#i was trying to decide between like 50 different bugs

[paracosmicessence]

finally designing a sona lol

[roachliquid]

After studying the kind of songs Bethesda likes to put in their Fallout radio channels, I've come to one simple and frustrating conclusion.

It's dad music. All of it.

A lot of it is dad music from the perspective of the people making the games - Johnny Cash, Tennessee Ernie Ford, etc. And I mean, most of those songs are good, they hold up well, but they're the kind of shit my boomer parents like, and critically they are not from the 1950s. There's nothing strictly wrong with that, given Fallout's timeline of events, but it's certainly not the kind of atompunk nostalgia they always seem to be going for.

Then there's the shit that's actually from the right era, and it's... swing? Boogie-woogie? This isn't stuff that was popular during the 50s, it's stuff that was popular during the 30s and 40s. Yeah, people would still have listened to it in the 50s... mostly people who were teens or young adults in those other eras. You know. People's parents.

There's a few exceptions - a little doo wop here, a splash of rock & roll there - but they're few and far between considering the number of songs that aren't popular 50s music. It feels like these radio stations were built by Gen Xers trying to construct what they thought the 50s sounded like based on the musical tastes of their boomer parents, and it just bugs me.

And because I know someone's going to bring it up if I don't, yes, putting the Beach Boys in Fallout 76 was egregious. There's a difference between including newer music that fits the bill for genre (see those country ballads) and music that just... obviously didn't exist in the culture of the 50s.

Anyway, I've decided that I need to make my own Fallout radio playlist. You know, with blackjack, hookers, and Tears On My Pillow.

[horseshoecrabman]

8/11/24

bee update 7:

today dad and i went to investigate the hive!

content warning: pictures/videos of bees, mentions of dead bees, mentions of bee stings

school just started, so before dad and i got too busy, we wanted to administer the hive beetle pesticide and do an alcohol wash to check for varroa mites.

we put on our bee gear and did our usual check, pulling out frames and inspecting them. they were very lively, we saw many combs filled with larvae and honey. we also saw drones, aka male bees, which is a good sign since typically drones are not necessary to the functioning of a hive.

the item to get rid of hive beetles is a little plastic container that we put apple cider vinegar in, which attracts the beetles, and then they fall into a different liquid that kills them. there arent many beetles left, but we hope this will kill them for good.

we also did an alcohol wash, where you dump some bees into a container, and the ones that don't fly away (nurse bees and drones) get scooped up and put in a small container with alcohol in it, then you shake it to shed any varroa mites clinging to your bees, and count how many mites there are, to see if you need to treat the bees or not.

this process does unfortunately kill the bees, but it is necessary to do it, or else the entire hive can get killed out by varroa mites.

there were about 30-50 bees and only 9 mites, which is a very good sign. we don't need to buy any treatment! hooray!

after the alcohol wash, we buried the bees (i personally feel like we should be respectful to the dead, even if it's a small bug) and packed up everything. i did notice a drone amongst them, which i took out because i like to preserve bugs, and also to demonstrate what the difference between a drone and worker bee is!

you may remember daisy, the worker bee that had when she died, but i did preserve her! here is daisy:

and here is the drone, which i named poppy:

drone's eyes are much larger than worker bees, and the same can be said for their physical size!

daisy is the top container and poppy is the bottom container :)

here's two other stories, the first is:

while i was obtaining poppy the drone bee, a worker bee was also in the pile and stuck to the drone. I figured I would preserve both of them, until i noticed the female was alive!

i theorized that she had been at the top of the container we did the alcohol wash in, and me removing her had given her the ability to recover and survive, since it's the drowning that usually kills the bees during an alcohol wash.

i thought maybe she would die soon, so i separated her from the drone (which i made sure was 100% dead) and let her be outside for a period of time, to she if she would die.

it turns out, the exact opposite happened! the female, which i named buttercup, was very energetic indeed, crawling around and letting herself dry off.

it was when she started flying that i decided she was alive and well, and should be returned to her hive. i put her in a container and gently returned to her hive! in the process, two workers had landed on me, so it was a bit of a doozy trying to get them to also return to their hive, but in the end i was successful!

i then went back inside to preserve my drone, but i noticed something odd. there was a dismembered bee leg in the container. i thoroughly checked the drone, but he had all six legs. i was stumped, until i reviewed the videos i had taken of buttercup, and upon noticing she did in fact only have five legs, i realized that in the process of separating her from the drone (she wasn't letting go of the drone for some reason) i had accidentally removed her leg.

and i just felt so bad!!! i really didnt mean to :(

i honestly think that if even after that she could still be so energetic, that buttercup really is a feisty and tough bee!

here's a video of her after i caught her again, about to return her home! seriously energetic for two near-death experiences in one day!

the second story:

when we were about to put our things back in the garage, and dad returned from getting our equipment he may have brought two very angry bees with him......

in short, he got stung on the eyelid and i got stung on my left thumb! it hurt so bad and you know what made it even worse! it started raining!!

but it was all okay, i removed the stinger from dad's eyelid with a tweezer, and gave him an ice pack, and we healed in a few days. the reason why this took so long to put out is because it was hard to do much with my left hand with all the swelling, let alone type full paragraphs. lesson learned: dont mess with angry bees!

i would tell you all a fun fact about bee stingers, but this is getting pretty long so i'll end it here. next time though!

that's all from me! sorry this update is so late, life has been very busy!

thank you for reading 🐝💛🌻 !

[roipecheur]

I'd love your thoughts on Frank chaining Matt to a rooftop and trying to get him to kill 👀

This actually inspired me to read the 2000 Punisher run where Frank does this because I wanted to compare it to the NMCU scene. I’d put off reading this run before because I don’t like Garth Ennis, and I also really don’t like the art style. But it turns out it’s only 11 issues long, so I went ahead and got through it in one sitting. 

Garth Ennis, from the little of his stuff I’ve been able to get through, writes Frank like an angrier version of the Terminator, and treats the existence of superheroes and the rest of the wider Marvel universe like a bug he’s trying to push away with a very long stick. NMCU Frank is a more complex and interesting character in terms of actually having a background and motivations that make sense. The current Punisher run, which I have many issues with, does a better job at this than Garth fucking Ennis, so it ain’t saying much.

Also, the 2000 Punisher run is of course a Frank POV story, and the Netflix Daredevil show is of course a Matt POV story. So, to start with 616 Frank in the 2000 Punisher run...

(Cut for comic panels)

This is Vietnam vet Frank circa the year 2000--he explicitly mentions Vietnam in this run. Even if he was 25 when the Vietnam war ended in 1975, he’d be 50 here. Yeah, yeah, comics time doesn’t work the same way as real life time, but he’s drawn with some lines and wrinkles on his face. He’s meant to be older and he’s been doing the vigilante thing for awhile.

This panel is also interesting to me because calling Daredevil “the guardian angel that follows him (Matt) everywhere” implies that he doesn’t know who Daredevil is--I’ll come back to this later.

In contrast to NMCU Frank, 616 Frank has a long history with Daredevil. He knows Daredevil is going to attack him and plans accordingly.

"Fap" lol what was with this sound effect circa 2000.

Frank tells Matt to hit him baby one more time and lets Matt win the first round. This isn't difficult, Frank reflects, implying that Matt is the better fighter and he's a challenge (or impossible) for Frank to defeat hand-to-hand.

But Frank doesn't need to--he's rigged speakers to play an ultrasonic dog whistle, which wreaks havoc on Matt’s ears. Frank uses this opportunity to knock Matt out.

So... we’re going to assume here that Frank doesn’t know who Daredevil is, but he knows enough about what Daredevil can do to incapacitate him.

Then, of course, Matt wakes up chained to the roof and--ok. Just look at the difference between Netflix DD and whatever the fuck 616 Frank was doing

Chains around Daredevil's chest and arms to hold him in place. Unhinged behavior, but sound restraining technique, versus

Frank. My man. Where did you learn this. Why are you forcing him to kneel. Why are the chains 1) around his neck, 2) wrapped lovingly across his chest, 3) not only between his legs but 4) framing his crotch. "What is this" indeed.

The rituals...they are intricate...

So, now that Frank has forced Daredevil to participate in his bondage fantasy, he decides to 'teach him a lesson' by giving him a choice. Daredevil is "not the enemy" and "doesn't deserve to be destroyed", but Frank's getting sick of him interfering. The gun he's taped to Daredevil's hand has one bullet in the chamber, and Frank's wearing Kevlar. Either Daredevil shoots him in the head, or Frank is going to shoot and kill someone else.

(Frank heard the term “predicament bondage” once and completely misunderstood the assignment.)

Again, 616 Frank has been a vigilante for years, if not decades, and has tangled with Daredevil plenty of times before--enough to know his speeches by heart. Frank’s internal monologue also says he can’t beat Daredevil hand-to-hand. As far as Frank’s concerned, every time Daredevil failed to kill him was a time that Daredevil was choosing Frank’s life over whoever Frank was going to shoot next--and they both know Frank will inevitably kill someone else. Frank, on the other hand, shoots Dino and thereby chooses to save whoever that guy might have killed or hurt next. By taping the gun to Matt’s hand, he’s just making the choice more obvious--showing Matt that his decision not to kill people is a choice with consequences, just like Frank’s decision to kill people is.

616 Frank planned and carried this out for Daredevil specifically. We don’t get internal monologue bubbles for NMCU Frank, but I don’t think he could have possibly planned this in the same way. He did have a rooftop and chains ready, but I don’t think they were for Matt. One, this is early days Frank who’d just lost his family, was still trying to kill everyone directly involved in their deaths, and doesn’t even have a skull on his chest yet. Two, this was only his second meeting with Daredevil, the first being when he’d shot Daredevil in the head the night before--he couldn’t have predicted that Daredevil would be there. Three, Frank was there for Grotto and was willing to take on a small battalion of cops all on his lonesome to get to his target. I think Daredevil must have surprised him. So, they fight, and the residual effects of the headshot cause some ringing in Matt’s ears. Frank can’t know what’s going on, but he takes advantage and knocks Matt out. After that, I can only imagine he’s staring down at this guy dressed in a fucking devil suit with the cops closing in and thinking, “Babygirl you might be even more deranged than me. I must study you.” Scooping him up and saving him from the cops must have been an impulse decision. Leaving Daredevil to get arrested certainly would have been easier and stopped him from interfering with Frank’s one-man war.

In both 616 and NMCU, Frank at least ostensibly doesn’t know who Daredevil is, and he doesn’t take off Daredevil’s mask while he’s unconscious to find out. Also in both versions, Frank is trying to kill someone Matt’s been defending. In 616, this is a faceless mobster named Dino--you never even see him, just Frank pulling the trigger. In NMCU, it’s Grotto, someone we’ve seen Matt and co. try very hard to keep safe from the trigger-happy maniac who clearly wants his head on a pike. 

And, in both versions, Frank chains Daredevil up, tapes a gun to his hand, and makes him choose between killing Frank and letting Frank kill someone else. Here’s where the differences get interesting. 616 Matt actually pulls the trigger, but there’s no firing pin. 616 Frank never intended to possibly die--he just wanted to drive the message home. We don’t have 616 Matt’s internal monologue, so we can’t know for sure what he was thinking here. If my quick Googling gave me the correct answer, killing someone to stop them from killing you or someone else is permissible in Catholicism, which otherwise lists murder as a cardinal sin. Given such a clear-cut decision, Matt could have used that reasoning to justify pulling the trigger. Or given his general aversion to killing, he might have been trying to shoot Frank in a way that would hurt him but would not actually end his life--despite Frank telling him earlier that killing him was the only option. Either way, this is a decision Matt makes while Frank takes someone out with a rifle at a distance. It’s a pretty removed act of violence, as far as these things go.

