#oof this one got long…

[my-makeshift-masquerade]

sry i love the idea of survivor bti rebecca so much cuz just imagine for a sec some drabble that starts off similar to a springtrap x reader fic like frighteningly intriguing or smthn but instead of romance its like “the fuck thats my dad” it would be so hilarious

Ohoho. Hoh. Y’all really just like my shit mashed together with other people’s universes huh? This definitely got me thinking though because @glitchysquidd’s notebook pages are quite compelling… After reading what I could of it to get an idea, this is going to be far from hilarious. It is going to be god awful, especially since poor Rebecca in this blurry fnaf timeline is still technically a minor. I hope the original creator of Frighteningly Intriguing does get a kick out of this though. Your stuff is a very fun read and I worked hard to make this even remotely comparable.

No read more because tumblr is glitching my text when I use it. Trigger warnings for autism meltdowns, flashbacks, trauma, and the obvious mentions of death. Let’s go…

It All Comes Back to Haunt You

“Ugh…”

A teenage girl groaned as she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket again. Micheal would not leave her the hell alone. She had spoken with Tim and Samantha already. They seemed more excited about her “past experience” with the animatronics than anything else. Her brother was supposed to take the job, but after a horrible amount of hallucinations he got just entering the building, she volunteered. He was not happy about it, but Henry wouldn’t let him go back until he recovered.

She had one night to actually be able to do something besides sit at home and hope the rest of her loved ones didn’t die horribly. This was her chance to prove herself in a sense. The Afton name followed her even after witness protection tried to erase it from her records. Her classmates knew who her father was. Of course they did. There was a whole fanbase of people who idolized him. Others stuck to throwing cafeteria food at her and telling her she should’ve died by her father’s hand and joined the rest of them.

She couldn’t say she disagreed…

Looking over the note left for her, she wandered around the empty horror attraction, searching for the other employee she was meeting up with. A couple of her peers wanted to trick her into coming to this place on halloween to cause her to have flashbacks. She heard their plans while eating lunch one day. What’s weird is she didn’t feel like she was reliving past trauma at all. The animatronics she just stumbled upon, the old models… Those were her friends… Hell, one of them was her own brother. They saved her life that night…

The teen didn’t flinch when Freddy’s head moved a bit, dead eyes sparking in recognition. Instead she just mumbled awkwardly, “H-hi, Gabe… I uh… hope everyone’s been doing alright… I’ll come see you later, o-okay…?”

“Let us sleep…” A ghostly child’s voice grumbled tiredly.

“S-sorry, guys…”

She didn’t argue, slowly shutting the door and continuing her search, soon overhearing faint conversation. Rebecca felt Micheal blowing up her phone again, and finally looked.

“Is his workshop still there? Henry wants to know if you could snap some pictures of blueprints.”

That was a good question, and she just stumbled upon the answer. Why was it wide open? Maybe her employers found it? Yeah, she’d go with that. The room was like a time capsule, mesmerizing her in an encompassing nostalgia. She remembered playing in this room so much as a little girl… Her father used to sit right here with her on his lap and she’d scribble on his scrap paper—

No. No no no. No diving into the past. Pulling out her phone, she snapped a few pics and tried to leave. The familiar head of a yellow rabbit lying against the wall froze her solid. Maybe she had underestimated the amount of trauma this task would bring back… Oh God… Was that her brother’s picture, and the address written after the bite? Her heart was starting to hurt more than her head…

“Who’s there?!”

A voice made her jump, putting down papers she was sifting through. A slightly beat up figure approached.

“Listen, don’t make me call the police, kid—“

Rebecca handed over the note, noticing the other person squint tiredly.

“You’re the one they hired to shadow me? You’re a little young.”

She nodded, “I-I’m Rebecca. My uh… my brother couldn’t make it…”

“Fine…” Her new coworker didn’t seem too thrilled for some reason, “Come on. I guess you gotta meet Dave.”

“Dave?” Rebecca echoed in bewilderment, “I thought they said we were the only two employees he—“

“Dave’s not an employee. He’s kinda scary. Smells awful. Walking biohazard. Still, he’s pretty cool.”

What the fuck were they talking about? If this “Dave” wasn’t a staff member then— Did they mean an animatronic they named Dave for comedic effect?

Then she saw it. The head peeking from around the distant corner down the hall… The head of the other Spring Bonnie suit. The same one she watched springlock her father when she was six, while she was on the ground with a knife in her body. She froze, feeling her heart drop to her feet.

“W-what the hell is that?!”

“That’s Dave...” Her mysterious coworker shrugged, “No need to actually be scared of him. He’s…relatively harmless…”

Rebecca knew for a fact his name wasn’t Dave. Her dad was just as bad at coming up with fake names to hide his identity as Micheal was. God, if she ever made it home, Henry and Mikey would not be happy to hear William Afton was back. This poor innocent person had no idea who they were dealing with! What should she say? Could she say something?!

Nope… She was in full meltdown mode now, totally mute. The teen felt her mind leave the current moment and rewind back years in the past. Her mother had convinced her she made up her family outside of herself and Micheal… She didn’t even recognize William as her father until he forced her to look at the suit that jogged her memory. He held her and told her he loved her, before a sharp pain pierced her back. She recalled seeing the ghosts of the children and the puppet standing between them… Then the springlocks went off. His screams haunted her as she passed out.

After that… It was a long stay at the hospital, which made her remember the siblings she was told she made up all the more… Loads of therapy later, she was staying with Micheal and Henry trying to repair her life to some form of normalcy without her mother… The best thing her father did was set her free from her mother, but that was besides the point. All the while the traumatic experience became the talk of the world, it seemed. True crime podcasts, news reports, so many fans of the franchise trying to find her and ask her about her experiences…

This was all some spooky story to the rest of the world, and this hooky horror attraction all but proved it. It was all fun and games until your siblings died and your father comforted you as he stabbed you in the back both figuratively and literally. Of course…

When she finally grounded herself, she nearly lost all the air in her lungs as she realized he was now a foot away from her.

