#anyhoo yea these two

[moonbear-from-space]

SPOILERS FOR VENOM THE LAST DANCE!!

Okay I just saw it today and at first I was not okay, very much not okay. However after having time to mellow out and think more about it and seeing some other people's opinions about it, I can think more clearly about it.

Do I think this is queer baiting/bury your gays? No I don't think so at all. I should also mention please for the love of god do not go and harass or send death threats to any of the actors, writers or anyone that worked on this movie! We don't need to be known as another fandom going after creators and bringing them hell. It has happen too many times so please think twice before doing anything like that. You are allow to be critical not hateful.

Anyways that being said. Venom sacrificed themselves for the greater good of the world. The relationship in the comics is already cannon we don't need to prove a point, these movies at the end of the day are made for mass appeal for anyone to watch. And while yes I was very upset that it happen and it broke my heart. Not all hope is lost, the second last post credit scene shows a black cockroach which may or may not be Venom. So perhabs this isn't Venom last dance, there was that whole this its just a goodbye for now or something like that. Besides Venom is a popular character I really doubt there just gonna kill them off that easily, we may not get another Venom movie as far as I know (unless the rumors are true about this animated Venom movie in the works) however Venom may appear in other big Marvel crossover movies perhabs.

I do wish there were some moments like saying words like I love you or something. But those are just small nitpicks. So many symbiotes showed up as well I couldn't fully tell who was Lasher but yay Agony was there. ^_^

But yea at the end of the day we still have the comics we still make comforting fan art and fix it fics for all of our troubles but just know that this is a PG-13 movie they only do so much. I know we all wanted some big romantic scene but the subtext is still there and Venom wanting to sacrifice themself to save the world is a nobel act.

There's probably more things I can add to it but I just know tumblr is gonna riot over this maybe. But I will say this if I had a nickel for everytime Venom shows up in a third installment of a Marvel movie where Venom dies followed by big explosions I would have two nickels which is weird that it happen twice but also why the hell didn't Raimi Venom show up?? Like come on not even one post credit scene for him to be in? I guess him and his other are really dead... :/ or there lost in that void place or something like that.

Anyhoo besides that it will motivate me more to work on the second volume of my own Venom comic. Thank you for reading my thoughts and ramblings about this. :]

Let me know what you think about it, but for now I gotta get ready for a conversation to go to for tomorrow but before that gonna relax and play some SonicXShadow Generations for the time being. I will also be cosplaying as Raimi Venom lol, hoping it will turn out well. :>

[revoltpark]

open at your own risk warning this is long

this is just the whole fuckinf story

here’s the wattpad but I have it written below

Brace yourself, bear with me and yea.

So to start it off, Revolt park is a South Park au made to take place in 1848. The characters live in this kingdom named southshire, with a tyrant of a ruler. The king is Lucifer Thorn, royal by blood. His wife, Beatrice Thorn, died of some sort of disease but there were some rumors that she was a witch. And their son, Damien thorn.

Damien is often kept in the castle, far from the outsiders, kinda like rapunzel. He had never really met anyone is age, he mostly was around the two royal servants, Josh and Leslie. Well that was until one day, while he was out at the royal garden, he saw some poor underclass boy through the gates. Therefore how he met pip.

The revolution was another part of this little kingdom. Gregory, a upperclass boy, who had never really dealt with the unfairness of the classes. Had somehow started a revolution to take down the classes. He was a privileged boy, always or mostly got what he wanted yet he still did this revolution thing. Mark, a middleclass boy, being his right hand man. And Gregory’s younger brother by two years, Herbert, also decided to help. The revolution consisted of mostly teens and mostly boys. Barely any upperclass, some middleclass, and A LOT of underclass. Gregory’s sister, younger by one year, Estella, was somewhat apart of the revolution. She was a feminist, she wanted equal rights for ALL, especially women. Rebecca, marks sister, younger by a year and Wendy were also somewhat apart of the revolution, just to make sure it had feminism. 

Christophe, Kenny and pip are all underclass. Christophe works as a grave digger, pip at the bakery and Kenny as a newsboy. All somehow apart of the Revolution, mostly half-assed. Pip rarely shows up to the meetings. Yes, he wants equality, he is in the working class after all, but he just doesn’t seem to have interest for the meetings, especially since he met Damien. Kenny shows up every once in a while, he thinks the upperclass are rich snobs and he wants equality for the underclass, he also just hates Gregory. Christophe shows up to basically every meeting, for two reasons. He believes in the cause, throughout his skepticism. He just thinks Gregory’s ideas are a little too far fetched. But he also likes to go because Gregory’s basically eye candy to him. 

Lexus, cosette and dogpoo(DP) don’t really have a big role in the story, they’re friends with Christophe,Kenny and pip. Cosette who loves Christophe, Lexus who lusts for Christophe, and Dogpoo who often picks a fight for Christophe. The underclass was a cruel and dog eat dog place, filled with thieves and prostitutes and dying people, Lexus being a prostitute herself. Cosette was almost pressured into becoming one, but she still has some self respect. 

Anyhoo, back onto the royals. Josh and Leslie were originally underclasses, until beatrice(who was alive when she found them), saw potential in the two poor kids, brought them back to the castle. They’ve been there ever since, both intelligent and cruel. Josh, himself, also has a blonde underclass boyfriend, Trent. Nobody really knows about Josh and Trent though. 

The castle is most LITERALLY filled with magic, Whenever someone in the castle gets sick, they use magic to cure it. They only use the magic for their advantage, they never use it for the citizens. There are also, some cannibals. The castle life seems so unreal. Leslie,Josh and kinda the king are cannibals, it’s not like they eat eachother or anything. Whenever a underclass dies, or someone gets executed, they get brought to the castle and the chefs cook them. It’s seems as a normal thing to them. Damien on the other hand doesn’t like the taste of human flesh, he never thought of it as wrong due to how he was raised. He’s just a bit of a picky eater, plus they never even told Damien where they got the meat from until he was maybe 13.

Back to the revolutionaries, Estella and Rebecca were alone one night after hanging out with their friends. There happened to be some rogue guards. They at first started arguing with Estella, mainly because they were weirdos and wanted to get closer to her. They eventually realized she and Rebecca were apart of the Revolution. What sad night for feminism, Estella and Rebecca both got shot on the spot, due to the anger of the guard. Their parents were paid to keep quiet. That pissed mark and Gregory off even more.

A few months later, the royals had realized Kenny kept dying and just kept coming back alive, Leslie, decided to take the case. She managed to kidnap Kenny and brought him to her,,,dissection room? It was a room she used to dissect the dead people before they ate them, to make sure there wasn’t anything weird in their intestines. She was going to take some blood, well a lot of blood from Kenny, check it out, hopefully use it to help the castle. Well Gregory and Christophe found out about it. And they weren’t happy. They managed to do a little break in to the castle and went on the find Kenny. They found him already strapped down to the table, Leslie getting ready to do what she was gonna do until Gregory and Christophe stopped the whole thing. Gregory went on to unbound Kenny to the table while Christophe went to fight Leslie. Now Christophe and Gregory both brought a weapon of their choice, Gregory bringing his cutlass while Christophe brought his shovel, Gregory doubted him at first but he was FLABBERGASTED when he saw that Christophe had pierced the shovel right in Leslie stomach, ultimately killing her. The boys left the castle with Kenny having trauma and Gregory and Christophe growing a somehow stronger bond.

A few months after that, pip and Damien were basically dating. Since Lucifer was rarely in his child’s life, Damien often snuck pip into the castle. Those two were probably the luckiest out of all of them.

Sooner or later, one night, the revolutionaries decided to raid the castle. That turned out not so good. The revolutionaries were getting killed by the guards. Josh, being the maniac he is, decided to help the guards. Poor Herbert found himself cornered by Josh, and Josh, recognizing him as Herbert, the leader of the revolutions brother, decided to kill Herbert. Josh was overly cruel to the poor boy, Josh had pulled a dagger out on his and chased him around the castle until ultimately killing him, brutally. He left Herbert for a moment and noticed mark wasn’t to far, mark had witnessed the whole killing of Herbert and lucky mark, he was next. Josh spared him, simply slicing his neck and stabbing him somewhere in the abdomen. Josh had gotten shot a few times, decided that was enough and left the castle. 

Gregory had managed to sneak up to the kings study, finding him there, and shooting him right in the back of the head. Gregory hurried out of the study, he found Christophe and they both looked for a exit in the castle. Gregory had passed by a bunch of the dead revolutionaries bodies, a disgusting sight to say the least. He passed by mark and Herbert’s body and felt a horrible grief hit him immediately. Seeing his little brother and best friend dead really hurt him. Atleast he had Christophe, well barely before they made it to a exit, Josh who was exiting the castle, shot Christophe, THREE times, then made his way out. Gregory was absolutely devastated.  First his sisters death, then his brothers and best friends and his love. Christophe was alive for barely enough time, he died in Gregory’s arms and Gregory lost it. I guess you could compare it to Achilles reaction to patroclus’ death. Screaming, loud. Sobbing, pulling hair out, All that. Eventually, his impulsive self grabbed his cutlass, he had nothing else to really lose. without a second thought, he stabbed himself right through the chest. 

Well, during this whole thing. Damien had locked himself in his room. And pip had went to the castle to basically get Damien out. He managed to catch Damien from the window and went to the woods to hide. Afterwords it was a horrible sight to go back to the castle. Everyone’s dead, there’s no longer a king. Damien, being the prince, unfortunately had to fill in as king. Josh wasn’t even there to help out, turns out he straight up ran away from the kingdom with Trent.

Kenny and pip weren’t involved with the raiding of the castle, they decided to stay home. The only really three ones who made it out of the Revolution alive was Kenny,pip and Wendy. 

Years later, Damien and pip are the kings, living happily ever after ish. AND THEY HAVE KIDS DOMINIC AND CHARLIE YIPPEE. Only downside is that the ghosts of the revolution haunt the castle, Womp Womp. 

So that was revolt park explained in I guess the simplest way I could think of? Idk. But yea, I may or may rewrite it but that’s the whole story for now. 

[astraymetronome]

the idea of raccoon!Tommy taking a tiny and dunking the in water to wash them before nomming them is SO cute <33 I love it

Yeah! I love laundry bears! They're adorable and honestly shouldn't be seen as gross, at least in my opinion. I think it would be cute if a pred had a tell before they plan to nom someone. Even if it's just subconscious or something!

Tommy would probably do it all the time and, in my example I'ma use Tubbo, the tiny would be able to calm themselves or be like 'oh, okay-' basically it's a way to communicate without actual words- But I'm not gonna do that.

This is the fic I teased in the other ask-

ANGST FOR EVERYONE!

Anyhoo- here's this tiny treat of The Prime Duo ^^

It used to be a tiny treat. Instead it's a full course meal-

TW: Vore, Thoughts of Fatal Vore, Speciesism, instincts, and angst.

Tommy was quietly humming to himself as he went about working on an assignment for school. The 15 year old was frustrating himself over the fact this stupid essay was over something so simple and logical. The teen had chosen to take an agriculture class to learn more about farming so that he could understand Techno's love for it a little more.

The smell of dirt and grime had always been an immediate no for him but the fact he was being told to write an essay on the importance of washing fuckin' vegetables was getting on his nerves. Of course, you wash your veggies! You should wash everything you eat regardless of the type!

He didn't do it because of what people assumed, his classmates would tease him over dipping fuckin' chicken nuggets in water. Yeah, it made it soggy but he learned a lot about it when he did that. If it absorbs a lot and becomes super mushy, then it probably has been sitting out for at least two hours. If it doesn't absorb much then that tells him it's a perfect thing to eat! Plus it won't feel weird on his tongue or anything.

He had a secret feeling this essay was his teacher's way to show their distant for raccoons considering they'd done a lesson on farm pests and chose to focus on his kind. Yeah, raccoons do tend to go after sweet corn and cherries, both of which aren't viable in their area!

He found himself chitting to himself, flexing his hands in anger. Phil always doted over his little hand movements, calling them his grabby hands of anger, but all it was was his instincts wanting him to find something to burrow with and hide until he calmed down.

Tommy closed his laptop, cursing quietly before he proceeded to step out of his room and start heading downstairs. His tail swished in annoyance before a small sound reached his ears. They perked up as he turned to face it, seeing a familiar face sitting on the kitchen counter. He smiled at the sight of the borrower, happy to see someone he liked right now. He hid his hands, knowing he'd not be able to keep from picking them up if he tired.

"Dream, did dad leave out some Cheerios again?" He questioned, smiling as green eyes darted up to him. Dream was a borrower that had been living with them since Tommy was a little kid. The two of them knew each other well and often got into plenty of antics. Though, Tommy hasn't had a lot of time for him as of late.

"Yea- 'he o'd ma' did," The small man said, his mouth full of the sweet cereal. The teen rolled his eyes, knowing for a fact Dream had probably requested to have some set out considering the borrower's sweet tooth. He swallowed before continuing. "Said he has to work the closing shift." Tommy nodded as he listened. He held back a whine, having wanted his dad to curl up with him in the man's nest. It wasn't as good as his burrow but Tommy knew his dad couldn't fit inside it due to his wings so Phil's nest was the next best thing.

"That makes sense, the hospital tends to be busier in the winter."

"That's very true, can't let everyone die." Dream said earnestly. It was enough to confuse Tommy out of his bit of frustration, the teen's laugh filling the room as he giggled.

"I'm sure Momma won't be too mad about the few he takes back." He said with a gentle sigh. Tommy's tail swishing behind him as he happily let a chitter build in his throat.

He was smiling as he proceeded to place his head on the counter, ignoring how the cold marble felt against his chin. He was near Dream, watching as the borrower munched on the cereal. It took a moment before Dream pushed three of the wheat based rings towards him. Tommy let his nose twitch, sniffing them before he proceeded to quietly stick his tongue out.

He let them stick to his tongue before pulling it back into his mouth, quietly chewing them before he gave an eye roll. "You don't need to share it with me." He said fondly, not noticing the slight discomfort on Dream's face at his action.

