#ahem.......... better late than never????? right????

[delicatevalentine]

JUDGE JUICY EXECUTIONER

The festive season was upon them! Hilda would take any excuse to go out into the town and pick out a new outfit, but it was particularly enjoyable to seek out something that she wouldn't find in her usual day-to-day wardrobe. Especially a dress this adorable!

She'd had to fashion a few embellishments to fit her vision, and craft her own wings -- who knew that the shops around the monastery wouldn't carry such essentials? -- but once her hard labour had come to fruition, even she had to admit that she'd outdone herself.

[crheativity]

…YOUR CALL.

SUMMARY: The time has come for you to depart from Twisted Wonderland. Fortunately, it might not need to be forever.

WARNINGS: This is angsty, but with a happy ending!

COMMENTS: asdfjhgh writing via dictation is hard, I can’t think and talk at the same time apparently LOL, enjoy!

(Find part 1 here)

“What are you doing here?” Ace asked, suspicious. “Shouldn’t you be in tutoring sessions with Riddle right now?”

Ace and Grim were standing outside of Crowley’s office. He had been wondering why headmage had suddenly wanted to see him and Grim, and now that Deuce had arrived, he was even more confused. He didn’t think he had done anything wrong — at least, nothing worth talking to the principal about. And now Deuce was here too.

Curiouser and curiouser.

“Well, I should be,” Deuce replied, “ but I suddenly got a summons from Crowley. Riddle agreed to postpone the lesson as this is probably a lot more important.”

“Yeah no kidding.” Ace crossed his arms. “Got any idea what we’re here for?”

“Not unless you’ve done something wrong.” Deuce grumbled. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”

“Hey! That was uncalled for. I’ve gotten a lot better lately.” Ace huffed and rolled his eyes.

That was true, Deuce thought. We both have.

In the months you’ve been away, a lot has changed. Deuce had thrown himself into his studies and his track team meets, Ace had started (reluctantly) babysitting Grim and focusing on basketball a lot more and Grim was trying harder than ever to become the best mage he could be.

Yet they never forgot you.

Every day, at least one of them would make the long walk to Ramshackle. They would ensure that the place was neat and tidy and that there were still snacks in the cupboard. After all, you were supposed to be coming back soon, right?

…Right?

No matter how hard they tried to contact you, they never heard anything from you. They never saw you online. You never sent that promised message that you were okay.

None of them wanted to admit it, but they were worried.

“At any rate, we should head inside. It’s just about time.” Deuce said, glancing at his watch.

“Do you guys think this might have something to do with…?” Grim interrupted nervously.

Silence. Ace and Deuce glanced at each other.

“Best not to get our hopes up.” Ace said cheerfully, though neither Deuce nor Grim could miss the strain in his voice. He hastily knocked on the door.

“Come in!” The headmage’s voice called out.

Taking a deep breath, they opened the door.

“Ah, how wonderful it is to see the three of you again!” Crowley exclaimed with a smile. He got up from behind his desk and made his way towards the three of them. “How have your studies been of late?”

“Er, fine, thanks.” Ace replied, awkwardly. He definitely wasn’t expecting that.

“Excellent, excellent! No doubt due in some small part to my excellent guidance, no?” He clapped his hands together. “Ah, my kindness truly knows no bounds!”

“Um, headmage?” Deuce asked, “What is it that you wanted to talk to us about?”

Crowley grinned.

“Ah yes, about that. You see, I am a generous man.” Crowley laced his fingers behind his back and started to pace in front of them. “I care for my students—“

Ace snorted, and Deuce stood on his foot. Crowley shot a glare at the two of them.

“Ahem. As I was saying, I care for my students, and try to make myself aware of their behaviours on campus so that I may reward those who do good deeds and punish those who failed to comply with the rules. Are you following?”

Ace, Deuce and Grim shared a glance.

“Not particularly.” Ace replied.

Crowley groaned. “I am simply trying to express my gratitude for your continuing, and unwavering maintenance of the Ramshackle dorm, and for your continued hope in the magicless Prefect’s return.”

Their hearts sank. Was that all he wanted?

“Of course, such impressive dedication must be rewarded, no?” Crowley nodded, staring at the door to his office behind them.

“We’re getting a reward?” Ace asked, confused,

“Why of course! If you will turn around and look.”

The three of them turned around—

And gasped.

“Hi!” You grinned at the three of them. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t contact you guys sooner, apparently my Wi-Fi is different from your Wi-Fi so the phone didn’t wo—“

Before you could finish your sentence, two pairs of arms had reached out and grabbed you, pulling you into a bone-crushing hug. Wrapping your arms around them, you held your two best friends close.

“I missed you guys so much.”

“We missed you too, Prefect.” Deuce mumbled, giving you an extra squeeze.

“Please don’t leave ever again.” Ace muttered, and Deuce nodded vehemently.

“Don’t worry, I don’t plan on it for at least—“

“Henchman!”

Extracting yourself from the hug, you looked around to see Grim standing in front of you. tears sprung up in your eyes at the sight of him.

“Grim!” You began to make your way towards him, planning to scoop him into a hug.

“Not so fast!” Grim exclaimed. He was clearly very happy to see you, but someone had to maintain appearances. “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, leaving your master on his own for so long!”

“What do you mean on your own, huh?” Ace retorted. “I’ve had to babysit you this entire time!”

“Yes yes, you’ve been a very good substitute henchman I suppose.” Grim waved Ace’s comments away. “But that does not excuse the fact that my henchman abandoned me!”

Ace scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“I’m sorry, Grim.” You did your best to appear contrite. “I’ll buy some tuna to make up for it?”

“Better be the best tuna Twisted Wonderland has to offer.” Grim crossed his paws, trying to appear angry, but the smile on his face, and the tears in his eyes, gave him away.

You scooped the cat into a tight squeeze. “Of course it will be.”

“Well then,” Grim spoke happily, returning the hug. “I suppose I can reinstate you as my henchman.”

“Job’s all yours” Ace grumbled.

“Ah, such a happy reunion! Aren’t I so generous, spending all that time finding a way for the Prefect to return, hm?”

You grinned. You’d almost missed the headmage’s benevolent speeches.

You sighed happily.

“I’m back.”

♥Thank you for reading!! I hope you enjoyed it!!♥

[lola-bunn1]

it's always been you.

❥ genre: angst-ish? to fluff

You and Lo'ak have been friends for the longest time, after the death of your parents, you were invited to hang out with the sully's way more often, considering they were your parent's friends.

When you were there, Lo'ak was the only one your age, so you hung out with him more than everyone else. Sooner or later, you two became best friends and went everywhere together.

You'd go to the tree of souls and talk about your problems there, you'd ride on your ikrans and fly late at night, sure his parents didn't like it. But Lo'ak was a rebel and he didn't really care.

Later, the sky people came for war again, and the sully's needed to find shelter in a place they don't know about. So you obviously went with them.

You stood with the sully children as they were introduced to the metkayina clan. You learned their ways and helped them around the village.

But something felt off about Lo'ak now. Things were different.

You sat with Neytiri to help her make some food while the others were out for lessons.

"So, what do you think of Awa'atlu?" Neytiri smiled at you, she was always like a mother to you.

"It's nice, the people here are different than our people" You responded

"Yes, they are. But it feels like a refreshing new start, with new people and a new home. I hope the children are getting along well with the others"

Before you could answer, Lo'ak came in

"Hey-guess what I learned? I could ride an ilu now. Check me out on the waves, girl!"

"That might be the most annoying thing you've ever said. Never say that again it's giving me the ick." You teased

Before he could say anything, Tsireya came in as well

"Lo'ak! Come on, it's time for our exercises." She smiled at him, he quickly nodded and walked away with her

You sighed, "Guess you're right Neytiri, your children seem to be getting along with them just fine." you mumbled and left the marui

When you wandered around the island, you found an area nobody went to, and it was the perfect place to relax and have some peace from everything.

You wanted to tell Lo’ak about it, but clearly he didn’t really care to know. So now it was just you, sitting near the waves, staring blankly at the ocean and fidgeting with the bracelet in your hand.

It was a bracelet you had made for Lo’ak, you wanted to give it to him. But he was too busy to even talk to you at this point.

You aren’t supposed to care this much about this. Lo’ak likes being around Tsireya and it wasn’t a problem. She was a beautiful and kind soul, he deserved her.

She was better anyway.

You felt a tear slide down your cheek and were quick to wipe it away, you shouldn’t be crying over something so stupid.

You got up and walked around the village, exploring and wandering on your own since nobody *ahem* was there to go with you.

You quietly hummed to yourself as you collected some seashells you found in the sand, when you suddenly flinched, feeling someone touch you

You turned around to see Ao’nung looking at you with a confused expression

“Uh-did i startle you?” He asked

“No I just twitch for no reason.” You rolled your eyes and kept looking for more seashells

“Well um, I couldn’t help but see you wandering around on your own, I collected some of these” He said as he showed you a collection of seashells

“Why…would you do that?” You furrowed your eyebrows

“I dunno, thought I could maybe help you look around. You can make really nice things with those shells” He shrugged

“Oh…” You muttered to yourself, “okay I guess” you said, and the two of you looked for more, and sparked up some conversation

You had to admit, it was a little weird how Ao’nung was acting. He was usually his smug cocky self, but for some apparent reason he was being nice, and you kind of enjoyed the company you’d been missing ever since you got here.

You two had the best time, you gathered them all up and decided to split them so you can both make some stuff with it. You sat by the ocean and talked about some stuff as well

When Lo’ak was done with his lessons he went to look for you, a little confused as to why you weren’t home. You weren’t exactly familiar with this island

When he found you, even more confusion set in his mind when he saw you talking and laughing with Ao’nung. It wasn’t even confusion, it was an odd feeling, like a mix of anger and sadness.

Something about the fact that you were hanging out with Ao’nung bothered him and he didn’t want it happening ever again.

“So you can make a necklace with them as well” Ao’nung said

“That group of shells would look so pretty on a necklace!” You said with a smile on your face

“What the hell are you two doing?” Lo’ak said with a stern tone

“Oh-hey Lo’ak, we were just talking about the she—“

“I wasn’t asking you.” He said, not even looking at you in the face, his eyes set on Ao’nung

“Uh, same as she said. Just talking about stuff” Ao’nung said

“We’re leaving” Lo’ak grabbed your arm and pulled you up from the ground

“Lo’ak—“

“Listen here, fish lips. Talk to her again, and you’ll get another black eye.” He said, walking away with his hand pulling you away as you mumbled apologies to Ao’nung who was silently nodding at you

Lo’ak finally let go after some time and you pushed him away

“What the hell was that.” You yelled

“What? I saw the way he was looking at you”

“He wasn’t doing anything wrong!”

“Yes he was, he was hanging out with you!” He yelled

“Oh so now I can’t hang out with anybody? What else am I supposed to do when all you do is avoid me and go hang out with your little Tsireya. Go to her, maybe she’ll fix your problem.” You said and began to walk away when he pulled you back

“I don’t want Tsireya.” He said with a serious tone, “Do you seriously not get it?”

“Why wouldn’t you want her? She’s pretty, she’s smart, she’s perfect—“

“I don’t want her because she’s not you, y/n!” He snapped

“What?” You said, taken aback

“You heard me. I don’t want her because she doesn’t make me laugh the way you do, I don’t want her because she doesn’t make me feel warm inside the way you do, I don’t want her because she doesn’t make me feel the way you do, I don’t want her because she’s not you.”

“But Lo’ak—“

“I don’t know what happened to me back there. But I do know that I never ever want to see you with someone that isn’t me. Because I see you, y/n”

It was quiet for a moment, and Lo’ak knew this entire relationship was over. Until a smile rose upon your face

“I see you too” You whispered as the two of you leaned in for a soft kiss

“You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting for you to say those words” He smiled, hugging you tight

“Wait!!” You suddenly said, pulling him with you as you ran somewhere, ignoring his questioning

You two kept running till you found it, the area you’ve been wanting to show him.

