#i researched how to fix pipes for this

[arolesbianism]

We did it boys we got our first game crash in oni 🎉

[ventismacchiato]

16 stuck with you — im so obsessed with your ex !

scaramouche x gender neutral reader

“It’s finally happening,” Yae sighs with a gleam in her eye, practically floating into the dorms. She sits next to Scara on the couch, her excitement palpable. “The three mystery guests are arriving! Finally, some drama!”

“I feel like there’s been enough drama,” Aether mutters.

“This will take the cake,” Yae giggles, clearly delighting in the upcoming chaos. “Trust me.”

“I think I’ll just stay here then,” Scara mutters, sinking deeper into the couch, his arms crossed tightly as he tries to resist the inevitable.

“Not so fast,” Yae says, “I need you there, especially.”

“She’s scaring me,” Yoimiya pipes up with a nervous laugh, inching her way toward the bedrooms, clearly trying to make a quick exit.

“Come on, enough chitchat,” Yae declares, standing up. She grabs Scara by the shoulder and yanks him up off the couch, practically dragging him by his feet. “I think the guests are situated.”

As you all make your way down to the beach and head toward the kitchens, you can't shake the uneasy feeling sitting in your chest. You’d known guests were going to join the main lot for the show, but no one ever told you who they could be.

“Oh my god, is that Diluc?” Lumine pipes up as Childe begins to fix his unkempt hair in response.

“Oh, hell no,” Scara mutters, his face immediately twisting with disgust as he takes one look at the scene in front of him. His instinct is to turn and leave, but Yae grabs him by the shoulder and pulls him forward, much to his annoyance.

“Is that my ex?” you say in disbelief, glancing at the table. His burgundy hair was recognizable even from how far you were standing. At the same time, everyone in Delusion turns to you, their eyes wide.

“Since when did you have an ex?” Aether asks, genuinely curious. Even Scara looks over at you now, his gaze lingering a little longer than you expected.

“Heizou and I had... a thing for a while,” you murmur, suddenly feeling awkward. “It was more of a situationship. How did you find out, Yae?”

“Research, baby,” Yae says smugly, clearly enjoying this too much.

“What kind of research?” you ask, eyebrow raised.

“Xiao. We asked Xiao.”

“She loves to gossip,” Xiao adds offhandedly, giving a shrug that seems almost apologetic.

“This is great,” Yae exclaims, her eyes lighting up as if she’s already imagining the chaos. “Let’s have some jealousy arcs!”

“I need to drown, I need to drown right now,” Scara mutters in exasperation, visibly agitated. He pulls his arm away from Yae’s grasp. “Please, just let me go.”

Even you’ve never seen him that agitated around you.

“Hush, it won’t be that bad,” Yae says, pulling him along  like a petulant child despite his protests. The rest of the group follows hesitantly behind.

The tension in the air thickens as the group walks into the dining area. The three figures sitting at the table come into full view. Mona is sitting nearest to the door, her posture more relaxed than you would have expected, while Heizou is across her, looking just a bit too calm for comfort.

Her eyes immediately fall on Scara, and she offers him a gentle smile. It’s sincere but carries a hint of hesitation.

“Scara,” Mona begins softly, her voice almost tender. “It’s been a long time since we’ve met, hasn’t it?”

It’s clear she’s trying to be civil, maybe even friendly, but Scara is having none of it.

“Yeah, not long enough,” Scara mutters as Yae pushes him into the chair beside her.

Meanwhile, you sit yourself next to Heizou, which is coincidentally also right across from Scara. Heizou looks as unbothered as ever, though you notice how his gaze flicks between you and Scara. 

“So... long time no see,” Heizou says, speaking in a neutral tone, trying to ease the tension in the room. He flashes one of his smiles, pretending not to care about the undercurrent of discomfort between everyone. “How have things been? You know, outside of... whatever this is.”

You can’t help but chuckle at how easily you slip back into conversation with him. You can’t help but notice the way he leans just a little too close when he says that last part, like he’s testing the waters. 

“Things have been fine,” you reply, your tone playful, “And you?”

“I'm doing better now,” he smiles, his eyes trailing you for a second. You feel your ears burn under his gaze.

Meanwhile, Childe, who’s been awkwardly sitting beside Diluc perks up, “Hey, uh, I like your music,” Childe says, his voice unexpectedly shy as he glances over at Diluc.

Diluc, who’s normally a man of few words, gives a rare smile, his expression softening. “Thank you,” he replies in his low, gentle voice, making Childe shift in his seat.

“So... uh, you like being an idol?” Childe continues, his words tripping over themselves in an effort to keep the conversation going.

Aether, sitting next to him, raises an eyebrow, clearly amused by the sudden shift in Childe’s usual extroverted self. “Wow, you’re really wooing him, huh?”

“Shut up!” Childe hisses, elbowing Aether in the ribs, his face flushed. “I’m trying!”

୨୧✧

The rest of breakfast goes on in a strained silence. Scara refuses to even glance at Mona, his arms crossed tightly and his eyes fixed on his plate. He’s not engaging with anyone. 

On the other hand, you and Heizou are catching up, your easy back-and-forth making the tension at the table feel a little less suffocating. So much so you don’t even realize Scara’s listening in on it.

Heizou, with his usual calm smile, picked up a blueberry tart and slid it across the table toward you. “I remember you really liked these,” he said, his voice warm and casual. “So, I asked them to bring some for you.”

Scara, who had been uncharacteristically quiet all morning, suddenly spoke up. His voice was flat, and his gaze remained fixed on his plate. “Yn doesn’t like blueberries.”

The words hung in the air, and for a moment, the room fell silent. Every eye turned toward Scara, the unexpected interruption making the tension in the air feel even heavier. Scara, clearly aware of all the attention, slowly lifted his eyes, his expression unreadable.

Heizou’s polite smile didn’t falter, but there was a hint of confusion in his tone. “Yes, they do. I used to gift them to them during our trainee days, right?”

He looked at you, his eyes searching for confirmation. But you, suddenly feeling like the weight of the room was on you, couldn’t meet his gaze. You shifted uncomfortably in your seat and looked down at the tart in your hands.

“Actually,” you said, sheepish, “I’m not very fond of blueberries.”

Heizou blinked, clearly surprised, and for the first time, his smile faltered. “...Oh.”

Scara, who’d been content to stay silent up until now, couldn’t help the smug grin tugged at the corners of his lips. “Told you.”

“And why do you care?” Heizou asks, raising a brow at Scara.

Scara, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed, looked entirely unbothered. “I don’t want to see them gag at the dinner table,” he said dryly, glancing at Heizou for the first time. “I’m already losing my appetite sitting across from you.”

The table fell silent again, the weight of Scara’s words hanging heavy in the air. You couldn’t help but notice the way Heizou’s smile tightened, as though his polite exterior was beginning to crack. He leaned back, trying to brush it off, but you could see the slight strain in his shoulders from the tension Scara’s jab had caused.

“…Whatever,” Heizou muttered, though you could tell Scara had bothered him, turning back to you. “What did you do with all the tarts I gave you then?”

“I gave them to Venti,” you admitted, still feeling a little awkward.

Venti, ever the enthusiastic one, raised his hand with a mouthful of tart. “They were good!”

For a moment, the tension in the room dissolved into awkward chuckles, but you could feel the remnants of discomfort still lingering. You couldn’t ignore seeing the flash of hurt in Heizou’s eyes upon realizing you didn’t enjoy his gifts. That man had bought you a lot of blueberry related snacks. 

On the other hand, Scara seemed less tense after his squabble with Heizou. 

The awkwardness lingered, but before anyone could say anything further, Mona, who had been quietly watching the scene unfold, spoke up. “Yn, I also don’t like blueberries that much.”

Scara scooped his plate forward, pushing his untouched blueberries onto Mona’s plate. Without a word, he walked out of the room, leaving a trail of silence in his wake as everyone wrapped up their breakfast.

Mona remained unfazed by the small act of defiance, simply getting up from the table and following suit.

After breakfast, Yae gathered everyone around outside with her usual enthusiastic flair. Well, gathered might be too generous a term since she practically herded you all together. She had to ask the film crew to chase down Scara who was surprisingly athletic when it came to escaping Yae’s stupid games. Well, game was a strong word for whatever this was. It was all rigged from the start, Yae wasn’t about to pass up an opportunity to get you and Scara paired with your exes on live television. 

"Could you at least pretend to smile?" Yae sighed, pointing to her lips in an attempt to show him as Scara leaned back, clearly not interested in playing along.

"No," Scara deadpanned, scooting further away from Mona.

“Fine, if you won’t sit by her, at least go sit by Yn,” Yae quipped, clearly amused at his indifference.

Surprisingly, Scara did exactly that, stepping over to your side. Seems he found you more tolerable than her. 

Yae clapped her hands, clearly pleased with herself, and shot a thumbs-up toward the film crew. "Alright, are we all set?" she asked, the microphone in her hand now buzzing with static. "Okay, contestants!" Her voice rang out, louder than before, making everyone jump a little. "We’ll have a quick challenge to see which two couples get to go on a date at Paradise's carnival!”

She lowered the mic, cupping it with her palm and muttering, “Obviously, we need those four to win this,” gesturing at you, Scara, Heizou, and Mona. She paused before continuing with a sigh. “But I’ll get everyone else catering to make up for it.”

"I keep getting my hopes up and forgetting this is all rigged," Childe moaned dramatically from the sidelines, earning a laugh from Diluc, who patted him on the back.

Yae rolled her eyes but wasn’t fazed. She raised the mic again, her voice returning to its enthusiastic pitch. “Alright, time for a little competition to earn your prize! You guys are going to participate in a quick trivia game about each other!"

You didn’t want to win this, especially not when it involved a fake date, but it was becoming clear there was no escaping it.

The teams were set up, and you ended up paired with Heizou, while Scara was stuck with Mona. Yae started her rounds, and the questions were as ridiculous as you expected. It wasn’t a serious trivia challenge, but that didn’t make it any less awkward whenever it was your turn. Everyone else was having fun answering, unlike you. You should’ve known most of the answers about Heizou, but your mind was surprisingly blank on all the details you used to remember.

“Yn, what’s the name of Heizou’s first album?” Yae asked. 

You blinked, then grimaced. “Oooh, can I get a new question?” you asked, trying to deflect.

“It’s called After Hours,” Yae instructed, her voice a little too chipper. "Just say that, and we'll move on."

You hesitated, then awkwardly repeated, “After Hours.”

“Correct!” Yae singsonged, moving on without missing a beat.

You shot Heizou with a sheepish look. “Sorry. I swear I did listen to your album... it just... slipped my mind.”

Heizou chuckled, though there was a hint of hesitation in his smile. “It’s fine. Honestly, I wouldn’t have remembered the title of yours either if I didn’t see it sitting on my shelf every day.”

You blinked, surprised. “You bought my album?”

Heizou shrugged casually. “Yeah, why? Did you not buy mine?”

You pause, “I was broke when I first debuted,” you awkwardly reply, suddenly feeling rather guilty. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Heizou answers, looking the other way. 

Meanwhile, Scara was making a game out of trying to tank his answers, but Yae didn’t even bat an eye. She was too busy setting up the drama.

“Now, Scara, what’s Mona’s stage name?” Yae asked, shooting him a smile. 

Scara barely looked up, “Stardust?” he says with a bored tone, flicking his gaze to the ceiling like he couldn’t care less.

“Correct!” Yae cheered, almost too enthusiastically.

Lumine, sitting nearby, raised an eyebrow. “Won’t people know this is fake? It’s Astra, isn’t it?” she pipes up, “That wasn’t even close.”

Yae waved her hand dismissively. “We’ll voiceover the correct answers later. Don’t worry about it.”

“Okay, bonus points for anyone who gets this!” Yae announced with a sly grin. “If any of your four, apart from Scara, can answer this right, I’ll cut your awkward date short on the island.” Yae adds, looking at you, clearly not expecting you too.

“What was Scara going to originally name his debut album?” She asks, grinning.

“How the hell are we supposed to know that?” Mona muttered, glancing at you, only to be interrupted by your sudden answer.

“Meet Me at Midnight,” you said, almost instinctively, before you even realized what you’d said.

Yae’s eyes widened, a look of disappointment on her face. “That’s correct!” she gasped, then immediately slapped a hand to her forehead. “Wait, why did I bet on that one?”

Scara turned to look at you, genuinely surprised.

“How do you know that but not my debut album?” Heizou asks with a surprised laugh.

You shrugged, trying to play it off. “I remember because I told him it was a terrible name for an album,” you said, looking at Scara. “Now it’s just called Midnights.”

“It was an alright name,” Scara mumbles to himself.

“Sure it was.”

Yae, already over it, clapped her hands with exaggerated enthusiasm. “And that wraps up our trivia game!” She paused for dramatic effect. “The top four contestants are... Yn, Scaramouche, Mona, and Heizou!” She feigns a gasp as everyone rolls their eyes, “What a twist! You four will be off to the island soon for a double date!”

As everyone else started discussing what food to get Yae to cater, you could feel the weight of your fate hanging over you.

୨୧✧

After the game, everyone else heads back to the dorms for some free time, while the four of you are left to awkwardly prepare for your double date. You couldn’t think of anything more awkward as Yae explained how you guys would be spending the day at the carnival on Paradise. Just great.

Once everyone is gathered outside, Jean approaches with a clipboard in hand.

“So, we need to figure out if you four want to take the helicopter or the boat with the crew to the island,” Jean announces, his voice carrying her usual professional tone, unlike Yae who was having a little too much fun. 

Your heart sinks at the mention of the helicopter. You try to act casual, shifting your weight from one foot to the other, but you feel your stomach knot. Scara notices the subtle change in your demeanor.

Heizou speaks up with an excited grin. “Wouldn’t the helicopter be a nicer view? Plus, it’s quicker.”

Mona, standing beside him, nods in agreement, her smile sweet and sincere. “I think the helicopter would be lovely,” she says, her eyes flicking toward Scara. It’s a small, calculated glance. You can’t help but feel a pang of discomfort.

You force yourself to keep a neutral expression, trying not to give away how uncomfortable you feel. You hate flying. The last time you were in a helicopter, you barely made it through without a panic attack. And Scara had been there to witness it. You don’t want to relive that embarrassing moment, especially not with Heizou and Mona around.

Clearing your throat, you try to sound casual, although your voice betrays you with a slight tremor. “I’ll just go on the boat, if that’s okay,” you say, not looking at anyone directly. There. Perfectly played. Totally.

Heizou gives you an amused look. “Oh? Your loss,” he says with a grin, his tone light and teasing. “The helicopter’s way more scenic.”

But then, to your surprise, Scara speaks up, his voice flat as always. “I’ll take the boat too,” he mutters, already turning away as if the conversation had never mattered to him. He starts walking toward the dock without another word.

You blink, taken aback. Mona looks at Scara in surprise, clearly expecting him to choose the faster, more fun option. But Scara just keeps walking, his footsteps heavy with disinterest. He doesn’t look back. 

Jean shrugs, unfazed. “Alright then. We’ll all meet at the carnival on the other island.” She gestures for the crew to follow you two, and the tension seems to dissipate as everyone moves on to their respective transport.