"You're clearly in a bad mood Toms." The borrower said, the man's mouse-like tail swishing and wrapping around Tommy's finger on top of the slight discomfort in his voice. "Come on kid, you can talk to me. If we need to curl up in your burrow we can." Dream said calmly, quickly hiding the sound of his nerves. The teen found himself scooping him up in a second. He made sure to hold the man carefully, a purr leaving his throat as he walked towards the stairs and back up to his room.

"Someone's an eager beaver." Dream said with a chuckle, laying against Tommy's thumb as he was carefully brought upstairs. He took a few moments to get up to Tommy's room before they both were sitting in front of his borrow. Tommy's bed was around 2 and a half feet above the ground, the space under it being packed full of blankets and pillows.

He held the borrower by his shirt, using his teeth, as he carefully crawled his way into the plush space. His tail wished as he gave a purr and quietly curled into the space. The moment Tommy was on his back he let go of Dream and gently held the blonde borrower to his chest.

Tommy nuzzled at the man with a soft purr, immediately relaxing a little bit as he held his friend before he moved to just let him lay on his neck. Tommy would probably be more controlling over where he lets Dream lay if he was deeper into his instincts but it was mostly surface level. He felt the borrower move, resting just under his Adams apple as the small man spoke.

"So what's got your fur ruffled?" He asked calmly, no blame or accusing in his tone. Tommy liked being around Dream, the borrower never treated him like an animal or like a baby. His tail swished as they sat in the warmth of his burrow.

"It's my stupid teacher, I'm pretty sure he's being a dick about the fact I'm a raccoon hybrid." Tommy mumbled as he proceeded to quietly lay on his back. He had one hand on his collar bone, feeling Dream's tail wrap around his pinkie finger before he continued. "He keeps making these sly comments about vermin. I understand that, because it's an agriculture class, but it's directed at me. Even Purpled feels like it's insinuating he doesn't like me."

Tommy was a little angry but the tapping on his chin was enough to get him out of it. He leaned his head to the side, letting Dream crawl up his jaw and onto his cheek. The borrower sat before speaking. "Tommy, if it's something you're genuinely getting upset about you should tell your dad or Techno."

Tommy held back the urge to shake his head, instead just humming as he spoke up. "I can't. It's childish to get my dad involved, and if I tell Techno it'll cause some unnecessary drama since Mr. Squid and him are friends." He mumbled a bit before bringing a hand up to hold Dream against his face, nuzzling him for a moment before his nose was tapped.

Tommy pulled away as the little voice spoke. "Well, how about I go with you tomorrow? I'll be able to tell you if it's actually targeting comments or not." He let his blue eyes drift over to the small form in his hands, looking unsure before Dream continued. "If not it's fine, but if you don't choose who to tell I'll tell Techno myself."

Tommy gave a loud groan at the comment, immediately tucking the borrower against his chest, feeling the small thing laugh, able to hear the quiet chuckle that escaped him.

"Fine, you can come with me tomorrow, but you're staying hidden in my hoodie all day." He said quickly. Tommy was well aware his family was considered oddballs. It wasn't like anyone knew they had a friendly relationship with borrowers but most of his peers thought his family was strange due to the immense amount of hybrids types.

Dream had curled back under his Adam's apple, the flicking of his tail almost ticking the giant teen as the small man spoke. "Deal. Now get a bit of a nap. I'm sure Techno will know where to find you for dinner." The blonde borrower said calmly, gently tapping Tommy's chin before they both settled down for a bit.

Tomorrow will be fine, right?..

☆~°.•🦝🌱💿//+🪐

Tommy could feel himself sweating and he had the insight to know Dream was in the same boat of panic. He had the borrower hidden in his hoodie pocket with his phone and the raccoon couldn't help but be nervous that Phil would notice something was wrong. They'd never let him take a borrower to school if they knew about this and he'd probably get in trouble when he got home if they found out about the fact he brought Dream with him.

The teen grabbed a slice of toast from the table, taking a bite to show he planned to eat it before he slipped his school bag back over his shoulders. He plans to let Dream have as much of it as he wants after they were at least a block or so from the house. He called out a goodbye to Phil, knowing Techno was already on campus.

Tommy relaxed as they got far enough away before he took another bite of the buttered toast and then sat down in the little backway he took to get to school. He placed his hand in his pocket, carefully letting his palm lay flat until he felt small hands grab his fingers and a weight settle on his palm.

"Finally! I forgot how stuffy and loud pockets could be!" The blonde said quickly. It broke a laugh for the teenager, smiling at the release of tension Dream brought with the little comment. He settled the borrower onto his thigh before holding out a bit of the slice of toast. The tiny man eagerly snatched a piece of it, eating at it like a starving animal. Tommy found himself rolling his eyes as he spoke.

"You're not that desperate for food."

"So what! You guys haven't had toast in a while and I love it!"

Tommy groaned before he leaned back, still watching the borrower as he spoke. "Today is gonna take forever-"

☆~°.•🦝🌱💿//+🪐

The day had been going well so far, at least as far as Dream could tell. Tommy had been talking with all his friends and they didn't get caught in Techno's class either! It was a great day! The borrower had to admit he snuck a few peaks from he sides of his hiding place, knowing full well that he risked being seen or worse, grabbed. Regardless, he wanted to help Tommy in any way he could considering he's watched the kid grow up.

He could sense the kid's nerves as the last class of his day began to grow closer. He recognized that Tommy was very uncomfortable, the teen fidgeting on top of everything he could hear. The borrower was used to picking up noises humans couldn't considering he was so much smaller which meant quiet noises often seemed a lot bigger and more imposing for him. He could hear the raccoon's heartbeat, able to recognize the distant and uncomfortable sound. He could also make out Tommy's stomach, he was very used to the sounds but he could tell the difference between hunger and discomfort.

Being this close to a human, let alone a hybrid human, would make a normal borrower scream and panic even being caught inside something a human was holding, let alone in one's hand. He was used to being near them at this point, Tommy loved to carry him around all the time when he was a tot and Dream was only 8. Now the two of them were 15 and 20 years old, and the bond of being pseudo-brothers had turned real after a while.

He was used to human touch and it wasn't something he wanted to give up, the Crafts were his family and he had no reason to think of them otherwise. None of them saw him as a meal or some toy to throw away. He offered to help Tommy figure out what his teacher was doing because, despite the assumptions, Dream was actually very good at understanding emotions and words but, right now, he couldn't understand anything.

The entire classroom was full of sounds, speaking, squeaking, and thudding. Tommy had his hand around him, thumb rubbing his back as the teen seemed to be laying his head down on his desk, using his free arm to cradle his head. Dream was happy with having a comfortable touch with how loud everything was, he burrowed his head into the teen's palm, carefully trying to hide before everything went quiet.

Tommy removed his hand from his pocket and he listened to the kid's panicked heartbeat pick up before he went ahead and tapped the boy's abdomen through the fabrics to try to remind him he wasn't alone. He listened as the boy sighed and the class started up.

☆~°.•🦝🌱💿//+🪐

"Alright, class! Don't forget that your essays are due tomorrow. Don't forget that if you add things from this lecture to it, I will give out extra points." Mr. Squid said simply before he went ahead and began a lecture on pesticides. It was pretty boring if Tommy was honest, unable to focus on anything considering that he'd learned about this from late-night lessons with Techno. When he couldn't sleep, he'd find himself in his big brother's room, listening to him plan lessons or ramble on about something he was currently hyperfictioning on.

Tommy has listened to his brother talk about natural and chemical-based pesticides for hours and never once did the man make him feel as though he deserved to be on the other side of these kinds of things. He knew full well his brother never used chemical pesticides unless absolutely necessary and, when he did, he would always inform those in the house. He knows the reason Techno talks about it is because Tommy had a bad habit of snagging plants from the vegetable garden before they were finished growing when he was in middle school.

The teen had noticed a small section added the next year that his big brother took care of but always made sure he never used things on it without informing Tommy first, he'd 99% sure it was added just for him but... He hasn't really messed with it as of late.

Well... not since this school year started.

Tommy used to giggle like a menace when he was caught pulling a carrot from the garden, and Techno would call him a little vermin! It hadn't ever been in a way that made him feel bad, but after he started classes with Mr. Squid, he hadn't been able to handle being called anything similar to a pest. His eyes drifted from his paper, and he saw that his teacher was scribbling down key points for the lesson.

The teen turned his attention to the small weight in his hoodie pocket, carefully placing his non-dominate hand into the fabric tube before he rubbed at Dream's back, able to feel as the tiny purred and nuzzled closer to his touch. He let his free hand start to take his notes, enveloping himself in the pattern of glancing up and down, up and down, until a hand on his shoulder grabbed him out of it.

"Mr. Innit-Craft, I've called your name 5 times now. You need to pay more attention." Mr. Squid said sternly. His touch wasn't hurting or anything but Tommy really didn't like being touched by people, it was a part of his raccoon instincts, not enjoying contact with people outside his nursery. His blue eyes drifted towards the man's face, swallowing nervously before his teacher continued. "Regardless, can you tell me what pesticides do when consumed since you seem more interested in your drawings than my lesson?"

Tommy lifted his gaze, back to the board seeing a collection of questions that hadn't been there just five minutes ago. He gave a nod before speaking up.

"Well, if people were to eat too much of it, it will-"

"No, Mr. Innit-Craft, what happens to a critter that eats it."

Tommy felt his heart sink for a moment, taking note of how Dream had gone still in his pocket before he opened his mouth. The teen was at a lost for words before he gave a small smile. "Well..." He started, his words lowering to a whisper as his tail curled into his lap, hiding the pocket of his hoodie and, in turn, the borrower inside.

"I'm not running a seminar, Thomas. Speak up for the class to hear." The man said as he stood up straight and began to walk to the front of the room. "I better be able to hear you this time."

Tommy could feel his heart pounding in his ears as he got to his feet. His eyes drifted over his peers, taking in the sight of normal humans and a wide range of animal hybrids. Not a single other 'scavenger' type animal among the groups in the room. The raccoon hybrid took a deep breath, his ears flicking to each little sound in the room.

"Like with people, if an animal were to eat too much of the contaminated crops they'd probably-"

"Give us an example."

"W-what?.." Tommy found himself saying.

"An example. Like rats, possums, or even... raccoons." Mr. Squid said causing Tommy to freeze up. He looked down at his feet before he spoke up again, able to feel the concerned taps against his fingers by the borrower still tucked away in his pocket. His heartbeat was filling his ears and he couldn't help the shaking of his voice as he spoke, not really paying attention to his words as he droned them out.

"If a raccoon were to eat contaminated crops... depending on how much they've eaten they'd suffer from mild sickness, chronic poisoning, nervous system collapse, liver and kidney failure, or even death." The teen said simply before he looked up and made eye contact with his teacher. There was this sick sense of joy in the man's eyes, enough that Tommy knew he really was trying to make Tommy feel bad. His ears began to flatten back at the soft snickers of his classmates before he began to shove things into his bag.

Tommy couldn't stomach another second in the classroom...

☆~°.•🦝🌱💿//+🪐

Dream felt his stomach sink when Tommy rushed from the classroom. He could hear the teen's erratic heart rate and his panicked breathing, knowing all Tommy would want to do right now would be shifting his body into the shape of a raccoon and hiding in the closest thing to a burrow. He didn't expect Tommy to duck into a side room. Tommy was quiet other than the panicking breaths and the soft hiccups he could pick up,

The borrower took this as a sign they were alone as he peered his head out of the hoodie pocket, looking up to see Tommy's face. The boy's face was red, a mix of anger, sadness, and fear dressing his expression. He blinked a little as a tear fell on the top of his head, causing Dream to take his eyes off the sheen appearance of his little brother's face. He shook his head, trying to ignore the feeling of liquid dripping down the back of his neck.

"Tommy?... Maybe we should go to Techno's classroom." He said calmly, glancing around to see that they were tucked into a corner in a bathroom. He yelped as a hand scooped him up by the front, laying on his belly as he was draped over the interdigital part of Tommy's palm. He didn't expect to be held like this since, normally, the teen was very careful with how he handled him.

The boy's hold was firm but still soft enough to not cause him any pain as he glanced up, squirming to get a better look at the raccoon teenager. He pushed his hands against the pads on his hands, able to feel the soft yet textured sensation of Tommy's paw pads as he was quickly lifted. His eyes drifted from the boy's face, now watching the mirror they were standing in front of. The sound of rushing water grabbed his attention as he looked down.

"Tommy? What's going on, talk to me, kid!" He said quickly, not understanding why his little brother wasn't saying anything or doing much of anything he could think about. He looked up, taking in the glazed-over look in the raccoon's eyes on top of how narrow his pupils seemed to be.

He'd seen this before, most of the time whenever Tommy was curled up in his burrow or Phil's nest after a really bad day. 'Okay, Tommy's just really freaked out. Everything will be fine, I just need to get him to Techno or find a way to convince him to call-' Dream's thought process was quickly interrupted by the fact his head was drenched in water. He went to take a breath in his panic, only to suddenly take liquid into his lungs instead of water. Panic flooded him just as much as the cold fluid drenched his clothes. It felt like an hour of being submerged before the hissing of the faucet stopped and he coughed harshly, forcing water up and out of his lungs as his chest burned.

Dream greedily gulped air down, panicking now that he looked like a soaked rat, and looked toward his little brother before he froze. Tommy's gaze was still glazed over but it had a hint of valuation behind it. He didn't understand the way he was being looked at, but his instincts were screaming that something was really, really wrong. He needed to get Tommy to put him down, or he needed a way to get into contact with Technoblade.

"Tommy!" He called out before shaking as he shivered, of course, the cold was already getting to him. "Tommy?" He continued as he was lifted upwards, faster than he'd like to experience at his small size. His eyes widened as he took in the look on the teen's face. It was closer than he had been of his own fruition. His instincts screamed in fear as he squirmed and tried to dig his fingernails into the teen's palms, not managing to do much of anything as his lips parted in front of him.

Dream's heart fell into his stomach as he watched the boy's mouth open, seeing deep reds and pinks that decorated each muscle inside. He couldn't do anything, being forced to stare into the chasm as warm breath washed over his face. The moisture he could feel inside each exhale didn't need explaining since the sheen that covered everything made it rather clear why. He could see the light scaring in the very back, able to recognize where his tonsils used to be. "Tommy!" He yelled, unable to use his hands to brace himself due to the fact his hands were pinned.

