#it is fun deciding which option they'd pick though

[toboldlywrite]

Making my ocs in the Veilguard character creator is my new hobby I guess.

Anyway I made Astrid and Eris from The Goddess Seed

[sillybayo]

A Winter With You

(Originally posted on fanfiction.net......yesterday!)

A krusie fic with fluff and only a small amount of discomfort. Trigger warning for small mentions of global warming, poisoning, and then a slightly more in depth discussion about sex and child sexualization. NO smut is in here, they're teens.

Kris asks Susie what she likes more; winter or summer. This question leads to something neither of them could predict.

~~~

Susie was invited over to the Dreemurrs house again for dinner and pie. Kris and her decided to not go to Castle Town today, after they convinced her that they really needed to go ahead and work on their group project…though, they seemed just as reluctant as she did. So after they finished planning out and getting a good start on their work, they ate Toriel's steak, mashed potatoes, and green beans, and then a warm apple pie to top it all off, to reward them for their hard work. Well, it wasn't that hard once they understood the assignment better, actually sat down, and plotted out what they wanted to do exactly. But Susie thought of the meal as a bonus nonetheless.

Now, they sat on the floor in Kris' room, leaning against the side of their bed. The sun was setting, and the light coming from the window became dimmer as the clock ticked. Susie just said she'll sleep in the guest room tonight, since she didn't feel like going home again. But in the meantime, the two chatted all evening about various things: school food, virtual idols, whether they would eat dirt if there's no other options or not, all the good stuff. Then, Kris came up with another;

"Which is better, summer or winter?"

"Summer, obviously! There's no school and you can do whatever you want, whenever you want, and nobodies bossing you around like a smartass!" Susie beamed as she went on, "And there's ice cream, burying nerds in the sand, stepping on the hand-ass shells when you get deeper into the ocean, the heat from global warming—summers literally the best!"

They snickered. "You make it sound sarcastic."

"Well what do you like best, nerd?"

"I always liked the wintertime…"

"But it's cold as hell! And you're forced to go to school! The pain isn't even enjoyable or anything!"

"Yeah, but don't you like the little jingles? The commercials? All the lights around town? And counting down the days until you rip open your presents?"

They seemed to drift further into a daydream when listing some of the things they liked. Now that Susie thought about it…while they definitely are mischievous, they do like things with a certain elegance and sentimentality to it, huh? She always found that interesting about them, one moment they could tie a rubber band around the sinks sprayer, and the other, they'd be playing a melancholic tune on the piano.

"Well, yeah, I guess that's nice or whatever. Oh, but what about snowboarding?! Or sledding? Skiing?"

"I was always scared of it." they giggled to themselves, "One time, my dad brought me and Asriel to this snowy hill, right? He went down first with his little baby sled. But when he picked up speed, he flipped over face first. I clinged onto my dad and begged him to not make me go down…" they continued to smile and laugh recalling the memory.

"Ok, but without any of that, winter is just plain boring. Sure, you have the vibes, but so what?! Where's the fun in that?"

"Where's the fun in sweating your ass off?"

"Sweat is a sign of endurance!" Susie shoved them a little, making them lose balance and having to prop themselves upwards with their elbows to stop them from falling all the way down. But they laughed anyway. She found herself getting lost in the sound a little, but went right back to the argument.

"Ok, but with summer, you have swimming pools. There's nothing risky about that unless you're dying from the baby waves at Great Wolf Lodge."

They stifled their last few laughs while sitting back up. "I never learned how to swim."

"How?! Swimming is literally the best!"

"My parents never knew how themselves. I guess it's because their fur is too heavy. So I never got the chance."

"Dude." she placed her hands on their shoulders. "I need to teach you how. As soon as possible."

"You don't have to…"

"Of course I do! How else will I convince you that summer is better than winter?!"

"There's no way to convince me, my mind is set."

They sounded so matter-of-factly that she felt like she had to humor them, at least a little. "Ok then, then enlighten me without the cheesy Hallmark stuff."

"There's baking cookies…"

Well, cookies are nice. Chewy ones with melty chocolate chips are her favorite. And letting them soak up milk to get extra soft to the point it's crumbling? Absolutely perfect. It's just that whenever she tries to bake some, it never turns out right! She'll follow the measurements and follow the steps the best she can, but they always come out too thick and not as sweet as she wants them to be.

"Nah. I'm more of a taste tester myself."

"Why? Because you're a bad bakerrr, hmmm?"

Damn it! "I-I'm not bad. It's just too complicated for me."

"Cookies are too complicated? I can always teach you, silly. The trick is combining the ingredients in a specific way and order. Unless that's truly too hard for you…"

"It won't be! I just didn't know the steps were like that, I just gather the ingredients and pour them all into the bowl!" though, the idea of Kris teaching her does sound pleasant. They can watch cool movies while relaxing on the couch when they're done cleaning up the kitchen, covered with warm and heavy blankets, waiting for the oven to go off. Then they can eat them together, laughing their worries away until they fall asleep…however, she'd gladly do the same with Ralsei, or Lancer, or Noelle, or Berdly. She's sure of that. Because that's what friends do! And Kris is her best friend, and that's why she always thinks about them. But…there was a feeling alongside that platonic joy. Eh, it's probably nothing though.

"...Ok, you can teach me, if you want to that badly. But just know I'm only in it to eat the raw batter." she flicked their forehead.

"Sure sure…" they pondered for a moment, then returned to the original topic. "I also like snowball fights. Those aren't too bad, and it seems like your constantly-searching-for-action-and-pain-ass would like it."

"Hey!"

"Where did I lie?"

"Just for that, I WILL steal every last cookie that you plan to eat for the rest of your days!"

"Careful, I might put nastyyyy things in there…like weed…laxatives…poison…" their expression turned more and more sinister—grin getting wider and wider, and the eye that peeked through their dark brown coils gave off a negative aura. But it was playfully so.

"Oh please, as if a wimp like you would do that just to trick me!"

"Oh really?"

Ok maybe she was wrong. "Then I'll poison you back! As revenge!"

"Alright, if you say so, Susie-Wusie." they poked her twice in tune with her new nickname, and she responded by taking their wrists and making them hit themselves. Kris attempted to break free and poke Susie more, but her fists were too strong, and both of their play fighting and struggling led to them laying on the floor and laughing so hard that Susie's chest ached and she found it hard to breathe. But she didn't care at all. God, she loved every moment of this. When the laughing died to giggles to silence, she could see Kris laying sideways and smiling sweetly at her in the corner of her eye.

"...A snowball fight with you wouldn't be so bad." she finally responded, facing them. "I…like them too."

"So you admit winter is better than summer?" they said in a tone that was in a complete contrast to their earlier expression.

"When the hell did I say that?! Summer still rules, no matter how fuzzy you make me feel!"

"Fuzzy?"

"Well, yeah? Isn't that how best friends feel about each other? With your stomach trying to kill itself and your blood pumping to your face and shit?"

Kris' eyebrows shot up. They just looked at her for a moment before saying "I-I guess. To some extent…"

"What are you acting so weird for?" Susie squinted. "Shouldn't you be flattered that I think of you so highly?"

"I-I am! I am. It's just…c-could you tell me more about these 'fuzzies'?"

"Well," she looked up and thought about all of the things she felt recently. She couldn't help smiling a little. "I like the thought of sitting or lying comfortably with you. Probably in warm covers and blankets or something." she also recalled the moment a few seconds ago. "I also like hearing your dorky ass laugh, and playing around with you. Why are you so curious about it?"

"It's nothing." they said as they flipped onto their back. Distant as ever, she thought. For someone who's flattered, they sure as hell aren't showing it. Maybe they don't get compliments often? Well, it makes sense. They're the weird kid who's quiet half the time and who's the only human in the entire town. People probably think they're ugly or something like that, but Susie never thought that. Not even when she bullied them. The way their coily brown hair reached their shoulders, the way their wide nose scrunched when they smiled, the way their brown skin complimented it all…

Susie couldn't help but to admire them. That's just a normal best friend feeling, right? Why is Kris being so damn doubtful and quiet about it?

"You give me the fuzzies too." they admitted softly out of nowhere. "A lot of fuzzies…it means a lot to me to hear you say that."

"No problem, dude. But uh…what do the fuzzies mean to you? You've been acting all weird."

They stayed quiet. Again. Of course they did. Kris does keep secrets often, like how they feel about being a human, and what was up with them after they fought that puppet guy, and what happened in the bunker. But this was a secret relating to her. And she didn't like it. Seriously, what could the fuzzies mean? All she said is that she liked being around them to the point it feels weird yet pleasant at the same time.

…

…

…

Hold on.

"YOU HAVE A CRUSH ON ME?!" she sat up and looked right at them. That only made them flip their laying position so Susie couldn't see them. "Hey, I'm talking to you!"

"You're the one with the crush on me…" they said, still refusing to look at her.

"Well how was I supposed to know!?"

They groaned and laid on their back again, facing her with an unreadable expression. They seemed a bit frustrated, but she knew they wouldn't be mad at her over something like this. Maybe she saw a bit of a darker brown flushing their cheeks, but it was hard to tell.

"You said," in their best Susie impression, "'I like the thought of sitting or lying comfortably with you. I also like hearing your dorky ass laugh, and playing around with you.'"

"I don't sound like that!"

"Ohhh, but you dooo~" they laughed to themselves for a second. "But you're right. I…like you a lot, Susie. I just never thought this would be happening so soon, or even at all. You said it so bluntly."

"W-well you can just forget about it if you want to. Uhm, I don't really know how to do relationship stuff that much. I'm not sure if any of it would even fit me…"

They rolled over and over so they'd be touching the side of her leg. "We don't have to date if you don't want to. But if you do, we don't have to do any of the typical stuff either. We've always kind of did our own thing together anyways."

Hearing that brought relief to Susie. But she'd be lying if she said she didn't want to cuddle with Kris. And play with their hair…if they'd let her. "Susie, if anyone tries to touch my hair, bite them for me please." they said to her once.

But she already cemented herself as someone tough, cool, and violent. There's no way someone like her would hold someone's hand…

But Kris was kind to her. Undeservedly so. They treated her like the greatest friend they could ever have. They knew how gentle Susie could be. The idea of having them so close to her heart made every inch of her sing. So maybe…maybe…

"I-I uhm. I wouldn't mind hugging you right now, if you want. Move over and let me lay down."

"On the cold hard floor?"

"Kris!"

"Sorry, sorry, just trying to ease your nerves. Here," they sat up, leaning against the side of the bed. Whilst intertwining their fingers into her claws, they laid their head on her shoulder.

Their hand was much smaller than hers…and soft and warmer, too. "Ha! Look at your little baby hands!" is what she thought about saying. But it felt as though her and their soul were merging, and that she was starting to melt away. Warmth was rising to her cheeks, God, they smelled so much like apples. Maybe a bit of cinnamon too. She has never felt so speechless before, and they weren't even doing much.

She felt so sleepy…she wasn't even that tired before. She wanted to yap all night, and sneak into the living room so they could watch movies until it's time to go to school. But the weight and comfort of Kris felt so nice. She felt so safe. Though, it's a little scary imagining how things are going to be from this night forward, all of this is going to take some getting used to.

How would everyone react to the mean and brutal Susie being extra soft to Kris of all people? Maybe Ralsei wouldn't mind, he probably saw it coming more so out of everyone. Lancer wouldn't care either, he would probably call Kris his sibling in law or something funny like that. Noelle would DEFINITELYYY be happy for her. Yup. Without a doubt. Berdly too.

But the rest of Hometown? She's not so sure…it's probably best to keep it all a secret. She never really liked how people talked about relationships anyways. No one can spend alone time together without "Ooooooo…"'s and shit. It made her want to vomit. Hopefully no one said anything when her and Kris disappeared into the closet and went out to the Card Kingdom. She liked them, sure, but never that way. Even if she did, it would still feel uncomfortable as hell. So yeah, she's definitely making sure the romance between her and Kris remains private for the most part.

Susie let out a loud and long yawn. God, what time is it? It feels like they've been sitting here forever.

"I should really go ahead and put my bonnet on…" Kris murmured as they got up, waking her up a little. She suddenly felt cold and light again, and the floor felt a lot harder. She watched as Kris' dark silhouette placed their tight curls inside of the green silk cap. No wonder why their hair is always so pretty…they definitely do some touch ups in the morning—it is a bunch of hair, after all. But to look so flawless with only half a bit of effort…

"I can feel you staring at me." their accusation startled her. "It's fine though. In fact, do you want to lay in bed instead? I don't want to sit on the floor all night."

"B-bed? With you?"

"Just to cuddle. You know I'm not like that, Susie-Wusie. You can sleep in Asriel's bed instead though, it might be more comfor—"

"No no no! I…I'd like that. But I snore. Really loud. I kind of stink too. And I hog too much space."

"It's cool. That's what I like about you." they walked over and sat on the bed, making a soft creak. Hesitating a little at first, Susie followed and made the bed complain louder due to the weight of two people on the surface. Their covers felt homemade with love, she wouldn't be surprised if Toriel sewed it herself. Maybe she should pick up some lessons…ripping up her clothes feels cool until they're ruined and basically unwearable.

