#and also go on mad liking sprees on the weekends

[plusultraetc]

today someone stopped me to tell me I had a 'great voice' and ask if I had ever done anything on the radio and while that was such a lovely and unexpected compliment it also reminded me that Present Mic brain rot is a real & genuine problem in my life bc my first thought was 'omg that's so sweet' and my second thought was 'NO BUT I'VE OFTEN WRITTEN ABOUT THE RADIO MAN'

[dixons-sunshine]

Thinkin’ about a lil fluffy blurb of the young!daryl au about the morning after their first time. I just think he’d be so nervous but inside so happy, like he just feels so loved🥺

I wanna give him a hug and a smooch

The Morning After | Young!Daryl Dixon x Young!Fem!Reader

Summary: The morning after you had your first time with Daryl, you could clearly see the apprehension and fear in his eyes, the self deprecating thoughts that you would regret it. Not about to have the perfect man think that you regretted him, you took it upon yourself to reassure him how much you loved him, even if those words weren't spoken yet.

Genre: Fluff.

Era: Pre apocalypse.

Part of the Shopping Spree, Hangout Dreams AU.

Warnings: Swearing, mentions of Daryl's scars, suggestive themes.

Word count: 1.3k.

A/n: Don't know how to feel about this, to be totally honest with you. I feel like my writing has really been lacking lately, but maybe working on that series idea will help me out a little. Anyways, I hope you like this!

The morning sun was shining brightly through the curtains in your small room. The birds were chirping merrily outside your window and the sound of the children's bright laughter could be heard clearly, the weekend brightening every school goer's moods. The sound of people conversing with each other could also distinctly be heard, and for once, it seemed as if the world's troubles melted away, and everyone was at peace, even if only for a little while.

Daryl Dixon would describe peace as the feeling of having you pressed tightly against his side, your head resting on his bare chest as you slept peacefully. Daryl listened to the steady rhythm of your breathing, the rise and fall of your chest bringing a sense of calm to the young man. He felt a sense of pride knowing that you trusted him enough to sleep so peacefully, completely unaware of your surroundings. You trusted him to keep you safe while you were in your most vulnerable state, and that made a small smile spread across his face.

Although your relationship was relatively new, just recently surpassing the six month mark, Daryl felt more at peace than he ever had when the two of you were merely best friends. And after the night prior, when the two of you had finally crossed the threshold and given your most sacred parts of yourselves to one another, your relationship had taken a turn—for the better or for the worse, Daryl couldn't be sure of until you woke up.

Daryl sighed as he caressed your bare arm softly, his fingers following an invisible path that only his eyes could see. Although Daryl had no regrets for what happened the night before, he had no idea whether or not you'd share that same sentiment. He knew that he was inexperienced and that he hadn't performed as well as someone knowledgeable about it, but he hoped he did okay.

You seemed to have enjoyed it, but Merle had told him before that women could fake it enough to convince the man that they had finished, so he couldn't be sure. And if you did fake it, what would he do about it? He couldn't be mad, but he would be a little hurt. Would he confront you about it? Would he just go home and try to play it cool? He didn't know.

Daryl was startled when he felt the press of something warm against his chest. Gazing down, he locked eyes with you, and he was relatively surprised to be met with that warm, beautiful smile of yours.

You laughed quietly and continued to press soft, gentle kisses all along his chest, being extra gentle whenever you came across one of his scars. Your kisses soon trailed all the way up to his neck, up to his jaw, his cheek, before you stopped right when you got to his mouth. You let your mouth hover slightly above his, your lips barely grazing against each other, giving him the chance to back away if he didn't want to share a kiss with you.

Daryl slowly leaned forward until his lips pressed against yours fully, his hand trailing up your arm and to the back of your neck. The kiss ended too soon for his liking, with you pulling away first to lean your forehead against his.

You smiled fondly at him. “Good morning, handsome.”

Daryl chuckled. “G'mornin', beautiful,” Daryl greeted you, his morning voice raspy and hotter than he knew, making your breath hitch at the seductive sound. “Ya sleep okay?”

Pulling yourself together, you shook the intrusive thoughts from your mind and nodded. “Better than I have in a long time,” you confirmed, letting your fingers gently trail down his chest. “I didn't know that having sex could tire someone out that much.”

Daryl hummed in agreement. “Yeah,” he mumbled, his mind wandering back to his previous thoughts before you woke up. Did you regret it? Would you kick him to the curb after that one night?

Perceptive as ever, you instantly noticed the shift in his mood. Why didn't he look as relaxed as you felt? Then, as if being struck by lightning, you remembered what had happened once before. You were transported back to the day when the two of you had originally almost slept together, and you remembered what Daryl had told you. You remembered his insecurities, and it all made sense.

Not wanting to scare him off by addressing his insecurities head on, knowing that he'd feel uncomfortable if you did that, you instead took his face into your hands and pressed your lips against his for a firm kiss. Your thumbs gently caressed his cheeks, and you smiled against his lips when you felt Daryl's arms wrap around your waist, subconsciously helping you straddle his lap while he moved into a seated position.

You pulled away from the kiss, gazing deeply into his ocean coloured eyes. “Last night was incredible,” you began, smiling at him fondly. “You were incredible.”

Daryl blushed and tried to duck his head in embarrassment, but your hands on his face stopped him. He looked at you, a shy smile spreading across his face. “Yeah?” he whispered.

“Yeah,” you confirmed, nodding for emphasis. “It was amazing. I've never felt that good in my life. You were like a Greek god last night. I don't think you've ever looked hotter, and that's saying a lot, because your sleeveless shirts make you look hot as fuck.”

“Stop,” Daryl mumbled, but he couldn't help the small smile that tugged at the corner of his lips at your words.

“I'm serious!” you laughed lightly. “Seriously, Dar, you were amazing last night. I have absolutely no complaints.”

“Yer sure?” Daryl questioned, looking at you unsurely. “Ya dun' have any regrets or anythin'?”

You shook your head. “No. If anything, I regret not doing this sooner.”

Daryl chuckled, leaning forward to press a tender kiss against your forehead. “Yer too nice to me. If ya have any regrets—”

“I don't,” you cut him off, cupping his face in your hands again. “Daryl Dixon, we've been over this once before. When it comes to you, I regret nothing. I don't regret becoming your friend all those years ago, I don't regret agreeing to be your girlfriend, and I certainly don't regret last night. It was amazing, you were amazing, and I'll definitely be doing this again. That is, if you want to, of course. I'd never force you to do anything you don't want to.”

“Are ya kiddin'?” Daryl asked rhetorically. “'Course I wanna do this again. Las' nigh' was amazin' to me.”

“Then it's settled,” you told him with a sense of finality in your voice. “You never have to worry when it comes to me. If you do anything that makes me uncomfortable, you know I'd tell you. Now tell those voices in your head to fuck off.”

Daryl chuckled and nodded. “Yes, ma'am.”

“Good.” You leaned forward and pressed another kiss to his lips before getting off his lap, sitting on the edge of the bed and reaching down to grab your shirt. “I'm gonna make us some breakfast. Get dressed and join me, handsome.”

“Ya gon' make bacon?” Daryl questioned, silently mourning the loss of the sight of your bare body as it disappeared beneath your shirt.

“Of course,” you confirmed.

“Then I'll be righ' there, sunshine.”

©dixons-sunshine 2024. I do not give permission for my works to be copied, modified, adapted or translated to any other site or platform without evidence of my given consent.

[everythingwasnormalhere]

hi

may I perhaps request,, more of thy starlight chronicles Kenny headcanons

IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT MY WHOLE LIFE I LOVE YOU SO MUCH !!!

first death was getting hit by a car while playing with Kevin as a little kid

favorite animals are those lantern fishes with big ass teeth. then all creatures that are floof :3

has had a colony of rats living in his room at two different points in time. he fed them and kept them clean and everything, those little shits were living their best life. twice the colony was annihilated by stray cats karen took into their house (she does that often)

dated kelly long-distance for a few months (her parents were loaded, they'd pay him trips to their hometown every weekend)

he typically hates tailor swift but "you're on your own kid" has become one of his comfort songs

another of his comfort songs is definitely "tiburones en el bosque" by cdn

and "ya te vas a mejorar" is totally his national anthem (also cdn)

kept going out as mysterion up until butters began staying at his

will fixate on every immortal character, mainly if they, like him, are the very mortal type

learnt how to sew when he moved out for college (Kevin would sew his and Karen's clothes before that)

had a petty phase as a preteen in which he'd kill himself in front of people he was mad at. he was kinda a dick, he just wanted to hurt them with no consequences - they'd forget the next day, and they never knew what he did (he felt like shit after tho)

cartman knows hes immortal lol

so does timmy, but it took him a while to mention it

(cartman straight up never did)

someone's drunk near him? he's panicking inside, maybe outside too

c-ptsd ahh mf

he's smarter than he's given credit for

he barely passed everything at school only to become an A student during his senior year and college, he didn't care enough to make an effort till then lol

hates cold so much

satan was more a father to him than his actual father lol

he and henrietta are great friends :3

platonic! crenny!

during college he's in an almost permanent flare up because he cannot take care of himself cuz he's a piece of shit

broke up with tammy after the bj incident, she left the town soon after (nothing to do with him), and they met again when he moved for college :3

she became a waitress at the boys' favorite cafe, she and kenny are awesome friends now :3

hyperfixates on sciency stuff So Hard bro

he'll infodump about it to butters Very Often. butters doesn't understand shit but likes listening to him talk so it works lol

very poor to Very Rich pipeline

widely considered the only rich person that doesn't suck

put spikes on his wheelchair handles and the crowd went wild

looks like a very gay weird uncle

yes he and butters get married

yes butters does fund his career with maybe not too legal money

(no butters doesn't go to jail nor to a mental asylum nor on a killing spree)

managed to lessen his deaths until they were around once every couple months WOOHOO!!!

...not counting the many times he dies in lab. thats a given.

glitter on his beard 24/7

actually permadies. before butters.

[hoperays-song]

Sing 1 Commentary and Review Pt. 1

Like I said yesterday, I will be giving commentary through out the run of the movie here! Is this an elaborate plan to distract me from my fic being with my beta reader? Yes! Am I using it for content? Also yes! I will try to remember to include timestamps and screenshots. But probably will just end up doing screenshots most of the time, sorry. Welcome to the madness!

(There will be multiple parts because these take a while and also there's a limit of thirty photos per post so yeah. I got 9 minutes in? I talk a lot during movies ok? It's an AuDHD thing.)

----------------------------

I feel like now is as good of a time as any to mention that I despise minions (aka was forced to watch Despicable Me in art class way too much as a child). So yes, we're not even past the opening credits and I'm already complaining, welcome to watching a movie with me everyone.

Ok just noticed this for the first time, but Old Moon Theatre had lyres (a symbol of Apollo, the Greek god of music) and grape vines (a symbol of Dionysus, the Greek god of theatre) on it, which is just super cool!

I love the fact that Buster canonically talks to himself and narrates his own life. Like same bestie. Love this for you. You're in your delusion era rn but go for it mate.

Lesbians!!

(No I will not be taking criticism here. That pose is one of the gayest things I have ever seen and I just looked in a mirror.)

HE HAS APPEARED!!!!!

Ok three things. One, these cops appeared out of literally no where. Like we just did a circle around the boy and we did not see them. Can they teleport or something???

Also, two, what the hell is in that box? I'm typically not one to judge what random stuff you leave in an alley (yes, yes I am, but to be fair this is the cleanest alley I've ever seen), but is that just a box of cut up springs??

And for number three, you thought you heard someone singing??? You thought you heard someone singing and only spare one glance down the alley behind the bank during a spree of bank robberies??? Ok no, these cops are terrible. The bank being robbed is absolutely their fault, what the hell?!

Ooooo, eight ball keychain!!!

I mean... Johnny did warn them, ten seconds too late, but he did warn them. He's still absolutely grounded but you know, he tried. Also, I just realized they took the license plate off the truck for the robbery. Insanely smart. The best boys. I love them.

✨ 🎶He's a runner, he's a track star! 🎶✨

Also, apparently Johnny can catch up with a accelerating truck... ok then.

Glad to see this skill that I'm absolutely sure will be used again in the multiple other applicable scenarios. What was that? It never comes up again? Yeah, that seems about right.

Ok, how the hell have the not found these guys yet??? Like the rest of the gang are in disguises, horrible ones but still disguises, but Johnny wears the exact same clothes throughout the movie and is not hiding his face in the slightest. You're telling me no one, not a single person, recognized him???

Also, just how many vintage trucks are in this town? Like just look up the truck model and go down the list of all the one's owned in Calatonia. Boom, done. The police in this place suck at their jobs.

ROSITA!!!!

Ok, so the piglets are definitely around first grade judging by the alphabet and number chart on the wall. Also, a learning chart on the wall is so cute and sweet, I love it!

(Theory) So... we can all agree it's summer right? Because not only are Johnny and Meena home (ok Meena's home, Johnny's being a felon, but that's not important) at lunch time but so are the piglets. They for sure aren't in school yet. And yeah, I know they leave with backpacks later on but that could just be daycare (it's likely daycare). So, since a lot of daycares aren't open on weekends (or at least ones near me), Sing 1 starts in the summer on a weekend! That's cool!

Awwww Rosita. I'm so sorry honey. I love you, we all love you, and I wish I could say you have a normal, relaxing life after this movie but... I'm sorry. Not even close to one.

Ok wow, forgot how vertigo inducing this movie was. Wow.

Ash has arrived!!!!

Also, super interesting how Ash's guitar looks a lot more worn that Lance's. It has scratches and faded stickers while Lance's looks shiny and new here.

And Lance... ewww.

Fair man, fair.

And before people get on to my man Harry for kicking them out without pay by the looks of it, most restaurant gigs I know of are not paid, the musicians get tips and exposure, and I'm pretty sure there is not one single person in that restaurant soo... yeah. They weren't getting paid either way.

One of the best expressions all movie.

I'm gonna punt him. I don't care that he's been on screen for 10 seconds, I'm gonna punt him.

(Moments where Lance is puntable counter: 4)

And now we have everyone!!! Meena, welcome aboard!

Also that cake looks amazing. ...Hold up, I'm getting lunch.

Ok, I'm back! Let's dive back in to my lovely ramblings that are hopefully semi entertaining.

Oh boy, let's talk about the happy birthday scene. For one, Meena is a kid. Stop being mean to a kid.

For another, the rest of her family just stops singing??? Like excuse me, that's not how the happy birthday song works. I don't care if one of the singers is a grammy winner, you don't stop singing just to listen to them. It is a group effort. Either everyone sings or no one does. It's the birthday song rules people. They really put her on the spot here and I do not appreciate it, the poor baby.

So, Meena has tried out for choirs and bands before but it never worked out. That makes me think her social anxiety is not new and I am very much disappointed with her grandfather's perspective on it.

Oh great. He's here.

(Mike puntable moments counter: 1)

Their money must be different than ours since that is the design of a penny.

Also: (Mike puntable moments counter: 2)

OK. This is a straight up mugging. Why is no one doing anything?! Like excuse me?!?!?

Oh and now he gave the guy an asthma attack. Sod off Mike.

Why is everyone siding with the mouse man?????? He sucks??? Hello????

(Mike puntable moments counter: 5)

Ok, ignore the monkey man for a minute. The restaurant is legit named 'The Squids'. So do they own it? Do they work there? Was the founder a squid? What's the situation because I'm guessing the don't eat them since they are sentient.

