#i love peppy everyone should love them too

[cherrirui-official]

Friendlocke Violet Gijinkas (Part 7/7)

HOLY SHIT CHAT THE FINAL THREE WE'RE HERE WE'RE IN THE ENDGAME RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!! /POS

All gijinkas linked below (in order of canon catch order) vvv

(Part One) (Part Two) (Part Three) (Part Four) (Part Five) (Part Six)

!! These will contain personal headcanons I have for the cast, little fun facts, and also spoilers for Friendlocke Violet (for both the edited vids and the streams) !!

@saltydkart-reblogs

Designs under the cut!

COOKIE:

If you aren't born with immortality, then there are ways to take it from those who were. However, you must make sure that you don't mess up when doing so. If you do, then you better PRAY that the other party is merciful to you… whoever Cookie messed with wasn't so merciful.

Cookie has been around for at least a century. Years ago, he was cursed to age rapidly, with the only thing that can temporarily reverse his aging being the blood of other pokemon. When Peppy found him he was only a week old, take that information with what you will.

Cookie's name came from the fact that he loved to bake before he was cursed. Now he's far to busy to pick it up as a hobby again.

Luke was the one that gave Cookie his IPad as a gift, much to the dismay of Sara. He likes to watch anything he can find on there along with Puppie (though they stuff they watch is moderated of course). Cookie has never once let go of that IPad.

Cookie is very quick to learn things, but his attention span can be a little short at times. No shame in that!

Cookie has only ever had two fears: death and fires.

DA CHEFF:

Da Cheff has his very own restaurant! However it is impossible to to go there without flying... huh.

Da Cheff can speak in multiple languages, this is good for customers who don't primarily speak english.

The horns on his head can switch between horns and wings, it depends on the day.

Most of his cooking materials was made by Da Cheff himself! Of course, only the best chef needs the best cooking utensils, and only Da Cheff knows how the best utensils should be made. He won't take anything less.

Has horrible eyesight, he needs to keep his glasses on at all times, otherwise he won't be able to see at all.

Very VERY harsh when it comes to critiquing others' cooking. So harsh to the point that everyone agrees that it's best to just let Da Cheff cook for everyone rather than vice versa. Thankfully Da Cheff is more than happy to cook for his friends!

PUPPIE:

Puppie isn't computer-savy, to say the least, however she is really good when it comes to modern phones. She even has one herself!

Wears her raincoat at all times because she doesn't like getting rainwater all over her.

It is unknown why Puppie was alone when the others found her, especially when she comes from a HUGE family of bellibolts, but she doesn't seem to be too upset over that. Or rather she just doesn't dwell too much on it. Who knows?

Her ears and tail are little lights that can float around. She likes placing her ears over her raincoat hood because "she looks like a frog!"

A fan of TONS of different celebrities, from Ariana Grande to Hatsune Miku. Ask her about any of them and you WILL be forced to listen to her ramble on about said celebrity.

Her favorite move, Zap Cannon, is exactly what it says on the tin. Yup, Puppie owns a cannon (well, its more of a rocket launcher than a cannon... but whatever) and knows how to use it. Thanks Pastey.

AND WITH THAT I'M DONE!! YEAAAAH!! If ur here then thank you so much!! I put a lot of work into these so it makes me very happy to see people enjoy my funny little gijinkas for the funny pokemon rp series lol! It genuinely means a lot to me :]

This isnt the last time im posting abt friendlocke tho haha. Be on ur toes. Be ready. /silly

[dreamrutine]

╰   ––––––– ✧  BOSS in LOVE IN THE AIR

( ♡ ) by clicking on the SOURCE LINK you will be redirected to 95 gifs of 𝐁𝐎𝐒𝐒 ( chaikamon sermsongwittaya ) in love in the air episode 1. he was born in 1999 so cast him accordingly. all of them were made by me from scratch, please do not repost them or claim them as your own. 

TW: drink, neck kissing, rain (a lot). ETHNICITY: thai. NOTE: thanks @gifsbypeppy for helping me with the rain scenes / making me a base coloring for those scenes.

BASIC RULES:

PLEASE DO NOT use them for crackships without asking.

PLEASE DO NOT crop / resize / change them.

PLEASE DO NOT use in krpg (or indie) / smut rpg (or indie) / taboo rpgs / or fanfics.

reblog if you use or like them !!!( OR YOU CAN BUY ME SOME COFFEE IF YOU CAN / WANT )

[electraslight]

hello! inquiring minds want to know about your thoughts on gus. in particular the mask w the third eye + the third eye you drew him with a couple times. i've always been a little disappointed with how little the show expanded on the stuff we saw in e.g. labyrinth runners and you always have interesting things to say (or make up on the spot :P) about your designs ^^

i love gus!! hes so charming and basically every episode with a gus subplot is good. the stuff about the illusionists graveyard and gus protecting it is really cool and gets me thinking about how much gus knows about magical artifacts (he should be a historian not a teacher when hes older imo) and labyrinth runners is one of my favorite episodes. i think the specific way hunter and gus connect is really well written and i wish wed seen them interact more after that (but i just generally very much enjoy their friendship). I think people often talk about gus as if it was hunter specifically that 'stole' his screentime but like, are we forgetting gus and willow were barely used in favor of episodes trying to teach a 5 year old child concepts hes too young for lol. season one was so poorly paced in comparison to s2 that yeah, i dont think it was hunter that took from gus specifically. you could say the same thing about amity

I do however think willow's very shoehorned 'arc' in s3 would have fit way better with gus, who has 1. forced himself to keep up a peppy attitude and uplift everyone else even though hes terrified for his dad and also is like. 12. 2. has been known to have intense involuntary magic outbursts that can sometimes induce flashbacks of your worst moments ever, and 3. you can still do the thing where hunter talks them down bc like. theyve done this before. like i feel like honestly willow had completed her arc in season 2 and after that most willow stuff was her trying to convince everyone else she was better now. I have a lot of issues with how huntlow kind of erased willow and gus's friendship too, which i always though was rlly cute, but again i digress

back to my gus design, the 'third eye' is facepaint like willow or amity's markings, but while hes using his powers it can appear to move around. hes not pictured with the mask here but he has a set of comedy and tradgedy masks (the blight twins have this insignia too but i havent drawn them casually yet) Gus has satyr blood (his grandparent was one of the last satyrs to interact with witches before they left to live in the forest after their lifestyle was no longer supported. God damn it belos) so his ears are bigger than other witches and hes very short.

anyway. i like gus a normal amount. thanks for asking!

[bulliestrolls]

A Streams Psyche [FLEEK AU]

Introduction to the Fleek AU and what's to come (this was so fun to write hiii)

Honestly, Creek’s never been a huge fan of Branch.

At first, it wasn’t personal at all, or at least he didn’t mean for it to be, he just didn’t like how Branch treated his friends. He was always such a grouch and he was such a downer at every given moment, and it was such a drag to listen to over and over again. If anything, Creek was grateful that Branch typically barricaded himself from everyone else, I mean, if he wasn’t going to be positive, then what was the point of having him around? And yet that never seemed to stop Poppy, her being the future Queen of pop and also his best companion. 

Poppy always seemed adamant on having Branch join their crew and changing his ways. While he never really understood why she wanted to so badly, he couldn’t help but admire her attitude. Something about the peppiness always brought a smile to his face, and he always supported her decisions as a best friend should. Usually though, it never seemed to work in her favor. Branch always blew her off and gave a stink eye to her and everyone else, and quite frankly it got on Creek’s nerves. 

He always did his best to cheer up Poppy whenever it happened, finding it strange how upset she gets over it. Why should she even care if he doesn’t? What was the need to show emotion over someone that didn’t even matter in the long run? Regardless of his thoughts, he succeeded often in bringing back her spirits, the gang usually partying together the remainder of the night as a result. Creek always greatly enjoyed their company, and loved to share his exercises with everyone, his life seemed perfect.

That was until the bergens attack on Pop village. 

Even now, he remembered that day so vividly. Poppy had planned a gigantic celebration for the village to party over them being free from the monsters for so many years. Everyone was so excited to join in on the festivities, everyone except the one who he can’t even think about anymore without clenching his jaw. 

Branch. 

As usual, that damned troll was set on ruining the rest of their fun, claiming how they’re being far too loud and the bergens would get them. Same shit as usual, it was incredible how Creek didn’t gain a headache from the repetitiveness of it. He’s tried before to talk some sense into the troll, but Branch always shoved him away, seemingly as if he were more irate with him than anyone else, which was pretty confusing to Creek. 

Branch, of course, had ended up retreating back to his lonesome bunker, and the rest of the group set up in preparation for the lovely party. And what a party it was, it would’ve been one for the books if the attack hadn’t happened right after. Before much notice, he saw the yellow beady eyes looking down at everyone, and all he can recall is the screams of his friends and the pleas for help which were left unanswered. 

Next thing he had known, he and his buddies were stuffed into a back, shaking with fear and breathing hard, their fate unknown. He remembers not reacting as strongly as his friends had back then. Really, he remembered only thinking of how to relax everyone and for them to have an open and clear mind. How come he hadn’t really processed how awful the situation had been?

Whatever hope he had given his companions started to dwindle the more time went on, especially when everyone had been thrown into a cage, a bergen staring down at them. Even in that situation, Creek had been adamant on everyone remaining calm, and that help would be there soon. He didn’t know if he was even being honest with himself at that moment, he already knew how hopeless the situation had been. And the problem only cemented itself when he was grabbed to be eaten by the Bergens king. 

The moment was instant, he remembered his friends shouting and crying out his name and it all became muffled as the world around him darkened. Originally he had thought he had shut his eyes only to realize he was inside the king's mouth. He was terrified, for the first time in his life, and he could do nothing but accept his fate. Only.. the king’s mouth didn’t do anything. He hadn’t chewed, or swallowed, and it left Creek puzzled.

He still had time! He let out a deep inhale before using all of his core strength to push against the walls of the mouth, letting out a guttural scream until he found himself falling out of it, being met with the two bergens, and the fear kicking back into gear. What was the plan at that point? They were skyscrapers compared to him, running was out of the question. All he could do in that moment was beg for his life, pleading mercy and willing to do anything to be granted such. 

It seemed to have been a running thing through his life, the will to do anything he could in order to get what he wanted. In this case, that was making out of this alive. 

And so, he had made a deal to spare pop village and everyone in exchange to live. He truly wished it didn’t have to be that way, not when he has achieved such a strong bond with the others, but he didn’t have any other choice in the matter, so he reluctantly agreed. The next time he had seen everyone, they were all ecstatic to see that he was still alive, and he couldn’t help but smile despite the circumstances. It was short-lived however, when his eyes traveled to Branch, who seemed shocked and… annoyed that Creek was there. 

Really? Even after everything he was still acting like that? Before he had known it, Branch was exclaiming Creeks’ betrayal, his hair wrapping around Creeks neck harshly, cutting off his circulation to breathe. Relief overflooded him when Poppy had pushed Branch back and tried to talk reason into him. When everyone turned over to him however, he wasn’t quite sure of what to say. 

He… didn’t want to lie so he told them the truth of his betrayal, but it was for good reason. He hadn’t been able to get another word in before Poppy was doing the exact same assault Branch was previously. That was expected from Branch, but from HER? His heart was shattering, wondering where his Poppy had gone. She would never have acted like this towards him before, this must’ve been all his doing. He must’ve been changing her.

Why?

Why was she acting like that towards him? Surely she would’ve understood he didn’t have a choice in the matter, he would die otherwise! He insisted that the other trolls would’ve done what he had to if they were placed in his situation. When Branch had resisted her, Creek’s head felt like it was going to blow when he saw him holding onto Poppy like that. What the hell gives, exactly? It wasn’t like this until only now, and it confused the hell out of him. 

If anything, HE should’ve been the one to be angry in this situation. None of them had done anything to save him from his supposed doom, they all thought he was dead, after all. And, while he may not have enjoyed having to betray pop village, he felt a bit of sadistic glee when it involved Branch being part of the equation, especially now. After all, he made all of his friends hate him, telling them things behind his back. Things that showed Creek was the villain in the scenario, which he couldn’t help feel were ridiculous. SURELY they all would’ve done the same in this scenario, right? Right? Branch would’ve, definitely! He didn’t like ANY of them until only recently, apparently. 

