch someone in a way that is so permanent and so thoroughly engrained. Everyone you touch isn't going to say something, either because they don't realize it or because they can't find the words, but this art is important to me and my personal journey, and I want to thank you for posting it. And you touched my friends, too! Thank you! I'm going to ignore this need I have to apologize for speaking my feelings and the fear I have of being so forward about loving something-- to be loved is to be changed, but to love is to be changed as well! And I think of this when I think of that. So, thank you again.

to be loved is to be changed. sorry.

[mrghostrat]

Haven’t been on tumblr in a long time.. I remember your streamer au, but nothing more. Id appreciate a small recap! :3

HII! for anyone who hasn't read it, it's a very slice-of-life collection of scenes for the most part, so there's loads of lil scenes i'll leave out of this. but here's a look back at the overall friends-to-lovers plot!

and they were streamers (10/16) (unfinished wip)

aziraphale and crowley are full time twitch streamers who live together in a london townhouse. crowley streams whatever he wants, usually toxic pvp games and "just chatting" hanging out and drinking. aziraphale streams all kinds of wholesome crafty content, such as cooking, baking, reading, and book binding.

crowley has been in love with aziraphale since... god, far too long. he'll never say anything because he knows aziraphale only sees him as a friend

aziraphale is bombarded with a hate raid during pride month, and is severely ill-equipped to moderate it himself. crowley jumps in to shut it down and fix his security settings to protect him further.

aziraphale brings crowley a cup of tea one stream (standing off-camera) when he's heavily focused on a game. he startles at the sudden presence, shouting "angel" accidentally for everyone to hear. aziraphale doesn't mind, but the chat go nuts speculating over the pet name and his relationship with his roommate

furfur, a sub-par streamer and tea-spill investigator, notes a connection on twitter between this "angel" and and old stream clip where crowley is caught ranting and rambling (very smittenly) about an "angel" in his life.

aziraphale's chat starts to wonder about the fondness between him and his elusive off-screen roommate

crowley posts in aziraphale's chat asking if he can have a bite of what he's cooking. he goes to the kitchen to try some, but the chat is too distracted freaking out that the notorious crowley is watching an aziraphale stream to realise aziraphale has actually handed a plate off camera. aziraphale seems troubled when he notices the chat is so beserk, so crowley makes a secret side account to send him a donation and tell him to keep up the good work

aziraphale comes home to find crowley in a discord call, playing party games with anathema, newt, and nina. he settles in beside him on the couch to join in.

crowley surprises aziraphale by raiding him at the end of his stream. he uses his 3,000 viewers to ask if aziraphale plans on going to a twitch meet-up in edinburgh. when crowley finally asks himself, aziraphale says yes.

the dark council, a huge and popular UK twitch team, tweets their curiosity about crowley's elusive roommate, wanting anyone with sleuthing abilities to spill the tea for them.

shaxx encourages furfur to investigate his theory that aziraphale and crowley live together, wanting him to impress the dark council twitch team to grow both their streams.

aziraphale and crowley drive to edinburgh together, playing games in the car, answering questions on twitter, and have a tense conversation on what to do if you harbour a secret crush. aziraphale thinks you should go for grand gestures, but crowley thinks it's best to bottle things up.

they attend the meet-up at a packed pub. crowley introduces aziraphale to beelzebub and promises to stick by his side, but as the drinks start flowing, they both get more comfortable to mill around and socialise on their own.

furfur, hired as the photographer for the event, arrives only after crowley and aziraphale separate from one another. but at the end of the night, gets a photo of them leaving the pub together in a drunken giggle fit, looking like smitten lovers. shaxx and furfur speculate they might be more than just roommates.

back in london, aziraphale makes plans for his holiday fundraiser stream. his viewers suggest a "roommate reveal" for £5,000. both he and crowley are flabbergasted that anyone is even slightly interested. furfur rushes to compile a tea spill twitlonger before the fundraiser.

while planning for his christmas events, aziraphale bakes a practise batch of angel cake on stream, crowley's favourite. he jumps up from the couch to eat a slice, accidentally wandering straight onto camera-- spoiling the fundraising surprise, and ruining furfur's tea spill. they're trending on twitter the next day.

aziraphale is hate raided again, but this time the raiders hack into his chat bot. crowley rushes in to reset the bot's data before they can export years of chat logs and sensitive viewer information. when the raid is halted, aziraphale is relieved, then devastated to realise everything has been wiped, until crowley assures him he made a backup of the logs, a la saving his books.

aziraphale finally realises he loves crowley. he's so overcome with affection for him, it starts to freak crowley out. crowley thinks he's getting swept up in the christmas season and is reading into affection that isn't actually there, and aziraphale thinks he's making crowley uncomfortable by upsetting the status quo

aziraphale becoems downtrodden by how closed-off crowley is being, and crowley panics when he realises he hasn't been subtle at all. he promises aziraphale hasn't done anything wrong and that he's just in his own head about their upcoming christmas party with their mods. aziraphale tries to believe him.

[kizzer55555]

DP X DC School Project

So...I am part of a dp x dc Discord server under the nickname Jazz. Someone decided to post a Pinterest picture in the fanfic ideas channel. This is the conversation it created. I love this Discord server so much.

Eros:

Danny and Damain working together on school project together.

Or even Dani and Damian up to you.

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Danny and Damian just sounds so much more funny to me.

Eros:

Alrights 👌

BreKitten:

Oh my gosh, that's hilarious

Eros:

And they totally would act like this

Apricot:

crying lmao

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Damien: Why wouldn't we shop at [the expensive place]? I am an heir-

Danny: taps the paper 2k a month. You gave up your money to make me feel more comfortable.

Damien: Why would I care about your comfort?

Danny: dramatic gasp How could say that about your husband?!

Apricot:

Damian: husband?! what "husband"?!

Eros:

then proceeded to fight on types of toast and pricy vegetarian meals

Danny: look our family needs a balance diet, we can't live off vegetables alone! The very least we should mix it with some actual food like Ectoplasm.

(if Ectoplasm can be considered all kind of elements/a semi living organism since it revives things then any food brought to life should be counted as a beast of some kind)

Eros:

Also counts since Danny lived off ectoplasm for a fair bit of his life so he would see it as a food source

Eros:

Danny: me. I'm your husband, we agreed to marry to make it easier for the kids.

Apricot:

Damian: KIDS?!

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Danny: Danny Jr and Damian Jr!

Eros:

Danny: yes kids, don't tell me you forgot we had kids! I swear you'll say you forgot we have pets too!

Danny: shows the paper that says they have a pet and two kids

Jazz:

No wait, the ectoplasm comes last. Just the Wayne’s seeing Damian and this random kid fight about every single thing. Finally Damian comes home and says that they finally agreed on something.

The Wayne’s: finally. Looks like this is a good learning experience:

Damian: we have agreed to live off of Lazarus water.

Wayne’s: ABORT! ABORT! ABORT!

And the best thing is that they might not know about Danny being a halfa. So they think Damian is now corrupting random citizens.

Jazz:

Cause like, they both grew up with Lazarus water/ectoplasm and know the nutritional value.

Eros:

Indeed~

Jazz:

Great for child development too!

They both turned out great!

Eros:

Hehehe

Alright now both Danny and Damian are fully into this project now they have at least a agreed idea on food

Because the project they have is this; budget for every day living

So they have food set out

There is now trying to keep the house running and kids/pets alive and entertained

Danny agrees that with his skills he can do the majority of repairs, Damian agrees to take responsibility of the pets

They are now having an argument on how children should be raised.

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Damian is all for strict discipline, high standards of education, after school activities (he may not want his kids to be assassins but he still wants the best).

Danny's all for independence, finding your own way, encouragement and lots of love and support.

Damian: Do you want our children to grow up to be garbagemen?!

Danny: Do you know how much a garbageman makes?!

Eros:

Danny grew up around a lot of physical affection and love from his folks, except around the time of the accident/the holidays he always knew his parents loved each other very very much.

Damian comes from such an emotionally constipated house hold that he only gets the majority of physical affection from Dick

Jazz:

Lol

This is so perfect.

Danny then says something that puts Damian’s entire world view into question.

Danny: is this how you would treat our pets?!

Eros:

Damian: gasp how dare you, how very dare you!

Adonnenniel "Addy":

XD Danny, recounting the story later to Sam and Tucker: I swear, if he had pearls, he would've clutched them.

Eros:

Hehehe

Jazz:

Me imagining Damian going to Dick to complain.

Damian: can you imagine?! Raising kids and hugging them! Or saying it’s ok to fail!

Dick’s face.

Eros:

Damian complaining to his family: we might have agreed on living off Lazarus water, but now he wishes for our children to just go wild, then compared our pets to them!

Jazz:

Damian: obviously our pets would act nothing like those…savages.

Eros:

It just keeps getting better~

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Waynes are listening to this kind of like a soap opera

Eros:

Sam: wow Danny, at the very least your doing better then when you were partnered up with Val, like the majority of the time you were trying to pawn off raising the kid on each other until the flower was in danger, but I can't say much myself since Tucker pulled a Kronos.

Which opened a new can of worms; how much time were they going to take care and be there for their "kids" what kind of training would they go through

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Hehehe

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Danny: I learned from my mistakes. I wasn't ready to be a parent then.

Eros:

Their whole class and teachers are watching it like a soap opera

Eros:

The very least they get to see it live and not re counted

Jazz:

(Someone get popcorn, or they just get out their packed lunches early).

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Yes! The Waynes and Sam and Tucker get the play-by-play but the class gets to see the actual show!

Jazz:

No wait, someone records it and post it and then it goes viral. (Do they think that the Wayne’s make a lot more sense now hearing of how Damian thinks children should be raised?)

(Are there now more questions?!)

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Oooh. I can see people being even worse to Damian. Maybe pitying him because he grew up with so little love.

Eros:

Then the next day Danny brings up the issue of child raising again since Sam makes a good point.

Danny: okay so I've re think a few things, mainly on occasion the kids should get self defense classes or something like that since it would make most sense to keep them safe. But beyond work and school activities how should we spend our time with them?

Jazz:

People see the two about to continue their conversation and immediately stop what they are doing to bring their phones out.

What if this becomes one of the most popular ‘dramas’? Like, so much in fact even villains will stop what they are doing to watch?

Eros:

(because Danny comes from a physical affectionate house doesn't mean there was neglect from his folks working way too much)

Jazz pretty much raised him when it came to actual child care so Danny is determined to be there for his "kids"

Not just for the fun stuff or being pulled to random projects

Jazz:

They get super invested in this project.

Also, what if people intentionally goad them on? Like seeing them together and asking if a kid should be left alone at home or with a babysitter or what they’ll do during a blackout/tornado?

Eros:

Surprisingly it's Danny who brings a big book of plans in case if emergencies

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Yes!

Adonnenniel "Addy": - reply to students and citizens goading Danny and Damian on.

The teacher reworks their lesson plans to do an extended deep dive into home economics so that this can keep happening.

Jazz:

Absolutely.

Jazz:

Some of the emergency responses are normal like, if there is a tornado, evacuate kids to a shelter, others are strange like arguing whether you should fight the burglar or prioritize the kids. Others are just plain weird. A blackout? Both Damian and Danny will turn to face the questioner. Obviously they’ll be able to see in the dark. (Effect of ectoplasm/Lazarus exposure).

Eros:

Danny is even willing to share on the "in case of apocalypses" situations

Jazz:

Neither question why they know a massive amount of information about various world ending disasters/villains.

Eros:

Oh and how they should pack bags for school and for emergencies

Jazz:

Omg, they make a kid survival kit. Including blasters and knives.

Eros:

Danny insists they should put some of the survival kit stuff in the school bag

Jazz:

Everything a five year old should take to school.

Eros:

Ooo discussion on how old their kids should be to learn about weapons and how to safely handle them

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Danny: Eight should be good.

Damian: Eight is way too late to start!

Jazz:

The fact that both agree this is a necessary subject to teach their kids. Everyone’s reaction to hearing various ways you can kill/dismember a person and why this won’t work. Not because it’s immoral but clearly because young kids don’t have the necessary arm length to complete certain maneuvers.

Eros:

Damian: that's why we should put the kids into martial arts and gymnastics as soon as possible so  they can be flexible enough!

Jazz:

Danny: that’s why we should wait until their older and focus on their aim while young! Their muscle memory will be all wrong by the time they reach the appropriate age!

Damian: they will not always have a weapon to aim. The body is the only reliable weapon that will never fail.

