#if you love science bros please interact

[lettingtimepass]

THERE ARE DOZENS OF US..... DOZENS!!!!

Link to video clip

[emilem-forevermore]

hey! intro post here :)

are you having a panic or anxiety attack? or just feeling upset? tap or click here

here is a link to the trevor project (a helpline for queer youth) if you are struggling. remember you deserve love and recovery :)

okay, a bit about me:

my name: you can call me em, ollie, or oliver!

my pronouns: he/they, for the most part, but i actually really like fae/xe/ey too :)

terms you can use for me: masc stuff is great, gender neutral good too! sir, mister (mr), boy, bro, dude, mage (mg), handsome, cute, manly, masc, and pretty/beautiful is okay

a few labels i use: bisexual, genderfluid, transmasc, demiromantic, and i think polyamorous!

my age: i am a minor. don’t be gross.

DNI: if you’re sending asks for donations, pedophiles, just here to be mean, sex blogs

my birthday: april 8th! i’m an aries :3

i also have a poetry blog! @emilems-poetry

some other stuff you might want to know:

i’m 5’0!

i earned a black belt in taekwondo.

single, but in a situationship

collection of nicknames/silly labels: emilem, gay little frat boy, catboy tea

i cannot play any instruments but would like to learn guitar one day

i’m a norwegian forest cat therian (i think) but i’m fine with being called human/person too - i have a therian blog. you'll find it.

adhd, autism (undiagnosed) and therapist says i might have ocd

if you want my spotify or pinterest (or scratch) dm me (it's something i'm willing to share but not like with the entire world lol)

music i like: harry styles, 1D, hozier, noah kahan, chappell roan, sabrina carpenter, taylor swift, the amazing devil, + a lot more

fandoms i am in: gravity falls, warrior cats, heartstopper, brooklyn nine nine, only murders in the building, a good girls guide to murder, the hunger games, ride the cyclone (kinda), + more

some of my interests: poetry, drawing, digital art, writing, reading, french, veterinary sciences, the human body, psychology, hebrew, spanish

PLEASE:

ask me stuff! i love answering questions

message me if you think i’m cool!!

send me art and poetry!!! it’s so awesome to look at :3

interact w me! i love talking to yall and i don't bite that often

if i say/do something that upsets you, let me know! i try to do my best to be inclusive and kind but sometimes i mess up so help me out :)

this is my favorite post on this website, a slight tw for self harm, but aside from that it might help if you're feeling down :)

i think you’re pretty awesome!! :) (especially trans, intersex, aromantic, agender, and asexual individuals!)

i love my moots more than the world!!!

here's a list of some of them

@hotteststar my first moot and fellow bisexual :)

@rins-batcave my reason /p

@raeprise mon cœur /p

@sparky4577 my brother (not irl but i wish)

@star-dust-shark and @crowwolf8 my favorite animals fr

@crowofthestars just really fuckn cool. go follow them!

@thecrazyalchemist my bestie with the coolest name(s) ever

@mrblazeflappybird my cool uncle essentially

@wishiwereheather13 my really cool moot im too nervous to talk to (your banner is so cool btw. just sayin.)

@boldofyoutoassumeicanspell my wise gal i should talk to more

@holiday-spice my favorite seasoning (get it. cause his name is spice. lol.)

@daggerhobbit where i'd get a dagger if i needed one. very cool

@aflairforthemelodramaticc my father :)

if you'd like to be added to (or removed from) this list lemme know! i have so many mutuals and i love them all beyond words <3

[muppetears-stuff]

I love Warren but he is high key lost potential and it makes me so sad. His character doesn't have the best writing and has some pretty bad dialogue lines for no reason. Also we don't lnow anything about Warren besides the fact he loves science, movies, and has a crush on Max. Most major characters in the game have a backstory of some kind....except Warren. For god sakes, we get to talk to poor Taylor and learn about her sick mom, but there's net zero info on Warren His character is already very bare bones effort, the fact the devs caved in to procefielders and fucked him up even more to make them happier makes me livid. I stand on my belief that Carlos Luna was sabotaged. I also think there are other LIS1 characters who are lost potential like Brooke, Courtney, Stella, Dana and etc but that's a story for another day. 💀

Me when devs ruin a completely good character with so much potential to appeal to the bigger part of the fan base

NO, BUT FR, I was so mad about this yesterday that I ranted to my older bro about it, and I'll do it again‼️

Long rant, you don't have to read if you don't want to ^^

I just wish we got so much more and to see more of who he was because he is so sweet, and I would've loved to see that more. It infuriates me to no end, knowing that the devs doubled down and appealed to the larger part of the fanbase, giving him fewer appearances, stating that he is a "stalker" in canon. I haven't read the comics but I I'm pretty sure they butchered his character there too.

I get that this game was important to many people, ESPECIALLY in 2014, because of the main female character getting the choice to romance her also female friend, that was super important and still is!!! But it's also not good to completely wipe another character, also stated as Max's best friend and another romance option and just. Giving us the option to hug or kiss him?? I'm not a big grahamfield-er either, but they had a lot of potential if they didn't completely ruin Warren's character because people didn't like him. There's still people who do??

Carlos Luna was definitely sabotaged, I reblogged a post talking about it. Here :3

I would've loved more depth to his character, even though it's really nice to read between the lines and make up some of my own things, I'm super afraid of going off of canon but like. There's barely any canon character to go off of so I can make up my own shit as I please- /pos

But I would've loved some dialogue of him worrying over having to study, and he probably shouldn't be out and about, gives us the feel that he pressures himself too much even if he's already doing his best and is one of the highest achieving students at Blackwell. Would've loved to see him being a bit mischievous at times after being exposed to Chloe, I firmly believe he'd be easily influenced and change his personality for the people he hangs out with without knowing. Which adds more depth!!

But ahhhhhh, I'm sorry for all the rants, guys😔😭 I don't want this to be all of what my blog is but everyone has a little hate/dislike in their heart and for me,,,,is assassinations of good characters. Whether literally or within writing. In Warren's case, it's both. I love sharing my art with all of you, but I still love it when you guys interact and send stuff in my inbox. It makes my day😭💖 This is not me telling you to stop because I kind of like ranting/raving about my favorite characters<3 so thank you ^^💖

Byeeee ^^

[bugbugdraws]

Just finished the last chapter of HTP. What an incredible final chapter, so amazingly constructed! @aquaquadrant you're amazing amazing. I liveblogged my thoughts as i was reading which I thought you might enjoy <3

Okay I’m a bit late starting writing down my thoughts but I think live-blogging this will be my only way of surviving these chapters.

Tango getting put back in the farm… WHAT. THE. HECK. God damn my heart, it was just as brutal as expected but I was not prepared… Im in pain

“And we can’t have you living a lie anymore, can we?” I SEE YOU AQUA, the lyrics from the Atlas song. That just took me out of it. You sneakkyyyy

Tango’s regretting the plan now ahhhhh, they didn’t remove the collar :S

Im having to pause because MY HEART IS HRUUTNG

Sudden realisation jimmy’s gonna find Tango in the farm like that D: 

Flashbacks to hours before when everyone is fine is FOUL, im getting whiplash 

(No, surely he’s not gonna…) -me and you both watchers

GRIAN WATCHERING IN JIMMYS HEAD, that’s so fucking funny get wrecked jimmy

MUMBO FRICKING JUMBO, the joy I feel right now almost makes me forget the pain of the present timeline 

Poor mumbo jumbo speed running  hels lore

we’ll… need you to go get X.” - the big guns coming in hot. I didn’t comprehend we’d get more characters in this chapter and im over the moon to see them! You write every single one so so well Aqua

“Right, okay…” Mumbo hesitates, scratching the back of his head. “Um, who’s Timmy?” I CAN HEAR MUMBO SAYING THIS, Aqua you never miss

Grian calling jimmy Tim and having to correct himself is such a nice touch

“Even knowin’ what would happen, I’d choose you a million times over.” HNGNNNNNN ARGH I love these stupid block men so much

Bravo seeing Tango’s ‘touches’ to the house, aww man 

(Intermission me going out for a meal and multiple bevs) 

Im not mentally or emotionally prepared for the rest of this

I love how you write everyone interacting. Even though there’s so many people no one is left out

Bravo forgetting Joel’s name hahah mr j

Bravo calling Tango ’skippy’ amuses me greatly

Timmy looking out in the overworld AHHh my heart

‘There’s a fragile stillness to him. Like a glass bottle on the edge of a table.’ - How do you come up with this poetic shit aqua wtf

Oh no, we’re addressing the eating D: Poor Timmy my heart

Me googling ‘shovel talk meaning’

I have beef with the metaphorical ocean that is tangos subconcious

Tango’s memories <3 No words, just happiness

Pt 2

Omg Brian not coming on the mission to keep Clear company is quiet amusing 

No one expects the surprise ravenger 

IMPULSE FULL DEMON MODE LETS GOOOO 

Jimmy and Bravo fighting together is so… I love it

Jimmy glad he didn’t make a tit of himself is so relatable. I feel ya bro

Omg they’re at the door, this is to intense for me

Oh god they found him 

HEEY HONEY TANGO CMON

Atlas is Widowmaker I swear, man is unstoppable with a crossbow!!

Bravo and tango fighting together now toooo, Jimmy’s preoccupied bless him

Atlas screaming is the most satisfying thing ever, get wrecked ya bastard

Omg tango has more wither stains now ahhh, that’s so heartbreaking

Tango chewing Atlas out is GLORIOUS

THEY’RE ATTACKING HIS SCIENCE, HIT HIM WHERE IT HURTS

‘Shoddy science’?! It was my magnum fucking opus!” - mans going through it, honestly what a line

Then he punches Atlas in the face. - god I hope his glasses are okay

Bravo steps forward to deliberately crush Atlas’s shades under his shoe. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

They made it through the portal :’ ) Tango embraced his blaze, and got one up on atlas <3 mannnnn im happy

bX just put Atlas through his second vocal beatdown of the day, daaamn

TIMMY GOT HIS BATH, THAT’S ALL I WANTED

Bravo giving Timmy a kiss on the check… im softboy right now, man I want them to be happy, please come back to him bravo

OHHH BOY DBUBS AND PATHO SEGMENT LETS GO

…

I AM UNHAPPY WITH THIS SEGMENT 

Okay I’ve been reading pretty intensely, it’s 2 in the morning, and suddenly STEVE??