For such a fancy restaurant, they have terrible taste in lighting decor. I'm pretty sure those are the same ones at my doctor's office.

Oh Eddie, my favourite trust fund baby of the series. It's so good to see you.

Ok, let's talk about the implications of what Eddie is saying here. He says that his dad has been paying for the shows. And Buster's theatre has been struggling for way more than one or two shows.

And I don't know about you guys but I personally wouldn't pay for my adult kid's friend's failing theatre more than once if it turned out to be a bust. It's a waste of money and have you seen today's economy. Now if that was my kid's partner? Different story. I would probably be more willing to pay for a few more for both of their sakes.

What am I saying here? Noodlemoon. They're dating. End of story. ----------------------------

I'll be right back with part 2!

(And 30 more screenshot taking up memory on my dying laptop.)

[umichenginabroad]

Week 4: Prague!

Well, over the weekend, we went to Prague! We were traveling to celebrate one of my friends' birthdays. We had 14 people with us, which is the biggest group trip that we had ever done and everyone was very excited for a weekend in Prague. It was my first time in Prague, so I didn’t know quite what to expect, but was excited nonetheless. We took a 4 hour bus ride over to Prague and before I knew it, we had arrived. 

We arrived in Prague earlier than we expected, at around 10:00 or so local time, and headed over to our Airbnb. We discussed sleeping orientation, dropped off our stuff and got ready. You may be asking yourself, what are these mad bunch of Americans (plus one Canadian) headed off to do now? Well, we decided that sleep is for suckers, and that since we would only be in Prague for about 72 hours, we were gonna make the most out of it. So while the night was still young, at around 12:30 am, we headed out for a fun night. Seeing as how there was a world-famous DJ in town, we decided that it might be a good idea to attend her show. For the entire time, we were bopping our heads to the music, dancing the night away and just having the best time ever. We ended up finishing at around 4 am, and went to sleep. That concludes day 1.

On day 2, we got up bright and early, at least I did, at around 8:30. We then spent the next hour and a half getting ready for the day. At around 10:00, we finally headed out to explore the city during the day time. The first place that we hit up were the Jewish sectors of the city and their beautiful synagogues. We also made sure to take plenty of pictures of the traditional Czech architecture surrounding us. It basically looked like what I dream my Minecraft world could look like. From there, we made our way across the bridge across the Vltava river to the other side of Prague. There we could see the beautiful Prague Castle at the top of a hill as well as many other scenic views. However, the real breathtaking view was when we looked back across the river and could see the city in its entirety. For as far as our eyes could see, it was just purely red roofs and classical buildings. 

The majority of the rest of the day was spent in the Prague castle, where we got to tour Cathedrals that were hundreds of years old, as well as other historical landmarks regarding historical Czech clans. We got to walk around some of their historical streets, getting to see what life was really like in the Castle, and visit other parts of the castle, such as their prison yard. 

After the castle, our group decided just to walk around and hit up whatever we saw along the way. At around 5:30, our group decided to split off as many of us were tired due to a lack of sleep and wanted to go back and take a nap. I was among one of these people. However, due to two people who will remain nameless, I was evicted of my right to go take a nap. These two dragged me around for over an hour on their little shopping spree, dragging me along like two big sisters do to their younger brother at the shopping mall. We couldn’t walk 1 minute without one of them going “Ooooooo wooooow, that’s so cute”, or “Ooooh wow, let’s go in there”. Anyways, regardless of the circumstances, we still all had a great time and I even got myself a nice shirt, so I guess it worked out in the end. 

We had made reservations at around 8:45 for a nice birthday dinner. We had all agreed for everyone to dress nice and everyone definitely delivered. Everyone was dressed super nicely and we all had a great time and enjoyed the delicious birthday meal. And of course we remembered to sing for the birthday girl. With that being said, Happy Birthday Marley!

That night, we decided to hit up another show, this time in the heart of Prague. This place featured some of the best DJ’s, and my personal favorite music. They played a bunch of songs that I had long loved, but had hardly ever heard in public. For example, they played songs like “Dragostea Din Tei”, by O-zone (otherwise better known as the Numa Numa song), as well as other favorites such as Fifa 14’s classic theme song “Love Me Again” by John Newman and “Astronomia” by  Tony Igy and Vicetone (otherwise known as the Coffin Dance song). Even though I suffered some minor hearing loss, it was well worth it as I had some of the most fun that I have had that night. With that crazy night over, it is time to go on to the final day. 

Our bus back to Berlin left at around 6:00 pm. We checked out of our Airbnb at around 11:00, and we spent the rest of the day visiting the local parks, and walking around some more around the river bank as well as other parts in the city that we didn’t get a chance to explore yet. When the time came, we boarded the bus and departed for Berlin.

We had an absolute blast in Prague, and I would do anything just to experience those 3 days again. I am so thankful to have spent it with the people that I did and can say that it was objectively the most fun that I had ever had in Prague. 

Dervin Tian

Data Science

IPE: Engineering Laboratory Experience at TUB in Berlin

[prosopagn0sis-a]

@the141ghost // continued from here

she likes teasing, she likes playing, she likes asserting dominance and ghost provides her with the opportunities to do so. not everyone dares to try, but he does it effortlessly, even bringing her father up without any shame.

she loves him for that. deeply.

for not being afraid, for opening up, even just a little bit; for providing comfort when erik's gone for longer and she needs the tiniest bit of affection to stay grounded, like now, when their fingers are intertwined, just like she decided their fates also are — entangled.

“please refrain from urinating in erik's breakfast from now on, hmm?” she teases, knowing very well it's just a figure of speech, but what she says is meant literally, not like a metaphor. her father's name rolls of her tongue effortlessly, and ghost knows she doesn't speak about her parent in a different way; whatever is going between these two is not a secret, and yet is complicated enough for no one to dig in.

she cooks, though and has this almost motherly nature about her — the whole 141 has dinners and desserts on regular basis, their shared kitchen always stocked.

simon though?

different story.

he's running out of tea? he's got a new box waiting for him. sometimes usual, sometimes different, depends on the girl's mood. he wants some milk pured into it? he can bet it's gonna be lactose free. the sticky note said 'to not upset your tummy :)', six months ago.

and now, six months later, this civilian creature untangles their fingers and places her hands on ghost's shoulders, massaging them through his gear.

“he's a father first, soldier second,” miriam reminds simon with a light tone, “if he were to deal with you, he wouldn't fire you. he'd break your neck.”

there's no threat in her voice, no malicious intentions either; she's playfully stating a fact, but believes it'll never happen, not in this reality and not in any other. there's a zero percent probability for everything in the world, right?

“leave him out of the equation; how would you force me to run? carry me to the track? move my legs for me? tsk,” she clicks her tongue, thumbs digging deeper as to ease the tension from ghost's muscles. “not gonna happen.”

she pauses for a second, checking out the rookies again, trying to find the one with his pants wet. damn. with a simple yell.

“i'll make my dreams come true if ya teach me, mm? best i can do is punch him in the bladder. so, whatcha say? tonight, at the pub? will you teach me how to be scary? half the unit's gonna celebrate having their weekend off and i wanna go, too.”

what she says is 'i wanna go, too, but i can't leave the base by myself and erik will probably go on a murder spree if he found out i snuck out, so i want you to come so when he finds out - he always does - he won't be mad, because i was safe'.

[thatpunkmaximoff]

Story: 4 out of 5 Smut: 3 out of 5

This was everything I hoped for. I loved everything about Beck Sinclair and was rooting for him from the beginning. That man did everything just to get a face-to-face with his little brother’s ex and I’m not even mad about those little white lies.

And Margo! I loved that she didn’t immediately trust Beck straight away and got on his nerves early on. I mean she caved pretty fast to his advances and she tried to keep her wits about her, but a girl can only handle so much when it comes to a man like Beckham Sinclair lol.

The only thing I was let down by was that I think his little brother Carter deserved more punishment than what Beck delivered. A single punch wasn’t enough. He deserved a hospital stay for being a creep.

Now enjoy my rambling thoughts…

* Ex-boyfriend’s VERY attractive older brother has entered the picture. Game on.

* “Are you done?” // “Done with what?” // “Eye fucking me.” — God, I already love how blunt he is.

* Dude, wtf 😂 You seriously bought the company she works at because she was ignoring your calls 🤦🏻‍♀️

* What happened that “one night that weekend” 🤔

* “Say his name again, and I’ll bend you right over this table and fuck you until the only name you can say is mine. You’ll be so full of me you won’t even remember who you were thinking about before.” — woah, where tf did that come from 🥵

* And here I was worried about nothing interesting happening for a bit. I’m not even 30 pages in 😂

* God, Beck is so… bossy. It’s hot and annoying at the same time.

* He’s gonna give himself a serious case of blue balls with all this tension lol.

* The shopping spree. I love it. And Beck being a little shit in the dressing room.

* Aw fuck. Carter still loves Margo? Wtf. Dude cheated on her for the duration of their relationship! She better not even THINK about getting back with him.

* “Smack my ass again, Margo, and I’ll bend you over my knee and return the favor.”

* Oh my god. The email he sent her! 😂

* Of course they’d finally fuck after a snow storm hits. Also… how many chapters has it been already?! Nothing but smut lol.

* Goddamn. So Beck’s been pining for a while, huh. Margo too, but she won’t admit it so freely.

* “I’ve made a home out of Margo, even at risk of knowing she may never find a home in me.” — oh my god 🥺

* Awww. He slipped the engagement ring on her finger while she was sleeping. And then fucked her silly while the whole plane crew could hear 😂

* Lmao. She really likes teasing him, huh. She likes the punishments.

* Goddamn, Margo. I applaud you. Blowing Beck while his brother/your ex was in the room is *chef’s kiss* 💋

* I knew Carter was going to show up to the dinner. Fuck! And then to call Margo a whore.. fuck that dude. Beck should have decked him.

* They both want the relationship to be real! And it is!!!!

* Beck!!! What lies are you scared of Margo finding out?! Everything was going so well and now I’m scared 😒

* Carter needs to get his hands off of Margo right fucking now! Knowing he only sought a relationship with her to “take something from his brother” just pissed me off. He knew beck was interested and he swooped in before his brother could. Fuck this dude. Beck needs to beat the shit out of him.

* I don’t care that Beck paid Ruby to run that article on him. He liked Margo long ago and he told a little white lie to get her in a relationship. That’s fine! Carter is the true creep here.

* Oh my god… my babies just need to kiss and make up 😭

* Ugh. He deserved more than a punch. Oh well. At least Beck has him scared now.

* The portrait she drew 😭 oh my god. I love my babies so much.

* She got her dream job AND he proposed for real! I’m so happy.

[cursedcola]

Prompt: What would they do to celebrate your birthday? Part(s): Heartslabyul, Savanaclaw, Scarabia, Octavinelle, Pomefiore, Ignihyde, and Diasmonia You're Here: Pomefiore! A/N: Hey everyone. I know I have requests backed up to the nines but was my birthday and I need some comfort teehee (I am also SO mad that twst doesn’t have a thing for the MCs birthday >:( ). Some are longer than others because the inspiration train hit, but I really don't care. I love me my boys, what can I say? I hope you guys can read this for your birthdays and be happy :)

Vil Shoenheit

The weekend following your birthday is very eventful. Vil's a man of passion and glamour. I hope you are ready to be tossed from place to place, because you will be living quite lavishly for a few days.

Your wardrobe situation has been bothering him since you both became close. What better time to fix it than this special occasion? Vil treats you to a shopping spree, acting as your personal consultant and forcing you to model his hand-picked outfits

Some of which coincidently match his own. He may or may not discover how you matching his tie + cuff-links makes him ‘excited’

Whether he likes the outfit or not, you receive many compliments.Some come out as snarky quips with a sultry smirk, but that is expected from Vil

Did someone say spa treatment? Darling, you have stress wrinkles from being Crowley's lackey. Give him a few hours and you'll feel like liquid gold. The days go by quickly, and you sleep better than ever before. Who wouldn’t in a high-class hotel with sheets more expensive than anything you have ever owned? Vil notices the improvement by the end and his ego somehow heightens further in pride.

On that note...are you camera shy? Because for the grand finale Vil arranges for you to have a birthday photoshoot with his personal photographer.

The first half is only for you. He stands on the sidelines, hyping you up and critiquing the stylist's choice in clothes and makeup. Only the best is allowed, he swears it on the Shoenheit name!

Second half? He's in there posing at your side. The scene is set as a garden birthday and pictures are taken as you both cut through a triple-tier cake . This is when Vil presents you with your gift: a personalized eyeshadow pallet. He crafted each shade himself, and they're named after things that he loves about you.

The photographer perfectly captures your surprise as well as Vil's rare moment of genuine affection. The photoshoot was meant to be private but somehow that picture ends up trending on Magicam.

“I had hoped to selfishly hoard your beauty, yet it seems the media could not resist in taking it's share. Hehe…at least everyone can see that you are mine this way. Forever my little potato,”

Rook Hunt

Rook can be very mischievous when he wants to be. They say not to play with your food, but he’s always lived for the thrill of the hunt rather than the catch itself

Your birthday is made into a game: a hunt. He wants to shower you with presents yet simply handing them over would be too borish. So, what’s he do? Hides them across campus, that’s what. The first can be found in plain sight outside your bedroom door. Attached to the wrapping is a clue as to where you can find the next!

And so begins your scavenger hunt. To the cafeteria, the alchemy lab, the courtyard, training tower, etc. you’re sent around with Rook acting as your shadow the entire time. He ensures your safety while also admiring your reaction to his presents the entire time.

The last note sends you to Pomefiore, and when you reach the gates Rook appears out of thin air at your side. He’ll lead you in, and inside is your final gift.

It’s your very own bow! Since you cannot use magic, he will be taking it upon himself to teach you self defense and archery. There have been so many close calls that Rook does not feel safe letting you remain defenseless anymore.

“Mon amor, it is perfect! Not only will we spend much time together but now I can cease losing hair from worrying over you. It will be difficult at first but rest assured that I will be your guide on this perilous journey,”

Epel Felmier

Long before you became lovers, Epel was a simp. A big heckin’ simp that buried his feelings because falling in love was not very, “manly,” in his eyes. With an appearance so delicate, what would make you want him? Sure, he was not ugly or intolerable…but he had so much to “fix,” before allowing himself anything like romance.

This did nothing for how he craved you. Your attention, presence, great seven even your scent. The moment you would walk in a room his back would go straight and his well-crafted act of decorum would slip. Vil would then chide him for staring and for his vulgar language after being caught.

It was humiliating how quickly you were able to scramble his well-crafted mask. Just the thought of you deflated all his defenses. He was screwed.

In an effort at defiance, Epel swore himself off of whatever spell you cast on him. If you entered the room then he would leave. If you talked to him then he would only reply curtly. If anyone mentioned you then he would dismiss them.

During this phase he was still hopelessly in love. It was a moment of weakness when he found himself carving your face into one of his apples. Staring into it with displeasure, he wanted something more concrete to work with than fruit. So he grabbed some wooden logs from the fire place and got to work

Fast forward time, and many months later there is still a wooden carving of your likeness stashed underneath his bed. He could not bring himself to toss it, especially so now that you are lovers. So it sits there: until today. Your birthday.

Epel isn’t the type to plan an event. He got you a small gift, a sweet, and asked for you to hang out in his room for a time. His upperclassmen decided to join and were being nosy. Long after all celebration had ended, Rook was snooping and noticed something wooden peaking out from underneath the bed. Before Epel could stop him the figurine was pulled out.

