#as an only child: yeouch

[ninoochat]

[novasintheroom]

Just some thoughts I wanted to share with someone, but I feel like Barista Vash has a fifty fifty shot of being a nightmare or a blessing to work on shift with. 

This all depends on what he's tasked with. Cashier? You better be thanking the man, because you bet his smile and friendly attitude has people eagerly handing in tips. These tips coming from doting mothers or grandmothers who think he reminds them of their child/grandchild, or people who melt under his warm voice asking "Will that be all? :)". Vash has definitely has gotten shy or confident slides of pieces of paper with people's socials or phone numbers. He takes the time to give them a quick polite message letting them down easy. Back to cashier duties, the man is smart (as much as some of us tend to forget sometimes). Calculations for change are easy, and tech issues with the machine in general are simple fixes for him. Great employee overall, coworkers love him for his clear and loud voice for orders, along with the added bonus of big tips at the end of the day for everyone. 

Vash is the one making the drinks?....Can't he run the register today?....No? You better pray. See, Vash isn't bad at making drinks. Not at all actually, everything he makes is delicious, and it's made in a timely manner. It's just...There are times where he might not be. You can not tell me Vash has never slipped and fell while the floors are wet, or burned his hands several times on a coffee rush. He lets out a cartoonish YEOUCH, or whimper that has a few patrons looking his way, whenever he does. Definitely hums while he makes drinks on a slow days, maybe a little twirl or hip bump while he closes the fridge. Vash has definitely has an embarrassing moment or two, where it's a slow day, he takes the opportunity to eat the last delicious cranberry pastry...only for a customer to come up and ask for said pastry while his cheeks are full. Even with his slip ups, his coworkers are silently grateful when he's working during a sudden rush. The man can concentrate and get drinks out fast with precision, and is on top of making sure that there are enough items for drinks. You won't ever feel like you need to break down and cry, while making a drink, because you ran out of oat milk. 

Now leading back to Vash's admirers, he may have plenty of them. But he only has eyes for one person. If you're a regular, the days he knows you'll be coming in, the man is on fire. On top of everything, bright smiles that never falter, he is ready for you. Which may lead to him being exhausted by the time you arrive. Once, you hadn't arrived yet and he took his break, only for someone else to take your order and make it....He didn't show it, but Vash was depressed for the rest of the day. Lingering glances and wiping down a counter that was already spotless while you were enjoying your drink. If you ever come with someone, he might take the bold risk to ask "Oh and who's this? :)" during your small chat as you order. Just in case, he just wants to be safe. His fear is for your answer to someday be along the lines of, "This is my partner!". Regardless of his fear, he's slow to make any moves. One, he's working. Not the most romantic place to flirt if he's trying to make drinks for a mother and daughter waiting on their chai lattes. Two....you can't really tell when he does flirt? He's always friendly and warm to all customers. Plus if you confront him on the one liners or doodles on your drink, he (stupidly) dismisses it with a "I just had time :)" or excuses it as a way to cheer you up on a rough day. It might be....a while before he makes a real move, so maybe you should start thinking about ways to take the first step?

Aw I love this anon! Barista Vash is such a cute AU idea!! I would personally take SUCH a long time to get up the guts to ask him out, bc 1-he's working, and I'd assume he's happy and kind with EVERYONE and 2-I'm shy as all heck.

I hope everyone enjoys this!! Thank you for sharing your thoughts!!<33

[frostcorpsclub]

@manbehindthemask

Josephine blinked, her head kind of bobbing subtly as she tried to take in the question and Azalea's backtracking of it. Etiquette and over complicated social structure was one thing but someone caring about being offensive to her was an entirely new concept.

"I don't know, my sister calls us frostbitten, those of us that look like this-"

She wiggled her fingers in Azalea's face the way a turtle does when they're attempting to attract a mate.

"-she's so smart maybe she could get you back home!"

As these words came out of Josephine's mouth she had a thought. Shit, Azalea wasn't a ghost so she was probably SO cold! Layering could only help a warm blooded creature for so long and she had stopped being a bitch, so Josie had ought to warm her up. She grabbed Azalea by the wrist and dragged her up the stairs of the big house. The large doors creaked open loudly and slammed shut with a force that shook the ground. 

Somehow it was colder inside than out.

The main foyer they entered had a tall ceiling, dotted with a grand ice crystal chandelier in its center yet still seemed to stretch up ad infinitum. Right when the girls walked in there was a grand spiral staircase leading up to a second floor, on each side of the top of the staircase there was a string of white double doors. On the ground floor where Jopsehine and Azalea stood they were flanked by archways that lead into two different rooms. 

"You're gonna wanna wait in here." 

