#damn its 4 am why did i answer this now

[cheapshrimpysheep]

First Date - Heartslabyul

SUMMARY: What would your first date with him be like? I know first dates might not go so well, but let's pretend these are different. ;)

CHARACTERS: Riddle Rosehearts; Ace Trappola; Deuce Spade; Cater Diamond & Trey Clover

TAGS: Fluf; GN Reader; Flirting; Kissing

WARNING: Spoilers from Ace SSR Suitor Suit (Vignette); Book 5; end of book 4; Cater SSR Birthday Boy (Vignette)

WORD COUNT: An average of 570 words per character.

Heartslabyul / Savanaclaw / Octavinelle / Scarabia / Pomefiore / Ignihyde / Diasomnia

COMMENTS: Damn, making this for 5 characters is hard. And I still want to make it for all characters! What am I doing to myself? XD Tho, this is fun to write. I hope you have fun reading too. ;)

Riddle is an extremely Lawful person (Like in Lawful Neutral Character it's what I mean). And in this context, to be extremely lawful would mean to be extremely cliché. Then a Candlelit Dinner will be!

He asked Trey to cook. First: because Riddle knows he's not a good cook and your date had to be perfect, and for that the food should be too. Second: Trey's food and especially sweets are incredible! Perfect for a date! Riddle probably blushed asking Trey that favor, because Trey would tease him a bit too. But just a little bit.

He decided to use a smaller room for your date. Still, it had a large window overlooking the beautiful maze. If anyone even dared to think of interrupting your date it would immediately be OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!

Trey was the one who made the food, but who would serve you would be Riddle himself. He didn't want anyone else in that room with you. Mainly because he was still a little embarrassed and nervous.

He will enjoy talking to you. Know more about yourself and your world. Tell you more about the Queendom of Roses. The two of you praising Trey's cooking. And since you're being cliché, why not do the same with dessert?

Strawberry Tart was the dessert. You insist that you cut the tart yourself. You cut a slice, put it on the plate, take the fork and take a piece of the slice. And before Riddle can ask why you only took your slice, you hold your fork out to him. He is slightly confused.

You just say "Aaaah" and he finally realizes what you're doing. And blushes. He sighs, more to calm himself a bit. and opens his mouth without being able to look you in the eye. His cheeks were starting to match his hair.

“Next time, I'd like to be the one cooking you a strawberry tart.” you say, after seeing the delight in Riddle's smile after eating from your fork.

He blushes a little more, but answers in a soft and sweet voice: “That would be wonderful.” And he quickly pulled the rest of the tart close to him, to cut a slice and feed it to you as you did to him. Who was blushing now?

“Rule 53.” He says with his little smirk. “You must replace anything you steal. You made me steal a piece of your tart. In other circumstances, it would be off with your head for making me break a rule you know?” He was smiling nonetheless, so you smiled back and ate the tart he offered you.

Before leaving for Ramshackle Dorm, you remembered that rule. And you dared to be cheeky. Riddle was accompanying you out and you took advantage of his low guard to give him a quick kiss on the lips. He stopped, astonished.

“Oh no!” you say with fake concern “Did I just steal a kiss from you? And according to the rules I must replace anything I steal correct?”

He should be mad at you, but he couldn't. He was trying so hard not to smile, he just gave up. And that smirk of yours, took its place. “In fact. What you just did was a tremendous infraction.” He gets closer to you. “Because it wasn't just a kiss you stole from me. A long time ago, you stole my heart as well.”

Since his Personal Story from SSR Suitor Suit, I can only think of one thing: Amusement Park Date! Ace will not treat this like a date date. It's better for him if you just have fun together without worrying about being on a date.

You'll go with him on thrill rides. Mainly because you would challenge each other. And then you would try to convince each other that the other was the most scared.

When you're already tired of so much adrenaline, it will be time to eat something. You'd going to eat hot dogs and laugh at each other for dropping the straw potato through the other end of the hot dog. If you get sauce on the tip of your nose, he might kiss it to lick the sauce off. And he will be pleased to make you blush. If you guys eat dessert, like ice cream, be careful. Because he'll try to nibble on your dessert just to mess with you.

Even though you're having so much fun with Ace, you still wanted to do some date stuff. Like, for example... Oh! That baby flamingo plush is so cute! I remember you from the ones of Heartslabyul. And what a coincidence (or maybe not), it’s one of the prizes of a basketball game stall. But when you mention it to Ace...

“So why don't you try to win one? Your throws are pretty decent.” He smiles with fake innocence. You look at him sullenly. “Ha ha ha. I know, I know. I haven't completely forgotten that we're on a date. But if I get you the plush, what do I get from that?”

You give him two options: bragging about how good he was on the game and how cool he looked like when he got you that plush. Or a kiss.

“Are you telling me I can only choose one of those? Not fair! That game could be really hard, you know~” You laugh and end up saying that if he really got that plush for you, he could have both.

Are you surprised that he failed on the first tries? Probably from overconfidence? Being fair, the hoops are also different from real basketball hoops. Eventually hitting those hoops becomes a matter of pride. But before he keeps trying, he starts talking to the stall guy. It looks like a normal small talk, but Ace is actually trying to take the trick to win out of the guy. When he gets the information he wanted, he tries again. And wins!

The stall guy give him the baby flamingo. Ace extends his arm to give you the stuffed animal, but, oops, too high. He raised the plush high above his head. You’ll not jump, you’ll play dirty, like he would too. You start poking him around the belly making him tickle. And get your baby flamingo!

The day was already ending and it started to get dark. You heard that the view from the top of the Ferris wheel at night is very beautiful, and it seemed like a nice, and chill way to end an amusement park date. He agrees, he was tired too.

“I thought you were tired.” You comment as he starts trying to swing the Ferris wheel carriage. Then he stops, really tired, he can't even do that. But he’s smiling a lot. The Ferris wheel was very tall, and only one lap took some time. You already had your prize in your hands, but you still hadn't given Ace his.

I got this idea after book 5: a Magical Wheel ride somewhere. “It's a surprise” he tells you, when you ask where you two are going. One of his lines from his PE card is "Are you free? Then why don't we go for a ride on my blastcycle? No, wait, I almost forgot—we need permission to leave the school grounds."

Either he got that permission or just went YOLO like he did with Epel. And since this is you first date, he would be very capable to do that if he didn't get the permission.

He would already be extremely excited to drive a Magical Wheel freely. But with you behind him, that enthusiasm multiplies. If you like speed as much as he does, he'll be over the moon. So happy that he can make that for you. Feel the same excitement he feels.

If you don't like speed and maybe even fear him going so fast in such an unprotected vehicle, you'll probably hug him even tighter and maybe squeeze his coat. And he'll be able to take that as a sign to slow down. He won't be sad that you don't like speed as much as he does. He’ll be disappointed in himself for forgetting your limits and scaring you. He'll apologize to you for that later.

For this, let's assume he used the Dark Mirror to get you somewhere. Because I imagine him taking you on a ride through green plains or mountain range.

And using this last example, where does it take you anyway? How about a river beach, perhaps near a waterfall, to have a somewhat improvised picnic? This because he didn't have the picnic stuff like a picnic blanket or food, so you would need to buy it in the little nearby stores. He was more excited about riding a Magical Wheel with you, so he ended up forgetting about the rest. Sorry.

It was such a beautiful sight. And the sun began to set. “Deuce” you say “Do you remember when you got on a Magical Wheel and took Epel to Sage's Island beach?” he nods “I got a kind of jealous, you know.”

He spits out the soda he was drinking. “Of what? *cough* *cough*” you are both sitting by the water.

“I mean, you take a Magical Wheel that isn't even yours, break the rules about whether or not you can leave the school grounds, and still take someone to the beach at sunset? Epel rode with you on a Magical Wheel before me.” you take your drink to your mouth “And sunset on the beach?” you murmur “That's romantic stuff.”

“Whoa, what? Wait! First of all my intentions were never romantic! I have no interest in him, just to be clear! I just wanted to help him. I would have done exactly the same for you. Maybe even more.” and speaking of which, he remembers: “Hey, wait a second, I've already done even more for you! Do you remember when you got stuck in Scarabia on winter break? Ace and I made it all the way from the Queendom of Roses to Sage's Island without using the mirror. just because you sent that message and we couldn't talk to you afterwords. I'm pretty sure that’s more than taking someone to the beach.”

You smile. “You’re right. And I never thanked you enough for all that work. Or for everything you've done for me since I arrived in Twisted Wonderland.” You put down your drink and hug him. Will your first kiss be enough thanks for now?

Cute Cafe Date! Why? Cater SSR Birthday Boy - Vignette: “I love visiting cafes, but we all know the most photogenic thing on the menu is dessert. Well, I can't take a picture of something without ordering it, and how am I supposed to order something I can't eat? It's a real pickle! ...Wait, I've got it! (MC), what if YOU ordered something and I posted it to Magicam? That settles it. We GOTTA hit up a cafe sometime soon. I know all the hottest spots for 'cammable desserts! And don't worry--food's on me. Deal? Deal!”

He dressed for the occasion, just like you. Everyone could see that you were a couple. And you would be the cutest couple in that cafe. If you're already shy, you'll probably be even more shy. Because someone like you and the handsome young man with you will catch some eyes.

And to make it worse if you're already a little embarrassed by your shyness, Cater will find you so cute that he will put his arm around you and pull you closer. Maybe even give you a few kisses on the cheek.

He will take so many pictures that it will look more like a photo shoot. Photos of the food, of him, of you, of the two together, of the place, everything! You two will talk A LOT. About NRC, about your colleagues, about Magicam gossip, etc.

He already talks cute to most people. So with someone as special as you, not only does he talk in that cute and affectionate way, but also becomes very touchy with you. He'll want to hug you and kiss you on the cheek a lot. If you like PDA, that's perfect. If not, he'll respect that, but still try to at least hold your hand.

You will be there for so long that only when you start to see the space becoming empty, with fewer and fewer customers, will you realize that closing time is approaching. As he promised, he paid for everything.

When you left, the sun was already setting. “Hey, (Y/N)-chan.” He tells you, in a whisper “Before we go back, There's one last place that I would like to go with you~.” And his fingers touch yours, like an invitation you could refuse. But you accept and he intertwine your fingers.

You walk a little until you reach a park. You walk along the dirt path, through the trees and the lawn with flowers. its a pleasant walk. And as night came you could hear the crickets. He stops by the lake, the two of you sit on a bench and he takes another selfie with you. To next giving more attention to his Magicam than to you for a long moment.

You sulk a bit and you decide to go to your own Magicam to see what is taking his attention away from you. You see that he didn't tag you in the photos and that the comments on the photos with you were disabled. “I wanted to show you off but...” Cater says, looking at you with his phone's screen off. “I wanted to make sure no one spoiled this day. You... know...?” He tries to keep his smile.

You put your hands on his face “You don't need to show me off. The best things in life are offline, you know? I don't need to be part of your feed to be part of your life.”

He smiles at you, his most genuine smile, as if to say: this is why I love you. And he can't stand not having you in his arms and kissing your lips.

A Picnic with the best food: his. He’ll carry the basket and picnic blanket in one hand and your hand in the other. He’s the one who usually plans the Unbirthday Parties. Planning your picnic date is a nice change of pace. Plus, he loves seeing your delightful face when you try and like his food and pastries. He would take you to a quiet and peaceful place to enjoy yourselves and each other.

This is his opportunity to rest from his Vice-Houseworden duties. And you can take a rest from Ace, Deuce and especially from Grim's shenanigans.

He would definitely feed you his cooking, mainly to see your smile better after you taste it. He's more of a giver than a taker. So if you did something for him and you were able to sneak that in the basket until he takes it of the basket surprised and feed it to him, he will hesitate at first, flattered. But happily eat it.

He chose a place where hardly anyone would casually find you, so he’ll feel comfortable lying on the blanket and inviting you to lie down with him. You two will probably keep snacking while chatting. He’ll let you rest your head on his chest and play with your hair.

Deep down he can be cheeky. But he doesn't show that side to everyone. You are one of the lucky few.

Your picnic was being peaceful. Maybe so much that that's why he decided to play a little prank on you. You were feeding each other cherries. He puts one in your mouth, but when you bite into it and taste it, it tastes like banana. “TREY!” You complain with the cherry in your mouth without knowing whether to spit it out or not. You even raised to sit down.

He bursts out laughing. You were caught so off guard. “Hey, look on the bright side, I could have been a little meaner. I could have done it with a sour taste.” he smirks.

You couldn't use magic like him, but that didn't mean you couldn't get your revenge. You look into the basket and see the cake you ate a few slices earlier. Cake that was decorated with whipped cream on top. You get some whipped cream on your finger and attack Trey while he's still lying there laughing at you.

But he is faster and manages to grab your wrist and deflect his nose from your finger. You lose your balance and end up on top of him. And to make you blush even more, he licks the whipped cream off your finger. And instead of you getting your revenge, you gave him another reason to laugh: your pinkish face.

He wanted to be cheeky? Well, two can play that game. Why not give him a taste of his own prank? You were close enough and you kissed his lips. You feel his lips twitch into a smile.

If you would like to read more from me, you can find it in my pinned post: INDEX

[yamst3rdamctrl]

When Sexual Desires Clash (Y/N)

Chapter 1: The Start of Something New

Cause you done had mad bitches (ooh)

Been around the whole world (ooh)

And you carried all your fears with ya (ooh)

And now you found the right girl (ooh)

And you don't know what you do with her

You don't (no, no)

Know what you do with her

You don't (ooh, ooh)

Omniscient

YN was standing in the kitchen listening to rerun episodes of Insecure while fixing breakfast. After YN had finished, she was still enjoying her show when her phone began to rang.

Incoming Call Lupita..

YN POV

As I answered Lupita call I wondered why she was calling so damn early.. "Bitch you know its like 10 am in the morning." I said to Lupita. "Girl you forgot today is the dinner pool party with a few of us?" She questioned. "No girl I didn't but isn't it not until like 4 pm?" YN asked. "Girl yes I just wanna insure your coming. I have a few of my guy friends and you met all of them except one. Shay coming too since her boo thang Winston coming." "Yes sis she is and I'll see you then let me relax. Dance practice kicked my ass last night. I don't understand how hard it is for these girl to dance right with Chris. They do nervous so they fucking forget." YN said irritated. "Sis you right. If I was next to him I would be ready to cum on his face too." Lupita said laughing. "BITCH.. bye I'll see you later." YN laughed. "Bye Girl! Wear some sexy!!"

Omniscient

YN did her daily chores, went shopping, and rested. Before YN knew it was 3:30 pm and she had to get ready. YN is always a little late because she knows barely anybody will be there on time. YN took her slow time getting cute by pulling her hair in a pony tail and putting on her swimwear..

YN decided to let her cocca butter skin show along with her figure. YN then pulled her pony tail down and let her hair flow along with putting on her brown nude wedges. YN looked at herself and thought, "I'm that bitch! Still that bitch will for ever be that bitch!" Its been along time since YN has taken a break for herself. Since breaking up with her ex boyfriend due to him cheating on her she focused on herself. She would occasionally go out to find some dick but would never go along with it. YN felt as if no one would fuck her to her sexual desire. Therefore, she would just fuck her self going one day she'll have the BDSM of her dreams.. soon she'll have her dom.

YN gathered her belongings and her packed bag usually when they have a dinner night they spend the weekend in the vacation home. YN ensured to bring her toys because in her head she would be the single one left out..

4:50 pm Party Arrival

YN parked her car and walked through the gate that lead to the pool area. "What Up Bitchhhh" YN yelled and Lupita ran straight to her. "Girl look at you!! You wasn't playing when I said get sexy!!" Lupita said. "Nope I was not up. Hello Big One" YN said to Winston and dapped him up while hugging her best friend Shay.. "Girl! You look goodt. I'm glad Lupita invited the other person." Shay said smirking. "What do you mean?" YN asked confused. Soon as YN turned her head to the pool she saw a 6'2 burnt caramel complexion coming out of the pool drying his head off. When the figure removed the towel off his head all YN could do was watch and scream internally. YN never knew that she could be wet like this again. The figure walked up and reached out his hand and said, "Lupita, this must be who you were telling me about.. Hi YN, it's so nice to meet you. Lu has told me so much about you. My name is Michael B. Jordan".....

Sooo.. I have stories on Wattpad but I don't get that much love on here. I'm trying to get as much love as I can so Tumblr here we are... I'm going to show yal how to show MBJ love! 🩷

[beanghostprincess]

Sanuso incorrect quotes!!

(some are slightly suggestive)

Sanji: When you said 'Magic in Bed', I wasn't expecting this... Usopp: *pulls out card from deck* Now, was this your card? Sanji: Oh damn-

Sanji: Just be careful, Usopp! Usopp: *heading out the door* I'm always careful, Sanji! Usopp: It's everything around me that's careless.

Usopp: I want to wake up with you every day for the rest of our lives. Sanji: I wake up at 4:30 AM every day to make breakfast. Usopp: I want to see you at some point every day for the rest of our lives.

Usopp: I fell— Sanji: From heaven? Usopp: No, I literally fell— Sanji: In love with me the moment you saw me? Usopp: MY ARM IS BROKEN! Sanji: Okay, but do you think I'm pretty? Be honest.

Usopp: Okay, but if you're not gay then why are you always holding my hand and kissing me and telling me I’m your boyfriend? Sanji: Dude- It's satire! Usopp: THAT'S NOT WHAT SATIRE MEANS!

Usopp: We both look very handsome tonight. Sanji: You know, if you'd just said that I looked handsome, I would have said, "So do you." Usopp: I couldn't take that chance.

Usopp: Hey, wanna take a shower with me? Sanji: I have a gun in that nightstand beside the bed. If I ever say no to that question, I want you to take it out and shoot me because I’ve obviously gone crazy.

Usopp: We should get you to a doctor for a check up immediately. What if it happens again, and there isn’t anyone around to help you? What if it’s congenital? Oh my God! Was it me? Did I hurt you? Sanji: …You realize any other person that made their partner pass out on bed would simply feel really proud of themselves, right?

Sanji: Is something burning? Usopp, leaning seductively on the counter: Just my desire for you. Sanji: Usopp, the toaster is literally on fire.

*Usopp comes home absolutely drunk, undresses, and stands in Sanji’s bedroom.* Sanji: Mon trésor, are you.. coming to bed? Usopp: No thank you, I’m sure you’re lovely but I have a girlfriend. Usopp: *Lies on the ground and falls asleep* Sanji: ...

Sanji: The stars are so beautiful... Usopp: They're just giant balls of gas. Sanji: You know what, if you're just going to ruin this, then- Usopp: And yet none of them are as huge as my love for you. Sanji: Oh...

Sanji: *banging a pen on the table out of frustration* Usopp: Stop that. How would YOU feel if I banged you on the table? Sanji: I— Sanji: I don’t know the correct answer to that question.

Sanji: When we started dating, you know what Usopp often said to me? Nami: Please stop flirting with other people?

Usopp: So, what’s Sanji's type? Nami: Brown eyes, kind, oblivious, good sense of humor, turtle lover. Usopp: Sounds kind of like me. Too bad we’re just friends. Nami: Did I mention oblivious? Usopp: Yeah, why? Nami: Okay, just making sure.

Zoro: Hey, what’s up? Usopp: The sky. Zoro: No, I meant like, what are you doing? Usopp: Oh, Sanji. Sanji: *highfives Usopp* Nice one, mon amour.

Robin: Wow, you and Usopp are home early from the movies. What happened? Sanji: We got kicked out because Usopp wouldn't stop yelling diving scores as people jumped off the titanic. Usopp: That last guy had a solid 8, I'm telling you!

Nami: I like your top, Sanji! Usopp: I have a name, you know. Sanji: *sighs* Why. Why are you like this.

Nami: Who do we know that has handcuffs? Usopp: Well Sanji and I- Sanji: *elbows Usopp* Usopp: ...wouldn't know.

Sanji: sapnu puaS. Nami: What?? Usopp: What language is that. Sanji: Turn your phone 180 degrees <3 *Sanji was removed from the groupchat*

Usopp: Sorry, I'm late to the party. I've been doing things. Sanji, entering in an unbuttoned shirt: I got caught up doing things too. Chopper: Wow, Usopp was late too! What a coincidence!

Usopp: Where are you going? Sanji: To get MYSELF a gift cause somebody didn't get me one! Usopp: I told you I did! Its coming here on Friday! Zoro and Nami, knowing full well that Usopp got Sanji an engagement ring: *eating popcorn*

Sanji, holding a rock: Usopp just gave this to me and said "I feel like you deserve the moon but all I can give you is a rock". Nami: If you don't marry him, I will.

Zoro: So, are you two dating now? Sanji & Usopp: Yes. Zoro: Why? Sanji: I happen to find Usopp very appealing. Zoro: Yeah, I can understand that. I'm trying to figure out what's wrong with Usopp.

Usopp: *yawns* Sanji: Yeah, being that pretty must be tiring. Usopp: Then you must be exhuasted. Nami: Will you two shut up? Some of us are lonely and have their girlfriends very far away.