Midthought, Kris took her waist like a teddy bear and looked up at her, as if searching for any signs of discomfort. It caught her off guard for a second, but Susie relaxed. They guided her down onto the cold pillows and hugged her closer, becoming as small as possible. Yeah, this is definitely new. 100% not a part of her nightly routine. But she supposed she could subject herself to it while she's…drifting off…to sl—

"Winter is still better by the way."

"Oh, FUCK you."

[woobifykamukura]

Optional ask about ocs - feel free to ignore if you don't wanna answer; and if ya do answer, I encourage rambling! ^^

Gimme 1-5 of your ocs - whether they're your favorite, most recent, the one you've been having fun with recently, etc. Tell me some fun facts about them, and why you picked them!

Hope you're having a great day/night - and remember to stay hydrated!

oh neat!!! so i have two, i talked about one already so ill keei it short but: lychee tillis for hit indie horror sensation mouthwashing. they r a medical intern who is really good at people watching, and over the years developed a really keen eye for psychoanalysis. its kind of the one thing they have to bring to the table, really. they're vehemently opposed to the general psychiatric institution so they cant even fuckinguse their talents. and just because theyre good at psychoanalysis, doesnt mean theyre good at psychological terminology, which is kind of needed if you were to, say, be tasked with treating someone who did a really bad crime.

see, in mouthwashing, there are five (six counting lychee) people trapped in a Windowless Tin Can and one of those people assaulted one of the other ones. now in the game this causes the death spiral of events that leads to all the horror and tragedy. but in the fic with lychee, dude has a horrible nightmare vision and decides to swallow his pride and ask lychee for some help

dude doesnt know how to go to therapy and lychee doesnt know how to be a therapist. this is going to go so so so so so so so well

lychee also mirrors their patient like this. lychee has a C plot with daisuke, the other intern. they have a relationship like this: one of them is the friend that has a worrisome pattern of brushing off the people around them. and the other one is obsessed with the first one and desperatley wants to be the exception to that dismissal, and take it REALLY emotionally when they are not

lychee is person A in their relationship with daisuke. their patient is person B, and person A is someone else. so where their patient and his friend failed, they succeeded with daisuke. which was like so good for the patient to watch play out it was so so so good i really hope this didnt spark any resentment or anything

the second is ichito moroboshi for the danganronpa series. hito for short. they are the ultimate wordsmith, a talent that is... pretty unusually broad, not that they'd know that. at high school age, they're pretty ignorant about the true depths of that talent. hito really likes vintage tech and dislikes pop psychology. they have a few different storylines tbh- in one, they commandeer an abandoned cruse liner in the middle of the apocalypse in order to cross the ocean to find their lost love. in another, their lover is one of the instigators of the apocalypse, keeping them captive to make them both feel hurt. in a third, they were experimented on for that talent.

in the first one, they were going to be the true subject of the experiment, but pure dumb luck stopped it. their lover in that universe is very... well he's very lucky. good luck, bad luck, it comes in cycles. he's both. now, they're out on a first date, which is very cute and all until.... BOOM!!! a manhole cover flies out from a construction zone and hits them square in the face!!! vertical style, right on one side of their face.

they collapse immidiatley. their lover thinks that they died. but they didn't! they did have to get extensive facial reconstruction surgery, however.

with all that metal rattling around in that head, no sane person would ever bring them near an MRI machine!

And that study needed that for measuring brain activity!

....so whomp whomp.

heres the kicker though: in every universe, they're destined to lose their eye to their lover. first universe, with the cruse ship and the manhole cover? took their eye out. second universe? it was gouged out, so they could "match." third universe? that "study" (experiment) they participated in, they lost their eye to that. it's in every universe. cyclops time dip fuck

anyway yeah those r my guys ty <3

[tsarisfanfiction]

Shocking

Fandom: Daughter of the Deep Rating: Teen Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Friendship Characters: Gemini Twain, Nelinha da Silva Harding-Pencroft made sure their Leyden guns were quick and painless. Land Institute, not so much. Whumptober day 4, shock. I had a lot of fun writing this. Still getting used to the characters for this fandom, but enjoying figuring them out, one fic at a time.

Land Institute didn’t give up.

They'd known, when they let Caleb South and the others leave on the Varuna, that it wouldn't be the last time LI came after them, but they hadn't had a choice. The other option had been to kill them all, and as Ana had said, Harding-Pencroft was better than that.

They were, and Gem hadn't been fond of the idea of killing them all, either, so he was glad that when faced with the choice, Ana had chosen to let them go instead.

That didn’t make the relentless pursuit any more enjoyable, though.

With the destruction of the Aronnax, LI had lost any ability to match the Nautilus in the seas.  For all that she was old, and her back-up engine was run on coal of all things, she was also an absolute marvel of engineering that had the Cephalopods still in complete awe even months after first boarding her.  Gem, Ana, and the rest of them were well aware that LI still had the plans for the Aronnax, and that one day LI would build a new version that likely wouldn’t succumb to Romeo so easily, but until the other submarine appeared, they were safe in the water.

On land, not so much.

The Nautilus could do many, many things that completely boggled Gem’s understanding of technology and had yet to be explained by their resident Cephalopods, but she could not magic supplies out of nowhere.  Lincoln Base made up for most of the deficit, but sometimes, they had to make a run to occupied land in order to retrieve a few extra necessities that Nemo hadn’t developed alternatives for, likely because he’d never felt a need for them in his lifetime.

Land trips, when they happened, were always meticulously planned.  Gem took point on the logistics, and always made sure most of the party were fully-armed Sharks, just in case LI made an appearance, but sometimes there were things on the shopping list that Sharks wouldn’t be able to identify.

Or more specifically, that Nelinha and her fellow Cephalopods didn’t trust them to identify.

Gem didn’t know if he and Nelinha would ever be friends.  He had a lot of respect for the Brazilian girl, and a lot of remorse for his part in tarring her with the Scholarship Kid brush back at HP, and if she was open to the idea of friendship, he would gladly take it.  So far, however, their relationship was one of mutual understanding – both of them had claim to Ana as a friend (although Gem knew, understood and accepted that the Indian girl would always pick Nelinha first, if she ever had to make a choice), and had reached a point of compromise that occasionally bordered on camaraderie.

He enjoyed their banter, when Nelinha wasn’t buried in the inner workings of the Nautilus, and he hoped that she did, too.

While essential, this particular supply trip didn’t need a huge party.  There were only a few, select items on the shopping list, none of which Gem could identify, but all considered of vital and immediate importance by the Cephalopods, who had quickly persuaded Ana and their resident adult supervision (barring Luca, who had been one of said persuading Cephalopods) that the trip was worth the potential exposure to Land Institute.  After much debate, and a few near-arguments before Ana stepped in, it had been decided that just Gem and Nelinha would be enough.  Nelinha, for identification and acquisition of the parts, and Gem as the necessary gunslinging Shark on protection duty just in case.

There had been no sign of Land Institute in the area – Lee-Ann and the rest of the Dolphins, including their captain, had been thorough in their recon.

Gem dearly wanted to know where the Land Institute had been hiding, and how they’d evaded the Dolphins’ searching.

He and Nelinha were cornered, not far from the dock were the Nautilus waited, but with no clear passage back.  In their way, weapons no doubt trained on the exact point they would be forced to emerge through, Gem had counted four people wearing the hostile emblem of LI.

Behind him, clutching her precious purchases with one hand while the other held her Leyden gun at the ready, Nelinha was muttering in Portuguese.  Gem didn’t speak the language, but he suspected he didn’t want to know what she was saying.

He assessed his own arsenal, rather more extensive than Nelinha’s single Leyden gun, but not quite as much as he would’ve liked – even wearing the recognised Shark insignia, there were only so many weapons he could visibly carry in public before people started getting twitchy.  He was limited to his SIG Sauers and their comforting weights on his hips, a single bandolier of flash-bang grenades hidden under a coat, and a Leyden gun.  Nothing fatal – the SIG Sauers were loaded with rubber bullets as always – but enough to give Land Institute students a headache.

Unfortunately, they knew where he and Nelinha had been forced to shelter, and in order to get a lock on a target, Gem would have to step out and make a target of himself, first.

He fingered a flash-bang grenade, lifting it clear of the bandolier but keeping the pin firmly in place as he showed it to Nelinha.  Cover your ears, he mouthed, also miming plugging his ears with his free hand.  She knew what they did – there wasn’t a single piece of Nemo tech that she hadn’t given at least a cursory inspection of over the past few months – but Gem refused to take any chances.

He had to get her safely back to the Nautilus.  Failure was not an option.

Her eyes focused on the grenade and she frowned, but obeyed, holstering her gun so that she had her hands free to plug her ears.  It wouldn’t be perfect, but it would have to be enough.  Gem slipped wax into his own ears, giving them a moment to settle, before tugging out the pin with his teeth and lobbing it out towards where the LI were waiting.

The grenade sailed around the corner and he saw the edge of the flash a second later.  The ground beneath his feet vibrated, suggesting the bang part of flash-bang had activated as it was supposed to, and he ran out of their small area of shelter, firing at the LI students.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Four rubber bullets, four dropped students.  They wouldn’t be out for long, but it would be long enough to get back to the Nautilus.

Gem turned back and gestured for Nelinha to emerge, giving her sharp signals to stay low and move quickly, in case any of them had a particularly thick skull and wouldn’t stay down for long.  She obeyed, and Gem had a brief moment to be thankful for the fact that their relationship had improved to the point where she would listen to him without complaint when they were in a combat situation.  He scanned the downed LI students – none of them familiar, and from their ages likely freshmen – for signs of life as they started to move out cautiously, but none of them appeared to be unusually thick-skulled and showed no signs of stirring.

Neither he nor Nelinha needed any encouragement to be swift as they broke away from cover, though.  Gem still had the wax in his ears, but there was no opportunity to take them out, and as long as all four hostiles stayed down-

Something stabbed him in the shoulder.

He flinched, almost dropping his gun, and spun around to see where his attacker w-

Agony.

Gem had been on the receiving end of a Leyden gun before.  Dr Hewett’s demonstration had been all too brief in his memory, but he still recalled the feeling of his nerves tingling until they set on fire, before darkness had extinguished the flames and he’d woken up a few minutes later feeling absolutely fine.

HP’s Leyden guns were set to incapacitate with the least amount of pain.

LI had no such principles.

Gem felt rather than heard the scream that tore itself from his throat, muffled and tinny through the earplugs but vicious against his vocal cords.  Stars exploded in his vision, linking themselves together with flashes of lightning static.  The charge jetted all through his body, sending his muscles into uncontrollable spasms, and he faintly felt his knees crash into the ground, rapidly followed by his shoulders and then his head.  His pistols slipped from his fingers as his body instinctively curled in on itself, desperately trying to get the pain to stop, but it wasn’t working, wasn’t easing, and the screams still echoed hollowly in his ears.

Then it stopped.

The lightshow behind closed eyelids faded away to nothing, and the hoarse screaming died shortly afterwards.  His muscles still spasmed, but the lightning arcing through them had gone.

Suddenly, the darkness seemed very inviting as it lured him closer, a promise of oblivion and respite from the pain that still danced along all of his nerves.

A hand landed on his shoulder and he heard a whimper.  Fingers pried at his ears and he tried to recoil away, but his body wasn’t responding.  The world made a strange pop as the wax in his ears was plucked out.

“Spidey!”

Nelinha called him that more often than not, and Gem still hadn’t worked out if it was malicious or more banter.  He knew most of the Spider-Man references muttered behind his back before LI had blown up their school had been the former.

“Gem, can you hear me?”  Hands shook his shoulders roughly and he gasped as it made fresh little arcs of electricity run through his body.  “Gem!”

She sounded worried.  Gem took in a deep breath.

“I hear you,” he gasped, choking a little at the pain talking provoked.

“Good,” she replied, and the hands shifted until they were grabbing him by the lapels of his coat.  “We need to get out of here before more show up.  Can you stand?”

Gem’s legs were still twitching as the leftover electricity juddered through them and he doubted they’d take his weight without complaint.  He also knew Nelinha was right and they needed to move.

Hauling himself to his feet was difficult; without Nelinha gripping onto him and all but dragging him upright, he wouldn’t have managed it.  As it was, he was still a juddering, gasping mess of pain when she finally got him to his feet, one arm draped liberally across her shoulders.

Walking was even harder, his feet not wanting to even consider placing one in front of the other, but despite being shorter than him by a not inconsiderable margin, Nelinha was used to hard physical work lugging around heavy pieces of machinery, and to Gem’s relief it translated to being able to drag him along like a semi-sentient sack of potatoes.

“Sorry,” he rasped, as his feet tangled together and almost sent them both sprawling out onto the ground.

“Don’t be,” she replied shortly, staggering but keeping her balance and yanking Gem forwards some more.  “This is Land Institute’s fault, and if you weren’t with me, I would never have got out of there.”  He felt her muscles heave as she pulled his arm further around her shoulders, and dimly noticed that she had her Leyden gun unholstered again.

The lack of continuing hostile fire suddenly made a certain amount of sense.

Gem’s muscles did not recover from their near-constant spasms on the awkward trip back to the Nautilus’ dock, although his vision slowly faded back into focus, if with the addition of white sprites darting across the world.