Azalea was barely given time before she was lead to a broom closet and urged inside, but it wasn't going to be long. It was for her safety. 

After only a few minutes the door was opened again and Jospehine was joined by a child who seemed to be about middle school age. The same purple affliction as Josephine but with greasy ginger hair. 

"Step out and bend down to Juno, this is Juno by the way!" 

"C'mere!" 

The young one tugged at Azaleas hair, placing their purple hands on her temples and intertwining with her locks. Soon Juno would begin to envelop her in a tingling sensation. Cold crept up her arms and legs and neck, cramping at her core before being ripped out of her. 

Leaving only…warmth? Not searing heat. Luke, room temperature, warmth. 

"Are you feeling OK? Juno let go of her!"

"Why are you makin' me defrost our meat anyway!" 

Josephine pulled her younger sibling off of Azalea.

"She's not meat this is-"

She stopped to let Azalea fill in the blank, smiling as she found it quite pretty.

"Juno here has a special power, you should feel like..well like you're just in a regular place." 

"I could make you drop from hypothermia right n-YEOUCH!" 

Juno exclaimed as Josephine stepped on their foot. 

[fuj0]

Heyyy pal! How are you doing? Hopefully well!! I was wondering if you had any... oc/story lore to share? Or some wips/what you're working on? Only if you're comfortable sharing, of course! That said! I hope you're fairing well regardless! :]]

Hey Gale!! :DD Yeah, I'm doing good! X) Currently drawing less because I'm catching up to all my games hehe... But I can share some beastmen headcannons! ;D (As for art WIPS, I actually have one started

It's Norbert!! You might not recognize him because I haven't drew him in a very long time x) )

Ok ok so here are some headcannons:

Sherman is actually a grandson (but might change it to son) of Obi's chief at work, which is also the reason why they live together now!! Chief wanted Obi to get his shit together "x)

They actually have only one bedroom at Obi's flat, but Obi agreed to let Sherman get himself a bed and put it in his room. (he was actually supposed to sleep on the couch at first but like. he was way too tall and his feet were cold lmfao 😭)

At first Obi wanted to get rid of Sher and so his genius brain decided to be so fruity on main that his roommate leaves on his own accord. It didn't. ehm. work 🥴

Sanders is getting a lore expansion!! It'd be kind of a big spoiler (to...no planned media at all, but still!) to tell the entire thing in a tumblr post, but let's just say that he's got a major badass update and his ex wife finally has a plot reason to leave him! .... And their child. Yeouch, she really did Layla (Sander's bio daughter) dirty (-w--"

Obi and Lana (bakery possum mom) are like. canon besties now. But in a very polite, inoffensive way.

Oh, and Obi got a haircut. Though you should already know that, hehe ;^)

That's all! Thanks for a chance to infodump hehe, hope yer doing well, too! x)

[fallenrepublick]

yEOUCH that ask about maul/sunder/brutus outliving the reader hurt my heart. Like a lot :’( bUT I thought of an alternative. What if you had children with the zabraks in question, wouldn’t that help ease the pain of losing the love of their life, knowing that they could look after their children and still protect them even with reader gone? So then by the time their children pass away, they don‘t have to wait as long to be reunited with their family

Hmmm... Well that depends. This could be unfortunate if the children inherit the lifespan.

Maul's biggest issue in this scenario is that he can't look at her without seeing you. He identifies her as his child, yes, but he sees so much of you in her. He's reminded of what he's lost each time he looks at her, and the worst part is, she knows it.

She knows what he sees, the hair texture that's so clearly yours, the shape of her nose and the way she smiles. He takes good care of her, the only ways he knows how to, just as you had once taught him, but those thoughts still come up in his mind. He still sees the parent she should never have lost, the only person who's ever loved him through everything. And while she's proof of that love, she's also there showing him what he will never have.

There could be times when she tries to be you, tries to perform more regally, tries to fill the shoes that you left behind. Your clothes are just a bit too big right now, your jewelry on too high a shelf. But she makes do. And she holds that picture of you close by, a reminder of what she needs to become. Father isn't happy anymore, not really, no matter how many times he may smile at her. So this, she believes will make him happy again. Even if she has to swallow a little bit of sadness to do it.

It's not difficult to notice. He fears the changes he sees, finds her trying to be something she's not. And he begs her not to, he pleads with her to be herself, to not become who she thinks he wants her to be. He has to hold her, and cradle her the way he did when she was little, and know that very likely, if ever she does what he had, she will feel this very same thing that he does now.

Sunder would perhaps feel less alone, but the guilt... it would eat him alive. He would continue to raise his child, and watch as they grow with only him to rely on. They knew you, remember you, and yet there's so much they can't remember, so much they might never know.

