#Starshine the Party Clown

[brown-little-robin]

Regarding your clown OCs: I have zero background in this, but what can you tell us about Thing, Sebastian, and Starshine?

hohoho OKAY SO >:D

I made an explanation post about the world here in case this is confusing, but basically this is a world where when a human clown dies, their clown persona takes on life as a full new person. Clowns are not human, but they're people; they have no memories when they appear, but they know whatever languages their human parent knew, so they know general definitions of most relevant concepts.

ok ok ok THING TIME >:D Thing is my baby darling precious little creature. I'm not playing favorites but Thing is definitely one of my favorites, you know? It does take some background explanation to understand, though, so buckle up:

There are lots of types of clowns in this world. Circus clowns. Party clowns. Medical clowns. Tramp clowns. Mimes. Harlequins. The list goes on. But there's also a type of clown that's a whole other thing, and that's Scare Clowns. Being a scary clown is like being a werewolf but for clowns; any type of clown can become a scary clown if they're bitten by a scary clown. (Ouch!) I haven't got all the details hammered out yet, but becoming a Scare Clown is traumatic and awful and completely ruins your chances of getting a decent job.

Thus, Thing. Thing is called Thing because it forgot its own name. It's been a scary clown for a long time. Its clothes are ratty, its hair is matted, and it eats raccoons. (and other things, but the raccoons thing becomes an in-joke, I think.) It's homeless, of course. It gets rescued and befriended by Rudy, a lovely optimistic birthday clown, and slowly grows more like a person and less like a feral cat. I love Thing <333

(eventually Rudy figures out Thing's gender, I think, but uh. clowns don't have reproductive systems, and Thing referred to itself as an "it" for a while, so Rudy didn't know. and I haven't decided yet.)

Sebastian and Starshine!!

Sebastian is a Pierrot, one of those black-and-white romantic clowns you see sighing wistfully over things with those big black poofs on their front. Do you know what I'm talking about?? oh well, this is going to be long anyway, I'll just give you a picture:

Sebastian had an unusual situation when his parent died. His family, the mother and brother of his parent, kept him with them and tried to get him to assume the identity of his human parent (Jean Sebastian). They thought he would eventually develop Jean's memories. They Were Wrong. But they sure caused Sebastian a lot of grief trying to make him be Jean.

Starshine!! Starshine's parent died as a teenager; she was putting the final touches on the persona and makeup, so Starshine is what's known as "half-baked"—a clown who came from some form of incomplete persona. It's annoying to her—there's a star on her cheek sometimes, but not other times, seemingly randomly. Starshine works in a restaurant (she's a chef) and has a super cheap apartment. That's pretty much economically par for the course for a young clown. The family of Starshine's parent helped her out for the first few weeks, but she wanted to make it on her own and their grief was making her life really awkward?? Anyway, she's currently trying to decide if she can afford a hamster <333 I love her so much <333

[blossom-hwa]

Bloom, Bloom, Pow! |2| - CHANGMIN

Again. The pining. I know I was okay with pining in Sunflowers, but BBP is just levels of stupidity that are incomprehensible and you will see what I mean here. Anyway, once more, thanks to @wingkkun​ for dealing with me screaming and helping me come up with plot points I LOVE YOU <3

(Suggested playlist for reading: Bloom Bloom, Just U, and DDD by The Boyz!!)

Pairing: Changmin x gender neutral!reader

Genre: fluff, angst if you squint, university!au

Triggers: cursing, alcohol

Word Count: 7.5k

Dancing with you, Changmin feels flowers blooming in his heart.

Part 1 | Part 2

TBZ Masterlist | Interwoven

~ you

It’s with narrowed eyes and a smile threatening to burst through your faked scowl that you confront Kevin the next day about him shoving you into a circle of random partygoers to dance with Changmin (“Y/N, that wasn’t even a dance, that was a mating dance or cult ritual or some shit – hey – don’t slap me, I’m right!”). He doesn’t even blink an eye when you hit him, just smiles that stupid shit-eating grin that he always wears when he knows he’s succeeded at something.

And God, even though it legitimately blows your entire mind, he actually managed to do something right. He somehow got you and Changmin to speak, no matter how unconventional the method, and as much as it pains you to say it, he did you a favor.

Look, normally a meddling Kevin just makes more messes (literal and metaphorical) and makes another when trying to clean them up afterward. This time, though, you have to give him a little credit for utilizing his singular brain cell to come up with this plan.

Because after several games of drunk mafia, wherein Jaehyun is accused of being the mafia three times despite being the narrator (“I thought Chanhee was smart?” “He only uses his brain for math, nothing else.”) and you and Changmin are paired up as the killers twice in a row, you get Changmin’s number, and he gets yours.

If you spend the entirety of the next day texting a certain doe-eyed boy with dimples deep enough to make you swoon, what of it?

He meets up with you for coffee the next week. Untouched by alcohol, your mind only registers his image in the real-life equivalent of HD when he stops moonwalking in place outside the café to fix you with the sweetest smile. It’s strange, the way just a single quirk of his lips or a slight squint of his eyes sends your heart fluttering to the next dimension, and his voice only makes the vision better. Changmin speaks in soft tones that wash across your skin like starshine, soothing with a slight bite of mischief that complements the sparkle in his eyes.

His soft sweater and large glasses only complete the lovely image you’re painting in your mind. Sitting down across the small table, you think your heart is either going to melt into your bloodstream or burst its way out of your chest.

He introduces himself again, as though you could’ve forgotten his name within the twenty minutes you stopped texting him on the way to the café. It’s impossible to resist saying a teasing “I know” and watching him shyly cover his face with a sweater-covered hand.

Even though it might be evil, you cheekily introduce yourself too, unable to contain a laugh when Changmin groans, putting his head in his hands. But when he lifts his face once more, it’s your turn to grow shy at the sight of his pink cheeks and the embarrassed upturn of his lips.

Once, for biology, you watched a video of a flower blooming overnight. It glowed in the dark as its petals stretched out, slowly, over the course of minutes that felt at once like seconds and eternities. Changmin’s smile is that blooming flower, petals blossoming into the widest grin that smacks of a beauty that sinks far deeper than the skin, that spreads through the blood and brushes the heart and mind with the gentlest, sparkling touch.

It stays with you, that blooming smile, on the bus ride back to campus (Changmin doesn’t come with you – he has to go to work, volunteering at a nearby dance center for kids). The memory presses warmth in your body for the rest of the day, horribly visible in the permanent (lovestruck) twinkle in your eye.

“Had a good date?” Eric asks you later, mischievous smirk on his face. He just laughs at your scowl and dodges your swat, mocking the “It wasn’t a date!” that bursts from your lips.

After all, it wasn’t a date, as much as your heart pounded throughout the entire two hours of conversation. It wasn’t a date, no matter how much you really wanted it to be. It was just two possible friends getting to know each other over a cup of coffee, right?

And even though it stings a little in your heart, you can be content with that. Seeing Changmin’s grin, that wide grin that shows all his teeth and scrunches his eyes into the cutest slits and makes flowers bloom in your heart, is all you could ever ask for.

. . .

~ changmin

Changmin just wants to know when getting punched in the chest repeatedly started feeling so good.

No, he isn’t actually getting punched in the chest every other day. It’s just that it feels that way, every time his phone vibrates with a text from you or he sees your sparkling eyes across the hall coming his way to do the dance you two have become so known for (what happened at the party went viral on the university Snapchat, sadly. Jaehyun denies taking the video, but it might just as well have been Jangjun). Your presence makes his heart thump once, twice, a thousand times in the space of mere seconds, and the force with which the thumps sound make it feel like someone is punching him in the chest over and over, but in a good way.

God, when did he get like this? Younger Changmin would cringe at these feelings, at the million metaphors he can come up with for your smile. But Older Changmin takes the feelings, stores them quietly in his heart, and lets your sparkling warmth illuminate his presence every day.

“You’re shining,” Chanhee remarks at one point after you pass by, leaving Changmin inevitably awestruck. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were pregnant. You’ve got that glow.”

He runs, of course, when Changmin leaps at him with teeth bared. Chanhee’s never really known when to shut his mouth (resulting in his entire friend group clowning him to high heaven), but, well, he’s kind of right, Changmin supposes. His lips have never spread as widely as they do when you’re trying to step all over his toes. He’s not pregnant and he’s pretty sure he isn’t glowing, but you make him feel like he might be. Glowing, that is. Not pregnant.

That’s definitely not it.

“Maybe suggest a date?” Younghoon says one day, face still half scrunched into a cringe from your biweekly dance in the literature building. “I’m so sick of seeing you two literally dance around your fucking feelings.”

“Don’t curse,” Changmin says, evading the question. “It doesn’t suit your puppy persona.”

“Like your obsession with horror movies suits your doe eyes,” Younghoon snorts, tossing his bread wrapper into a nearby trash can. “Don’t avoid the question. Why won’t you ask them out?”

That’s a good question, one that spins around Changmin’s mind every second of the day. It whirls even faster when something reminds him of you, like a pretty flower that might look nice tucked behind your ear, a notebook that’s the same design as the one you use for biology, or the special ringtone he’s set for your text messages so he can respond as fast as possible.

An awful lot of things remind him of you.

But as much as he’d like to form the words in his mouth, let those six simple words burst from his throat – “Will you go out with me?” – they die the moment they reach his lips. He’s analyzed this phenomenon from so many angles, worked through it after every time he’s met your lovely eyes, and there’s only one conclusion he’s come up with.

He, Ji Changmin, lover of horror movies and dolls and clowns and possession, is scared. Scared of asking you out, only to be rejected because you have your eye on someone else. Scared of asking you out, only to be faced with the fact that you don’t love his smiles the same way he loves yours. Scared of asking you out, only to have his heart crushed under your gentle, well-meaning hands.

The thumping in his chest turns painful and bitter when he thinks of this, unpleasantly cold and sharp, nothing like the sparkling warmth you evoke in his heart. It makes his mouth thin into a line, lips tight with the fear of splitting from your smile, never to see it again after your rejection.

“Y/N might not like me back,” is all Changmin says, though, keeping all of the metaphors and analysis hidden deep in the crevices of his brain. “I want to at least keep what we already have.”

Younghoon probably wants to start ranting about Changmin’s idiocy like Kevin always does, yelling about how there’s no way you’re not in love with him as much as he’s head over heels for you. He probably would, but Younghoon’s known Changmin for over a decade and a half so he knows there’s real fear in Changmin’s voice when he speaks of your possible rejection. His eyes soften as he pats Changmin’s head, and though he’ll complain about Younghoon messing up his hair, he’s grateful for his friend’s understanding. He’s grateful that he won’t push it further (at least for now).

So Changmin contents himself with looking forward to your texts, going on coffee dates that aren’t dates, seeing your smiles and hearing your laughs. He resists the urge to push back strands of hair that fall into your eyes, hugs you for only an appropriate amount of time, and does his best not to stare at your lips for too long, imagining what it would feel like to kiss them. Pillowy soft, sweet, gentle –

Hey. No. Changmin shakes his head. None of that pining nonsense. Your smile is everything he’s wanted to see in his life, and he’ll be content with that.

Just knowing you’re well and happy is enough.

. . . . .

~ you

It’s late afternoon, almost evening when Changmin calls. He sounds slightly breathless on the other end – he must have just finished dance practice – as he chirps your name, sending butterflies flitting into your heart. “Wanna get coffee?”

“It’s nearly six, Changmin.” You snort. “You want to get coffee now? You won’t be able to sleep later.”

“But coffee,” he whines. “I want coffee.”

“No coffee,” you decide firmly. “But I’ll buy you dinner. What do you want?”

Changmin squawks. “I can buy my own dinner!”

