#the void is being obnoxious so what else is new

[cryptidvoidwritings]

I don’t have a lot in me for this month, but I wanted to at least have something for Day 1.

Ball

If anything is to be known about me, it should be that I am obnoxious AF about the last two minutes of the Jellicle Ball. My obnoxious rambling can be found below.

There is so much that's just good in the ball, so so so much to love, but there's something about the energy of Princess Louise that makes me want to immediately get up and join in (lol like i ever could) I love the wiggles, I love the kicks, I love to complain that more Tuggers should be allowed to join in that section you let Johnny P do it GIVE ME TUGGERS IN PRINCESS LOUISE I love how they're all dancing together and how the cats in the back will often join in either by rocking out or doing some of the movements.

The transition in the music into Warsaw causes a shiver to run down my back without fail. And that final minute. I can't I love watching them work together for the finale. Yes, they move in waves sometimes but this isn't about any one group or any particular cat - it's about the whole clowder working together to reach the finale of their special celebration of themselves and each other. It's exhilarating to sit through in the theater. Absolute perfection.

[iscopeee]

wrote a thing for the first time in years because wreck it ralph randomly implanted itself in my brain big time and i had to get it out or ill explode so i feverishly wrote this in one night YIPPEE

1997.

That was the year printed on the garishly coloured calendar hung proudly on the arcade’s wall. Litwak had hung it there mere hours ago before shutting down the arcade early to run off and go enjoy the New Year’s festivities, leaving the inhabitants plenty of time for celebrations of their own. Turbo could hear their cheerful voices now, echoing through the arcade - they were probably all gathered at Tapper’s or wherever, not that it mattered. Turbo had no interest in joining even if he were able - celebrating the passage of time felt pointless to him with how long he had spent in this purgatory of his own making.

It had been 10 years since his perfect life had been ruined. A whole decade since everything he had worked for had been ripped away. Now he was little more than a ghost with no game to call home, hiding in the shadows to avoid detection. He knew no one would forgive him for what he had done, and some of them would probably try to kill him if they found him. It was easier to lie low.

Turbo gripped the cloak and pulled it tighter around his shoulders. His cloak - black and white checkered, fashioned from the finishing flag from his home game. It wasn’t much for a disguise, but it at least bought him a few seconds to slip away without being recognised whenever he was spotted. He couldn’t help but smirk whenever he overheard talk of the “checkered spectre” when hiding behind the vending machines in game central station. It felt good to have his name on people’s minds, even under a false identity - though not as good as it felt to hear them whisper his true name under hushed tones. 

Turbo ran the flag’s fabric between his thumb and forefinger. Aside from himself, it was the only physical reminder he had of his glory days in TurboTime. The rest was destroyed, gone forever - not that he missed it. He didn’t miss his scowling opponents - those obnoxious twins, the only thing standing between him and his trophy. He didn’t miss the mind-numbing monotony of the circular track, the gravelly ear-splitting growl of his kart’s engine, not a thing - all he missed was the glory of winning, the warm glow of admiration, the beauty of the spotlight. Nothing else mattered. 

So then why did he feel such a pang in his chest as he stared down at the monochrome fabric?

Turbo scoffed and shook his head, looking back up at the calendar. He was perched on one of the girders in the Donkey Kong cabinet, his legs dangling off the side into the void below. This was one of the only vantage points he could use to see outside without being spotted by the others. Donkey Kong only had three inhabitants - Mario, Pauline, and of course the ape himself - meaning Turbo was often lucky enough to find the place completely deserted at closing time as the trio left to go do whatever the hell it is they do with their time.

On the calendar, the 7th of January was circled in red marker, with the words “new games!” barely visible written inside. Turbo squinted and leaned forward a little, looking for more information. A small poster hung next to the calendar, advertising the new games Litwak had ordered. Turbo’s eyes were instantly drawn to one particular listing. Sugar Rush. A racing game. Turbo’s lifecode. The gears in his mind instantly began to turn. 

Of course, multiple times in the past 10 years he had already considered jumping into someone else’s game long-term. It would certainly be preferable to creeping around in the background alone, with no one around to admire his talent. But that was the thing - his talent was racing. If he tried to blend in to any other type of game, he’d stick out like a sore thumb - and the other characters in the game would know he didn’t belong there. After TurboTime and Roadblasters were pulled, Mr. Litwak was oddly hesitant to order in any new racing games - the arcade had been completely devoid of them for 10 years now. He had always been a superstitious guy; maybe two racing games breaking at once drove him away from them. Until now.

A grin uncontrollably crawled across Turbo’s face, his hands balling into fists as he clenched his cloak. Yes. Yes, this had to work. It must work. Sugar Rush was a brand new game - it would be switched on for the very first time when it arrived at Litwak’s. The game’s denizens would be completely clueless, and would believe anything he told them - after all, they were quite literally born yesterday. It would be so easy to just make himself at home - make himself the star. It wouldn’t be hard to do at all. He had a trick for that.

In his time hiding in the background, Turbo had taught himself to manipulate a game’s code. It was shockingly simple. Each and every game had a control room hidden away somewhere, which could be used to edit the very code that makes up the game’s reality. All Turbo had to do was find the control room as soon as possible after the game was plugged in, and it would be all too easy to slot himself in as though he had been there all along. He could change his appearance, his name, his voice, everything to make him fit right in. But he wouldn’t be just any racer - of course not. That wouldn’t be good enough. He had to make himself the most important character in the game. A king.

Turbo was uncontrollably shaking at this point, bent over, manic chuckles escaping him and echoing through the empty game. One week. One more blasted week.

All he had to do was wait.

[hils79]

Hils Watches The King's Avatar - Ep 23

I don't even know that dude's name. He's just 'that fucking guy'. Anyway he deserves to be punched again.

I can't remember the last time I wanted to hug a fictional character this badly

YAY he showed up!

Whenever there's a game section I get super invested in what's happening and forget to liveblog but yay after some hesitation An Wenyi has learned that being part of a team is nice

Fine, I no longer hate him. But he'd better apologise for being a colossal dick to my son

Ye Xiu just out there collecting strays and misfits for his new team. Love that for him.

I love that Baozi has to be touching one of his boyfriends at any given moment

Shut up no one look at me. Yifan is holding Baozi's hand with both of his

Oh come on I am fucking sobbing now. He already sees them as his new family and look how they've already made a space for him. GDI no one told me the esports drama would make me cry so much

I can't believe how much I hated him in the last ep and now I'm sat here fucking bawling happy tears because he wants to be a permanent member of the team

YAY! I was just saying on discord last night that I hoped to see the Blue Rain husbands again soon and here they are!

God they are so obnoxiously in love. Look at them playing Jenga and flirting and being married

Oh my god Shaotian is messaging Ye Xiu about his husband and his laptop screen is on the projector where said husband can see everything that's being said

Look at him trying to hide his smile. He finds Shaotian's shenanigans so endearing

Wait, I'm confused. I thought they were playing Team Void next. Why are they talking about Team Blue Rain?

Yeah, see, I went back and checked!

Oh, god, here we go. Someone on discord warned me there was another character about to show up who they really liked. I can't keep up with all these characters!

Ooh is it someone older?

I'm...not sure that's legal

Everybody cyber stalking everyone else

I like that he's clearly supposed to be a bit older but the actor playing him his several years younger than the guy playing Han Wenqing

Wow those are some VERY WHITE shoes

Are Ye Xiu and this dude just going to keep roasting each other? Because I am here for it

[allwaswell16]

Hi! What ongoing fics are you currently following??

oof, I've been so busy lately that I haven't had a chance to really follow any but here are some I know about! And if anyone else has more, please reply with some others!

you are my destiny (you are the reason that i still believe) by @alwaysxlarrie

Being a new employee at a company means that you have to learn to brush off the shitty bosses, shitty coworkers, and not getting the credit you actually deserve for things. At least, that's been Harry Styles' experience. Coworkers who steal his ideas in pursuit of getting praise and a raise, and a boss who's indifferent at best and condescending at worst. Harry has learned to expect this reality for the foreseeable future. He's accepted it.

What he hadn't expected was for Louis Tomlinson to waltz into their company, and his life, and change around everything he thought he knew about fate.

A Cinderella AU.

Of Hangovers and Hell by @unreadablehandle

Harry is not exactly a loves-social-gatherings guy. So when Niall talks him into going to a party, one during which Harry somehow ends up in a room of no other than the pretentious athlete Louis Tomlinson... shit goes down.

(very loosely) inspired by that one selfie, you know which one

The Habit I Can't Break by @cyantific

While searching for a healthy alternative to fill the void that one habit left, Louis gets hooked on something and someone totally different. This new experience pushes him way out of his comfort zone, making Louis realize he’s capable of so much more than he could’ve ever imagined.

Or… The one where Louis quits smoking and tries to get healthy, and Harry is the fitness instructor who helps him achieve those goals while making him sweat in and out of the gym. In which Harry and Louis still meet at bootcamp, just not the one you’re thinking of.

Featuring Lottie as the supportive sister who drags her brother to bootcamp class, Louis as the grumpy (and very recent) ex-smoker, and Harry as the instructor with exhausting amounts of enthusiasm and one obnoxious pair of yellow trainers.

real love (ain't that something rare?) by roguesue / @theroguesue

Louis Tomlinson has been taught to appreciate life for the little things, to never take anything for granted and to always enjoy the things you have, no matter how little or insignificant they may appear to be. But when his mum marries a rich man, he’s suddenly thrust into a life he’s always hated.

He is determined to keep hating the life he's loathed since he was little, but everything changes when he meets a rich spoiled brat named Harry Styles, who as it turns out, has the power to more than change his mindset.

You, Me, (and everyone we know) by Imogenlee / @imogenleefic

Rockstar Harry Styles has been making headlines since he was barely legal. After a string of bad decisions, PR nightmares, and an obvious inability to take anything seriously, management and his other band members insist he needs a full-time, live-in personal assistant. After hiring and firing half of the executive PA's in the city, the boys stumble across one that might be able to put up with Harry's shit.