Eros:

Now to add extra into the mix; Bruce and Jazz (who is now Danny's legal guardian) show up to school to pick them up as they are in a middle of an argument

Danny: and who will be the one teaching them? Because proper teachers will be expensive, at least we can teach them at home how to aim properly! It can be a bonding experience!

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Jazz: What are you talking about?

Danny: Teaching our young children proper aim.

Jazz: You will not!

Danny: I mean, you're obviously not going to teach them.

Jazz:

Damian: I can teach them perfectly fine.

Danny: what about work? You can’t be with them all the time. 

Damian: I can take them with me. We can travel around Gotham and learn to fight through experience. 

Danny: you are not taking our children to fight on the streets

Damian: what, didn’t you want us bonding?! Make up your mind!

Dick looking at Bruce. “This is your fault.”

Eros:

Danny: You're not letting our children out on the streets, they will put too many people in the hospital! You have any idea how expensive that would be!

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Damian casually dropping he's Robin?

Jazz:

Danny not even processing it.

Then casually stating he’s dead. Damian skipping that detail.

Adonnenniel "Addy":

XD They're too caught up in the roles.

Jazz:

Exactly.

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Maybe afterwards, if they think back on it.

Jazz:

Like vigilantism and the dead coming back to life is normal for them. They are focusing on the children right now thank you.

Adonnenniel "Addy":

And then they both come up with the excuse "I was just adding to lore, it was all pretend!"

Eros:

Not before this;

Damian: fine if you want to control our lives and children then we should just divorce!!

Jazz:

Danny: oh I’m controlling?!

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Do they get Alfred to be the judge to oversee their divorce?

Jazz:

Danny: fine, our kids and pets will be happier with me anyways.

Damian: don’t you dare bring the pets into this.

Damian going to Bruce to use the Wayne lawyers for this imaginary family divorce.

He will win this.

Danny actually going to Vlad.

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Vlad has been watching the whole time. He doesn't need to be brought up to speed.

Jazz:

Both of them are like, this is ridiculous. But on the other hand, my child actually asked for help from me for once.

Eros:

Hehehe

Danny uses Dani as an example of a child that is better off with him

Jazz:

Lol

Adonnenniel "Addy":

And Jazz even brings it up to Bruce that if Damian didn't get to play like this as a young kid, he might be making up for lost time, in his own intense way.

Eros:

Because that's what Danny is doing too

Jazz:

The absolute struggle both Bruce and Vlad go through on whether or not to actually do this and use up their lawyers, money, and resources.

The viral videos increase. 

Eros:

Danny getting frustrated enough that he is tempted to get Clockwork to be the judge

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Bruce gets his other kids involved? They play as Damian's lawyers?

Eros:

Yesz

Jazz:

Dick is having a blast.

Then Sam comes in for Danny’s defense.

Both Tucker, Tim, and Barbra (possibly Technis) get into a hacking war.

Eros:

Yesss!

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Yesss!

Jazz:

Cujo and Titus become best friends.

Eros:

Dani is still the example child

Jazz:

Tim is Damian’s example child.

Eros:

Peepaw Clockwork comes in a human form to judges

Jazz:

Alfred and Clockwork have tea.

And discuss their kids.

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Tim: I'm older than you! How am I your example child?!

Dick: whispers Hey, he's including you without stabbing you. Take the win.

Eros:

Clockwork: I do hope they figure this all out before their legit kids are born~

Jazz:

Yesssss.

Eros:

Danny: finally stops, going into a blushing and betrayed look at Clockwork

Damian: who doesn't know Clockwork sees the future what on earth are you talking about, we barely are keeping together for the kids we do have!

Gestures to Tim and Dani

Jazz:

Tim: I’m. Older. Than you!

Damian. Then start acting like it.

Danny: (trying to recover) tsk tsk, how can you treat your son this way?

Damian: he’s adopted.

Eros:

Danny: and she's a clone, doesn't mean they can't be loved and cared for as their own persons!

Danny: to prove a point he hugs both Dani and Tim, trying to smoother them with love and acceptance

Jazz:

Tim just looks so done with life at the moment.

Eros:

Danny: plus our pets are adopted, yet you wouldn't love them any less

Jazz:

Critical hit.

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Danny ends up adopting Tim by the end of this.

Jazz:

Lol

He wins Tim in the divorce.

Eros:

Lol

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Yesss!

Eros:

Tim gets a new dad

Jazz:

Bruce doesn’t know how to feel about this.

Eros:

This one says "I love you" and is into Tim's science projects

Jazz:

Dani’s like new sibling. Tackle Hugs.

And Danny doesn’t restrict coffee intake. He’s just as bad.

Eros:

If anything he shows Tim a whole world of coffee mixes

Jazz:

Jazz though. Jazz is a bit of a problem with Coffee.

Tim and his new dad form an alliance.

Eros:

Danny takes Tim to Frostbite to get a new spleen

Jazz:

Danny: see? I provide free healthcare.

Eros:

Then proceeds to show off Tim: This is my boi, I won him!

All while Dani is giggling and clinging to their sides

Jazz:

Vlad is looking at Bruce very smugly.

Eros:

Danny would show Tim and Dani off at school after this

Like: behold, my children!

Jazz:

It becomes public that Wayne enterprise’s CEO is Tim Fenton.

Eros:

(and since I'm going with King Danny in this)

That means due to Danny winning and Tim becoming his kid, Tim Fenton is now the prince of the infinite realms along with his new sister Dani

Cass and Steph come back from a big trip once everything is over

Jazz:

They ask what happened. 

Jason gleefully explains that Bruce went to legal war with another billionaire over an imaginary family and ended up loosing Tim to them.

Also, that Damian might have a crush.

Eros:

Jazz:

Lol

Eros:

Because he just went through one of the best non injury fights of his life with this guy

Jazz:

And lost

Eros:

Yet they do agree on a fair bit of things, and now know where their main issues are and can work on them.

Jazz:

The entire world witness this entire thing and there are going to be shippers.

Eros:

Pft imagine the Justice League hearing about this~

Jazz:

Also just think, when they eventually do get together. That high school teacher is absolutely going to brag that it was their project that started this.

Jon might have a crisis on being replaced as Damian’s best friend. Someone explains the difference between boyfriend and normal friend and Jon’s like, ok that’s fine then.

Eros:

Oh man, when Jon finds out everything that had happened

Jon would tell Conner

Jazz:

Conner hears about the clone comment.

Now Conner wants to be adopted.

Bruce “Kal-el” Wayne:

Absolutely

Danny be pulling a Bruce

Or would Bruce be pulling a Danny?

Jazz:

Omg, I just realized. Bruce Wayne lost a Custody battle.

Bruce “Kal-el” Wayne:

Major L

Eros:

To a child

Bruce “Kal-el” Wayne:

Ain't Danny technically a god?

Eros:

Still child

Who would definitely adopt Conner

BuriedReign:

Omg this is like a whole ass fic already, it’s soooo goood! I absolutely bursted out laughing at the “we plan to live off Lazarus water”

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Just got caught up and all I have to say is: 😂😂😂

Btw, I love the idea that Tim isn't legally adopted to Danny (by ghost standards, yes, not by mortal law) but he just goes with Danny cuz he's so done with his family.

Eros:

>:3

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Dani, Tim, Conner. Do we throw in reformed, de-aged Dan for shits and giggles?

Eros:

Pfft yess

And Damian only finds out about Dan after the divorce

This re sparks everything into a new battle~

Eros:

Damian is offended that Danny never told him about their other son Dan

Adonnenniel "Addy":

He wants visitation rights!

Eros:

Damian wants to win Dan, like how Danny won Tim

Adonnenniel "Addy":

That makes more sense

Eros:

Damian goes up to Dan and offers access to all sort of weapons, training/fights, being a heir to a different Kingdom, and possibly be ungrounded if he takes Damian's side in the new Custody battle

The Angst Queen:

When you catch up and burst out laughing

Also - I wanna add something

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Add, please!

The Angst Queen:

Damian would definitely pull a sword at some point - decide to attack and “miss” every time. He does not expect Danny to suddenly have an ice sword in hand. Do then they’re both going at it in a sword fight while still arguing about diaper brands

Damian - so then I attack him 

Dick - WHAT!?!? 

Damian - I know! He didn’t even have the decency to die! He pulled out his own sword! 

Dick in shock whispers - what

Damian - and he still refuses to consider Huggies! Insists on natural diapers!

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Lol

Eros:

Like when the arguments get too much they start sword fighting like the Adam's family

It's how they discuss things and keep up reaction times for both brain and body

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Do they fight in school or at the manor?

Eros:

School, just to add more to the soap opera drama

And for the bats to keep missing the live actions of it

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Yes!

Eros:

Except Babs but that's obvious to know why

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Their sword fights go all around the school, interrupting other classes. The security guards or other teachers try to stop them but Danny'll just pull them into the argument. 

Teacher: walking up to them, trying to grab the swords Now, boys, this must stop!

Danny: leaps up onto a desk, put his arm around the teacher's neck as he's still fighting Damian Hey, you look like a reasonable man. Tell me, why would you ever want to buy a waste product all for brand recognition and not cut down waste and get reusable diapers?

Teacher: That's a very leading question and calls on a few logical fallacies-

Danny: shoves the teacher away as Damian leaps for an attack

Eros:

And this is where Damian's crush really began

It's one thing to argue and have different trains of thought

It's another to have someone actually just as skilled as you in the battle of the sword and the mind

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Yeeees!

Eros:

Danny: Hopefully the castle is big enough for everyone

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Tim: You have a castle!? O_O

Conner: You have a castle!? : D

Danny: Yep!  Oh, and you two are now royalty!  Don't worry, you won't have to do anything unless you want to.

Eros:

I wonder if Tim rubs it in his other semi siblings faces

Like Steph, Jason, and Damian's faces in particular

Bruce “Kal-el” Wayne:

Does Tim take a pic of everything in the realms?

Eros:

Yes

Bruce Kal-el” Wayne:

Or try to

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Tim especially rubs being royalty in Damian's face.  He knows he should be better but damnit, Damian was/is all high and mighty about being the heir to the League of Assassins and Bruce's biological child - he stabbed Tim over it!  Tim gets to gloat a bit that he technically outranks Damian now!

BuriedReign:

Does this increase Damian’s crush on Danny? Damian tries to ask out Danny and makes it ‘rational’ by saying of course he needs to be higher ranked than Tim. While also trying to hide that isn’t the only reason why he wants to date Danny

Eros:

(make Damian unintentionally ghost speak which reveals his true emotions and reasons as to why he wants to date Danny)

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Damian: I want to date him for no other reason than to one-up my once brother.  That's it.  Nothing else involved here.  Just pure revenge.  I will not let Tim outrank me in this life or the next.

Jason: Uh-huh. flipping to the next page of Pride and Prejudice  Have fun on your denial date.

Omg, imagine Damian formally asking Danny out on a date!

And Danny's like, despite the divorce, I want to give us another shot.

Eros:

And the plot THICKENS

That's everyone's reactions 😁

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Yes!

Eros:

Where would they even go on a date?

Ooo what if they went to the museum

Or an art gallery

Bruce “Kal-el” Wayne:

Or a date to the literal moon

Eros:

I don't think Damian would survive that well

Bruce “Kal-el” Wayne:

Ecto shield giving an artificial atmosphere

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Damian would take Danny to a museum or art gallery.

Danny will chose the next date and take him to the moon.

Eros:

Then definitely the museum should be like the Glenbow Museum

This is just inside the front entrance

It's called the aurora borealis

Because they make the crystals actually glow different colors

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Ooooooh!

Yes!

Eros:

This is a full on walk through section where you learn about the stars and First Nations

Adonnenniel "Addy":

Holy shit, now I want to go to the Glenbow Museum.

Eros:

Art pieces, and they also have a section for mid evil times and even mini battle fields

The Angst Queen:

Side note - I bet Danny makes Damian work to get that date

Eros:

Definitely

[acefictionwriting]

May I have a crumb of Donny Nova content?? Like a little first date drabble?? I promise I will be Very Normal and can be trusted with Bandstand content in 2024 🥺

My first ask!!!! From someone I definitely do not know since they’re anonymous and have not been thanking all night in discord!! I hope this is alright Anon!! Btw Donny is annoying here but he’s always like that so 👍🏻

Donny Nova knew what fear was. He spent Three Years and Eight months experiencing the worst sort of fear known to man. SURELY that meant he could ask out his crush. That’s what he told himself.

