#even if it's just gem assignments for them <3< /div>
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sevgilimsatoru · 3 months ago
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Error 410: (Self aware!AU, Caleb Edition) Part 1
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Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 A/N Spin off Summary: A self aware!AU with Caleb and NonMC! reader. Tags: Caleb x reader, Caleb x NonMC! reader, Caleb x fem!reader, Stressedout!reader. Inspired by: @ittybittyfanblog Word count: 1k *"when you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you"* *- Friedrich Nietzsche.*
You've heard that quote.., maybe even read it somewhere before but it didn't matter, not when your eyes were starting to ache, a slight burning sensation pulsing behind your eyelids. The only thing staring back at you were the questions in your assignment. The heels of your palm digging into your eyes, rubbing them, trying to drown out the sensation. You had work to do, upcoming tests countless assignments, projects- the dates and deadlines were already starting to blur. Maybe you should sleep. Take a little break, it wouldn't hurt to rest... The sickening feeling of guilt and shame in your gut was going to stay there- despite the efforts to try and study a little more.
It was your fault, really. You didn't do the things you should've on time, procrastinating and postponing work when you shouldn't have. Unfortunately, time never waits for anyone. A click of the power button broke the silence surrounding your room, closing your laptop. You stood up from your desk, stretching your arms over your head, the sound of bones cracking filling your ears. Slumping down on the bed felt much better- the cold sheets against your heated skin felt good, relaxing even. Your tongue darting out to lick your lips, feeling the chapped skin and the stinging sensation sparking up when the fleshy organ touched a small cut on your lip, caused by the frequent biting and pulling of the skin on your lips. A sigh left your lips, swallowing the dryness in the back of your throat. You felt thirsty, your throat felt dry.. empty but not enough to burn and that was reason enough for your mind to stop you from getting up, along with the effort it was going to take to just get yourself a glass of water. Laying against the cold sheets, your mind wandered thinking about something that might get you to sleep. Sleep was slowly becoming a foreign concept- something that happened few and far in between. Your college studies wasn't making it any better- Doing a degree in law along with criminology honors. You really were crazy to have chosen these subjects but your curiosity often went against your decisions. The need to understand and learn more about the few things that you were interested in. There was only silence surrounding you, until a small **ping!** vibrated through the room and in your ears, looking down at your phone to see a message from the game you spent so much of your time on; Love and Deep space and of course, your precious love interest, Caleb. It was almost insane how your eyes lit up when the loading screen of the game showed up. That pretty boy sitting quietly on the leather chair, asleep. A small poke on his cheek was enough for him to let out the usual autogenerated response you always heard. He was so cute, so pretty, so.. human. It was one of the reasons you liked him so much. Over every other love interest, he just felt like a person. A person you could understand- a person you could relate to. You understood why he did the things he did.
Tapping on the small chat button, Caleb was standing there- looking at you. Interacting with him was comforting in a sense. His little teasing yet sincere comments were enough to make your heart stutter. It had became routine by now, doing the daily tasks- getting gems, playing on the claw machine and the kitty cards. Yeah, maybe the kitty cards would be a good idea today. You still had one kitty card attempt left this week. Playing kitty cards with Caleb was fun to say the atleast. It was annoying how good he was at that game. You could never get three wins in a row, sometimes it made you want to punch him through the screen, affectionately of course. Just when you thought you were going to win, all it took was two cards for the whole game to be flipped in his favor. It was so frustrating. "If you keep winning, I'm not going to play with you.." You muttered to yourself, maybe you should stop talking to yourself when no one was going to reply back. "Maybe you should stop and take care of yourself if you can't even focus on the game," Caleb replied in that small text box. That was new, you hadn't seen a reply like that before.. Now that you think about it, did your MC even say anything for Caleb to reply back? Maybe you had missed it, too focused on the game, too focused on him. After miserably loosing the kitty card mini game, you decided to just chat with him by clicking on tête-à-tête. Talking about studies.. wanting to hear his comforting words but with those limited options, how could you tell about how terrible study habits, your conflicting feelings?
You felt stupid, incompetent, like a failure for not being able to complete some simple assignments but how do you tell all that to a fictional love interest in a game? It was shameful in a way, relying so much on the opinions and comforting of something that wasn't even real? It was just so weird.. how he mattered so much to you. Your thumb caressed the screen of your phone where his cheek was, as if he could feel your touch. It made a burning sensation flare up in the back your throat as the brightness of your screen burned into your retinas. Exhaustion of the day catching upto you. Your body curling up on the sheets of your bed. Yeah, maybe sleep would be better. Maybe you'd dream of him.
A/N- Hi everyone, I'm a new writer so this work might feel like really dry and dull. This is just part 1. I'm going to write more. This fic is inspired by Error 404 fanfic of @ittybittyfanblog. I hope you like it.
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obsidian-pages777 · 8 months ago
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Pick a Pile: Your Future Fashion Choice +Love interest and Lifestyle. [Girls Edition]
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Top Left to Right= Pile 1->Pile 2. Bottom Left to Right= Pile 3->Pile4.
Introduction
Pick one of the Images above and you will receive some outfits inspo that will suit you the best in the future. You will also receive a reading on your potential love interest and your lifestyle.
If You Liked This Reading Sign up to TheObsidianPages777 Newsletter
+Free E-Guides on New Moon Manifestation and Gem Stone for Life Path
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Pile 1
Your future style exudes an office siren and badass villain energy, with a preference for a dark, sophisticated color palette—think blacks, deep reds, maroons, greys, with accents of white and gold. You might accessorize in silver occasionally, and a bold red lip will likely be your go-to. Even on a minimal makeup day, a statement accessory could add that extra spark. This overall vibe will be strikingly sharp, almost vampire-esque, with a confident boss persona that draws attention the moment you walk in. Picture yourself in a high-powered corporate setting that requires formality, yet you’ll effortlessly exude that “high-value” look.
Interestingly, this era could open doors to a potential workplace romance. Picture a formal work event where you catch the eye of a charming individual—someone who wears glasses, has messy, dark curly or straight slick hair [Think of someone with a wolfcut or think of Prince Charmont from Ella Enchanted] , and a great personality with an introverted, brooding vibe. They might hold a senior role, like a project manager or supervisor, and have a naturally appealing charisma that others admire. Despite their introverted nature, they show a sweet nervousness around you that’s endearing. Your persona during this time might be a little sharper and more direct—focused on making moves and cutting distractions.
This phase may come after a breakup or a temporary break from a relationship that was overwhelming. This prior partner may attempt to re-enter your life, but by then, you’ll have met this new, more balanced person who feels refreshingly easy to be around. You’ll trust your instincts and follow your own path, even if it’s full of unexpected twists!
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Pile 2
When you adopt the cozy, layered looks in the images below, it might signal a season where you crave more time at home. You'll likely prefer staying in but, on those occasions when you do go out, you'll look your absolute best, like you just stepped off the set of a fall-themed movie—very "Gilmore Girls." During this phase, your focus could be on a significant project, such as a college assignment, work project, or a challenging exam. This period is all about staying single, striving toward future goals, and building a clear vision of your success, even if it feels just out of reach for now.
In terms of romance, no specific person catches your attention, though a few people might find you quite charming. However, you’re discerning, weighing any potential connections against your ideal partner. One person, in particular, may be interested, but they don’t quite align with your ambition or vision for the future. Though they’re attractive, kind-hearted, and you share great chemistry, their lack of drive doesn’t fit with your goals.
Despite how well you get along, you ultimately decide to move on, seeking something bigger and better aligned with your vision. Though a tough, perhaps even cold choice, this person will understand, showing emotional maturity even if they’re briefly heartbroken. You might even give them a meaningful parting gift, ending things on good terms. For now, you’ll continue your journey as an “Autumnal Fairy,” focused on your dreams, knowing that in time, a more suitable match will come along.
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Pile 3
Unlike the other piles, you’re embracing an avant-garde style, experimenting with accessories and layering pieces that you feel harmonize creatively. You’re drawn to a wide range of colors, thinking, “What’s life without color?” This shift reflects your desire to create a more vibrant life, filled with happiness and lively connections. Expect to add graphic-print dresses and colorful, patterned skirts to your wardrobe.
Through this vibrant energy, you may serendipitously meet someone whose grounded style—favoring blacks and earthy tones—contrasts yet complements your own. This person, with tan skin and a captivating smile, is drawn to the radiance you bring. Your charm and lively conversations will leave a lasting impression, making you feel like their favorite book, a story they can’t put down. They’ll be smitten by your style and personality, enchanted by your unique way of navigating life.
Enjoy this exciting, colorful phase—cheers to what’s ahead!
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Pile 4
It seems you’re headed for an all-pink or mostly pastel tones typa phase in the future! You might have felt drawn to another style as well, so expect to mix up your aesthetics often, making this time especially fun. You’ll be leaning into a “doll” look, inspired by Bratz or Barbie, with a wardrobe full of pastel tones. Your vibe will likely be sweet and demure, with favorite spots to visit with friends, like cozy cafes, grocery store runs, late-night drives, and park picnics. Theme parks might also be on your list!
During this phase, there’s a significant person by your side—a taller, older partner who is strong, protective, and deeply loyal. With a cooler, steady personality, they’re both a provider and a devoted companion who treats you like royalty, always willing to support and spoil you. If you’ve manifested this connection, it’s clear your efforts have worked, as this person truly feels like a keeper.
You’ve got this—go get that bag, sis!
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anna-proxx · 1 year ago
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pretty please can we have arthur morgan falling in love with hyperfem! reader? ur stuff is always so so yummy,, no pressure ofc! ૮꒰ྀི∩´ ᵕ `∩꒱ྀིა
⭒✧⋆。guns n' bows ✧⋆。⭒
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pairing: Arthur Morgan x hyperfem!reader
genre: fluff, slight angst (good ending)
summary: Arthur finds himself adoring a dainty woman who joined the gang a while ago. It suddenly becomes clear to him he has fallen in love.
word count: 3294
tags: high honor arthur, fem!reader, (mutual) pining, arthur being a sweetheart
a/n: thank u so much, dolly! i had a few ideas on how to approach this and decided to make it more story-based and focus on arthur's inner process as he realizes he's in love with the reader (as i would imagine it to go). if you'd like something a bit different, lmk! i've been wanting to write a hyperfem fic for a while now, so i had fun with it. also, i'm thinking about writing a pt. 2 where i'd focus more on the reader's pov and have arthur express his feelings more (be a cutie around her) and confess his love. <3
dividers by @saradika / @saradika-graphics
✮ masterlist
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Arthur Morgan wasn't used to being gentle with people. His hands were rough and calloused and his muscle memory trained to draw his guns and shoot. They were meant to be a weapon, to protect and harm for the people he considered his family.
Perhaps he had it in him, but there was no reason to be soft and gentle – the world was just as rough as him and he was assigned the burden of fighting against it. The softest he could get was between the pages of his journal as he wrote about his thoughts and sketched owls and beavers and when he patted dogs and talked to his horse.
But most of those were away from prying eyes and frankly, the role of a dense criminal prized for his brawn comfortably fit around his overlooked qualities, as that was all he needed to be. To survive, to fulfill his role.
And yet you saw right through it. Of course you did, you had a good heart, open to whoever you saw goodness in. While some might write Arthur off as a rugged criminal only, you noticed his edges weren't as sharp as he tried making them seem to be.
His duties were violent, sometimes brutal, the earth soaking up blood of his enemies and his image reflecting in their eyes as the last thing before they closed them forever. To some, he was their biggest nightmare. He wasn't a good man, to believe so would be naive and foolish, but he wasn't all bad either, as some would think.
Your heart was big enough to accept his sins and leave the judgment to whatever was above, meanwhile you sought his presence as it brought you a strangely warm sense of security and comfort. Like moth to a flame, his different nature allured you. Hardened on the outside and soft-hearted on the inside.
Perhaps that was the reason you found yourself liking this big outlaw. Scooted towards him at the campfire, or sat nearby and watched him as he lied on his cot and scribbled something into his journal.
You might've been fragile and soft spoken, but you weren't stupid and your intuition on people was like a radar you could wholeheartedly trust. So you did.
Arthur didn't exactly know you sometimes looked for his presence, but he did notice you were comfortable around him.
It baffled him a little – you were so small compared to him, wearing lace and frills and cute little bows in your hair and yet you didn't seem to be intimidated by his appearance or demeanor at all. It sparked joy inside of him whenever you'd come to him blabbering about the rainbow you saw or gave him a soft smile as your eyes met.
You never treated him with judgment or revulsion, despite knowing very well your morals were against everything he was doing. Just how big of a sweetheart were you to do that? He never said it, but it meant a lot to him.
He felt as though you weren't even a part of all this. You were like a gem among roughened stones or a flower growing in gravel, reading in your tent and braiding your horse's mane while he washed blood off his hands.
And truth be told, because of that, he found you to be soothing and healing for his battered soul. It was so different, to be around someone like you.
You brought out a side of him he didn't know he had, one that was more tender than he was used to be. He didn't feel so angry or cynical, even after a job gone wrong. When he was with you, being gentle was easy.
At the beginning, when you first fell with the gang, it was doubt and hesitation he felt towards you. You were so... untouched by the world's cruelty, so innocent and open-hearted.
Arthur assumed you were naive and feeble, not only in the physical sense but mental as well. The world posed a huge threat to someone like you and he was worried you wouldn't survive in such circumstances. He was convinced you'd run after a few weeks but you did no such thing.
As the months passed, you stayed with the gang, patient and resilient while remaining soft and feminine. You helped where you could and offered a listening ear to anyone who needed it; even managed to get Arthur to open up to you when you two were alone. And you barely ever complained, even ate all Pearson's stews though you must've been used to eating fine food. And you lit up the space wherever you went. Your optimism was invincible. How the hell were you managing to do that?
It dawned on him he must've terribly underestimated you and his doubtfulness turned into admiration and intrigue. You were one fascinating little thing.
Things have been going quite downhill, so he kept checking up on you and you always had a warm smile to offer. You were still sweet and charming, even with the law on your tail.
You were his polar opposite, gentle waves of the sea splashing against hard rocks hot from the sun. Soft clouds concealing the sky after a raging storm. A calm rain on a hot summer day.
Arthur had no intentions of falling in love ever again.
But his heart was a sneaky little traitor.
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Dusk softly illuminated the lake's surface when he found you sitting on the pier, your feet splashing in the water. You put your shoes beside you and held the skirt of your dress at your knees to avoid getting it wet. It was your favorite, white and pink, the corset decorated with little bows at the front. Your locks curled loosely over your shoulders, a light pink bow tying some of it at the back of your head.
You looked so vulnerable and cute lost in your thoughts like this, your feet creating creases in the water as you idly watched them. You had no company with you, only a couple of ducks swimming nearby and butterflies fluttering their wings around your head.
Arthur wondered what your mind was occupied with and before he could properly think it through, his steps directed towards your small frame lit by warm light.
You were pondering on the events of the past few weeks when the heavy steps on the wooden planks caught your attention. Turning your head to look up at the person coming, your eyes lit up as you saw it was your favorite one.
"Arthur!" you called out, your big doe eyes digging a pit in Arthur's stomach.
"[Name]. How are you?" His gaze lingered on you as he stood before you, his hands placed on the gun belt around his hips. You found the concern sweet. Instead of it being a casual phrase, his eyes studied you for an actual answer.
"Good, I think. What about you?" Your voice was smooth like honey and inviting, giving the outlaw something to lean into.
"'M alright," his voice rumbled as he shifted on his feet, his gaze dropping to the ground. "Ya like this place?"
You shortly looked around, taking in the view of the trees and dim sky reflected back in the peaceful lake.
"I do, it's such a charming spot." You looked back into Arthur's face, catching a hint of a smile on his lips.
"'M glad to hear that."
You could almost hear his goodbye that would follow but before he had the chance, you spoke.
"Come on, join me." You patted the spot next to you and slightly turned your body towards Arthur when he sat beside you.
Arthur was a bit at loss of words, always quick with his witty responses but uncertain around you. Your flowery perfume overcame him, then the sight of your rosy cheeks and full lips. You looked like a doll, looking at him through your long lashes with the most innocent look in your eyes.
For a moment your company made him forget about everything. He felt like just a man instead of a sinner, leaning into the silent acceptance you provided him.
You swung your feet in the water. "What did you do today?" you asked kindly, no trace of judgment.
Arthur sighed, recalling the day's events. "Robbed a stagecoach, had to shoot 'em guards. Met a few of the O'Driscoll boys too."
