#their a bit dusty rn lol

[goatpaste]

i see snort (the red bull beanie baby) in ur likes and i wanna tell u i have three iterations of that beanie. i widdle mcdonalds toy version, the og, and the new revamp! they are a snort family :]

Match my snorted swag :)

[boneskullravenriver]

I wish I could update my bookshelf a bit but buying books is so expensive nowadays. Most of my bookshelf is books I've accumulated over the years and yes, I do have quite a bit of a collection but God, looking at some of the books I have makes me cringe and wonder what I was even thinking. But at the same time I don't want to get rid of them.

[parakeetlover3]

Hey Parakeet, what are your interpretations of the fallen children, such as their names and their personalities? Also, do you think that you could possibly make art of them?

Tysm for the ask! :D

Hmm, I’m not really that good at art, so I don’t have much rn unfortunately, but for now, have some gacha designs I made!

Putting my interpretations under the cut cus it might be rambling a lot lol

I personally headcanon the Soul colors to be a genetic thing, like eye and hair color. The traits are what I associate with them personally, rathar than their Souls

Their eyes match their Soul colors due to bekng dead, but during life, I headcanon humans to be able to have both eye colors we have irl and eye colors that only happen in fiction

Listed in my headcanoned order of falling into the Underground! (Yes, since Chara's Soul is red, I made the kids after that go in rainbow order lol)

Also, I hc that all the humans had SAVE powers to some degree, but not all of them really knew how to use it, and even the ones who did eventually grew exhausted of dying and lost the DT/will to keep going. Some only had a limited amount of reloads they could do before losing the ability, while others were exhausted before reaching that limit

Orange/Bravery

Name: (I haven't decided yet)

Pronouns: He/him

Age of fall/death: 11/11

Reason for fall: I haven’t figured it out yet

Time spent Underground:

- Due to Asgore's war declaration being fairly recent when he fell, he was found and brought to Asgore fairly quickly after leaving the Ruins

- Fought back, but was overpowered by the Guards. Never killed anyone, since he was quickly restrained and brought to the Castle

- Asgore wasn’t as worn out yet, so the battle was crazy hard, with Asgore dodging and stuff as well

- Discovered his SAVE ability when dying to Asgore or the first time. Was able to see the stars earlier, but never knew how they were used before this

- Didn’t know about needing to absorb his soul to go home, wanted to fight him until he found an opening to rush through the Barrier. Really didn’t want to straight-up kill anyone, which also made his fight with Asgore harder

- Attempted to keep reloading his SAVE file again and again, but eventually, even though he wanted and tried to keep going, his SAVE file stopped working due to exhaustion, which lowered his DT

(Ex: when Undyne is killed in neutral route, she deffo *wants* to keep going, but is physically unable to, so sorta like that but with SAVE points)

Other:

- had a single mom, who was a bit sickly

- they enjoyed embroidering together

- the abs on his bandana were embroidered himself, and his mom made the gloves for him

- favorite colors were dusty pink and gold

- refuses to swear

- generally a really supportive person

Yellow/Justice

Name: Clover (not to be confused with Undertale Yellow's Clover lol) (Pending name change to Trefoil? Or Coltsfoot? Clove?)

Pronouns: She/her

Age of fall/death: 12/12

Reason for fall: was camping with her family. She was curious about the missing kid case that happened in the area about a decade ago, as well as the legends saying that there were monsters under the mountain. Her brother was teaching her to aim and stuff. I haven’t figured out why and how she climbed at fell exactly, tho

Time underground:

- Figured out her SAVE abilities pretty quickly, killed some Guards that attacked her as well as some other monsters that confronted her

- After figuring out Asgore’s decree, wanted to go straight to the source of the injustice by confronting him, so mostly tried to sneak to the Castle and deal with him before she was too harsh on other monsters

-Often fought monsters until they were spareable, or ran once they were worn out. Tried to keep killing to a minimum, but held back less and less as she got closer to the Castle

- During the Asgore fight, was determined to bring justice to Asgore for killing and passing a decree that allows killing of innocent people

- Reloaded her SAVE file often, and told Asgore whenever she came back. This was when Asgore learned about the SAVE power, and made his observations of the previous human make some more sense

- Dying over and over again was tiring, and the guilt from killing and planning on killing was catching up. Wanted so badly to go back home to her family, but she mentally apologized to them before she gave up reloading

Other:

- Her older brother taught her to use a gun, scarf and hat were a gift from him. The gun was his, she was borrowing it before she fell

- had a dog German Shepard named Sheriff and a Golden Retriever named Coltsfoot

- While she wanted to be a sheriff or some other job directly protecting people, she also wanted to be a dog trainer (wether for acting in movies, for casual owners, or to provide services like protection or disability aid)

Green/Kindness

Name: Kody

Pronouns: He/him

Age of fall/death: 13/14

Reason for fall: Was going to visit his mother in jail soon, so wanted to make her favorite omelet recipe that they had whenever going camping. The specific herb was particularly hard to find, but was more common in mountain areas. Fell when attempting to reach for one that was growing on the wall of that cavern thingy

Time Underground:

-Became close to Toriel, staying with her for many months

-Bittersweet birthday celebration, since the day he was gonna visit his mom was the same day as his birthday

-I’m not rlly sure of too many details yet. Tried to convince Asgore to reverse his ‘all humans must die’ decree, but didn’t work

Other:

-Worked at his family’s restaurant

-Liked helping out in after school programs

-Liked playing online video games in his free time. He gets a bit competitive during these, but it’s all in good fun and he keeps up good sportsmanship

-Favorite food was sunny-side up eggs

- Liked making pancake art

- Gets a bit nervous talking to people, feels awkward. Still likes interacting, but worries he might say or do something wrong. Nervous extrovert

- His family often fostered kids before his mom went to jail, and he was a great older foster bro. He loved teaching them to cook, and was pretty good at tutoring whenever they were having school trouble

- Preferred cooking to baking, since there’s more room to experiment and customize. He does like baking as a bonding activity, though

Cyan/Patience

Name: Poppy

Pronouns: She/her

Age of fall/death: 4/6

Reason for fall: Abandoned, tried to wait but after a while worried their parents got lost so she climbed higher to get a better view. It started to rain, so she went into the cave for shelter, but it was too dark to see the hole and she fell

Time spent Underground:

- Stayed with Toriel for a good while

- Didn’t necessarily view Toriel as her mom, but still family if that makes sense? Like, she’s used to having multiple different people take care of her while her bio mom worked, so maybe Auntie Toriel would be how she thought of her? Or a nanny/teacher/babysitter she was close to?

- Unfortunately, one of the other monsters in the Ruins, after gaining her trust, kidnapped her and escaped into Snowdin with her once they found out she was human (basically convinced her to sneak out of the Ruins with them before revealing their connections to the Royal Guard.). Lost her Toy Knife during this

- After this, Toriel destroyed other exits out of the Ruins that weren’t the one in her house, and fell further into isolation+more fear among the Ruins monsters of her

- Escaped and stayed with a monster family in Snowdin for a bit

-Their house was this one cave in Snowdin that had Waterfall ground, it’s where Glyde can be encountered and is near Gyftrot’s encounter area

- a Whimsun she befriended in the Ruins followed the two when they left the Ruins, and she gave them her bow. As the monster that took her from the ruins grew suspicious, the Whimsun worried about getting too attached to Poppy and ran back to the Ruins

- Was caught again when the same person that took her from the ruins saw her and claimed she ran away from home

- In the CORE, that monster was starting to bond with her during the journey to Asgore. This caused more hesitance, which Poppy noticed and tried to be more likable despite her fear to take advantage of that opportunity later + get hurt less.

- Was able to use that monster’s growing doubts about getting her killed and more lax guarding to escape in New Home, but was caught and injured heavily by another Royal Guard. She tried to ‘play dead’, but it kinda backfired, since her soul wasn’t floating the way dead human’s do and the guard was already planning on finishing her off, even if her act did let her take them off guard enough to slash their eye with a stick

-Wasn’t able to fight much against Asgore due to her injuries, and didn’t really get the choice that Frisk did to put off the fight due to not really being able to move around much. Sorta a mercy kill?

Other:

-Chronologically speaking, she's Azul's older stepsis! He was like, a few months old when she fell Underground

-loved playing peekaboo with him, and wanted to be there to protect him as they grew

-eye color during life was hazel

-would always doodle hearts on bandaids

-favorite game was pretending to be a doctor

-favorite animal was a bear

-Occasionally, when having trouble falling asleep, hums a melody to herself that her mother used to sing for her

-Parents changed their minds and went back to look for her, but she was already at Mt. Ebott at that point. Actions have consequences, people

-She never knew that they came back for her, but she still regretted not waiting longer. She also still thought they just got lost, and that it was her fault since she was always told to wait where she was if they got separated

-After her death, Toriel went out of the Ruins for a bit to look for her, but found her bloodied shoes washed up near Snowdin’s river, so quickly went back to isolation

Blue/Integrity

Name: Azul

Pronouns: He/him

Age of fall/death: 14/14

Reason for fall: His dad, as usual, was making a huge fuss about him dressing a certain way and doing ballet since he was a boy. A pretty big fight happened, and as punishment he was supposed to sleep in the backyard for the night. He ran away to the mountain instead, wanting some time to himself. Feeling upset, he climbed higher than he usually did and found the cavern the others fell down. A bat flew at him, and when dodging, accidentally overdid it and fell

Time underground:

-Found Poppy’s shoes (recognized from some family photos) in Toriel’s house (dw, she cleaned the blood off of it). Grew suspicious and wanted to know where she was, not accepting when Tori said she was dead. Left the Ruins after that

-Liked the caves in Waterfall, especially the one behind the waterfall where the tutu was found

-Killed some Royal Guards in self defense

-The families of the guards were furious, and gathered a mob. Some of the mob found his cave thing

-Terrified, he tried to outrun them multiple times, but was always found and often injured by said mob due to SAVEing literally a few seconds before he was found

-Was eventually cornered and stoned to death, and at this point, he lost the will to keep going

-Was the only Fallen Child that never met Asgore

Other:

- Often hums a melody to himself when happy, stressed, trying to fall asleep, or just bored. It’s the same melody Poppy hums to herself when trying to sleep. His stepmom is her bio mom

-Bilingual in English and Spanish (Mexican-American)

- Loved arcades

- Loved marine biology

- Favorite animals were starfish, canonball jellyfish, ducks, and geese

- Occasionally did babysitting services, and volunteered at a daycare over the summers, so he’s great with kids

-Always wondered what his life would be like if Poppy was still around

-Before the fall, often visited Mt. Ebott whenever he needed some space. It made him feel a bit more connected with the sister he never got to grow up with, and not many other people go to the mountain due to the legends around it, so he could have some alone time

-Believed that Poppy wandered off and got lost when their parents went camping, since that’s the story they told everyone

