#anyway get BLASTED with BIRD AGAIN !!!!!!!!

[vellichorom]

practicing some more diversity in character designs because i Must, & intimately... & i've been THINKING about those damn birds... those damn anime twink'd birds......

[lizaintheduster]

Oh my god, the idea that God keeps bringing Cas back because he thinks Dean moping around the bunker is boring is so funny. Like the first two times God brings him back, he does it right away cause he's like, "This freaky lil Angel is pretty interesting to have around. Let's throw him back into the mix." But then when he betrays Dean and dies in season 6/7, at first Chuck is just sipping Mojitos and luxuriating in the man pain, but then the man pain just. doesn't. stop. And fuck that's boring, Dean just won't stop moping.

So fuck it, let's give Cas amnesia and some weird wife, he won't have to be plot relevant anyway cause obviously he'll take on Sam's hell trauma, boom two birds, one stone. Now we can get back to the brothers brothering. Except fuck, somehow Cas has wound up going to purgatory with Dean, ugh lame. Well, let's just give Cas a few nightmares that really play into his self-loathing, that should be enough to get him to stay behind, the self-deprecating sad sack. But shit, didn't think this through, Dean's out and he's already looking pretty mopy.

No worries, just gotta push Naomi in the right direction, just a little nudge, there we go. Cas is back, but with a tasty little twist of Heaven mind control to keep him out of the narrative. Excellent. Screw it. Maybe Naomi could even get him to turn on Dean? Dean could kill him, that would be awesome. Wait, why the hell isn't Dean fighting back? Get off your knees! Cas can't kill Dean, that's lame, I'll have to think of some way to bring him back... wait, wait what? Did he just snap out of Angel programmed mind control? Oh for fuck sake, this is gonna be such a pain in the ass.

Blah blah, several more seasons of trying to keep Dean and Cas apart including having Gadreel fall near the hospital, retconing how Reapers work so one can try to take out Cas, pointing that weird pink Goo Angel in a Cas shaped direction, having it so that stolen grace is a thing that drains away, but nothing is God Damn Taking. The Angel is still up and kicking, and for some reason, Dean seems hung up on the broken little thing.

Right, time for mental warfare. If just the right digs are made at just the right times, maybe, maybe the Angels self esteem will drop low enough to... that's it. There it is. Say yes to Lucifer. Another betrayal, right, Dean? Right, Dean? Dean? Oh for crying out loud he's not even dead! Dean get over it, he said yes to Lucifer, he sucks Dean, why do you care? Ugh fine, let's say Amara's juice blasts Lucifer out of Cas, happy now? Fuck he's so boring when he's worried about what? A defective Angel?

Whatever, let's just throw some random side quests at them for a while. Surely, Dean will just lose interest eventually. Oh! Idea! Trap Dean and Sam in a government facility and then sabotage every attempt the Angel makes to save them. Again, two birds, one stone. Cas will feel useless and pathetic for failing to save Dean, and Dean will surely realise what a useless waste of celestial intent Cas is.

Okay, at this point, I should have seen this coming. Oh, thank me, Lucifer kebabed him. Light show, big burnt out wings for dramatic effect. This time, let's just wait it out. Dean can't stay single minded, drunk and hung up on Cas forever. Eventually, he'll realise he needs to step up to the plate and start parenting the Angel kid, I have some amazing Abraham and Issac stuff lined up, so we need to get moving with the bonding. Any minute now. Any minute now. Come on Dean, he's not even that strong anymore, why do you care? Jesus Christ Dean, you know your mom is also dead, right?

Screw it. Let's say Jack's powers can reach the empty. Shit does this mean I need to figure out how the empty works? I never got round to writing any of that. Okay, wow that was a choice, maybe I'll retcon the accent later... let's just focus on getting Cas back to earth, so Dean... aaaaand Dean has it wearing a fucking cowboy hat. How, out of all my universes did this glitch wind up infecting the original. Should have let the Angel just stay dead that first time, would have made my life so much easier.

Well, it's the final hour, might as well get one last hit in. Let's kill off the alternate universe people first, that should be just the right push to... perfect, yep, Dean blames death, and of course, Cas will follow. Hook line and sinker. I'll just let Death kill Cas, and then I'll have Death's weird poison thing wipe her out at the last second so Dean's still around for the end game. Oh? Oh, no way? You have got to be kidding me. This is priceless. He's actually saying it? That's the money shot right there. Wow. I need a margarita. Oh, but wait. Idea! Wouldn't it be perfect, just perfect, if Dean's childhood selective mutism were to make the briefest reappearance. Just for a second. Ahhh. You have outdone yourself, Chuck. No more revivals, Dean. I'm already bored.

[gaddaboutgriffon]

Red X Redemption

Based on this thread post.

Dan hadn’t set out to become the teen nitwits newest rogue. But using an already built name got him customers a lot faster then if he had to start from scratch. And the annoying bird wasn’t using it anyway. Though in hindsight maybe if he hadn’t stolen the Red X suit and name he wouldn’t have gotten the baby heroes attention so fast. Oh well, he had needed money fast at the time, and there was no changing it now.

Instead he focuses on ditching the chumps. He had the artifact in his bag. Once they’re off his tail he can make the drop, get paid enough to last three months and be done for the night.

He doges a reaching shadow tendril and throws a sticky X at the goth girl. It landed right over her mouth where he had aimed startling her into ending the spell. She was good but still relied on occasionally speaking her encantation which was his first clue she wasn’t that experienced. Still she was the main reason why he never used his ghost powers while out on a job. Little miss half demon would be able to sense it a mile away, but she didn’t notice anything when he was in human form.

Ugh that he hated being reminded that when his future timeline faded he would have too, if his younger self hadn’t convinced Vlad to make a clone body to be fused with. He will never thank the old creep but that human half that came with the clone body was really helpful now.

Dan slipped under a green star bolt. Then used a net X to tangle up the green shapeshifter and tin man. He grinned under his skull mask as they yelped from the electric shock. He landed on a roof top and went to jump again when his cape snagged. I cost him a precious second to pull it free of the “bird-arangs” that had pinned it. Now brat wonder was engaging him with a boe staff, and slowing him down so the others could catch up.

“You really don’t know when to quit.” Dan grunts as he tries to tangle Robin’s feet with another sticky X.

“Don’t know the meaning.” Robin quips back dodging the sticky X with experienced grace. But it left him open for a punch.

Dan may have used a bit of his ghost strength to send the bird flying since that doesn’t register to the magic user. He took off again, dodging Cyborg’s sonic blasts, but his own ghost sense went off. He skidded to a stop and backflips to avoid Desiree suddenly appearing in front of him.

“Give me the eye of Iris!” The ghost genie shouted at him, lunging for the duffle bag on his back.

“Sorry, already got a buyer, and I know your credit’s no good.” He spun out of her way and ran back towards the Titans. If he was lucky he could get them fighting her and he could slip away before his younger self showed up.

His plan worked. The titans predictably began fighting the load mouth ghost after she yapped about the eye of iris would give her unlimited power or whatever. Red X made it to the drop point nearly three blocks away and got his cash passing the item off to the buyer. He then made his way back to the back to one of his cache points and retrieved his duffel bag. That is when his luck finally ran out for the night, when a pink wave went past and caused some bolts to fly off the the hook holding steel girders and fall in from of Dan blocking the alley exit in front of him.

“Ugh, seriously not my night.” Dan groaned as pulled the Red X mask back on that he had just taken of not two minutes ago.

“The headmaster really doesn’t like his generous invitation to be unanswered. Not everyone gets offered a full scholarship to the Hive after all.”

Great, it’s the pink witch and her techs and brute sidekicks. He flipped the duffel bag strap over his shoulder so it was secure and ready to run, and answered “I already told him this Solo act wasn’t interested in joining his clown school.”

He turned with a ready grappling hook to leave, but a long metal spider leg shot out and Pericles the brick wall next to him. Purposefully missing by inches as an unsuccessful intimidation tactic.

“Doesn’t work like that, fart sniffer.” The annoying techy sneered.

Butter biscuits! These guys were going to make him late picking up Ellie from the sitter’s. Months ago Dan had found Danielle destabilizing and used his own ecto and what little he knew of ghost medicine to save her. But he must have done it wrong since she for some reason aged down to a two year old. Which lead to his Red X career, cause while he could live fine backpacking cross country by himself he needed a more stable home and food for Ellie.

Now he contemplated using his ghost powers to break the Hive lackeys, but he knew someone else from the hive always watched from a distance and if they saw his real powers they really wouldn’t leave him in peace.

His ghost sense then warned him of unwanted guests coming in fast. He used the grapple to get up to the roof barely dodging as Desiree crashed into the Hive nitwits in the alley. Now on the roof all the titans were surrounding him.

He took a ready stance to jump back into the alley and hope he could use the same truck twice getting his enemies to fight each other again. But then he spotted the worst thing his rotten luck could throw at him. His timeline doppelgänger flying in from the horizon.

He ignored whatever bird boy was saying and turned back to the alley. Only to see the Hive idiots and Desiree coming up to join the party on the roof.

“Alright Desiree! I chased you across country, and had enough! Time for you to go back to the ghost Zone!” Phantom shouted as he stopped to hover over the group.

Just when Dan thought things couldn’t get bad enough he felt the duffel bag on his back move and the zipper opened for Ellie to pop her head out. “Why so loud? ‘M Seepy” she grumbled. Guess he wouldn’t be paying the baby sitter after all.

“Wha- Ellie! A Oh my ancients, You’re alive!” Phantom zipped down to them. Now he was too close in range for Dan to hide the ecto signature. “Wait, Dan?! You saved our little sister! Have you been taking care of her this whole time?” Phantom then hugged both of them.

Dan wanted both more then to disappear right then. His secret identity is blown and he was going to have to start over from scratch with a new one.

“Dude, I think we really mis judged Red X” he heard the Green titan say. Confirming his reputation was now shot to Swiss cheese.

Deep underground Slade watched the whole thing on his many monitors. “Well if Robin won’t be my apprentice. I’ll see if this one is more agreeable.

(Ok small note. I went with the name Ellie, cause I like it better and Dani, Dan and Danny gets really repetitive…. Anyway I look forward to seeing what you guys add on!)

[bats-and-the-birds]

Teen Titans - Batman fic idea that mashes the teen titans cartoon with general canon and headcanon.

There's about two years of Dick Grayson's life where he was well and truly a ghost. At least to Batman. Bruce has detailed records of everything that has ever happened to any one of his allies, but after he was fired, after he escaped to Jump City, after he formed the Teen Titans, he managed to keep to himself. And maybe it was because emotions were raw, or maybe Dick was just particularly good at evading, but is the one time in his life that Bruce didn't manage to keep tabs on him.

And once Dick comes back... Bruce doesn't ask. The edges of their relationship are still too rough, and Dick seems to paint a complete picture anyway. He tells Bruce about his new friends, spins grand tales about their victories over H.I.V.E., and talks endlessly about all of the people they were able to help. He doesn't talk about everything though. Not quite.

Then it's years later, and that time is practically forgotten. Dick's an adult now, a member of the Justice League, along with his former team. He's taking on bigger and bigger assignments, and he's off world when the next series of events go down.

The league is trying to take down some hitmen, and they're coming up short. Even Batman can't find them. They need help, and they're running out of options, and eventually they call in an old favor and track down Deathstroke.

It's a controversial decision, to say the least, but there are a few League members that are acting irrationally. Bruce quickly pieces together that it's the old members of the Teen Titans. He tries to get to the root of it. They keep their mouths suspiciously shut. He digs, goes through the crime reports from Jump City, and he pulls up... nothing.

And it's not just that the Titans don't want to work with him. Starfire tried to blast the man's head off, consequences be damned. The others abandon the mission. And, yet, they all still refuse to say why. Bruce eventually determines that he'll have to interrogate Dick when he comes back.

And Dick does come back. A few days early, actually. And he's sent down from the watchtower and finds his father working with the one man he hoped he would never see again. And Dick keeps his mouth shut. He bites his tongue. Ignores the greeting of Hello, Little Bird from the voice that still haunts his nightmares, stifles his fear, forces a smile... because the mission comes first. He dodges Bruce's questions, avoids the other Titans, and stops Starfire from physically dragging him away, or from telling his siblings, or from telling Bruce himself. He's survived this long. He can manage.