HEROBRINE IS HELS ADMIN

I need to take a walk

Tango oh my god he’s gonna do it

He feels lighter oh my heart hug this man Jimmy

Im crying 

Well, it’s 3 in the morning. Aqua you’re amazing <3

[icosahedronsgalore]

haii >_<

my name is cyrus >< i downloaded tumblr because of my super cool friend @octahedral-chaos who i may or may not be shamelessly referencing with this introduction post

im from trinidad :33 im liek 17 so imm a minor and im indo-caribbean and im also gender fluid and im afab with a very wonderful awesome girlriend so im VETY MUCH NOT STRAIGHT and im a system im like collecting ebery label under the sun wow so if you have a problem with amy of that BLOCK ME !!!!

im the host of a system called the Flora Collective and we have a BUNCH of twisted wonderland fictives wow its avtually insane its either we're a twst fictive or a brainmade theres no in between

DISCLAIMER I have no idea how to do even the most basic things in tumblr so ermm im very veery slow to reply.... or i might not reply in general 😭😭😭😭😭😭

ABOUT ME 🔥🔥🔥🔥

i dont know ANYTHING about worldless because my ass is too lazy to watvh a playthrouggh BUT i am very interested in the story and i think the gamrplay anf graphics and stuff sre really cool and octa really likes it so i like it too 🙏🙏

other than that i LOVE twisted wonderland like i really love twisted wonderland i live and breathe twisted wonderlsnd

i like OCTAHEDRON (especially icosa) and genshin and uhhhh wuthering waves and ermm IKEMEN VAMPIREEUEHE anf demon slahyer and jjk nd other animes n allat and im interested in all kinda stuff liek history and uhh literatur and vlassical music anf the paranormal and stuff idk i basically have dabbled into ebetything in my youth and i still like ythem 🤓👆

i speaj english and spanish but spanish is kinda iffy so forgibe me + im stufying spanish literature anf environmental science in scjool 👅👅👅 i eanna go into law aftetward n make thay bank

i DRAW sometimes but i mOSTLY JUST use tumblr to read fanfiction icl i love fanfiction especially x readers 😭😭😭 shameless plug i make my own twisted wonderland x fem reader fanfictoon its called give me a break on quoteb HUEHEUWHW its my biggest passion project and its also the source of many of our alters

did i mention i like twisted wonferlanf

BEFORE YOU INTERACT

on a more serious note, i make a lot of spelling errors when im talking casually or when im joking around. its practically a second language, and its kind of my signature of typing compared to the rest of the system (can u tell the system is a big part of who i am 😭🤓👆)

other alters are different and all have our own interests, but my interests are kind of collective amongst us all so 👍👍👍 theyre all cool IG.

also, i don't use tone tags that often on my own, so if we're in conversation please don't hesitate to request that i use them with you i'll totally understand and i'll do it!!

ON A SUPER GENUINELY SERIOUS note, i am a minor but i am interested in and write dark/triggering things. it is purely a coping mechanism, and i really dont bring it up unless the topic comes up in conversation, but if you simply arent comfortable with talking to someone who willingly engages with that stuff, especially since im a minor i will completely understand and you are free to block me or not interact!! no hard feelings ><,, your comfort comes first !!!

DNI BRO 😭😭😭

BASIC DNI CRITERIA !!! THERES AN ENTIRE CARRD FOR IT

COMSHIPPERS. i may write about disgusting topics, but ONLY when it is an x reader, therefore only when the victim in the situation is ME. it is sickening to see other innocent characters in those kinds situations. do not ever mistake my dark fiction writing for comshipping. i do not support proshipping in any form, either.

PEOPLE WHO romanticise dark fiction. genuinely, you disgust me. i WRITE it, so i very well understand the appeal in reading it, but if you genuinely SUPPORT and DESIRE these things, do not talk to me, and do not assume i will entertain you. we need to acknowledge that fiction DOES affect reality, and we need to be responsible with the media that we consume and spread around. thanks!! >_<

hueheuwhe wowee thanks 4 reading my intro guys :3333c my discord is cyrxslol BTW

[peterparkersnose]

Last of Us Spoilers Episode 3

—————————

Joel’s broken hand in the rocks seemed so sad. rip tess

kumbaya he’s stacking the rocks now

Ellie with Joel’s jacket as a blanket awwe

I love how Ellie is bothering Joel it’s so cannon I love it

5 MILE HIKE??? my feet would be hurting. i don’t get out much cant you tell?

ELLIE WHY are you opening that shit in the gas station??? Close the mystery door please!

TF SHE GETTING IN FOR?

nvm tampons

the infected scared the shit out of me

why is she dissecting it miss girl this ain’t a science class

they never mentioned tampons in the game, i’m so happy they finally addressed it somehow

HEY i remember that shot from the first teaser pic! i legit thought it was fake too for the longest time. nope deja vu

mass graves tho like it makes sense. sad.

BRO THEY GOT TO MAKE THAT TRANSITION FROM THE DEAD PPL CLOTH TO WHEN THEY WERE ALIVE ouch

for what

Nick Offerman as Bill 10/10 casting

Bill was fucking prepared goddamn

at least someone had a good time during the apocalypse

THE TRAPS! so disappointed we didn’t get much from that tho.

the ‘don’t tread on me’ flag and he’s gay? (when worlds collide)

Frank is adorable

All I see is Ron Swanson in Bill IM SORRY

Frank is so wholesome I love this sun and moon trope going on

KISS! First kiss in this show that’s been GOOD (traumatic flashbacks to last week’s kiss)

Love in the apocalypse tho i mean meeting someone like that- wow. beautiful.

This is so sweet, I hate that I know what’s coming

OHMYGOD TESS AND JOEL? AT DINNER?

loving domestic joel

tess looked so beautiful and happy it makes her death even worse

i’m obsessed with how they aged the characters. beautifully of course.

“If… mine,” Joel describing Tess

Loving 2011 Joel. Gives us more of a backstory I love it.

Bill all dressed up for Frank’s friends awwe

2014 Strawberries i love this sm

“Not on the strawberries!” LMAO

Yo now there pee paws, so cute

I love how there taking care of eachother in old age

Pretty sure frank has ms. so sad.

why am i crying this is so sad

“get married” i’m done bye tears

better ending than franks game ending for sure

THIS SHOW DESERVES A FUCKING EMMY

double suicide?

i will say the missed out chance on batshit bill gameplay is sad

hot take not enough interaction with infected so far, i wanna see joel go feral on some runners

Joel got his car at least

I’m so sad it’s different from the game but I loved Frank and Bill’s love story

More audio I recognize from the game! Joel’s Rules! LOVE

ELLIE GOT HER SHIRT

Showering omg i bet you joel smells like ass

SHOWERED JOEL he looked so handsome with his hair wet slicked back

bro ellie doesn’t know what a seatbelt is

Episode 3 10/10

[nyaboshi]

Please yap about Achlys, I want to know everything

OIB;OWJ BITING YOU /affec I WOULD LOVE TO TALK ABOUT MY BABY BOY

Everything is below the cut, because this is about to get long. Teehee~

I saw this ask when you originally sent it, anon, but the reason it's taken me so long to respond is because I was rushing to get this done:

A brand new, shiny reference for my boy! Wings colored and everything, finally!! I wanted to reveal this while simultaneously answering your ask, causeee I have a lot to say about this goober.

First off, I'll start with backstory. Achlys was a character I created for a roleplay with a friend of mine, and he hasssss... spiraled. I love him so much, he's my precious little bean.

He was created in a lab by a scientist named Xander, who was obsessed with creating human hybrids and monstrosities in attempts to create the perfect soldiers. All of his attempts in the past had proven to be too unstable and unfit for actual battle. At some point, Xander came to the conclusion that it was because he was adding DNA to human beings who had already existed. His new priority became to gather the DNA of an individual and use it to make a clone that he would then mix with the DNA. Achlys was the first product of this experimental process (at least the first to not die immediately after being "born"). Xander started with something as simple as the DNA of a butterfly, just to see what it would be like if such an experiment succeeded. What Xander did not expect was to become emotionally attached to the kid. He raised him for a few years, and he eventually because like a father to him. After an altercation with his nefarious works that nearly cost him Achlys' life, he gave up his dangerous and illegal practices, faked his death so the authorities wouldn't be after him, and started a new life with his child.

Achlys grew up within a morally gray household. Although Xander taught him morals to prevent him from getting on the bad side of the law – both because he didn't want Achlys to grow up to be like him (huzzah, character development!) and because trouble with the law meant Achlys being discovered and likely hauled away/killed – that didn't stop Achlys from becoming a bit of a troublemaker. He's loud-mouthed, manipulative at times, and generally kinda self-centered. Achlys definitely isn't afraid to tell minor fibs to get what he wants, and he can and will pull out the good ol' puppy dog eyes on his poor old papá to get him to cave. Xander is somewhat immune to it by the time Achlys hits his mid teenage years. But not completely. Despite his iffy morals though, he's generally a good kid. All of his stuff adds up to petty actions only. If he ever actually got pushed to do anything truly evil, he'd just kinda stand there and likely have a panic attack. Ironically enough, Achlys is easily manipulated. All it takes is flattery and the promise of something sweet and he'll be eating out of the palm of your hand. That's only for first time interactions, though. If you take that opportunity and use it to wrong him, hoof... Once Achlys trust is broken, it is ridiculously hard to earn it back. ANOTHER IMPORTANT DETAIL!!! He is such a dummy. Like. My gosh, somebody help this child... He can't do basic math for the life of him, and not from lack of Xander trying to teach him. Achlys just refuses to pay attention to anything that doesn't interest him unless it's what he deems as super important. And... schooling was not one of those things. He did enough to get by and then it went right out his other ear. Bro can count, but like– If you asked him what 12 x 9 was he'd just sit there and stare at you blankly. The only subject in school he took an interest to was science – it made him feel connected with Xander, cause that's his father's passion. Does he understand a lick of what's being said to him? Not really, no. But does he actually try to listen and learn for once so he can assist him in the "completely safe" experiments he conducts? Of course! On that note, Achlys thinks the world of Xander. His father's opinion is really the only one he cares about. Achlys can get berated by a horde of angry Karens and not give two shakes of a rat's tail; however, the moment Xander does so much as raises his voice at him, he shrinks and turns into a puddle of tears. Never in front of Xander. He holds his ground until he's alone in his room. Then he curls up underneath his covers (or under the bed, depends on how badly he was lectured) and wallows. There's no greater achievement to Achlys than receiving Xander's praise and approval. Which he does receive often, because Xander adores his little sharp-toothed shark child.