-Was in his school’s chorus club

Purple/Perseverance

Name: Peony

Pronouns: She/her

Age of fall/death: 13/13

Reason for fall: Thought it’d be a cool place to explore and chill for a bit, and would be good for story ideas due to the many legends surrounding it. Found a cool rock she thought her cousin would like, and climbed down a bit to reach it, but the stone beneath her gave away and she fell

Time underground:

- Liked Waterfall a lot

- Befriended and stayed with some monsters for a bit

- However, one of them eventually grew tired of waiting. They made her tell the others that she was going to give her soul willingly, under threat of not being given the chance to say goodbye before being forced to the Castle. Plus, being fairly high ranking in the Guard, they bluffed that they could get the other monsters in a lot of trouble if she told anyone she was being forced

- Felt pretty hurt that the other monsters she befriended didn’t do much to stop her from ‘willingly’ sacrificing herself

- When brought to the Castle, the monster that brought her there guarded the entrance, so even with Asgore’s offer of stalling the battle to let her enjoy life a bit more, she was still trapped

- Attempted to talk him down, but didn’t work

Other:

- eye color during life was brown

- loves goth and punk aesthetics, just wasn’t allowed to do much in terms of makeup cus her parents didn’t want her to

- liked jogging around the neighborhood

- Decent grades, her best grades were in English and Science

- handwriting very hard to read due to learning to take notes quickly. At school, it helps her still take decent note while having time to write story bits. Outside of school, helps her take quick notes when something can be used as inspiration to write later. Plus, using up less space means having to buy fewer notebooks

- Posted her stories online, and she and her cousin often beta read and followed each other’s stories

- Not very expressive, but that’s due to having trouble with expressing it rather than not feeling much

- Was a bit alienated at school due to this

- Both her parents worked, so it was somewhat distant, but they did their best to still spend time as a family

- Bi

- Shows affection through giving gifts, wether written stories or small trinkets

----

Other:

I might make a different post about their relationships with each other at some point

Lol I have a some concept stuff for if Azul fell into a Dark World from Deltarune cus why not

[rat-typewriter]

Yay!!! Someone's writing for Arven!!! Could you please write something, either Headcanons or a fanfic your choice, about Arven with a librarian s/o who helps him find information on Herba Mystica and the titan pokemon. So lots of study dates in the school library where she works that slowly turn into actual dates 👀

As someone working at a library rn, this one is pretty self indulgent lol but I hope you don't mind! Thanks so much, I hope you have a great day!! (I also lowkey wonder if you remember me since I've left asks here before...)

Omg omg hello fellow librarian!! I used to work in a library! Tysm for your request sunshine, and i hope you enjoy!! This is a little rushed so im sorry about that :,,)

Perfect to me - Arven x Student Librarian!Reader

Warnings: None

Proofread: like,,,, some of it is

Summary: Mabosstiff is doing a lot better - you're the first person Arven wants to tell

You tried to turn up your music for the seventh time - forgetting it was already at full volume. Your phone buzzed angrily, a notification popping up - trying to warn you of the damage you were doing to your ears. 

You were more-or-less all alone in the library; anyone who had come in this late was frantically studying at the desks, so you were free to shelve books and dance awkwardly. 

You skimmed the spines of the books and hummed quietly to yourself. The song reminded you of Arven - it felt like sunshine and long, green grasses with a warm breeze. You smiled at the thought of him; even his name gave you butterflies - you couldn’t quite believe you'd been dating three months. 

You first met when he was always asking for obscure books and journal articles - and without having to do too much detective-work you figured out that he was searching for the titan's herbs. You mentioned it one night - after a few weeks of him coming in almost every day - and he let you meet Mabostiff. You'd never seen such a sick Pokémon, but you found yourself with a certain respect for the somewhat-harsh boy who sat in front of you, stroking its nose gently. After then, you always stayed past the end of your shifts - scouring the shelves for any clues to help Arven and Mabostiff.

You found the section you were looking for and slid a book from your trolley onto the shelf. Straightening up, you were about to reach for the next book - but, through the shelf, you came face-to-face with Arven.

You leapt out of your skin, ripping your headphones out in the process.

Arven grinned and laughed; wide-eyed you scolded him.

"Oh my god, Arven." You said, as you rounded the shelf - moving to face him. "How long have you been there?"

"Not too long." He smiled - his smile was so contagious you found yourself struggling to maintain your annoyed expression.

"Well, don't scare me like that!" You replied, trying to suppress your giggle. Being around Arven made you go stupid (in the best way possible, of course). It was addictive - hell, he was addictive - you never failed to have fun, even when poring over fifty year-old books and digging through the dusty archives.

"Okay, okay - I'm sorry." He replied - not looking even the least bit sorry. 

"You should be." You said, folding your arms with mock disappointment. "Libraries are no places for fun."

"Of course, it won't happen again Miss L/N." He said - his tone's solemness matching your own.

For a moment you stared at each other seriously - before you both erupted into giggles. 

Yeah, you thought to yourself, I really like him.

Before you'd even caught your breath again, he grabbed your hand and tugged it.

"C'mon, there's something you gotta see." 

Had Arven been any other boy - you probably would have assumed that they were about to take you down some dark corridor and axe-murder you. But when you looked at him and he softly smiled back at you - you trusted him completely.

He led you out of the library and down the stairs - to one of the fire exit doors in a back corridor.

He held it open for you and you stepped outside into the dark car park. The cold March air ruffled your hair and you shivered; you heard Arven close the door and then stand beside you. In the dim light of the flickery fire-exit sign you could only just make out his features. He stood close to you - his arm brushing your own - but he didn’t seem to mind; neither did you. 

He grinned and pulled a Poké ball out of his pocket.

He didn’t mean?

“Arven?” you said, excitement rising in your voice. “He’s better?”

He grabbed your hand and nodded frantically, somehow smiling even wider than before. He tossed the ball, freeing Mabosstiff - who, for the first time whilst you’d known him, stood in front of you. Arven, who was still smiling wildly (and seemed unable to speak) looked between the two of you, his eyes suddenly full of tears

 You laughed, dropping to your knees and putting your hand out for the Pokémon to sniff. Mabostiff nosed your fingers and let out a low ruff.

"Hey, buddy." You said, quietly - finding yourself fighting back tears as well. "Good to see you up and about,"

Mabostiff nuzzled against your leg and you giggled - wiping your eyes. Arven, who was looking just as teary-eyed as you, crouched down, levelling with you and Mabosstiff.

"I can't believe you did it," You whispered, stroking the Pokémon's ears.

"Me neither." Arven said. The closeness of his voice surprised you a little. You turned to face him, finding that his face was only a few centimetres from your own. Fireworks were going off inside your brain as you stared at his dark eyes. 

He's gorgeous, you thought. I've never noticed how pretty he is. 

Your words caught in your throat and you found yourself unable to form a sensible reply. He held your gaze; his mouth slightly agape.

"Hey," You whispered, giggling slightly.

"Hi," He laughed back.

His smile was radiant, even in the darkness. You were so close you could practically feel the heat from his body. He glanced at your lips, so quickly you were almost convinced it didn't happen - but it was there.

He spoke slowly. "Can I, uh, ask you something?" 

You glanced at his lips.

"Sure,"

"Would you mind if - uh - could I-" He stammered, his growing more red by the second.

You laughed quietly and he did too - easing your nerves a bit. 

You met his big, dark eyes and knew you were too far gone. So, with only a moment's hesitation, you leant in.

Your heart felt as though it was going to rattle out of your chest, but the feeling of his lips against your own left you floating. His hand moved to your face and you steadied yourself against his knee.

Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god-

After a moment, you pulled apart - bumping noses as both laughed breathily. 

"Wow," You whispered.

"Yeah." He laughed.

You leant back, moving from your crouched position to sit on the concrete instead - your head slightly spinning. Mabosstiff looked between you, letting out a low ruff. Arven grinned, ruffling the fur on its head.

"Were you watching us?" He said, narrowing his eyes at the Pokémon. "Cheeky." 

You laughed and Arven turned to look at you. Your heart skipped a beat and your mind was empty.

He likes me. 

"So," You turned away, looking out into the darkness. "You like me?"

"Well, yeah." 

You turned back to face him, his expression barely visible in the dim light, but you could still see the redness that suddenly appeared.

"Well, uh - I mean, why wouldn't I like you?"

You snorted. "I could name a few reasons."

For a moment he was quiet, staring at you - clearly thinking hard.

"Nope." He said.

"What?"

"I can't name any."

You laughed and he nudged your shoulder.

"You're perfect to me."

You could feel the blood rushing into your face as you leaned into his side - tucking your head beneath his chin. You both sat quietly until Mabosstiff flopped down across both of your laps - Arven letting out an oof as it did so.

"You're heavy, buddy." He said to the dog. "Not a puppy anymore, eh?"

"They grow up so fast." You said, wiping a fake tear.

Arven mock-sniffled. "My baby is all grown up!" 

Suddenly, you blurted out his name. "Arven?"

He turned to you. "Yeah?"

"You're perfect to me too."

[gardening-guy]

since i'll eventually take down my holiday tree and pack it away, i wanted to share some of the sentimental and nice ornaments my household of friends and i have collected over time!

oli's sentimental holiday ornaments (part one) 🎄💖🌟

meet chou chou the rainbow sheep and mumé the lil owl! these are two fair-trade, handmade wool felted ornaments bought by my best friend! she was obsessed with chou chou at first sight and consistently wanted to buy out the store's entire stock of them lmaooo. but... they sold out like immediately, so she developed a soft spot for mumé in place lol.

this is a couple fake chandelier crystals from the very shitty rental apartment of two of my close friends! their very shitty apartment came with this huge gaudy chandelier in the living space, and they let me take a few crystals out of spite for the housing complex. now, they make lovely holiday ornaments on my tree.

this is a silly lil felted monster that an old friend from scouts made for me! i haven't come up with a name yet, so i'm open to suggestions if you send them to my ask box! i was considering the humble name "mustard" so far lmaooo!

another fair-trade, handmade wool felted ornament of some cute lil cottagecore mushrooms! this one i bought, from the same store my best friend bought chou chou and mumé from! isn't it cute?

here's my grad cap tassel, from graduating with my bachelor's of science in anthropology last month (dec 2024)! thought it'd be nice to have a lil holiday reminder for future years of my accomplishment! :)

presenting the mysterious lil hair barrette clip found in our house when we first started renting... it's probably from the previous tenants, but it's nice to let it have a cozy home on our holiday tree instead of on the dusty floor of a closet where we found it.

a ceramic ornament my parents bought me for christmas. i still celebrate christmas with my family, but i think i personally prefer just celebrating "the holidays" in general. i do think the ornament is nice, but i'm on rocky terms with my parents rn, soooo it's a bit awkward. still nice though.

a lil 3D-printed rat from one of my anthropology professors! he's specifically an archeology and museum anthropology specialist, and he runs a lab on campus where we work with museums to scan, 3D-print, paint, and replicate artifacts from their collections so they have a replication that they can put on display for exhibits that potentially will get damaged. i had an internship there a while ago, and omg all the free 3D prints i received have been getting made into holiday ornaments!

a lil random keychain we found on the street by my current job (a small non-profit, fair-trade shop)! we alternate between calling him dumbledore and gandalf! now he has a nice home off the streets!

find part two here!