“Dave! Personal space! Can’t you see she’s freaked out?!” Her coworker was starting to get concerned.

The animatronic rabbit rolled his eyes, all but confirming to Rebecca this was definitely still her dad. He was the type to scoff at anyone giving him advice in such a situation. His dead eyes almost seemed concerned when he shifted his gaze to her. That terrified her further. The last time he looked concerned for her was when she got stabbed.

“Hey hey…” The other employee spoke slightly softer, “Dude all the color is gone from your face… Here, sit down… Try to breathe… I’m gonna grab you some water…”

WAIT.

NO.

DON’T LEAVE HER ALONE WITH—

Her phone was buzzing like crazy. She didn’t dare take it out. She couldn’t. Trying to breathe, she gasped and choked on air as “Dave” sat down next to her, far too casually. This was painful. Was he trying to give her cardiac arrest?!

He was totally silent, besides the sounds of his joints ticking and popping unnaturally with his movements. It occurred to her with the stench that his body was still in there, making her gag. Her attempts to catch her breath were the loudest sounds for a few moments. It was almost calm… until she felt a hand on her back.

She would have screamed if she had any voice to scream with. Instead, the teen stiffened at the feeling of his hand feeling over her shirt, clearly noticing the slight bump of the scar she had down her back from his own actions. His eyes almost lit up at that, whether in a positive or negative way she had no idea. It seemed he was surprised she didn’t pull away. It was because she couldn’t due to paralyzing terror.

“S-stop pretending already…” She stammered, “I-if you want to finish it… J-just—“

His ears drooped slightly, and he almost sighed…?

What was up with him?! He wouldn’t even say a single word to her after all of what he put her through?! Wait… Could he even talk?

Footsteps made Rebecca relax a bit as her coworker had returned with water. She grabbed their arm to be helped up, and eagerly created space between herself and the figure sitting next to her. She pulled out her phone and with trembling hands found herself not texting her brother or Henry for help. She just left them on read. As much as she wanted to believe her own father was safe, it could seal her doom like it did before. She knew not to underestimate him, but she didn’t want to be a coward…

She was also worried about this other person who had no idea what they were up against. This was no time to fear the results of her actions. This was potentially another life on the line. She typed on the notes app on her phone and showed it to her coworker.

“I can’t talk right now, but please listen to me. Dave isn’t his name. He’s lying.”

“What? How would you know his name? You just got here.” They scoffed, almost playfully, obviously not taking her seriously, “I think you’re still in shock, dude…”

She could feel her father’s eyes on her even without looking up from the screen. As much therapy as she went through and as much as she knew her father did terrible things, she couldn’t help but feel guilty for doing anything to harm him. It was still her father, after all… Is it bad she missed him? After remembering all the things her mother told her were her imagination filling in loneliness from her autism… Was it bad she wanted her whole family back?

She was jolted out of her feelings when Henry tried calling her, but she pressed decline. This happened about three more times with Micheal’s number within the next two minutes.

“Yeesh…” Her new acquaintance commented jokingly, “Family won’t get off your back, huh? I don’t miss being your age, that’s for sure. Nobody thinks you’re capable of anything.”

Finally, a text from Mikey sealed her fate for the night and any future nights.

“That’s it. I’m coming to get you.”

She spat out the water she sipped, confused at why she was upset Micheal was coming to save her… Well… Rebecca still felt like she didn’t deserve to be saved the first time, so… Maybe it was that with her dad still here, she was finally hoping for this nightmare to end how it should have back then? She should’ve died. That was all she ever heard from doctors and police and kids at school… Yet she continued on living… She couldn’t count how many times people who knew who she was related to expected her to “snap” just like her parents.

As much as she loved Micheal and Henry for supporting her, she felt like she dragged them down by not being able to hate her father’s guts like they did. She was so young when it happened. Her mind was so cloudy on whether he actually cared in those moments or not. It was so confusing… Her mother’s gaslighting made it difficult enough without finding out her father was real and a serial killer. Then there was the matter of how just before she was born this whole mess started…

What did she do wrong to make her happy family fall apart before her very eyes…? Should she have been born at all…? Was she the one to blame for all of this? Of course. Who else would it be…? All those kids who died… Her mother being killed while baking her birthday cake because she just had to go see the animatronics she was banned from seeing that day with Mr. Emily… This all wouldn’t have happened if she hadn’t been what he was after… It was all her fault. She knew it deep down, too…

“Shit… A-Are you crying…?” The voice of the adult beside her sounded worried, “Was it something I said— DAVE! YOU ARE NOT FUCKING HELPING!”

The rabbit stiffened at being screamed at, but still stood up and approached. Before anyone could stop him, he hugged this seemingly random teenager in a manner uncharacteristic to his entire personality.

“What the hell’s gotten into y—“

Rebecca’s eyes shot open wide, as she began shivering and losing strength in her feet. She was prepared for the pain of the knife…a springlock mechanism… something to impale her and leave her bleeding out on the grimy floors, like just another prop in this haunted house built around her trauma.

…Yet nothing came. No stabbing, no blood coughed out of her mouth... This wasn’t like before. This was…just a hug? A…real one? From him?! She finally looked up at the masked face, silently demanding some sort of answer behind the whirlwind of emotion she was trapped in. He didn’t say a word, looking down at her and daintily moving some hair out of her eyes. His hold on her was careful, but also possessive. He wanted to keep her close to him for as long as he could…

Eventually the third figure pried her out of the rabbit’s steel grip, much to his upset as he stomped his foot to make a loud thud echo down the hallway. Her phone vibrated. Rebecca knew her brother was waiting outside, and would rather not have him break in to see this. She slowly turned to the door, shaken and shocked by what had unfolded. She almost wanted to go back to hug him one last time. No way she would be allowed back once Micheal and Henry found out…

“My rides here… They want me to come home. My brother is gonna come instead. He just needed someone else to cover for one night…”

She showed the phone mainly to the other person, but her father did see what it said and nodded solemnly, much to her surprise.