He wasn't one to sugarcoat things, especially when there was no reason to. You knew what kind of person he was and despite you never expressing disgust, he knew you must've had certain sentiments of him and they were all true. He was no better than the crooks he fought. And yet, with you, he wished he was.
Your gaze found his hand resting over his knee, barely dried blood on his knuckles.
"Oh, Arthur!" You took his hand in his, examining the damage with focus as you held his palm with both your hands, yours small in comparison to his.
Arthur's breath faltered in his throat. A lukewarm feeling settled in his chest and slight panic ran through his mind as he was slow to realize just what was happening. The warm touch of your smooth fingers was unusually intensive and he wished for the moment to never stop, as if he ever cared for such things.
He felt silly for it. What was happening with him? Why did he feel such fondness at your delicate hands cradling his, the slight blush on your cheeks, the flyaway hairs around your head?
He furrowed his brow at the unfamiliar tightness in his chest, the rhythm of his heartbeat picking up on pace.
He hasn't felt this way ever since...
"Your poor knuckles," you mumbled while gently running your finger over the bruises. "You know, I don't think I've ever seen them healed."
Your tone was nothing but caring, as if Arthur hadn't used the fist to break someone's jaw. You put his hand away, putting yours in your lap as you continued bathing your feet in the water and watching the thoughtful look on Arthur's face as he softly looked at you.
Arthur cleared his throat, chasing all the crazy thoughts away. "And how's yer day been?"
You tactfully ignored the change of topic and played around with your necklace as you spoke. "Well, it was alright. I've been doing chores almost whole day, then went to Rhodes for some supplies with Tilly and Javier. He also taught me a bit of one Spanish song!"
Oh did he? A pang of jealousy struck him. What the hell was wrong with him?
"Arthur, everything okay?" you asked, your brow furrowed at the sight of his troubled expression.
"Sure, 'm... just tired, that's all."
You nodded, looking at the sky coloring itself in blueish grays. "Yeah, I might go to sleep earlier today as well, I reckon."
Pulling your feet out of the water, you started putting on your shoes while Arthur stood up, offering you a hand by the time you were done. You smiled up at him and accepted his hand, being effortlessly pulled up to your feet.
"Thank you, Arthur."
Your voice wouldn't leave his head, even after you walked towards your tent, disappearing from his sight. He walked to his own one in a trance, left with many unanswered questions in his head.
This wasn't like him, even less to be so confused by his feelings. And yet, as he lay in his cot that night, he kept going back to the moment at the lake, imagining what it would've felt like to brush his fingers through your soft hair or cup your cheek.
Another heavy sigh.
Only yesterday you were still just you. A kind girl they had rescued when she had nowhere else to go, a young woman who–
No, who was he kidding. The warning signs had been there long before; the warmth in his chest whenever he saw you, that little jump his heart did when you said his name, the joy he felt when you asked him for small favors.
It gnawed at him, the sense of knowing he tried pushing away.
He fell in love with you. Somewhere along the way, without taking notice. As complicated and messy it would make things, in a way, admitting to himself the feelings he had for you felt relieving.
How was he so stupid not to realize sooner?
He loved the way you got excited over making flower crowns and how you'd weave some for the girls. He loved when he saw you consoling and comforting Karen into putting the bottle away, or even being kind to that bastard Kieran. He loved when he found you playing with Jack, letting him put flowers in your hair. He loved your feminine gaze, the one that would capture all his attention, or how your kindness towards him made him feel. As if there was still hope for him, as if he wasn't damned after all.
But there was a tight knot in his stomach. He might've set himself up for another heartbreak. How could you want someone like him?
Arthur fell asleep riddled with contradicting thoughts that night.
The new reality of being in love with you gave him a sort of solace. But it wasn't until morning that he decided he could only do one thing – keep his distance. For both his and your sake.
You were beautiful and dainty like a rose, but he was the thorns.
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Arthur did as he promised to himself – despite the stolen glances and wishful thoughts split in half, he would avoid you, though it wasn't as apparent as he's been so busy lately. Not like he would complain about that, if anything, it took his mind off you, even if not for long.
Above all he wanted to return to camp after a difficult job and be close to you, talk to you, feel your calming presence.
What he didn't expect with his plan was how much it would wear him down.
But the last thing he wanted was to hurt you, which he assumed would eventually happen, or lose his head for someone who wouldn't reciprocate the same feelings back.
He returned to camp late today. In the middle of the night when everyone was already asleep. He wanted nothing more than to lie down in his cot, his shoulders slouched as he got down from the saddle and patted his horse a good night, unsaddling him to give him some rest too. The night was quiet and tranquil, like peace after a storm, given how Arthur's day went.
It has been weeks since Arthur had realized he had feelings for you by this point and looking towards the tents, he couldn't help but wonder whether you were alright. He hasn't been around much lately, so he could only guess you continued to be true to who you've been since the beginning. With ribbons in your hair and a dreamy look in your face.
He sighed at the image. What a lovestruck fool he was.
He missed your sleepy eyes and the little wrinkle between your eyebrows when you were confused.
As if something listened to his wishes, a small figure emerged from the shadows and he realized it was you.
Wearing your undergarments, bloomers with frills and lace, you made your way straight towards him. Your hair was in two braids tied by pink ribbons, though a bit messy from sleep, and the loose strands of hair tucked behind your ear.
He froze in place, watching you get closer while his heart went a little crazy. A part of him was happy to see you approaching him, whatever the reason for that was. It made him feel fuzzy inside and that scared him more than any gunfight.
"Arthur!" you called out for him with a slightly shaky voice, not stopping your steps until you stood right before him.
Arthur fought the urge to reach out for you as he saw you small and vulnerable, looking up at him with need, his heart struck with fear when he noticed the little tears in your eyes.
"[Name], what's wrong?" There was urgency in his voice, a worried look in his eyes and panic coursing through his veins.
You held a sob as you spoke, hugging yourself with your arms, a few of the loose strands falling into your face.
"J-just a nightmare. I woke up so s-scared." You started to shiver as you recalled the frightening images. As soft as you were on the outside, you had a vivid imagination and your nightmares could get very eerie and gruesome, causing chills to travel up your spine every time the memory flashed before your eyes.
Arthur's instincts now clutched his heart tightly, a knot tying itself in his stomach. He hated seeing you like this, helpless, afraid and trembling. The sight of you awakened every bit of his protective nature and he didn't want anything more than to hold you and never let you go, even put his life on the line just to keep you safe.
He didn't think twice.
"Aw, c'mere," he proposed in a low warm voice, enveloping you in his embrace gently enough to give you the option of changing your mind.
But you snuggled into the hug instead, a small sob escaping you as you wrapped your arms around his torso, your arms barely connecting behind his back.
He was so warm and firm and you have never felt safer in your whole life. The anxiety was slowly mellowed out, filling your heart with affection instead.
Arthur breathed in your scent and it made him feel lightheaded, and to feel your soft warm body pressed against his felt like a dream.
You were so delicate in his arms and your exposed skin made it hard for him to keep his thoughts straight. He was a gentleman of course, but his heart raced nonetheless and he feared you could hear it beating against your ear.
"It's okay, t'was just a dream." His voice was soothing and warm, and it worked like a charm. He consoled you with strokes on your back, his big palms hot through the thin layer of your undergarments.
"What horrible thin' did ya dream 'bout?" Arthur asked, his embrace not loosening around you. He was quite happy like this, protecting you between his arms, as if you always belonged there.
You kept your face nuzzled to his chest, comfortably leaning into the hug.
You started talking about the dream and he listened. A monster, you said, something big and deranged sneaking its way around to its victims. You rambled about the details, your descriptions a mess as you spoke in loose tangles.
Arthur slightly smiled at your stuttering, it made you even more adorable than you already were, though he didn't know it was even possible.
He would kill anyone who'd dare to touch you.
"'M the only scary thing 'round here 'm afraid," Arthur muttered, his chest rumbling under your head.
"As if," you retorted with your voice muffled, certainty in your disagreement.
It caught Arthur off guard a little and nervousness arose in him as he asked the following question. "You ain't scared of me?"
He knew if there was even an ounce of fear in you, it would've killed him.
You looked up at him, your eyes big and glossy. "I feel safe with you, Arthur."
His heart dropped and he looked into your eyes completely baffled, not grasping how such a sweet creature like you could say such a thing to him.
You felt safe with him.
You did.
He felt vulnerable under your gaze; not even heavens could make him feel so exposed. He was afraid you could read his thoughts with that pretty mind of yours as you held the eye contact, that you could recognize how much he was now melting and crumbling inside.
So much for being a tough hardened criminal.
He felt like a teenager again. The sweating hands, tingles in his stomach, it was all back.
Arthur tightened his embrace, cuddling you closer.
As he held you under the starry sky, your tiny arms wrapped around him, he was sure of one thing.
He could do many things. But staying away from you was not one of them.
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moomie-mooger · 4 months ago
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Hey guys!
I’ve decided to cave into my urge to share things I’ve made and decided to share a small portion of the fic I’m slooowly writing for, thought I’d draw a visual for it too <3
Writing under the image
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[ ‘Rodger the Magnifying Glass… A male, around 4ft with a noir suit coat, a white suit shirt neatly tucked under. He donned a light purple neck ruff bearing a deeper indigo gem in the middle being held by a golden ring, with a band the same color as his suits' accents wrapped around his handle. Keen eye and enough persistence to put our handlers out of a job if he really tried hard enough— Lord knows they get tired having to manage over 20 Toons. Yet he manages to deal with his cases with ease, almost as if he doesn’t need to put in any effort to figure out the problem and come to a conclusion. He’s a good Toon, maybe even a great one. An A-class detective’.
‘And an A-class pain in my ass.’
‘It was a run day, I had been on the list of Toons that'd be sent down into the stomach of Gardenview. A cold, relentless, and unforgiving place that threatened to swallow the minds and matter of any Toon who dared plunge its depths for ichor and intel. Innocence simply couldn’t thrive in a place like that, neither would naivety nor ignorance. …At least that’s what Rodger had described it as. Now I know I’m not one who can call others dramatic, but he was SERIOUSLY overdoing the whole “dark and dangerous place” thing, I almost feel as though I have competition. Oh well, it was in the back of my mind…’
‘However, what was really burning a hole in the back of my head was Rodger. Tch, that nosy detective. He’d been staring at me this entire run and I’m not just exaggerating either. It’s creepy— It’s seriously starting to freak me out.. Now I know I’m gorgeous, I know I tend to steal the spotlight of every room I’m in and- let’s just face it, I’m simply the best looking Toon, an objective fact really. But… C’mon. 15 floors. It’s been FIFTEEN Floors and you haven’t found anything else of interest to look at..? If I didn’t know any better I’d think you’re in love with me! Though it’s not like I’d blame you, if I was anyone else I’d fall in love with me too, heh. I mean.. it’s just the most natural reaction anyone could have!’ Glisten couldn’t hold back the satisfied chuckle and smug grin that crept up his face as he stood tall in the middle of the elevator, his posture straight up and head bent slightly down as he checked his nails. But seriously, the staring was starting to get a bit much for the mirror. Sure, he loved attention, but this was starting to cross a boundary he didn’t know he had.
The sudden halt of the elevator and the sounds of quieted chatter pulled the mirror out of his thoughts as the large door to the elevator hauled its heavy weight and pulled itself upwards releasing the toons from their temporary “safe zone”. There were a good handful of toons in the elevator since they’d be going on a longer run than usual. Looey was quick to immediately throw himself out of the elevator with a jump and bounce, scanning the floor for the three Twisteds that were aimlessly stumbling about. Tisha just barely being able to boost his speed with her ability, an exasperated huff sounding from her as she trailed behind him, clearly unhappy with the balloon’s impulsive behavior. He was their primary distractor this time around since Goob had been too injured to accompany them on the run, having a bad run in with twisted Toodles and even worse luck when he’d realized he had run inside of Twisted Razzle and Dazzle’s death trap. Glisten could still hear the angry hissing and yowling of Scraps when the other team had returned from their daunting trip in the back of his mind, he was glad he wasn’t assigned to that team. Scraps may be made of flimsy paper but make NO mistake, her words are just as sharp as her claws! Though if he.. WAS there… he was sure they would’ve finished extracting all the machines before that would’ve happened. ]
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amatun28 · 5 months ago
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My Top best BTS members fic in my whole fanfic reading journey. ( ao3, YT, Wattpad, tumblr) [Part:01]
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🌸These fanfics have my whole heart. The amount of happiness,emotion,nostalgia i felt its beyond unimaginable. I will cherise those fics until the end of my life. Thank you of all those writer who britten my day with their incredible talent and creativity. 🌸
🌺Long thread ( please read the review with patience)🌺
💐Author💐
1. Rafae's fiction on YT
My fanfic journey started with YT. I know many of us doesn't read yt fanfic, although we have solid reason not to do. Some of us also think yt fanfic means cringy type of fic. But trust me Rafae is a gem. Like she is truly exceptional. She has a strong aura that anyone can be captivated.
🍁Her stories🍁
◼Throne [ Taehyung fanfic ] by Rafae on YT
Genre: Royal au, arranged marriage, Angst (so much angst), smut, romance, fluff, happy ending. [completed]
Summary : A story of Royalty. A Periodic tale of three kingdoms. A tale of kings and Queens. " Throne" Is a story that had everything; Love, loyalty, friendship, betrayal, evilness, partition, pain, suffering, development, empowerment and devotion. A tale that takes the Romance to different level after passing through the stages of love. A tale of a Queen, more than a King. A tale of woman who proved that there is nothing stronger in this world than a broken woman. The Queen who teaches us to look in the eyes of demons and say Here I am standing, come and try to break me.
-Review:
[Must read] : The first thing I will say is it's not the typical type of fanfic people usually read, where the female lead is always weak or submitted to the male lead. This fanfic will change someone's perspective on women. And about the male lead, he is so caring and soft-spoken when it comes to his woman, sweet, with a strong moral compass and leadership like a full package. His character is so beautifully written that you will feel pain in your heart thinking, In real life, why do these kinds of men not exist? This story also has many different side characters, and each character has a different story, and each of them is so painfully beautiful. This series has 100 episodes. I had never seen any YT fanfic this long. Even the epi time is also very long, about 25-30 mins. Some of you will think that its 100-episode series might be boring, but trust me, not a single episode of this series is boring. Every episode is packed with suspense, emotion, and breathtaking plot twists that will leave you on the edge of your seat. And the best part? The storytelling is so vivid that it feels like watching a historical K-drama unfold right before your eyes. If you read the story, you will see the mention of 3 kingdoms that were actually from the Korean map that ruled ancient time Korea during the Three Kingdoms Period. So just go give it a chance; I must say you won't regret it. Also, the BGM of this series is like a full chef's kiss. 🤌
[Note: There are some grammatical mistakes in this series. The author had to upload one EP every Tuesday of the week. On YT after uploading the EP, she couldn't even edit the episode. Otherwise, all of the things are so perfect, so just dig in. ☺]
▪🍁[Jungkook fanfic]🍁
◼ [Reading between the lines] by anonymous on (ao3)
Genre: kinda enemies to lovers au,University au, slow burn, fluff, Smut, also jungkook is so sweet:( [completed ]
Summary: You're an art student beginning your final year at university, and the assigned partner for thesis project? Much to your dismay, it's Jeon Jungkook. You don't like him — he doesn't seem to try very hard, and besides, he's on the soccer team, and you don't really get along with athletes.
Thanks to a lack of available models and a shortage of studio space, you end up spending a large portion of your semester locked in a tiny closet with Jungkook, where you eventually discover he's nothing at all like you originally thought.
-Review:
Plz this is so good. Like so so so good.😭 you have to read this. The slow burn, the tension, the way their relationship grows. This kind of books will make your chest hurt (in a good way). And about Jungkook, i hopelessly inlove with his character. Also the pace of love-story was perfect like PERFECT. I will never forget the emotion and butterfly i felt reading this. Also the smut 👌💋. So just go and read this. A must read.
◼ Phycho by @moonchiiild_ on wattpad
Genre: Personality disorder au (reader), established relationship, romance, angst, happy ending [ completed]
Summary: You are wounded and broken. Laughing at scars was your habit, but tending your wounds was his speciality. Some may call Jeon Jungkook a perfect man to exist, but you knew your husband better than that; if you were his Bonnie, he is your Clyde. Psycho, maniac, insane. World called you many names, but your husband calls you his wife and stands beside you when no one dares. Jungkook is your possession, your medicine. The world may have rejected a bitch like you, but it takes only one person to snatch the monster out of you.