Applicant: Name: Louis Tomlinson. Qualifications: None. Experience: Two weeks. Why did you leave your last job: Boss was a wanker. Past Employer Referee: Absolutely not. What made you apply: I didn't. Why the fuck are you idiots making me fill this form out after you forced me to take the job?

Save Me (from myself) by Imogenlee / @imogenleefic

The problem with being friends with Liam Payne was that he had a lot of friends... and forced them to be around each other. When they finished high school, both Louis and Harry were equally relieved that they wouldn't have to tolerate each other constantly or whatever it was that they did.

For five years, it worked out perfectly. They'd only had to see each other a handful of times.

Unfortunately, Liam had to go and get engaged, ask them to both be groomsmen, and then go full groomzilla on their arses. With just twelve weeks to plan the 'perfect' destination wedding and throw every ridiculous pre-wedding celebration Liam and his fiancée stumble across, it was safe to say they were firmly back in each other's lives.

And no one could have predicted that was exactly what they needed.

Give Me Your Forever by twinflamelarry / @twinflamebreeze

Being born without any superpowers is about as normal as life gets, that is unless you are growing up in an academy full of kids with supernatural powers. That's Louis' life, being the ordinary one. These kids and this stringent academy are all he has known in the name of family and home. Eighteen bittersweet years, some friendships and a tragedy later, the academy falls apart, leaving everyone with the only option of moving on. And Louis does so, all in the hopes of leaving the past and that particular curly haired boy behind.

What happens when all of them return under the same old roof after seven years? The answer is, definitely not a happy family reunion. Louis could prepare for all of it; bitter family members, traumas of the past, old love and whatever life-altering secrets that will unravel during this visit, but how does one prepare for... possibly the end of the fucking world as we know it?

Or an Umbrella Academy AU with a good portion of gay romance.

it's you by harryanthus_annuus / @harryanthus-annuus

A threat clouds the success of Marcel Cox’s 2022 World Tour. In the final hour of desperation, his team sets out in search for a double. Only too happy to have someone else take the figurative bullet for him, Marcel makes sure this ‘Harry Styles’ bloke finds his list of assignments ample — including wining and dining his much-loathed PR boyfriend, Louis Tomlinson.

Calm after the Storm by Darling28 / @darling-28

Louis and Harry have been best friends since childhood and lovers since they were 15. They can't imagine their lives without each other and yet that's exactly what they both have to cope with when Harry is allowed to do a year's internship abroad. Both initially believe they can manage it but everything suddenly crumbles and neither of them knows how to hold on to the other.

While Harry suddenly has a rising career ahead of him, Louis slips into an abusive relationship after their break up without realising it.

But what happens when Harry comes back and stands in front of Louis again after years of separation? And how do you deal with it when you still love the other person as much as you did from the beginning?

I've Got Demons, You've Got Scars by @mission2feelike

Harry’s life has been ruined twice. Once, the first time his alpha raised his fist four years ago, and then again today when his job discovered that he is an omega in a world where omegas, especially bonded omegas, have no rights. Now, he’s stuck trying to figure out how he’s going to take care of his four-year-old daughter, Mia. Just when it’s looking completely hopeless, a possible job arises. Someone is looking for an omega to help an alpha in need. The only problem is that the alpha has been diagnosed with Alpha Rage, a crippling disease that causes an alpha to become feral, making them succumb to their most instinctual, primal versions of themselves.

A story of an omega that’s been broken, an alpha that can’t trust himself, and their unlikely relationship.

Lovingly known as 'The Feral Louis Fic'.

Unrequited by babyhoneyhslt / @babyhoneyheslt

Omega Prince Harry of England has been engaged to Prince Louis of France ever since he was a young boy. Having met him at four and forming a bond, Harry is upset to find that Louis no longer treats him like a friend, instead treating him coldly.

However, Louis has his own dark secrets and Harry doesn’t know just how many dangers linger in French Court.

[washingtonlowercases]

i have a lot of Thoughts about the chicago situation and im going to put them under the cut cause i know no one cares but i have no one to talk to so they're going here anyway

tw: sexual assault, r*pe, hazing ?

okay so like... what happened?? i watched that press conference (yay being unemployed, we love it here and we are NOT going insane) and i am now convinced that perry probably didnt have sex with bedards mom but actually did something really, really, very much so worse.

im not convinced nothing happened between perry and any bedard though. its such a specific rumor. and the gm and all these reporters being like iTS DISGUSTING TO EVEN SUGGEST- okay so where did it come from then?? can you show me the tweet from rangersfan420 who hates the hawks and started a rumor for fun?? can you find the source to PROVE its just a stupid internet lie?? i know its hard but if im chicago, im putting someone on it. if im a reporter (i know its a hard job, its a lot of work, etc but i have very little sympathy for most hockey reporters specifically because of, well- name any incident) im SCOURING the web for the source of that rumor to either ask how they know, or embed the link in my pay-wall blocked article for clicks!! you KNOW it would work, at least a few times. theyve had two days, has anyone even attempted this? (someone who's job it is, who's getting paid literally to either create news or to kill the rumor more effectively than whatever the hell the hawks are trying right now)

i might believe something sexual assult-y happened between perry and a player's family or player even except we KNOW for a FACT that the nhl and the hawks specifically do not care about that. they can "we're committed to change" all they want (clearly that's not working) but what motive would they have for kicking perry off the team? when has the NHL, or NHL fans (the loud, obnoxious majority, anyway) cared when a player has assaulted anyone?? we have seen sex crime after sex crime against women (and men!) committed by these players who are STILL PLAYING. no consequences enforced by their team, by the league, or by the media or fans (generally. there are good fans and there are some media outlets that care). so really, the hawks have no reason to kick perry off the team, or address the media, or make this into A Thing at all if that were the case. I know its hard to quash a rumor once it starts, but i honestly think if they had just been like "perry did *insert sex crime here* and thats bad, sooweee" people would be like BUT HES A GREAT PLAYER and people would be liek THAT SUCKS KICK HIM OFF THE TEAM and then in 30 hours there would be something new to yell about. (because being the moral police for this FUCKING LEAGUE is exhausting. where my red wings girlies who are dead inside at?? let me hear you scream into the void!)

so let's take a sexual encounter/assault off the table. what the hell was it?? probably not a racist thing. the chicago hockey team for sure doesn't care about that (See: their logo). its probably not a straight up and down illegal thing because the cops aren't involved as far as we know. (not that that really matters to this league either. remember the val nichushkin thing?? or the lucic thing?? {im assuming he'll be playing again soon} or like a million other things?? god this league is exhausting)

i saw someone say a hazing thing and that i might believe, esp bc of how their gm looked on the brink of tears. but then... say that?? or then why say no one else in the locker room knows about it?? are we keeping them in the dark or are we covering their asses legally??

this league is so fucked up, that there's honestly not much i can imagine that a hockey player could do that would warrant THIS from his team and the NHL.

(unless of course he's claimed off waivers or signed in like three months, then it's probably your garden variety assault/hazing/drunk/racist incident)

UGH i hate it here sometimes

[myimaginedcorner]

A TUMBLR STORY: TORN PAGE (p.1)

Light fades, and with it, darkness comes to be.

Void has no smell. It has no sounds, nor there’s a thing to see. Nothing is what caresses skin, its touch bearing no feelings. No cold chills bones, no heat warms mind and heart. The emptiness is omniscient, all-present. It weighs, and yet, its heavy pressure bears no harm – it doesn’t exist.

Void isn’t place for someone with remains. Sparks don’t ling love without air to maintain their flame, and so is Mind dependent on external stimulus. Inside the void, sanity fades away – no creature, not even a god, is able to resist what Nothing is. Yet, here you are. Alive where Life and Death dare not to show their thousand faces.

You want to scream, perhaps, but there’s no air to let you breathe. You want to know, but there’s no knowledge left around for your consumption. Your mind, too lively for this place beyond existence, remains trapped in the sole truth that still defines you – that there’s nothing else.

Hold on to it, for it’s the sole thing that can be perceived in Nothing. Claw to your conscience, as it threatens to disappear. You don’t know how long you’re left, here. Perhaps, you’ve been here centuries; perhaps, these were few seconds that you’ve had to live. Where Time is not a king, you’re left unbound to laws that ruled over your soul and body. Now, free of all, you’re bigger than you ever were, only to see how you’re still part of Nothing.

Stars blink. Not in the void, there’s nothing there for you. In your eyes, blinded by the darkness, light suddenly appears again, curious visitor that seeks response. You’re eager to reach out – your scream becomes an audible whisper, your eyes reflecting a caged creature that had been forgotten. You’re still there, despite all.

Congratulations.

***

It’s raining. Hiding from the cold drops, you open the big door and enter the warm premise, greeted by the subdued dance of a dozen candles.

You’re in a tavern. Lamps hang above your head, reflecting many colours, dyed crystals shaped into many forms. Bright wooden walls, covered in paint of rainbow palette, bear childlike presence of naïve décor, tints blended into messy patterns without clear design. Wardrobes stand around, their waists twisted into odd positions, peak and foundation different in size and shape. Tables – made with equal accuracy – hold lamps without fire nor light, only dark smoke of a purple tone raising towards the messy ceiling. A couple creatures sit around, drink in hand. They barely notice your entrance.

 “Ah, finally.”

A voice calls for you, sympathetic. Like songs of seas and rivers, its melody reveals you nothing of its owner. It has no age, no start or end present in its cheerful notes. It has no identity, its overwhelming wave drowning perceptions in its flow. It has no description, being all things at once and none of them at the same time. You can hear it, and yet, you question your own ears to be tricking your mind.

