#custom backrooms level

[ruka-stars-art2261]

May or may not have just made myself a backrooms level in 3 hours.

I have another backrooms level I made with 2 entities, i just haven't sorted out the details like this one.

Probably cause it has alot of internal society backstory, Lol. I might finish it one day.

Anyhow, here's some of the images I edited for the level.

I'm probably going to re-write this in the future so if you have any tips on what should be changed lmk.

[grimecrow]

Rough Draft For A Set Of Backroom Ideas I Had

Level 9094 - 'The Video Store' Survival Difficulty 2 - Safe - Secure - Low entity count - possible psychological influences Description: To wanderers who had access to a video rental store this floor will have the colour scheme and displays their store did. If the wanderer has never had access to such a place Level 9094 will appear to be a seemingly endless number of corridors of floor to ceiling shelving filled with VHS tapes. If you were to pull one of the tapes off a shelf you will find that the cover is well worn, covered in a lot of stickers labeling genre, new release stickers, or labeling them as three day rental stickers. There are no windows, and the only door found in Level 9094 has a sign above it labelled 'The Game Section''. (Please see the information for Level 9094.1 below this entry.)

Periodically the shelving is broken up by a display containing a television, a VCR, a little glass door fridge containing almond water, and bags of popcorn on top of the fridge. Above each of these displays is a large sign that says "Watch it!" The only sounds you will hear if you are not near one of the "Watch it!" displays that has a movie playing is the faint buzz of the lighting, occasionally the footsteps of the facelings that seem to work here restocking shelves or the squeaking of the wheels of the little carts that carry the tapes they are restocking. These facelings act like employees would; for example if you want a tape from a shelf you can't reach they will go get a stool and get it for you. The draw of Level 9094 is that every movie to have ever been made is here. Ranging from the very first films long since lost to time in reality, to releases that have come out decades after the death of the VHS tape. Wanderers are free to go to any kiosk and watch any movie they like. This is where the first potential danger is introduced. If you chose to watch a movie apparently how that movie makes you feel can be amplified. For example if you watch something that makes you afraid that fear will stay with you for an extended period of time. If a movie makes you sad, expect to be sad for a long while despite efforts to change that. The most dangerous movies though are ones that make you feel nostalgia or ones that have come out after you have entered the backrooms. Not every Wanderer came to the Backrooms willingly, and even among those who did come willingly some want to go home. If a wandered consciously or unconsciously has any degree of that mind set the feeling of desiderium; the feeling of loss or grief for something lost will take hold. Judging by all of those that have been documented to be effected in this way this is a permanent effect. This usually leads to a decreased desire and ability to explore and survive the back rooms. Entities: Aside from the faceling 'staff' there is also a shadow creature humanoid in shape that only appears when a Wanderer has done something to either create a ruckus, make a mess, or otherwise cause trouble. This entity has been nicknamed 'The Manager'. If a wanderer causes the Manager to appear it will attempt to grab them, if successful it and the wanderer in question will vanish. Wanderers can tell the Manager is about as the lights flicker while it is present. Entrances And Exits: Entrance: To enter Level 9094 you must no clip through a VCR anywhere in the Backrooms. Discovery of this floor has lead VCRs becoming a tradeable commodity among some wanderers who view The Video Store as a nice break from the normal trials they face or have a firm understanding of the potential created by exiting Level 9094. Exits: There are three known ways to exit The Video Store. The first is to find a movie with a number in it's title, take it to one of the 'Watch it!' stations, start the movie playing and then Noclip through the television to end up on the corresponding level. Warning though if this is attempted with a movie that has multiple numbers in its title you will be sent somewhere different. For example 'Friday the 13th part 2' will send the wanderer to level 13.2. If no such level exists then it is believed they will be sent to the Void. It has been documented that if a wanderer accidentally uses a movie with an '!' in it's title they were sent to Level ! - Run For Your Life. The second is to go through the door leading to Level 9094.1 'The Game Section'. The third way is a forced exit by the Manager. If a wanderer has been deemed to be causing trouble and ends up being grabbed by the Manager they will find themselves on Level ! - Run For Your Life.

Level 9094.1 - 'The Game Section'

Survival Difficulty 3 - Safe - Secure - No entities present - extreme psychological hazard

Description Level 9094.1 is a small room with the same shelving layout for a wanderer as Level 9094 has except the shelves this time will have every video game for the wanderers' favorite video game system. For those that had PC gaming manifest here the shelves were full of the large cardboard boxes PC games had in the 90s. In the center of the room will be the wanderer's favorite video game setup from when they used to play those games. There is also a sign that says 'Free To Play' above the setup. Please note that unlike in Level 9094 there are no other supplies in this level. There is also a book or notebook that appears that says 'Helpful Hints And Tricks' if you open it conveniently it will always have a list of cheat codes, exploits, and other cheats for the game you are currently playing. This is a trap as using any of these, whether you learned about them through the book or not gets you sent to Level ' 'You Cheated'. If a wanderer decides to start playing they will get the overwhelming urge to keep playing until they have tried to play and beat every game they loved. No sleeping, no eating, no drinking until every game is beaten or more likely the wanderer perishes. There has never been a documented wanderer who went to this level and played games alone coming out.

If the wanderer never played any sort of video games growing up the level appears as empty, dusty shelves and nothing more. Entities There are no entities in this level.

Entrances And Exits:

There is only one known entrance or exit and that is through the door separating Level 9094 and Level 9094.1

[sagethegaywitch]

Yandere Octavinelle Headcanons

GN reader

TW: yandere behavior, killing mentioned, stalking, threatening mentioned

Genre: yandere

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

Azul Ashengrotto: 🐙

Known around school for striking deals, Azul’s first thoughts with his love for you was to get you to sign a contract that tied you to him forever.  He didn’t pursue this route only because he wanted you to actually love him back.

Instead of forcing you into a relationship, he will use his unique magic to get you closer to him.  Maybe if you’re desperate for something he’ll make the contract so that you have to work at the Mostro Lounge, just so he can see your beautiful face and keep an eye on you.

Will employ the Leech brothers to watch you when he can’t.  If he’s busy making deals in the backroom, the twins will ensure that you’re not getting too cozy with the customers or trying to leave.

Outside of the Mostro Lounge, Azul will have one of the twins follow you around the whole day while he keeps up the appearance of the benevolent housewarden.

Once you two eventually get close and you actually start to enjoy your time working for him, Azul will start to open up to you a bit.

Will probably start with inviting you to lunch to discuss customer satisfaction to asking if you want to study with him for upcoming assessments.

These little meetups will stray from professional to casual hangouts between friends, and Azul hopes that it can continue even more to romantic dates with you.

Because he’s self conscious about his physical appearance, he won’t often take food that you gift him.  If you manage to convince him, he’ll place it on his desk and stare at it for a while before attempting to do some work.  Eventually he’ll cave because he doesn’t want to waste the food you made him.

He genuinely enjoys the food you make him and tries to savor them for as long as possible.  For example, if you gave him a bag of cookies, he’d reserve himself to only one a day to make it last longer.

He doesn’t have time to be jealous because he has his school work to do, his restaurant to run, and contracts to keep track of distracting him from you sometimes.  Also, because you have signed a contract that forces you to work at the Mostro Lounge at certain hours, he isn’t too concerned about you running away from him because you’ll always end up in his grasp sometime during the day.

When there is more trust in the relationship, he might even fulfill your contract and let you come to him willingly.

But, if you’re persistent about getting away, he always has the ability to change the contract or get you to sign a new one that forces you into a loving relationship with him.

If you somehow manage to stay away from him for an extended period of time, he’d probably ask the Leech brothers to bring you back peacefully or forcefully depending on how you react.

If you ever go swimming with him, only you can get him to transform into his octopus form.  He’d let you touch his tentacles too and show you a few tricks, like juggling, that he’s picked up along the years.

If he’s feeling generous, he’d take you on dives to check out some sunken ships, but he always has a tentacle around your waist so you don't stray too far.

Overall, only you can get him to come out of his shell, but you have to work first to earn his trust.  He can be very loving, showering you in treasures from the Coral Sea, but only if you return his affection too.  He has a Danger Level of 4/10, and the worst he’d probably do to others is ban rivals from the Mostro Lounge and maybe send the twins to scare them a bit. The worst he’d ever do to you is trap you with a contract so you can never escape.  In the end, pleasing him with hard work and fondness will definitely have him overwhelming you with praise and treats.

