#pdh katelyn

[starhvney]

𝐒𝐔𝐁𝐉𝐄𝐂𝐓 𝟑 | 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏𝟎: 𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐒 𝐅𝐄𝐒𝐓

𝐂𝐖: very crude language and shit talk from ivy, paranoia, threats of violence, reader nearly spirals into an anxiety attack, implications that reader has anxious attachment tendencies

𝐀/𝐍: hey guys! meant to get this chapter out earlier today but i had too much caffeine and made myself sick oopsies! anyways i hope you guys enjoy this one! we're getting back to that good old drama

𝐖𝐂: 6,000+

𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐎𝐑: @arienic (thank you nics!)

𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 ☆ 𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 | 𝐀𝐎𝟑 | 𝐅𝐈𝐂 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 | 𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐒

“this is so exciting!” teony grins, clapping her hands from where she stood next to you and katelyn. “i care more about academics than athletics, but i honestly love the sports festival! it’s so much fun!”

you hum happily in agreement, eyes drifting around at the school’s outdoor scenery. honestly, it's insane how beautiful of a spot it was placed in, with phoenix drop’s mountain range and tall forest trees spanning right from the school’s backyard. the whole student body is packed in the area from the soccer field all the way over to the baseball field, everyone in their athletic uniforms and the colorful wristbands that indicated which class they were in.

glancing behind you to check on aph and nana as the little freshman chat away, you catch a glimpse of ivy’s minions and aaron, who is a short way away, talking by the stairs. the tall junior seemed like trouble just from his looks alone—and you were pretty opposed to him already just from aphmau’s complaints of the boy all year—but his seeming compliance with lily’s flirtatious giggling set your opinion in stone.

your attention shifts back to your friends next to you, a sense of comfort relaxing the tenseness that had begun to build just from the glimpse of those people. after talking about everything with aphmau, you both had decided to come clean to all of your friends about the issues you’d had since day one with both ivy and gene.

you’d almost felt silly for hesitating so long to tell them, especially with how defensive and fired up they had gotten. lucinda’s reaction was definitely the funniest, the redhead immediately offering to slip a potion that would make someone throw up slugs into all of their lunches. you’d denied the offer through your laughter, as tempting as it was, and you have to stop yourself from giggling again at the thought of gene or ivy pale in the face and spitting out snail slime.

katelyn snorts, pausing in her warm-up of one-legged squats—an impressive feat you had unashamedly been staring at her do for the past five minutes—to look over to the academia queen herself.

“of course it’s fun!” she energetically hops in place with a fiery and determined look on her face. “i’m gonna own the juniors in volleyball this year.”

teony raises an eyebrow and tosses her hair over her shoulder as she looks at you, lips pursed in amusement. “our class lost to that class when they were sophomores last year.”

you nod in understanding, giggling when katelyn pumps her fist angrily into the air.

“and the only reason we lost to them was because i had won all the events prior,” she defends. “i was completely exhausted from the heat.”

teony’s hands are on her hips, eyebrows raised, and expression like a scolding mother. “so then i hope you learned your lesson for this year, right?”

she scoffs. “oh, i definitely have!”

“good, i’m glad. now you know—”

“i’ve been training all year to carry the team completely on my back.”

teony groans, leaning against you as she rolls her eyes. “kate, sweetie, that is not the lesson! it’s teamwork.”

“uh-huh, yeah that too, whatever,” katelyn responds, and from her distracted expression you’re not even sure she truly heard what had been said. instead, she grabs onto one of your arms and one of teony’s, dragging you both off into the track field. “now let’s go crush some classes!”

“wh-hold on!” teony laughs, turning back to wave at aphmau and nana as they stare at the three of you like abandoned puppies—or in nana’s place, a kitten. “good luck my darlings!”

“i’ll catch you both later! good luck!” you call after the two, sparing a wave as katelyn bulldozes her way through the grass.

she at least also spares one last look over her shoulder, though instead of a shout of encouragement, it’s a competitive laugh and grin. “pray you two don’t have us as an opponent this year. i won't go easy just cause we’re friends!”

teony sighs as the three of you make it closer to your classmates, lolling her head over to give kate an unimpressed stare. “i get your competitive and all, but i don’t think intimidating those two cuties was necessary.”

grabbing a stray volleyball from the ground, she scoffs and rolls her eyes, walking a ways from you both and tossing it up to start preparing. “oh, whatever. they know it’s tough love.”

teony looks to you with a disbelieved shake of her head, giggling at the blue haired girl’s antics.

“you know, you—woah!” she stumbles back, barely receiving the ball that kate had spiked down at her and sending it straight past her legs.

there’s a thunk of ball meeting shoulder and a familiar yelp of pain, before you see travis crumpling down to the grass and dante sprinting off while cackling. 

“what the—?! why were you sitting right behind me, dude?!” katelyn questions, seeming more bewildered than anything.

teony’s eyes drift from the scene ahead to you from the corner of her eye.

“were they…?”

“…i think so…”

“uh, sorry!” travis quickly stutters, stumbling up to his feet and waving his hands with an awkward braced smile. “i was just—dante, don’t leave me!" his voice comically cracks at the end as he sprints after his friend, the two looking like clowns as they run away.

“uh, what’s going on here?” a smooth voice breaks your stunned silence.

“oh, hey garroth. i don’t know, actually.”

the baseball captain is standing right next to you, blinking in confusion between the two boys as they run away and the three of you. he breaks out in an amused little grin at your deadpanned words, scratching the side of his head.

“well, okay then. are you excited to compete?”

you shrug with a nod, looking up at the boy. “sure! gets us out of class, so that’s enough for me. are you?”

“yeah… but i still can’t believe they haven’t set up a baseball portion for this competition.” he sighs. “like, we have kickball, but no baseball? not cool.”

you can’t help but giggle at the dejected look on his face, his love for the sport honestly endearing.

“well, baseball is a hard sport for normies like us to play, you know? gotta leave it up to the professionals like you,” you muse, nudging his side with your elbow.

a cheeky grin forms on his face, and you swear you see the tips of his ears turn a bit red in color. he opens his mouth to reply to your compliment before another loud thud–this time off in the distance–catches both of your attention. a soccer ball is rolling away from aaron, while aph seems to be telling him off with clenched fists. 

“hm?” garroth frowns, and you’re already walking over to the scene.

he catches up just a second after, tilting his head in concern as you both speed-walk over to the girl. you make it to nana first, raising an eyebrow in confusion to the pink-haired meif’wa who stood awkwardly distant from the two. she shrugs at the both of you with a pout on her face before you can even ask, golden irises darting at the taller boy as he seems to mockingly laugh at aphmau while walking away.

garroth shrugs at you before walking forward first, while aph continues to huff with clenched fists and muttering under her breath.

“how dare he just… ugh!”

“aphmau, are you okay?” the blonde asks in concern, and the girl whips herself around, eyes a bit wide in surprise.

“oh, it’s you two, hey,” she says, clearing her throat and fixing her hair with a flustered expression. “um, i’m fine, it’s just…”

“you should stay away from that guy,” garroth says suddenly. “i’ve heard he’s nothing but trouble.”

your eyes stay narrowly trained on the delinquent in question, as he walks through the field towards the concession stand with his hands shoved in his pockets. 

“oh trust me, you don’t need to tell me that twice.” aphmau crosses her arms with a scoff. “he’s in my werewolf class with me, and he’s nothing but a huge jerk.”

garroth nods with an understanding hum, before his eyebrows snot up on his forehead. “wait, you’re a werewolf?!”

aphmau and you glance over to him, before bursting out in giggles.

“oh! no, i’m not! i thought i told you what happened, garroth.”

“huh, laurance reacted just about the same, now that i remember,” you recall, covering your mouth as you recover from the small laughing fit. 

garroth sighs, his deep voice bordering on a whiny tone. “how come you guys always tell laurance everything but never me?” 

aphmau’s eyebrows raise, and she quickly waves her hands. “it’s not that i didn’t want to tell you! it just never came up!”

“yeah, garroth,” you coo, leaning over to wrap an arm around his side and pat him soothingly on the back. “laurance just knows more 'cause he yaps more and asks more questions.”

garroth snorts.

“…don’t tell him i said that.”

“oh, i definitely will.”

aphmau chuckles drily. “so to make a long story short, garroth, my registration was all messed up and i couldn’t change out of the werewolf class even though i didn’t sign up for it and i’m not a werewolf. and i’ve been stuck with sitting next to that aaron jerk all semester.”

he hums, eyebrows furrowed. “oh, i see. well i’m sorry you have to deal with tha—”

“garrith, there you are!” a high-pitched, nasally voice pierces right into your ear from behind you, making you flinch away from the friendly side hug you still had the blonde in.

aphmau stares at you with a tense half smile, eyes darting behind you before you turn yourself. carmine hair bounces against ivy’s shoulders as she tilts her head, giving an—in your opinion—eerily forced smile up at garroth. 

oh, nah. it is 9:30 in the morning.

garroth offers a smile in return, taking a small step back from how close she had bounded up to him. “oh, ivy! it’s good to see you.”

so laurance clearly has not told him yet. 

ivy tilts her head in seemingly innocent wonder. “what’re you doing talking to this freshman?”

and apparently you’re not here. cool.

garroth turns to the two of us, the unaware “prince” gesturing to the girl as she burns holes into our figures with her bright eyes. “have you two met ivy? she’s a friend of mine.”

she quickly latches onto his words, quickly adding on before you or aphmau can open your mouths. “yes, i’ve been his friend since we were freshmen.”

you resist the urge to side-eye aphmau, instead keeping your composure as she speaks up first.