Usopp: Come on, Nami. Nobody actually believes that Sanji is in love with me. Nami, to The Crew: Raise your hand if you think that Sanji is helplessly in love with Usopp. *Everyone raises their hand* Usopp: Sanji, put your hand down.

Usopp: Sanji annoyed me today so I told him that I can’t wait to see what they have planned for our special day tomorrow. Nami: There is nothing special about tomorrow. Usopp: But there is something special about watching the color leave his face as panic takes over.

Usopp: This food is too hot... I can't eat it. Sanji: You’re very hot, and I still eat you. Everyone at the table: *silence* Nami: YOU GUYS ARE DISGUSTING! Zoro: One dinner... I just want ONE DINNER!

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

season 1 episode 20 thoughts

oh i did NOT think the BUG episode would be the scariest one so far, but here we are!!!!

so there are some weird disappearances in the pacific northwest again. famously a spooky place (see twilight for further details)

we see the bugs start swarming and i did NOT like that <3

cut to mulder and scully in his office, he's showing her a bunch of lumberjacks that he describes as "rugged manly men in the full blood of their manhood" which is. already a lot to unpack. but he asks scully to notice anything off about them.

she is, rightfully confused, and says "what am i looking for?" "anything strange, unusual, unlikely, a boyfriend"

now mulder. you sound like you are into lumberjacks. this is a safe space to share your thoughts on the subject of rugged manly men.

(scully laughs at this. she was probably also thinking, man, he seems really into that. we can unpack that later. but she wouldn't press him on that subject because she is respectful)

but he's so excited to go! he pulled strings to get the case and he says "c'mon scully, it'll be a nice trip to the forest" which is somewhat charming but again this is the forest where people disappear so i would personally be LESS excited to visit than he was

(oh. and the fact that he told her it would be a nice trip gets a LOT sadder later)

so they trek up the mountain in their raincoats! and get stuck in the back of a truck together! all things that we want to happen to them!

there seems to be this war going on between ecoterrorists and loggers that they've stumbled into. and the logger guy says that these ecoterrorists are "treehuggers" who are the same as those who "went up to Canada in the Vietnam War... they're cowardly and so are their tactics"

and it's so rare you learn exactly what to think of a person with one sentence they say but boy. is this a prime example.

they find a suspicious cocoon in the trees and decide scully should be lifted up and investigate which i thought was RUDE. why her? hasn't she done enough? i mean i think the real answer was she was small enough to fit in the lifty contraption but still. she sees a desiccated hand sticking out and 2+2 is starting to look a lot like 4

they drag the cocoon to the ground and cut it open and she says it feels like the body has had all its fluids drained from it, which is exactly the kind of knowledge i think is attractive in a woman to possess

at this point, i made a note that as far as evils go, i certainly could believe man eating bugs. bigfoot, as they note in the episode, seems far-fetched for this case, but if i woke up tomorrow and checked the news and saw that a new bug was eating people in washington i'd be like damn, hope my mutuals there are okay. but would i have trouble believing it? ABSOLUTELY not.

the environmentalist they rescued seems to think that the bugs are coming from the old growth trees, which i found to be a very compelling argument from the show to Leave the Damn Trees Alone. logging rates must have crumbled after this hit the airwaves.

and he reveals that the bugs HATE the light, so now fuel preservation is very important. the old logger guy runs away and gets eaten and tbh i wasn't that sad sorry.

scully gets some of the bugs from a core sample of the old-growth tree and starts talking about what she learned in biology courses about them. i am very much in support of bug facts with scully and would attend many hours of this lecture.

they find an old radio but it's broken :( but mulder fixes it! which tells us he knows how to fix things. what a Rugged Manly Man.

the environmentalist takes the last of the fuel to go and rescue his friends and mulder stops him at gunpoint but ultimately lets him go. now they have like, no fuel!!!! and the others- scully included- are pissed! if it gets dark they will die because the bugs will eat them which is a lousy way to go! they argue for a bit and then realize they should patch up any sort of holes in the walls to prevent bugs getting in. scully is justified in her anger, i would say.

(actually thought this was a great detail. mulder is so trusting. he genuinely believes that people can be good, or rehabilitated if they aren't. he trusts the deepthroat figure and is deeply hurt when he tries to lead them down the wrong path. and when that one guy who vowed to kill him was on the loose, he still wanted to take him alive. he seems to fully believe that people can be good, even at the expense of his own safety)

i sat back to watch the next scene and things got very intense VERY FAST. the bugs start getting into the cabin despite their best preparation and scully freaks the fuck out. she's panicking, swatting her arms, backed up against the wall, screaming "mulder, get them off of me" and he holds her while he tries to explain that they're okay, the bugs won't swarm while they're in the light.

this, to me, was excellent. exactly the level of angst/comfort i can hope for when i click play on an episode. i love to see our normally stoic characters lose their minds, and i think this is the wildest we have ever seen her (with a close second being the time she told the psychic that if he hurt mulder she would kill him herself) and i loved that she asked mulder to get them off of her, seeming so desperate to believe that was a thing he was capable of doing. she trusts him so entirely.

so after that they sit on the bed next to each other with their shoulders touch. which is fine! i'm fine. toooootally fine. and she explains to him how the bugs are like fireflies in their biological processes. more bug facts with scully.

mulder says again that he hasn't given up hope that their environmentalist will return to come and get them, once again reiterating that he is deeply trusting and in many ways a sad puppy dog

in the day they make a break for it and they find the old logger guy having been eaten and left in a cocoon and ohh my skin was CRAWLLLLLING.

but the environmentalist comes back!! mulder's faith in humanity was well-placed!!! he tells them to get in the jeep NOW.

just when we think everything is in the clear the environmentalist hits one of the spikes he set to pop the logger's tires and NOOOO. THEY'RE IN THE DARK... NOOOOOOO THE BUGS ARE GETTING IN. NAURRRRR. I WAS SHOCKED. THE BUGS COCOON'ED THEM. IT WAS HORRIFIC.

but the people mulder had called for help with the fixed radio came and got them shortly after. they took their cocooned bodies and brought them to a quarantine. and somehow they had not yet had all their fluids drained.

we see mulder come out with an oxygen tank attached and horrific burns/rashes and i wrote "dude the bugs Fucked them up". scully and the forest agent are still out. he asks the doctor if scully will be okay; he says she's not out of the woods yet (poorly timed pun) and lost a ton of fluid. for once, she cannot do the doctoring.

(and this is where my heart shattered and dropped onto the cold floor) mulder says, "i told her it would be a nice trip to the forest"

oh, mulder, who is driven to the brink by the need to keep everyone around him Safe at all times, led them straight into this scenario. and now her unconscious body laying on that bed while the doctor does everything he can to try and get her back to life is going to haunt him forever, just like every other person he couldn't protect from the world.

the doctor says that the government WILL succeed in eradicating the bug species through controlled burns and pesticides. when mulder says what if that actually doesn't cut it, he says it'll have to. and thus ends the episode.

i was at the edge of my seat throughout this, and did not think it was going to get as dark as it did, but it certainly did! i feel like they will need a few weeks to recover but i've gotten use to this show just. putting them back in the office after a near death situation. so i doubt the long term bug trauma will be addressed here. however, i bet that it will make any future visits to the doctor by our three survivors very uncomfortable.

"any changes to your medical history?" "i was eaten by ancient bugs that drained my fluids and wrapped me in a cocoon so i'm not sure if that will have any long term effects" "...okay"

[nkirukaj]

vVv is for Voe (2)

Pairing: StaticBeau & RadioBeau

Warnings: Swearing; Sexual Innuendos

Genre: Humor!

Word Count: 4.3K

2. Strut

“And the break room is over there,” Vinny points to the room

Voe rolls her eyes God this is so fucking boring. She glances down at her nails and thinks about how they could seriously use a manicure, tuning Vinny out completely as she mindlessly follows him down the hall. 

“Are you ready to look around the lab downstairs? Or something…?”

Voe takes a moment to answer “Oh were you talking?”

“A-anyway the computer…place is uh- sorry, getting my notes mixed up,” He scrolls through his Vpad

Voe sighs dramatically and taps her foot impatiently, they’re in front of a room door where they can hear giggling coming from inside “What’s in there?” Voe points to it

“Uh, storage…closet,”

“I don’t know any storage that giggles,”

Vinny looks nervous “We should keep going,” he tries to rush her

She crosses her arms “You don’t even know where you’re going,”

“We’re going to the computer room! Just so you know how that works,”

“I know how computers work,”

He sounds exasperated “Would you please just come?”

Voe smirks “Why? What are you gonna do if I don’t?”

“You mean what will I do if you don’t?” Vox appeared behind her out of a nearby camera. She turns and looks up at him “Did we not have a discussion about you listening to me?”

“What’s in that room?”

“Why?”

“Whatever it is, I heard it giggling,”

“It’s a giggle monster,” He turns to Vinny “Take her to the system room, show her around there,”

Voe groans “Why do I have to do this, I’m bored!”

Vox turns back to her “Oh, do you know where everything is?” They stare at each other “That’s not a rhetorical question, do you know where everything is or not?”

She rolls her eyes again “No,”

“Great,” he turns to Vinny once more “Show her to the system room,”

“Yes, sir,”

“Uuuuggghhhh!” she stomps away

Vox enters the room and can be heard asking “What did you need?” before shutting the door behind him.

____________________________________

Voe plops down on her bed and pulls out her Vphone that Vox had given her, she had already set up a Sinstagram, if it was anything like the platform that it was copying, she’d be a Queen at this. She scrolls through her pictures of her in new outfits and trying on new shoes, pressing the button to go LIVE. When she does, she watches the camera, waiting for the viewer count to go up.

who is this?

holy Satan its a deer

why she not saying nothin? And comments like it float by at the bottom of the screen

“Hey,” 

um hi?

who tf r u???

“Y’all don’t know me…yet, but you will,” she chuckles

tryna b all mysterius but who is dis bitch

wtf

devil

Voe smirks and finally introduces herself “I’m Voe, I go by Voe the Beau, because it means ‘beautiful’, and I am,” she poses in front of the camera

must be one of dem new sinners

“I am pretty new, but don’t worry about that, let’s worry about all the questions y’all could be asking me right now to get to know me! So go head, ask mommy!”

Mommy? oh hell nah

she is kinda hot tho 👀

that don’t mean she givin mommy

what she given den? daddy?

idk maybe

“I prefer to be called Mommy by men,”

oooo wat u want women 2 call u?

don’t ask her nuthin!

Voe smirks “Women can call me Daddy,”

HOOOOTTTT

that’s it I’m sold

wats dis? a follow button?

alright maybe she get a chance!

“Yeah that’s right, be good little boys and do what Mommy says,”

damn yes ma’am

“Now, who would be interested in seeing me wearing different clothes?” Many people put hands-up emojis in the comments “Great!” She claps her hands “Then you might want to follow me because I used to get real spicy on my lives when I was alive, especially when I get bored,”

r u gunna get nakey? 😁

“Wait and see…” she puts her finger over her lips, shushing them, and winks “If I do it’ll be for the ladies. I love me some women,”

hooooootttttttttttt

“Currently I’m living at V-Tower, and I was bored as fuck today,”

shit u workin 4 da Vess??

“Specifically Vox, but he’s mad annoying,”

vox?? lucky!!!!

da most famous Overlords

some of ‘em

Nah the most famus

“Oooh, gossip! Who are some other famous Overlords?”

rosie, alastor carmilla carmine

i work for her!

nobody asked tho

zestial

what about zeezi

👎🏽

whats wrong wit her?

she ain’t all that

Yes she is

“Wait, what’s an Overlord anyway?”

😱😱😱😱😱😱😱

the most powerful sinners in Pentagram City

“Oooh, I like power, and the Vees are Overlords?”

most powerful

put some respect on Alastor name 4 he cum 4 u

🖕🏽that guy

HE OWNS MY GIRLFRIEND!

“They can own people?”

u become 1 by owning souls

the vees own millions each way more together

Voe rubs her chin “That’s interesting,”

how you live there and they don’t own ya soul?

She shrugs “I don’t know, they never asked for it. Right now I’m just Vox’s assistant,”

right 👉🏽👌🏽 assistant

She laughs “What does that mean?”

u know what it means

“I just hand him papers and write segments for him,”

seg-ments seg sex

don’t lie lots of ppl fuc Vox

“I don’t fuck him!”

But u want to

“I don’t actually, he’s kind of a pompous little baby,” she raises the pitch of her voice, mockingly “But I don’t know, Velvette’s got it going on,” Voe purrs.

She’s my fave, cuz she owns me.

“I love a Black queen,”

The door to the room she was given opens up. A different-looking assistant came into the room.

“Mr. Vox would like to see you in his office,”

“Really? Right now?” she looks at the demon

She nods “Yes,”

Voe sighs and rolls her eyes, turning the live off and putting her phone back into her pocket. She walks with the assistant out into the hallway, just stopping.

“Are you not gonna show me?”

“Mr. Vox said that since you know everything, you could find it yourself,” Voe raises a brow “I’ll just show you,” and she takes off showing her to the elevator, pressing the button for her. While she descends in the elevator alone, she thinks of all the things that the LIVE told her. Was Vox really that powerful, maybe she should cozy up to him, play into his ego, hop onto the bandwagon, and maybe something else? She wanted that power and she wanted it now. 

She steps out of the elevator and walks the thin walkway up to where Vox is sitting, in front of many large screens, showing the activities of many denizens of Hell. She stops and puts her hands on her hips.

“Yes, Vox?” She breathes out

He turns around in his chair “Saw you were doing a LIVE in your room,” he takes a sip from his mug that says ‘FUCK ALASTOR’ “Come closer,” he beckons her with his index finger “Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble,”

She obeys him and takes a step forward. He’s confused a bit “Come here, come to me, my dear,” she does, stopping when she’s about a foot away from him.

“Yes?”

“I have an idea for you,” he smirks “We’re supposed to get a new shipment of appliances, and Velvette is getting some new clothes,” he pauses, sipping again “We’re sending them to you. You’re gonna advertise them on your LIVEs,”

“I just started doing LIVEs,”

“I know you did,” he grins “You’re gonna do another one later today, and then tomorrow, and then… next Friday you’re gonna be on Vox 2-Nite. We’re gonna meet this Voe the Beau, introduce her to all of Hell,”

She widens her eyes “Really?”

Vox nods “Yeah, really. But maybe you don’t wanna do it. Am I wasting your time?” he starts to turn around in his chair.

Voe yanks him back “Fuck yeah! You’re gonna pay me for making the lives right?”

His grin falls “No, it’s gonna be free labor, why wouldn’t I?!”

“Don’t yell at me Vox,”

“Or what? If you want this, you’re gonna have to be a good girl. Are you a good girl Voe?”

She blushes and looks away “Sometimes,”

He shrugs “Oh, well sometimes isn’t good enough. Maybe I could find someone else to do it,” he turns away in his chair mumbling to himself

Voe sighs “Yes,”

“Hmm?”

“Yes,”

“Yes, what?”

“Yes, Vox,”

“Yes, Vox what?”

She inhales her blush taking over most of her face “Yes Vox, I- I’m a good girl,”

He swivels back around in his chair, his voice distorting “I know you are. Your next LIVE is at 8 sharp. You are going to be doing a makeup tutorial with Velvette’s new ‘Sinful Palette’,” he opens it up for her, then places it in a bag that he hands to her. She takes the bag.

“Is that all?”

“And wear something nice. That’s all,” he smirks at her “Actually Voe” he turns back around and grabs a bag that reads ’Triple 6’ on it “Actually, wear this,” he hands it to her with a huge grin “Can’t wait to watch it,”

She turns to walk away and then turns back “Vox,” she calls

“Hmm?”

“You’re an Overlord, right?”

“That’s correct,”

“Why haven’t you asked for my soul?” 

He crosses his legs “I have bigger plans for you Voe, unless you want me to have your soul,”

She turns back around without answering him, and Vox watches her walk away.

_____________________________

“Just because I want you on camera, doesn’t mean that you don’t still have other work to do,” Vox tells her “I need you to do my dry cleaning, but don’t take it to that other place, I hate that place. Take it to that other other place, you know the one. And I need my lunch, you know my lunch?”

“Since when am I in charge of your lunch?”

“Today,”

She rolls her eyes “What do you want?”

“You know what I want,”

“No, I don’t,”

Vox groans “I don’t have time to explain things to you,”

Voe lets out an exasperated sigh as he throws his suit at her.

She wandered the streets of Hell trying to find the other other dry cleaners, going inside every dry cleaner and asking if Vox sends his assistants in there. They all told her, yes, but some of those bitches were lying. She settled on one that was bigger and newer than the others, it gave her a crisp feeling. She dropped it off and went to take care of lunch.

“If I was Vox, what would I eat? Hmm? Chargers and wires?” She chuckles to herself “Wait, how does he get food in his mouth?” 

When she exited, across the street was a restaurant that’s called ‘vVv Restuarant’ and slapped her forehead. ‘Trust us with your tastebuds’ it read under the sign. Voe was quite unimpressed with the lack of variety on the menu. Vox was a man so he’d probably complain about only having one sandwich, so she bought him two.

Rushing out with the sandwiches and a drink, she was walking pretty quickly, eager to get away from all the heathens causing damage outside. Her heels clicked in a quick rhythm as she made her way through the streets, not fully there in her own head. She thought of her first LIVE as an official influencer and what she would say, she wondered what Vox thought of her and why suddenly he was interested in her talent. Her thoughts were broken by running into something thin and solid.

“Yo, what the fuck?” Was her instinct to say, she rubbed her forehead and opened her eyes looking up. She was greeted by the sight of an extremely tall demon, with a fancy red coat, a cane with a microphone on it, and red hair with black tips, that gathered on top of his head in a similar shape as the ears she had on her head. A large grin took up the majority of his face and his bright red eyes were quite a sight to behold. 

“Oh my, such crude language for such a lovely girl,” he puts his hand out, leaning down. She takes it and he helps her up

“What do you expect, you knocked into me?”

“Well, perhaps you should slow down instead of rushing,”

“Yeah, I got things to do,”

“Then I guess you should be on your merry way,” and moves out of her way

“Right,” she walks past him “Weirdo,” she mumbles and takes off back to V-Tower

She plants the sandwiches in front of Vox 

“Your suit will be ready in two days,” she tells him

“Awe, thank you,” he speaks mockingly and pinches her cheek

Voe pulls away “I got you that for lunch,”

“Aw- wait, two? I only wanted one!”

“How would I know that? You didn’t tell me what you wanted!”

Vox groans “I gave you a clear list of things, did I ask for two fucking sandwiches? NO! I asked for one!”

“You didn’t ask for anything!”

Vox starts pacing “The camera already adds 10 pounds, now it’ll add about 500 pounds!”

Voe scoffs “First off terrible math, and second you don’t have to eat them both now!”

“I can’t deal with you right now, just put them down and get out of my sight!”

“Oh Vox, scared you’re not pretty?” She jokes

He whips around “Get out NOW!” His voice distorting

“Fine, geez,” she throws her hands up and leaves his office, unsure of what the previous interaction meant for her career and advancement. She takes the elevator back up to the ground floor finding Velvette looking around the lobby

“Just the sinner I was looking for! Come here love,” 

Voe walks up to the doll demon, wondering what she needs “Yeah?”

Velvette puts a measuring tape around her waist “I guess we don’t have to take it out. You know you should really wear clothes your size because I thought you were huge,”

Voe blinks “These are the clothes you gave me,”

She waves her off “Mhmm,” and types on her phone before taking Voe’s hand “Come,” She leads Voe to her studio, where there’s an entire rack of clothes set up and ready for Voe to try on. “Try these on,” she flippantly commands her while staring at her phone “Don’t do the live until I know if these fit, I will not be embarrassed,”

“Oh, Vox gave me something to wear,”

Velvette looks up in disgust “What from that horried store Triple 6? They can’t dress themselves, let alone anyone else! Did you see what they had Verosika Mayday wearing on her tour?”

“I don’t know who that is,”

“You’ll wear these that I give you. And you can wear those Triple 6 rags to bed,”

“Fine then. I will tell you that my signature color is pink. It looks great against my complexion,”

“And what a fine complexion you have, you’re welcome,” she winks at the doe

Voe tries on clothes for what seems like hours Velvette occasionally gives her feedback

“Strike a pose. No no, just. What are you doing? Just put your hands on your hips! Damn was that so fucking hard? How about earrings?” She leans into Voe’s face “Your ears aren’t pierced! Well, we’ll get on that. Hmm, maybe a nose ring?”

Voe shakes her head “I don’t know about that,” 

“You have the nose for it!”

Voe raises a brow, Velvette sighs

“Perhaps a bellybutton ring,” She claps “Now!” She goes through the outfits Voe has tried on, and picks one “Wear this on your LIVE. If you’re going to be working here then you need to look your best, always. You’re representing us, and we will not be made a fool of. Understand?”

Voe nods “Yes ma’am,”

“Good,” she hands her the outfit “Here,”

The outfit was a hot pink romper with a cool blue blazer and studded cool blue pumps.

“I certainly hope you can walk in heels,”

“I can,”

“Can you strut?”

