#also this is skipping the queue oops

[hashileio]

Hello, Mr Nightmare.

I came here cuz i whould like to work in your cofee ^^

-

I know the boss said to leave it with Killer, but I'd *highly* suggest leaving your application with Dust instead. He might not really care all that much, but at least it'll remain (mostly) in one piece.

Killer's very likely to lose it or use it to write corny jokes to flirt with customers.

[nopethatsnotembarrassing]

My mom was literally like "well that looked different- well as different as a choreographed thing can be! I think it was the small stage!!" And I had to like explain to her that it was just cause you could literally see all of them even when your not supposed to cause the camera just didn't do much like they usually have in videos and such.

Still a neat preformance tho really liked their outfits!!

[jlheon]

𝓒𝐀𝐑 𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐒 ୨୧ 𝐒𝐉𝐘

(𝓹airing) — sjy x fmr ꣑୧ 𝓷eighbors to lovers ; fluff & hs au (𝔀ordcout) three-thousand one-hundred 𝓹eng's note. america core oops 🦅 𝓫ookshelf

𝓼ynopsis. a sequence of events from your and jake’s senior year

꣑୧ 𝓶𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬

01. new hair

it’s the first day of the new school year. you’re tired but less than what you’ve been in previous years.

this year, you can finally say goodbye to the early bus rides and even longer rides home.

your neighbor, sim jaeyun, has a car and parking and is willing to bring you to and from. you’ve never been so thankful for the blonde boy.

blonde? more like brunette boy now.

“you dyed your hair back?” you say as you walk up to the driver’s side of the car, he rolls down the window.

“yeah,” jake nodded. “what do you think?”

“it looks good…” you admire his new hair color and cut. “still a little dead though,” you reach through the window to touch his hair. his hair is still soft but there’s a hint of frailness from the rounds of bleach he’s been doing for nearly a year.

“maybe you could use that hair mask you always use on me?” he suggests.

“maybe.”

02. amusement park

this is the first and last time you will ever skip school. especially with sim jaeyun.

it’s his idea to ditch school and drive to the nearest amusement park, two hours away from your town.

“come on ____ie,” jake says as you buckle your seatbelt. “it’s SAT day for the juniors… we won’t be missing anything!”

“still! our parents are going to be called!” you argue.

“if they get mad at you, i’ll deal with them,” jake reassures you, putting a hand on your headrest while reversing out of your driveway. “the tickets are on me.”

“tickets?” you raise an eyebrow.

you and jake spend the whole day until sundown at the amusement park.

once you finally accept the fact you should be more laid back for senior year, you drag him from ride to ride. despite him being scared shitless of roller coasters he goes on them with you since he knows how badly you want to ride them.

the only condition is that he gets to hold your hand if he gets scared. which is inevitably the whole day, which he gets to use the excuse to hold your hand in queues.

he also holds your hand while walking around the park with the excuse of not wanting to lose you in the crowd.

as if there are a bunch of people on a random weekday. the only ‘crowd’ is just the families with children no older than five.

the only thing jake can confidently do is get you a giant plushie at one of the scam-like carnival game stands. which he carries around for the remainder of the day.

you hate to admit it but skipping was a good idea even though when you two return home both sets of your parents are waiting furiously on your front porch.

“it was my idea,” jake takes the blame as you peek out from behind him, holding his hand for comfort.

you both get grounded for a week and are forced to take the bus to and from school. that didn’t matter though because you both had fun that day.

03. sick day

one morning jake is surprised to see that when he pulls into your driveway that you aren’t waiting for him.

you’re so punctual and on time so it makes him worried. but he gives you the benefit of the doubt and sits in his car for ten minutes. maybe you're just running a little late.

when you don’t respond to his texts jake becomes more worried. he caves, gets out of his car, walks up your front steps, and rings the doorbell.

when you come to the door with messy hair and a pale face jake can already sense you’re sick and miserable.

“woah, are you okay?”

“sorry for not texting,” you sneeze. “i’m staying home today.”

“are your parents home?” jake asks, looking around your house behind you.

“no,” you yawn, rubbing your eyes.

“let me in.”

“but school starts in twenty, you’ll be late,” you try to push him out the door, though he’s stronger than you.

“let me take care of you,” he wraps his arms around your waist and carries you upstairs towards your room.

jake spends the day in your room giving you medicine, soup, and under the covers next to you. making sure he’s with you as you rest incase you need anything. not letting you get up at all unless you really must.

your parents come home to you and jake cuddled up on the couch.

to no one's surprise, your parents call jake’s parents and inform them about their son's whereabouts for the day.

jake does not get grounded for skipping that time.

꣑୧ 𝓪𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥

01. after school nap

after a long day of test after test, each teacher trying to get one in before winter break, you’re exhausted.

walking up to jake’s car with dark circles and messy braids. ready to go home and crash on your bed to start your week-long break.

the frigid weather has you shivering as you approach the vehicle. your nose and cheeks flushed red from the cold.

“cold outside?” jake asks as you quickly shut the door and sink into the passenger’s seat. his car had been running for a couple of minutes now as he got let out early by his teacher.

“super,” you yawn, snuggling into your jacket.

the car is taken over by a comfortable silence. the only noises being the car engine and the wind outside. keeping his eyes on the road jake asks you a question.

“how were your tests?” he asks while turning the corner.

he gets no response, at the red light he glances over to see you sleeping soundly in the seat next to him.

when arriving at your house jake decides that you look too adorable and comfortable to wake you up just yet. he knows you’ve been studying hard the past week and barely sleeping. ten minutes is what he tells himself, he’ll wake you up in ten minutes.

ten minutes later jake has also fallen asleep.

you both nap in the heated car for god knows how long. then when a continuous taps on the window register in jake’s brain he opens his eyes to see it is already dark out. the digital clock reads three-quarters past five.

your mom is currently knocking on the driver’s side window.

“hi jaeyun,” she greets when he rolls down the window. “i think you two have been sleeping for too long.”

“yeah, i’m so sorry!” he apologizes. “i guess i fell asleep while i was waiting for her to wake up.”

“that’s alright,” your mother smiles at him. “just making sure you weren’t doing anything else in here!”

jake can’t help the heat creeping up his neck in embarrassment at the suggestion you two were doing something other than sleeping.

“how about you join us for dinner tonight!”

“i’d love to,” jake scratches the back of his neck. “i’ll bring her inside.” he looks over at your peaceful expression wondering how you didn’t wake up in the past couple of minutes.

02. passenger princess

“get out,” jake says when sunghoon climbs into the passenger’s seat of his car.

“what do you mean?” sunghoon replies, furrowing his bushy eyebrows. “you said you’re taking me home!”

“i am!” the australian boy retorts. “but you have to sit in the back.”

“why!” the younger boy whines, crossing his arms childishly.

“because the front seat is for ____,” jake explains, unlocking the door so sunghoon can exit.

“not fair,” sunghoon groans. “last time i checked she didn’t call shotgun.”

“well, she always sits next to me-” he’s cut off by the back door opening and you setting your backpack on the middle seat. “hey, don’t sit there. sunghoon was just about to move.”

“oh! okay!” you get up, looking at sunghoon innocently.

“fuck you,” the black-haired boy says under his breath. “i’m supposed to be your passenger princess.”

“hi hoon!” you sweetly greet him, he suddenly doesn’t feel too betrayed anymore.

“hey,” he says as he goes to the back seat, switching places with you.

you all buckle into the car and as jake backs out of the parking lot you reach over the console to plug your phone into the charger.

jake never lets me do that without asking! sunghoon thinks to himself.

you start fiddling with the car plane on his screen. selecting yourself as aux and playing your shared playlist with jake.

sunghoon notices that his phone is no longer an option for bluetooth on jake’s car and feels even more offended.

jake hums along to the songs you queue as you sing along while reapplying your lip tint in the pull-down mirror.

jake said he hates this song! sunghoon thinks again, cringing at how down bad his friend is for you.

when the trio arrives at sunghoon’s house he quickly gets out and bids goodbye to you only as you wave through the window as he walks up the steps to his front door.

jake soon receives a text from his best friend.

penghoon 🐧 : that was disgusting GET UPP i am your PASSENGER PRINCESS NOT HER ☹️☹️☹️💔💔💔

03. corsage

the friday before prom on the way home school school, jake can’t shake off the sad pout on your face. he feels as if there’s a small rain cloud thundering above your head that’s making your lips droop.

“what’s the matter?” jake asks gently as he sees your sad state.

“i don’t have a date to prom anymore,” your frown becomes stronger.

“what?” he asks with wide eyes. “did you just find out? prom is tomorrow night?”

“i know,” you slouch into your seat. “her boyfriend surprised her by flying in last night and now i don’t get to have a corsage like everyone else! neither do i have a ride…”

“i’ll pick you up,” jake offers. “i don’t have a date either.”

“thank you,” you say with a slight frown still on your face, though inside your relieved to know jake is going alone.

the next morning jake rushes to find a place that has a corsage just perfect for you and for him to match with.

unfortunately, he doesn’t know your dress color so he brings as many different colored ties with him when he picks you up. picking a white corsage so it can match with any color.

when you answer the door jake feels all the air being knocked from his lungs. you’re breathtaking. literally. he starts coughing and you pull him into your house and pat his back.

“where’s your tie?” you ask when he finally starts breathing normally again.

“i have multiple in my car,” he says bashfully. “i wanted to make sure we matched.”

jake quickly leaves to retrieve the ties and corsage.

when you spot the clear box with the pretty white flower that matches the one on his blazer you’re quick to nearly tackle him.

“oh my god! you got me a corsage!” you squeal hugging is neck tightly.

“anything for my prom date,” pats your head, careful to not mess up the hairstyle he knows you spent a good hour on.

04. third-wheel

“are we waiting for someone?” you ask as jake scrolls on his phone after you two have been sitting in the car for a couple of minutes now.

“yeah,” jake’s eyes drift from his phone to the back exit of the school, finally seeing the tall black-haired boy making his way towards the car. “we’re bringing riki home.”

“hey guys!!” the younger boy grins as he slides into the backseat.

“hi ki!” you smile at him in the rearview mirror. “do you want to come with me and jae to the café downtown? or are you busy?”

“i’m not busy!” riki has a shit-eating grin plastered on his face, knowing that jake had told him to not get in the way of your study date.

alas, you’re the one who invited him, so jake cannot protest.

“oh! haha great!” jake says as he grips the steering wheel hard enough that his knuckles turn white. luckily for him, that’s the least of your concerns as you stare at the way his veins have become more prominent. “the more the merrier!”

the three of you sit in a booth in the café. thankfully jake had kicked riki out of your side of the booth while you were in the bathroom. now jake was by your side doing his own homework as you both shared a slice of strawberry shortcake.

riki on the other hand sits at the opposite side of the table with his straw conveniently next to his mouth as he plays games on his phone.

“riki, don’t you have any homework?” you ask him as you look over at the gaming underclassmen.

“i did it in study hall,” he clarifies, eyes still glued to his screen like a giant ipad kid.

“i find that hard to believe,” jake whispers in your ear.

“be nice,” you nudge him, to which he shrugs.

you both go back to doing your work for a while until jake sees that you have one bite's worth of cake left. he knows you’ll argue with him and insist he eats it. so instead he silently picks it up with his fork and turns to you.

“____,” he says as he brings the utensil to your lips, waiting for you to get the whole piece before retracting his hand, “good?” he asks.

you nod your head as you finish chewing the cake. jake notices that some icing got stuck on the corner of your lips and wordlessly brings his thumb to your face to clean you.

you both stare at each other. the way your eyes sparkle when jake makes eye contact with you is mesmerizing. he dares to almost lean in until riki clears his throat.

“um, my mom says i have to be home for dinner soon.”

“oh yeah,” jake says as he awkwardly backs away. “let’s get you home.”

05. driver switch

you’ve been sitting around in jake’s car for about an hour now. you didn’t know he had practice today and he had only gotten to tell you after the buses left.

instead, he had you walk to the soccer field so he could give you his keys so you could wait in the car for him.

his teammates looked at him suspiciously when you approached.

“since when did you have a girlfriend?” heeseung, the soccer captain asks.

“that’s ____,” riki, an underclassman, interrupts, “jake’s neighbor he’s secretly in love with.”

“shut up,” jake shoves his shoulder as you were still walking close by.

“is that why you wouldn’t set me up on a date with her?” sunghoon pops up behind jake, startling him.

“maybe,” jake mumbles, taking the ball and kicking it along.

once practice is over jake walks to the parking lot with sunghoon and jay. he spots you from afar sitting in his car while reading a book.

he says goodbye to his friends who are quick to tease him and walks over to the car. knocking on the window so you let him open it.

“hi! how was practice?”

“tiring,” jake sighs, placing his bag in the back seat.

“seems like it,” you comment, “i’ll drive us home!”

“nah, it’s fine.”

“please! i never get to drive because i don’t have my own car,” you whine, “you’re clearly tired anyways.”

“it’s my car,” jake argues.

“but i have the keys!” you pout.

“just this once,” jake says while you both switch seats.