“oh, i see… so you've been friends for a long time, then.”

“yes, we have,” she preens, her smile sharp as she looks between you two with a satisfied twinkle in her eyes.

garroth nods politely. “yeah, ivy’s really sweet.” he looks over to her while gesturing to you. “i’ve been friends with these two since we were little kids.”

it takes everything in you to not smile in your own satisfaction when her eyes just about bulge out of her head for a split second, her smile tensing. “oh, really…! that’s so… cute!”

garroth chuckles. “isn’t it?”

“yeah, isn’t it?” you can’t help but chime in, and ivy’s eyes flock to you with a flare of barely veiled annoyance.

“it sure… is…” she says through gritted teeth.

man, she’s losing it. you’d almost feel second hand embarrassment for her if you weren’t reeling in the satisfaction of it. 

“so! i meant to ask,” aphmau chirps, doing a very good job of ignoring her history with ivy’s wrath. “where’s laurance at?”

“he’s already playing a soccer match. his team went first against… the junior class, i think…”

she blows her bangs away from her face. “oh, so the competition has already started, huh?”

“speaking of which, garrith, we should go warm up! our team is next!” she glances over at you, eyes darting down your figure and back up to your face. “you’re not on our team… are you?”

“…nope.”

“ah, unfortunate. she’s pretty good at sports,” garroth says, throwing a small smile your way. 

“thanks, garroth. i’m sure you guys will do great.”

“okay, come on garrith!”

garroth’s smile falters as he awkwardly looks over to her. “oh, right. but, uh… ivy? it’s pronounced gar-roth.”

“i know, garrith, but we really should go!” she insists, grabbing onto his wrist and tugging him along with her.

he keeps his smile though it falters into an uncomfortable and slightly forced one. letting her guide him along, he looks back at you two with a wave.

“see you both later. good luck.”

“yep! you too!” aphmau grins, and you wave back with a smile yourself.

the two walk off toward the sophomore class’s flag football group.

you look at aphmau.

she looks at you.

“...a mess.”

“for real.” aphmau agrees, sighing and rolling her eyes.

“well, i’m gonna go to the restroom. you up to play?”

“yep, i’m on the team for soccer. what about you?”

“ooh, i bet you’ll crush it. kate’s having me play for the volleyball team. good luck!”

aphmau smiles, waving excitedly. “you too!”

thankfully the school has some restrooms outside, making your walk much shorter. by instinct you walk down to the furthest stall, clicking the door shut. before you could even turn around the door swings open again, ivy’s shrill voice bouncing off the concrete and tiled room.

“who the fuck do those two think they are?!” she snips, her tennis shoes clicking against the floor as she pushes on each stall door to check inside.

“they think they’re hot shit,” a more mellowed voice says. was that lily? or the alex girl that rarely talked…?

ivy’s feet stop just before your stall, spinning around to pace over to the sinks. “i thought i saw her come in here… whatever. i came in here to fix my hair anyways. ugh. i thought i told them to stay away from him! those… whores!”

you suppress the urge to scoff.

“well… you did tell them, and then she gave you a black eye.”

ivy makes a seething noise. “that bitch! she didn’t even show anything! i know i broke her nose!”

“whatever. if gene still has those pictures like he says he does then it doesn’t matter. we can ruin their reputation within a day.”

shit.

this seems to calm her rage. just slightly.

“yeah, that’ll get them away from him. plus if we circulate the other rumors around like we talked about then garrith won’t even want to be near them.”

“oh, yeah. that reminds me… i heard that those two were hanging out with garroth at the fall festival a couple of weekends ago.”

“what?! from who?!”

“gene.”

“there's no way! that's just gene trying to get under my skin! i thought he was on our side!”

“whatever. we just need him to be enough on our side to get those pictures out. and even if he doesn’t, we can still spread rumors.”

“yeah! yeah… i’m sure they sleep around anyways. with how they beg for garrith and that laurance’s attention it’s pretty obvious they want that kind of attention. they’re so pathetic, especially aphmau. that little cunt is just begging for one of them to—”

hell no.

your hand races forward to click open the lock, and you throw open the stall door against the wall. it clangs before creaking and wobbling in the now pin-dropping silence of the bathroom as you slowly walk out of the cubicle. the three girls are standing there, looking a bit shocked and surprised at your appearance.

well, ivy and lily, at least. alex looks as blank-faced as usual.

without a word you walk to the door, eyes glued to ivy’s while you resist the urge to punch out her other eye. cracking open the door you pause, looking back to the girl once again and taking in a rageful breath.

“you better fucking hope i don’t catch you alone, ivy.”

you turn out of the bathroom and slam the door shut, teeth clacking together and fists clenched as you walk towards the temporary volleyball court set up near the soccer field.

damn. you forgot you had to pee.

“woah, you look pissed.”

travis appears by your side, looking genuinely concerned with raised brows and curious eyes.

“kinda hot.” dante appears on your other side, biting his lip and waggling his brows.

the brace-faced boy sends a scorning glare to his friend. “dude, not her!”

“chill! i’m just messing around… sort of. besides, gene’s mentioned her a few times, so i know she’s cool. can’t blame me for shooting my shot.”

you sigh and shake your head, some of the tension leaving your shoulders as you fall victim to the goofy antics of the dorks next to you.

“gene’s mentioned me, huh?” you ask, glancing at dante. “i forgot he’s your brother.”

you press your lips together. that’s right, maria. guess she still thinks you’re “friends” with gene.

he grins. “yeah, he’s pretty cool. he talks about you to my mom sometimes. you both hang out often?”

your eyes dart to travis, who is looking at you nervously.

“…we haven’t lately.”

“oh, that’s too bad, i guess,” dante hums.

“you’re sure you’re not mad? it’s not at me from earlier, right?!” travis worries, cutting off the topic of gene to your relief. 

“huh? no, why would i be?”

he deflates in relief. “uh, nothing! never mind, never mind.”

“…alright. well, what sport are you two heading to?” you ask, rolling your shoulders back.

“well… we actually are the refs for the volleyball match.”

you raise an eyebrow. “both of you are? how’d you manage to get out of having to compete?”

“we both signed up as volunteers, just like some kids are doing the concessions,” dante says rather smugly, lifting up a candy bar and waving it in the air.

“great… you two wouldn’t have any ulterior motives here, would you?” you narrow your eyes, looking over to travis. “perhaps with a certain captain in mind?”

“what?” travis stutters. “you’re the second one to accuse me of that! i’d never purposefully screw up the scorecard to get her to yell at me!”

“…uh-huh…”

the principal’s voice cuts through the stadium speakers. “our 3rd round of events today is soccer and volleyball! for soccer, we’ll have the freshmen versus our juniors, and for volleyball, we have sophomores versus seniors! good luck out there!”

you spin on your heels, walking backward onto the sand court and motioning towards the two boys with your fingers in an 'i’m watching you' motion. katelyn—to no one's surprise—is already there and fired up, hyping up teony to do her best as she stretches her arms. her head whips to you when she catches your figure from the corner of her eye, rushing forward to grab you.

“dude, where were you? come on, the game’s gonna start. you’re the outside hitter, okay?” she says, and you simply nod along as your previous anger seems to bubble up and surface again.

this should be a good way to release some steam.

teony gives you a strange look before getting in position at the back of the court. you must not have been hiding your expression as well as you thought you were.

the match went pretty well, and once katelyn realized you were putting your full force into your spikes she consistently set the ball towards you, leaving your dominant arm sore and chest heaving.

“hey! good job!” laurance calls from the sidelines, grinning brightly. his face was sheened with a layer of sweat, strands of his caramel hair stuck to his cheeks and forehead.

garroth stands next to him, looking out of breath like he had just sprinted across the campus field. he grins, holding up two big thumbs up at your team.

“um, that wasn’t game point,” travis pipes up, making all of you turn your heads to the boy.

immediately he looks nervous, tapping his fingers together and waving the flimsy score board in his hand. oh, travis. that’s one way to get your crush’s attention… that’s for sure.

“what?! there’s no way! let me see that!”

deciding to stay out of…whatever was going to go down there, you jog over to the boys with a smile.

“hey! how’d you guys do?”

“decent. i’m not too into football, and my teammates didn’t seem as into the game, either.” garroth shrugs.

“not too bad for me, either. you know i love soccer, so it was just like a fun practice for me.” laurance says, glancing over to the field. “the game aphmau was playing just ended, she did pretty good too—especially against that aaron guy. it was kinda funny seeing her zip around him.”

you chuckle at the thought. “yeah, i bet.”

“what a close call for that soccer game! but the winner of the soccer match is the freshman class! the mvps of this match are aaron from the junior class and aphmau from the freshman class! man, i can't wait to see what else goes on in this tournament today! it is such a heated rivalry!”

you look over to the field, watching as little aph herself shoots a sassy look to aaron and walks off with attitude in her steps.

“there she goes!” garroth muses.