[reinekes-fox]

Hey there, I was wondering, do you have some detailed descriptions of your characters? ^

I do have (imagine if I hadn’t lol).

Will update their last names later today!

"Chase Watson" has heterochromia: one blue and one grey eye. His actual haircolour is a dusty brown, rn it’s still dark blue bit of you squint you can see his roots. His normal style is basic: jeans, t-shirt, some sneakers. He is skinny... he is a Lauch tbh.

Fuchsia "King" has hazel eyes and wears glasses without a frame, her hair is curly/wavy (still debating about that) and dark brown. Her normal style is vintage (1920s-1960s) and at home she has a massive wardrobe.

Thrush Juschka has light brown eyes and brown hair, plus freckles. Smiling 24/7. Normal style? Anything that isn’t his school uniform, he isn’t picky.

Astoria Rapace has long black hair (think typical horror movie haircut), and dark brown eyes, she is pale. Normal style: there are rumours that she even sleeps in her school uniform.

Marter (for Peacocks): well Wing knows that their profile picture is a really really cute ermelin! Normal style: no one knows, Wing surely doesn’t.

Also there seems to be a character that is hellbent on making themselves an RO: Estelle/Elrond Falkenflug for the Swan volery, so for now I am considering them a 0,5-RO: dirty blond hair (shoulder length for both genders), dark green eyes, somewhat pale, normal style: looks like a Mormon missionar without even trying. Remember that rivals to lovers I once talked about? That’s them!

[mommyhorror]

Gorl, what do you think of this Dusty drama? I never liked old dusty but the Amberverse has just been SO dry and boreeeen lately!!

I never imagined I would find another radfem adjacent queen who is a part of the world, best cross-over event ever

yessss lol like there is (to me, in my mind) so much overlap between haydur nation and radblr… just bc it’s like 100% women and there’s a certain critical energy in both that’s for the good of the gorls you know? Not always, but that’s what I feel the majority is. So I was a bit shocked to hear that some women thought it was bad of me to even watch ALR once I exposed my alr-leanings on here. All this to say, good to meet u.

as for Destiny I am obsessed with her several part series on Amber only because 1) she is giving the audience what they want but not being nasty shes really coming off genuine/honest to me. She’s always been one to say it like it is, to Amber and anyone else. That’s refreshing in a (gorl)world where Amber is her own god. 2) I think it is very fair of her to want to make some $$ on the ��drama” because she was a full time cast member for YEARS!! and people love & constantly rewatch the density years. she should get her due. Amber likes to be the only person in her world who can pay for things because of her YouTube success but in all honesty I think both destiny and Becky are owed major backpay. And Krystle should get royalties or even .. sue.. because she never wanted to be on camera but WAS and Amber built her channel off the krystle era. Idk. I’m not saying I don’t think Amber deserves any money from her own channel, she does, she made the vlog exactly what it is today, but she’s coming off greedy rn acting like destiny has no right to say what she’s saying to the public. So yeah… 🍿 I’m loving it

as for the tea itself, some of it is dry but some is very intriguing. And the more she exposes the angrier Amber gets which to me means that some of it has gotta be hitting a nerve, it’s gotta be true. However it’s all she-said-she-said so we don’t know. I like that sometimes destiny points out when Amber told the truth or a half-truth because god knows the gorls do not believe Amber EVER and it’s good to bring some balance to such an intensely cynical audience base.

[calder]

What would be your recommended fnv mod list? I’m starting the game for the thousandth time around and would like to spice it up a bit!

lemme open it up and see what i recommend

keep in mind i approach this as a sandbox and literally pretend to be a time wizard so my definition of immersive is very specific

underwater home rapturefied is nice because it gives you a transponder, a mark/recall, and the ability to move the entrance hatch anywhere outdoors. mine is in an alley near the ferris wheel in point lookout

im currently enjoying uxc which has since been replaced by mux series. uxc lets me pull up a menu of the ESPs and poke around in them for cells to visit, npcs to spawn, etc. it has a clunky mcm predecessor with exclusive powers in itembrowser v11, which allows you to set quest stages. i think he removed this feature bc idiots yelled at him for "breaking their save" (lol.)

small animator and FEEL expressions make photomode interesting

try out the smoothcam included in istewieaitweaks

it's worth it to install frontier just to spawn jeeps through itembrowser. this mod cleans up mojave roads for road travel

go ahead and do someguy series

im curious about atom shrines and children of atom for flavor. tho i think one of them might be crashy. definitely install living desert for random encounters and realism redux DNW for weather

i also highly recommend you install some variant of monstermod. the ttw revision is really good. note that if you must not enable momod.esm with ttw, only the momod.esp from the ttw patch

warzones too tho ive heard its really old and crashy. doesnt stop me

also dig up solid project on google for sprint and immersive first person anims !!!!!!!!!! and use enhanced camera to see your whole body!

save perks for later

ttw interiors combo and two wastelands redesigned, or just mojave landscape overhaul

bloom and water fog fixes. dusty distance random, eye clipping fix ... theres too much stuff like this to list, look at the modding guides, it makes a difference

can't find my clutter improvement mod rn but i'll recommend it when i identify it. hope this help

[stregoniconiconii]

kinda love the idea of that one post about vickie being like the home/port in the storm.

and like I've seen some fics with steve taking on that role, at like the end of it, and it can be sweet, but i also feel like it's a bit of a tragic ending for steve, like him being left behind in a way, and i think i feel that way bc it's feels like it wouldn't be his choice, that it would be the consequence of him not being able to move on, him being stuck, at least if it's in hawkins. if it's in another city it feels less like that, but still.

but with vickie i feel like it could work in s5, like actually. and we could have robin/stobin going to her for like a break, or food or just comfort, before going back out in the chaos, and then at the end of it all, (with stobin both alive, i refuse to entertain any other notion, sorry, i just can't deal with either of them dying rn lol) coming back to vickie and just like being able to exhale, finally, (would be p delicious if one of them (steve) did d*e and they break down in vickies arms, BUT I'm NOt thinking about that! NO!)

also i have this view in my head of steve's house being destroyed at the end of s5, idk why exactly, i just do, and i think he would be wherever robin is after that.

and then i have a scene of Something happening so like vickie Knows shit is going down, and when it's over she's out looking for robin, and she sees stobin looking all dusty and bloody/banged up, also they're holding hands (we get a shot at some point of their hands clutched together like in s3, but its a close up and also their hands are like dirty lol), but they're like looking in another direction, and vickie like starts running towards them and they look up and see her, like a parallel to the war zone scene almost, except vickie keeps running and we get a running slam into a reunion first* kiss between robin and vickie, and vickie is like holding robin's face, and robin's one hand is like holding vickie and the other is still holding steve's (bc she can't let go yet) so he's just there, awkwardly looking away to give them privacy, but with that silly little pleased happy smile on his face!

*tbh i would love for their first kiss to be somewhere quiet and sweet in the story, but i can't deny the draw of a dramatic declaration "it was almost too late" kiss yk, but i would love if they kissed before the last episode, and had a moment of peace together in the chaos, (a little bit like willow and tara's first kiss in buffy the vampire slayer, but with a little bit more focus on it)

but i also feel like vickie would work as a port in the storm even after it ends, like she cares for robin (and by extension steve) and she's there for nightmares and panic attacks, and flashbacks. and she was there for all of it, but she wasn't involved, and she's their one safe piece of hawkins, and she Knows but also she doesn't, and that gives them both peace, like here's one person we know who we managed to save, we managed to spare the horror. but also she's there afterwards to enjoy the stobin shenanigans <3 and every time either of them do anything wild/insane/silly they go home (where they all live together, or they call her if stobin lives in another apartment together) and tell vickie about it, and when things happen they go "just wait until i tell vickie!"&"i can't wait to tell vickie!" i just feel like stobin would go on adventures (both Adventures, but also like getting lost in a city and other more every day adventures), maybe not on purpose all the time lol, and I think sometimes vickie would be there, but also sometimes she's not and it's just stobin time <3 idk if i'm explaining my thoughts v well, but i hope u get the vibe.

thanks for listening to me ramble<3

Hii yeah i feel like vickie gets shit on a lot for being boring or something like rn we dont know a huge amount about her but she seems like a kind and non-violent person. So i don’t really see her becoming a monster hunter and maybe that will change in s5! But i dont really think so and im honestly fine with that. It’s like not everyone can be a gryffindor or dauntless..to use silly YA “factions” lol so in the same vein im thinking okay she doesn’t need to be a fighter even if that means she won’t have as much screentime

The reunion scene ur imagining is so sweet im in love with it!! I do like it when he’s just there for robin moments lol like he’s looking over his wlw with pride lol and goddd i so want another stobin hand holding scene i feel like we don’t get them being physically affectionate in canon bc the ST directors are like ummm do friends hold hands?? Lol sucks that the only stobin hand holding was when we were getting straightbaited bc i think they love holding hands <3 besides that i am a big fan of stobin maybe not being the biggest into physical affection but always in each others space anyway parallel play stobin real

Also i’ve definitely imagined steve robin and vickie leading the ppl at the volunteer spot to safety and then like steve dramatically sacrificing himself so that the girls can get out…a robin breakdown in vickie’s arms would work so well there <3

Tbh idk how i would like vickie and robin’s first kiss to go…i’ve mentioned them doing an action hero kiss like right before robin is about to jump into some action, vickie plants one on her but that doesn’t necessarily have to be their first kiss…but im pretty sure we’ll only get one robin/vickie kiss in s5 (cowardssss) so idk which i would prefer…a kiss when they’re alone, finally safe, sounds nice. Mostly just want them to kiss a lot lol

I really really like the idea of steve, robin, and vickie becoming a little trio. Like literally steve and his gang of wlw lol i don’t know what steve will wind up doing in s5 (sooo nervous for the potential stoncy storyline like the thought is giving me stress ulcers lol) but i am hoping he’ll survive. I try not to do too much speculation about s5 tbh because it’s fun to think about but i dont want to get too excited bc i just know the duffers will go a different direction and it will inevitably be a direction i think is stupid rip….idk at this point i really just hope my favourite characters dont have to go through too many stupid storylines lol. I feel confident about robin and vickie getting a couple scenes tho - maybe not as much as i want but i trust that at least. Anyway lol yeah stobickie agenda real i think all three of them will get into some fun adventures <333

When i think somewhat realistically i dont see robin and vickie being super long term just bc im not the biggest fan of high school sweethearts staying together forever. Like it is very sweet but i think the chance of you growing in different directions is very likely and im honestly quite attached to my headcanon of stobin being romantic disasters for decades. But i think the show will at most do a flashforward to them in their 20s or a small timeskip. So both can exist lol

It was fun to read ur rambling <3333

[benefits1986]

Have Yourself A Merry Little Xmas x Give Yourself Goosebumps Inside Out

December blues are made bluer by Christmas PL, however the blues this 2023 seem a bit merrier and brighter.