They didn’t recover as Nelinha all but dragged him back on board their submarine, either, to the concerned chorus of their classmates, and Gem couldn’t protest the stretcher he was bundled onto, especially as his nerves took that moment to almost fully reignite and give an agonising encore of the original attack.

“What happened?” he heard Franklin demand of Nelinha, echoed by Ana across the tannoy system.  The Cephalopod, perhaps predictably, launched into an explanation of how the Leyden-harpoon Gem hadn’t even seen before it hit him appeared to work, complete with estimates on voltage and other hair-raising numbers that made Gem feel lucky to still be alive, let alone conscious.

Semi-conscious, if he was being accurate.

The Orca prefect was clearly not impressed at LI’s new and increasingly aggressive weaponry, and Gem had to agree.

He was pretty sure that at some point between being loaded onto the stretcher and arriving in the Nautilus’ infirmary, he passed out.  His eyes only drifted shut for what felt like a moment, but when they re-opened his muscles felt sore, as though they’d had a solid workout that had gone on far too long, but no longer spasmed uncontrollably, and there was a comforting haze of painkillers lurking at the edge of his awareness – accompanied by the blissful lack of pain.

More bizarre than the seemingly-sudden shift from pain to anaesthetic was the girl sat by his bed.  Despite the similar colouring, it wasn’t the girl that Gem might have thought would drop by, Ana taking her role of captain seriously when it came to her crew – and also a good enough friend to worry about Gem.

Nelinha was tinkering with something in her hands, because no true Cephalopod sat still and did nothing when there was technology to play with, and the Nautilus would never run dry of interesting technology to play with, but that didn’t make her presence there, at Gem’s bedside, any more understandable.

“Nelinha?” he asked, pushing himself up on his elbows.  His shoulder complained loudly, and a glance showed neat white bandaging around it.  She jumped.

“Spidey!”  She made a few more twists with the unidentifiable mass of metal and solder in her hands.  “You know you’re not supposed to get hit with the pointy things with highly electric currents, yes?”

Gem winced at the reminder.  “It wasn’t my intention,” he defended himself weakly.  The girl huffed.

“I don’t care,” she said.  “Don’t do it again.”  Somehow, she got a piece of wire to materialise out of the little project in her hands, and looped it around itself.  Gem still couldn’t tell what it was, or what it was supposed to turn into once the Cephalopod was done with it.  Nelinha eyed her project critically before standing up.  “That body armour isn’t going to build itself,” she commented, and Gem wondered what body armour? but he didn’t get a chance to ask before the girl was walking away, little gadget in hand, as though she’d simply been waiting for him to wake up before returning to her main project.

Nelinha waiting for him to wake up?  That didn’t seem right, but Gem didn’t have another explanation, and a small flicker of hope made itself known, although he was careful not to let it run too rampant, in case he was wrong.

But maybe one day they could be friends, after all.

[pico-digital-studios]

My thoughts about JD 2018

Yes, I'm aware that I'm running a risk of being hounded by fans who think JD 2018 is borderline irredeemable as a game, but... I honestly can't help but feel bad for the reception it ultimately got. Sure, the game wasn't at all the best, but there's still some good points I can see out of it from the gameplay footage I've seen, alongside me playing some of that game's songs on Just Dance+.

For starters, I wouldn't call every choreography the worst in that game. I genuinely had fun dancing along to songs like "In the Hall of the Pixel King", "Another One Bites the Dust" and "Sugar Dance", and some of the other choreographies on the game look like they'd be fun for me to perform. However, I wouldn't call all of them very good, either. Simply put, you're not gonna be catching me dancing to "Make It Jingle", no way. "Beep Beep I'm A Sheep", maybe, but I'll at least keep my hands off my bedroom floor for that one.

Now, as for the song selection itself. I was pretty numb to some of the big pop ones on there for a bit, but watching gameplay footage and trying the routines on Just Dance+ helped me have some renewed appreciation for what we had back then. Though I'm not as big a fan of some of the songs on that song list, there are still a good majority on there I've enjoyed getting to listen to, especially with the choreography visuals.

Onto the menu presentation. Yes, it was pretty simplistic, but it definitely had substance to it, especially with how the colours in the Just Dance mode's menu changed depending on what song you had selected. And boy, those holiday themes looked like a joy to experience on the menu! The basic good stuff of Easter, Halloween and Christmas without disrupting the core essence of that menu. Makes me wish the other games after then had such a feature to use.

As for the extra modes themselves. I can pretty much agree with a lot of the criticism directed towards Kids Mode, and if I was manning that, I'd take an approach that Just Dance Kids 2014 did, incorporating nice songs for the little ones alongside some good pop songs for the older kids. Even though Dance Lab isn't as good as Just Dance Machine, what with its routines bundled into preset groups of 5, I'll be alright getting started with that before taking on its Shake Lab mode.

But the idea that truly stood out to me, and why I'm aiming to get the game for my Switch as an extra side-thing in case I can't access the Just Dance service? The Double Rumble songs, which allow use of both Joy-Cons in a set of five different original songs. Ubisoft could've gone well with the Switch versions by incorporating that into some of their actual song lists, but sadly, it got dropped the following year and hasn't been seen again since.

Honestly, as much as I like the newer menu layouts introduced in 2019 onwards, what with you being able to preview songs before dancing to them, I miss remembering the feeling of trying to dive right in and see if the choreographics picked my fancy or not, like I did with the Wii versions of 2014 to 2016. And I'm not too big a fan of the bland white background seen in 2019 to 2022. Feels devoid of any substance compared to what 2018 had going for it.

If I decided to help develop a Just Dance offline game in the future, I'd definitely take cues from 2018 for the interface design choices, and I'd include the option of having either thumbnails or song previews available for when a song is selected, and this can be toggled whenever. Sets of songs (like those from past games) would have the category system that 2016 to 2018 had utilised so that it's easy to flip through them, alongside having the Search function available at all times if you're trying to find a specific song from the selection.

Though 2018 was more limited in other modes compared to the previous year, at least its Switch port can be considered playable (and at least 2018 Switch didn't ditch two popular songs like 2017 did for its port, or sent said versions to Unlimited for no reason). I'm honestly sour about 2019 outright ditching all the alternate modes aside from the Kids Mode, much to people's distaste to it barely changing its acts (and including some kid-unfriendly songs through Unlimited (especially looking at you, "Who Let The Dogs Out?" and "Copacabana")).

So, as my final verdict, I can see 2018 as a fun game for me to play on occasion, though I do admit that it needs some improvements (like a fixed song list and such) to better stand out. The visuals are pretty up to snuff, and should Ubisoft revisit that old menu style again, it'd definitely be a plus with the odd tweak. That, and not locking most of the songs behind playing a couple again.

[styxnbones]

for sev: 4, 10, 11, 19 :)

4. Why did you give them the name they have? What is the in-universe reason for their name?

I was actually super stumped on what to call them bc mentally I had just been using "sombie!harper" while i was stating them out and my brain really did not want to let go of calling them Harper bc that's,, yk,, the character I actually wanted to be using. But I did decide they should get their own name, if only so I could at least try to make them distinct from Harper. So I basically just spammed the random name generator on Behind The Name until it spat out "Vsevolod" and I went "huh. 11th century slavic prince eh? sounds exactly like the kind of shit a transmasc closet nerd with russian heritage would pick. could shorten it to Sev for everyday use." Then I realized that actually Sev hadn't come out to anyone until after they got embraced, so they wouldn't have ever actually used that name, but I still wanted to keep "Sev" so I justified it as being derived from "Sever" which was the nickname they got from their Sabbat pack.

10. What is your favorite trait regarding your oc? tie between all his traits that are actually harper's

It is actually the Forced Redemption Arc, though, which I did steal from Harper. I just find that aspect of "I will be a better person, not because it's the right thing to do but because I have literally no other options and I'm going to hate it the whole time" really fun to explore with/inflict on a character. I also specifically enjoy how Sev's version of it compares to Harper's because in some ways Sev is a lot farther along in it than Harper is, but also they haven't had nearly as much ground to make up or put in nearly as much effort. Like, Sev was 10 Years In The Sabbat evil but they weren't Killing And Eating Whole People For 30 Years And Liking It evil. They also have only had to get to a point of being acceptable for a Camarilla neonate, (if an ambitious one), rather than a heavily scrutinized Scourge who's continued existence is balanced against how well they can thread that needle. And on top of that, the big thing that Sev is covering up is the fact that they're caitiff and ex-sabbat rather than the fact that they're actively a cannibal. idk idk it compels me

11. What is your least favorite trait regarding your oc? the fact that they aren't harper

🫵 (at sev) BOOTLICKER!!! Not to the same degree as Harper because he hasn't had nearly as much time to perfect the art of kissing ass, but he's well on his way. I don't think they'll ever be quite as bad as Harper, though. Circling back to the contrasts between Sev and Harper's arcs: Sev has a much easier time being Civilized TM but he also chafes a lot more under authority. Part of his attitude that lends a lot of credence to his cover is that he clearly would prefer to be the one pulling the strings, rather than getting yanked around himself.

19. How might your oc react to finding out you are the one responsible for their life?

Oh, Sev would straight up kill me. No hesitation. Then they'd go have an existential crisis over their newly shattered belief in free will. Then it's like a 50/50 whether they kill themself or decide to pretend the whole thing never happened and carry on like normal.

[iatrophilosophos]

This is an extremely lopsided way of looking at things tbh

If you read psychiatric writing about things like biomarkers or medicalization, especially long career retrospectives, you'll have the very fun time of watching someone who poured their entire life into something fundamentally stupid wrestle with the three or four different layers of cognitive dissonance they've built up to obscure what's written plainly on nearly every page of the DSM:

Reproducing normative culture is "good for you". Mental illness is failing to reproduce normative culture. If you don't even WANT to try to reproduce normative culture, you're extra sick (antisocial) and need extra force.

Most of the people who implement that force think themselves kind.

I think it follows pretty naturally from a lot of what you're saying that it's impossible to write out a definitive diagnosis of any mental illness that is universally self-affirming: like you've said, there's matters of perspective here; and thus, the entire psychiatric complex is reliant on authority and force. Almost all psychiatrists have completely bought their own hype and continue to search for mythical biomarkers to unite classes of patients when what actually unites us is usually a lot closer to the surface (society sucks).

Narratives are not inherent to reality-- there is no god or great creator telling the story, and all we've got are fallible meat sponges throwing connections together. Medicine is, fundementally, a narrativizing process, even though western doctors like to kick and scream about how they alone have the divine right of kings about it. We can call it a predictive model, if narrative is too woo. We know, from contemporary and historical sources, that lots of medical modalities are & have been functional while using decidedly un-scientific predictive models--which occasionally even stand up to scientific vigor when done in good faith & including legitimate experts in non western modalities (see: integrative TCM). A diagnosis is when you pick some data points and tell a story about it; and if it's good medicine, that story will do what the person who is telling the story wants it to. It's all definition games and social contracts: if a doctor can tell a story where it would be better for a loud, difficult, resistive patient to be lobotomized to become quiet, agreeable, and not do much of anything...unfortunately they usually get to be "right".

Which is all to say... yes, this is the "internal" problem of psychiatry as it has defined its own truths and objectives (asterisk being that, as a field made up of People, we can always find psychiatrists who personally disagree with this assessment): but that the problem in greater context is less about the efficacy of the predictive models and more about who is telling the stories, what their goals are, and what that means for those of us with conflicting interests.

Now, I do not believe that the sum total of experiences labeled under mental illness are fake, or that if psychiatry disappeared tomorrow we'd all just be kicking it. I also don't object to concepts like "symptom" clusters or some form of physical/neurochemical basis for the different ways people tend to struggle--mind body dualism is a scam after all and adding similar experiences to one's predictive model can be incredibly useful. But who is telling the story matters a lot. The consequences don't neccesarily come from ineffective interventions--taking a drug that doesn't do what you want it to is usually pretty low-stakes and there's a lot of options and preexisting information out there for people to titrate the risks they'd like to personally take on. It's individuals' lack of personal control/decision making authority in the process.

You have correctly identified that it can be relatively easy for systems of power to decide what story they want to impose about who is sick and who is well, but extremely difficult to actually impose that story onto people by force. Learning more about the brain in ways that could make that easier is good for power; but because my goals and desires in the world are fundementally opposed to power, I don't really think it would be good for me.