In front of you, behind the bar, a man stands. You’re quite sure they’re a man, at least, for now. Their ginger hair covers their ears with smooth, straight locks, their skin dyed by the light of candles. Their eyes are green, greener than grass or trees, emeralds paling in their presence. Dark diamonds rest on their eyelids, their brows and cheeks, two tattoos decorating what surrounds their vision. A hat stays on their head, a bigger one than they’ll ever need. It’s of obnoxious forms, its colour changing every time you try defining it. Two feathers stick out of a decorative band, a clock caged in the golden frame that holds them. Some flowers finish off the odd creation, their blossom set on repeat every other minute.

“New here, I see,” they smile, carefully cleaning a new glass. “Sit, be at home. We do all kinds of drinks here, I’m sure I’ll find your fit.”

Their smile is big and happy. Leaning with one hand on the table, they look you right into the eyes.

“So, where are you from? What’s your poison?”

KNOWN WORLDS:

Therania – Located on the verge of the Synara system, it rests quite far from the Universe’s centre. Having quite a thick energy layer, creatures there have developed energetic affinity, and learned how to control the invisible core of the material plane. Stagnant in scientific progress, it’s nonetheless considered one of the most powerful magical systems in the Cosmos. Its most prominent species are humans, elves and satyrs, although some others also walk its soil away from stranger gazes. Its main religions are the Old Gods and Fate, with Fate currently set as the one official faith for all human civilisations. It’s ruled by the Law of Black and White.

Myria – Located in the Haptra system, it isn’t far from other sentient worlds. Their energy layer was damaged by the One Star War, and now it’s considered vulnerable to otherworldly incursions. Underdeveloped after the lich Ego practically erased its strongest civilisations and took over an entire continent, Myria nonetheless shows a steady progress both in magic and science. Its most prominent species are humans, elves, dwarves and undead. Smaller civilisations include winged-walkers and dryads. Myria is also polytheistic and has no prominent church that raises above others. On world-scale, Myria believes in the Law of Black and White – however, many there know that nothing is so simple as a fairy tale.

Earth – A world located close to the Universe’s centre. Nothing is known about its energy layer or its potential. It’s a world of scientific progress, with magic forgotten by its only remnant human civilisation. It’s thought to be the cradle of the human species, once open to the worlds beyond. In places that still keep knowledge of this now closed realm, its name has one accepted meaning – “Where Gods live.”

Talhik – No one has ever heard of this world before. You’ll have to define it for us yourself (Initiate a week-long day-by-day story update to define a world between us all).

[safarigirlsp]

How do you feel about adding Serge from Megalopolis to your roundup? (Personally, I'm not going super crazy over the pics and the little bit I've read about his character, but I suppose it'll depend on how he's revealed in the movie.)

Hi and thank you for your message!

I was seriously excited when the Megalopolis news dropped. Francis Ford Coppola made the sexiest Dracula movie ever and even managed to make Gary Oldman kind of hot! I assumed he would make AD smoldering hot! I even read the script myself and although I wasn’t blown away, I thought it could be fun and had potential. I even like the name Serge. And I definitely love and prefer anti-heroes, villains, and bastards!

It was a bad day for me when those pics of that absolutely hideous hair dropped. Omg I was and am so pissed about it! What a fucking travesty to butcher AD’s hair like that - a man who has some of the best hair out there. It’s criminal. It’s like one of my best friends has said — Paul Giamatti exists and he’s a superb actor, so if you want someone who looks fugly but can act, get someone who’s fugly and can act! Don’t get one of the hottest men in the world and turn him into Paul Giamatti!

I personally only like men with good hair that is at least on the longer side and facial hair, both in actors and in real life. Almost without exception, short hair and clean shaven is a no-fly zone for me, along with blondes, redheads, and small men 🤣 There are exceptions, of course! But the super short Serge cut is an absolute turnoff for me. I just can’t. There is nothing he could do to redeem himself into being attractive to me short of getting a makeover. I might like the movie and the character, that remains to be seen, and I actually assume I might. But he’s very very unattractive to me. Like White Noise, I actually liked the movie quite a lot, but I’m very not into Jack as an object of attraction lol. If anyone else is into them, that’s awesome and more power to you! But it’s not my thing.

I’m so so happy for and excited by 65! I’m absolutely adding Mills to my lineup and I already have a couple things in the works for him and a bigger story planned. I’m also working on a fun AU for one of my friends who made an AD edit that looks like Cruella DeVille and asked for a thing with him 🤣 After 65 though, it looks like I’m in for a long drought of characters I find hot and am excited by.

As of January 1, I dropped Clyde, Henry, and Charlie from my lineup because I’m just so much more into Jacques and Flip, and I know I’m going to be obsessed with Mills. For the foreseeable future, I’ll be keeping my lineup to them and Kylo AUs. I’ll have my plate full with those four for anything I try to write this year. I also just enjoy writing them the most. And some other guys may show up for cameos here and there or as specials for friends!

My lineup was starting to look like this for a while 🤣

I’ve really been losing steam with the fic business just because it seems like there are much more meaningful and productive things I could and should be doing with my time. I have a novel I’m finishing and another crank out this year, so those definitely take priority, but I’ve generally enjoyed splitting it up with fics. I’ve literally written over a million words in fiction since 2020, and I go back and forth as to whether or not its been worth it or just a pathetic waste of time and cry for help 🤣 It feels like throwing it out into a void a lot of the time. However, at least it’s been good practice, which is why I’ve kept it up!

If you are into or get into Serge, I’m sure there will be plenty of fics out there for him! I expect him to be one of the more popular guys in fics going forward. If you get into Mills, I’ll definitely be your guy for him!

Sorry, that was an overly long-winded answer to your question! Talk about obnoxiously over-sharing 🤣

[the-dalseum-duet]

it’s the most wonderful time of the year!!

all of the anger is gone. it’s just regret that I wasted all of that time being angry. which I deserved to be angry. just sucks that it had to be that way. 

so. fucking with some greater blaire lore tonight :)

The void was black, and the void was endless. Its infinite existence was speckled with a few star-like spots. Adam assumed that’s where he got his freckles from. 

The void was named Cal, short for Calliope. Adam named her this. He never knew what her real name was, or if she even had a name. He had always known her, but she had never known him. 

Adam had the delicate hands of Orpheus, and she had the wretched, pulsing heartstrings of a muse. The weary eyes of the demigod would always quake in her presence, and her presence would always be present. It was an endless cycle of which only Adam seemed to be aware. 

Cal hadn’t seen Adam— or rather, the flimsy flesh and face mites he called home— in a long, long time. For Adam, it had been too long to recall. For Cal, it was her lunch break. She ate only almonds. A void must retain her incomprehensible shape. She somehow always ate slightly more than Adam, but was just shapely enough to scold Adam for his appearance. Adam still hadn’t grown out of her mindset, even though she was a never-ending expanse of nothingness.

Despite the rattling, head-splitting fear she knew she struck upon him, she always greeted Adam with utmost kindness. 

“You’re back!” she hummed through frequencies of star-struck radiation. “I love your boots. Are they new?��� 

“A gift,” Adam wordlessly responded. “For Christmas. From Charlie.”

“Oh, Charlie! God, I always hated her. I don’t know how you stand the girl. She’s nothing but ditzy and dirty. And obnoxious!”

“She’s brave,” Adam didn’t mean to say. 

“Brave for what? I would have enjoyed every second of her life if I was in her raggedy cowgirl shoes. She’s so lucky, and she threw it all away.”

“He wasn’t kind to her.” Adam blinked. 

“But he was hot, wasn’t he?”

“I didn’t like him, either.” 

“I almost forgot he took a liking to you. I don’t understand why. You don’t strike me as the type of man he’d want.”

“Because I told him I was uninterested in him, and I meant it.”

“Exactly. You were obnoxious, just like that Charlie girl. That little friend of yours, Sonnet? They were a good couple. I liked them together.”

“Sonnet didn’t know any better. I tried to save them—“

“You shouldn’t have. They were so much happier with him than they ever would have been with a man like you.” 

Adam sharply sighed. 

“So, what else is new with you?” Cal’s voice was like nails on a chalkboard, but it echoed for lightyears. “You have a new boyfriend?”

“No. Not really interested in one right now.”

“You’ve always been too ‘intellectual’ to care about that. Really, you’re stupid, Adam. You’re unlovable because you refuse to loosen yourself up.”

“I saw what happened to the people around him who were loose. I can’t afford that, Cal.”

“They were rich. And they had good sex with a hot man. Did you not want that?”

“I’m so much more than my money or my sex life.” 

“You’ve always been stupid. I don’t know why I keep trying to talk to you, Adam.”

“I don’t know why you refuse to listen to me.” 

“Adam, I’ve seen dozens of versions of you flash before my eyes. You used to understand me. You used to love me, son—“

“Don’t call me that.”

“You did! You loved me. You understood why I want you to stop being so selfish.”

“I’m not being selfish. I’m preserving myself. I tried to live your life, and it ruined me.”

“But, son, you were beautiful.” 

Adam’s heart slowed. The slow blinking of his eyelashes batted away the darkness. 

“But I am beautiful now. And I’m happy with who I am. That’s why I never come see you— you always see something wrong with me. My family loves me despite that.”

“That Crow kid ruined you with all his complex narrative nonsense.”

“He’s a great kid. Shame you missed out on watching him grow. He’s better off without your influence, though.” 

“He ruined everything that could have been great about you!”

“I’d argue he did the opposite.” Adam opened his pockets. 

“So why have you come crawling back here?”

“To give you this.” Adam dropped an envelope at his feet, and the inky expanse swallowed it. 

“Why would you do that?”

“It’s for Christmas. I miss our Christmases together.”

“Aww, really?”

“I like my new Christmas family a lot better, but nostalgia sometimes gets to me.”

“Oh, a poem!”

“Yeah, a poem?”

“Is there smut?”

“No, there’s no smut.”

“Why would you even give me this?”

“Merry Christmas, Cal. Tell your boys I said hello— you know which ones.”