He was shaking as his body was forced closer and began to enter the kid's mouth, he couldn't believe Tommy would do something like this! He's always been such a sweet kid who didn't mind the fears borrowers held, he understood that they had natural fears and never even considered pushing those boundaries, and yet here he was, his upper body sprawled across the teen's tongue as his legs kicked in fear. He could hear his heart in his ears and his breathing seemed to echo across the space as he squirmed before his hand slipped across one of Tommy's teeth. He didn't hesitate to yelp as pain shot through his palm, his hand suddenly feeling more wet despite the saliva and water that was soaking him.

The hum that sounded out around him as the nosy muscle pressed into his wound, now frightened him more than anything else was at the moment. He looked over his shoulder, taking a shuttering breath as he took in the sight of white, clean teeth, strong enough to break him in two if Tommy so desired. He felt dread, anger, and sadness all at the same time as he was pushed and prodded.

"Tommy! Let me out! Please, Toms, stop this!" He yelled out as the tongue pressed him up and against the roof, a loud gulp sounding out as saliva was pulled down the throat. The sight caused him to freeze, watching the liquid go down told him he wouldn't be getting out of this. He yelled, trying to push the roof of his mouth to have an attempt at keeping himself from being swallowed, but it didn't work. An eager push made him lose his hold before an ill-timed movement caused his head to dangle over the end of his tongue. Dream was no longer on his stomach, the borrower had managed to get to his back as he took in shuttering frightened breaths that turned into screams as the throat pulled him inside. The gulp brought him into a slick space, no longer able to get any form of grip before a second one pushed him down further, the movement not stopping as he slipped away.

His eyes were tightly closed as the sound of a heartbeat began to fill his ears, getting louder and louder as he sobbed out of fear and anguish. He never imagined he'd be dying inside his little brother's stomach. The soft wooshing of lungs had joined the fray but the heart had died down, softer than before but still present as his hand touched something thicker and seemed to block him off, only to have it yawn open, depositing him into a resting chamber.

The walls around him were uncomfortable, shifting curiously to try and feel him. Dream was quick to try and get to his feet, his head hitting the top of the stomach and causing him to slip back onto his back. He was scared to he in here, glancing around with hesitancy before he ended up noticing that he was sitting in a pool of liquid. The sensation on his skin wasn't one of burning, but he swore that it was! There was no other option other than that he was sitting in a pool of stomach acids.

The borrower found himself curled up against the wall that gave him the most amount of leniency. He covered his ears, not wanting to listen to the sounds around him. The thudding of a heart, the wooshing of lungs, but... most currently, the sound of gurgles and groaning that seemed to surround him but it was mostly coming from his right. He didn't want to die... let alone in the stomach of someone he saw as a brother.

He wasn't even thinking about the fact Tommy had eaten only an hour or two ago, yet nothing else was in here.

☆~°.•🦝🌱💿//+🪐

Techno was pretty used to his own silence. He enjoyed it when his students were in the classroom and learning but his free period was the best. He could read through the mix of essays and assignments without disruption or anything similar and focus on his own priorities without students bothering him every 5 minutes. He was in the middle of reading through a pretty good essay on, The God of That Summer when his eyes noticed a person standing in his doorway.

The man sighed as he pulled his glasses off and placed them down on his desk, finally turning to face the person as he spoke. "Can I help-" He started before pausing as he took in the sight of his little brother. Tommy's eyes were red and swollen, tear tracks still gracing his face as the teen made his way towards him. Techno got to his feet as Tommy approached before the man met him halfway. He could barely see the blue of the raccoon's eyes, telling him enough he understood what he needed to do. The piglin scooped his runt up, gently holding Tommy close as he closed the door to his classroom with his foot and quietly made his way back to his desk.

The piglin didn't take his hand off Tommy's back, gently rubbing between his shoulders as he carefully held him. "Hey Toms... You're pretty out of it kiddo." He found himself whispering. He would have assumed this was just an instinct rush if Tommy was purring, but the kit was doing none of the sort. The teen was trembling, his tail wrapped around his abdomen and his hands tight enveloping his shirt. His eyes drifted to the backpack by the door to his room, and he leaned back at his desk as he let his mind wonder to where his little brother was supposed to be.

He sighed as he pushed it aside, for now, he'll talk to Simmon later, Tommy was his priority.

☆~°.•🦝🌱💿//+🪐

Tommy blinked his eyes open and found himself curled up in the living room. His head was against something warm, and he heard the beating of a heart and soft, gruff purring that he recognized as belonging to his older brother. The teen felt his face flush red as he quickly moved to sit up, swinging his head up before a faint squeal left the person he was sitting on as his head hit something.

The teen looked forward, blinking as he took in the sight of Techno's head leaning back, the man's chin already turning a shade of red from where he'd head-butted him. "Shit- Sorry!" Tommy said quickly as he reached up to feel his brother's face, carefully nuzzling the piglin's chin to try and negate the hit despite knowing there was no real point in doing that.

Techno quickly pushed him away, "Stop it, I do not need your little kisses, Tommy." The man said simply, a fond laugh dancing on his voice.

"THEY-" Tommy started to raise his voice before he shoved it back down and cleared his throat, embarrassment spreading across his face. "They're not little kisses..." He grumbled. He didn't like it when they called his instincts cute little names like that but the stupid thing had stuck since he was a toddler.

The pink-haired man simply laughed for a moment before he calmed himself, cleared his throat, and spoke up: his face and voice seeming more serious.

"Tommy... Why did you run out of Squids' class?" The man asked simply.

The raccoon hybrid felt his ears lay back, looking up at him hesitantly before he fidgeted and gently picked at his hands. "Oh... um..." Tommy whispered, looking unsure as he glanced over his shoulder and placed his hands in his hoodie pocket.

The lack of a small form in the fabric sleeve made panic swell in his chest. Dream should still be in his pocket unless the blonde snuck out after they got home and that made no sense. The borrower would have immediately told Techno what happened and stayed to make sure everything was fine before he'd even consider running off to hide in the safety of the walls.

Tommy gave a nervous swallow before he glanced up and opened his mouth, "Mr. Squid... I don't think he likes me very much." He said calmly. There was no way he was going to get around this.

"Simmons not liking you is not gonna cause you to come to my classroom in the middle of a Panic-induced instinct attack, Tommy. What really happened?" The man said plainly, without any judgment or anger in his voice. Techno wasn't blaming Tommy despite how it sounded, he was just trying to make sure Tommy was honest and told him what he needed to know.

A whine left the raccoon-hybrid before he glanced over his shoulder and spoke up, not wanting to look his big brother in the eyes as he spoke. "He keeps singling me out... He makes me answer all the questions on pests and vermin..." Tommy mumbled as he let his gaze drift down to his lap, his hands having began to fidget at the ends of Techno's braid. "He made me tell the class about the side effects pesticides and poisons have on animals, specifically... raccoons."

Tommy kept quiet after he finished his sentence, his eyes not leaving his hands as he carefully messed with the end of the piglin's braid, he'd redo it if he had any gold beads or clamps to add to the intertwined hair but he didn't so there wasn't much of a point. It took a moment before his brother's big and callused hands gently cupped around his little ones, rubbing the back of the dorsal side of his hands.

"Shit, Toms... Why didn't you say something sooner?" The history teacher questioned as he leaned forward, placing their foreheads together as he gave a soft chuff. Tommy relaxed at the familiar position and sound, his mind able to relax at the piglin's sign of affection and care.

"I thought I was overreacting."

Technoblade sighed in response to that. "Either way, I could have talked to him and helped clear up the misunderstanding."

"I know..." He said softly before a soft movement in his abdomen caught him off guard. Tommy managed to not make a noise at the sensation, able to recognize the familiar weight of something sitting in his storage. He didn't fully understand it, he didn't remember eating anything, especially an asshole borrower or some kind of mouse, but he could worry about that later.

"Now," Shit... he missed everything Techno was saying. "You head upstairs and curl in your burrow till Dad gets home. I know for a fact he's gonna want you in the nest tonight." The piglin said simply as he picked the raccoon up and carefully placed the teen onto the floor. Tommy glared, trying to play off his lack of listening as his big brother began to head down the hallway, no doubt heading to the backyard to call someone, Tommy had a feeling he could guess who...

The teen groaned as he flopped onto his bed, toeing his shoes off as he hid his face in his pillow. The hybrid was annoyed that this day had gone so horribly. He could feel the soft weight shifting in his abdomen, quiet growls leaving his actual stomach as clawed hands dug into the walls of his storage. He needed to move whatever it was to his actual stomach before he had to deal with a sore organ for a few day.

The teen wasn't super used to this, pulling the squirming form up and out of his storage. He didn't like having to take them back up into his mouth, but it was something every human could do so it wasn't weird, before swiftly swallowing the form's body. Having half of a borrower in your throat and the other half in your mouth wasn't the best experience considering they're decently long, but this one was bigger than he was used to.

Tommy coughed a little as the form disappeared into his chest for a second time, no doubt less happy this time compared to the first. He didn't seem to mind at least, pulling himself out of bed to change into something more comfortable as his stomach gurgled, filling the tiny space with a squirming meal. He couldn't help the chittering purr that built in his throat, the more animalistic side of his brain enjoying the stimulation and sensation of something in his belly.

Either way, he didn't want to be himself right now. Letting his instincts take the reigns sounds nice as he crawls into his nest...

☆~°.•🦝🌱💿//+🪐

Dream had come to the idea that he was safe where he was. He'd been in here for a solid hour or so now and the saliva at the bottom had disappeared at this point. The walls were plush and slick but they didn't really move around him all that much, just reacting to his own touch from the looks of it and the sounds had died down a bit, mostly just being a gentle bubbling that had gotten quieter and seemed to grow further away.

He felt uncomfortable still, not entirely sure what was going on, whatever rush had caused Tommy to do this was still active so it wasn't like the two of them could have a proper conversation. The borrower had almost managed to doze off at the sound of Tommy's and, he's assuming Techno's, purring. He wouldn't normally like to get himself into their more sensitive moments since he wasn't an actual member of their family but it felt nice to be included for once even if neither of them was, at least not fully, aware of him at the moment.

He'd listened quietly as the two of them began to talk, pride swelling in his chest as Tommy told someone about the bad attitude that Mr. Squid had been showing. He shifted his weight, leaning forward to rub the wall he leaned against only to be squeezed. He released a soft yelp, not expecting it as his tail flicked around in annoyance.

He'd have to scold Tommy later, this may be a good place to hide him but that didn't mean he enjoyed being eaten and kept in a flesh sack. He felt as the teen moved around, smiling that his little brother was heading to his room. The soft sway of his movements was actually more than gentle. It made him sleepy but the borrower assumed it was his own instincts trying to trick him into feeling like it was a nest. It wasn't so he didn't want to stay in here much longer.

His peace was quickly interrupted by a growl, feeling the muscles against his back twitch as the rumbling sensation went down his spine. Dream physically cringed away from it, slipping to the other side of the stomach- He couldn't forget that he was laying in someone's stomach. The space wasn't fun, his movements were rather restricted and limited to the soft space.

The grow was followed by a rumble before a louder groan escaped the area as he pinned himself against the furthest wall he could, shaking a bit. This was fine... He wasn't in Tommy's real stomach, that much was clear to him, but it wasn't nice to hear the actual sounds of hunger just next to him.

"Tommy-"

Dream's words were interrupted as he was thrown into the wall to his right, the one of his left pushing him against it before the area squeezed. He clamped his eyes closed as his body was forced back into the esophagus, squirming due to the constricting space. His upper body was pushed back onto the teen's tongue, a shutter of relief leaving him as he reached forward to try and grab onto a fang, something for a safe hold to keep himself secure. He barely moved his hand before the tongue pushed into it.

The pause he felt, confusion etching his face, quickly turned into panic as the muscle rose higher, the grip on his waist loosening for a moment before a loud gulp sounded out. He was forced back down, a panicked yelp leaving him as he was tugged deeper once more. He clamped his eyes closed, trying to ignore the sensation as tears dripped down his face. He'd been safe, so close to being secure. Why was Tommy swallowing him again?! He didn't understand why this was happening.

He'd felt his legs being tugged into an open space again, his entire body following in moments. For a second he thought it was just the other stomach again before the acidic scent hit his nose. Within seconds he was on his knees, pressing his hands against the roof of the stomach as he glanced down. There was a very shallow puddle of murky water in the bottom. It carried the biting smell but it wasn't all that strong. He felt nervous as the organ gurgled, sounding pleased as it shifted around him.

Tommy was moving around him on top of the stomach, the purring he could hear was frightening, knowing his little brother was pleased to have him inside of his stomach. He was nervous as he pushed before he felt the teen crawl. He was assuming they were in the burrow now, a soft tingling forming on his foot as he shoved again, opening his mouth to yell.

"Tommy! Let me out of here!" He called out, feeling a weight settle over him. The purring was still going, having not faltered at his works. Dream growled before he looked over his shoulder. This wasn't a fun idea, but it seemed like his best bet as he shifted to look at the exit and then turned his eyes back to where he'd come in through.

"Fuck it..." He groaned before he crawled over, sitting in front of the sphincter hesitantly before he reached forward and shoved his hands into the area. It wasn't fun, feeling the strong muscles trying to contradict his choices, but Dream needed to make sure Tommy got him out. He refused to sit here and take it when he, a part of him, had a feeling that this wasn't intended. He'd seen the boy in instinct waves, Phil always said he needed to avoid him during these moments and now he understood why.

His legs were already burning. It wasn't a horrid sensation, but it felt like his legs were numb with the carbonated tingling that he often felt when he accidentally rested on his limbs wrong.

He shoved his way forward, his hands almost slipping on the slick flesh of the throat as he squeezed his head through the sphincter. Within seconds an unhappy gurgle sounded out before he was squeezed back down into the stomach, gasping for a moment before the plush walls closed in on him once more. A frightened yelp had been his sound of opposement, before he was quickly shoved up and out of the organ.

Dream loudly coughed as he was forced into a hand, shaking a bit as he lay on his stomach. He needed to relax and take a few moments to adjust to the light and no longer haveing soft flesh all around him. His tail wrapped around his leg as he glanced over at his little brother, an uncomfortable laugh leaving him at the unhappy look on the teen's face that swiftly turned to horror.