It doesn't matter that managing feels like collapsing in on himself.

Later, Bruce blames how focused he was on the mission for not putting the pieces together sooner. He blames the Titans not telling him. Dick's silence. Deathstroke's trickery. Anything but the fact that he just didn't want to see the truth right in front of him.

He doesn't put the pieces together until they're ambushed. A fight breaks out, and Nightwing and Deathstroke fight together like they were made to. Dick follows directions like they're second nature, more so even than he ever followed Bruce's.

And, at the very end, Bruce grabs Dick's arm before he can stab an enemy through the neck, and Dick... breaks. He can't take the weight of the old memories, can't take the weight of the gaze of the monster that has haunted him since he was sixteen years old. The monster that he thought he has escaped.

[belabelphie]

And we're back again! This time, with our good man Skizz as a pigeon! Because of course he would be a pigeon lol

I adore his weird little bird hairstyle (feather style?), he ended up looking so cool. Once again, I'm going to yap about the designing process below.

I immediately knew I had to make Skizz a pigeon. I even thought about making him some other type of animal, but nothing fit quite as well. He specifically had to be based on a Lahore pigeon, due to their extreme fluff and feathery feet, it was just perfect.

"But Belphie!", you may ask, "Aren't all pigeons technically domesticated and, therefore, not wild life in this AU specifically about wild animals?". And you'd be correct! But think of it this way: isn't it really funny that there's just a random pet bird in the middle of a bunch of feral animals? He'd probably say he's "just as wild as everyone else", but we all know the truth.

Anyways, with Skizz done, all the Spanners are here! And I can say I'm having an absolute blast making these, character design is genuinely so fun and I feel like I'm improving with every single one.

Next up, we're getting the Bamboozlers, so keep an eye out for that :D

<Mumbo

>Scar

[gaylordscooter]

i just wanted some fucking clothes why is there a parasite manning the cash register

“free food, shelter and clothes? i could get used to this…” Killer surmised as he inspected the dark gray jacket he took from the rack.

He caught sight of the meaningless price tag and sucked in air through his teeth. “sixty dollars?” he muttered. Good thing they didn't have to pay.

“do you always talk out loud to yourself?” Horror questioned, watching him from behind.

“i’m not exactly talking to myself when you and hooded-creep are here.” Deciding the jacket looked cool enough for him, he removed his current hoodie to put it on. He tossed his old hoodie into the shopping cart, adding to the dangerously high pile of clothes.

A middle finger from the other side of the rack rose up.

“but i might as well be talking to myself ‘cus of how quiet you two are. bird flipper, do you ever speak?”

The answer was silence.

“figures…hey i just realized any time we talk to each other, we're talking to ourself.”

Dust tipped over the clothes rack with a forceful shove, causing it to fall on Killer.

“ow, what the heck, man?” It didn't hurt at all and he easily got the rack upright again, but some of the clothes fell off of it and made a mess on the floor. No one here was gonna clean that.

Dust walked out from behind the rack with a few garments in hand and stacked it on the pile.

They were about done shopping anyway, he guessed. Or at least, he assumed so. They’ve been here for a few hours now, but Horror was completely empty-handed.

“hey, crater-head, where's your haul? don't tell me you're not getting anything, you need new clothes the most with your rags.”

“i didn’t see anything i wanted,” he answered simply.

“really? this is a high-end store on the surface. your current getup is from the dump at waterfall.” He pointed at Dust. “look at him, he's all decked out now! covered literally head to toe, can’t even see any bone anymore.”

Horror looked unconvinced. “let's just go. i don't want that freak getting pissy at us for taking too long.”

If he had eyelights he would've rolled them, but he conceded. Not getting any clothes was his loss, but he swore if he ends up taking some of his clothes when they get back he’ll add to his kill count.

The three of them went on their way to the exit.

However, someone—a skeleton monster like them—was at the cash register, expectantly waiting for them to come over. The store was empty the entire time they were here, Nightmare made sure of it.

And the barrier in this universe hasn't been broken.

“Heya dawgs, how’s it hangin’?” the skeleton monster asked. “Yous three gonna pay for all that, right?”

His clothes hurt to look at. They were obnoxiously bright and tacky. His sunglasses that completely obscured his eye sockets literally spelled out “YOLO”. It was like the 90s threw up all over him. What alternate universe was this nut from?

Killer slipped his hand in the pocket of his shorts and curled it around the handle of his knife. He let out a shallow laugh. “what's it to you? you're not the store owner.”

“No duh, homeslice, but stealin’ is totes not rad!”

The way he talked was getting on his nerves. Scratch that, everything about him was getting on his nerves.

It seemed the other two felt the same. At any second, Dust was going to blast that 90’s disaster into the proper century.

“it's not like they're stealing from monsters. this is a human-owned store. i don't think they’d miss a few clothes,” Horror pointed out. “but if it bothers you so much, i’ll be on my way.”

“what?!” Killer exclaimed. He looked at Horror with an exaggerated look of betrayal on his face.

Horror made his way to the door. “hey, i’m not the one stealing. i’ll wait outside.” he said with indifference.

The other skeleton didn't protest at all when he left the building.

“butthole…what the?” Killer narrowed his eyes at his slip of the tongue. That’s not what he meant to say.

“Nah, homie, that chatter don't fly here.” The skeleton shook his head and his shades now spelt “NUH-UH”.

“you censored me?” His wariness skyrocketed at such a small thing. Well it wasn't exactly small when he's able to alter their words. What else could he do?

He glanced at Dust, who looked nonchalant as always.

He sighed, preparing for a fight. “listen, bud, we don't have any money and we're not going to—”

“Aw, no cheddar? You two should probably return those clothes then.” The overly-cheerfulness of his voice dwindled ever so slightly. Almost like he was threatening them.

He stared at him in befuddlement.

Dust decided he was entirely fed-up with this guy and the familiar growl of a blaster rang out. 

“Not cool,” the colorful skeleton said before getting blasted.

But he was completely unfazed by the attack.

Killer and Dust instinctively backed up even with the current distance between them and that thing.

“That blast gots a huge kick to it, yo. You should be more careful, you could totes hurt someone with that.” The skeleton stood up—he was kneeling behind the counter the entire time.

He thought he was around the same height as he and Dust. But now it was clear he towered over both of them.

“I shoulda introduced myself, huh?” He asked as if he was talking to himself. He shrugged off his mistake. “My b, better late than never.” He adjusted his glasses as his smile widened dangerously. His golden tooth shined brightly despite there being no light for it to reflect. “The name’s Fresh. I take it that you peeps are sanses? The hooded dude packs a ri-donk-ulous punch tho.”

Blue bones rose up and caged Fresh as a half-ring of blasters appeared and fired. The impact of the blasts created a huge cloud of smoke, obscuring their vision.

Killer drew out his knife with a groan. He swore, Dust was so dramatic. He hoped that the dust of Fresh was among the cloud of smoke, but something about his instincts screamed otherwise. He squinted as he looked around. Dust wasn't by his side anymore.

It's gone completely quiet.

“...dust?” he whispered harshly. “where the funk did you go?” Ugh, there went the censoring again.

A hand laid on his shoulder, causing him to jump, but it was only Dust. He sighed and let his head hang back for a second. “you can't just do that!”

“...my bad.”

Wait. He talked!? And to express sorrow out of all things…“uhuh. we gotta put some bells on you or something, jeez.” The hand on his shoulder remained, in fact, the grip seemed to tighten. “you can let go now,” he said, voice laced with annoyance.

He still didn't let go. Was he trembling? His other hand was locked tightly into a fist by his side.

The grip on his knife tightened.

He hasn't known Dust for long, but what he did know was that he wasn't a touchy person.

“i said let go!” He hacked his knife into Dust’s wrist, he didn't put enough force to completely sever a bone but it cut pretty deep.

Dust yanked his hand away in complete silence.

Killer heard footsteps nearby, but there were too many for it to be from just one person.

The smoke finally dissipated.

He was completely surrounded.

There were more skeletons in the store, all of them wore those obnoxious sunglasses with text on them. These weren't just any skeletons, however. He was sure all of them were Sanses. They were stark still when he caught sight of them, like mannequins on display.

“i don’t know what's gotten into you, dust, but you need to snap out of it for once.”

“Oh, I know the answer to that one, broseph,” Fresh said. He adjusted his shades, the text on them saying “IT’S ME”.

Killer put two and two together quickly. All of these Sanses were being controlled by Fresh, and he was adding Dust to the party. Shit, was he going to be next too?!

He brandished his knife wildly like a cornered animal, causing Dust to take a step back. “aw heck no! get the frick away from me!” He couldn't die here, he couldn't even swear properly! He wasn't going to let his last word be a censored f-bomb.

“Don't be like that, homeslice dawg. Join the party, it's the bomb!” Fresh insisted, stretching his arms out to gesture at the still crowd. “Your pal’s waiting for you,” he added grimly.

As if on cue, Dust tackled him to the ground, grabbing his wrist to prevent him from using his knife. He was breathing heavily in a strained fashion.

They were just getting some fucking clothes. They were just going shopping. It was supposed to be a normal excursion, for once. He doesn't even know the next chance they'll have a goddamn break or do something that isn't designed to mentally mess them up even more. Fuck this guy.

He let out a growl as he brought his knees to his chest and kicked Dust off of him. He rolled upright and blindly lunged for Fresh, swinging his knife around like an untrained toddler.

Fresh backed away from every slash. He may hardly look like a Sans but he sure dodged like one.

As the two fought, the crowd surrounded the three, caging them in. Dust hasn't gotten up yet, but random bone attacks of his flung around the makeshift arena.

The exit door flung open, interrupting their fight.

Never in his life did Killer expect to feel relief at seeing that stupid octopus. Horror followed behind him, looking shocked at the sight.

“I told you that I expected you back in three hours!” Nightmare roared. Once he actually registered what was happening, he narrowed his eye in confusion. “Who or what is that thing that assaults my vision?”

“kill it! kill it now!” he shouted with a bit too much desperation.

In an instant, everyone in the building was lifted up by his tentacles and shoved against the walls of the building as Nightmare arose.

Killer thrashed around in vain, “not me too, you idiot!”

“you’d think you'd expect this by now,” Horror, who was held up near him, muttered.

For the first time since they’ve seen him, Fresh frowned. “Bogus, dude! Interruptin’ my meal like that is not cool.”

“meal?!”

Nightmare ignored the two and paid particular attention to Dust. Something was wrong with his soul, his feelings were all muddled. In fact, the other skeletons here with sunglasses on gave off the similar muddled energy. With another tendril he wrenched Dust’s hood off, revealing a huge flower growing in his eye socket.

Killer and Horror gagged.

“what the heck is that?! has that always been there?!” Killer gawked.

“Of course not,” Nightmare grumbled. The same tendril wrapped around the flower as best as it could.

“Oh buddy, I wouldn't do that if I were you,” Fresh said, his glasses spelling “DO NOT”.

“Try me.” He yanked.

The flower snapped off with such a force that threw Dust’s head back.

Nightmare dropped him to inspect the flower, letting him fall to the floor with a loud thud.

Dust’s eyelights sparked on with a gasp that soon turned into a scream as he reached for his eye sockets as if the flower was still there, not even bothering to put his hood back on.

Killer and Horror’s eyes were wide open and their mouths were agape at the display. They’ve never expected to see Dust lose his cool like this. They weren't expecting to see many things that were happening today.

They were just trying to go shopping. How did it turn into this?!

“Shut up, Dust,” Nightmare ordered. As he inspected the flower, his grasp on Fresh tightened.

“Homeslice, I’m sure this hurts. You mind loosening up a bit?” Fresh asked.

He was answered with a smack on the head by another tendril, which knocked his glasses off. Lo and behold there was a similar flower residing inside his skull.

His glasses were like a mask, once they were off his entire facade crumbled away.

“What are you?” Nightmare asked. He tore the flower up with his hands and let the pieces litter the ground.

