#SHE'S MAKING AN ETHAN NESTOR SOUND

[spotsspeciall]

Just a small crush pt.3

PART 1         PART 2       PART 4

Pairing: Jschlatt x Fem!reader

Word count: 5K

Warnings: 18+ 

P in V, unprotected, spit k!nk, size k!nk. NSFW

Summery:  You’re a guest on chuckle sandwich, and Schlatt offers to drive you home;)

Notes:  This is a long one haha. Let’s just pretend the timeline is right for this lol.

masterlist

Schlatt looked at Ted across from him, completely his mind elsewhere. Ted and Schlatt were currently doing the chuckle sandwich podcast with Ethan Nestor. Schlatt could feel his mind drifting towards the thought of you, but tried to focus on what Ethan and Ted were talking about. Luckily, he managed to play it cool and no one really noticed that he was distracted. All in all, the podcast went smoothly, and they had a lot of fun. 

Wrapping up, Ethan had left, and it was only Ted and Schlatt left sitting in the booth. Schlatt found himself completely zoned out and thinking about you again. Ted was minding his own business as he was sitting across from him. A genius idea popped into Schlatts head, and that made Ted notice Schlatt. 

“You ok?” “You seem a little off” Ted asked his friend.

“Yeah, no I just had a really good idea” He answered, smiling at Ted. “What if we try to get Y/N on the podcast?” His eyes lit up at the thought of it, and he kept rambling, trying not to make it sound like he was obsessed with you. “I mean, she was nominated for the Streamer Awards, and she’s an up and coming streamer. I think it would be good to have her on, both for us and for her. And we have a few days off that we could use, I mean, as long as you're okay with it of course.”

Ted just started to laugh at how much Schlatt kept rambling about having you on the podcast. “Yeah we can have her on as long as the rest of the crew are okay with it” He had the biggest smile on his face, looking at how Schlatt was acting. This was something he had never seen before. 

“Okay, I’ll ask everyone” he said with a big smile as he slid out from the booth and went to find people to ask. 

Ted shook his head as he smiled to himself, hoping that you could be on the podcast for Schlatts sake. While waiting to figure out what the response was from the crew, he checked your social media. He thought you seemed nice and funny, and started to think you would be a nice guest to have regardless of how in love with you Schlatt was. 

Ted heard his name being said, so he looked up from his phone at Schlatt standing in front of him. 

“The crew said yes, so all we have to do is ask her” He was beaming at this point, as he sat back down and pulled his phone out. He was trying to think of the best way to contact you, so he pulled out discord and sent you a message.

He was nervously tapping his foot as he kept looking at the message he sent. Waiting for your reply even though he sent it only one minute ago. But everyone was ready to leave, so he had to shove his phone in his pocket and try to stop thinking about it. 

After getting back to the hotel, he pulled his phone back out, momentarily forgetting that he sent you a message. But seeing that you replied made him open discord as fast as he could.

Your message read: “I would love to be on the podcast! See you thursday<3”

Smiling to himself, he sent back a gif of a monkey, and went to text Ted that you said yes.

Thursday finally rolled around, and you couldn’t be more excited about today. You had watched the podcast before, and you couldn’t believe you were actually going to be a guest.

It didn’t take too long until you arrived at the building and made your way in. Walking in, you passed a few crew people and Tucker, you said hello to everyone and walked towards the booth you saw Ted and Schlatt sitting in. They didn’t see you arrive as they both had their faces in their phones. Standing in front of them you faked a cough and said

“Quite a way to greet a guest” as you smiled at them. They both looked up at you, Ted smiled back, but Schlatt stood up to engulf you in the best hug you had ever received. He wrapped his big arms around your body, almost lifting you by the force he used. He buried his head in your shoulder, making you smell him, and he smelled the same as before. You giggled as he hugged you and whispered

“Good to see you too”

Schlatt realized how long he had been hugging you for and let you go, he chuckled a little and looked over to Ted to see if he had caught everything. And all he was met with was a big smirk from his friend. Looking back to you, he gestured for you to slide into the booth to sit in the middle, and he sat down beside you. 

You started some small talk with both of the guys, talking about how much you had enjoyed LA since you had been here. Ted agreed with you, but Schlatt was ready to fight you. Almost screaming at you

“Are you insane?” “All that smog, and the people!” "Yuck!" 

You started laughing, knowing how heated he got about LA. You decided to have some fun and fight back. 

“No, you crazy man!” “You’re just an LA hating, Texas loving, New Yorker.” You were cracking up, while he seemed dead serious while arguing. “It really is not as bad as you say it is!” 

“OH COME ON!” He was basically screaming at this point, while you kept cracking up. 

He started to scream something again but was interrupted by Ted looking into the camera, and saying

“Welcome to chuckle sandwich”

It shut Schlatt up, and you turned to Ted. "What?!" “When did we start filming”

“When you started talking about LA” Ted responded with a chuckle. 

“So that’s going to be the intro of the podcast?” you started to laugh.

“Yeah” Ted and Schlatt both responded, making you laugh more.

Ted shifted the topic, and introduced you to the camera, and asked you a little about yourself. You talked a lot about your start on twitch, and your other content across social media. You all talked about how fun the Streamer awards were, and how fun the red carpet interview with you and Schlatt was. You had so much fun just talking with the guys.  

While telling a story about the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you. You were right at the height of the story when you heard Schlatt starting to break, and as you stopped to look at him, he burst out laughing. 

“Hey!” “It was actually really traumatizing!” You said with a fake frown on your face.

“Sorry, sorry." “It is just so fucking funny” Schlatt said inbetween laughing.

You playfully smacked him in the shoulder, to get him to stop laughing so you could finish your story. He clutched his shoulder and frowned at you.

“Ow..” He said as he started the waterwork and cried to the camera.

You looked at him in disbelief as Ted turned to the camera. “Audio listeners, LOVE you to death. Y/N just hit Schlatt in the shoulder, and now he’s crying.” 

You turned to speak into your mic, “Hey, I barely touched him!” Which made Schlatt whine in agony. You and Ted laughed as Schlatt kept whining. Ted tried to get you to tell the rest of your story, so you tried to tell the rest of it. But again, Schlatt rudely disturbed you by now falling over and pretending he was dead. He was laying on his seat with his tongue out, as you looked over at Ted and asked him if this was normal. 

“Yeah, he does this when he feels like he is missing attention.” Ted sighed with a smile on his face.

“Ohhh..” You whispered as you turned to look at Schlatt, and you asked him in a baby voice, “Does wittle Schlatt need some attention?” "Oh poor, poor Schlatt so ignored..”

You leaned over to him to shove your hand in his armpit, to tickle the shit out of him. He screamed out and sat up to rip your hand out of his armpit. You and Ted were both laughing as Schlatt almost seemed angry about it. And pouted some more. 

“Okay, you can both stop flirting now” Ted said with a smirk looking at you. 

It made you both grow red and hot as Schlatt went to insult Ted, making you all laugh. And luckily, you moved on after that. 

While listening to Ted, you went to stretch out your legs, which made you accidentally bump into a couple of long legs. You looked up at them, trying to see who you bumped into. You saw Schlatt turn to you as he raised his eyebrows at you and shove both his legs under yours, so your legs were resting on his. You smiled back at him, but you both just stayed like that, comfortable for the both of you. 

The rest of the podcast went by fast, until you were, out of the blue, asked a question by Schlatt. “Y/N.” “Would you rather have unlimited bacon, but no more video games? Or, would you rather have games, unlimited games. But no games” He mumbled at the end.

You rolled your eyes, knowing that the question would be asked at some point. You sighed heavily and leaned closer to your mic, quickly answering. “Unlimited games.” "I want that.”

Schlatt looked stunned, so Ted had to step in and ask. “But you know that it has no games?”

“Yes, I know that. But it also has games.”

“But the whole thing is that it doesn’t have games!” Schlatt was confused by your answer, and almost enraged.

“Yeah, but the starting statement is that it has games!” You almost started screaming back at Schlatt.

“BUT IT HAS NO GAMES” Schlatt was now screaming at you, as Ted tried to calm him down, blaming it on you being stupid and not understanding the question. You were beaming at this point. You were having so much fun.

Schlat managed to calm down, and told you that he would ask you again, because he didn’t think he was being crystal clear the first time. So he asked you the entire question again.

“Still going with option number two.” You answered with confidence.

Schlatt let out a big huff, but Ted moved on and asked you the second important question. “So what do you want to be on the Sandwich?” “I am the two butt pieces of bread holding the sandwich, and Schlatt is the mayo” They were both looking at you, awaiting your answer.  

"Hmm.." "Coleslaw?” “Has anybody said that yet?” 

They both looked at each other, and Ted muttered out “No I don't think so” 

“Okay, so I am the delicious coleslaw on the chuckle sandwich” You said with a smile.

Schlatt made a disgusted noise of disapprovement at your choice. You laughed in response. Ted then asked you if you had anything to shout out. So you shouted out all of your social media, and projects coming up. Then it was time for the podcast to be over. And soon the cameras were turned off, and the crew started packing up. 

It was sad now that it was over. But soon enough, most people had left. Ted thanked you for being on the podcast, and you thanked him back. He said he was hoping to see you again before you left LA. And you told him you would. 

After he hugged you goodbye, you pulled out your phone to order an Uber. Schlatt walked up behind you. You didn’t notice that he was standing right behind you until he said

“You don’t need to order an Uber, I can drive you.”

It made you spin around and look up at him with wide eyes. “Shit you scared me”

He chuckled at your reaction. “I rented the green Tesla that i always get when im here, and how cool would it not be to ride in a green car that farts” 

You laughed, “if you're offering to drive me, I will not say no to that.”

He nodded and smiled at you as he grabbed his things and asked if you were ready to go. 

You went to grab your bag and jacket and told him to lead the way. So you left the building and followed him to the car. 

Sitting in the passenger seat you put your seatbelt on and looked over at Schlatt, he turned to you and asked. “You want to hear it?” with a stupid smirk on his face.

“Hear what?” you asked him. 

He didn’t reply, he just pressed the horn of the car and the sound of a regular car horn was followed by a long fart. You totally forgot that he said this would happen earlier, and it caught you off guard. So the sound that came out of you was a snort, followed by a laugh. He started laughing with you, and you turned red from embarrassment.

As he kept laughing you got really embarrassed, scared that he was laughing because you snorted. So you covered your face with your hands as you were nervously chuckling. He noticed that you had gotten embarrassed, and decided to calm your thoughts by telling you how cute he thought that was. 

You looked up at him, completely red. “Oh shut up”

“Well, I do really mean it.” He said as he started the car and drove out of the parking spot. 

There was some nice music playing from one of Schlatts spotify playlists as you were looking out the window, focusing on the landscape as you drove by. Schlatt pulled you out of your focus when he softly grabbed onto your thigh with his hand. Turning to look at him, he was already looking at you. 

“Hey, thanks for coming on the podcast. It was really fun to have you as a guest, and I've enjoyed getting to know you.” He said with a smile as he kept looking between you and the road he had to focus on. 

You smiled back at him “You don’t need to thank me for that, I should thank you for managing to fit me into the schedule!” “And I have enjoyed spending time with you too” You felt your face heat up again already, his hand on your thigh not helping. 

He gave you one of his signature cute smiles as he turned back to focus on the road. His hand was still resting on your thigh, kind of squeezing it. And it was making your whole body feel all kinds of things. 

As he kept focusing on the road, he kept accidentally inching his hand higher and higher up your thigh. But you knew it had to be somewhat on purpose, because he kept shifting in his seat and intentionally not looking over at you. And as he slid his hand more to the inside of your thigh, you were fed up. Your insides were on fire, and you could swear you could feel your panties were already soaked through. So you shoved your hips forward so his hand automatically slid all the way up till his hand was resting as close to your core as it could. It made a small sigh come out of your mouth and you looked over at him again. His face was definitely redder than before, and again, he shifted in his seat. 

“Schlatt” you breathed out, as seductively as you could. 

He looked over at you, his eyes had darkened and you saw his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed. You felt his fingers twitch a little as you opened your mouth to speak. 

“You want to do something about this?” you asked as you looked down at his hand in between your thighs. 

He swallowed again, and slowly nodded his head as he turned to drive off the highway. In a deep voice, he said “We are going back to my Hotel, and I’ll drive you back tomorrow.” He didn’t even ask, but you both knew he didn’t need to. 

His hand had gotten a little more confident, as he moved his hand to cup you in between your thighs. Touching you where you needed him the most, there were just too many layers. As his fingers kept moving a little, you involuntarily sighed and when you looked over at him you could see the bulge through his sweatpants. Making your pussy clench around nothing. You needed him so bad. 

The rest of the drive took way too long for your liking, but walking into the elevator of the hotel, your stomach started doing flips, realizing you were getting so close to some relief. As the elevator doors opened, Schlatt grabbed onto your hand and pulled you with him. His long legs were moving fast, and you almost had to jog to keep up with him. 

Arriving at the door, he quickly scanned the keycard, opened the door, and shoved you inside. You were looking around the big hotel room as Schlatt was closing, and locking the door behind him. He seemed to be in a hurry as he grabbed your arm again to pull you into him. You squealed as you hit his chest, and didn’t have time to focus before both of his hands slid up your neck and held onto your face as he tilted your head to look up at him.

Your mouth hanging open, you were struck with how absolutely hot this man was. You could see all his small little facial features, and his floppy hair as he looked down at you with his soft brown eyes, it made your whole body tingle. He slowly leaned his head down as you went to stand on your toes. Your lips touched and it felt like pure magic. You knew it was stupid to think, but this kiss was seriously the best kiss you had ever had. 

As you reached your hands up to tangle into his hair, you felt his hands leave your face, and wrap themselves around your body to hold you close to him. Your kisses started getting rougher as it turned into a hungry makeout sesh. 

But Schlatt was running out of patience as you both had waited for this since the car ride. So he bent his body down further to grab onto the back of your thighs signaling you to jump. As you did, he grabbed onto your ass with his large hands to hold you securely against him, as he carried you towards the bed. You started kissing down his jaw and neck as he took long strides to the bed, you could feel him humming at the sensation, letting you know he was enjoying it. 

When he finally reached the bed, he let go of you and trew you onto the bed. Landing on the soft bed took you by surprise, and you looked up at Schlatt to scold him for dropping you like that, but he was quickly stepping out of his pants, only being left in a pair of boxers. So focusing back at the current task at hand, you sat up and tore your sweater over your head, throwing it somewhere on the floor. 

Schlatt made his way onto the bed, crawling over to you, making you lean back so his body was resting between your legs. He looked you deep in the eyes, as you saw how his eyes were full of lust. He looked down at your pants and slowly unbuttoned them, and pulling the zipper down. He grabbed onto the waistband and tugged them off your body. Being left in only your underwear. 

You had seen each other in underwear before, but the last time was nothing like this. This was something completely new. 

“You don’t know how long I have wanted this” He muttered out as his eyes were scanning your body. 

“Me too babe” you told him as you grabbed onto his face and crashed your lips with his. 

His body moved closer to yours, your chest touching, and you could feel his bulge hit your core, as a quiet moan escaped you. And you both understood that you could wait much longer.

He reached around your back and unclasped your bra, and you disconnected your lips as you leaned back to slide the bra off your shoulders.

“Shit” you heard him whisper as he stared at your chest. You smiled up at him, feeling proud of yourself. He leaned back down but connected his lips with your nipple instead, making you gasp. He was licking and nipping at your nipple, as his hand was paying attention to the other one. Your hands tugging at his hair. You gasped again as his mouth left your nipple, and he blew cold air on it, shocking you with the sensation. 

He went to keep going at the other nipple, but you stopped him. “I need you.” “Now.”

That's all he needed to hear as he sat up and hooked his fingers into the waistband of your panties. Looking up at you he waited for a response, so you nodded for him to continue. He pulled your panties off as fast as he could, and went to pull down his own. 

He looked back over to you after he threw his boxers to the floor. You were wide eyed staring right at his hard dick. He smirked to himself as he asked you

“Like what you see?” 

Your eyes shot up to meet his as you slowly nodded, mouth now hanging open. He was long, but not only that, he was also girthy, and you couldn’t wait to see how he would fit inside you.

He was crawling towards you, sitting between your legs, he placed his hands on each thigh and spread them further, getting a perfect view. You were soaking wet, dripping at this point, as he stretched out a finger to drag through your folds. Your head tipped back as a moan escaped your mouth when his finger found your clit. He was looking at you in awe at the beauty laying in front of him, he was going to absolutely wreck you. 

He kept toying with you, his finger slowly finding its way inside, going in and out at a terribly slow speed. You couldn’t take it anymore, telling him.

“Please Schlatt” You begged him in a sweet voice.

He just nodded at you, still in awe. And he went to line himself up with you, but you planted a hand on his chest to signal him to stop. So he looked up at you.

“I want to be on top”

You could see his eyes darken from lust, and his dick twitch. So he left his position over you, and sat down on the bed, his back leaning on the headboard. 

Your thighs were resting on each side of his legs, as you were sitting on him, onto his legs, so his dick was right in front of you. He grabbed onto your hips, fingers digging into your skin. You grabbed his shaft, and you heard a deep growl from his chest. You slowly moved your hand up and down his dick as you looked at him, his eyes flickering between you and your hand moving up and down. 

You lifted yourself off and lined yourself up with him. You slowly sank onto his length, moaning as he filled you. And when you felt him bottoming out inside you, Schlatt let out a moan that was pure pornographic, the sound alone could’ve made you come. 

“Oh fuck, you’re big” You told him, as you were sitting still with his thick cock stretching you out. 

“No, you’re just tight” He responded, his brows furrowed as he tried to not lose his mind at the feeling of you clenching around him. 

Finally, you lifted your hips until it was only the tip left inside you. Then you slammed back down, your clit hitting his pelvis making the sound coming from you, uncontrollable. His hands kept grabbing and groping at everything his hands found.

You kept bouncing up and down, head tipped back, hands holding onto his legs as you both moaned and growled. You lifted your head back up looking at Schlatt. He had his eyebrows furrowed and nose scrunched up, as he stared at your tits bouncing everytime you moved. He slid his hands from your hips and dragged them up to grab onto your tits. 

“Shit” You heard him whisper, and you could feel his dick twitch inside you, signaling that he was getting close. But you didn’t want it to end just yet. So you slammed your hips back down and stopped moving. He looked back up at you.

“Please, please move baby.” He begged with a deep voice. It almost made you do what he said. But you held your ground. 

“I'm tired” You lied. 

"Oh, you're tired?” he started smirking. 

He flipped you over so he was laying on top of you. His dick still inside you, he started thrusting into you again. He was slamming into you, almost hitting your cervix. But his dick found that spot inside you that made you back arch up into him and moan out his name. 

He couldn’t get enough of you. You just felt so good around him, and the way you looked while he was bottoming out inside you, made it difficult for him not to just come already. He was so focused on you, as he slid a hand up your body, and tightened it around your throat. He was careful, testing the waters to see if this was something you enjoyed, and when you made unholy sounds as you looked up at him. He tightened his hand a little more. 

You were seeing stars, the way his dick kept hitting that spot over and over again. And the force he had as he slammed into you, made him hit your clit every time, adding more stimulation. You were getting dangerously close. Feeling that familiar knot in your stomach. 

“You like that?” He asked you, looking down at you with a look in his eyes that you had never seen before. “Fuck. You belong to me now” He told you, as his hand slid up your jaw and grabbed your chin to open up your mouth. 

You didn’t really know what he was doing, but you followed his every move, opening your mouth up wide. He lined his face up with yours, and you saw him spit into your mouth. You were confused, but also, even more turned on than before. You felt dirty and used, and you loved it. 

“Swallow” he demanded. You did as you were told, swallowing the warm spit in your mouth. He hummed in response, pleased by your reaction. 

“Schlatt, im gonna cum”

“No, you have to wait.” He told you as he started to slam into you even harder than before. He leaned back, almost sitting so he could look at his dick disappearing inside of you. You heard him mutter a few curses as you tried your best not to let your orgasm hit yet. 

His dick started twitching again, and he was getting close. Closing your eyes, you tried to keep your focus, but you were caught off guard when you felt his thumb find your sensitive clit.

“Please Schlatt, I can’t take it anymore” You begged him. He didn’t answer you, he just moved his thumb faster, and kept slamming into you. The knot finally snapped and your orgasm washed over you. Your eyes rolled back and your vision went white. This was the best orgasm you had ever felt. And as soon as Schlatt felt your walls constrict around him, he followed right after, filling you up inside. Your pleasure almost doubled when you felt his cum hit the inside of your walls. 

His thrusts had slowed down but he was still going, riding out both of your orgasms. You were catching your breath as he collapsed on top of you. You felt his dick grow soft inside you as your hands had tangled up in his hair as he laid there. 

But soon, you felt empty when he stood up and went into the bathroom. He came back out with a wet rag, and sat back down on the bed to wipe you off. What a gentleman. 

After he was satisfied with his work, he entered the bathroom again. You were still trying to come back from that orgasm, it seemed to have scrambled your brain a bit. When he came back out, he turned the light off and pulled the covers off to climb under them, signaling for you to do the same. 

You still hadn’t said anything to each other since you got done, but it was nice. You felt comfortable with him. He invited you to curl into his chest, just like you had done a few nights ago. And he still was just as warm and comfortable, and smelled as good as before. 

“You know, I did really mean it.” “You do belong to me now”

You smiled into his chest. “Yeah, I’m okay with that.”

With that, Schlatt got comfortable, and you held onto each other as you both drifted into sleep. 

[bts-spnlvr12]

Colorful Souls

Sean McLoughlin x Reader/Jacksepticeye x Reader

Characters: Markiplier, Amy Nelson, Tyler Scheid, Ethan Nestor, Wade, Bob, and possible others...

Summary: When you’re born, you’re able to see in color until your 18th birthday, your vision goes dull in color until you see your soulmate. You’re 26, and still haven’t found your soulmate, but will that change when you go to L.A. for a youtuber’s get together?

Prompt: Soulmate!AU

A/N: Sean has a beautiful girlfriend, please remember that this is just a story!!

You just arrived at LAX for a get together that’s happening in 2 days, meeting up with your best friends such as Mark, Amy, Ethan, Bob, Wade and Sean who should arrive by tomorrow as he texted the group chat between you all...

You grab your luggage and go outside to see Amy’s car, jogging to her vehicle and knocking on the window, “Amy!”

“Y/n!” She unlocks the door and you put your luggage in the back seat and climb into the passenger seat, “How have you been?”

You continue your conversation on the way back to Mark’s house, which after 20 minutes she pulls into the driveway and parks in the garage, you both get out and you grab your luggage and head inside, once inside you see Mark, Bob, Wade, Tyler and Ethan chatting in the living room...

“She’s here!” They look up and come over and hug you, “Hey Y/n!”, you giggle and set your luggage down, “Hey fellas, how have you been?”

“Good, we were just discussing a video while everyone’s here, have any ideas?” Bob spoke for all of the guys...

“How about some improv? Everyone seems to enjoy those types of videos.” You suggest..

“Boys?” Bob looks at the guys, and they smile and nod, “Sounds like a good idea.” Ethan speaks out, the guys then go get things set up while Amy helps you get set up in a guest bedroom, “Thank you for letting me spend this weekend over here, I could’ve easily rented a hotel room.”

“It’s no problem, you know we love to have you around, we haven’t caught up in like forever...” Amy smiles, you nod subtly, “Yeah, it’s been a while, but not much happened...”

“Are you able to see color yet, have you found your soulmate?” Amy questions, which causes you to sigh softly and shake your head, “Nope...maybe I have no soulmate, I’m 26 and still haven’t found him...”

“You do have a soulmate Y/n, you just haven’t found the right on just yet, he’ll come around sometime, hell, maybe you’re soulmate is gonna be here this weekend...” You smile softly, “Maybe, but you and Mark are soulmates, Bob and his wife are as well, along with everyone else here, I’m the only one who hasn’t found one yet...”

“It could be Jack, I bet he hasn’t found one yet...” Amy suggests, “There’s no way, he’s a freaking amazing, handsome guy, there’s no way he hasn’t found his yet...” You give her a look, then feel your face start to redden...

“Looks like someone has a crush on him...”

“Oh shush, you better go help the guys, I’m gonna get comfortable for the evening...” Amy nods and goes downstairs to help the guys...

You go shower and switch out of your travel clothes and into some more comfortable clothes, then go sit on the bed and scroll through social media, then look at your channel stats, and reading and replying to some comments, when you feel tired from the jet lag and suddenly fall asleep...

~Next morning...~

You wake up to the smell of coffee that was just brewed, you get up, brush your hair, put it in a clip and head downstairs to hear a loud Irish gentleman jokingly bickering with Wade about something funny he did to make everyone laugh, you smile and slowly come into the kitchen...

“Good morning Y/n! Want some breakfast?” Mark asks as he sees you walk in, “Yes please, thank you!” You go and fix some coffee, before turning around, smiling, you then look at Jack, only then to see a ton of color, you shockingly looked around, you excuse yourself suddenly then slowly rush back up to your guest room, placing your mug down and pacing a bit, “There’s no freaking way...Sean..is my...soulmate? How...?”

You sit down on the bed, still shocked, you’re brought out of your trance by a knocking on the door, “C-Come in!” You look and see Amy come in then shut the door, “You alright, you seemed a little shocked? Stressed?”

“Uhm, yeah...I’m totally fine...” You look up to see Amy’s dark colored eyes, “I can finally see color Amy, it happened after I looked at Jack...”

“This is good! You finally found your soulmate after so long, Sean is your soulmate...” Amy grabs your hand, you look down at her red nail polish, you cover your eyes with your other hand, “This can’t be happening, but at the same time...it is...”

You calm your breathing, “He can’t possibly know...”

~Meanwhile, Jack’s POV...~

“Uhm, guys...” I look at the mug in front of me, to see a dark green color...

The guys look at me and notice a look of shock on my face, “Jack? You alright buddy?” Mark asks...

“Yeah, the fact that I finally know that Y/n is my soulmate!” I whisper yell, the guys also get a look of shock on their faces, “No fucking way...”

“She can’t possibly know about this, she’ll freak the fuck out...” I sigh softly, “She has to Jack, why else would she just leave after looking directly at you for a split second?” 

“She could’ve had to go do something really, quick, I don’t know! Fucking hell!” I replied, then slowly calmed my breathing, “What should I do?”

“Well...”

~Author’s POV...~

You talked with Amy to get an idea of what to do next, “We have to talk about this, even if it’ll be hard to mention, but it’s worth it, I found my soulmate, and I’m not going to lose him...”

“That’s the spirit, come on...” You nod and follow Amy downstairs, to find the guys, talking about the plans for this weekend, you smile softly and refill your mug, and join in on the conversation, you notice Mark and Amy having their own little conversation every now and then, but think nothing of it...

Once the weekends plans are discussed, we go to our separate places, you got up and change into a jogging outfit of a tank, shorts, short socks and running shoes, with your hair in a high ponytail, you had your phone and earbuds in hand then let Mark know that you’re going for a quick run, and that you’ll be back in about an hour or so...

You put in your earbuds then open the door, and turn to shut it, catching a glimpse of Jack, then closing it, then shaking your head the starting your jog around the neighborhood...

You get to a nearby park then sit down on a bench, you get the urge to scroll through your gallery, mainly of picture of you and Jack, you wonder why it took so long for your vision to change, you liked him a lot, you’ve looked at him a lot, but those times your vision never changed, maybe something changed over the years, maybe he felt the same about you...

You’d never know until you ask him, you blush when you get to a photo of you’re first time meeting him, he was kissing your cheek, you we’re a huge fan when you started your channel, then eventually grew close to 5 million subscribers within a few years time, you sigh then get back up and walk back to the house...

You arrive back home after 30 minutes, you notice that everyone is gone except for Jack, “Where’s is everyone?” You shut the door...

“They went out for a night on the town...” He replies, you nod then go wash your body, then switch into another pair of PJs you brought along for the weekend, you come downstairs and sit on the couch a few spaces away from Jack, sensing something a little awkward in the air...

“How are you doing, Y/n?” Jack breaks the silence, “I’m doing good, you?”

“I’m doing good as well, anything new?” You shrug your shoulders, “Not really, I mean something special happened, but you probably don’t wanna hear about that...”

“Tell me about it, come here...” You move a little closer to him and face him, “I...I found my soulmate today, I wasn’t expecting to after so many years, what about you?” Jack nods, “I can say the same for myself, I found my soulmate as well...” You smile softly, “She must be very lucky to have a guy like you...” You smile softly, Jack smiles softly, “She is very lucky...”

Suddenly you feel his lips on yours, you kiss him back as he lays you down on the couch, then open your eyes to see his bright blue eyes staring deeply into your (E/C) eyes...

“I love you...” You whisper soft enough that he could barely hear you, “What was that?” He gently lifts your head up by your chin with his thumb and forefinger, making you look into his bright blue eyes...

“I love you, Sean...” You finally say loud enough, “I love you too Y/n, for eternity...” He then leans down and kisses you softly, when suddenly you both hear the front door open, you both shoot up off the sofa and fix yourselves up, before turning around and smiling...

“Hey guys, how was your night out?” Sean asks them as they finish coming inside, “It was great, seems like you had a good time yourselves...” You then look down and blush...

“S-shut up...” Sean then pulls you in, “Now if you excuse us, we’re gonna go upstairs and do couple things..” You and Sean stand up and go to the room you’re staying in and cuddle and kiss one another until you both fall asleep in each other’s arms... 