The problem with psychiatry isn't that in principle there can be no such thing as a disease of the mind or a treatment for such a disease, it's that psychiatrists don't actually know how the mind works at any kind of fine mechanical level, the way a medical doctor roughly does with the body; where we know what a heart attack is no one knows what schizophrenia or bipolar disorder is. And no one has a good and consistent answer for where the line between mere idiosyncrasy or difference of viewpoint, preference, or behavior and mental pathology should be drawn. The problem with psychiatry in other words is that psychiatrists don't actually know very much, they are trying to treat you by letting blood to balance your humors and hoping it improves something. And it may, or it may not, or it may yield illusory improvements (as bloodletting sometimes did) while doing more damage than it is healing, or whatever else. Because psychiatrists are treating an organ (the brain) whose workings neither they nor anyone else actually understands.

[crossdressingdeath]

Since you're bored: I know you like romancing both Iron Bull and Dorian (you're right, a poly relationship with these two would be delightful), but which romance cut scene/quest do you prefer? You don't have to pick a favorite (I know I can't) but I'd love to hear your favorite bits and pieces about each.

Oh god it's so hard to choose. Full disclosure though, it has been a while since I did Dorian's romance so my memories of it are a little hazy? I remember the vibes but not a lot of the details. Took a break from DA and I just decided to go with Bull first for my return to the game. Dorian... soon.

Dorian's is definitely the sweeter of the two? Like, it's so fucking soft and affectionate. And the little dates you go on around Skyhold? As far as I'm aware none of the other romances do that! It's so good, I love it! And his romanced banter with Cole, god it's so cute I adore him. His sarcastic shock at you saying you prefer men during his personal quest if you've been flirting with him because "You are not subtle, oh lord Inquisitor" is very fun also. The increased disapproval when you drink from the Well if you romanced him because he was scared he'd lose you? His audible heartbreak at the end of Trespasser when he learns you're dying? Him inventing a magic phone so the two of you can talk while he's in Tevinter? Perfect, no notes. The way he says "amatus" is also just so good, A+ voice acting there. Also I love the bit where you go to that merchant who calls Quiz Dorian's friend in a Tone and Dorian goes "I know what you mean and he's not my friend" and Quiz just looks so offended, it's very funny to me, I actually had that expression as my profile pic for a while and I may go back to it once I romance him again. Also the general "fuck you" to the Chantry that is the Herald of Andraste falling for a Tevinter magister is delicious and I might have romanced him for that alone even if he wasn't so fantastic. I'm going to have to scramble through the rest of my Bull run so I can romance Dorian again, I miss him.

The initial flirt options for Bull's romance are just him totally ignoring all Quiz's flirting and insinuating and it is fantastic. I especially like the "I can protect you" "My blade can protect me just fine" "Maybe I can do things your blade can't" "Doubt it. It's got blood grooves" exchange after IHW/CotJ. He's just being deliberately obtuse about it and it's very fun. Also I love how incredibly thirsty Quiz is in Bull's romance, like they are here for this. They are going to ride the Bull and no force in Thedas can stop them. And it's still surprisingly sweet when you get into it? Which, when you hear "BDSM romance option" you probably don't immediately expect it to be pretty cute, but it is! Especially when you get the opportunity to actually fluster Bull; I believe he gets pretty flustered when you ask him to dance at the Winter Palace, and I vaguely remember an option to scare the shit out of him by jokingly taking one of his comments as a proposal late in the romance. ...I think, I haven't actually hit that point in this run yet so I don't really remember. Also the fact that you have to fight a dragon for him is both kind of a pain and also very him, if you were to take a complete newcomer to the series, show them a lineup of the Inquisition romances and ask them which one makes you fight a dragon to finalize the romance I bet they'd get it right. I continue to love the requisition request for the Necklace of the Kadan coming up while you're talking about it, a Quiz romancing Bull has zero chill and I love to see it. And how in the cutscene after killing your first high dragon he'll call you "kadan" if you're romancing him? Very good, very cute. Also the scene where all your advisors except Leliana walk in on you is so fucking funny to me. Especially when you look at the scene and realize that you're in Bull's room? Like they came looking for you in Bull's room and somehow didn't guess what was going on. Cassandra is especially funny because she can be in parties while party banter discussing the fact that you and Bull are fucking happens. She should know! ...Also I just realized that Leliana probably isn't there because unlike the others she almost walks in on you after the first time and is stopped by Bull, so she already knew and would've known to avoid Bull's room while you're there. Also again, Cole's banter with him if he's romanced is so good. I especially like how totally mortified Quiz can be about it and everyone's snarky comments. "If a rift were to open up right now and swallow me that would be fine" followed by Solas's "Provided it tied you down first, one assumes" is a personal favourite of mine. I also remember a very fun banter in Trespasser while you're underground, something about beds...? But I cannot remember the details for the life of me (honestly might be mixing up him and Dorian, it wouldn't be the first time), although when I went to check the banter page on the wiki I did learn that if you pick the right dialogue option after fighting the Qunari (provided you made the objectively correct choice and saved the Chargers, since if you didn't it is just Pain) Quiz will call Bull "darling" and I like that very much. I do remember the bit where you can distract him from the Chargers loudly moving his present across the floor by talking about sex shops! Bull's romance is very fun just because of how wildly unsubtle it is, like it can be very sweet but also this is the most down to fuck I've ever seen Quiz. Which does fit the friends with benefits to lovers theme of the romance, but still. It's fun.

But basically both romances are very very good and it kills me that there isn't a polyamory option. Let me have both, Bioware!

[minyoongees]

comethru || myg

✧ pairing: manager!yoongi x worker!reader

✧ genre: slight angst? hurt/comfort, pathetic attempt at crack, barely there fluff

✧ word count: 2k

✧ summary: Yoongi saves you from heinous karens

✧ snip: "We have a coupon for a free meal at your restaurant and we demand you open it right now!!" this bitch—

✧ warnings: karens, oc gets all panicky, bubbling anxiety, rude af people, unhealthy relations with parents, unrequited love? (oc doesn’t really know)

This fic was genuinely fun to write! I know I did not do a very good job on this it’s lengthy with useless info but it just felt important. Let me know what you think of this!

Also, the title is inspired by Jeremy Zucker's comethru

As a new worker in a big restaurant, there are a few words one could dread to hear. For example, 'You're fired' sounds horrifying, gut wrenching, all your student loans flash before your eyes. It's scary, yes, but it's not as dreadful as the infamous —

"Can I see your manager?"

"Ma'am I already told you the restaurant opens at 11:30 am, and none of the staff arrives before 11, but I'd be happy to serve you at 11:30" you assured.

BANG!

One of the three ladies with a blonde bob cut hit at the door again.

"We don't talk to low class workers, call your manager!" Called out another from the group while the bangs continued. It was so loud you were almost afraid that they will tear this place down.

"Because of the unavailability of the manager, a low class worker is all you'll have to speak to for now," you spat, "but I'd be happiest if you don't speak to me at all"

Numerous loud gasps were heard. If the head chef heard you talking like this, you'll be out of the restaurant sooner than these karens can call your manager.

"HOW DARE YOU TALK LIKE THAT TO A CUSTOMER???"

"Ma'am since you have not walked into the restaurant yet, you are not our customer." you tried to explain, "The restaurant opens at 11:30 ma'am which is just in an hour and a half, I suggest you wait outside on one of the tables."

Even though it was kinda against the rules to sit on the tables unless you eat at the restaurant, but you desperately needed to get rid of the situation. The restaurant didn't even open yet, so what could be the big deal about them sitting on the benches outside. You were just hoping your manager would be understanding.

Anticipating another harsh string of words from them, the total silence that hit you surprised you. You pulled the blinds lower and peeked through them. The ladies were seated on the chairs outside, looking through their phones. Even though a bit shocked that they decided to do what you asked so easily, you didn't wanna jinx it. You thanked your lucky stars and moved on to getting the coffee machine started.

The day hasn't even started yet and the karens are here to disrupt the place already. Being the newbie, you have to come early to get this place started and on top of that, people like them are making it even harder. You clearly don't get paid enough for this.

Moving on to wiping all the tables, you were wishing that when your manger arrives, he'll understand the situation. To come to think of it, he's actually a good man and been nothing but nice to you since you joined here a month ago. He even covered up for you when you broke a plate. Another time he took the blame upon himself when you put a bit too much salt in of the dishes and a few people left unsatisfied. He's been sheltering you ever since you joined here and you've been enjoying this more than you should. Yet you still can't help but hope he handles it this time too and saves you from these heinous Karens.

brrring brrring brrring!!

The sounds catches you off guard not because of it's sudden penetration into the too good to be true silence, but because it shouldn't be ringing when it's the restaurant's hours closed. Nevertheless against your better judgement you pick it up and place the receiver between your ear and shoulder.

"Thanks for calling the Nile's! My name is y/n, how can I help you today?"

"We have a coupon for a free meal at your restaurant and we demand you open it right now!!"

this bitch—

"Ma'am as I explained already, the restaurant opens at 11:30 and if you walk in by then, I'll be happy to serve you and make use of your coupons too." Is it too early to quit?

"Am I talking to the manager?" she asked penetratingly.

"The manager is not here yet, but as soon as he arrives, I'll make sure you're the first person he talks to." you tried calmly hoping it would help.

The woman on the line took a deep breath but nothing could prepare you for the coming onslaught of distress.

"Missy you've been saying this to us since the morning and yet your manager isn't here. You should not open a restaurant when you do not know how to run it.”

She was so loud you couldn't even hear yourself losing the will to live.

"You do not know my husband. If he gets to know about the way you've treated me today, your restaurant will be closed forever." She threatened and you could hear her talking from the outside. Did she know that you did not own the restaurant?? "You should be grateful to me for not telling. Now open this damn door RIGHT NOW!!”

Another round of bangs started ringing and it echoed through the walls. They seemed louder than you know they should've been. And it was the trigger. The helplessness of the situation created panic. Your eyes unfocused, your stomach churned and your heartbeat escalated. You felt trapped.

Her shrill sound coming from the phone felt like it was piercing your ear drums and you could no longer understand what she was saying. So you slammed the receiver back into place, not knowing what to do anymore.

The grip on the cloth between your fingers seemed weak. You have always been a strong woman, dealing with irrational people all your life since you spent most of it around such people. But the karens have been tormenting you since the past 30 minutes and it was bound to get to you, sooner or later. Though you'd hoped for later rather than sooner. They way they started banging on the door while demanding something from you seemed so familiar to the way your parents banged on your bedroom door when you locked yourself in to save yourself from them.

Anywho, the situation is delayed for now and you have to calm down and start working again or you won't be done till the rest of the staff comes around. You don't know till when you'll be living under Yoongi's shadows and he'll be protecting you.

You put your hands on your face and let out a deep breath. Back to work bitches.

You started wiping the tables again, trying to think about something else. That 'something else' had a lot of options for you like, how are you going to repay your student loan that you took to go to college and didn't even help you land a decent job, or how your mom has been pestering you since months to get married and you haven't the found the best way to tell her yet that you wanna focus on your career for now and become a chef, or... well let's just say you had better things to worry about. But your train off thoughts was cut short when the phone rang again.

You already knew who was calling, so you decided against picking up. The ear splitting sound of the phone again echoed through the walls and it made you want to throw the phone against a wall. You know the restaurant phones should be loud enough to be heard by the staff even when the place is busy, but it did not help with the way it was making you feel.

After what seemed like forever, it stopped ringing and you went on to work again. The phone rang several times after that and with each ring, you felt your patience slipping farther away from you. You had half the mind to pick up the phone and tell them off, but you knew it would only anger them further. Yet you couldn't let this go on so after at least a dozen calls, you decided to pick it up.

"Thanks for calling at the Nile's! My name is y/n how can I help you today?" you spoke through a sigh.

"I'VE BEEN CALLING AT THIS DAMN RESTAURANT SINCE THE PAST 2 HOURS AND NOBODY HAS PICKED IT UP." she bellowed. If you thought she was loud and shrill earlier, you would change your mind now. Also, 2 hours????? you weren’t even here 2 hours ago!

"I HAVE GOT ALL THAT YOU HAVE DONE ON MY PHONE AND I WILL POST THIS ALL ON FACEBOOK THE WAY YOU HAVE TREATED ME IS NOT AT ALL A WAY TO TREAT A CUSTOMER." she didn't even pause for a breath "WAIT TILL MY HUSBAND HEARS ABOUT THIS."

You didn't dare say anything for the fear that anything that may come out of your mouth right now, may anger her further, considering, you were not the manager she hoped to talk to.

There was small hustle on the other end. You could hear the ladies outside arguing a little. After a short pause, someone spoke again.

"Am I talking to manager?" this was not the woman who yelled at you earlier but someone else.

"Yes you are, ma'am"

You let out a small shriek. Surprised to see the receiver that was in your hands a moment ago, placed against Yoongi's ear. When the hell did he get here and how did you not even realize?? Even so, a strange feeling of safety filled up your chest at the sight of him and you felt like you could breath again.