“You bought the coffee last time,” you argue. “It’s my turn to pay.” You can almost hear him getting ready to argue, even if he hasn’t said anything, so you head him off. “Don’t argue with me, I’ll fight you over this.”

“With what, your mediocre dance skills?” Changmin snarks.

“Excuse me?” you snap in mock indignation, secretly smiling as his laughs fill your ear. “Mediocre?”

“I’ll call you a good dancer when you actually succeed in tripping me,” he says, still giggling. “We can go to the ramen place just off campus?”

So instead of spending the evening at your dorm, working on a paper that’s due in a few days, you spend it in the dimly lit, cheap ramen restaurant across the street from the university entrance, laughing and talking with Changmin all the while trying desperately not to show how deeply your heart beats for him.

It’s so hard, you think, walking out of the restaurant a couple of hours later (after fighting over the bill – you’re pretty sure the waiter was going to have an aneurysm by the time you finally managed to toss your card to him). It’s so hard to pretend Changmin doesn’t mean something more to you, when everything about the doe-eyed boy just makes you feel like melting into the ground.

“You never stop dancing, do you?” you ask idly, watching his feet slide along the rough sidewalk. “How do your shoes hold up? They’ve got to be rubbed smooth by now.”

Changmin shrugs. “I manage,” he says, dimple visible as he twirls under a streetlamp, spinning neatly onto campus. “Dancing’s in my blood, I can’t just stop.”

“I can see that,” you say, amused. “Want some music?”

It doesn’t matter what song comes up on your phone, you’ve come to learn. You used to be a bit self-conscious of your music taste and would try to pick songs you thought he’d enjoy, but Changmin, you know now, will find a beat or a melody that he likes in anything that ends up playing. Sure enough, as soon as the first few bars sound from your phone, Changmin’s already grinning, arms floating, feet sliding in a slightly silly but nonetheless lovely dance.

For a few moments, you two stay where you are, Changmin dancing with the grace of a butterfly under the darkening sky, you watching from the side. His grin is bright, so bright, brighter than the streetlights and the moon beginning to glow behind the clouds. You can’t do anything but watch, rooted in place by his grace and beauty.

It’s a bit like touching stars, seeing Changmin’s smile. It should seem impossible to be within reach of something so bright that it can shine across unfathomable distances to light up the night sky, just as it feels impossible to be in the presence of Changmin’s blooming grin. His eyes crinkle like small beacons of light sparkling across the rippling blanket of night, his mouth curving into the brightest crescent moon.

And as you watch, mesmerized, with that lovely crescent smile comes a twitch of the fingers, a slight glint in the eye that’s all too familiar by now.

It’s more of a smirk than a smile, you muse, as the corners of your lips begin to turn upward as well. It’s endlessly alluring, pulling you into his space as Changmin’s elegant steps evade your awkward feet. Your laughs fill the empty university paths, smiles lighting the sidewalk as music blasts from the phone you’re still clutching in your hand, flooding the air, mixing with your yelps and giggles into one singular melody.

“Still mediocre,” Changmin sings as he steps around you once more, effortlessly avoiding your flailing arms. “When will I ever be able to call you a good dancer?”

Once again, like it often does in Changmin’s presence, your body makes a decision without waiting on input from your brain. All you know is that your mouth is suddenly yelling, “Today!” and then you leap.

His eyes widen in surprise, but even his graceful legs aren’t enough to keep him upright this time. You crash into his chest with an audible thump. For a split second, you feel yourself suspended in air as your feet leave the ground, and then the two of you topple over onto the soft grass lining the edges of the path.

Silence. Dead silence.

Then breathless, uncontrollable laughter erupts from Changmin’s lips.

It feels like seconds and it feels like hours that you spend there, embarrassed giggles turning to snorts as you realize how stupid this whole situation is. Changmin’s chest is warm beneath your body, heaving with laughs that burst from his throat and mix with the music still blaring from your hand. You can only follow his example, wheezing breaths from the pit of your stomach.

“Am I a good dancer?” you finally gasp, the last strains of the song fading in the air. “Am I, Changmin?”

His eyes stare into yours, crinkled with joy, twinkling under the rising moon. “Yes,” he says, lips stretched wide. “You are.”

The last vestiges of laughter have died by now. Slowly, silence takes over the moment as you stare into Changmin’s soft eyes, losing yourself in his gaze.

And only then do you realize the position you’ve put yourself in.

He’s right under you, chest pressed flush against yours. You swear you can hear his heartbeat – he has to be able to hear or at least feel yours, it’s hammering at a pace that’s definitely unhealthy – and oh God, your faces are barely inches apart.

You should move. This is a horrible, awkward position, and it must be even worse for Changmin, who’s being buried underneath you. But you can’t shift. You can’t. Something’s rooting you in place.

Changmin doesn’t move either, despite how uncomfortable he must be. If anything, he looks peaceful as he gazes into your eyes, his smile growing smaller but infinitely gentler, lips slightly parted and –

Oh.

His lips.

Your throat goes dry as you realize just how close you are to kissing him.

It isn’t just you, you swear. Changmin’s eyes move, too, shifting slightly from staring into yours to gaze upon your own lips.

Your heart races.

For a second, one blissful, agonizing second, you think you’re going to close the inch gap and press your lips to his, or maybe he’ll brave the chasm and press his lips to yours. For one single warm second, you really think that Changmin might return your feelings, that he might even feel as deeply for you as you feel about him.

Then the next song starts playing on your phone, and with that song, something snaps. The moment breaks. You become painfully aware of the cool night air brushing against your arms and making you shiver. The blissful moment disappears as Changmin moves, presumably to roll out from under you, and you quickly shift yourself off of his chest, freeing him. With fingers still trembling with adrenaline, you turn off your music.

He stands up quickly, brushing off his pants, smiling like nothing happened. Under the glare of the streetlamp, you can’t tell if you’re just imagining the pink dusting his cheeks, the red tinting his ears. “You’re a good dancer,” is all he says. His words betray nothing about his thoughts on what just happened.

Hot, shameful embarrassment rushes through your blood as you take his proffered hand, pulling you up. “I’m glad you think so,” you say, trying to sound as light and teasing as you always do while inwardly beating yourself over getting your hopes up.

How could you ever think a boy as lovely as Changmin would love you, after all? How could such perfection ever fall for you, someone with barely a hint of Changmin’s grace and fire? How could you be so foolish as to even think that way?

Changmin drops you off at the front of your dorm like he always does, smiles like he always does, hugs you like he always does. He’s as close as he always is, never more than a few feet away, yet even wrapped in his embrace, you feel further apart from him than ever.

You watch him walk away from just outside your dorm, waiting for the last possible moment to slip inside. Something’s different about him, something strange. Lost in your own disappointment and embarrassment, though, you can’t put your finger on it.

It isn’t until hours later that you realize he wasn’t dancing as he disappeared into the night.

. . .

~ younghoon

When Changmin walks into the room and immediately collapses on the wooden floorboards, the door swinging shut behind him with a bang, Younghoon knows something is wrong even before his friend’s head thumps against the ground with a loud noise that probably won’t mean good things for his few remaining brain cells. Judging by Changmin’s prone position, though, he doesn’t seem to care. And anyway, his brain cells have been malfunctioning ever since he met you. Younghoon doesn’t think losing a few of them will be too big of an issue.

Younghoon shuts the lid of his laptop with a brief sigh, resigning himself to a night of consoling an angsty Changmin and not catching up on all of the episodes of the dramas he’s missed. “So what happened with Y/N?” he asks, making sure to infuse his voice with as much exasperation as it can hold.

“How do you know it was with Y/N?” Changmin asks, voice muffled against the floor.

Younghoon snorts. Even after all this time, Changmin is still as dumb as ever. “Any time you get like this, it’s because of Y/N,” he says. “So tell me what happened.”

“I hate that you’re right,” Changmin mumbles, picking his head up off the ground just enough to look at Younghoon. He opens his mouth to talk, then shuts it. His lips press together and he raises his head further, grinding the heels of his palms into his eyes with a groan.

“I’m waiting,” Younghoon sings, barely able to disguise his eager impatience.

Changmin scowls, which sends chills down Younghoon’s back, but he thankfully starts talking. “We went to dinner,” he begins, “at that ramen place. You know, the one right across campus?”

“Is this important?” Younghoon interrupts, then puts his hands up when Changmin gives him a death glare. Better not to anger the squirrel further. “Uh, never mind. Continue.”

“Okay, well, we went to dinner. And Y/N paid by throwing their card at the waiter.” Changmin’s lips jut out. “Then we left and were walking back and… I was dancing? Y/N was playing music? And, uh, we were kind of dancing together at some point when we got on campus and like, before, I told them I’d only say they were a good dancer if they could trip me up so Y/N actually just leapt at me and then we fell over and they were on top of me and, uh, we started laughing until…”

Oh, God. This is just a K-drama in real life. Younghoon leans forward, bunching blankets into his hand with a vice grip, waiting for the climax that he knows is going to come. “Until?” he prompts when Changmin stays silent.

Changmin takes a deep breath. “Until we realized what position we were in,” he squeaks. His head thumps back to the floor.

Younghoon shifts on the bed, now clutching his pillow as he tries desperately not to scream. “Tell me you kissed,” he says, voice strangled. “Tell me you fucking kissed. You better have.”

He better have, or Younghoon is going to pull a Changmin and start biting things.

Changmin rolls over and stares at the ceiling for a solid second in silence. For that one blissful moment, Younghoon really thinks that a stupid smile is going to break across his dumb best friend’s face, that he’s going to start waxing poetic about how your lips felt against his, soft and pillowy and so much better than he imagined (because there’s no way Changmin hasn’t imagined kissing you with how deep he’s fallen, absolutely no fucking way).

Then Changmin screams.

Years of growing up together have taught Younghoon which Changmin screams mean excitement or sadness or every emotion in between. This scream is nothing good. There is no happiness in Changmin’s raw vocal cords, no hidden joy in his tightly shut eyes, only pure angst and disappointment and frustration palpable in the screech that’s echoing between the dorm walls.

Younghoon heaves the pillow in his hand and throws it at his best friend. He picks up a nearby stuffed animal and throws it too. Then he throws another. And another. And another.

Changmin just takes it, soft things bouncing off his body into random corners of the room. His eyes are still squinched shut as though seeing nothing will erase the angst undoubtedly coursing through his blood. But Younghoon knows better.

“You fucking idiot,” he snaps when he’s run out of things to throw (hell, he even went so far as to throw Changmin’s Annabelle doll too). “You, Ji Changmin, are a fucking idiot.”

A muffled “I know” sounds under the pillow, which Changmin has taken and put on top of his face. He says something else that Younghoon can’t hear.

“Take that pillow off your face,” he says, feeling more like a long-suffering parent than a best friend (is this how his mom felt every time he did something stupid? If so, he’s now gained a whole new level of appreciation for her). “I can’t hear you.”

“I wanted to kiss them!” Changmin wails, sitting up. The pillow drops off his face, landing on the ground with a sad flop that Younghoon thinks very much represents Changmin’s current state of being. “I wanted to, but then their phone started playing the next song and it just broke the moment and I actually started thinking, what if Y/N doesn’t like me, what if I’m reading everything wrong, what if –”

“Ji Changmin.” Younghoon cuts in before Changmin goes completely off his head. “You are undoubtedly the dumbest human being I have ever had the displeasure of knowing for over a decade.”

“I –”

“I thought I was the dumb one in this friendship,” Younghoon continues, refusing to let Changmin even get a word in. “I thought I was the stupid one – I get worse grades than you, I have made questionable choices, the only things that run through my mind are anime and bread, but you – I have no words for you.” It’s Younghoon’s turn to flop facedown, though on his bed and not the floor. “You idiot.”