Mother dragon loved listening to Christmas tunes even when she was bed-ridden or barely able to walk. In spite her RBF and wicked ways, she chose to be thankful through it all. She made sure that I have a handmade letter along with whatever utilitarian gift she could hunt down.

Perhaps the biggest gift I got from her is Yellow Four, my now dusty Nikon D7000 way back with decent flash + lenses, mostly prime ones. Anak, sorry, natagalan kami ni daddy mo. I was over the moon and down the dumps when I got a few boxes of these babies. Huy, bakit ako naiiyak rn. Ang aga-aga. This was a year before she expired and she told me that ready na talaga ako for mature roles since I've been accepted as an apprentice photographer. JUSQ. Bakit ba ngayon ko 'to naalala? Hindi naman ito dapat susulat ko today e. I actually didn't want to get the camera because I knew funds were so low and even then, the price points are never cheap. Mom lambasted me a lot. She told me na paano ba ako makaka-shoot kung wala akong camera man lang. 'Di ko rin sure sagot.

Sabi ko may nagpapahiram naman sa akin ng buong gears + complete set up with full force and support. Super generous offer in fairness, however, tawang-tawa nanay ko nun. She told me that ayaw niya ako magmukhang kawawa kaya, eto na siya. Hahahaha. Damn. Kahihiyan. Bakit ba kasi nag-apply ako ng walang camera noh? Baliw. Baliw-baliw talaga ako.

Honestly, 'di ko kasi naisip magpabili ng gears noon since may nagpapahiram naman sa akin na hobbyist. 'Yun talaga plano ko. Then, shoot from the hip na rachada then bili when I'm earning na. Sabi kasi, in as little as six months, puwede na maging paid photographer. Sus. Easy peasy. CHOZ. Hahahaha. Kung meron man akong isang skill na kapurit na proud ako as a shy girl, default ko is candid shot na puwede mong i-frame naka-blow up pa. :p Fight me. I don't have an online folio kasi ayoko. Hahahaha. Though baka it's about time na rin. Hassle lang kasi ayoko mag-edit bilang tamad ako except sa balikong horizon which I need to straighten lang talaga and mas need kong i-focus din ang background ko. May trend ngayon though na for certain shots (like KDrama), may pa-effect na 'yung skewed background to add more depth and curiosity. LUH. Mapilit lang talaga noh? This may be the reason why I can't let my Yellow Four and the gears go kahit alam kong it's time bilang clunky and may molds na sila. I also know that restoring this set up is only optimal for photos. Nikon is not meant for videos talaga lalo na this particular model. LOL. I've had so many sessions with Yellow Four and I'm still thinking na i-flip na 'to para maka-start na ako ng mas optimal line up. On one end, sabi ko: Yellow Four will live on and I will learn how to let go. Pero, old things with back stories that are rich make me more alive talaga. Hahaha. Lola levels 10000 po talaga tayo even when mukha akong Gen Z at times. On the other end, may sense talaga to flip this set up kasi ambigat niya talaga and back focus is life. Never pa kasi 'tong nalinis. Ayoko lang talaga pero need na niya. The rubber of the body is reeking na rin. Ganun talaga. 2011 pa 'to e. So, ayun na nga. Nuninuni szn is ending soon. I need to make a solid choice.

As a scrooge since Prep, this holiday hits so differently and so similarly, all at once. Kasalanan 'to ng video shared ng tatay kong pakitong-kitong e. LOL. So, he stumbled upon this song and asked me: Anak, bakit ang ganda ng version na 'to? Bakit parang iba? Me: Dad, iba kasi merry pero ang daming bitbit na sadness vibes. Pero merry kasi through it all, happiness is a moral obligation lalo na 'pag Pasko. Gets mo ba? Dad ko: Wow. Anong pinaglalaban mo diyan? Pero tama ka. Masakit 'tong version na 'to pero totoo.

This is the first holiday that ina is no longer with us. While Team Panganay peeps are slaying the food list and the program, nasa tabi-tabi lang ako with my samgyup line up na 3 kilos. Hahahaha. Dami namin e. Super happy ako kasi may unli siomai with chili oil na potluck 'yung isa kong pinsan. HAHAHAHAHA. Noche Buena wish, done. So surprising 'di ko naman 'to sinabi out loud at all. Though bibili pa rin ako ng siomai sa Sta. Cruz. LOL. Sarap e. One of the bunso sagot lechon. OPAK. Speaking of lechon... huy. LUH. The past two Christmases, dad brought lechon na buo kasi favorite ng ina ko anything fatty, crunchy and malasa. Tawang-tawa ako kasi hindi ako fan ng lechon and its social construct. I vehemently disagreed on both times kasi nga, mahal na, putok batok pa. Maraming high blood sa dad's side ko so, GG. Dad said naman na maliban sa pinagsasabi kong social construct, kaya lang siya nagbitbit ng lechon is that hindi naman na namin sure hanggang kailan sa earth si ina ko, so gusto raw niya pasayahin. HAHAHAHAHAHA. Iba rin. Tacca, dad. Syempre, we got lechon na legit Cebu na here lang sa South because ang hirap mag-pick up bilang syempre, kami ang sugo delivery peeps.

The first and second time mag-pick up si dad ng lechon to Laguna, tuwang-tuwa siya. Akala mo nanalo sa lotto. Lekat. Sabi niya pa, ang galing kasi kung kelan siya nag-retire, doon pa siya nakapag-ambag ng lechon. Sabi ko naman, tumigil-tigil siya talaga. Hahahaha. Mababaw lang talaga tatay kong pakitong-kitong, pero I'm appreciating him more and more. Si dad kasi, tahimik lang 'yan sa umpisa. Mainitin ulo. Patola pero he is someone na bumabawi naman sa "gifts" 'pag kaya niya. LOL. Parang 'yun love language niya as a non-practicing parental. Hahahahahaha. Unless syempre, may super sunog at delubyo. LOLOLLOLL.

So, ayun na nga. Iloilo rachada ekis maybe a way of the universe telling me to show up more with feelings and intention. JUSQ. Good luck. Hahahahaha. Ayoko talaga kasi pero wala e. Lockdown invite po ang nagpa-yes sa atin na one month advance. Walang deposit. Non-refundable pa.

Iniisip ko na lang mag-bike naman kami ni dad ng malala para matest ang kapurit na kakayanan ni MatchaME. Syempre, sa patag lang muna. Hahahaha. Ayokong mamatay ng wala sa oras dahil lang sa pulikat na lekat. LOL. Saka, hahatawin ko tuhod ni dad para mapilitan na siyang magpa-rehab. So, humanda siya sa magic trick ko. Akala mo naman 'di ako frail noh? Baka magsabay pa kami as a year opener sa 2024 kung eto lang magpapaayos sa utak niyang baliko.

Nagpapahanap pa ng fork na magaan para raw kahit paano gumaan 'yung Trek niya. AMP. Eto na po tayo sa road to magaang bike era ni dad. SHEMAY. Pero, kung eto lang din makaka-motivate sa tatay ko para ayusin ang health stats niya sa abot ng kaya niya, go. LUH. LUL. Tinanong ko ilang kg ba dream bike niya. HAHAHAHAHAHA. 10 kg daw. LUL. Ang bigat na bulsa, mhiemha. Pero, okay. May bro naman akong maasahan sa mga ganitong oras. Baka nga lang, mag-sarili na silang chat ng hindi ko nalalaman. Hahahahaha. Pero, oks lang. Sasabihin ko na wawasakin ko lahat ng set up niya 'pag 'di siya nagpa-rehab sa Q1. Cardiac levels most likely neto 10000000.

Ang ganda sana ng pakawala ko ng thought farts ngayong umaga, e nag-pivot tayo just like that. Anyhow, leave officially starts today pero may tatapusin pa rin ako for my peace of mind for 2023 YE and 2024 YO. Also, Billie Eilish is officially on my PL. Dati, I just listen randomly pero she has finally arrived. Sakit netong manakit e. Hahahaha.

[snowfolly]

Thanks so much for the tag Bunny! This is actually from chapter 9 of Endlessly… bc I’ve gotten a little bit ahead of myself lol

-

Tali had a lot of his own skeletons to let loose from the proverbial closet — old dusty bones that needed space to dance about all foolish and willy-nilly in order embarrass the shit out of him in front of his fair muse.

���It’s a feywild creature, a frog…”

“No shit, darling.”

“Shut your fanged mouth and listen, would you? It’s a godsdamned frog that grows crystals in place of warts. They’re supposed to be lucky beasts — if you catch one it’s bound to you, but you must let it leave when it pleases. No matter the amount of time, the area, or the situation — in weather dire or fair, it leaves when it wishes… or the good luck you’ve had will turn sour tenfold.”

“Oh such things are silly fairy stories. Gods Tali, you know better than to believe in those,” Astarion sighed, finally sitting down beside him. His muse was apprehensive, and it hurt Tali’s heart when Astarion looked at him with troubled, wary eyes. He had every right to be wary, the bard supposed.

“Perhaps it is a silly fairy story. I’ve never seen one in my two hundred and six years wandering around Toril, but I suspect they're as real as a vampire spawn, which I also hadn't witnessed until a month and a half ago…”

No pressure tagging: @ollysoxisfree @bardic-inspo @yurissweettooth and anyone who wants to do the thing bc I’m so tired and I can’t think of more names rn 😭

WIP Whenever

I was tagged by @superfantacywitch but I'm pretty late lol.

Cooking on chapter 3 of To Make You Feel My Love.

This will be the last chapter for this little series.

Tagging oh um

@tallymonster @grandmother-goblin @snowfolly @vixstarria @mj-bites

Anyone else, I could be here all day

[ablednt]

Okay but my least favorite fandom trend is how hard people reach to defend fathers who are iffy at best and blatantly abusive at worst like it doesn't matter how blatantly awful a character is people will be like oh? You don't like them? You think they're a bad father? Well fuck you they're my favorite character now >:[

[iwadori]

Haikyu boys when they take a joke/prank too far (Iwaizumi,Daichi)

Word count: 1.9K

Genre:angst,fluff

AN: In the spirit of April Fools I tried to make my first work based on that I hope you enjoy!! (LOL I can’t actually believe this was the first thing I’ve ever written)

Iwaizumi:

“Okay so it’s April Fools Day who are we going to prank?” asked Makki “One of the first years?”

“Do we have to prank someone this year..” replied Iwaizumi “so childish”

“Iwa-Chan!” Oikawa said “Don’t be such a spoil sport.”

“Anyways, it can’t be a first year they’re boring to prank a first year coach will be mad at us, we need someone else.”

Just then, you enter the gym, catching their eye as you approach the group sitting on Iwaizumi’s lap “Hey babe, I can still come over to yours to study right?” you ask.

“Yeah of course, practice finishes early so I'll be there before you.” He said

“Alright, see you then bye babe, bye guys” you said, giving Iwaizumi a kiss on the cheek sauntering off and waving at Makki, Mattsun and Oikawa.