You wanted it. Of course you did. Why would he expect anything less? It’s not like he can say no when you’re blushing and staring at his hand-crafted work in awe. He just keeps quiet until his upperclassmen leave, observing as you admire it. Silently letting his embarrassment get the better of him until he bursts.

“Y’know, that don’ mean nothin’!! What’eva weird thought you got goin’ on in that head o’ yours— quit it! You can keep it but don’ go paradin’ it around either. I—I’m warnin’ ya!…you’re lucky I like ya,”

[introvertguide]

The Road Movie

Most movies follow a general script type depending on genre, and this is used to tell a story that has a satisfying ending. It is interesting when a movie mixes up type and tone and goes against genre type. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it is terrible. Great directing and acting can make the subversion of expectations less jarring (or more depending on the end goal), but the end goal and tone allows us to attach a film to a genre. But what about films that aren't about the end goal? There are many films that are in a sub-genre that focus on the journey with little regard to the end goal. These are what are called "road movies" and can fall under many different genres since the end goal doesn't really matter. Let's address some famous road movies through the years that are also classified in a variety of other genres:

Huckleberry Finn (1931)

The OG of travel films, this was the sequel to Tom Sawyer (1930) and had the same child actors. This wasn't what you would call financially successful, but this was largely due to the Great Depression. The 1939 version of the movie did a lot better and was one of the well known films of child actor Mickey Rooney. This story of travel was an early role for many actors including Rooney, Ron Howard, and Elijah Wood. Although there were threats of death and portrayals of slavery, this film was considered a family adventure in the pre-code film era. I guess a boy escaping his abusive father in the company of an adult escaped slave where people are actively attempting to rob and kill them was considered a fun family romp in the early 30s. This was the same story that came from a book that was banned in schools during the 1980s. It is a great story and I love the works of Mark Twain; I am just surprised at the genre.

Stagecoach (1939)

This is a great movie that transcends the Western genre of which it is categorized. A group of people all have different reasons for traveling from an Arizona territory over to New Mexico. There is word of vengeful thieves and angry Apaches that threaten the small band of travelers. It is actually very intense because the threat feels very real throughout the film. The entire film focuses on the journey and the relationships forged (and broken) on the way. This was the breakout role for John Wayne and was part of an amazing string of films directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne.

Easy Rider (1969)

This is a film that really spoke to the hippie movement during the Vietnam Era. It is statement on how difficult it is to truly be free and how society fears that freedom and tries to destroy it. The film might very well have the worst dialogue of any movie I have ever seen. Actors Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper were actively using drugs throughout film production, so the real draw was the sweet rides and the moving soundtrack. This is a movie where I actually want more driving montages and less character development because I don't identify with the characters at all. Maybe it is a generational gap.

Paper Moon (1973)

This film is amazing. It is the story of a traveling grifter who takes a little girl on the road with him after her mother dies. He teaches her how to make a living cheating people and they form a father-daughter type of relationship. It is a comedy drama that won the girl an Oscar for best supporting actress when she was only 10. Some nice back story, the girl is Tatum O'Neal and is the actual daughter of the grifter, played by Ryan O'Neal. It is kind of strange, but this is a "coming of age" film on the road.

The Blues Brothers (1980)

Now this is what I am talking about. Two brothers go on a trip after being released from jail because they got a message from God. I am pretty sure that this film still holds the record for most crashed vehicles in a single movie. It is also interesting that the film is technically a musical. The brothers stop at different locations and songs break out. In between stops, they are chased by the police in an almost demolition derby style chase. I really enjoy this movie and believe that it really keeps a fast pace (literally and figuratively), but, like many road films, I can't say it is good because it is more of an experience than a story.

Thelma and Louise (1991)

This was an interesting twist on the "run from the law" type of film. Two women are friends and decide go on a weekend retreat. They get in trouble after killing a man who tries to assault them and have to run from the authorities. It has a reputation for being very feminist (despite being directed by accused mesogenist Ridley Scott) because of the negative portrayal of men. It obviously wasn't that bad since it was nominated for 6 Oscars including both leads for best actress. In fact, Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon were both nominated for best actress at the Academy Awards, the BAFTAs, and the Golden Globes. It is the quintessential road film since the end goal is constantly changing and best defined as "away from here."

Natural Bork Killers (1994)

This was kind of a strange film. It is a crime drama where the audience follows two killers with traumatic childhoods as they meet and go on a murder spree. Similar to Bonnie and Clyde, but with gory murders as the focus over bank robberies. It is directed by Oliver Stone, and criticizes the glorification of violence by the media. It is most definitely a road movie because the end goal for the two is simply to be together and enjoy the rush of breaking the law. Hm. It is actually quite a bit like Bonnie and Clyde. Interesting. I would like to make a note that my mom hates this film because of the shaky cam and Dutch angles. It made her feel sick at the theater.

Road Trip (2000)

OK. This is far and away my least favorite film on this list, but it is the most famous "boner road comedy" that I am familiar with. It is a high school/college coming-of-age film that focus on the sexual pursuits of a group of young men. These types of films are marked with gross out humor, gratuitous nudity, and boys trying to have sex. There was a bunch of films like this that came out around the early 2000s and they all had to do with boys traveling some place in search of idealized sex (the plot on this one is a little different, something to do with a sex tape) and generally they find that the best girl for them was there by them all along. It takes a nice idea of character development and throws raunchy jokes and boobs at it. I was not a fan, but it was definitely a thing.

Death Proof (2007)

This is much better shlock. It is the Tarantino version of exploitation grindhouse films of the seventies, but updated to be a women empowerment film. It was part of a double feature that was paired with a horrific zombie outbreak film directed by Rod Rodriguez, but this one is much better on its own. It is the story of an old stunt man who travels around looking for unsuspecting victims whom he can run down in his indestructible car. This is a great example of what a road movie can be because Tarantino took the concept of a slasher and put it completely on the road.

Mad Max Fury Road (2015)

Here is an action revenge film in a post-apocalyptic wasteland where most of the film is driving. The producers couldn't find a director who they trusted with remaking George Miller's Mad Max franchise so the 70 year old Miller said "hold my beer" and made this masterpiece that is arguably better than any of the first three (edit: I guess Miller always intended to direct but it took so long to go into production that he joked in interviews about giving up on it). The original trilogy with Mel Gibson presents an amazing world where most people are nomadic and traveling can be a life or death proposition. Fury Road is the further adventures of the character and his interaction with one Furiosa. The use of many practical effects on moving vehicles that was garnished with CG effects made for one of the best action films in the last decade. It was more than a simple movie about traveling; it was a land were the road was life and everything surrounded the ability to be mobile enough to get supplies in a dead world.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is by no means all of the road movies. The Wizard of Oz is technically a road movie. The Grapes of Wrath is a critically acclaimed road movie from around the same time. Comedies like The Cannonball Run, Smokey and the Bandit, and National Lampoon's Vacation can all be classified in the genre. Rain Man is one of the best films of all time and it can be classified as a road movie. What it comes down to is that, when considering characters, a writer should think about the journey itself and think of how the leads interact with this entity. The road might be the best character in the whole story.

[kimnamjooniee]

EVERY CRIMINAL MINDS EPISODE EVER

starts off in a dark house

random women: i’m so glad i live safely in my house alone

unsub: haha fuck you and die

random women: AHHHHHH

————-

cuts to the BAU

morgan: hey pretty boy what did you do this weekend?

reid: nothing 😐 also did you know weekends originated from-

jj: shut up we have a case

————

garcia: eight women have died because they were murdered by a person who killed them

rossi: he must be a psychopath

hotch: WHEELS UP IN 30😡

———-

quote: mariah carry once said: happy new year everyone i’m just gonna take a sip of tea if they’ll let me. they said there would be tea😡”

ON THE PLANE

emily: it seems like our unsub is mad at his mom

reid: moms are like protectors and whe-

everyone: HES GOING ON A SPREE

———-

dr doctormyass: it seems like this killer likes to kill them

hotch: anything that stands out?

dr doctormyass: yeah it appears that the butt has completely been removed

jj: i’m going to be sick

reid: it must be a souvenir

morgan: i like ass but not enough to want to take it as a souvenir

rossi: let’s deliver the profile🥱🍝

——

emily: the unsub is a white male between the ages of 12-79. he owns a red toyota dump truck and is taking his victims asses as souvenirs.

random cop: how can you be so sure that this is right? like what ?

morgan : back off man and let us do our jobs😡

garcia: GUYS I GOT SOMETHING

morgan: BABY GORL tell me it’s good

garcia: oh you bet my hunk in the trunk big ballz man of my dreams. his name is murderson andersub he lives on 097 street!

emily and jj: lets go catch him so we can kiss at the end✨🏳️‍🌈🌈

———-

the team is at the house and some how again reid ends up at gun point

hotch: you don’t have to do this😡

unsub: give me one good reason not to blow his brains out

hotch: we know you love ass and so do i but please don’t shoot him. is this what your mother would have wanted?

unsub: well i guess not 🤪 i give up

——

ON THE JET

*emily and jj make out*

rossi looking at them: i want to die now at my ripe age of 109 years old

hotch: that’s funny dave your soul will never die it will live on forever

reid: ACTUALLY souls can’t -

everyone: shut up but we love you

end quote:

joe bidan once said “SODA”

[obae-me]

Hi! I was wondering if I could ask for a hc about the demon brothers reacting to an mc who has low self-esteem and uses dark humor as a way to cover it up? Thank you, and I hope have a nice day!!

Thank you for your request! I love angst solved with fluff, and with someone who struggles with low self esteem this is pretty self-indulging. I really hope you like these! 💜

Lucifer

Being more observant than some of his other brothers, he notices MC’s behavior rather quickly.

It really hit him when they missed class one day, bombing an important test. When he came back home he went straight to their room, ready to scold them for hours.

When confronted, they just shrugged and joked about it, saying that they wouldn’t have done any better anyway seeing as how dumb they were. They laughed like it was a fun joke, but Lucifer was taken aback. This wasn’t how humans normally joked around, right?

Being the Demon of Pride, he didn’t understand how anyone could put themselves down so easily.

He noticed more darker jokes like that popping up in casual conversations more and more frequently, and now he had a mind to put a stop to it.

It started with the subtle gestures. The way he talked to MC more softly. The way he sometimes walked next to them with a gentle hand on their back. How every so often he would rub the top of their head anytime they did something good. However, anything he did didn’t seem to be slowing the behavior. So he needed to be more direct.

He approached MC on a night that the self-depreciating humor was especially bad. He met them privately, and lifted their chin with one of his gloved hands while the other rested on MC’s shoulder.

“The House of Lamentation has an image to uphold...so of course we would never have let you in here if you would not have fit in that image.” His face was serious, but his eyes were gentle. “While you are in my presence, know that you...even while being human...are a magnificent being. So I expect these jokes to cease.”

He will now give MC compliments more often than not, and if he ever hears them make another dark joke about themselves, he’ll say their name sternly, and will wait for them to say something different.

Mammon

Doesn’t pick up on it for the longest time. Ever since MC came to the Devildom, he’s always been teasing and jabbing them, calling them names but with nothing harmful behind it.

Anytime he would call MC dumb or stupid they’d always laugh with him and agree, so they must’ve thought it was funny!

It wasn’t until he joked around with MC about how “typically dumb” they were being, not knowing that MC had just went through a particularly tough day. They tried playing it off, but felt different. The joke didn’t feel half as funny after MC smiled a crooked smile and their eyes went watery.

He tried following them to their room but was turned away. Left shut outside the entrance he always seemed to be allowed in. All because of some joke he made. All the things he had previously said struck him in that moment. Had he ever really said anything good about MC since they had been here?

He couldn’t make jokes like that anymore.

Now instead of “stupid human” he would tell them how smart they were to have him around. He would tell MC how cool they were to be hanging with the one and only Mammon. He didn’t let just anyone stick with him, so if MC was there, they had to be special.

Of course all the compliments had to have him in it, but the new smile MC seemed to show appeared much more genuine.

“Hey, human! I mean...MC. You can’t go saying sad stuff about yourself anymore, even if they’re jokes! Because...because...The Great Mammon wouldn’t hang out with people who were actually that scummy! That’s right, you’ve got some great potential, you could even be my apprentice! So don’t...say stuff about yourself like that anymore...”

MC seemed to now find all sorts of new things they had never had before. A new jacket just their size on their bed. A new phone case slipped into their bag. All sorts of gifts just happened to show up anywhere they went. Mammon’s way of saying he cared, since he could never bring it up with words.

Levi

He knows the feeling of low self esteem. He feels like a dirty, good-for-nothing shut-in. But when he heard MC make similar jokes, he couldn’t take it. He was mostly confused. MC had so many things he didn’t, so many things he was envious of, so why was MC of all people feeling that way?

He invited MC to his room to play games, planning on letting them win so maybe they could feel better. Unfortunately he has a hard time letting go of his true try-hard nature, and ends up winning anyway.

MC just laughs at their loss, claiming that it’s just another thing to check off their Loser list. They’d be the winner at losing, on the bright side.

Levi can’t take it anymore. He grabbed the controller in MC’s hand, put it aside and turned off his console. He couldn’t really look MC in the eye, but had to let them know how he felt.  “MC...I can understand me feeling that way but...you’re wonderful, you have everything I don’t, so I don’t want to hear you say anything bad about yourself when-when I’m obviously worse!” 

He’ll attempted to put himself down even more to try to lift MC up. Which MC didn’t tolerate in the slightest.

They argued for a while over which of them was worse, which luckily was short lived. They both sat down in silence, neither of them wanting to make eye contact. That was until Levi gently grabbed MC’s sleeve, tugging it, his face against their shoulder. “Y-you’re the closest thing I’ve had to a friend in my life...I-I won’t let anyone put you down, not even yourself.” He goes on and on about a specific anime plot, where the one of the main characters has to fight their childhood friend because they’ve been put under a curse. After the ramble, he makes sure to clarify by meaning that no matter what you’re going through, he’ll make sure you’re safe and happy. 

They make a new game with each other that anytime one of them says anything bad about themselves, they have to say something equally nice about themselves. The person who loses has to give their favorite possession away. Maybe that’ll keep them from saying anything bad in the first place.

Satan

He’ll read MC like book, so to speak, but he has no idea how to handle it. He’s only read about similar personalities in his stories and occasionally with Levi. He doesn’t know how to best approach MC about it.

He’ll plan it out, probably like a battle plan. If he wants the best possible outcome, he’s going to need everything just right. The perfect setting, the perfect circumstance.

He settled on what he was sure was the perfect outcome, a rainy Devildom day. It was the weekend so everyone was either at home or out having fun. He knew MC was home in their room, so he headed there with several books he was sure they would enjoy.

When MC let him in, he was sure their face was redder than usual, and their eyes a bit more puffy. “Have you been crying, MC?”

“No that’s just how my ugly face looks.” And they laughed.

The plan was totally trashed now. Satan flared up with anger, dropping his books all over the ground. He took MC by the shoulder and pinned them against the wall. He was mad. Mad that someone like MC, someone who made him genuinely feel calm and happy, could say something about themselves like that. Like it was a joke. Like they were a joke.

“Stop saying things like that. How can you just go joking around like you don’t matter?! Do you know how much you mean to all of us?! To me?!” He took a deep breath and loosened the grip on MC’s shoulders, smoothing out the new wrinkles in their clothes. The aura of anger around him subsiding. “I know how to help you out with this, I have some...self help books in my possession. Purely out of curiosity of course. I’ll be here...to read them with you.”