“That's not your business.” Fresh slipped out of the tentacle’s grasp with ease like it wasn't just strangling him.

The other glasses-wearing skeletons dug and clawed with their hands into the tentacles holding them up.

Dust scrambled upright to get away from him and closer to Nightmare.

Fresh picked up his shades and put them back on. “Now I suggest you bounce on outta here and let me do my thing. Or things are gonna get not so family friendly.”

Nightmare hardly seemed fazed by the damage done to his tentacles, but if this kept up they’ll be able to escape from his grasp. One thing was clear, he wasn't in control of this situation and Fresh did not want him taking the other three out of here.

He moved Killer and Horror closer to himself in defiance. He could leave these three to rot, find others exactly like them, but he just found these three. He didn't want to go through the hassle of wrangling more Sanses so soon. And he was not going to let someone else mooch off of his efforts.

“we're running, right? we’re not fighting this freak,” Killer whispered to him.

Dust looked up at him, almost pleadingly.

If this was any other time, he would've had them fight for his entertainment, but this was not the time, unfortunately.

He put Horror and Killer down. The three of them were absolutely terrified.

If he portaled right now, there was a high chance Fresh would be able to follow them. They had to get some distance first.

He tossed the other skeletons in his grasp across the store and broke the wall behind him.

Dust, Horror, and Killer didn't waste any time sprinting outside of the store through the broken wall.

Nightmare’s tentacles promptly snatched and threw Fresh to the back of the store for good measure before following after the three.

He opened up a portal to the castle ahead. The millisecond the four of them were through the portal snapped closed.

Killer face planted against the grass as if he was hugging the ground.

Horror brushed himself off, seemingly checking for any flowers on his clothes.

Dust had his hands clenched tightly around the edges of his hood as if he’d die if it was ever off again.

All of them felt like utter shit, and for once, Nightmare didn't particularly enjoy that.

He was…unnerved. His knowledge of the multiverse was even more limited than he thought it was. Before that encounter he assumed the only major threats were Ink, Error, and his brother.

There were so many skeletons under this “Fresh’s” control. How far could his influence spread? Could he control him?

He didn't want to think about it.

“Dust,” he said blankly, “Are you…” How did he want to phrase this? He already knew if he was okay or not, he could sense it. “You are completely free of that parasite’s influence, correct?”

Dust gave a weak nod.

At least it seemed reversible, but maybe that was only because of how quickly it was removed. Needless to say, the second they see that freak again they're out of there.

“fuck man, how’d that thing get you?” Killer asked. “you were by my side the whole time.”

Dust just shrugged. Whether he wasn't actually sure or just too tired to explain, he couldn't tell.

“...god dammit!” Killer yelled. “we forgot the clothes. ugh, whatever. at least i have a new hoodie.” He let out a weak laugh. “i survived an encounter against this parasite and all i got was this sixty dollar hoodie.”

Horror glared at Nightmare. “so you don't know about everything. you're not an all-knowing god.”

“I never said I was.”

“so how much do you know? is there anything else like that out there?”

Nightmare paused. Thinking of a thoughtful response. “I am not aware of everything that goes on in the multiverse. That threat we encountered was entirely unfamiliar to me. There may be more. Cease the image of me as an all-knowing god. I might as well know as much as you.”

“hah! you totally could’ve left us, huh?” Killer pointed out. He knows he would’ve.

“It would’ve been a hassle,” he stated matter-of-factly.

“aw, so you do care about us,” he said.

Nightmare was taken aback. He wasn't sure how true or not that was. “Define ‘care’,” he said skeptically.

Killer wasn't expecting that response. “i was joking. people who care for each other don't put them in shitty situations.”

“...I see.” In that case, Nightmare doubted he had the capacity to care for anyone. “Do any of you three care for each other?”

That made Killer burst out into laughter. He looked at Horror and Dust to check if they were as amused as he was at the question.

Horror just looked offended at the question while Dust was unreadable as he typically was.

[heyyesimtrash-whatofit]

✨🇬🇧The Brightest Minds in England!🇬🇧✨

As promised, via not-so-scheduled post, the main reason I’ve been sitting on posting for the past two weeks: character profiles of the amazing cast of Operation Mincemeat!! I’m awfully proud of these so hopefully all of you enjoy them too. These poses were a blast to work (and stare at myself in the mirror doing for reference) and I can pretty confidently say I can draw these sorts of outfits in approximately 60 seconds or less now lmao. Not that I regret that, it’s just gonna result in these silly five making their way into my doodle rotation.

Now, to get a little personal for a second, I didn’t just draw these because I wanted to do solo shots (it did kill two birds with one stone though) See, I graduated this year (yippee, right?) and as is recent tradition amongst graduates I’ve send out grad party invites to celebrities who I admire. If you know me at all, though, then you know I couldn’t just send a card and nothing more. So, now that the envelopes are in the mail and I can’t take them back no matter what my anxiety says, I can post these! Cast, if you’re seeing this before the postal service does its thing, watch the mail lol 😉 Anyway, I’ve rambled enough. Listen to Operation Mincemeat. It’s phenomenal. I’ll probs be drawing more of it soon trust

As per usual, don’t repost my stuff without giving me credit please 🙏

Until We Meet Again! 💜💜

[littlebvtterfly]

Yello and welcome to the Easter Eggs-change! I had such a blast doing this last year, and it helped me through a dark time, so I thought, “Why not do it again?” So here we are. I do hope you’ll enjoy another little exchange. I always love interacting with all of you this way; it makes me so happy getting to know OCs I maybe hadn’t heard much about. Anyway, I hope you’ll like this once again, and thank you for your continued trust in me.

The rules and regulations are simple, but they exist nonetheless, so here they are:

The exchange, for now, is open until April 20th. I may extend it if people are interested.

You may make 1-2 requests, but I will probably reblog it, saying you can ask for more because I always do (hehe).

Please reblog this post to spread some awareness. You can like for remembrance, but just a like doesn't count (you already know this; I know my 5 regulars who come here every time)!

As aforementioned, this is open to my regular drunks and new patrons alike, so please do not be shy. Think of me as I think of birds; I am more scared of you than you are of me.

Fill out the form linked below and find the password in the form!

Please only send me face claims with good quality and plenty of material to use. Also, no cartoon characters. Video game characters may work, depending on the animation style. I'm not trying to discriminate; it can just be really tough for me to find material for cartoons, anime, video games, etc., as I edit by making little video clips first and so on. However, if you slide in my DMs, we might be able to discuss some stuff.

Please, please, please fill out all the columns I need and choose at least two gift options. I just like to have a fallback in case one gift doesn’t work out for any reason, though I usually do post two gifts for everyone.

Remember the pleases and thank you's; pleases and thank you's make my heart grow fond.

I don't do Harry Potter or Stranger Things OCs, and while I don't have a specific list of FCs I don't use, I ask that you do not request anything for overtly problematic actors. Thank you!

I accept pretty much any gift in return: GIF edits, mood boards, playlists, story reviews, drawings/art—anything is fine. If it's a story review, please let me know in the form so I know you did, as I don't check my accounts every day. You can find my writing platforms in my pinned post.

I'm fine with gifts for any of my OCs; my master list as well as the link to my Pinterest and Spotify are in my pinned post.

Please remember that in order for me to post my gifts for you, I need to know you have given me a gift first. I don’t want to sound greedy in any form; I have just had issues with this before. I do want to make everyone who hands in a form a gift, and it hurts when I can’t. If you submitted and can’t make gifts for any reason that comes up, it’s totally fine; I will most likely do another exchange in no time.

FOR ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS, FEEL FREE TO SEND ME A MESSAGE, AND I WILL TRY TO CLEAR EVERYTHING UP!

THROW YOUR NAME IN THE BASKET HERE; THE EASTER BUNNY TAKES REQUEST AT THIS ADRESS; HERE IS WHERE THE EASTER BUNNY PREPARES TO HIDE GIFTS

TAGGING: @eddysocs @ocs-supporting-ocs @foxesandmagic @veetlegeuse @decennia @hiddenqveendom @arrthurpendragon @luucypevensie @nikosasaki @noratilney @wordspin-shares @oneirataxia-girl @endless-oc-creations @avcrymorgans @andromedalestrange @far-shores @rose-of-oz @bibaybe @come-along-pond @dancingsunflowers-ocs @justahopelessssromantic

[in1-nutshell]

Hello again, this is the second part of TFA Bumblebee's twin sibling.

Buddy also become fascinated by earth and, because of that, Prowl invites them to come watch the animals with him and learn more about earth's nature.

During that time Prowl and Buddy get to know each other better, they end up getting closer to the point Buddy's crush on Prowl goes from tiny to big.

Buddy's ends up getting more quiet and shy around Prowl because they don't know what to with those feelings.

Unknow to them, Prowl also returns those feelings.

Bumblebee starts teasing Buddy the moment he finds out they have a crush on Prowl.

Because, come on, he is their brother, it's basically his duty to embarrass them.

.

Bumblebee: I can't believe it, your first crush and is on the most boring bot ever.

Buddy: Oh, shut up!

.

But when he finds out Prowl also has a crush on his twin?

He becomes the "what are your intentions with my sibling" protective brother real quick and gives Prowl the shovel talk.

Is it because he thinks Prowl isn't good enough for his sibling? Not really, is mostly because he feels that it's his responsibility as Buddy's brother to act like this.

In the end, Bumblebee gives Prowl his approval to date his sibling and Prowl promises to Bumblebee that he will protect Buddy.

All righty! Part 2 of the last request!

Hope you enjoy!

Bot Buddy who's Bumblebee's twin with a crush on Prowl

SFW, Platonic, Romance, Familial, Cybertronain reader

TFA

The longer the team stayed on Earth the more Buddy fell in love with the planet.

From its people.

To the animals

To the plants.

It was so new and fresh, defiantly nothing that was on Cybertron.

They did miss Cybertron every now and then, but Earth was slowly becoming their new home.

Buddy and Sari had especially gotten close.

Buddy felt that they did owe Sari a bit, but it was mostly because they really did like Sari.

Buddy and Sari coming back to the base.

“And where were you two?”--Bumblebee

“We went to go see the new duck pond in the park.”--Buddy

Sari nodding.

“Yeah, and we got to feed them too.”--Sari

Sari and Buddy laugh a bit.

“Remember when that duck flew straight into your chassis?”--Sari

Buddy smiling widely.

“Only because you forgot to take the feed out! I still got feathers in me.”--Buddy

“Anyways, Sari I got the game set up—”--Bumblebee

“Not now Bumblebee. I’m gonna help Buddy paint their room.”--Sari

“Why? I’m much more fun than pain—and they left. Great…”--Bumblebee

Bulkhead sat next to him, patting his helm.

“It’s okay little buddy—”--Bulkhead

“I’m not that little!”--Bumblebee

Bee isn’t jealous.

He is very much.

He ends up nudging Buddy into hanging out with the team more so he can have more time to play with Sari.

This indirectly caused Buddy to start hanging out more with Prowl.

The two having a love for the organic nature of this planet often went outside of the plant to go look around.

It became their thing.

Buddy stumbled out of their room and running to the main room where Prowl was waiting for them.

“Sorry I’m late! I think Bumblebee mess up with my alarm’s.”--Buddy

Prowl chuckles a bit.

“No problem.”--Prowl

“I really thought you already left to the park by now. Why’d you wait?”--Buddy

Prowl stiffens a bit.

“You know more about the birds than I do.”--Prowl

“So that’s the only reason?”--Buddy

Prowl nervous sweats a bit before transforming.

“Shall we?”--Prowl

Buddy smiles at him and transforms.

“Ready when you are.”--Buddy

They never thought too hard about what was going on between them and Prowl. They were best friends, nothing more.

Right?

Best friends hung around each other all the time.

Best friends had sleepovers in each other’s rooms.

Best friends held servos sometimes.

Best friends sometimes felt a pounding in their chassis whenever the other was around.

Bets friends worried a lot about the others’ safety.

Best friends would take a blast to the chassis for the other.

Best friends would stare at each other for long periods of time.