“bye Y/N!” They teasingly responded in unison making you laugh.

As they watched you leave, it seemed as if a lightbulb pinged off in all of their heads (besides Iwaizumi) realizing who would be a great person to prank.  

After a lot of convincing, they finally got Iwaizumi in on the ‘harmless’ plan, all they needed to do now is wait on your arrival.

You’re finally done with school after a long and tiring day of exams upon exams and wanting nothing more than to cuddle with your boyfriend (after he teaches you Pythagoras theorem of course.) You did think he was acting weird when you met him this morning in the gym and throughout break and lunch but you just concluded that it was because he was having an ‘off’ day.

You reached his house and used a copy of his key that he gave you to enter we just enter houses up in this bitch  calling out his name “Zumi-babe, I'm here...”  

“Lets get this shit over with” you said tiredly

Upon entering, you notice none of the lights being on or curtains drawn ‘odd’ you think. You go upstairs going straight to his room hopefully to find your boyfriend in his bed or on his Xbox or something. To your surprise his bedroom door was somehow locked shut (even though not having a lock on his door anyways.) Suddenly, you hear creaks slowly trailing up the stairs and an eerie feeling surrounds you... now you start to feel pretty panicked jiggling the door handle to Iwaizumi’s door as it’s practically the only place you can go.

AN: I hate what I’m writing rn but onwards we right

The footsteps on the stairs start to quicken, and you almost certain that you felt something brush pass your shoulder only adding onto the panic and anxiety that you already feel. Ok, the footsteps on the stairs are basically right near you, so doing the only logical thing you can do you body slam the ‘person’ on the stairs as you motherfuckin should  as tears fill your eyes and you pick up bag bolting through the front door, slamming it shut now in full tears and shakingly scared.

You look behind you and see Iwaizumi’s front door re-open and out comes the ‘iNFaMouS sEiJOh fOuR’ in tears... of laughter. It seems that the boys were in laughing fits that their prank ‘payed off’ getting a reaction out of you. You couldn’t see Iwaizumi’s reaction, but you didn’t care you were hurt, annoyed and wanting to get into your bed.

Once you get home, you decide to block your so called ‘friends’ who decided to make you scared shitless and ignored Iwaizumi’s messages asking “where were you today”.... the AUDACITY.  

The next day, the boy’s seemed to realize the consequences of their actions after spending the whole day trying to get your attention only to be straight up ignored. Iwaizumi is immensely regretful after all his efforts to try talking to you were denied, he decided after his practice he was going to get you to talk to him or at least get you to listen to his apologies on what happened yesterday evening.

You left your clubroom and made your way to the school gate to go home.

“Y/N!” shouted Iwaizumi touching your shoulder making you flinch ‘wow did we really scare her that bad?”  

“What do you want iwa?” You asked very agitated

“Y/N I just want to apologize for yesterday, since it was April fools day and all the boys really wanted to prank someone and I-it just happened to be-”

“It just happened to be me. Right?” you interrupted “Gosh Iwaizumi, I was really scared.. I already had a tiring day and all I wanted was my boyfriend to teach me the stupid Pythagoras Theorem and cuddle me afterwards, but no you and your friends just had to be dicks for a day” you turn around planning to walk away before he grabs you again  

“Wait! Just wait y/n, im sorry and I wont ever prank you like that again” he pleaded

“.. and i’ll help you study?” he added pulling the sweetest face of all time to try and convince you  

“ugh, fine stop pulling that face... and you better teach me Pythagoras Theorem” you said rolling your eyes

“yeah yeah whatever you say y/n” he said pulling you under his arm and walking in the direction of his house.

A/N: WOW I DID NOT like the way this turned out but its my first official thing that I wrote hopefully HOPEFULLY MY WORK IMPROVES (I THINK IT WILL) SO please join me on this ‘ride’ in improving my work  

Daichi:

You decided this morning that you were NOT going to participate in your annual April Day Fool’s prank with Tanaka and Noya... only because of your not-so new boyfriend Daichi saying he didn’t need his teammates corrupting you any longer so you decided to not get involved. With that being said you wouldn’t even think of your boyfriend pulling a prank on you so you didn’t think you’re getting pranked today.

In the gym, the boys were doing the usual: Hinata and Kageyama running after eachother, Tanaka and Noya oogling Kiyoko, Tsukishima listening to music, Yama and Yachi going over club schedules whilst Daichi sat with Sugawara and Asahi.

“So are you pranking anyone today?” sugawara asked

“Pranking someone, isn’t that a bit too juvenile suga?” Asahi replied

“Not you silly, Daichi” said sugawara “With Y/N on his arm they always have to stay on eachothers toes right..she’s a ‘jokester’ right?”

“...right?” Daichi hadn’t thought of it that way, he did know of all your joking escapades before you even got together and how you still liked to joke around now as you date.. He didn’t want you to think that you thought he was too boring for you ?

“Ok. What type of prank should I pull on her..”

Daichi, Sugawara and Asahi (who didn’t really contribute to Suga’s scheming) made a plan for you to meet him at the gym locker with the claims that he had a ‘surprise’ for you .. oh how he was wrong.

Daichi: meet me at the gym locker I have something to show you  

Y/N: Ok!! I’ll be there in 5 minutes

Daichi was nervous, and that was an understatement he didn’t want things to go left and have you thinking he couldn’t even do a simple prank. Once you got there, he saw heard you talking to Sugawara and Asahi outside the door about him wondering where he was in which Suga told you inside the locker room.

“Hey babe” you greeted “what's the occasion in why we’re in here?”

“I...uh..um I need to get something one second” Daichi spoke quickly and rushed out the room closing the door leaving you confused. Minutes passed, and you were now impatient and kinda scared since the room was dusty, dark and cold definitely not your place to be in. You tried texting Daichi but just your luck you have no service ://  

As time went on you tried opening the door but it was jammed shut no hope opening at all you forgot you left your bag outside which of course had your inhaler which did not help the sudden shortness of breath you started to get because of your asthma and claustrophobia. All you wanted was to get out of this room and talk to … Daichi.

Daichi. How convenient that he manage to slip away before the door got closed hmm but he wouldn’t intentionally prank you after ALL the lectures he gave you about not doing pranks this year right?

You didn’t notice how you started to cry and whimper wanting to leave.

On the outside, Daichi heard your cries and ordered Sugawara and Asahi to find the key to immediately get you out which it seems to take a while because Daichi has now stopped hearing your tears making him gulp in fear thinking something bad has happened to you in there.

Sugawara comes to you handing Daichi the keys, his handing shaking as he tries to unlock the door when he eventually does he finds you passed out on the ground of the dusty storage room. Very cliché I know ://

You wake up in the Nurses Office a bit confused on how you got there until your eyes land upon Daichi, remembering how you locked you in the Storage room where you had an asthma attack and passed out. You turned your body away from Daichi not wanting to talk to him right now after the hypocrisy he did.

“Y/N.. Are you alright?” He asked

“Do I look alright?” You responded in a bored tone

“I am really sorry Y/N... I know what I said to you about not doing pranks this year but Sugawara roped me into this and I didn’t want you to think I was too boring for you so I thought doing this prank would make you see me in a different light” he said

“yeah i saw you in a different light alright” you sassed, you then realised what he said ‘too boring’ kind of feeling less mad and more sad that he feels this way “Dai, you’d never be to boring for me … you’re one of the most funness is that a word? guys I've ever met.”

“really?” he asked  

“Of course! I’m kind of still mad at you for letting this happen but I do sort of understand why” you said giving him a hug.

You were eventually cleared to go home and as you left the clinic you saw Asahi and Sugawara standing at the door.  

“Y/N WE’RE SORRY” they bowed to you waiting on your responses

You chuckled slightly at their cuteness and ruffled both of their hair “all is forgiven, just make sure there’s ‘pranks’ this year “

Which they agreed upon.  

A/N: WOW I DID NOT like the way these turned out but its my first official thing that I wrote hopefully HOPEFULLY MY WORK IMPROVES (I THINK IT WILL) SO please join me on this ‘ride’ in improving my work. Feedback is VERY MUCH APPRECIATED and request too since I will literally write whatever...

I may do a part 2 … any particular characters people want?

[unnamedtune]

Okay sooooooooo, I’m never going to finish this because I have no idea of how I want to color him, so lineart it is and lineart is what you shall receive

Had to add a watermark (just in case)

Lore ✨

We love us an unhinged jackass <3

So this man has been locked up in a room for five years and has witnessed like three murders, so he ain’t doing so hot. He was discovered by two siblings exploring the ruins of their oh so special daycare/arcade (prolly gonna change that but whatever). I feel like writing so here have some

:readmore:

The two siblings felt their feet crumbling the dirt below the souls of their worn out shoes, the beautiful daylight shining against the trees like ocean water, they knew what they were looking for, a place they both held against their hearts dearly, and very fondly,

(Insert arcade complex name here I can’t come up with one rn)

Once they came across the shambled complex in the newly planted woods, covered in overgrowth and fungi, the oldest took it upon themselves to push open the door. The shattered, slimy glass door kindly glided open, like it was waiting for them to step inside, the handle bars on the door shone familiarity, then they started to explore the old guts of the space..

After a bit of nostalgic shenanigans, they were stumbling along a dilapidated hallway strewn with debris and cobwebs, when they came across sevral party rooms used for birthdays and special events. The glass was broken and boarded up, so they could not see inside, the youngest put their hand up against the cold glass, then shot back in disgust because the ugly, boarded glass was covered in algae and dust.

They approached one of the rooms they used to celebrate in, they desperately looked through the cracks of the hastily put up boards to look inside, memories flooding their minds like a relentless tsunami. Their eyes darted around the room from what they could see, the old wallpaper, to the floor, to the cleared up ball put and a gutted air pump for the birthday throne they used to house. They then carefully backed away from the dusty window, sad to see their once happy place in this state, they used to have so much fun here, too bad people had to die here,

Then without warning, they heard a loud thump come from within the room behind them, followed by the shuffling of what seemed to be limbs. It was some sort of closet or space with no windows, so they had not a single idea of what they were about to witness. The oldest bared a survival knife they had gotten as a present, ready to protect the youngest at all costs. But the door was boarded up? How did someone get in there, unless,

They started to tare the boards from their illy earned place, the weak, time-worn planks easily snapped under their strong tugging, the youngest joining in, bringing a rusty crowbar they found in a tool closet for the animatronics. They make short work of the boundary, pulling the rusted nails from the wooden frame of the door with the tool as if it were just a cheap plastic toy, the door to the mysterious room fully exposed now, the wood grain shimmering bloodlust in the little sunlight they had inside, it definitely urked them a bit.

