#edit because I queued this post before lia posted the art

[3584-tropical-fish]

Day three of @podcastgirlsweek :

WIP Wednesday! We all have art/fic/ meta we've been meaning to get to. This is your day to finally commit (as long as your WIP is about podcast women, of course.)

Opened up one of my AU planning documents for this, so: introducing (on my blog, at least) @the-zenith-calls' and my part-crack, part-fix-it, part genuine means of character analysis crossover AU! Possibly the worst way to introduce it, as this doesn't include any of the characters that actually make it a crossover, but it does mark a significant scene for the B-Plot.

(Luckily for me though, Lia has a more proper post about it! Go look at their art, it’s literally so so cool and I love it so much!)

Summary: Georgie had been expecting a fairly peaceful evening, but unfortunately for her, Melanie's post-work gossip session quickly turns into what feels a bit too much like an interrogation from one of their local vessels of horror.

Melanie has had a key to Georgie’s flat for a couple of months now, so Georgie isn’t all too surprised when she opens the door and immediately flops face-first into the couch of the main room with a groan. Georgie decides to let her lie there for a moment, but when a second groan comes from somewhere in the couch cushions, she decides it’s better that she bite the bullet now, rather than let Melanie stew in… whatever it is she’s stewing in.

“What’s wrong?”

Another groan from the couch. “Work.”

Georgie almost laughs at that, but instead says, “You’re going to have to be a little bit more specific than that. Was Jon being an arse?”

Melanie flips herself over on the couch and props herself up on its arm to look at Georgie. “Yeah– well, no. Not really. A bit? It’s more what he’s not doing. And what Martin is.”

“I thought you didn’t talk to Martin anymore.”

“I don’t. No one does, least of all Jon. And that’s just the problem.” She slumps back into the couch. “Jon doesn’t even try to talk to Martin anymore, and Martin decides to make it worse by holing up in his office and blasting music! And his taste is horrible, Georgie, I can’t stand it.”

Georgie stares at the back of the couch. Luckily for her, Melanie can’t see the face she’s making. “That is… not what I was expecting from your ‘everything is spooky’ job.”

“Me neither,” Melanie says, her voice filled with an agony that Georgie had expected to be reserved for “my boss and coworker just performed nonconsensual surgery on me” situations. Apparently, that voice has also been deemed suitable for… whatever this situation is turning out to be. 

“Have you tried to talk to him about it?”

“Yes, actually,” Melanie says, poking her head above the back of the couch again. “And somehow I’ve become his wingman.”

Georgie looks back at her. “I’m sorry?”

“I told him – like a fool – that I’d try and get Jon to talk to him again. Not because I particularly want them to get together! I mean, I do, because they tend to pine at truly unprecedented levels if they are anywhere near each other, but mainly because I need to stop being constantly bombarded with Martin’s music taste if I want to get out of the Archives.”

Georgie continues to stare.

“Of course,” Melanie continues, “I'd much rather Martin just get over him so I don’t have to talk to Jon. But I highly doubt that will happen anytime soon.”

“And why not?” 

“Have you seen the man?” Melanie asks incredulously, and then she tilts her head and reconsiders. “I mean, it’s kind of hard to see him anymore anyways. But you know what I mean.”

Georgie hums. “I suppose I do. Well, just let me know how that one works out for you, alright? I’m expecting updates on the workplace drama now.”

Melanie laughs at that. “As if you don’t get all the workplace drama already.”

Somewhere on a wall just out of Georgie’s line of sight, a door creaks open. She doesn’t notice it, but what she does notice is the voice that comes from just beyond its threshold. It makes her think of shattering glass.

“And do I get any of these workplace updates?”

Melanie almost falls off the couch with how fast she twists around to face whatever it is that has entered Georgie’s apartment uninvited. “Helen!” Her voice gets defensive. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Georgie steps out into the main room to see Helen leaning against the frame of a bright yellow door, her body – or what has to be her body, even if it twists more than a body should – blocking the view of what seems to be an endless corridor on the other side of the door. The colors of the hallway are unlike anything Georgie has ever seen, and there’s something else about it that just seems off-kilter. She can’t quite place it.

Helen herself seems off-kilter, but Georgie can at least point to what it is that makes her look the way she does. Her fingers, for one, are much too long, and her hair curls and twists into spirals that shouldn’t be possible. Her limbs are gangly and bend at awkward angles to fit inside the doorway, and her smile… Georgie isn’t quite certain how to describe it. 

She decides that perhaps it’s best not to try.

“I’m a little out of the loop when it comes to the Archives, these days,” Helen says, tilting her body in something of a shrug. “But I would rather like to have an idea as to what’s going on there, and I can only hope that you’d…” she tilts her head and folds herself around the doorframe, “humor me.”

Melanie crosses her arms and eyes Helen. “And why – exactly – don’t you know what’s going on there? Jon mentioned to me that he hasn’t seen you in a while, and I know that I certainly haven’t seen you recently. Where have you been? Why show up now?”

Helen sits down (where on earth did that chair come from?) and smiles sweetly. “Oh, no reason that matters to you. Now, you were updating us on workplace gossip?”

“I was updating Georgie, actually.”