06. the date

after your almost kiss at the café, jake musters up the courage to bring you on a real date. the near kiss did everything to confirm that the pining he had been doing for you since the beginning of high school was mutual.

waiting for him to pick you up was seriously nerve-wracking. you kept telling yourself that this wasn’t new at all, which is true, and that it was just jake.

but that was exactly the problem.

you haven’t seen jake since he confessed to you and asked you out on a real date.

that was three days ago, the last day of school when he dropped you home after getting celebratory ice cream.

you’ve been in jake’s car with him more than a hundred times but today was different. you weren’t just driving to school or around town, you were going on a date with him.

at that fancy place, you both discussed going to back when you were just friends. scrolling through the menu on the website for a hypothetical meal turned into reality now.

“you look beautiful,” jake says when you walk downstairs.

of course, he went inside to talk to your parents beforehand. jake was nothing but a gentleman. he reaches for your hand and twirls you around once your feet touch the floor. he admires your dress with lovesick eyes and you think you might as well be dreaming right now.

you bid goodbye to your parents and walk hand in hand down to his car. jake reached to open the passenger door for you and made sure you were inside before closing it.

you fiddle with your necklace as jake starts the car, which he catches onto the awkward atmosphere quickly.

“are you nervous?” jake glances over at you.

“kinda- a lot actually,” you chuckle awkwardly. “it’s just kinda weird being in your car for the first time after we told each other we liked each other.”

“i get it,” jake nods his head before reaching over the console to take your shaking hand into his. “it’s just me.”

“that’s the thing,” you say. “of course i’m nervous jae, i like you, and now you know.”

“i like you too though and i’m also nervous,” he squeezes your hand. “this shouldn’t be any different from when we hang out! just don’t overthink it.”

“okay,” you feel yourself getting flustered, interlacing your fingers with his as he starts driving.

“at least we already know what we want to order!” jake laughs, recalling your late-night menu scrolling two weeks ago before either of you knew about the reciprocated feelings. “one less thing to be worried about.”

you finally let out a genuine laugh.

that night when jake walks you back to your door he does what riki interrupted you from doing. kissing you softly under the dim light provided by your porch light.

when you both finally pull away to see jake cutely pouting at the fact your night together is coming to a close.

“what’s wrong, yun?” you giggle, resting your hands on his chest.

“i don’t want to go home yet,” he says with a pout on his face. bringing you closer so your head rests on his chest as he holds you.

“maybe you can come inside?” you look up at him with hopeful eyes.

at the end of the night, you end up in your boyfriend’s arms.

[knackfandomarchive]

Artists, writers, and assorted friends (alphabetical, not exhaustive alas):

Any link will just take you to my blog with the tag searched.

an0n-1o1 - One joke post about how Knack interacts with a goblin in the second game.

animegal19 - No posts of her own yet, but prompts chibifox2002 about their AU or asks questions through the ask box.

ari-draws-things - Several art pieces. Ohh I can't pinpoint my favorite thing, but if I look at them too long, I fear I will die. The shapes? and the style is so cute? I see lots of drawings of Gundahar, Rothari, Knack and Lucas being adorable.

at7outof10 - One post of digital art of Little Knack, along with some non-KNACK characters. And apparently, one post where they made a Knack Mii, like from the Wii?

bestbuybathroom - Shared a one-shot fic I really like, and made some image macros, jokes, and opinion posts. I like their sense of humor, but it is perhaps not for kids heheh.

bm13 - so far, a page of Little Knacks. So cute!

celiasvalley - I see an opinion post and possibly a joke.

chibifox2002 - Adorable digital art! This person has an AU and sometimes posts sibling shenanigans involving Knack, Lucas, and an OC named Penny.

chrisophur - Some screenshots of the ps4 game and I think of the sadly-discontinued Knack's Quest.

creamsodathe1st - So far, a cute digital piece of Robo Knack, aka Player 2 of KNACK 1, petting a beetle. Also some of their OCs.

crimmy10 - Super cute sketches and colored pieces! I'm noticing lots of art of Knack romantically paired with an OC.

dbnogaming-blog - One screenshot of Abominable Knack, aka Ice Knack.

discoknack - it me! I'm a chatterbox who rambles and complains a lot. Sometimes art.

doubleleaf - One drawing of Viktor propped up by one of his robots. Very technique; me gusta. Seems to be an art blog.

emmatheward - Probably one of the most ambitious pieces I've seen so far of Giant Knack's upper torso and right shoulder in meticulous detail.

frenchie-sottises - So far I've shared a post of theirs where Knack has a dinosaur tail, scales and also a bellybutton. So cool! And in full color, too.

gummiscr1bblez - Two art posts about their escapades playing the games.

hervygervy - looks like discord screenshots and memes mainly.

indoobs - One photo of a little crochet plush of Knack made as a present.

kyledahl - An animation cycle of Lucas skipping. This seems to be one of the creators, but I reblogged it on purpose because they deleted the original post and I'm under the impression they won't get notifications.

littlebomba - Uh oops, this person mentioned working at PlayStation,, Plus they shared what looks like a promotional image or poster or wallpaper of some kind, which I have reblogged. Also several more adverts which I have not. I hope they don't look in this direction O_o

thelivingrelic - I have in the queue what looks like a very old roleplay invitation that was never responded to? And the blog itself used to be an RP blog. Sadly this person seems to have deactivated, but I can occasionally find posts from deactivated users if someone still around had reblogged it.

majorpepperidge - some screenshots and cute sketches!

munchiemooz - one GIF of Knack in the trailer for KNACK 1 assembling for the first time.

mypunkpansexualtwin - shared some screenshots of Knack in a character appreciation post.

n-jay79 - Drew one very nice colorful sketchy Doctor Vargas and shared some in-game screenshots. Haven't seen any more KNACK stuff, but this person does draw other middle-aged men on the reg if that's your thing.

pepperishstudio-blog - One "warmup doodle" of Little Knack.

pit--rat - One short text post. If I say more about it I'll spoil it.

playstation - oh shit, the actual PlayStation? and not a fanblog pretending to be playstation? I may be stupid.

robertamew - Several posts of screenshots of Iron Knack, Metal Knack, however you'd like to call him. Also an art piece of Knack, and another of an OC.

sbb-thumbnails - SuperBeardBros apparently did a playthrough series and this person makes the channel's thumbnails.

sonicasura - Crossovers! Some art, mainly talk? I think they're neat, but I am not familiar with the other works being crossed with. A lot of idea stuff.

speedartist-skyliner - Drew two pieces of their version of Knack; one of him small and one of him around six-and-a-half feet tall.

stealthknack - Ugh such a cute but short-lived blog! Shared edited screenshots of the game.

totally-jammin-bridget - Shared some things on a post about how they liked Knack 2. They go by a different name now, so I'll update it soon.

thewizardlywyrm - Two (I think?) super cute digital pieces and one celebratory post about Knack 2.

woodenplankstudios - one comic about Knack, about 7 feet tall or so, breaking into the "mascot lounge" and being obnoxious for four panels. I have to admit, the art is well done.

[romqnticstylez]

You're one of my favourite people on here and it makes me so happy sending you these

Also I just saw that you answered my old asks, tumblr really does hate us. I call homophobia 💀

Anyway I'm so glad you've been good and doing fun stuff. I've been super ill cause I've been having like an allergy attack but I'm good now :3

Also like, what are your favourite B99 episodes??

~Butterfly Anon

oop hi i forog tot answer this mb mb omg thats so sweet huehue <33

real tumblr is homophobic

NOO allergies >:( at least ur goood now yayy

HMM ok well def johnny and dora. and the marriage ep. all the halloween heists are so silly frfr i love the one where they try to find thanos' gauntlet lmao

ALSO did u see the UPDATES ON SPOTIFY spotify's done now. it's over for them. i cant PLAY whatever i WANT on my PLAYLIST ?? i can only skip 6 songs in an hour ??? NO QUEUEING??? it hasnt updated on my phone but it idd on my moms so if it updates on mine im done. moving to apple music

[whumpster-fire]

#excuse me i#i#wtf#i feel like the boiler ought to be kept down by more than water weight but what would i know#real true railway stuff#ttte plot inspiration#i guess#if ya wanna get real dark real fast#queue some hard work for a change

I don't know German but I think those photos are from the 1977 Bitterfield Boiler Explosion which is, uhh... a dumpster fire.

Summary of events:

In 1977 in East Germany, a regularly scheduled express train from Leipzig to Berlin is being pulled by a Pacific type steam engine (because it's East Germany), DR 03 0121.

About halfway there, they run the locomotive out of water. Like, not just "oops we have to drop the fire and get towed to a water tower," as in they blew the fusible plugs out, which saved them from dying.

The railway has to send a diesel to tow the stranded train to Berlin. Meanwhile in Berlin, they have to get a backup engine ready to take the train for the return journey: this is another Pacific: DR 01 1516.

The train is now very late, and the people getting the backup engine ready didn't have time to fully fill the tender with coal and water before the train got there. The crew actually taking the train back, which it sounds like is the same crew who just ran their engine out of water, decide to save time by telling the workers to only top off the coal supply and skip filling the water tanks all the way. And then lied to dispatch about filling them.

They attempt to take the train back to Leipzig, and run their locomotive out of water for the second time that day. Apparently they asked for a water stop in Wittenburg (about halfway) and got denied, presumably because they lied to dispatch and said they had full water tanks when they left Berlin.

As they're coming to in to Bitterfield, they have run out of water. A combination of descending a grade and braking makes the water in the boiler slosh forward a bit, which exposes the firebox crownsheet due to the dangerously low water level.

The fusible plugs on this engine do not go off because they are so covered in limescale that they don't melt from the excessive temperatures. This is despite the engine having supposedly just come from a maintenance facility, so somebody fucked up.

The train pulls into a crowded station, with 200+ people waiting on the platform because it's supposed to stop there. As the driver lets off the brakes the water, which was at the front of the boiler, sloshes to the back again, and flashes to steam when it hits the firebox crownsheet (which has heated up to over 700 degrees centigrade), and Kaboom.

The boiler does the water heater rocket thing, tearing itself from the locomotive and cartwheeling down the track. Luckily it lands on the track and not the crowded platform, but seven people on the platform are killed and 45 injured by shrapnel and escaping steam. The locomotive's crew also do not survive for obvious reasons.

I cannot get over the fact that the crew of this train ran the boiler dry, had their dumb asses saved by the fusible plugs, and then proceeded to do the exact same fucking thing again, on the very same day, running the same goddamn train, and in an even stupider way. Pressure to be on time aside, the fact that they were only late in the first place because they ran out of water, and then decided the place to cut corners was... not making sure they had enough water for the return trip. Truly staggering.

yeah uh

don’t brake your steam locomotive too quickly if you don’t have enough water

[aaetherius]

.

@cxffexngel​​ (Gets an unprompted starter)​

    Even with his heavy eyelids squeezed shut against the backdrop of his looming, white ceiling and the polished glass of his window that glittered beneath the starlight that spilled in over the luxurious balcony nestled just beyond a set of clear, french doors, he could still make out the flicker of light from the lanterns below. The red and orange hue from the delicate flames tucked away behind smooth iron danced along his walls, and cast long, twisting shadows against the backs of his eyes. Shadows that lingered even after he pressed his forearm hard enough against long, silver lashes that he was seeing vivid explosions of color in the darkness that consumed him. Ones that do nothing to chase away the exhaustion that grips him, or the anxiety that wells up in his chest at the thought of finally falling asleep. The very idea alone is enough to make his heart sputter awkwardly and uncomfortably within his chest - the messy, uneven drum it created echoing against his ears until the world around him felt distant and faraway. The clunky, heavy footsteps of the palace guards pacing back and forth in the garden beneath his window become little more than a low, static buzz - just as how the voices of the night watch soldiers well beyond his door mixed together until they, too, were little more than a fuzzy hiss nipping at his earlobes. Compared to the clamor of his heart and the cacophony of his own head, they were so quiet they might as well not exist at all. 

      Every night was the same. He’d spend the hours after sundown at his desk toiling away at paperwork, and carefully noting down the day’s events in his journal before gingerly tucking those securities away in one of the many drawers that composed the immaculate, white desk sat across from his bed. Before flipping through an old, worn notebook and rereading each page of neat handwriting stained with grime and yellowed with old age as if it were a well-loved fairytale instead of memories from a childhood that felt so distant to him now. And, eventually, he would finally grow tired and calm enough to slip into bed - leaving the desk a mess of papers and pens and unfinished ideas and even he doesn’t know what else by the time he’s pulled silk sheets over his frame. By then, the moon would always be high in the night sky - its silver glow glaring back at him as if it knew every little thing about him, and it would always make a shiver race down his spine. By then, it was light enough that the candles had been put out, and the entire palace was silent save for the guards who were tasked with keeping its occupants safe during the most unholy hours of the night. And he would sit in bed, reading whatever tome happened to be closest to him until he heard the soft click of Michael’s sword against his door when she sat down outside of his room to remain until he woke come morning. There was some comfort her constant presence brought him, even if he wished she could get a proper night’s rest. He knows, just like himself, she hasn’t slept soundly since the former king’s death. 