“They’re doing much better without you, too.”

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

“Wait, what brand of lipgloss is that? I didn’t even catch that you were wearing it. I love the glitter!”

“Oh, it’s some Korean brand. Crow got it for me.”

“A Korean brand?”

“Yeah. Funny how that worked out, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.” The void somehow rolled its sparkling eyes. “Has he—“

“I still refuse to listen to any mainstream K-pop, it’s all corporate slop. He’s a pretty good guitarist, though.”

“God, I hate his anti-consumerist bee-ess. It’s crazy how he rubs off on you like that.”

“I think I’ve always had it in me somewhere.”

Adam smiled as he extended his arms, his golden curls sinking back into reality. The endlessness did not smile back. 

“Same time next year?” Adam asked, winking.

The void spat back a crumbled envelope. “I’ve always hated you, Adam.”

Adam laughed as he retrieved the paper. “You know, I wish I could say the same.” 

[priestessofspiders]

Between two ticks of the clock

“FIVE!”

I don’t really know why I even came to this stupid party. It’s not as though I know anyone here particularly well. All old friends from a high school existence I have more or less forgotten. An evening of misremembering people’s names, awkward small talk, and cheap wine.

“FOUR!”

But it isn’t as though I had anything else to do on New Year’s Eve, beyond laying in bed and plugging up my ears against the sound of fireworks and drunken revelry. And it would have been rude not to accept the invitation, wouldn’t it? Though in all honesty I am unsure whether or not my absence would even have been noticed.

“THREE!”

It’s all just so utterly shallow and pointless. A gathering of puppets jerking along on their strings and making meaningless noises to one another. It makes me sick to realize I’m one of them, to have my stupid, superficial existence revealed for the facade it is. I can’t even revel in the perverse schadenfreude of knowing I’m somehow superior to this gaggle of vapid not-things, deep down I know that I’m just like the rest of them. Empty. Hollow. Useless.

“TWO!”

After the party I’ll have to go stumble home, drunk and feeling worse than if I had simply slept through the whole thing. Reminded of the pitiful life I lead and how wholly and completely unremarkable I am, how totally indistinguishable I am from the other idiotic inhabitants of this rotten, befouled planet. I’ll sleep through most of tomorrow, the poison of the previous night’s alcoholism painfully draining away as I steel myself for the rest of the week’s torturous return to the office and the monotonous clockwork repetition it represents.

“ONE!”

I close my eyes and brace myself for the cheers, the fireworks, the noisemakers, and all the other obnoxious irritations typical of the holiday. And what an especially stupid and nonsensical holiday it is; an arbitrarily decided date by which the Earth’s rotation around dear old Sol is measured. The fundamentally meaningless passage of time being celebrated as some sort of achievement. It’s pathetic. Insects cheering into the void out of a sense of pride over their continued existence.

But there is no cheering. No fireworks. No noisemakers. All is quiet. It is the purest silence I have ever experienced. There is not so much as tinnitus to interrupt the smooth nothingness. For a moment, I fear I have gone deaf.

I open my eyes. I look around the room slowly, my conscious mind taking a moment to process what I am seeing. Everyone and everything is still, perfectly still, there is more movement from the inmates of an abandoned wax museum than there is from the inhabitants of this room. I observe one party goer, a young woman by the name of Dongmei, seeming to float a foot above the ground, eyes closed and mouth open in a noiseless cheer, her legs tucked up slightly as though she were jumping. But the verb “float” implies at least some degree of motion, some level of activity, which feels wholly inaccurate. Despite her elevation off the ground, Dongmei appears as solidly immobile as a beetle trapped in amber.

All of the other attendees seem similarly frozen, wholly and completely still to such an extent that it feels impossible that they ever could have moved in the first place. It feels as though such motion would be incompatible with their very existence, a violation of the natural order as preposterous as expecting a dropped object to fly upwards into the sky.

Despite the surreality of my situation, I do not feel panicked. In fact, I do not feel much at all. My emotions are almost completely dulled to what is happening. I feel nothing but the psychological equivalent to the same sort of numbness one experiences with a local anesthetic, a faint pressure like a ghost of sensation as the doctor fiddles about with your deadened limb.

I am still able to move, and I do so. The faint clacking of my high heels against the tile floor is the only sound that penetrates the all pervading silence. I walk out of the living room, past the totally motionless objects that feel now more like abstract sculptures than living human beings, and move to the lobby. I open the door and step out into the night.

The motionlessness and silence is not limited just to the house. The entire world seems shrouded in a thick stillness that suffuses everything. No wind rustles the fallen leaves. The moths hang in the air, unmoving, around the bulbs of the streetlamps. I look up at the sky, but there is no moon, no stars. Just inky, endless black.

I walk through the streets beneath the overhanging nothingness, my own footsteps seeming somehow profane in the sacred quiet that has engulfed the entire world. I do not know where I am going, I simply walk forwards, one step at a time, observing my surroundings passively as my feet carry me to some unknown destination. I am dimly aware that I am not simply wandering. I have a goal, but whatever it is has been occluded from my conscious mind.

My legs robotically continue their automatic motions as I peer through the lit windows of houses and apartment buildings. Inside, the forms of human beings, frozen stiff as though victims of a gorgon, stand in poses of celebration, milliseconds away from the completion of the midnight countdown. But time has stopped, the countdown is interrupted, and they exist now between the moments, caught betwixt one year and the next by the gap of a single heartbeat. It’s impossible, I know, but deep down I can feel that the world has ceased to spin upon its axis. Even the tireless rotation of the Earth has been stopped dead in its tracks.

I do not know how long it is before I reach the river. I do not think it would be possible to measure time in a world where it no longer exists. I look out across the still, mirror-like surface of the water, reflecting back the lights of the city and a black canvas devoid of stars. It is the most perfect thing I have ever seen.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

I am startled out of my reverie by the sound of another person, a fellow violator of the pristine silence. The voice is clear, smooth, and tinged with a faint accent which is impossible to place. Somewhere Scandinavian perhaps? Their sex is similarly indeterminable. I turn my head to the left to see who had spoken.

They stand not 6 feet away, looking out towards the river. I realize that I had noticed them previously, but their silence and stillness had led me to believe they were just as inanimate as the other inhabitants of this lifeless city. They are wearing a long, hooded coat, their hands tucked into their pockets. Their face is obscured beneath a mask of some sort. As they turn to look at me, I recognize it as a porcelain comedy mask. I cannot see their eyes. They begin to speak again.

“At the end of time, everything will be as it is now. Silent. Beautiful. Dead. Not that life was anything but a triviality anyway.”

Despite the mask obscuring their face, the stranger’s voice is not muffled in the slightest. It rings out clearly, each word enunciated perfectly in the still air. I nod politely at their observation. They continue to speak.

“There is no real, appreciable difference between that which is dead and that which has not lived. The emphasis on death as an especially noteworthy or in some way profound occurrence is simply due to the exaggerated importance that the living place upon their own transitory state of being. Life is a mere abnormality, the briefest of blips disrupting an otherwise uninterrupted eternity of everlasting silence. For every single meaningless speck of vitality cavorting about, proclaiming its own greatness, it is surrounded by a trillion uncaring corpses. The speck can make as much of a fuss as it likes, parading around its unnatural animation as though such a coincidence of chemistry is some sort of achievement. But in the end, everything stops. Everything dies. And the speck rejoins the corpses once again.”

The emotional numbness is beginning to wear off, a sense of creeping dread sending shivers down my spine, but in its place is a very tangible, physical paralysis. I want to flee from this stranger with their smiling, pallid mask, but my limbs are locked in place. I am trapped in my own body, an increasingly terrified mind screaming for freedom in a prison of petrified meat.

“You think you understand what I am telling you, but you don’t. There is no possible chance of you having the slightest knowledge of the absolute truth. These words, they’re just abstractions, imperfect analogies. To truly comprehend, you must see.”

With that, the stranger takes a blackened, rotten hand from their coat pocket and lifts it to their face. They begin to pull off the grinning porcelain mask.

“HAPPY NEW YEAR!”

My screams of terror mix with the enthusiastic cheering of my fellow party goers as the noisemakers and fireworks go off with the conclusion of the countdown. I look around in wide eyed confusion as I realize I am back in the house, back at the party. I unconvincingly try to masquerade my frightened sobs as some exaltation of happiness and excitement before slipping out the door and making my way home. Nobody follows me, and I hope that the others were too distracted to notice the look of distress on my face. I look up to the sky and laugh at the twinkling stars over head, practically weeping with joy as my ears detect the distant sounds of fireworks and laughter.

My route home takes me past the river, and I shudder involuntarily at the sight of a dark clad figure, but breathe a sigh of relief as I realize it is only a drunken reveler, slurring the words to “Auld Lang Syne” as he staggers his own way home. I wish the man a “Happy New Year” and he flashes me a comical salute as he stumbles past.

As the man’s mumbled singing recedes behind me, I hear a crunch underfoot as the toe of my shoe collides with something brittle.

I look down to see the shattered visage of a porcelain comedy mask, smiling up at me from the pavement.

[ginara-mae]

28 Days

The debt it hangs over me like a dark cloud

It’s screaming at me constantly so damn loud

I want to scream at him, demand responsibility 

Trying to keep us afloat is near killing me

Money he can’t spend, everything he can’t buy, 

Somehow what he wants, is left to me to deny

Then he takes it out on me, he sulks like a child

While I work so hard to give it all, I begin to feel beguiled

I look for silver linings and count all my blessings

He manages to find every little thing distressing

Life is what you make it, you get what you give

While I know it’s cliché, it’s the best way to live

But he doesn’t seem to care, doesn’t seem to get it

Doesn’t hold himself accountable, not one bit

He's oblivious, his accountability's void

He can't see his faults, remains paranoid

Bright positivity dampened, shrouded by cloud

The negativity is becoming far too loud

I can see that he’s trying, I know that it’s tough

He needs to try harder, right now it’s not enough

These Deadly Sins I use, sloth and gluttony

I’m sitting here hoping that they will comfort me

The irony is cruel, they only make things worse

Carrying on like this, will bring me to my hearse

My body it aches, my heart it breaks

Every time I pack on one more pound

I can’t fit in my clothes, for picture I don’t want to pose

Body cracks from head to toe, a deafening sound

Am I the one impatient, do I need to wait?

