#if his “i wonder what susie is doing” secret chats mean anything

[jevilowo]

Broke: Ralsei is eevil so eeevil

Woke: there are no villains in the utdr universe (except the player if they so choose), Ralsei is most likely just up to something/morally grey

Bespoke: Ralsei is a Monika ddlc kinnie

[marielambs-corner]

Happy Ink Demonth, Everyone!!!

I’m not sure if I’ll be able to keep the pace, but the very least I could try was to participate in its first day this year, no? 

Here have another story from the Ink Shape AU, presenting Sammy Lawrence and Wally Franks.

If you want to read it directly from here, check under the cut and enjoy!!!

♥♥♥

Whole year

“Happy birthday to you~!” Chanted almost everyone gathered in the break room, cheering the Irish man in his special day as he blew the candles that topped the cake the janitor so heartfully got made in honor to the celebration.

Of course, this seemed special, but not really special. Sammy knew well. After all, Wally always made this for everyone in the studio with no exception. And as such, the only really special thing here was the janitor himself, and Sammy liked to watch him roaming around, putting smiles on every face he met, even on himself; he was really good about it.

“You enjoying the party, Lawrence?” Susie came to his reclused corner, earning a disgruntled groan that erased the soft smirk that was peeking from the corners of his mouth.

“Yeah, sure, as if this could even be called a party at all in the petty hour we have for lunch.” He retorted, dripping sarcasm from every pore as he made his way out of the corner, away from the voice actress, and towards the coffee machine by the other side of the room.

“Oh, and I’m sure you’ve gone to plenty of parties to actually know how’s one, don’t cha?” She followed; a glint of mischievousness adorning her eyes.

“The only excuse of a party I’ve been are these ones you and your little group drag me on, interrupting my job.” He said as he started the machine to boil the water, keeping contained the thought of Wally being into that so called “little group” and that he was the only reason he left them drag him on; Susie didn’t need to know that. “And seeing how they are, is easy to tell this couldn’t be called a party in any sense.” Was his final muttered statement.

“Oh, c’mon, mister grumps! Can’t you even pretend you can have fun once in your life? I even heard Wally got a really special kind of cake!”

“What could be so special about--” He turned around to face the short woman but his answer to his unfinished question came from the joyous shout of the man of the hour.

“Liqueur chocolate cake?! How did ya know it?!”

“Heh, I got mah ways.”

“And Joey agreed with this? It’s still working hours...”

“Well, he’s not ‘ere to know it, so I guess we still can enjoy it.”

A bunch of chuckles burst with the projectionist’s remark that gave way to a lightheartedly chat among the crew. All the scene witnessed by Sammy and Susie alike, the latter nudging the former on the ribs.

“See? There can be fun! And you gotta admit it: Wally’s pretty great at giving people what they want. Even for Your birthday.”

“Yeah, yeah...” He turned around to keep with his coffee task and face his back on the actress so she wouldn’t see his forming tender smile “I guess he does can use that brain of his more than for just horsing around.”

“...would it hurt you being nice at least once?” She snarked with a deadpanned glare that fell on the unbothered musician’s back, who only answered with completely ignoring her as he kept preparing his coffee and thrived on things that escaped the woman’s unaware grasp. But with a defeated sigh, she moved around, standing now next to him and leaning on the counter as she kept watching the celebration a couple of tables ahead. “He’s too nice for you to get it, Lawrence.” The understatement of the week, Sammy thought. “But even with all that, can’t help but feel it’s kinda weird...”

She didn’t continue, to what Sammy had no much more choice than to recognize it as his cue to question what she meant.

“What could be so weird that you need to point it out?” He asked, monotonously and not even gracing her with a glance, to what she promptly ignored.

“Well, do you even have an idea of when is his birthday?” That question honestly halted any action he was on.

Every inch of his mind screamed to demand what that even meant, but he couldn’t give away such kind of signs, lest he blew up their arrangement.

“...uh?” Was his so eloquent answer in hopes to show at most mild interest.

“Sammy, I mean it. He knows the birthday of everyone in here, and I mean everyone. There once was this intern that just came in, and barely two weeks after, Wally was already calling every member to the conference room where this intern was to sing and celebrate his birthday! With cake and all the deal! Yet how many years have been since he works here?” She asked, to what he deigned a blank stare direct to her. “He’s been here since before me, but still never heard of anybody who said “happy birthday, Wally” a single time! I wonder when it could...” But her voice got lost in the sea of thoughts that invaded Sammy’s mind.

He kept his blanc façade as he slowly turned to stare the man in question, bewilderment swarming behind those seemingly inexpressive eyes so focused on keep the role of uninterested and plain annoyed. He hated to admit it, but Susie had a point. Wally was actually really secretive, not even sharing his own birthday. Heck, weren’t for that accident, they wouldn’t even have known he was completely homeless! And now that they were dating, he wondered if there would really be things that maybe they’d never share. He could understand it, he had his own quota of private stuff. But if there were so simple things he didn’t know, how sure was he about what he knew of the janitor? Apparently not much beyond a name...

“Sammy... Sammy, are you listening?” The actress snapped him off his thoughts, though he was lucky of not even have reacted with a flinch, conserving his oh, so apathetic semblance. So, he just side-glanced at her as minimal response. “I was asking if you can recall a time where he announced his own birthday.”

“Heh, hardly think he would buy his own cake.” He snorted, half-voicing and idea on the built. And Susie gave him a quizzical look over such strange statement. “I don’t know, Campbell. Why don’t you go and pester him with those questions?” He questioned her with no room left for her to retort, as he grabbed his cup of coffee and proceeded to leave the room and return to his work office.

If he stayed there any longer, he would have started to feel frustrated over answers he wouldn’t be able to get right then. So, he needed to think, plot something to find when was his boyfriend’s birthday. Maybe some sort of surprise out of context so he would give answers in the middle of his confusion, could it work?

*-*-*-*-*

It was pretty late into the night, past 10:30, but for Wally was a usual time to arrive home since he has to keep all in check in the studio before leaving. Normally by this time he would go directly to Sammy, who’d be waiting for him, and have some “quality time” together, although rather brief, as Wally had to get soon to bed due to his day starting way earlier than Sammy’s. Maybe a little snack before bed. Not much really, it was just routine.

But what wasn’t in any sense routine was to find all in the apartment turned off, with only a faint glow that led him see a whole chocolate cake atop the kitchen counter and some burning candles on it.

“Uh, Sammy?” He called around, not having seen the man in question, only to be startled by his voice coming from around out the kitchen.

“Do you like it? I took a wild guess and thought you might like chocolate cake.” Sammy said, voice low and soft in a purr, almost inviting. Why was he doing it? Was some kind of proposal?

“Ah, well, most folks like chocolate cake, ain’t it?” Wally sputtered back, hesitantly. But Sammy paced towards him.

He looked scarily alluring, a rather strange yet enrapturing glint in his eyes, and Wally was unable to understand why all of this came to. Sammy got right in front of him, and not missing a beat, he encircled him and an hand was gently laid on Wally’s shoulder from the back, softly pushing him forward and towards the kitchen counter’s seat with the cake right in front of him; Sammy parting to the other side, retrieving a knife and some plates and getting ready for the unprompted event.

“Shall we begin?”

“Uh, Sammy...” Wally said but paused, refraining some words from just burst out and opting for continuing with caution. “...What’s... what’s all of this ‘bout?”

“Well, it’s to celebrate, of course!” He just stated as a matter of fact that Wally was unable to catch.

“Ce-celebrate? Celebrate what?”

“Oh, could be anything, actually. Like, a birthday.” Sammy murmured, leaving the young man even more befuddled than he already was.

“...Yer birthday was 3 months ago.” Wally said slowly after a pause, still trying to piece what his boyfriend was up to.

“It doesn’t have to be mine. What about yours?” There. He dropped it. Now Sammy only hoped for this to lead to what he wanted to know. Although the constricted, conflicted expression the janitor gave was certainly not part of what he expected.

“Sammy, it’s... ‘s not mah birthday.”

Silence overtook them. The only thing disturbing their quietness was the flickering of the candles, which wax kept melting in a steady pace.

“Oh, well.” Sammy continued, nonchalantly. “It’s hard to throw guesses when you have no clues. Then when is it?”

“Sammy--”

“What about this? I drop some guesses and you tell me if I’m close or not.”

“Sammy, this is--”

“Is it around spring, perhaps?”

“Sammy, no. It is--”

“Then what about fall? Is it close?”

“Sammy, just Drop It!” Wally slammed his hands on the counter, some candles being blown off by the fanning of his hands as some others dropped even more wax from the rattle.