“baby’s first medal?” laurance adds, and you whip your head to him with a wide smile.

“baby’s first medal!”

“baby?” garroth questions, looking lost as ever as he looks between you two.

katelyn’s shout and a loud thud meets your ears.

“this judge is bogus! he’s clearly blind!”

“katelyn! you can’t just hit people with volleyballs when you’re upset! i’m pretty sure you’ve hit travis alone on three different occasions!”

“i don’t care, this is stupid!”

travis groans from the ground, and teony sighs as she helps him to his feet. “…i’ll take you to the nurse. kate, go… walk it off while they figure it out.”

“…that’s katelyn for you,” garroth murmurs as she stomps over to you three. “you alright?”

“yeah.” she puffs out her lips in annoyance. “i kinda feel bad for blowing up on him, but it’s like he was keeping the wrong score on purpose!”

“well, it’ll be fine. you did really good regardless, kate!” you say, very carefully choosing not to say a word about travis’s intentions.

“yeah, both of you did,” laurance chimes, eyebrows raised with an impressed stare. “i just kinda was able to catch the end of the game, but you didn't look like you were holding back on those spikes at all.”

katelyn nods, crossing her arms.

“yeah, i’m for sure forcing her to join the team next year. she’s good.” she glances over to you. “but you did seem a little off. you good?”

shrugging, you awkwardly cross your arms. “uh… about that…”

“did something happen?” garroth frowns.

“i had a run-in with ivy in the bathrooms.” you admit. “she was saying really nasty stuff about me and aph… and i think she’s planning on spreading some rumors around about us.”

“…what? are you sure?” his frown deepens. “ivy wouldn’t do that, would she?”

kate and laurance look over at him with blank stares.

“did you not tell him, laurance?” katelyn scoffs.

“tell me what?” garroth asks impatiently.

“not yet… ugh…” the brunet groans, grabbing onto garroth’s arm and beginning to drag him away. “let’s talk, man.”

“okay?” he stumbles along, the lost look in his eyes still highly apparent.

“great, now i’m even more mad!” kate seethes. “where is she?!”

“woah, woah!” you wave your hands before steadying them on her shoulders. “just chill for a second. i already threatened her today, let’s not get into any trouble.”

she sighs. “fine. but if i catch her by herself it’s not gonna be pretty.”

“that’s what i said.”

“oh!” she suddenly yanks your arm, pulling you along like a woman on a mission towards the track. “there’s lucinda! we’re telling her right now!”

☆

“are you serious?” lucinda scoffs, legs crossed as you all sit at the top of the bleachers. “look, i know you rejected the potion in the food idea, but an overdose on laxatives is an option, too.”

you rub your eyes, glancing down to the track where aphmau was warming up for her race. “as tempting as it is, i want to let her destroy herself. she thinks because she’s more popular than we are that everyone will have to believe her. but as long as you guys and the rest of our friends know the truth, her rumors won’t mean anything and she’ll destroy her own reputation.”

“leaving it up to karma, huh? that’s fair.” lucinda sighs, leaning back on her arms. “i guess. still wanna make her shit her pants, but to each their own.”

“lucy!” you laugh, leaning into her shoulder.

“no, no, she has a good point,” katelyn says, before leaning forward. “oh, there’s prince charming.”

you glance down, garroth’s golden curls coming into view as he hops his way up the bleachers stairs to your direction. his eyebrows are pulled together as he keeps his eyes trained on the metal steps.

kate stands with a sigh, pulling lucinda up with her. “come on. i think they need to talk alone for a second. plus, i want some chips from the concessions before my next game.”

“fine, i could go for a snack, too.” the redhead sighs, waving her fingers at you and squeezing your hands. “bye, my love!”

you wave the two girls off, before shooting over and patting the seat next to you for garroth to sit. he slinks down into the spot, sighing and leaning forward on his elbows while staring out at the track.

“hi.”

“hey.”

he straightens up with a deep breath, turning to you with a troubled expression. “i didn’t mean to sound like i didn’t believe you earlier, i was just surprised.”

you smile at the genuine guilt in his eyes. sweet garroth.

“i know. sorry i didn’t tell you about everything sooner.”

“it’s… okay. laurance explained it all.” he frowns. “i just feel bad.”

you intake a breath to reply, but he cuts you off, raising his hands up.

“not because i think it’s my fault. trust me, laurance lectured my ear off about that.” he leans back, sighing. “just… i feel like i could’ve, like, protected you a bit from all of that if i had known.”

“garroth…”

“promise you’ll tell me if you’re having trouble from now on?” he grabs onto your wrist, looking pleadingly into your eyes with his own. “please promise me. you’re one of my best friends.”

“i promise.”

“good. i promise i’ll tell you everything, too.” he leans forward, pulling you into a hug. “i know we don’t remember much from our childhood, but we’ve been friends for a long time, right? i promise i care way more about you than whatever anyone else at this school has to say about you.”

“…thank you,” you whisper. something about his genuine care has you blinking back the urge to cry, gulping from the surge of emotions that gathered in the base of your throat.

you both pull back from the hug, and garroth smiles that stupidly dazzling smile. “of course.”

the track’s starter gun startles you from the heartfelt moment, making you both jump in place as you look down at the relay race below.

“wait… is aphmau going against aaron at the end? who the heck thought that was a good idea?” garroth blinks, staring at the two in bewilderment. “the guy’s over a foot taller than her!”

you hum in equal confusion, slowly standing and making your way to the stairs. “yeah, that is weird… c’mon. let’s get closer.”

the teams are already on their third hand off by the time you’re both at the bottom of the bleachers, the two runners making their way to aphmau and aaron before handing off the batons. instead of the taller boy completely leaning aph in the dust, he surprisingly keeps her pace before seeing to a stop in the middle of the track.

“huh?” garroth murmurs, and it seems aphmau carries the same sentiment as she slows, turning to aaron with a baffled look of her own.

they’re too far from you to hear what they were saying, but based on his smug look and her peeved expression, his act of stopping seemed more like a taunt than an act of sportsmanship.

aphmau sends a sassy remark to aaron and that seems to stop their strange standstill, as the six-foot-something junior takes off sprinting towards the finish line. she turns, amber eyes wide and mouth agape in shock as she stands in place and watches as he passes the finish line in seconds.

“i can’t believe you fell for that,” he snickers, seeming to deeply relish the look on her face before turning and waltzing away with a smug look on his face.

aphmau’s face contorts from one of bafflement to one of absolute infuriation, and she takes a few steps forward like she was about to go try and tackle the guy herself.

“wh—you! i’m gonna—!” she fumes, unable to even get a sentence out in her frustration.

“woah, aphmau! stop, it’s over!” garroth calls out, trying to calm her as he waves his hands while you both jog over to her.

“he tricked me!” she insists, nose wrinkled like she’d swallowed something bitter.

“...i'm not sure what happened there, but you both ran a good match.” he rubs the back of his neck, chuckling. “well, until the end, that is.”

aphmau deflates, tensely laughing away the rest of her frustration. “yeah… thanks garroth.”

he nods proudly, crossing his arms. “you’re welcome.”

the rest of the festival flies by, with thankfully not many more appearances from ivy’s group or even sightings of the shadow knights. after freshening up in the locker room, you’d waited thirty minutes on the bench, occasionally sending aph a few texts.

you: are you coming to the locker room before walking home?

delivered, 3:42

you: hello?

delivered, 3:55

you: are you okay??

delivered, 4:00

when ten more minutes had passed with no response, you’d felt the anxiety you’d been suppressing come in full force. with hands jittering and head a bit dizzy, you pushed through the girls locker room doors, beginning your search of the now empty school.

from each of the classrooms you knew she had classes in, to all of the bathrooms, and even the cafeteria, she wasn’t anywhere in any rooms of the school you searched. you even ran back outside, searching the outdoor bathrooms—and even briefly looking in the boy’s restroom in your desperation—to no avail.

calm down. you’re on campus, there’s no way something awful happened to her on campus.

hands shaking, you pull your phone out again, attempting to call her phone one last time. staring at a spot in the grass, you listen to the dial of the phone ringing while a faint buzzing in your ears blocked out any other ambient noise.

“your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice message system. at the tone, please recor—”

ripping the phone away from your face, you hang up and catch your breath that you didn’t realize you were holding.

it’s okay. it’s okay. she probably walked home and her phone died or something. you can walk to her house and check with sylvanna, and if she isn’t there… then you can panic.

quickly you find yourself super walking down the sidewalk to your house, eyes drifting to each black vehicle that passed on the road and steps stuttering anytime one of them seemed to slow.

you hate this feeling. the one you felt anytime you went anywhere back in your old town. the weak shakiness of prey stuck in a hunter's trap desperately trying to escape it but unable to find the strength, and unknowing of when the hunter was going to come find you. it was a sick, nearly paralyzing rush through your nervous system, crowding your head and making you both aware of everything and too dizzy to focus on one thing.

did they find you again?

were you risking your friends’ lives by being around them?

did they get aph?

did you kill her when you chose to be her friend?

“wait for me!”

you almost faint from how quickly you turn around, eyes wide as you focus in on aphmau clumsily running after you—face red and hair frazzled.