Meanwhile, NMCU Matt has Grotto right in his face, begging him to shoot Frank before Frank kills him. In this version, Matt’s gun fires when he pulls the trigger, but he doesn’t point it at Frank--he uses it to free himself from the chains Frank has him tied up in. Matt gambles with Grotto’s life and loses. Compared to 616 Matt, it’s possible he didn’t try to shoot Frank because he hadn’t been dealing with him for as long--he doesn’t have years’ worth of failing to save people from Frank weighing on his conscience. Or, Matt himself just hasn’t been a vigilante for long enough to know his own limitations and thought he could save Grotto without shooting Frank. Or, he just couldn’t bring himself to kill--which tbh I think is more in line with Matt’s character in general in most universes where he isn’t evil. And NMCU Frank, unlike 616 Frank, gave Daredevil a perfectly functional gun. This is a Frank whose family has just died and is doing all kinds of reckless, crazy shit to avenge them. I think his MO in Daredevil season 2 is that he’s going to kill everyone who had a hand in his family’s deaths or die trying, and this falls under “die trying”.

One last thing 616 Frank and NMCU Frank have in common: they’re both so goddamn weird about Daredevil. NMCU Frank was probably not planning on surviving his one-man war against the gangs of New York and was definitely suicidal, but he still had things to do and people to kill when he gave Daredevil the chance to shoot him. Like, he had possibly decided this guy was worthy of killing him in some fucked-up way--he put everything on hold to give Daredevil a free shot. 616 Frank, after Daredevil tries to shoot him and can’t because of the missing firing pin, says, “Leave the killing to me.” He’s basically saying that he respects Daredevil’s choice not to kill and even in this fucked-up scenario, Frank isn’t actually going to put him in that position. Coming from 616 Frank, especially the way Garth fucking Ennis writes Frank, it’s almost sweet.

Thanks for this ask--I had fun with it! As a bonus, here’s some choice pages showing the NYC skyline as drawn in the year 2000 💀💀💀

NMCU Frank: Yeah I’m a veteran of the War in Afghanistan and the Iraq War that all happened because of 9/11

616 Frank: What’s 9/11?

[markuami]

My latest obsession iiiss…

Katydids!!!!!

So I’ve been on almost an year long obsession with these creatures because I love them oh so much and I don’t even fucking know where it came from I just decided one day to like em. Since no one wants to hear me screech about them I shall scream it to you.

They are not grasshoppers!

Yes they’re related but they are known as bush crickets(despite them not being crickets just also related).

How to tell the differences between Katydids, Grasshoppers and Crickets

Grasshopper

Grasshoppers antenas are short and thick. I usually tell the difference between them and katydids through their head and wing shape. Grasshoppers tend to have big eyes. They can also..fly.

They can be found during the day. And well— in g r a s s.

Crickets

Crickets are typically smaller, have longer antenas and darker complexion.

They are mostly exclusively nocturnal and can be found in crevices.

Katydid

Katydids are usually GREEN and their ANTENAS are LONGER and THINNER than their BODIES. Their WINGS are HELD VERTICALLY over their BODY.

Most species are just very very green and look like leaves which make them very identifiable.

KATYDID FACTS.

Some species of katydid make noises to show annoyance or when they’re mad.

Some places prohibit the ownership of katydids simply because of how heckin LOUD they can be.

They’re mostly herbivores but some species are known to eat other insects or smaller reptiles liek lizards,snakes,etc.

There are over 6,000 species of katydid and they are found in every continent except Antarctica.

Some species can bite, through skin.

The biggest katydid is the giant Malaysian katydid. Reaching up to 6-10 inches long.

Katydid make amazing pets and easy to take care of.

Their songs have been reported to be 110 decibels. While the cicada is allegedly ranges from 90-107 decibels.

Species

(Dragon-headed katydid)

In my personal observation, these tend to be the ones with most personalities also they bite. They are endangered :^(

(Red eyed devil Katydid)

These creepy motherfuckers are carnivorous and enjoy snacking on insects and smaller animals. It assumes this silly position whenever it feels threatened and they’re is ready to BRAWL! (Or when it’s trying to mate with a female )

(Malaysian giant katydid)

This boys just be big. No business being that large, they’re carnivorous but pretty gentle giants.

Genetics

Pink is actually their dominant color!

Recently, researchers discovered that pink is actually caused by a dominant gene, and green is a recessive trait: when pink and green individuals interbreed, at least 50 percent of their offspring are pink. Yet the majority of individuals in this species are expressing the recessive, green trait. Apparently, the green individuals predominate in most places because their camouflage works much better, and there are no pink individuals nearby with which to breed.

Conclusion

Katydids are awesome bugs and because I like em so should you and if you don’t I’ll cry :^(

[val-victory]

I'm not saying that Sense can't fetch slippers, I'm saying that a super powerful Pokémon with the condition he's got is NOT a good Pokémon for allowing near small children who may be trying to touch him or move suddenly, or that he'd be able to do all the thing this old lady's yamper would do.

And I said contests as an example of things that this hypothetical old lady would have her Pokémon do. You've made the argument that just having a Pokémon you send into one battle doesn't make them an ace trainer, so letting your 7 year old granddaughter borrow your yamper to do her local "junior pokecontest" doesn't make you a contest coordinator.

However training a yamper to handle its power (electricity) in such a way that it doesn't accidentally start electrical fires after zoomies/zap the grandkids when they play tag is still training a Pokémon, and training them to use their abilities properly. Training it to use Dig to help out with gardening, or Helping Hand to . . . well lend a helping hand is training. It's not intensive like being an ace trainer, and no one is saying that, but it is still training a Pokémon.

An old man who takes in an elderly rescue skitty and teaches it to trust humans again and not attack is still a trainer, even if he's not battling it. He may even be putting in more effort into training than an ace trainer with a tortera they've had since they were a turtwig, because he's having to form a bond with a Pokémon that has never trusted him, or anyone else.

Your bond with your Pokémon isn't the only kind of bond that matters, or the only way of being a trainer, and just because someone doesn't follow all the principals of an Ace trainer doesn't mean they're not a trainer.

There's a reason you gotta specific ACE trainer instead of just saying trainer, it's because you don't have to be an ace to be a trainer, you just gotta be teaching Pokémon behaviours by forming a bond with them.

Look, you can do what you want, but the "might is right" views and speaking points make people worry about how far you'd go, especially when you seem to not care about the possible consequences of your actions/how people or their Pokémon may get hurt.

Yes things are a certain way on Victory Road, but as you've made clear you're in the top percentage of trainers, and for every Ace there's probably ten bug-catching trainers just starting out. Two kids battling with their caterpie shouldn't be thinking "this is a fight to the death and I must win at all costs" and talking like the only right way to battle is to have their Pokémon try and take chunks out of one another is not going to help them.

Okay... i think i get you now.

At least to me. a Trainer is a Person who has decided to dedicate their Full Time to Training and Battling.

The people you describe aren't Trainers. they are Hobbyists. i do not care about those People. They can do whatever the fuck they want. i do not care.

I hate this conflation between hobbyists and Trainers, this gets people hurt. Someone with little experience should'nt be trusted with Killer machines like my Teams. That has always been my Position.

"Might is right" is the basis of the League. Who is the Champ? the weakest trainer??? NO!. the most mediocre Trainer??? NO!

The Champ is the strongest Trainer, and that has always been what being a Trainer is about.

I just want little Timmy the 10 Year old Kiddo who just got their Trainer-Pass to go into their Journey prepared!

I want them to understand who they are dealing with. i want them to know that Running Boots aren't made for this. i want them to know that they will get hurt. i want them to know that becoming a Trainer is the worst Decision you could ever make in your Life because unlike me 50% of Trainers quit before their Fifth Badge.

What makes me Ace is my Hard work and Dedication. My Full time Commitment. My Desire to do more. to get stronger than anyone before me. This is what makes me different. i am not a Hobbyist.

And don't twist my Words. there is nothing wrong with Hobbyists. i am just not one of them.

[ananicoleta]

HAPPY LATE 83rd BIRTHDAY TO ELMER FUDD!!! (2 MARCH 1940)

Elmer Fudd shares his birthday with Porky Pig (something which I admit I didn't know until reciently). Until now, I have encountered many posts that wish happy birthday to Porky, as well as even showing a brief history of the character (which I'm glad to see!), but none for the poor nimrod. Therefore I decided I'll do it, albiet lately. Here's a short history of Elmer Fudd and how he evolved to be the character that we all know and love:

Although Elmer's official appearance is considered to be in Elmer's Candid Camera (2 March 1940), his origins date much further that that.

Many people think that it all started with Egghead, a dim-witted human-like cartoon character, with a bulbous nose and an egg-shaped head, who later evolved into Elmer Fudd but that aspect is somehow debated by cartoon historians.

The true very early version of Elmer Fudd appeared in Little Red Walking Hood (1937). Here, he had a derby hat, small squinty eyes, big reddish noise, a high collar around his neck, a green long sleeve shirt, green pants, and a bald circle-like human head.

After that, he appeared in more shorts throughout the late 30s. In the 1939 cartoon, Dangerous Dan Mac Foo, a new actor, Arthur Q. Brian, voiced Elmer and gave him his well-known speech impediment.

His official first appearance was in Elmer's Candid Camera (2 March 1940), alongside an early version of Bugs Bunny.

In his early cartoons Elmer alternates between being a hunter, like in A Wild Hare (1940), or a mild-mannered fellow who "wikes wabbits" and wants to adopt or take pictures of them, before Bugs drives him insane (Elmyra Duff, his counterpart in Tiny Toon Adventures, might be inspired by this version of him).

For a short period of time, between 1941-42, Elmer Fudd was given a new design, making him a heavy-set, beer-bellied character, patterned after Arthur Q. Bryan's real-life appearance, and still chasing Bugs (or vice versa). The audiences didn't like him however, so the slimmer version of the toon returned for good.

In the 50s, three gems of cartoons came out today known as the Hunting Trilogy: Rabbit Fire (1951), Rabbit Seasoning (1952), Duck! Rabbit, Duck! (1953). These cartoons solidified Elmer's reputation as a hunter and his dynamic with Bugs and Daffy

Elmer's official role became the one of a hunter and foil for Bugs Bunny. Even today Elmer Fudd is considered to be Bugs' classic nemesis, despite the fact that the wabbit has had many more enemys throught history (such as Yosemite Sam, Daffy Duck, Wile E. Coyote, Marvin the Martian or Taz). Traits of his character solidified such as his gulibillity, short attention span, short temper and mild manners. The duo is such a classic that in the late 1950s cartoon, Bugs' Bonnets, in which the two of them try on different hats. This leads to a mayhem that ends with matrimony.

The only time Elmer won against Bugs was in Hare Bush (1956), where they swich roles

Elmer also played other roles such as Cupid in The Stupid Cupid (1944), which also starred Daffy Duck

He appeared in the 1990s series, Tiny Toon Adventures as Elmyra's mentor and a teacher at Acme Looniversity

He didn't play a huge role in either Baby Looney Tunes (2002) or The Looney Tunes Show (2011), but he did appear in a lot of episodes in Looney Tunes Cartoons (2020) as one of Bugs' main antagonists. This time however, he doesn't have his usual shotgun, due to the increase in gun violence in America.

So... as I was saying, HAPPY 83rd BIRTHDAY ELMER FUDD!!!!<33

[tophatsharkproductions]

Tobenum

So I have this fantasy setting that is your standard “Kitchen Sink Fantasy” world. Well, maybe not standard exactly, but many of the typical modern D&D/Tolkien-esque species like elves and dwarves are in it, just in rather different forms than usual. I had so many different ideas that I didn’t think would fit in other settings I made up, so I threw them all in their own world and called it a day. The name Tobenum itself is a warping of To Be Named. You know, the Dragon Age method of world naming.

Anyway, a lot of the posts I make on this blog may be related to this world, so I thought I’d explain a few things I’ve figured out about it so far, and some things I’ll make up as I go. This post might go a little long, so keep reading if you’d like to hear the general beats of this setting.