As if running the most straining activity, Wally’s breathing was ragged, frantic, with his torso inflating and decreasing way notoriously. And now he sported a peculiar glint in his eyes; tears prickling his eyes shimmered with the glow from the lingering candles. Both remained there, unmoving. Sammy practically unable to react as he had no idea what had just transpired. Yet by the moment he decided to open his mouth, trying to say something, Wally just pushed away from the counter; the scratching sound from the stool he was sitting on being a piercing noise that Sammy barely could react with a wince, as the seat itself nearly toppled behind the young man. Wally stormed out of the kitchen, and the slamming of the door gave Sammy the shake he needed to properly react.

“Wally-- Wally, wait!” He called, leaving the kitchen, yet returning to blow off the rest of the candles and leaving again.

He slammed the door to their room open in desperation, unknowing and uncertain of what he did wrong. Wally wasn’t there, but the bathroom’s door was closed as well, locked. Sammy strode to that door, knocking it, leaning his ear trying to listen carefully for any sign his boyfriend could give.

“Occupied.” Was the rather dry answer he got, and so he tried again.

“Wally, you know it’s me.” He could hear the water splashing in the back from the running shower.

“I said: Occupied.” He reiterated, but there was a slight crack in his voice.

Sammy tried now by rattling the doorknob, fear building up within him from the uneasiness this ordeal left. Was he really angry at him from trying to guess his birthday? What did it all even mean? How could he blow up from something so common? Although he shook off that last thought, given he had no right nor room to judge what could upset anyone.

“C’mon, Wally!” He banged the door once more, and Wally flinched in the other side. He was sitting in the floor, back leant against the bathtub as the water from the shower fell inside it, some warm droplets bouncing and landing on his hair and shoulders, wetting his shirt in the process. He laid his arms atop his knees, face hiding in the space between his legs and chest, and fingers gripping tight the sides of his legs, nearly pricking skin with his nails weren’t for his trousers serving as a shield for his legs.

“Wally, please!” Begged the man in the other side of the door, confusion and fear creeping in his voice and Wally could not overlook it. “Can you tell me at least what I did wrong...?” One last thump, not as hollow as the previous knocks and bangs, but it pushed the door and rendered it still, probably from leaning his head in it this time. And Wally perked up his stare, eyes swollen and startled and a little panicked.

Because that was the question, no? What did he do wrong, indeed? Everyone had birthdays. Heck, he just celebrated a birthday that very same day! What was so strange on him wanting to know his? Even if he tried a weird move to allure him into telling, with the promise of a chocolate cake that most likely was unbound to whatever the answer he gave, was it really something wrong to wonder about something literally everyone had?

But he couldn’t. He wasn’t-- He did not—

“...Wally?”

“Nothin’.” Was a soft murmur that came from the bathroom, but the musician’s hearing still was sharp enough to at leas make out that he said something at least.

“What? Wally, what was that--” But he stopped on his tracks as a distinctive click resounded from the other side, and the knob slowly turned to let the door be opened, and reveal a rather worn-down man with wet curls, wet shirt and wet, singing eyes. Said man locked stares with him, affliction and sorrow flooding his eyes, and he just plummeted against the musician’s chest, as soft jerks from his shoulders gave away the silent sobs the janitor tried to contain.

*-*-*-*-*

It was past midnight already. Sammy had to juggle around his boyfriend to manage and get the shower turn off, risking some almost-slips that nearly sent him crashing to the tiled floor. But apart from that, Sammy didn’t dare to leave Wally’s side, and now both were lying on the bed, the pillows slightly wet from the moisture carried by the janitor’s hair and shirt. Wally was curled up, still tucked in his boyfriend’s chest, as the latter kept rubbing soft comforts across his back and his now-untied hair. Both silent. Both wide awake. One still confused as to what he did to hurt his lover this bad. The other still struggling with issues the first had no way of know nor had part in the reasons these things kept bothering him.

“Ya didn’t do nothin’ wrong...” A soft murmur rumbled through Sammy’s chest, prompting him to redirect his stare to his companion, even if only an image of messy curly hair tangled between his fingers was all he was able to look now. “’M sorry.”

“Wally, no, you don’t have to--” Sammy stumbled with his words, pretty much not expecting him to still be awake. “You--”

“--Shouldn't’ave reacted that way.” Wally cut him off and continued in his stead. “’S not like ya knew, anyways.”

“Maybe, but I still upset you.” No answer of any sorts, just silence and quietness. “I’m... I’m sorry, Wally. It just... Susie was talking, and made me think—There’s not too many thing’s I actually know about you, and well...” He trailed off, feeling the miniature figure in his arms going stiff for a moment. “Can I know what happened with it? Your birthday, I mean” He curled up even more. “Can I know when it is?” Wally shook his head against his chest, rubbing his forehead with his dress shirt in the action.

“’S not a good date.” Wally concluded; he wasn’t ready to share. And Sammy didn’t skip the slight crack in his whispered tones.

“Will I be able to know someday...?” His voice was soft, a pleading merging with the hope of wanting to know, to be there, to be with him. But after a few way too long seconds, Wally merely shrugged, uncertain even of himself.

Silence reigned once more. Wally jerked every now and then from the remaining sobs trapped in his chest, all the while Sammy kept with his line of thoughts, feeling unable do to anything else with the negatives his lover gave.

It wasn’t like he didn’t trust him; of that he was certain. Were that, he wouldn’t have recognized it as an issue in front of him, would he? After all, he admitted, even he himself had his own quota of things unprepared to share, albeit not even he believed his own could be nearly as painful as what the young man must have faced. But if that specific date brought up so many bad memories, then what about any other?

“What about today?”

“...huh?” Was the answer to a question that prompted Wally to part a little from his embrace, yet not enough to lift his stare, just enough to be better heard.

“I mean, I brought a cake, I put some candles on it... Is there anything that makes today a bad day for you?”

“Ya... ya can’t... pick up a random date and make it yer birthday...” Wally retorted, but perked up a little bit.

Keeping an almost serious tone, nonchalantly, Sammy shrugged. “Who says so?” And Wally finally looked up to him, eyes still reddened, but the faintest of smiles tickling the sides of his mouth.

“Still, can’t be today, ‘s Shawn’s birthday.”

“Number 1, people are born every day, every minute, to claim one specific day as exclusive for anyone. And number 2, probably you didn’t notice, but is past midnight. Shawn’s birthday is over.”

A little snort; Wally was loosening a bit and that was all that mattered to Sammy for the time being.

“Heh, alright. But ya can’t just-- pick a random day, anyways. Is called a Birth-day fer a reason!”

“Well, it doesn’t have to be a birthday, per say. What about... “Beginning day”? You know, so you keep the B-D and no one questions it.” He was pretty sure now it’d also help him to keep Susie’s pestering at bay with any random date. “Doesn’t have to be today either, if you want.”

A beginning day, Wally considered. Was... a weird concept, to be honest, but the prospect of start anew was something he chased since a long time ago. Never thought of giving it a proper day to commemorate, or celebrate, as Sammy put. But what date? Being on the run for so long didn’t help to keep track of days. The day he found the church? Was... quite a significative date, but his heart kept pushing for something relating Sammy. Can’t be their anniversary, wouldn’t make sense. Maybe something from before...

“April 20th.” He resolved, perking Sammy’s curiosity now.

“Really? Why then?”

But Wally only shrugged with a soft, heartfelt smile. And with no more explanation, he reached to Sammy’s lips, and planted a tender kiss on them, before returning to his secluded space between the musician’s arms, curled up, but hugging back this time.

“I love ya, Sammy.” He muttered, almost relieved, against the man’s chest. “Thanks fer ev’rything.”

Speechless, Sammy only returned the embrace, tightening his grip in loving protection, as he rested his cheek on his boyfriend’s hair.

“But you know what’s a shame?” Sammy prodded his boyfriend’s curiosity once more. “Still left like 7 months for that date! I hardly think the cake will last that long.”

“We can get another cake fer then!” Wally spurted between giggles.

“Yeah, but what about this one?”

“We could eat some now.”

“Nah, too late. I don’t pretend to sleep with a stomachache.”

“What ‘bout in the morning?”

“You have to go to work way earlier than me. Is not a good time for cake.”

Wally barely could believe it. Was Sammy actually ranting about eating cake? Although he had a clear suspicion as to why it came.

“What ‘bout this. Ya take some cake to tha studio, and leave it where only I can find it. Ya like it?”

“Eh, could be. But don’t complain if there’s not much cake left.”

A snicker bubbled up from within Wally, seemingly like self-validating his own suspicion.

“Hey, Sammy?”