Tommy then spent the next 3 days basically constantly making sure Dream felt safe around him. He even would give the borrower little treats and help him do anything he asked. If Dream would occasionally ask to sleep on Tommy's abdomen, no one knows.

𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊

Thank you for reading! Sorry this ask took so long but any of the ones I haven't answered yet, I see you Bkdk person, and the two Tommy ideas, I promise I will get to those!

This was supposed to be a short story, maybe 1,000 words but instead it turned into this-

I don't regret writing this, but it took literally months. I've been working on this on and off for weeks now.

I hope you all enjoy it!

[nightcityvngel]

🪃 for Vngel 🖤

"Have you ever done something you thought would be fine, but it came back at you with awful consequences?" Hah! Lemme guess, not that old huh? Imma let ya in on a lil secret, everyone has, specially in NC. So yea I have, plenty of times, most of those from my early days as a merc. Feelin kinda generous today so lemme tell ya bout one of those instances. Fuck may even be educational for those of you new to the city of dreams or considering the merc life. (quick note: cw for death and murder, putting it under a cut for that reason. also this is long but i had fun writing it.)

Second gig the crew is hired for gotta find who killed this nomad kid and took out some of his organs and kill those responsible. We were set on the wrong trail from the start but eventually found out a ripper was involved who did this for a famous athlete. Now this athlete was one of those organic types, no cyberware or drugs or shit. Also had some sort of weird condition or whatever. I don't remember the full details and its unimportant. Anyhoo athlete shows no remorse and we knew this would have some blowback since he had corpo sponsorships but we had to kill him since a job is a job. Blue (the best fixer in NC by the way, yes better then Rogue. Fuck that overrated bitch.) took the shot. Our dumbasses however forgot to turn off his biomonitor so Trauma Team was alerted that wasn't fun. Remember kids, when taking out rich pricks turn off the biomonitor or get out faster then TT can arrive. Fast forward a few months and we got another gig to take out a prison warden and a snitch in said prison. My amazing dad and brother happened to be locked up there as well so we had arranged they would be able to get out faster if we did this job. We had it all perfectly planned out. Now one thing you need to know about this prison. It had a "Revenge package" you could buy. Basically you would be buyin an inmate, have them surgically altered to look like whoever you want and decide on their method of death, includin you being able to kill them. All of it scrolled so you could relive it whenever you want. I think you get where this is goin... We get to the bd wing where this shit is scrolled and it so happens one is being scrolled at that very moment. This woman bought the package. She was the athlete's wife and had bought paid for two inmates. One was made to look like her late husband and the other was made to look like Blue. It was the exact same situation as months earlier except it was the athlete with a gun to Blue's head instead of the other way around. And yes she had arranged for it to be my father and brother. It was my dad with a gun to my brothers head. They were paying for my actions. I knew when we found out who had killed the nomad kid that there would be consequences but it would eventually be fine. I had not considered this. We got lucky-ish though. Blue being the smooth talker he is managed to stop it and we broke them out and the bitch did not walk out of that prison alive along with a bunch of dead guards... So yeah that was fuckin awful and the lesson here? In Night City you don't matter, everything is personal and everything is connected one way or another. A father wanted revenge and got it. A wife then wanted revenge and she did not get it. Would there be family that would want to get revenge for her and her husband? Absolutely. Did they get it? No. Why? Because of the darkest lesson I can teach you, show no mercy. There can be no consequences if no one is there to hold you accountable.

[zangren-signal]

Howdy y'all, it's good to take a breather, huh? Well that's what we've been doin' since our visits with the @pactargent and @perate-ind folk. With some good ol' trade and aid under our belts, we finally managed to fix up the Arc Ships.

Speakin' of the Arc Ships, today I'm joined by Huxun, the vexillologist responsible for the design of the Flotilla's flag. Mind sharin' what that's about?

H: Thank you, Captain-Mayor Voxong, it's an honour to be here. I'll just attach the file for the viewers...

V: Very nice.

H: I'm glad you think so, Captain-Mayor.

V: Oh, no need for all that darlin', just call me Voxong. So, wanna let everyone know what the deal is?

H: Oh... um, yes, Voxong. The design reflects our new life amongst the stars, with the partcial circle on the top right representing a sun, and the two circles in the bottom left representing a barren world and its moon. Neither are the destination of the Arc Ship in the middle, as it passes through the system, leaving a trail behind. And for simplicitiy's sake, instead of making three Arc Ships for the design, there is just one which also symbolises unity, with three Zies standing in for the totality of the Arc Ships. The text is translate into "Flotilla". I aimed to make it all feel as though we're just passing through, on our way to greater things.

V: Don't get me wrong, darlin', but it does kinda look like a plug flyin' through space, lookin' for its socket. Not sayin' it ain't pretty, but yeah. Anyway, that's the minute of broadcast time ya paid for... But see me after the broadcast for some wine and stuff. Yea? Yea. Good

Anyway, on to the topic. Arc Ships. Ya see, we were kinda in a rush when we shot outta @republicmiora occupied space, so a few important things were forgot and behind, and a few more things we couldn't even get our hands on 'cause of the time crunch... But thanks to the Perate and Argent folks, we've got the three Arc Ships workin' properly. Or workin' well enough to actually be able to turn a profit.

Most important is Arc Ship Tangitus, the Arc ship of my family, the Chenucchi family. It's been retrofitted to become a mobile shipyard, poppin' out new baby ships is her job. A necessity if we're gonna be minin' and producin' on the go, especially if we lose ships 'cause a pirates and such. If ya know some basics about ships and engineerin' then this is the Arc ship for ya. It's gonna be some time before Tangitus can make some real beauties but for now, it can make Fleagrub and Beetlegrub class vessels, for transport and minin'.

Next up is the Arc Ship Shuarta, the Arc ship of the Xiementi family. It's been specialised for research, hydroponics, growth labs, that kinda stuff. How else we gonna stay on top of the cuttin' edge of technology? And of course we gonna keep the workers fed with nutrient goo, after all. Anyhoo, its crew is pretty selective about who works there, only the brightest and most obedient workers are invited to its decks. Wait what the brell is that tentacled thing? [PEW PEW] Ugh... I guess some lab mistakes are gonna happen... Ignore that!

Finally, Arc Ship Olezalit, the Arc ship of the Qinelli Family. Most of the minin' ships made on Tangitus get allocated there. They've got refineries and manufactories, but if that work's too hard, ya can always grab one of their suits and jump out at the nearest asteroid to earn a few zies. That's where mosta the roughnecks work outta, and honestly if ya got half a brain, they don't really give a dinzo. If ya can do manual labour and not get yerself killed, yer likely to get a berth on board.

Now, that ain't all the ships we got, but the Arc ships are pretty much where all the large-scale production goes down. We got plans to make more Arc ships in the future, but that ain't for a long while, got bigger priorities until then.

Yer probably wonderin' where we'll be takin' these beauties next. Well, that's a secret. We got some buyers lined up and they ain't exactly interested in havin' those details shared. We'll update y'all after, and hope to see ya soon. Voxong out.

Now, where's that pretty flag maker?

[hazygrains]

November 23 – 26, 2022 - Pt. I

At long last, Asis and I finally visited El Nido, Palawan from November 23 to 26, 2022. The whole family was initially supposed to go there in 2018. We already had our tickets, but due to budget constraints and other unknown reasons, we, siblings, and our partners decided not to go. My parents were the only ones who got to travel at that time. Another time was in 2020, when the pandemic upended everything. And finally, after two years, we were in El Nido, all thanks to my sister, who booked and gifted us these promo round-trip tickets ( ´ ▽ ` ).｡ｏ♡

Technically, we stayed in El Nido for only two days. The other two days were meant for travel time, to and fro. It was honestly exhausting to have to spend a day just to get to your destination. So time-consuming, but what can mere peasants do? We’re not wealthy enough to fly directly to El Nido.

Nov 23, Wednesday – We left home around 9 am, and arrived in Puerto Princesa around 3 pm. Thank heavens, the flight was smooth, no delays. But damn, we were overwhelmed when we got to NAIA Terminal 4 airport. It was extremely crowded, with tons of delayed flights, making it one of the worst airports in the world. Buuuut yea, it was really nice to ride an airplane again. We don’t always get to air travel, so being up in the sky is somewhat special to me. I'm truly amazed at how vast and beautiful the world is from a bird's-eye view. Being up in the sky always makes me feel tiny, like a speck of dust. Such a strange and amazing feeling.

Anyhoo, we rode a shared van when we arrived in Puerto that would transfer us to El Nido. The ride usually took 5 – 6 hours, but since we had to wait for other passengers, it took us 8 hours more or less. There was also a stopover where we had our dinner. We were also surprised at how nice the roads were in Palawan—much better than the roads and highways here in the metro. Must be nice to actually see proper outcomes to where our taxes go (」°ロ°)」 So yup, we arrived at our Airbnb at almost 11 pm.

The Airbnb I found was nice and cozy, just a room with a co-shared kitchenette and bathroom. It was close to everything, but at the same time, it was far from the noise and crowd. Our host, Jhustine, was accommodating and responsive as well.

Nov 24, Thursday – We booked a shared island tour A with APE Tours, as it was the most popular one and recommended by Jhustine. Although it was a bit more expensive compared to other agencies, it was worth it. We arrived just in time at the meeting place with 17 people in our group. The boat was nice and pretty big, with an upper deck. The tour inclusions were light breakfast, lunch, light snacks, beverages, free photos captured during our island-hopping experience, use of life vests, masks, and snorkel, environmental and entrance fees to the sites, and fun and professional crews. The weather was nice that day with only a few brief showers and drizzles. We even saw a rainbow near the rock formations, which was magical. I also learned how to properly use a snorkel, although I was panicking at times due to the presence of many fish. I just made sure Asis was near me or other tourists while snorkeling. They also played beach volleyball on our last island stopover. The tour ended around 5 pm, and it was a wonderful experience being basked in the beauty of El Nido. Grateful to be there. ♡

After our tour, we returned to our Airbnb, freshened up, and got hungry again. We checked out Jhustine’s clear book of rules and recommendations and chose Gibu’s Bulalo Plaza because we were both craving broth and seafood. Their food was cheap and delicious! We also explored the area and found streets full of busy restaurants, pubs, and shops, almost feeling like we were in a foreign country. There were foreigners everywhere, with only a few local tourists. We came across a Ukrainian brewery that served craft beers—IPA and stout. We stayed there for a while, and Asis finished his beers. We also got to watch a FIFA game between Uruguay and South Korea, which was fun as there were Uruguayans in the pub cheering loudly for their team. Afterward, we went back to our temporary home and called it a day. ♡

[yelenapines]

you MUST explain fluffyvenom…………. I’m invested

holy shit ok sit down because my sister literally thinks i'm insane for this

so. there's this movie called the bad guys right

(^ i already sound batshit crazy but its ok)

anyHOO

there are these two characters. wolf and snake.

and yea! they're very incredibly extremely homosexual. UNFORTUNATELY WHOEVER WROTE IT WAS TOO PUSSY AND DIDNT MAKE IT CANON BUT ITS CANON IN MY HEART OK

anyways. very silly and gay and i made a playlist for them like 14 months ago

and i honestly ate with that playlist

anygays. yeah

[gearbroth]

(TF2-Space AU)   Demosolly Uranus*Neptune

[wave-man]

[dirtangeldean]

i read that too fast maybe things are happening too much ill be back later 😅

[tenranfree]

There’s always a bigger fish lol ~

Ten may be the tallest party member (by now, he starts out tiny), but he’ll always be shorter than his Archfey boss. He’s not a warlock anymore, by the way. An ancient Mage offered Ten the chance to change his class and become a wizard, his life long dream.

Long story short he a wizard now. He still works for his old patron tho, out of loyalty. Anyhoo I like to imagine that Ten’s vain, self-involved patron would present himself both as an attractive humanoid and imposingly large. So the two big boys are Jack at the start or the campaign and Jack right now, going through his midlife crisis.

Oh yea and I also drew the rest of the party.

[thesoulbonder]

Fancy Hair :D

Hey peeps!

Here’s another incorrect quotes with my ocs!

These characters are Erzinti Karališkas and Yarrow Barclay! I haven’t drawn Erzinti on here before, but you all have seen Yarrow a couple of times.

Some stuff about these two for context:

Yarrow Barclay is the Prince of Valoris, and is the oldest child out of his five- four siblings. He’s the heir to his kingdom, and also happens to be in a relationship! His bae is Erna Karališkas, a prince from Valoris’s neighboring kingdom, Auksas. Those two have known each other for five years, have recently started dating, and it’s going very well!

Erna Karališkas is the Prince of Auksas, and also happens to be the oldest child in his family. He’s the heir to his kingdom, although that won’t come for awhile due to his family being elves, who have way longer life spans than average humans. Anyhoo, Erna loves his himbo Yarrow very much, and wants to spend the rest of his life by Yarrow’s side.

Erzinti Karališkas is the gremlin child shown above with Yarrow. She’s Erna’s younger sister, and is the Princess of Auksas. She doesn’t really care if she gets the throne or not, and just kind of vibes. She’s witty, a bit degrading, and picks her friends carefully. ‘Zinti is also a HUGE geography nerd, and wants to travel all over the world. Since she’s not old enough to leave the kingdom yet, she demands a geography fact from anyone visiting Auksas’s palace, and lives vicariously through those.

So yea! That’s these characters.

I’ve been working a bit more on worldbuilding for DnD OC’s, so I probably won’t have as many main group comics and such for a little while. Hope this suffices, though.

[koganeirou]

Ikemen Revolution - Fenrir’s Route

Aaaand here’s one for Fenrir’s route!

My main comments are: FUCK those avatar challenges. It took me five thousand years to finish this damn route because I was stuck grinding for Lin for five thousand years because according to cybird, I can’t get the good ending w ma man unless I look cute smh.

The night that Alice lands in Cradle, she pretty much goes out to the garden to sob her eyes out because of the stress of being killed (oh honey don’t worry this game doesn’t have any bad ends. If you were in a game like Amnesia then I’d start crying LMAO). Fenrir happens to see her and wipes her tears away (*๓´╰╯`๓). He decides to spend the month with Alice to make her have as much fun as possible, and makes her promise that so there will be no regrets, the two will not fall in love.

