#what the hell is 64 bit

[okcoolthanks]

Why are computers so fucking confusing

[flamingpudding]

I'm back with a part 4 if you want to do it it's kind of more of a crack write I just need Klarion trying to explain the family tree

But not explaining how he was made at all So Young Justice and the Justice League are now convinced that a the Ghost King was a teenage parent who is now 27 years old and just passed college with a degree in astronomy and machinery

Klarion's other parent is a a crazy fruit loop 64 year old millionaire who went to college with Klarion's Mom parents who had an emotionally unhealthy obsession with his mom's mother and then it passed on to his mom.

And he has an older sister who is technicality a clone of his mom but also has the bastards DNA so fundamentally making Ellie Vlad Master and Mom's first born kid but there's six other siblings that Klarion had that died back a while back but Mom got granddad who's apparently the time lord AKA Cronos which is a whole another long story to go back in time and save those kids get them fixed up and now Klarion technicality has seven older siblings which all do their own things

And then he starts mentioning his uncle who is a 9 ft yeti his technicality auntie who is a medieval ghost princess who can turn into a dragon his auntie Pandora and his his grandfather cronos

My names for the six other clone children are Donald (he/him), Cecelia (they/she), Bartholomew(Them/They), Kyle AKA Bite(He/It), Brutus(He/They), and then there's Danna (She/Her) who actually really like the name Dan and asked Klarion if could have it when Klarion changed his name

Sorry if this is a little bit too much I've just really been thinking about au for this after the last part you made I hope this helps you with your writing or at least makes you laugh but I really love the idea of Danny's AKA somewhat clone children and finding their own personalities and and fighting themselves out of just being failed clone of their mom also I love the idea of Danny going back in time to save the rest of the clone kids cuz now he's a mature adult who wants to save their lives and wants them to grow into their own people.

(⁠≧��▽⁠≦⁠)

I probably did way to much research into all the fandoms I am in to see what I could tie into this... And yet this feels shorter than it should but I also currently lack the time to add more. But for now I hope this will be satisfactorily.

Also this family tree idea especially the part of saving the melted clones. LOVE IT!

So even though it took me a while! here is Part 4 you inspired! Thanks so much for the ask!

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

"Dude, you are making us only curious!" Impulse spoke up as he sat down next to Klarion who had his head in his hands. "Like you and your mom can't just drop your family lore like that!"

The witch boy on the other hand looked up with narrowed eyes at the speedster. "What lore?"

"Let's see, the part that apparently a Vlad tried to kill your Grandpa to make friends several time. That your mom is 'ghost' adopted by the lord of time Cronos and Pandora, which makes us family too by the way, and that you have a sister that apparently is even crazier than what we got to know of your family so far." Wonder Girl counted off her fingers next to him grinning as she mentioned the part of probably being a part of his 'crazy' family too. Which hell yea, that sounded like a lot of fun to be explored she would have to talk with Wonder Woman about that as soon as possible.

"Also..." Red Robin added as he flipped through the photo album that apparently no one remembered he had. He was turning it around and pointed at a particular photo with a wild bunch of people in it that varied between more human and well... less humanoid people. One of them definitely was a Yeti and there was also what looked like living armor as well as Teekly (they knew that demon cat at least), a giant green dog and for some reasons there was a green aggressive looking Octopus in the background too. "...how are you related to a Yeti?"

"Hey that man there and those other teens in the picture actually have some resembles with you! Do you have older brothers too?" Superboy additionally asked as he moved around Red Robin to see the photo better pointing at a man that appeared to be in this late twenties, blue eyed, black haired and a little on the buffer side. If he didn't know any better and the fact that he should keep his mouth shut about their actual identities he would have jokingly asked Red Robin if his family would like to add more kids considering Klarions family apparently had a bunch of black haired blue eyed members too, judging by the photo at least.

"What are you talking about. That man is my mom and yes the others are actually my older brothers and that Yeti is uncle Frostbite who also happens to be the best medic in the Infinite Realms" The four teen heroes looked stunned at the picture and then back at the Ghost King that was smiling at them, still seated by the dinner table with their mentors. Who by the way were now perking up at the change of topic and the information they could gain with it, well Wonder Woman was more interested in the apparently extended family she had.

"Oh I remember we took this photo last year, it was such a hassle to get everyone into one place with them all being busy doing their own things." Danny mused for a moment, remembering fondly how he had to literally drag some of the kids home through a portal.

"It was more annoying than anything too since I was declared to be the youngest...." Klarion muttered also remembering that day not as fondly as his mother.

"Wait, wait, wait! That is a picture of your family? I need an explanation buddy!" Impulse cut in without shame, quickly removing the picture from the photo album to get a better look at it before holding it out to Klarion so he could explain all the individuals. "Plus why does your mom look soooo.... human?"

The witch boy on the other hand stared at him for a couple of seconds before looking over towards his mother as if waiting for something. After a moment the teen heroes as well as their mentors saw Danny nod with a little smile. "This dimension doesn't have the GIW so its fine, the Justice League Dark won't be a problem either, right?." Constantine flinched at the smile the Ghost King was giving him, muttering something under his breath as he had hoped his presence had been forgotten.

"Since mom is giving his okay...." Klarion mutter sitting crosslegged on the ground as he snatched the photo album from Red Robin and flipped through it. "Lets start with the easiest stuff to explain."

Danny chuckled noticing that not only the teen heroes but their mentors as well showed an interest. He choose to stay quiet letting the adults listen in on the kids, and if things went bad he would just ask Clockwork if they could revert time back to this moment and he would change his nod of permission to a shake of denial.

"Okay first of, this is my mom and his sister Jasmine, this is Danielle my older sister and that hulk with flaming white hair and blueish skin is me. That was before I got deaged because of destabilising." Klarion explained flipping to a photo of him, Danny, Jazz and Danielle. "Mom was around fifteen, Aunt Jazz about seventeen and Ellie should have been about a year old but she was aged up to twelve. They look human in this one because well they are. Mom was originally human and became what you call in this dimension a Meta through an accident."

