#livin on borrowed time

[beardedmrbean]

Well this is just dang cool

Link

[coffeeman777]

This is for all of my follwers/mutuals who are Christians:

I want to preface this by saying that what I'm about to share with you is only to ask you for prayer. I don't want favors, and I'm not looking for a handout. We need God to open a door for us, and so I beg you, please pray for us.

We moved to Florida coming on three years ago. We came here primarily because we believed God was leading us here. In various ways, we believed God confirmed His will for us, and so I left a great job and we sold a great house to move here. We have been opposed in every way imaginable since.

Days after moving down, Lisa and I were in a terrible car accident that we only walked away from by God's grace. We were rear-ended by an Edible Arrangements delivery truck on the highway, and Lisa sustained significant injuries that are still causing us major problems. The franchise owner was operating their delivery vehicle without insurance, and I've learned since that they shut down their Edible Arrangements franchise and took off, leaving us holding the bag.

I've been in armed security since I got out of the Marines, and in New Hampshire, that was enough to take care of myself and my family. But it isn't in Florida. The pay for most armed security gigs here is super low, and I haven't been able to find work comparable to what I had in New Hampshire. So I tried to change courses.

I earned my personal trainer certification through the National Academy of Sports Medicine, but couldn't make it as a trainer. I made the attempt to go back to college and get a degree and certification as a paramedic, but after months of jumping through hoops, that fell through. I went back to New Hampshire by myself and spent six months away from my family to try to earn enough money working both my old job and a second job, but that plan didn't work because hours were limited with both gigs, and each job wanted me to work overlapping hours; I couldn't make the schedules line up.

My incredibly generous parents-in-law offered to pay our bills so that I could come back to Florida and try a new plan. I went to a CDL training course to get into trucking. After the very long and very expensive process, I finally got my CDL-A. While I was working on that, a random disagreement between my health insurance company and the medical supplier that issued me my cpap (I have sleep apnea) resulted in the supplier demanding that I give them the machine back. It took from middle February to early June for me to get another cpap. The end result is that, as of today, I have just under two months of cpap usage data. I discovered only after getting my CDL that no trucking company will hire me with less than 90 days of cpap usage data.

I've been pre-hired and subsequently turned away from three different trucking companies since I got my CDL over the cpap nonsense (one of which told me that what I had for cpap usage was fine, only to tell me on the first day of orientation that it actually wasn't fine, and they had to let me go). It's going to be another month before I can get started with any trucking company, and I'm concerned that I'll have to go to refresher training, which will only increase the months of time I'll have to spend as a trainee with whatever company hires me, which means it will be a long time before I make enough money to survive.

My in-laws can't continue paying our bills, and although I've had a half dozen low paying jobs in this time just to be bringing in something, now I'm struggling to get anything. I've applied to more jobs than I can remember, and I can't get any traction. Not even Domino's will call me back. Our backs are up against a wall.

My first payment for the money I borrowed to pay for CDL school was due almost a month ago, and I haven't been able to pay it (I had to get financing because my GI Bill expired and the VA ignored my request for an extension). Rent is almost 2k a month. We can't afford groceries (we've been living off of food pantries).

I don't know what to do. I've been crying out to God for an open door, but so far nothing has happened. My in-laws are just about tapped out, and in my mind, the only thing worse than wrecking my own family financially is dragging them down with me.

Please pray for us. Please pray for God to give us an open door, or some understanding of what to do next. I know God didn't bring us here to let us die. God is good, and God keeps His promises. God is perfect, and righteous, and just in all His ways. God has promised that He will turn about all things for the good of them that love Him. I know God has not abandoned us, and that when the time is right, God will make a way.

I say again, I am not looking for favors or begging for money. I know all of us are really going through it right now. All I want from you is prayer. Please pray intensely for us.

Thanks, I love you all.

[bambisnc]

he's the one that's livin' in my system baby! [01]

pairing : sungchan x reader genre : fluffy roommates au <3 lil angst bc reader is really out here questioning their whole existence (js like me fr) cw/tw : none! wc : 516 w 0.0

10 days to go till finals. you are not holding up as well you would have liked. it's not as if you're not studying it's just.. the need to achieve near perfect status in each subject leads to anxiety which in turn leads to procrastination. shocker.

you sigh, pushing your chair away from the desk and stretch in an attempt to provide relief to your sore muscles - a result of being hunched over your notebook, doodling away mindlessly. you were supposed to have completed 4 chapters by now, but the 20 minute turned 3 hour break you spent watching random videos on your laptop very generously gave you a aching throb behind your eyes. hence the doodling, in an attempt to alleviate the pain.

..needless to say, it wasn't very successful. okay, you think, time for the last resort. you walk out of your room to the one adjacent to yours, and knock on its door lightly.

"'s open"

peeking your head in, your heart can't help but feel a little lighter at the sight of your roommate, sungchan, lounging on his bed with his back against the wall as he cutely frowns at some game on his phone, having already been through the hell that is finals about a week ago due to being in a different uni.

"i really don't know why you even borrow to knock anymore, not like i'd ever say no to you - even if you're just going to stand and stare at me~", being charming always comes naturally to him, unfortunately for you.

huffing a bit, trying to think of a witty reply, but that headache really just hates your entire existence huh? you wordlessly move to his bed. somehow sungchan understands what you're trying to do and complies with your wish without a single complaint because, in his own words, how could he ever say no to you?

pulling you closer to him, he lays your head on his thigh, draping a throw blanket over you with such gentleness that one could easily perceive the concern in his actions, maybe a bit too much considering you were just roommates.. because he refuses to address his feelings, preferring instead to hide behind flirty remarks - you've emphasized their friendship one too many times. he adjusts his crossed legs, phone long forgotten, as he tucks that one strand of hair that always falls on your face behind your ear.

you hear him mumble something about resting well. and then a feather soft, barely there brush of his lips against your forehead.

the slumber that follows after is heavenly, you swear you always sleep better around (or on) sungchan. not that you would ever breathe a single word of this to him. he's your roommate for god's sake - you'd rather suffer under the weight of unrequited feelings than to confess and damage the beautiful relation you've managed to form with the star athlete, who believes teasing you is a daily goal that he must fulfill.

on second thoughts, you're not sure how long you can keep your facade up...

old notes : so so self indulgent.. i'll make a prettier layout as soon as my exams r done frfr... [edit- doneish !] new notes : its a series now !11!!!! + [series m.list] [m.list]

[wileys-russo]

dancing the line what are we ficlet plsss 🙏🙏

dancing the line, what are we

"-or i was thinking maybe this one?" you paused in front of a sofa, crossing your arms and waiting for your girlfriends input, only it never came. looking up you realized she wasn't with you and your eyebrows knitted into a frown.

"grace? babe?" you called out, cringing a little as several people turned to give you a funny look in the crowded store. "for god sakes." you sighed as you roamed around the furniture store, finally spotting her.

"babe! ya gotta try this, heavenly." your girlfriend sighed, feet kicked out and reclining in an expensive looking massage chair, groaning as her voice vibrated. "baby i need to buy a new sofa today, get up." you chuckled, extending a hand toward her.

"five more minutes." grace sighed, eyes fluttering closed. "no! get up clinton." you kicked her ankle playfully as she huffed but clicked the remote to stop it none the less, hauling herself up. "what bout this one?" your girlfriend asked, gesturing to a brown leather sofa.

"leather? no thank you." you shook your head firmly as grace hummed, the two of you walking around as she pointed out sofa after sofa and you'd find something wrong with each one.

"babe ya've managed to find an issue with every single sofa. what do ya want?" your girlfriend withheld the urge to groan, forcing a pained smile as you both continued to wander around the store.

"that one!" your face lit up and grace let out a quiet sigh of relief as she followed after you. "will it fit in ya livin room?" the blonde questioned skeptically as you sank into the soft grey material.

"go to that end." you nodded, pulling out the tape measure you'd borrowed from mary and handing it to your girlfriend. standing up you both measured it and you nodded.

"yeah, it'll just fit."

~

"what was that about fittin!" your girlfriend huffed, grunting as the two of you struggled to fit the boxes which contained the parts of your sofa in your front door.

"i said it would fit in the living room! i didn't think about the fucking door. pivot!" you groaned, trying to rotate the last and largest box, the two of you heaving and straining before finally it slot through.

"jesus!" grace exhaled, promptly collapsing to the floor and covering her face with her arm. "thank god thats over." you sighed, pushing the final box out of the way and closing your front door.

"come on, now you have to build it." "don't ya mean we?"

you did not in fact mean we. you watched on from the kitchen as grace squatted down, tightening the legs of the first piece and mumbling away to herself as her eyes scanned the instructions.

"stop checkin me bum out while i do your work!" the blonde turned around and caught your eye with a knowing grin. "hey i'm helping!" you protested, sat up on the counter.

"and exactly how are ya helpin babe?" grace smiled, clearly amused at the thought. "moral support and i'll make you lunch soon." you gave her a cheeky grin, cheering loudly and clapping making her eyes roll as she turned back to her work.

"smells good." you smiled and leaned back into the strong arms which wrapped around you. "it's a sandwich, doesn't smell like anything." you teased, craning your head back as grace only smiled and softly kissed you.

"come on, time to go test the sofa i just built ya!" "we built baby." "i built babe, and i'll be charging ya for me services." "oh really?" your laughter filled the room as the taller girl picked you up, marching over to the sofa and dropping you down, crawling on top of you and ducking down so her lips ghosted yours.

"really, don't want ya in any debt so we best start ya payment plan now then babe."

[therabbitthatpostthings]

Gonna be a lil OOC, bear with me please. We’re getting to the end I promise. I’m more inclined to do a full 10 chapters just so it looks even lol. Who knows?

(Masterpost)

“Are you okay (L/N)?” Makomo asked.

You registered her question a few seconds later. Your face felt hot when you noticed you hadn’t put your fox mask back on. Even though you had come down to the village many times, it still felt strange. Makomo became the only person you could confide in.

“I’m fine.” You replied.

Of course she didn't believe you. “Well I’m almost finished with your hair tie for your boyfriend.”

“He’s not my boyfriend!”

“Right,” she laughed “I mean your, ‘travel companion’.”

You huffed in annoyance. She wasn’t wrong. Everytime you came to the village all you could think about was Giyuu. He’d been so adamant about you never leaving and it only took one night to change that. He would never come down with you, not like he needed to. It felt like the distance was going between you again.

Makomo’s took you hand in hers. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“It’s okay. I’m worried is all.”

“About him?”

“About us. About the day we’ll stop livin- traveling with each other.”

“Do you want to stay with him? Forever?”

A couple months ago you would have jumped at the first opportunity to leave this cursed mountain and never look back. The idea hadn’t crossed your mind anymore. Is it selfish to want the days to go on like this forever? To be with Giyuu forever? Is that what he wanted too? Of course you wanted to stay but could you?

“Would it be alright if I left everything behind for something so selfish?”

“I think you two should do what makes you both happy.”

“And if he doesn’t want that?”

Makomo smiled, “Then let’s stay here forever! Just like this.”

You pulled her in for a hug. “You’re a great friend Makomo.”

After finishing her shopping you helped carry her belongings home. Urokodaki sat outside, making another familiar fox mask. Makomo had mentioned he started to make them more frequently after running into you.

“Thank you again (Y/N), would you like some tea?” He said as you came out of the house and back to the porch. Sat next to him was a little tray of tea and snacks.

“Thank you sir.” You sat beside him and drank the warm tea. You felt the warmth flow through your chest. I wonder if I should borrow some for Giyuu?

“I see you're still wearing that old mask. I still want to meet the young man that carved it.” Urokodaki stated.

“Oh! M-Maybe one day. He’s so shy.” You nervously chuckled.

“It must mean a great deal to you, to wear it so much.”

“Yes, it's such a special gift.”

He hummed in agreement. “And how’s the mountain treating you?”

You almost choked on your tea. Quickly you brought your handkerchief up to your mouth. “P-Pardon?”

“That’s where you two are camping right?”

“R-Right! Yes! It’s fine! Thank you!”

Why do I feel like I’m being interrogated?!

“No monsters have come out to bother you? Oh I forgot, you don’t believe there’s a scary monster up there.” He chuckled.

“Nope! No scary monsters at all!” You laughed nervously.

“Right, just the lonely one.” He laughed again. “You have your friend to protect you so it’s all right. If you two ever want to stay over, my door is always open.”

That deep pit in your stomach returned. “C-Could I really do that? Stay?”

Urokodaki stopped carving. He didn’t speak, giving you time to continue. “Ever since I’ve been, traveling, I’ve been able to send things back home. Things my family needs. I’m scared that if I stop then I’ll just be leaving them with nothing. I’m their only child, how could I do something like that?”

Your hands gripped the teacup. Staring back at you was the reflection of the mask. The mask Giyuu gave you. After that night you found his collection of masks. Some broken, some shoddily made. All piled in an empty room. Except yours. Yours was just as pristine as Giyuu’s. He made that special for you and now. It’s like he couldn’t stand to be around you. You had just gotten closer and he’s treating you like all those months ago. Does he want you gone? Is it all over now?

“(Y/N).” Urokodaki’s voice pulled you back. He shifted towards you and offered a snack from the tray. “You know, I’ve raised many children over the years and all of them are long gone now. Even Makomo will get tired of this life and go on her own. Parents have to make peace with that. You do too.”

“I love my family. I love it here too. I don’t want to leave him behind.”

Urokodaki sighed, “Well if he’s as shy as you say, he probably doesn’t want you gone either. Hard to reason with a silent man.”

That made you laugh. It filled you with a little hope. You knew well enough by now. He needed time is all. If he really wanted you gone he would say so. He wouldn’t help you or your family if he didn’t want to.

Urokodaki cleared his throat, “If your friend ever wants a job, I’m getting older and I need help cutting the trees down.”

The thought flashed in your mind like a bolt of lightning. “A woodcutter?”

It was all so clear. Why hadn’t you thought of it before?!

“Well yes-”

“My dad’s a woodcutter! Well- he’s a lot of things but woodcutter is one of them! And my mom! She’s a great seamstress! Resourceful too!” You were jumping out of your seat. You hurriedly fixed your mask and pack the rest of your snacks away. “Thank you Urokodaki-san!”

“(Y/N)! The hair tie you wanted!” Makomo called after you. You quickly took both out her hands and rushed back back to the mountain path.

“Thank you Makomo!”

“Grandpa, did something happen?” Makomo asked.

“Not that all know.” He said hiding a smile under his mask.

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ♡ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ♡ ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

“Giyuu!” You called out. “I’m back!” You called his name all throughout the house. He popped up behind you and instead of being scared you rushed to grab. “I have news and a present for you!”

“A present?”

“Yeah! Come on, sit, sit!” You pulled him along to the sitting room and sat him in front of the large chair. You ran into your room and grabbed a brush and comb. “Do you mind if I comb your hair?”

“No.”

You sat behind him and gently ran your fingers through his hair. Untangling bits from his antlers. You spent a long while making sure to go through every clump and tangle before running the comb through it. Giyuu gave you no hint of discomfort. In fact his shoulder relaxed and he slumped against the chair. Once you started brushing he tilted his head back in your lap. You looked so focused and beautiful like this.

What did I do to deserve this?

The answer didn’t matter. He felt so peaceful. He didn’t notice you had pulled his hair back to a low ponytail. Your hands lingered on the side of his face. “There you are.”

Your warm smile greeted him as he opened his eyes. “I wanted to see your face.”

Your thumb idly traced the blue markings on his skin. He leaned into your touch, his heart was racing in his chest. This all felt too good to be true. His hand cupped yours, keeping it in place. You had too strong of an effect on him.

“Giyuu. There’s something I want to ask.”

He hummed in acknowledgment, still lost in the haze.

“It’ll be spring time soon and- I- I talked to Urokodaki. I think my parents should move here.”