[themadauthorshatter]

Hi! I really like your Ninjago PG-13 AU, you're doing awesome 💖 I was just curious that, if it were a TV show, who you would cast for each part?

Thank you so much! I'm so glad you're enjoying it!!!!!

Hmmm.... Usually when I imagine the cast I see it as more of an anime with voice actors, all the same that is a really fun question.

And if any of these actors or actresses are in any kind of trouble, I deeply apologize 🙏

Also, this is going to be long because I'm going qith the easiest characters to cast to the hardest

Right off the top of my head is Sarah Paulson as Misako because the woman SLAYED in AHS and Ratched because she already has the 'way' of playing a smart and vulnerable character, which I accidentally made in the rewrite😅 And don’t tell me you'd get a pit in your stomach if you heard her as Misako screaming for Lloyd; the woman has phenomenal range.

Next is Johnny Depp as Pythor for because of his work as Jack Sparrow and Grindlewald. Plus, I think it'd be cool to hear/see him be a cunning snake man.

Next villain is Jason Davis Frank as Garmadon because he used to play Tommy Oliver in the Power Rangers series. Idk, I just find it oddly symbolic and ironic because the guy who played the hero is now playing a villain.

I'm taking a page out of the movie's book and casting Jackie Chan as Wu. He was hilarious in Shanghai Knights and I can see him being the serious and funny wise old mentor of the group.

I don't know how many people will get a kick out of this, but I'd cast either David Tennant or Ralph Fiennes as Skales. David Tennant because of his role as Crowley in Good Omens and Ralph Fiennes because he dies a good snake-y voice.

Skalidor, the Constricti general gets the actor Benedict Cumberbatch because of hiw low his voice is. And don’t tell me there are communities that would LOVE an evil snake general that constricts his opponents to kill them that has the voice/face of Benedict Cumberbatch.

Nya, like Pythor, is a tie between Maise Williams and Sadie Sink. The two have the teenage sister attitude down to a T.

Jay has two picks: either John Mulaney or Ethan Nestor-Darling(Crankgameplays). Idk, the two have such 'Jay' energy and it sticks.

Cole would be voiced by Thomas Sanders because he has a low voice, his work on his series Sandrrs Sidea and other projects is PHENOMENAL, and I can see him playing the 'big brother' or leader of the group and still have the range to have a good time, like he has the low, authoritive voice, but he still laughs and goofs around like a kid and be taken less as a threat because he has the voice for it.

Zane has three very interesting fan casts: Matthew Gray Gubler, Wi Ja-Hoon, and Bryan Dechart. Matthew Gray Gubler because he's played a smart character in Spencer Reid from Criminal Minds, who is also very talkative. Wi Ja-Hoon from Squid Game does not speak english. I don’t know if he'd learn more, but Zane doesn't talk much, but when he does I always imagine he just sounds DIFFERENT from the rest, like he's either from somewhere else or from someWHEN else. Idk, whatever makes Zane even more likable and different and more of a fan favorite.🤷😅🤣😂 Byran Dechart because I just find it funny and Inlove Connor💜

Kai has a few options. Evan Peters because of his roles in AHS and Bad Boy Charm, Cole Sprouse because of his work as Jughead in Riverdale and Will in 5 Feet Apart, Chase Stokes from Outer Banks because he has very 'Kai' energy, as in he cares about 'his people' and will do anything to protect them.

Lloyd has a few interesting options as well: David Franco(who voiced him in the movie), Ruby Pankow, who is also in Outer Banks, and David Mazouz, who played Bruce Wayne in Gotham. Franco already has the experience AS Lloyd, I feel like Ruby and Chase would play off each other well as surrogate brothers, and Mazouz does an amazing job at playing a new hero in a world that demands you to step up or step as far away as you can.

These are all my picks for my fan cast! Kinda long, I apologize, but I hope that answers your question!😁

[skiller0dani]

As You Go | Ethan Nestor

M A S T E R L I S T YouTube Masterlist

angsty smut requests info 

I’ve always had a thing for Ethan. So I decided to incorporate him, hope you guys like it! If there are any other YouTubers you want me to write about lmk! I promise I’m going to start chipping away at my requests, I love you all. I had to get this out of my system, because this song (and this one too) hella inspired me to write a piece based on it. also this gif is doing things to me. look at Ethan. his chest, his legs, his arms, his e v e r y t h i n g.

also I kept the smut short bc I’m not sure how people will respond to it, if you guys like it I’ll write more (much longer) Ethan smut. 

Mark promised to give Ethan the space he needed, but he just couldn’t help reaching out. While what happened wasn’t necessarily Mark’s fault, Ethan’s anger was being directed at both you and Mark. The guilt that had made a home in Mark’s chest was enough to cripple him, and he was borderline desperate for Ethan’s forgiveness. He texted, he called, he even emailed Ethan. Despite Amy advising Mark to give Ethan the space he desperately needed, he just couldn’t. In reality, it truly wasn’t Mark’s fault- but he still feels responsible for what you did that night. Ethan had shut himself in his house, and Mark hadn’t heard from him in nearly a week. It was killing him. It was just a mistake, it didn’t mean anything. At least it sure as hell didn’t mean anything to Mark, how could Ethan believe Mark wanted it? He has Amy- he loves Amy. 

“I have to go see him.” Mark says decisively as he reaches for his car keys. But Amy reaches for them first. 

“He doesn’t want to see you.” The truth of it stings, it causes Mark to flinch. 

“I don’t care, he only knows what he saw.” Mark snaps, the pain from the memory flooding back in. 

“And what he saw traumatized him Mark, you need to give him time. He’ll come around. I told Y/N the same thing.” Amy explains, a firm look in her eyes. Mark felt emotion swell in his throat as tears misted in his eyes. “Think about how he must be feeling, he trusted the two of you more than anyone else. Ethan was never worried about leaving you and Y/N alone and then-” 

“She kissed me!” Mark cried desperately, leaning against the kitchen counter. “He has to know that and I don’t think he does.” Amy feels for Mark, she does. She knows it wasn’t his fault, but it still hurts. It’s the pain that leads Amy to protect Ethan above everyone else. The pain he must be feeling right now, Amy tears up thinking about how hurt he must be. She turns, “just leave him alone. Let him come to you.” She then saunters off, keys in hand. The last thing he needs is Mark at his doorstep. 

Ethan sits curled on the couch, his knees brought up to his chest. He has so many questions, and he’s too damn afraid to find out the answers. How long has that been going on? How long have you been into Mark? Was your entire relationship a lie? Were you just trying to get closer to Mark? Why didn’t Mark tell him? He should have seen it coming, why would anyone choose him when he’s friends with Mark? Pretending to love him gave you the perfect opportunity to get closer to Mark. The numbness of this entire week is what Ethan was the most surprised by, he expected to cry, to scream, to break everything in sight. But he didn’t- he sat and he did nothing. Said nothing. Went nowhere, he barely even ate. 

Everything about that night replays in Ethan’s mind. It was a late shooting for Unus Annus, and you’d usually tagged along. That never bothered Ethan before. It should have. 

You had participated in a drinking video for Unus Annus, since Mark couldn’t drink. You didn’t want Ethan to be drunk alone, and that’s how you found yourself in the predicament you were in now. You were in Mark and Amy’s spare bedroom, the room swaying slightly. The headache you’d had earlier was slowly ebbing away, the alcohol and the dark room helping. The door opened, someone had said they’d bring you some Advil. Through the darkness you slid your hands onto Ethan’s shoulders, he said nothing but you felt him stiffen as you did so. You giggled drunkenly when you felt him try to pry your hands off him. Why was he being so shy? 

“Eef c’mon,” You sighed as you pressed your body against his. You wound your hands through his dark hair, and he only pulled away further. “Uh- I-I’m, well I’m not-” He was stammering, normally you never caught him so off-guard with your affection. His hands were firmly on your waist, and you could have sworn he was trying to push you away. Your brain felt hazy as you leaned into him, your lips planting firmly on his. He went completely stiff, what’s the matter with Ethan tonight? The light flicks on in the next second and you pull away from Ethan, your eyes squinting in the bright light. 

“What the hell?” You hear Ethan say softly, his voice distant and wrought with an emotion you couldn’t identify. You looked up at the man you were pressed against and your eyebrows furrowed as you locked eyes with...Mark. “Mark.” You’d meant it to sound like a question but you’re pretty sure it sounded like a statement. You swayed back drunkenly, causing Mark’s hands to fly out and steady you. 

“Ethan-” Mark started worriedly as Ethan turned out of the spare bedroom. 

“Were you Mark this whole time?” You slur, watching the panic settle in Mark’s eyes. “Where’s Ethan?” You ask again, pulling away from Mark. This all felt like some vivid hallucination. You collapsed onto the bed, your body heavy with exhaustion. You’re barely conscious when you hear Amy call Ethan’s name, seconds before the front door slammed. 

You were drunk, you didn’t mean it. That’s what Ethan keeps saying over and over, yet he doesn’t really believe it. A few stray tears cascade down Ethan’s cheeks when he hears banging on the front door. He wished whoever it was would go away, but still he drug himself to the front door and looked through the peephole. 

Mark. 

He’d been dodging Mark’s attempts to contact him for a week now, and Ethan knew he wouldn’t be able to avoid Mark forever. So he opened the door, to find a slightly panicked, slightly relieved Mark standing in front of him. Ethan stood in the doorway, keeping the door against his side. Mark wrung his hands together as he searched for the words to say. “Can I come in?” It’s all he can think of- he just wants a chance to explain himself. Ethan nods curtly, opening the door for Mark to enter. 

“What do you want?” Ethan asks, trying his best to keep himself physically and emotionally distant from Mark. Mark stood in the doorway, feeling emotion steadily rising in his chest once more. “I-I had no idea she would kiss me! I was just bringing her Advil, she was really drunk Ethan, she didn’t even know it was me. She thought it was you! She even said your name, it was dark in there!” Mark huffs in one breath and Ethan doesn’t know how to respond. He nodded before turning to lean against the couch. 

“Honestly I don’t care how it happened Mark, that doesn’t change anything. It still happened regardless, and knowing why doesn’t make it hurt any less.” Ethan says, his voice soft. Ethan never thought of himself as cynical, but right now he felt like all the color was draining out of the world. The betrayal he feels almost feels as though it’s been branded onto him. Something he will never be able to leave behind, no matter what happens in the future, he’ll never be able to forget that this happened. 

“I’m sorry Ethan, I- I didn’t mean for this to happen.” Mark says again, feeling panic growing in his chest. Ethan nods as he rubs a hand down his face. He turns to Mark, he wants to forgive Mark. His friendship is too valuable to Ethan to lose. He reaches out for Mark and wraps his arms around him, and he feels Mark release a breath. “I’m so- so sorry.” Ethan wraps his arms around Mark tighter, “I know.” 

Forgiving Mark felt good, it brought Ethan some respite through the hardest time in his life. But another week had passed and he still couldn’t bring himself to answer your texts or calls, or open the door when you came by. He didn’t know how he could be around you without feeling all the pain come rushing back in. You kissed Mark. But he gave Mark a chance, and he knew sooner or later he’d have to give you a chance too. That’s why he texted you, and told you to come over. Ethan felt his palms sweating, it was like he couldn’t even breathe. The seconds seemed to tick by so slowly, and while he was still so angry and hurt... he couldn’t deny how excited he was to see you again. 

When the doorbell rang, it was almost embarrassing how quickly Ethan was answering the door. You carefully made your inside and for a few minutes you and Ethan did nothing other than stare at each other. In an instant Ethan had reached forward and brought his lips to yours. He knew he’d never be able to trust you again, he knew the relationship was over. But before you go, he needs to feel you around him one more time. He needs to feel your skin against his. You melt into him, your lips moving with his as Ethan’s hand slide down your back to your legs. He tugs on your legs, signaling you to jump. Offering a little jump, Ethan wraps your legs around his waist as he presses you against the nearest wall. 

You moan softly as Ethan trails desperate kisses down the column of your neck, his hands resting firmly on your ass. His movements are quick, almost desperate as he gently grinds against you. You moan again as your hands tangle in his hair, this wasn’t what you were expecting when he asked you to come over. You missed him, you missed this. Ethan’s lips trail back up to yours as he keeps turns and leans you down against the couch. His hands dance down your body to the waistband of your leggings, quickly yanking them down your body. “God Ethan I missed you.” You moaned, and for a second Ethan almost forgets. He almost forgets what you did. He nearly lost himself in the tender suppleness of your skin. Ethan nearly lost himself in the heat coming from between your legs.  

Ethan doesn’t respond as his hand delves between your legs. His fingers dancing between your folds as you desperately fumble with the buckle of his belt. Eventually you pull it through the loops, already helping him unbutton his jeans as he leans over you again. He’s going to miss your skin against his, among so many other more meaningful things. He’s going to miss how your nose scrunches up when you laugh, or how you would play with his hair when he was stressed. Most of all he’s going to miss how safe he felt when he was with you, he’ll never feel like that with you again. You destroyed any sense of security he ever felt with you the second you pressed your lips against Mark’s. Once his jeans were around his ankles, Ethan kicked them off before slowly pressing his head into you. 

He pulls you up against his chest, his head pressed into your neck as he slowly slides into you inch by inch. You hold desperately to him, moaning softly against his clothed shoulder as he gently stretches you open. You wind your legs around his waist as he slides out slowly before bottoming out again. Ethan sets a slow and steady pace, his breath fanning against your neck and your eyes are screwed shut as Ethan slowly pushes into you again and again. The pleasure building inside you is overwhelming and soon you’re panting against Ethan as he picks up his pace only slightly. Ethan drives into you again and again until you feel that winding coil inside you snap and you cum hard around him. Ethan offers a few more forceful thrusts before cumming into you, thank god for birth control.  

Ethan is silent after he pulls out, and there’s a somber look on his face. You try to reach up to cup his cheek in your palm but he turns away from you. You lean up on your elbows, watching as he pulls his jeans back up. “I can’t trust you. Maybe it’s selfish of me but I just needed to feel you one last time.” Your eyebrows furrow together as your heart breaks in your chest. Is Ethan...breaking up with you? You quickly pull your leggings up, “Ethan...I’m sorry I am.” 

“I know, but I can’t be in a relationship with no trust.” He says finally, his tone firm. You feel tears in your eyes as you stand. 

“But I love you.” You whisper and Ethan turns to you with tears in his eyes. 

“I love you, but I can’t do this.” He says again, before turning and heading up the stairs, taking your heart with him as he goes. 

[prettytoxicrevolver]

Lazy Sundays | Ethan Nestor

Requested? Nah 

Warnings? Nope 

Summary: You waste your Sunday's away with the love of your life Ethan Nestor 

Word Count: 1,597

“Okay, plans for the day?” Ethan asks rolling over to face you in bed. 

It was a Sunday, the two of you had spent all morning laying in bed bodies intertwined, kisses pressed to each other’s lips back and forth over and over, and snoozing in and out. You would have been content staying like this all day but you had school work and Ethan had to record at least a video or two. 

“Stay like this?” you joke anyway and he smiles widely down at you. 

He’s propped up on one elbow, leaning over you slightly as you stare into his glowing green eyes. You smile lazily at him as he leans down and presses a slow kiss to your lips which you happily returned. 

You break apart and Ethan sits up causing you to whine. He turns back towards you, giggling at the pout on your face before reaching a hand out towards you. You take his hand and he pulls you up and the two of you finally get out of bed. 

Together you head downstairs and head straight towards the kitchen to make an extremely late breakfast. As you start to make pancakes, Ethan grabs things for eggs and bacon and you work side by side. The work is silent but you love every second of being hip to hip with the boy you love. 

“How much homework do you have?” Ethan asks as you settle into seats next to each other at the small dining table. 

“An essay, some notes, math homework, maybe more?” you question trying to run over the list of things in your head. 

“Disgusting,” he jokes making you laugh. “I might record some videos and stream later.” 

After you two finish up breakfast, you clean up the kitchen quickly before getting dressed and going your somewhat separate ways. Ethan heads to the makeshift recording room in his apartment and you head to the living room.

You set up your school stuff around you, your laptop in front of you and papers spread out around. You get to work, flipping through the book you’re using for your essay and typing quickly as your ideas flow. Before you know it, your essay is finished and you’re editing it. 

Just as you’re flipping over to your math homework, you hear Ethan yelling in the recording room and you end up laughing loudly at the outburst. You wait a second to see if it’ll continue and when he yells out again you’re giggling all over again. 

You grab your phone and open Snapchat and hit record while creeping towards Ethan’s recording room. You wait a second by the door, and for a moment you think he’s not going to scream again. However, just as you’re about to give up Ethan lets out another loud scream and you’re left cackling quietly on the floor hoping he doesn’t hear you. 

After posting that video to your main story, you head back over to the couch and grab your math homework to start on. You’re in the middle of the first problem when you hear the door to the recording room open. You look up and Ethan stands there with a half-angry look on his face. 

“Darling?” you ask uncertainly. 

“Did you post me screaming on your snap story?” he asks and the smile you had on your face falls. 

“Yeah, why? Do you want me to take it down?” 

Ethan doesn’t say anything and for a minute you get scared, thinking he’s mad about you posting him. The two of you had decided a while back when you had these lazy days you would mostly stay off of social media but your Snapchat never seemed to be a problem considering it was mostly close friends on there. 

“Nah I just thought I sounded dumb,” he says and you sigh in relief. 

“Ethan!” you exclaim throwing a pen in his direction which he dodges with ease and laughs loudly at your attempt. 

“I thought you were mad,” you pout as he walks over to you. 

By this point, he’s standing behind the couch and leans down to press a light kiss to your lips. You smile halfway into it, happy to have Ethan here but frown when he breaks away. He then moves around the couch, pulling your homework out of your hands and moving closer. 

His lips meet yours and you’re smiling again, heart in your throat like you’re a teenager falling in love all over again. Your hands wrap around his neck, intertwining in his soft brown hair and his hands slide down to your waist sending a trail of electricity along with it. 

Ethan breaks away for a second to press kisses to your neck and moves the two of you until you’re laying down, your papers crumpling underneath you but your homework is far from your mind with Ethan around. 

His lips return to yours and you pull him closer, his chest flush against yours and your legs intertwining as the half heated kiss turns slow and easy. You move slow and easy against each other and your heart is beating halfway out of your chest. His hand slides up from your waist to your face, cupping your cheek and you’re halfway to heaven at the contact. 

Finally, you break away and you’re both beaming at each other and it’s moments like this you’re certain you’re both massively in love with each other. Not one more than the other, not one less, the same. You can feel both your heart beats as one and your smiles are reflective. 

“Hey,” he says and you giggle quietly. 

“Hey pretty boy,” you respond and he giggles too, your favorite sound in the world. 

He presses a feather-light kiss to your lips before smiling wide again and sitting back up, pulling you up with him. You fall into his arms and he kisses the top of your head before standing up again and you pout up at him. 

“I’ll be done recording soon I just need to stream with some friends for an hour or so and then I’m all yours,” he promises and you smile again. 

After he heads back into the recording room, you attempt at getting some homework done. You get through at least another two math problems before collapsing back onto the sofa and throwing the homework down in front of you.

You grab your phone to take a break for a bit and end up on TikTok, your kryptonite when it came to procrastinating. You could spend hours on the app scrolling mindlessly and sending videos to your best friend. 

As you scroll you end up on a video that catches your eye. A girl shows her boyfriend playing video games at a pretty elaborate setup. She turns and smiles at the camera before walking over to her boyfriend who gives her a confused look when she reaches for his arms and lifts them up. 

She carefully maneuvers herself underneath his arms so he can still play but straddles his lap and rests her head on his chest. Her boyfriend nuzzles his face into her neck and the girl turns to smile widely at the camera before the video ends. 

Your face widens into a smile as you know you have to recreate the video with Ethan. You pull open your camera and head back over to the recording room door, pressing your ear against it. You hear Ethan greet his friends and announce to stream that they’re starting the first among us game. 

“Fuck I’m not ready to be impostor,” he whines and you smile knowing this is the perfect time to film the video. 

You pull open the door as slow and quiet as you can and carefully step inside the room. You click the door shut behind you and look up to see Ethan hasn’t noticed you. You take another step forward and at this Ethan finally hears you. 

He looks up, head tilted to the side in confusion, knowing you never disrupt his recording unless it’s important. You shake your head silently, telling him to continue and he returns back to the game reluctantly. 

You find a place to set up your phone just as he does his first kill of the game and vents in hopes of not getting caught. He hops out of the vent and you hit record on your phone. 

You walk over to a very confused Ethan now and just as he’s about to ask what’s wrong, you lift his arms up and duck your head underneath while swinging a leg over his lap and sitting down. 

“What are you-” he asks but you don’t respond. You slip your arms around his waist, pressing your face against his chest and sighing quietly and you hear Ethan giggle. 

“Aww baby,” he whispers pressing his face into your neck and placing a kiss there. 

He lifts his head back up, forgetting he was on stream to have his cheeks and neck flush bright red. His friends call and jeer at him and Ethan effectively tells them to shut the fuck up. 

“Whipped!” Mark yells in the back and you and Ethan both shake from laughter. 

You lift your head, meeting Ethan’s gaze and he leans forward to peck your lips. You giggle lightly before starting to move from Ethan’s lap but he tightens his light grip around you. 

“No stay!” he whines and you smile widely. 

“Yeah (y/n) stay!” Brian also calls and you and Ethan end up laughing together. 

“Shut up!” 

[neromardorm]

Oh hey lookit that another twst oc. This is Sweeb and he’s a little bastard baby, I hope you enjoy him as much as I do.

Name: Sweebus “Sweeb” Smol

Year/Class: 2nd Year

Birthday: April 1st

Star Sign: Aries

Age: 17

Gender: Male

Height: 91cm (3ft...)

Eye Color: Brown

Hair Color: White

Homeland: Pyroxene

Club: Track + Field

Best subject: Alchemy

Occupation: Student, Local Menace

Dominant Hand:  Right

Favorite Food: Chickie nuggie

Least Favorite Food: Citrus foods

Dislikes: People he doesn’t know touching him.

Hobby: Bothering people larger than him.

Talents: Digging holes and tunnels

Bio: A dwarf hamster with a taste for mayhem. Sweeb is small but he makes up for his size in rage. Despite his love for raising hell, he manages to stay away from Crowley’s radar and keep his grades decent to stay on a teacher’s good side. 

Unique Magic: “Protecc”; This unique magic overwhelms people with the desire to protect/coddle Sweeb from his adversaries, imagining him as cuter and more innocent than he actually is. It usually has to be done when he looks them directly in the face. It wears off after some time but it usually leaves the person with a fuzzy memory.

Additional Info:

JPN Voice: Fujiko Takimoto (Like Narancia) 

ENG Voice: Ethan Nestor (I guess this also is an example of his speech pattern...)

Sweeb has seven other siblings all the same age as him. The oldest out of their litter is their sister Slieb. She scares him.

He’s created a large set of burrows around the Savanaclaw dorm and likes to sleep in them. Anyone who disturbs them should be prepared for a very angry little gremlin to chase them.

Like a hamster, he likes to stuff his cheeks. However this isn’t for survival but instead he’ll run up to people in the cafeteria and steal their food by stuffing it in his mouth. Watch the mayhem unfold as he runs away at the speed of sound.

Sweeb can fit in a backpack and likes to be in one if he can avoid walking up stairs.

Nocturnal. Usually gets very sleepy during the day. You can find him taking small naps in study hall and lunch. 

Runs very fast, sometimes runs on all fours out of habit. 

Choice of moves in fighting are biting, scratching at the face and low blows. He doesn’t care if it's dirty fighting, he’s aiming to win. If people want a show they can watch the theater club not his fights.

Sweeb’s based after a winter white dwarf hamster. During warmer seasons his hair gets darker roots.

Has a distaste for his dorm leader, Leona. Probably has to do something about rodents and cats…

Actually gets bullied a lot for being small, getting mistaken for a female hamster beastman, and overall people treating him like a dainty lil thing. I guess that’s the fuel behind his dumpster fire of a temper.

Hates water. Do not ask him to bathe in water he will physically harm you if you get him in water. (Ig this means he hates anyone from a water-related dorm fjklejklea)

[urlikeacankersore]

Royalty (Ethan Nestor x Reader)

an/ there will be a part two💜

Requested: no

Summary: Princess Y/n and Prince Ethan are having an arranged marriage, set up by their Parents of course, King and Queen of Cranken Ethan’s kingdom, and King and Queen of Crewton your kingdom.

Reader: female

Paring: Ethan Nestor x reader

“James, I don’t want to go, I don’t want to get married because of some stupid tradition!” I shout to my twin brother, James Wilson, the next King of Crewton. I would much rather stay here and become the next Queen of Crewton and stay Y/n Wilson, but nope, I have to go marry the prince of the next kingdom, something Nestor.

“I know, but you’ve been betrothed for nearly six months, I’m not sure why you’re so surprised,” My brother replies.

“You’re no help!” I complain plopping myself down in one of the chairs.

“You never asked for help,” He shrugs back in reply and walks out of the spacious room.

I can believe they’re making me stay in the Cranken Kingdom for the remaining two months before the wedding, it’s stupid. I would much rather marry for love over some dumb tradition. Like the new King of Iplier Kingdom, he married the beautiful now Queen out of love, and she was just a middle class noble.

“Y/n?” Came the soft voice of my younger sister bringing me from my unimpressed thoughts.

“In here Rina,” I say straightening my poster in the chair.

“Emmy said we’re going to Cranken Kingdom tomorrow, do you know why?” She asks walking over to my chair, her light brown hair in nearly perfect ringlets falling over her delicate shoulders.

“Well, I’m betrothed to the Prince of Cranken, meaning that he and I are gonna get married in two months' time. I’ve been invited to stay for the remaining of time before the wedding,” I say calmly not trying to show her that I don’t want to marry him.

“But I’m gonna miss you!” she says her small voice cracking slightly

“It’s gonna be okay Rina, don’t worry. I’ll send you letters and try my very hardest to visit,” I say giving her a hug and whipping the tear that fell down her pale cheek.

“Promise?” She asks looking at me.

“I promise,” I say, giving her another hug.

“Lady Irene, I’ve been sent to put you to bed,” says the sudden voice of her servant, Emily.

“But Simon I want to stay up!” she says as she pulls away from the hug.

“It’s your mother's order that you go to bed at 8:30, I believe Lady Y/n should be getting to bed too. Your family has a big day tomorrow,” she says looking at me keeping her poster straight as she stands by the big doors.

“Fine,” Irene grumbles walking towards Emily who also walks out of the room.

“Lady Y/n,” says the soft voice of Darcie, my servant or nanny, either way she raised me.

“Yes Darcie?” I say looking at her kind old eyes.

“Your mother has sent to escort you to your room,” She says kindly.

“I will walk myself, thank you Darcie. You’re dismissed for the night,” I say standing up from the chair and walking towards the door.

“Have a good night Princess Y/n,” She says turning and walking towards her quarters on the opposite side of the castle.

----

“Y/n! Hurry wake up! I want you to do my hair!” Says the voice of Rina to the right of my bed.

“Lady Irene, you could have asked me if you’d like,” Says the voice of Darcie as well as the sound of the door opening.

“I know Darcie, but I like the way Y/n brushes my hair!” she says in reply.

“Thank you Darcie, please come get me when it's breakfast time,” I say sitting up, once again dismissing Darcie.

“So, Y/n, will you please do my hair?” Rina asks again, looking at me with puppy dog eyes.

“Of course I will, please go grab your brush,” I say sitting up and smoothing the skirt of my nightgown. Irene hurry out of the room, her flowy purple night dress going behind her.

Irene returns moments later with her silver brush with her name engraved into it. “Y/n, are you gonna have to pack any bags?” she asks as she turns around handing me the prush.

“I was told not to, I’m guessing that they will have everything I will need,” I say starting to brush a new strand of her hair.

“Oh,” she says quietly.

“After I’m done brushing your hair you should let me put it in a braid,” I say brushing another strand.

“Deal,” she says laughing.

“What color of dress are you wearing today?” I ask.

“I was thinking I should wear blue since it matches their Kingdom colors,” she shrugs as I finish brushing her hair and start on the braid.

“Yeah, that would look nice, I could let you borrow my blue bow if you’d like,” I say as she turn towards me.

“Really?” she asks excitedly, she’s always had a special liking for the blue bow I have.

“Yes really. Now go get dressed and I will give you the bow when you’re back,” I say patting her shoulders.

She quickly climbs off my bed and runs towards the door. After she leaves I get off my bed and walk to my small closet full of different colored dresses. Looking in my eyes go straight to the purple one with short sleeves. I quickly grab it off the hanger and slip off my night dress, exchanging it for the purple one in my hands.

“Wow! Y/n I love your dress, it's so pretty!” the eight year old says, just like she does every time I wear this dress.

“Thank you Rina,” I say, grabbing the ribbon I use to make the blue bow with. Once Rina notices I have the ribbon in my hand she quickly turns around so I can tie it at the end of her braid.

“Lady Y/n and Irene, I’ve been sent to tell you to wash up for Breakfast,” come the soft voice of Darcie after a knock on my door.

“Yes of course, thank you Darcie,” I say dismissing her.

“I’m gonna go wash my hands, you should brush your hair,” Irene says as she turns around and brushes some of my hair off my shoulder and walks out of my room.