“o-m-g, that was so embarrassing!” she heaves, stopping in front of you. “sorry i didn’t respond to your text! you won’t believe what just happened to—oh—!”

you reach forward, pulling aphmau into a tight hug. suddenly you hear the birdsong in the trees again. the rushing of cars on the street next to you. your blood is suddenly swirling in your head.

“woah… are you okay? you’re shaking, like, really bad…”

a second passes before you pull away, taking in a gulp of air. “yeah, i’m fine.”

“and you’re really pale,” aphmau says, thin eyebrows pinched together before she gasps. “oh, did i worry you? i’m so, so sorry! i can explain what happened on the way, okay?”

her eyes are full of a worry you hadn’t quite seen before. did you look that upset?

“okay, yeah. i’m fine. i’m fine.” you reassure, wiping away the cold sweat from the back of your neck with a grimace.

aphmau hums, the noise shaky and unsure, before reaching out to take your free hand. “okay. maybe you can come have dinner with me and my mom tonight! i think she said she was going to make empanadas tonight. you know what those are, right?”

“yeah…”

“great! well, my mom’s empanadas are the best, so you can try them! oh yeah, i was gonna tell you what happened, right? so…”

you don’t mean to, but your focus drifts from aphmau’s actual words to just the sound of her voice, eyes drifting to the sidewalk ahead. the feeling of her smaller hand holding yours was somehow comforting despite how it gently and barely seemed to even squeeze yours.

you still feel high-strung, but as the initial adrenaline finally leaves your body you feel a wave of exhaustion and… a bit of embarrassment. it seems a bit dramatic, what you just did. after all, aph is perfectly fine right here. you were acting like an overly anxious parent or older sister, and the two of you aren’t even related to each other.

“…and she shoved me in the locker! can you believe that? what kind of girl fake cries in the boys' locker room and then traps another girl in there?! i thought she was really in trouble!”

“wait, what?” you blink, whipping your head over to her as you process her words. “who did?”

“ivy! she shoved me in the locker! and i didn’t have my phone 'cause it was still in my bag, so i just had to wait there until—guess who?!—aaron let me out! she stuck me in aaron lycan’s locker!”

a wave of anger resurfaces, sending black spots into your vision. once again, another problem caused by that insufferable prick.

“i’m gonna fucking kill her.”

“what!” aphmau laughs, squeezing your hand. “woah, your face is scaring me! calm down!”

she swerves you off the sidewalk and into her yard, pulling you closer to her front door. “let’s think about empanadas instead! mhm, mhm! and pepsi… and ice cream… and we can watch a movie or episode of something before we have a very calm and peaceful rest for school tomorrow.”

“…okay.” you sigh, pulling in a tense breath. “okay. that sounds nice… let’s do it.”

“yay!”

©starhvney, 2024. please do not steal or repost my works as your own.

tag list: @orinlin @pain-in-the-ashe @youmake1mistake @arienic @wasting-away-on-the-internet @angelhyperfixates @remiechu

[creeky-cricket]

Rainy days

End of the school day it was pouring it down, Garroth, Katelyn and Laurance rush to Laurance's shitty old car to take cover.

[moonlit-escape]

Aphmau: guys i like beer now Garroth: ????? Aphmau: it has a real nice kick to it Katelyn: are you fr rn Aphmau: and its spicy afterwards like a wellmade curry Teony: did you fr drink beer Aphmau: yes! Aphmau: ginger beer

[shuublebunny]

Aphmau and Aaron from my PDH rewrite (I will be rewriting PDH through MyS, so you’ll probably be getting college and MyS redesigns at some point too!)

[panons]

[m00nbuggies]

oughgh

[vylad-romeave-5]

[mangotelevision]

Jo9 simple backstories and power overviews

There's not a lot we know about the jury so all of this is very headcannon-y for warning. Some of this might clash with cannon so I'm leaning for this to be more so a part of my rewrite.

Zane Ro’meave (unofficial title: Zane the Undying)

Deemed leader of the Jury of Nine by Lorde Garte, his father, and instead of choosing a ninth guard for his squad he declared himself as worthy enough for the position. Still remains the ninth member of the Jury of Nine to this day and refuses to choose another as he believes one could not wield the power like he does, also refuses to take an official Jury title, feels as though it is beneath him and people should fear his name and his name alone.

Zane was never a guard, never took the oath and never trained as one, took the Jury Leader position per his fathers request after he finished his studies and became the High Priest of O'khasis. He has no knowledge or skill in weapons of any sort, physically he is weak, he uses others to accomplish the things he wants, his conviction and manipulation is his greatest advantage.

Has had the gift of foresight since he was a child, a magic that allows him to read people's thoughts and see fractions of moments of the future. He believes his powers come from the heavens and the stars, that he has a divine right to rule because of his power. He receives something akin to prophecies of the future, vague visions of what will come to pass, these visions have never been wrong- and he cannot change anything no matter how hard he tries. So he desires to seek out a magic that can, something that will provide him with the strength to alter fate.

(He can’t read Aphmau's mind and she has changed a future Zane saw, it was small and minute but it changed, she did something that resulted in his vision being wrong. Zane is never wrong. This is why he is so enamored with her, why he wants her dead- because she’s stronger than him, because she can change fate. It is a power he wants so desperately and if he can’t have it then no one can.)

Janus the Silver Death

Most everything about him is unknown, he is an enigma wrapped in a mystery. He hides behind his helm, and the only person to ever see under the mask and live to tell of it is Zane. Janus is thought to be an elf in some form, no one knows if he’s a full elf or half and he never answers when asked. He is the oldest member of the Jury, no one remembers how long he’s been there, and rumor has it that he’s been protecting the Lords of O'khasis for centuries. It is unclear if he was a guard or not before his Jury position.

Janus wields twin broadswords, one frost and one fire. Expert fighter, no one has ever seen him lose a fight. Although more often than not he relies on his Jury abilities. He is a necromancer of sorts, he possesses the ability to bring back those that his enemies have slain- the more people his opponent has killed, the harder they’ll fall.

It is unknown if he has powers that exist beyond those gifted to him through the Jury.

Katelyn the Fire Fist

Katelyn was sent to the Guard Academy after an “incident” per Lord Garte’s orders. No one is quite sure where she came from or what this incident was but it's largely thought to have been of a violent nature, something bloodied and bruised, although her early life is largely a mystery and she changes the story each time she’s asked. She was exceptional at the academy, a prodigy in combat, but after many disciplinary actions and detentions, Katelyn was expelled due to “excessive violence” and declared unfit to be a Guard. Was placed in the Jury Reserves, where she stayed until a member of the Jury had a more than suspicious death and she rose the ranks per Lord Garte’s orders. She stands as the youngest appointed Juror in recorded Ru’an.

Specializes in hand to hand combat and wields weighted adamantine gauntlets brazened with wyvern claws. Katelyn has magic that exists outside of her Jury powers, she’s a half-witch with a blood magic known as dragon's fire, which gives her the ability to use the fire of a wyvern while being virtually fireproof herself. She is not a traditional witch and cannot be taught any other spells or enchantments, all spells cast from her hands will always fail.

Her Jury power is that of absolute agility, possessing limitless agility, with her balance, bodily coordination, speed, reflexes and strength transcending virtually all other beings. With this power, time moves far slower to Katelyn and she has the endurance to keep it up for prolonged periods of time- no one has ever outpaced her in a fight.

Has a quick temper and doesn't work well with others, easily angered and her fire often burns too hot for her own good, oftentimes more than a little too eager to start a fight.

Lillian the Phantom Sword

Raised in Nahakara Village alongside her cousin Ivy, Lillian became a guard through traditional means. She went to the guard academy when she became of age and excelled in her studies, graduated top of her class and made high Jury List. Served as a guard in her home of Nahakara Village, where she remained second in command until Ivy finished her own guard training.

Lillian became cursed by unknown means while exploring the enchanted forest with Ivy, resulting in her reflection gaining a consciousness and a life of her own. Hears her reflection talking to her, telling her to kill and destroy, overall not good things. She ignored it for as long as she could before eventually stepping down as head guard to seek out someone who could help. She finds Zane, who's idea of helping is bringing the reflection to the physical world and combining the real Lillian with the reflection. The two can switch fronts at will, but the reflection is always in charge, she is always in control in the back of Lillian's mind talking and telling her what to do. Lillian is but a vessel for her reflection.

She wields a simple guards sword without her shield, believing it to be too bulky in combat. Lillian is an expert level swordsman, the above average guard will not win, fighting with her is often thought to resemble a dance with her graceful movements. Her Jury power is that of illusions, she can conjure things out of shadow and mist, make people see things that aren't there. Her powers are significantly stronger and her illusions far more believable when her reflection is casting them.

The reflection is forever grateful to Zane for freeing her and giving her the control and strength over a physical body, she'll obey his every order, she is indebted to him. The reflection of Lillian is his most loyal guard.

Ivy the Venom Scythe

Raised by her cousin Lillian's parents in Naharaka Village, Ivy never cared to be a guard, she was content with her own devices, researching and experimenting with her poisons and potions. Ivy was always in and out of trouble, always some misfortunate adventure she roped Lillian into, who more often than not got them out of said trouble. She joined the guard academy after much convincing from her cousin, her havoc showed no mercy to the school and although she graduated on the Jury List it was not without a few official warnings on her record.