His breath caught in his throat. Of course you talked to him. He lives down there.

You continued rambling. “Y-You wouldn’t have to make long trips down the mountain anymore if they lived close by. Plus there’s work here for them! I’d just have to go get them- they might be scared of you…”

Giyuu fully tilted his head back to look at you. You’d never seen him look like this before. Blue eyes staring right through you. Like he wanted something. Like he wanted you. “Where would you stay?”

“Here. With you.” You said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

You hadn’t think that far ahead but, why wouldn’t you stay here with Giyuu? On your way back up the mountain you imagined going down to see your parents everyday. This has become a second home to you. It was old and creaking and creepy at night. It was also where you two cooked together, took strolls through the garden and stayed up all night talking. You couldn’t imagine a life without Giyuu.

Inches away from his face the gravity of your words surely hit you and you shot back up in the seat. “That is if you want me to! It’s fine if you want me to leave-”

“(Y/N).” Giyuu rose up. He held your hand in his. You could feel his breath on your knuckles as he knelt before you. Gently, he kissed your hand and your heart fluttered. “Stay with me.”

“Of course.”

⋆☾⋆

“And that’s all you know?” Uzui asked.

“Yes!” Your father urged.

“I just find it hard to believe the demon fed you and let you go and demanded your child come back and gave you clothes! That’s not typical monster behavior.”

“What am I supposed to say?!” He yelled “That is what happened! You told me you could avenge my child!”

After another half hour or so of questing, Uzui called it a night and left your old home. He walked back to run-down inn, wanting to nurse his growing headache.

“Any news from the old man?” Shinazugawa asked.

“Nope, same story as before. This demon doesn’t even sound malicious. You get food and free stuff from it as long as you don’t steal from it? What kind of creature is that?!”

“One looking for sacrifices.” Obanai stated.

This didn’t sit right with Uzui. Something about this story wasn’t adding up. They had been in this village for two weeks and like clockwork the creature had snuck supplies to the family under their noses. And only to that family. No one else could even attempt to enter the mountain pass without getting lost and ending up back on the trail they started. Even on accident. The only way through was around the mountain to the next village over. And even now that the snow was starting to melt, the weather of the mountain stayed cold as a dead winter night. This didn’t sound like a monster that wanted a steady supply of sacrifices. It wanted to be left alone.

“You know something else about this is confusing me. We’ve had hunters up and down this area for years and all hostile activity stopped about 8 years ago.”

“So?” Shinazugawa hissed. Uzui could feel the tension in the room shift.

“So, it doesn’t bother either of you that three of the people involved in this encounter all got away unharmed.”

“The kid-”

“For all we know is alive. Alive and guarded.”

“You sound ridiculous.” Obanai jeered.

“What's ridiculous is that you two asked me to come in the first place.” Uzui snapped. “And now you want me to storm up an impenetrable mountain over some vendetta neither of you want to share.”

Obanai spoke before either hunters could make a move. “The demon on the mountain was locked there by a retired hunter after a 45 year long killing spree 15 years ago. Anyone from either of the villages that went up there would die. That demon is powerful. No other creature can control the forest the way it can. When it opens up the forest again, that is our only chance. We can’t chance another 45 years on the thought that one person may be alive up there.”

“Regardless of what happens, that demon is dying.” Shinazugawa declared.

Uzui still didn’t feel right about this. All he could do was hope that the person on the mountain was still there.

[once-upon-an-imagine]

highway to hell please ? I miss that boy

oohhh, I actually have some written for this story! Billy hasn't made an appearance though, sorry 😂 so feel free to request another random Billy WIP

send me a WIP

[Munson!Reader] When you are tired of your brother and your boyfriend arguing all the time, you come up with a plan that finally makes them work together and at least not murder each other.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Highway To Hell

Livin' easy, lovin' free Season ticket on a one-way ride

“Holy shit!” Steve said as you made your way into Family Video.

“What happened to you, my man?” Argyle asked, seeing your knee with blood running down your leg. 

“I fell off my stupid bike!” you said, throwing your bag once you reached the registers where the guys stood with Robin.

“I thought Eddie was going to bring you” Steve asked, confused as you hopped on the counter and Robin got out the first aid kit so you could clean yourself up. 

“Oh, so did I!” you chuckled angrily. “But Billy came over to offer me a ride” you said, making Steve and Argyle roll their eyes. 

“Oh no” Steve said as you cleaned your leg. 

“What? What’s so wrong about that?” Robin asked, confused. 

“They literally started arguing over who would drive me here! Eddie started yelling at him, asking him who did he think he was and if he didn’t think that Eddie could drive me” you explained. “And then, Billy started pointing out that Eddie’s van breaks down every time he drives-”

“Which is true” Steve intervened.

“So it became this whole thing and they just started screaming at each other until Eddie kicked him out but they kept arguing outside” you said, rolling your eyes. “I just grabbed my bike and left. I don’t think they even noticed” you explained. 

“Dude, they both need to chill, or one of them is going to end up murdering the other one” Argyle said, clearly tired of this subject. 

“Well, Eddie’s really stubborn. I don’t think he’s backing down” Steve said as he placed a bandaid on your knee. 

“So is Billy man! When we were kids, he was always looking to fight kids that were like twice his size” Argyle explained. 

“I don’t know! But they are driving me insane! I can’t do this anymore!”

“Come on, are they really that bad?” Robin asked you.

“Huh, you should have been there last night” Steve scoffed, rolling his eyes. 

“Why? What happened last night?” Argyle asked, confused.  

“I was in my room and Steve came over to borrow some moisturizer from me-” you started.

“Hey!” Steve argued, glaring at you. “How hard is it to say ‘something’? Steve came over to borrow ‘something’ from me” he complained. 

“Anyways, he came into my room and Billy was there and Eddie didn’t know so they just started yelling at each other!”

“It was a whole thing” Steve nodded. “Maybe you just need a break” he offered. 

To Be Continued

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

A/N: also, any suggestions or ideas for any stories are more than welcome!

[punisheye]

It's warm. There's a nice breeze. A mated pair of cardinals hops up to one of the bird feeders and the male chirps angrily at an interfering sparrow. There's the sound of people on the street. It's peaceful.

Vash isn't home yet. Wolfwood's only just gotten home recently and had asked the other Vash to meet him at the house. The little blond dork was waiting for him when he got there.

Wolfwood didn't bother with a shirt, company be damned. Just threw on his sweatpants and outside slippers and sat down on the back porch swing. He's not smoking. Little Blondie is talking to him but he's not saying much in return.

His thoughts are loud. There is a lull in the conversation, then. It makes them louder.

He blinks slowly, and then he says:

"It feels like I'm livin' on borrowed time."

@blankticket

[14dayswithyou]

Reddie: I can’t help but imagine living with you years from now.

Teva: Please don’t let this be temporary.

Soft spot prompts | No longer accepting !!

Born to say "💗💖💕💗I love Reddie💕💖💗💕"... forced to say "I enjoy Teo"....... T_T /j

Under a "read more" because I wrote a whole novel????? teehee

001.

"Yeah? We livin' in a Hot Topic store together?"

While it was meant in jest, the dark-haired man couldn't stop his mind from drifting to bittersweet thoughts of 'what if...?'.

Bitter, because it was impossible to think that Eddie would ever find the man tolerable — let alone interesting enough to stick around for. And sweet, because despite it all, anything that had to do with Eddie always manages to pull at his heartstrings and make him stumble over his words.

I can imagine it too, Ren thinks, easily imagining the two of them in a quaint house near the city. Close enough for Eddie to visit his twin whenever he'd like, but far enough away from all the fucked up memories that haunted them both. Besides, Ren never needed anything in that hellscape of a place anyways. He already found his home in Eddie.

But the words that left his mouth were something entirely different.

"It's not a bad idea, the Hot Topic thing." He turns away then, though his pinky doesn't stray far from Ed's. "Maybe it'll stop me from borrowing your jackets all the damn time."

Liar. He liked the smell of Eddie too much.

002.

He's on his phone again, doing everything he can to distract himself from the woman currently occupying the right side of his bed. It was hard to ignore the way Diva's manicured nails idly traced over his snake tattoo, but it was even harder to ignore the fact that he felt a million miles away from her in that moment.

And it was all his fault.

What started as a casual hookup soon turned sour. It was only supposed to be a one-off thing; he'd treat her to dinner, bed her, and then leave the next morning — and Diva knew that too. But somehow... Something changed along the way. He started paying attention to her; seeing her in places where he shouldn't. Lipgloss stains on his pillows. Glitter on his shirts. Marks on his chest. Green press-on nails in his car. Eyebags from staying up all night texting her. A void in his heart that only seemed to fill whenever she was around.

Teo was getting attached to Diva and he knew it. He wasn't one to get feelings involved, yet he could do little to ignore the burning sting of envy whenever he'd listen to Diva talk about someone else.

When she slowly started to turn into someone else.

Green nails that were now purple. A custom Luis Vuitton bag that was switched out for a Hello Kitty ita backpack instead. A blurry lockscreen of his shadow now replaced by a carefully made art piece in her likeness. Her most recent texts going from T💚 to KK💜.

With a sigh, Teo finally acknowledges Diva's presence. He doesn't dare look at her, knowing fully well that she'd be sporting those soft, sparkly eyes that he just can't seem to say 'no' to. And so, he throws his phone somewhere on the bedside table and leans in close enough to press a kiss against her jaw — but not before pulling away with cold eyes and an even colder heart.

"It was never permanent in the first place, was it?"

[neatandniffty]

𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐌𝐘 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐄!

whether it be melodies that give you inspiration for your muse or songs that get you into the writing mood — pick 10 songs you find to give you the urge, the drive, or the creativity to write for your muse!

Haunted- Laura Les: Yeah, do you think it's cute that I'm so fucking stupid? Tell me that it is cause I'm tired of being useless. I've been up for three days, everything is haunted. Everybody's evil and there's bugs inside the carpet.

Kerosene- Crystal Castles: Light of God dimming weak. Nothing's wrong, go back to sleep. Lost the will at infancy. Drown them in clarity. Lend them comfort for sorrow. Enthusiasm they borrow. I can clean impurity, wash away with kerosene.

Hayloft II- Mother Mother: An eye for an eye, a leg for a leg. A shot in the heart doesn't make it unbreak. She really didn't wanna make it messy. She really, really didn't but the girl's gone cray. She's not a bad kid, she's not a bad kid. But she had to do it.

EVIL- Melanie Martinez: That's for all the piss that you left me in. See, the horns on my head, they're from goddesses. Goddesses, on God. No, I never knew what it meant. What it meant to be content with you. Said it's all in my head, whenever I spoke my truth. This time I refuse. If you bite my hand again. I will never feed you, you can call me evil. Take it to the grave if you wanna play pretend. I won't be mistreated, please call me conceited. Took me way to long to put this to bed. Loving you was lethal, guess that makes me evil.

Primadonna Girl- MARINA: You say that I'm kind of difficult. But it's always someone else's fault. Got you wrapped around my finger, babe. You can count on me to misbehave. Primadonna girl. Would you do anything for me? Buy a big diamond ring for me? Would you get down on your knees for me? Pop that pretty question, right now baby. Beauty queen on a silver screen. Livin' life like I'm in a dream. I know I've got a big ego. I really don't know why it's such a big deal though. And I;m sad to the core, core, core. Every day is a chore, chore, chore. When you give, I want more, more, more. I wanna be adored.

Crush- Tessa Violet: I can't focus on what needs to get done. I'm on notice, hoping that you don't run. You think I'm tepid but I'm misdiagnosed. 'Cause I'm a stalker, I've seen all of your posts. I'm just tryna play it cool now. But that's not what I wanna do now. I been thinking 'bout your touch, touch, touch, touch, touch. I could be your crush, crush, crush, crush, crush.

Money Machine- 100 gecs: Hey. you little piss baby. You think you're so cool? Huh? You think you're so fucking tough? You talk a lotta big game for someone with such a small truck. Aw, look at those arms. Your arms look so fucking cute. They look like little cigarettes. I bet I could smoke you, I could roast you. And then you'd love it and you'd text me, "I love you." And then I'd fucking ghost you. With big boys coming with the big stuff.

Nightmare- Halsey: I, I keep a record of the wreckage of my life. I gotta recognize the weapon in my mind. And I realize. I've tasted blood and it is sweet. I've had the rug pulled beneath my feet. I've trusted lies and I've trusted men, Broke down and put myself back together again. Stared in the mirror and punched it to shatters. Collected the pieces and picked out a dagger. Come on little lady, give us a smile. No, I ain't got nothing to smile about. I got no one to smile for, I waited a while for. A moment to say I don't owe you a goddamn thing.

Nowhere to Run- Stegosaurus Rex: You're gunna die, I'm gunna kill you. You're gunna die, I'm gunna kill you. You're gunna die, I'm gunna kill you. Out of ideas, nowhere to run. Looking right down, the barrel of a gun. And so I dream, voices in my head. Delusions mock me, my best friend is dead. I feel no guilt, but I shed a tear. I see your dead body with the blood all smeared.

Hide and Seek- Lizz Robinett: Ding dong, I know you can hear me. Open up the door. I only want to play a little. Ding dong, you can't keep me waiting. It's already too late. For you to try and run away. I see you through the window. Our eyes are locked together. I can sense your horror. Though I'd like to see it closer. Ding dong pay the consequence.

tagged by: @fallenmorniingstar

Tagging: @dick-meister @alteregozowie @top-shelf-tender @originemesis @keenie-bopper @screentimeoverlord

[dragonydreams]

Fic: Livin' in a lonely world

Title: Livin' in a lonely world Fandom: 9-1-1 Rating: Teen Audiences and Up Pairings/Characters: Evan "Buck" Buckley, Josh Russo Additional Tags: mentions Evan "Buck" Buckley/Tommy Kinard, post s08e07 Hotshots Summary: Buck blames Josh for his breakup with Tommy. Word Count: 724 Disclaimer: I claim no ownership over these characters. I am merely borrowing them from Reamworks, Brad Falchuk Teley-Vision, Ryan Murphy Television, and 20th Television. Betas: Thank you to @medieshanachie for looking this over for me. Author's Note: Title from "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey

Read on AO3

"This is all your fault," Buck said, shoving a bag into Josh's chest as he pushed into the other man's apartment.

"What's my fault? And what is this?" Josh asked, closing the door and peering into the bag he'd nearly dropped.

"I have been baking since Tommy dumped me after your little speech," Buck said, waving towards Josh and the bag.

"I'm sorry… but your hot pilot dumped you?" Josh said, stepping around Buck and into his kitchen so he could unpack the loaves of bread. "These smell amazing. And what did what I said have to do with anything?"

"That thing you said about how I need to respect those who came before me because it was harder to come out," Buck said. "That one's pumpkin and that one's banana chocolate chip."

"What did you do?" Josh asked, setting the breads aside.

"What makes you think I did something?" Buck huffed, crossing his arms over his chest, defensively.

"Oh, honey, from what you've said, that man adores you. Something must have happened to scare him off."

Slowly, Buck admitted, "I may have asked him to move in with me and then rambled about how we wouldn't have to get engaged or married, but could because of the brave people who came before…like him. And then he said he knows how this ends and he was my first, but not my last and that he couldn't do this anymore."

Josh blinked at Buck and then turned and got down two wine glasses and pulled the cork on the open bottle of red on his counter. He handed one glass to Buck and took a large drink from his own.

"Okay, that was a lot. No wonder Tommy felt blindsided," Josh finally said.

"You think I blindsided him?" Buck asked, sipping from his own glass.

"Just the other day you couldn't even say that you loved him when I asked," Josh pointed out. "Why would you think asking him to move in was the right thing to do?"

"I wanted to show him that I was all in," Buck exclaimed. 