Silence. Then – “What if Y/N doesn’t like me, though?”

Younghoon very nearly groans as he picks his head out of his blankets, but the quivering note in Changmin’s voice keeps him from voicing as much of his frustration as he would like. “Ji Changmin,” he says carefully. “I’m dumb, unobservant, and I know I didn’t realize I liked my own partner before we had that confrontation, but even I’m smart enough to tell how head over heels Y/N is for you.”

More silence. Then Changmin speaks again. “I moved first,” he confesses softly. “I kind of twitched and I think Y/N took that as me not liking it, and then I just made things worse by pretending nothing happened.”

“You need to clear that up,” Younghoon says. “Talk. Admit that you really have feelings. Suggest a date. I don’t know what exactly you need to do, but I do know that if you let this go because you’re scared of rejection, you’re going to regret it for a long, long time.”

There’s still a pout on Changmin’s lips, his eyes wide and soft and sad, but there’s a slight steel to his gaze now, a sliver of determination glinting on his face as he nods the slightest bit. “Okay,” he mumbles. “Okay.”

Younghoon breathes a sigh of relief. “Please get this done within the next week,” he says, opening his laptop again. “I can’t stand the two of you pining any longer than that. And also, you’re picking up all the stuffed animals on the ground. I don’t care if I threw them, you caused me to throw them and you can’t deny that you deserved it.”

Changmin grumbles but he does as he’s told, tossing the soft things littering the ground back onto their respective beds. Younghoon just sighs, turning his attention back to his abandoned drama. If his best friend doesn’t get his shit together, he’s going to have to take matters into his own hands. In fact, some preventative measures might be needed. And he knows who’s ready to provide.

He opens the schemers group chat.

. . .

~ eric

Eric has done his absolute best to avoid acting like Kevin his whole life – look, he might be a nice person, but he’s a complete and utter mess – but when he reads Younghoon’s account of what apparently happened between you and Changmin earlier tonight, he feels the sudden urge to start screeching as loudly as Kevin does when things fail.

He looks at the texts one more time. Maybe he read something wrong. Maybe the ‘he didn’t kiss y/n’ actually says ‘he kissed y/n’ instead. Maybe his brain is just malfunctioning at a scale it has never attained before (which is insane, considering the heights of stupidity he’s already reached in his less than twenty years of life).

bread boy: so I ask him if he kissed y/n bc why wouldn’t he. why the fuck wouldn’t he

bread boy: and he just screams

bread boy: DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS?

bread boy: H E D I D N T K I S S Y / N

There’s more after that, stuff that Eric doesn’t want to read a second time for fear of losing more brain cells than he can afford. Anyway, the little read by one message at the bottom of the screen has just turned to read by two, and Eric has a sinking feeling he knows what’s coming next. He counts one, two, three seconds of silence.

Then an ear-splitting scream sounds from the floor beneath him.

Yep. That’s Kevin, expressing all the emotions Eric can’t because Sunwoo is passed out on his bed not three feet away.

In lieu of a scream, a pained groan bursts from Eric’s throat and muffles itself into the pillow he’s pressed against his face. He’s always done his best to be understanding of people who can’t as readily admit they’re in love as he can – he knows he’s somewhat of a special case, really – but this level of dancing (literally) around each other is reaching levels of idiocy that even he can’t process.

moon boy: my ra just yelled at me and threatened to write me up

moon boy: but in my defense

moon boy: I cannot handle this

skater boy: neither can i

skater boy: I’m going to talk to y/n

This last text is the reason why the next day, at precisely one in the afternoon, Eric is waiting on the quad just outside the literature building, sitting on soft green grass that looks a little too bright for his current frustrated brain to be happy about.

After a few minutes of waiting, you show up, looking very tired, slightly unhinged, and in general like you spent the whole night thinking about a certain doe-eyed dancer. Eric raises an eyebrow at your disheveled appearance when you flop down on the grass. “Thought too hard about Changmin last night?”

Your head whips around so fast Eric’s surprised your neck didn’t snap. “How did you know?”

“It’s so obvious,” Eric replies. “You only get this worked up when Changmin does or doesn’t do something. So what happened this time?”

You narrow your eyes. “You already know,” you state. Not a question. A statement.

Embarrassment floods Eric’s face, but he just raises his arms and shrugs. “Guilty,” he says, mind racing for a way not to tell you about the schemer group chat. “Changmin spilled everything to Younghoon and he texted me to rant. So.” He leans forward, fixing you with a stare that won’t allow you to question his story. “That was a moment worthy of an entire fucking K-drama. So why didn’t you kiss?”

With a groan, you lie flat down on the quad. “Wouldn’t K-dramas drag it on, just for the sake of angst and extra views?” you mumble.

“Y/N.”

You groan. “I just… I wanted to,” you defend. “But my fucking phone was a cockblocker and it started playing a new song that ruined the god damn moment and, well…”

“Well?” Eric prompts.

Your eyes turn from staring up at the sky to looking at him. Something that reeks suspiciously of fear dances in your gaze. “I don’t know. For a moment, when we were just looking at each other, I really thought he might like me the same way. But, just… how could anyone like me that much? Especially him?”

For a second, Eric debates whether or not to say the words sitting on the tip of his tongue. They’ll reveal a part of himself that he doesn’t necessarily want you to know about. What he wants to say could sour your relationship, maybe even ruin it completely.

But his mind chooses this moment to throw caution to the wind, and the words slip out of Eric’s mouth before he can stop them.

“I liked you.”

Eric can pinpoint the exact moment his three-word sentence registers in your brain. Your eyes display a myriad of emotions – blank, then confused, then surprised, then something that looks like sadness and disappointment and terror rolled into one messy ball. You sit up. “Run that by me one more time,” you say slowly. “Tell me I heard you wrong.”

“I didn’t lie,” Eric says, trying to soothe the tiny pinprick of hurt in his heart. It’s much less painful than he expected, which is nice, but it’s still there. “I liked you the moment I helped you up after I hit you with my skateboard, but it was so easy to tell you were in love with Changmin that I wasn’t going to say anything about it.”

You put your face in your hands. “Eric,” you say, voice muffled behind your fingers, “just… why? How? We didn’t even know each other back then.”

Eric sighs. “I’ve always fallen in love too easily and with the smallest things,” he says. Years of working through this phenomenon have produced a coherent explanation that rolls off his tongue with ease. “Small stuff. A smile, or, like, a laugh. One time, I fell in love with this guy because of the way he tapped his pencil against his lips when he was thinking. I don’t know, you might just call it a crush, but… I don’t think crushes are supposed to be as deep as they feel for me.” He shrugs. “I fell in love with you because of your voice.”

Your eyes peek out just between your fingers. “My voice?”

“Yeah.” He plucks at the grass around him, nervously trying to give his hands something to do. “It’s… your voice is really soothing. Gentle. When you talked to me for the first time, it felt like… it felt like I could drown in it.” The words make him want to cringe, but they’re real. They’re truly how he felt, how he still feels, a little bit. “Really. I swear I’m not lying.”

This time, you fully put your hands down when you speak. “Are you… are you still in love with me?” you ask in measured tones, though he can still hear the slight shake in your words.

Eric debates whether or not to lie, then settles on the truth. You’d probably see through him, anyway. “A little,” he answers honestly. “But this isn’t about me. I fall in and out of love easily, that’s just part of who I am. You’re in love with Changmin, and this is about you and him. You just asked how anyone could fall in love with you, and I just wanted to tell you that it’s entirely possible for someone to fall in love with someone as amazing as you are. If I felt this way about your voice, imagine how Changmin must feel about your everything.”

Now you’re back to hiding your face in your hands, though it looks a bit like you’re holding back tears this time around. Eric waits in silence for you to gather yourself.

“Why are you helping me, if you liked me like… like that?” you finally ask, looking up once more. “Doesn’t it hurt?”

Eric shrugs. “You’re worthy of love,” he says. “I knew I was going to get over this… crush sort of love at some point. You, on the other hand, are definitely going to regret letting Changmin go, if you do. You’re so obvious.” He snorts. “But yeah. You’re worthy of love. And I think Changmin can give you that sort of love that you deserve.”

Soft steel enters your eyes as your spine straightens slightly, exhibiting a determination that wasn’t there before. “Eric,” you say carefully, “anyone who ends up falling in love with you will be the lucky one. Not the other way around.”

It’s Eric’s turn to get shy. “Thanks, Y/N,” he mumbles, uselessly trying to swallow his smile and hide the pink rising in his cheeks.

The hug that you give him afterward feels sweet, soft, gentle in the grip of your arms around his shoulders. “Thank you, Eric,” you say when you pull away. “Remember what I said, yeah? You’ll find someone who falls as deeply for you as you do for them.”

“Only if you remember what I said,” Eric bargains, smiling. “Talk to Changmin.”

A tiny sigh leaves your lips, but you nod. “I will.” Your smile turns slightly scared, but the soft steel is still in your eyes, brightening your gaze. “See you later?”

Eric prays that the light in your eyes never fades. “See you,” he says softly.

You turn, just about to stand and walk away. Eric’s about to walk off himself when you spin back around. “Hey, Eric. For the record, you’re a great friend.” The smile on your lips is genuine, lovely, brilliant in the afternoon sunlight. “I’m glad to know you.”

Something blooms in Eric’s chest, erasing the pinprick of pain that came with your initial rejection. With those words, his heart grows warm, full, happy.

There’s no hurt left.

Eric smiles back, this time with full sincerity. “I’m glad to know you too.”

. . . . .

~ changmin

Changmin can’t believe that he isn’t even dating you, but he’s already gotten the heart-stopping text that consists of four deceptively simple and terrifying words: we need to talk.

He knows what you’re referring to. After all, the mere thought of your lips so close to his, breath puffing slightly against his skin and eyes sparkling under the starlight, brings butterflies to his stomach and makes his brain turn to mush.So he agrees, mostly because Younghoon knocked some sense into him, but also because he needs some closure or he thinks he’s going to explode.

A quick ok! when are you free? (hopefully) doesn’t hint at any of the fear squeezing his heart into the next dimension, and as a result, he’s standing on the empty green quad just outside the literature building, feet tapping uncontrollably against the ground. A few students glance at him as they pass by, but he can’t register their stares. There’s only one person on his mind.

You appear just a few minutes after he’s arrived. Somehow, his heart speeds up even more when you lock eyes with him – it feels like it’s going to beat out of his chest. “Hi,” he says, barely able to keep the squeak out of his voice.

“Hi,” you reply, carefully coming to a stop just in front of him. “I, uh…”

Silence falls as the two of you look anywhere but at each other. Changmin can already feel the heat creeping up his cheeks. “Um,” he says, trying to breach the insurmountable gap building between you two, “I…”

A voice that sounds a little too much like Younghoon’s screams in his head just confess! as you look up hesitantly. “I didn’t want to move,” he begins lamely. “Last time. When, um, you know.”

The slightest dip of your head indicates comprehension. Nothing else in your face changes, save for a slight sparkle beginning to grow in your eye that gives Changmin a little bit of hope. “I got startled by the music from your phone,” he continues, voice still small but growing in strength. “And, um. It made me start thinking again. Because I like you, I like you so much, but, well, I just didn’t think you could ever like me that way. So I moved.”

Your gaze has dipped down once more, focused intently on your hands tightly clasped together. Then, just as Changmin’s beginning to fear the worst, you snap your head up. Your eyes glimmer with something that feels dangerously like the hope beginning to bubble in Changmin’s heart. “You like me?” you ask, gentle tones strained, desperate for something it seems you can barely even dream of.

Changmin swallows. “So much that it hurts,” he admits, voice softer than ever.