“Mh?”

“Isn’t chocolate cake yer favorite?”

“Shut up, Franks.”

Yup, he was right.

[orionwhispers]

Dating Alfie Solomons would include... 🐻

(a/n just a lil summin summin until i have time for a full imagine, just how i picture the loml Alf xxx ask is always open. Love u)

- he’s a huge hopeless romantic, big believer in soulmates and love at first sight but was under the impression that cupid would skip over him for everything he’s done.

- but then, in a bustling bar in Camden, your eyes met from across the room - like something in a fairytale. 

- (in reality it was a hot and sticky night in a pub filled with dangerous gangsters and dirty money, shattered glasses and drunken women but he’s convinced it was much more beautiful than that)

- his breath got hitched in his throat and he almost choked on his rum and it felt like he had been sucker punched, he knew nothing about you only that he had to have you. 

- you were visiting friends in town for a week and had only heard of the ‘wandering jew’ through rumours and whispers, you hadn’t wanted to get involved in any bad business so thought a night on the town with the girls would be perfect - little did you know whose attention you would grab. 

- he was internally freaking out which is so rare for him that he thought he might be having a heart attack

- sent you over a drink 

- your friends literally went silent when they realised who sent it and you were taken aback that the gorgeous stranger was a feared gangster

- smiled graciously at him and he almost fainted

- then he managed to collect himself and came over to introduce himself

- by the end of the week he had you hook, line and sinker and was already calling you ‘my girl’

- the kind of love that happens so suddenly and hits you like a truck

- like you could be married for 30 years and it would still feel like the honeymoon phase

- he literally praises the ground you walk on

- respects your opinion more than anyone’s 

- personal space??? don’t know her.

- big spoon af

- the kind of bear hugs that engulf your whole body

- literally picks you up and spins you around

- hands hands hands 

- always touching you

- starts off slow

- fingers grazing yours, then an arm next to you, then an arm wrapped around your shoulder, then he gets bored and puts it on your thigh, then he’s too far gone and pulls you onto his lap

- even in a business meeting 

- he dares someone to say something

- i totally see him as the kind of guy who gets your name tatted on his chest over his heart 

- also has a ring with your initial engraved on it 

- it’s his favourite ring that he never takes off, also its on the perfect position on his fingers so that when he makes a fist, its in the prime place to connect with a face - he thinks of it as his secret little weapon and loves the indent it makes on people. 

- he’s secure in your relationship and knows how much you love one another, but if someone looks at you the wrong way or says something even a little but out of line - they’re losing a fucking eye 

- this leads to arguments because “Alf! You can’t scalpel anyone who talks to me!” 

- he’s stubborn as fuck and lectures you about keeping you safe and the dangers of people around you and yada yada so obviously you take the high road and ignore him

- he hates!! being ignored by you

- tries everything to get you to talk but you stay quiet 

- eventually apologies by getting you a puppy

- this leads to another argument about how puppies can’t solve everything 

- but eventually you give in because he and your new puppy are so adorable and you can’t stay mad at him even though now you have like 6 dogs

- at work he’s a big scary gangster man but around you he just crumbles 

- you literally make him weak at the knees... this man giggles, giggles! around you

- you have him wrapped around your little finger 

- he physically cannot say no to you (so people always try to use you to sweeten him up... it works) 

- you hate him spending money on you but if you even say you like something in passing or make an offhand comment the next day it’s laid out on your bed for you

- he loves to show you off

- he used to hate fancy events with pompous pricks but now he adores them because he loves that the most gorgeous girl in the world is hanging off his arm

- literally can’t control himself around you and halfway through the party he pulls you into the bathroom to fuck you against the wall

- buys you abundances of dresses and shawls and necklaces and shoes just because he feels like it 

- but mainly so you can give him a fashion show and he can take them off

- you are both protective as fuck of each other

- obviously he’s more physically threatening  terrifying, like the man is bloody massive so he uses that to his advantage, so that and his job basically means he can make anyone cower in fear with just a look 

- has his men watching you 24/7 

- when you go out with friends you always spot one of his workers tailing you

- sometimes if you’re out he’ll be hidden in the shadows

- “Alfie! You can’t follow me here!” 

- “What? I’m not following you - bloody cheek, I’m just ‘aving a drink, love. Nothing to do with you.” 

- “Alf.. this is Susie’s baby shower. They aren’t even serving drinks??” 

- he can also be gentle and soft though 

- like if he comes home and you’re crying in an armchair... boy... at first he’ll freak and unholster his gun and demand a name and get ready to fuck someones shit up but you calm him down and ask him to stay with you and he’ll turn into soft mode

- pull you onto his lap and stroke your hair and wipe your tears, he’ll listen to you intently and offer advice and make you laugh... then he’ll run you a bath and make a cup of tea and wash your hair 

- but when you’re relaxing he’ll slip downstairs and ring Olly and tell him to find information on someone so he can go and ‘have a little chat’  

- you get protective when he thinks he’s invincible 

- arguing about his recklessness and the people he gets involved with

- one time you yelled at Tommy for being a bad influence 

- Alfie died with laughter at seeing you so mad but his heart swelled at how much you cared

- other times its the simpler things 

- like when he comes home battered and bruised and covered in blood

- and you’re too exhausted and emotional to even cry, and you know he needs comfort more than you even though he’s to proud to admit it

- so you’ll clean him and bandage him up, disinfect his wounds and stitch him back together again

- you’re the only person he completely calms and relaxes around, and you distract him from the bad thoughts and make him feel something other than the sadness and pain 

- Olly has also ran through the streets at midnight multiple times and banged on your door to get you to come to the bakery, Alf’ll be fuming and covered in crimson because he’s been shot or someone fucked him over and the only thing that’ll make him somewhat rational is seeing you 

- age!! gap!!

- you’re a lot younger and that fuels most of his protectiveness 

- he also knows exactly how to get under your skin and wind you up when he doesn’t want you involved because he thinks it’s too dangerous 

- “Sweetie, the adults are talking.” 

- literally throwing your shoe at his head 

- he secretly loves being older because he has more experience and gets to show you and do things for the first time

- again he’s super secure with your love but that doesn’t mean he isn’t possessive

- will literally mumble ‘mine’ into your hair and skin

- worships your body!! if you ever feel insecure or a little down about how you look he can change that in one second 

- wet kisses all over that make you giggle and squirm

- but also can be rough and dominating and dark

- ass or boob man? how about anything he can get his hands on

- literally doesn’t matter - if its attached to you it’s getting kisses 

- has a thing for lingerie 

- he’s so used to calloused hands and blood and guns that seeing you in pink lace and white ribbons winds him the same as a bullet in his gut

- but his personal favourite is when you wear one of his shirts 

- slow and soft in the morning but also bending you over his desk at lunch

- sucking on his thumb when it gets too rough 

- actually convinced you might be an angel sometimes he just stares at you because he’s dumfounded that you’re with him 

- pet names

- angel, doll, baby girl, little one, kitten 

- one time he called you princess in front of Tommy and bitch was shook 

- bakes you bread and buys you flowers just because

- domestic af and sleeps in on Sundays and drinks cups of tea from tiny mugs

- this man is brilliant with families and makes your mum love him the first time they meet

- late at night as you trace his tattoos he opens up about the war and tells you stories from his childhood 

- teaches you about his religion 

- ride or die type of love

- “you’re mine”

-  “i’m yours”

- inside jokes and so much gossip like whenever he has a meeting with the Shelby’s he comes home and rants to you about those dumb bitches 

- keeps a photo of you in his wallet, “for good luck”

- weekends spent driving down to the coast with the dogs

- a match made in heaven, both constantly wondering how you got so lucky 

in conclusion i love (1) man 

[thespoonplayer]

(DJ) Spoon’s Review of 2018

This year I haven’t listened to much music at all, at least not in comparison to previous years and I certainly haven’t been to many gigs. I’m sure this won’t last but this year I’ve been busier at work so less likely to plug in, I’ve stuck to the radio in the car just to keep up with how messy Brexit really is (ooer a bit of politics) and my runs have been 100% fueled by podcasts so music has just taken a backseat. However, I couldn’t let the year go past without some kind of list...so here is a pot pourri of my favourite discoveries of 2018.

1. Podcasts

Seeing as these have been so important this year I’ll start here...and cheat slightly by bigging up some oldies, but good enough to bang on about again.

Old favourites : Running Commentary (Comedians Paul Tonkinson and Rob Deering take you on their runs and chat sometimes about running, but always about life, kids, comedy and anything that pops into their heads), Adam Buxton (always entertaining ramble chat from Dr Buckles whoever is on, I’ve learnt stuff and I’ve laughed a lot), My Dad Wrote a Porno (Sheer filth as ever but genuinely caused me to LOL during my runs, wondering if people can hear that I’m listening to chat about vaginal lids).