"Wait... that would mean your mom... How could he have two kids at that age of fourteen? You look like an adult and your sister was aged up?" Wonder Girl couldn't help but ask as she looked from the photo and back to Danny at the dinner table again.

"That's cause Vlad was a fu-"

"Language Klarion!"

"Vlad was a fruitloop. That photo was taken shortly after Vlad and I sort of redeemed our selfs. Plus, mom didn't really have my sister and me willingly.... we were kind of forced upon him in a way." Klarion explained shrugging. "Old Man Vlad had an obsession with his mom that then turned on mom, which resulted in my oldest sister Danielle first. Actually, a lot of my elder siblings resulted from that, but they didn't survive it the first time, Mom got Old Man Clocks help to save them once he got used to being the Ghost King. I got added to the mix shortly after my sister, but... i wasn't in the best state of mind at first, kind of went through a redemption phase in which mom had to fix the timeline of our original home dimension, too."

Danny chuckled again at the disturbed looks the teens were giving his son as well as the looks their mentors sent him. He probably should correct Klarion's wording... but being one of the gremlins of his family he just smiled on, not commenting. He really understands now why Pops Clockwork liked watching the chaos he used to cause as teen, and still sometimes causes as adult.

"Klarion... how old is this Old Man Vlad?" Red Robin asked grimacing as his eyes under the mask flicked up to the Ghost King and then back to the witch boy both seemingly unbothered by the disturbing information they were sharing.

"In human years... probably around 67? You stop counting age at some point if your a halfa." Klarion shrugged, not noticing the grimaces of the teens around him. "Anyway, Ellie is sort of the first born. I came in after that, with my core being a mix of Mom and Vlad. Not DNA wise though since I came to be because of their ghost cores. That's why I look like that in this photo. Though human DNA wise I am probably now mostly Moms, we never bothered to ask the old man."

Danny muffled another chuckle, coughing as Superman sent him an incredulous look of shook while he felt Batmans burning gaze on him.

"You... mentioned more siblings?" Red Robin asked carefully sharing a look with his team, feeling like there was a whole lot of trauma in Klarions family he wasn't sure they should address or not. So asking after his siblings was probably, hopefully the safest option. They didn't know that while there was trauma in the witch boy's family it was not the kind they were imagining.

"Yea I got a bunch more brothers, Vlad was a evil crazy fuitloop, before he redeemed himself. They all kind of melted in one timeline but mom and Grandpa Clock found a way to save them." Klarion nodded flipping to another photo containing him, as he looked now, and all his siblings.

"So, Ellie you know about already. The one with the sunglasses and died hair is Bartholomew, second oldest. They made themselves a home in other dimension, barely at home cause he has to much fun messing with something called a 'Starstream' by being a 'Constellation' and throwing gold coins at 'Incarnations'. Don't ask me what that means, I barely pay attention when he gushes about his favorit 'Incarnation'. They spent like all their money and pocket money there. Aunt Jazz thinks he might develop a gambling addiction if we don't stop his spendings." The teen heroes eyed the teen that looked like a young adult grinning in the photo as the witch boy pointed at the one next to them. "The one with the vile is my elder brother Bite, most responsible one of this bunch. Mom even allowed him to take care of a couple of dimensions by taking the role of being their God of Death. I think he messed them up more than helped but he is doing a somewhat good job, even if he is sort of obsessed with making some red head his saint or something..."

"One of your sibs is a God?" Impulse gabbed and Klarion just blinked at him with a shrug. "My Grandfather is the ruler of Time, your point is? Wonder Girl is also related to a God of your dimension."

"Never mind him, moving on." A yelp resounded as Superboy pushed Impulse head down leaning in more to see the photo better. "You got one emo looking brother there!"

"Oh that's Yamikumo, he is like a year or two older than me right now, in human years. He barely got any of mom's powers so he choose to try to life a somewhat normal life but weirdly enough he choose a dimension that is ruled by people who have powers and abilities, you know like the Meta Humans of this dimension. Now that I think about it, he is also the only one who actually is studying on how to be a Hero."

"Do you end up fighting with him if he studies to be a hero?" Wonder Girl whisper asked him with a quick glance towards their mentors, to which Klarion shook his head. "As long as we leave the dimensions one of us choose to live in alone we usually don't fight about stuff like that, aside from the usual sibling fights that is. Then again I do have some siblings that like to make bets like who is better at ruling as demon lord, or who can safe a dying timeline quicker."

Danny chuckled again as he watched the kids, Klarion had definitely caused some misunderstandings with his wording. Then again it wasn't like Klarion said anything that wasn't true, but then again his son loved chaos. So there was a suspicion that Klarion intentionally choose the way he worded the explanation about how he and Ellie came to be as well as the rest of siblings.

"So....." Superman slowly started wondering how he should bring up the topic. "...you became a mom at 14?"

"Say Danny is there a way for me to meet this Vlad? You know since we are family." Wonder Woman also asked smiling in a certain way that reminded Danny of Valerie when she was mad but didn't want to show right away how mad she was, to which the Ghost King on reflex could do nothing but gulp for a moment. Not noticing that a green post it note appeared on the table before him.

[spidernuggets]

Jason Todd x Reader

This one's for my chem compadres @fcku01 @twodimensionalboyfriend @torchbearerkyle 🫡🫡

Your legs were uncomfortably tucked up to your chest as you sat on your chair, close in front of your desk. You've been sitting at your desk, your laptop shining at your face for days for hours on end. And right now, you were trying to memorise all the different titration experiments that were mandatory to study.

You had a can of an energy drink on your left side and a glass of lukewarm coffee on your right. Jason entered your bedroom 10 minutes ago and noticed that you didn't even acknowledge his presence. He shook his head. This just won't do.

He walks up to you, shutting your laptop.

"Oi! I was-"

You were rudely interrupted by him. "Studying. Yes, I know. Like you were for hours today. And yesterday. And the day before," he says with an unamused voice.

You yelped as he hoisted you out of your seat while you immediately wrapped your arms around him.

"You know those don't do shit for you, right?" He says, nodding towards the unhealthy sources of caffeine.