He told himself that it would be easier than he thought. That if half the band (David) could have a new date every night, surely he could go on one. You clearly liked him, despite being way too shy to say so, so he thought he would take the chance.

You worked at the bar they were playing at, so right after the last set, he said goodbye to the guys and walked over to you. He ignored David cheering, and Johnny’s sincere (but too loud) encouragement. He ignored everything to focus on actually walking over to you.

There you were, waiting tables and looking like heaven as you did every night. Which is to say it nearing 11 pm and you were a mess from working all day, and he still saw you as beauty itself.

“Hiya!” Donny said, in his usual greeting. You notice his voice is a shred higher than normal today, and he clears his throat in surprise at his own voice.

“Hi Donny! I’m just finishing my shift, you played great tonight! Really helped me get through the work.”

“Glad to hear it. Say… are you free tomorrow?”

“What? Why are you asking?”

“Well I just. I mean. We have a set tomorrow at The Blue Whisp, at seven. Do you wanna come?”

His thoughts were racing, did he just ask you out? He couldn’t believe he actually did that.

“I see you preform almost every night, Donny…”

shit.

“Well I was also wondering if you wanted to get dinner there after. They have pretty good sliders there, I know you like those… and maybe a drink after?

“Oh… Donny, are you asking me out?”

There was a pause, he was nervous about outright saying it. He was a music celebrity, but he didn’t compare to you. What if you said no?? He had to go for it though, another moment without being going steady with him was too many moments.

“I mean. Yeah.” He said, hoping that didn’t sound too awkward. It did, however, sound terribly awkward.

You also paused, momentarily unsure how to react.

”Alright then, I’ll see you there, Mister Nova.”

He thought he would burst right there.

The next night, you dressed up and went to The Blue Whisp. Donny had stressed all night over what to wear, and how to tell you how beautiful you were, because you were always beautiful. His hands were shaking all day with his nerves, and the band kept teasing him, asking him if he would be able to make it through the set. Thankfully, Wayne had his back, and managed to keep most of Davy’s taunting at bay.

He saw you, of course. It took him halfway through the set, but he saw you there in the crowd. He almost fumbled the verse, luckily it was a song about you, so it was hard to mess up with you in front of him when it was just all the things he wanted to say to you. He hoped you knew it was about you.

After the set, he sat down to eat with you. His hands were still shaking. You both ate your sliders, making semi-awkward conversation, with pauses that were both awkward and comfortable. Donny thought that felt right, to be awkward and just right at the same time. It was a first date after all. You both talk mainly about you, your likes, your dislikes, everything he could think to ask you that seemed ok for a first date. Donny did his best to talk about himself, and you were kind in the questions you asked, keeping them surface level. You knew Donny hated thinking about his life at all, even things as small as his favorite color were difficult to pry from him. You made note of this in slight teasing, and he finally laughed. You could always make him smile. When dinner was over, he had a plan. First, he glanced back at the stage to make sure the boys had left, he had had enough teasing from them tonight. Everyone had left except Johnny and Davy, who were at the bar together trying to get the attention of a waitress. With everyone else out of the way, he grabbed your hand and led you backstage, which was something few people got to see. It was messy and barren, but he led you right to his piano.

“Do you know how to play?”

Teaching the girl how to play piano was one of the oldest romantic tricks in the book right?

“Yeah, I actually do!” You said excitedly.

Well there goes that plan. He stared at you, absolutely astounded.

“You- you know how to play?”

“I just said I did Donny. But it’s been a while since I played.”

You took a seat at the piano as he continued staring at you in shock. He eventually stumbled over to you as you started playing one of your favorite songs. He couldn’t believe he found a girl like you, who could play just like he could. His ego said he was better than anyone but his heart said he could listen to you for hours.

Having a professional piano player watch you made you incredibly nervous. Your finger slipped, you hit one wrong note, and your hands flinched back. You immediately put them in your lap and nervously picked at your fingers.

“Oh. Like I said, it’s been a while since I practiced. Sorry-“

“What? What do you mean? That was great! I mean you could probably replace me with a little practice.”

”What- no, Donny, I-“

”Yeah, you just need practice. You know what scoot over. I’ll practice with you.”

Before you could protest, Donny had slid next you on the bench. He smiled at you and played a few keys.

“Come on, just copy me.”

“Donny I don’t think-“

“No, I could see it in your eyes earlier, you love to do this. And you did really well! Just practice with me. One song! Just one song and I’ll let it go!”

You sighed, knowing that when don’t got excited like this he wouldn’t stop. That’s why Julia joined the band in the first places. Actually it’s why most people in the band did. He was relentless.

“Fine. One song, and that’s it Donny!”

He was so glad you were letting him get a way with this, because he really thought you wouldn’t. He was desperate to hear you play again and with how nervous you were he didn’t know if you would without a little prodding.

For the rest of the night, Donny sat with you, and played at the lower end while you mimicked his playing. As the night went on, you opened up, laughing and getting more excited to play. His energy and enthusiasm were infectious. Sometimes, his hands would hold yours as he showed you proper hand placement. You both blushed at that, but he pretended he wasn’t, despite it being more visible everytime you mentioned it.

“You are… astonishing. I mean- wow! You.. you really have talent.”

He showered you in compliments like those all night. You were worthy of every one of them.

Eventually, the bar did have to close. Donny walked you home, wanting you to be safe. He also wanted to be a gentleman after you endured his more… persistent and difficult side. He wasn’t always like that, and he wanted you to know it. You walked in a very comfortable silence this time, less like dinner and more like a silence you would be ok with having everyday of your life if you could.

“Thank you, for walking me home, Donny.” You said, turning to face him as you approached your front door.

“Oh, well. Thank you for letting me. I know I was a bit, uh, pushy earlier.” He made sure not to swear around a lady. He was really trying his best to be his best self for you.

“Well, you have me a wonderful night, Donny, even if you were pushy.”

Oh thank god, he thought.

“However-”

oh no.

“It means that you still owe me a good date Donny. Care to go on another Saturday?”

This was one of many times that night you had made his jaw drop. He had lost count. You were just too astounding. Too understanding. Too wonderful. Too perfect. How did you exist?

“Donny?”

“YEAH. Um. Yeah! Yeah absolutely we can do that. I mean if you want-”

“I’m asking you, Donny. Of course I want a second date.”

“Right, yeah. I mean obviously you do. B Because you asked I mean.”

“Right. Well Donny, I think it’s time to say goodnight…”

”yeah…”

There it was again. That silence that was awkward and perfect at the same time. Then you did something he really didn’t expect. Just as he went to turn around and leave, you kissed him. He gasped, and froze in place. He turned around to look at you and ask if you really did that, but all he saw was your door closing and a brief flash of a bright red face darting inside,

He smiled. He really couldn’t believe he found a girl as good as you.

[thesnailtail]

;; who wants to open the chamber of secrets (<- let me infodump about another proseka au)? /silly

yesss feed us with au crumbs

;; i have so many aus that it's not even crumbs anymore, it's just a cookie but horribly amalgamated from so many different types of cookie crumbs.

;; ANYWAY MANAGER MINORI AU BE UPON YE

;; was this au created because of my coder minori brainrot? yeah it was.

;; so the major difference in this is that minori sees haruka later than in canon. so she still finds her hope eventually, but it's less and she's so much more pathetic (/aff). so she gets involved in idol forums and hey! coder minori. but she's also super interested in the production side of shows. she still wants to be an idol but her bad luck might get in the way so why not focus on the things where it's all just numbers and computer data?

;; when the mmj main story happens it's relatively the same. only difference is that minori and shizuku already know each other because shiho sent shizuku to minori at one point when she broke her phone and minori just became the go-to anti-shizuku for tech. minori is a bit more pessimistic in this but she still manages to bring hope by simply encouraging others to do their best.

;; major differences happen when they start live streaming! minori refuses to go on stream because "someone needs to manage the camera!" she is lying. she is fully aware that they don't need someone to do that. airi is the only one who actually does anything about it. major downsides of this change: minori's cameo in shizuku's "im just me!" card would not exist.

;; so airi decides to force minori on camera at some point in this au's equivalent to hopeful show, minori panics and gets told to go back off camera by chat. later on during the collab with nanamin, she basically has a mini interview and does the dance thing with her leading to the falling on her face. yikes. when she meets yuina, she promises to make it the best show she can from behind the scenes. and it works! at some point in this minori realises that she still wants to be able to go on stage but ignores the thought. more more jump! have already formed and they don't need someone trying to catch up. (prepare for a lot of that train of thought.) her focus card would change from doing the show on stage to showing her standing behind the cameras looking at them with stars in her eyes.

;; more more xmas is basically just what happens in canon. slight changes in that minori and saito are in charge of managing the staff and minori doesn't have a meet and greet line at the end. but someone still comes up to her to say they admire her. even if she isn't on stage dancing, all her efforts are still seen. her focus card would be like canon except minori is sitting on stage casually and has a fan approach her.

;; dear me from the past. oh boy. here we go! to quote how i described this in a discord server: "so in canon it's really hopeful and cements that minori really is an idol and that she's grown a lot right.. so nuh uh." yeah it's not fun for anyone involved. :D

;; this is when the timing of events gets messed with! so the canon event is following the leadup and the solo show itself. the au follows the show itself and everything after. because this is when minori's feelings that she ignored all come back to haunt her. im gonna let this little bit i wrote speak for itself

;; yeah. this is not only when her discarded emotions come back but also the consequences of having slightly less hope. she is. not having fun. she feels like her job is redundant now, given they can hire people who would be better at lights and sound than her. so this all builds up until someone (probably airi) confronts her about it. at which point she finally lets it all out. then acts like nothing happened. but the rest of mmj won't let that happen and all start trying to help her "catch up" as she puts it. focus card would change from her on stage to the conversation with miku backstage.

;; step by step would probably be the same. focusing on her choices regarding whether or not she would move class to assist mmj. with an added sense of "you should make up for not doing anything before." and "i took care of all the finances shut up"

;; then with the scars carved, i haven't read a translation yet but i just know so far i have made a single joke about it and it was because i saw the card and said "oh poor thing. she finally learned the horrors of property tax."

;; then her fes would get to be messed about with as well. it's about her endless hope and how achieving her dream only made her even more hopeful. but if it takes place at the same time in this au (post step by step, pre scars carved) it would probably be a duller version of her canon fragment. she's beginning to be open about her dreams again, and try to chase them.

;; BUT YEAH!!! manager minori au. :D

[ennissg]

5 and 6 for durgetash ask for Dr Vrach (I love your naming technique bahahaha)

Thank you so much, haha! I have regretted giving all my characters joke names but Dr. Vrach is not one of them. He was born to be a doctor and he rocks it with pride.

Again, SO sorry for the late response, I’ve been swamped lately but I love oc asks! 

Based on this ask.

5. Their favourite 'strictly business associates' bonding activity on a Saturday night? Please don't leave out any of the bloody gory details.

I’d say their favorite activity IS working together. It’s not work if you love what you do! And they have spent countless nights experimenting on and dissecting bodies in the name of science(and personal enjoyment), so of course they have bonded over their ingenuity and mutual lack of morals. I see them both working parallel to each other a lot. On days where neither of them have cult business together, they’d make an excuse to hang out, maybe Gortash is working on new blueprints on one side of the room, while Dr. Vrach is reading the newest issue of some magic related publication on the other. Occasionally he’d scoff and comment “Bah! How does this drivel get published? They don’t even cite their sources!” and Gortash would hum in agreement, after which they both get back to whatever they’re doing. They’d share at max a few words during these communal work days but they do enjoy each other's presence. 

But aside from brainstorming, vivisection, and contemplating the minutia of death cult office politics, I do see them attending an occasional soiree or a ball. Not for socializing, but more so to sow discord in the ranks. They’d show up fashionably late, dressed to the nines, and spread over the room, each picking out a target to gossip with, at the end of the night they reunite and compare scores\brag if one of them got a noble to get mad at someone and cause a scene. 

6. Describe their dynamic in one sentence. Without using toxic.

“Aww, was that Gortash’s grandpa?” 

But seriously, they have a very "found family" style bond. If Gortash had won any blue ribbons, Dr. Vrach would display every single one of them in his living room and yap endlessly about how smart and talented his specialest little “nephew” is. He even sometimes introduces Gortash as a one at parties, to Gortash’s great annoyance (he’ll pout and play along if it’s convenient for the conversation but he can’t help but feel flattered that Dr. Vrach practically sees him as family, something he was denied and deemed unworthy of all his life).