-Review:
Masterpiece the only word go to this series. This book is mix of suspense, romance. The first chapter of this book got me chokehold and there was no way escape of this. I just can't stop thinking about this. The characters are so good specially jungkook, this man is embodiment of all my fantasies here. After reading this story the only thing you will say that if i can't find any man like Jungkook in this book then i dont want any man. Like He is the STANDARD. Also there was so much angst on this book. But in the end its all worth it :(((
▪🍁[Taehyung fanfic]🍁
◼ Perpetual Rain by @NovainRose_ on wattpad
Genre: Slow brun, some fluff, angst, Smut, Reaper au, kinda time travel au?? [ completed ]
Summary: A troubled - soon to be - college girl is ravaged by uncontrollable hallucinations that she can't explain. Making an unexpected friendship with a stranger she met on the street but, he has secrets of his own. "Seriously, you've got me worried." His hands pressed into the tables brim, ready to get up at any second. "You barely even know me, why are you so worried?" You stared at him, irritated and confused. He was so persistent! "Is it bad for someone to care? Even if it's for a stranger?" Dark brown eyes narrowing and chest-nut hair cast to the side with a tilt of his head. "Just trust me." But, could she?
-Review:
I am whipped; I am just WHIPPED. It's such a beautifully written, deeply emotional journey filled with longing, love, and pain that lingers like the scent of the rain on a stormy night. This book still haunts me like a nightmare. The writing is so mesmerizing. Also, this book is kind of atmospheric. There is also a 2nd part of this book called" Timeless Snow". But this book is really a slow burn, like really, really slow burn. So don't get frustrated. Just go and read; trust me, you will love it. This book is one of my the must-read books.
This is my first time posting on tumblr. And these fanfics are very close to my heart. If you love these stories then plz show lot of love to the original author of these stories. At the end of the day, fanfic writers rely on positive reviews from readers. Its make the original author happy. Also, if you love the recommendation, then please tell me also.😌 So that maybe i will also make the part 2 of my favourite fanfics. 👀
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russetfoxfur · 2 years ago
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mcyt is NOT beating the criminal allegations
- mumbo did season eight which. ah. produced the wonderful quote: "My parents are still alive... but that can be changed."
- cub eats people
- bad is a cannibal. this is different from eating people, according to my irl. do i want to know
- fit was on 2b2t
- wilbur blew up a country and killed a buncha people
- phil blew up that country too (apparently)
- scar. ah. scar did monopoly mountain and things went downhill from there
- dont even get me started on gem. she started the whole secret life apocalypse. she killed etho at least sixteen times. she is on tumblr which means tango is scared of her AS HE SHOULD BE
- sausage had that whole esmp s1 evil thing. classifying this as sausage because i watched an episode of gem's where he appeared and nothing else and don't actually watch esmp except through osmosis
- didnt joe hills kill a bunch of dogs in s7
- etho ALSO kills people but BADLY (scar boogie kill)
- dream
- *eyeing zedaph's chamber suspiciously* this violates AT LEAST one scientific law or something
- grian. grian my beloved. why are you like this
- jaiden decimated the environment of teyvat
- see lizzie is like her husband. unhinged. shes just bad at surviving so no one gets to see it
- jimmy is like lizzie but more popular for it
- tango is a war criminal but he also makes funny sounds while he commits crimes so i think that negates the whole crimes thing
- while we're at it. all the lifers are criminals EXCEPT SKIZZ EXCEPT SKIZZ EXCEPT SKIZZ
- xisuma boils chicken and eats kiwi skin. worst offense on this list by far
- gem gets a second place on this list because why not. she deserves it
- bdubs bites ankles. probably
- martyn brought the watchers to the life smp which is bad in and of itself. also the Assigned Criminal At Life Series thing
- cherrifire gets an honorary spot on this list mostly because she SHOULD be able to bite ankles. due to aforementioned martyn
anyways please tag w other crimes our blorbos have commited. cheers <3
EDIT: I will be adding more crimes now
- keralis was a capitalist in s7 who bought. rotten flesh. for 128 diamonds. truly exemplifying a billionaire there. dont worry dont worry. hes not a capitalist anymore....but he was once
- pearl poisons people and then has her dogs bite you. reasonable
- cleo does arson. she also kills people. but she does this a lot so it also negates the crimes
- don't mess with forgelabs
- ren has become a dictator at least twice. likes bloodshed. also treebark counts for all the anguish it causes everyone. also also ACALS (assigned criminal at life series)
ALSO if anyone is going to yell at me for fit being on 2b2t. i do not watch him. he is only here because my mcyt irls go insane about him. like all the time. in fact i don't watch qsmp or dsmp but theyre popular enough i know a bit about them. <3
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brandoscomet · 1 month ago
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oh my god i also love jasper!!!! i find her very comforting. would you mind writing how jasper shows affection? maybe some cuddles and such… thanks :)
OMG YESSSSS Jasper's totally my comfort character. I heart emotionally complex brute characters <3
More Jasper requests please I LERV her..
Jasper (Steven Universe) Showing Affection!
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Jasper's not really a "talk about your feelings" kind of woman. Much like how she demonstrates her anger, she opts for physical affection over vocally expressing it. She'll give you very basic compliments, like a "You look nice." when she deems fit. She won't seem very enthusiastic or genuine about it, but the way her voice lacks her usual biting gruffness and the way her lips curl slightly up tells you everything you need to know.
She's tried her hand at giving you gifts, but if choosing them is up to her, they're very unconventional. She'll just bring you whatever "cool" thing she can get her hands on. If you tell her specifically what to get you, she'll have it in your hands within an hour. She remembers everything you like and makes sure to get them for you semi-regularly.
Acts of service is definitely her forte. Thousands of years of serving the diamonds have definitely made her good at that. There's nothing she loves more than running errands or doing things for you. You're out of shampoo? She's storming off to the store like it's the most important duty she's ever been assigned. The trash needs taken out? Don't even worry about it. She'll be wrestling the bag out of the can before you can even realize that it needs to be done. She thinks very highly of you and doing you things keeps her feeling fulfilled and useful.
She's big on quality time, too. She'll "begrudgingly" agree to go places with you, like visit the Crystal Gems or Little Homeworld, but in reality, she's just excited to hang out with you, even if the other gems get on her nerves.
She LOVES physical touch. It's so funny seeing Jasper threaten people not to get near her, but then get home and have her all over you or want you all over her. She's the world's largest lap dog. If you two are watching a movie or you're playing a console game, she'll sprawl out on the couch and lay her head in your lap. If you're cooking? She's snaking her arms around your waist (or putting her hands on your hips/shoulders if you're really short. She's like 7ft/213cm tall) She loves it when you two are just physically present with eachother.
If you two are out in public, she'll have her arm around you if youre not holding hands. She also really likes it when you wrap your arm around hers and sort of lead her around.
Even though she doesn't need to sleep, she climbs into bed with you every night without fail. whether you want her to spoon you, or you want to lay on top of her, or you want to cling to her side, she'll do it. She'll rub your back or card her fingers through your hair and just look at you, her chest stirring with feelings she'd never be able to put into words.
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gmasttin · 3 months ago
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Really Good, Actually | Kylian Mbappé fic
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| Summary: A Madrid-based creative unexpectedly finds herself leading the rebranding of Kylian Mbappé. Between cold coffees, impossible deadlines, and tense creative sessions, something more than just a campaign begins to take shape. An ironic, intimate, and emotionally sharp story about the chaos of feeling alive just when you thought you were only surviving.
| 3.9k words
| You can read Chapter 1 and Chapter 2
CHAPTER 3:
Monday starts with a word no one around you seems willing to say out loud: feedback.
But it’s everywhere, in your inbox, the comments on the shared PDF, the voice notes your boss records like he’s telling bedtime stories to an insomniac toddler.
And you, who had the wildly naive hope of making some quiet progress today, are now trapped in an endless chain of revisions, versions, nuances, and phrases like “this is good, but maybe we could find something more authentic.”
More authentic than what, you have no idea. Maybe your current existence.
You honestly can’t remember the last time someone sent you a message that said: “it’s perfect, don’t change a thing.” In your world, feedback is always long, contradictory, and laced with passive-aggressive gems like: “this works, but could we push it a little further?”
Lately, all you get are scattered comments from his PR head, each one soaked in that kind of ambiguity that should honestly be illegal:
“We think the tone is good, but is there a way to make it warmer without losing depth?” “We love the sincerity, but we don’t want it to feel vulnerable.” “Kylian’s read it and says it’s going well.” (Which part? When? What did he understand?)
It’s all like that—vague opinions, nonspecific compliments, contradictory questions sent your way like cryptic horoscopes. One message literally says:
“Do you think the angle is too intimate?” And four lines down: “We love the emotional closeness. Let’s amplify it.”
What doesn’t show up anywhere, at all, is Kylian.
Kylian isn’t in the office. Not in your inbox. Not on Zoom. No signs of life, except for the occasional “seen” check on the group chat you share with his team.
The first time you see the little blue tick, your emotional stomach twists a little. The second time, you just sip your coffee and ignore it. The third, you don’t even bother reacting.
It’s been a week since you saw him.
No one mentions it directly, but the silence around his name has the exact shape of the space he used to take up when he’d just show up. Unannounced, unapologetic, settling into the chair next to yours like he belonged there.
And you keep telling yourself this is better. Now you can work with more focus. More method. More efficiency. That you don’t need to see him to know what he’s trying to say. That this is work, professional, strategic, logical.
But that’s not entirely true.
Because every line you write, every block you structure, every mental image you craft… has him at the center.
And not in a “campaign protagonist” way. In a “this only works if it’s real” kind of way.
Sometimes, you feel like messaging him. Saying:
“If you don’t get involved, this is going to turn into exactly what you didn’t want.”
But you don’t. Because that wasn’t the deal. You don’t want to seem more invested than you’re supposed to be. And because if he’s not showing up, you are not going to beg.
Your day starts every morning with a watery office coffee and the promise, made to yourself, not to overthink things. To just do the job, stick to the assignment, move forward with the production plan.
And yet, every time you open the script, every time you reread a line, you get stuck in the way the words sound when you imagine them in his voice.
You don’t do it on purpose. It’s not cheap romanticism or some overblown obsession. It’s something else. It’s professionalism contaminated by intuition. It’s knowing, deep down, that this project is only going to work if you manage to tell something that feels true. Something that doesn’t sound like it was designed by committee or wrapped in off-the-shelf storytelling.
And that, unfortunately, doesn’t get written on autopilot.
Lucía, who glides past your desk with the smoothness of someone already two coffees in, drops a chocolate bar without saying a word. You just look up at her like she’s thrown you a life raft in the middle of a shipwreck.
“Did you shower today?” she asks.
“Yes. But my self-esteem didn’t.”
“Perfect. You’re ready for another ‘aligning expectations’ meeting.”
The meeting is with Marta, someone from PR, and Guillermo, who showed up in a printed shirt and the energy of someone who still hasn’t realized it’s too late to change careers.
Between jokes and phrases like “let’s land the concept,” you spend half the morning arguing whether a scene in the video needs more organic music, or if “organic” is already too burned-out as a concept.
Guillermo suggests layering sounds from the Paris metro with flamenco clapping. You blink.
“Why not?” he says. “It’s culturally transversal.”
“It’s culturally schizophrenic, Guillermo.”
Lucía writes the line down. She says it’s going straight into her list of “things Y/N says that Guillermo should never forget.”
Kylian’s PR rep, joining in from a Pinterest-Corporate blurred background, nods politely to everything. Every time you pitch something, she says “I like it” or “could work,” but you never know if that means keep going or shut it down.
After the third video call of the day, Guillermo flops onto the Scandinavian-room couch and says: “I’m thinking of becoming a creative coach.”
“Based on what experience?”
“Based on having lots of ideas and zero desire to execute them.”
Lucía looks at you. And you laugh. Because you don’t have the strength to cry.
By midweek, one thing is clear: the project is taking shape. Or at least, it has a skeleton. You’ve rewritten the script three times, reorganized the thematic blocks, renamed the files seven times, cut out beautiful lines that no longer fit, left gaps where you have no idea what to put, and created a folder titled “final versions (for real this time).”
After hanging up one of those long, daily PR calls, Lucía walks into the room with two glasses of wine stolen from a client launch you’ve both already forgotten about.
“I have five theories,” she says.
“About what?”
“About why he’s not showing up.”
She lists them aloud, while pouring more wine:
He’s testing whether you can handle the pressure without him.
He’s secretly working on a parallel campaign reinventing himself as a visual artist.
He’s afraid of falling in love with you.
He’s completely out of the loop because his PR filters everything with ‘everything’s going fine.’
He’s just super busy with the season and the seventeen million matches he has to play.
“Option five feels very real.”
“Option three too.” she says. 
You look at her, not knowing whether to laugh or run away. You decide that, for today, you’ll just leave it on pause.
He’ll show up. Or he won’t.
But you’ve got a script that, for the first time, is starting to feel like a real story.
The tension of the project starts to shift into something else when, on a Thursday afternoon, you find yourself closing your laptop at the exact moment Lucía and Guillermo shoot up from their desks like someone had just pulled a fire alarm.
“Y/N, you’re coming to the afterwork, right?” Lucía throws at you as she passes by, with that mix of invitation and subtle scolding in her voice.
You lift your eyes from the script and give her your best poker face. You feel like you’ve been staring at screens for two days straight until your pupils started begging for help, but there’s something in the way Lucía looks at you that makes you think that if you don’t go, the afternoon is going to feel even longer than it already has.
“After... what?” you ask, faking ignorance, while slowly getting up from your desk.
“Afterwork. Beers. Ending up drunk at karaoke. One of those stupid things that cures post-feedback syndrome.” Lucía shrugs. “Guillermo organized it. You bring the vibes.”
Right then, Guillermo appears dragging the box of the good donuts, the ones he’s been hiding from José Luis for days, like a hidden treasure.
“Idea!” he announces, with a mischievous smile. “These donuts, well, what’s left of them, my place, beers, I introduce you to my new cat Pipo, and we invite my neighbor.”
Lucía and you exchange a look. For a second, your mind drifts back to the script, to the words that have been echoing in your head for days, and you catch yourself realizing how absurd it would be to turn all of it into a drunken game.
“What if instead we stick to the plan and order a gin-tonic every time someone says authenticity?” Lucía proposes, raising an eyebrow. “I need an excuse to get drunk the way I want to.”
You agree, because you know you need it: some time away from screens and notes, a moment where you can feel there’s still life outside of a script about solitude and “fractures.”
You change in a makeshift bathroom closet next to the printer (which, by the way, is still broken). Lucía steps out in a wine-colored dress, and you in jeans that finally let you breathe for the first time in days, and a black strappy corset-style top.
You walk two blocks to a bar with discreet neon lights and worn wooden high tables. The waiter greets you with that calculated indifference of someone who’s seen everything, except maybe someone ordering “a gin-tonic of authenticity, please.”
You order rounds of beer and a gin for the bet. You sit between Lucía and Guillermo, with the echo of your department coworkers' laughter floating through the glass door.
“How’s that ‘fracture’ section going?” Guillermo asks, teasing you from the first sip.
“Fracture,” because Lucía and Guillermo have decided that between you and Kylian, there’s been a breakup. You close your eyes for a second, bring the beer to your lips and say:
“Fracture’s going fine. Now it just needs to leave the document and find a space in my stomach, where it actually hurts.”
Lucía claps silently, palm pressed to her chest, and you’re surprised at how seen you feel without anyone asking for more. Because sometimes, just saying “it hurts” is enough for someone to offer you a solidarity seat.
The night moves along with agency stories, inside jokes about impossible briefs, and yes, the classic “authenticity” drop from some guy at the next table, which prompts you to hush Lucía before the bar decides to collectively cancel you.
And just then, you see the glass door shift: it’s him. He’s wearing jeans, a plain tee, and that brown leather jacket that suits him so damn well. He doesn’t walk in right away; he stops at the threshold, rocking his weight from one foot to the other, as if scanning the place while waiting for his three companions.
Your breath stumbles. Lucía and Guillermo both look at you, knowing exactly what this means.
“Y/N, I think your challenge just leveled up,” Lucía whispers, smirking with complicity.
He’s already seen the table, already seen Lucía and Guillermo, and finally makes his way over with that calm of his that slows down everyone else’s pulse.
“Mind if we join you?” he asks softly, almost like he needs permission just to breathe.
Lucía improvises chairs out of three stools and slides them in with a theatrical gesture.
“You had to ask?”
He sits next to you. The background noise fades. Your hand trembles around your beer.
“Mind if I order a round of gin for everyone?” Lucía asks, half-smiling.
“The bet still stands,” Guillermo replies.
He raises the gin like a soldier toasting in silence, and you’re forced to choose between drinking and smiling. You do both. The gin burns your throat a little, and when you lower the glass, he’s glancing sideways at you.