The thought of it all made his head spin, he hated it. He hated him. None of this would’ve happened if it weren’t for that fucker. Creek could’ve calmed his friends down about the betrayal if not for HIS outburst. He wouldn’t have already been rooted against if not for Branch, his friends would’ve believed him, surely. Maybe… maybe this all was for the best! Yeah, yeah that’s it! At least in this way, Creek could properly punish Branch for all he believed was his fault, and maybe, just maybe, he could change Branch to their side once and for all, a feat Poppy wasn’t able to achieve so he would do it for her instead. Then… everything would return to normal. 

He had hoped at least that everything would return to normal.

Creek ended up returning to Pop village and doing what had to be done, which he felt sorrow for, at least that’s what he showed. It wasn’t really known how he was feeling about it all, but he did pity them all for being so weak and powerless in the situation. 

Some time later he finds that plans went south, and he was rolling out of the bergens kingdom with their chef, who was on fire. It was yet another moment of blink fast and you’d miss it. That was also the moment he realized that he didn’t need to betray them at all and everyone was still alive, which gave him momentary happiness, only for it to dwindle at the fact that everyone was leaving him to die. All he could do at that point was to scream along with the other bergen until the fire was put out and she was dead. Except that’s not exactly what happened. For some reason, the fire hadn’t killed her, which was a bit of a shock to him. It might’ve been due to the rough and thick skin of the bergens, but he wasn’t entirely sure. Regardless, since she was out of it from the pain, he thought he could maybe make an escape.

That was until he felt her cold and bony hand grab him, preparing to finish the job and eat him herself. God, he was just going to die no matter what he did, huh? How was any of it fair at all? 

The moment was thankfully short-lived, or at least so he thought, as he felt both of them falling down into a pit. The bergen had died almost instantaneously, sinking down into the stomach acid of the creature that had swallowed them both. He had more time to react than her about it, his small stature having him fall down at a slower pace. With quick thinking he gathered his hair strength to break out, but he still gained acid burns from being in there already. He screamt from the pain but was desperate to get out, to live.

He eventually had made it out of the monster's pit, gasping heavily as he had access to basic air once more, thanking whatever entity above him that was giving him a second chance at life. The troll had focused on tending to his wounds, letting out a hiss of agony at every touch, but it needed to be done. Once he had finally had a chance to think properly once more after his second near-death experience, it washed down on him like a dam. 

None of them cared if he died, hell, it seemed as if nobody even realized he was gone. What could he do from here? He certainly couldn’t have returned to pop village, at least not right now. If they were willing to give him up to a bergen, then they’d likely execute him on the spot for his ‘crimes’. All he could do right now was prepare for his eventual return, knowing that whenever that may have been, there was no going back to the way things used to be. His relationship with them all had been completely severed, and the way he could feel about things felt more warped than ever. 

In the months and the year it took until he returned, he practiced learning basic expressions, reacting to things suddenly and unreasonably to see their effect on others. How to truly react to things became null to him ever since that day, and it was a struggle to come across as normal afterwards. Nevertheless, he persisted, adamant on changing people's minds on him, and getting them to love him once more. 

As expected, his return was at first unwelcomed, him being met with Branch yet again, who was right at Poppy’s side. He couldn’t help but scoff mentally at the fact he was replaced with THIS troll of all things, but he kept his calm and cool stature, claiming guilt and being apologetic to everyone, even though he still didn’t really believe he did anything wrong. It was a stressful situation after all, still, he let them know he was willing to repent for everything and do whatever it takes to gain back everyone’s trust once more. Branch’s face during that moment couldn’t help but creep into Creek’s mind, remembering its vile expression clearly. 

For the most part, everything had been calm. He worked hard and dutifully, really gaining back his place back into the village. It was going according to his plan beside the.. Setbacks. For some reason, anytime he saw Branch, there was the unbridled and raw rage that built inside of him. Sure, he could just stay away from where Branch is, but it’s not that easy unfortunately. Not when he’s constantly walking behind Poppy like a mutt. That is also not to mention Branch had recently reunited with his family members, his brothers. 

Oh great, there’s more of them multiplying. They’re like amoeba. Disgusting, filthy amoeba. 

It seemed that no matter what Creek did, he was always met with Branch’s face in one way or another. Sometimes it got so bad that he lost sleep due to it. He’s also had violent spells on his lonesome just thinking about it all, punching at walls and ripping out his hair just to do something about the thing he had no control of. That was getting pretty old though, and he decided if he couldn’t get away from Branch, he should work on ways of getting rid of him. 

There was one brother that Creek didn’t seem to mind, whose name was Floyd. Floyd was the second youngest brother, according to Branch, and was also quite the apathetic being. Creek never intended getting close or even talking to him, but one thing led to another and it turned out that they could connect pretty well. Floyd would always check up on him, and even started doing yoga, which made Creek overjoyed. Nothing else was expected of their partnership, that is until he had noticed how uncomfortable it had made Branch. Not only that, but Poppy even talked to Branch about how nothing could be done because Creek wasn’t hurting anyone. The comment of her not liking him either stung, but was quickly wiped once he realized what this could mean for him. 

This was it. THIS was how he could fix his issue with Branch, it all made sense! Creek hated seeing Branch happy, and that must be where all of the rage came from! If Branch were in ruins however, then Creek could return back to normal, even feeling a bit of joy from it. His friendship with Floyd was enough to unsettle Branch, so why not take it a step further? He could start flirting with him, taking him out on dates, hell, maybe one day he could even ask for his hand in marriage. Oh, Creek bet that would kill Branch. The thoughts in his head raced with ideas for what he could plan with Floyd, and it made him positively giddy.

If only he had known what this all would’ve done to him, then maybe he would’ve rethought everything.

[stari-hun]

The love and deepspace male leads are so interesting cause the MC changes with them too?

💫 MC and Xavier ; He’s so soft spoken but still firm with his boundaries. Which is good! Since the MC with him is super mischievous and fun. Like even in his bunny costume he literally KNEWWWWWWW we were up to something when we looked at the tail he was SCARED he knew full well the things we get up to. He’s very chill so she’s much more upbeat around him and excitable. Not that she’s not peppy with everyone else but it’s more like since she trusts Xavier to have her back so she’s more reckless than with anyone else. He also gives the vibe of more watching over her as well which makes sense from the backstory and anecdotes since that’s what he’s done for so long. It’s better for angst potential that he always gives the MC his entire heart every time they meet again but he still stays in a loyal knight position to her.

🐚 MC and Rafayel ; This time HES the menace so she takes more of role of supervisor to the chaos. Her innate personality hasn’t changed and she still has her moments of yeah let’s be chaotic together but it’s very chaotic neutral x chaotic neutral. She isn’t apprehensive to cause a mess anymore but she’s still aware that Rafayel is completely likely to get into a mess he can’t handle if he reins free. They have the confidence in each other to survive but they want the best for each other. He’s a constant sass and flirts with her all the time, and he’s kinda switched with Xavier where he flirts so much that when Raf is more open it’s more surprising.

- Both of the dynamics really take on a real life feel to it? Like obviously the MC is still written like a main character and she definitely is written like she’s aware she won’t be hurt by the world too badly or at least not die until it’s not time in that protag kinda way. But MC code switches depending on who she’s with to bring out certain parts of herself over others + based on the situation.

❄️ MC and Zayne ; Um. I feel like the writers didn’t know how to balance him being very cold with his actions being warm and how that melded with the MC. Cause he’s super charming and he’s genuinely a well loved male lead for a reason because he cares so deeply and shows it through all of his actions. He just doesn’t have that much chemistry with the MC 😭 some of their interactions are SO painful cause until you have a pretty high intimacy rate it’s so much of “I feel like you find me annoying at times” “I do” AUGHHHH. Every fanfic or piece with an ooc MC or a self insert is sooo much more chemistry with him. Cause the MC contrasts with him by being VERY peppy and happy and even more kind than with Xavier or Raf but with Zayne she just ends up seeming uncomfortable around him when ??? They’re supposed to be childhood friends kinda? Like not like Caleb but they KNEW each other beforehand pretty well and yeah he’s always been kinda cold but he’s always been someone to lean on and trust. Then they just don’t show the kind of trust they should have with a history like that.

[spencerreidsbookfairy]

apologize

yallllllllllllll if you want this to be a series pls lmk and alsooo should she forgive them and not write songs about them or should she??/

I just sat there.  Listening to them but i wasn't gonna bitch out and change my set, my set was awesome my 3 grammys tell me that 

Stage time

The crowd is filled with famous faces im more nervous about the team then the other celebs that surrounded me as i walk on stage they give a kind clap i decide to shake the team a little bit as i remember they have no idea i heard them 

‘’ ahh guys im so grateful to be here ’ as you guys know i made the song what was i made for, for the barbie movie which was amazing and i can talk about it for hours  

but i will try and make this quick i don’t wanna have you guys fall asleep mid song.’’

The team is in my direct eye of sight i see each and every one of their faces drop especially spencers 

The instrumental starts playing

I used to float, now I just fall down

I used to know but I'm not sure now

What I was made for

What was I made for?  

I take a short  pause during that pause i look at the team who still looks uneasy after my comment

Good

Takin' a drive, I was an ideal

Looked so alive, turns out I'm not real

Just something you paid for

What was I made for?

I think in my head “the songs almost over three more songs and you'll never have to see those assholes again.’’

Think I forgot how to be happy

Something I'm not, but something I can be

Something I wait for

Something I'm made for

Something I'm made for.

The audience claps, genuine claps the faces of happy celebs that enjoyed my performance buried the insecurity that my songs, my career wasn't good enough the team also claps i assume its because they don’t wanna look bitter.

“Today has been such a blessing thank you guys so much.’’

I leave the stage leaving to my dressing room

I knew Spencer would try to come and find me but i didn't think he'd bring the team too.

‘’Hey.’’ spencer says his team practically hiding behind him

“ hey’’ i say back what else can i say my mind i all over the place

‘’ you were outstanding out there everyone loved you, im proud’’

Hm. proud.

‘’Proud? Proud of me? Or your team for not falling asleep mid song.”

The room was so quiet you could hear a strand of hair drop.

‘’I would say it isn't what it sounded like but that wouldn't be true.”

His team is looking at each other figuring out if they should say something

The peppy girl garcia says something first, well she tries to

“ we owe you such-”

“No.”

“No?” she says voice shaky

“You didn't say anything wrong matter of fact you were the only one who defended me, not even he did” I say as I point a finger at Spencer who just looks down in shame and guilt.

“Listen y/n you gotta understand we just want  what's best for reid-”

“Exactly’’ jj chimes in “it's nothing personal were just overprotective” she says with a nervous giggle

“Obviously we were immature and went way too far to attack your profession’’ emily says breaking her silence

Now, i'm a sensitive person i can’t help but choke up while trying to stick up for myself against 5 people 

“i..’ ‘ you can hear me about to cry i look down so i don’t have to see their pity faces 

Where did my confidence go why can’t i talk without crying

“I just wanted to impress you guys with this performance you guys were so cool and nice in my eyes”

They all look so guilty when they can literally hear the cry in my throat.

‘’And you” i say while looking at spencer ‘’ you made me feel like you understood me, understood my music, why i make music.’’ 

“I do!” spencer tries to defend 

‘’ no, or else you would have DEFENDED me instead of bitching out and agreeing with your friends’’

I have never been in a room this quiet

“Anyway i wanna get home and shower its been a long day’’

I get up to walk away and spencer tries to stop me but i pull away and grab my stuff and leave

Prove them right. Make a song about them.

[hypequeenves]

Before the Hotel

This is Chapter One of: Before the Hotel. It is a written work detailing a little bit of what life was like for Vesper before the events of the Blog. Word Count: 2684

Chapter One: Old Grudges Everyone loves a good game, the push and pull of power - the delicate dance of ownership. It begins with a glance, a look across a crowded club – a singular moment of recognition sparking the flame for a blaze of new circumstances.