You follow without saying anything, still processing Scara’s response. It wasn’t like he had to take the boat. He could’ve gone with Mona. And yet, here he was, going with you.

Once aboard the boat, the sunlight shimmers across the water, making everything feel a little more serene. The boat rocks gently beneath your feet, and you settle in, stealing glances at Scara, who’s staring out at the horizon with his usual unreadable expression. His posture, though, seems stiffer than usual.

“Thanks for coming on the boat,” you say, breaking the silence. Your voice sounds too loud against the stillness of the water, and for a moment, you regret even saying it. The awkwardness of it hangs between you like an unwanted presence.

Scara doesn’t answer immediately. His eyes stay fixed on the water, but after a few beats, he finally shrugs. “Didn’t wanna sit next to Mona,” he mutters lowly, as if the answer is self-explanatory.

“Alright,” you reply, though the simple response feels like it doesn’t quite cover the weight of the situation. But still, you can’t ignore the fact that he chose to sit with you instead of her. “But still.”

You had been disappointed when Heizou boarded the helicopter without you, but you didn’t blame him. Things had been rather awkward since breakfast, and there was no way to get around it.

Scara shifts in his seat, his eyes flicking toward the water as he says, “Whatever. It’s fine. You don’t have to thank for shit like this.” His voice is as nonchalant as ever, but you can sense there’s more to it. You don’t push it though, choosing to remain quiet, happy just to have the ground beneath your feet. After all, not dangling thousands of feet in the air is a small victory.

୨୧✧

You arrive a bit later than Heizou and Mona, who are already waiting for you both on the island, standing near the carnival entrance.

“Alright, Yae and I will be on the boat while you four go on your date, in your ears,” Jean explains, skimming through what was on her clipboard. “Just go explore the carnival together, and please, try to keep it civil.” Her gaze lingers on Heizou and Scara as she says that last part.

“Actually, I think they’re adding some good drama,” Yae whispers to Jean, her voice carrying a playful note.

“There’s a line between drama and full on fighting,” Jean sighs, clearly unamused.

Once the film crew is situated, Yae starts her spiel again, her voice ringing out through a mic.

“Alright, the winning pairs have arrived and will be having their double date here at Paradise's carnival!” Yae says enthusiastically. “You four must stick together as you explore the attractions! No running off now! Have fun!” she singsongs.

“Where to first?” Heizou hums, his eyes scanning the map board in front of you all.

“Maybe some games?” Mona suggests with a bright smile.

“Sure,” you reply, even though the idea of spending the day with your ex and Scara on a date makes your stomach twist in awkward knots. Scara, as usual, hangs back, his hands stuffed in his pockets as he follows behind the group with no real enthusiasm. You don’t blame him.

The smell of buttered popcorn and sugary cotton candy drifts through the air as you walk through the carnival. The place is mostly empty, though you suspect the company rented the space out just for you all. It’s quiet in a way that almost feels like a trap.

“This one looks fun,” you say, pointing to a ring toss game in front of you.

“Would you like to win something for your date?” The man working the booth asks Heizou, waving some rings around.

Heizou grins, catching your eye. “Sure, which plush is catching your eye, Yn?”

You glance at the display and point to a penguin plush. “I guess the penguin’s pretty cute.”

“Five tries,” the worker explains, handing Heizou the rings, “Three to win.”

Heizou takes the rings and tosses the first one, missing by a wide margin. One miss. Two miss. Three miss. Four miss. Five... another miss. Heizou manages to miss every single one, which, frankly, seems impressive in its own right. You start to wonder if the game is rigged.

Scara, who had been watching with mild amusement, can’t help but chuckle at Heizou’s pathetic attempts. Mona pats him on the back sympathetically, equally entertained.

“Sorry, Yn,” Heizou says with a sheepish grin, clearly embarrassed.

“It’s fine,” you say, rubbing him awkwardly on the shoulder.

“How about you?” The worker asks, nodding towards Scara. “Want to try and win your pretty lady something?”

“Win me the cat plush,” Mona says, folding her arms with a smirk as she glances over at Scara.

Scara rolls his eyes but takes the rings with a lazy flick of his wrist. His first throw barely makes it off his hand, landing miles away from the bottles.

“Oh no. I lost,” he says in his usual monotone voice, clearly throwing the game on purpose.

Even so, Heizou seizes the opportunity to provoke Scara. “See? You’re no better than me,” he teases, his voice light.

Scara gives him a glare as he raises his hand again. “Actually, I’ll take another round.”

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. He easily lands all five rings around the bottles. The worker blinks, clearly surprised.

The man reaches for the cat plush Mona had pointed to earlier, but Scara interrupts.

“That one.” He points to the penguin plush you had chosen earlier. His voice is flat, but you wonder if he’s doing it to spite you.

Instead he grabs the penguin and tosses it over to you without a word.

“At least one of us can actually win a plush,” he says, smirking at Heizou before walking off towards the next stall. Mona sighs and follows him.

You look down at the penguin in your hands, still processing what just happened. He’d won, but he’d also given it to you. 

Every game after that is a repeat of the same pattern: Heizou trying (and failing) to win, and Scara effortlessly collecting plushies. By the time you leave the stall, you’re carrying an absurdly large pile of stuffed animals. You’re forced to hand them off to one of the cameramen just to be able to walk around. You almost feel guilty, offering Mona the cat plush she’d wanted earlier.

Soon, the date devolves into nothing more than Heizou and Scara making bets with each other as you and Mona trail behind, quietly watching them one-up each other in a strange unspoken rivalry. 

“Hey,” Mona says, nudging you gently. “Let’s sneak away.” She nods towards the rides you haven’t touched yet. “You were eyeing the swings.”

You look over at Heizou and Scara, who are too absorbed in their competition to notice anything else. The worker at the fishing game is giving them a look of horror as they try to fish rubber ducks out of a tiny pool.

“You know what?” you say, relieved by the chance for a break. “Yeah, let’s go.”

She grabs your hand and tugs you along toward the swings, placing the cat plush between you two as you hop onto the ride.

As the swings start to rise, you glance over at Mona. She’s screaming with excitement. You can’t help but smile at her, but the smile quickly fades as you find yourself wondering about something. What happened between her and Scara? You know the basic gist of it from what your fans post on social media and from what gossip Xiao has passed on to you, but the Mona you’re seeing now feels oddly different from the one who’d dated Scara.

The ride slows, and you look down to see Heizou and Scara finally noticing that you’ve gone missing. Scara looks up, and you and Mona wave at him as the ride speeds past.

Once you’re off the ride, you suggest grabbing some snacks before Heizou and Scara catch up.

“Chocolate churros sound good?” you ask, already feeling the weight of the strange tension between the group. Mona agrees, walking up to the food stall to ask for a few.

You find a bench to settle on as you wait, the stillness between you and Mona only slightly alleviated by the warmth of the churros.

“Thanks for dragging me away,” you say, looking over at her. “I had fun.”

“No problem,” Mona hums, her voice light as she takes a bite. “Besides, I wanted to check out the rides too. And bonus, got to make Scara upset.”

You glance down at the churros at that, having the urge to ask her about what really went down between her and Scara. But it isn’t quite your place to ask. 

Your train of thought is interrupted when Mona reaches out, brushing some chocolate off your lips.

“You got something…” she murmurs, her face much closer to yours than you expected.

You blink, caught off guard by how close she’s sitting to you. She seems so casual about it, but you start to wonder if she has a different intention than just being friendly.

“Huh?” you murmur, turning towards her.

“Shh,” she whispers, her palm caressing your cheek as she pulls her hand back. “He’s watching.”

Out of the corner of your eye, you spot Heizou and Scara making their way toward you. Scara’s gaze is unreadable, but his stare is piercing.

“Just wanted to make him jealous,” Mona smiles mischievously, her hand gently pinching your cheek.

You try to mask the surprise that rises in you as you look up at Scara. His expression remains neutral, but there’s something unsettling about the way he’s staring. Mona seems to notice too.

“Sorry for abandoning you guys,” Heizou apologizes, looking sheepish as you hand him your extra churro. “Got too caught up in competition.”

Scara says nothing. He doesn’t seem at all sorry for leaving you both. He takes the seat next to you, not Mona, who’s holding out a churro for him. His eyes flicker over to her before settling back on you.

“We should all ride something together before we leave,” you suggest, trying to shake off the tension. “How about a coaster?”

“Sure,” Heizou hums, though you can hear the hesitation in his voice.

Scara shrugs, nonchalant as always. “Whatever.”

The rest of the night drifts by in a blur of rides and laughter, though it’s hard to tell just how much fun Scara’s actually having. He never fully cracks a smile, his face as unreadable as ever, but there’s something about the way his posture relaxes just slightly on the rollercoaster that makes you think he’s enjoying it at least a little bit. Heizou, on the other hand, is the opposite and makes it known how much fun he’s having. He’s as animated as ever as he throws flirty comments your way between rides. 

The weirdness from earlier fades between you and Heizou, especially as he ends up sitting next to you on every ride, his easy smile gradually putting you at ease. 

But Scara? He’s hard to read. He follows along without complaint, occasionally joining in on the banter between you and Heizou, but when he’s not pulling one of his usual stony expressions he’s somewhere else. You catch him staring off into the distance as the carnival lights flicker in the fading sunset, his gaze fixed on something beyond you. It’s moments like these that make you wonder what’s really going on in that head of his. Something you never used to care about before.

Before you know it, the night sky has fully taken over, the bright carnival lights casting long shadows behind you. You pause for a moment, just long enough to breathe in the cool air, the faint smell of popcorn and sweets still lingering in the breeze. 

Mona and Heizou end up walking ahead, chatting about something or the other. Meanwhile, Scara trails along beside you. He doesn’t speak, but he doesn’t walk ahead either. You almost feel like you should say something, if only to break the silence, but you’re not sure how to approach it.

“Thanks for the plushies, by the way,” you pipe up, the words feeling almost too casual, but you don’t know what else to say. Your hand instinctively grips one of the stuffed animals, the penguin that Scara had won for you. You’d given the rest to the crew, but you wanted to hold onto this one. The soft plush feels comforting against your palm. 

Scara doesn’t immediately respond. You can feel his eyes on you for a brief second, before he looks back down at the ground, his expression unreadable. “No need,” he says in his usual flat tone, like it’s no big deal.

“Didn’t think I’d see you giving out prizes, Scara,” you say, the words slipping out before you can stop them. You try to make it sound lighthearted, but your voice catches a little on the last word. “You seemed pretty determined to win... for Mona.”

“It wasn’t for her,” he immediately says. But then, after a beat, he answers, his voice a little softer than usual, “I just didn’t want to hear Heizou gloat.”

“Besides,” he adds, eyeing the plush in your hand, “it looks better with you.” His steps slow, just slightly, and for a moment you think he’s about to say something else, but then he just keeps walking towards the dock.

You stand there for a second, a little caught off guard by his words. The air between you two feels charged. He said it so nonchalantly, like it didn’t matter, but there was something in the way he said it that made you wonder if it did.

With a small sigh, you hurry to catch up with him. As you walk alongside him, you can’t help but glance at the penguin plush in your hand, still unsure of what to make of this strange, quiet moment between you.

୨୧✧

Since you and Scara had chosen to go by boat you two had to wait a while longer for it to arrive. Mona and Heizou were already off to the island as you stood by the beach. You look over and see Scara sitting by himself.

He was sitting by the edge of the dock, legs dangling just above the water, his posture tense as he stared out at the horizon with a detached sort of focus.  

You weren’t stupid, you knew he was trying to be alone. But with the way he’d been acting off all day and was now sitting out here by himself you felt your chest twist with something. Something that made you carry your feet over to him. 

You hesitated for a moment, watching the way the wind tousled his hair and how he drew circles in the water with his feet.

"Scara," you called out, your voice quiet.

He didn’t respond.

You sighed, stepping closer. "Kuni," you tried again. 

This time, he turned his head, his eyes flicking toward you, just enough to acknowledge your presence. He said nothing, but he scooted over on the small dock.

You hesitated for a second before taking a few steps and sitting next to him at the edge of the dock. The tension between you two was still thick and unresolved.

“So…” you began, trying to break the silence with casual ease. “It’s weird with our exes, huh?”

He let out a low, almost inaudible sigh, his eyes returning to the water. “Yeah.” His voice was flat. He was frustrated, whether it was with Mona, with Heizou, you, or himself, you couldn’t tell, but you figured it was a mix of all of it. 

You watched him for a moment, then took a breath, deciding to ask something that had been nagging at you since breakfast. “How do you remember the blueberry thing?” you asked, eyes narrowed in curiosity.

Scara’s gaze flicked to you again, and this time, he raised an eyebrow, as if the answer was obvious. “Why wouldn’t I remember?”

His tone was casual, but there was a sharpness to it that made your chest tighten slightly. You’d never really considered that all the times you’d argued, all those little details, would stick with him over the years. 

The silence stretched between you two, and you looked down, finally noticing the cigarette hanging loosely from his fingers.

“I thought you quit,” you said, offhandedly, trying to push the knot in your chest aside.

He didn’t even glance at you. “Don’t worry, I did,” he muttered, voice as indifferent as always. “I just carry one around.” He doesn’t question how you know about him quitting.

You were unsure if you should press further, so instead you just hummed in acknowledgment. You’re about to stand up and leave when Scara’s voice breaks through the quiet once more with a question of his own.

“So, you and Heizou?” he asks. 

“Yeah, a long time ago,” you say, your tone more guarded than you intended. You didn’t think he’d ever cared about it. Then again, maybe he was just being nosy, as usual.

“Why didn’t you date him?” Scara asked, his eyes still trained on the water, watching the waves as they lapped lazily at his feet. He absentmindedly twirled the cigarette between his fingers, but you could feel his attention on you. You always could.

“I don’t know," you said after a long pause, your voice quieter. Your throat tightened. You hadn’t thought about Heizou in a long time. "He switched companies, and then... I debuted." You shrugged slightly, trying to make the words sound casual. “No time, or whatever.” You hated how unconvincing that sounded, but there it was.

Scara didn’t look at you, but you could feel his gaze. Then, after a moment, he said something that made your throat tighten even more.

“You have the time now, don’t you?”

You blinked at the question. For a few seconds, you didn’t answer. Three years had passed since then. Three years of nothing. You could have found the time. You could have sent a message or tried to find him after a concert, maybe even crossed paths at some industry event. You could have tried. But instead, you were caught up in everything that had come after…you’d been occupied with Scara. 

You spared a glance towards him, but he wasn’t looking at you. He never looked at you when the questions got too close to something real. He was staring at the water, still twirling the cigarette between his fingers, but there was an unreadable expression in his face.

“I was occupied, to be honest,” you said, your voice unsteady.

He scoffed, “With what? Your other ten exes I don’t know about?”

“With you.”

There was a brief, charged silence. The weight of your words hung in the air, and you didn’t even understand what you meant. He didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he continued twirling the cigarette, his fingers moving mechanically. But you could feel his gaze shift towards you, sharper now. The unreadable expression on his face faltered just for a moment, but it was gone before you could place it.

Finally, he huffed out a breath, leaning back slightly, “Whatever. Not my problem,” he glances at you, “Can’t blame me for that.”