"Jason, put me down!" You exclaimed, but he shook his head.

"Firstly, it's 'Jay' to you, who the fuck even is Jason?" He said nonchalantly as you grumbled, crossing your arms. "And second, you're gonna burn yourself out. None of that shit will stay in your head if you overwork yourself, sweet thing," he muttered, laying you down on the bed, kissing your forhead. "You still have 5 days till your exam. Take a day or two off, hm? Humour me for a bit, babe." He softly said as he laid beside you.

You glanced at the digital clock on your nightstand, a bright, bold green shining 02:35 am. You sighed, nuzzling close to Jason.

"Fine.." You grumbled. "But I'm not taking tomorrow off.. you interrupted a chapter I was on," you say, laying your head on his chest.

He hummed in response, massaging your scalp, bringing you into a deep slumber, a proper sleep that you've been craving for so long.

You didn't really know why you expected a good grade. In the exam room, you skipped 5 questions, losing a good chunk of points. That together with the half assed answered guesses, only knowing the definite answers to some of the questions with doubt gnawing the back of your brain.. why the hell would you expect a miracle to happen and a big 98%, even a 64% written on your exam paper.

You got your exam result back the following week, and when the email revealed you to have received a sloppy 32%, the fatigue and hard work went down the drain, and so did your composure.

You knew for a fact that when you were in that exam room, you weren't going to pass, and there was no hope. So why did those stupid numbers bother you so much?

Maybe it was the fact that you tried so hard to study it, but the questions didn't match any of what you studied, and the questions you were familiar with, you completely forgot the answer.

So you broke down, your notebook, textbook, and hundreds of sheets of printed notes scattered across your bedroom floor as the laptop remained open with your results.

You curled up on the floor was the last thing Jason thought to see when he came home. His panic spiked as he rushed to your side, careful now to slip on any paper on the ground.

He softly called your name out, and when you didn't respond, he gently, ever so gently, wrapped his arms around you, petting your hair, telling you to breathe, to match his pace.

He glanced around the room, seeing the crumpled pieces of paper, all mirroring your crumpled state. The glare of the laptop caught his eye, the 32% taunting you.

"Oh, sweet thing.." he muttered, sitting down properly and pulling you onto his lap, his lips lingering againdt your temple.

"I tried.. I really tried, Jay.." You whined, your hands covering your face as you cried into his embrace.

"I know.. you did.. you did so well, baby.." He whispered softly to you.

"That's not doing well!" You exclaimed, pointing at the stupid grade on the screen. "That's absolute shit! I studied for fuck all!" You curled yourself up once more, burying yourself in your shame.

Jason's heart broke at the sight, holding you impossibly tighter. "Shh.. it's okay. Don't beat yourself up about it. Everyone finds certain things hard. That grade? That doesn't define you or your intelligence. You are so smart, love," he cooed, his fingers brhshing and untangling your hair.

You sniffled, and your breath steadied as you looked around the room. "Needa clean up.." You muttered.

But Jason hushed you once more. "Don't worry about that now, sweet thing. I'll deal with it later, hm?" He comforted, standing up with you in his arms, placing you onto the bed again. We wiped away the remains of your tears, kissing your forhead before leaving a peck on your lips.

"Get some sleep, sweetheart." He whisoered, urdging you to get some rest. And you did. A full 8 hours with Jason cuddled beside you. And quickly, you completely forgot about that 32%.

I dropped down a level during the chemistry exam, and even then, it was an embarrassing attempt. yolo

[oliversrarebooks]

The Rare Bookseller Part 64: Alexander's Plans

Previous > Masterlist > Next

tw: mind control, hypnosis

September 1905

Oscar couldn't shake the feeling of dread that had seeped into his every waking hour. He was no stranger to dread, of course. As an unusually long-lived vampire hunter, he'd been through so many moments where he was sure he was about to die that they all tended to blend together.

But something was different about this. The guild headquarters seemed eerily quiet. Raucous celebrations of successful vampire slayings had gradually vanished. In their place, the hunters shuffled silently through the halls, barely acknowledging each other.

He was their leader, as much as such a disorganized, scattered group even had a leader, and he took the responsibility seriously. He owed it both to the younger hunters and to the civilians of the city to have a well-run vampire hunters' guild. They deserved a city where they could walk freely at night without fear of a vile bloodsucker stealing them away, warping their minds, and draining their very lives to fuel a shambling corpse. They deserved better than what he could give, but there was no one else for the job.

Oscar pulled his lieutenant Grace into his tiny office partially to discuss the situation with her and partially to escape from the oppressive atmosphere. She was an uncanny sure-shot with a crossbow, and Oscar had trusted her with his life on many occasions. If there was anyone he could confide in about his concerns, it was Grace.

"Have you noticed anything strange about Maggie lately?" Oscar asked.

"Maggie… she's seemed tired, I think," Grace replied. "I've always suspected she's not quite cut out for this life. Don't tell her I said this, but if you ask me, she's lucky she hasn't become a meal yet." She scratched at the scar on her neck, the eternal reminder that Grace had been a vampire's last meal herself.

"It's not just Maggie. It's others. Leo, too. Chuck. And Frank -- he hasn't been bringing in kills, but he hasn't been bugging me for drinking money, either. He has a look in his eye…"

"Hunters go a bit mad all the time. Hell, I'm sure we have too."

"It's different this time, Grace! I can feel it in the air." Oscar clenched his fists, wracking his mind for the right words to explain what he felt in his bones, coming up empty. "Maybe I am a bit mad."

Grace laid an understanding hand on his shoulder. "Your intuition has never steered me wrong. If you think there's something going on with the rest of the hunters, I believe you. I'm just not sure what you think it is."

"I'm not entirely sure myself," he admitted, "but sometimes I wonder if they've been compromised."

"Compromised?"

"By a vampire. There's too many powerful bloodsuckers we've failed to keep under control. We wouldn't be the first guild to be taken down from the inside by one of them."

Grace's eyes flickered with thought. "It's possible. But what would you propose, then? We're so short-handed as it is -- I don't think we can afford to kick all of those hunters out of the guild just on a suspicion."