The prize?

In hell, a bed of sinners all scrambling, scampering over one another to reach the top – there really is only one prize worth winning.

Something far more precious than mere material possessions. The acquisition of one’s very being: their soul.

Angel knew this dance all too well. He knew the give and take, being trapped slowly, limb by limb, not realising the danger until he had already lost. 

This is how he found himself where he was right now. Outside the very tower that holds him prisoner on a daily basis – the Princess of Hell standing right next to him. A quick look at Charlie’s face showed him a reflection of his own apprehensive emotions.

With a deep breath, Angel swallowed the lump in his throat – uncharacteristically quiet.

“Are you sure we should be here?” Charlie’s voice was clipped, her usual peppy cadence flattened by the weight of all that’s been left unsaid.

“You want the hotel to succeed?” Angel’s reply was stilted but cut an edge of resistance. 

“You know I do” Charlie’s hand finds his, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“Then we need her”. 

A look of resolution paints Angel’s face as he steps forward, the automatic doors of the Vee’s tower opening obediently as he strides forward.

The screams, shouts and sirens of Hell deaden as the doors slid closed behind them. The familiar thudding of bass, enveloping the two – Angel recognises it as her music. The kind of pop-rock that worms its way into your head, and before you know it you find yourself humming the lyrics while you wash the dishes. 

With a small squeeze from Charlie’s hand, Angel recovers enough to put one foot in front of the other. The pounding music gets louder, the deep base vibrating the walls.

“So…” Charlie pipes up, filling the silence with nervous talking. “How did you meet her?”

Angel shrugs nonchalantly, hoping to summon the look of indifference. “She works for Vox, who works with my Bos-“ he cuts himself short “-with Valentino”. 

Angel takes a few more strides before he finds himself also needing to fill the quiet. “She- doesn’t like me much”.

Charlie tilts her head, frowning lightly. “Why?”

Angel runs an anxious hand through his hair. ” Cause I, well you know how I am – how I was before this Hotel shit.”

Charlie nods sagely, understanding Angel’s boundaries enough now to not press the subject further. “Gosh, but a pop star – I’ve been listening to her music since she debuted.” She looks up at Angel trying to judge his reaction, his gaze is still fixed down the hall. “Even Vaggie likes her music.” Angel looks down at her, a cheeky smile on his face.

“No fucking way!” He laughs “Now that’s a surprise.”

Charlie nods in agreement.

“Vesper is…” Angel tried to think of a nice way of putting it “a bitch” he sighs giving up. “Just be prepared for a rejection – I-I’m not even sure she would want to talk to me.”

Angel pulls them to a stop, the door standing impassively in front of them bearing her name, the V looping from a heart into the rest. Charlie adjusts her grip on Angel, swinging him gently to look at her.

“Angel, you are the sweetest, the kindest guy I know” The pep slowly comes back to her tone as she continues “Maybe you weren’t great to her back then – but you’ve grown up a lot since then.” She grips two of his hands and smiles widely at him “You’ve got this! We are doing this for Sir Pentious!”

Anthony takes a deep breath and Angel comes back to him, grinning widely. 

♫ ♩ ♫

A heeled boot taps impatiently against the tiled floor of a dressing room. Deep thumping music keeps rhythm with the sharp clicking of her foot.

Inky black boots give way to a dusky pale blue ankle, the splattering of freckles found there trails up to curved hips barely contained by a tight skirt. Above which holds the plane of a flat stomach and a set of Satan-gifted tits. 

Said pair of long legs and tits, sits, leaning back in a chair, the backrest emblazoned with her name. One hand scrolling absentmindedly on her phone, the popstar holds a can of sickly-sweet energy in her other – taking intermittent sips. 

A team of stressed-looking imps dance around her, pulling and pinning her obnoxiously floor-length hair into a high ponytail. 

The picture of a perfect pop star.

Vesper was having a good day. A great day even.

Hour 13 of the music videos for her new EP was going smoothly, as was the ad campaign for said EP and she was having a merciful break from the sweaty studio to boot! 

Her thumb double tapped on a photo – Vox, arm wrapped tightly around her waist as she gives the camera the middle finger – wolfish grin plastered on her face. His lips curled into one of his most impressive megawatt smiles, the caption reading: ‘My seventh year working with this absolute powerhouse of a pop star! This one’s for you Ves, here’s to seven more!’

A small fond smile creeps up on her face; he remembered their anniversary.

Speak of the Devil.

A sharp shock of wrists and ankles brought Vesper out of her fond stupor. Vesper’s smile fell, giving way to her normal petulant frown.

“There’s my money maker!” the sound of classic poker slot jingles emended from a spot behind her head.

A middle finger was all Vesper gave the man she called Boss as a greeting. The clicking of wingtip shoes against the tile, a steady hand tilted her chin up from her phone, her eyes found the mirror in front of them. 

“What’s got Hell’s favourite Siren so out of sorts?!” 

Vesper gave the man a harsh glare through the mirror framing them both perfectly.

Vesper hated when he would do this, checking in on her. You’d think seven years was enough time to gain a modicum of trust from old Pixel Brain, but she had underestimated just how much of a control freak he could be.

It was seven years ago that Vesper had signed the contract. Eight years since she had brute-forced her way into his office proposition in tow. Eight years since that night.

A metallic hand slid around her shoulder, the cold metal leaving a trail of goosebumps on her skin. Vox’s hand found what it was looking for – a chunky V-shaped cuff that clung to her neck. Similarly shaped cuffs adorn her wrists and ankles. Some might say jewellery, but they both knew what it was: a physical manifestation of her contract. A visible message to everyone - herself including – just who owned ‘Hell’s Favourite Siren’.

Vesper wasn’t dumb, nor was she naïve. This was a purposeful transaction. Vesper was a businesswoman at heart, and since her fall into Hell; Vesper had put that heart into action.

Vesper dropped her phone, the sparkling blue tech vanishing into the ether. Handing her drink to the awaiting hands of her hell-born assistants Clay and Cole the popstar finally spoke. 

“You messed up my hair with your static bullshit” she growled swatting at his claw and playing with her necklace.

A chuckle came easily to Vox, his companion had always been quick to temper. It seemed he was drawn in by those with a short fuse. 

“Apologies, you know I always want you perfect.”

“Let Clay and Cole do their job then! Go back to whatever crawlspace you apparated from and Let. Me. Work.” The popstars ever tapping feet, accelerated – the music keeping up with the tempo change. Electric guitar picks up in the melody – adding a sting of what could only be described as frustration to the catchy beat. 

Vox’s steady fingers started working, combing through her tresses, pinning, teasing, and spraying her hair into the perfect high pony. She could feel the drag of cold metal against her scalp, it felt like a ripple of electricity zipping up her spine. 

As he finished, he leant down – pressing the plastic of his screen against her cheek. “See. ꝑēɍӻēȼⱦ.” 

Vesper rolled her eyes at him a small smile betraying her fondness of her boss, before pushing him away again before standing.

Vox watched the star stretch out - arms above head, assessing her face, the cut of the clothing, the shape of her hips. A hum of satisfaction passed his lips, He had chosen well when he decided to take a chance on this nobody sinner.

“How long do I have?” Vesper grabbed her drink back from Clay. Even when talking her voice was trained, and measured, phone appearing from nowhere in her hand she turned away from him.

“Ten minutes, forty-five seconds-“ Vox is cut short as two figures breech the door of Vesper’s dressing room. Vox’s signature smile falls at the sight of his least favourite porn star. Before his eyes widened at another truly unexpected sight; Charlie Morningstar.

He snuck a glance over at Vesper, trying to gauge her reaction to the unlikely pair walking through the door. Her face was painted with a look of indifference, but the grip on her drink was so tight that her knuckles were white. 

She was angry.

His smile returned quickly “Miss Morningstar!” the lanky man quickly cleared the distance between them slinging a casual arm around the princess. “What a surprise! What brings you to my beautiful studio?!” He leans in more lowering his voice “I heard your last trip here was rather… warm?”

You could cut the tension with a knife.

Vesper cocks one hip to the side “Better be careful of any electronics in the area Boss, no one likes a re-run”. 

This elicits a chuckle from the CEO, and with a confident stride forward, Vox takes his place standing right next to Vesper again.

“You are so right Ves, so, Charlie - how can WE help you TODAY?!” He pulls Vesper in by the waist and raises an eyebrow at the two expectantly.

“Well…” Charlie begins, pushing down the growing sense of anger in her stomach. “As you know, the Hotel is having… a hard time recruiting new demons.” She pauses, desperately trying to find the right words. “And we were hoping… that Vesper…”

Vox’s grip on Vesper’s waist tightens possessively at the sound of Vesper's name.

“Would come play shows at the Hotel! It would draw in new people and it would be so much fun and you could meet all of Angel’s new friends…” Charlie continues quickly and excitedly like the floodgates of a new idea breaking open. But her speech was nothing but static to Vesper's ears, she was furious. Her eyes pinned Angel to the wall, her grip on her drink coiling, closing until it crumpled under her grip. The sticky liquid flowed down her wrist and fell in droplets from her elbow.

The song blaring against the speakers sharply changes, heavy metal piercing through them.

“God, you are just the WORST.” Vesper's voice was filled with unending malice. Sharp and cruel, an entirely different tone than when she snaps at her boss. 

“Oh, here we go…” Angel huffs rolling his eyes.

“After all this time, no calls, not even a fucking text” the star begins to take slow strides towards Angel. “And now, when I’ve finally made something of myself - here you are” Another stride arms stretched wide, she was closing in on her target.

“I would feel bad for you knowing how absolutely pathetic this is, but that would mean I gave a FUCK about you, and clearly” the pop star gestures to the room around her “I’ve got better things going on”. Vesper finally closes the gap, poking Angel directly in the chest. Charlie shifts quickly, pushing Vesper’s arm away from Angel – standing between the two. Horns growing, hair flowing.

Angel was right, she is a bitch.

Vesper laughs, moving backwards – ignoring Charlie completely, centring her deadly glaze on Angel. Her look was probing, assessing; like from one look, she could know everything about someone, right down to their underwear choice. Like she was taking in all eight years of change 

‘Using more people to hide behind? Wow, we really have ascended Angel, whose dick did you have to suck to get the Princess of Hell to stand up for you? Never mind, we all know the answer is everyone and anyone” Vesper’s arms crossed with a satisfied smile. The music fades, the tension in the room so thick that you could reach out and grip it.

“And… CUT!” Vox strides back up to Vesper, arm slung around her shoulder – the red dot on the upper right corner blinking off. “That’s gonna go viral Dove.” He whispers into the crook of her neck. Vesper’s smile turns wolfish.

“Well! Looks like you got the answer you came here for!” 

“Fuck. You. Ves.” Angel grits out through clenched teeth, his one golden tooth gleaming under the room's neon lights. 

Vesper raises a single delicate eyebrow by way of response.

“Okay, I think that’s our cue to leave Angel” the Princess begins to shuffle Angel out of the room.

“You’re so fuckin’ sore about something that happened eight years ago! You should really take the time to bend over and remove the stick from your ass. Uptight bitch doesn’t suit you, Nessie” Angel threw out her nickname like a soldier would throw a javelin.

The spear finds its target. Vesper’s grin drops, contempt quickly replacing it. Vox’s grip tightens as she goes to take a step forward, keeping her in place. 

‘I’m surprised you have time to be concerned with my ass – when your heads so far up your own, Toni” She pulls out the weapon made of something that used to be fond and hurls it right back at him. 

Before it finds its mark Vox interrupts them “You should listen to your therapist Angel. She seems like the smart one between the two of you.” He pauses looking Charlie up and down before adding “And that’s saying something”. 

After one last long glare between Angel and Vesper, the dressing room door slams shut, leaving the two separate pairs seething. 

♫ ♩ ♫

“Fucking CUNT – I can’t believe that shit!” Angel spat, one of four hands running soothingly through his locks. “I mean I expected it to be awkward, she had a vicious tongue even back then – but fuck me! That’s not the same Ves I knew”.