Joined the ranks as a guard of Naharaka with her cousin, was difficult to work with and a shitty guard, always skipping patrol to continue with her experiments. Lillian was more often than not the one who got in trouble for Ivy’s disservice to the guard code, she was the one who encouraged her to be something she’s not after all. Was formally reprimanded and assigned her second strike to her guard record after being caught lacing her sword with poison. After Lillian was cursed and fled from her duties, Ivy left also and joined the Jury Reserves in O'khasis where she was assigned to a Jurors Team and allowed to experiment with her poisons and venoms as she saw fit. Was later appointed to the Jury through traditional means after a member stepped down.

She wields a large poison laced scythe, leaning very far into her self-assigned grim reaper motif. Her Jury powers are similar to a curse, she has the ability to take the life force of anything she touches, her body acts as a poison and she can spread that poison to others. This has an effect on anything living, ranging from plants to animals she can turn anything to dust and bones. She possesses immunity to all poisons, venoms and toxins and has a vast and incomprehensible knowledge on anything relating to such topics.

Ivy’s a wild card, someone Zane can’t easily control. They don't exactly see eye to eye but Ivy is here for a good time not a long time so she’ll do whatever he asks of her as long as it’s not boring.

Jeffory the Golden Heart

Became a member of the Jury through traditional means. Went to the guard academy to learn to protect others, excellent guard, the Golden Boy of the academy in the years he attended, perfect record and perfect marks, graduated early and managed to land a spot on the Jury list. Went back to guard his home in Skysted before transferring to O’khasis per Garte’s request, became head guard and general of the O’khasis military after a few years of service.

He's a brave soldier, loyal and kind hearted. His devotion to those he loves and the people he has to protect knows no bounds. Jeffory is the people's soldier, everyone adores him, the Golden Boy of O’khasis. After one of the Jury of Nine stood down to retire, Jeffory was given the mantle.

Fights with a very untrational choice of weapon, and his mastery of the glaive is something short of a marvel. He’s a flashy fighter, eager to show his skills and yet he is kind all the while. His Jury powers are simple and often overlooked, he possesses the ability of imprisonment, allowing him to create a barrier that can capture and imprison humans, creatures, anything, with little hope or no chance to escape. (functions similarly to the golden lasso from the original series) Although he uses this as more of a pocket realm, like a mythical handbag to store things in. He has no magic or other powers outside of his Juror title.

Knows that the Jury is corrupt and he worries he’s starting to become just like the others, he fears the day he’ll be just as bloodthirsty, just as power hungry. He’s concerned that the Jeffory that he has become has lost his heart of gold, and it scares him.

Ivan the Hallowed

Warlock hailing from a small mountain village, Ivan got into a lot of trouble with his magic as a kid, always felt as though he had to prove something, as if the world owed him a great debt. The Village sent him away to train as a guard in an attempt to keep him out of trouble and his head out of his magic books, believing they knew what was best for him. Ivan wasn’t a particularly great guard, unpopular and unskilled in the protecting front, but he seemed to make up for it with his fighting. After his training he was assigned to the Village of Pikoro, where he continued with his magic studies- the village was often known for its distast and distrust of magic, he was exiled shortly after his arrival.

Was offered the position of Jury member by Zane, even without making the Jury List post graduation. The High Priest was enamored with his ability to cast complicated spells, he had seen nothing quite like it, he wanted to study it, cultivate it as his own. Ivan’s magic is strong, impressively so. One of the brightest spell casters Ru’an has seen in centuries, although his magic is volatile and unstable: this instability seems to be his driving force, his bragging point as his spells don’t have to adhere to the normal laws of magic.

He seemed to have gained no excess powers after obtaining the title of Juror. He’s the most recent addition, so he feels like he has something to prove that makes him dangerous. Doesn’t take orders well and tends to do his own thing. Zane only keeps Ivan around out of his usefulness, once it has expired it’s not unlikely Ivan will as well.

Ein the Beast Slayer

Abandoned and taken in by a tribe of werewolves, Ein was raised and trained by the creatures of the moon as one of their own. Until a violent incident with a rival pack resulted in his adoptive family banishing him, afraid of his strength. They feared that which was stronger than them, the things they couldn't control. He joined the guard academy, he held the vengeful desire to become stronger. Graduating with decorated honors and a position fairly high on the Jury list, he took a position in a Village close to his old home. Early into his guard career, Ein slaughtered the werewolves from his pack, the ones that took him in as their own, raised him, betrayed him. He made them understand true strength, gave them a real reason to fear him. He now wears the skull and fur of the alpha werewolf.

Ein went on to kill nearly hundreds of werewolves, bringing their population to such a decline it caught the attention of The High Priest, Zane Ro’meave. Zane heard of his deeds and sought him out, mysteriously, a member of the Jury resigned and Ein took their place.

His Jury powers are a curse, it’s a blood beastman curse that allows him the ability to shapeshift into any animal that he’s consumed the blood of. It is unknown if this trick will work for humans. His weapon of choice is a battle ax, although he often prefers to do Zane's dirty work as one of the beasts in his collection. Ein loves the chase, he lives for the kill.

Teony the Bright Blade

Became a member of the Jury through traditional means, raised in the village of BrightPort Teony joined the Guard Academy and excelled in her studies. Often referred to as the brightest mind of her generation. Graduated with high honors, Jury List and signed to the Jury Reserves, where she swore her allegiance to the O'khasis Guard. Served as second in command of the O’khasis Military, until becoming a member of the Jury of Nine alongside Jeffory the Golden Heart, the two were given their titles during the same ceremony.

Teony has immense skill over any and all weapons, she has a mastery of the craft of fighting.

Her Jury power is a summons- she can conjure weapons, knights, animals, most anything she needs out of light. These beings hold no physical form in the hands of others, weapons will disappear if she is not the wielder and the animals will vanish if they are cut through.

No one outside of the Jury has ever bested her in a battle of skill, she is the expert amongst experts, specialist in all weapons and can summon any of her choosing to wield. She is noble and strong, like Jeffory she is a true guard, her loyalty knows no bounds. And similarly, she often fears she is doing the wrong thing, helping the wrong people. Her oath to the Guard code outweighs her oath to Lord Garte, her nobility will always come first, her duty is to save people and protect, where there is darkness she shall be the light. Just like Jeffory, her heart of gold will be her downfall.

[moochachoco]

More mystreet posting .. moots i fear i’m reverting to my old 2017 Aphmau fan account ways plz forgive me………

Anyways .. Ik that Garroth was canonically aware of his charm and was known to be very charismatic + outgoing, but idk!! I think it’d be cute if during his middle school + first few years of high school, he was socially awkward kinda like his MCD counterpart 😭 Like that’s one of the only traits that carried over from his MCD self

I also like to think that Katelyn (since they were friends in PDH iirc) and Laurance kinda helped him get out of his shell and become more confident !

Imagining freshman Garroth feeling super flustered from all the attention he was getting from other people at his school, all while Katelyn and Laurance are watching and giggling & then tease him about it later 💀💀

I don’t think he’d be like.. PDH Travis and Aphmau kind of shy, though. They were the type of shy where they stuttered pretty often and kinda like tripped over their words, or they would mumble, but I don’t see Garroth ever being like that. I think it’s just like… he’s a little awkward? He knows how to speak to people a little bit, I just imagine he’d get a little nervous when carrying on a conversation and then kinda shy away after a while & that he doesn’t really know how handle A LOT of positive attention from a lot of people around his age OR people older than him

Literally it’s like :

The girls at school compliment his appearance and his voice -> Garroth: “Haha (awkward)… Thank you… (the attention makes his palms sweaty + the attention is making him uncomfortable, so he tries to leave)”

Teachers compliment him in front of all his classmates -> Garroth: “Thanks… (awkward + uncomfortable w/ the attention from both his teacher and his peers, so he just looks down at his textbook until he thinks it’s okay to look back up again)”

Then imagining Laurance helping him become less shy.. helping him talk to people (girls, in particular) and learning how to make friends easier, giving him advice .., telling Garroth that he’s naturally charming and endearing, so people will like him a lot , saying that even he would fall for Garroth because he’s “pretty good looking” and “a really sweet guy”, And Garroth gets EXTREMELYYY flustered after hearing that .. (Avg. Garroth response: “Ah… Haha… Thank you, man. It – um… It means a lot. 🙂 (awkward smile that looks pained a little bit kinda)” -> Laurance response: “😭 You gotta get better at taking compliments, man!”

Omg … Katelyn also giving him advice, but she mainly helped by getting him on the baseball team ! She heard that he was interested and introduced him to the captain and the team members.. and she helps him talk to them, so he could make more friends !! I can imagine her sitting on the bleachers and watching Garroth fail at conversing and literally just being like “There is no way.” So, she has to step in and help him 💀

Also imagining in my head that Garroth goes home everyday and practices so he could impress Katelyn and Laurance. And then literally rehearsing what he’ll say to people a bunch of times in his head before he actually talks to them.

I think by the time he got to Senior year he mostly grew out of being shy, but sometimes he still has his moments 😭

And then, later when they’re all actually Living on Mystreet, when they’re all hanging out -> Katelyn is like: “Oh my Irene, do you remember how awkward Garroth was during, like, the first year or two of high school??” -> Laurance:“Oh wait! Yeah! Wow… who would’ve thought he would’ve turned out like this?” -> and all Garroth can do is laugh awkwardly while they reminisce and tease him abt it 💀💀💀💀

i have so many more garroth headcanons in my brain like omg .. the blond cube guy from the Minecraft roleplay I liked when I was like 12 is taking over my brain yet again……….

