#i Hope lore saturday holds this up

[mysadblacksoul]

The Craving - 4/13 of the Clancy album

Hi so the I don't see this song as very lore oriented

The MV is mainly about creating right?

We can see both Tyler and Josh creating a bullet and a box

And we can tell that they had spent a lot of time making those things

In the end, after all that hard work, their creation is put to the test and ultimately it is decided that they failed

They don't even have time to process their failure, because the next person is already called in their place

I believe that this could be a one big parallel to the music industry as a whole

What is more, the thing that they are creating could be a song, you know, Tyler doing the lyrics and Josh the rhythm

They do it in their own style, with decorative elements that are not seen in others (last man's box was much simpler)

The bullet itself is colorfull, one might say over the top

And the man shooting it could be someone from the record label, radio or overall from the industry

So they are the one to decide if the song will be a hit or miss

And I really like the play of the words of "hit or miss". Like in shooting you can hit the target and in the music a song could be a hit, right?

It just shows how quickly the industry is moving, and how fast the people are to declare that somehing flopped

Then in the lyrics the craving itself could mean a hope for creating something both true to themselves as well as well received by the public

intentions don't mean much - so no matter why you write a song, even if it's for a good cause it might still fail

my body in chains - being tied down by the contract

'Cause it's the fear of the unknown / That cripples every step we take - People prefer to follow trends. Create something that is sure to catch on instead of taking a risk and doing something completely new. This losing oneself for fame may have a lot to do with the previous line

I lied

There is shit tone of lore

Buckle up

So the Bishops hate art and music right?

The guys are still creating the song, but in the Dema universe

We know that the only music the Bishops like is that used for propaganda

And we also know that Mr. Clancy has already tried to use it to show people the truth, as in the Overcompensate MV

So I don't think it's a stretch to say that the same symbolism was used here too

Here, the final failure may show, as in Backslide, the number of attempts the guys made to convey the truth to others and to free themselves from the Dema

They missed, their scheme was unsuccessful

And why do I think such a simple music video is part of the lore? Because of two things: it would be too simple not to be part of the lore and Jenna

We know that Jenna is part of the lore - she is a Bandito and appeared in the Saturday MV (I mean her voice, but you get the point)

So could The Craving be simply love? Or desire for both of them to be safe together?

Yesn't

But I am sure that the part in chorous If I found my body in chains / I'd lay down and wait / And hope she looks for me is a direct callback to the Jumpsuit MV

What happened? Clancy tried to escape, he got found and bounded and as he was about to be taken away the Banditos appeared. With Jenna! So she was looking for him after all

Now I see intentions don't mean much and Now I see the gesture don't mean much we are back to the mentality that no matter what Clancy does he cannot change the situation that he is in

'Cause it's the fear of the unknown / That cripples every step we take - callback to the letter from Dema website that reads "He seemed unaffected by the fear of the unknown – the fear that tends to cripple me"

He is afraid of his own feelings, of failure, of letting her and other Banditos down. He has a lot on his shoulders

And now let's go back to the creation. Tyler is making some kind of container, right? And what you can put to this container? A heart

You might ask yourself "What is this fool talking about???" but hear me out

But for now you told me to hold this jar / And when I looked inside I saw it held your heart, from A Car, A Torch, A Death

Now you see my vision?

Plus one bunny is giving another a gift which can be a reference to I will give more than I take away

And what is Josh doing? Carving a box

She's a carver / She's a butcher with a smile from Tear in My Heart

Genius right? Thanks, I'll be here the whole night

In conclusion:

as far as lore goes, these guys are using art and music to oppose the tyranny of the Bishops

Jenna is a very important part of the lore

And I think it will be a while before we can edit Clancy's wikipedia and add "Jenna - his in-lore-wife"

For some reason, I feel that the ukulele has a more important part of the lore than we think

Don't be afraid to take on challenges and try to change your life situation even if you have failed before

Create what you love and not what others love. Stay true to yourself pookies

[anonymous-dentist]

It's been a couple of days since the last QSMP lore stream and merch drop, and there have been two DRASTICALLY different responses from the fandom:

What the fuck oh my god why did they do this what the fuck >:( I'm very angry >:( I'm on twitter btw

Yayyy omg the Lore is back!!! :D :D :D Fuck twitter btw

I've seen SO MANY passive-aggressive posts coming from users on this website that are all saying something along the lines of, "I'm happy that the server is getting back on its feet! The eggs aren't in a coma btw, they're just out of service (looks at angry twitter users who can't get over the fact that things aren't being solved immediately)."

And, really, I think almost everybody on this website has missed the reasons why other fans are upset over the recent lore stream and the merch drop. They think it's all just whining about how things haven't been solved immediately, but it's really actually all about how things don't seem to have been solved at all.

See, the thing with the Egg Lore Stream was that, uh. None of the admins currently on hold know whether or not they have a job, including known egg admin Ryan. You might know them as Sunny's Actor, and they were pretty taken aback when Egg Lore was revealed to be happening last Saturday... without Ryan, or seemingly any other known admins whatsoever, knowing. And Ryan isn't a former employee, they're a current employee. They haven't been let go.

Ryan, and other current employees, have all been stating that communication between the QSMP higher-ups and the other admins hasn't gotten better at all. Nobody knows if they even still have jobs because the only way they find that out? Through livestreams.

Ryan, and any other suspended egg admins sticking around, only found out that they aren't, like, fired because of a goddamn lore stream.

And for former admins? It's interesting how the admin team put Pomme and Dapper in the little coma machine despite Pomme's actor, Lumi, and the French all saying that they'd rather Pomme die than get replaced, and Lumi isn't going back to the server. And Dapper's admin, Shade, isn't going back without Lumi.

So imagine being them and finding out through this stream that, oh, wow, you're just going to be replaced. An entire language group is quite possibly going to be lost, but it's fine! Actors can just be replaced, right?

Just like how Twitter admins can be replaced by a bot after being fired in the middle of the night with no warning.

Oh, and shall we mention how it seems that the whole Money Thing isn't going anywhere? How we had a paid writer admin come out and say that even after the changes were starting to be made internally that the higher-ups changed the writer's description of the Pomme figure to be as soulless as possible, because if there's one thing the QSMP admin team seems to have, it's a grudge against the French. But then, remember? The writer said that, despite being paid for February and being promised to get paid for March, that they haven't been paid? And they don't think they ever will be?

And how they thought they would be fired for speaking to their friends, aka former admins?

I think that quite legitimately every admin that has come out after leaving the company, or who is still part of the company but who still made a statement anyway, has said that they hope that the QSMP can continue because they believe in the project, but they don't know if it will because nothing seems to be changing behind the scenes.

But, yeah, sure, okay, say it's all just people whining about how change hasn't been immediate. It's people just complaining about the lore! They need to grow up, right? They need to touch grass? Right?

But, well. Being critical is absolutely vital. Does that mean people should harass the admins? Absolutely not. But that does mean that people should be like, "Hey, so why is the admin team still being so shady?"

Things can't be fixed immediately, but it's been over a month. The problems with communication are still continuing! They haven't stopped! It's just that nobody on this website is listening to the admins anymore.

Trusting ccs is fine and all, but keep in mind that they didn't know what was going on before, either. With the general lack of transparency still going on behind the scenes, how would they know if it's all been fixed now?

[sharksupermacy]

cool with you (a-side)

cool with you (a-side) - !non-idol lia x !cupid reader

synopsis: you were a god and she was a human

genre: fluff, them actually being adorable couple, reader sacrificing their powers, kissng??????, bit of greek mytholgy, based of cool with you lore kinda? a tiny bit of angst, latin but dw i included a translation at the bottom

you were a god.

simple. your job was to make humans fall for each other. you always love your job. it was cozy; you didn't have to interact with other gods who were filled with themselves, and better yet, you got to live among humans.

that was until you met lia. now, despite the fact that one of the rules of gods living among humans is never to form an actual bond with them, you found yourself breaking this rule when it came to her. meeting her accidentally while at an arcade and winning a prize for her that she was struggling to get was the start of your relationship. a week with her had turned into months, and soon enough, it had become three years.

eventually, during this process of forming a bond with her, you fell for her. you felt your heart thumping, your hands sweating, and your heads pounding at the thought of her. you had passed off your relationship with her as just status quo, trying to find the perfect match for her, but you were just stalling for the perfect time to get into a relationship with her.

it was saturday, and snow was lightly falling on the ground. a small smell of chamomile lingering on you as you had just bought a new perfume that you liked. a bouquet of sunflowers in your left hand, meaning a bag of dog treats in the other, while walking down the street towards lia's house. it was the day you were going to finally ask her to be your girlfriend.

you had weighed the pros and cons of asking lia to be in a relationship with you. the latter being that you were so in love with her that you were ready to abandon everything just to have a chance of love with her now. knocking on her door on the chilly day only to be met with the sound of something falling along with groaning near the door. you smiled, and a moment later you were met with an out-of-breath lia smiling back at you.

"may i come in?" you asked her.

"yes, you may," lia said while wiggling her eyebrows. "you bought treats for bella, and sunflowers?" she looked at you weridly while stating what you were holding. 

"the sunflowers are for you if you agree to be my girlfriend," you quickly stated hoping that she would agree. 

"have you not seen the hints i've been throwing at you for the past year?" lia questioned her while taking the flowers. 

"does that mean we are.." you put your hand on your chin. 

"gosh damnit, " lia brought you into a kiss surprisingly. her lips were home, and you had decided that it was worth sacrificing everything for her.

"can i have another?" you asked the slightly shorter girl, smiling at her with a love-sick expression.

"sure, just close the door behind you," she said as she pulled you in for another while you closed the door, locking it behind you. just then, time had froze, and your hands were binded behind your back in an uncomfortable position. looking above you, a nearly blinding light shone down on you. met with the goddess you had served for nearly centuries with a face of disdain and fury on her face.

"y/n," she called for you in a stern voice, squinting her eyes around your lover's house," is this what you were doing this entire time?" she turned towards lia with eyes of pure disgust, turning away at the thought of you being in love with a mortal. "you have broken the one rule when presiding on earth. meaning you will be held accountable for your crime that was given to you by the king," she said, looking away from you towards the light.

you uncomfortably got up on your knees, looking around at the hall of judgement. being surrounded by the stares of many gods you had been friends with, as they looked at you with pure disgust and smirked with whispering surrounding you. "silence to the hall," a booming voice above you said. "now, dear traitor, do you know what treasonous act you have committed?" questioned the voice.

"i fell in love with a human," you said, smiling to the floor and chuckling a bit at the irony of your job and the situation you were in now.

"yes, and do you know what the consequence of the action is?" asked, as you can feel his burning eyes against the back of your head.

"to be banished from godhood and being banished from ever entering olympus again?" you answered while finally having the courage to look up and smile at the zeus. 

"your memories as well are erased; you are forever cursed to roam the land of the mortal lands," he said.

"well, then deal out your punishment, mister king," you said in a mocking tone, then smiled at him.

the click of the door locking brought you back from your thoughts.

"c'mon now," lia said in a soft tone, smiling while pulling you inside her house. the smell of home invaded every single one of your senses. she pulled you to the kitchen, setting down the flowers you had given her and fetching a pot while you contemplated how much you love her.

"semper te amo," you said underneath your breath while looking at her slowly putting in the sunflowers you had given her across the room. you smiled at her with pure love and infatuation.

you had found your home with her. that was all you knew. you were content with that. her dark brown hair and chocolate-colored eyes captured every single crevice of your heart.

diligitis eam

a/n: ok, some lovely translation time!!!! 'semper te amo'= love you forever from latin and 'diligitis eam' = you love/ cherish her. idk it just seemed fun to have latin in a random fic. plus, the banner was in latin, so... it's none of my business... what you do is none of my business. none of my business being hit diff a bit these days..

(btw theres a second part to this)

[popcornforone]

Mistletoe and Whine

A Max Phillips Fan Fic

I have too much in draft everywhere. Film reviews, notes, fics & I did actually have a very predicative Sunday playing catch up. However very randomly after watching an alternative Christmas film on Saturday night & my head still thinking about it, my mind stumbled into this festive Fic idea for Max Phillips. So here we are writing about our favourite vampire over the festive season. & it’s going to get sexy.

Synopsis:- Chance encounters with Max have lead you to your 5th anniversary, & he wants to make sure that you whine as he celebrates with you.

Word count:2750

Warnings:- DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE UNDER 18! PIV Sex, established relationship, vampire lore so biting, feasting & blood drinking, lack of consent, alcohol, drugs, swearing. Innuendo, intense orgasms. Basically like most couples they get steamy in their special day, it just so happens they are vampires.

Thanks as always for the read peoples. All feed back is always welcome. I hope you enjoy.

It’s your fourth espresso martini of the night. You & the girls are at an adults only winter wonderland. Candy canes have secret ingredients to make you extra happy, the chatter is loud, the games are intense but fun & the music is belting.

“Okay” Frankie says “who’s ready for us to go & play the next thing”

“Oooh im not sure I can move” Tina says. “And look” she waves her hands in front of her face “there’s 6 hands on my two arms” clearly the special sweets were effecting her more.

“Well I’m just gonna go sort myself out, but I’ll come find you in about 5minutes” you say. You need some water & to use the toilet. Your the mum of the group, your always the most sensible. You check with Lucy that she’s okay to hold the fort & make sure no one does anything crazy as you nip to the bathroom. It’s not that far away & you know it will take your friends in a sober undrugged state at least 10mins to pick what they want to do next, but with them high on everything, they won’t budge. You’ve got plenty of time.

As you walk past the Christmas trees you turn a corner & accidentally walk into someone.

“Oooh im sorry” you say as your shoulders clash. You look up & make eye contact. Your frozen. Two deep brown eyes make contact with you. If you knew any better you were being hypnotised. The red tie. The Santa hat. The broad shoulders. The dark suit. A smile like the devil.

“Ho Ho Ho… merry Christmas to you, my victim” you hear this deep voice & it arouses you. You giggle back. Suddenly his large hand is around your neck. He’s pushes you against the wall of the little hut that’s selling pretzels behind you. You gasp for air.

“Am I a Christmas treat?” You ask. You then feel your scarf be tugged off. His tongue licks up your neck. He always loves the taste of fresh meet, be it consensual or not.

“More, your my grand feast. The Satan Clause wants you all to himself.” He says. He makes eye contact once more making sure all his hypnosis, mixed with the drink & drugs you’ve had tonight, mean you won’t remember a thing. He licks his lips. “I’m famished” Those beautiful brown eyes turn to red & you feel the sharp pain as those fangs dig into your neck & your body jolts & you scream.

“MAX!!!!!”

You jolt awake. A sweaty sticky mess. Panting gasping for air. You check the clock, it’s 7pm & you lie back down onto the bed. Desperate to get air into your body. The bedroom door flings open & there stands Max. Two cups of warmed blood for you both on this winters evening. The perfect way to wake up.

“You okay baby” he asks. He walked over to you in his long white dressing gown & hands you your mug. Just by the smell you can tell it’s AB positive.

“Nightmare, that’s all” you say & you sip your blood. You make a small mmm sound as it hits your taste buds. The iron sinking into your system. This is your favourite blood type.

“What was it today?” He asks as max rubs your back. Your undead skin is always cold, but even he can tell despite you sweating & being in a panic that it’s very icy.

“The day we met…” you start “… but no consent, you just had your way with me & sunk your teeth inside me”

“We both know that’s not how it went down” Max says as he shakes his head. Vampires only have nightmares when things aren’t certain. You’ve only been a vampire 3 years. You’re almost at your vampire potential, but you do still sometimes forget you aren’t human.

“No you were very shy about it, didn’t want to interrupt the game me & my friends were playing” you smile & reminisce.

*

It wasn’t a winter wonderland you & your friends were at. It was your local pub. It was board game night, & you & your friends were a little tipsy but no drugs, other than cigarettes. You were playing articulate with them all & smiling.

“Royal family, not the ginger one” Tina says.

“Prince William”

“Diana”

“Prince Andrew” Tina collected her card

“High trouser”

“SIMON COWELL” you all shout at once & Tina collects another.

“Doctor Who”

“Ooh god there’s 14 of them” you roll your eyes & then the buzzer goes off. “Times up” Lucy counts Tina cards.

“She got 8”

“Which doctor was it”

“John Hurt”

“Seriously of all the clues you went for doctor who? Not alien or…” you scoff & down your drink.

“Sorry I’ve binged it all again recently” she say. You all laugh, Tina loves her scifi.

“Well I’m gonna nip to the toilet before the next round” you say & you wobble in your heels as you get up from the table.

“How many drinks have you had tonight” Frankie asks.

“Not that many, I blame the shoes.”

You walk to the bathroom use the facilities & then as you leave to rejoin the group , you lose your balance as your heel slips. You can see the Christmas tree in front of you, that your about to face plant & break as you fall forward. But then you stop mid fall.

“It’s okay I gotcha” says a very deep voice. Two arms are wrapped around you & pull you up. You turn your head to say thank you but all that glances back is this man’s beautiful handsome face. So perfect. So divine. It’s love at first sight.

“Wow” you say & then realise what you’ve said as you see him blush a little “did I say that outloud?”

“Yes you did” he helps you to your feet. “It’s okay, I think your rather wow too” you giggle & turn red.

“Ha your funny”

“I’m serious” he says “I’ve searched everywhere for the person I’m meant to be with, but I never thought they would actually really stumble upon me” he smiles. You’re now standing up & you both look at each other up & down. You say your name & he takes your hand & shakes it “Im Max” he’s clearly a charmer. You bet he says this to all the girls.

“Well Mr Max can I buy you a drink, as a thank you” you say.

“I think we’ve both had enough to drink” he says saying that he thinks that’s why you fell.

“No it’s the heels, I don’t normally wear them. Special occasion.”

“Oooh you’re the lot in the corner, on your girls night aren’t you”

“Are we that loud & obnoxious?” You ask feeling ashamed.

“Never apologise for who you are, always be you” his thumb graces over your chin. His eyes make contact. “Where have you been all my life?” He asks.

“I don’t know, where have you been” you lips are inches away.

“Searching, yet I didnt realise it would be someone like you” these word are soft. His lips part. You look at him & see there’s mistletoe behind him on the wall. He sees you looking past him & turns around. “Well it’s bad luck if we don’t, don’t want to ruin the Christmas spirit.”

You go for it & lean in. Kissing deeply a man you met 4 minutes ago. His lips are plump. You easily slip your tongue inside as your deep kiss gets more passionate. His hand is up in your hair. Yours caress his clean shaven face & his shoulders. It may only be for a few seconds but it’s something that you want to do with this man for the rest of your life.

From behind you, you hear your girls all cheer. You never do this on a night out. You are the careful one of the group. Your break the kiss & turn around & go shhhh, before facing Max again.

“They seem happy for you” he smoulders

“It’s never me who gets the guy” you say & you beam, you miss the feel of those lips already.

“Why don’t you introduce me?” Max says as his eyes dazzle.

“Do you think you’re gonna be sticking around Max?”

“Ooh beautiful you have no idea.”

*

You smile at Max back in the now, as you finnish sipping your mug of blood on the bed. His hand is still slowly stroking your back.

“Nice memory trip?” He asks. He finds it so cute when you glaze over to remember past memories in such detail. He wishes he could go back to some of his memories in such detail as you do.You put your empty mug down.

“Your lips still taste as good as our first kiss 5 years ago”

“Are you sure?” Max raises an eyebrow. You never need to be encouraged to take advantage of your man. He then reaches into his gown pocket & produces a little bundle of mistletoe. “It’s actually today, Happy anniversary baby” you practically pounce on him. Lips that always ignite your undead soul. A touch as he caresses you, that fills you with joy & glee, the noises you both make are sweet songs to each other.

Max hand lets go of its mug & it crashes to the floor. A small amount of blood that was left in his mug spills across the floor. The mistletoe follows. He loves how passionate you are in the mornings. Morning sex with you is delight, even if your morning is 7pm. You straddle him & undo the cord to his gown, hoping he’s got nothing on underneath. His hands are grasping your bum. Squeezing it as your lips continue to lock & your dead hearts feel like they are pulsing, filled with adrenaline. Your body already rolling into his lap ready for pleasure grinding on his thigh.