“I found this place a while ago, isn’t it nice? Near the ocean, peaceful, nice view”

“It’s perfect” He said, you dug up some sand and pulled something out of the hole

“I made you this” You said, giving him the bracelet, “do you like it?”

“I love it” He said, smiling as he wore the bracelet and kissed you again, and again, and again

“Lo’ak stop it” You giggled as you tried to get away, but he kept pulling you closer, kissing your neck and moving up to your cheeks and lips

“Okay okay, stop it” You chuckled as you lightly pushed him away, “one more thing! You need to go apologize to Ao’nung”

“We both know I’m not doing that” He said

“You have to, Lo’ak! He really didn’t mean any harm, he was just collecting seashells with me! He even showed me where the pretty ones are! Give him a chance, please?” You said, playing with his fingers

“Fine” he sighed and you smiled, “but only for you, ma y/n”

He had you now, and he’s not planning on ever letting you go.

[90percentstudios]

What D&D classes would the CKC cast play as, and what would be their playstyle?

cody - changeling rogue. he'd get obsessed with trying to ride on the back of a hill giant instead of just freakin' killing it, and would probably forget he can do stuff like shapeshifting/bonus actions/etc 80% of the time. he's pretty deadly when he's locked in though, but it'd take some proof and convincing that an enemy is worthy of death. he'd also doodle while playing, heavily distracting him, but at least by the end of each session there's a bunch of silly drawings his friends can flip through.

mini - changeling cleric. the twins are both changelings cuz of everyone in the series, i think they're the only ones that've achieved being losers, cool kids, gods, averaged, AND banned. she's actually a big fan of making overly complicated plans, whether it's a heist, a jailbreak, you know she's got a dozen pastel gel pens to plan it all out! unfortunately she's got horrific luck, consistently rolling under 10. at least the plan goes well when someone else is carrying it out.

peter - human paladin. he has perfect recollection of all the rules and likes the game to be as immersive as possible, because convincing himself he's really a heroic paladin that people like and respect was his copium as a loser. that being said, post-series pb would have a bit more fun, especially with cody there to involve him in all his crazy antics.

juvie - tiefling barbarian/fighter multiclass. they frequently have to reassure their team they're not a violent psychopath irl, it's just that if you're playing in a world where you can do anything, why WOULDN'T you give every kobold a uniquely gruesome death and decorate your camp with their guts as a show of force? anyway they're very combat focused.

peggy - wood half-elf druid. any chance she has to transform into a unicorn she takes (it's not technically allowed but daniel allows her to turn into a horse that has a horn for flavor). she mostly trots around, eats apples, gives people horsey-rides, makes friends with other animals and often demands that daniel allow them to resurrect their friends (ahem cody) whenever they miraculously die.

holden - human bard. he actually brings his guitar and plays a short tune whenever he uses bard magic, it really adds to the immersion! he's also the party-face, meaning he's in charge of persuading the guards not to imprison everyone just because juvie tested the flammability of the local tavern's liqueurs. after a dozen of these instances he's gotten in the habit of telling guards "i've never seen that tiefling in my life."

daniel - elf wizard, (though he'd focus on dming, he'd probably include his own character in the campaign at peggy's request because "he'd be left out" if he didn't). his character would offer important exposition when it's already too late and punish the others for their reckless shenanigans by not helping them when they're in a bind. "it's better for character growth" he says.

gigi - sorcerer. she'd immediately grasp the rules, min-max the hell out of her character, remind people to use their ability modifiers and always be on the hunt for the best equipment, often getting holden to help bargain for them with his high charisma stat. her gamer-brain's also got a good memory for the lore of the campaign. "where was the grand exchange again?" "it was north east of kragmaw, remember?" "..." "in that cave in the side of the mountain?" "..." "you caused a cave-in that cut the water supply off from the local town, displacing hundreds?" "... ooooh, right."

rhyme - astral elf. would join the campaign a bit later than the others since she'd still be getting used to the friend group and all. everyone would welcome her in and they'd all grow as friends. she's annoyingly good at everything as always, yet somehow whenever she's near, mishap seems to follow. juvie's certain she's up to no good but no one believes them, until some pivotal moment when daniel reveals he'd invited her to play as a double agent on the side of evil and in order to complete the quest they must all fight to the death. when asked why the hell he'd do something like that he says "dammit i told you cody, FOR CHARACTER GROWTH!!" rhyme has stellar acting and everyone fights her with teary eyes, until... i dunno, they find some secret option of exorcising her of evil and completing the quest and no one dies and yadda yadda happy ending. anyway juvie gives a very well-deserved i told you so and rhyme admits her being the secret villain was a bit on the nose but she enjoyed the theatre of it all.

[greeenchrysanthemums]

I'm so sorry for the spam reblog of your GG rivals au stuff, but!!!! I'M SO. Ahem, I'm so so normal about it (<- lies).

I'm so curious how Gem got her start in the army and how she advanced rank seemingly so quickly! I mean I don't know the ages in this but I assume she's mayyybe in her late twenties? I dunno just a guess, but it also begs the question of when she joined? I mean you said that she always wanted to join the army so I'd imagine her joining at a similar age as Etho. Either way! Geminislay!

I just love this au so much! I'm gonna think about it all the time ♡

Hello! It's so exciting to get asks for this au! I'm so glad that people seem to like it so much. And not to worry, I quite enjoying seeing everyone being so excited about my au in my notifications. It is a delight.

As for your question:

She did join the army at around the same age Etho had, so maybe 16-17 (he is 9 or so years older than her here).

After leaving her hometown and enlisting, she became Impulse's squire. This was where she met Scott as well. He was a friend of Impulse's, and therefore she naturally seen a lot of him. They all grew close very quickly.

Right from the start, she showed exceptional swordsmanship, as well as brilliant organizational skills. She was quick-witted and a natural leader capable of taking charge in stressful situations, so her climb in rank was only natural.

Her first promotion was, coincidentally, because of Grian. She was only a few months into her stay at the castle when an explosion was set off in the courtyard and the weapons room was broken in to. While everyone else was panicked and unsure of what to do, she stepped up and led evacuation efforts before running off on her own to face Grian. She was the only one who managed to stop him from taking a great deal of weaponry, and even had him restrained for a period of time before he escaped. This bumped her right up into knighthood, where she was finally able to serve beside her friends instead of under them.

She would remain a knight for several years after that, and she was regularly assigned to deal with all things Grian since she seemed to be the only one capable of subduing him. It was never anything as grand as breaking into the castle again, but she helped stop her fair share of riots, and ran him out of town before he could start anything all together.

Her next major promotion wouldn't be until she was around 23-24. She ended up fighting in a war with a neighboring kingdom (more details on that another time, I do not want to spoil everything too quickly) in which she took charge of many battles, as well as worked with the previous commander to formulate strategies.

She was at first seen as arrogant and cocky by her peers for how quick she was to input her own ideas and boss them around, but that didn't last very long as it became evident that she knew what she was doing. In fact, she quickly became highly respected, maybe even a little feared, for how deadly and efficient she was.

Following the death of the previous commander during the war, Ren only saw it fit that he give the title and responsibilities over to her despite her young age. She had more than proved herself time and time again, and there was no one better for the job.

[littlemissthunderstorms]

gorgeous

alex turner x fem reader

i don’t really know how to summarize it, so just read and find out!! it’ll be a fun little surprise! (also i quoted a line from better than the movies in here, i just finished that book and i LOVED it so dearly)

i couldn’t choose just one song 😣

late afternoon was dull. rain poured outside and the sky was grey, adding to the melancholy of the day. as you sit on the couch next to your best friend alex, you couldn’t help but stare at the rain pattering against the window, trying to distract yourself from your thoughts. you had just recently broken up with your boyfriend, you realized he wasn’t the one and it made you sad. it was easy to let your thoughts spiral, you wondered if you’d ever find your person, if anyone would ever love you that much. could you be loved? you didn’t want to be lonely forever and then become an old lady living alone with her fifty cats in an old apartment. would you die alone? oh my god and then who would even take care of the cats? would anyone even know you died? what if- “ahem.” you jumped slightly, raising your eyebrows at alex who was looking at you with a funny expression, accompanied by a head tilt.

“soo movie or no?” alex chuckled. “you ruined my train of thought.” you smiled as you kicked him playfully. alex had always been your best friend, you had always been there for eachother and this was no different. he’d been hanging out at your house practically the second your boyfriend had moved out and you didn’t mind at all. alex laughed softly, brown eyes not leaving yours. as you gazed at the boy, your smile faded into a frown, your earlier thoughts returning to haunt you. alex noticed this, furrowing his brows. “you alright?” you hadn’t really allowed yourself to overthink too much since your boyfriend left, and now that you had really thought about being alone, it destroyed you. anxiety plagued you, filling you only with distress and thoughts of loneliness.

“i dunno.” you shifted your gaze to your lap, fiddling with your rings. “you wanna talk about it?” alex shuffled closer to you on the couch. you shrugged, eyes still fixated on your lap, averting his gaze. “is it about him?” you noticed how close alex was, causing your heart to race a little faster. “um- no.” you paused. “well, yes, related. i mean, it’s not exactly about him, like the fact that i miss him or anything. which i dont. not really. that seems kinda mean, but it’s true.”

you looked up at alex nervously to find him looking back at you, silently urging you to continue talking. “its just- i’m nervous i’ll never find anyone. sounds fucking stupid now that i’m saying it aloud but um..” you gulped nervously. alex eyes were soft and caring and the effect he had on you right now was concerning. nevertheless, you continued.“i’m scared to be alone forever, i just want to love someone and be loved. and i’m so scared thats not going to happen and i’m scared nobody will ever find me pretty enough to love me. i dont know.” you weren’t even thinking now, the storm of anxiety that occupied your mind now letting loose. “i’m just nervous i guess. i dunno, its silly.” you sighed “maybe i’m just overthinking.”

you kept your gaze on your lap as you finished your rant, too flustered to look at alex. he was close. really close. why was your stomach all swirly? the thunder outside filled the silence for a few moments. alex grabbed your hand, causing you to meet his eyes. “hey. don’t think like that. you’re gorgeous.” the way alex was talking to you, the way he was looking at you, soft brown eyes shimmering in the candlelight, all smiley and sweet. it was getting hard to breathe. you were so distracted by him that you forgot to respond. “thank you.” you muttered pathetically, making him chuckle softly, hand not leaving yours. the house was quiet besides the muffled sound of thunder and rain from the nasty storm outside that was getting more intense by the minute. candles and lamps emitted a soft glow throughout the room, casting faint shadows on the walls.

the way he was looking at you made your heart flutter. your eyes darted down to his lips for a split second before quickly looking back up at his eyes. shit. don’t look at his lips don’t look at his lips. the tension was so thick you were sure lightning was bound to strike between you two any second. the house was too quiet. was he getting closer? you nervously broke eye contact for a split second, your stomach fluttering as you looked back at him. he didn’t move, eyes still locked on yours. your face heated. “um- so what movie did you wanna wat-“you didn’t even finish your sentence before his lips were all over yours, nose pressed into your cheek and hand cupping your face. he kissed you like it was his job and he wanted a raise. you eagerly kissed him back, squeezing his hand tightly as you brought your other hand up to rest on his shoulder. he leaned over you, gently pressing you against the arm of the couch as he kissed the shit out of you. you brought your free hand to grab ahold of his hair, deepening the kiss which elicited a sigh out of him.

the intensity of the kiss increased as a strike of lightning illuminated the sky for a few moments, a loud boom of thunder following, rumbling the ground. you pushed your hand up his shirt, his skin warm. his tongue slid across yours. his hands were in your hair. your leg was wrapped around his waist as the kiss deepened, teeth colliding and soft sighs filling the air. another rumble of thunder shook the ground and just like that, the lights were out. you broke the kiss, the two of you gasping for air. the room was dark, almost pitch black.

and if it weren’t for the soft light of the streetlamps, the glow of the candle in the other room, or the incandescent moonlight, you might’ve not been able to see alex smiling down at you.