"So you start with saying those three little words and exchanging keys. You don't jump straight into moving in together. We're not U-Haul lesbians."

"I wasn't trying to live up to some gay stereotype," Buck insisted. "I love being with him. Loved. I wanted to spend as much time together as our shifts would let us."

"Did you explain that to him?" Josh asked.

"I didn't get a chance. He was out the door so fast I got whiplash," Buck said.

"Have you tried talking to him?" Josh asked.

"He wouldn't answer my calls or texts," Buck said, sniffling. "Then every time I wanted to reach out, I baked something instead."

Glancing at his two loaves, Josh asked, "How much bread do you have?"

Buck shrugged. "Half a dozen various breads and a couple batches of cupcakes. I think I'm gonna make Baked Alaska for when Maddie and Chim come over."

"At least you're not drinking," Josh said.

Looking at the glass in his hand, Buck said, "Not alone, at least." He took a big sip of wine.

"Do you still want a future with this man?" Josh asked.

"More than anything," Buck said. "And not just because he's the first man I've been with. I want to be with him because he's Tommy, you know?"

Josh's expression melted. "Then if he hasn't come crawling back in another week because he realizes what a huge mistake he's made, go to his home and confront him. Make him understand what you were actually trying to say, and walk back the moving in thing."

"And if he still doesn't want to be with me?" Buck asked.

"Then I'll take you to all the best gay clubs and help you drown your sorrows," Josh promised. 

"I've never really done the gay club thing," Buck admitted. "It wasn't Tommy's scene."

"Well," Josh said, slapping Buck's arm, "we'll just have to fix that. Whether you and Tommy get back together or not."

"Thanks, Josh," Buck said, taking his cue and heading towards the door. "Sorry for yelling at you."

"Pfft," Josh brushed the apology off. "I'm here for you anytime. Especially if there's baked goods and wine involved."

Buck was laughing as the door closed behind him.

The End

[camels-pen]

livin' two lives is a little weird

Summary:

Sam and Tucker had no manners. No manners at all.

Danny couldn't really argue with the outcome though.

based on @ectoblastfromthepast's prompt "Everyone knows Danny is Phantom. But they don't know about his *other* double life."

Ao3 Link | Haunted Harry series

“Do I have to do this?”

“Nope.”

“Wait, really?”

“You don’t have to do anything.” Ember grinned. “But if you chicken out and don’t go through with this, I’ll tell Plasmius who really dyed his cats hot pink.”

Danny groaned.

---

“Hey guys, wanna listen to”—she pulled out a CD in a blank case from her bag—“the new Haunted Harry song?”

“What? There’s a new one?”

“Yup, he debuted it at his last concert.” She flipped the case around. The back had Wilted Willows written in scribbly black sharpie.

“Man, I shoulda been there for that,” Tucker grumbled. “Being grounded blows.”

“Shouldn’t have gotten caught sneaking out last time then.”

“I wouldn’t have if you actually brought your rope ladder with you when you came to pick me up.”

“I thought you had it handled.” Sam rolled her eyes. “And who just brings a rope ladder with them everywhere they go?”

Tucker nudged the front of her backpack with his shoe. “You carry a bat in your bag all the time.”

“Yeah, but I need that.”

“For what?”

“Stuff.”

It was Tucker’s turn to roll his eyes. “Very descriptive and not suspicious at all.”

“You know, you’re getting angry with the wrong person.” She bumped shoulders with Danny. “If he’d agreed to show up, he could’ve just flown you to the venue without anyone noticing.”

“I told you guys, I was busy.” Danny walked a little ahead of them, carefully not looking at the CD still in Sam’s hand. “And I’ve heard the guy’s songs. They’re not that great.”

“‘Not that great’? He’s better than Ember!” Tucker yelled.

“Tucker, she mind controlled you.”

“That’s why he’s better!” Tucker pointed at him. “And why you should come to his next show! You’ll love it, D!” 

He looked to Sam for help, but she shook her head. “Harry’s music is really good and his genre is the kind you’d love.”

Danny groaned. “I’ll think about it, okay? But don’t get your hopes up.”

“Here,”—Sam held out the CD to him—“I’ve already listened to this album a dozen times. You can borrow it for a while. I know you’re gonna love it.”

Danny held up his hands. “I really don’t need—”

“I insist.”

“Seriously, I’d rather not—”

Sam shoved it into his chest. “Just take it.”

“Oh, do you hear that?” Danny put a hand to his ear. Sam furrowed her brows. “Sounds like a ghost attack somewhere far far away. I better get going, see ya!” He ducked behind Tucker, transformed and flew off. 

In the distance he heard Tucker say, “Ember’s songs still slap by the way!”

---

“Hey, y’know? I think I’m starting to like this.”

“Told ya, you would!”

“No, you said ‘it’ll be funny watching you flail around’ and ‘I hope your voice cracks when you’re on stage’.”

“That’s basically the same thing.”

---

“...thought I heard Ember back here,” someone’s faint voice drifted down through the vents. It was slightly distorted by the metal and the echoing, but it was familiar in some way.

Danny wasn’t really focused on that though. He was more wondering what kind of “fans” managed to A) realize Ember was helping out with setting up the stage for the show, and B) were so desperate to meet her that they were crawling through the vents.

“Oh can it, you just want to meet Haunted Harry,” another voice said.

“You can’t prove anything.” 

Well, that was. Mildly better. 

Danny turned invisible in his spot at the vanity. There, now he could just wait for them to show up, find nothing, and eventually leave. Hopefully Ember wouldn’t come back to check on him for a while.

The familiar bickering started to get a bit louder and Danny started to realize just who the people were that were arguing in the vents.

He wanted to say he expected better of them, but he couldn’t deny that he’d probably do the same.

“How are we supposed to get through this?”

“Move up, I’ll kick it open.”

Danny watched with no small amount of amusement as there was a loud bang and Sam and Tucker fell through the grate in a heap. 

“Ugh, why’d the floor have to be concrete.” Tucker groaned. 

“Get off.” Sam shoved Tucker off her. “Hurry up and look around, someone might’ve heard us.”

The two practically ransacked Danny’s dressing room. Did they not care about the stuff they’d leave behind for people to clean up? Danny was ashamed of them and not just because it was his dressing room they were messing around with, nor because he’d eventually have to clean up himself. He was just plain ashamed.

They really need to learn some manners.

“Who said that?” Sam asked. Fuck, did he say that out loud?

“Uhh, no one,” he answered, purposefully making his voice deeper.

Sam pulled out the bat from her bag—and of course it was the Fenton Anti-Creep Stick; he really needed to tell Jazz not to lend that out so frequently—and poised herself right in front of the vanity, her gaze a little too far up and to the right of him. “Alright, you can come out quietly or I can swing until I hit ectoplasm.”

“Wait, wait!” Danny turned himself visible and waved his hands. “Chill, it’s just me!” 

“Wh—Danny? Why are you—?” Tucker gasped. “You’re Haunted Harry?!” Oh fuck, he forgot he was still wearing his getup.

Danny gave a nervous laugh. “What? Me? No. I was just, uh, looking for Ember! Same as you guys.” Haha nailed it. Secondary secret identity saved.

“Then why the hell are you wearing Haunted Harry’s costume?” Sam asked. “And wearing the exact makeup he does?”

Fuck. Uhhh. “I’m undercover.”

“Why would you need to be undercover?”

Danny crossed his arms. “How else would I get back here to look for Ember?”

“Ghost powers!” Sam and Tucker shouted, with Sam staring at him unimpressed while Tucker pulled at his short hair.

“You guys are losing it. I mean, what does Haunted Harry even look like?” Wait, no. That’s not what he meant to say. “How do you know I’m wearing the exact thing he does? I heard he changes costumes all the time.” Yeah yeah. That should throw them off. 

“Which is true except you’re wearing his original costume!” Tucker grabbed the lapels of Danny’s jacket and shook him. “The one no one’s been able to replicate properly!” 

Shit. Had no one been able to figure out how to make an entire outfit glow yet? Shit shit shit. This was gonna be harder than he thought. He did his best attempt at looking confused and pitying. “Didn’t you say he’s only been around a few months? Give the fans and dedicated cosplayers a little more faith, Tuck.” The boy looked a bit put out at Danny’s words and mumbled something about having plenty of faith, but not enough glow in the dark paint. Danny patted his shoulder in sympathy.

Okay, perfect. He could still get out of this scot-free. Just one more person to convince.

“Sam—”

“You’re not convincing me otherwise, Danny.”

“It’s not ‘convincing’ if I’m totally telling the truth!”

Sam counted off on her fingers. “The sparkly white jacket. The long black tie. The fingerless gloves. Not to mention your killer eye shadow.” She crossed her arms. “You’re definitely Haunted Harry.”

“And you didn’t tell us! Us!” Tucker said, incensed as he got over his grumbling about cosplays. “Your best friends in the whole world who love your music and would literally die to meet you!”

“Yeah. Dick move, Danny,” Sam said, dumping several bottles of dark coloured nail polish into her bag as if Danny wasn’t looking straight at her. “We would’ve been supportive—”

“We woulda been so supportive! I mean, you’ve been doing this for, what? A few months? And you’re popular, but not that popular.” Tucker ranted, pacing around the room. “I coulda been your number 1 hype man! I coulda sold a bunch of backstage passes and autographed CDs to get us rich! I coulda—”

Danny slapped a hand over Tucker’s mouth. “Stop yelling at me. I only did this because I was blackmailed!”

Sam narrowed her eyes. “You were blackmailed into ‘impersonating’ a popular popstar?”

“No, I just had to—”

“Perform one song I wrote in under an hour in exchange for me keeping quiet on certain things he’s been getting up to in his spare time.” An unnaturally warm arm wrapped around his shoulders. “Ain’t that right, Dipstick?”

Fuck.

“So, it’s true?!” they both asked, sparkles in his eyes. 

“You weren’t even sure? After all that?”

Tucker shrugged. “The lights are really bright on stage and it’s not like we’ve seen Haunted Harry up close before.” Sam nodded her agreement.

Danny groaned loudly.

“So,”—Sam raised her brows—“How long have you really been doing this?”

“It was going to be just one show.” Danny dragged a hand down his face. “I honestly didn’t think it would go this long.”

“Kid took a real shine to it!” Ember said, laughing. “I was hoping to embarrass him, but instead I got myself a mentee!”

“Mentee…?” Tucker asked skeptically.

“Oh yeah, Harry here has been a real treat to train.” She ruffled his hair. Man, he just gelled that into place. “I’ve shown him a whole bunch of things and he’s been soaking up things like a sponge!”

Sam grabbed Danny’s shoulder and pulled him behind her and Tucker, who had brought out a Fenton Ecto-Gun out of nowhere. She readied her bat. “Alright, well it stops now.”

“What? Why?” Ember and Danny both asked.

“We know what you’re up to, Ember, and it’s not gonna work.” Tucker nudged Danny towards the door, whispering, “Don’t worry dude, we got it handled. You get out of here before her music mojo starts affecting you again.”

“You think she’s controlling me?” Danny asked, baffled. “To sing at a cafe every Thursday evening?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Guys, no. Ember’s not—”

“We can talk about it later when we’re far away from her.” Sam tightened her hand on the bat. “That isn’t going to be a problem, is it?” 

Ember watched them, an easy smile on her face. “Not at all, if you two want to drag your boyfriend away for a checkup, be my guest. He’s done for the night anyway.”

“Wh—But the encore!” Danny whined.

“I’ll cover you.” Danny pouted. “Oh, buck up. They’ll all be here next week. And it’ll give them something to talk about in the meantime.” She framed her hands in the air. “‘Up and coming popstar disappears before encore; seen running off with a boy and girl’ sounds like a pretty good headline to catch more attention for your shows, don’t you think?”

Danny felt a flush creep up his neck and he could see Sam and Tucker similarly suffering. “We’re not—I mean, like, it’s kinda complicated—and they don’t really—”

“A-Again, something to talk about later and not here,” Sam said pointedly. 

Tucker agreed, his shoulders up to his ears. “Yeah, uh, because I got a few things to say. Especially about—Oof.” Sam elbowed him in the gut. “Right, yeah, later.”

---

So, they left the venue. 

And, they talked on Sam’s huge bed. 

It was mostly Tucker and Sam realizing they were waiting for the other to ask Danny out and then both commiserating with each other when neither of them could do it. 

Danny was pretty stunned. 

“Why don’t we all just date each other?”

So now he was stunned with a boyfriend and girlfriend.

It would be pretty great if they didn’t still insist Ember was controlling him.

“The Danny I know would never be that good at asking people out.”

“Tuck, Ember was the one who started this whole conversation.”

“Exactly. She’s up to something.”

Danny sighed. “Sam, please. You’ve seen me under her control. You know I’d be more hopelessly lovesick than this.”

Sam hummed. “You have a point.” She lightly kicked his shin. “You really like singing, then? And she’s really been helping you?”

Danny rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m as surprised as you are. But when I got on stage for the first time—I don’t know, something just clicked.”

Tucker smiled. “Well, as long as you’re happy.”

“I am. I really am.” He felt a dopey grin spread on his face. “Almost as happy as I am that I’ve got two new partners now.” He felt a giddiness in his chest and covered his quickly warming face with a little squeal. “Holy fuck I am so fucking happy, I could kiss you guys.”

“Well?” 

He peeked out of his hands at Sam. “Well what?”

“What’s stopping you?”

He felt his face get infinitely warmer. “You can’t just say that!”

“Sure I can. If you’re too shy to go first though… Tucker?” Time seemed to slow as Danny watched Sam peck Tucker on the lips. Tucker was stiff as a board and She was beet red. “S-See? Nothing to it.”

“You’re blushing.”

“We’re all blushing.”

“And you guys are beautiful! I could watch you do that all day. Actually, I’d much rather do that instead of embarrassing myself, please continue.”

Tucker and Sam shared a look and they tackled Danny to the bed, littering his face with kisses. He sputtered and his arms flailed around for a moment before his nerves started to flutter away, carried by his laughter.

Once he’d really relaxed into the mattress, they stopped for a moment and shared another look, one that brought a deeper blush to both of their faces. 

He wasn’t quite sure what they were doing, still trying to catch his breath and giggling a bit, but it was very evident the moment Sam bent down for a more lingering kiss, her chapped lips pressed right on top of his own. 

He hardly had time to kiss back before Tucker took his turn, with lips a little more pursed, a little stiff.

It was perfect.

“I think I’ve been blessed by the Ancients,” Danny said, a warm, floaty feeling in his chest.

“Yeah,” Tucker said dreamily, his head in his hands.

Sam herself had a big smile on her face before it slipped away. “Wait a minute.” She narrowed her eyes. “What if the music Ember writes for you makes you mind control other people?”

Danny and Tucker both groaned. “Sam.”

[ekp0133f]

I think I'm putting this all together. The Device. The Bazaar. The Sun itself is not beyond our reach. Everlasting darkness in the Neath. North. Seven Alphabets. It's all coming together. If we're going to destroy all light and law, we need the Device that destroys the Bazaar in that future vision I had. Liberation of Night. Calendars. War of Assassins. The Correspondence. Neathbow. What is the number? The hunger. The Name. It's all making sense now. The Device MUST be in the North. Go North. It's so on. Bazaar's livin on borrowed time.

PS The liberation of night IS yuri in my eyes. There's so much girlkissing after RS overthrows the laws of reality itself.

[sillygonk]

Strings of Devotion [ao3]

pairing: Johnny Silverhand/V

word count: 5k

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER – since this fic revolves around music, some song lyrics will be used. I am a songwriter in the same way as wine is a fruit salad, so I decided to borrow the music of a real band. It will be presented as Banzai Riot’s original tracks, but the songs are NOT mine, they all belong to original artists, I’m bending the reality for the purposes of this fic only! The original band is Halestorm and they are fucking amazing. For anyone interested in original tracks (or any other songs mentioned) of which lyrics I will use in the fic, I will be adding a links in the bottom notes. Thank you!