First, there are at least two or maybe three known continents on Tobenum. The one- no, actually two (I’ve decided just now) continents most of civilization lives on are interconnected with an isthmus and a few islands, while the third is off to the west and whose existence was only “discovered (as much as any landmass with multiple thriving populations can be discovered)” relatively recently— about 50 or so years ago. The northern of the connected continents is called Granop, the southern is called Takolas, and the newly known western continent is called Khymera. Granop is the typical European styled medieval fantasy land, Takolas is a hot, hostile land with savannah cradling an arid desert. Khymera is easily the largest continent on Tobenum and is mostly temperate forest and grassy plains in the north and humid rainforest in the south, with hot shrublands and mesas between.

Instead of using “race” to refer to all the various peoples as if they aren’t different species entirely, the term for any sapient species on Tobenum that has a semblance of language and civilization is “Vocal Kind.” The capital letters are important— a parrot can be vocal, but it is not Vocal. A rat is a kind of rodent, but is not a Kind. I’ll try to go into each of the Kinds in their own post eventually, but my current list is something like this:

Humans (All over the place and have a bit of a reputation for bonding and mating with just about any other Vocal Kind)

Elphs (Elephant people who live in tree-cities where the line between civic construction and forestry is blurred beyond meaning. The elf equivalent of Tobenum)

Dwarves (Short reptilian people who live underground and take pride in their craftsmanship and history. Bearded dragons cosplaying as Tolkien dwarves)

Orcs (Tusked orca whale people who are the leading force in exploring and memorizing the world’s oceans)

Gobblins (Little green guys whose society practically runs on food)

Wyverns (The massive magical flying reptiles who hoard treasure and burninate the countryside— at least, before they settle down to run a bank or grocery store or something)

Wyvernborn (When a wyvern and a member of another Vocal Kind love each other very much- )

Trolls (Catfish people who are often found extorting people for access to bridges)

Domols (Flightless owl people who live in marvelous cities in the sky)

Venari (Lionfish humanoids who are making a concerning effort to conquer the surface world)

Mondodo (Secretive dodo monks/ninjas)

Zhee (Psychic bug people on Khymera)

Demons (Spiky theropod dinosaurs who heard buffalo the size of elephants on Khymera)

And yeah, that’s all I want to talk about for now. The creatures are what I’m really excited about, so I’ll probably be mostly making posts about them as I go into detail about Tobenum.

[joytraveler]

50. Teddy Bear Ballet

The title screen looks like a Lisa Frank binder from the 90s – a line of three teddy bears in pink bows and tutus, standing on pointe, as a unicorn and a smiling rainbow applaud in the background

"Toys! ALL for me! Get back, they're mine, MINE!! Look at that rainbow, I love them. It has hands! Why? Well how else would it applaud me, is why!"

Syrupentine: you see kids, this is what girls used to be into before they invented pouting vampires

"I don't think it's vampires anymore, I think it's skeletons. Although I haven't quite kept up."

TaichouSenseiKun: I think it may be bugs

"Hm. all right, I can work with that"

When the game begins, there's a short intro cinematic, with green monospace text appearing on a black screen like an old-fashioned computer.

['TEDDY BEAR' MODEL BULT FOR DREAM AND FRIENDSHIP] [ EMPIRE 'GHOSKULL' BREAK TREATY] [ LAUNCH 'TEDDY BEAR'] [ 10 9 8...] [ "STOP! 'TEDDY BEAR' IS NOT--"] [ TOO LATE. GO WITH BRAVERY, TEDDY BEAR 'BALLET'!!]

"Ah, I, I, I, okay.. I guess we were too late! Won't they be surprised when they see what I learned from Prince Boogins III!"

Glockroach: That kid went places pigbarrel: never a better handpile there was

The game begins with a pirouetting teddy bear... against a parallax star field. It's a space shoot-em-up!

"We're off to the ball, we're off to the- ball?! They decided to hold the ball in Bullet Heck, Planetoid 56 this year! Dangerous but they serve great salmon."

She fights off stars and clouds (in space??), shooting hearts at everything that moves. "I have too much love to give.. give to ya FACE, hah!!"

HNV: Watch out for those wormholes, bear, you'll end up in the universe where they spell your name differently

One thing is clear about this game right off the bat – it's not for beginners. Before she even realizes it, Bea is seeing pink heart shaped balloons float up from the bottom to form the words GAME OVER!

"I'm sure this would have been a big hit among the hardcore gamer toddler demographic." She tries again, only getting a little further, to her frustration. "Is the difficulty adjustable? Nnnope. Well, the teddy bear ball is serious business, you gotta be skilled to attend"

pigbarrel: requirements: A) professional pilot B) Bear DueyDecimal: It's for grizzled veterans aroseahorseboy: all your bears are belong to us

After a few more grizzly deaths, Bea's persistence pays off and she makes it to the first boss-- it's that rainbow from the title screen, and he's not playing around! This boss can extend and shrink from a tiny sliver to a full circle, and sometimes the only safe place for Bea's bear is in the center of the ring, trying to predict where it flies!

ButterflyDefect: Taste the Painbow, Bea Llord_Kuruku: It's sweet like honey HNV: Wait, shouldn't bears be Bea's natural enemies? They steal honey and eat her helpless grubs!

The rainbow loses colors and speeds up as the fight goes on, finally turning fully red and blindingly fast! "AaaAAAAAAA, you have inflammation of the rainbow, let me just remove that for you-!!" GAME OVER!.

".. You know HNV, good point, screw you bears, AND your balls, you bears have your own balls, I ain't interested"

Baconnaise: Bearkakke ButterflyDefect: all in favor of banning Bacon Klickitat_Street: how did we get from ballet to bukkake jokes... SugahGlydah: We are cultured but also disgusting! Syrupentine: I take it you never had ballet classes... bukkake is MILD compared to what we'd talk about between classes

[martsonmars]

Hello friends! I'm having a super busy week (which is really unusual in this period of my life), so I had no time for new words. Which means, different kind of post.

I need to keep working on my COBB because I really want to have a regular posting schedule, but I have to avoid feeling stuck with it. I'm a WIP hopper, I need to follow inspiration and start new projects all the time, so feeling like I have to work on ONE fic and nothing else kills my creativity. So, I want to continue one of my other WIPs. But I have too many shorter projects that are equally close to being finished (which means... 25 to 50% drafted), so I'm asking for help to choose one to continue.

It's possible I'll ignore your suggestions in the end, but help me choose anyway! (Usually receiving suggestions when I can't decide between some options makes me realise that deep down I had already chosen, and I just needed someone to suggest another option to feel disappointed and be like ok but actually I wanted to do that other thing—)

Anyway. WIPs and tags under the cut!

1. pirate blouse

I started this fic to reply to an ask after one of those prompt things I reblog sometimes. It's half written, I think.

Plot: Simon is a stressed TA and Baz shows up to his class in a... provoking outfit. Simon loses it.

Quote: Nobody's paying attention to their insane TA going off on one of their mates. Good. I don't need a complaint for assault to drive my doctorate even farther away from my grasp.

I just need Grimm-Pitch to leave my classroom and come back wearing proper trousers before my overworked brain cells decide to go on permanent strike. (I'm not sure they haven't deserted me already.)

2. holiday

I haven't written much of this one, but I have the whole thing in mind. Just need to find a way to turn my ideas into words.

Plot: Friends to lovers. Simon goes on holiday with the Grimms. He and Baz have to share a bed in the same room as Malcolm and Daphne.

Quote I've already shared: When I wake up with my erection pressed against Baz's arse and his father snoring five feet away from us, I remember why I didn't want to come.

3. pine baz

I wrote half of this fic in a couple of hours and then didn't touch it for almost 2 months. Now that I've reread it I really want to continue it.

Plot: Baz is a dryad. Simon's a woodcutter. Imagine the rest.

Quote I've probably already shared: “Who are you?” the man asked, blue eyes squinting up at Basil's shadow.