"Of course not. I just want to keep an eye on them. See if there are signs. Stop them before they betray us, if it is true," he said. "You have a way with people, Grace. I don't. I've spent too much time hidden away in crumbling buildings watching for monsters. But you can talk to them, watch them. I need you for this."

Maybe it was his imagination, but Grace looked strangely conflicted by such a simple request. For a moment, Oscar was afraid that his imagined infiltrator had reached her, too. But no, it couldn't be -- someone as sensible and willful as Grace would never let herself be trapped by a vampire's crude charms.

"All right, Oscar," she said after a too-long pause. "All right. I'll watch them. But I'm worried about you. You've hardly slept lately, haven't you?"

"Are you saying I'm only being paranoid because of lack of sleep?"

"No. I told you that I believe your intuition. But I'm also concerned about your health. Don't you think you should rest?"

"I'll rest when I have time to rest," said Oscar. Grace was right, of course, but it still irritated him -- he asked for a lieutenant, not a mother. "Tonight, I have to --"

Oscar's words stopped abruptly. He heard something odd. Something almost like music. But it wasn't like one of the hunters singing after a kill, or drunkenly playing an instrument. It was something else, something eerie and unsettling.

"Grace, do you hear that? That music?"

"I don't hear anything. Are you trying to change the --"

"Shush! Listen." It was a low hum, the sort that could build in your mind over time and drive you mad, getting louder all the time. "You must hear that now."

"No, I don't," she said. "You must be hearing things. This is what I was talking about -- you need to rest."

"I am not hearing things!" he hissed. The hum was growing louder, making it difficult to concentrate. "Grace -- you --"

Her eyes had taken on such a faraway look as she swayed in place before Oscar. "Rest… you need to rest…"

"Shit!" He knew it! There was a vampire in the guild, somehow, working its vile charms, and the only way that could happen was if one of the hunters was compromised enough to invite them past the wards. "Grace! Snap out of it!"

Life returned to her eyes as Oscar shook her. "What…?"

"There's a vampire in the guild -- exactly as I feared. It's trying to put us under its spell." He drew his silver knife, long and sharp, and tried to block the infernal song from his mind. "Draw your weapon and help me find it."

"I'll help you," she said, still looking unsteady.

"Don't listen to the --"

Grace unexpectedly slammed Oscar up against the wall, nearly knocking the knife from his hand. She'd always been strong, but now she seemed driven by something unnatural. "I'll help you," she repeated in that dazed monotone. "I'll help you rest…"

"Snap out of it!" he said, shoving her away. She'd always been more resilient to enthrallment than any other hunter he knew, and it was terrifying to see her so far under a vampire's spell. The vampire wasn't even here yet, although the song was echoing faintly through the walls. How could she possibly be taken so quickly?

"I'll help you listen…" She regained her footing and lurched towards Oscar. "Help you listen… help you sleep…"

Unless she had been one of the compromised hunters all along.

Oscar cursed under his breath. "Sorry, this is for your own good," he said, pushing her away and slamming the thick door to his office behind him, hands trembling slightly as he grabbed the key from his pocket and locked it tight. He could free Grace from her spell once he'd dealt with the vampire, but right now, she was little more than a liability.

The sight of his trusted lieutenant, utterly and unquestionably hypnotized, kept repeating in his thoughts. That would be him, if he weren't careful, especially with the song growing louder and sweeter.

If only he had his wax earplugs! Thrall could affect you even if you didn't hear it, so it wasn't perfect protection, but it was better than nothing. Without that, he had nothing to rely on but his own willpower. Still, his willpower had allowed him to triumph over many formidable vampires, and he refused to see the guild fall on his watch.

He took a deep breath to steady himself. He was tired already.

Oscar ran down the hall, encountering one of the newest hunters, Rich, slowly sliding down the wall in a half-entranced state. He snapped next to Rich's ear. "Rich! Hey, Rich, you have to fight it! Stay with me."

Rich looked up at Oscar with lidded, drowsy eyes, and let out a huge yawn, one which left Oscar struggling to keep himself from yawning in turn. "Sorry, Captain, I'm just… I've just gotta take a nap first…"

"No, you have to fight the vampire's influence! Stay awake!"

"I have to… I gotta… I gotta sleep, gotta go to sleep…" Rich plopped onto the floor and slumped over, eyes closing.

Oscar had no choice but to leave him behind, too, hoping that he wouldn't get caught by a vampire while he was unconscious. The song was closer and stronger now, and Oscar could feel its seductive pull. He hadn't ever experienced enthrallment quite like it -- a soothing lullaby of deceptive, dangerous power. And he was already so tired.

All he had to do was stay awake, take down this vampire, and save his guild. All he had to do…

In his mind, he was turning the corner and running towards the source of the voice, knife held at the ready, steeling his mind for the fight.

In reality, didn't fully notice how slow and methodical his footsteps were becoming. How he was beginning to slump over. How his eyelids were drooping.

Oscar found his target in the main training hall. He had a young hunter in his arms, gently stroking her hair and rocking her as she succumbed to slumber, pouring his song in her vulnerable ears. June, whose whole family had been killed by a vampire, was peacefully asleep in the arms of one of the most dangerous vampires Oscar had ever seen, a blissful smile on her placid face. Nearby, several hunters lay in heaps on the floor.

He tightened his slackening grip on his silver knife, tried to block the spell from his mind, and prepared to rush at the vampire. But his limbs were already heavy, clumsy. Instead of rushing forward, he found himself taking slow, ponderous steps.

The vampire set June carefully on the floor and turned to Oscar, directing his full power at the seasoned leader of the vampire guild. The urge to close his heavy eyelids was almost overwhelming as the spell of deep sleep and deep submission washed over him.

No… he had to fight. He must. He didn't want to end like this. He didn't want to…

He was sleepwalking towards the vampire, his head bobbing as he struggled to wake up every time he started to doze. The knife slipped from his fingers, forgotten. Cold fingers stroked the side of his face, and he leaned into them, so lost.