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

hope this made you giggle and kick your feet, goodnight!

ps. this is like my third time writing anything ever so if it’s bad don’t come for me

[rapha-reads]

IWTV rewatch

(s1 finale… Ready for pain and blood? Let's do this. *grabs tissues*)

Season 1 episode 7 [The Thing Lay Still] - part 1/3

- Oof, opening with the Moonlight Sonata, how to put you right in the mood.

- Daniel side-eyeing Rashid/Armand…

- [Daniel] "Can an immortal meet mortality?" - weeeell, to paraphrase our favourite rockstar, "the sun or the fire might kill me, but then again, it might not".

- [Louis] "Decapitation. He confided that to me one blood-drunken night in Bâton Rouge." - and then Louis proceeded to never forget it. I want to know more about their nights of hunting and partying. There's like, 80 miles (is that roughly 100km? I'm French, I don't know miles) between NOLA and Bâton Rouge, even if they're vampires, that's still a little trip that could be special when they have all of New Orleans to hunt (an anniversary? A date? A special performance of Macbeth or Puccini? Someone needs to write a fic)…

- [Louis] "Add to the toxic air a new ever-present paranoia, and now, you are with us." - kinda wish I wasn't tbh. "The toxicity, in my city"… Ahem.

- [Louis] "Lestat de Lioncourt. 179 years in the Savage Garden. 148 years the blood-drinker, the bringer of death… the deer come up the trail." - ooof, first point, Lestat, or at least, Louis' version of Lestat in this recollection, oozes danger and predator. He looks, feels and moves dangerously. And acts unhinged. His words heavily accented. Go figure if he really was that scattered and angry at that time, or if Louis' anxiety, trauma and guilt color the scene that way.

Second point, another mention of the Savage Garden! Made by Louis this time, so one could imagine that Lestat told him about it, that they had a conversation or more about the subject during those 30 years together, given that the theme is a Lestat special.

- Ooooh, the unholy family moving and acting together as one, totally in synch! Say what you want about how toxic they are for each other, it can't be denied that they are a family that knows each other by heart.

- Hey, who turned off Moonlight Sonata? Now I'm left wondering if it was extra or intradiegetic music. A disk playing in NOLA in 1940 or in Dubai in 2022? Can't decide.

- [Lestat] "Enough! Two in one night. Dolls, Bibles, letters become torches and pitchforks. We have to leave this place. We have to leave New Orleans." - should have left 10 years ago when Grace decided to kill off Louis… I wanna say better late than never but given that people are actually openly seeking your house to ask for healing and whatnot… Y'all are in danger. And obviously it's Lestat so there's no leaving discreetly. Gotta make a show out of it.

- Looooove Daniel getting distracted by Armand's presence. Cannot wait for some more Devil's Minion.

- Hello social commentary, segregated tramway, another slight to Louis and Claudia. I love the layers.

- [Claudia] "'You share a coffin with him.' [Louis] 'I don't talk in my sleep.' [Claudia] 'You share a heart with him.' [Louis] 'I can cut it off!' [Claudia] 'No, Louis. You can't. You spend an hour with him and you're breathing in sync together.'"

Thank you for confirming that they've still got it bad for each other, Claudia. Love the way the heartbeat starts getting louder, love the way Lestat can feel Louis looking at him and immediately looks back.

[Claudia] "'He'll know. It'll only work if you give in. Give him all your heart and I'll do the rest.' [Louis] 'I can't do that. I'll lose myself in him.' [Claudia] 'Leave a little shelf inside there for me. I'll jump back in and pull you out before I kill him. Can you do that for us, Louis? Louis?' [Louis] 'Yeah, I can do it.'"

*screams* First the wink and Lestat obviously seeking Louis' attention. Then Claudia directly asking Louis to keep a part of his heart for her, all that she's ever wanted, to be put first. Then her overestimating her pull on Louis and underestimating the intensity of Lestat and Louis' relationship. And then Louis very clearly knowing he cannot resist his feelings for Lestat no matter what. And finally Louis outright lying to Claudia saying he can pull it through while already knowing it will destroy him, have you seen his face in the last shot before leaving the tram? He knows he can't but he'll still try and maybe do it, but he'll lose a part of himself, and he's already grieving for it.

Then again. That's 2022 Louis describing the scene and the conversation, with the hindsight of 80 years or more (I'm bad at maths) of knowing what he's lost and how he lost it and how much of himself he's lost. Maybe 1940 Louis wasn't thinking of that at all.

*screams a little bit more* Maybe if y'all learn to openly communicate, we wouldn't be currently plotting a murder. Maybe.

- [Louis] "'What about Greece? Cradle of Western civilisation.' [Lestat] 'Sun worshippers, hot springs…. Those Who Must Be Kept.' [Louis] 'What was that?' [Lestat] 'Nothing.'"

Yeah, absolutely nothing. Don't mind that. It's really not important. Not at all about to come back and bite you all in the neck.

Things that mean nothing for show-only and everything for book readers… *jumps around the room in excitement*

Do we think Marius is still in Greece in 1940? If Lestat still meets him around 1789-1790, it's been a century and a half, he's definitely moved them somewhere else.

Love how Lestat's face goes vacant and momentarily dreamy when he starts thinking about Akasha. You can tell she still lingers in his mind.

- [Claudia] "'Bach. Always back to Bach.' [Lestat] 'Bach is beyond you.' [Claudia] 'Yes, the music of the master race is… not made for these mongrel ears.' [Lestat] 'You irritate me. Your very presence irritates me.' [Claudia] 'I came to make peace with you, Uncle Les.' [Lestat] 'Mm. Sister, daughter, infant death, you must think me an idiot.' [Louis] 'Could you two please just…?' [Claudia] 'Musique française pour les mains françaises ?'"

Pleaaase I love them. Toxic mother-daughter relationship, it's like looking into a mirror. Love all of Claudia's punches. Bailey's French is really good. And love how Louis immediately moves in to turn the pages for them.

- Oooh, so the party idea is not Lestat's but part of Claudia's murder scheme? How delightful!! Like father like daughter I guess, how they resemble each other so much. And love how Lestat starts by being against it and then gets slowly seduced by the idea.

- Oh, goddamn fucking bloody Tom Anderson is still bloody fucking alive. Kill hiiiiiim, please kill him. Wonder why he hasn't led a mob to their doors yet, with how he literally has known them since 1910 and has a pic showing them still as they are. Too chicken, Tom? Or too New Orleans, rather not know and keep going as is? Oh, I see, tempted to make your own deal with the "Devil". Ha. Idiot.

- [Louis] "The weird brothers and their doll-like sister were coming out." - I just like this line. Tells about a whole story hidden behind the main story.

- "Let the flesh instruct the mind." - now that is one hell of a line.

- Lestat playing his bloody Marie-Antoinette fantasy is simultaneously so bad taste and so hilarious.

- Their outfits are GORGEOUS. And the white is making Louis' green eyes even greener.

- [Louis] "The blood was everywhere. The veins and arteries of a few hundred hearts ringing out like air sirens, drowning out the rhythm section of the hired band."

I love how Louis' narration is almost inaudible beneath the sounds of heartbeats.

- Lmao, Lestat has groupies everywhere he goes.

- [Louis] "A cascade of feelings came over me as I watched him sponge up the adoration. I wanted him dead. I wanted him all to myself. The fasting was a mistake. I wasn't thinking clearly. Something was off."

You never think clearly around Lestat, Lou babe. Case in point, the besotted face you were just making at him, that he was returning to you (where are Sam and Jacob's awards), and the fact that suddenly you can't even tell Claudia's mental voice from - oh, a wild Antoinette appears. Yeah, something is off.

- When can we get rid of Tom Anderson. Soon? "It's got to be one of those tricks that you and your fag pederast satanic trio got in your pocket." Ugh, he looks so proud of his dumb line. Please tell me we're draining him soon. Thank you Louis.

- Aaaah, a balcony scene, aaaaaah! Aaaah, the lightning of cigarettes, aaaaaaah! Aaaaah, Lestat being emotional and genuine, aaaaaah!

Time to sing Sam Reid's praises:

"I'm going to miss this place. There's not an inch of this city that wasn't built from the fierce wilderness that surrounds it. Hurricanes, floods, fevers. The damp climate on every painted sign, every stone facade. High windows, through which enamelled bits of civilisation glitter. Silhouettes emerging, wandering out to catch a silent flash of lightning. The silky warmth of summer rain. Desperately alive… and desperately fragile. The hunger has me too, it seems."

*pterodactyl screech*

It's the way his voice wavers with barely restrained emotion. It's the tears glittering in his eyes. It's the way he never stops looking at Louis. It's the way New Orleans was, is and continues to be a metaphor for him, for Louis and for their relationship, "I am she, she is me".

The way his voice breaks on "desperately alive", because at the end of it, that's what Lestat, little Wolfkiller, who refused Magnus' bite and was forced into the darkness, who rejected the idea of a coven, who gazed upon the Mother of all vampires, Lestat who is constantly struggling to run away from his pain, trauma and loneliness, that's what he is, desperate and alive and desperately alive. And so afraid to show his real self to Louis and be rejected for it that he immediately makes a joke out of his deeply genuine moment.

And the way Louis refuses to engage with this moment also says a lot about where Louis is at at this stage. Refusing to give in fully, rejecting the true emotions, running away from both Lestat's love (because that's what it's about) and his own love (the shame and the guilt and the fear)… Refusing to open up his heart and thus forcefully closing down any door that could be opened.

Imagine for a moment that Louis had answered Lestat's feelings in truth? What would it have changed, in what ways? Or would it not have changed anything, because neither he nor Lestat are in control of the narrative at that point and Claudia holds the power? And what would Louis responding in kind and giving in to Lestat's depth and his own emotions look like? It would be interesting to explore it…

ep1 | ep2 | ep3 | ep4 | ep5 | ep6 | part 2 | part 3

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

December Writing Challenge: Day 2

This one's a little late! In my defense, I was studying for an exam earlier and struggling with formatting on ao3, but it works now!

Full story below the cut! (Fonts aren't right, unfortunately.)

It’s not like Frisk hasn’t come across this exact scenario before - Papyrus, pressed up against the wall, frozen in the act of sneaking around the house. Usually he wasn’t even doing anything particularly sneaky; just training his skills as an ex-soon-to-be-but-never-will-now-because-they-disbanded royal guard… allegedly, as Undyne swore that she never taught him to do this and has no idea where he learned it from.

(Sans placed his bets on the hat man. Undyne doubted the veracity of the hat man’s existence. Toriel placed her bets on the hat man as well. Undyne furiously listed several reasons why there is no way that the hat man taught Papyrus how to sneak, not least of which because Papyrus was always caught and she had never seen nor heard of this mystery hat man. Sans pointed out that’s why Papyrus was still in training, and besides, he’d said, grinning, you can’t know if you’ve caught him every time if a successful sneak necessarily means that he wasn’t caught. Only the hat man could know the truth. Alphys sheepishly also placed her bets on the hat man. A dog got involved. As did fire, somehow. Undyne broke a pool table in half. Anyways.)

The point was, Papyrus pressing himself against a wall and doing his best impression of a startled marmot was nothing unusual, and ordinarily, Frisk would walk right by and pretend they didn’t see him.

But Papyrus had a paper bag in his arms, and a bag with something inside it that Frisk didn’t know about was something Frisk could not resist.

“Whatcha got, Papyrus?”

The skeleton sweat a little nervously, eyes darting from side-to-side.

“I AM NOT PAPYRUS! I AM, AH, SIMPLY HIS VERY COOL AND HANDSOME LOOK-ALIKE!!! NOT AS COOL AS HE, OF COURSE! BUT YES! NO RELATION AT ALL!!”

“You numbskull,” Flowey muttered from where he was wrapped around Frisk’s arm, playing on their game console. Frisk jostled him, making him miss his last jump.