I turn around to the vanity in my room next to the mirror and grab the gold brush with my name engraved on the back of it, along with the family crest. I quickly brush my hair and walk to the bathroom that is also connected to my room and quickly wash my hands in the sink.

Just as I walk out of my room I see Darcie waiting for me by the stairs. “Hello Darcie,” I greet as I walk towards the stairs, Darcie of course following.

“It’s a shame to see you go Lady Y/n, you will be greatly missed,” she says as she walks behind me on the stairs.

“I know, I will of course miss you and try to write as often as possible, plus it won't be forever, I’ll be back for James wedding,” I say with a smile turning around to glance at the lady who raised me.

“Miss Y/n, please look forward when you walk down the stairs, I don’t want you to slip,” she says with a kind smile.

“Of course Darcie,” I say turning around for the last few steps, then taking a right down the hall to the doors to the big dining room.

Walking in I quickly take my seat at my usual spot, right in between James and Irene.

“Thank you for joining us, Y/n,” my mother says looking at you with a stern look.

“Sorry for being late, my hair was a bit more ratted than anticipated,” I say looking down at my lap.

“It’s fine,” my father says, loading food onto his plate, “You kids may start.”

“So Y/n, are you excited to go to Cranken today?” my Father asks, looking up from his glass.

“Yes father, I think it will be a great experience,” I say, lying.

“I’m glad you’re excited, I hear Prince Nestor is a fine young man,” He says nodding.

“James, Melanie should be here in two weeks to stay, I believe you two will get along great,” My mother says looking at my brother.

“I do too, she has sent me a few letters, she seems very kind,” James says with a smile.

“What time do we leave?” Rina asks from beside me.

“We leave immediately after we finnish eating, they are getting the carriage ready as we speak,” My Father says looking up at Irene.

“Yay,” I mutter under my breath sarcastically.

Breakfast finishes quickly, mainly keeping the conversation about how James and I are being sent off for marriage, well me mainly being sent off for marriage, James getting to stay.

“Mother, may I say goodbye to Darcie?” I say as I realise this is the last time I’ll see her for a while.

My mother nods and continues walking towards the door.

“Lady Y/n, it has been a pleasure to serve you and watch you grow,” Darcie says with a sad smile.

“Thank you so much Darcie. Please take care of my sister,” I say hugging her, Darcie quickly hugging me back.

“Of course Miss Y/n. Now please be good, I will miss you so dearly,” She says whipping a tear that I didn’t realise fell.

I nod, my head and give her a quick smile then turn and walk towards the door to the outside of the castle where the carriage should be waiting.

“Take good care of the horses Simon,” I say with a smile to the main servant that takes care of our horses.

“Of course Miss Y/n,” he says, returning the smile and nodding.

----

We enter the kingdom of Cranken, the towns people looking towards the carriage as it pulls my family. Rina looking out at them with a big smile.

“We should be there in five minutes,” My father says from across me.

James, Irene, and I nod. I lean my head against the wall of the carriage.

Luckily the five minutes pass by quickly and we enter the gates of the castle. The King and Queen of Cranken are already waiting by the doors ready for our carriage. The carriage comes to a slow stop and my mother and father step out first, James and Irene following, James offering me his hand to help step out of the carriage.

“Nice to see you again, Rose,” The Queen says

“It’s been quite long, how have you been?” my mother's kind voice flows from beside me.

“I’ve been well, I believe you are probably ready to meet Ethan,” The Queen says nodding to my mother.

“Yes, we are,” Says my Father standing up straight.

“I will have Sam fetch him,” The king says to the servant I assume is Sam.

A few minutes later the servant walks back with a boy, my age who is quite handsome.

“Sorry, I wasn’t sure when they’d be arriving,” The boy say standing up straight next to the king.

“It’s fine, now I believe we should introduce you all, this is Ethan, the next heir of the throne,” the king says, clapping his sons shoulder proudly.

We curtsey and bow.

“This is my eldest and only son, James the heir of my throne,” My father says as James steps forward and nods his head, My dad then moves onto me, “This is Y/n, she will be the one to stay and marry your son,” Father says, I take his pause as the que to step forward and bow my head and then step back to place much like James did. He then moves on to Irene, “This is my youngest daughter, Irene,” He says as she copies everything James and I did.

“Very nice to meet you all,” The queen says, Ethan keeps his gaze on me.

“You are free to wonder around the grounds while we go talk,” The king says, motioning for my mother and father to follow him into the castle. Ethan looks to his father and starts walking towards James, Irene, and I.

“Nice to meet you all, I would be glad to show you around,” He says with a charming smile.

“That would be great, thank you,” I say offering a smile back.

“In that case follow me this way,” He replies, turning around and walking towards the castle doors.

----

It’s now dinner time and we have all been guided where to sit, us and the Nestor family sitting at a main table and a few other kingdoms such as the Iplier Kingdom, Pewds Kingdom, and Septic Kingdom have joined us, each sitting at their own table.

“Thank you all for coming, it has been an absolute pleasure having you all here, you may begin,” The king says, taking his seat next to his wife. Instead of being seated between James and Irene, I’ve been seated next to Ethan, per his request. He’s really not as bad as I thought he’d be, he’s very kind and charming. Maybe my stay won’t be so bad.

Everyone started to gather food on their plate. Ethan looked up at me as he passed me a bowl of food and started to speak. “So, do you have any cool hobbies?”

“I like to ride horses and I like archery,” I say looking at him.

“We just got a new horse the other day, his name is Zander. I’ll have to take you out to the stables later. And as far as archery tomorrow I’ll show you the range it’s pretty cool,” He says smiling once again.

----

I finished dinner and thought that it would be nice to talk with the other princes and kings since its been awhile.

“So, Y/n you're betrothed to Ethan, must be pretty excited,” Mark, king of Iplier says is a teasing manor.

“Oh she's extremely excited, you can see the way she looks at him already,” Jack say laughing.

“I seriously hate talking to you two,” I say laughing as well.

“Do you boys ever not tease Y/n?” Amy marks wife asks as she walks over.

“Sometimes, I mean it depends,” Felix says with a smirk.

“Hello, it’s been awhile since we’ve spoken, How’ve you been,” Ethan asks, now walking over and talking to Mark.

“I’ve been great,” Mark says nodding.

Ethan then turns to me and says, “Y/n your family's leaving and wanted to know if you'd like to walk them out.”

“Yes, thank you,” I say with a smile, turning and walking towards my parents who are walking out of the castle doors with my siblings.

We walk to the carriage that's all ready to take them home, I give my Father a quick hug and kiss on the cheek goodbye. Then James who hugs me. My mother and Irene waited patiently.

“I’m gonna miss you so much,” Irene cries into the skirt of my dress, which brings tears to my eyes.

“I know, but I’ll be back to visit and I will write every week,” I say and give her a final squeeze. Then turn to my mother.

“Y/n I know that you don’t like the idea of an arranged marriage, but we chose the best choice possible for you,” she says with tears in her eyes, still sad that you won’t be coming home with her.

“I know mother,” I say and give her a hug.

“Please try and stay your happy self, I love you,” she says getting into the carriage. I take a step away from the carriage and watch as it slowly pulls away, until it's out of sight.

“It must be hard to have to leave them,” A sudden voice says from beside me, startling me slightly.

I turnt to see Ethan standing next to me, “Yeah, I meant it’s hard, but I’ll be fine,” I say looking at him.

“If you’d like I can show you to your room since it's right next to mine,” He says, changing the subject.

“Did all the guests leave already?” I ask looking at him. He nods. “Yeah, you showing me to my room would be wonderful,” I then say in reply.

He offers his arm, which I accept. We walk up two flights of stairs to the west wing where our rooms are, he walks me to mine and leaves me with the words, “If you need anything, don’t hesitate to come to my room.”

I quickly get dressed for bed in the clothes that I have never seen before, and lay in a bed I have never been in before. Maybe after some adjusting living here won't be so bad.

[mult1tude]

TWO STARS ✰ AN ETHAN NESTOR STORY — CHAPTER 1

story synopsis: adele belanger, an upcoming star begins to fall in love with a man named ethan nestor after doing a press junket to promote her upcoming series that’s going to push her fame further than she expected. will problems arise?

word count: 3k triggers: none

     adele belanger - the name spoke few and far on the dazzling and glamorous world of hollywood. celebrated for her roles in roles in indie films produced and created in canada, where she was born and raised, she is soon due a big break as she was in the process of getting ready for the rest of the world to know she was starring in netflix’s latest series.

saying the heat resonating from beneath her laptop was hot was an understatement, she didn’t dare to budge or move it in the slightest as she restlessly refreshed the youtube page waiting for the trailer to pop up, almost wearing out the button on her keyboard. the sable black strands at the nape of her neck that had evaded her grasp as she hurriedly tied a ponytail began to itch at her skin but she didn’t have time to fix it, not until the trailer was posted.

after what felt like a lifetime, her eyes were quick to notice a new thumbnail appear on the page and she reactively clicked it, pressing the mousepad button-down slightly too hard out of excitement. the entire video played, a beaming smile was plastered across her face, her dimples displayed prominently as she approached the end of the video. the young actress felt like a firework in a glass jar, so much excitement contained inside of her as she brushed the laptop from her lap, jolted from her rumpled bed and clenched her fists as she excitedly hopped around her tiny apartment and squealed. adele rushed to the dust speckled mirror that was hung near her front door that had a few dozen, in a hyperbolic sense, of her unused coats after moving from canada. she deeply exhaled as she examined her face, noticing her own excitement couldn’t even contain itself as a smile sidled upon her lips as she delicately let out a few words. “i’m going to be famous.”

her emotions shot off again like fireworks, her chest fluttering and her palms tingling and red from the nails she didn’t realise she had dug so deep into her own skin. but it didn’t matter, adele was finally making the biggest leap possible into her career - it was everything she ever wanted.

“ok, i need some water.” she softly spoke to herself, taking another deep breath as she headed towards her apartment’s small open-planned kitchen. her shaky hands picked up a bottle of water from the fridge; she vowed that she would never drink l.a’s tap water after hearing an endless conglomeration of negative things from acquaintances and friends after moving only 6 months ago.

swigging it back and almost completing most of the bottle, she slapped it onto the counter whilst letting out a satisfied gasp for air. a few drops making wet patches on her eggshell coloured sweatshirt that may or may not have a few foundation marks around the neckline. a sudden change of thought, she remembered she needed to send the link to all of her friends and family if they already hadn’t seen it. adele slid the phone from her sweatpants noticing she was already getting congratulatory messages from some of her friends and even people that she hadn’t spoken to in a while. moreso, a lot of the messages from her friends were them completely fangirling over the fact that she had in fact worked with henry cavill.

adele replied to and messaged everyone she needed to before opening twitter and the rest of her social media to find that they were starting to blow up, multiple people talking about how cool the show looked and how excited they were. a lot of them were generic but few mentioned how intricate and interesting adele’s sidekick companion character seemed which made her stomach twirl once more and she felt like she had her ego stroked enough it would last the rest of the week. she put aside her phone and began to practice her bedtime routine before throwing herself back onto her bed where she only was an hour ago. her head smacking her pillow must have activated a switch because adele immediately felt her eyes involuntarily shutter closed and before she knew it, she was fast asleep.

                                                         ✰

today was the first day of recording stuff for the press. needless to say, adele was super excited. from what the actress was able to gather from her manager jenna, since henry cavill was known to be such a huge gamer online, buzzfeed had organised the cast to play the game version of the new netflix series with a few special guests. it was undeniably going to be a great day and a great way to start the press junket as it progressively and eventually got more tiring and mind-numbing. plus, she had gamed a bit before so it would be funny if she were able to show up a few of her cast members, especially henry.

at 8am sharp, the assigned makeup and hairstylist, and wardrobe stylist arrived at her apartment. she was so giddy with excitement that she wanted to run around and shout and tell everyone but she had to sit silently for the meantime as the makeup artist worked on her face. edging elation bubbled through her every vein as they talked about varying outfits to wear, expensive designer brands she was allowed to borrow. she felt like a proper celebrity.

finally, the crew decided on a casual look for today. her slate black, silken hair was bundled in a half-up loose french plait whilst the rest of it waved down just below her shoulders, the front strands falling in front of her face. light and delicate makeup that made her eyes shine and sparkle like a glossy nephrite stone; the minimal makeup also allowed her ubiquitous, chocolate freckles to proudly be displayed on her face. polished, golden dangle geometric earrings to frame her heart-shaped face and overall elevate the look from simple to elegant. an ivory laced-back milkmaid top with puffed long sleeves, high-waisted, sun-bleached skinny jeans with a few sparse rips and shreds, tattered white thread entwined between the tears and loosely hanging like vines. to finish off the look was some pearly white stilettos and few rings as well as a similarly styled necklace to match the earrings.

“i feel, amazing.” adele faltered in disbelief as she longingly stared at herself in the mirror, turning to the crew exhibiting an approving smile. “thank you.” she softly spoke before squeaking with excitement as she danced on the spot causing her team to giggle in response. “time to get going!” she excitedly commanded herself as she made a poor attempt at trying to control her out of rhythm breathing. the exhilaration and eagerness began to convolute into a ball of anxiousness and fret. it was something new and different which was scary but she didn’t want it to hold her back. another deep breath and she made her way to the contemporary, modern lobby of her apartment block where she spotted the black suv through the towering glass front doors in which her chauffeur was waiting for her.

“per jenna’s request,” the chauffeur nodded towards the coffee in the cupholder. adele wrapped her hand around the starbucks cup — still hot. “vanilla oat milk latte?” she asked as she brought the almost searing coffee to her lips, the steam floating upwards and brushing past her skin. the chauffeur nodded as he put the vehicle into gear and started to head towards the destination. effortlessly, the sweet drink passed her lips as she took a few sips before she threw her head back in a satisfied manor. surely the coffee would help with the nerves and just overall elevate her mood. she scoured her social media for a short while, taking breaks to finish the rest of her drink before they arrived. it’s l.a, so it was always bound to take a while even if it just was a few blocks over.

discreetly, the car pulled into the back entrance where she was able to enter without getting noticed and was directed to a very bright and lively reception where the young actress signed in. her heels clicking against the laminated wooden flooring as she followed the operations manager who was indistinctively talking through the black earpiece attached to her ear and was clutching a clipboard to her stomach. a few corridors later they had arrived, the manager twisted the handle to the door and entered, allowing adele to trail behind her.

almost blinding, the room was filled with numerous studio lights. littering the floor almost completely, cables and all different sorts of leads and plugs lay disorganised on the floor. a huge monitor was placed in front of the white screen which was the focus of all the beaming lights. “hey adele!” vocalised the director as he approached her, also bearing a black earpiece. “so the premise of today’s shoot is quite simple. you’re going to be playing the game with our two guests over here,” he briefly motioned towards two gentlemen sat in the corner of the room chatting and chuckling between themselves clearly in a world of their own, “and we’ve paired you with henry because we only have two controllers and we want to get everyone to be involved so the others are being shot later. does that sound good?” he queried, concluded his speech.

“of course.” she eagerly spoke with a grin. “great,” the director spoke as he adjusted his wire-frame glasses, “let me introduce you to the guests. they’re going to be guiding you along with the game,” he spoke, leading adele over towards the boisterous men who were still conversing right up until adele and the director were stood only a few metres away.

“mark?” adele apprehensively suspected as she reached her hand out to his, inviting the suave gentleman to shake hands. “yes!” he answered in a shocked yet pleased tone as he stood to be polite and accepted the handshake with a beaming grin. “i think i watched a bit of your stuff a while back,” adele admitted before briefly catching eyes with the other guy who was staring up at her with gleaming eyes and a dopey yet adorable smile. “i’m honoured,” mark softly spoke before looking down at the other guy who was now standing to follow suit. “this is my friend ethan,” mark continued, placing a firm grip on his pal's shoulder.

“hi, nice to meet you.” ethan spoke in a much more gentle manner than mark did as he reached his hand out to replicate the greeting. “nice to meet you too,” she replied, reciprocating the greeting. “have you watched my stuff too?” ethan asked with a bashful smile as he ruffled his hair with his painted black fingernails. adele hesitantly shook her head not wanting to hurt his feelings, “no, but if it’s anything like mark’s stuff i’m certain it’s great.” she stated looking back at mark who had an affirming smirk on his face as he looked down at his younger friend who’s face had started to flush pink.

“henry is meant to be here right now, but he isn’t,” the director addressed somewhat annoyingly, “i’ll go and have a word to see where he is you can just stay here and talk to each other.” the director stated before hurriedly making his way to the door which adele entered through. she sat down in one of the spare seats that sat opposite the boys as they sat down once more.

“can i just say i watched the trailer this morning and i can’t wait to watch it.” he admitted as he began to pull at the strings of his coal-black hoodie. “thank you, it really means a lot,” adele’s cheeks blushed as she began to fiddle with the rings on her fingers yet still keeping her eyes on the boys. “seriously. we’re not just saying this it looks fantastic,” mark chirped in enthusiastically as he leaned forward in the seat, “i’m never usually this excited about a new series. so congrats!” he admitted with a deep chuckle, looking towards ethan who was nodding in agreement.

the conversation was silenced when a huge figure walked through the door followed by the director and operations manager. the director hastily wagged his fingers at adele and the boys who obediently made their way over. “adele!” henry happily bellowed in his charming english accent as he pulled her into a gentle hug, remembering he probably was over two times her size. “long time no see,” she affirmed as she hugged him back before breaking their embrace. her eyes involuntarily wandered over to ethan as the director began briefing henry. ethan quickly darted his eyes to the director as if he just hadn’t been gazing at her causing adele to grin to herself as she put her concentration back to the director.

“great, so follow me and i’ll seat you.” the director asserted as he walked towards the chairs in front of the white screen, two at the front and two at the back yet not parallel to each other. the front seats were more centred whilst the back two were offset so nobody would be getting in the way of each other when seated.

“adele if you sit in the front left seat, henry in the right.” he requested as he took a step behind the camera and watched the monitor to see if it was what he had envisioned. adele and henry sat which the director reacted with a thumbs up. “okay, ethan if you sit on the left and mark on the right please.” the director concluded as he continued to watch the monitor. the boys did as they were told before mark immediately remarked. “gosh it’s bright behind here,” he joked shielding his eyes as he laughed, eliciting a few giggles from everyone as the director adjusted some of the studio light placement with a few apprentices.

after everything was adjusted to the directors liking, they were ready to roll. the director placed his 3 fingers up as he counted down whilst mouthing the numbers. the thumb was up, which meant everyone introduced themselves and surprisingly it didn’t need multiple takes. “today, adele and i are going to be playing the symbols of shadows game which is very similar to the new series on netflix september 4th.” henry beamed, clutching the xbox controller in his hand as he looked over towards adele. “and i’m going to win. i’m going to beat henry.”

henry scoffed, dismissing adele’s statement as mark and ethan giggled behind them. “we’re also going to try to help, but it looks like they’re gaming experts,” mark spoke, wavering his tone with the last two words as he jokingly mocked adele and henry. “well, there’s only one way to find out.” ethan spoke energetically in a slightly goofier voice than what he was speaking in before. ethan looked at mark before they both turned towards the camera with a raised eyebrow. “okay great. we’ll cut there. let’s load the game up.” the director approved, leaning back in his chair, fixing his corduroy jacket as one of the apprentices loaded the game up and set up the first level. “we just want you to complete the first level so don’t try and rush.” the apprentice handed back the controller to adele as he quickly rushed out of view.

the camera began to roll again and the pair began to get a grasp of the controls and the setting of the game as they intentionally tried to set each other up in the game: pushing one another of the map, friendly fire, stealing points and collectables, and deliberately annoying each other which resulted in many laughs around the room. matter-of-factly, ethan and mark didn’t really do anything to help, however, they did make for a great commentary and supplied multiple belly-aching jokes.

the screen faded to black as they’d finished the first level; mark and ethan clapped and congratulated the pair in between giggles as adele and henry carried on the bit and refused to display any means of sportsmanship. “guys, i don’t know about you but i definitely won.” henry retaliated as adele shook her head and rolled her eyes. mark and ethan were laughing so hard it was almost silent. “this was a team game,” mark giggled as the pitch in his voice heightened. “let us know in the comments who you think won. because it was moi.” adele stated confidently, trying to hide the smile that wanted to appear on her lips so badly. the pair promoted their netflix series as they wrapped up filming. “okay, great. that’s everything. thanks, guys.” the director spoke as he picked up his macbook from the desk and began typing away. “if you just wait here until someone comes and collects you,” the director struggled to speak as he was too busy multitasking. he pressed the side of his earpiece and spoke to himself as he called for the cast to be escorted.

“you’re really good, i was impressed.” ethan spoke to adele softly, as everyone got out of their seats. “you really like to flatter me don’t you.” she joked which caused ethan to halter in his thoughts for a moment. “it’s not a bad thing,” she reassured him, “it’s really nice to hear. especially coming from you.” delicately spoke, eyes quickly moving over to see if anyone was listening but mark and henry were engulfed in their own conversation. ethan’s cheeks flushed pink again as he displayed a meek grin.

he was about to respond when the door re-opened and the manager stepped through, immediately grabbing everyone else’s attention. ethan bit at his lip as anguish washed over his face as he realised the conversation was over. adele was disinclined for a moment, lingering for a few more seconds as the butterflies in her stomach began to fade. “it was nice talking to you. talk soon?” she asked which brightened up ethan’s face as he nodded, “of course. see you soon.” he timorously spoke with a contemptuous smile as he waved goodbye, for now.

[zodiyack]

Valentines daysmr

Pairing: Ethan Nestor x Reader

Warnings: Swearing, randomness, me not proofreading, fluff, cute cooking stuffs

Note: OKAY SO FOR MY VALENTINES DAY POSTS, THEY’LL BE POSTED FROM YESTERDAY (Valentines Day) TO TOMORROW BECAUSE I HAVE A FEW VALENTINES DAY DRAFTS. ALSO- THIS IS MY FIRST FIC WITH AN ACTUAL PERSON AND NOT A CHARACTER SO- HOPE YA LIKED IT... also this one is really random and makes zero sense at all but I thought it was cute.

Taglist:

Masterlist

“Hello.” Ethan popped up from behind the counter.

“Welcome, bitch.” Y/n popped up next to him. She popped up without warning, causing Ethan to jump back a bit, startled.

“U-uh heh, welcome guys, to an...well an asmr with my girlfriend. She’s never done asmr so expect her to be a loud shit- OUCH!” Laughter sounded through the room after Y/n slapped Ethan’s shoulder. For a valentines day special, he wanted to a video with her and many fans had commented for more asmr on his asmr videos. So why not do asmr...but with his girlfriend?

“I can totally be quiet.”

“Mhm.” Ethan shared a look at the camera before giggling and attempting to move on. He pulled out a box of chocolates and slapped it onto the table, “Ooh baby have we got a surprise for you guys.”

“Yeah, for the first time in forever, Ethan won’t spoil said surp-”

“We’re gonna be making homemade chocolate pancakes.”

Y/n turned and squinted at Ethan as Kathryn zoomed the camera lens. The tension was quick to break after all three of them broke one by one. Ethan coughed to cover up the funny, but awkward moment. He opened his mouth to speak but no words came out, so he lifted his hand and moved his fingers around awkwardly.

“What he means to say is,” She looked at the camera with a funny face, “’What is up mah Cranky Crew, it’s Ethan from Crankgameplays and today, we’re asmring some pancakaroonis.’“

“I- Yeah that’s what I was gonna say I guess.” Ethan was smiling like an idiot, blushing as well at his girlfriend’s impression of him. “She took the words right out of my voice.”

They got out the ingredients and started reading the directions from Ethan’s phone. While he read, Y/n wrapped her arms around Ethan’s waist and rested her head on his shoulder. He leaned his head sideways and rested it on hers.

Most of the talking, Y/n was paying attention elsewhere. Either fidgeting with with something on Ethan, something from Ethan or just really anything. Ethan noticed and smiled mischievously to the camera.

“Well, Y/n, since you seem like you’re paying great attention, why don’t you get us started? You can do the harder parts, I’ll start the pancakes and you can flip them and finish them. Oh and you can put the mix together.”

She widened her eyes and looked to Kathryn, asking if Ethan was joking or not. Sadly, Kathryn shrugged in response, leaving Y/n to look around and stay silent until Ethan raised an eyebrow and smiled wider.

“Uh- you got it boss.” She took a bowl and started to pour the mix and other ingredients. “I’m gonna amaze you with how well I know how to-” A small bit of the mix spilled out of the bowl. Y/n stopped and lifted it a bit to see how much got out.

“Wow. I’m so amazed. Everyone, are you amazed? Let’s clap- sorry, golf-clap for Y/n.” He silently clapped for his girlfriend with a smirk. After a tiny bit, he helped her clean up the mess and got the pancakes into the pan. “Now, I may have been nice for a tiny second,” he whispered in his funny-voice™ before switching back to his normal voice. “but you bet I was serious.”

“Damn. I was hoping you were Ethan.”

“Anywa- what?” He turned to Y/n with a confused look on his face and half smile. It was the face people saw often when Y/n was in his videos, being a smartass as usual.

“You said you were Serious. I was hoping you were Ethan.”

“Uh- okay. Lets get back to watching y/n fail.” Y/n scoffed and Ethan continued getting the first pancake together and moved out of the way when it was time to flip it.

“Alright cowards, let me show you how it’s done.” She flipped it up into the air, holding her breath in fear that it wouldn’t land on the pan but attempting to celebrate quietly when it did. “Told you bitch.”

“But you still have about... hmm.. How many pancakes do you want?” He turned to Kathryn. She held her hand out of the camera’s view, showing two fingers. Ethan nodded and turned back to Y/n. “You still have five more to make.”

“Two for all of us? Done. Bet I can flip them better than you.”

“That was a nice attempt, but I’m not gonna do it.” Y/n smiled and turned fully around to Ethan. She blinked her eyes a couple times before smiling with her teeth. “Okay maybe three.”

Ethan held a finger to his mouth when Y/n was turned back to the stove. He put his hand into the flour and held it behind his back, tapping Y/n’s shoulder with the other hand. She turned and got a face full of the white powder.

“You. Little. Shit.” Y/n rushed over to the flour and grabbed a larger handful and threw it at him. Kathryn made sure to zoom when needed, following the fun-looking conflict. More flour was thrown and soon enough, the kitchen and the couple were covered in flour.

Finally, pancakes were finished and Y/n and Ethan set the table. Ethan kept making weird noises while Y/n did some actual triggers she had seen. He looked over and raised an eyebrow with a small giggle.

“Lets eat.” Just as Y/n grabbed her fork, Ethan reached over and stabbed his fork into her pancake, lifting it and taking a bite, pulling back to pull the piece off. “Delicious.”

“You fucking-”

Ethan shoved the pancake into her mouth and dug into his own. He ended the video halfway through his first one and finished both pancakes. After the video came editing. Y/n walked into the room and sat on his lap while he edited.

“Whatcha doing?”

She cuddled into his chest, yawning. “I’m tired and you’re in here.”

“Alrighty then. Happy valentines day lovebug.”

“Happy valentines day. I love you.”

“I love you too” he giggled and continued working on the video, stopping at some points to show y/n when he found it funny.”

What Y/n didn’t see was the one moment Ethan decided not to edit out. He loved it too much.

Y/n groaned into the third bite of her second pancake. “Why do you bully me so muuuchhh?”

“Hmm...because you’re easy to make fun of.”

“Ethan Nestor!” She scrunched her eyebrows in an unknowingly cute way. Ethan blushed and kissed her cheek, making her pout more. “That’s not nice.”

“What, would you rather you bully me?”

Kathryn chuckled and spoke up for one of the first times in the video. “I mean, technically, you were bullying each other.”

“That’s true.” She continued eating.

Ethan’s eyes glowed with an idea before he grabbed his girlfriend’s face, after she swallowed her food of course, and smashed his lips against hers.

“W-what was that for?”

“I bully you because I love you. I’m sorry for bullying you Y/n.”

She closed her eyes and giggled quietly. “Ethan. I love you too weirdo. Now eat your pancakes before I do.” Y/n cuddled into Ethan’s side and went back to feasting on her chocolate masterpieces.

[yikes-xander]

000:00:00:00

PLAYLIST ANALYSIS

This is actually me just rambling about my thoughts on each song and why I chose them for this specific playlist rather than like.. an actually good and smart sounding in-depth analysis sorry :/

When I Met You - Ethan Nestor

There are many reasons I chose this one! Mostly the lyrics, but Ethan also sings it so it’s extra fitting for the playlist, especially as the opener.

“When I met you my life was blue, I was so lonely / You took me by surprise” The channel came into my life at the perfect time. I was feeling low, in my last year of high school, struggling with thoughts about the future. It especially helped me through quarantine. Every day I felt like quitting, giving up on putting effort into school/not graduating, but I had something to look forward to every day too, so I pushed through.

“Now you're gone from my life / I'm adrift on the sea” Once the stream ended and the channel was gone, I didn’t know how I felt. I felt sad, but also something I’ve never felt before. After watching Ethan’s video yesterday, hearing him explain he felt the same way, I felt so relieved. I think this lyric kind of describes how I feel now honestly, just kinda numb? Like I’m lost. I’m working on it.

Another Night - Story Untold

More of a light-hearted one now! To me, this song made me think about how good it felt to be a part of the audience.