He'd always been so, so lost. Always fighting, never resting. Never allowing himself a moment of peace and comfort.

"It's all right, hunter, it's all right," the vampire crooned, as Oscar found himself looking straight into intense, blue eyes. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"Mmm." He had to wake up. He had to fight this.

"I'm looking for your guild's leader."

"I'm… that's me. I'm the guild's leader."

A soft but triumphant smile blossomed on the vampire's face. "That's very good. I'm glad to meet you," he said, and Oscar felt warm inside despite himself. "In that case, I'm just going to put you to sleep now, all right? A nice, deep, comfortable sleep where you can listen."

No. No! He had to resist. "All right…" he heard his own voice say, meek and mild.

"Deep, deep sleep. Shut down those tired eyes for me. You can rest now, hunter. Nothing but deep sleep and irresistible comfort."

He was so lost.

The vampire cradled Oscar against his shoulder, and the song flooded his mind utterly. All he could think of now was how good it felt to be allowed to sleep. A comforting hand was rubbing a circle on his back as he started to drift off, his eyelids sealing shut and refusing to open again.

"Good, good hunter. Fast asleep and dreaming," said the vampire. "You just want to protect them, don't you? Your guild, your friends."

"Mmm… I need to protect them…"

"I have someone I want to protect too. A human -- he's the stars and the sunshine to me. You understand."

A long-ago memory of better times flit through Oscar's mind, and then evaporated. "I understand."

"Thank goodness," the vampire said, with what seemed to be deep, genuine relief. "I'm finally, finally, finally going to get what I need, after so long." He held Oscar tight, the vampire actually held him in a soothing embrace, and Oscar couldn't help but lean into it, sinking deeper asleep. The vampire's song began to change, then, still a lullaby, but one of obedience and submission, and Oscar's mind seemed to know exactly how to respond. "What's your name?"

"Oscar…"

"Oscar, sir."

"Oscar, sir." The manner of a thrall. He was merely a thrall, now. He always knew, deep down inside, that he would end up like this someday. How many times had he looked into the eyes of a poor, ensorcelled man and wondered if that might have been him?

"Very good, Oscar. Nice and obedient. I'm Alexander. I just want to ask you a few questions now, and you're going to answer them so easily and truthfully, dropping deeper into trance for me."

"Yes, sir."

"Now, I have sixteen of your hunters, plus you and two more tonight -- nineteen so far."

Oscar's breath caught. Nineteen! They didn't stand a chance.

"How many more are there in the guild?"

"Twenty-seven in total, sir," he reported dutifully. "And occasionally some freelancers. We've always been too short-staffed for this city."

Alexander chuckled. "That's what I always suspected, but I didn't realize it was quite that few. Not enough humans willing to throw their lives away on a pointless cause, I suppose."

Even under this heavy spell, Oscar couldn't help but bristle. "Pointless, sir?"

"No, no, forget I said that. Back asleep, Oscar, back to sleep and dreams and answering all of my questions." Alexander hummed into Oscar's ear, and his momentary offense disappeared. "Twenty-seven will have to be enough. Which out of your guild is most resistant to vampiric influence?"

"Grace, sir."

"Grace. Yes, I suppose I could have guessed that myself. She shot me, you know, before I took her mind. You should be proud."

Oscar's smile at hearing how Grace fought turned sour. "You took her mind, sir."

"Yes."

"Please spare her life, sir. If you must feed, you can feed on me, but spare her life. She has a daughter."

"You needn't fear that. I'm not going to kill her or feed from her -- and that goes for you all."

"Sir…?" Oscar couldn't fathom what else a vampire would do with an enthralled hunter apart from feed and kill.

"I only need you to do what you're best at, killing a vampire. Do that, and I'll wipe the memory and let you go." His song drove his words home, convincing Oscar's sleeping mind to obey, to give the vampire what he needs. "You're going to help me capture the rest of your guild, easily and without bloodshed, and you're going to help me formulate a plan to destroy a very ancient and dangerous vampire. Do this for me, succeed in killing my sire, and you and your guild will walk free. You want to protect your guild, don't you?"

"I want to protect my guild, sir…"

A vision flashed through his head of the hunters crumpled on the floor, of June sinking into enchanted sleep, of Grace's haunted eyes. Of himself, so docile in the arms of a vampire. He hadn't protected them, had he?

That unpleasant thought was washed away as Alexander continued to speak.

----

Lex was exhausted by the time he arrived back at the manor, but his exhaustion was mixed with relief at having actually succeeded. If this had gone wrong, it could've easily been his last night on Earth -- but instead, he had managed to enthrall an entire hunter's guild.

Would even that be enough?

"Lex!" Fitz came running out of the music room and into the foyer as soon as Lex was in the door. His eyes swept over Lex. "I don't see any crossbow bolts or silver knives sticking from you -- was your mission a success?"

Lex felt himself breaking into a smile. "It went as well as it possibly could have. I'm now in control of the vampire hunter's guild."

In an instant, Fitz was pressing against him so hard that he stumbled backwards into the door, soft warm lips meeting his. He was so warm, and his hair was so soft…

"Now you'll be able to take care of your sire, right?" said Fitz eagerly.

"Soon. I have more preparation to do. I have to enforce their enthrallment, especially the ones I only caught tonight, and I have to assist with formulating the plan. I need to tell them everything I know about my sire and his manor, to give them the best chance of success."

Anxiety bubbled within him as he looked down at Fitz's adoring grin. If he failed here, it wouldn't just be his own wellbeing on the line. He could take his sire's punishments. But he couldn't stand to see Fitz's happiness crushed, his joy turned to despair, his light gone forever.

"I have my first comeback performance in a few days, remember?" said Fitz. "I'll be back on the stage, you'll get rid of your sire… we'll both be free."

"Free," Lex repeated.

Fitz wasn't free, not really, but…

Without his sire's curse…

It was something he rarely dared to dream about. With his sire gone, he and Fitz could do as they pleased for the rest of their lives. They could leave this city and travel the world. He could help Fitz become a major success, see his name in lights like he deserved. He could collect books in peace, play music without his sire's voice echoing in his mind. He could love Fitz properly, give him everything he wanted and needed. No one would hurt either of them, not ever again.