       A hoarse sigh brushes past his smooth, rosy lips at the thought, and his fingers curl into a fist against his palm. His hand feels heavy where it leans against the plush fabric of his pillow, and the sweat that begins to accumulate on it feels sticky and raw and uncomfortable - more like blood than perspiration. Even if, in reality, he knows that’s not the case, he can’t shake the feeling. And it only ever grows more unsettlingly and haunting by the seconds that pass. White locks - more stunning than moonlight and brighter than the glare of the morning sun - clung to his damp jaw and paling cheeks. There’s a chill that clings to his spine, yet the back of his neck always feels as if its on fire. His throat is dry, and he can taste the faintest hint of bile on his tongue. His chest heaves with every labored breath he doesn’t even realize he’s taking as the world around him begins to fade into nothingness - sleep threatening to take hold of him, and there’s only so much he can fight the urge to give into its frigid embrace when he hasn’t slept more than a few hours this week. Every night he tries to sleep is always the same - it’s never once gotten easier since that day. Time doesn’t heal. Time can’t erase what he’s done. He exhales a harsh, trembling breath against his arm, and rolls his head towards the door - the idea of calling out to Michael to ask her to keep him company for a few hours crosses his mind. 

        But it’s gone an in instant when, instead of feeling smooth fabric brush against his delicate skin, he feels something cold and hard against his throat. Very, very slowly he rolls his arm away from his eyes, and lashes peel back carefully. His vision is still foggy, and he feels like his head is spinning - the long, spiny fingers of sleep still cling to him for what feels like ages until his room begins to take shape once more. And, against the brilliant silver of the moon and the gleaming whites of the stars, he can make a distinct, dazzling shade of scarlet looming above him. His breath hitches in his throat, and his own eyes widen in familiarity rather than fear. It takes his mind only a fleeting moment to recognize those beautiful eyes. After all, there were nights - far too brief and far too frail for his own liking - where he still dreamed of the very eyes peering down at him now. In the darkness of his room, they’re just as bright as the stars themselves, and far more breathtaking than any constellation could ever hope to be. 

         He swallows around the lump in his throat, and his entire body relaxes against the sharp edge of the blade pinned against his neck. His expression softens visibly - a certain fondness spilling into his irises as a gentle smile tugs at the corners of his smooth lips. “You are-” he whispers, his voice so quiet and tender that it sounds as if he’s speaking to the most precious person in the world to him, but he stops short - afraid that even that meager sound might be enough to gather Michael’s attention where she lingers just outside. So, he exhales. The breath he takes, this time, is calm and devoid of the turmoil that had gripped him a moment ago, and he studies the features of the man holding that knife against his skin. Messy, auburn locks frame his striking features - the expression he wears is unlike the smiles Lucifer had once seen a much younger version of that face wear often, and it weighs heavy on his heart. If this is how he dies, he’ll gladly accept his punishment - of the people in this country who desire his life, if he has the choice of who may take it, there is no person he would rather give it to than this man - to the only person who had ever reached out, and held his hand in theirs. Gingerly, and as slowly as he can manage, he reaches out his hand to try to softly press his fingers against the other’s cheek - that soft smile never leaves his features as his eyes slip shut once more, this time peacefully. “If death is to be my atonement, you may take my life, but you must make haste. I fear it will not be long before the guards sense that something is amiss.” 

[angstyaches]

Payton’s Halloween 2022

Or; Flick Couldn’t Think of a Good Title For This One

Oops. Here, have almost 5,000 words of a Payton fic that was going to be even longer but I ran out of steam to write the next part. Maybe I’ll continue it at a later time.

Based on this post from anony 🐭

CW: (please read) stress, overwork, misgendering resulting in social and (mild) body dysphoria, missing money, existential crisis thoughts, Payton needs to talk to a therapist or something idk, hunger/skipping meals, food, cooking, overindulging, stomach ache, nausea, emeto mention (no actual emeto), stomach noises, (some) belly rubs, flirtatious teasing. I think that’s everything.

___

As a recovering people pleaser, Payton probably should have been more prepared for how tough their life would get once they were put in charge.

Sure, the pay increase was great, and seeing their very own key to the cafe on their keyring always made them feel extremely cool. Plus, they could choose not to spend their whole day sweating by the steamer if they had enough baristas on the roster, and that was a welcome change.  

But this job was made for people with a lot more backbone.

It had started with Annie. She had penciled herself in for an evening off so that she could see her nephew getting ready to go trick-or-treating for the first time. Payton couldn’t relate, but they understood why that might be important. Plus, Annie was the store manager, and could practically do whatever she wanted. So that was all fair enough.

Dani had also stated ahead of time that she wouldn't be able to work, which was fine; Halloween seemed to pretty much be that girl's Christmas. She’d also been working at S.A. for about three months and this was the first time she’d requested a day off. Again, fair enough.

Jake was still on temporary leave after he'd twisted his ankle in the stock room. Last Payton had seen of him, he’d barely been able to walk without getting tears in his eyes. Again, fair enough.

But then Rachel, the newest hire, had woken up with the flu from hell that morning – at least, according to the brief phone call Payton had had with her at 8:47am. Even if they were naturally cynical and accusatory, Payton didn’t know her well enough to deduce whether she was faking or not. So... fair enough (?).

All of this meant that while S.A. was heaving with zombies and vampires and cat folk eager to get their caffeine fix before the biggest party night of the year, Payton and Paul had been holding down the fort alone.

Only twenty minutes until closing time, Payton told themself as they glanced around the shop.

What were all of these people even still doing here? Payton was no advocate for binge drinking, but it was dark outside – shouldn’t all of these young people have been hitting the pubs and house parties by now? Had upscale coffee overshadowed alcohol culture?

Payton glanced over their shoulder to make sure the queue at the till wasn’t getting too long as they cleaned up. Luckily, Paul’s cappuccino game had improved in the past few months, along with his ability to get orders right, so Payton was able to flit about the store and keep the tables clear as customers left. The cleaner they kept the shop, the sooner they’d both be able to leave after closing time.

Paul was celebrating the day by ringing customers up and brewing coffee while in a skin-tight Superman outfit (which Annie definitely would have vetoed if she’d been working, but which Payton didn’t see a problem with as long as the customers didn’t mind). As far as Payton knew, Paul’s girlfriend had talked him into going to Comic Con that summer, so it was probably left over from that. Paul didn’t seem like the kind of person who had multiple costumes in his wardrobe.

Payton, on the other hand, had been consistently broke for the past year or so, and had had to get a little creative with their costume. An oversized, thrifted black sweater with intentional holes, which they would definitely wear again. Eyeliner that extended all the way back to their temples in the shape of spiderwebs. Two fake spiders made of black pipe cleaners and googly eyes from the pound shop, mounted on a cheap headband that was digging into the backs of their ears.

There was a group of girls huddled at the table by the window, who seemed to have chosen “the off-brand cast of Euphoria” (Payton wasn’t looking forward to cleaning up the glitter from the floor once they left) as their group costume. As Payton looked over, they caught a glimpse of a metal hip flask being passed from one set of hands to another. Then the flask was tipped over the rim of a flat white.

Well, that answered that; kids these days did upscale coffee and alcohol. At the same time, evidently.

A girl with hot-pink glitter on her eyes and cheeks met Payton’s gaze briefly, and fell, giggling, against her friend’s shoulder.

“Ssshh, put it away, put it away!”

They breathed steadily through their mouth as they mopped up a spill at the next table over. If Annie (or Jake, for that matter) had been on, these girls would have been asked to leave already, but Payton was nothing if not a pacifist. As long as nobody was smashing cups or vomiting all over the floor, they were content to let the customers do whatever – especially since they were so close to closing time.

Even if the stench of the liquor would have turned their stomach – had they had the chance to eat anything all day.  

And then, something else turned their stomach in a way the alcoholic smell couldn’t. A faint whisper-laugh from the Euphoria table.

“Did she see, did she see?”  

The buzzed hair on the back of Payton’s head stood on end. Their binder suddenly felt pointedly tight, restricting their breathing, even though they knew that wasn’t actually happening. Their first instinct was to be harsh on themself �� Come on, it’s not like you’re not used to it.  

But a softer voice floated to the surface of their mind, accompanied by Autumn’s face; Just because you’re used to it, doesn’t mean it’s okay. That was exactly what she would have said, if she’d been here and overheard the way Payton talked to themself. She was always such an angel when it came to correcting people who misgendered her partner.

Payton thought about turning around and politely informing the Euphoria group that their pronouns were they/them... but then they’d have to reveal the fact that they’d overheard. And it would be obvious that they’d seen the hip flask. It was more awkwardness than they had stamina for. They placed a hand at the base of their ribs and took a breath, and then gave themself permission to let it go. Focus on something else.  

Like, god, they were hungry.  

God, they were tired.  

God, this sucked.

The rest of the evening passed by pretty quickly. Payton avoided passing the Euphoria table again, and felt a little bit of tension release from their chest when the group left. By the time the rest of the café emptied out, and they stopped letting new customers in, Payton was so tired they could barely see straight.

“Is that it? We done?” Paul asked tentatively at the end of the night. He didn’t look much better than Payton felt; he looked less like Superman, and more like someone who had just recently taken a beating from Superman.

“That’s it.”  

“Yes.” Paul bounded to the door to turn the open/closed sign. He seemed to make a face at the street through the glass. “Happy Halloween! And good fucking riddance to all! Ah – sorry, boss! I know you don’t like bad language.”

Despite being so drained, Payton half-smiled. Payton was the youngest of the three members of management, and yet Paul never called Jake or Annie boss. Just Payton. They weren’t sure if he realised he was doing it, but it made them feel extremely affirmed.

“You’re all good, Paul.” Payton started to count up the till – something they could do in their sleep at this point. “You seeing Mei tonight?”

“Yeah, I’m meeting her at a house party after this. Gonna have some catching up to do, drink-wise,” Paul grinned. He grabbed a rag and some polish from the cleaning supplies cupboard. “How about you, boss? You seeing the lovely Autumn?”

“I’m not too sure,” Payton admitted, not allowing themselves the luxury of optimism. “She’s out with a friend, and... I’m not really feeling up to spending even more time in an establishment tonight.”

“Yeah,” Paul droned, idly wiping down the front of the display fridge. “Establishments suck.”

“They do,” Payton agreed wholeheartedly. As they weighed pots of coins on the till counter, they glanced over at their co-worker. “Hey, thanks for not calling in sick tonight, even though you had a party to go to. I appreciate it.”

Paul shrugged and offered up a smile that was more of a grimace. “It’s grand. I need the money, to be honest.”

“Well... I can appreciate the honesty as well,” Payton half-laughed.

“It’s also a bit easier to come and work at an establishment when you have a cool boss.”

“Okay, now I feel like you’re just...” Payton was about to jokingly accuse Paul of buttering them up, but their voice trailed off as they finished balancing the till, and the number on the display had the dreaded minus symbol in front of it.

Acid bubbled in their stomach, the pain still teetering somewhere between hungry and ouch. With the sudden spike of stress, it was definitely veering closer to ouch.

“Son of a biscuit.”

“What?” Paul popped up from in front of the till with his rag and spray. “What’s wrong?”

“Till error.” Payton drew a deep, slow breath.  

The colour drained from Paul’s face. “Aw, shit, did I fuck something up?”

“Everyone makes mistakes on the tills, Paul. Even me. Even Annie. I’m sure you accidentally put a card transaction through as cash or something.” Payton forced a smile, though they could tell it looked shaky. They came out from behind the countertop and headed over to the door. “I’ll sort it out. You go on home.”

Paul held one arm around himself. “Are you sure?”

“Definitely!” Payton turned the key in the door. “I’m sure it’ll be an easy fix.”

The till error was not an easy fix.  

The records for the card machine on the till system matched the records on the payment machine. That meant that there was a forty-euro error that Payton couldn’t explain, not without checking the cameras in the back room, and Annie was the only one who had access to those.  

They didn’t suspect that Paul had stolen the money from the tills – he wasn’t dishonest enough to do that, or even stupid enough to take such a suspiciously clean amount – but it was very possible that he’d gotten so flustered during the evening rush that he’d handed back too many bills when giving out change.

Payton would just have to explain to Annie tomorrow that the shop had been too busy for only two staff members to be on duty. Paul had had a ridiculous amount of customers, and Payton had been too busy to supervise him. When employees were overwhelmed and stretched too thin, mistakes were bound to happen. Paul would probably still get an earful, and either he or Payton would have the error deducted from their wages.  

As they got ready to close up and leave, Payton could only think about two things; the way Paul had said that establishments suck (they did), and the acidic gurgling in their too-empty belly.

Payton flopped down miserably at the table, burrowing their head deep into their arms. They weren’t sure why they’d come to the living area, instead of going straight to their room and throwing themself onto their bed. That was their usual routine when they’d had a particularly tiring or unpleasant day.

Maybe they’d unconsciously been hoping somebody would be here, someone they could vent to and be comforted by.  

But the apartment was uncharacteristically quiet. Lucy and Donnacha must have each gone out already, and even if Henry was in his room, Payton wasn’t about to go and seek him out to complain to him. Henry had enough on his plate these days.

And so, their only company was a plastic Jack O’Lantern full of little Halloween sweets, which Lucy had placed there. Payton couldn’t remember if any kids had come trick-or-treating to the flat last year, but they assumed the candy was just for decoration. As though the tinsel and paper bats and twinkling lights along the top of the fireplace weren’t decoration enough.  

They lifted their head slightly, dabbing at their eyes with their sleeves when they realised that tears fogged up their vision. RIP to their cool spiderweb eyeliner.

They were so tired their bones ached. They were so hungry and yet their stomach felt too tightly wound for them to even think about making dinner. But most of all, they couldn’t stop questioning their life choices.