<- Chapter II Chapter IV ->

Chapter III – Reasonably Confident

Days seemed to be flying by in a blur, slipping away faster than a pickpocket in a Kabuki market. Between band rehearsals, late-night gigs and the constant buzz of the city outside his window, he was living in a perpetual state of motion. A normal person would probably be tired, exhausted even, but not him. There was this restless, nervous energy gnawing at him, always lighting his veins on fire. It was as if he was constantly chasing something just out of reach, barely having time to catch a breath. He got used to it though.

That was the rule after all – this city never slept, and neither did Johnny.

The only time when he could truly find some peace was at the break of dawn, when the exhaustion was usually starting to get to him. Only then he was not bothered by anything or anyone, cause everyone knew that it was better to just leave him be. And if they didn’t, he could always blow them off.

Johnny stumbled into his apartment just before four a.m., his head spinning. He dropped his guitar on the couch and made his way to the kitchen, his worn-out boots scuffing against the floor. He poured himself a glass of water and downed it in one gulp, the coolness soothing his parched throat. As he leaned against the counter, he ran a hand through his tousled hair and let out a weary sigh, already feeling the hangover creeping in. After gaining a little more balance, he made his way towards his bedroom, shedding his clothes with each step and tossing them carelessly to the floor. He collapsed onto the mattress with a heavy thud, burying his face into the pillow with a groan of relief, hoping to shut out the world and sleep at least until noon.

But just as he was about to close his eyes, his phone erupted with a series of insistent pings, shattering the fragile silence of the night. Irritated, Johnny fumbled for the device, his fingers clumsy with fatigue.

[Kerry] ur lucky im pulling an allnighter jackass received – 3:47 am

Oh, that’s right. He slammed the doors not really giving a shit if he woke Kerry up. Again.

[Kerry] ur unbelievable man the worst fucking roommate ever i shouldve move in with denny when she offered received – 3:47 am

[Johnny] that equals livin with henry sent – 3:48 am

[Kerry] true just fucking watch it next time received – 3:49 am

[Johnny] sure mom sent – 3:49 am

[Kerry] don’t be a dick netdir://brf.web received – 3:49 am

[Johnny] tf is this sent – 3:50 am

[Kerry] banzais fanpage just popped up received – 3:50 am

Johnny narrowed his eyes, trying to gain some focus. Since when exactly did he start caring about what his competition was doing? He navigated to the fanpage and began scrolling through the posts. There wasn't much there yet, since the account was brand new, barely a few days old from what he noticed. Just a handful of photos with vague descriptions, some of them introducing each of the band members, and a smattering of comments from early followers. As he examined the meager content, Johnny's gaze lingered on the photos, but there was one specific pic that caught his eye. It was a candid shot of a chick with short white hair, probably at some gig, guitar in hand, pouring her heart out into the mic. He clicked on her private profile but found it notably sparse, signed with only her name. Or rather an initial, because who the fuck names their kid “V”? Any photos she had added were either back shots that showed off her occiput tattoo, her guitar or shitty, blurry pics that he guessed were supposed to be aesthetic.

Curiosity piqued, he checked out each band member's profile. In comparison to hers, theirs were full of photos and stupid quirky anecdotes, offering a window into their lives beyond the stage.

A cynical smirk tugged at the corners of Johnny's lips. “Typical marketing ploy,” he muttered to himself. “Leave ‘em wanting more, right?”

She was the frontwoman after all. She was supposed to attract the most attention, yet she was holding back, posing as this enigmatic and mysterious doll. It had to be just cleverly calculated marketing. It didn't make sense otherwise. Lost in thought, he found himself thinking about her again. The way she'd apologized to him when they bumped into each other couple days back, the hint of shyness in her demeanor. Then her bitchy attitude and calling him an asshole when she thought he wouldn’t hear her. And earlier, in the Afterlife? That bubbly personality? She for sure was a tough nut to crack, but he wasn’t sure if he would call her enigmatic.

Well. If it really was some kind of ploy, it was definitely working on him, since his thoughts were constantly going back to her over the past couple of days. Shit, how many times he thought about her this week?

The realization caught him off guard, and he couldn’t help but scoff at himself. Sure, she was cute, and the fact that she was a challenge was making his blood boil in the best way possible, but that wasn’t a reason for him to-

Hollup.

Cute? Where did that fucking come from?

With a frustrated grunt, Johnny tossed his phone aside and rolled over in bed, burying his face in his pillow in a futile attempt to silence his racing thoughts. He couldn't help but wonder what it was about V that had managed to get under his skin. She lingered in his mind like an irritating itch he couldn't scratch. And it was fucking infuriating.

He rubbed his face and sighed. He needed to fucking sleep it off.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After their rehearsal the next day, they sat down to discuss the specifics of their performances, with cigarettes and glasses in hand. Ideas flew back and forth as they debated which songs to include in their setlist for the Battle and which song should they choose for their presentation. After settling the details, they emerged from the dimly lit confines of the warehouse and onto the street, exchanging nods and handshakes. It was a surprisingly productive meeting, without the usual screaming matches and disagreements. Johnny was even able to finally get his head out of his ass and stop thinking about this white-haired chick. And his hangover was bearable. That counted as a good day in his book. But of course, just as Johnny was about to make his way to his Porsche, Henry stopped him.

“Hey, Alt is going to be there to see us, right?”

Yup. He spoke to fucking soon.

“The fuck is wrong with you?” Denny hissed, smacking the back of Henry’s head.

“Ow! What the fuck Denny? Alt’s always been a big fan of ours, right?” he rubbed his head and narrowed his eyes at his girlfriend. “I’m just checking to see if she’ll be there this time too, shit.”

“She was there to see Johnny, you gonk, not all of us,” Nancy rolled her eyes without even looking up from her phone. Henry looked at them all helplessly, as if he didn’t understand where he fucked up.

“Christ, chooms, you all know how they are,” Henry remarked pointing at Johnny. “Breaking up, making up, breaking up again and again, so I just assumed-“

“Stop assuming and just shut up Henry, just this once,” Denny glowered at him and made her way to Johnny, patting his cheek lightly. “Don’t listen to him. You made the right call, okay?”

“Yeah,” Johnny groaned and reached out for a cigarette, lighting it up, but still glared at Henry angrily. He took a long puff and then his phone started ringing. He froze after seeing the name on the screen. “You fuckin’ jinxed it, you moron,” now it was Johnny’s turn to smack Henry in the head. He didn’t wait to hear Henry’s stammered out apology, just spun on his heel and took a few steps away to answer the phone. “The fuck you want, Alt?”

“I want to talk. We-“

“We have nothing to fuckin’ talk about, thought I made myself clear.”

He had heard her excuses before, thousands of times, but this time he was sick of them. He endured a lot for her, but her working for a fucking corps was too much. That was a fucking knife in the back, honestly. She was a part of everything he stood against and she wanted to make an oopsie-daisy out of it? Fuck no.

“Johnny, if you would just listen-“

Johnny hung up before his patience wore thin. With a heavy sigh, he slumped back against his car, flicking the butt of his cig away and fishing out a fresh one. Even though he ended things with her a couple weeks ago, every attempt she made to contact him was a bitter reminder of her betrayal. She knew. She fucking knew what he thought about it and still went behind his back. He would lie if he’d say that he was the good one in their relationship. Hell no. They were both just fucking awful to each other. Their relationship consisted of a lethal brew of jealousy and possessiveness, fueled by insecurities, which resulted in constant arguing, guilt tripping and cheating, since neither Johnny nor Alt were strangers to infidelity. They were, overall, pretty toxic to each other. But associating with corps was something where he drew a line. Now he just counted his ex as another reason to hate corps.

He sighed, taking a long drag of his smoke. He just longed for a fucking closure.

“Hey, man…” Henry sheepishly approached him, and Johnny pretended that he didn't saw Denny chewing him out a minute ago. “Didn’t mean to. It’s just, you always say that it’s over and then, you know…”

“Yeah, I know,” he sighed again, shaking the ash from his cigarette. “But I fucking mean it this time.”

“Uh, okay, man. Whatever you say.”

Kerry, sensing Johnny's bubbling irritation at Henry's dismissive tone, interjected.

“Why didn’t you block her, Johnny? It’s been weeks. Months at this point, really.”

“I fuckin’ did. I block her every time, but turns out there are some smarts under the pretty face. She’s a fucking netrunner, and good one at that, guess you can figure out the details,” he wiggled his phone.

Kerry just nodded, but Nancy rolled her eyes again, and tossed her phone into her back pocket.

“Christ, are we gonna just stand here, creating a pity party for this dumbass?” she pointed at Johnny, but continued before he had the opportunity to speak. “Because I think that getting fucked up would do us all some good.”

Johnny’s lips curled into smirk at her audacity, but hell, he was not going to decline. And they still had nearly 24 hours until the Battle began, so they were good to drown their sorrows away and still be fresh as daisies for tomorrow evening.

Not that Johnny would feel bad if they’d ended up showing up hungover. Or still drunk.

“I’m down actually,” Kerry smirked. “I haven’t barfed in Johnny’s car in a long fucking time.”

“Fuck you, Kerry. And stay away from my fucking car.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“The Fool-“

“Oh, fuck no.”

V got up from the table, shaking her head. Nope. Not today. She was in a good mood whole morning, the stupid Fool will not ruin it now.

“V, c’mon. You asked me for a reading yourself to get some insight for the night,” Misty stated in a soothing voice. “And The Fool is not making fun of you.”

“Yeah, tell him that,” she pointed at the card with her chin, but still sat back down across from her friend.

“It’s very fitting if you ask me. Today a new adventure starts, after all,” Misty’s fingers grazed the card lightly. “The Fool symbolizes the beginning of the journey. You brim with enthusiasm, yet remain unaware of both your capabilities and the threats you face,” she pulled out another card. “Strength. Strength of will, discipline and courage will always be rewarded.”

“Now, that’s what I like to hear,” V nodded, finally a satisfied smile showing up on her face.

“But not necessarily at your destination, as the reversed Magician shows,” Misty states after pulling the third one from the deck. “Perhaps the path itself is what’s important…? And it will help you overcome your fear?”

“Well, I don’t like that anymore,” she crossed arms over her chest, pouting, making Misty laugh.

“And the last one,” her roommate pulled out the fourth card and blinked in surprise. “The Lovers. Balance, friendship, love… Though it can also mean difficult choices ahead.”

“Jeez,” V ran a hand through her hair. “You know what? I ain’t asking you ever again. Lately your readings are getting a little too real for my liking.”

“Some believe uncertainty is an evil that should be dispelled through divination,” Misty wiggled her eyebrows and shuffled her deck. “Let’s just say you belong to the second group and leave it at that for now.”

“Yeah, I think I prefer to be uncertain then uncertain and scared,” V stated and both of them giggled.

Their laughter was interrupted by the sound of a car horn blaring from the street below. V made a face at Misty, who just laughed harder, and walked to the window. She leaned forward, peering out onto the bustling street below, where she spotted Nova waving enthusiastically from the driver’s seat of her car.

“Get the fuck down, or we’ll leave you here and we’ll be famous without you!” Nova shouted, grinning from ear to ear.

“Stop yelling in my fucking neighborhood!” V yelled at her with an equally big grin and waved at Raf and Prime when they glued themselves to the window, sticking their tongues out. “What a bunch of kids…” V muttered to herself with a smirk. “We’ll be down in five!”

V turned back to Misty, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. “Looks like our ride’s here,” she reached out for her guitar, securely hidden in a weathered leather case, and slung it over her back, while Misty packed her violin quickly.

V took one last glance in the mirror and smoothed a little smudge of her dark lipstick with her thumb. She nodded to herself and turned around, looking Misty up and down with a smile. Then, she scanned the room, looking for a special someone who could give them an unbiased opinion.

“How do we look, Nibbles?” The cat looked up at them with a tilted head, wagged their tail twice and meowed. “That’s what I thought,” V picked up the cat and kissed his furless little head. “Be nice while mommies are gone.”

She put the cat back at its usual snoring spot on the kitchen counter and, after Misty also said her goodbyes to the cat, they made their way downstairs, just in time to hear Nova yap at the kids in the backseat how they’ll clean her damn windows. Girls packed their stuff to the trunk and sat in the car, V calling shotgun. Music blared from the speakers when they went on their way to the Afterlife and when the car finally pulled up to the bar, the whole squad got out, unloading their belongings and making their way to the entrance. The bouncer nodded at them, recognizing V and Raf from a week ago and let them in without issue. The bar was already teeming with people, a vibrant mix of patrons and potential competitors. They navigated their way through the crowd until the bartender voice cut through the din.

“Hey there, kids from Banzai!” Claire called out, waving them over. V smiled at her.

“Hey, Claire.”

“Hope you guys are ready,” she grinned at them.

“Fuck yeah we are,” Nova smiled smugly.

“Good to hear,” the bartended nodded, satisfied with their answer, and pulled out five badges from under the bar. “Those are for you, they signify that you’re performing. There is also a room set up for you in the back. Feel free to use it anytime over the course of the competition.”

“Holy shit,” V laughed, reaching out for the badges. “That was not something I expected. Thanks.”

“No problem,” Claire chuckled. “We’ll start in around half an hour, so you still have some time to get in there and unwind. Just get back here, like, five minutes before the opening and you’re good,” she looked past them and waved. “And now go away, I have another ones to deal with.”

With one more “thanks” and “good luck” in return, they went on their way to the backrooms, finding their assigned room. V tried to ignore the fact that Samurai’s room was right next to theirs. She also tried not to ponder on how her next meetup with Silverhand will go. That was certainly not time nor place for that. They got in and settled, exchanging excited chatter while tuning instruments. Prime, the lucky one, didn’t have to do shit since the organizer thoughtfully provided drums for the contest, sparing them the hassle of setting up and tearing down their own equipment between performances, but still allowing quick adjustments. They made their way back to the bar after couple of minutes, passing other contestants on their way and exchanging small smiles with the ones they recognized.

And that’s when she saw him.

He was leaning against the bar, talking to someone – probably one of his bandmates. His hair was tousled, as if he just ran his hand through it, clad in leather pants and a black t-shirt with his band’s logo. There was a weariness etched into the lines of his face, as if he hadn’t slept enough, but there was still this rugged charm exuding from him. She swallowed thickly. She did not just thought about him like that. If not, why it’s so hard for her to look away?

Then, thank God, someone called her name, and she quickly averted her eyes before he noticed her staring at him.

“V!” Jackie smiled widely. “We’re here!”

She waved at him, a bit confused. We? She was sure Jackie would be there to support them, but wasn’t expecting anyone else. She moved closer and her eyes widened.

“Vik?” V couldn’t stop the grin. “The hell you doin’ here?”

“Thought I’d miss your career breakthrough, kid?” he smirked.

“How did you-“ her laugh was cut short when she realized something. She didn’t let him know earlier. She fucking forgot to tell him. The warmth in her smile faltered, replaced by a sudden pang of shame. “Shit, Vik, I’m so sor-”

“I know you have an attention span of a carrot, V, I’m not mad,” Viktor laughed and reached out to hug her tightly. “Jackie told me even before you all signed the application.”

She nodded and looked at Jackie over Vik’s shoulder. “You’re really saving my ass here, y’know?”

“That’s what friends are for, chica,” Jackie’s grin seemed to grow even wider, if that was even possible. Viktor also smiled at him before looking at V again.

“Okay now,” he ruffled V's hair affectionately. “I’ll go quietly sit in a corner before it starts. Don’t want to embarrass you in front of cool people.”

“Yeah, I’m sooo embarrassed about sticking to the coolest fucking person here,” she scoffed and he laughed.