He couldn't fail here. It simply wasn't an option.

"Yes. We're going to be free."

Fitz wrapped one hand around his waist and took his other hand, and began leading him around the foyer in a lively dance to imaginary music.

Previous > Masterlist > Next

Next week, a young Lex meets his new music teacher.

For more mind control fun, consider reading my side story for Augusnippets, Human Resistance. It's about a ragged band of humans trying to keep their autonomy in the face of an unstoppable alien threat.

@d-cs @latenightcupsofcoffee @thecyrulik @dismemberment-on-a-tuesday-night @wanderinggoblin

@whumpyourdamnpears @only-shadows-dwell-where-we-are @pressedpenn @pigeonwhumps @amusedmuralist

@vampiresprite @irregular-book @whumpsoda @mj-or-say10 @und3ad-mutt

@sowhumpshaped @whumpsday @morning-star-whump @silly-scroimblo-skrunkl

@steh-lar-uh-nuhs @pirefyrelight @theauthorintraining @whump-me-all-night-long @anonfromcanada

@typewrittenfangs @tessellated-sunl1ght @cleverinsidejoke @abirbable @ichorousambrosia

@a-formless-entity @gobbo-king @writinggremlin @the-agency-archives @just-a-whumping-racoon-with-wifi

@enigmawriteswhump @bottlecapreader @whump-on-a-string @whumpinthepot

@cinnamoncandycanes @avvail-whumps @tauntedoctopuses @secret-vampkissers-soiree @whatamidoingherehelpme

@strawbearydreams @ghost-whump @tippytappytyping @natthebatt @fire-bugg14

@fuckcapitalismasshole @slightlydisturbedbeans @paperprinxe @demetercabingreen-thumb @the-broken-pen

@pokemaniacgemini @jumpywhumpywriter @basica11ywhumped @anoontjecanush

[captainzigo]

so unfortunately very few entries here are going to properly be vintage. also what i consider vintage might not line up with what you do. i am not old.

also i am not wealthy. and my family isn’t wealthy. this is an expensive hobby to have. i get most of my stuff from loving it and refusing to throw it away… and digging through the trash at university. you would be surprised with the stuff people throw away. planned obsolescence has nothing on the fact that people can’t be bothered to fix a sour harddrive.

i actually fix computers as a sort of second job. it’s nice to work on computers i can’t afford and that aren’t from the trash. but i love old tech. i love breathing life in to things long dead. i’m a technonecromancer. i am not including pictures of things i haven’t finished yet for the most part. and i simply am not including most things. this is but a fraction of my power

ok so these are all my computers that work. i didn’t include ones that im still working on. they all worked but needed repairs variously. mostly they just needed new hard drives.

my game consoles. again not including ones that don’t work. i actually bought that 3ds, but the rest my parents gave me after they got them used. that gameboy has needed a screen replacement that required soldering. the ds is my little trooper and has needed nothing ever. the wii needed a new disc drive. and the 3ds came in japanese and i hacked it to english.

there’s a back view of my stickers

these are some of my various devices. again not including ones that don’t work. that nano needed a new battery which was actual hell and i’m surprised it survived. that ipad is the first ipad and she works beautifully and one time i fastened it to my tummy for a tellytubby costume. i was slutty lala and i played the old spiderman movie trilogy in glorious VHS quality. i couldn’t find my iphone 3gs for this picture :( but it will turn up. i’ll include an old picture instead of cleaning my room to find it lol

here are some novelties i just like. thats an old radio i swiped from my great grandfather. i got it working but it broke again. i dont know whats wrong with it and its so old that the parts are impossible to find. on the right is the browser for DS which is just so quaint. i love it. it barely works at all but i loaded a wikipedia page one time so xP

this is my terrible stupid tiny phone i got from aliexpress that barely works BUT IT DOES WORK and is technically loaded with all modern smartphone features. i attached a video of it barely playing roblox

this is my og imac. with the og keyboard. i didn’t include it with the working computers because it doesn’t. the harddrive died and im trying to fix it but its really hard. i’ve already sought out two different adapters that haven’t worked

and this is a commodore 64 that i also got out of the trash. it does not work but im hoping to make it work. someone clearly loved it. enough to paint it crazy colors and enough to

write some weird scifi quote on the inside of the case under the RF shield. but maybe they died, or it just became too much of an undertaking.

not included here is:

• several more apple products that i just don’t think look good. all the iphones between 6 and 11 are just so ugly. and i don’t actually like the way apple watches look

• the phone, tablet, and smart watch i actively use

• various bits and bobs like the official speakers for a imac 4, an electronic pocket dictionary, various wii peripherals and so on

• all of my audio equipment

• my iphone 3gs. i just never found it or any pictures of it. i love it tho. it was my first phone (hand me down. i’m not that old) and i have had to repair it so many times and i love taking bad photos with it

• all of my monitors

• my many videogames

• my old fridge that i love and cherish and use

• anything i have fixed and then given to someone else

• a bunch of other stuff

so if you are a beautiful trans woman, are you in love with me yet? or do i need to make a part two

[tangledinink]

Oh my goodness, guess what? Chapter 29 of I'm Sorry, Teenage Mutant What Now? is now up! And on a Monday, too. Gosh, just like old times. Yet another family secret is revealed from somewhere no one expected it. Read it on ao3 or below the cut!

[ prev ]

“No, no, keep watching, seriously! They’re about to do something sooo cool!”

“Leo, you say that about every stupid street magic video you make us watch,” Donnie complained, rolling his eyes. “And it’s always something stupid.”

“It’s not stupid! It’s super cool!” Leo protested, huffing loudly and glaring at his brother in offense. “I pretend to think that your dumb science stuff is cool!”

“No, you don’t!”

“Well, I could, if you didn’t say magic was stupid--”

“We can literally do actual magic!” Donnie cried, throwing his hands up. “And you’re still into this fake bullshit?”

“Yes,” Leo confirmed easily, rewinding the video slightly. “And I’m restarting so that you guys can watch properly. So there.”

