#as always i actually am around but you have to actually ping me on discord or smthn if you want to grab my attention

[apoapsis]

-

[the-uninformed-zennial]

So, uh, Fable ended.

And now I’m gonna be sappy on main.

I started watching Fable about half a year before I started being active in the fandom, around the time I started falling in love with my partner @hoardingpuffin . Watching Rae and Caspian’s relationship develop was actually part of what helped me realize that the things I was feeling for them were romantic and not just platonic. Surprisingly enough, that’s just the beginning of the profound effect Fable had on me.

I had never really interacted with fandom spaces before Fable. But when I caught up with lore sometime in November 2022, I decided to join the discord. It was a crazy place. Being someone who’d never really been in a server before I was completely overwhelmed and nervous, so I didn’t interact much for the first month or so.

Then I discovered that, despite the incredible love for the project, no one had made a “which character are you?” Quiz yet, so, I decided to fuck it and make one myself. The response I got to that was unlike any I had seen before. I was getting pinged weeks afterwards with people’s results and it made me really happy to see how much my work was appreciated by everyone in the community. It got me thinking about other ways I might be able to give back.

Then, as you all know, the stream “Call” and it’s partner “Response” came out on Ghosty and HeyHay’s channels. I’d been feeling so similarly to the two characters, dealing with my long distance relationship with Puffin. So, I took those feelings and the words Heyhay and Ghosty had used to convey them for their characters and put them into a song.

And then something insane happened.

Everyone liked it. Like, everyone liked it. This crappy recording I made at 2 AM suddenly got hundreds and then thousands of views when I put it on SoundCloud and YouTube. It was insane. I had written some songs before, but they’d always been ridiculed, so having a large group of people like the fable community enjoy something that I wrote was absolutely insane to me, and it encouraged me to make more.

I found myself being inspired by the characters in fable, connecting with different storylines or sentences said on streams. I found myself writing songs, one after another after another.  At one point I was writing a song a week for a period of about three months. I had never experienced this amount of raw creativity before, but every time I put a new song out, I only got encouraged to make more.

And then people started to ask me when I was going to put them on Spotify. And that was another moment that everything changed. I realized if I was gonna put these out there in such an official way I didn’t want it to just be a bunch of crappy recorded singles. So I needed to make an album.

That was something I had never considered doing before. I knew nothing about music editing or sound mixing. Up until that point all of my songs had been made on GarageBand at 2 AM with very little editing or mixing going into them. So, I started saving for a real music editing program and within a few months I got there.

Then came the actual making of the album. I took a few months off in the summer and just dove headfirst into it. Every spare moment I wasn’t modding for the Sherbathon, or the discord, or streaming my own lore, was spent working on those songs. And while looking back now I wish I knew what I know now about music editing, I’m so glad I did what I did. Putting that album out, seeing how you all responded to it… it made me realize that this is something I love, something that I don’t have to wait for someone else’s permission or teaching to do.

This fandom is the reason I’m a musical artist and that is something I don’t think I will ever be able to express the importance of enough.



As much as I could talk about the unending support and encouragement I received from the wonderful cast members throughout my experience making the album, or how being given the role of mod on the fandom discord taught me so much about how to be a creator in my own right, or even the amazing experience I had being able to make songs for the lore. When it comes right down to it, it was the community, cast and all, that impacted my life in the profound way it has been. So thank you, each and every one of you, whether you are a cast member, a fan, a fellow mod, or even just someone who streamed a song you didn’t have any context for. Thank you for changing my life, for giving me the encouragement to pursue my dreams.

Thank you Fable SMP cast, crew, and community 💕

[sweepingthunder]

intro and wanted plots

Hello, Gnostic Hymns. I just wanted to give a little introduction and thanks, as well as offer up Jing Yuan for any wanted plots.

My name is Duncachino, and throughout Gnostic Hymns' life, I've done a lot of background work and generally kept to myself, as I wasn't writing in it. I've written the commissions and the Lantern Rite ask meme that went around earlier in the year. While I've struggled to find motivation in writing, I have been working very silently in hopes that you all enjoy the prompts. I'm also happy to hear new ideas about prompts going forward, as we look to the future.

I'm 22 years old, and my dms are always open. I can be quite reserved in larger chats mostly due to anxiety, but I'm plenty stupid for the both of us in dms.

I've played through mostly all of Genshin Impact, Honkai Star Rail, and Honkai Impact 3rd, though I am of course subject to having missed things.

If you have any questions, just wanna chat, or need something in general, I am at your service.

That being said, this is also a wanted plots thread! Very, and I mean very few characters actually inspire me to write the way Jing Yuan does, and I would like to get him rolling as soon as possible.

Genius Invokation TCG: I think a strategy game like Genius Invokation TCG is right up Jing Yuan's alley. While I'm not the most versed in the game itself, I have played through the basic missions and gotten a little familiar at least with the original cards, and am willing to learn the newer cards. I also would just love to get Jing Yuan into Teyvat, since I feel the setting isn't actually as strange to him as it would be others.

Quarrel Clique: The obvious parallels to between the Xianzhou Luofu and Liyue aside, I also think the fight club was a funny prompt. I find that writing combat and actions is where my strength is, and would like to play to that a little. Lightning Lord is NOT invited.

Need for Speed 3: Penacony Drift: I personally just want to drive a car. Since I'm sure he has some experiencing basic experience piloting, I think this could be quite a silly prompt if the other person has no clue what they're doing.

Belabog Excavations: In my mind, this one is a little slower when it comes to pacing. Of course, per the nature of it, combat can easily happen, but I think this prompt would be incredibly fun for the angle of a more dialogue focused prompt, with the goal taking a background focus.

And of course I'm also happy to plan out threads unrelated to the ones posted for skill points. Just shoot me a ping in the server, dm me on here, or on discord.

[lazeecomet]

Ok I gotta vent about something.

There is this kid in the community discord server I moderate who is kind of annoying in the most kid way. He's 13 or 14 and has FOMO. Well call him M. He always want to know what the injoke means so he can do it too. He tries to insert himself into conversations he doesn't fully grasp.

He is desperately trying to fit in but in the most annoying way possible. It feels like he is trying to copy people and parrot their actions which comes across as very non genuine, rather then bring his own personality and interests. He's been in the server for 3/4 of a year and even though people have brought up the topic of music multiple times today I learned he played the marimba.

This is the setup for where I am going to vent. I was fine with all that previous stuff. There is a running joke that one of the server members (gonna call them A) is patient 0 for the spread and conversation to furries within the server. And on top of that there is an injoke where I have 100% accuracy in predicting if someone will turn into a furry.

Someone posted a video of a "how to make a fursona" in off topic and my reaction was basically to roll my eyes and be mildly annoyed that the conversation came back around to furries again.

M made a comment about how he was having to try so hard to resist watching the video. My reaction to that was 'RIP. If you have to restrain yourself you might actually be a furry. we lost another one to A's furry conversion beam.'

And usually when I make that joke people deny it. Being a furry is "cringe" and I openly make jokes about furries (mostly A because they can take it and have given me a lot of ammo over the years). It's only several months later do they show up with a protogen profile picture or something and prove me right

I estimated 8 months. it was like 5 minutes later where he flipped and decided to be furry. He then started to try and turn off topic into a place to workshop his fursona. I told him that this was NOT the place for that. He made a thread and I'm annoyed with it.

But I really don't think he's all too serious about this and just doing it to try and fit in. It doesn't feel like an expression of a personality but only a surface level understanding. He wanted a fursona commissioned without having any references or any ideas of what his species was. When he eventually did pick one he wanted other people's ideas on what color pattern it should have. All the while he was trying to get other people to do art for him (everyone refused) because he was bad at drawing. I doubt his sona has a backstory or even a description. And this is just the start

He's been trying to turn the thread into a furry zone. He petitioned the mods to add a furry bot to the server (denied) then to have furry themed custom commands (denied) and then settled in trying to start furry themed discussions. He is also rather taken back by how horny some of those discussions turn and how quickly they do. I keep having to join the thread to moderate and then leave it so I don't get pinged by it

And this is the part I am really annoyed with. This is a PG-13 community server for a videogame. The channels we have forster the convos that will happen. There is no NSFW channel. If there was people would feel like it would be OK to post that. By the same logic there is no furry channel. There are a lot of furries in the server, but giving them a channel will result in furries doing what furries like: roleplay and photos. The furry baseline for SFW is not the same outside the community and I could easily see a RP lean into eRP or photos become explicit. And I don't want to have to sift though that.

So I am very annoyed at this one kid who is being a furry to fit in (and kinda missing the point of having a sona and being a furry in the first place) has created a thread where he is trying to foster furry centric conversation but can't handle it when it inevitably leans horny

I am gonna shutter that thread in a week. He should have his sona worked out by then and I think by that point everyone else will be kind of tired of his shit

[firecoloredwater]

For the ask meme: 8, 12, 25, 29

Well! This is phenomenally late. But thank you for asking! I have been slowly picking away at this by which I mostly mean the list in 12 for uhhh Too Long.

8: Do you have any rituals or habits that help you get into the zone?

Hmmm. I tend to have snacks + water with me when I write. That's less an intentional ritual and more so that I can tunnel vision on writing for five hours straight without getting dehydrated, so really it's more about not getting out of the zone, but it's as close as I've got. Music used to be really helpful, but it just sort of randomly stopped working a few years ago and I'm not sure why.

12: Are there any clichés or tropes that you actively avoid in your fics?

Kiiiinda all of them? But not in a "I refuse to write this" way, just like....

Okay so, the thing is, cliches (and tropes, when people are complaining about them in a way equivalent to cliches) are familiar. We've seen them a thousand times. They feel natural. They don't feel like a trope, they just feel like How Things Are. And that's why people end up writing cliches when they don't work well, because they feel like they work. And in a sense they do; nobody's going to be confused, relatively few people will be bothered, we can get to the next bit quickly. You just don't get much of anything out of them other than being able to move on quickly, most of the time.

Buuuuut I am kinda Invested in characters and characterization. (And worldbuilding, especially culture and society, which is basically just characterization at another scale). So whenever something feels too neat/happens too smoothly I go "wait, no, that's just the first thought, that's not the best option, that's not how individuals work" and then like... chew on the characters and the situation a bit more. And almost always I end up with something less cliche.

(If you have noticed me going "Maybe, but maybe (more complicated thing here) instead" in discord that's usually what I'm doing.)

...this might explain why I can write nothing short ever. Hm.

So the point is: I actually do like playing with cliches and standard tropes, but I do that after lots of breaking them down and examining all the pieces and doing some remodeling. And that is how we ended up with things like BSAU and tech AU.

Also technically there are a lot of tropes I avoid but that's like, the queercoded villain, the girl who's supposed to be powerful but is only ever helpless when the boys show up, etc. Cliche is not the reason I avoid them, is what I'm getting at.

Anyway though this question is an invitation to kick the hornet's nest, so a list of things that ping the "wait this is too easy, let me try again but better this time" bells in my head:

Tobirama deliberately endangering himself for enemy children with no hope/plans to gain anything from it

basically anyone falling in love while they're still enemies trying to kill each other (does not apply to HashiMada though because they have the whole river thing to like each other pre-murder attempts)(also to be clear this is about Being In Love not just thinking the other guy's hot)

Izuna is bratty and whiny and dramatic because That's Just How He Is (but if bratty little brother is a role he deliberately leans into around Madara, that's Delicious)

Hashirama being cruel to Tobirama

but also, Hashirama not taking Tobirama at least a little bit for granted

also vice versa for both of those

Butsuma being... hm, pointlessly cruel? Like I think he was absolutely an awful father and abusive, but I don't think he meant to be. I don't think he was looking for opportunities to be cruel for the sake of cruelty, he was just Immensely Fucked Up himself and his best was not very good. Which is a very different flavor of awful than if he just, like, enjoys beating up children or something

Mito having 0 reservations about marrying Hashirama (and in particular the 'go live with the Senju forever' part)

Izuna being just, way more invested in Their Rivalry than Tobirama

being a genius means knowing everything and always being right (not actually very common in this fandom but "how does being really actually very brilliant affect how Tobirama fucks up" is a fun thing to think about)

Hashirama actually being dumb

[insert Uchiha] sees that Tobirama is being abused/neglected/hurt/taken for granted/undervalued generally and deciding that this is Wrong and Must Be Fixed/they need to rescue him/etc. even though they're at war

Tobirama gets taken prisoner/hostage and wow turns out he gets treated so much better as an Uchiha prisoner than he did at home (as a result of the above or otherwise)

both of those would also apply in other configurations but I only recall seeing it as Uchiha rescue and are kind to Tobirama

honestly basically any popular trope will end up here because like. you can make any of these work very well. But once tropes hit a certain level of popularity people start just writing them without putting in the work to set them up properly and that is where I start going 'if I wrote this I would do X and it would be so much better.'

25: Are there any specific writing tools that you find helpful?

I have not had a properly functional laptop for years now and the instant I get one again--

But other than that, no. I guess I use random.org and fantasynamegenerator fairly regularly? Also Wikipedia for names and bare minimum glance at research. But those aren't really what most people mean by this question I think

29: Are there any characters, relationships, or general character dynamics you’ve never written about but would like to try?

...I mean, yes, for sure, but I have immediately forgotten them all. What's a character.

I think basically every possible version of Mito going to marry Hashirama and live with the Senju is fascinating, but I will probably never write it because I do not have the time to do the research I'd need to or to write the fic, much less both.