“Don’t be mean.”

The game over screen flashed. Flowey hissed at them.

“Um…” Frisk eyed the bag as Papyrus continued to look all around the room like he was about to make a mad dash getaway.

“Um… Mr. Not-Papyrus?”

“HM? AH, YES!!”

“Um, uh, what’s in the bag?”

“W-WHAT BAG?”

“That bag,” said Frisk, pointing.

“OH!!! THAT BAG! YES!! …IT’S A SECRET!!!”

“Aw,” Frisk mumbled, downcast and pouting.

Papyrus immediately started sweating more, looking very conflicted.

“HM… WELL…”

He crouched down in front of Frisk and whispered to them conspiratorially.

“…I COULD USE AN ACCOMPLICE!”

“Really?” they asked, brightening.

“BUT!!!” he put one gloved finger up. “THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL ONLY SHARE THIS SECRET IF YOU, HUMAN FRISK, SWEAR TO KEEP IT!”

“Oh, are you Papyrus again?”

“ERM. YES.”

“That’s good,” Frisk said, reaching out for the bag. “I like Papyrus. He’s cooler.”

“FRISK…!!! WELL, OF COURSE, I AM THE COOLEST, BUT!!! MY COOL FRIEND LIKES ME BETTER THAN SLIGHTLY LESS COOL AND HANDSOME NOT-PAPYRUS…!” he looked a little teary.

Frisk nodded, but their attention was mainly focused on controlling their grabby hands, inches away from the mystery items in the bag.

Papyrus made to hold it out then paused.

“YOU DIDN’T ANSWER BEFORE! YOU SWEAR NOT TO TELL?”

“I swear!”

“I don’t.”

“OH! FLOWEY!!! I DID NOT KNOW YOU WERE LISTENING!”

“I… I’m right here,” Flowey said, outraged. “How could I not?”

“WELL, I SUPPOSE IT IS HARD NOT TO HAVE YOUR INTEREST PIQUED BY SUCH A MYSTERY…”

“I’m not interested!” Flowey protested. “I just happen to be right here and have-”

Flowey cut himself off, as he abruptly realized he did not, in fact, have ears, and thus, his point was moot.

Frisk’s grabby hands won out, and they tugged a bit at Papyrus’ scarf.

“OH!!! RIGHT! AHEM!!! DRUMROLL, PLEASE!”

Frisk rolled a beat on their knees.

“BEHOLD!!!”

Papyrus opened the bag with a flourish. Frisk peered inside.

Cooking supplies? No, baking! And… was that…?

“Butterscotch!” they exclaimed delightedly. “You’re making mom’s pie recipe?”

“INDEED! I AM MAKING IT FOR TORIEL HERSELF!”

“Oh, she’ll like that!”

“I AM ALREADY A MAGNIFICENT CHEF! AND SINCE I HAVE MASTERED THE ART OF SPAGHETTI-MAKING, BAKING WILL BE A PIECE OF CAKE!!”

“Mm-hm!”

“AND!!! ONCE I HAVE THOROUGHLY IMPRESSED HER WITH MY BAKING EXPERTISE, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL BE APPOINTED OFFICIAL GUARD OF THE KITCHEN!!!”

“Yes!”

“Oh, goody,” Flowey muttered snarkily, detaching from Frisk and vine-crawling along the floor away from them, still engrossed in his platformer. “I’m sure there’s no way this could go wrong.”

Papyrus hefted the bag and Frisk into his arms.

“OF COURSE NOT! WE’VE GOT THIS… IN THE BAG!!! NYEH-HEH-HEH!”

“Hehehe!”

“Ugh,” Flowey groaned. “I’m going outside.”

“OKAY!!! HAVE FUN, FLOWEY!”

Papyrus turned and headed for the kitchen. Frisk positioned themself so they could wave goodbye to Flowey from over his shoulder.

“See you later, Flowey! Watch out for birds!”

“What…?” he turned, looking baffled. “Why would I need to watch out for birds?”

“Sans said that because you’re so tiny it means that birds can pick you up and fly away with you.”

“Oh, did he now…” Flowey said, gritting his teeth. “Well, tell that smiley trashbag that - actually, never mind! Don’t tell him anything!”

While Papyrus baked in the kitchen, Frisk watched and waited.

Their task - their very important task?

Guard duty.

This was not something Frisk took lightly, to be assigned such an important duty by such an accomplished former almost-guard. They watched the hallway like a hawk for anyone who might intrude and spoil the surprise for their mom.

The sound of the front door! Frisk tensed.

“Hey, Papyrus!!! You in here?”

Undyne. Fearless former captain of the royal guard. They weren’t feeling particularly good about their odds of stalling her here, but she was getting closer, and Frisk was a trusted accomplice, after all.

Frisk shot out in front of Undyne, spreading out their arms to block her path.

“Uh, hey, Frisk. What’s up?”

They hadn’t thought this far.

“You shall not pass!”

“I… shan’t?”

Frisk shook their head firmly.

Undyne seemed a mixture of both taken aback and confused, before a dangerous glint appeared in her eye.

“Ohh, I get it! You want to WRESTLE!!!”

Frisk really did not want to wrestle. But Papyrus’ baking surprise was on the line here.

They took one determined step forwards.

“Oh?” said Undyne, cracking her knuckles. “You’re approaching me?!”

“I can’t wrestle you without getting closer.”

“Oh-ho! Then come as close as you like!!!” Undyne grinned, her eye and sharp teeth glinting. “NGAAAAHHHH!!!”

“Hyaahhhhh!!!”

“Excuse me.”

Undyne and Frisk froze mid-lunge to find Toriel standing in the doorway with her arms crossed, one eyebrow raised, looking thoroughly unimpressed. Sans stood next to her, clearly amused.

Undyne coughed and relaxed from her wrestling stance.

“Ha, uh, sorry, Toriel… got a little… carried away.”

“Oh, it’s alright. Just don’t do it again. Frisk is much too small for that kind of roughhousing.”

She gulped.

“Yes. Sorry.”

Toriel nodded, then turned to Frisk with a smile. She opened her mouth to say something… and suddenly Frisk remembered.

Toriel! In the hallway!

“Code fluff! Code fluff!” they shouted.

Toriel blinked.

“Fluff…?” Undyne muttered.

“AHHHHHH!!!”

The sound of crashing pots and pans and silverware echoed from the kitchen, which was odd, as absolutely none of those items should have been involved with Papyrus’ current activity.

“WHOOPSIE-DOOPSIE! JUST A SMALL KERFUFFLE! NOTHING TO SEE HERE!!!” said Papyrus, sliding out of the kitchen in a way that was not at all suspicious.

“That was a bit suspicious,” Undyne muttered.

“NOT AT ALL! I WAS JUST… CLEANING!!!”

“Uh-huh. What are you up to, Papyrus?” she asked, poking him in the chest.

“I… UH…!”

“eh, it’s cool, pap, you don’t hafta tell us,” Sans shrugged, strolling up from… the kitchen. Frisk blinked.

“OH. THANK YOU, SANS!”

“we’re just not on a knead-to-know basis, i guess.”

“YES, THANK YOU, SANS…” Papyrus muttered through gritted teeth.

Toriel glanced at Sans curiously, clearly picking up the intonation of a joke but still oblivious as to its source.

“What?!” Undyne scowled. “Why not?”

“NO! WAIT! THERE IS NO KNEAD-TO-KNOW - ARGH! NEED-TO-KNOW BASIS!!! THERE IS NOTHING TO KNOW!!! EXCEPT A SPARKLY CLEAN KITCHEN!!!”

“Okay, I know you’re lying, Papyrus.”

“yeah, that was a little half-baked.”

“SANS.”

“Tell us!”

“NO!”

“bro, we’re pie-ning for a hint here.”

“NO!!”

“Do I need to noogie you again?! Do I need to noogie the skeleton?!”

“NO!!! NO YOU DO NOT!!!”

“c’mon, i just want a piece of the pie.”

“THAT’S NOT EVEN A PUN! THAT’S JUST LITERALLY WHAT YOU WANT!!!”

Toriel’s face lit up suddenly as it clicked.

“Papyrus!” she gasped, sounding very touched. “Were you trying out my pie recipe?”

“…ah. whoops.”

“…NYOOOO HOO HOO!!!” Papyrus wailed, collapsing to the ground dramatically. “THE SURPRISE IS RUINED!!!”

Frisk wisely chose to back away slowly from the erupting chaos. Flowey, his vines securing him to the door frame, peeked in and raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

“Mission failed,” Frisk mumbled to him.

“…you don’t say.”

[phoebepheebsphibs]

Double-Mutated Mikey

Chapter 20: Robotics

Continued from the short story written by @boots-with-the-fur-club

Prev || Next

Mikey moans as he wakes with a headache. His nose is stuffed up and his limbs are plagued by a dull ache. Donnie is by his side in an instant, smiling at him as he presses a glass of water to his lips, forcing him to hydrate.

"Good morning, Angelo," he says.

Angelo? His name is Mikey...

"How are you feeling?"

Mikey groans wordlessly at him.

"You ready for some breakfast?"

"Mikey doesn't get out of bed today," he announces grumpily, pressing his face deeper into the pillow.

Donnie rubs his cranium, pressing his palm against Mikey's forehead as he checks for any remaining fever.

"Hmm. I guess you're right, you won't be getting out of bed today," Donnie states, placing the cup on a side table and turning the lights off. "You get some more rest and join us whenever you're ready, okay?"

Mikey nods with a yawn, shimmying deeper under the blankets and purring with contentment.

"Leo or Raph will be in with your memory medication from Draxum. But other than that, I guess nothing eventful or interesting will be happening today," Donnie says as he walks out of Mikey's room.

.

.

.

Professor Honeycutt is sitting in his lab office, silently working on a new droid design. This one is different from the other machines he's been forced to build while employed here. All the other designs were weapons, or used to create chaos, or made to hurt the experiments (with one in particular in mind). But this one will be a sentry guard. A protector. SENTRY AUTOMATIC LIFESAVER. He's nicknamed it 'SAL' for now.

The body of the machine is finished for the most part. He's still working on the arms, trying to create a spring mechanism that can cause them to stretch to extreme lengths without breaking. He'd also like to add the same kind of metallic-elastic springs to the legs, even though he's already finished with those. But hey, he doesn't mind working on them again! Anything to avoid the real thing that's stumping him.

Honeycutt is struggling with the robot's AI, specifically its moral center and higher reasoning. He never got around to finishing the moral center for the last AI he built, and now she's starting to unnerve him. He can program the three laws of robotics, but he knows that sometimes you need to make a decision that disregards logic. He's seen movies. They may be inaccurate, but he'd have to agree with a few of the points they make.

So he's procrastinating on the brain. Well, there is a brain in the head, but it doesn't have any information in it, apart from some basic codes for movement and functions.

Most days, Zayton doesn't even know why he's here. He joined the TCRI for the funding, plain and simple. The cause sounded good, and they would help pay for all his robotics and engineering. He had all the money and freedom he could ever want to 'play with his toys'. What could be better? He should have known it was too good to be true. After a month of getting to build whatever he wanted in a secret bunker off the coast of Buffalo, he was called in to help with some work in NYC. And now... he's stuck doing this. Building ice blasters and dart guns and training robots that fight you to the death.

He's a man of peace.

But lately, he's been confusing 'peace' with 'staying out of it'.

Honeycutt's phone buzzes. It's probably another order from Timothy, or Chaplin wants help with the A.LP.H.A. device, or something just as irritating and dangerous.

"Hello, this is Professor Zayton Honeycutt speaking."

"Hey, doc, it's Bishop."

Honeycutt drops his tools and quiets his voice.

"Ah, John. H-how nice to hear from you again... how are the plans for your -- ahem, 'mother's recovery'?"

The two of them have come up with a special code to talk about Mikey without attracting attention.

"We still don't have any information about her condition. But I think she's still with her 'extended family'."