Jade Leech: 🍄

It's his duty to find personal information and maybe some blackmail on all incoming Octavinelle students, which is where his interest in you probably started..  He was intrigued by your whole incident with the Dark Mirror on the first day, and he wanted to learn more about you.

When he couldn’t find anything about your life with his typical methods, he resorted to befriending you.

While he may seem like the more civilized twin, he’s actually equally as unhinged as Floyd.  He would befriend you at first, luring you with either snacks from the Mostro Lounge or offering you homework help before trapping you in a relationship with him.

You might be suspicious of his kind behavior, but he just assures you he’s just doing his job of taking care of his younger classmates.  The smile he gives you is just too trustful, how could you ever doubt him?

Would definitely offer you a job at Mostro Lounge so he can keep a closer eye on you.

He would be the one to teach you the ropes and would use it as an excuse to stay close to you.  No matter how long you work there or how good you’ve gotten, he’d still stick by your side saying he needs to supervise you.

He is definitely a stalker, watching you from across the hallway and you can only ever see him from the corner of your eye.  When you turn, he’s always gone and you brush it off as your imagination.

You’d have your normal freedoms as long as you work your shifts at Mostro Lounge, but what you don’t know is that he’s always watching you from a distance.

Will show you his mushroom collection and will be thrilled if you take an interest in fungi as well.  He will gift you small terrariums and will teach you how to cultivate magical mushrooms.

His gifts are often more practical items like writing utensils, free meal passes at the Mostro Lounge, and definitely mushrooms that you can use in class or for cooking.

Not easily jealous, mostly because he knows he’s a better match for you than anyone else.

If you’re spending too much time with someone, though, he’d probably stand menacingly behind you with a restrained smile and closed eyes, a dark aura surrounding him.  But the moment you turn around, he’s giving you a more genuine smile and acting more innocent.

He’s not one to get violent easily.  He prefers to use his blackmail skills to make his victims terrified of what he can do and how he can ruin their lives.

If really pushed to it, he’d probably invite Floyd to help beat the shit out of the rival before carefully disposing of the evidence.  He’s very good at cleaning up crime scenes without leaving any traces, and he’s also a very good liar, maybe even putting the blame on another rival.

If he wanted a more discreet method of murder, he’d probably use a toxic mushroom from his collection to poison the poor guy.

Overall, his infatuation with you started with his curiosity, and soon developed into a suffocating relationship.  He’d have a Danger Level of 7/10 because he’s only dangerous when provoked.  Similar to his brother, he can get violent really quickly, but he just prefers playing with his prey through blackmail first.  As long as you don’t stray too far from his loving grasp, you’re sure to meet his standards and he’ll keep you close forever.

Floyd Leech: 🦐

Similar to Jade, Floyd was very interested in you because of the whole Dark Mirror incident.  He was mostly excited by the fire that Grim caused, but you also managed to catch his eye.

When he’s interested in something, he’s going to put all his time and energy into it until he gets bored.  But how could he ever get bored of you?

One of the more unstable yanderes at Night Raven College, and will use his mood swings to get away with a lot of stuff, like intimidating you and his enemies.

He’d probably force you to act like his shadow, either threatening you with a bone crushing hug or a menacing smile until you relent.

He likes it when you follow him around, it makes him feel powerful and lets you see how cool he can be.

Will always say “Did you see that!” after he either saw something interesting or did something awesome.

If you say “no”, depending on his mood he might get grumpy or might just do it again.  If you say “yes” he’ll give you one of his signature hugs and continue to drag you away to do something else.

He might forget you’re there sometimes, which would be the best moment to escape, but if he notices you again, he gets all excited and will pull you in a hug and describe everything you missed (even though you’ve been there the entire time).

He’s not really accustomed to the land culture, so most of his gifts will be customs from the Coral Sea.

They might be shiny rocks he found that reminded him of you or trinkets from sunken ships. If you don’t keep every single treasure he gives you, he’d probably throw a fit or think that you want something more and will go all out with his next gift.

Because of his unpredictable attitude, when he sees you spending less time with him and talking to someone else, he’d probably either walk away, plotting murder, or approach you and swing an arm around you shoulder with his lazy grin, showing off his sharp teeth, before asking who you’re talking to.

Is not afraid to resort to murder. It's actually usually his first idea for dealing with unwanted obstacles.  He’d probably kill in a very violent method, maybe chasing his prey around to tire them out before jumping out of nowhere and bashing their head in.

If he really dislikes the person, he might even lure them to the sea so he’d have the physical advantage in his eel form.

Employs Jade to help him clean up the bloody mess, but he’s careless, so if you look closely, he might have some mysterious red stains on his shirt.

Overall, you may not be accustomed to the ways he shows his love, but he means well in general.  His Danger Level is a 10/10 because of his unpredictable mood swings and his quickness to choose violence as the answer.  If you follow him around and stay attentive to his changes in mood, you have a chance at staying on his good side and surviving his daily adventures.

[athanasius-symposium-of-writings]

Return To October City For Me

a gift for my friend <3 many happy birthdays to you!

Rated Mature | Warnings: None (if you see spector instead of specter you dont)

The music box plays its broken song, over and over, the dealmaker watches, then closes it only to open it again, restarting the song. Specter has been waiting all year, and he is starting to think you lied to him about visiting.

Every once a year, you promised to visit him. You vowed to endure and follow the untaken path in the darkness. Follow the path to October City, and find yourself unable to return to the light until dawn. Specter always fulfilled his promise to send you back to the world of the living.

The dealmaker, you met him the first time you wandered here lost as sheep without its shepherd. Your story was interesting, interesting enough for the dealmaker to strike a deal. You were cursed, cursed by someone close enough to have something of yours. It was a classic case of an emotionally charged spell— In this case, one made from grief. The price of grief creates spells when emotions forge powerful and irreversible curses, the consequences felt by both parties.

Spector found those rules were put there to make a witch consider their actions first一 Especially when it comes to life-altering spells like curses.

A curse to never find your way home, to wander, to never be able to find peace— An interesting curse he had to admit, and a very specific one too. You do not know what you did to deserve this or who hates you that much to create this curse. The dealmaker or Specter, offered to help you in your dire time of need— For a price.

At the time you foolishly had said you would do anything to go back home, you only wanted to go back to your normal life.

Curse breaking is neither simple nor easy nor cheap; the Spector made sure those three things were very cleverly worded. Your curse is considered a low-level curse, but the raw emotion fueling it makes it complex. You have no idea who or why someone would curse you— Genuinely— Which adds to the cost of your curse breaking.

Specter needs an assistant, a year and one day's worth of service will be enough payment.

What he does not tell you is how time flows differently here than in your world, a minor detail he did feel needed to be spoken about. You are the fool for trusting him一 And here he is foolishly trusting you to return to October City, to return to him, 

He pouts, hand ready to knock over the music box you restored for him during your time here. Should have never let you go, is a thought running through his head. The dealmaker gets up when the chime of the bell on the door alerts him of a customer.

“Welcome!” Coming out from the backroom ready to give his usual sales pitch. His eyes widen to see you; you walk into the shop with a gentle smile on your face.

“Hello, Specter.”

You are older now. In the world outside of October City, people age… You are getting older and the dealmaker fears he is going to lose you. Of course, you tell him you can die from anything, not only old age— Saying that did not make him feel any better.

“I told you I'll visit when the veil is thin,” Taking off your coat before hugging him. He hugs you back, squeezing you as he finally can hold you and feel how alive you are. “Haha, sorry I took so long. You know how these ghosts are when they see—”

He kisses you with all he has, even going as far as dipping you as if he and you were dancing. You wrap your arms around his neck, opening your mouth to let him taste you. You ate a piece of candy before coming here and he can taste you made it. Sweet and savory, your happiest memories are with him and the mischief he caused.

“Specter…” He only stopped kissing you to let you breathe, “Ah!” And start biting and kissing your neck, it has been too long and he needs to make sure more memories of him are your happiest moments. You grip the back of his tailored suit coat, your mute lover pulling and pushing you against the counter.

“Wait, oh, wait, the door!” You say between moans and trying hard not to fall apart so show, which might happen with the smirk he gives you as he grabs your crotch, rubbing it while your head tosses back. Legs parting wide, your cheeks burning, the half-wolf going on his knees between your legs.

It is not the first time he has taken you like this, it was during your time of service he had eaten you out while you were behind the counter and tending to a customer. You were a mess then as you are now.