I'd also like to explore, like... Hashirama and Madara were both really young when they became clan heads, right? We don't get a number but they were in their early 20s at best. And that's kind of expected in that society generally and probably those clans in particular, but still, they were not prepared and I bet a lot of people wouldn't have taken them seriously. And their main backups/supporters were... their little brothers. What was going on there. I know canon assumes they just had automatic full control of their clans because clans are basically just fancy protagonist accessories at that point, but what actually happened. If this has been normal for generations, did the Senju and Uchiha even ever expect their clan heads to have actual power, or have they basically always been figureheads because they never even hit middle age? Were Hashirama and Madara (and Tobirama and Izuna) even aware of the actual political dynamics in their clan, or were they just raised and trained to be generals on the battlefield and someone else handled everything else?

Once again on politics but: yeah yeah protagonist power do we get how big a deal it is that Hashirama restructured an entire continent's whole society by building Konoha. It didn't work out exactly how he wanted (see: war still happening) but he still did it! Entire economies and cultures uprooted! So I like to think that, maybe, actually, society was already going through huge upheavals for... whatever reasons, history is always complicated, and that creating Konoha was about navigating and taking advantage of the changes that were already going on in order to like, shove Konoha in there as well. Maybe the elemental nations were dealing with economic shifts like the rise of the middle class and also a feminist movement and also advancements in farming technology have tripled crop yields and that means societal demographics have changed overnight and society is not prepared to accommodate any of it. Konoha gets built because when Hashirama proposes it society collectively goes "life is already so weird recently, this might as well happen."

[more-than-a-princess]

𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 𝐈 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐌𝐘 𝐑𝐏 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖

I like to be called: Rae

one thing you should know about me: Ooh, I haven't actually answered something like this in awhile! So perhaps a few things then. The main one, I suppose, is that I Am Not Fast (just like Baymax). I have a full-time job, family, other hobbies, and I'm getting some health issues under control outside of RP, and so I'm prone to utilizing my queue most of the time. Alongside with how much I tend to write and the time it takes to write starters and replies (and research, and plot, etc), I tend not to post too much each day but I post consistently. Please be patient when looking for a starter or reply from me! In most cases, I will tell you if I'm no longer feeling muse for a thread or if I want to end an interaction. If you're someone who prefers instant replies or starters to asks and threads, I'm not a great roleplay partner for you (same goes for one-liner or one paragraph replies/starters, too!). I also try not to take on more threads than I can handle, so those I have active threads with won't be waiting months for replies while asking for more memes/starters (this is a pet peeve of mine!). Besides all of that, I try to be around to plot and chat as much as I can, but with the aforementioned things outside of RP I'm not always around or able to do so: sometimes I'm at work or needing to be working, sometimes I need to be writing, etc. I'm not ignoring you: I will usually reply back to questions or messages on tumblr and discord, but it sometimes slips my mind. You're always welcome to ping me again if you think I've missed something!

thing you should know about rping with my character(s): Respect goes a long way, but perhaps the biggest issues I run into while playing with Sonia is that sometimes muns have assumed the following things about my muse: she's not smart/she's an idiot, she's easily romanceable/shippable due to her friendly personality and aforementioned supposed idiocy, and if she's not in love with a muse that it's a slight against a ship in general. I tend to keep 'canon divergent' in my bio just to address these points specifically, as I've seen them be common interpretations of this character in the DR fandom and, personally, I don't agree with them nor do I choose to write Sonia that way. The most important thing I can stress about Sonia is that Sonia is a sheltered, pampered person, but she doesn't want to remain that way. She's not a snob (unless you are a member of the upper class and look down on those poorer and/or less fortunate than you) and she wants to engage with as many 'normal' aspects of life as possible. She does get some phrases mixed up, particularly slang, but as she grows up her proficiency with Japanese is much better, so there's less slip-ups in her adult verses. Additionally, she's far less naïve in her adult verses just for the fact that she's spent considerable time away from home at this point. The sheer amount of skills she has listed in canon (many of which never show up in the game, unfortunately) isn't something that someone dumb or dim-witted could possibly pull off. She is booksmart and relatively athletic, but her common sense and artistic talents? Mostly terrible (and that's not even mentioning her culinary skills, or lack thereof). Sonia is also a slow-burn romantic muse with a lot of responsibility and familial/duties baggage that comes with being in a relationship with her. I pull a lot of inspiration for her family and for Novoselic from both real life and royal-inspired fiction, and I understand and respect that some of the views of her family and country are, at first, very close-minded and potentially uncomfortable for some muns.

joy to work with: See all the mutuals I'm writing with on my blog! Yes, them! But on a more routine basis, it's rare that a day passes that I don't at least chat with @cantillat and @quickdeaths for a little while. I admit I'm not the easiest person to chat about whatever with or gush about muses, mostly due to limited time and offline commitments. But Sin and Bryn are very understanding about that and patient with me, which I appreciate. I also throw inspo at @dcviated when I see it and chat with @orderbourne and @obfuscatingveil a little more often recently. But otherwise, yeah: check out my blog and see the blogs I'm threading with? Yes. Those blogs. I like writing with them! I will say though: plotting usually equals more detailed replies, as I can plan for certain scenes and situations that are coming up in the storyline.

first language:  English, some French. I may have retained a little Latin and Japanese from my school days, too.

age range: under 13 | 14–17 | 18–22 | 23–25 | 26–29 | 30+ | 40+ | 70+ 

am I okay with nsfw?: yes | no | some nsfw (depends entirely on the ship/muse/mun writing said muse)

my favorite/most common thing to rp is: angst | adventure | fluff | smut | crack | action | plots | AUs | violence | darker themes | other

this rp blog: does contain ooc posts | doesn’t contain ooc posts | occasionally contains ooc

tagged by: technically Bear tagged me in this

tagging: You, if you're looking to avoid writing replies or any other pressing commitment.

[jarmeat]

To you.

Hey.

I hope this message finds you well.

And I hope you find it at all.

Before I begin, I'd like to say that this could be potentially triggering to read. But I had to write this out to let you know what's going on.

It's actually probably more for me, to be honest. To write out my feelings and be able to organize some of my thoughts for me to better navigate them.

I've made the judgment call that it's probably best that we don't talk for a while. I don't even know if I should apologize or not, because I'm unable to tell if you even want to associate with me anymore.

I've found myself torn the last few days trying to figure out what I wanted. I would feel sad, angry, and depressed when you wouldn't talk to me or give me a reply that I was satisfied with. But when you did reply with something I was okay with, or when I did spend time with you, it just felt..numb. We've both been using that word pretty frequently lately, haven't we.

Considering the possibility of you actually liking someone else, regardless of whether or not you choose to pursue that, would put me in a state of mind that I am incapable of dealing with at the moment. While I've detached quite a bit the last week or so, I still am sure that I would not be able to handle it.

In any case, I'd like to thank you for a beautiful fleeting moment within my life. It was brief. But more than anything, it felt like happiness. Perhaps too much, as we spoke about. I will apologize for not understanding how your BPD affects you and how to work around it. I didn't realize that chasing the highs would create lower lows, and I'm sorry that I potentially contributed to that for you. I've been doing tons of research about how to interact with people with BPD, and like we've discussed before, I am suspecting myself to have BPD and will be going to therapy hopefully soon to address my concerns.

I became extremely attached to you, and I was ping ponged around. I was told I was liked. I was told that your intentions were to be together forever. I was told that you might like someone else. I was told you weren't ready for a relationship. I was told you don't know your intentions anymore. I was told you really do like me. I was told you wanted my attention. I was told I was wasting my time. I was told sorry.

The day you told me that you think you like someone else, I lost it. I tried to keep my cool, I really did. But that day, there were multiple times I nearly ended it. I drove to the beach, and my mind was SCREAMING at me to just turn the wheel while I was on the highway. I literally had to scream out loud myself in order to shut out the urge.

When I arrived at the beach, I found a fairly high cliff that I took solace in, but those voices spoke to me yet again. It was a high place. I had to lie down in order to prevent myself from giving in. I walked up to the waves and they were beckoning for me to join their recession back into ocean.

You told me you didn't want to stop talking to me completely. But I've initiated everything since. And you've continuously spent more and more time with the guy you said you maybe liked or had a crush on. Except without me this time.

I feel nothing but coldness from you now. As friends, that is okay. But my mind still cannot see us as just friends quite yet.

I really cannot blame you for any of this, considering these are textbook examples of BPD behaviors. But still, as someone who is potentially BPD also, these are things that tore me to shreds. And it's caused me to spiral completely out of my control.

I will tell you everything that's been going on behind the scenes with me, and how badly I've been dealing with this.

I've been staring at my computer screen for hours on end. I am constantly checking your blogs to see if you've posted anything new or anything about me. I'm always checking your twitter. I'm constantly checking your status on discord. My heart drops if I see you online, because I know what's coming (or not, rather.)

And I wait. I wait to see if you will initiate a conversation with me. I wait to see if you will invite me to play. I wait to see what your next move is, but there is no next move.

I have been staying up overnight due to the inability to sleep, and it helped because at some point passed 24 straight hours of being awake, I began to feel numb. Not only that, but it helped because I wouldn't have the insecurity-attacking dreams I'm so very fond of.

I've been avoiding people. I've been irritable. I've been angry. I've been depressed. I've been numb. I've even been content. I've been feeling so many different emotions and I cannot regulate ANY of them. Any single one of them could occur at any given moment, and it's been fucking with me so hard because I haven't dealt with this before. At least not with this intensity.

The day I went to the beach, I needed something. So I picked up smoking again.

The day before my birthday, I began to self harm. Five days later as I'm writing this, there is fresh blood drying on me.

I never thought I'd be pushed to this, but I think allowing myself to be vulnerable again after 6 years only to be brought to what arguably is my lowest point, in such a short amount of time, I'm just looking for any way possible to distract myself from the pain and disappointment I'm experiencing.

I will be blocking you from here onwards on discord, and I will probably no longer be using twitter as it has been terrible for my mental health as well. Again, I would say I'm sorry, but with the way things have been, I don't know if it matters to you or not. That may be selfish of me to say knowing your history with BPD, but at some point, I need to prioritize myself and be selfish once in a while.

I will say I'm sorry for the situation as a whole. I truly felt something genuine for you, and I felt that we could make it work. But I was a fool to think that I was capable of handling the type of emotional burden you hold within you while not even being able to handle my own.

I still hold love for you. I've known you for years. So please take care while I'm gone. I hope that if you need it, you seek help and receive it. I hope that if you pursue a relationship, it goes well for you.

I will still be around if you need me. You have my phone number. But if you contact me, please tell me your intentions.

Thank you. For everything.

[zenithborough]

Hello ! my name is Tuesday (or jamie), I am a they/them lesbian who loves cats and strives to always live life silly style. I do this in part by making spreadsheets for a game that technically isn't even out yet. Oops.

Someday I'll get my tags nice and organized but that day is not today. (will edit this post when it is that day.)

my likes and follows come from @matchahorse

my yet-unused Flight Rising blog is @polarbearicecastle

my actual Flight Rising is Horses

my Pixel Cat's End is Jam

I also like to hang out in both the official discord and the wiki one. I'm Tuesday / Jammie in either or. Information about Paw Borough bounces around like a ping pong ball inside of my skull so feel free to ping me if you have questions or just want to chat (^◕ᴥ◕^) ♥*。+，

[ask-numberjacks]

*cracks knuckles* Right then

I knew that was the first thing you were going to do once I blocked you - talk about it on here.

And I'm going to be blunt, so.... try not to get offended or anything. (to those who aren't AG15, there's like 10 paragraphs under the cut so be wary of that lol)

I had been friends with you for... 7 months, ish? And for most of those 7 months it wouldn't actually be us talking, it would be us roleplaying. I was actually pretty reluctant to even start talking to you on Discord, because I was worried you were some weird middle-aged man or something, but after our first video call that problem sorted itself out.

For a good while, it was alright, despite the fact that we would roleplay almost every evening and if I hadn't come online yet you would keep pinging and trying to call me. The roleplays would almost always be learningblocks, and often the same roleplays, but with different characters. I found this incredibly boring as it was very repetitive, and I was usually every character but the one you were playing. I did bring this up, MULTIPLE times, and yet you still seemed to ignore me.

Every time you would submit an ask to my account, aswell, you would bother me about it until I either snapped at you or I had finished the ask. Which is why I had blocked you on here, but I unblocked you because if I'd blocked you on Discord you wouldn't be able to bother me there. You also only ever interacted with my responses to your asks, and nothing else. (I know you don't have to, but it just added to the ever-growing feeling of being used.)

When I talked to my friends and family about you, from my descriptions of my experience, they would always tell me you were bad news. I never wanted to believe it, and I refused to believe it, because we were friends! I just convinced myself it was just... a mistake or something and you didn't mean it. But as time went on and things like this kept happening, I found it harder to convince myself it was 'just a mistake'.

You had also committed art theft many times, and every time I brought it up you would try to justify it. You also stole MY art. Not good.

Around this sort of time, you wanted to do more roleplays via voice call. I was fine with this at first, but after a while they started leaving me very mentally drained. It was never both of us as characters, so it's fair; it was always ME as an alphablock and you as yourself. I explained to you the reasons why I wanted to stop doing this (those being: I was drained by it and I did not benefit from it at all) and yet you refused to accept it. You refused to accept that I, another human being, had a life. And FEELINGS. We didn't ever really have proper conversations then, it would just be you sending me random shit; and whenever I tried to show you something you would completely ignore it. This is when I really started to believe what my friends were telling me.

I now have more online friends - ones who actually respect me and my boundaries. Ones who don't make me feel like I'm being used.

And, how about you look back at your own Tumblr account, and all the past friends you've told me about? The reasons they blocked you? 'Violating [their] boundaries'... Being generally disrespectful... Many cases of blatant ignorance... you know. Seems familiar, right?