“I am the pine.”

~~~

Simon didn't know many things, but he was pretty sure that pines weren't pretty men with long dark hair and pouty lips.

4. mosquito fic

This one is me channeling my hate for mosquito and mosquito-sponsored sleepless nights into a fic where the Mosquito Tragedy that ends better for Simon than it ever does for me.

Plot: Simon's haunted by a mosquito. Who might this mosquito be???

Quote: It looks like it's trying to connect his moles in constellations with its bites.

For fuck's sake.

See what this whole thing is doing to him? It's making him poetic. Making him describe his morbid relationship with a fucking bug like a fanfiction writer would.

I thought I had more WIPs to share but I realised I'm not in the mood for any of the others (mainly because they're all fics I barely started writing, so they're nowhere close to being done, unlike the others). I'll just leave the working titles, happy to say more about them in the comments if you ask:

- cooking show

- cat door

- simpard baby

- pasta trauma

- cheeseburger smut

@wellbelesbian @urban-sith @tea-brigade @sillyunicorn @mostlymaudlin @facewithoutheart @palimpsessed @otherpeoplesheartachept-2 @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @forabeatofadrum @johnwgrey @fatalfangirl @prettylightsbigcity @whatevertheweather @jbrrring @confused-bi-queer @moodandmist @bookish-bogwitch @letraspal @dragoneggo @captain-aralias @takitalks @theotherhufflepuff @otherworldsivelivedin @excalisbury @shemakesmeforget @starwarned @cutestkilla @ileadacharmedlife @gekkoinapeartree @bazzybelle @bloodiedpixie @stardustasincocaine @aroace-genderfluid-sheep @angelsfalling16 @basiltonbutliketheherb @messofthejess @ivelovedhimthroughworse @nightimedreamersworld @artsyunderstudy @foolofabookwyrm-activated @ionlydrinkhotwater @yellobb @orange-peony

[kikyan]

Could I request a Mammon drabble? It can be about anything! Thank you so much!!!!

TURN IT UP! Please this drabble is SHIT but I've been wanting to write smth for obey me again. Thank you anon, YOU ARE AMAZING.

Unfortunate

It never clicked to the demon sin of Greed, why his brothers were so close to a human whom they despised since the beginning. Okay, maybe 'despise' is an exaggerated way to describe it but they weren't particularly interested in them. To Lucifer is was just a human that was invited to the DevilDom because of Lord Diavolo's request, none of the brothers cared or even wanted to get close to the human, at least more than necessary. Yes, Mammon was tasked with the responsibility and tedious chore of taking care of this human, making sure that they weren't preyed on by other demons and swallowed whole. Sure, he hated the idea of getting close to the human, rambling on and on about how grateful they should be that the Great Mammon is even wasting his time taking care of them, but of course, that was just a cover-up of his true feelings.

He enjoyed this human's company a lot more than he let be known, at least with the intent because his brothers saw through his facade. He never understood why or how it happened, to Leviathan they were a normie, to Asmo. . .just another human, Belphagor despised them, Beelzebub wanted to eat them, Satan could care less, and Lucifer was putting up with them for Lord Diavolo's sake. Mammon would never admit it straight up unless he was sure of the reaction that he would get from [Reader] would be perfect, or the one he wanted. He liked them, cared for them, hell, even loved them. [Reader] was always with him, even as he brushed them off many times in the beginning, they were stubborn enough to bounce back into his life. Watching the whole TSL series with them, along with Beel, but it was mostly with [Reader]. His quick get rich schemes that [Reader] would sometimes reject or go along with it, really made him feel loved and cared for. When his brothers would verbally abuse him, [Reader] was quick to cheer him up or tell his brothers off.

Having someone who cared for him and took his side, but also wasn't afraid to put him in his place if he needed, was something new and appreciated. From that day forward, he was glued to them. Always barging in their room to hang out, watch movies, go shopping, or on their "mini dates", as he would call them. It was utter bliss to be with [Reader] and he was so thankful that they were the human who came to the DevilDom instead of someone else.

So it made no sense to him, that he was pushed aside for one of his brothers. He had just come back from [Reader's] room who was currently getting ready to go out. Mammon, like always, asked where they were going back.

"Oh, I'm going with Satan to a bookstore. I think we are also getting a small snack in between? Who knows, but yeah."

" W-what!? Then, I'll come too!"

" Sorry Mammon, but I planned this with Satan for some time. If it was a spur of the moment then yeah, I would take you but I can't. I'm sorry, but I promise to make it up to you when I get back. You want me to bring you something?"

" No. . .thank's but no. I'll be fine, have fun. See you later."

His mood instantly dropped but it wasn't anything new, [Reader] felt bad at the way he sluggishly walked out of their room, but it was already planned. There was nothing [Reader] could do but ask Satan if he could come, but even that was a stretch. They already knew Satan's response and how he would go on about how Mammon isn't interested in books like that. Mammon rested his head on his pillow, clearly upset with the events that transpired in their room. He felt bad for trying to barge into [Reader's] outing, maybe his brothers were right and he was just annoying. God, he hated himself a lot for what he was planning, but he was reassuring himself, '[Reader] would understand, I can just play it off that I decided to go into town as well.'

Mammon sighed, this wasn't meant to be. He was currently walking around the bookstore stalking [Reader] and Satan.

“ What do you think about this one, [Reader]. I heard some great reviews but I’m not sure. It’s a 50/50 with them. Either it’s amazing or it’s horrible.”

“ Well, how much does it interest you? If you really want to read it we can buy it but if not let’s pick a different one.”

“ Well. . . how about we pick another one. Don’t want to chance it...is there any book you want?”

“ Hmm, well there was this one…”

“ Oh, that one? I’ve been interested in that one for quite some time but never had the chance to get it so I forgot all about it…”

“Mm, so we’ll take this one then.”

“ Alright, let’s bring it to the front.”

With that, Mammon moved away and was able to avoid being spotted. He hid as he spotted [Reader] and Satan leave the bookstore. He saw them laughing and pointing to a small cafe. There they sat and talked some more, it was nothing serious just about books and reading. Mammon sighed in relief until...he heard his name.

“ [Reader], I don’t know how you put up with Mammon. Isn’t he always in your room?”

“Well yes, but I mean it’s not that hard. . .”

“He doesn’t give you any privacy whatsoever, always barging and thinks he owns you. I honestly don’t know how you put up with him. If it were me, I’d kick him out. He’s always dragging you into schemes, makes you clean up after him, and defends him against Lucifer. He always causes issues…”

“Hmm, I never thought about it like that.”

Mammon felt his heart shatter, his favorite person hated him. He honestly hated what Satan said but he also knew that it wasn’t that far off. It’s true that he spent countless time in [Reader’s] room. Sometimes sleeping in and hiding away in there. After class, he’d go bother [Reader] or even offer to do homework together. Has he always been a bother to [Reader]? Were they just too nice to tell him to bug off? Mammon got up from the table and proceed to walk away, sadness clouding him and some tears threatening to spill.

“ I guess it can be a little too much and sometimes I do mind it, but he doesn’t do it with bad intentions. He truly cares for us, just has horrible execution. His get-rich schemes, well it kinda comes with the sin of greed so we can’t really blame him. I think, having someone to depend on is nice. He’s so used to getting beat on that having someone to comfort him is a miracle. Think about it like us Satan. Aside from me, has there been another person whom you could talk to about books? What about Leviathan and wanting to talk to someone else who isn’t online or 2D? Having me around has changed all of you, yes it can be a bit too much but it’s worth it by seeing your smiles. If it ever gets too much I’d probably tell you guys, but until then I don’t really mind.”

“ [Reader]. . .you really are kind.”

A smile clouded Satan’s lips as he sighed and let out a chuckle. This would have been a much cuter moment had it not been for Mammon already leaving and thinking that [Reader] was bored of him. What a shame, the sin of greed was just so unfortunate.

[paperpennies]

Please tell me about your AU idea where Sasha and Milla meet in Brazil as teenagers and basically end up long-distance dating before either of them become Psychonauts ^_^

Oh hey look at that, totally out of nowhere, not prompted by me at all! (@2somethingelseyoumightknow2 and @strawberry-et also asked me about it but it seems redundant to answer three separate asks. I didn’t think three people would actually do it lol. Also sorry for taking 8 years to answer.) This idea came out of just smushing two thoughts together. Then I got weirdly attached. Buckle in; it’s gonna be pretty long.  Under a cut to avoid annoying feed scrolling.

So, AU is: Sasha mom lives, meaning he turns out a lot better emotionally adjusted since he grows up with at least one attentive parent. His dad is better too- still pretty emotionally constipated but not, like, broken the way he is in canon. The family also has 4-5 more kids after Sasha. This does mean they’re pretty poor but they do okay. 

His mother is a schoolteacher, who is somewhat unusual in the time period for working and being a mom of a big family at the same time. She and Sasha are quite close; he gets a lot of his intellectual and curious side from her. In his eyes, he’s much more like her than like his dad (although people who know them both would say he’s a lot more like his father than he thinks). His mother also knows about his psychic powers, having noticed them as soon as they started showing up, but his dad and siblings (probably) don’t. 

The story starts when Sasha is 14-15 years old. He’s getting increasingly bored living in a small rural town with few opportunities related to his interests, and his developing psychic powers (and probable undiagnosed autism) make things even more complicated and difficult for him. His mother gets an opportunity, probably with some kind of charity organization, to go teach German/English and maybe other stuff in Brazil for a while. She decides to take it, and take Sasha with her so he can have some different life experiences. She also takes his youngest sister along, since she’s still very little and dad’s already going to be left alone with three other kids. 

(Also, my assumed age for Sasha and Milla in the games is like mid-30s, which, if the games take place in mid/late 80s, would mean they were born in the mid-50s. That means they would be 14-15 in the late 60s. So that’s the timeline I’m going with here.) 

So they go to Brazil. The school Sasha’s mom is working at is either at or associated with an orphanage- maybe a church that has a school and an orphanage. Of course, Milla is there. I don’t have a lot of the details locked in here. It’s hard because we know nothing about Milla’s family or life before she was working at the orphanage, so I’m really just pulling this out of nowhere to fit in with this AU. For the purposes of this, she has no family and is living at the orphanage and going to the school there (even though that’s sad and I kinda don’t like it. May change it. Hm.)

Anyway, Sasha’s mom is teaching at the school; Sasha is doing basically independent study. I also haven’t decided if Milla is in his mom’s classes, because I haven’t decided what age group(s) she’s teaching. Either Milla’s in her classes or gets employed (or volunteers) to babysit Sasha’s little sister and that’s how she comes to be around. Oh, and also for the purposes of this, Sasha’s mom already spoke Portuguese before this, and Sasha’s been learning it prior to arriving there, so he’s like conversational at least. 

Either way, Sasha and Milla meet. Despite having some initial personality conflict, they find they have a weird connection to each other. Milla is curious about this feeling and interprets it as maybe being a crush, although it feels a little bit different. She decides to try and befriend him to understand it better, and also because that’s just what Milla does. She’s the sort of person who makes people her friends half-against-their-will just by being friendly and caring consistently until they can’t deny that they’re friends.

Sasha, meanwhile, is wary of her and her enthusiasm because he’s not great with the social stuff, especially with the culture and language gaps at play. He’s also wary of the feeling because it seems psychic-related, but he doesn’t know what that means. Plus Milla is like super pretty and nice and he gets tongue-tied and red-faced whenever she talks to him, but he definitely doesn’t like her shut up Mom.

Over time, Milla’s determination prevails, and they become genuine friends. He hides the fact that he’s psychic at first, but eventually does tell her. He asks her if she’s sure she’s not psychic, because she really seems psychic somehow. She doesn’t think she is, but he theorizes she’s probably not quite normal, at least, and that’s where the connection they’ve felt from the beginning comes from.

Since they’re actually perfect for each other, their friendship grows deeper over the months they spend hanging out. By the time Sasha has to leave, they’ve developed real romantic (in a 14-15 year old way) feelings for each other. They don’t ever really talk about it, but promise to write.

And they do. Sasha’s siblings start referring to the girl he writes to as his girlfriend to tease/annoy him, but eventually it sticks. He stops protesting, although he never confirms whether or not it’s true, and it starts being matter-of-fact to them instead of a joke. On Milla’s side, she still talks about him to her friends like he’s still there, and she gets the penpal-boyfriend teasing, too. It doesn’t really bug her, though. They save up money over a few years to go and visit each other, and talk about their relationship enough to be sort of “official”. It’s rough since they rarely get to see each other in person or even talk on the phone, but they keep going. 