"No ma'am, we cannot do that for you. As y/n here explained to you, the restaurant opens at 11:30 and no exceptions will be made for anyone." he explained calmly and it had you hoping that they'd listen to him if not you.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience caused to you ma'am."

You just stood being a witness to one side of the conversation. You could hear someone talking outside the restaurant as well, but couldn't make out their exact words.

You admired his calm even in such a patronizing situation. At least to you, it was that way. In your eyes, he seemed so serene, his lips moved to utter the most calming sounds and you felt like you'd hand over your life to him if he asked you for it.

You really needed to practice professional work ethics when it came to him.

"Yes we will take care of this in the future, thank you for your suggestion."

"Ma'am we do not accept any kind of coupons for any of the meals provided here. Are you sure it is the same restaurant?"

Wait. But we do accept coupons here at the Nile's...

"No ma'am we cannot do that for you. There is no such policy, and we do not accept coupons."

"You can totally go ahead and call the police for yourself and we'll be sure to tell them how have harassed one of our workers over here." He said in an unbothered tone, gaze floating to you and you strangely found yourself looking away.

"Sure thing. Thank you for calling!"

And he placed the receiver back, as if job accomplished.

"Are you okay y/n?" He questioned. In his deep eyes, you saw genuine concern for yourself and you wanted to stay there for some while more. His voice was music to your ears and you did not want your own voice to taint the air around.

But he asked you something.

"Yeah." you said breathlessly and cleared your throat. "Yes, I'm fine, thanks for the help Yoongi"

It was something he insisted you call him even though the rules say he is your senior and should be addressed as so.

"Such people are so irritating and do not deserve to be let out of their homes. What kind of a husband would it be, huh!" he wondered, "though I question if there is any husband at all or she was just bluffing."

"Yeah I know right?" you didn't know what to say. "Though it was really impressive the way you handled them, I could never!"

He laughed at that. Sounded so heavenly, your knees kind of gave out.

And it was another day when he saved you. Why does he do that for you? Why was he here here so early? Why does he even try to get to close to you?

These are questions you do not have the answers to yet. You hope to get them someday. But you are happy they you are right now. Or maybe you are too afraid that the answers to these questions wouldn't be what you'd like to hear. Maybe he was just being nice and you being a horndog took the hint wrong way.

But for now, you have all the time (45 mins max before some other employee comes) to enjoy this moment with him alone in the closed restaurant, surrounded by the smell of food and his cologne and you have no idea which you like better. You wouldn't have it any other way.

masterlist | fin. 

[necros-writing-stuff]

You were supposed to just be arm candy for the night. Quinn had strong-armed Bailey into bringing a date for the gala she was hosting. He'd staunchly refused, until she reminded him of last year's party. Maybe it was something in the air, but everyone wanted to either dance with Bailey, or sneak off with him. More importantly, everyone was constantly watching him. It was unnerving, given his history. That's where you came in.

While considering his options, he was forced to face the facts. Eden and his spouse were his only friends. Fuck Quinn, she didn't count. Couldn't trust her as far as he could throw her. Which wasn't far. Her fat tits weighed her down. He didn't trust anybody else to be that close to him the whole night, but Eden would never play along, and he'd kill Bailey before he could finish asking for his spouse to go, which was fair. Bailey had been close to both of them growing up and may or may not have nursed a crush. On both of them. At the same time. Regardless, everyone that attended these parties was some kind of scum. They were, however, very good for networking and making contacts. It's how he found Remy in the first place, after all.

Thus Bailey was left with slim pickings. He could hire one of Briar's skanks, but he couldn't trust they weren't a plant. One that would pass information back to his competition. So that was put. He could rent one of Remy's goons for the evening, but they were ill mannered and ill tempered. They'd no doubt cause a scene. He could bring one of his orphans, but again, they'd cause a scene. Not only that, it'd make him look like a massive pervert. No, bringing an orphan is something the previous caretaker would have done. He sees enough of that monster in himself daily; he didn't need any more. His last option, was to borrow Eden's kid. You were the most beautiful, well behaved little shit he'd ever encountered. Smart and resourceful, you didn't have a lot of love for anyone in town.

Getting his friends o agree was the hardest part. Eden hated the idea of his child going into that town, much less being surrounded by the people who made it awful. His spouse, well, they were skeptical he'd keep you safe. He had a lot of enemies and all of them knew it. What if someone went after their baby because you were with him? New survival equipment and cookware helped convince them. Mostly since it was basically him saying Eden could kill him with a shiny, new hatchet. Or his spouse could beat him to death with their new cast iron skillet.

You were excited to go to a party. Your uncle Bailey brought you to the store and let you pick out all kinds of clothes, just not a gown for the gala. He didn't care about your shape or size. You were wearing a long, open back dress with a slit up to your hips. It was made of black satin and had lace delicately sewn as the collar and cold shoulder sleves. It hugged your assets, the skirt flowing with each move you made. He also got you shiny silver and daimond jewelry, and black, heeled shoes with red bottoms. He even took you to get a mani-pedi. You felt so fancy!

When it was time to attend, you did your hair and make up. It was simple, and a little understated. You wanted to focal point to be on the stuff your uncle got you. He seemed happy enough that you were we wearing the outfit just as he told you to. You were thrilled to please him, after all, he was taking you out of the woods and letting you see the town! You got to meet new people! Besides, it was fun letting him dress you up. You honestly felt a little bad, like you were taking advantage of him. You weren't a child anymore, and he didn't need to spoil you like one.

On the drive to the hotel, you nervously picked at the lace on your dress. Bailey had to take a hand off the wheel and grip both of your hands in his to make you stop. It surprised you at first. Had he ever touched you before? It was usually the other way around, when you'd hug him goodbye. His hands were larger than your's. Calloused and scared, not as bad as your father's. His nails were short and well taken care of, like the rest of him. He chastised you. Your dress was expensive. You apologized profusely.

When you got to the event, all eyes were on you. Your arms wrapped around Bailey's as you let him lead you around. You didn't recognize any of the people other than Quinn. You were happy to talk with her when Bailey stopped to chat. She kept giving Bailey this funny look, like she was trying not to laugh, and wiggling her eye brows at him. If it meant anything, Bailey didn't comment on it, or explain it to you. With Quinn, was a handsome man dressed in horse riding clothes. He looked really out of place. Most people were wearing suits or gowns. Bailey didn't let you speak to him, instead sending you to savage the buffet. He didn't need to tell you twice.

While filling your plate with a variety of hordervs, you felt someone staring at you. An instinct honed while living in the woods. Looking around, you saw a darkly dressed boy watching you. He was really small, you wouldn't have guessed he was your age. His hair was kind of greasy, brushed straight down his face; covering most of it. It made his piercing green eyes stand out all the more. His face turned red and he shuffled uncomfortably when your eyes met. You offered a friendly wave and a warm smile.

Then your attention was back on the food. So many fancy bites to try. You didn't know they made quiches that small! A soft tugging on your sleeve had you turning to see the boy again, now standing in front of you.

"M- My name is Kylar." He said, not making eye contact. He was small, and his body language screamed submissiveness. It made you feel a little more at ease. You could probably kill him with your bare hands if he tried anything. You introduced yourself and offered him a baby quiche off your plate. You weren't a huge fan of meatless quiches anyway.

Kylar held the small baked good in his hands as though you had just given him your heart. You were pretty thankful when Bailey called you back over. As you walked away, you heard someone laughing. A blond boy with hair covering one eye was laughing at Kylar. Did they know eachother? Were they friends? Why was he laughing at his friend? Next to the blond, was another blond boy. The one with long hair, wearing monk's robes, scolded the boy with piercings. They looked like brothers.

When you finally made it back to Bailey, he put his arm around your waist and handed you a glass of champagne. It was bubbly and tickled your throat when you drank it. You drank a few flutes of champagne and felt really funny after the fifth one. Enough so that it was hard to walk without clinging to Bailey. Maybe it was because your face was pressed into his chest, but he smelled really good. You think that's when he decided to leave with you, but it's all hazy after that. Bailey, as it would turn out, was equally hammered. He had enough of his wits about him to rent a room for the both of you, and not drive. But not enough to keep himself from ogling you in the outfit he bought you.

He practically carried you to the room. Which was fine by you. You had a pleasant, warm feeling spreading throughout your body when you pressed against him. After unlocking the door, the pair of you stumbled into the room. It was nice and all, but Bailey had other things on his mind. One other thing, actually. You were so drunk you let him strip you of your jewelry, shoes and stockings. You didn't complain when he removed a but his boxers, not did you mention the damp tent he had going on.

You admired his physic, his scars and his tattoos. It wasn't until he was undressing you, that something in your brain clicked and told you this was wrong. You weakly tried to push Bailey away, your intoxication making hard to move or speak. You whined softly.

"What are you doing?" He ignored you entirely, tearing the gown to rip it from your gorgeous body. You squirmed under him, trying to move away, but he held you firmly in place. His hands felt really good on your hips once they were bare to him, fire igniting every where he touched.

Bailey was achingly hard. Quinn must have put something in his drink. There was no way he wanted to fuck Eden's smoking hot kid as badly as he did. It wasn't like he'd jacked off to the thought of deflowering you before. To sending you home, his seed running down your pretty thighs. Even as you weakly struggled and protested under him, he took off your bra with expert skill. When you tried to cover yourself, he gathered your hands and pinned them above your head.

"Uncle Bailey, stop." You whimpered, your begging only turning him on more. He used he free hand to force your legs apart, so he could settle between them. He thought, for a fleeting moment, about preparing you. No. He wanted to hear you screaming his name. He wanted everyone to hear it. Your undergarments were quickly pulled from your body, leaving your virginal sex exposed to him. Drunk as he was, Bailey was salivating at the sight of you; naked, tears pricking at your eyes, struggling and making the cutest sounds. He was going to fuck you till your pussy molded to the shape of his cock. His underwear went next, tossed carelessly across the room. Again, you tried to wriggle away from him.

"Uncle Bailey, please. I don't want this. I- I've never-" His lips crashed into your's before you could finish speaking. His tongue invaded your mouth, your teeth clacking together in his desperation. More focused on getting your mouth free, you were only distantly aware of Bailey lining the crying head of his cock up with your wet hole. It came to the forefront of your thoughts when he pushed against it. He was huge, bigger than you thought he would be. Not that you thought about it before. He was your uncle, why would you? You gasped as he groaned. Then, in one forceful thrust, he burried himself to the hilt in your tight, no longer virgin pussy.

"Fuck, I felt that. Were you waiting for uncle Bailey to pop your cherry, sweatheat?" He gave you no time to adjust, setting a desperate, needy pace from the get-go. You were crying fully now. The stretch of him hurt! It hurt and he was hurting you more by moving!

"Hu-u-urts!" You sobbed, encouraging Bailey to force your knees to your chest.

"Only for a little bit. It'll feel real good in a minute, treasure." Bailey nipped your lip before moving to take your nipple into his mouth. His lips sucked at the sensitive nub while his talented tongue flicked against the tip. He groaned against your soft skin when your pussy clamped down on his cock. His movement faltered for a beat or two before regaining his rhythm. He continued groping and teasing your chest until your sobbing became choked, unbidden moans. You bit your lip, trying to keep yourself quiet He felt your walls relax around him, making moving easier.

"Didn't I tell you, kitten? Fuck, you love this, don't you? Love having uncle Bailey's fat fucking cock wrecking your little pussy." You hated it. You hated him. He was right and it made the shame that much harder to bear. It didn't hurt anymore. The burning sensation from his cock felt good. It felt so good you wanted more. You felt so full, almost complete. Try as you might, he had you singing for him.

Bailey let go of your hands to force your knees to your chest, folding you in half and giving him easy access to a spot inside you that you'd never reached. Your tongue lolled out of your mouth and your eyes rolled back into your head as he abused the sweet spot inside you. A tight, clenched sort of feeling began winding inside you. You found it hard to breathe suddenly, his name on your lips like a prayer.

"Fuck, yes, that's right. Fuck, you fucking love my cock." Bailey's pace increased, barely pulling out anymore before plunging back in; working the base of his cock and letting his heavy balls slap against your ass. He was ready to cum, but he refused to finish before you. A little denial never hurt him. He enjoyed it every now and then when he was getting himself off. Oh, but your tight little heat, absolutely dripping for him felt so much better than his hand. Far better than he imagined.

"Gonna fuck you all night. Gonna wake up and fuck you again in the morning." You arched your back orgasm hitting you like a tidal wave. You cried out, incoherent as he continued to abuse your cunt; using your orgasm and the rythmic clenching of your pussy to get off.

"God! Fucking, yes! Gonna send you home with my cum gushing from your tight little pussy. Keep you coming back for- fuck!" Bailey's rhythm lost it's beat. He frantically fucked himself into you, desperate for his high.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!" Bailey, honest to god, moaned your name as he came. Pressed to the hilt inside you, he worked himself through his orgasm, prolonging it by grinding himself into you. The feeling of his pubic hair harshly rubbing against your clit pushed your over sensitive body to another high.