So, I'm not trying to upset you, or promote hate towards you. I don't hate you. I honestly just want you to learn from your mistakes. I don't want you to keep repeating the same mistakes, as it seems you have done.

So why don't you look back on what you have done, and try to learn from it? Because if you keep losing friends, surely there must be a reason for it.

No 'TL;DR' because I want you to actually listen to me for once.

And to those who have read all of this, DO NOT target this creator for ANYTHING I have just said. I am NOT trying to promote hate towards them, I am simply trying to help them learn from their mistakes, and explain to them why I had blocked them. If I see ANY hate towards @ask-ghostly-fifteen, it will be IMMEDIATELY reported.

WIAT W AIT we learned that meanies can maintain a human form, does that numberjacks can too.......if so can we see.....

There's a lot of evidence in the audio stories to show that they do indeed have human forms. Here's the main four lol

(I found the image on Pinterest, but unfortunately I do not know who the original owner is. If anyone knows pls lmk so I can credit them)

[modx-reborn]

The first prefromance

Something I spoke of in a discord I'm in.

So here have Simpbur and CamGirl/Camboy reader doing a show with them after working his way into their close circle.

(Yes this plays off of the two cam asks I have gotten recently)

Also please know that real cam girls/boys aren't actually going to do this, this is purely fictional in its makeup.

SMUT UNDERCUT! MINOR DNI!

"That's it j-just like that, all the way like you should be taking me. S-shouldn't be here fucking my hand w-when I could be fucking you, such a pretty thing so good for me, but such a slut t-to let others watch you like this..."

That was the last thing he had said to you on your last private call, since then he had wormed his way further and further into your shows and even into a bit of your personal life, or well your on-screen personal life, as he had the phone number you kept aside for work, from your days as a more in-person performer.

And boy did he ever make use of the number, sending you little messages and photos whenever the thought struck him, peppering you in small doses of affection and savouring the way you called him sometimes when you skipped a stream, offering him to listen to you get off instead letting him hear when you spoke about the toy he had sent you. Sometimes even getting him to call and ask for you to listen to him, getting you to mutter things to him and work him that little bit closer to his end.

But now what you're calling for may just break your dear simp, having had all the fun you could with the silicon imitation he had made for you, that now your mind was thinking about how he would feel rather than the toy. 'S-shouldn't be here fucking my hand w-when I could be fucking you' his own words playing on repeat in your head after you close down your last stream, sending little thank yous to the top donators before moving to the call ping that was coming through.

It was him. Perfect.

"Ahh, there he is, my pretty top boy Simpbur!"

"That was quite the s-show, but what did you mean by you're w-working on something big with someone else?"

"Well, that's good that you asked my dear. You are always so good for me, sending those little messages and all those donations, I was thinking you may want to help me with the next stream..."

"Y-you want me to-"

"Mmhmm, didn't you say yourself that it should be you fucking me, or was it that you should be here in me rather than fucking your hand?"

It's easy to finish your sentence with a tilt of your head, tapping one of your fingers against your bottom lip as if you were actually trying to remember when truly you were just teasing the curly-haired boy staring at you wide-eyed through your screen.

"I. Yes. I-I mean I would love to if you want me to..."

With his agreement the rest of the call was spent hashing out the rough details and leaving him open to suggest what he wanted to do for the show, leaving him with a wink and a reminder to 'Keep it simple' before you logged out and started to pack up and clean down the space you had been working in.

There would be a few weeks between your last show and the next one, having all the platforms you used teasing the next stream with images of the silicone toy being front and centre in all the images, a tease for all your viewers but a reminder for your dear simpbur that he would be more real in your world in a few days. Even when he made up his mind on what he wanted it was still so very hard for him to not scroll back through the recorded calls and streams, take himself in hand and work through the building need.

But he managed to keep his hands off, having worked himself up even before the actual day of the stream.

When you call him, he picks up on the first ring as always chipper and shaky in the same breath as he says your stage name.

"There's my good boy! You ready for tomorrow? Your first time in the red light after all, just want to make sure you're still down and want to do this."

"I-I am. I'm good and... and ready for tomorrow."

With a laugh and a quick goodbye, you hang up, heading off to the regular place you booked for longer shows needing to set up lights and the cams now, otherwise you would likely not have time when your co-star finally made his way to you. And how right you were, the moment the time for the stream rolled around he was there at your door, hands fiddling with the bottom of his button-up, mask and beanie on as if you hadn't seen his face a million times before.

Welcoming him in is easy, but getting him to calm down just enough to have him read back what the two of you had planned took slightly longer. You had him keep his mask and beanie on, using them as a way to keep him from having his real-world life ruined from doing this one little show with you, the suggestion also seems to put some of his nerves to rest.

When the cameras do start rolling, the stream on a start-up timer for switching on to a live stage, your chat on a large screen hanging over your laptop that was actually hosting the show, messages flying past as people are lured in at the promise of a different kind of show and the tagline mentioning a guest star. When the cam starts showing the room you're seated on Simpburs lap, thighs spread wide over his with his hands holding you close while you do your intro, his masked face pressed into your shoulder as he mutters something under his breath.

Your form rocking back into him once you're were done, slipping a hand under his beanie and tangling in his curls, making him groan just loud enough that one of the many mics would be able to hear him, laughing and cooing at him as you reach down with your free hand to wrap around his cock, slowly running your fingers across the heated flesh.

"You'll be good for me won't you? So pretty and brave being here on cam with me, getting a treat that so many would die for..."

His voice falters when you shift your grip, tugging on his hair just as you start to actually move your hand to jerk him off, slipping your hand out of his hair you reach for a little remote, making the camera zoom in as you close your thighs around him, burying his cock between your thighs. Cooing at him once again as his hands are braced on your hips, using this to bounce you on him, head tilted back and panting as he fucks your thighs.

The exposed skin of his neck calling for you to leave a few marks across, a little gift for him to remember this day by, or well more than the stream recording of course, pink and purple marks blooming across his neck as he changes the pace moving you more and more until you can feel him throbbing between your thighs.

"Oh, sweet thing you're cumming already? Are my thighs that good? Can't even hold on for the main performance, or are you that eager for more that you would cum now and still keep going? Hmm, what is it, pretty boy?"

The only answer you receive is a deep groan and the warm feeling of his cum seeping from between your thighs, spreading your legs to show off the mess to your cam, letting everyone who was watching see the mess that he had made. Reading your chat gave you a wonderful idea, they wanted more and you wanted to see just how far you could push your dear simp till he broke and lived up to his wants to actually fuck you.

Flicking across the remote once again the camera angle changes, showing a side view of the bed perfect for what you were planning to do, the angle giving your audience the best show as you move off his lap and kneel on the floor. Holding his cock with one hand as you lean forward to lick a stripe up his shaft, cleaning his mess off with your mouth, taking him fully once most of him was clean looking up at him through your lashes once you have taken him into your throat.

Watching how his eyes go wide, hands shaking when they reach for your head, his eyes flicking up to the chat screen reading over some of the words telling him to fuck your face, to make you cry and drool all over him, and other wanting to be where he was, whining over text that they should have been the one there with you. The majority calling for him to do something, building a need to move in him, slowly he is moving his hips, still sensitive after having cum not moments before but the feeling of your mouth wrapped around him was spurring him on.

Before long his hips are moving properly, holding your head steady as he fucks your mouth watching how you look up at him every time he pushes into your throat, tears building and falling with how harsh some of his thrusts are, but the image just makes him groan. Throwing his head back once again as he works himself back up, trying to hold out and enjoy this feeling for a little while longer, only you had other plans pulling away panting as you take in the way he looks.

Flicking your hands cross the remote once again to switch cameras for the final time settling on one that would let your audience watch how good your dear simp was for you, let them watch how full he makes you feel and how pretty he looks when he cums, when he finally gets what he wanted.

"You ready pretty boy, ready to finally get what you want? What you told me about on all your calls? Take you all the way like I should be taking you?"

"P-please, fuck just please le-let me fuck you..."

In his rush to reach for you, his beanie had come off, brown curls falling out in a mess that you tried to cover again only to have your hands smacked away in favour of him pulling you up onto the bed with him. Throwing your thighs over his own reaching for the bottle of lube you had left waiting to be used, coating his fingers before pressing them into you working you open with one hand as the other is pressed to your shoulder keeping you from moving away from his probing fingers.

"G-God look at you, do-don't even need to work my way up to two fingers, already so r-ready for them... Ready for me."

To quick are his fingers gone replaced by the head of his cock, easing his way in as he moans, hands grabbing your hips to steady himself as he finally gets to feel what it's like to be buried in you just like his toy replica had been so many times before. There is little time between him being fully hilted in you and him starting to move, his hands moving from your hips to under your thighs ignoring the sticky cum still staining them, pushing them back and using the new angle to fuck into you as hard as he liked.

Wanting to have you drooling into the mattress and calling his name, making you remember him and him alone so that if you ever did another show like this, it would be his number you called. That if he did this good enough, fucked you good enough that it wouldn't be on camera the next time he got to fuck you, it would be at your home in your bed, him calling your real name not this stage name you work under.

He comes back from his thoughts when your voice cuts through them, high pitched and whining for him to let you cum, for him to keep going to let you have what you had given him earlier, to feel him cum in you this time.

"F-fuck you w-want me to cum in you? P-paint your inside with me..."

The chat if either of you could see it was still it was running a mile a minute, calling for him to do it, to cum and let them see how it will drip out of you. Others call for him to deny you, keep you begging for your release while he took his own, but neither of you could see those words and so your ends draw near.

"T-that's it, god feels so. So good around me, j-just like I thought you would..."

The rough pace he set becomes almost brutal when he cums, there will be bruises in the shape of his hands come the next few days but that thought paired with the sight of your dear simp losing himself in you was what tipped you over.

The end of the stream was much like the beginning, albeit with a mess of brown curls keeping the camera from seeing how the mask had been pulled down and soft kisses were being placed along your shoulders, the moment you had given the final thanks and turned off all the gear the hands that were wrapped around your waist were pulling you back onto the bed, keeping you as close as possible.

After all the pressure of performing for people falls away, it's easy to give comfort to the man curled around you, wanting him to be comfortable with what you had just done. Once again tangling your hands in his hair only this time to give comfort rather than tease, cooing soft praise until the grip around you eases slightly.

"You did so well, such a good boy for me..."

[jschllatt]

𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐀 𝐌𝐎𝐕𝐄 | 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐭

Prompt: HIIIIIII i hope you are doing well !!!! i love your writing sm and would like to make a request !!!! i would love something in which schlatt n reader are both streamers/youtubers and have been friends for a while but they both like eachother and dont wanna ruin it ? and one of them finally makes a “first move” after like yearsss of being friends ?! sorry it’s not super specific but :( it can be any length of your choosing, whatever you feel up to writing !!! thank you and u are da best !!!!!

Warnings: Swears

Words: 1229

Not too sure if I like this one so feedback is much appreciated :)

You had a big problem. 

It was the type of problem that nagged at your brain all day, reminding you of your predicament even when you tried to ignore it. It dominated your focus, making it difficult to even think properly no matter what you did. What exactly was your problem? The answer was rather simple: you had fallen for your best friend, Schlatt. After years of friendship, you found it difficult to keep your feelings strictly platonic—Schlatt was simply too charismatic, too funny, too attractive. It seemed as though your feelings had hit you like a truck, and they only deepened as time progressed. You debated confronting your feelings head on by confessing your love to Schlatt, though you feared its outcome. He definitely didn’t like you back—not in that way. You two had been friends for years and you were going to ruin it just because you had caught feelings for him? No way. 

And so, you avoided your problem until it got out of hand. 

It was around two a.m. when you started streaming, your bright room a stark contrast to the darkness outside. You hadn’t streamed in a few days and decided that there was no better time to do so—you weren’t even close to being tired and you figured a majority of your streamer friends were still online, anyways. 

“Oh, Schlatt’s awake.” You observed quietly once you opened discord, noticing the green dot displayed next to his icon. You tried to hide your excitement as you messaged your best friend, a small smile on your face as you typed, hi schlatt <3. Seconds later, a ping signalled his reply, to which you laughed at as it read, fuck off. That was expected. You were just about to respond before your phone began to ring. Looking down, you saw Schlatt’s contact lighting up your screen. Feigning annoyance, you asked your chat rhetorically, “Oh God, what does he want?”

Answering the call, you tried to keep your expression neutral as you were met with Schlatt’s stoic expression. He remained silent for a few seconds and you interrupted the quietness by saying, “Hello?” He continued to ignore you, staring at the screen blankly, and you were just about to speak again before he yelled, “Go to sleep.” 

“Only if you come here and make me.” You replied somewhat flirtatiously, instantly regretting it—you feared what your chat would look like when you dared to glance at it. “Okay.” Schlatt chirped, then hung up. Chuckling softly, you rolled your eyes, muttering to your chat about how annoying he was. You couldn’t help but smile, however, once you realized that was Schlatt’s way of showing he cared—it wasn’t the most straightforward way of doing so, but you recognized his intentions nevertheless. You tried to conceal your adoration by changing the subject, talking to your chat about random things. A lot of your viewers had chastised you for being up so late, but you assured them that it was common for those who streamed for a living to rely on two hours of sleep. Time passed, and your chat began to flood with surprised exclamations, all regarding Schlatt—had he joined your stream? Your question was answered just moments later. 

On my way.

“Real funny, Schlatt.” You deadpanned, rolling your eyes at the dono displayed across your monitor.