Years pass, and some things change and others don’t. Sasha mother dies when he’s in his late teens, and he and his dad start having bigger and bigger issues between them in the wake of greiving. He leaves home as soon as he’s sure his younger siblings will be fine without him around. Out and about in the world, he gets recruited into the Psychonauts within the next few years (the specifics of this don’t matter too much for this AU). Milla goes on to work in her orphanage, the thing she’s most passionate about. They still keep close in touch, and get to see each other a more often now that they’re grown up and Sasha has better access to international travel. They finally decide “okay yes, we really are actually dating” even though it’s still long distance. Sasha’s colleagues 100% do not believe his story about having a beautiful long-distance girlfriend in Brazil, because that would sound fake af even if wasn’t coming from the very serious, not-romantic-at-all Sasha. Even his picture of them together does not convince them.

Then, the thing happens. Milla’s orphanage burns down, and her psychic powers finally fully awaken. Because of her knowledge of psychics, she realizes what’s happening, but it’s still a horrifically traumatic event. Sasha takes a leave period to come and help her, finds that it’s even more serious than he’d expected, and puts her in touch with the Psychonauts directly for some better assistance. He’s too close to her to do more than an initial check-up himself. 

They find Milla has a lot of potential and extend an offer to join the intern program (which at that time spans a larger age range than later on). She rejects the offer at first, tries to go back to her life, but later decides she needs to make a complete change and accepts. Sasha’s colleagues are shocked to find out she is indeed real. She graduates first out of her class, as one of the best levitators the organization has ever seen. Technically, she and Sasha aren’t supposed to be romantically involved as agents, but the Psychonauts have always been pretty loosey-goosey about that rule (given the history of its founders). 

So that was a novel in length. It’s not necessarily that interesting in this form, but there’s the AU. I think the interest would be the specifics of how their relationship would play out as a story, if they met young enough and under the right circumstances to not to get stuck in the hang-ups their relationship has in canon. If you read this far, tell me what you think! Thoughts, feelings, emotional outbursts?

[aestheticfangirl]

CRUSH AT FIRST SIGHT {2}

Kim Mingyu x reader

[ Day 2]

Yesterday was pretty fun honestly. I woke up and checked my phone and saw two missed calls from Gyu and some texts too. I opened them.

Mingyu : hey y/n why aren’t you picking up

Are you sleeping?

Are you coming today?

When are you coming?

Aaaaa why aren’t you waking up!!!!

I smiled seeing him whining I quickly texted him that I was going and started getting ready. I picked out a pretty dress for today. I usually don’t wear dresses but I don’t know why I wanted to get ready. It took me around 50 minutes to get ready and then I left. I grabbed my coffee as regular and reached my uni. To my surprise Mingyu was waiting in front of the gate. When he saw me he rushed to me with a big smile.

“Why are you so late I was waiting for you so long? And why don’t you answer your phone, I wanted to ask you actually to go and pick you up”, he stopped cause he was breathless after speaking so much without a break. I giggled how someone can be this cute.

He spoke again, “Did anyone said how pretty you are?”

His sudden compliment kind of made me choke on air. I was looking at him speechless.

“ Aigooooo you are cute when you are surprised”, he said and patted my hair. I blushed and looked down. He continued,” by the way let’s go everyone is waiting”.

“Yeah sure let’s go”, I said and started walking hastily. One more day and then he will be gone and my bright days will end too. I will once again get into those gloomy days. We reached others and they too complimented my dress and then we planned out how to enjoy the day. Since everyone has different choices we decided to split into 4 teams so we can all enjoy comfortably.

Cheol, Jeonghan and Jun decided to go and try different games.

DK, Dino, Woozi and Hoshi decided to go watch those dance performances and other cultural events.

Wonwoo and Vernon decided to visit the video game parlour.

Seungkwan, Minghao , me and Mingyu decided on trying out different food and attend the literary fest.

So everyone went their own way and we went ours. The first place we went to was a great sushi stall and we enjoyed there a lot. We started roaming randomly and teased each other a lot. And then we all ganged up and teased Mingyu. It was literally my best day. Like yesterday Mingyu didn’t left me for a moment.

When we were sitting at a pizza place some guys kind of were staring at me so Mingyu got off and moved his chair so they can’t see. I wish all guys were like him. I tried to not think like that or else I would get hurt. Our pizza arrived and we started to eat. And suddenly Minghao spoke up, “Well kwan have you noticed anything?”

Seungkwan was surprised and replied, “ what hyung?”

Minghao smirked and we all looked at each other when he spoke again, “That Mingyu is being a little more active these days and he woke up today without even calling him and got ready first”. He looked at Mingyu who for no reason started stuffing his mouth and avoided Minghao.

Seungkwan replied, “ yeah I too am noticing him he is even smiling to himself and is humming all day-“ . He was stopped when mingyu pushed a pizza slice in his mouth and spoke” Yah why are you lying like this”, he turned to me and said,” y/n don’t listen to them they are speaking gibbereish”.

“ yeah yeah y/n don’t listen to us only listen to him”, Minghao teased and continued eating.

I looked at Mingyu who was pretty flustered and avoided my eyes. I too ignored them and continued eating. I don’t want to involve myself much or else it might turn worse for me.

They keep teasing Mingyu about being in love and thinking about some girl. All I did was eating and smiling from time to time.

After we completed we decided to return. Seungkwan was still teasing Mingyu so they were kind of walking a bit ahead and I and Minghao were walking behind them.

Minghao spoke,” y/n can I ask you something?”.

I was a bit shocked like what he wants to ask and then I nodded.

“Do you like anyone?”, he said looking at me.

What was this question,” umm depends why you are asking”, I replied.

“Nothing I am just kind of curious”, he said.

“Yep and nope”, I said.

“What “, he asked confused.

“Yes I like someone but it doesn’t matter”, I said looking down.

“Why doesn’t it matter”, he asked again.

What’s with him? Why is he curious about my love life? I spoke again,” Because nothing’s gonna happen between us”.

“How can you say this without even talking to him, maybe he likes you too”, he said it matter of factly.

“Umm I am not that brave and I am kind of sure too and also I don’t want him to bring into the darkness I am in”, I smiled.

“Maybe he will take you out of the darkness”, he said and patted my back. And then we were kind of interrupted by Hoshi. Who literally jumped on Minghao and spoke,” umm hmm what’s going on between you two”. He teased and then rushed to the others and then started telling others that I and Minghao are dating.

Everyone started to tease us and when we deny no one trust us.

Jun said,” I knew this they were together since yesterday, talking and smiling”.

Jeonghan came to me and said,” Aaaaaa y/n I thought you would choose me”. He pouted and I replied, “It’s nothing like that and we are not dating”.

Dino interrupted again,” Liar, I know I saw you today too you both were walking behind so you could spend time together”.

Minghao spoke up again, “Guys you are misunderstanding we are not dating. I swear”.

Everyone still didn’t listen to us and kept teasing. And my eyes started searching for Mingyu who was not there. It was kind of weird because he never left me alone for a moment till now. Where is he?

I was searching when Cheol came to me and said, “Mingyu is there sitting in that bench, go” , he pointed me where Mingyu was seating.

“Thank you “, I spoke and left.

He was deep in thoughts when I reached, he didn’t even realized my presence until I spoke up.

“Mingyu , you alright?”, I asked putting a hand in his shoulder.

“Yeah yeah I am cool, what are you doing here?”, he spoke with a trembling voice. I felt worried as in what happened to this guy suddenly.

“Ah I searched for you but you weren’t there so Cheol said you were here,” I looked at him and he still wasn’t looking at me, “if you want I will leave-“.

“Are you and Hao dating?” his sudden question cut me mid-sentence.

“Of course not, we were talking about something and Hoshi misunderstood and there is nothing between us”, I assured him.

But he asked again suspiciously,” you sure?”

“Yeah I am dead sure we are not dating”, I confirmed him.

He sighed and then again spoke,” I want you to be honest with me though about something”.

I gulped what now. Why is everyone asking me so much today? “Yeah sure “, I managed.

“Do you like someone, I don’t need the name just say yes or no”, he asked.

Again the same question, what’s wrong with everyone today. I replied,” yes I do”.

He sighed again. Why is he sighing so much? I wanted to ask him too so I thought this would be the best opportunity. But before I can say anything he got up and spoke,” let’s go I will leave you at your room it’s getting late”.

“Umm yeah okay”, I said and started walking. It’s better to not ask. Only one more freaking day and this will end.

Most of the route we walked in silence. When we reached i decided to break this awkwardness between us, “okay then bye, goodnight Mingyu , see you tomorrow”, I managed my best smile.

He was fidgeting the ground so he looked up and asked,” does that guy know you like him?”.

“ No, and I am not going to tell him anyway cause he is leaving pretty soon and I might not see him again”, I said.

He finally looked up and his eyes met mine finally,” okay, goodnight y/n see you tomorrow”, he smiled and left.

I went to me room, changed and started surfing my phone and was looking at today’s picture. When two texts popped up. One was from Mingyu and the other one was from Minghao.

I opened Mingyu’s text first.

gyu : y/n don’t tell that guy you like him please.

What’s wrong with him? Why is he saying like this anyway I wasn’t even going to tell him. Thank god this guy is super dense and still hasn’t figured out.

I typed an okay and sent it.

Then I opened up Minghao’s text which was kind of weird.

Hao: y/n someone is planning a big surprise for you tomorrow so come tomorrow as soon as possible.

y/n : who ? And what surprise?

Hao : I won’t say who but I can say what if you will confirm something and be honest okay.

He is acting weird.

y/n : yeah okay I will be totally honest I cross my heart now say what?

Hao : you like Mingyu right?

WHAT ? how did he know. I haven’t said this to anyone does Hao knows to mind read. I have never been this surprised like now. I was having many conflicts in my head when I got another text from him.

Hao : ?????

y/n : how did you know?

Hao: its pretty obvious he is a fool that’s his problem anw as promised I will tell u now what is the surprise.

y/n : thank god he haven’t figured out yet and please don’t tell him at least not until tomorrow.

Hao : okay okay I won’t , don’t you wanna know the surprise ?

Damn I kind of forgot about that.

y/n : yeah please tell me

hao : a confession, and now don’t bug me I am sleeping and you too sleep. Gn!

Wait what a confession, who is doing this and why. I had many questions but Hao went offline and I guess he slept cause he wasn’t replying anymore. I was thinking all the possibilities that can happen and didn’t even realize when I dozed off.

[scathecraw]

BBRae Week 2021 - Day 3: Into The Woods

“Summer camp has been so much fun, Rachel. Teether hasn’t cried once since the day after you dropped us off, and Tommy got first place in the obstacle course. You were right, we should have done a camp last year, too.” Melvin chattered excitedly on the office phone while Rachel listened patiently. “They’ve made a bunch of arts and crafts, and the woods here are so cool. They’re really old, and Gar knows so muchabout all the trees and animals and bugs.”

“And who is this Gar, Melvin? A new friendof yours?” Rachel’s emphasis was obvious, and Melvin’s blush was practically audible.

“NO! He’s a counselor. He’s really nice, but he’s really old. Like, 50 or something. You’ll meet him on parent’s day next week.”

Rachel didn’t remember anyone older than the director, a middle aged woman she had spoken to when getting them enrolled and again during drop-off. She suspected Melvin was fibbing to cover her embarrassment, but she brought it on herself by teasing the preteen. “I’m sure I will. Does this mean that you’re going to drag me out into the forest when I come? I thought it was going to be an afternoon of arts and crafts and then some campfire songs, not a forced march.”

“Duh. Arts and crafts are lame. Gar said that next year he’d show us how to whittle, which sounds better than making lanyards.” There was muffled adolescent shouting, and Melvin covered the receiver and yelled back. “I gotta go. We’re going swimming. I’ll call you on Friday. Love you, bye.” She hung up before anything could be said back, and Rachel was left with dead air while Melvin sprinted after her friends, untied shoelaces flailing behind her.

Arriving at the aforementioned “Parent’s Day”, Rachel wasn’t quite sure what to expect. The camp had at first seemed like a good way to get the three adopted children outside instead of rotting their brains, but the sheer noise of a few dozen milling, clamoring kids and groups of socializing parents made her wonder what she had subjected them, and by extension, herself, to. She was late, which probably didn’t help the situation, but she looked around the chaos in an effort to find her own three chaos engines. Instead, she was spotted.

A wild, dirty missile made a high-volume impact with her legs, nearly toppling her and babblingso fast that even Rachel’s practiced ear couldn’t discern what he was saying. She was wobbling and about to fall over when a firm hand caught her upper back and helped her regain her balance. “Teether, dude! I said you could go get her, not try to body slam her.”

Rachel finally planted her feet, acknowledged Teether with a gentle hand on his head, and looked up. And up. They both froze for an instant, but the tanned, blond man recovered first. His slack jaw snapped into a smile, and he said “Hi. You must be Rachel. I’m Gar, one of the counselors here.”

His hand was still on her back and heat radiated from it like afternoon sun. Her face had never fallen into the silly expression his had, but unconscious thought raced before she could regain her composure. ‘Definitely not fifty,’ she thought. “Hello. Yes, I’m Rachel, Teether’s mother.” She peeled Teether from her leg with practiced ease, and he sprang off of her and ran.