One terrifying second passes in silence after his admission, then a smile breaks across your face that’s so blinding, so bright it could rival the golden afternoon sunlight streaming from the sky. “Come here, Changmin,” you say. Your fingers twitch in a gesture he’s shown you so many times, and, like a magnet, he steps forward, following your words as though there’s nothing he’d rather do in his life.

And like a wave, like water crashing against the rocks at the bottom of a cliff, you surge forward, gripping the front of his shirt and pressing your lips to his with a gentle strength that physically knocks the breath out of Changmin’s chest.

Kissing you is everything he imagined and more, Changmin thinks once his brain catches up to the present. Your lips are still locked with his, eyes open just enough to gaze up at him through your eyelashes. Changmin can feel his own eyes beginning to flutter shut with heady bliss, but he forces them to stay just slightly open, just enough that he can see how you’re sparkling in the sunshine.

You taste of blooming flowers, of roses scenting the air, springtime, clear skies with not a single cloud marring the expanse of blue. His eyes finally close as he gains the courage to raise a hand to your cheek, thumb brushing your skin. Warmth blossoms in his heart as he deepens the kiss and you respond with gentle fervor, fingers still clutching the front of his shirt.

Air forces you to break away, shy eyes unable to gaze at each other for longer than a few seconds at a time. Heat has risen fully up Changmin’s cheeks – he’s sure his ears are bright red – and you can’t stop the smile that’s spread across your face, embarrassed and lovely all at once.

“I like you too,” you confess suddenly, as though the fact that you just kissed him didn’t give that completely away. “So much. I never thought that you’d feel the same.”

“Your smile is more beautiful than anything I’ve ever seen,” Changmin protests, ears burning even more as you cover your face, flustered. “I don’t think there’s any way I couldn’t feel the same.”

“Glad to hear that.” You uncover your mouth, letting Changmin bear the full force of your grin. “Because I’ve said the same thing about your smile to Kevin a million times.”

Changmin giggles, this time hiding behind his own hand. “Our friends must hate us,” he says.

Your eyes crinkle with laughter. Changmin thinks he’s in heaven. “They must,” you agree. “I mean, we started interacting with a… Kevin’s calls it a fucking mating dance, but, uh…”

“Younghoon calls it a cult ritual,” Changmin supplies, giggling as you snort with laughter. “But yeah. We must have put them through a lot, huh?”

“True.” Eyes sparkling like rose petals in the sunshine gaze into his with a softness that makes him want to melt. “Doesn’t matter, though, does it?” You smile even more widely, if that’s possible. “I’m glad that we met. That we’re here now, no matter how strange the beginning.”

Changmin’s smile turns smaller, lips no longer stretching as widely, but holding even more warmth than before as he raises a hand. This time, though, his fingers don’t twitch. He simply holds out his palm. “Dance with me, Y/N?” he asks.

When you tangle your fingers with his, Changmin feels flowers burst into bloom in his chest. Sunlight sparkles like glittering rain around your grinning figure as he twirls you on the grass, eyes crinkled and smiling with laughter, so much pure laughter that echoes in the air and mixes with the sunshine to create a golden warm aura of bliss.

(“I’ll see you tomorrow?” he asks you two reach the front of your dorm. You’ve stopped dancing in favor of holding each other’s hands softly, tightly, gently, and Changmin thinks he’s going to melt in your gaze when you nod with the most brilliant smile on your face.

If the exchange ends in a kiss that feels like a dream, a dream of flower petals tinted with gold raining around him as warm as your fingers interlaced with his, well, Changmin doesn’t mind if Younghoon teases him about it later. He doesn’t mind the smirks, the nudges, the one too many pokes in his side.

His heart is too busy blooming, after all, blooming with thoughts of your love and your smile.)

If you enjoyed, please don’t forget to reblog and leave a comment to tell me what you thought! Thank you for reading and have a lovely day <3

(1 reblog = 1 punch in the face for this couple for giving me so much pain while writing them)

[post-itpenny]

Breaking Down

Here we go onto the next part and our old familiar friend Angst. After this there will be a short break form the story, if anything but to stall having to write the end.

Tagging @grotesquegabby and @clownsgobeepbeep

Magpie came home.

She walked in through the front door of her home with Maggie who she then insisted returned to Billy’s manor.

“Your priorities have to change now poppy,” Magpie said with a small smile. “Go home to your fiancé and get some rest. You’ll need it soon enough.”

So Magpie was left alone, Honey and Brie having gone out somewhere with Trouble. Magpie was happy they were taking such good care of him, though it would have been nice to come home to everyone.

So she fixed herself a cup of tea and sat down at the kitchen table. Alone.

The shadows grew long in the evening light. Magpie fidgeted in her seat, she was so hungry. How was that possible after spending a week with all she could eat Joy?

But then again had she eaten?

Magpie stood up with a clatter as the chair fell backwards. Not bothering to correct it as she rushed out the door and into the twilight.

It felt odd putting on a performance, no assistant this time as she didn’t want Maggie exerting herself too much. 

Magpie spent the first half of her performance feeling every bit of a sham. She had wanted to recreate some of the spectacular sights she had seen on Blackwood’s planet and the audience did seem to enjoy themselves, but it just wasn’t the same.

For the first time ever, Magpie called for an intermission.

It was a gamble, people could wander out of the tent during that time and she would lose her meal. But backstage Magpie sat on the floor crying. Why wasn’t it the same?

Perhaps because her talents weren’t the same.

Magpie sat up in her revelation, Blackwood could create literally anything, but Magpie could not. She was limited according to adding the essence of life. The more sentient the more difficult, however after performing some of the acts and stunts she had seen on Blackwood’s planet Magpie realized something.

She definitely beat the elder when it came to imagination. 

Magpie was a picky eater, always had been. Her true dietary need was serendipity, an emotion she had found over the years was tricky to cultivate. To draw it out you needed a certain “pop” to what you gave the crowd. She didn’t need to make them happy, she needed to have them in awe.

Magpie wipes her eyes and rushed back out onto the stage ending the intermission without warning. She gave her best smile and snapped her fingers.

The Neon Circus was a favorite of hers. A lighted spectacle of a ghostly circus performing around her chosen audience in bright colors. The finale being a three tier carousel that appeared to be made of live animals that glowed in the darkness. Braver audience members would climb onto the ride. Magpie always liked this part, seeing people discovering their favorite animal and for just a moment being able to interact with a live version in a magical and unearthly way.

The animals weren’t real of course, but they were beautiful and easily deceived the crowd. 

In the end, the emotions of sudden good fortune and unexpected delight that the audience felt was so strong Magpie found she got her fill without even having to pick a single victim to take home to her dinner table.

It was good.

Magpie strolled home under the dim streetlights. She felt better, perhaps a good meal was what she had been needing.

“Weeell hello my Starshine.”

Magpie froze up before spinning around on her heels. Jack stood behind her, casually leaning against a wall. “Wonderful performance tonight. Gotta say though Pumpkin the first half didn’t seem like your usual flair.”

Magpie bristled, “You were there?”

Jack smiled and pushed himself from the wall. “Of course Sweetheart, you had been gone for a couple days and Ol’ Jack was worried.”

“Yo-you’ve been spying on me?”

Jack chuckled, “no just watching out for you. The bug and bird won’t ever let me come say hi you know?”

“So stalking?”

“I just like keeping tabs on my favorite girl.” Jack smiled as he approached her.

Magpie backed up, she wasn’t afraid of Jack, seeing him actually made her mad as hell. She was afraid of herself.

“Angel I’ve missed you,” Jack cooed, “You can’t say you don’t miss me-“

“I don’t.”

“You were never good at lying Angel,” Jack chuckled as he reached for her. “I know every inch of you, and I know how your pretty little heart works.”

Jack pulled Magpie to him and kissed her.

For a moment-

For only a moment.

Magpie let herself enjoy it.

She had not forgotten how good it was, how good a kisser he actually was. 

For just a moment Magpie let herself enjoy it.

And then she slammed her heel down onto his toes as hard as she could.

Jack shouted in pain before shoving Magpie back. She fell to the ground hard, her anger and hurt boiling over. 

“I hate you! I hate you!”

The streetlights flaired bright before shattering. The surge of electricity spreading into the city in seconds, knocking out the power. The ground around Magpie cracked and buckled, nearby trees caught fire. 

Through it all, Jack held his ground with a wicked smile, “no you don’t Starshine. You don’t hate me and you know that’s the truth.”

“Looks like she does dude.”

Jack looked up, behind Magpie stood a clown dressed like something out of the 90s. He grinned, showing a set of sharp teeth.

Jack stuck his hands in his pockets and chuckled, “nice set of chompers there Rex.” Jack sneered. “If you don’t mind this is between my mate and I.”

Magpie swiped at him with a long set of claws. Her body distorting into a thousand shapes at once. She came back together in a loud “snap!” As a wave of energy shot out from her like a ripple in a pond.

The wave spread across the city. Flat tires, stubbed toes, muggings and getting arrested, cooking fires, bone breaks, food poisoning, and one small child dropped their ice cream.

Alex casually watched his shoelaces untied themselves and with a small “pop!” One of the lenses from his sunglasses fell out of their frame.

Jack now looked nervous. As if he knew something Alexander did not. Magpie was curled up on the ground as if in pain. 

Alex stepped around her and up to Jack, one of his strange eyes visible thanks to the missing lens.

“Homeslice, if that wasn’t a sign she doesn’t want you around then I don’t know what is.”

Jack smirked and stepped closer, his chest almost touching Alex’s.

“Friend I’m not much in the mood for a challenge, but if a fight is what you want-“

“Chill my dude,” Alex chuckled, “I̷͉̖̠̺̳̳͜͝ͅ’̸̙̰̹̳̀̓͂͘͘̚m̸̲̰͖͈̗̼̐̂̀̃͌̋͋ ̷̡̧͉̲̦̩̟̫͋̀͂̀͆̕j̴̨͙͚̻̩̟̘̳̎ú̴̙̲̟̍s̶̯̗̎̄͐t̷͔̖͈͓͉͉̿̒̅̀̑ͅ ̸̝̞͌̈́̐t̶̲̘͙͓͌̌͜r̵̨͕̹̞͕̉̽̔ÿ̵̧̋̏͠ī̴͇͉̭͝n̴̤͍̫̆͋͒g̴̺͉̠̹̰̑̋̾̏͝ ̷͙̯̣̞͉̌̈̏̆t̵̢̛͕̘̩̰̳͚̹̓̐͛̇̕o̵̝͔͓̯͇̬̰̍̊̓̊͑ ̶͚̟͈̱̍̀h̸̝̏̀͌ã̷͓̥̭͐v̸̢̤͇̺̻́e̵͚̚̕͠ ̸̱̐͠ȁ̴̡̙̹͉̮̣̘̏̌̓̈́͝ͅ ̶̡̟̣͓̙̞͖̗̈̽͆̿g̴͕͓͇̥̟͕͍̈ơ̷̠̱̅͒͋ô̴̰̈́̾̆͂͒͠d̸̹̞͚̝̘̫̣̓̑̉̐͂ͅ ̵̺̟̬̞̯̻̋t̵̼͚̘̎͊̓̈́̂̅i̷̧̤̫͉̹͗͊̀͊̋̿͘m̵̞͖̦̭̣̈͜e̵̜̱̔̎͋̃̆͐̈́͝.̶͚͈͓̞̳͚̥̎͛̑”̷̫͖̤͊́̀̉̇

Jack stepped back with a slight look of alarm. The ground shook as another wave of bad luck flowed from Magpie and into the surrounding area. Cars crashed, glass shattered, fights broke out,lightning struck buildings-

A bird pooped on Jacks’ shoulder.

Alex started laughing, Jack looking at his shoulder in disgust. 