Springtrap followed them to the doorway as much as he could without being seen, and watched as his more recently met friend sent off the teen, who ended up running straight to a hooded figure. Micheal was taking care of her at least… He could overhear the conversation.

“She had a panic attack or something when she saw one of the animatronics in the attraction.” The employee’s voice sounded confused, but also slightly dismissive, “Probably just a little spook.”

“Thanks for looking out for her.” Micheal replied, “Can I ask which one of them it was?”

“J-just Bonnie.” Rebecca piped up suddenly.

Wait. Did his daughter just cover for him… or was she scared of Micheal’s reaction to finding out he was still here…?

William felt like it was both, but that included the former, and that nearly melted his dead metal heart. God, of course she still cared about him. She was too young to actually have the capacity to hate him for what he’d done to her back then. She was the youngest child he ever attempted killing. This wasn’t supposed to end like this for her… It stung seeing her still impacted by it after all these years. This wasn’t supposed to be her fate.

He wished he had gotten the job done on the night of her sixth birthday, if only to spare her from this haunting her for the rest of her life.

After the pair of siblings left, the only words that came next were:

“Dave, what the flying fuck was that?”

[egophiliac]

how are u on gavv so far? because i need to scream about how insane it has been (and that zakuzakuchips and fuwamallow have won special places in my heart)

can't believe his mom got flavor-blasted to death. 😔 RIP.

[hypostatic-oath]

Tales Of Meropide

SAGAU!Tartaglia-centered, angst with some comfort.

Warnings: Swearing. I think it's just one but I'm not entirely sure. Written before 4.2, but finished after 4.1 - contains spoilers for the released story quest so far.

_________________

Childe had never once in his life assumed jail would be fun. He had no delusions in that regard. But he had to admit, his hopes were raised once he heard of the Pankration Ring in the Fortress of Meropide. A competition ring for those who had "extra energy" they wished to "burn out" through regular sparring matches? Sign him up!

His hopes were very quickly shattered once he was told that no, a Fatui Harbinger was not allowed to compete, because "no way anyone would sign up to fight him" and "even if he did fight with one hand behind his back, that would set the bar too high for the other matches, and the spectators would be bored." Damn it - so the ring wasn't truly for fight afficionados - it was a marketing ploy! The fight itself wasn't the focus, it was the fact that it had to look good for an audience.

Childe huffed as he sat in the bed he'd taken to occupying. Fontaine was getting on his nerves - it seemed as though everything was for show, and very little was actually real. Where were the Traveler or the Overseer when one needed them?! Oh, what he wouldn't do to fight against a decent opponent!

His boredom was made worse by the fact that the Overseer - damn them and their excuse of "immersion" - had decided to bench him until he was out of prison. So now he rusted away in the Fortress of Meropide, with no one to fight, no one to banter with...

He could try the Duke again, he figured. While at first things hadn't gone his way, after explaining his issue, Wriothesley had, once or twice, been amenable to a sparring match, and it was the one thing keeping Tartaglia remotely sane. But lately the warden had been more and more busy - and less and less inclined to indulge the restless Harbinger. Were it not for the fact that he already had an escape plan in the works, Childe was sure he would have lost his mind for real. He was getting rusty. Every day that he did not raise his weapon was one day he grew weaker, and that the competition grew stronger. And he knew he had competition, both among the Fatui - how he was the Eleventh of a group of nine still eluded him - and among the other vessels.

It had hurt, the knowledge that right after his banner would come that of the Iudex who'd promptly knocked him out and sent him to jail... and that he wasn't even there to fight him about it! He hadn't been aware of the sheer strength of Fontaine's Chief Justice, but now that he'd caught a glimpse, Childe had to admit he was intrigued. And by intrigued let it be absolutely clear that what he meant was "eager to fight him again". Hell, the judge had managed to knock him out while he was using Foul Legacy! What else was this Neuvillette guy capable of? And, more importantly... had you noticed?

It was a thought Ajax didn't like to have. One he'd been trying to drown out - hah! Drown! Now that his hydro Vision was gone, and Neuvillette was out there using hydro as he pleased - since he'd first been told he wouldn't be able to fight down here. And yet, now that the Fortress had quieted down for the night, there was no sound to overpower his own thoughts.

The thoughts of being replaced. The thoughts that told him he was no longer enough. He was growing weaker, even before being arrested. His Vision had failed him. And now, how convenient - an insanely strong Hydro user was available. It didn't matter whether or not you'd pulled on Childe's banner earlier - he knew you needed strong members on your team, and at this rate he'd be no match for Neuvillette. Not in a fight, and not in your team. What was he supposed to do without it?! The worst of all was the nagging feeling that you'd grown used to not having him with you already. He'd been imprisoned for a while now, and not a peep from you. Not for the Abyss, not for Ley Lines, not for Domains, not even for Commissions.

He missed it.

He missed you.

Childe laid down on the bed - which was only slightly less uncomfortable than the slab of rock he used to sleep on during hos months in the Abyss - and turned to face the brass wall, his fingers absentmindedly tracing along his Delusion.

If only he could use it while you were taking hold of him - if only he could use his Foul Legacy transformation, too. He had developed (and tested) the theory that due to your influence, these things would have almost to no toll on his body. That was, apparently, part of the unspoken contract between an Overseer and their Vessels - not only would they become stronger, but their injuries and exhaustion would be your responsibility instead of theirs. For Childe, it was the perfect deal, lending you control of his body to fight all kinds of opponents and having his strength increase a hundredfold. Except for the part that, try as he might - and most importantly, try as you might - it was impossible for him to use his Delusion, or his Foul Legacy transformation, or, much to your chagrin, his signature "whale toss".