Voe smirks “I do it every day,”

“Well do it right now,”

Voe slips on the pumps and shows Velvette her model walk, loading it with all the confidence she’s saved in her back pocket for years.

“A bit shaky, but not bad. Not bad at all,” Velvette glances down at Voe’s ass when she says this and Voe decides to give her a wink back.

_______________________

“Hi guys, it’s Voe the Beau, and I know I did a LIVE earlier, but I’m back and I’m gonna show you how to do my makeup,” Voe takes off her blazer and puts her hair back

cute

brand???

show us the palette!!

“Today I’m using Velvette’s newest palette, ‘Sinful’,”

oh shit

THAT HASNT RELEASED YET!!

LUCKY BITCH

She opens the palette and shows it to the camera “Ooh these are some dark tones, I love that,” she reads the names of the shades “So we have, ‘Blood’, which a deep red ‘Poison’ which is a deep purple and- Oh” Voe sounds grossed out when she reads one. She turns it back to the camera, covering the name of one “Guys, you see this one? This white one? It’s called ‘Val’s Juice’, and it has little sparkles in it,”

 OMG I LOVE SPARKLES

“Same girly pop,”

ur uber hot

“I know!” She smiles “Damn, if this what his juice looks like, what Val be eatin’?”

ME BABY

HE CAN EAT ME!

OMG VAL IS SO SEXY

LOL FUCK HIM FOR ME LMAO

“Oooh here’s one for me, it’s a dark pink. It’s called ‘Love Potion’,”

I AM SO JELLY

nah she too pretty to just be on my phone screen

“Then maybe use your Vpad, if you have one, which you should,”

i want it in blue

yesssss that electric

“Okay so today I’ll be using, ‘Love Potion, ‘Val’s Juice’ and this black one called ‘Abyss’,”

nah she a freak yall can’t see it?

“Me? A freak?” She puts her hand on her chest  jokingly “What gave you that idea?”

not u teasing us

girl please

Voe starts with her foundation, then concealer and powder. She fills in her eyebrows but makes it clear that “That’s an optional step,”

how r u so beautiful???

Voe shrugs “I guess I just died that way,”

shes so pretty

im gunna double die shes so gorgeous

show them thighs off

“My thighs are currently covered, but I’m known as a ‘thicc queen’” she puts it in quotes as she puts the white eyeshadow in the corners of her eyes “So I’ve got ‘Val’s Juice’ in the corners of my eyes,” she says while laughing

lmaooooooooooooooooooo

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

😭😭😭😭😭

BAD AIM I GUESS

Voe laughs along with them and says “Now I’m using ‘Love Potion’,” She spreads the shade onto her eyelid “It’s so pigmented, I love this! You don’t have to go back over and over and layer it! It’s just right on the first go! Okay now I’m using ‘Abyss’ on the edge of my eye” She outlines a wing and fills it in with the shade, blending it on with her lids. “Okay you can never go wrong with some highlight and glitter,” she applies them and turns to the camera “How do I look chat?”

gorgeous 😍

WE NEED TO SEE MORE OF YOU

promise to come back!!

“Okay, chat question. How would I look with a bellybutton ring?”

omg so cuuuute

even cuter with a nose ring

“Ugh, you guys and this nose ring propaganda,”

YOU’D LOOK HOT AND EDGY

“But I’m not edgy,”

what are u then?

“I’m more of a preppy popular girl,” she pouts her plump lips and leans forward

preppy wit a nose ring????

“It’s not really my style but I’d try a belly button ring,” Voe looks at the time and decides to end the LIVE “Okay, that’s all for tonight! Love ya!” she blows the camera a kiss before turning it off. “UGH!” she falls back on her bed. Pretending to be all high energy was exhausting for her. She even raised the pitch of her voice on the LIVEs, it wasn’t all pretend, but this heightened version of herself required way too much energy. The door slid open and Vinny entered

“What Vinny?”

“Mr. Vox wants to see you,”

“Where?”

“In the conference room? Uh, well the Vess would like to see you,”

When Voe reached the conference room, all the Vees and their intimidating presence were fully displayed. They all have straight faces and are eerily quiet until she settles herself into a seat.

“Yes?” she sounds bored

“We saw your LIVE, and I just wanted to issue my congrats,”

They respond with scattered clapping “Outstanding dear,” Velvette compliments her “I had my doubts, but you rocked that romper,”

“Yeah, my juice looks good on you,” Val grins, saliva dripping from his lips

“There’s more isn’t there?” she asked “You didn’t just call me down here to give me praise,”

“We want the LIVEs to be longer, clearly the people love to hear you, so perhaps script them?”

“And you need to start doing videos too, and they have to be at least 3 minutes long,”

They all look at Val to see his input and he’s playing a game on his phone. He looks up “Oh I don’t have anything to say,”

An intern bursts into the room and calls out “Mr. Vox! Mr. Vox!” they sound out of breath and they all turn to them

“We are literally in a MEETING!” Vox slams his fist on the desk

When the intern catches their breath they say “The Radio Demon is on the air,”

Vox stands up hastily “Meeting adjourned!” And runs out of the room

Vel and Val purse their lips in annoyance

“Are you two coming or WHAT?”

They step up to begrudgingly follow him and Voe tags along, wanting to be supported. She runs up next to Velvette 

“The Radio Demon?” she asks the other woman

Vel rolls her eyes “Ugh,”

“What are you saying you fucking asshole?!” Vox asks crouched over a radio

“Vox, calm down before you cause another blackout,”

“What’s got his panties bunched up?”

Val takes a drag of his cigarette “El demonio de la radio”

“Heh?”

Vel scoffs “The Radio Demon,”

“Who is that? Vox’s mortal enemy?”

She groans “I guess you could say that,”

“If you hate him, why are we listening to this?”

“Because he’s trying to find, what is it Vox?”

“An angle!”

“Yes, an angle,” Velvette mocks him

“VINNY COME TAKE NOTES. I’VE GOT YOU NOW ALASTOR! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!”

Voe looks around the room “Does he know that he looks legit crazy right now?”

Velvette shrugs “I don’t know what’s going on through his head in these moments,” 

Voe looks down at the radio “I can’t believe you even own this,” she goes to poke it before her hand is swatted at by Vox

“DON’T TOUCH THAT!” he snarls 

“What the fuck? Is it really that serious?”

Velvette rolls her eyes “You have no idea,”

“But you didn’t hear this from me!” The voice on the radio said, “Aha!”

“Aha!” He mocks “SHUT UP BITCH”

Voe leans forward on the table “Wow Vox, I haven’t known you that long, but this is the lowest point I’ve ever seen you at,”

“Oh trust me, he’s been lower,”

“Oh I am so much better than him, right?” he whips around to the others who nod bored

Voe laughs “Vox you’re constantly acting like the big man in charge, but you come undone for a voice on the radio? What, do you think he’s prettier than you?”

“HE IS NOT!”

“Ugh, I can’t” Velvette walks away scrolling away on her phone

Voe turns to walk away. She cannot see Vox like this and hears the clicking of heels that are not hers. She turns to find Valentino behind her with a huge grin. 

“Amorcita,” he calls her, then bends down to meet the doe at eye level “I’ve heard from Vox that you desire the game that comes from us, yes?”

She blinks “You guys talk about me?”

“Of course hermosa! You’re something special,” he winks

She lets this compliment settle “Go on,”

“You’ll never get what you’re looking for working for Vox…come work for me instead,”

She’s skeptical “Don’t you make porn?”

He takes a drag on his cigarette “I prefer to call them adult films. They’re art,” he chuckles “and you are the perfect asset to enhance my art. A thick brown doe, now that is something people would pay top dollar to see. You could easily be bigger than Angel Dust,”

“Isn’t Angel Dust your pride and joy?”

He shrugs “Don’t worry, he’s just a toy. You would have my full attention,” he grins again 

Voe starts walking and Val follows her. 

“I don’t know about doing porn,”

He grabs her chin “Aww, are you shy? You can’t be with that body,” he bites his lip

“I’m not shy, I just think I could be doing better things. Did you know Vox invited me to be a guest on his show?” She pulls her chin out of his grip. 

Val squints and furrows his brows, letting out a tiny ‘squeak’ as he responds “And then what? You’re on the show and then you’re done. With me, you’ll be a star forever,”

“Do you want my soul?”

“Well, that is the price, yes,”

“Wouldn’t that mean you own me?” Val shrugs “Give me time to think, we may be able to work something out,”

Time to think? She already knew that she would not be participating in his whore activities, but it was good to leave the door open for further business opportunities. She was above pornography, but never above fame.

[haveyouseenthisskeleton]

How would ur skeles react to their s/o is sleeping. Its cute. Then, n their sleep they let out a explosive crazy fart. I mean, this fart can be heard n every corner of the home. Loudly and Clearly. They dont even wake up, only difference is theyre now snoring

??!!

That took me so offguard at 4 in the morning I had to answer it immediately. That's genius lol. I'll go with it's the middle of the night and skeleton is sleeping with them.

Undertale Sans - He jerks away in fear, looking everywhere around him when his eyes fall on you. Oh. Oh damn. This was something. Welp. That's why he marry you after all. He just kisses you on the cheek and goes back to sleep. What? It's all you wonder? Well not exactly as he will call you nothing but "Fartmaster" affectionately for two whole months and do the reverence every time he sees you. He's so in love. You hate him so much.

Undertale Papyrus - He sits in bed, quite in shock. Did you just do what he thinks you did? Oh my god. That's it. He's never cooking beans ever again for you. This is too much. He wakes up and starts his day early. God, he has to open the window too. When you wake up, he gives you a dark stare and pouts like a child, refusing to talk to you.

Underswap Sans - He chuckles, then can't hold it and howls with laughter. You wake up, annoyed, and half-sleep asks him why he's laughing. Blue just wheezes. He can't breath. And not just because he is laughing. God you smell. He needed that to calm down after his stressing day at work.

Underswap Papyrus - He screams, surprised in his sleep. Then he realises you did that. Oh, it's fine. Wait no, it's not fine! He throws himself out of the bed, screaming. He needs to evacuate! You don't question why he's suddenly running out of the room, opening every window on his way.

Underfell Sans - How could you not wake up to this??? That startles him. You sounded like a damn cave in. What is wrong with you? What the hell did you eat tonight? That's not a human sound! That's a damn earthquake! Oh my god. He's going to sleep in the couch. He can't close his eyes again. When he closes his eyes, all he can hear is your abomination of a fart.

Underfell Papyrus - He jumps on his feet, a bone in hand. Wh-what??? He looks at you, then becomes very pale when he realises what just happened. Even Doomfanger is agitated. He's going to be sick. He's going to take a shower to forget. As soon as he's gone, Doomfanger attacks you for being a weirdo.

Horrortale Sans - You managed to wake him up. That's quite a miracle as Oak is one of the heavy sleeper one. He looks around for threats, half asleep, but sees nothing and he is too tired so he brings you against him and nuzzles in your back. Then he sniffs. He slowly push you back to your side of the bed, and turns his back from you. Damn. You feel offended your pillow just pushed you away.

Horrortale Papyrus - He coughs, choking. He throws himself on the floor and crawls out of here. That's it. He's going to sleep with the chicken. At least they don't try to kill him in his sleep! What the hell??? He finds his brother in the corridor, looking at the ceiling with worry like it's going to fall on his head. "THIS IS FINE. S/O JUST TRIED TO KILL US."

Swapfell Sans - He wakes up, pissed off, and breaks his brother door with a powerful kick. "Rus! I fucking told you to stop playing with your stupid whoopee cushions at 3 am!" Rus opens a confused eye at him, deep asleep. "wha-?" "YOUR WHOOPEE CUSHIONS!" "my wha?" "Your... Wait you were asleep?" "yea. can i go back to sleep now?" Nox closes the door, confused. And goes back to the room. He takes out his phone and asks Google "if the whoopee cushion don't fart, what did?". He then reads the results, slowly turns to you with a dramatic expression and lets go a high pitch scream.

Swapfell Papyrus - He was recording you two to prove you that you're snoring. He is so glad he caught this on the mic. In the morning, you wakes up with a demonic echoed fat as an alarm. Rus replaced every sound he could with this. The microwave ding? A fart. The door ring? A fart. The sound the TV makes when it switchs on? A fart. Your life is now a nightmare.

Fellswap Gold Sans - He gives you an offended stare, makes your soul blue and yeets you out of the room. You crash in the stairs in a scream. Wine closes and locks the door to the room. You have no idea what just happened.

Fellswap Gold Papyrus - He instinctively hugs you to hide from whatever is making his sound. He then shakes you awake, begging you to wake up. You look at him. He whispers "i think there's a monster in the bed..." You stare at him. "... Well yeah." Coffee looks even more scared and starts to cry, crushing you in a hug. "I"m talking about you stupid. You're the monster in the bed." "... oh." "Yeah." "yea..." He calms down a bit after that, but he is still wary. This was not normal.

[delafiseaseses]

So, from the poll I did Tapper is very obscure (only a quarter of voters knew him) so let's do a deep dive into this King.

Now, this is a 'deep dive' so we am gonna be goin' on for quite a bit 'ere. Here's a courtesy read more.

Firstly where is Tapper? Well, here's a camera angle leaving the area with the Kings School of Impersonation.

Facing northwest from the Freeside blue bus door, down the street to a field.

Even at this range it might be hard to see Tapper, his dark clothes blend in with the night... I probably should've waited for the day to get these shots, oh well. T' compensate I've placed a red rectangle around Tapper.

And here's the brown-haired King up close, next to the Water Pump saying his ambient line "The pump is property of The King. You'll need to pay if you want a drink."

Initiating Dialogue with Tapper

Initiating dialogue he reiterates this fact to you. "The King controls the water pump. If you want water, you need to pay like everyone else."

An' y'am given 4 options "Why charge for water?" "How much for a drink?" and "Can I buy bottled water?" (the 4th option is just a 'Time for me to go') We will do these options in descending order because that makes sense.

"Why charge for water?"

"If we let everyone run amok, the damn NCR would shut us down. Gotta have some way to regulate usage."

Now, this line isn't nessercerily a contradiction of anything anyone else says, but it is unusual. Nobody else ever references the idea that the NCR would 'shut down' the pump if it was free. In fact, let's get into this a bit deeper.

The Origins of the Water Pump Aside

Let's briefly talk about the origins of the water pump. It started as a Followers of the Apocalypse project as Julie Farkas says this "With the help of Bill Ronte, we were able to install a water pump just west of here, but the Kings quickly took control of the pump."

She also says "Bill Ronte installed that pump a few years ago, back when he was sober. It was a major improvement for the community. But lately The Kings have started charging locals to use it - and NCR squatters twice as much. That'll come to no good."

Julie's perspective on the reason for this control of the pump is part of her explanation of The Kings. I won't include the part of their origin, but she says this "They've done a lot of good for the community - but that seems to be changing. The flood of NCR squatters has been an affront to them. I guess that explains the situation with the water pump. Usually The King wouldn't let his crew bully folks around like that."

Now Julie specifically says she guessed the reason she gave for why The Kings are doing what they're doing. If Tapper is telling the truth here, it's possible he charges "Squatters" extra out of a misplaced sense of retribution. Which is fucked up, don't get me wrong, but its a reasonin' that makes some sense.

It sort of falls apart when you remember that Old Bill Ronte himself is a New Californian as Dixon the chem dealer explicitly says "Those fools are from NCR. I love seeing those squatters in agony. We were doing just fine before those shits came here and made a mess of things. We don't need NCR eggheads wandering around confusing things." (he's talkin' about both Bill Ronte and Jacob Hoff here).

Now we don't know if Tapper is being honest and somebody from the NCR came and told The Kings to quit it with the free water, if Tapper is lying as justification for the takeover and the charging for water pump use to people he dislikes. Or if it is a mixture of the two. I don't 'ave any definitive answers 'ere. Water licenses are a thing, but that's mostly for the water of Lake Mead, which the NCR has claimed is theirs due to managing the pipes.

"How much for a drink?"

"Just a few caps for a good long swig." 10 caps specifically, and his "Don't get wise. We charge per use, so make that first drink worth the caps." Tapper isn't kidding there.

It was orange of 'no crime' when I started taking this sip, but as you can see its instantly red again. Still, keep the key held down and you can get as much water as you need.

We don't know if that's Local rate, NCR rate or a rate that applies only to people travellin' the area.

For completeness here's Tapper's "Never Mind" dialogue.

"Anything else you want?" Not a very interesting line, for a not very interesting option.

"Can I buy bottled water?"

"Sure thing." and the trade menu opens. Tapper right now has 12 Purified Water and 128 caps. He also has some 10mm cases which are free to grab if you want them for some reason.

And when I said 'Time for me to go.' Tapper, as a Yuri Lowenthal character, said:

"Later." I'm sure some of you can hear this image. Hahahaa. Antony's voice misplaced in other characters as is normal.

So we're done?

So we're done, right? We exhausted Tapper's dialogue, we're done with this?

No, actually, we're not done at all. This is Fallout New Vegas and this is a character I'm highlightin', of course there's more.

You know High Times? The one for Julie Farkas where you help 'Old' Bill Ronte and Jacob Hoff deal with their addictions? We mentioned Bill's connection to the origin of the pump. Well, during the quest connected to the two Julie says this about Bill Ronte when we ask about him for that quest

"Old Bill Ronte is an exceptionally skilled machinist. He could fix the problems we've been having with Freeside's water pump, if he sobered up."

An explicit reference to the water pump is made with Bill Ronte. Not the only one as I told you in the origin of the pump (I could get screenshots of those two, but I can't be arsed).

After dealing with Bill Ronte and Jacob Hoff we go back to Tapper. I should point out that this door near where Bill sits leads fairly close to Tapper's pump, just a little detail. He migfht've lived here back when he and the Followers installed the pump too.

Anyway, after finishin' High Times we return to Tapper and he has new dialogue.

The Reward

"Hey, you helped out Bill Ronte so the Followers worked out a deal for you to drink free." Tapper only mentions Bill because what happens to Jacob Hoff don't matter to this. I find it interestin' that the Followers apparently leveraged this deal for us, Julie doesn't mention this at all. I'm not sure if this means water prices will be better now in exchange for the help of Bill, but at least the pump won't break and leave Freeside waterless anytime soon.

Also that replaces his greeting, so any time you talk to Tapper he will reiterate this fact.

And, indeed, from then on drinking at the pump isn't 'stealing' and there's no way to give Tapper 10 caps for it.

Of course... the Atomic Wrangler and Mick and Ralph's both 'ave sinks that can provide one with clean water for free and are in places that're more convenient to reach, but its a nice sentiment at least, hey?

Conclusion

So, that's Tapper. He's a small character, it's very possible you never noticed he existed, but now you know him. I think the game is made more interesting by his existence.

[coredrill]

SPOILER bravern bd novel thoughts from someone who has not read the thing. LMAO

[obvious disclaimer that not only is all this info secondhand but also idk japanese so gtranslate my love]

man i was so stressed about this for nothing LMAO. like for context here was my thoughts going in:

(girl that timestamp wtf was i doing at 4:14 am 😭😭😭 no wonder its italic city up in there)

and like. sequel bait LMAO. sequel bait is the reason! which is far better than anything i feared would be the case even if i am still 🤨 abt smith henshin on the whole. basically how i see it is like. obviously henshin is ~cool~ like it’s got a solid cool factor to it and i think smith would think it’s cool. i personally am not quite sold on it bc like. i feellike it does undermine the show a LITTLE……..like obviously bravern’s arc was learning to appreciate his human form and now it’s just. ROBO AGAIN WHENEVER LMAO. which again, i love robots and bravern, so cool!! but it does feel like a bit of a regression in terms of thematic strength. however i do definitely see the necessity if they want to make more bravern which the staff has been very open about being the case:

they need. A Robot. obviously

three-store system, they can continue to express love and sex between sumiisa with bravern form

thus, this sequelbait bluray novel. which, sequelbait isn’t my favorite thing in the world obviously, and frankly i still don’t think we need a sequel at all and am inclined to not have one (tho i know that’s personal preference), but like. i got real worried after the first bd dropped so i’m real happy that’s all it is!! a mid bluray bonus is much better than “kuro bravern beats the snot out of petty thieves” which did cross my mind at one point FNDNFNDNND. anyways overall thoughts is that it’s likely Fine/10, not mind-blowing in either direction ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ mostly i was worried abt the motivation of Why give smith henshin, and the answer to that being “bc we want to leave things open for a sequel!” isn’t the worst answer in the world imo

if we do get a sequel new mecha for lulu pls 🥺 i want her to keep piloting too…………………

isami is such a cutie though………wanting to stay with smitha nd lulu………and also lulu looking at isami n smith and being like. damn u bitches are never gonna be normal again huh. took me OUT 😭😭😭

WAIT ALSO FOR GOT TO ADD. that trend in fanarts of isami calling smithvern beloved machine. if there’s another season HE SHOULD DO THAT the g gundamism of it all………………

coming back 2 edit again to say that. i say “bait” a lot here but tbh i feel like a better phrase would perhaps be “setup” or merely just “moving pieces into place” for a sequel…………….like obviously they’d have to animate the Big Stuff anyways so i imagine it’d be like a few years after the show ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ either way tho i think my point still comes across!!