Gortash finally got that supportive parental figure that, on the outside, he only humors to get Dr. Vrach’s cooperation, but he would never admit how much he likes that constant encouragement and praise, all the recognition he never got for his real talents.

[dendrochilums]

✨ Fic Writing Review 2023 ✨

Thanks for the tag @blessphemy ! (answering here on my more fandom focused sideblog)

first off I want to say this was my first year EVER posting fic after many years of reading it (ok technically my first was at the very end of 2022, but whatever). It's been such fun!!! the murderbot fandom is so lovely and encouraging, and it achieved the ENORMOUS feat of finally motivating me to write my own stuff!

Words and fics

26,318 words across 7 fics, all oneshots and all murderbot fic

I'm just gonna link my profile here for the complete list! everything but the first was published in 2023

Top Fics by Kudos

It Calls Itself Murderbot wins for this at 277! I am quite proud of this one, which was also hilariously the one I was most "nnnnnnnnnnnn" will anyone like this when posted it. 4,868 words of interpersonal conflict and conversations on mb's feelings about the name it chose for itself

Fandom fic events 2023

None for me sadly, I'm not very good at motivating myself on a schedule for events. But fandom fic events enjoyed in 2023: many!

Upcoming 2024

Still picking away at a piece on mb-ratthi friendship and musings about the ways rogue secunits adjust to freedom

for real working on either a second chapter or a sequel to my contruct technician gurathin fic

Maybe a daemon au fic??? it happened so suddenly, but rereading the HDM series and some daemon au convos on discord have lit my brain aflame

Tag game rules copied below! I'm gonna tag @ilovedthestars @ineedlelittlespace and @elexuscal and anyone else who wants to do it!

Rules: Feel free to show whatever stats you have. Only want to show Ao3 stats? Rock on. Want to include some quantitative info instead of stats? Please do this. Want to change how yours is presented? Absolutely do that. Would rather eat glass than do this? Please don’t eat glass, just keep on scrolling.

[momentswithmani]

As I arrived to the place, I had a smooth check in. Although I was on a pretty lengthy line, I was still able to go in the front of the stage. DJ Miss Milan was also encouraging more folks to move closer to the stage, which was reassuring. I was dancing a lot to the music she was playing, and she would notice me being so lit a couple of times.

Once she started playing “Water” by Tyla, she decided to hold a contest for free tickets. Two young black women were doing the choreo for the song. DJ Milan was like “make some noise if you think this person went hard” to both of them. Afterwards, she was like “it’s unfair to put two black queens together, so you both get a free ticket!” Which I thought was dope.

Fast forwarding to my queen, fave, and amazingly multitalented artist Rakiyah’s chance to perform. She had a dope entrance. It was giving space galaxy, alien communication type of entrance. One part of her outfit was lit up, and her aesthetic was *chef kiss*. I made it a mission to get noticed easily by her in the crowd. I yelled “I love you Rakiyah!”, she responded “I love you too baby!” and I was hyped. She performed for the rest of the show as an opening act, and I was vibing along.

The headliner named Jai’Len Josey put on a great performance too. It’s my first time knowing about her, and I knew I needed to tap into her discography! I was right near her family + best friend whom I complimented. She does RnB herself, and got the crowd lit with her amazing energy. It gave me the impression majority of the people in the crowd were there for her, which was dope.

After the show, I figured I’ll go to the back where they were selling merch. I went over to her section, saw she was standing near, and I freaked out. I went up to her, and asked for a selfie first. Then, I told her who I was, and that I’m the girl she saw in the front of the crowd. I proceeded to tell her about me discovering her since around 2018.

From her music video “Like You”, to us interacting on Twitter, to me interacting with her in her Discord group chat, we slowly started to build history. As soon as I mentioned Discord, she was like “was that the conversation when we talked about my artist development + me needing recommendations?” I responded “yes, that was the convo!”.

At the time, I was willing to give her some critiques, such as posting more of the content that helps her get around, and the type of videos that work for her the most. Around the end of that convo, I told her my name Mani/Amani. It was a way for her to remember me, since I consistently had the name MomentsWithMani. She said, “wow, I can finally put a face to the name”. I responded, “yep, this is all me!”.

I was telling her how proud I was of her journey, how good her performance was, how on brand and dope the intro to her performance was, and started telling her how much of her merch I have. One of the key merch, was the poster she was giving out from one of her first releases that she signed that I still have on my wall. I also have her “Like You” poster and a tshirt of her. I also got a keychain from her some years back.

I also asked about her outfit, which unsurprisingly she put it together herself like the creative queen she is! She expressed her sentiments on how grateful and appreciative she was of my support. How I’m one of her biggest “Rockets” (her fandom name), and she was in awe of me being around and contributing to her journey in my own way. Her finding out I was the one in the front who was also the same person that interacted with her for years online, her face was giving 🤯😦😧😲.

She was just like “wow”. I explained to her that I’ve waited years to meet her after following her for a while now, and I was glad to get the opportunity of seeing her perform. I came out to show her support, since it was very necessary that I do so. She had thanked me, and appreciated the support I’ve had towards her throughout the years. As we said our farewells, I was in a high about me interacting with her in person for the first time, and the experience was way better than I expected.

[will-the-psychic-type-elite92]

Ya boy woke up in the middle of the night so uhhhhhh

How's about he drops some Summer Stuff.

So what I need to preface with is!!! I write Summer in a pokemon discord server I'm in, and when replayed through GS back in/around September, I would pause at certain points to make a solo post, as my friends who hadn't played GS were excited to see me do it, even encouraging me to pick Summer as my protag in game. Below the cut are my three flashback solos. I had to stop after these because after that I couldn't really keep it objective due to ship bias and having a hard time writing without dialogue as I only had Summer and I obviously picked important story scenes so lmao on my part.

One day I may get enough courage to dump about my personal Summer. The biggest thing to note for the Solos is She's selectively mute and will only speak verbally if the situation calls for it, or she's like deadly serious. Otherwise she uses sign or a notebook and pen to communicate!

《☀ Summer: Memories, memories 1: 🎶 》

She'd been....content. The young girl pulling her along--Nema was her name, daughter to the Area Ranger, Rand-- she was energetic and had a spark in her eyes, one visible nearly immediately to Summer when she ran up to her, requesting help with getting one of the "UFOs" out of the water. That, along with her other requests, Summer took joy in doing. Playing along, she decided. She really didn't know how true the three requests thing was, but she couldn't find herself to care.

Besides, she couldn't let that fire burn out of control, nor could she allow Nema to look for her father alone. Really, she was extremely greatful she'd gone along with Nema, all things considered. The pokemon weren't dangerous, no. What she found herself most worried about looking back were the Pinchers there to block the way up to the Wireless Tower.

Now, she knows the extent of how reckless Nema could be, but also how much of a genius she is. While she couldn't doubt Nema's ability to get up to the Tower, shed be terrified to think what could have happened should things have gone awry.

However, one of the two or three the memories that sticks out the most of that day in particular was the conversation she'd had when she finally met with Rand.

The Ranger Union told him two rangers were coming. So, why was there only one? Now he wasn't harsh or angry in the slightest with his question, in fact she'd dare say he broached the topic rather gently for someone who she had just met.

However, something about the question....hit her. It hit her harder than she expected.

Probably because it just...cemented the fact Ben hadn't made it safely to land. Meaning she really had no clue what had happened to him.

In the few moments it took her to raise her hands and give her explanation, so, so many thoughts raced through her head. Had he gotten shot down to? Did they have him captive, tied up with ropes a smidgeon on the tight side? What if it had been worse?

Despite her racing thoughts, she raised her hands and took a deep breath.

I do not know. We had an encounter with the Pinchers in the sky. I had seen them trying to shoot down a pokemon, so I went to stop them. My partner came to assist me. He was going to be shot down, so I knocked him out of the way. I fell into....the ocean....

She had paused a moment, trying to recall. It had been...a blur.

The capture styler got disattached within the fall. I had to get it back. Then there was a strong current. I then awoke on D-O-L-C-E.

She took a deep breath a shook her head. From there, she recounted his she'd met Ukulele Pichu and Booker, before going to find Arley in Rasp Cavern, mentioning the monument being broken, and Raikou chasing the pinchers. Then whet she got to the point she met Nema, the young girl excitedly recounted from there.

Then, before long she had a new mission. Work with Rand, and free the Wireless Tower from the Pinchers

《☀ Summer: Memories, memories 1: END 🎶 》

《☀ Summer: Memories, memories 2: 🎶》

Raikou had been calmed down. Summer took a few deep breaths as she stared at the legendary beast, who stared back at her. After a moment, it stepped forward and roared loudly. What followed was a bright flash of light.

She heard the crackling of lightning as she stared unblinking, unable to move her hands to shield her eyes, at the light that now enveloped Raikou. She continued to hear the crackling as a shape came into view within the light. It looked…like an hourglass. Once the light subsided, her Styler beeped, which she barely managed to hear over the crackling in her ears, and slowly she lifted her arm, and barely managed to drag her gaze to her Styler.

"The Legendary Pokemon has shown you a shape. Please register the shape."

Slowly, she moved her finger over top her Styler. Start in the top right, making a backwards Z, then up in a diagonal line.

When her Styler beeped in satisfaction, her arm fell, and her gaze was drawn back to Raikou, who then left.

A hand on her shoulder brought her back to reality. The crackling died out as she heard Rand. He was trying to check on her, as she'd been staring off into space.

She blinked twice, and brought a hand to her head, before shaking it.

I am fine. Did you see it? The shape in the light?

///

He hadn't seen it. Had…. She seen it? Or was it really just a trick of the light? She didn't know. They made it down the Wireless Tower, where Leanne and Nema awaited their return.

A very brief conversation was interrupted when some pinchers were brought over and interrogated, at least until they pulled one over on the lot of them and made a mad dash away. At which point Summer and Rand gave chase.

Up until the Big Booker Bridge.

She heard him before she saw him.

Red Eyes.

She wasn't the only one to have that moment of recognition either. He knew who she was.

So, so many things wanted to fall out of her mouth. None of them related to the mission. Selfish as it was her only concern was if Ben was alright in this moment. Before she could raise her hands, Red Eyes expressed his shock that she had lived her fall.

And then Rand took the words from her: Where was Ben?

Summer stared at Red Eyes. A mixture of fear and worry in her eyes. She had every right to fear this man; he'd attacked and she went plummeting to protect Ben. The worry came from what he could possibly answer of what happened to Ben.

Would all her worst thoughts come to fruition? Or would he be okay…?

Then her world crashed.

He couldn't–no, wouldn't– tell her. All because she was a Ranger. Her fists clenched at her sides, and she shakily took deep breaths, trying to keep herself calm.

But, then he continued. One thing? He'd tell her one thing out of pity….? Fine. Whatever.

"He's Safe."

She nearly collapsed right then and there from the nearly overwhelming wave of relief that washed over her in that moment

She was so caught up in her own relief, she'd zone out the last bit of the conversation…mostly. She heard what was being said back and forth; the joke about the rope, that Ben put up a fight, even that he was being treated with some form of respect.

She only really came back to reality when she heard the Voltorbs dropped, and she moved back right before they exploded, leaving the bridge unpassable.

For now, with the knowledge that Ben was safe, she returned to Rand's house with him to think of a new plan to progress.

《☀ Summer: Memories, memories 2: END 🎶 》

《☀ Summer: Memories, memories 3: 🎶 》

Blue Eyes had been captured in the basement of the old mansion with the help of Pichu. Now she was aboard the Union, and Summer had to give Rand a report, and then give a written report to Murph.

Once the Report had been handed over, the next course of action was going to be decided. However, before plans could be made, Red Eyes showed up, expressing his surprise that they'd managed to capture Blue Eyes.

However, he needed her back, and so he proposed a swap.

Blue Eyes for Ben.

//

When she heard that sentence, she felt so many emotions. Rage that Ben was being used as a bargaining chip, but also hope. Hope and relief that she'd get to see her partner again. Relief that he'd be safe.

Would there be any repercussions for this course of action? She frankly didn't care. What she cared about was getting Ben back. She clenched her fists as she watched Red Eyes fly away, and then she made direct eye contact with Murph.

"Give me Blue Eyes."

Really, she was surprised at how easily Murph was swayed, really he didn't need to be swayed it seemed, he went to get Blue Eyes, and so Summer and Blue Eyes were off to the Daybreak Ruins.