ANYWHOZZLE This got real long. XD

I have much more to say in terms of character arcs I have planned out in my noggin for him as well as anatomy headcanons and thoughts I chew on like fruit gummies. But I will leave it at that for now

Once again, thank you so much for the ask, anon! I hope you continue to love him as much as I do (if such a feat is possible, I'm tear him to shreds regularly like a dog /affec)

[itsyagurlchip]

HIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIIIII BAPS YOU AROUND BAPS YOU AROUND BAPS YOU AROUND TACKLES YOU INTO A PILE OF PLUSHIES AND SKITTERING AWAY /AFF

COMING BACK BECAUSE I WANT TO TALK TO YOU AND I LOVE YOU VERY MUCH HIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIIIIIIII!!!!!

aha. i see... the post you tagged me in.... AND I SHALL DELIVER!!! kitty-delivery is at your service!!!!!!!!!!!! MYUHUHUUUUUU AWAWAWAWAAAAA (≧▽≦) (≧▽≦) (≧▽≦) (≧▽≦) (≧▽≦)

OKAYOKAYOKAY— so!! hmmmm.... what's up with gasty boy? what's gonna happen now that he's actually present and existing instead of scattered across everything everywhere all at once?? he's giving mad scientist but how far does the mad scientist go????? i'm interested in him 'cause i don't think i've ever read a sans au fic like this where the OG gaster was there too and i love the way you write them all!!!!!! or if you wanna do something else,, take this as an opportunity to infodump about anything you want!!!!! WAVE EMOJI WAVE EMOJI LOVE YOU CHICHIIII!!!! (≧▽≦)/ (≧▽≦)/

HAI KITTY <3333 SEEIN YO GUYS ALWAYS MAKES ME SMILE :) THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

alright, you already know that he's a mad scientist, but as i've said before, he's morally gray, which means a lot of things don't deter him of completing/doing experiments.

which is why the lil 'oopsie daysie' happened with machine, and that's why there are alternates at the manor.

sans and papyrus, at the least, are pissed about it. but this discovery makes gaster's nerdy big boy brain hyperfixate on anything relating to the topic of alternative universes (humans in this universe dont have much research about it other than the occasional movie that makes you think, and the theories.)

and if i go further into this id spoil some of the plot (which i already did enough of) sooo, lets think of some hypothetical scenarios and headcannons!

id say that reader (you) would get into the lab a lot. and while you can be a great lab assistant, lets be honest, you touch too much shi 💀💀

gaster would have this thing where he'd put you in he corner for 5 minutes before letting you interact with the work again.

when i think of gaster's experiments, not only do i think of vials of dangerous liquids, but i also think of a SHIT ton of notes just neatly organized into notebooks on a metal shelf

a lot of the pages are more about ramblings and tiny details rather than general info

so if you try to read it, please get some context dear.

i know most ppl have the headcannon that sans gets his sleepy eepies from his dad, but he completely developed that on his own

gaster has a schedule set to where he sleeps for 8 hours, and only has 3 hours of free time.

which means if you see the other 13 hours blocked on his schedule he will not acknowledge you unless you are helping him progress

Going back to his interests, i think his favorite part about science are the details that most people miss that just really bring the whole theory together into a fact.

bro prolly has some national scientist awards and threw that shi straight into the trash.

its not that he isnt proud of his achievements actually, not at all.

he just doesn't need someone else, better yet a human to tell him so

so he tries to ignore the public despite their incessant please for his presence ✨

Since gaster actually exists, he is still labeled as the royal scientist, despite not being apart of a monarchy anymore, and does favors for the king when the curiosity allows it.

I want him to be a grandfather figure, who rambles on about success in life, who is also emotionally repressed, who also takes many risks that a man his age shouldn't.

his ideas and experiments are very "out of the box" per say. Like, if you told him you cant see souls at all (which is most likely gonna happen) dudes gonna strap you down and ignore your cries of pain as he extracts the your soul from your chest. poking and prodding at it to compare it to a monster soul.

i mean, he has the real thing now! no need to rely in outdated textbooks and theories right? why not test it for himself? and if you resent him for the rest of your life for it, he would tell you how lucky you are to still be alive and that he got what he wanted without losing a "potential specimen".

which makes you wonder what other lives has gaster been liable for??...oh well!

And noowwww back to the reader!

since reader is now gonna be a big part of his life- he'll allow certain things to slide. as you live more and more with him and the gang, he'll call you assistant or human and not by your real name.

i dont think gaster would spend much time around you during his scheduled hours (he kicks you out half the time)

but during his free time, and since you're human, he is very curious.

he asks about you, what it's like being a human female, what makes your skin darker than other humans, and why'd you conjoin your hair-

just lots of general questions about your appearance and how humans literally dont use INTENT at all.

and yes, INTENT, DETERMINATION, ATK, LOVE, and much more terms from undertale will be used in this fic. so i suggest getting into the fandom vocab a bit when you can-

but to put it simply, INTENT is like another way of language for monsters. it's pretty much what it says, but to break it down: intent is something that you do with purpose.

personally, i headcannon intent to be more intune with emotions and how the user feels and/or wants to feel in the moment. for example "aggressive and murderous intent" or "caring, sweet, and loving intent." and INTENT carries magic within it, hence why monsters are so in tune with internal emotions while humans aren't. and that's why monsters re more in danger with humans than any other creature, because humans used unknowing intent that could kill a monster in one hit.

Surprisingly enough he doesn't like to spend his breaks at home in his bed.

instead, he goes out to muffet's for a very specific coffee order, and a spider muffin.

half of the time he'll make you pay with your own money, crippling your pockets.

other times he'll roll his eyes when you "forget" to bring your wallet and get you only a drink off the menu.

if you catch him as he's leaving out for a break, gaster may sometimes not go to muffet's at all and find a park to watch kids trip at.

or maybe a grass field during golden hour.

im not gonna say that gaster hates kids, but it's moreso that fact that they...are underdeveloped, and therefore harder to understand in his eyes.

as ive said before, this guys ignores his feelings, so he gets uncomfortable when people show theirs.

so when you cry, or get angry in situations that dont seem as big to him as it does to you, he lowkey cringes a bit.

but since.. *sigh* you're now his pupil, as well as someone who takes his work more seriously than others (DESPITE YOUR TENDENCY TO TOUCH SHIT)

he has to take of you now! and *gags* comfort you

bro cant comfort for shit (which is one of the reasons why they dont have plants at their house)

so when you hug him with your snotty face... and your...wet tears, he shivers aggressively but tries to keep still

yea he doesn't hug back at all, its bad enough he has to watch you!

(or maybe it's bc he doesn't know how to hug back 👀)

In this au, the reader is canon to the universe. not isekaid, not transported, no. she lives there and the code is accurate. so any and all timelines will include her.

and timelines are gonna be a "what if", or maybe a chapter for angst. idk yet. And in this fic, imma make the choice for flowey not to remember resets. but only due to his will (cool right?).

frisk isn't really gonna be included much into the plot, only when it calls for it.

oh shit- back to gaster

not sure if i said this before, but warming up to gaster even the littlest bit is like reading a 100 chapter slowburn.

it's gonna take a long time, hell, maybe a year or so, for him and reader to start actually building a granddaughter/grandpa relationship. so while youre still getting to know him, it's like he's avoiding you, (but you clearly don't read his schedule enough sooooo)

and when you guys finally get to that point, you guys are like buddies. he'll ramble to you about certain topics, while you sit and listen.

you'd watch movies with him as he overanalyzes characters and plots, only to fuck it up and end up with something different, claiming "he could write a better one".

gaster loves helping you study

even if it's for a 5 question quiz, he'll help you out as much as he can!

plus, id be a shame if the ✨Smartest Man On the Surface ™✨ let his little human fail!

nuh uh, not happening!!!

he's very proud of you everytime you get an assignment back with an A with lots of praise from the teachers.

he'll even try to get you in a routine (which rarely works often, as easy as it seems)

gaster chuckles every time you make him a homemade snack, or lunch meal, it warms his little heart ❤️

Other times he can't stand your attitude

Why cant you control yourself in situations that aren't bigger than you make it seem?

it racks his big brain so much, that he bans you from the lab for 3 days when stuff like that happens.

he really hates it when someone has a tone with him, it grinds against some part of his brain the makes his more "violent" and intrusive thoughts.

its not noticable at first, at least not to him, but after the 1st hour he begins thinking

"humans have skeletons right?"

"what would skin all in a pile look like?"

"what would happen if he gripped, squeezed and strangled a soul made of pure determination?"

of course, he already knows that answer to those. and if you dont, just ask frisk.

im sure they remember very well.

but after the intrusive thoughts go away, he's just left seething in anger.

i feel like gaster (,similar to donnie from rise) has a hard time understanding other people, because he's been alone for most of his life.

and that makes him jealous of you.

but in the end, you'll always be gaster's little assistant ❤️

(๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و tags: @kittykittyanon @radicallxser @oleander-nin @towomatos @thealphagirl @ziipzeepzop-eez @spongejuice @amorisbackandbetterthanever @cyb3r-st4r if you would like to be added, check my blog. if you would like to be added, check my blog. SEE? I SAID IT TWICE!!

[turtle--soup]

Next Mutation episode 8 liveblog beneath the cut

"You said there would be babes here!" Mikey my dude you fell for that? Unless there's just been some genuine miscommunication here. Mikey asks if there's gonna be babes and Donnie's like 'hmm there's probably going to be intelligent women there as well...' "Yes Mikey there will be babes. Obviously."

"I'm emailing him directly into his brain" Nice. Plot relevant?

Ooh laser light show!

I have no idea what's going on.

Oh they kidnapped Quease okay.