[hamatosami]

Fire and Ice (a TMNT fanfiction)

Chapter 4: Twisted Tales

Notes: I am so grateful for the love on this story! Please note that all of my stories are 18+

(ALL OF MY STORIES ARE 18+ MAY OR MAY NOT CONTAIN SEXUAL CONTENT, LANGUAGE, VIOLENCE, GORE, DARK THEMES) PLEASE READ RESPONSIBLY 🫶🏼

👈🏼 previous chapter here!

“My loneliness engulfed me and my fear held me in shackles”

I continued to hold her hand until Donnie came. If anyone could help her it would be him. I checked for her breathing far too many times, making sure she was still alive.

Her body was shaking uncontrollably. She was hot and breaking a sweat. My hand slipped from under her to feel her head and she firmly grabbed my wrist.

I thought she was unconscious. Her eyes were too swollen to tell.

”Wh— ishhur nmm” she mumbled. Her hand shook around my wrist. She was so terrified that she tried to keep herself conscious enough for me to stay and lucky for me, her eyes were too swollen to see me.

I held her arm back. My hand propped under her neck to assure her there was someone there.

Talk to her Raph! You have to keep her talking.

”What did ya say?” I asked. She huffed hard. Breathing hurt her and she had blood dripping out of her mouth.

“Name.” She said barely opening her mouth. 

I was taken back. I knew she definitely couldn’t see me now.

”Raphael.” I answered finding my self getting more and more anxious at how much time she had left. I could be the last person… well creature she talks to. “As long as I’m here you’re safe. I promise.” I tried to comfort her.

She took another deep breath and became limp once again. My heart beat so fucking fast. 

A loud thump from the roof shook behind me.

Thank fucking God.

”Raph I’m here!” Donnie exclaimed and April hopped off his back. When April saw who it was her face turned into complete panic.

”Nooo!!” She ran faster than the speed of light.

”You know her?!” I asked now feeling a thousand times more guilt than I ever felt.

”I was just with her an hour ago… I don’t understand, how did this happen?!” Her face dropped.

Donnie ran to her side instantly checking her vitals.

”Foot clan members. The ones Leo told me to follow. I seen the one douche chase her out of that apartment.” I pointed. Her face went from upset to furious.

”Levi…he’s her boyfriend. Him and his friends at the college we go to I’ve been watching for days, I had suspicions they were clan members, that’s why I became friends with her, to get a lead. It turns out she’s one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. Her boyfriends an asshole.” She explained. My heart fell for this girl. I looked over at Donnie anxious to know her condition.

”Damn it!” Donnie rarely swears. My heart raced faster than ever.

“What is it Donnie?!” I said a little too rough.

”I think she’s bleeding internally. Her temperature is spiking fast. She needs a blood transfusion and fluids immediately. She needs a hospital I can’t do anything without an ultrasound and my equipment.” He stuttered frantically.

“Will she make it to a hospital?” April asked now crouching down to her friend.

“You’ll have to get her there now!” Donnie said as he was watching his watch. April aggressively called an ambulance.

“Hello?! I need an ambulance here stat!” April yelled into the phone.

——————————————————

Eve’s POV

Its been a few days since my attack. I was slowly but surly healing. No fractured bones. Just a lot of bruising and a mild concussion. April was by my side every moment. She went as far as contacting the school for me. As for my parents I made it apparent to her not to tell them. They would pressure me to go home if they knew.

I was getting close to being discharged from the hospital. Today my social worker and the police were here for me to give a full report on Levi. This was something I thought I’d never have to do. Part of me was relieved that I could finally continue living freely, but a shameful other part of me was feeling heartbroken that I would never see Levi again. I did love him. At one point… the connection to your abuser is something a lot of people don’t talk about.

He was the only person I had left.

Another part of me was nervous how things would be at school. Would his friends try to hurt me? How would my classmates treat me? I could hear it now. “Eve fakes assault to put Levi in jail.” I already knew those rumors would start.

My stomach twisted in so many knots. My loneliness engulfed me and my fear held me in shackles. 

“Whenever you’re ready, I’d like you to tell me what happened.” The social worker said. Her eyes painted on me ready to engorge my testimony.

I felt a lump in my throat trying to remember the very little I did know. April held my hand and nodded me to continue.

”Umm well I was coming home from the coffee shop around 8pm. I didn’t answer his text right away so he got angry and waited for me at the door. He wouldn’t let me in my apartment and got aggressive with me.” My voice started to shake remembering his hands around my throat. 

“What happened then?” She urged. My breathing became rapid now confessing of the things I would usually lie about. I knew the plain truth, but saying it was hard. I had become so accustomed to lying that the truth felt vile.

”He strangled me…” I whispered. My fingers trailed to my neck that was heavily bruised. I remembered the scent of his breath…

A tear poured over my cheek. I felt too numb to even wipe it away. I let my tear loosely hang at the bottom of my chin. My eyes zoned away as I dissociated.

”What happened after that?” She asked again. I zapped out of my darkened state and looked up at April again.

“I managed to get away. I spat in his eye and ran as fast as I could. I tried to call 911, but I fell. That’s when him and all of his friends hurt me. I don’t remember much after that.” I looked at April again knowing she was the one who rescued me.

”What happened again April?” I looked at her with honest eyes. She gulped and smiled to try and lighten up the atmosphere.

”I had forgotten that I asked her to hold onto my keys for me.” April continued for me. “As I walked back I saw her running from him. I tried to get there as fast as I could, but I was too late.”

”Wait.” The social worker took her glasses off and sat up a little more in her chair. “So you mean to tell me that you single handedly fought off 5 grown men by yourself?” She said disbelieving.

Aprils mouth slightly gaped. Her offense clearly spread through her face.

”Yes mam I did. I study mixed martial arts, and for the record I’m pretty damn good at it.” She sassed.

”Shes telling the truth.” I jumped in. The social worker averted her eyes back to her binder of all of my pictures and information. 

“Eve I need to to tell me every name you know that was there.” She said.

”Well there was Levi, his best friend Michael Stewart. I think I saw Malik Worthington and I don’t know what he looks like but I heard the name… Raphael I think and D-Don? Donnie?.” I said scratching my head.

April looked at me faster than ever. Eyes shocked as hell. I didn’t understand why…

”Well Eve I think I have everything I need. We’ll get that PFA filed and with my team I’ll make it sure that he never touches you again.” She said standing up.

”Wha- what about school?” I said nervously before she quickly tried existing. She turned around.

”I’ve already contacted the school officials. Him and everyone who was involved are about to be expelled.” My heart sung and sunk at the same time. I would never hear the end of this at school.

The next day I was discharged. April insisted on staying with me for a few days. This girl was probably the most giving person I’ve ever met. She barely knew me. No matter how much I tried convince her I was okay, I saw the guilt behind her eyes. 

We’ve become so close within the past couple days. It honestly felt so good to have someone genuine by my side. The school administrator said I didn’t have to go back until next week so after school April would come straight to my apartment. 

We found that we both REALLY loved watching the bachelor. The new episode aired tonight and we prepped all day for it. Plenty of assortments of wine and snacks along with some candles, fuzzy blankets and some cozy pajamas. It was the perfect way to spend the a rainy afternoon.

As the episode ended and we finally simmered down from all the drama we just watched. I was excited to show her what I’ve been working on for my current events project.

”Youre suppose to be relaxing.” She implied as I shuffled through my papers.

”Yeah, but I really think you’ll find this story cool!” I said. I handed her a folder of all of my research.

“Ancient Japanese operations featuring the Big Apple.” She said uneasy. I rolled my eyes.

”Yeah it needs a better title I know. But look at how interesting this is!” I flipped the page for her. “See? A lot of Japanese Americans in the city are reporting that a lot of crime in the city is coming from a secret clan of ninjas. I thought it was bogus at first until I looked at a lot of the evidence. See this? Remember that robbery that was all over the news a couple weeks ago? Look at the symbol they left behind.” I pointed.

Her eyes looked uneasy.

”And look here, I took these right outside of our campus.” I pointed again. April remained silent and I couldn’t help but notice the sudden shake in her hand.

I had a lot of time on my hands since I was lounging around all day. My research was impressive in my eyes, but the more that I showed her of this “Foot clan” the more silent and resentful Aprils energy was.

”So. What do you think?” I looked at her with hopeful eyes.

“Well.” April cleared her throat as she adjusted herself in the couch. She was oddly comfortable. “It sounds interesting, but isn’t this project suppose to be interactive?” She asked.

I shrugged my shoulders. “Well that’s where I was hoping to ask for your help.”

April raised an eyebrow.

”I was wondering if you were willing, to maybe let me interview your friends and ask them a few cultural questions.”

“My friends?” She but her lip nervously.

”Yeah… you said they were Japanese right?” I hesitated slightly. April scrunched her face and shook her head. Something was off with her and I had no idea why.

”Oh yes. Those friends.” She nodded. “I don’t know how to say this, but they’re not really… people-ly.” Her lips became tense.

”People-ly?” I repeated.

“Yeahhhhh.” She chuckled. “They don’t really do well with people.” She seemed like she was sugar coating everything. I started to gather that she didn’t really want me to meet her friends. I knew her intentions were pure, but I couldn’t help but feel a little left out. Maybe I wasn’t cool enough for her cool Japanese friends that teach her martial arts.

I decided to keep my follow up question to myself then. Since I was pretty much a coward and knew nothing about self defense, I was going to ask if her friends could teach me a few things.

I threw that idea out the window quick.

”It’s okay. I understand.” I said trying not to look hurt about it. “It just means I’ll have to interview some of the kids at school. Talking to new people is not something I’m good at, but I need the practice.” I said. 

April smiled and switched her focus to the TV. 

“Well it’s still raining, you know what movies go perfect with rain?” She said.

”What?” I asked pulling up my blanket.

”Twilight.”

THANK YOU FOR READING! IF YOU ENJOY, LIKE, COMMENT AND FOLLOW. IT LETS ME MNOW TO WRITE MORE!

“Please, please

Don't leave me be

It's not true

Take me to the roof

Told you not to worry

What do you want from me?

Don't ask questions

Wait a minute

Don't you know I'm no good for you?

Baby, I don't feel so good

And all the good girls go to hell

Bite my tongue, bide my time

What is it about them?

I’m the bad guy”

[juicefield]

Meyp Skxawng - Neteyam X Avatar!Reader Part 2

A/N: I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Easter. I don’t celebrate, but I can appreciate a good ham. This is set after avatar 2, both reader and Neteyam are 20. This is set in high camp, bc I said so. This is also not set as far in the future as it is in cannon, for reasons. Also no NSFW (the Hoes Not gonna love this :/). I didn't edit this as thoroughly as part 1, so let me know if you find any egregious mistakes.

You can find the other parts here:

Part 1 // Part 3 // Part 4

Although the writing in this fanfiction is my own, I do not claim any  ownership of Avatar, Avatar: The Way of Water, or any of the subsequent medias. All rights go to James Cameron and the producers. 

Synopsis: You experience a new body for the first time, and have never felt freer. Luckily, you have great friends to revel in your newfound joy with.

Neteyam X Fem!Avatar!Reader 8.9k 1st person POV

"Aw... damn. It didn't work." I mumble quietly, raising my hand to block the offensive brightness. Slowly I blink against the harsh light, trying to block it with my hand. I can practically feel my pupils expanding all too fast, trying to stop the influx of light causing me to be lightheaded. When I turn my head I see Max in a mask hovering above me. I see his mouth moving but I can't understand what he's saying at first. The blood rushes in my ears, louder than it ever has before. 

"... hear me, kiddo?" Is all I catch as I realize Max was the one shining the offensively bright light in my eyes. 

"Yeah, yeah I hear you." I say, loud enough for him to hear me this time. "It... didn't work." I said to him, my words sounding slurred almost because my tongue is so dry. His face looked amused, which really confused me. Why would he find this funny? This is horrible? Finally he relents and puts the LED flashlight down, instead picking up a small hand held mirror.

"Yes, kiddo, it did." Max says, holding up the mirror. As I gaze at its reflective surface I see the body from yesterday staring back at me. Snapping out of my tired state I sit up; entirely too quickly as blood rushes to my head and makes me feel light headed but does nothing to curb my happiness. Max fusses at me but I dismiss him with a wave of my hand, insisting that I'm fine. While marveling at the modern science I reach up to touch it’s- I mean my- face.

"Oh. My. God." I say when my fingertips make contact with the warm surface. I saw her eyes widen at the same time mine did and I couldn't help the sound of surprise that escaped me. "Max! Norm! We did it! We fucking did it!" I said turning to Max with the biggest smile I've ever had. I was smiling so hard that I could feel the unused muscles of my face stretching tentatively. The dull ache from the use only sends more excitement through me, that must mean everything is working the way it’s supposed to.

"No, you did it. You were so brave, sweetheart." A voice I recognized as Norm called out from my right. I feel my ears swivel towards him and marvel at the strange new feeling of having moving ears, of the new muscles I’ve never had before. Stretching sinew that feels too strong to be mine. I reach out for his shoulder and suddenly I notice how big I am. My hand nearly takes up his whole shoulder as I try to gently squeeze him in reassurance. Norm lets out a grunt of pain and ducks to move his shoulder away, rubbing it and wincing.

"You just woke up so you can't really tell how strong you are, but you were a lot more gentle than Jake when he woke up. So don't worry." He says when he sees a look of pain flit across my new face. Before I can even utter an apology he continues, cutting me off. "Now c'mon it's time for a few tests and we'll get you some clothes to wear." 

"It sucks, but the only thing that will fit you is some of Norm’s old clothes that his avatar got too big for." Max said as he entered the room again before I had even realized that he left my side. They pester and prod me while I answer a few questions to ensure that the transfer went as well as we think. They barrage me with a litany of fine motor control tests before they take all the IVs and monitors off of me. By the time they end I am grumbling and practically electrically charged with energy, far too ready to get up and run for the first time in years. Realistically I know that it will take a bit of time to build up to running and sprinting, but I am very tempted to make a run for it. Sadly, I refrain. 

"Okay take it easy and try standing up. Then when you're ready try taking a step. We'll go from there. Hopefully we'll get you up and at em' before Kiri and Lo'ak arrive." Max instructed while checking the time on the clock above the door. I try swinging my legs over the bed and am again surprised by the strength of this body when I almost knock the tray filled with medical supplies beside me off the table. Max smiles and tells me to take it slow while I laugh at my graceless movements. It's then that I notice how good my legs feel. There's no more pain in my legs, no dull ache that refuses to leave no matter what I do. They feel so strong, I swear I can feel every tendon attached to bone under the skin moving as I stretch my feet per Norms instructions. My joints feel like butter and I almost melt into the bed with relief. There had been part of me, a small, dark part in the very back of my mind, that had worried that my genetic problem would affect my avatar.

"Okay sweetheart, try to stand up." Norm advises. Immediately I move to try to stand. I remember my strength this time and stand up with minimal issues. My tail flicks from side to side erratically before I get it under control and tangles a bit in the chords coming out of the bed. Norm and Max rib me a couple times as I struggle to take my first step forward.

"This is a lot harder than I thought it would be." I complain, trying to defend myself against their teasing. I'm starting to get used to the body so I decide to step forward to grab the clothes from Max's hands and stumble a little before catching myself on the steel table next to the bed.

"I feel like a baby direhorse." I grumble as I sit the clothes down on the bed. 

"Yeah. I remember what that felt like." Norm spoke, obviously he's remembering the first time he piloted his avatar. It was a story he often told over dinners with a great degree of dramatics and theatrics. He would talk about how natural Jake had seemed juxtaposed with how clumsy and ungraceful he had been. I’ve had many warm nights and aching bellies from laughing at his jokes while he told his stories of the time before the war.

"Okay. Okay, love you boys but get the heck out while I change." I say, and point at the door, eager to get out of the awful hospital gown. The tag in the back was making my neck twitch, sensitive new flesh itching from the polyester tag.

"You sure you got this alone?" Max asks, eyebrows crinkling with concern. With his creased brows and crinkled eyes I can almost see the anxiety in his face and I frantically assure him that I am capable on my own.

"Yeah. I got this. I've never felt better, actually." I reply as I all but push them both out the door, shooing them away. As soon as the door closes I take off the annoying hospital gown they put me in and pull on the tank and shorts. I brush out the wrinkles and walk over to the two way window to look at my reflection. My reflection is so surreal I almost wonder if I'm actually dreaming right now. If so, it's an exceptionally vivid dream. I push all the hair out of my face and look around for something to tie it with. Luckily there is a large rubber band on one of the tables so I gather my hair to tie it. I feel a small jolt and I gasp when I touch the spinal queue at the base of my skull, also known as the kuru. It's warm and surprises me when I feel the muscle and cartilage underneath flexing against my touch. I try to tie my hair but I can only wrap the rubber band around it all once so it's not really a ponytail, but I simply want the damn hair out of my face. I turn to the door and when I open it I almost forget to grab a Na'vi respirator. Na'vi can breathe the air in the lab, but only for a little bit. I hang it around my neck as I walk out.

It's insane how small everything looks when I step into the lab. It feels like a completely new space as a traipse around, even though I've been living here since my birth. Max and Norm rush over to crowd around me and fuss over me for a while, still worried about complications. I assure them I'm fine, in fact I'm better than fine because I feel so light and so strong. They make me do a few more of the less fine motor, hearing, and sight tests while I wait for Kiri and Lo'ak to arrive. Eventually I get irritated and snap at them, telling them to leave me alone.

"You know I love you guys but c'mon I'm perfectly fine." I say before retreating to my room. I attempt to weave briefly but I just can't because it's a lot harder when you're two times bigger than you normally are. I settle for some music instead and pop in the 2005 pop mix CD. I accidentally press the eject button while trying to press the play and I finally understand how Lo'ak’s skxawng ass broke my CD. It's surprisingly hard to push the right button at this size because they're so close together. Finally I get the CD to play after a few tries and Gwen Stefani's Hollaback Girl starts flowing from the player. While I'm about halfway through My Humps. Hearing the loud door to the entrance screech open I scramble to press pause on the player. While I absolutely adore Kiri and Lo'ak I still am not ready to explain what My Humps means. I had a hard enough time explaining Don’t Cha by The Pussycat Dolls that I don’t even want to think about the mess of explaining the term 'humps'. I hear Max say my name and the word room while I scramble to sit on my bed. I awkwardly try to adjust my position into a casual laying down pose before the door opens and I hear Kiri and Lo'ak before I see them. 

"No you… you- penis face. You said if I cleaned last night-" Kiri said before noticing the surprised look on her brother’s face and turned around to see me. Her eyebrows nearly shot off the top of her face. "Uh... hello?" Kiri said in that particular voice that she uses around people that she doesn't know. I get an evil, maliciously wicked idea to mess with her but of course before I can make good on that and mess with her Lo'ak’s big mouth opens. 

"Who the fuck are you and why are you in (Y/N)'s room?!" He shrieks and bumps his head on the top of the door frame before scrambling into a fighting stance. I burst out laughing at this and through the tears in my eyes I see the recognition of who I am dawn on Kiri's face. 

"It's me skxawng." I say in between breaths while I try to calm down, and Kiri lets out her own giggles at her brother's high pitched scream. Clutching my stomach, I stand up feeling my newly acquired abdominal muscles protest slightly from all the laughing.

"(Y/N)??" He says with his mouth open like a fish.

"Yeah. You better close your mouth before an atokirina lands in it and Eywa finally gives you the sign to shut it forever." I say rolling my eyes and pushing his shoulder gently.

"Yeah that's definitely you." He grumbles as Kiri laughs at us under her hand. Kiri approaches me tentatively, like I'm a newly born creature to befriend.

"How?" Kiri asks me while she grabs my hands and inspects my hands and arms. "I thought they said it was not possible anymore."

"They used Grace's pod… I'm sorry, Kiri. I didn't know until yesterday." I say looking down at the floor. Although I know Kiri will not be mad at me for using her mother's chamber, I know it might be a painful reminder of the loss of her. One could argue that she never really had her, but she had always been comforted by Grace's avatar. Always seeked out the tube when she was having a hard time emotionally.

"Hey, it is okay. I'm glad they used it to give my friend a chance at a life. It is what mom would have wanted." Kiri insisted before throwing her arms around me in a bone crushing hug. At least it would be if I didn't now have carbon fiber bones. "It's Eywa's will." She assures me. Lo'ak walks behind me and inspects my entire body before whistling. 

"Damn girl, you look pretty good in blue." He says while smirking. 

"Ew, Lo'ak that's actually gross. Shut up." I say while rolling my eyes. "Today is my first day." I abruptly try to change the subject from Lo'ak’s disturbing attempts at flirting. 

"Well that means we have to go out and have some fun. We can show you all our favorite fun spots. C'mon Taw." Lo'ak says excitedly, even using the nickname he had given me as a child. They had just called me Tawtute or sky person when we had first become friends, not used to saying my name. Eventually I told them that I didn't like being called that because I didn’t feel like a human at all. They started to simply call me Taw after that. Grumbling in defeat, I reluctantly follow as Lo’ak starts trying to pull me out of my room and Norm calls out to protest.