Summer would get Ben back safely today, or she'd raise all hell until she did. Consequences be damned.

//

With Blue Eyes in tow, Summer made her way to the last room of the Daybreak Ruins. Along the way Summer had been stopped countless times by pinchers under Blue Eyes's command, doing all they could to get their leader back without exchanging their captive, however, Summer did push through them.

And at the end of the Ruins…. There was no Red Eyes in sight.

However, a monument was there, and when Blue Eyes went to investigate, a loud roar caused both Summer and Blue Eyes to step back and stare as Entei came down, breaking a rock on it's landing.

Quickly, Summer took to capturing it to calm it down.

Entei had stared her down then roared, and Summer could hear the roar and crackling of a blazing fire as a bright light engulfed Entei. Within that light, she saw Entei's emblem, and just like with Raikou, her Styler beeped.

"Please register the sign in your styler!"

Slowly, she brought her arm up, and over the top of her Styler, she made a straight line down, then crossed like an upside down, closed four, and continued the line over to mirror what she'd just drawn.

As the light faded, so to did the crackling and roaring of a fire. As she blinked a few times, she brought her hand to her her head and shook her head as Blue Eyes grabbed her attention and thanked her for saving her from the situation.

That's when she heard Z.Z. Flyers overhead and stepped back.

Red Eyes was here.

And she could have sworn her heart forgot how to beat for a few moments as she saw Ben. He really was okay. He was okay. She hadn't completely failed in protecting her partner.

Before she could properly respond to Ben. Red Eyes, Blue Eyes and the other pinchers were leaving.

And….of course Red Eyes left the two of them a goodbye present. Electrodes that go boom.

She pushed Ben down, and grabbed pichu and held the mouse to her chest as she threw her arm up to protect her head from the explosions.

She looked around after the ringing in her ears stopped. They were stuck. But that wasn't important.

She instead turned her attention to Ben, who thanked her for her help and mentioned how relieved he was when he'd heard she had been safe.

It was the two of them, the way it was supposed to be from the start.

Now, Summer knew she could handle whatever the future of this mission held for her, now that she had her partner back.

《☀ Summer: Memories, memories 3: 🎶 》

[mothmanyeetus]

PSA: Do not join VividSMP

This is a a post regarding the problematic VividSMP Discord server and why it is not worth it to join.

The moderation is bad on all fronts. Let’s start with the fact that I was kicked for “advertisement” allegedly (despite being in the advertisement channel) suspiciously right after a friend of the staff stated they weren’t happy I was there just because they decided that didn’t like me from another server. Here is the conversation I had with a mod.

I would like to add that they have considered my BPD episodes an “attitude” before.

Here they give me false hope by suggesting that if I “change my attitude” I would be let in. Here they are gaslighting me about suggesting such.

Here’s me calling them out and then them finally shedding some light on what happened, finally revealing they were not the one that kicked me despite acting like that was the case at first.

You’ll see here that they told me they would get in contact with the owner aka getting me in contact with him then guess what…

Yep, they blocked me 💀

So basically they lied to me. Now when I said this:

I was refering to this:

Yep, that’s the mod AND the owner leaving 5 star reviews of their server to make it look good.

-

Now I’m not the only one who’s been having trouble with Vivid. Here’s some friends from a previous server we were all in talking about how they wanted to put their little community into vivid as a new server but absolutely could not stand it.

Star recalls a similar situation to mine where someone was kicked without warning. This is also proof this isn’t just a me thing and it is a server thing.

Clearly, the staff value petty drama over running an actual functioning server.

A friend of theirs is now trying to defend since di stated I was making this post. Basically, stating that I deserved it and that every negative review is wrong or biased.

Blaming everyone except the moderation. They then revealed this:

A “soiled record” apparently.

Basically stating it was okay for me to be banned and never told I was making people uncomfortable when that isn’t fair to me as I didn’t know. They still try to justify it in later dms but alas I cannot post more pictures.

Takeaway:

Do NOT join VividSMP. It isn’t worth it and you’re only gonna end up being on a toxic server.

What can you do?:

Report them on Disboard and leave reviews explaining what they’ve done and why not to join. Report the staff members if you have their discord users. Warn your fellow players about this SMP and encourage anyone you know on it to leave.

This is absolutely ridiculous.

[lovestuckyhatemarvel]

And I’m watching episode 3 now. Let’s see how this goes.

1.) Day IDK how many of me adoring Max and El. Should I support El spying on the boys? No. Do I support it anyway? Yes. I support girl’s rights and girl’s wrongs.

2.) Oh wait, I support the girls because the boys are sexist.

3.) Oh suddenly now Hopper knows how to apologize after barging into El’s room while drunk? Like literally this could have been avoided if Hopper had just encouraged her to have a social life outside of Mike, because Mike being her whole world was actually bad.

4.) Oh, I forgot they chose to spy on Billy at random and El is seen by him. Also it was definitely happening simultaneously with him sacrificing someone, probably the coworker but it’s impossible to know for certain at this point because you don’t see the girl whimpering and the subtitles only say ‘girl whimpering’, not a name.

5.) It is very difficult to tell if Will is a player in a campaign and is forcing Mike to run one or if he’s dressed as Will the Wise as the DM for some reason, even though that doesn’t make sense.

6.) Does Jim Hopper not own anything other than his work uniform?????

7.) Jesus Christ, Hopper couldn’t look past his own jealousy to listen to Joyce for two seconds until she said ‘what if it’s them?’ Oh wait nvm, he’s still being a little bitch. And this makes no fucking sense because Hopper was always the person who listened her the first two seasons!

8.) I would have walked out in the middle of Hopper’s bullshit too, Joyce.

9.) Poor Max thinks El accidentally looked in Billy getting laid.

10.) Nancy dismissing Jonathan’s worries makes me mad. The Byers family all has Cassandra complexes or something.

11.) The shitheads working for the paper all definitely suck. Also, how is Nancy Drew an insult? She was a world traveling and beloved detective who always saved the day and had two best friends. And she had a boyfriend I never cared about. I wanted her with Frank Hardy.

12.) Dustin actually is shockingly right about what to look for in a date, but wrong about who Steve should date. Obviously Steve should date Eddie, who is off somewhere safe this season aka not existing.

13.) Okay Will does DM in season 3 for the first time. But Mike was the DM before that.

14.) Max and El are being Nancy Drews. <3 <3

15.) The only consistently good visual in Stranger Things is the Void that El finds people in.

16.) I just realized the entire group would benefit from a group chat or a Discord server. Would do them all a world of good to be able to be like ‘FYI looking into insane rats’ and others to be like ‘FYI there’s a missing cheerleader’ and for Will get to be like ‘FYI my friends are dicks and somehow this feels like the worst thing that has happened to me because I’m a child and losing friends actually is worse than going to a Hell dimension’

17.) Neither Steve nor Dustin know what an evil Russian looks like. Also Dustin doesn’t know how to fake a phone convo.

18.) The code gets translated episode 2 and cracked in episode 3. I swear every new season makes me realize how bad the Duffers are at pacing.

19.) Nancy really doesn’t wanna have a conversation about how this will get them fired. I love her and her big damn hero complex, I really do, but she’s gotta learn not everyone else is middle class enough to afford to do that.

20.) Oh finally Hopper has an adult conversation about his feelings. We needed more conversations like this.

21.) Will is the only person Mike readily apologizes to without being prompted. But also they totally forgot about hiw little spot in the woods.

22.)I forgot Will destroys Castle Byers. Oh this is actually really sad. Oh bud.

23.) There is clearly a light switch at the top of the stairs to the basement and no one uses it so is it broken or did they just ignore it for effect.

24.) Steve is such a pouty puppy in the rain. They are all absolutely soaked. ALSO ALREADY ROBIN AND STEVE HELD HANDS. BEST FRIENDSSSSSSS.

25.) Hopper got attacked by a Russian in the lab. Forgot about that. ANd by attacked I do mean got his ass kicked. Steve and Hopper have solidarity over being the protector and also occasionally getting the ass beatings of their lives.

26.) El just broke into Heather’s house. Also everyone was very stepford in there.

27.) Oh Billy got to see backstory of El looking bitchin’. Fun.

28.) WILL’S SPIDEY SENSES ARE TINGLING AGAIN.

29.) Well, I forgot they straight up drug the mom but knock the dad out with a wine bottle. I’m confused as to why they didn’t just drug both parents because both were drinking wine, but I guess they decided it was more dramatic? Anyway, I feel bad for Heather, not for Billy

[taterztots]

There is 100% a class group chat. How else did Midoriya manage to send his location to everyone while on Hosu? 

Of course, there’s a channel specifically for studies and hero work. (It’s Discord. The group chat is discord).

But the rest? The rest is a lawless land.

It’s also where Tokoyami keeps everyone informed of all shenanigans while Hawks teams up with Endeavor and takes him along for the ride.

Exhibit A

--------

Tokoyami: wtfjusthappened.mp4

[a video of Midoriya, Todoroki, and Bakugo sitting on a rooftop while eating meat buns. Tokoyami, the one recording them, seems to be standing behind and to the right of Midoriya, angled so you can see all three of the boys’ right-side profiles.

 On their left, a reasonable distance from prying ears, Endeavor and Hawks can be seen by the edge of the building talking.

The boys seem to be debating something, the reason why Tokoyami started recording them in the first place.

“I should do it,” Todoroki finally declares, and next to him, Midoriya sighs as if this isn't the first time they've had this conversation. “Today’s the day.”

“Shoto, no”

“Shoto, yes,” Bakugo provides, casually taking another bite of his bun from the half and half boy’s left side.

And Midoriya sighs again --they have definitely had this conversation before- but a slight smile pulls at the corner of the green-haired boy’s lips as he speaks this time. “Kacchan, please, don’t encourage him.”

Bakugo leans back, turning to face his oldest friend from behind Todoroki. He brings both hands up to each side of the boy’s head, one still holding his half-eaten treat, and makes him turn to look at Midoriya too. “Look at him, Deku,” the blonde demands.

Todoroki doesn't seem to care, going along with whatever the hell Bakugo is doing. “Look at me.”

“It has trauma.”

“I do.”

Midoriya brings a hand to his face, clearly trying to hide the grin now fully present on it. “I know, but that doesn't mean we get to kill Endeavor because of it.”

Bakugo lets go of Todoroki’s head, the one empty hand resting casually on the boy’s shoulder while bringing the one with the bun back to his mouth. They both stare at Midoriya, unblinking.

“Nobody is talking about killing him, Deku, Jesus Christ,” Bakugo finally offers, “just a little push, Hawks is right there, plus he has his fire. He’ll be fine.”

“Kacchan,” it sounds like a warning, “you’re the oldest of the four of us here, the oldest of our whole class” he gestures at the phone, pointing at them, addressing the group chat, who will be watching this later. “Shouldn't you be the mature one right now?”

“Bet.” it’s all the response he gets before the blonde takes one last bite of his bun and stands up, throwing the balled-up wrapper at his face.

“What?”

“As the oldest, I'm responsible for protecting the baby.”

Todoroki turns to look at him, “me?” Bakugo nods. He turns back to Midoriya with a goofy smile as he points at himself, “I'm baby.”

Midoriya is now fully laughing, not trying to hide it anymore, “what does that even mean?!”

Bakugo wipes his hands on his pants, straightening up and strouting up to the two pro heroes with all the confidence in the world, but not before throwing an “I’m going to push him” as an explanation to the three boys behind him.

A quiet, baffled “what..” can be heard from Tokoyami behind the camera as Midoriya sputters, shooting up to his feet. 

“Wait!” Todoroki shoots up after him, holding onto his arm so he doesn't run, “I want to see what he does.”

The camera follows him as he reaches the heroes and stands in front of them, his expression calm and neutral, his eyes set on the flame hero. 

Hawks and Endeavor look at each other in confusion, at the boy in front of them, at the three behind them, and back at the blonde.

There’s a long pause of just silent staring, and it seems like Endeavor is about to speak when Bakugo widens his stance, shutting the man back up. The blonde takes an exaggerated deep breath, holding it for emphasis. With his whole chest and popping the ‘P’ as humanly possible, he says one single word before everyone loses it, and the most chaotic scene ensues. 

“Pussy”

Bakugo bends his knees and drops his head into the crook of his diagonal, upwardly angled arm while raising the opposite arm straight in the same direction. When he straightens back up, he stretches both arms in front of him, middle fingers up at Endeavor, and begins walking backward, back to the other boys. 