“Here we go for another night / Another night goofing all around” Everyone (the audience, Mark, Ethan, etc.) having fun every single day? *chefs kiss*

“Laughing 'til our stomachs hurt / And I can't let this moment pass me by” Once again, made me think of all the good times that were a part of the channel, and all the good feelings they gave me.

“So here’s to a night we’ll remember / This is a time we never wanna forget” I think this is kind of self-explanatory? I don’t think any of us want to forget Unus Annus. Personally, it’s literally the best thing I’ve ever had the chance to see happen and be a part of.

100 Bad Days - AJR

This song just gives me good vibes, UA gave me good vibes, it had to be on the playlist. I don’t have much else to say about it.

History - One Direction

This song kind of reminds me of Ethan and Mark separately and UA as a whole. Because like,, they make a great team, they have a lot of history (friends for a long time, Ethan was a fan of Mark before that, etc.)

“You and me got a whole lot of history / So don't let it go, we can make some more, we can live forever” A year is a long time but also feels like no time at all. Sometimes I wish we had more time for UA, but I’m glad I was here for what we got.

“This is not the end” Unus Annus is something I’ll never forget.

Dopamine - With Confidence

Maybe also kind of self-explanatory? Dopamine makes you feel good!! UA also makes me feel good. And the song talks about losing it too so.. yeah

This Is Home - Cavetown

I’m not exactly sure why I felt so drawn to this? But the vibes are immaculate.

“Are you dead? / Sometimes I think I'm dead / 'Cause I can feel ghosts and ghouls wrapping my head / But I don't wanna fall asleep just yet” after the stream vibes anyone? Or is it just me? I stayed up way too long after it was over. Too many thoughts head full

“Time is / Slowly / Tracing his face / But strangely he feels at home in this place” Unus and Annus,, the Boys of Time babey!!

Ghost Of You - 5 Seconds of Summer

Again.. The VIBES are IMMACULATE. It’s just a sad song for a sad time.

“Too young, too dumb / To know things like love” I’m just a stupid boy who got emotionally attached to a channel whose whole purpose was to DIE and I’m sensitive about it.

All I Wanted - Paramore

Lyrics make me do a Think

“Wake up early to black and white re-runs” colors of the channel,, thinking about all the vids,, the memories :(

“I could follow you to the beginning / And just to relive the start / And maybe then we'll remember to slow down / At all of our favorite parts” this entire verse?? Oh my god. Absolutely *chefs kiss* I think we all know what I mean and like,, why it gives me UA vibes

The Kids from Yesterday - My Chemical Romance

This song just gives me like sad nostalgic vibes so I thought it fit well.

“... you only hear the music when your heart begins to break” the timer reaches the end and the ticking stops? Heartbreaking, that’s all

I Will Follow You into the Dark - Death Cab for Cutie

Another song thats just,, sad so it fits

“Love of mine, someday you will die” we knew from the start the the channel would literally die when the clock stopped,,

“It's nothing to cry about 'cause we'll hold each other soon / In the blackest of rooms” shut up I’m mourning someone hold my hand

“I got my knuckles bruised by a lady in black” death goddess Amy vibes

I’ll Always Be Around - Waterparks

“If you died I'd hope you'd haunt me / Because you know I'd miss you bad” we all love UA so much!! And miss it a ton already

“I'd never I'd never I'd never get you off my mind” it’s always thinking about Unus Annus hours

Before You Go - Lewis Capaldi

There are multiple lyrics in this song that just make me remember we only have our memories of the channel left

“Our every moment, I start to replace / 'Cause now that they're gone, all I hear are the words that I needed to say” the vids are replaced with only memories, replayed over and over

“Well, time can heal but this won't” I’ll be sad about this forever mind ur business

“But all I can think about is seeing that look on your face” the very last moment of the stream? Amy and Mark looking at the camera, Mark’s lil smile, Ethan looking back at the clock as the last few seconds tick by? AAAAH

Scarlet Cross - Black Veil Brides

Heard this and immediately reverted back to my middle school self but that’s beside the point.

“... you can't deny / The end is coming, the end is coming” we knew from the start that the channel would die

“Will we live? / Will we die? / Just keep on saving our goodbyes” There were points where people were theorizing that the channel wouldn’t actually end, there were clips near the end where the clock reversed by a few seconds, etc. need I say more?

“Hold onto me, and I can't let go” we’re all mourning, we didn’t want to say goodbye I know I’m not the only sad one

Body - Mother Mother

This song just SCREAMS Unus and Annus vibes I think we can all agree

“I've grown tired of this body / Fall apart without me, body” Unus and Annus are just entities using Ethan and Mark’s bodies,, they know their time is up so they have to leave,, the LORE it makes sense okay leave me alone

Here Comes the End - Gerard Way (ft Judith Hill)

At this point I’m just listing lyrics that I vibe with that remind me of UA and also make me sad but that’s because I’m dumb and I don’t know how to express myself or explain my thoughts oops

“The time is running out / The days are moving fast” literally every day after each video,, seeing the clock tick down? My HEART she hurt

“The clock is moving / Hands to midnight / Can we get through this?” For me, the stream ended right at midnight so THE VIBES I was sobbing

When Can I See You Again? - Owl City

“Switch on the sky and the stars glow for you / Go see the world 'cause it’s all so brand new” this lyric remind me of the vid where they were in the desert and they just looked at the stars and had a nice talk it was so wholesome I love them

“It's been fun but now I've got to go / Life is way too short to take it slow” Unus Annus is gone but we all have to remember to live, do what you want with no regrets.

(Don’t Fear) The Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult

This one is another pretty self explanatory one honestly

It’s also just a vibe like a lot of the other songs that’s all I have to say about it

Safe and Sound - Capital Cities

This song just radiates such good feelings man oof

Unus Annus felt like such a safe lil bubble for me?? Like,, Mark and Ethan did dumb shit because they WANTED TO I felt so validated like,, I also would do dumb shit if I could that probably makes no sense but I love them so it doesn’t matter

Happiest Year - Jaymes Young

This one absolutely BREAKS MY HEART

“I'm here to admit / That you were my medicine” yall,, UA was the only thing that kept me going and I'm not afraid to admit it

“Thank you for the happiest year of my life” literally the only thing that gave me serotonin oops :/

“So wake me up when they build that time machine / I want to go back” do I need to explain? Even though this year has been shitty irl, I would relive it in a heartbeat

The 3ND - Story Untold

I know this is a breakup song,, but hear me out

Some of the lyrics FIT and it’s my playlist I can do what I want shut up

“I never wanted what we had to end / But now it's over” once again,, no need to explain

“I know we had our dreams and we had plans… / That now it's time to let go” this just makes me think of the video where they talk about the video ideas they had but never filmed or just didn't post,, the CONTENT WE COULD'VE GOTTEN i'm sad

Still Remembering - AS IT IS

These boys.. My fave band of all time but also literally all their songs have immaculate vibes

“My heart's as heavy / As these nights are long” this gives me after the stream feels,, I stayed up way too long after it ended I couldn't sleep because I was sad :/

“Can you tell me what hurts more / Is it remembering or forgetting?” The whole chorus just hits me so hard man I'm so scared that I'm gonna forget unus annus because my brain is shitty even though I know I won't? I’m deadass getting a tattoo as soon as I can

Take Me Away - With Confidence

This song just makes me think about how UA was kind of an escape for me? And a lot of people yknow sometimes you just need to get your mind off of this happening around you and UA was really good for that in my opinion

The Night We Met - Lord Huron

Once again saying I would relive this year if I had the chance

Unus Annus was one of a kind, no one will ever be able to recreate it

Where’d All the Time Go? - Dr. Dog

A year sounds like such a long time but it goes by way too fast

Also I think Amy had this on her instagram story after the stream? I don't remember but THE VIBES

This December - Ricky Montgomery

Why do so many ricky montgomery songs have UA vibes? Idk

“Well, this December, I'll remember / Want you to see it when I do” UA ended in november,, we’ll remember in december and forever it FITS

“It’s just a little bit, It’s just a little bit / Lonely in this home / It’s always colder on your own'' honestly now that UA is gone there's like,, a void and I'm sad (I keep saying that but it's true so..)

When You Die - MGMT

Maybe this is the song Amy had in her story after the stream? Again,, I don’t remember

I think this one is also pretty self explanatory

Except I was feeling A LOT when the channel died but I’m glad the team was also kinda in their feels a bit yknow? It made me feel better about it

Good Times - All Time Low

“Underneath the stars we came alive / And singing to the sky just felt right / I won't forget the good times” once again,, that stargazing vid? IM CRYING all the vids gave me so much serotonin I loved them all and each day was such a good day

“I'll hate the goodbye” I don't need to explain..

“Middle fingers up, ego trip / Devil may care but we didn't mind” the chaotic vibes of the channel is what sucked me in I live for chaos that's what this lyric makes me think of

Goodnight, Travel Well - The Killers

I don't think I really need to explain this one because,, just listen to the song and you'll get it but I'll just list some fave lyrics of mine

“There's nothing I can say / There's nothing we can do now” end of the stream vibes for sure

“And all that stands between the souls release / This temporary flesh and bone / We know that it's over now” Unus and Annus vibes

Line Without a Hook - Ricky Montgomery

This is one of the songs that I hear a lot in like edits I see on twitter and stuff associated with UA and I Get It the vibes are so good the song is so good I love it

“Oh, baby, I am a wreck when I'm without you / I need you here to stay” one of my fave lyrics and also just,, makes sense I miss UA

As the World Caves In - Matt Maltese

Another song that's in a lot of edits and stuff that's also,, amazing and MAKES SENSE the vibes!!

“And here it is, our final night alive” the STREAM

“You put your finest suit on / I paint my fingernails / Oh we're going out in style babe” Our boys,, Unus and Annus in the suits and eths painted nails? An absolute LOOK

I just love this song so much its so good and makes me so sad

The End. - My Chemical Romance

This song is just So Sad

And the heart monitor beeping in the beginning?? Reminds me of the clock ticking my heart is BROKEN

If you actually read all of this? I love you!! This was 6 pages so thank you for sticking through and listening to all of my dumb thoughts

[inkribbon796]

Like a House of Cards Ch. 10: To Go Forward, Sometimes you Have to go Backwards

Summary: Mistakes happen when you mess around with magical objects.

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

Brody walked down to the parking lot after the Sides and the Androids had gone up to talk about the plan and safety measures.

Glitch Logan was running diagnostics on the completed machine so Brody was left in silence for a bit.

So it left the hitman with his thoughts. Which wasn’t always a good thing. He took out his wallet to look at a picture. It was the only professional picture he had of the twins.

His Dark — Brody’s Dark — was sitting in a chair with their little twin sons seated in his lap. The hitman was standing behind them. Dark was the only one of the four without a huge smile, his smile a bit more subdued.

The sight brought a sad sight deep from Brody’s face. Another family was being ripped out from under him. Just when things were starting to get good again.

At the sound of footsteps, Brody quickly pocketed his wallet and turned to see, to his relief, his head saw Glitch Logan watching him. His nanite body visible.

Glitch Logan looked at Brody, “You didn’t tell him.”

“A’course[1] not,” Brody scoffed, and put his wallet away. “Bubblegum fooker is takin’ Dark from me, I’m not gonna help him take my twins too.”[2]

Glitch Logan was quiet, which just let Brody go off on a tirade, “I shouldn’t have ta sacrifice one set ‘a my kids fer the other. I wanted T.B, Lils, and Paddy ta be alive an’ safe but I shouldn’t have ta let the Twins not exist ta cause it. An’ I shouldn’t have ta let my kids die ta get the Twins.”[3]

“Your logic is not flawed,” Glitch Logan agreed. “Unfortunately that does not seem to be the situation we have found ourselves in.”

“Fook!”[4] Brody shouted.

“There a problem?” Nestor came down with the rest of the group they needed. Silver, Jackie, Dark, and Wilford had accompanied the time travelers and their past doubles.

“No,” Brody scoffed, glaring at Wilford. “Obviously not.”

Janus was walking down with Roman. The creative Side not wanting to be far from Logan.

“Head back upstairs,” Glitch Logan told them. “This will be a quick procedure.”

“As if we trust you,” Roman rolled his eyes.

“I don’t care if you trust me, I care if you’re safe,” Glitch Logan spat.

“We’ll stay until the transfer starts,” Janus told him. “To make sure you don’t do anything to him.”

The young glitch demon smiled, “I don’t need any of that anymore.”

“Did you do anything to him?” Roman demanded.

“I have only been here for a minute or two, I am fine,” Logan reassured.

Everyone was having their little eleventh hour conversations. Jackie walked up to Diamonds who was signing with J.J.

“Got a question, before I head up,” Jackie asked Diamonds, gesturing to his own throat. “If yeh[5] don’t mind me askin’[6].”

“Not at all,” Diamonds smiled, his voice crackled a bit. “Logan, Google, and Mortician made this for me. It’s a voice box that transmits signals from my brain to the box. It does have to be replaced every few months because my magic destroys it, but it was quite a nice gift.”

“Yeah,” Jackie smiled.

As Jackie was talking to J.J, Brody walked over to Chase.

“I hope yeh[5] don’t remember anythin’[7] I know,” Brody told Chase. “If my world an’ my family is gonna crash down around me, then I don’t wanna remember it.”[8]

Chase was just staring at him, “Me too.”

Brody turned to glare at Wil, “Take care ‘a him, or else I will find some way ta make yeh pay fer it.”[9]

“I will,” Wilford promised but it was clear Brody didn’t believe it.

Then he turned to look at Dark, his expression softer, “Yeh deserve the world, yeh really do an’ when yeh see the Actor, punch him fer me. ‘Cause I won’t be there ta do it.”[9]

“I don’t need to be convinced to hit him more than once,” Dark hissed.

Suddenly the core of the machine began to glow sharply and everyone had a moment’s notice before pain ripped through the people in the middle of the room and a crack shot down the room. Dark, Wil, the Sides, Diamonds, and J.J to one side, and everyone else to the other. A white light engulfed the room.

When the light cleared Silver was standing in a grassy field with Jackie, Ethan, Brody, Chase, and just the Host. The second Host and Nestor were missing.

“I feel weird,” Ethan was patting his chest. “I feel really pissed and angry and I don’t know why.”

“What Ethan is from the transfer, if he is lucky then it will soon fade.” The Host began to run out of the field, “The Host, Brody, and the heroes need to find a time rift out of this point in time quickly.”

“Why, where are we?” Mark asked, picking up Ethan and following him as the rest of the group followed the Host as well.

Coming to a halt, the Host turned to look at them. “Dark is not with the group so the heroes should rid themselves out of their outfits, they will stand out.”

“What is goin’[10] on?” Chase demanded.

“The Host and his allies are in the year 1963, and today is the day that the Entity and the Madman meet again. They will become allies and take over the city within a matter of weeks. By the end of the month the city will become a completely different creature and will be irreversibly driven down the path that will cause the creations of the heroes that fight against both of them.”

“What?” Brody shouted. “How’d we all get thrown back? Where are the others?”

“They have the Anomaly, so we need to find our current Anomaly and use that to get to where Dark and the others are,” the Host explained as everyone started switching into their civilian clothes. “The other heroes and villains were pushed into a different reality and the two groups must regroup.”

With their outfits a touch more casual, the group tried to look like they weren’t time travelers or aliens.

Ethan had to stop a couple times to catch his breath and not have a panic attack. Because he felt like someone had emotionally set him on fire and he wanted to stay next to Mark or Séan the whole time and only started to feel like he was going back to normal by the time the Host took them through a building where Mark heard a rather familiar voice. It was Dark’s and Wil’s voices. Mark could smell the odor of blood and rot in the air. As if Dark had been killing with his aura.

As the crew snuck through the building, Mark froze to listen in. They were so close. Dark wasn’t as powerful, he wasn’t prepared. He could—

“Wil, she’s sleeping,” Dark grumbled, his voice sounding almost as if it hadn’t been used in some time.

“Oh good, good,” Wil decided. Some of his words were hard to understand but suddenly Wil yelled, “I’ve got a great idea, we’re gonna make a TV show.”

Dark was quiet for a long time and Mark wished he could see his face. But he lingered long enough to hear the future mob boss sigh in frustrated indulgence, “Okay.”

A light clapping reached Mark’s ears, “Excellent, Dames, we can talk details at this lovely little diner it’s got—”

At this point, their voices began to get farther away, and the Host cleared his throat so Mark raced away from the door and into an alley.

“Silver and Jackie will accompany the Host into the next building to get the Anomaly, all others should remain up here.”

“Okay, okay, let’s go,” Séan agreed and the Host used his aura to help them break into the apartment building. But since it was set into the hill there were three flights of stairs connecting them to the ground floor and the Host was practically flying down the stairs, his aura helping him navigate the steps and get down safely. Then he took them down the hall to a room where there was a huge magical sigil on the ground and a magic standing in a red tux with black eyes, and a wailing infant cradled in his hands.

It was the Actor, on the eve of another great story.

“There you are,” Marc smiled as the little squirming and crying bundle. “You’ll make a wonderful addition to our story, won’t you?”

Then the door was ripped open and the Host was there. Marc and the baby both startled. “The hell?”

Now that Marc was distracted the Anomaly he’d been working with had nowhere else to put its magic so it ripped open another rift in time. Another point decades in the future but not quite the time that the Host and the others had come from.

Séan had been racing down the hallway and then tripped on a carpet. So he slammed right into the Actor who dropped the baby right into the time rift that immediately closed shut.

“No!” The Actor shouted. “That was my fucking son!”

“Yikes! Host can we get the kid back?” Séan demanded. “Where’d he go?”

The Host’s aura forced a portal around the Actor and he was gone, the box that housed the Anomaly glitched and the Seer grabbed the box and began to sprint out of the room.

He opened the box and quickly pulled out a bracelet, holding the box with his aura as he ran, “the Host and the heroes must go now. Before the Actor returns. They do not have long but they cannot face him now. They do not have the power nor space to be able to do so.”

“Who was that?” Mark asked, following the Host as Séan ran alongside Mark and they headed back up the stairs.

“The archnemesis to the Entity,” the Host told him. “The child he had would have been used as leverage against the Entity. But now he is in somewhat safer hands and will eventually live under the Entity and the Madman’s care. You have actually just saved him from a loveless environment.”

“Was that one ‘a yer brothers?”[11] Séan asked. “Yeh have what? Five ‘a ‘em?”[12]

The Host leaned over the banister to look down at them,  “The Host also has a sister.”

“Yeah, but yeh an’ that guy hinted that was a boy,”[13] Jackie stalled.

“Yes, and it is true that the infant was one of the Entity and the Madman’s sons, but the Host likes to include his sister when he can.” The Host gave them a huge smile before starting to dart back up the stairs.

Séan and Mark smiled at each other before following the Host back out of the apartment and into daylight where Chase and Brody were still waiting with Ethan.

“You guys got it?” Ethan asked.

“Time Anomaly scored,” Séan snapped his fingers over in the Host’s direction. “Let’s go home.”

The Host motioned for everyone to pull in together. “The heroes still have to locate the second group. They were pushed into a separate dimension and cannot be left there.”

“We get it, we’re pressed for time,” Mark agreed. “How do we do this?”

“The Host will start up the transfer,” the Host offered as everyone gathered in close. “Six will start the transfer but only five will move through.”

“Do I have time ta[14] say a couple words?” Brody asked.

“Yes, but Brody does not have long,” the Host warned.

“Fine,” Brody agreed before walking over to Chase.

“Look out fer[15] him okay,” Brody asked Chase. “Yeh don’t have ta like him, but just make sure Wil doesn’t take advantage ‘a him. He means e’erythin’ ta me.”[16]

“I can’t promise I’ll be good at it, but I’ll try,” Chase promised.

“Thanks,” Brody smiled sadly, taking out his wallet to look at the picture one last time. The world seemed to fold in on itself around them as a blinding white light came from the Host and engulfed the group. “That’s all I need.”

With a roaring in everyone’s ears the past and future of two different timelines compressed a little tighter before the hole in space and time flexed again and the Host sent them to find the others that had been separated from them.

After the flash of blinding light faded, they were standing in the same back alley. The streets were right but the feel in the air was wrong.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Accessibility Translations

1. Of course

2. Bubblegum fucker is taking Dark from me, I’m not going to help him take my twins too.

3. I shouldn’t have to sacrifice one set of my kids for the other. I wanted T.B, Lils, and Paddy to be alive and safe but I shouldn’t have to let the Twins not exist to cause it. And I shouldn’t have to let my kids die to get the Twins.

4. Fuck!

5. you

6. asking

7. anything

8. If my world and my family is going to crash down around me, then I don’t want to remember it

9. You deserve the world, you really do and when you see the Actor, punch him for me. Because I won’t be there to do it.

10. going to

11. Was that one of your brothers?

12. You have what? Five of them?

13. Yeah, but you and that guy hinted that was a boy

14. to

15. for

16. You don’t have to like him, but just make sure Wil doesn’t take advantage of him. He means everything to me.

[the-mysterious-eighth-gender]

I wanted to write something. I'm tired and rushed, and am on mobile, so don't judge too harshly. Thank you, and good bye.

Unus or Annus. Those were the choices. You either picked a side, or were thrown to the wind. Unus or Annus. You picked a side, and you despised the other. Unus or Annus. That was the way it was. There wasn't any room for discussion. Unus or Annus. 

Jacob, our Annus, strolled down his street. His shoulders held high as his saunter and swagger made him elude confidence as if it were a pheromone.

Samuel, our Unus, walked beside Jacob. His hands were held behind his back and he was smiling at other passing Unus-es.

A passing couple of Annus-es scoff as they pass our Jacob and Samuel, "An Annus and an Unus? Walking together? The world is truly crumbling."

Our Jacob, with his white and black swirl shirt that identified him, rolled his eyes, "Does it even matter?"

The Annus-es walked faster to get away from the Unus and Annus pair.

Our Samuel, with his black and white swirl shirt that identified him, "Their loss."

Our Jacob simply nodded, letting the action speak for itself as his body continued its confident strut, "This town is getting toxic. Too much competition and rivalry. What should it matter? Unus? Annus? It's just all…?"

"Unnecessary?" our Samuel provided the lost word.

Our Jacob smiled, "Exactly." 

Our Samuel smiled back, "And that's why we're going to change it."

"You don't need to repeat it for me," our Jacob laughed. "I came up with the idea. Now come on, let's walk faster. We're almost to the creators' office."

Our Jacob and our Samuel processes to walk faster and make it to the office. Jacob pressed the doorbell of the building. They could hear the loud, low-pitched beep ring through the building while still outside. The door opened and an Unus let them in, "Do you have a meeting scheduled?"

"Yes," our Jacob said with his smooth and confidence-exuding voice. "Under Jacob Santorini and Samuel Hawthens," our Jacob flashed a smile, which the Unus took as smug and arrogant.

The Unus just smiled and spoke into a walkie-talkie, "Mr. Fischbach, Mr. Nestor, your three o'clock is here."

A voice, smooth like butter and deep like the Mariana Trench, crackled through the walkie-talkie, "Wonderful! Send them up."

Through the walkie, there was brief struggle sounds, then a higher-pitched and over excited voice came through, "Yeah! Send em' in!"

The deep one returned, sounding done with everything, "Jesus Christ, Ethan."

The walkie clicked off. The Unus stepped aside and let them in, up the elevator to the top floor, then it's the door all the way down the hall."

Our Jacob nodded and began walking to the elevator. Our Samuel smiled, "Thank you!" 

Our Jacob and Samuel walked into the elevator, rode to the top, and stepped off. They walked down the hallway and knocked on the door when they got to it, "Come in!" the over-excited voice yelled, accompanied by an exasperated sigh.

Our Jacob and Samuel opened the door and walked in. The deep voiced man spoke, "Welcome-"

He was interrupted by the over-excited man, "I'm Ethan, and that's-"

The other man slapped his hand over Ethan's mouth, "Mark, though you know that. You wouldn't be here if you didn't."

Ethan let out a realization sound from behind Mark's hand. He moved Mark's hand away, "An Unus with an Annus! Ohehy! You owe me twenty bucks, Mark!"

"I never agreed to that," Mark droned out, as if he memorized the phrase.

Our Jacob cleared his throat, "About our meeting?"

Mark nodded, "Yes, yes. The both of you come sit."

"Thank you, sir," our Samuel smiled and sat down next to our Jacob.

Mark rolled his eyes, "Now, let's get down to brass tax-"

"The brass-es of taxes!" Ethan interrupted again while slamming his fist down.

Mark slammed his fist down as well, "Will you shut up!"

Ethan laughed, "Sorry, sorry. Continue."

Mark cleared his throat, "Yes, what do you wish to discuss?"

Our Jacob opened his mouth to speak, but our Samuel beat him to the catch, "The separation of Unus-es and Annus-es is unfair!" he yelled as he slammed his fist into his own hand.

Our Jacob looked at our Samuel incredulously. Mark, however, laughed, "Oh, is that so. The answer is no. We won't be doing anything to fix what you think need fixing."

Ethan pouted, "Aw, but why not Mark!? They do have a point."

It looked like Mark was popping a blood vessel. He opened his drawer and pulled out brass knuckles and punched Ethan in the face hard. Several teeth were knocked out and Ethan passed out, or died, no one could tell from the amount of blood.

"Holy shit!" our Samuel jumped up and ran away. 

"Samuel!?" our Jacob stayed seated.

Mark laughed maliciously, "I'm not afraid to hit a fellow Annus!"

"Okay! Okay! I won't tell anyone what happened!" our Jacob ran.

Mark yelled after him, "You better not!"

Our Jacob caught up with our Samuel on the elevator and anxiously rode down. Once at the bottom they ran again to get outside. Our Jacob going one way, and our Samuel going the other, on their ways to their respective homes.

Our Jacob arrived home, panting and sweating. His Annus girlfriend laughed, "What the hell have you been doing?"

Our Jacob stood, panting, for several seconds, before he ran to the bathroom and got into the shower fully clothed and set the water to freezing. He stayed there for an hour, shivering harshly, before he got out. He saw his girlfriend on the ground with her head bashed in, and a note spray-painted in white on his gray couch.

It said, 'Memento Mori.'

It was the last thing our Jacob saw before everything went black after a harsh pain to the side of his head.

Our Samuel ran home, his empty apartment felt unwelcoming as he was covered in sweat and terrified. He grabbed his phone and called his Annus of a mother. She may not be very full of emotion, but he needed someone to talk to. He only heard the second ring before a smooth and deep voice said, "Memento Moro." Then, our Samuel's world went black with a harsh pain to the side of his head.

The next day, Mark made an announcement to the town. It was brief, short and sweet, "Hello, my name is Mark Edward Fischbach, and in one year I am going to kill everyone in this town. Everyday before then, though, I will provide an adventure. You can stay, experience everyday with new eyes, and die at the end of the year. Or, you can leave now, in which I will kill you immediately. You have one week to make your decision. I hope you make the right choice. And remember, Memento Mori. Unus. Annus."

[falseroar]

Midnight Masquerade

((In which (Actor) Mark finally puts on that masquerade with the help of Jack and their combined egos. It’s to be a night of fun, dancing, and mystery, even without the arrival of a certain unexpected guest. Near the end there is a reference to the song “Remember Me” from Coco, and the version I had in mind is the cover by The Hound + The Fox, if only because it had a nice blend of slow and fast (the original version is awesome, but might be a little too upbeat here XD).

Warnings: There is no Maskiplier in this story, so no warnings this time except for the usual angst. This is the last planned story for the whole Can You Wake Up? series though, and there are a lot of references to the other stories here so it may be a little confusing if this is the first one you’re reading.

It’s definitely on the long side, but it felt better to keep it all in one post instead of cutting it up, so...*shrugs*))

When you arrived at the dance hall with Amy, Tyler, and Ethan, the four of you found the massive room already bustling with activity as Mark, Jack, and almost all of their egos finished up their share of last-minute preparations before the guests arrived. Said room looked more like a ballroom from an overblown Victorian-style mansion than some place they had rented for the night, with vaulted ceilings, shining floors, (faux) marble columns, doors that swung out onto balconies that overlooked the hillside and the city down below, the whole nine yards.

The stage on the far side of the room looked almost out of place with the microphone stands and the DJ equipment, not to mention all of the speakers strewn up around the place which the Googles were doing final sound checks on while you and the others walked over to the long tables just inside the entrance where a couple of egos were arguing over arrangements.

“This should be the last of the masks,” Amy said as you and Tyler put your boxes down on the nearby chairs, as there wasn’t any room left on the tables for them. “Definitely more than enough for everyone who’s coming and then some.”

“I hope so,” Tyler muttered, rolling his arm as he straightened up. “If we left anything else back at the house it can just stay there, because I am not going back again.”

“What?” Ethan asked sarcastically. “You don’t want to sing along to Disney songs in traffic for another hour or two? Who even needs to go to a dance?”

“Oooh, let’s see what we’ve got in here,” Randal said as he ripped open one of the boxes to reveal a stack of masks in various styles and colors. Even a quick glance at the table told you there didn’t appear to be any two that were obviously the same, which was apparently making sorting and laying them out difficult, to judge by the argument currently going on between Bim Trimmer, Dr. Henrik von Schneeplestein, and Ed Edgar.

“It only makes sense to arrange by zhe size,” the doctor said, placing his hands on his hips even as Bim shook his head. “Who cares if it’s red or blue if it doesn’t cover your face right?”