New entries : Off Menu (Ed Gamble and James Acaster opened their genie run fantasy restaurant a month ago and it has quickly become one of my favourite podcasts ever. Eclectic guests pick their fantasy 3 course meals, simple premise and it works. The Scroobius Pip episode was a perfect clash of two excellent pods), Blank (another late entry into 2018 from Jim Daly and Giles Paley-Phillips ostensibly about blank moments in life but just rammed with infotaining chat from ‘non standard’ guests including a jaw dropping episode with Michael Rosen and fun with Gary Lineker and Susie Dent), Poddin’ on the Ritz (sadly now finished with maybe its only series) this pod recorded backstage at Young Frankenstein by Hadley Fraser and the sublime Ross Noble made me laugh more than any other in 2018, it might be about musicals but their search for Kenneth Branagh’s snowglobes and Lesley Joseph adoration was a joy.

2. Board games

They say a family that plays together, stays together. Well we are together more than you can imagine. We’ve played over 220 games this year! Here are our favourite new games into our collection:

The game of the year is Azul, a seemingly simple tile grab and place game, building up a mosaic prettier than anyone else, is full of strategy and a little (but not too much) shafting of others. If you really want to shaft your fellow players though then pick up Unstable Unicorns, a card game where you aim to grow your stable of unicorns, whilst stopping others filling theirs. SO many different cards, tactics and ways to mess it up, you will swear at some point. Discovered in the excellent new board game cafe The Dice Box in Leamington, we bought Meeple Circus before we left, it’s that much fun. Rehearse and perform the best tiny wooden meeple circus performance, accompanied by a bespoke playlist. Stack the acrobats, balance the lions and raise the bar. Another board game cafe, Chance & Counters in Bristol introduced us to the frantic game of Klask, a cross between air hockey, pool and table football. Slide the magnets around to flick a ball into your opponents hole, avoid the magnetic biscuits and don’t KLASK! When is a game not a game? another game of the year has been played a lot in our house, and it’s The Mind. 100 cards numbered 1-100, no words between players and a tense task to lay cards in ascending order. Simple? yes? possible? nope! but it’s sure to cause fun and arguments. The final two of MY favourite sadly aren’t quite as loved by my family, but I’ll get them there. Sagrada is a similar game to Azul with you attempting to build a beautiful stained glass window with coloured dice. More variations and thinking needed than Azul which adds to the challenge. And finally and lovely chess like 2 player game which transports you to the sun dappled Greek island of Santorini. Take the powers of a god and build the traditional blue domed white houses of the island whilst trying to stop your opponent climbing onto a roof. A lot of ‘aha, you’ve stopped me’ moments.

3. TV

It’s been a long old year at work, and in the world of parenting so we’ve found ourselves flopped on the settee many evenings just soaking up great drama, comedy and chilling ;o)

We are very late to the party with Suits but that means we have 8 series to wade through! Really neat writing, bants and relationships between characters, a ‘don’t worry they will always win’ calmness about it and you get to see the Queen in her knickers...ish. Another Netflix treat this year was Magic for Humans with Justin Willman, a hugely likeable and funny magician pulling off tricks that constantly make me smirk with a huge dollop of WTF? amazing. A huge recommendation. A late entry to my TV highlights of 2018 is from the warped warped mind of Charlie Brooker...of course with Bandersnatch. An interactive choose your own adventure TV ‘event’ (I know) that had us hooked for the full 90 minutes (only if you want to see how much bloodshed you can invoke!). Completely on the other end of the spectrum was the sublime and minimalistic Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing. I don’t like fishing and why would I find two old mates just teasing each other for half an hour entertaining? No idea but it was beautiful. Like Radio 4, comforting and perfect. Then a few suspenseful dramas that got us on the edge of the settee, Killing Eve (quirky AF), Bodyguard (did they really kill Keely Hawes that early?) and Informer (bleak bleak bleak) and sweaty bullocks in ‘should be in the next section really’ Bird Box (made Informer seem like a giggle fest).

4. Films

Really haven’t been to the cinema much in the last 12 months and only once to see a ‘grown up’ film I think but kid’s films are SO good at the moment that’s ok. A few stand out films for me were:

Ralph Breaks the Internet, much better than the first one, lots of #lolz internet jokes and more than a little heart. Wrap me up in a duvet and give me a hot cocoa and Paddington 2 any day, tears at the end. A little more sighing but just as much emotion in Christopher Robin, not sure why Eeyore had an American accent but the characters were spot on and nicely faithful to the original concepts. The one time I did venture out for an adult (it’s a 12 so almost ;o) and saw Ready Player One I was delighted, yeah it might not be a) as good as or b) anything like the book but a visual treat and an enjoyable romp.

5. Books

I read A LOT, until my Kindle donks me on the head in bed anyway...literally a tiny selection of books that have kept me awake. 

The Secret Lives of Colour - Kassia St Clair. They say never judge a book by its cover. Well that didn’t work...I bought this purely because it is a beautiful package, the hardback a lot more pleasing imho. Simply 2 coloured pages about how each colour was discovered, invented and introduced throughout history. I never really gave it a thought that colours were...made. Weird and fascinating.

This Is Going to Hurt - Adam Kay. A hilarious ‘secret’ diary of a junior doctor that horrifies at the same time. I think we all knew it was a hard life but bloody hell, if you didn’t love the NHS before you will after this. A thoroughly enjoyable and insightful story of Adam’s journey through medicine. And that ending...wooof.

Moose Allain - I Wonder What I’m Thinking About. I love Moose, I love his colour-me-advent calendars, I love his tweet threads that show the best in Twitter, I love his cartoons and this book is all of those wrapped up in one. And a certain Mr Spoon is to thank for the publication, find me in the back of Unbound funders! An inspiring book for anyone who loves art, creativity and childish humour.

Factfulness : Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World - Hans Rosling. A brilliantly clever and educational book about why the world is NOT as shit as it might seem some times. It’s all backed up by real data and lovely lovely graphs!

Lee Child and Ian Rankin. A highlight of the year is the next Reacher and Rebus novels and these two didn’t disappoint. Rebus’ latest adventure Past Tense, is a self-contained story that could introduce anyone to the man machine that is Jack Reacher. Rebus however is back, retired but won’t lie down, in In A House of Lies, an old case comes back to haunt him and will this finally be his downfall? I doubt it!

6. Music

As mentioned, I haven’t ‘been into music’ as much in 2018 for various reasons but I’ve still enjoyed some great new discoveries:

Barns Courtney - The Attractions of Youth, discovered via the use of Glitter and Gold for the theme tune of Netflix’s Safe. An album of ‘cheesy, commercially viable blues and folk rock’ apparently. I just liked the visceral nature of some of the tracks and it always fired me up at work on slow days.

Isaac Gracie - Isaac Gracie, a rare listened to recommendation from my wife. Isaac is everything I claim to like, fragile thin sensitive boys with acoustic guitars....and I do very much with this. Painful screeched out tales of heartbreak. Sublime.

R.E.M. - Live at the BBC, 104 rare and live tracks from arguably one of the best bands ever. Some of the tracks I haven’t heard since my bootleg cassette buying days at Sheffield Uni, when the world was in black and white. Not all tracks are of the greatest audio quality but bliss for a fanboy like me.

Creep Show - Mr Dynamite, a spin off project for Mr John Grant and even from the eclectic crooner this is an odd one. Glitchy electronica with vocoders all over the place. Weird and very Marmite.

Public Service Broadcasting - Every Valley and everything else. The latest offering from the other PSB was a trip through the miner’s crisis and Thatcher years. Bleak? yup but fascinating snippets of well, public service broadcasting and guest stars including the obligatory Welsh rockers the Manics. This album is perfect by itself but it ‘forced’ me to go back and really discover all the PSB albums. The Live at Brixton release is a huge recommendation, I wish I was there.

Rex Orange County - Apricot Princess, maybe I just added this in to seem cool as Rex, aka Alexander O’Conner, was ‘one to watch in 2018′ from the BBC. A multi-instrumentalist that dabbles with hippity hop, R&B and piano pop. The first track alone contains about three musical styles if you wait. 

7. Food & Drink

I run, because I really like food. And thankfully I’ve run a lot in 2018 so I got to enjoy a lot.