He tells them stories of you, through tears that he has to push back. He describes all that this child has never seen, and now never will. And as he reminisces, he looks down at his hands, only barely roughened and bony in the way an adult's should become. He remembers what you looked like. He has to bite his lips to stop himself from breaking down.

He's not alone, he knows that. His child will be there to make sure of it. And in early mornings, when he can still be found at the window, never bothering to sleep anymore, they will come to see him. They both stand at each other's sides, looking out, as if waiting for someone to return home after a long journey.

Should Brutus ever have a child, he will bury his grief. There are tasks to complete, more important issues to take care of. To stop and cry and fall to the floor the way his body almost forces him to would be admitting defeat, a shortcoming he can't afford to have. And when his son asks how he is in some strained attempt to get further into his head, he will go so far as to pretend nothing has happened. If he did, he knows he will snap.

For a while, it makes things difficult, makes his son pull away despite the lengths Brutus goes to for his protection. He doesn't understand him, not really. That's the bane of being too much alike, their emotional methods are the same but the feelings themselves are all but unknown to the other. It makes the child lose his patience, eventually.

"Didn't you care about them?!" he all but shouts, "Why are you pretending like it doesn't bother you?! Like nothing's changed?!"

"I'm the remaining parent," he says lowly, his frustration lingering below the surface. "I have to be the one to take the responsibility, and I can't do that if I'm lost in nothing but sadness."

His son only barely understands, and he yells, more and more, until he falls and cries, the way Brutus had for days behind locked doors. And he leans into his father, sad, angry, and everything between, no matter how long it had been no matter how much time had passed. Neither are quite used to it. Neither ever will be.

[c-is-for-circinate]

night-filled-mountain replied to your post: Am I actually the only person who just does not...

While I’ve always meant to give more of her works a chance, I’ve never been a fan. As a passionate fantasy lover, this has caused me much shame. ^^“

celestialily replied to your post: Am I actually the only person who just does not...

even separate from the whole book vs movie debate (a lot of dwj fans will get salty and say “you just like ghibli howl cuz he’s hot”), i was a bit put off by her writing style and how the sequels involve howl turning himself into a baby to play with his son while sophie has to take care of *both of them*…

Yeah, no, I like Ghibli Howl because he....actually cares about consequences and people other than himself?  Like, explicitly on screen, and not in tiny hidden we’re-supposed-to-catch-the-implication-that-he’s-not-really-awful side notes?

I really do like liking things!  I really do want to read these books!  I fished my old copy of the paperback novel out of a moving box last night to re-read it in a deliberate attempt to Enjoy This, because it had been a long time since I’d tried, and I just...did not.

Book Howl is such an asshole.  He’s a grown man-child who spends his time making girls fall in love with him and trashing his house and then yelling at Sophie for getting things wrong when she’s doing the best she can with the extremely limited information he deigns to allow her to have.  And yes, asshole characters can be fun!  Assholes can be good characters!  Characters do not have to be nice to be likable, and they don’t have to be likable to be interesting and worth reading about.  But Howl is....really bad, in fact, at being any of those things, and I don’t actually think it’s just the character, I think the way the book is written is a mistake.

We’re so tight on Sophie’s POV all the time that we never actually get to see anything interesting or redeeming about Howl in the first place.  He grew up in Wales and then slipped into a magical land and became a sorcerer and made a deal with a demon, that should be absolutely fascinating, but we don’t actually get to see any of it, do we?  We see Wales very very briefly just long enough for his sister to “unjustly” berate him for...okay, not exactly the things he deserves to get berated for, but she’s such a straw man antagonist.  No, you shouldn’t scold your grown adult brother for being an unemployed disgrace to the family name in front of strangers, but yes, it is incredibly fair to be mad at your dumbass little brother for disappearing for weeks or months on end, never giving you any contact information, showing up just long enough to spoil and disappoint your children, and flatly refusing to tell you anything about his actual life whatsoever.

He apparently spends almost the entire book knowing about Sophie’s situation and refusing to say anything about it, although later he gets mad at her for hiding things, spying on him, and not coming to him with everything.  And sure maybe there’s some justification there, but we never see it.  We never see him thinking about or caring about Sophie even a little bit, because we never see inside his head, and god forbid he actually say anything out loud.

The thing about Movie Howl is that we get to see him hate the fact that war is happening, on his own behalf and on the behalf of total strangers, and we get to see him watch Sophie sleep and worry about how to deal with her problems, and we get to see him be vain and messy and petulant and we also get to see him be kind.  We get to see him be a kid--every time I watch the movie I’m struck by how young he looks in the second half, with his straight dark hair and his earrings and his Extremely Bishounen character design.  It is really easy to see the little boy who traded his heart to save a falling star’s life, and ended up with all sorts of powers in return, and has been pretending to be a grown-up ever since.