But we all know that’s not gonna happen.

I guess because the boys finally learned from Lancelot’s route to never send a nameless faceless nobody with Alice, Ray assigns Fenrir as her personal bodyguard. 

Fenrir takes it upon himself to be Alice’s personal tour guide, so they go on a date around the Central Quarter eating all kinds of sweets like a bunch of dorks D’AWW. Of course the red army are full of party poopers who crashes their alone time.

@Red army boys, I LOVE YOU ALL BUT YOUR SOLDIERS NEEDA CHILL. Like my grievances from Lancelot’s route carry over in twofold because the nameless red soldiers are once again, STILL a bunch of blood thirsty hooligans who are clearly letting “may glory flow crimson through our veins” slogan get to their heads WAYY too much. 

(☪̤̆_̆ ☪̤̆) THAT’S SO SPECIFIC LMAO.

But anyhoo I guess having a body guard with actual plot armor was really beneficial because Fenrir drives off all of the Red soldiers! And as it turns out, they were sent by Edgar (but of course why am I not surprised smh).

They return home and a few black army soldiers comes out shitting their pants because apparently there’s a ghost, and when Fenrir hears that HE shits his pants. 

Luka has his priorities straight.

Fenrir pussyfoots outside the army headquarters for a few minutes because GHOST but then big bear Sirius comes out RURL pissed because everyone keeps making a ruckus.

WHY DO I FIND THIS SO FUCKING FUNNY. LIKE IT’S PICTURE PERFECT. I CAN IMAGINE HIM DOING THIS IN MY HEAD FRAME BY FRAME.

So the ghost was actually a magic cult goon creeping around like a lech looking for women's’ underwear, whom Seth covered for. I had zero interest in Seth before but I do find it interesting that more hints about Seth’s connection to the magic cult goons are being dropped, and if anything it makes me want to play his route now.

I’d love to be your friend!!! But unfortunately Fenrir is a giant stick in the mud and won’t let me! But never fear because your route is coming out soon so soon I’ll be more than just your friend LOL!

 Fenrir gets news that some of their soldiers got cornered on the Red Bridge. Well what do you know, turns out the nameless red soldiers are still mad that they busted a nut in anticipation for nothing because they didn’t get to skewer any soldiers in Lancelot’s route, so now they’re taking out their pent up frustration here.

Luka hears the news as well and rushes to the red bridge just in time to see Jonah and the rest of the red soldiers man handling the black army soldiers (wtf Jonah I expected better of you). Luka goes from simmering with rage to boiling with rage and charges at the red soldiers. Obviously the red soldiers don’t care (or... they just can’t comprehend) that Luka is their superior’s freaking brother because all they can think about is reaping the reward for unnecessary stabbing and so they go into Ultimate Shish Kabobing Mode and decide to kill Luka.

Jesus christ... these fucking red soldiers. I am so sorry but I think the only people in this clown of an army that has any shred of honor or self control are the red army love interests LOL.

Anyway Fenrir drags Luka’s delirious bloody corpse back to the black army and the scene ain’t pretty. But it’s okay because we all know that this game doesn’t have the balls to actually kill anyone so it’s not like there’s any need to be worried.

See even Alice acknowledges it lol. This game’s too soft (not that that’s necessarily a bad thing... if I want angst I’ll just read fanfiction ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

Apparently the one who actually made swiss cheese of Luka was Jonah. At first I was just SO CONFUSION?? JONAH WOULD NEVER DO THAT! until this bomb dropped and my only reaction was honestly just “...yikes”.

CRIES @ MY HEART

Jonah sneaks into Black Territory unarmed and Fenrir decides to arrange for him to see Luka like a the great wingbro he is. Alice’s left awkwardly keeping Jonah company but the ice quickly breaks and they end up spending the day talking about Luka ♡(.◜ω◝.)♡.

Fenrir successfully sneaks Jonah into Luka’s room but the two end up just having a screaming match and Luka boots Jonah out of his room. Understandable, considering how all the red soldiers are like little kids that you needa put those backpack straps on because who knows what the fuck they’ll do if left to their own devices.

me whenever I have any kind of guests over.

eat my ass @ Sirius 

When it’s decided that the Black and Red army are gonna go to war for realsies, Alice requests to go onto the battle field with Fenrir so she can repel magic. Sirius freaks out going all like “ojou-chan, you mustn’t! It’s not a walk in the park!!” but Alice ain’t having any of that and essentially tells Sirius to eat her ass. Fenrir being the amazing bro he is sticks up for Alice and asks Ray if he can take her with him, swearing he’ll protect her. Ray’s like sigh fine. This scene was honestly my favourite because I loved how much confidence Fenrir had in Alice and how he respected her desire to help. Unlike a certain someone ੧| ‾́ェ ‾́ |੭ (totally not throwing shade at Sirius LMAO).

CRIES SOME MORE THAT’S SUCH A CUTE NICKNAME.

I could have asked the exact same thing of you Sirius.

The rest of the Black Army can clearly see sparks flying between Fenrir and Alice but unfortunately, Fenrir has to join Sirius in the emotional constipation of “what is this feeling in my chest?! Definitely not love!” Granted Fenrir has an excuse because of the promise he made her, but it’s still frustrating nonetheless.

oh my god can you shut up about this dumbass slogan for one minute. 

Ngl despite the heart warming moment of resolve when Fenrir decides to take Alice into battle, it’s pretty damn hard to take the war seriously because it feels like a bunch of 14 year old teenagers doing a play-war considering of how almost comedic it is. Again, I’m not saying that this game needs to be an angst fest where everyone dies, but for a story about two armies on the brink of war, it does a pretty bad job at building any real tension or showing this war as a source of any real conflict with any real stakes or any real consequences.

I totally *do not* dislike that nickname 👀

We cut back to the red army who are all quite frazzled because they all had that “oh fuck” moment when they realized that they’re getting their asses whooped by the black army.  Lancelot decides to stay his hand, whereas Jonah rages at Edgar’s incompetence but Edgar’s ultimately like “¯\_(ツ)_/¯ King’s orders”.

Alice you’re doing amazing, sweetie.

Alice continues to fight with Fenrir on the front lines but she realizes that she really loves him and she doesn’t want to go home anymore! UNFORTUNATELY FOR HER, our lovely gentleman Fenrir “this feeling in my chest is totally love but I WON’T ADMIT IT!” Godspeed repeatedly dodges her attempts at confessing (¬_¬). GOOD SIR I KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING. You’re just trying to put off having a heart to heart about your feelings until the full moon so you can boot Alice back to her world without ever having to talk about it (ლಠ益ಠ)ლ.

Alice tries once again for the nth time to confess her feelings to Fenrir but this time they’re interrupted by the magic cult goons who are hell bent on capturing Alice. This plays out exactly as you’d predict and the two get cornered at a cliff LOL. Alice gets blown off the cliff and Fenrir jumps after her to save her.

This, my friends, is what we call: plot armor.

They miraculously (and conveniently) survive their fall and end up in the castle ruins in the forbidden forest. I guess being lost in an abandoned forest with a totally not haunted castle next to them sets the mood for sexy time because they end up making out like their life depends on it. Conveniently, without actually saying they love each other ლ(ಠ_ಠლ). 

GUYS... THE DRIVER IS LITERALLY RIGHT THERE.... GUYS....

They make it back to Black Territory in one piece with the help of Loki and Harr and Ray loses his shit because he thought they died T T T.  Fenrir is sent back to the front lines and Alice is totally ready to go back and kick some ass but I guess all the fire and confidence in this power couple completely deflated because Fenrir becomes Sirius 2.0 and refuses to take Alice SMH. 

Alice finds Fenrir boarding a carriage to leave, and she stops him and tries to tell him that she loves him. Fenrir responds by pulling Alice into the carriage with him and at this point I was HYPED because “is he actually gonna take her with him?!?!” but my hopes are quickly dashed when he shoves her into the carriage, initiates round 2 of INTENSE MAKE OUT SESSION LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT..... then throws Alice’s sad ass back out of the carriage and leaves her behind once he’s finished (┛ಠДಠ)┛彡┻━┻.

UGH! FENRIR! JUST--- AGHHHHHHH. 

YOU CAN SAY THAT AGAIN. Like yea sex is great, but have you ever heard of proper verbal communication??

(I also find it funny how the driver was just sitting there the entire time they were making out doing a big boi sweat).

me with group assignments in school.

Fenrir comes back on the night of the full moon and Alice for the 100TH DAMN TIME IN THIS ROUTE, tries to tell him that she doesn’t want to go home, but Fenrir, again, dashes her hopes and tells her she has to go back he won’t be able to protect her all the time. Which we all know is bullshit, but nevertheless Alice decides to listen to him. 

Ha ha ha you are so full of shit.

And so Alice once again goes to the gates of hell garden portal which I officially dub as “The Hole Where Bad Things Happen” or more accurately, “The Hole That No Player Ever Wants To See”. 

Anyhoo Alice leaps back home and spends about a month moping in London until one day a black army soldier comes to London and begs Alice to go back with him because Fenrir’s in danger! Alice, having literally zero self preservation because I guess her time on the battle field taught her jack shit, blindly follows this fellow back to Cradle and the moment she arrives, the guy reveals himself to be a magic cult goon and so she’s kidnapped and taken to Amon’s sex dungeon.

Look. I’m not gonna accuse Alice of “dumb mc syndrome” and I don’t necessarily blame her for falling for it but at the same time, COME ON. THIS IS THE DUMBEST PLOT POINT EVER. Of all the possible reasons she comes back to Cradle, THIS IS THE ONLY THING THEY COULD THINK OF? What makes it so aggravating is that it’s stated multiple times that any person from Reason can repel magic, so if that’s the case, the cult goons could have just kidnapped any random off the street instead of wasting time and energy looking for Alice. And if they could conveniently stroll into the land of Reason, why didn’t they do that ages ago?!

You know that writing rule “make your villains smarter, not your protagonists dumber”, or something like that? Well in this case, everyone is dumb!

Anyway during the month Alice was gone, Lancelot finally decides to stop going radio silent and consults the Black Army about Amon and his weed stash. This felt really convenient and almost inconsistent with Lancelot’s character because in the other routes he was hell bent on not talking unless 100% cornered, but in Fenrir’s route he spills the beans like it’s no big deal. 

Fenrir hears the news of Alice being kidnapped by Amon and the Black army pretty much storms into the Magic Tower and fishes Alice out. Amon finally reveals himself but honestly he doesn’t put up much of a fight because Fenrir shoots him with one of those hiccuping guns and that’s enough to deflate all of Amon’s fighting spirit lmao so he gets arrested in the end. Talk about anti climatic as hell. This entire thing just felt really stupid because if all they had to do with storm the damn tower, they should have done so ages ago.

Admittedly I do like the resolution to this whole fiasco. Fenrir is totally ready to get down and dirty, but before that Fenrir and Alice actually, finally, and at long last, properly talk about their feelings and sort out their relationship mess. 

Dramatic End:

Alice officially joins the Black Army, and they hold her enrollment ceremony. Hosting it is usually Ray’s job since he’s king but since Alice is his best friend’s babe, he decides to let Fenrir take over. Unfortunately, Fenrir can’t keep his excitement in check and ends up picking Alice up and spinning her around in joy ╭(๑ ॔ㅂ ਂ ॓)و ̑̑. THIS WAS SO CUTE I LOVE THIS ENDING.

-----

Honestly I have a lot of mixed feelings about this route. There’s the good, the bad, and the ugly, but since I don’t wanna end this post on a salty note so I’ll just start with the ugly and work my way up.

The Ugly: The route starts losing momentum their promise of not falling in love morphs into the source for Fenrir’s self cockblock fest for the rest of the route and him repeatedly rebuffing Alice’s attempts to tell him she wants to stay in Cradle became unbearable frustrating. Playing Sakuya’s route in Norn9 alongside Fenrir’s route did not help at all because his route also had a “promise of not falling in love” premise and had the exact same problems as Fenrir’s route so honestly my frustration was just doubled at this point.

The Bad: The plot is balls off the rail in the second half if it isn’t obvious enough from my complaints earlier. The Hole That No Player Ever Wants to See making a reappearance in Fenrir’s route kills a lot of the build up between Alice and Fenrir and there was honestly no point of having Alice go back to London. The circumstances that lead her to returning were so stupid it had me head banging against the wall.

The Good: I think Fenrir and Alice have a very strong “friends to lovers” romance going on and it was honestly really sweet and wholesome. I loved how their friendship and subsequent romance builds them both up and makes them better people-- they’re both stronger together, they’re equals, they’re partners. You really get a sense of camaraderie between the two and their relationship is founded on mutual respect, understanding, trust, and confidence in each other which I’m 100% on board with. Fenrir taking Alice onto the battle field with him is a testament of the rock solid trust between them. They have a very strong partner in crime vibe that I love! 

I adore how Fenrir refers to Alice as his “best friend” or his “best buddy” and it was just so cute, it made my heart swell because I’m a firm believer that your s/o SHOULD be your best friend.

Overall imo, Fenrir’s route is about on par with Lancelot’s, though it has higher highs and lower lows than Lancelot’s route did.

Anyway, I’m making my way through Edgar’s route currently (♥ω♥*).

[callmebliss]

Last week I posted a selfie elsenet and a friend asked what products I use for making my curly hair do the thing

I just finally got round to replying to them, and figured I’d share the info here as well. So, here is a Selfie and a Shitty How To that Nobody Asked For!

I get in the shower, and wet my hair. If it seems in need of shampooing, I use Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus Curl & Shine Shampoo https://amzn.to/2TWcJEA and then rinse it out.

I follow it up with the same brand and type of Conditioner (both are at that link as a set; I get it at CVS usually but it's also at Target and Big Y and so is probably also available someplace local to you, just hunt around for good pricing) which I leave in while I do all the other full-body ablutions.