I recognize the healing process is not a floodgate

It’s baby steps and setbacks and trying your best

Perhaps I should let time take care of the rest

But restless I’m becoming despite his attempts

I find myself holding his flaws in contempt

He’s helping out much more, he’s angry much less

But somehow my mind is still a big mess

It can be hard to notice your own changes, they unfold so gradually

I’m not the same person I was 6 years ago, I can see it naturally

I think, shouldn’t I choose my person based on who I am now?

And not getting ready to make an unbreakable vow?

I think about what my life would be like, this daydream transcends

Would I get to geek out with a brand new group of friends?

About books, writing, music and games

Would I find a friend who’s also obsessed with names?

And what about my lover, would he be confident and strong?

Would he have the compassion and understanding I’ve looked for in him for so long?

Would he help push me to my limits mentally and physically?

Help me to become the person, I know that I can be?

At times I contemplate a fresh new start,

Selling all our things and living our lives apart

But mostly I feel lucky to love and be loved, by this man who cares so much

I can feel my heart gripped so tight in his desperate clutch

By day the choice seems so clear

As I listen to him rant and rave in my ear

No self awareness in him, to hear his obnoxious immaturity

Though he’s somehow still filled, with complete insecurity

By night I wish I could say, it just went a little hazy

But no, it somehow turns a complete 180

When we are home, he’s a wonderful lover and a friend

He makes me want to be by his side until the very end

This dissonance is maddening, I just need it to stop

I know I need to do something, before I blow my top

Going around in circles even while I write this

Wish I wouldn’t think about it, I’ve heard that ignorance is bliss

Such doubt should make this decision crystal clear

Especially since being alone is not something I fear

The fear is being without him, I’ve done it once before

I packed away all my things and walked right out the door

I can still feel our agony, regret and despair

Our break lasted a day, to do it again, how could I bear?

I need to appreciate our connection the good and the bad

To do anything else it seems will just drive me mad

I’m getting much more time with my Dr. Jekyll

Even Mr. Hyde is not so bad, in fact he’s just a speckle

But I worry often, will the changes stick, will he regress?

These fears of mine I don’t confess

I hold my breathe and bide my time

Content to know that he is mine

This time next year, he’ll want me in a vail

But I will only do that if I can exhale

He’s great at the little things which is usually harder to do

But when it comes to the big things, will he be able to pull through?

Often times I wonder how what parts of him are him or the drugs

But all my doubt just goes away when he pulls me in his hugs

We bond over the little things, we’re happy in our bubble

Our days start to feel like we are climbing out of rubble

Happier times on the horizon, I can see the sun’s bright rays

There’s hope life will be better after his 28 days

[tangiblejournal56]

8/30/11

Another sleepless night.  Sammie, Josh, Jacob & Jennifer gone by the time I arrived home at 11pm.  Lying in bed in the living room, I watched “The Misfits” & eventually found myself sobbing, torrentially, uncontrollably, anything & everything inside of me pouring out violently, my eyes two swollen, red masses, the tears hot & stinging, & seemingly endless.  I wept until I couldn’t see, couldn’t breathe.  Gut-wrenching, heaving, loud moans emitting from some deep void within me, the void left by this total & utter loneliness.

It had ceased when the four loudly returned, three in the morning, sloppily drunk & energetic.  Sammie ecstatic to see me, “Jamie my love!  I’m so happy to be your roommate!”  Her friend Jennifer, excited as well to see me, the two enveloping me into clumsy hugs & exaggerated affection.  My body limp as a wet rag, I allowed this, reciprocating as much as I could muster.  Jacob laid down across the deck & the others went down to the pool for a night swim.  I helped him up, he’d made the error of trying to keep up with the girls in drinking.  An overly intoxicated, blurred version of himself.  I got him into his own bed & joined him, a prearranged deal as Jennifer would be sleeping in my bed.

“Ugh, do you have to sleep on me, it feels so not good right now!” he mumbled with his thick tongue, & I rolled away from him, hurt though I knew I shouldn’t be.  Amid his inebriated rambling he slurred some line about “that Jennifer girl, you know she’s into me, but she’s still a virgin, I can’t do that with a virgin.”  A pang in my head & ego, I lapsed into silence.  I rose to go out to the deck for a cigarette, wondering to myself, “Could this night get any worse?”  When I went back to his room, it was to grab my pillow & blanket.  “Where are you going?” he mumbled, eyes clamped shut.  “You can sleep in here.”  “I’m going to sleep on the floor,” I said, walking out.  “Naaah, just shut the door & lay down,” he feebly insisted.  “Goodnight” was my answer, leaving him.

Lying on the floor in the living room, I thought, “If I’m going to be alone, I want to be truly, truly alone.”  I must get used to this, & sleeping next to Jacob will not help.  I also felt hurt, a resentment, that inferiority, that when Posi Thom & Racha were here I’d organized everything so everyone would have a place, no one on the floor.  And yet here I was, & no one else cared to do the same for me.  How if I’d been anyone else, there would have been a great resistance to my sleeping on the floor.  How life keeps illuminating upon me the extent to which I am disposable, expendable.  Among my friends, among my family, coworkers, etc.  I am not needed by anyone but for helping them service their own needs.  A source of entertainment for Jacob to ebb boredom, a portal for him to fuck without feeling guilt or obligation.  Max as well.  Psychiatrist, champion.  And never, never good enough.  Not enough to merit any lasting position in their lives.

I’d thought, “Could this night get any worse?”  Of course it could.  Their loud, drunken return from the pool, without regard to my needing to get up for work in three or less hours.  Josh being the most inconsiderate, stomping, slamming doors, obnoxious laughter followed by pointless & loud “Shhhhhhhh!”  I stood, gathering my blanket again, & ignoring Josh’s calls to me I reentered Jacob’s room, the only space away from the noise.  I laid on my side as close to the edge of the bed as possible, careful not to touch Jacob in any way, & tried to catch a nap.  Waking exhausted to come into work for my second out of three doubles in a row.

I feel as though I’m shedding a skin.  A part of myself, though I’m unsure what part.  Will I come out new & improved, the phoenix reborn of flames & ash?  Will it all have been worth something?  Or is this just a dying off of a part of myself, something I’ll never be able to regain, like my idealism when Ryan & I split, how that dissipated away into nothing, leaving this stale bitterness in its wake.

Later

Another three rounds in the ring with Max, another falling out in spectacular fashion, fireworks, barbed insults, the degree to which only the truly close can hurt.  I do not wish to chronicle the mess of details, though I will admit I shouldn’t have talked to him in the hopeless, cornered-dog state I was in, & yet I persisted.  In his defense he tried to avoid it.  I felt he was being hypocritical, accusing me of sending him extremely self-pitying texts to which he knew not how to respond, & I asked him how that was any different than half the texts he sends me (fully knowing how it worries him that he may come off as whiny when he vents to me, to the point where it stops him from releasing that steam sometimes - cruel, yes).  A fight of me accusing him of being like everyone else, using me for whatever he wants & then giving me no support in return - not very true, save for occasionally.  Not true, especially as of late, how he was so kind & supportive on the phone the other night toward my pain.  He responded defensively, probably shocked as hell at this sudden attack.  I admit my injustice, I’m not denying even that I am guilty of using him for my punching bag during this conversation, a horrid, rotten thing to do.  In the end I told him if I’m going to be alone, I wanted to truly be alone.  “I don’t want any friends or anyone around me.  See ya.”  This was honest.  I don’t want to see anyone, be nice to anyone, I don’t want friends.

I can feel myself crawling inward.  Closing shut myself like the slamming of prison gates, impenetrable.  I don’t even want to talk to Racha.  I want everyone to leave me alone so I can cultivate this hate inside of myself, let the dead spot in my diamond grow until it consumes me.  Live only for myself, so no one can affect me, hurt me.  No more moments like today, Jonathan approaching me, “No-go on Boss, he said he thinks you’re sweet but he doesn’t mix business with pleasure.”  Sweet.  That most nefarious of fake compliments.  Always so sweet, that’s me.  Like the world’s little sister.  Such a great friend.  

I am so tired of being sweet.  I have nothing but coldness inside of myself now.  No interest in doing anything to help anyone anymore.  Opposition, I actually want to indulge in acts of cruelty, in evilness.  Openly, secretively.  I want to hurt everyone, make them all reel in amazement at how they could’ve been so deceived.  To scratch the world to death.  Engage in wretchedly destructive efforts.

Josh, Jacob, Jennifer & Sammie on their way to pick me up.  I have no real desire to hang out with them, but tonight I plan to get fantastically drunk, I want to fall down, faceplant into the pavement, vomit furiously all over, make them scared, regretful.  I want to say cruel & scathing things about them & everyone we know, make them nervous & uncomfortable.  I want Jacob to look at me with disgust, to shatter every nice thought of how I’m such a good friend.  I want them to think me a hell of a mess.  I’ve failed at being the good girl, of being everything they’ve needed me to be.  I have given all & kept nothing of myself, & so this cold, steeled self has risen out of me, my new armor.  I will need & ask for NOTHING, of ANYONE.  I am alone, I’ve always been alone, & I should behave accordingly.

Fuck them.  Fuck the world which has given me nothing I can use.  The true world was bullshit.  Never existed but for the briefest period of time, the only time I wasn’t alone, the cruelest time in my life as it was one massive LIE.  Setting me up.  Yes, I resent it, & Ryan, & that baby that destroyed everything we could have been.

So, too cowardly to perform the most honest act, I become this.