"Hey! She's not going to be able to keep up yet because it's her first day. She can go out tomorrow, Lo'ak. We have exercises for her to do first. Y’know stuff to strengthen her sense of balance." Norm almost yells from the other side of the lab. 

"C'mon Norm. We'll only take her to safe places and have her back before first twilight.... please?" Kiri pleads as we approach. Luckily Norm has a soft spot for her, as Grace's child, so he relents, but not before making me promise to be careful. Before we walk out the door I take a moment to brace myself to take my first step out of the lab in a few years. I've always avoided going out, for many reasons, like the staring Na'vi or vile names I would hear in hushed conversations that I just know have to be about me. I almost tell them I can't do it but when Lo'ak pulls me out of the door and I take the first breath of fresh air with no mask, I know I had to do this. With my new heightened Na'vi senses I can almost taste the air as I smell it. It smells earthy and lush; almost like the cave made by the mountains is alive despite having no plants inside. Lo'ak keeps pulling but I plant myself firmly after a few steps to have a second to get my bearings. Although the entrance to the lab is the furthest building away from the entrance of the cave, there are still a few Na'vi that live right around the human dwellings. 

These were the less prestigious families of the clan. At this time most families were carrying out various tasks and jobs delegated by Jake and his few chief advisors relating to the more domestic chores to avoid midday heat. Many of them did the jobs deemed less important like weaving and basket making. A few had looked up from their jobs to aim their shocked eyes at me, accompanied by open mouths gaping like fish. As I glanced around most of the Na'vi looked away as soon as I met their eyes, dropping to their crafts in shame from being caught . I could hear a few muttering lowly 'uniltìranyu' or even some muttering dreamwalker in English. I catch a few elders pursing their lips and shaking their heads in disapproval. Suddenly I felt like I was back in that pool, a small little weak girl that stood in front of Txeyu soaked and cold not only from the water but the pain of alienation. Kiri could immediately tell what I was feeling, her empathetic nature peaking out. She places a hand on my back, rubbing soothing circles.

"Taw. Please, you are having a chance here to show these people who you truly are. Let them see that you are as strong outside as you are on the inside." Kiri urges me forward with the hand on my back. My first instinct is to snap back that I am not nearly as strong as she thinks but I bite down the bitterness and start moving forward again. 

"If you weren’t wearing such silly ass clothes then they wouldn't call you that. Hell, they'd probably think you were one of us, you speak the mother language almost perfectly for a sky person." Lo'ak adds as an attempt to comfort me in his own way as we walk towards the front of the cave. Luckily, almost everyone was out hunting or gathering so we were able to peacefully make it back to their marui that sits near the caves' large entrance. As we all walked there Kiri said that she would help me cut my hair, because it looked 'like a banshees nest' and braid it into a style that would protect my kuru. 

Neytiri and Jake were currently out on a hunting trip with their eldest son, Neteyam. Neytiri and Neteyam were a mystery to me; I had never met them and they had made no effort to know me. Which, I'll admit, is completely understandable due to Neytiri's personal losses that were caused by the humans. Jake is a sky person but she still hasn't let go of her grudge and if you are human you must prove to her you are worthy of her good graces before she kills you. I don't know what Neteyam's deal is, though. If I am to believe Lo'ak it's because all he ever does is work and train. But, and this is probably more the truth, Kiri tells me it's because he's a total momma's boy and Neytiri always told him not to play with me or join his siblings for our usual hangouts. This would normally be a little insulting after almost a decade of friendship with her other children and even her husband, but I totally get it. Humans are nothing but trouble, especially on Pandora. She barely tolerates Spider, but I'm jot sure if she even considers him more than Kiri's pet. 

Kiri putters around their family marui gathering beads, string, and a small exquisitely carved dagger. Just as she makes her way over to me Lo'ak groans.

"Ugh. C'mon I meant let's have some fun. I want to to braid hair and talk about boys." He complained, flipping his hair back for dramatic effect and blinking his eyes lashes before his face morphs in disgust.

"You mean while I braid her hair. If you do it her head will look like a mess." Kiri says, sticking her tongue out. "Besides you know she must braid her hair to protect the kuru."

"Whatever, man." Lo'ak scoffs before picking up his spear and running a thumb over the sharp stone tip. "I'm gonna go fish while you guys kiss and sing or whatever." Kiri responds only by giving him the finger and rolling her eyes while I laugh at the two.

"Sit," she commands while patting the mat in front of her. I hesitate so she adds an annoyed "Now!" While pushing me forward. I sit down and cross my legs awkwardly. This had never been a pose that came easy to me because of my problems, but as I settle I notice it feels completely natural to sit like this.

"Please, if you could try to cut it like my normal hair. It doesn't have to be perfect, but I still want to feel like me." I said as I ran a hand through the waist length hair, marveling at its length and texture. It felt coarser than my other hair, but still soft even with my new refine senses.

"I can try," Kiri says nonchalantly before grabbing hold of all the hair and slicing a large length of hair off at once. 

"Kiri!" I yell, not expecting a large cut, "please leave some of my hair! I don't want to be bald." I complain and she just clicks her tongue cheekily. Before I can register or try to stop it my tail flicks her leg in annoyance. "Do you ever get used to having a tail?" I ask dumbfounded as I try to stop it from showing my annoyance to no avail. 

She only snorts and incredulously says, "Well I don't know, I've always had a tail. After a while it'll just feel like another finger, maybe?" She says while she finished roughly chopping the sections of my hair my hair. I'll have to finish later with some scissors in the lab, but honestly she's given me a really good base to start with.

"Thank you. I really appreciate it. And you." I say as I turn and give her a smile. Kiri gives me a small smile back and motions down to her lap where she has a large sack of beads that she used from everything from jewelry to hair accessories. 

"What colors do you want?" She asks, grabbing out a handful of beads for me to inspect.

"Um, whatever color you think would look nice." I say and shrug. I've never much cared for my appearance so I'm not really sure what color I'd like in my hair. It was never really something that I’d thought about much, not really much of an option when you grow up with such limited resources. I don't even get to pick my own clothes, mostly I wore the clothes left behind by the female scientists. This often led to strange outfit combinations since most of the nice clothes were taken in the hurry to get off the planet. Kiri ends up choosing a couple purple beads and a few large green beads. We chat as she brushes my hair and sections it off. Mostly I listen to her complaints about learning medicine from Mo’at. They were notorious for butting heads about what herbs and roots to use because Mo’at is much more traditional in her Tsahik practices than Kiri is. Kiri is a lot more concerned with the patients comfort while Mo'at is a stickler for efficacy, always opting for the bitter herb that works faster over the mellow ones that take longer. Her hands work lightning fast as she  braids down my kuru and two braids on either side of my face for the beads, a style she herself often wears because of her much more delicate hair. Most Na'vi had textured hair, much more similar to people of color than Kiri's thinner hair. When she is finally done she hums happily and hands me a small handheld mirror that I use to inspect my reflection. I am again startled that my face is an entirely different color but relax when I realize that it still really does look like me. The only thing missing is a scar from a childhood accident. Feeling the braids and admiring my new hair style I smile at Kiri.

"Thank you so much. My head feels a lot lighter now." I say while I trace my fingers over the braids, admiring the two strand technique she uses on the ones framing my face. She just nods in my direction while she moves to put away her precious beads. "So..  what now?"

"Now we get you out of those clothes. Are they Norm's? They are horrendous. I feel like I must cleanse my eyes." She says with the signature flat tone she uses when she teases me. I stand up and nod lazily, not wanting to acknowledge her teasing. I've been in many wars with Kiri over the years and I can admit when I am outmatched. Lo'ak is much easier to battle in the game of wits, so I've learned that instead of being against Kiri, it is smarter to be with her. While she rifles through a sort of chest I notice that I am actually taller than Kiri. The thought sends a happy zing through my body that culminates in my tail almost wagging before I consciously force it to stop. It makes me happy to be tall because it means that my new body is particularly strong. The Na'vi always prized the taller members of the clan, as they often made the best warriors among them. I puff my chest proudly and proclaim to Kiri that I may not fit her clothes. 

"You are rather small for our age." I tease as she rifles flings a few tops over her shoulder. She flips me off silently and pulls out something that was larger than the rest.

"Oh thank you, Eywa. I found it!" She squeals excitedly before holding the set up to the light filtering through the hole in the center of the marui. It was a beautiful set, made from feathers from a variety of Pandora’s prized bird-like creatures. She hands it to me. Turning it over, I admire the fine details of the Omaticayan craftsmanship. I trace my fingers over the braided band that holds all the feathers. The leather is soft and pliant,  even though the set itself is obviously older. I can feel my face muscles get tired from the grin that stretches them before I realize that I cannot accept such a gift, it would be considered disrespectful by the clan. They wouldn’t want me to wear their clothes, evidenced by the fact that Norm still does not own any Na'vi clothes for his avatar. He always just wears larger size human clothes. The only exception was a battle band given to him by Jake for his help with the human war, but even that is a huge privilege because he is not one of the people. I have done nothing to earn this outfit so I shake my head and try to hand the set back to Kiri. Kiri, however, does not accept it and goes on to explain whose it was.

“It was my mothers, a very long time ago. She was around our age. She has now grown out of it and no longer uses it. Please, I am gifting it to you.” She insists, pushing my hands away. At this my mouth falls open. Is she trying to kill me?! Though I have not met Neytiri two things have been made very clear to me.

1: Neytiri does not like humans.

2: Neytiri is known for being a fierce woman, hell she even scares the mighty Jake Sully!

Immediately I drop the set, refusing childishly to accept it. If Neytiri saw me in her clothes she might kill me and stuff my body to mount like a trophy hunt. Screw that, with how much she scares the Olo’eyktan I wouldn’t be surprised if she ate me. No way in hell, man! I just got this body and I have so many things I need to do first. 

“Kiri, do you want me to join Eywa?” I ask incredulously. “Seriously your mother may slay me if she sees me in that. And it's not even yours to give away.”

“You are wrong,” she sasses back at me, “she has given it to me, therefore it is mine, therefore I may give it to you.” She rolls her eyes and bends over, picking up the top and loincloth.

“Yes. But, Kiri, there has not been a sky person that has ever been permitted to wear the people's clothing, besides your father who, might I remind you, became one of the people so he doesn’t count.” I insist, practically whining, while she tries to force me to accept the top from her hands by pushing it at my chest. As we continue to bicker a head pokes into the marui. 

“What are you guys doing?” Lo’ak says looking between us. “And why aren’t you done? I caught so many fish I thought the stream would run out and you still hadn’t come to me so I headed back.” He explained and came in with three large fish strung up on a rope hanging over his shoulder.

“I would hardly call three enough to drain the stream,” Kiri teases, “and we would not have taken so long if this one would get dressed.” She points at me, as if accusing me of a horrific crime.

“I cannot accept the clothes. It is not for me to wear! I am not one of you. The elders of the clan and your mother would not like it.” I explained to Lo’ak, turning to him and gesturing to the clothing she is holding. He simply looks on with a bored look on his face before it transforms into that face he gets before he spouts one of his ridiculous ideas.

“Well,” Lo’ak starts with the mischievous look on his face, “how could they be mad if you had the consent of the Olo’eyktan’s kids huh? Dad would totally be fine with it, too.” He insists. Kiri enthusiastically agrees, nodding so hard her many braids bounce up and down. 

“Yeah right. As if your mom or respected clan leaders give a thantor’s ass about your ‘consent’.” I counter and shake my head at them. I see an idea form in Lo’ak’s mind. A delicious, evil idea takes root and he opens his mouth to birth it to the world.

“What about the future Olo’eyktan?,” When I shake my head he continues on, “No I’m serious (Y/N)! The elders really respect Neteyam’s opinion and wouldn’t challenge you if you told them that he allowed it. Mom wouldn't get mad either if she knew he approved too.” I stay silent as I mull it over and I finally agree, albeit reluctantly. I'm not sure whether I agree with their reasoning or if they've simply worn me down. Another example of why it is better to be on Kiri's side, she will always wear you down.

“Okay let’s go.” Lo’ak says and grabs my forearm, pulling me out of the marui. There are a few more people than earlier and I get strange looks as I pass them, but luckily no one seems to care much as everyone is getting ready for dinner. I guess it has been longer than I thought it was to braid my hair, as eclipse is nearing. Kiri trails a length behind us, not really caring to keep up with Lo'ak's enthusiasm.

“Let’s go? Where are we going? Lo'ak!” I say confused, while Lo’ak stubbornly drags me along without uttering a word. A few times I almost trip over people as I try to slow down and get answers out of him. Unlike usual, he is a man on a mission and doesn’t answer me until we reach the cooking area. 

“To Neteyam. We must ask him about the clothes, he is on cooking duty today. Normally, men don’t do that but mom insists that he needs to learn to do the jobs of women to appreciate the work that they do when he becomes Olo’eyktan.” He explains, as if that's the reason I was confused.

“What?! No! I don’t even know him. I shouldn’t be here when you ask him. I want to meet him under less weird circumstances. It's totally weird to be like, 'hi my name is (Y/N), been friends with your sisters and bro for a while, can I wear your mom's old clothes?'.” I complain, planting my feet solidly on the ground to force him to stop pulling me along, finally getting agitated at his lack of awareness of his own peoples opinions.

“(Y/N), please, it’s Neteyam. He will not care.” Kiri piped up, she had finally caught up with us and now stood beside me. 

“Fine! Fine. But I’m not explaining this to him, you guys are!” I say and stick my tongue out at them. Lo’ak merely rolls his eyes and Kiri nudges me forward. I start moving again and we walk up to the large earthenware cooking pots that the many women are standing over. I can smell the pots, admiring the smell of spicy and earthy tones that float up from them. Among them is a range of ages. I see some that are as young as eight to many young adults like myself to even respected elders of the clan. The young children seem to be processing some sort of vegetable while the teens and young adults work on slicing meat and veggies. The older women are the ones actually doing the cooking, while the elders are the ones barking out orders and instructions to them. I hear many new Na'vi words as we walk past them. I assume that most of these must be the names of foods and spices, mostly because as a male Lo’ak does not get cooking duty and Kiri absolutely hates it. Tuk, on the other hand neither likes nor dislikes it so she also does not talk about it. Even with her mouth running a thousand miles a minute she still doesn't talk about things that she deems boring, which leaves my education of such matters to be very little. I search among the women for the mysterious Neteyam, but before I find a single male standing around Lo’ak calls out to him.

“Neteyam. Brother!” He practically shouts, unperturbed by the scornful looks that older ladies give him for disrupting their cooking lessons. A few younger children let out barks of laughter at his mischievousness. It's then that I notice him. Immediately I am confused that I hadn’t immediately seen him, he towers over most of the women there. Maybe it's because of the gentle smile and look that is in his eyes that makes him seem much smaller. He’s a lot less out of place in the kitchen than one would expect from a great warrior and hunter. He’s also, unfortunately, devastatingly good looking. I mean, I had always thought that Lo’ak was handsome, but his brother has this air of maturity and gentleness that makes his fine looks feel entirely different from Lo’ak’s. He feels like a man, while Lo’ak still feels like a boy. I feel a thousand times more awkward now. Why would Lo’ak do this to me? I think to myself when he catches sight of us and waves before I can make a run for it. I see him say something to the elder he was listening to and he makes his way over to us. As he nears I can practically see the confusion on his face as he looks at me. The urge to run away rears its ugly head as he catches my eye. I bet I could make it back to the lab before Kiri and Lo’ak could catch up to me. Before I can win or lose this hypothetical bet with myself the mysterious man speaks.

“Baby brother, what brings you here?” He asks and I can’t help but enjoy his voice. It is soft, yet mighty. Quiet, yet commanding. I ignore that thought and try to refocus, looking at him while attempting a smile that says ‘Hello future chief please don’t find it disrespectful that I came here today to ask you about what clothes you’ll allow me to wear’. I don’t think the point gets across, but one can only hope. “And who is this?” He ads while giving me a sideways glance. I notice that his gaze lingers on my shorts before moving up to my face.

“Hello. My name is (Y/N). And your baby bro has dragged me here to ask you something.” I offer up using my rusty Na'vi language abilities, trying to get ahead of Lo'ak's scheme. When Lo’ak said almost perfect for a sky person he may have been slightly over-exaggerating. I used to be better but I stopped talking to Kiri, Lo’ak, and Tuk in Na'vi a couple years ago when they asked me to help them practice English, so my ability has deteriorated quite a bit. I offer up my hand for him to shake. Neteyam looks down at my hand with knitted brows until Lo’ak says.

“You remember, our human friend.” He prompts, nudging Neteyam towards my hand. Neteyam seems to remember the silly human custom of shaking hands and takes my hand in his slightly larger one. He grasps it softly and shakes it a few times, giving me a barely there smile. 

“Oh. It is nice to finally meet you. You speak the mother language very well.” He compliments as he shakes my hand. “And I am sorry I have not made it to meet you before, but Olo’eyktan training is very intense.” He says bashfully, looking down at the floor.

“Oh it’s fine. Trust me when I say I understand. There are not many who would rush to meet me.” I joke to try to lighten his demeanor. I find myself fiddling with the two braids that frame my face to try to escape the awkward situation. Instead of making the atmosphere it seems to make Neteyam deflate even more as he winces. “Oh sorry, I was trying to make a joke.” I explain, thinking I may have somehow offended him.

“No, I am just really sorry that I had not met my sister's best friend before.” When that came out of his mouth I realized, relieved, that I had not offended him, but instead had made him feel bad for me. Not the optimal outcome, but better than I feared.

“You are too kind, but I believe that may be Spider. Not me. Your brother however, maybe, but only because he has no friends.” I say with a laugh, hoping that this joke would actually land. Luckily that gets a few chuckles from him and he actually smiles before finally looking me in the eyes.

“You are funny, (Y/N).” He compliments my jest while Lo’ak pouts at it, grumbling an expletive that I can't catch under his breath.

“Ugh, Taw you are so mean to me. Sadly, you’re right, though. I’m stuck with you as my best friend.” Lo’ak interjects rolling his eyes, bumping my shoulder when he says the word stuck “So, stop flirting with my best friend.” He almost accuses Neteyam. Neteyam blabbers for a second, very obviously embarrassed before struggling to get out an annoyed, 

“I am not flirting skxawng! I am simply trying to be nice to your friend.” He defends himself. I look over to find Kiri’s reaction to find her hiding a grin behind the feathered top she's still holding. I see her shoulders shaking and realize that she is also holding in laughter at her brothers' antics. In an attempt to change the subject Neteyam asks Lo’ak what he has come to ask him about.

“Well (Y/N) here doesn't have any clothes of her own to wear in this body so we came to ask if we could give her one of moms old outfits.” Lo’ak explains. “She thinks it would look bad if she accepted the gift, that mom might hunt her on sight. But, like I explained, if you say it's okay, surely mom will be fine with it.” He throws and arm around me and pulls on my ear when he says that his mom will hunt me. I push him away and flick his arm harshly to get him to stop.

“She is right. Mom would not like that. It has not been done since father.” Neteyam says, dipping his head in agreement with me. 

“I know, but come on look at what she is wearing. If she wears that everyone will say stuff about her. Maybe they’ll even start saying bad things about me and Kiri.” Lo’ak says, using anything he can to convince Neteyam. “Plus she's not like Norm, she doesn’t have specially made earth clothes for her much bigger Na'vi body.” I can see the gears in Neteyams mind turning as he considers what his brother said.

“Yes. But-” Neteyam starts to say before being cut off.

“C’mon man, Mom won’t ever wear this again. And Kiri probably won't grow into it like mom thought she would… Plus, don’t you think it would look a lot nicer on her than this.” He says while gesturing at my basketball shorts. This makes Neteyam look at me up and down before he sighs loudly. 

“Fine. But if mom asks, it was not my idea. I'm not taking responsibility for you this time.” He huffs at his brother. Suddenly, a voice calls out and Neteyams tail whips back and forth in clear annoyance.

“Dinner is ready. I must go help now. Will your friend be joining us? I am grabbing food to bring back to the marui.” Neteyam asks Lo’ak but I answer anyway.

“I would love to come, but I have to tell Norm and Max. That will give me a chance to try them on.” I suggest, despite secretly hoping that they don't fit. He seems taken back that I had answered him and not Lo’ak, but he nods and smiles nonetheless.

“Goodbye then. See you at dinner, hopefully.” He says before heading back over to the elder he was helping before.

“Awesome!” Lo’ak says throwing an arm around both me and Kiri on either side of him. “Well… First one to the lab wins.” He declares before taking off running and laughing at my dumbfounded face. I had certainly never been challenged to a race before, especially not by Lo'ak. Spider was the only one who I could possibly keep up with, but he was never really around much before my legs started to give out on me. Miles had always been a child who needed adventure, while I was always more of a homebody. Always cooped up in the lab, reading and talking to Norm and Max. Kiri laughed and nudged me before she took off running after Lo’ak. Seeing Lo’ak getting further away I hesitated, wondering if my motor control over this body was really ready yet. The, I thought of Jake Sully, he did not hesitate with his new body, so neither should I! 