After that Satan makes sure to meet with MC at least once a week to read books together. Stories about overcoming great obstacles, some self-help ones, and stories that make MC feel better in general. 

He’ll also check up on MC frequently, making sure they feel better about themselves, even if it’s just a fraction of what it was before. 

Asmo

It’s not until after they’d made a pact together that Asmo truly understood how MC felt of themselves. Asmo almost felt guilty he didn’t start complimenting them more before then, but guilt didn’t look appealing, but neither did what MC was doing.

He saves up a bit of money to be able to take MC on a massive spending spree. All his treat.

He doesn’t really give MC no for an answer when it’s time, and will drag them to all the greatest Devildom shops. He’ll pick outfits for them he knows will complement them, so they won’t have to be self conscious about their body. 

Will complement MC to heaven and back. Their hair, their eyes, the curves on their body, the way their cheeks look when they laugh. Everything. 

However, all this backfires when MC gives Asmo all the outfits back. “This was fun Asmo...but there’s no point spending money on me when nothing will make me look good.”

Asmo dragged MC into the brightly lit fitting room. He took both of MC’s hands in his. “MC, that kind of talk is not attractive! You can’t say such things when you’re as beautiful as you are! Trust me, there’s no one as beautiful as me, but...you’re a solid second place.” He’ll place a soft kiss on MC’s hands. “You’re stunning, so stunning I...I...I’m going to buy all these things for you right now, and anything else you want I’ll get! Shopping always cheers me up!”

It’s not like him to think of anyone else other than himself, so he got himself all worked up and flustered. But anytime he thought of MC...anytime he imagined that they thought of themselves any less of how he thought of them. It left a bad feeling in his chest that he needed to get rid of. 

Won’t give MC any sort of time to deny or joke around any longer. He’ll compliment them now all the time, making sure they know just how amazing they are.

Beel

He surprisingly pick up on it immediately, even faster than any of his other brothers. The things MC does and says remind him of things he felt when Lilith... He couldn’t let MC do that any longer. 

He tried to solve the problem at first by changing the subject any time any sort of joke like that came up. It didn’t seem to help. Whenever MC had the chance they would make some sort of joke. He couldn’t just try to distract them to help, he needed to fix this. 

He decided maybe it would help their mood if he were to take MC to a fancy restaurant. Just the two of them, so they could talk about it. He didn’t like talking too much but there would be food too. Eating always made him feel better.

While eating, they heard MC make a joke pertaining on how they don’t belong in a place so fancy. Suddenly the food in Beel’s mouth didn’t taste as good anymore.

He’ll stand up and come right over to MC, pulling them out of their chair and into the tightest, most protective hug they had ever had in their life. Bringing MC so close to him, he almost completely covered them with his own body. Some other demons were staring, but he didn’t mind. 

“I’ve always loved food, but ever since you came to the Devildom, food always tastes like a gourmet banquet every time...but when you say stuff like that, MC...it reminds me of Solomon’s cooking.”

MC laughed while against his chest. The laugh sounded different, it sounded happier than when they made those dark jokes. He wanted them to always sound like that. He would do almost anything to keep that sound so joyful. 

Beel squeezed them tighter.  “If you keep joking like that...food won’t taste as good anymore...” 

Learns all of MC’s favorite meals and snacks so they always have something on hand for when MC needs a little boost.

Belphie

He notices MC’s behavior and their sense of humor and tends to be the enabler. He has that same type of humor, so it’s hard to stop, even if he doesn’t want MC to do the same thing.

He feels guilty about this and so he avoids MC for a while, not really knowing that this is making it worse. Whenever he shows up for meals or meets them during class he sees that avoiding them has made the jokes even worse.

He doesn’t want to talk about all the nightmares he’s been having about MC. About all the awful things that happen to them, either by his hands or something he couldn’t stop. He wanted the nightmares to end, he wanted all the self-bad-talk to end. All so he, Beel, and MC could finally have that happy dream. 

 So he takes MC up to the attic, having preparing the bed so it was covered in plush pillows and incredibly soft blankets. Anything he used to make him feel better.

He wraps MC in one of these blankets without a word, and then shoved them towards the bed. He was still learning how to be gentle with a human.

He’s not really good with words, he’s quiet when he’s awake and when he’s asleep, which is most of the time, he doesn’t need to say anything.

So he lays in bed with MC, grasping the blanket he put around their shoulders tight.

“I’m sorry,” he apologizes. “I just wanted...you to stop...So stop.” He attempted to be his typical brisk and demanding self, but it fell short. He sounded upset. He picked up one of the pillows in the pile, pointing it at MC like a weapon. “Stop.” He bopped them on the head with it. “Stop. Or I’ll continue to hit you with my pillow.”

He’s not joking. If at any point after that MC makes any sort of joke to try to cover the fact that they said anything bad about themselves, he will gently hit them with his pillow, giving them a long silent glare until they stop.

[dixons-sunshine]

Someone To Love | Young!Daryl Dixon x Young!Fem!Reader

Summary: Daryl treasured his friendship with you. You were everything to him, someone he could go to when he needed you. On his sixteenth birthday, you did something for him that made him realize that his love for you ran much deeper than he had initially thought.

Genre: Fluff.

Era: Pre apocalypse.

Part of the Shopping Spree, Hangout Dreams AU.

Warnings: Swearing.

Word count: 1.8k.

A/n: I'm really sleep deprived, so this potentially sucks really bad. It's also not exactly like what was requested, but I went with my gut and this was born. However, I hope you like this! (Requested by @ddamm. I'm not gonna be home this weekend and won't be able to write something for your birthday, so I wrote this for you as an early birthday present!)

➳༻❀✿❀༺➳

“Where are ya takin' me?”

“I can't tell you that. It's a surprise, Daryl.”

“Y'know I hate surprises.”

“This one you'll like, I promise. Now shut up and just follow me.”

Daryl rolled his eyes at you, a small, affectionate smile annoyingly tugging at the corners of his lips. He walked with his hands tucked into his jean pockets, carefully stepping over any logs and big rocks in his path. You were walking slightly ahead of him, a skip in your step as you lead him somewhere—to his supposed surprise or his death, he wasn't sure.

“Ya sure ya didn't jus' bring me out here to kill me?” Daryl questioned playfully, chuckling at the glare you threw his way over your shoulder. “Jus' askin', sunshine. No need to get mad. S'a valid question. Most'a those murder books ya read start in the woods, so m'jus' curious if yer takin' a page outta those characters' books.”

You looked at him over your shoulder. “Believe me, if I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't do it in the most common, boring way. I'm more creative than that.”

Daryl raised his eyebrows at you. “Should I be scared?”

“No, of course not!” you laughed and shook your head, reaching over to grab his wrist. You tugged him along behind you, taking off into a steady run.

Daryl stumbled over his feet for a moment before laughing, quickening his pace to keep up with you. “Jeez, girl! Ya dun' have to rip my damn arm off.”

You giggled. “Sorry, I was excited,” you apologized, stopping in your tracks. You turned to Daryl when he stopped next to you, releasing your grip on his arm. “We're here. Happy birthday, Dar.”

Daryl looked ahead and was surprised to be met with a small, intimate setting—a picnic basket resting on top of a blanket. You had really gone above and beyond, Daryl thought I'm surprise, trying to ignore the odd feeling of warmth that spread through his body when he looked back at you and saw an excited smile on your face.

“You said no parties, so I thought we could have a little picnic instead, just the two of us,” you explained, taking Daryl's hand in yours and leading him over to the blanket. You motioned for him to sit down, following suite and getting comfortable on the blanket you had swiped from your mom's closet.

Daryl eyed everything around him curiously. The two of you were in a part of the forest he wasn't familiar with. It was rather surprising, considering he spent most of his time either at your trailer or in the forest, so seeing that you were able to locate a spot he didn't know was rather impressive.

The movement of your hand towards the picnic basket instantly peaked his interest. He watched as you pulled out an old portable CD player that your mom had gotten you a year prior, settling it onto the blanket and fiddling with a few buttons before pressing the play button.

Daryl's eyes widened when the melody to Ozzy Osbourne's “Crazy Train” flooded the relatively quiet air. His eyes met yours and he let out a shocked noise. “Where'd ya get an Ozzy CD?”

You shrugged nonchalantly, leaning back on the palms of your hands. “Mr Jones owed my mom a favour. She finally called it in and borrowed a bunch of music for us for this.”

“Ya got other artists?”

“Yeah,” you nodded. “Guns 'n Roses, Dio, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Queen—”

“Ya got Queen?” Daryl questioned in amusement. “Ya know I dun' listen to 'em.”

“And you know that I don't believe that,” you countered, sending him a teasing smirk. “I've seen you quietly sing along when I play Queen in my room. There's no hiding the truth from me, Daryl.”

“Nah, yer only seein' things. Gotta get yer eyes checked out or somethin',” Daryl replied defensively, crossing his arms over his chest in mock annoyance.

You rolled your eyes and sat upright, reaching into the picnic basket to grab a sandwich to hand to Daryl. “Whatever you say, birthday boy.”

Daryl accepted the sandwich and took a bite from it, humming in approval at the taste. “Taste's real fuckin' good. Thanks.”

“Only the best on your birthday,” you mused, reaching into the basket to grab your own sandwich. “You deserve it. And as long as you have me around, we'll always celebrate it.”

Daryl gave you a small smile, taking another bite from his sandwich to avoid saying something that could potentially ruin the moment. As he looked at you, he couldn't help but admire you. From the beautiful colour of your eyes to the way your lips curved when you smiled, to the outfit you were wearing that day that hugged you in all the right ways. Everything about you in that particular moment was perfect, and Daryl found himself very confused at the feeling that entered his body. There was a strange knotting in his stomach when you met his eyes, and he froze at the weird sensation.

Thankfully, you started talking about some band you had discovered that snapped him from his thoughts, and Daryl pushed the strange feelings down. He wouldn't ruin a perfect moment with his best friend because of some stupid sickness he was getting. He would worry about his health later. For now, he would appreciate your company on a day that he rarely celebrated anymore.

➳༻❀✿❀༺➳

“Stay right here. I'll be right back.”

Daryl looked up at you in confusion when you got up from the blanket, the Lynard Skynyrd song that was playing in the background forgotten for the time being. “Wha' do ya mean? Where are ya goin'?”

“Just wait here. I need to go grab something I put here earlier,” you explained, turning on your heel and walking off.

“Ya sure ya ain't jus' gon' get yer gun to shoot me? I knew ya were plannin' on killin' me.”

“Very funny, Dixon.”

Daryl chuckled and shook his head, watching your retreating figure in wonder. He leaned back on the palms of his hands, humming along to the song playing. He looked around at the wildlife that looked even more beautiful in the light of the setting sun, content for the first time in a while. The day had been uneventful; he had spent most of the morning and early afternoon in your trailer watching movies while you were busy setting up the surprise for him, then he had a calm picnic with you, swapping jokes and stories, and after that, he would go back to your trailer for the night.

Daryl felt calm, and it was all because of you. All because you refused to let him spend yet another birthday on his own, cooped away in his room.

The rustling of the leaves alerted him to your presence. He looked up at you, instantly noticing the box in your hands.

“Wha's tha'?”

You sat back down on the blanket and extended the box to him, giggling when Daryl only eyed the box in suspicion instead of taking it. “Daryl, it's just a box. It can't hurt you.”

“Las' time someone handed me a wrapped box, I found a bunch'a spiders inside tha' crawled all over me,” Daryl told you, still refusing to take the box.

You shook your head and laughed lightly. “Let me guess, Merle?” When Daryl simply nodded, you continued. “I promise there aren't any bad surprises in here. Only a good one, I hope.”

Daryl hesitantly took the object from you and lowered it onto his lap, slowly starting to peel the wrapping paper away. Once the simple brown box underneath was revealed, he looked up to you, but was only met with an encouraging smile. He opened the box at a snail's pace, but once the object inside was revealed through the small opening, Daryl practically ripped the rest of the box open.

Daryl carefully picked up the object, inspecting it carefully as his eyes widened in surprise. He looked over at you again, a shocked smile on his face. “A Walkman?”

“Yeah,” you nodded, a smile on your face at his obvious excitement that your best friend failed to hide. “I know you've wanted one for a while now, so I spared up some money to buy one for you. It's not new because I didn't have seventy bucks to buy a brand new one, but it works and it's not all banged up. I made you a tape as well. It's already in there.”

Daryl looked surprised. Unwillingly, a few tears started to well up in his eyes, but he quickly wiped them away. There was no need for tears in a moment like that. He sent you a small, unsure smile, feeling that same strange feeling from earlier creeping up on him again.

“Thank you,” Daryl whispered, moving the Walkman around in his hands. “This is the best birthday I've ever had. S'jus'... Ya gave me somethin' I've been wantin' fer so long, even though ya didn't have to. Yer amazin'.”

Not realizing the true, deeper meaning behind his words, you leaned forward and hugged Daryl tightly, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek. “Anything for you, Dar. You know that.”

Daryl hugged you back tightly, lowering his head to rest on your shoulder. Daryl's feelings hit him with the force of a hundred freight trains—he was falling for you. He was falling for his best friend, and he didn't even realize it until that moment. The only reason he realized it was because of the gift you gave him. And it wasn't the picnic or the snacks or even the Walkman. No, it was something much deeper than that, something much more valuable to Daryl than anything else in the world.

You gave him someone he could trust. You gave him someone he could go to with his problems, someone who never judged him or belittled him for feeling emotional. You gave him someone he could love without the fear of being disappointed, someone he knew would be there for him.

You gave him you, and that was more than enough for him.

©dixons-sunshine 2024. I do not give permission for my works to be copied, modified, adapted or translated to any other site or platform without evidence of my given consent.

[amor-immortalem]

Everything Undesired chapter 10

Chapter 9

After a quick diaper clothes change, Arella was quick to join the brothers at the table, Cyrus tucked comfortably in the crook if her arm. It felt like a normal morning, albeit just a tad quieter. Whether that be due to the events of the night prior or just in consideration of the baby, it wasn’t quite so clear. She took her usual seat next to the place where Mammon usually sat and began to eat. The only one who looked even a little uneasy was Levi likely due to how he felt about having been the one to suggest last night’s movie.

They all spoke casually amongst themselves as they ate, multiple of them having to stop Beelzebub from consuming the food that had been set aside for Mammon as the demon in question joined them shortly after. It had taken him a while to find clean clothes, realizing he really should do his laundry soon. It had probably been a good two or three weeks at least since he’d washed anything. With everything going on, he just didn’t have the energy lately. Thank the celestial realm for his human helping him out with his school clothes.

All their heads turned to him as he joined them at the table, a round of ‘good mornings’ rang out and he returned them. Two asked how he was feeling after last night, the rest carried on with their own side conversation figuring he didn’t need to answer the question four times over.

As breakfast came to a close, Arella took her leave to feed Cyrus once more and Mammon returned to his room to gather up his dirty clothes and begin the process of doing his laundry. Thankfully, it was the weekend which would give him enough time to have all five of his school uniforms ready to go while also not hogging the washer and dryer all day.

“Man, I gotta start doin’ my laundry more often...” The Avatar of Greed sighs. “The amount of clothes in here is ridiculous.” He hefts the basket of clothes into a more comfortable position in his arms and carries them down to the laundry room.