Best friends often thought about each other when they slept—

Oh

Oh no…

They knew well this wasn’t some temporary thing.

They liked Prowl.

They really liked Prowl.

They needed to tell someone this.

And granted this was definitely not their best idea…

Buddy sitting with Bumblebee and Sari.

“So why do we have be here? Why not in the main room?”--Bumblebee

“Because I need to tell you guys something…”--Buddy

“And that’s something you can’t tell the team? Well, I’m all in for it! What is it?”--Bumblebee

“I…I…I like Prowl.”--Buddy

Buddy squints their optics shut not wanting to see their reactions.

Silence

“YYYYEEEEEEEE!”--Sari

Buddy quickly covers Sari’s mouth.

“Are trying to let the others know?!”--Buddy

“I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!”--Sari

“Wait what?”--Buddy

Sari giving them a smug look.

“I knew it from the first week you liked Prowl. I’ve been shipping you guys since.”-Sari

“Shipping? Never mind.”--Buddy

Buddy looks at their twin nervously.

“Well?”--Buddy

Bumblebee busts out laughing.

“Nice one Buddy! But leave the pranks to me. We both know I’m better.”--Bumblebee

“Bumblebee, they’re not kidding.”--Sari

Bumblebee looks at his twin and then realizes their seriousness.

“Really? Prowl? Out of all the bots—you just had to pick the most boring bot in this side of the system.”--Bumblebee

“Hey! He is not boring!”--Buddy

“Buddy’s right.”--Bulkhead

Bulkhead is leaning a bit on the doorframe.

“Thank you, Bulkhead.”--Buddy

Silence.

“Bulkhead! What are you doing here!?”--Buddy

“We heard Sari scream and came in and…”--Bulkhead

“Excuse me did you say ‘we’?”--Buddy

Bulkhead moves a bit revealing Ratchet and Optimus.

Buddy looks like they are going to faint.

“…How much did you hear?”--Buddy

“About the stuff we already knew?”--Ratchet

Buddy buries their face in their servos.

“At least Prowl did hear you.”--Bulkhead

“I didn’t hear about what?”--Prowl

CRASH!

THUD!

Buddy had sprung out of the window of their room and landed hard on the ground outside.

Everyone moved towards the window.

Buddy is laying eagle spread outside on the slightly cracked pavement.

“…Sari—”--Optimus

“On my way.”--Sari

Apparently, everyone knew, except about their crush except Prowl himself.

Observant their tailpipe.

The rest of the team managed to get Prowl out of the base for a bit to talk more to Buddy about their crush on the Cyberninja.

There are a lot of mix comments on how to woo or confess to Prowl.

Bee kind of doesn’t care too much about it.

He thinks that all of this is a bit much preparation for something that could fade away in a couple of weeks.

…That was until Bee found about Prowl’s little secret.

Bumblebee hiding behind Prowl’s tree ready to spook him for once.

Prowl comes in slightly pacing, clearly frustrated and nervous.

Bee stops a bit wondering what is happening to his friend.

“Come one Prowl! How hard is it to form a simple sentence. Why can’t you just say it.”--Prowl

Prowl stops a bit trying to regain his composure.

“Okay let’s see… Buddy, I like you. No that’s too straight forward. Buddy… ever since we met, I feel a special connection to you that I can only describe as affection. No… still not right. Hey Buddy, would you like to go out with me?”--Prowl

Bumblebee jumping from behind the tree.

“You like Buddy!”--Bumblebee

Prowl jumping already taking out his weapon when he realizes who it is.

“Bumblebee! What are you doing here!”--Prowl

“You. Like. Buddy.”--Bumblebee

Prowl freezes a bit.

“How much—”--Prowl

“I heard all of the horrible ways that your trying to ask them out.”--Bumblebee

“…”--Prowl

Prowl sits on his berth with both servos on his face groaning.

Bumblebee walks in front of him with both of his servos on his hips.

“Okay Prowl, do you really like them?”--Bumblebee

Prowl removes his servos from his face.

“Of course I do.”--Prowl

“Meaning that you want to make them happy. Like the happiest bot in this world.”--Bumblebee

Prowl nodding.

“And wanting to protect them from any danger or Decepticon we ever come across?”--Bumblebee

“Yes, I would protect them with my spark.”--Prowl

Bumblebee stands still like he is thinking.

“I guess I approve then.”--Bumblebee

Prowl looking at him dumbfounded.

“Wait what? What do you mean?”--Prowl

“It means I approve you and Buddy getting together, duh.”--Bumblebee

“I…I would have thought you wouldn’t like us being together, at all.”--Prowl

“I don’t like the idea of my twin dating anyone, but I guess if you do what you said you were going to do, then I’m fine with it.”--Bumblebee

Prowl looking a bit hopeful.

“Thank you.”--Prowl

Bumblebee waving his servo.

“Yeah, yeah, now go work on those pick-up lines and confessions. Only the Allspark knows why they like you.”--Bumblebee

“They what?”--Prowl

Bumblebee’s optics widen at the mistake, while Prowl’s widen in happiness.

“Ummm… what? I didn’t say anything!”--Bumblebee

“…”--Prowl

“Prowl?”--Bumblebee

“…”--Prowl

“Sari! I think I broke Prowl!”--Bumblebee

Prowl ended up confessing to Buddy later that week in front of the tree in his room under the full moon light.

He did think about doing it better in the park, but he didn’t want to risk something bad happening, and his room was the best place he could think of that also held significant value to the pair.

As a bonus, the team would be out on patrol while he would gather the nerves to confess.

The team returning from patrol.

“Remind me why Prowl couldn’t come today?”--Bumblebee

“He said he needed to do something and needed Buddy’s help with it.”--Optimus

“Hmmm. Wonder what that—”--Bulkhead

Bulkhead stops in the middle of the way.

“Bulkhead what are you—Oh.”--Ratchet

“What ‘oh’? What is—Oh. Oh!”--Optimus

“All right move it we can’t see!”--Bumblebee

Bumblebee and Sari move to the front to see what was going on.

On the sofa Prowl was sitting next to Buddy.

Buddy’s helm was resting on Prowl’s chassis as his arm went around their body, pulling them into a hug.

All while watching a nature documentary.

“HEY! NO KISSING!”--Bumblebee

Both bots jump up at the sudden noise.

“Bumblebee!”--Buddy

Buddy begins to chase their twin around the base feeling like their entire face was on fire.

“Are you sure that’s what you want?”--Ratchet

Prowl sighs as Buddy manages to tackle Bee down.

“Wouldn’t have them any other way.”--Prowl

[xxrosariaxx]

Yandere male celestial god x Reader

idefk but I had a dream so now yall get to live it with me. Just to preface I have never written outside of role-playing apps and from highschool so keep that in mind. Enjoy

tw: death, overstimulation (not the freaky kind)

☀️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌒🌓🌔🌕🌖🌗🌘⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☀️

It was a calm night. ... okay, that was a total lie. You had just come home from your dead end minimum wage job with a pounding headache. As if it wasn't bad enough you had spent 10 hours in a sluggish haze trying to ignore the pins running down your leg from standing at the til, now you felt like you had to claw your skin off from sheer frustration.

You had been asking your neighbors to be quiet what feels like hundreds of times now. First with a bribe of some cake and a polite request to be quiet at night. Then with a few more firm asks. Hell, you even asked the building manager to tell them to knock it off! All that resulted in was the building manager snitching to them.

You could argue he didn't mean to, but seriously? "The neighbor next door complained it was too loud here at nights. Please keep it down."? They lived at the end of the hall, there was only one next door apartment. YOU!

So of course they had told him they would and proceeded to make your life a living hell. Banging on your door at 3am, blasting their music from 10pm to 12am, even scooping their cats poop and leaving it on your welcome mat.

You couldn't leave, the lease was ironclad and unless you found someone to take the apartment in your stead you were stuck. Doing so off 3 hours of sleep in the scant few hours between work and the blasting music was near impossible anyways.

The sudden lack of sleep certainly wasn't helping your mind any. Last night you even thought the moon was following you. You thought you'd left such childish thoughts in the past, but apparently sleep deprivation can do wild things.

Though it looked off tonight, you pushed the thought aside again. "It's normal, just sleep. Or try anyways." After hours of tossing and turning you gave up. Sitting on that cold balcony in the hopes it'd at least let you think beyond the tired haze.

The moon was still weird. And was that a black dot in the center of the moon? ... no, it's just another hallucination. Some fake thing your mind put together to try and make sense of the chaotic world while so heavily exhausted.

You ended up falling while trying to hold onto the metal railing of the balcony. Slipping when your body couldn't put out the right amount of force to hold on. Hitting the cement and scraping your knee.

"F*CK! GODDAMMIT!" You couldn't help it as tears fell to the unforgiving ground. It was just too much and you were so so tired. Hiccuping sobs wracking your body as you just leaned against the side of the building.

"Why... I never asked for any of this. I work some sh*tty job, go back to some sh*tty apartment, and deal with SOME ENTITLED A HOLES, JUST TO LIVE IN THIS GOD FORSAKEN GLORIFIED RAT DEN!"

It was quiet. The birds all quiet, the crickets silent, even the neighbors had seemingly taken pity on you. Looking up again, the moon still had the black dot at its center. ... that's not right. It's night, why is the sun out? ... and why does it have the black dot in its center too.

"It's fine, this is fine. I just need to sleep now that its quiet. I just have to go inside. Then I ca-" the door is locked. A small whine escaped you as you just fell to the ground again.

Looking up at the sun and moon, wondering if this was how you'd die. Out on the decaying balcony in the few moments of silence, freezing from the mid autumn tempature drops. You stopped feeling from your scraped knee and sleep sounded absolutely delightful right now.

To go back to unconsciousness. Where it was always silent and warm and comforting. Where he'd be waiting. The weird guy with pitch black skin and hair that blended into each other. Leaving him a cutout of a person you could only barely see beyond a outline of soft curly hair and smooth lines. The only feature you ever picked up being that he was a good few inches taller and spoke in the softest soothing tone.

The words were lost to you the second you woke up but he was kind, you knew that. You giggled softly to yourself, looking up at the sky again. The mixture of desperation and sheer willingness to try and self sooth telling you it looked like the celestial bodies were just eyes watching you. They kinda do look like eyes from down here.

At least that meant you wouldn't die alone, and you faded out. Your vision going dark and a dull thunk registering in your head, quite literally as it had hit the ground.

It was quiet again, but not the suffocating silence of before. He was there again. Picking you up gently to sit on his arms like a make shift seat. Letting you lean into his chest as he cooed over you. His words coming to your ears and rushing out just as fast.

☆"Oh poor darling. Were you afraid without me? I know, I'm so dreadfully sorry. If I could I'd ensure your noisy little neighbors never kept you from me again, but I've been limited as of late. ... but that was alllll before! Now you can stay as long as we want!"

His humming was drowning out all of the recent thoughts. Why shouldn't it? You deserve to at least be happy here. No responsibility, no overwhelming noise, no more demanding customers or bosses. Just peace. It was so easy to let him take all of it away from you.

Finally having caught your drifting minds attention you willed yourself to look up. He had such pretty eyes. One with a white iris and the other a brilliant gold. How did you ever forget that? He met you gaze with such a gentle smile. Pulling his hand from under your legs to place his palm over your cheek. Tilting your head down to kiss your cheek.

You might have pushed him away if any more lucid, but who cares. Kiss away dream man. He laughed gently, placing a few more along your cheekbone as you realized that was probably more than an inside thought. Oh well.

☆"So much more pliant when you're here as well. How ever did you manage out there? It was exhausting just having to watch you from up here everyday."

You found yourself absent-mindedly nodding along. It was exhausting, wasn't it.

☆"And you had to do it all alone too. But you'll let me take off that burden. All you have to do is nod your head and it's done. No more work, no more apartment, no more waking world"

That last bit you couldn't decipher, but that's fine. It was just a dream anyways. You'll wake up later and your choices here will have no repercussions. Nodding as he smiled so brightly and held you tighter to his chest.

☆"Then as just as you ask my love, you'll stay here forever. Living in our little dream home world of ours.~"

That sounded nice. ... why was it so quiet again?