I was introduced to the weird fermented tea monstrosity that is kombucha by my sister-in-law. Vinegar tasting drink that may or may not help your gut that grows in your living room. WTAF? However, health benefits aside the LA Brewery Strawberry and Black Pepper drink is something, alongside my pilgrimage to Leon, worth going to London for. I’ve heard it’s also for sale in Solihull but I don’t often travel that far beyond my class ;o) I’d say, try it...but I suspect 9/10 people with hate the flavour. 

I suspect 10/10 people that try the Aldi Black Forest Mince Pies would love them, but you won’t get a chance as I’ve bought them ALL. Aldi are a bugger for getting you hooked then never restocking. I only managed 10 boxes in 2018 and we’ve rationed well so have 12 left to get us through the bleak January weather. Cherries, Dark Chocolate, Chocolate pastry and a smidge of mincemeat. Perfect!

There are many ingredient delivery services available and I’ve only tried Gousto but I don’t know why you’d go anywhere else. 33 recipes tried and 32 of them I’d have again, with the one not so good one was still far better than anything I’d cook by myself. So easy, so tasty and if you want to try it I can give you a big discount that will help us buy another box, a tad expensive without a discount but worth a treat every so often.

Genuinely I traveled to London just to visit Max’s Sandwich Shop...kinda. It was certainly the deciding factor in a day out at the Summer Exhibition (see below). I downloaded the Kindle version of this book when it was promoted in an email, I bought some Scampi Fries and made a Fish Finger sandwich, I crumbled up some Ginger Nuts into a Mascarpone and Jam sandwich and I made a Fried Egg, Shoestring Fried and Gammon sandwich then I NEEDED to go and see how it’s really done. Amazing over the top sandwiches in a rough little hipster cafe in Stroud Green (no me neither and it’s a long walk from the tube!). So good I had to a) buy the hard copy of the book and b) carry half the sandwich home as even I couldn’t manage it all...not with deep fried macaroni balls filling me up ;o)

8. Places

A family that plays together, stays together as a great man once said. And we don’t just play inside, we love adventures so adventures we had.

I’d never been to the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, as it’s in that there London which often seems hundreds of miles away...but I’m so glad that I visited this year. A trip with a good friend with neither of us knowing quite what to expect. We saw, and laughed, and marveled at, paintings, sculptures, videos, photos, models, and weirdness by Banksy next to Joe Lycett next to Grayson Perry next to Harry Hill, next to me mate Lorsen Camps from Coventry. The SA allows ANYONE to submit artwork for consideration and anyone can be accepted. I think this has to become a yearly visit, awesome.

My parents have been wanting to take our kids, and their big kid, to The Forbidden Corner in North Yorkshire for a few years now...and I’m so happy we finally got round to going. Started as a folly to entertain his children this huge labyrinthine site is crammed with strange sculptures, mazes, tricks and squirting fountains. Many hours were spent squeezing through holes, getting lost and getting wet. Beautifully eccentric.

A family holiday to Brittany meant we could visit the loopy city (it’s their phrase!) of Nantes and more importantly Les Machines d’Ile. Ostensibly the workshop of  a group of engineers and artists that make huge animatronic machines and animals...that you can ride on! Needs to be seen to be believed, the Elephant brings out the big kid in everyone...and we can’t wait to go back in a few years when they’ve built a huge forest over the river with ride on caterpillars and dragonfly. Incredible. The city itself is dotted with crazy art and interactive pieces encouraging play, I know a city closer to home that should be the UK Loopy City of Culture!

Luckily Tilly is a Harry Potter obsessive AND it was her birthday last year so it gave us the excuse we didn’t need to visit the Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studio Tour. Wow, just wow. The incredible detail in everything made for the film, the engineering, the amount of artists involved and the presentation of the exhibition blew us away. I’ve enjoyed everything in this list but this maybe was the most magical in the best way.

Many many amazing experiences warrant a mention, but I just don’t have enough words, include Talking Birds - Walk with Me, Print Manufactory Darkroom Workshop, Ludic Rooms Random String Festival, Go Karting with Tilly, some dancing balloons in Broadgate, Godiva Festival with Tony Christie et al, Bristol Gromit trail, Disc Golfing with my girls, Edinburgh Fringe with Dick and Dom and with another wonderful dick from Coventry starring in Bon Jovi musical We’ve Got Each Other, Pandas! at Edinburgh Zoo, Matilda the Musical with Tilly at last, running the Coventry Mile with the girls’ school, Dippy the Dinosaur in Brum, Wicksteed Park (amazing family fun theme park like what they used to be), Cycling on Stratford Greenway in the sun, Autotesting at MotoFest, Bourton-on-the-Water (it’s just a shame 3 million other people know about this gorgeous village), Giant Pac Man in the city centre, Pork Pie making with a good friend, CET several times, Novelty Automation in London and being on The One Show, a couple of Hope & Social gigs and much much much more fun with my wonderful fam and friends. Roll on 2019!

[nyrandrea]

Bond

So yeah, I said that I was going to hold off writing anything else before Chapter 3 came out but here we are again, pfft. Just can't help myself, I guess.

I really wanted to explore the whole bond idea between Henry and Bendy because it was just too interesting to /not/ write about it. So once again, this story is inspired by the 2D Bendy AU created by @shinyzango, go check out her amazing art!

Enjoy! 

The pure raw emotion that he felt was still surging through his body.

Henry kept an eye on his surroundings as he walked, narrowing his eyes as he half expected the walls to start warping or Sammy to come back from the dead and start attacking him at any given moment. He shook his head, he shouldn't be thinking about that right now.

The older man was slowly making his way down what seemed to be yet another department in the studio, the building was so big and every room and corridor looked so similar to each other. Was he even going the right way anymore? He didn't really know.

There were small rooms dotted about the corridors, Henry made sure to check each and every one in the hopes that there would be some kind of clue as to what had happened to the studio and more importantly, everyone in it. Some rooms held radios that played catchy tunes from the old cartoon show, Bendy had insisted that they stayed so that they could listen, making up an excuse that the songs might hold some kind of deep secret. Henry simply obliged, smiling whenever he saw the demon tapping his foot to the beat or hummed along to the music.

Other rooms held more significant items, the most important being small tapes that held voice recordings from other employees: Norman, Wally, Susie and...Sammy. Every time he heard the music director's voice, it made him think back to that dream. The way that Sammy's ink covered limbs were twisted, how out of proportion his arms and legs were, his impossibly angled head... 

'No...' Henry thought. ‘Not now. I need to focus.’

But his mind just kept wandering back to the bizarre dream, or rather, nightmare. The hideous monsters, the distorted studio, Sammy and...Bendy. He glanced a quick look at the little toon, who was sitting cross legged on the black line, happily chatting away about a gag that he and Boris had performed during an episode of the cartoon show.

The little demon looked so...different compared to what he had seen in his dreamscape, he was so big and... monstrous. But despite how terrifying he looked, he was still the same Bendy inside. But... he had never ever seen that kind of form before, not even when the devil had went completely crazy.

Then there was those intense sensations that suddenly went through him when he touched Bendy, along with those visions: The two figures at the ink machine, the clarinet, the large golden ring...what did it all mean? Maybe...

“...And then Boris tried to lure the sheep away with his clarinet! But I wasn't havin' none of that, so then I-“

“Bendy.” Henry hastily interrupted. He didn't want to ruin the cartoon's good mood, but he had to know if Bendy knew anything or rather...felt anything. Luckily the little demon didn't seem to be annoyed at all at the sudden interruption.

“Huh? What's up Henry? You feeling ok?” Bendy replied with a somewhat worried look.

“Yeah, I'm fine, don't worry.” Henry quickly said, not wanting to cause the toon any upset, God knows that he done that too many times already. Bendy sighed in relief and gestured for the man to continue.

“I was just wondering...” He started, not really knowing how to put this into words. “Back when you touched your head against mine...did you feel anything...weird? Like...any pain or...?” Henry cringed at his bad wording of the question, he honestly didn't even know how to describe it.

Bendy looked down in deep thought for a few moments before looking back up to the human with a small frown.

“No...I didn't really feel anything like that. Just relieved that ya were alright. Why? Did you feel pain? A-are ya alright?” The demon asked, a nervous tone in his voice.

Henry frowned in thought for a moment, before smiling calmly. “I’m fine Bendy, just must be old age catching up to me, nevermi-“ 

The older man’s eyes widened slightly in mild astonishment when he felt a surprisingly strong tug on his thumb. Looking down, he saw that Bendy had stood up and was currently grasping at it, holding it down in a defiant manner.

“Don’t lie to me, Henry.” The cartoon said, his tone of voice was firm, like he wasn't prepared to take any more nonsense.

“What? Bendy, I'm not-“ Another tug. The devil gave him a sombre look.