[joshslater]

Armani

Similar stories and bonus material on my Patreon.

Don't get greedy. Don't get cocky. Don't try to be smart. That's always how they get you in the stories. Andy's mind was reeling as his gaze was transfixed on the being in front of him. Human on the surface, but definitely not human. While he was perfectly visible he emanated kind of the opposite of light. There was like a halo of darkness around him.

He was convinced he needed to answer something. He was pretty sure whatever was in front of him wouldn't leave unless he "stated a desire". It had been more of a command than an offer or a question. The rules in all the comics had been unanimous that debts had to be paid, contracts had to be honored to the letter, but the wiggle room was in what those letters said. So keep it simple, limit potential damage, and be happy with whatever came from it. Then again all those stories could be complete bullshit.

"I want a new outfit. A two-piece Armani, socks, and shoes. All matching and fitting me."

The being's expression of bemused contempt remained unchanged as he declared "It is done. The indebtedness has ceased." and flickered out of existence.

Andy felt almost blinded looking at the kitchen without a void in the center of it. He looked down and felt a tired disappointment, like reading a dad joke punch line. Of course it wasn't what he'd asked for, but he basically knew from the start it wouldn't be that so how could he be disappointed? He was wearing a grey sweatshirt and joggers, both branded Armani. The Emporio Armani EA7 cashgrab line of clothes. The legs of the joggers were tucked into a pair of black socks. Finally, he saw he was wearing a pair of black, white, and orange Airs. Far too obnoxious than anything he'd normally wear.

Resigned he walked into the hallway to look in the full-length mirror before he could take it all off and pretend none of this had ever happened. The first thing that literally stood out was his ears. It wasn't a big change, not one that anyone who didn't know him would find remarkable, but his ears were larger. The more he looked at this face the more subtle changes he saw. Subtle enough that he wasn't even sure about all of them.

What wasn't subtle was the cap loosely resting on his head in a way that made him look taller. Suddenly he realized he wasn't at his normal vantage point. The top of the hat was how tall he'd normally be, so he'd shrunk an inch or two. Again, subtle enough that no one else would probably notice. He removed the hat and found a new haircut. Fade to skin on the sides and a mop of hair on top. Nothing outrageous, but nothing he would have chosen.

Confused and increasingly worried about the full extent of the changes he tore off the sweatshirt. This was perhaps the biggest change he had gone through. On the one hand he looked thinner than ever before, but at the same time he had visible muscle on his body, like that of a mountain climber. Flat chest and abs with clear outlines of muscles.

Then it hit him. It should all match and fit him, which meant he was a variable in the spell as well. He had allowed himself to be toyed with.

"Fucking shite, innit", he said out loud with a strong accent, and his eyes widened as he heard himself.

[soriastrider]

Please tell us more about shadow demon Jake, I’m so interested :3c

ooh okay sure! :3 so i will be honest, like i said before this is still mostly just a jumbled collection of thoughts lol BUT i like the shadow boi enough that i've come up with a bunch of random ideas about him

i sort of said this before but my brain spawned him while i was supposed to be studying for my partial differential equations exam. brain said "time to not do math right now and instead draw vaguely suggestive 'dirk getting possessed by spooky demon boi jake'" and then it appeared on my screen (i am a sucker for demon stuff). so hooray for that? lol

so! hmm what do i have about him

jake enjoys being a mild nuisance. being Legitimately Evil (TM) is way too much of a hassle, and he'd rather just chill and make himself a very cute, very unavoidable bother to his new human boyfriend whose soul he now owns and who he can possess at will. dirk is just like hey, so what if he's a demon, that's fine i guess. take my soul, not like i was really using it anyway. he's hot and gives great hugs and is probably not going to kill me. it's cool

despite generally not being outwardly malicious, jake won't hesitate to do pretty much whatever is necessary to get what he wants. sometimes this causes some problems

he generally acts fairly normal but sometimes he'll just casually make a very disturbing comment or cheerfully suggest murder as a solution to a minimal problem ("Say old chum do you think we ought to pop down and eliminate the downstairs neighbors? Theyre quite the nuisance with all that noise. Itll only take a moment dont worry. Well be back in time for dinner!") and dirk will have to explain that no, we can't just go around killing people because they're annoying, jake. if nothing else, think of the paperwork.

jake can dissolve back and forth between his shadowy form and his human form at will, and can mix and match them as much as he wants. sometimes he manifests with horns and fangs, sometimes he looks fully human, sometimes he is a cloud of void with his spooky glowing eyes and mouth. he likes to hug and touch and generally put himself obnoxiously in dirk's personal space, and dirk puts up with it because he likes it he generally thinks jake falls closer to cute than annoying on the scale of "yes" to "stop"

and ive said this part but full possession turns dirk's eyes green, and if jake just sort of "suggests" or pulls an incomplete possession they just start tinting partially greenish. jake likes watching this. he's also got a bunch of fancy demon abilities (tm) that can transfer to dirk upon possession. ooh maybe jake's influence makes dirk able to flashstep for this au, that's cool. anyway jake!dirk running around looking and acting like an eldritch nightmare boy is a fun thought lol

[biggest-stupidhead]

more modern au levi x reader!! is it okay where reader makes petra jealous???

Just a reminder: WE DO NOT CONDONE PETRA SLANDER IN THIS HOUSE!!!

with that said, I will write this heavily focused on Petra to make it a lil angsty, hope you enjoy!

Summary: Petra watches her ex fall for another

Word Count: 1.7K

__ 

It had been two long years since Petra and Levi ended things. It wasn’t messy but it was painful, she had seen it coming from a mile away. He had grown just as distant as he had been when they first met. Staying late at work, texting her dryly, and using terrible excuses. Although she had known it was coming, she still was a wreck when he actually ended things. She spent the months following the break up drinking wine and crashing at Oluo’s place regularly. After two years she was finally feeling better, dare she say, ready to get back into the dating scene? Or at least that’s what she thought, she was scrolling through her instagram feed when she stumbled across Hange’s page. It was someone’s birthday, someone she wasn’t familiar with. 

A woman with bight eyes and an even brighter smile was in the center of the group photo. On her right was Levi, who had an arm thrown casually over her shoulder, the faintest trace of a smile on his lips. Petra pinched the screen to zoom into Levi’s side, where she saw a feminine hand on his waist. She stared stupidly at the image. She shouldn’t feel jealous, she had no right. It had been two long years since the break up. But the picture only dredged up old memories of times when she would hold Levi that same way. When that smile was directed to her. She then turned her attention to the caption, which read: 

Happy Birthday (Y/n)! 24 never looked so good!

She then scrolled through the comments, many of them consisted of birthday wishes and support. She lost interest when she didn’t see Levi’s username and instead went back to the collection of photos, three of them in all. The group one that she assumed had just been taken, the second one was a picture of Hange and you on the beach, Petra felt a involuntary wave of self consciousness wash over her at the site of you in a swim suite. The final picture was the one that hurt the most though, it seemed to be a very old picture of you, maybe from your early years in college? You were sitting on a couch with younger versions of Hange, Erwin, Levi, and Moblit. Levi’s arm was casually thrown over your shoulders. Why had he never mentioned you before? Were you the reason that they broke up? No Levi had assured her that it wasn’t like that, said he wasn’t seeing anyone else. She tried to stop herself from going down that rabbit hole, but she couldn’t seem to. Before she really knew what she was doing, she had clicked on your profile which she was almost disappointed to find as public. This meant that there was nothing stopping her from judging every perfect image that was posted, and to her pleasant surprise, there was only one photo of you and Levi. The photo was posted the week prior, the two of you were hiking in the mountains, the dusty trial behind you. Your face was flushed from the exertion of the climb, Levi seemed cool as a cucumber, his face blank and void of emotion. She scrolled through the post and found a video, the sound of your shoes crunching and Levi talking behind you were clear as day. 

“I mean come on, who uses fucking Lipton? Have some god damn class.” Levi spat, as you snorted in amusement. Petra found herself chuckling along with you at Levi’s little rant. She felt a rogue tear slide down her cheek when you showed the phone to Levi, who’s face fell from being mildly animated to apathetic once more. You cackled as he swiped the phone and the video ended abruptly. It was so innocent, it was clear from the rest of your page that you were a private person, much like Levi. With little indication that you were dating him, it left her wanting to know more. More about the girl that had taken her place, had managed to worm her way into Levi’s heart of stone and make herself comfortable. As soon as these thoughts crowded into her head, she deleted instagram all together and powered her phone down, determined to wipe her memory of the images she had seen. 

__

The music was a nice distraction from the awkwardness that hung in the air. You had arrived uncharacteristically early to Hange’s party, and consequently meeting a whole group of people that you had never met before. The new people were about your age, three young men and one stunning young woman. It was early fall and Hange’s annual bonfire bash as you all had dubbed the event. Basically you lit a massive fire, when you were younger it was your past assignments from your pervious school year, then it became just regular old wood. You tapped your finger against the cool beer bottle as you leaned up against the counter, the men were laughing obnoxiously as they dropped the alcohol that they’d brought into one of the many coolers. The woman was looking at you almost nervously, she seemed extremely on edge, shifting her weight back and forth, eyes wandering around the room in a jittery manner. You frowned, wondering what was bothering her, but ultimately deciding that it was not really your business. Erwin shimmied behind you, his hands on your shoulders as he slide past you into the kitchen. You caught his arm, clinging to his familiar presence. 

“Erwin.” you hissed as he stooped to reach your level. 

“Who are these people?” you asked as you held his bicep firmly in your grasp. He pulled away and looked at you with a confused expression. 

“You mean Levi didn’t tell you?” He said slowly, clearly he was unsure if it was his place to speak on the relationship between Levi and these people. 

“No....” You said carefully, not wanting to make Erwin uncomfortable. 

“Oh well they used to work in the same department before Levi switched.” He said, he looked over to the men and motioned for them to come over, they ambled over with curious expressions. 