The youngest perked up and dared them to open it: saying if it were some guy they could kill them in an instant considering their skills, and the oldest agreed, placing his shaky hand on the scratched, gunmetal doorknob, not knowing about the psychopathic animatronic waiting for them on the other side,

Not my best work bc I’m p tired but hey it’s just lore who cares. But I do hope you enjoyed, the story is about a brother (oldest) and sister (youngest) who decided to visit their old favorite arcade/restaurant/hotel (think bullwinkles) and stumbling upon this fucker. Didn’t really mention the gender or looks of these guys bc, 1. Didn’t feel like it, 2. I need to work on writing characters who use they/them since I grew up writing cis lol. That is all I have to say rn, thanks 4 reading! I’ll prolly update this later lol

EBEBEBEVEVEVBE IM WORKING ON A SUNDROP/MOONDROP INSPIRED OC AND IMG I LOVE HIMMMMM

WOULD YALL LIKE TO SEE THE DRAWING WHEN ITS DONE+ A LORE DUMP?!?!?!?!??

[dusterson]

irst off let me tell you how terrified i was to follow you. not because of anything back but just how AMAZING you are. your writing? phenomenal. your portrayal of dusty? A+ i was intimidated as heck but i love our little sibling interactions even if all i do is supply you with angst lol truly amazing ic and doc <3 100/10

hfjwkcpsb i was not expecting things in my inbox hello ??? Thank you so much??!!?? Q0Q ��💙💙 I'm sorry you were afraid to follow, understandable tho I'm a nervous goddamn elk that can't even send MUTUALS an ask meme without gettin the Shakes

I really do appreciate you sayin this ;o; kinda needed a pick me up tbh cos like I've been,,, mAJorly self conscious abt my dustin writing, and idk my not replying to threads regularly has me averse to even just quick ic banter (even though that's one of mY FAVOURITE THINGS).

Gettin' my act together a bit tho, or tryin to! Work on replies every once in a while, throw an ask or two at whoever is on the dash at random,, *hweezes* why is even that so hard rn

BUT YEAH SORRY FOR RAMBLE it just made my heart and the heart of my muse both shine. I've been wanting to message you about plotting and been too pussyfoot to, cos i LOVE the depth you've put into the Henderson family 😭😭😭 and how goddamn different the two kids were raised... *chef's kiss but also sobs bc tHE ACCURACY*

pls gimme all the siblingnanigans (and don't worry about angsting at me i am a gLUtToN for the horrific and tragic), i am here for it, i am down to clown, let me hug elie and let me hug you !!!!!

[artificialqueens]

Chase the Shadows Away (Taywhora) - Juno

Summary: It’s April 2020, the UK is in lockdown, and Tayce gets a hand-delivered letter from her neighbour Aurora which may change her life.

A/N: So this is set during lockdown and does mention covid, so please bear this in mind when reading if this will be a worry, but otherwise I hope you enjoy. CWs in place for alcohol, mental health mentions, and non-adherence to lockdown rules at one point. 

Otherwise it’s quite fluffy with some h/c. I hope you enjoy.

The first letter Tayce got was in early April.

She hadn’t had much post since the whole country had been locked down, no one allowed to move outside their front doors for more than once a day for threat of fines and penalties and even getting sick. Most of the letters she was getting this week had been birthday cards for her absent housemate. She’d put the various brightly-coloured cards and Amazon boxes in a pile outside Viv’s bedroom door, and gave the pile the middle finger every time she walked past it.

But today there was a plain, white envelope, with “Hi” written on it in glittery red pen, and when Tayce opened it, she found a piece of notebook paper that had been folded at least four times, and Tayce nearly threw it across the room with the effort it was taking to open.

This had better be worth it.

When she got it unfolded, she read the three lines in the same glitter pen, then again, and once more just in case.

‘Hi, I’m Aurora. I’m on my own in my flat 7D because my housemate moved home because of lockdown, and you seem to be alone too. Want to write to each other? X’

And Tayce couldn’t hold back the rush of emotion, as much as she tried - but she was alone, and she took comfort knowing only these four walls would see tears stream down her face.

——

Tayce was on her own in the flat.

In the day time she opened her work laptop, thanking god she was allowed to work from home; throwing a hoodie over her pyjama top just in time for the 9am meeting where her boss grinned at everyone and told them all to keep swimming and chin up and whatever other self-indulgent bullshit she had read in her How To Motivate Your Teammanual in the chapter about Managing Pandemics. 

Tayce was still surprised at how much bullshit her workmates seemed to swallow; all of them with the same broad smiles and straightened hair and shaved chins and eyeliner, for fuck’s sake - but Tayce copied them, knowing that not painting her own smile and her own eyebrows on was damning herself for the inevitable call and the simpering It’s Good To Talk conversation, followed by u k hun xx to be flashing repeatedly in the work WhatsApp group from all the team.

In the evenings, the only noise was the clink of the glass bottle against the wine glass. One glass was enough to make her a little sleepy, two was enough to make her dance, and three was enough to make her post something cryptic on her insta story and see if anyone DMed her. 

Sometimes they did. 

Joe liked to crack a few morbid jokes about how it was the apocalypse and we were all going to be dead by 2021, which didn’t help Tayce in the slightest. Ginny would message “You alright, bab?” at three in the morning, but never reply to any other message. Tia would send Tayce a picture of the banana bread she’d baked as if that would cheer Tayce up.

And Cherry sent her a message one time, telling her to look after her mental health, and then Tayce felt bad because Cherry worked for the NHS and only seemed to work and sleep right now, her insta photos showing her looking more and more gaunt, with #ClapForHeroes and #ProtectTheNHS appearing at the bottom of all her posts.

Nothing curbed the gaping black hole in Tayce’s chest, sucking everything that was good from her body and leaving her a shell.

Until the letter arrived.

——

Two days after she’d posted her own letter back to 7D, another letter arrived, in the same glittery red pen, this time addressed to her, with Tayce written on the front of the envelope this time.

‘Hi Tayce (sp?) nice to meet you, don’t worry I don’t know what to say either! Where in Wales are you from? I’m from Nottingham but I came to London for uni and didn’t leave! Are you still working rn? I got furloughed which is a bit shit. And my housemate is staying with her boyfriend so she can’t move back. Have you been clapping for the NHS? Someone on my floor was banging a pan or something!! Hope your ok? WB Aurora xx’

“I’m making a new friend,” Tayce had said to her mum on the phone later that night.

“In lockdown?”

“She’s delivering me letters.”

“How?”

“By hand, mum.” Tayce forced a laugh. “You know. Through the letterbox like a normal letter.”

“I hope you’re washing your hands before and after you open them, are you?”

“Yeah, of course,” Tayce grimaced as she said it.

“Good. Stay safe. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

One of these days, Tayce thought as she disconnected the call, she might be able to say it without her voice breaking.

——

By mid-April, a full month since lockdown had started and two weeks after the first letters between them, Aurora had given Tayce her instagram handle, and Tayce had given hers in return. Tayce found herself spending all of her Good Friday skimming down the page on moreauroramore, looking through all of her new pen pal’s photos and trying desperately not to look like an idiot by accidentally double-tapping any that were obviously over a year old.

Tayce had pictured Aurora in her mind as being over-excitable, short, with dark hair and lots of dusty pinks and baby blues and other pastel colours as her aesthetic, maybe with pot plants and cat pictures and cutesy little slogans surrounded by hearts. Instead she’d found a smolderingly attractive woman with a ridiculously versatile and sophisticated sense of fashion; one photo in a rococo-inspired summer dress, and the next in a cerulean blazer, matching trousers, and stilettos. Her hair was platinum-blonde, but it was hard to tell her eye colour as she seemed to own a never-ending plethora of colour contacts; and the eyebrow ring in the early pictures was replaced by a silver septum ring in later ones. 

Her own insta looked quite plain in comparison, Tayce thought to herself. The landscapes she liked to post were interesting to her but probably not to the magnificent person on Aurora’s insta. The last picture Tayce had taken was of herself with her brother and niece in red rugby shirts just before the Six Nations was on; the last selfie before the last time she’d gone home which was … only February, she realised. 

February felt like years ago.

When Tayce had awoken the next morning, she was greeted by the doorbell, and an Amazon driver sprinting away the moment she opened the door. A letter was on the doormat, in the familiar red glittery pen, and a single chocolate Easter egg. 

‘Happy Easter Tayce. Don’t know if you celebrate but lol thought you would like some chocolate anyway! Don’t eat it all at once. Aurora xx’

It made Tayce’s gut wrench with guilt that she hadn’t thought to get Aurora one.

But it made Tayce even more pained, once she had clicked onto her instagram, to see that moreauroramore had liked all thirteen of the pictures she’d posted this year.

——

The zoom call at the end of April with the others from her uni group, saw not just Cherry missing, but also Ellie and Veronica.

“Ellie’s moving this week,” Lawrence nodded at the screen, “but that was all she’d tell me. She didn’t say where. Or if she’s staying in Dundee or anything. I just know she’s still trying to get her internet set up and I think she’s a bit stuck.”

“What about Vee?” Ginny asked in a low voice.

They all recognised the somber tone. They’d all taken it up. A change in their voices that all of them recognised in a kind of collective telepathic awareness. A hush in the calls, as if someone were dying, or had just died. Whenever anyone was missing, it was always the same worry circling all of their minds: what if it’s covid what if it’s covid what if it’s -

Tia was shaking her head. “It’s not covid,” she said, reading the minds of everyone through the internet, but her voice was still solemn as she continued. “I spoke to her mum. She’s -“

“Say depressed, Tia, it’s fine.” Bimini spoke gently, but not all of them were as open as Bimini was. Especially when it came to Veronica, who was a brick wall when it came to showing what she was feeling.

“She’s - not in a good place.”

“Say mental health,” Bimini said, shaking their head. “It’s okay to not be okay.”

“I don’t think that’s gonna make her feel any better, Bim.” Tia rolled her eyes. 

“We’re all feeling this,” Pip nodded. “We all need to talk to each other.”

“Veronica won’t. Not yet. We just need to be there for her when she does. Anyway, who’s done anything interesting? Anyone else been trying banana bread? Everyone managed to find bogroll from somewhere now? No one is having the same problem that Joe had when she -“

“I don’t think we need to go any further with that one, love,” Joe muttered.

“I’ve made a pen friend.”

Everyone sat in stunned silence at Tayce’s sentence, mouths open like fish at feeding time.

“A pen friend? What is this, 1986?”

“Shut up, Ginny. I think that’s kind of cute, actually,” Tia mused, tilting her head to one side. 

Tayce nodded. “Something a bit different. She lives in my block of flats. Two floors up from me. Been nice, to talk to someone, ever since Viv buggered off to her boyfriend’s house. Seriously, as soon as Boris announced lockdown she was jumping in her car and off to Liverpool.”

“You said she was a bit flaky,” Tia said sympathetically. “What’s your new pen pal’s name?”

“Aurora.”

“A-what?” Ginny raised their eyebrows. “Can we just call her Rory?”

“No.”

“We should get her on a call with us when Veronica’s back. Ronni and Rory, sounds like Ant and Dec will have some stiff competition when they get wind of that.”

“Ginny -“ Tia began, but Tayce was trying to hold back a chuckle. 