They adored working at S.A., but if they were going to survive as a store manager, they would need to start saying no when people asked to book days off. The thought of disappointing anybody, or causing them stress, or giving them reason to badmouth Payton behind their back... it made them break out in a sweat.

Maybe... Maybe they didn’t really enjoy the job after all. Maybe they were simply satisfied with keeping themself in a moderate state of anxiety and misery. They knew they had a tendency to punish themself for no reason, so maybe this was a manifestation of that...

Their stomach growled so loudly that Payton looked around the room, just to check that it was, indeed, their stomach. They shouldn’t have been surprised, really; they hadn’t eaten a thing since their bowl of cereal that morning, and it was already nine o’clock at night.  

With minimal interest, they pulled the plastic Jack O’Lantern a little closer and fished out the nearest chocolate. Their mind flicked through GIF-like snippets of their day. Rachel calling in sick. The missing cash. The Euphoria wannabe with the pink glitter.  

Did she see, did she see?

Payton made a face as they popped the chocolate into their mouth. The initial sting of being misgendered had melted into annoyance, now that they were alone and there was no chance they’d have to confront or correct anybody. Some days, it felt like they could wear nothing but a giant potato sack and a neon sandwich board that read “they/them”, and it still wouldn’t do any good. Payton liked how they looked, though. They liked how they’d looked that day. That was what mattered, right?  

Even though they had done nothing on the tram ride home but stare at their phone, Payton opened up Instagram and began to doom-scroll. A small smile crossed their lips as they glimpsed a mirror selfie of Autumn and Claudette in a night club bathroom. She seemed to be having a good night, at least.

Payton felt a little better as they tore open a second sweet, finding caramel in the centre of this one. They kept scrolling through Halloween selfies and LGBTQ+ news articles and inspirational speech videos. Their next chocolate was plain. Next had some nuts chopped up and mixed in. Next was a bit too chewy for their liking, but they struggled through and ate it anyway. They circled back to the caramel flavour. They saw a short video of Paul (as Superman) doing a bright green shot with his girlfriend, Mei (as Wonder Woman).

Payton paused to lick chocolate from their lips and felt their stomach growl again. This time, they felt it pointedly churn, as though it was unhappy about what it’d been offered in place of dinner. They laid their phone down. Maybe it was time to plan some kind of a meal.

They had bought some fusilli pasta earlier in the week, they remembered, and their mouth watered; as much as they didn’t want to do anything but wallow, a bowl full of carbs suddenly sounded like the most perfect idea that had ever been concocted.

They took one piece of chocolate – dodging the weird chewy ones that they could now recognise by the colour of the wrapper – with them into the kitchen. They unwrapped and chewed it while they waited for the kettle to boil.  

Autumn would be scowling at them if she knew they weren’t incorporating any vegetables into their dinner. Hmm. There might have been some spinach left over from their last grocery run, but that was something that Lucy or Donnacha were likely to have stolen by now...

Well, check! Autumn would have insisted.

Payton opened the fridge and was more disappointed than happy to see the packet of deep green leaves waiting for them, right where they’d left it.  

“No excuse now, is there, babe?” Payton asked softly, even though Autumn wasn’t there to hear. Yikes. It’d been less than two days since they’d last seen each other, and here Payton was, creating ghosts of her to help themself make good decisions.

By the time their pasta was bubbling on the hob, Payton wanted more chocolate, so they went and grabbed the whole plastic pumpkin from the table and set it on the kitchen countertop. They continued picking away at the sweets as they chopped up their spinach.

They didn’t realise how many they’d eaten until they picked up a chewy one, dropped it back into the pumpkin, and then fished out another one of the same colour.  

Payton frowned and peered inside, mouth opening in surprise to see that the thing was half-empty. They’d been tossing the empty wrappers straight into the kitchen bin, so it hadn’t been obvious that they’d been piling up.

“That’s enough of that,” they murmured to themself. They picked up the plastic pumpkin and took it back to the living room, positioning it on the table like before.  

It was only on their walk back to the kitchen that they felt the first pinch of discomfort in their belly, and they dismissed it in favour of checking on their food. A pocket of air shifted beneath their ribs and they did a couple of shallow burps. Their belly settled, just a little. They just needed something proper to eat. The distraction of preparing dinner had already eased a lot of the lingering stress of the day, so they could only imagine what wonders eating it would do.

The only thing Payton stole was a jar of tomato-based sauce which belonged to Lucy. She wouldn’t be needing it tonight, and they could easily replace it for her tomorrow.

Their belly gurgled while they were combining the sauce and the spinach and mixing it all through. They were surprised that they could still be hungry after so many sweets, if they were being honest.  

But as they poured the pasta, sauce, and spinach into a bowl, Payton’s stomach burbled again, and this time, they couldn’t convince themself any longer than those were hungry sounds.

Payton felt sick.

They sat down at the table again, under the condemning glare of the plastic Jack O’Lantern, and begrudgingly stabbed up a forkful of pasta. They almost gagged while chewing, but they tried a few more bites before giving up. Yep. That had been too many sweets, and this was a proper belly ache.

There was nothing for it but to wrap their bowl in cling film, pop it in the fridge, and go curl up in bed.

___

Payton must have stared at their bedroom wall for a solid half hour, knees pulled up as they curled up on their side, arms wrapped around their waist. They made a mental note (and mentally underlined it a couple of times) that their bin was just at the other side of their bedside locker, and would be just outside of reaching distance from the bed if they needed to puke. They were too shaky and afraid to move to pull it any closer.

They just swallowed again and again, since swallowing was their only weapon against the torrents of acidic foulness that kept sneaking up into the back of their throat.

Their miserable meditation was only broken when their phone vibrated. They had shoved it thoughtlessly into their pocket before making their defeated trek from the living area to their bedroom.

“Ugh, what?” Payton unwrapped one arm and fished their phone out. Even that small amount of movement unsettled their stomach contents. Their throat burned. Their eyes burned, too, as they activated their phone screen to see what had happened.

There was a photo and a message from Autumn.

The photo showed the plastic skull that Lucy had hung on the front door to the apartment on October 1st.  

And the message read:  

A: Trick-or-treat! 🍬✨

Payton shot upright on their bed. Their mouth flooded with a taste like the evil version of orange juice, and their belly sloshed, but they barely cared. Their heart pounded as though they were about to have their first date with somebody, not open the door to their established partner.

Until now, they hadn’t let themself get their hopes up that Autumn would stop by, but now that she had, they’d gone from miserable to giddy in 3.5 seconds.

Or maybe this was a sugar rush setting in. Either way, it gave them the burst of energy they needed to swallow their nausea and go to the front door. They couldn’t go quite as quickly as they’d have liked to; their stomach ache made sure that they couldn’t straighten their back fully or move their feet too fast.

It was a little unsettling at first, seeing Autumn in so much black – she was usually the one whining that Payton wore too much black. When it came to clothing, she usually held firm that black was an acceptable colour for shoes and tights, and nothing else.

But tonight, she was in a long black skirt and blouse, a black choker, and a long, pointy hat.  

“About time you answered!” She grinned widely, reaching out with a gloved hand and gently poking Payton in the side. “I was about to egg your house.”

“Sorry,” Payton murmured. They laid a hand protectively over the spot on their belly where Autumn had poked them. The poke hadn’t actually hurt, but they couldn’t help worrying that their sickly stomach contents would finally become dislodged. “I... I was in bed. I wasn’t expecting trick-or-treaters.”

“No? Well, witch is it gonna be, cutie? Trick...” Autumn lifted one hand above her head, striking a silly, uncharacteristic pose on the threshold. “Or treat?”

Payton tried their best to look dumb, which wasn’t too difficult considering they were 1) nauseous beyond belief, and 2) flustered by their beautiful girlfriend doing a cute pose. When they didn’t react, Autumn broke character and pointed to her hat.  

“Because - because I’m a witch tonight.” She wriggled her eyebrows. “Witch is it gonna be?”

“I thought you were a witch all along, babe.”

She half-turned her head and narrowed her eyes at them, intrigued and suspicious.  

“Because you always look so enchanting,” Payton explained.

“Ugh.” Autumn shook her head as she stepped inside, a huge grin splitting her face. “You’re such a cheeseball. And cheeseballs are not appropriate Halloween candy.”

“No,” Payton groaned. They rubbed a hand across their belly. “Um, can we stick to the witch jokes? I don’t feel like talking about food right now. Especially candy.”

“Why?” Autumn eyed them up and down. She pursed her lips when she saw how they were nursing their stomach. “P, what’d you do?”

Payton sighed. It was easier to just show her. They gestured for Autumn to follow them through to the living area. On the way, she took off her witch’s hat.

Payton lifted the plastic pumpkin from the table and held it out towards Autumn. She frowned and peered down into it.

“This was full when I got home.”

Autumn’s mouth dropped open. She laid her hat down on a chair.

“Now my belly hurts and I feel sick.”

“Ohhhh,” Autumn cooed sympathetically. “Oh, baby. I didn’t know you were going as an idiot for Halloween!”

Payton pushed out their lower lip. “You’re so mean to me.”

“You’re mean to yourself!” Autumn chided, and Payton couldn’t argue with her. She ushered for them to lean their head into her shoulder. She smelled faintly of alcohol and cigarettes – club smells – but they could still make out the scent of her coconut oil shampoo.  

Her hand smoothed over their back, instantly coaxing up a tight bubble of air. Payton turned their head to the side to belch. A shudder ran through their entire body.

“Baby.” Autumn clicked her tongue. “Your poor belly. Shall we go and lie down?”

“I’d like that. Are you hungry, though? I made some pasta that I couldn’t eat.”

“No, I’m fine. Claudette and I had dinner at around seven.”

“Right...” Payton blinked as they lifted their head. They hadn’t even bothered to ask Autumn why she’d ended up coming here, and before eleven p.m., no less. “Is there any particular reason you guys left the club so early?”

“Yeah, Claude was in a funny mood. She wanted to go home early.” Autumn gave a stiff little shrug. Her mouth shrunk into a small line like it did when she was clenching her jaw and trying to look less worried than she actually was.  

Payton frowned and scooped her into a hug. “If something is up, I’m sure they’ll let you know about it when they’re ready.”

“Mmm. Yeah.” Autumn’s throat vibrated as she hummed against Payton’s shoulder. “Hope so. I just feel –”

A rapturous grumble came from Payton’s stomach as Autumn was pressed against them in the hug. It sounded like a bad sound effect from a comedy film. Payton burrowed their face into Autumn’s hair again, face blazing with heat.

Autumn let out a shaky laugh as she pulled back. “Okay, wow. I felt your belly churn.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“Yes, I did! I felt it flip right over, right against mine.”

“No,” Payton groaned mournfully.

Autumn laid the palm of her hand across the centre of Payton’s stomach. It didn’t appear overly bloated with their sweater pulled down over it, but on the inside, it felt like a ball of paper mache that was just starting to harden. It let out a few more gurgles, but thankfully nothing that could have potentially disturbed the neighbourhood.

“Lots going on in there, huh?” Autumn worked a gentle circle across Payton’s belly with the heel of her hand. The pressure felt like absolute bliss; like the first few seconds of a hot shower on a cold day. “Come on, silly, let’s get you to bed.”

“Mmph.” Payton massaged their own stomach as Autumn took their hand and led the way to their room, as though she were the one who lived there. “I think I’m probably gonna die.”

Autumn snorted. “You are not going to die. You’re going to lead a long life, annoying me and being a disaster.”

They just had to muster a little smile at that. “Yay.”

[writefightandflightclub]

Indivisible: Part One

Poe Dameron x reader? Finn x reader? Finn x Poe?

Summary: Finn is your wonderful boyfriend, and Poe is your wonderful best friend. But when Poe begins to look at you differently, you wonder if there’s another way to arrange the pieces of your heart to make it whole.

Author’s note: This dropped out of nowhere. It’s essentially a one-shot (it’s all written, but I’m going to post it in 4 parts as there are very clear “breaks”). Overall, it’s a very quickly written, light, fluffy thing (albeit with some angst and pining). I’ll queue the parts and you should have two a week at least. Idk.

Word count: 1.1k.

Warnings: It’s suggestive and smut is heavily implied, but not explicit.

Poe is perched on an old munitions crate on base, the morning sun on his face and a cup of caf in hand. He’s grateful for BB-8 at his feet, so that the rest of the base, milling around performing their duties, won’t know how alone he feels.

This used to be your time together. The morning caf ritual. Your laughter as warm as the morning sun. Poe had always enjoyed a close friendship with you, ever since you rocked-up as an edgy, straight-talking new recruit on base. Things between you had changed though, since you started dating Finn, as the time you were able to spend together thoroughly diminished.

Still, this morning you had promised to meet him, and although you arrive a little late - your flight suit buckled-up wrong and your mussed hair a dead giveaway as to why you are tardy- Poe can’t help his face-splitting grin as he notices you on your approach, hand-in-hand with Finn.

You wave at him by way of greeting, and Poe can see your smile -like rays of sunshine- even from this distance. It’s funny really, that almost everyone else on base knows you as having an “attitude problem”. Within your first week here you had ironically been nicknamed “Sunshine” due to your stand-offish nature. You’re fiesty and headstrong, he’ll give you that, but you’re also passionate, thoughtful, and have a wickedly scathing sense of humour. Plus, you’re surprisingly fluffy underneath the protective edge you’ve so carefully cultivated. You simply don’t allow just anyone to see past it. 