“Aww, papa Vik!”

Nova ran over to them, wrapping her arms around Viktor and he chuckled, returning her embrace with a gentle pat on the back. Soon enough the rest of her bandmates joined in, greeting him and Jackie. V smirked a bit when she saw both Misty and Jackie blushing and exchanging hugs, and Jackie rolled his eyes when he noticed her sly gaze.

“I think it finally starts,” Vik looked at the stage from the corner of his eye. V’s eyes followed his lead. She noticed a young guy taking the stage, a presenter probably. “Good luck y’all. We’ll see you later,” he looked at V once more, wrapping her in one last hug and kissing the top of her head. “Break a leg out there, kid,” he whispered. “I’m already proud of you.”

“Shit, you’re gonna make me cry,” she laughed and sniffled her nose. He only winked and went on his way to the back along with Jackie, who showed them both thumbs up. V then turned around, adjusted her grip on the guitar and smirked at her bandmates. “Kay. Let’s get this fucking show on the road, shall we?”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She was looking at him. He could swear. And he would have fucking caught her doing that if that tall guy with a bun hadn’t called her over. His jaw clenched as he shot a glare at him. Then his gaze moved to her again and lingered for a moment longer than he intended. He scanned her lazily from head to toe, taking in her dark make-up and the way her hair fell in disarray around her face. Her tight crop top paired with a leather jacket that hugged her figure. And the way her jeans clung to her legs, holy-

Denny jabbed him in the ribs, breaking through his reverie. “Pay attention, will ya?”

Johnny’s lips curled into a half-hearted smirk as he turned his attention to the stage. A presenter stood under the spotlight, microphone in hand, delivering an animated speech about the significance of the upcoming contest and how big of an opportunity it is for young talents, yada yada. But Johnny’s focus wavered, his gaze drifting back to the crowd. He noticed the rest of their opponents, most of them similarly bored and waiting for their turn to take the stage, though for a short while, since they presentation was supposed to be not longer than three and a half minutes. According to the schedule, they were fourth in line, so he still had time to finish his drink.

And maybe order another one.

As the presenter’s speech droned on, his fingers idly traced the rim of his glass. He took a long sip, the fiery burn of the tequila warming his throat. The words blurred into background noise as he tuned out the relentless chatter. With a heavy sigh, he finally tore his gaze away from his drink and refocused on the stage just as the bands began to take their places. The crowd erupted into cheers and applause, the energy in the room palpable as the first band kicked off their set. Thunderforge, if he remembered correctly. He quietly exchanged observations with his bandmates and they all agreed on one – their music fell flat, failing to capture their attention or ignite any semblance of excitement.

Now second one, The Shouty Hearts, they were better. Not his usual vibe, but there was something raw and authentic about their sound that resonated with him.

Johnny’s patience was wearing thin by the time Fivedust took the stage. He quickly took them out of the equation, focusing on his tequila again. They caught his attention for a fleeting moment before he dismissed them with a subtle eyeroll. Funk was simply not in the same league as them in his mind.

In conclusion, none of those were better than Samurai. And by the time they could finally take the stage he was ready to rub it in their fucking faces. Johnny couldn’t help but smirk at the crowd’s reaction – at least half of the audience erupted into excited yells and screams as they stepped into the spotlight. It was clear that they’ve been eagerly waiting for Samurai’s performance. The opening chords of “Chippin’ In” filled the air and Johnny’s voice cut through the noise. They were feeding off his energy and he fucking knew it, and by the time the song reached its climax, the audience was cheering and chanting along to every word. When the final notes faded away, a satisfied grin spread across Johnny’s face. Stepping down from the stage, he exchanged triumphant glances with his bandmates, each of them had a similar grin on their faces. As the presenter reclaimed the spotlight, Johnny’s attention shifted to the next act. Banzai Riot was called to the stage, and he couldn’t resist the urge to bump into V as she navigated through the crowd toward the stage. She looked up at him, surprised.

“Sorry, my bad,” he muttered with a smirk and leaned in slightly, his voice barely audible over the din of the crowd. “Good luck, princess.”

V clenched her jaw, and he was sure she was suppressing the urge to retaliate and to not make a scene. She forced a smile and looked him dead in the eyes. “Asshole,” she muttered, just loud enough for him to hear.

“Said I was sorry, didn’t I?” he smiled sweetly and made his way to the bar. He ordered a drink and leaned against the counter, watching with a smirk playing at his lips as V and her bandmates prepared to take the stage. He was actually not surprised at the applause they’ve got, but tried to not show it. He nodded at Kerry when he joined him at the bar and reached for his new drink.

“How you feeling?” Kerry beamed at him.

“Pretty fuckin’ good to be honest,” Johnny chuckled and sipped his tequila. The rush of adrenaline from their performance still pulsed through his veins, but he forced himself to focus on the show in front of him.

The frontwoman’s anger seemed to be gone by the time she reached the microphone, and he was honestly impressed by it. She smiled at the crowd and started their show. Johnny was initially surprised by their gentle start, which contrasted with the heavy, aggressive sound he had expected.

She seemed fully focused on the audience, but she met his gaze with a subtle hint of pity while singing “And there’s a man down below that needs my sympathy”, and he couldn’t help but smirk.

And then she unleashed the full force of her vocals, screaming the lyrics into the mic, and Johnny felt a shiver run down his spine.

Well. That was a good bait, he had to admit.

The audience seemed to realize that too, because after that stunt the crowd truly went wild, their screams echoed alongside hers.

“Shit. They’re actually good,” Kerry admitted begrudgingly.

Johnny couldn’t bring himself to fully agree so he rolled his eyes.

“They’re alright,” he retorted with a shrug. “But we’re better.”

They were. He truly believed that Samurai was better. But to be honest, he could consider Banzai Riot their only real threat in this competition.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Laughter echoed through the dark alley as V and her friends sat outside the bar, the dim glow of neon lights casting shadows around them. The presentation finished hours ago and since then celebratory drinks continued to flow. Viktor even had treated them to their first round before telling them how proud he is and then heading home shortly after, leaving them to celebrate their success. Every now and then, they would even engage in quick chat with members of other bands, exchanging compliments and sharing their impressions of each other’s performances. And, of course, V was avoiding Silverhand and those other fuckers from Samurai like the plague.

“Y’know what?” she slurred slightly while leaning on Nova for support. “’S going to be an amazing night which we ain’t gonna remember. But I’m still kinda sad,” she pouted.

“About?” Misty yawned and hugged sleeping, snoring Prime closer.

“I couldn’t finish my song,” V sighed, and ran a hand through her already messy hair.

“Y’kno we had to-“ Nova hiccupped. “Had to cut it short.”

“Naw, I know, ‘s just… Ain’t fair,” she pouted again. “Three and a half minute presentation my ass.”

“Oooh, someone’s maaad,” Raf laughed loudly and sipped his beer, almost dropping the bottle in the process.

“Yeah, I’m mad a li'l, yeah,” she looked up at him with glossy eyes.

“We can always sing that part now,” Nova smirked.

“Wait! Yeah, we can!”

“I think I should take you guys home,” Jackie laughed at them.

He probably drank a whole lotta more then them, but he still seemed to be most sober.

“Nah, no, wha- wait,” Nova stopped him. “Let the girl sing her song!”

“You’re the best,” V glanced at her with a lopsided grin. “D’you know that?”

Nova giggled loudly. “I know. Now c’mon, taaake me hooome tonight!”

“I'd do anything with youuu!”

They both started to laugh uncontrollably. Jackie rolled his eyes at them but couldn’t stop a wide grin. He crouched down and picked up Prime from Misty’s embrace, for which she shyly smiled at him, and he, in a fit of drunk courage probably, winked at her. Then he motioned at them to follow him as he moved forward, carrying sleeping Astra in his arms. They all did, but V and Nova were far from over, their voices wavering with each note when they took turns singing.

“Buy a bottle o' whiskey, we'll get matching tattoos.”

“Tell me that you love me, oh, let me drive your car!”

“We can sit 'til mornin' light, just countin' every star.”

“Cause if there's a hell, I'll meet you there,” they sang in unison, pointing their fingers at each other. “And if there's a heaven, they're serving beer, and if you're an angel, then I must be hiiigh!”

With each verse, their voices grew louder and more off-key, but they didn’t seem to mind.

“Oh, if there's a church, it's rock 'n' roll, if there's a devil, I sold my soul!”

“And it's alright, whatever we do tonight.”

“Cause if there's a God, dammit, she won't mind. If there's a God, baby, she won't miiind!”

Lost in their own world of laughter and tipsy melodies, no one noticed Johnny as he stepped out of the bar, the flicker of his lighter illuminating his features in the dimly lit alleyway. He paused mid-step, his gaze briefly fixed on V and her horrible drunken singing. A small smile tugged at the corners of his lips, softening the harsh lines of his face.

With a shake of his head, Johnny took a drag from his cigarette as he turned to walk the other way.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

side note – no one in Halestorm plays violin, but (1) violin in rock and metal music sounds fucking amazing and (2) Misty gives me a violin vibe, so, ta-dah!

Chippin’ In by Samurai (Refused) I Like It Heavy by Halestorm

[cartoonus-maximus]

Notes and Observations on FNAF TFTP Vol 4: Submechanophobia

Whoo! 4 out of 8 books down! Halfway there and livin' on a prayer, ya'll.

But I really enjoyed this volume. It was my favorite so far, and the first one of this set that I've rated a 5 stars. I would genuinely reread this one.

I think the cover image is great. Even though, much like the one with Lally, the image doesn't match the description of the character being depicted. In this case, the cover is an image of Delilah the mermaid animatronic, who in the story is described as having red hair and a missing eye. She's also not a prominent animatronic, and is mostly just set dressing in the story she's in. But I still really love this cover art, so I'm not complaining about it.

As always, these are just some of my notes and observations made while listening to the audiobook, which I borrowed from my local library. Fair warning: there will be spoilers. If you want the whole experience for yourself, you should skip this and go read/listen to the book yourself first.

Here are my observations on the other books from this series if you're interested.

Let's take a dip in this animatronic infested water, shall we?

"Submechanophobia"

Submechanophobia -- the fear of submerged machines or other human-made objects, either partially or entirely underwater.

The animatronics and the water park in this story reminded me a lot of the titular "Felix the Shark" and the water park he was a part of. It's probably just because both this story and that one are the only ones to center around aquatic characters and spaces, while the rest of the franchise mainly centers on arcades and pizza restaurants.

It also reminds a lot of the footage I've seen of the 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea ride at Disney. Which makes sense -- images and footage of that ride are some of the first things to pop up if you search up the word "submechanophobia" online. I assume that ride and similar ones inspired most of this story.

This story takes place in "Freddy's Fantasy Water Park," a Fazbear water park. The water park features such attractions as "Bonnie's Sea Ponds" (swimming and diving pools), "Freddy's Treasures and Eatery," "Chica's Fairy Boats," and "Foxy's Island Water Slides." The water park is shaped like a giant wheel (or pizza, perhaps?), with each of these attractions circling around the center attraction, "The Mechaquarium," an impressive aquarium tank full of swimming animatronics.

Our protagonist of the story is Caden Wykowski, a young employee at the water park. Caden is a mechanic and fresh out of high school. He's previously worked at another animatronic restaurant called "Penguin Pizzeria," so he understands robot maintenance and repairs. Caden lives with and cares for his grandmother, who is his only family and has raised him since he was a little kid. His parents were 'lost at sea' when he was little. Boss man Martin specifically hired Caden to take care of the Mechaquarium and the animatronics inside, which haven't been very well maintained. Caden suffers from submechanophobia and struggles every time he has to go work on the animatronics underwater.

(Getting really tired of Cades and Aidens and Cadens. Would love to hear about a protagonist named Tom. Or Eliza. Or Ben, or Juan, or Ramesh, or basically any name I haven't already heard in these books.)

This Fazbear water park is much older than the Pizzaplex. Over 20 years old, anyway. It sounds like the park was open alongside some of the older FNAF locations, potentially as early as the FNAFs 1 and 2 locations, but closed down for a number of years as public interest in Freddy & Co. dwindled. But, with the arrival and booming popularity of the Pizzaplex, the water park has been reopened, and is kept fairly busy by customers who are excited to have another way of engaging with Freddy Fazbear.

Because of the park's age, the underwater animatronics in the Mechaquarium aren't in the best state. They're older models of animatronics, and they've been underwater for years, and fallen into a state of disrepair. Their weathered state is clearly noticeable to anyone standing too close to the aquarium glass, so boss man Martin tells Caden and other employees to try to keep the customers a safe distance away; close enough to see the animatronics, but not close enough to get a good look at them.

The water park is located in a town called Meadowbrook. I swear this has been a previous location, but I may be misremembering things.

Caden's boss is a man named Martin Copper. He has a copper plated tooth in his mouth. Martin is the manager and owner of the water park. He's the original owner, and views the park as both his main source of income as well as a massive drain on his finances.

In addition to his boss, Caden has two coworkers. One is Eva, an older woman who works as the receptionist and runs the front desk. The other is Roy, a 30-year-old guy who works round the clock at the water park filling every other position. Both Eva and Roy have worked for Martin for years, with Eva even being the original receptionist from when the park was first opened.

Roy used to come to this water park as a kid, and has a lot of good memories of the place. Now, as an adult, Roy works at the park as the janitor, ride operator, food vendor, and security guard. (He's the janitor! He's the ride operator! He serves drinks and ice cream cones! He keeps unwanted guests out! What can't the amazing Roy do?!) The only job at the park that Roy hasn't ever performed is the animatronic technician (Caden's job). When Caden asks him about it, Roy says that he'd love to have the job but doesn't know enough about machines to handle it. Even so, throughout the story we see plenty of Roy being super attentive about the animatronics, despite being kept busy with everything else around the park, since he's usually the first person to notice when any of the animatronics of the Mechaquarium go offline.

The Mechaquarium contains an artificial coral reef and several water-themed animatronics, including a whole school of fish. Since none of animatronics are based around characters with names, Roy has named each of the bigger animatronics in the tank. The bigger animatronics include:

Zeus the sea dragon

Delilah the mermaid

Frank the scuba diver

Marco and Polo the twin sea serpents

Hank the Hammer, Mac the Muscle, and Sly, a trio of sharks

The mermaid animatronic breaks down in the middle of the day, and Caden has to put on a diving suit and dive into the aquarium to repair her. Caden hears a soft static-y sound when he enters the aquarium. He thinks it's just in his head, part of his phobia reaction, but… since we've already seen illusion disks in this series, it could be something more along those lines.

Caden gets the mermaid fixed up, and climbs out of the tank as quickly as possible. When he throws the switch to power up the Mechaquarium, all the animatronics turn back on, and go back to their usual semi-functional states.

(… Can I punch Daryl? I wanna punch Daryl.)

(Okay, I made fun of Caden's name, but I'm also puzzled about a 30-year-old named Roy and a 20-year-old named Daryl. I didn't know anyone younger than 75 had either of those names.)

Roy tells Caden that the animatronic shark he calls Hank just broke down. Not only is it broken down, but it's floating upside at the top of the tank like an actual dead fish. Caden sighs, but returns to his wetsuit anyway. He shuts down all of the animatronics before he climbs into the tank, but, while he's in the water, he gets surprised by the massive monstrous dragon (Zeus) seemingly appearing out of nowhere behind him, the robot's mouth wide open and pointed right at him. Terrified, Caden nearly has an episode; he forces himself through it. He repairs Hank the shark, then turns to climb out of the tank.

When he turns to climb out, he sees that Zeus has moved, the sea dragon now floating right between Caden and his exit. The sea dragon shouldn't be able to move at all right now -- it's motors and electric power are turned off, and there's not water currents in the tank powerful enough to move it. Regardless, the sea dragon floats closer to Caden, eventually pinning Caden against a wall. (Honestly, at this point, I would simply pass away.)