Gar realized that his hand still rested behind her, almost possessively, and retreated to a more respectable distance. He chuckled, nervously. “Heh. Um, Melvin and Tommy are with their friends, still, but we should probably get them. Ms. Waller asked me to show you around – she said you had just moved to the area?” It wasn’t a question, but he phrased it like it was. They began walking back towards the milling crowd of parents, children, and quite possibly enough noise to drown out a jet engine.

“Yes, it’s our first summer here. She mentioned that most of the kids made this an annual activity, but I didn’t think we’d be so strange as to warrant a personal detail.”

“Oh it’s nothing like that, it’s just that there’s not really many other summer camps around, and ‘cause we go from K-12, we get pretty much everyone. A lot of the other parents already know everybody. You’re not strange, just… new.” His eyes never left her, even as they began walking.

Back with the crowds, Melvin and a gaggle of similarly aged girls watch the two of them. One of them nodded decisively and turned to Melvin. “Okay. They’re too cute together. Look at how awkward they’re being.”

Anotherhuffed a little. “They’re just staring at each other. They should be holding hands or something, right?”

Melvin’s eyes narrowed critically. “It’s been like 10 minutes and they aren’t kissing yet. Gar’s probably too much of a nerd to do anything. We need to do something to make sure they know how perfect for each other they are.”

“Like what? They aren’t going to start making out in the middle of the crowd.”

An evil smirk crept across Melvin’s face. “Maybe not in the middle of the crowd, but what if they were all alone in the woods? Then they’d have no excuse not to!”

A look of awe crossed her companions’ faces. “That’s evil. I love it.”

But the smirk fell, half-formed plot evaporating. “But how could we get them out there alone? It can’t be anything serious, or else Rachel will ground me forever, and I bet she won’t even go unless we can trick her into it.”

“Could you just tell her you feel sick?”

“No.” Melvin shook her head slowly. “Then she’d either stay with me or just take me home early.”

One, heretofore silent, chimed in. “I think I know what we can do. But Mel, you’re going to have to make a lanyard.” She giggled at the disgusted look, and said “C’mon, we only have like 15 minutes before they start wondering where we are.”

Across the crowd and a million miles away, Garfield and Rachel were, in fact, being tremendously awkward as they watched the kids run and play. Gar fumbled his words and couldn’t decide to stare at her eyes, the curve of her neck, or decidedly anywhere except her. Rachel was the opposite. She answered in short, monosyllabic whispers and swallowed, trying to ease her desperately dry throat.

“So, uh, you said you just moved here! Do you have a job, er, of course you do, unless you don’t! That’s fine, too! Nothing wrong with… that. Yeah.” He trailed off, before gamely trying again. “So what do you do when you’re not, y’know, coming to summer camps?”

Rachel took a deep breath and centered herself. Gar started. “I’m not, like, annoying you, am I? I’m sorry, I tend to blabber -”

“No. I’m just… a little off-kilter. I’m a curator of antiquities at the museum.”

“That is so cool. Gar’s eyes were like dinner plates. “I love the museum! I always wanted to volunteer there, but I never feel like I have time between summers here and planning classes during the year.”

“Oh, you’re a teacher? Grade school or high school?”

“High school and occasionally some classes at the community college. I figured I was already teaching AP and college bio isn’t much different. I’m sure the kids get tired of me after the sixth year, though, heh.” He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, uncomfortably warm even for a summer afternoon.

“I suppose they wouldn’t let you teach so many years if you weren’t good at the job. Not that biology is my area of expertise.” She clarified, hearing his unspoken question. “I studied history and preservation, so a natural history museum is certainly a big change.”

“Wow, I bet. Still, nobody does what they expected to when they were in college. I got a bachelor’s in Environmental Science, but it turns out most of those jobs are just telling corporations what they want to hear.”

Rachel leveled him with a newly assessing gaze. “Believe it or not, so are quite a few jobs in archaeology. It’s what put me off of the field.”

“But hey, teaching led me to Jump and to Lake Titan Camp, so I can’t complain.”

While the two nominal adults conversed, a far more intricate conversation was happening in the craft cabin. Kole, a pink haired co-conspirator of Melvin’s, was creating a half finished lanyard in pink and purple while the rest strategized. “Okay, so I need to throw her off so she’ll agree. The pink and purple color scheme is good – pink for me, purple for her, but I need something to knock her off her game.”

“You could tell her something that surprised her, maybe. But what?”

Realization dawned. “Okay. This is a little mean, maybe, but I was planning on talking to her about it anyway. I know just what to say. Kole, how’s the lanyard coming?”

“I’ve got it to the perfect length. Just long enough that you might ‘Need a little while to finish it, pretty please.’” She held up the dangling lengths of string. “Everything ready? We’re running out of time.”

“Now or never. Let’s go.” Melvin took a deep breath and led them to the doorway.

Garfield and Rachel were deep in conversation. The initial awkwardness had faded, and while there were still sparks flying whenever they made eye contact, it was more a static buzz than the almost painful live wire sensation of their first glances. At some point they had migrated closer to where Teether and Tommy’s two groups had merged into a supercrowd of children all making noise, forcing them to stand closer to one another to be heard. They were in this huddle, all focus on each other except for both of their frequent check-in glances to the children. Rachel had dipped her toe into a hint of vulnerability to test the waters, quietly and without fanfare explaining that she had adopted all three of them from the same orphanage she had found herself aging out of.

Gar reciprocated. “That’s really incredible. I was adopted pretty young by some family friends. I know how complicated that sort of relationship can be, but it’s doing something amazing for all three of them.”

Melvin, seeing their closeness, hesitated, just a bit. She was messing with fate, a little. But she was certain it was for a good cause. And it was now or never, they were already cutting it close to “Shared Activity Time” for her age group. “Umm. Rachel.”

“Yes, Melvin?” Rachel saw that Mel was nervous. Melvin was never nervous.

“I want to finish a project for you, but won’t have time later. So, uh, I need you to find something else to do. During the Activity Time, I mean. I just want to finish making this. Please, M-mom?”

Time stopped for Rachel. She had adopted them six years ago, and there had never been a time when Melvin had consciously called her “Mom”. Forms asking for “Mother’s Name”, sure. Mother’s day celebrations, absolutely. Even a few mostly-asleep, teary pleas, but never, never while Melvin was in control of her faculties.

But while time had stopped for Rachel, it marched onward for everyone else. Melvin held her breath and waited for long, tense seconds, but Rachel didn’t seem to be coming back to her senses, so she hurriedly spat out “Okayloveyouseeyousoon,” and fled back to the safety of her friends.

Gar, too, was frozen. Not to the same degree, nor for the same reasons, but he felt like he had intruded on something intimate that he had no business being a part of. He looked around, helplessly as Rachel gaped. After several seconds of silence, he couldn’t not do something. “Uhh. Rachel? You… okay?” More frozen immobility. He waved a hand in front of her face. “Rae? You there? Do I need to get a doctor?”

She seized his hand. “Did… did she just call me “Mom”? Or did I have a stroke?”

“Yeah, ouch. She did. I’m guessing this was new?”

“I… Yes. She’s never… What… what do I do? Was she angry I didn’t answer? Where did she go?” Rachel began looking around for her.

“Whoa, slow down. She’s with her friends. She wasn’t mad, it seemed like she was nervous, but not scared. And what you do is let her come to you and talk to her like you always do, and just make sure she knows you’re okay with it. As long as you are okay with it, right?”

“Of course. I just thought...” Rachel trailed off.

“Then there’s nothing to worry about! She loves you and just told you how she feels. That’s a good thing. Let’s give her a chance to do whatever she’s doing. The rest of the kids are about to go do an activity, so we have time.”

“I think I need to get away from the crowd for a minute. I can’t believe I’m asking this, but is it alright if we just go for a walk?”

“Of course.” Gar’s grip had at some point shifted to be holding her hand back, and he led her down a dirt path towards a grove of trees. “This path is quiet and not too hard.” Her sudden harsh look had him follow up. “You’re not really wearing the shoes for hiking, Rae.”

“Hmf. And since when did I say you could call me Rae, Garfield?”

He looked stricken. “I am so sorry. I dunno what I was thinking, Ra-chel. Rachel.”

She narrowed an eye. “Rae is… acceptable, as far as diminutives go. Just don’t make a habit of it in public.”

“Cross my heart. Hey, at least being a little mad at me put your mind off of Melvin, right?”

“And now it’s right back. So very helpful,” she deadpanned.

“Easy come, easy go, right?” His smile grew a little. “I don’t wanna pry or anything, but is it really that surprising? She said you were her mom like, a dozen times during camp.”

“I suppose not. It caught me very off-guard, though. Teether and Tommy sort of switch between Rachel and Mom, but Melvin’s never really seemed like she even wanted that sort of, I don’t know, ‘Official’ title for me.”

“Listen, the whole ‘mom’ thing isn’t as scary as you’re making it out to be. You’re already giving her the kind of love a mom is supposed to, and she loves you. She talks about all the time with stars in her eyes. Being adopted doesn’t make her less your daughter. Rita Farr isn’t any less my mom for taking me in when I was eight, and Marie Logan isn’t any more or less important to me just because she’s not around.”

Rachel took a breath and sighed it out. “Thank you. That does make it easier.” They walked in silence for a short time. “Wait, Rita Farr, as in the movie star? As in, the philanthropist and art collector, married to Steve Dayton?”

He blushed a little. “Whoops, probably shouldn’ta dropped that so casually, I guess. Yeah. Steve and Rita adopted me when my parents died. It’s not always easy, but I love ‘em.” He watched her reaction carefully, hoping she wouldn’t suddenly start treating him differently for having such well-known parents.

Rachel schooled her face after having that bombshell dropped on her. “Well, if we ever meet we’ll be able to talk about some historic pieces she has that I wrote papers on.”

A beat passed, then Gar’s loud laugh broke relative silence of the forest. “Aw man, she is gonna love you.”

And just like that, the tension was broken. All the concern, the lack of balance, everything fell away, and the static buzz of easy conversation punctuated by something just a little too close to intimate for an average friendship was back.

They wandered together down the shady paths, miles away and only a few trees distant from the campground. Rachel didn’t notice the distance she had walked on the formerly dreaded forest hike, and Garfield forgot to try quite so hard with his jokes and wise cracks. They walked, hand in hand and only somewhat realizing how close they were to one another, shoulders nearly touching.

The spell was eventually broken, as they always are. They rounded a final bend, seeing in the distance the campground they had left, what, less than an hour ago? And the reality that they had left behind when they entered the sun-shafted canopies woke them up, and they found that really, their hands were quite slick. Had they been clasped together the whole time? And Rachel, especially, was starting to sweat from the heat and the walk. Garfield was suddenly nervous, after all, he never talked this much, not without making a fool of himself.

But even after emerging from that hazy dream, they held on, gently rising out of the fog and into the real world so no sudden movements could disrupt the memory, the closeness that two almost strangers that fit together like complementary puzzle pieces had shared.

It wasn’t even fully dispelled when their hands slipped apart to be wiped on cargo shorts or dark jeans, though the almost hidden flight from behind a few low-branched trees of blonde hair and untied shoelaces and quiet giggle quickly sobered them.

Garfield turned. “Was that -?”

“Melvin. Oh, that little brat, she is too damn smart for her own good. I would put money on her scheming to get us alone.” Rachel fumed and her face tightened into a mask of cold anger. “I can’t believe that she would manipulate me like this! How could she – How could she finally call me -” and the mask broke, shifting from anger to near tears in seconds.

Gar panicked. “Whoa, hold on, no. She’s not that cruel, I know it and so do you. We’re probably missing something. You just said you can’t believe she would do this – she probably didn’t. Rae I promise you, there’s got to be an explanation that makes sense.”

Rachel took a deep breath, followed by another, centering herself. “I am going to get to the bottom of this. Where would she be doing this “project” she made up?”

“The craft cabin. I’ll take you there, but I guarantee you it’s not as bad as it might sound.”

It was like the crowd parted for them without even reacting. No one looked at the worried counselor or at the steely featured parent, but nonetheless they found their path almost unimpeded. Gar held up a hand just outside the door. “Let me get you two some privacy. Please.”

“Fine. Do it.” Terse and unhappy, Rachel’s displeasure was apparent in her voice, and it made Garfield wince.

He opened the door to see five preteen girls, huddled and tittering. At least until they saw him and his serious frown. Then their eyes went wide, and they looked to Melvin in a panic. “Out, girls. Clear the room. Not you, Melvin.” He stopped her when she tried to take shelter in the middle of the pack. He turned to follow them, and glanced back almost pityingly, then shook his head and exited.

The girls all ducked their heads when they saw Rachel just outside the cabin and hurried off, racing to be the first around the corner and away from the ticking time bomb.

Garfield simply nodded, and left her to it. Rachel entered the cabin and saw Melvin almost trembling, and it broke her heart. She had worked up a head of steam on the walk and the wait, but seeing her precious daughter actually afraid stopped any real anger and left only a bitter emptiness.