------------------------------------------------------

“Mammon, do you want to go shopping with me?” The Avatar of Lust chirps as he catches up to his brother while he’s working on switching his clothes from the washer to the dryer, “I need a new outfit for date night tomorrow and I’m sure you could use a shopping spree too considering you haven’t really gone out to spend or visited the casino lately. Even last night, when the three of us took the baby out, you didn’t even buy anything. You know what happens if you let your sin build up.”

“Yeah, that’s fine. Just gimme a couple hours to get a couple more loads done. I’m kinda runnin’ outta clothes to wear.”

“Alright, three hours good?”

“Three hours is perfect.” The white haired demon says as he loaded another round of clothes into the washer. “Thanks, Asmo.”

The strawberry-blonde demon only nodded as he headed off.

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“Hey, Mams... Can we talk for a minute?” Levi asks as he approaches his brother.

“Yeah, I got a few minutes before I go out with Asmo. What’s up?”

It takes Levi a few minutes to speak. “I’m really sorry about last night. I should have screened before we watched it.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it. Ya said you had never seen it before and wanted to watch it with all of us, right? And you were so excited ‘bout it, so it’s fine.” he shrugs.

“But it wasn’t fair to you...” The Avatar of Envy frowns. “We shouldn’t have even watched a horror movie to begin with. I know you hate them but you still watch them with us anyway.”

“’Cuz I know you all like them so I jus’ bare with it for the time being. Y’all are my brothers, so I just want y’all to have fun even if I suffer for a bit. Y’know what you always say about me, I’m a masochist through and through.” He smiles, hoping to make his little brother feel better. “I don’t blame ya, so don’t blame yourself, ‘kay?”

The third-born only nodded, feeling minimally better after finding out the second-born didn’t blame him for what happened.

He ruffled Levi’s hair as he flashed him a smile. “Alright, I gotta go, love ya.”

“Love you too,”

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As the pair of demons walked down the street, Mammon was distracted. He was lost in thought as he thought back to the conversation he had with Arella. He thought about telling Asmo as even though Arella had told him she was comfortable with everything they had done together but he felt like she was telling him a half-truth just to spare his feelings.

“Are you alright, Mammon? You’re not as talkative as usual... Mammon?”

“Huh?” blue to gold gradient eyes look to his brother. “Yeah, I guess I’m alright. Just thinkin’ ‘bout somethin’...”

“Care to share?”

Mammon considers this for a few moments, deciding maybe he should tell his brother about what’s on his mind. “You can’t tell a soul about what I’m going to say, ‘kay?”

“No promises,” The demon says in a sing-song voice, “You have some good gossip?”

“It’s not gossip, Asmo. You absolutely have to promise you won’t tell anybody.”

Asmo’s eyes widened at his brother’s words and the serious tone in his voice. “Alright, what’s on your mind?”

“Arella told me something last night... She told me she was...” He’s not sure he can say it but thankfully Asmodeus seems to get the message.

“That’s horrible. How did it happen?”

“A quote unquote boyfriend drugged her drink when she was sixteen.” The demon has an irritated look on his face. “The bastard was twenty three, like who seeks out a teenager like that?”

“Boyfriend?” The Avatar of Lust has a disgusted look on his face. “Sounds more like a predator to me.”

“Right?! It makes my skin crawl just thinkin’ about it.” He exhales, “She’s such a good person and some monster takes advantage of her and does that?! If I could get a name and a face, I’d absolutely destroy him. The worst part? She blames herself for what happened, for making a mistake.”

“I’m not surprised,” Asmo frowned. “Considering how the human world treats women- she may very well have been told it was all her fault- especially as a minor? I don’t know what her family was like but to end up with that mindset, it’s very possible she didn’t have anybody to for her what we’re doing for you.”

Mammon only frowned at that. “Yeah and now I feel bad for pushing so hard. She said she wanted all that but I feel like she was only sayin’ that just to make me feel better. Is that wrong of me?”

“Mmm, I don’t think so... You love her so it’s only natural that you would worry about having forced her into a situation she didn’t want. But I also don’t think she would lie to you just to make you feel better. Can you remember a time where she’s ever been disingenuous with you?”

“No...”

“Then I think you should take her words at face value. In all actuality, I think she only told you because she wanted you to know you weren’t alone and she knows what you’re going through.” Asmo smiles as he pats Mammon’s shoulder. “And if you’re still worried about it, think of it this way: As long as you had a resounding ‘yes’ at all times from her, then you shouldn’t worry about whether or not you forced her to do it. Or you could do the adult thing and actually talk about your feelings as scary as that may be.”

Mammon only rolled his eyes at Asmo’s comments.

------------------------------------------------------

The pair got home later than intended. As they split up, the Avatar of Greed made his way up to his room. Everything seemed to be fine, there was no baby crying and the house seemed at peace until he got to his room. He tossed his bag into the closet and slid down the railing on his staircase. That’s when he heard it, a small sniffling sound.

“Treasure?” He called softly as he approached the bed, placing a hand on the ball of blankets that his human had buried herself under. “Hey, look at me.”

A soft ‘no’ was heard from under the blanket followed by a ‘I’m alright, don’t worry’ which had the opposite effect on him. So, he just made himself comfortable beside his mate, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her close so her back was pressed to his chest. When she was ready to talk, he would listen and if the baby monitor went off, he would do all the work tonight. It was the least he could do since she practically took care of their son on her own around the clock when he couldn’t even look at the child for the first few weeks.

He rubbed his thumb over her stomach in a motion that was meant to be comforting. While not exactly what he wanted to do, their position didn’t grant him much elsewhere to rub if he wanted to keep his arm wrapped around her, he hoped it would have the same effect. They just lay together in silence for a time as her sniffles slowly came to a stop. She was so quiet, Mammon thought she might’ve fallen asleep until she moved her head from under the covers and slowly turned to him, allowing him to move his hand to her side.

“Wanna talk about it?” The demon asked as she shook her head in response. She cried regularly for others but she wasn’t much for crying when it came to herself and when she did, it was often over nightmares she wouldn’t tell him about. “When you’re ready, I’ll listen. I don’t like to see you so upset and not be able to do anything to help you, Baby.” It was an offer he hoped she would finally take him up on. She only let out a sigh as she moved closer to him and he reached up to wipe a stray tear from her cheek.

“I’m sorry I was so selfish last night...” She catches his hand in hers and just holds it to her cheek. “You’re not mad at me, are you?”

“No...?” The Avatar of Greed wracks his memory from last night, trying to think of anytime she could have been selfish. “When were you selfish?”

“When I told you I had been assaulted...” Her response only leaves Mammon more confused. He hardly considered that to be selfish at all. She was only trying to reassure him everything he was going through was normal.

“How was that selfish?”

“I made the situation all about me when it should have been about you. I’m sorry.”

“No you didn’t? ‘Rella, Baby, you get to talk about your feelings and things that have happened to you too, y’know. Everything’s not always about me. Actually, it was kinda validating to know you understand what I’m going through.”

“No, I don’t. I just want to help but I always bring things back to me some way or another. My problems aren’t important. They’re not a big deal. I’m just attention-seeking and being selfish a-and-- mmph!”

He couldn’t take listening to his human, his treasure, bring herself down like that anymore, choosing to silence her with a kiss instead. When he pulled back, he pressed their foreheads together as he looked into her eyes, glossy from her earlier tears.

“Do you know what an amazin’ person ya are?” he asks as he rolls them so he’s leaning over her, “You get to talk about these things. Your problems matter. You're not bein’ selfish or attention-seeking when you talk about them. Hell, for somebody whose primary sin is greed, you’re probably the most selfless person that I know. You are patient ‘n kind ‘n giving. You do way more than anybody asks of ya. You give so much love and don’t ask for anything in return for it. I don’t know who the fuck put those thoughts in your head but ain’t none of ‘em true, got it?”

“It.... It was my mother....”

———————————————————————-

Next

Find more on my Masterlist

[fanmoose12]

Childhood friends AU where Levi is those kind of ppl who is a complete goof around their bestfriend but completely stoic and grumpy around others.

So yeah throughout the years, everyone's so confused about how bright energetic bubbly Hanji can enjoy the company of the boy who seems to never show emotion other than disgust and anger.

Little do they all know levi and hanji do the most chaotic things just with as minimal mess as possible cause levi will forever remain a clean freak.

Hanji tries and to tell ppl (ie erwin mike nanaba and even some of the kids) how much of a goofball Levi actually is, however ppl know hanji can get a little crazy in her ideas so they are kinda unconvinced. In addition, all they see is grumpy levi denying everything and him being so serious looks pretty believable so they dont believe hanji's claims even more.

So hanji devises a plan to record levi as proof but every plan has either resulted in him finding out halfway through by his own means and deleting the video or her letting something slip to make him cautious.

Hanji gets mad that levi won't show her friends who he really is and levi says something cute and cliche like "I'm only like being my true self when I'm with you. With anyone else it's just weird. And I dont want anyone to know because I want that to stay between us...."

Hanji feels bad now tho and agrees to keep things secret and they chaotic/lawful evil spree continues.

omg, anon, this is so good🤧🤧

can you imagine hange telling the others what they did with levi this weekend, and it sounds absolutely ridiculous, it's even more unbelievable because apparently levi was involved. while hange is telling her story, erwin and co turn to levi, and he has the most deadpan expression. they're convinced - there is no way that this kid was participating in the crazy adventures hange describes to them.

hange always starts her stories with "you're not going to believe what levi and i did this time!" and they're like "yeah, we actually don't believe you, hange"

and, maybe, sometimes hange gets a bit sad, because she wants everyone to know how awesome levi is, but she also respects his wishes and boundaries. besides, if levi is like that only with her, that means it's more adventures for hange. she's not opposed to it, not at all, because, truthfully, she can be her real self only with levi too

[leeknow-bestboy]

If You Close One Eye - Chapter Three

Ships: Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Bang Chan/Yang Jeongin | I.N, If you really squint you can notice Lix is into Binnie, Hyunjin was into everyone once

Characters: All the kids, The ex kid isn't here I edited him out, Other Character Tags to Be Added

Trigger warnings: panic attack, ptsd, original character death, homophobia, original character cheating, descriptive imagery.

Word count: 5172

Chapter: 3/?

Next (Out soon!) / previous / first

Tags: Murder Mystery, amateur detective minho, Soulmates, not your typical soulmate AU, Alternate Universe - College/University, Slow Burn, Slow Build, good things take time let it slowburn, minho is singlehandedly responsible for the slow burn so blame him, no soulmates in this universe only they are, criminology student minho, art student jisung, POV Third Person, chan deserves better and he does indeed get better don't worry, art references please look stuff up, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, best sibling bond ever.

"If you close one eye, you can see what your soulmate sees"

Born with one eye an unnatural golden color, Minho and Jisung have been forced to cover them up with colored lenses in order to blend into society.

The magic to their eyes? Even they still didn't know.

This is the story of how criminology major and dance minor Lee Minho found himself hopelessly in love with the serial killer, local artist Han.

[Alternatively, let's see how long I can make these two dumbasses pine without one of them snapping. Edit: they finally did]

[Also WARNING: a HUGE amount of Jeongchan ahead, it's not subtle at all! So much fluff--]

"As impressed as I am with you, I think the right thing for now would be to take time off. You can probably tell this had been quite a destructive journey for your mental state." Jae commented.

Now back in the office, the two detectives had stood opposite to Minho with Sungjin and Wonpil supervising from the back of the room.

"I found her though! Her case went cold from how long it's been, and I found her under 24 hours! Now you tell me to take a break?" Minho's voice cracked, almost offended by the idea.

"Minho, we never thought you would find her. Nobody planned to show you a second corpse a week into your training, it's too much." Young k insisted.

In the back of his mind Minho knew he had a point, but he couldn't accept that he'd be put to rest. Not like this, not while the prosecution started working on locating Min-ra's killer.

"I'm involved! I can't stay home and do nothing while they work on this, it's my case." Minho pleaded, only to be met with two pairs of sad eyes. Didn't they get it?

"I understand, I do, but you're still young- these are a lot of horrors for someone to go through before their twenty second birthday." Young k reasoned, hand lifting to Minho's shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze before letting go.

"You guys... How do you cope with this job, then? How come you hadn't gone crazy?" Minho asked, now despaired. He made his way to the usual chair- a comforting source of routine in the madness that was going on.

"We have. In case you hadn't noticed, we all are a little crazy around here." Sungjin spoke up, hand smoothing out the stress gathered between his eyes. That might have been a good point too, had Minho known what this team had gone through in the past few years.

"You might think we're toughened up, for me I'm fine as long as I keep god in mind- I remind myself of heaven and hell, so death doesn't scare me anymore, but it still stays with me, so I can't sleep so well." Jae revealed, earning a shocked glance from the younger.

"Me too," Confessed Young K, shocking Minho farther. These guys were professionals... did they really not adjust yet?

"I used to be a cop, in my time- a serial killer went on a spree, and I was the one who always found his victims.

Always, on my shift-"

He paused.

"I kept dreaming of them, waking up in cold sweat with red marks from scratching myself in my sleep.

It got into my head that I had to find the killer to put them at rest. I was denied access to the case though, so I did my digging independently without a team. Sungjin scouted me after I found him, and I kept working since."

A long silence followed, broken when the black-haired detective continued. "It didn't help; finding him, I mean. What helped was doing things, investigating, staying occupied. We're a little similar, I think."

Minho didn't know how to respond, so he didn't. Instead, next it was Wonpil who spoke up.

"Me and Dowoon, we hadn't witnessed as much gore as these two, but we get to face a lot in real time. Back when I started, some people scared me so much I couldn't sleep- Just people, looking in their eyes and knowing they wanted to hurt me, knowing they could, might, and that I was responsible for getting it under control.

I didn't get to shoot anyone; I hope I'll never- but Dowoon did. It's the reason he only deals with phone calls now… he's always been too kind for this job, that softie. He never did anything to deserve his emotional baggage."

Minho sagged. Cops as well, then… if he hadn't signed for the internship, he still might have ended up the same way. The thought was jarring, suggesting something Minho never considered when he picked his ideal career path.

"I have too many stories to tell, you'd probably rather not sit through them all.

I do think, as far-fetched as it might sound to you right now, that you have a spot in this team. Minho, let your sunbaes ease you into this- after that, you can prove yourself as much as you'd like." Sungjin summarized.

Minho let his head hang, struggling to accept that they've all felt the same. Then… there was no getting better, was there? As time went on, the burden only got heavier.

"I will, I'll take a break." He surrendered, leading to Wonpil releasing a sigh of relief and opening the door they had closed earlier for privacy. As he did both eavesdroppers toppled over, landing on the floor with a hard thump. Seeing as Chan was the one on the bottom, he had it a bit worse, softening what could have been a rough fall for the younger.

"You two are insufferable." Minho commented, stifling a chuckle. Paying closer care, he couldn't help a sigh at noticing that, despite the embarrassing situation, the first thing Chan managed to refocus on was the intern atop him whining softly from being startled so bad.

The blond groaned, gently checking the other for injuries. What was it now, had he hit his head when he fell? Did he fail to notice everybody's eyes on him? The excuses have been slowly running out one by one.

"I'm heading home." Minho announced, walking around the two laying on the floor and waving on his way out. This had almost distracted him, but… not really.

From that point onward, it was bound to get worse.

.

"Ryujin? Are You there?"