☀️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌒🌓🌔🌕🌖🌗🌘⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☀️

This was meant to be short but the brain worms started nibbling so eat well my children, lol.

[skyward-floored]

re Lost meeting Twilight: Peggy I am on my knees please write smth about this 🙏🏼 /nf /only if you want to

- hero-of-the-wolf

@hero-of-the-wolf I literally have not stopped thinking about this since you sent it, here’s Lost meeting Twilight and the chain (I’m cringe but free)

(Brief blood/violence warning, but it’s not too bad. Also a bit of a panic attack in there.)

————————————————————

Happy barking followed Link as he walked through the long grass of Hyrule Field, his dog’s tail waving like a fluffy white flag beside him. Winter barked again, scaring some birds that had been hiding in the grass, and Link couldn’t help but smile as his dog pranced back over to him, tongue happily lolling.

It was a nice day, cool but sunny, a handful of fluffy clouds drifting by in the sky. Link... technically wasn’t supposed to be out here, at least not without telling anyone, but the walls of the castle had felt like they were stifling him, and Winter seemed like he was in the mood to get out and run.

And besides, if Zelda hadn’t been stuck in bed with a nasty cold, then he was sure she would’ve dragged him out here anyway.

Link took in a slow, deep breath, watching a few pink flowers wave in the breeze as Winter ran around nearby. It was a better day today, a little less heavy, his heart less weary. Things were still... not great, sometimes, a lot of the time, but right now he felt... okay.

The nice weather certainly helped with that. Sunshine always seemed to brighten things.

Winter’s head suddenly poked up from the grass, his ears erect, and he trotted over to Link’s side, whining.

“What’s the matter boy?” Link asked, and Winter’s ears swiveled, his nose in the air as he sniffed.

His dog began to pace slowly towards the flowers Link had been watching, tail stiff and nose still sniffing intently. He whined again, looking back at Link, and Link felt the hair on the back of his neck prickle suddenly, a sense of foreboding sweeping over him.

Then a pool of purple and black appeared out of thin air in front of them.

Winter began barking up a storm and Link’s breath left his body, terror shooting up his spine. He felt like he couldn’t look away, eyes fixed on the faintly swirling darkness in front of him, and he stumbled backwards.

It didn’t feel the same, the magic wasn’t the same, he knew it wasn’t, but—

But—

Link took in a shaking breath, and Winter was suddenly back at his side, whining softly as he butted his head against him. Link set a hand on his neck, taking a bit of strength from burying his fingers in his thick fur, and tried to still the shaking in his hands. Once they weren’t trembling quite as hard, Link exhaled slowly, and looked up, eyeing the swirl of darkness in front of him with his heart pounding.

He’d never seen anything quite like this before, some kind of dark... portal thing. And he wasn’t exactly inexperienced in things involving dark magic.

Winter growled beside him, sensing his unease, or perhaps just as bothered by the sight as he was, and he stayed at Link’s side, ears pricked. Link ran a hand over his fur as he studied the darkness, very glad he hadn’t come out here alone.

Link swallowed, and taking another breath, edged closer to the sheen of dark magic, Winter following. He could feel the magic coming off the portal— gate maybe?— in waves, harsh things that made the scars on his back sting and his throat tighten.

It wasn’t the same. He could tell it wasn’t.

Relax, idiot. He’s gone.

Link drew close enough that he could reach his arm out and touch the portal if he wanted to, and he stared into the swirling depths, unsure of how to proceed. What now? If Zelda were here, she could blast the thing with light and be done with it, but she wouldn’t be back on her feet for at least a week. What could he do in the meantime?

What if something came out of it?

Almost like it had heard him, the darkness rippled, and before Link or Winter could do anything, something dark barreled out of the shadows and slammed into them.

Link shouted in alarm as he and the dark thing rolled down the hill, Winter’s barking only confusing him more as his world went topsy-turvy. They abruptly thumped to a stop against a rock, and though Link’s vision wasn’t very clear at the moment, he saw sharp teeth and red eyes above him.

He yelped, snatching frantically at the dagger he had on him, and the sharp-teethed thing snapped at his face. Link barely managed to avoid the swift attacks aimed at him, sharp claws pressing down on his chest, teeth grazing his neck and snapping at his nose.

But he finally managed to grab his dagger, and Link jabbed it deep into the lizardy-beast’s arm.

It screeched furiously, then abruptly leapt off of him, its foot slamming into his gut and knocking the air out of him as it went.

Link’s breath left him in a sharp gasp, and he wheezed for air his lungs didn’t want to give him as he watched the lizardy-thing bolt away into the grass. Apparently it wasn’t interested in continuing the fight. That or it had fled for another reason.

Regardless, he needed to get up and follow it, who knew what a monster like that was up to?

Link lay in the grass, wheezing as his heartbeat pounded in his ears. His breath slowly came back, and as he checked back into his surroundings, he became aware of a noise other than barking. It sounded like... words?

Link grunted and managed to raise himself up to an elbow, still thrown from the past several minutes. He rubbed his neck where the beast’s teeth had grazed him, feeling just a little blood, and heard several footsteps approaching him.

“...sent that guy flying, hope he’s all right—”

“Hey, you okay?”

Two pairs of boots appeared in Link’s vision, and he looked up at the two men who were standing in front of him.

The first was actually a child— or a teenager, maybe? Dressed in bright colors that were hard to focus on with his still-dizzy vision. He could make out cropped blond hair and a concerned look though, and was formulating a reply when the other man offered him a hand up.

Link took one look at him and froze.

Dark lines were marked across the man’s forehead, trailing down his nose and dashed across his cheeks. Link barely took in the worried expression creasing them, nor the bright blue eyes, just the dark markings, obviously left by magic. As Link stared at them, he felt a sharp prick of something completely unnatural, something that felt far too similar to—

Zelda’s scream rang in his ears, and Link scrabbled backward from both strangers, his breath catching in his throat.

This man— he must— he had to—

“Whoa, are you okay?” the man asked, and Link clutched at his chest, the terror he’d been fighting back ever since he’d seen that awful portal finally crashing over him like a wave.

“You— stay back,” Link gasped when the man stretched his hand out again, seeing nothing but the dark marks on his face. “Don’t— Not again, he can’t—”

Link tried to scramble further back, but his head felt suddenly light, his tunic like it was constricting him. His arm shook, and the other one unconsciously went to feel at his face, as if he could still feel the markings that had once been there.

“Hey, whoa it’s okay,” a voice tried to soothe, and Link might’ve trusted it but for the fact that the dark magic whispered through it. “The shadow—”

Something dark approached him and Link frantically kicked out, his boot connecting with something. He tried to scramble back again when he heard a cry, but his shoulders hit something, and he knew he was cornered.

No no no no—!

“Whoa! What’s the matter with him?”

“I don’t know, he took one look at Twi and flipped out, he—”

“Rancher stop trying, you’re just scaring him—”

Link clutched at his hair, trying to fight against the dark magic he could feel, unsure of where it was even coming from but feeling like it was everywhere, his breath coming so fast he felt sick.

There was a roaring sound in his ears, so loud he couldn’t hear anything but his own frantic breath and galloping heartbeat. He didn’t know what to do, where was Zelda, he needed her—

There was something damp on his fingers, he realized, and Link stared at it in horror, reddish smears marking his palm, terror beating in his heart more quickly by the second.

He must have killed someone.

Oh goddesses why else would he have blood on his hands, he’d heard a cry and he must have—

I hurt someone, I killed someone, they’re dead not again not again—

Link choked on thin air, his lungs constricting him, the blood on his hands seeming to multiply until he felt like he was drowning in it, roaring in his ears so loudly he couldn’t hear anything but that and his heart racing in his chest.

Until a voice managed to suddenly break through it.

“Sir? Can you hear me?”

Link sucked in a thin gasp at the sound, the voice startlingly familiar.

He... he knew who that was. And he knew they were safe, that if that voice was here then... things were okay. And because he was hearing him, that meant...

That meant Link was safe.

Memories of warm green took the place of dark purple and red, a kind smile, strong embrace, a bright sword cutting through the darkness. Link sucked in another gasp, and tried to draw himself out of the panic crushing him like a vice, clutching at the sun-warmed grass that surrounded him, trying to listen past his panicked heartbeat.

He swallowed, and his vision focused, the colors in front of him organizing into definite shapes, faces and figures. He felt a burst of hope when he saw the man kneeling in front of him, but as his figure came more clearly into view, he realized it wasn’t who he thought it was.

But the smile was the same, that same regal warmth he remembered from speaking with Courage himself.

“You’re safe, I promise,” the man reassured softly, pushing his white cape over his shoulder. “Nobody here is going to hurt you. Are you all right?”

Link didn’t quite trust his voice, so he slowly nodded, his heart still beating like a bird trapped in his ribcage. He lifted his head a bit more, and saw that there were several people standing behind the man, pretending not to watch them.

“Hey, are you hurt?” the man with the cape asked, and Link flicked his gaze back to him, slowly shaking his head before shrugging a little. He was coming back to himself more and more, and suddenly recalled the scratch on his neck he’d received. He lightly felt at it, and saw the man nod. “Ah, yeah looks like you got nicked. It doesn’t look like you’re bleeding any more though. We should probably wrap it just in—”

“My dog,” Link croaked suddenly, realizing he couldn’t hear Winter’s barking. Worry shook over him, and he swallowed. “Where’s...”

“He’s over there with our rancher,” the man in the cape said, gesturing behind him. “He went after the lizard when it jumped off you, Twilight’s just making sure he’s okay.”

“He’s really big and fluffy,” a different voice spoke up, a kid in blue and orange. “I thought he was a wolf at first.”

Link blinked in response, and took in a shuddering breath. He raised his head a little more, gaze flicking around at the group of men that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere as he looked for Winter.

Most of them were dressed in bright colors, not too unusual, but not all of them were really dressed for the climate, evidenced by the way a few were rubbing their arms. Link kept looking, his ears growing a little warm at the sheer number of people who’d just seen him freak out, then froze.

Winter was near the back of the group, tail wagging as he was scratched behind the ears. The man scratching him was the one with the dark marks on his face, the one with the pulse of wrong that Link had felt, but— Winter wasn’t acting suspicious of him at all.

His dog looked like he was... enjoying himself.

“That’s our rancher,” someone spoke up, and Link saw the kid with the multicolored tunic again, giving him a kind look. His voice lowered a little and he leaned closer. “I can understand why you’d be distrustful of him. But those marks don’t mean anything bad.”

Link swallowed and looked at the man again, Winter acting completely unbothered by his presence. The rancher happened to look up at the same time, and his eyes held nothing but guilt as they met Link’s.

...Even though he was the one holding a cloth to his nose, fabric stained with blood.

Guilt crested over Link. Oh no. “Is he—”

“It’s merely a bloody nose, you didn’t do any significant harm,” someone assured, and Link looked back to see a man in full plate armor walk up. He also had marks on his face, though they weren’t dark like the rancher’s, and despite the twinge of something Link felt from them, they didn’t immediately send him panicking.

The kid in blue spoke up again. “Yeah, I elbowed Wild and gave him a bloody nose last week and he didn’t even care!”

“Uh, yes I did,” a voice somewhere near Twilight replied, and the kid scrunched his face in that direction.

“Well your nose wasn’t broken so I consider it a win.”

“I... I apologize for hitting him,” Link said quietly, and the man with the cape patted his arm in a consoling way as he handed Link some bandages.

“It’s okay. You were frightened, he should have moved when we realized what startled you,” he apologized with a wince. “I’m Sky, by the way. What’s your name?”

“Link,” Link replied as he carefully wiped off his neck, and the entire group seemed to still, casting each other significant looks.

Link’s heart sank as they all looked back at him, and he couldn’t help but shrink into himself as he quickly bandages his scrape. They must have heard of me. Would they be so quick to forgive him now that they knew who he was?

The kid with the blue tunic and orange pants suddenly grinned, and crowed excitedly as he punched one wearing red and green on the arm.

“I told you! I told you we were going to get another! You owe me twenty rupees!”