Poe throws a helpless wave back in your direction, and waits for you to reach him. You evidently have to part ways with Finn part-way through your approach -he’s probably heading towards Rey and the Falcon- and you tug each other into a passionate goodbye-for-now kiss, your hands fisting into the lapels of Finn’s jacket to pull him close. Actually... it used to be Poe’s jacket. 

“Ohhh boyyy.”, Poe groans in a small voice, looking down at his boots as the spectacle of your kiss escalates. He’s happy for you, he really is, but that doesn’t mean he’s strong enough to have this... togetherness flaunted right in front of him. He feels increasingly like a spare part in your life these days.

Still, after a moment, Poe flicks his eyes up to you. Sure enough, you’re still at it, the two of you lost in your own little world. You two are still in the honeymoon phase, and you aren’t exactly subtle about it. Poe’s had to endure seeing your PDA a hundred times before. Or rather, he’s made pains to avoid seeing your PDA a hundred times before. He’s not a glutton for punishment, after all. He sighs, yet reluctantly gives in to his discomfort and smiles softly on your behalf. It’s a nice thing for you. For Finn. So maybe he should get used to seeing it. Besides, you sure do make a cute couple- there are much worse sights which could befall him, that’s for certain.

This time though, compared to your other displays of affection, there’s something that just hits different about this kiss. At least, it hits Poe differently, and he can’t bring himself to look away from the two of you. In fact, he feels a gentle heat rise as he watches your bodies press against one another, casually sipping on his hot caf in-between glances.

“I’d love to be the filling in that sandwich.”, Poe says off-hand to BB-8 while the thought is still half-formed, before realising exactly what he’s come out with.

Poe and the droid’s heads whip towards one another at the same moment. Poe’s jaw is slack in response to his own revelatory thought, and as Bb-8 delivers the sassiest binary ever recorded, he’s relieved, at least, that the droid was the only one around to hear him.

“Don’t you dare ever tell anyone that I said that.”, Poe warns, with a deliberate wag of his finger, his eyebrows raised.

His astromech rolls his head in reply and beeps a question.

“No you may not tell R2!”

More sassy beeps ensue.

“I don’t care if he’s your best friend!” Poe responds, before his brows furrow. “Wait, I’m not your best friend?!”

“You’re my best friend.” you reassure the pilot, having finally broken from Finn and skipped across the tarmac. Alarmed by your presence, Poe stands up so quickly he almost throws his cup of caf all over you. 

You dip in for a hug, as usual, and plant a friendly kiss to his cheek. Nothing unusual there. Except, this time, Poe finds himself fixating far too much on the fact you had your lips on Finn’s moments before you had them on him. Something a lot like like butterflies churns in his stomach.

“What are you two gossiping about?”, you ask curiously, eyes flicking between your friend and the droid. 

“Nothin’” Poe says quickly -a little too quickly- as Bb-8 beeps at the same time.

You look down at the astromech. “Sandwiches?” Your nose scrunches in confusion. “Then why in the hell do you look so kriffin’ sketchy?”

Poe’s been accused of being sketchy before. By your cute boyfriend, no less. Quashing that thought, Poe delivers an attempt at a blasé grin and deflects your attention as best he can.

“Look.”, he says, grappling hold of the buckles and holsters at your waist. “If you’re gonna bang your boyfriend good mornin’ ya could at least get dressed properly afterward.”

You raise your arms half-way in the air to give him access as he tugs at your buckles, nodding up at your head too so you can smooth a hand over your wayward hair.

“Oops.”, you say deviously, little remorse in it. “Good job I have one of you to undress me and one of you to redress me, am I right?”. You grin at him unapologetically. “What would I do without my boys?”

His eyes fall softly on you as your evident joy flows over him. The last thing he’d want to do is dampen that. You mean everything to him. He only wants the best for you. He wishes he could just quash his feelings for you and get out of your way. And yet, as Poe sorts you out, tugging the buckles tight on your thighs and your hips, there’s that rising heat again. In fact, it’s an eruption of heat, as he imagines grabbing on to you wearing only those holsters on your hips, Finn’s lips on you at the same time, maybe.

Oops is right.

As if yearning for you wasn’t bad enough, now he’s yearning for you and your boyfriend too?

Poe finishes with you, and unceremoniously empties the remaining contents of his cup of caf on to the grass behind him. 

“Stimulated enough already”, he explains as you tick a questioning eyebrow up at him. 

“You ready to head down to the hangar then, Moonshine? I can’t wait to get in the air.”

Poe can tell. You sound pumped. His heart swells at the nickname, taken from the prohibited alcohol on Tatooine. Given to Poe, partly because he was always breaking the rules (usually to good effect, often ending in drunken revelry), and partly since he was always with you.

“Sure, Sunshine.”, he responds, with as much enthusiasm as he can muster. "I’ll catch you up.” You thrown him a curious look but carry-on ahead of him regardless.

Poe watches you swagger on towards the hangar before raising his face skyward and closing his eyes, mumbling strange words under his breath as Bb-8 waits obediently by his feet. “Palpatine. Jabba. Bones. Palpatine. Jabba. Bones.”

His erection finally subdued, Poe trots after you, trying not think about sandwiches of any kind as you slip your arm firmly around his shoulders, squashing him happily to you. 

[ace-malarky]

Word Find Tag #11

Oops I found more

@loopyhoopywrites  wrong, tea, and open.

@zmlorenz  choice, future, straight, morning. deny, work, scandal, diamond 

and we’re just going to keep using the nano doc bc like. there’s a lot of words in there.

WRONG (Apocalypse AU)

"That's good?" *Dust says cautiously, not quite sounding like herself.* "But I don't need /thanked/ for that, I don't think that's on me."

"If you hadn't got me out, then-"

*Wilder sighs, loudly.* "/Why/ are you /talking/ about me in the wrong language?"

*Dust laughs and ruffles their hair.* "Go check on the bike.*

*Wilder races off.*

*Ashes steps back, releasing Dust.* "I - I will see you again, won't I?"

TEA (Expect to Fly)

“No Mark?” Kari asked

“He’ll meet us for tea later, but then he’s going to a film with his friends.”

“So he figured he’d just skip the whole day. Classy.” Kari grinned.

The exhibit halls were cool and dark. Casey and Jen went haring off looking for interactive displays, and Thornton hurried after them.

“This is... different,” I murmured, reading the first information display. Changed histories.

“I thought you hadn’t been here before?” Katie was beside me, not Kari.

“I - haven’t.” I looked up. “I mean – it's... different from what I expected?”

OPEN (Expect to Fly)

Kari narrowed her eyes as she studied Cooper. “You’re not about to get it.”

“I think I do. Your friend said he brought up your father. Amongst other things.”

I felt Kari tense beside me. “That is none of your business.”

“At the moment it is. Ifernia’s case is still open, and the two of you are related.” Cooper was unruffled. “You’re - sixteen, right?”

“Old enough for juvie.” Kari nodded, and met her gaze with a glare of her own.

“He’s been following me, did he say that?” I jumped in. “Ever since I started at school. In and out of school. And he’s saying things like they’re threats, like he and... someone else have something planned.” It sounded weak. This couldn’t sway anything, but it had to be said.

CHOICE (Expect to Fly)

Thornton took us back up and into the piano room, so yes, it had been her watching. Subtle. But I was probably the only one that had noticed; this world’s people very rarely looked up, and Vechtir... well, e wouldn’t comment if e had seen, but I also didn’t think e was the type to try and see in through windows. Just me that had that reprehensible habit.

Kari poured herself a cup of coffee (“black, like my soul,” she’d said the first time I’d seen her make the choice, all the while adding at least three sugars to it) and settled onto the couch.

“Tea, please,” Vechtir said, gently reminding Thornton as she hesitated over the tray. “No sugar, a splash of milk.”

FUTURE (Dorks ‘n’ Disasters)

“Then we get rid of them,” Badazz says. “We mix everyone in. We make this work and if she comes calling, we will face her as one town.” He offers her a hand.

“Thank you.” Ehild takes his hand quickly, almost like she thinks he’ll pull it back before she can. “I’m sorry I didn’t try harder.”

“Try harder from now on,” Badazz replies.

The party, as Ehild and Badazz start to talk steadily of plans for the future, draw back almost unnoticed to the door and then back out.

STRAIGHT (Dorks ‘n’ Disasters)

Nakai swings his flail at one and misses as it strides past.

Alaric unsheathes his swords and steps up, whipping his swords along its side. One draws a thin line of blood, and the orc growls at him.

Skadi fires an arrow and smacks another straight in the eye, sending it rocking backwards.

Ophi conjures another spell and drapes it over one of the last two orcs, misting its senses over.

It turns to the orc beside it and roars a challenge.

MORNING (Apocalypse AU)

*Aurora laughs.* "Well, when you put it like /that/." *She glances across the square as they reach it, marking the line of motorbikes that belong to the couriers. T's a queue beside them, of people wanting to send packages and messages.*

*The remains of the fire is still there, too, though it's just a mess of soggy ash and mostly-burnt wood.*

"You want more fire, huh? They don't look so good in the morning light." *Aurora laughs, gently.*

"That does not look revivable, in any case."

DENY (Expect to Fly)

I dropped my gaze to my hands, now that she’d let go of me. “I... don’t think he likes me much? Him or Ken. Chaucer’s kinda got ok, but-”

Kari sucked in a breath. “Hn.”

“You... aren’t denying it.”

“Stupid to try. It’s a little bit obvious?”

“Oh.” My shoulders dropped.

“Yeah, I thought they’d at least try.” Kari snorted. “Chaucer’s alright, though?”

WORK (Expect to Fly)

“See, that’s weird.” Kari glanced sideways at me, sticking her hand out for our bus. “He probably won’t try anything during school.”

“What is there to try?”

Kari shrugged again. “I don’t know how he works,” she said, stepping onto the bus. “Thanks man.” She showed the driver our tickets and he waved us on. “But we’ll keep an eye on him or something.”

I nodded. I couldn’t have given anything away, could I? We’d only spoken around it, not of it, not while we were around others.

SCANDAL

DIAMOND

Well, didn’t quite have all of them, but that’s still a lot of words.

[captainsolare]

Did someone want some request for our underated baby boy sero? 👀 Because here I am! Anyway! Ok so how would Sero react to his crush singing him a love song on karaoke night with the class? Like they're not dating or anything, but reader just wanted to tease Sero a bit and if it means they'll have to indirectly confess to him with a sappy love song than oops 🤭 also love your writting and i hope you're doing well❤️💜❤️

A/N: This was so fun to write! I may or may not have added this song to my love songs playlist after I found it lol. Truthfully, my heart was beating fast the whole time I was writing this, I hope you enjoy it! Thanks and I am doing well :) Hope you are as well! 

The song is “Consider Me” by Allen Stone so feel free to listen to it on repeat while you read! 

Karaoke night with your friends was always fun, you sang and danced the night away until your voice was shot and you ached all over. But tonight was different, tonight you were going to do something risky. You gulped at the thought, how could you have let Uraraka and Mina convince you to do this? 

Your mind flashed back to last night, during your sleepover the three of you were talking about boys. You sat on the floor, hugging your pillow to your chest and sighed. “Come on, Y/N, there must be someone you have the hots for!” Mina teased. “Yeah, spill it sister!” Uraraka said, poking your knee. Your face turned bright red, but you couldn’t help but smile. “Okay okay, but promise not to tease me about it?” Both girls nodded vigorously. 

“Okay, it’s Sero! But no matter what I do it seems like he just doesn’t notice me.” You said, frowning at the last sentence. Uraraka and Mina squealed, grabbing each other’s hands. “Really?! That’s so cute!!!” “You two would be sooooo cute together.” 

“How can we if he hardly talks to me?” You asked. Mina and Uraraka exchanged a glance, then erupted in a fit of giggles. “I know! Do you remember what tomorrow night is?” “Uhh, karaoke night?” “Yes! And I know just the thing that will give him no choice but to notice you.” Once you caught on to their plan, you protested but they just wouldn’t give in so you agreed. Could this actually work? The three of you spent the rest of the night formulating a plan, what song to sing, what to wear, what to say, etc,. 

And that brought you to tonight, dressed in an outfit your mother would probably find scandalous, and maybe a little too much eyeliner, but hey, you were nervous when you were putting it on, so no one could fault you for that right? And you were gathering up the courage to go up and sing a love song to the boy of your dreams. “Go on girl! Get your mans! There’s no way he doesn’t have the hots for you.” Mina whispered. “Yeah,” Uraraka agreed, “Have you seen the way he stares at you?” Your heart was hammering in your chest, would this work? What if he laughed? What if he doesn’t like me back? What if he likes someone else? 

You tried to push the doubts out of your mind, even if this went terribly wrong, it would still be a fond memory of you with your friends, and something to laugh about later. You asked Tokoyami, who was currently in charge of loading the songs, to queue up “Consider Me” by Allen Stone. He nodded and told you it would be three songs until you went. 