Ah, yes. That had been another issue.

Ever since he'd gotten to the Fortress, he'd seen it.

In dreams, in flashes during the day, hell, he was even hearing it, its song echoing through the brass walls. And yet, no one else seemed to be able to. That in itself was a sign - this was indeed the one he'd roused from slumber... and it was beckoning him to answer its calls.

He closed his eyes. Perhaps tonight's dream would provide more insight. He'd seek it out as soon as he managed to leave, he just had to wait for a pipe cleaning day in order to make his escape. For now, though, all he could do was wait, as time passed agonizingly slow. And so, lulled by boredom and whalesong, he forced himself to sleep it off.

_________

You were getting impatient.

You'd decided to give storyline immersion a try once Childe was arrested, thinking that it'd be pretty weird for the recently arrested Harbinger to be roaming the streets of Fontaine - and you'd been doing a lot of roaming recently, having a whole new nation to explore. By now, you were aware that your game was responsive to you, and that had been a big reason why you'd made that decision, knowing that they were aware of what you did. You did not want to stir up trouble with Neuvillette or Wriothesley... not when they hadn't come home yet. It was best to play to their interests a little bit. However... this was getting ridiculous.

"We're gonna have to break him out at this rate." You huffed, as you picked up yet another Romaritime flower. As usual, the members of your party who hadn't been so used to you seemed a little startled at hearing your voice, while the Traveler and Paimon were far more relaxed. You supposed it made sense - if a disembodied voice started talking about jailbreak out of nowhere, you'd probably be pretty spooked too.

"But, Overseer..." Paimon began. "If we break him out of jail, won't people notice he's missing? And you still want to get Monsieur Neuvillette as soon as his banner drops - are you sure we should interfere with justice right now?"

"Neuvillette will come whether he likes it or not." You said, a steely determination in your voice. You'd meant nothing threatening by it, only that he was guaranteed and near pity, but it still sent a chill down the most inexperienced members of your team's spines. "Besides, I'm pretty sure that's what the next Archon Quest will be - break Childe out of jail. He's gonna come home with us, and everything will be okay. So it shouldn't really matter... if we give him a taste of freedom early, now does it?"

"I suppose it's alright." The Traveler chimed in. They were still the vessel who was more in tune with your emotions after all these years together, and thst could be both a blessing and a curse. Now, what they felt was your eagerness to see Childe again... and concern.

You were worried about him.

With a few clicks, you opened the map. Were it anyone else, you would've teleported to somewhere nice. Maybe Angel's Share, or Liuli Pavilion, or any of the many other restaurants and cafés that dotted the regions of Teyvat that had opened themselves to you.

But you knew that after being stuck for so long, your Tartaglia would need something more than a simple apology meal.

__________

The Golden house. Of course his dreams would take him there - he'd fallen asleep to thoughts of you. It was a respite from the other ones, but pleasant as dreams of fighting may be, they had about the same effect as dreams of a feast to a starving man. No matter how much he fought, he'd still wake up feeling empty.

"What's the matter with you? No 'Surrender is a valid option' today?" Your voice rang out. Oh, yeah. He'd forgotten his usual taunt... did it matter, in a dream? Apparently it did, because you'd commented on it. Still, he wasn't sure if he felt like going along with it. Why would it matter? It wasn't real. He'd likely never see you again, and his stupid dream was only making things worse.

"You seem out of it. Childe." The Traveler stood before him as you spoke, their weapon lowered but still unsheated. "Maybe prison put you in a worse shape than I thought... oh, I'm going to kill them. I don't care. Traveler, we're going to take this man out of there."

"Paimon's pretty sure that's illegal..."

"Illegal? Look at what they've done to him! They massacred my boy! He has no will to live!"

Tartaglia watched as you spoke with the Traveler and Paimon. It wasn't often that he got to witness such direct interactions, and he had to admit, it was a little bit funny seeing the blonde outlander and his companion arguing with the air. They usually faced the direction opposite of where Paimon hovered - mostly so the poor guide didn't feel like they were arguing with her instead - but it still looked as though the Traveler were speaking to absolutely nothing.

Even though he was sure this was a dream - of course it was, after all, you bringing him for a fight now, and within a few seconds immediately deciding to break him out and go on a murder spree for his sake? Tartaglia could recognize his own wishful thinking - the image brought a smile to his face.

"What have they done to you?" You asked, addressing him directly once more. "How bad is it? Are you eating enough? Are you eating at all? Are you sick? Bastards..."

Concern. He could almost feel your warmth. He had to remind himself that it wasn't real. He had to remind himself that, in the real world, in the waking world, he was still in bed. That you, powerful entity that you were, could pull him out any time, and yet you hadn't.

He'd started thinking this was just like last time. Just like in the Abyss.

At first, he'd wanted his parents to come looking for him. He'd wanted them to notice he was gone, and many a night had he dreamt of them finding him. Then came his master, and with her, he held even less delusions that she'd come to his aid. And then, he'd joined the Fatui, and there it was set in stone that comrades as they may be, there'd be no help whatsoever, so he might as well give up hope.

He still dreamt it, sometimes. That someday there'd be someone to reach out a hand, someone who'd give him a bright smile when he was at his worst and help him stand, so they could take on the world together. He still dreamt that for once, just once, someone would care enough to help.

But nobody came.

He needed to be strong. He loved being strong, he loved fighting. Which was a good thing, he'd many times surmised, since it was the only thing the world needed him to do. You win the fight, you live. That was that, and it was all it had ever been and all it ever would be.

There'd be no parents looking for him. No Skirk coming in at the last minute to parry the blow. No comrades to call upon. No Overseer willing to go on a murder spree to take him out of jail.

The truth, the cold truth, was nothing like the warm dreams where someone came to his aid. The truth was that once again, he'd have to break out alone.

All he could do for now was enjoy the opportunity to fight "you", even if just in a dream, so he took a deep, shaky breath, and got ready to spar.