“Maxie” you exhale when you lips part. It’s drawn out a long whine. But one where you can feel how excited he is.

“Ooh baby” you help his shoulders & you both remove his dressing gown. You initial instincts were right. He’s naked beneath. His length hard & leaking & you smile. His hands leave your bum & find the bottom of your red silk night dress & free you from it. Your breast look extra perky today in the cold winter air in your bedroom & you feel sexy.

“Happy anniversary my forever” you say as you adjust yourself to take him all. He’s also sat up & he’s so beguiled. He moans deeply, as he slips his penis through your slick.

“Ooh you’re drenching me already” he states.

“Can you blame me?”

“No, never”

“Oooh fuck” he is slow as he pushes through your entrance & makes sure his shaft is fully inside you. Be it alive or undead he loves it when you whine & moan as he fills you up each time.

“You good baby” still after all these years max still asks you.

“On cloud 9” you whimper. Your earlier grinding on his thigh now means his penis glides around you. Your walls feeling every inch of his thrusts. He always feels so good. That’s why you fell for him. He may have used some vampire tricks on you to make things move quicker but you always realised & he then didn’t need to persuade you in that way.

“Let me pleasure you” his hand slips between your two naked bodies as you match each other’s rhythms to make sure this is sweaty hot & passionate. He strums you like a double base, your clit quivering quickly.

“Max” you moan.

“Whine baby” he mumbles & he pulls you towards him & licks a stripe up from between your breasts up your chest & then your neck. The salt & sweatiness makes him smile & the way his tongue feels as it leaves its own moistness across your skin gives you goosebumps.

“Oooh Maxie” you feel like you are being spread wider than before. Each roll forward as you take him as you finger nails dig into his shoulders bring you closer to euphoria. Each ooooh noise escaping your mouth has his finger work faster.

“So good, so sexy” he moans before his lips latch back to your nipple. Your tummy flush to his, sweat dripping everywhere.

“Mmm mmmm mmmaxxxx oh fuck oh fuck yes don’t stop baby mmmm fuckkkkkk” he giggles the more you moan & whine, desperate for more. Being undead hasnt decreased your thirst for your man.

“So tight & it will always be this tight” he manages to muster his thrust are pounding away. Each motion he’s closer. This was never going to be a long session. That can wait for later. This is two soul mates fucking away their bleary eyed start to their night lost in lust & desire. Your cunt quivers in pleasure. He’s never pleasured you like this before. You need more & you dig your hands in his shoulder & he jolts.

“Fuck max oh fuck fuck fuck yes oh fuck yes” you sink your own teeth into his shoulders. He’s taking you on a night you’ve never experienced before & you let go & scream his name. “MAX!” You clamp hard & cum. His own body judders as he feels you lick him in. He’s never had you sink your teeth into him before & the way you whined, has his mind spinning out of control. It may not be your fangs but it felt good.

“Baby fuck baby oh shit shit fuckkkkk” having vampiric speed is useful. Your clit is on fire from the friction & the way the thrusts into you as your orgasm continues is relentless. & soon it’s his turn & you feel the ejaculation inside you. “Fuck this pussy” hit lashings of cum fill your insides. Max snarls, his eyes at the point of pleasure always turn dark red. Yours don’t but it always makes you smile that he gets that much into the zone.

“Fuck Max”

“Fuck in deed” he pants. You’re both resting your head on the other shoulders, your movements minimal. You peck up his neck until you reach his face & you use two fingers to turn his face towards you. The sweaty state that is your forever slowly opens his eyes to look at you, his vampire bride looking so sexy covered in sweat, filled with him cum. You’re all his, no one can match you. You’re bound together by destiny.

Eventually you properly speak, the rocking has stoped & Max slowly slips his penis out of you as it softens but you don’t want to move. You like sitting in his lap naked. Taking your time to kiss each part of his face.

“So 5 years of knowing you” you giggle.

“Yep” he smiles “& I brought the mistletoe too” you look at the floor & so does Max. The broken mug with the blood spilled on the floor, the white berry’s of the plant now turning crimson.

“That you did baby” & you face to turn him again. “So what would you like to do for our 5th anniversary?”

“You, I want to fuck you all evening, until the sun rises”

“Hmmmm” you smirk as you think “but I’ve not come wrapped up”

“Don’t care” Maxs strength still impresses you. He lifts you off his lap so you’re lying on your back on the bed & he hoovers above you hardening again. “I’ve provided the mistletoe” he lifts his head so he whispers the next sentence into your ear seductively. “& you are more than providing the whine”

“Fuuuucckkkkk Maxie” you moan & gasp as his large hand goes around your throat & he slowly pushes his penis in side you again. Still sensitive from your session that just ended. “What did I do to deserve this” you ask & look up at his beaming satisfied face.

“Nothing,” he hits the spot first time & you moan. “Can I not treat my forever on our day” & that’s all it takes. You never have to worry about Maxs desire & lust for you. The night of your 5th anniversary is rampant & the whines you make as he makes you cum all night, well they will stay with Max until next years anniversary.

[teeentyonepilots]

Hello, there! I'm sorry to pester you with this, but if possible, I was hoping that someone more well-versed in the Trench lore than me, might help me figure out something that's been bugging me:

In the Overcompensate video, we see apparently two Clancys: The one still at DEMA, wearing the mask, and the one at the very end of the video, who is with the Banditos. I'm assuming that the Clancy at the end of the video is the real one, so do you think that means the other one is a projection or clone? Or maybe a person who just happens to look like him, that he Seized?

I've been scratching my head for days, so I'd love to hear any theories or ideas you might have!

Hello! Happy to answer, and people can add on if I’m missing details.

After the submarine crashed during the Saturday mv, Tyler/Clancy and Josh/Torchbearer ended up on Voldsøy which is an island across the Paladin Strait, near the main Trench continent. During the Outside mv, they wander until they found a cave with multiple Ned creatures. (Outfit change into the black outfits with capes— Voldsøy Torchbearer as Tyler indicated). Clancy joined them in a circle and drank from a cup with the creatures and followed them out of the cave where he was gifted a set of their antlers. He then discovered that he now had Seizing powers with those antlers. Clancy seized presumably Nico who had gotten stabbed to death by the other Bishops. He woke up Nico and made him smash the neon vials.

At the end of the video, Clancy and Torchbearer hold up torches and signal the Banditos on the opposing coast, who return the light signals. They’re going to lead the revolt.

So that takes us to the Overcompensate video. As we see at the end, Clancy and Voldsøy Torchbearer have rowed a boat across the Paladin Strait back to the mainland. While Voldsøy Torchbearer is busy pulling the boat onto the shore, Clancy uses the antlers to Seize a random person in Dema in order to communicate the revolution to the citizens and get them to join. So I guess a little artistic license that the Seized person looks like Clancy though probably the person was wearing the mask the whole time. (Who knows, maybe Tyler Clancy is so powerful that he can transform the Seized person to look like him).

Then a trio of Banditos show up at the end of the Overcompensate video which transitions into Navigating mv. Clancy and Voldsøy Torchbearer are being led to the rendezvous place with the rest of the Bandito army. It’s only when they reach there that Tyler Clancy finds out that the Torchbearer who has been with him since the Saturday mv has been a projection of the real Torchbearer— Bandito Torchbearer. Now they’re actually really physically together with an army and the next stop is taking down Dema.

In summary— the Clancy in the cape at the end of the overcompensate mv is the real Clancy. He was Seizing a dead body throughout the preceding video, and that wasn’t revealed till the end.

Hope this explains it! Let me know if you have any questions.

[crossdressingdeath]

Gale: It is no small thing to be a god's Chosen. Whatever life you once claimed to lead, it only follows from now on. Where Bhaal leads, you will be forced to go. You know this for yourself, of course.

Shadowheart: You accepted Bhaal, after everything we've been through? I can only hope this is part of some clever scheme I'm not privy to. Otherwise you might as well have stayed with the Absolute.

Karlach: Gods. You've really done it now, haven't you. I need you to finish what we started. I need you to remember me - our mission - long enough for that. If you try anything else, I'll kill you. Understand?

Lae'zel: Lord Bhaal's Chosen. You must think yourself mighty for it. Yet you were already mighty. And you would have been mightier still if you'd defied him and your 'urges'.

Wyll: By the gone gods. It isn't the blood you've spilled or the lives you've snuffed out that horrify me most. It's the pride you take in it, as if you've done all sixteen planes a great favour. When the Absolute falls, I wager our alliance falls with it.

Halsin: I had hoped you would shun Bhaal's overtures... but those hopes are dashed. To be a vessel for murder itself? I can think of few things less natural.

Did you guys enjoy Durge having nuance? Moral complexity? Interesting themes? Yeah, that's done now. If you become Bhaal's Chosen you are Evil McEvil doing Evil for the sake of Evil like the villain from a Saturday morning cartoon with more murder. I spared Isobel and took every dialogue option that followed the theme of "I'm scared and desperate and don't want to do this but Bhaal will kill me if I don't" and it is still this response. I genuinely don't know if I should be angry at the companions or Larian's writing team! In-universe Bhaalspawn don't seem to be treated great by the people of Faerûn (After the Bhaalspawn reveal Halsin mentions that if you tell the wrong people what you are you're liable to get lynched and I know BG2 mentions witch hunts, although I don't know the details since I... haven't reached BG2 yet) and the companions all either lived through the Bhaalspawn crisis or likely grew up hearing stories about it (if Astarion's comment that more parents scare their kids with stories about Bhaalspawn than about vampires is to be believed, anyway), so it wouldn't be strange for the companions to believe on at least some level that Bhaalspawn are inherently evil! It would make sense for them to subconsciously be holding Durge to a much higher standard than they do the other companions and as a result responding much worse to them making the evil choice (even though unlike the other companions their life is explicitly on the line if they refuse)! And that is what they're doing; I don't have the companion reactions to every bad personal quest ending, but no one's saying their alliance with ascended Astarion will end when the brain falls and as far as I'm aware there is no other origin quest ending that will lead to a companion trying to kill the character whose quest it is the way Jaheira, Minsc and I believe potentially Wyll do with Chosen Durge. But all of that makes sense and fits with the lore if we assume that the companions are all assuming Durge became Bhaal's Chosen because Bhaalspawn are evil regardless of what Durge says. However if that is the case the fact that there's never a chance to get into it is a massive misstep, because it turning out that all your friends who insisted that you being Bhaalspawn doesn't have to change anything do in fact think you are inherently more evil than the rest of the group is... a huge deal, actually! I mean, I guess you could say that it's because Bhaal is the group's direct enemy or Durge was his Chosen before this, but none of them mention that aspect of it at all so it's hard to say whether or not we're supposed to take it that way (and even if we are that opens up a whole other can of worms regarding Larian's failure to engage with how awful it must be for Durge to have to fight their father and old master, even though "it's really hard to face your abuser" is a central theme of most of the companions' quests).

But of course the lack of discussion means it's also possible that this is just Larian forgetting that their game is supposed to have moral nuance again. Maybe they've forgotten about all the chances they give Durge to be scared and desperate and only obeying Bhaal because they feel like they have no other choice and decided that the only reason why anyone's Durge would ever become Bhaal's Chosen is because they really like killing. In general they seem to regularly forget that Durge's relationship with Bhaal is also part of the cycle of abuse theme and treat their choices regarding him as a straightforward, binary moral choice. It's entirely possible that the companions' refusal to consider that maybe the choice between serving Bhaal and dying wasn't as simple for the person making it as it is for the heroes on the outside who don't actually play any part in it is actually just Larian forgetting that it's not that simple and the whole thing isn't supposed to say anything about the companions' views on Durge. But it's impossible to tell with how slapdash Larian's act 3 writing and especially Durge's writing is.

Also, I didn't know where else to put this, but Halsin calling Durge becoming a vessel of murder "unnatural" makes no sense. I mean... that's what they are. Even redemption Durge is called murder incarnate by the netherbrain (although only if you side with the Emperor). As a Bhaalspawn and more specifically a piece of Bhaal's own gore given life they very much are a vessel of murder and always have been. It's another moment where I don't know if we're supposed to see this as Halsin having Opinions on Bhaalspawn and their ties to their father or the writers not really thinking about what it actually means to be connected to a god of murder. The whole thing is just a real mess.

[enchantedtomeet-giselle]

Saturday, November 16 — Crack!ship AU: Write a crack!ship au. This should be a one shot of any characters in the roleplay, yours or someone else’s! Definition of a crackship: seriously this shit can’t happen but in an alternate universe. Add 10 applicable aO3 tags (enemies to lovers, modern au, etc.) This year, you can either write this as a one-shot, or plot a thread! 

Title: Me-owch Featuring: Hathor (of @thesorceress-hera) , Morgan (of @madmagicmim ) Warnings: Mild cat injury, incorrect use of Warriors naming conventions, general incorrect use of Warriors lore sorry I only read book one and I'm rusty at best Tags: General Audiences, AU - Warrior Cats, F/F, forbidden romance, hurt/comfort, crushing on the medicine cat, ficlet, grumpy/sunshine, mutual pining, childhood friends

"Would you hold still?" hissed Hathorleaf, pressing the salve to Morgantail's paw. "You really need to stop getting yourself into these scrapes. How many hours have you spent in my den?"

"A lot," Morgantail admitted, blinking slowly.

"Well, you need to be more careful."

"Mm-hm."

Morgantail really didn't think she would.

The thing was, Morgantail wasn't entirely stupid. She knew she never had a chance with Hathorleaf. Her best friend since they were kits had changed ever since the last medicine cat had gone away to Starclan, and now Hathorleaf had much more responsibility on her shoulders. And she'd never disobey the clan's rules and break her vow.

Anyway, Hathorleaf probably didn't see Morgantail as anything more than a friend. If even that. At this point, she probably saw Morgantail as more of a nuisance.

But Morgantail still missed the old Hathorpaw. The kit who would trot back to the kit den with her mouth full of leaves, babbling about all the new things she'd learned that day. Her eyes had been so bright, they could light up the moon. Now it was rare even to get a smile from Hathorpaw.

Morgantail was known as the clan's clown, anyway. The one no one took seriously, the one always getting into ridiculous situations. Morgan was fine being known that way. It made other cats smile.

Sometimes it even made Hathorleaf smile, though Morgantail wasn't getting her hopes up.

"How did this happen, anyway?" Hathorleaf asked, turning to consult her stores. She glanced over her shoulder before she continued searching.

"Patrolling. Got into a real nasty fight with a tumbleweed. But don't worry, I protected our clan fiercely," Morgantail smirked. This actually earned a chuckle from Hathorleaf, which she quickly tried to correct. But Morgantail could see her tail flick the way it always did when she was amused.

Morgantail knew what every little flick, every little twitch of her paws meant. Of course she did. Hathorpaw had been her best friend once. And Morgantail had been hopelessly, ill-advisedly in love with her since then.

"You're unbelievable," Hathorleaf muttered, returning with a root of some sort between her teeth. She set it down on the ground in front of Morgantail. "Chew that. It'll help with the pain."

"The pain really isn't that bad," Morgantail protested.

Hathorleaf's expression softened. And Morgantail realized— it wasn't just about the pain. Morgantail could read every one of Hathorleaf's expressions, all of her body language, but she hadn't picked up this simple truth— Hathorleaf cared for her too. Maybe more than she was supposed to.

There was a reason, after all, medicine cats weren't supposed to take a mate. They were supposed to treat all of the clan equally, with no favoritism.

They weren't supposed to set aside special medicines for certain cats.

"Hathorleaf..."

"Morgantail. Take it," Hathorleaf hissed, though there was a strange tenderness to her tone. "There. You should be all set. Now, don't get into anymore fights with tumbleweeds."

"I'll try my best."

"Your best is-"

"Well, it's my best," Morgantail said with a teasing smile. And there it was, a smile from Hathorleaf, too. One that could light up the moon.

And that was all Morgantail could really hope for. It was unfortunate, falling for the medicine cat, but Morgantail knew Hathorleaf loved this work, and she wasn't going to give it up for anything.

For now, a smile was enough.

[silencingspellsongs]

your honor, she's rambling again (discussing stuff from early access 9/22)

so the sovereigns definitely have something up their sleeves and seers are integral to it. why else is it so important for then to use blake that they're going through all this trouble just to break him? what is it about him that makes him so useful if not for his seer abilities? maybe it's the fact that he's already in the edge of desperation, ready to do anything to get what he wants.

my brain is feeling a little slow today so making all the connections and writing them out eloquently is difficult but i swear there is a tie between the sovereigns and seers and that tie has to do with death. a seer's first vision when their sight manifests is of their own death. sovereigns lie in a prison in death. they are the river. are the sovereigns responsible for gifting seers the sight, or at the very least are they the ones that feed them the vision of their death? why? maybe it was in the hopes that they would get desperate. desperate to escape the inescapable. desperate enough to go looking for answers on how to stop it. desperate, like a certain seer we know. but he's not trying to stop his own death. and maybe that's what makes blake so special. all the other seers know there's no way to escape their own deaths so why fight? it wouldn't be worth it. but blake has something to fight for that's more important to him than even his own death. and that's what the sovereigns have been waiting for.

we know that seers are special in many ways. one of the big ones is that they can learn any magic at a specialist's level which when you think about it is INSANE. freelancers are the only other humans that can learn any type of magic without being preordained with a speciality but theirs is on a "jack of all trades, master of none" basis. for seers to be able to learn any magic at a high enough level that they can even outclass those that are specialized in it, they must hold an incredible amount of power. according to the lore, we know that freelancers came from rak'xit, the sovereign of the inchoates, in a last ditch effort to create enough human empowered to tip the scales and defeat the rest of the sovereigns. so i wonder then... who made seers?

there was a nugget of lore from one of the anniversary trivia games that comes to mind. seers exist because of vampires. now how the hell is that possible, what could possibly connect vampires and seers? well. we know that a certain sovereign, a'xerhan, experimented heavily on humans to try and warp them into something more akin to d(a)emons and when it backfired it made vampires. hmm.... maybe a'xerhan's experiment failed but what if it just unlocked the potential for something else? i don't think a'xerhan made the seers but i wonder if another sovereign did, using their experimental creation of vampires to do so... but which sovereign could have possibly made a race of humans specialized in all types of magic? looks over at rak'xit 👀

could rak'xit have known a rebellion was on the wind back then and in secret made a small group of almost supercharged unspecialized empowered humans before that big final push of his to turn the tides that resulted in such a large but watered down unspecialized empowered populace? and if so, what's the significance of giving them the sight... maybe it was with the hope that they could be the ones to protect humanity from threats like this in the future. but could he have known that he was accidentally creating the very tool that his imprisoned siblings would one day manipulate in order to escape? hmm

(i wanted to also add in the lore nugget of there not being any seers in the imperium and what that would mean for all of this too but that would mean i gotta relisten to the imperium to brush up on the lore and besties i am not in the right mind to break down on this lovely saturday afternoon so if someone else wants to jump in and fill in those blanks for me feel free 👍)

[offl7ne]

MC: Josh Edition Update #4

Hello, everyone! I am here with another update for you. I know there has been a lot of activity on my end with different platforms and content. For those of you that may be curious on what this means for the project, I’ve got some updates for you.

Are you a streamer? A youtuber? A comic artist? My first priority is to be a comic artist for you all. Streaming and making youtube videos, shorts, tiktoks, are all a side project so you can be a part of the process while waiting for the comic pages. It also allows me some down time between working on Josh Edition to spend time with you and learn each other.

What is your stream schedule and what do you intend to show? As of this post, I have decided to try and aim for this kind of Twitch stream schedule in USA Central Time Zone: 1) Sundays - 8PM CST - Art content stream: This is for concept work, viewers suggestions, and comic pages. 2) Mondays - 8PM CST - Minecraft Game Stream: This is for playing casually with hardcore worlds, mods, SMPs, and spending time with each other. I may also discuss Josh Edition lore or give hints and clues to what to expect with the project! 3) Saturdays - 8PM CST YOUTUBE VIDEO drop (experimental): This is a new one, but I am working with an editor to try and get videos made to drop on Youtube the following Saturday after a Monday game stream so that for those of you that aren’t truly interested in the gameplay or miss it can have an abridged version for fun to enjoy in your feed.