The first day is always him tasting you, sinking himself into you, and making love until the next morning. The next day is mostly you both in bed, you talking about what you have been doing and him listening.

Your time is limited, it always is, and though you could stay here forever in the comfort of luxury with Specter, he knows you are going home.

A week. Every week of your birthday you visit him. He gets to have you for a week. The song on the music box is a reminder of your promise, you bought this for him as the tune reminded you of him. All those months away and you thought of him every day…

Specter places a ring on your finger, your ring finger on your left hand, his face showing how he does not want you to leave.

He never talks unless he must, when he does speak it is with purpose and charm.

“Specter…” You look at the ring as it does not escape your notice of the symbolism of it, “I love you.” Because you do so much, every day you miss him. You glance at the spot where you recreate the ritual to leave October City, the last October Queen statue surrounded by candles. You can leave again… Go home before your world's time changes… Go back to the lonely boring days and nights.

Specter holds you as tight as he can to commit this feeling to memory to last another few long months. The echo of bells as midnight strikes, the candles light up ready to start the ritual to return home.

You still are holding him.

[nogacheloveka-blog]

The Bad Sanses somehow ended up in the Backrooms. №9

next 10

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This is the translation of the another post from Russian to English. I understand English, but it is very difficult for me to write in English, so I asked chat GPT to help me. I have corrected some parts, but there still may be mistakes.

I encountered an organization called "To Be Determined". It inspired me to create this drawing. In this organization, there are 6 people who trade highly nonfunctional and peculiar items. I immediately imagined it as a shop run by lost Temmies (Flowey and Bob) from different AUs within Backrooms.

I noticed that there aren't that many prepared posts about bad guys in the backrooms - maybe two or three more. A couple of weeks ago, I started a new job and haven't been drawing much.

I think these posts about bad guys will be once a week, on Saturdays.

Please wish me inspiration =)

The new rooms were similar to Level 0 in their structure. Clusters of office rooms, with and without office furniture. But now there was a pleasant addition in the form of windows. The closed door of the previous place, as before, disappeared behind them when they passed through it. Nightmer seemed calmer without the negative water supply. (Again, being able to clearly distinguish the auras of his wards was definitely pleasant)

After some wandering, Nightmare sensed another presence nearby. Within seconds, everyone heard a distant

“HOOOOY!”

This exclamation certainly wasn’t what Nightmare wished to hear, yet if these were Temmies (or something like them), then they might provide information — even though their brains seemed similar to confetti made of narcotic flakes.  At the same time, the place where the Tems might live cannot be too dangerous.

Following the sound, the group found themselves in a medium-sized office room. Soft bean bag chair (Error felt nostalgic for Antivoid) and strange objects, presumably for sale alongside an old cardboard box, occupied one corner. Something resembling Flowey danced as if trapped in an animation loop near merchandise, becoming slightly animated upon seeing customers. Two monsters dressed similarly to Temmies sat nearby. Bob stood apart, his expression frozen, suggesting he had eaten Temmie Flake.

As it turned out later, two more monsters from this group were missing, busy gathering supplies and goods for the little shop. They all seemed to come from different AUs.

Here were also computers, many of which were operational. They tried to access the Undernet and various sites. They couldn't. Instead, they entered a sort of knowledge base. A local Wikipedia or something similar. The browser already contained open tabs, but they couldn't open new ones - there was no network connection. Someone had left the browser open, he took the equipment with him. And, oh, it seemed they had found gold while looking for copper: by reading the text, they understood that the author of the notebook was making notes from this knowledge base. This was easy to understand by the style. There were about a hundred open tabs: items and entities, but mostly levels. From the amount of new information, their heads were spinning. Some levels were described in an unusual way, requiring attention to details to extract additional information. And nothing about exiting from here. There were levels-dead ends, levels-traps, but nothing about a real exit from here.

However, on the other hand, it became evident that there weren't many people in the Backrooms, and they moved individually due to the nature of how many levels was work. Almost everything here seemed to be trying to kill them. But it appeared that not even the dimension-killer could do anything against their DETERMINATION.

Temmies struggled to provide clear answers regarding humans; instead, they simply told strangers, "Temmies too pieople," and strangers treating them like quirky yet harmless folks. How could such a system work? Perhaps these humans were slightly mad. Or perhaps very tolerant towards others' differences. Either way, avoiding contact would be wise.

The presence of monsters in these places brought some comfort. The Bad Guys weren't the only ones who had a rough time. That was good. But the fact that some other monsters they encountered were distorted beyond recognition - like the Smilers - raised serious concerns. It was nerve-wracking.

While Error, Cross, and Dust were exploring the local equivalent of the internet, others used the suddenly freed-up time for themselves. For example, they tried to trade. They all had some amount of monster gold and items to exchange, which Temmies agreed to accept. Horror bought a "Strange Amulet," sweets, and some food to diversify their diet. Almond Water was certainly good, but it was getting boring, and they never tried to cook Greasy Marshmallow. Considering the amulet useless for himself, Horror gave it to Dast.

Strange Amulet ATK: 10 DEF: 10 Made from butterflies in the stomach. It smells of hopes and dreams turned to dust. Allows forming new friendships.

Killer bought numerous boxes of Temmi Flake and Flowey Seeds, several paint cans, and countless small parts of mechanisms along with some mysterious steel scraps, strange red shavings - it seemed he enjoyed them. He also tried planting grass, but Horror stopped him.

Temmie Flake Restores 1–10 HP and sanity *represented by cut yellow wallpaper soaked in Almond Waters

Flowey Seeds Restore 10 HP *represented by seeds coated in Greasy Marshmallow

Nightmare didn't particularly need any products, but somehow excitedly Temmies looked at his tentacles (too much positivity) and offered a discount. Eventually, he purchased a notebook containing maps of certain stable levels from them. Unfortunately, those maps were unsigned. Since he wasn't sure if damaging traders would be beneficial, he decided to go the honest route this time around. After all, merchants held a special status across worlds.

The group stopped at this location for a couple days to record all the information from the site that could be useful to them. It turned out that sequential exploration of levels was only possible up to level 12. Beyond that, entrances and exits from levels led randomly, and any movement scheme resembled a pot of spaghetti. But in theory, they needed to explore this entire pot to find a way home. There were levels that looked like a one-way ticket, empty, unexplored, strange, surreal, remote, and destroyed. Overall, they could work with this.

Temmies didn't mind their company. Soon returned two departed collectors - underfell!Temmie and Temmie in "Temm Armor". They were surprisingly normal compared to the other merchants and shared some information:

People here can also be dangerous just like Fallen Child of Dungeons;

Many who live outside bases and settlements are mad to varying degrees especially those who haven’t drunk Almond Water for long;

Monsters can safely trade with lone humans;

People at outposts and bases usually think rationally and may attack if they realize you are not human. But even with them, you can negotiate.

Nightmare belongs to Jokublog Killer belongs to RahafWabas Dust belongs to Ask-DustTale Horror belongs to Sour-Apple-Studios Error belongs to CrayonQueen Cross belongs to JakeiArtwork

[kawaii-leilei54]

Closer

FWB!Namjoon x Reader

Genre: Fluff, slight smut

Namjoon: You up?

You roll over as you stare at the text.

You were in fact up, your insomnia had gotten you again.

Up late thinking about how much work you had left to do, how you were going to pay next months rent when you were already behind.

Y/n: Yeah

Namjoon: I'm coming over

Your eyes go slightly wide, though this isn't the first time he would come over this late.

You two had many times doing this, since you were both busy during the day with work.

You worked at the same place, at a plants and flowers shop not too far from your house.

Namjoon saw you that day you walked in, wearing that dress with your hair in a cute style.

He fell for you almost immediately.

But of course, he didn't talk about it.

He instead grew closer with you, and even changed his schedule so that your shifts matched.

One thing led to another and you two agreed to take it to the next level.

He kissed you.

It wasn't rushed, he took his time as he kissed you, leaning you against the shelf in the backroom of the shop.

You were back there picking out flowers for a customer that was coming later, and when you turned around you bumped into a firm chest.

You look up at him and he stares at you with a blush on his face.

You stared at each other for what felt like hours.

He leaned in and you did the same out of reflex.

And since then, you two would meet up a lot more outside of work.

He took you out, bought you things and would say:

"This reminded me of you, I thought you would like this."

He would walk you home and make sure that you locked your door after going in, you would tell him to text you as soon he got home.