Staring straight into the jaws of the beast, Caden notices what looks like a loose wire stuck to something between some of the dragon's teeth. When he pulls on it, he realizes that it's a shoelace, attached to a child's shoe. Both the shoe and the animatronic's teeth are flecked with some sort of dark substance that, in the dim light of the aquarium, resembles blood.

Early the next day, Caden and Roy are doing prep work around the park. When they stop for a break, Caden, still thinking about the shoe, asks Roy about the history of the park, since Roy grew up with it.

"[The animatronics] were my friends back [when I was a child], anyway. I'd talk to them and it was like they would listen, y'know? Kid imagination stuff."

Caden tells Roy about finding a kid's shoe in the animatronic dragon's mouth. He says the shoe is old and falling apart, and that he thinks it's been in there awhile. Roy is taken aback at first, and seems just as confused as Caden is about it. They both decide that a kid must have gotten close enough to the tank to throw their shoe in at some point in the past, potentially as part of a prank or a dare.

Boss man Martin hears about the shoe and asks Caden some questions about it. (Caden hadn't brought it up to his boss, and he didn't turn the shoe in to the office or anything, so it makes sense for his boss to come asking about it.) Caden explains about finding the shoe and nothing else, assuming that some kid was playing a joke or something, and says he just threw the shoe away in the trash (which isn't true; he brought the shoe home with him). Martin listens to his story and lets Caden off the hook, but reminds him that he needs to tell the office about situations like this in the future.

Caden asks his boss about whether the underwater animatronics are supposed to move when they're powered off. Martin assures him that they don't, and says that other technicians who worked in the park in the past have asked him the same thing. He thinks the techs just get spooked when they're alone in the aquarium and imagine things. But Caden knows he's not imagining things.

Caden goes to check on the aquarium, and sees that the sea serpent Polo is down. He then receives a message from Roy, alerting him that Polo is down. (See what I mean about Roy being strangely attentive?)

Caden says a quick prayer before getting back into the tank. It's unspecified who or what he's praying to. (I mostly thought this was interesting because, while franchise creator Scott Cawthon has always been very upfront about his Christian faith and lifestyle, there aren't many moments throughout the franchise story itself where characters are portrayed having any strong religious-coded behaviors. It's a bit of a novelty.)

Climbing back into the tank, Caden has to swim past Frank the diver and Sly the shark before he can get to Polo the sea serpent. He feels gets the feeling that he's being watched. While working on repairing Polo, Caden notices the real moss and algae growing on the imitation rocks in the aquarium. He wishes Martin would get some experts in here to give the tank a proper cleaning, but when he brought it up to Martin before his boss only shook his head, complaining about the cost. He then notices that Frank the diver has moved, and seems to be observing him.

When Polo's repairs are finished, the animatronic jerks back online, its body thrashing violently for a moment. It hits the nearby rocks, and a piece of a rock breaks off. This rock chunk gets Caden's attention for some reason, and he pockets it, planning to get a better look at it when he gets out of the tank. When he gets a better look at it later, he realizes it's a small finger bone.

Caden's air supply suddenly cuts off, even though his air tank and apparatus are all in perfect condition. He's forced to swim past the animatronics so he can resurface and breathe again, all while feeling like the animatronics are watching him, and like they're shifting closer, as though to hem him in.

After resurfacing, Caden checks over his diving equipment. Taking care of the diving equipment is an important part of his job, so he always makes sure to refill the air tanks after he uses them. But, when he rechecks both his main and spare tanks, he realizes that they're mostly empty, a state he didn't leave them in the previous day. He wonders if someone has been using the diving equipment without his knowledge.

Uncertain why his equipment failed, Caden alerts office manager Eva about the incident, since boss man Martin isn't around. Eva says she'll tell Martin about it and insists Caden take the rest of the day off. She also gets frustrated with Martin for the lack of safety protocols at the water park, insisting that Caden should at least have a diving partner to make sure he doesn't get stuck in the tank or something. Caden insists he can do the job by himself, but takes the rest of the day off anyway.

With the day off, Caden goes to visit his grandmother in the nursing home she currently lives in. His grandmother has Alzheimer's, so Caden can't take care of her by himself anymore, but he tries to visit with her every day. They talk, but with her memory issues, they sometimes have the same conversations over and over; Caden is okay with this, and just likes talking to her. (I just thought this part was sweet.)

When Caden tells her about his new job at Freddy's Fantasy Water Park, his grandmother remembers hearing stories and gossip about the place when it first shut down. She's unable to remember exactly what the rumors were, but she knows there was some sort of mystery afoot.

That night, Caden has a nightmare. He's standing in front of the Mechaquarium, watching as children jump into the open tank. At first, the kids happily swim alongside the animatronics in the tank, but then the animatronics start attacking the children, tearing them apart and eating them like animals in a feeding frenzy. Caden thinks the animatronics look different; they look brand new, and their eyes are lit up "like they're possessed."

Caden tries to save the dying children, but is unable to. He's held back by a crowd of creepy, ghostly children, their hands locked tightly around him. Looking around, he sees Martin and Roy nearby. He tries to get their attention, calling out to them to help the kids, but his boss and coworker just quietly watch as the kids die, doing nothing to help.

Caden breaks free from the ghostly children's hands holding him back, only to be grabbed and held down by two adults. Staring at the adults holding him, he finds himself staring at his own deceased parents. The shock of it finally wakes him up from the dream.

The next morning, Caden distracts himself from his nightmares and phobias by focusing on dealing with a problem with his grandmother's medical insurance coverage. (Ugh, that's a whole other nightmare.) He goes looking for some paperwork she kept in her bedroom, and while there he finds a stack of newspapers that she's been hoarding for years. The paper on top has an article about his parents deaths. But, underneath that article, is another one that catches his attention - a boy named Jason Butterfield reported missing after a visit to Freddy's Fantasty Water Park.

The 20-year-old article explains that the family went to the water park in the evening, and then went home. The next day, their son was missing from his room, the bedroom window left wide open. No one knows if the boy was taken or ran away. A brief description of the missing boy mentions the shoes he was last seen wearing, and Caden realizes that the shoe he fished out of Zeus's mouth matches the description.

When Caden goes to work later that day, Roy comes around to check on him, having heard about the air tank failure and wanting to make sure Caden's okay. Caden asks if Roy if he knows anything about the disappearance of Jason Butterfield, and Roy tells him that he and Jason were the same age, and went to elementary school together; he explains that Jason was never found, and that for awhile a lot of people in the town grew suspicious that someone in the town had kidnapped him, but that eventually the rumors died down, most people forgot about the incident, and the rest of the Butterfield family moved away. Roy assumes Jason must have ran away, and doesn't think too much of it anymore. Roy is obviously suspicious of Caden's questions, but plays it off like he's not.

(Both Roy and Martin are being pretty sus right now.)

"One shelf was filled with remnants of old Freddy, Chica, and Foxy costumes." (Absofruitlyash voice: REMNANT?!) (Also, no Bonnie costume?)

(Sq… squid animatronic? There's a squid animatronic? Why oh why isn't that one in the Mechaquarium?! Put him in the water! Spooky tentacle underwater robot, let's go!)

There's a storage shed / workshop in the 'employee's only' section of the waterpark, where lots of unused or seasonal items are kept. The workshop area is where Caden's tools are kept, along with plenty of other tools and pieces for repairing things around the park. This is also where the squid animatronic is, since its motor doesn't work. When he's not busy with the upkeep of the other animatronics, Caden works on the squid, which is in a much worse state of disrepair than the rest of the water animatronics.

While Caden is in there working on the squid, all of the lights go off. A heavy shelf of metal falls and almost lands on Caden, and he hears someone breathing in the dark. Someone darts past him, slamming the shed door open and running out; Caden doesn't move fast enough to see who it is.

Caden tells Martin what happened, and he, Martin, and Roy work on putting the workshop back to rights. Martin believes that some teenagers are trying to play pranks on the park employees. For some reason, Roy thinks it's important that Caden specify that he 'didn't see anyone' when he was attacked in the workshop. Thinking about all the recent 'accidents' around him, Caden starts to wonder if someone is trying to kill him.

"After all these years… The kids are back, causing me trouble."

(… Okay, I no longer want to punch Darryl. I want him hit by a truck. Just a little love tap, that's all, I swear!)

"It was just a kind man asking about your grandmother. He doesn't know you have a finger bone in your backpack." XD

Caden wants to go to the police with his findings, but decides he'll need more proof than a single shoe and a tiny bone.

Caden suits up, and goes diving around in the Mechaquarium tank. He studies the rocks on the bottom for awhile, looking to see if any more bones or clothing items are down there. When he looks up, he finds that all of the animatronics are circled around him, watching him. Swallowing his fear and choosing to ignore them for the moment, Caden continues searching. To his horror, he finds the top part of a child's skull.

A noise gets Caden's attention, and he looks up to see the mechanized top of the tank close itself back up. Caden is now trapped inside the Mechaquarium, with only the air in his tanks.

The animatronics are all turned off, and are just hanging in the water, immobile… except for Frank the diver. The diver starts swimming like a live human would, and begins circling Caden, getting closer and closer. The rest of the animatronics are all clustered in a group now, not moving but watching as Caden and the diver animatronic swim around. Fearfully, Caden swims to hide behind the cluster of bigger, scarier animatronics, trying to keep away from the diver, which he's convinced is planning to kill him.

"The static in his ears grew louder. Caden thought his eardrums would burst."

Frank the diver grabs Caden's arm. It tries to pull off Caden's breathing regulator, and Caden panics even more than he already was. When Caden fights back with his tools, the diver tries to strangle him. Caden gets the diver's helmet off, assuming the animatronic will stop attacking him if he can dismantle it enough, and… sees that it's Martin inside the diver's suit.

When Martin continues his attack on Caden, the rest of the animatronics come to life, circling around Martin. Caden watches in horror as the robots drown his boss.

(Well… that gave me "scene from the movie where Mike watches the animatronics springlock Afton" vibes. Or "scene from 'the Silver Eyes' where Charlie and her friends watch the animatronics springlock Afton." I'm saying Martin is the Afton of this scenerio, that's what I'm getting at.)

After Martin dies, the static Caden was hearing suddenly goes away. (So… Illusion disk? Definitely illusion disk.)

When giving his story to the police, Caden doesn't say that his boss was forcefully drowned by lifeless animatronics. He says that Martin's air supply broke off. He also explains that he escaped by cutting through the tarp over the tank opening with his screwdriver. He then goes on to explain that, once free, he'd called Roy over, and the two had hauled their boss's body out of the water, too late to revive him.

No one knows the full story of what really happened. As near as the investigating police officers can tell, they believe the boy Jason got into the Mechaquarium and drowned, and then Martin Copper buried his body among the decorative rocks and coral within it, trying to hide what happened.

Caden's grandmother is intrigued with the story, and is very proud of her grandson for surviving and for finding a long lost person.

Caden comes to visit the water park a week later. He walks by the Mechaquarium, which is half drained and closed off by yellow police tape. He thinks the breached animatronics look like dead fish.

Roy and Caden talk about what happened. Roy is sorry for the part he played in Martin's machinations against Caden, and offers Caden a new job. He recently bought the water park from the bank, and he wants Caden to help him bring it back to its former glory, his dreams for it big enough to rival the Pizzaplex.

The story ends abruptly there, with Roy trying to cajole Caden into taking the job, but no answer from Caden. It's a weird way to end the story, and makes me think the writer/s ran out of either time or ideas for it and just decided to end it.

.

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Caden is the first protagonist of these books to survive his story! Good for him!

I really liked this story. The stories in these books are really hit or miss for me (and when they miss, they miss hard), but this one worked for me.

It's really unfortunate that the story just ended like that. I would have loved to see more of it! And more of the characters within it. Caden was a good FNAF protagonist -- he had lots of specific fears and phobias and a childhood trauma, but he didn't let his fears control him, and was shown to be very intelligent and had a strong moral compass. He plays off really well with his supporting characters, especially with Martin and Roy.

Speaking of, let's talk about them. Let's start with my boy Roy.

Roy is… interesting. He reminds me a lot of how Vanessa is characterized on the movie. He's very suspicious at several points in the story. Sometimes, it's because he's a red herring, made that way by the author to keep the reader from immediately looking at Martin. But other times… he just seems to know something. Or like he's done something he shouldn't.

For example, Roy personifies the Mechaquarium animatronics, treating them like people and referring to them as his friends. He also knew the missing boy Jason personally, saying that Jason was his friend before he went missing. Roy literally described both Jason and the animatronics as his childhood friends. This is followed by the story narrative showing us that the animatronics are possessed by Jason (to some degree or another). This just makes me wonder if Roy knew that the animatronics were possessed by Jason, but didn't have the ability to do anything about it.

This is also the return of the name "Jason" as an important character.

And Martin had an illusion disk. What was up with that? Where did he acquire it? Why was he using it? And was he the diver "animatronic" the entire time? Was there ever a diving animatronic? And if so, where is it? For Martin to repurpose the diving animatronic's outer shell into a costume like that, he would have had to do something with the robotic innards of the character. Are they just tucked away somewhere in the workshop? And if so, I would have liked for there to have been a scene where Caden is in the workshop, finds some random robotic parts, and thinks "oh, those must be spare parts for the diver animatronic" or something.

Overall, this story felt like a retelling of the standard FNAF story. A crime involving children going missing happens at a Freddy's location, the owner conceals what happened by hiding the child's body/s with the animatronics, and it results in the animatronics being haunted and seeking revenge against the owner. Complete with, again, the owner being murdered by his own animatronics. There's even a defunct animatronic as part of the cast: Golden Freddy/Fredbear for the og FNAF story, and a deteriorated squid for this story.

It's not a one-to-one comparison, obviously, but the repeated themes are pretty obvious.

"Animatronic Apocalypse"

Quick question: is an animatronic apocalypse anything like a robot riot?

A middle school has an after school activity group calling themselves "the Fazbear Fanclub." The club consists of 5th and 6th graders (10- and 11-year-olds). The kids in the club have created their own board game, which they call "Animatronic Apocalypse."

"Glamrock Chica is hunting you. She's chased you into the school library. Your only weapons are a bow and a spear." (What kind of 'what would you do if…?' game is this?? XD)

"Animatronic Apocalypse" the board game is played similarly to "Dungeons & Dragons." The players create their own characters to roleplay as, and are given situations wherein their characters will have to do battle against attacking Fazbear animatronics. They're allowed to choose weapons where applicable, but they roll dice to determine whether their defenses work or their attacks land. (I would love to see someone make this game a reality, honestly.)

"Everyone knew [the Pizzaplex] had the best arcade, the best mini golf, the best raceway, the best pizza, and the best animatronic entertainment." (So this sounds a little more like the Pizzaplex we see in the "Security Breach" game.)

Our protagonist is Robbie Wilson, a 6th grade boy with long hair who loves the Fazbear animatronics. He has a dog named Hopper, who he also loves.

(-squints- Again with the name 'Jason.')

Love the fact that it's the adult in the room staring at his phone, ignoring the world around him, and not the kids doing that. Very reverse boomer humor.

Robbie has a best friend named Dyson, and the two of them are going through some growing pains right now. They've been best friends for years, but, as they're getting older, they're both developing very different interests, with Robbie leaning into roleplay games and robotics and Dyson leaning into team sports and video games. They're still trying to interact with each other, but don't really have much in common anymore, and they don't know how to talk to each other.

When Robbie next comes into the Fazbear Fanclub, he learns that the club president, Jason, had to step down from his position of club president; Jason's family is moving, and he's being transferred to a different school. The remaining club members vote in a girl named Zabrina for their new president.