When is the comic going to be released? That is a solid question and I wish I had a date for you all, but you have to keep in mind that I am holding down a job that takes priority over this content creation since this is done as a passionate hobby. That out of the way, I can say it will be very soon as I just need to finish up a few more reference sheets, concept art and already have opening scripts written and ready to become comics. I do apologise that it’s been so slow. Believe you, me, I want them coming out now!

You have mentioned a Discord server before. Will that ever be made public? I do have an official Minecraft: Josh Edition Discord server but it is not yet ready for public release. I am still unsure if I will make it public since I am so new to all this and still gathering a team to help me out. If and/or when it is ready, I will let you know!

Is there anything I can do support you as a content creator? Yes! You can spread the word by giving likes, reblogs, comments, favourites, coming to streams and/or chatting to make yourself known, and just being patient with me. All of those things will help me out dearly!

Thank you so much for sticking around and I hope to see you all again soon! - offl7ne

[swiftsaltsweet]

Wednesday Season 2: Hyde in the Shadows

Episode 2A: A Woeful Reunion

Prev Episode

Characters: Wednesday and Enid (ft returning chars and new OCs)

Pairing: Wenclair

Important info: VERY Slow Burn, Canon Compliant (with season 1), read A/N For more details on everything.

Summary:  Stalking, murders, troubling visions, sins of the past, and a little bit of kidnapping. Wednesday’s start of the second semester isn’t a normal one, but when is her life ever “normal?” Wednesday has new mysteries to solve and catastrophes prevent, with the help of her overly enthusiastic roommate Enid, she just has to deal with some annoying relatives first.

Other Sites: AO3 and Fanfic.net

A/N: First off, RIP to Lisa Loring. :( I loved your Wednesday and I’ll miss you. ;w;

Sorry for the late upload on here/tumblr, I did post it on Saturday on AO3/Fanfic/Quotev tho! 

Not beta read, we’ll live or die by my ghostly hands! ;w;/

________________________________________________________________

“Long time no see…..cuz!”

“What?!” Enid felt her, and her onlookers exclaimed at the same time.

Ohhhh, it was her cousin! Oho, well that makes a lot more sense than some creature- Wait why are they trying to kill each other then?! Enid all but screamed in her head.

Enid got a good look at Wednesday’s face, her eyes were bloodshot and wild; she had a look in them Enid had never seen before, pure hot wrath. It was definitely the look of someone trying to commit murder.

Enid’s head started to pound, partially from all the revelations that had taken place within less than a minute, and partially from the attempted murder happening above her; she hoped for someone to intervene.

“Lurch, be a dear and separate them would you?” a sultry voice said out of Enid’s sight.

And as if on cue, she could feel an actual higher being, or should I say, taller being, stop the fight. Enid could feel herself being picked up by the scruff of her uniform, and was held in the air like a newborn pup. She was in the right hand of a giant, Frankenstein-ian man, with a thrashing and screeching Wednesday in his left.

“Thank you Lurch,” the sultry voice thanked the giant man, it was Wednesday’s mother, Morticia Addams. She approached the three girls and giant, trailing behind her was her husband and son, Gomez and Pugsley Addams. She was also holding something in her arms.

The monster with the lazy and dead eye groaned in affirmation, at least, that’s what Enid thought.

Wednesday let out another wild screech, and thrashed around some more, but Lurch’s grip did not loosen.

“Now, now, my little scorpion,” the short, relaxed man approached his thrashing daughter, “I know you were having fun, but you know now is not the time.”

Wednesday attempted to kick her father, but he was surprisingly nimble, and dodged her attack. She then attempted rapid fire back kicks against the giant Lurch, but it had as much effect as if she were kicking a wall.

“Your father’s right, dear. Your friends might get jealous of you only playing with your cousin. Plus, you are a tad bit tardy to school,” she patted Wednesday’s forehead, moving the bangs from her daughter’s eyes to reveal a look of wild hatred.

It was then Enid could see what Morticia was holding in her arms. A baby. At least, that’s what Enid assumed, as it was strange seeing a baby with a mustache.

Wednesday must’ve noticed the baby in her mother’s arms as well, since, much to Enid’s confusion and chagrin, she attempted to punt the baby out of her mother’s arms.

It was a failure, as her mother gracefully stepped back in time. But then, as if to aid Wednesday in the assist, her brother Pugsley put his foot out behind his mother in an attempt to trip her. Which resulted in her falling romantically, and safely, into her husband’s arms.

Wednesday rolled her eyes before glaring daggers at her younger brother, who could only shrug at her as if saying ‘I tried!’

The strange mustached baby also seemed to have a brief look of disgust as it gazed at its parent’s public display of affection, then quickly went back to having the same generic baby expression Enid was used to seeing on well….babies.

All while the show was happening, the Doppelgäng-er- Wednesday’s cousin, stood by politely waiting to be acknowledged again. Barely acknowledging the female hand climbing up her side. Enid looked down to see Thing by her dangling feet. He jumped onto her hanging foot and made his way up Enid’s side as well. Enid was happy to see her favorite hand still in one piece.

At some point, the two Addams parents seemed to notice the girl and her hand companion in the middle of their mooning.

“Oh dearest Friday, it’s such a pleasure to see you again,” Morticia approached the girl named Friday with the baby in tow, “And Lady Fingers, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?” The female hand did a little bow in acknowledgement.

Enid started coughing in an attempt to hide her laughter. Friday? Really? What was her middle name then? Monday?

She could feel Wednesday looking at her, “Oh, no! It’s, um, it’s a nice name!” she smiled at Wednesday, who glared back at her, “Uh…it’s a horrible name?” Wednesday’s eyes softened a bit, slightly more pleased. Wait, she liked the insult? Or was the latter actually a compliment? Ahhh, I can’t keep up, Enid cried to herself.

“It’s great to see you again too Auntie Morticia, even though it’s only been about a week or so,” Friday smiled angelically at her aunt, who kissed each side of the girl’s cheeks.

Morticia handed the baby over to Friday, who gave the baby a confused expression which turned more fondly, “And look who’s still alive! You’re a real tough one to get rid of, aren’t you, Pubert?”

This time, Enid didn’t make a sound, she just bit her lip so hard that blood started trickling down the side of her chin. She might’ve not liked Friday, but she wasn’t about to make fun of a baby’s name.

“I hope the school has been treating you well?” Gomez asked, taking baby Pubert away from Friday.

“Oh, most definitely! Everyone is so friendly, especially,” Friday took a long pause, staring at Enid and then broke out into a smile, “Emily over there! She was a great tour guide just now, showing me around the school.”

Enid felt like she was getting stabbed, she looked towards Wednesday whose eyes were throwing daggers at her. If looks could kill, Enid knew she’d die from a skinning.

“Emily? Oh dear, was that your name, I could’ve sworn it was ‘Enid,’” Morticia turned to Enid.

“Nope it’s Emily!” Friday beamed.

“Our apologies Emily,” Gomez gave a small apologetic bow.

“It’s Enid!” Threw her hands in the air, then whispered to Wednesday, “And it’s not like that! She’s lying!”

Wednesday narrowed her eyes at Enid, but finally relaxed into her usual, more ‘friendly’ glare.

“Our apologies Enid,” Gomez gave another bow, “Our niece likes to play pranks, I hope she hasn’t been giving you too hard of a time.”

“Hard is putting it lightly,” Enid mumbled.

“You really outdid yourself this time dear,” Morticia chuckled, “Here we thought we just had an energetic bat in the belfry, but it just turned out to be Wednesday!”

Enid looked at Friday with a dumbfounded expression, but quickly let loose a growl when the braided hair girl looked over at her with a smug smile.

“By the way dear, do you have the key? That lock you have on her. Superb! Even I can’t crack it,” Gomez closed his eyes and pinched two of his fingers towards the sky, as if he was complimenting the chef on a finely served meal, “But, Wednesday will need to use her arms and speak while she’s at school. So could you be a dear and unlock her?”

Friday pulled a necklace from under her shirt, it had a small key attached to it, “Certainly, once I feel my life isn’t in any danger.” She smirked at Wednesday and Enid.

“ADDAMS!” a voice boomed from the open doorway. Friday shoved the necklace back under her collar, and everyone turned to where the voice was coming from.

Principal Orlock was stomping his way to the giant gathering, his umbrella cascading a menacing shadow over him.

“Ah, Mr. Orlock! Or should I say Principle? I’ve heard you've been promoted. Congratulations," Morticia cooed, “You deserve it, especially after such a long tenure!”

Orlock was seething before the family, he raised one long, gloved finger, “Addamses! To my office! Now! All of you! That goes for you too Sinclair!” Enid looked at her principal like he was an idiot, of course she was coming. She felt like she was practically welded into Lurch’s grasp.

He whirled around to the group of students and teachers, “Ottinger! Thrope! Upstairs! Now! As for the rest of you, get back to class!”

All the gawkers dispersed as if a bomb had been dropped, Eugene and Xavier sulked behind the Addams as the group followed the raging Principal. The Addams didn’t seem very phased, and Wednesday continued to try to break free, just not as demonic as she had been earlier. Enid just dangled like a misbehaving pup, she’d feel humiliated if she didn’t feel so drained.

When they reached his office, he turned to the group, “Ms. Addams,” three female heads turned to look at him, “Ms. Friday Addams- I believe I was very clear on you not causing a ruckus at our dear school.”

Friday looked back at him innocently and dumbfounded, “Yes, and I haven’t.”

Orlock’s face became very purple, with multiple veins pulsing from him, “And what was that outside?”

Friday furrowed her eyebrows at him, confused, then proceeded to think very, very hard, “Oh! That!”

“Yes, that”

“I was just greeting my family. Is that against the rules?”

Enid thought she could see the white of Principal Orlock’s eyes turning red; they began to bulge out of his sockets as he attempted to maintain an iota of composure, “Before that.”

“Oh!” Friday exclaimed, somehow surprised. She began to think hard again, “Oh you mean how Elizabeth showed me around the school?”

“That’s…. That’s not even close….” …. on either front, she finished in her mind. Enid could all but sigh.

Orlock attempted to smile, but it looked like a menacing grimace, “Oh I guess that is one way you could describe it. She just showed you around the school?”

“Well I guess it did turn into a small game of tag.”

Orlock turned to Enid, exasperated, “Can you tell me why your tour of the school involved you slicing up our floor and leaving holes in our roof and walls?”

Enid shrunk away from Orlock, sweat falling from her palms. What could she say? ‘Oh, I thought that Friday was actually a monster pretending to be Wednesday; so we were trying to capture her and interrogate her into telling us Wednesday’s whereabouts and also save the school in the process!’ No, that would be insane, idiotic. Any lie would be better than that.

Enid nervously smiled, “What? No, those were always there!” Except that lie.

Orlock’s eyes began to twitch, “So you’re saying, all those damages were there before?”

Enid’s eyes started darting everywhere they could not to look at her raging principal, “Yes?”

Orlock’s face boiled up to a darker purple, then he put his palm to his face and inhaled. When he removed his hand, he gave the group a friendly smile, but it somehow made him look more dangerous instead.

“Ok, then can you explain why you three are tracking mud and dirt everywhere you go?”

Xavier spoke up, “OH! Geez wow, didn’t even realize we got this dirty! Man, it was hard running from those bees, wasn’t it Eugene?”

Xavier elbowed Eugene, “Y-yeah! Something nearby irritated them, and my smoker wasn’t working, so we had to book it!”

“Ah so it was the beekeeping club activities, am I correct?”

“Yes sir!” the boys exclaimed.

“So, this beekeeping event was so important, you skipped class, and then proceeded to stay out all night? The same beekeeping club that you two aren’t even a part of,” he pointed two long fingers at Enid and Xavier.

The three dirty teens went silent, of course he’d know about their absence, but they had come too far and were far too committed, and just nodded their heads solemnly. There was an audible cracking sound, originating from Orlock’s teeth grinding.

“Bee keeping? I thought you got dirty from digging up those graves,” Friday questioned innocently.

“What?!” Everyone exclaimed to different parties with differing feelings.

“Now she’s telling the truth,” Xavier mumbled, rolling his eyes.

Orlock began fuming again, at a loss for words, but Enid didn’t have time to worry about him. She felt the thrashing next to her stop, and she dared to look over at something much more dangerous. Wednesday was glaring at her.

“What?” Enid whined, “What’s with that look?”

Wednesday made some muffled noises, as if she was trying to talk for once today.

“Are you mad I didn’t go grave robbing with you?”

An affirmed grunt came from Wednesday.

“It wasn’t like that! We were looking for Thing!”

Wednesday grunted again.

“She wasn’t even there! It was just me, Xavier and Eugene!”

Wednesday glared at the two boys.

“Ok fine! We can go grave robbing later! Is that what you want?”

Another affirmed grunt from Wednesday.

“Geez if I knew this is what you’d want in a girls’ night out, I would’ve set it up ages ago.”

Orlock looked at the two girls dumbfounded, “No. No! No, you will not! What are you thinking Sinclair? What are all of you thinking? You can’t just grave rob the good people of Jericho! We need to have a good relationship with them.”

“He is right, children, you never grave rob where you sleep and eat,” Gomez nodded solemnly.

“Well, she did it first!” Eugene pointed at Friday.

“At least I filled my holes back up,” Friday pouted, “I bet you didn’t bother refilling them!”

“That’s not the issue here!” Xavier yelled at her.

“Yeah, you buried Thing!” Eugene backed him up, “How could you do that?!”

She blinked at the other teens surprised, “I wanted to see if he or Wednesday were faster at breaking free,” she then turned to Wednesday then sounded disappointed, “By the way, Thing already escaped one confinement, the graveyard was his second. You haven’t even escaped one.”

Wednesday let out a low growl before continuing her violent thrashing.

Friday turned back to the teens, specifically Enid, ignoring her cousin, “Anyway, I wouldn’t have been pushed to using the gravesite if it wasn’t for someone breaking into my room.”

Everyone followed Friday’s gaze to Enid, who grew still again.

“You broke into another student’s dorm?” Principal Orlock asked icily.

“‘Broke into’ is a strong word. I just asked Yoko if I could borrow her key and just…. wasn’t truthful as to what I was actually going to do in their room.”

“But you still broke into another student’s room!”

“I thought she was a doppelgänger and that she kidnapped Wednesday and Thing!”

The adults in the room all gasped.

“D-doppelgänger?!” Principal Orlock took a step back, almost cowering at the word.

“One of those ghastly creatures?” Gomez said, shocked.

Morticia put her hand to her mouth with a gasp, “Oh my that is…. The nicest thing anyone has ever said! Friday, I should’ve known you would make such great friends at Nevermore.”

Enid could feel heated daggers coming from Wednesday’s direction again.

Up is down, down is up, maybe I should learn to STFU, Enid cried inwardly to herself.

“I thought so too Auntie, Emilia are such good friends, she even asked me to be her roommate!”

Enid could feel the stillness next to her, and when she looked over, she saw Wednesday glaring at her. To anyone else, they might not have seen a difference, but Enid could. Through the anger Enid saw a flash of pain trickling in. Enid had seen that look before, when she and Wednesday fought that semester prior.

“I mean, to be fair, you were really adamant too, you were practically begging for me to room with you.”

Enid saw another wave of pain flash through Wednesday’s anger and-

“That’s because I thought you were Wednesday!” she blurted out, “I-I thought you were Wednesday, and you had amnesia or something and that’s the ONLY reason. I only want Wednesday as my roommate!”

Enid looked back at Wednesday, whose pain and anger receded from her face. She looked away blankly, and now just jostled herself back and forth.

Friday put a pointed finger to her temple in a thinking pose, “You thought I was Wednesday? Why would you think that?”

Enid now looked at Wednesday’s cousin, anger flaring up, “Because you said you were!”

“No, I didn’t,” she said without emotion. Just pure emptiness.

“What?” Enid was taken aback by her mood swings again, “B-b-b-bu-but you said your memories-”

“Oh, I did get electrocuted, and it did affect my memories. But you just assumed it was somehow Wednesday losing her memories. I also never said I was Wednesday,” Friday stared blankly into each teens’ eyes.

You three, and your friends, were the ones who came to that conclusion all on your own. Then you came to the conclusion that I was a doppelgänger. You imposed all your misconceptions onto me all by yourself.”

The three teens began re-running all the events in their heads. It was true, she never personally claimed she was Wednesday but-

Friday giggled, back to her cheery personality, “But I guess I never did anything to deny your very obvious claims either.”

Enid heard a snap go off inside her head, and then let out a roar, unable to take the girl’s mind games anymore. With a sudden boost of strength she attempted to pull herself from the giant’s grasp, “That! Is! it! I’m ripping your head off!”

Lurch tried to steady himself as he handled the raging werewolf, in the surprise he dropped Wednesday so he could use his full strength to hold the werewolf back.

Rattle. Clink. Thunk.

Wednesday, now free from Lurch’s grasp, lunged forward towards Friday, who easily sidestepped the bound Wednesday, expecting another headbutt. But in her attempts to sidestep, she found herself right where Wednesday’s newly freed left arm was, and found her throat getting smashed into her cousin’s bicep. They quickly tumbled to the floor, with Wednesday having the high ground, who delivered a good handful of punches before being yanked off of her bleeding cousin by the Principal.

“Wednesday! Control yourself,” her mother chided, “We are in a meeting, wait until after.”

Lurch dropped Enid and proceeded to pick Wednesday back up, who was now clawing and twisting at the lock on her mask.

“No!” Orlock yelled, completely exasperated by the situation, “No you will not! There will be no more fighting on this campus! Or off campus for that matter! Not when you are within this town and school!”

He turned to the group, “You will all be expelled if I see any more fighting! Anything that will cause trouble for this school! Do you understand me?”

“What about school activities?” Friday mumbled, pulling the key-necklace from her shirt, “Like fencing club and other such things?”

Orlock let a whistle of air out through his nose, trying, and succeeding to hold in his anger, “You aren’t allowed to kill each other.”

Friday looked at the principal with the same disgust as if you would order to lick a sewage pipe.

“But that’s half the fun,” Pugsley whined.

“Children, children,” Gomez soothed them, “This is the real world. You have to learn to play by their rules. Even if they do seem unfair.”

All the non-Addames in the room felt the life drain from their eyes, having about up to here with the family’s shenanigans.

Enid was brought back to life by something smacking her in her face, she fumbled to catch whatever it was, and realized she held the key that Friday had on her person. She looked up to see Friday lazily pointing to something to the left of Enid.

Enid looked over at Wednesday, who was now frantically clawing at the mask, her knees dropping to the ground as Lurch released the struggling teen, not sure what to do. Enid quickly rushed over, and after pinning Wednesday’s hands to the side, she found the keyhole and unlocked the mask that was suffocating her friend.

The tight mask fell to the floor, the insides looking like it was made to gag the person, and suffocate them if certain pieces were moved. Wednesday gasped for air, her lips a slight tinge of blue. Enid hovered over her friend, offering her arm to help Wednesday up when she was ready.

“Can the ‘no killing’ rule start now?” Friday asked innocently, “She technically moved the mechanism in the mask when she started punching me.”

Orlock could only sigh and wave his hand. Enid glared at Friday, the other Addamses might’ve been ok with trying to kill each other, but Enid wasn’t ok with anyone trying to kill Wednesday. And from the look on her face, apparently, neither was Wednesday.

Friday caught Enid’s glare, and then answered Enid’s thoughts as if she read her mind, “Hm? Oh, do you think she’s angry at me cause I tried to kill her?” Then she let loose her weird giggle, “She’s upset because I wasn’t actually trying. I didn’t deign her good enough to even try, and yet she still almost didn’t make it. You’ve really lost your edge lil’ cousin, it’s a bit pathetic.”

Wednesday growled, then said between gasps of air, “No. You’re just. A coward. You don’t. Have the guts. To go through with it.” And apparently, Enid was wrong, Wednesday’s priorities were all kinds of skewed too.