“Okay, clearly you don’t understand anything about color coordination,” Bim said, gesturing toward the doctor’s suit and earning a gasp in return, “But most people are going to want a mask that matches their style, that’s why we need to have warm colors on this end, cool colors on that end, and fashion tragedies such as yourself over in the corner.”

“How dare you! I am dressing very snazzy!”

“Pft, sure, you’re really stretching out of your comfort zone with that white suit,” Bim said, getting a simultaneous “oooh” from both Tyler and Ethan. “Did you leave your surgical mask at home, or do you think that will be enough to cover your face?”

“Vhy you—”

“Okay, maybe you two need to walk away and leave this to someone else,” you suggested, inserting yourself between them before Schneeplestein could think of a comeback or, more likely, smack the game show host. “I’m sure either way would work just fine.”

“I don’t see what the big deal is here,” Ed rumbled. He reached into the box Randal opened and grabbed a bunch of masks, which he promptly dumped into the middle of the pile to Bim and the doctor’s obvious horror. “They’re just going to get tossed around anyways, why not let people dig around for the one they want?”

“Okay, how about no,” Bim said, snatching the box away from the salesman’s hands before he could do any more damage.

“Zhis is not some rummage sale,” Schneeplestein agreed, already trying to gather up the masks and at least lay them out so they were all clearly visible. “Zhis is a classy event for charity, Mr. Edgar. Ve do not want people spending all night digging around for masks!”

“I don’t know, I think just seeing what you can find is part of the fun,” Amy said as she picked up a butterfly eye mask and held it up to her face with a smile. “Ed and Y/N are right, don’t get too caught up in overthinking it. After all, the guests are going to be here soon, so you’re not going to have time to organize them all.”

She immediately put the butterfly mask down and reached for another, crying out, “Oh, is this an alien one? Look at the big eyes!”

“I like the colors in this one,” Tyler said, tilting a full-face mask this way and that so that it caught the light. “What about you, Y/N? See any you like?”

You hesitated and Bim added, “You could certainly use some more color in your outfit. Your suit is about as basic as it can get.”

You shrugged as you looked down at the suit in question. He was right, it was a basic black suit with a white shirt underneath, one that Mark paid the rental fee on without even asking, which was embarrassing enough. Amy had also offered to help you pick out a dress if you preferred that instead, but you gave basically the same answer then that you did now, which was, “I wasn’t sure what…I would be comfortable with tonight. I’ll think about the mask and pick something out later.”

“Everyone else will be here soon,” Ethan reminded you. “You need to pick something out before all the good ones are gone!”

“Trimmer is right about the color,” Schneeplestein said. “Look around! Vhy, even Darkiplier is vearing more color than you!”

At his gesture, you turned to see the man in question walking in your direction, alongside an ego who looked uncomfortable in his suit with the red checkered shirt underneath it, judging by the way his hands were shoved into his pockets and the turn of his muttering mouth. The Host’s usual white bandages were hidden underneath a scarlet blindfold around his eyes which had the added benefit of hiding any stains that might appear over the night. Oddly enough, he actually matched Dark, whose jacket had a brilliant crimson lining clearly visible as he stopped to take in you and the other new arrivals.

“Evelien requires your assistance in the dressing room,” Dark said to Amy, his tone far more polite than you had ever heard him use around the others. Or maybe more embarrassed, as he continued, “We’re not entirely sure what’s wrong, but we think it involves a zipper.”

“On my way,” Amy said, immediately dropping the mask and running toward the side doors as fast as she could in her dress shoes.

Once she was out of earshot, Tyler looked around and said, “Okay, I’ll ask if no one else will: why is he here again?”

Dark narrowed his eyes at the gesture towards himself but spoke with an unerring calm. “I was invited, Benjamin, as you well know. And, unlike several others I could mention in this room right now, I have never in fact killed anyone, so I am uncertain why my particular presence should bother you.”

“You literally terrorized us for years after the manor.”

“’Us,’ being Markiplier, for very valid reasons I might add.”

“Not just Mark. Even people who had literally nothing to do with what happened, like Bob and Wade—”

“I merely wished to have a discussion with them, as it was clear Mark wasn’t being entirely…upfront about his past. It is not my fault they did not handle their time in my realm well.”

You made a noise at that, and he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Okay, I could have anticipated that, but I had nothing to do with them winding up locked in a utility closet, that was all Wade.” There were a few nods to that, as even those who weren’t around at the time could see that happening, and Dark continued, “As I have said before, I have no intention of harming anyone tonight, least of all the guests.”

“Yeah, Tyler, don’t worry about it,” Ethan said, throwing an arm around Dark’s shoulders. “Dark’s just a big ol’ pussy!”

“I will break your arm if you do not remove it at once, Nestor.”

“The Host reminds Darkiplier that he promised to keep his…presence in check this night, lest any electrical interference be attributed to a certain other ego.”

“…I am well aware,” Dark said as he grabbed Ethan’s sleeve between two fingers and let it drop like a piece of trash.

Schneeplestein shuddered at even the veiled reference to Anti and you thought it might be a good time to change the subject.

“I like your suit, Host,” you said, and the ego immediately ducked his head.

“The Host thanks Y/N, even if this is…outside of his comfort zone,” he said, shoving his hands even further inside of his pockets. “The Host came over to let Bim Trimmer and Dr. Henrik von Schneeplestein know that he is more than capable of taking care of the mask table for the duration of the dance, if they wish to focus their attentions elsewhere.”

“Thanks,” Bim said. He rubbed at the back of his neck as he admitted, “I was afraid to say anything in case I got stuck with it, but someone needs to be here when the guests come in.”

“Wait, you’re going to be here the whole night?” you asked the Host. “Don’t you want to enjoy the dance too?”

“The Host is not much of a dancer, and he would prefer to be useful rather than sit alone in a corner,” the Host responded. When you opened your mouth to argue, the Host smiled and added, “Besides, the Host is looking forward to talking to the fans, which will be easier for him here.”

“Oh,” you said as it clicked. You suspected that most of the egos had moved to supporting Mark’s idea for this masquerade thing when they realized the same thing: it would give them a chance to meet some of the fans whose love and attention kept them real, and spread that excitement through the rest of the community. Not to mention that all of the tickets sold or given out through multiple raffles were raising a lot of money for charity.

This was a special night for the egos, and not just because it was an excuse to dress up and don silly or extravagant masks.

“Speaking of the fans, showtime’s going to start soon,” Ed said, checking his watch. “Come on, Randal, let’s give everyone a head’s up to get their masks before the rush starts.”

The younger ego nodded and jumped up to join him as they walked toward another group of egos with a box of masks in tow, as if they didn’t have a combined indoor voice that could be heard by everyone in the room.

“I…need to go see Bob and Wade,” Ethan said, waving a seriously creepy mask that was almost all eyes and teeth as he added, “For reasons.”

Tyler snorted and followed to see how that would go and you looked around the room again. With all of the egos running around it was difficult to pick out any one in particular, so you asked aloud, “Do any of you know where Marvin is?”

“Why?” Dark asked, immediately suspicious.

You met his stare and said, “He said he was bringing a tie I could borrow for the night.”

“The magician is in one of the back rooms, going through his case of supplies for tonight,” the Host answered as he settled into one of the chairs behind the mask table. “He is considering which of his tricks might be amusing for any interested fans.”

“The answer being none, I’m sure,” Dark muttered.

“Oh, I know where he is,” Schneeplestein said. “Please, let me show you.”

“Thanks, Schneeps,” you said, taking his offered arm and doing your best to ignore Dark’s suspicious glare. Fortunately, he did not choose to follow you and the doctor across the floor and past the stage, where Mark was going over the rules for tonight with the DJ.

“And stick to the list,” he was saying as you approached. “This is supposed to be a formal dance, not a never-ending loop of ‘Déjà vu.’”

The android behind the equipment, who had skipped a jacket in favor of just a flashy orange vest that showed off his arms, shrugged and said, “If you say so, but, like, I gotta play the ‘Cha Cha Slide’ at least once. It’s the DJ code, dude, no getting around it.”

“There’s no such thing as the DJ code,” Mark answered.

Bing’s mouth dropped open and his sunglasses slipped. “Dude! Don’t disrespect my culture like that!”

“You’re—I can’t…” Mark sighed, hand to his face until he recovered and said, “You know what, fine, you get one hour of requests. That means someone has to actually want you to play the song, otherwise you stick to the list. Got it?”

“Sah, dude!”

“Sweet!” Mark jumped, not realizing he wasn’t the only one on the stage until the man next to him was there, handing a sheet of paper to Bing. “I’ve already got a list, starting with ‘Ocean Man’ and going all the way to ‘All Star’ and ‘Despacito.’”

“Dude!”

Mark flinched at the high five the two shared and said, “Okay, Chase, I get—”

He stopped short when he heard your barely restrained laugh and then saw the expression on Jack’s face.

“Really Mark?” he asked.

“I…meant Seán?” Mark said, and Jack shook his head in mock disappointment. “Look, it’s not my fault you two look the same!”

In unison, Jack, Bing, and Dr. Schneeplestein gave gasps of shock and Jack said, “Come on man, we’re not even wearing the masks yet and you’re already losing track of who’s who. Get it together, Mark.”

“It’s not just me, Y/N, you see it two, right?” Mark asked. “How are you supposed to tell which one’s Chase?”

“Um, I’m pretty sure he’s the one standing on Jackieboy Man and Silver Shepherd’s shoulders to hang up those streamers over there,” you said, pointing at the figure barely keeping his balance across the room.

“Ah, crap, I should probably stop that before someone gets hurt,” Jack said before he jumped down the stage and ran over to intervene.

“See, acting exactly like a concerned dad,” Mark said, gesturing toward the retreating figure and earning a middle finger in return. He shrugged and crouched down so that on the stage he was closer to eye level as he asked, “So are we going to see you out on the dance floor tonight, Y/N?”

“I am making zero promises,” you answered without hesitation.

He laughed and said, “We’ll see about that. You picked out a mask yet?”

“Soon,” you answered. “…But seriously, why masks? After…you know…”

Mark shuddered and just for a second his face clouded over, but he recovered quickly enough. “I had this idea long before that, and, well, it still seemed like a fun idea to get the community together and raise money for a good cause at the same time. Why let that thing ruin the chance to do some good?”

“And a chance to be a little melodramatic?” you asked.

“Why stop at a little?” Mark asked with a grin as he jumped down from the stage. “I want this to be a night to remember, for the fans and for all of us too. Don’t you?”

“Yes,” you said, with more feeling than you meant to, but Mark didn’t seem to notice. In fact, his eyes shifted to over your shoulder just before you heard a familiar voice:

“…Hey.”

You turned around but your response turned into a confused, “…JJ?”

Jameson Jackson winked and held up a recording device before pressing another button, only to get a loud, “TOP O’ THE MORNIN’ TO YA!” that made him jump, one hand to his heart. A second try had the device say, “Jameson Jackson, at your service!”

“Aw, that’s so cool!” you said, and Jameson’s grin grew that much wider.

“He’s been playing vith it all day,” Schneeplestein said with a smile. “Jack and zhe rest of us made it for him for tonight.”

Jameson played another audio clip and this time it was Schneeplestein’s voice, declaring, “I am zhe good doctor!”

“Zhis way he can join in zhe fun of zhe masks and pretending to be everyone else,” Dr. Schneeplestein explained.

“I love it,” you said, deciding not to point out the flaw in that logic for the doctor’s sake.

“Plus it means no distracting speech slides,” Jameson added, nodding as everyone within “earshot” blinked as the speech slides appeared before their eyes. He chose another audio clip to add, “This is going to be so much fun!”

“See, getting into the spirit of things already,” Mark said, throwing an arm around Jameson’s shoulders. With a tone that suggested he had practiced this particular line several times, he added, “Part of the fun of a masquerade is hiding your identity and seeing how well we all know each beyond just the faces we put on every day.”

“Well, as ominous and foreboding as that sounds,” you said, ignoring Mark as he sputtered with indignation, “First I need to go see a magician about a tie.”

“Don’t take too long,” Mark called after you and the doctor as you passed through the door near the stage and into the back hallway that ran in either direction.

With the doctor to guide you, you soon found your way to a storage room where Marvin was sitting on a large case and going through some playing cards when you walked in.

“There you are!” Marvin said, jumping up at the sound of the door opening. He smiled and glanced at the doctor, who waved before heading back to the main area. Once he was sure Henrik was out of earshot, Marvin’s smile slipped and his bright eyes looked you up and down from behind a fancier version of his usual cat mask. He was dressed up in a vibrant blue suit, so dark as to almost appear black until the light caught it just right, with green accents on the sleeves and lapels, but it still felt like only a small variation from his usual dress style.

“Are you sure about this?” he asked. “We don’t have to—”

“I’m sure,” you interrupted, but you admitted, “I’m nervous, but…”

“But this is important to you,” he finished when you trailed off and you nodded, not quite meeting his eyes. Marvin almost sighed but caught himself in time. Because as many reservations as he had about this, he did have some idea of how much this meant to you. And, he thought as he placed the silver case he brought with him for tonight on one of the storage boxes, you had come to him for help before anyone else. Instead he said, “You don’t have to worry, Y/N. If you’re right, then I’m sure this will work.”

He had poured more hours than he would ever admit to you into reading every book he could find on the subject, every spell even partially related, every theory, every charm, and it all pointed to the fact that the idea you had come to him with weeks ago was possible. And if you were wrong, then it would just mean he had wasted time on some admittedly interesting research, so no loss there.

The case contained a tie, a small pin, and a few other things Marvin didn’t think it was important for you to see, at least not yet.

“Basically, the spell is worked into the tie,” he explained as he laid out the piece of fabric in question. “Similar to the spell I worked for the Host, except it’s not complete until I tie it. You’ll also need to keep it on you, which shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Okay,” you said, the word small and almost to yourself. Louder, you said, “Thank you, Marvin, for doing this. I know it’s a lot to ask.”

But you still asked. Marvin had every right to believe that every doubt, every idea how this could go wrong, must have passed through your mind just as easily as his, but you still wanted to try.

Which is why he put on a confident grin and said, “Nothing for a master magician like myself. But first, and most important, there’s this.”

He held up the pin so that you could see it was in the shape of a solid white cat with two gleaming green eyes before leaning forward so that he could pin it to your lapel.

“Is this part of the spell?” you asked, head tilted back so you two didn’t butt heads while he pinned it on.

“No, this is completely different,” Marvin said, hoping you didn’t notice how his hands shook and made pinning it that much harder. He faked a grin and said, “I say the right word and this little pin will turn you into a kitty cat.”

He leaned back in time to see you laugh and say, “Depending on how much cleanup there is after the party, I might just let you do it.”

“Or maybe it’s just cute and matches the tie,” Marvin said with a wink. To his relief, you didn’t question it, although that might have been because you were already watching as he picked up the emerald green tie. “Luckily I got to practice tying three neckties already today, so this part should be easy.”

“Three?” you asked.

“Seán and Chase, plus my own,” Marvin answered. “Jackieboy didn’t need one, Schneeps said he’d prefer a clip-on to having something around his neck, and JJ went with his usual bowtie.”

“You’re the resident tie expert?” you asked and he gave a less than humble shrug. “You haven’t said, how long will the spell last?”

“Until midnight,” Marvin answered, and stared when you gave a laugh at that. “What?”

“Midnight, really?” you asked. “Are you trying to make it as dramatic as possible?”

“It’s traditional, and I’ll have you know, drama is very important in working magic,” Marvin insisted. When you gave him a doubtful look, he admitted, “Plus that’s when the ball is officially over, so it seemed like a good end time.”

“You and Mark should really talk sometime, I think you’d get along if you both gave it a chance,” you said as he began to run his fingers up and down the fabric of the tie, whispering to himself as he did so. “Then again, I’m afraid what you two might come up with if left to yourselves.”

Marvin glanced up and flashed a brief grin before he could stop himself. “That’s probably fair. Are you ready?”

You nodded and leaned forward, head tilted to make it easier for Marvin to turn up your collar and loop the tie around it. As he did so, a last-minute question occurred to you.

“Will I remember…?”

“Probably not,” Marvin answered. “Some things might slip through, but until midnight it will just be like you’re asleep. Dreaming, maybe, but it’ll be over before you know it. Promise.”

You returned his smile, maybe out of reflex Marvin wasn’t sure, and he focused his attention on the tie. As he said, most of the heavy work had already been done, and now it was a matter of will as he carefully created a knot and slid it up into place at the base of your throat. He felt the spell take hold and his eyes flickered up toward your face.

He didn’t expect to see any difference and more than a part of him hoped that it might not work at all, but he was startled that this close he could see the flicker in your eyes before you closed them.

And the District Attorney opened them.

The District Attorney blinked slowly and then stared down at your—their body with a sharp inhale. They started to lift their hands only for the left to stop short on the way up, held back by a handcuff linking their wrist to the handle of a nearby storage locker.

“I—” They paused as though surprised at the sound of their own voice and a flurry of emotions crossed their face, too fast for Marvin to parse.

How long had it been, since they last spoke to someone else?

“I’m impressed,” they admitted once they recovered, turning their eyes from the handcuffs to the magician. “I didn’t even notice you doing that.”

“Sleight of hand is fun like that,” Marvin said over the scrape of the chair he pulled into place before taking a seat with his legs crossed. “Before anything else happens, I have some questions for you.”

The District Attorney took in the way those bright blue eyes narrowed behind the mask and the cross of his arms, but also the way his foot made quick, nervous motions in the air.

“…It’s Marvin, isn’t it?”

“You know my name?” The magician couldn’t hide his surprise. Marvin had assumed that the District Attorney would have as much trouble accessing your memories as you did trying to remember anything before the mirror. Actually, he had also assumed that the way you talked about the District Attorney as a separate person was just a way of coping with your lost memories, and that theory wasn’t looking too great either.

“Y/N, the one you know, isn’t trying to hide their memories from me. They’re…distant, like watching through someone else’s eyes, but they’re there.” The District Attorney put their free hand to their chest, where they could still feel your presence. Quiet, “sleeping,” but still very much there. A brief, soft smile crossed their face, giving them the patience to look at Marvin and ask, “What is it that you want to know?”

So much. Marvin’s mind was already spinning with theories on how you and the District Attorney could have become like this, two fragments of the same person. He had considered it of course, it was the whole basis for how the spell worked, but now he had so many questions. When did “you” first appear? Was it a side effect from all of those years in the house? Was it when Mark took a piece from the mirror? But there were more pressing concerns that he needed to focus on first.

“You gave Y/N the idea for this spell, didn’t you?”

“Correct.” The District Attorney attempted to lean against the storage locker, but there seemed to be no comfortable way of doing that. “I’ll admit, it wasn’t easy considering we can’t exactly talk face to face, but I’ve found I can have some influence in their dreams, and even then it was a long shot. I’m surprised you performed the spell, considering.”

“Just because I don’t immediately trust you?”

“I was thinking more because you seem to prefer using the same spells over and over again.” The District Attorney’s voice grew sharper as they added, “Speaking of, could you knock it off with the shrinking spells? Y/N has literally had nightmares where they’re tiny now.”

“…I’ll consider it,” Marvin said. The DA raised an eyebrow and he said, “Fine, no more making Y/N tiny…Spoilsport.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing, let’s get back to you. Why tonight? Why do you suddenly want to come back tonight of all nights?”

“This isn’t some sudden thing. I’ve had nothing but time to consider this.” The District Attorney shifted their weight, but the magician made no move to offer them a seat. “I have some things I want to say, and questions of my own I want to ask for myself. Y/N is the one who thought tonight would be best, with everyone in one place.”

They looked down at their suit and tugged at their collar before saying, “I’ll admit that I’m not too thrilled at the idea of a dance. Or this tie. Can I—?”

“Don’t touch it!”

They stopped just short of adjusting the tie and stared at Marvin. “Why?”

“So you just want to talk to some people? That’s all?”

“Yes. I don’t know what else you think I would have in mind, but that’s all. I want to make the best possible use of the limited time I have.”

“Forgive me for not immediately trusting someone just because they’re wearing a friendly face.” Marvin stood up and paced close to the District Attorney, his eyes locking with theirs. “Whatever you need to do, I want it done by midnight, do you understand? And then we get our Y/N back.”

“That’s all I—” The District Attorney stopped short and Marvin froze in the act of getting out the handcuff key when he heard the quiet anger in their voice. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”

“No,” Marvin said, but they saw the flicker in his eyes as he glanced at their face and back to the handcuffs.

“Is it the tie? Or something about the spell—” The DA’s eyes narrowed when they saw the tell. “What’s wrong with the spell?”

“Nothing! It’s working fine, it let you take control of Y/N’s body like it was supposed to, and at midnight they’ll have the chance to take it back.”

“The chance? What does that mean?”

Marvin quickly stepped back out of arm’s reach before explaining, “The closest I could find to your…situation was two spirits or hearts or whatever you call it in one body. The original spell was designed for, well, possessions.”

The District Attorney was silent as this sank in, not visibly reacting except for their restrained hand, which pressed so hard against the steel binding it that there would soon be a mark on their wrist if they weren’t careful.

“The tie works to safely suppress Y/N, giving you an opportunity to take over. At midnight the suppression wears off, but if you were to resist…”

“There’s the chance I could stay in control,” they finished. Between the two of you, the DA was the older one, the original from which you “split off” to form your own memories, your own heart as Marvin called it. The District Attorney had been their own person before the manor, but you were formed on the other side of the mirror—you weren’t made for this world, not on your own. There was no doubt who was the “stronger” of the two of you, looking at it that way.

“That’s not what you told them.”

“I…” Marvin faltered under their glare.

“How could you not tell them?!”

“Do you really think it would have changed their mind?” Marvin snapped back, his voice rising to match theirs. “You can see their memories, would anything I said have changed their minds?”

“I…” This time it was the DA’s turn to grasp for words.

“They trust you,” Marvin muttered as he took their hand and unlocked the handcuffs. “Which is the only reason I’m doing this.”

He tightened his grip on their wrist as he looked them in the eye, his eyes like cold ice as he added, “But you better believe I will get them back at midnight, whether you’re ready to leave or not. So take care of what you need to before then, understand?”

“…I understand,” the District Attorney said, not looking away. When Marvin released their wrist and turned away, he was surprised again when they added, “Thank you.”

“Like I said, I’m doing this for Y/N,” he answered as he went to the silver case and snapped it shut before making it disappear with a snap of his fingers.

“Thank you for looking out for them.”

Marvin had no answer for that, so he gave a mute shrug and motioned for them to follow him out of the storage closet. It was a silent walk back the way they came, but when he opened the door to the ballroom, they were both greeted by a flurry of voices and low but upbeat music. A steady stream of guests entered on the opposite side, and a sizable crowd was already milling around waiting for the ball to officially start.

“You’ll need a mask,” he said, leading the way across the room.

“Why?” they asked, and he glanced back at the tone in their voice in time to see their distaste as they looked around the room. “Who thought this was a good idea?”

“Your old friend Mark did,” he answered and was rewarded by the flurry of conflicting emotions that sped across the DA’s face before they could collect themselves.

Well, that was interesting.

“Besides, it’s required,” he said. “You’ll stick out like a sore thumb if you’re not wearing one.”

They muttered something about dramatic idiots and Marvin suppressed a grin. Maybe they weren’t that different from you after all.

By the time they crossed the room, the crowd around the table had started to diminish, but not enough for Marvin to notice who was sitting behind the stack of masks until he heard the narration.

“The Host hands Jeremy a mask that will certainly catch the eye of that particular someone and suggests that if Kiri is interested in a snake motif then she should take a look at the far end of the table where Jackieboy Man is assisting guests. Marvin stops short at the sound of the Host’s voice, but beside him the District Attorney—”

The fans nearest to the table were either too focused on picking out masks or trying to find their friends to notice as the Host rose from his seat, but Marvin still swore he heard the noise in the room dip as he spoke again, his voice low but trembling with anger.

“What has the magician done?”

“Uh, sorry, did you call for me Jackie?” Marvin said, not taking his eyes off of the Host.

“Kind of busy over here bro,” Jackieboy called from the other end of the table, even though he was clearly just posing for a picture with some grinning fans.

“Yeah, yeah, must have just been Jameson, I should…go���”

Then, dropping all efforts at pretending, Marvin turned and sprinted away into the crowd, leaving the District Attorney alone with the Host, whose furious narration was immediately rewarded by a yelp from the magician somewhere in the distance followed by Mark’s voice yelling about spilled punch.

“And then the magician—” The Host stopped short when he felt the pressure of a hand on his arm.

“Don’t, please,” the District Attorney said in his ear. “Y/N asked him to do this, just for tonight.”

The Host pulled away, his face turned toward theirs as though studying them through the red blindfold.

“The Host does not doubt his Y/N would do such a thing, but he does doubt that either Y/N has fully thought through what they have planned for tonight.”

“I just want to talk,” the District Attorney said, even as they felt a sense of unease at the Host’s words. “And I have thought of nothing else for a very, very long time. Our—your Y/N will be back safe and sound at midnight. No one, especially them, is going to get hurt. I promise.”

“The Host asks the District Attorney not to make promises that they have no control over.” Bitterness tinged the ego’s words, even as he added, “…But the Host will—”

He stopped, interrupted by the amplified tap of a finger on the microphone before a voice similar to his own came out of every speaker around the room and the crowd as one turned toward the stage with more than a few cries and shouts.

“Hello everybody, and welcome to the masquerade. I’m Markiplier—”

“And it’s me, the one and only Gaelic Gladiator,” chimed in the man next to him over the crowd’s applause and cheers.

Next to Mark.

The District Attorney stared at him up there on the stage, at the embroidered flowers splashed across the chest and running down the sleeve of his jacket, a dizzying array of colors designed to catch the eye, and at the white partial mask that did nothing to hide the shape of his face or his identity. How he drank in the audience’s attention even as he and Jack spoke about the masquerade, about the charity this was all for, their voices mingling and distant even as the light background music and every clap and laugh grew louder and more distorted.

There were so many people here. Despite the distance between themselves and the nearest guest, the District Attorney was suddenly aware of the press of bodies, the voices murmuring even during the rehearsed speech, the colors glaring against their vision even as the amplified voices caught and grated against their eardrums and this was a mistake, they couldn’t do this, they—

Your presence stirred and the District Attorney felt your concern like a sudden hand reaching out to steady them. They put a hand to their chest and took several long, slow breaths until their heart rate steadied.

I’m okay, they thought, and they felt you slipping back into your “sleep.” There was something about the idea of you so ready to step in and protect them that made the District Attorney smile.

For just a moment they caught Mark’s eye and just as quickly looked away. It took several seconds before they realized that the music had returned and that there was movement going on in the center of the dance floor.

The masquerade had officially begun.

Turning back to the masks and the Host, they couldn’t help but notice just how much he looked like Mark. It had been easy enough to ignore with the red blindfold around his eyes, but looking around the room they could see several other identical faces partially hidden by various masks.

Of course, they had also noticed how much Marvin resembled his creator despite a few cosmetic differences such as his hair. Even the man sitting at the other end of the table with the vivid red hood and a gilded blue mask was obviously another one of these egos.

Jackieboy Man. The name swam up from somewhere in your memories, and the District Attorney clung to it, already knowing how much they would be relying on you throughout the night.

“The Host holds out the mask he set aside for Y/N earlier. He had the other Y/N in mind, but it should still match this Y/N’s enchanted tie if they are interested.”

“…Thank you,” the District Attorney said, wondering if their voice shook as they took the offered mask. It was a half mask that covered the eyes and cheeks, the same emerald green as their tie beneath thin golden lines that radiated from the center like delicate, curling beams of sunlight.

“It is just a mask,” the Host answered, his face turned toward the table where his hands were clasped together. “Markiplier has asked that everyone wear one tonight for an effect that should go over well with the fans, but the District Attorney will see for themselves.”

“For that, but also thank you for taking care of the other me.” The District Attorney closed their eyes and let your memories of the Host wash over them briefly. “Thank you for being their friend.”

The Host seemed momentarily lost for words, judging by the way his mouth opened but nothing came out, not even his usual narration.

“Y/N, the District Attorney, can see our Y/N’s memories,” he said slowly, but before they could confirm that he continued, “Earlier they told Marvin the Magnificent that our Y/N is not hiding any memories from them.”

This time it was the DA’s turn to be surprised. “You—Yes, that’s correct.”

They could see the thread connecting one thought to the other in the Host’s narration, but they still weren’t prepared for the accusation in the Host’s voice as he said, “But Y/N cannot access the District Attorney’s memories unless that Y/N allows it. Because it is the District Attorney who is hiding memories.”

“Of course I am,” the District Attorney said and the Host visibly stiffened. “The Host has to know the kind of nightmares Y/N has. What just the memories of our time in the manor has done to them. If it were up to me…I don’t want to share anything with them that might hurt them any more than they already have been.”

“Even memories of Markiplier and Dam—”

“Especially those,” the District Attorney interrupted. They heard the anger in their own voice and added in a much more measured tone, “At least, not all of them, not yet. I don’t…I just want to be careful what I share with them. Sometimes even the good memories can do more harm than good.”

“It is not the Host’s place to comment on Y/N’s memories, so he will not,” the Host said, his clasped hands gripping each other tightly as he added, “But the Host wishes Y/N to know that he will be ready when they need him.”

“You mean ‘if.’”