The thing about Book Howl is that it’s really easy to see the rugby-playing college manchild who fucked off to another world for fun and refuses to actually respect anybody else around him, but then can’t figure out why love doesn’t work.  And maybe it’s the lesbian in me, but I have so little tolerance for badly-behaved men who don’t care about how the consequences of their actions affect those around them.

I’ve read...three DWJ books, I think?  Not the second and third Howl books, although I did read plot synopses, and yeouch I am real glad to have chosen not to put myself through that.  I don’t remember the other two particularly well, except that I think Fire and Hemlock had a lot of the same “young girl falls in love with a chronically uncommunicative older man, has to save him from his evil magic ex-girlfriend” themes as Howl’s Moving Castle, but I know I didn’t find them satisfying.  And that’s frustrating.  And I am glad other people around here agree.

[darecruit]

New Sneak Peek: Bottoms Up, Chapter 3!

It’s been waaaaay too long since I’ve had any new content. I was fighting inner demons and focusing all my positive energy into life with my wife and daughter. I didn’t have anything left in me to write. Still not out of the woods, but starting to see the light again. Got a pretty long peek into the next chapter of Bottoms Up. Rachel just can’t seem to learn her lesson! Enjoy!

​Shelby sighed and took a long swig of her coffee. It was going to be a long week if this morning was anything to go on. It was just after six and Rachel was already arguing with her about being able to sing in the auditorium after school.

​“But why, Mom?” the teen asked for the millionth time.

​ Shelby downed the rest of her coffee in one gulp and went to refill her mug, taking the extra seconds to collect her thoughts. It was too early for this and quite frankly, she thought she had made herself perfectly clear the night before regarding this issue. Not clear enough, apparently, she thought to herself.

​Refilled mug in hand, Shelby turned once more to look at her petulant teen slumped at the kitchen island, picking absentmindedly at her avocado toast. “What did I just tell you last night, Rachel? I don’t want to argue with you about Glee all week. Stop it now.”

​“I’m not arguing,” Rachel insisted, earning a raised eyebrow from her mother. She huffed and continued on, ignoring the obvious warning in the woman’s stare. “Besides, this doesn’t even have anything to do with Glee.”

“It’s not all that far removed from what you do in Glee and too much of a temptation for you. The way you are acting right now just proves my point.”

“Ugh! You’re being ridiculous!” the girl whined.

​“Rachel,” Shelby growled, “I’ve already told you that how you act with your dads won’t fly with me. Whining and arguing does nothing except make it worse for you. As of right now, you still have the freedom to do what you want after school—except for Glee and singing in the auditorium—but you’re about five seconds from losing that privilege.”

​“But that’s not fair! You’re not giving me a good reason why I can’t!”

​“Because I said so! That’s reason enough!” Shelby said in exasperation. Rachel grumbled something under her breath that Shelby didn’t catch but could probably guess. She clenched her teeth and resisted the urge to snatch Rachel up and give her a few more good reasons on her backside. Instead, she took a steadying breath and said in a calm, if somewhat strained voice, “I’m being extremely patient with you here, kid. I should follow through with my promise and take away Glee next week as well but I’m trying to give you a chance to change your attitude. Please don’t make me regret that decision.”

​“But I’m not arguing about Glee! I just want to sing at school!” Rachel fussed with an annoyed huff.

​“And I told you no. We went over this last night as well, Rachel. You need to respect my decisions because I am your mother and I make the rules. Did you listen to anything I said?”

​“I did, but—”

​“Enough, Rachel,” Shelby cut the girl off, pulling her up from her seat. “Since you’re clearly done with your breakfast, you can unload the dishwasher.”

​“But I don’t do that until after dinner,” said the teen.

​“Well you can get a head start on it. You’ll be washing the dinner dishes by hand tonight too,” Shelby said, unfazed by the pout she was currently receiving from her child.

“But that’ll take me ages to—Yeouch!” Rachel yelped when a hard swat connected with her rear. She jumped and tried to move away from her mother, but the woman had grabbed her arm and spun her around to face her.

​“Why do you have to continue to argue with me when I’ve told you to stop? Multiple times, I might add!” Shelby asked, frustrated.

​“I don’t know,” Rachel answered honestly as she rubbed her bottom. She chanced a glance up at her mom and squirmed under the piercing glare she was met with.