Friday’s giggle fit abruptly stopped, and she glared at Wednesday so menacingly, she looked almost like Wednesday’s exact clone, “Well I guess I can be more serious next time, should be easy since you love to leave your back wide open.”

“My back wasn’t wide open, it was that my look-out turned out to be easier to distract than I thought,” she turned her dangerous glare to Enid’s shoulder, where Thing was perched.

Thing shook, and crawled behind Enid’s back, quivering from Wednesday’s rage.

“Wednesday,” Enid chided her friend, “I’m sure there’s more to it than that! And Thing was really worried about you, you were the first thing he asked about when we saved him!”

Wednesday turned her heated glare towards Enid, but instead of retorting, she melted into a more tired glare. She didn’t have the energy to argue with the blonde werewolf and her damned ideologies.

Friday looked at the two girls’ exchange with an inquisitive look.

“Anyway, I wouldn’t have done it if you just let me play with you! It’s not fair you get to do all those séances by yourself!” Friday whined. Wednesday turned to her cousin, the heated glare returning, eye now twitching, and jaw clenched tightly.

Morticia finally broke the tension in the room, “Dear Principal Orlock, if this is about the damages, we will pay for them.”

Principal Orlock refocused, finally feeling like he had some control of the room again, “That is fine Mrs. Addams, but I still need to punish the children.”

“Of course, do as you see fit.”

“Ms. Addam-” Orlock started, and stopped with three heads turned to him at once, yet again,, he cleared his throat before continuing, “Ms. Friday Addams. You seem to like digging and other such gardening ground work, to the point you even joined the gardening club… Is that correct?”

“Yes sir!” Friday beamed at the principal.

“Well then, I’ll place you on duty to fix the floors and roof of the school along with Eugene.”

Friday and Eugene’s face fell. Then Orlock turned to Xavier.

“You seem to be good with your hands in the artistic sense, but have you ever taken up gardening?”

“N-no, I’ve never done it in my life.”

“Great, you can take care of the newly made garden that’s sprouted up in our front driveway. I want you to remove it and fix the payment. Don’t worry you three, we have materials to fix all of this. May have to order more for the roof though.”

He lastly turned to Enid and Wednesday, “And since you two seem so keen on gravedigging, I’m going to give you the exact opposite of what you want, grave filling. I want you two to fill those holes A-S-A-P! And best not be caught, since you don’t mind the night, I’ll look the other way just this once. ” It looked like no one got a job they seemed keen on doing.

Wednesday seemed unfazed, albeit annoyed by the demand. Enid however felt otherwise.

“But that’s not fair! Wednesday didn’t even do anything wrong, I caused most of the mess. It should just be me.”

Orlock stared at her blankly, “Other than that gruesome display in the front gate of our school, she was also late.”

Enid could only stare with her mouth hanging open, the principal finally turned to Pugsley.

“You were also late, but…. You are new to Nevermore, so I’ll let it slide. Only this once.”

In synch, Wednesday and Friday eyes both widened and snapped their heads in unison, “What?!”

Gomez slapped his palm to his forehead, “Oh right! You were so busy in the library we didn’t get a chance to tell you Wednesday.”

Morticia looked at Friday, “We wanted Wednesday to find out first, but-” she lazily gestured at Wednesday, “So we didn’t tell the rest of the family. I’m sorry for the blindside sweetie.”

Gomez put one arm around his son, grinning, “Starting today, Pugsley is going to be a student at Nevermore!”

Pugsley smiled sheepishly at his sister, “You said I wouldn’t last two months without you and you were right.”

Friday recovered, putting her face back into a neutral mask, but Wednesday’s face maintained her rare gob smacked expression, her eyebrows knitting together as if trying to solve something.

The Principal clapped his hands and smiled, “Now that we have everything settled, why don’t you kids get cleaned up and head back to class. Then after school you can go to your respected stations of punishment. But first, Addamses, you can follow me.”

Enid helped Wednesday up, but she and Thing were soon swept up by her family, Enid and she were going to have to meet up later.

***~***

The principal was showing the family a tour of the school, more for Pugsley’s sake than anyone else’s in the group. He’d brief the two teens on what they’d miss, and that he would have the assignments they missed sent to their room by tomorrow.

Wednesday dragged her feet behind the group, wishing to be in a classroom than here, but was glad to be left alone. At least until her stomach grumbling alerted her caretakers and ruined her quiet mood.

“Oh you must be famished, dear,” Morticia looked at her daughter lovingly, as the family trailed far behind the Principal and Lurch. In which the former was attempting to see if they could engage in conversation with the latter, the action proving to be difficult.

“Pugsley, fetch your sister one of Grandmama’s sandwiches from your bag. That’ll make you feel better, Wednesday.”

Per his mother’s request, Pugsley put his hand into a large satchel and pulled out a strangely pulsating sandwich. It moved and oozed purple liquid, and if you were quiet enough, one could hear a faint scream coming from it.

Wednesday snatched the sandwich from her brother’s hands and hastily scarfed it down, lest it get an attempt to fight back.

As Pugsley handed his older sister a water bottle to quench her thirst, Wednesday noticed her baby brother staring at her from their mother’s arms with wide eyes, almost horrified. All she could do was glare at him.

Gomez clapped his son on his back, “I’m telling you Pugsley, you’re going to love it here!”

“You really think so?” Pugsley looked at his father hopefully.

“When was this decided on?” Wednesday cut in, not looking the least bit pleased.

“It was before you arrived home early from school,” Morticia interjected, eyeing her daughter, “We were going to tell you during our family dinner, but you locked yourself up in the library not long after you came home so we never got the chance.”

Wednesday’s jaw set, and glared at her mother, “I apologize mother, I was just interested to see if there were any more family secrets that you all were hiding.”

The matriarch and patriarch of the Addams family exchanged a look, before Morticia looked back at her daughter with a confused expression, “I nary the thought of what you mean.”

“No, of course not.”

Morticia gave her daughter a small, exasperated smile, and then went over to her older son and caressed his face, “Now dear, if you have any problems, your sister is here to help as well as your cousin.”

Pugsley now looked nervously at his older sister, who was now setting her glare on him. Morticia looked at her daughter and cleared her throat.

“Of course,” Wednesday sighed, resigned.

Morticia frowned a bit at her daughter, but Pugsley felt reassured all the same.

The principal clapped his hands, bringing the Addamses' attention to him, “And here’s where you’ll be rooming, Pugsley. Welcome to Goodfellow hall!”

“Goodfellow? Isn’t that the fairy that causes all the issues in A Midsummer Night’s Dream?” Pugsley inquired.

The principal ignored him and opened a door that, unbeknownst to everyone else, Wednesday was familiar with, and stepped into the dorm room.

On the left side it was taken up by artwork, a familiar style that had Xavier Thrope all over it. He wasn’t there as he was still in class.

And on the right side, it was barren, an obvious spot for a new student to be placed in.

To Wednesday, however, she could only see the ex-room of her attempted murderer, Rowan Laslow. He had attempted to crush her with a statue and strangle her with his telekinesis the semester prior. During his second attempt at murder, he himself was murdered by the town’s own local, serial killer monster.

Wednesday didn’t have kind things to think about Rowan, I mean his murder attempts were very amateur and messy. But she did pity the boy. His mother had a vision that Wednesday would be the fall of the school, and that Rowan would be the one to kill her and save everyone. And he believed her.

She had been wrong on both accounts of course, Rowan would not be the hero, and Wednesday would be the one to save the school. And thus, she pitied the boy.

A hand clasping her shoulder brought Wednesday back to reality and out of her own thoughts.

“We got all of Pugsley’s stuff sorted out here, let’s go get yours, dear,” Morticia smiled at her scowling daughter. Wednesday hoped that meant that she was near the end of her torture.

Thankfully it didn’t take long to bring all her luggage up to her room, and soon she was sending her parents off.

“I’m going to miss you, my little terrors!” Gomez teared up as he pulled both his children into a big hug, only Pugsley hugged him back.

“Now, be sure to listen to the principal, you wouldn’t want to leave your friends,” Morticia gave both of them air kisses.

After their two eldest gave affirmative answers, the parents proceeded to go back to the car with the baby in tow. But something stood out to Wednesday.

“Mother, Father,” Wednesday spoke up, causing her parents to turn around in surprise, “I believe you missed a suitcase.”

Everyone slowly turned to the car, where one last suitcase laid on top.

“Oh, I’ll get it! It shouldn’t be that heavy-” Pugsley started to approach.

“Oh that won’t be necessary, that one is ours,” Morticia stopped her son.

“Are you going on a trip?” Pugsley asked, confused.

“Y-yes! That’s it, we’re going on another honeymoon,” Gomez stated, kissing his wife’s hand…. And slowly making his way up her arm.

Wednesday witnessed how her baby brother tried to control the disgust on his face, having to witness their parent’s display of affection up close and personal.

Hm, maybe we’ll get along after all…. She thought.

“Yes, another honeymoon, who knows maybe you’ll get two new siblings, a Wednesday Jr. and a Pugsley Jr.!” Morticia purred.

The three children all stiffened. Pugsley had a look of chagrin, Wednesday looked like she wished a hole would swallow her up, and Pubert looked shocked at the possibility of not being the youngest and having to battle for his parents' attention.

“That’s now how the word ‘Junior’ works!” Wednesday told them annoyed, almost ready to chase her parents off school grounds. Thankfully for her, they already started quickly retreating to the car, before anyone had to hear any nitty gritty details.

“Anyway, adiós my little terribles! You know the rules, we’ll crystal ball you in a week!”

The two siblings stood there, stunned by their odd behavior, well…. Odd by their parents’ standards.

“They didn’t tell you?” Wednesday asked.

“No.”

“How odd, they would never miss an opportunity to shove their love in our face.”

“Yeah….”

Wednesday took note of her parents' strange behavior but decided it wasn’t important enough to worry about in her current situation and proceeded to walk away.

“W-where are you going?”

“I’m going to get cleaned up, I believe you can manage, it looks like you have a helping hand waiting over there,” Wednesday nodded her head over to a certain female lefty hiding around the wall of the school.

Lady Fingers jolted in surprise at having been caught, and scurried over to the duo.

“Hello Lady Fingers, aren’t you supposed to be with Friday?”

“It appears she sent her to keep an eye on us, well, you can have fun with Pugsley,” Wednesday picked up Thing by his wrist and proceeded to walk off, “I already have my handler.”

***~***

It took a while for Enid to return to her dorm, some of her teachers had gotten in their head they needed to have a word or two with her.

So when she finally returned to the dorm, she found Wednesday in their room, straightening out the last of her things while Thing sat on her desk. Enid smiled and picked up her pace, only to stop mid-step to see Friday sitting on Wednesday’s bed.

“What are you doing here?” Enid pouted.

Friday grinned at her, the bruise around her nose and eyes painfully stretching with her mouth, “Breaking in.”

“Being an annoyance,” Wednesday mumbled.

“I was going to sit on your bed, but then Wenny threatened violence so I’m over here instead.”

Enid tried not to show disdain, she was trying not to show any visible resentment to Wednesday’s cousin, since she wasn’t a hundred percent sure how Wednesday felt about Friday herself.

“Wenny?” Enid asked her roommate eagerly. She’d secretly been hoping to give each other nicknames.

“Don’t call me that,” Wednesday stopped what she was doing for a second to give Enid a death glare, to show she was serious.

Enid pouted.

“Yeah only I can call Wenny, Wenny!” Friday snickered.

Wednesday picked up a book on her bookshelf and flung it right at Friday, it hit the snickering girl right in the temple and bounced off her head. Enid would’ve felt some kind of schadenfreude from this, if it didn’t result in Friday keeling over and going into a giggle fit. She seemed to enjoy the punishment.

Her vision of the giggling psychopath was then blocked by a pink present bag.

“Here,” was all Wednesday said, as she handed the present to Enid, while donning surgical gloves.

Enid held back a smile, her dreary roommate loved to tell people how she was allergic to color. Enid was pretty sure that she was full of hooey, considering she saw the girl handle color just fine before. But it was still amusing seeing Wednesday stick to her snarky, goth girl facade.

Enid took the bag from Wednesday and started to open it up. Her eyes widened when she saw what was in it.

“Snoods and gloves are a bit too…..advanced for me,” Wednesday mumbled, not looking at Enid.

Enid’s eyes sparkled as she pulled out a homemade pink knitted scarf, it had some errors in it, and you could see it was made by a beginner. But all Enid saw was her new favorite scarf.

“O-M-G Wednesday! I love it! I’m going to wear it everywhere!”

Wednesday still wasn’t looking at Enid, but gave her a slight nod. She also let out the breath she was holding, but no one else in the room was wiser to it.

“You didn’t tell me you could knit!” Friday announced from behind Wednesday, ruining the moment. She peered around her cousin’s shoulder to see a lumpy bundle of wool, “Oh that’s why, cause you can’t.”

Annoyed, Wednesday grabbed her cousin by the throat, she halted her punch mid-swing in the air very abruptly. Both Wednesday and Friday looked at Enid.

“What?” Enid asked, confused. She had become accustomed to their violence after the last half day.

“You aren’t going to stop me/her?” Wednesday and Friday said, almost in sync.

“Uh, no. I’m setting my morals for pointless, non-self-defense fighting for the next few minutes.” Enid was burnt out from the day, but she also wouldn’t mind seeing Wednesday flatten her cousin who caused her much strife. But she wouldn’t say the latter out loud.

The cousins looked at each other warily, not used to a non-family member trying to not stop them, and then un-engaged themselves.

Friday, looking as if the fun had died in the room, straightened herself up, “Well I better get going, gotta go learn how to make cement,” then she awkwardly walked out of the room.

After the door closed Enid looked at Wednesday, smiling with her arms held out. Ready for a hug.

Wednesday was not much of a hugger, much as in ever. There was only one person outside her family she ever allowed to hug her, and was also the only person whom she ever hugged back: Enid. The circumstances of that hug were very unique and in a moment of weakness. But it also wasn’t unpleasant. Not that Wednesday would ever tell anyone.

Wednesday looked at her roommate, and unlike all those other times before, she didn’t step back. All she did was sigh through her nose, and remain still. It was as good a confirmation for Enid as any.

Enid threw her arms around the ramrod straight girl, “Thank you Weds-”

But before Enid could finish her thank you, she felt her best friend tense up and seize in her arms. Wednesday's head flung back, her eyes unfocused, and her body began twitching.

The telltale signs that Wednesday was having a psychic vision.

It was only for a handful of seconds, just like any other vision Wednesday had before. But when the vision stopped, instead of coming back like she normally did, Wednesday instead fell limp in Enid’s arms.

“Wednesday?” Enid shook her unconscious friend, “Wednesday?!”

________________________________________________________________

A/N: Hehe 'ramrod straight girl” not for long. XU

I’m pretty sure I wrote 90% of this and 2B during my 1 hour lunch breaks at work over like 2 weeks. TT0TT I’ve also drunken all those milks, so I’ve now lost control of my life again. ;w;

Anyway, as you can probably tell….Friday is…an OC. Kinda. She’s an homage to the OG smiley Wednesday/pre 90s movies (sans the 90s cartoon, that one is a good blend of the two). I know we technically see an adult 60s Wednesday in the 70s reunion, buuuuuut…… well…. I wanted my own twist (such as giving her a dose of John Astin’s mania, love her being a mini Morticia in some iterations but I need to see a little bit of daddy dreadful too). Partially because there’s a genre shift between cartoon/60/70/90s shows and Wednesday (pure comedy with some friendly darkness vs dark comedy/mystery). Deep down, she has the upbeat/core values of those shows, but with how her mania and her own macabre tendencies translate into Wednesday, she becomes a loose cannon. So in a sense I wanted to create an Old!Wednesday (Friday) vs New!Wednesday (Wednesday).

So why “Friday?” Other than Wednesday’s middle name being Friday, let’s just say Wednesday is not the only child that’s full of woe. ;U

Fun Fact 1: Pubert was originally going to be Pugsley’s name in the 60s show (which is when the iconic characters originally got their names), but the TV execs thought it was too risque so they went with Pugsley instead.

Fun Fact 2: There was an unborn child teased in the original comics, but was never shown/born. Addams Family Values finally introduced the 3rd child, giving him Pugsley’s rejected name….which were different from the 2 hinted in the comics. ;3

Fun Fact 3: Wednesday/Pugsley Jr? Haha yeah they exist, in the 60s TV Special from the 70s. I’m pretty sure that’s not how Jr. works, it’s for parents/children, but hey it’s very Addams so XU Besides the reference, they will not be making an appearance in this.

Fun Fact 4: This plotline may have been heavily influenced by the Scooby Doo Movie/70s animated pilot episode “Wednesday is Missing.” I watched it well prior to me thinking “yeah let’s just write a fanfic” and by the time I was in the middle of Ep 2 I was like “Oh right TT0TT Well….” I literally just checked the episode again (cause I kinda blocked it out, it wasn’t bad just forgot klfdjsdalf) and I think she was even trapped in their belfry type thing too sjdflkajf

 Anyway, time for the break……….

[asmileforyourscrapbooks]

WAIT HOLY SHIT YOURE RIGHT???

and HOLD UP HEAR ME OUT NOW - clancy as a pen name 'dies' but the one representing his journey, like you said, becomes a bishop - which also goes along with the whole theory of taking dema down from the inside!!

maybe keons dying in the first place was the first taste of that - and the setup for backslide? in saturday, it's keons who crashes the submarine by smearing Trash, helping clancy and the torchbearer and ultimately getting himself killed. so perhaps keons represents that first sign of hope, that initial beacon that gives you just enough light to see your hands in front of you. keons is the eye of the storm.

then when he dies, that hope seemingly is lost, and it feels like you're falling again, maybe even wishing you never tried to get better because you just wasted your own time as well as everyone else's, cause now it feels like you can't get yourself back out - hence backslide saying 'kinda wishing that i never did saturday'

and then clancy "dying" (possibly as in the realization that you only need yourself, or whatever else i blabbed on about) and then taking keons place as the thing that takes down the rest of the bishops, or at least puts them at bay, taking blurry's power over clancy (us) and returning it, symbolizes us finally being able to get ourselves out without having to rely on others because WE can make OURSELVES happy?

HOLD UP. HOLD UP. IF CLANCY IS ALL OF US - THEN THE TORCHBEARER IS THEM!!!!! THINK ABOUT IT - the torchbearer, despite us knowing very little about his actual character, has been there for clancy since the first moment they came in contact. whenever clancy is about to give up and let nico take over, the torchbearer saves him. josh and tyler, despite being this famous duo that seemingly have no real in-person connection with any of us, are still there. they always will be. when we feel like giving up, when we want to let our own blurryface win, we turn to them and their music to save us.

edit: WAIT IT KEEPS GETTING BETTER. IN THE WHOLE LORE CONNECTION TO SIMONE WEIL, SHE STARVED HERSELF AS A HUNGER STIKE IN SYMPATHY FOR STARVING FRENCH COMPATRIOTS.

going back to the simone = clancy = us thing, maybe theyre telling us NOT to become her! like our whole theory is them wanting us to evolve beyond our need to be “clancy” and to live for ourselves, so it’d make sense that theyre trying to save us from becoming like her if she died for others in the end.

MAJOR CLANCY SPOILERS

did any one else get the vibes from all of the songs that tyler and josh got into some sort of fight and now tyler is trying to escape dema again?? because god i swear it sounded like that for me, also just the fact that apparently paladin strait was cut off early during the listening party to keep the surprise hidden??? god the lines about “if i’m gonna snap necks im gonna have to snap back” was CRAZY HOLY SHIT. tyler on his villain arc??

[nepolabotomy]

c!dapduo are absolute excellence. And for reasons a bit more complicated than may you think.

they are one of my all time favorite friendships and dynamics to come out of this server. i mean considering I’m gonna have to tell my therapist about the numerous dreams iv had about them that has to mean something right. Maybe it’s just the autism. I’ll get back to you on that.

More importantly: you’re probably thinking right now “but cherry! c!dapduo arnt that complicated! Why are you here about to write some extensively long meta about them when you could devote that time to more meta about the Deep, complex, Intricate, Muddled, (insert more neutral but negative leaning adjectives here), probably unhealthy dynamics on the server instead!!” And to the imaginary person iv just made up I say: maybe I want to talk about a nice friendship.