Donnie groaned.

“Both of you quit fightin’,” Raph said, shifting slightly so he could look over Leo’s shoulder, seeming only mildly interested at best-- but still interested! Suck it, Donnie. Raph knew something badass when he saw it. Leo grinned, shifting slightly so he could let his brother see better.

“This is a ridiculous waste of time,” Donnie muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. “We’re gonna miss the subway home.”

“We’ll get the next one,” Leo assured, waving him off. “It’s fine, Dee. There’s another train, like, every five minutes.”

“What New York City do you live in?” Raph muttered, glancing down at him and raising a brow.

“More or less!” Leo insisted. “I just wanna finish the video, and then we’ll go! We can’t go without Mikey, anyway.”

“What do you mean without--?” Raph’s head bobbed to the left. It bobbed to the right. He did a full 360 spin. “Wha-- Where the hell did he go!? He was here a minute ago!”

“He forgot his gym bag back in the locker room,” Leo said, waving a hand dismissively. “So he ran back to get it.”

“When!?”

“When you and Donnie were arguing about the best Jupiter Jim sequel, like, five minutes ago,” Leo explained breezily, leaning into his brother’s chest as he spoke, passing his weight over for Raph to hold up for the moment. Maybe physically pinning him in place would keep his head from vibrating off his shoulders. It usually helped. “Chill. He’ll be back in a second and then we’ll get out of here. Watch the video.”

“Leo!” Raph protested. “We’re supposed to stay together! Remember!?”

“He’s not even leaving the building, Raph. There’s still a couple kids around! And he’s literally down the hall,” Leo scoffed, rolling his eyes. “He’s not five., I’m pretty sure he can handle it without us escorting him.”

“Leo--”

“If you want us to chaperone him down the hall to fetch his bag,” Donnie said, not looking up from his phone. “Then you will be the one informing him of such, dearest Raphala, because I have no intention of being the one to tell him that.”

“It’s like you like Dr. Delicate Touch,” Leo sighed, shaking his head. “Do you miss him when he’s away? Is that it? Is that why you’re like this?”

Raph sighed, scrubbing at his face with his hands.

“Fine,” he finally relented. “But if he’s not back in two minutes, Raph is going after him! And you two are comin’ with me!”

Leo smiled a tiny bit.

“Yeah, okay, deal,” he agreed easily, pressing play on the video again. “Now here, watch. This dude is about to for-real make a whole-ass building disappear!!!”

---

Agent 64’s eyes flew open.

Danger.

There was danger.

He could taste it on the back of his sandpaper tongue. Every hair on his body jumped up on end as he flew to his feet, wriggling from April’s relaxed grip, his back arching and his claws extended.

“Ow! Mayhem, chill! Watch the claws!” April hissed, startled as he suddenly woke from his nap, previously curled up and dozing in her lap, wincing at the prickle in her thigh. “What’s your deal--?”

He would maybe regret hurting her if it weren’t for his heart banging wildly in his ears. He could feel it. There was danger. Something bad was going to happen. Someone was in trouble. His tail puffed up like a bottlebrush, he whipped around wildly to face the human-- both his favorite and his charge-- biting out a frantic, chittering warning. And spirits, he had never wished so desperately up until now that humans were able to understand the nuances of his language. Because while her brows crinkled with concern, a thick fog of confusion colored her eyes glassy all the same.

“Mayhem? What’s wrong, little guy?” She pressed, her bottom lip worried between her teeth. “Are you hurt?”

Agent 64’s tail whipped with frustration, a short, stuttering growl escaping him.

There was danger. There was danger. He was sure of it-- and he didn’t have time for this.

---

The cold, dusty tile of the school hallway did a lousy job breaking April’s fall. A short yelp of shock wrenched itself from her throat as she tumbled over herself, the crackle of mystic energy still prickling at the back of her neck, as she found herself quite suddenly sprawled about the floor as opposed to curled on couch in the comfort of her living room.

“OW! Mayhem! What the hell?!” She hissed, narrowing her eyes to scowl at the yellow creature. His only response was a sharp, strangled squeak, tearing himself from her arms and to the floor.

“April?”

April resisted a groan, sitting up just enough so that she turn her head to glance over at Leo and her other two brothers, who were all giving her a rather startled look.

“Hey, guys,” she said, wincing a bit as she got to her feet, brushing herself off.

“Are you okay? What are you doing here?”

“Beat’s me!” She huffed, placing a hand on her hips. “Mayhem just started freaking out all of a sudden! I dunno what’s going on!”

“Do you think something’s wrong?” Raph asked, his brows furrowed with worry as he bent down to look at the little creature, still puffed up and pacing back and forth, chittering frantically at the group. “What’s goin’ on lil’ man?”

“He can’t be acting like this over nothing! There’s gotta be--” April broke off, his lips curving into a frown. Leo and his two brothers? That wasn’t right. “... Hey. Where’s Mikey? Shouldn’t he be with you guys?”

---

They didn’t understand what he was trying to say. The big one reached for him, but Agent 64 dodged out from under his hand, ducking away and breaking into a sprint. He just had to hope they’d be wise enough to follow him-- the only reason he didn’t simply teleport himself away. He couldn’t waste any more precious seconds trying to secure their allyship for the coming fight.

He had to be there. He had to be there now. The air reeked of it.

Danger danger danger danger.

---

His hair beads clicking along to the rhythm, Mikey bobbed his head with the beat banging about in his head, humming softly to himself and tapping his fingers against the side of his thigh. Ugh, this had to be one of Donnie’s EDM songs, didn’t it? He couldn’t remember any of the lyrics or anything-- just the thick, heavy beat. It colored his steps as he wandered down the dimly lit hallway, shouldering open the locker room door and sighing softly to himself. Gosh, he had had this song stuck in his head all day long, but he still couldn’t figure out the name of it or where it was from… It was starting to drive him just a tiny bit insane. Maybe he could get Leo to help him figure it out on the way home-- he was really good at this game.