“Step off bro. Stop acting like your anything special.”

Alex turned to Magpie, ignoring an angry Jack.

“Sup chica, funny story but there I was at the club. Party getting real good and the power goes out. Not good for business you know what I mean?”

Magpie was a crying mess, Alex sighed and leaned against the wall to wait it out, Jack was long gone. 

“Yo that was pretty neat though, good luck and good luck huh?”

Magpie sniffled and looked up at him, “I’m sorry what?”

Alexander quirked and eyebrow, so she didn’t know then?

“Never mind, anyways you good now? Done going postal?”

“... what?”

Alexander grinned, “you chill?”

“What?”

Alexander laughed, “I’m just messing with you, but I do need you to turn back on the power, also you owe me a new pair.” He insisted as he held out his broken glasses.

Magpie half heatedly snapped her fingers and Alexander’s glasses repaired themselves. She then timidly pulled off her glove to inspect a tear in the fabric from when she fell.

“You pulled off a clown’s mask,” Alexander observed, “not the brightest idea.”

Magpie hid her hand behind her back. Alex chuckled, “you good chica.” Alex said as he pulled off his own glove to show a blackened hand. 

Magpie smiled bitterly, “does anything bother you? Also my name is not Chica Alexander.”

Alex chuckled and pulled Magpie to her feet, “It’s just Alex. No need to be so formal with me Pie.”

“But Alexander is a perfectly nice name and….. I’m sorry Pie?”

Magpie broke into a fit of giggles, Alexander looking down to watch his shoes magically retie themselves. 

“I’m not to sure of that one,” Magpie giggled as she snapped her fingers, restoring power to the city at last.”

Alexander grinned, turning to leave when a hand grabbed his jacket sleeve.

Magpie swayed slightly, as if exhausted. Her cheeks colored just slightly, “Alex I’m sorry to bother you more but could you please see me home?”

Alexander offered her his arm to lean on. “Sure thing, let’s bounce.”

“... What?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day it poured rain. 

Magpie sat out in the garden at a small table, seeming unbothered by the fact she was soaked. She had tried to contact James that morning. Saddened to hear how shaken he had been by coming to get Magpie from her elder’s planet. The D’Vitts were not happy, the fear that she had caused so much trouble… again… it sat in her gut like heavy stones.

She had not slept much, the confrontation with Jack… she felt like her insides had been on fire. What was that?

“This is more of duck weather than magpie weather don’t you think?”

Magpie looked over her shoulder to find Cecilio walking out towards her. Magpie snapped her fingers as a plethora of umbrellas appeared hovering above them, blocking out the rain. 

Cecilio sat down next to her and said nothing for a short time, looking down to notice Magpie had her hand out to him.

“Could I have one please?”

Cecilio frowned, “one what?”

Magpie gave him a rather pointed look, the request suddenly clicking as he pulled out a cigar and lit it before passing it along to Magpie and lighting one for himself.

Magpie took a long drag before allowing the smoke to escape her mouth slowly. “Thank you.”

Cecilio nodded, “didn’t know you smoked.”

“I don’t.”

Magpie tapped some ash off the end of the cigar and took another long drag. Cecilio shrugged and decided not to push the subject further. He was here for another reason anyways.

“So how goes it?”

Magpie did not answer, focusing on her cigar.

Cecilio tried again, “so that planet was crazy right?”

It rained even harder.

Cecilio sighed, releasing a puff of smoke as he did.

“Maybe I should go back.”

He turned to Magpie in surprise, “is that what you want to do?”

Magpie looked away but did not answer.

Cecilio pushed further, “it seems to me that a lot of people were worried about you. Why go back?”

Magpie put her head in one hand, “because I’m just trouble here. At least back there I didn’t bother anyone.”

“Who said you were bothering people?” Cecilio questioned. “If anything I think it would bother your friends a lot if you went back. Magpie that place was one giant venus fly trap and you know it. Do you really want to be like those people?”

“No.”

“You can’t just be happy and all sunshine all the time.”

“You can, you’re ex is dead.”

“Yeah and I about had a heart attack in the process of it, she didn’t go out easy.” Cecilio admitted. “I’m still in the Bad Ex Club with you.”

Magpie gave a tiny smile as she crushed the remains of her cigar under her boot. The rain letting up just a little. 

Soon the two walked inside and Magpie was surprised to find Belinda sitting with Magpie and a plate of brownies. 

Apparently Pepper had been upset from Blackwood’s planet as well much to Magpie’s unease.

But Belinda had wanted to check on Magpie and brought fudge brownies which helped a little.

Magpie was willing to admit the company was nice. She explained to the three of them how she had been feeling lately, had been feeling for a long time actually. Admitting that the appeal of a planet free from worry and sadness had gotten the best of her. She apologized several times and each time told to let it pass. Belinda was actually a very good listener, it was such a small act but it did help. 

Cecilio looked outside to notice it had stopped raining.

Also, there was one more cigar left in his pocket then he had otherwise thought, her looked to Magpie but she seemed preoccupied in teasing Maggie for eating three apples in a row. Cecilio looked back at the cigar and chuckled.

Huh, neat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That evening Honey and Brie came home with Trouble.

The little dachshund was in fits. Crying and licking Magpie’s face so intensely Magpie had to sit down. His little body wiggling as he wagged his tail as hard as he could.

Brie was very happy to have Magpie home, Honey was clearly unhappy.

“You promised to come back in three days, you were gone a week.”

Magpie flinched, “I know and I am sorry about that. I honestly lost track of time.”

Honey rolled her eyes and went to go sit on the couch, Brie joining her.

Magpie took a deep breath and sat down in the chair across from them.

“Please, let me explain myself.”

Honey shrugged but said nothing.

Magpie placed her hands in her lap, fingers nervously intertwined. “I have been… I… I have made a lot of mistakes that I spent a great deal of time paying for. I caused a great deal of grief for my family and had to pay a heavy price. I made the mistake of letting the wrong person have my heart and turn me into someone rather awful.”

Brie watched Magpie with a worried expression, Honey however seemed unchanged. 

Magpie continued, “I’m telling you this because even though I’m trying to move past all of that I still am not perfectly ok. My former mate still gives me a great deal of trouble and my family do not trust me… and some still want nothing to do with me. So when I was offered a chance to get away from my own problems for a short time I took it. However, I made the mistake of not considering the problems you two are dealing with.”

Honey quirked an eyebrow but still did not say anything.

Magpie took another breath. “I know you two are still hurt and I should never have left you even for a few days. That was not fair and when I realized my mistake I came home right away. I have come to care about you both greatly and I chose to make watching out for you two my responsibility, and I’m sorry. I can’t make any guarantees about what will happen in the future but I do want you to know that I do care about you both and you have a home here for as long as you wish.”

Brie was up and hugging Magpie, picking her up from the floor in the process. Honey stood up and smoothed out the wrinkles from her dress. “Okay, how about some tea and cake then?”

Magpie smiled, “yes that sounds lovely.”

[toralyzer]

reading the TAZ comic and seeing the characters in-universe talk in roleplaying game terms, it occurs to me that y'all TAZ fandom might enjoy another comic of that nature, which is The Order of the Stick (which you can read for free on Giant in the Playground).

it's centered on self-aware roleplaying game humor, also a lot of meta humor on story tropes and the comics medium. like TAZ, it starts out as a lot of loose jokes and develops into some really involved plot and characters. also like TAZ, it starts rough but has grown a lot in terms of awareness of social issues and representation. it's drawn in a quasi-stick-figure style that was originally made to be low-effort but gets really interesting and detailed as it goes.

at its best, the humor is really clever and great, the plots are engaging and smart and like to subvert the usual fantasy tropes, the characters are distinct, well defined, and always get challenged in new ways.

some characters that might grab your interest:

-the party-

Roy Greenhilt, human fighter and the long-suffering responsible one in the party

Durkon Thundershield, heavily accented and incredibly loyal dwarf cleric (of thor)

Haley Starshine, human rogue whom steals everything

Vaarsuvius, long-winded and sarcastic elf wizard with no defined gender

Elan, human bard who is dumb as a box of moldy carrots

Belkar Bitterleaf, bloodthirsty and basically awful halfling ranger

-others-

Monster in the Darkness, a sweetie-pie who works for the villains because they give him a home, and is incredibly powerful but doesn't know how to be scary. it's an ongoing mystery what D&D creature he is.

Miko Miyazaki, devoted human paladin who seems to have that Monk feat that lets you jump as far as you want, but for her it applies to conclusions.

Banjo, clown hand puppet god.

i could go on... you get the picture.

[xbelovedstar-dustx]

Bliss honestly looked surprised, however that didn't stop a lock of her hair smacking her daughter, who gave a whined.

"You played in your own tournament? I'm sorry if this seems rude, but doesn't that give you an unfair advantage?" She said and after Aqua swiped a taste from his boyfriends bowl, he answered.

"Seto wouldn't, He plays fair in every game he plays...even when it seems like he's cheating, He's playing fair." He said giving a look to Yami who was about to say something. Said name just pouted and continue eating.

"He cheats in Mario Party...." He mumbled under his breath and Aqua rolled his eyes.

"Yami the RNG just hates you....." He said to his twin before turning back to his mother. "What brought this up?"

"Oh I just remembered you both had crushes on a lot of duelist." She said and both twins blushed furiously, while their sister was sent into hysterics.

"Oh Kami, I remember that! You both were terrible!"

"Well Starshine, You were a duelist phase too?" Bliss said but the little girl shrugged and slurped more udon.

"That lasted like a week, Unlike those clowns." She said pointing to her brothers. Yami finished eating than looked thoughtful.

"Can you imagine if Aqua and Seto met back in highschool?" He asked and Aqua gave a look of surprise, even choking a little on his food.

"Its a cool thought, But Aqua probably be a lot shyer and quieter than he is now." Brunhilde said finishing her food. "Delicious! Hey Mom can we-?"

"No dessert StarShine." The youngest pouted. Tenebris finished his food and looked around the table. A peaceful sight that made him smile.

Once Aqua finished his food and leaned on his boyfriend again and whispered in his boyfriend's ear.

"Do you think we eould be friends if we did meet in highschool. Like..imagine if I went to Domino High with you."

Meet The Parents (Closed Rp with @kaibagirl007 )

Yami glanced at his pacing twin. They were outside an abandoned restaurant in the rundown part of Domino, and while it was abandoned it was the where they needed to be. Aqua was walking back and forth, mumbling to himself.

“Nervous?” He said softly to the younger one. Aqua stopped and looked at him with darkened Ruby. He gave a quiet chuckle.

“T..That obvious? I….just want the chosen family we have to like our bio family. I…want to patch things up with dad….” He said soft while looking down. Yami didn’t even come up with a mischievous quip this time around, he hugged his brother tightly. Aqua instantly hugged back for reassurance.

“I know you’re scared.” Yami started. “But if you taught me anything….Its to be positive. Tonight will go by fine, but it won’t be perfect.” Aqua listened, started to pull away, but got pulled back.

“Also Seto believes in this too, He has come a long way to want to be with you, learn more about you, and grow with you. Dad would be an idiot to not like him. Hell, Seto may be what he needs to learn to like humans.” He mumbled. Aqua’s eyes brightened and he hugged tighter.

“Thanks ‘Ami…”

“That’s what your big brother is for.” He said with a sweet smile. Aqua giggled and pulled away before taking out his phone and texting Seto.

[Text to Teddy Bear] Hey I know you already said you are but I really hope you’re Ok with coming to the Rundown part of the City.

[Text to Teddy Bear] I also hope Mokie brought his 3ds or something because I don’t want him and Brunhilde getting up into mischief…Again.

[rkira]

Song a day for 2016

Cool Guys don't look at explosions. Lonely island

Armageddon-Vox

High In Church-Trevor Moore.

Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny

Zelda with Lyrics-  Brental Floss

You're not the boss of me now-They might be Giants

Boys and Girls LMC

Superman vs Goku ERB

Starlight Starshine Steam powered Giraffe

Craig Stephen Lynch

Clint Eastwood Gorillaz

Gimme Chocolate Baby Metal

Roundtable Rival Lindsey Stirling

Time Warp Rocky Horror Picture Show

I'm not okay (I promise) My Chemical Romance.

Angry white boy polka Weird Al

Almost Human Voltaire.

Martin Luther King vs Ghandi ERB

Batman/Xmen animated openings

Somewhere Over The Rainbow/Wonderful World IZ

Carry on my wayward son-kansas

Grey And Blue-Brave and bold

Share the one world- One Piece

God Thinks-Voltaire

This is war- 30 seconds to mars

March of the Inmates- Psychonauts

I wupped batman's ass

Legal Assassin-Repo the genetic opera.

D-City Rock PSG

Ready Steady Go Larc en Ciel

Devil went down to Georgia- CDB

I wanna rock- Twisted Sister

Polkamon- Weird Al

I can't stop Laughing- Joker

Teen Titans, Japanese version, english translation- Beast Boy

Shoot All Your Problems Away-Tomska

Steven Universe full theme-Steven and the crystal gems

Oh No you didn't

I don't love you-MCR

Heartbeat-2pm

Killed by Love-Alice Cooper

How can I not love you

Nothing-The Script

Classic Rock tune- Stephen Lynch

Breakeven- The Script

Musical Suicide- Tomska

Hallelujah- Rufus Wainwright

Only my heart talking-Alice cooper

Knights in white satin

Only you-Joker

Can't smile without you- Barry manilow +Pokemon themes

Turn Back the clock- Steam powered giraffe.

My Immortal -Evanescense

I need some sleep- Eels

On my own- Les Miserables

Feathery Wings- Voltaire

Ghost of you- My Chemical romance

Hell is living without you-alice cooper

If you ever come back- the script

love stinks- adam sandler

Youth-Daughter

Talk you down- The script

Somebody Kill me please- Adam Sandler

Owee- Voltaire

Six degrees of separation- the script

Give my love to rose- johnny cash

how- daughter

Skinny genes- Jenny bee cover

I miss the misery- ten second songs

Come on Eileen- Dexy midnight runners

Overkill- colin hay

rant song- scrubs

Ashita kuru hi Kobato

Bink's sake, rumbar pirates

Stronger than you- Garnet-steven

Burning Love- Elivis

So strong my face is

Murmaider

Owls- Weebls

Riding a black Unicorn- Voltaire

Put a banana in your ear

Soul- Ox

Amazing horse- Mr.Weebl

Elector Gypsy- Savlonic

The Driver- Salvonic

Tiny Japanese Girl- Salvonic

YOLO- Lonely Island

4 Chords- Axis of Awesome.

Rage of thrones- Axis of awesome

Renegade- Styx

He Lives in you(Reprise)-Lion King

Mirror B Theme

Dr. Mario- Brental Floss

All Champion Themes

Mercenary

Smash Bros

You Don't Know Me- Bandy Leggz

Ashley- Wario

Look who's laughing now

The stars-steam powered giraffe

deviljho

tetris with lyrics. Brental floss

When you walk away- kingdom hearts

every pokemon intro

Bishock song- Brental Floss

Bioshock infinite song- Brental Floss

Chop Chop Master onion rap- parappa the rapper

Undertale-Undertale

Squid Sisters

All rival theme

Dearly Beloved yoko shimomura

Video game medley-lindsey sterling

crash bandicoot 1 theme

mario bros theme

green hill sonic theme

pacman theme-smash

no more hereoes, its kill or be killed

I am all of me.

elite four battle themes

all lab themes

 all team bosses

J.R.R tolkien vsx George R. R. Martin ERB

x gon give it to ya

Giant Woman Steven Universe

yoda weird al

Darth Vader vs Hitler 1 2 3

founding fathers trevor moore

Drive me bats: BTBTB

mother lover lonely island

Make  man out of you TFS

El Barquito Voltaire

saga of jesse Jane Alice cooper

Danger zone Kenny

Be Prepared scar

Everybody wants to be a cat

Yes no

You're a fucking nerd Ok Go

On a boat one piece

boner song wkuk

anybody there? script

Crabs weebl

ultrasound: johnny massacre

I dreamed a dream anne hathaway

D&D stephen lynch

if we were gay ninja sex party

If you could see me now. script

Mine turtle tomska

I like trains tomska

monster masune

I dont want that for you steven universe

If I were gay stephen lynch

friends theme.

I love rock and rool, joan jett

hot patootie bless my soul rocky horror meatloaf

Ebola la la.

Wrecking ball beef seeds cover

65 rock songs, ten second songs

Ijime, Dame, Zettai

A boy named Sue. Johnny cash

Bad blood ten second songs

Roxanne-police

it's the little things alice cooper

Night surgeon- Repo! The genetic opera

Under Pressure-Queen.

Yakko's nations of the world

wakko's 50 capitols.

Feel good ten second songs

totally gay for america wkuk

Brooklyn Rage- Joey Wheeler

Come sail away Yugioh

I'm on a blimp kaiba

Pharaoh's throne yami

Hold me- steam powered giraffe

Soliton- Steam powered giraffe

Honeybee- Steam powered giraffe

Diamonds steam powered giraffe cover

I love it steam powered giraffe cover

Captain Albert Alexander Steam Powered Giraffe

I've got a theory buffy

what you feel buffy

wish I could stay  Buffy

Moses supposes his toeses are roses singing in the rain

JJBA medly+ alt jojos

Old folks home WKUK

Hitler rap WKUK

getting high with dinosaurs wkuk

get a new daddy WKUK

The Never song WKUK

Aren't you lucky WKUK

God Says WKUK

God wants you to wear a hat WKUK.

Carl Poppa

Obsidiots

La Bibbida bibba dum

Fire fire Steam powered Giraffe

teen titans

teen titans jap

ghost napa

Black sheep scott pilgrim

Undertale the musical, papyrus, brental floss

Kirby with lyrics Brental Floss

Baby Mario and Papa Yoshi. Brental Floss

Automatonic Electronic steam powered giraffe

Mecto Amore steam powered giraffe

A way into your heart steam powered giraffe

I'll rust with you steam powered giraffe

I go looney, mark hamill, the joker

Heavens Not enough

Stray Steve Conte

jiyuu e no shoutai L'arc en ciel

hall of fame the script

Better off with her-Amethyst-Steven

Haven't you noticed-Sadie-Steven

Like a comment greg-steven

What can I do for you Rose & Greg- steven

Do it for her-Pearl & Connie – steven

Peace and love peridot and steven

Answer ruby/sapphire -steven

It's over, isn't it? Pearl- steven

Digmon eng/jap openings

You're my zing. Adam sandler

Hold the door Hodor

Stacy's Mom-Fountains of Wayne

1985 Bowling for soup.

High School Never ends Bowling for Soup

Into the Ocean- Blue October

Ok Go

Schniztlebank

Disenchanted MCR

amish paradise

foil

eat it

Gump

Ode to a superhero

Jurassic Park

Another tattoo

Fat

the saga begins

complicated

sports song

bedrock anthem

dare to be stupid.

Genius in france

ricky

happy birthday

polka face

first world problems

word crimes

preform this way

Drive thru

Party in the CIA

Couch Potato

weasel stomping day

white and nerdy

close but no cigar

CNR

Hardware Store

bob

virus alert.

Don't download this song. Weird al

Tacky weird al

all I want- kodaline

shooting star bad company

just what I needed

jacks lamnent

chi chi wo moge

Careless whisper

neon, salvonic

boombox lonely island

jack sparrow lonely island

GG the giraffe

die for you, alice cooper

It's me, Alice cooper.

Reign on me

halloween stephen lynch

can't sleep, clowns will eat me.

oogie Boogie

spooky scary skeleton

brains

epiphany

scooby doo openings

land of the dead

monster mash

repoman

death death

disco bloodbath boogie fever

don't fear the reaper

zombie prostitute

keeper of the reaper

kidnap the sandy claws.

Adams family/munsters/goosebumps

vampire club

feed my frankenstein

ghost busters

skeletons in my closet

courage the cowardly dog.

wrapped in silk

the one that got away

I know where you live

wake the dead

He's back, the man behind the mask

when you're evil

cannibal buffet

keepin halloween alive

This is halloween

I love you egg

Happy Birthday Voltaire

Tomorrow comes today

clint eastwoood

19-2000

rock the house

rock it

dirty harry

feel good

el manana

stylo

superfast jellyfish

on melancholy hill

rhinestone eyes

do ya thing

You're Welcome Moana

Shiney Moana

We know the way Moana

Kyle's Mom

Beard no Beard

Mysterious Ticking Noise

Oh no you didn't

candy mountain

I am a millipede

It's friday

Hound dog

Can't help falling in love

Here comes a thought- Steven

Love Like You Steven

Hey Oh RHCP/ Monsters Matchbook Romance

Christmas Time In Hell South Park

Christmas at ground zero

the night santa went crazy

You're a mean one Mr Grinch

Merry F ing Christmas

I fucking love christmas

Blue Christmas

xmas time might might bosstones

Christmas shoes

Davey's song

Barney stinsons christmas songs

Home alone the song

All I want for christmas is you tens econd songs

popo the genie

12 days of christmas tfs

12 days of christmas overwatch

marshmallow world spg

christmas slippers tiny dick

12 days of christmas canadian

chanukah song 1-4

Christmas song adam sandler

santa claws, alice cooper

town meeting

Making christmas

scrooge muppet christmas carol

I don't have a name for it spg

Cellophane Steam Powered Giraffe

over drive steam powered giraffe

malfunction

guy love scrubs

scrubs theme,

[hrsun111]

The Intown Report's for the Week 11/21/19 - 11/27/19

THURSDAY, 11/21

4th Street Vine – Not Quite Disco

5 Star Bar – Fatso Jetson, Mountain Tamer, + 1000Mods

The Belasco – Alejandro Aranda (also Friday)

Bootleg – Devon Welsh, + Sorry Girls

Echo – Tasha, + Madison McFerrin

Echoplex – The Get Up Kids, Kevin Devine, + The Whiffs

El Rey – Ximena Sarinana, + Myiko

Fonda – Tiffany Young

Forum – Post Malone, Swae Lee, + Tyla Yaweh

Glass House - Plain White T's, The Mowgil's, + New Politics

Harvard & Stone – The Lavender Scare, Calico Sky, + Gregg Garvey

Highland Park Bowl – Coby Brown, Stars & Curses, Greg Felden, + more

The Hi Hat – Maria Del Pilar, + Los Retros

Hollywood Forever – Joe Young, Nite Creatures, + Craig Wedren

Hollywood Palladium – Bloc Party, + LPX

House of Machines – Throw Rag, Reckless Ones, + The Rhythm Shakers

LEM HQ (835 N.La Brea Ave.LA) – Thriller Party, Muskk, + DJ Tony Knox (KXLU's No More Heroes show)

Lodge Room – Franky Flowers, Gold Coast, + Alms

Maui Sugar Mill – Brahms Third Racket, Unsound Foundation, + Primal Kings

Observatory – Cautious Clay, + Remi Wolf; Oliver Francis, smrtdeath,+Marco XO (Constellation Room)

Pappy & Harriet's - Vetiver

Redwood Bar – Los Mundos, Las Cruxes, Strange Imperial, The Famous Wolf, The Mystery Suns, Dei Lucri, + more

Regent – Little Brother

Roxy – Dave

Shrine – Two Feet, + NoMBe

Teragram – Sunsquabi, + Swatkins

Troubadour – Morgan Evans

Wiltern – Madonna

FRIDAY, 11/22

4th Street Vine – The Fox & Bear Band, Dimboi, StBTtlCO, + Tudors

1720 – Acid Rave

Alex's – Blind House, Bella Novella, Los Mysteriosos, + Death Valley Trio

Bootleg Theater – Our Girl, Particle Kid, + DJ SadGirl

Chain Reaction – The Get Up Kids, Kein Devine, + The Whiffs

Doll Hut – D.I., Psycotic Scum, + Functional Lunatics

The Echo – Holy Wars, Draemings, El Manana, + Figs Vision

Echoplex – BoomBox, Exmag, + CAPYAC

The Factory – The Hots, Vevet Starlings, Joey Flemming, + Guspy

Fonda – Sherry Mann, + Intense

Glass House – Pinback, + Disheveled Cuss

Hollywood Palladium – Simple Plan, State Champs, + We the Kings

House Of Machines - Itchy-O

Junior High – BluMoon, Satchy, + Milk

Lodge Room – Moon Duo, + Umberto

Maui Sugar Mill – Moonlight Rocketz, Enemy Proof, + The Vectors

Moroccan – Fakear

Non Plus Ultra – Sundiver CA, NICE, Chud, Ums, + Argyle

The Novo – Tribal Seeds, New Kingston, + Tropodelic

Observatory – 45 Grave, Tarter Control, + Mac Sabbath

Orpheum – Tay LaMontagne, + Kacy & Clayton (also Sat.)