You went back to Mina and Uraraka and told them the plan would be a go soon. When Tokoyami announced your song and your name, you almost passed out from nervousness, but all your friends cheered. You walked on shaky legs up to the stage, and your heart skipped a beat when you glanced over to where Sero and his friends were standing and you saw him give you a thumbs up. You shakily returned his thumbs up and opened your mouth to speak. “Umm…” You wiped your sweaty palm on your jeans and cursed the way your voice was shaking, “I’d like to dedicate this song to Sero!” You forced out, then gave Tokoyami the go-ahead to start the song. At your words, his friends began to hoot and holler, fully teasing him. 

You took a deep breath and began singing, “If you’re looking for somebody who will love you through the night, and be there in the morning with the same look in their eyes. If you’re looking for somebody who will listen to your thoughts and understand the way you feel with no words at all”

When you said that you were dedicating your song to him, Sero was pretty surprised. But when you started to sing, and the lyrics began sinking in, he was trying not to pass out from shock. Had you figured out his crush on you? There was no way he’d been that obvious, right? Truthfully, he’d always considered you perfect, way too perfect for him, but nonetheless, he was utterly entranced by you. Denki gave him a particularly hard punch to his shoulder and he zoned back into the words you were singing. 

“If you need appreciation, without compensation; someone to give you what you need. If you’re looking for some magic, that will not end tragic; Darling all I ask is you consider me. 

Consider me, consider me, consider me, Won’t you consider me?” 

By the time you were done with the song, Sero had no breath left in his body. “Is this real?” He whispered. “You bet it is!” Denki yelled, draping his arm across his shoulders and shaking him. Once the song ended, Mina hopped up onstage, “Well? Sero? This girl just poured her heart out to you on stage tonight! Are you gonna give her an answer?” Sero really did pass out at that. “He likes you too! You’re a total knockout!” Kirishima and Kaminari yelled, holding the poor boy up. 

Your classmates all cheered, and you were trying not to pass out yourself. Yours was the last song of the night, so all your classmates began to funnel out of the room. You volunteered to stay with Sero until he woke up again, well, you would have stayed anyways, but your friends and his friends voluntold you to. Todoroki grabbed you a wet cloth to drape over Sero’s forehead, “Thanks Todoroki, we’ll see you back at the dorm.” He nodded and took his leave, waving as he left. 

Sero woke up with his head in your lap on the couch and nearly passed out again. “Good morning sleepyhead.” You said, trying not to show how nervous you were at this whole situation. He looked up at you and studied your face, damn you looked so beautiful tonight. He sat up, wanting to give you personal space, then cleared his throat. “Y/N?”

He asked after a while. “Yeah?” “Did you really mean what you sang? Do you like me too?” “Yeah, sorry if that’s awkward. Wait, too?!” You couldn’t help but yell at his admission. “Why didn’t you tell me?” “Honestly, “ he chuckled, “I thought you were way out of my league.” 

“Really? I thought the same about you.” You admitted, nervously playing with the rings you were wearing. “Well, now that we’re on the same page, do you want to walk home together?” He asked, standing up and extending his hand. “Well, considering everyone else ditched us, yes... But I would have said yes even if our friends were still here.” 

You took his hand and he helped you up from the couch. You stepped out into the night air, giggling from the night’s events. “I can’t believe it took me singing a sappy love song and you passing out over it for us to get together.” “Well, what can I say? You’re a total knockout.”  

The two of you walked home hand in hand, needless to say, you took the long way home. 

[ttlmt]

Bee, did you skip over 180 of your dapg series? The FAST AND FURRYIOUS vid intro seems to be missing. Also, can I just take a moment to absolutely commend you for all the work that you're doing with them and I treasure every single one! <3

ahhh omg it was bound to happen eventually 🤦

at the end of august i made/scheduled like over 100 of them so i wouldn’t have to worry while i was in school, and looks like i somehow missed one in the queue! thank you so much for letting me know, i’ll go find it in my files and upload and backdate it now oops

(also tysm ily <3)

edit: oops slightly better it did upload on sept 23 (when it was supposed to) for some reason it just didnt get tagged, ty for letting me know! 

[mewrails]

day 3: special interests

ive got 4: animals, pokemon, homestuck and rvb. theyre in order of When They Started being special interests

first one is animals. ive always been in love with learning about them. since i learned how to read id read animal books. i had plushies and plastic animals as my favorite toys. my dream is to be able to work with animals in the future. ive had lots of pets in my life. basically animals are A Constant in my life lol

pokemon came when i was a bit older, around 2008? when i got a ds and started playing the games (first one was pkmn diamond!) and i also collect the cards and have some plushies n pkmn toys!! ive played every game since gen 4 and im only missing the ones frm the switch bc consoles are expensive oops

homestuck started around 2014!! i know way too much about hs lmao. and i hate the stupid epilogues and hs^2 and if i keep talking abt them ill write a whole essay so ill just skip to the next one

which is rvb, a rooster teeth show about some dudes in a canyon. this one i know about since like. june last year. sometimes im hesitant to even add it as a special interest lol ig time will tell.

and to finish up, for me special interests are. part of my life lol. theyre things very close to me, they make me happy, i love learning about them. it makes my day just to think ablut these things!! i rant and ramble about them all the time and spam the queue with them constantly lol its very hard to explain!!

but yeah thats about it for day 3!!! thank u

[prorevenge]

Revenge is best served cold

This is my first post here ever, so please go easy on me. Now on to the revenge:

I am enrolled in an university for an international study about city planning. This means we get students from all over the continent to come to our university to come and study with us. Generally these people are the nicest people I have met in my life except for two (lets call them Mark and Jeff, not their real names but the first that came up in my mind). Mark and Jeff are the stereotype of rich kids that always got everything they asked for without question and think that everyone else should do their work for them. They aren't nice to be around, often being very late (sessions and classes usually start at 9, they come in around 12) whilst living 10 minutes away, show up drunk/high from time to time and are extremely arrogant. Mark and Jeff also have a history of plagiarism, not the accidental type but the kind of plagiarism you try to hide by making everything the same font, removing links, etc. (this plays a role in the revenge).

For the last trimester we had a large SPSS assignment for quantitative statistics that we had to do in groups. For anyone who took statistics classes has an idea of how much work that is. Against my better judgement I decided to ask Mark to work together since he could occasionally deliver decent work. He agreed, we exchanged contact info and divided the work amongst us and we set off to start working. About 2 weeks before we had to had in the report for the assignment I had my part of the work done and grabbed my phone to let Mark know about it in our group. Apparently, Mark forgot what communication was and added Jeff to the group, which I was pissed about since I knew the lecturer would apply stricter grading for bigger groups and Jeff being Jeff. I decided to keep quiet and went on with what I wanted to do: I made a shared folder, gave them access, uploaded my work and let them know what needed to be done and when it needed to be done. Somewhat tense I called it a day and forgot about it.

Skip forward to the weekend before the hand in date, I was going to a family reunion with my family from Australia, they come over once a year so I would be insane to ignore that. I let my group know what was going on and that I wouldn't be looking on my phone so any messages they send I wouldn't see until the late evening. After a day of a lot of fun and getting to talk a lot to my cousins from down under I went home around 21:00 when I looked at my phone to see what was going on, apparently Mark and Jeff tried calling me and messaged me a couple times asking if I could help them. Slightly ticked off I asked what they needed help with:

Everything.

In 2 weeks of time they didn't do anything and the night before the hand in they decided to take a look for 5 minutes, shrugged and wanted me to "help" (aka do it myself). I was furious at that point and made very clear that this wasn't supposed to have happened. They said they will try again later and hand in the report at the resit which I agreed on after considering only 1/3 of the report was done, not enough to hand in and get valuable feedback on.

This time I made sure to check up on them regularly and often I would go up to them and ask how things were going, I was repeatedly told everything was fine and that I shouldn't worry. Surprise surprise, nothing happened until the final week before the resit when they came up to me and wanted me to help them. I decided to send them off to a few classmates who knew more about that part of the assignment and didn't really think of it until the day of the resit.

After a lot of work trying to fit their part into the report and a lot of spelling and grammar errors were fixed I finally got to print out the report, put it in my bag and went on to study with a small group. Jeff and Mike went home in the hours we had between class and the resit whilst I explicitly asked them to stay so we could add the final touches, getting high was more important for them. Whilst we are studying we talk a bit about our report when a classmate mentioned someone took pictures of their work without their consent, just a bit after I previously send Jeff and Mike to class to ask for help. We compare the reports and it was bold as brass that they copied parts of their report, which made me explode in pure anger. Anger however was quickly followed up with a plan that gave me the biggest grin on my face since a long time. Queue the revenge:

First off, we documented everything that they plagiarised from the other group and compiled it. Second, I got screengrabs of all our communication and added those to the document. I proceeded to act like nothing was happening and the day went on as planned, did my resit and handed in the report. The next day I arrive early at the university and head straight for the lecturer from who we made the report, explained to her what was going on, showed her everything, showed how Mark and Jeff behaved in the group. We came to an agreement that the marks would reflect the work put in and the attitude of the groupmembers.

Now this might seem like a minor thing, but the events that it set in motion were not. I knew that Jeff and Mark already were missing out on 6 study points from last trimesters project and the statistics class counted for 3, making 9 points they would miss for those 2 subjects. This is already enough for someone to fail the entire year and having to redo the year or drop out of the study entirely. To add on top of that, Mark and Jeff received an insufficient for process and effort last trimester and were warned that if something like this happened again they would be in deep shit. I might have also gone through all of the old reports and marked the plagiarism so send those to the lecturers. We also had an AutoCAD assignment for which I knew that they had outsourced their work to get a higher grade, would be a shame if the lecturer found out about it.... oops.

Knowing them, they will find out once we are at the end of this year when they can't do anything about it with them most likely being expelled for this and a lot of similar offenses. Plus they will also have a note attached to them for the rest of their lives about their plagiarism (and tell me about any government of private company who would hire someone like them).

You tried screwing me over to get high, party and do nothing. I screwed you for life

(source) story by (/u/ARandomLugia)

[disposedserenity]

BTS in Singapore #LoveYourselfSG

I don’t know who would even wanna read about a concert that happened A MONTH AGO. But if you are still keen, hey ho.

*I’m gonna recount the entire day in great detail, so please feel free to skip any details if you don’t care about it.*

disclaimer: all pics & videos are not mine unless stated, credit goes to bts/bighit/fansites/fans

For reference, I was at yellow 1 (left side of the extended stage)

On the night before the concert, it still felt unreal. I was surprisingly calm and I was even watching 聲林之王 with glenn (who stayed over) 😂 I thought I wouldn’t be able to sleep but I ended up falling asleep at around 3 am.

19 January, 6.00am: My eyes opened and I was sooooo effing tired LOL. I swear I was in a daze all the way till the actual concert. We got ready and proceeded to leave the house at 8 am. Once I arrived at the stadium, there were fans everywhere. The group of us (carol, mingyou, glenn and I) decided to grab a cup of tea/coffee to wake ourselves up and I don’t know how, but it was already past 9 am by the time we bought our drinks. Glenn and I went to collect the various fansupport items (a cool thing about kpop concerts is the amount of free stuff given out by fans) and we went to find glenn’s roommate who had been queuing for merch since 6am.

At 10.30 am, glenn and I went to register for soundcheck. The place we were at (outdoor area outside astons) had various dance cover groups, which was actually a pretty good form of entertainment to pass the time. After we were done with registration, glenn had to pick up an item she had ordered from a fansite, which we had a hell of a difficult time trying to find because the stadium is so freaking big. We had to speed walk to queue for soundcheck right after, as we were already late (queueing started at 12.30pm and it was almost 1pm)

SOUNDCHECK:

That was basically my reaction when BTS walked out.

Even though they were in casual clothes and had no makeup on, (Jhope even tweeted about it!!!), in my mind they looked like this as they were walking over to us HAHAHA:

They performed three songs in total: mic drop, dna and run. I went in assuming they would each be rehearsing their solos, so I wasn’t expecting those three songs to be chosen. But, it makes total sense because these are the more hype songs. My memory is slowly fading so I’ll let drake illustrate how I felt during the soundcheck.

When they all stood in one line right in front of me:

When I heard the opening note of mic drop:

KIM NAMJOON, KIM SEOKJIN, MIN YOONGI, JUNG HOSEOK, PARK JIMIN, KIM TAEHYUNG, JEON JUNGKOOK, BTS!!!!!!!

**when I heard the whistling in DNA**

*run plays* me: YAAAAAAAAS BICTH

me realising midway that bts is real and I’m actually seeing them like wtaf-

armys after the soundcheck:

I don’t know how I ever got so lucky winning soundcheck passes, but I wanna thank all the lords and the universe for awarding BOTH glenn and I this opportunity. Soundcheck is truly such an intimate experience because you get to experience bts in all their natural glory. Even though this was just a rehearsal, it felt like a mini concert and I even told glenn that I’d be fine if I didn’t go for their concert and I can die happy lmaoooo.

Brief soundcheck tidbits (you can read the rest here):

1) Jin looks THE best without makeup, he has such good skin and I swear this man is really really handsome in person. I’ll admit I never bought into the worldwide handsome hype before, but I’m a convert now.

2) Jin kept looking at glenn and I several times and he was FULL ON staring. It wasn’t even a brief glance, it was as if I owed him money and he was waiting for me to return it to him (yes jin i owe u my money and life). I kept wondering if I was delusional (aren’t we all, tbh). To be fair, I think jin was also looking at the barricades behind us and/or staring into space, but this man definitely looked me straight in the eye. How did I survive? I didn’t, I’m typing from my grave

3) hobi glows in person, and he’s really not called the sun for nothing. He was the first one to walk out on stage and he had the biggest smile plastered on his face the entire time. Sunshine radiates from this man with every move he makes. Alongside joon, he was the one speaking the most and leading the members.