He even let you borrow his hoodies sometimes, though you wouldn't give them back, he never minded.

You hear a knock at the door and you go to answer.

Namjoon smiles softly as he sees you, he wore a green hoodie and some sweatpants with his slides on, you could tell he had been up a while.

"I brought snacks." He says as he lifts the bag.

You raise your eyebrows in amusement and move to the side to let him in.

"How could I say no to that?"

He chuckles and walks in, taking off his slides and going to the kitchen to set the bag down.

"Couldn't sleep?" He says as he turns towards you.

You sigh and shake your head.

"Anything that's bothering you?" He asks softly as he moves towards you.

You look at him shyly, you didn't want to bother him with your problems which he could tell.

He took your hand and left you to the couch.

You both sit down and he looks at you attentively.

"It's just.. I've been thinking a lot.." you start.

He nods and puts your legs over his.

"Wanna talk about it?"

You shake your head.

He sighs and frowns.

You look down at your hands, messing with them subconsciously.

You didn't want to mess up the mood with your work issues.

He sighs again and pulls you closer.

"How about we watch a movie instead?" He suggests.

You nod, staying quiet.

You felt bad that you couldn't talk with him openly, but you didn't want him to worry about it. You didn't want to have to think about it yourself.

It's already late and you just wanted to enjoy your time with him.

You cuddled into him, his scent calming you down.

His secret was soft, not too heavy but something that you were used to.

He wrapped an arm around you and kissed your head. He turns on a show you too had started a while back but hadn't finished.

You start to watch the show, letting your mind forget about all the troubles that kept you up.

"You know you can talk to me about anything, right?" He whispers in your ear, startling you slightly.

"Yeah.." You mumble.

He smiles and watches the show keeping his eyes on the screen as he held your waist.

You didn't want to talk about, if anything you wanted a break from even thinking about anything.

He understood.

He moves his hands towards your hips, holding you there and whispering in your ear.

"You want me to make it better?"

"Please."

He smiles and nods and moves his hands to your thighs, massaging them.

"Of course, love." He whispers as his hands continue moving down, his other hand comes to your breast, causing you to squirm.

He knew all the spots, the ones that would make you completely useless.

He kisses your neck softly, taking his time before leaving bites.

You knew you could be vulnerable with him, you sigh deeply, letting your anxiety fade.

Your eyes flutter as you give him access.

"Good girl." He says lowly in your ear.

"Come on, let me handle it." He taunts.

You give in and melt into him, his hands working you like they always do.

You needed this.

You needed him.

Namjoon had always been your only.

Your only hook up, your only best friend.

He was everything to you, but to him you were way more than you could ever think of.

He kept telling himself that he wouldn't want to tell you about his feelings

That this was only for fun, to relive the stress of the hard days.

But even then he couldn't stop himself from wanting more.

To be closer

To be your everything like you were to him.

Maybe.. one day.

[abstractnaturaldisaster]

Steddie Flower Shop / Tattoo Parlor AU

I am so floored by the response! It is absolutely so fun that y’all want to read my silly stories! This is a relatively short update but I am working on the rest! Hoping to post the full story by Valentine’s and I might also post an AO3 link at some point if anyone would like that I Part One I Part Two I Also on AO3!

***

Chrissy and Eddie had been taking bets about what type of business was opening up across the way. Eddie’s guesses had run the gamut from hipster coffee shop to hipster hairdresser to hipster high-end taxidermy while Chrissy had more or less stuck with her original guess of a speakeasy style bar. Eddie was starting to close up shop for the day when some guy in an honest-to-god sweater vest and jeans ran over.

“It’s too late to place any orders today. Sorry if you need to apologize to your wife and 2.5 kids and forgot until the last minute.” Eddie had to admit the guy was pretty infuriatingly handsome. If you were in to normie core, that is.

“What? I’m not- okay, uhm. I’m actually here because I just rented the place across the way and I wanted to ask about setting up a recurring weekly arrangement?” Steve asked.

“What?” Eddie yelled over Judas Priest.

“It’s a wonder you can ever hear anything over all this noise.” Steve gestured towards the speaker.

Chrissy had overheard the exchange from the backroom and cut Eddie off before he could start ranting about real music, “Yes, we are interested in setting up a recurring weekly bouquet arrangement for our new neighbors, Eddie.” 

Chrissy turned back around to lower the speaker's volume and pulled Eddie and Steve into the shop and onto stools by the workbench Eddie uses for arranging. Eddie glared at her but they’d just lost one of their regular accounts to some online service that was apparently way cheaper than what De Lucas’ could offer.

“Sure. What were you thinking, dude?” Eddie asked Steve.

“Just something nice for our front desk. Not too big and maybe nothing that people are commonly allergic to? But I’ve seen the arrangements you load up for delivery and I trust your eye. I’m not a live flower expert.”

“Of course, big boy.” Eddie noticed Steve flush a little bit at the pet name. Eddie reached behind Steve to grab one of the flyers Chrissy had made for company floral services. He purposely invaded Steve’s space a little more than necessary just to see if he could get the guy to flush a little deeper.

“Uhm, thanks, man. I’ll get out of your hair since it’s late. Sorry.”

“I’ve got time for you now if you want to talk through anything,” Eddie couldn’t resist biting his lip a little bit. Steve was apparently very easy to ruffle and Eddie sure did love antagonizing his hipster neighbor. “Tell me a little bit about your place?”

“Oh, yeah, it’s a tattoo studio? Just me and my friend’s helping run the, like, business part of it.” Steve responded

“You tattoo?”

“Yeah. Really fucking well actually,” Steve pushed back. It seemed like Eddie had hit a nerve.

“Shouldn’t you have like at least one tattoo?” Eddie’s brain to mouth filter had apparently stopped working. He shouldn’t be actively shitting on a potential customer.

“Who says I don’t?” Steve answered with a wink. It was Eddie’s turn to feel a little faint as his imagination took a little too much creative liberty thinking about where Steve’s tattoo might be.

Thankfully, Chrissy took the awkward silence as an opportunity to step in and work with Steve to confirm what level of floral arrangement he was looking for, how often he wanted a new arrangement, and if he wanted pick up or delivery.

“I can stop by and pick them up. Wouldn’t want you to go through the trouble of adding me to your schedule since I’m just across the way. Any chance I could pick one up tomorrow around lunch time? My first client is coming at two.�� Steve asked.

“Noon’s great, Steve!” Chrissy reached out to shake Steve’s hand while Eddie was still working on slowing his heart rate back to a reasonable rhythm.

“Amazing, thanks so much guys!” Steve called as he headed out of De Lucas’ and back across the street.

“Woah, Eddie. Truly a masterclass in both flirting and getting new clients. I should have taken notes,” Chrissy said once Steve had made it halfway into the road.

“Hey, fuck you.” 

“He speaks!” Chrissy patted Eddie’s head and added, “You’ll have to get better at interacting with him since you’ll be seeing each other once a week now.”

Eddie dramatically sighed and laid his upper body across the workbench, getting little pieces of flower refuse stuck in his hair.

“I’m so screwed.”

You wish, babe,” Chrissy cackled as she grabbed her bag and headed out for the day.

***

Part 4 now available here!

Taglist: @maya-custodios-dionach @eboyawstenn @swimmingbirdrunningrock @sadcanadianwinter @thehumblefigtree @throwbackthrowaway @micheledawn1975

I think I caught everyone! I seriously am so genuinely amazed by the reception! 

[cream0fwheat1998]

Of Mean & Mice (Dark! Rafe Cameron x reader) 2

NONCON, BULLYING, DRUGS (probably)

Summary: Y/n thought the nightmare was over. Over a week later, Rafe and his pals find her again during the closing shift of her job. Just what exactly does aggressive, entitled man want with her?

Y/n ran to Sarah's room as tears fled from her eyes. She didn't know exactly what she wanted to do to Sarah, hit, scream or just run away from her; but all of that could wait with Rafe Cameron, her rapist, just down the hall.

When she reached Sarah's door, her feet met with a stiff force. Looking down, was Y/n's overnight bag sitting outside. The door to Sarah's room was locked but she could her music and girls laughing.

It was like a headache; the little fuzzies filling her brain until the reality weighed her down.

It was all planned from the start.

Y/n gathered her belongings and dashed toward the stairs and once she reached the front door, she glanced back and at the top of the steps was Rafe Cameron leaning against the stair rails.