“Please Henry...I’m begging ya...” Bendy replied in a more pleading manner. “I know that yer lyin' to me, please don't do that, ya gotta spit it out.” He looked down for a moment, before continuing. 

“Pals tell each other stuff, they don't keep secrets.” Bendy said as he gave the human a determined look, who in return, was looking down at him with a rather perplexed expression.

“Bendy, I...” The man sighed, he was right, he shouldn't be lying. But Henry was the proud type that never really shared his troubles, he mostly either dealt with them on the spot or brushed them off to the side if the situation was too dire to deal with it. He had been doing the latter a lot lately.

“Wait.” Henry started, raising an eyebrow at the small demon. “How can you be so sure that I'm lying?” He questioned, he wasn't exactly the best at keeping secrets, but Bendy had never straight up called him out for it before.

The devil in question let go of Henry's thumb and blinked in surprise, before shrugging and replying in a cheerful manner. “Dunno. I just do. Call it uh...” Bendy paused for thought before snapping his fingers and pointing up at the man with a smirk. 

“Intuition!” He exclaimed, looking very pleased with himself.

Henry simply gave the toon an amused look. “Right...” He looked back forward with a small frown.

There had to be more to it than that. Bendy seemed so...sure, like he absolutely knew without a doubt that the older man was hiding something. Maybe it had something to do with the...thing that he felt. Did Bendy feel it too? It was like they were...somehow linked...

But before Henry could get too deep into his thoughts, Bendy's voice piped back up, catching his attention once again.

��So how's the leg, Henry? Ya don't seem to be limping as much as before.” Bendy said with a joyful grin. “Do ya think it's healed up now?” Henry chuckled.

“Well, I don't know about 'healed up' but...” He tested the injured leg out, walking on it without the axe crutch, and smiled when he seemed to manage quite a few steps before leaning on the axe's handle again. “I think it's getting there though, bud.”

The little demon's face immediately lit up, his grin growing even bigger as he clasped his gloved hands together. “Oh Henry, that's great! You'll be better in no time at all!” 

“Yeah...” The man simply replied with a small relaxed smile. Bendy really knew how to keep him motivated, even in the most dire of situations, he was an absolute Godsend in this Hell of a studio, ironic as that may seemed.

The light mood was suddenly cut though, as a clanking sound from above immediately caught both of their attention.

“...Henry...?” Bendy nervously whispered, glancing up in fear.

The older man narrowed his eyes and stopped walking, cautiously glancing around as the sound stopped, leaving silence to engulf the area once more. Henry didn't dare to move yet though, he knew there was something here with them, he could sense it.

So could Bendy apparently, as the little toon quickly grasped onto his thumb and tugged it in a panicked frenzy.

“Henry! We gotta move! It's-!”

A loud moaning from the pipes cut him off, and their gazes quickly shot up to the ceiling. Ink oozed and dripped from the pipes, creating a small puddle on the floor, just in front of Henry's feet. The black liquid bubbled and grew larger as splodges of ink dropped down, the man didn't even waste any time on waiting to see what was going to sprout out from the puddle and hopped over it to run away as fast as he possibly could. He already knew what it was.

Or rather, who it was.

A loud, ear piercing screech sounded out from behind him, urging the man to try and move faster. 

'How the Hell did that thing manage to find us so fast?' Henry angrily thought as he limped as fast as he possibly could.

Although his injured leg was nearly healed, it still slowed him down a considerable amount. But unlike the dreamscape, 'Bendy's twisted leg was also a huge hindrance to it.

The difference between him and it though, was that the creature had grown used to it's deformed limb, and had adapted to the environment a lot longer than he had, giving it the clear advantage.

Henry suddenly felt a shot of fear go through him, but it didn't feel like his own, not to say that he wasn't afraid, he was just more suppressed about it. No, this was pure, unfiltered terror. The man looked down at Bendy, who's face was frozen in dread, the little cartoon looked like a deer caught in headlights. 

“Bendy? Bendy, listen to me.” Henry urged, in between breaths. “You have to snap out of it, bud. Please!” 

The toon simply kept staring ahead, quietly muttering. Another scream sounded out from behind, much louder and closer this time.

“Bendy!” Henry shouted, his voice was quickly drowned out from a distorted screech.

“Shit!” He swore as he stopped and turned on his heels, readying his axe to face the monster head on. There was no way he was going to be able to outrun this thing, so there was no choice in the matter but to fight it, injured leg be damned. The ink creature leapt towards the human with his gloved claws fully protracted, while Henry raised his axe to strike.

His eyes widened though when he felt a sudden stinging pain in the back of his head, the instinct to protect washed over him like a wave, the piece of paper in his hand suddenly lurched.

“NO!” A deep and distorted voice suddenly screamed out as a large black shape literally leaped out from the paper with sheer force, sending Henry flying to the floor.

He landed with a thud, and held his head as he felt a swirl of emotions go straight through him, the two most prominent being fear and rage. It made his mind spin with confliction, making him feel extremely dizzy, he had to fight the overwhelming urge to throw up.

A pain induced screech filled the hallway as the large black shape collided with the creature, sending it crashing to the ground. Henry slowly sat up while still clutching his head, and looked up to see Bendy hovering over him, his back arched and large body covering him to prevent the other monster from getting any kind of view of the man.

“Bendy...how...how are you...?” Henry stammered, his eyes as wide as saucers. Bendy had never been able to just...leap out of the page like that before. The demon always needed some kind of living ink to draw upon in order to physically form outside of the paper. 

‘This...How the Hell is this even possible...?' The older man internally questioned, holding his still pounding head.

'Bendy' managed to finally stand up properly, after having a bit of difficulty with it's twisted leg, and hissed at them both, to which the larger and much bulkier Bendy replied with a low and deep snarl. The demon kept his stance and raised one of his large, dripping arms off the ground slightly, as if he was threatening the smaller creature to back off. The thinner monster simply hissed back and splayed it’s long, thin claws, getting ready to strike. Henry could easily tell what was about to happen, and knew all to well that he had to get out of the way if he didn't want to get caught in the middle.

Bendy seemed to catch onto this thought as well as Henry suddenly felt a large hand slowly and gently push him to the side, the demon moved directly in front of him while doing so in order to completely block the other creature's sight of him, which resulted in a snap reaction, as it suddenly roared and charged for him. 

The two monsters clashed against each other, sending ink flying everywhere. Bendy tried to grab the slippery creature as it climbed onto his body and started to rake it’s needle-like claws into his back, causing him howl out in pain. It's sadistic grin grew wider as it kept slashing and hacking away, but the smile was soon wiped away as it was suddenly rammed into the wall, making it let out a pained screech. Bendy slammed his body into the wood in order to try and get the lanky monster off of him, but it's claws were dug in so deep that it managed to just about hang on. 

Henry stared dumbfounded as the two monsters kept roughly scrapping with each other, it was like watching two feral animals fight to the death, it was...it was awful.

He looked up and cringed as the walls around them groaned in protest at the sudden weight being thrown into them, the building was going to collapse around them if this kept up, and Bendy was clearly having a tough time, he had to try and help get that thing off of him.

Henry slowly stood up, his injured leg trembled and ached in protest as he did, the sudden running and falling to the ground had done a bit of a number on the injury, setting back the healing process yet again, but he had no time to dwell on that now. 

The older man grabbed onto his axe and used the wall as a support as he raised the weapon into the air. He only had one shot at this, he had to make it count.

It was extremely difficult to aim though as the two ink monsters wouldn't stay still for a single moment, Bendy kept turning on the spot, trying to reach behind him to grab the smaller creature while it kept clambering around his body, using it's clawed hands as climbing picks. It didn't help the fact that ink kept flying everywhere, obstructing his view. It was so damn hard to focus.

'C'mon...I just need an opening...!' He frustratingly thought as he tried to zone in on the smaller monster. 

Bendy suddenly turned towards Henry and nodded with a determined look, before turning his back to the man in order to expose the smaller demon, making it look around in a confused manner at the sudden movement. 

The human blinked in confusion as well. 

'How did he know to...?' Henry shook his head, this wasn't the time to be questioning anything. He flung the axe towards 'Bendy' and struck it right in the head, making it scream and clutch at it's injury, resulting in it slipping off and falling to the ground in a crumpled heap. 

It pulled the axe out, spraying the floor and walls with black liquid, and slowly turned it's injured head towards Henry, growling lowly.

The human had no time to react as it charged for him with it's claws out, the stinging pain in his head suddenly peaked, the underlying rage that he had been feeling came out at full force, there was so much going on that all that Henry could do was freeze in terror.

A booming roar sounded out as an enormous, jet black clawed hand struck out and slammed 'Bendy' down before it could get anywhere near the man.