I have this theme tune playing in my head 24/7 please send help

"Ey, have a ball heh heh heh" Honestly Raph being relatable again. My sense of humour and delivery exactly lol

Leo you can't get mad at her for not knowing sports terminology she's adorable stop bullying her 😤

"Donnie's hero is a complete wackazoid" Well that tracks I guess

"May I eat you?" "Certainly not." Interaction of the century

I wish I could make literal mental notes for myself ngl

Donnie trying to bribe Mikey with food, Leo by polishing his sword, Venus by meditating with her, Raph by sparring with him. Interesting that he apparently tried them in that order?

Squeaky toy noise. I love Wick.

Wtf even is that machine?

You can plug the controls into your brain? Some classic Demon Headmaster shit right there. (In that case you should be able to defeat it with puns. These guys will be fine.)

"They (mutants) invented themselves" I... guess you could see it that way?

"Ah shellacious I found you." I love how that was dropped in like a normal word honestly that was fun.

"Who who who who who who who who who WHO are you?"

Dude just listen to him ffs

God okay so he's siding with dragon dude bc he wants to use his lab to dissect Donnie. For science, you understand.

I lose 10 years of my lifespan whenever he says "Raph 'n' roll" I swear.

Did that vehicle roar at me? Like a big cat. Does it do that every time?

"Sassyyyyyyyyyy... I must remember to rectify that" You can't just do that to a Donnie, bro. It's built in.

Honestly poor Donnie. Never meet your heroes I guess

Every time Raph speaks I remember that it's Matt 'Ed from Ed Edd 'n' Eddy' Hill and I just asdghghfgdgk

Mikey whatcha doin?

Dragon dude why are you playing along with a knock knock joke? Come on.

Omg Mikey that's hilarious well done

Shelladelic. Honestly I might make an actual list. A frickin dictionary, perhaps.

Yeah that vehicle roared at me.

"Does your face hurt? Well it's killing me!" This Raph inherited 1987 Raph's Bumper Joke Book (I love that for him)

Splinter's question to Donnie about whether it's really Donnie who needs Quease to believe in him... 🥺 After he tried to dissect him and everything 🥺 Donnie I get it bro but you deserve better buddy.

[cursedmagician]

> PROCESSING [ABOUT ME]… ENTER CREDENTIALS.

asks: open

art requests: open (no nsfw or proship)

welcome to my blog everyone! i’m glad you’re here because i’ve been meaning to post here for an… unceremoniously long time. here are some things that you should know about me!

ABOUT ME !!!1!1!! POW POW POW

you can call me magician or holograph, my pronouns are he/they and i’m 14 years old and taken already… sorry ladies…

MY OTHER SOCIALS!!

insta: cursed.magician

pinterest: thecursedmagician

twitter: illumigraph

spacehey: https://spacehey.com/cursedmagician

i’m a pretty weird person you can deeefinitely tell!! i’m like the stereotypical weird kid because i make fanfiction fanart fan merch fan EEEVERYTHING and i like shipping, like how much worse can i get /silly XD

i love fixating on things for weeks at a time before completely forgetting about them, but i never ever forget… and they can be revived very easily…

i’m also a huge nerd which is gonna blatantly obvious by the time you read my interests section but i LOVE ranting about this stuff so feel free to chat with me hehe

yes, i have a golden retriever personality so. please talk to me PLEASE I WANT TO MEET COOL PEOPLE i promise i don’t bite :3

im always looking for new friends to talk to! that being said, sometimes i can get kind of inactive for periods of time but not for long I PROMISE!!!!

⋆ ★ BYF:

i tend to use a lot of flashing imagery and eye straining colours!

you will see me talk about triggering topics sometimes here. my art may also include triggering topics, so i will add a trigger warning if it does have those.

i’m pretty sarcastic and can make offensive jokes, however i do use tone tags to indicate as such. feel free to use tone tags on me too!

at the time of writing i still have no idea how to interact with people on tumblr since i never really used it much before. if i get things wrong, do tell me :P

this is a pretty fandom focused blog. i cant help it, but yes there will be a lot of fandom posting and shipping and everything like that. i might try to keep it balanced but i won’t try too hard because i’m just gonna post whatever i want here

⋆ ★ interests:

object shows, gravity falls, south park, amphibia, toh, ok ko, scott pilgrim, chainsaw man, wonder egg priority, murder drones, tadc, fnaf, omori, undertale, deltarune, oneshot, hello charlotte, tloz, pokemon, sonic, ultrakill, geometry dash, regretevator, backrooms, scp

drawing, writing, voice acting, video editing, animating, math (especially different ratios and algebraic formulas), old web, old technology, computer/game history, nostalgia, dark web, computer science, building computers, brain rot on instagram reels 🤤

⋆ ★ DNI

basic dni, nsfw, people who are just going to make fun of/harass me, people against my interests (this means you are actively against it, not just uncaring about it), people who are just going to get on my nerves, close minded people, genuinely narcissistic people, people who sexualise EVERYTHING GRRR

TAGS (more may be added later?) ⊹ ࣪ ˖

magician.iso - life, journal sort of thing and general posts ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁

sketchbook.folder - serious art, official art and all that jazz ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁

scrapbook.folder - sketches, studies, and other misc art ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁

stage.drive - rambling and yapping because i’m a chronic yapper bro ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁

type.txt - writing of any kind! may include links ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁

˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗

ENJOI MY BLOG !!

[im-out-of-it]

I agree with your Kit post so sad to see him done dirty thankfully I found some fanfics where he gets a proper storyline

and what about gabriel not even reacting to his baby being seconds away to die? Why did only Will and James said anything during that moment in the ball?

THANK YOU SO FUCKING MUCH!!!!!!!! I’ll warn ya, this turns into a rant and it’s hella long. just cautioning ya 🥹 if you find some fanfics, please send them my way if you can 🥰 in my head, kit is alive and well and gets treated like the beautifully intelligent science 🧬 sweet man he is 😭

it’s so sad and shitty that we don’t even get to see Gabriel and Cecily knowing about it!!!!! like they just don’t know about it? and I hate that cc always makes the herondales her top priority. having Will go on about James WHO IS VERY MUCH ALIVE is insane. I get he’s concerned but KIT IS DEAD AND ITS ALMOST LIKE NO ONE EXCEPT THOMAS ANNA AND GRACE CARE

OH MY GOD YOURE TALKING ABOUT LITTLE ALEXANDER AND HERE I AM BITCHING IM SORRY 😭

yes it’s so ridiculous that James and Will basically take over that interaction. you’re telling me that Gideon has lost a daughter because of his sister and Gabriel is about to almost lose a son because of his sister and THEY DONT REALLY DO ANYTHING? and I really hate that CC has Gideon being like “this is ridiculous, Tessa is a warlock and she’s bound to have a demon father but it doesn’t mean she is in league with him.” BRO YOUR SISTER HAS YOUR NEPHEW HELD HOSTAGE. like why did they have to make this whole thing be about Tessa?

you’ve just reignited my hatred for that storyline so thank you so much 👏🏼😌 and what amazes me the most is that Alexander is what three years old and basically gets tortured during this whole time and then they go back to making it all about Will and Tessa? it’s unreal. if I’m Gideon and my sister is stealing my nephew, I’m raising hell. I’ll never get through to her but I’m doing all I can to protect my nephew. like all the shadowhunters there and that’s what they’re going to focus on? ridiculous.

it’s focused on James and will because CC has always focused on the herondales. watch how all the herondales are usually all main characters or at least love interests. the only ones not as much in TDA but jace is still heavily in that series, at least it felt that way to me. instead of making this about you know Gabriel’s toddler being kidnapped and used as leverage, cc makes it all about Tessa being a warlock and being “in league” with belial.

I’ve noticed that CC has an habit of having an idea (Kit dying, Alexander being kidnapped, kit in the first book almost dying) but using another storyline or idea to overlap that and make it a priority over the original idea. aka- James being in Hell and making that the focus, Tessa being in supposed league with a prince of hell, James going to Hell to fight Belial.) I don’t know maybe it’s not as drastic as I make it seem but it always seems like instead of focusing on one idea, cc uses something else and then BAM suddenly theres a new focus and takes more precedence

I think all in all, the fact that Tatiana’s crimes are constantly being overlooked and that it’s never stated she had a hand in Barbara being killed and the fact her brothers are dealing with all this grief and losing a child because of her is wasted potential and material. Tatiana has made hell for her brothers and it’s never really mentioned?????

Tatiana is so mad with revenge that she’s built these thoughts in her head that Gabriel and Gideon are responsible for her grief. she’s so far gone that she thinks it’s an eye for an eye. but she’s the one that had a hand in murdering her own son. I’m sorry but trusting dark warlocks? girl you made your own bed. she should be mad at her father for being a shit father and not training her. it’s not Gideon or Gabriel’s fault that he died or that he killed your husband. a husband who turns out can’t even stand you lmao

I like TLH as a series but I hate how it’s handled. because there are so many characters and storylines we missed out on. I always wanted this series more focused on Thomas and Alastair, and more heavily on the lightwoods because I think they’re more interesting. I feel that there’s a lot that could’ve been done with this storyline. there’s many complex characters but they don’t really get a focus. just so many missed opportunities in my opinion

thanks for letting me vent 💀 I didn’t mean to slightly go off but the writing irritates me so much. but I definitely agree with your statements ✨

[lupinus-bicolor]

MORE EARTHSPARK THOUGHTS

i fucking LOVE these kids holy shit. I've been avoiding spoilers for the most part so i went into the rest of this season blind and I really appreciate the fact that Jawbreaker is still figuring himself out. It feels like the new terrans speed-ran their character arcs (understandable given the earlier focus on Twitch, Thrash, Robby, and Mo) but Jawbreaker being given time to develop and sort of fixate on searching for a perfect alt mode is endearing. His contrast to Hashtag being an impulsive ipad kid is *chefs kiss*. so fucking funny. her first week being alive has been spent watching tv dramas and internet memes and her alt mode being a constantly internet connected armored van is just perfect. and the little ponytail <3<3<3 I like seeing her learn to connect with the others in a meaningful way that doesn't talk down to ipad kids (which, tbh, is too easy and too... mean spirited? for this show. im so glad they treated her with respect and whimsy)

ALSOOOOO hi nightshade hi hi hiiiii your alt mode is so goth im LIVING. love this kid with their crazy science projects and fantasy literature. THE BATMAN REFERENCES IN THE FINALE AKDJFLKASDF also their self assuredness and autistic swag making them a little unable to find common ground with their siblings is heart meltingly sweet. Its really nice to see their parents understanding that and helping them along with it too ;A; TARANTULAS ACTING AS A SORT OF MENTOR OUUUUGH don't @ me but this might actually push me to watch beast wars. i need more of this goth bitch in my life. I really want them to show up in future episodes but as is I'm really happy they got to go free of ghost. best of luck with the holomatter bro

i have minor beef with the way they're focusing on the war backstory but Thrash's "why are you leaving the new generation to clean up your mess" speech was good, if not entirely satisfactory. old grandma megatron can't rebuild the transformers' relationship to humanity on his own and the terrans really are a perfect bridge, i feel. I'm just glad they're given time to be more than that first. (speaking of that episode, r.i.p. shockwave, #1 asshole).

aside from the thing with dr octagonopus meridian though, i really did like the new episodes even if they did feature less of the old cast than i'd prefer. Watching Twitch interact with the new terrans and taking on the older sister role and sort of controlling some of her worst impulsivity is really cool to watch, and her taking on too much of the burden of responsibility in reaction to Bumblebee leaving genuinely has me worrying for her. Kudos to the writing team for such a subtle character shift. please give her a break before this girl develops eldest daughter syndrome im begging you

[deakyjoe]

Episode 6 tlou spoilers ahead

My thoughts and favourite moments throughout the episode:

WHY DID WE HAVE TO START THE EPISODE THERE??