He tipped an invisible hat at her; it was enough to make her puke while escaping to the pitch-blackness of the late night hours.

One Week Later

Y/n begged her mother to let her go with her mother and dad to a hospital (in a different state) for his next operation but they didn't want her to go and make her miss school. The truth was, no amount of medicine or surgeries seemed to make her dad better and they were pushing Y/n away from the inevitable; that his time was soon and they were too heartbroken to admit it.

She was alone again but this time she wouldn't be going over anyone's house or even stopping to talk with another person on her way out the door.

Y/n checked her phone, "An hour left." She made a mental note and slid it back in her pocket.

In a state of tiresome, repetitive chores, Y/n smiled at the thought of going home and tossing something in the oven for dinner. She swept the backroom of her restaurant while the front house chattered about their plans for after close.

A bell rings at the opening of the entrance to the shop and a shuffle of several different voices boomed in. I could hear our hostess groan, telling the newly arrived customers that the kitchen closes soon and we're out of some ingredients so we cant make everything on the menu.

"Well we're hungry so too bad. We'll just have what you have left and keep a low profile.'' A young man voiced.

After putting my cleaning supplies away, I walked to the exit of the backroom to see through the small window on the door a group of young men sitting in the nearest booth but a certain light brunet/blonde stood out.

The thought of everything caused Y/n's heart beat to increase; the speed made her stomach turn and the feeling that if her heart went any faster, it'd rip itself out of her chest.

Y/n's hands met the sides of her head as she slid down the cold, metal door. There was teeth biting into her shoulders, hair pulled and hips grabbed with such force that she's sure she still has a handprint on her skin.

And none of it was meant in the way she'd desired to have with somebody, one day. But now her fears of not doing well on her finals and the cosmic level of stress caused by her fathers' illness was semi-replaced with running into a handsome devil who cared for no one except himself.

She heard him and his buddies laugh. All she felt was shame and guilt from something that wasn't her fault while the man responsible for the damage was hanging out with his pals and laughing as if he'd never done anything wrong, ever.

Her shoulders slumped at the thought that he was so cruel that all he really did want from her sex and instead of asking her, he took the biggest piece-of-shit way to get there.

There was something bittersweet about this realization; that sex really was all he wanted and now that he'd gotten it, he wouldn't bother her anymore.

With an ounce of courage, Y/n lifted herself off the ground and secured her purse of her shoulder. She'd walk out there, say goodbye to her coworkers and leave for the day. She would tell them that she doesn't feel well and she'd disciplined for leaving a bit early, then so be it.

Y/n took a deep breath, prepared to walk into the lion's den and pay no mind to the monster thats an arms' length away from her.

She pushed on the door (with a little more force than intended) and strut out to the front of the store. Behind her, she felt the heat of several pairs of eyes and the sound loud whispers.

"Rafe, is that the girl?" One boy says pointing behind his back.

Rafe glanced from his fries to the girl who was obviously trying to runaway from him. There were many things in his head; and the pouty lips and wet eyes of the woman he forced into bed with him days earlier occupied most of his thoughts.

He smirked to save face, "Yeah. Bro let me tell you she's actually quite the slut. It's always the quiet ones you've gotta look out for." Rafe said, throwing a french fry at Topper like it was an airplane.

Kelce and Topper laughed out loud while Y/n picked up her pace and fled out the restaurant doors'. She didn't say goodbye to anyone.

15 minutes down the road, Y/n let out a cold sigh of relief. She saw her breath in the cold, midnight air and regretted not bringing a thicker jacket.

The sound of tires screeching against the uneven pavement of the road and bright lights that shone from behind her meant a car was coming and probably driven by someone who cares not for legal speeds.

Though Y/n got out of the way; she realized she didn't need to when the car started to slow down, following her. She looked back but in the blackness of the night she couldn't tell who was driving or what kind of car it was. The lights were too much and she turned back and kept walking away.

The car's wheels ran slowly; the driver was purposefully matching her speed. In a moment of a absent courage; Y/n took off down the road at full speed hoping to lose the stalker.

The car sped up, but not enough to run her down. It was clear they weren't gonna stop and Y/n didn't know what else to do but make a detour into the woods next to her. There were no houses or buildings to run too. She was on her own; as if that wasn't typical of her already.

While dashing through the chilly, dark woods, y/n heard the door of the car close and a shuffle of running behind her. Deep in the back of the mind, she knew who following her and she admitted to herself she rather take her chances with a serial killer.

"Can you just stop fucking running already!" Rafe screams.

Y/n knew her legs wouldn't keep up for much longer but exhaustion from running from her rapist was worth it. He would not have her tonight.

"Goddammit Y/n talk to me please! It doesn't matter how far you run or who you get to protect you; believe that I'll get you. Always!" Rafe yelled, stopping to catch his breath at a tree.

Looking back was y/n's mistake because she flew to the ground, landing chin first on cold, crunchy leaves. She used her strength to hold herself up and looked back at the large root she stumbled on and couldnt help but give it a bitter kick.

She tried to get up but realized she must of hurt her ankle when it stretched in pain; causing her to yelp aloud. The stinging chill of the night air kept her tears at bay. But she was shaking and cursed herself, knowing she'd need help to get up.

Rafe strode over to the helpless female; feeling like a warrior who fought for a prize and won. He shook his head at the distraught woman that hasn't left his mind since taking her those few days ago.

He bent down to meet her eyes and thumbed her cheek. "You are so precious. It's really cute that you thought you could get away from me." He said, wiping away some of the moisture under her eyes.

Y/n growled and threw a fruitless slap at him. Rafe just chuckled. "Come on pretty girl, you arent tough and you know it. If you really wanted to keep me away you should have bought a gun or just not leave your house. It's that simple."

Though y/n was ashamed for giving up, her ankle needed to be looked at and Y/n need warmth.

Rafe knew this by watching her shiver. This was the part of control he adored; he got to decide if she got help and what type of help she'd get. He was willing to give her all of it, if she behaves, that is.

"Alright pretty, enough games for tonight. How does an ice pack for your ankle sound? And then to bed at the Cameron house. I'm sure my bed is better than whatever shit-shack you live in." Rafe picked her up, ignoring the half-attempted pleas for him to release girl.

"Shh shhh. It's okay. You've got me now and I'll take care of you. For a price. We'll talk about it tomorrow." Rafe buckled in the silent girl, the fear radiating off her from the violent way she shook.

Y/n didn't want to admit it, but she was scared of Rafe Cameron. The smile he gave her mean he could feel it too. He loved it.

[legacyshenanigans]

What’s Volo’s idea of a perfect day?

Both when he’s working at the Den and when he’s just hanging out at home 🖤

Perfect day at the Den

To be honest, his perfect day at the Den is everything just going smoothly and not getting hounded too much personally, so he can spend the day in the basement doing what 'he does best'. He'll play some heavy music down there and just chop chop chop away, getting a good sweat on, dealing with the bodies from the Dens more gruesome backrooms activities. If he's not doing that, he'll be getting out some pent up anger and stress by indulging in the activities himself. And knocking back a few drinks, having a laugh with Rowan and other customers.

Perfect day at Home

If he's spending a day at home, he's like a different person. He actually really enjoys just pure solitude at times. Whether it's sitting on his comfy chair by the window in his room with an ashtray on his side table, having a peaceful cigarette while he enjoys a good book he's been wanting to get his head in. Perhaps he'll take some time during the day to experiment with potions and do some research on various exotic ingredients. He's also the kind of person who really enjoys (re)organising, he finds it very therapeutic just going through his things and collections, and making sure everything is perfect and exactly how he wants it. If it's a chill day with you, the pair of you seldom leave his room. He loves those days when you and him don't even leave his bed too much. He likes reading to you as you lay on him, talking to you about anything and everything, and of course, indulging in each other's bodies throughout the day is a must. Those kind of days, really level him out mentally and keep him going.

~

[blackcatxmagic]

There were two parts to the Twilight Cauldron: the tea shop front and the magical backroom. Of the two, there was definitely one side that Copper was more comfortable running, and it wasn't the tea shop side, which was of course the busier aspect of his new business. Luckily The Twilight Cauldron had been around long before Copper had taken ownership of it, and it's variety of loyal customers had been patient with him as he had learned the ins and outs of running a tea shop. And it wasn't like Copper was a total tea novice - one of his fathers was a huge tea aficionado, and while Copper wasn't near his level of tea love, he had learned a lot from his dad about it.