Mikey is still hidden in the sewers with the other mutants like him.

"Have the doctors found anything?"

"Not to my knowledge. But I heard that they did an 'impromptu check-up', and I should be hearing more about that later."

They sent drones into the sewer tunnels. As to be expected.

"When do you suppose that they'll tell you the details of that check-up?"

"No idea. I get the feeling that I'll have to make some calls to a few nurses..."

"Well, if it helps, I could ask around."

Bishop's voice goes quiet.

"...Doc, I don't know if that's wise..."

"Why not? I built those dro-- ahem, I mean, I know a few nurses in the clinic. I could get some answers for you."

The line stays silent for a moment before Bishop answers.

"...Okay, Doc. Just... be careful."

"Of course!" Honeycutt chuckles nervously. "Don't even worry. But, eh, speaking of your mother, I was wondering how the 'quilt' she's sewing is coming along?"

The 'quilt' is code for their side project. Most of the experiments and actions of the scientists here are unsanctioned and illegal, covered up under all the red tape and paperwork and made to look as though they are for the 'greater good'. Bishop and Honeycutt have been working to find evidence of all the mutations and genetic experiments and legal workarounds that they've done here.

"I've been getting some more 'thread' for her."

Thread = Paper trails.

"Does she need any 'fabrics'? I know she was looking for some nice patterns, last time we spoke."

Photographic evidence of the mutated animals or krang parasites.

"She could use some later. But for now, she's worried that she might be overspending."

Bishop is afraid that they've attracted attention, he wants Honeycutt to lay low.

"Okay then. Tell her I said hello."

"Will do. And Doc? Really, be careful. I don't want you getting sick like my mother."

"...I thank you for the concern, John. It's very decent of you. But I should be fine. I'll look into the... ahem, check-up results for you."

"Thanks. I'll be in touch."

The call ends.

Honeycutt exhales loudly, hoping that by the time all the used air in his lungs escapes him, he'll have also rid himself of the stress that lingers in him.

It doesn't.

Honeycutt lets S.A.L. rest on his desk. He stretches, cracking his spine and wrists before he walks out of his private workshop and into the halls. He could use an extra cup of coffee. He knows that he should try sleeping for once, but he can't really waste time right now. He has so much work to do, and now that Bishop recruited him he's busier than ever. It's a worthy cause and a noble sacrifice that he's more than willing to make.

Honeycutt walks through the halls, flinching at every door that opens and hurrying along his way. Every scientist that greets him with a wave or conversation starter, he simply hustles by them with a nod. He's never felt comfortable in this complex before, but now he's constantly unnerved.

Honeycutt shuffles into the elevator, down to the cafeteria to get a quick cup of joe, and back up to the security room. He considers stopping at the animal sections to see if he can grab any blood samples or photographic evidence... but Bishop is concerned, and the man has a surprising track record when it comes to following his gut. Maybe later... if he can find an excuse. A technical professor suddenly interested in genetics and bloodwork? Suspicious... but, maybe he can come up with some link between his work and the genetic studies... a robot that tracks DNA? Perfect! Only issue would be whether or not they'd buy it. A few might. But the big wigs in charge would ask questions. And Timothy and Chaplin might be against it, saying that none of the experiments can keep up against his tech thus far, so making a robot that advanced would be fruitless... he'll have to think of something else...

Prof. Honeycutt arrives at the security room, takes a quick swig of his black coffee for good measure, and then opens the door.

"Ms. Campbell," he greets flatly. "How are things?"

"Events are transpiring at a typical function and rate," she responds with a similar tone. "And I am working at full capacity, if that was what you were asking about."

"Thank you for the update," he says, moving beside her to watch the cameras. "How's the search for the escapee?"

"Still underway, but halted for the time being. Our drones discovered some odd wreckage in the tunnels, what looks like the ruins of someone's living quarters."

"Someone living in the sewers?" Honeycutt asks, feigning surprise.

"I detect sarcasm, unless I am mistaken," Ms. Campbell says, turning to look at him. "You knew beforehand about this?"

"Word gets around," he replies nervously. "I just wanted to know if it was true that there was something there. I'd heard that we were sending in drones -- and you know New York gossip, everyone thinks that there's some mysterious society of monsters living underneath us. And what with those mutants we've seen... I figured that perhaps one of them had made a shelter down there, possibly even our own little Mikey!"

Honeycutt realises that he's been prattling. It's a nervous trait. Ms. Campbell knows that. She can detect all sorts of tics and traits and habits and quirks. She has an incredible poker face, and she is a living lie detector.

She watches him, eyes analyzing every bead of sweat he creates.

"You are nervous."

"Q-quite so," he chuckles. "I'm just... concerned for Mikey."

That answer seems to satiate Ms. Campbell... for the moment. She turns around and starts to type something on the keyboard, and one of the screens plays glitchy feedback from a drone.

"Perhaps this will put you at ease, father," she says. "We found him."

Honeycutt watches in shock as a drone flies around the wreckage of a large opening in a sewer, complete with burst pipes, crumbled archways, and even broken down arcade games, though glory knows where those came from. On the walls are smeared paintings and spraypaint, words like 'cowabunga' and 'turtle power!' are scrawled across the stonework along with smiley faces, drawings of interesting action heroes and poses, and... what looks like portraits of turtles dressed as superheroes or ninjas. The drone flies through after looking around, hurrying down a corridor. After a several minutes of endless catacombs and passageways, it comes up to a light where the tunnels meet an abandoned section of the subways. The drone continues following a glow that leads to a secret hidden entrance. The drone presses itself up against the wall, waiting. After a few minutes, someone emerges from the door, peeking around. It's not Mikey, but...

"Is... is that...?"

"Another mutant creature like the escaped experiment, yes."

The creature looks down the halls nervously, before looking up behind him and shouting in fright as something dark green with yellow spots drops down on top of him. A flash of blue and the two vanish completely.

"What was that?!" Honeycutt yells, almost spilling his coffee as he moves closer to the video feed.

"Undetermined. But there have been reports of vigilantes that 'pop in and out' of crime scenes, fighting against the mutant outbreak. It is possible that he is one of said vigilantes," Ms. Campbell says. "And that is not all..."

Ms. Campbell speeds the playback to a moment several minutes later, when a human boy comes out of the entrance searching for something. He sees the drone and shouts, activating a high-tech chainsaw device and swings it at the drone, slashing it off the wall and shattering it completely.

"That was a human," Honeycutt says with hushed astonishment.

Bishop said that Mikey was with his 'family', so he sort of knew about the other mutants... but that was a human kid!

"I have been trying to run facial recognition on him to no avail," Ms. Campbell says. "He seems to have no identity."

In her voice, there is a twinge of disappointment, or rather, irritation with the failure. It shouldn't surprise him, he made her with the intention of resembling human in almost every aspect, so her exercise of emotions is not unprecedented. But the attitude, the dark personality lingering under the fake skin and steel grey eyes... that frightens him. Her AI was never completed, at least not in the ways he wanted. But she seems to be growing, evolving, learning. He didn't put that in there.

"Have... have you sent any more drones?" he asks, swallowing the nervous pit in his stomach every time he's with Ms. Campbell.

"Yes. But there seems to be some kind of electromagnetic field surrounding the area now, and any drone that crosses the threshold deactivates and short-circuits."

"Do we know why?"

"They mutants must be protecting their habitat," she states, going back to the original security footage. "But now that we know where they are, it is only a matter of time before we can discover more about their numbers and motives."

Honeycutt watches the screens at the bottom of the video stack, the ones with live drone feed. Three new devices are being sent to the previous drone's last known location. They fly up until a certain point before the feed warps into static and the drones crash, their live recordings die out with a high-pitched whine and crackle.

"I suppose I should contact Dr. Chaplin to make a new plan for the onset for the escaped experiment... Unless you have some theories, father?"

She still calls him father. All his creations tend to do that, he's noticed. But he's not sure how to feel about her calling him that. It feels eerie that she does, but the day she stops referring to him as such will be even scarier.

"I... couldn't say... p-perhaps I could create a device to counter the firewall?" he suggests. "Or maybe we could--"

The screens suddenly all glitch in unison, flashing quickly before turning a single shade of purple. Each monitor works in perfect harmony to create a large, singular image.

Professor Honeycutt steps back in shock. Ms. Campbell tilts her head slightly.

A series of words appear on the screen.

LEAVE US ALONE.

LEAVE US ALONE.

LEAVE US ALONE.

"Ominous," Ms. Campbell states calmly. "And quite interesting. I cannot say that the EPF has ever had any hackers before..."

The screens go dead, the room engulfed in darkness.

Before Honeycutt can say anything, a soft grey pixely static shows up on the screens, brightening the room again in time. The camera feeds return -- save for the drones, which still give no output nor input.

"I would say those vigilante mutants could be classified as hostile, wouldn't you agree?" Ms. Campbell says, turning to Honeycutt.

"Er, um, perhaps," he says nervously, loosening his shirt collar. "But you know me, I prefer to play the Switzerland of these mutant affairs. I'd rather stay out of it. I might suggest we do the same with these drones spies --"

"Why?" she asks, suspicion in her voice.

"Well, see... these mutants see us as an invading force. When an animal believes its habitat to be encroached upon, it will go to great lengths to defend it. These mutants may be doing the same thing, which could end badly for us..."

Ms. Campbell thinks it over.

"They have already fled one habitat," she responds. "So, in your scientific understanding, would they choose fight or flight over this new habitat they've created?"

"I-I'm not sure, animal science is not my area of expertise, but --" he swallows. "-- b-but I would assume that they would prefer to keep their new abode. Considering the lengths they've gone to thus far, they will not give it up easily."

"Hmm. Then this shall be a challenge, eh, father?"

Ms. Campbell smiles cruely.

He's never seen her do that.

"Q-q-quite so," he mumbles as he stumbles out of the room. "I should head back to work now... s-see you later, Ms. Campbell..."

His hand shakes, splashing the coffee in his cup. He's had enough of this for one day... he needs to call Bishop.

Honeycutt may not have the gut instincts that Bishop does, but something is telling him that things are about to get a lot more dangerous...

Prev || Next

[lightofraye]

I just...

I need a minute.

Ahem.

Okay.

Soooo..... anon. We need to talk.

First off, Danneel was beautiful once upon a time. Then she wrecked her face with repeatedly badly done plastic surgery. She now has what plastic surgeons refer to the "Joker" smile. It's not a good look, at all. Plus she's wrecked her hairline with repeated facelifts that she didn't need!

Loving person? Nooooo. Oh my gods, no. Have you even heard half the stuff she's said about Jensen? I know people like to translate what she's said as "joking" or "just plain fun" but y'know what? I haven't heard her say anything genuine about him. Ever.

The only charity I'm aware of that she supposedly supported was birthdays for homeless children. You wanna know what those kids would really want? HOMES. A birthday celebration is a few hour event. A home is a lifetime!

Happily married? Have you been paying attention to the photo ops in the last few years with Jensen? Stiff as a board, zero chemistry, death glares from Jensen, tons of space between them. Heck, not even just the last few years--try the last decade.

Jensen didn't even want to marry her! He had to be talked into it, high as a kite and drunk as a skunk!

She gave up her career? What career?! Let's be honest, sure, there was One Tree Hill. That was it. All the other stuff were minor roles and failed attempts. Her role in Supernatural was via nepotism! She didn't earn it like Genevieve did. Not to mention, quite a few actors she worked with stated she was hell to work with. She was snobby, demanding, and acted like she knew better than them.

As for empire? What empire?! No seriously, what empire?! Chaos Machine Production had precisely one production--and it bombed, badly. (The Winchesters.) And so far, there's been nothing else. Oh, just stories from Jensen but literally nothing else! Family Business Beer Company shuttered their doors for their only in-room tap and even before that, they were floundering, being open only 3 days a week. They found it cheaper to be closed than open!