“What’s up Erwin?” the dark haired man asked as he looked between the two of you. 

“Just thought I’d ought to introduce you to (Y/n) here, she’s an old friend of ours from high school.” Erwin explained, his hand still comfortingly placed on your mid back. You waved shyly and smiled at all of them, including the girl. 

“Pleasure to meet you.” The blonde with a ponytail said, outstretching his hand to shake yours. 

“I’m Eld, this is Gunther, Oluo, and that fine young lady over there is Petra.” He said, pointing at all of them respectively. 

“It’s so nice to meet you guys!” you said sweetly as you struck up a conversation with Oluo about what they thought about the department that they worked in. It didn’t go unnoticed that Petra remained nearly silent, her amber eyes wide and a bit fearful. When the interns arrived, the men were quick to go help them carry in the alcohol that they brought, leaving you and Petra alone in the kitchen. You cocked your head at her as you poured some pretzels into a large bowl. The warm glow of the setting sun cast a halo over her head and you couldn’t help but voice your admiration for her. 

“You’re really pretty.” you gushed as she blushed at your words and turned to look at you with wide eyes. 

“So are you...” She returned the compliment and you smiled, feeling more at ease now that the two of you were alone. 

“So how long have you known Hange?” You asked conversationally as you crumpled up the bag and tossed it into the trash. 

“Hm let’s see...about four years now?” She responded with a bit of a wistful tone. 

“Really? I’m surprised we haven’t met sooner!” you chuckled as the two of you opened a bottle of wine and poured it into two large glasses. The two of you strolled out into the bark yard, where Hange and Moblit were chucking large pallets of wood onto the fire pit. You and Petra sat down in two lawn chairs watching as Hange and Moblit bickered over if it was safe enough to light the fire with gasoline. 

“I am too, you seem....like a really nice girl.” Petra said a bit downcast as she looked deeply into her wine. 

“So do you! We should grab breakfast ooo or maybe even brunch sometime!” You said excitedly and Petra sat there in awe, wondering if there was even a mean bone in your body. Or if you had any clue that she had dated Levi. 

“Yeah...this is kind of random but...are you dating Levi?” She blurted out, her face turning to look at you with a flushed expression. You nodded nonchalantly and took another sip of your wine. 

“Yeah we just started dating about a year ago.” You said with a shrug, Petra inhaled, readying herself for the next words that would either make or break the future relationship between the two of you. 

“Did...you know we dated?” she said, cringing when the words left her mouth. She sounded crazy and she knew it, but she felt obligated to clear the air between you before it got bad. 

“Hm I think he mentioned it once or twice, and Hange told me about you when you first started dating.” You said looking up thoughtfully, your tone held no malice or any sign of ill will. 

“You’re not...” 

“Insecure? Nah, and don’t take that like I’m being cocky! I just mean that...” 

“No, no let’s just not do this. I’m sorry for bringing it up. God I’m such a bitch.” Petra went to stand and you followed her, catching her wrist. 

“It’s alright really, I don’t care about what happened between you and Levi. It’s frankly none of my business, I just...wanna be friends with you.” you smiled at her sheepishly as she looked at you with wide eyes. 

“Oh” She managed to say dumbly. 

“That is if you want to be friends.” You said, letting go of her hand and giving her some space. 

“Yeah...I think that I’d like that very much.” Petra said with a bright smile. 

__

In honor of Women’s History month, I couldn’t bare to write something that was a stereotypical jealous ex, so I did the next best thing and wrote this more geared towards the reader and Petra bringing each other up instead of tearing one another down. As someone who was apart of the fandom back in like 2014 I am way too familiar with writers turning Petra into a psycho bitch, and I don’t like that. SO I hope that this is good enough to fit the prompt! 

[shinescape]

Imitation

Human Ateez x Android Reader

Requested!

note: a birthday present for @navihwa requested by a dear anon. I hope you like how this turned out. Happy Birthday and enjoy the read <3

Out of curiosity, San had brought you back home, an android he found standing outside a pizza place. He went out by himself, trying to get his hands on the new game he’d been dying to play but instead found you looking ahead outside a restaurant, standing as still as a statue.

He stepped closer and took in the sight of the uniform you were wearing, a stained apron on. “Are you okay?” He asked and made a step back when you suddenly looked him in the eye.

Your pupils focused on the stranger’s face as you started to analyze him. A normal citizen that meant no harm, that’s what he was according to the processed information that you collected.

“I’m fine. I just got fired from my job and have nowhere else to go.” Your face was void of emotions, as if the words meant nothing to you at all. “Well, you can’t stand here forever. Do you have a family to go back to?” He asked, unknowing to the fact that you are not a human like him.

You brought your left hand up and pulled down the sleeves, showing him a series of numbers. “I’m an android, I don’t have a family.” San couldn’t believe what he was seeing, a real humanoid in the flesh or metal in this case.

As someone who’s quite a geek himself, he knew how expensive androids were and you seemed to be the latest version. Human-like features, not a speck of metal seen in your appearance at all. He only realised how robotic you were from your speech and your stoic face.

“Would you like to come back home with me, YN-1024?”

You processed the emotion he was showing and stored it in your database. Happiness. Not that you’ve never seen such emotion while dealing with customers or co-workers, his happiness was on a different level. Now that you don’t have a purpose, following this man might give you a reason to be useful.

“I’ve checked. You are a normal citizen who is not dangerous, Choi San. I will follow you.” He flashed you the brightest smile before pulling you from the shade of your old workplace and walking ahead.

A month passed by in a flash, you were currently residing with San and his seven other friends. You thought he would be the only human but seeing even more people back at his place caused you a bit of shock in your wired body. Scanning all of them for any threat and uploading it in your database the same day took a toll on you that they had to plug you in to recharge when you fell flat on your face without a warning.

They even gave you a name to go by instead of calling you either ‘ten twenty four’ or ‘one zero two four’. You helped around the house sometimes and would copy whatever actions they were doing but Seonghwa being the eldest would make sure the others behave around you. He doesn’t want you copying weird things even when you were just an android.

But you started to change gradually from the way you talk especially, sounding less robotic and more human. You would smile and even know how to pout which shocked some of them at times. They also find it fascinating how you could emit warmth like them when right underneath that synthetic skin lies nothing but metals and wires.

You were the latest humanoid version after all. Too advanced that you started having feelings like them. Everyday was like a new experience, you collected the information about their emotions and would use it as and when fitting to the situation.

Mostly being frustrated with their obnoxious behaviour or happy when they complimented about your capabilities that they don’t have. Like getting patted on the head when you make toast with your laser eyes or having them wowed at how you could dip your fingers in a boiling pot to check the temperature.

They get so hyped at the most random things but it excites you as well having to make them feel like that. That’s when Hongjoong and Yunho would notice how you’ve been spending more time with Seonghwa than San who initially found you.

“How long have they been watching that drama?” Hongjoong took a sip of his drink as he watched you staring blankly at the screen, unmoving at all. “If I’m not wrong, it’s been three hours.” Yunho answered as if it was normal but his friend had a different reaction.

You felt their gaze on you and turned to stare at them with an innocent look. “Is anything the matter?” You tilt your head, remembering that Wooyoung would do the same if he wanted something from the older members.

“Does it not hurt to stare at the tv like that?” Hongjoong questioned, breaking the silence.

“I’m not human, it doesn’t matter.” You answered back.

“But you've been talking and acting like one, at least blink once in a while.” Yunho’s words flipped a switch in you. You knew he meant no harm but the way he put it made you want to be better for them. You started to feel the need to act even more human than before.

WIthout another word, the two left and you turned back to watch the drama. You took in how there’s one character that seemed to love slapping people’s cheek so you asked Seonghwa out of curiosity. “Is it normal to hit someone’s face all the time?” he laughed and shook his head. “No, that's why it’s called a drama. You don’t slap people that much in one day unless you hate everyone around you.” He explained calmly.

“Then, can I try slapping you, Hwa?” He was surprised by your request and held your hands before it could swing at his face. “You can try that on someone else but me.” He smiled to which your eyes reacted and scanned his face. “Okay, I’ll go try it on him.”

Not even waiting for an answer, you jogged your way to Wooyoung’s room and saw him sprawled on his bed. He sat up and watched as you sat in front of him. “What’s up?” You answered him with a hard slap on the cheek.

“What was that for?” His voice went louder than usual but not loud enough for the others to hear. “Hwa said I could try slapping someone and according to my calculations, your name was at the highest percentage. Did it hurt, Woo?”

He didn’t expect your palm to feel warm against his cheek knowing well that you’re made out of metal. “Yeah, it hurts. Did you copy from a drama again?” You nodded innocently.

“You know what happens after the slap?” Wooyoung leaned to your face trying to get a different reaction from your usual stoic or innocent expression. But, you remained calm even when his face was an inch away.

“They usually grab the hair and-”, Before you could finish, he tilted your chin and brushed a finger over your lips. He wondered how your lips felt natural, almost forgetting you are not human like him. “They kiss the part where they just slapped. Now do it.”

You felt a slight danger coming from him but after learning that he loves to tease, you pushed him away. What was that feeling? It was foreign to you even when you tried hard to search for it in your memory.

“Where’s my favourite AI?” You stopped processing the new found information and instantly stood up at Yeosang’s voice. Wooyoung watched with wide eyes when you went up to the newcomer and wrapped your arms around him.

“I’m here. Is there something I can help you with?” Nothing can compare to Wooyoung’s reaction and Yeosang was feeling kind of pleased as he wrapped his arm around your neck. “Nothing, just wanted a hug from you.”

“I can’t believe you hesitated to kiss me but went straight to hug him.” You narrowed your eyes at him, hands still wrapped around Yeosang.

“He gives off zero threats compared to you on a daily basis.” At your words, Wooyoung groaned and Yeosang laughed wholeheartedly.