Next to the bewildered flame hero, Hawks hugs his stomach, his head thrown back in laughter, and when Bakugo turns back to his friends, he finds them all in similar positions. 

Deku is bent forward, one hand on his knee for support while the other arm hugs his stomach, the same as the winged hero, with literal tears in his eyes. 

Todoroki is covering his mouth with both hands, his whole body shaking with laughter he refuses to let out.

Even Dark Shadow can be heard cackling behind the camera.

And unbeknownst to the viewer, Tokoyami stands, mouth slightly ajar and eyes full of surprise.

Bakugo grins genuinely and bright, bringing a palm upto cover the camera as the video ends.]

[thefanficmonster]

Love For The Faceless

Corpse Husband x Youtuber!Reader(Female)

Warnings: Swearing

Genre: Fluff 

Summary: Y/N is a YouTube gamer who has recently gained a much larger following thanks to the streams she does with her friends. Naturally, considering her faceless and bodiless nature, people are starting to get curious about her. When she finally follows her friend Corpse’s example, a lot more than her hands is revealed.

Requested by anon, you know who you are 😉 Thank you so much for placing a request and hope this fic fulfills the expectations you have for it.

“Hey!“ I greet the lobby as I finally hop into the Discord call after quickly saying ‘hi‘ to my audience.

I’ve been a YouTuber for four years now and I’ve only recently started streaming, encouraged to do so by my best friend Rae. She’s the one who got me in multiplayer games such as Among Us and Phasmophobia which led me to meet her amazing gaming squad that consists of some of the most famous names on the platform. They are all wonderful people and I will forever be in Rae’s debt for introducing me to them. However, becoming friends with Felix, Sean and the rest of the team brought not only a more fulfilled life, but also a small boost in following. Who am I kidding, it wasn’t small. It was overwhelming, terrifying even.

My YouTube channel had a little over a million subscribers at the start of quarantine and now....now it’s closer to three million. Speaking of three million, I’m about to reach it any day now and it’s really hard to believe. I’m a gaming youtuber and I’ve never considered changing my genre despite expecting to not get any attention whatsoever, with all the big names on the platform. I was convinced not even as many as a hundred people would stumble across my videos and now here we are.

My OG subscribers are very supportive of my sudden growth and are defending me when my newer fans ask for a face reveal or whatnot. While we’re on that topic I might have to mention that not even my YouTube friends, and that includes Rae have seen my face. I’ve been faceless and bodiless for the entirety of my time on social media. Some claim I do it to grab more attention or for dramatic effect, but the reason is beyond that. I’m not shallow. Actually, shallow people are the reason I don’t show my face. I’ve never been the prettiest, but my middle school bully thought that I wasn’t lacking self confidence enough. As a result, I ended up with a not so handsome scar on my right cheek that starts from the corner of my mouth and nearly misses my eye. Yeah, it’s a long and pretty noticeable scar that has thankfully become less and less obvious as the years have progressed. Still, it’s not something I’d like to show to my viewers.

Eight ‘hi’s greet me back, each making my smile grow wider. “Sorry I’m late guys. Technical difficulties.” 

“Don’t worry.“ Rae’s voice dominates over the rest, “Corpse still isn’t here so we’re waiting for him.“

I mute myself on the Discord call and take a look at my comments. I’m most flattered by the comments about my voice. Seeing as how they don’t have much to compliment about me other than my content, they make the nicest comments about my voice, personality and humor. Those comments are the ones who warm my heart most. Even when people in my day to day life compliment my appearance I can’t find it in me to believe they are being genuine. I’d like to believe these amazing people are being one hundred percent honest when they tell me they like me for who I am and not for what I might look like.

“Sorry I’m late guys.“ A deep voice causes me to even physically jolt, switching my focus from the comments to the Among Us lobby where my eyes land on the newly materialized black avatar.

“Hi Corpse.“ Rae greets him.

“Hello mister who broke Twitter!“ Sean laughs, provoking the laughter of the rest of the players.

“Yeah, congratulations man. That’s a big deal.“ Felix chimes in.

“Thanks guys, but I think you’re forgetting we’re talking about a picture of my hand.“ Corpse chuckles timidly. I have noticed how shy he gets when someone gives him a compliment - like a snail slowly withdrawing in its shell. I find it adorable.

“That’s what makes it even better!“ I unmute my mic, sending my own congratulations.

“While we’re on that topic...“ Rae begins, waiting for the rest of us to shut our traps, suggesting she has something important to say. “Y/N, do you ever plan on doing a reveal like that? Not a face reveal. Just a body part reveal.“

I have no problem talking about the subject with friends but I get nervous when I’m supposed to discuss it with my fans. Seeing as how everyone, including myself, is streaming right now, I get a bit of a stutter in my speech. “Haven’t thought about it yet. But I guess a body part reveal is harmless.” I cringe immediately after letting the words leave my mouth, “That sounds so weird.”

Rae knows that I’m not too fond of my face, but I haven’t told her about my scar yet. I let almost all people I’ve met online think I’m using my lack of appearance for effect. For the mystery of it all. Mysteries attract people which equals attention. Attention equals views and the domino effect continues.

“Just a suggestion. No pressure.“ Rae adds quickly, knowing full well I get anxious when the subject is brought up in front of cameras. “Let’s get this game started, shall we.”

                                                          * * *

The idea dwells in my mind, sitting on the back burner even after I disconnect from the Discord call. I’m sitting in my gaming chair, which was a gift for my two million milestone, and weighing out the pros and cons of the action Rae suggested I take.

“It’s a picture of your fucking hand, dummy. How bad can it turn out?“ I say out loud, shaking my head at my indecisiveness. “You’ll be fine.”

In a blur, two pictures are already posted on my Instagram. The first one captioned ‘Took a leaf from my friend’s book. Did I do it right @ corpsehusband?’ and the second ‘Thanks, Rae. These are on you.’

Rae’s POV

As I’m watching a movie in my living room, I get a notification from Instagram, informing me that Y/N has posted for the first time in a while.

I scoff, “More like the first time in forever.”

The first thing that comes to my mind is the possibility of her reaching that three million milestone that’s been long time coming. I bring the glass of water that’s sitting on my coffee table to my lips, taking a sip as I tap the notification. The picture I see makes me hurry to put the glass back down so I don’t drop it. Y/N’s hand. Her fingers are covered with several thin rings each. And here I thought Corpse had too many rings, this girl has at least two on every finger! 

Then my eyes land on the second picture she has posted only minutes after the first and my heart drops. I struggle to get the water that’s been sitting in my moth down my esophagus while my mind is struggling with the task to comprehend the picture I’m looking at. 

Another hand is resting on top of Y/N’s. A hand also covered in rings but fewer and larger. The nails are painted black. 

I think I know who it belongs to.

Before I can even finish the thought, I’m dialing Y/N. She picks up after the second ring, sound cheery as ever as she greets me. “Hey Rae!”

“Don’t you ‘Hey Rae’ me!” I practically scream. I hate being kept in the dark about anything ever so this is just driving me mad. On top of all, she’s my best friend, for fuck’s sake. “Is that Corpse in the photo with you?!”

“Ugh....“ the cheeriness to her voice is all but gone now.

I go on with my rant, not giving her the time to reply. Not that she would reply. I bet she doesn’t know what to say. “So he knows where you live?! Or was the picture taken at his place?! He knows what you look like?! You have seen him! He has seen you in real life but me, your best friend, haven’t!!! You are breaking Covid 19 protection laws to take pictures?! Are you fucking serious, Y/N?!”

There’s a long moment of silence which frustrates me even more but I literally have run out of things to yell and the power to be angry. I mean, I still am, I just can’t express it.

“Rae, sweetheart, please calm down. You’re scary when you’re mad.“ This girl has some fucking nerve! She’s on the verge of laughing!

“Listen here you...“ 

“Rae, please stop scaring my girlfriend.“ That oh so distinguishable, oh so familiar voice interrupts me.

I am flabbergasted, for a lack of a better term.

“Now that we’ve got you quiet, I can explain.“ Y/N pics up the conversation, “Corpse and I have been dating for six, almost seven months now. We started dating around Easter after talking for quite some time. We moved in together at the end of September. All thanks to you, Rae. You’re the best.” She pauses to breathe in real quick, “There, all caught up?“

I’m in no less shock than I was before she explained. Actually, I think I might be even more confused now. It all just feels like a fever dream. “Yes...no. I don’t fucking know! I need details, Y/N!”

“Details later.“ Corpse makes his presence known once again, “We’re watching Family Guy right now. Talk to you later.“

“Love you, Rae!“ Y/N calls out before the line goes dead.

My arm goes limp, dropping my phone on the couch next to me. 

“Motherfuckers” I mumble under my breath.

Y/N’s POV

It’s been a week since Rae has stopped talking to both Corpse and me. I know she just needs some time to cool off. In the meantime, the rest of our friends were informed and, as oppose to Rae, were nothing but supportive and overjoyed. I bet Rae feels the same way though. Sean, Dave and the rest of the gang have confirmed that she’s incredibly happy for us and says she noticed a spark between me and him since day one, but she can’t help but be mad at us, and especially me, for not telling her sooner.

“Any regrets?“ I remember Corpse asking me when we hung up on her after dropping the bomb.

“Not being able to see her face when she saw the picture.“ I beam at him, feeling as content as ever.

He laughs, agreeing with me before leaning down to kiss me.

@susceptible-but-siriusexual  @simonsbluee  @save-the-sky  @hacker-ghost  @itsminniekat  @bi-andready-tocry  @imtiredaffff  @jazzkaurtheglorious  @hereforbeebo  @fandomgirl17  @chrysanthykios

[thesolferino]

True Calling

⤷ dream x f!reader.

⤷ word count: 3.9k

⤷ requested: yes, by this lovely anon!

— summary: dream meets his favorite singer on an among us livestream.

“Dude, what could go wrong? Just do it.”

“What could go wrong?! Literally so many things, you ass.” 

Dream heard Sapnap sigh through the mic right into his headphones, the dim grey of his Discord background doing barely anything to illuminate his features as he stared at his open messages blankly.

“First of all, don’t.. speak to me like that, I am doing you a favour by sitting here and listening to you panic about stupid shit. Second of all, nothing big could go wrong. What, you’re a little awkward in the beginning, maybe, and that’s it.” Dream adjusted his headphones a little bit, Sapnap’s rant flowing into his ears but dissipating somewhere halfway to his brain, because, yes, things could go wrong and he can’t be proven otherwise.

“Did you forget that I’m a public figure? And that my fans are insane? I say one wrong thing and it’ll be memed and haunt me in my dreams. Did you forget that SHE’s a public figure? And that this is live? God…” he retorts back, listening to Sapnap helplessly sigh once again in response. He anxiously switches from his Discord to Twitter, then to YouTube, to Twitch and then back to Discord, frantically clicking around. In reality, he knows Sapnap is right, and it’s anxiety whispering into his ear that he’s gonna somehow fuck up, but maybe it’s simply easier to stay and argue with him into the night instead of actually responding to that message.

The stream is still going. Quackity’s voice speaks over Sapnap’s quiet breathing. “Damn, he’s still not responding. Um, let me try Tubbo, maybe?” 

Before he knows it, the opportunity to join the stream is slipping out of his fingers, and Dream isn’t sure if he’s happy about that or not. On one hand, he gets to meet one of his favorite artists whose album he’s played way too many times to count, and on the other, the chances of him embarrassing himself in front of that same artist and a hundred thousand other people are extremely high, and he’s not sure if he likes the odds of that.

“Man, I don’t know. You won’t listen to me, anyway. Don’t join if you don’t want to.” Dream hears the annoyed tinge in Sapnap’s voice, and that’s what pours the last bit of courage into his veins because the best way to do anything in life is to follow Sapnap’s advice after you’ve already irritated him to the point of defeat, and he murmurs a quick “bye” and hangs up before the other can even respond, typing a rapid “Sure, send me the VC link” back to Quackity. 

He hears a delighted exhale coming from his Twitch tab just as Quackity forwards him the link. “Okay, nevermind, we’ve got Dream! He’ll join in a second.” 

With that, he swiftly closes the Twitch tab and with an encouraging sip of water, he finally joins the Discord voice chat with the rest of the players. Your Discord image sticks out like a sore thumb to him despite being a super basic, Googleable picture of you that he’s probably seen a million times by now, and upon seeing it, reality slaps him right over the face and he realises that, oh shit, he actually joined.