He didn't give either of you a chance to rest or recover. Flipping you over, he stared rolling his hips into you again. You whimpered and begged for a break, only for him to slap your ass, leaving an angry, red hand print, and laugh at you.

"Your body belongs to me now, and you're not going anywhere till I'm done with you, kitten." You whimpered as he pushed you down into the mattress, fucking his cum out of you as he prepared to fuck more into you.

Bailey never had much of a sex drive. He didn't know if it was from the abuse he suffered growing up, or if it was natural. Frankly, he didn't want to know. What he did know, was that it left him the a hell of a lot of stamina. You were in for a long night, and when you got home, you'd have to explain to your parents where your bruises came from, why you were walking like that, and why you needed to start visiting Bailey on the weekends.

In a couple of months, you'd have to explain to them why you have a bun in the oven.

(- anon 🚩 bad uncle Bailey takin it from noncon to dubcon gets me hrrrnnngggg.)

Bailey having a crush on both Eden and Pre-PC at the same time makes me think about them double teaming him after a night out drinking.

But also bad uncle Bailey breeding his sweet little niece, keeping her nice and dripping with cum at every chance is such a lovely image. Looking his best friend in the eye and telling him they had a wonderful time, he even took her somewhere to eat out!

Current-PC trying not to blush at the horrible puns Bailey makes about the various ways he's fucked her so Eden doesn't figure out what happened.

[hey-there-juliet]

Random Drabble Day (2/23)

Summary: First off, let me just say that this is more like a one-shot than a drabble because I'm a wordy bitch and I cannot control myself 😅

That said, I always had a hard time imagining Julie writing some of the Perfect Harmony's lyrics about herself, so I thought why not make this just another song that Luke and Julie wrote together? This is set somewhere between Finally Free and Edge of Great, in that week when Ray was stress-eating. This is supposed to fit back into the show at the end, so it might seem like a cliffhanger, but it's not.

Quick shout out to @jamestkirkish for betaing this for me! I love you and you are amazing! Any remaining mistakes are my own. And to the fabulous Sloan, for helping me out with Luke's handwriting! Enjoy 🧡

Fandom: Julie and the Phantoms

Relationship: Juke 💜

in the great scheme of life and ghosts

No matter how many times Luke insisted that she had been snooping through his things, Julie knew for a fact that she had done no such thing. In reality, she had simply been cleaning the studio when she came across it.

For three ghosts who didn't eat and could barely even touch anything most of the time, the boys sure knew how to make a mess. Every morning Julie would walk into the studio to find the chairs or coffee table rearranged, at least one of the rugs was always askew, and the clothes... the clothes were everywhere, and the worst part was: they reeked. 

And so every morning before leaving for school Julie would shoot them a stern look and tell them to pick up after themselves. Which they did - when she got back home, things were mostly in their rightful place. Still, every weekend Julie would make sure to take a moment away from homework and rehearsal to tidy the place up to perfection, just like her mom liked it. She'd dust off the furniture, water the plants, sweep the floor, and even vacuum the whole place. One Saturday when she was home alone (her dad photographing a wedding, and Carlos at a friend's house), she even went through the trouble of washing all of the guys' old clothes. 

Somehow, and she didn't even want to think about how that worked, the clothes didn't stink when they were actually wearing them, but at any other moment when they made no contact with their skin? Yeah... not good. So she washed them all (three times, using every trick and product she had). She washed them a fourth time for good measure and, by the time she was finished, any traces of twenty-five year old mold was gone, and so was the smell.

So no, she was not snooping - no matter what Luke said - when she came across the crumpled paper ball between the couch and the low cabinet, just behind a big vase her mom had gotten from tía Victoria.

Julie sighed, making a mental note to tell Luke to put his discarded ideas in the bin (again) if he didn't want them anymore, when one scribbled and wrinkled word caught her attention: Perfect Ha-

She bit her lip, staring down at the teasing word. Perfect what? Was it lyrics? Maybe half formed ideas? Doodles? Julie knew Luke liked to doodle in the margins of his notebook whenever he got stuck trying to come up with the next best piece of lyric or melody. She also knew she should probably just leave it alone, put it with his stuff to ask him later if he wanted to keep it, or put it in the garbage. Except the more she glanced down at that damn word, the stronger she felt it pull her towards uncovering whatever else the crumpled paper ball was hiding. 

In the end, the pull was too strong. She'd just take a quick look, make sure it wasn't anything important before she threw it away. And, she reasoned with herself, trying to squish the guilt that was making itself known in the pit of her stomach: Luke had gotten rid of it, so he clearly didn't care much for whatever was in there. 

Not able to resist any longer, Julie carefully unfolded the paper, slowly making her way towards the piano and using its surface as a table to help smooth the page over.

Luke's (horrendous) handwriting covered it with the bare bones of a song, random lines were scribbled in the margins with a couple of doodles for company, and even a little note from their bassist - ‘Reggie was here ;)’.

It took her a minute before the chicken scratches became words, and then Julie's breath left her in a rush, as the guilty feeling in her stomach turned into butterflies and flew away with her imagination. 

It was a song, parts of one, anyway, and - more importantly - it was a love song.

Unprompted, her own words came back to her, "Wow, Luke! I didn't know you were such a romantic." Quickly followed by Alex's short reply, "He's not."

She knew now who Unsaid Emily was really about, but these new words were clearly about a different kind of love. The romantic kind, and Julie couldn't help letting herself believe - just for a moment - that the song might be about her.

Before she could let herself be carried away in a daydream, there was a - now familiar - shift in the air, a sound almost like static, the only thing letting her know of a ghost's appearance. Without a thought, she crumpled the page again and shoved the paper ball in her pocket for later inspection. 

"Hey, Julie!" Reggie's cheerful greeting sounded across the studio from where he had poofed in, and soon - with his "help," bless him - Julie was finished with her weekend clean up. 

As if summoned by the end of her chores, Luke poofed in, ready to rehearse. Alex soon followed; and by the time Julie retired for the night, the song had been almost forgotten where it hid inside her pocket. 

Almost.

***

After getting ready for the night, Julie settled on her bed with the wrinkled page and her dreambox. She read over the words again and again, imagining they were about her.

Step into my world, 

Bittersweet love story about a girl 

Shook me to the core 

Voice like an angel, 

I've never heard before, 

- 

You and me together, it's more than chemistry 

- 

Love me as I am 

I hold your music 

Here inside my hands 

- 

You are my brightest burning star 

- 

We create Perfect Harmony.

And unless Luke had been singing with another girl, there didn't seem to be many options on who it could be about, right?

From the beginning, Julie had felt something connecting her to him; to all of them, in different ways. But Luke had been the one to give her a little piece of his soul right after meeting her when he let her use Bright to earn back her spot in the music program. Seeing his passion reflecting back on her, the way he treated music like she used to, made her miss it more than anything for the first time in almost a year. It made her miss the way it felt to use music to connect with her mom.

After they spent a whole weekend finishing each other's songs and working on new ones, getting to know each other's inner workings - the part of them that bled out feelings into paper to create beautiful melodies, Julie knew she was a goner. Finding out he'd been the one to write the words that shaped her taste in rock certainly didn't help. Like he'd been helping her find her way to music long before they even met.

Her crush on him had been inevitable from the start, and while falling for him was probably one of the worst things she could’ve done, it was too late to stop it. She'd been free falling for a while, and hopefully she'd land in his arms soon enough. Reading over his words again gave Julie a warm fluttering in her stomach that made her think he was more than ready to catch her once she reached the ground. 

Carefully folding the piece of paper, she put it inside her dreambox, then placed the box back on the shelf.

***

The following week went by without any hiccups. Every once in a while, Julie would remember Luke's song and a familiar warmth would fill her up, leaving a soft smile on her lips and glazed eyes staring off at nothing. Just as often, Flynn would have to shake her out of her daydreams.

She didn't think much would come of it until her dad decided to throw the band a party so he could film them and post their video on YouTube. Which was fine. Amazing, even. It was most certainly great! Until Luke came to the school, staring at her with his stupid, beautiful, awed eyes, and with his soft, perfect smile, saying things that made her combust and melt, all at the same time.

"I think you make me a better writer." 

    "I think we make each other better."

Calling Nick 'Luke' was bad enough, but slipping into a complete musical sequence as she danced with him? "Goner" didn't even begin to describe her. 

Like the other times they'd written together, the lyrics flowed through her, finishing the song he'd started with the same ease as one would take a breath.

Julie knew that whatever was going on between her and Luke couldn't happen or, if it did, it couldn't last. In fact, in the great scheme of life and ghosts, she didn't know much, but what she did know was that - be it in life or in death - love was constant. 

He didn't need to have a heartbeat or to be able to touch her for her to love him. He was just as real to her as the next person, and whether it would hurt in the long run or not, it didn't matter. 

She knew Flynn was only looking out for her, but that ship had sailed, and Julie was already so lost in his ocean eyes that avoiding eye contact wasn't going to bring it back. She would entertain her though, even knowing it wouldn't work. Just like the tide, eventually he'd pull her right back in.

She could love him just as he was, for however long they had together, and especially after that.

-

End notes: I hope you guys enjoyed it! And, if you'll notice, at the beginning it kind of gives off the impression that Luke eventually finds out about the song and Julie tells him how she found it. Which may or may not lead you to believe that they're in a relationship. I guess it all depends on interpretation though ;)

Oh, also! Shout out to the chaos squad folks that guessed right! You guys are no fun :( /j lmao

[rpg-elf-girl]

Shadows House

I have a lot of thoughts surrounding this particular show, both good & bad.

Allow me to give a quick summary for anyone who hasn't seen/read it!

Shadows House is about 'a faceless family of nobles who all live within this giant manor, the Shadows House.

When a Shadow comes of age they receive a 'Living Doll' to both serve as their face and to clean the soot they emit from their bodies.

The most important rule of the living dolls is "don't fret over trivial matters"

A task which is difficult for the ever curious doll Emiliko.

Watch this tale unfold as Emiliko & her mistress Kate navigate this ever mysterious Manor together.'

For a fan of slow burn thrillers, horror, slice of life, supernatural & mystery series' this has been an absolute blast!

It's not quite the combination of genres you'd expect from a show, but it works really well here!

In fact I was so into the anime that this is actually the first show where I broke down and read the manga!

Unfortunately there's no official English release, but at least there are some people translating the series!

As much as I'd like to go on about the manga, this post is meant to be more so about the anime so I'll (try to) leave it at that.

Though i feel obligated to warn anime onlys I'll likely refer the manga a lot in a spoiler section latter in this post I'll try to be vague but I can't guarantee anything. For anyone worried about that I'll lable it do you can read on until then.

Everything from the animation to the music was amazing & completely fit the mood of the story! I remember a couple scenes where I actually teared up because of this!

The Ending theme is an absolute banger! I've listened to that on repeat ever since I first heard it! And the Opening is also great! It's cool for it to be an instrumental, stuff like that is pretty rare! I also heard the song in the op as a motif in the music throughout the show! It really sets the right mood in each scene it's in! It's amazing for getting into each episode!

In terms of adaptation almost everything from the beginning to the end of the Debut arc was done amazingly well!

Even with the stuff they cut it still holds true to the spirit of its source.

The main important part that was cut is something that could easily be introduced latter if they decide to go for a second season, so I'm not too mad about that.

However! Everything after the debut is a bit of a different story.

There was a lot I liked about the last couple episodes but there were some parts that were immersion breaking for me.

I've been being vague up until this point l, but I'm planning on going into spoiler territory for both the anime and manga after this. So I'll make a quick spoiler free summary of my thoughts before moving onto that.

I really really loved this show but in my opinion the last 3 episodes were the weakest of them all. They went anime only for the ending. I don't mind that on it's own, but it was rushed and the writing was sloppy at times.

Now I'm not telling you to not watch the show! Most of It's really really good, and I can still see people enjoying the parts I'm talking about if they want to give the anime a try. Overall I've fallen in love with this series and I could never recommend it enough.

If what I'm saying is giving you bad vibes the manga is available and doesn't have the issues I've mentioned. You can look for a translation online, it didn't take me long to find one so don't worry too much about that.

Also! if you're an anime only who's finished the series and want to know where to pick up the Manga I'd recommend at least skiming through the beginning. I know it might not be what you're looking for but there were a bunch of small scenes that either got cut or were merged for adaptation purposes that I think are super cute & give more context to different aspects of the setting. However! Pay close attention during the "night watchers part" something important got cut .