Oop three months goddamn

BRO IS THAT HARRY CLEARWATER FROM TWILIGHT

“Little psycho” 💀

The classic Pedro Pascal puppy dog eyes making an appearance

Ellie is so fucking funny

Panic attack???????

Joel gives in so easily

Crying over their conversation over the fire

Ellie doing second watch when Joel fell asleep 🥹🥹

Joel standing up like an old man (details!!)

Joel not understanding science again 🫶

ELLIE AND THE DOG

Tommy and Joel reuniting had me sobbing

“Oh, shit. Congrats! Joel say congrats.” “Congrats 😐.”

Gabriel Luna is fine as hell

Me: ah, communism Joel: so uh, communism Me: see??

OH DON’T MENTION TESS

OH HE LIED ABOUT TESS

OH HE’S LYING ABOUT ELLIE TOO

Interesting…

“I guess we’ll find out.” Killed me

Damn that went sour so easily

Not these people out here looking like SARAH

A MENSTRUAL CUP

I love this show for acknowledging that people still have periods during an apocalypse

What’s that… oh

Feeling sad over Sarah again… and poor Kevin

Messy ass haircut

Joel confessing to Tommy!!

“She’s immune.” Hit hard, I don’t know why

“It was her dyin’ wish. What the hell else was I supposed to do?”

“I was so afraid.” SCREAMING

The whole fear monologue from Joel actually. Pedro Pascal ACTING HIS HEART OUT

Crying along with Pedro right here

Learn to knock Joel 🙄

Ellie reading the old diary

“I’m not her, y’know?” Oop

YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT LOSS IS

The whole fucking interaction really

“You’re right. You’re not my daughter. And I sure as hell ain’t your dad.” I hate Joel.

Christmas tree… oh- OH

SARAH!!

Ellie leaving thinking she’s not getting a goodbye

Joel being in the stables

Ellie choosing Joel

“Adios, big brother.” Violently crying.

Joel teaching Ellie to shoot

“You gonna shoot this thing or get it pregnant?” She’s too funny

The landscape and cinematography are gorgeous

Ellie resting against Joel’s back

The fucking jokes about sheep 😭

A singer. He wanted to be a singer.

I WANNA HEAR PEDRO PASCAL SING AS JOEL

They really do have bad luck when it comes to the fireflies

TURNED THEM INTO MONKEYS

Oh shit

Damn he broke his neck

OH SHIT

OH FUCK

Why would he do that 😭 now bro’s bleeding out

ELLIE SHOOTING AT THEM

Joel’s looking a little pale and sickly

I laughed when he fell off the horse. Sorry.

“I can’t fucking do this without you.” My feelings are hurt

Ellie crying?? Goddamn

Depeche Mode!!

The shaky “Please. Joel, please.” OUCH

The Depeche Mode cover!!

Ayo the end??

I gotta wait another week now??

Ah, fuck ☹️

[countlessrealities]

MULTIMUSE MEME: Send a " ⭐ " and I will list muses I would be interested in throwing at yours, or potential muse combinations if you are also a multi.(copied the meme just to make sure you know what meme it is, since it can get quite confusing with all the memes out there to remember which one was for what occasion)

Send a ⭐ and I'll tell you which muses I'd be interested in throwing at yours || Always accepting !

After an age and a half, I'm finally replying to this! Sorry for the wait, but I wanted to answer your ask while having enough time and brain energy to give you something substantial combos and plots wise.

For the muses on my side, I'm basing myself on your pick on my interest checker, since I'm assuming those are the ones you'd like to interact with ^^

Rick: Obviously Dr. Chandra would be the most obvious interactions since he could easily mistake my Rick for the Rick who gave him the portal gun / Rick might want to know why some random guy has access to portal travel. I could also seeing him interacting (whether it means making pals or butting heads) with Tycho (science & bad attitude bros),

Morty: I could definite see Morty making friends with your younger AI muses (Joshua, Edgar, Hal, Tau) and be either some sort of "babysitter" or just help getting them in even more trouble. Both things are equally possible xD Also, I could see him sort of stalking Dr. Chandra while he works (he does like watching Rick work, but well, Rick isn't exactly the teaching kind xD)

Evil Rick: AM - If you ever want to explore AM having his progress undone, Rick is definitely the kind of muse who could do that. He is very level-headed and cold most of the time, but he is also sadistic, enjoys experimenting on living beings also for the sake of it, and he has moments when he goes all "evil mad scientists" where he shows a much wilder side of himself. Colossus - Very serious and no-nonsense attitude? Big lack of understanding when it comes to human emotions, but curious towards them? He could be Rick's soul twin xD He's not a people person at all and he's very picky when it comes to acknowledge someone's existence (let alone make friends), but I think Colossus is the kind of person he could get along with.

Rick Prime: AM - Pretty much what I said about Evil Rick, with the different that Weird Rick would probably purposefully try to get AM back to his old self as a game or a little side project to keep himself entertained. He just loves planting the seeds for a big mess and then sitting and watching the chaos that follows. Blain - These two share a lot of bad traits, so I could see them reaching a point where they still don't like each other / get on each other's nerve, but also hold a certain respect for each other. I think Blain could come to appreciate how blunt and brutally honest Rick can be, even while being a master manipulator.

Mercenary Rick: Dr. Chandra - Since this Rick OC doesn't know about portal travel and all, he could be the Rick from Chandra's dimension. The guy spent most of his life away from Earth, but I can see them running into each other either when Rick has returned to Earth (for some reason) or while Chandra is out looking for "strays" xD Leela - Their relationship could be interesting because Leela would remind Rick a lot of his late best friend (Diane), so he'd be torn between wanting to get to know her and avoiding her like the plague because she brings back all his unsolved grief. Also, with her nurturing personality, she might actually be the kind of person he needs in his life to start moving on! Durandal - They have a lot of common ground, especially the bluntness and love for tidiness, so I think they could be friends!

AR: I couldn't pinpoint any dynamic in detail for him, but I could see AR interacting with Sal and Tycho, maybe?

Ofc these are just ideas! If you don't agree with them that's totally alright to let me know. And if you have more potential dynamics in mind, please let me know! I'd love to hear your ideas -eyes-

[evening-rose-309]

Oh comrade don't worry, I've arrived at my own conclusion that Fallout 4 is shit and ranted full tilt about it last night to my best bro in an actual honest G-d breakdown coming out of the infamous Far Harbor Hacking Sequence.

(—and other shit later under the cut—)

I wanted to ship the Capitalists together. That is basically the launch board of the crossover. The crux is the Moral Quandary™ of what a person is willing to do for peace, do you really want to mess with someone else's shit when you don't have to, can you say a person loves you when you're practically the only stable raft on their ocean, and "what if the Little Sisters are why we have Radiation Resistant People in Fallout".

I love OG Fallout. I met Zax and I swear he's baby. Literal pixels. Please give me the dirty laundry on the US Gov and Supermutants. I love fictional pseudo science. Let's play chess and be sad about abandonment issues and how we can't fuck Cabot.

The rest of my grievances with F4, punctuated by my Religious Trauma™:

The leveling is shite, the dialogue is shite, the ammo is shite, the weapons system is shite. We know this. This is bottom of the barrel bitching. I'm in uni for Game Design. I took that course. I know why and how, precisely, this game fails to be anything of what it is.

I was trying to save the Atom brother in the Nucleus.

When you've been on the inside of a religious institution, graduated, and had your world view shattered afterwards, you are disgusted at what you are, what has been done to you, what has been done to other people, the perversions of what once was a noble cause and so forth. You become sceptical, you become hateful. I genuinely cannot interact with a Palestine post outside of simple reblogs because the inside of my mind is so rotted by the knowledge of the political machinations facilitated by another country's genocide and victimization by bodies in my own house, so to speak, that I fear that if I twitch my fingers an inch more, I might say something I don't mean and hurt people who have already been hurt.

There is a fine line between a religion and a cult—and sometimes that line ceases to exist.

So I walk into the Children of Atom. Not all of them are hateful, not all of them are crude. I had to fight myself for the sake of my Sole Survivor's personal story and background not to immediately go for the nuke. My Courier would, because he's settled on a 'bigger picture' belief. Legion. Caesar. The informed decision making of a lifetime in the wasteland and the political position of co-statehead. But my Sole is just a mourning widower grappling with her own self identity, informed by a background as morally grey as you can be. That's why she doesn't tell Far Harbor about Avery. Why Kasumi is in the dark. Why Nick disapproves of half the things that comes out of her mouth.

When the game let's you have that control, that is.

F4 is not a Fallout game. It is a Fallout game on the surface, barest minimum of what a Fallout lookalike might be. Supermutants. Ghouls. Weird guns. Choices.

The Choices you make don't exist.