Minho sat in his car, a light rain shower tapping against all windows as he waited. The month of march has been full of sunshine and clear sky, and so far it seemed april only had those as well- so of course for the weekend of his sister's birthday there had to be a drop of temperature.

Ryujin hummed, sounding bothered. "Oppa, you're calling me now? Last time we talked..." She trailed off. That's right, he should have checked up on her- it was inconsiderate of him, but frankly he didn't know how to broach the topic after telling her the bad news.

"Where are you? Let's talk." He pushed on, intending to apologize in person. That, and make up for all that he should- he's thought up a plan to cheer her up and celebrate her birthday properly.

"Why does it matter? I'm home, it's raining." She replied, voice betraying the fact she was upset, and for a good reason.

"Put on something comfortable and come down, I'm outside." He instructed, a small smile spreading across his face at the sound of her shuffling quickly about her room without hesitation. Five minutes later she was already stuffing her umbrella at the feet of the shotgun's side.

"Oppa!" Ryujin smiled, wrapping her hands around Minho in a hug that said it all; I'm not mad anymore, I missed you, are you okay?

"Put your seatbelt on, we have a reservation to catch." Minho ordered mischievously. That implied he's reserved a table, but to a person who's known him for years growing up, it should be easy enough to tell what he really has in mind. As such Ryujin smiled back, sitting obediently and tacking her belt into place before grabbing his aux from the hatch and playing some music.

When they arrived, the studio was dark. For a platonic date between siblings Minho hadn't bothered to light up candles or scatter flower petals and had instead left the studio as it was. He pulled open the trunk, taking out a short vanilla cake with whipped cream topping that he's bought on the way to Ryujin's.

Covering the cake container with his umbrella, Minho gestured for Ryujin to head in first. She did, stepping into a stairwell that headed up towards the studio he rented. After joining her he struggled with the umbrella and container, trying to pull out the keys he's been given. Eventually he succeeded, making a short happy sound before unlocking the respective door.

Ryujin stepped inside, smiling wide and letting her hands swing about. The sight had been endearing, causing Minho to smile softly. He set down the cake container, placing the cake atop it before laying down himself and crossing his legs. Ryujin sat on the other side, watching him place candles and carefully light them up with a newly purchased lighter he got for the occasion.

"Happy birthday, to my favorite nerd." He congratulated, laughing at her content smile.

"I missed you. I didn't think you would come, but you even prepared all of this... What about college?" Ryujin Interrogated.

"Make a wish first, the wax is melting." Minho avoided neatly. They can talk for a while afterwards.

Ryujin took in a breath, blowing out the candles decisively. "Not telling." She announced before he could ask the usual question.

Minho chuckled, messing his little sister's hair only a little while considering if it'd be too much to sing her happy birthday. Deciding against it, he took out a knife from the container, realizing he forgot napkins. Whatever, it's no mousse. He passed her the knife, watching her cut out a slice and crumble it quite messily as she ate.

"Ryuddaeng," Minho started, tone straightening out. "How have you been?"

Ryujin's smile faded, swallowing what was left of her slice before responding. "I don't know what to say. Everything feels frustratingly normal."

Minho felt relief wash over him at that. "You're sleeping alright? Eating too? How about any birthday plans with friends?"

Ryujin moved her hair behind her ear, uncrossing and then crossing over her legs. "I'm okay, I did cancel my plans with the girls though, it felt disrespectful."

Minho sighed, rolling a shoulder. "You know it had nothing to do with you, the estimated time of death is the last day she was seen, over a month ago."

Ryujin averted her gaze uncomfortably, picking her nails before forcibly setting them behind her. "I didn't know, I don't know anything about what happened, I didn't think you'd know either."

Minho raised a hand to his face, realizing he kept Ryujin in the dark to an unfair extent. "I've been looking, like you asked. I was the one who discovered her, so the police offered me an internship and shared their findings."

Ryujin straightened, interest piqued. "You intern at the police now? Is that okay? Wait, you found her? Yourself, you mean… god."

Minho nodded.

"You're not joking right?" Ryujin asked again, shocked expression turning sad.

"I'm serious. I came to check out a field she drew for her Instagram, right outside seoul. I don't know what I was expecting, I don't think I was ready to actually get somewhere searching for her." Minho added, trying to keep his composure as memories came flooding back. Ryujin rushed over, wrapping her arms around him in a hug. He guessed she wasn't expecting it, either.

"After results came in, they ruled it a suicide; she shot herself." He ended, hoping to wrap up the story so that they could lighten up a little. He was startled to feel tears drip down on his neck, figuring he's caused the opposite of his intentions. What for? Chelle was never worth his little sister's tears, she just wasn't.

"That must've been so scary." Ryujin mumbled, and Minho was hit with the realization she was crying for him, rather than her late ex-girlfriend. That made things both better and worse, leaving him lost on how to comfort her.

"Ryujin, I'm fine. I got talked through it by the police team, they calmed me down and fixed me up, I'm as good as new." He promised, petting her hair awkwardly. In truth he wasn't, and they didn't, but she didn't have to know that.

He didn't tell her about Min-ra.

Pointedly didn't about Chelle's cheating, either.

After Ryujin calmed down a little, a small smile showing with lot of effort from Minho's side, the two ate a few more cake slices and stood up. Minho swiped the crumbs to the nearest trash can and plugged his phone to the studio's aux cord, playing a steady beat. "Remember this?"

Ryujin smiled, dancing lightly to show that she does. "Come on! it's a good occasion, let's clear the air." Minho commented, raising the volume and dancing a little on his own, smiling through the mirror at his sister, perfectly coordinated with himself.

Since young both had loved this pastime more than any other hobby, helping them bond and providing good stress relief. When they were dancing, it was as if everything went away: their dad, school, occasional homophobia, bad days and broken hearts. Here they were, pretending to be Chanhyuk and Suhyun, dancing to how people move.

"You're taking it easy on me! I hadn't rusted yet." Ryujin complained as the song came to a stop.

"What are you feeling?" Minho asked, grin spreading across his face. Now they're talking.

"I still have my playlist for these, let's start with Taeyong and Ten." Ryujin suggested, already on her way to fix them up on Min's phone.

"Steamy." He commented with a chuckle, swiftly followed by an "Only if we do good-bye baby too."

Ryujin rolled her eyes. "You're so embarrassing."

"We can try cover hard carry after." He offered.

"Taemin's Move, too! You told me last time you figured out how to do the part we were stuck on, I want to see." She turned, eyes challenging him silently.

"Deal." He assured, recalling his practice with Dahyun of the girl's class, a same age friend who had offered to teach him. At that Ryujin smiled, rushing up to his side for the start of next song.

.

"Jisung! You scared the life out of me!" Seungmin whined, making annoyed motions towards his stubborn roommate who's been up all night as per usual.

"I'm almost done, give me a minute." Jisung assured, knowing that was an obvious lie. This time he hadn't been drawing in the living room or kitchen, but had instead set up his stand in the bathroom, hence scaring sleepy Seungmin on his nightly pee break.

"No, Jisung, you need to go. I need to pee really bad." He insisted, and had he been anything other than upset the crudeness of his own speech would have made him blush. Frustrated Jisung stepped out, carrying his canvas with him.

"I hate anatomy, why do I do this to myself?" He asked aloud, only to be answered grumpily with a "because you religiously draw every single one of your fever dreams, you weirdo." From across-the-door Seungmin. He had a point, too.

Today's painting had been only a sketch for now, something that's been on his mind since an insect of some sort came crashing into his eye at random. The vision of people dancing, beautifully so. Really, he could have been more focused on the vision if he wasn't panicking and batting the thing away, but the thought was enough. He knew for sure his professor would appreciate it as well, since the work of Edgar Degas was included in their future study course.

It was around a week ago that the same professor picked an interest in Jisung's art and asked him if he'd like to have them presented in a proper show, which was the dream of every art student ever.

Of course he agreed, but since then his anxiety kept growing. He knew he was good, he loved his own art dearly, but he wouldn't know what to do if others did not.

Rather than letting it eat him up, he decided to push forward with all his might, doing his absolute best for every new piece he wanted to enter.

So far, he had drawn almost seven out of ten pieces for the show: A tall grass field, a city view through a window, an iced coffee cup, a drawing of a park and a drawing of a cat- although that one might not be good enough to show. After that came a short block, and then he drew the club scene, and then today he started on the dancers. As for the showering man, he considered it shortly, only to decide it felt way too intimate to showcase.

Jisung hadn't considered himself a landscape artist, but by what he's been inspired to paint lately, that might have been the direction his mind wanted to go.

More than that, Jisung always drew mundane small things that made life unique in his eyes, and although he couldn't find himself excited at his own cups of coffee without context, there was something about those moments specifically that made him feel like they were meant to be cherished.

"Okay, I'm done. You can have the mirror back now." Seungmin informed, having caught on to the reason Jisung has been drawing in the restroom to begin with.

"Sleep well Seungmin-ah" Jisung wished affectionately, quietly cooing at his sleepy roommate as he made his way back to bed and flopped down.

Although Jisung was the night owl, Seungmin often had stress keep him up, then the next day he'd be extra exhausted and ready for sleep. Today seemed to be one of those days, judging by his friend's unmoving figure so soon after collapsing in bed.

He couldn't help but admire him. The two have been sharing a room for give or take a year of college, and have known each other since high school by chance. Seungmin was taking up animal science as major, claiming he was attracted to the idea of a straightforwardly good profession such as veterinary medicine. Not only that, but he also minored in photography, making him stand out from the other nerds in Jisung's eyes.

While the two came in contrast with each other in many ways such as; how neat they were, their favorite subjects, favorite creative outlets, how they got down to studying and the way they dealt with stress, they both found enough in common to bond over easily.

They both liked the same music, found the same things pretty or gross, both liked to capture and preserve chosen memories in their own way, and most importantly they were both caring and tended to each other's needs. The result was, expectedly, a strong friendship that grew almost immediately after moving in.

Focusing back on his work, Jisung's mind wondered with some three AM thoughts. How much different will their lives turn out? A vet and an artist, in college they may live together well, but years will tell of the gap between the two.

Life had a way of doing that, tying different people together naturally or forcibly. How many chances will he get to befriend someone like Seungmin? And just how many unlikely things like it are left for him to experience?

Although he believed himself to be highly likable, Jisung didn't have many friends in college, only Seungmin and Changbin from his minor. It's been different in high school, but in college being an introvert really took its toll, isolating Jisung until he felt too late to join the already formed friend groups all around him. That's fine, he assured himself- his art, what mattered most to him, at least he still had that. When he was drawing, he never seemed to get lonely.

Closing his eyes, he recalled again the dancers; a boy and a girl. Should he attempt a new concept? If the boy was the moon, the girl was a star. Their poses suggested they were close friends rather than coworkers, and Jisung wondered if boosting their contrasts would add or take from that fact.

For some reason, his instinct told him to shine more light on the boy, and he only half frowned when he realized he's been putting so much more effort into him rather than splitting it equally. Alright, he reasoned. Let's not do that, brain.

He sighed quietly, looking to where his finished pieces were laying against the wall in a stack. Should he pay a visit to the dance majors in his college? The thought made him anxious. No, he'd rather stay inside- he could look up references if he wanted. Lightly slapping his cheeks, he turned back and continued his work in silence.

.

Minho spun, goofing around rather than practicing a specific choreo. At the corner of his eye he could see Hyunjin doing something similar, half clinging to Felix at the other's laughter.

"Hyung!" Felix called him over, worry ghosting over his face for a moment as if he noticed something was off. Minho smiled uneasily, walking over to the two. What was it?

"Did you sleep well? You seem tired, you have bags under your eyes." Felix questioned, cupping Minho's face with both hands. Minho pursed his lips, causing Felix to let him go with an eyeroll.

"I'm fine, I just have a lot of work. I'm jealous sometimes- I wish I majored in dancing, then at least I'd be stressed about something I like."

Hyunjin made a face, almost offended that Minho made their lives sound like a dream when in truth the two dance majors were working long and hard hours just as he did. "Change your major then." He challenged.

"I can't do that." Minho sighed for the hundredth time. It was clear to him that his mother would fund whatever he set out to do, but he never felt comfortable relying on her, they didn't know each other well enough- a strange thing to say about one's mother. No, he decided years ago already, he wants to make a living for himself without her support.

"I got an internship too." Minho added, using his bragging rights for once after refusing to do so in front of Ryujin.

"You did? Where?" Hyunjin asked, offense long forgotten or at least bottled down to where it won't bother him. If Minho got something cool going for himself, then what's there not to support?

"In the district nine police station, I'm working with the detectives there." Minho dropped the information as if it wasn't a big deal. He knew it was, but after the things he's been through it seemed more like a curse than a blessing- not that they needed to know that.

"Oh right!" Felix called, tone raising with a smile spread across his face. "Chan-hyung told me you were working with him! You two are interns then? I thought he was doing volunteer work." Minho paused, reminding himself that Felix and Chan did in fact know each other quite well.

"He's volunteering at the emergency call center; I intern with the investigator team. It's a bit different, but we do work in the same office block." He explained, noting with slight fright the ray of sparks flying from both his friends' eyes.

"That's so cool! It's like you're a movie star!" Hyunjin hyped, the other nodding furiously.

Minho reached to rub his neck, pulling the hat of his hoodie over his head to relieve his fluster. "I'm still new, I don't know anything." He lied, wishing he could be praised for something good like his hair, his face or his dancing… not like this.

"We can say we danced with a detective like Sherlock Holmes." Felix added, clinging onto Hyunjin's shoulder with the other instinctively reciprocating the affection. Obviously he was blowing things out of proportion, but they both tended to be overly supportive of Minho in everything he did.

Minho hummed, hoping they'd cool off after a moment.

The dance instructor entered, giving them a once over before calling for the rest of the class members' attention.

As embarrassing as it was, Minho Felix and Hyunjin were all sophomores despite their age gap due to the fact Minho spent a little over a year working and saving money to fund himself, while the two of them enrolled immediately after high school.

Normally he shouldn't have been allowed in the majors' class at all, but it was the minor's squad instructor's call at the time to up his studies, which led to his current instructor always keeping an eye out for every flaw and mistake that could justify kicking him out.

Unfortunately for him, Minho's spot was well deserved.

Calling him out for demonstration, the instructor asked him to dance what their class had practiced last time, which was four days earlier. Relying on his fogged-up memory from before the Min-ra incident, he still managed to execute it perfectly, mentally patting his own shoulder in pride.

"Okay." The instructor went on, not finding any particular flaws to pick on this time around, yet infinitely patient for them to show up sooner or later. "Let's begin."

.

"Minho-hyung! Are you up for ice cream?" Felix's voice sounded not thirty seconds after the instructor dismissed them. Minho turned, drying his hair with a towel. He had a gap in his class schedule of forty-five minutes, which meant he probably could take the younger up on that offer even after a quick shower.

"Sure. Hyunjin too?" Minho asked, making eye contact with the friend in question.

"Yeah." Hyunjin smiled before making his way to the shower room.

After they were clean, the three headed to an old ice cream place that had survived impressively in that spot for at least ten years. Ordering three cones of a combination they all love; strawberry vanilla, they left the place with a feeling of satisfaction at treating themselves for a change. For Minho especially, a treat was a good call during the week he was supposed to recover in.

He only managed five or so well-earned licks though, before he felt an itch at his right eye. He groaned, signaling the others to halt in their walk for him to rub the dirt out real quick.