“Alright sailor, you were right, sheesh,” the other huffed, and a few laughs went up, the plate-armored man’s face softening as he looked at Link.

“You’re the hero of this land, aren’t you?” he asked, and Link felt about ten times more confused than he had previously. Why were they asking him that? Surely they knew who he was, what he’d done. How couldn’t they? Unless... they were foreigners?

Regardless, this man was mistaken.

“I’m no hero,” he scoffed, suddenly feeling disgusted with himself. The happy atmosphere drained at his words, and he received several surprised looks. “If you’re looking for one, you want the princess, not me.”

“Just the princess? Not you?” one with a flowing scarf asked, an eyebrow raised.

Link lowered his gaze. “Not me.”

The man with the cape— Sky, looked at him with an odd expression after he spoke, and he reached behind him, pulling something out. He carefully set it on his knees, and Link stared, the blood draining from his face.

“I see you recognize her. Did you ever wield this blade?” Sky asked quietly, and a dizzy feeling swept over Link as he quickly braced his hands in the grass.

That was impossible. Then Master Sword had been laid to rest, he and Zelda were in the process of making it as secure as possible, nobody but he and Zelda could even properly pick it up, how—

“I did, but... how are you... who... are you people?” Link asked, feeling oddly afraid.

Sky gently set his hand on Link’s arm, and Link almost hated how comforted he was by the touch.

“It’s an odd tale, but bear with us,” he said with a smile. “Believe it or not, we’re... actually all named Link.”

Link blinked, and heard a few chuckles.

“That’s not even the weirdest part,” the kid with the multicolored tunic snorted.

“Oh, tell him about the time traveling!” the voice that had supposedly been elbowed last week said excitedly.

“Shush y’all, let him explain,” the rancher called above the chatter, and gestured to the man with plate armor as the clamor died down.

“Thank you. As Sky said, we’re all named Link, but that’s only part of it,” the oldest explained, watching Link steadily with his one eye. “We’re heroes from across time, past and future, many who have wielded that blade. We’re traveling through the portals that the Shadow who ran into you earlier is opening, as well as fighting beasts he’s infected. He is our enemy, and he’s been causing a great deal of trouble. Trouble that may have disastrous consequences.”

Link took all of that in in silence, casting his gaze slowly around the group. Many were young, or close to his age, but the way they held themselves, the spark in their eyes, the weapons they bore... they reminded him of Courage. Of that same spark, that strength, a kindred soul, someone close as a brother.

And he didn’t belong in their number.

“I know you denied being a hero... but surely you feel the pull, don’t you?” the multicolored kid spoke up again. His grey eyes were bright as he looked at Link. “That touch of family. Something that’s beyond a mere familiarity.”

“We could use your help,” Sky added softly, and Link looked at the Master Sword in his lap, the blade that had caused him so much trouble shining innocently in the sunlight.

“You don’t want my help. I just make everything worse,” Link replied quietly, and slowly got to his feet, Sky’s hand slipping from his arm. Link gave a short whistle, catching Winter’s attention, and his dog happily trotted over, tail wagging as he pressed against his side. “I’m sorry.”

“But—”

“I’m not a hero, I’m sorry,” Link said sharply, then breathed in, and out. “I don’t belong in your group.“

“But you—”

“That’s his decision, sailor,” the scarfed man interrupted the kid with the lobster shirt. He met Link’s gaze. “We won’t force you to come. Though you may change your mind if you come across any of the infected monsters.”

“...What do you mean by infected?” Link asked in a quiet voice, and the eldest of the group sighed.

“Empowered is more accurate. They appear as normal monsters, but have blackened blood, stronger attack and defense and a heightened intelligence that makes defeating them a pain, if not plain dangerous,” he explained.

Link swallowed. That sounded bad.

...That sounded really bad actually, and Link knew it was his responsibility to take care of it, especially while Zelda was sick. And while he wasn’t afraid to fight monsters— that had never been a problem for him— but going along with these men, these heroes...

Link swallowed again. He didn’t belong with them. He would only make their job harder. Especially if panicking so much at even a hint of dark magic was going to be a regular thing now.

“I’ll need to speak with the princess about this,” he said finally, and a few heads perked up.

“That’s fine. We’d actually like to speak to her as well,” the scarfed knight said.

“Yeah, especially since the Shadow got away,” the blue and orange kid huffed. “How does he always disappear on us like that?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t like it,” the teenager wearing red and green added as he crossed his arms. “It makes it awfully hard to track him. Or fight him. Or formulate a plan to beat him.”

“I don’t suppose you’d mind guiding us to the castle?” Sky asked while the others chattered, and Link hummed in agreement, burying a hand in Winter’s fur. He could do that at least. These men’s story was utterly bizarre, but the colorful one had been correct— Link did feel a pull towards them, one that was warm and familiar, and despite his initial reaction, he felt that they didn’t mean any harm.

And even if Link was wrong and they did, the castle was plenty defended.

“I can do that. You’ll likely have to wait for an audience though,” Link warned. Zelda would probably insist on seeing them anyway, but he wouldn’t discount Impa forbidding anything even remotely taxing.

“That’s fine,” the eldest said. “Thank you.”

Link nodded in return, swallowing. Hopefully Zelda would know what to do with... all this. Or if not, surely his father or Impa would.

He himself was feeling more lost by the second.

Link breathed out as he petted Winter, and looked across the group again, slowly taking each of them in. He met the eyes of the rancher again, his nose finally stopped bleeding, and dipped his head in apology, ignoring the flicker of panic he got from the sight of the markings. It wasn’t very fair for him to freak out about some dark lines. For all he knew, this man had been in a similar position to him, and just not been lucky enough to have had his markings fade.

The rancher nodded back at him, an oddly grieved look on his face, and Link quickly turned away, motioning for them all to follow.

The sooner they reached the castle the better.

[delighteddistractions555]

LMK Incorrect Quotes 3#

The last of the series until the month of April or May. Enjoy the usual insanity!

(MK is yet again hosting another party and is the DJ.)

MK: NEVER GOING TO GIVE YOU UP!!! NEVER GOING TO LET YOU DOWN-

Erlang Shen: Hold it!! Pause right there MK!

(MK is confused but pauses the song anyway.)

Erlang Shen: (Turns to the others.) Alright, raise your hand if, A. Someone has let you down. B. You have let someone down. Or C. Both.

(Mei, Red Son, Nezha, Pigsy, Macaque, Chang’e, DBK, Princess Iron Fan, and Sun Wukong raise their hands.)

MK: …….*SCREAMS BLOODY MURDER.* (Before smashing the DJ station and running off still screaming.)

Nezha: ……I think MK chose C…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

(Red Son walks in to see MK and Mei hiding behind the couch.)

Red Son: So what are you pathetic peasants doing-

MK: SSSSSSSHHHH!!!

Mei: *Whispering* He could move any minute now!!

(Red Son looks in their direction to see a motionless cowboy rag doll on the floor.)

Red Son: HA!! You stupid peasants know that’s just a dumb idea from that idiotic foreigner movie-

(Nezha walks in and sees the doll.)

Nezha: -_-…….. Really Wooster?! You get LOST again?!?!

(Woody stands up and places his hands on his hips.)

Woody: Well to be fair-I DIDN’T EXACTLY ASK TO GET SOLD ONLINE AGAIN!!!

Red Son: AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!  (Runs to Nezha and jumps into the latter’s arms.) GET THAT HIDEOUS HEATHEN AWAY FROM ME!!

Nezha: Little Bull, it’s just Woody!!

Red Son: AND WHATEVER ITS NAME IS IT'S STILL DOWNRIGHT TERRIFYING!!! MAKE IT GO AWAY!!!

Woody: (Places a hand on his forehead.) Why do I have a gut feeling this kid never had a proper childhood….

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Erlang Shen: You’re my favorite little one Nezzie~ (Hugs Nezha as he ruffles the younger god’s hair.)

Nezha: *Happy to receive the attention.* Erlang, stooop!

Chenxiang: Ooooooh, then I guess I’m just chopped liver to you eh, uncle?!

(Erlang and Nezha freeze, turning their heads to see the newcomer.)

Nezha: Erlang, WHO is that?!?!

Erlang Shen: Uuuuuuhhhhh, hey Nezha, I want you to try not to panic as I- (Yeets a smoke bomb and zooms off with Nezha in tow.)

Nezha: YOU DIDN’T TELL ME YOU HAD A NEPHEW!!!

Erlang Shen: WELL I DIDN’T ASK FOR ONE!!!

(Meanwhile, back on Mount Hua.)

Chenxiang: Mom, let me take the axe, I’m hunting revenge for dinner tonight.

Holy Mother of Mount Hua: *Tired of dealing with her estranged brother.* Sweetheart, what did your uncle do this time?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

(Wukong sneaks into Macaque’s private garden to see his shadowy counterpart ticked off.) 

Sun Wukong: What’s up Mac?

Macaque: Oh I’ll tell you what’s up. Just as think you put up enough bird feeders for all these blasted birds-

(Cue a flock of hummingbirds alighting onto their feeders. Only for the birds to start dive bombing and squabbling over one feeder instead of going to another.)

Macaque: AND IT HAPPENS EVERY DAMN TIME!!! It doesn’t matter how much I give these little bastards-they all keep fighting over a few feeders and ignoring the rest!!

Sun Wukong: Ha! What a bunch of birdbrains, wait a minute. This region of the world isn’t native to hummingbirds…

Macaque: ……

Sun Wukong: ……. Mac, put 'em back.

Macaque: And leave them to starve?! No. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Li Jing: I hereby decree you remain on the moon forevermore.

Chang’e: Hey! That’s what the last emperor said!!

Pigsy: Now wait a piping hot minute Mr. High-N-Mighty!!! Why don’t we bring some democracy into this instead of just straight up punishing her AGAIN for one stupid little mistake?!

Li Jing: *Scoffs* Following that blasted America’s example? Now that is the most ridiculous-

Erlang Shen: No, no, no, wait. The chef has a point. 

Gold Star of Venus: Voting can actually be good for diplomacy. 

Jinzha: That’s not a bad idea!

Li Jing: You are seriously not considering-

Ao Guang: Actually, a decision made by the majority instead of just one seems to be more sound. 

Queen Mother of the West: I say we give the poor dearie a chance. She suffered enough already. 

Nuwa: Let’s take a vote then!

Li Jing: WHERE DID YOU THREE COME FROM-

Erlang Shen: All in favor of lifting Chang'e banishment, raise your hands!

(The Heavenly Court, the Monkie Kid Crew, the DBK Family, the Ao Dragon Clan, and Nuwa raise their hands except for Li Jing.)

Li Jing: I am NOT going to let this pass-

Gold Star of Venus: What’s that you’re majesty? You wish for a vote to decide whether or not you should be the emperor?

(Li Jing clamps his mouth shut.)

Queen Mother of the West: Well it appears the majority wishes for your freedom, welcome back Chang’e!

Chang’e: My hero!! (Runs to Pigsy.)

Pigsy: As you say Chang’e, Cooking is Life, and it’s a life best shared with others! 

[entomolog-t]

Finding Strength- Chapter 2

Nearly A WHOLE YEAR after the first chapter WE ARE BACK !!

Meet Rose, a varsity athlete who should needs to pay more attention to the concussion safety protocols. Also Grayson (you'll see a lot more of him eventually)

- - - -

Next Chapter: Chapter 3

Word count: 2160

CW: Adult language

Rose smiles. She smiles as the sweat beads that slick her brow drip into her eyes. She smiles as her limbs grow heavy, arms burning and near useless. She even, to the displeasure of her teammate, smiles as she drills. Her grin an ever present, and rather unnerving, fixture on her face as the duo works their way through their umpteenth repetition of speed drills. 

Through gritted teeth Grayson Wilder manages to hiss out a quick knock-it-off before being met her forehead ramming square into his gut as she shoots yet another blast double. As her she makes contact, Grayson is swiftly reminded why pre practice Mcdonalds was a terrible idea. 

Who even drills blast doubles during speed drills anyways? 

As Rose plows through the take down, Grayson uses the brunt of his mental fortitude to curse their coach for having dared to suggest that doing some extra drilling with Rose would be light go’s for him- that, and to keep his meal firmly where it belonged. 