The only income right now has been from conventions, and lately, well, Jensen hasn't exactly been behaving as the best of men. (God, that killed me to say.) He's grumpy a lot of the times, not giving his all in photo ops, as is evident by his lack of expressions in quite a few photos. It's his job and he's not giving it all that he should be. Look at Jared, for cryin' out loud!

So.

No.

Danneel is none of those.

She never was.

[maaikeatthefullmoon]

This week I have mostly been reading...

Jun 3rd – 9th, 2024

Whoops, apologies everyone, I’m a bit late with what is now last week’s round up. Better late than never, right? Right.

Completed works I've read this week:

Oddity by @tsyvia48 Rated E - Actor C is contracted by (useless) Gabriel to guest curate an exhibition at the museum where A works. After getting off on the wrong foot, can they work together to pull off this show? This was in my WIP list and has now been completed *cries in a corner*

Garden of Delights series by @zehwulf Rated E – Rough Enough last week sent me on a little BDSM flavoured journey this week. This 10-part human AU series is *significantly* harder than Rough Enough, although A continues to have his soft Dom personality. I thoroughly enjoyed Crowley’s gender fluidity, as I identify as genderfluid myself. There are some very particular kinks in this series, and a SERIOUS CW for consensual non-consent (CNC) in multiple stories within this series. There is an underlying psychological growth within the series, though, which is interesting to unpick. Which, when I read this back, looks like me giving weird reasons for reading kinky smut. I give no excuses for reading kinky smut. I enjoy smut and certain types of kink. I also enjoy teasing out angst and psychological growth. Winner, winner, chicken dinner. But, erm, no chicken dinners in my smut, thanks. Not into that. But if you are, by all means…

A Tempting Night of Wine and Kisses by LemonTart Rated E – in-universe, but not canon-compliant, this is interestingly part 2 of a series, but the first kiss between A & C doesn’t happen until this second part – despite the first part also being very much E rated. This leads to this one-shot being much more tender and loving. Which was particularly soothing after 10 BDSM stories 😂 It was a bit like my own aftercare

love not given lightly by @hakunahistata Rated E – Hmmm, I’m starting to sense a pattern in last week’s reading…it all seems to be raaaather smutty. So apologies if that’s not your thing. *coughs* Anyway, blame Rough Enough, this is another Gentle/Soft Dom A fic. The story starts off with C snapping at A upon their very first meeting that he’s “fine”…coz, you know, that’s what all completely fine people say…

Ngk Ngk Ngk by ForFucksSakeJim Rated E – There is only one thing I can say about this one: Ngk.

The Beginning of the End (Again) by @addledmongoose Rated M – A Post GO2 fic with a brilliant plot idea. I really enjoyed it AND it’s written in the first person (alternating) POV. I’ve never read a fic in this POV and I can genuinely say I enjoyed it and I congratulate the author on making it work so well. There is a lot of humour in this story as well, which I enjoyed and, hey, look, it's not a smutty-smut one. Although it’s definitely not innocent. I loved the character of Duke Asmodeus as well. Highly recommend. 

WIPs which have updated this week (which I devour as soon as I get the update!)

There Is A Light And It Never Goes Out by @phoen1xr0se Rated M - A is a researcher (puffins!), C is a lighthouse keeper on the island where A has run away to to escape his problems and do his research. The author has recently spent a week studying puffins - which is the ultimate dedication, if you ask me. Ch 10/26 posted so far

Find The Light by @klikandtuna Rated E - Headmaster A and Rockstar C. The story teases out a fraught history between them whilst keeping a tension between them in the modern day. Ch 11/15 posted so far

Under The Summer Stars by @pannotbread Rated E - This wonderful fic has taught me more about physics than school ever did (mostly because I never did any physics, but...well). A & C have to share their time at an observatory because there is Only One Telescope. Not only will you learn about astrophysics, astrobiology, and astroecology, you'll also read some of the most poetically, beautifully written masturbation scenes I've ever seen. *ahem* Ch 8/13 posted so far

Poetry Carved In Flesh by @fellandcrow Rated E – Tattoo enthusiast A becomes a fan of tattooist C’s work, but doesn’t have any tattoos himself. C convinces him to get tattoos…but due to distance, A can’t get any work done by C. Until C comes to see him. This fic has GORGEOUS artwork, and speaks to my tattoo-obsessed soul. It’s an A-falls-first-C-falls-harder story, which is always fun. It also features ghostrat’s Nice and Accurate fandom. Ch 7/16 posted so far

Exodus_2 by @tismrot Rated E – Human AU set in a dystopian future. The summary says it best, really: Ezra studies programming at the University of ha-Gan. He’s as determined as he is damaged, as fastidious as he is precise, and likes to believe he'll stop at nothing to achieve his goals. His beliefs are challenged when a new student appears late to the first Ethics module lecture - and his life is changed forever. It's the future, it's dystopian, it's cyber and it's punk. It's political, grimy and slick with tears, lube and chemical snot. TW: Sex, drugs, trauma. Ch 30/35 posted so far

Free by well, me: imposterssyndrome Rated E - A & C meet (again?) in an acute mental health ward after both having had mental health crises. A runs a bookshop but is very much under his parents' control. C has been homeless since childhood and has struggled his entire life. They do not trust each other when they first meet, but feel strangely drawn to one another all the same. Where will this lead them? This is a passion piece for me. There is a lot of lived experience in it, and extensive research from both professionals and peers. It has been a real journey for me to write it, and as I'm coming closer to the end it's becoming very emotional for me. Ch 53/57 so far - on the home stretch now everyone!

Want to see more recs? This is last week's list.

[mega-ringsandthings-world]

Vash and Knives were’t a miracle

I’ve been thinking lately that Vash and Knives were perhaps not as unprecedented as they seemed. At least in tristamp’s verse. Independents is a very telling name for them, isn’t it?  The entire SEEDS project was based around the creation and existence of plants, and a very large amount of funding, time, resources and dubious experimentation must have been poured into creating the so-called biological generators. So we know a few things here. One, that plants have a rather hefty amount of human DNA in them, and that they can’t be easily created. (See how the loss of plant engineers and scientists in the Fall put a stop to the creation of any new plants in Noman’s Land, after all.)  So Vash and Knives might have been part of a continuing series of experiments to make the plants self-proliferate.  Think about it, if plants can pop out another plant any time one is needed, then there would be an abundance of plants to be had and never a shortage or need to worry about a replacement when a plant’s Last Run comes or it gets sick, and there would be no need to artificially create more of them. Put the strain of reproducing plants on the Plants themselves, just as they generate essentials for life, they’d also generate more of their kind. Given how much human DNA the plants had, the scientists may have decided to use it to their advantage (or else it was planned all along,) and tried to tweak things to make a Plant give birth.   Given the amount and type of other DNA used besides human DNA, it’s safe to say that Plants can reproduce asexually, using their own genetic material.  SEEDS 5 may have been running the first wave of those types of experiments, leading to the birth of Tesla, fifty years before Vash and Knives. But maybe something went wrong, or not quite right, and Tesla came out more human than plant. In tweaking genetic codes to make a plant reproduce, they ended up nudging the plants’ offspring in a different direction, a plant with almost wholly human DNA, that kept what it could generate hidden, rather than fully exposed as dependent plants. (Vash’s gate, Knives tentacles are all things they generate like dependent plants generate water and power)  So Tesla came out wrong, and instead of trying to understand her, they got impatient and ripped her apart trying to figure out where they went wrong, or else trying to figure out what she could do.  

The brutal experiments ran on Tesla could have been repeated attempts to make her reproduce like her mother plant did with her, or else an attempt to find out why she wasn’t reproducing.  Bear with me, but Tesla has the appearance of being biologically female while Vash and Knives have the appearance of being biologically male. Whatever tampering was being done to the plants to try and give them to birth may have led the Plants to produce a male and female independent (an Adam and Eve, if you will.) The plants were given the directive to reproduce, and they did, they generated the things necessary for Plants to reproduce ad infinitum, except Vash and Knives came too late.  SEEDS 5 maybe have realized their mistake when Vash and Knives were born, they fucked up by ruining Tesla. (I know the implication here is that the twins were meant to, ahem, reproduce with Tesla, but hey. It’s trigun. Worse shit has been implied or outright shown.) (Although I think that Plants and Independents alike have the ability to reproduce asexually or with another Independent regardless of gender at will, and that their entire modus operandi around sexual organs and reproduction is greatly varied from a human’s but that’s topic for another time, and besides, the scientists may not have even realized this.) Vash and Knives being born as two may have been a fluke, or it could have been a deliberate choice on the scientists’ part, with Tesla out of commission, they might have decided that two was better than one. An heir and a spare. Maybe they had planned for them to be born apart, but they were born together,  as twins, which was seen as another failing.  We see that Vash was in a different folder than Knives on the ship’s files, so he might have been slated to be used in experiments while Knives, who showed evidence of useful powers, was to be kept back in reserve. Vash might have been assumed to be too human to be of any technical use. We do know that the twins knew Dr. Conrad, so it was likely him observing the twins from afar with the rest of whatever team he had, and planning for them while Rem cared for them.  Obviously, it would be Dr. Conrad who was in charge of the initial experiments to create self-generating plants, and that carries over to the plan he forms with Knives on Noman’s land.  Okay, this is getting long, so td;lr, Tesla, Vash and Knives were all born because the SEEDS project was trying to create self-reproducing plants and things went wrong. 

[berrypass-de-murdler]

2 - 41 Death to Carnivores!

What am I doiinngggggggg with my liffeeeeee 😭

I was up til 1:30 AM writing this and now I gotta rush to post it cuz I slept late again-

DON'T READ THE EPISODES WITHOUT READING THE BOOKS!!

Logico was up all night thinking about Champagne’s threat. ‘The global revolution’. They’re going to send troops to the mainland. No one will be safe.

IRRATINO: Logico! LOGICO: Wh… what? IRRATINO: I know what’ll cheer you up. LOGICO: Do you… IRRATINO: I’m gonna take you to an animal rescue. There’s nothing more wholesome than that! LOGICO: All right, I guess… as long as I don’t have to touch anything…

Logico didn’t know that Cryptozoologist Cloud owns a very large animal sanctuary, but he does now!

CLOUD: Hello.

Farm animals are resting in a barn, and there are way, way too many squirrels jumping around outside. 

LOGICO: I can’t say I’m comfortable? IRRATINO: Logico, it’s alright! They’re more scared of you than you are of them. LOGICO: I’m not SCARED

A llama turns to look at Logico with its eyes. In a world full of anthropomorphic animals, this really feels not right. As he sneakily tries to find a place to hide, he encounters a dead human with a half-eaten squirrel in their grasp. If Irratino saw this, he’d be traumatized for life! He has to find a way to solve this murder without him seeing. And that’s going to be difficult…

The Blues are here to adopt a puppy or something. Logico can’t shake that last encounter with them and the lore they revealed.

BLUE: ONE PUPPY PLEASE! (Why not two?) ONE. CLOUD: You’re too young. BLUE: No I’m not! I’m 83! CLOUD: Where’s your ID. BLUE: ID? You ID YOURSELF!

Logico has to interview them - but deep down he knows that while they are tougher than most their age, they’d never sleep again after seeing that particular body. (Then again, they seemed fine when one was pinned to the wall.)

BLUE: (Whatever, let’s go catch a squirrel.)

Cloud turns around and screams high-pitched. It’s really creepy for some reason.

LOGICO: Oh god, you saw- CLOUD: Oh thank goodness. First, I thought I saw a Bigfoot. Then, I realized it was only Mx. Tangerine with a head of cabbage.

Tange crushes a pumpkin with their bare hand. They are gonna kill a bitch for that.

BLUE: Whoa, I didn’t even SEE you! You look exactly like the pigs! TANGERINE: Never have I so strongly wanted to maim a- LOGICO: OKAY. Everyone, calm down. 