In a borderline grim dark world like the dream smp, there’s something very refreshing about two people who love and care about each other, bring out the best in one another, have a genuine desire to protect one another they express Honestly and Openly.

I like thinking so much about these two because it makes me Happy. Shocking for this server I know.

Also quackity and Charlie are damn good writers!!! I wanna talk about it. People have this idea that only ‘sad’ things can be deep and it makes me really upset. And hey maybe I’m proven wrong in a few days when Quackity’s final lore stream comes out and c!Charlie was evil all along or some shit but until then I’ll happily die on the hill that Things don’t need to be sad and negative to be complex and thought out. Just because c!Dapduo have a healthy friendship doesn’t mean it rules them out of being well written, meaningful and overall complex. And I think it’s a silly sentiment to have regarding the two both individually and in regards to their friendship.

I think truly what I love about these two comes down to what their friendship does for c!Quackity. I remember discussing them recently with someone and made a comment about how important it is c!quackity sees his past self in c!charlie- and they had replied that ‘c!quackity also sees his past self in c!tommy and c!tubbo as well and it’s reflected in the advice he gives the two of them’.

The important distinguisher, and what makes c!dapduo so important is that their dynamic isn’t just c!quackity giving advice he would to his past self- such as what he does with c!clingyduo. It is him learning to accept and love his past self all the same.

Something important about c!quackity is his hatred of his past self. His regret and bitterness is present in his distrust for others yes, but a portion of his distrust comes from hating his past self.

He views past him as being weak, pathetic and he hates him so much for putting up with hurt. For rolling with the punches and being willing to come back for more. He hates his big heart, he hates how trusting he was with it, he hates how he has to hurt so much now because he was a ‘coward’ back then. Why is he suffering consequences from a coward who’d stick by someone for a bit of validation and feeling of importance?

These are all common thoughts abuse victims have. (Especially ones who are coded with BPD, this isn’t a ‘c!Quackity has BPD’ dissertation so I won’t get too into that for now). To be angry and upset regarding how they didn’t leave when they could.

His last straw wasn’t even about himself and his mistreatment; was about the thing he made.

And This isn’t even factoring in the abandonment that happened later.

Long in short of it is that c!Quackity hates his past self. His advice to c!Tommy and c!Tubbo comes from a place of hating what he was and wanting to ensure these two don’t have to deal with those repercussions in the future. His advice is rooted in exactly what he’d say to his younger self: Don’t trust anyone. You only have yourself.

And that’s where c!Charlie comes in.

c!Quackity extensively spends his time with c!charlie drilling the lessons he’d give his past self into c!charlies head. He tells him to not trust people, don’t form attachments, bind your self worth to the nations and power you achieve from them, etc. But the problem is everytime c!Charlie questions them; he grows guiltier of doing it.

It starts to feel *wrong* to imply c!Charlie should be punished for his kindness, for his trust, for his heart. He feels almost guilty about it, it reads in his tone.

And that’s what makes c!Charlie different. Their friendship is not just c!Quackity giving advice he’d give his past self to c!Charlie. This is reconciliation with the past self. 

c!Charlie’s whole journey with c!Quackity is not just reopening his heart to friendship or reminding him what Las Nevadas was built on (c!Qs love and care for his loved ones). It is a gateway for c!Quackity to reconcile with the past him he hates so much.

to look himself in the eyes and say “It isn’t your fault. You should’nt blame your heart and your care for others as the reason people took advantage of you. It’s not bad to trust others, it’s not bad to love, it’s not *your fault* you were taken advantage of.” 

That is one of the biggest pieces of development c!Charlie brings out in him: forgiveness of the past self. And it’s reflective in their journey together.

c!Quackity wants to protect c!Charlie just as he wished someone would protect him too; without having to shun c!Charlies kindness or make him feel inferior for his trust.

But unfortunately he fails.

He fails and there is no denying it is In part his fault. Sure. He’s grown and learned to move past vengeance but you can’t op out of the cycle of revenge you started. And c!Charlie pays to prove that.

But he doesn’t let his anger fester. Or grow Bitter. And Hateful towards himself because he grew attached and someone punished him for it. He wouldn’t throw away his friendship with c!Charlie for the world. Even if it hurts now. It’s the happiest he’s ever been. So whenever c!Charlie may be, in life or in death. c!Quackity will work to placing them together in history. As a final statement to how caring about things and loving other people is always worth it. That casino is to say to the world, and maybe to the guy who hates his own heart, and who hates the love he holds for others: it really was all worthwhile to love in the first place.

You can see this reflecting into what he tells c!Tommy. His initial advice of ‘don’t trust anyone’ turns into:

“If there's one thing I found out, it’s that it doesn’t hurt to have a person who has your back. I'll be that person for you, Tommy.”

It’s good to trust. It’s good to love. Yes, be wary of who you trust and value yourself first but to love and trust others is a great thing. And I’ll be here for you if you need someone to Trust.

That’s what his past self would have wanted to hear. That’s what his past self should have heard. Someone say

“I will be here for you. I will protect you with everything I have, be it my sword or my words or the people I know.”

Just as he told c!Charlie just a bit ago.

Ah this got me a bit teary to write. c!Dapduo’s friendship really is so beautiful and important. This theme of an abuse victim reconciling with their past self and coming to learn a lesson that can heal a heart as bitter as it is full.

I like it a lot. And no matter what happens on Saturday, their friendship will always be so important to me. It makes me happy. It makes me smile. It makes me cry. And anything that can do that will always hold a special place in my heart.

No TL;DR;im not reading all that; congratulations; or I’m sorry that happened; this time. You are legally obligated to get the full c!dapduo realness. But I hope you enjoy

[lakemojave]

Awesome announcement about epic stream stuff

Hey guys! Hope you're having a wonderful evening, I just wanted to share a brief update about some upcoming goings on!

Starting this saturday, the 19th, I'll be on break for thanksgiving. There will be no streams from november 19th-26th. Maaaaybe that sunday too, we'll see what my energy levels look like when I get home. I'm gonna put a bunch of the vods up on youtube before the break tho, so you'll all have plenty of stuff to tide to you over!

This thursday, I'm hosting my own little wizard council chat! I'll be hosting a little seminar between CT, Bean, and Riley! Maybe more! We will see! I'll be turning on red dead 2 and then reading off some of y'all's questions in chat for these guys to toss around! I'll be present as resident expert in…not esoteric stuff. It'll be great! Have some questions for these guys ready and get ready for a good night!

After some consideration, I've decided to put the Behind the Saiyan stream on indefinite hold. I might not pick it back up again, honestly. I tried my best to write out a presentation that'd be fun to put on and fun to watch, but honestly it lost its charm to me. It was a goofy idea! But I didn't really enjoy writing it, and I'd rather put that effort into finishing land of falling sun, the patreon material, and future lore projects. I hope you guys understand, and know that I cherish your support that pushes me closer and closer to doing this full time. Till the next project!

That's all tonight guys, see you tomorrow night for Resident Evil Village!!! The part with the vampire!!! I'm gonna be so normal!!! See ya then!!!

[starlightkun]

snowflake ; ayakashi ❧ doyoung [two]

❧ word count: 12.2k

❧ warnings: literally just cursing this part is pure fluff

❧ extra info: heavily based off yet another otome game, ayakashi: romance reborn ; bc of this, all the lore used in here is inspired by/based on/taken from the lore of the game, not the actual lore of traditional ayakashi/yokai stories ;

there are occasional moments where the reader’s lips change colors due to being too cold and i try to avoid mentioning the specific color when i can, but when i can’t, the phrase ‘(blue/pale)’ will pop up. depending on skintone, your lips will turn different colors in the cold, so you can fill in whichever is more accurate for you at those parts!

❧ DISCLAIMER: some aspects of plot and character traits are directly lifted from the otome game ayakashi: romance reborn and utilized in the character equivalents in this story; the base lore, plot, and characters were heavily inspired by the game, but it has all been transformed into my own story. there are no spoilers for the game by reading this series

⤷ prologue*  ⤷ prev.  ⤷ next

*you need to read the prologue before reading any of the individual routes

That night you were sat on your couch, leg bouncing up and down as you restlessly awaited the telltale knock at your door. Doyoung was picking you up for your date tonight. Just the idea made your chest feel all funny, and you desperately tried to quell the nerves rising up through your body. Taeyong was napping in your bedroom, leaving you all alone in your silent living room with your thoughts.

Two sharp knocks at your front door came at six twenty-nine, echoing through your dead quiet apartment. You shot to your feet, nearly stumbling over them in your rush to answer the door. When you finally wrapped your hand around the handle, you stopped to take a deep breath before opening it.

On the other side was, in fact, Kim Doyoung. He was dressed much more casually than you had ever seen him. No suit, just a pair of jeans, hoodie, and thick parka. It seemed as though he was freshly out of the shower, hair looking fluffier and much less styled than every previous time you’d met, entirely covering his forehead now. But his gaze was still piercing and his brows furrowed ever so slightly as he looked down at you.

“You’re staring.”

“Sorry,” you mumbled, stepping out into the hallway.

After locking up behind you, you began leading the way out of your building.

“So, it was weird that we ended up in the same place again, huh?” You commented.

“Yes, it was,” he agreed, remaining a polite distance from you on the sidewalks. “We had a business brunch.”

“On a Saturday?” You wrinkled your nose at the idea. “That should be illegal.”

“It was the only time those investors were going to be in town.”

“I see. My friends and I were there, you know, getting brunch to hang out, like normal people, not for work.”

“Implying that I am not a normal person.”

“How perceptive of you, Doyoung.”

“Yes, I’m known for my intellect.”

Deciding that this was another one of his dry jokes, you chuckled, tucking your hands into your jacket pocket to protect them against the chilly air.

“So where are we going that you had to specify for me to dress warmly in the middle of winter?”

Doyoung looked at you from the corner of his eye as he answered bluntly, “Snowy Peaks Ice Rink.”

“Isn’t that a bit on the nose?”

“Would you rather we do something else?”

“No, no, I don’t mind,” you rushed to assure him. “Just kind of funny. The snow spirit wants to go ice skating.”

“Have you been before?”

“A few times, yeah. I’m not terrible at it,” you answered truthfully. Your tone then turned teasing, “Why? Were you hoping for this to be a romantic ploy for me to hold your hand as to not fall on my face?”

“No,” he shook his head, the tug of the corner of his mouth betraying his appreciation of your humor. “Just making conversation, asking questions, as one should on a date.”

“Sounds like you really studied up for this, huh?”

“Are you insinuating that I’ve been on so few dates in my life that I’d have to study for one?”

You snickered, “Maybe.”

At the ice rink, you were sitting on one of the benches, lacing up your skates. You pulled the laces as tight as you could, the skin of your fingers rubbing harshly against the worn threads. Looping the long laces around the back of your skate then to the front, you finally tied it with a double knot. When you stood, your ankles didn’t wobble in the slightest. Good, they were tight enough.

Doyoung had gotten his own on with ease, standing along with you. Taking lumbering steps with your heavy skates behind him, you felt the rush of cool air hit you as the automatic door to the actual rink area opened up.

Your date stepped onto the ice first, not hesitating in the slightest, or showing any sign of uneasiness or discomfort. Holding onto the wall, you place your first skate onto the ice, then the second. Like you had said, you could hold your own on the ice, you just hadn’t been in a while, needing some time to get reacclimated.

Doyoung watched you with a raised eyebrow, “Are you okay, Y/N?”

“Yeah, it’ll take me a minute to get my uh, my ice legs back,” you informed him, sliding one skate forward. “You can go ahead and do a lap or two if you want.”

“I’m not going to leave you,” he said simply, slight frown on his features.

Slowly but surely, you got back into the rhythm of pushing with one skate and gliding on the other. You were free of the wall, all on your own and moving just fine. Sucking cold air into your nose and lungs, you were invigorated.

“Okay, let’s go.”

Going in laps with Doyoung, you could tell that he was holding back, skating-wise. He was definitely going slower to match your pace, but every movement exuded an elegance and comfort to it. No doubt any sort of ice sports probably came naturally to him.

After quite some time of going around, with plenty of other people on the rink, you realized that you hadn’t gotten tripped up a single time. Your blade hadn’t gotten caught on a hole left by someone’s pick or the group of shithead pre-teen boys digging the back of their skates into the ice intentionally when the staff wasn’t looking. Typically you would’ve briefly lost your balance by now, but you’d remained comfortably upright the whole time.

Looking down, you saw the surface of the ice becoming smooth just before it went under your skate. Doyoung met your inquisitive gaze with a simple quirked eyebrow.

“Thanks,” you murmured, bashfully turning your eyes downward again.

At the end of the night, you were back in front of your apartment door with Doyoung. On one hand, you were rather reluctant to end your night with him, and on the other, you couldn’t wait to call up Jaemin and gush to him about it. While you couldn’t tell him everything—such as Doyoung supernaturally smoothing the ice for you—it was still ritual for you to exchange details of dates with each other.

“I had a good time tonight, Doyoung,” you told him, twiddling with your fingers.

“I’m glad.”

“So… can we do this again?”

“I will let you know when I have more time off,” he confirmed, bringing a smile to your lips.

“Okay, awesome, great,” you breathed out. Your body itched to hug him but, guessing by his hands that were still in the pocket of his hoodie, and the polite distance that he was keeping between the two of you, he might not appreciate that.

So instead, after another awkward beat of you having this internal debate, you finally went to unlock your door, “Goodnight, Doyoung.”

“Goodnight, Y/N,” he replied coolly.

After shutting your apartment door behind you, you peeked through your peephole. You couldn’t help yourself, wanting to see how he acted when you weren’t there. His hands came back out of his hoodie pockets, one curling into a fist for a moment before he shook his head at himself and started down the hallway.

Strange.

“You’re in one piece!” An ecstatic voice was at your feet, and you looked down to see Taeyong in his cat form curling himself around your ankles.

“Of course I am,” you snorted, shuffling forward carefully as to not step on him. “Just because he works for an Oni doesn’t mean he was actually any sort of danger to me.”

“I wasn’t saying that because of his boss! I think that every time you come back from a date.”

“How… endearing?”

In your bedroom, you took some of your layers off before bringing your phone out and flopping onto your bed on your front. Taeyong leapt up with you, pressing his smaller, fluffier body against your side. You immediately called Jaemin, putting it on speakerphone as it rang.

It rang only once before Jaemin picked up, “Spill.”

You snorted, “Eager much? Need to live vicariously through my dates so badly?”

“Yes, I’m going to die alone,” his eye roll was practically audible. “Now come on, spill.”

Your teasing couldn’t last long as giddiness bubbled up inside you once more. You were as desperate to tell him about your date as much as he was desperate to hear about it.

“We went ice skating.”

“Oh, cute! Did you guys like hold hands or whatever, he helped you stay upright?”

“No, we could both skate just fine. You know I can skate.”

“You didn’t have to let him know that!”

“Unlike you, Na Jaemin, I do have pride, and I’m not going to sacrifice it to hold a man’s hand.”

“This is why you’re single, Y/L/N Y/N.”

“Then what excuse do you have?”

“Ouch,” he said pointedly, but it didn’t keep him down for long. “Continue!”

You rolled over onto your back, bringing your phone with you, “We just skated around, and it was really nice. Stopped at a food vendor on the way back to my apartment.”

“And?”

“And—oof!” You were cut off by Taeyong’s cat paws pressing into your stomach as he went to curl up on your front. “And, we said goodnight, I went in my apartment and called you.”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah.”

“No goodnight kiss?”

“No.”

“Goodnight hug?”

“Nope.”

“Huh,” he said, the thoughtful frown definitely accompanying it clear in your mind.

“It was our first date, Jaemin.” You were beginning to feel a little defensive now.

“You’re right, maybe he’s just being a gentleman. Are you guys going to go out again?”

“I think so, yeah. I told him I wanted to, and he said he’d let me know when he had time off.”

“Ooh,” his tone suddenly turned sour.

“What? Why ‘ooh?’”

“Sounds like he might just be giving himself an out. Like he may never text you that he has time off, or any time you suggest a day, he can say he has work.”

Now you had a dark frown on your own lips, “You didn’t hear his tone. I think it was more of a ��yes, I also want to go on another date with you so I’ll let you know when I have time off so we can plan one.’”

“Hey, I could be wrong!” Jaemin replied encouragingly. “I wasn’t there, you’re the one who actually heard him say it.”

“I’m going to be panicking over that now, thanks Jaemin.”

“Sorry!” He apologized.

After a moment, he spoke again, tone mischievous, “You know… Mr. Qian has a gala event soon, so he’s coming in for a suit consultation in the next couple weeks. With his assistant. I could uh… stealthily acquire information for you.”

Immediately, your heart rate spiked, and you sat up, knocking Taeyong off as you practically growled at your friend, “Do not, Na Jaemin. Do not ask Doyoung about me, don’t bring me up at all, don’t even fucking look at him.”

“Fine, fine.”

His easy surrender made you doubtful, and just a moment later you knew why.

“And if he brings you up?”

“He won’t,” you said with certainty as Taeyong circled your lap before settling down again. “You know how professional he is.”

“But if he does?”

“Then you act like a normal human being, Jaemin! I don’t know why I have to coach you on this.”

“I figured you might want an inside man.”

“I’m good, thanks,” you retorted, absentmindedly rubbing behind Taeyong’s ears.

“Alright, well, I offered. But if I do… happen… to overhear something accidentally with no prompting or scheming… would you want me to tell you?”

You scrunched your nose up at this in thought. On one hand, you didn’t want to know, the uncertainty leaving you with some hope. But also, you would want to know for sure, how he felt. Right?

“I know you’re not going to hear anything about me, but… if you do, tell me only if it’s something good.” You had decided was a good middle-ground. “If it’s not… don’t tell me he said anything.”

“Deal.”

A few days later, and you were between classes, texting Doyoung.

[you: hey, just wanted to check in and see if you know the next time you’ve got time off?]

You were prepared to put your phone away and wait for a while, fully accepting your anxious fate. Instead, he texted back almost immediately.

[doyoung: I’ll have Friday night after 8:00 off and Saturday evening after 5:30 as well.]

[doyoung: Which one works best for you?]

Momentarily checking your phone calendar to make sure you didn’t have anything that had been planned months in advance and you’d forgotten about, you saw that you were free at those times.

[you: both work for me, actually]

[doyoung: Then let’s do both.]

Your heartrate spiked at this, happy nerves worming their way under your skin.

[you: okay!]

[doyoung: Would you like to go to dinner on Saturday? A nicer establishment ideally?]

[you: i’d love to]

[you: we can do your fancy dinner saturday, but i claim friday]

[doyoung: What are we going to do then?]

[you: night market by dandelion. street food and buskings]

[doyoung: I’ll pick you up again. We don’t want a repeat of the last time you were on a street by yourself at night.]

[you: sounds like a plan]

[you: and how nice is the nice establishment for saturday? i need to know if i have to get something to wear]

[doyoung: I’ll be wearing something nicer than my work suit but not my nicest suit, for reference.]

[you: sounds like i’ll have to get something then. i’ll ask jaemin to help me]

[doyoung: I can change the venue if this is an inconvenience for you.]

[you: it’s fine, i’ve been meaning to get something nice before my cousin’s wedding in a couple months anyway]

[doyoung: Are you sure?]

[you: yeah, of course]

[doyoung: Very well, I will see you Friday then.]

[you: see you!]

“I still can’t believe you’re dating Kim Doyoung,” Jaemin shook his head as he rifled through a rack of clothes. “I really thought he was a robot that Mr. Qian created with his vast wealth.”

The two of you were out shopping in preparation for your fancy dinner with Doyoung on Saturday. And Jaemin was of course talking about your date.

“We’re not dating, Jaemin, we’ve been on a date,” you corrected him with a scoff.

“Tomato, to-mah-to,” he waved off your retort, then grabbed a hanger. “Hm?”

“Sure, I like it.”

Having gotten the article approved by you, he draped it across his arm before turning his scrutinizing eye back to the rest of the store.