"Yeah, sure." You paused, your voice softer now, tinged with frustration and something else you couldn’t quite name, “But arguing does take up a lot of time.”

He didn’t answer right away. What was there to say? You could feel the unspoken weight of the past between you two, the years of frustration, of unspoken words. 

All of the time that had slipped away, together but apart.

But instead, he just exhaled sharply, pulling himself to his feet with a lazy, practiced motion. He tucks his unlit cigarette away as he reaches his palm towards you. He hoists you up with ease, and you stumble a bit on the dock. His other arm grabs your waist to steady you before letting go, his touch lingering for a moment longer than he needed to.

“The boat’s here,” he murmurs, eyeing you. 

You stare at his hand, your waist still warm from the brief contact, and then at the boat approaching in the distance. The night is settling in, the world around you dimming as the sky deepens to purple and dark blue. The quiet between you is thick, like the air before a storm, and for a moment, you can’t tell if you’re relieved or frustrated that he’s not saying anything else.

You swallow, a mix of something bitter and sweet twisting in your chest. “Yeah. Guess we should go.”

But as he walks, his pace a little faster than before, you catch the faintest of glances over his shoulder. His gaze meets yours for a fleeting second, almost like he wants to say something but stops himself. 

And just like that, he’s gone, stepping onto the boat with the same indifference he always carries.

[00:00:00] GUEST INTERVIEW TAKE ONE

YAE: What's your name, my beautiful queen?

JEAN: Oh God, cut!

[00:00:03] GUEST INTERVIEW TAKE TWO

YAE: [SIGHS] What's your name?

MONA: [LAUGHS] It's Mona! You all know me.

JEAN: How has your first week on the island been?

MONA: Honestly, weird. Scaramouche has been giving me the nastiest side eye but I still want him to at least acknowledge me, and Y/N is so socially awkward it kind of hurts and—

YAE: Haha, so funny! [PAINED LAUGH] What about a good thing?

YAE: [WHISPERS] This isn't a good look for you, Mona.

MONA, STILL TALKING: - and you know, Fischl is beautiful, but how am I supposed to talk to her? I know I'm a bad bitch, but I can't fumble this one. It'll be so bad for my image and-oh, sorry, did you ask me something?

JEAN: What's... what's a good thing about your first week here. [SOUNDS PAINED]

MONA: Oh! Getting to tan. I'm so pale being inside all day as an idol, it's nice to get some sun. [SMILES]

YAE: Cut!

[00:00:00] POST DOUBLE DATE INTERVIEW

YAE: So, how are you feeling about our guests?

YN: You are an evil woman for bringing them here.

YAE: [GIGGLES] Right? I’m so good at this.

YN: Seeing Heizou was a little awkward, but I think we’re okay now?

YAE: Any sparks flying? 

YN: I’m not sure, I don’t think so.

YAE: And what are your thoughts on Mona?

YN: Well, she was nice…?

YAE: [RAISES A BROW AND GESTURES FOR YOU TO CONTINUE]

YN: Well, she was nice on the date. But looking back I think she was just trying to get a reaction out of Scara [SIGHS] I still had fun though.

YAE: I see all those plushies your not date won for you [WIGGLES HER EYEBROWS SUGGESTIVELY] That was romantic, right?

YN: [WAVES HER OFF] He was just competing with Heizou!

YAE: [GROANS LOUDLY] 

JEAN: Don’t mind her–

LISA: [ALSO GROANING BEHIND THE CAMERA]

YN: Archons, sorry. 

YAE: Yeah, you should be. Open your eyes. 

YN: They’re open I swear! [PUTS HANDS UP]

YAE: Hmph. CUT!

stuck with you!

masterlist — prev | next

btw chapter eleven is when yn mentions they don’t like blueberries, told ya it would come back (and sorry again if u actually like them, replace it with a fruit u hate)

also typo slide 27 it’s supposed to say yn weverse update

me tryna figure out how to do backstory: twitter thread! more scaramona backstory next chapter so be patient xx

i cudnt fit the written text below pic in this as much so make sure u read all the written parts!

also scara only saying his body count after yn shows interest i know what u r

pls comment or send me an ask if u enjoyed i need motivation 🤗

comment on the MASTERLIST if i can use ur user as a fan in the au!

notes — wow 3 updates in one month merry christmas also btl easter egg who caught that

synopsis — after the disaster that was the live award show, where you and scaramouche got into an argument on stage after both of your groups got a tie for top artists, your guys' PR teams have been in shambles trying to scrape up your mess. that's when the idea to send you both off with some other idols to a remote location for a survival dating show to mend your public image comes up. before you know it your bags are packed and you’re on a plane to a remote island. the only obligation is you need to end up with scaramouche at the end of the show, whether you end up liking him or not doesn’t matter to your managers as long as the show’s ratings stay high. whatever you do in between to get there is up to you!

taglist — @na1lea @cindywasneverhere @lunavixia @aestherin @mlaakai @camvrin @retiredmommylover @iheartpieck @cartierfiles @loveariel @silly-ez @mochipls @pomeiu @flowerypesky @creammpuff @boxdisappeared @kissingkzuha @webbywill @kazusboyfriend @s3xpistolss @bunns-wonderland @lordbugs @localgirlywithnolife @kosumos @danfelions @featuredtofu @pinxeajin @haeunoo @scaradooche @pglt19 @chemiru @childesbabygirl @simonisferal @shutingstar @ttalgi @esuz @tokkishouse @kitsuvil @scarasmood @ihearttori @nomurahayami @starringyau @androxphobic @reivelmin @animeobsessed56 @femaholicc @vi0let-writes @izayumi-chan @aloflapse @migorengeaterrr

[zeondraws]

Ok, Fellas, so today was wild

I'm at Gamescom atm and a week before this I tried to make a small plan for myself. Mostly because I had gotten such a big interest for the game, I wanted to see if I can meet anyone at the event.

After having had a big hurdle while trying to reenter the business area, I was able to go back and meet someone from the Chinese Room (I met two today). Which was wild for me, didn't think with this sudden interest in the game that I was able to meet someone from the team who worked on the game so soon.

I told them how I struggle to find interests in most games since those usually don't speak to me, but Still Wakes The Deep suddenly caught my attention. Where I ended up researching a bunch to find hidden details or eastereggs, looking through the game files and replaying the game to further understand the story.

I only had a small window to ask a bunch of questions, I sadly couldn't ask silly questions like "Does Muir look like a Bagpipe?" or ask some Questions about Caz.

Before the meeting I asked people on the discord server if they wanted to know anything. So I tried to take the questions I had for the moment and get through them XD

I did tell them how there is a small community on tumblr/discord where we gather. And that I asked some folk for questions I should ask.

Ok these are big spoilers, at least some suprised me, quite a bunch if them are of course about Muir and Innes.

I hope I remember everything properly that he told me, I immediately wrote everything down on discord for the others to read, but figured making a tumblr post will be good as well.

Innes:

Quite a lot of people asked about the VA of Innes, apparently they forgot to include him in the credits which made them feel extremely bad, even apologising to them. I can definitely understand how that must feel, I think I'd melt away. They'd fix it in the next patch, I can't check if it's already fixed atm.

At the very end of our chat, while shaking hands, I asked if Innes is bald. And the answer was "*laughs* yes".

Now I clearly asked this one as a joke, because I found it funny to tell the others on discord, however I very much support luscious hair Innes that many are drawing.

Muir:

I explained to them how I've been researching some stuff in the game. And figured out, that Muir must've died around the time when Caz flooded the Forward Pontoon in Marine Control. So I asked if that's possible to be the time when it actually happend- and they did confirm this! I was surprised that I got that on point.

But I got some further details about this, apparently they wanted to showcase how Muir would've died there.

Basically, once Caz flooded the Forward Pontoon, you would've seen Muir outside loosing his grip out in the deck and getting crushed under debris.

Which was so painful for me to imagine, to see Muir outside, walking on his tendrils and suddenly not being able to keep his balance.

I tried illustrating how I roughly imagine this scene, it ain't perfect, but maybe it helps everyone to visualise it.

The Flooding shifted the entire rig and debris fell onto him.

To have some sense where everything is, Accommodation Roof (where you find Roy) is on the left side, if you look at the rig from the Derrick entrance. And Marine Control should be on the right side.

The thing is Marine Control is facing the ocean (if I remember correctly, I hope I do, I'm currently not home to check), so you couldn't take a look at the derick while Caz does the thing. Which basically made them remove this and hid Muir nearby the Derrick for players to find. And I told him how I replayed the game and saw Muir lay there with Innes, it was 6AM and I just sat there like O-O

Muir & Innes:

A burning question for many was, what their relationship is. And they told me it's more like a father son relationship, saying how Innes is very strict to Muir.

Muir is the younger one of the two and also likes to tease Innes a bunch (so the pipe thing is one of his many shenanigans he'd do)

Here we see a wild Muir in his natural habitat about to prank his friend (caught in 4k) (I almost died) (look at him plotting).

Now, I could not forget to mention that the fandom decided to ship Muir and Innes and wanted to see their reaction. They took it with a smile and just talked about their complex relationship again. Which I found cool to hear.

I sadly don't remember every small detail of the convo, since I wanted to make sure that I was able to ask all the questions people wrote on discord.

Brodie & Raffs:

This was a surprise to hear, which also made me very sad. Brodie was also like a father for Raffs, he knew his mother too.

And apparently Brodie was supposed to tell Raffs mother incase anything happened to him. So that she can feel better knowing Raffs died quickly and without much pain. Which is just... I'm in shambles. sobbing

Gibbo:

Some folk wanted to know if he had an actual model, to which the person answered with yes. They planned to show him at some point, but decided that the player should see Trots firstly.

I also randomly asked if the Gibbo model ingame was a part of Addairs model (judging by the game files), if I remember correctly he nodded.

I hope we get to see it in the artbook, I preordered it but forgor to tell him that. But it's okay.

I sadly don't remember everything here, I had to check discord for the questions (I hope I don't say anything wrong), but with Gibbo they focused more on the sound design and the mystery. And I think in the end it worked out perfectly.

Other:

They implanted a bunch of eastern eggs into the game, the art director even said he's still finding new ones to this day.

He mentioned the pictures shown in various areas and mentioned that he inserted pictures of his family and cousins etc.

Also the Kid inside the TV in the Crew Lounge? That's the Art Director as a kid! Whaaaaaaaa- Didn't know this one for sure.

And another random thing, I showed him the meme that @cazrig made. Because I inserted it inside my piece of fanart. I sadly couldn't show him more memes of the community because I forgor/no time. The memes Robin made are also comedy gold.

It was this one (I keep dying of laughter)

He found it very funny, so did the other person I showed it to.

But he also talked about how worried he was how the game would be perceived in the end. Since it came out extremely close to the release date of the new Elden Ring DLC. And having worked on it for so long they didn't know how the reactions would be.

But were positively surprised how well it was perceived, people playing the game, tears being shed and so on.

Okay that took me ages to write, I just wanted to have it all inside a tumblr post. Otherwise I may forget stuff if it's scattered on discord.

The event day turned out well for me today. I was so worried, that my tiny plan wouldn't work yesterday. But somehow I had some luck on my side.

After I got home I added his signature to my physical copy. I also made myself a small card with my artwork for it. I also gave them a small card and a big printed version of the fanart as well.

Thank you John!

I go sleep now, tomorrow is another gamescom day

[azullumi]

“and they were roommates” ; albedo & diluc

summary — what is he like as your roommate? in correlation, how does he often act around his home shared with you?

includes — albedo and diluc (w/ gender-neutral reader) ; separate

tags — fluff, domestic fluff if you squint so hard, no established relationship, some sprinkle of smau ; headcanons

note — surprise, there is no note ; masterlist

albedo, the helpful and kind roommate, also an artist and somewhat a friend

a genius, a roommate, and a friend (maybe). minds his own business and does his own things but he is willing to help you at most times, he wouldn’t mind tutoring you if you’re a student who needs guidance or wouldn’t mind fixing the pipes if ever it gets broken—i mean, that would affect him also if it breaks down as you two share the same home. he’ll figure things out on his own even if he doesn’t have that much experience with such tasks.

he’s an artist and you’ve seen some of his artworks when you pass by his open room. however, he never talked about it, his art, so if he didn’t leave his door open and if you hadn’t taken a peek inside, you wouldn’t have seen him painting—if you didn’t ask him about it, you’ll never know of it.

probably loves fruits, unsure since he never said it out loud but will always bring some home whenever he goes out—there’s always a basket of it on the table or a container in the fridge—and will even slice or peel it for you, sending you a photo and a message if you want some. you honestly don’t know how that string began but it just happened, peeling oranges for you and sharing just became a normal thing on a hot—perhaps summer—day.

he’s quiet most of the time, doesn’t talk a lot and texts from him first are not a common thing, but that doesn’t mean he’s not willing to engage in a conversation with you and you get along with him just fine. he’s not some emotionless stuck up jerk, he’s very much the opposite of that. he’s caring, gentle, and attentive. he doesn’t leave a mess around unless it’s in his room and he does his own fair share of chores.

his room is somewhat divided into two spaces: rest and work area and the latter space is always messy. cleaning it up is just futile effort as it only gets untidy afterwards. there are all kinds of items and things inside, materials for his art and work or research, expensive equipment lying around his room, and a shelf with different kinds of books. along with some of his paintings that he put up, there are also papers that he taped on the wall, ideas and reminders that he can’t afford to forget.

diluc, just your simple and average thoughtful roommate, a bartender and an old soul

god, he’s just so sweet, attentive, and caring, and if you two aren’t dating, you wish you were. he lets you borrow one of his shirts (even if you have some in your closet but his j ust smells so good and it’s also so comfortable and soft to wear), he doesn’t mind it at all as long as you don’t go digging deeper into his room—not just the clothes—and invading his personal space and overstepping your boundaries. he lets you borrow some of his things also as long as you’ll ask for permission.

he’s not much of a morning person, getting out of his bed when it’s nearly afternoon already. if ever he wakes up early, he’ll stay inside his room probably just laying on his bed and catching to more sleep or cherishing his alone time and making the most out of it, he wallows in the warmth of the sunlight that seeps into his room and lays at his floor and the silence that engulfs him—it’s just peaceful and comforting.

speaking of his room, he has a simple one, adorned with small decorations and a few framed photos, and everything is always neat and tidy. all of his things are stored where they should be. there’s nothing much to describe here except it’s clean and organized with a faint smell of his cologne. he does have a collection of vintage and old items placed around his room such as a phonograph on his table and an antique vase on the corner.

he works part-time as a bartender—from afternoon until night. that’s why he’s often out late but he tells you in advance, either through a call or text message, whatever his mood is. although it’s not everyday that he works since he’s at home on some days. during those times, he’ll be the one to cook and would do chores around the house, letting you rest instead.

he lets you try some of the drinks he made, non-alcoholic if you don’t want alcohol, and would ask for your opinion. he’ll prefer it if you’re honest—lying wouldn’t be beneficial here. but then all of the ones he makes are all good so there’s no need to fabricate and sugarcoat your words to please him.

© azullumi — do not plagiarize, copy, repost, nor translate any of my works.