——

‘Someone is talking about a street party on the 8th of May. Are you gonna go? I was gonna stay indoors but if you’re gonna go outside i will too xx’

Tayce knew she shouldn’t be thinking of meeting strangers outside her flat while the pandemic was ongoing, but she hadn’t seen a familiar human since March other than on a zoom call screen. 

‘Hi Aurora, yeah i will go outside for a little bit. Look forward to meeting you properly instead of over letters! Tayce’

And Tayce finally stopped hesitating, adding two kisses on the end for the first time.

The weather was meant to be lush for a May bank holiday, as Tayce knew because her colleagues wouldn’t shut up about it. Almost eight weeks of lockdown were beginning to show the cracks in all their faces - no more eyeliner, and even Linda in Accounts had stopped posting boomerang videos of her kids doing Joe Wicks workouts while she waved her arms behind them. 

So Tayce was over the moon when Friday rolled around and she could slam the Dismiss button on her phone alarm, turn over and sleep in until noon. Once she woke up though, she sat up with a jolt in her bed and realised she’d have to get ready; somehow it was important that she looked right today. 

It was a power play, she knew it. An armour. But there was just something about clothes that made her mood turn in an instant. Her favourite leather jacket was probably a bit too heavy for the warm sunshine - warm sunshine? In May? - so she opted for the black denim instead and a skirt that hugged her slender figure, leaving her hair loose and wishing she’d gone for a trim before the lockdown. Maybe she should take her scissors to it? 

She held the only scissors she had to hand - a pair of craft scissors - and wondered what her hairdresser mum would say if she knew that her daughter had taken non-styling scissors to the 30-inches of hair that she had. 

No - better not. Her mum could give her a go over once the lockdown period had ended.

Someone was playing tunes on a speaker already when Tayce came down the stairs, dragging the garden chair Viv had left behind and brushing the digestive crumbs off it. One of the neighbours she recognised from her floor handed her an ice-cold can of Fosters which she sipped, not really enjoying the taste but relishing the freedom of it all. She knew to keep two metres from everyone, and she knew Cherry would absolutely murder her if she disobeyed that rule.

As soon as Aurora came into view from the block of flats, Tayce knew that keeping to the two metre rule would prove a little harder than she had first thought.

Aurora’s insta pictures showed a fashion model trapped in a little box on a screen, striving to get out - but in the flesh, she looked as if she had just rolled out of the living room after a Tiger King marathon. The grey jogging bottoms paired with the crop top and zip-up hoodie were probably too warm for today - 23 degrees, the radio kept repeating - but she made them look so effortless and stylish that Tayce suddenly wanted to buy some. Her platinum hair was piled in a messy bun, dark brown roots showing but the lackadaisical nature made it seem like Aurora meant it that way.

On her insta page, Aurora was way out of Tayce’s league; but here in life, she seemed a lot more accessible, a lot calmer, a lot more real. 

Maybe it’s armour for her too. All this perfection in the photos. God. Why did I wear this?

She dropped her own deck chair down a reasonable distance from Tayce, taking another can of Fosters from the same neighbour and cracking it open. She took a swig, wiped her mouth on the back of her hand, and waved.

“Hi, Tayce. Here we are, then!”

“Yeah,” was the only thing Tayce could think of in response. Really cool. Very clever.

But Aurora was talking animatedly about how much she’d missed the sun, as she pulled a pair of sunglasses from her pocket and leaned back against the deck chair, claiming “Tesco are having them on sale - two for £12, so I got two - what else am I gonna do on furlough other than sunbathe!”

And the more the Fosters flowed - their neighbour’s 24-pack almost completely gone before 5pm, he seemingly wanting to give a can to the whole block - the more Aurora opened up her life history to Tayce. 

How much she wished she was still in Worksop and could go on the long walks into the forest. How she’d give anything to hug her mum, a care-worker, and how she FaceTimed her shielding grandad every Sunday at 6.30 just after he finished his tea. 

But most of all, how lonely it was every single night being alone in a flat in a huge city. Aurora dabbed her watery eyes with her thumbs as she described how much she loved everything that London had to offer when it was full of people, not dead to the world like it was now - and in this hollow place that lockdown was, she’d discovered that a city - any city, however exciting - was just a built-up area if you had no one to share it with. 

Tayce hadn’t expected to cry. She’d cried maybe once or twice this whole time in lockdown, still too numb to have taken everything in that was happening. But the moment she’d opened her mouth, suddenly the Fosters had started talking for her too, and she was spilling out her worries onto the pavement below them as Aurora rubbed her back. 

How her mum was furloughed from the hairdresser and her dad was always out in the lorry up and down the country. Her brother and sister-in-law, and her niece, were all still fine in Newport, but Tayce had missed her niece’s birthday, having to settle for blowing her a kiss down FaceTime and promising her through gritted teeth and cold fear that she’d give her the biggest cwtch ever as soon as this was over.

But now Tayce was in tears again, this time on Aurora’s shoulder, releasing her sorrows onto this woman who she had only exchanged written words with; now seeing her true soul laid bare in emotions that just refused to stop once she started. Aurora’s gentle hands ghosted through her hair, but then gripped Tayce tightly to her chest, planting a long, tender kiss on her hairline. 

How had this happened? How had social distancing become this? Two people, thinking they were islands, clinging to one another for dear life?

Tayce held her for too long.

Aurora’s hands froze as she realised what she had done at the same moment Tayce had.

Cherry is gonna kill me.

Aurora walked with Tayce back to her flat as the sun was setting. It was nine in the evening, the heat finally starting to break, and both of them were aching and tired, spent from their tears. Aurora gave Tayce’s hand a gentle squeeze but said nothing else, her eyes red underneath her sunglasses, and Tayce had felt herself harden once again, turning the key in the door and closing the outside world back to where it should be.

——

After two weeks had passed, both of them not developing any symptoms after their contact, Tayce had an idea. 

She put the letter through the letterbox in 7D at midday when she broke for lunch, and had a reply by half past one, a new record for Aurora.

‘Tayce, I’d love to form a support bubble with you. I thought you would have one already thats why i didn’t ask! Want to put on a film tonight and just chill? Bubble bud? Aurora xx’

So Tayce saw inside Aurora’s flat for the first time that same evening. After work, she practically sprinted up the stairs, thankful to get away from more of u k hun xx and her still-simpering colleagues.

It was very clean, as if it had only just been cleaned that day - freshly-washed surfaces, hoovered carpets, a sparkling bathroom - and Tayce marvelled at how tidy and orderly things were, a stark contrast from her own living space which had evolved into a nest of mess by now. Aurora’s living room and kitchen space were one area, with a mismatched sofa and chair facing the tv screen, hooking up a PS4 - Tayce hadn’t counted Aurora as a Dishonoured player either. The wall opposite the window was filled with small pictures of past fashion models - Kate Moss, Agyness Deyn, Cara Delevigne - all with matte black frames which had obviously been painted in lockdown, as one was on the coffee table drying over a copy of Hello magazine.

“My housemate’s not coming back, I can see it happening now,” Aurora shrugged, “so why not make the house the way I like it while I look for someone else to live with?”

Aurora poured Tayce a huge glass of wine, and that was followed by another; while she topped up her own glass liberally and kept shifting on the sofa as if trying to get comfortable. Tayce, for her part, took the chair instead, while Aurora tapped on the PlayStation controller to try to get Netflix up. The more she drank, the more cumbersome the controller seemed to become in her hands, until Tayce leaned over and took it away from her, Aurora’s fingers lingering a little too long on it before relinquishing.

When Aurora got up, meaning to pour them both a fourth glass of wine, she slipped on something and tumbled into Tayce’s lap in the chair, tittering something that sounded like “god I’m clumsy” through the giggles that came from her, unable to stop. Tayce slapped her on the back as she started coughing, but as that died down, Aurora straightened up, picking up Tayce’s hand in hers and drawing her up and away to join her on the sofa.

Lockdown had been so fucking lonely.

Aurora’s hand in hers was all Tayce needed to dissolve every wall she was still rebuilding from May Bank Holiday.

Aurora’s eyes were on her, she knew; through her peripheral vision as she tried desperately to cling to her focus on whatever episode of Tiger King this was.

When Tayce finally met her gaze, she averted it, turning her face to the window opposite them. Almost … playfully.

So Tayce looked back at the TV screen, but Aurora’s hand squeezed at hers, thumb in her palm pressing right in the centre, the pressure somehow travelling all the way to her gut. Tayce turned back to her, and this time Aurora did not look away.

“God, you’re gorgeous.”

Aurora looked at her through her eyelashes, lips parted in a smirk, curiously searching Tayce with her gaze as if wondering what her next move would be.

Tayce blinked incredulously. “Me? Like this? What do you mean, I’m gorgeous? Have you seen yourself?”

“And that accent, oh my days -“

“Go to Newport, we all sound like this.”

But the wine was hitting hard now and oh god lockdown is so fucking lonely and Tayce’s feet on the floor suddenly felt unsteady and Aurora was so fucking close to her on the sofa -

——

Once the hangover was gone, the memory of rest of the night felt like a dream, or maybe a nightmare. Tayce wasn’t entirely sure when she’d gone back to her flat, but she had, long before night had fully fallen and long after she was sure the burgeoning friendship she was finally making with someone lay in tatters two floors up from her.

The wine had washed away the strength she’d had, leaving her raw and vulnerable, and all the affection that had been growing since Aurora had first held her bubbled and burst into life. And Aurora must have felt the same magnetic pull, drawing them together across the sofa, nail marks still present in Tayce’s back that she could see in the mirror, a bruise forming on Tayce’s collarbone as Aurora had dipped a little lower. 

It had been Tayce who had halted it - not because she hadn’t wanted to, but because she couldn’t decipher how much of this was affection and how much of this was just two lonely people, starved of company, starved of normality, seeking and clinging to it in any form.

And now it was the following day, and Tayce still didn’t know.

The group call at the end of the day was interesting. She stretched over the back of the sofa in her living room to grab her water, and that must have been enough to flash a sliver of skin. 

“What’s that?” Lawrence asked loudly, prompting everyone else to go quiet. “Tayce? What’s that on your chest, hmm?”

“I didn’t see anything.”

“You’re not wearing your glasses, Ginny, you can’t see shit. What’s that on your chest? Why d’you have a bruise there?”

“Hi!” Ellie’s voice as she joined the call unexpectedly saved Tayce any further embarrassment; everyone shrieked when she came on, having missed the last two zoom calls following her move. “Thank God my internet is working now, I’ve missed all your faces!”

Tayce silently thanked Ellie’s timing and contentedly listened to the rest of them as they chatted about everything and nothing that they’d all missed. All of them were there; even Cherry showed up about twenty minutes in to wave at them and blow them kisses, her face even more pallid than before; before ducking back out to go to bed. 

Only Veronica was still missing.

“She’s been messaging me,” Tia explained, “and she said she’s feeling a bit better, but since she got furloughed, she’s feeling like there’s no point getting out of bed or getting ready because there’s nowhere to go.”

“Send her some love,” Tayce said, but Tia snorted.

“You send her it! She’s gonna feel better if she knows we all miss her.”