“This is going to sound bitchy and judgmental but I genuinely want to understand: what do you like about him? Like I said, he’s cold and robotic, and I’m honestly just having a hard time picturing the two of you together. You’re all… warm and squish.”

“What is squish, exactly?”

“You know, you actually emote like a human being, and human beings are objectively very squishy.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” you said, very accustomed to your friend’s manner of seeing the world. “And to answer your question, he has this dry sense of humor and it’s just easy for us to banter back and forth. He’s very considerate, too. I don’t know that much about him; we’ve only gone on one date.”

“You are very witty,” he agreed as he grabbed another hanger. “Hm?”

You wrinkled your nose at the print, “No.”

“Anyway, give me the date play-by-play.”

“I already did.”

“You gave me the cliffnotes, I want the full text thanks.”

“Funny, considering you only ever used cliffnotes in high school.”

“Top ten percent.”

“And yet I was still five places higher than you in class rank.”

“Nice try, I know you’re stalling, and I will not be provoked further. Talk, Y/N.”

With a roll of your eyes, you went back to the very beginning, “Well, he picked me up right on time, and he looked completely different than normal. His hair wasn’t styled back off his forehead, and he was in some jeans and—”

“Really?” Jaemin’s eyes were wide as he cut you off. “I thought his suit was part of his skin.”

You looked at him with a pointed eyebrow raised, and he gestured for you to continue.

“He was in jeans and this uh, white hoodie, it was very cute,” your voice got quiet and words more rushed as you got to the end of your sentence, averting your eyes to the clothes around you.

“Ooh!” Your friend bumped your shoulder with his playfully. “Y/N’s got a cruuush!”

“I literally went on a date with him?”

“Yeah, and now you’ve got a crush on him.”

“Are we thirteen again?”

“No, if we were we’d both have approximately a million pimples.”

You clicked your tongue on your teeth, “Shit, you’re right. You’ve only got two.”

“Where?” His eyes widened with alarm.

“NaNa,” you snickered. “I was kidding.”

The fear dropped and was replaced by a glare, “You’re evil, you know that?”

You stuck your tongue out at him.

“Anyway, continue!”

Friday night was upon you, bright smile spreading across your face and laughter tumbling out of your mouth. Doyoung was chatting amicably with you, telling you stories of his time growing up in the Qian household, and you’d offer back tales of your own childhood making trouble with Jaemin. A street vendor handed you a stuffed sweet bun that your date paid for, and you could tell that it was fresh, the warmth from it seeping into your chilly fingers.

You bit into the bun, letting out a noise of surprise when you felt the filling from the inside dripping down your chin. Thankfully, you were only a step away from the stand, which had napkins, and Doyoung grabbed one for you. Slightly embarrassed, you swallowed the bite in your mouth before wiping off your skin and thanking him.

“Perhaps I shouldn’t take you to that nice establishment tomorrow,” he mused aloud. The twitch of the corner of his lips let you know that he was kidding—you were getting better at understanding when his rather dry sense of humor was showing through.

“Perhaps,” you echoed jokingly, taking another bite. This time you victoriously kept all the insides either in the food or in your mouth. “Ha!”

“You have proven me wrong.”

The two of you stopped at another stall for Doyoung to get himself a dessert, a much neater and compact assortment of candied fruits each in their own ruffled sleeve that could be picked up to eat from without getting a single particle of the food on one’s fingers. After he had tucked his wallet back into the inner pocket of his suit jacket and accepted the plastic container from the vendor, he looked to you expectantly to continue your meandering down the street.

“You didn’t have to come straight from work, you know,” you told him, well aware of how much he stuck out like a sore thumb in the crowd. And how much he starkly contrasted your own rather casual outfit that you’d chosen for the date. “I wouldn’t have minded if you wanted to change beforehand.”

“I didn’t.”

“What? You prefer form-fitting suits to normal clothes?”

“These are my normal clothes.”

“You know what I meant.”

“But you clearly didn’t understand what I meant.”

You’d just bit into your bun again, and through your mouthful of sweet dough, you said, “Huh?”

“I didn’t want to go home and change beforehand because then I would have seen you later.”

“Oh…” You trailed off, honestly at a loss for words. The only thing you could seem to do was take yet another bite of your food and look bashfully down at the ground. Doyoung had said that so plainly, matter-of-factly, just like when he’d said he wouldn’t leave you during your first date.

“What classes did you have today?”

The sudden change in trajectory of your conversation caught you off-guard, your mind still processing what he had just said before, “Oh, uh, just one, Chemistry.”

“Do you enjoy it?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. Just wish I didn’t have it on Fridays.”

“I see.”

“What about you? What did you do today?”

“Aside from my typical daily duties, I helped Mr. Qian prepare for his meeting tomorrow with a rather important business partner of the company.”

“Oh, and what are you going to be doing during this important meeting?”

“Accompanying Mr. Qian to greet them, ensuring that Mr. Qian’s papers are all together, acquiring any requested food or drink for them, taking notes of the meeting and anything else he may need me to do.”

“Have you ever called him Kun? There’s no way you called him Mr. Qian when you were like nine, right? And what do you call his dad? What if you’re talking to both of them, how do you distinguish them?”

“His father is President Qian, while the Vice President has granted me permission to simply address him as Mr. Qian instead of his full title.”

“Got it. What about my first question?”

“I did address him by his first name when I was younger,” Doyoung admitted. “But once I began working under him, it would have been inappropriate to continue addressing him so casually.”

“I can’t imagine…” you wrinkled your nose, trying to draw up your own comparison. “Oh, I couldn’t imagine having to call Jaehyun—my friend who is a TA in my Lit class—I couldn’t imagine calling him ‘Mr. Jung.’ God, I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.”

“Would you like some water to wash that back down with?”

You narrowed your eyes just the slightest, both of you aware of your hyperbole, “I’m good, I’ll let the hydrochloric acid burn my esophagus.”

“Well, let me know if you change your mind.”

As the two of you came upon a small group of dancers in the street, your conversation was put on pause to watch them.

Once more at your front door at the end of the night, you were chewing on the inside of your cheek, debating. You were giddy and happy from your wonderful night with Doyoung, but your stomach started twisting as it came to a close. Your conversation with Jaemin was playing in the back of your mind. Maybe Doyoung was too gentlemanly, maybe you should initiate something first. Just a hug, that’d be okay, right?

“I had a really good time with you, Doyoung,” you informed him almost absentmindedly, mentally rehearsing how and when you’d go in for the hug.

“Me too, Y/N,” he agreed, hands tucked into the pockets of his slacks.

As soon as your muscles twitched to move towards him, he took a step back, the movement fluid and seemingly unattached to your own intentions. You hadn’t done more than lift your hands up from your sides to about waist-level, and immediately dropped them back down, cheeks heating up at your own personal embarrassment. All of your confidence had been immediately deflated, like a rather sad balloon that had only been blown up halfway in the first place.

The snow spirit nodded to you, “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“Yeah,” you confirmed with a sigh, acquiring your house key. “Goodnight, Doyoung.”

“Goodnight, Y/N.”

The next night you were running between your bedroom and bathroom, frantically getting ready. Your parents had unexpectedly asked for you to help out at the shop and you’d said yes, thinking that you’d still have plenty of time to get ready. You didn’t. You had to speed shower, then change into your fancy outfit and finish getting ready, all with damp hair. Taeyong watched on from your living room, perched on the arm of your couch in his cat form, blue eyes following you as you disappeared though a doorway only to reemerge a moment later, having forgotten something in the previous room. He was licking at his paws when you left your bathroom for the final time that night. Your hair was finally dry and looked presentable, your outfit as well put together as you could get it, and shoes that had been carefully selected by Jaemin on your feet.

“What do you think? Fancy enough?” You asked Taeyong, fingers fidgeting with the hem of the material.

“I like it, but I think you overestimate how much I know about dressing fancy,” Taeyong admitted, scratching at his ear with one of his little paws. “I’ve lived as a cat for the greater part of the past year of my life.”

“Oh, right.”

His tail swished back and forth for a moment, head tilted as he observed you. It reminded you of before you knew who he really was, when he was just your cat Tama and would observe you curiously.

“What?”

“You’ve never been this nervous for a date.”

“Well, I’ve never had a date want to take me to anything fancier than Starbucks before,” you sighed, now messing with your hair.

“Is that the only reason you’re so nervous?”

“Well—ugh, I’m still thinking about what Jaemin said. About how… distant he is with me.”

“Oh, right. Well this is going to be your third date, maybe third time’s the charm?”

“Maybe.”

“Does it really matter what Jaemin thinks about it though?”

“He’s my best friend, his opinion does usually matter to me.”

“Okay, but don’t let it ruin your night, Y/N.”

You let out a sigh as he rolled over onto his back, and you gently stroked his soft belly fur, “You’re right. Thanks, Yong.”

A purr resounded from his throat as you moved your fingers up towards his chest and neck as well.

“Taking dating advice from my cat… that’s a new one,” you muttered to yourself.

Exiting Doyoung’s SUV, you thanked him for holding your door open. He passed the keys to the attendant at the valet stand before guiding you in by a light hand on the small of your back, which you could barely feel through your thick overcoat. Looking at the restaurant you were in front of, you felt sorely underdressed, despite Doyoung having already told you that your clothes would be fine. Inhaling shortly, you tried to calm yourself back down. It was just your nerves getting to you.

He gave his name to the host, who quickly checked for the reservation before guiding the two of you to a small table. Doyoung pulled out your chair for you and you thanked him, setting your heavy overcoat on the empty chair beside you as he sat across from you. Then your waitress showed up with menus and took your drink orders. Both of them had addressed your date as ‘Mr. Kim’ with a great air of respect, and you could take an educated guess that him and Kun had been here quite a few times.

“So how was your day?” Doyoung asked, not even picking up his menu. More evidence to support your guess, he seemed to already know what he wanted to order.

“Uh, kind of stressful,” you confessed, skimming the menu yourself. “I helped out at my parents’ shop and got stuck there for longer than I had planned. Had to really rush to get ready. I’m just glad that I’m fully clothed and that my hair’s dry honestly.”

“I as well, we wouldn’t have been allowed in if you weren’t clothed,” he jested dryly.

“I would not have even opened my apartment door for you if I wasn’t fully clothed, much less left it to go to a restaurant,” you snorted back, eyes catching on one particular option that looked pretty good. When you saw the price, though, you hissed through clenched teeth. Never mind.

“Order whatever you want,” Doyoung said, as if knowing exactly why you had made that noise. “I’ll pay.”

“Doyoung, I can’t—”

“You had to specially go out and buy your outfit for tonight, correct?”

“Yes.”

“I didn’t, I’ve owned this suit for a few months. You’ve already put your money into this date, the least I can do is make sure I spend a similar amount on it as well.”

He was making direct eye contact with you, irises so dark they blended in with his pupils, so intense you felt yourself being swept away in them.

Upon finding yourself without a comeback, you turned your eyes back to your menu, unable to hold his gaze for much longer, “Okay. Thank you.”

After the waitress took your food orders and the menus, she left your drinks. Taking a sip of your own, you went back to small talk.

“How was your day? Did the meeting go alright?”

“It was fine on our end.”

“What happened on the other end?”

“Ms. Lee—who the meeting was with—her typical, competent assistant is on his honeymoon, and the substitute is nowhere near capable.”

“What’d the substitute assistant do?”

“Dropped his boss’s tablet and cracked the screen, forgot his login to access his notes, and forgot their own copies of the documents that were being reviewed. Luckily I had made extra copies that they were able to use, so he didn’t waste any more of our time.”

You had an amused smile on your face, “Of course you did. Kim Doyoung, the superior personal assistant, clearly.”

“What’s the point in having a job if you don’t even attempt to excel at it?”

“People need money to live, Doyoung.”

“You’re right; let me rephrase. What’s the point in pursuing a career if you don’t even attempt to excel at it?”

“I’m sure he was trying his best.”

“Perhaps. Doesn’t make it any less bothersome.”

“Sounds annoying.”

“It was,” he took a sip of his drink. “Sorry, that's enough of me griping.”

“Aw, I was enjoying hearing you gripe, actually. Your nose scrunches up a little and you get these lines on your forehead,” you traced where the lines would be on your own skin. “It’s cute.”

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, hopefully a reaction to your flirting. After a moment, his perfectly cool exterior was back, face rather neutral.

“What about you? Anything you want to gripe about?”

You didn’t even have to think as it was something that you were complaining to Sicheng about earlier at the shop, “It’s already starting to warm up again. It’s much warmer than last week, and we’re not even in spring yet.”

“You like the cold?”

“Yeah, I want to be able to keep wearing hoodies all the time and bundling up and cocooning myself in blankets on my couch with a hot cup of tea.”

“Just set your thermostat to this temperature all the time then,” he suggested humorously.

“My landlord would love that, I’m sure. Utilities are included in my rent, but I don’t think it’d cover something like that.”

“Ah, well there’s supposed to be another cold snap in a few days.”

“Yes!” You cheered out, then remembered exactly who you were talking to. “What about you? Do you like summertime? Or do you melt and Kun has to stick you in a freezer to reform?”

“As I’m not made of snow, no, I do not melt in warmer temperatures,” he smirked a little bit. “Summer is fine, I suppose. I don’t particularly like or dislike it. I just prefer the cold much more.”

“The beach?”

“I despise it, but not for the reason you’re thinking.”

“Not the blazing hot sun?”

“No, the sand.” His nose scrunched and forehead wrinkled as he began griping once more, “It gets everywhere, it’s gritty and uncomfortable, it gets all in your shoes but sometimes it’s as hot as the asphalt so you have to wear the shoes anyway, it can scratch your cornea if it gets in your eye. I swear I’m still finding grains of sand from the last time I went to the beach.”

“And when was that?”

“Last summer, corporate retreat.”

“It’s been over six months and you’re still finding sand in your asscheeks?”

“I didn’t say—”

“Kidding, Doyoung,” you snickered, to which he let out a short sigh, face turning unamused.

Now a little miffed, he laced his fingers together over his crossed legs, “What about you? Do you like the beach?”

“I used to go all the time in high school, Jaemin and I would skip and go to the coast, but I really only liked it because I was with my friend. Nowadays I don’t really go of my own volition, I can do without sand everywhere.”

“A fellow sand-griper.”

“Does anybody actually like the sand?”

“Children who build sandcastles, I presume.”

You thought on this for a moment, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

It was then that your food arrived, and your conversation was put on pause to thank your waitress. Your eyes eagerly took in the sight of your meal. It looked absolutely mouthwatering.

After a few bites, Doyoung wiped at his mouth before engaging you in conversation again.

“You said you liked the cold, but only for the stuff you do indoors. What about outside? Do you like the actual weather that comes with it? Snow, ice, etcetera?”

“Oh, I get it, this is a test. If I say I don’t like the snow, I therefore don’t like you, and you end our date right now.”

Already quite used to your teasing at his expense, he simply gave you another unamused look.

Snickering, you washed down your food before answering, “I love the snow. I’m being honest here, no innuendos. I think it’s really pretty, when it catches the light just right and looks like glitter. And waking up to a blanket of fresh snow, the absolute stillness and peace that comes along with it. Even if I...”

Doyoung had been listening to your answer with rapt attention, as he had with all your others, but for some reason this particular time you felt the unwavering gaze getting to you. He really was beautiful. You already knew that, obviously, but to have this beautiful man’s full and undivided attention in that moment, utterly enraptured by what you were saying… it felt surreal.

At your trailing off, his eyebrows lifted in the slightest, hand gesturing for you to continue.

Words now much more rushed, you blubbered out, “Even if I do bust ass on icy sidewalks every other day, it’s worth it.”

Half a smile crossed his features that time, for just a split-second, so quick that you could have imagined it. But there was just a hint of pleasure in his tone as he replied, “Well, I’m glad you think so. Or else I really was going to have to cut this date short.”

“Oh shut up.”

Once again at the front door to your apartment, you were psyching yourself up like you’d done the entire night. You’d just go in, a simple hug, easy-peasy. You’ve hugged probably thousands of people, given millions of hugs. It wasn’t hard, you just wrapped your arms around someone and squeezed a little. So why were you now petrified, stammering out a goodnight to him and unlocking your door as he had just suggested you do?

Having just cracked your door open, you decided you weren’t going to chicken out this time. You turned to him, determined.

“Everything alright, Y/N?” Doyoung asked, seemingly noticing your hesitation.

“Uhm, I—”

There was a sudden crash from inside your apartment, making you jump. It was closely followed by a catlike howl, then very human string of curses.

Your date nodded towards your apartment, “You should probably check on that.”

“Yeah,” you sighed out, having given up for the night. “Goodnight, Doyoung. I’ll text you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight, Y/N.”

Closing the door behind you, you flicked your lights on. Taeyong was standing in your living room in his true form, looking incredibly guilty. His ears were turned downwards and flattened, his eyes looking down at his feet shamefully, head down and hands lacing and unlacing intermittently.

“Hi, Y/N,” he squeaked out. “H-how was your date?”

“What’d you break?”

“The blender. The glass blender.”

A deep-seated sigh. “Did you hurt yourself?”

“No, I’ll go clean it up.”

“Not barefoot you won’t.”

“Oh, right.” He slipped on a pair of sandals by the front door then went into the kitchen.

You followed him to assess the damage. Great, one of the tiles was cracked. That would be a portion of your deposit that you wouldn’t be getting back.

“Why were you trying to make yourself a smoothie in the dark, Taeyong?” You asked him plainly, watching him grab the foxtail and dustpan from the pantry to begin sweeping up the shards.

“I wasn’t, I was trying to get something else.”

“What were you trying to get?” You already knew what was stored next to the blender in the cabinet, you just wanted to see if he’d fess up.

His guilty expression only increased tenfold as he mumbled, “The cat treats…”

“You don’t have to sneak around for your cat treats. You’re a fully grown man-humanoid-catboy-person, okay? Not actually my pet that I have to reward. So next time do it with the lights on, please?”

“I will.”

With that settled, you were able to recall the terrible few moments before Taeyong shattered your blender, when you were saying goodnight to Doyoung, and your mood immediately soured. It had been more like affectionate disappointment with Taeyong, but now you were actually pissed and angry and confused and upset.

Meandering into your bedroom, you very pointedly began un-fancying yourself. Roughly kicking your shoes off and into the corner so that they thudded against your wall, tugging your clothes off your body harshly and stuffing yourself into your pajamas, running a rough hand through your hair to thoroughly mess it up again before pulling it away from your face in a manner that yanked at your follicles. You brushed your teeth in a similar demeanor, sure that you were ruining your bristles with the force that you were shoving them against your teeth. And finally, you sat on your bed and grabbed your phone to text Jaemin.

[you: let me know ANYTHING he says about me]

Two more physically distant dates with Doyoung—art museum and quick lunch during his workday—occurred before anything to do with your text to Jaemin came to fruition. You were at your parents’ store, delivering food from Lenticular to Sicheng, who was too behind on his cataloguing duties to take a lunch break, when your phone buzzed. A call from Jaemin.

Passing the container off to the Mizuchi dragon, you headed for your parents’ empty office to answer your phone.

“Hey,” you said, expecting the worst. Expecting Jaemin to give you a short sigh and make his tone as sweet and gentle as possible as he informed you that Doyoung and Kun had come into the shop, and that Doyoung wasn’t actually interested in you.

But there was no response from your friend.

“Hello? Jaemin?”

As you paused for him to reply, you realized that you could hear voices in the background over the phone. About to hang up, presuming that it was a butt dial, you stopped as soon as you heard your name.

“Y/N?” Doyoung. It was clear that he wasn’t actually addressing you, the audio too far away and slightly indistinct. “You’re…”

“Thinking of asking her to be my date for the gala,” Kun finished the sentence confidently.

Jaemin was letting you listen in on their conversation. You should’ve hung up, this wasn’t okay, this was a major breach of privacy—surely your friend could get fired for doing this. Not to mention that the idea of hearing directly from Doyoung’s mouth that he didn’t like you wasn’t an alluring option whatsoever. And yet you couldn’t bring yourself to hang up as the snow spirit spoke again.

“You are?”