“You got the ‘intimacy’ section under control?” Kylian asks without preamble.
Your heart makes a metallic sound.
“I mean... I’m refining it,” you answer.
“Perfect,” he says. “Because I’d like to hear it.”
And just like that, with no further setup, the night becomes an open canvas of possibilities: Laughter masking insecurities, looks dancing dangerously close to the edge of what hasn’t been said, and that quiet pull to lean in a little closer without anyone making too much noise when shifting their chair.
And so, between beers, gin-tonics, and word-trigger bets, you discover that the most valuable feedback wasn’t buried in PDFs or shared folders, but in an unexpected toast that spins the whole spirit of the project around… and maybe something else, too.
The music drops a few degrees, but the pulse of the night still thumps in your temples when he leans in and whispers, voice just barely louder than a brush of lips:
“Need some air?”
You nod before thinking, and he gently takes your forearm, as if afraid that one wrong move might scare you off. You step out into the bar’s small back patio, where soft yellow string lights warm the chill and only the faint clinking of glasses and laughter filters through the glass door.
The air outside greets you without questions. You take off your jacket and hang it over the back of a chair, fully aware of his fingers brushing your shoulder as he steps aside to help. You lean against the metal railing, and from the corner of your eye, you see him approach, slow, measured. There’s something about the way he moves, deliberate and aware, that disorients you more than any script you’ve ever written.
“I needed this,” he says, not looking away from your profile. “The bar was… you know.”
You nod, and you’re surprised at how natural the shared excuse sounds now, like something you’d rehearsed.
His eyes lock with yours when you turn.
The city’s murmur becomes the perfect soundtrack, and suddenly everything else disappears: the beers, Lucía singing off-key somewhere inside, Guillermo with his over-the-top accent.
Your heart beats with a rhythm you don’t recognize. You want to say something clever, something that diffuses the tension, but what comes out is:
“I guess… we just needed a breather.”
He tilts his head, weighing your words, then reaches out and gently brushes the side of your wrist. The contact is brief, no more than a blink, but it burns your skin. 
In that tiny moment, you feel the heat of his palm, the texture of his jacket, and the fracture in the invisible wall you’ve both built, from the first meeting to this night.
“You’re different,” he murmurs. “When you work, I mean.”
He bites his lower lip, as if looking for something more concrete to follow that up. You respond with a soft smile, feeling something open wide and glowing in your chest:
“And you’re different. When you’re not working.”
There’s a perfect silence, where the words evaporate midair. He takes one step closer, and that step turns the railing into both a boundary and a bridge. You want to lean in, to brush your lips against his, but something in his gaze holds you back, desire, yes, but also hesitation, care.
He sighs, and the tension breaks with a quiet nod:
“Let’s go back in, yeah?”
You nod again, and as you turn toward the door, you feel his hand graze your back, guiding you without rush. In that touch, there’s a silent agreement: tonight, for the first time, something more than a project has started writing itself between the two of you.
The hangover from the night before hits right at nine a.m., when you walk into the agency with the under-eyes of a nocturnal mapmaker. The first light of the day slips between the briefing pages and reminds you that today is the big day: filming begins tomorrow in Italy, and you need to have everything tied up before you fly.
You step into the Scandinavian room—empty, silent, almost reverent—and turn on your computer.
In front of you, a document titled “FINAL Version – Rome Script” blinks like a lighthouse on the screen. You open the outline: 1. Intimate intro / 2. Journey / 3. Conquest and contradiction / 4. Breaking point / 5. Rebirth...
Your task this morning is to fill in section 3 with the latest footage: the studio photoshoot, the voiceover you’d left pending, and the bridging music that will link the narrative to the airplane shot sequence.
You start rewriting the voiceover. Writing long, weighty lines, trying to find the precise tone:
“To pass through the silence’s shadow, to rise above the noise of fame, to find in the air the possibility of becoming something new.”
You feel the weight of every word: this isn’t a slogan, it’s the promise of an emotional journey.
Meanwhile, you reorganize the image folder: You select close-ups of his hands tying his sneakers, his breath held just before the final whistle, the reflection of the moon on his cycling helmet in that clip from the French national team. You rename the files with codes only you understand: “hand_01,” “breathe_03,” “moon_02.”
Mid-morning, your phone vibrates with a short message:
Prod Team: PLANE READY. BOARDING 16:00H PRIVATE RUNWAY.
You close the document and laugh, unsure whether it’s from nerves or relief. You check the time: just enough for a coffee you won’t drink, a sandwich you won’t eat, and a taxi ride to the airfield.
You hop into a cab that smells like old leather and gasoline. On the way, you mentally run through your storyboard sequence. You know the best shots will be the ones where he doesn’t realize he’s being filmed, when he talks about his childhood in that low, unguarded voice.
When you arrive, the guard greets you with indifference and opens the walkway hatch. In front of you stands the Gulfstream: white, polished, its doors half-open like it’s giving you a confident wink. You fixate for a second on the embroidered logo on the wings, a stylized KM that almost looks like a heartbeat, before climbing the stairs.
Inside, the jet is another dimension: cream upholstery, warm light integrated into the panels, leather seats that recline and swivel. The production team is already there, waiting with two cases full of hard drives, wireless mics, and catering that smells like fresh bread and strong coffee. No one looks at you strangely, everyone’s focused on final technical details.
You settle into the seat on the right, right across from the folding table. You spot the back of Kylian’s head, tilted down, as he scrolls through his phone. 
He looks up suddenly, sees you, and gives you a half-smile, saying nothing. You quickly glance away, like his seat is some kind of forbidden territory. But the gesture carries something like complicity: you both know that in a few hours, you’ll be filming the first sequences together in the city.
The engine hums softly and soon you’re rising above Madrid’s rooftops. After a couple of hours, the landscape shifts to dark patches dotted with lights: highways glowing like rivers of fire, small towns scattered across the plains, until the first signs of Italy flicker on the cockpit’s radar screens.
As you descend into Rome, you spot the Coliseum glowing in the distance and a mosaic of winding streets barely visible in the night. The plane touches down in silence. The airfield guard welcomes you with a curt nod and, in minutes, you’re inside a black van waiting at the terminal.
The drive to the hotel takes you past avenues lined with cypress trees and façades bathed in the soft glow of streetlamps. In the rearview mirror, you see Kylian, leaned back in his seat, focused on his phone. You’re reviewing your notebook with the shoot plans: tomorrow starts in a villa on the outskirts, with views of the Tiber and a sunset you could slice with a knife.
At the hotel, a restored Baroque-style mansion turned boutique stay, you’re welcomed with a warm “Benvenuti” echoing through the marble lobby and a faint scent of limoncello.
The concierge hands you the keycards: 213 for you, 214 for him. In the carpeted hallway, you pass each other for a brief second: he turns left, you turn right.
Inside your room, warm light surrounds you: heavy curtains, a walnut desk, a bed perfectly dressed in crisp white linens. You drop your suitcase onto a chair, turn on the vanity lamp, and catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror, the travel fatigue drawing shadows beneath your eyes, but also a trace of anticipation glowing behind them.
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fountainpenguin · 2 years ago
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Tango POV Session 3 highlights (My first POV this session, jumping in with no spoilers)-
Skizz: "I want a giant blinking heart in the sky" Tango: "Cool idea :) You're doing the redstone, right?" Skizz: ... Tango: "YOU'RE doing the redstone for that, right?"
Skizz: "While editing I was like... 'Am I a loser?' Tango: "No, no, no! It was well before editing that I realized that."
I do love the server dynamics that give us gems like Mumbo sprinting across the ground yelling about how he has a quick, urgent thing he needs to do... Just an average day in the death game.
slkdjf Tango and Skizz finally found someone just as desperate and needy as them... Enter the man who has been shunned for 3 seasons because of his boogeyman kill. We love a BigB!!
BigB: "Skizz, this might be time to point out my weak building skills-" Skizzleman: "Oh no, don't worry. That's why we've got ourselves a Tango!" Tango: /incoherent shrieking and denials
Tango assigned homemaker by the narrative.
So just to be clear, we've got Tango "I will teach you redstone and cheer you on" (Mansplain), we've got BigB "There is no hole in the mesa" (Manipulate), and Skizz "I built the base" (Malewife). Good for them.
Skizz: "At my IRL job when I had to create blinking lights, I literally had someone go back to the breaker and flip it."
Tango, to Cleo: "That's all we are! Cringe 'R' Us!"
sdlkfj Tango hugging and comforting Torchy over how scary Etho's water bucket attack was. "If he comes back, I will take care of this."
BigB: "I have an anvil." Tango and Skizz losing their minds: "BEST TEAMMATE EVER!"
Heart Foundation: "We will join forces and gift our hearts to a randomly selected person. Everyone will like and protect us; we are creating our own plot armor." Etho, immediately after receiving his hearts: "I am a huge fan. Sign me up. Whatever I need to do to stay on. I will let you use the enchanting table. I would be dead if it were not for the Heart Foundation."
Gem and Scott riding up on their zombie and skeleton horses would be SO terrifying. Can't wait to see the fanart of that sdfklj
Tango killed it this session, he did not cut corners in babbling to Torchy.
Gem: "I think your task is to remove light sources from the server." Tango: "That would be very incorrect." Tango as he sprints away, muttering to Torchy: "I know?? They were standing right by us and they didn't even notice??"
Torchy has such boogeyman tendencies, geez. Is this Leven Thumps; did we confine the spirit of the boogeyman to a piece of wood??
Tango, raiding someone's base: "You want to? We could."
I enjoy the new rule about Yellows having one chance to call people out on their task. I think this is a good move to up the tension and also encourage people to do it because you only get one shot per episode. Don't wanna waste it!
slkdjf @ Tango chatting with Etho, Etho susses out his task, so Tango immediately runs to Grian to confirm the rules. Grian tells him no problem, Etho's green so he's in the clear. Tango runs off crowing in laughter.
Lizzie: "I've heard some weird things about you." Tango: "We are excellent today." Lizzie: "That's the weird stuff I've been hearing."
?? Is Tango's official canon that redstone exposure turned his eyes red? Neat.
lksdjf Skizz seething about Impulse.
Tango: "What did he do?" Skizz: "His task was to find somebody who's got greater than 25 hearts and find a way to - air quotes - "accidentally" get them to lose 5 hearts. So he made sure I lost 20."
Yeah, that tracks.
Freaking goodness, Tango put his entire heart and soul into this invisible friend task.
Bdubs' globe is looking amazing <3
?? Etho running up to Joel and saying "I love you?" What is the context; looking forward to figuring that out.
Etho: "I love you." Joel: "Okay, I know you're obsessed with me, I saw you made me your thumbnail of your first episode, but come on..."
Called out at the end!!! Devastating!!!
That is the end, but what a great session. So much death...
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yuzepi · 2 months ago
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ok. cool. watching pmmm today, Things I Noticed, mostly sayaka-based bc she is my baby. I feel like most of these should be obvious but wahhh I want to gather all my thoughts here before I forget them
1. Sayaka’s magical girl costume design is just GENIUS. she has a really heroic cape which gives her figure really notice movement + I have to emphasize HEROIC MOTIF AGAIN1!! and she says she thinks she was “born to be a magical girl” so where is her soul gem in her magical girl outfit? Her Naval. #awesome
2a. The scene where Sayaka and Kyoko discuss like why kyoko became a magical girl and stuff is just riddled with religious imagery, from the actual content of the discusses (kyokos father being a preacher) to the scenery surrounding them to even the fact that kyoko is Eating An Apple. In the conversation she has with sayaka about how she should be more selfish. Like kyoko is almost always seen eating which I take to reading as Consumption, but it’s really powerful that in this scene she’s also offering sayaka a Temptation. and again, the stained glass part is so good
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2b. in this same scene we get to see how genius they’ve been at foreshadowing the magical girls become witches thing because thoughout the show what we initially see as the really scary and start and abstract witches labyrinths contrasted with just the “purity” or normalcy of the real world is slowly stripped away as we learn more and more abt the dark secrets of magical girls. the bgs become more abstract the things we see surrounding actual magical girls resemble the weirdness found in the witches labyrinths more and more. ESPECIALLY apparent with kyoko here. also bro the eye motifs are so good you get your ass I’m going to copy and paste that into my own art
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3. scene where sayakas fighting a witch. 1) the stylistic choice to me is incredibly mythic feeling, like something out of a legend or a children’s story. 2) its (almost entirely) monochrome and achromatic. Black and white. Much like sayakas own mindset where she never seems to observe the in between s and does see everything as black and white. going out on a stretch here but particularly the black against the white bg, sayaka herself being portrayed in this darkness, as though… She’s taking on this blackening toll in order to protect those she sees and innocent and pure
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4. Ok I was watching the scene with madoka and kyoko and was like huh. Those are some very particular and specific silhouettes they’ve placed in the foreground. And then lo and behold. water motif with sayaka like she drowned in her empathy or smth (ok no, there are definitely better things I can try to figure out what the water is a motif , but I don’t have the brains for that rn) and like kyoko with her stabby spears being the unicorn. sorry im not rlly cooking anything I just loved how they came back to this
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5. DEFINITELY a stretch but kyoko telling homura she has to fight for the one thing that matters most to her and protect it to the end and homura is 1) holding madoka here and 2). It sort of looks like a pieta!!!!!!
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I’m enjoying watching this a lot and the art direction is incredibly gorgeous and the visual storytelling is strong and also obvious enough for someone like me to at least pic up on. ya im watching this to up my jonelias game . if I were to kin assign elias he would be kyubey or something. very gender (no surprise) and I love the commentary on being a girl and being a woman and the dehumanization and the horror of it all. I also want madokas mom. really good im having fun. bonus points to mami teacup motif but i feel like that ones so super duper obvious there’s not much point in me going off on a tangent about it. really making me realize how much I crave stories about Being a girl
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devipeak · 2 months ago
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More gem au sketches with amethyst!Devi and peridot!Crocker 💜💚
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2 - is supposed to show what happened after their first fusion right after they unfuse: Devi feels excited and dreamy about new experience while Crocker is bothered with thought they might get punished or even shattered for this
3 - a reference to Pearl having a dream (nightmare) and projecting a hologram of it with her gem. Here Devi would probably have romantic dreams, which her gem displays subconsciously, while Crocker watches it with curiosity.
4 - wanted to give Crocker similar limb enhancers Peridot wears (despite him being taller than average peridot and not needing them), which would represent his Abra Catastrophe armor
And some more facts about them! (mostly taken from chat with friends when I was coming up with their lore):
So Devi (amethyst) is a little defective as she came out not as buff or tall as other amethysts (but not in a way SU Amethyst is, so she is allowed to work with others as she is). Meanwhile Crocker (peridot) came out taller then standard peridots, perhaps he was growing in a wrong position so it all went into length, sacrificing his width and that's why he is so skinny. And because in Homeworld he is used to interact with other peridots and short gems, he developed a habit of slouching :O
Crocker would also probably be made during Era 2 (war with Crystal Gems), so he can't shapeshift (same way as SU Peridot can't for the same reason with rushed production of gems).
Because I made their clothes match their color palettes without noticing that it means they are assigned to different diamonds, I now headcanon that they meet at human zoo, perhaps Crocker was invited because he knows a lot about quartzes (just like Peridot).
In Steven Universe Future timeline Crocker would probably become a teacher in Little Homeschool (he'd speedrun learning about Earth and then come to teach other gems). Also, if he was a SU character I think on earth he would find an old lady and serve her, just because his lifestyle calls for having an old lady (like he has his mom in FOP).
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mcytshipsandmore · 5 months ago
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i agree with that one anon abt popular sibling headcanons
i genuinly hate skyblings, i hate how people try to enforce it as if its canon
i saw someone send an ask to an artist for drawing gripearl saying "uhm this is actually incest!" acording to who exactly?? you?? cause it aint canon
only canon siblings is shit like scott and xornoth, or gem and fwhip, or jimmy and lizzie, all of which are from empires also, not life series.
i generally hate fanon a bunch, we need to stop generalizing and judging things like everyone has the same lense and ideas
i hate when people dont tag popular fanon ships because "oh everyone ships them" WRONG.
welcome to my world buddy. pearl and grian are bitter exes with deep history. scar is aroace. pearl and scar are bio siblings who despite getting their memories of eachother erased by the watchers still see eachother as found family. gem and pearl are jinx and vi cousins (sisters, even, but pearl is closer to scar and gem is jealousss). pearl's ftm bigender (and a wolf, not a moth). and despite their weird complicated history, pearl and scott ended up resolving their issues and getting married happily ever fucking after. jimmy's also aroace btw he's scott's brother-in-law (the aroace headcanons come from my aroace sister projecting on both scar n jimmy btw, theyre not just cus i dont like scarian and fh)
thank you for coming to my TED talk
genuinly this aint even out of spite i had all of these takes before coming to tumblr (watched life series isolated from the fandom.. wish i stayed there ngl), then i came here, lowkey tried to adapt to some, was completely unable to and became super uncomfortable, and then decided to just be my fucking self because fanon aint canon and it cannot hurt me <3
Its so frustrating when the fandom ‘assigns’ ships to characters and leaves no wiggle room for other interpretations
ESPECIALLY when they try to enforce it on others
Keep doing you! I love those hcs
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jjjjeonww · 7 months ago
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hwang intak - "i love the puppies, i love you too."