Angel was pacing, back and forth in the dingy alley flanking the Vee’s tower. Charlie’s eyes follow back and forth as he does so, seemingly lost for words.

“The Ves I knew, hated Vox. She didn’t take any bullshit from no one”

A flash of a memory: Vesper lying on his couch legs draped lazily over the armrests. It was a quiet moment after one of Val’s episodes. She chucked a note, the folded butterfly landing smoothly on his desk.

“You hold more power than you think Toni. Remember, you’re the prize – not him”

Stuck back into the present - Angel’s pacing paused, turning to his wide-eyed companion.

“How could someone change so much in so little time?”

Charlie hums thoughtfully - taking her time to answer, “You know how you put on the mask of Angel?” Angel gives a single nod in affirmation. “Well, some people just forget it’s a mask – they don’t take it off and it just becomes who they are”. Charlie pats Angel on the shoulder “I think I’m done with this place Angel, let go home”. 

Angel agrees it’s been a long night – though a small thought nagged in the back of his mind. 

Would he have turned out like that if he never moved to the Hotel?

Guess he’ll never know; he really did luck out when Charlie found him on that corner.

[allmyhomieshatelawns]

AND SOME MORE FOR THE HYPNO POP AU BECAUSE IT WON’T LEAVE ME ALONE EVEN THOUGH MY HANDS ARE SCREAMING IN PAIN BECAUSE THE WEATHER KEEPS SHIFTING LIKE A DICK.

anyway anyway, please enjoy another lil somethin i wrote for @djmurphy ‘s Hypno Pop AU!

“Because I’m happy, clap along if you feel like a room without a roof!” My throat stung with the words, volume rising higher with the lyrics of the song. “Dance along if you feel like that’s what you wanna do!”

Cruel irony that. I certainly didn’t want to, but that isn’t what mattered. The village needed to be happy, we were celebrating nearly twenty years of freedom from the bergens. This was a happy time!!

I continued dancing on the main stage, singing with the rasp that had developed in my voice some years ago. King Peppy said it made me sound more mature and that I should like it. And I do! I love how it sounds nothing like the angelic voice that got—

Don’t falter! I snapped back to attention just in time for the knee slide, grinning despite the harsh impact.

The entire village went wild, several in the crowd fainting, and even more screaming for an encore.

I felt tired, like my bones were crumbling away inside of me, but my smile didn’t falter.

“You guys want more? Alright! This one I’ve been working on for a while now!” My lips and throat moved on their own; I wouldn’t be getting any rest anytime soon. Might as well retreat.

Everything was on autopilot, but thankfully the screaming fans didn’t seem to notice or care. They just wanted more. They always want more. It was so wonderful that they loved my music. I loved making them all so happy!!

“Wow, Branch! I can’t believe you did three encores! Where do you get the energy? I would’ve had to stop after the first one!” Princess Poppy was at my side, practically dragging me off the stage.

I was allowed to sag into her side for a moment, it was close enough to Hug Time, it was fine. But all too soon my strings pulled me away, smiling.

“I can’t say no to my adoring fans!” I grinned, the right side of my mouth gave a violent twitch, cramping from the nonstop use. I turned away so hopefully Princess Poppy wouldn’t notice. She can’t think I’m weird, I’m normal, I’m supposed to be normal!

“Branch?” Princess Poppy’s voice was laced with concern, her hand grabbing my shoulder and spinning me around.

I tried to maintain my grin, feeling the corners twitch uncomfortably against the frames of my glasses. I tugged on my blue puffy vest, nerves trying to rise from my belly but thankfully, as always, halted in their tracks.

“What’s up, Princess Poppy?” I asked, my hands now hanging limp at my side since they weren’t allowed to do anything else.

She made a face at her title like she always did, but her hand tightened on my shoulder. “Is everything okay?”

“Everything is perfect! Why wouldn’t it be?” My mouth said, the words a little too chirpy. “The fans love me, and your celebration is going even better than projected!” That should throw her off, get her talking about the party. Everyone is happy.

It worked like a charm. Princess Poppy beamed at me like I had given her, her favorite dessert.

“Thank you, Branch! This party wouldn’t have been half as successful without you here though! You make every party more fun.” She then began prattling on about the different streamer and glitter bombs she had used this time as opposed to last year. She was so dedicated to keeping the village happy! We were so lucky to have her and King Peppy!

I relaxed, as much as I could, and smiled along. Thankfully it didn’t have to be a big smile, I could soften things for the princess.

Soon enough we were in the area considered backstage, and I expected her to peel off and go back to her friends, but instead, she pulled me into a more private dressing room area. My skin prickled at the privacy. That meant bad things. That meant I wasn’t happy enough.

“Branch, I need you to be real with me here. You’ve been acting kind of… off lately. Are you sure you’re okay?” Princess Poppy looked apologetic as she said it, but I felt the immediate effect.

A scream of pop music resounded in my ears, so loud I thought they would start bleeding. The pounding in my head got worse, like a bergen bashing my head against a tree. Even my muscles started to scream, wanting to cramp and twitch as they were forcibly pulled. I wanted to scream and cry and curl up under the bed in my pod, but I stood there beaming.

“Princess Poppy, I assure you, I’m perfectly fine. Just a little tired from the party tonight. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be just fine.” The words were straight from the string and they hurt, like they were being ripped from me. My voice even went raspier, like there was another voice speaking under mine, but I wasn’t sure if that was from the singing or not. It had been a long time since I had to have the string speak through me. I’m supposed to be better than this. Get it together, Branch. You’re perfectly happy!

Princess Poppy took a step back, a frown pulling down her lips.

No! No! I can fix this please—

“Is everything alright, Poppy? I saw you follow Branch back here.” King Peppy’s voice sent shivers across my body, locking up my joints. King Peppy is here! Oh good he’ll make everything better, like always!!

“Oh! Hey Dad, I was just congratulating Branch on his performance!” Princess Poppy lied to the king! Her face didn’t show any hint of dishonesty though, and I didn’t feel compelled to correct her, that would be rude, so I just nodded along, my smile back to the tight beam that had been on display for everyone tonight. I had worked super hard on it to make it perfect.

He looked between the two of us like he wasn’t sure it was the truth, but merely motioned me forward. I went without hesitation of course, my body still rigid and stiff despite the bounce in my step. I stopped in front of King Peppy, smiling up at him.

“Run along now, my darling. I wanted to talk with Branch about something, you know, guy talk.” King Peppy winked over my head at the princess, causing her to gag and laugh.

“Ew Dad, okay. Alright, Branch, it was awesome talking to you!” She hesitated a moment before giving me a hug, squeezing tighter than normal, like she was afraid of something.

I watched her walk away, my pink-tinted vision clouding her shape the further she got. Like I was drowning alone in suffocating pink mist.

King Peppy’s hand landed on my shoulder heavily, and he sighed like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. “I worry about her. I only hope that when it’s her time, she will continue to make the right choices, as I have. Now, come along, Branch. I’ll top you off.”

“Thank you, King Peppy!” I chirped, melting as the string was plucked, and I could just dive back into the haze of my mind. We were having to do this more frequently. It used to be, I could go for a week without having the string played for me, but that time was shortening. I didn’t want to think about what would happen to me should the string stop working altogether. That wasn’t a happy thought, and only happy thoughts were allowed!

[empressgeekt]

I'm curious now, if someone made a reaction fic with canon watching your stories (not me because I suck at those), how do you think they would react? Especially if Branch was still gray?

Oh I play out this fic plot in my head on almost a daily basis.

If I were to put, Grey Branch, Poppy, Viva the snackpack, and Brozone into a room to watch my aus, both fics would probably start the same. Shock on both sides (brozone to Branch's state, and The Snackpack to Branch's alter ego as Bitty B), but eventually they'd all settle and start watching. Though, Brozone would definitely not that Creek at first glance. Viva would cling to her sister and the Snackpack would welcome her, but they would be very confused when she starts acting paranoid about the bergens like Branch, and Creek would..be Creek...getting on her bad side. Bruce would have to step in explaining that Trauma doesn't work the way Creek is trying to simplify it (he read a lot of the vacationer's psychology books before his kids were born). Needless to say, by the time that everyone has sat down the room is tense.

For Burning Branches it's pretty clear that this is an alternate universe so, they kind of just sit back and enjoy.

The Snackpack would get to witness the abuse a tiny grey branch would get in the tree, while Brozone gets to see Branch follow in there footsteps and escaping on his own. Branch himself remembers a few of these events but doesn't remember leaving so he interested in seeing where he counterpart went. Practically everyone panics when they see the head injury on screen, Floyd even starts crying at the sight. Once the rock trolls get involved it draws a lot of surprise from the whole group. Floyd and JD aren't too surprised they've been around the block before, and have a basic gest of the other tribes. Bruce is in the same boat as a few Techno trolls have washed up on Vacay island. However none of them had seen rock trolls in person and their dulled nature are a little disturbing, considering what dulled means for Pop trolls. Clay and Viva are paying rapid attention to the rock trolls on screen, because considering the environment their people live in these guys know how to survive and protect themselves. The Snackpack has mixed reactions, Cooper wonders if theirs another tribe that looks like him, Poppy just wants to help these guys find happiness cause they are way to serious in her opinion, Creek calls them brutes (impressing no one), while the rest of the pack are either confused/fearful/curious. Branch is just awed, this troll, the rock king no less, on screen took his other version and saved him. Not only pull him from the water but take this trolling stranger into his home and raised on-screen Branch as his own. It's made veery clear that the pop and rock tribes do not get along, and yet this king was willing to risk his power and reputation to care for Char, King Peppy never kept Branch for more then two days until shipping him off to the next foster family. He even seemed mad on Char's behalf, something Branch had never thought anyone would do. The amnesia is something that hurts Brozone, learning that in one world there brother forgot about them. Branch is a little envious of Char, after all losing his memories was pretty starting a new life with a clean slate. Sure he watches Char struggle, but he also watches Char thrive, regaining his color, learning to love music again, making friends, having a family behind him, heck even getting Poppy for a love interest. Sure, it's an arranged marriage between the tribes, and makes the theater very awkward, but there's a clear connection between the two of them. By the end of the whole first movie all the snackpack (minus Creek) and Bruce are shipping Poppy/Char (Choppy? We should call them Choppy), and they get pissed when John Dory on screen interrupts their wedding.

For FOF, it's more of confusing reaction since this could still be their actual future.

Branch makes notes to look out for Keith, cause just in case there might be a trolling who's a little weird ending up in the foster system after losing his dad and he doesn't want that to happen. Kid seems sweet and not that judging. As the au goes on, Branch feels all sort of embarrassment, from them witnessing his panic attacks and how they called him cute for the more wholesome reactions when it comes to Keith. When the whole wolf incident comes on screen, Poppy ask Branch if he would really do that for the village, and everyone is shocked when he nods. Creek tries to say the the forest is over dramatizes in this and that the critters aren't that cruel in real life, Branch just rolls his eyes only to hear John Dory come to his defense, as a survivalist himself he had to deal with predators, and everything on screen is necessary. FOF Branch is a lot harsher on his brothers and the interactions on screen are a lot more charged. Branch isn't sure how he feels about this counterpart. There's a feeling of justice at watchin his brothers get what's coming to them, but it also hurts that he's hurting them. He doesn't hold the same anger that FOF feels. Smidge kind of wants to meet her FOF counterpart, someone who uses her strength to save others, she's down for it. And Asks Branch if he could set up something like that in there world or at least train her, to help him in the forest. Branch is confused by that. Creek completely denies that he would betray everyone, but strangely Branch doesn't believe him. FOF Branch's wounds are scary to think about for everyone but Branch forces himself not to react. Broppy makes once more everyone uncomfortable, Branch feeling awkward, Bruce teasing, Poppy blushing, Creek giving the grey troll the stick eye. It's harder to different Canon from AU with FOF since Char is less Branch like.

There's just so much that could happen that i can't fit it into one post, but if anyone wants to make one to these they have my full permission. Though that might want to wait until the final product is finished.