He watched with wide eyes as the creature shrieked and writhed under the claws that pinned it down, he swallowed a large lump in his throat as he felt a raw and primal instinct take over him, the impulsive urge to tear something apart ate away at his mind, he felt like he was going to be physically sick again.

The hand dragged 'Bendy' back and threw it across the hallway, Henry gazed up to see a large black shape looming over him. Sure enough, it was Bendy, but his usually goofy grin was now a fang filled, sadistic looking sneer. His fingers were as sharp as knives, his horns had grown slightly deformed, and the once rounded white pupil in his eye was now a tiny thin slit. It had happened again, Bendy had lost control.

Henry kept his breathing shallow as Bendy stared down at him, he didn't dare to make any sudden movements, he knew that his friend was unstable in this form, and the last thing that he wanted to do was provoke him. But as the beast looked directly into his eyes, he felt it again, the trust, the overwhelming urge to protect. 

Was...was Bendy still somehow in control?

A loud shriek caught their attention, interrupting Henry's thoughts, as the other 'Bendy' prowled back over towards them both with it's claws out, it's limp was much more obvious than before though, indicating that it was weakened, maybe even injured. But it still looked as though it was up for a fight, as it hissed lowly in a threatening manner.

Bendy turned his back to Henry and growled back in a much more distorted and deeper tone than before and arched his back, the rising droplets of ink on his shoulders flared furiously, his claws dug deep into the floor, making the wood creak.

 The two creatures stared in silence for a heartbeat before yet another fight ensued, this time Bendy being the first to attack.

The scuffle didn't last nearly as long as the last fight though as Bendy completely wrecked the creature this time. He didn't even give it a chance to try any kind of futile attempt to attack, and after a few moments of hitting it around, he swiped it away, sending the creature crashing to the wooden floor. Henry felt a feeling of satisfaction flow through him, and looked up at Bendy to see a smug grin on the demon’s face. 

The smaller monster whined in pain and wasted no time in retreating, as it dissolved into a black puddle and seeped through the cracks of the floorboards before any finishing blow could be made, resulting in an aggravated growl from Bendy.

It had escaped once again.

Henry simply blinked and breathed a sigh of relief as he leaned against the wall. The immediate danger was gone, at least. But he still felt the rage inside him gradually build up, and glanced back up at Bendy, extremely nervous at the fact that he was growing more unstable by the minute. To say that the demon was seething was a severe understatement.

No, he was absolutely livid.

The older man had to cover his ears as Bendy let out an ear-splitting roar and started attacking everything that was around him in a wild frenzy. He crushed the few tables and chairs that were in the area and launched them at the walls, before angrily swiping at the pipes that were on the ceiling, his claws cleanly sliced them, sending ink spilling everywhere, it was pretty surprising that no Searchers formed from the liquid, perhaps they knew to stay away from the danger.

Henry kept a hand on his head and clenched his eyes shut as he felt an extremely powerful mixture of nothing but negative emotions swirl around in his mind: anger, shame, grief, bitterness, insecurity...there was so many. 

By this point, he was absolutely positive that this had everything to do with his nightmare, it must have formed some kind of...connection between them, somehow. He knew that these horrible thoughts was what Bendy was feeling right now, and that he had to calm the raging demon down, one way or another.

He took a deep breath and tried to mentally suppress the chaos that he felt, maybe if he calmed the emotions down within himself, then Bendy would also feel a little better.

The older man felt a twinge of something, and opened his eyes to see Bendy staring right at him with a still slightly crazed look, the remains of a destroyed chair in his clawed hand. Henry swallowed, if he didn't play this right, he was probably going to end up getting crushed himself...

'No...' Henry internally scowled at himself. ‘He wouldn't do that. Not after all the crap we've been through together. I can do this.’ 

Bendy half-heartedly threw the wooden debris in his hand to the side, and growled as he quickly made his way towards Henry. He stopped right in front of the human and snarled ferociously into his face, before raising an enormous clawed hand to strike him down.

‘It’s now or never...' Henry determinedly thought as he quickly reached up to lay a gentle hand on the monster’s face, just next to his widened eye.

The demon’s clawed hand stopped and hovered in mid-air.

“You’re alright, Bendy...” Henry coaxed softly, still trying to suppress the horrible thoughts that kept piercing his mind. “It’s ok now... you don't need to fight anymore, we're safe...” The man said with a small sympathetic smile. He suddenly felt himself become exhausted, but he kept soothing the large demon.

The emotions started to die down as Bendy made a confused sound. His horns simplified in shape, his fangs and claws softened and the white slit that was his pupil rounded up again. 

Henry breathed a sigh of relief. His friend was back once more, and his aching head had subsided for now.

Bendy looked up at his raised arm in confusion, before looking back down at Henry, he seemed to put two and two together swiftly as big black tears suddenly welled up in his eye. Henry was quick to comfort him however, as he started rubbing the side of the monster's head in an affectionate manner. The tears rolled off of Bendy’s cheek and dripped down Henry's hand and arm, staining them, but at this point he didn't even mind.

“No, no...don't worry, you didn't attack me this time, bud. You're gaining more control over that form of yours, you did real good...ok?” Henry softly said as he tried to ease the large demon, who lowered his head and whined. 

The man felt himself get pulled in for a gentle embrace, which he gladly returned.

“Yeah, everything is alright...” He soothed. As they hugged, Henry suddenly felt a sort of serenity wash over his mind, which was certainly a nice change from the fear and dread that he had felt just moments before.

But the moment was short lived as he noticed that Bendy was becoming increasingly heavier, and looked up to see that the devil had his eye closed and was letting out a soft snoring sound, making the older man chuckle.

As amusing as it was though, Henry had to wake him up before he was going to accidentally get crushed.

“Uh...Bendy...?” No response came from the monster, so he tried gently tapping his cheek. “C’mon bud...I know you need to rest but...not on me, please.” He half joked, honestly not wanting to have to try and move a huge sleeping ink demon, he was too tired to move himself to be quite frank.

Bendy finally responded to him and broke up the embrace, leaving the poor man drenched with black ink, the demon grinned amusedly at the sight before letting out a tired yawn. Henry smiled as he picked up his axe and had a look around.

“Well, we should probably get some rest. But not out here, it's too...open.” It felt a little ironic saying that in an enclosed building. “We should look for one of those small rooms, there should probably be one down-“

Henry felt an arm wrap around him and lift him up, he looked up at Bendy, who had already started to move. The monster grinned cheerfully and nodded, seemingly knowing where to go without Henry really having to say. Henry blinked, this whole...connection thing was really difficult to comprehend.

But right now he was far too exhausted to even question it, so he simply let Bendy carry him to a small room that held storyboards for the old cartoon show, black ink was splattered all over the cheerful drawings. It was a sad sight.

 Bendy gently set Henry down onto the floor before completely dissolving into a black puddle, the older man picked up the piece of paper and set it on his knee as he sat his back against the wall. 

He simply smiled when he saw that the little toon was already completely passed out.

“Sleep tight, bud...” 

It didn't take that long before Henry felt his eyelids drop in sheer tiredness as well, he only prayed that he would, for once, have a peaceful few hours of sleep. He and Bendy deserved that much, at the very least.

I'm so sorry if I butchered the bond thing but hey, at least I gave it my best shot. xD

Let me know what y'all think!

Chapter 1 - Friend - https://nyrandrea.tumblr.com/post/160888670286/friend

Chapter 2 - Rest - https://nyrandrea.tumblr.com/post/160888769001/rest

Chapter 3 - Enemy - https://nyrandrea.tumblr.com/post/160963746341/enemy

Chapter 4 - Family - https://nyrandrea.tumblr.com/post/161237849016/family

Chapter 5 - Nightmare - https://nyrandrea.tumblr.com/post/161560167591/nightmare

[thebrightsun]

My Moon

There are a lot of negative vibes and depressing things going on in some of my friends' life recently, and in the fandom, too. So I decided to write something sweet for all of you, especially for @prinxietys, @prinxietyhell, @analogicality-sanders and @iloveshippingkitty. I hope this fanfic will light up at least a little bit of your day! 

Strongly suggest listening to "Youth" by Troy Sivan while reading this. 

All of the lyrics from the song "Youth" belongs to Troy Sivan.

Pairing: Analogical

Warnings: None. All cute and fluff. 