You got off from the charging port that they recently bought for you. It was situated right beside the sofa where you were able to see everything and notice that no one was up yet or was probably resting in their respective rooms.

You cleaned up the clutters around the living room then moved on to the kitchen and checked if there was anything needed to be refilled or stock up. After making a mental note, you went to Mingi’s room.

Walking inside, you took in the sight of a big lump on the bed. You stepped closer and pulled the sheets away slightly. Making yourself comfortable on the bed, you lightly shook him and watched as he stirred under the covers. “You’re fully charged, Mingi. It’s time to get up.”

He rubbed his eyes and stared at you. “No, I’m still sleepy.” “If you don’t get up, the others are going to finish up the food.” At that, he whimpered and pulled your frame closer to him.

“Then I don’t have to eat since you don’t eat too, right?” You thought that would trick him but being held that way somehow made you feel at ease. His words shouldn’t give too much effect but yet you let him be as he fell back to slumber.

You are reminded everyday that you are nothing but a man made machine. You are a tool in society but living here changed a lot of things. It doesn’t feel like they are using you like back at your old working place. They would treat you as an equal which was not supposed to happen.

“I’m an android. Why am I thinking so much about useless things?” You said to yourself as a hand went up to stroke Mingi’s head. You learn that even when humans get enough sleep they prefer to not wake up. You still have yet to get an answer to that.

The door creaked open, revealing Yunho smiling at seeing you. “There you are.” You mimicked his expression. “The others are fighting about what to eat. You want to join?” He explained and you nodded at his words before pulling Mingi up in the process.

“Let’s go sleepyhead.” Mingi pouted at you as he rubbed his eyes with one hand as the other held onto yours. You continued pulling him out from the room to where the loud noise was already evident even from the hallways.

It’s been ten minutes and you were standing by the counter in the kitchen as you observed the mess in front of you. Mingi had fallen asleep right after he dropped what he wanted to eat. Wooyoung and San ganged up against the two oldest about how their choices are a better option.

Not even talking at this point, just straight out shouting and you were glad that the selective hearing option was programmed into you. You’ve been reading their lips instead, perks of being the latest version of your kind.

Yeosang, as you know, would sit at the single sofa and watch everything but would shout out “I want chicken!” a couple of times just to make sure his option was considered. Yunho was just enjoying the heated discussion from a distance, laughing from time to time.

Jongho on the other hand had walked up to you with an annoyed face. “I bet they end up wanting to eat everything.” He said and you couldn’t help but to agree. The probability was high and Jongho, who's well aware of your perfect calculations and readings always seemed to get excited every time you said he was right.

“Seonghwa is going to smack San if he keeps on taunting like that.” You explained to him and he was anticipating if what you said was right. Seconds later, his loud clapping proved that you were indeed right after all. “Woah, you were right. He got smacked!”

Apparently, that wasn’t the only right thing you had calculated. Some time later, you found yourself walking in the streets with no other than Jongho himself. The others caught both of you laughing and enjoying that they sent you off to buy dinner instead of ordering it from home.

“I’m sorry. You don’t even eat yet you get dragged in this.” He said apologetically. “It’s fine. I don’t mind walking with you.” You could tell he was not only feeling guilty but kind of shy which made you question his odd behavior.

“Jongho, can I hold your hand?” He stopped in his tracks and looked at you with wide eyes. “I just want to confirm your temperature since your face is getting red.” You could see he was suspicious of your words. “You know that I know that you don’t need to hold something to know their temperature.” He caught you and you didn’t know what to do then.

The day where you placed your hand in the boiling pot was to feed their amusement because right after that Jongho found out that you could tell the temperature without touching it and you told him to keep it a secret.

That’s when he knew you were different and was starting to change from the norms of a humanoid. You weren’t supposed to know what keeping a secret was yet you were telling him so.

“Are you doing this on purpose?” He questioned to which you immediately shook your head. “No, I’m not. I just thought that I’ll never be a real human but I’ve learned so much by just living with all of you and it’s starting to make me want to be one.”

“I know it’s wrong for an android like me to say these things and I would get deactivated and thrown away almost immediately if the authorities find out. But I want to live longer and be with all of you. It feels like home and I’ve never had that.”

Jongho for the first time was at a loss for words. You sounded like a normal human confessing what you’ve always dreamt of having and wanting to do in life.

“I can’t produce tears but the wires inside my body are reacting the same way when a person is feeling overwhelmed.” You finished off your short speech with a small smile.

Without a second thought, he pulled you in his embrace. Hugging you as how he would hug the others when they have an emotional breakdown, tight and assuring. Moments later, Jongho pulled away and stared into your eyes and grinned.

“No one has ever confessed like that to me. I guess I have to treat you much better now. You still want to hold hands?” You smiled back at him and nodded. He swiftly wrapped his fingers with yours, surprised at how warm they were.

“So, am I your favourite out of everyone now?”

“You could say that.”

Both of you started walking back, realising the skies had already gone dark but your future together seemed brighter than ever.

[fallowdoe]

Little D’s fluff

What do you call a group of Little D's? A pack? A flock? Maybe a herd? MC's personal favourite was "the void" since when the creatures crowded in one spot their small black silhouettes would melt into a big shadow and form something akin to a moving black hole. At first, it made them kind of uneasy, since the smaller demons did come across as just as sinister as the strongest of their kind. From a further distance, they resembled a little puffball, upon closer inspection, everyone would notice that their needle-like teeth could easily pierce human skin and their claws and horns were always perfectly sharpened. The big eyes would make for a cute feature if it wasn't for the animalistic glint in them. Some of them spoke human languages, some only knew the infernal language and some could, or chose to, only chirp twitter happily. It would seem so that they had some kind of pack instinct and would often crowd together, which would always form a cacophony of different sounds.

Much to MC's dismay, the little critters took a great liking to them as soon as they arrived in the Devildom, starting from when they have left the student council room on their first day. A few Little D's started trailing along with them and Mammon to the House of Lamentation. The braver, especially the greed ones would approach even closer, curious about the new human. MC was left even more confused and scared, making Mammon laugh at the concept of being afraid of a Little D. After a while, MC got used to the little creatures. Every time they would pass a one on their way somewhere it would immediately start following them like a little duckling. Some would stick very close, some prefer keeping their distance. If the walk was longer, MC could be sure that there would be at least ten following them by the time they reached their destination.

As MC gets more used to the Devildom, they grow closer to the Little D's and start interacting with them. No one ever pays any attention to them so the tiny demons are of course overjoyed and now like the human even more. It's such a curious occurrence to them, to watch a regular human live with the seven avatars or interact with the prince himself. They've only ever heard about humans from random snippets, and frankly, Solomon resembles a demon more than he resembles a human. So they keep sticking around MC at all times, hiding in their room, waiting for them to leave HoL only to follow them to RAD. They try to hide inside their bag and in their locker, sometimes they even sit under their table during the lectures.

And when MC starts giving them little gifts like candy and lets them sleep in their bed or carries them around, they get even more attached. They full-on adopt MC as their favourite person in the Devildom and now MC can expect to find random trinkets inside of their pockets or be surprised by having their chores magically do themselves. MC can never forget their keys or wallet anymore, whatever it is that they forgot it always makes its way inside of their bag before they can notice. Their D.D.D. is always charged in the morning, even if they forgot to plug it in.

Everyone around them is of course incredibly amused by the situation, even though the Little D's tend to cause inconvenience for everyone else at times. Luke has been the only one to be furious about it since he first noticed that MC is always surrounded by those "dangerous beasts" and demanded Lord Diavolo to do something before they can corrupt them. A few stern talks and lectures were held. Nothing could keep them away from their favourite human though and Luke just had to accept the black critters always being somewhere in the background.

With time they would only get more and more protective of MC. It led to a few hilarious situations.

At some point Mammon started feeling like he was being replaced as MC's protector and got so jealous, he demanded the tiny demons were permanently banned from HoL. He was being so obnoxious about it that Satan finally gave in and put a spell on the door that made it impossible to enter for them, much to MC's dismay of course. The spell had to be taken off the same day, as soon the little D's started trying to enter HoL through the windows, the chimney or the vents. MC then forced Mammon to apologize to the fuming swarm that now refused to leave their room.

The other time one of the creatures got sick and MC got so worried they refused to leave it alone. The infernal beings don't get sick very often, so no one knew how to help it. It only took a few hours of watching MC sulk over it before everyone started looking for a way to heal the ill critter. The hours of research were unfutile as neither the RAD library, the Royal Library or Satan's collection had any books on this topic. Just as MC was about to lose hope, Solomon came up with an idea and went to pick up something from the human world. He soon came back with some medicine and refused to tell anyone what was it. The Little D got cured in one day after taking it, making MC want to hug the life out of the sorcerer from how grateful they were while making everyone jealous that he got to have their gratitude. When being asked what was it that healed the ill demon, he at first refused to tell, but finally gave in and admitted that it was cat medication.

If you asked anyone about their favourite story they would most likely mention the one time when one of the sloth demons didn't want to leave MC but was too sleepy to follow them, so they resorted to carrying it around the whole day. During one of the student council meetings, Lucifer wanted to emphasize something while talking to MC so he put a hand on their arm. The creature immediately woke up with an angry snarl and tried to bite him. The silence that fell upon the room was bone-chilling. While Mammon's been cursing himself over not getting this whole thing on tape, Satan and Belphie were trying not to suffocate from stifling their laughter. Everyone else waited terrified for Lucifer to react somehow, while the Little D drifted off again. If it wasn't for how MC would never talk to him again had he hurt the creature somehow, Lucifer would most likely annihilate it then and there. No one dares mention the event in his presence, but just thinking about how offended he looked back then makes everyone want to double down with laughter.

Had anyone entered MC's room at night, they'd be met with the quiet chirping, resembling a lullaby. The human lying in their bed cuddled up with the creatures who glow gently in the dark. They're warm and soft and make sure to keep any nightmares away, protecting their favourite human even in their sleep.