~~~Now for spoilers!!!!~~~

I don't want to make it sound like I'm some manga purist who hates the very thought of the slightest change from the source. I'm anime only for a lot of different shows and I've always despised it when that type of manga reader reared it's ugly head.

While I'll admit some changes did bother me I won't make a fuss about the smaller stuff.

With that said!

I hinted earlier in this post that I didn't have a big problem with Robe-same being cut. That was because without them there it does make for a more complete story if they only get one season to work with.

If there is another season they can easily be introduced latter on. Like maybe Emiliko & Shaun can meet them when the Debutant class reunion is going on before they talk on the roof (or right after that) I actually think that would be the perfect time to introduce them (other than the time they were supposed to appear, but I digress)

Louise teaming up & being friendly with Kate can be explained with some dialogue changes at the first Debutant Class Reunion. Louise can say she was just trying to show off or that she just wanted to get back at Edward and that she isn't interested in helping Kate with her problems. Things can then go on as they did in the manga.

Kates being reckless & telling everything to John can be explained by her being extremely panicked when Emiliko went missing, as long as there are some lines of dialogue adressing this it's fine. Though I do wish she tried to keep some stuff a secret but couldn't because Shaun tries to interfer because he's still brainwashed, or something along those lines. It felt a bit weird after she just told Emiliko to keep that stuff between them. Still that could be explained by how panicked she was.

There are other things, but I don't want to drag the post on too long. Most of the issues can be fixed with little changes here & there.

I never had a problem with the idea of them going in an anime only direction. I just want to have a good time with the show.

Unfortunately I can't 100% vouche for the direction the show went in. There were elements that I can't excuse, even viewing it as it's own entity instead of an adaptation.

My main complaint with it is how they handled the brainwashing of Ricky & Lou. They didn't say a word when the Debutants were talking badly about Edward & even went along with a plan to go against him. It makes absolutely no sense!

Shaun freaked out when John only suggested that he didn't have to be loyal to the house. These guys were flat out rebelling against an adult! It felt like Ricky & Lou didn't have a purpose & were just there to be there.

The whole point of the coffee is to influence shadows against doing stuff like this. It makes the coffee seem pointless and the adults seem dumb for relying on it to control the kids.

I haven't even brought up the fact that both of their brainwashings were broken by something as simple as a few kind words. It straight up contradicts the rules established by both the Anime and Manga.

This becomes very apparent when you consider all the trouble John & Kate went through to free Shaun & Emiliko.

This was my biggest complaint, but I have some other issues as well.

The next big one is how they handled Edward.

1. Why on earth would he even consider kidnapping Emiliko when he had complete control of the childrens wing? Before this point he was depicted as being a lot more crafty than this. He could easily have Kate monitored or something.

2. Why didn't he use his powers to stop them like what he did to Maryrose & Rosemary when they fought back being taken to the adults wing? He's already shown off his power at this point, why not?

3. Why did he reveal his soot powers at all!? Especially while using his face in front of the kids! The whole unification thing is one of the biggest secrets of the house for good reason! There's no way he wouldn't get in huge trouble for exposing it to children!

Here are some other related questions.

Why didn't Kate, Emiliko, & John react to Edward using soot powers? They shouldn't know about unification yet so why didn't they act shocked, or say anything about it?

Is Edward being banished even an option in the Shadows House? Wouldn't the third floor lords just dispose of him rather than risk letting him leave?

How did John even get a veiled dolls outfit? Louise had to use her powers to get Kate one & she left a long time ago.

I can't think of much else at the moment, but I think you get my point.

Please don't take this as me saying that I hate the show because of these episodes. Even if I consider them the weakest of the series I still found a lot of parts to be very enjoyable!

Like I thought it was adorable When Edward was attempting to interrogate Emiliko & she kept being her sunshine self pretending to eat & falling asleep.

Barbara getting to tell off Edward for breaking the rules was great!

I loved seeing Shaun hatch the plan to get Kate into the adults wing to save Emiliko.

Seeing John (attempt to) sneak around the adults wing had me rolling!

The ending scene of Shaun, Ricky, & Lou singing gave me the chills.

(Though I wonder how they'd handle Shaun & Emiliko being brainwashed again since they already used the scenes where they're freed)

Kate & Emilico being propelled by John back to the children's wing was absolutely amazing! I found Shaun & Ricky running over to catch them to be super sweet! (Not to mention the way that scene was animated was absolutely gorgeous!)

Getting hints to what was supposed to come after the debut was nice, at least the groundwork is there in case this gets a season 2!

To (try to) wrap this all up while there were a lot of things I loved and disliked about this show I still had a really fun time watching it!

I kinda hope there's a season two just to see if they can tidy up the mess that the last few episodes created.

Regardless of whether that happens or not I came out of this with a series I absolutely adore.

Heck I could make a whole other post about the manga. (Hopefully one that's less ranty)

Anyway! I won't take any more of your time.

I hope you all have a wonderful day/night! And I hope to see you in my next post!

(Sorry if this one was a bit of a mess!)

[mconlight]

five times shared:  ( five times the receiver shared something (either a material or feelings or secrets!) with the sender ). [ ^__^ ]

’ 𝙵𝙸𝚅𝙴 𝚃𝙸𝙼𝙴𝚂 ’ 𝙳𝚁𝙰𝙱𝙱𝙻𝙴 𝙿𝚁𝙾𝙼𝙿𝚃𝚂.

haneul loves winter for a few reasons: he can have as much hot chocolate as he wants without anyone giving it another thought, fluffy socks, and the cold. his childhood therapist once told him that the way he liked to wrap himself up in layers of sweaters and blankets was likely correlated with how he constantly sought to feel safe, but haneul likes to think that he only likes feeling cozy, even if he feels like all the bad things can't touch him when he's in so many layers.

his plan for today with seunggi was simple-- just a little walk to see the holiday lights and shop displays with a warm hot chocolate and then maybe they'd watch a movie back at his place and bake cookies while haneul gave him a ghost update (his dryer has been making odd noises lately. a job for maintenance or ghost hunters?). and even though the sky is sprinkling little snowflakes onto his eyelashes and cheeks, haneul feels right at home. safe.

"heh, look at the honker on that rei--" haneul pauses, halfway between pointing out a funny little reindeer and taking in the slight little shivers taking over seunggi's body. they've been put here for a while, sure, but it wasn't that cold out (though its. hard for him to tell with his three sweaters and two pairs of mittens). still he frowns, giving soft tsk tsk tsks as he hands his hot chocolate over for seunggi to hold before peeling off his outermost mittens.

"you could've told me you were cold," he chastises. they trade; haneul takes his hot chocolate back while he hands over his mittens. "finding the worst santa isn't as fun if one of us is frozen stiff."

he smiles. "wanna go inside now, old man?"

two.

haneul's in love. he's only just met the man at the coffee bar but! he did say haneul's hair looked nice and that he has a cute smile and that's enough to have him squealing all the way back to seunggi-- spilled drinks in his hands be damned. he sees the question in seunggi's eyes before he can say it (he's been around him long enough to know that squint-- he knows that that little wrinkle between his eyebrows mean), and just--

"i'm in love!" he blurts, slapping his hands over his mouth before adding, much softer: "i'm in love." he knows he's not-- not actually. but it's just nice, being seen. "the guy at the coffee bar. don't look!"

seunggi totally looks.

"i said don't look!"

three.

two weeks ago, haneul's dad called to tell him there were some complications with the family business. last week, his apartment was broken into. he doesn't know who's responsible for that one, but it's been enough for him to avoid his place all together. he could check into a hotel or head to his parents' home until he finds another place to stay, but neither option is ideal-- either too many people are watching him, or not enough. so he's been sleeping in his car the past couple days, only stopping by his studio to wash up and work. it sucks, not having a safe space, but he does what he has to. it's about survival right now.

which is why he decides to give seunggi a call a couple hours before they're supposed to hang out.

"hey," he greets when he picks up. "i uh-- i'm going to have to cash in on a rain check for us today. things... i'm kinda caught up in something right now. i dunno when its going to clear up."

he hears an: "are you okay?" through the receiver and he almost says yes out of instinct. but his hands tremble as they fiddle with his steering wheel and his breath comes out shaky, uncertain.

"no," he says finally, voice wobbling with tears that threaten to spill. "i can't talk about it, though. for you. i can't talk about it for you." it's about survival, haneul decides: his and seunggi's.

four.

✉ → ["no" hyungie]: u wake up after a long night of clubbin with me and u find me like this on ur couch wyd

✉ → ["no" hyungie]: link

five.

it's hard to say when it started this time. haneul remembers finishing a photoshoot gig, packing up, and heading home. some time after that, things got blurry. it just happens sometimes, when haneul works too hard and for too long and forgets to take care of himself. time just blurs together, and haneul find himself lost in brain fog.

it's probably been at least a week, if his headache is anything to go by. the pain sits behind his eyes and seeps into the back of his skull, and he definitely needs a glass of water. but he sits on his balcony anyway, curled up on a chair and staring at the night sky as if he's afraid it'll go away if he were to leave. he hears his front door open and a careful, "haneul?" echo out through his apartment and--

shit, he forgot to text seunggi back, didn't he? how long has it been? twisting in his chair, he answers with a soft, "out here."

seunggi says something about haneul being dead and being a jerk, but haneul just nods along. he deserves it, absolutely, he just can't focus enough to care. maybe he needs a snack too. "sorry seunggi," he says anyway, offering a small smile as consolation. "i think i got lost."

"my brother ate kale on the day he died." haneul laughs because he can't help it, and it sounds empty even to him. "he died and his last meal was kale. it wasn't-- it wasn't cake or steak or ice cream--- it was kale. he ate kale before he died. he didn't even know, and he ate kale."

he's been thinking about this for a while, if seunggi hadn't noticed yet. he's been thinking about how his brother's last meal was kale, how the last words haneul said to him was do you wanna see the worm i caught?, how haneul can't tell him about the cool jobs he's been doing lately and how excited he is to be working in the industry he is. maybe that's how he got in his fog to begin with. it always starts like this.

"i fucking hate kale."

[undergrounddweller89]

(look you don't have to like this, I'm not expecting anyone to, I just needed to write and if there's the possibility that even one person was hoping I'd write more and enjoys it then that's cool, just don't be a dick about it, it's more house mate au stuff, don't hope for continuity by that I mean it's just all over the place and nothing makes sense , just expect what ever came to my head at the time lol)

Walter was sat at his work table, fiddling with one of his new devices working on to perfect it, no I can't think of anything specific so I'll let you fill in that with your imagination.

The day had been long, his lab assistant Timothy Lawrence (Yea that Timothy if you know him because reasons) had been pretty quiet but done as told so at least that made it easier.

He was tired as the day had gone on his mood had sunk, what was he doing teasing Killian like that, honestly spanking him with the hair brush, he knew some of the things Killian had been up to.

But it was more likely a sign of marking territory or just because he had needs right and it was exciting to do things where you shouldn't.

The blade he was handling slipped and ran across the pad of his index finger, he hissed in pain, seeing the blood smear under the blue latex, pooling to drip, focusing on the red colour he hadn't even noticed Timothy running to fetch the first aid kit.

Pulling his gloves off he discarded them and popped open the box that had been set on the table.

"Thanks Timmy."

Walter smiled a little as he tended to his finger, he hated how the skin felt parting every time he flexed his finger.

Cleaning up and applying what was needed, thankful it wouldn't need stitches.

He wondered what Killian was up to, watching TV, reading maybe, did he eat, did he have enough to drink, was he in a depressive mood, was he mad that hed spanked him, he really should send a message.

Pulling his phone from his lab pocket he texted him.

'Hope you're day has been good, hope you're well, sorry if I upset you this morning.'

He shifted and rubbed a shoulder, he didn't realise how stiff his back had gone, being in charge of a division meant he'd somewhat lost track of self care making sure to do his stretches.

Timothy stood here watching his boss, lot better than the last one, this one was kind and genuine, always looking out for people, honestly Beckett made him feel safe and relaxed, he wasn't looking for anything serious but even he could see that furrowed bow and the lean that spelt hey I'm exhausted let me die.

Walking around and behind him he slowly massaged his shoulders, they were small and rather petite for someone Walter's age but it was more lean muscle and just body build, he just hadn't seen many men like Walter where he'd come from, he was rather pretty.

Walter had considered telling him to stop but when his fingers pressed into that one perfect spot in his shoulder blades he melted, ooooh that just felt so damn good and shit when was the last time he'd had contact, had someone be closer to him...he liked Killian...wondered if they could be more, but he didn't believe for one second that they could be lovers or bed fellows for one moment...not that he wouldn't be interested in finding out but Killian had been there a month, like he wasn't going to make him uncomfortable and feel like that the only way he could stay was if he dated him.

(I keep forgetting times or how many days set shrugs just don't expect like decent continuity, I write these because I need to just write things and moments)

Walter leaned forward arms folded and face buried in them

"Sorry sir, am I doing that badly?"

Timothy's enquired nervously, his hands going still.