Grayson lands with a grunt, and Rose takes the time to give him a sympathetic look before the two hustle back to standing, only to repeat the whole process again.

And again.

And again.

And- 

The sound of the score clock's buzzer could have been a choir of angels to either athlete at this point. Sweaty, drained and sore, Rose sighs- not from fatigue, but instead satisfaction. There was a buzzing in her arms, shaky and electric with that telltale combination of adrenaline and exertion. Speed drills objectively sucked. Getting stuck with one of the 90 kilo men for a partner sucked even more. But losing her shot to go to Nationals last season has sucked the most. This season would be great- even if that meant she would have to favor the monotony of drilling rather than the excitement of scrimmage.

Think big. Rose grins, testing the sound of her new little mantra in her head. First early birds, then provincials then-

“Rose!”

Her thoughts are abruptly interrupted by a shout from her coach. Hank Miller beckons her over, a cheeky smile on his face as she jogs towards him.

“Another double and Grayson looked about ready to turn Green… son.”

Rose wishes she has the self control to groan, but instead, she laughs. 

“Think he’s McLovin it?”

“He’ll be McLoving his sauna suit, that's for sure.” Hank shakes his head. With sigh he hands her a packet. Though as Rose grabs it, Hank doesn't let go. Eyebrows raised expectantly, his smile is replaced by a more stern expression. 

“Filled out by Monday, got it?” 

Rose rolls her eyes, but Hank’s grip remains firm.

“Don't lose it.” 

In a feat of self control that could rival that of monks, Rose resists the urge to inform Hank that it's not impossible to print another copy. Though in fairness, with his downright cretaceous tech literacy, there were good odds that for him, it may in fact be impossible.

“Yes, Mom.”  Finally, he relinquishes the thick stack of redundancy forms. With the packet in tow, Rose makes a B-line for her water bottle. Quick drink, stretches… maybe some footspeed drills? The thought of managing to get her legs to move with the growing weight of fatigue and lactic acid setting in was far from appealing, and there was also the weight of impending assignment deadlines to consider…

It should be a felony to have assignments due the first week of the school year...

With a groan, Rose downs her water as she meanders back on the mat to start her stretches, the cool water an oasis in the mugginess of the wrestling room. Though, the coolness of the water does nothing to hide the red hot glare she can feel burning a hole into the back of her head. A quick glance behind her reveals Hank, with a frustratingly smug pair of raised eyebrows as he casts a nod toward her packet; left abandoned on the sidelines.

With all the subtlety of an air horn at a funeral, Rose makes a show of bringing the oh-so-precious forms to her bag, grin smeared across her face as she plays up her exasperation. She can hear Hank laughing behind her, along with another “Monday” for good measure. 

Looking over her shoulder Rose makes sure to shoot him a glare of her own as she shoves the papers into the front pocket of her-

A scream.

Head on a swivel, Rose's eyes immediately lock onto the source-  a strained yelp escaping her as the sight sends her sprawling back. Her mind races, fumbling as it strains to make sense of what she was almost certain could not have been in her bag. 

“...You good?” Hank’s voice feels like a lifeline back to reality, reeling Rose in from her shock. 

“Uhh y-yeah, no. I'm good.” She lies,  “Just, uh, papercut.”

Rose didn’t move. Hell, she wasn’t even sure if she had been breathing. She was frozen- feeling as if even a blink would dispel the almost certainly not real reality that stared back at her.

There's…. There's a man- A very small man- in my bag.

Rose swallows nervously. Had she hit her head and not realized? Grayson had made her eat mat on at least one failed attempt at a leg shot… Could concussions cause hallucinations? 

There's a tiny man in my bag.

They definitely could, right? Rose couldn’t help but notice the irony that she couldn’t remember the stupid Safe Sport Concussion Awareness presentation. What was more concerning?  Hallucinations from a grade 2 concussion, or finding a tiny man in her bag?

Rose blinked.

There's still a tiny man in my bag.

In a far away reality, she hears the muffled voice of Hank asking if she's sure she's alright. 

Rose hurriedly gathers up her bag at his approach.

“I’m good. Totally good. I… I uh… gotta go.”

_   _   _

Those few stuttered words were all the warning Tamius had before he was flung backwards as the bag was torn from the ground. 

A plan- he needed a plan. Anything- 

Instead, Tamius was met by sheer chaos. His word topples over itself, rising and falling and sending him careening into the wall of fabric. A horrible realization dawns on him.

She’s running. 

Dread seemed to be the only thing anchoring him to reality as Tamius remained a victim to gravity’s indecisiveness. 

He’d been caught. 

That behemoth idiot had fucking caught him- Tamius grit his teeth.

No. Not yet. 

White knuckled, Tamuis clung to the fabric of the bag. His eyes desperately scanning in the low light for the hole he’d cut.  If he could make it back into the larger compartment he could buy himself some time taking cover in her clothes- there’d be an opportunity for escape. He was sure there would be. He’d make one.

In a mix of determination and desperation, Tamius fights against the rhythmic lurching, an awful feeling of vertigo boring down on him as his hands scramble for new grips, something- anything- to pull him closer to that fucking hole. 

A lock clicked. 

The sound slicing through him-  an executioner's bell condemning him to his fate.  

No, no, no- not yet! 

The stillness that followed was truly terrifying, a contagious beast freezing him, and time itself, in place. Reality itself seemed to hold a change, like the feeling before a storm- his muscles tense, and hair standing on its end, as if current was running through him. It was an electric sort of dread- a missed step, an object about to fall, the moment before impact- 

No.

The impact came in the form of five grotesquely large fingers diving into the pocket, looking far more like a Hellish mass of writhing limbs than the hands he was familiar with.

Every ounce of his being screamed- all thoughts coalescing to one;

Get to the rip.

In that moment, Tamius was not a man. He was not a being of higher intelligence. In that moment he felt no soul, no empathy, no love. He was a desperate animal scrambling towards a corner. There was no safety waiting for him just beyond the rip. All that waited behind the fabric were a few extra tortured seconds of delusion. A few painful moments where he could pretend he could reason his way out of this and avoid the reality barreling down on him in the form of five gruesome fingers. 

Though reality, it seemed, had other plans.

That gargantuan fucking idiot. 

The fingers coiled around him, engulfing Tamius in their impossible mass. His heart pounded wildly in his chest, echoed by that of the flesh pulsing around him- the feeling so deeply sickening he could taste bile on his tongue. Tamuis’ stomach lurches as he’s dragged out, hands grasping pointlessly for anything as he's brought forth in front of a sickeningly familiar face.  

He wanted to scream. He wanted to fight back. He wanted to kick, and bite and scratch until she had to let him go. He wanted so desperately to be the cause of even the smallest amount of pain. Anything to wipe that ridiculous awestruck stare off of her stupid face. Anything to pretend like there was something he could do to change the outcome.

But Tamius The Bestoyed,  was a man far too smart for his own good. Cursed with reason, he was granted no security in ignorance. Pride was reserved for those who could delude themselves into believing they were in control. Much to his horror, Tamius knew better. 

He’d been caught. 

Trapped in the fist of a colossus, Tamius swallowed his pride. Tamius was a man of intellect and reason. So he did what any man with intellect and reason would do. 

He begged. 

“Please.” His voice shook, thick with fear and desperation as garbled pleas spilled forth like a river in spring. The knowledge he so prided himself with failed him, his words a stunted mess of gasping pleases and begging to be let go. 

Her brow furrows. 

“Pl-please.” Despite himself, Tamius uselessly strained against her fingers, wracking his brain anything he could say. Her eyes, wide and gray, were locked onto him. 

Gray. 

Gray like foreboding skies. Gray like- 

She sucks in a breath, her eyes widening as some sort of thought passes through the near impenetrable density of her gargantuanly thick skull. For a moment, her mouth hangs agape- a look of confusion crossing her face as she takes her time forming a thought. 

“... Why are you crying?” 

Of all the things she could have said, Tamius had not been anticipating this.

What?

As if experiencing sympathy stupidity, his own mind goes blank, struggling to keep pace with her words. Was he? His face felt wet. 

Wait- what did she mean why? How stupid could she be- As if she wasn’t obviously the reason!  

Tamius wants to say something, but calling out her oblivious stupidity was out of the question. Before he’s able to gather his words, her hand opens up. No longer restrained in her grip, Tamius, completely and totally dumbstruck, finds himself sitting splayed out in her much too warm cupped hand. 

He’s hit with an onslaught of thoughts, as he rapidly begins reformulating any semblance of a plan.

Could he jump? Run? Where was he? Could he fit under the door? How would he get home-   

“Did I …” His thoughts are immediately silenced as she addresses him again, “... hurt you?” 

Her words catch him off guard, but not nearly as much as her expression. Concern. Embarrassment? She seemed horrified at the thought, her grey eyes scrutinizing him for any sign of injury in a way that bordered on violating. 

Too close- too much. 

Unable to find his voice, Tamius shakes his head, scrambling back as much as the limited surface of her hands would allow. The massive, and now that he had the chance to get a good look at her, very sweaty woman eyed him curiously. She thinks for a moment, brow furrowed as the act of thinking clearly was not something in which she was well practiced.

“How did you get so small?”

What? Get? 

His own expression mirrors hers, brow furrowing as realization dawns on him. 

This idiot Gargo thinks I’ve shrunk… 

If he wasn’t so terrified he would have scoffed. It would be his luck that he managed to have encountered the most gullible specimen of humanity imaginable. As if people just go around shrinking- wait. 

People.

She thinks I’m human.

His hands rush to his ears, relief washing over him as he feels his hair, mussed just enough from this whole ordeal to have covered their not quite human shape. This… this could work. Despite the way his hands shook, despite the way his heart pounded in his chest, despite the way this was far beyond the bounds of a worst case scenario, a wry smile tugged at the corners of his lips. 

What an idiot.

[oh-stars]

Escape Plan

Party

a Stobin Month 2024 prompt | 611 words | CW: drug dealing, party | Rating: T

--

“You didn’t have to come with,” Eddie says as he counts the money some kid just handed him.

Steve shrugs and sips at the beer he snagged. “It’s not too bad.” 

“Remind you of your glory days?” Eddie smirks and looks up at Steve from beneath long lashes and the thick curtain of his bangs. 

“Hardly,” Steve says with a snort. They’re at one of the last parties of summer, before the graduates head off to college or wherever they’re fucking off to that isn’t Hawkins. Not that Steve would know. He’s not bitter about Robin going to college in less than a week while he’s still here trying to figure out what he and Eddie want to do. Not at all.

Eddie laughs softly. “Oh, right, right, this too tame for good ol’ King Steve?” 

“Will you fuck off?” Steve says, bumping Eddie’s shoulder and laughing along with him. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Steve sees someone walk out of the sliding glass door and onto the back patio. Robin! He turns toward her like a reflex, eyes locking on to where she’s bouncing on her heels, her thumbs tracing the grooves of her palms over and over again where her hands are clasped in front of her. 

Time to go.

“How much longer do you need to stay?” Steve asks, setting down his beer. He won’t be picking it back up. He’s barely drunk it, only just hitting the halfway point. Not that it matters, Eddie’s the one driving home tonight.

Eddie shrugs. “Weed’s gone, I have a little more coke I could probably sell, but otherwise, the rest of this is a gamble anyway.” 

“So… we can leave?” 

“You just said it wasn’t too bad!” 

Steve hops off the table they were sitting on and motions toward the door. “Not for me.” 

Eddie’s eyes follow his movement, then soften in understanding. “Meet you at the van?” 

“Deal.” 

Steve takes off, slipping between the drunk and dancing party-goers to find Robin. 

She’s clinging to the wall, stuck in conversation with Matty W, a guy who's been obsessed with Robin since middle school. She’s giving him a too tight smile and nodding her head frequently, another clear sign that she’s at her limit. 

“Rob, hey,” Steve says, throwing an arm over her, “we have to go. Hop’s on his way.” 