Rachel wasn’t quite sure what to do with her hands. She settled on a vague, open armed shrug gesture. “Why, Mel? Was it just a prank? Just a way to manipulate me?”

Tears brimmed in Melvin’s eyes. “No, I just wanted to give you guys a chance to talk alone. I’m sorry I lied, I really did try on the lanyard, but I’m just bad at them so I had Kole do it. I’m sorry, I am.”

“What? What lanyard? Melvin, I don’t care if you had a friend help with a lanyard! I just can’t believe that you would call me your mom, just to trick me into talking to someone. I can’t tell you how badly that hurts me. I… I love you too much for that.”

“What!No, nononono, Mom, I promise that wasn’t a trick. I promise. I was gonna talk to you about it, but I just – I thought that if I – I thought that maybe if I just did it you’d just let me and maybe you’d talk to him and then it everything would be perfect. I promise. I love you, Mom. I do. And I was just trying to maybe make you not spend all your time watching me and talk to him. He’s really cool, and I could tell you like him, and he’s completely in love with you, and you’re perfect for each other. I was just trying to help you be happy!” She sobbed, breathless.

Rachel froze, then instinctively wrapped her daughter in her arms and let her cry. “Mel, you don’t need to worry about me. I am happy, I promise. I don’t need you to try to trick me into being happy. Hey, it’s okay. I’m not going to say I’m not mad, but I get it. You don’t have to trick me into talking to, what did you call him, “really old, like 50 years old” guys? If we talk, we talk. That’s how adults work.”

“No, it’s not! I’ve never seen you go on a date, and you just ignore people when they try to talk to you. I know it was dumb, but I had to try something ‘cause otherwise you’d just give him that serious face until he ran away, and he’s perfect for you if you’d just give him a chance!”

“Mel. Mel, okay. I promise. I will give him a chance. But you don’t need to be worried about me. I don’t need a twelve year old playing matchmaker. You should be doing kid things, not bad romcom plots.”

“*SNRK*. They’re not bad. They’re sweet. And you like them, otherwise you wouldn’t have so many of them.” She wiped her nose with the back of her hand and glowered.

Rachel internally cursed Kori. “If you say so. Now let’s sit here for a minute, then we can go wash your face and you can go hand out with your friends. And I will have a talk with Garfield, and you will not stick your nose into my dating life. Understand?”

“Yes, mom.”

It still startled Rachel to hear that coming from Melvin, but it also warmed her heart. She hadn’t even known she wanted it until it happened, but it was like a spoken guarantee that she really was doing things right, and her little family really was working.

They sat together and Melvin showed her the lanyard that she had made via Kole. Rachel put it on the silver chain she wore around her neck and let it rest beside her heart promising mostly to herself that it would be kept safe at home. Then, when Mel had calmed down, they headed to the bathroom where Mel cleaned the tear tracks from her dirt-smudged face and rinsed her red rimmed eyes. Rachel gave her a final kiss on the forehead, and sent her off.

Gar found her standing there, staring off into space against the wall of the concrete shack. He leaned against it and slid down to sit around the corner and next to her. “So.”

“So,” she said back.

“Not saying it just to confuse you?” He glanced at her, gauging her reaction.

“No. But she wasn’t against confusing me.”

His eyebrow cocked. “Not mad?”

“Still mad. Still going to be grounded, probably. But she did it out of love.”

“Y’know, I don’t want to say I told you so, but...”

“But you totally want to say ‘I told you so,’” she finished for him.

“Yep. So what now?”

“Now, I guess I do what I was going to do before we had all this to deal with,” she said, the soul of nonchalance.

“What’s that?” he said, and when she didn’t respond, he stood up and looked around the corner. “Rae?”

“This.” with only his head around the corner, she turned and kissed him, gentle and sweet, and far too short for either of them. “I’d like to go out sometime. I want to take you to a behind the scenes at the museum, and I’ll let you choose the restaurant.”

His head spun and his eyes were out of focus. His thoughts were like molasses and he could barely get out the word “Okay.” before she was gone, a little bounce in her step.

AO3 FF.net

[violetarks]

You Want To Leave Bed Early

Game: Obey Me!

Characters: Lucifer, Mammon

(A/N: sorry its so short :(( i wanted to try and do just a lil thing to start off my obey me! fics)

Lucifer:

The vibrating of her phone is what woke her up from her slumber.

She hummed groggily, blinking a few times as she looked around the bedroom. After reminding herself where she was, she turned off her phone's vibrations.

She slept in Lucifer's room tonight, mainly because he was stuck in there all day trying to get work done as his office got renovated. He had Mammon and Levi to blame for that. But that did lead to Y/N coming in and taking him to bed.

Y/N wiped her eyes before trying to sit up, holding to be weighed down by Lucifer's arms. They were hung around her hips, holding her in place. Lucifer's head was pushed into her shoulder, trying to keep her as close as possible. He was still asleep, snoring quietly. Y/N couldn't help but smile.

She's never seen Lucifer like this. It was always him getting up earlier than Y/N because of his tight work schedule. Perhaps it had changed today because he was working late yesterday night.

Y/N smiled, brushing her fingers across his cheek, getting the hair away from his eyes. He looked so calm and beautiful. What a sight.

"So cute..." She mumbled to herself as she admired her love, "It's hard to believe you can get so angry when you look like this when you sleep..."

Quickly sealing a kiss on his forehead, Y/N slipped her hand underneath Lucifer's arms. She began to undo his arms from around her, trying tp get some space to move around. Once Y/N was awake, she couldn't go back to sleep, so she decided to go grab a bite to eat before Beelzebub got everything.

Swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, Y/N picked up her phone and checked the notification she would've gotten. The time was 7:38 in the morning, and she would usually get up at 6:50 to get ready for RAD, but it was a day off today. For everyone, including Lucifer, as Diavolo stated. There was a text from Mammon, asking her if she had any spare change to buy a new pair of kicks. She rolled her eyes before typing in her response.

But an arm slung around her waist to tug her back into the bed.

"Sweetheart, where are you going?" Lucifer asks quietly, sitting up and laying his head against the back of her neck. His hair tickled her skin. "It's too early to leave bed just yet."

Y/N shivered a bit as he slid his legs around hers, holding her in between. "I'm already up, so I might make some breakfast before Beel raids the entire kitchen like last time." She admitted to him, holding his chin to press a kiss to his cheek, "Do you want anything? I'm gonna' make some omurice like always."

Lucifer breathed in heavily, eyes still closed in his drowsy state, "Just for you to stay here with me. I'm sure Satan or something will cook something. You don't need to get up at this time."

No doubt, he loved her cooking. She was definitely better than he was. But he also adored the time they spent together. Alone, which was usually only once in a while.

He was clingy in the mornings where he didn't want to go and work. This meant that Y/N got him for herself in the next few minutes. She'd pepper his face with kisses to wake him up and just hug him closer to her chest. And he would just feel her warmth.

Y/N chuckled, patting his arms as she leaned into him, "I can't rely on your brothers to make breakfast for us, Luci." He let out a low hum in return. Y/N went on, "You're usually up already, so what's the difference?"

Lucifer sighed, allowing her to stand up as his grasp loosened, "Alright, fine. But give me a moment to fix myself up."

"Okay, Lucifer." Y/N responded, tugging on her hoodie and fixing her hair, "I'll make you a coffee while I cook."

Lucifer leaned forward and kissed her lips. "Sounds great, Sweetheart."

Mammon:

Bzzt! Bzzt!

"Mmm..."

Bzzt! Bzzt!

"Hmm..."

Bzzt! Bzzt!

"Y/N, turn off your damn alarm!" Mammon growled, digging his head further into the space between her shoulder.

"Is it even my phone, Mammon?" She responded, lifting her head from the pillow and slipping out the phone underneath it.

It was already 8:00 in the morning, meaning that Mammon should already be up to meet with Beel and Levi in the kitchen like they all promised last night. But when Y/N came into his room to get better sleep, he couldn't bring himself to get up when he could be in bed with Y/N.

She sighed, putting it on the bedside table, "It's not mine, you doofus. Give me your phone." Y/N, still staying on her position, grabbed Mammon's vibrating phone underneath his pillow. She turned off the setting before wiping her eyes.

"It's Levi." She stated, already answering before Mammon can stop her, which he tried to, "Good morning, Levi. Hm? Yeah, it's me. Oh, Mammon is still sleepy." She drew little shapes on Mammon's arm. "What was it that you wanted to tell him?"

The white-haired devil behind her held on tighter, just listening to her speak to Levi. Of course, he wanted everything. That included Y/N's undivided attention as well. He was annoyed that Levi couldn't wait until later to bug him. But Y/N was nice enough not to mind.

She stilled in Mammon's arms, making him gland up at her. "Are you serious?" She muttered out, trying to sit up, "Okay... Okay—Hey, Levi, just breathe." Mammon's arms tightened around her as she sat up. "I'll help you find your 12th Anniversary Limited Edition Ruri-Chan Figurine."

Mammon groaned loudly. He thought it was something serious...

"Just stay calm, Mammon and I will get there as soon as possible. Okay? Bye, Levi." Y/N stated, wiping the sleep out of her eyes.

She hung up, putting Mammon's phone on the bedside table next to hers. With that, she let herself fall back into Mammon's arms, turning her head and kissing his lips softly. "We have to get up now, Mammon. Levi needs us." She stated, running fingers through his hair.

"Tch, why should we help him?" Mammon whined, leaning further into her touch that he loved so much, "You shouldn't prioritise my brothers. I'm your first guy, aren't I?"

Y/N smiled, shifting out of his arms. He could be so whiney, but so cute. "Come on, you big baby, we should get ready." She told him, pulling him to the edge of the bed. He sat with his legs over the blanket.

Y/N giggled, running fingers through his hair, "Look at your bed-head, Mammon. You're so adorable when you just wake up." She pulled his arms around her waist and tried dragging him up from under them. He tightened his grasp around her body. "Now get up. Or else I'm gonna' go help Levi myself."

Mammon stiffened up before lifting his head to glare at her. He grumbles out, "You wouldn't dare..."

"Oh?" Y/N chuckled, pushing his fringe back with a deadly gaze, "Wouldn't I, Mammon? Wouldn't I?"

Mammon and Y/N compete in a small staring contest.

Then, Mammon groans, standing up and slumping onto her, "Ugh, fine! But you owe me breakfast now, got it?"

She clicked her tongue in response, patting his shoulder with a large smile on her face, "Aw, Mammon... No."

[pandawriterstuff]

Pinehallow Summary & Character List

This is my main WIP, if I'm complaining about characters doing whatever they want, this is them.

Pinehallow Summary-Monty, an eleven year old boy who has spent most of his life traveling from place to place with his in-demand lawyer mother, Irene, is sent to live at his uncle's horse ranch because she thinks he needs roots. Used to nearly everyone but his mother not being around long enough to get to know, Monty is more than a bit uncertain about this. But in scrambling to find his place in a town different to anything he's ever known, he finds friends, both human and animal, makes discoveries, and even manages to foil a plot against Pinehallow Ranch itself.

Character List

Monty (Montgomery) Cade Waller- Main character, 11, white. Monty is curious, bright, and more than a little awkward. He has a tendency to state the obvious, which can be endearing or annoying depending on your perspective. Big vocabulary and grown-up way of speaking because he’s spent more time around grown-ups than other kids. He’s quietly stubborn, particularly when it comes to being told he’s wrong when he knows he’s right. Insecure about socializing and friendships because of constant moving and traveling. Can’t hold a grudge for the life of him, even when he likely should. He likes bugs, birds and turtles, would rather read nonfiction than a story. Fills lonely afternoons with sketching, nature sketching on the ranch.

Irene Waller- Monty’s mother, 36, white. Irene is a powerful corporate lawyer, either full of energy or exhausted, never in between. She loves using words to sway minds and deciphering documents to find exactly what the opposition doesn’t want her to find. Sometimes Irene wishes she was using her skills in more meaningful ways, but also really likes the money, the traveling, and the competition. Has an almost encyclopedic knowledge of show tunes from musicals. She has a hard time letting people get close. Would stab someone for her baby, but knows it’s better to teach him to stab for himself. Only partially joking. Dolly Parton is her hero, and as much as she loves her music, it’s Dolly the business woman and Dolly the philanthropist that she strives to emulate.

Keith Waller- Monty’s uncle, 34, white. Horse Rancher. Keith loves working hard and getting dirty, and if he’s not exhausted at the end of the day he’ll be looking for something else to push him there. Otherwise he gets antsy. Loves animals and absolutely will not tolerate anyone mistreating any of the animals on his ranch-ordinarily he’s very careful of his size and strength, in that situation, all bets are off. Times that by about ten for any of the ‘barn rats’ that help around the ranch for riding lessons/time. Loves romantic comedies and telanovas and doesn’t care who knows it. Keith doesn’t read a lot, it never came easy to him, but if he’s taking a long trip he’ll always check an audio book or two out of the library instead of just relying on the radio.

Juniper - Keith’s goddaughter, 15, white. She has a calm, confident personality with a smile for most everyone she meets. If she doesn’t have a smile for you and it isn’t because her head is in the clouds over a girl, you’ve probably earned her scorn and will be ignored as much as possible. Juniper raises rabbits and it’s taught her patience, and a lot about unfairness when a kit doesn’t make it. She helps out with riding lessons at the ranch in exchange for riding time of her own, and has become a fixture, spending more time there than she does at home, and when she can get away with it, school. Loves sunflowers and her sunflower comforter is probably her most prized possession.