[bobbydagen24]

Thinking about this well known Proverb and how it very easily could have applied to Branch had he Gone Down a Darker path and also It made me think up an idea where the future Villain is someone else who was outcasted by Pop Village.

I think it could be pretty neat if the villain of a future film was another Grey Troll who was basically outcasted from the Village due to how Peppy used to run things

maybe he even went off with his own small Group of Trolls who were all shunned by Pop Society after the Bergen escape because they weren't Happy and partying 24/7 and actually had issues.

or Hell maybe they were even straight up left behind in the tunnels during the Bergen escape because they were Grey and thus

whichever villagers were meant to be keeping an eye on them didn't care enough to go back for them after they fell behind.

I think it could maybe be cool if a future film had Poppy having to Deal with Villains that were a Direct Result of the flawed way her dad used to run the Village

plus having some Villains who Branch can see himself in and Relate to could be interesting

and maybe this leads to my Peppy Dies idea playing out where Poppy wants to make peace with the Group Despite them being a threat to the whole village

and other people warning her against trying to reason with them Poppy still goes ahead and arranges to meet with them to try and talk peace only for it to be a trap

and as a result Peppy has to sacrifice himself to save Poppy and everything I said in my other post comes to pass

Poppy feels guilty over his death and Branch consoles her since he understands what it feels like

viva maybe blames Poppy at first for not listenening to everyone else and she thinks they have to go full force on the Grey Troll group to stop them.

but in the end after a climax where they do try to stop whatever the Grey Troll Groups final plan is ( maybe they just wanna Destroy the Village or turn them all Grey somehow IDK lol )

but when confronted with the main leader of the Group again Poppy actually proves she truly sticks to her morals and beliefs even in the face of Hardship

and she Reaches across the aisle to the Villain convincing him to make peace for the good of both of their Tribes of people admitting her dad wasn't perfect and made some big mistakes in how he Ran things

but she knows that he wanted her to do better and she wants to do better by them all and that no one else has to get Hurt for it to Happen.

so the leader agrees and he and Poppy make peace for the sake of their people and Poppy for her own peace of mind as well I Guess.

and the movie ends with the other Group integrating back into Pop Village and as a Result we see some changes in Pop society

maybe the movie ends with a support Group Ran by the Grey Trolls being set up in the village to show they are no longer just going to push Trolls to the side or ignore them when they have negative thoughts and feelings

with Branch of course taking part as a show of solidarity

also maybe his loved ones kept on telling him he should try it out since he so obviously could do with people who he can talk to about his problems who could actually understand him a bit better 😭😭😭😭

so yeah anyway point is the Village takes active steps to make the Grey Troll Group feel more welcome and Heard in their society undoing some of the Damage that Peppy accidentally did during his Reign.

and Poppy and Viva Decide not to waste their lives Hating on the leader of the other Group Despite what he did

since they are True Trolls and believe in giving people a second chance to Redeem themselves even if it isn't easy for them.

which I feel would make Poppy's posotive enthusiastic attitude and moral values more Respectable tbh.

what do you think about the Idea? about both the Grey Troll Group? and about Poppy Forgiving Peppy's killer do you think it'd be too far?

or do you think Trolls could make the forgiveness message work even being that extreme?

[noodyl-blasstal]

Not that kind of apocalpyse!

Sometimes you might ask yourself, “What if Taakitz kissed in the historical fish castle during the zombie apocalypse?” Well I answered it.

Happy Birthday @ceilingfan5!

Read below or on Ao3

-

“There’s someone outside!” Lup shouts from her spot at the periscope.

Fuck. Of course Taako was going to have to deal with this on his watch. The trouble always waited until Magnus was busy flexing somewhere else and Merle was off doing unspeakable things in the garden. 

“Someone, or something?” He asks. He tries not to let the weariness creep into his tone, but Taako’s so tired of this bullshit. First he got called in on his first day off in weeks… months? Who fucking knows any more; then he got zombie apocalypsed; and now everyone’s trying to eat him and not in the good way. Not that there’s any chance of boning down with anyone in the near future because he’s related to, or may as well be related to, everyone he knows is currently alive - well, apart from the peppy idiots on the radio who keep advertising their ‘zombie free wonderland’, but Taako doesn’t trust easily and whatever they’re selling seems too good to be true. 

“Cha’girl said what she said.” Lup doesn’t move away, just adjusts the scope.

“People?”

“Person, singular, a guy I think.” 

“Are you definitely sure he’s people?”

“Are you definitely sure you want to keep asking me?” Lup doesn’t pull her eyes away from the periscope, but she does give him the finger. It’s artful really, her spatial awareness is a thing of wonder.

Before he can think, Taako opens his mouth to pretend to bite it off, it’s reflex as much as anything, but he closes it gently, doesn’t snap his teeth. That bit is a lot less funny than it used to be. Watching a loved one nearly get chomped will do that for you.

“Can I see?” Taako asks instead of answering, he’s not going to do anything completely out of character like admitting fault.

“Hang on…” Lup turns the scope side to side. Fuck.”

“What?”

“Shush a minute.” Lup hisses.

Ah yes, telling Taako to shush, the thing that works every time. “What’s going on?”

“Shit! Run, dude, run” She mutters.

“Lup! What’s happening?”

“Biter.” She turns the scope slowly. “Two… At the moment. I don’t know if he’s seen them.”

“Do you want Taako to…?” Taako gestures at the ladder up to the harpoon gun.

Lup stays fixed to the scope but still manages to nod. “Be ready, see if he needs it. He’s by the unfortunately shaped hill, but he’s moving fast towards the tree that looks like it’s doing a high kick.”

Taako climbs up the ladder into the ramparts and pulls the shutter back from the slightly-wider-than-intended crenellation (thanks to Magnus’ enthusiasm). He zeroes in fast with Lup’s directions. There’s definitely two of them, if not more, lurking behind the dude as he walks. Taako hopes he’s aware of them. He could be, the guy’s walking with purpose. He’s glad, Taako hates dawdlers, not least because he used to be one by choice and now he has to zoom everywhere because he’d like to keep living actually please and thank you.

“You didn’t tell me he was hot!” Taako bellows down to Lup. A crime of the highest order, frankly, it’s been a while since Taako’s had anything good to look at and he could have been looking much faster.

“You can’t see him well enough to know if he’s hot or not, he’s too far away.” Lup yells back. 

The guy turns his head in their direction. It’s a nice face, a really nice face, that he’s working with there.

“See! Hot!” Taako refuses to let her get away with this on a technicality. He knew in his bones the guy was good looking, Lup should have too. He sticks his tongue out in her direction. She might not be able to see him, but she’ll know.

“He’s coming this way.” She shouts up.

“What?” Taako looks back, using the wildly inaccurate harpoon sights that Barry was definitely getting round to fixing (it was for the best he left them alone at this point, Taako automatically adjusted for it now.) Hot boy had changed trajectory and was heading their way. “But there’s… fuck!”

Taako slides the harpoon to the side, sees the biter who was lurking on the guy’s tail. Shit. It’s close, too close. He jumps up and bellows with everything in him. “Hey, hey handsome! Watch out!” He’s too hot to die. 

They make eye contact and this is it, this is the thing they wrote about, that they sing about, that’s on the TV. It’s electric, it’s perfect, it’s… 

“Run you absolute dickhead!” Lup bellows from beside Taako. He needs to get her a bell. “Stop staring at my idiot brother and run!” She elbows Taako and mutters. “Idiot.”

The man shakes out of it and glances round in time to see the biter on his tail. Taako hears the faint “Oh fuck!” on the wind as the guy starts running. Thankfully in the direction of the drawbridge. Shit. The drawbridge.

“We need to let him in.” Taako says, urgently.

“C’mon.” Lup’s already heading for the ladder.

Taako scrambles after her, slides down the ladder, and lands in a roll. He jumps up and does the ‘tah dah!’ arms, but Lup’s already gone. That’s fine, he can appreciate his own talents, he doesn’t need adoration from the masses or anything.

Lup yanks on the lever that releases the drawbridge and the portcullis raises at speed, narwhal horns raising up to hang like as many sharp teeth. They’ve saved them all a few times.

“Go go go!!!” Taako yells, hopefully encouragingly. He’s sure not going out there, but shouting he can do.

“I’m going to get my gun.” Lup mutters.

The man’s close, really close, when the zombie lurches out from behind the tree. Not high kick tree, it would never betray Taako like that, one of the bog standard ones. One of the ones he’s going to burn down because it just killed Taako’s new boyfriend. It’s fine, he’s allowed to get ahead of himself, this dude’s going to be nothing but a ‘what if’ now.

The zombie grabs the man’s arm and tries to bite his hand, the guy twists away, punches it in the face, gives it his best shot. Of course he does, he’s got something to live for, he’s trying to survive, trying to make it to Taako. The biter grabs his ankle and drags him to the floor.

Two spears take down the other zombies before they can reach the man and join the feast.

“I can’t get a clean shot.” Lup says mournfully beside him. She glances round, then walks carefully forward, spear gun raised.

“You have to stop doing that.” Taako hisses and steps along beside her. He’s trying to have a moment here, to give his dying future husband the reverence he deserves. They were going to adopt so many cats. It would have been beautiful. He’s not in the mood to be spooked.

“Counterpoint, you have to work on your awareness.” Lup nudges him.

“No need when I have you, sister mine! Taako’s all good.” He walks carefully beside her, remembers to step over the crack in the resin flagstones left after The Incident.

Lup does the face she does when he pretends he’s not training (he refuses to give up the possibility of being blase about the zombies, even if he’s been doing endless crunches, and parkour, and whatever other nonsense Lup and Magnus insist is going to save their lives, at night when no one’s watching. Well, apart from Agnes, but if he wants Taako to ever bake the cookies he likes again he’ll stay quiet.)

They’re close enough now to see that the zombie’s still gnashing, but the guy’s clearly fighting back. Maybe he’s not a goner yet?

“Maybe we can… you know, help?” Taako glances round and can’t see any others nearby.

“He might be infected… I guess I could…” Lup’s mouth tightens into a hard line.

“No! Don’t help him dead, like, help help!” Taako steps closer gingerly. As he gets into range of grabbing and pulling the biter off, it shudders and goes still. There’s no movement underneath it either. Of course. Brilliant, fucking brilliant. “Just Taako’s luck. The first hot guy cha’boy sees since the apocalypse apocalypsed, and he immediately gets himself chomped.”

Lup pats him sympathetically on the shoulder. “Next time ‘Ko”

“You think I’m hot?” The man asks, rolling the un-undead corpse unceremoniously to the side.

“Fuck!” Lup and Taako jump back as one.

“Stay there!” Lup aims the spear gun squarely at his head. “Did you get bit?”

“You have to tell us if you did, otherwise it’s entrapment.” Taako adds. Because why shouldn’t he have a little fun, honestly. He winks, so the guy knows Taako’s not going to be waving any spears at him… well unless he plays his cards right…

“Who enforces zombie entrapment law?” Hotboy asks as if he genuinely cares, as if he’s passionate about legal rights and wants to make sure the lawyer provided is up to the job. He probably does care. It’s the end of the world and Taako meets someone who’s hot and funny and willing to play legal zombism so of course Taako’s also going to have to put him down or, more likely, watch while Lup does it and try not to cry about it until he’s alone in bed later.

“You’re not allowed to distract us with legalese, that’s also entrapment, probably.” Taako adds authoritatively.

The man  smiles brightly in his direction. “I didn’t get bit.”

“Prove it.” Lup’s aim doesn’t waiver.

The man sighs. “My name’s Kravitz.”

“What does that prove?” Lup makes a ‘get on with it’ gesture with the gun.

“I usually like to make sure a guy knows my name before I strip in front of him.” He doesn’t break eye contact with Taako.

“Taako.” Taaok stares right back. He’s not a looking people in the eyes guy, but this? This is competitive looking, and if there’s anything Taako loves it’s winning.