“Yes. I feel as though I haven’t been forward enough when expressing my interest in her. This would be very explicit, don’t you think? No room for misinterpretation.”

“Yes, it’s very forward,” Doyoung cleared his throat awkwardly. “But I don’t think she would say yes, Mr. Qian.”

“Why is that?”

“You have been rather overt in your advances in the past and she hasn’t returned any of them.”

“Perhaps she just thinks I’m being nice. I should really make it clear that I would like to pursue a relationship with her.”

“I don’t think asking her to be your date to the gala would be a good idea.”

“You’re right, a gala might scare her off. A normal date then. Dinner or the like. Oh, I know, I’ll cook for her at my penthouse.”

There was a moment of silence, and you couldn’t see exactly what the three men were doing, but you imagined a rather comical scene of your best friend looking between the two of them with wide eyes in anticipation for Doyoung to profess his own feelings for you, to no avail. So instead, he stepped in.

“Wait, are you talking about Y/L/N Y/N, Mr. Qian?” Jaemin feigned cluelessness rather well.

“Well yes, actually.”

“Oh, she’s my best friend, Mr. Qian. And I’m sorry to say, but she’s actually seeing someone right now.”

You let out a sigh of relief that you didn’t know you were holding. Panic had been building with every failed attempt by Doyoung to get Kun to leave you alone.

There was another pause, and you hoped that it was Kun deciding not to pursue you anymore.

“Are they serious?”

Apparently not. He was collecting data.

“They’ve gone on a few dates.” Jaemin’s tone was pointed before he rushed to add, “She seems really into him.”

Oh, thanks a lot, Jaemin, you thought as your cheeks began burning.

Maybe now Kun would give up, though?

“Just a few dates…” he mused. “I can’t give up so easily. She should know all her options.”

No such luck.

“Mr. Qian, I’m really not sure that’s a good idea,” Doyoung’s voice was now tinged with a hint of panic, so minute that you could barely pick it up with the audio quality.

“And why is that?”

“Well…”

“Doyoung, I trust your judgement but usually you have proper reasoning behind it,” Kun said frankly.

“Yes…” the snow spirit agreed, presumably wracking his brain for that proper reasoning.

“So what is your reasoning?”

He must have come up with something right then, as he quickly went to explain, “When you offered to take her to lunch after your presentation at the college, she declined by saying she had a class to get to, but her next class wasn’t until two. Clearly, she was trying to politely decline your advances.”

“How do you know when her next class was?”

Fuck. That was something you’d mentioned on your last date, nowhere near public knowledge.

“We ran into each other in the hallway, she mentioned it.”

“I see…” Your hopes were only up for a second before they came crashing back down. “I think I should still ask her, get a formal rejection.”

“Mr. Qian, Y/N’s way too nice to do that, honestly,” Jaemin swooped in to help out Doyoung again.

“I deserve to be told point-blank that she has no interest in me, correct?” The Oni’s tone was now hard and authoritative, as if daring Jaemin to disagree with him.

“Uh…”

“Kun, I know she doesn’t like you because I’m the person that she’s seeing!” Doyoung blurted out, voice colored with the strongest emotion you’d ever heard from him, absolute vexation. That was the first time you had ever heard him address his boss by his first name, too. You audibly gasped hearing that, but your surprise was quickly overtaken by a tightness in your chest.

“Ah, there we go. Was that so hard?” Kun sounded absolutely delighted, laughing for a moment.

“Excuse me, Mr. Qian?”

“Don’t explode on me like that then immediately go back to formalities, Doyoung,” he scoffed. “I had guessed, I was just trying to make you admit it.”

“You’re…” Doyoung trailed off, speechless for once.

“I rescind romantic advances on Y/N.”

“Mr. Qian—”

“No need to thank me, I think she would’ve kept on politely rejecting me anyway. As Jaemin said, she’s very into you.”

“How do you—”

“You’ve been receiving an unusual amount of texts. I took a peek while you were setting up the projector at that meeting yesterday,” Kun admitted flippantly, and you suddenly felt rather embarrassed. Were you really that much of a nuisance?

Then the Oni continued, “You weren’t exactly inconspicuous either, you never text that much. That’s how I know you’re also very much into her.”

“…Yes, I am,” the snow spirit confirmed, making your chest absolutely swell. Your head began spinning, and you felt a wide grin spread across your face.

“I’m glad. I say this as both your boss and your friend, you really do need a personal life. You spend way too much time working.”

“I’m beginning to be inclined to agree with you.”

“Good.”

“One more thing, Mr. Qian.”

“Yes?”

“I wasn’t going to thank you. I was just going to reiterate that Y/N has no romantic interest in you so if you had continued to pursue her romantically you would have been a bother to her.”

Your jaw dropped to the fucking floor. Did Doyoung actually just speak to his boss like that? The same man who said that calling the Oni by his first name would have been unprofessional, had just so effortlessly and smoothly dunked on said boss.

There was a much longer pause, and with your lack of visual you were beginning to get worried that Kun was getting pissed off.

And finally Kun chuckled, but you couldn’t tell if it was sinister or humored, so you strained your ears for what he said after, “If dating Y/N gets you to start treating me like your friend again, I’m even more on-board.”

Doyoung seemed to once more be at a loss for words, and the other Ayakashi changed conversation.

“Jaemin, could you perhaps get a purple tie instead?”

“Of course, Mr. Qian,” Jaemin answered before you heard a bunch of rustling right up against the microphone.

“Did you hear that?” His voice was right in your ear now, hushed and rushed.

“Yeah.”

“I’m so happy for you Y/N! I’ve got to go, bye!”

And he hung up before you could utter another word.

That big grin was still on your face as you emerged from the office. You felt like you were on Cloud 9, just replaying snippets of that conversation over in your mind.

‘…you really do need a personal life. You spend way too much time working.’ ‘I’m beginning to be inclined to agree with you.’

‘That’s how I know you’re also very much into her’ ‘Yes, I am.’

So it wasn’t as one-sided as you thought.

At your next date with Doyoung, now armed with the information that he was, according to his only friend and himself, very much into you, you were much more confident as you greeted him at the café that he’d chosen for breakfast. But when he once again kept that space between the two of you, smoothly avoiding any scenario that could lead to intentional or unintentional brushes of skin, you found that confidence crumbling once more. It didn’t matter what he said, when all the physical proof in front of you was saying something contrary. Your pessimistic mood put a downer on the whole date, and you felt rather bad as he seemed to pick up on it as well, becoming even more distant and stiff with you. You didn’t even bother psyching yourself up to try to hug him at the end of the date that time, just stuffing your hands in your jacket pocket and not lingering a second past your goodbyes.

Maybe it was as one-sided as you had originally thought.

Despite you pretty much convincing yourself that Doyoung wasn’t actually into you, he still asked you on another date, a movie and dinner. You could already imagine sitting in a darkened theater beside Doyoung for two hours internally debating whether or not you should grab his hand that’s right there. Not wanting to put yourself through that, you said that all you could do was dinner. He accepted.

Dinner itself was actually good, it was nice, it felt like your dates before that stupid phone call from Jaemin ruined everything. Probably had something to do with the tough love pep talk you’d mentally given yourself at your apartment beforehand. You’re going to forget the conversation at Grandeur. You’re going to go on this date and have a good time with Doyoung. You will.

After leaving the restaurant, you convinced Doyoung to drive to a nearby park instead of your apartment building. You had no other reason besides just wanting to spend more time with him. After pushing the phone call from your mind, it was easy to fall back into the simple enjoyment of his company. It had snowed while you were eating, only the thinnest possible dusting across the land. When you’d seen it, you’d only given Doyoung a brief look before he defended himself, saying that he didn’t do it. It was still winter, after all, snow can just happen.

Doyoung opened the door for you again but kept that same polite distance between the two of you. The two of you were meandering along a sidewalk before you changed course towards a bench, and Doyoung followed suit. He smoothly rid the bench of all of the snow with a simple flick of his wrist, not a single snowflake left on it, so that you could sit comfortably.

Chewing on the inside of your cheek, you fell into a moment of insecurity. It had been exactly five weeks and seven dates, and you were reaching the end of your excuses to yourself. Why did he avoid even the slightest touch from you? It had to be something more than personal space or discomfort with PDA, you were alone on a bench in a completely empty park. Hearing the conversation at Grandeur had kept you satisfied for a short while, but now you were doubting even that.

Finally, you couldn’t keep yourself from blurting out, “Doyoung, do you even like me?”

His eyes snapped over to you, widened, “What?”

“I just don’t want you to be going on these dates with me because you feel obligated for some reason or because you don’t have anything better to do or—”

Both his hands were suddenly on your shoulders, and your breath was stolen from your very lungs by the intensity of his gaze. His eyes bore into your own, dark but inviting, and brows and mouth once more pinched into confusion.

“How could you doubt my interest in you?”

“Well—”

“I have very little personal time, Y/N. I wouldn’t spend it with someone whom I didn’t want to spend it with.”

He dropped his hands from your shoulders and stuffed them back into his jacket pockets. You frowned. You weren’t going to leave it at that. It was just more words.

“Then why won’t you let me kiss you? Or hold your hand? Or hug you? I figured it was just a personal space thing but…”

“My external body temperature is significantly colder than yours,” Doyoung was once again very serious as he answered. “I’m slightly afraid of giving you hypothermia, or you losing your fingers to frostbite.”

A giggle bubbled up out of you, both humorous and relieved, “I’ll be okay, Doyoung.”

“You can see your breath right now; I don’t want to make you any colder.”

“Only a little bit,” you frowned at the fog that came out in companionship with your words. “And I’ll let you know if I get too cold, promise. Scout’s honor.”

“Something tells me you weren’t a Scout in your youth.”

“Doyoung,” you whined his name, bottom lip jutting out into a pout. Now that you knew that he did actually like you, your insecurities were fully washed away.

He sighed, taking one hand out of his jacket pocket to offer out to you, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Gleefully, you laced your fingers through his. They were cold, you already knew that from the brief brush of your skin at the bookstore all those weeks ago. But you didn’t mind it, all too thrilled to finally be touching him. His skin, in addition to being chilly, was smooth, his delicate fingers wrapping around your own with just the right amount of pressure to make it comfortable but secure.

“You’re absolutely beaming,” Doyoung mused, peering down at your face. “Does holding my hand really make you that happy?”

“Yes, it does,” you fought against your instinct to be bashful, instead mustering up confidence in your words.

“I’m glad,” he admitted, looking down at your linked hands himself.

There was a smile on his own features, an expression that was becoming more and more familiar to you. But in addition to that, there was something different about his face. You couldn’t be sure about it, blinking your eyes in the low light afforded by the streetlamp a distance away from you. With a gasp, you let go of his hand to grab his face with two hands.

“Did you just blush blue?” You asked in wonder, eyes fully taking it in.

His skin was now tinged with a dusting of baby blue across his cheeks and nose, exactly where you’d expect a typical person with his skin tone to blush pink or red. You turned his head to expose more of it to the available light source, jaw dropped in a wide grin of delight at this revelation. At your words—and presumably touch—the baby blue deepened into a hue closer to a true blue. He was blushing even more.

“You’re dangerous, Y/N.”

“And why is that?” You snorted, finger tracing lightly from one cheekbone, over the bridge of his nose, to the other cheek, across the blue flush.

“I’ve been very careful to never do this in front of humans. Now I’m afraid I’ll never be able to be around you in public if you’re able to reduce me to this state.”

You were about to tease him about how dramatic he was being, until his eyes moved up to meet yours. Once more, you were blown away, and suddenly aware of your proximity. Your noses were mere millimeters from each other, and you imagined that if he was anybody else you would’ve been able to feel the heat radiating off of him. But you couldn’t, instead it felt no different than the crisp air around you.

Despite the fact that it was your hands holding his face physically, you felt as though it he who had a hold over you. You were absolutely bewitched. He was pretty, ethereal, just like fresh snow. And you surged forward that last centimeter, pressing your lips to his. They were cold just like the rest of his skin, but you paid it no mind as it seemed to heat you up from within. One of his hands reached up to cover the back of yours, lacing your fingers together. His fingers didn’t feel as freezing as they had before, and you simply leaned into the kiss even more, excitement coursing through your veins. Doyoung was kissing you back, only slightly more restrained than you, but still stealing the air from your lungs. Your mouths broke apart for a moment for you to suck in a breath before you dove back in, absolutely enthralled by Kim Doyoung.

He lowered your hands from his face, and you could feel him beginning to lose intensity. Slowly, he pulled back, pressing your lips together once more with finality before breaking the kiss entirely. And not for air this time. Your eyes fluttered open, and you were sure that your pupils were absolutely blown. His cheeks were still that true blue, the tips of his ears and neck a baby blue that was quickly deepening.

But Doyoung was frowning. Were you a bad kisser? Did he regret it? Did he realize that maybe he didn’t actually like you romantically?

“That was a bad idea, I’m sorry,” he whispered, standing up from the bench.

You were unable to force yourself to stand as well, too overwhelmed with conflicting thoughts and feelings. He said he liked you, that holding your hand made him happy, and he kissed you back. But now he was saying that it was a mistake.

“Your lips are (blue/pale), Y/N,” he continued his remorseful murmuring.

Dumbfounded—and still processing that emotional whiplash—your fingers brushed over your lips. Doyoung took his parka off, then the jacket that he had underneath it, before placing them both firmly on your shoulders instead, popping the jacket collar up to cover your neck as well.

Grabbing your clothed arm, he urged you up from the bench, “Come on, to the car, I’ve got to warm you back up.”

Being tugged through the park finally inspired your brain to produce proper thoughts and express them adequately, “I don’t mind.”

“You should, I just gave you cyanosis, Y/N.”

“Doyoung, I’ll be fine,” you insisted, awkwardly between a jog and a walk as you were forced to keep pace with his long strides. “Don’t tell me you regret kissing me…”

The snow spirit slowed down to look back at you sincerely, “I didn’t mean it like that. I don’t regret kissing you, I just wish I hadn’t given you cyanosis because of it.”

“Okay. Yay.”

Doyoung smiled then, not quite a full-on happy, beaming smile, but more of a fond, relieved, and exasperated smile all in one. He picked up his pace again, unlocking the SUV and opening the door for you. He reached across you to start the engine, putting the heat all the way up and turning on your seat warmer before walking around to get in on the driver’s side.

“Isn’t this going to make you uncomfortable?” You asked him as the air began to warm up.

“My comfort is not more important than your circulation, Y/N.”

“It’s not a big deal.”

“This is exactly what I meant. I can’t touch you without giving you hypothermia or cyanosis. Who knows how close you were to actual frostbite.” He was rambling under his breath, like he was chastising himself. His knuckles were white as they gripped the steering wheel, pulling out of the parking space.

“Hey, Doyoung,” you called out gently to him, breaking him back out of his thoughts. His features softened when he looked over to you, though a grimace flashed across his features as he caught sight of your discolored lips once more. “Don’t beat yourself up about this. And don’t you fucking dare swear off physical affection, either. Not after that kiss. We’ll just be cautious about it, okay? I’ll be careful, I’ll wear gloves on dates, and stop holding your hand or whatever when I get too cold.”

“Okay…” his voice was barely above a hoarse whisper as he nodded his head. His tone turned louder and much more somber as he added, “Please don’t push yourself Y/N. I don’t want you hurt, especially not because of me.”

“I won’t, I promise.” You itched to hold his hand, but you knew there was no way he was going to touch you at all while your lips were still like that. So instead, you rested your hand on his clothed arm, squeezing for just a moment before withdrawing. You could feel the coolness of his skin through the thin material of his dress shirt.

Flipping the mirror down in front of you, you appraised the color of your lips. They were still tinged a little (blue/lighter), but there was some proper color returning to the area. You were going to be fine, just like you’d told Doyoung. But you knew why he was so serious about this, he had to have an overabundance of caution or else he could seriously hurt you, completely unaware unless you told him. Or your body did. But you promised to yourself to not let it get to this level again, seeing how distressed he was over even just turning your lips a slightly different color. You couldn’t be selfish with his physical affection, instead you’d have to regulate it and treasure it. And get creative.

The rest of your drive to your apartment was silent, Doyoung presumably still stewing in guilt over the kiss giving you cyanosis, and you brainstorming creative ways to prolong your physical affection with him. Gloves on dates like you’d already said, drinking hot tea right before kissing him… you were sure you could come up with more in the morning after sleeping on it.

At your doorway with your normal-colored lips once more, you were tempted to kiss him again. But he was traumatized enough for the night. So instead, still wearing your own thick layers plus the two extra from Doyoung, you finally did what you had been psyching yourself up about for the past six dates. You wrapped your arms around his waist in a hug so quick and fleeting that he didn’t even have time to hug you back. In the blink of an eye, you were apart again, smiling at him cheekily.

“Not cold,” you told him confidently.

“Good,” he nodded.

Taking his parka and jacket off, you handed them back to him through his protests, “I know you don’t technically need them, but I’m about to go into my toasty warm apartment. So you can have them back.”

Begrudgingly, he accepted the articles of clothing.

“One more thing,” you said, and he perked up attentively, eyes wide with slight worry. Probably thought that you were going to kiss him again. “Can I call you my boyfriend now?”

His features relaxed before turning into a small smile as he nodded, “Yes, you can. Which means you’re my girlfriend.”

“Excellent use of logic there, Doyoung.”

“Thanks.”

You’d just turned back to your door when you remembered something else, “Oh, you can tell… people, by the way. Unless you already have, I don’t think I ever officially extended that gag order past our first date, so it’s fine if you’ve already told someone.”

Doyoung’s eyebrows raised, “Ah, I did, actually. I told Mr. Qian that I was seeing you a few weeks ago.”

You feigned surprise to the best of your ability, “Oh, and how did that go?”

“Fine.”

“Good.”

After another moment of you debating if you were going to tell him about you actually knowing exactly when and how he told Kun that you were dating, you decided against it. You’d drive off that bridge sometime, but not right then.

“Goodnight, Doyoung,” you beamed at him.

He gave you that same half-smile back, “Goodnight, Y/N. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Oh, a call instead of a text? How exciting.”

“My girlfriend deserves an actual call from me, not just a text I typed while waiting for an elevator or Mr. Qian’s coffee.”

“I feel so special.”

“Well, you are.”

At that, the smitten grin on your face only increased, and you finally twisted your door handle, “I’ll be looking forward to your call then.”

“Me too,” he affirmed, smirking just the slightest.

And with that, you entered your apartment. As soon as you had clicked the door shut behind you, you peered through the peephole again. Doyoung gently patted the two jackets hanging over his arm—the ones that you had borrowed—and stood there for just another moment, smirk turning into a genuine smile as he then turned and left.

The next week you were in your living room, arms full of your extra blankets and pillows. You dropped them onto your couch with a light ‘pwuh’ when they impacted with the cushions. Grabbing your t-shirt, you pulled it off your chest to fan the material against you. It was a little bit too warm for you in your apartment, but it was a precaution. Doyoung was coming over for a movie night, and you wanted to cuddle.

Heat? Check. Blankets? Check. Kettle on the stove for hot tea? Check. Emergency hoodie? Still in your bedroom.

You walked back into your room to find Taeyong in his cat form, curled up and snoozing. Right on your hoodie.

“Yong,” you said quietly, gently tugging on the material. “Can I have my hoodie, please?”

He let out a dissatisfied growl, but nevertheless rolled off of it so that you could seize it in your grip.

“Are you okay? You never nap this late.”

“’S the heat, ‘s making me sleepy,” he mumbled, rubbing a paw over his face, keeping his eyes squeezed shut.

“Well, have a good nap then,” you scratched behind his ears for a moment before retreating from the bedroom, keeping the door slightly ajar behind you.

Just a few moments later, there were two sharp knocks at your front door. You bounded over to it eagerly, opening the door in one smooth motion. Doyoung was on the other side, of course. You knew that he would be coming fresh from work, and his clothes made that clear enough. He’d managed to slightly dress down, leaving the suit jacket and tie in his car, but was still wearing his dress pants, dress shoes, and crisp white button-up—though the top few buttons were undone.

“Hey,” you greeted him brightly, stepping back to let him in.