(… Mr. Renner gives me the creeps. He's just… he's *too* invested in this unrelated 10-year-old girl. It's gross.)

As her first act of club president, Zabrina announces that, from now on, the kids in the club will be too busy playing the Animatronic Apocalypse game to do their homework. She says that, instead of studying, they should copy their classmates' work. This strikes Robbie as strange, since Zabrina is an honor student, and isn't a known cheat.

Zabrina describes their game prep as "preparing for the apocalypse," as if she means an actual real world situation. Mr. Renner, the school principal who sometimes acts as the adult chaperone for the Fazbear Fanclub, is also acting like there's a real world battle between an animatronic army and the humans of their world.

"What's said in the club stays in the club." (Lmao, Fight Club for children.)

(I like that Robbie has positive interactions with his parents every once in awhile. It's nice to see parents who genuinely care about their kids in this book genre, where neglectful or abusive parents are the expected variety. I mean, Robbie's parents are pretty oblivious to most of the stuff that's happening with their son, but it's clear that they listen to him talk and care about his wellbeing.)

Robbie tries to sit through a meeting of the Fazbear Fanclub, but the behaviors of Mr. Renner and Zabrina make him uncomfortable. (Same, bucko.) He ends up going home early. He walks home while looking at the ground, lost in thought, but the sound of a cat yowling and footsteps behind him makes him look up suddenly; to his confusion, he's the only person on the street, and he can't see any other people or animals.

A rock is thrown at him by an unseen assailant. The rock hits him in the head, drawing blood but not badly injuring him.

The next day at school, Robbie passes Zabrina in the halls. Zabrina stares straight ahead and walks stiffly. Something about her movements bothers Robbie.

Mr. Renner very suddenly leaves his position as school principal, with no explanations offered. Robbie later learns from his parents that Renner was caught stealing money from the school funds.

After school, Robbie sees Zabrina and some of the other kids from the Fazbear Fanclub walking in a pack. He follows them from a distance to see what they're doing, and they head into the woods behind a children's park. Once the kids are deep into the woods, they meet up with Mr. Renner. Robbie can see that Renner is talking to the kids, and drawing some sort of diagram into the dirt for the kids to see, but he's too far away to hear what's being said.

(I appreciate that Robbie is a protagonist who recognizes warning signs and red flags when he sees them. I don't expect fictional main characters to know when they're in danger, but Robbie knows exactly what's wrong with every scenario he walks in on.)

Mr. Renner gives the kids an order, and the group of children start eating dirt, no questions asked. (… That's so weird and I have nothing to say to that.)

Since his parents don't believe him, Robbie tells his friend Dyson about what he saw in the woods. Dyson is just as put off and confused as Robbie is.

Over the weekend, Robbie visits the nearby home of Johnny, one of the other kids in the Fazbear Fanclub and one of the kids he saw eating dirt in the woods with former principal Renner. Johnny's mother answers the door, but tells Robbie that Johnny is sick in bed with an upset stomach, and can't have visitors right now.

When Robbie sees Johnny in school a few days later, Johnny has bloodshot eyes. Johnny insists he wasn't sick over the weekend, but somehow says it in a way implying he's not really certain about that. He has blood on his fingertips, and when Robbie asks about it, Johnny just says "We had to poke the needles under our fingertips. We had to."

When Robbie wonders about the whereabouts of an absent classmate, Johnny says "I hope the animatronics didn't get him," as though that's a genuine threat.

The rest of the kids start eating live beetles that they brought to school in their lunchboxes. They clearly aren't enjoying the experience of eating live insects, but they do it anyway. Two of Robbie's classmates corner Robbie in the restroom and try to force feed him a live beetle. They tell him that the beetles are meant to prevent any of them from getting sick.

At this point in the story, it's clear that most of the kids have been convinced by Renner that they're in danger of contraction some sort of "toxin," and they have to consume increasingly gross and unhealthy things and perform dangerous rituals to help their immune system fight it off. Hence the dirt eating, the beetle eating, and the blood letting.

Zabrina seems to be reveling in her position as club president and Renner's second in command, using her position of power to force the other kids to humiliate themselves, possibly for her own entertainment. Robbie sees her force another kid to eat an extra beetle, just because she can.

When Robbie tries to talk to Zabrina, she doesn't respond to him. She acts like she can't see or hear him. (It's not like she's giving him the Silent Treatment though… it's more like he just doesn't exist to her.)

After overhearing the other kids talking about meeting up in the woods again, this time during the night, Robbie decides to follow them again to see what's going on. When he gets there, he sees the rest of the Fazbear Fanclub buried in the ground; most of their bodies are buried, but their faces are uncovered. Their faces are unmoving. Robbie can't tell if they're dead or not.

Robbie tries to dig up one of his classmates, and tries to check for a pulse. He can't feel pulse or breathing, so he starts performing chest compressions on the other boy. The boy, Nathan, finally starts sucking in air, taking deep gasping breaths. Nathan doesn't seem to know where he is, and is terrified when Robbie shows him that the other kids are still buried.

Zabrina suddenly rises from the dirt herself, screaming angrily at the two boys. Robbie and Nathan both flee.

The boys go to the police station. Robbie tries to tell a police officer about there being children buried in the ground behind a park, while beside him Nathan just sort of… shuts down, not speaking and staring at nothing. When the officer tries questioning Nathan, Nathan says he doesn't remember being buried, and that he doesn't know why he's here.

(Officer… Talbet? Like Talbert, but not?)

A couple officers agree to follow Robbie to where the kids are supposedly buried. But, once they arrive, there aren't any kids there. In fact, there's no evidence of kids ever being there. Nathan seems to have lost time, and is distressed about it. He doesn't seem to remember anything from before he and Robbie were standing in the police station.

When Nathan finally does start to remember things, he tells Robbie that Mr. Renner said the dirt had healing properties, and would keep the kids safe from the "animatronic toxins." The kids buried themselves, because obviously that was the only way to keep themselves safe from the perceived threat.

When Robbie comes down for breakfast the next day, he sees his father eat a beetle, the same way the kids at school did.

"His dad had been compromised."

None of the Fazbear Fanclub goes to school the next day. Robbie is the only one who isn't "out sick."

Deciding to pay the former principal a visit, Robbie goes to Mr. Renner's house. On the ground outside, Robbie notes some spray cans of paint, suggesting that Renner was the once who vandalized the school earlier in the story. Robbie tries to knock on a door, only to find that it's unlocked. He pushes it open and steps into the house. The house is much warmer than most people keep their homes, and he can smell something "putrid and stagnant." The yard and kitchen alike are filled with trash and rotting food.

Robbie hears voices somewhere in the house. Before he can either leave or investigate, he's caught, and finds himself staring up at Mr. Renner, who is wearing a rubber Freddy Fazbear mask. The masked Renner is sitting at the head of his dining room table, while all the other members of the Fazbear Fanclub sit around the table.

The kids don't react to Robbie, or speak to him. Except for Zabrina, who suddenly acknowledges his existence. When Renner asks Robbie why he's here, Zabrina comes to stand beside Renner, telling him that she thinks Robbie's a spy. Seemingly amused by this, Renner turns to the other kids, telling them that clearly Robbie is an animatronic coming to thwart their plans.

"Animatronics need to be taught a lesson."

Hearing this, the kids all turn on Robbie. As though in a trance, the kids hem him in and begin beating and kicking him. Robbie grabs a nearby fire poker to defend himself, and ends up skewering Renner.

This seems to break the kids from their trance-like state, and they all flee the scene, leaving the house apparently empty aside from Renner, Zabrina, and Robbie. Renner bleeds from his stab wound, and seems to choke on his own blood, but doesn't remove the Freddy mask; he makes it to his feet, and stumbles off down the hall of his house.

Renner leaks a dark liquid onto the floor behind him. Robbie doesn't think it looks like blood.

Zabrina calls Robbie a loser and spits on his face, then leaves. (… Okay?! What was that for?!)

Concerned about his stab victim, Robbie heads deeper into the house, fire poker in hand as he looks for Renner. He follows Renner's trail to a bedroom, which he notes is decorated with an older style of furniture and decor (and the description of it makes me think of the living room from the "Sister Location" cut scenes, or 'Mike's Room' from "Security Breach"). There's a closet in the bedroom, and Renner's leaking trail leads right to it.

Renner emerges from the closet. He doesn't have the Freddy mask on anymore, and now looks like a walking corpse. Black liquid seeps from the stab wound in his torso, and another bead of black liquid hangs from his mouth like drool.

Renner attacks Robbie again, and gets skewered again on the poker. This happens again and again, and Robbie suddenly realizes that Renner isn't feeling the pain of being stabbed. He doesn't stop attacking Robbie until Robbie stabs him in the eye with the poker. (Ew.) Renner collapses again, and Robbie runs away, leaving the house. (Call that man a Glamrock animatronic, 'cause he just got his shit wrecked by a 10-year-old boy!)

Someone called the cops and police officers arrive at the house just as Robbie runs out. They question him, then enter without him. When the officers come back out, they tell Robbie that the house is empty, and identify the dark liquid staining the floor as motor oil.

The police take Robbie home to his parents. His parents question him as well, and Robbie, like he did for the police, tells them everything. He know no one believes him, but he doesn't know what else to tell them. His parents let him stay home from school for a few days after that, letting him stay in his room for the most part and checking on him throughout the day.

Robbie's father talks to the police again a few days later, and the Wilson family learns that Mr. Renner has seemingly vanished. No one can find him, and no one knows where he might be. When the other members of the Fazbear Fanclub were questioned about their adult chaperone's whereabouts, none of them know anything, and they all have trouble remembered much about the man at all.

A week later, Robbie returns to school. He learns that Zabrina has transferred schools… or at least that she's stopped coming here. A new principal has joined the school faculty, and anyone seems to be acting like normal students and teachers now.

Robbie talks with Dyson and some of his other friends from school about restarting the Fazbear Fanclub.

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So clearly, Principal Renner was an animatronic that looked like a person for most of the story. We're told that he undergoes a huge personality shift during the story, implying that at the beginning of the story, he's a human man, but he gets replaced by an animatronic imposter early on. Given that Robbie temporarily believes the man to be a corpse, it's also possible that Renner could have been an animatronic wearing a human body as a suit, a la Ennard wearing Michael Afton at the end of "Sister Location."

(Actually, Renner made me think of Michael a lot during that last scene. Robot wearing a human skinsuit? Check. Guy wearing a Freddy Fazbear character mask? Check. Lives in a house decorated in '70s chic? Check. But I don't know why all the Michael similarities. And, for every similarity, there are just as many dissimilarities. So I just really don't know what it means.)

It's also clear that Renner the animatronic has some sort of hypnotic hold over not just the kids in Robbie's school, but also several of the other residents in the town. The Fazbear Fanclub kids are especially susceptible to his machinations, being easily convinced to injure themselves and even bury themselves alive just because he told them to, but throughout the story we also see several adults behaving in similar ways (like Robbie's dad eating bugs with his morning coffee, or the police officers encouraging the kids to play along with the dangerous games).

(This isn't the first time in these books we've encountered an animatronic with hypnotic abilities, and I'm sure it won't be the last.)

Whether Zabrina is an animatronic or another human victim of Renner is unclear, but it seems to me that the narrative implies Zabrina is an animatronic that has replaced a human child, much like Renner, and that she and Renner are both sent to this town and school with a specific goal in mind. What that goal is isn't clear: they're either building some kind of army of enslaved humans, or they're using the people of this town to test their hypnotic abilities.

So, if Renner and Zabrina have such a strong hold on the town, why is Robbie apparently immune to their whims? I actually don't think Robbie is immune to their hypnotic ways - rather, I think they leave him out on purpose, so that they can turn the other kids against him. It's an experiment to see if the enthralled humans will turn against their own, and if they can stand up to a human acting of his own free will.

The whole section about the kids burying themselves in the dirt and Robbie finding them in mounds in the forest reminded me of what I'm told happens with the twisted animatronics in "The Twisted Ones." I never read that book so I don't have any strong parallels to draw there, but I find it interesting.

This is also the third time in the FNAF books that we've had a protagonist named Robert. The first time was Bob in "Fazbear Frights: Bunny Call" and the second was Robert in "Fazbear Frights: the Cliffs." There was also a secondary character named Robert in "Tales From the Pizzaplex: Frailty," and there may have been others I just don't remember right now. My point is that Robert is a name that pops up a lot -- whether the name is important or the writer/s are just lazy, you be the judge.

Speaking of repeating names - when the principal is first introduced as "Mr. Renner," I immediately thought of the actor Jeremy Renner. I don't know if that was an intended name association but, given how often the name Jeremy pops up in this franchise, I wouldn't put it past Cawthon and his team.

And, of course, the return of the name Jason. Much like Afton, that name always comes back. (It haunts me.) EDIT: I wonder if the name 'Jason' is a jokey Easter egg referencing Jason Topolski from Steel Wool Studios, the current FNAF parent company.

"Bobbiedots, Pt 1"

Our new protagonist is a guy named Abe Thayer, who works in the Pizzaplex. Despite his job, Abe is homeless, and spends both day and night in the Pizzaplex, avoiding being noticed by his coworkers or the security cameras, and eating pizza out of the trash.

Next door to the Pizzaplex is a tall, shiny apartment structure called the Fazplex Tower. This is an apartment building owned and operated by Fazbear's, and provides free housing for Pizzaplex employees who work at high enough positions.

In addition to his job, Abe is also taking college courses while he works. He's very good with technology and computers, and he's working toward a college degree that he hopes will earn him a higher position at the Pizzaplex, with his goal being to reach a high enough position that he's given an apartment in the Tower.

Abe has a hidden space behind Roxy Raceway that he's currently sleeping in. He has a laptop in there, which he uses to send emails to his mother, lying to her and assuring her that he's in a good, safe home and doing well in school. He worries about being caught by a security guard or a wandering animatronic.

Abe is good at lying. So good in fact that he has a completely fake resume. This is a trait he learned from his dad when he was a kid.

In the morning, Abe bathes himself in a mens' restroom with handsoap and paper towels. It's called out that he passes by the golden Glamrock Freddy statue in the front lobby of the Pizzaplex. (Abe doesn't just work in *a* Pizzaplex -- he's working in *the* Pizzaplex, the one we see in the "Security Breach" game. There's a lot of points throughout this story specifically describing the Pizzaplex, hammering home to the audience "It's *the* Pizzaplex! It's the one from the game! You've been here before!")

Abe chats with his coworker, Evan (yes, I'm side-eying the name choice), who has a higher position and lives in the Fazplex Tower with his wife and kids. Evan tells him that the Fazplex Tower apartments got a recent upgrade, and they now have holographic home assistants called 'Bobbiedots.'

Abe is called to the administration office by the new director. She tells him that a new position "just opened up," and he's being promoted to fill it.

As part of the promotion, Abe should be given a Tower apartment, but is told that there are no apartments left to give him. The employee in charge of assigning him an apartment tells him she can't assign one to him, and that all but one are already being lived in; the one that's left has been labeled "off limits," and she assumes that the tech installed in that apartment is malfunctioning and needs to be repaired before anyone can live in it.

Abe decides he'll move into the off limits apartment anyway, figuring he can repair the malfunctioning tech himself. He tricks the receptionist to leave her desk for a minute, then uses her computer to assign the off limits apartment to himself.

Sneaking into the building, Abe goes to check out his new apartment, and has his first experience with one of the Bobbiedots, a set of feminine AI characters who pop up on various screens throughout the apartment.

Bobbiedot 3 is the first to introduce herself to Abe. She startles him so much, he doesn't speak for a minute. Concerned about the new occupant possibly not speaking, 3 immediately offers to learn sign language if that would be a better way of communicating with him.

(You move into a new apartment, and Hatsune Miko tells you that she's your personal assistant and maid so long as you live here. That's what's happening here.)