The Host did not respond, instead turning his face toward a fan that had walked up to the table beside the District Attorney as though to suggest this conversation was over. The DA stepped away but couldn’t resist looking over their shoulder at the ego again before they shook off what he said and put on the mask.

At first the DA strayed around the edges of the crowd, watching as egos, fans, and creators danced together or stood around in small clumps, trying to hold conversations over the sound of the beating music with varying degrees of success. Gradually the tension in their body eased and they began to focus on the individual persons, searching for any sign of familiar to you faces beneath the masks.

But they were spotted first and a voice straight from their past asked, “Y/N, is that you?”

The Detective. He was wearing a mask, a simple black domino mask whose only contribution to hiding his identity was the fact that it actually matched his suit, and a frown as he leaned forward to get a better look at them before smiling as though satisfied. “Good to see you, Partner. I was starting to think I wouldn’t find you in this madhouse.”

“It’s good to see you too, Detective.”

The change in Abe’s posture was instantaneous, like a wire being pulled tight. Eyes blazed behind the mask as his hand went into his jacket and he said, “Who the hell are you?”

“I’m—” The District Attorney lunged forward and grabbed his wrist before he could draw it out of his jacket and tried to keep their voice down as much as possible as they asked, “Why did you bring a gun to a party?!”

“Considering how the last time I went to one of Mark’s parties turned out, why wouldn’t I?” Abe asked, but he released his grip on the gun hidden under his jacket and grabbed their wrist instead. “And you better start answering my question, pal.”

“I am Y/N, just…just not the one you’re thinking of.” The District Attorney sighed and tugged their gripped wrist in the direction of one of the empty tables. “This is going to take some time to explain.”

Abe sat back in his chair and studied them the entire time they spoke, and when they were done he shook his head and said, “You really expect me to believe there’s two of you in there?”

“In essence, yes. I think it’s safe to say that it’s the ‘other me’ you are familiar with and know by this point. After all, they’re the one who’s been your partner for over a year now, compared to the single weekend we knew each other.”

“Which would make you—you’re the one who…”

“What happened to me wasn’t your fault, Detective.” The District Attorney spoke quickly to cut him off before he could follow that train of thought too far, but they looked down, their gaze on their hands fidgeting on top of the table. “I don’t know if you know that, but just in case. And I’ve wanted to say thank you for choosing me to be your partner, for as short a time as it may have been.”

When they looked up, they saw the tears in the Detective’s eyes before he coughed and looked away.

“Yeah, yeah, of course I…” He gave up and shook his head. “Thank you.”

“And I know the other Y/N enjoys their time with you as well,” the District Attorney added, revealing a rare grin.

“Okay, look, I’m already crying, just stop already,” Abe said, but his smile faded slightly as he studied their face again. “What happens to you at midnight? When the spell ends?”

The DA shrugged. “Things will go back to the way they were before. For me, it’s like…being asleep, I suppose, except I have some awareness of what’s going on with the other me. The important things come through, at least.”

They had chosen to leave out Marvin’s warning, for the Detective’s own peace of mind.

“That’s…” Abe trailed off, unable to find the words.

How could they look so okay with that?

Before he could protest, two masked individuals approached from the crowd and stopped at their table.

“You two aren’t just going to sit here all night, are you?” asked the one on the left, the one wearing a butterfly mask emblazoned with bright colors that shimmered with the lights.

The District Attorney hesitated, just long enough for your memories to resurface. “It’s…Amy, right?”

“Got it in one!” she said with a laugh. She pulled out the chair next to them and sat down while gesturing at her mask. “I’d wanted to get the alien one, but it was gone by the time I got back.”

“Sorry about that,” said the second woman, who took another empty chair and sat back with a sigh. “The stupid zipper on this dress hasn’t worked right since Jackieboy tried to take it for a spin.”

“I…what?” the District Attorney asked. “We are talking about the superhero, correct?”

Evelien sighed. “Yeah. Yandereplier started it, trying to talk you into wearing a dress tonight, and next thing I know Jackie’s seeing how he looks in one. I took him back to the store so he could get his own dress, and Schneeplestein helped him sew the hood on, but the damage was already done.”

She gestured toward the superhero, who was walking across the floor now, and there were appreciative nods all around the table and a low whistle from Abe.

“He definitely has…the build for it,” the District Attorney said.

“Yeah he does,” Amy said. “Oh. Sorry, Evelien—”

“Please, you should have heard Seán when he saw him,” Evelien said with a laugh. “Look at those legs!”

Abe looked between the three of them as the conversation continued, waiting for as long as he could before he blurted out, “Hey, Amy, where’s Mark at?”

The DA visibly froze and sent him a daggered look, but Amy shrugged and looked around.

“I’m not sure. He said something about his jacket, but I didn’t think he would want to miss—”

As if in response to her words, Mark’s amplified voice rose above the crowd and all eyes turned once again to the stage in response to his question.

“Does everyone have their masks?”

A chorus of cheers and shouts greeted him and he smiled as the other person on the stage continued.

“Fantastic! Now we can really have some fun.”

The District Attorney frowned, recognizing Marvin’s suit and mask up on the stage, but before they could wonder what the magician was up to, he raised his hand up and snapped his fingers.

Immediately, all of the lights in the room went out as one, plunging the masquerade into darkness for just a brief second. The DA felt a hand clamp down on their wrist as if to make sure they were still there, but before the crowd could even panic or start making jokes they were all turning to one another with sounds of surprise and delight.

In the darkness, they could now see that their masks glowed as though lit from within, taking on new colors and patterns in the darkness. The colors in their clothes also took on a lesser glow, so that an idea of the person standing next to them could be seen, if not the whole figure.

“Once an hour, at a random time within that hour, we’ll have ourselves a dance in the dark,” Mark said. His partial mask also glowed in the darkness, and the flowers spread across his jacket left iridescent trails as he gestured.  “Even we don’t know exactly when they’ll happen, but that’s just part of the fun. So hold on to your masks, and be ready. After all, who knows who you might bump into in the dark?”

The music started again, this time with a very different beat, and the District Attorney found themselves being pulled up out of their chair and in the direction of the dancing masks by Amy, whose butterfly mask was such a bright neon blue now that it left trails in the darkness when she turned to face them.

“Come on, Y/N, move it a little,” she said with a laugh. “Don’t be shy, no one can judge you if they can’t see you.”

The District Attorney blinked and stared at her mask. Did its wings move, or was it just a trick of the light streaming from it?

“I’d beg to differ,” they muttered, but began to move in time to the music all the same. “Amy, do you mind if I ask you something?”

“Sure! Music might make it a little hard though,” she said, her own voice barely audible over the incessant beat.

The District Attorney moved closer and asked, “How have you been doing? You and Mark?”

“Crazy busy! This whole thing didn’t plan itself,” Amy pointed out. “How much does it show?”

“It doesn’t—I mean, I just…” The District Attorney let their voice trail off and get lost in the noise.

“But I wouldn’t trade times like this, or any of these last few years, for the world,” Amy continued. This time, the DA was sure they saw the butterfly on her mask flap its wings and realized the blue was shifting into a vibrant, beaming gold as she looked around the room. “I hope he takes the time to stop and enjoy this. You wouldn’t remember I guess, but when I first met him Mark just…couldn’t look past his work, whether it was the latest video or the next project. Bob and Wade told me they used to come by once a week just to make sure he was still alive and then drag him out for a movie or a game or anything to snap him out of himself. Sometimes he slips back into it, but if this makes sense, it really feels like he’s finally remembered there’s a Mark in the ‘Markiplier.’”

“It really does seem like it,” the District Attorney said quietly, and then raised their voice to be sure Amy could hear as they added, “I know he seems so much happier now than he used to be. He definitely smiles more when he’s with you.”

Amy laughed and pushed at their shoulder, but the District Attorney saw the yellow in their mask tinge pink before the song ended and lights came up again around the room, and in turn the masks dimmed back to their normal colors.

The District Attorney glanced toward the stage, but there was no sign of the magician or Markiplier, only the ego in his likeness handling the music. The next song was just as fast as the first and the District Attorney backed away, saying as they did so, “Thank you, Amy. For everything.”

“Now hold on, that was just one song,” Amy said, her smiled widening just as the District Attorney’s shoulders bumped into a pair of hands waiting to catch them.

“You aren’t trying to run away, are you?” The voice behind them sounded like the magician, and when they looked over their shoulder it was the same face, but your memories immediately offered up the name Jack. Or maybe it was Seán? “Come on, Y/N, let’s see you shake those hips!”

“Excuse you?”

“Here, just move like this,” Evelien added as she walked up, the Detective in tow and looking about as thrilled as the DA.

The District Attorney watched Evelien and Jack dance for a few seconds, during which they both tried to outdo each other while not breaking down into giggles as their moves became more and more ridiculous.

“How do I pass?” they said eventually, but Amy took hold of their hands and began pulling them back and forth until they were forced to move their feet. They shot a look at the Detective for help, but he only managed a smirk before he found hands clamping down on his shoulders.

“Someone’s not dancing,” Tyler crowed.

“Get your hands off of me, you washed-up butler,” Abe snapped, but he was helpless in the face of Tyler’s might combined with Ethan, Wade, and Bob, who seemed to have formed a roving band with the goal of getting all the dance-shy guests moving and enjoying the fun.

While he tried to evade them, Abe kept an eye on the District Attorney, watching as they, yes, danced (who taught them the cabbage patch?), but also used every chance to talk to the friends you had made over the last year and a half. About what, the Detective couldn’t be sure, but he often caught them staring too long at faces, brow furrowing as though trying to read beneath the surface of what they were saying. And he saw the same words repeated over and over again, so many times that he started to recognize the shape of them on their lips even if he couldn’t hear the sounds over the music:

Thank you.

The first time he saw them lose their composure was when a slow song came on and one of Mark’s egos tapped them on the shoulder. He saw the way their eyes widened behind the mask, the panic that made them take a step back, but before he could step in they slowly relaxed and said, “…You are…Eric?”

“Uh, y-yeah, it’s me,” Eric said. His bright yellow mask matched the handkerchief in his chest pocket, which he promptly took out to fidget with as he added, “I, uh, sorry if you were, um…Hoping for someone else, but I was…would you…I mean you don’t have to, I just—Sorry, I should go.”

“Wait!” The word slipped out and the District Attorney immediately winced, their hand going to their chest with a grimace before they recovered and continued in their normal, restrained tone, “I’m…not much of a dancer, but sure.”

Eric’s grin, the only part of his face visible beneath the mask, was nervous and hopeful even as he and the District Attorney fumbled in how and where to place their hands before starting a slow, uneven sway much like the other dancers around them.

Abe watched for a moment and then realized he was the only one just standing there amid all of the dancers. More importantly, he had managed to lose Tyler and the others in the dance posse, which meant he was free to leave the floor.

And free to have a talk with a certain magician before midnight.

“I’ve, um, I’ve been practicing but I’m s-still not very good,” Eric mumbled. This close, and he could still barely look them in the eye, only briefly glancing up every now and then in between keeping his gaze firmly on the ground.

“You’re doing fine,” the District Attorney said, and then realized their tone wasn’t exactly encouraging or kind so they tried again. “Just relax. It’s only a dance.”

Eric gave them a bashful smile and the District Attorney could only stare. Even with the mask, he looked so much like Mark. Of course he did, there were over a dozen of them roaming around the room right now, but the idea of this shy, bashful, neurotically nervous person, that any part of him could have come out of Mark of all people was…

“Um, have you, have you been enjoying the, uh…dance? Not the dancing, I mean, I know you don’t like that, but um…everything else?”

“It’s been enlightening so far,” the District Attorney said. They glanced at the clock hanging above the stage and took a deep breath. They could only avoid the inevitable for so long, after all. “Have you seen Marki—Mark anywhere around? I…I need to talk to him after this dance.”

“Um…I think he went backstage a while ago, something about a stain on his jacket?” Eric looked up at the District Attorney and their eyes briefly met. “Is everything…Um, are you okay? You just don’t… Um, never mind, this is stupid, I’m stupid, let’s, uh…How long is this dance?”

“I’m sorry, I just have a lot on my mind,” the District Attorney said. They paused and then gave his shoulder a squeeze as the song came to an end. “And you’re not stupid. Thank you for the dance, Eric. I enjoyed it.”

At that moment the lights went out, plunging the room once more into darkness as an upbeat, borderline funk song came on. The District Attorney wove their way in and out of the crowd in the direction of the stage, too intent on making their way to the back area to notice that a couple of dancers had taken to the stage.

But one of the dancers did notice the mask moving through the crowd out of time to the music and a voice loud and deep enough to be heard over the music called out, “Someone’s a little slow getting into the groove!”

The District Attorney stopped so fast that others around them bumped and jostled them out of the way, but they couldn’t care less. They knew that voice, even without your memories stirring at the familiar baritone, but when they turned toward the stage he was gone, leaving a blank space between the glowing masks.

“Maybe you just need a little encouragement?” he continued and the District Attorney whirled around to stare at the lurid yellow and pink suit that probably didn’t need Marvin’s magic to glow in the dark, at the mask that was a solid white except for the mustache, which was almost as brilliantly pink as the mustache hidden underneath the mask.

Wilford, your memories said, but all the District Attorney could hear was the voice of the Colonel, the slurred, manic voice of the man who shot them.

“Come on up, don’t be shy,” Wilford continued without waiting for or needing a response, and suddenly the District Attorney found themselves on the stage with the other dancers even though they had certainly not taken any of the steps leading up to here.

They staggered back but Wilford caught their hand and pulled them away from the edge of the stage with a laugh and a “Not that way!” The next thing the DA knew, they were mimicking the movements of the dance, or at least from what they could see of it in the dark. Their mind moved achingly slow but, eventually, the thought strayed forward that they would have to catch him before he left the stage. This might be their only chance to talk to him tonight, after all, as both your memories and theirs confirmed he wasn’t the easiest person to get a hold of when he didn’t want to be.

As the music slowed, they stopped pretending to dance, and just as the song came to a close and the lights returned they grabbed hold of his candy-striped sleeve.

“Not bad,” Wilford said, pushing his mask up out of the way as he turned to face them. His eyes glittered in the stage lights as he added, “What do you say to another round, for old time’s sake?”

“I—” The District Attorney let go and stepped back, unable to look away from those eyes, their heart thudding like it just took another bullet to the chest. “This was a mistake.”

“Come on, we can work on the dancing!” Wilford called after them as the District Attorney jumped down from the stage and disappeared into the crowd, but he made no move to chase after them and instead turned to the guests on the floor. “Well, anyone else want to volunteer?”

While a suspiciously loud and Irish voice volunteered to go on stage, the District Attorney wove their way in and out of the crowd, looking for the least crowded path to anywhere, just as far away from all of this as possible.

“Y/N!”

They had no idea how many times their name was called before the weight of a hand on their shoulder drew them back into the here and now.

“Shh, it’s okay, it’s okay. Let’s go over here where it’s quieter, okay?”

They nodded and the hand kept its steady pressure on their back, guiding them through the spinning room and out of the pressing crowd until they were in the back of the room, in the relative privacy and quiet behind one of the fake marble columns.

“Just close your eyes, take deep breaths.”

The District Attorney did as he said, breathing slowly in and out. They felt their panic slowly ebb and fade, but nearly thought they were going to be sick again when they remembered what the magician said about strong emotions passing through to you in your “sleep.” They could still feel your presence, closer than and just as comforting as the hand on their upper arm that squeezed gently as he continued to talk them down.

They risked opening their eyes and found them drawn to the flowers scattered across the white jacket in front of them, droplets of colors that ran down the sleeve and up toward the hand on their shoulder.

“Are you okay?” he asked and the District Attorney looked up at that white partial mask that covered the left side of his face, at the eyes full of concern on the other side. “Do you need to sit down?”

“No…” They took a shuddering breath and tried again, “No, I just…need a minute.”

“Take all the time you need, Y/N,” he said with a gentle smile. “There’s no rush.”

They might have laughed at the irony of that if they weren’t studying the visible portions of his face closely, looking for what they weren’t sure.

“I realize this might not bring up the best memories for you,” he admitted, watching their face just as closely.

“The—Abe said the same thing earlier. About the…other party.”

His hand on their shoulder tightened, briefly, his mouth turning down before he sighed. “It’s a shame you can’t remember the other ones. And there were others, Y/N. Some a little more…rowdier than others, but not all of them ended badly. Like when we celebrated graduating college together and wound up in a field looking up at the stars. We may have overdone it a little on that one, considering I don’t remember exactly how we got there…”

“I would be surprised if you did,” the District Attorney said, uncertain if it was the sudden venom in their voice or the way they slapped his hand off their shoulder that earned them the look of surprise before they continued, “Considering Mark wasn’t there.”

The noise in the room dipped briefly in the pause between one song ending and the next one starting, a silence as Dark’s lips parted but nothing came out.

The District Attorney had no such problem as they reached up and pulled his mask off, only to toss it on the ground so they could see his face when they asked, “Why are you pretending to be Mark? What was the plan here, why would you—Why?!”

“You remember.” Dark stared at them, eyes wide and showing no sign that he was listening to a single word. “I thought tonight might jog your memories, but—”

He stopped short, and now it was his turn to pull off the other’s mask. The District Attorney took a step back and their shoulders bumped into the column behind them, but they met Dark’s stare head on with a fury and disgust he recognized. Just not one he had seen outside of your reflection trapped in a mirror.

“You…how…?” Dark’s eyes dropped to the emerald tie around their neck. “The magician. What spell is this? How long will it last?”

“Don’t,” they said, putting out a hand to stop him before he could touch the tie. “Don’t you dare touch me.”

“Is it permanent?” Dark’s eyes went back up to their face and he quickly took a step back.

“No, it is not,” the DA answered, stressing every word in an attempt to not raise their voice. “At midnight, this body goes back to the other me.”

“Why? Isn’t there some way—”

“Why would you care?”

Dark paused and then straightened his tie, settling back into his more reserved state as he said, “It is of professional interest to me, of course. After all, that looks like a possession spell our dear wannabe warlock has used.”

The District Attorney kept their face carefully blank, not wanting to give Dark the satisfaction of a reaction to that. “Which is exactly why this won’t last.”

“But it could. You could stay here, with us.”

“And the other Y/N?” they asked, feeling their anger reach a new fever pitch at the word ‘us.’ How dare he say it, how dare he even pretend— “What happens to them?”

“…They’re a part of you, you’re the same person,” Dark started, but the District Attorney cut them off.

“No. Because I will tell you right now, if I had been the one to find you bleeding out on the infirmary floor, I would have kept walking.” The District Attorney looked him straight in the eye as they said, “If it were up to me, the other Y/N wouldn’t even remember your name, or Mark, or any of our time in that godforsaken house.”

“…Would you really?” Dark asked softly.

He saw the uncertainty flicker in their eyes, heard the anger recede into bitterness and sadness as they looked away and said, “I would take back every memory I never should have shared with them, if…”

They took a deep, shuddering breath and continued, “But no, we are not the same person.”

Every memory I never should have shared. Dark thought of what memories you did have, of those long years spent in the house, in that mirror. Maybe a few other, scattered memories that the District Attorney had either chosen to share with you or that accidentally slipped through whenever they felt a familiar touch or heard a certain phrase. Enough to give you recurring nightmares, enough to make you hide yourself away at the sound of thunder or the crack of lightning.

“Only because you made it that way,” he said. “You chose this, to split your memories in two, to keep everything from them. Maybe we should have been tapping the magician for a way to separate you two instead of forcing you together.”

He thought the sarcasm in his voice was audible, but the District Attorney answered them as though they had seriously considered it, “Even if we had a second body, I’m not sure the other Y/N would be able to survive in this reality without me. They were born on the other side of the mirror, after all, and that’s gone.”

“I could always take them off your hands, if you ever find the other you to be a burden.”

“Is that supposed to be a joke?”

“I thought that’s what we’re doing now,” Dark said, stepping closer so that he could still be heard over the music even as he lowered his voice. “You are making this harder than it needs to be. If you would just get over your martyrdom complex and let them become a part of you, there wouldn’t be a problem. They’re not going to do die, they would just become a part of you, like they’re supposed to be!”

He felt his aura straining to be free of the hold he had on it, to grab hold of them until he could force them to see how stupid and petty they were being about all of this and he grabbed the lapels of his borrowed jacket, pulling until the collar pressed into the back of his neck.

The District Attorney stared evenly back at him as they asked, “Just like, say, Celine is a part of you?”

“…What?”

“Celine. What happened to her, when she became a part of you? To—What happened to them? Because maybe they’re still in there somewhere, but they’re not you, not as I knew them. What do you think will happen to the other Y/N, if I took them back? Do you think the last year and a half is enough to even stand up against the pain and heartbreak you and Mark put me through? Remembering the house did enough damage, but to remember you—to remember my friends, what you meant to me, and to have all of those memories, the best memories of my life, tainted and torn apart by what you did? Or I could just leave them buried, safe and away from you while I take control. Is that what you want?”

“Y/N.” Dark breathed their name, the only word that could come to mind as he saw the tears form the in the corner of their eyes.

“It’s not fair.”

Dark froze, his hand outstretched as though to wipe away one of those tears. “What did you just say?”

“It’s not fair how much you look like him. Like Damien.” The District Attorney’s hands clenched into fists at the name and they shook their head as though they wished to say more but couldn’t. Instead, they shot forward, brushing hard against Dark’s shoulder on their way past him and back toward the center of the room, muttering something about time.

Dark looked down and realized that he still had their mask in his other hand. He ran his thumb over the green and gold sun design, their words running through his mind until he felt a cold chill that had nothing to do with his aura.

He didn’t see them, but he did see a familiar white cat mask on the far side of the room talking to the Detective. Dark’s eyes narrowed and he strode forward, no longer certain of what he hoped might happen at midnight but very sure of what he intended to do once he had his hands on that magician.

The swelling anger provided a welcome distraction from the worrying thoughts that were piling up, starting with the realization that his words may or may not have had an effect on what the District Attorney planned to do between now and midnight. Combine that with the unwelcome uncertainty of what he even hoped would happen and it turned into something bordering on worry and concern.

Two things he could very much do without, all things considered.

The District Attorney had every intention of getting lost in the crowd, but somewhere along the way the stares from strangers became more and more obvious. A girl who they didn’t recognize and whose face didn’t appear in any of your memories stopped them and asked, “Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah, I—” The District Attorney reached up and brushed a sleeve across their eyes only to realize with a jolt what was missing. “Ah, my mask, I—I should go get another one.”

They brushed off the girl and her friends’ well-meaning offer to walk with them and reassured them that they had plenty of people looking out for them tonight. The truth of which the District Attorney was reminded of when they approached the nearly empty mask table, where a small group had gathered around the Host.

“That story was one of the Host’s favorites as well, which is why he—The Host asks for the group’s patience as he steps aside for a moment,” said the ego, stepping away from the group to hold out a mask for the District Attorney. “The Host hopes this new mask is suitable. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of options on the table now.”

“It doesn’t matter,” they muttered, taking the offered mask. It was a full-face mask this time with a simple design of a face split straight down the middle, separating the mask into half gold and half black. “You could have mentioned that Dark would be impersonating Mark.”

“The Host can see possibilities, but they are not a guarantee of future events.”

“Are there any more possibilities I should be aware of?” they asked as they put on the mask.

The Host hesitated, more than long enough for the District Attorney to know he was putting too much thought to his answer. “…Any warning the Host can give will not make this night any easier for Y/N. But he can tell the District Attorney that seeing Mark again will not be easy.”

“I could have guessed that,” they answered with a sigh. “But I still need to talk to him. I—I…”

“Markiplier has replaced his jacket and is making his way back to the party. He will seek out Amy first…” The Host paused, muttering to himself as he sped through his narration before he nodded and said, “The District Attorney can find him at the punch table three songs from now, if they wish to talk to him alone.”

“Thank you,” they said, unable to hide their surprise. They studied the Host’s face under that red blindfold, but could still make nothing of his expression or his thoughts before their eyes strayed to the group behind him. “Fans of yours?”

“Yes, they are,” he said, and the Host could not hide the smile or the pride in his voice. “Some have read his stories, others have listened to them, but they—They were excited to see him, and to see other fans.”

“Then I shouldn’t keep you from them any longer,” the District Attorney said, smiling as well.

The Host wasn’t the only one of the egos thrilled to find fans among the crowd. As the District Attorney walked across the room, they saw two egos wearing matching white jackets giving a very biased poll to any who would answer on just who was the “number one best real doctor,” a puff of green smoke on the side of the room followed by cheering and clapping as the magician apparently pulled off a disappearing act, and Eric Derekson was positively overwhelmed by the supporting fans all around teaching him a dance the DA wasn’t familiar with but your memories seemed to connect with a game of some sort. They even saw an ego with a squirrel mask and a cape thrown over his suit having a very spirited discussion with several fans about someone named Doreen Green and assuring them that he did, in fact, speak fluent squirrelese.

The District Attorney kept moving around, listening to the music while the words they had prepared to say to Mark ran through their mind again and again.

They could do this.

The District Attorney took a deep breath and walked over to the punch table, where there was a short line for the bowl and the snacks. More people seemed interested in the chairs further down the wall and around the nearby tables, where guests sat with their legs stretched out for a break and where a growing line of shoes suggested some people had rethought the idea of heels for the night. An ego with a bright blue shirt that matched the ‘G’ embroidered on the pocket of his jacket stood impeccably straight near the wall, looking absolutely bored as he watched the table and the immediate area.

Google, your memories offered, along with the mental image of not one but four egos. The District Attorney took a closer look around the room and spotted the other three, all with the same bored yet unblinking stare as they stood sentry near the stage and next to the exits.

The one near the table made no sign that he recognized the District Attorney as they approached and ladled out a drink in one of the small plastic cups, although based on your memories they suspected the android wouldn’t have cared much if he did know.

“No one’s spiked this, have they?”

The District Attorney dropped the ladle and just in time caught the handle before the whole thing could slide to the bottom of the bowl.

“No. No foreign substances have been added to the punch or any of the food,” Google answered with a heavy, dull tone. “This has truly been a waste of my capabilities.”

“Considering alcohol could literally kill me, you could say you have the most important job of anyone here,” Mark suggested.

He was right behind them. The District Attorney felt their grip tighten on the cup, threatening to break the weak plastic and send the contents flooding across the white tablecloth.

“Tell me, when I convey to you my combined processing power and the rate at which I can access and transmit the vast stores of data I have access to after each update, which part of that suggests a walking security camera?” Google asked, his eyes narrowing behind his glasses as he stared past the District Attorney.

“I think I’d have to go with that video you threaten to send to my millions of subscribers every time I put off my Windows update.”

“IT security nightmare,” Google muttered darkly before walking away to take up a new vantage point further down the wall.

This was their chance. There was no one else in the immediate area, just the District Attorney and Mark.

They could do this.

The District Attorney turned around and felt like all of the wind had been knocked out of them in a single blow that flung them back eighty years to a very different party.

Mark must have felt their stare because he tugged at the lapels of his jacket and said, “What do you think? I had to make a change, and I found this one just lying around backstage. It’s reversible!”

It was a brilliant red except for the black lapels and lining. A memory of Dark’s jacket slipped by but the District Attorney couldn’t acknowledge it, not when all they could see was the exact same Mark from before, down to the way he brushed his hair back and up out of his face before he smiled at them, face only half covered by the white mask that dominated the right side.

The District Attorney backed up, but Mark interpreted it as them stepping aside to give him space to get to the punch because he now he was standing next to them, chatting easily as he poured out two cups.

“Joke’s on him if he thinks that video’s any more embarrassing than anything I’ve posted myself. Are you enjoying the masquerade? Met anyone yet?” Mark paused long enough to take a sip of one of the punches and, when a reply failed to come, said, “You don’t talk much, do you? It’s okay to admit if you’re one of Seán’s fans, I won’t take it too personally.”

“Mark, you—” The District Attorney stopped, their words catching in their throat when he suddenly looked at them with recognition at the sound of their voice.

“Y/N? Is that you?”

The District Attorney could only give a mute nod in recognition of their name.

“Oh! Well I guess the masks work, huh?” he said, giving an uncomfortable laugh as he studied them more closely now. “Everything okay? Amy and Seán told me about Wilford dragging you up on stage. If you want, we can…um…”

Mark trailed off, aware that there were very few threats he could use against Wilford that the man would take seriously if not outright ignore.

The District Attorney shook their head and found their voice. “No, it was just a bit…much. Are you—are you enjoying the masquerade?”

It wasn’t the question they wanted to ask. But the District Attorney thought they could build to that, to all the words they needed to get off their chest. Until then, as long as Mark still didn’t know who he was talking to, they might as well pretend everything was fine.

“Of course! Seán and I have been working for months to pull this all together and the fans pulled through for us too. Google’s got the final numbers on the charity donations, but it’s more than either of us have ever raised in one go before.” He looked around the room as he spoke, smiling as he added, “And I think they’re all more excited to see their online friends in person than any one of us. Not that any of the egos aren’t getting enough attention to satisfy even them for a while. Everyone’s playing their part.”

“Like actors in a play.” It was subtle, but the District Attorney could see the flicker in Mark’s eyes, the small double take at that choice of words. Before he could respond, they added, “I ran into Dark earlier. He has on your jacket and an almost identical mask.”

It was just like Mark’s, except flipped to cover the opposite side of his face. The District Attorney supposed it was the closest one Dark could find, with no two masks being identical.