[rosamariaa]

I've been thinking a lot about a remus/sirius Ministry of Magic office AU..

Often I see ppl talking about what would Sirius work with if there wasn't a war going on and he could just live his life in peace and one of my favorite headcanons is that he would be an 'Unspeakable'. Those are the ppl that work in the department of mysteries, that by itself is one of coolest things in the wizarding world, according to me. The department of mysteries is responsible for confidential studies of death, love, time etc (A lot of crazy things that honestly no one should have to mess with but obvs they do anyways...) It's high-level security place, no one besides the researchers are allowed in those chambers. No one even knows who are those researchers and what they do, actually.

Buut, its sirius we are talking about and the guy is a genius but also can be pretty reckless and, in this specific scenario, I think he would be a borderline "crazy scientist" so. He fucks up down the line. I don't know what he does, exactly, but it's something that put his and others researchers' lives at risk. Bc of that, he is sent to work in a waaay more mundane department: Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. It's a cool department!! Remember that first poa scene where harry turns aunt marge into a balloon etc? well those are the guys who they call to fix that. They even have a Obliviators division, responsible for changing Muggles' memory in case they are exposed to accidental magic. Those guys are full of themselves and annoying as hell, btw.

and I see Sirius being sent there, after The Accident. It's cool in theory, but most of the time it's puuuure paperwork and it bores sirius to no end.

well, guess who works there as well. Our guy, Remus j. lupin.

Remus isn't one to do field work so he mostly works in the Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee division (god I love those long ass names). Basically he comes up with stuff to excuse magic happening in the muggle world etc. like when peter killed a bunch of muggles and the muggle paper said it was a "big gas explosion". Pure paperwork. Boring as hell.

Anyway, Sirius turns up there out of nowhere and he is the office sweetheart. It fucking boggles remus mind, like. Sirius always goes to the office parties and seems to be friends with everyone but no one knows anything about this guy. He just gets there, a almost 30 yo with a bunch of obscure work experience and no one knows what he did before that, who his family is, where he is from and how the hell does he knows the stuff that he knows.

Sirius is great at field work, he mostly works directly in the Obliviators division and remus is really great with the paperwork stuff sooo they get paired up a lot. At first, they are a bit annoyed by each other (my fav wolfstar flavor). It's funny because they actually agree with almost everything but they just approach things veeery differently and so they are bickering all the damn time. And Sirius is a Certified Little Shit™ and is constantly doing things that drives remus a bit crazy. Once they had a case of a water fountain exploding bc two wizards were fighting in a public park and instead of obliviating the muggles into believing it was only a piping problem or whatever, he went out of his way to turn it into a sort of elaborate flash mob that went viral on tiktok. Remus spent the night awake documenting everything. He wanted to strangle sirius that day.

between late nights working and lots of crazy field work (thanks to sirius) those two end up getting closer and closer. Remus still thinks Sirius is a bit insane, but now in a I-want-you-to-fuck-me-into-this-desk type way. Sirius, on the other hand, doesn't let go of his previous research. I think that back then he would, specifically, study and experiment a lot with Love, in special familial love (yep.) The thing about those confidential dept. of mysteries' experiments is that they can be pretty... unethical. And that's the break point of their story: Remus finding out about Sirius research and finally wondering at what lengths did sirius went to understand something as complicated as Love and what the fuck he did to get banished from the department back then, and worse: if he ever used remus in those experiments. and even more worse: The fact that remus doesn't stop loving him even if he did.

A last fun fact is that they, at one point, would have an inside joke about that "MIB: man in black" movie, they watched it together one late night and sirius kept referencing it when he went to obliviate muggles and remus thought it was the funniest silliest thing ever

[lpsluvblr]

Russell and Sunil’s tiny secret

Sunil paced nervously in front of Russell’s apartment door. His thumping, anxious footsteps echoed in his head. He had brought Vinnie with him, tucked carefully in his pocket. Sunil had no idea how to explain what had happened without sounding like a complete fool.

“Okay, Sunil. Just tell him. It’s not that big a deal. I can fix it,” he muttered to himself, hoping the words would make him feel braver. But as he stood there, his thoughts tangled. He’d only meant to experiment with his new trick, just a harmless little test.. And the worst part? Sunil wasn’t entirely sure how to reverse it yet.

He knocked lightly on the door.

"Coming!" Russell’s voice boomed from inside. The door swung open, and Russell’s eyes lit up when he saw Sunil standing there, looking unusually tense.

“Sunil! Hey, what’s up? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Russell said, tilting his head with concern.

“I—I need to show you something,” Sunil stammered, shifting on his feet. “It’s... It’s nothing bad, I think.”

Russell raised an eyebrow, clearly unconvinced. “You’re acting weird. What happened? You seem nervous.”

Sunil bit his lip, glancing at his pocket where Vinnie was likely getting impatient. “Well, you see… it’s kind of... um... a little situation? Not bad, just... unexpected.”

Russell frowned. “A situation? You didn’t accidentally butt dial your mom again, did you?”

“No! No, not me! It’s… it’s actually Vinnie,” Sunil said quickly, then paused, his face flushed.

Russell looked even more confused. “Uh, what do you mean by it’s…Vinnie?”

Before Sunil could answer, a tiny voice piped up from inside his pocket.

“Alright, that’s enough! I’m tired of waiting around in here!”

Russell’s eyes widened as Vinnie, popped up out of Sunil’s pocket. He waved his tiny hands, grinning up at Russell.

“Hi, Rusty!” Vinnie greeted, his voice high-pitched but clear enough for Russell to understand.

Russell’s jaw dropped. He blinked several times, trying to process what he was seeing. “Wh—what?! Vinnie?! What happened to you?” he asked, his voice filled with a mix of shock and concern.

Sunil sighed, looking down at his shoes, embarrassed. “Well, I… I was working on a trick, and, uh, I might’ve made a little mistake with a flick of my wrist.” He looked up at Russell, rubbing the back of his neck. “And now Vinnie’s... small.”

Vinnie, clearly not phased by his size, put his hands on his hips. “Yeah, and it’s really boring! Can someone get me some snacks? I’m starving! All this time being tiny, and I haven’t had a proper meal!”

Russell tried to keep his composure, but he was still staring at Vinnie, not sure whether to laugh or panic. He finally turned to Sunil, his voice serious. “You’re telling me you shrank Vinnie? And you don’t know how to fix it?”

Sunil hesitated. “I… I’m working on it. I don’t know how to reverse it yet, but I’m trying. I’ll figure it out.”

Russell frowned. “And the girls? Have you told them?”

Sunil’s face went redder. “Not yet. I’m... I’m doing it slowly. I don’t think they’d understand, not yet, anyway.”

Vinnie groaned. “Seriously? Still no snacks? This is a crisis, guys! A CRISIS!” He waved his tiny arms dramatically.

Russell chuckled nervously, though his concern was still evident. “Okay, okay, I’ll get you some snacks in a second, Vinnie. But first, Sunil, we’ve gotta fix this. You know I can help, right? I’ll do whatever it takes.”

Sunil nodded, relief washing over him, but his anxiety was still palpable. “Thanks, Russell. I—I'm trying. I really am... but I don’t know what to do yet. I what if ..if I can’t even get him back to normal size…”

“I’ll help you research it, Sunil,” Russell said, his voice reassuring. “We’ll figure this out together. Just keep Vinnie safe until then. Don’t let anything happen to him.” He turned to the tiny Vinnie, who had now begun to sit comfortably on the counter, munching on a small piece of cheese. Sunil, just keep doing what you’re doing. Be careful with Vinnie, and I’ll do my part on the research.”

Sunil gave a shaky smile, nodding. “I’ll... I’ll try my best. I just don’t want anything bad to happen to him.”

“I know, I know,” Russell said, placing a hand on Sunil’s shoulder. “We’ll get him back to normal. You’ve got this. Just stay calm.”

Vinnie looked up again, his tiny eyes sparkling mischievously. “You know, I could really go for some pizza. That would make me feel so much better.”

Sunil sighed, glancing at Russell. “I’m trying…”

Russell gave a sympathetic smile. “I know, Sunil. I know.”

And with that, Russell got to work, searching through books and notes, while Vinnie made himself comfortable, Sunil wasn’t sure how long it would take, but he was glad to have Russell by his side in this mini (and slightly overwhelming) adventure..

Happy news years Eve! /Happy new year! Everyone! :D

[adrianasunderworld]

Random Beauty at the Beast thought, specifically the live action one, maybe someone has brought this up before, idk. But I don't mind the live action making Belle and inventor, I really don't. Based on the animated movie, I think it's a fair interpretation of the character. We are shown she knows Maurices tools and stuff, it's not unreasonable to think she knows how to fix and operate machines and maybe make her own stuff. That's all great!

I just don't like that they had to take that characteristic from Maurice to give to Belle, and that's not even a big faucet of her character. Her main characteristic is still Local Bookworm, and people think that's weird. Yes there's that scene where she makes a washing machine and the town is up in arms about it, but then we don't really see her do much with that beyond. Like we don't see her making upgrades to the castle and stuff to make the staff and beasts life better. And I think that's a shame.

And considering the themes in beauty and the beast about sexism in their community and how they think women and girls should not be well read and educated, and think it would fit better if Belle was an unappreciated inventor.

Maurice still wants to be a great inventor, he still wants to make all these great things. Maybe he runs a repair shop to fund his research fixing clocks and stuff. And Belle is right beside him, doing just as much work, making just as many gadgets and fixing things. She still loves to read, but now it's not only a source of escapism, it's a source of inspiration. We see her reading novels with all these mechanical wonders and Belle goes "I wonder if I can make that". And does makes cool stuff and repairs things better than they ever were before. And no one thinks it's her. Maurice tries and tries and tries again to explain his daughter made all these wonderful things, Belle deserves all the credit and praise. None of the townsfolk believe him, and certainly not Gaston. And that's Belles life in town. Until she gets to the Beasts castle. She sees this place in desperate need of upgrades, the servants struggling to get around in their small forms and Belle gets to work. She upgrades the castle. Fixing pipes, making lifts and pulley systems that span the entire property to help the Servants get around. (Maybe make it all steampunk-y if we really want to go fantastical with it, because it's fun.) and to contrast the townsfolk And Gaston, the staff and Beast praise Belle. They see how brilliant she is. Beast wants to watch her tinker away and hear her talk about what she's doing and the story she read that inspired it, as opposed to Gaston who said she wouldn't have to do any of this when they're married and she can put her tools away to give to their son's later. And when the spell is broken, Belle is still making the castle a fantastical place where her and her father and the prince gather like minded people to share it all with

Anyway inventor! Belle would have been cool as hell if they actually committed to it.

[artycomicfangirl]

Do you have some headcanons of Daisy's and Luigi's love languages they display in the relationship?

Oh man, you know what? You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for an ask like this since…well, Ever! I LOVE these kind of things! I had to do a quick research to brush up on what Love Languages are again. So I took inspiration from some templates I found online. Sprinkled in with a little bit of the Movie-Verse Headcanons.

I guess this is a potential Part 1 of Luaisy headcanons? All because I’m unfortunately not able to list them all as of now!

But, Here we go! Hope you enjoy. Sorry if this ends up being a super long one though, haha.

- Acts of Service -

💚 Luigi would be more than happy and willing to tend to any Plumbing relate problems Daisy has. This is one of the only few times where even if he doesn’t even know the full situation of the problem, he never says no to her needing help, and dives head first without hesitation…

• Even if it means literally diving into that now rising flooding castle basement of hers, just to locate and fix that pesky broken pipe system!

🌼 💚 Cooking for each other. Unlike when I think Peach lovingly does most, if not all of the cooking for Mario. Cooking seems to become a thing divided equally between Luigi and Daisy.

• Luigi is known to be the best at Dinners. Some of his experience gained from helping his Mama back in Brooklyn growing up. And helping Mario cook too. One of his favorite meals he always loves to share with Daisy on occasion, is his mother’s classic Pasta recipes!

🌼 Plumbing can be real exhausting work sometimes! So Daisy is usually the one to fix up some either some real ice-cool drinks to personably bring to him in sweltering heat. Or Make him some hot cocoa or coffee for the really cold days. She’ll even bring some snacks, or even lunch if it’s almost time for a break.

🌼 Whenever she can be there, Daisy would always sit around and keep Luigi company while he worked. Also for the fact so she can pass him tools that he might need during work. Or even better, hold the fort as best as she can to prevent little mishaps that may occur. Need someone to hit a pipe to get it working? Need an extra set of strength to turn that creaky faucet? Trust Daisy to help out too!

- Physical Touch -

💚 Luigi is so, so, SO gentle with Daisy. Not in a way where he believes that she is perceived to be ‘Delicate’. He has faith that she can handle herself of course! But that’s just simply in his nature with everyone else too. Very little to no aggressive or intimidating body language. And with her? It’s just extra sweet.

• He knows she’s strong. But he can’t help but be the one to look out for her and be worried for her sometimes. When he sees her all scuffed up from fights, he offers to bring her water, ointment, bandages, whatever she requests. At first he allows her to try and heal herself. But If Daisy needs more help, he would step in to help tend to her wounds as much as possible.

💚 Luigi was is the most nervous and hesitant in initiating any form of touch at first. He didn’t want to make the wrong moves or anything! But upon the first hug and some vocal encouragement, it was a sign for him that he is on the right track.

He slowly gets more confident in holding hands with her, having an arm around her waist (Although, he can’t help but melt a little at the fact that he could be THIS close to someone he loves!)

💚 Kisses on his nose get’s him all smiley right away! Daisy ends up doing these out of surprise, and it just gets him so much. Kiss him on the cheek? Instantly giddy. She kisses him on the lips? Immediate knockout. He’s giving the Heart-eyes vibe. This is Something he shares in common with his bro too!

💚 When Luigi sees Daisy on the verge of lashing out at someone. He’s the first to quietly take her hand in his to gently squeeze it. This either gets her to look at him, which he gives a nod and look of reassurance for her to think things through. Or it’s almost like an instant touch that needs no words nor looks. But it has an instant affect on her. She rarely gets directly angry at him ever. How can she be mad at someone just so sweet to her? She knows he genuinely wants to help her.

• Sometimes he chooses to gently rub her hands instead. Also an equally effective calming effect.

💚 If Daisy ever feels down or at her worst, he more than welcomes her with open arms, and does not ever judge her for crying (something she rarely ever shows in public. Always putting a strong face.) It matters very little to him in the moment that his hat or clothes would be tear-soaked.

💚 Speaking on the note of a Sad Daisy. There are a few trigger moments which if you end up hurting Daisy, can make this sweet and timid Greed Plumber, decide that enough is enough. There is a reason why his Trope is known as a ‘Cowardly Lion’!

💚 He will try to place himself in front of her always. Whether it is him jumping in front of her to take whatever brunt of force was directed at her without thinking. Or steeling himself up to give stare down (albeit with quaking knees) in front of his enemy.

He starts of with a slight quiver in his voice. But if you continue to mock him or her a second time, the shakiness in his tone fades. Becoming a bit more determined. A quiet strength. At that point, he will not allow you to push him around and insult Daisy like that. Even if he might get knocked around a bit, he keeps getting back up, just to stand up for her.