Nell - Caretaker/cook for the ranch house(would cooking lunch for the workers still be a thing on a modern ranch?). 38, white(?). Not about to put up with nonsense. Will make you cookies if she doesn’t have to put up with nonsense. Please. At one point she wanted to be a chef and has a year of culinary school under her belt, but quickly decided the super fast paced and competitive environment wasn’t for her. Anything that was making her hate one of her favorite things that fast could not be good for a person. She intends to live a long, long life and that kind of stress can just walk right out of the door. Loves to go on long walks, often into the hills (BLM land) behind the ranch. (maybe she was taught/took a class on foraging, and teaches Monty to find wild onions and stuff? But this would mean *I* have to learn about foraging in Idaho.) This leads to a contented, if often silent, companionship between her and Monty, who desperately wants to explore/record/sketch everything about the natural world of his new home, particularly the parts that are off limits to him without an adult along.

Ray- Family Friend/Co-Owner of R & M General (designed to feel vintage, but shiny. Bit of a tourist stop now, they decided to lean into it.), 50, Black. He uses his background in chemistry to make amazing looking candies and chocolates, using that to deal with a time he used it in less pleasant ways when he was in the military. He never expected anybody outside of his small town, or maybe the folks at the county fair to make so much fuss over them. This might embarrass him, if he weren’t so delighted. A cheerful man with a dreamer’s heart, a magazine once referred to him as a small town Willy Wonka. He dotes on his wife, often making and gifting her small surprises. An amputee in honor of my Grandpa (missing left leg at the knee, possibly missing one arm as well, but I’m not sure how that would affect candy making.). Has certain parts of his past he just doesn’t talk about.

Mavis- Co-Owner of ____ with Ray, 48, Black. Fierce and kind in equal measures, Mavis believes in protecting what’s hers, and as far as she’s concerned the entire town of (oh my god, it needs a name) is included in that. Mavis is very selective about the battles she fights, but when she chooses one she throws herself in whole-heartedly. On several committees around town, she’d be on more, but then she wouldn’t have enough time to really get into the work of the ones she loves. She knits in her limited free time, often while listening to the news, but sometimes opera. Has started knitting stuffies in the shapes of the more unusual candies Ray makes, it’s silly, but fun, and tourists and the local kids love it. Still head over heels for Ray, even though his often dreaming about things for ages instead of just doing them is also still baffling to her.

Leanna - Juniper’s sort-of girlfriend, 15, Vietnamese. Quiet, a little cynical, but very empathetic. She avoids the news because it’s that or be mad and want to cry all the time-until she hears about something she can’t not research, and goes on a 24 hour google search and learns far more than is probably good for her about a species going extinct due to logging in prohibited areas, or genocide being covered up by claims of violent uprisings. She loves manga and comics. Leanna sometimes tries for a cottagecore* type aesthetic, but mostly thinks it's too much work. She’s starting to worry about what she’s going to do with her future, and people telling her that she’s only 15 and doesn’t have to worry about it yet is NOT HELPING.

*even though cottagecore isn’t a thing in the early-mid 2000s this is maybe/vaguely set in. Shh, let me have this. Anne of Green Gablesesque maybe?

Winnie - Leanna’s mom, 45, Vietnamese. Widow? A little ditzy, but a lot loving. Everyone in town is convinced she’s the stoner type of hippy, but no one minds as she’s someone who truly wants to know how you’re doing when she asks and strangely almost always has very spot on advice. She’s rarely on time anywhere, but that’s because she’ll have stopped to talk, and often to help, whoever she’s run into. Leanna and her bicker over this when she’s late picking her up. Always wears bright colors. Loves Agatha Christie books. Calls everyone, even people 50 years older than her, hon.

Logan - Juniper’s stepdad, 40, white. Kind of a jerk, but most of the jerky things he says are actually jokes that fall flat or have simply gotten old. Tries really hard, like *really* hard, but has a tendency to get annoyed if people don’t appreciate his efforts right away-more in his personal life than professional, possibly because of his profession. A contractor, hard worker, loyal, has worked for the same company since he was twenty even though they don’t often treat him right. Sometimes tries to buy people’s affections. Wants to have better communication with Juniper, but it’s gotten really hard the last few years and he’s never quite sure why.

Candice - Juniper’s Mom, 39, white, works at a nursery that sells seedlings and baby fruit trees, has a cheerful, calm personality, but a lot softer and more lowkey than Juniper’s version. Very house proud, but has a ‘maximalist’ approach to decorating-everything is in its place, but there are places for lots of things. Loves spending time outdoors, but would rather spend it tending her garden than hiking or riding, preferably with a cup of tea by her side. On the weekends, a fruity beer or wine instead. Wants to go on one of those train rides where you get to drink wine, eat canapes and try to solve a mystery, thinks Winnie might be a good candidate for someone to go with her.

Ura - a ‘barn rat’, 12 and a half, white(maybe a Czech immigrant? 2nd generation?) . A cheerful, rough and tumble boy who is always climbing things, and often being told to stop when he gets too high for other people's comfort. Ura is fearless when it comes to physical feats, but has a fear of ‘slimy’ things like worms and frogs. He has a thick layer of pudge and a big appetite, but is athletic and strong enough that anyone bullying him over it would be doing it at their own peril. Not that he’s the type to start fights, or even finish them most of the time. Doesn’t feel he quite fits in with his family, who are all more serious, reserved people. Redwood is his favorite of the horses, and Keith has all but given up on telling him that sitting on the floor of Red’s stall to talk to the horse isn’t exactly safe.

Elliot - Ray and Mavis’s son, Black, 19 and a college student-maybe/probably at U of I. Lives on campus, but comes home at least a couple weekends a month. Has an older car that he and Ray fixed up together, that is his pride and joy. Quiet, with an irreverent sense of humor that he unleashes somewhat at random. Interested in robotics, engines and mechanics and generally has some project he’s working on, a piece of which may or may not be in his pocket. Often has oil, grease, or ink on his hands, either from working on or designing a new project. A bit of an overachiever, he can spread himself thin trying to live up to all his responsibilities at once. He’s best friends with Randy, a friendship his parents want to disapprove of, because the few times Elliot’s gotten into trouble not only was Randy there, but 99% of the time whatever it was is Randy’s idea, but never quite manage too.

Randy - Handyman at the ranch, mixed race Hispanic and white, 21. Technically head handyman, because the old head retired six months ago, and is a little young/inexperienced for the job, but he’s not the type to back away from a challenge and has risen to the occasion beautifully. Loves rock and metal music, and spends a lot of his free weekends at concerts, the ones crammed into little venues and bars where people are practically on top of each other and the beat is so loud and solid it throbs through you, connecting you to everyone even before you hit the mosh pit, are his preference. He’s been working at the ranch since he was 16, and feels like he has a claim on it, not afraid to speak up if he thinks a decision Keith is making isn’t right or that he isn’t taking something important into consideration. Can be a bit wild when he’s not being the responsible one, definitely doesn’t always think before he acts.

Alma - Local artist/worker at R & M’s, Hispanic, 25. Alma is a painter and poet, a confident young woman who’s figured out that half of surviving as an artist is being your own agent/a salesperson as well, and in addition to several shelves at the R & M that hold postcard prints of many of her pieces, both the coffee shop and cafe have some of her larger paintings displayed, and she always has a booth at the Saturday market, though the majority of her sales come from her website. Alma is cheerful, and likes to tease, and growing up the middle child of four brothers, is very able to hold her own in verbal sparring. She’s close with her family, still living with her parents, and while at first her father was dismayed at her choice of career, he now hands out her business card to basically everyone he talks to.

Miriam - Nell’s Mom, white, 71, a little deaf, speaks loudly, partially because of the deafness, partially because she spent too long letting other people push her around and when she hit about 50 decided she was going to be the one talking over people now. She’s earned it. Age has made her more delicate than she likes, bruising and scraping easily, but she’s determined to do most things for herself. Those that are beyond her she has no problem loudly ordering someone else to take care of. Volunteers a lot, often fosters kittens for the local animal shelter. Used to chain smoke, quit when Nell was a teenager because she kept leaving pictures of diseased lungs everywhere. Still uses the candy ones as a substitute.

Places

Unnamed Town- Somewhere in Latah County, Idaho, where there is not already a town in the way. Around 200 years old and has grown and shrunk and grown again, and currently has a population of about 12,000. Having grown out from a traditional mainstreet, _______ no longer has the western style boardwalk seen in old pictures, but it does have a large cluster of local businesses and ‘hot spots’ still along that old main street, a coffee shop, a diner, a combination bookshop and independent library, a hardware store, a bar, a few places I haven’t thought of yet, and of course R & M General. There is a historical barn half a mile or so away from mainstreet that has been converted into a theater/meeting hall/dance hall, and a community center was added onto it in the early 90’s. During the summer there is a farmer’s market on the property every Saturday. The elementary school and junior high are all on one property, several miles out of town, because the majority of families live on farms, ranches or small rural properties rather than in one of the neighborhood clusters in the town itself. The junior high is 7th, 8th and 9th graders, in a newer two story building, and the elementary school is divided into lower and upper elementary with the bracket shaped building basically being cut in half, K-3 on one side and 4-6 on the other. The high school is outside of town on the other side by several miles, and actually serves kids from another town(s) as well. There is also a trailer park with about forty units, not exactly sure where it is yet, but Miriam(Nell’s Mom) lives there. There is also an animal shelter, a vet’s office, a cemetery, and a couple churches, and I’m sure more things to come.

R & M General (working title?)- Ray and Mavis’s store, a general store with a candy focused twist. A vintage Pepsi sign, neon still bright, and a charming green glass juke-box filled with hits from the 1940’s onward grace the front porch of the R & M, along with a long bench that locals are encouraged to use for a spell or to listen to a couple songs, provided they can behave themselves (teenagers arguing over who their favorite member of the rat pack is might be amusing, considering they were already ‘mom and dad’, or at least older brother and sister, music by the time Mavis and Ray were teenagers, but when they get loud it also gets annoying.). The store itself still has the original wooden counter up front and built-in shelves along the walls, but all refinished and polished to a high shine. A mixture of display types going down the middle of the store, barrels and baskets filled with skeins of colorful yarn and cloth or Mavis’s knitted stuffies(and during winter sometimes socks and mittens), other sewing and craft supplies, display racks with local arts, postcards and carvings, sometimes wind up toys made by Elliot, and of course many, many displays of candies and chocolates. They also have a lot of dry goods, and some of the simpler candy types have little instruction booklets and the ingredients it takes to try out making them yourself stocked in the same display, drink coolers, and sometimes have local produce available. Basically, they have a bit of everything, except for building equipment/home repair supplies, and that’s because of the hardware store across the street.

Pinehallow Ranch-A sprawling 100 acre ranch in Latah County, Idaho where the Waller family has been doing something or other with horses for four generations now. Originally it was a horse breeding ranch, but Keith and Irene’s grandfather felt the money was in training horses, and offered boarding as well, and Keith has continued to build that up, offering lessons for a variety of styles, ages, and skill levels. Butting up against BLM land that allows additional grazing and trail riding, the ranch has four pastures, a large corral, a medium sized indoor arena and two horse barns, one for boarded horses and one for the ranch's own stock, and an equipment barn, an old bunkhouse that is mostly used to store feed-though Randy has slept there when in between places, mostly unbeknownst to Keith-and some smaller equipment sheds, placed where they’re needed. The main house is an L-shaped ranch house with a porch that goes around the entire long front of the house with a large herb/kitchen and rock garden arranged around that. There are treed pockets scattered here and there, left alone as the rest of the ranch was developed, but the creek Monty and Juniper sometimes hang out at is on BLM land, as is most of the forested area around the ranch.

Pinehallow Taglist @sleepysera @enchanted-lightning-aes @odysseywritings @thegreatobsesso @writing-is-a-martial-art and @hiitsolivia If anyone else wants to be added just interact with the post :) (My more advanced tumblr knowledge has led me to believe this is better than asking people to reblog/comment to be added, but if I'm wrong just let me know.)