​Shelby sighed and looked skyward, praying for strength. She had meant that as a rhetorical question, but she knew her daughter had answered truthfully. She knew Rachel had spent her entire sixteen years getting her way with pretty much everything and the fact that she couldn’t with Shelby threw her for a loop. Rachel was responding to this situation the way she would any other, not stopping to consider who she was dealing with. Shelby knew that and even understood it, but it didn’t make it any easier for her to not become frustrated and even angered by it.

​“Rachel, I understand this is a learned behavior years in the making, but it’s not okay with me, kiddo. I don’t expect you to never argue with me, but I do expect you to listen when I tell you to stop. I’ve given you plenty of warnings and you’ve ignored every last one of them. I don’t like being ignored, young lady,” Shelby scolded in a firm tone that only increased her child’s squirming.

​“I’m sorry,” Rachel offered quickly, hoping it would ease the angry look marring her mother’s beautiful features. It did not.

​“I have no doubt you’re going to be in a minute,” Shelby replied, hiding a smirk as Rachel gasped and tried to shield as much of her backside as possible with one hand.

​“No, wait—Mommy, please!” Rachel whimpered as she was turned away from her mom.

​“Unload the dishwasher and go get ready for school. I’m going to make a list of chores for you to do after school today and I want them done by the time I get home from practice at five, got it?” Shelby said as she released her hold on the girl.

​“Okay, got it,” Rachel nodded vehemently, surprised and relieved not to feel the stinging swats she had been expecting.

​“I love you, Rachel, but I don’t love this behavior. Fix it before I do it for you. You have until this afternoon,” Shelby said, leaving her daughter to her chore and her thoughts.

Bottoms Up * Bottoms Up * Bottoms Up

​Rachel sat in the empty choir room, staring down at the list of chores her mother had handed her before they left the house twenty minutes ago. Not for the first time, she wondered why she just had to argue with her mother. She did it last night with the spanking and then when she tried to convince her mom to let her go to Glee, and again this morning with the auditorium. She had only created more trouble for herself by doing so. And she knew she wouldn’t get her way, not with her mom. Shelby Corcoran was a hard ass and Rachel was well aware of it. And yet, she still pushed.

​The girl sighed. Her mom hadn’t gone easy on her with the chores for today and even warned her that if her behavior didn’t improve, she would come up with enough chores to keep her busy every day after school as well as all weekend long.

​If only I had kept my big mouth shut, the teen thought to herself. Then I wouldn’t be in this mess now. I could have done what I wanted and Mom would never know. But noooo, you and your dumb arguments.

​Well, going to Glee rehearsal was out and so was singing in the auditorium after school—as it was, Rachel was going to have to go straight home at the end of the day if she wanted any chance of getting it all done in the two hours she had before her mother walked through the door. Yet all was not lost.

​Mom only said no to singing in the auditorium after school. She didn’t say anything about during the day, so it wouldn’t really be breaking the rules, now would it? the little voice inside her head reasoned. It was the same voice that had assured her her mother wouldn’t find out about the drinking. Well, she had only found out about the drinking at school because of Santana and Brittany. Rachel had gotten away with her party over the weekend and there was no reason that Shelby would find out about it now.

​Rachel nodded to herself. It made sense, she thought. She would ask Mr. Schue if she could use the auditorium during lunch and then head home directly after school to make sure she got every single chore done perfectly so as to not give her mom any reason to still be upset with her this afternoon.

​“I have to sing. I just have to,” Rachel proclaimed to the empty classroom.

She didn’t anticipate having any trouble convincing Schuester to let her use the auditorium later. The man meant well but there was no denying that he was a huge pushover. Rachel always knew how to use that to her advantage and today would be no different. So instead, she focused on her list of chores and what would be the most efficient way to tackle them all. She was so busy reorganizing the list that she didn’t hear the footsteps coming her way.

​“There you are, Hobbit,” Santana sneered as she stomped over to the small brunette, “I’ve got a bone to pick with you.”

​Rachel looked up at the cheerleader’s voice, brows furrowing as she took in the angry look on the Latina’s face. Her eyes then scanned the other disgruntled faces of her teammates as they filed into the room behind her.

​“Because of you, I’m grounded for two weeks! Complete lockdown,” the girl grumbled.

​“Why is it my fault? I seem to recall you and Brittany vomiting all over the stage yesterday. Maybe if you two were better at holding your alcohol we—”

​Rachel prudently ended her thought and leapt up from her chair as a flash of red-hot rage glinted in Santana’s eye. She had only barely managed to get out of harm’s way before Santana’s fist was occupying the space her face had just been. Puck and Mike then intervened, pulling the angry cheerleader away as she cursed at Rachel in Spanish.