_________

You wondered if he knew he was crying.

It didn't last too long. You quickly opted out of the Golden House - you'd clearly overestimated his will to fight. Even as he stood at the ready, you could see the changes in his demeanor. Maybe you should've gone with Angel's Share after all.

You emptied your party - save for the Traveler - and placed Childe on one of the empty slots. Then, you quickly teleported the three of them (because the Traveler always counted as two, with Paimon beside them all the time) to your teapot. It was clear Childe needed more than just an apology fight.

"Traveler, do me a favor." You asked, once the loading screen was out of the way. "Could you get some food started, please?"

That should give you a little alone time with the Harbinger. Maybe it'd be easier, you figured, to coax information on his wellbeing if you were alone.

As the Traveller nodded and went to handle the cooking at a nearby stove, you switched to Tartaglia. It was a little odd now, controlling them when you knew they were aware of your existence. The vast majority didn't seem to mind, and you took some comfort in how responsive and talkative they were - at least you weren't some malevolent, brainwashing eldritch entity. Your characters - erm, Vessels, as they preferred to call it - seemed fine.

Childe, however, didn't.

"Hey. Ajax." You made sure to keep your voice softer than usual as you guided him towards the hot springs, sitting him down. "I'm sorry. I genuinely thought we'd get to break you out sooner."

For a while, he didn't answer.

You placed the cursor over his shoulder. By now, you knew they could feel a sort of phantom touch, and it was the closest thing you could do to offer a comforting hand.

"Whatever they did to you ends now. I'm hereby overruling your sentence. You're staying here while I'm logged off until the Traveler and I resolve this, and when I'm around, you're back on the team."

You could see Childe trying to look at you, so you did him the favor of turning the camera in such a way that it looked as though you were sitting beside him.

"Over here."

He couldn't see your expression, but you still hoped he could somehow hear the way you felt through your voice. Oh, how you wanted to be able to reach him.

Tartaglia looked in the vague direction of you, and you wished you had a way to cup his cheek and wipe away the tears threatening to spill from those lifeless eyes. You moved the cursor to rest over his pinky finger - this was the closest thing you could do to a pinky promise, after all.

"It's over, Ajax. It's done. Canon can go fuck itself. If they want to put you back in jail they're gonna have to go through me first."

__________

Ajax had wished you were physically in Teyvat many times. Most of these times were because he wished to fight you personally, some because he wished to share some food with you. This time, feeling the unmistakable warmth of your phantom touch slide from his shoulder to his hand, before focusing on his pinky as you promised to fight for him, he wished he could pull you into the tightest embrace. What a cruel dream - couldn't his mind have dreamt you a physical body, too? One he could hold on to. One he could curl up around.

He felt your touch on his back, soothing circles of warmth rhytmically rubbed, and he would've leaned into your touch if he had any idea of which direction to lean into.

"I have an escape route planned already." He sighed. "And a few other things I need to handle, too."

"Still." You insisted. "You look terrible. No offense."

"I'm f-"

"You're not fine, Ajax. I'm not an idiot. Look, the teapot has a place for you whenever you'd like. You have the Sigil of Permission, and I'll make sure to leave an empty room, so you can come and go whenever. So you at least get food, drink, a place to sleep... I'm pretty sure that with the Shogun around you'll always have someone to spar with, too, that should keep you from boredom-"

The Sigil of Permission.

Of course.

How could he have forgotten?

A dream as this may be - and he was start to suspect it wasn't, due to the unmistakable feeling of your energy seeping into his own and, perhaps a more obvious sign, how his clothes felt against his body due to being in the hot springs fully clothed (perhaps Overseers had no concept of clothing, and you refused to remove it because you considered his outfit a part of his skin? He'd heard you refer to the Tianquan's new outfit as a "new skin" once, after all...), the water making them heavier - it had still provided him something that could help him once he woke. The Traveler had once bestowed him with a sigil of permission that granted him access to your Serenitea Pot - a sigil of permission that was still in his possession.

Childe could feel a spark of hope inside his chest, the corners of his lips curving in a discreet yet confident smile.

He'd definitely take you up on that offer later.

"That's more like it!" You sounded relieved. And, as it usually was for Vessels when you were pouring your energy into them, your energy felt relieved as well, your emotions bleeding through into his body. All that, just for a small smile? Tartaglia smiled wider, in the general direction of where you should be, and the feeling increased.

He felt that familiar sensation of your focus on his hair, and found himself thinking that maybe, if you were there beside him, you would've ran your fingers through it, and maybe he'd lean closer, perhaps to rest his head on your shoulder or your lap.

Archons, what was happening to him? He wasn't supposed to let himself go like this. This wasn't a dream at all, he couldn't simply indulge as though it were. He had to stop leaning into your phantom touch, he had to stop hoping. This sort of hope, this sort of weakness, it'd kill him. He needed to-

"What you need is rest. And to be comfortable. And to let me and the Traveler take care of you." Your voice brought him out of his spiraling train of thought. Oh, right. He'd forgotten that lately you'd gotten better at hearing their thoughts. A trick you'd picked up in Sumeru, no doubt. He sighed.

"That... would be nice. Thank you, comrade. But you really don't need-"

"I don't. But I want to, so I will. So come on, let's get you fed while I redecorate the teapot again. It was bound for a change sooner or later, anyway."

[trensu]

do you think you'll put "Stasis in darkness" on AO3 eventually?

see, when the idea first came to me, I hadn't really planned on doing anything with it because I wasn't sure if I could make it work. there's a level of gravitas in the relationship between a god and their devoted servant that I didn't think would translate well to steddie because, let's be real, those boys are goofy dorks. but the idea wouldn't leave me alone so I typed up the original post in an attempt to work it out of my system and move on.

(the post kind of blew up, which I was not expecting at all!! like, not even a little bit! i post all sorts of rough little ideas for my own amusement and I've been able to do that without drawing much attention until that point.)