To rinse out the conditioner, I bend over and flip my hair forward, and carefully detangle with a wide-tooth comb like yea https://amzn.to/2ttNMoB - I got mine at the dollar store, I think, and it looks pretty much like this except the plastic is black instead of tortoiseshell. There are ones with handles out the side, or with longer teeth and handles off the back; find one that works for you. Once I've got the main tangles out I just keep combing but under the shower water, so the conditioner rinses out and my hair is doing the detangly wetwiggles

I switch the shower to the tub faucet and then, with my hair still DRIPPY wet, I apply a Burts Bees pre-shampoo treatment, probably around a teaspoonful at most, by squirting it into the palm of one hand and then rubbing my hands together and skating it gently over my hair. I THINK this might be it but can't be certain because I am too made of lazy to go look right now and also am horrified that the thing I got on grocery store clearance might have been phased out for this other thing.... https://amzn.to/2BIhP07 I'll check later to be sure. Anyway, once I've roughly applied it all over, I gather my hair in my palms (with my head still tilted forward, as when I was rinsing the conditioner) from the roots up to my scalp and squeeeeeeeeeze excess moisture out. I do this a few times, until the water just kinda drips out instead of streaming out, and my hairwiggles are more curlyclumpy than long and woobly.

I get out of the shower and dry off my bod and put on my clothes, trying not to mess with my hair too much

I apply product to my hair to help with holding in the shapey goodness. Two squirts into my palm of L'Oreal Sculpt & Hold Sulfate Free Cream-gel, which I rub between my palms and fingers and distribute pretty much the same way I did the Burts Bees stuff, skating my palms along the length of my locks. I also try to worm my fingers into my hair close to my scalp, in to hopes to help it hold some volume there.

Hair dryer time! I picked up a hair dryer at CVS because I had a 40% off coupon AND they were having a deal that would get me 10 ExtraBucks, which basically meant I got a $36 hair dryer with attachments for like $10. #WINNING AAAAAAAANYway, I got a hair dryer that has a diffuser attachment, which makes the end of your hair dryer kind of look like the mouth of a trumpet if that trumpet also had the tentacles of a really stubby tentacle monster coming out of it. And we all know how I feel about tentacle monsters. It's approximately this one https://amzn.to/2DToV2b except this one has a rainbow finish for Extra Bonus Gaaaaaaaaay (always a plus). On the downside this has the switches horizontal along one side, which seems awkward to me; mine are stacked vertically and like triggers, so I get to feel like a curl-makey cowboy, heckin yes y'all! Anyhoo, I do a similar thing with the hairdryer to when I squeeze the water out of my hair; I have the diffuser attachment on, and use it to scoop my tilted-forward hair from the tips up to the roots, letting it pool in its natural curl formation in the bowl of the diffuser. I turn the dryer on (usually warm, not hot - it's just what works for me) with the stubby tentacles of the diffuser lightly against my scalp, and scroll Tumblr or whatever on my phone in my free hand for a minute or three. Then I hold down the COLD button, because cold hair helps your curls retain the shape you have gotten them dried into. I think of it being kind of like when you're felting wool and you use hot water to make it do the thing and then cold to chill it out and keep it that way. I shut the air off, withdraw the dryer from my hair, shift it to another damp part of my head, and repeat hotblow-coldshot ad nauseum until it's done or my neck is sore and I am out of fucks to give.

Then I take a selfie to share with the internet because Hot Damn

Feel free to ask more questions - this has taken a lot of trial and error to get to and will probably still have some more.

[harryfeatgaga]

Aahhh i love that our we share our love for the haunted!! The only "known" haunted places I've been to are The Stanley (DUH!) and the conjuring. I'm only 21 so my parents were definitely hesitant for letting me go to such places, but ig that's what friends are for, yk? Convincing your parents?😉 Anyhoo, unfortunately i wasn't able to see a lot at The Stanley, also maybe bc we didn't really visit the other parts of the hotel and just wandered the corridors of the hotel instead of like going to the different rooms and halls of the hotel that are walking distance from the hotel. But that was like the first place I'd gone w the intention of finding something or seeing(?) something/someone? I've visited a few small houses and streets that are haunted (allegedly) Umm, yea. And then there's the conjuring. The visit to the conjuring is v recent. My boyfriend, two of my best friends and i had gone over the weekend as the prices are little less expensive than they are on the weekdays, plus, as a grp, we got off easy.

I think this post's already too long but lemme know if you wanna know anything, paige! Also, excuse any spelling or grammatical errors above, have not proofread haha!

THATS SO FUCKING COOOOL OH MY GOD ILL TAKE ANY STORIES YOU HAVE I LOVE THIS SHIT

Anonymous asked: Wait medium anon, can you come to my house?? My parents house has ghosts and I would love that know who they are. I have an idea but some things don't add up so I fear we might have multiple bshxhdhdb

PLEKAMJNSBDHFCV

[jolienjoyswriting]

Healing Hearts, Ch. IV

The final chapter (Chapter 4) of "Healing Hearts," an Essence of Ragnarok story. (Originally Chapter 3)

Joseph really does and have complicated love-life, doesn't he? Hope's way of doing things is far less stressful.

Word count: 6,626 – Character count: 37,750 Originally written: December 14th, 2018

Jessica and Hope decide to confront the problem head-on.

[ ↶ Prev. Story | ← Prev. Chapter | Next Chapter → | Next Story ↷ ]

    Hey.

    You’re still probably mad, but Hope and I want you to come over to her place for lunch at the end of the week!  I’m making PIZZA~  Oh and I wanna talk about stuff.  INTERESTED?  :3

    After her last shift for the week ended, that was the text message Jessica sent to Joseph’s phone.  Soon after, she put her flat-panel phone in her pocket, looked up at the moon, and took a long, cathartic drag from the cigarette in her mouth before blowing smoke into the clear night air.     “This’d better work…” she said to herself.  “Otherwise, I dunno what else t’ try…”

    The next day, as Jessica was shopping at her favorite grocery chain, she felt her phone buzz in her rear pocket.  She withdrew it, gave it a poke, then went wide-eyed in surprise.

    Okay.

    That was all the response Joseph had given her.

    Okay? she replied.  She must have waited for a good five minutes… but, it didn’t seem like the fox was in the mood to send a follow-up.     Shit, she thought.  I guess I’ll tell Hope t’ either expect ‘im or don’t…  ‘f ‘e flakes?     She grinned, then.     More pizza fer us!

    Two days later, Jessica drove into Masamune City and headed to Hope’s apartment – a journey that was more-than-familiar to her, by that point.  She parked outside of the complex, retrieved her stuff from the back seat, and closed the door.  A minute later, she walked up to Hope’s door and gave it a knock.     “Yo, Blueberry!” she called.  “It’s me!”     “What’s the password?” is what she heard, next.     “‘Open th’ dang door!’” was her “guess.”  When there was no response, she added a polite, but sharp, “Please.”     “Close enough!”     The door swung open, revealing the form of the short, blue-haired girl.  However, Jessica immediately noticed…     “Wuh?  You look diff’rent…”

    “Different?” Hope said as she stood aside to let the taller girl in.  “I just put on leggings because I know Joseph likes leg-wear…”     “‘Kay, but… yer hair’s diff’rent, too!”     “O-oh, you noticed?”     She fidgeted before twirling a lock of her blue hair around her finger.  As Jessica had noted, it was worn loose, but hung down to her mid-back, instead of stopping at her shoulders…     “I… remember Joseph saying something about liking girls with longer hair?  S-so, I had my friend – the one I go to for cosmetic touch-ups – extend my hair, a little, while he was patching the holes you made in my skin.  Do– do you think Joseph will notice…?”     “One can… hope!” Jessica joked.  Hope giggled a little, then gave a nod.

    “Anyhoo…”  Jessica walked into the kitchen and set two bags on the counter.  “I brought over some dough I made fer a pizza, right?  Plus, some sauce, a bunch’a meat, a couple diff’rent cheeses, ‘n some chopped veggies – ‘cuz why not?  I a’so grabbed some hot wings ‘n mozzarella cheese sticks, plus a liter bottle’a cola!  Even wid th’ three of us, we ought’a have plen’y t’ munch on!  We might even send Josey home wid some leftovers!”     “That sounds wonderful!” Hope said as she clapped her hands together.  “One question?”     “Yea’?”     “What can I do to start helping you?”     The bat-girl tilted her head.  Hope was giving her a bright, almost anxious sort of smile and seemed to be leaning toward the bags.     “Uhh… well… everything’s kind’a… a’ready made up…?” Jessica skittishly told her.  “Um, you can pre-heat th’ oven, if ya–”     “What temperature should I set it to?”     She gave a blink.  Hope had already zoomed over to her oven.     “Uh… how high can it go?”     “About… 250 degrees, give-or-take!”     “Then, crank that bad boy up!”     Hope tilted her head.  “Don’t you normally cook pizza at 175 degrees?”     “Frozen pizza, sure!” Jessica told her as she started with withdraw ingredients.  “But, this ain’ no frozen pizza, babe!”     “I’ve never made hand-made pizza, before…” the other girl commented as she set the knob on her oven as high as it would go.  “I’ll have to take your word for it.”     “Hones’ly, 260’s what I usually do.  But, 250 ain’ bad!”     “I see…”     Hope quietly hummed before walking back over to the counter.

    “What else can I do for you?”     “Get me some parchment paper?”     “What?”  Hope gave a confused look.     “Parchment paper!”  Jessica tilted her head.  “Bakin’ paper?  S’like wax paper, but it’s made’a silicone, so it dun burn easy.”     “Ah.”  The girl paused, then she said, “I don’t have any.”     “Uh…”  Jessica looked her way.  “Don’t s’pose ya gotta bakin’ stone, neither?”     “Sorry…  I’ve never had a use for one.”     “Sheeeiiit.”  The bat shook her head.  “‘f I’d known, I would’a brought my sis’ bakin’ stone.  She’s th’ one what taught me how t’ make real good pizza!”     “Can… can we use a baking pan, instead?” Hope asked as she fidgeted with her hair.     “We’re gonna have to, I guess…”  Jessica sighed before telling her, “Grab yer biggest bakin’ pan ‘n we’ll see what we ‘ave t’ work wid.”

    The redhead patiently waited, leaning against the counter with crossed arms.  Hope was taking a while to rummage through her cabinets.  When she finally withdrew and showed her biggest baking pan, though…     “Oh, come-the-fuck-on!”     It was barely big enough for a personal pan pizza.

    “Unbelievable… un-fuckin’-believable!” the bat huffed.        “Jessica…?”     She had walked over and turned the oven off, then left the kitchen.  When Hope stepped out to follow, she noticed that her friend had pulled her car keys out.     “Jessica, where–”     “I’mma go buy some freakin’ parchment paper,” she half-growled without looking at Hope.  “Stay here.  If Joe comes by, tell ‘im we hit a snag wid lunch.”     “Can I do–”     “No.”  Jessica paused… then, she turned toward the other girl.  “Wait, yes.”     She gave a blink of her green eyes and offered a friendly smile.  “What can I do?”     “Put th’ soda ‘n th’ fridge, put th’ wings ‘n sticks ‘n th’ freezer, then… I– I dunno, have a seat ‘n wait, I guess!  Fuckin’… hrmph.”

    After giving those instructions, Jessica left in a hurry, driving out of parking lot like a woman possessed!  Hope couldn’t help but frown…     I had one job! she internally shouted as she walked back into the kitchen.  All I had to do was have a baking sheet big enough!  The only thing I’ve ever baked on one these was some cookies, or a frozen lasagna…  You don’t even need a big sheet for those.     She deeply sighed as she put away the things Jessica had told her to.     I know it’s not my fault… but, I can’t help but feel like it is.

    Hope spent the next twenty minutes finding ways to pass the time.  She was too upset with herself to draw and didn’t feel like reading.  She’d thought about listening to music, but she knew she’d still have to find something to actually do.  In the end, she wound up seated in front of her television, watching some random infomercial about a sealant that, allegedly, could fix any-and-all car tires.     Hmph.  What a load of malarkey, she thought with a scowl.  If it were that easy to reliably repair a car tire, business wouldn’t be nearly as good, at work!  Why, people would never have to buy another tire or have the ones they owned looked at, ever again!  Yet, that’s exactly what this infomercial is promising!  Ridiculous!  And, yet…     She shook her head with another sigh.     There are people who would purchase this product and expect the miracles it promises.  Those people are, usually, the ones who end up needing to replace a tire, completely.     Her scowl deepened and her brow lowered.     “Miracle” products, like this, should be outlawed!

    After a few more minutes of watching – largely, because the skits were actually kind of amusing – Hope turned the television off.  She could hear a car parking, outside.     That didn’t take too long, she thought as she stood up and walked to the door.  She waited… then, when she heard a knock on her door, she called out…     “Come in!”     She wore a cheerful smile, her hands behind her back and her excitement building.  With Jessica’s return, they could finally begin on that pizza she wanted to make!  Unfortunately…     “Hey…”     It wasn’t Jessica who’d opened the door.

    “J-Joseph…!”     Hope was genuinely surprised to see the amber-furred fox standing there, dressed in a long coat and newsboy cap, both black-in-color.  His face was hidden under a scarf… but, his eyes seemed friendly enough.  His ears, though, were folded back…

    “May I come in?” the fox asked.     The android fidgeted, suddenly running her hands through a length of her hair.  She really hadn’t been expecting Joseph so soon.  Why was he standing there, though?  She knew she’d said, “come in…”  Maybe, he’d misheard her?     “I-I– s-sure!  Yes!” she stammered.  “Please, come in!”     “Is this a bad time?”  Joseph tilted his head before asking, “Should I come back?”     “N-no!  I just…”     Hope closed her eyes and took a cleansing breath.  She didn’t know why she felt so nervous…  She had seen Joseph a million times, before – at least half of those being at her place.  Yet, seeing him arrive, that afternoon, made her feel more nervous than she’d felt in a long while.

    “I’m sorry…” she eventually apologized, looking at him with a soft smile.  “Jessica just left to buy some parchment paper, so I assumed you were her.”     “Well, I’m not.”     The way he practically spat those words made Hope wince.     “What I mean to say is–”     “No.  I get it.  You’d rather see her than me.”     “What…?”     “That’s fine.”  Joseph shrugged.  “I’m used to people abandoning me, by now.”     “Joseph… that’s not at all what–”     “I knew this was a waste of time…”  The fox sighed.  “See ya…”     “Jo– Joseph!  Wait…!”