​“Alright, no need to kill her,” Puck said. “Besides, Berry’s got a point.” That comment earned him a hard stomp to his foot. “Ow! Watch the toes! You’re just pissed because you and Britt blew chunks in front of everyone yesterday. If you two could have just held off until after the song, no one would have known anything. That’s not on Rachel, that’s on you.”

​Santana growled and stomped on Puck’s foot a second time. The boy released his hold on her and hopped back a step. Santana took that opportunity to elbow him in the stomach before turning her attention to Mike. The tall dancer immediately let go of her other arm and held his own up in surrender, backing away slowly.

​“Yeah, well, Rachel’s the one who brought in the alcohol in the first place. So if it wasn’t for her, none of us would be in trouble now,” Santana argued.

“Oh, shut up, San. No one made you drink it. We got caught, let’s move on,” Quinn interjected. “Besides, you got off easy with two weeks. My mom told me I’m grounded indefinitely. Being a recovering alcoholic, she doesn’t want me following in her footsteps.”

“I’m with Quinn. I’ll be working in my dad’s shop until I’m 30. Goodbye social life,” said Kurt, Finn nodding along sadly besides him.

Tina, Mike, and Mercedes were the next to bemoan their lot, a four week long sentence for each of them. Artie confessed to being grounded for a week with no Glee and an on-going house arrest every weekend for the next two months.

“Even my mom grounded me for three weeks over this stunt, and she normally doesn’t bother. Said she didn’t want me turning into my old man,” Puck shrugged as he flopped down in the chair Rachel had previously been sitting in.

“Okay, fine,” Santana conceded with an eye roll. “Maybe I got off easier than the rest of you, but I still say this is all Rachel’s fault!”

“Sanny, I think you’re only grounded for two weeks because Mami Lopez spanked your butt with her wooden spoon too,” Brittany piped up in her usual dreamy voice.

The room broke out in laughter as all eyes turned to Santana who sputtered and turned as red as her Cheerios uniform. “Brittany!” she hissed, feeling betrayed. “Why would you say that?” The girl turned to the others and insisted nothing of the sort happened.

“But you asked me to come rub it last night because you were sore, remember?” Brittany asked innocently.

“Brittany—”

“Want me to rub it for you, Santana?” Puck asked with a smirk.

Brittany continued on as if the interruptions hadn’t happened, “And your skin was so red and hot. And then you started moaning and saying it felt so good and then I slipped my finger—”

“Brittany!” Santana groaned, rushing over to slap her hand over the blonde’s mouth. “Remember we talked about secrets that are only between us? This is one of those times, Britt-Britt,” she whispered into the other girl’s ear.

Rachel listened to the conversation happening around her and after hearing some of her teammates’ punishments, she realized Shelby had actually gone fairly easy on her. In fact, her mother was a complete pushover compared to the other parents. Yes she had been spanked and wasn’t allowed to go to Glee this week, but she was still free to do as she pleased otherwise. Her classmates couldn’t say the same. And after hearing Santana’s fate, Rachel couldn’t even be upset over the spanking she was given. Hers was no doubt a walk in the park compared to the one Santana had endured. And not that the girl would ever admit this out loud, but she was glad she wasn’t the only kid whose parent believed that sometimes a reddened rear was the best way to impart a lesson.

“Sorry, Sanny. I won’t tell them next time it happens,” Brittany apologized just as soon as the raven-haired beauty uncovered her mouth. She added a soft peck on the girl’s cheek before flouncing off to take a seat.

The corner of Santana’s mouth twitched upwards even as she rolled her eyes and followed after the blonde. She eased herself down onto the hard plastic chair and bit the inside of her cheek as she fought the urge to squirm to find a more comfortable position. Her eyes flicked up and caught Rachel staring at her.

“What are you looking at, Man-Hands?”

Rachel averted her eyes, another surge of gratitude washing over her that her mom was clearly a pushover. As much as she believed she would never be able to sit comfortably ever again after her mom finished with her last night, she was back to normal in less than three hours. It was clear that Santana hadn’t faired the same after hers.

“Brittany, what did your parents do?” Tina asked in an effort to deflect the tension growing in the room.

“They told me drinking was wrong and not to do it,” said the blonde.

“That’s it?” Finn scoffed.

“Yes, although Lord Tubbington took away my iPod for a month,” Brittany said. Everyone just nodded along as if a cat handing out a punishment made any sense.

“What about you, Rachel? What did your mom have to say?” Kurt asked.