“I’m Lup and this is gross, break it up right now!” Lup sounds genuinely disgusted. Good, honestly. He’s been living with her and Barold since this all started, he deserves at least a little revenge for his trouble.

“But you said…” Kravitz’s hands still on his leather jacket’s zip.

“I said prove you didn’t get bit. Like, show me your hands and arms and the bits that were actually anywhere near the dead guy. The medic can fully assess you after that.”

“Fine.” He shows her his hands and his collar bones, and his arms, they’re nice arms. “But what if I got bitten earlier?” 

“Did you?” Taako asks quickly.

“No. But I could have been and you wouldn’t know. Someone should check.” Kravitz glances at Taako.

“Cha’boy will do it. You know, to save you having to, Lu.”

“Uh huh, sure, yeah, a brave sacrifice. Now move it, both of you, I want to get the drawbridge up and the portcullis down.” Lup finally lowers the spear gun.

“Portcullis… So… uh… I did want to ask.” Kravitz begins gingerly as he walks across the bridge and into the castle.

“Uh huh.” Taako tries to look like he couldn’t possibly imagine what Kravitz is about to ask.

“I couldn’t help but notice…” Kravitz says gently, carefully.

“You noticed something?” Lup asks sweetly, as she begins to turn the crank.

“That you’re in a castle.” Kravitz finishes as the portcullis falls into place and the drawbridge is lifted.

“It’s not a castle!” Lup and Taako say as one.

“It’s not a castle?” Kravitz asks, warily eyeing the fish themed portcullis.

“It’s so much more, Kraveroo. Welcome to SeaBlaster, we’ve got fish, and the things you use to squish… them.” Taako does his best business smile, the one that they paid him slightly above minimum wage for, and does an adequate job of jazz hands (those didn’t come cheap.)

“It’s not really squishing though, is it?” Kravitz asks, like that’s the only problem with anything that’s happening right now.

“Hey, hey Kravitz, just to check, the only problem you have with the aquari-museum we now live in is the tagline not quite making sense because most of this stuff is used to stab and not squish?” 

“No!” Kravitz says indignantly. “Whales also aren’t fish. There’s no way the harpoon you were at was used on anything that wasn’t a marine mammal!” 

Lup snorts.

Taako groans. “You’ll get on well with Angles.”

“Who’s Angles?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“But I…”

“Ssssh.” Taako pats Kravitz’s shoulder reassuringly. Plenty of time for that.

There’s a long beat of silence as Lup begins to stride back to the staff room. Or, well, the common room as they call it these days, it’s homier, apparently.

Taako inclines his head and Kravitz follows obediently. Good to know.

“So how long have you been here?” Kravitz asks, falling into step beside him.

“This doesn’t seem fair. You’ve already had a load of questions.” Taako looks at Kravitz and smiles, just to be sure he knows it’s a joke.

“You can ask some things.” Kravitz looks positively overjoyed at the prospect.

“How’d you kill it?” Taako asks. He didn’t hear a gun or anything.

“Er…” There’s a long pause.

Taako stops dead. “Kravitz?”

“No wait, it’s not weird.”

“If you have to say it’s not weird, Taako’s inclined to think it’s gonna be weird.”

“But I said it wasn’t!” Kravitz protests, as if that has ever worked.

“People are asking a lot of questions that my “the way I killed the zombie wasn’t weird” tshirt already answered… C’mon, just tell Taako.”

“Staked it.” Kravitz mutters.

“You fucking what now?” 

“I staked it.” Kravitz over-ennunciates, spitefully, Taako loves it. Can they keep him forever?

“My question stands.”

“I used a stake. I staked it.” Kravitz shrugs nonchalantly like that’s not completely ridiculous. “You use what very much looks like a historical whaling harpoon!” He adds, as if that’s relevant right now. He’s right though.

“You just…” Taako mimes stabbing Kravitz through the heart. It’s slightly more dramatic than it needs to be, sure, but how often does a guy get to go full Dracula-murder?

“Obviously not, that doesn’t work. I…” Kravitz steps towards him and mimes stabbing Taako through the eye. It brings them close, nearly touching close.

“Show cha’boy again? I missed it.” Taako leans forward.

Kravitz looks confused for a second, there’s a beat where Taako thinks he’s pushed his luck too far. Before he can apologise though, Kravitz is cradling the back of Taako’s head with one hand.

“Like this.” He says softly, barely a whisper, as he fuels whatever is crackling between them and brings his fake-stake wielding hand towards Taako’s eye.

“Urgh, quit it!” Lup yells back at them and flings the door to the common room open. “Taako’s got a…” the door swings blessedly shut before she can finish her sentence, but Taako can hear the chorus of questions immediately rumble up in response.

“Er…  you wanna shower? Before you, you know, meet the gang?” Taako gestures expansively at the door which is currently rattling. He can just about hear Magnus’ protests and mentally thanks Lup (or whoever it is) preventing him from barrelling into the hallway, hugging Kravitz to death and asking him a bajillion questions before without giving him a chance to answer. It’d still be better than Merle appearing though.

“You have one?” Kravitz sounds suspicious.

“Are you trying to say Taako smells?” Taako tries not to be offended, but it should be obvious to anyone he has a shower. The apocalypse has never looked so good!

“No!” Kravitz’s indignation is reassuring at least. “I just… It’s…” He peters out.

“Been a while?” Taako asks, giving Kravitz a deeply un-subtle once over.

“Not for lack of wanting.” Kravitz replies, and the want is palpable.

“Taako can definitely help you out there, handsome. Don’t you worry. If Kravitz wants, Kravitz can get.” Taako hopes he’s inflected exactly enough emphasis to be sure Kravitz knows which page they’re on. The sex page of the sex book. “It’s this way.” Taako leads Kravitz down the hallway and towards the stone staircase to the aquarium. They figured the geothermal heat would be good for bedroom temperature as well as the tropical fish. It was a solid bet. “So, how’d you end up with stakes?”

“Is that a fish tank?” Kravitz’s attention is immediately gone. He’s pressed to the tank and marvelling at the clownfish darting around and Taako hates each and every one of them because Kravitz should be looking at him instead.

“Taako wasn’t kidding about the ‘aquari’ bit in the welcome spiel, my dude. We’ve got fish, we’ve got historical fishing weaponry, and all of that comes with a ridiculous part fibreglass, part stone, largely fish themed castle. Buy now for the low low price of spending the rest of forever here, or at least until the bugs eat all the zombies to death or whatever.”

“I’m sold!” Kravitz says, worryingly enthusiastically, as he presses himself to the fish tank viewing window. It’s disgustingly adorable and Taako hates himself for the way his stomach clenches in the ‘going over a bumpy bit of road and loving it’ way.

“So… how’d you get the stake?” Taako refuses to be deterred from finding out.

“Whittled it.” Kravitz says too quickly. 

“Why?” Taako asks. There’s something here, there’s a string to pull at and he’s gonna.

“You know, end of the world.” Kravitz flaps his hand dismissively.

“C’mon. You can tell me, the shower’s just over here.” Taako opens the door to his quarters. Well. His ‘office’. They all just picked their favourite and took over. Taako’s is set a bit further away from the others and had a bathroom next door which is now an ensuite, because there’s not a chance in hell anyone’s coming back for this place after, and if they do they’re gonna be owed so much back pay that it wouldn’t be worth the counter-suit for the wages to try and make him repair the wall.

“Here’s the bathroom.” Taako nudges open the door and wishes that he’d spent literally any time cleaning his room in the last mmm… day…s…week… It’s fine. It’s the end of the world, you don’t have to be neat and tidy when humanity’s clinging on by a thread. Not that he was before, but Kravitz doesn’t need to know that. “And here’s a fresh towel.” He shoves one at Kravitz. 

“This smells like mint?” Kravitz says like Taako’s magic. Taako could get used to this level of adoration.

“It’s antimicrobial.” Taako says, because apparently apocalypse flirting is letting the guy you like know your towels don’t have diseases.

“But how did you get it?”

“Hydroponics.” 

“How did you…” Kravitz starts to ask. 

“Not questions for Taako. I deal in fish and harpoons, you’ll need Merle for garden questions and I can guarantee that he’ll answer with more detail than you want and you’ll regret it as much as everyone else does when they ask.

“I don’t mind getting to learn new thing.” Kravitz sounds worryingly interested.

“It’s not about the plants, well it is… but not, you know… in the way you want… it’s not about the things you want to…” Taako squinches his face up remembering The Onion Incident. He hasn’t cooked with them since.

“You’re making it sound like it’s a sex thing.” Kravitz laughs heartily, poor sweet fool. Taako’s silence clearly speaks volumes. “Wait… you mean…?”

“Anyway, here’s the shower.” Taako says quick, loud, and brokering no further vegetable sex questions. He refuses to let Merle ruin this for him. He points at it, just in case Kravitz somehow missed the cubicle, and starts to leave.

“Wait!” Kravitz says quickly. “You needed to check me out!” Kravitz grabs Taako’s arm as he turns away. “I mean… you know, for safety.”

“Well, if you insist.” Taako steps inside and closes the door behind him. “For safety, of course.” 

“Of course.” Kravitz says smooth as butter. Then immediately fumbles his zip in a rush to get his jacket off.

“You okay there, Kemosabe?” Taako tries not to laugh.

“I’m fine!” Kravitz’s voice has the slightest hint of desperation. “Absolutely fine. I’m trying to get naked in front of the most handsome man I think I’ve possibly ever laid eyes on, which is, may I say, an achievement at the end of the world as we know it, I knew guys who had access to, you know, stuff.”

“Ah, stuff.” Taako says wisely, trying very hard not to flick his hair dramatically and show Kravitz just how correct he is.

“Stuff.” Kravitz continues. Tugging at his zip again. “... and now I can’t get out of…” he gives a dramatic wiggle “...this stupid…”

“Let me.” Taako steps forward. “Taako can look after you.” He looks Kravitz dead in the eyes as he slides the zip down slowly, and thanks fate that it actually works. He probably could have dragged the jacket up over Kravitz’s head, but this way is so much better, this way means Kravitz is looking at him like he wants to eat him - in the good way. The good good way.

“Thank you.” Kravitz says, close, very close. Close enough for Taako to breathe him in and…

“Wait… shit. Hang on. Is that <i>garlic</i>???” Taako immediately abandons all thought of getting off, because if this is what he thinks…

“Er… I can expl…”

Taako pats at Kravitz’s chest. “There!” He thrusts his hand into the jacket’s inside pocket, hopes he’s right, he’s rewarded with a tight white bulb.

Garlic! It had been months, months, since Lucretia overwatered his stash and killed the last hope for flavour. He still hadn’t forgiven her. “I could kiss you.”

“You can if you want.” Kravitz looks so earnest, so hopeful, that Taako does, presses his lips firmly to Kravitz’s, brokering no room for confusion. He wants this, he means this. It’s intended as a quick thing, a temptation, but the way Kravitz melts into it though, the way he pushes himself forward into Taako, it’s delicious, it’s intoxicating, it’s… deeply uncomfortable.

Taako pulls back. “How much stuff have you got in here?” He flicks the jacket, then his hands are on the buttons of Kravitz’s shirt, working away, before Kravitz can reply. “Why is this cross so massive? It really digs in.” Taako lifts the ridiculously sized, heavy, solid silver cross that’s hanging round Kravitz’s neck and lets it drop again. Maybe he loves Jesus? Although he also seems pretty into boning before marriage… hmm.

“Er…”

Taako pulls Kravitz’s jacket open to reveal a series of inside pockets full of stakes. “How many of these did you make?”

“I… uh… Look, Taako.”

Taako reaches into the external chest pocket and pulls out a vial of clear liquid. “Small water bottle, my guy. Couldn’t find anything else to drink from? Glass doesn’t seem practical.” Taako narrows his eyes. 

“It’s…” Kravitz looks panicked. Taako should have known he was too good to be true. “It’s good for the environment…” 

Taako raises an eyebrow at him.

“...and also It’s a back up.” Kravitz smiles, winningly. It doesn’t work.