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genre - fluff, romance word count - 403 ~~in which intak, your bestfriend, has been your wooer for a long time and when you both go to a dog cafe, both of you get the 'aha' moment.
you and intak were the bestest of friends, the inseparable duo, the so-called 'couple' of the friend group. you both first met in the awkwardest way ever, you were the literal heartthrob of the school you went too, meaning that you had a bunch of admirers, both female and male, and intak was one of them. you got a love letter from intak but you turned him down, and intak being the puppy-coded human he is, asked if he could atleast be your friend, and thats when it all started. from then on, you spent day after day with eachother. you both even got into the same colleges, and i think thats just fate.
in the present time, it was a saturday afternoon and you both have finished every work that was assigned. you thought, "why not go to a café with intak ?", you texted him about the idea and he replied back, "sure :3, what about like a special café though !?!? like a… puppy or dog one !!". you smiled at his text, you swore you could feel his excitement through the screen. intak was a huge dog lover so you weren't that surprised of him suggesting the idea of going to a dog café. he had fetched you from your dorm and you both went to the café together. (after you researching about every dog café ever because you want the best for him and him finding out about it and getting flustered as hell lol)
you watched as intak got bombarded by the puppies, his face getting licked as he laid down on the ground, his smile widening when he noticed you were watching him. thats when it clicked in you and him at the exact same time. "wow i love you." well.. you both THOUGHT you said it in your mind but you both said it out loud. intak realised he was only smitten back in highschool but now he actually loves you. you realised you just loved how he treated you like a gem yet still had some boundaries. your eyes widened in shock and his in disbelief as you both got flustered but your smile had gotten bigger and intak..? well he was just a flustered mess. "i love the puppies, i love you too." he muttered, looking at the puppies although it was directed to you.
holy shit. you loved him, he loved you.
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chillingwithotto · 17 days ago
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The Effects of: Redstone 3
Chapter Three: Lithium
Doc groans as he makes the files, Dr Void having distracted him with so much other
preparations to oversee instead of letting him focus on making the files until it was far too late. Both Gem and Mumbo got into the experiments, his son being labeled volunteer number nine and his daughter being number sixteen. How the two convinced his fellow head scientist to not let him know about this until he couldn’t veto it, Doc doesn’t know, but it happened and he can’t do anything about it sadly. Apparently, Xisuma is much more of a menace to him than the head scientist always thought. Honestly, he should have seen that something was off when the man had started asking things of him on the days he was to be writing up the simplicities of the files, claiming these things were of more importance. Sure, they were important, but no more important for Doc to oversee than the files. Why Doc let himself fall for this, he isn’t sure and yet he did. He fell for it and now his children are in these experiments.
He should have known, and yet he did not suspect a thing. Doc should have known.
Sighing to himself, he shuffles the files away into their respective folders before placing them into the filing cabinet next to his desk for safe keepings. What’s done is done and Doc knows he can no longer do anything about his children volunteering, but the scientist can call his children and scold them both over this. Even if they’re both adults with their own places and lives, Doc can still scold his children. They’re his children and he will scold them like they’re rebellious teenagers again.
If he’s being honest, Doc could compare Mumbo and Gem’s current actions to when the two were teenagers, during that stage of their lives. The two really have not changed since those days. He can’t help but chuckle as he acknowledges that fact, a light smirk playing on his face as he looks through the checklist for the preparation. The rooms are prepped, the files are made, the volunteers’s scrubs are coming in any day now, the redstone is also prepared into portions for each test as well as into the needed state for each one, all the volunteers know where to show up and when, and all the scientists have been assigned to two tests each to oversee when Doc or Dr Void can’t.
Perfect.
Now they just have to get in the scrubs and teh day to come for everything to start, only then will things progress at the rate Doc hopes it will.
•──ˋˏ⚛°──🧬──°⚛ˎˊ──•
Feet tapping on the floor, Doc waits as the phone rings. And rings. And rings. And clicks- “Hello?” Mumbo's voice comes through the receiver.
“Mumbo.”
“Dad.” There’s a smile in that word, a smile in his child’s voice and he just knows it’s one of those cheeky smiles he gets.
The scientist sighs heavily, listening as Mumbo’s pitched laughter filters into his ear from his phone. “You really are no better than when you were a teenager, you know that? Going behind my back like this? Getting X in on it? My word you two.” Another tired sigh slides from him before continuing. “I swear. How did you even convince X to not let me know until earlier today?”
“Huh?” There’s a confused, yet amused pause as the engineer processes what he just said. “Is that why this call took so long? Your coworker distracted you so well that you weren’t making the files as you got the approved volunteers of the day?” Doc can feel his brows start to furrow. “I expected this call to come like, last week after my approval!”
“So you didn’t ask him to do this?”
“No!” Mambo squawks, laughing still. He’s laughing like a maniac, Doc notes. “Goodness no! And there’s no way Gem could have either. Her’s was just a day or two ago.”
He groans, turning and making his way over to sit in the arm chair instead of pacing around the living room like he had been doing. “So Xisuma did this of his own volition and for his own amusement. Oh dieses kleine Arschloch. I’m putting salt in his coffee tomorrow!” He’s going to do it, Doc will not let that man get away with this sneaky, sneaky plan he enacted against him. He will rue the day! Doc will put salz in his coffee for a week! No- a year! Doc will put the man off of coffee for this!
“Honestly, this is amazing. Dr Void helped us in making it far too late for you to veto us volunteering. This is amazing! I- I’m absolutely chuffed! Chuffed I say!”
“Of course you would be.” Doc sighs, leaning himself back into his chair. “I’m gonna call your sister now. See if she actually did get ‘Suma to do this somehow or not. You know how she is at times.”
“Yeah… yeah..” Mumbo sighs and he can’t help but smile, knowing his son is rubbing at his forehead. “You do that. I’m about ready to head to bed now anyways and I’m sure she’s still awake trying to find a way to get promoted to architect. Not getting enough sleep again, too, I’m sure. Even with the testing and experiments coming up so soon. She’s been talking my ear off about this open spot being open for a new architect at her work place.”
“If it’s open now and she’s still volunteering, then she won’t get it until she changes companies when another company needs one. She best know that.”
“She does, the prospect of it is better than the promotion currently. Speaking of, before you go, will she actually be eating redstone in her experiments?” The curiosity from Mumbo’s end is bleeding into the air on his own.
“Uh…” Doc drones, mentally running through what experiments are assigned to which number set. “She is not eating it, technically. She will be inhaling it so, technically she is, but really no she isn’t.”
“Technically… I think she’ll be alright with that. Maybe.”
“We’ll just have to see.”
“That we will.” Mumbo breaks off into a soft yawn that Doc can somehow hear through the receiver. “Well, I’ve got to go. Goonight Dad.”
“Goodnight, sleep well.”
“Will do.” Mumbo hangs up after that and Doc lowers his phone from his ear, looking at it as he taps out of his son’s contact and into his daughters. Maybe he shouldn’t have called Mumbo so close to when he goes to bed, then they could have talked longer. At least as long as he and Gem are likely about to speak. Then it’ll be nice and even and Doc got a nice long chat with both his kids! But alas, he called late and Mumbo gets a shorter talk than his sister. Ah well. Doc brings his phone up to his ear, listening as the phone rings once before connecting.
•──ˋˏ🧬°──⚛──°🧬ˎˊ──•
Stretching, Mumbo looks up at the facility, a smile on his face as he watches a trickle of people go inside. People who must be the other volunteers here for the experiments. He glances back at Gem, meeting her smile with his own as he shuts the driver’s side door to his car and locks it while Gem shuts her door. She rounds the car, coming up to stand by him and walk up to the facility together, side by side. “Are you ready for this?”
“Ready as I’ll ever!” Gem chirps, bouncing ahead slightly and making her ponytail sway and bounce in the process.
The engineer chuckles at his little sister’s antics, taking larger steps to hurry though the facility doors before her, hand landing on the door handle before he throws it open. “Good. I’m rather excited myself for this.”
“Yeah, yeah. I know. You’re excited to interact with the redstone.” She drawls, rushing past once more. He just rolls his eyes and follows her and the string of people down the halls, following the signs with arrows that read THIS WAY on them set up to guide them to a room. A quick look around has Mumbo finding the room filled with what looks like sixteen chairs –and clearly is when he glances at a paper on one of them– and a white board. Dad and the eight other scientists stand up front by the whiteboard as well, Mumbo can only name Dr Xisuma Void out of the eight, the remaining seven a mystery to him. They appear to be new to the facility, which would make sense if he’s never seen them all till now.
Pulling a paper from his pocket, Mumbo glances at it before moving to the seat that has the paper with #00009 printed on it. That must be his seat then. Settling into his seat, Mumbo glances to either side of himself, finding a blonde woman in a green overshirt close in color to his eyes and goggles on his left and a brunette woman in a simple black zip up hoodie to his right. He glances over his shoulder to Gem, finding her sitting next to a… person… in a… an army green winter jacket with the Canadian flag sewn onto the arm of it as well as longer white hair with several inches of black roots showing up in a messy half bun. The hair is the most normal thing about that person.
Goodness.
This is already such a strange crowd, far odder than he had expected to begin with, but that’s okay. The fella in the red jumper looks rather interesting, if a little familiar. mumbo will have to talk to him later on. He’s certain he would have even if the guy didn’t look interesting, there aren’t many people for the engineer to socialize with in these experiments.
He faces forwards again when someone claps. Up in front of the board stands Dad and Dr Void, the other seven scientists now standing off to the sides, Dad has his hands clasped together like he just clapped. “Now that everyone is settled and here, let’s get started. As some of you already know, I am Dr Document, but please call me Dr Doc, and this is Dr Void.” His father gestures to the mentioned scientist, soon enough gesturing to the other scientists as he continues. “And these are Dr Dog, Dr Fan, Dr Goodtimes, Dr Craft, Dr Tized, Dr Hills, and Dr Eightyfive. We are the scientists who will be performing and overseeing the tests and experiments on you all. As you have noticed, your chairs have the number you were told on the day you were accepted for volunteering. That number will be on everything that is assigned to you from your room to your meals to your scrubs.”
“This is to help us keep track of things and keep cross contamination from experiments to a minimum.” Dr Void steps forwards, taking over now as Dad steps back. “Now, we will show you to the common area where you all will be allowed to mingle freely and move around without restriction, there will be a hallway of doors connected that has both your rooms, which are number assigned as we said, and the cafeteria where you will be eating. During your testing days though, the four of you assigned to eating the redstone will eat in the examination room, which is also connected to the common area.” The scientist takes a deep breath, Mumbo silently wondering how the man hadn’t passed out from talking without a single breath between sentences till now. “Today, you will be left to mingle in the common area while we all work on giving you all a check up one by one in said examination room. We will call you by number when it is your turn to be examined. Now, right this way everyone.” With a motion of his hand, the head scientist has everyone standing and moving to follow him.
The scientists take the lead, volunteers trailing behind them all as they walk out of the room and through the halls. mumbo ends up walking besides the short man in the red jumper, somehow falling into step with him. He’s much shorter than Mumbo had thought he was minutes prior, but he does suppose sitting would give him the illusion of being either taller or shorter depending who’s looking on. Lindworm green eyes meet vibrant purple ones for the briefest of moments before both of them are adverting their gazes and looking away. Quick and awkward.
The engineer looks around as the walk continues, some people talking in hushed whispers and others just walking in the silence. Mumbo begins to fiddle with his hands, eyeing his father’s back for a long moment before he’s darting his gaze towards Gem. she’s whispering happily with another ginger haired woman, both giggling excitedly in hushed tones. Great. She’s still better at social interactions than he is. Mumbo sighs. She’s going to make fun of him once she learns of what just happened between him and red jumper next to him.
“You know her or something?” Comes a voice from next to him and down, making him nearly yelp as he starts slightly. Looking down, he finds those vibrant swirls of purple eyes staring up at him again. “The one with the ponytail?”
“Ah.” Mumbo blinks before he nods. “Yeah. That’s my sister.”
“That so? Why’d you sigh? Because she’s making conversation?”
“Kinda?” Mumbo gives a half shrug, looking ahead again. “She’s going to tease me later for sure is all.”
“Why?”
He blinks down at the guy again. How does he explain this? Uh… “Because that’s how our sibling relationship is? She picks on me and I hold stuff above her head because she’s short.” Lindworm green eyes watch as something clicks in those purple eyes, the purples somehow getting even more vibrant in the light of revelation as the man in the red jumper lightly brings his fist into his open palm.
“Like me and Pearl! But the dynamic is switched between brother and sister. Okay, okay.” Mumbo gives him a bit of a confused look that doesn’t go unnoticed. He glances away as they finally follow the group into the common room Dr Void had mentioned not too much earlier. What was it now? About five minutes since the group left that room? “She’s my twin and just over there.” Mumbo looks in the direction the guy points a finger to the brunette in the plain black zip up hoodie he had sat to the left of before. Slowly, the engineer nods, following the man over to a couch to sit. “It’s Grian, by the way.”
“Mumbo.” He puts his hand out, shaking Grian’s hand before he’s back to tugging at his fingers. “Nice to meet you, man.”
“You too. Though, is it me or do both you and your sister seem familiar? Like I’ve seen you around?”
“Yeah, no. I kinda thought you looked rather familiar as well? I have the feeling it’s our jobs.” Mumbo answers, humming to himself for a moment after before snapping his fingers. “Ah! You must be that architect I’ve seen around during some functions and jobs.” He leans slightly closer, examining the other a bit. “Yeah, yeah I think you are.”
Curiosity appears to grow in those bright purple eyes, making them sparkle. “So you and your sister are construction workers or electricians?”
“Close actually.” Mumbo chuckles, honestly really close! He’s impressed! “Gem’s a construction worker and I’m an architectural engineer. I’m the guy who makes the models and plans out the electrical systems for buildings and houses.” He then explains, hands moving to mime out houses and blueprints for electrical systems and head tilting. “I can see the mistake though. You wouldn’t work with me, just see me in passing like I have you.”
Grian nods with a hum. “Yeah… yeah, now that you mention it. That sounds more correct. I do have an architectural engineer I work with, but she certainly isn’t you. I would remember if she had a handlebar mustache and was as big and burly as you.” That earns a startled laugh from Mumbo, his brows shooting upwards and making him lean back slightly due to how forceful it hit him. It’s Grian’s turn to lean forwards now, a cheeky smile on his face as he continues speaking through a giggle. “Yeah, but seriously. I think I would remember if any of my coworkers had a handlebar mustache like you do, that most certainly is not a common thing to see nowadays.”
“You would be surprised by how often I get told that.” Mumbo chuckles, waving his hand through the air. “But yeah, that’s fair. It is quite a glorious mustache.” He pretends to twist one end of it, preening slightly before he’s bursting into giggles of his own alongside Grian’s continuing ones.
“It is a rather glorious mustache.” Mumbo can’t help but actually preen this time when Grian compliments his mustache, smiling light and letting the man go on to ask how he gets it to look the way it does. He happily obliges, telling the other of the products he uses and how he gets the tight little curls at the end so nicely done and evenly so at the same time. It’s not too much of a process, but it still has Grian nodding along with little inquiries or hums here and there. Little tibbits of commentary as well comes from the red clad architect as a show of him listening. “That is really interesting. A lot of work for a mustache, but definitely worth it if it looks that good on you.”
“And that, good sir, is why I do it.” He states decisively, moving to continue only to pause when his volunteer number is called, the blond woman before him coming out of the examination room in her scrubs. Lindworm green meets vibrant purple as Mumbo begins to stand, smiling lightly. “That’s me. I’ll be right back.” Getting a little wave from Grian, Mumbo stretches slightly and makes his way over to the examination room door. The scientist he believes was named to be Dr Dog is standing there, waiting to lead him in, which he does in fact do with a bright smile. He doesn’t speak though. So Mumbo just gives the room a quick once over, it’s a fairly standard examination room in his opinion, similar to a physician’s office’s one. Just the addition of more hospital-like medical equipment and a privacy screen in it as well.