💚 He’ll even try to use his hat at some points if he needs to cover her face more for protection.

💚 For some reason I feel like instead of usually carrying a Princess Bridal-style like Mario does. Luigi tends to carry Daisy on his back more. This often leads to escaping from some very comical situations!

🌼 Daisy is DEFINITELY the one who is not shy in expressing her affections naturally. But also really straightforward in her actions.

🌼 Ever experienced one of those surprise Run-at-top-speed Jump hugs? That’s Daisy for you! She often forgets to tone herself down sometimes.

🌼 Pulling him by the suspenders of his overalls gently just to kiss him.

🌼 She’s the one ending up carrying him like a bride instead HA

🌼 Like Luigi, Daisy is always one to step in front of her beloved to shield them from any potential danger. She is usually the one to Yank him out of the way with top speed (Apologizing immediately to him afterwards!) and pull him close to her body to try and cover and protect him as much as possible.

🌼 You would not be able to live it down if Daisy sees you harming or insulting Luigi. She is super quick on to you, ready to throw hands (And weapons, if in a fight)

🌼 She and Mario share the same kind of sentiments when it comes to standing up for Luigi.

“Say that again about my Boyfriend…And you’re gonna regret it!”

- Words of Affirmation -

🌼 Daisy is the one with the vast supply of pet names and complements!

🌼 The Iconic “Hey Sweetie!”

🌼 Buttercup, Honey-Bee, Weegie, Squeegie ect

🌼 If you don’t stop her, she may resort to floral Puns!

🌼 When it comes to support, she is like a really passionate cheerleader. You would definitely see her yelling her heart out at the sidelines of any event/competition/Kart race

🌼 When she writes notes or letters, Daisy tends to be the one who draws little doodles at the end of each letter, or just as little decorations here and there. Mario may or may not have accidentally revealed that he had caught Luigi chuckling at a letter he received from Daisy. Only to be told by his younger Bro that he found her drawings adorable and it made him smile. So she’s been doing that ever since!

💚 Luigi is a bit more reserved with this type of thing. But in fact, he is secretly the more poetic one! Surprisingly The type who’s words of love end up being a natural Cupid’s arrow.

💚 I see ‘Desert Flower’ as a popular head canon compliment he might say, and I also agree with that!

💚 Why do I feel like he would totally be the one to call her “My Dynamite Gal”??? When he’s mustered up so much confidence??

• Because Luigi is known to be more shy and timid, he does have more struggles with confidence in some parts. Leading to this possible little interaction:

—————————————————

💚 “ Face it…How can I even do this? I’m such a loser! I mean, look! I literally got a huge L on my head!”

🌼 “…Does It really have to mean Loser?”

💚 “H-huh? I-I…well what else can it be?”

🌼 “Well…put it this way. You’re kinda like a Clover!”

💚 “A…Clover?”

🌼 “Yeah! You ward off evil. You’re green all over. So How about…Lucky?”

—————————————————

- Quality Time -

💚 Luigi ends up loving taking strolls around the castle with Daisy. Whether it is in the Palace Gardens, or by lakes and rivers. Even Flower fields, where he’ll even attentively listen to her pointing out the new things.

💚 Luigi May end up getting challenged when he goes out on hiking trips with Daisy. The first few trips, he ends up faltering behind a little (He has bad knees everyone!), But Daisy would often slow her pace down a little so he can keep up. She doesn’t mind one bit. But overtime, he pushes to improve himself, in which he now is actually able to keep up by her side. She’s extremely proud of him

💚🌼 The Camping trips together are always fun though! Well, excluding some Minor scares and freak outs from the local wildlife at night. Luigi Teaching Daisy the classic treat of making a S’more. While Daisy would do something shared from her own land sometimes!

🌼 Daisy loves whenever she and Luigi get to go on one of their ‘Sports dates’, and is usually the one initiating these meetups (Knows all the good places!) while Luigi throws in suggestions. Usually consisting of Golfing especially. She is more knowledgeable in the technique, which she ends up teaching Luigi what she already knows. She likes to jokingly say that he’s “Learning from the best!”

🌼 If they end up moving in together and sharing the same bed, Daisy would be the type to wake up a bit earlier than Luigi does. Then goes back again to get some extra sleep hours. She has this little habit where she can’t help but give a little kiss on his cheek by then. If he continues to sleep, she lets him be. But if he ends up wanting to be woken up by this, she starts to go in for more kisses. Some of them are quick ticklish to him!

All until she’s gazing back at sleepy half-open eyes, A lopsided smile, and a very happy green Plumber who’s morning has just been made even better!

💚 On Luigi’s part, he’s the one who sleeps the last. Letting Daisy sleep first before him, as he sometimes has a bit of work he needs to attend to. Or just simply reading a few pages of his favourite book beside her.

• When he notices a lock of her hair astray on her face, he ends up brushing it aside for her. In that moment, he seriously cannot believe that this beautiful fiery woman is his beloved, and is right next to him.

- Receiving Gifts -

💚 It is a popular head canon going around that Daisy is very into gardening. So, Luigi would even go out of his way to brush up on said topics about Gardening and nature just for Daisy. Same thing that he would do when it comes to her other interests, just so he knows what to get her!

💚 He has really great callback memory, in which he is able to remember most of the conversations he would have with Daisy when she talks about various plants. Including seeds and flora she wishes she could obtain to grow in her castle Garden. So! Every often, he would visit the local markets or shops in the town, where he would check up all the latest imports/exports to see if he can find some uncommon, or even rare seeds for him to collect for her. If it’s something from Brooklyn, he most likely tries to buy seeds of flowers for her smaller pot plants!

If he goes on adventures with Mario, he does something similar where he collects various trinkets or souvenirs for him to take home for her, or send to her by mail.

🌼 Daisy is definitely more extravagant, and a bit more ‘flashy’ when it comes to gift giving. She does not do this to show off. She 100% fully believes that her believed deserves the best he can get…Even if it ends up giving him the biggest of blushes. And just so happens she can’t stop gushing about it either in her own way!

🌼 Actually at first, she might have been giving him ‘Weird’ gifts for the first few times when they became a couple. They’re not offensive gifts! But they were a result of her having misunderstood some of his hobbies and likes at the beginning. But never in bad faith, as she genuinely tried to guess what would make Luigi happy. But luckily with help from Peach and Mario, she got good results. And long the way, she started getting better at gift-giving.

🌼 I mean, have you seen that Golden statue of her and Luigi in her own Mario Kart Course? If she was the one who commissioned that, she would totally go THAT far.

🌼 She would go on a secret calling spree, prepare a huge birthday with all of his favorite foods, invite literally all of his friends and family as a complete surprise. Making the Green man crying out of happiness.

🌼 Well, not exactly a traditional kind of gift. But just for him, Daisy would end up wearing cute dresses or other outfits. Something he likes. But that’s because we all can’t deny, Daisy is still Daisy. She still loves to tease Luigi one way or another.

Green Bro may have been staring a little too long, as the Princess walks by in a tank-top and shorts combo!

[vykker]

Infrastructure you don’t see in MO that probably exists in Vykkers Labs 13:

- Freight elevators and internal tram systems, I doubt they just have the one loading bay, and with the ships’ comparatively horizontal floor plan there’s probably need for a system to move cargo from one side to the other with ease. These systems are likely similar to the trains we see in ground level factories, albeit smaller. Still strong and fast enough that workers get smashed all the time.

- Maintenance tunnels for electronics, ventilation, and pipes, and probably a pneumatic tube system as well because it would fit the aesthetic. And yeah they definitely use these tubes to transport fuzzles at horrifying speeds. And the recycling blades would have to dump their meat chunks somewhere. There’s probably a big tube that squeezes the refuse from the blades to the poop chute.

- CARD READERS. I’ve thought about this way too much. Essentially it doesn’t make sense for the biggest pharmaceutical company in Mudos to not have badges or another system to protect their research. Certain badges are valuable due to the accesses they grant and collecting accesses are a point of pride for some workers. Each employee has a badge, scientist or worker. Your accesses are indicated by symbols engraved on your badge. The more symbols you have, the more accesses, the more places you can go and things you can take without being questioned. So having a badge covered in symbols is a bragging right and shows that you are considered important. Furthermore, Vykkers are a pack of self serving backstabbers who will eagerly steal each others research, so it’s important for labs to keep their areas separate.

- A dedicated garage for repairing the trains, lifts, snoozers, everything else, with employees who know how to fix such things. Not a large staff but incredibly important. Interns with an aptitude for engineering may get assigned specialized training and wind up there, but there’s also a number of Mudokon scrubs whose strength and dexterity make them great mechanics. Could be one of the few situations on the ship where the two species are forced to cooperate, and without Vykker oversight as well. Vykkers think they’re above such “menial” labor and generally don’t go there. Plus they’re too frail.

- Cafeterias; nice ones for Vykkers, crappier ones for Interns and Scrubs. The Vykker ones have chefs and waitstaff. The Intern and Scrub ones just have hamster tube type things where you pull a lever and slop falls out. Largely maintained by Mudokons in both cases, but considering how Vykkers Labs has a Fine Foods Division, there could be some proud Vykker chefs in the Vykker cafeteria.

- Recreational facilities. For Vykkers it’s again probably nice and connected to the cafeteria. They have a gym that sees only moderate use, and meditation rooms they pretend to meditate in. For everyone else it’s like a hodge podge of random shit that was going to be thrown away that the Interns were able to save. Dilapidated bar games and crusty couches.

- Emergency response systems. Aside from the button we see get pushed in the bad ending to MO, used as an intruder alert, there are probably other systems in place for fires, chemical spills etc, with dedicated teams to contain incidents. And with the badge thing I mentioned, they probably have special Emergency Badges that can get them nearly anywhere.

- A guest wing. This is an entire area of the ship that is hard to access and is reserved for guests. It contains the auction house, the dissection theatres, guest suites, and the external docking bay for visiting air ships. The floor plan is largely devoid of stairs because Glukkons suck at those. The Vykkers are extremely selective in who they allow to work in this section. Performing well for guests is a major priority. Workers assigned to the guest wing tend to be the best behaved and least beat up looking. You won’t see any emancipated scrubs or interns with scrungly stitches here. Everything is designed to give the best possible impression of the labs down to each employee. There could even be a small amount of well behaved sligs to keep their Glukkons at ease. The Vykkers of course will provide tours of the rest of the facility to high class guests, but these are always coordinated in advance to ensure there’s no blood on the floors & the employees working look less suicidal.

- a safety inspectors office… because hahahahahhahahahahahhaha

- A MASSIVE freezer; a place wall to wall on frozen specimens, ironically nicknamed “the zoo” for its diversity of preserved critters. Bodies of all species in all shapes and sizes can be requested and thawed for experimentation and study. Old experiments of interest wind up here in case they are useful later.

- certain labs have entrances and exits equipped with caustic chemical cannons to disinfect employees; peels your dermis off the first few times but after a while you adapt. Or not

[andthekitchensinkao3]

WiP Wednesday 25 December

Thanks for the tag @loki-is-my-kink-awakening!

Sorry again to the Lokius crowd, no such content this week.

16k words and counting on the disaster queer canon-divergent Emmrook fic. Ye-es, I'm basically re-writing huge chunks of the game.

From the next chapter of Stories Told and Forgotten, wherein Varric's a champ mentor to Rook, who has to step up and lead the team.

---

“Leading isn’t about pleasing everybody. It’s about making difficult choices, and dealing with the consequences. You make a mistake, you own it. And you’re there for your team, even when they think you’re full of crap. Listen to them.”

He refrained from letting his frustration through. There would be no eye rolling, no snide remarks, no crawling up the walls as long as he stood in for Varric. “You make it sound so easy.”

“I never said it was, kid.” Varric reached over to press his knuckles into his upper arm. “Bellara’s fixing the eluvian, and who knows how long that’ll take. Get the others, and we’ll have a chinwag downstairs. Decide on our next move.”

“Sounds like a plan. Short term, but I’ll take it.”

Varric and he shared world weary grins, and he pushed to his feet. “I’ll meet you downstairs.”

Deep breath, in… And out. “Right.” Rook reluctantly followed Varric out of the infirmary. Nothing to it. One step at a time. Just. Go… get the others.

***

‘Chatting with the team’ was fast becoming Rook’s least favorite part of being team leader, not least because both Neve and Harding deferred to Varric, and Varric expected him to do all the hard lifting. Harding and Varric sat on the couch, while Bellara had the one functional chair already there. Rook sat on one of the crates littering the place, while Neve paced up and down the length of the bookcase.

“Let me get this straight…” She had one arm crossed over her middle, the other holding her curlicue-y pipe. A think trail of smoke followed in her wake as she moved. Now that she’d stopped, the white smoke traveled upwards, into a seeming infinity. From down here, you could scarcely see the ceiling. “You want to bring in another necromancer?”

Rook bit the inside of his lip. No eye rolling, no snide remarks, no crawling up the walls. “Professor Emmrich Volkarin isn’t just another necromancer. He’s made a career out of studying the Fade and learning how to control its magic, and he teaches at the university. His essays on the Breach alone--”

Neve shook her head. “I still say our best bet is contacting the Crows. And the Dragons. They’ll have leads we can follow, instead of wasting time on some stuffy academic.”

He stifled a sigh, but before he could say something he shouldn’t, such as Really? Bringing in the ‘Mage Killer’ is your idea of a path forward? - their newly recruited Veil Jumper raised her hand.

“Oh, no. Professor Volkarin’s work is unmatched. I’ve read his research reports on, oh, a lot of things, actually. I think he’d be very interested to hear about this new development. We’ve corresponded for a while, too! I could write to him?”

This was news to the entire room - a Dalish elf, taking interest in the outside world? The world outside her clan? Rook was pleased. One more preconception knocked off the shelf. “You’ve corresponded with Professor Volkarin?”

“Mhm!”

Varric shifted in his seat, uncomfortable to be upright for any stretch of time. “As in, write letters?”

Bellara nodded with enthusiasm. “He has excellent penmanship. All neat and flourished at the same time. He’s been very kind, answering all my questions.” She lifted her shoulders, eyes darting from one face to the next. “I? Have a lot of questions?”

“Questions are good,” said Rook. “And we need all the answers we can get.”

Everyone looked to him for a verdict - go to the Crows, contact Neve’s friends within the Shadow Dragons, or persuade the professor to come have a gander at their Fade-related problems. Or…

Solas won’t see you coming, not on the best day of his life, Varric had said not thirty minutes ago. Because he didn’t go by the books every single time. Because he had a way of thinking ahead. Of processing things ever so slightly off-kilter from the rest of the world.

And he had to listen to his team, or it wouldn’t matter if they agreed with him or not. He held up his hands. “Neve. I hear what you’re saying. We should see what your contacts have to say, both in Minrathous, and Antiva. If you think bringing in one of the Crows is a good idea, I’m going to trust you on that. But I also think we need to bring in someone who has a clue what Solas’s ritual did to the Fade.”

“So,” said Varric, leaning his elbow on his knee. “Where do we start?”

Rook smiled. Like so many times before, he knew what Varric was doing. Giving him the final say, to make a point on who’s taking the lead. “Bellara? How goes your work with our eluvian?”