Anyway, I wouldn't have done much with it but @acowardinmordor left some comments/tags/what have you that helped me nail down the setting in my head which really opened the door for me to explore how the story could progress. (apologies, strife, I'm not sure I ever properly thanked you for that burst of inspiration, so please accept this shoutout as an expression of gratitude). And the amazing @ent-is-indecisive allowed me to rant about it which really helped flesh out the story. Seriously, there are elements and lore coming up that would not have existed if it weren't for ent. (and thank you once again ent for the ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL fanart you made for the reveal scene, I'm still overcome with joy whenever I think about it!).

Once it got to that point, I knew I wanted it to be a self-contained story and I was afraid that if I did a multi-chapter fic I'd lose the thread and never make it to the ending I want the fic to have. (no, the end scene hasn't been written yet but I KNOW what it's going to be and I hope everyone will love it as much as i do). So I promised myself that I was not going to post it on ao3 until the whole thing was written out completely.

However, I occasionally need a confidence/motivation boost so I've been posting consecutive parts of the rough draft here. you have no idea how much the people who reblogged with tags or left comments have helped me fight off the discouragement my brain likes to bog me down with; off the top of my head, @godsweakestboy , @redfreckledwolf, @fuctacles , @spectrum-spectre , and @lawrencebshoggoth have given me lovely, enthusiastic words of encouragement. and they're only the ones I can think of at this moment. there's so many other people who've done this, so if you've ever left me nice tags or comments, please know that I've read every single one of them repeatedly whenever I need to get over a slump. I'm so grateful for all of you!

Anyway, all this is to say yes! It is going to be posted as a oneshot on ao3 once I've finished writing it. <3

[bun-lapin]

TWST Voice Line Scene #13

🦐Yuu: (looking over a list of classes with Ace, Deuce, and Grim) All of the good afternoon classes will be taken if we don't pick one soon!

🐬Jade: Good afternoon, everyone. I couldn't help but overhear your plight as I was walking by. Would you like some advice from an upperclassman? Free of charge, of course.

(The group exchanges suspicious looks and then nods at Jade)

🐬Jade: Seeing as you're so indecisive, would you like me to pick the most highly recommended class?

🐬Jade: I propose this class. (points at a class on the list) It's a guaranteed passing grade.

♠️Deuce: Nice!

🐬Jade: There's also no homework.

❤️Ace: Heck yeah!!

🐬Jade: You can even eat snacks during the class.

🐱Grim: Myaaha~! Perfect!

🐬Jade: It seems you're all in agreement so why don't I submit the class application for you-

🦐Yuu: HOLD IT!

🐬Jade: ?

🦐Yuu: This class seems too good to be true. What's the catch?

🐬Jade: Oh, there's no catch~! (smiles with his teeth bared) However, the class is taught by Crowley and the final project is a 20 page paper about how great he is.

🦐Yuu: …..

🦐Yuu: (turns back to the class list) Ok, so we really need to hurry up and choose a class.

TWST Voice Line Scenes Masterlist

[episims]

Household: Rhymes

During the last round, the triplets reached adulthood and had no idea what to do then. Luckily for them, Lydia and Ash weren't rushing them out of the house.

Lydia especially only seemed relieved to have the family together for a while longer. She gifted Daphne a flower-arranging table so that Daphne would have something to do for the time being.

Since then, Elise's boyfriend Tristan left for university, leaving Elise heartbroken for being apart. And, without her sisters knowing, Amelia applied for the leftover seat at the university, even though she was told it's unlikely for someone with as low grades to get a scholarship.

[lorelune]

the game plan:

- finish o4o in the next few weeks (barring pain levels, they have been higher than normal. more on that later)

- open up comms (i’ll probably take two or three OR i’ll be releasing a certain numbers of words that can be claimed for commissions out of the whole, until we hit that word cap) (if this doesn’t make sense i’ll explain more later trust)

- profit and pay off portos vet bill AND get a new work desk

[crow-of-paradise]

Neve…. Baby…. Baby I’m sorry. I’m sorry!!! Treviso is my home!!! It would make little sense to choose Minrathous over it! You take all the time you need, I will still be buying you the fish dinner if we survive. 😭

IN MEMORIAM OF NEVE’S TRUST IN ME

-in the arms of the angel by sarah mclachlan plays in the bg-

[dayurno]

what makes Kevin Day/James Rhemann truly work? i am. fascinated. need legit excuses to foam at the mouth for them.

in canon: absolutely nothing at all

in this fic specifically: rhemann has been trying to convince the usc board to fund the trojans' exy team as much as it funds the football team for about as long as he's been a coach at usc, and one of the first thing kevins offers upon visiting is to help him achieve that goal. kevin specifically offers to help by talking to the board, which rhemann finds amusing if a little preposterous because he knew kayleigh once and it sounds like the kind of nonsensical proposal she'd make based on her name alone. he only really takes kevin's word for it once coach wymack vouches that indeed kevin managed to convince the entire psu board to sign on neil on the sole promise that kevin would make him court, which is truly nothing but at this point in his career it might be the last hope he has. rhemann and kevin (and jeremy) spend a lot of time together drafting a proposal to the university and going over the trojans' finances, which puts them at close contact, sometimes well into the night, alone, with kevin day in glasses,

more so i think it's probably to me the dynamic of. first of all hope. rhemann is closer to retiring than he cares to admit and he'd lost all hope of seeing the trojans achieve their full potential during his career, and kevin acts both as a balm to that and a last resort that Feels like what rhemann was missing this entire time. on a more intimate level i made rhemann and kayleigh friends once; he was never in love with her but he spent a non negligible amount of time living in her shadows as a fellow defenseman, and the age difference aside kevin makes him feel just as uncertain about the future as kayleigh had, once, and the similarities astound him. there's also a little bit of it being years since rhemann has last actually played exy: i made him an ex-goalie who retired peacefully and gracefully to being a coach! his career wasn't much to look at so he's very surprised once kevin actually remembers that rhemann played and for what team, remembers his stats and his successes and failures and thinks that if rhemann had stayed on track and worked harder he might have been able to make it as a player. i Really wanted to have a scene where kevin convinces c rhemann to play with him at least for a little bit even though it's obvious that on a shootout against the best striker in the league kevin is wiping the floor with him, and i think that scene is a turning point for both of them because it establishes a little bit of trust and a little bit of wonder and hopefully a lot of unresolved sexual tension

[spikeisawesome456]

So, I'm proud today to say that I am now, very really and totally not exaggeratedly, a master carpenter. 😏

Ha. JK, obviously. But! I was able to fix two broken drawers in my room, one of which has been broken for well over five years, maybe closer to ten!