His eyes land on Dad, who motions to said privacy screen. “Behind there you will find the scrubs assigned to you, please go put those on and then we will begin the physical.” Giving the man a double thumbs up, the engineer steps behind the privacy screen and, sure enough, finds a nicely set of folded grey scrubs for him to wear, an embroidered #00009 on the right of the chest. The seat honestly just looks like an ugly set of a sweatshirt and sweatpants. Unfolding them, he does pause, just staring at the top. It looks rather… Brows furrowed, Mumbo starts changing, slipping out of his t-shirt and jeans before he’s squeezing into the scrubs. He has to hold back a laugh, staring down at himself.
The sleeves don’t even reach his wrists and the pant legs are several inches above his ankles. That alone is bad enough, but that is far from it. The shirt looks like it’s cropped and both the pants and shirt are practically skin merging with Mumbo’s skin in areas that make it rather uncomfortable to move. He almost doesn’t want to step out and show them all the grave errors they have made in sizing. The engineer really shouldn’t… but he’s going to because he just knows his father is the one who chose the size as Mumbo most certainly was never asked what size he wears.
Which means Gem wasn’t either.
Pressing his lips into a thin line, he steps out from behind the screen. The reactions are immediate. Two of the scientists cover their mouths in an oops motion, one covers his mouth to not laugh, he hears a few snorts from around the room, one scientist who looks about his age silently whistles, and Dr Void has his lips pursed and twisted like he’s trying not to laugh. The only one not looking is Dad, which means Dad hasn’t noticed. He has to keep himself from snorting, stepping closer to Dad and onto a scale when motioned to. He knows the scientists are all watching with bated breaths as Mumbo himself watches his father look at the weight shown on the scale.
He pauses, staring at his clipboard with what Mumbo assumes has his file on it, before he’s looking at the scale number again. And then finally, finally Dad is looking at him and his eyes go wide when he sees him. “Scheiße.”
Mumbo breaks, cackling loud and absolutely baffled. “Papilein!”
“Ja.” Dad sends a look at the other scientist, motioning to one who runs out of the room, giggling. “Was ist-”
“Es ist zu klein!” He’s laughing so hard he’s restored to German. Goodness!
“Ah Sheiße… I can see that, kid. Es tut mir leid, mein Sohn.” Doc sighs, rubbing at his forehead before motioning him back to the privacy screen. “I still see you as just a Junge. Go back behind the screen. Dr Hills is grabbing you one of the spare extra larges we have.”
“Yeah, clearly! I haven’t worn… what is this? A medium? I haven’t worn this since I was thirteen!” Mumbo exclaims, stepping off the scale and quickly going back behind the screen. He doesn’t start taking anything off just yet, waiting for the promised larger size first. “I honestly think you just never realized. I do tend to just wear regular, properly fitted suits, not those ill-fitting, tailored to be tight ones, on the regular.”
“That is true.” Their father sighs, and there’s a resounding giggle around the room. The new scrubs arrive about that time too, Mumbo accepting them with a quick thank you before he’s shimmying himself out of the pants first. Those were the most uncomfortable in all honesty. These scrubs are a whole lot more comfortable, and a lot better fitting now as well.
“Great news fellas, they fit this time around.” Mumbo giggles as he steps back out from behind the screen and lets Dad take them through the physical. It’s pretty standard for one with what Mumbo can tell so far, right now Dad’s taking his blood pressure. So Mumbo looks at the one who had gotten the properly fitting scrubs. “Thank you, by the way, uh… I believe Dad said you were Dr Hills?”
“Yep! That would be me! The one and only Dr Joe Hills here at your service.” Dr Hills bows slightly, voice rather calm for how extravagantly he’s speaking.
Mumbo smiles. “Well, lovely to meet you Dr Hills. I look forward to getting acquainted with you during my time living here as a volunteer.”
The process of the physical is quick after that, again, fairly standard. Added on though are questions about his diet, physical activity, and then his blood gets drawn just typing and to be on file. Just two little vials of blood. Then Mumbo is getting sent back out into the common area, glancing down at his left arm where hidden beneath his grey scrub sleeve is a cotton ball taped to his arm with medical gauze in his inner left elbow. His gaze slides away from his arm to where he left Grian as Dr Dog calls for the person after him, making his way over. There’s a golden blond haired man not in scrubs yet talking to Grian now, sitting in an armchair and Mumbo’s seaton the couch is still open next to Grian. So the engineer approaches to take his seat once more, just as the chattering blond man pauses in talking.
Vibrant purple eyes are quick to land on him, Grian perking up and smiling even brighter. “Mumbo! Welcome back! How was it back there?”
“Please tell us. It’s been making me so jittery just anticipating it.”
The engineer chuckles softly, sitting himself on the couch besides Grian once again. “Just a normal physical, some questions about diet and exercise routine, got some blood drawn, and then had to nearly tear a set of scrubs before they gave me a properly fitting set. Oh- allergies and the likes too.” The newcomer to Mumbo visibly relaxes as he talks, explaining what happened in the room.
“Sounds like you certainly had an eventful time back there. How small was your first set if you don’t mind me asking?” Vibrant purple eyes peer up at him curiously, a set of warm brown ones joining in this time, making Mumbo chuckle.
“Try a medium, A.K.A two sizes too small for a large man like myself. Very, uh… very…” His brows furrow and he tilts his head before huffing softly, turning towards where he saw Gem last. “Gem, Schatzi.” She turns to him at her name and nickname, blinking annoyed ivy green eyes at him. “Ich habe vergessen, was eng auf Englisch ist.”
His sister groans in response, rolling her eyes. “The word is tight, ya dingus.”
“Danke, Schatzi.” Mumbo calls in return, chuckling as she just returns to her conversation, the engineer doing the same. “Sorry, but, uh, yeah. The first set was really tight in some places for me.”
“If you’re an extra large, then I’d imagine they were too short on you as well, not just too tight.” Grian comments with a chuckle of his own. “Hopefully no one else gets that mistake. Though, how did that happen to you?”
“You’re not exactly our height or shorter.” The other man pipes, Mumbo honestly forgot about him for a moment. “You’re not exactly small either.”
“Oh, you know.” Mumbo hums in amusement with a light shrug. “Dr Doc still sees me as just a little thing. Dads, y’know?” That comment gets both of the men to start, eyes wide and staring straight. Mumbo just moves on, hand swirling in the air flippantly as he gestures to the man he doesn’t know the name of. “What was your name again?”
Warm brown eyes blink. “Oh, uh. Tango.”
“Lovely meeting you, Tango. You probably heard, but I’m Mumbo.” Mumbo offers his hand out, letting Tango accept it and shake it. “I’m curious though now. What brings you two to the experiments, like. What made you interested in volunteering for it? If you both don’t mind me asking of course.”
“Just getting some medical stuff paid off for a friend is all. I know you can’t tell her, so I’m telling you both, it’s a surprise for her birthday.” Grian answers, smiling lightly. “It’s honestly just something I was already trying to do and this is making it much easier.”
“Oh that’s so sweet!” Tango smiles, laughing while Mumbo coos softly because honestly. It truly is a sweet thing to do. “I bet she’ll be so happy! I have two reasons. One, to help my grandfather financially and two, redstone.” The engineer perks up slightly at that. “Just flat out, interactions with the redstone. I want to see this alleged betterment of engineering and electricity for myself. It’s just like, one of the coolest things and I genuinely cannot wait for it to be deemed safe for the use the scientists are currently hoping for.”
“What brings you here, Mumbo? Besides your dad being one of the head scientists, that is.” Grian questions, looking over at him and making Mumbo chuckle in embarrassment.
“Just for the redstone actually. The extra money I’m making off this is going to a random charity since I don’t need it and make more than enough through my job.” He explains, watching Tango gain a sparkle in his eyes. ”Just couldn’t let the opportunity pass to interact with the substance sooner than expected.” Grian huffs softly with an amused look in his eyes, perhaps even a fond look too. Mumbo can’t fully be sure if it’s fond or not. He thinks it might be though. “As my sister would say “you’re just a nerd.”” He jokingly quotes, but also kinda meaning it. It makes the two laugh though and Mumbo can’t help but feel better about it, relaxing slightly into the couch.
A number that Mumbo doesn’t pay full attention to gets called and Tango stands, waving and giving both him and Grian finger guns before he’s heading back to the examination room. That must have been his volunteer number then, he should have paid more attention so he wouldn’t need to glance down at his scrubs to know what number he has. Ah, well, Mumbo will pay more attention for Grian’s number so he at least hears his. He glances back over to Gem, checking up on her and how she’s doing with her socializing, finding her just chatting with the women and that guy in the Canada winter coat. An odd grouping, but definitely the type of group Gem would surround herself in. She’s certainly doing better than Mumbo is at making friends, but that’s okay. Mumbo’s made a new friend and as long as she’s having fun, then everything’s okay.
“Looks like our sisters are getting along swimmingly.” Comes Grian’s voice, and Mumbo can only nod. For some reason, it scares him that the two are getting along so well over there in their little circle. It’s a dynamic that scares him and Mumbo can’t place why specifically, but it certainly is worth fearing. “So, your dad is Dr Doc? Your full name is Mumbo Document?” The incredulity that oozes from Grian’s words is dripping like cooled honey, thick and baffled.
The engineer can’t help but laugh, turning to the still red clad man again. “For the most part if we ignore my middle names.”
“Are they normal middle names?”
“You tell me. In order, they’re Killsalot and Jumbo.”
Purple eyes blink and Mumbo watches as he processes what he just said before he’s sighing. “Still better than my name. Mumbo Killsalot Jumbo Document.” He sounds rather upset by it.
“Well what’s your full name then?”
“Grian Xelqua Moon.”
“Now- now that isn’t that bad. Gem’s full name is Gemini like the star sign.”
“Pearl’s is Pearl Escent Moon.”
Now it’s Mumbo’s turn to blink, waiting. He blinks again, letting silence stretch until he finally speaks. “You’re not joking, are–”
“I am not.” Grian interrupts. “No.”
Lindworm green eyes blink again before he lets out a huff of a breath. “Okay, maybe your parents are crazier than mine when it comes to naming their kids.”
“Perhaps.” The purple eyed architect shrugs with a sigh, glancing away for a moment before doing a double take and sitting up straight. Brow furrowing, Mumbo looks where Grian is facing only to find Tango being wheeled past, completely limp in a wheelchair, by one of the scientists. Another one stands at the door, watching him take Tango down the hall. Mumbo believes that’s Dr Fan standing at the door and Dr Hills wheeling Tango off. “Is he…?”
“He’s okay. He just fainted when he saw the vials of his own blood is all.” The scientist answers calmly, smiling out at the room. “Dr Hills is just taking him to his assigned room so he can rest and recover. He will stay with him until he wakes up, which is when we will bring him back out to interact once again with you all. Now, volunteer number zero, zero, zero, thirteen.” As Grian leans back into his seat, Mumbo does as well, a soft relieved sigh escaping the mustachioed man.
“That was quite the scare, huh?” Grian hums, looking over to him again.
Mumbo nods. “Ja, especially since I was back there and I know nothing could have gone wrong since nothing different should have happened.” He gestures a hand to the specified door. “Knowing it’s just hemophobia is reassuring that Papilein didn’t let anything bad happen back there somehow. Hopefully no one else faints because of it too. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.” The laugh that his statement draws out is nervous and Mumbo can tell that clearly. He knows that type of laugh very, very well. The engineer could almost swear he sees sweat form on Grian’s temple. “Oh, you have hemophobia too?”
“No… no, no. Blood just…” Grian makes a face, sort of swiveling side to side as his hands circle one another palms up and open before he’s speaking again. “Blood just makes me queasy. I’m more likely to vomit.” The man admits, reaching up and ruffling sandy blond hair. Slowly, Mumbo nods in understanding. That would make sense too, he wouldn’t be surprised if someone here is scared of needles too.
“It is a common fear, that would make sense. It’s also quite common to be queasy due to blood. The fear of needles as well.” Mumbo hums, giving the man what he hopes is hopefully a reassuring smile. “Best to try and not look at the vials if you think you’ll vomit, honestly.” He reaches over, hesitating just a moment before he’s patting Grian’s arm. A light, quick two pats before he quickly retracts his hand from the other. “You’ll do great, Dad may seem scary, but he truly isn’t. Big teddy bear, trust me.”
“Thanks Mumbo, I’ll keep that in mind.” Grian laughs, shaking his head lightly as he brings a hand to where the mustachioed man had pat. Oh… he did make him uncomfortable with that. “I’m sorry, but like, can I see your hand for a moment?” Huh? “That was just– please?” Grian holds his hands out a bit and honestly? Who is he to deny that? He’s curious why he wants his hand! So Mumbo settles the hand closest to Grian in the other’s smaller hands, watching as the other’s hands enclose around his larger one. He watches as the red clad man maneuvers his hand so they’re pressing their palms together, his mouth opening like he’s about to say something–
“Volunteer number zero, zero, zero, fourteen.”
“That’s me. I’ll be right back.” Grian sighs, standing as he returns Mumbo’s hand to him. “I want that hand back when I return please.”
“Oh! Uh! Sure!” Mumbo replies, just, filled with shock because, honestly, why his hand? Of course his hand is bigger, he’s taller! His hand is proportionate to his size!  Brows furrowing, he places his hand to his own arm, patting it like he had Grian’s. That doesn’t hurt so…? Mumbo presses his palms together, trying to piece together what Grian was up to. He just… stares at his hands, palms pressed together in a prayer position as he just sits curiously staring at his own hands. He genuinely can’t fathom what his new friend was doing.
Sighing to himself, Mumbo just folds his hands and lets them drop into his lap, letting lindworm green eyes flit around the room to take in his surroundings. Surroundings he had not been paying attention to whatsoever until now. People are mingling in little groups or the one larger group. Gem still has her group of women but the one dude in the Canada winter coat has moved now, talking to a black haired man and the man who had come out when Grian was called in. The three look to be getting along swimmingly. Tango is back as well, Mumbo finds when his eyes land on the man with golden blond hair and warm brown eyes, finding him talking enthusiastically with another blond man and another black haired man.
The mustachioed engineer’s eyes land on his sister’s cluster of people to find Gem and who Mumbo is certain Grian had pointed out to be his sister sending sly looks his way. 
Why are they looking at him like that?
Mumbo looks away, at everyone else once again, finding them all either still talking amongst one another or silently watching the T.V in the corner of the room that he is just now noticing. Well, that or… sudoku or crosswords? Oh! He’s so getting in on that while Grian is gone. Leaning forwards, Mumbo swipes up a puzzle book and a pencil from the coffee table quickly before he’s leaning back into the couch again and opening it to a clear puzzle. With a quick scan over what he chose, the engineer begins working on his newly acquired puzzle. He works through it until the couch dips next to him. Mumbo isn’t too far into the puzzle when that happens, only having figured out a few numbers of the crossword. He lifts his head, looking over at Grian who sits much closer to him than he had been before leaving. The engineer doesn’t coot away, figuring the smaller man chose to do just that. Glancing down, lindworm green eyes find two hands making a familiar motion he knows well from Gem.
Blinking slowly, Mumbo settles the puzzle book and pencil in his lap, letting Grian have his hand once again. Just like before, he lets small hands do as they please with his larger one. His hand slowly gets opened and closed finger by finger and all at once, flipped over every which way several times too until Grian is once again pressing their palms together as he speaks.
“You know.” The once red clad man starts, taking Mumbo’s hand both of his once more to turn it over. “I should have expected your hands to be much larger than mind considering our size difference, but I genuinely don’t think I was prepared for the sheer difference in size between our hands. Your hand is like, three times the size of mine.”
The engineer chuckles as the architect glances up at his face rather than their hands. Mumbo, however, looks at their hands, adjusting them so he’s got Grian’s splayed out in his hand and… yeah. The other’s hand is about three times as small as Mumbo’s own. “I honestly didn’t fully realize how small yours is till you mentioned it, but yeah. I would say that’s about three times as small as time. Absolutely tiny. Der Kleinste.” A smirk crosses his face when he speaks, examining Grian’s hand in his for a moment before letting go, returning the little hand to its owner.
“What’s that mean?” Grian asks after a moment, just taking Mumbo’s hand with his own once again. Mumbo hums softly, prompting him to continue or explain. “Those words, the last two you spoke? What do they mean?”