Ok, so storytime. There were supposed to be 1000 soundcheck winners but when we entered, there was NO way that there were 1000 of us. Our area had probably around 100 - 150 people max and the same goes for the other side. During the concert ment time,  jungkook mentioned that there were only 200++ fans at soundcheck. The moment he said that, glenn and I turned to each other and went “HUH?” and we clowned him because we thought he couldn’t math... (sorry jk bro for doubting you oops). As it turns out, about 800 soundcheck passes were cancelled because they were obtained through special means and connections. AND, the reason they looked really tired/sad at soundcheck was because they were expecting 1000 fans and they probably thought they couldn’t even fill up that amount. :( fuck you scalpers, fuck you snakes staff, but I’m glad bighit decided to cancel all those tickets because those fools dont deserve it and also more space for us soundcheck winners muahahaha.

Before I delve into the concert experience, I need to vent about my stupidity and anger at myself. **CAUTION: RANT AHEAD** So, the standing ticket holders were let in to the venue from 4 pm onwards, and we happily found a spot to settle in and chill. (it was definitely NOT chill in our pit, but that’s another story) At around 6.30pm, everyone decided to stand up officially. Fast forward 15 minutes, I went into full panic mode because I needed to pee. Usually, I’ll just hold it in but my stomach was feeling quite queasy (I’ve been having a lot of stomach issues since november). I also didn’t wanna watch the entire concert with the constant urge to pee because that’s so fun, right? It just SO happened that mingyou and carol were talking about going to the back to watch the concert so I said fuck it, I’ll just go to the toilet and stand at the back too. Went to the toilet to pee and ta-da, ONLY TWO FREAKING DROPS OF PEE CAME OUT. I was so pissed at myself (my body really) because it made me leave my front spot for nothing. But, what’s done was done. I told myself that hey, at least you can finally breathe now (while internally cursing). **RANT OVER**

CONCERT:

Even though I’ve watched so many fancams from their concert, NOTHING will ever beat the experience of watching it in person. I got GOOSEBUMPS when the first note of idol played and they all rose from the platform. Till this day, I STILL get goosebumps rewatching any idol fancams because of that exact moment.

me watching the IDOL opening stage for the 94919994th time:

I was watching IDOL from the back with carol and mingyou, and I was truly thankful that I had the space to dance and go wild. But, that feeling lasted briefly because I realised I was so damn far from the stage. BTS was performing most of their choreographed songs at the purple main stage so even if I was at my original spot, I still wouldn’t be able to see them. The huge led screens existed for that very reason, but my stubborn ass was adamant on watching them on the stage instead of seeing them through a screen.

me deciding to squeeze my way back in again:

After IDOL, it was time for their intro ment (introducing themselves, saying a few comments the usual stuff). Immediately after, they performed save me/I’m fine. I don’t know why my idiotic ass thought this was a good time to squeeze my way in when I should have been FOCUSED on my boys. I was basically half watching them, half saying sorry excuse me to strangers. *bows head deeply and slaps self*

Ok moving on.... I really freaking love how they created the transition from save me to I’m fine. The part where tae gets up into a bridge position was b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l. For some reason, he looked particularly breathtaking doing this move at this very concert. The beauty of live performances, indeed.

Personally, tae stood out in save me/I’m fine the most.

Magic Shop was next, which surprised me because I forgot that it was so early in the setlist. Hence, I was NOT ready for the incoming wave of emotions.

“so show me, I’ll show you” will forever remain one of the most iconic lines in the fandom 😭😭😭 I think I would have cried if this song was played towards the end of the concert. 

As per tradition, a subunit vcr is played before each members solos. So the order goes hopekook, minjoon, tae and yoonjin (yoonjin was too!! much!! to handle because it was 2 separate screens and I didn’t know where to look at???)

Jungkook: Euphoria

(aiyooo look at them cheeks *pinch*)

I love how this has now become our official fanchant (for context). Euphoria is one of my fave intros after seesaw and my ears were in for a treat that night. (It was also at this point I decided to just stay in my current spot instead of trying to find glenn). Jungkook sounds amazing live and this made me realise that wow, he really deserves the main vocalist title.

As most fans would have known, Jungkook was so exhausted at the seoul music awards, which was a mere few days before the concert. Naturally, I was worried that kook would push himself too much in sg. I could tell he was definitely a little worn out, but he still gave it his all (bcos its jungkook) and delivered an impressive performance. I’m truly happy I’ve witnessed euphoria live 😍

J-Hope: Just Dance

JUNG HO SEOK, YOU GOOD??? J-hope showed me what the term bias wrecker really meant that night. I think EVERYONE left the stadium that night rethinking their bias list (if you didn’t, you’re lying). His stage presence and charisma is out of this world. Everyone knows he’s a good dancer, but seeing him executing those moves in person is REALLY something else. 

my face during the entire performance

when he walked over to the extended stage, I was like

WHO IS HE? HE’S J-HOOOOOOOOPE! LOUDER!

I Need U + Run

I honestly don’t remember much from this except for THE vmon moment because they were kinda all over the place. They started at the main stage, then came over to the extended stage and were just dancing their hearts out freely. The members were all splashing water (Idk how they do it so nicely, I’ll probably just hit someone’s head with the bottle) and there was a water cannon. The water cannon was SOOOO strong, I and the people around me were caught off guard (rip my hair & makeup). Bighit probably knew mosh pit fans were sweaty as hell so they wanted us to take a bath. How nice of them.

I loooooveee the outfits they wore here. I’m not a fan of all white ensembles but on bts, I’ll make an exception. They look like ethereal angels who've descended down to earth for one day to grace us with their presence. I’M HERE FOR IT.

look at all da sparkles (and jimin’s messy hair uwu)

Jimin: Serendipity

Till this day, jimin remains my favourite performer in bts. Whenever I watch a bts performance, my eyes automatically go straight to jimin. As a contemp dancer trained in ballet, you can see how that has shaped his performances. Fluidity is the term I would use to describe his style, because he moves like he’s gliding through water. I often find myself rewatching his fancams the most because he has so much adaptibility, its crazy. He knows when to go hard and when to reel it back in. Jimin has such pretty dance lines as well. He stands out because he really pays attention to the little details (the turn of a foot, the hand placement, arch of a back)

Out of all the solos, serendipity is really the prettiest. The combination of jimin’s glitter shirt + pastel hair + bubbles really was a feast for the eyes 😍

See what I mean? Jimin looks so picturesque even in motion.

Trivia: Love

As glenn pointed out, Joon looks so much softer in person (he’s a real life koya 😭). In person, his features are much softer and ‘rounder’. While he may have soft features (how many times can I use the word soft), his stage presence is a huge contrast. I’ve often noticed that out of everyone, joon is the most focused member during performances. While the others will interact with fans/try to incorporate some kind of fan service, rm concentrates solely on carrying out what he’s supposed to do. I can respect that.

Ugh!!! This man!!! Honestly, I was a little worried joon wouldn’t get the hype and cheers he rightfully deserves but Singapore impressed me. Well done, my fellow countrymen (and foreign fans). There was a girl beside me who screamed super loud and kept yelling “KIM NAMJOON!!!!!” so I was like HELLLL YEAH OKAY FINALLY SOMEONE AS HYPED AS ME LEGGO. Jungkook making a heart at the end with namjoon was so cute uwu. Everyone collectively lost their shit when joon slid his jacket off over one shoulder. King of giving the people what they want, I see you.

**another thing to note is how he always looks SOOO happy performing love. You can see the genuine happiness radiating off this man. It makes me happy too 🤗

DNA

The main talking point of this performance was that jimin fell. I actually missed it, because I could only see their side view and jimin was blocked from my pov. By the time I looked at the screen, jimin was already on the floor (still smiling bcos he’s jimin) and I was like oh nooooooo. Apparently after that, they coordinated among themselves mid song to tell each other not to do the ending choreo. A PLUS TEAMWORK, RIGHT THERE! tae even went to wipe the floor after the performance, bless his precious soul.

sidenote: I love love their dna outfits, especially the jackets!! They had different ones for the america and europe concerts, but I do love the asia tour ones just a little more.

Medley

The other highlight of the concert happened here because I was reunited with glenn!!!!!!! I found her just when they launched into fire and we were like OOOOOMMMMGGGG YAS. I actually gave up on ever finding her, but I suddenly saw her blouse from the corner of my eye (THANK YOU GLENN FOR WEARING A PINK DAISY TOP). During the medley, everyone kept following wherever the boys went because the boys were on the moving stage. I felt like I was at a wave pool getting pushed without even moving. They were right at the back at the small diamond stage, so I couldn’t really see much. I had no choice but to watch from the screen. 

funny moments: tae doing pubg dances LOOOL , rm’s legendary hip thrust (you’re welcome)

Airplane Pt. 2

I.. actually forgot that this song was on the setlist. It felt really anti climatic and I wish they would have arranged this to be after DNA or something. 

*airplane pt 2 comes on me:

Jokes aside, I do love this song. It was even one of my top songs in 2018 according to spotify.

V: Singularity

For the first and only time during the concert, this made me speechless. Normally, I’d be cheering and singing along to all of the songs. BUT man oh man, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from tae. While jimin is my favourite performer to watch, I believe that tae is the most expressive performer in bts. Whenever I watch him, I realise that wow that’s really a celebrity right there. Its easy to dress up and put on a show, but not everyone can really perform. What separates a regular person from a star is the x factor, and taehyung is the perfect embodiment of that.

Look

at

that

duality

Fake Love

First off, how did I not notice jhope was wearing leather gloves???? Fake love is still that bitch, no matter what anyone says. It gave us goth bangtan and that’s all I could ever ask for.

I wasn’t expecting them to perform the rock version, and I LOVE IT. I’ve probably watched all of their fake love performances, but seeing it live just solidified it as my fave title track from the love yourself series. Funny anecdote: jungkook didn’t lift his shirt up like he usually does and I swear the people around me were disappointed. They didn’t outrightly say anything, but I could feel the sadness 😂

Suga: Seesaw

ALRIGHT, SHE DROPPED THE CHEESECAKE TIME. Seesaw is my fave solo so you bet your sweet ass this bitch was excited AF!

Singapore did good for the seesaw fanchants, I’m so proud of us *wipes away tear* yoongi definitely noticed our efforts and smiled so freaking wide when he heard us (he absolutely has THE cutest gummy smile).

I remember the entire fandom (me included) got shookt to the core when yoongi first debuted the seesaw performance. We were like ‘suga dancing??’ Seesaw as a song itself was already a pretty unconventional fit for yoongi. We were all used to his hard hitting rap songs (agust d says hi) so we were really surprised. But, you can see how much fun yoongi always has whenever he’s performing seesaw and I’m thankful that he reversed our expectations with this song.

Jin: Epiphany

THIS MAN, yes I am suing. His name is Kim Seok Jin. How dare he make me feel all of the feels when I specifically told him not to? Hearing 50,000 people singing “I’m the one I should love in this world” together was truly a historical moment (just hear how it sounds from OUTSIDE the stadium). Seeing Jin channel all of his emotions into this song was heartbreaking, yet cathartic at the same itme. I would have full on ugly cried but all the screaming probably killed the mood.

the gaze of a man who knows the power he holds, ugh I stan

Epiphany is such a perfect song, 10/10. I don’t know what else to say because nothing I ever say will compare to the experience of actually watching it live. I love you, jin (no hetero)

The Truth Untold

v, jimin, jungkook, jin are the nation’s vocalists thank you for coming to my ted talk

I could barely hear tae at the start because of his mic, which was a shame :( Aside from that, everyone sounded really great. TTU is a song that can strain your voice if not done properly. There were definitely some concerts where some of them struggled to reach the high notes or the correct key. One thing’s for sure though - Jin has CONSISTENTLY been singing in perfect pitch and ALWAYS delivers a fantastic performance. Jin’s singing is so stable, it deserves more recognition. I love tae’s ad lib here and how he made everyone lose their marbles after.

Outro: Tear

HANDS DOWN, FAVE PERFORMANCE OF THE NIGHT!!!!! I walked out of the concert still thinking about tear, because it was THAT powerful. I’m glad glenn was beside me for this because she’s the only other tear enthusiast I know (TEAM SENN ✊🏼). BTS individually have amazing stage charisma, but put the three rappers together and you get AN UNDENIABLE FORCE. I’ll always stan rap line till the day I die. The three of them have such different rapping styles, yet nothing sounds out of place when they work together.

yoongi in headbands is so hot, no one fight me on this

Mic Drop

Second fave performance of the night! (okay I might be slightly biased, since it was right after tear) Even though this was nearing the end of the concert, I was actually way more energetic than I was at the start. It was like I was saving all my energy stores for this very moment. When joon mentioned it was their last song, I was like NOOOOOOOOO WAIT WHAT YOU CAN’T LEAVE YET. Then, I remembered that there was an encore segment and the world was all right again.