It wasn't the busiest day in The Twilight Cauldron, but it was steady, a pace Copper enjoyed. He genuinely liked interacting with the customers and helping them find something they were satisfied with, plus the smell of brewing tea wafting throughout the shop was nice. He was working the counter currently while his cashier was on a break, and when the next customer in line reached him, he said, "Welcome to The Twilight Cauldron. What can I get for you?"

[urlovebot]

enhypen as employees at my old coffee/icecream shop

cw: work shenanigans. war flashbacks of spilling hot milk on hands. niki breakdancing.

Heeseung: probably the manager

so nice

friends with with all of the employees on a personal level

sings on karaoke nights and entrusts the rest of the kids to run the shop for the time being

hums while he prepares drinks

one time steamed milk and it boiled over onto his hand as a customer watched. he brushed it off but cried in the office afterwards. (based on a true story 😔)

Jay: customer

jay is a customer who comes in for the same coffee drink every day: just a caramel frappe.

likes to explain he wants a medium caramel frappe with no syrup and extra whip in the most complicated way so that he can talk to the cashier for a long time.

really only came to visit jake at work but became well acquainted with the rest of the staff and now theyre all besties.

specifically wants to take the cashier, shrink him, and put him in his pocket.

they let him carry out drinks during karaoke nights sometimes.

one time came in and asked for a cold brew with one ice cube in it. clearly it had been a very rough day.

Jake: server

love jake but

cannot make an order to customer satisfaction to save his life. (bitter espresso, too much ice in frappes, etc.)

heeseung really liked how polite and sweet he was so he made him a server.

all of the older customers are in love with him and sometimes will ask him to sit with them if the shop isnt busy.

just so personable and sweet he is a dream server.

loves karaoke nights because he loves live music and all of the regulars come to watch him sing a bit too.

one karaoke night a child had ran right in front of him as he was briskly walking back from delivering drinks. came back to the counter pale as a ghost, "guys i almost just steamrolled a child 😰"

Sunghoon: barista

looks scary, very funny and nice.

only makes coffee. likes making new drinks (specifically themed holiday drinks.)

claims he makes the best espresso shots. he is correct.

every customer has a crush on him even though he doesn't leave from behind the counter

does karaoke with heesung if the day is going by slow.

so smart; lacks common sense.

spilled ice in the backroom and then sprayed hot water on the ice to melt it. there is no drain in the floor. so it was just 2x the amount of water. took two hours to dry.

Sunoo: drive thru

his voice is just so nice to hear. makes jokes at the window too.

mostly at the drive thru because nobody wants to uell at him when they see him through the window.

when the drive thru isnt busy they usually ask him yo clean up a bit around the shop and he always sings along to the songs playing off the speakers

a smart ass who plays around too much with niki.

makes all of the summer refreshers

one time the shop was out of 60% of their ice creams and he got very tired of people saying "So what DO you have???" so he muted his mic, screamed into the tip jar so that nobody could hear him, unmuted the mic, and proceeded to list out what they did, in fact, have.

Jungwon: Cashier

polite 80% of the time until some woman comes up and complains that her drink does not taste like how they do at starbucks.

"unfortunately ma'am, this is not a starbucks. this is (shop name). we can remake the drink if you'd like it sweeter..."

perfect balance of smart and polite responses

has a couple regulars that he loves talking to though.

thinks its funny when jay comes up asking the following: "can i get a... whats it called.. the frozen drink with-" "with the caramel?" "... yeah the caramel. what's that called again?" "A caramel frappucino." "frappucino.. gotcha. can i get the caramel frappucino? size-" "size medium. i know. you're here every thursday and friday. go sit down."

Niki: who really knows. gets paid good tho

he does a bit of everything. please dont let him make espresso though hes not too good at that yet.

just makes a fool of himself every day he works.

in charge of the ice cream portion of the store. ice cream scoops are significantly too big for $1.99

does the thing where you flip the ice cream scoop in the air and try to catch it on the cone. literally misses every time but nobody yells at him because the customers love it.

dances around while sweeping and is actually... abnormally good.

doesnt sing for karaoke night but will jokingly be a backup dancer doing the most when an employee sings

break dancing while jake sings love yourself

get those two away from eachother

drive thru is right behind the ice cream freezer so he'll tap sunoo's shoulder and turn around as if nothing happened.

theres a tv that usually has an aesthetic coffee shop themed picture on it throughout the day. one time the remote was left unattended and niki changed it to minecraft speed runs. nobody noticed until a group of kids wouldnt stop looking at the tv.

[soupmanspeaks]

I know I can't be the only one to think "okay, canonically, what room are we in?" when a level is played, Arts in crafts, salon, DJ Music man, Bonnie Bowl, Cold Storage, Fizzy Faz/Food Prep, Endo Warehouse, And Captain Foxy's Log Ride, are pretty easy to assume where they are, they probably all take place sporadically around the PizzaPlex, with Bonk' A' Bon and First Aid probably taking place in a backroom/storage room and some other room down below in the Pizza Sim area respectively, Which leaves Fazerblast, Carousel, and the entirety of the Sister Location levels elsewhere lol

SOOOO uhhhhh something something what if the reason why Jeremy somehow is in the areas of Sister location with the Funtimes even though its technically impossible considering Scrap Baby, Molten Freddy, Ennard, ect, is because of all of the residual remnant within the Pizza Sim area causing him to experience memories from Michael, which is why we see stuff like Ballora Gallery, SL Custom Night, Office Job: Interview, ect, like maybe this could explain the fall fest levels with Carnie, because then the player'd be tapping into Henry's memories, be it his experience at Fall Fest or just his recollection of Carnie/Lefty, Or maybe its not even Henry, maybe its just a cycle of that one plot of land having so much stuff happen to it, like what if before there was Fredbear's there, the Fall Fest was also held on/near that plot of land? So maybe it could function similarly to the ITP Ballpit where the memories/agony/remnant/experiences in, around, or near it can transport someone in a memory or, "Back in time"?

[whoopsmorewhump]

It's okay just to say 'I'm not okay' (platonic stobin fic)

Robin and Steve feel each other’s pain more than they’ll admit, even to each other. From Whumptober day 30, “It’s okay just to say I’m not okay” bridal carry; plus, another lovely prompt from pearlravenlapis (not quoted here, as it gives too much plot away!)

Rated T; no warnings; Also on AO3.

***

The day had started more than okay.

This adorable girl rocked up at Scoops, with the latest issue of “UFO Reality” tucked under her arm. Robin blurted: “You read it yet? The story on alien skulls inscribed with teeny, snack-sized messages from Elvis totally slayed me dead.”

Dream-girl’s shy smile turned Robin’s knees to jello.

She introduced herself as Maud, and they chatted UFOs for the next forever. Right until a square-jawed, smug-as-hell knucklehead loped into the store, and Maud announced he was her boyfriend.

Now, Robin watched her latest unrequited crush sharing a Strawberry Sundae Extra with her excruciatingly not-worthy-of-her date.

“Seriously, Robin,” said Steve, levelling at her shoulder. “I’ve seen more electricity between a pair of squashed ants. They’re not even talking.” 

Robin wasn’t in the mood for chirpy delusion: “That’s because they’re mainlining ice-cream, Steve.”

“She’s hardly stuffing her face. She couldn’t stop blabbering with you.”

Unable to endure the sight any longer, Robin swung her attention onto him. He was chewing on… Hmmm, to be fair, that was only his first banana of the day. Unusual. He dumped half of it, uneaten, on the hatch.

“Did she even actually wanna talk to me?” wondered Robin out loud. “I honestly can’t remember if she got a word in edgeways. You know how it is, when I can’t stop talking. It’s a fault, believe me I know—"

“You were fine. You said stuff. Maud said stuff back. And it’s not a fault—your mom spouts nasty bullshit, you should accept that. My point is, that girl you like totally—”

“—hates me.” Robin sighed.

“No. She’s probably confused.” He sniffed, pushed his hair from his brow. “She should dump that moron’s ass. Who hangs out in an ice-cream joint when it's this damn cold? It’s practically snowing out there."

"It's not cold in here, Steve.”

“It’s goddamn freezing! I mean, it’s this stoopid outfit—what fascist dictator makes their staff wear shorts in winter?”

“Stopped caring. I'm too institutionalised into looking like a dweeb.” She peeped back, to where Maud spooned a cherry into that jack-ass jock’s cakehole. Argh! She wanted to scream. Instead, she mumbled: “Shit-birds, do you think Maud thinks I'm a dweeb?”