    Hope reached out, grabbing Joseph by the arm as he tried to escape.     “Why did you stop me?” he calmly asked without looking back.  “I’m not your girlfriend.  I’m just some fox that–”     He suddenly stopped talking.  He wasn’t sure until he looked down… but, Hope had pulled herself close, pressing against his back, and wrapped her arms around his midsection.     “I missed you…” she whimpered.  “Please, don’t go…”     “You… missed me?”     The squeeze he got seemed to be all the answer the girl could muster.  When he turned around, moments later, his expression softened and his normally-lazy eyes opened.     “Hey…  I– I’m sorry…  Don’t cry.”     “I can’t help it…” Hope quietly confessed as she smiled up to him with wet eyes.  “I-it’s only been a few days, but I really missed you…!  I don’t want you to leave so soon…”     “W… well, then?  I… won’t?”     Her smile brightened and she gave him another hug – one that he hesitantly returned.     “I…”     It seemed like he was going to say something… but, after another moment…     “Thank you for inviting me over.”     He decided to say that, instead.

    After leading Joseph into her apartment and taking his coat, scarf, and hat, Hope spent a moment calming herself down.  She hadn’t been lying… she really was excited to see Joseph!  But, she was hesitant to tell him how excited.  She knew that, regardless of what happened or how… she was walking on eggshells, when it came to him.  Any wrong thing could set him off, make him grab his stuff and leave…  She had to be careful about what she said…  Doubly-so, what she did.

    “Are you thirsty…?” she asked as he sat in her chair.  “We have soda, if you want?  Or, water?  Milk?  Juice?”     “I’m alright, thanks.”     Hope was on high-alert as Joseph spoke.  His words seemed calm… but, she didn’t want to let her guard down.  She was prepared to do more damage control, should the need arise.

    “I… I’m sorry for not having anything ready to eat,” she decided to tell him.  “We were going to make this awesome pizza… but, I didn’t have any parchment paper, or a baking stone… then, you popped up before Jessica came back… and, now?  Um… here we are!”     She nervously giggled and fidgeted with her hands.  Joseph was looking around her apartment with slight disinterest in her words.     “Um…  Once Jessica comes back, she’ll start making the pizza!  Again, I’m sorry…”     Joseph remained silent, his ears half-curled and his eyes roaming the living room.  His body language – which showed no apparent signs – didn’t give Hope anything more to work with.  He didn’t seem too tense… but, he clearly wasn’t relaxed, either.     “Can…  Um…  Is there…  Um…”     “Hope?”     The girl jolted.  Joseph was suddenly staring right at her.     “Y-yes, Joseph?”     “Why did Jessica invite me over… if she’s not even here?”     “Sh-she was here!” she quickly answered.  “Like I said, she’ll be back, soon!  I promise!”     A heavy silence fell over the room as Hope nervously looked at her friend.  He was giving her a fairly intense stare…

    “You… did something with your hair,” he said after a few seconds.     “Oh!  Y-yes!”  Hope turned around, showing him.  “I had it extended!”     “Did Jessica suggest that?”     “What?”  She turned back around and gave a worried look.     “Did Jessica suggest that?” he repeated, his golden eyes looking into her green orbs.     “No… I did this.  W-well, not myself!” she corrected.  “I mean… it was my idea.  I…”     Her eyes looked at the floor and she nervously rubbed her index fingers together.     “I thought you might like it…”     “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with long hair…”  The fox paused.  “Well, except for that one time…  Back when I originally met you?  How long ago was that?”     “Do you mean… nine years ago…?  When I first came here?”     “Was it that long ago…?  Damn…  Time flies, huh?”  Joseph finally smiled as he said, “But, yeah.  That first time I saw you.  Heh, it’s not every day I see such a cute, blue-haired maid wandering around, looking bewildered.”

    The girl’s eyes widened, her face becoming almost rosy…     “You remember that…?”     “Like I said…”  He shrugged and grinned.  “You weren’t exactly an everyday sight.”     “We barely talked for two minutes!” she laughed.  “How do you even remember that?”     “I guess… seeing you with long hair must’ve jump-started my brain.”  The fox chuckled.  “Man… you looked pretty, in that maid outfit.”     Hope’s eyes practically sparkled with joy.  Joseph was complimenting her!     “I… I still have that uniform…”  She swallowed before asking, “Do… you want me to put it on, for you?”     “I mean… do whatever you want to do, I guess?”     Her heart sank, then.  Joseph had looked away.  His interest in the topic had waned.  Almost immediately, she knew that she’d made a mistake.     I was having such a pleasant conversation, before I said that!  Now isn’t the time for dress-up!  What was I thinking?! she scolded herself.  I need to–

    “Are you cold?”     “Wha’?”     Hope snapped out of her thoughts.  Joseph was staring at her, again.     “I said, ‘are you cold?’”     “I…”  She almost considered saying that she doesn’t get cold.  Instead, though…     “Why?  If you don’t mind my asking, I mean…”     “I just noticed… you’re wearing the leggings Carlos got you.  Not the shirt, though.”     He noticed!  If she could… she would have blushed.     “I… remember you saying something about liking leg-wear?” she told him, continuing to be as honest as possible.     “Yes, but I thought you didn’t care for leg-wear.  You said you ‘didn’t need it.’”     Again, she had to stifle herself to keep from agreeing with him.     “I… put them on.  For you,” she instead confessed.     “You… really?”     “Y… yes.”  The girl nervously smiled.  “Like I said… I remember you like them.”     “Does Jessie like them?”     Her smile faded, but she maintained her composure.     “I didn’t put them on for her.  I put them on for you!”     “So you say…”     She fought the urge to scowl as Joseph turned away, again.  She was starting to get a little impatient… but, she didn’t want to do anything to upset him, if she could help it.

    “Heh.”     Hope softly blinked.  Her friend had chuckled.     “What?” she innocently asked.     “It’s just… it’s funny.”     She tilted her head, absentmindedly playing with her long hair.  “What’s funny?”     “It’s funny… that you did something with your hair, and you put on those cold weather leggings, just for me.”     “I would do anything for you…” she said before she could stop herself.     “Really.”

    Hope put both hands over her mouth, one crossing over the other.  She knew she shouldn’t have said that… knew that she shouldn’t have been so honest about her feelings, considering they weren’t on good terms…  But, she wasn’t worried about herself.  She was worried that acting so desperate might run Joseph off, again.  Still, when he turned his head her way and gave an almost knowing smile… she guessed that she hadn’t said anything too terrible…

    “You’d do anything for me, you say?” he asked her.  When she hesitantly nodded, he hummed before saying, “Then, tell me something.”     “O-okay…” was her nervous response.  “Like what…?”     “Tell me why Jessica really called me here.”     Hope suddenly realized she never asked Jessica what her invitation actually said, so she asked… “W… what did she say…?”     “She said she wanted to talk.”  Her smile faded and he gave the girl a stern look.  “What does she want to talk about?”     “I… we…”     “‘You, we,’ what?”     Hope didn’t like being put on-the-spot, like that.  Joseph was pressing her for information… information that she wasn’t sure would be wise to give, so quickly.  She bit her lower lip and ran her hands over her hair, looking away…

    “Can… you just wait until she comes back?” is what she eventually ended up asking.     “That depends.”  Joseph crossed his arms.  “What, exactly, do you two want from me?”     “We just want to talk…  About… you know… things…” she half-whispered.     “What sort of things?”     “Things… a-and… stuff…”     “Hope,” he flatly said, getting her attention.  “Just tell me what I want to know.”     “We want to… want to talk about…”     He narrowed his eyes as her voice faded.     “Hope.  I’m getting impatient.  Now, tell me what–”     “Yo, I’m back!”

    Both parties jolted at the sound of a door being flung open and a voice booming into the room.  Jessica had finally come back, wearing a grin and carrying a shopping bag.  The instant she saw Joseph sitting there, though…     “Shit–!  Uh– I mean…”     The redhead cleared her throat before trying again.     “Wuddup, Josey!” she greeted as she walked inside.  “Glad t’ see ya finally made it!”     Joseph was quick to narrow his eyes at the bat-girl.     “Oh, what?”  She widely grinned.  “Jus’ ‘cuz I beat ya up wid yer own car, yer gonna gimme th’ stink-eye?”     “Yes,” was his cold response.     “W-well!  Uh…”     Somehow, Jessica hadn’t been expecting that.  So…     “I’m… gonna… go make pizza, now– ‘bye!”     She awkwardly scurried by the other two and headed into the kitchen.

    “This was a waste of time…”     Hope blinked, then she reached out to Joseph.  He’d stood up and seemed ready to make his way to the door, again.     “Joseph, wait!  Can’t you– can’t you wait until the pizza’s ready, at least…?  You came all this way!  I’d feel bad if you went away without something yummy in your tummy…”     “Knowing Jessica?” he scoffed.  “She’ll probably poison my slices.”     “I heard that!” came her voice from the kitchen.     “Yeah?  Then, hear this: I never want to see you, again, either!  How about that?  In fact, I don’t want to see either of you, again!”     With that, he spun on his heel…     “What– let go!”     Only to be stopped by Hope, for the second time that afternoon.

    “No!” she cried, giving him a stern glare.     Again, he opened his mouth to speak… but, for some reason, nothing came out.  All he could do was stare at her, his face twitching and expression locked into a state of irritated confusion.

    “Listen, Joseph…” she told him, sounding angry.  “We need to have this talk!  I refuse to let things stay like this!”     “What’s that supposed to mean?” he half-spat.     “It means…” Jessica called from the kitchen, “she ain’ gonna let’cha throw away a good thing like yer friendship jus’ ‘cuz yer bein’ a boob!  ‘n, I don’t mean th’ soft, warm kind!”     “What do you know?!”     “I know that’cha all-but fuckin’ broke Hope’s heart!”     The bat stomped out of the kitchen, immediately setting a furious gaze upon the fox.     “D’you have any idea what kind’a mis’ry she’s been through jus’ ‘cuz ya been off ‘n yer own li’l world?!  She.  Missed.  Work.  ‘Cuz’a you!”     “Jessica, stop!” Hope called.  She winced, then, as Joseph yanked his arm free.     “Big whoop!” he shouted back.  “It’s not like Hope cares how I feel!”     “S’a’ways gotta be ‘bout you, huh?  Well, get this through yer thick-fuckin’-skull!”     Jessica sharply jabbed the fox right on the forehead.     “She ain’ been sleepin’, ‘cuz’a you!  She went crazy, thinkin’ ‘bout what you said!  She couldn’ understand why ya was actin’ so fucked up jus’ ‘cuz’a me!  But, then she found out!”     “J-Jessica, no!” Hope cried, giving her a wide-eyed look.     “‘She found out’ what?” Joseph asked with a growl.     “She found out… that’cha been seein’ anudder girl!”     The room fell into a moment of silence before Joseph flatly said, “What.”     “Tha’s right, boyo!  Secret’s out!  After ya tol’ us both t’ fuck off, Hope saw ya wid some other girl!”     Joseph’s face twitched… then, he looked at Hope.     “What did you see, exactly?” the fox said in a lethally-sharp, ice-cold way.     Hope hesitated, gritted her teeth, and looked on the verge of panicking.  Eventually, she sighed and admitted…     “I saw you… hanging out with Miss Raine.”

    Both Jessica and Joseph blinked at that statement… though, for vastly different reasons.     “You… saw me hanging out with Miri?” Joseph asked.     “I… I didn’t want to tell you… I didn’t want to worry you…!  But…”     Hope looked up at her boyfriend with crying eyes that were filled with conflict.     “I… I got jealous!”     “You… you… you got jealous…?” he repeated in confusion.  When Hope gave an enthusiastic nod, Joseph’s expression faltered further.  He couldn’t believe what he’d just heard.  And… neither could Jessica.

    “Hang– hang on!” the bat interjected, getting both of their attention.  “Ya saw who?”     “Miss Miranda Raine,” Hope explained, giving Jessica a look.  “I saw the two of them, together.  They were… they were being so friendly…”     “I… what?”  Jessica looked confused.  “When’d this happen…?”     “I told you!” the blue-haired girl exclaimed.  “Remember?  A few days ago?”     “Blueberry, I dun–”     “I told you… all… about… it… when we went swimming.”     Her face twitched and she blinked, again.  Hope was still crying… but, the look on her face wasn’t one of sorrow.  It was one of a girl who had a plan.     She’s… she’s lyin’! Jessica suddenly realized.  ‘n… she wants me to��     “Sh-shit, yer righ’,” the girl calmly said, bringing a smile to Hope’s face.  “I-I thought– no, yeah!  You specifically said, ‘Miss Raine,’ huh?  Shoot, how’d I forget?”     “Probably because you haven’t met her…” Hope sniffled.     “Righ’-righ’.”  Jessica shook her head before glaring at Joseph, again.  “Ya got some nerve, tellin’ Hope t’ shove it, then goin’ out wid that… that…!”     “Bear.”     “That bear!” she said at Hope’s guidance.     “That… I… uh…”  Joseph couldn’t seem to put two words together…     “Explain yerself, Mister!”  The bat-girl crossed her arms and scowled.  “Explain t’ this poor, heartbroken girl why ya went on a date wid that other girl after tellin’ her off!”     “That… wasn’t a date.”     “Oh, really?”  She smirked.  “Then, what was it?”     “Miri and I were… we were… planning something…”     “Plannin’ what?  T’ elope?!”     “We were planning a surprise birthday party for Carlos, okay?!”