“Why do you have so many of them?” Taako pats at his pockets again. “Wait, is this more garlic?” It is… four more bulbs. Kravitz leans in as if he thinks Taako’s going to kiss him again. He does, obviously, because garlic at the end of the world is garlic at the end of the world, and it would be rude not to.

It’s distracting, the kissing, he definitely means to ask more questions, but also Kravitz is so handsome, and so… there. It’s been a long time. Taako pushes the jacket off Kravitz’s shoulders, it lands, loudly, but means it’s much more comfortable this time when Kravitz pushes his chest against Taako’s. It’s only natural that Taako slides his arm to Kravitz’s back, pulling him closer. The noise Kravitz makes when he does it tells Taako he’s just as desperate for this, for connection, for the press of bodies, for hot breath and moaning in a context unrelated to someone who’s recently dead and trying to bite your face off.

Taako drops his hand lower… “Kravitz, what the fuck?” Taako steps back, holding the stake tucked into his back pocket.

Kravitz sighs, heavily. “If I tell you, can we keep doing that?” He gestures between them in what Taako assumes is supposed to be an approximation of the heavy petting he’d very much like to get back to.

Taako raises an eyebrow.

“It’s not weird!” Kravitz protests too much.

“We’ve talked about this. Remember? You’re making it sound weird again.”

Kravitz squinches his face up, then shrugs. “I’m a vampire hunter.”

“What?” Taako doesn’t even know where to start with this one. Usually he’s got words, he’s full of them, they’re happening without checking in with him first, but he’s bereft, devoid, left wanting. In multiple ways. Is being unhinged a deal breaker for him? Taako’s unhinged. At least the guy’s prepared, dedicated to his imaginary craft.

“So…I told you…” Kravitz’s face is inches from his again.

Taako’s tempted. Sorely tempted. But he should probably definitely ask at least two more questions so Lup doesn’t shout at him later.

He places his hand firmly on Kravitz’s chest and definitely doesn’t cop a feel in the process. “You’re a vampire hunter?” That’s one. Nearly back to hot-boy-make-out-session followed by maybe-moving-things-to-the-shower-if-it-goes-well time.

“Yes.”

“And you think vampires are real?” Taako asks as gently as possible.

Kravitz steps back this time. “Hang on. Wait. We’re in a zombie apocalypse!”

“Vampires aren’t zombies.” Taako says with confidence, there’s not too much he knows about zombies short of the whole ‘they don’t get back up if you harpoon them in the head’ thing, but that’s one of the other facts he’s got.

“Obviously not.” Kravitz says, like Taako’s stating the obvious.

There’s a moment of intense eye contact. Kravitz nods as if what he’s just said was in some way conclusive, point proving, debate winning.

“Exactly.” Taako says. Because yeah, zombies aren’t vampires. “Wrong kind of apocalypse.”

“I didn’t think it was a vampire apocalypse.” Kravitz looks indignant as if Taako’s being ridiculous here. “I’m familiar enough with biting to know what’s gone wrong here.” He gestures expansively to the whole of everything.

“Sure…” Taako’s lost again.

“I was a vampire hunter before the zombies happened.” Kravitz says, as if that’s the same as Taako’s Underwater Fun-gineer role. Taako’s clearly still looking at him blankly because he adds. “You can’t believe in zombies and not vampires! I bet you thought biters weren’t real before this too.” Kravitz had a point, a good one. Fine, Taako can believe all kinds of things for him.

“Did that… pay well?” There. Okay, maybe now he believes in vampires because a handsome man said they were real, but he asked three questions, three! Lup definitely can’t shout at him.

Kravitz levels him with a confused look. “I had a day job, Taako. It’s just that I also do this… did this. They’ve fucked off since, well…”

There’s a long pause while Taako processes. “So, just to clarify, you’re… you’re a vampire hunter without any vampires in a zombie apocalypse?” Taako tries really hard to keep his voice straight, he does. He’s unsuccessful. Wildly unsuccessful judging by the look on Kravitz’s face. It’s positively stony.

Taako tries desperately to choke the laughter back. “Just… one more time.” His voice is thicker than normal, but he thinks he just about manages to play it off as regular. “One more.” He adds.

“No.” Kravitz’s bottom lip does something dangerously close to pouting. Taako wants to pull it between his teeth, but he should probably ease off anything biting related right now.

“Go on.” Taako bats his eyelashes, he may as well go for broke.

Kravitz’s nose twitches. “Fine, fine! I’m a vampire hunter in a zombie apocalypse and all the vampires fucked off.” He says huffily.

Taako’s mouth quivers as he presses his lips together, but he can’t stop the snort that escapes. That’s it, there’s no hope, he’s howling, tears streaming down his face, doubled over and wheezing. “S… Sorry.” He gasps out. “I… Fuck. No… no vampires… zombies… wrong… wrong thing.”

“I guess…” Kravitz says slowly. “I guess when you think about it that way…” He lets out a small chuckle. “... it’s… it’s pretty funny.” And then Kravitz is laughing too and they’re leaning against each other, propping each other up as the ridiculousness washes over them. It’s stupid. It’s perfect. Taako’s going to keep him, he can definitely stay.

The laughter subsides, eventually. One of them stops and then they set each other off laughing again over and over again. Taako wants to pin the memory of it to his wall so he can look at it whenever he wants.

“Were there many, you know, before?” Taako’s curious. Why can’t vampires exist?

“Yes. Yes there were.” Kravitz’s face is stony again.

“But less when you…” Taako mimes staking Kravitz through the heart dramatically.

“Yes… Yes. Less when I…” Kravitz grabs Taako by the thighs, pins him to the wall, and pretends to drive a stake into him. 

Taako’s not unwrapping his legs from Kravitz’s waist any time soon. “Do it this way often?” He looks down at Kravitz and smiles as coyly as he can manage, which he’s assuming isn’t very.

Kravitz noses Taako’s chin. “Not really.” He presses a line of kisses across his jaw. “I was just showing off.”

“Speaking of showing.” Taako says, drawing his hands over Kravitz’s biceps, strong, good, very good. “I believe I was supposed to be checking you out.”

Kravitz looks puzzled for a second before he catches on. “Of course. Yes. Very important health and safety process. I’ll have to put you down.”

“I’ll live. Probably.” Taako sighs. Then decides he’s at least entitled to some aerial kisses while he’s up here. “Actually, wait no, hang on.” 

It’s good, it’s very good. It takes a while before Kravitz starts getting wobbly and Taako starts worrying about them collapsing into a pile of horny limbs because there’s no easy way to explain those injuries. He taps Kravitz’s back. “Okay. C’mon. Inspection time. I’ll warn you, I’m very thorough.”

Kravitz groans, and lets him down. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

Taako helps him out of the rest of his shirt, stops to give him some more kisses when another bulb of garlic rolls out. He helps to shuffle all the stakes onto the jacket so they stop rolling around the floor. He helps kiss Kravitz’s collar bones when they look lonely.

“Taako.” Kravitz hesitates, hands on the button of his fly.

“Uh huh?” Taako doesn’t even pretend to look him in the eye, surely they’re past that point now.

“I was thinking…” 

“Dangerous thing to do.” Taako lifts his eyes from Kravitz’s stomach and tries to focus on something that isn’t thinking about running his hands over it, grazing his nails through the hair there, kissing his way downwards.

“I have another safety concern.” He says, so earnestly.

“Uh huh?”

“How do I know you haven’t been bitten?” The corner of Kravitz’s mouth lifts as his eyebrows raise in challenge.

“You make a compelling point, handsome, I guess you’d better inspect me too.” Taako’s top is off before he’s finished talking.

[beetleviolet]

What i would have done for

Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure: Seasons 2 (and 3)

(Mostly just how the entire thing could have focused on Varian that would have made it SO FIRE BRO)

So maybe I'm out of my depth here, because I didn't watch season 2. Why? Because there was no Varian! His amazing arc was the only reason I watched the show. And I'm sorry what they did with Cass SUCKED.

Let's talk about why it sucked :D

Cass's character is meant to contrast with Rapunzel. Raps is super peppy and happy and positive, and Cass is sarcastic and more dead panned, leading to a fun dynamic! The thing about Cass is, while she is more serious and sarcastic, she's still nice. She cares A LOT about her friends. This is why her arc made no sense. The core of Cassandra's character is that she loves her friends, but doesn't always show it.

I understand she was being manipulated by a demon but like. Her being mad that Mother Gothel went with Rapunzle? Why was locked in a tower for 18 years of her life?? While Cass got a loving, if overprotective, father?

This twist is interesting, and I wouldn't have minded it being explored, but I really think that they should have had a max of 2 episodes talking about the wedge this drove between them, and then how they overcame it as friends.

I also hate how Rapunzle handled Cassandra vs Varien. She never gave up on Cass, even after she, a grown adult with full autonomy, was actively trying to hurt everyone. I just felt like it went on for too long with Rapunzle still not wanting to fight her. Meanwhile with Varian, a grieving child, was immediately thought to be dangerous or evil. I understand Rapunzle not being able to help in the moment of his fathers death, but he didn't have to be dragged out of the castle! She could have told people he didn't attack her! Hell, even just sending someone to check on him after, or checking on him herself, might have been enough to push him away from a revenge plot.

Sorry I'm getting off track I just- THIS ALWAYS MADE ME SO MAD LIKE WHY-

Anyway.

The second season! Here's what I would have done:

Rapunzle is going on a magical quest to find the mystery about the rocks! Great! Who is the resident rock-genius? You guessed it! I think they should have taken Varian with them.

I get why they didn't do this, since it would take a lot of attention away from the other characters, and they were afraid to stretch out his arch for fear of it getting bland (you know, LIKE THEY DID WITH CASS-) but I really think Varian had enough character stuff to remain interesting!

Think about it, man. It would be cool of they thought they needed him for it, and he agrees on the premise that they have to save his father with the power they find. Throughout the episodes, they go from Varian in chains to them actually becoming a functioning group. They have trust building experiences (cough trauma bonding cough) that slowly bring them closer.

Ok, so cool. But then who would take the moonstone?

VARIAN I SAY!

Wait, but didn't you just say he was good?

THATS WHAT MAKES IT SO GOOD! Despite everything they've been through, everything they've done together, Varian still doesn't trust them to help him.

[libra-cant-just-dance]

Did Night Swan favor Mihaly compared to the others at all in Tainted City/Mirrored Walls canon? Was there any relationship between them? I can’t stop thinking about that scene with them in the first chapter of MW when they bury the pin- really intrigued how that setup will pay off! Did/does (If she’s alive??) she view them differently than the others because of some connection, or their raw power? You seem to be setting them up as one of the more powerful of the just dancers, so just wondering if NS saw that too.

I’ve loved both stories, and you do such a great job of balancing so many characters (like them!) while keeping the Wanderrose focus!

Thank you!!! And this is a very interesting question 😈

When they were all Night Swan’s generals during Tainted City, NS didn’t really have much of a “favorite”, per se. Wanderlust was the one she was most excited to have gotten her hands on and she did have some kind of affection for Sara because Earth girls(I think if she were to give up on getting Jack, she might have taken on Sara as her new heir), but other than that they were mostly all on the same level. They each had a specialty she’d exploit for different purposes.

Wanderlust was mostly for political power. When you’re trying to take over the world it’s great to have the prince on your side telling everyone their queen sucks and they should bow down to you. Sara was the unhinged wildcard one. I got big Quinn vibes when I wrote her. There’s just something so fun about “peppy girly girl who will cut you while smiling and giggling like a maniac the entire time”. She’s scary. Brezziana was the brawn, she just wanted to punch things and break bones. Mihaly was the brains. They have the most knowledge of the flow and could strategize the best.

Beyond that, NS mostly saw them all as equal stepping stones in getting to her son. She initially thought taking all of them would make Jack surrender and join her, but when that didn’t work she realized they’d make great weapons anyway.