“Jesus, how many times? Look, she reads dweeby UFO mags. So do you! Beyond that, I’m not an alien mind-probe, so quit bugging me already.” She gawked at him—wtf? He skittered his fingers over his eyes, groaned. “Sorry. This stupid cold is making me cranky. I honestly reckon Maud liked you. It’s just—”

“—horribly, insanely, eternally complicated?” Her fists clenched so tight her fingernails gouged her palms. On top of it all, she’d suddenly gotten this anxious dread, churning in her gut. Huh? Go figure. “I guess I’ll just keep smiling through. See my customer service smile?”

She bared her teeth maniacally.

“Remind me to get a mask of that for Halloween.”

“That bad, huh?”

He smiled, kinda pensively. “Nah. If I was a babe into babes, I’d still be battering down your door.”

She wanted to hug him then—despite his germs, which she was kinda grateful she hadn’t caught. Yet. A bratty little mall rat clanged on the bell, Steve hurried off to serve, and Robin continued feeling really, really shit. Right up until he caught her in the backroom, dabbing runny eyeliner with her knuckles.

She turned her back on him. Habit, really.

“Hey.” His hand landed softly on her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

“Nothing new.” It’s her turn to sniffle.

“Look, I’m sorry I chewed your head off."

“You apologised already, Steve.”

“I’m apologising again. For the whole goddamn human race. I mean, I totally get your thing with UFOs, because, honestly, you deserve another planet. A better one. Worse thing is, I used to think like the dumbest dumbass in this world of crazy, till I met you, and now… Look, things will be better for you someday, because nobody deserves it more. Till then, I know it sounds cliché, but I’m here for you, and I guess… I dunno, when you have this much bullshit to put up with, it's okay just to say you’re not okay sometimes.”

She flung his arms around him and sobbed noisily into his shoulder. He patted her back, then rubbed soothing circles, and she sobbed even harder. She didn’t really know why she was crying. Yeah, what he said touched her deeply. But she’d never been a random public crier, today’s flop was nothing out of the ordinary, and she couldn’t even blame her monthly cycle… Uuuurgh.

She lifted her face, sniffed hard, grimaced. “I made your uniform all soggy.”

“No sweat. I dig your snot.” His sarcasm dropped off: “Any better?”

She shrugged. Superficially, yes, she felt less doom-y. Her catastrophic life remained just that, however, and that weird unfocussed dread loomed ever larger. 

He reached into his pocket, brought out a paper napkin. “It’s clean, honest. Although I guess the cost of that hug was probably catching my cold, so who cares, huh?”

“I care.” Ew! “And yeah, that had occurred.” She still couldn’t quite bring herself to regret the hug. However much she hated them with anybody else, she had to admit that it’d released happy chemicals. She blew her nose noisily. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Uh, you’ll probably need another for the eyeliner. There’s black goop, like, everywhere.”

She whipped out a powder compact with a mirror. Oh yeah. She’d gone for the full-on Joker look. Possibly, this was why she averted her despairing attention and started scrutinising Steve.

“Steve, are you okay? You look kinda—”

“—terminally dweeby? Or terminally dweeby and totally wrecked?” Catching his own reflection in the little mirror, he dabbed his slightly-less-buoyant-than-usual hair back into place.

“I was thinking more along the lines of a bit peaky.”

“It’s just this stupid cold. Plus, the crappy lighting in this dump. Seriously, sometimes guys need make-up too.”

She used her mirror to stare at him harder than herself now. Yeah, he looked pale, the shadows around his eyes nearly as shouty as her make-up malfunction. She snapped the mirror closed, spiralled back to face him.

“Steve, something else is wrong, isn’t it?”

“Woah! You’re, like, witchy when you do that, right?”

“Witchy?”

“Okay, maybe a bit psychic.”

“Alien brain-probe-y?”

“Yeah, that too. I mean, I figured I didn’t want to bother you, but…” He threw his hands up in surrender. “Let's just say my father has been extra cranky and disappointed in me lately, even by his short-tempered standards. That means extra shouty, and…” He rubbed his brow wearily. “Makes me feel even shitter about my life, I guess.”

“I’m sorry.” She longed to pay back that hug, though even with Steve, she was too squirmy and inexperienced to initiate one. He left then, anyway, heading back out front.

They were both uncharacteristically quiet for the rest of the day. He seemed exhausted, and smothered increasingly regular bouts of coughing. She wanted simply to get home, bypass her mom’s daily character assassination, and then sob and bitch to herself about life in general. 

When she finally sank her face into the soon-to-be disgusting and soggy pillow, that feeling of dread overwhelmed her. She simply couldn’t stop worrying about Steve, to the point she felt ill. Which was ridiculous. After all, he was at the end of a phone line, right?

She snuck out past her mom—who was howling her butt off at some screamingly homophobic sit-com—and dialled Steve’s number. When his dad answered, she gritted her teeth, forced herself to be mega polite. 

“Hi there, Mr Harrington. Sorry to disturb you. Is Steve there, please? It’s Robin.”

“Robin? Are you the latest girlfriend?”

“No,” she managed to grind out. “I’m the… friend-friend.”

“Don’t try to be cute.” Seriously, I wasn’t! “If you see him, tell him he owes me a thousand bucks.”

The line went dead. Robin dropped the phone, stared at it as it swung from its coiled wire. What just happened?

She went back to her room, sat down on the edge of her bed. If Steve wasn’t in, was he on a date? He hadn’t mentioned one. That said, given her eternal back-catalogue of disaster on the dating song-list—and her latest episode of moping—he probably didn’t want to upset her. She switched off her lamp, tried to sleep.

Impossible.

What his Dad said rankled, and made no sense anyhow. Why did Steve owe him a thousand bucks? That was a year's wages! Then again, Steve had mentioned something a while back about his tightwad parents charging him rent. It was probably what they’d been rowing over.

By the early hours of the morning, that sensation of dread had flourished to the point where she could no longer stand it. Sleep wasn’t happening, so she pulled on a warm coat and scarf, headed out, and grabbed her bike.

Once Henderson had gotten over the initial shock of her tapping on his window at four a.m., he considered her theory seriously enough: “You reckon his parents threw him out, and he’s sleeping rough somewhere,” he clarified, while he unlocked the wheel of his bike. “Why didn’t he tell us?”

“He can be kinda proud like that. Plus, I was having a beyond-horrible day.” She clutched her handlebars ever tighter. Steve hadn’t needed to tell her, anyhow. She’d known, and her anxieties flurried toward panic. He’d been getting up sick, right? As her clouding breath confirmed, tonight was bonkers cold.

Dustin jammed his woolly hat down over his ears. “Right. If you were sleeping rough in Hawkins, where would you go?”

They tried the bus station, the shop fronts on Main Street, even the High School outbuildings. They wound up outside the police station, debating about whether to go in. 

“Nobody will take us seriously,” pointed out Dustin. “I mean, he’s not technically missing. We don’t have any evidence that he’s not at home in his bed, comfortably snoring, while we’ve been cycling around freezing our faces off.”

“He’s not,” said Robin, and creepily—witchily? —she’d rarely been more convinced of anything in her life. “He’s in trouble. I know it.”

“Seeing as we’ve looked, basically, everywhere, I’m going to need something a bit more scientific than that.”

“We’ve barely started!” protested Robin, as a police wagon drew up beside. Chief Hopper got out, bleary eyed and with a cigarette hanging from one side of his mouth.

“God, that was a wasted call-out,” he muttered, then, belatedly absorbing who they were, said: “What the heck are you two doing here?”

“Being total idiots!” said Robin, so loudly even the Chief baulked. “It’s so obvious! Why didn’t I think of it before?”

Hopper looked crankier. Dustin gesticulated wildly with his thickly mittened hands: “What!?!”

“His car! His dad said something like, ‘Steve owes me a thousand bucks.’ That’s about the value of his car, right?”

“Steve Harrington?” asked Hopper. “Yeah. Kid’s got a nice set of wheels. Anybody gonna enlighten me what you’re doing here at this godforsaken hour?”

“Steve’s been sleeping rough,” said Robin. “In his car.”

“What? Last night?” Hopper frowned. “Temperatures have been sub-zero.” 

“Yeah, we know,” mumbled Dustin. “We also don’t actually know for sure that Steve isn’t home, and this isn’t all in her he—"

“It’s not in my head, Henderson. He’s out there. Chief, you’ve got to help us find him.”