As Robin’s eyes gleam with understanding and something warm, Matty W backs away to spread the word that Chief Hopper’s on his way. She keeps his arm around her until they make it to the front yard, slipping out from under him quickly to dart to the van. 

Steve follows after and catapults himself into the passenger seat in time for Eddie to pull off. In the rearview mirror, Steve can see a number of kids fleeing the house.

“Isn’t Hopper with the Byers on vacation?” Robin asks, leaning forward to poke her head between the seats. 

“Yup.” 

“So you just busted a party on his behalf for no reason?” 

Steve shakes his head. “Eddie was done dealing and you were ready to get out of there. That’s reason enough.” 

Eddie rolls his eyes, but he’s laughing. He reaches over and pats Steve’s thigh, hand lingering. “You’re something else, sweetheart.” 

Robin lays her head on Steve’s shoulder. “I can’t believe you’d break up a party for me. How the mighty have fallen.” 

“Both of you can fuck off,” Steve says, even though his smile is giving him away. 

“Shut up, dingus, you love us,” Robin coos. Steve flips her the bird and turns up the stereo, blasting his playlist much to Eddie’s chagrin. They can deal with it.

--

Thank you @lady-lostmind for beta reading!

Ao3 Link

[rosypenguins]

Hey so uh about my Vampire AU… I still somehow have no clue what I want to do with the first chapter so uh… UH- DISTRACTION! DOM AND FAYE HEADCANONS BECAUSE THEY MAKE ME VIOLENT!!

💚Faye is brutally honest, whereas Dom has absolutely no issue lying if he thinks it’ll be for the better. It’s gotten to a point where he does it almost compulsively now. (This has definitely impacted him negatively in the past, but will he stop? HAH-)

🧡Despite me saying this, I feel like Dom can’t lie on command. He can do it impulsively, but if he’s specifically told to lie about something he struggles to keep a straight face. (This leads to a lot of people thinking he’s just as bad a liar as Faye when this really is not the case.)

💚Faye is easily overwhelmed by loud noise, and usually has to listen to music at a low volume. Dom, meanwhile, has to blast his as loudly as possible.

🧡I feel like they mostly listen to Indie stuff. I can’t really see them being into any main-stream artists.

💚Considering Dom’s comment about him and Faye wanting to be friends with Elliot for a while, I like to imagine that after they said goodbye to Elliot in the first spin-off episode, they high-fived and got super giddy. But then cut to two hours later and Dom’s pacing the room like: “oh my God, we overshared again he LITERALLY HATES US-”

🧡I’m sorry but there’s no way they both don’t have low-self esteem. (Dom’s: “We can be a bit annoying to be fair-” will forever live in my head rent-free until further elaborated on.)

💚Anyways, I feel like these two are always sharing their thoughts with one another, and even when they’re apart, they’ll still turn to where other would usually be with the intention of saying something, only to realize they’re not there and feel a little awkward afterwards.

🧡DO NOT SEPARATE. THEY DO NOT LIKE BEING SEPARATED.

💚They’ve probably tried to create their own language before. But they kept changing the rules of it so neither of them really understand it anymore.

🧡But they probably have a second, non-verbal language of just hand motions, expressions and straight up mind-reading.

💚They’ve probably tried to pass as one another at least once before. (And no one fell for it.)

🧡I like to think they both have DND-style OC’s they’re super invested in, but they don’t really do anything with them other than create increasingly complex lore and compare them with each other. (They’re always arguing over which one would win in a fight.)

💚Faye’s really sweet to everyone else, but I like to think she’ll bully Dom any chance she gets.

🧡I also feel like Faye likes giving Dom space buns because they look funny, but Dom’ll usually keep them in since they keep his bangs out of his face.

💚Faye loves platonic hand-holding.

🧡Dom probably collects random acorns and pinecones. (Thank you @ratkingnezu for randomly looking over my shoulder and suggesting this lol.)

💚They also probably have all sorts of knick-knacks resembling birds and rodents and insects scattered all around their room. (And they all have names and despite taking up so much space, Dom and Faye refuse to part with any of them.)

🧡They’re both hoarders. They’ll be going through all their stuff and find some random ribbon they took off a Christmas present and be like: “…but what if I NEED IT-” and then they’ll immediately forget about it like two days later.

💚Speaking of Christmas, I feel like they’d both hate Christmas music. (They hear Mariah Carey on the radio in November and suddenly they’re filled with dread.)

🧡I feel like these two would hate clothes shopping. If they ever needed anything, they’d probably just go to a Target or something.

💚Also, if they see anything that looks remotely soft in a store, they have to go and feel it.

🧡They probably hate coffee with a burning passion. (And I like to think they’re both juice-box addicts.)

💚I feel like Dom and Faye were the type of kids who weren’t allowed to have phones ‘til they were around 12-14, so up until then, they were probably just sent outside and told to be back before dinner. (Optional.)

🧡But quickly after Faye got a phone she got addicted to Instagram and now spends several hours scrolling each day.

💚These two probably prefer the company of animals over people, honestly. Neither of them understand people very well.

🧡Dom seems like the type of guy to be just a little bit obsessed with his friends. Like not even in a romantic way. He’s just… really clingy. (He’s probably not used to having someone other than Faye to talk to. So when he does find someone he sticks to them like glue.)

💚Meanwhile, I feel like Faye’s a lot more introverted. She’s more than comfortable being alone, and she doesn’t really mind that Dom’s technically her only friend. (All she really needs to be content is Dom and her spiders. Neither of which are going anywhere anytime soon.)

🧡I feel like Faye tends to go non-verbal whenever she’d overwhelmed or overstimulated. Whenever this happens, Dom’ll usually take her somewhere quiet, and hold her hand silently as she calms down.

💚She probably also has some noise-cancelling headphones she brings whenever she goes out to loud or crowded spaces.

🧡Meanwhile, Dom will do everything he can to mask and pretend he’s fine and he’ll literally be on the verge of a meltdown with tears streaming down his face all like: “No, no I’m fine, I just something in my eyes.”

[loupy-mongoose]

Slowly, Randy came to his senses.

He didn't get out of bed right away. A sleep that deep and luxurious was hard for him to come by, and he was going to relish it.

What finally convinced him to get up was the smell.

Eggs. Bacon.

Mmmmmmm...

He stretched, remembering the trip and all it entailed.

Rosie...

He sat up and looked around. He vaguely remembered that Perzi had been in here with her when he'd gone to bed, but now they were gone.

He was alone.

He stood up, stretched again, and left the room.

The aroma blasted him as the door opened.

Viviana and Akoya, in human form, were busy in the kitchen. Lav, now in her Mewtwo form, was at a circular table with a plate of syrup-laden pancakes. Beside her, Midas carefully licked and nibbled at his own pancakes, while Momo was messily consuming hers. Randy chuckled at the sight of her.

Guess she'll be needing a bath soon.

Lav looked at him, paused her eating, and smiled. Morning Daddy!

The ladies both turned to him. Viv smiled at her son. Ah, good! You woke up!

Kinda hard to sleep with that in my nose. Mmm!

Viv showed her teeth, her smile turning sly. That was the plan~

I hope you got enough sleep. It's been hours, but I wouldn't blame you if you want more.

Nah. He pulled up a chair beside his children. I'm plenty rested!

His stomach growled. Lav and Midas looked at him, Midas tilting his head in curiosity. Dah hungee?

Randy smiled at the little Mew. Yes. Very. He rubbed Midas' head. Smart boy!

Akoya placed a plate of eggs, bacon, and toast in front of him, then wrapped her arms around his neck from the back. Hope it's good. I know I'm not the best at cooking, but I tried to follow directions the best I could!

Between you and Mom, I'm sure it's fantastic! He turned and pecked her on the cheek. Thank you. Thanks Mom! This and pancakes--that's a lot to make.

Viv set plates for her and Akoya down, smiling warmly at Randy. It's my pleasure! All your happy faces make it no work at all. She watched Momo slap her paws yet again into a puddle of syrup. We'll make sure Momo's bathed as well. You don't need to worry about her.

Randy took a bite, grateful at her words. Then his previous concern resurfaced. ...Where's Persim and Rosemary?

Akoya looked at him, her expression turning slightly defensive. Persim took her out for a bit. He was... really not liking being in the house. She continued before Randy could say anything. We talked it over. He'll be careful. I can't imagine Rosie will want to be apart from him at all anyway.

Randy didn't respond. He poked a bit at the food on his plate as he mulled over it all.

He and I chatted... He... He's sure you're mad at him.

...I was... But I wanna put that aside. I know he's upset about it, so I want to focus on how we can learn from this. He shrugged with a bitter chuckle. I can't exactly claim I was a great father when I started, after all. He lifted another bite to his mouth. I'll find him after I eat. I need to put that water under the bridge.

Randy walked out the back door. Before transforming to seek out his brother-in-law, he looked around the yard. Then, he spotted what he was after.

The blue and white bird, her head tilted up to the morning sunlight.

He smiled softly as he approached her. Hearing his footsteps, she turned to him, her eyes cloudy with cataracts. Hey there, Sivvy.

Sylvia's tiny white beak, chipped and streaked from age, formed into her own smile. Randy!

He took her head in his hands, gently rubbing her head with his fingers. I need to find Akoya's brother, but Mom told me you were out here. So I wanted to say hi.

She trilled happily. You didn't need to, dear boy! I know you have serious business to attend to. I'll still be here when it's settled.

He gave Sylvia's head a soft kiss. Regardless, I'm sorry I missed you yesterday. I hit a wall.

I understand! Please, don't worry about it! You take care of the hurt little one and her poor father, okay? He's worried sick.

Randy nodded, though he knew she couldn't see him. Understood. I'll do my best, Sivvy. He patted her head, backed away, and transformed. Talk to you later.

Good luck with the brother, dear!

And with that, Randy took off.

As he'd learned and practiced, he reached out with his energy. Before too long, he sensed the loud tide that must be Rosemary. He made sure the little bundle in his hand was safe, and set his course for it.

Soon, he spotted Persim floating through the trees and tall grasses. Not sure how to start, Randy cleared his throat.

Ahem.

Persim slowly turned, but not fully. The side of his face that Randy could see was filled with guilt and fear.

Randy smiled before floating to Persim's side. The orange Mew refused to make eye contact.

I'm not mad.

Persim glanced at him. His tiny daughter was clinging tightly to his chest fur, her left foot bound in a miniature splint. Perzi was supporting her with his hand.

Yes, things could've gone better.

But I can say the same about events from my past. Choices I've made...

All we can do is move on and try to do better. Learn from what's happened.

He held out his hand.

Believe me, I know it isn't easy. But Akoya and I are always here to help you, when you need it. ...Not if. When.

Persim looked at his hand, before sighing and taking it in his own.

That's... That's a huge relief... Thank you, Mate.

They exchanged soft smiles before releasing their grips.

Then Randy turned his attention to the little red Mew. He spoke softly to her. Hey, Rosebud. I know you're really scared, and probably don't see me in a good light after taking you from your dad. He handed out his bundle--a small lump of Tamato berry shavings. But I brought you a peace offering.

He held the shavings up by her until she turned. Her eyes were narrowed--a far cry from the usual silent-curiosity they usually displayed. Randy felt his heart break all over again. Would she ever have that look again?

But as he held still, her little nose started twitching, and she leaned toward the berry shreds. She carefully reached out and took some in her tiny little paw, and nibbled on it. Randy smiled, relieved to witness her eating something.

Persim gave them a warm look. You'll win her back, Mate. Just give it time.

Randy sighed as she took more of the shreds from him. Time and spicy shavings.

That's a cute nickname, by the way. Rosebud.

Randy's ear twitched. Huh? Oh, I have been calling her that, haven't I? I didn't even notice.

Mee...?

The timid voice brought his attention back at her. The little Mew was giving him a narrowed side-eye. Realizing he had strayed beyond her reach, he moved the berry shavings closer. She snatched some up and began nibbling again.

He chuckled.

Hopefully this means more spicy shavings than time...

~~~~~~

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ARC START

Just so you know, Rosie was fed in the morning. I don't imagine she ate much due to her stress, but she was fed. Randy's just happy to witness her eating.

Also he hasn't put his ring back on yet. XD