Pappy & Harriet's – Terry Reed

Petie's Place – Ghost Army

Redwood Bar – The Humblers, Mean Heat, The Damed, + Tilli & the Titans

Roxy – Mayday Parade, + Anywhere But Here

Satellite – El Chavito

Shrine – Troyboi, Destructo, + Argenil

The Smell – Noise Pop, YGSLRHSTFUT, Garbitch, + Happy House

Teragram – MisterWives, + Foreign Air

Troubadour – Dirty Honey, + Oriah

Zebulon – Pearl Charles, Jackie Cohen, + Josh Pearson

SATURDAY, 11/23

5 Star Bar – New Skeletal Faces, + Dominator

1720 – Noodles, Sammi G, + Olea

Alex's – Street Trash, Shark Toy, + Assquatch

Bootleg Theater – Mike Watt & The Missingmen, The Blank Tapes, Young CreaturesWasif, Dream Phases, Junaco, + Early Evil

Chain Reaction – MisterWives, + Foreign Air

Doll Hut – Broken Patron Saints, C*nt Punch, Ripkatz, One Hot Planet, + more

The Echo – Oliver Francis

El Cid – L.A. Drones, Death Hags, + Big Fun

El Rey – The Casualties, Love Equals Death, + Strung Out

Fox Theater Pomona – Hippo Campus, + The Greeting Committee

Garden Amp – Shattered Faith, Fear, + Twilight Creeps

The Hi Hat – Sego, + Small Forward

Joe's – Dime Box Band, Plasticsoul, The Test Pressings, + 13 Frightened Girls

La Santa – Cut Snake

Lodge Room – Death Valley Girls, Crocodiles, + Kate Clover

Maui Sugar Mill – Mecolodiacs, The Probe, Lost Marauder's,+Tommy Chiffon 3

Moroccan – Vetiver

Novo – Ghostmane, Lil Tracy, Jesus Piece, Horus The Astroneer, + PanO

Observatory – MisterWives, + Foreign Air; Ximena Sarinana (Constellation Room)

Pappy & Harriet's – The White Buffalo

Petie's Place – Area 51, + Hammer of the Broads

Redwood Bar – Villains In Vogue, Noble Prix, Initial Mass, + Black Letter Day

Roxy – Kavion, + Inzo

Silverlake Lounge – Drool Brothers, Nikolitsa, Temple Monarc, Ezina, + The Passengers

Smell – Raul Garcia, NOGUEY DMTV, + Lady Starshine

Teragram – Ghost Light

Troubadour – Elderbrook, + Pluko

Wiltern – Madonna (also Sun.& Mon.)

Yost Theater – Whitney Morgan, + Alex Williams

Zebulon – Jesse Harris, + Will Graefe

SUNDAY, 11/24

1720 – I See My Friends On Fire

Alex's Bar – Slaughterhouse, Clown Sounds, Hit Bargain, Sh*t Giver, + Killer Dreamer, 2pm; LVGER, Vis Vires, + DJs Marv Mack, John Fouts, + Shawn Atkinson, 8pm

Bootleg Theater – Thank You Scientist, Bent Knee, + Tea Club

The Echo – The Yummy Fur (members of Franz Ferdinand), Future Punx, Ooselles, + Intel (Part Time Punks)

El Rey – Julia Jacklin, + Christian Lee Hutson

Glass House – Bedouin Soundclash, Delirians, Steady 45's, + Sailor's Songbook

Lodge Room – Mellow Fellow, + Valley Boy

Redwood Bar – Strange Strip, Zenfoo, + YooForea

Roxy - Whitney Morgan, + Alex Williams

Satellite – Neil Hamburger, Howard Kremer, Karl Herlinger, Annie Lederman, + Natasha Leggero

The Smell – Remorseless, + Body Fluid

Zebulon – Rocco Deluca, + Jozef Van Wissem

MONDAY, 11/25

Bardot – Elijah Woods, Jamie Fine, + O Future

Bootleg –Rosie Tucker, Bella Porter, Ramanda Hammer, Pauline Lay,+Jess Kallen

Echo – Crook

El Rey - 4th Ave, + JAGMAC

Fonda – Yurnover, Men I Trust, + Renata Zeiguer

Largo at the Coronet – Liz Phair

Maui Sugar Mill – Lindsay Beaver

Observatory – Thank You Scientist, Bent Knee, + Tea Club

Redwood Bar – This Is a Train Wreck, Kid Carrion, + Casiust

Resident – Whitney Tai, Karolina Rose, IAMHILL, + Terabyte

Satellite – Stranger Liquids, Paracosmic, No.44, Spirit Mother, + The EYYES

Teragram – The Deer Hunter, + Gavin Castleton (also Tues.)

Zebulon – Ligua Ignota, + Ionna Gika

TUESDAY, 11/26

Bootleg – WILD, + Johnny Gates

Echo – Vinyl Williams, Al Lover, + Ofir Ganon

Fonda – Turnover, Men I Trust, + Renata Zeiguer

Forum – The Chainsmokers, 5 Seconds of Summer, + Lennon Stella

The Hi Hat – The Colour Coast, Surely Lorraine, + Time Travelers

Moroccan – WhoHuntYou

Zebulon – Sondra Sun Odeon, Secret Flowers, + Nico Turner

WEDNESDAY, 11/27

Belasco – The Dead South

The Echo – Half Pint, Mexico68, + Pachamama

Highland Park Bowl – Crises Actor, Mean Heat, + The Letter Openers

The Hi Hat – Airplane Mode, Iman Omari, Antman Wonder, Gaslamp Liller, + DJ Wyldeflower

Hollywood Palladium – ASAP Ferg, + Madeintyo

House of Blues – The Maine

Lodge Room – Spendtime Palace, + The Brazen Youth

Maui Sugar Mill – Rick Shea & The Losin' End, Dave Serby & The Hillbilly Fringe, + John Surge & The Haymakers

Moroccan – Part Times Punks Pre-Thanksgiving 80s/90s party

Novo - Kevin Gates, YK Osiris, + Rod Wave

Observatory – Morbid Angel; The Aquadolls (Constellation Room)

Redwood Bar – Prince of Lilies, Friendly Bear, + Heavy Velvet

Regent – Filter

Roxy – Flipper, Mondo Generator, Later Years, + Total Massacre

Satellite – Turtles on Speed, Mr. Max, Sleeplust, + Venus in Scorpio

Teragram – Monolord, Blackwater Holylight, + Yidhra

Troubadour – Repenter, Hvnted, Love Ghost, Dawne, + Dean Batten

Wayfarer – Death By Stereo, Bad Cop Bad Cop, + Mammoth Thunderpower

Zebulon – Shashanka Bakshi, + Liberate Elemental Forces

LIVE ON LIVATION, WEDNESDAY NIGHTS FROM MIDNIGHT TO 2AM THURSDAY MORNINGS (PST) ON KXLU 88.9FM, LOS ANGELES & KXLU.COM

11/27 – Thanksgiving Special with Jaime Sol Black and the Me’sugas, + more

12/4 – Launcher

12/11 – Otneil y Los Condors

12/18 – Dangerously Sleazy

12/25 – Lucky Otis

1/1 – Buzz Clic Adventure

1/8 – Crisis Actor

1/15 – PR Shake

2/12 – Ley Valentine

2/19 – Cheap Tissue

2/26 - JesuCrisis

reverbnation.com/venue/livation

intownreport.wordpress.com

livation889fm on Instagram

losangelesbeat.com

kxlu.com

[swordoflight18-blog]

Murder Victims

Hello from the Abyss!

This is a small list of NPCs/murder victims that will be showing up in my next campaign, split up into races. Feeling slightly guilty about killing them off, but I guess that’s the point: to make the PCs care about these characters.

Uncommon

Tyrexia Shand, female Tiefling 

Born to human parents in a rural town, Tyrexia was an outcast from the beginning, due to her silver skin, covered in seemingly random blue designs. She ran away at age 15 and was soon taken in by the matron of a struggling brothel. Tyrexia's appearance and shy demeanor were exactly what the business needed, and the matron has grown fat off of the sudden burst of business. Tyrexia cares not, as she has finally found somewhere she is faced with adoration and lust, instead of fear and disgust.

Brumhilda "The Beast" Bronswine, female Orc 

Once a barbarian known for her prowess in the fighting pits, Brumhilda retired from combat after her win/loss ratio reached 300/0 after only 8 months. She is now pursuing a new goal: find a man with the stamina to keep up. Contenders travel from all around to challenge The Beast; she still hasn't lost.

The Wave, race and gender unknown 

For centuries, The Wave has been known to the populace as an enigmatic figure. One must book an appointment three years in advance, paying 100,000gp just to secure a spot. Without fail, those who visit The Wave leave with the memory of unmatched ecstasy...but little else. Each patron's memory has been wiped, and all disagree on who The Wave truly is. In truth, The Wave is multiple people and has been for some time. Each person who uses the name is a powerful psychic, and the loss of one body does not mean the end of the legend. This particular victim is a female Aasimar, but her name is lost.

Halfling 

Cymbally Shorthill, female halfling

Ever since she was a child, Cymbally wanted to be an entertainer. Jesters, clowns, circus folk, they all spoke to her innate sense of wonder and excitement. She dreamed of making people happy. Unfortunately, Cymbally never quite got the hang of juggling or telling jokes, or any of the other skills associated with her chosen profession. With sex, however, she knew exactly what she was doing. She often wears ridiculous outfits, and caters to the strangest fetishes, as long as her clients enjoy the experience and leave with a smile.

Elf 

Allegro Starshine, male elf 

Elves are all somewhat androgynous, but Allegro embodies the word completely. He has taken great advantage of this and specializes in precise imitations of celebrities and royalty for his customers. With a judicious use of makeup, behavioral adjustments, and no small amount of magic, he can literally be anyone - or anything - his client wants.

Human 

Moira Strident, female human

Orphaned at a young age, Moira lived on the streets, struggling to survive. As she matured, she learned that selling her body brought in more money than begging in alleys. Moira now has a posh apartment and several regular customers that support her, but she fears that as she ages, her clients will be replaced with debt collectors.