“You’re not the last one, and you’re not the lonely one…” Logic hummed his favorite song as he walked down the street to his new house. He just came back from Disorder’s concert. It was a fantastic night, and Disorder was his favorite band. The leader had the best voice on the earth. That slightly sandy deep voice always melted him from inside out. What’s the vocalist’s name? Anxiety. Just think about Anxiety’s smoky eye shadow and that evil little smirk could add a tiny smile on Logic’s face. Logic kept walking, not paying attention to where he was going. Then he bumped into someone and fell. “Ouch!”

“Oh I’m sorry. Are you okay?”

Logic nodded. He was about the reply, but his mind was cut off by the man’s face. It was Anxiety. He widened his eyes. Anxiety stretched out his arm and pulled Logic up. “You okay man?”

Logic opened his mouth, but no word came out. He nodded stiffly and slowly squeezed out of his words. “You, you’re Anxiety, right?”

Anxiety raised his eyebrow. He nodded. “Yeah, I’m Anxiety. You know me?”

“Know you!? I’m your fans! I just came back from your concert! Oh my goodness!” Logic felt like he had never been this excitable before.

A tiny smile came up to Anxiety’s face. He tilted his head childishly. “I didn’t know there’re people that know me in my neighborhood. Are you new? What’s your name? ”

Logic blushed. “Lo-Logic. Yeah. I’m new here.”

Anxiety nodded. “I guess I’ll see you around then, my little fans.” He smirked and walked off.

Logic never thought that his brain would shut down, but now he couldn’t think about anything other than that nickname and the smirk. He muttered, “See you around.” ———————————————————————————————————————

After that incident, Logic sometimes could see Anxiety with his band around, but never get to really know him. He thought that was all, but he was content. After all, not everyone get to see his or her idol around. But this thought only last until the moment he heard a knock on the door.

“Hello Logic. How’re you doing?” Anxiety smiled politely and waited outside Logic’s door.

Logic’s eyes were wide. “Go-good! How are you? What brings you here?”

Anxiety smirked, “Well, this is heart-broken. Can’t I just come and say hi? Am I not welcomed here?”

“No, no! You are! No I mean you’re welcomed!” Logic was all tongue-tied and jumbled.

Anxiety chuckled a bit, “Don’t worry, I get it. I’m wondering if you can help me to take care of my dog, since I’m going on tour for the next month. By the way, are you coming?”

Logic pressed his lips together. “No… I still have another research project. But I’m willing to take care of your dog!”

“Okay, so her name is Susie. You only need to feed her twice a day. I see you have a yard, so she won’t need to be taken out for a walk. But she would love it if you do. I have everything she needs with me. And it’s fine. I understand. I’ll record something for you during the tour.” Anxiety said amusingly.

Logic smiled. “Sure. Thank you! I’ll take care of her while you’re gone. Don’t worry too much. You’ll see a healthy Susie when you get back!”

Anxiety looked at Susie once, then waved Logic a goodbye and left. ———————————————————————————————————————

Logic had no idea how much Anxiety was in love with his dog Susie. He almost FaceTime with Logic every night to see Susie, and also, chat with Logic. They bond over the lyrics of Anxiety’s song.

“Yeah, that’s what I meant. It’s depressing, but if you look over that, there’s always something hopeful under it.” Anxiety agreed.

“I’m glad I understand it.” Logic lightly stroked on Susie’s hair and smiled.

Anxiety didn’t reply. He looked at Logic profoundly until Logic blushed as hard as he could be. “Wha-what’s up? Do I have something on my face?” Logic mumbled almost incoherently.

“No. I was just thinking…things.” Anxiety lied.

Logic could tell he was lying, but he didn’t argue with Anxiety. He simply nodded.

Anxiety smiled a little. He said softly, “I’ll be back tomorrow around five. Wait me in front of your yard with Susie, okay?”

“Sure.” Logic said. He was confused, but he chose not to push Anxiety.

“Good. Okay, the concert’s about to begin. I need to go. I’ll see you tomorrow. Good night.” Anxiety muttered. Logic nodded. “Good luck.” ———————————————————————————————————————

Logic waited anxiously in front of his yard. What does Anxiety want? To see Susie once he get off his car? Or perhaps…See me? Stop it. Logic frowned. No, that’s not possible. He only wants me as a friend. Logic thought. He looked around the neighbor, trying to soothe his feelings by distracting himself, but the idea of seeing Anxiety tied a knot in his stomach. He fixed his hair once more and smoothed out every tiny wrinkle on his shirt. And then, he saw Anxiety’s car.

“Hi Anxiety! How’s your to-” Logic didn’t get to finish his line. He was cut off my a kiss from Anxiety.

“Hi Logic, my boyfriend.” Anxiety whispered into the kiss. They both ignored the whistle made by the band members.

Logic broke the kiss. His cheeks were as red as tomato. “Welcome back, Anx.”

Anxiety’s face broke into a huge smile. He hugged Logic and pulled him into another long gentle kiss. ———————————————————————————————————————

Anxiety waited in front of Logic’s door. He looked at himself in the mirror, fixing his fringe and smirked. He had the whole date planned.

“Sorry I’m nearly late. Did you wait for a long time?” Logic said apologetically. He hopped into the car and pressed a kiss on Anxiety’s cheek.

Anxiety started the car. “No, I just got here. Ready? Let’s go.”

Logic nodded. He was not sure if the date would be romantic. Both of them seemed rather unromantic, and their relationship was rather calm, yet he was still excited for this upcoming date. “Where’re we going?” Logic asked.

“Secret.” Anxiety smirked.

“So cliché.” Logic laughed while looking down the road. As they were driving toward the mountain in this early morning, the huge bright moon started to sink down.

Anxiety said quietly, “I’ve never seen a moon like today’s.”

“Yeah, and it’s so bright and white.” Logic agreed.

The moon sat on the mountain, peeking from the cloud, shedding soft and gentle light on the lovebirds. Just looking at the scene made Logic felt more relaxed and confident about their date. He had a feeling that the date would go fantastically well.

“You know, you’re just like the moon.” Anxiety suddenly said to Logic.

Logic tilted his head. “What? Why?”

Anxiety shook his head and did not reply.

Logic shrugged. He looked back to the moon, wondering why Anxiety said that, only being pulled back by Anxiety into a passionate kiss. “Hey! Watch out! You’re driving!” Logic mumbled incoherently. Anxiety chuckled a bit and pecked on Logic’s lips again before he focus back to driving.

After Logic got back from the date, he was both exhausted and satisfied. “Such a hopeless romantic. I guess after all he isn’t that introvert.” Logic muttered as he recalled memories of the date. ——————————————————————————————————————— A year later, at Disorder’s fifth year world wide tour’s final stop.

“Today's last song is for someone that has lightened my life. ‘Youth’, for my lover. Thank you.” Anxiety smiled. The fans screamed as loud as possible while a grin climbed up to Logic’s face. Anxiety cleared his throat and started to sing.

“What if, what if we run away; what if, what if we left today? What if we said goodbye to safe and sound?” All the lights were shut down.

“What if, what if we’re hard to find; what if, what if we lost our minds? What if we let them fall behind and they’re never found?” Tiny candles started to lit up.

“And when the lights start flashing like a photobooth, and the stars exploding we’ll be fireproof.”   The screen behind Anxiety started to show the pictures of Logic and him.

“My youth, my youth is yours. Trippin’ on skies sippin’ waterfalls. My youth, my youth is yours, run away now and forever more. My youth, my youth is yours. A truth so loud you can’t ignore. My youth, my youth, my youth, my youth is yours.” Anxiety pulled out his microphone.

“What if, what if we’re start to drive? What if, what if we close our eyes? What if we’re speeding through red lights into paradise?” Anxiety started to walk down the stage.

“Cause we’ve no time for getting old, mortal body timeless soul. Cross your fingers here we go.”  Fans moved around to give Anxiety space as if they already know where he’s going.

“And when the lights start flashing like a photobooth, and the stars exploding we’ll be fireproof.” He stood in front of Logic.

“My youth, my youth is yours. Trippin’ on skies sippin’ waterfalls. My youth, my youth is yours, run away now and forever more. My youth, my youth is yours. A truth so loud you can’t ignore. My youth, my youth, my youth, my youth is yours.” Anxiety looked at Logic affectionately and sang.

“My youth, my youth is yours. Trippin’ on skies sippin’ waterfalls. My youth, my youth is yours, run away now and forever more. My youth, my youth is yours. A truth so loud you can’t ignore. My youth, my youth, my youth, my youth is yours.” Anxiety put his finger under Logic’s chin, tilting Logic’s head, showing his now blushing cheeks.

“My youth is yours.” Anxiety smiled.

“My youth is yours.” As the final note is dropped, Anxiety kneeled in front of Logic. He pulled out a ring that has a moon carved on from his pocket.

“Will you marry me, my moon?”