Art, multiple pieces spread across the floor. One of the field, another of the club- a third one of a park, an iced coffee and a city view that seemed eerily familiar. Minho froze, unmoving. The common interest was clear: they were all signed HAN.

The sound of Felix and Hyunjin screaming in unison brought Minho back to reality, lowering his hand and realizing to his misery that he dropped his cone of ice cream. Felix passed his cone to Hyunjin before wrapping his hands around Minho and patting his back gently, an attempt to comfort his friend over the loss of vanilla-strawberry ice cream rip. Minho could swear he was crying a little, too.

"Felix, Felix I'm fine." Minho attempted, glancing over to where Hyunjin was standing, eyes teary and sniffing heavily. Oh for fuck's sake.

"It's just ice cream! I can go get a new one." He added, although he had no such intention.

"But you're broke." Felix sniffed, tightening his hold. Minho's lower lip trembled. That's true, he is broke.

"It's okay, don't worry, I don't need it. I'm good." He lied.

"You can have mine." Hyunjin offered, wiping his eyes awkwardly on his forearm since he was still carrying both cones.

"Really?" Minho asked, touched. That meant a lot, coming from Hyunjin. All three of them needed this treat after feeling so stressed for a long time…

"I'll remember this." Minho promised, Felix taking his que to let go so he could take Hyunjin up on his offer. Under different circumstances he might have declined, but he had his class on white collar crime in less than fifteen minutes.

Hyunjin took one last lick before longingly passing his ice cream to his friend. "Make sure to hold it well." He requested, giving Felix's cone back to him as well and pulling out his phone to check the time.

"Yongbok, we have to go; theory's at the other building." He informed, pulling Felix to him before pushing him towards the right direction.

"Bye hyung!" he called, Felix waving with considerably less enthusiasm at the prospect of dance theory.

Walking toward his lecture hall, Minho entertained the thought that maybe his hallucination was an attempt made by his subconsciousness to divert his attention towards anything of actual importance. Following the thought, he decided a small checkup wouldn't hurt. Sure, there were plenty of Hans, it was a common surname- but maybe if he searched for Han artists in his area, he could narrow it down to a list. Why artists? Regrettably, only for the sake of the context the name was brought in.

Looking up the name on google under his table with one hand, Minho made use of his ambidextrousness to write down the list of Han artists from district nine. After farther thought, he expanded the search to include Hans in his living area around the college and from around Min-Ra's home. If he was lucky, he wouldn't have to include all of seoul.

Narrowing it down to two artists, Minho found that neither of them drew in the style he saw. Was he overdoing it? And just what was he searching for, anyway?

Annoyed, Minho typed down "art signed HAN, seoul", and hit a tumblr account for first result. That couldn't be a reliable source, and yet he entered in search of anything useful.

The url read hansquirrelart, which was only somewhat promising. Reading the description, Minho could tell why google directed him there.

"Han Jisung, 00', seoul." He read, assuming this couldn't be the guy he's looking for, since the world of a nineteen or twenty-year-old squirrel aesthetic art blogger wouldn't seem to have any overlap with Minho's. However, since Minho himself had no idea of what he was expecting from his search, he scrolled down a bit to see the content. After a few memes, a first art piece showed, marked big and red with "WIP".

Minho's blood froze, recognizing the style of the drawing. The caption read "Peek of my recent classwork, might not finish. Not very into this one." And the end was signed clearly with HAN, the same way the works he hallucinated were.

Now driven, Minho followed links from the tumblr to a similar twitter and Instagram that wasn't private, all under the same name. "Guess what?? Ya boy got a spot in an art show this saturday!! Come see me, everyone's invited :D" read a recent post. Minho jotted down the details before moving to the Instagram, breath hitching as he saw a picture of a guy with his face crossed out by a filter. Despite everything, he seemed oddly compelling.

"Mind sharing these notes with the class?" Called the professor, upset at the sight of Minho furiously writing what seemed to be minor details while others listened.

"Ah? No, I'm sorry." Minho apologized, quickly turning off his phone and throwing it in his bag with the resolution to continue later. For now he should focus on passing his classes.

[ngame989]

“Friends” - TGG SVTFOE Fanfic Collection Ch. 12

Writing: @ngame989​​

Art: @toxicpsychox​​

Editing: @ubercelloczar​​, @seddm​​

Alternate fic links - FFnet, AO3

Summary: Ludo needs help making friends and turns to Star and Marco for help, but things quickly spiral out of their control.

Comic Page

Masterpost

It's been an incredibly trying month for me and I'm unsure about a lot of things in my personal life now, but this isn't one of them. I'm so happy to finally be getting back to my feet so I can make more of the Starco content I want the world to see. Hope you enjoy, and thanks for your patience. (Also, fair warning, there’s one ever so slightly steamy Starco scene here)

“Have you ever wondered why heart thingies are hearts?” Marco stopped chewing on a bite of his burrito as he turned his full attention to Star. It wasn’t the most confusing thing she’d ever said, but it was up there. “Like, why does this symbol mean hearts and love and stuff?” she clarified, holding up a piece of heart-shaped candy from the post-Valentine’s Day shopping spree Eclipsa had taken her on weeks ago.

“Dunno,” he responded. “Maybe it’s what people used to think hearts looked like or something.”

“None of the hearts I’ve seen on hunting trips with Dad ever looked like this. Although one was made of chocolate.” She shrugged and popped the treat into her mouth, dumping some more from the bag into her mouth soon after. Her cheeks were puffed out, stretching her heart marks wide and Marco couldn’t help but giggle at the sight. “What?” she mumbled, still chewing. He pantomimed the sight in front of him, pointing to his own puffed-up cheeks. Star quickly grabbed two more candies, licking the backs of them before sticking them to Marco’s face, smiling quite smugly at her handiwork. “Now we’re heart twinsies!” She scooted around the table next to him and leaned in, snapping a selfie. “The kids will love this one.”

He swallowed the last bite of his burrito, thanking the heavens for the new Taco Baco location on campus. The other food options there were… lacking, to say the least.

“The Valentine’s Day Chocopalooza was a smash hit, but I have no clue how to follow it! I can’t have peaked after half a year, Marco!” The memories came flooding back: brownie batter as far as the eye could see, melted chocolate inflicting its goopy wrath on every surface in the kitchen, and so much frosting that he still didn’t want to even look at the stuff.

“I think they just like spending time with you. You’re really good with kids, Star. Besides, the only other holiday coming up is Easter, and you’re terrified of it.”

“It has a giant rabbit that lays eggs, Marco! How do you not see how horrifying that is?”

A loud cough from the bushes behind them might normally have only caught Marco’s attention for a passing moment, but another voice frantically shushed it. “Dennis, quiet! The giant bunny schtick is too good!”

“Ludo?” Star and Marco said in unison.

“Hello, Star and Marco!” Ludo exclaimed with an emphatic wave. “So wonderful to see you again! How’s your kid?”

“She’s not… she’s fine,” Marco relented, estimating that it wouldn’t be worth the hassle. “So… how’s it going?”

“Things are fine, family’s good. Bird and Spider told me to say hello.” He seemed even twitchier than Marco remembered. Dennis prodded his brother with a wing, clearly trying to be surreptitious about it and failing spectacularly. “Ahem, well, there is one teensy tiny issue… I ran into Bearnicorn a few days ago. I totally froze up! Things were pretty awkward last time I saw the whole gang and I think I’m finally ready to try again, but I have no idea how to do that. You might not know this, but I have some issues getting over things,” he stated earnestly. Star and Marco exchanged a bewildered glance - he couldn’t be serious, right? Wait, what were they thinking, Ludo could totally say something like that seriously. Ludo took a deep breath and continued, “But Dennis suggested that I come to you two for help, since I had actually managed to work everything out with you.”

Star munched on another chocolate heart as she mulled over what he was saying. “So you want our help to… make friends?”

The edges of his beak-mouth turned up in an ecstatic smile. “I would like that very much!”

***

“You’re sure about this, Star?”

“He’s not hurting anything, Mom.” Star didn’t glance up from the piles of clothing she was rummaging through at the sound of her mom’s wary question; it wasn’t an unfair one, considering the history involved. Even though he was friendly now, Ludo was too much of a wildcard to completely discount as harmless. Still, though, Star saw no reason to suspect any tricks up his sleeve (though there were probably some bugs there). The nostalgia of reconnecting with Ludo was oddly calming for Star, and considering how quickly Marco agreed to help Ludo with his issues, despite the craziness of midterms approaching, she guessed he felt the same. Drawer after drawer bore no fruit in her quest to find the sweater for Marco’s all-important psychology ensemble - the book and glasses had already been secured.

“Though I didn’t say anything, I admit I was initially hesitant about you two sharing living quarters like this, but I must say Marco’s organizational skills seemed to have rubbed off on you,” Moon said with a snicker. She bent down and checked under the bed, pulling out stray bags of cereal and bottles of soda that Star recognized from her and Marco’s late night movie marathons slash cuddle sessions. “...somewhat.”

Think Star, think! When was the last time you saw that dang sweater? Let’s see… he wore it on our Valentine’s Day date so it can’t be that hidden - it was a bit snug on him which made it extra adorably handsome. He’d said he’d wear it more if I wanted, and I fell over laughing when he wore it just last weekend before we… oh corn. Star now recalled where the sweater would almost certainly be as a wave of horror washed over her. She slammed the dresser drawer and whipped around for a mad dash to the nightstand, where- pegasus feathers. Moon had just found the sweater, which was great, and with it was the exact last box she wanted anyone else (and especially her mom) to find, which was... greeeeeeat. Star generally felt she had a solid, trusting bond with her mother, but she’d never been - and still wasn’t - the first person Star blabbed to about her personal affairs.

“Mom, I can explain-”

“Star, sweetie, I’m not upset. What you do with Marco is none of my business, you’re a grown young woman who is more than capable of making her own decisions. If anything I’m simply relieved that you’re taking such sane precautions. I may be old, but I’m not ready to earn my place in the Grandma Room quite yet.” Despite her embarrassment, Star had to admit she was eased by her mom’s understanding,. “And don’t worry,” Moon said softly, “I’ll handle the subject with your father for you, if you’d like.” And just like that, any comfort was washed away by a tidal wave of beet-red cheeks and incoherent sputtering.

Marco poked his head in, causing Star to yelp and jump off the bed. “Hey, you almost ready?”

“Yep! Totally, totally, totally ready and not discussing anything about our personal lives with mom!”

“Uh-huh…” Marco responded. “Well, I’m ready down there if you are. Oh hey, there’s my sweater. Good, we’ll need it... I, uh think we have our work cut out for us.”

Star was worried, but also kinda happy to have an excuse to leave the current conversation as soon as Mewmanly possible. She handed the sweater from her mom to Marco, who put it on as they walked downstairs to where Ludo was curiously poking around the living room.

“Oh, hello Star! I was just admiring your lovely castle. Bit small for my tastes, but what do I know, haha!”

“Yeeeeeeah…” She then leaned over to whisper to Marco. “So, like, what did he say so far?”

“He said that he tried practicing talking to people with garbage dolls.”

“Weird.”

“I don’t even know where to start, really.”

“Hey Ludo,” Star called out, walking over and sitting on the couch next to him. “So, bud, whatcha need us for here, exactly?”

“Ah, yes, well… I’d like to be able to talk to my old friends again without being their boss. You know, the whole scheming to defeat you… steal the wand… take over Mewni and rule it with an IRON FIST-” He had gotten so worked up that he was on his feet jumping up and down on the couch, but stopped and took a deep breath before chuckling. “Aha, see, there it is again! It’s usually not like this, it’s been months since I’ve even once brought up the wand in a game of cha-rads…”

Yeah, this might be a liiiiiiittle tricky. She tented her fingers as she came up with a plan. Could I… nah. Would it…? Mmm, no go. Wait, Star, duh! “ Alright, Ludo, it’s time for some patented psychomological work from Star Butterfly, H.P.D. We need to see what’s going on in your head.”

“Ooo, sounds fun! So for starters I think there’s some lice-”

“No, no,” she responded calmly, “I mean we need to find what’s making you tick.”

“Yup, I’ve got ticks too!”

Marco put a hand on her shoulder, his worried expression clear even to her peripheral vision. “Are you sure he should be in the same house as Mari-”

“Not now, Marco,” Star hissed, swatting his hand away while keeping her gaze trained on Ludo. “Why are you having trouble talking to your old friends again? What’s the first thing that comes to mind when I say ‘Boo Fly’?”

“Messenger.”

“Buff Frog?”

“Excellent spy.”

“Lobster Claws?”

“Putting his claws on the wand- oh, wait, I see now! This is like cha-rads but with just words! You almost got me!”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re getting it! OK, one more… Toffee.”

“Candy! It’s so delectable with chocolate-”

“You know what, that one’s probably for the best,” Star murmured. “Well, Ludo, it seems to me like your biggest problem is that you aren’t even thinking about your old crew as regular people. Try this. Think of doing something you’d normally do with your brother.”

“Picking the worms out of our feathers to eat-”

“Yeah, no,” Star cut him off. She wanted to help, she really did, but she had a million other things on her mind and now was just not a great time for endless Ludo shenanigans. “I was thinking something less gross…”

“Basketball?” he cheerily offered.

“Sure. Imagine yourself playing basketball with your brother…” She paused a moment as he started miming out dribbling in his seat. “Now imagine doing the same exact thing but with Bearnicorn there instead of your brother.” His arms twitched a bit.

“Keep dribbling, man!” Marco called out encouragingly. Ludo shut his eyes in concentration and after a moment got back into his awkward, gawkish basketball form.

Ludo’s bulbous eyes snapped back open, frantic with glee. “Aha, yes! I think I see it now! Oh, thank you, Star and Marco! I’m off to go find my friends again!” With that, he bolted out the front door and scurried down the road until he was out of sight.

“You think that’ll work?” Star asked hopefully.

Marco sighed and hugged her from behind. “Not a chance.”

***

“Alright, we have a few minutes left in class so if anyone has any questions on the graded midterms I just passed back, let me know. Otherwise you’re free to leave. Have a good weekend!”

Marco hunched over in his chair as he quickly scanned through the multiple choice questions and short answers. A few stupid mistakes here and there, but still an A - he’d even gotten a smiley face next to his essay assessing some example personality type or another. All in all, things felt right. Karate, sword-fighting, and adventuring were important to him but he’d always felt the most fulfilled helping others with their problems - psychology just seemed right.

A high-pitched, squawking voice interrupted him. “Hey, dude, what did you get for number 12?” Marco looked up at another student - Matt, if he was remembering correctly - who was hovering over him at an uncomfortably close distance. Even with how much life had changed in the past few years, his academic reputation stayed the same.

“Uh, C,” Marco responded absentmindedly.

“Oh, that makes sense. And what about 13?”

“B.”

“And… 14 through 35.”

“Just talk to Mrs. B, man,” Marco irritatedly replied, shaking his head. Normally he enjoyed helping classmates if he could, but he had promised Star he’d helm the planning for the daycare’s Easter party on account of her phobia - well, that, and he’d heard Matt bragging about how he’d blown off studying to play the new Super Slash Sisters game all night long. He looked back down to check over one last page and grinned to himself. The final essay prompt hadn’t been for a grade, but instead asked a simpler question: Why are you here? Without context, it might have seemed odd or downright rude, but the teacher had spent the first few months of the semester encouraging all the students to reflect on their goals and what they hoped to gain from the psychology program. The blunt prompt had caught him off guard, but after realizing what it was asking, he’d spent probably about as much time as he had on the rest of the exam combined describing his experiences and motivations on Mewni that drove him to help and support others.