It was quiet once again. Your chat had eventually become interested, for the most part, in your new content rather than Schlatt’s presence, which you were grateful for—you couldn’t bear to think about the man any longer without letting your mind wander. Did he really care about you or was he just trying to be funny? Even though the two of you had been best friends for years, he was quite difficult to read. It wasn’t often that he was serious with you. Sure, the two of you had your fair share of deep conversations, but Schlatt had always found a way to be sarcastic or humorous in most situations. 

Sighing, you tried to focus on your stream. Minutes passed, and your viewers could tell that you were off. They interpreted it as you being tired, to which you used as an excuse to end stream. “I’m sorry, guys, I am tired. I guess Schlatt was right.” You chuckled halfheartedly, hoping your viewers couldn’t sense your disappointment as you mentioned your best friend’s name. Luckily, they didn’t, and you were quick to end your stream with a dejected sigh. Snap out of it, he’s your best friend—nothing more. You found it hard to listen to your thoughts, and plopped down unceremoniously onto your bed, frowning. Why did you have to catch feelings for him? You shut your eyes and tried to push your thoughts away, focusing on the sound of gentle breeze that swept through your window. The night was rather warm and its gentleness offered you solace. However, after a few minutes of peace, your tranquility was interrupted by a knock at the door. You felt panic arise in your chest, startled by the sudden noise. It was nearly three in the morning, who in the world could have possibly been at your house?

Schlatt. 

As you looked through the peephole in your door, you observed your best friend standing on your front steps, his expression one of amusement.

Shit. He was really here? He wasn’t joking?

Ignoring the onslaught of anxious thoughts that flooded your mind, you swung the front door open. “What are you doing here?” You asked quietly, confused as you met his eyes. He smirked at you proudly before chuckling, “I told you to go to sleep, you said to come here and make you. Here I am.” You looked at your best friend incredulously, shocked that he took your words so seriously. “I-I was kidding, I didn’t think you’d-”

“Yeah, yeah, well it’s too late now.” Dumbfounded, you stared at Schlatt in response, gesturing for him to come in once you gained your composure. Schlatt towered over you once he entered your house, a smug look on his face as he observed your shocked self. “What? Surprised I can actually keep a promise?” You huffed in response, crossing your arms as you raised an eyebrow at him, “Yes.” Schlatt snickered and plopped down onto the couch, looking around your living room. “Nice place you got here.”

“You’ve been here before, idiot.” You countered, sitting down beside him with pursed lips. The rapid beat of your heart was not helping your case as you tried to remain calm, sitting so close to Schlatt that your knees were touching. The two of you sat in an awkward silence and you glanced over at your best friend curiously. Instantly, he met your gaze, staring at you with a ghost of a smile. Your eyes flickered down to look at his lips briefly, and you noticed Schlatt do the same, taking in your appearance with adoring eyes. Soon enough, you both had leaned in until your faces were inches away, practically sharing the same breath as you continued to stare at each other shamelessly. You were about to close the gap between the two of you before Schlatt mumbled smugly, “Go to sleep.” 

Leaning impossibly closer toward his lips, you grabbed a hold of his sweatshirt, tugging his body into yours as you countered, “Just shut up and kiss me, idiot.”

~

Tags: @ialexabsuniverse @esylwen @quack42069 @mayberii @dreamiewrites @moonamor @kalliblast @forbidden-sin-bin

[griffintail]

The Start of Something

Summary: It’s the start of a beautiful story on the Dream SMP.

Pairing: Wilbur Soot x F! Reader

Previous | Next

Warnings: Swearing

A/N: So the reader will have a set hair and eye color but I hardly ever mention those facts so it’s not going to be that big a deal. It’s just a point of the plot.

Oh and (Y/U/N) means YOUR USERNAME.

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(Y/N)’s POV

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         I spun in my chair, adjusting my beanie as I waited for the exact moment my stream was to start. I hadn’t exactly talked to anyone on the SMP but it was still fun to stream on there. Soon, my timer went off and I fired up the stream.

         “Hello magical people! Welcome back to another wonderful day on the SMP! I have levels today so hopefully we won’t need to bother Mr. Soot. We’re going to actually try and talk to people today if we’re able so, let’s see who’s on!”

         I logged onto the server, hitting tab to see who was on.

         “A new name! Purpled. Something tells me I want to give him the Lilac.”

<(Y/U/N)> Hello good fellows! \o

<Tubbo_> Hello! \o

<WilburSoot> Hello Ms (Y/U/N)

         I smiled at the responses as I went down to my flower chest taking out a lilac as I glanced at chat.

         “Two new names? Oh! Yeah, sorry guys, I already met the Dream team. They gave me a tour offline. I’m sorry. I’ll pop by and maybe say hello to Mr. Sapnap.”

         I asked for Purpled’s coordinates, meeting up with him to give him his flower before going back towards my house.

         “Wait, why is everyone telling me to hide my brewing stands?” I raised an eyebrow as I looked at chat. “I mean, I guess? I’m just confused.”

         I kept my eye on chat trying to figure out was going on as I went home when I saw in-game chat.

<WilburSoot> general 1

         “Is something going on with the gentlemen? Is that why you’re telling me? I’m not going to hop on the discord just yet because they weren’t talking to me.”

         I was very curious though. I came towards Tubbo’s house seeing several of them outside his house. Tubbo threw his brewing stands at Tommy and then they all dashed into his house.

         “Some shady deals going on there don’t you think? Should I check on the children like the good mother that I am?” I asked chat as I hesitated outside the gate.

         There was a resounding yes in the chat and I chuckled as I adjusted my headset, the boys leaving the house.

         “Ok, let’s give them a ring.” I pulled up discord taking a deep breath as I looked at their call before going in as I went back to the game. “Gentlemen?”

         The first thing I heard was one of them scream and laughed as I followed them on the path.

         “WOMAN! You must leave im--" Who I could assume was Tommy start before Wilbur cut in as they stopped in-game.

         “No wait Tommy, remember we need to make sure everyone knows.”

         I raised an eyebrow. “Know what?”

         “Do you have any brewing stands or blaze rods Ms. (Y/U/N)?” Wilbur asked as though it was the most urgent matter.

         “I mean yeah at my house and enderchest…”

         “No, no, that’s not good as soon as we help Tubbo we need to collect yours as well.” Tommy declared and I smiled slightly at his dramatics.

         “And may I ask why gentlemen?” I questioned as we started to walk again.

         “Their code is all wrong! It’s all broken and if you have any you’ll just explosively shit!” Tommy exclaimed and I snorted putting a hand over my mouth.

         “You should probably watch your language Mr. Innit but this is of the upmost concern then! We must help everyone! But what are you gentlemen doing to protect yourself?”

         “We have a disposable sight elsewhere, as soon as we gather everything, we’ll get rid of it!” Wilbur declared.

         “Well then let’s get to the nearest ender chest now!” I nodded in-game before sprinting towards Tommy’s house. “How long until it comes into effect Mr. Soot and Mr. Innit?”

         “Soon, it’s of the upmost urgency that we dispose of them as quickly as possible.” Wilbur said.

         “Actually, I know, I know how I can get there quicker.” Tubbo commented seeing him drinking a potion. “I have a speed pot.”

         “Oh thank, oh thank god! Run, run.” Tommy commanded.

         “That’s good, potions are really, really good. You should always use potions as often as often as possible where ever you can buy them.”

         Now I see where this is going, shaking my head, I still followed all of them towards Tommy’s; Sapnap, Tubbo, and Tommy in front of Wilbur and I as Tubbo let out a confused sputtering.

         “Don’t worry, I’m sure, I’m sure something will come up.” Wilbur brushed it off.

         “I can hear starting to come up we need to get the blazes rods out! Get it out!” Tommy shouted, causing Tubbo to shout, making confused shouting to happen as I walked through the gates of Tommy’s area.

         “Ok! Ok! Ok! I’ve got ‘em! I’ve got ‘em!” Tubbo announced.

         “Ok! Hand them to me! Now! Now!” Tommy demanded.

         “Take it! Take it! Take it!” Tubbo chanted as he threw them but as Wilbur and I stopped in front of them, Sapnap punched Tommy away and took all the blaze rods.

         The shouting quieted as we watched Sapnap in surprise.

         “He’s gonna, he’s gonna shit. Just watch him.” Wilbur told us.

         “Oh boy.” I muttered, crouching as I backed up with the rest of them.

         It became a jumble of words as the boys backed up to what Tommy called the Power Tower but I broke from them, deciding to go around the other building he had called the Cuck Shed, dashing for the ender chest. Sapnap was too focused on them as I went in to see my own gear.

         Grabbing the stack of blaze rods, I hesitated as I hovered over my full netherite set, smirking to myself as I already knew the chat’s answer. I muted on Discord looking at my Twitch chat.

         “Should I be ready to become the goddess chat? I mean, as far as I can tell, Tommy and Wilbur have nothing and Tubbo has iron but Sapnap now has all the cards with enchanted diamond sooooo…”

         Before I had even finished my sentence, the chat spammed yes with the emote of me holding a shield, with a face that meant I was ready for war.

         That’s my chat.

         I grabbed my armor, axe, and sword but didn’t put it on as I sprint to catch up with everyone retreating towards the woods as I unmuted.

         “You tell them why they’re breaking the law Wilbur. Tell them why.” Tommy said as I stood behind Sap and Tubbo.

         “They have the, they have the brewing stands. Aren’t they gonna like shit themselves if they have them?” Sap questioned.

         “Yeah.” Tubbo realized.

         “No, no, no, no, no.” Tommy protested. “We’ve got equipment.”

         Everyone stopped as they started talking over one another.

         “You really can’t follow us.” Wilbur said once it quieted down.

         “What is the disposal system? Can we see it?”

         There was a brief silence before Wilbur spoke.

         “Yes, yes. Come with me.” He sounded hesitant but still lead us further into the woods. “If you come with me, we’ve, uh, got a mobile disposal unit out here. That we’re using to, dispose of it.”

         Over the hill, I could see it and I muted my discord as I snorted once more, a hand over my mouth muffling it. It was an RV, a van.

         “This is all about drugs isn’t it?”

         I unmuted as I listened.

         “I’m going to ask that you don’t come inside.” Wilbur instructed.

         “Yeah, you have to stay on the other side of the river please.” Tommy agreed.

         “It’s dangerous. It’s dangerous.”

         I watched Sap get closer, carefully following behind him as they protested. If anyone was going to fight the, “operation”, going on here, it was him.

         My assumption led to be correct as Sapnap spoke.

         “Wait, Tubbo, (Y/U/N), I don’t think it’s a disposal system.”

         “Wait, it looks like a drug lab or something.” Tubbo went.

         Wilbur started muttering to Tommy as Sapnap sprinted towards the van.

         “Are you guys…? I need to look for myself.” Sap said before going into the van, I quickly following having tried to block him but got pushed in.

         He went into the back room with Tubbo, I being able to see in and see the line of brewing stands.

         “These guys are…”

         “You guys are drug dealers!” Tubbo exclaimed, pulling a sword.

         I looked at Tommy and Wilbur before stepping forward, showing my netherite one, making Tubbo step back.

         “And so, what if they are? What are you going to do about it?” I asked.

         “We have a court house for things like this!” Tubbo reminded us.

         “Who says they’re going to court? You aren’t the law.”

         “Are you with them (Y/U/N)? Have they’ve gotten you addicted to, to this?” Sap questioned.

         “No, I’m not an addict to anything.” I huffed as I typed to Wilbur. “So, I suggest you just hand over those blaze rods.”

You whisper to WilburSoot: Distract him to face away from me.

         “No, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

         “Tommy, I think, I think we should go.” Wilbur said moving for the door out.

         “Where are you going?” Sap quickly asked following them so they didn’t get away, turning his back to me.

         I smirked as I glanced at the chat seeing the spam of emojis as I equipped my gear, Tubbo retreating further back into the van, terrified of my armor. I shook my head at him in-game before putting a shield on, stepping out.

         “All of you are going to court.” Sapnap declared on the other side of the river.

         I leaned into my mic, putting on my crazy sing song voice. “Think again~!”

         I crit him with my sword, setting him on fire, causing him to scream as he dove for the water. He blocked with his shield but I dove in with no mercy and hit him with my axe before using my punch bow to push him out of the water. He started sprinting away as I ran after him.

         “What are you doing?!” He shouted.

         “Taking back what isn’t yours!” I grinned before critting him three more times before the text appeared in chat.

Sapnap was slain by (Y/U/N) using [The Goddess’s Sword]

         “Mr. Soot. I suggest picking this up.” I said as I leaned back in my chair, everyone silent except for Sapnap protesting.

         “How could you do that?! You’re going to team up with drug dealers?! This isn’t allowed!”

         “Oh yeah? I think the text says it all. You got KOed by the Goddess bitch.” I smirked as the chat shouted out pogs and cheered. “General 2 men!”

         I switched Discord rooms as Wilbur came over picking up Sapnap’s gear getting the respective achievements for the blaze rods and diamond gear. Two pings went off in Discord, I laughing as the silence was filled.

         “Holy shit! That was insane! Holy shit!” Tommy kept shouting. “Sorry mum!”

         My laughs died to giggles as I looked at Wilbur.

         “Soooo, you guys need a little hired help?” I asked. “Because, that was my application Mr. Soot.”

         There was a moment of silence.

         “Fair enough. What’s the price for your services Ms. (Y/U/N)?” Wilbur questioned.

         “Wait Wilbur, a WOMAN helping us?” Tommy questioned now.

         I chuckled as I came towards Tommy, who backed up quickly, leaning into the mic again. “You want to question me?”

         “No! No ma’am! I’m sorry ma’am!” Tommy quickly sputtered.

         “I didn’t think you’d be quite so…intimidating Ms. (Y/U/N). You seemed quite nice after all.” Wilbur spoke up.