Basically, the bottom drawer of my dresser, where I hold my T-shirts, has been broken for almost as long as I can remember owning the dresser. Like, I honestly don't recall a time it wasn't broken, though I don't think it always was. Regardless, the drawer had been sagging down to the ground for years, but since it was near the floor it never fell out. I always just figured that it was broken forever and that I'd have no hope of fixing it, since I'm not really into carpentry or woodworking or anything, and just lived with it. It wasn't getting in my way, so it wasn't a problem.

But then, a month or so ago, the drawer under my bed that held my pajamas broke, and it's been kind of annoying, creaking and making me fear it's going to completely break off. Still, I figured it was just... broken for good, something I'd have to deal with and hope it didn't get worse.

However! I recently built two thin dressers for my room, since the plastic drawers I used to have for storage were breaking and I didn't have enough space for everything I own anyway. At first, building them seemed impossible, but once I got into the groove, I realized it... wasn't that hard?? And I actually was pretty good at it??? I'd also built a large metal storage container for my outdoor art studio on my patio a few months before that, and had had a similar experience, where it was hard at first but once I realized what I was doing (and stopped having my brother help me...), it was actually kinda easy.

So, today when I saw my broken pajama drawer, I randomly wondered if maybe I... could fix it? So I took it off, saw that it wasn't attached to the metal slide-y thingy at the bottom (I don't know what it's called, it's the thing that lets the drawer slide in and out, ha), and I tried to reattach it. And... it worked?? It took a couple tries, and I was afraid that it was broken for good when it didn't work at first, but I kept trying, and it just... worked????

With the PJ drawer fixed, I then turned to my T-shirt drawer, and was like... could I possibly fix this, too??? I thought surely not, since it's been broken for legit YEARS. Since I was a teen, easily. I've lived with it broken for so long it was almost a feature of my dresser, really. But I was curious, so I took the drawer out of the dresser to assess.

And it was clearly more damaged than my PJ drawer. It had a wooden slide-y thingy, and the part that was supposed to be attached to the dresser was, uh. Not attached anymore and was on the drawer itself. I saw that the two screws that had initially held the wooden slide-y thingy on the dresser were still at the bottom of the dresser, under where the drawer had been, so I set about taking the slide-y thing and reattaching it to the dresser itself. And then I tried putting the drawer back in.

Which... did not work. The drawer refused to go back on and it was just... not working right. It was actually leaning to the ground more than it had been before, which was frustrating, and I was annoyed with myself for making something that hadn't been a problem worse by trying to "fix" it. But now here I was, with this new problem, and I had to try to fix it at least to the previous level of broken, or else I'd go nuts.

So, I kept trying. I even got on the ground and used my phone flashlight to try and see what I was doing to get the drawer reattached properly to the slide-y thingy. And, guess what?

It worked. I now have a properly working dresser drawer for the first time in literally YEARS. I thought it was broken for good and just... never even thought to try and fix it. It legit never occurred to me before today that that was a thing I could even do. I'm not a carpenter. I don't build things or fix things. I make art and things, yes, but that's a different process entirely. And, quite honestly, I rarely make my art "properly," I just do things my own way and hope for the best.

But I had built a few things, and I realized that hey, maybe I can build and fix things. Maybe... maybe that is a thing I can do? And now I have two fixed drawers, something I never thought I'd have again, not without getting outside help.

I know this was ridiculously long for something very simple. But this really impacted me. I thought these drawers were just... broken for good. That I was helpless to do anything to fix them, because I'm "not someone who fixes furniture." I let myself deal with a broken t-shirt drawer for YEARS because I just... never thought I could fix it. And yet I did. On a whim when putting away my laundry, growing annoyed with the broken PJ drawer.

So. I guess the moral is... just because something seems broken for good, and you don't think you have the skills needed to fix it, doesn't make it true. Sometimes you just need to try, and trust that you can do something to fix something that has broken. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[xxsmoko-n-mirrorsxx]

Hey Louisa

Hey Louisa

Hey Louisa

Hey Louisa

Present :)

You know what? Sure, *accepts the scissors* I probably need it anyways *sighs* James.. we got a Christmas present What did we get? *shows him the scissors* You know what to do, James dear *smirks* just maybe don't mention where you got your training during the cut

Don't worry none, luv, you'll be looking grouse as a thorough bred mare. James >.<

Right, sorry luv.

Before I change my mind, please Anything in specific?

Surprise me!

-after some time-

Well, do you like it, Luv?

Oh my, James! It's a touch drastic, but it looks stunning!

Thanks again, @captaingoldenpants for the lovely gift

[nabaath-areng]

It's funny how long lasting base coat and top coat won't stop Essie polishes from chipping the next day, meanwhile I have to soak my nails with clips three(!) times total to be rid of all the Holo Taco polish, and can go for two whole weeks before the first tiny chips start to appear + seven days without base or top coat!