TLDR in Tainted City, no, I didn’t really intend for there to be more of a connection with Mihaly to NS than there was with any of the others. When it comes to Mirrored Walls, on the other hand, that story’s not over yet. So all I can say on that end is wait and see 🤫

[yume-x-hanabi]

Currently watching: Miss Night and Day

I decided to review a few of the dramas I'm currently (re)watching, starting with a new find: Miss Night and Day

This one is currently airing (new ep every Sat.-Sun. on Netflix) and has just reached its halfway point, so I think it's a good time to write down my thoughts.

The basic plot

(Genres: Romcom, Mystery, Fantasy)

The main character, Lee Mi-Jin, is a 28-year-old who keeps trying and failing to get a job as a public servant, and even falls for a scam out of her desperation to find a proper job. One day, she helps a magical (?) cat, who grants her a blessing/curse (depending on how you see it lol) as a result: during the day, her appearance ages to what she would look like in her 50's, while she comes back to her young self during the night. Cue her scrambling to juggle those two identities while keeping it hidden from everyone.

Ironically, she manages to find a job quite easily as her old self through a senior employment program, and through hijinks ends up as secretary to prosecutor Gye Ji-Ung, whom she met as her young self when she got scammed, then later as a witness to a murder case.

Impressions so far

Story: One thing you need to know about me is that I'm a sucker for crime/mystery/legal dramas, especially when there's an interesting twist in the setting. So right off the bat this one's premise drew me in. I also tend to not really enjoy romance/romcom dramas on their own, but sprinkle in some crime/mystery, plus some supernatural element on top, and I'm innnnn.

So far it's delivered on both fronts. The serious underlying investigation plotline is less prominent than the comedy hijinks, but that's good for where we're at, I like the balance between the two. There's a lot of subplots going on, and they keep things moving and interesting; it's worked well in terms of pacing. There's one plotline I would have preferred done a bit differently, but I'm reserving judgment on that until I've seen where it leads. Otherwise I've enjoyed the way it's going.

Characters:

Main girl: She's a very fun lead. She's generally a peppy heroine, but she's also a woman nearing her 30's whose life has not turned out how she wanted, so she's also got that Tired Adult™️ vibe that's quite relatable. She may not be the smartest (she sometimes has a tendency to rush in without thinking at first), but she's also perceptive and resourceful, so while she does need saving from time to time, she also often can find a way to get out of some situations she put herself in (often when it pertains to keeping her identity switch secret lol). Both actresses are doing a great job with the role--you really feel they're playing the same character, so much that you sometimes almost forget they're two different people.

Main guy: I'm really, really loving this take on the "stoic/assholish male lead (who will be softened by the love interest)" archetype. Yes, he is a stoic workaholic and a bit of a jerk... when he's at work. But in his day to day life, he's quite openly sweet and empathetic. And I really like that this is the side that Mi-Jin got to see first. So it's not really that he has a hidden soft side that she needs to discover, but more that she gets confused by the contrast with his work persona. She eventually calls him out on his bad attitude toward her (old self) in the office, and he improves on that front too. (Honestly tho apart from his scheme to get her to quit being his secretary at the beginning, I don't think what earns him his reputation as a jerk in the office is even that bad? he's just mostly blunt and doesn't tolerate slackers; like in a lot of cases it's warranted imo). Anyway I really like his character, and there's a lot of little scenes I absolutely adore (and definitely makes me ship them :p) Only thing I find weird is that he hasn't taken note of the similarities between young Mi-Jin and her old self (for example, her bright pink backpack she takes everywhere should be a giveaway; also the fact she tends to pop up in the same places he last saw her old version at lol). Dude is supposed to be a smart prosecutor, I'm surprised his observation skills are failing him there (especially since there's been a few close calls).

Second male lead: I'm gonna be honest, I don't care much for him. He's obviously gonna be important considering the recent plot development, and I guess I'm glad Mi-jin has someone at work who knows her secret and wants to help her, but I still don't have much of an opinion of him. He's just there lol. I do hope they're not going to drag in an unrequited love subplot or something like that.

Supporting cast: I initially found Mi-Jin's overbearing parents annoying, but it's clear they love her and want the best for her, so they've become quite endearing. I absolutely love her best friend (she's a beauty youtuber lmao), she's so cute and such a sweetheart. Other supporting characters are okay so far; potential suspect is creepy enough, tho he's so obvious I'm wondering whether he's a red herring. We'll see I guess...

Music/Directing/etc: The music's appropriate to the scenes, which is what matters most, but nothing particularly stands out aside from the main theme. The directing is good, again nothing particularly stands out imo (maybe a small negative point is a bit too much repetition at times), but nothing bad either.

All in all, it's a pretty fun show and I'm quite enjoying it so far. Waiting for new episodes is hard lol

[toushindai]

A Ghost, and the Smile Junkie

She came into his dreams to hang out with him.

(Baccano!, Elmer & Monica, post-1710)

[ Read on AO3 ]

*

She came into his dreams to hang out with him. She’d sit down next to him in class and diligently take notes, and then she would talk to him during the lunch hour, or walk home with him. It was nice, even if Elmer couldn’t help but feel that it wasn’t quite right.

He voiced his concerns one evening as they passed the harbor.

“Do you go see Huey as well?”

She sent back a faint exasperation at his bluntness, but then chased it away with a roll of her eyes and a rueful smile that faded a moment later. “He won’t let me in.”

Elmer cocked his head. “Let you in?”

Monica answered that with a vague gesture. “I can’t reach him. And when I do, he just—he isn’t ready to receive me. He’s like an iron wall.” She looks Elmer’s way. “What is he like, these days? Can you tell him I’m looking for him?”

Elmer’s brow furrowed. “He’s gone,” he explained. And then he realized how that could have sounded, but Monica only looked puzzled, not worried, so he figured that she must’ve had some way of knowing whether he were dead or not. Ghost stuff. And, well, if both of them were dead, they probably would’ve found each other by now. So he said, “He left the city entirely. Didn’t even tell me where he was going. He was really sad, you know. When you died.”

She sighed, stopped walking. Looked out over the waves. Somewhere, beneath the water, her corpse was decomposing and probably being nibbled at by fish. It was only thanks to Elmer’s intervention that Huey’s body wasn’t down there, too. It occurred to him for the first time just how selfish that had been, stopping his friend from leaping into the waves. If there was life after death, dying so soon after her and in the same location probably would have made it very easy for him to join Monica. But he’d been so devastated. Elmer couldn’t let him die like that.

Which was selfish. But Huey knew he was selfish, and Monica did, too.

But that wasn’t what Monica was thinking about. She wrapped her arms around herself and listened to the sound of the waves. “I didn’t mean to hurt him,” she said, “with any of this. I wanted him to be happy.”

“Well, I could’ve told you that leaving wasn’t the way to accomplish that!”

He said it with a peppy grin, meaning to tease her gently, but she looked back with anguish in her eyes and he realized that he’d misjudged the significance of the statement. “They were after him,” she said. “I couldn’t let them think he was culpable, that he was going to—”

“Do exactly what we wound up doing?” Elmer asked, and now he made his smile gentler, more rueful. Monica looked away. He said, “We saw the play, you know.”

She sighed heavily. “And he still wanted to rescue me, after all that?”

“Of course he did! Why would that change things?”

“Because I wasn’t always the person he knew.” Monica raked her fingers through her long hair, pulling it back from her face. “Everything about me that he knew was a choice, something I had to be deliberately—”

“Yeah, but Huey supported that choice.” She looked at him, like she couldn’t believe that it was that simple. But it was. Huey had said so. “He felt bad about watching the play, you know. I mean, he felt a lot of things about that play, but I’m pretty sure he hated having to learn all that stuff from the play when you hadn’t even felt comfortable telling him yourself. He didn’t want them knowing something you’d wanted to keep hidden from him. You know? If you wanted it hidden, he wanted it to be hidden from everyone. So you could be who you chose to be.” He could see tears starting in her eyes. Not ideal. He poked the corner of her mouth, although that only made her bat his hand away. “He loved Monica. He loved Monica so much. If you wanted Maribel to stay in the past, he was gonna do whatever he could to make that happen.”

Yeah, she was going to cry. Even though this should be making her happy, he thought. She sniffed a few times, and then when he offered her his arms stepped gratefully into his embrace. She cried on his shoulder until the sun began to go down and he slowly woke up from his dream.

[stuffymcstuffsworld]

A child I love

You spent your time with Murmur-san during the heartbreaker event. He was hoping for a non combat group, but that wasn't the case. You had found Goemon's team. At first, you were both fine watching the team, which basically took itself apart for you.

But you were concerned. Your usually positive and peppy child looked tired and more stressed than you had ever seen them before as he tried to calm down his juniors. Then you saw Murmur-san make a move. It was the wrong move to make.

It certainly increased discord with the group, but you saw that it had pushed your child too far. Goemon was about to have an evil cycle in front of his Kohai's. You quickly threw your cape over the two, covering their eyes. It was too late for you to close yours however.

The number one rule of the Gaap household. Never show your true face. It made more sense to you now as you stared at the boy in front of you. It wasn't a metaphor.

Underneath the lovely silver fur was a morphed and grotesque figure. Twisted and mauled in an unsettling way. It was honestly what you would compare to a living nightmare.

No... that couldn't be right. He was one of your babies. So full of energy and egar to try new things and meet new people. So, how could you possibly think that description matched that of the child you knew?

You tried opening your mouth, but nothing came from it. It was as if you had been silenced. You could only stare at the true face of your distressed child and do nothing. It was heartbreaking.

You couldn't move even as you knew Murmur-san had knocked your child out with his magic. You could one stare paralyzed by what you had seen. Everything soon became a blur.

You woke up in the med tent. You woke up hearing a panicked Goemon and a calm Murmur-san. You carefully got out of bed, making sure to keep your balance. Why was your baby upset? Why was Murmur being an ass and saying that he couldn't see you?

You flug the curtains open and punched the bastard in the jaw. "Leave my baby alone! Of course, he can see me, I don't care if I'm on my death bed. You don't dictate if they can or can't come in!"

Looking towards Goemon, he seemed to stiffen. He was crying and scared. Quickly, you wrapped your arms around your furry child. He squirmed and tried to push away.

That was odd he had never tried to avoid your affection before. "I'm sorry, so sorry. I shouldn't have, I didn't mean to, I-I" His hiccups sobs made you squeeze tighter.

He whined, but you held firm. "I think we need to have a little chat, dear." You proceeded to move him back towards the divider for a small sense of privacy. "I never wanted y-you to see, I just wanted them t-to stop fi-fighting." He wheezed out as you sat him on the bed.

A jumbled blurr of images past through your mind. That face in particular. Oh... realization hit you. You cupped his furry cheeks. "Goemon. I'm not scared, I'm right here, I'm not gonna run away or stop loving you."

"But how I acted was so shameful!" You let out an amused huff. "Baby, if you hadn't noticed. Nobody in this family is all prim and proper. We all have faults." You petted his fur.

"And so what if you got upset? You had every right to be. There you were with two unrelenting and disagreeing parties trying your best to prevent infighting, and they just ignored you completely."

You scowled remembering the two first years. You were going to have to scold the later. "You are one of my children, one of my boys! How you acted wasn't shameful."

His fur tickled your hands as he started to nestle into your touch. "You don't think I should give up?" He asked quietly. "Why should you give up on your goals? So you reached a bump in the road. It's okay, you can learn from this."

Resting your heads together, you sighed. "The truth is, not everyone can get along with each other. And it's not like you can agree with someone about everything. There will be times when you argue or times when you part ways on bad terms."

You watched him slump a bit before nudging him. "But that makes those you do stay with those you can past arguments and understand their differences all the more special. Cause you decided that they were worth understanding. And they thought you were worth it too."

He seemed to perk up at that. Their he was your positive child. "You- you think I'm worth staying for?" The amazement in his voice as he quickly threw his arms around you. You laughed.

"All my children are worth staying for. Even if they cause trouble everywhere they go." You teased. Ruffling up his fur. "Thank you." You didn't respond to that. You didn't need to. You had said enough.

That image still flashed in your mind from time to time. But despite the harsh features and the rather hideous appearance... it was still your son. They say there are some faces that not even a parent can love. Well, shame on them for missing out on great kids like Goemon! You would love that face if no one else would.