“What? He—that—” Mark sputtered as he spun around to look at the rest of the room, as though he expected to find Dark flipping him off somewhere among the dancers. “I knew he shouldn’t have come, I told you he would pull something like this. What the hell is he doing, pretending to be me?!”

At that moment, Dark was posing with a couple of fans for a photo. A fake smile plastered on his face hid his frustration at losing the magician, who’d disappeared at just the sight of him. There were still a couple of fans hanging around in the general area to see if he would finish the act or at least come back for the rabbit, who seemed to be enjoying life outside of the hat.

On the other side of the room, the District Attorney answered, “He seemed to think this party might stir up some memories.”

“…Oh.” Mark paused and made an effort not to sound too eager as he asked, “Has it?”

“Why?” The question slipped out before the District Attorney could stop it, just one of the questions they had been asking themselves again and again for decades. “Why did you invite me to that party?”

“Maybe now isn’t the best time for this…”

“Mark. Why?”

“I—I don’t know. Being in that house, that thing feeding into all of my anger and bitterness, looking back on it now I don’t know what I was thinking. All I cared about was the Colonel and Ce-Celine…” Mark stopped to take a shuddering breath before he looked them in the eye. “Y/N, all I wanted was to make William hurt any way that I could, whatever it took. You don’t even know all of the terrible things that I did, what I could have become if I hadn’t left when I did. Maybe I thought that if a private detective, a mayor, and his district attorney all leave a party saying that a man killed their host, no one would question it. No one would doubt you. What happened to all of you, I—”

“We were just convenient witnesses,” the District Attorney muttered.

“Or maybe—” Mark stopped himself and shook his head. “Whatever the reason, it never should have happened. None of it should have happened, but all I can say is I’m sorry, Y/N. For as little as that’s worth.”

The District Attorney didn’t answer. They just closed their eyes and took a deep breath, focusing on your presence to calm them down.

“Y/N? You never answered me,” Mark said slowly, as though even he wasn’t sure if he was pushing too far. “Do you remember…?”

He left the question hanging there in the air, hopeful and hesitant.

“Maybe it’s like your egos.”

“What?”

“Us. The District Attorney and the Y/N from the mirror. One is the original, and the other is…someone else. Someone with their own memories, their own personality. One who can’t exist without the original. There are similarities, but we’re as much the same person as you and, say, whoever that is flexing by the speaker.”

“Probably the Silver Shepherd,” Mark said, if only because of the silver mask and Jackieboy’s presence near the ego. “Y/N, don’t talk about yourself like that, you’re not some kind of copy or fake—”

“But if it were true? If there were two of us, somehow split apart, then…”

“…It wouldn’t change the memories we do share. Y/N…” Mark put his drinks down and pulled the DA into a hug. “You would still be my friend. I’d still love you, both of you. Even if you don’t understand my flare for the dramatic.”

The District Attorney stood frozen, hardly daring to breathe. Part of them wanted to lean into the hug, to tell him everything, to spend time with their friend again. But another part of them wanted to push him away, to scream, to tell him apologies and hugs would never be enough to undo what he did to them, to the others, to Damien.

“I can’t do this.”

“What?” Mark asked, but they were already pulling away. He reached out for them, but at that moment the lights went out for the next dark dance.

The sudden darkness surprised the District Attorney as well, and for a moment they and Mark saw each other in the dark. They saw the red jacket, gleaming like blood beneath a partial face that was no longer smooth and white but a spiderweb of cracks out of which spilt light like it could barely be held in. And he saw the green tie that in the dark seemed to swirl with an energy all its own beneath a solid gold mask. And behind and beside the golden mask there was a darker one, moving just out of sync like a delayed shadow, gleaming with an almost violet hue that did not quite blend in with the darkness all around.

It was as though two people sharing the same space looked back at him, before they ducked their heads and turned away. Mark called out, but the District Attorney had already disappeared into the darkness, lost among the other masks. His heart thudded in his ears as the possibility hit him, too much for him to believe or even hope, and too late for him to run after them.

“Google!” Mark realized it was just short of a shrill scream, but it was enough to be heard over the music as a blue ‘G’ lit up near the wall in response. “I need you to help me find someone, now!”

“What’s the magic word?” Google asked.

Mark heaved the hugest sigh he could and said, “Please.”

“Incorrect. The correct response is ‘magic is an inherently illogical system that does not necessarily convey politeness.’ Please try again.”

Mark’s muffled scream of frustration was drowned out by the music behind the District Attorney as they walked out of a side door to one of the balconies that overlooked the lawn. Leaning hard against the stone railing, they took a deep breath of the heavy summer night air and slowly let it out. Or that was the intent, until their breath hitched and they moved to the corner of the balcony, out of sight of the glass doors where they could sink down and sit there, cheek pressed against the stone railing, and just…not think about anything.

They had a lot of practice at that, from their time alone in the mirror.

They did not notice the click of the door opening, or the footsteps that paused when they were spotted, but they did hear the loud greeting that followed:

“Howdy, bitch!”

The District Attorney jumped and whirled around in time to see Jameson fumbling with his recording device, face aflame as a speech slide appeared in the air between them.

“Good gracious! That is not what I meant at all, I swear! Who even put that on this confounded device?!”

Jameson looked up when he heard the laugh that escaped from the District Attorney before they could stop it, and he gave an embarrassed smile before gesturing at the empty ground next to them. “May I join you?”

The District Attorney nodded and watched the ego as he brushed off the stone before sitting down with exaggerated care.

“It is nice to get away from the noise of it all,” he commented, his bright blue eyes watching them just as closely. “But I’m starting to suspect you have a habit of avoiding the dance floor.”

“Not everyone jumps at the chance to waltz, Mr. Jackson.”

“Then I must have been a lucky man, to tempt you once,” he replied with a wink. “And it’s Jameson, if you please.”

“You do remember,” the District Attorney said and his smile widened. They had recognized him through you when he played the song from that night, all those years ago, but as much as they watched him since, as much as they studied your memories and their own, it just didn’t make any sense. How could one of Seán’s egos remember something like that, be the exact image of a man they met decades before Seán was even born but without a voice of his own? “I don’t suppose you’ll tell me how you wound up like this.”

Jameson just pressed a finger to his smiling lips and winked in response.

“Can I at least ask why you’re out here and not dancing the night away inside with the others?”

“A proper gentleman always goes where he’s needed!” Jameson declared, and when the District Attorney seemed more than a little skeptical, he added a second speech slide that read, “Also, I may have overheard the Host talking to himself about you. I don’t think he realized I was there, because…”

He gestured at the speech slide before it disappeared and shrugged.

The District Attorney wasn’t surprised the Host was keeping a narrative eye on them. They placed a hand to their chest and felt your presence, quiet and hopefully dreaming of better things. For a brief second they considered removing the tie, letting you have the body back early and just being done with all of this, but that would only cause you to worry.

“Care to share what’s on your mind?”

The speech slide nudged its way into view and the District Attorney glanced at Jameson, this strange ego who was also out of place, out of his time.

And, without hesitation, they told him everything. About the tie, about the time limit, about how they had so many things they wanted to say, but even looking at Mark or Dark or Wilford brought back so many memories that it hurt to even be in the same room as them, much less talk to them.

“I thought I was ready, I thought I could finally face them myself, but one look and I just—I can’t…” The District Attorney stopped with a hiccup and sob. They couldn’t remember the last time they cried, much less so many times in one night.

“Here.”

Jameson offered them the handkerchief from his chest pocket. When the District Attorney started to refuse, he pressed it into their hands while a second speech slide appeared. “A proper gentleman always has a handkerchief to hand for just such an occasion!”

“I guess I’m not much of a proper anything,” the District Attorney said, putting a hand to their own chest pocket while the other dabbed at their eyes with the offered handkerchief. “Nothing here but—”

They paused as their finger brushed against the jacket pocket and found something. They reached inside and pulled out a small piece of paper, doubled over on itself which when unfolded read:

Tonight is your night. Do what you need to do, but please don’t forget to have some fun!

The District Attorney wanted to smile, but the note just brought a fresh sting to how much they had messed up the time you gave them.

They blinked as a speech slide appeared before their eyes and read, “Maybe you don’t have to face them to say what you need to say.”

“What do you—” The District Attorney stopped mid question when they saw Jameson fiddling with his recording device. He smiled when he caught the look in their eye and another speech slide followed.

“I watched my brothers set it up. Shouldn’t be too difficult to add another recording or two!”

“Are you sure? I don’t—”

But he was already showing them the button to press and how to tell when it was recording.

“Take your time.” He pressed a hand on their shoulder as he stood. “I’ll be waiting by the door when you’re done. After all, the night’s far from over!”

The District Attorney watched him walk to the door, where he stopped to give them a cheery thumbs up before going back in.

Leaving them alone with the recorder, and with everything they needed to get off their chest.

The District Attorney took a deep breath and pressed the button.

It should not be this hard to find one person, even in a crowd this large. That was the thought that occurred to both Mark and Dark as the night wore on and as the District Attorney proved more elusive than either expected. Every time they thought they were close, it just proved to be yet another dead end.

“This?” one of the fans asked, pointing to the gold and black mask Mark last saw on the DA’s face. “I don’t know, I thought it looked cool so I traded my mask for it. Are we not allowed to do that?”

When Dark asked Jameson, the ego paused in the act of eagerly signing with a couple of fans to shrug, a barely visible speech slide explaining, “Can’t say I’ve seen them since the ‘Cha Cha Slide’ when the others showed us how to ‘cha cha now y’all!’”

“Y/N?” Chase said when Google sent Mark his way. “Yeah, we were talking just a few minutes ago with Wade and Bob. Wade thought I was Jack and we were seeing how long it took—”

“Do you know where they went?” Mark interrupted. “What about their mask, what did it look like?”

Chase pulled up his own monster mask to look Mark up and down before he said, “Mark, I understand why you might be worried, but sometimes you just need to let your kid—”

“Brody, if you finish that sentence, I will stuff your tie in your mouth.”

“Have you seen Y/N?” Dark asked during one of the lights out dances, having reached new levels of desperation.

“The Host waits for Dark to see the irony in that question.”

“You know what I mean! Where are they?”

“They are enjoying the masquerade, unlike two men who cannot step back and realize this is not about them. Which is why the Host will not tell Darkiplier where the District Attorney is, just as they refused to tell Markiplier fifteen minutes ago.”

“Because of course you would,” Dark growled. For a brief second two outlines appeared around him in the darkness, red and blue echoes of his form that quickly disappeared when he regained control of himself. “Wait, does that mean Mark knows too?”

The vivid red blindfold was nearly all that was visible of the Host in the darkness as he tilted his head, as though studying Dark. “The Host told him that the spell will end at midnight, just as Darkiplier is already aware. He is employing the Googles to look for Y/N, but they will not relay the information to him in time.”

In the darkness, Mark had come to the same conclusion after one of the Googles directed him to the tables to find that he had, once again, apparently just missed the District Attorney by minutes or possibly even seconds according to Jackie and Silver, who claimed to have broken up a (probably) friendly argument between the DA and Abe that almost ended in a fistfight.

At the suggestion, the android’s eyes took on a red hue that glowed to match his ‘G’ emblem. “Do not blame me for your inferior processing speeds.”

Mark made an inarticulate noise and stormed off, the three egos watching until he was out of earshot.

“Y/N’s not that way, right?” Jackie asked.

“No, I saw them over with Yan and Ethan I think,” Silver answered as he stretched back in his chair, his back popping a little as he did so. “Oof. Not sure what that Detective meant by ‘round two,’ but neither of them was about to pull punches, am I right?”

“The Yellow unit will give Mark an update in…2.5 minutes, depending on Y/N’s status then,” Google declared with a smile. “They have already traded their mask three times since Mark’s last check.”

And so the rest of the masquerade went. Every time Dark or Mark came close to the District Attorney, when they spotted them on the dance floor or chatting with one of your friends, one of the other egos would bump into them or accidentally get in their way and then apologize for a little too long, or one of the random dances would ‘just so happen’ to plunge the room into darkness yet again, to the point even the fans were joking about how short the hours were getting.

Until suddenly it wasn’t just a joke.

Mark gave up on checking his watch when every passing hour just filled him with a new sense of disbelief. There was no way, it had to be wrong, he couldn’t have lost fifteen minutes, an hour, two hours so easily. Instead he turned his whole focus on spotting that green tie among the crowd, he had already lost track of what mask the District Attorney was wearing now—

But he did recognize that white cat mask, even from this far away.

“Mark, please, just calm down,” Marvin was saying to the man in the white jacket embroidered with flowers who had his back to Mark. “You’re starting to scare some of the other guests.”

“Yeah, you should really calm down, Mark,” Mark said, putting a hand down hard on Dark’s shoulder. “We wouldn’t want to cause a scene.”

“Says the actor.” Dark slapped Mark’s hand away without even looking at him. “And do not tell me to calm down, magician.”

“Wait, Dark?” Marvin looked him up and down, taking in Mark’s jacket and the near identical mask. “Wow, you two have some serious issues you need to work out.”

“I’m not the one with the problem here,” Mark said.

“Debatable.”

Dark scowled at the both of them and grabbed a nearby ego at random with the command, “You. Switch jackets with me, now.”

“O-okay,” Eric said, mumbling questions to himself but doing as he was told all the same.

“There,” Dark said while Marvin gave an approving nod to how the flower jacket suited Eric. “Because that is apparently more important than finding Y/N right now.”

“Do you know where they are?” Mark asked and the magician took a swift step back at the intensity of his voice.

“I, uh…”

“You’re not foolish enough to not keep an eye on them,” Dark said, moving closer to the magician as he lowered his voice. “Are you?”

Marvin hesitated and all three were distracted by Bing’s voice over the speakers.

“Sah, dudes! We have just enough time for one more song tonight—” Bing paused and let the disappointed voices die out before he continued, “But I think you’ll like this one.”

He pressed a button and the queued-up song began to play. It had seemed like a good idea when Amy suggested it days ago, but now Mark wished for anything else as the duet began to play.

Remember me, though I have to say goodbye

The response from the crowd was immediate as the ukulele started, but Mark and Dark turned on Marvin with a new urgency.

“Fine,” he said, if only because he knew it was too late to matter anymore. He pressed a hand to his cat mask and his left eye suddenly took on a green gleam, the same gleam that appeared in the left eye of the cat pin he gave you at the start of the masquerade.

Recuérdame, si en tu mente vivo estoy

Recuérdame, mis suenos yo te doy

After a moment that seemed to last an eternity he said, “They’re outside, on the balcony. Looking at the stars I think.”

Te llevo en mi corazón y te acompañeré

Mark turned and immediately started to run toward the glass doors, ready to force his way past friends holding each other and singing along to the upbeat, bouncing music.

Dark muttered something under his breath and ran after him, catching his arm before he could waste any more time. With a surge of his aura they disappeared into the darkness, only to reappear at the glass doors on the other side of the room.

Mark stumbled to regain his balance and together they thrust open the double doors and ran out onto the balcony just as the District Attorney jumped and turned around at the sound, their hand still holding the tie that now hung loose around their neck. For just a moment, as the music suddenly fell away behind them and as the clock struck midnight, the District Attorney locked eyes with both of them and gave them a soft, sad smile.

Remember me, for I will soon be gone

And with that, the spell ended. The District Attorney blinked and it was you who opened your eyes, who found yourself standing on the balcony, who came to just in time to see Mark and Dark both staring at you as they realized what just happened, neither one able to hide their identical reactions of relief.

And disappointment.

---

“Come in,” Dark called when he heard the knock at his office door. Too late he remembered that most of the egos were still sleeping off staying behind to clean up on top of last night’s party and the only ones who would have the energy to be up and moving around wouldn’t have bothered with knocking.

“I just want to talk,” Mark said when Dark’s aura flared around him. It could have been the effort of keeping it in check for so long last night, but Mark didn’t think that was the only reason Dark’s aura seemed darker and more…active than usual. Even as he waved Mark in and sat back in his chair, an afterimage snarled in his direction over the sound of creaking and twisting wood.

At least, until Mark asked, “Have you seen them? Since…”

Dark’s aura froze and contracted until it could barely be seen, its sudden disappearance more unnerving than its presence as Dark answered without emotion, “No, I have not. They must still be with the Septics.”

After they found you on the balcony last night, after they realized that the District Attorney was gone again without a word, neither Mark nor Dark could bring themselves to say anything. While the music slowed and the song came to an end, the three of you just stared at each other, the silence saying more than any of you could or wanted to.

Until the noise from inside caught up with you. Voices calling for Mark were just background noise until Amy poked her head out and told him he needed to get on stage and help Jack wrap up the evening. Reluctantly, or perhaps not too reluctantly, Mark allowed himself to be pulled away. Dark had no time to recover or say anything before you brushed past him, pressing the green tie into his chest like you didn’t even want to look at it anymore on your way to where Marvin was waiting with the Host.

Without waiting for an explanation, the magician pulled you into a hug and you both disappeared. The rest of the Septic egos soon followed once the party was officially over, with most of the Iplier egos assuming you had just decided to spend the night with them.

“I wouldn’t blame them if they didn’t want to come back,” Mark said now, his face clouded as he sank into the chair opposite Dark’s desk. “How much…how much do you think they remember from last night?”

“We could go over there right now and get them, we could force the magician to—” Dark stopped, his eyes lingering on the green tie lying on his desk next to the sun mask the District Attorney had left with him. To do what, exactly?

“We can’t force them to come back here,” Mark said. “We should…”

He trailed off, aware that he was about to suggest the exact same thing the Host had about the DA: Give them some space, let them decide when and if they want to come back.

Mark and Dark sat in silence for over a minute, both wrapped up in their own thoughts until Mark finished, “They’ll come back when they’re ready.”

“Or when they’re sick of the Septics,” Dark added, attempting a smile and failing. “Shouldn’t take too long, even if they have a soft spot for that bunch of—”

“Don’t,” Mark said, with enough force to make even Dark pause.

“But if it were true?” you had asked, about the possibility of being the District Attorney’s ego, of being a different person than the one he remembered. Only now, Mark knew it wasn’t you asking. They had wanted to see how he reacted, to make sure you would be okay.

Mark slumped against Dark’s desk, head buried in his arms. “They’re never coming back. We screwed up and now both Y/Ns hate us.”

“Drama queen,” Dark muttered as he pulled his papers out of Mark’s reach, but his aura began to spread again, filling the office with distant creaks and whispers too faint to make out. “Y/N—the one from the mirror is…forgiving.”

He had meant to say more, but at the thought his aura darkened, the whispering growing louder now but still impossible for Mark, at least, to make out the individual words.

“Well, aren’t you two some gloomy Guses!”

Mark sat up quickly and turned to face Wilford if only because the last thing he wanted was to have his back to that maniac. Meanwhile, Dark sighed and said, “Come in, Wilford,” like he hadn’t already barged his way into the office without knocking.

“Why the long faces?” Wilford asked as he took a seat on Dark’s desk, ignoring Dark’s scowl as he rescued his coffee cup and could only watch the pens and papers scatter across the surface. “Oh, let me guess, someone hit the sauce a little too hard last night? I do know a few hangover cures, if you need a little help.”

Mark was baffled by the wink Wilford gave him and said, “We’re not hungover, Wilford. I can’t drink, or I’ll die. Remember?”

“And I’m not even sure if I’m capable of getting drunk,” Dark said, although he had considered the option many times over the years, living with the egos. “We were just talking about Y/N.”

“Say, where is that rascal?” Wilford asked. He picked up the sun mask and held it to his face as he added, “I haven’t seen them since I apologized for that whole dance thing last night.”

“You talked to them last night?” Dark asked, exchanging a look with Mark. “How did they seem to you?”

��Oh, about normal I suppose,” Wilford said. For a second, his eyes appeared pink behind the mask. “Didn’t say much. I apologized, they said they would try to forgive me, turned me down when I asked for a second dance. Have to say, I did miss the other Y/N last night.”

They both stared at him and it was Mark who finally broke and asked, “You knew?”

“Knew what?” Wilford asked as he put the mask down.

“You mentioned you missed the ‘other Y/N’ last night,” Dark said patiently, well aware of how easily Wilford’s mind could jump tracks if allowed. “Did you know that was a…different person than the one who has been living with us?”

“Of course! It was pretty obvious, if you know what I mean,” Wilford said. He paused in taking a long sip from Dark’s coffee when he saw the expressions on their faces and rolled his eyes before explaining like he was talking to children, “That Y/N would have hugged me after I apologized, just like they always do. And don’t even get me started on the dancing!”

“Of course,” Mark muttered.

“Be that as it may, Y/N is…staying over with the Septic egos for now,” Dark said. “We have, apparently, decided to give them some space until they are ready to come back.”

Wilford nodded along at Dark’s words. “Got it. I think I can kill a couple of hours. Hey Mark, my boy, do you want to—"

“No,” Mark answered without even waiting for the rest of that invite. “Wilford, Y/N doesn’t—”

He stopped at the knock on the office door, to which Dark gave a loud sigh at the sight of the two Jims looking in.

“Sure, just come in, let’s see how many people we can stuff in here,” Dark muttered. “And that was a joke Wilford, don’t you dare drag anyone else in here.”

Wilford sat back down on the desk, looking disappointed while Jim leaned toward the other Jim and said, “It’s our lucky day, Jim! They’re all here!”

Dark frowned at the word “all,” and asked, “What do you two want?”

Jim straightened up and said, “We have something for you from Dapper Jim himself!”

Mark stared as the Jim placed a recording device on the desk in between him, Dark, and Wilford. He recognized it from the night before and said, “Wait, are you talking about Jameson? When did he give you this?”

“Our adopted brother from across the pond,” Jim said solemnly as the other Jim nodded. “He gave it to us last night, but we were told to wait until exactly this time in exactly this place to give it to you.”

Dark scowled down at the device. That last part had the Host written all over it, which made him suspicious enough as he pulled off the note taped to it and read aloud, “Play me?”

“If you say so,” Wilford said, already pressing the play button.

“Is this…Yeah, yeah it’s recording.” The voice coming from the device was unmistakable, the recording crisp and clear as the District Attorney said, “I’ve had so much time to think about what I would say if I saw you all again. Mark. Dark. Wil-Wilford. But I never imagined how hard it would be to look you in the eyes and…”

There was a long, shuddering sigh before they continued, “This isn’t the way I planned to do this, but there’s so much I need to say to the three of you while I have the chance. So here goes.”

They paused to take another breath and Dark paused the recording long enough to toss the Jims out of the office and lock the door behind them. Then, once the three of them were alone and unlikely to be interrupted, Mark restarted the recording. And they listened in silence as the District Attorney poured out their heart on a balcony, alone with the stars and their sometimes rambling thoughts. Not all of those thoughts were kind or warm fuzzy memories, and more than a few were bitter and left more than just a sting in their wake. But they were all honest, all past the point of holding back any more.

Until the District Attorney laughed and said, “I sound ridiculous...No wonder I can’t figure out how to say all of this.”

There the recording stopped, leaving Mark, Dark, and Wilford sitting there, staring at the device as though waiting for more.

In the resulting silence, they could hear voices in the hall, including your own hushing the others.

“How was I supposed to know he wasn’t joking about the cat spell?” you asked as you led the way down the hall. “And keep it down, the others—”

You stopped short as the door to Dark’s office shot open and Mark, with the other two right behind him, stared at you.

“S-sorry,” you said, looking away first. Around you the Septic egos moved in just a little closer, Jackieboy Man in particular stepping forward as though to place himself between you and them. “I just needed to pick up some fresh clothes, I didn’t…”

You thought they didn’t want you there, Mark and Dark realized in the same instant. And they wanted nothing more than to show you just how wrong you were about that.

Without bothering with an explanation, all three moved forward and you found yourself being pulled into a tight, desperate hug, their voices mingling and mixing until your cry for help only encouraged the Septic egos to join in, and then more and more of the Iplier egos who had no idea what was going on but weren’t about to pass up an opportunity when they found it outside of their bedroom doors. Struggle as much as you wanted, there was no escaping without acknowledging just how much they all loved you.

Both of you.

“Is it selfish, to ask them to keep taking care of the other me? That Y/N?” The District Attorney asked the device last night as they sat with their back against the stone wall, eyes on the stars but their hand to their chest. “They don’t remember, not everything, and I think that’s…a gift. As much as they’ve been through, they still have hope. They still have it in them to forgive, to risk second chances. I want to protect them, to keep them as far away from the pain I felt. I want them to have their own second chance, at a life that I just…can’t deal with. Not yet. I can’t even begin to tell these people I barely know how much they all mean to the other me, but I think they might have a small idea already. And as broken as I am, as broken as I make them, I don’t want to lose them or the new memories they’re making with all of you. Even when I’m ‘asleep’ inside of them, I can feel you, all of you, and all of the happiness Y/N feels when they’re with you. It helps me feel less broken, day by day.”

The District Attorney laughed and wiped at their eyes before looking for the button to stop the recording. “I sound ridiculous...No wonder I can’t figure out how to say all of this.”

 ((The End. And as always, thank you.

Tagging: @silver-owl413 @skyewardlight  @withjust-a-bite  @blackaquokat  @catgirlwarrior  @neverisadork  @luna1350 @oh-so-creepy  @purpstraw @weirdfoxalley @95fangirl  @lilalovesinternet-l @thepoolofthedead  @a-bit-dapper @randomartdudette  @geekymushroom @cactipresident @hotcocoachia @purple-anxiety-blog @shyinspiredartist @avispate ))

[jawnjendes]

shawn meets... | bella(2)

SUMMARY: in the life of a rockstar, shawn mendes comes across some unique people. sometimes, things stray from the norm. (AU, shawn x every one of my oc’s)(continuation/spin off of goth gf)

AN: imma jus be straight up bc no one cares otherwise,,,,,,, the goth gf makes a return in this chapter

****let me know if you want to be added to the taglist!

previous chapter

bella’s origin story | bella’s playlist | masterlist

Shawn was really pushing his 30s, or it felt like that the moment he hit 28. He felt it in his soul… and his knees. And his back. Thank god his face was still intact, though. It was really shitty that part of your success in this industry depended on your looks. Brian used to give Shawn so much shit about using face masks when they were younger and honestly… Shawn wished he was here to do it again.

While he wasn’t exactly nervous about presenting at an awards show for the millionth time, he still liked to have someone around who knew him before all of this fame. Someone normal. Shawn couldn’t find it in his heart to find someone new to keep him humble. If he wasn’t still grieving the loss, his ego would be colossal. He thought about bringing Aaliyah along, but she was neck deep in her third year of graduate school. He considered Connor, but he got a new job photographing some other famous singer. There was no one like Brian, as it turns out.

The reflection in the mirror practically matched Shawn’s feelings in the moment: indifferent about the awards show, mildly sad about the lingering absence. Tiffany was running a lint roller over the deep burgundy blazer. Tonight’s look was, for lack of a better word, edgy. Shawn had on eyeliner for once, and the square frames he actually needed for reasons other than vanity. He also on a sheer black button up underneath the blazer, showing the upside down torch tattoo on his chest. While he was indifferent about tonight, he was still confident about his appearance and the presentation he was going to make.

Tonight, Shawn was going to present the Person of the Year Award to none other than Bella Santiago. If it was anyone else, he wouldn’t have agreed to this, much less written the speech himself. Bella had become a friend to him over the last few years; She wrote a track with him for his first album, and more recently, she invited him to her wedding. Shawn adored Bella, and she was the only reason he was here tonight. At least, that’s what he was told.

Once he was deemed presentable enough, Shawn was moved out of the shared dressing room and put in the green room. His team dispersed, finally having a moment to breathe before the show started. Shawn grabbed a bottle of water and mingled with a few acquaintances and friends he hadn’t spoken to in a long while. His year was busy, even though he was just making plans to create and release new music. There were enough meetings and writing sessions to keep him from talking to any of his friends. At least the friends in this industry understood that.

People were coming and going from the room. Managers were discussing manager things. Celebrities that were actually friends with each other stuck together. Some were watching the live feed of the red carpet on the monitor that was hanging on the wall. A group of new age YouTubers were getting their photos taken, and Shawn didn’t recognize any of them. The only person he watched on YouTube apart from Bella was his other friend, Aria Mercer, who was here as well. She and her husband, Joe Sugg, were getting their photos taken after the previous group. They were in matching navy blue suits, the epitome of couple goals.

The only other YouTuber that Shawn knew about had just made her entrance to the green room. Although Bella Santiago had permanently gotten rid of the hot pink hair years ago, she still sported the color in a bedazzled gown. At her side were three people: Sonji the manager, in a purple business suit; Ethan Nestor the husband, in a pink dress shirt and black bowtie to match his wife; An unrecognizable woman with short hair, in a grey pantsuit and massive prescription glasses. Maybe a handler.

Shawn didn’t pay any mind to her as he went over to the group. He approached Bella with open arms, and she was more than happy to see him.

“Hola, hermoso!” she greeted as she took his hands.

They both looked at each other’s outfits in admiration, marveling at how pretty the other looked. Then, it was Sonji’s turn to schmooze.

“Shawn, you get better and better with age!” she gushed as she pulled him in for a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Love the eyeliner, boo.”

“Thank you.” He smiled wider. “You look gorgeous as always.”

“And you remember, Ethan,” Bella said, placing her hand on her husband’s shoulder.

Ethan was much more casual and went for the handshake. Shawn had only met him once at the wedding a few years ago. All he knew about Ethan was that he also had a YouTube channel. Shawn never got into it, though.