Coming from Vegas, the concept of all your success in dialogue hinging on one stat is torturous. My Courier started with a Char stat of 4 and got a Speech 100 by lvl 20, give or take. He's high in Medicine, Science, Sneak. He had a Strength of 1 at the start. Agility and Endurance, in contrast, were quite high for his worth. Intelligence was a must. Perception. He has Abysmal Luck. All of that contributed to how I played him in the waste. I built him based on who he was as a person. I built him to grow into a different person by the end of the saga. He is the most precious thing to me. New Vegas came at the end of a dark tunnel and was my light in the darkest corners that popped up after.

I have to build my Sole Survivor based on if I want her to be able to save people in a speech check.

To be able to attain the basic mechanic of what makes an RPG, your character needs to have high Char. That's what passes your speech checks. That's what let's you roleplay to your fullest extent, and even then, it's not guaranteed.

I understand wanting to go for realism, but if you wanted realism, then every bullet should permanently kill every character regardless if they're named or not.

I want to save the Brother of Atom. I want to save the poor man who thinks starvation and self torture are the realest way to worship his g-d. I want to save him from the evil that poisons his faith, who refuses to even acknowledge how his perversions have caused multiple deaths, multiple sufferings, multiple dooms to come. I want to be able to have my character act on the crawling feeling that permeates her flesh whenever one of then Children say the end of her life was righteous. Who say the deaths of her loved ones, her husband's loved ones, her friends and neighbors, was something wholly deserved, recompense for the sins of those beyond her. Who say the deaths of innocents are a greater good.

I want her to be able to live. I want her to be able to carry my rage. I want to see and feel the catharsis of this fictional justice be served and carried out. I want to play an RPG that actually delivers on its premise.

I want to save the Brother. I want to save his friend the heartache of losing someone to a rotted faith.

I want to have fun with my game.

the fallout limited series makes me so nervous bestie.

it’s based off of fallout 4, or at least “in the commonwealth” so it’s going to mediocre as hell.

but ghoul fucker in me wants walton goggins 👀

I don't even know what you're talking about bestie and I'm too scared to know to be honest

I actually just got fallout 4 (a gift from the same bro who gave me Vegas, bless him) and am currently working on an extended crossover universe with bioshock and shit's wild

Power to the Ghoul Fuckers ! I'll have you know I'm restructuring my entire Fallout 1 playthrough just so I can meet Set from your influence—because he died the first time due to mutants, shit's out there, we'll be trying !

Frankly, I'll be happy if they keep it East Coast. Let Mojave, Vegas, Jacobstown and everybody up in California too have their peace. I can tell for a fact nobody's touching Arizona and the Legion territory any time soon, at least with the respect and nuance they deserve

[heyyyharry]

Deep End - Chapter 9: Closer

...in which Ezi has her first kiss.

Word count: 5.4k

AU: famous!harry, siren!mc, adult modern retelling of the little mermaid? lol, fake dating, enemies to lovers.

WARNING: MATURE THEMES

All chapters / Synopsis / Moodboard / Playlist

Wattpad link

A/N: Please tell me what you think about the chapter! Reblog if you could :)

.

.

.

“Do you know why there’s a true love’s kiss and not a true love’s hug?”

“Why?”

“What do you mean ‘why’? I was asking you.”

Harry sighed, his hands gripping the steering wheel. He had to keep his eyes on the road, but Ezi would keep distracting him with her shifting in her seat every two seconds and rambling on about silly topics he had no interest in. However, he’d promised to not be a dick whenever she talked to him, so he wouldn’t.

“Can’t you see that I’m driving?”

“So?” Ezi snorted. “Just answer the question.”

Harry sighed again. “I guess that’s because a kiss is more special than a hug...romantically.”

“Why?”

“Why not?”

“Why not not? You’re just exchanging saliva.”

“It’s special if you’re exchanging saliva with someone you care about.”

Ezi still wasn’t satisfied with that explanation. “Okay, but what if the person won’t let you kiss them? How will you know if it’s true love?”

“If they don’t want to kiss you, it means they’re not interested, and therefore, it’s not true love,” Harry said. He couldn’t believe he was actually giving this some thought, but oh well, it was a long drive to the manor anyway. “For me at least,” he added, “true love must come from both sides.” Then he stole a glance at her and did a double-take. “Are you taking notes on your phone?”

Ezi flinched and put her phone into her bag right when she made eye contact with him. “No.”

“Liar. You were.”

“I’m learning to be human.”

“Just say you wanna kiss me.” Harry smirked. “We’re the only people here. This is a safe space.”

“It’s never a safe space when you’re in it,” Ezi said.

Harry’s eyebrows went high. “Excuse me? Yesterday you almost attacked a child for cutting the line in the supermarket.”

Ezi gave a firm nod without showing any remorse. “And the child would have deserved it. You, on the other hand, are deadly with your words.”

“How?!” cried Harry. “I’ve been nothing but nice to you ever since we started fake dating.”

Ezi rolled her eyes and checked her watch. “Yeah, your new record of being nice to me is two hours. Congrats.”

Harry exhaled, his shoulders slumped. “Okay, I think we should go over what to do when we see my mum, because if we act like this in front of her--”

“Why are we seeing your mother again?”

“Didn’t Jeff tell you?”

Ezi shook her head. She seemed quite confused, so Harry guessed Jeff had forgotten. To be honest, Harry found it funny and a little concerning that she had no idea why she was in the car after having been in the car for two hours. Someone could just kidnap her one day, and she wouldn’t even realise until they told her it was a kidnap. Or, maybe she just trusted him not to drive her to a government lab and donate her organs to science.

“Well, Jeff wants some new PR content of you hanging out with my family,” he told her.

“Why?” she asked, face scrunched up.

He lifted his shoulders. “To humanise you.”

“Good luck with that,” Ezi scoffed, rested her elbow on the window on her side and twirled a strand of hair around her finger. “It takes a lot to humanise me.”

“Well, not literally. Just in the public eye, because a lot of people suspect that this is a PR relationship. We’ve only been seen together as friends or co-workers.”

“That’s not true. We’re not even friends.”

“Exactly!” Harry exclaimed. “So if we can convince my mother that we’re dating, we can convince the whole world. Trust me.”

Harry didn’t even exaggerate it; his mother could detect a lie from miles away. He could count the number of times he’d got away with a lie to her on one hand. However, he had never lied to her about being in a relationship. So hopefully, she’d be too happy with the thought of him not being a player like his dad to tell the whole thing was fake.

And so for the rest of the drive, he and Ezi tried acting out scenarios for when they met his mother again. They broke out laughing most of the time because Harry would say something too cheesy or Ezi would use some lines she’d learned from those Netflix originals that Harry had rated one star. Now that they were standing on the steps of the manor, they had to keep it together. Because no one would shout ‘cut!’ if they messed up their lines. This was almost like going in for a blind audition, and Harry knew his mother would be the toughest judge to impress.

“Harold!”

“Niall?” Harry’s eyes went wide when his best friend shoved the butler aside and embraced Harry at the door. Mikasa, Niall’s girlfriend, was standing right behind him, wearing a dark green satin dress that fell loosely to her knees. She gave Harry a lopsided smile, her black curls bouncing on her shoulders as she approached.

Harry hadn’t talked to her for weeks, but he assumed she already knew about Ezi. Hopefully just as much as his mother did. Unless Niall had broken the bro code and told Mikasa everything.

“Mimi, long time no see!” Harry said as he went in for a hug.

Mikasa eyed him up and down with her big smokey eyes. He always imagined those eyes having a special power that enabled her to stare right into his soul and read him like an unsealed letter. She was a psychiatrist and always making her friends feel like they were having a regular session in her office.

“So this is your girlfriend?” Mikasa asked, smiling at Ezi.

Harry’s gaze jumped to Niall, who subtly locked his lips with an invisible key and tossed it over his shoulder. Niall knew about the PR relationship, but Harry could always trust Niall not to tell anyone, even Mikasa. Especially Mikasa.

“Darling, you made it!” exclaimed Harry’s mother as she descended the stairs. Harry was just going in for a hug when he saw who were following behind her. And he froze.

Dawson and evil Aunt Beatrice. Dawson was wearing a simple black suit, completely made invisible by his mother in the tackiest neon orange sundress Harry had ever seen. He could hear his stylish crying just from seeing this outfit.

“What are they doing here, Mum?” Harry quietly asked his mother as they hugged.

His mother kissed his cheek and whispered back, “Since you invited Niall and Mikasa, I thought I should invite Dawson and his mother.”

“How is that the same thing?”

“Harry!” Aunt Beatrice said in her glass-breaking voice as she pulled him in for a suffocating bear hug. “Ah, you grew up so fast! I hardly recognise you!”

“It’s only been a couple of weeks, Aunt Beatrice.”

“I know, right? Kids these days.”

“I’m twenty-four.”

“Harry,” Harry’s mother reminded him, so Harry took a deep breath and went to stand beside Ezi. She looked at him like a deer in front of headlights. This couldn’t be good. His family must be overwhelming for her.

“Hey, Ezili!” Dawson waved at her with a smile, and suddenly, her face brightened, and she enthusiastically waved back. Traitorous little fish, Harry thought as he watched the two greet one another.

“Congratulations, you two,” Dawson said.

Ezi opened her mouth to reply when Harry threw his arm around her shoulders and pulled her back to his side. He gave Dawson the best grin he could fake. “Thanks,” was all he said.

“Picture, everyone!” Niall interrupted the awkward interaction and pulled out his phone.

Everyone gathered together, and Niall winked at Harry. “Now, Mother Styles, could you stand closer to Ezili? Closer! Thanks. There we go. Looks like Ezili’s a part of the family.”

Once the picture was taken, he nudged Harry with his shoulder. “You’re welcome, asshole.”

Harry patted him on the back. “Send it to Jeff for me.”

“Boys, are you coming?” asked Mikasa, who was walking ahead, holding Ezi’s hand.

“Coming, lovebug!” Niall shouted at her and told Harry. “See? She likes Ezili.”

.

.

.

“So what do you do for a living?” was the first question Harry’s mother asked Ezili when they sat down at the lunch table. They were eating in a glass house in the flower garden by the lake. There were people dressed in uniforms serving them tea and appetizers, and Ezili felt like she was Alice having tea with the Queen of Hearts and her courtiers in Wonderland.

“I work at a bookstore,” she said when one of the maids filled her cup with Jasmine tea.

She didn’t understand Harry’s mother’s appalled reaction and why Harry had to add, “Ezi owns a bookstore.”