Of course, he couldn’t help but talk about Star at length as part of that. His adorable, brave, compassionate best friend that inspired him to be more. Where would he even be now without her? He could still be at college, he supposed, but that wasn’t saying much. It was humorous to imagine: waking up, being driven to college by his mom, waving hello to Jackie every day (his foolproof plan to woo her had involved eventually moving past nodding, after all), getting straight As, working fruitlessly towards a red belt after classes, then… what? The world had so much more to offer him, and vice versa, and Star was the one who’d helped him realize that. The words had just flowed right out of his pen, paragraphs and paragraphs of glowing praise and affection, enough to leave his chest feeling as warm as it did when she was physically there.

“Hey, Marco, I have a question-”

Stirred from his contemplative state, Marco wheeled on the figure that had just tapped him on the shoulder, ready to tell Matt off for interrup- oh.

“Ludo? What are you doing here?”

“Oh, well, I was in the neighborhood and I thought I’d just drop in! But also, please help me. I did what you said but then I dribbled Boo Fly on the ground and he got really upset and-”

Marco sighed. Hope Star’s fine with me being late.

***

Most days, Star loved everything about her job. It was hard work, but it was so satisfying bringing smiles and warmth to the faces of the kids in her care and seeing them light up with stories to tell their families at the end of each day. Her hours were flexible, she got to spend time with Marco, and Antonio was a wonderful boss.

Today, however, was not most days.

Of freaking course Easter was Antonio’s favorite holiday.

The kids seemed to be enjoying his antics as he pranced around in a bunny costume, but for the life of her she just couldn’t understand why. Is it a normal rabbit or a person-sized one? No one even seems to know what it is! Does it lay bird eggs or rabbit eggs? Both are pretty horrifying if you ask me! If you get chocolate eggs in your Easter basket, does it lay them too? I’m not eating any soft brown rabbit droppings, Marco! They didn’t even get any days off for it, so Star was convinced the best thing to do was ignore its existence as a holiday entirely. Her incredibly valid concerns had largely been met with amusement, even by Marco, but Antonio had at least offered to let her keep her distance and work behind-the-scenes for the party they had planned, which was now going on in the main playroom.

Packing baskets with candy was easy enough. Chocolate, gummies, cookies, donuts. Candy corn for the humans and candied corn for the Mewmans - as much as the humans liked Mewman corn, they hadn’t quite accepted it as a valid dessert yet. There were a few special ones marked down as well. Some marshmallow mice for the Septarians, a ribeye steak for the Johansen - her third cousin or something like that, she wasn’t even sure exactly whose kid he was - and some dried bugs for the kappas… wait, since when were there any kappas at the daycare? She yanked the full list out from underneath the pile of sweets and quickly scanned it. 105? Aren’t there only 104 kids in the program this semester?

She almost missed it at the very top of the list: “Manudo Avarius”. She vaguely remembered hearing about a sibling with that name at some point… maybe they just joined? Something still seemed off to Star but she pushed it aside and finished the last of the baskets just in time for the end of the party. As the kids left, Star cheerfully handed out the baskets to the tune of joyous squeals from the kids and careful warnings from the parents to not eat too much at once. Pffftt, come on, I eat cake for breakfast and I turned out fine!

Curiously, she hadn’t spotted anyone that resembled Ludo yet even as the remaining crowd dwindled to almost nothing. Antonio had already begun to put away decorations when she finally spotted the figure, taking the basket over to them. But when they turned around, showing a braided beard… oh pegasus feathers.

“Star Butterfly! So good to see you again.”

“Hey Ludo,” she said. “Are you picking up Manudo?”

“Why would Menudo be here?”

“Well the paper said Manudo-”

“No, no, that’s not how it’s spelled, but besides, I’m here by myself. A large man with a magnificent beard asked me for my name and told me I was missing a party with lots of sweets! He kept calling me a child and I said I was a man and that my name was Ludo, but who cares when there’s free chips, am I right?” He reached into one of the five chip bags in his arms and stuffed a handful into his beak.

Man-udo. Dangit, Antonio. “So… good to see you, but what brings you here?”

“Well, I talked to Marco just the other day because it still just wasn’t working, but then I tried something else and that still didn’t work, so now I need your help again. It all started on Tuesday-”

Star slumped down into a beanbag chair and reached into the basket, deftly avoiding the bugs as she searched for cookies to nibble on. This is going to be a while.

***

“So what did you say this place was?” Tom asked as he glanced around the restaurant. The vibrant cherry-red booths and soulful singer crooning over the speakers created a very different atmosphere than anything in the Underworld, but he liked it.

Sitting across from him, Marco downed another fry and took a sip of his water before responding. “Diners are the best places to go for comfort food. Burgers, onion rings, waffles, all that kinda stuff. Emilio’s is the best in town.”

Next to Marco, Star was wolfing down onion rings by the handful. “The secret is that he hired a bunch of Eclipsa’s old chefs, so they make great Mewman and monster food too. Don’t tell Mom but their Mewnipendence Day pies are the best I’ve ever had - though they don’t call it that anymore.” She was still chewing when she spoke, but after so many years of knowing Star he had no trouble understanding her garbled words. “It’s really cool that Emilio was able to get back on his feet after the incident.”

“What incident?” Tom asked, eliciting an irritated groan from Marco.

“So basically, a few years ago, Ponyhead and I-”

“Oh boy, a Ponyhead story,” Janna sarcastically said, rolling her eyes, and Tom elbowed her side.

An older man with olive skin approached the table. ““Does everything taste alright? If your dining experience isn’t absolutely perfect, please let me know, I can get you anything. More to drink, dessert, maybe some mushrooms...”

“It’s great, Emilio,” Marco mumbled.

“Good, good…” Emilio was smiling a bit too hard as he backed away, his eyes lingering on Marco’s meal.

Marco caught Tom’s curious gaze and buried his head in his hands. “Look, it’s a long story. There was this pizza, then spiraling alcoholism, then a bit of arson…”

Janna’s hand, resting on Tom’s leg, unconsciously twitched as she perked up. “Woah, OK, now I actually do want to hear this.”

“Too late, no take backs.”

“Aww, you’re no fun.”

“So anyway, we picked the restaurant this time so have you two decided what we’re doing after?” Oh crud, we forgot to plan. Tom’s initial instinct was to claim a beginner’s mistake, since it was only the second of their monthly double dates and their first time planning the after-dinner entertainment… except the actual reason was that he and Janna happened to get into their first major makeout session the night they had set aside for planning, burning thoughts of accomplishing anything else to a crisp in the process. Star and Marco were the last people that would be squicked out by romantic affection- that wasn’t the problem. After years of slacking on responsibilities and having any kind of social life at all in a misguided attempt to chase after Star, he couldn’t help but feel extra guilty over this specific lapse.

Janna leaned in, whispering in his ear. “Can’t we just hit up the Sands of Eternal Torment?”

“For the tenth time, Jan, no,” he hissed through his teeth. “There’s, like, a 25% chance you’d all have your souls violently ripped from your bodies.”

“Only 25? Ew, nevermind, just let them pick.” She leaned in even closer, her breath hot in his ear. “If it’s somewhere boring, we could always just sneak away and-”

“Good evening!” Tom squeaked and quickly turned his head at the sudden boisterous call from his other side, almost smacking Janna in the temple with his horn in the process. It was an incredibly short bird creature with a thick grey beard - a kappa, if Tom was remembering correctly. It wasn’t their same waiter from before, but hey, what did he know about how Earth restaurants worked?

Tom held out his glass, but the supposed waiter ignored it. “Yeah, can I have a refill on the demonade, please?” Star and Marco glanced over at the waiter, their eyes opening wide before they both groaned and smacked their faces on the table in unison. Alright, maybe he’s not a waiter then.

***

“Star...” Marco uttered. Star removed her wandering lips from his neck and propped herself up to look lovingly at him, shivering slightly as she abandoned the warmth of his bare skin. It had been probably over a year now since they’d first become more intimate like this, but the fire still burned just as hot. Heck, it was better now than those first forays, Star reckoned; with time came confidence and experience that let them enjoy themselves and each other to the absolute fullest. They’d both had busy lives the last few months or so, and with the end of the semester fast approaching Star knew they would be even busier soon, but none of that seemed to matter in this time they’d taken for themselves. Even after a break for a shower and snacks, their present cozy state under the blanket with nothing between them still felt as radiant as any proper afterglow could.

“Mhmm?” A devious thought crossed her mind, but she tried her best to feign innocence as she slowly slithered down his body, leaving fiery trails of kisses down his chest and sweet, sweet abs.

“Not that I don’t like, you know, doing this but I don’t, uh, know if I have it in me for another rouuuuuuuu-” His voice shot up an octave and his whole body jolted as she blew raspberries on his belly button and snuck her arms up to tickle around his armpits. “Star, please- I can’t- I’m- can’t breathe-” he sputtered out between hysterical bouts of laughter.

She was laughing too by the time his flailing pushed her off of him. Before he’d even collected himself, he lunged forward, trying to catch her with a determined-but-still-goofy grin on his face. Star dodged and backed away from the bed entirely as Marco grasped at her limbs. He finally gave up, lying on his stomach while resting his head on his chin and staring up at her. Even though his tush was right there for the ogling, Star was instead captivated by his enamored gaze and dopey smile.

“Dangit, Marco, you know I can’t resist that look,” she huffed, allowing him to take her hands and pull her next to him on the bed.

“I know,” he said smugly. “You’re not the only one who can weaponize being all lovey dovey.”

“The student has become the master,” she quipped, their hands still joined between them as they lay on their sides.

“But I do mean it, Star. I love every single part of you, and that’s not gonna change. Things have been hectic lately for both of us, but stuff with the daycare, what you want to do for a living, Ludo… we can figure that all out. Just reach into your pocket if you need me.”

She gently patted his head, running her fingers through his freshly shampooed hair. It was alluring to smell, to hold, to feel brushing up against her. Though the problems they faced now were of a different kind than the forces of evil that they’d spent their earlier years tackling, his presence was still what she needed most to ground her and make everything feel alright. Her face dipped in for a kiss, initially short and sweet but quickly succumbing to a familiar hunger. She pounced on him but miscalculated her momentum, rolling the whole way over him and pulling him with her so he lay on top. Not complaining, she thought as she hugged him close and indulged in the sensory bliss of his skin on hers.

He lightly rested his forehead on hers. “Do you, um, mind if we maybe don’t, y’know…” he trailed off sheepishly.

“Marco,” she crooned, holding his face in her hands. “How many times do I have to say it: I don’t want to do anything if you’re not comfortable with it.”

“I-I can try that, um, thing again, though, instead if- if you want?” Oh sweet, sweet Marco. Even after years together, he still couldn’t rest until he was sure he’d done everything he could for her.

“Yeah,” she implored, breathy with the mounting anticipation as he began a trail of kisses downward.

“What thing are you two talking about?” Time seemed to stop as any building pleasure completely evaporated. Marco grabbed the crumpled bedsheet and pulled it over the two of them as the couple stared at the window in complete incredulity to where Ludo was standing on a flapping Dennis’s back. “Well, anyway, I need some more advice-”

“GET. OUT!”

***

Marco rested his chin in his hands while Star paced in front of him. Three months. Three months of Ludo showing up at the most inopportune times, three months of Star trying and failing to feel satisfied with her efforts at the daycare, three months of a semester so intense that they were both at their wit’s end with all of it. Ludo had once again come to the college for advice after his 26th attempt to regain his old friends failed just as catastrophically as the previous 25. He was persistent, Marco had to give him that, and the old monster crew had even been pretty supportive when Star and Marco had tracked them down themselves and explained the situation. The issue seemed to be entirely from within Ludo’s own mind, which made it a dozen times harder to solve. It was the last day of the semester and they’d been haunted by thoughts of every minute of summer vacation spent throwing themselves at the brick wall of Ludo’s psyche, so they’d made a pact that today was all or nothing. Neither wanted to ditch Ludo, he wasn’t a bad guy, but enough was enough.

“Any ideas?” Star piped up, sounding entirely lost and uncertain as her gaze kept nervously darting over to Ludo who was brushing his beard and snacking on its droppings in the empty playroom. “We’ve tried psychology, reverse psychology, pep talks, reverse reverse psychology, all-you-can-eat chips, ygolohscysp-”

“Which still isn’t a thing,” Marco interrupted.

“Well I’m sorry, I’m not the one with a fancy degree, Marco!” she growled, tossing her arms out. “Ugh, sorry, this is just so frustrating. Doesn’t he have, like, a thousand brothers and sisters he could hang out with? If he can’t relax around the monsters, why does he always have to pester us when he could-” Her pacing instantly halted as her eyes opened wide. “Oh crud.”

He stood up and placed a hand on her shoulder reassuringly, unsure whether her apparent epiphany was a good or bad thing. “Star?”

“He came to us for help becoming comfortable around his old pals again because he already was comfortable around us.”

“Way too comfortable,” Marco muttered with a wince that Star mirrored. They were still a little bit traumatized from the shower incident. “But that means-”

“He never needed his monster pals, he just needed… friends,” she said just as he had the revelation on his own.

Marco smacked his forehead and sighed. “And he spent so much time fixating on this one thing, and we spent so much time just trying to solve his problem and shove him out the door, that we never tried just… being his friends.”

They both looked through the little window into the playroom, where Ludo saw them and waved with a giant smile.

Star buried her face in her hands, messing up her hair like she was prone to do whenever she was feeling frazzled. “Ugh, I feel terrible.”

“Same, but… we can’t be his only friends, though. I feel bad for him, but I don’t know if I have it in me to be his BFF.”

“You’re right, you’re right, but who else could even handle that? Who? The guy’s so hyper and weird, ugh, he reminds me of me as a kid, except way less cute.”

“...a kid.” They both mumbled simultaneously. It was as if a single lightbulb had gone off above both of them at once as all the pieces fell into place. “That’s it!”

Star bolted out the door to gather the handful of children that hadn’t been picked up yet while Marco got Ludo. A few minutes later, they met up at the rec center basketball court where Antonio helped them set up some kid-sized hoops. It took a bit of coaxing, but after a few minutes Ludo was having the time of his life tossing the ball around. The kids seemed to enjoy it, too, as he regaled them with tales of his adventures on Earth (and a few about a space princess with a cyclops and robot for friends that Marco was pretty sure he made up). Star and Marco had joined for a few games but both decided to just step back and watch from the bleachers for a while.

As they observed the scene, listening to the ecstatic wails of everyone on the court as they ran around with the ball, there was a smile on Star’s face that was more content than Marco had seen in a while. “See? You made their whole week just by giving them someone fun to play with,” Marco said, lacing his fingers through her hand. “They like you a lot more than they like balloons and candy.”

“Even I don’t need candy with you here being so sweet,” she cooed, nuzzling into his shoulder, neither taking their eyes off the courts. Ludo passed the ball to Trevor, who spun around and passed it back in a fluid motion that allowed Ludo to score. The blissful, carefree sight was soothing after the intensity of Marco’s life lately. Just some kids and a small bird man having fun playing a game together… life didn’t always have to be so complicated. The serene moment abruptly ended when Ludo’s beak caught on the rim, leaving him dangling above the ground and shrieking for help. As Star squeezed Marco’s hand, sighed, and stood up to go help the poor kappa, Marco knew it could never be truly simple either.