I see you stylists with the second white ensemble of the night, and I raise you one. Mic drop is the song that can get anyone hyped up anywhere. I feel like this is the song that you can play at clubs / festivals and it wont feel out of place. Fun story: the dj at dpr live’s show played mic drop and everyone was lowkey jamming to it (also shout out to all the armys there)

Please watch jhope’s fancam!!! I’ve always felt that mic drop is one of the few songs that allows him to really shine as a dancer. As a hip hop dancer, he doesn’t get many opportunities to showcase it because he has to ‘tone down’ for bts choreos. If you have the time, do check out all of his hopeonthestreet videos to really see dancer hoseok in his element!

mandatory iconic yoongi mic drop

Encore Stage (So What & Anpanman)

All of the cutest and funniest interactions took place right here!!! Before the concert, I was going back and forth between getting purple or yellow tickets but I definitely do NOT regret getting yellow tickets! The extended stage is where you can see their goofy selves come out to play.

joon + jimin’s cheeks: an untold love story

p.s. joon was casually applying lip balm before this moment, lol

me whenever minjoon minjoons

this is peak joon at his final form

jimin got to start anpanman this time!!

cosmo and wanda (I mean vmin) being the absolute cutest

chaotic duo taejin back at it again

vmon was being very very cute during anpanman & so what!! There were so many vmon moments throughout the concert, THANK YOU UNIVERSE for blessing me with the most underrated ship.

noteworthy moments during the encore stage:

-sope freaking looked at glenn and I, and we almost combusted right there. Both of them came over to our side at one point, and stepped down onto this black box platform just below (no wonder they felt so close). Almost everyone else were on their phones, so naturally they noticed us because we were the only two crazy bitches cheering by ourselves. I MADE EYE CONTACT AND THAT’S ALL THAT MATTERS. suga smiled so hard when he saw us going all out, and that’s when I knew: I was yoongi’s bitch for life. jhope was looking at us with a sort of approval *stands at attention* YES SIR ARMY REPORTING FOR DUTY

-jungkook came over to our side of the stage and was just in right front of me. I took this time to really look at his face (HAHA) because I felt like I didn’t see him enough during the concert. He was doing body rolls (looked a little something like this) and everyone around me was busy trying to get his attention. Upon closer ‘inspection’ of jungkook, I have concluded that he is a 5 year old trapped in a 20 year old ripped body. His body proportions are reeeealllyy crazily good - with his tiny waist and long legs (and veiny arms). I can see why people lose their mind over him, but he’ll always remain an adorable bunny to me.

-I got blessed by yoongi’s holy water during so what. I didn’t think I was gonna be close enough to get the water but I GUESS NOT! I’ve never been happier getting splashed with water in my life. I swear, yoongi was so cute bouncing around and just smiling the whole time (I can’t stop talking about yoongi, SO SUE ME)

this is what jungkook looks like in person, can you believe? Fansite pictures are always heavily edited (especially jungkook’s for some reason) so sometimes they can come across as quite ‘fake looking’ when you look at images. Lemme tell you, they look a thousand times better in person. The melanin, the glow, the messy hair, their natural skin - can we get a hallelujah

Final Ment

Their final ment before we parted ways :((( I do enjoy hearing them speak even if its in korean, because you get to listen to their thoughts and feelings. I also really appreciate their attempt in speaking english, because it shows that they care. They might have memorised what to say, but effort goes a long way!

- tae saying we are part of his story, memory and scenery 😭😭😭 who knew it would be a teaser for his song! that sly kid. give it a listen over here, you won’t regret it.

- jungkook saying that the fans at soundcheck (*raises hands* YES IT ME) cheered crazily good. yasss thank you kook for acknowledging us and trust me, you could have just ten armys and we’ll still cheer like 10,000 people!

yoongi was being so freaking cute and for what?? that little pout before he launched into his speech.... HERE TAKE MY HEART

the best part was yoongi correcting the translator (not good night, GREAT night) man’s fluent in english but never shows it off, I approve of this slytherin move. yoongi even mentioned that he thought there was a day 2 concert. live nation, what are you doing??? I was so looking forward to a day 2 concert too. Is minstradamus predicting a 2 day concert in Singapore in the future??  👀

jin is a sagittarius in every sense of the word. the way he waited for his close up before slowly removing his shades.....I’m honestly not surprised anymore. I’m too used to having so many sagittarius in my life LOL. he even attempted to speak singlish not once, but twice. I sincerely applaud the effort, though my greedy self wished every member tried too (I’m still waiting for jimin to say ‘ zuo mo ni jiang bad de’)

speaking of jimin, he sang promise!! for the first time!! live!! singapore was truly blessed :)))))

thank you God for spending a little more time on this fine specimen, jung hoseok. hoseok is fine, but with his forehead exposed? FINE FINE. *cue me singing I’m fine* everyone was chanting “J Hope! J Hope! J Hope!’ even before he spoke and he was like oooooh, me? while pointing at himself like pls hobi ITS ALL FOR YOU BBY.

yes, you have stolen my heart jung hoseok

I can’t believe this man even bothered to count the days and meals for his speech..... (I like how bts pretends music bank didnt exist LMAO) this man can honestly sell you a trash bag with how eloquent he is. english is his second/third language yet he can construct better sentences in english than I ever will. in Jeon Jungkook’s words “Kim Namjoon, you dangerous man”

Answer: Love Myself (aka THE END CRIES)

At last, the final song dawned upon us. This is it, the moment reality hits you. That we’re all gonna return to our sad little lives after the concert. I was expecting myself to cry, but I actually felt... at peace? Hearing them sing “I should love myself” also served as a final reminder that that is also the title of their world tour, and the key message to take away from the love yourself series. At the end of the day, bts are also 7 young men in their 20s struggling alongside the rest of us. They have their own battles to fight too, but at least we’re all in this together. BTS may be there to provide us with happiness and love, but we must never forget to look inward first. 💜

Welcome, first time experiencing singapore’s humidity?

Singapore air’s just that powerful huh

I got chills, they’re multiplying!

Ngl, Singapore really impressed me. Every member’s solo got the same deserving amount of screams and we even got seesaw’s part down! (yoongi was really happy huhu) I don’t think they nor us fans expected such an enthusiastic response, but I hope this lifted their spirits up. Touring non stop for months is no easy feat, and I hope our passion made them less weary for one night. I still feel extremely blessed that I got to see them so quickly after I became a full-fledged fan. Hope to see you boys real soon! 😁😁😁

p.s. I recommend reading glenn’s experience here, because it is MUCH more detailed and well articulated

p.p.s link to jimin fancams, link to j-hope fancams, link to rm tear fancam

To end off, here are some random/cute pics for your enjoyment ~

me shaking off all the sweat, filth and water out of my hair after the concert

grandpa over flowers

hello glenn, this is for you

LOOK at jungkook’s forearms.... he can literally kill us all

The cameraman was WHIPPED for tae that night, it kept focusing on tae for a good chunk of time (I can’t blame him/her, we were all in awe too)

Singapore is officially J-hope land now. Can he run for president next?

Thank you for giving me a night I will never forget 190119 will forever be etched in my memory 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

[airris-fr]

oH lore qns incoming!! Is there any form of law enforcement in the Dreampeak? What about forbidden practises? Libraries or temples or arenas? Any deity in particular that they worship? What is your clan known for/what do they specialise in? :D and for dragons: I'm curious about Tyr and Artim ;)) feel free to answer whichever you like (it's a lot of qn.s oops)ahHHh! -poop ;)

I’M GONNA ANSWER ALL THE THINGS

“Airris, that meme is too old, you can’t use tha–”

Is there any form of law enforcement in the Dreampeak?

Yes!! And no. There are official guards but they almost solely focus on the empire and Empress Marzanna! She’s unaware of the fact they aren’t serving the people as they should be because they are commanded by her mother’s adviser. He just wants to keep her safe, surely. Probably. It’s best not to worry about it. The regular layperson has to rely on the mercenary guild for protection, which has definitely helped the guild grow strong roots in the community; you wouldn’t hear it more than a whisper, but there’s a lot of people who would side with them over the empire should it come to it.

What about forbidden practises?

Officially, all the regular taboos are off-limits. No necromancy, no murder, no stealing, no fun. Buuuuuut it’s not very strictly enforced, mainly due to the reasons above. As long as it’s kept on the down low in the city, you can get away with a lot. (The Underside is an entirely other story; they are blatantly open about their disregard for the empire’s laws)

The main thing that keeps necromancy from being a problem is actually Esric. He makes The Dreampeak is a strictly BYOB (bring your own body) party; you aren’t getting one from his graveyard without suffering some severe losses yourself. And frankly, it’s a lot of effort to get a dead body into a floating city when you could just mess with it somewhere else in Sornieth, so who’s gonna bother?

Libraries or temples or arenas?

Libraries, yes!! There is a rather large archive run by Albain, it’s full of history and interesting texts. Then there is Libellum’s private library but you’re risking life or limb to access that collection.

Temples, no! Surprisingly, there are no actual temples on The Dreampeak, at least available to the general public. Instead, there are shrines in most shops, taverns, and homes dedicated to their patron deity where offerings can be made. The only true, proper temple is inside the palace, dedicated to the Plaguebringer.

Arenas, kind of? Underground fighting rings are more common than out-in-the-open gladiator arenas. Every so often a traveling show might appear in the market and hold something similar but it’s almost always just for visitors to ooh and ahh at, entirely staged and none too lethal.

Any deity in particular that they worship?

The Tidelord, The Wingsinger, the Plaguebringer, and the Arcanist are all respected on The Dreampeak and are the most commonly worshipped.

What is your clan known for/what do they specialise in?

Trading! But also mercenaries. It’s a good place to end up if you want to get into either.

Tyr

I am so glad you asked about this boy bc I totally forgot to message you and tell you!!!!! I HAVE THE LORES!!! His muse showed up right away, full of personality and charm, the second I started dressing him.

Tyr has been a troublemaker from the egg, as you know, so it wasn’t much of a surprise for him when he ended up as a prisoner of the gaolers after trying to steal from the Icewarden. Well, actually, the gaolers were a little surprising, he’ll admit, he wasn’t expecting them; a guard or two blessed by the Eleven, sure, but not… not whatever those things were supposed to be. They ignored him for the most part, in fact he barely ever saw them, but it was hard not to feel constantly hunted in the bleak, snowy ruins they kept him confined to. Worse, he felt bored. Who knew how long his sentence would be for a crime against the frozen deity?

He found himself seeking his captors, hunting instead of being hunted. They seemed to dance around him like the snowflakes that blurred his vision; they were avoiding him. He turned it into a game, constantly pursuing them, pushing them where he wanted, and a plan started to form. He was getting out of this place.

It was night when he decided to enact his plan, with the comfort of the shadows pushing him forward. It was a delicate dance but slowly, so slowly, he found himself at the edge of the ruins. The land before him was shielded by blizzards, swirling and howling without mercy. An exit, however brutal, had appeared.

It was all going to plan.

Or at least, until he locked eyes with it.

(…I think I accidentally turned this into a story halfway through oops)

Artim

(quick warning for abuse [and rape-y vibes further down, there will be a second warning], please take care and feel free to skip Artim’s lore if you need to!)

…this thing is already really, really long so I’m gonna be as brief as I can. BASICALLY, oh gosh, this is gonna take forever, uhm, basically, he started out life in a military clan, leading attacks, torturing, killing, etc. and was a favorite of the higher ranked officers but when he got injured in battle, he lost his status and rank, turning into nothing more than a glorified punching bag for trainees. He let it happen because, well, where else would he go? The clan was all he ever knew and who would take him in after the horrible things he’d done?

One day, he’d had enough. His leg ached. It hurt too much. He lashed out.

He didn’t mean to kill them.

dun dun dun duh dun stuff happens here that I haven’t figured out

TW: rape-y vibes from here forth due to an antagonist in his past

queue nightmare sequence

He would make it. He had to make it. A force slammed into his side and he heard bones snap as he fell to the ground—though he couldn’t tell if they were his own or his attacker's—, quickly followed by a kick to his side.

“I see what he meant now, you’re definitely something to look at,” The words echoed through his head but they made no sense, what did that mean? Where was Be—another kick to the side interrupted his thoughts and he groaned, pain spreading throughout his abdomen; the broken bones had been his, it seemed, “Pay attention, love, I’m still talking.”

Pressure squeezed at his broken ribs, driving them harshly into his organs as the wildclaw straddled his waist. If he noticed, he didn’t seem to care, smiling wickedly down at him, “He says you’re an awfully good lay, should we test it out?”

“Get the fuck away from me,” Artim spat before slamming his head into the man’s nose, throwing him off and stumbling to his feet. What was happening? Where was Beh—

“Now, now, Artim, there’s no need for such violence.“ 

Behellagh? 

See… he’d eventually found a place, after all, as the guard to a prince. But the prince was power hungry and it didn’t take long for someone to take advantage of that; a wildclaw, named Vhen. By the time Artim found out about Behellagh and Vhen making plans to overthrow the throne, it was too late; the attack had already begun.

Artim is nothing if not loyal. He sticks with those he loves. And god, did he love that stupid prince; was even foolish enough to think that the prince loved him back. So when they fled the castle, he followed.

Behellagh could see Vhen’s interest in his guard and more importantly he could see Artim’s loyalty to him, and so he manipulated it cruelly to further gain the wildclaw’s favor. If Behellagh told Artim to follow Vhen’s orders, who was he to argue? He was all he had.

It didn’t take long for Artim to become just a broken husk of himself.