“And this is-” Bella looked to where the last person in her group was standing, but held her tongue.

The woman in glasses had disappeared, and none of them realized until now.

Sonji sighed. “Where did that girl go?”

“Who was she?” Shawn asked, noticing the rapidly growing concern between the three people.

“My therapist,” Bella explained, looking around the room almost frantically. “I’ve always had a therapist accompany me to big events like these. And now she’s abandoned me, I guess!”

“Hey, I bet she’s close by,” Ethan told her as he took her hand in both of his. “We’ll find her, okay?”

“I’ll go find her,” Sonji said as she cracked her knuckles, diving further into the green room.

Shawn was about ready to back away slowly and let them figure that out. He didn’t like the situation any more than they did, but if he stuck around any longer it would get very awkward.

But Bella spoke up. “Ethan, can you help her? I’ll have Shawn stay with me.”

“You sure?” Ethan asked, glancing at the other man. It was easy to tell he was protective of his wife and very cautious of her anxiety.

“I got her, it’s fine,” Shawn replied, moving to stand next to Bella.

With that, Ethan followed Sonji’s trail. Bella moved closer to Shawn, picking at her fingernails.

“You excited about tonight?” Shawn asked her.

“Nervous,” she corrected. “Really nervous. I brought my shrink to help me with that, and she was supposed to walk with me onstage. Now she’s gone. Fuck me, I guess.”

“Doesn’t sound like a good shrink. Is there anything else I can do to help?”

“Just stick with me until one of my people come back.”

“I can do that. Would you wanna step out of the room or stay in here?”

“Here’s fine.” Bella sighed and dropped her hands to her sides. “I just hate dealing with this after years of therapy, y’know?”

Shawn had been looking around the room until that sentiment, which made his heart ache. He saw the worry in Bella’s brown eyes, and he properly turn to face her. “You’ve come a long way, you can’t forget that. A couple years ago, you told me you’d never be able to attend something like this. Give yourself some credit.”

Her shoulders relaxed a little bit. “I’m just glad it’s you presenting the award. Wouldn’t have done this if it was some stranger making a speech about me.”

“Hey, I wouldn’t have written a speech about someone I didn’t know or believe in.”

Bella cracked a small smile and squeezed his arm. “You better not make me cry onstange!”

He chuckled. He knew his speech like the back of his hand. He could only hope that she would like it. “No spoilers.”

That made Bella giggle, something that relieved the nerves a little bit. Then, she scanned the room once more. “Where’s my husband? And my shrink?”

“Yeah, what kind of therapist walks out on their patient?”

“She’s kinda new at this… just started her practice and-” Bella cut herself off, and then looked at Shawn like she just remembered something. “Oh.”

“Oh?” he repeated, waiting for her to elaborate. “Oh, what?”

Before anything more could be said, Andrew was at Shawn’s side, and Sonji, Ethan, and the shrink was at Bella’s. The show was about to start, and it was time to take their seats. Shawn managed to throw a not so nice look at Bella’s therapist before being whisked away.

He was followed by his team that appeared from nowhere. He quickly forgot about Bella’s sudden change in behavior as he was let in on the night’s events. He was mostly going to be sitting tonight, he wasn’t even performing, or nominated for anything. This was actually his first public appearance since Brian’s death last year. Shawn requested he didn’t do anything major, aside from presenting. He didn’t want the spotlight on him.

The awards show went as any other would. Shitty banter from the hosts, obvious reading from a teleprompter, and scripted speeches that weren’t written by the person accepting the award. It was still fun to watch; Shawn loved watching his friends get recognized for their success.

Finally, came his turn to present. Person of the Year was a prestigious award, accompanied by a speech from the presenter, a little video, and then a speech by the awardee. Shawn stood in front of the microphone, a polite smile on his face, and he began to speak.

“Fourteen years ago, a girl picked up a camera and decided to film herself doing her makeup, not having any idea where it was going to go. Bella Santiago is a person who has seen the worst of the world, and still has the courage to rise up and be the change she’s always wanted to see. She has changed the lives of many, even my own. When I first met Bella, I was twenty one. I was nervous about being in a video with her because I had outed myself as bisexual so quickly, almost effortlessly, in front of her. She looked at me and said, ‘it shows that it’s okay to be open about who you are, and you deserve to be exactly who you are.’ That is something I have carried with me to this day. You meet Bella Santiago, and she will find even the smallest way to make you feel better about yourself, and she took it even further by creating her own charity, Butterflies for the Better to help LGBTQ+ youth struggling with their mental health. Fourteen years ago, a girl picked up a camera and changed the world.”

A round of applause ripped through the crowd as the lights went down. The big screen behind Shawn lit up, showing a video of Bella’s finest moments on YouTube. Clips from her videos were compiled with some inspiring music in the background. When that was over, Shawn spoke into the microphone once again.

“It is the greatest privilege to present the Person of the Year award to my dear friend, Bella Santiago.”

The applause was much louder this time, and people got to their feet as the woman herself stepped onto the stage.  Shawn looked back, catching her eye and grinning. He also noticed the spectacled shrink at her side, holding her hand. Shawn did the whole awkward side hug thing to both women, and then stood some ways back, noticing that Bella’s shrink didn’t follow suit. Apparently she wanted her close.

“Wow…” Bella’s voice shook slightly, and she was not looking directly at the audience. Her shrink was still holding onto her hand. “Uh… I mean, Shawn was right. Little nineteen year old Bella picked up a camera with no clue of what was about to happen. If you had told her that over the next sixteen years that her channel would blow up and that she would have the opportunity to give back…” She paused and took a deep breath. “Nineteen year old Bella would have said, ‘that’s impossible, I don’t plan to live that long.’ That being said, I want to take this time to say, no matter how bad it is right now, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. And there’s always help available. I could thank so many people right now, but I’ll keep it short. Jack: my best friend and biggest motivator. Ethan: my number one and my biggest supporter. I love both of you forever. And to the therapists I’ve had: Helena Carlisle, en paz descanse. And my current therapist, Annalise Flores. You guys are fighting the good fight. Thank you for believing in me.”

Oh.

Shawn felt everything slow down and turn grey. The polite grin on his face faded immediately, and his insides started to short circuit. The name circled his head over and over, trying to make sense of it. He fought the urge to walk up to the two women and get a closer look at the spectacled one. His legs were numb as he followed them off the stage, staring at the back of their heads.

He wasn’t even fazed by the sound of Bella bursting into sobs. Something just went over Shawn’s mind, and his only goal was to just look at her therapist. There was no way… they had to have the exact same name.

Sonji and Ethan were waiting in the wings, and were quick to crowd Bella from the backstage camera, into an empty hallway. Shawn followed them, ignoring Andrew’s calls. He just kept his eyes on the back of the therapist’s head.

The therapist must have sensed this because she suddenly stopped in her tracks. Ethan, Sonji, and Bella kept walking, turning into a room. Shawn nearly ran into the therapist, obviously not expecting her to stop so quickly.

She turned around. “My patient does not wish to speak to anyone at this time.”

Her voice hadn’t changed at all. Still firm and serious, with the ability to throw Shawn back about six years.

“Ann…?” he said, eyes wide with wonder.

She didn’t say anything for a minute, but then she sighed and took off her large glasses. The prescription really skewed her eyes, because now - apart from the hair - Ann’s face was easily the same.

“I’m working,” she snapped. “I already left my patient once because of you, I’m not about to do it again.”

“But-” Shawn said, but Ann was turning on her heel and going down the hall.

He stood there, that wide-eyed, dumbfounded look still on his face. The first time he’s seen Ann in six years, and that’s how it going. How is it that the stars aligned to make this happen?

“There you are!” called Andrew from behind, at the other end of the hall. He approached his client, exasperated. “The hell are you doing out here?”

Shawn shook it off and faced the other man. “Thought I saw something.”

“Something?” Andrew repeated. “We’re on a schedule here! That something better have been important!”

“I saw my ex-girlfriend, alright?” And Shawn was undeniably shaken to the core by it. This was the last place he expected to see this particular ex.

Andrew was confused. “Camila's dressing room isn't in this wing, you know that.”

Shawn didn’t have anything to say to that. He did know that, because they were texting. He and Camila weren’t supposed to interact with each other in person until after the show.

Neither of them really listened to that rule. Public relations aside, they were still friends. Shawn was back in his dressing room when Camila finally came along.

“It’s that time again,” was the first thing she said.

Shawn immediately knew what that meant. He already knew the drill, and he didn’t want to talk about it until he had to. Right now, he had to talk about something else. “Ann is here.”

“Not Ann from college?” Camila replied, confused. “Crazy goth girl you dated? The hell is she doing here?”

“She’s a therapist! Can you believe that?” Shawn said, finally processing what had happened. “She was accompanying-”

Camila cut him off with a gasp. “Oh, I get it now! That’s why you made that face during the speech! I didn’t realize that was our Annalise! That’s so crazy!”

“Isn’t it?”

“How is it that the universe brought you two to this place at this time?”

“Exactly what I was thinking.”

“Did you get to talk to her?”

If there were cameras or witnesses around, they would have been enthralled by the two of them animatedly talking to each other. Shawn explained the quick interaction, unsure of this feeling in his chest.

“I can’t believe she’s actually here,” Camila said. “Like, just thinking about her brings me back to college. A completely different point in life.”

Shawn agreed. Different things triggered nostalgia, and in this case, it was a person. The longer he sat there, the more he thought about the past relationship. The warm feeling was sparking in his chest, and he wanted to scratch at it.

“Do you think she still talks to Stella?” Camila’s voice softened a little bit, and she averted her eyes.

Over time, she never really spoke of her own break up. She had told Shawn that she wanted to leave Stella and that relationship on the campus grounds. All that Shawn knew was that they ended when Camila got signed. That, and…

“Weren’t you supposed to marry her?” he asked.

“Shouldn’t you be married to Annalise and have like three of her babies by now?” she said back, snark in her tone. Then she sighed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that. That’s just… the thought of Ann being here, here in this world…”

“It’s a reminder of what we left behind,” Shawn continued. “Ann is what I left behind, so I get it.”

They both sighed, letting this sink in. Then, a voice came from the doorway.

"Hello!" It was Bella's manager, Sonji. "Don't mean to interrupt you two lovebirds!"

"Oh, we're not-"

"It's okay-"

Shawn and Camila shared a look. How fast was it supposed to happen this time?

Sonji raised an eyebrow. "Anyway… Mr. Mendes, if you could come with me."

"Why?" he asked, standing up and doing what was told. He gave Camila one last glance before leaving the dressing room.

"Like nobody noticed your entire soul leave your body at the sound of my client's therapist's name," Sonji replied with a chuckle. "Did you know you're trending on Twitter?"

Shawn didn't say anything, but a deep pit formed in his stomach. So it was that obvious, eh? He didn't even want to watch back the footage.

After walking past some important looking people, the two were in the room that Bella was confined to after receiving her award. However, Bella and Ethan were gone, and all who was left was none other than-

"Ann-banan!" Sonji called to the other woman, who had been talking on the phone.

"Okay, Ms. Adair, just tell your employer-" She looked up, circular spectacles hanging on her nose. Then, she went back to her call. "Tell Ms. Lilith I will get back to her at my earliest convenience." And she hung up.

If Shawn wasn't so stuck in 2019, he would have been floored at the names he heard.

"The man you requested," Sonji said, gesturing to Shawn. "Y'all got until Bella finishes her interviews."

With that, Shawn Mendes and Annalise Flores were left alone for the first time in six years. Ann took off and played with her glasses, watching Shawn, who was stunned at the fact that she requested him. She wanted to see him, but she didn't look happy about it.

"So, what's up?" he asked.

"Let's see," Ann replied, an annoyed grin on her face. "You lay eyes on me like I'm something stuck under your shoe, and you look away. Then, your ability to internalize your feelings becomes the most important thing about my patient's speech. Finally, you try to follow me when I'm trying to diffuse said patient's anxiety attack!"

Shawn blinked. "Good to see you too."

Ann took a deep breath. "Not that I'm not pleasantly surprised to see you. But I'm working, and so are you."

This was not how was Shawn expecting this to go.

"So why did you want me over here then?"

"I would like to catch up," she said. "Just can't do it now."

And that's how fast Shawn perked up. "Doing anything after the show?"

Ann shook her head. "Not today. It's been a day. I would like to give this the attention it deserves, and I do not have the emotional capacity for that."

It sounded so calculated and scripted, but Shawn was touched anyway. He didn't know what Ann had gone through today, but it wasn't enough for her to put off catching up with him so she could address it better.

"Yeah, okay," Shawn said with a nod. "Do you live here in LA? We can meet for coffee? Or… somewhere less public if you'd like?"

Ann was quiet for a moment, still playing with her glasses. "Less public is good."

"Absolutely. I'll text you, yeah?"

The two of them traded numbers, and then there was a knock on the door. Sonji peered her head inside.

"Okay, put your clothes back on! Ann-banan, you have another visitor!"

"Who?" Ann asked.

Shawn turned to find Camila entering the room. She was much more bubbly and enthusiastic, cutting the tension that had inexplicably risen.

"Hey, girl!" Camila greeted, bouncing over to Ann and pulling her into a hug.

Only Shawn saw the mild discomfort on Ann's face as she was touched. He offered an apologetic smile.

"Look at us, reunited!" Camila exclaimed when she let go of the other woman. "All we need is Stella and the circle is complete!"

Ann hummed, her expression unreadable. "Okay, well it was nice catching up, but I have to get back to my patient."

"Oh, you're a therapist now, huh?" Camila asked. "That's so cool! How much do you charge? What do you specialize in?"

"Um…" Ann pulled her wallet out of her back pocket and opened it up, pulling out two business cards and handing it to them.

Annalise Flores, LMHC, LMFT Mental Health Counselor & Marriage and Family Therapy

Her office and cell numbers were on the card too. The card itself was very true to her nature, despite her professional attire. It was black with a holographic crescent moon on it.

"Look at you living your dream." Shawn grinned.

"Six years and counting," Ann replied. Then, she went for the door. "I really have to go, but if you have any series inquiries about my practice, call the office."

"Will do!" Camila said, watching her leave. As soon as she was gone, she turned to Shawn. "Our little Ann has an office."

"She's a therapist," Shawn added. "We've come a long way from our university days."

next chapter

_______

taglist: @normalcyisoverrated-beyou @someoneunimportantxx @shawnsunflower @iloveshawnieboi @chillingbythesea @peruvian-bae

[patrick-ships]

Everything is Blue (Ethan Nestor x Male reader) [ part 7]

Authors note: there is a song for this chapter, it's Nightcore a thousand years, but the male version. It will make sense later

(M/N) P.O.V

Ethan went to take a shower, so I decided to make breakfast for him. I made heart shaped pancakes, slightly burnt bacon, and blue berries. I set it on the table and went to change, I passed  Ethan on the way.

"Breakfast is on the table Love." I say kissing his cheek.

"Thanks" he says blushing. I smile and almost run into the door frame, Ethan giggles and he heads towards the food. I had a plan in mind that the rest of the Markiplier team was helping with today, so I needed to dress a little nicer. I grabbed a light blue button down with flowers on the collar, and a pair of acid wash jeans. I slid on a pair of shoes and a beanie and head for the door grabbing my keys, backpack, and an Ethan who had a hand full of berries.

it was a longer drive to marks because of traffic, and I was getting more anxious as time went on. I think Ethan could tell, but he didn't say anything. The little black box in my pocket felt like it was burning straight through my skin. We finally pulled up to the office, and Amy rushes out, following the plan we made the other day.

"Hey Ethan," she says sounding quite panicked, "I need your help."

"What is it Amy?" Ethan says as he walks towards her.

"Mark sent me out for one of the thingamajigys for a camera and I have no idea what it is or where to find it." She continues to babble on, I toss Ethan my keys and give him a thumbs up. I close the door just as they pull out of the drive way. I head up the stairs and through a door, to find Mark, Tyler, and Katherine setting up the room how I asked them to.

"We've got a couple hours, they've left."

"Awesome, we've got everything but the candles and rose petals set up." Mark says smiling.

"Thank you guys so much, this means a lot to me."

"No problem," Katherine says," did you remember the ring?"

"Yeah, felt like it was gone burn through my pocket." I pull it out and open it. "I was gonna do something simple, but then I got distracted."

"he's gonna love it." Katherine says beaming.

Tyler then says," they're almost back."

We quickly finish setting up and get into place as we hear the front door opening.

i take a deep breath and start to play the guitar.

"The day we met, frozen I held my breath. Right from the start I knew I had found a home for my heart" Ethan opened the door to the room. "Beats fast colors and promises. How to be brave? How can I love when I'm afraid to fall. But watching you stand alone? All of my doubt suddenly goes away some how.

one step closer."  I watch as Ethan looks around the room, a blush covering his face.

" I have died every day waiting for you. Darling don't be afraid I have loved you for a thousand years. I'll love you for a thousand more. Time stands still, beauty in all he is, I will be brave, I will not let anything take away what's standing in front of me. Every breath, every hour has come to this." Ethan takes a couple steps towards me.

"One step closer, I have died everyday waiting for you. Darling don't be afraid I have loved you for a thousand years, I'll love you for a thousand more. And all along I believed I would find you. Time has brought your heart to me. I have loved you for a thousand years, I'll love you for a thousand more."  Ethan's two steps away from me, my heart is pounding, I've never been so terrified of something in my life. "I'll love you for a thousand more. One step closer, I have died everyday waiting for you. Darling don't be afraid I have loved you for a thousand years, I'll love you for a thousand more." Ethan's directly in front of me, I can see the realization in his eyes, I sing the last lines. " and all along I believed that I would find you, time has brought your heart to me. I have loved you for a thousand years, and I'll love you for a thousand more."

I lower to one knee and pull out the ring," Ethan, will you marry me?" His eyes start to water as he nods, tears start to fall down his cheeks. I slide the ring on his finger and put the guitar down and wrap my arms around him. Katherine walks up with camera to get a close up, and Ethan's a hot mess, but he's my hot mess. Forever and always.

[sweetnestor]

this is not a dream #7 | i don’t like you

the real reason ethan was taken under the teamiplier wing | teamiplier/ego au

WARNINGS: suicide, murder, blood, self harm, drug abuse, alcoholism, sex addiction

read at your own risk.

previous.

~January 2017

There were many, many wires. It was practically second nature for Ethan to feel the urge to strangle himself with all of them. But he was actually being watched this time. He was going to be watched the whole night, and hopefully something logical will come out of his disturbing sleep habits.

He had been putting this off for months for various reasons, one of them being that he was very busy. Another reason was that his sleep was so disturbed and spotty that he wasn’t sure he wanted to know the cause of it. He also didn’t want any of his friends knowing that he was here, and it was hard to shake them off these days.

But now Ethan was here, lying in a bed, surrounded by machines, and hooked up to practically all of them. The specialist was a lady who had streaks of color in her hair. She had been very thorough with explaining everything that would go down tonight. Ethan paid attention to less than half of what she had said. The wires attached to different parts of his body would determine what exactly he does in his sleep. That was the gist of it, right?

The only problem was that Ethan had walked into the clinic feeling the least tired he had ever felt. He looked up at the white ceiling, waiting for sleep to come. Then he picked his head up and looked through the window on the opposite end of the room. The colorful haired lady was on the other side, writing something on a notepad, not paying any attention to her patient.

Ethan returned to staring at the ceiling. He exhaled slowly and closed his eyes. As soon as they were shut, he felt moisture in the corners of his eyes, trickling down his face. He tried to open his eyes, but he couldn't. Was he asleep already?

He could still feel his surroundings. He was still laying down on the bed. There were wires still attached to his head, chest, and arms. He could feel goosebumps on his skin as the room got ten degrees colder. Oh no…

Suddenly, Ethan could see the room. The colorful haired specialist was still on the other side of the glass except… she was glitching? One flash was her just sitting and staring, then she was limp in the chair with her neck split open and her eyes burned out of her skull. It made Ethan actually vomit, except he couldn't open his mouth, so he choked.

He tried to move, but the wires felt like restraints. His body was stuck to the bed. Not only that, the mumbling was starting to return, just behind his ears.

No, please…

Coughs finally came out, and Ethan was sick all over himself. Dark red stained blood his skin and his white hospital gown. He still couldn't move, despite how repulsive and absolutely disgusting everything was. He just wanted to get out of his own skin.

Good idea.

No!

It started at the bottom of his feet. Searing pain was moving right underneath his skin. Ethan couldn't scream out loud or cry for help. He internally yelled at himself that none of this was real. It's all in his head.

Of course it's happening in your head, but why should that mean that it's not real?

The mumbling was getting louder. The skin was getting ripped off his legs, slowly moving up his body. It was unbearable, Ethan wanted to strangle himself with the wires. He wanted to inject something into his chest to make it all stop. He would much rather cut into his veins again.

And then it happened. Ethan was staring up at the white ceiling, and he felt a thousand white hot needles poke into his arms at once. He screamed, but no one heard him. He coughed up more blood, he choked and sputtered. He could feel someone standing over him, their face slowly coming into his line of vision. The vision flashed so quickly that Ethan couldn’t make out any facial features.

Make it stop. Please just make it stop. I'll do anything, I just want this to be over.

~

“Alright, Mr. Nestor, you're all set to go,” said a kind female voice.

Ethan's eyes opened. Of course that had all been a dream. He felt the specialist remove all of the wires from his body. He kept his eyes away from her, not wanting to be reminded of her burnt out eyes.

“How long was I out?” he asked, his voice raspy.

“The whole eight hours,” she replied as she removed the last of the wires. “You were perfectly still and undisturbed throughout the night. We'll give you a call as soon as we see the results.”

Ethan left the clinic feeling completely unrested and shaken up. He could still barely make out the mumbling in his ears and it made him even more uneasy. This wasn't a medical problem after all. There wasn't a logical explanation for this.

He got into his car and just sat there for a moment. He felt strange. Confused. Very out of place. His reflection in the rear view mirror was in his peripherals, but he didn’t dare look at his own face. His skin was crawling so much he scratched at his arms. The only thing he knew now was that he never wanted to sleep again.

The drive back home was a blur. Ethan spaced out a lot, even without whatever was going on with him lately. He was always aware of this little quality, but now it freaked him out. What if he spaced out long enough for him to not come back? What if whatever he saw in his sleep came back and took over?

“That’s ridiculous,” he breathed out as he entered his quiet apartment. Suddenly he didn’t like living alone anymore. “It’s just a dream.”

It’s not like he saw anyone anyway. It was just a bunch of bad feelings and physical pain that was a little too vivid.

~March 2017

No matter how bad things are, conventions always did some good. It was why Ethan looked forward to PAX East in Boston. Well, he always looked forward to it, even when bad things were not happening in his life. It was fun to meet people in his community and hang out with his long distance friends. Plus, he got to visit home for a while too.

Being close to home helped quiet down the things in Ethan’s head. He noticed that when he was home last Christmas. He didn’t have a single nightmare, and he didn’t hear any mumbling in his ears. He still hung himself in his room late at night, but having less weird things around him was better than what he got in LA. You could say that Ethan missed home because it kept whatever this was quiet.

Three of his YouTube friends offered to room with him for the weekend. For once, Ethan turned down all the offers. He couldn’t risk having any of his friends seeing what he does in his sleep. He felt bad about denying everyone, but it was for the best. He just had to come up with a valid excuse as to why he had to bunk alone.

The actual convention was just what he needed to boost his mood. Ethan was happily distracted by games, merch, and subscribers. He hung out with Kathryn, Brian, Sean, and Signe pretty much the entire time.

It was almost therapeutic.

Almost.

On the last night of the convention, Ethan found himself walking back to his hotel room, Sean at his side. A group of their friends met up at the bar in the lobby, and all Ethan knew was that there were many shots involved. Sean decided to bring him upstairs. Good friend, a very good friend. But if it was Kathryn, then Ethan wouldn’t feel as anxious about the things his drunk self was going to spill.

“I don’t normally do this,” Ethan mumbled. “You’re a good friend, I love you so much.”

Sean put his arm around Ethan’s shoulders. “Of course, man. I’m here for you. You really went at it tonight. Like you were drinking away your demons.” He chuckled.

Ethan wasn’t tipsy enough to miss his friend’s almost knowing tone. But he was tipsy enough to keep talking.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

Silence dawned between the two of them as they walked down the hall. Sean looked down at the floor, putting his hands in his pocket. Ethan tried to see past the haze in his head. He spoke again when they approached his door.

“But I’m fine.” He wasn’t sober enough for this shit. “Thanks for bringing me back…”

“I know what you mean,” Sean finally spoke while Ethan fumbled for his key. “I don’t know why we’re like this. You’d think we would be happier, given all that we have.”

Now Ethan felt the need to help his friend. This was something he had never heard from Sean before.

“You would think I would be able to sleep more.” He wasn’t sure what made him say that.

Sean gave him a confused look, and then took the key from Ethan’s hand. “Okay, you definitely need to go to bed.”

At least Ethan could use the excuse of too much alcohol for his nonsense.

“You would think I wouldn’t hear things that aren’t there…”

“Okay, bouncing baby boy…”

Sean followed him inside the room. Maybe he wanted to listen in more on Ethan’s drunken rambles.

“I think I'm immortal,” Ethan whispered.

He stumbled past Sean to get to the bed, but a hand went tightly around his upper arm. Ethan wasn't drunk enough to mishear the change in Sean’s tone.

“Let's find out, shall we?” It was turned rough and grainy, like it was glitching in real life.

Ethan yelled as he was shoved into the wall. He swore he heard it crack behind him. He looked into his friend’s eyes; They were suddenly pitch black. One eye looked like it was leaking black tears going in all directions. Then he heard a clicking sound, and his body acted on its own.

He wasn't sure what made him do it, but Ethan instantly raised his arms to deflect Sean’s attempts to stab him with a pocket knife. The point of the blade came way too close multiple times, making the adrenaline spike through Ethan’s body.

His hands caught Sean's wrist before the knife could meet his heart. Ethan was breathing rapidly, his mind blank, holding his friend back with strength he didn’t know he had. His fingers dug into the black long sleeve, and he heard the slightest crackling sound coming from the bones.

Sean growled under his breath, madness in his black eyes. Then, in the blink of an eye, he pulled a second knife from his pocket and slashed across Ethan’s stomach.

Ethan gasped, feeling several things gush from his abdomen. He gurgled and groaned as he felt the knife puncture his torso multiple times. His hold on Sean's wrist loosened, he was sure to die this time around.

He felt himself slipping away, but his body still moved. Ethan’s hand snatched the first knife away. Then, as if he was being propelled forward, he pushed Sean into the opposite wall, the knife piercing him right through the throat and into the plaster. Sean choked and spit blood in Ethan’s face, and returned the favor by sticking the knife right into the boy’s chest.

The two stared at each other, still holding the handles of the knives. Ethan would have panicked, had he not felt his own blood drenching his body. Sean's eyes went back to their usual blue, except they were faint and staring without seeing, and he loosened his grip on the knife.

Ethan stumbled backwards, his vision blurring. He just killed his friend. He needed help. He needed to tell someone.

He mustered up enough strength to get out of the hotel room and limp down the hallway. What was Mark's room again? Were they even on the same floor?

His vision went blurry. He stumbled into somebody's door.

He felt himself falling… But suddenly he was walking again… He had tunnel vision, almost like he was peering through the lock on a door. He moved down the hall… Ethan was too weak to continue watching… Maybe someone found him…

~

Ethan woke with a start. He was lying on a bed, covered in blankets and cold sweat. He sat up, looking around the dark room. He almost thought he was still dreaming because he was in his bedroom in Los Angeles.

“The fuck…?” he whispered as he got out of bed. He walked around the space, searching for the light.

Well, it was definitely his room. His apartment. Wasn’t he in Boston last night? Wasn’t he supposed to be in his hotel room?

Suddenly, a deep knot formed in Ethan’s stomach. The hotel. Sean.

That had to be a dream, right? There was no way…

Next thing he knew, Ethan was running out the door to the bathroom. He stood in front of the mirror, tore off his unusually sweaty t-shirt, and looked at his body. He could still barely feel the knife going through his chest, yet the skin there was unmarked. He remembered walking around with the handle of the knife sticking out of his body. He could feel his insides-

Ethan physically gagged. It was way too real to be a dream. He turned on the sink and splashed water on his face, trying to get back his sense of reality. Whatever was going on in his head, whatever was living in there… It was playing with him.

He jumped when he heard his phone ring in his room. Since when did he have the ringer on? Ethan felt weary as he stepped back into his room. His phone was left on the nightstand, and it was lit up with a new text message.

Sean: “Look at us being crazy bois!!”

It goes without saying that Ethan cleared that notification without looking at the attachment. So Sean was definitely alive. It was wild that Ethan had to confirm that. Did he dare ask Sean if he remembered what happened? Was it even Sean who texted him?

Aside from that, how did Ethan not remember coming back home? Did anyone else remember him coming back home? Surely not, considering that Ethan probably would have had more texts and concerning phone calls from the friends he saw. He looked through his social media and found nothing weird on his part. What the hell was going on?

Whatever this was, it didn’t want to be seen. That’s why his sleep test results were normal. That’s why PAX East went well.

This thing wanted only Ethan to know about it. It wanted Ethan to go crazy trying to figure out what it was. That was the only thing he was sure of. He was definitely losing his mind.

_______

next.