[maelihi]

Phoenix Drop Uniforms

i saw someone else talk about this though i don’t totally remember who it was.

the phoenix drop high uniforms are mostly shades of various blues, with gray also mixed in. the design isn’t like bad or whatever, but i feel like reds and yellows would be more appealing and would make more sense?

i mean it’s called phoenix drop. phoenixes are associated with fire, which i personally associate with shades of red, orange and yellow, possibly also black due to obsidian and i think it would compliment nicely.

like a black shirt and pull over, red skirt, red tie/bow. i feel like would make more sense. and say the gym uniforms are yellow or orange, alone with team uniforms.

i just feel blue isn’t the most fitting color, and i love the black/red/orange/yellow combo.

like this in a way, with obviously some changes but i like the more covery, realistic version.

[toadsartblog]

started rewatching aphverse series, started with pdh💕

[starhvney]

𝐒𝐔𝐁𝐉𝐄𝐂𝐓 𝟑 | 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟗: 𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐕𝐀𝐋!

𝐂𝐖: none, really? 

𝐀/𝐍: another very short and sweet chapter :) enjoy these peaceful snippets of life before it’s destroyed!

𝐖𝐂: 4,700 +

𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 ☆ 𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 | 𝐀𝐎𝟑 | 𝐅𝐈𝐂 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 | 𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐒

the next morning you’re woken up covered by limbs and two different blankets haphazardly thrown over you. lucinda’s arm was lazily thrown around your waist while nana had her head on your shoulder, and somehow teony’s legs managed to find their way on top of yours. you were pretty comfy in your spot so you couldn’t complain, but when you feel a buzz from right under your back you realize the limb trap you're in was a bit inconvenient.

slowly you bend your arm around, shimmying your hand down to awkwardly pull your phone from its confines and squinting at the screen as another message lights it up.

garroth added you, laurance, katelyn, and aphmau to the conversation.

garroth: good morning guys

garroth: i know this is super last minute planning but would you all be down to go to that fall carnival festival thing going on this afternoon?

laurance: oh yeah cadenza mentioned it the other day

laurance: i was actually thinking about going so i’m down

you: oooh that sounds fun!

you: i’ll have to see what the plans are for today, cause we’re still at aph’s house

there’s a sigh and some shuffling on the blankets over where the other girls were sleeping. 

garroth: whoever else is there can come too! i just made this group chat cause i wasn’t sure who all to ask 

kate: ugh you guys woke me up

laurance: ;D good morning to you too

kate: :I

kate: i think it’s just us two awake, we’ll ask everyone when they get up

garroth: ok cool

garroth: just lmk

you: we will!

laurance: yeah don’t leave me alone with him pls

garroth: bruh

the blue haired girl quietly giggles in the quiet room, and you hear her shuffle before you see her stand up.

kate: reading garroth say bruh is so funny

you: lmao now laurance…

laurance: hahahaha just jokes just jokes

you: i’ll be sure to be super convincing, i really do wanna go

kate: yeah same

garroth: yeah laurance my true friends here 

laurance: oh whatever you know you still love me schnookims

you: what!!

katelyn has shuffled over to you, standing by your feet and quietly snickering while you try to contain your own giggles from rocking the girls next to you.

kate: gross

garroth: :(

laurance: hahahaha

“need to be pulled outta there?” katelyn offers with an amused look on her face, leaning over while holding out her hands.

you glance to either side of you before nodding, reaching up to your freedom while gently shimmying out of everyone’s hold on you. she latches onto your wrists pretty easily, and pulls you up into a standing position without much effort.

the room was still pretty dim, the morning sun filtered by aphmau’s blinds and setting a purple hue through her sheer curtains. no wonder she’s been super late to walk with you some mornings. if your room was a pretty purple every morning you’d have trouble getting up, too.

“thanks.” you whisper, and katelyn gives a thumbs up in return.

“i think aphmau’s awake.” she murmurs. the two of you glance over to the girl in question, who was rubbing her eyes with one hand while flopping her hand around to grab her phone with the other. 

it takes her a few seconds to realize you were both watching her, and after making a small noise of surprise she gets up herself, guiding you both downstairs with her to the kitchen while she catches up on the group chat.

she completely pauses in the middle of the room, making a small “ooh!” sound while typing away on her phone.

aph: i’m super down for that!! there’s nothing else planned for today so we for sure can come!!!

garroth: oh nice!

garroth: does meeting there at two sound good?

kate: that’s perfect

laurance: yep!

you: yay! see y’all later!

laurance: y’all

garroth: y’all

kate: y’all

you: …

katelyn snorts at the unintimidating glare you send her way, and when aphmau snorts and another buzz comes from your phone you already know what it’s going to say. 

aph: y’all :3

you: man.

☆

despite inviting everyone, they unfortunately all were busy with other plans for the day, leaving you, katelyn, and aphmau as the only ones left to go. nana was probably the most upset by this, thanking you a hundred times for including her with promises of more sweets for you all in the future.

“what? you’re ditching us for your boyfriend?” aphmau pouts, and you send a similar look over to the taller girl to double on the guilt.

“i can’t hang out with him often outside of school cause of my dad, and he’s here today!” katelyn defends with her arms crossed. “i was just hanging out with you guys yesterday and today.”

“just say you don’t love us.” you wrinkle your face in a fake act of crying.

“oh brother.” she rolls her eyes.

“hey, ladies!” a familiar friendly voice calls, and a polite pat on your shoulder follows as the katelyn-snatcher himself walks past you.

you want to send a teasing comment his way, but truly can’t bring yourself to do it to the senior’s kind face as he wraps an arm around katelyn’s shoulder.

“hey, jeffory.” is what leaves your lips instead, the other sarcastic quips you had cooked up in your head fizzling out.

he gives you a cheerful grin, before looking down to the freshman next to you. “ah, sorry. i’ve seen you around, but i don’t think we’ve met…?”

“i’m aphmau!”

you feel proud of the lack of shakiness in her voice and the sure little smile she gives. she’s already gained some confidence, despite everything.

“oh, that’s right! kate’s talked about you a lot. it’s nice to meet you.”

“you too!”

soon enough katelyn is wishing you two adieu while dragging her sweet boy away, leaving just you and aphmau to wander further into the park.

you added aph, garroth, and laurance to the conversation.

guys, me and aph have been abandoned :,( :you

garroth: haha what?

kate ditched us for her man :you

laurance: boooo thumbs down tomato tomato

aph: that’s what i’m saying

garroth: ahh i see

garroth: well i was running a little late but i’m pulling up

aph: okay sounds good!

laurance: i see you two

aph: o.o

he’s a creep :you

he’s a weirdo :you

“are you really making a radiohead reference in the group chat right now?” laurance snorts from in front of you.

aphmau looks up from her phone. “…what the hell are you doing here?”

you and laurance stare over at the girl, before glancing back at each other and breaking out in amused snickers. laurance then raises his brows, head whipping back to the shorter girl.

“aph, did you just cuss?”

you gasp, placing a hand over your mouth and the other one on his shoulder. “baby’s first curse word!”

aphmau’s face reddens as she begins to stutter. “i was continuing the joke! also what?”

“with this again!” laurance groans into his hands, a few giggles leaking through his act.

“with what?!” she pouts in annoyance. 

you and laurance glance at each other from the corner of your eyes, before giggling again.

“what?!”

“hey guys.” garroth’s deep voice interrupts you before you can begin to explain the inside joke, completely steering aphmau’s attention away.

“oh, garroth! hi!”

the tall blonde smiles warmly at the three of you, giving side hugs in greeting and looking around. “you guys have anything you want to do first?”

“oh, before we do anything, i want you two to meet someone.” laurance suddenly says, walking backward further into the park and beckoning for you all to follow.

after exchanging confused looks the three of you walk after the brunette, soon finding yourselves in a cute small apple orchard entrance. he walks forward, confidently talking to a group of older teen girls.

a wooden sign nearby read “pick your own apples, get them candied at the booth!” with an employee standing by, handing out baskets and taking tickets.

“this is… so… cute!” aphmau fawns, looking around with stars in her eyes and her hands on her cheeks. “i was already excited about this place since i’ve never been to a festival before, but this really tops it off!”

“wait really? you’ve never been to one before?” garroth looks over surprised.

“i mean,” she shrugs with a giggle. “not one that i remember.”

you look up at garroth. “does this festival come around often?”

he nods enthusiastically. “yeah! they collaborate with the farmers here and open for every new season and holiday time, it’s pretty cool.” he glances around. “everyone in the neighborhoods nearby and at school comes here. i’m surprised you two haven’t heard of it yet.”

“well excuse us, we just recently moved back and i was homeschooled! remember?” aphmau teases him, and he sheepishly scratches the nape of his neck.

“oh, right! my bad.”

“here, these are them.” laurance’s voice returns, and a tall beautiful girl is beside him when you look up.

long waist-length ginger hair, a round face, and facial features that made her look like she was straight out of a renaissance painting. she looked super stylish, too, with the earth-toned dress she paired with tall leather boots and eccentric gold jewelry.