         I leaned back again as I noticed Tubbo’s name tag no longer in the van. “It’s all about appearances Mr. Soot! Take a look at your lovely van! Seemingly innocent on the outside but all the excitement in the back. All good business men and women know that you need to have the good exterior but when the time comes, you need to stab a bitch. And I don’t need any payment, just a place in your business and the supply when I need it.”

         He chuckled. “Alright, well welcome to the team Ms. (Y/U/N).”

         “Excellent! Let’s get to work.” I clapped my hands before going into the van with the two of them.

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

Third Person POV

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

         Wilbur had been trying to desperately take the bit back on track. He hadn’t planned for someone to just derail it as such but then (Y/U/N)…She stepped in from nowhere with stacked gear. The psychotic but beautiful sing song voice had given him a shiver as he watched in shock as she slayed Sapnap with ease. As he was stuck in his shocked, silent state and grabbed the gear, he noticed his chat spamming the words, The Goddess.

         Was that another name for her? Was she an expert at PVP the same as Dream and Technoblade? It would explain how Dream might know her. Another highly praised PVPer? He would have talked to her.

         He just hadn’t expected such intimidation from the lady that had brought flowers to every new player on every server she had been on; the same lady that called people Mr. and Ms. and gentlemen. It was quite interesting, Wilbur wondered if she was like that in public, polite and kind until the situation called for another girl.

         Maybe he should get to know the woman himself.

[ts-agere-stuff]

Agere Fic 1

If I have the energy and this gets enough reblogs, this will be a multi-chapter fic. For now, this works as a stand alone.

tw- none, ask to tag

Summary- Virgil is stressed and wants a way to calm down. Dee offers some help through teaching Virgil how to regress.

Other chapters- 1, 2, 3

“Do you have another pickaxe?” Virgil asked over call, curled up in his chair, fixing his mic.

Dee hummed, then threw one at Virgil, “yes, yes, did you forget sticks again, Virgil?”

Virgil pouted in a way that was almost audible and made Dee laugh. Dee had  only been a part of the discord and minecraft server for about six months, but Virgil was already so easy to read and it felt like they had known each other just as long as Virgil knew the others. 

At the moment, the group needed resources and Virgil never liked going mining without someone nearby, so they hopped into a call and found the nearest cave, then started digging. 

“How many diamonds?” Virgil asked, loudly tapping on his keys just gently enough that they didn’t actually press down while he did so.

“Twenty.” Dee took a breath, “Virgil, are you alright? Your tapping’s getting off…”

“Oh-” Virgil shook his head, trying to shake himself out of it, “Ju-”

“SHIT!” Dee shouted suddenly and took out their sword, then ran over to Virgil and tried hitting something, but Virgil’s character was already dead by a creeper.

Virgil let out a yelp and tensed his whole body, then tried un-tensing but it was no good. He sat there for a moment, not really hearing Dee. Dee had to ping Virgil on Discord to get his attention.

“Sorry-”. Virgil hit respawn and let out a little whine at not being where his bed had been. Which was almost too far away to walk. “Virgil, do you wanna get off? We can mine later, dear.” Dee sighed, “You don’t seem well.”

Virgil just went quiet, swaying, then tried to keep his fingers out of his mouth as he logged out, “Yeah, sorry, I should probably sleep.”

“You got up three hours ago, either you need some vitamin D or you need to stop lying.”

“My name isn’t ‘TheDeeceit’ on discord, now is it?” Virgil let out a dry laugh. “You know how pale I am, there’s no D in me.”

Dee hummed and shook their head, “Virgil, do you want to talk about this with me, someone else, or nobody?”

Virgil started tapping on his keyboard again, “It’s just stress. Just regular ol’ stress. I should be able to deal with it in a HEALTHY way, but noooo-”

“And Roman is the melo-dramatic one?” Dee waited a moment, “That was rude. Okay, have you tried any healthy coping mechanisms?”

“I don’t even know any,” Virgil leaned back in his chair, “i just want a minute where i’m not thinking of the 6 hours of straight work I have to do-”

Dee laughed, “Straight! Dear, you couldn’t go a minute being straight.”

“-every single day. I just wanna think ‘hey, I got this done today’ and not ‘hey, I have a million other things to do tomorrow and this thing I did today.’”

Dee hummed clicked their tongue, “so, a distraction?” 

“That’ll just make me feel g-” Virgil covered his face, “Know what? Yeah, sorry, I am just being dramatic.”

“Virgil, I’m your friend.” Dee started, “I want to help you. I do. You aren’t being dramatic, just listen, okay?”

Virgil rubbed his lips with his index finger, then nodded, “alright, I’ll listen.” Dee started typing something, then sent it to Virgil by DM, “this is the one I’m most familiar with that will work for you. Meditation and exercise clearly won’t work with all of the gears in your head, so let’s take a look at this. You tell me if you want to try this.”

Virgil went to the link then started looking through. Dee read it out loud while Virgil followed along. 

After the article was done and read, Virgil just rubbed his face more, looking down at the keyboard, “so, uh-” Virgil closed his eyes, “I just act like a baby and it’ll make me feel better?” he snorted gently.

“If you want to simplify it that much, then I suppose.” Dee clicked their tongue again, “It’s more of a head space. A room for thoughts about play and juice boxes, where bad stresses aren’t allowed. Usually, people just go through it when stressed automatically, but you can make yourself go through it when you want to.”

Virgil took a breath, “promise not to tell anyone?”

Without warning, Dee pulled up their camera and made sure they were in frame and that Virgil was watching. Dee always had a different yellow or black sweater with a pattern every time Virgil saw them. It was nice, considering how bad Virgil was with faces. Dee and the twins looked similar enough that if Dee didn’t wear the yellow, Virgil would absolutely fuck it up ten times a day. Virgil started thinking that maybe Dee did it to help him.

Dee held up their hand in a way to swear to Virgil, “I promise to not tell a soul, Virgil.” 

Virgil let out a shuddering breath, then nodded, “how do we do this?” 

“I’d get your phone and get in bed. Do you have any old plushies?”

Virgil disconnected from the call, closed the computer, then grabbed his phone, reconnecting, “Yeah, a few.”

Janus nodded, “alright, Virgil, we can either go the route of you watching a cartoon and letting yourself be a baby to it or I can just talk to you being a baby.”

Virgil nodded and did finger guns to himself, “Avatar.”

Janus snorted, “I think a show with a few less war crimes would be best for a first time.”

Virgil blew a raspberry.

Dee hummed happily, then blew a raspberry back. 

Virgil huffed in fake offense and blew another one.

“Oh, so it’s a war, Vivi!” “Yeah, it is!” Virgil started blowing as many raspberries as possible.

Dee let him win and hummed once Virgil stopped, “Vivi, how’re you feeling?”

“Like my head’s swaying.” He rubbed at his eyes, “but in a nice way.”

“That’s amazing, Vivi.” Dee started humming whatever disney song they heard Roman sing last. 

Virgil tapped his nails on his teeth, then looked at the phone, “I t’ink I’m little.” He mumbled and curled up more in the bed around his bat plush. 

Dee cooed softly, “that’s so good, dear. Just relax, Vivi, mommy’s here.”

Virgil nodded and kept blowing little bubbles with his mouth, then made kissy noises  with a shy smile. 

Dee took a breath, “you’re too cute, dear. Absolutely adorable.”

Virgil closed his eyes, “tire’.”

“Are you really?” Dee asked softly.

“Mhm.” Virgil started sucking on his thumb, making Dee smile, “then I guess it’s nap time. Goo-”

“MMM!” Virgil whined and shook his head. “I’m sorry baby, what do you need?” 

Virgil messed with his tongue to try to get it in the right place, then tried talking, “‘tay til I slee’?” Dee took a moment to decipher that, then nodded, “mommy is gonna stay right here, baby. Do you want mommy to read you to sleep?”

Virgil nodded and listened to Dee. 

Dee took a breath and started reading Harold and the Purple Crayon, which made Virgil fall asleep almost immediately. Dee finished the story, sent to the others that they couldn’t finish the mining trip and not to bother Virgil, then went to go let themself regress.

[melofanish]

Drunk In This Love They Have

@carlosreyesweek Day 7: Writer’s Choice

Summary: Owen wakes up with a start. He's not sure what exactly roused him, but he's awake now. He rubs his eyes, taking a moment to stretch out on the bed. The flicker of the clock attracts his vision, and he reads the blue "1:23 AM" with a frown. Why did he wake up after midnight?!

The lights inside turn on, and the door finally closes. Owen takes a few moments sitting in the car alone, in the dark. He supposes he should feel some loneliness, but he doesn’t. All he feels is happiness and giddiness for his son, amusement regarding the entire situation, and hope for the future that TK and Carlos will be sharing together.

Tags: Carlos Reyes, TK Strand, Owen Strand, Established Carlos Reyes/TK Strand, Soft Carlos Reyes/TK Strand, Sweet Carlos Reyes (9-1-1 Lone Star), Drunk Carlos Reyes, Good Parent Owen Strand.

Warnings: Drunk flirting and awkward dad existence. 

This is such a crack, dumbass fic but I love it so much. It has just been finished too. I have two settings apparently. Finish a fic a month before the event, or three hours before the end of the event.

This idea came from the  "Mi Amor Tarlos" discord server. Major kudos to Kate <3

As usual, @lire-casander is the best human to ever exist. I am, once again, writing this as she goes over the final edit of the fic. She's beauty, she's grace, she's right about the best thing I've gotten out of this fandom <3

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters depicted, they belong to their creators. I'm writing just for the fun

Read on AO3.

---

Owen wakes up with a start. He's not sure what exactly roused him, but he's awake now. He rubs his eyes, taking a moment to stretch out on the bed. The flicker of the clock attracts his vision, and he reads the blue "1:23 AM" with a frown. Why did he wake up after midnight?!

He turns to a side, pulling his blanket up around his shoulder and trying to find a position that'll send him back to slumber when his phone pings. He decides to ignore it, the edges of sleep tickling his consciousness when it pings again, and again.

With a sigh, he reaches forward and grabs his phone, the glare of the screen blinding him for a moment until he turns on the bedside table. He looks back at the phone, finding five messages from Carlos.

A chill runs through Owen. For a moment he thinks something happened with TK. But then he remembers that they're both off for the next day, and he knows that TK is asleep in his room down the hall. He relaxes immediately, only to frown again when his phone pings with yet another message. He opens the thread.

Carlos Reyes: HIIIIIII TJ

Carlos Reyes: TL***

Carlos Reyes: TK********

Carlos Reyes: i drank sooo mucj

Carlos Reyes: i am frunk

Carlos Reyes: i lobe yoi sooo muvj

Owen stares at his phone, blinking in confusion. Carlos is… drunk, that much he's sure of. And he loves his son, which he's glad about. But he also seems to think that Owen is actually TK. Which is unfortunate. He's about to reply with a clarification when he gets four new messages in quick succession.

Carlos Reyes: i niss tou too

Carlos Reyes: van i see yiu when I het hone?

Carlos Reyes: i wamma cuffle

Carlos Reyes: cuddle

He can't help the smile that graces his face. Seeing how Carlos still thinks about his son, even in a drunk state, warms a deep corner of his soul. It's the kind of love he's always hoped for his son.

Carlos Reyes: amd kiss tou

Carlos Reyes: ans fuck yoi

And then it's no longer wholesome. He groans, dropping the phone and covering his face, as if that'll somehow erase the image that's been painted in his mind. He moves his phone away, putting it down on the table when it pings again, and again, and again.

He groans out loud again, reaching for the phone as he takes a deep breath. Two more pings come in during the time it takes him to do that. He turns the screen on, bringing the thread back up.

Carlos Reyes: uoire thw best thinj to eber hapoen to me

Carlos Reyes: i wanma lobe yoi forevr

Carlos Reyes: ill dhow yoi wiyh endless kissed

Owen glares at the phone, as if it can travel through the phone and reach Carlos. He sees the three dots bubbling about and he makes a decision, bringing up his own keyboard to type a reply.

Owen Strand: Carlos, this is Owen. You're texting the wrong Strand.

The bubbles pause for a moment, and Owen thinks he's going to get an apology text, or maybe even he'll get ignored and that will be tomorrow's problem. But they come back on the screen three seconds later and then he's getting a message.

Carlos Reyes: anf lobing sex

Carlos Reyes: yoi shoufl pivk me up do we cab habe s fucj

In a decision made over a split second, Owen is getting out of bed and marching down the hall to TK's room. He pauses at the door, straining to listen for movement. When he doesn't hear anything he softly knocks on the door. He gets a soft "hmm" almost immediately. So he swings the door open.

He finds TK in bed, blanket crowded at his feet and a book in his hands, eyes wide and awake. He pauses for a second, he was sure TK would be asleep. They did just return from a twenty-four-hour shift a few hours ago. He’s about to ask when TK beats him to it.

"You okay?" TK asks, looking at the clock on his bedside table. "It's almost one-thirty, dad. Why are you still awake?"

Owen sighs, remembering the reason he came in search of TK in the first place. There's a lot of things he would have seen himself telling his son, his own blood and flesh, at an hour after midnight. This is not one of them. And yet.

"Your boyfriend is drunk and wants to have sex with you," he says, going straight to the point.

TK stares at him, head turning to a side in pure confusion as his forehead creases into a frown. "My what? What?!"

"Your. Boyfriend. Is. Drunk. And. Wants. To. Have. Sex. With. You," he repeats.

"Wait, how do you know, what are you talking about?!" He asks, putting the book down and coming to a weird half-seated position where he has one leg half bent out in front of him and the other is tucked underneath him.