[dumkana16]

Whatever the fuck kinda fuck ass hormones are happening in my body right now I'm mad at them. pmsing pre-period-ing whatever you wanna call it and I'm so mad. So grumpy. And I can't help it! But I'm aware that I shouldn't dump that on people so that means that I'm mostly just silent or making noises to myself. Also mad for other reasons but last week I was able to handle it somehow. Premenstrual me struggles to handle it much more tho

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

The discussion about the mistrust of the player character in PLA had me thinking a bit about this whole "outsider to the outsiders" thing going on.

While the player character is very innocent and not deserving of the shunning, I think people tend to interpret the betrayal as a sign that the village(of outsiders) doesn't like outsiders at all which is obviously not the case. They are literal refugees, traders, farmers, academics, etc from all around and they are very much trying to reach out and incorporate the clans into their relations. So that's not why they turn on you.

It's more of your standard rumor mill witch trial born from you falling from the sky(where the spooky rift is!) in a big showy spectacle. Then having strange clothes and an almost inhuman ease with pokemon that even the experts who have been training and studying with them cannot fathom. Now these new problems have started and the magical sky person is the only one who can fix it! Witchcraft!

YES EXACTLY!!! oooooh this ask made me so excited when i saw it in my inbox you have no idea. like, an argument can be made that the clans are isolationist, especially wrt each other (and early dialogue abt mai also suggests that jubilife and the clans are also still relatively remote but that's off topic), but by nature jubilife can't be the same way. kamado even self-describes the galaxy team as a "group of outsiders" in hisui. a security corps guard jokingly refers to them as the "Ragtag Expedition Team." so to say that they're fearful of strangers, or don't easily accept them, is clearly wrong.

not only that, but there's a list of galaxy team principles framed in the player's house, and one of them is "Those who are weaker must be helped." so like, while kamado & other people in the team tend to be rather harsh about everyone paying their due, it's really not a matter of like, disliking new people in the team, y'know? it's more about the fact that survival in hisui is difficult, and they're constantly fighting an uphill battle to sustain everyone, so there really is basically no wiggle room for anyone to not contribute whatever they're able to, which is something that's reiterated over and over in the early game. (also there's like, a considerable amount of old/older people in the village, which to my understanding is fairly unusual for this kind of project since it demands so much physical labor under trying conditions, so presumably that also contributes to the sense that everyone's jumping on this strong able-bodied young person. and also i'm curious about the reasons behind that demographic being so well-represented. this is me getting sidetracked that's just a thing i've been wondering about.)

anyway yeah. the reason ppl are distrustful of you is that you FELL OUT OF THE SKY. you have no past but some ambiguous link to the crack in reality which people already see as some kind of bad omen or worse. and then you're like, instantly all buddy-buddy with these creatures that most people not in the survey or security corps are scared shitless of, to the point of being terrified to leave the safety of the village for fear of encountering any. like that's the other thing to me is that your talent with pokemon isn't just seen as weird, to people already scared of them it would probably be actively really intimidating. especially since you don't have the credentials of prior training, like zisu and the rest of the security/survey corps do! they're just taking it on faith that you do know what you're doing. even if you're very nice and helpful, the more fearful jubilife people would probably see you as a passive threat to the village on account of all those weapons of mass destruction you're casually carrying around in your back pocket that may or may not even be under your proper control.

& then like you said, the rumor mill has its way with you, compounded by the situation with the nobles, and by the red sky event, i mean, i don't think most of the village hates you. not after you've done so many fetch quests for all of them whwjkwhk. it's just that they're quietly sort of afraid of you, which is not at all an emotion negated by how helpful you've been. and that's why you get kicked out.

[chromatophorium]

My hat embroidery is done!!! Yay! I crocheted the arms, hands, legs and feet and stitched them on. (The fingers/toes are loose though, cuz it's nice and adds texture and shape!!!) Took a few turns away from the og design, but who cares! It's better this way anyway, Nintendo can't sue me haha. (I'm not thinking that they will, just joking about current events.)

Here's the og one, from Splatoon concept art for a t-shirt motif:

[starcrossedspirit]

I’ve had some thoughts about my couples and I bring forth an argument.

Reno loves Sera, he takes her as she is and would never ask her to change. He understands as much as he can about her plight and for what it’s worth, he’s willing to go the extra mile to make sure she is cared for, taken care of, and it has never been a burden to him. Their hearts yearn for one another, and there are long moments of eyes meeting, hands lingering against each other when they shouldn’t, and quiet silences that are filled with want. For all intents and purposes they were meant to yearn- but when they finally kiss, it’s divine.

And then there is Vincent and Lucy who are by definition grumpy and sunshine. She’s vibrant, she’s full of life, and there is so much more to things than staying in the past! Don’t linger, don’t be a phantom, you were given a second chance- all of these beliefs help Vincent to be a little more willing to give life another go. She urges him to keep going and in time he remembers what it’s like to be happy, even if it just means small steps forward in healing. It also means soft moments of keeping her safe under his cloak, eyes meeting and being held just before he looks away, a little too much guilt just yet. No harm would ever come to her, not while he’s alive.

That’s just it, right? Reno x Sera forever and of course Vincent x Lucy, but what if?

But what if Reno knew Lucy from the times Zack had her around, and for a time would consider her a friend? Possibly going to her shows when he had the chance? He knew Zack, he knew his sister, and at the end of the day that was someone he could talk to outside of work? Moments of walking home together, being able to talk about things that don’t matter, a breath of fresh air for one another that leads to hands being grabbed and being held, being close and the feeling of running away.

And what if Vincent and Sera meant redemption? He felt like he could redeem himself for failing to save Lucrecia, failing to end Sephiroth, but instead find a new redemption in helping Sera grow apart from Shinra, to feel less like a monster and to finally understand themselves better? The moments where she cries and he comforts her telling her that she isn’t alone, not like he had to be. For the first time ever for the both of them the silence isn’t so quiet. Nobody understands each other like they would, especially when it comes to Hojo's monstrosities. Together they learn they're not monsters and that they both can be saved.