"No, please don't stop, I literally didn't realise how stiff I was, you have good hands, I'm just so tired Timothy, I could really use it if you don't mind that is."

"Not at all sir."

Tim smiled happy to know he was helping, yes much nicer than his last boss, Walter was smart but he was also fragile, like him he loved his mother and when he'd heard Walters mother had died when he was small he wanted to scoop him up and just hug him.

A talk with Lance at one point and he'd learned that was a natural reaction for anyone with a heart around Walter who didn't have their head up their ass.

Which had practically been the last tech department Beckett had worked in, that totally wasn't cool that they'd done that to such a brilliant mind, it was so much fun working on items that didn't kill people and actually helped them!

Walter was imagining the fingers loosening the knots in his back were Killian, wondered what that would feel like with those pretty metal claws, but he never forgot it was Timothy, after all Timothy deserved more respect than that.

Looking over his shoulder at him, auburn hair flopping off to one side, Tim's hands on his waist he noticed the subtle blush.

"You wanna go grab some dinner or something in a minute there's a corner café I know, makes steak sandwiches and baked potatoes with a perfect crispy skin, a warm meal sounds pretty nice don't you think?"

Tim in the angle he was in was trying not to think about how suggestive this looked, he would absolutely lean down and kiss Walter if he thought it was an option, it really was a casual thing he felt, but Walter just looked so pretty and like he needed someone to carry him right now.

Continuing to rub his back Timothy nodded

"Yeah that sounds pretty nice actually."

---

At home Killian had found plenty to do, he'd read, watched tv, all in Walters bed of course, just to feel close to him as he could, he did wonder after handling himself, if Walter could see him as anything more than a friend, someone more than a few passing jokes between the other...turning his head and taking in his scent as he buried his face into a pillow again, looking forward to seeing those blue eyes...he should really get out of Walter's bed and get the covers washed.

Beckett brought comfort to his mind after his years of suffering, the sunrise after the storm.

He'd talked to Lovey, wondering if she could understand him, she was surprisingly responsive to his rambling as he worked on his arm, updating the tech and keeping up with maintenence.

Living here with Walter and slowly working past things with Lance and seeing he had genuinely started changes of his own, it made it easier with how Walter talked about him on the job, that he considered all options before violence and discussed the situations with him...it was good to know Beckett had helped Lance to.

He was glad to know Walter's field partner was a good one, though his lab partner, this Timothy Lawrence seemed to be pretty chummy didn't he, he'd seen a picture, thick brown hair, heterochromia eyes, blue and green to be exact and a chiseled jaw, in other words a damn pretty boy and he didn't want him around Walter.

He huffed folding his arms, yes he was jealous he was going to be pouty, before his injury he had thick black hair and had been known to be a very handsome man, now he looked like he'd been put through a grinder when he took off his holo mask and this Timothy Lawrence just had to be Walter's lab partner, he'd be around him alot and-

His phone buzzed, it'd been put on the side table and he read the text that'd come through and there was another one.

'Going out to dinner with Timothy, don't know what time I'll be back, have fun you probably need a break from me anyway lol 😂'

Killian's eye twitched, he nearly threw the damn phone, but how would he explain that, honestly he couldn't, Tristan sighed, shoulders drooping a little and answered his questions

'It's been a relaxing day, did work on the arm, Lovey' s surprisingly easy to talk to, watched a little television but perhaps you could suggest something to watch, it's rather hard deciding with all these options and no Walter you didn't upset me, though you left in a hurry, you do not need to avoid me. You're not a bother. Are you alright?'

'I'm so happy you're warming up to her! That's awesome! Also it's good you have time to relax, ten years of hectic stress you're more than overdue! I...well I was more embarrassed than anything, I reacted on instinct, last boyfriend liked that well that's probably more than you needed to know, but yeah I'll help you pick something to watch see you later!'

Last boyfriend? Spanking, Walter had, he had...Killian shifted well the blankets were starting to tent, the idea of being put over Walters petite lap and being told he was a very bad man came to mind.

He liked it.

A lot.

He looked at his phone as it pinged again.

'And god damn it, make sure you eat something for dinner, don't just go picking out the cupboard!'

Killian snickered and replied

'Yes Daddy, I'll make sure to eat something.'

After sending the text he realised what he'd written and wished he could take back that text, wincing as he managed to look at the response

'Behave, eat dinner or I'll put you over my knee young man.'

Killian stared and stared at that answer, he knew Walter was just teasing but, his cheeks were warm and he was...was he blushing.

----

"You all set to go Timothy?"

Walter smiled, his back was feeling a hundred times better after Timothy had dug into the knots, it wasn't a surprise that he was good with his hands, you had to have nimble ones to work with the tech they used here.

"Yeah, just coming boss!"

He pulled his satchel over his shoulder after pulling on his old brown leather jacket

"Please Timothy don't call me that, call me daddy."

Walter laughed at how silly that sounded

"I'm sorry, pfffft don't call me that god please, no, Walter's just fine."

Tim had paused a moment a slight fear he might have a streak like his last boss after all but that laugh was too warm and giggly and just shook his head with a smile

"Wouldn't dream of it Walter, you're more of a kitten anyway."

Timmy felt his insides tighten a little and there was that hint of Jack Dna surfacing.

"So shall we go?"

Beckett enquired looking up at him, huh he kinda looked like Killian, just a little.

"Ready when you are."

And with that they were off.

(Alright end of this ramble, Timothy has been thrown in because I needed the gasp drama of prolongation and shit and didn't have the energy to create an oc and honestly I'll mash anything from anywhere if it's convenient bleh)

[hms-no-fun]

at what point did you decide on dare's name and where did it come from? were there are alternative names you had planned earlier on in the development of the story?

so this is the exact moment when i really committed to Dare as a name! based on discord messages, i've known since at least 6/13 that i wanted J to change their name at the end of chapter 8. my first candidate was actually Juri!

this would obviously be an utena reference because i love juri, but i knew pretty much immediately that it wasn't right for J's character (not to mention that i'd be uncomfortable bringing in a very particularly japanese name without establishing anything other than a vaguely white american cultural sphere up to this point).

i considered a lot of names! there was a point where i thought she might become june just to fuck with us, or maybe joan, but as time went on i found that sticking with the J convention really limited my options.

for a while it was gonna be a combination of letters from vriska, june, and X's names, but that didn't really work. i'm not actually sure where Dare came from? i was just smoking on the porch one night thinking about J's arc as the secret anime protagonist of godfeels and it occurred to me that i was trying so hard to find a cool name, like a strong, assertive name... but that's not J. they're specifically a shonen anime protagonist, more of an utena than a juri, and as such it would make sense for their name to be a lot more hokey and silly. then Dare just popped into my head and it just immediately felt perfect because it's like... god, it's SO saccharine? it's such an on the nose name. of COURSE that's what they'd pick! that's june all the way down, baby. the whole system is naive and sentimental, even X in its own way. embracing that silliness and letting them be THEMSELF in this direct way became such a huge part of Dare's story the more i wrote of them.

anyway, here's a fun thing: X giving Dare their name was a relatively late change to the [S]. i had a very different conception of that scene for a long time, where it was gonna be J announcing their name in this really audacious way that finally convinced X to let go of june. but then i started delving into X's interiority for myself and realized that just wouldn't work no matter how i sold it. it had to be a CHOICE, you know?

but before that, i wrote a lot of the J & vriska pulling X out of june scenes as them like, talking through possibilities for J's name? they're light-hearted and fun conversations, but they just feel like filler compared to everything else going on in the [S]. i'll go ahead and share them here though, just for kicks:

[other things happen]

and then there's this one that i didn't even bother formatting correctly because i realized by the end of it that this whole conceit just wasn't working, and i needed to completely recontextualize what they're doing and thinking in this sequence:

i'm glad people like Dare. waaaaaaay back before chapter 8 started releasing, after i announced that i was pivoting the story to make june explicitly plural, i said something along the lines of "i'm gonna make this story plural as fuck and no one is ready". when the dirk chapter went up, everyone in the fan server thought THAT was my plural gift to them. meanwhile the entire time i was just sitting on J's arc and them becoming Dare and maybe one of the most important characters in the whole series right now!!

there have been a LOT of tough sells in this chapter, which is why it's taken so long to finish, and honestly i'm shocked at how many of them people have taken in stride.

you only encourage my desire to experiment :)

[sleepyystarfish-agere-blog]

~ The Secret ~

(Agere Short Story)

It happens so suddenly, you barely have time to think. Your bag, and its contents, spilled all over the floor. Your rival, as usual, finding even more ways to be a nuisance to you day by day.

You wouldn't care.

You wouldn't care, usually, and you don't, not until you see exactly what spilled out of your bag.

A pacifier (an adult pacifier) which you rush to pick up, hoping that against all odds, they hadn't seen it.

You think you got lucky because for a while, they don't say anything. Thank God. They must have missed it, you think.

But then one day, during an especially heated argument, the dreaded words slip out of their mouth.

"Tough words for someone who still uses a pacifier."

You stop dead in your tracks. The smirk quickly drops from their face as they see how absolutely livid you look and they realise that they probably went a little too far.

Completely overwhelmed, you decide your only option is to leave as quickly as possible.

"Wait, I'm-"

You don't let them finish. You rush to the nearest bathroom and try your best not to have a complete meltdown.

"Shit, shit, shit." Unknown to you, they're outside the door, cursing themselves for being so stupid. Maybe the two of you don't get along but this is clearly a sensitive subject for you and they'd never want to genuinely hurt you. Your constant fighting is supposed to be fun! It's jokey. Maybe slightly heated sometimes but nothing you can't get past. Now, though, they're afraid they've completely fucked that up.

After a few minutes, they gently knock on the door.

"(Name)? I'm, I'm sorry." They try. "Um, can I...come in?"

You don't say anything. You want to disappear. You curl up against yourself even harder.

They bite their lip, considering their options right now. They could leave, but then they would be worrying about you the rest of the day and would never stop feeling guilty if something happened to you.

They could stay by the door, but how long would that take? And they would still be worried, not knowing what's happening inside.

They decide they have to check on you, even if you'll hate them for it.

"Hey, I'm, um, coming in, okay?" They call, slowly opening the bathroom door.

You're sat against the wall, near the sink, with your knees tucked in. Your tear-stained face makes their chest ache with guilt.

"Hey..." They approach you cautiously, awkwardly. You've never seen each other like this. They're not sure how to talk to you when it's not an argument. "I'm...sorry. I should have never said that. It was awful and dumb."

They've sat down beside you now. They keep talking, apologising. "I get it if you don't want to talk to me again. I know I, uh, crossed a boundary and stuff. I really am-"

"I'm pathetic." You suddenly say. It's the first thing you've said since running to the bathroom.

"...what?" They're taken aback and a little confused. You should be angry at them right now. You should be shouting and cursing and saying I'll never forgive you and get out but instead you're saying-

"I'm dumb! And so stupid and useless and and-" you're crying now and heaving slightly.

They rush to your side and try to find the right words to say.

"W-what?" They laugh slightly - not in a mocking way. Your words have just caught them off guard.

You finally lift your head from where it was resting, tucked against your knees. You sniff and look at them with tear-filled eyes.

"I am." You say.

"You're not."

"Yes I am!"

They laugh again, more freely now but you maintain your frown and pouted lips.

Before you can speak again, they start to recount all the times you did something good, something right. All the times you knew something before they did and when you beat them again and again. Found loopholes. Devised the perfect strategy. Won against all odds.

"You did all that, didn't you?" They say at last.

"I guess."

"I guess." They mock playfully in that high-pitched tone that's supposed to sound like you, and you can't help but smile. "If you didn't, I might have to check myself into a mental hospital, because I remember it all quite clearly."

"Don't worry. You're right. I...I did do that." You're surprised by how much better you feel already. You're surprised that they have the capability to make you feel anything other than anger. A moment of comfortable silence passes between the two of you before they finally speak again.

"You know, you know it's fine, right?"

"What's fine?"

"Whatever...whatever this is about. I don't care. If it helps you, that's all that matters."

They're referring to your age regression, if they even know what that is. You're glad that they seem to be supportive either way.

"And I won't bring it up ever again, if you don't want me to."

"Thanks." One word isn't nearly enough to express your gratitude but there's not much else you can say or do. You look away, still embarassed by the fact that they know. This secret has felt so big and so dark for years but maybe...maybe it's not such a big deal. They don't seem to think so, anyways. And the relief of someone knowing yet staying makes your chest feel lighter than it ever has been.

They just nod. So simple and casual. Again, you realise they know, they know. But they're still here. And they couldn't care less. It doesn't change a thing.

"I'll get your stuff. You were going to walk home, right?"

"Mhm."

"I'll drive you."

"I-"

"I will. No objections."

They hold a hand out to you to help you stand and encourage you to wash your face in the sink. You let them grab your things. You let them lead you to the car and you let them drive you home, feeling light and small and safe all the way.