“It’s working! Sort of.”

“Sort of?”

“Well. It could suck us into a vortex of chaos at any moment, but I’ve calibrated it to not do that. But. You know…”

“Magic,” said Rook, aiming for cheerful commiseration.

“Magic,” said Bellara.

“Right.” Back to the others. Rook flashed his most confident grin. “This calls for a more flexible approach. I’ll send word to my superiors and ask if they can reach out to Professor Volkarin. Neve, you and Harding go to Dock Town. See what the Dragons have to say, and let them know we’re ready and willing to help them, if they extend the same courtesy.”

“Got it,” said Neve, at least seeming on board with his thinking. Harding nodded.

“Bellara, you stay here in case something goes sideways with the mirror. Who better than you, right?”

“Right.”

“In the meantime, I’ll go to Treviso, and… try not to get myself killed, tracking down the Mage Killer.”

No pressure tagging everybody, but here's a list: @starrose17 @genocidalfetus @elodiah @kcscribbler @lokimobius @in-my-loki-feels @thosegayoldmen @distracteddream @mirilyawrites @mobiusismycomfortcharacter @dilfmobius @cha-melodius @dreamycloud @lgwilt @rin-love-is-green @silentxsymphony @scifikimmi @natendo-art @wolfpup026

I need to make a proper list I can just copy paste already.

[grub-xd]

Old New West

Ectoberhaunt 2024 - Day 1: Present

Danny and Vlad somehow ended up stuck in an alternate dimension where different times and eras seem to mesh together. Danny and Vlad have a lead as to how they can get home however.

Somewhere, in the Old New West, is a facility that has been researching inter-dimensional travel. It is an ancient facility in this world. Despite their attempts to sneak in, the walls are lined with some type of anti-ectoplasmic material, making it impossible for Vlad and Danny to just sneak in.

They need a key, and what better place to find a key to an ancient facility than a museum?

Ye Olde Village, the sign reads, welcoming would be travelers to its town.

A hover car then passes it by, kicking up dirt as it passes by a wheat field with a robot tending it.

The man driving the hover-car, with a lit tobacco pipe hanging on the side of his mouth, fixes his cowboy hat and the red tie hanging from his plain white dress shirt, complete with a vest.

As he approaches the main street, a bunch of the villagers shopping along the businesses camped along the main street stare at their newcomer.

To his left, a group of greaser boys loiter in front of the saloon with their hover-bikes. As he passes them by, the greasy haired boys give the stranger a side-eyed stare as a welcoming present. A couple of them, holding spiked bats and 6-shot revolver pistols glare at the newcomer.

The driver, feeling a bit of sweat form around his brow, wipes his face. His breath shutters, wondering what exactly he has gotten himself into.

Peaking back into the back seat of the vehicle, he asks, "You sure this is the place?"

The boy sitting in the back seat, his face hidden under his own hat, with snow white hair spiking out from it answers, "I'm sure."

"Daniel, I'm really not too sure about this."

Danny's glares at the driver and asks, "You got a better idea, Vlad!?"

Vlad shouts back, "Well, it certainly wouldn't have started with driving the Fenton Hovercraft into the one town controlled by one of the most notorious biker gangs of the Old New West! Brilliant planner!"

"We needed a distraction!"

"And we could have done that by blowing up their hoverbikes with a sneak attack! But you didn't think about that, did you!?"

"Pssh-What do you mean!? Of course I did!"

"Then why didn't we do it!?"

"That's easy! Because-" Danny begins, "...we -uh, well...there was...a need, to ensure, that the...uh...paint?"

Vlad slams his head into the dashboard, and speaks, "Brilliant, Daniel, just brilliant. While I have tried to figure out for weeks how we can get home from the Old New West, and finally found a lead on the key to getting into the facility that holds the way home, at least I can count on you to ensure that we don't hurt this dimension's property values!"

"Hey!" Danny shoots back "We have a duty to not do any more harm than needed!"

"Like that has stopped you ever, back in Amity Park?"

Danny folds his arms and sits back, "It's different when I can be around to help pick up the damage."

"And foot the bill on me..."

"Hey, you wanted to be mayor."

"Until I remembered that kids can still use the first amendment." Vlad looks so defeated from back where Danny is sitting.

Danny laughs a little, feeling a bit of triumph. "Heh...maybe consider not shooting kids."

Vlad corrects him, "I shot the limo."

"Right, and the laser went through the doors and into me, not before hitting the fuel line which set off the explosion."

"We're getting off topic," Vlad says.

Danny, not letting it go, adds, "You really got to look before you shoot. That's like, first rule of shooting guns. Remember what happened to Dick Cheney's friend?"

"Daniel!"

The loudness of his voice shocks Danny, freezing his words.

Vlad is really pissed now. His face is visibly red. Vlad is now looking back at Danny at Danny, hollering, yelling, and pointing at him and then outside, trying to prove some point.

It's lost on Danny, because..."Um, Vlad?"

"No! Shut up! I'm talking!"

"Vlad?"

The little brat then raises his finger. Vlad smacks his hand and continues his screaming session, "Why can't you just listen while I'm talking to you!?"

"Vlad!" Danny shouts!

"What!?"

Danny doesn't speak. Just pointing, with eyes full of fear.

Vlad turns and his face drops. He sees a wall, only feet in front of him, and they are still moving.

"Cream puf-" Vlad doesn't finish his curse.

The hovercraft crashes into the building at the end of the main street, tearing a gigantic hole in the wall.

Thankfully, this is the building they needed to be in.

From the driver's seat, Vlad looks out the windshield. Dozens of statues, paintings, and pieces of pottery are displayed throughout the hallway.

Vlad is frozen, shocked that he had let this happen. "Shit," he says.

Danny floats to the front seat and sits himself on it, "Well, if we needed a distraction, we have it now."

"Don't speak anymore, Daniel."

Danny then notices the display of artifacts in the building. "Hey, hey," he exclaims, "We made it to the museum!"

"Yes, Daniel. We did," Vlad concedes.

Danny floats up from his seat, "Well, if you need me, I'll be off grabbing that key." He then points towards where they came from, "Can you handle the cavalry?"

Vlad is confusion . "Cavalry?"

"Yeah," Danny says, approaching and pointing to one of the mirrors, "Those gangsters look pretty pissed." Through the reflection in the mirror, they can see a group of those bikers approaching, with pistols and bats drawn.

"Daniel, I must really ask that yo-"

"See ya!" Danny disappears from his seat.

Vlad mutters "That little shit, can't believe he would leave me to fend off these lunatics by myself."

Peaking through the mirror at the spiked bat waving gangsters approaching the Fenton Hovercraft, Vlad takes a breath and remembers that most of these guys that they encountered before haven't been ghost hybrids.

Opening the door, Vlad steps out of the hovercraft with his two 6-shot revolvers drawn. He announces, "Alright, you heathens!" He twirls one of the pistols, "Stand down! Or prepare to face the wrath of Vlad Master-!"

They start shooting at him.

A bullet hits Vlad's hat, knocking it off of his head. Another bullet whizzes by his ear, followed by another, and another until dozens of bullets are raining past him!

"Oh, fudge biscuits!" Vlad jumps into cover behind the wall next to the hole.

As he catches his breath, the footsteps from the gang outside grow louder. The clanging of their metal spiked bats ringed past the hole, echoing throughout the whole room.

He fires back a couple of shots, blindly. Hopefully that stalls them.

"Get them," he hears one of the brutes shout.

"Good luck, imbeciles!"

Backing up from the wall, Vlad prepares to fall back deeper into the museum, but still has his pistol pointed towards the entrance next to the hovercraft.

Seconds pass, and then one of the gangsters pushes through into the building.

Vlad fires, hitting one of the gangsters in the leg.

"So sorry, my bad," with a sly smile.

"AAAAAHH!" He screams.

Seeing that there is no way he can hold them all off from here, Vlad retreats deeper into the building. He runs into a hallway and dives around a corner.

Despite his efforts to evade, one of the gangsters saw him turn the corner. The leader of the chase squad signals to his minions and tells them, "Come on!"

More of the gangsters soon flood into the museum. They swarm all the surrounding hallways in an effort to cut off Vlad and Danny from escaping.

As the squad chasing Vlad approaches the corner that Vlad had hid behind just moments before, they prepare their weapons. They turn and find that Vlad is nowhere to be seen.

That can't be right, they think.

"They couldn't have gotten far! They must still be here! Find them!"

They scatter.

What they don't know however is that Danny is watching them, from just above. He is hovering along the top of the ceiling watching them make their moves.

"Daniel?" He hears through his earpiece. Great...

He responds with a whisper, careful to not alert the guards below. "Yeah?"

"Where are you?" Vlad asks.

"Where those idiots last saw you."

"How do you know where the last place they saw me was?"

"Meh...I was watching."

"And you didn't think to help!? Or steal the key!?"

"What key?" Danny tries to hold back his laughter holding his hand to his face. He pictures the way Vlad must be having a stroke over that.

"This isn't funny, Daniel!"

"For you, clearly. Me? I'm having a great time."

"It isn't going to be funny for you when I have my hands around your neck!"

Danny imitates static, "psssh- bzzz- sssssssh-"

"Vlad?" He then asks, "I-eeeek, think I'm lo-ing you."

"Don't pull that shit with me again! I can hear you fine!"

"Yeah, I'm gonna have to call you back. These guys are offering to file your taxes at a discount," Danny then yeets the earpiece smackdown on top of one of the heads of the gangsters.

The brute looks up and glares at Danny. Fury burns in his eyes.

It doesn't phase Danny though. "Hey asswipe," he shouts, before blasting an ectobeam at the man's feet.

It hits the ground. The blast explodes, sending a shockwave throughout the room, hurling the gangster against the wall, knocking him unconscious.

This is just too easy Danny thinks.

"Over there!" He hears someone shout. More gangsters flood in with their guns drawn.

"Would love to stay and chat, but gotta' run!" He phases out of the room.

"Find him!"

...

Just on the outside of the building, Danny emerges from the roof and hovers above it, holding the purple skeleton key in hand. "Finally got you," he says.

All of that had gone much better than expected. And then, just a few feet from Danny, a purple ectobeam blasts out straight up out of the roof

Staring at the new hole the museum had collected, Danny hovers back toward it and peaks inside. He sees a bunch of commotion going on down there, with Vlad in the center of it.

He needs some encouragement , Danny thinks. "Keep it up, old man! I'm sure you'll be alright," 

He backs away and turns around, only to see Plasmius standing right in front of him. "Oh, hey," he laughs nervously, “Welcome back!”

Danny attempts to break the ice, "So...uh-...did you win?"

"Are you serious!? 'Did I win!?'"

"Sheesh," Danny says, "No need to be so rude about it."

Vlad's hands begin to glow pink.

Danny backs up just a wee bit and asks, "Little mad?"

"A little!?"

"Okay...? So," he continues, "a lot then?"

Vlad blasts another ectobeam. It barely misses Danny whizzing just past him before he turns to see it hit one of the gangsters who had just climbed onto the roof. It blasts him off and down onto the street.

As Danny begins to look back at Vlad, the old man begins his lecture: "Daniel, you really need to work on being more aware of your surroundings. Now, come on!"

Danny can't argue with that and followed. Thankfully that was the shortest lecture ever.

As they begin moving towards the edge of the roof, Vlad continues, "We have to get back to the hovercraft and get to the facility!"

They run back towards the front of the building, and then, an explosion.

They see fire erupt from where they had left the Fenton Hovercraft, just before the shockwave hits them. It blasts the two of them backward. The explosion tears through the front of the building, shredding and throwing the wood from it and scattering the debris everywhere.

Bits and pieces of shrapnel from the hovercraft begin falling from the sky. They start small, like nothing more than pebble size pieces hitting their bodies, before the larger ones come hurdling in.

As Danny lies on top of the roof, a sharp hunk of metal from the ship is hurdling right toward him!

"Oh, shit," Danny shouts. He rolls, and he feels the wind of it whoosh by his face as it impales the roof.

"Man, that was too close," he says.

Crash

Another piece crashes.

"Shit!" He covers his head

Other large pieces of the hovercraft crash into the building.

Danny keeps his head covered while Vlad goes intangible instead.

After the rain of debris stops, they look up, surveying the damage -- one of the pieces containing the green ghost logo.

"So much getting back to the hovercraft," Danny says.

As Danny walks towards the edge of the roof, thinking about what to do next, he catches a side eye of Vlad.

"What?" Danny asks, oh so innocently.

"Happy now? We lost our vehicle and all of our equipment!"

"Hey, you're the one who wanted to go all Texas Ranger or Revolver Ocelot on those guys."

Vlad counters, "Revolver Ocelot is the coolest cowboy in existence and you, a little shit, will never convince me otherwise!"

"Yeah, yeah, let's just get out of here. We got what we need," he says, looking down at the key in his hand.

The direction of the facility is just out in the mountains in the distance.

"Let's get moving and get back to the present," Danny says, before adding, "Wherever that is."

"Technically, dear boy, we are already in the present."

"Yeah?" He turns his head back at Vlad, "In what era?" Danny points at the village below, "None of what appears around us gives us an exact hint of where the hell we are on the timeline! Hover bikes mixed with old time western towns!? The greaser looking biker gang ripped from the 1950s!? Or how about the use of old Shakespearean English!?"

"Well, obviously we are in the future," Vlad says.

"Then why did we run across a calendar that said it was the year of 896!? And why was it using the French Revolution calendar!? It was the ninth day of the week when we read it! Furthermore, why the hell was it named 'UNIX Time!?'

"I don't ask questions I can't know the answers to, Daniel."

"Liar."

"Am I? Or am I just not wasting my time, along with yours?"

"Whatever."

"Consider asking yourself that next time."

As the two idiots bicker, they begin hearing more of the gangsters clamoring to get onto the roof.

They go intangible, so as to hide themselves. Danny says, "If you were so committed to not wasting my time, you wouldn't be trying to convince me this is the future." He looks down again at the village, "Because I really have no idea where we are," he says solemnly, "and I don't think you do either."

Instead of the argument Danny anticipates, he hears nothing. Vlad stands there in silence.

"Daniel...I-" He tries to find the words, "You're not wrong. I just didn't want to let on that I don't know either, because...I think it's more terrifying if we don't."

"You're not sparing me by keeping me in the dark from your thoughts."

"I know, but I still feel as if I should. Wouldn't you do the same for Danielle?"

That catches Danny by surprise. "I-" he begins, but is interrupted by Vlad.

"Let's get moving."

Vlad floats up off of the roof and begins flying in the direction of the mountains. Danny follows.

Hopefully the way back home is there.

[13as07]

Cats and Dogs #2

(Kiba Inuzuka)

[Artwork is not mine! Credit to inochisart]

Requested by: Anonymous

Word Count: 4,112

Warnings and/or Pre-Notes:

[Reader] is a Neko (or as close as I could get with my rushed research and to go with the story line) per request

Name Calling: Dog, Mutt, Kitty

Man-Handling

Hand Restriction

Forced Collaring

Scratching/Biting

Mentions of Blood

There will be a part three :)

———————————————————————

Eagerness waves off of Sensei, Tenten, and Lee while the remaining of us - Neji and me - sulk. After Kiba and I got into our 'physical' fight, Gai-Sensei and Kurenai have been planning another hangout under the statement 'if you guys are around each other enough, you'll learn to get along'.