He has to man up and tell Irratino about the body, even if it will scar him. This whole time, the goat lord has just been sitting outside amongst the squirrels. He lays down in the grass, feeding them broccoli for some reason and giggling hysterically as they crawl over him. He picks one up and starts fawning over it like a baby, and Logico tears up. How is he supposed to tell him about the looming future? Or is this a sign to stop being so paranoid? He just runs up to him and gives him a hug for no reason.

IRRATINO: [surprised] Hi, Logico! You got the squirrels to trust you? LOGICO: [buries his face into him] no… there was a murder, but it’s done now. It was Cryptozoologist Cloud themselves. CLOUD: How can it be a murder if I did it to save a life?! Why is the life of a human I killed worth any more than the thousands of animals they’ve killed in their lifetime? I did nothing wrong! IRRATINO: Aww, I love you! LOGICO: Ahem. It would be more effective to promote a vegetarian lifestyle and NOT associate it with murder. CLOUD: Well, I didn’t expect to get caught! LOGICO: You didn’t even bury the-

The end!

(sorry it's shorter than usual I was rushing both then and now rip)

(it'll be better tomorrow)

(I hope)

The power of Goat Lord compels you!

See you next time murdlers!

[csbenthusiast]

May your heart never stop beating for me - Choi Yeonjun X f!reader

a/n: *ahem* hi😭 it’s been a long looong while since I last wrote something and posted in here(my apologies), but ummmm this is a comeback ? sort of? idk, but what I know is that this was sitting on my docs app FOR SO SO LONG LIKE SINCE FEBRUARY and it was supposed to be out on Halloween and then on Christmas but I got sick😬 anyways consider this a miracle and a late gift 😀 (I’m also planning a Soob fic that was supposed to be out on his birthday but shhhhhlets not talk about it for now).

a/n²: y’all I lied😨 I’m late once again, but what matters is that it’s finally here!! Literally a year later 😀 and ummm I tried to mix two ways of writing this, so I hope it was not confusing!

Genre: angst? it’s bittersweet.

CW: toxic relationship (nothing to worry about, YJ and mc just go back and forth), language, Yeonjun has a bad behavior(I’m not sorry, I was feeling very angsty), implied suggestive touches? they both need each other in a not so healthy way. Lemme know if I missed something!

WC: 2.2k

disclaimer: this only fiction and does not represent this idol in any way.

Pls enjoy and give me feedbacks:DDD they make me very happy (English is not my first language, excuse any mistakes 😙)

Songs I listened while writing this: here

The weather outside was definitely a mood killer. As the days passed by, October just got colder and colder. And it’s not like the chilly weather wasn’t nice, in fact, it was actually quite pleasant.

The season was nice, sure. But spending the days alone was not on your ‘to do’ list, to be honest.

Yeonjun left without even explaining himself once again. Everyday life seemed meaningless and the urge to check up on him was growing more and more.

It was worthless, though. Why bother yourself when he has never put you on the top of his priority list? Was it too much to ask?

Despite that, here you were, almost 10pm on a Tuesday trying to cheer up your mood with a random movie playing on the TV.

It was a terrible film, though. The best option was probably going to sleep, but you knew better; going to bed meant reminiscing everything until the first ray of sunshine was peeking through the curtains.

In the end, you tried to go through that mess.

And, somehow, that thing was able to get your attention to the point where you ended up startled by the sound of the doorbell.

You tried to ignore it at first, too scared to check who it was, but it rang again. Was it a murder? No, no murder would ring the doorbell before making a victim.

In defeat, and dragging your feet to where the door was, you took a look through the peephole and, right now, the person outside was probably worse than a murder.

Yeonjun couldn’t be on the other side in the middle of the night, right? It was like he read your mind.

You twisted the keys in a hurried move, though. Being curious sometimes was a curse.

“Hey.” It’s the only thing he bothered to say, looking at his feet like he was ashamed. As if.

“What are you doing here?” You hissed, not really sure of how you were supposed to feel. It’s kind of bittersweet.

He was still looking at the ground, but you took notice of how Yeonjun was shivering. Was it due to the cold and the lack of clothes? You’re not sure.

“I…” a sigh escaped his chapped “I don’t know, all the roads lead me here at the end of the day, I suppose.” It was an attempt to cheer up the mood, but by the look on your face he quickly replaced his smile with a frown.

Two pairs of eyes bored into each other, and it was clear that you were anything but pleased to see him standing by your doorstep. But, again, being good could be a curse, perhaps.

It was cold outside, and Yeonjun was shivering. Maybe you should invite him inside. Unfortunately, you did.

Huening Kai will have to deal with this later, I guess.

"Come on, you're clearly cold." You stepped aside, making room for him. "I can make some tea if you'd like. What do you say?"

"That's what I like about you, Y/N." Yeonjun winked "You're always looking out for me." and made himself comfortable on her couch.

"Do you deserve it, though?" the girl mumbled, occupying herself in the kitchen.

Meanwhile, the older boy was looking around the room and hallway. A few things changed; the picture you two took back in July was no longer hanging on the wall and a few decorations were out of place. Odd.

"Hey, Y/N?" he called, receiving back a hum. "Where's our photo? You know, the one you're kissing my cheek."

The nerve. Where does he think it went?

"What do you mean 'Where's our photo'?" She scoffed, dropping a few things while doing so. "I put it in a box, of course" and mumbled loud enough for Yeonjun to hear.

The boy frowned as if she said the most horrible thing in the world. How could she put it in a box? Does that mean their relationship meant nothing to her?

"I can see the gears turning inside your head." Y/N said from behind, which scared him a little. Did you have a sixth sense or something? "Don't think too much about it… or do, it's up to you since I don't have a say in any of our conversations anyways."

Now, that definitely bruised his ego. Why were you being so passive aggressive all of sudden?

"What's wrong?" He asked, sitting by the couch once again.

Is he playing dumb? Or is he just trying to get under my skin?

Y/N bitterly chuckled. You surely could've ignored him when he knocked on your fucking door a few minutes ago, but you didn't and now you had to deal with his stupid behavior.

No, wait. Why were you complaining, though? You were the one who agreed to play his little games, right? Little games? Is that what this is?

"Hey, Y/N, look at me, will you?" Ah, it took him long enough. He used that sweet tone; he always did. Maybe that's his curse, being awfully sweet yet such a jerk sometimes. "What's wrong? Now I'm the one who's able to see the gears in your head." He chuckled and grabbed her hands, gesturing for Y/N to sit beside him.

His touch sent shivers down her spine, but it’s not like she would admit it. And Yeonjun must’ve noticed that, because he took this opportunity to bring Y/N closer to his body with a hug.

That touch was supposed to be an act of comfort, but it only made her feel more anxious than when she saw his face earlier that night. However, it was impossible to ignore his scent; y/n’s senses were drowning with every touch and breath lingering on her skin. Yeonjun was sneaky, he moved his hand off her arms and stroked her back, and, maybe, just maybe, y/n’s heart started to beat a little bit faster and louder.

Perhaps that’s your curse. Yeonjun always found a way to drive you insane, and you always tried to push his buttons. But by the end of the day, you two would always get back together. Saying that it would be the last time you’d hurt each other was pointless, because it was not the truth.

Despite everything, y/n wanted to be mad, sad and let everything out. But she couldn’t, her mind was a complete mess with every brush of his fingers on her skin.

“Hey, you seem off.” Yeonjun brought her face closer to his by holding her chin.

“Am I now?” Y/N flinched at his touch, face burning with the proximity. Your body betraying your emotions made him smirk.

Yeonjun’s breath was against her neck, with lips slightly brushing over her ear.

“Yes, you are.” He whispered. “Kitten, talk to me. Why are your walls suddenly up, hm?” And planted a kiss by her pulse point.

This situation was uncomfortable, to say the least. But it’s not like you wanted him to stop.

Really? He should stop. You had to stop it.

“I hate you…” y/n’s breath hitched. She pushed him away, but that was not enough. He frowned and tried to get closer to you at all costs. “I hate you for lying to me. And…and for running away when you sensed something was wrong. You always do that and then come back here to say it’s the last time, but let’s be honest, we both know it’s not the last time and…”

Yeonjun kept quiet the whole time. He knew you were right, it was a very good point, but he wouldn’t admit it. As always, he tried to stand up for himself.

“Come on, Y/N, that’s not true. We both know that.” his thumb grazed the line of her upper lip and her whole body tingled at the touch.

You were better than that, of course. Your hands wrapping around his wrists to push him away were enough of a sign to startle him.

“You’re making me look like some fucking crazy ex-boyfriend.” His words were sharp; sharp enough to make Y/N chuckle and cry at the same time.

Maybe that's what he is. Ex-boyfriend. The words matched his actions, but why hearing or even saying it out loud left a bitter taste in your mouth?

“Maybe that’s what you are.” hurt was evident in her voice. “You run away, fuck some other girl and then come back to me expecting everything will be alright? I’m tired, Yeonjun. And I’d appreciate it if you could just…leave me alone.”

He went silent. The room grew silent once again, and the only sound that dared break the silence was the soft thuds of his heart. His breath hitched, but he put on an act with a scoff, trying his best to look unfazed.

What else was he expecting? She was right, he messed up one too many times. Even when they did reconcile, it never lasted long.

After a few minutes of thinking, and an endless amount of silence, he looked at her with a sly smile curling his lips.

“Kitten, has anyone made you feel as good as I do? I don’t think so…” his lips widened even more with every second.

And, maybe, just maybe, he was right, and thinking about it left a bitter taste on your mouth. No one has ever made you feel like he did; does. Did it really matter if he shattered your heart? By the end of the day he would be just Yeonjun, the loving, caring and stupid boy you met through your friends.

Yeonjun could read you like a book, but you never really tried to hide your feelings or reactions either. Just the subtle brush of his fingertips on your arm was enough to get him under your skin again.

It’s all too overwhelming.

“You like this, don’t you?” He whispered. “It’s a cat and mouse game. Excited much?” Yeonjun added.

Oh, yes. This was nothing but a game.

Right before his eyes y/n was clearly aching. But you didn’t have anywhere to hide, did you? You opened the door and let him in.

It’s just you and me now, she thought.

“Who wins in the end?” Y/n looked at him with a bored expression, but in reality everything about her was fragile now.

Despite that, Yeonjun kept a smug look on his face, bringing her close to him. It was obvious what he was thinking.

“I’m not quite sure. Wanna find out?” He licked his lips and kissed her cheek.

His breath was hot on your collar, making you loudly swallow. He moved his mouth from your face to your ear, then jawline and lastly the neck, making you whole body shiver with the contact, a human contact you missed for weeks.

“Why do you treat me like this?” She mumbled, too dizzy with his touches.

“Now, that’s not what I asked, love. Do you want to find out how this game ends?”

A tear dared to almost run down your face. You wouldn’t let Yeonjun do that to you, though.

“M-mouse…” Y/N whispered. “Mouse wins.”

Yeonjun seemed amused by your response, which made his grin widen; you couldn’t properly speak without wanting to break right in front of him.

He pulled away from you, going back on his feet.

Is he going away again? You thought right before he offered his hands for you to take. And so you did, just like you did a few months ago.

Surprisingly, the palm of his hands were really warm and welcoming. Who would’ve thought, right?

“You’re so pretty, princess…” Yeonjun smoothed your hair and dragged his thumb across your lips.

Pretty? It’s more like ‘weak’.

He was asking for something, that was a fact even if unspoken. You couldn’t blame him, could you? He was just this good at turning the tables, so good to the point he would make you feel weak and break for him.

“You’re not supposed to be here…” That was everything y/n was able to reply. She was confused, frustrated. Why was he doing all of this? To torture you?

But it felt good, though; having him there in the middle of the living room under the dim lights of the apartment. You didn’t want to be alone, it was not a good option.

However, it was impossible to ignore the tension growing in the air.

Before she could think some more, Yeonjun stumbled with her into the kitchen, being quick to press a soft kiss on her lips and placing her on top of the counter.

It was a short touch of lips, but enough to make y/n sparkle inside and also shake with anxiety. He did know how to be convincing.