As if on cue, Owen's phone pings two more times. He brings the phone up, reading the messages quickly and then he's stepping into TK's room, scrolling up to the beginning of the messages and handing the phone over.

Carlos Reyes: r u oivking me uo?

Carlos Reyes: ill oay you eith sex

He watches as TK's eyes move from one side to the other on the screen, smiling at parts and then eyes widening at others, before he ends with a hand to his face, hiding away behind his palms.

"Oh, god," he groans. "He's so drunk."

Owen can't help the snort that rises through his throat, shaking in head in amusement. "Yes, that's an understatement."

The phone rings again in TK's hand. They share a look before TK turns the screen on and reads the messages. Owen doesn't want to know what the contents are when they're the cause of a bright red flush that takes over TK's face and neck. Still, he can't resist when the opportunity presents itself like this.

"What's he saying?"

TK stutters, looking up at Owen then down at the phone. "He's asking if I'm picking him up. The designated driver is drunk too."

Owen might have not been there for the large part of his kid's life, but he still knows when he's hiding something. And right now, TK is hiding something. But he understands; he knows his relationship with TK isn't usual, he knows that they are way too comfortable discussing their sex lives, but Carlos isn't. And Owen can't do much more than nod in acceptance when his son is trying to protect and respect his boyfriend's dignity.

"Okay, get dressed. Be at the door in ten minutes," he gets off the bed, heading to the door.

"Wait, wait, what?" TK calls. "Where are we going?"

Owen turns around slowly, facing TK, as if the answer wasn't obvious. "We're going to pick him up. You don't have a license yet, so I'm driving," he explains. "So let's go, your man is waiting."

It takes TK a moment, but then he’s getting on his feet and moving around the bed into his closet. Owen closes the door and walks to his own room, changing his pyjama pants to sweatpants and slipping into a pair of sneakers. He’s at the front door in minutes, keys and wallet in hand. TK comes barrelling through the house behind him in seconds.

They’re in the car, Owen turning the ignition on, when a quick succession of four or five messages ping through. TK glances at him out of the corner of his eye before he focuses back on his hands and turns the screen on. Owen catches the edge of a picture, and, from what he could tell, it’s just a selfie of Carlos and his partner, Jack. He decides to focus on the task in hand, asking TK for the location of the bar and swerving out of their driveway.

The drive isn’t that long, the bar a mere fifteen minutes away from their home. They spend the ride singing along to the music coming from the Bluetooth speakers, until a few messages ping through, at which point TK would stop singing, pull up the messages, type something in reply, and then get back to the singing.

They’re about half-way there when the ringing sounds around the entire car. Owen recognises the call notification and presses on the reply button a little too fast for his brain to remember that Carlos is texting him right now, and this is probably Carlos calling, and the phone is connected to the car’s Bluetooth system.

“HIIIIIIIIIII!” Carlos’ loud, clearly drunk and slurring voice fills the car a bare second after he’s pressed the button on his steering wheel, his tone so high-pitched Owen finds himself wincing.

“Hi! Hi, baby, hi,” TK is already screaming in reply, bringing the phone to his mouth only to pull it away when he realises it’s all around him, and then just saying it into the void. “Are you okay? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, everything is perfecto,” Carlos answers with a sigh, his voice muffled and mixing with the bar around him now that he isn’t screaming. “I just miss you, so, so, so much. And I’m sad.”

Owen glances at TK, the look of worry on his face mirrored on TK’s.

“Why are you sad? Is everything okay?”

“Jack is hugging and kissing Alana, and I’m here, alone and lonely,” Carlos replies in a tone that makes Owen right about a hundred percent sure that he’s pouting. He shakes his head as TK chuckles.

“You’re not lonely baby, you’re there with your friends,” he reminds Carlos.

“But my friends are kissing each other and making out and I think Alana has her hand in Jack’s pants and I’m here without your hands in my pa-”

The rest of his sentence is cut by a short scream from TK as he fumbles with the phone, finally pressing the button that disconnects the Bluetooth. Owen manages to resist laughing out loud but he has no power against the grin that splits his face wide. He feigns ignorance as he listens to TK whispering his replies. Somehow, even through the phone and the distance, he still hears Carlos, loud, loveable and oh so drunk.

A few minutes later and they’re finally pulling up the bar, pulling into the parking lot. Owen finds the closest free spot, putting the car in park and turning to face TK, who has his head down, the phone still pressed to his ear. He seems to have not even realised that they’ve arrived at their destination.

“Hey,” he nudges TK, nodding towards the bar when TK looks up at him. “Go get him.”

TK smiles at Owen, opening the door and dropping his phone into the seat. “I’ll call you if I need anything?” he asks, closing the door and moving towards the bar when Owen nods.

He follows TK until he disappears into the threshold of the bar, then closes his eyes and rests his head on the backrest of his seat as he sighs. He isn’t sure how his night came to this end, but here he is. He’s also sure he would have never done the same for any of TK’s previous boyfriends. But Carlos isn’t any boyfriend. Carlos is… Carlos is good. Carlos is a different type of man than the ones TK has been with. Carlos is nice, and respectful, and sweet. Carlos loves his son.

He supposes that’s what this all comes down to. The fact that he knows that Carlos loves his son, the way he always knew TK deserves to be loved. And he knows that TK loves Carlos, too. It’s the love that he’s only ever dreamt of TK having, a dream that seemed to get farther and farther away with every new man TK introduced him to. Until Carlos walked into TK’s life. He doesn’t want to undermine TK’s own work and tribulations to make himself better, but Carlos has no doubt been a large part of the support system he’s had during that time.

And so, if Owen has to wake up at one-thirty in the morning to drive his son to a bar so he can pick up said son’s drunk boyfriend, he’s willing to do that in a heartbeat.

A dull crash against the side of the car has Owen opening his eyes in alarm and looking at the side-mirrors of the car. He doesn’t see anything in the driver’s side of the car, but when he looks towards the passenger’s side, well, he sees TK, back pressed to the side of the car. And he sees Carlos, hovering over TK. And he sees two tongues fighting in the middle of the space between them before their mouths slam back together. And then, through the car, he hears the loud, unmistakable moan.

“Oh, no. No, no, no,” he groans, looking back in front of him. It’s one thing for him to read what Carlos wants to do to his son, it’s a completely different thing for him to see it starting to happen. He takes a few deep breaths, glancing at the mirror every few moments. When he sees that they’re still in the same position, he leans over the console, knocking on the window until TK breaks the kiss and turns around.

His eyes widen when he sees Owen, hands coming up from wherever they are to hold Carlos around the shoulders. TK might have seen Owen, but Carlos seems to still be in his own fairyland; he trails kisses down TK’s neck until he gets to a spot and then his head stops in there. Owen doesn’t need to guess what Carlos is doing right now, the way TK’s eyes flutter shut tell him all he needs to know.

But no, this is too much. He leans over, knocking on the window again until TK’s eyes open and takes a deep breath, hands tightening around Carlos’ shoulders as he slowly pulls him away. Owen did not need to see the line of saliva connecting Carlos’ lips to TK’s neck.

He hears them exchange a few sentences, voice low and sultry, if he has to guess. Carlos’ eyes are blown wide, a smile permanently glued on his face, even as he nods and shakes his head in reply to whatever TK is saying. He hears Carlos giggle one last time and then TK is moving them back enough to open the back door.

“Hello, Mister Strand,” Carlos greets him the moment the door is open, words slurred, smile wide and eyes bright. “How ya doin?”

“I’m all good, Carlos, how are you?” he asks, chuckling as TK helps Carlos settle in.

“I’m fantastic! Did you know that TK came to pick me up because I asked him to?!”

This time Owen really can’t help the laugh that booms out of his chest. He hears TK snicker as well, Carlos joining in at the end. “Did he now?”

“Yes, yes, he did,” he nods his head almost aggressively. “He’s the bestest ever. I love him so much.”

“I love you too, baby,” TK replies, kissing Carlos softly on the lips as he finally finishes securing the seatbelt. Owen turns around, focusing on turning on the car -as if it takes that much concentration- to give them a moment alone. He hears them exchange “I love you’s” a few times and then TK retreats, closing the back door and opening the front one to get his own self into the car.

TK is barely a foot into the car when Carlos calls from the backseat. “TK?”

“Yeah, what’s up?” he asks, turning around in his seat to look at Carlos.

“Why are you so far away? How am I supposed to hold you?” Carlos speaks in the same tone as earlier, the one Owen thought was coming from a pouting face. Looking at the rearview mirror, he sees that there is indeed a pout on Carlos.

“I’m right here, baby,” TK answers, extending an arm to rub at Carlos’ curls.

“But, you’re so far away. I’m all alone in this big seat! You should sit here! With me! You can even sit on m-”

“OKAY!!!!” TK interrupts yet again. “Let’s not do that, baby. We need to be safe.”

Owen hears a sigh and then Carlos is mumbling his approval. He waits until TK is twisted back in his seat and has put his seatbelt on before he starts the journey back.

It’s only then that he realises they haven’t discussed where they would be driving back to.

“Where are we going, TK?”

“TO SEX LAND!” Carlos screams, and a perfectly coordinated groan leaves both the Strand men.

“Carlos, no!” TK retorts.

“Carlos, YES!” Carlos says back.

Owen sees TK opening his mouth from the corner of his eye, but Carlos evidently isn’t finished speaking.

“Hey, Owen, you should take us to my house, that way we can make as much noise as we want,” he says, much to the dismay of everyone that isn’t Carlos. He doesn’t seem to realise what’s wrong with what he’s saying, he just keeps talking. “TK gets really loud at times, and I do too to be honest, and it’s so hard to stay quiet when we are in your house, so we should go to my house.”

As funny as this entire situation is, the conviction with which Carlos says it leaves Owen no choice but to respect him, even as TK tries to sink deeper into his seat in an attempt to blend with the upholstery.

“Okay, Carlos, I’ll take you guys to your house,” Owen says, shaking his head at both Carlos and TK’s shenanigans.

“Thank yooou, Owen,” Carlos says. Owen is about to focus back on the street when Carlos gasps, and the sound of skin hitting skin echoes around in the car.

Owen looks through the rearview mirror, finding Carlos with his hands covering his mouth, and eyes wide, as if he just saw something from his nightmares. The empty streets make it easy for Owen to cross two lanes and stop in the sideway, both Strands turning around to face a now teary-eyed Carlos.

Owen turns on the overhead lights as TK fumbles with his seatbelt, trying to get it undone, even as he keeps his eyes on Carlos, asking him what’s wrong. It’s only when he’s in the backseat with him that Carlos unclutches his face and wipes his tears.

“I was rude to your dad, TK. I was so rude to your dad, my mom is going to be so mad at me,” he whispers. “I didn’t say mister, TK.”

Owen feels the concern -so thick a moment ago- melt and dissolve into nothing. He sinks into his seat, turning to sit straight. TK stays back with Carlos, wiping his tears and whispering sweet nothings as he assures him that his mother would not be mad at him. Carlos tries to fight him on it, saying that she most definitely would be, but he stops pretty quick once TK asks if he trusts him.

He uses the distraction to grab his phone from the glove compartment, where TK disposed of it earlier. He brings up the camera, making sure that the flash is off, and presses on record.

He can’t see the screen and what he’s filming, but through the rearview mirror, he sees TK wiping Carlos’ tears, forehead leaning on him as he presses kisses to his temple in between whispers and smiles. He sees Carlos hold onto TK’s arm, looking up at him with a soft smile and wet tears. A few moments later Carlos giggles and TK smiles at him, pressing a final kiss to his forehead before he straightens up and buckles himself next to Carlos.

He’s about to turn off the camera when Carlos presses a kiss to TK’s shoulder and lays his head onto it. His hand runs along TK’s arm, intertwining their fingers. “I love you,” he whispers.

TK takes a breath, a soft smile gracing his face as he turns his face to another kiss atop Carlos’ curls.

Owen turns off the screen, putting the phone away and switching off the light. He turns on the car, focusing back on the journey.

By the time he’s pulling up into Carlos’ driveway, the back seat is quiet. He switches the car off, looking back to find Carlos -head still on TK’s shoulder- with his eyes closed and mouth open in soft, almost inaudible snores. TK has the fondest expression on his face as he looks down at Carlos, a hand wrapped around his, the other sweeping around Carlos’ head, playing with his curls.

He almost regrets bursting their bubble, but he doesn’t think the car is the most comfortable place for them all to be right now. So he lays a hand on TK’s knee, waiting until he looks up at him, looking almost dazed. “We’re here,” he whispers.

TK looks out of the window, recognition dawning on him. He nods in reply before he focuses down on Carlos, whispering to him softly as his eyes flutter open and he slowly rouses from his doze.

Carlos looks up at TK, a brief moment of a smile coming onto him before he stretches his limbs out as much as the car allows and then he curls back into his place, mumbling incoherence.

“Come on, baby, we’re here,” TK whispers. “Let’s go inside.”

Carlos opens his eyes at that, staring up at TK. “We gon’ cuddle?” he asks.

TK chuckles, shaking his head, the loving look never leaving his face. “Yeah, let’s go cuddle.”

Owen watches as TK helps himself and then Carlos out of the car, and then holds Carlos around the waist as they walk up the porch. TK takes a moment to slip his hand into Carlos’ front pocket, producing a set of keys that he inserts into the front door lock.

As they move into the house, TK turns and nods at Owen, and he returns it. When Carlos looks at him though and turns to do the same, with much more enthusiasm, waving at him, face scrunched with a wide grin, Owen can’t help but repeat it to him, waving back at the giant dork.

The lights inside the house turn on, and the door finally closes. Owen takes a few moments sitting in the car alone, in the dark. He supposes he should feel some loneliness, but he doesn’t. All he feels is happiness and giddiness for his son, amusement regarding the entire situation, and hope for the future that TK and Carlos will be sharing together.