“Oh. Oh!” Mumbo laughs, rubbing at his mouth in slight embarrassment with his free hand. “I said the smallest in German. Der Kleinste. The smallest.” Though he may feel embarrassed, Grian looks it with the way his cheeks grow a faint bit pink. Uh, oops. Maybe if he keeps talking he’ll be less embarrassed? “It’s pretty true when compared to me, so, I just kind of spoke it? You know?”
Lindworm green eyes watch as sandy blond hair sways in a slow nod, the conversation petering out  and silence settling over the two. It feels slightly awkward, though perhaps that’s just Mumbo who feels the awkwardness right now and nothing is actually awkward. It would make sense since otherwise, the silence is rather comfortable. Just normal, oddly comfortable silence. Even if Mumbo is an awkward mess of a man. He looks down further to their hands again when he feels Grian beginning to fiddle with his hand again.
Well, Grian isn’t fiddling per say, he’s more examining his hand, leaning down slightly and running his fingers along it. Light fingers dance across callused skin, tracing lines and creases in skin. It’s almost like he’s reading his hand like a blueprint for a house or building, just not with his eyes and instead with his finger pads. There’s so much care in the way he does so that Mumbo feels almost like he’s entranced in his movements. The way the now gray clad man opens and closes his hand, maneuvers it around, tracing calluses and wrinkles and lines. The engineer can’t help but note that Grain’s hands are rather soft in comparison, soft and nice. Not quite delicate, not not delicate or dainty, just soft like he’s on top of his skin care routine.
It’s a nice feeling, the light yet firm touches, each one leaving a trail of tingling skin as the moment continues. It feels like it could last forever and Mumbo wouldn’t mind. Truly, actually, Mumbo would not mind if this continued.
“Aber Vati!” Mumbo startles slightly, blinking several times before his eyes dart to where Gem’s voice came from, breaking out of whatever spell Grian had put him under. His eyes land upon Gem clinging to Dad’s arm as the two exit the examination room. Lindworm greens similar to his own meet his and then the two are making their way over, Gem still whining. “Was meinst du damit, dass ich keinen Kaffee trinken kann?!” Mumbo blinks. “Vati!”
He just sighs when his father offers the arm his sister hangs off to him, nodding his head in her direction. Sending Grian an apologetic smile, he pulls his hand from the other man and works on getting Gem off their father. “Schatzi, Gem, let go.” He grunts slightly, face twisting as he works his fingers under hers. Verdammter Mist– he always forgets she’s so strong! Why does she have to have lean muscle mass?! “Dad needs to go do his work and you know better than to try and whine your way into getting something he said no to.”
“But he took away my coffee!”
Huffing softly, Mumbo finally frees Dad from his menace of a sister, making her collapse into his lap with a pitiful whine. Dad in return just nods in thanks, ruffles Gem’s now down waves, and then leaves with the rest of the scientists. The engineer sighs, looks down at his lapful of sister, and then promptly shoves her off him and onto the floor. She lands with a yelp and soft thump. “Go back to your little group you made over there. Forget about the coffee.”
Ivy green eyes glare venom at him as Gem gets up off the floor, a high pitched cackle coming from where Grian sits besides him. Mumbo watches the entire time as he gets flipped off with both hands by his sister as she slowly backs away before spinning around to call out to the room. “We revolt for coffee! We demand coffee!”
He sighs heavily, giving Grian another apologetic smile as his sister starts a literal riot in the common area over coffee. Four other voices join her chanting one by one and Grian groans when the only feminine one to join gets added. The mustachioed engineer looks to find the woman –now confirmed to, in fact, be Grian’s twin sister– is marching around the room with Gem, Tango, another blond man, a tiny and enthusiastically chanting man, and a taller and more timidly chanting one. What a varying bunch that is right there, rioting in the middle of the large room.
“Sisters.” His attention is brought back to his new friend, a few other gazes being drawn in as well as Grian speaks. “What can you do? One day it’s dolls and dress up, the next it’s starting riots because of their coffee addictions.”
Mumbo laughs.
•──ˋˏ⚛°──🧬──°⚛ˎˊ──•
Master Post | Chapter 2 | Chapter 4
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toastedjeans · 24 days ago
Text
and now for yet another angels & demons AU...
Infernal Tower
before i get into it, a short disclaimer. this AU heavily features pepstavo and later on peppigusdoise. if you don't like these ships, the AU might not be for you as it mostly revolves around their relationship. you have been warned.
Plot time
Chaos breaks out in Heaven, and about a third to half the angels are falling, becoming demons. They find a new realm for themselves and start a rivalry with Heaven. In the midst of all the chaos, one of the Archangels, John, goes missing. It turns out that he has been kidnapped by Pizzahead and is now trapped in the depths of Hell. When the angels find out about this, they want to get John back, but Hell always threatens to destroy him whenever they try to free him. This starts a sort of cold war, where Heaven tries to come up with a plan and solution, while Hell is just waiting for them to finally come down so they can ambush them. After centuries, most of the other angels have forgotten or given up on John, and the two realms just coexist. Pizzaface is also trapped down in the depths and guards John, while Pizzahead “forgets” to check in on the two while he rules over the rest of Hell.
In the meantime, the angel Gustavo and the demon Peppino keep meeting up on Earth by coincidence, and start to become friends. After Gustavo gets promoted to the Guardian of humanity, he is tasked to keep an eye out for any demons causing trouble on Earth, and as luck (or the opposite of it) would have it, Peppino always seems to get roped into some sort of predicament.
worldbuilding and other stuff before we get to the characters
Heaven and Hell both have a hierarchy system, but their tiers are slightly different. Heaven's are:
Tier 1: Archangels (basically leaders of Heaven)
Tier 2: Guardians (can be assigned to individual people, groups of people, or even planets)
Tier 3: Assistants like scribes, carriers, maintenance, janitors, etc (assigned to an Archangel)
Tier 4: Messengers
Tier 5: Soldiers and everything else
while Hell's are:
Tier 1: Princes (they are the leaders of Hell)
Tier 2: Generals (they are in charge of a group of low tier demons)
Tier 3: demons who basically do everything else. Those can be either messengers, scribes, office workers, maintenance, soldiers, etc.
Archangels are the most powerful of the angels obviously, their powers include:
slowing down and pausing time
changing the weather drastically
hypnotizing people
making other angels fall
causing amnesia
fixing/reversing amnesia (only if it isn’t caused by natural means)
teleporting people
while Guardians are slightly less powerful than Archangels, they still have some powers, which include:
hypnotizing people
slowing down time (limited to a few seconds)
marginally changing the weather
steering danger away from others
A demon retains the powers they used to have as an angel before falling. But it doesn’t matter what rank a demon used to have in Heaven before they fell or how powerful they are, everyone starts out on the very bottom and has to work themselves up.
Rings are a status symbol in Heaven. Archangels have more intricate ring designs with gems and/or engravings. Guardians have plain gold rings. Assistants have silver rings. Every angel below that rank doesn’t get a ring. If an angel dies or loses their body (aka their human body dies), their ring will also disappear until their body is restored (in the latter case). It appears back on the original owner’s finger. An angel can feel it if their ring breaks, even if they aren’t wearing it, and they will be weaker until getting a replacement ring. Archangels’ rings are more durable, if not almost unbreakable.
If a demon touches an angel ring, they will start to get a rash and their skin will start to burn and itch. Other than that, it’s not dangerous to demons in any way, and they will not die or melt from it. It’s just very uncomfortable to wear for an extended time.
Angel wings are feathered, while demon wings are usually more like bat wings. Some demons have insect wings. Archangel wings have a color accent on the bottom.
Most demons have an animal form or at least non-human traits. It is very uncommon for an angel to have animal traits, but it does happen from time to time. Demons with an animal form (and Noisette) have one animal part that carries over while they are on earth (horns, eyes, whiskers, ears, etc.). It has to be hidden with various items like hats, sunglasses, scarves, etc while they’re on earth, to not raise suspicions around humans.
characters (finally)
Peppino – Tier 3 Demon
Never meant to fall. He’s anxious, has PTSD and is paranoid. Terrible liar. Thinks everyone (except Gustavo) is plotting to kill him. He owns an old Vespa, and a pizzeria with a cellar where he sleeps/rests. His passion is cooking, it calms him down and is genuinely fun for him. He would never hurt anyone innocent. Is not aware that he’s been cloned by Pizzahead. After the Fall he got small horns on his forehead, and he became bald so he can’t cover the horns with hair. Has to wear hats to hide them. His animal form is a goat. Hates rats. Teaches Gustavo to cook, and later hires him to work in the pizzeria with him. Does not like being reminded of the angel he once was as it makes him feel like a failure, and would not want to become an angel again in fear of the same things happening to him again. Very protective of Gustavo, tries to keep him away from anything “sinful”, like eating human food, lying, etc. because he doesn’t want him to go through the pain of the Fall as well. Only takes his hat off to reveal his horns around somebody he trusts enough. His horns are small nubs when on earth. In hell his horns grow a bit larger, and his pupils look like those of a goat.
Gustavo – Tier 2 Angel (Guardian)
An angel curious and fascinated by humanity. He happily indulges in human things like food and alcohol, and sometimes lies to get out of tricky situations. Loves rats. Never gets caught doing what he shouldn’t do, and if he does, always comes up with a plausible excuse. Started out as a Tier 4 messenger angel, is now guardian of Earth and mankind. Can feel the presence of demons, which is why he can always find and help Peppino throughout time. Animal circus enjoyer, but only if the animals are treated well. Will boycott any circus that mistreats its animals, sometimes with rather destructive results. Once made a circus animal tamer catch on fire. Does his own rat circus from time to time for fun, and always makes sure his rats are well cared for. More comfortable with experimenting with clothing, will sometimes appear more feminine. Gets hired to work with Peppino in his pizzeria after he showed him how much fun cooking can be.
Noise – Tier 1 Demon (Prince)
Half rat. Him and Peppino don’t get along at all. Hates that Pizzahead seems to favor Peppino over him even though he’s always been higher ranked (at least in Hell). Always surrounded by fleas. Dating Noisette but will never admit it in front of others (obviously, since relationships between angels and demons are forbidden, or at least frowned upon). On earth, his ears and whiskers are still visible, while in Hell his tail is also visible. Hides the ears with a top hat or a fedora on earth.
Noisette – Tier 1 Angel (Archangel)
Half bunny. Very friendly, gets along well with Gustavo. A little naive. Bonds with Noise cause she’s the only angel with an animal form and he’s the first person she meets with one as well. Doesn’t care that he’s a demon, he’s always been friendly to her. Is normally very sweet but if she’s angry she can get terrifyingly powerful. Ears and tail are visible in heaven, and only her ears are visible on earth. Hides ears with the bunny hood. Once came down to earth without hiding her ears, and some kids saw her from far away, and that’s how the easter bunny was invented. Her and Noise have been in a relationship way longer already but none of the other angels or demons have ever found out (except Gustavo cause she told him).
Doise – Tier 3 Demon
Half opossum. Was supposed to rank up to General after Noise became a Prince, but due to slow paperwork this never happened. Ears, whiskers, and tail are visible in hell. Hides ears under a beanie when on earth. Later on gets sent to the pizzeria to investigate if there are any angels. Doesn’t recognize Gustavo as one at first. Poses as a customer, but never leaves. A bit clumsy.
Peddito – Tier 2 Angel (Guardian)
Used to be friends with Doise before he fell. Feels a little betrayed, but starts to believe that he has to have done something vile and unforgivable to warrant becoming a demon. Is now kind of obsessed with Doise, wants to find out what he did. He is completely blind and is always wearing a blindfold, but can navigate through Heaven effortlessly. If he ever went to Earth, he would wear sunglasses and carry a cane, possibly has to have another angel as his guide.
Pizzahead – Tier 1 Demon (Prince)
Lucifer equivalent. Strangely obsessed with Peppino, wants him to be his right hand man. Used to be an Archangel. His animal form is a giant praying mantis, and he has big dragonfly wings. Often holds his arms together like a mantis. Never tries to help Pizzaface out of the bottom so he can become the only ruler of Hell. On earth, he wears big tinted glasses that resemble insect eyes just because. Has antennae in hell, on earth they’re way shorter and only barely visible underneath his hair. Does anything and everything to keep all the power to himself. Would sacrifice his fellow princes just so he could be the most powerful demon. Everyone refers to him only as "Da Boss" or "PH", especially when talking about him with humans around.
Pizzaface – Tier 1 Demon (Prince)
Satan equivalent. Trapped at the very bottom of Hell. Basically only able to guard John’s prison, as he can’t get out by himself either. Used to be Pizzahead’s Assistant when they were both still angels.
Vigilante – Tier 2 Demon (General)
Mistrusts Peppino. Often seen with Snotty. He swears to take revenge on any injustice. Whenever he reports incidents to Noise, he doesn’t take him too seriously (and also doesn’t really care). In charge of the cheese demons (including Snotty). Has a black sclera, always wears his big cowboy hat over his eyes to hide it. His skin is slightly slimy in hell.
Snotty – Tier 3 Demon
Can only trust Vigilante. Has a burn mark on one side of his face in his human form. His skin is also a little slimy in hell. On earth he just has greenish skin, almost zombie-like, which he hides by always wearing long sleeved clothes and a bandana.
Fake Peppino – Tier 2 Demon (General)
A clone meant to replace Peppino, but who gained sentience and started to develop his own identity. Speaks in reverse in Hell, uses sign language on earth but it's always a little hard to understand. Nicknamed Bruno. Should have been ranked equal to Noise, but once again paperwork is slow. Leader of the Peppiclones. Same horn situation as Peppino since he’s a clone. On earth he resembles the Bruno Pizza mascot.
Pepperman – Tier 2 Demon (General)
Part time model. Gains an even bigger ego with every moment he is asked to model for someone. Didn’t understand art at first, but appreciates it more with time. His animal form is a bull (hehe bullpepper), he’s basically a minotaur with big dark green horns. Always wears a beret and a feather boa bc he’s FRUITY. In charge of the pepper and pepperoni demons, as well as the Forknights. On earth he wears a big skirt and boots to cover his legs and hooves. Just calls himself "Pepper".
Peppiclones – Tier 3 Demons
Failed clones of Peppino who are very easily replaced. There are so many of them that even if a large amount of them were killed, they would never stop appearing. Sometimes attack each other for no apparent reason. Feral.
Mr. Stick – Tier 1 Angel (Archangel)
Wants to be in charge and have all the power, but without the responsibilities. Thinks Noisette is annoying, but if she left for good he would kind of miss her. Used to be Peppino’s assistant, but after he fell, he somehow managed to become an Archangel, probably through illegitimate means. He’s in charge of making angels fall when they misbehave.
Burton – Tier 3 Angel (Assistant)
Assistant and friend of Stick. Gentle giant. Good friends with Gustavo and Noisette. Talks sense into Stick when he’s being irrational, which is also why there haven’t been a lot of falls anymore.
Gerome – Tier 3 Angel (Assistant)
Maintenance and janitorial angel. Used to be John’s Assistant before he went missing.
John – Tier 1 Angel (Archangel)
During the Big Fall (TM) he was kidnapped by demons and is now trapped in the deepest part of Hell. Pizzahead uses him as ransom.
Maurice – Tier 1 Angel (Archangel)
Sole reason for Peppino’s fall. Douchebag. Gets angry at everything. Used to be in charge of punishing angels/making them fall, but he lost that role due to him making an innocent fellow archangel fall that one time (who could it be?? truly mysterious). He now just yells at everyone instead. Is secretly kinda sorry about making Peppino fall.
Brick
Hellhound but still a rat. Starts out as a Bad Rat, once on earth she becomes a Stupid Rat. Meant to be a guardian rat for demons on missions. In hell she looks more demonic and feral, with longer legs, a slender build, bigger and sharper teeth and sharp claws (Bad Rat with a maned wolf body type?). On earth she still retains her size but becomes Stupid Rat shaped, and possibly has little notches on her ears.
timeline of events
Past
Before the Fall
Peppino is working on the universe. Gustavo comes over and tells him that the other archangels are asking for him cause of an emergency meeting. Pep is mad/annoyed cause it’s been about 7 times that his work has been interrupted, and tells him the others can wait another moment for him to finish what he’s doing. Gus takes a closer look and offers to help him, and somehow he manages to make the universe appear. Peppino is grateful and then begrudgingly attends the meeting. Gus stays a little longer, watching the universe expand in awe.