I look to the left and right to see if anyone is watching me. Luckily, most of the women were completely unconcerned with me, only focusing on their pots and knives. I take a deep breath before I take off after them. I’m again surprised by the strength of my new body, it feels like I launched forward rather than started running. In the first few steps I feel like a baby deer as my knees wobble and my feet are unsteady. My tail isn’t balanced and I almost fall into a woman carrying a large pile of leathers and pelts. I shout a small apology in Na'vi behind me. Not turning to face the disappointment on her face, I continue on. As I run my body instinctively adjusts itself, and I can feel my newly acquired tail now helping me to stay upright as I dart around people returning from a hunt with animals slung over their backs, hoof-like feet tied together. A few of the hunters in the party call after me to stop running through camp, but it feels like I’m flying. If this is what running feels like, then I can’t even imagine what actual flying on an Ikran would feel like. Finally Kiri comes into view with Lo’ak almost by the lab entrance in front of her. For the first time in my life, I feel determined to win against Kiri so I push myself harder. My muscles strain against me, the muscles in my calves are burning when I finally push past Kiri in the last leg. I whoop as I pass her in the last second, barreling into the lab door that Lo'ak is holding open to us.

I stop when I reach the chamber between the outside and the lab, my lungs heaving as I struggle to slow my breathing. Lo’ak is laughing at me and Kiri says something to defend me, but I can’t really hear them with the blood rushing in my ear. Ba-dump ba-dump. My heart beats strongly in them, another reminder of how powerful I feel. The rhythmic pounding slows and when I calm down Kiri congratulates me on catching up to her. Max and Norm greet us with a hey from the monitors in the computer lab as we open the second door, depressurizing the small room. We wave back and make our way towards my room, all of us grabbing a Na'vi mask as we pass the rack.

“You did very well for your first race. Very strong.” She says smiling at me, her fangs poking out slightly over her bottom lip.

“Would have been more impressive if she had won.” Lo’ak teases, “It's easy to catch up to you, Shorty.”

“Yes, well it's her first day in her Avatar. Father has told us what his first day was like, he compared it to a baby yerik taking its first steps. Catching up to me was pretty impressive.” Kiri said, defending me again. 

“Thank you, Kiri,” I started, “and I would have won if you hadn’t cheated. You ran off before you even finished your sentence.” I complained, tugging on one of his braids harshly to punish him. He lets out a yowl of protest and gives his own tug on the braid framing the right side of my face. Kiri breaks us up before a brawl can break out.

“So are you coming to dinner? Please, we’ll get dad to say yes, I promise. I want to be there when you taste the best food you’ve ever had.” Lo’ak almost begged while he fidgets with the puzzle on my desk.

“I guess, as long as Max and Norm both say yes.” I replied, but really I was hoping Max would say no. Mostly because, knowing Lo’ak, I was going to be embarrassed through the whole thing. I’m sure he would keep teasing me about Neteyam and my clothing, and I will definitely be interrogated by Neytiri about my outfit. I’m sure she would have a lot of questions for the weird kid that has been friends with her weird kids for a decade or more. I am definitely not ready for that on my first day piloting my avatar. Plus now that I look at it, the set that Kiri tried to give me is so small I’m scared that I will flash everyone on they way there. 

“Please, Taw.” Kiri joins in the chorus of begging. “I’ll tell mom beforehand that I gave you one of her outfits, too.”

“I have to wear that thing? Seriously? It’s so small! I don’t think I would be comfortable with that yet.” I try to weasel my way out of wearing clothes that are honestly smaller than my underwear in my other body. 

“Trust me it will look really good on you.” Lo’ak says practically leering at me. 

“You know, I’m starting to think that you just want to watch me wear something ten times shorter than anything you've seen me in before.” I say rolling my eyes at his attempt at flirting(?). 

“No, but that is definitely a plus,” Lo’ak starts to say before I give him a death glare, “C’mon Taw, it’s not a big deal I’m just kidding. Every girl in the clan wears clothes like that.” 

“I’ll only wear it if you promise to not try to embarrass me tonight.” I reason with him, before taking my puzzle back from his hands.

“Hey, I can’t help it if you embarrass yourself. But, I won't try to embarrass you.”  Lo’ak says holding out a pinky. I grasp it with mine for a pink swear. It was something that me and Lo’ak and Kiri had been doing since forever. I told Kiri and Lo’ak that pinky promises were a death contract on Earth; a sacred ritual. That if you break the promise the other party has to kill you. Of course a few months later they had found out that wasn't true when they saw Norm pinky promise me to help with dinner. They had asked him why it was worth a “sacred pinky promise” when he usually said he would help before getting absorbed in his work and falling through on the promise. Norm had laughed through his entire explanation, that no, if he failed I would not kill him. They were so mad that Kiri had refused to come over for the next visit to the lab. I had to apologize and braid her hair four times before she fully forgave me. To this day we still use pinky promises to signify a serious promise, despite not being able to kill each other if we fall through on our promises.

“I’m serious, I want your mom and brother to like me.” I admit, looking away to hide from the reaction I knew was coming.

“Awwwww. Taw, you love us so much you want to impress our family.” Lo’ak coos, pinching my cheek that I turned away from him. I slap his hand away lazily and accompany it with a glare.

“Lo’ak stop, this is obviously important to her.” Kiri said, reaching out to stop Lo'ak from grabbing my cheek again. “Don’t worry, I will be there to protect you from Lo’ak.” She says, and pats my face where Lo’ak pinched it to soothe the skin. 

“Thank you, Kiri. Hey, maybe I was wrong. Maybe she is my best friend.” I say flipping off Lo’ak with my right hand while throwing my left arm around Kiri in a half-hug. Lo’ak only grouchy at us while Kiri laughs. 

We talk for a few minutes, before they have to leave to help get ready for dinner. The plan was for me to change and come to their marui when the dinner horn is sounded, which is when most Na’vi go to get food. Usually, a member of each family stands in line to get food for the whole family. Most dishes are served in one dish and the Na’vi use their hands to eat from each dish, using a cloth to wipe their fingers between each type of food to avoid crossing flavors. Each cloth is customized to the owner to avoid confusion, often made as gifts for children. I have never been so glad that I asked Kiri to teach me to weave as I pull out one of my pieces that is small enough to use as a napkin. I made it to use as a bandana, but in this body it is more like a napkin size. It's really too fancy to use as a sra, especially because it's not a special occasion but, since they're considered personal items to the Na'vi there might not be any that have not already been used. This would definitely be a better option than using one of Lo'ak's extras. Ew.

After that I get ready, pulling on the small set. As I look in the mirror I can’t help but fuss with the feathers on the top to get them to cover as much of my chest as possible. The loincloth starts to ride up so much that I debate changing back into the ugly shorts and tank top again. I shake my head and decide to just let it hang where it sits, as every time I move so do the tops many feathers. I go into the lab to show the outfit to Max and Norm. Norm, of course, flatters and compliments me about a thousand times. Max simply smiles fondly and listens to Norms compliments, much like a father listening to a mother fawning over her child. He only interrupts to ask how I feel about the clothes. I would love to tell the truth and tell him that it's way too short for my comfort, but I just smile and say I love it. If I told him he would definitely tell me to change, which would no doubt cause me a fight with Kiri and Lo'ak. After they both stop admiring my outfit I ask them to go to dinner and surprisingly both agree, quickly. I raise my eyebrow at this but choose not to question it. After that I help with their dinner while waiting for the dinner horn to sound from outside, they promise to set aside a big portion for me to eat when I re-enter my body later, making me promise them I will eat it. We usually eat dinner earlier than the Na’vi, so just as I add the finishing touches to our dinner the horn blows and I make my way down to the Sully’s marui.

Thank you for reading! Let me know if I have made any mistakes or errors, feel free to massage them if you don't want to comment. Feedback is also greatly welcomed.

@skeletondeerart

[pastelclownkitty]

COMPASS GOD BLAST!! (aka i'm assuming you'll get at least one Trio question and *I* wanna know about Tempest)

The Four Compass Gods (even... eugh... Atlas...)

4, 9, 24, 25 :]

fair warning that ciaran and aeros are not built on much so most of this is made up on the spot. ok thanks stuff like this helps

4. What is your OC's fatal flaw? Are they aware of this flaw?

Aeros - Their immaturity. They try so hard to be cold and professional, he really does, but at the end of the day he's still rather childish and doesn't think things through as much as he likes to make it seem like he does. He is aware of this, he's been constantly reminded of it. It's why he tries so hard to fix it, or at least stop it from showing.

Ciaran - Their numbness. The way it causes them to stop taking things seriously and be apathetic in the face of consequences. They are well aware of it, but make no effort to fix it.

Atlas - Their temper. Atlas's anger quickly causes them to stop thinking rationally, instead exposing her impulsive and reckless side. Many people have told them to work on this, but Atlas refuses to accept that it is an issue.

Tempest - Their inability to move on. The way they cling to every past grudge, never allowing themselves to forget. They are aware of this but don't see it as a flaw.

9. Do you have a specific lyric or quote that you associate with your oc?

Aeros - "And then she smiled, and that's what I'm after, the smile in her eyes, the sound of her laughter."/"Next time you're praying, you'll be praying for me."/"Mother Earth's love whispered to me (and it wasn't her fault)."/"Look at the stars, in the big black ink. Tell me what you feel and tell me what you think. Is it cold outside? Is it cold?"

Ciaran - "Kind of like an addict, I let you win."/"Now I'm King, like you wanted me to be."/"I did what I had to do to survive, then I did a bunch of other shit I felt like doing."/"You became so focused on running the rat race and getting to that cheese, you didn't even think to look for the cracks. And I don't blame you! I'm just disappointed."/"Curiosity killed the cat, satisfaction brought it back."/"It's a quality of the gods to see a creature with its back broken and be unmoved."

Atlas - "'Cause you lost when your puppets reclaimed their lives!"/"I've been waiting for my lover to relieve me, but they're outside swinging from the oak tree!"/"Do not pray. Whatever the fuck you do, do not pray. Because the ones that are listening, you do not want them to answer."/"Everyone is a monster to someone. Since you are so convinced I am yours, I will be it."

Tempest - "There's a plan for us lunatics and liars, we have faulty gears and wires, they can't save us but they'll do the best they can!"/"I'd kill myself to get away from you, too."/"It was nice to know 'ya! We've all been damned, cmon!"/"Stop the peace and keep the violence!"/"I think I'll lose my mind in hysteria!"

24. What is an alternative life path your OC might have gone down? How different would their life be if they'd made those decisions?

Assuming they all didn't become god and continued their lives like normal:

Aeros - Would have ended up completely alone and aimless, with absolutely nothing to their name. There was nothing for them besides his Fate.

Ciaran - Honestly, he would have wound up in jail had they not become a god. They would not have kept getting away with everything for much longer.

Atlas - He and Venus planned on moving far away together. Atlas most likely would've gotten a job as a gravedigger, and Venus would have loved to work at a flower shop or as a fashion designer. Venus could have kept him out of jail long enough for them to live happily.

Tempest - Most likely also would have wound up in jail. Either that or a psych ward, which is probably the more realistic option. Though I could also see them ending up kidnapped by some unfortunate enemies they happened to make. No matter what, it wouldn't have gone well for them. Not that anything in Scilita's life ever went well.

25. What is your favorite thing about your OC?

Aeros - Silly deer guy!!! Silly anxious deer guy!!! Serious answer, his temper. I love pissed-off Aeros. Pissed-off Aeros my beloved. He deserves it.

Ciaran - How intelligent she really is, and how silly she acts not despite it but because of it. That smug, playful attitude of theirs. God, in another universe they and Eucharis would be best friends.

Atlas - His emptiness. His longing to feel whole again. How childish he really is. Everything that godly, untouchable attitude is protecting. Everything he does to distract himself from it.

Tempest - Their bitchy attitude, how little filter they have (while also having an extremely strong filter), the moment where that mask slips and they're left unbelievably vulnerable in their rage.

[jellybeanium124]

adhd vent

cannot believe my psych might require me to do like $3000 and 16 hours of testing to """"prove""" I have adhd. give me 10 minutes I will leave you without a shadow of a doubt.

every couple of months I have this day. I never know when it will happen. but very rarely, I will have a day where I can just... do things. call the people I need to call, email the people I need to email, clean my apartment, run errands. I can get like 4 or 5 things done and I have to fucking milk it when it comes because most days are not like this.

most days getting 1 thing done is a win. getting nothing done is average. getting nothing done + being so filled with bees I can't even focus on stuff that's meant to be entertaining for more than a minute is a bad day. if I get the closing shift there's a 70% chance I will do nothing else that day because I do not have any sense of how time works and am worried if I leave the house to do groceries I will be late for work. on a good day I can do laundry before a closing shift. I never even remember to contact people until a time where I can't (at work, night). I can't even begin building habits like "exercise" because I don't want to do it and forming a habit for something that is technically unnecessary for my survival and I don't want to do is impossible.

there's a decent chance I will do absolutely 0 things on my days off because I'm so beat from work. this is part of why I'm getting into records. I have to LEAVE THE HOUSE to go to a record store. and because it is FUN and I might get a TREAT (new record) I am actually able to sometimes do it. this would be less of an issue if I had more friends where I lived. But Circumstances happened and now I only have one friend where I live. all my other friends are in [HOMETOWN]. I'm working on a second friend.

everything has an exact place in my apartment and if something isn't in its place (or for objects that move a lot, like my phone, one of its few places) I have Absolutely No Fucking Idea Where I Put It. I still have my TI-84 calculator from high school and I still use it if I know I'm gonna do multiple calculations in a row bc I will not remember the previous answers and the TI-84 records it for me. I keep it in my desk drawer. once I thought I lost my phone for like 10 minutes because I used my calculator and then put my phone in the drawer when I was done with the calculator. it took me forever to retrace my steps and realize what I did. I forget things one second after they happen.

I was constantly struggling to turn homework in on time from 7th-9th grade (12-14) and I only "fixed" that problem by developing severe anxiety over turning in homework late. and then I lived with severe anxiety during school years from 9th grade through my freshman year of college (14-18). idk why it suddenly didn't come back my sophomore year. probably because I moved out.

I wanna work in the film industry but that's driven by my effort and I can't even fucking remember I should be doing something about it most of the time!! and then reaching out to people is so difficult! sometimes for anxiety reasons but sometimes I just can't work up whatever I fucking need to work up to respond to an email. I love this work and once I'm on set I'm a hard worker and generally good (people seem to like me) but getting on set has been damn near impossible and not just because it's a difficult industry to break into.

this has just been my life. for 10 fucking years. and it's worse now because I don't have the structure of school or my parents looming over me. I only pay my rent because I have a calendar alert set up every month. I only pay for wifi and my credit card bills because they let you set up auto payments. my roommate is in charge of the electric bill and whenever they text me what my half of this month's payment is I have to venmo them immediately or it will never happen. when my calendar alert to take my birth control pops up on my laptop I don't let myself close it until I've swallowed that pill. when my alarm goes off telling me whatever's in the oven needs to come out, I don't shut it off until I'm out of my seat, otherwise I'd accidentally keep watching youtube or whatever and burn everything. everything's a calendar alert, everything's on a timer, I have a physical fucking whiteboard calendar on my desk to remind me of everything. if I didn't have these things set up and I didn't force myself to be diligent about it, I'd never remember when I needed to go to work, and banks and landlords would start coming after me.

my car is out of windshield wiper fluid. only the driver's side window goes down. the AC's out. and most recently the aux cord stopped working (this happened before and I got a new cord which worked for a short while so I think there's something wrong with the car). and I haven't fucking found the time to take it to someone and get it fixed. my AC is out!! in june!!! and I can only open one window!!! and I suffer because the car still technically works and drives me where I need to go and since this isn't life threatening or otherwise immediately pressing I have no idea when I will get to this!!!

I just want the days where doing two things being a major accomplishment to be a thing of the past. I want it to be a distant memory. I want to be able to function like everyone else.

you don't need to send me to someone for 16 hours across two days and cost me $3000. Idk what more proof you could possibly fucking need. give me the goddamn pills that will make my brain work.

[vulpes-fennec]

Prythian's Fantasia 🎪 (Ch. 4)

Summary: It’s 1889. Desperate to save her ailing mother’s life, Feyre strikes a bargain with ringmaster-witch doctor Amarantha. As the Archeron sisters join Prythian’s Fantasia and head for the World’s Fair in Paris, they begin to realize the circus’s magic runs far deeper than its enchanting nightly performances.

Previously: Feyre and Nesta have bargained with Amarantha! What's Elain going to do?!?

Read: Masterlist | AO3

Thursday, March 14th, 1889

***Elain***

Feyre and Nesta didn’t stop giving her furtive looks until they sat her down for a serious conversation over yesterday’s afternoon tea. And now Elain knew why. 

“Nesta and I will be joining Prythian’s Fantasia for the next half year,” Feyre had announced, stirring cream and sugar into her tea as if it were any other day. “We made a deal with the ringmaster: Amarantha will cure Mother in exchange for our service.”

“How?” Elain had sputtered. Nothing—nothing—had helped Isabella Archeron’s illness, which seemed to worsen with spite.

Nesta’s heavy sigh preceded Feyre’s answer: “Magic.”  

Elain could believe magic existed. Her gift of reading the future was part of the occult, was it not? But the idea of a magical circus…well, stunning performances did not equate to proof of magic. 

“You do not seem surprised,” Feyre observed. 

Elain shrugged. “I am skeptical…but I am more concerned with where is Prythian’s Fantasia going.”  

“The circus will tour England…then head to Paris for the Exposition Universelle,” Nesta replied, switching into French for the last bit of the sentence. “Feyre will be the magician’s assistant, and I will be participating in the aerial silks performance.”

“What about Mother?” Elain asked. “What about the upcoming season? We ordered all our gowns already. And when Father gets back…none of us will be home…”

“That is why we need you to stay and care for the household…ensure Mother is taking her tonics and manage our correspondence from the other families,” Nesta responded swiftly. Her sister’s gaze dropped down guiltily. 

“You will be gone…for months?” Elain’s voice was barely above a whisper, her initial excitement quickly dashed. “And you did not care to include me in this arrangement?” 

Feyre was the more apologetic sister. “We will be sure to write, Elain. And Amarantha will give us the curative after a month, which means Mother will be back to health in no time at all.”

“I do not wish for you to write,” Elain had said stiffly. She had spent the afternoon baking scones and preparing the little sandwiches, but now the food was less than palatable. “I wish to join you both.” 

“Traveling is far too dangerous,” Nesta said. “Do you think we are going on holiday? Feyre and I will be working. We do not want you to go hungry, or sleep in the cold and damp. Staying here is easier, Elain. And safer.” 

“But I want to go to Paris!” Elain had cried, feeling like a petulant child. 

“Nesta is right,” Feyre had added. “The journey ahead is uncertain…and what talents could you possibly bring to Prythian’s Fantasia? Gardening and baking are not useful in a traveling circus.” 

Elain had glanced at her sisters, shocked that both were in agreement for once. “When do you depart?” she had asked, feeling discombobulated.

“Tomorrow morning,” Nesta had said with finality, clearly assuming Elain was agreeable with their plan of action. 

But Elain was livid, and far from agreeable when it came to this issue. How could her sisters leave her behind? Feyre knew damn well Elain wanted to travel to Continental Europe her entire life. And how could Nesta, of all women, assume Elain needed protection from the big scary world? Of course they would expect her to stay home, for she was the Archeron sister that was most well-adjusted to London society. Of course it was alright for radical Nesta and bold Feyre to gallivant England unchaperoned, but the thought of soft and sweet Elain doing so would draw gasps of horror! 

Elain called an early night, unable to bear watching Nesta and Feyre pack when it should have been her in their positions. Guilt gnawed at her: it would be their last night together for a while, yet Elain could not bring herself to spend a minute longer with them. Not that it would make much of a difference, for the Archeron sisters had never been particularly close.. 

But it simply wasn’t fair! 

Whatever happened to taking charge of her own destiny? The fact that she had a premonition about a mysterious man in Paris seemed a good sign to leap out of her comfort zone. Elain did not want to shoulder the burden of excusing her sisters’ prolonged absence to her mother. And telling Isabella Archeron her two daughters had left high society for a traveling circus would be a death wish. 

Which was how Elain found herself hastily packing after Feyre and Nesta bid her a stiff goodbye in the morning. Dresses, shoes, cosmetics, hats, and gloves were haphazardly stuffed into massive carpet bags. Elain bundled out the door, paying the family carriage driver a generous sum for his discretion. 

The big top had been taken down, but the circus performers were still packing up their camp. Feyre and Nesta had to be in there somewhere. Elain’s palms dampened gloves in a mixture of anxiety and thrill—no longer would she sit back and wait for life to happen!  

“Excuse me! Excuse me!” Elain’s voice was shrill as she ran towards the camp as fast as her daintily slippered feet could carry her. The large cases she lugged in both hands made her gait even more awkward.

In her haste, Elain did not notice how wet and muddy the grass was. Her ankle slipped; she went down with a screech. Cases went flying, her hat turned askew, and her gloved hands sank several inches into smelly gunk. It seemed like the whole camp had come to a stand-still as everybody watched Elain struggle to stand. 