[dana-chan-the-control-brain]

Happy new year everyone 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

I know 2020 has been hard for everyone.

And I want everyone to know, suffering isn't a contest and we all suffer in different ways. But I feel I should give my year in Review. Just some things that happened to me personally.

This was an intense, and long and spiritual and emotional journey for me...

I really discovered what it meant to have community, family and what my life means to me.

But I feel I need to get this in writing cause I can remember the year with vivid detail and I will probably forget if I don't get it down.

Do I have to share this publically online to my tumblr account for a bunch of strangers to see? not really.

Do I want to?

Yes. I think so. Just from how so many people on tumblr and real life have touched me.

This is kinda long and no one needs to read this.

(idk how to do a readmore on mobile. But this is where I would add it later. No one needs to read if they don't want to.)

January/February: (and some background on the last five years of my life cause.....well. it's important.)

As people knew, I got way into Invader Zim last summer. I spent most of my waking life working a dead end job at a grocery store. I lived a sad lonely life, going straight home to a single dark studio apartment. With not many material possessions outside of games, my laptop and my tablet to my name. Half of my material loves, such as home furnishings and books were still in boxes from when I moved in. In case I ever had to move again, or get some "big screenshot or copywriter" job in the city.

....

I lived in that city in the same dead end job and apartment for five years.

No friends. No social life. I often refused to make doctor appointments or attempt to establish myself in that city. I didn't even talk to anyone in my workplace.

Work. Go online. Go to sleep.

I lived like that for five years.

I thought it was good.

Even my therapist thought I was doing well.

When I really wasn't. My main character flaw I struggle with is motivation.

I can talk to someone about very detailed plans I have to fix a problem... But I tend to never follow through.

Just because I can describe in detail how to fix my personal problems, it doesn't mean I will do it.

(I have gotten better at this but it's a major struggle)

I might have been a Zombie during the day...

But by night I was pouring my soul into my AU and my analysis.

After being so thoughly ignored or overlooked by the Naruto fandom and the Undertale fandom, I felt like I had finally found my home and was settling into a community there.

I just loved that people loved what I had to say.

Especially my AU.

It's no secret that a lot of themes in my au revolve around found family, grief, and loss.......

Fatherhood, in particular.

What it means to be a father, how much do you need to try when you mess up, how willing should a child forgive their parent, especially those that have wronged you and how much of it is factually accurate and simply a self projection of what children want their parents to be and visa versa... What amount of forgiveness and change is nessasary...is it needed?

....

It's no secret that a lot of my AU is a giant coping mechanism for my Dad's death. Espessially the falling out and growing closer with a lot of my family members throughout the years following his death. (Most of the time I keep it ambiguous to how it relates to my personal life unless I include a readmore that states so outright. I feel my au can be enjoyed by a variety of people in the fandom who don't need to know me as a person or my life story.)

My Dad passed away in 2016 in February and my family still feels the aftershocks to this day.

It's part of the reason I moved to the city, alienated myself from my family and people that loved me and refused to experience life for five years.

My entire world was Zim, and I was okay.

March: When America finally realized and started to feel the effects of the pandemic....

A lot of people got scared.

Me included.

I didn't have any streaming services or access to the news. So I only heard accounts from my mom.

I didn't understand why the store was so dead quiet and empty for a few days, then it went into mass chaos and panic in the span of two days.

It felt like Retail black friday in the worst way. Everyone was packed like sardines. Everyone was yelling. The lines at the registers bled into the clothing department.

I was witness to customers shoving others for toilet paper, being rude to cashier's and just overall unpleasantness.

At the time, I didn't even fully grasp what the pandemic was, and I feel a lot of people at the time didn't either.

I ended up absentmindedly scratching my eyebrow in front of a customer and she screamed and villanised me for it. That they didn't want groceries touched by my "unclean hands"

I ended up breaking down into tears.

The customer behind me gave me a hug and told me I was doing a great job.

But the damage was done. It was the final straw, I couldn't stop crying and I was breaking apart.

Thankfully my Boss (the one who likes me) pulled me aside and asked what's wrong.

It was then that I quit. No notice. Same day. I had to get out of there.

I was planning to move to an apartment with my sister in the summer, but my Mom offered for me to move back in with her temperarily just so I can get out of the city and away from the pandemic.

So I did.

I got scared, broke my lease a month early and quit my job of five years that gave me nothing back.

He told me, "take care of yourself and your family, I won't keep you here, do what you need to do."

So I did.

April-June:

A very eventful few months.

My mom offered for me to live at her place, but for some reason she was acting like I would live there forever. That this wasn't a temporary arrangement, and that I didn't have an apartment set up already.

This was in large part to my sister, who had lived with my mom taking advantage of her for years.

Even though my sister and I were going to move in together, I was just never sure about it cause of how she never packed her stuff or made any effort to find a job.

My mom often acted like I was lazy and not searching and was treating me like... Well, an unruly teenager instead of a woman of 29 years. She acted like I was a failure for returning home when it was her idea in the first place.

I would have just been petrified in the city.

Like usual, I retreated to my au again.... And in the spring, something eventful happened.

In may, 8th 2020:

I was invited by @rissynicole to join an invader zim discord.

Now, I've never really used discord before. I always thought it's interface is too confusing.. and I'm a member of a few other iz discords and I usually don't follow them that closely.

Rissy assured me it was different cause some friends of thiers made it and it was smaller.

Before I knew it, I was sharing memes and getting to know everyone there.

It wasn't long after I invited my partner in IZ crimes, @paketdimensioncomic who was genuinely wary of iz servers due to a bad experience with the last one they were a part of.

But soon they were sharing memes and laughing with everyone else.

My eyes were starting to open and I was able to connect to fans of my work in an interpersonal way. And I was able to discover new artists and aus I never knew about.

I was also able to meet so many others of the community and invite them to the server myself.

The moo-ping 10 server kept me sane while I was living with my judgmental mother.

Not only that, the summer was very productive for my au.

Drawing was all I did, and it was a huge break from the job as a cashier I had.

Not only that, June came, and with it, me and Ceph's first collab fic:

A result of us just going back and forth in our DMs constantly about Professor Membrane and how he changed in ETF for the better and how much we adamantly stan "trying-to-be-a-good-dad-brane" and how much of his ETF development has to be implied off screen in order for the emotional resolution in the movie to matter.

The only reason I never professed my love for Membrane as a character in the fandom before the fic dropped was.... Well....

Membrane can be a decisive character in the fandom and I was so worried people would hate me if I did an analysis on him, simply because he's not the best parent in the world. (As an understatement)

Ceph and I really encouraged each other to scream our love for the science himbo loud and proud more frequently and so often.... I actually start to see less Membrane hate posts and breakdowns then their used to be.... I like to think it's a combination of Me and Ceph's influence, along with ETF and the Quarterly's painting Membrane in a slightly more nuanced light then he was previously.

I never wrote a collab fic before and it's such a rewarding and fun and unique experience that I don't think I'll ever have again. And I love working with Ceph on our fics so much.

So much so we did it again...

July-August:

I never thought I would be one of those people who writes NSFW IZ fic... But here I am.

The Brainbrane au started.... An au of my au where Membrane and the Computer fall in love and Membrane makes him a body.

This ship was based around the idea where we joked that Membrane and Zim's Computer would have funny interactions if they ever met, under the pretense Membrane thinks Computer is Zim's parent.

Our headcanons morphed and shifted until we just full blown started shipping them.

Just because Membrane and Zim's Computer have overall REALLY entertaining chemistry.

It's a character dynamic never seen in the show or comics (yet) and I imagine thier interactions to be nothing but entertaining banter.

The fic was also born from spite... Making fun of the troupes and cliches that we found personally destestible in some questionable zadr fics.

So an angry ace and a demi-bisexual collab on a porn and end up blessing the fandom with

Compapa headcanons,

Computer being recognized as a more common used fanon character,

The ship of Brainbrane.

The fandom having a crisis of "oh God, not only are we xenophiles we're technophiles too!!!" Or "why you gotta give Zim's Computer an ass"

More android Computer designs

It was an eventful summer.

In the midst of all this, I moved into my new place, got a new job, and I was able to see my friend (who is def my platonic straight soul mate) who lives in Indiana.

She came to visit, showed me how to decorate and how to take care of my body better! Things were looking up! It was great.

September-November:

My job was at a boat store. If was approaching the fall and my hours were being severely cut.

I was getting into a rut of depression again.

I thought things were changing but the same routine I was trying to escape from was the same thing coming back.

But instead of letting it take hold, I decided I was going to do something about it... I was gonna visit a museum and go with my sister. Just... variety stimulation.

Well that didn't happen.

I talked about this shortly in my au itself...but..

My sister had a complete mental breakdown.

She stopped taking her meds, went off the deep end and was in the hospital a total of five times throughout November.

A lot of it was acting out and the perfect storm of environmental factors that made her scream and act out so she would keep going back to the hospital.

It was traumatizing for me.

I just can't explain what it's like. For her and for me to be in that position.

I'm not telling the full story and a lot of bullshit things happened I won't share here.

She got diagnosed with bipolar one and my mom expected me to be a caretaker for her.

I threatened to disown my family and move away out of state.

It was just too much for me to handle.

So much I was a nervous wreck.

I tried to pick up a second job... Cause my sister was in the mental ward so frequently and couldn't pay the bills.

But I was fired within a week cause I was so stressed I couldn't retain the basic information they were training me for.

It was an office job.

My dream.

It could have been.

I was fired from something I really wanted.

I was only there for three days.

I could not retain any information.

I was a mess.

My sister was a trigger, my mom wanted me to live with her. I couldn't live like this.... I had to get out.

I had to get out.

December:

Remember my Indiana friend?

Well the first week of December is my birthday.

My 30th to be exact.

While I did pick up a seasonal position at Target (not my first pick)

I took the first week of December off so I could spend time with her. Cause she agreed, I needed a break from this crap.

Surviving 30 years is cause to celebrate and if I had to celebrate with my sister I would have cried.

I know there was a risk traveling out of state during a pandemic...

But I needed out, I needed a friend..

And I kinda wanted to look at the place since I was considering moving there.

My friend's mom was sick so she avoided me and her daughter and got us a hotel room.

It was fun! I got to swim in a salt water pool, we talked about Naruto, I showed her the iz and su art books I brought, also Computer and Membrane tea.

I also got to meet her other friends and get crunk. And her bf who is super nice and funny!

I had a super fun birthday....

Until her mom told my friend that her grandparents had covid and that was what she had. And my friend got sick within that same day.... As did I.

I owe so much to her family.

I was an entire state away...about a ten hour drive from home.... She let me stay at her house. "The covid house" we called it.

Cause everyone (except the father. He avoided everyone and booked a hotel immediately cus he was an ER doctor) had covid within a day.

I called in, the test results were positive and I had to stay with her family for ten days quarantine before I could work again.

Which would have been fine....

If my tumblr didn't log me out perminately of my old account. @dana-chan325 .... Which really sucked cause I had a constant headache and was too sick to engage with tumblr or much of the fandom. I didn't want to make a new account when my head was in a bad fog and I could barely breathe or smell.

It's not like I saw much of my friend either.... We all slept at different hours and she had more symptoms then I did.

It was just netflix, danganronpa v3 and cry.

I was miserable, but at the same time.... Not?

I really feel like God himself was the one who pulled me off from tumblr, and my living situation.

Maybe a whole extra week feeling like a bobblehead was what I needed.

It gave me some much needed clarity on my relationships with my mom and sis and friend.

Running away to Indiana was not the solution here.

Once I was better within ten days and no longer had a leave of absence, I drove home.

I am glad I fully recovered (but from how I understand it, my dear friend is still ill. I'm praying for her)

I might have gone to work a bit too soon, cause I had an asthma attack after trying to unload a single cart in the span of six hours.

My boss lectured that my speed was unacceptable, and even though I explained the covid situation and breathing problems many times, she threatened that I'd be fired if I'm that slow again.

Que the next few days of work where they put me on register.

Instantly I was sent into a panic remembering the last time I was on the register and how that panic attack caused me to quit.

I even asked if I could go back to stocking, since my breathing had improved. My boss assured me that I was put on the register cause they needed help and nothing to do with my covid thing.

Then as December concluded and the new year began, my boss said that this was the last shift for me cause my position was seasonal and they were letting a lot of people go.

I then asked why I was on the schedule for Sunday, and he told me to ignore it and I'm free to reapply for full-time.

I mean.... They can act smart about it...

But putting your general merchandise stocker onto register after she had an asthma attack and missed working the first two weeks of December due to covid.....

Not a good look.

So once again, I'm jobless once more.

Will probably continue to live with my sister for awhile.

But I do not feel as if it's a bad thing....

I met so many good people this year....

My friend's family even gave me 500 usd to cover my rent since I couldn't work for a majority of December.

I've seen evil and good from humanity this year. I've seen acts of god, good friends and what my real family means to me as well as friends I consider family.

This year really made me look back at the person in the mirror and say,

"I deserve better."

And actually worked for it this time.

Oh and after Christmas I got a horrible yeast infection that burns over most of my body currently.

Very accurate doodle to the pain I'm in right now.

(seriously my body is a fungus.)

But hey, good news, I respected myself enough to go to the doctor about it!!

So that's progress.

I really hope 2021 holds good things for me.

Thank you to the mooping 10 server for always being there and keeping me sane,

Thank you tumblr for liking my au and everything.

AND A SUPER SPECIAL THANK YOU TO @evartandadam and her family for housing me and my dumb diseased ass. Everyone, she is an angel and I can't express how much she means to me. Please check out her art and buy her stuff on redbubble.