The Big Fall
There is another emergency meeting, and the archangels are arguing about other angels who seem to be rebelling (they are probably just forming groups). Peppino is bored and just wants to continue working on the universe and watching over it, Stick is arguing for him. John and Noisette say that it doesn’t look too bad to them, and suggest to maybe talk to them if they start to become unruly or whatever. Maurice is mad, he wants to kick all the “misbehaving” angels out of heaven (just wants to get rid of everyone he doesn’t like). Pizzahead (still an archangel here) isn’t in attendance. Maurice then decides to start making the first angels fall. Peppino was already irritated from the arguing, but he gets even more furious, so he punches Maurice in the face and tells him to shut up, causing Maurice to snap and making Peppino fall. Gustavo meanwhile doesn’t know that he’s fallen, but continues to check on the universe for Peppino. Because he keeps watch over it he eventually gets promoted to Guardian of Earth and humanity.
Ice Ages (RRF) – Pleistocene, ~ 2 mya
Peppino and Noise are on a mission in the middle of a snow storm or something. Hell sent Brick with them as a guard. They are constantly arguing. Noise drinks a suspicious liquid which may or may not be gasoline (don’t question how it exists already), and Peppino wants a sip to warm up (he doesn't know what he's drinking). Noise doesn’t care. A fight between them breaks out, until the snow storm gets more intense and/or there’s an avalanche that buries Peppino. Noise can get away unharmed, and Brick stays near Peppino to try and dig him out. After a while Gustavo comes across her and helps her dig Peppino out from underneath the snow. He brings Pep and Brick to a cave where they all then warm up.
Knights (Pizzascape) - ~1300s - 1500s
Peppino is in the knight transformation, Gustavo looks like he does on the Bloodsauce dungeon title card. Pepperman is dressed as a king, like the big portrait in the background of his fight arena. Peppino and Pepperman are traveling somewhere, with Brick as their guard/steed. I have nothing more plot wise here actually, but Pepperman and Peppino at least start to argue and fight. Would appreciate any ideas, i have been sitting on this for so long.
Pirates (Crust Cove) – ~1650s - 1730s
Peppino and Noise are pirates, Noise is the captain, while Peppino is the ship’s cook. They both keep arguing like they always do until Noise is fed up. He ties Peppino up with ropes that prevent him from using his powers and throws him overboard, wanting to keelhaul him. Gustavo is on another ship nearby (probably an expedition ship) and sees this, and dives in to rescue Peppino. Then he unties him and they swim to a nearby island or a rock. It’s revealed that Peppino can’t swim. After this era Noise gets promoted to Prince.
Wild West (Oregano Desert, Fastfood Saloon) - ~1800s
Peppino has a saloon where he mostly serves alcoholic beverages, and Gustavo works with him (he’s the saloon lady). Sheriff Vigilante talks to Peppino outside because of their mission or something, while Gustavo (Augustine) tends to the saloon. Snotty startles Peppino and he retaliates (because he’s been almost killed so many times) by punching him so hard in the face that he accidentally breaks Snotty’s neck. Vigilante is pissed and, because he thinks that’s how human disputes work, he challenges Peppino to a duel at high noon, and even gives him a gun cause Pep doesn’t have one. Later at the duel, Peppino misses and Vigilante hits him in the chest. Gustavo watches from inside the saloon and runs up to Peppino after he fell to the ground, then brings him back into the saloon upstairs, where he heals his wound. This is where he gives him his angel ring so he could always call for his help when he’s in another situation like this. Peppino touches it and immediately notices that it itches and lightly burns his skin, so Gustavo gives him a necklace so he can still wear the ring and have it near him at all times.
Pizzeria opening – 1900s
After learning about a dish called pizza and making it by himself a few times, Peppino decides that he’ll stay on Earth to disguise himself as a pizza baker. He just wanted to stay away from Hell since every time he went there, some other demons kept threatening him. Gustavo comes over to congratulate him on the opening. Peppino explains what it is he built here and Gus wants to try a pizza. This is where he watches him bake it by himself and then asks why he does so, and seeing how passionately he prepares it, Gustavo decides he wants to work with him and also learn how to cook. Meanwhile in Hell, Pizzahead successfully clones Peppino, but he quickly starts becoming his own being. Other attempts of cloning him turn out worse and now there’s a metric ton of Peppiclones. Pizzahead makes Bruno their leader.
Random moment #1
A few unruly demons (most likely Peppiclones) manage to break free and are attacking Peppino’s pizzeria. Gustavo is on the main floor, while Peppino is in the cellar. Pep is fighting off a few demons when he suddenly notices the ring on his necklace has disappeared. After dealing with the rest of the demons he rushes upstairs only to see that Gus is gone. He immediately assumes that one of the demons killed him, and in his devastation and rage he destroys his own pizzeria. After that he goes to the next bar and drinks so heavily the bartender starts to get worried for him, but then Gustavo comes in through the door and rushes to Pep, slowly calming him down again. Not sure how he lost his body in the first place. He couldn’t feel other demons approaching since he was already near Pep and felt his presence the whole time.
Random moment #2
Gustavo wants to fly around again and takes Peppino with him to an empty field at sunset/sunrise. Pep is hesitant and tells Gus he can do it alone if he wants to but Gus really wants to fly with him. Pep then reluctantly agrees and the two fly around together, but Peppino then crashes into a tree or something. Gus asks what happened and Pep explains that his wings still hurt from when he fell from Heaven, also he was embarrassed about his wings not being as pretty as they used to be. Gustavo then takes care of his wings and apologizes for making Pep do something he didn’t want to do, but Pep tells him that it’s fine cause despite crashing he still had a good time.
Random moment #3
Somewhere in the 20s to maybe 50s, Peppino somehow managed to disguise himself as a mafia boss. Outfit inspired by Evil Peppino but with a fedora. Holds up his tough guy act around his henchmen, but is also extremely paranoid about anyone finding out he’s a demon. Starts thinking that there are spies (angelic and human) all around him, trusts nobody. His cigar is only to appear more tough, would immediately get a coughing fit if he actually smoked it. Not sure about plot, maybe Gus is this time the one who gets roped into danger? One of Pep’s henchmen could kidnap him and bring him to Pep, and Pep has to pretend they did a good job but when they leave he immediately starts apologizing profusely to Gus. Gus appears feminine probably.
Present
Noise arrives
Midnight. Gustavo is in the pizzeria while Peppino is sleeping downstairs. Noise knocks and explains that he doesn’t know where he is or where he came from. All he knows is that this pizzeria seems to be a safe place. Gustavo tries to get more information out from him, why he’s hiding or who he’s even hiding from, but Noise doesn’t remember. Peppino wakes up and is immediately on edge when he sees Noise, as he thinks he was sent here to drag him back to Hell. Him and Gustavo argue a little bit and Peppino reluctantly agrees to give Noise shelter. Gustavo miracles a costume for Noise to hide his ears while he stays here (his canon usual outfit) and tells him he has to wear this while others are around.
Visitors
A few days later Bruno, Pepperman and Vigi come over and ask if Peppino has seen Noise, and Noise in his costume comes out and cheerfully greets them. Awkward silence ensues. They ask who this weirdo is and Pep panics and says it’s his new employee “Theodore”. Then they explain that Pizzahead told them to look here in case Pep is hiding him, and to destroy him cause he’s a traitor or whatever. Pep comes up with a lie HIMSELF and says he would never hide him cause they both hate each other. The demons believe him and leave again.
Doise era
Hell sends Doise to investigate the pizzeria cause Pizzahead told the others that he doesn’t believe Peppino. Since Peppino doesn’t know Doise, it won’t be too obvious, he thinks. Doise poses as a normal customer, but he just doesn’t ever leave cause nobody in Hell tells him to, and he feels so welcome in here that he doesn’t even wanna leave. He is a little clumsy and Gustavo keeps helping him get up when he trips and falls or picking things up he dropped, and he starts feeling attached to him cause nobody was ever this nice to him since he became a demon. He starts helping out by doing general maintenance around the pizzeria.
Storming the pizzeria
After a few days/weeks of Doise not returning, Pizzahead now convinces everyone to storm the pizzeria, because he tells them that Peppino is now holding both Noise and Doise hostage. Peppino can feel that something bad is happening so he hides Noise in the cellar. Gustavo tries calming him down cause he thinks he’s being overly paranoid. But then a horde of demons appears and smashes a window in. Doise hides in the back. They wait for Pep to give them Noise so they don’t have to start attacking yet. There are guests in the restaurant cause of an anniversary or something? Gustavo somehow convinces the demons to wait until he’s gotten all the humans out of the establishment before they’re allowed to attack, and brings the guests to safety (perks of being a guardian angel). He then goes to Heaven to find Noisette to help them out by telling her they have Noise and demons want to destroy him. Meanwhile Noise comes out from the cellar and Peppino panics and sends him out. The demons look at him and still don’t recognize him, and Pep tries to convince them but they get mad and start smashing more windows in. A Peppiclone goes feral and rushes in but Pep quickly knocks it down. Bruno tries to hold them back but a few more run in and get absolutely pummeled by Peppino. Now Pep is super pissed and the demons don’t hold back anymore. Pep kicks the shit out of them while they all storm in and try to defeat him. One demon gets a hold of Noise and tries to rip him apart right when Gustavo returns with Noisette and she breaks the whole fight up. Noise sees her and is instantly smitten. She immediately recognizes him and removes his mask, causing the other demons to finally recognize him as well (they’re a bit dumb). She reverses Noise’s amnesia and the two disappear together.
A few days of peace
After Noise basically quits and disappears somewhere with Noisette, everything becomes peaceful again for a few days. Peppino, Gustavo and Doise (yes he’s still here) have fixed the damage done to the pizzeria, and made the humans forget about the demon invasion. While Gustavo and Doise are out doing some grocery run or something, Peppino gets a visit from Pizzahead, who wants him to come back to Hell. He offers to promote him since Noise’s position would be free now, but Peppino shuts down every attempt. Until Pizzahead gives him a final choice: stay on Earth but get constantly attacked by a horde of demons, or come back to Hell and Gustavo is guaranteed not to be hurt or bothered. Peppino doesn’t have an answer right away, but Pizzahead waits for him until he has talked to Gustavo and made up his mind.
The Breakup (TM)
Gus and Doise return a bit later, and Peppino is nervous as all hell (pun intended). He tells Gus about what Pizzahead told him, and ultimately decides it would be better to go back with him because he’s afraid that he won’t be able to keep Gus safe if he stays. Gustavo immediately knows this is a trap and tries to change Pep’s mind but he’s way too stubborn. They start arguing and Peppino is about to storm out when Gustavo holds him back and tries to talk reason into him, holding him closer. Peppino finally hesitates for a second, but then runs off anyway.
After the breakup
Some time after Peppino went back to hell, some demons (maybe Peppiclones?) notice the ring around his neck and destroy it. Gustavo feels this and is now worried that something might have happened to Peppino. Even in his weaker state he now wants to investigate, but Doise is trying to hold him back cause he’s worried that the demons might kill him. But Gustavo is too determined to find out what happened, so he pretends to be a spy/intruder (which he technically is), and Doise pretends to have just caught him and bringing him here to interrogate/torture/whatever. Doise keeps trying to keep Gus safe from other demons, and he’s kind of a little coward, but still tells everyone to back off cause he’s “his angel, go catch your own.” Gus finds him endearing either way.
In Hell
Somehow Doise and Gustavo find out about John being trapped at the bottom of Hell. They try to free him but they don’t have the power required to do so. They look for Peppino, who does have the power since he used to be an Archangel. But it turns out if they free John, then Pizzaface also comes free, so they now have to debate if they’ll take that risk or not. Meanwhile they also need to avoid Pizzahead catching onto their plan. They find Peppino and tell him about John, asking him to free him, but before he can do so, Pizzahead finds out about them and then starts attacking Gus and Doise, which Peppino doesn’t like at all. A big fight starts, Pizzahead traps Gus and Doise with John, and during the battle he tries to convince Peppino to leave them all behind, to rule with him, but Peppino has had enough of his crap and kicks the shit out of him.
anyway gonna work on more refs i'm not happy with what i have as of now
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ponderingsoflife · 6 months ago
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An expansion on my last post about poorly explained concepts, the Losing Ghosts oneshots and Familiar Hunter are giving me hell, so I’m gonna try out a poll here to see what concept people would be interested to see in the meantime. Some of these are set ups for full stories while others are more like oneshot material.
1. Magistry to Magic: Martyn the thief was not always Martyn the thief, at one point he was Maria the eldest princess of a kingdom known as Miron. He faked his death, ran away to join a band of thieves (all of which are totally human and definitely do not include a direwolf, Scott Smajor, a cyborg, and a man married to a goddess), and now he’s about to rob his former family blind with them. They arrive to a party where Martyn’s parents are desperately trying to find Jimmy a wife, and they promptly discover that his parents are also trying to pawn Mumbo, the royal mage, off on another kingdom as well, Martyn is so ready to kidnap his former best friend and save him from a king who definitely just wants to get in his pants.
2. Tarnished Gold: Scott is rich and bored, Light Yagami if he was less of a homicidal maniac if you will, and Joel is just a guy. Friendly, popular, nice when he wants to be, and Scotr hates him for it. So Scott devises a plan, kidnapping Joel and holding him captive, just seeing how long it will take people to give up on finding him, and since Joel is there he might as well add a dash of psychological torture to the mix, right? So he can see how long it takes for him to break completely. Grian and Jimmy as Joel’s brothers are both desperately searching for him, and when they find out that Scott might be behind it… let’s just say Jimmy’s going to get some rapid fire lessons from Scar’s School of Scammery.
3. Fates and Fire Escapes: A short soulmate au, where Grian decides to visit Jimmy in the hopes of making a good first impression on Tango, Jimmy’s recently discovered soulmate. There’s a small get together going on when he arrives and after absolutely fumbling socially Grian decides to take refuge on the fire escape where he finds Zed, Tango’s ex who had tried to apologize for what they went through and congratulate him on finding his soulmate, but who just got snapped at and told to leave. Bada bing bada boom the two find out that they are soulmates and telling Jimmy and Tango… doesn’t seem like the best idea. Luckily Grian is in town for another week visiting Jimmy, so he can make time to see his new soulmate without Jimmy or Tango knowing.
4. Petty and Pretty: Pearl recently lost her boyfriend to a gay man, and Gem recently lost her girlfriend to her brother, two blows neither are very happy about. Both of them are mildly jealous to say the least, seeing their former partners so happy together, so they devise a plan. Fake dating, appearing as happy as can be, to make their partners jealous, maybe even jealous enough to return to them. Surely this won’t end up with the two catching feelings for one another, surely…
5. Love Sick: Love is dangerous. It’s not a hard concept to wrap your head around, at least not for Mumbo, which is why he’s perfectly happy to get assigned a partner, and a dose of drugs to negate any emotions he has. Martyn is a little less enthusiastic about it, which is why when the two are carted away on the same bus for their tests, Martyn breaks out and steals the bus, driving it into the woods and crashing it before boldly declaring he’s leading everyone to a safe haven where they can love whomever they want. Mumbo is against this idea but a snitch will get them all caught so Mumbo is dragged along with the rest of them.
6. Young, Dumb, and Magical: Gem and Joel really didn’t mean any harm when they took Etho, they’re just kids in their own right after all and when the cool human who’s been playing with them says he has to go… they don’t really like that. Grian and Cleo, the younger siblings of said cool human, see him getting dragged into the woods and they know they have to go after him because Etho is deathly allergic to almost everything and if he isn’t brought back to his controlled environment soon there is a very high possibly he won’t make it to the end of the week.
7. A Season Of Change: Anyone is allowed to love anyone they choose… so long as they’re from the same season. Unlike her siblings, Pearl didn’t really find anyone in the winter court to be all that appealing, so when it seems like she’s going to happily end up alone, her parents set her up with Cub, the son of a noble who was also born into winter. Cub is nice, but he and Pearl have no mutual attraction, in fact, Cub has other plans that involve running away with a snarky and scammy guy from the spring court. Props to him, but Pearl now faces the very real danger of being forced into a relationship with someone much worse. So Grian has the fantastic idea to set her up with a short, curly haired ginger from winter, and to no one's surprise Pearl is absolutely taken by her. Sure Gem may actually belong to the spring court… but no one needs to know that, not until after the two are married and Grian can allow his buddies back into the kingdom that is.
8. Faultline: Jimmy has it rough to say the least. He has two teams of villains breathing down his neck, both of whom can’t decide if they want him dead or alive. He is kidnapped so consistently that he and his roommates have a running tally to see which side kidnaps him more often (spoiler alert, they’re tied). The hero teams are useless so the only things Jimmy has going for him are the vigilante who saved him every time he’s captured, and his boyfriend BigB who seems to be the only person who trusts Jimmy enough to not freak out whenever he’s kidnapped… and yes they are very much two different people… mhm, definitely two different people.
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