“well, don’t be rude and actually introduce me to them, silly.” she teases, placing her hands over her hips as she glances over at the boy next to you. “oh, hey garroth.”

“hi.” he waved back.

laurance announces yours and aphmau’s names accordingly, before gesturing to the girl next to him. “and this is my sister, cadenza. she’s a senior.”

oh, this is his sister. he’d mentioned her a few times to you, so it was nice to put a face to the name. though, it wasn’t the face you were expecting… a completely different skin tone from laurance’s, light blue eyes, and a total difference in facial features. what did their parents look like?

“oh, really? you two don’t look that much alike, i wouldn’t have guessed!” aphmau chirps in, voicing your inner monologue.

cadenza hums, glancing over to laurance. “oh, have you not told them?”

laurance sheepishly looks off in thought, blowing away the bangs from his face—the caramel strands started to grow out recently.

“oh. no, i haven’t. i guess it hasn’t come up…” he glances back at the two of you. “we don’t look alike because cadenza and i aren’t actually blood-related. we’re adopted.”

“oh!” aphmau says, blinking a bit in shock at the news.

“well, that explains it.” you laugh, a bit surprised yourself, but brush it off as you smile at the older girl. “it’s nice to meet you! laurance has mentioned you a lot.”

cadenza awes, leaning over to squish her little brother’s cheek between her manicured fingers. “so you really do care about me!”

laurance huffs, pulling her hand away. “duh. and stop trying to make me look less cool in front of my friends. not cool.”

“oh come on, you’re a dork and i’m sure they know it. right, garroth?” she looks at the blonde, who snickers and nods his head in agreement. “no need to get shy in front of cute girls.”

“i’m not—”

“besides, nothing uncool about having an amazing sister.” she flips her hair, before looking back as someone from her group calls her over. “one sec!”

she turns to smile warmly at the two of you. “it was so nice to meet the both of you! we’ll have to actually talk sometime soon. maybe at lunch.”

“oh, it was nice to meet you too!” aphmau pipes up.

“yeah, we’ll see you around!”

cadenza points at laurance, narrowing her eyes. “love you, dork. remember we leave in two hours.”

“yeah, uh huh. love you too.” he deadpans, wiggling his fingers bye as he starts to walk back towards the main area of the festival.

“she’s so cool.” you murmur, glancing back as cadenza makes her way back over to her friends.

“yeah yeah, if you become friends with her you can’t leave me in the dust, okay?” laurance scoffs, spinning around on his heels and walking backward. 

“and her style…” aphmau adds on in admiration, completely ignoring laurance’s words.

“…no wonder you dress well.”

“hey, i—thank you? but i know how to dress.” he defends, seeming confused about whether he should feel complimented or not.

“thanks to cadenza’s advice?” garroth shoots back teasingly.

he opens his mouth to argue, before sighing and pursing his lips with a short nod. “yeah, okay. fine.”

“you’re still super cool to me, don’t worry.” you reassure with a double thumbs up.

he tsks with a sassy roll of his eyes, rocking his head side to side as he shrugs. “wasn’t even worried, i know i’m the coolest.”

“yeah, okay bud.” garroth sarcastically deadpans, making laurance straighten his back and narrow his eyes as he stops in place.

you and aphmau step aside, while the boys rush each other, attempting to put the other in a headlock.

“take it back!”

“nuh uh—“

“guys, we are literally in public right now.” you sigh.

“yeah, people are staring.” aphmau squeakily adds, stepping closer to you as nearby people watch in amusement.

the two straighten up, staring at each other before nodding and hugging. not a word is exchanged as they pat each other on the back, before pulling away and looking around like nothing happened.

“what just…” aphmau mutters in confusion, looking mildly concerned at the display in front of her, glancing up at you and back to them. “…happened?”

“hell if i know. i was just reminded that they’re very much teenage boys, though.” you whisper back.

“hey! look over there!” garroth points very suddenly towards a few activities.

aphmau gasps excitedly as she focuses on something. “face painting!”

he pauses. “uh, yes there’s that… but i was talking about the caricatures.”

aphmau stiffens, a nervous giggle leaving her lips as she follows along towards the line. “oh, yeah. face painting is for kids anyways…”

laurance hums, glancing at her embarrassed expression and stepping forward while looking at the people ahead. “man, this line is kinda long, isn’t it?”

and that it is, the line stretched about ten people long. for a long process like caricature drawings…you’d imagine you’d have to stand here for a while.

“maybe we should come back later?”

garroth shrugs. “yeah, i just thought it would be funny. we don’t have to.”

aphmau looks around before pointing off. “uh, well while you guys figure it out, i’m gonna run to the restroom.”

she walks off, and you tap your fingers together as you think of what to do. the line has just moved up a group, and even you turn your head the delicious smell of sweet and salty carnival foods hot your nose. 

“well, why don’t we grab a snack while we wait and figure out what to do next?” you suggest, staring off at the food booths further down the path.

“that sounds good to me. i’ll hold our place in line.” garroth says, pulling his phone from his pocket and leaning on the railing.

you nod, and when you walk off, laurance follows. the two of you walk in comfortable silence for a few moments, before he suddenly speaks up.

“how are you?”

the sudden question throws you off, and for a second you take it at face value before you look over into the gray-green of his irises. immediately you know what he’s really checking up on, and you shrug with a small smile.

“i’m fine for now.” you look back to where garroth stands, stepping in line for some soft pretzels. “i guess… i kinda want to tell you more about what happened.”

he tilts his head with an encouraging hum for you to continue, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“so.” you huff, trying to figure out how to start. “this all actually kinda started from the first day—”

“huh?” he raises his eyebrows, before shaking his head. “sorry, continue.”

“—and it was actually ivy who started it.” he sighs and nods, not seeming too shocked to your relief. “she really did not like me or aphmau, and kept pestering us and bullying aphmau.”

you look down at your feet. “she laid her hands on aph once, and the second time i was with her, so i… swung and beat her up.”

sudden laughter interrupts you, making you jump. laurance covers his mouth with his hand, gaining his composure.

“you beat up ivy? sorry, i just did not expect that. how did no one find out about this?” he snickers.

“she actually got in trouble, cause the teacher knew she instigated.” you explain, shoulders relaxing in relief at how strongly laurance was on your side in all of this. “so she knew if she tried to say something to people she’d get called out by an adult. this happened a while back, actually..”

his eyes widen and shine with recollection.

“oh, shit. when she was suddenly all bruised up that week, that was you?” he says in wonder. “remind me not to make you angry. i would’ve never guessed you fought her, you didn’t have a mark on you.”

you bite your lip and look away, recalling how… unnaturally quickly your injuries healed up. you’d brushed over it when it happened. but thinking back on it, it was strange, wasn’t it? how did you do that?

“…sorry. are you okay?” he asks quietly.

“oh! i’m fine, just thinking.” you quickly shake those thoughts away. now wasn’t the time to dwell on it again. “anyways, the reason that’s relevant is because… gene got a picture of me beating her up and used it to threaten mine and aph’s reputation.”

laurance frowns, scoffing under his breath. “of course he did. but you know that a lot of people would take your side?”

“i know that now, but we panicked. and he’s very convincing, i’m sure you know.” you say, and he sighs with a nod. “and we weren’t sure if ivy was as well-liked as she seemed. we were scared of getting even more people to dislike us before even being at this school for a year.”

“i get that.” he sighs. “it’s just upsetting.”

“you’re telling me.” you elbow his side. “anyways… he ended up getting me to buy cigarettes with him at the gas station and meet his mom—”

“what.”

“—and got both me and aphmau to skip school and vandalize.” laurance sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers. “we went back at night to try and fix it and almost got arrested by a cop—”

“oh my go—”

“let me finish!” you giggle, the mix of anger and complete bafflement on his face a bit amusing now that you are comfortable with telling him all of this. “and that was this week. remember when you asked why we were so tired?”

“and nothing’s happened since?”

you shake your head. “i cussed out gene, i guess. he said he’d leave me alone, but… i’m not sure if he’s gonna stick to that or not.”

“really?” he looks genuinely impressed.

you nod, pausing the discussion to order your snacks.

“why haven’t you told garroth any of this?” laurance suddenly asks, shoving forward the money before you can pay.

you sigh, tapping your fingers on the counter of the pretzel stand. “it’s not that i don’t trust him or anything… i just don’t want him to feel guilty or anything.”

he wrinkles his nose. “why would you think that?”

you cringe. “well, the reason ivy started all this was because she was jealous about aph and i being… friends with him? i don’t know, it’s really weird.”

laurance scoffs before bursting out in laughter. “no way! this all started over her having a possessive crush on garroth? oh, how could i not tease him over this?”

you sigh, taking the pretzels and tilting your head in disapproval as you both start walking back to the prince charming himself.

“i’m not against telling him. just—don’t you think he’d… blame himself a little? or at the very least feel uncomfortable?”

laurance calms his snickering, sighing with a nod. “yeah, garroth has always been harsher on himself with these things. but if you were getting into some trouble just because a girl was being… honestly creepy about me and harassing you over it? i would want to know.” he looks down. “there’s a lot of people who only care to interact with garroth and i because of our looks. you’re one of the few genuine friends we have, so we want you to tell us these things. especially if we’re involved—involuntarily or not.”

you find yourself in stunned shock, his response so mature and understanding it was jarring.