Maxine Nordahl, female human

Maxine was a cherished only child until the age of 10, when her parents had a second daughter, Nadalee. Maxine took on the role of protector immediately but ultimately took that role too seriously. Her younger sister constantly rebelled against both parents and sister, eventually running away. Maxine has since joined the local law enforcement and is operating undercover in the criminal underworld, trying to track down her missing sister.

Nadalee Nordahl, female human

Raised on the stories of brave knights and warrior princesses, Nadalee felt smothered by her small home and restrictive family life. She constantly pushed the boundaries, trying to find an adventure to take her away. She fell in love with an older man who promised her a life of luxury, a life of breathtaking journeys into mystical and uncharted realms. Unfortunately for Nadalee, the man had no intention to take her away; he supplied her with highly addictive drugs, and she is now one of his many trafficked sex slaves.

Honeyflower, female human

Advertising herself as an "enigmatic friend", Honeyflower floats through the upper levels of society, accompanying men and women to soirees, parties, and balls of all sorts, improving her date's standing. All of her stories and experiences are false, of course; she's never left the city.

Marsha "Jubilee" Mardow, female human

An accomplished baker, Marsha dreams of opening her own store. Her pay at her current job, however, barely lets her afford to live, let alone save. She's had many suitors, however, and their constant protestations about her beauty led her to a part-time gig at a local strip club. In a few short weeks, "Jubilee" has already saved enough to set out on her own, but she found herself truly enjoying her side job, and has yet to leave. The extra tips from "private shows" are a contributing factor. Another week of shows means a bigger store! And another week after that means she can hire helpers! And another week means...(etc.)

[barbaras-mermaid-cove]

Carnival Birthday - Bob x Francesca

Francesca Terwilliger thought back to the months before she'd met Bob. She'd dreamed of marrying soon. She'd wanted someone kind and warm... and who had very rich parents! She supposed Bob matched those criteria. Even though he was often aloof, and distant, he barely told her anything about himself, and his parents - while famous - were also infamous, and had spent most of their fortune on bail from prison. No wonder Francesca had been miserable, when she'd found out the truth about him. "Why should I pity you?" Dame Judith had said. "You started it. If you hadn't had the marvelous idea of doing vendetta, none of us would be in prison right now!" She knew that. But she hadn't known the full extent of Bob's criminal past, back then. She thought they would get away with it. It wasn't supposed to end like this, with all of them in prison. She wished she could start over. Bob had been absent for quite a while. Even Snake was more of a father figure to Gino, than Bob was. She missed him. Wherever Bob was, she could only hope he wouldn't cause too much mischief. She wanted to see him again. It was only a few days until her birthday.

... A parole officer walked down the stone hallway with a quite chipper fellow. Francesca couldn't believe it! If not for the noticable red hair, she could swear it was someone else! This was the cheeriest Bob had ever looked since he was stomping grapes in Italy. He was clean and well-dressed. He was humming, "Good Morning Starshine." He grinned when he saw her. "Francesca! Hello! It's good to see you!" He stepped forward to the prison bars, bouncing in his step as he did so. "Listen. I've got a new job, and I'm inviting you and Gino to live with me." She perked up, her heart speeding in her chest. "Really? That's wonderful!" Bob nodded. "Come, let's go!" She picked up Gino, who was on the bed next to her, and followed Bob and the parole officer. ... Whatever Francesca had been hoping for, it wasn't this. "We are at a carnival, Roberto." She said. "This is a joke, is it not? You were a former clown sidekick; why do you want to return to that life?" Bob shook his head. "On the contrary, my dear. I am not going back to being a sidekick. Instead, I am getting a job as a carny!" He smiled in that simplistic way he did sometimes, in spite of himself. He led her to his carnival stand. It was a simple metal coin fishing stand. "Bob!" She said, utterly in shock. It was a nice stand. But why was he choosing this over a higher career position? She thought a while. Perhaps it was because the parole officer wouldn't let him take a job higher than this? For a moment, she wondered about Bob's early life. Why would he accept a job as a sidekick when he had such high potential? She had to question what Bob had told her about himself, sometimes... (I mean, he had left out all of his criminal background during their entire marriage.) Francesca looked her husband in the eye, her lip pouted out. "I thought you said that you wanted to be a teacher." "No," Bob replied. "Ever since I saw what would happen if I really did kill Bart, thanks to Professor Frink's future-and-possible-future-seeing-machine, I realized that wasn't the occupation I desired. Those students simply would not listen to me!" He shook his head at the awful memory. "But this, I can enjoy." Bob sighed. Secretly, he reminisced about being on Krusty's Show. Sure, it was awful, but it had a certain simplistic charm to it. Bob had enjoyed being a children's entertainer - he truly had. Just not the 'being pummeled for amusement' part. Here, he could re-live the clowniness without any of the torture. Bob's stand was a rip-off, naturally. But, like with Bob's natural charm, it seemed fair. People would fish for metal coins with a magnet, but just as they were about to reel it in, Bob would deactivate the magnet, so the person wouldn't catch their fish and wouldn't win a prize. One had to be very fast in order to catch their fish, and whoever managed to do so would end up hitting themselves in the face with the metal ring. Bob was amused, either way. ... Gino liked playing with Bob's little stand, and Bob always let him win. (He didn't let Francesca win, however.) Bob smiled cheekily, as she gave him a look. "Oh, don't worry, my dear. I got you a special gift for your birthday." He took her to a tent with red and white stripes. Inside was set up a table with paper plates and forks and spoons. There was a large chocolate cake on the table next to it. "One of my best," Bob said, quickly putting away his baker's cap and apron - which he'd left on the bench by accident. Francesca smiled. "It's wonderful, darling!" She was wearing her purple tourist outfit from when she, Bob, and Gino had gone to Great Britain. "I only wish that my friends could be here." Francesca thought aloud. All of her friends lived in Italy. Bob had felt bad that none of his wife's friends could be there for her birthday, since he and Francesca had run off from Salciccia to pursue revenge. "Hey," Bob said. "I know it's not the same, but I invited the other carnies to the party too." Francesca had enough time to email her friends in Italy from her laptop computer, while Bob got everything else prepared. ... Francesca stepped out of her tent for a little while. The fresh air smelled lovely. The breeze blew through her thick black hair. She heard a shout in the distance. She looked up, concerned. There was a goofy laugh that went along with the shout. "Fire! Hoohoohahahahahaha!" Suddenly the tent was blown away, the tarp coming clean out of the ground, its pegs flying about as they were dislodged. The tent flew past her, and a wave of wind blew into her face afterward. The chocolate cake was floating through the air! She realized this too late, and the cake hit her square in the face, like a mudpie. She growled. Wiping off the cake from her face, she saw there was nothing left. Absolutely nothing. All of the party preparations her husband had made were all for naught. She looked around for the culprit. In front of the former tent, there stood a fat clown. He grinned. "Sorry, doll! Thought this tent was empty. I was just testing out my new cannon." He made the same goofy laugh she'd heard before. Then he started to walk away. Francesca's face turned red under the chocolate frosting. "Do you have ANY IDEA," she began, not realizing the clown was already out of sight, "how hard my husband worked to make my party a BEAUTIFUL WORK OF ART?!" Her voice bordered on hysterical. "I didn't even get to BLOW OUT THE CANDLES!!" She panted, and looked all around her. The clown was gone, and the people in the surrounding area didn't even stare; they just walked about and minded their business. It made her want to break down. Her party was ruined, and nobody cared! She sank to her knees, and sniffled. ... After she told Bob the story, he put a finger to his mouth, in thought. "Yes, that is unfortunate..." He pondered on what he should do. "Francesca," he said, taking out his wallet. "You play Skeeball with Gino." He handed her $5, enough for 3 shots. "While I go buy a new cake. Okay?" She nodded. "Okay, Roberto." ... Bob checked his wallet. "And now to buy my wife the best cake money can afford!" To his surprise, his money was all gone! He only had $5 left! He'd never afford a cake with this! But wait - he eyed a bunch of chocolate cupcakes; simple and made by hand. They all had different candy toppings; one had a gummy worm on top. ... Would it be enough? Would it save his wife's party? Better something than nothing, right? ... "Roberto, what are these?" Francesca asked. She eyed the cupcakes in confusion. "Well, you see, Francesca. I had spent so much on the other preparations, I only had $5 left! These tiny cakes were all I could afford," Bob said solemnly. "Oh," she said. Then she made a little smile. "Oh, Roberto. You're wonderful! This really is the best birthday I have ever had!" She kissed him on the cheek. He blushed, his cheeks turning red. It had a stark contrast with his yellow complexion. At daybreak, the other carnies gathered for Francesca's party. They split the cupcakes enough for everyone. "Three cheers for my lovely wife!" Bob said, holding a wine glass. The carnies had let him use some of their wine glasses, for the celebration. Bob had washed before using, of course. The carnies even gave Francesca last-minute gifts and had rebuilt the fallen tent. "Hip-hip-hooray!" they all said. "Hip-hip-hooray! Hip-hip-hooray!" "Thank you, everyone." Francesca said. She fell into silence as she realized everyone's eyes were on her. "I must say, I'm sorry for misjudging you. I came here, to the carnival thinking Bob had made a terrible decision. But I was wrong. This is the best birthday party I've ever had. You carnival folk were wonderful. Helping re-build our tent, and not only coming to the party, but bearing gifts as well! I don't think I've ever felt more welcomed anywhere! Thank you all!" The carnies cheered. Then they drank their wine, watched the birthday girl open her gifts, and then went back to their own carnival stands. The sun was setting. Francesca held her infant son in her arms, and looked up at her husband. "Thank you, Roberto. This was a wonderful party; just wonderful!" She locked her arm with his, and they walked to their new home.

[brown-little-robin]

can I please hear more about Pearl, Stark, and Starshine?? :D

Yes!! I'm just going to assume you know the basic premise of the world by this point, but for anyone who doesn't: here is an explanation!

Pearl is a porcelain clown! Clowns have varying levels of human or non-human bodies, and Pearl is one of the clowns who ended up with a very inhuman body. She's 4ft tall and has a cloth body (she has organic parts underneath, but the cloth isn't removable) and a porcelain face. Her fingers and feet are also porcelain, with hinges and muscles. She's not very employable, unfortunately, due to both the body horror (she's beautiful on first glance and then she moves and it's weird) and the fact that it's really hard for her to grip things firmly, do precise movements, reach tall shelves, et cetera. She lives at the Des Moines Clown Shelter for the moment. She's a bit of a long-term resident.

Personality-wise, Pearl is pretty chill, more of a listener than a talker. She comes off as very mellow until she's comfortable with you, at which point she lets the sarcasm out. She's very observant and can be judgmental and cynical. But she's looking for an excuse to get more optimistic...! She just feels like at this point she's developed this quiet-sharp persona and she'd get made fun of if she let herself be vulnerable.

Stark is a Scare Clown. He hates it. He misses his old job, medical clowning; it was the closest to professional clowning that non-human clowns can do in this world. Stark (then known as Storks) would go to the hospital with a partner clown and bring some joy and laughter to whatever patients seemed receptive to them. He was a Whiteface clown, so he played the mock-serious, repressive "straight man" one of the clown partnership, but he's a really chill guy and loathes being Actually Intimidating. He's very tall, and he got taller when he got turned into a Scare. :(

He has a job, but I won't be telling you about it in public...! Suffice it to say that Stark isn't starving homeless like most Scare Clowns. He cuts an intimidating figure in his suit and hospital mask, which is important... for his employment.......

Starshine I explained elsewhere, but I'll just add the detail that she's Korean-American! As much as a clown can be, anyway. She knows Korean! And her body looks fairly human, so she's recognizably Korean by her facial features.

Thanks for the ask, Lu! <3 I love telling you about these skrunklies!