“Elain? Elain!” Feyre cried as she rushed over, picking up the muddy cases for her sister. “What are you doing here?” 

Elain stood, red-cheeked with embarrassment. Her creamy pink dress was sodden and now stank of filth, her cheeks were splattered with mud. But at the sound of Feyre’s voice, she straightened and indignantly replied, “I don’t want to be left behind.” 

“Elain, you must return home,” Nesta ordered, striding over to them quickly. “This is foolishness.”

“What is going on here?” Amarantha’s voice sharply rang out over the crowd of people. “My goodness, who is this pathetic creature?” The ringmaster assessed Elain’s now-filthy form with obvious distaste. 

“I’m sorry, Amarantha,” Feyre apologized quickly. “This is my sister, Elain.”

“She will be leaving now,” Nesta added meaningfully, grabbing the last clean patch of fabric on Elain’s elbow and tugging on it. Elain disentangled herself subtly, but Amarantha noticed it. 

“Leaving?” Amarantha arched an eyebrow. “Why, it looks like she was planning on joining us.” 

“Yes!” Elain cried breathily. “I wish to be with my sisters.” She ignored Nesta’s glare. The crowd of circus performers had grown larger, though, and Elain shrank slightly under their bold stares. This was not the first impression she wanted to make.

It could not be any more obvious that Amarantha was judging Elain’s clumsy feet, her gloved hands, the timid roundness of her shoulders. Elain held her breath, fearful of being turned away. 

“I know just the role for you. You will be our fortune-teller. We lost our last one thanks to…an unfortunate accident.” 

“I am afraid I do not have any experience in the occult,” Elain blurted out defensively, so taken aback by the accuracy of Amarantha’s assignment. It was partially true, though. Experiencing sporadic visions was one thing; being skilled at “parlor tricks” or channeling specific readings was another. Still, Elain mentally kicked herself for spurning the offer. 

“Well? Simply make things up,” the ringmaster waved her hand condescendingly. “As long as the circus visitors are satisfied, you will be of use to me. And do tidy yourself up before we board the train.” Amarantha flashed Elain a gleaming white smile that possessed no warmth before she turned away.

Nesta sighed and motioned for Elain to follow her through the camp. Elain kept her head down, careful not to embarrass herself again. There was a feeling of unease writhing in the pit of her stomach like a black worm. It was distinct from nerves or embarrassment…the sensation was akin to a warning bell.  

Elain considered herself an open-minded, friendly lady, who didn’t have qualms with many people. But there was something peculiar about the way Amarantha assessed her, and she didn’t like it. No, Elain did not like it at all.

“We were lucky enough to have our own caravan,” Feyre said, interrupting Elain’s musings. “Come, let us put your cases inside.”

The caravan was painted in a rich green with ornate gold detailing. Glass windows and beautiful lanterns hanging by the door, as well as the fold-down wooden steps of polished dark wood, elevated the caravan’s standing beyond a covered wagon on wheels.

“It’s so small,” Elain commented doubtfully. 

“It’s much bigger inside, you will see.” The door swung on well-oiled hinges, revealing an unusually spacious setting. The first thing Elain saw was a copper tub—for bathing—positioned opposite a wooden table complete with green-cushioned wooden chairs. 

“At least we can stand upright here! Look, we have a bathtub,” Feyre explained excitedly. “Towels and soaps included. We can heat the water on the stove.” A small iron stove was situated in the caravan’s corner, its black slender chimney extending up and out of the wooden roof. 

It was beginning to dawn on Elain that, while the caravan was better than sleeping on the cold, hard ground, nothing would compare to the comforts of home. Since the maids always drew up warm baths upon request, tending a flame and heating up water bucket by bucket would be a harsh wake-up call to reality. Elain wasn’t even sure she could strike a match.  

An elegant wardrobe stood next to the tub, facing an upholstered sofa with plush velvet pillows. Thick curtains kept the sleeping area separate: the back end of the caravan was taken up by a large bunk bed. 

“I took the top bed already,” Feyre said, pointing to the top bunk where a circular window offered views to the outside world. “And Nesta took the bottom one. But there’s a separate bed on the side for you.” 

She had never been confined in such close proximity to her sisters. Elain’s bed was built into the caravan, with extra storage underneath. Across from her bed sat a small counter with a marble wash basin, and an ornate mirror hanging on the wall. Her cruddy face reflected back at her, pale and disheveled. Her first adventure started off on the wrong foot, but she made it, didn’t she? 

“It’s quite nice,” Elain finally said quietly. “Home sweet home for the next few months.” 

Saturday, March 16th, 1889

***Gwyn***

Birds of a feather flock together. Any stranger would have taken one look at Daphne’s auburn and Gwyn’s coppery-brown hair, their pale skin and willowy statures, and assumed them to be relatives. Gwyn had learned several key facts about the fire performer over the last few days. One: Daphne’s son, Lucien was 26. Just two years younger than Gwyn. Two: she hailed from Ireland, somehow surviving famine and political turmoil. Three: she was married to Beron Vanserra, the sour-faced, Spanish escape artist. Based on Gwyn’s limited observations of the two, Beron was hardly deserving of Daphne’s warmth and goodness. In fact, Daphne seemed to shrink back within herself whenever she was in her husband’s proximity.

Prythian’s Fantasia, Gwyn also learned, was transported from town to town via the great English railway system. Tents were taken down and bundled neatly, caravans were rolled onto flatcars and strapped down, and the performers bundled into carriages.

When they boarded the train to Bristol two days ago, Gwyn could have sworn some odd emotion passed between Daphne and an older man. The man was around Daphne’s age, with earthy brown skin and hazel eyes like that of a wise owl. Gwyn had seen him several times, for his muscled thighs and foreign features were unmistakable around the camp.

“Who is that gentleman?” Gwyn had whispered to Daphne as they sat down in the carriage. “The tall, dark one who just passed us by?” 

“Ah…that is Helion,” the lady murmured, looking down demurely. “He assists with the lights during the performance.” From the way Daphne’s fair cheeks mellowed out with color, Gwyn presumed there was more to the story than Daphne would divulge. But she didn’t want to pry when Daphne had just warmed up to her.

Tomorrow would be their first show in Bristol, and Gwyn was currently assisting the circus hands in setting up the music hall. An open-air tent of forest-green fabric had just been pitched. Signage was carefully hung. Polished boards were neatly aligned to form a sizable dance floor. The stage would be elevated by pushing together massive crates, artfully concealed by luxurious curtains and decor. 

Amarantha had taken Gwyn into Prythian’s Fantasia to fulfill a singer position in the music hall, but Gwyn had been stationed at the ticket booth for the last few nights with no indication of reassignment. Gwyn was itching to move on from the rote task of checking tickets. She wanted to sing!

Everyone listened whenever Gwyn began singing. Her mother had always spoken of merrow or morgen heritage from their Irish and Welsh ancestors, something Gwyn had always dismissed. Sirens were pure myth; and Gwyn had never seen the ocean, nor felt any draw towards the vast seas. But even she could not deny that her voice was unusually rich and magnetic. Catrin incessantly encouraged Gwyn to audition for London’s high-end music halls, but Gwyn much preferred to offer her talents free of charge at the local church choir. 

Sweat beaded Gwyn’s brow as she pushed against the massive crate. The church would never accept her now, after all she had done—been forced to do—at the brothel…and Catrin. Catrin would never get to hear her perform at a music hall ever again, not even this one—

Gwyn’s foot slipped in the mud. A pair of scarred hands positioned themselves next to her, assisting with the crate. 

“Careful.” Azriel’s voice was flat, but his hazel eyes were wary. “Severe flooding occurred in Bristol this week.” The corded muscles in his forearms flexed as he easily pushed the crate into the proper position. 

“Thank you,” Gwyn replied, wiping her brow. “Are you looking forward to the performance tonight?”

“I am always prepared.” Not exactly answering her question. But from the daggers that were sheathed along his belt, Gwyn had no doubt that Azriel practiced everywhere he went. 

“What are you doing here?” Tamlin, one of the circus musicians, rounded the corner with a hammer in his hand. His emerald gaze was fixed on Azriel, and Gwyn could have sworn Tamlin’s imaginary hackles were raised like a cornered dog. 

“Someone could not be bothered to quit their hammering to lend her a hand, so of course I had to assist,” Azriel replied shortly, his eyes narrowing with mirrored distaste. His scarred hands hung loosely at his side, within close reach of his daggers. 

There must be some history between Tamlin and Azriel, Gwyn decided, for Tamlin had been nothing but cordial towards her, Daphne, and Tarquin. First Daphne and Helion, now Tamlin and Azriel. Prythian’s Fantasia, it seemed, held an unusual amount of secrets under its glossy tents and sparkling performances. 

“Tamlin.” A clear, powerful voice rang out as the magician strode into the music hall with feline grace. Tamlin’s expression soured even further. “You have a new performer assignment for the music hall.”

“You do not give me orders, Rhysand,” Tamlin snarled as Rhysand smacked a thick stack of papers against his chest.

Rhysand smirked, his inky black hair the polar opposite to Tamlin’s golden blonde. “They’re Amarantha’s orders, not mine. I do feel sorry for you, Gwyneth, that your new colleague is acting like an uncouth beast.” 

“Me?” Gwyn squeaked. It was the first time the magician had interacted with her, and she was surprised that he knew her name. His handsome face was even a bit unnerving to look at, for it was cold as the morning frost. 

Rhysand’s violet eyes flicked towards her, faint amusement shimmering. He produced another stack of papers out of thin air and offered them to Gwyn with a courteous bow. “Amarantha has reassigned you to the music hall, as promised. Do inform me if Tamlin gives you any trouble.” 

“I would rather be a beast than a bootlicking turncoat,” Tamlin threw back coldly at Rhysand’s retreating back. Bootlicking turncoat? What happened between Tamlin and Rhysand? Gwyn was vaguely aware of Tamlin saying something about practice times, before realizing Azriel had disappeared as well. 

***Feyre***

The magician’s tent was far too easy to spot amongst the multitude of colored tents in the circus camp: it was midnight black. It was the key to getting her questions about her shadow capabilities answered. Of finally meeting someone who was like her. Years of wishes on evening stars culminating in this very moment. 

“Be still, o beating heart,” Feyre whispered to herself as she approached. To her surprise, the top of the magician’s tent was left open, bathing the space in sunlight. And there he was, leaning casually against a tent pole and fiddling with his top hat. The magician looked up slowly when she stepped across the threshold, like a cat waking up from a luxurious nap. 

He was still dressed in black, albeit in a more simple pair of pants and neatly creased shirt. Onyx black hair carefully combed and styled across his forehead, and his tan brown face close-shaven. The magician clearly maintained an impeccable appearance even while off-stage.

“You must be my new assistant, Feyre Archeron.” Feyre’s breath hitched at the smooth purr of voice, shaping the syllables of her name as if he was savoring sweet wine. “I was wondering when you would show up.” 

“And you are…?”

“Rhysand,” the magician replied matter-of-factly, as if he was mildly offended she didn’t already know his name. He prowled towards her, mouth curving with an almost intimate smile. “But you may call me Rhys.”

“You are from Wales?” Feyre tracked his movements carefully, unsure of how to act around her new mentor. 

“My father is from Scotland, actually.” Rhys halted in front of her, close enough to border on impropriety. Dear lord—his deep blue eyes were hypnotizing. Already she was mentally tabulating the color combinations she could use to recreate the color of his eyes, for they were an unusual shade of violet. Like the color of amethyst gemstone mixed with sunset’s indigo. 

“I see.” Feyre doubted the validity of that statement, for Rhys’s brown nose and aquiline nose implied otherwise. 

“I heard you arrived here with not one, but two sisters. What is a darling like you doing in a circus like this?” Men who called ladies “darling” on the street were exactly the types of men Feyre rolled her eyes at. So why did she shiver with delight when Rhys said it? 

“My mother is very ill,” Feyre explained, tilting her chin up to maintain eye contact. “I sought Amarantha for help.” And you are the first person I’ve met who possesses the same gifts, she added silently.

Rhys’s brow creased slightly, and his sensual gaze chilled. “So you made a bargain with Amarantha.” Displeasure was laced in his tone. 

“Only six months of service for a healing potion. But since my mother’s condition is dire, Amarantha will give me the potion after a month,” Feyre explained, unsure of why he was frowning. 

“There is no such thing as only six months,” Rhys muttered, more to himself than her. While he appeared lost in thought, Feyre took the liberty of studying Rhys with an artist’s gaze, parsing every plane of his face, the details of his relaxed body. Surely a handsome man like him was married, right? It would be criminal—and alarming—if he wasn’t. 

The edges of Feyre’s attention span suddenly thinned and wavered, as if her thoughts were being scrambled up. Raw power thrummed in the air, thick enough to taste. Rhys tilted his head, darkness quickly evaporating into satisfaction. 

“What do you know about magic?” A double-edged question: was he inquiring about her skills with magic tricks, or was he somehow referring to the strange shadow capabilities she possessed? 

“Little enough for me to seek the master himself,” Feyre responded gamely. 

His beautiful mouth smirked as he closed the distance between them. Feyre leaned in, presuming he was about to kiss her…but Rhys’s hand brushed a lock of golden-brown hair behind her ear, producing a small silver chain with a delicate silver cross instead. 

“How did you do that?” Feyre blinked in crest-fallen confusion. 

“A magician never reveals his secrets.” Rhys offered her a sly smile. “Allow me.” 

Feyre could only nod slightly, heart hammering in her chest as Rhys positioned himself behind her. She pressed her lips together tightly when his hands brushed the nape of her neck, lest she let out an inappropriate moan. How could such a simple touch bring forth such pleasurable sensations that traveled right down to her very toes? 

His fingers delicately scraped her skin again, as he slipped the silver cross under her collar and out of sight. The gesture was chaste, yet the sensation of intimacy hung heavy in the air. “I advise you to keep that cross on at all times…for your own good.”

“...What?” Feyre needed to remember to breathe. 

“It’s protection,” he replied simply. “Identification.”

“I am not keen on wearing something around my neck like a dog,” Feyre objected, feeling even more confused.  

“Then consider a gift from your mentor.” Rhys stepped back in front of her, putting a regretful amount of distance between them once more. 

“Mentor, are you? If I am to be your assistant, I think I should be privy to at least some of your secrets.” She smiled back teasingly, fingering the delicate chain. Violet eyes regarded her with molten intensity. Feyre smiled even wider. Good…it seemed Rhys was just as taken with her. It would be such a shame if he found her uninteresting. 

“If you wish to know some of my secrets, then let us begin your training.” 

✨

Tags: @velidewrites @reverie-tales @highladysith @shadowsxgwynriel @foxwithagoldeye @sunshinebingo @jealousveronya @corcracrow @fieldofdaisiies @the-lonelybarricade

Author's Note:

I hope you enjoyed this update! Maybe it took you 5 minutes to read it, but it took me several hours to write it. Would you rather read a paragraph of words an AI strung together over a fanfic with fun headcanons and character analysis, or published writing?

I hope your answer is no, and I hope you will show the same respect to artists by NOT supporting or reposting AI art, especially on TikTok. Artists spend YEARS honing their craft, so propping up AI art is the equivalent of supporting plagiarism. I'm tired of seeing people defending their use of AI images over genuine art in their fan edits because AI "look perfect". ACOTAR fandom, please do better.

[yokakaiju]

doro modern(?) au

SPOILER WARNING + LONG POST BELOW CUT

i am so tired while writing this, so apologies if some of it doesnt make sense bleh.. i will happily answer any and all questions to the best of my ability tho!!

okay so ngl... it's really not that different from canon i think? i really don't know much abt my own damn au atm cause i mostly think of it during work and for some reason i literally NEVER write anything down?? idk why???

ALSO TO PREFACE!!! DESPITE HAVING READ DORO IN FULL ABT 4 TIMES NOW AND AM GOING ON A FULL YEAR OF HYPERFIXATION HERE SOON I HAVENT BRUSHED UP ON THE LAST 60-70 CHAPTERS IN A MINUTE SO SORRY IF I MAKE A STUPID MISTAKE!!!

this shit is all 100% subject to change later btw:

• genuinely just abt everything that took place in doro takes place in the past during this au, but not in the same way or with the same characters. ik some stuff 100% wouldnt make sense because of this, BUT BLEHH ILL FIGURE IT OUT LATERR!!! literally jist like.. remove everything involving aikawa and risu and replace it with violent social unrest or smth idk yet...

• ne way, this takes place 100 years after the kaiman holey fight, but in this au it wasnt our kaiman

• the sorcerer and human world have been permanately sealed off from each other since hole fight

• humans at this point dont necessarily believe sorcerers even exist anymore due to this, but the older generations (the few people who live to be like 80-100+) are still somewhat afraid of them and think that some may still be in hole (they are)

• abt hole and this is gonna need a lot of reworking, but like.. idk. basically some humans worship hole as a modern god, taking everything that happrned as absolute truth and churches sprung up around holey, worshiping large statues made of his bones and stuff. the statues do still work as they did in base doro, but they arent as widespread anymore? theyre way more popular with older people and thr newly religous folk, but most people see them as some sort of novelty at this point and they arent widely owned outside of churches and hospitals anymore

• the refuse lake also is back kinda? but its mostly a normal lake now, but the water is still extremely tar like in some parts so its still gated off

• in the socerer world, all information regarding humans and the hole have been banned from being spoken about or learned by the general public. personal doors are also prohibited to be used/learned to be used and anyone who CAN use them that uses them unsanctioned will face capitol punishment or smth. really only the devils and en family know abt hole and shit (theres more people of course, but these are details idk yet)

• n e way, in modern era nikaido and aikawa (sigh we will get to him last...) work together at the hungry bug still

• nikaidos story is literally almost exactly the same. she is still being pseudo hunted by the en family because they got word of a time traveling socerer like howveer long ago and are trying to hunt her down in secret (they dont know its her directly tho)

• kasukabe/haze is still just chillin tho. he is nearly unchanged, still wrote books on socerers (however they were written more historically for a while, then eventually he met haru and they became research/science based) snd took ai as an appretenice, but his work outside of human medicine is thought of as crackpot conspiricy talk or entirely fictional. him and haru are stil married/divorced, haru is also atill a devil and he still has a skin door to the sorcerer world

• ive had some ideas abt shin, mostly that his mom was killed alongside his dad after someone tipped off the  militia that there was somehow still sorcerers in the hole. they investigated their home for a bit and caught her using a door, so they raided the home and slaughted his family in front of him. from there shins story doesnt change much at all rn tbh

• the en family is still highly regarded and very opressive in the socerer world. they dont destroy schools anymore because duh no black powder, but they (with some devil influenece as well) heavily regulate what is taught. resistence against the en family, namely trying to learn about doors and hole, are cruely punished to show they arent fucking around, despite them still having acess to the hole and knowing (somewhat) the true events of what lead to them being separated

• i havent put much thought into the fate of the cross eyes in this au yet, but ive had some ideas? they arent the cross eyes (yet) but, they (our commanders + natsuki and risu) were low ranking memebers who are part of a resistance against the en family that attempts to fight their opression/censorship of history and some higher ups (not the commanders rn) are even trying to figure out how to make a door to the hole or smth

• this is abt all i have rn (im also super tired writing this ugh), so sigh... aikawa time i suppose... this part is gonna be long and confusing and 99% of everything ive talked abt so far was stemed from this, so heres a barely tldr tldr becase im probably making a seperate post when im not so tired. okay TLDR: ai was always disallusioned with being a human becauee his grandpa told him about sorcerers and magic and shit, so he fully bought into hazes entire catalouge of books taking thrm as gospel. eventually he meets haze and works under him, getting close enough to see some of his studies on sorcerer corpses. due to the corpses having smoke/black powder and were killed with hatred for their fellow sorcerers (they were killed by the en family), it starts to slowly affect ais young brain and the seed of a new hole have been planted blah blah, anyway he starts having horrific nightmares from the pov of hole from over a century ago and starts hearing shit cause hes already really mentally unwell. pretyu much from here it goes thr same as base doro for rn. he begs haze to help him become a sorcerer, he has all his plans snd shit tk make it work with the "fresh corpses" (either murders or bodies provided by haru) haze has access to, but haze refuses. ai just gets worse as time goes on, but him being a little emo freak he never actually vocalizes it, but as per cannon he decided to just force hazes hand. one night haze and ai were illegally hunting for potential relics of hole or the events surrounding that around the older parts of the refuse lake whrn ai ended up throwing himself into the tar. however instead of throwing himself in the refuse lake cause he needs a corpse he was compelled by hallucinations or smth to throw himself in. haze saves him and ends up doing the surgery om him blah blah literally its not that different from here, ai still "dies" and is buried he was also made of the 9(?) corpses so hes till got all his heads ans shit. when he rises this time tho instead of going to the sorcerer world he goes to haze again immediatly and begs him not to tell anyone. from here on haze hides him ot smth since he looks so different now no ones gonna recognize him or whatevs

this aint a fuckin tldr whoops. anyway uh.. ill make a seperate post abt aikawa/kai/EVERYONE ELSE IN THERE later cause i fell asleep twice writing that

please ask questions if you have any!! i will work on this more as time goes on i imagine and ill try to start actually writing ny ideas down now

[vilevileposting]

I am reading Homestuck for the first time (Week 4)

As we approach the thousand page mark, I think I have the picture of why homestuck was able to blow out the walls of its niche sensibilities into mainstream appeal. I assume I'd get this answer when the trolls showed up, but no, the answer is that Homestuck is actually good! Going into this, I can't honestly say I expected it to be good. This whole thing was supposed to be a bit, where I power through Homestuck in a year (with the babes) and then cosplay a troll at Dashcon 2. This leads me to reflect on what a bit really is, because when I imagine something done as a bit, I imagine the bit acting as its own motive. You do the bit for the bit. Can you do as a bit something you have more than that one reason for doing? Is this still a bit? It's still funny to get into homestuck in 2024, I think, but can I rightfully still call it a bit when I eagerly await every book club? Much to think about.