“Oh, uh,” Rachel faltered. After the punishments they had all shared, she really didn’t want to tell them her mom had only banned her from Glee for a week. And she certainly couldn’t tell them about her spanking. They had all laughed at Santana’s, but the Latina was popular enough (not to mention scary enough) that that’s as far as it would go. If anyone were to find out that Rachel Berry was spanked…well, there would just be no coming back from that. Deciding to err on the side of extreme caution, she said, “I’m banned from Glee for a week and grounded until further notice.”

“Finally some good news!” Santana exclaimed. “A week without your annoying ass in practice!”

“When do we get a week without your annoying ass, Santana?” asked Finn. His comment was met with laughter from the rest of the Glee kids.

Before Santana could respond, Will Schuester walked into the room and everyone fell silent. “Morning, kids,” he said, not surprised when most of them scowled in greeting. “First bell is going to ring any minute now. You all better head to class.” He turned his attention to his locked door, hand in pocket searching for his key ring.

​Grumbles all around as teenagers picked up bags and shuffled toward the door. Rachel busied herself with pretending to pack her bag, waiting until the coast was clear to pounce on the unsuspecting music coach.

Will just turned the doorknob when he noticed a flash of brown behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and sighed, not surprised by Rachel’s dallying. He had a feeling he knew exactly what she was about to say.

“Hurry up, Rachel, you don’t want to be late for first period,” he said, the bell ringing in agreement.

​“I need to talk to you, Mr. Schue,” came the teen’s reply. “You can write me a note if I’m late.” She flicked her hand in the air as if waving an annoying bug from her and strode confidently over to her teacher.

​“If this is about Glee, Rachel, your mother has already let me know that you will be missing practices this week,” Will informed the tiny teen in an effort to end the conversation before it even started.

Rachel was caught off guard by that particular piece of information. Her mother was good, she thought of everything. Well, almost everything.

Shaking off her surprise, Rachel put on her best show face. “It’s not about Glee, Mr. Schue. I wanted to ask you for permission to use the auditorium during lunch today.”

“No, Rachel,” Will answered immediately.

“Great, Mr. Schue, I—Wait, what? Did you say no? Why?”

Will’s thoughts turned to Shelby’s words from the previous day. He knew if he didn’t put his foot down now, Rachel would walk all over him this week. He knew she wasn’t allowed in Glee all week. Perhaps he needed to up the ante right from the get-go. It certainly couldn’t hurt and maybe he’d save himself from a week’s worth of arguments from the petite girl.

“Because I’m pulling all privileges to the Glee club this week,” he brought the hammer down in one fell swoop. Rachel’s mouth hung open in sheer disbelief. “That means no auditorium solo practices during lunch or after school until Monday.”

“But that’s—Mr. Schuester, you can’t be serious, I—Sectionals are coming up and—“

“Enough, Rachel. This isn’t up for discussion. Now, you really need to get to class,” Will said, finally pushing his office door open and stepping inside. The door shut with a firm click and he let out a long sigh and slumped against it

Rachel was left standing there, mouth agape. That was the first time Mr. Schuester had walked away from one of their conversations; normally it was she who did the walking out.

The second bell rang and Rachel was jarred from her thoughts. She had three minutes to get to her first period before being marked late. The girl grabbed her bag and hurried from the room, an idea already forming to work around the mounting obstacles keeping her from her goal.

[starsgivemehp]

An Unwanted Memory

Red had been consoled and told about himself by several people over the last few days, but it was still so overwhelming, not knowing much. So... strange. He was exhausted every evening, too, and he couldn’t tell if he was always like that, or if it was from the mental drain of having so much information pounded into his head every day, and trying to memorize it all. Either way, on the third day since his sudden amnesia, he was just getting to sleep.

Then his eyes snapped open.

In a flash, it all returned. Every memory he’d had before, going back to when he was just arriving in Snowdin with his brother, finding a job, getting a house, building their lives, meeting friends, everything.

And some things from before that, too.

“Hold still, Subject One, you are too delicate for this to go badly.”

He was being strapped down onto a table, but he was fighting it. His eyes were both flashing red rapidly, but he did not yet have enough control over it for solid colors. Half-formed bones sputtered to life, tried to fly at the faceless (faceless...?), tall man in a lab coat, but most of them dissolved before they reached him. The few that did only did one damage each, and the man didn’t even flinch. The attacks didn’t even put a sliver into his HP. He forced Red’s hands down, and slammed cuffs over the wrists. His ankles were next. The man then went for Red’s neck, and the child bit down on his hand - hard.

“Yeouch! Let go, you little rat!”

“grrrhhhh!”

He did not let go, not for several seconds, until the man finally tore away. He got the strap around Red’s neck and tugged until it hurt, and a choked “ghk!” sound escaped the test subject. He couldn’t breathe very well. His chest was starting to heave in a panic. But the anger was still prevalent

“how could you do that to him?? what did he do wrong?? he was screaming!! and you didn’t stop!”