“And now you’re updating me as well! So, get to it!” She grins. “I brought wine for your troubles.”

Melanie throws her hands up and turns toward Georgie again. “Do you see what I have to deal with? Every day?”

“Yes, hon, I see.”

Melanie stares at her. “You’re no help.”

“She’s not really doing anything, is she?” Georgie asks. “As long as she behaves” – she gives Helen a hard look – “I don’t see why she can’t stay.”

Helen laughs gleefully, and the glasses sitting out on Georgie’s table rattle. Georgie raises her eyebrow. Thankfully, Helen stops laughing, and Georgie takes her place at her kitchen table to listen more carefully to Melanie’s work updates. “Might as well get started now, Melanie, if you want her to leave sooner.”

Melanie groans and flops back onto the couch. “Fine. Fine! I guess she can just stay here, and loom ominously, and–”

“I did say that I brought wine.”

“And I don’t trust your wine!”

“That’s probably a fair judgment,” Helen says, and the wine bottle (which had appeared seemingly out of nowhere at some point during the conversation) disappears under equally befuddling circumstances. Or at the very least, circumstances that Georgie certainly doesn’t understand. “But tell me,” Helen continues, “what’s the whole kerfuffle with Jon and Martin now? I thought by this time those two would have figured themselves out.” She grins again, her teeth sparkling in a way that Georgie knows shouldn’t be possible. “Much like you two have!”

Melanie groans, but begins to explain anyway. “I’m sure you know how Martin is, what with your whole… everything. Poking your head into places where you’re not wanted. And I’ve told Georgie about my gripes about him enough. Take that – volatile already – and combine it with the fact that Jon has apparently made some new friends? Yeah, it’s not–”

“Jon has new friends?” Georgie asks, perking up in her seat.

“Haven’t I told you about them?”

“You might have, but if you did I thought you were joking.”

“Unfortunately for me, I’m not.”

“Who are these people?” Helen asks, with an edge to her voice that Georgie isn’t entirely certain that she likes. 

“You know, I don’t really know!” Melanie says. “Apparently they both came in to give a statement, one after the other, on a day I wasn’t there. And a week or so later, they were set up in the Archives and I’ve basically been avoiding them ever since. Jon’s been telling me ‘Oh, they don’t have anywhere to go right now,’” – this she says in an approximation of Jon’s voice, but doesn’t quite get anywhere close to anything accurate – “But Basira seems to trust them, at least! And Daisy’s out of that coffin now, so I suppose it doesn’t hurt having them around.

“Except, of course, for Martin getting pissy about it.”

Georgie begins to ask a question, but Helen beats her to the punch. “Do you know where they showed up from?”

Melanie shrugs. “I haven’t asked, and they haven’t cared enough to let me know. And really, I don’t care all too much.”

Georgie leans back in her chair. “Why do you want to know, Helen?”

The smile never once drops off her face as she answers, “I like to know what’s going on, is all. It’s good to be connected in this great, wide world of ours, and currently my connections are a little… lacking at the moment.” She stands suddenly and claps her hand, the echo bouncing strangely off the walls of Georgie’s flat. “Same time next week, then, girls? Sounds like a plan!”

Before either of them can say a word in protest, the door behind her swings open and she steps backwards through it with a polite wave. The click of the door as it closes leaves no room for any argument. 

[liaminina]

Hello!

I am a new user to Tumblr, having been here for a few months. I believe an introduction was long overdue.

About Me

Name: Lia

Gender: Female

Age: 24

Nationality: Dominican (Yes. Despite everything)

Languages: English (fluent), Spanish (my mother tongue), Portuguese (intermediate, trying to perfect it)

Interests: Wikis, virtual idols, animation

Hobbies: Drawing (I may show you my original drawings once in a while), making videos, editing on wikis

Music I like: Video game soundtracks, pop (either K-pop or P-pop) though I don't listen to them much, classics (80s or 90s), or anything with a sound that appeals to me.

Before you follow me:

I tend to say the same things over and over again because I sometimes can't bring myself to try and find the "right words" to say, thinking it's a "waste of time". (It's one of my biggest flaws, I know).

I am neurodivergent... but I will not go into much detail about that.

Most of the time, I am inconsistent -- I schedule a post for a specific day of the week, but sometimes I mess up during the day and end up not doing it. Despite that, I hope you bear with me.

Please do not reply/talk to me using swear words. I just don't like them.

Do not interact if...

If you are a minor. I never interact with them.

If you are outside my age range (that is, if you're older than 29).

If you are an NSFW account.

If you are mean, rude, and hateful/make discriminatory or ableist remarks.

My Tags

#lia talks - Speaking about various subjects.

#lia's thoughts - Phrases to think of.

#lia draws - My original art.

#lia's questions - Random questions I make.

#lia's reblogs - Self-explanatory.

#lia's queue - Self-explanatory.

#lia's favorite art - Drawings that I like and/or that I queued.

#metaverse of madness - Introduction to virtual idols.

And... I think that's it! I hope I can get to share my knowledge with you, and overall have a good, wholesome time here. Please send Asks if you wish to contact me!

(Dividers by @/kgymz, @/gigittamic, @/vysleix)