It was true though, Tayce realised after they all disconnected. They all seemed to be drifting apart, no more energy to continue with these online gatherings, even though there were so many virtual meetup groups and apps that there almost seemed to be no excuse now.

She looked back through her phone messages. She hadn’t messaged Veronica since early April, taking her silence as a sign that she wanted to be left alone; but what if it wasn’t? Veronica was a closed fist, everyone knew that. And Tayce’s brother? Again, early April, and a quick call the week after for her niece’s birthday. 

Lockdown, and self-isolation, seemed to be one and the same. 

So Tayce spent the rest of the afternoon sending messages to everyone she had neglected since then. Maybe they would reply, and maybe they wouldn’t - but there was no harm in reaching out, no negative consequences. 

By the end of the day, she was fielding messages back and forth from everyone she thought she’d lost through lockdown, the grey cloud over her head starting to lift, the fuzzy feeling disappearing and clarity settling in. She felt light, lighter than she had in weeks; and warm as the summery days they were getting in this late-May spring.

Towards the end of the day, she got a message back from Veronica at last.

Veronica: I’m doing ok. I got up and went for a walk today just to the park and back. It’s really nice although my hay fever sucks. Thanks for checking in on me i appreciate it x  Veronica: Oh also Tia said you had a hickey on the group call haha tell me what her name is x

Tayce was surprised to realise she was grinning at the phone as she read Veronica’s message, her fingers stroking the mark on her collarbone as if to savour the vivid image that it sparked in her head.

——

It was three days after their drunken kiss on the sofa that Tayce had another letter through the door. The same red glittery pen, the same scrawl, but the writing a little smaller as if Aurora wanted to diminish herself.

‘Hi Tayce. I’m really sorry if i came on too strong this week. Can we go back to friends? Want to hang out tonight, bubble bud? Aurora xx’

Tayce swallowed down the part of her that immediately rose up and cried that she … didn’t want to just be friends. 

Then it hit her.

God. I only met this girl properly this month. What’s wrong with me?

But she replied and immediately started clearing the house. 

She put the pile of Viv’s birthday cards and presents from the hallway floor into a cupboard under the sink, giving it the middle finger again; put the six-weeks worth of laundry on to wash; cleaned all the dishes; and dragged the hoover out of the tiny airing cupboard and got to work on the carpets. The hard floors she swept, and carried the bin bags out to the communal bins, all before midday.

“Who needs Joe Wicks workouts?” She muttered to herself, panting, as she tugged some marigolds over her hands to sort out the rest of the kitchen. 

By the time it was six, and time for Aurora to arrive, Tayce thought the house looked much better, and honestly, she felt much better too. The little spring clean she’d given the place had cleared a little clutter from her head as well. 

It’s nothing to worry about. She’d just coming over for food and -

Tayce grimaced as she realised she hadn’t thought of what to do for food. She thought back to the beans on toast she’d had at four and kicked herself for not thinking of that. Dominos was still delivering, so she brought up the app and busied herself looking through the list of pizzas.

Aurora hadn’t arrived by ten past six, and Tayce started to worry.

Maybe she’s changed her mind.

But Tayce refused to let that thought take any root. She looked at the clock, which of course seemed to slow down from having eyes on it, and firmly told herself that she would message Aurora at quarter past if she wasn’t here before.

With a minute to spare, Aurora turned up, grinning merrily and waving the bottle of rose in Tayce’s face.

“Hey bubble bud! Sorry I’m late, well I’m always late, sorry in advance if you expect me on time for anything!” Aurora took a step inside and her jaw dropped. “Wow, your place is well nice!”

“Thanks,” Tayce grinned, although she wasn’t sure what Aurora was looking at. Tayce wasn’t allowed anything on the walls from what her landlord said, but Aurora wouldn’t stay still - checking out the titles of the handful of CDs Tayce had brought down to London with her; scanning a nail along the books on the shelf above the TV.

“It’s nice to hold a book sometimes,” Tayce shrugged, “rather than just read it on the kindle app.”

When Aurora got to the kitchen, Tayce cringed. She’d have to confess.

“I haven’t got in anything to eat. Only - only some bread.”

“And pot noodles,” Aurora added, opening a cupboard and helping herself to the contents as if she’d lived here her whole life.

“And pot - oh, are you thinking, maybe …”

“No way!” Aurora slammed the cupboard door and grabbed her keys again. “Be right back!”

Ten minutes later and Tayce was at the hob over the oven with Aurora, dicing onions while she cut up a red pepper, mince that Aurora had grabbed from her own fridge was out and ready to go in too.

“I needed to use that up anyway,” she shrugged. “Please tell me you don’t just eat bread and pot noodles, Tayce, please. I need to give you a cooking crash course if you do! Didn’t you learn to cook at uni? Or didn’t you do much cooking before you went? Oh my days - no fry the onion off first, with the garlic - I’ll chop the mushrooms, Jesus Christ pot noodles …”

“I know how to cook, give me some credit!” Tayce murmured, but she couldn’t stop smiling. “I just haven’t been to the shop yet, it’s been a long week.”

Aurora closed her eyes and hummed in appreciation. “Just keep talking to me, please.”

“What about?”

“Anything! Your life, your family - I don’t know, house prices, I don’t care - but that accent, ugh -“ Aurora shivered.

“Yours is cute, too,” Tayce smirked.

Aurora looked at her reproachfully. “You’re lying.”

“Yeah, I am.”

It was no use. The air was full of electricity, static around them, and before Tayce knew what was happening, suddenly they were kissing again, this time stone-cold sober, while the onions burned shadows into the bottom of the pan.

——

Viv gave her notice on the flat at the start of June. 

“I just can’t afford to live here anymore,” she explained, sighing, when she got back and started to pack up everything in her room. “I’m gonna see if I can get some work back home.”

Tayce was numb, although she knew Viv didn’t mean it personally. It wasn’t her fault that she’d been made redundant straight after the lockdown ended, and it made sense that she wanted to be near her family. It was now four months since Tayce had seen hers, and she missed them every day, although she had been sticking religiously to her new routine of calling her parents every Saturday night and her brother’s family every Sunday afternoon. 

“I’m sorry that’s putting you in a tight spot, Tayce,” Viv muttered, hugging her, and Tayce hugged her back.

“Can’t be helped,” Tayce replied, which was all she could think to respond with that wasn’t an inarticulate growl in frustration.

Viv was adamant she would pay her final month’s rent, and pay her half the utilities even though she wasn’t there. But she had to go home.

“How was your move?” Tayce asked Ellie on the next group call on zoom.

“Shite,” Ellie replied, “but partly because we struggled finding someone to move us. There’s plenty of places around, plenty of places to rent and stuff, because everyone’s moved back to where they came from.”

“You’ll find somewhere else to live, bab,” Ginny murmured in a soothing voice to Tayce, stroking the side of the laptop screen as she liked to do to show affection now that she couldn’t hug anyone. 

“I know,” Tayce sighed. “It’s just a pain in the arse.”

She wasted no time. One of the spare room websites was always open in the background, and she was refreshing, looking maybe a little further out from central London to see if anywhere was cheaper, but nowhere was.

Then she spotted the dot in her own block of flats, and clicked the advert.

That’s - that’s Aurora’s flat.

Now she remembered. Aurora had mentioned something about her housemate moving out! It must now be official. 

She read through the advert - how was it £50 cheaper than what she was already paying? - and looked at the contact name for the housemate, and there it was in black and white pixels: Aurora Martin, use form below.

Grabbing a piece of notebook paper - one of the last bits left, she’d been ripping them all out to write to Aurora - she penned a letter, one of what might well be the last ones, and jogged upstairs to post it through her letterbox.

The response came back to her in less than an hour, a new record for Aurora.

‘Tayce! I’d love it if you wanted to move in here! OMG. My landlord will want references from yours, but if you can get them quick then he can approve you really fast, he’s working from home. OMG you made my day. Come up at 7pm xx’

“Work contacted me today too,” Aurora beamed as she settled with Tayce on the sofa. “They want me to start back next week! Can’t wait. Need to get that coin again now! I mean, I’m dead grateful, you know, that I still have my job and I was on furlough so the government paid most of my wages, but it will be nice to have the full package again!”

“What is it you do again?” Tayce asked.

“Oh - I work as a fashion buyer. But because fashion’s kind of stopped right now, most of the designers are shut. Reopening now, especially the ones in mainland Europe! Can’t wait to be on the phone to them all again.”

“Wait. You speak to designers in other countries?”

Aurora nodded. “I speak French and Spanish.”

“You -“ Tayce was dazed. “I didn’t know that!”

“Well why would you? I mean you’ve only known me a couple of months!” Aurora laughed, and leaned back closer to Tayce, her perfume overwhelmingly sweet in the air. “You’re not gonna know everything about me yet, bubble bud.”

“No,” Tayce purred, “but I can’t wait to find out.”

——

By the Monday after the move, early July, Tayce was all set up to go. She’d moved the bed into the corner as she liked it, arranged her books into a rainbow as she liked them, and unfurled the posters she’d been unable to hang in her last flat, mostly punk bands that she liked, Bimini’s band’s poster, and the noticeboard with all the tickets tacked to it of all the gigs she’d been to. The vanity with the mirror that she’d brought from home fitted perfectly next to the window so she could do her makeup with natural light; and it was large enough for her work setup, which was where she was now.

The flat layout was almost identical to the one she’d just left, and the room was the same one - Aurora having the slightly bigger room - but it felt a lot more comforting, knowing she wasn’t alone here any more, knowing she had a little more freedom in decorations, and knowing that the hollow feeling in her chest was starting to slow down for good.

She turned off her work laptop at five as normal, which was when Aurora came in. Tayce pulled her in, giving her a peck on the lips. 

“They’re gonna love you, I promise.”

Aurora just made a moan in the back of her throat and put her face in her hands, shrinking away from the vanity.

Tayce turned on her personal laptop, logging into zoom and connecting to the group chat. Her monthly uni call was set to half four today for some reason, and everyone else was already all there.

“Tayce! We wondered where you’d got to!”

It was Veronica’s voice, and Veronica’s face was in the top left. She still looked a little tired, and the shirt she was wearing looked suspiciously like a pyjama top, but she was here with them all, and this was a big step for her.

Tayce beamed at her. “So good to see you!”

“The move went alright then, bab?” Ginny asked.

Tayce nodded. “And there’s someone you should meet.” She pulled Aurora into frame, who still looked uncharacteristically shy for a moment before waving at the people on the screen. “This is Aurora.”

“Aurora!” Tia squeaked. “Like the princess!”

Aurora rolled her eyes. “Yes.”

“So we’ve got Rory and Ronni here together at last!” Lawrence exclaimed, while Veronica gave the camera two fingers.

But Tayce just grinned at her friends on the screen, far apart but together in this strange way. Aurora’s nails dug into her shoulder, still a little nervous, but even that was fading as she got more comfortable. 

Aurora had been right - the city was just a lot of bricks in intricate patterns without someone in it that made it a home. 

And this just might be becoming one.