“This is the last time I tell you’ve got it wrong…the last time I’ll run away.” He mumbled, chin resting on her shoulder while she caressed his covered back.

“Only if you promise me your heart won’t ever stop beating for me.”

He nodded, a silent agreement.

Was it really?

“I promise.” Yeonjun smirked, holding y/n on his arms and dragging her down the hallway straight to her room.

Heh happy Valentine’s Day y’all

[tgrailwar]

Tumblr Holy Grail War, Another Start: Wave 1 - Day 1 (Team Avenger, Team Foreigner, and Team Archer)

Heed my words… My ████ creates your body, And your sword creates my ███████… If you heed the Grail's call, and ████ my ████ and ██████, then answer my summoning…

"…Ehehe…ehehehehe…!"

A Servant was summoned. Beautiful and ephemeral, like a sunflower. Vines gripping and corroding the wood of the church, and the data compiling the Holy Grail War.

The purpose of the Foreigner Servant was clear. Annihilate the other Servants. Claim the Grail. Annihilate the other Servants. Annihilate the other Servants. Annihilate the other Servants. Annihilate. Annihilate. Annihilate. Annihilate. Annihilate!

'FOREIGNER': "Masters... Masters... are you all my Masters...? I'm Van Gogh... let's repaint this world... together... ehehe... ehehehehe!"

Angra Mainyu: "...Well, I tried. Your Servant is here. Congratulations. I sealed some of her skills, so this won't be awful, I don't think. And I'm not dead thanks to you, which is also neat. That being said, going from 'outside threat' to 'internal competitor' is a fine change, but still makes her dangerous. Guess this'll be my first real fight as a Servant!"

As he readied himself to fight, another Servant burst in through the doors of the Church, readying his bow for battle.

Angra Mainyu: "Finally, the cavalry is here! Okay, let me catch you up to speed. That's Foreigner. Bad news, honestly. So… let's work together on this one, Archer."

Arjuna: "…I'll agree to that, simply because the other Servant seems more dangerous. Though… I can't say that 'teaming up' with a Servant like you is an idea I'm fond of. Just looking your direction is giving me the impulse to rend you asunder."

Angra Mainyu: "Yeah, yeah. Believe me, I don't like you very much either, but I'd prefer NOT dying. Anyways, since we're in a new phase-- ahem, some 'things have changed' in the Grail War, I guess we're dealing with new mechanics! Uh, 'new' mechanics? Overseer?"

[ Avenger has forged a temporary 'alliance' with Archer!

If an allied Servant wins first place during a Free-for-All, then their partner won't sustain a wound! When fighting alongside an allied Servant, they both gain a +5% boost! Additionally, they're immune to ally debuffs!

Due to the nature of this alliance, it will fade once the battle ends if not renewed by the Masters of Archer and Avenger! ]

Angra Mainyu: "Look at that, making old mechanics make sense. Better late than never, so... go us! Here's the thing though… I'm basically a lost cause, so as much as some of you will probably hate this, you'll need to dump as much mana as possible into Archer or things will get ba--"

The connection crackled and shorted out, before a voice came out from the other side.

'FOREIGNER': "Masters... Masters... It's me, Van Gogh... I've answered your call... I came here as fast as I could..."

VAN GOGH: "Can you lend me some of your mana...? I can work on commission... ehehe... just a Gogh Joke...!"

As Masters who summoned the Foreigner-class Servant, Van Gogh, it seems as if you can command her! Which means... you CAN win the Grail War with her if you band together to support her, just like any other Servant! Maybe her winning the Grail will unlock a 'special ending'? While the other Servants may stand against her, that doesn't make her any different than the others. Though... it doesn't seem like she has proper Command Spells?

Well, that's a topic for later. For now... fight on, Masters of Foreigner!

-

Angra Mainyu is uninjured!

Arjuna is on his final wound!

Van Gogh is uninjured!

Angra Mainyu and Arjuna are allies! They both gain +5%!

-

Based on skills, augmentations to the final score are:

Angra Mainyu: -12%

Arjuna: +3%

Van Gogh: -3%

Active Skills:

Angra Mainyu (Avenger)

Zarich: Right Fang Grinder (C) - Reduce enemy Servant boosts by -3%.

Tawrich: Left Fang Grinder (C) - Gain a +3% attack boost.

Annihilation Wish (A) - When fully healed, gain a -20% demerit to his final score. With one wound, the demerit is reduced to -10%. With two wounds, the demerit is changed to a +20% boost.

Arjuna (Archer)

Hero of the Endowed (A) - If fighting an enemy Servant, and the difference between scores is within 3%, take the win.

Mana Burst (Flame) (A) - Gain a +8% boost to combat poll results when attacked during 'playing defensively', rather than +3%. When not ‘playing defensively’, gains a 5% boost to final combat poll results instead.

Van Gogh (Foreigner)

Het Gele Huis (A+) - When winning first place in a Free-for-All, inflict 2 wounds on the bottom Servant, rather than just one. If engaged in a one-on-one, inflict 2 wounds instead of one upon victory. Additionally, reduce Servant bonuses by 10%, and if the gap between scores is greater than 35% when winning, recover from a 'wound'.

[five-nights-at-artsys]

speaking low, do what I'm told

[or: the former instructor learns something about the head technician.]

for Phone Guy Month, prompts 20 and 21 - Family/Friends and Truth/Lies!

Davis didn't realise how loud he shrieked as Foxy's hook grabbed his lower leg and tore a good chunk of flesh and skin from it. He didn't know what the hell it wanted to do to him, but it can't be good.

Things were a bit of a blur, for a moment. One second he's fighting for his life, and the next thing he knows, Foxy is lying there — deactivated, at least for now, his hook right next to his bleeding leg — and the night shift guard is checking up on him.

"Y-you okay there—?" Scott asked, approaching him.

"What do you think?!" he snapped. "My leg got fuckin' pierced— I could've died!"

"S-sorry, sorry— Just— L-look, uh, I-I'll patch it up— We have a medkit for these kinds of situations near here."

As the other man searches for the medkit, he let out a heavy sigh. "Just- Just grab the bandage and toss it to me. I'm not a kid, I can do this on my own."

". . . a-are you sure?" he said. "Look, um, just . . . let me help, o-okay? You're clearly—"

"It's fine." He grits his teeth. ". . . as fine as it could be anyways. But hey, 'least it wasn't—"

. . bad joke?

". . . p-please don't."

Bad joke. ". . sorry. Just— Needed to lighten up the mood somehow, y'know?"

Judging by the lack of response, the guard doesn't seem to think the same. And . . yeah, that's fair. Most of the older employees would rather not be reminded of the many, many past incidents at Fazbear's — Not even as a joke.

The guard quickly handed him the bandage, before looking at what remains of the near-horrific incident. Foxy's still lying down — right, Davis remembers now, he tased the damn thing (not his proudest moment, but it's either that or get hurt even more) — and, well, frankly, the backstage's even more of a mess than usual.

But instead of commenting like he had expected the man to do — he was always a bit of a chatterbug — he insteads picks up the lone camcorder on the floor.

. . wait.

Shit. Shit. He was supposed to record the maintenance session for their boss, but Foxy's attempted attack on him made him completely forget about that.

"Is- Is that thing still recording?" he quickly asked the other man. .

. . to no real response. ". . what even . . happened here . . ?"

". . Hello? Earth to Ralph, everythin' okay?"

Is he zoning out again? He can't imagine the night shift being particularly kind to one's health and mind. Especially here, with all the rumours of the damned place being haunted. . .

. . . and considering what he himself heard and saw before the attack, seems like not even people who wouldn't be in the night shift otherwise are safe, apparently.

(Is this place actually—

No, that's. . . That's silly.

that can't actually be his kid calling out to him, right?

god. god, he's so sorry, fritz, if that truly was him calling out to him.)

". . y-you know, Davis, you, uh, kind of sound like my brother. I never really noticed that."

. . .

Wait what.

Hold on, did he speak with his actual voice earlier–? He usually tries to fake it at least somewhat, especially around Scott — God knows what hell of a conversation that would arise, considering . . .

Davis could only really force a chuckle out of his mouth. “Really? Oh- Oh wow, must've been a—”

Ohhhh shit.

Ahem, his throat cleared, and a voice adjusted a moment too late. "—I- I mean—"

"Phillip, h-how long are you going to keep lying to me?"

. . .Ah.

Fuck.

There's no use doubling down at this point. Better to just get it over with.

"Look, Scott, I can explain—"

"Oh, c-can you?” Even with the stammer, it was clear as day that he was seething. "G- Go on! E-explain, then — Explain why y-you disappeared off of the f-f-face of the earth and- And then reappeared with a- a new identity and pretend you're somebody else—!"

"Whoa, whoa, Scott—" Davis Phillip backs away a bit — As best as he could when he now has a slight limp to his leg. "Listen, I'm sorry — I really am — but I've got my reasons, I—"

"D-do you?!" Scott yelled, holding back tears. "Do you now?! Wh-what is it?!” And that’s when he grabbed the older man by the collar of his shirt, and continued to cry and ask, "Tell me, what is it?!"

Phillip thought he had found the right words to say if a day like this ever comes. But with his younger brother's sudden outburst, he finds himself frozen in place.

How long has he been holding back all of that anger?

"I- I was just trying to find out—"

"It's- It's about Fritz, right? You're. . . still looking for him. .?"

". . you could say that." Phillip sighs. "It's more like . . I'm investigating this restaurant in general, but if I can find out what happened to him, that'd be great."

There was a long pause between his words. ". . . Foxy's not supposed to have any lines relating to a dad, right?"

". . no? I- I don't think we established any parents for Foxy, at least."

". . well, guess that answers it."

"Wait- Why'd you ask?"

Phillip quickly readjusts his technician uniform. Scott's not that strong, but apparently he's got enough strength to somewhat mess up the part of the jumpsuit that he grabbed earlier. "Take a wild guess."

The guard thought about it for a good moment or two, before the realisation dawned on him.

". . oh. Did. ."

The technician nodded. "Can't believe out of all the places that are rumoured to be haunted, this shitty pizza place's the one with actual ghosts."

He thinks he hears Scott mumble something under his breath, before looking back at him. ". . Oh, Phil, could I ask something of you?"

"Shoot."

". . can you . . . maybe try and keep this a secret?"

". . .Keep . . what a secret?" There's a lot of things you could talk about regarding tonight.

"Uh. Everything, preferably? Wh-what happened with Foxy, this conversation . . just. . don't mention it to anyone, 'kay?"

That's . . . a reasonable enough request, he supposed.

And yet, a sense of dread starts to form in the pit of his stomach. ". . why, though? It's not like anyone would believe some crap like, 'Ooo, I saw a dead kid's ghost and then one of the animatronics tried to attack me'! Right?"

". . doesn't mean it'd be. . uhm, great, if something like that ever comes to light. For the franchise, a-at least."

"This damn restaurant's circling the drain anyways! Who cares about a dumb rumour or two to the pile?!"

"Please. Just for once, Phil— Please just shut your mouth a-and keep a secret," Scott begged.

"And what if I don't?"

One of Scott's eyes start to twitch, just a little bit. ". . then. . well, I guess I'll tell Mr. Afton who you are."

Oh.

Oh God No. "Hey— Don't fuckin' snitch on me!"

"Look- H-how about we make a deal? I don't talk about who you actually are, and you don't talk about what happened tonight. Deal?"

The pit in his stomach is still there, very much so, but . . . he would really rather not want to deal with any bullshit that may come up from his real identity being revealed. So with a heavy heart, he answered, "Yeah, deal, whatever. I can do that, I guess. Just don't tell anybody else 'bout- Y'know."

". . don't worry about it. I could keep secrets well, I'd say." A faint, insincere smile forms on Scott's face. His own little way to lighten up the mood, when things were tense.

As Phillip leaves for home, a part of him still thinks about his brother's smile.

God, he's such an awful man.