Anyways... Byebye 2020.

I look forward to what I can accomplish for myself this year.

[currywaifu]

𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: rival 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩: sumeragi tenma/reader 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: sfw 𝐰𝐜: 2.9k words, 3 images

𝐚𝐧: two people from the filo discord (ty to sel & kai) gave me the idea for this! i meant to push this out a while back, but only got the time to finish it tonight! at... 5 am... sorry for the long delay, @chewie-santatoast​ ! 

If someone were to ask Tenma why he was stalking your Instablam right now, he’d be able to spout off various excuses— all with varying levels of believability.

His first excuse was that you were going to be one of his latest co-stars in a drama. Just because the both of you were going to be part of only a few episodes doesn’t mean he’s gonna stop being diligent. He’s just doing his best to be up to date with you and the other cast, for social reasons.

Why is he so focused on your page, then?

His second excuse would be that he’s only looking, following your account because you’re one of his rivals! Not only were you someone who also started acting at a young age, but you also recently started getting into theatre! Not only were you a threat to any possible awards he could get this season, but any notable troupe was a rival to Mankai for any possible competitions or awards! He’s only looking after the company by scoping out the competition!

Why is he so focused on a specific set of images?

His third excuse, actually still pretty believable, was that he was looking at your most recent posts wherein you were clearly promoting a new play, your repost of the poster signifying that you were the lead. Rival or not, he was still interested in plays or musicals— of course he was going to learn more about the production you were going to be a part of, right?

Why is he looking so intently at the caption and comments, then?

Even in his own brain, this is where Tenma began fumbling. You were just supposed to be promoting, so why were you posting a selfie with another actor, even mentioning that same person in the caption? And- and the people in the comments! Why were they talking about “shipping” you and that guy? Comments about how cute of a couple you’d make… were they fake fans of theatre or something? People who were more engrossed with the actor’s lives than the show?

That’s exactly it… he’s repulsed by people’s audacity. Fan service was alright, but you shouldn’t be feeding your followers anything unnecessary— and why were they so adamant in taking things too far and out of context anyway?

The door creaked open, and he quickly locked his phone as he hastily stashed it underneath his pillow, face unknowingly painted with a blush as though he was hiding something scandalous instead of a picture of you doing finger hearts at the camera.

… thank God it was just Misumi, who doesn’t mention anything possibly wrong with his appearance or attitude. The older boy mentioned something about eating triangle cakes together with the rest of the troupe, and he eagerly replied in agreement as he gets up from bed.

In his head, Tenma justified his actions by telling himself it’d just be a hassle if anyone (note: Yuki or Kazunari) caught him and automatically made assumptions.

When Tenma arrived on set, you were exiting out of your car as well.

‘I should probably be friendly and greet them, right?’ he thought to himself as his body was positioning itself to avoid you instead. Unfortunately (or fortunately) for him, you had already spotted him and with a loud “Tenma-kun!”, his gaze was forced to meet with yours.

You made your way beside him with a blinding smile, not giving him the time to formulate a greeting in return as you began talking up a storm.

“I’m excited to work with you again!” you said, briefly pausing to greet his manager as well before turning back to him. “The last time we’ve worked together was for a drama 6 months ago, right?”

“No,” he corrected immediately, the ‘you idiot’ that would have followed thankfully left out by Tenma. “We filmed a commercial 3 months ago, and then we had a magazine spread last month.”

When you blink up at him in surprise, he found himself getting a little conscious. “It’s… it’s not like I memorised it because of you, though!” he said, beginning to explain himself, “obviously a good actor remembers the things they’re a part of, right?”

When you giggled in response, a part of him started to feel… no, not worried, but something.

“No, no, I totally get that!” you raised your arms up in surrender, “I just meant like an actual acting gig, I guess? Nothing beats having a whole new script to learn, and getting to act with the people you admire. Right, Tenma-kun?”

Inclined to agree with you, he nodded in agreement. “Right…”

You looked at him with a blank stare on your face, like he was missing something (what was there for him to miss, though?) before quickly turning away to greet some of the production crew passing by with a wave and grin.

He, for once, managed to tune out the coos and comments of, “it’s so cute that they stayed friends after all these years!” and “aww look they even entered the set together!” in favour of wondering if there was something he said (or didn’t) that ended the conversation.

…

After filming finished for the day, he decided to lag behind instead of immediately leaving. He’s worked with a bunch of the cast beforehand, so it was a good thing to catch up with them.

“Mini Sumeragi,” one of his more… out there seniors, a friend of his father, began “are you gonna keep staring at their dressing room?”

Freezing up, he mentally took note to stop darting his eyes in that direction before anyone could make something out of it; it was too late, though, when the lead actress asked who occupied that room and several people replied your name in chorus.

“Ohoho~ our young boy is finally growing up,” the lead actor said with a grin, and the whole cast amusedly watched Tenma’s cool mask forming cracks.

“Could it be you’re waiting for them to go out? Is that why you’re staying behind to chat with us oldies?” none of them look the least bit offended, but while he was safe on that aspect, the little smirks and chuckles that escaped the others made him want to justify his actions somehow.

“It’s- it’s because I— have something to tell them!” Tenma explained, despite not knowing a) what he would even say to you, and b) that he was planning on talking to you in the first place. Even though all the signs were pointing to him wanting to do so, at least to an outsider’s perspective.

With widened eyes and an over-dramatised look of shock, the show’s director herself let out a gasp. “Sumeragi-kun, you don’t mean… you’re going to…“

Tenma’s perceptive after all, especially when it came to body language. He had to be as the Summer Troupe’s leader! He could tell there was something bothering you a while ago. As co-workers, he just doesn’t want you to have an issue with him is all! Not— not that he was super concerned about what you thought about him though, it was just—

“Tenma-kun?”

The whole group turned to look at the source of the voice, and who else could it be other than the devil itself.

“I’m glad you’re still here!” you exclaimed, a smile gracing your face as you approached the ginger. “I actually had something I needed to ask you about.”

“Huh? Oh, of course you did,” he crossed his arms, averting his eyes from your expectant gaze. “What did you want?” What— what else was he supposed to say?

Unexpectedly, you bring out your phone and hand it to him. Hold on, wasn’t this like those scenes in the dramas he acted in? Or Muku’s shoujo mangas? Where the main character would hand her phone to the guy she liked and asked for his number?

“Could we start chatting on LIME?” Tenma stiffened at your words, until you followed up with “Since you got into theatre before me, you’d probably have some tips or advice, right? I’m still inexperienced, so…”

After what felt like minutes, his thumbs quickly moved to enter his phone number, adding himself as a friend on your phone.

“I’m only doing this because it’s theatre related, okay? There’s no other reason!”

“Yes, yes, I know… Tenma-kun is always very nice to me,” with a closed-eyed smile making its way to your face, the both of you remained unaware of two things. First, the reddening of Tenma’s ears, and second, the hushed commentary of the others in the room.

“… that felt like a scene from a high school drama,” the director commented as soon as the both of you were out of earshot, looking contemplative, “they’re cute. Maybe I’ll cast them as the leads in my next show.”

Several laughs come out of the group, knowing glances thrown around from one person to another. The usually professional Sumeragi Tenma finally acting his own age, and the one who caused him to act that way. Whether you two knew it or not, you two’d become the hot topic amongst the crew for the next few filming sessions.

Unsurprisingly, Yuki’s the first one to notice something was up; while Tenma was good enough to be able to hide whoever it was he was chatting with on his phone, he was not slick enough to hide how affected he got upon hearing his phone ping, or the look on his face as he read and his fingers poised themselves to reply.

What kind of person gets smiley so early in the morning without eating breakfast, just because of a text message? Disgusting, really.

Also unsurprisingly, Kazunari’s second to notice, but unlike Yuki he’s the first to properly try and figure out who Tenma’s talking to instead of just making comments here and there.

After all, the blond can only conclude two things— first, they must be a special enough person to have the always busy actor chat with them consistently during his free time; second, Tenten… probably hasn’t noticed that he’s being so, so obvious to the point that Misumi thought their very own leader found a “very special triangle”.

Kazunari found it was a little difficult, trying to figure out who it was exactly that caught Tenma’s attention, especially with the latter keeping a tighter on his phone than usual.

However, it was not impossible.

It wasn’t uncommon for several members of the troupe to gather around the living room to watch the latest episode of whatever drama Tenma was currently in. It wasn’t that uncommon either for him to watch with everyone as well, judging his own acting and seeing how it turned out through the camera.

Tonight was different though, and it would seem that always having his phone on his possession had become his own boon… or perhaps the true boon was sitting in front of Kazunari, giving him the perfect view to have a bit of a peek without being evident about his intent.

…

Tenten—

Tenten, why—

Kazunari found himself sending a mental prayer to whatever deity existed in the universe, not just for his own sanity but for…

His eyes go to the one person on screen that Tenma’s clearly been hyper focused on. ‘Yes, I pray for your sanity, too…’ he thought to himself. It was so clear that you had some semblance of more-than-friendly interest towards his friend, and you were clearly fishing a compliment out of him— if not just for the sake of a compliment, then to gauge his interest level in you.

Honestly, he can’t let this go any further— him snooping getting revealed be damned. Tenma’s been typing and hitting the backspace key for a solid two minutes now, he was clearly hopeless, and Kazunari? Why, he was a texting MASTER— it was his duty to help out his poor disciple.

“Tenten~♪,” as soon as the ginger’s attention broke from the phone, he quickly grabbed the device out of said person’s grasp, ignoring his indignant noises as he quickly typed in a response that seemed in-character enough for Tenma, but enough to pander to you.

When Tenma finally got his phone back, Kazunari resisted the urge to take a photo of the former’s face, morphing and reddening as he registered the rest of the messages.

“Why’d you… why’d you call them cute?” Tenma whisper-shouted, looking around to make sure no one was listening in on their conversation, before turning back to Kazunari.

“Awww, so you don’t think they’re a cutie?” Kazunari asked, clearly baiting Tenma to refute.

“That’s not what I— that’s not the point!”

Unable to hold himself back, he let out a laugh while one of the more serious parts of the show was playing out, causing several people to look at him in wonder. He doesn’t really have an explanation without exposing Tenma, so he gave the vague excuse of seeing something funny on his phone.

Not his phone, but hot diggity dog, did he see something funny alright.

There was no way he’d ever admit this to you, or to anyone for that matter, but he genuinely doesn’t understand you. You were rivals, weren’t you? Sure he expected you to be civil, but you were being so friendly and kind… and even worse, you were making him feel weird. You were making him do things he normally wouldn’t do.

He glanced down, the newly bought bouquet of roses seated on his lap as he waited for the play to start— the opening night of the play you were going to be in.

Opening night… when the others found out about it, they gave him knowing glances, playful nudges, teasing comments but really, what did it matter if he just so happened to watch on opening night of all nights? It was the night he was free on!

Besides, you were his rival in acting! Obviously, he was going to watch your performance to simultaneously check out your strengths and weaknesses as an actor— how you differed on set and on stage.

… no, that didn’t sound right, even in his head.

Then, he’s watching you because you went through the trouble of asking him for tips about acting on stage, and getting into theatre. He’s kind of like your teacher, right? So he has to support you

… that didn’t sound right, either.

Even after the play ended, he waited for the audience area to be mostly deserted before coming to find you backstage, the stage manager apparently recognising him and letting him pass without much questioning on who he was here to see.

When he finally found you, he stilled in his spot. Oh, you were with…

For a few seconds, his stomach churned, like a fiery pit burning his insides on fire without so much a regard towards any pain he’d fill and—

“Tenma-kun!”

As quickly as it arrived, the fire gets extinguished at the familiar shout of his name. That person turned to you, quickly muttering something that made you giggle, the forming frown on his lips only leaving as the other man did.

“I’m really happy you came to watch me~” you told him, a little bashfully. “My parents couldn’t come tonight, so it was nice to have someone I recognised other than my manager in the crowd.”

Right, opening night was… a lot for him, too. Tenma nodded understandingly. “Obviously? Oh and congratulations, by the way, you did really well,” he added in, watching you gingerly take the bouquet of red roses from his grasp. Your eyes turned a little softer at the present, stuck on the little tag even though all that was written on that pre-made to and from card was your name and his respectively.

“I said I’d watch you, right? Besides, just because you’re my rival doesn’t mean I’m gonna go break a promise.”

You remained silent for a minute, and he worried again if he somehow found another thing that would cause you to stop talking to him, at least for a little while— a time period just enough to bother him.

When you break your silence, you make sure to make direct eye-contact with him.

“… rival?”

“Yes?”

With a heavy sigh, you began muttering to yourself. While he wasn’t able to pick up on comprehensible sentences, your expression was enough to tell him you were annoyed.

Before he could question you, the smile returned to your face.

“You think we’re rivals? That’s a shame… I don’t see you that way at all,” you remarked offhandedly, watching Tenma’s face morph into a mixture confusion and hurt.

“What? Do you not think I’m good enough to be your—“

“Okay! Stop the thought right now!” you interrupted, shaking your head vehemently. What kind of derivation was that? “I think of us as more than rivals, is what I mean.”

Tenma’s blush seared through his cheeks, looking almost as though his face was lit up on fire. Despite this, he made no attempt to move to shield his face from your gaze, or any movement at all really— save for how he sputtered in search of some semblance of a viable reply.

“What do you… what are you trying to imply? Are you saying you think of me as a friend or—“

He gets interrupted by the sound of you giggling. “Well, the meaning can be whatever you want it to be!” you exclaimed, the tone of your voice a little mischievous as you continued, “so just let me know which one, okay?~”