“Oh, that’s nice,” Harry’s mother said, sounding strangely relieved.

Irritated, Ezili leaned in and whispered to Harry, “Why did you lie?”

But he didn’t answer and only shushed her before smiling at his mother again.

“Can’t believe I get to live to see Harry bring home a young lady!” said Aunt Beatrice. Dawson opened his mouth to interject, but she didn’t give him a chance, “I always thought you were gay!”

At that, Niall choked on his tea, and Mikasa had to rub his back as he coughed violently into his fist. Ezili knew what gay meant, but why was it a bad thing?

“What if I were?” Harry asked his aunt. “I don’t see the problem with me being gay, which I’m not.”

“These biscuits are so nice, Aunt Annalise,” Dawson told Harry’s mother, probably trying to save the conversation from turning into a fight. But it seemed like Dawson’s mother was out for blood this morning.

“Harry,” Aunt Beatrice started again, and Ezili saw Mikasa and Niall sink into their chairs. “You’re a celebrity and the heir to this manor and your father's business. It’s so...unexpected of you to be dating some girl who works in a bookstore.”

Ezili wasn’t dumb. She might not understand a lot of things humans said, but she knew sarcasm like her mother tongue. It was her time to say something.

“What’s wrong with working in a bookstore?” she asked, making direct eye contact with Aunt Beatrice, who was shocked by the question. Everyone at the table seemed to be holding their breath.

“How much could you possibly do and make by owning a bookstore these days?” Aunt Beatrice laughed.

Ezili smirked and shook her head. “You could do and make a lot if you knew how to read.”

Harry kicked Ezili’s foot under the table, but she didn’t pay him a single glance. She believed she’d said nothing wrong at all. It was only the truth. Because why look down on people who worked at a bookstore unless you hated books because you couldn’t read?

Seeing his mother’s face turning red, Dawson burst out laughing. “Oh my God, she’s so funny!” Mikasa and Niall started laughing, too, and Harry’s mother awkwardly joined in.

“That’s what they call dark humour, Aunt Beatrice,” Niall told the angry giant lady. “Ezi’s a true Gen Z. She’s all jokes.”

Aunt Beatrice said nothing else. She shot a glare at a smiling Ezili and lifted her cup to take a sip.

“Oh, there’s my new cook!” said Harry’s mother as she waved at the door. “This is Dolores' first day at work. Come say hello, Dolores dear.”

“Good morning. I hope everyone’s having a wonderful time.”

Ezili’s entire body went stiff. Her eyes almost popped out of her head and dropped onto the plate in front of her. She knew that voice. Her heart was slamming against her ribcage as she held her breath. She felt the person’s presence beside her heavy like a weight ready to crush her bones into dust. Out of the corner of her eyes, she looked up.

Her sister Koa was grinning down at her.

“Ezili, are you okay?” Dawson asked, snapping Ezili out of her numbness.

Koa’s devilish grin remained as she circled the table after wishing everyone a pleasant meal, then disappeared out of the entrance.

Why was she here? Why did she have legs? How had she found Ezili?

“Okay, let's get straight to the point,” Aunt Beatrice started again, and everyone groaned at once. “How much did he pay you?”

“Mum!” cried Dawson.

“Excuse me?” Harry arched an eyebrow.

“It’s PR, isn’t it?” Aunt Beatrice said to him. Ezili was having a hard time paying attention to the argument while her heart was still pounding in her head. Her sister was here, either for her, or after her.

“You can’t do that to your mother, Harry,” Dawson’s mother went on. “She might be easily fooled but I’m not.”

“We should’ve gone for mini-golf,” Mikasa muttered to Niall, who exhaled into his hand.

Harry turned to his mother. “You’re just gonna let her disrespect my girlfriend like that?”

His mother opened her mouth to speak, but his aunt was faster. “If she’s your girlfriend then kiss her.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Harry scoffed and threw his hands in the air.

Ezili immediately stood up. All eyes fell on her.

“Excuse me,” she said, her voice trembling. “I must go to the bathroom.”

“I’ll take you--”

“No, Harry, you stay.”

Harry slowly sat back down as Ezili pushed her chair out and headed straight for the door. Thankfully, he didn’t follow her.

She crossed the garden and asked one of the employees where the kitchen was. As it turned out, they had a separate kitchen for when they served food in the glasshouse. Ezili couldn’t see the point of having more than one kitchen, but this was no time to question it.

When she found Koa, no one else was there but them. It seemed as if Koa had known Ezili would follow her here, so she’d asked everyone else to leave.

Ezili stood at the door while her sister stood by the counter with her back turned to Ezili. The first thing Ezili noticed was the knives within Koa’s reach. Ezili must be wise when confronting her sister.

“What are you doing here?” she asked Koa in Séren.

Koa slowly turned and leaned against the counter, arms crossed. “I’m a cook. Can't you see?”

“How did you find me?”

The corner of Koa’s lips curled as she unbuttoned the collar of her white shirt and revealed a gold necklace. Ezili sucked in a breath when she saw the shiny trident-shaped medallion on her sister’s chest.

“Is that--”

“Mother’s trident,” Koa sneered. “Yes, it is.” Then she buttoned up her shirt to cover it. “Now we can see who mother trusts more.”

“Why--”

“Aunt Nerissa came for a visit last week,” Koa said. Ezili knew that name could never be associated with anything good. “Mother doesn’t trust her, so she asked me to go on land to find you, but also to keep the trident away from Nerissa’s clutches.”

Ezili swallowed hard, her fists tightly glued to her sides. “What happened to the cook?”

Koa clicked her tongue. “She’s swimming with fishes now. Like the ones swimming in her pot just then.”

“You drowned her?!”

“In the lake.”

Ezili gripped her head and advanced towards Koa. “How many humans have you killed?”

Koa chuckled and took a few steps forward until she was dangerously close enough to hurt Ezili. She stood with her back straight and arms folded, her silver eyes flickering in the sunlight. “The important question is…” She stared Ezili down. “How many have you killed?” Ezili bit her lip when Koa poked her chest with her long nail. “Or are you too busy dating now? People are talking about it everywhere.” Ezili said nothing, so Koa went on, “It’s a fake relationship, isn’t it?” She leaned in, taunting. “Come on, Sister. Admit that you’ve failed. That you can’t make the human fall in love with you. Why so quiet? Is it because if you admit it, you’re an embarrassment and you lose the trident to me, and if you deny it, then it means you’re becoming way too human to kill him.”

At that, Ezili shoved Koa away and stabbed a finger at her. “Leave me alone. Mother gave me a year for this mission.”

“We won’t have that much time, stupid,” Koa snorted. “Narissa is onto something. The queendom is already in danger as we’re speaking. And you’re here having...brunch?” She clicked her tongue, shaking her head. “Pathetic.”

“Ezi?”

Both of them whipped their heads around and saw Harry, who stiffened in the doorway.

“Ezi?” Koa cackled, hugging her stomach. “Is that your human name? Are you his pet now?”

Though confused, Harry stepped into the kitchen anyway. “Ezi, you’re alright?”

“Harry, watch out!” Ezili shouted, but Koa was already on top of Harry on the floor. She sank her fangs into Harry’s arm with the rolled-up sleeve. Harry yelped in pain as Ezili dragged her sister off of him and slammed Koa’s head against the table. Hissing, Koa grabbed a knife on the counter and aimed it at Ezili, but Ezili was fast enough to kick it out of her sister’s grip and sent one more kick into Koa’s stomach. Koa was stronger than Ezili had thought as she plunged at Ezili again.

“Harry, run!”

But Harry didn’t run. He was back on his feet, grabbed a vase and smashed it onto Koa’s back. “Do not hurt my fake girlfriend!”

Koa rolled off of Ezili. The last thing Ezili could see was her sister’s bloodied face as she stumbled towards the door and ran off into the light.

Ezili lay there until her vision cleared again, and Harry helped her back to her feet.

“What the fuck?!” he yelled. “Who the fuck was she?!”

“My sister,” Ezili said, still holding her aching head.

“The one who tried to drown me? Why is she here?”

“To kill me, I think.”

“Why?”

“Harry--”

But Harry wasn’t listening. He was pacing back and forth like a mad man. “This isn’t good, Ezi. This is bad! Your crazy sister is gonna expose us!”

“Expose us?” Ezili grabbed him by the arm and spun him around. “She almost killed you.”

It seemed as if Harry had forgotten that his arm was bleeding until Ezili had brought it up. He suddenly winced and fell into a chair.

Ezili scanned her eyes around the messy kitchen, panting as she tried to make sure that Koa had escaped. Then, she got down on her knees beside Harry and reached for his wounded arm.

He stared down at her in confusion, then his expression turned horrified when she leaned in.

“What the fuck?!” he hissed and yanked his arm away.

She glared up at him in annoyance. “Let me help!”

“Hell no! You’re not gonna lick my blood.”

“You need to clean the wound!”

“With water! Not by sucking it!”

Ezili huffed and aggressively got up while silently cursing Harry in Séren.

“There’s a--” His voice cut off when she tore off a piece of her dress “--towel over there,” he trailed off. She ignored him and went to the sink to soak the piece of fabric in water. He shook his head and blew up his cheeks. “Nevermind. You do you.”

Still glaring at him when she returned, Ezili got back down on her knees and started cleaning Harry’s arm. The place her sister had sunk her fangs into had turned dark red. It would definitely leave a huge bruise tomorrow.

“Lucky for you Koa was distracted and didn’t aim to bite your whole arm off,” Ezili whispered and glanced up, meeting Harry’s gaze. “You sure you don’t want me to lick your wound?”

“Well, now that you’re already in this position, you could just lick something else,” he chuckled.

Ezili’s eyes narrowed. “Like what?”

To her confusion, Harry covered his face and shook with laughter. “Sorry, that was a dumb joke. I just couldn’t help it.”

“I didn’t get it.”

“Yeah, that’s how a joke loses its funny,” he sighed then snapped his fingers. “Ooh, maybe I should just pretend that I don’t understand whenever someone tells me a joke, so that they gradually lose their funny.”

“That’s the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard,” Ezili remarked.

“What do you mean?” Harry pouted. “I don’t get it, babe.”

Ezili rolled her eyes at his childishness, still, she couldn’t help but smile a little.