Returning to work, Abe tries to help acclimate Preston, a young technician intern and one of Abe's new underlings. Both men end up staring at DJ Music Man apprehensively, discussing how to run maintenance on a giant spider they're both scared of, while DJMM ignores them and naps in his sound booth.

(The DJ's torso has a giant speaker, which I don't think I've ever noticed before.)

Abe shows Preston around the tunnels that DJ Music Man uses, saying that the lights in the tunnels often cause electrical problems, and one of Preston's jobs will be to keep on eye on the generator for this section of the Pizzaplex. As they follow the tunnels (so Preston can get used to their layouts), they exit into some backrooms and even find a restroom nearby.

When the two employees enter the bathroom, one of DJ Music Man's hands reach in after them, trying to grab them. Abe pulls Preston out of the way, and explains that DJMM was originally programmed with a "bouncer mode." His bouncer mode never worked quite right, and the tech programmers removed it, but "missed a few lines of code." Now, DJMM will sometimes randomly try to grab and remove people from his immediate area.

"Does this job have hazard pay?" (Honestly, that's a great question. But I'm guessing the answer is 'no.')

Abe returns home to the apartment after work. He's introduced to the other two Bobbiedots, who are just as excited as their sister to have a new apartment occupant to take care of. The three Bobbiedots all behave like teenage girls, and squabble with each other like sisters. They all behave like they have a crush on Abe, and it's unclear if they're programmed to behave that way of if it's a trait they've learned from somewhere.

After chatting with them for a little bit, Abe renames each of them based off of their appearance.

💗🍩 Bobbiedot 3 is a pink-colored character. She speaks with a cheerful, peppy voice that reminds Abe of a bubbly cheerleader. She explains that she's in charge of keeping the apartment clean and making sure the occupant is healthy. Over the course of the story, we'll see her provide Abe with lots of basic household help, cleaning and keeping the pantry stocked, and especially help him with cooking. After learning that Abe has been homeless for awhile, she takes a blood sample from him to determine what vitamins he's low in, and creates a personal menu for him to provide him with those nutrients. When she's not assigned a task, 3 often pretends to eat sweets, portraying her avatar with donuts and other pastries. Abe renames her to Rose, because of her pink coloring and rosy demeanor.

💚📝 Bobbiedot 2 is green-colored and wears glasses. She speaks in a sarcastic, bratty voice. She explains that she's an information assistant, who's job is to relay important information about the news and the weather, keep track of memos and reminders, and can handle shopping lists and other similar tasks. Throughout the story, we'll see her behave like an internet search bar, pulling up lots of information at once, weed through it to find correct information, and relay it to Abe in a quick, concise manner. 2 is portrayed as the most serious of the Bobbiedots, and she constantly tries to prevent her sisters from slacking off. Abe renames her to Olive, because of her green coloring.

💙🎧 Bobbiedot 1 is blue- and white-colored, and wears headphones and a grey outfit. She speaks with a soft, sing-song voice, and often sounds like she's singing more than speaking. She explains that she's an entertainment assistant, which means she can access movies and television shows, music, books, magazines, and other forms of entertainment media, pulling them up on the nearest screen if Abe requires them or searching for something similar if he wants to try something new. She tells Abe that she can also handle any social media accounts he may have, and that she can arrange romantic dates for him via social media apps. When she's not assigned a task, 1 tends to watch romantic movies. Abe renames her to Gemini, because her blue and white coloring makes him think of space and constellations.

(Also renaming the entertainment assistant to Gemini made me think of analog horror series Gemini Home Entertainment. I don't know if that was an intentional reference, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was.)

The Bobbiedots show Abe how to use the main control console for their system. The apartment has lots of tech screens and glass walls that the Bobbiedots project themselves onto, so they can literally follow Abe around the apartment if they want/need to.

"I have multiple sources that say--" "You just find things that support your own ideas!" XD

"I'm a luscious fruit!" (Oh, Olive… XD )

The Bobbiedots tell Abe that the previous occupant's belongings are all still in the apartment. This includes all of his clothes, and a fully stocked kitchen; none of the food has spoiled yet, so he hasn't been gone that long. Abe tries to ask the Bobbiedots about the previous apartment occupant, wanting to know why the man moved out and why all his stuff is still here. The Bobbiedots don't answer him, deflecting and talking about Morocco cuisine instead. Assuming that the Bobbiedots are programmed to do this to protect tenants' privacy, Abe decides not to press further.

Before bed, Abe sends an email to his mother, letting her know that he's been promoted at work and living in a nicer place. It's nice that he can be honest with his mother for once.

The next day, just as Abe is heading out the door for work, he notices a strange trapdoor in the kitchen ceiling. The Bobbiedots tell him that it's for maintenance purposes and is off limits to tenants. As Abe leaves, he can see that the trapdoor is open a crack, even though the Bobbiedots just told him it was locked.

At work, Abe runs tech maintenance on parts of the Fazerblast Arena. He notes some shapes and patterns in the lighting of the arena, and wonders if the shapes mean something, like "modern hieroglyphs" or "a secret code lit up on the walls of the arena." (For those who are unaware, there is a secret code scrawled across multiple walls of the Pizzaplex in both "Security Breach" and the "Ruin DLC." One of the codes is on the walls in a location that fans have dubbed 'Mike's Room,' and it's been decoded into a cryptic poem that people are still working on deciphering. The other code is the Tally Marks Code, which as far as I know is still currently unsolved.)

(There's a kid that Abe interacts with in the arena who made me think of Gregory. I don't know if it's meant to actually be Gregory, of if that's just wishful thinking on my part.)

Later that night, Abe is woken by a sound during the night. Not sure what he heard, Abe decides to investigate. He thinks he hears something moving in the apartment. When he calls them, Rose tells him that the apartment is secure, and Olive suggests he was having a dream.

The same thing happens again the following night. This time, when Abe lays quietly in bed, he think he hears what sounds like something being dragged over carpet. (I mean, you live in an apartment now. You could just be hearing the neighbors, or the building's plumbing, or any number of things, really. I'm sure this ritzy Fazbear building has all kinds of soundproof, but I'd still expect some noises to trickle through every once in awhile.)

Abe follows the sound to the kitchen. He thinks it sounds like something crawling up the wall. Waking the Bobbiedots up and staring suspiciously up at the maintenance hatch in the kitchen ceiling, Abe tries to ask more about it.

The Bobbiedots explain that they are part of the second generation of Bobbiedots. They say that the maintenance hatch was installed for the use of the Gen 1 Bobbiedots, which were physical robots. There's a power grid in the ceiling, which the Gen 1 Bobbiedots were plugged into, and which the maintenance hatch leads to.

Apparently, the Gen 1 Bobbiedots were never actually removed from the apartment, and are still up in the maintenance space. Rose, Olive, and Gemini further explain that the Gen 1 Bobbiedots will come down from their ceiling crawlspace and try to clean the apartment. While the Gen 2 Bobbiedots believe their predecessor sisters to be harmless, they also express that they don't really appreciate the "help" with running the apartment.

Abe isn't comfortable with the idea of robots he can't control just coming and going out of his living space at will.

"The Bobbiedots couldn't read his mind… could they?" (Eh, it's Fazbear's. Who knows?)

A day or two later, Abe takes advantage of the nice, jetted tub in the apartment, and takes a long soak in it while reading a paperback detective novel. But the water in his jetted bath starts to get hotter and hotter, causing him to eventually jump out as the water begins to boil. His skin is scalded, and he jumps into the shower, turning on the cold water.

He summons the Bobbiedots, and Olive and a very distressed Rose tell him how to treat his burns, directing him to where a bottle of aloe vera is kept. They tell him that the water's increased temperature is the fault of the Gen 1 robots in the ceiling, citing that the robot's cables often get tangled up with all the other power cords and control modules; they further clarify that the Gen 1 robots are damaged and can't be removed, and that that's the reason this apartment was off limits in the first place.

The computer interface Bobbiedots start to realize the sort of dangers posed to their new tenant by the presence of the robotic Bobbiedots in the ceiling. They decide to set up a system, planning to keep track of the robotic Bobbiedots' movements more closely and regularly inspecting various systems around the apartment to make sure everything works properly.

Abe sends another email to his mother, since it's been a few days and he doesn't want her to worry. He doesn't tell her about the various incidents around the apartment.

At work the next day, Abe tries to show Preston how to fix the generators in the Daycare Center.

"Why are the generators in the play structures?" (Preston's asking the same questions we've all been asking since "Security Breach" came out.)

Abe explains that the generators are a new installment; the lights in the daycare kept running out of power and blinking off, so they had to install more generators to power the lights for longer periods of time. He also says that the play structure was, unfortunately, their only option of locations to put the generators, since they need to be able to get to the generators to manually restart them on a regular schedule.

Abe is less concerned about the weird generator placement and more concerned about the Daycare Attendant, who he views as a "less kid-friendly version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." When Preston the intern asks about the DA, Abe explains that the Daycare Attendant is repurposed animatronic that used to perform in the theater. As a theater performer, the Sun/Moon animatronic was designed to switch between the two personas in different lighting as part of its performances. When the Sun/Moon animatronic was reprogrammed to be the Daycare Attendant, the programmers couldn't manage to remove the light-dark trigger. The Pizzaplex managers decided it was cheaper and easier to keep the lights on at all times in the daycare than it was to fix the animatronic attendant.

While they're working on repairing an offline generator in the daycare, the Moon version of the DA sneaks up on them, watching them through the play structure walls. Moon doesn't attack them, just stands there and judges them, calling them "naughty boys."

Back at the apartment, Abe tries to bake in the kitchen. The stove top suddenly catches fire, and the flames climb up the long sleeve of his shirt. He whips the shirt off and smothers the fire as quickly as possible, but still ends up running his singed arm under cold water. The Bobbiedots panic. Abe is no longer sure that these Bobbiedots can keep him safe.

The weekend passes with minimal incident. On Monday, when Abe returns home, the Bobbiedots don't appear to greet him like they usually do. He goes to turn on the lights, only to get nearly electrocuted by a sudden power surge.

The Bobbiedots come online. They say that the Gen 1 Bobbiedots are hooked into the same computer system that they are, and that the Gen 1s froze them out for a few minutes.

Abe asks the Bobbiedots more about their Gen 1 predecessors. They tell him that the Gen 1s were more like the animatronics from the Pizzaplex, in that they have physical bodies and possess pseudo-sentience. Olive tells him that she believes they're envious of Abe, wanting to be human like he is. Then she suggests that the Gen 1s are confusing Abe with the previous tenant, but she doesn't say why that would explain their behavior.

Abe tries to eat a sandwich, but it makes him sick, and he runs to the bathroom to throw up. Abe has the realization that the food in his kitchen has been laced with something to make him ill.

"How has my apartment tried to kill me? Let me count the ways." (Don't… don't quote that poem at me, FNAF. I still haven't forgiven you for the last time you used that one.)

As the days go by, Abe has several more incidents in his apartment. The incidents get so bad, Abe worries that one of them will kill him, sooner or later. But he refuses to leave the apartment, refusing to go back to being homeless.

Sitting in his office, Abe types up another email to his mom. He doesn't notice a cable trailing through the air behind him, vanishing behind a trapdoor in the ceiling.

.

.

We've never had a proper two-parter in this books, so I was pretty concerned about how this was going to play out. I figured the story would either be super intense or super boring, and that it would be insufferable either way. But I was surprised -- I really enjoyed this one, and I think it was written with a good balance of spooky, mysterious elements with mundane but still interesting segments. I'm actually interested in seeing where "Part 2" takes this story.

I like that we get to learn so much about the Pizzaplex. Since this protagonist works at the Pizzaplex in the tech area, so we learn some background information about the animatronics.

I love the back and forth conversations of the intern asking "why are the animatronics glitchy? why is the building structured like this?" and the team leader sighing and answering "I don't know. Fazbear's is a weird company with weird priorities." I'm absolutely fascinated by the employee culture at Fazbear's, and moments like this are really humorous to me.

Epilogue:

When we last saw them, the kids were running from the Mimic, which had just killed two of their friends, cutting the group of eight kids down to six. We pick up with them again, and currently the kids have found a new temporary hiding spot. Unfortunately, they're surrounded by the partially decaying pieces of dead bodies.

(I forgot there was another Jace/Jason among this group. Actually, plenty of these kids' names are repeated names that we've heard before, so it shouldn't surprise me. Jase, Hope, and Joel are all repeated names.)

Lucia and Kelly have found a radio, and they and Jace and Adrien decide to try using it to contact the outside world. They hole up in an office to do this. Joel and Wade go off on their own, deciding to find a way out themselves. The metal monster (the Mimic) is still stalking around after them.

In this old office, Lucia and Kelly work on reconstructing the radio's pieces so they can use it to contact someone outside. Ultimately, the girls decide that the radio's parts are too old and fragile to manipulate properly, and they start searching around the office for anything else that may help them.

Lucia finds a user's manual for operating several animatronics and endoskeletons, including the metal monster that's been coming after them. She identifies the thing as something called a "Mimic," a kind of animatronic endoskeleton that has limbs and a torso that can change lengths, allowing it to be fit into any size mascot costume. The failsafe for when the Mimic malfunctions or poses a threat to a human is to remove its power supply, an instruction that doesn't help these kids at all.

The manual tells them that there are two Mimics: Mimic 1 and Mimic 2. The kids don't know which one is the one chasing them.

In a room at the end of a hall, Joel and Wade find a maintenance chute in the wall, which allows them to access a large air vent, which leads to an opening on the roof of the Pizzaplex. The problem is that the air conditioning and vent system is still partially functional, and there's a moving fan blocking the vent opening. They look around, but can't find anything to turn off the moving fan in their way.

Joel remembers how the power blinked off when the Mimic appeared and killed Hope, and assumes that something about the robot disrupts nearby power circuits; his new plan is to lure the Mimic into the room they're currently in, and then climb out the vent and escape when the Mimic's presence causes the vent system to malfunction, temporarily shutting off the fan. (Joel truly is the biggest moron around, huh?) After some deliberating, the boys agree that Wade will try to lure the Mimic to them.

While Wade's gone, Joel starts climbing into the maintenance tunnel. (I think we all know where this is going.)

"Watching [the Mimic] move was like watching the undulating movements of a shadow monster."

The lights go out wherever the Mimic is. They come back on after the Mimic leaves the area. (What a weird ability for this thing to have.)

Wade gets the Mimic's attention and leads it toward the room where Joel's escape is. The Mimic follows behind him. As soon as he's in the room, Wade starts climbing up into the chute after Joel. But then the Mimic catches up with them, grabbing Wade and pulling him back down, dismembering the boy.

While his friend is dying, Joel climbs up higher, heading for the fan that's been turned off. He tries to fit himself between the blades of the fan, but can only get his head through, unable to fit the rest of his body through the empty space.

The Mimic gathers up Wade's body parts and leaves, going to deposit Wade's head, arms, and torso in the correct piles. ("Pile of bodies, pile of heads." - Venom) As soon as it leaves, the fan turns back on, chopping Joel into pieces. (Yeah, that's what I figured would happen.)

(And then there were 4...)

[aranarumei]

🎵

in reference to this ask game

who the fuck is burning the forest?

just to watch it glow

living life like I’m in a dream

livin’ on borrowed time

how long to the point of know return?

songs used for each line, in order: who the fuck is burning the forest? by haru nemuri, a pearl by mitski, primadonna by marina, sad song by the velvet underground, point of know return by kansas

[in-tenebris-et-in-solitudine]

Ten minutes, she told me it would take ten minutes To break my heart, oh no, she didn't Fuck livin', I'ma drown in my sorrow Fuck givin', I'ma take not borrow And I'm still sinnin', I'm still losin' my mind I know I been trippin', I'm still wastin' my time All the time given, am I dyin'? Am I livin'?