So, Sensei is excited about that, Tenten is excited to see Hinata, and Lee is just excited about life. I don't want to see Kiba and Neji is stressed out when both his girls are around. That has to do with his want to protect everyone all the time though, so it can't be helped.

For our forced exposure to each other, our Senseis decided to take one of the training fields for the day. Gai says he doesn't care what any of us do as long as we stay on the training field.

Probably not the best way to get the outcome they want, but it works out for me. I'll just avoid Kiba the whole time and then when we go to leave I'll pretend that he shits silver. As long as it's good enough for our Senseis, I won't have to deal with him again.

"Are you going to tell me why he bit you?" Neji asks for the hundredth time. He's sat next to me in the grass, crisscrossed and hunched over as he twirls a strand or two around his finger.

"Are you going to drop it if I tell you?" I counter, following the rhythm of how this conversation has been going. Of course, Neji was the first one to notice deep and dark puncture wounds in my neck. He's also the only one aside from Sensei that has pieced together who they're from. The joys of having Neji as a squad leader.

"I'll either drop the question or drop him," he mutters, sparing me a glance before he checks on the other half of our squad. "Did you get him back?"

This is the third day in a row he's asked, the third day in a row that we've had this conversation, and it's easily the hundredth time we have over that short period. "I didn't get him back." I got him first, technically.

"Your ears look nice today."

"You're just stressed."

"So I have to be stressed to be nice?"

"Ya." A soft huff comes from him, eyes on me for a second before they're fixed on Tenten again. I don't mind the silence; not with Neji anyway. Silence with him is nice. Silence with Lee is filled with anxiety. Silence with Tenten is filled with awkwardness. Silence with Gai is... unheard of.

"Well look what the cat dragged in!" Of course, it has to be Kiba that disturbs my peace. "Hey, Pretty Kitty," he greets from behind me, his hands on my shoulders as he hunches over, his face dangling upside-down in front of mine.

I can feel the bitch stare settling in my face, just as much as I can feel the hatred brewing in my stomach. I hate dogs and Kiba is at the top of that list. "Don't touch me," I grumble, rolling my shoulders to try and shake his touch away.

"That's no fun," he chuckles, tightening his hold on me. "We had so much fun last time, do you not want to have fun again?"

"Scaring my teammate isn't fun," Neji pipes up, a glare pointed at the dog. His eyes do shift occasionally, catching glimpses of the healing scratches on Kiba's face.

"It's going to scar?" The mutt asks, a hand jumping up so he can rub his thumb across the mark he so eagerly left last time I saw him.

Neji's mouth snaps open to respond, but he gets cut off by Hinata calling for him. Slowly, his mouth closes and his eyes slide over to me. A silent 'Are you going to alright?' is stamped into them. I nod towards Hinata in response, certain that I'll be able to handle Kiba if need be.

Not a single word is spoken between the three of us as Neji gets up to leave. The whole time he shoots the dog a glare, the dog who doesn't notice because he is too busy gushing over the permit change he's responsible for.

"You got yourself a little watch dog I see," Kiba teases once Neji is far enough away not to hear. "Did I scare you that much, Kitty?"

"You didn't scare me," I grumble, shoving his hands off and quickly climbing to my feet before he has a chance to latch on again. "Neji is just a protective guy. It's how he is. You should know that. Hinata is on your squad after all."

Kiba chuckles, eyes stuck on me like a predator sizing up their prey, but only for a moment. The look melts away as he starts walking further into the long grass field. "Come along, Kitty. Let's go play nice so Kurenai-Sensei stops stressing out."

"I have no interest in - " I'm cut off by Kiba's dog snapping at my ankles, making me jump and hiss at the mutt in response.

Kiba freezes, turning around slightly so I can hear him better. "I'm not interested in spending time with you either but my Sensei is to the point in her pregnancy where stress is as bad as an illness. So, we're going to play nice today for her to feel better. You can come willingly or Akamaru can bully you along. The choice is yours." With that, he turns back around and starts walking to wherever in the field he's headed.

I shoot his dog a glare, paired with another hiss for good measure before I wander around after him. Despite his master easily being five steps ahead, the pony-sized dog sticks by my side, making sure I don't sneak off to find someone else to spend my confined afternoon with.

The grass tickles, the length falling just below my knees. It's one of the few long grass training fields the village has; the rest cut short to be better training grounds. I will admit it's a nice area, the long grass and wildflowers mixed to make a pretty sight and a beautiful smell. Nice and open with nothing but the green and blue of nature... but Gai-Sensei said this is where Squad Eight trains so I won't enjoy it too much.

"Sit," Kiba grumbles, plopping on the ground himself. His mutt instantly shoots forward, settling into a stretched-out lying position next to his master. I ignore him, keeping our five-step distance as I focus back on the random spouts of wildflowers curled into the grass. "I was talking to you," he adds, tilting his head backward to look at me.

"I don't take commands from you. Nice try though," I mutter, crossing my arms over my chest. Our Senseis just had to choose the most boring place imaginable for this, didn't they?

Kiba pushes himself onto his feet, crouching on the ground as he turns to look at me. His head tilts up, an elbow on his knee, and his head in his hand. "So you're just going to stand there the whole time."

"Yep."

"Your legs are going to get tired."

"Is that a fat joke?" I hiss, taking a step back when he starts waddling forward.

"No, it was a fact. I don't know what your Sensei told you, but mine told me she's planning to keep us trapped out here for a few hours, but fine. Go ahead. Stand for a few hours if that's what you want to do." With that he lets out a sigh, falling back into a seating position before letting himself lay down.

I eye him carefully, watching as he soaks in the sun, lying in the soft grass with his dog's muzzle resting on his chest. Slowly, I lower myself into a crisscross on the ground again, keeping my eyes on his mutt and my distance from both of them.

"He's not going to bite you," Kiba mutters, shaking his dog's head like I wouldn't have been able to put the pieces together.

"Ya, but his master will," I grumble, my hand instantly jumping up to press against the slowly healing bite mark. "His master that bites hard enough that Neji is convinced there'll still be a scar once it heals. I bet that strokes your ego."

"It does," he admits with a chuckle. "Though," he starts, sitting upright again, that predator-like look in his eyes again. "I got something else of mine I'd like you to have."

My heart thumps against my chest, eyes slit as I start leaning backward. I pick up on every single one of Kiba's movements. His slight lean forward, the heeling of his dog, the way his eyes are slit too as he scans me. My eyes flick to the side, scanning for one of our squad mates. "Don't do that," he husks, squatting back on the edge of his feet.

"You're being weird," I mutter, my breath picking up as the want-to-run burns in my veins.

"How is me getting you a gift weird?" He chuckles, daring to take a step forward. His cocky smile is resting on his lips, his canines poking out in his smile.

"It just is," I whisper, sliding backward a bit.

Kiba takes two steps forward this time, close enough to reach out and grab me if he wanted to. "Come here, Pretty Kitty," he chuckles, lunging forward. I shriek, turning to climb to my feet. He continues giggling, snatching my ankle and using it to pull me back down.

"Kiba," I hiss, squirming around and attempting to kick him off of me.

His laughter continues to fill the empty field, snatching my other ankle. This time he uses his hold to push my knees to my chest, leaning over me to use his body weight to keep me pressed to the ground. "Stop squirming so much," he tells me, leaning down so his face is hovering over mine. "I'm trying to give you a gift and this is how you react?"

"All you've gotten me is a bout of man-handling and being pressed to the ground," I yelp, reaching up to scratch at him.

Kiba beats me to it, his hand jumping up to snatch my wrist. He wraps up the other one too, shoving both of my wrists to the ground and keeping his hand on top so I can't wiggle them out. "Oh hush, Kitty," he whispers, shifting around so his torso keeps my legs folded up. His free hand wanders up too, dancing over my neck for a moment before untying my headband, letting it slip off and fall to the ground.

"What are you doing?" I hiss, trying to thrust up and knock Kiba off of me.

"Giving you a gift, duh," he attempts to tease. The teasing and his cocky smile pisses me off even more. On the other hand, the heat rolling off Kiba's body and the feeling of him pressed against me makes my veins fill with electricity.

His fingers dance over my throat again, eyes bouncing around my body as he paws at me. "Get off me," I grumble, trying to shift my legs enough to use them to kick him off of me.

"In a second," he mutters, tugging his burning touch away from my neck. Kiba shoves his hand in his pocket, searching around for something. The sparkle of the thing snags my sight, the metal catching every ray of sun that falls on it. "It's pretty, isn't it?" He hums, admiring me for a second before he focuses on me again.

"What is it?" I ask, looking over the object again. It looks like a linked chain, silver and shiny with a small lock on the end. The lock is open, dangling on the end of the links, and pressed into a heart shape. Only the keyhole disrupts the smooth material of it.

It takes a second, but I manage to click into place what it is on my own. "No. Kiba, no," I hiss, squirming under him again. "You are not putting that on me. I refuse."

"I am and you can't refuse," He chuckles, wiggling around on top of me. He struggles to keep me pinned and to sling the collar around my neck. He struggles even more to snag the lock around both ends of the chain and click it closed. "See? Pretty," Kiba mutters, tugging on the chain. "A pretty collar for a pretty kitty." He leans down, brushing his lips over the bite mark before letting me go.

"You're insane!" I yelp, jumping to my feet. "Take it off," I demand, tugging on the lock in hopes it's one of the cheap ones that snaps easily. "I'm not wearing this damn thing."

"Hate to break it to you, but you are wearing it. Like, actively wearing it." More chuckles and an active smirk cover his face as he climbs to his feet, dusting himself off as he stands up.

"I hate you," I hiss, bending down to pick my village headband off the ground. I grumble to myself, fixing my headband back around my neck, and using it to cover the collar as I walk away from the cackling mutt. I hate dogs, I hate Kiba, and I hate this collar.

I hate that I don't hate the collar. It's a pretty necklace and the weight of it feels good against my chest, but Kiba will have to torture that information out of me. He trudges behind me, occasionally reaching forward to tug in the collar. "My pretty kitty."

"I'm not your cat," I hiss at him, sending him a glare.

"You're an Izuno and you're wearing my collar. You're my cat."

"And you're a dick," I growl, snapping my head around the field in search of literally anyone else. Lee falls into my view, my body shifting to beeline towards him. "Go screw yourself Kiba."

————————————

I smell Kiba and his dumb dog before I see them. I've been ticked at him - more than usual - since the little grass field incident yesterday. Neji noticed something was off, because he always does, and promised to look into how to get the stupid collar off of me. Seeing how Kiba is close by, I'm guessing news of that got back to him. The only question is how.

     "I know you can smell me, Kitty. Don't try running away or I'll send Akamaru after you," his voice rings out from around the corner, followed by his barking laugh. I wonder if murdering him would be worth being labeled as a rouge.

     Before I can settle on an answer, his dog rounds the corner, instantly setting me as a target for his growl and the baring of his teeth. Dumb dog. Kiba follows, the grin on his face only growing when his eyes land on me. Dumb dog number two. "There's my pretty kitty."

     "I'm not your cat," I fizzle, my anger quickly growing.

     "Yes you are," he says, taking quick steps forward. I take a step back for every step he takes, which only seems to make him more excited. "Guess who paid me a visit today."

     "Your sanity?" I ask, my back tapping against a wall of one of the buildings, making me jump.

     I bump into Kiba because of my shock, his hands locking on my shoulders before gently pressing me against the wall. "Your little friend stopped by. Neji. He was pretty mad," he mutters, pressing his hips against mine to keep me pinned to the wall. "Want to know what we talked about?"

     "Not really. I do want you to get off me though."

     "In a second," he grumbles, sidelining my request. "Neji and I talked about your pretty collar," Kiba mutters, a hand sliding up, dipping under my headband, and twirling the chain of my collar around his fingers. "He seems to think you want it off," he continues, his free hand jumping up to toy with the ears buried in my hair.

     "I do want it off." I jerk my head away from him, trying to get his hand out of my hair.

     I don't get that, all Kiba does is bury his hand deeper into my hair, his fingers massaging my scalp as his thumb rubs against my ears. "You're keeping it. Even if Neji cuts it off you, I'll just buy another one and snap it back on around your throat."

     "Who decided you had the right to do that?"

    "Me," he mutters, head dipping down. His lips brush against my neck, his hand tightening in my hair and around my collar, as he stamps kisses against my throat. "You cats always play hard to get. Would it kill you to give in a bit?"

"I'm not playing hard to get. I just don't want you," I hiss, my hands falling to his hips and attempting to push him off of me. "I don't see why you're all of a sudden obsessing over me."

"Because you taste sweet," he chuckles, his tongue sliding out and over my neck to send his point home. "Oh, so sweet," he repeats before sinking his teeth into my throat, right back into the same spot from earlier this week.

"Nyaa," the sound spills from me before I can stop, hands tightening around the hem of his shirt, and my nails digging in, threatening to tear through the material.

"See? Just playing hard to get," he teases, rubbing his tongue over the reopened wounds. Kiba's words hang in the air as his nose slides over my skin, haunting down another spot to toy with. When he finds it, his teeth sink back into my skin, softly this time to toy with me like he did outside the restaurant.

They're light, with barely any pressure. Then he lets go. Just as I'm about to let out a sigh, he clamps back onto me, his teeth baring down and starting their assault on my skin. "Kiba," I try to hiss, the sound coming out more as a mew. "Why won't you knock it off?"

His jaw ticks for a second, teeth rougher for a moment before he pulls away. His eyes stay locked on the spot, looking it over in silence before sliding onto my face. "You're pissing me off."

"I'm pissing you off?!" I spat out, my anger sliding across my jaw, baring my teeth as I glare at the mutt. "You pinned me down and collared me yesterday, and now you have me pinned against the wall, but I'm pissing you off."

"Ya," he grumbles, releasing my hair finally. His hand drops down, tugging our village's headband off my throat just like yesterday. This time he shoves it into his pocket instead of disregarding it on the ground. "I give you a pretty bite mark," he starts, fingertips dancing over it. "And you go and have Neji look it over and heal it. Then, I give you a pretty collar," he tugs on the metal, twisting it to tighten it around my neck a bit. "And you go and hide it from the world with your dumb headband."

"I only let you bite me because I felt bad about scratching you. That doesn't give you the right to put a collar on me and prance around declaring I'm yours."

Again, I'm ignored. Kiba is off in his little world, toying with the metal around my neck and letting his fingertips dance over the two bite marks he's 'gifted' me. "I wasn't pinning you that bad yesterday, you just didn't fight me off. I'm pinning you now and you're not even attempting to fake fight me."

"You're stronger than me," I hiss, slowly climbing my hands up his shirt that I'm clinging to.

"Ya?" He asks, flicking his eyes up so they lock with mine. "Is that what you tell enemies you come across during missions too? 'Sorry Mr. Bad Guy but you're stronger than me so I can't fight you'." He cackles at his joke, head falling and tongue sliding out so he can lap at the newer marking.