“Hi,” he walked in, eyebrow raising at you as you closed the door behind him. “You turned the heat on…”

“Yeah, so I can do this,” you wrapped your arms around his waist and buried your face into his neck without hesitation. “Without getting hypothermia.”

He stiffened for a moment, not prepared for the sudden contact. Slowly, his hands emerged from his pockets and he hugged you back. You were glad for the chilliness he brought, immediately cooling you back down. When the very tip of your nose started to get a little cold, you pulled back, a satisfied smile across your mouth. Your boyfriend’s hands lingered on your hips, touch feather-light, eyes scanning your face with worry. Presumably checking for signs of cyanosis or the like.

“I’m fine, Doyoung,” you reassured him and quickly pecked his lips before fully breaking away, grabbing his hand to drag him towards the couch, “Like I said, we’ve got to get creative.”

“Is your landlord going to appreciate this?”

“He can go suck one,” you retorted, plopping down onto the couch. “We’re having a movie night, and movie nights mean cuddles, no matter your external body temperature.”

Doyoung followed, quipping, “You’re very passionate about one's right to cuddles.”

“It’s a basic human right in my opinion.”

“I’m not a human.”

“It’s a basic human and Ayakashi right,” you rephrased pointedly. “So I turned the heat up, I’ve got a million blankets, water boiling in case I need some hot tea, and a hoodie for myself just in case.”

“You’ve thought this through.”

“Of course,” you frowned, scooting closer to him to grab his arm and put it around your shoulders. “You’re my boyfriend and I want to show you affection. You being an icicle isn’t going to stop me.”

His face broke out in a genuine, soft smile at your words, “I’m glad. Just don’t let me hurt you, okay?”

“You won’t,” you promised resolutely, grabbing one of the fluffiest blankets to drape over your laps. Tucking your sock-covered feet up under yourself, you pressed even further into his side in content. The difference between your rather warm apartment and your rather cold boyfriend was new, but not necessarily unwelcome.

Halfway into the first movie, you’d added another blanket and decided to put on your emergency hoodie.

“Are you getting cold?” Doyoung asked you quietly, and you could feel him already shifting in preparation of letting go of you. He had previously relaxed into the corner of the couch, allowing you even more leeway to snuggle into him.

“I’m regulating,” you insisted, yanking your head through the hole before settling back into your previous position.

He seemed hesitant, so you pointedly grabbed his hand and laced your fingers with his, resting your joined hands across your front. Hearing a short sigh come from him, he accepted the situation, squeezing your hand gently. Your attention turned back to the screen in front of you, and you absentmindedly pressed a soft kiss to the back of his hand as you were wrapped back up into the plot.

About thirty minutes later, however, you found yourself struggling to focus on the movie. It had started dragging on for far too long, not to mention that you had your handsome boyfriend right there.

“Hey,” you nudged Doyoung.

“Yes?” He looked down at you attentively, dark eyes locking with yours.

“Kiss me?”

“Are you cold?”

“No.”

Thankfully he didn’t push as much this time, leaning down to press his lips to yours in a soft, chaste kiss. Your chest swelled for just a split second before he pulled back quickly, and you blatantly pouted at him.

“Okay? Temperature-wise?”

“Yes, I’m okay,” you reassured him. “You can kiss me more, Doyoung.”

He leaned down again, and you pulled your own neck up in an attempt to connect your lips even sooner. Your nose bumped against his cheekbone for a moment in your clumsy rush, and you let out a noise akin to an ‘oops!’ before his mouth finally sealed over yours. He brought his other hand up to rest on your knee, giving him better leverage to stay upright as you intensified the kiss. Your own free hand went to his cheek, then his hair, before moving to the nape of his neck then dipping below the starched collar of his shirt. His skin was cool and smooth under your touch, and you kept track of how cold your lips were in the back of your mind. Since you were in a warm apartment under two blankets and wearing a hoodie now, rather than outside in the snow like last time, you figured you’d have a bit more time to kiss your boyfriend before your lips changed color. And you were going to take full advantage of that.

When the tips of your fingers that were resting on his skin started get to an uncomfortable temperature, you trailed them around to his front to instead clutch at his collar. It wasn’t going to be so nice and crisp anymore. Bunching the material up in your hand was a slightly warmer option and gave you a firm hold to pull him even closer with. Just like last time, despite his cold lips, you felt heated up from within as you kissed. His mouth moved against yours firmly but sweetly, and you felt like you couldn’t get enough. But unfortunately, there definitely was a limit. When it started getting a little difficult to properly feel his lips moving tandem to yours, you broke the kiss begrudgingly. You had to be careful, not only for your circulation’s sake, but for Doyoung’s and your own. If you let yourself get cyanosis again, he might fully ban kissing, and you honestly thought you might die if he did.

So with a final soft kiss to his lips, you released his shirt from your grip and pulled back. Doyoung’s eyes scanned your face for any sign of damage from the cold, and you waited with bated breath for the final verdict, moving your warmer tongue over your lips in a last-ditch attempt to warm them up even a little bit.

When he simply pecked between your brows and settled back against the couch, you let out a breath of relief. You hadn’t pushed too far. Your boyfriend looked down to appraise the state of his shirt as well, free hand attempting to smooth over the wrinkles that you had left.

“My dry cleaner will be concerned,” he informed you, the corners of his mouth turning down as he continued to press at the less-than-pristine fabric. “I just picked this shirt up today and I’ll have to bring it back tomorrow.”

“Don’t you have a steamer or something?” You retorted, still slightly out of breath from the kissing.

“I think it’s past my ability to fix at home.”

“Oh, shut up,” you grumbled, pulling the blankets up to your neck in an effort to warm yourself back up again. “Can you pull another blanket on top of me?”

“Of course,” he let go of your hand to reach over you and grab another blanket on your other side, laying it on top of the other two and gently patting it down to make sure you were cozy. “Good?”

“Great.”

“Do you want some more tea?”

“Nope, just want to stay here with you.”

A soft smile came to his face at your reply, and his voice was quiet as he accepted, “Okay.”

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[samsexualdeancurious]

Not a Duet But a Holy Trio | Chapter Eight

Pairing: Wincest, Wincest/Reader

Total Words: 2,553

Summary: When Sam finally arrives in Heaven for the last time, he discovers that, somehow, he has TWO soulmates - his older brother and a complete stranger.

Warnings: Reader Death, Canonical Major Character Death(s), WINCEST, eventual threesome smut (vaginal sex, anal sex, probably some oral, I’ll try and update this as we go), some made up lore shit for plot reasons. If the SPN writers can do it, so can I xD

Header editing by me.

---

“Yes,” you answer without hesitation. “I would love that!”

Dean’s face splits into a relieved grin and Sam shakes his head fondly.

“Told you she’d say yes.” Sam nudges his brother and shoots you a wink. You can’t help a shy duck of your head, cheeks burning, but you’re smiling.

---

The date is planned for Saturday. Apparently, since Cas and Jack reorganized Heaven, people are beginning to take advantage of the opportunity for large organized gatherings. Events like the ones you would have gone to on Earth are being planned. This weekend, the fairgrounds that have appeared across the street from the Roadhouse are going to be home to a real, proper fair, the likes of which you haven’t been to since you were a child.

You’re a bundle of excited nerves by the time Saturday rolls around, though. Between this being your first date with one of your soulmates and the fact that you haven’t been around more than a handful of people at a time in over fifteen years… yeah. Your stomach is in knots.

Sam finds himself with the job of go-between as both you and Dean get ready on Saturday morning. He quickly prioritizes you over Dean, though, when he realizes how nervous you are. You try to protest - he should be focusing on his brother - but Sam shuts that down quickly.

“Do you want me to come with you guys?” he asks from his seat on the end of your bed.

You’re rummaging through your jewelry, trying to find the match to the earring you picked out. You shake your head. “No, no, we’ll - I’ll be fine. It’s just… a lot of people.”

“Do you want to do something else?” Sam offers gently, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees.

You finally find the second earring and you turn to face Sam fully, tilting your head to get the earring in. He’s looking at you with that soft, earnest expression, the one that tells you he’ll do anything to help you feel better. You may not be a part of the codependency established by the brothers’ isolated lifestyle but that look gives you hope that they may allow you in regardless.

“No,” you say after a moment of consideration. “No, I want to go - I’m excited to go - I just. I’m nervous about the crowds,” and Dean, “but I can’t stay holed up here forever.”

Sam nods in agreement. “Okay. If you need to come home, though, or just go somewhere else, tell Dean. He won’t be upset, I promise.”

“I’ll tell him.” You turn to the floor-length mirror by the bathroom door and give yourself a last once over. You look good, you think. Comfy, ready for a long day of walking around outside but definitely cute. Still, you turn to face Sam and spread your arms wide. “Well?”

His eyes sweep over your body, something hot behind them that you’re excited by but not ready to think about quite yet. “Gorgeous.”

The tone with which he says the word is so genuine, it brings heat to your face. You smile, dropping your arms.

“Thanks.”

Sam stands and holds out his hand. “C’mon. I think Dean is waiting.”

--

Sure enough, the elder Winchester is seated on one of the barstools at the island. He looks great in his jeans and green button-up over a grey t-shirt. His knee bounces a little, betraying his nerves, and the sight helps to soothe your own knotted stomach.

Dean looks up when you reach the bottom of the stairs. His face splits into a blinding smile.

“Wow,” he says, breathy and more than a little awed.

Your cheeks burn again - what is with these boys and setting your face on fire? - but you manage a soft, “Thank you. You look really good, too.”

He does. His jeans cling perfectly to his thighs as he stands. His shirts highlight his strong shoulders and arms, especially where the sleeves of the button-up are rolled to reveal his forearms.

“Are you ready to go?” Dean holds out his arm, much like Sam did upstairs.

You nod, crossing the room to set your hand in the crook of his elbow. When you glance back over your shoulder, you find Sam leaning against the post at the bottom of the stairs with a broad grin on his face.

“Have fun!” he says with a little wave. “Have him home by eleven.”

“Goodbye, Dad,” Dean says with a chuckle, leading you out the door.

The Impala waits on the gravel drive, gleaming in the morning sun. Dean spent yesterday deep cleaning the car inside and out, and the effort shows.

Dean unlocks and opens the passenger door for you before getting in the driver side.

“Ready?” he asks as he turns the key in the ignition, the car roaring to life around you. The rumble of the engine vibrates through your body in a way that excites you more than a car ever has. Still, though, it doesn’t do much to calm your twisted insides.

“Ready,” you respond as confidently as you can.

“That didn’t sound very sure.”

Dean shoots you a concerned glance even as he puts the car in drive and flips around. You turn your gaze to the passenger window, watching the lake pass you by. You’ve left your Heaven before but that was just stepping through a doorway, from one room to another. This… this is different.

It almost feels like living.

“Nervous?” Dean presses, tone gentle.

“A bit.”

“I’ll be a perfect gentleman.”

You laugh softly, turning to face him as the car passes the line that used to mark the furthest you could go.

“If I take one more step, I'll be the farthest away from home I've ever been,” you say before you can stop yourself. You haven’t seen that movie in forever but the quote is one that’s always stayed with you.

Understanding lights up in Dean’s eyes and his lips curl into a soft smile. “It's a dangerous business, going out your door,” he responds without hesitation. “You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no telling where you might be swept off to.”

You return Dean’s smile, though you're not sure if he sees it since he keeps his eyes on the road. Today is a day for adventure and there’s no one you’d rather have adventures with than one of your soulmates.

“Grab the box of cassettes for me?” Dean gestures vaguely, which isn’t very helpful. “The Razors Edge should be on top.”

You take a quick glance around and find the box in question in the backseat beside the green cooler. You have to twist and stretch but you manage to grab it. Sure enough, right on top of an extensive cassette tape collection is a grey case with AC/DC’s logo above the album title, The Razors Edge against a red background. You pop the case open and pass the tape to Dean, who slides it into the radio without looking.

One push of a button and the car fills with the slow build of a guitar solo. Dean bobs his head, fingers tapping and the rhythm on the steering wheel. The sight is adorable and something about it soothes your nerves. Background singers begin to make growling vocalizations that are then broken up by the chanting of “Thunder” as the Impala flies down the highway and you settle in for the ride.

--

The fairground parking lot is packed when Dean pulls into it but he still manages to find a spot near the entrance. The sight of all those cars forms a lump in your throat and when Dean gets out of the car, you twist your hands nervously in your lap and try to think of a way to buy yourself some time. He’s at your door in a heartbeat, though, and your shoes hit the packed-down dirt of the parking lot.

“You’ve got this,” Dean says, holding his arm out for you to take hold of again. He’s solid and warm beside you. You find yourself clinging to him with both hands as you stare up at the “Entrance” sign.

“I don’t feel like I’ve got this,” you admit.

The pair of you join the line for tickets, falling in behind an elderly couple. The line moves quickly and you’re at the front before you know it. You’re not really sure how money works in Heaven but when Dean hands over his card to the kid behind the counter, asking for two tickets, it goes through just fine. Your hands are stamped and Dean leads you through the arched entrance into the bustle of the fair.

Your breath quickens at the press of the crowd around you, holding tight to Dean’s arm as he navigates a path to a big colorful map of the fairgrounds.

“What would you like to do first?” he asks.

You gaze up at the map, taking in the wide variety of activities. This feels a bit more like a fair crossed with an amusement park but this is Heaven. It’s probably much easier to make safe rollercoasters here than on Earth. Not that you really want to think too hard about how that works.

You’re pulled from your thoughts by Dean’s fingers prying yours from his arm. You jerk your head around to stare down at this, panic rising in your chest only to settle again when he loops his arm around your shoulders. The strong weight of his arm feels like a shield, a protective barrier between you and the crowds bustling past on either side.

“I’ve got you,” he murmurs, voice for your ears only. “Take your time. We’ve got all day to try out anything you want.”

You lean into him and nod, returning your attention to the map. Your eyes dart between the numbered list and the pictures of the different activities.

“How about the Adventure Drop?” you suggest, pointing out the vertical fall tower ride on the map.

Dean gives you a squeeze. “Let’s do it.”

--

As the day continues, you find yourself relaxing more and more. Dean is right by your side the entire time, talking to you in a way he’s never done before. For the first time since the boys joined you in Heaven, it feels like he genuinely wants to get to know and be with you and not just because of Sam or destiny or whatever was keeping him civil before. You’re not sure what happened on their trip or what was said between them, but it finally feels like you might have a chance at a happily ever after with your soulmates.

You go on every ride in the park, taking the time in line to have real conversations. Dean has hundreds of crazy stories to tell and half of them don’t even involve hunts, they’re just his own wild adventures. You find yourself wishing you had more stories of your own but a short life doesn’t lend itself to many. Dean listens to every one with the same intensity his brother always brings to conversations, though. The intensity that tells you he genuinely cares and wants to hear what you have to say.

When morning turns into afternoon, you stop for personal pizzas from one of the many vendor stands. After riding a big coaster called Edge of Stars, Dean insists on ice cream to settle his stomach and you track down a stand with the biggest sundaes you’ve ever seen. Later in the evening, when the ice cream is gone, more rides have been ridden, and the crowds are beginning to dwindle, Dean wins a big fluffy plush elephant for you from the carnival game with the darts. You cuddle it close as you follow him through the fairgrounds.

“Soft plush toys,” Dean observes with a fond grin, slipping his arm around your waist once more. The two of you are in line for the carousel, the last ride on the list. “The way to every woman’s heart.”

“He’s cute,” you pout, giving your elephant a squeeze.

“You’re cute,” he replies as he leans in to press a kiss to your temple.

Your breath catches in your throat and you stare up at him, unsure how to react. Conversations and protective cuddles are one thing but that? That felt like something completely different.

Dean frowns slightly. “Was that okay?”

“Yeah.” Your voice is a little breathy, definitely stunned. “I just… wasn’t expecting it. I’m a little surprised.”

“Good or bad?” He looks so concerned, it’s heartbreaking. A quiet voice in the back of your mind wonders how many times Dean’s been rejected in his life but you shush it. This definitely isn’t going to be a rejection.

“Good,” you answer honestly. “Very good. Are you sure, though? That this is what you want?”

Dean nods, turning so he can loop both his arms around your waist. Your elephant is squished between you but Dean doesn’t seem to mind.

“It is.” His green eyes are bright in the low lighting from the lanterns that decorate the line areas and pathways of the fair. “I was so nervous before. I’m nothing special, Y/N, even though you and Sam seem to disagree. What did I do to deserve one soulmate, let alone two?”

“I don’t think you had to do anything. Soulmates just are, regardless of the life you’ve lived.” You bring one hand up to cup his cheek and keep his gaze on yours. You don’t know where these words are coming from but you can feel the truth of them in your chest. “You’re not perfect, Dean, but you’re a good man. Sam and I consider ourselves lucky to be able to call you our soulmate.”

Emotion swims in his eyes and he leans into your touch. “I’m the lucky one here.”

You smile up at him, your thumb stroking across his cheekbone. “Luck all around, then.”

“Can I kiss you?” he asks, words tripping over each other like he has to get them out before he can overthink them.

“I-” You freeze, hesitating, and watch the doubt begin to creep across Dean’s face once more before you manage to get out, “I’ve never kissed anyone before.”

Dean’s eyes widen with understanding. “So you’ve never done…?” He gives a little roll of his hips to indicate what he’s hesitant to voice and you laugh softly.

“Yes, Dean,” you say. “I’m a virgin.”

“Shit,” he breaths, tongue darting out to wet his lips. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t… that’s… that shouldn’t be hot but it is.”

You laugh again. “You and Sam get to be the only ones who’ve ever been with me that way. That pleases a possessive caveman part of your brain.”

His cheeks turn bright red. “Yeah. Yeah, it does.”

“Yeah, I thought so.” You pat his cheek and pull back a little. “I think I would like a kiss, though, if the offer is still on the table?”

Dean’s face splits into a grin and he leans in, one hand sliding up to curl around the back of your neck and guide you to meet him. You close your eyes and can’t help a soft sigh when his lips finally press against your own.

—

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—

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[nemotakeit]

SO,

I saw a popular(probably) theory that SAI might be the prequel to Trench or at least contains story elements that precede the narrative of Trench, and I think it's true at this point. Now I'd like to expand on that.

Everything has been going in reverse since the start of Trench (HENCE all the reversed parts in its songs UH HELLO) and now we get a certain starting point: the beginning of Banditos. The photos we got for The Outside mv likely indicate that. The torch Josh is holding is pre-Trench and I think this beach is where they washed up ashore on the continent of Trench (based on the new map).

The cycle was first introduced in that one HDS cycle vid - Trench showed us the cycle. The album wasn't the happiest but it still left us with a prospect of leaving the city—leaving the cycle which is mentioned explicitly in Shy Away ("break the cycle in half"). Even how the boys stood in the wrong order for promo pics during the first half of the SAI era is about things unfolding in reverse !! Now, they stand in the correct order, meaning we finally got to the beginning and that the cycle will be broken in half while the story unravels in the correct order.

Trench was about challenging Vialism by fighting back. But because, as Tyler said, Trench is an in-between place where no one knows where the road will lead them, it didn't suggest a definitive finale. At first glance, SAI is a terribly bleak album filled with propaganda. Then we get a twist in the story now! We're standing on the bridge to the next era. I still think we're in for an even bleaker ride because of all the grim implications we saw at the end of the Takeover Tour and also the Icy Tour being all blue. Well they say the hour before daybreak is the darkest.

As I'm writing this I realize that this newly uncovered part of the lore might also be a part of the cycle (they escape from the Saturday submarine=>they become Banditos=>Tyler gets taken=>rescue mission=>Tyler gets snatched again=>Saturday=>beach=>repeat), but I think even the introduction of this segment may indicate a fissure in the loop DEMA has been so carefully maintaining. I adhere to the speculation that the next album, starting with the last (I strongly believe) mv of SAI, will finally guide us through the story in a linear fashion until it provides closure. Personally, I don't think tøp is gonna throw us a completely happy ending because well...that's how Tyler is lol But we'll still see an optimistic ending, I hope!

And of course I might be utterly wrong about everything lmao