“I am aware. It needed to be done. Hold still. You’re getting your plate too, and I’d much rather have you alive at the end. You’re too valuable to dust, despite your weakness.”

The panic was starting to win out over anger. The strap of his neck was too tight, that and how he was starting to hyperventilate, and the fight was leaving him.

“hhhh please... please... don’t... please, you’ll kill me... you’ll kill me, i’ll die... please... hhh... please...”

“Quiet, Subject 1!”

The last of the straps were tied around his forehead, knees, and upper arms. An engraved plate was placed on the table beside him, and the shrouded figure in a lab coat picked up a drill.

“Now. Hold still. The less damage, the better. If you flail your hand, it will hurt more.”

“please...hhh... please... g----- please... hhhhplease...”

“Begging will get you nowhere.”

The drill came down oh the bottom of his pointer finger metacarpal bone, with a sickening sound, and Subject 1′s spine arched as he jerked up.

“gh-aaaaahhhhhhHHHHHHH!!!”

He screamed, throat quickly becoming raw. It cut off after a few seconds, however, as he couldn’t catch his breath from practically being choked. It turned instead into gasping and sputtering, weak struggles to get in enough oxygen, and weakened cries whenever he could. It was pure agony, as G----- finished that hole and moved on to make another at the top of the same bone. He couldn’t help it, his hand jerked, and the pain increased. His HP slammed down from 1 to 0.8, then shuddered and went back up from a forceful shove of green magic from the machine hooked to his soul. The pain continued to build, and he couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t think for the pain, his whole world was agony-

“ghhh!”

Red jerked up into a sitting position, sucking in a pained gasp. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t breathe properly. His chest was constricting too much, his hand burned, and he could hardly process the other memories that had returned, he just

screamed.

He was on the floor, choking on nothing, tears pooling around him, when Boss ran into the room.

“RED! OH STARS, YOU’VE REMEMBERED... BREATHE, RED, PLEASE BREATHE!”

The taller skeleton knelt beside him and reached out to put a hand on his brother’s shoulder, but the contact made Red jerk and let out another scream, this one more strangled,

“SH-SHIT, WHAT DO I... RED! RED, CALM DOWN! PLEASE CALM DOWN, EVERYTHING IS OKAY! YOU’RE SAFE!”

“hhhhkkk... ghhh... ghhkk... hhhh...”

“RED, PLEASE! PLEASE BREATHE!”

He heard his brother begging him to calm, but he couldn’t. He just couldn’t breathe. The strap was still around his neck, too tight, his hand was being drilled into, the panic was twisting his chest so much he was afraid his soul might burst through his ribcage.

He lost track of time in the pain, but it took nearly 20 minutes for him to stop hyperventilating.

When he was aware of the real world again, there was a mug beside him on the floor, a wisp of steam rising from it, the soothing aroma of golden flowers reaching his nasal cavity. He slowly uncurled from the ball he’d curled into. His hand hurt. He held it close, trembling, while the other reached for the tea. When he grabbed it, he was shaking so hard that the spoon tinkled constantly against the edges of the mug. Another hand gently pushed his away and lifted the mug.

“HERE.”

Boss helped him sit up, then brought the mug to his mouth like he was helping a sick child. He took a few sips, and leaned against Boss. The taller skeleton wiped his eyes and brow, uncharacteristically gentle.

“ARE YOU BETTER NOW?”

“i... i think so...”

“I THOUGHT YOU WERE DYING.”

“s-sorry...”

“WHAT HAPPENED?”

“i... gaster.”

“WHAT?”

“gaster. our creator.”

“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? DID YOU HAVE A NIGHTMARE?”

“it wasn’t a nightmare. it was a memory.”

“MAYBE YOUR MEMORY DIDN’T COME BACK RIGHT, BECAUSE I’VE NEVER HEARD THAT NAME BEFORE.”

Red felt another squeeze in his soul. Despite still trembling, he pulled away and got unsteadily to his feet.

“R-RED-”

“i’m fine. i just. i need a moment.”

“RED, I DON’T-”

He was gone in a flash, arriving in the Wishing Room. There, he sat down heavily, and pulled the mitten from his right hand. Gaster. That was his name. The man who drilled this plate painfully into his hand, as he begged and screamed. What had happened to him...?

A sudden chill went down his spine.

A very faint tendril of magic slipped down his back, even though he was pressed against the wall of the cave. He jerked away and spun around. Nothing there. But his bones began to rattle again as the faintest of voices reached him.

I will return.

He fainted.

M!A OVER - RED HAS REMEMBERED SOMETHING NEW.