"Of course not."

"Of course not," he echos, his nose back sliding across my neck, looking for the next chunk of flesh to sink his canines into. "You know, if you're thinking about scratching me again, I'll let you."

"What?" I spill out, the sentence catching me off guard and making my hands still in their place halfway up his shirt.

"You heard me," he whispers into my skin, his nose pushing up my collar and letting it rest across the bridge of it. Like the dog he is, Kiba goes back to licking me. The feeling of his tongue is quickly starting to ignite the electric feeling in my veins again; electricity that swirls down my neck, over my torso, and straight between my legs. "I'll let you scratch me. It was hot, the feeling made me horny. It's all I've thought about the past few nights. Hand around my dick, pumping myself to the feeling of your pretty little claws digging into my flesh."

"You're being weird again," I whisper, debating whether to scratch him or not. If he's being honest, it'll just please him. Or maybe he's lying to make me second-guess my defense. Maybe dogs aren't as dumb as I thought they were.

"I'm not being weird. I'm just being honest about something you're still lying about."

"I don't get off on scratching you."

"No, you don't, but you get off to me licking you, to me nibbling on your neck, to the pretty proof of me marking my territory."

"How many times do I have to tell you, I'm not your cat." Kiba's jaw snaps down on my throat again, no teasing this time, just straight into forcing his teeth into my neck until my skin gives in and lets him leave prints behind. "Nyaa," the sound spills out again, this time long and high-pitched. I hate dogs. I hate this dog. I swear I'm going to scratch his eyes out, regardless of whether or not he's into it.

My hands slide backward, nails digging in between his shoulder blades once I get a good enough grip. My fingers move slowly, tearing as deep into Kiba's shirt and skin as they can. It doesn't take long for my nails to rip his shirt, letting my fingertips press into his skin before it's torn to shred by my nails.

"Wan," Kiba's sound spills out, muffled a bit from his still-present latch to my throat. The hand not tied up in my collar shoots up, clinging to the dip in my elbow, but he doesn't tug my arm off of him. The mutt was telling the truth, he's into this shit, and he's right. I am too.

My hands fall off the edges of his sides, droplets of his blood dripping from my nails and colliding with the ground of the alley. Why did I leave Ino's flower shop using the side door? If I used the front door I wouldn't have ended up in this position.

Finally, Kiba releases me too, but not before running his tongue over his newest artwork. "See? I was right. You're into me."

"I hate you."

"You hate that your pussy gets wet for a dog," he counters, a completely correct counter, but I'll die on my hill yelling that he's wrong. Slowly, he pulls back, the chain of my collar tumbling from his nose and lying against the bite mark. "It hurts, doesn't it?" He asks, toying with the collar so it slides back and forth over the open wound.

"No," I lie through my - bared with pain - teeth. He's right, I do hurt. The three marks sting, mixing with the pain from the others to coat around my whole neck. Having the chain sitting on top of one of them makes it hurt more than the rest. Having it slide back and forth shoots new stabs of pain into my neck, leading to the pain attack filling my veins.

"Sure it doesn't, Kitty," he sighs, dropping his hold on the collar before releasing me from being trapped under him. "Hate to cut our play time short, but I got to go sit with Kurenai-Sensei. See you tomorrow, my pretty kitty."

"No, you won't!" I yell after him, watching him and his dumb mutt leave the alley. Dumb dogs. Dumb collar. Dumb bite marks. Dumb Kiba being correct.

———————————————————————

———————————————————————

———————————————————————

———————————————————————

[queersolarpunk]

aanyone got some advice for how to save a house from damage from cold rooms?

Soo, I live in a house with my sister and her husband in Germany (it's their house) and we haven't had consistent heating for weeks now. By now, I think it's been two weeks without any heating. So far we were lucky and the temperatures stayed very high for this time of year and we're going to the gym for warm showers (I got so sick of cold showers, they suck and the water feels seriously icy).

Anyway now we got to the situation that the heating likely can't be repaired (even though we paid so much already to try and get it fixed) getting a new one will take at least a month, likely longer. Temperatures are gone drop next week. All three of us work a lot so we haven't had the time to do the research we should've done but I just realised the risks there are for the house apart from our discomfort (which I would've been fine with). But I read that with low temps inside below 15°C there's a risk of condensation and mold and of course with lower temperatures where the water can freeze the pipes can get fucked. We're probably gonna get an electric heater for at least one room, but there's barely used (not fully renovated) rooms. We're gonna be so insanely broke if we put heaters in every room (and we're gone need that money to get the new heating installed).

Anyway, I just had the hope with the type of people around on Tumblr (weirdly specific interests etc) anyone might have some advice/ reblog with the tags to bring it to the people that might have advice

[thelaundrybitch]

😘 A gift for your talents

Donatello sat in the dark of his room, listening to the hum of his computer's cooling systems and the occasional drip of a pipe. His mind was a buzz with ideas and plans, improvements and adjustments but it was so full right now that-that!

He was drawing a blank.

On his screen, he saw the monitoring programs running, his surveillance systems and general system monitors. All of them ticking away nicely and in perfect working order.

On top of those, was an internet browser window. It was open to his own chat systems, one that allowed him to piggyback onto other communication systems like texts, video calls etc.

The curser was flashing ready to send a message but he couldn't bring himself to type anything. What would he type and to who?

A voice in his mind that sounded just like his father, Master Splinter, said he should talk to his brothers first. But that too was a lesson in futility.

Leo he could get along with, more easily than the others. He had a calm patience that allowed them to sit peacefully together and talk, but underneath it was a temper that rivalled Raph's.

And right now he was annoyed because he couldn't go see a certain "blue-eyed angel" he had been meeting up with. That was partly because he was under house arrest by Master Splinter for getting into fights, alone and with no backup, and earning himself a broken wrist.

Raph had been smug for all of two minutes while Leo was being chewed out but stopped the moment he realised his blue masked brother was injured. He'd taken leadership for all of two nights and seen that it wasn't for him -Donnie and Mikey both had the bruises to prove that much.

Mikey, he was goofing off at a skatepark he'd found. The crowd that hung there had taken one look at him and accepted him with open arms. He finally had found his people and they had a way of finding runaways at risk.

But none of this helped Donnie with his own problem.

He was in a creative rut and he wasn't sure how to fix it... Yet, he had a suspicion of how to fix it but... He had a feeling it was... Too much.

April had a friend.

This friend had helped them more than once already, and was included in The Secret™ but... Donnie had never met anyone like them!

They had been mildly interesting to start with but when they had wandered into his Lab one day while he had been tinkering, he'd nearly bitten their hrsd off. They had argued back of course, because why hadn't he labeled the Highly Corrosive Acid as just that?

They had said some things.

He had said some things.

Now, he was sat in the dark of his room and unable to do anything it seemed. He wanted to make something by way of apology, but he didn't want to come across as weirdly desperate as Mikey has when he'd first met April.

God that had been bad.

Yet he missed seeing them! Missed their smile, the way they would run their hand through their hair, the crinkle in their nose when they were being cheeky.

Oh god...

With a sigh, Donnie flopped back in his desk chair, safe in the knowledge that despite it's creaking noises, it wouldn't give out on him.

There was only one thing for him to do, he realised as he pulled his glasses off and ran a large hand down his face. Putting his glasses back on and pushing this up his snout, Donnie focused on his computer and opened a fresh web page to start his research.

🐢

I'VE BEEN BLESSED!!!

Oh man this looks SO GOOD.

I read this with a big ol stupid grin on my face

GOD I LOVE ME SOME DONDON

AND WHO IS LEO SNEAKING OUT TO SEE THAT CHEEKY LITTLE MONKEY 👀

*rattles the bars to my enclosure*

I got to the bottom and went

Listen my little turtle friend.

This is the beginning to something amazing.

I can tell 🤩

I do hope you continue this little story because I am HIGHLY intrigued as to where it's going.

And I can't even thank you enough for this generous gift you've dropped in my ask box.

You're amazing 😍💖🫶🏼🫵🏼

[gatsby-system-folks]

Hi besties

I didn't feel like deleting this commission post. Thankfully, the friend who I opened commissions to help has stable housing now. I'm not saying commissions closed, I'm just busy lol.

Illustration:

Some examples of my work

I'll also do relatively short comics. This is a snippet from my webcomic. A sketch is $10, colored sketch is $15, lineart is $10, colored lineart is $15. Shading or lighting on anything will add $10. I'm not separating character art and landscape art, both have the same rate, but something with more than 5 characters or something set in a city (or otherwise densely populated/elaborate area) will be a little more ($5 for every character above 5, and an extra $10 for an elaborate scene). Comics are the same, each page (not each panel) will be treated as a piece.

Writing:

I'll write for ocs, and from:

Homestar Runner

Rise of the tmnt

The Usagi Chronicles

Gorillaz

Good Omens

Undertale/Deltarune

Homestuck (and its affiliates, such as pesterquest or friendsim)

Venom

Moon Knight

Treasure Planet

Hellboy

Doctor Who

Our Flag Means Death

The Chronicles of Narnia

The Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit

The original 6 Star Wars movies

The Spiderverse series, itsv and atsv

The Davina skit from Rab C Nesbitt. (I see yall shipping Davina with Mrs. Robinson and I love yall)

If something's not on this list, you can still ask, and if I've seen whatever the media is I'll probably write it. On the other hand, if i haven't seen all of the content for the medias listed above, I'll have to do some research so it might not be the best work (ie the only reason I'm limiting this to the first 6 star wars movies is because I haven't seen any more than that)

I'll do ships between canon characters or between ocs, I'm not comfortable doing x reader content at this point. Also.. they don't have to be ships lol I also do just. Fics.

Some examples of my work:

I'm gonna keep it simple and do $20 per thousand words, but there's not a minimum word count. That's $0.02 per word lol. When you describe the fic ill give you an estimate of how many words I can do it in, and we can adjust. If the fic goes more than 150 words over the final estimate then it's flat-rate (as in the price doesn't continue to climb)

Poetry

Any subject really. I'll add examples of my work when the website I post on is fixed. Poetry is twice the price of fic

Editing:

Keep it under 5,000 words for now. $8 per hour. I'll edit fic, essays, etc.

Worldbuilding:

If you need help figuring out a magic system, how pipes connect your city, weird biological facts about your aliens, or even just where to put the castle parking lot, I can help. Same rules of fic writing and editing: if we chat worldbuilding for an hour, it'll be $8. If you want a 500 word summary of your new worlbuilding, that'll be $10. The text of the chat of course is free, you can pause your time of course, and whatever time I spend writing the summary isn't double charged. So an hour of chatting+ a 500 word summary would be $18

What I won't work with, in any format

Heavy nsfw- light is ok

Incest, pedophilia, noncon etc

Hate, bigotry, overly political work, bullying

Torture

Glorification of not good things. Depiction does not equal glorification

Case by case: real, living people. Context below.

What I won't draw, specifically:

Gore

abuse (such as beating, verbal, emotional)

Self harm

Everything is case-by-case, if something makes me uncomfortable I'm not going to do it. You may not put my work into an ai scraper of any kind. Also I'll say it again, depiction does not equal glorification.

Context on real people: I mean if you want me to just draw a picture of Margot Robbie that's most likely fine, or write about the wacky secret society that Laura Ingals and St. Patrick were running that's probably fine, or if a real living person appears in the background that's probably fine (I see you good omens fans having Crowley and Hozier hang out at a bar), but I won't write shipping for real, currently living people, nor will i make them the mc of a story. I'd prefer not for dead people either, but that's not a hard rule. Once again, case by case.

[xiaq]

(this can be answered publicly) Hey X, pardon me if you’ve answered this before, but I was just curious on how you ended up transitioning from academia to tech and what role you started with in tech? Also, so you have any advice for someone looking to break into tech from a non-STEM background? Thank you!

Hey! I haven't answered it publicly but it's a popular question, so I will now (warning, long answer is long).

So I was so fed up with academia for sundry reasons I won't get into here but I wanted a career that would allow me to A. retire some day (something that paid generally well), B. would allow me some measure of work/life balance without high stress, and C. Would ideally let me use my communication/writing/speaking/presenting skills in some way.

My parents and my partner all work in tech and were like, "did you know that we desperately need people with your skillsets in the tech world?" and my partner, who works in technical sales was like, "You would kill at my job, I am not lying." And I was like, every job listing in technical sales that I see requires either a degree I don't have or past experience I don't have, or both, and my mother was like "Do you know how many mediocre resumes from unqualified men come across my desk? Apply for the damn positions anyway." So I reworked my resume to focus on applicable skills/experiences and wrote a cover letter for each position I applied to saying "hey, I know I'm an odd candidate but let me tell you why that's a good thing." And I got a lot of positive responses!

I was interviewing at 2 different tech places when I accepted the offer for my job now. I had an initial screening call interview with HR, then a zoom interview with the hiring manager, and then I was given access to a limited demo environment and had a week to teach myself the software and put together a demo for a fake customer which I did for the hiring manager (my future boss), one of my current peers, and the VP of the org. I was offered the job the same night I did my fake demo. So in total it was a 2 week interview process, and I started working 2 weeks later. **

I'm a pre-sales solutions consultant, which basically means I'm paired with a sales guy who does all the money and business value talk with customers, while I get to learn about a customer's data problems and then demo for them how our products can address those problems.

The learning curve was (and still is) steep. But it was basically like going back to school, and I've always loved learning new things. The job is super fun. It fulfills all of my wants I listed above with the added bonus of being completely remote (aside from occasional travel to meet with customers for in-person demos). The people I work with are supportive, management is communicative and constantly giving me feedback/talking about my trajectory. I've won internal awards, already received two raises and one promotion and I haven't even been there a year. I'm making more than double what I did as a professor and the concept of retirement doesn't feel like a laughable pipe dream anymore. I miss teaching a lot, but I'm healthier, happier, and better prepared for the future now. And my work is genuinely fulfiling because I'm showing people how they can fix problems. Also, playing with data management software and putting together custom demos is neat. It's like all the best parts of a college project--research, making a preso, knocking everyone's socks off while giving the preso, but I'm getting paid for it. I'm glad I followed my mom's advice.

So I guess my advice is the same as hers: even if you're not "qualified," apply for the position anyway. Make custom cover letters for each position and if there's not a way to include the letter with the app, do some googling and find the hiring manager on LinkedIn and message/email them. The person who hired me said that my cover letter was what got me the initial interview. So that shit works. If you have friends or family working somewhere with open positions, use those connections. Having an internal referral will go a long way to getting your resume looked at. I know we're all like, boo nepo babies, but networking is a huge part of any industry. Use it to your advantage if you have the advantage (no, I'm not working for my parent's companies, but if there'd been an open position I was interested in, I would have applied for it. No shame).

**I also, on the side, applied for the Austin Fire Department because why not. After a whole lot of mental and physical prep, I was accepted to the academy (in the first class, no less, holla) right before I was offered my current job. But I had to be realistic and say that probably wasn't a good long-term career option for someone who is 110lbs and was barely meeting the physical testing requirements who also has issues with getting overwhelmed in high-input sensory situations. So. Into the tech world I went. This side note just to say, I was keeping my options very open and there's nothing wrong with that either, lol.

I hope this helps!