These are my notes for week 4:

759: Floored as I am, I’m glad Nanna is a willing agent in all this. That said, the amount of people running around who seem to Know Something is making my neurons fire.

760: The freaking pumpking?

766: This one goes out to all the trans girls named Jade Harley (and the trans guys named Dave Strider whom I forgot to shout out last time)

789: What is Jade’s fursona, why won’t it tell me

790: Jade’s connection to everything is clearly important but it seems like it might be a while before I’m told why. Here’s someone who sees the future, or at least intuits it, who’s the grandaughter of someone with a whole lot of sburbish technology. I feel like I’m missing the same piece to both puzzles.

793: Y-yeah I noticed before this panel!!

797: I’m gonna kill the guy who put this command in. HOWEVER now we know Jade’s sona is a wolf. (Mine is a dragon, and the other bookclubbers are a possum and tiger)

801: VOLCANO!!! MOUNTAIN HERMIT!!!!!!!!!

802: Cowardice.

822: It was pointed out to me that the crossing out of “but not many” in the act 2 flash implies that that sburb meteor hit a long-ass time ago, and this confirms it! Very wacky. I might think they’re not really sburb meteors if not for the established time shenanigans. This seems to imply there’s more than one potential trigger for a meteor.

826: Jade has WAY more friends than her friends do.

829: Permanently unlocked coquettish as a word for Corah to throw at twinks. Need to find a word to pair it with, like how I use “svelte motherfucker” or “coiffed bitch.” Also I like the grand tradition of internet icons from this era casually using slurs. Look up the first appearance of Megalovania RIGHT NOW

835: How could I forget goofy modus foreshadowing………

836: Dave’s brother is so badass he beat up his armed little brother while piloting a puppet. I think in terms of power scaling this could put him above John’s dad.

839: How did I not notice that Rose’s mom opened that secret passage while Rose was in the back fighting a burning tree? Your poking holes in my they-actually-love-each-other theory, Rose’s mom.

844: Chess piece sword that looks SICK

845: During the book club last week, one of us speculated that the lesser items will be removed from the jetpack to make it functional. The thought of doing that – albeit to the code of the object and not the object itself – is vindicated here!

859: CG has GOTTA be one of those wandering vagrant guys.

*Book club note: Someone mentioned the TROLLSLUM, and I only just made the connection that CG is grey. Reading this 5,000 years in the future as I am, that stands out to me………

874: Looks like my house is okay for now….. But damn they GOT Montreal’s ass

893: John’s Dad name reveal???

896: Andrew Hussie predicted Death Stranding.

911: Aint no way this is a shot of John’s Dad’s room.

918: He’s DEAD!?

948: I was right!!!!!!

962: Carapace confirmed! More wondering what the Wandering Vagrant is. I wonder if someone tried to appearify a shadow demon from the past and a machine made him from the goo, mutant kitten style.

[glassartpeasants]

A Valentine's Day To Remember

Laughing Jack x GN!Reader

Warnings: Blood, not gore really but tagging in case, angst

A/N: I don't wanna talk about how long this took, and how i finished it at 12:17 am in the morning. And how it's 4 days after Valentine's Day. Hopefully its long to make up for it.

~~~

You were so tired. Tired of working your ass off for a boss who only cares about himself. Tired of working with co-workers who think you're a dumping ground for the things they don’t want to do. You couldn’t wait to quit, but that was something that had to be postponed. Cause you’d be damned if your broke on Valentine's Day.

This Valentine’s Day was going to be huge for you. You wanted your love to have the most expensive things and everything his twisted heart desired. It's just a shame you worked so much. You loved him so much, so you hoped this would make up for the lack of quality time you spent with him. He loved surprises, so you couldn’t wait to see the look on his face when he saw all the decorations.

Well, you had to buy them first.

So that leads you to where you are now, roaming the stores looking for the perfect things to fill your apartment with. The sweets aisle was stacked with candy that would give a clown cavities.

Lindt, Russell Stover, Ghirardelli, Godiva, you name it, was in your cart. You got flowers and everything under the sun. It was all in your cart, ready to be given to the person you loved the most. It had to be perfect for him.

You couldn’t wait for it to all tie together and be the perfect Valentine’s Day you dreamed it to be.

~~~

You were gone so much. Why were you gone so much? Don’t you love him? He told you about how he’s clingy. Did you finally have enough? Is that why you were spending so much time at work? You didn’t find another, did you? You were cheating, were you?

Toxic thoughts filled his mind as he looked at the picture of the both of you that he kept in his pants pocket. Both of your guys smiles were from ear to ear. It was a picture where you officially asked him out. He felt as if his chest was going to implode. He remembered the kiss you left on his cheek you gave him that almost had him melting. He was still so madly in love with you that every kiss afterward still felt the same since that day.

Did you not feel the same?

He wants to tell you how he feels, but he doesn’t know how. What if you get mad at him for holding it in for so long? What if it’s not the right time? What if he’s just overthinking again? Why can’t he just say it? For fucks sake, he’s a 200+ year old clown. He should be able to express how he feels.

*RING RING RING*

He grabs the phone from his pants pocket, only for a smile to stretch across his face.

It was you! He went to answer it, but he looked at the time and saw that you were still supposed to be at work. Did you call him cause you wanted to, or was it a butt dial? He picked up the phone, and relief washed over him as he heard your voice.

“Hi honey, I’m going to be early in coming home or a little late depending on how this traffic is. I think someone ran a red light and hit someone else. People need to get their licenses taken away cause this is the 3rd time this week!” He laughed as he heard the cute annoyance in your tone. You did mean to call him! You even did it while driving! He loved hearing you rant about how horrible traffic was.

“How was your day, though? Hopefully better than mine.”

“I didn’t do much. I stayed home and watched horror movies.”

“You okay, honey? You don’t normally hang out at home unless something’s bothering you. Do you wanna talk?”

‘This is my chance! I can finally tell them!’

“Nah, I’m okay. Just tired. I drank too much with Will last night, and I have a massive hangover.”

“I swear, you're going to kill your non-existent liver. I’ll be home, and I’ll make you some that’ll help you. Oh, traffic’s starting again. I have to go. Love you!” Before he could say it back, you hung up. He would have been sad if he wasn’t excited that you would be coming home early! He loves when you come home early. It's not often enough, though.

‘Why didn’t you confess?!’ His head started going off again, but it was right. Why didn’t he say how he felt? Why couldn’t he have the courage to say it? Maybe he will when you get home.

~~~

A few days later

Jack was so clingy when you got home early that night. But you didn’t mind. You loved his clinginess. That is what made him, him. It's just a shame that you were gone at work so that you couldn’t enjoy his arms around you while he was rambling about something he saw that day. 

He was so cute when he started rambling, talking about his new obsession and how he was so fixated on it. The way his eyes sparkled when he’d talk about it always made your heart melt. 

You found a store based on his newest interest and told him about it so he’d get out of the house while you decorated. You told him that you had to clean the house and gave him some money to buy whatever he wanted from the store. He was sad that you weren’t coming with him, but you told him that you’d meet him at the park so that you could hang out. He smiled before going on his merry way.

Here you were, with your shared apartment decorated to the max with Valentine’s Day decorations. Flowers as far as the eye could see. Piles of chocolate are laying on the dining table, with a handwritten letter to him waiting to be opened. 

Horrible romance movies, rom-coms, and other Valentine's Day movies sat on the couch waiting to be watched. You got candles so that it would be even more romantic. The finishing touch was what you wore under the everyday clothes you had on. 

You couldn’t wait for it all. All you had to do now was head to the park and get ready to see him and not spoil the surprise you worked so hard to get.

~~~

Where were you? You were taking forever! He feels weird sitting on this park bench alone, holding all the stuff he bought with the money you gave him.

“Jack!” His whole body froze as he felt hands being placed on his shoulders. He twisted his head and saw your smiling face. You looked so lovely when you were smiling.

“I thought you forgot, haha. What took you so long!”

“That's for me to know and for you to find out!” He would have laughed with you, but for some reason, it only gave him a gross feeling in his stomach.

“Well, are you ready to go for a walk?” 

“Yeah! Let's go!” He quickly sat up and grabbed your hand, and you both started walking down the pathway.

~~~

“And Edgar Allen Poe didn’t create ‘The Raven’ until 1845!”

“Do you have a favorite poem from him?”

“You're not gonna make me choose, are you?” A cute pout was plastered on his face. You couldn’t help but laugh.

“I wish I could spend more time with you instead of working all the time.”

“Then stop working so much! Ask your boss to cut your hours!”

“If only it were that simple. I have to pay bills and such. I need the hours he gives me.”

“Well, your working a lot more than usual.”

“That's true, but I have a good reason for that.”

“What?”

“I can’t tell you. It’s a secret.” You giggle at him as you squeeze his hand.

“I don’t like secrets.”

“Ah, come on, honey. It's a good one! I know you're going to love it!” You go to squeeze his hand again, only for him to pull his hand away.

“Jack?”

“Why is it a secret that you're gone so much? Are you hiding something from me?”

“Hiding something? Are you okay, Jack?”

“No! No, I’m not okay!” His voice raised an octave which caused you to open your eyes in shock. Your eyes turn soft as you try to get closer to him to understand what’s got him feeling this way.

“You're always working! Whenever I want to hang out or be with you, your working! Work work, work is all you do!”

“I’m sorry, honey. I know I’ve been working a lot more, but I’ve always tried to make it up to you! Not to mention soon I’ll be able to make it up to you!”

“That's what you always say! I’ll make it up to you, yet you never do! What's so cool about work?”

“Nothing is cool about work! You know everything is more expensive nowadays, so I have to work a lot to pay bills and such. I’m sorry I haven’t spent as much time with you as you would have liked. I wish I could make that time up, but I can’t, and I'm sorry.”

“Even days you have off, you go in if they call you in! When we're hanging out, you leave!”

“I’ve only done that twice! I don’t like it any more than you do, but when my boss threatens to fire me, I have to go in.”

“Are you sure there just isn’t somebody there you want to see?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about how you're probably talking to someone at work!” You jump back a little back at his words.

“Are you saying that you think I’m cheating?” Jack didn’t say anything as he only looked at you blankly. 

“You really think that lowly of me that I’d cheat on you?” His expression was mixed with anger and sadness, and you couldn’t help but feel those as well.

“With how much you forget about me, you might be.”

“Forget you? Jack, you're on my mind 24/7. I never stop thinking about you. You're the only person I love.” Jack said nothing as he looked at the ground away from you.

“You know I love you, right Jack?”

“Then act like it.” His words just snapped something inside you. He was throwing arrows at you with words, and you’ve only shown him, love, only to be stabbed for showing it. Jack started walking away towards the direction of your apartment.

“Can we please talk about this instead of you walking away?” You run up to him and grab his arm.

“I don’t wanna talk to you.”

“Please, Jack? Relationships need communication-”

“I said I don’t wanna talk to you!” He screamed as he pulled his arm back, accidentally slicing your arm before disappearing into a cloud of smoke.

“Ah fuck!” You quickly checked your arm, only to notice three deep wounds pouring blood out of them. Not even seconds passed by before your entire forearm was covered in blood. You started to run, which left a trail of bloody droplets as you tried to find the nearest hospital.

You tried running even faster, but your eyes started getting heavier to the point where you could barely keep them open, and your legs started weakening.

‘Oh god, what’s happening?’ Your vision started getting blurry, and you felt your legs wobbling as you tried to maintain balance.

“Hey, you don’t look so good.” A stranger's voice was the last thing you heard before you collapsed onto the concrete path of the park. Darkness surrounded you as you closed your eyes.

~~~

“Stupid (Y/N). Stupid Valentines Day.” Kicking rocks was the best thing he could do to prevent him from losing his temper again. 

Seeing your sad face when he accused you of cheating never left his mind, no matter how hard he tried to erase it. Why were you sad? He’s the one who deserves to be sad! You chose to work and ignore him! It’s all your fault!

But now what?

Why should he put himself through being forgotten again? Sure, he loved you more than there were stars in the sky, but he promised himself that he wouldn’t go through what he did ever again.

He was too much into his thoughts to notice that he had walked all the way home to your shared apartment. At first, he didn’t want to go in, in fear of you already being there, but when he put his ear to the door and heard nothing, he unlocked it.

Shock couldn’t even describe how he was feeling. Did you do this?

The house was decorated head to toe with decorations. Boxes of chocolate were hoarded on the dining room table with an envelope with his name written on it.

Closing the door, he walked towards the envelope and grabbed it carefully. It was a cliche white envelope with a red heart sticker sealing it. Using his claws, he carefully opened the top of it. Grabbing it, he starts to read the letter.

Dear Jack,

Happy Valentines Day! I’m so excited to share this holiday with you for the first time! So I went all out! Everything you can think of is here! I wanted to make this one never to forget!

Your wondering how or how did I manage to get everything? Well, this is the reason I was working so much! I wanted to make sure our Valentine's day was perfect! So I hope you can forgive me for not being able to hang out with you more.

I hated every time I had to go to work for hours and not be able to see you. I always missed hearing your jokes, as they never failed to make me laugh. Seeing how your eyes light up every time you talk about something your passionate about always reminded me why I’m so in love with you. Your presence alone always makes me feel at peace. I genuinely don’t know what I’d do without you in my life.

Your everything I could ever ask for. I feel so lucky you're a part of my life that I couldn’t imagine my life without you. So I hope you can forgive me for being unable to be in your arms every night.

I love you to the ends of hell and back. Happy Valentines Day, Jack <3

He couldn’t begin to describe how he was feeling. You were simply trying to surprise him, and he thought you were cheating on him! You were only working so you could make him feel happy! God, he felt like such an asshole.

He held the letter in his hands as he tried to figure out what to do. Maybe he could wait for you to get home? Yeah, then he can apologize for everything that happened at the park. Looking at the clock, you should be home soon, and maybe Valentine's Day can still be saved.

~~~

A day later

Why didn’t you come home last night? Were you that mad at him? Were you too hurt to look at him? He knows he messed up, but how long were you going to ignore him? He tried to call you and text you, but you never answered and left him on delivered. Maybe your phone was off?

RING RING RING

He quickly picked up the phone, hoping it was you, only to be yelled at by a familiar female voice.

“Jack, where are you?!”

“Home? And don’t yell at me, Jane. What do you want?”

“(Y/N) is in the hospital, and you don’t even care? Some boyfriend you are.” He jumped to his feet as he felt his heart stop.

“(Y/N)’s in the hospital?!”

“Yes! Didn’t you know?!”

“No! Which one?!”

“The sone on Solar St.!” Not even seconds later, he left the apartment in a puff of smoke. When he saw the hospital in front of him, he made a mad dash inside. 

“Which room are you in?!”

“208!” Running down the halls of the unfamiliar corridor felt like a race against time. He found your room and burst through the door.  Upon entry, he saw your body lying on a bed with all sorts of things attached to you. Bloody bandages wrapped around your arm and head.

“What the fuck happened?!”

“All I know is apparently a bystander found them running holding their arm. Suddenly, they collapsed onto the concrete, hitting their head hard. When they saw all the blood is when they called the ambulance.”

“Ah, you must be another friend of (Y/N)?” He whipped his head around to see a doctor holding a clipboard and staring at him.

“I'm their boyfriend! What happened to them?!”

“When the EMTs arrived, they noticed three deep gashes on their right arm. Deep enough to damage the radial artery. Their head had gotten hurt from hitting the concrete, and from a cat scan, we’ve seen they’ve got a small skull fracture along with a 2-inch length cut.”

“Will they be okay?!”

“They’ve lost a lot of blood. It’s going to be a long recovery.”

“At least they're okay.”

Unfortunately, things like this come with severe risks and problems. They went unconscious from blood loss and haven’t woken up since they passed out yesterday. They lost enough blood that they could get amnesia. Long-term or short-term is unknown.”

“Do you know when they’ll wake up? Or what caused the cut to the arm?” Jane's voice cut through the thick air.

“No, I don’t. We’re guessing a demon ambushed them as they look like claw marks. Sorry for what happened, and I do wish you the best. I’ll have a nurse come and check on them soon.” The door closed as Jack's world seemed to stop.

“What did you do?!” Jane's voice screamed as she started hitting the clown and yelling profanities at him.

“I-I didn’t know! I didn’t mean to!” He tried to calm Jane down, but her words continued to dire at him.

“It’s all your fault! They might not ever wake up, and it’s your fault!”

“Don’t say that! They’ll wake up!”

“And how do you know?! They’re lying in that bed because of you!” Jack tried looking away, unable to see what his actions had done.

“Look at what you did!”

“Shut up!” Putting his hands over his ears, he fell to the floor and sat with his knees hugging his chest. He could feel tears brim his eyes as his whole body started twitching with loads of unfamiliar emotions.

“They deserve better than you. I hope they leave you…

…If they ever wake up.”

~~~

Three weeks have passed

Wake up, please. Please, please, please. He’s sorry! He’s learned his lesson. You can wake up now! It’s not funny anymore! Wake up! Why won’t you wake up?

He’s been by your bedside ever since the day he found out. Why would he go home when your not there? Nothing was the same if you weren’t there. Knowing you were in the hospital, he couldn’t even find joy in doing other things. A hospital he put you in.

People came to see you, and when they saw him, he was given the silent treatment or looked at like he was the most disgusting thing in hell. He’d wish he could sometimes crawl in a hole and die with all the stares sent his way.

You needed to wake up! He doesn’t know if he can continue this any longer! Knowing you so close yet so far away.

The sound of shuffling pulled him out of his thoughts, and he turned to look at the source of the sound.

It was you!

He grabbed your hand and held it tight as he looked hopeful that this time would be when you woke up! He could feel his heart jump out of his chest when he saw your eyes flutter open.

You turned to him before your eyes filled with fear, and a scream erupted out of your throat.

“What are you?! Get away from me!” Your screams echoed through the hospital as doctors and nurses rushed in.

“(Y/N) calm down! Your in the hospital! Your okay!”

“Who are you guys?! What are you guys?!” You ran from your bed and tried to get as far from them as possible. Tears started streaming down your cheeks as you feared for your life. All these monsters in front of you were nothing short of nightmare fuel.

“Ah, I was afraid this was going to happen, but this is worse than I could have predicted.” Jack twisted his head towards the doctor before tightly grabbing the doctor by his shoulders.

“What's wrong with them?!”

“Amnesia. This is just one of the worst cases I’ve seen. It happens a lot when someone experiences such heavy blood loss as they did. How long have they been in the underworld/known you?”

“Dated for almost seven months and known one another for two years!”

“I’m afraid to say Jack, but the amnesia has affected their brain to the point of losing their memory. And even losing their memory of the underworld.”

“Well, you can fix it, right?! Right?!” The doctor said nothing as he looked at Jack with pity. 

“No…no! Your lying!” Letting go of the doctor's arms, he ran to you and grabbed you to try and hug you. 

“You know me! You love me, and I love you!” Tears also streamed down his face when he felt you trying to escape his grasp.

“Let go of me! Someone help me, please!” The sound of your screams was so loud that your voice soon started going dry. 

“Jack, let them go!” Doctors and nurses tried to pry you away from jack’s grasp, but he couldn’t let you go. He wouldn’t let you go. 

More aids came in, and they were finally able to pry you away from him. You still screamed bloody murder as you were surrounded by people you didn’t know and monsters all looking at you. 

Your body felt light before you passed out from the fear of being in the unknown.

~~~

Months later

You were sitting on a park bench with someone else where he should be. It should be his arm around you, not theirs. It should be him your laughing at, not them. 

Jack could only watch you from afar as you kissed someone that wasn’t him. The awful feeling that he so desperately tried to avoid in the first place soon became the only thing he felt. Sitting away forgotten while you lived your life without ever remembering him.

“You're pathetic. Can’t you just leave them alone? You’ve already done enough.” 

“Leave me alone, Jane.”

“You heard what the doctor said. (Y/N) won’t regain their memories. They needed to return to Earth. They won’t ever be able to come back to the underworld.”

“I know.”

“They don’t need you fucking up their life again. Go home, Jack. It's the best thing you could ever do for them.” Without another word, the sound of heels started heading away from him. His body shook as his tears soon started dropping on the ground.

Once again left forgotten as he watched what his actions had done.