    Both girls stared at Joseph, again.  He was blushing and seemed largely uncomfortable about what he’d just told them.  Knowing his past conflicts with Carlos, it made sense to Hope.  However, Jessica stayed focused on something else.     “Ya were… wait, Carlos’ birthday is– shit, it is comin’ up, ain’ it?”     Jessica grinned… then, her face turned angry, again.     “‘n, ya didn’ tell me ‘bout this, why?!”     Joseph shot her a look, his eyes narrowed and ears folded.     “Ah– oh.”  She immediately lightened up and said, “Righ’…  We, uh, weren’ on speakin’ terms.  Ha-hah…  Oops?”     “Joseph…”

    Jessica and Joseph turned their attention to Hope, who had just spoken up.  She was looking up at the latter with big, wet eyes and a hurt little expression.     “If that’s the case…” she whispered, “then… why were you kissing…?”     After hearing that, Jessica was starting to wonder if that “lie” actually wasn’t a lie…     “H-Hope, c’mon…”  Joseph twitched and rubbed his left wrist with his right hand, unable to look at her.  “You know our… history.  She’s really affectionate toward me, for some reason…”     “Yea’,” Jessica interjected.  “Some reason.  Snrk.”     “We weren’t kissing… s-so much as…”  He shrank, blushing a little harder.  “Miri planted one on me, completely at random…”     Hope blinked her leaking eyes.     “I would… I mean… y-yeah, Miri and I are close…  B-but, Hope…”     He offered a soft smile as he reached over and brushed her eyes clear of tears.     “I can’t… I wouldn’t let myself fall for her…  Not again.  Not after what I told you.”     “So, ya are attracted t’ that big, brown butt?”     “Jessica…!” Hope snapped, giving her a dirty look.     “What’s it to you, if I am?” Joseph flatly told the bat.  “Miri is pretty awesome – more awesome than you!  Cuter, too, what with those two-colored bangs and round face…  But.  That part of our relationship is done-and-over.  We’re just good friends.”     “Good frien’s… wid benefits?”     The fox narrowed his eyes, again.  “Just.  Friends,” was his firm reply.

    “So… so… I was worried over nothing?”     His attention turned back to Hope.  She was looking his way with calmer eyes.  In fact… it almost seemed like she could start smiling, at any moment.     “You have nothing to worry about,” he told her with his own genuine smile.     “Ain’ that a kick ‘n th’ ass?”     Hope and Joseph looked back at Jessica.  She looked thoughtful, but irritated.     “Ya wen’ through th’ Void ‘n back over nothin, Hope,” she commented as she tilted her head back-and-forth.  “Tha’s gotta suck.”     “You really… got upset?” the fox asked Hope.  “Over me and Miri?”   �� “Like I said,” Jessica answered for her, “she los’ sleep, missed work…  She even let ‘er battery drain, completely, ‘cuz she was so tore up!  Ya really did a number on ‘er!  Or, so we thought.  Guess yer completely innocent, ‘n th’ end!”     “Not… not entirely…”     Jessica’s head stayed to her right side as she watched Joseph pull Hope in and hug her.  The blue-haired girl was quick to return the favor and look up in curiosity.

    “I… I’m sorry that I said what I said,” he told her, though it could have applied to either of them.  “I’m sorry that I accused you of being unfaithful… and, I’m sorry that I put you in a position to where that seemed likely.  After Jessica jumped me, in my car–”     “Heeey…” the bat said with a frown.     “– I was upset… confused…  My head wasn’t on straight and I ended up thinking… saying things… that I had no right to.  If anything, it seems like Jessica took advantage of you.”     Jessica gave another “Heeey…!”  She sounded a little more offended than before.

    “I love you, Hope…” Joseph whispered.  “I’m sorry I’ve been so angry and jealous…”     “I love you, too, Joseph…” Hope returned, giving her boyfriend a tight hug.  “Goodness gracious, I missed being in your arms…”     “And, I missed having you here.”     She smiled… then, she leaned up to kiss him.     “But…”     Only for him to pull away from her.

    “But?” Jessica asked.  “‘But?’ what?  What ‘but?’  There shouldn’ be no ‘buts’ here, ‘cept th’ ones what go in chairs!  Ain’ everythin’ all settled?”     “This whole situation,” Joseph said, seemingly ignoring Jessica, “got way out-of-hand… and, it tells me that, maybe… maybe, I should give you some time to yourself.”     “What?  No– Joseph!”     Hope whimpered as the fox pushed a finger to her lips.     “I realize, now, that I was getting possessive of you.  When I promised to be your one-and-only, I didn’t stop to think that I might not be your one-and-only.  Maybe… until that night, I was?  Maybe, not.  You didn’t seem too anxious to let me dedicate myself to you.”     “That’s because–” Hope started before being silenced by a tap to her mouth.     “It’s hard for me… especially after the situation with Kris–”     Jessica shuddered and scowled, but she stayed quiet.     “– to think the way I used to… much less consider the possibility that someone else might think that way, too.  It’s really hard for me to say this, too… but…”     He inhaled, then exhaled.     “If… you and Jessica want to be… ‘bed-buddies…’ th-then, go ahead.”     “Joseph…?”  Hope tilted her head.  The fox as biting his lower lip.     “I… don’t like the idea, myself.”     “Heeey…” Jessica called, again.  She wasn’t annoyed enough to swear at him, apparently.     “But… if she makes you happy, then… then, that’s good enough for me.”     “I don’t want to do anything that makes you unhappy, though…”     “Hope?  Look at me.”     She already was… and, he was looking right at her, too.     “I want you to be happy.  I.  Want you.  To be.  Happy,” he firmly repeated.  “I don’t care what it takes.  I don’t even particularly care with who.  If I make you happy, great.  If I don’t?  Just tell me.”     “B-but, you do…!”     “And, if someone else makes you happy?”     He looked up at Jessica.  The bat perked, looking his way in surprise.     “Then…” he said as he looked at Hope, again, “that’s okay, too.  Just know that… at the end of the day… I’ll always be waiting for you, should you need a nice, warm pair of arms to hold you… or, a nice, fluffy tail to cuddle into.  Okay?”

    Hope… was at a loss for words.  She was hoping that inviting Joseph over would lead to their sudden relationship problems getting settled… but, she hadn’t expected him to be so incredibly giving!  It was almost enough to make her forget that, prior to the restaurant… that actually was the way their relationship worked.  She just… hadn’t been interested in anyone else, since her brief involvement with Kris.

    “Jessie.”     “Yo?”     Joseph gently released Hope before walking over to the nearby bat.     “Let’s step outside, okay?”     He was looking irritated, again, and couldn’t seem to stop looking into Jessica’s eyes.  On the other hand, she just gave him a somewhat-innocent look, unsure of what he had planned.     “O… kay?”     Either way, the two ended up going outside.

    “I’m… sorry,” he quietly said as he stood with his back to her, looking into the parking lot.  “I’m sorry for what I said, and I’m sorry that I acted like I did.  I’m sorry… for all of it.”     “I… um…”     “And… I’d be lying… if I said that I wasn’t interested.”     Jessica blinked…  When Joseph had turned around, she could see the regret on his face.     “I didn’t have to let that happen…” he continued, “but, when you gave me that seductive look… when you kissed me, teased me… then, when you actually took things all the way…”     He deeply blushed.  It was pretty obvious he remembered exactly what they’d done.     “I… I didn’t want you to stop.”     And, much like Hope had been… Jessica didn’t seem to know what to say.

    “Jessica, you’re… you’re really pretty,” he told her with a smile.  “You have entrancing eyes, really cute hair…  I love the little leaf on your nose…”     She blushed a little as he touched it.     “You’re… a really attractive woman in a lot of ways, Jess.  I noticed when we had that sauna… the one where you… bit me.”  He blushed as he admitted, “I’ve… wanted to do more.  I just… I never thought… you did, too…  But, well… you know how it goes.”     “What can I say?”  Jessica gently brushed her hair away from her face as she looked away.  “I’m attracted t’ cute guys.  ‘n, yeah, I know.  S’why I didn’ try anything funny.  Didn’ wanna make things complicated, what wid you bein’ in a r’lationship…”     “What changed?”     His head tilted as she grinned.     “Th’ r’lationship.”

    When she looked out into the parking lot, he followed suit, the two quietly staring for several moments.  Neither one of them actually knew the other was that interested in them… but, now that they did know… they had a lot to think about, it seemed.

    “I’m… sorry I yelled at ya,” Jessica eventually said.  “More sorry I assaulted ya.”     “I… kind of deserved it?” was Joseph’s skittish reply.     “I a’so didn’ mean what I said.”     “Me, either…”  He looked her way with a smile.  “Even if you did end up having your way with me… and, my girlfriend.  Heh.”     “What can I say?” she said as she thumped his arm.  “I’m attracted t’ cute girls, too…”     “She is pretty cute…”     “Th’ cutest…”     They returned to silence, then… but, only for a moment more.

    “I… never actually killed yer gym membership, ya know.”     Joseph looked over.  Jessica was smiling at him.     “If ya wanna come in, again… we can keep trainin’ ya… get ya some strong arms…”     “I’d like that,” he honestly told her.     “Then, maybe… at some point, ‘n th’ distant future… we coul’ start doin’ that ‘cooldown’ thing we used t’ do, again?  If ya wanna…?  I know I would.  Yer tasty…”     Joseph blushed, but his smile brightened.  She was clearly doing her best not to push things too hard too fast.  As much as he liked being bitten… she was right.     “Down the road,” he said, giving her arm a little thump and chuckling.     “Th’ road t’ r’covery’s a long one, sometimes…”  She paused before saying, “Jus’ know that’cha dun have t’ walk it alone, Josey.  If ya need a walkin’ buddy… I can think of a couple cute girls who’d jump at th’ chance t’ join ya fer a mile ’r two.”     There was another pause… but, when the fox stepped a little closer to Jessica, she was quick to draw an arm and a wing around him.     “We’ll see,” he whispered to her.     “Take as long as ya need, cute boy.  Jus’, dun leave us waitin’ fer too long…”

    The two friends eventually went back into Hope’s apartment.  Almost immediately, Joseph pulled Hope into another tight hug.  When he tried to get Jessica in on it…     “Nah-nah-nah… I’ve ‘ad my fill’a mushy shit,” she told the fox with a grin.  “Need some greasy, crunchy stuff t’ balance it out!”     Then she disappeared into the kitchen.

    “I don’t know when I’m going to be ready to step back into our relationship, Hope…” Joseph told his girlfriend as he looked into her eyes.  “But, rest assured… I will come back.”     “I’ll be waiting for you, Joseph…” the girl fondly whispered.     “I know you will.  I’m… sorry that I gave you such a scare, though, with Miri.”     “What?  O-oh, yes!”  She nervously giggled.  “W-well, I don’t know what happened, there…  I didn’t even know I could get jealous!”     “Everyone who feels is capable of jealousy, sweetie…”  He softly brushed her cheek, warmly smiling as she leaned into it and closed her eyes.  “Even you.”     “Mmm…”     “One thing still bugs me, though…”     “Mm?”     “You saw Miri and I at the mall, the other day… but, I don’t remember seeing you.”     Her eyes shot open.  A second later, she stiffly looked up at Joseph.     “Plus, don’t you normally work during the day?” he asked with genuine curiosity.  “What were you doing in the mall, that day?”     “I, uh… Mis– Mister Michael sent me on a coffee run!”     “Isn’t Presley Michael’s and Son’s, like, a long way from Presley Michael’s?”     Hope tensed… then, she sighed.     “Yes, but Mr. Michael is hopelessly addicted to the iced coffees from the food court.”     “Oh, you mean from the coffee shop near the arcade?”  Joseph smiled, again.  “Yeah… you really can’t get an iced coffee as good as those anywhere else…”     “He wanted a muffin, too,” Hope added with a giggle.     “Okay, they definitely have some of the best muffins, too…”

    “But, you answer your other question,” Hope continued, “I was on my way back, when I saw you.  I hid behind some stairs, since I didn’t think you wanted to see me.  But, when I saw Miss Raine, with you… then, I seemingly saw you two kissing… well…”     “I see…”     “She doesn’t like me, you know.”  She frowned.  “She can’t read my ‘soul.’”     “I don’t think anyone could read your soul, hun.  It’s like trying to see clear glass…���  She tilted her head as he told her, “You know it’s there… but, it’s so flawless, it’s impossible to see…”     Hope smirked.  “Sweet, but… you and I both know that–”     “I know,” he said as he silenced her with a finger.  “But, my way sounds more poetic.”     Her confused look slipped into a pleasant smile… then, she closed her eyes and giggled.     He really is the sweetest, sometimes…

    “Kind’a wish ya didn’ have t’ go, Goldie!  Pizza won’t take that long!”     Shortly after parting from Hope, Joseph had dressed in his cold-weather gear and was preparing to leave.  Both girls were seeing him off, but neither really wanted him to go.     “I have a previous engagement, unfortunately…” Joseph told the two.  “Now, if someone had started on the pizza sooner…”     “Well, ‘f someone ‘ad some ruddy parchment paper…!” Jessica passed onto Hope.     “W-well, if someone had told me they needed parchment paper…!” she said with a smirk.     “In any case,” Joseph continued, drawing their attention, “I’m glad I came, today.  I wasn’t expecting to fix things… well, mostly fix.  I still need some time.  I’m sure you both do, too.”     “Not really!” Jessica said.  When she felt Hope elbow her, though, she added, “B-but, you take all th’ time you need!”     “Dear friends are always worth waiting for!” the other girl added, making him blush.     “Y-yeah, well…”  The fox shyly grinned.  “I… should get going.”     “Dun be a stranger, kiddo!” Jessica said as she returned to the kitchen.     “Goodbye, Joseph!  Thank you for coming!” were Hope’s parting words.  ”Drive safely!”

    Once Joseph was on his way out, Hope gave a heavy sigh of relief and collapsed into her favorite chair.  The next time she looked up… she saw a pair of red and green eyes staring at her.     “W… what?” she said as she nudged herself into a proper sitting position.     “That lie ‘bout that ‘rainy’ chick was fuckin’ amazin’, Hope!  You gotta gift, girly!”     Hope smiled.  But, when Jessica asked why she’d lied about what she’d really seen…     “I… really don’t think that would have been a good idea.”  She paused… then, she scowled.  “But, thank you for almost getting me into trouble!  I really appreciate that!”     “My pleasure!” Jessica said with a grin before adding, “Bitch.”     “Takes one to know one!” Hope retorted without thinking.     “S’right!  I am a bitch!”     Without warning, Jessica hopped into her lap and threw both arms around her shoulders.     “I’m your bitch, bitch!” the bat said with a laugh.  Hope couldn’t help but laugh, as well.     “I love you, Jessica…” Hope said, rubbing noses with her friend.     The bat-girl purred.  “Righ’ back at’cha, Blueberry!” she said as she returned the favor.

    After a short, sweet cuddle, the two spent the rest of the day together, eating pizza, wings, and cheese sticks while playing games and having fun.  It had started as a stressful day… but, it was one that ended happily-ever-after, for everyone involved.