“Hey everyone.” Dream speaks into the mic and a mix of excited voices greets him at the same time as he loads up the game. Your icon is missing the green halo. He stares at it, as if you’ll magically speak up if he stares long and hard enough. That, apparently, works.

Pokimane’s “Dream, hi!” seems to set something off in your brain, and you speak again.

“Oh, Dream?” the green halo appears, and Dream resists the urge to say something stupid or bite his hand or anything of the sort when you say his name. “Aren’t you the guy who listens to my music all the time?” you giggle.

Quackity laughs loudly in his usual fashion, and Dream feels his hands go cold as the Among Us loading page pops up. “Wh-huh?” 

“Yeah, you-you listen to my music a lot! Your fans always tag me under that… ‘Dream’s Spotify’ Twitter account, I remember you.” Dream swears his heart is about to jump out of his chest and start bouncing around on the floor because his ribs are way too restrictive for that type of movement, but he tries his best to play it cool and laughs lightheartedly.

“I do! I’m, like, your biggest fan.” he grins, as if you can see him, and you laugh in return.

“Yeah, man, you pay my rent. Thanks.” you say and a couple of people laugh while Dream inputs the code and his character finally pops up, immediately running around like the rest of the group. He runs around your purple character and hears you chuckle as you run around him too, but not for long, because the game starts and everyone mutes themselves. He audibly sighs, because he can afford to, considering he’s not streaming and nobody can hear the amount of courage this whole thing is taking him. 

A notification pops up on his screen - the Dream Team group chat seems to be talking. Must’ve already found some way to make fun of me, he thinks to himself as he huffs out a large breath and runs through cafeteria and weapons to do his tasks in navigation. Corpse is hot on his tail the whole time, and not to say he’s an untrustworthy guy, but Dream isn’t really looking forward to getting killed before even speaking to you properly, so he runs around, trying to find somebody to stick with so Corpse doesn’t shove a knife in his back while he’s doing a task. 

Thankfully, Karl emerges somewhere from the direction of storage right into communications where Dream was going, too. Just as Dream starts finishing download and Corpse and Karl line up behind him, his screen flashes bright red and white and the bold letters “Dead body reported” pop up. Everyone unmutes themselves and his eyes bore into your character, immediately.

“Alright, the body was in top left of the… uh, upper engine. I need everyone’s positions.” Rae immediately spoke.

“I was in electrical, I-I went through cafeteria to the upper engine with Poki, there was nobody there, we did our tasks, went down to lower engine, then Poki left with Toast, and I went to electrical and the body was reported.” Sykkuno said, and Pokimane confirmed with a hum of agreement.

“Dream?” Rae asked, and he spoke up.

“I never even went that way, I went through weapons to nav, and then to communications, and then the body was found. Corpse can vouch for me because he was following me the entire time and I kinda thought he was gonna kill me. And Karl saw me in communications, us three were all together when you… reported the body.” He rambled, trying to defend himself.

“Yeah, it’s true, he was with me the whole time.” Corpse supported.

“Karl, which way did you get to communications?” Toast asked.

“Uh, through storage.” Karl replied quickly.

“That’s funny, ‘cause I was in security, and I could swear I saw you walk past.” Toast said, and a couple of “ooh”s echo through the call.

“That makes no sense because even if I did go that way, I wouldn’t have time to get to communications and start doing my task with Dream and Corpse if I killed Ethan! And Rae, you-you saw me do my task in storage!” Karl loudly defended himself.

“...that… that’s true, yeah.” she said.

“If you ask me, Toast, you’re being real sus for lying about that.” Karl threw it back at Toast, who protested.

“Listen, I didn’t say you killed anybody, I just said I saw someone run past!” he claimed.

“Bretman and Y/N are being real quiet, though.” Corpse points out, and the green halo around your icon lights up once again.

“Oh shit, I didn’t realise I was muted. Sorry, guys.” you laughed. “Um, I was with… Quackity, in… what’s that shit on the right called?”

“O2.” Quackity quickly jumped in.

“Right, O2. I went to… top left, first, and I did my tasks there, and then to weapons and then to O2, and then the body was reported.”

“You were in top left?” Rae repeated.

“Yeah.”

“And was there anyone with you?”

“Um… no? I was alone, and then I saw Quackity in top right, and then we went to, uh, O2 together.” you said and Corpse sighed loudly.

“That means she could’ve had the time to kill Ethan and run.” Toast points out.

“Hey! I didn’t kill anyone! I don’t even know how this game works…” you whined into the mic and Quackity laughed.

“Yeah, I dunno Y/N, you were dancing real suspiciously around me…” he said, causing you to defend yourself louder.

“Why would I kill anyone?! I don’t even know how to do that, I’m a nice person!”

“I don’t think she did it, guys.” Dream pipes up, tugging at the wire of his headphones absentmindedly.

“Shut up, you simp.” Quackity fires back instantly, making everyone in the call laugh, including Dream.

“Damn right, I’m a Y/N simp. She can do no wrong. I mean, look at that innocent face! She did nothing, I’m-I’m sure.” He argued, making you cover your mouth and giggle.

“Their face is literally the same as everyone’s! We’re all astronauts!” Rae protested, but Dream kept shaking his head.

“No, hers is more innocent.” he said. “Toast, why are you so set on accusing everyone, anyway?”

“Oh, you’re so not attacking Toast right now-”

“Guys, I think we should skip.” Sykkuno pipes up to calm the conversation, and everyone agrees, even though most of them mumble “sus” under their breath as soon as they mute their mics.

Dream’s tiny green astronaut stomps his way over to the left side immediately, changing paths this time and making his way into the Upper Engine, trying to finish his tasks in time and possibly find someone to accompany him so he at least doesn’t have to argue over his alibi. He had four tasks left, two of them in Upper Engine, so after that he was free to roam around wherever his heart desired. Just as he started doing one of them, he watched your purple character step in and run circles around him, earning you a quiet laugh that he didn’t know he uttered until he heard himself do it and silently scolded himself for getting that flustered at something so simple.

The two of you did your tasks together before going down to reactor. Just as Dream started doing one of his tasks, a dead body was reported again and he unmuted himself as Toast immediately started borderline yelling into his headphones. 

“Bretman just killed Sykkuno RIGHT in front of me. I literally watched him do it. He killed Sykkuno in COLD BLOOD.” he confidently claimed and Dream, quite uninterested, grabbed his bottle of water and lightly sipped on it, wiping beads of sweat resting right above his eyebrows with his forearm, blindly looking around the darkness, trying to get his eyes to adjust looking away from the computer screen. His eyes searched for the window - it was open, just enough to let a fresh breeze inside, but it never seemed to do that, letting humid air in with open arms like a welcome guest. Florida is fucking hell, he thinks, gulping down some more water.

“No, I didn’t! I seriously did not, he’s the one who killed him and is trying to frame me now. I swear to God, Toast…” Bretman shouted into his worn mic, trying to argue back. 

“Yeah, to be honest, Bretman, you were silent the whole time when Ethan died.” Rae reasoned, earning quite a lot of “ooh”s and causing little “voted” signs to appear next to Poki, Toast and Karl’s names as Bretman tried his best to fight back.

“I didn’t know I was muted the whole time! You know I’m bad at this! Why would I... you know what, nevermind! Vote me! Vote me! You’ll see when Toast kills you all, I don’t care anymore. I literally saw-”

Dream slumps further into his chair, sure that the foam would have a dent of his body shape imprinted even when he’s long gone from it, and unlocks his phone with a quiet sigh. He opens Discord, and wishes he hadn’t, because Sapnap and George are always on the front lines and ready to make fun of him at any chance possible. He types back a stupid joke, calling them losers, but before he can press send, a Twitter notification pops up on his phone that almost makes his painfully sweaty hands lose grip of the phone. 

“this is so boring” your message reads, from your official Twitter account. Dream blinks a few times, and looks up from his phone to observe his murky, empty room, eyes flashing from the window to the ripped chocolate bar wrapper that somehow made its way onto the floor to a cup of coffee from this afternoon. Did the humid air finally get to him? Hallucinations?

He clicks on the notification - it proves to not be a product of his imagination, after all. Three dots dance around on his screen cheerfully, but they suddenly stop. His ears tune in. Bretman is still defending his honor. Something else must’ve interrupted you. His shaky hands barely hit the right letters.

He takes a handful of screenshots amidst his euphoria, and forwards them to the group chat with no caption besides an emoji sticking its tongue out - he wants to tell them to suck his dick, or something along those lines, but your message remains a priority as he rushes back to the Twitter app to reply.

“Right” he manages to write without a typo. “They’re annoying”

Three dots immediately return to his screen like a happy memory, and he almost can’t believe you’re texting back so fast. George would probably humble him by saying it’s because you have nothing better to do, but what George doesn’t know can’t hurt him, Dream supposes, and clicks on your profile instinctively as he adjusts his headphones on one ear. By the time you finish typing your message, the group decided to vote out Bretman, who ended up not being an imposter.

The three dots disappear as quick as they came, and so does the anticipation that bubbled up in Dream’s throat as he sourly leaves to finish the rest of his tasks. The rest of the game stays as boring as it started, save for the giggles and hushed laughter that came from you at every few jokes he made - of which he made quite a lot, in a desperate attempt to make you laugh, at least a little bit. Of course, Quackity was there every step of the way to accidentally mention how Dream sounded a lot more hype and alive during this game than he does ever, but you win some, you lose some, eh?

In the next game you actually decided to set up proximity chat, so of course Dream followed you around everywhere, hot on your tail at all times - what else is he supposed to do, when the chance presented itself, really?

“Are you imposter?” His character obnoxiously ran circles around you as you did your wires task slowly and unsurely since this stream was your first time playing.

“No, but I wouldn’t tell you even if I was, dummy.” You replied, running around his own character briefly before running up to do the rest of your tasks, watching the green astronaut follow you close behind. 

“Why not?” Dream questioned, eyes following all your movements since he didn’t have anything better to do considering he finished all his tasks. 

“Do you not know how this game works?”

“Yeah, but you’d tell me, right? I wouldn’t… rat you out.” He heard a sigh coming through his headphones in response, and his grin widened just a little, watching your character walk away from him.

“I know you wouldn’t.” you replied. “I’ll tell you if I’m imposter, I guess.”

“You wouldn’t kill me, would you?” Dream spoke into his mic, reaching to fix it and realising the way his hand trembled a little, fully aware he was walking the line between flirty and obnoxious more than usual. He lowered his gaze just to see his keyboard reflect the light of the computer back to him - the sweat from his palms seemed to seep onto the keyboard. He refused to think about the mocking things his best friends would say if they found out how nervous he was just to talk to you. 

“No, of course not! I wouldn’t be able to kill you.” You chirped just as a dead body was discovered and the two of you were torn from the conversation. 

In the next one, his screen flashed an ominous black and red with the word “Impostor” and your purple character stood proudly next to his green one, and he snickered to himself, adjusting his headphones one more time (the more he did it, the more he was convinced it was one of those anxious habits of his).

Shifting in his chair, he started moving and couldn’t believe his eyes when he realised the two of you managed to lock yourselves in a room with Corpse and Sykkuno, accomplishing a double kill in barely the first two minutes of the game. The two of you vented while Dream muttered curses under his breath, breaking out in a sweat wondering if you’re going to get caught or not as you casually hummed to a random tune while faking tasks, hitting the notes in such an effortless way that it made Dream relax and get even more nervous at the same time. It didn’t take too long before the body was found, and you seemed to adapt to the game very quickly, as Dream just sat back most of the time and watched you stretch out a whole essay on why you and Dream could NOT have been imposters. 

“Why would they stick together the whole time? Couldn’t they get at least someone else to vouch for them?” Toast complained. 

“Girl, Dream wants some… alone time with Y/N, obviously.” Bretman said, despite being the one most sus of you in the first place, forcing laughter out of the whole lobby, Dream’s sticking out the most as his mood constantly swayed from finding the whole thing funny to being worried sick if you actually find him weird.

“Exactly! And we’re gonna have our alone time if we want to, thank you very much.” 

Well, Dream thinks, taking a stressed gulp of water from his bottle, at least we cleared that one up.

“I don’t think that sounded the way you wanted it to, Y/N.” Karl pipes up, making Quackity burst into another fit of loud laughter, and you immediately protested.

“It sounded exactly the way I wanted it to! Now, vote Rae or else.” 

When the meeting was over, he ran after you through cafeteria, grin splitting out on his face before he even spoke.