“i won’t tell him if you don’t want me to.”

“no, no i think he should know.” you mutter. “thank you, laurance. you kinda knocked some sense into me.”

“good.” a lighthearted scoff leaves his lips, before his steps stutter and he squints ahead. “what the hell…?”

you glance up to see a couple walking past aphmau as they giggle down at a piece of paper. she looks equally confused, glancing over at the two of you before staring over at the caricature booth.

“…garroth?”

and there he is, standing by the art easel with a pen and markers in hand and a proud look on his face while he shoves something in his pocket.

“what are you doing?” you ask the obvious question shared between the three of you, walking over to hand him a pretzel.

“oh, well,” he starts, taking a deep breath to prepare himself for what seemed like a long-winded explanation. “this lady got her purse stolen by a thief, and she needed a person to sketch him out so she could show it to the police. but she was so frantic that it startled the artist here and he fell over and broke his drawing wrist. so i volunteered to draw him out instead and they were able to use it to find him in the crowd.”

“…really?” aphmau blinks.

garroth stares seriously at the three of you, before breaking out in a dorky smile. “no.”

you and laurance snicker, while the shorter girl huffs.

“the guy who runs the stand left for a break and some people asked me to draw them instead for twenty bucks. then another couple thought my horrible drawing was hilarious and asked me to draw them, too.” he explains in amusement.

aphmau starts to giggle, and you can’t help but join in at the ridiculousness of it. is he even allowed to do that?

“i think everyone discovered your art.” laurance muses.

“i know, right?” garroth beams with his hands on his hips.

his best friend snorts. “no, i mean the line is gone.”

garroth glances over the easel, blowing some air from his lips. “aw, man…”

“hey, at least you’re improving, right?” aphmau suggests, patting his arm as she tries to stifle her laughter.

garroth lifts his chin and closes his eyes, looking quite proud as he puffs out his chest. “thanks… wanna see me draw laurance?”

“sure!” aphmau’s face lights up as she scoots in next to him. “as long as i can draw you!”

laurance drags you over and squeezes in around the easel. “then i’ll draw you and you can draw aphmau.”

you laugh, picking up one of the pens. “okay, sure.”

after the four of you continuously bump shoulders and glance at each other for reference with amused laughter, you find yourselves staring at the finished product about five minutes later. there’s a small difference in style and… quality between each one, but the cartoonish little recreations of all of you were insanely cute to see.

“okay, you guys have to let me post this.” aphmau giggles, pulling out her phone with a wide smile.

garroth nods excitedly, wrapping his arms around you and laurance to lean in behind aphmau. “yeah, it looks good!”

after she takes the snap you turn around, ripping the page from the sketch pad and carefully rolling it up. “i’m keeping this.”

“what? i want it.” laurance protests, trying to reach for the page.

“nuh-uh. i’m hanging it on my wall!” you jump back, twisting your hands away from his reach.

he scoffs, narrowing his eyes and lifting his hands away. “fine. we get shared custody.”

“me too.”

“me three!”

you sigh at the three of your friends, before breaking out in a mischievous smile. “no.”

they begin to protest immediately, but before they can try to argue again you catch a glimpse of familiar blue hair approaching. 

“what are you dorks doing?” katelyn snickers, this time not accompanied by the boy she ran off with.

“fighting over custody,” aphmau says, sighing when you briskly walk over to kate’s side with an accomplished smile on your face.

“o…kay…?” she snorts. “well, jeffory had to leave early, so. what did you guys want to do next?”

“now you come running back to us…” you shake your head with pursed lips, only to get lightly shoved away by katelyn into the nearby railing.

“rude!” aphmau laughs, though her eyes trailed just behind the two of you towards something in the distance. “i don’t really care what we do, i’ll have fun either way.”

slowly, you follow her line of sight back to the face painting stand and recall her excitement from before. 

“you wanna greet your face painted?”

“what?” she flusters, turning away and fidgeting with her hands. “no, no. those are for kids, right?”

“i mean, you’ve never been to one of these things, right? and we’re still young… enough…” you shrug.”i’ll get mine done, too.”

she stutters. “you will?!”

“yeah, why not?”

katelyn awes, placing a hand over her chest. “well isn’t that cute.”

you turn to her, latching onto her arm. “you think so? then you can do it, too.”

“wh—” she scoffs, trying to pull back before aphmau also pulls her by her other arm. “i don’t think so.”

“yeah! you too!”

“and you two.” you turn your head, staring pointedly at the two boys who watched in amusement while beginning to drag katelyn with you. 

garroth stiffens up, his ears turning a bit red as his eyes dart to the childish designs on display. “er, i don’t know—”

he’s interrupted by laurance who wolfishly grins, clapping his hand on his shoulder and pushing him forward. the bored girl at the booth—who looked maybe college student age—stares at the five of you with a sigh that turns into mild amusement.

aphmau and you have katelyn locked in your arms like a prison. one she could most definitely easily break from if she put any effort to it, sure, but a prison nonetheless. laurance pushes garroth into the seat backing up with a chuckle when the boy gives him a small glare.

“he wants the glittery zebra design.”

“what? why do i have to get that one? what, you’re gonna get a cooler one?” garroth scoffs while the face painter shrugs and pulls out her pallet. 

laurance snickers. “yeah, i’m gonna get the glittery leopard print. way cooler than zebra.”

a few stares and a few picture-taking sessions in the photo booth later, you and your freshly painted friends’ faces wander around the park, cheeks and stomachs sore from laughter.

“oh, i’m so posting these, actually.” katelyn snickers down at the pictures, admiring the cool blue dragon design that curled from her cheekbone to her forehead.

“see.” you elbow aphmau’s side. “not childish at all.”

she gratefully smiles up at you, shrugging her shoulders up in overwhelming giddiness before eagerly looking around. “yeah! so, what now?”

“wanna get something to eat?” laurance suggests, steering towards the food stalls again.

“ooh, yeah. i smelled that funnel cake earlier, it smelled super good.”

garroth perks up. “i love funnel cake!”

“yeah, then we can go ride a few of the rides they have.” katelyn adds, biting her lip with a rather devious-looking sparkle in her eyes. “whoever throws up first on the spinning teacup owes everyone a free drink.”

“ew, no way!”

tag list: @orinlin @pain-in-the-ashe @youmake1mistake @arienic @wasting-away-on-the-internet @merurishi

©starhvney, 2024. please do not steal or repost my works as your own.

[crumblestew]

Poster concept based on my rewrite ideas and inspired by this incredible NPMD poster by @chatterghosts

(Katashi is a made up anime guy for Nana and Aph to root for in a generic shoujo, Katelyn is her love interest and Vylad is the one who gave her the tour on her open day, his surname is fletcher bc he was put into foster care. The bottom three obscured by the title are the shadow knights)

[wormzandgutz]

Scene and Gyaru are interchangeable to me

[faun-the-hound]

MyStreet picrews

will (eventually, maybe) draw the MCD and MyS versions myself, but I wanted a baseline design idea. I keep going back to a PDH/MyS rewrite in between all my Thoughts about MCD and wanted to make the main characters on one of my favourite picrews.

A few additional head canons/AU facts:

-Nana makes her own jewellery, all of her bracelets and necklaces are hand-made, so are the chokers Aph and Katelyn are wearing

-Aphmau was born with wings and white runes up her arms and on her face, no one knows quite why, but doctors have assumed she's a rare type of magi

-Zane's white streaks are natural, he wasn't born with them, but they started growing in when he was two/three (also applies to MCD Zane)

-Aaron is covered in scars from various fights with other werewolves, he refuses to use his wolf form when fighting, so he gets hurt more often

-Travis had to have his left leg amputated as a child and now has a prosthetic and uses a cane, only Dante knew him before his leg was removed

-Katelyn has really long, thick hair (almost to her hips) but she shaves one side of it almost religiously because her first girlfriend ever said it made her look badass, and she revels in that idea

-Lucinda got her first tattoo (butterfly on her chest) illegally as a teenager, Katelyn and Nicole have matching butterflies on their ankles they got at the same time

-Laurance is very far-sighted, man can't see shit more than three feet in front of him, this leads to him tripping/walking into things a lot, hence all the band-aids on his face

-Michi's parents were very not good to her and Mikai when they were little, and the two of them lived with their aunt throughout all of high school, she's not currently in contact with any of her relatives

-Dante is hard-of-hearing and wears hearing aids, which messes up his Magick when he tries to use it (siren magi, can't hear properly = can't do sound-based Magick properly)

-Garroth knows sign language and preferred to use it in high school as opposed to speaking, this was due to his stutter, though he learned initially for Zane (who is a selective mute)

-Nicole never knew who her mother was, but her father has told her a number of times she was a magi (a witch), Nicole doesn't know if that's true though, as she's never had any Magick of her own

will probably draw them all myself at some point, but there's a lot of characters and designs are hard. might try doing Dante again, I couldn't figure out his hair with the picrew I used

Picrew link:

TOON ME! ⟪ A ⟫｜Picrew

[creeky-cricket]

ok, question

ive been mass producing recently but now im at a cross roads and I wanna see what people actually want me to post, baring in mind that these will all mostly take quite a while