Once she had wrapped the piece of her dress securely around his arm, Harry pulled down the sleeve to cover it as he got to his feet. “That should do. Let’s hope my mother won’t suspect that we just got attacked in her kitchen by her cook, who was your evil siren sister in disguise. Damn, that sounds crazy even for me.”

Ezili stood with her arms crossed. “Do you think your mother can tell we’re not really dating?”

“Nah, my mother totally believes it.” Harry shrugged. “Honestly, I think we’re doing a great job pretending we’re in love when we can’t even have a conversation without insulting each other.”

“I don’t get paid enough to call you babe so many times.”

“Neither do I. This PR relationship is harder than I tho--”

Harry’s sentence got cut off by a sound at the door. When they both turned to it, Dawson was standing there, his eyes wide with shock.

Ezili was hoping that was the reaction to the messy kitchen and not to what she and Harry had said. However, luck wasn’t smiling at her tonight. Dawson’s appalled gaze jumped from Harry to Ezili. “What do you mean by ‘PR relationship’?”

.

.

.

“I can explain,” Ezi said, reaching for Dawson, but he backed away while staring at both her and Harry in disbelief. Harry believed Dawson wasn’t shocked that Harry could pull something like this, because Harry hadn’t been exactly the good kid growing up. What Dawson hadn’t expected was Ezi being part of this plan. Ezi must be an angel in Dawson’s eyes.

“So my mother was right,” Dawson said, flicking his finger between Harry and Ezi. “You were lying to everyone.”

“Dawson--” Ezi began, but Harry pulled her back by her wrist.

“Please don’t tell my mother,” he told Dawson and received stunned looks from both Dawson and Ezi. They probably hadn’t expected that coming from him. “This means a lot to her, and I don’t want her to be any more let down,” Harry continued. “Also, Ezi needs money, and I’m just trying to help. She’s also writing the next album with me, so it’s all good business.”

Dawson peered at both their faces for a long moment as if he was psychoanalysing each of them. Then, he breathed, “So you two don't have feelings for each other?”

“No.” Ezi shook her head fast and tugged at Harry’s sleeve. “Harry, tell him.”

Harry opened his mouth. Suddenly, he thought about how frightened he’d been when he’d thought Ezi’s sister was going to kill her. He could’ve run off and let her deal with it alone since he hadn’t asked to be part of her family drama, and he wasn’t brave, either. Nevertheless, he’d jumped in to help her.

“No,” he said, only to realise he shouldn’t have taken such a long pause to say only one word.

“See?” Ezi smiled at Dawson, who seemed less sceptical now.

“Okay,” Dawson said, his face relaxed as he put his hands on his hips. “Who else knows? Niall and Mikasa?”

“Mikasa doesn’t know,” Harry said. “Only Niall.”

“Alright.” Dawson nodded and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “But you guys are really bad at pretending to be in love,” he told them after another moment. “I’ll try to tell my mum to stop being rude to you. But just to be safe, you should make it more convincing.”

Ezi heaved a sigh of relief and placed her hand on Dawson’s arm. Harry swore he saw Dawson hold his breath as if Ezi had the Midas touch, and Harry had to fight the urge to roll his eyes.

“Thank you, Dawson,” Ezi said in the softest tone Harry had ever heard.

“Your dress,” Dawson pointed out while eyeing her and then the kitchen. “What...what happened here?”

“There was a rat,” Harry blurted.

Ezi joined in, “Harry tried to kill it then it knocked over the vase, and I fell and pulled him down with me and ripped my dress on the glass.”

Dawson furrowed his brows as he nodded at the piece of Ezi’s dress in her fist. “That’s your blood?”

Ezi shook her head. “It’s the rat’s.” Then, she looked over at Harry, suppressing a grin. He stayed quiet and glared at her.

“Oh, God. That’s disgusting,” Dawson made a face. “Need me to help you clean up?”

“No, I’ll take care of it,” Harry said. “I’ll take Ezi upstairs to clean up. Could you distract everyone for a while?”

“Yeah, sure,” Dawson nodded, gave Ezi a tight-lipped smile and turned to the door. “Now, where the hell is the cook?”

.

.

.

Harry could hear every single word of the Jonas Brothers song playing downstairs. It seemed like everyone had finished brunch without him and Ezi, and now Niall was turning the manor into a concert. Niall and Mikasa had met at a Jonas Brothers’ concert years ago, and they would not let people forget about it. What they had was cute, but Harry could not imagine being with someone for that long. A PR relationship was tiring enough; he didn’t think he could ever handle a real one.

Back against the wall, he stared at his watch and tapped his foot impatiently before he came to knock on the door to his mother’s walk-in closet. “Ezi, are you done?”

“I don’t know how to put this on!”

Harry tossed his head back and groaned. “Do you need help?”

“Yeah!”

“Goddamn it,” he muttered under his breath. “Cover yourself. I’m coming in.”

Just to be safe, he had his hand over his eyes when he opened the door.

You'll say my name like it's been on your lips

Familiar in ways I can't explain

You got a heart that I know I can miss

Hold me like that and pull me right back again

The music outside became muffled. Harry peeked through the gap between his fingers, and nearly had a heart attack when he saw Ezi standing there topless with only jeans on. “I told you to cover yourself!”

“Oh, please, there’s nothing you haven’t seen.”

“It’s different every time.”

“How? I’ve only got one body.”

“No, seeing you feels different every time. It’s weird.”

Time stands still and it's only us

What we feel started way before we ever touched

Just imagine only us

Yeah, you found me right before I'd given up

Ezi said nothing, and Harry lowered his hand, feeling glad that she was facing away from him now. She looked over her shoulder, frowning. “Help me with this shirt!”

He ruffled his hair and padded over to take the shirt from her hand. “You got the button stuck?! This is my mother’s favourite Chanel shirt!”

“It was like that when I found it.”

“Liar.” Harry shook his head and started examining the stuck button. Ezi turned around, hugging her chest so her breasts weren’t exposed to him. He was trying his best not to look. Maybe he shouldn’t have put her in a dress that didn’t require a bra. He guessed he’d played himself.

“Harry.”

“Damn, maybe I should get you another shirt and buy a new one for my mum. I don't know how to fix this.”

“Harry,” Ezi repeated and tapped Harry on the arm. He looked up, face heating when he saw her.

I just saw the lightning strike

Knew it right then when I looked in your eyes

And I said to myself, "It's no surprise we ain't strangers"

Strangers tonight

Still, he acted indifferent. “What?”

“I think we should kiss,” she said, making him flinch.

“Why?” He was already sweating through his palms. His mother’s shirt could no longer be saved now.

“To make it more convincing,” Ezi said as if them kissing wasn’t a big deal to her. “Maybe if there’s a picture of us kissing--”

“Have you ever kissed anyone before?”

She froze at the question and blinked at him.

I came here looking for another excuse

To run away from something beautiful

It's like it's driving me closer to you

Every step back pulls me right back

At this question, Ezi’s whole life up until that point flashed before her eyes. She had lost count of all the times she’d kissed sailors before drowning them. But she wasn’t going to kiss Harry to kill him. Not yet at least. He would still be there, alive, when she opened her eyes. He would still be aware of her lips against his. And she would, too.

“No,” she lied.

And he believed it. He cleared his throat. Suddenly, her standing there topless wasn’t weird anymore. “Okay, it’s pretty easy.” He put the shirt aside. His fingers were shaking so he opened and closed his fists a few times before beckoning her over. “Come here.”

She took a step forward.

“Closer.”

Another step.

Harry’s face reddened with a small smile. “Ezi, closer.”

He’d never talked to her in that tone before. It was soft and firm at the same time, and she completely forgot having sworn to herself that she would never let him tell her what to do. She came so close she could not tell his breath from her own. His eyelids fluttered, and his pink lips parted, yet no word escaped. Then, he leaned in.

Must be from a different life

Been here before and it just feels right

No, this ain't the first time for you and I, we ain't strangers

Strangers tonight

But it was her who took his face between her hands and kissed him first. He froze for a second, then started kissing her back, his arms circled around her waist, pressing her against him.

Harry’s entire body grew hot. The voice inside his head told him to stop, but it only made him bolder. He liked that she’d taken charge. Her hands were under his shirt as his roamed across her naked back. His eyes went wide when she unconsciously let out a moan.

Strangers

Strangers

Strangers tonight

“Ezi,” he breathed against her lips. But before he could say anything else, there was a knock on the door.

“Harry, are you in there?”

Ezi pulled away as Harry threw his head back and exhaled harshly. “Yes, Niall?”

“Is Ezili there with you?”

“Yes,” Harry answered in a croaked voice and quickly cleared his throat. “Yes,” he repeated, sounding more stable. “Why?”

“You missed all the fun stuff. Your mother scolded your aunt for what she’d said to you and Ezi, and Dawson had to take his mother’s home.”

Harry looked over at Ezi, expecting her to be thrilled by the good news, but she only gave a small smile, her arms still tightly wrapped around herself to cover her breasts. Was she...shy?

Yes, yes she was. Ezi didn’t think she could ever be shy. But here she stood, blushing all over from a stupid kiss.

“Are they in there?” Harry’s mother’s voice outside the door made Harry and Ezi jump.

They looked at each other, scared when Niall told Harry’s mum that they were in the closet together.

“Not in my closet, Harry!”

“I’m just helping Ezi get changed, Mum!”

“You better!”

And then their footsteps faded down the hallway, along with his mother’s laughter.

Ezi and Harry made eye contact with each other and looked away at the same time as silence ensued. Suddenly, Harry started sniffing.

“What is it?” Ezi asked, worried.

Harry leaned in and started sniffing her neck, and she pushed him away. “What the hell?!”

“You smell.”

“Excuse me?!”

“No.” Harry shook his head fast. “You smell good. But..you didn’t have a smell before.”

Ezi quickly lifted her arm to smell herself. “I smell nothing.”

“That’s because it’s your own smell, so you don't recognise it. But--” Harry cut off midsentence and picked up a strand of her hair and brought his nose to it. Then, his lips curled. “Aww, my kiss turned you a little more human.”

“Shut up!” Ezi shoved at his chest. “I’m not turning more human! That’s not true!”

“It is true! Kiss me again. I’ll prove it.”

She said nothing, only glared at him as he burst out laughing and tossed her a t-shirt.