Hopper wearily stubbed out his cigarette, swung open the passenger door. “Get in.”

***

Shivering hurt. His teeth hurt from chattering. As the night got colder, Steve curled up in the backseat of his car and discovered everything hurt.

He never knew cold could feel like this, like how his gran used to describe it—creeping through his veins and into the marrow of his bones. Whatever the heck that was. He was wearing, literally, all his clothes. What the hell else could he do?

He'd used the heater the previous two nights, since he’d taken off from his parents’, basically homeless. Now he was out of gas, and there was no chance of getting a refill can till next payday so…

He curled even tighter, wrapping his arms around himself. Like a hug. He recalled how he and Robin had hugged earlier, how he’d felt better after that, about… everything. Which was stupid. Because it’d solved nothing for either of them. He faintly hoped he hadn’t given Robin his germs. If they even were germs. Who needed germs, when you were this damn freezing?

At length, his fingers and toes stopped hurting and turned numb. Then, at last, he sensed some warmth. Which was weird, but then again, he felt increasingly weird—his skin kinda prickly as if he sweated, then suddenly, he was way too hot. Which was totally nuts, and confusing, but he’d take it. He shrugged off his blanket, which slid into the footwell. He might have removed his scarf, which was getting suffocating, but he was too damn tired.

He slept, shallowly, and the darkness beneath his eyelids grew pitted with white. It wasn’t like snow. Nothing was that yielding or soft. He hadn't the strength left to rub his eyes. He threw all his effort into his next, shallow, whistling breath, and… Christ! It suddenly made sense. He could see his lungs, right? Which was insane, but his fevered little mind saw it anyhow. They seemed all brittle, lined with scratchy glass, scraping and tearing with every breath, until...

An ice-toothed gale blasted him sidelong. Robin's scared face veered up in front of him. Uh, he’s definitely hallucinating, right? Nobody knew he was here; nobody should know. He needed her, though. Kinda figured he’d die here without her, and then… he was just plain scared.

He closed his eyes. Too much. Waaaay too much. And, shit, maybe that wasn’t Robin. Maybe it was her aliens, and those were lights from a spaceship—a UFO?

Somebody—some thing —slid an arm around his shoulder, another under his knees. He was scooped up, and felt the sensation of being carried. His stomach performed a feeble flip. Am I dying? Am I dead? Or am I zooming to another planet!?!

Then nothing. Until…

His lungs still felt too tight. He was lying somewhere warm and soft, however, and the air didn't burn or freeze, nor make him prickle and sweat. In fact, it was kinda soothing and sweet, though it still proved a struggle to get enough.

Somebody squeezed his hand. Somebody or thing was holding his hand! Aliens? If so, why wasn’t he freaking out? He pried his too-sleepy eyelids open. Robin! 

"Steve!" She smiled and gave him another squeeze.  There was a plastic mask over his mouth and nose, and he lifted a hand to bat it away. She stopped him, settled the mask again. “I’d leave that, it’s the oxygen. You’re okay now. You’re gonna be just fine.”

He tried to talk, though speech wasn’t happening. Just an embarrassing croak. Her make-up was smudged again. He almost forced his dry lips into a smirk. He must look worse, but with Robin, that’s okay.

A nurse turned up, checking his pulse, and the oxygen machine, fluffing the pillows. She talked, but he was too sleepy to listen. Robin bobbed up again, working her face strangely, and he couldn’t read whether she was about to laugh or cry:

"Look, Steve,” she burst out, “yeah, it's okay to not be okay. Next time, can you please be more specific about EXACTLY HOW NOT OKAY YOU ARE."

"Okay," he wheezed, and she started up talking again. Her voice soothed him, even though he was too far gone to listen. 

He isn’t okay. He feels weak and jittery and everything aches.

From this new all-time low, he can’t even start to think about what his future might hold without wanting to yell. Which he can't even do! But her, and their friendship—it’s good. Which was probably why, even now, he’s feeling her pain again, just as strong as his. He hated how she suffered every single day, keeping her hopes and dreams a secret. Jesus, whatever hurt her, hurt him, too. And he was stupidly grateful for that, which made no sense either.

Perhaps he should tell her, when he’d gotten his voice back? Before or after he’d thanked her for having somehow saved his life. Or perhaps that would sound crazy and a bit creepy. Or witchy and physic? Huh, hadn’t he accused her of that earlier?

Listening to her talking, he ebbed and sank into somewhere safer and warm.

****

Part of this fic series (whump, platonic stobin & steddie fic)

[catwithabaseballbat]

Favorite things in THE BACKROOMS [REDACTED] on Roblox (don't judge me this game is fire)

The custom music

UNGODLY AMOUNT OF LEVELS AND THEY'RE ALL AWESOME

LIKE IM TALKING CUSTOM MODELS AND MERCHANDISE

OH AND LETS NOT FORGET ABOUT THE TOWER DEFENCE MINI GAME YOU HAVE TO PLAY TO GET TO LEVEL 154

ITS AWESOME IDK WHAT TO SAY

YIPPEE!!!!!!!

ALSO CAPYBARA ENTITY IN AN ENIGMATIC LEVEL

SERIOUSLY CHECK IT OUT

ALSO THE MUSIC IS FUCKING AMAZING, IK I SAID THAT ALREADY AND I'LL SAY IT AGAIN

THE MUSIC IS PERFECT. GENUINELY.

[letsgethaunted]

Welcome to Episode 201: The Backrooms! Have you ever heard of The Backrooms? The Backrooms are widely considered to be the most popular and prolific internet urban legend in existence. The Backrooms are often depicted as an endless series of empty, yellow-lit rooms with old, stained carpet, fluorescent lights, and monotonous, beige walls. These rooms are said to feel like a surreal or dreamlike version of an ordinary office or storage space, giving an unsettling and otherworldly impression. People end up in The Backrooms by accidentally "no-clipping" out of reality, a concept borrowed from video game jargon, where one passes through boundaries in a game. In the Backrooms mythos, this happens unintentionally, leaving individuals stranded in this strange, featureless space. The Backrooms concept taps into the creepiness of liminal spaces, areas that feel like they exist between worlds (like empty malls or abandoned office buildings). They feel both familiar and alien, evoking feelings of loneliness, unease, or nostalgia. As the concept grew, communities began creating "levels" of The Backrooms, each with unique characteristics and environments, such as flooding or vast warehouse spaces.

VIDEOS MENTIONED IN EPISODE

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[xxswagcorexx]

coming back from the grave but omg if you haven't watched terrains backrooms video PLEASE WATCH IT RN!! it's legit one of the coolest videos ever like...if you're a liminal spaces enjoyer (like me) he legit captured the vibes so well like these shots go so hard

(^ that one is one of my favorite rooms btw. like look at some of these shots from the video because holyyyy)

also. if that didn't convince you enough. there r. so many other reasons below the cut to why u should watch it. its only 22 minutes long. go watch it rn if you haven't

anyways. my goodness there are so many Aspects of this video that are so cool. i love the poolrooms level so much (the screenshot doesn't do it justice for the vibes because the music is SO GOOD when paired with the video)

but man i love it so much because terrain manages to capture serenity and calmness/stillness So Well alongside muffled retro music? chefs kiss. its so good

(also its aesthetic reminds me so much of that one japanese train station flooding with water. one of my favorite liminal spaces so im biased but </3 if you love that picture you'd LOVE the poolrooms level he made)

anyways. heres some other shots i think are pretty sick that i didn't put above. the library goes so hard

(also the zam picture is of him screaming crying sobbing etc etc. if you want to watch princezam suffering than this video has a lot princezam suffering moments. its awesome)

and yk whats also really cool??? terrain knew that rek was super paranoid and made a special room where he RECREATED HIS IRL ROOM SO ACCURATELY HE EVEN INCLUDED STUFF LIKE HIS SLIPPERS ON HIS FLOOR. AND CUSTOM MODELED NEW STUFF FOR IT. (and also managed to convince jaron to break his "no pranking" rule with rek. wild)

and if that doesn't show how dedicated terrain was with making the backrooms as creepy as possible, he custom made the entire soundtrack you can listen to all of them here (as well as unused/bonus tracks)! its legit so cool how cool how me modeled, researched, and pulled everything off...if you have the time i 100% recommend you watch it! its so cool to see everyone's reactions/get scared as well so!! overall good experience!! go click on this link and watch it right NOWWWWWW