“You’re pretty…” his silence extended as he watched your character stare at his. “...pretty smart.”

You snorted. “Right. You’re pretty…” you extended your silence in return, mocking him. “...too.”

His heart jumps. “You forgot a word there.” he says as you stomp out to storage.

“I said what I said, Dreamy.” 

He swears this can’t be healthy for his blood pressure. In the corner of his eye, Discord notifications pop up like crazy. The boys must be watching your stream. His heart swells with both pride and dread, knowing he’s about to be called something along the lines of pretty Dreamy for the next two months.

“How do you know I’m pretty? You’ve never even seen my face.” Dream replies as heat creeps up like a spirit rising from soil, from the back of his neck, seeping into his ears and cheeks somewhat equally. His eyes dart to the window again. Of course it’s the stupid Florida weather that has him burning up, flustered. Maybe he should open another window.

“Is this an invitation to see it?” you say, a teasing tone clinging off your voice and he can practically hear you smiling. 

“No, I’m just saying! If you want to see it, though, that… that can be arranged.” he bites his lip as a physical attempt of holding back the smile that breaks out as he waits for your response, chest puffing in both nervousness and odd confidence.

“Can it? I mean, I don’t need to see it, I just know already, you have those… pretty boy vibes. But I wouldn’t…” you chuckle. “...be opposed to seeing it, for sure. Don’t count on me not to leak the pictures, though. I want the clout.”

“What do you MEAN you want the clout, you’re Y/N! You don’t need clout from a Minecraft YouTuber!” He argues back, a small wheeze escaping him mid sentence as you giggle and run around, with him following your every move.

“You keep my fucking lights on, man! Whenever your Spotify Twitter account thingy tweets that you’re listening to my stuff, the streams go up! I need your clout.” you say as you run into admin and snap Toast’s neck and run back out casually, as if nothing happened. 

“Yeah, that’s how me listening to your songs on repeat works.” he says and you let out some sort of irritated groan.

“Shut up, smartass.” Just as you say that, somebody seems to find the body and you’re pulled into a meeting, where Rae susses both of you immediately.

“No, because both of you are always together! And someone always spots you walking by the place where the bodies are found! At some point that can’t be a coincidence, right?” she accuses, practically yelling into the mic.

“Of course they’re always together, check- check fuckin’ Twitter! They’re trending on like three different spots already!” Quackity jumps in, loud as always, and the lobby gives off mixed reactions.

“What? We are?” Dream asks, and Quackity confirms with a “yeah, man! Check!” and so he complies, quickly pulling out his phone to check the trending tabs. Sure enough, among the politics and sports, “DREAM Y/N”, “PRETTY BOY” and “DREAM FACE” are crammed, sat at 7th, 14th and 18th place, respectfully. A satisfied grin breaks out on his face. At least they see it, too.

“This has to be the first time Dream has trended for something heterosexual.” Karl points out, earning loud laughter from Quackity and Bretman, less loud on your part.

“Exactly! We’re a power couple! Stay mad!” You shouted, with Dream supporting you in the background, although still shyly adjusting his headphones every few seconds, unable to comprehend that oh, this is actually happening.

Both of you get voted out during the next few minutes, but that really means nothing to Dream - they actually do him quite a favor, because the two of you get to excuse yourselves and he sees those three familiar dots dance on his screen again as he leans back into his chair with a dopey grin, playing with the strings of his sweatpants, waiting for your next and next and next message. 

He opens Discord on his computer to type one last message into the groupchat before turning it off for the night:

Dream (03:14): maybe Minecraft wasn’t my calling after all

Dream (03:14): can’t believe I just met my soulmate on Among Us

[russilton]

I’m curious about how you and Kimy met each other & got together, and who started shipping 4463 first? Just interested in hearing this kinda story and you can totally ignore me if you don’t want to answer. Hope you both have a nice weekend 😁

God no I love answering this question!

(Edit: while answering this question you caused me irreparable damage as I realised for the first time that abu dahbi 21 was the direct cause of me and kimy being on the call where I realised she liked me, and then I asked her out. I will never recover.)

Kimy (aka @thatsmemate ) and I met in 2017, technically twice, first in a shared discord server where we didn’t even realise we’d talked till years later, and the second time via tumblr

We both used to ship a fairly popular marvel ship (and still do, just less actively) that will go unnamed for the sake of plausible deniability, but anyone who wants to try hard enough can probably find my other blog lmao. I started making art for said ship in early 2017, and Kimy, without fail, left the BEST tags on my posts.

Not kidding, that’s genuinely how first connected, she used to leave the sweetest, kindest tags for me, that always made me feel like I was actually posting good work. And because they were always so good, I’d look forward to seeing her name in my notifs. Eventually I followed her back, because despite me being awkward as hell, it seemed like everyone I followed knew her (she will deny this, but it’s what I remember thinking, so it’s true), and thus, I wanted to know her. Eventually we started talking, then DMing, I wrote my first ever fic right into her tumblr DMs and by the end of that year we we’re insufferably inseparable.

We didn’t get together till December 2021 though, because in a fanfiction style twist, she ended been pining for 3 of those 5 years, and thought I knew. Anon, I did not know, because I am thick skulled and cannot read social hints.

Why December 21? Well Kimy decided to finally let me show her the hit Netflix documentary tiger king. Yes, THAT tiger king. Why? I shit you not I think it was genuinely because I was angry and upset about AD 21 happening THE DAY PRIOR and she was comforting me. A fact I had genuinely blocked out until writing this LMAO.

A combination of the trauma of AD combined with the best thing in my life happening means I assume my brain decided to separate the two. Anyway, she was pining, and I wasn’t. Not because I didn’t like her, but because I had no idea that was an option. My brain functioned under the assumption she couldn’t like me. Sky is blue, 1+1=2, she could never be attracted to me. At least it did until I made a STUPID joke about the first husband in tiger king. The one that got gay married for meth.

It went something along the lines of “my meth would be a partner who let me be a stay at home dad because I want to provide home care for my family” I know I’m so smart. She replied with saying she wouldn’t mind something like that because she hated having to do things after she got home and actually enjoyed work. I say “hahah maybe you should marry me for a green card, it might actually work out”.

I know. She was pining sadly, but the dusty cogs in my brain finally started working. And flirting. For the rest of the call I kept making jokes about soulmates and “that’s why you should marry me” as we discussed what we want out of our partners.

Call ends, she pines, I FINALLY go “oh shit, I think that was a Jk unless hint…” then spent a night thinking on it, before asking her out the following day. She said yes ❤️.

As you can tell from that story, I was very invested in F1 long before we got together, but I wasn’t shipping 4463 at that point yet. I was the one to pick it up first though. I even found 4463 works THROUGH a conversation with her! I caught a massive throbbing man crush on George (I had one on Lewis already but the George one was a lot less awe and a lot more nsfw) told her about it, and she kept encouraging me. Then after Spain I sent her a gif of Bono and Lewis looking gay, it lead to a convo about fanfiction, and I, long used to ao3, went looking…

I spent a few weeks getting neck deep in gewis, and I slowly started sending her things, because there’s not a thing on this earth I DONT share with her —She could blackmail me very effectively— and because she is the best person to ever live she got right into it with me, even after watching me have an angry betrayed ranting fit about certain fics that won’t be named BUT KNOW WHO THEY ARE.

By austria we started watching quali together on our date nights as she let me explain f1 to her. That’s why her favourite drivers are my favourite drivers, because I am a dreadful biased influence. Its the best thing on earth to share this with her. Because she is the best thing on my earth.

[dayseternal-blog]

In Memory, Katarinahime. Part 6.

I've collected our conversations. Why couldn't I remember them? Let me in.

2019.8.12 on "White Lilies" Chapter 3:

Kat - "Your 'please don’t kill me if you don’t like it' killed me! I feel the same way. You work so hard on something and then people are so flippant about it. 😭😭 But it was so good. You have such a good way of weaving around real feelings and situations. I love it!"

Me - "yeah, posting a new chapter is like standing in front of a dark tunnel, like you don't know what might come out of it. It could kill you. Or something... :( haha to me you are an absolute master at real feelings and situations! Thank you for the encouragement >< it means a lot coming from you!"

Katarina had never commented on my fics before. I knew that she doesn't really comment. She hardly replies to comments on her own fics unless there's a question.

This is the most memorable for me. I never forgot this. I never forgot how she understood the stress I expressed in the author notes and how she went out of her comfort zone to tell me that she relates.

2019.10.29 on "White Lilies" Chapter 4:

Kat - "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! They’re finally going to talk! And Naruto understands his own feelings! Omg this is so amazing!"

Me - "haha that scream is my reaction to any of your stories x))) thank you for the support <33333"

This was the second and last time she commented on one of my fics. I wondered if she had ever read any of my other fics. I only found out, after she passed, that "Nightdreams" was in her top five. I didn't know that. I wonder if she knows that I have been modeling my text structure off of her stories since Nightdreams.

2020.1.20 on Discord

"It's so funny, I never think of myself as writing angst and then people bring it up and I'm like... holy shit I wrote a lot of angst"

-"@ katarinahime I think of you as THE naruhina angst writer actually. If anyone asked, I would just point them to your profile"

"🙈🙈🙈 OMG lol. LMAO @ DAYS8 you're one to talk your white lilies used to be killer before your last update. My heart"

hmm I can't type the rest of the convo. I think I'll cry. But I pointed out to her why CSE is worse in terms of angst. She accepts that, and that she knew the ending would be happy, so she forgets how readers must feel.

That was our first convo within the same space, at the same time. I'm glad I could express a fraction of my admiration.

2020.2.18 on Discord

-"HOW WAS YOUR DAY IN HAWAII NEI?"

"Omg it was amazing"

-"yayy!!!!!! what did you do?"

"I went to the wedding rehearsal at the place they filmed lost and then went to bellows Air Force base beach and then I went to dinner and ice cream with friends. I love being here 💖💖"

-"Bellows is my favorite beach on the east side!!! And Kualoa Ranch is so beautiful! My husband's cousin got married there! I'm so glad you had a good day!"

"Yeah bellows looked like a movie set tbh. So beautiful"

I could've met her maybe. Had I tried. Also, I learned she loved coffee. Was addicted to coffee. She wanted to have Kona coffee here. I forgot to ask if she did.

2020.5.28 on Discord

"I wish my hair could be that long 😭"

-"why does your hair stop growing?? that..what????"

"Idk!! I wish I knew"

That was the day I learned her hair doesn't grow much past her shoulders. Apparently hair can genetically reach the end of its growth cycle. Like trees or flowers.

"I think because of the nature of our relationships with other members of fandoms and writers it's a bit harder to process it. Because there are genuine emotions and love and missing of a person, but since there was never a real-life presence the absence is harder to identify. For me it's almost like I'm expecting to see an update or a post after a long silence. It's a challenge to wrap my head around 'gone'." - @szajnie

"I'd possibly shifted backwards into denial, but not a shock kind. Like, she's still here, even if I can't talk to her."

"I've reread quite a few of her chapters and posts, and of course, our convos and comments, and just... it's so hard to reconcile. Her writing has so much of her voice in it, and when someone said that she'll live on in her art, they weren't kidding. She sounds so alive."

"Yeah, I wonder if that's why I'm at where I'm at. Like, there's still something of her we can access at any point. But I guess, the tragic rationale too is... It's all a time capsule. I just feel like she IS here."

"This is honestly the feeling I've been struggling with all week, here I am again, like this need to unleash all of this confusion and struggle I'm having with her passing. I guess I've really been trying to grasp at some kind of clarity."

"Katarina, I swear that I’ll never forget you, and I’m positive that I’m not the only one. As long as we live, you’ll live as well." - @angi1993

I'm still here.

They say earthquakes in Alaska are the closest tsunami danger for Hawaii.

Interesting.

I look out across an ocean of distance

And I wish you were here.

I wish you were there.

I wish I were waiting for you, waiting as I did before, for you to come collect the pieces of me, the pieces of you, waiting for you to give the pieces of you to me.

One day, I'll see you, I'll recognize you, and you'll recognize me.

The pieces we've traded will be perfect.

But I'll be shy. Or maybe I'll cry.

My memory is poor, I'm sorry. I didn't meet you then, I'm sorry. I didn't reach out enough, I'm sorry.

I just wish I had done a little more, it's okay for me to feel like this, there's nothing else to it.

Are you really still alive in us? Are you really still alive here?

I'm talking to text,

I wonder if I'm comforted.