It was probably one of Donnie’s songs. He had probably picked it up from Donnie. He was sure Donnie would know the answer if he asked-- Donnie always knew the answer to pretty much everything.

But if he asked Donnie, it wouldn’t be a game. Nah. It’d be way more fun to ask Leo. As soon as I get back, he thought to himself, swinging open his locker door.

As predicted, his gym bag was still here, hung up on its hook all neat as if it was meant to be there and hadn’t been left behind. Thank god. If it wasn’t here, then it’d for real be lost and it’d be a whole thing. That’s how you know the Adderall is wearing off, he thought dimly to himself.

His backpack retrieved, he slung the bag over his shoulder, kicking the locker shut and turning to start the trek back to his brothers. His legs weren’t especially long, but he still made every effort to stretch them out with each step, picking up a jaunty pace so as not to keep the rest of them waiting.

The song still played in his head, and Mikey mumbled along to the wordless melody under his breath, fidgeting with the straps of his bag. The longer he thought about it, the more sure he was that it was something from one of Dee’s playlists. It had to be, right?... This was exactly the type of thing he always listened to… Sharp and stormy and loud. Thudding and all-encompassing. The rhythm wasn’t quite as fast as you might expect from the genre-- it sort of drew itself out.

Made you wait for it.

And then eventually, the pace started to pick up.

Each synthesized thump came quicker.

And louder.

Closer together.

Building up, bigger and bigger.

Tickling the back of your neck.

Breathing down your spine.

Thundering onward.

The anticipation would almost swallow you whole.

Until finally the beat dropped.

---

A tiny smile turned the corners of Draxum’s lips crooked.

It was almost amusing-- how careless they were. He wondered how safe they must think themselves to traipse the city openly like this. As if he wouldn’t be perfectly capable of hunting them down. As if he wasn’t patient enough to wait until one of them was alone.

All he would need was a simple capture charm.

From up above in the rafters, he watched the smallest of his experiments. He was still cloaked in their silly human form. Relaxed. Oblivious.

Perfectly easy prey.

After this, he could simply pick the rest of them off.

The second his target walked within range of him, he lashed an arm forward. Magenta light leapt outward from his palm and pounced.

---

He didn’t see the figure in the rafters.

He didn’t hear the pound of footsteps in the distance.

He didn’t even see the flash of light.

But he felt the whisper of magick.

---

Raph didn’t know why Mayhem was freaking out, but he didn’t have to. Because all of a sudden, every single one of his big brother senses and alarms were flipping out. And he felt this awful, gnawing weight of dread in his stomach.

He didn’t bother to wait and check with the rest of his family, to see if they felt the same thing or if they intended to follow. Once Mayhem took off running and that dread took hold-- he did, too.

He could hear other footsteps behind him. Usually, Leo and Donnie were both capable of moving significantly faster than him. But not right now. Raph wasn’t sure if it was the fact that he had a head start or just that he knew Mikey was in trouble. But his throat was tight with the very beginnings of panic. All his muscles were lit up with searing red heat. He was moving as fast as he possibly could. Maybe faster than that, even. And no one was overtaking him.

He needed to know where Mikey was right now.

Despite the dead-sprint, it felt like it took ages for him to reach the locker room. He didn’t even stop to open the door so much as he slammed into it, shifting his body just enough to let his shoulder take the impact, the barrier crashing out of the way, crumpling beneath him, just the way he knew it would--

“Mikey!”

His eyes caught sight of Baron Draxum’s crouched form right away-- curled up in the rafters like a fucking jaguar in the canopy. This dark, sickly pink coil of mystic energy reaching from his extended hand and reaching out towards his little brother’s back like a bullet.

Raph’s heart stopped in his chest.

For just a second, the rest of the world froze, too.

The rest of the world… except for Mikey.

His back was still to Draxum.

But his heels were already in a pivot.

His head hadn’t even turned fully yet. But already, his hand flew up behind him, palm stretched out wide and elbows locked. The very beginnings of a fiery golden light sparked to life around him like a halo. His entire body jerked hard and braced--

And he caught Draxum’s magic in his palm.

Without even looking, he stopped the spell dead in its tracks with one raised hand, curling his fingers around it with this sharp, awful hissing sound, sizzling and popping like a forest fire. Like something burning.

He tightened his grip and the magick shattered like glass beneath his fingers.

And then Michelangelo turned around to face Draxum fully, his head tilted back so that he could meet his eyes.

---

“Mikey! Come look!”

Mikey’s head bobbed at his big brother’s frantic cry, immediately heading over in his direction.

“What is it?”

“A baby bird!” Raph exclaimed, kneeling down, and sure enough, when Mikey leaned over he saw the little creature-- tucked up behind a dumper in their alley, their feathers all poofed up and fluffy.

“Whoa!” Mikey gasped, crouching down as well so he could get a better look. The little bird seemed to shiver, but didn’t try to get away-- just stared at them with its big black eyes. It was kind of scraggly and funny looking, with this big round yellow beak and fuzzy feathers. “He looks so funny…”

“We gotta help him!” Raph whimpered, his bottom lip trembling. “He’s all by himself! He musta fallen or gotten lost or somethin’!”

Mikey paused, tilting his head slightly to the side.

“You think?...”

“Well, a cat might get ‘im or somethin’!” Raph cried. “I’ll go get a shoebox, and we can bring him inside! You watch him, okay?”

And Mikey considered this for a moment, glancing from his big brother to the baby bird, his nose wrinkled up slightly.

… If he fell out of his nest, then why didn’t he feel afraid?

Mikey couldn’t quite place it, but it just… didn’t seem like the bird was that upset or scared. If Mikey fell out of his nest and couldn’t fly anywhere and was lost and all alone, he was pretty sure he’d get scared and upset, at least, eventually. But this little guy didn’t feel that way at all. Mikey could just tell.

Maybe a little… frustrated. But determined. Excited, almost.

Mikey could feel it.

“No,” he finally said. “I think he’s okay.”

Raph frowned a bit, looking down at his brother incredulously. “But he’s just a baby!”

“Yeah, but he’s not scared!” Mikey argued, pointing.

Raph tilted his head to the side.

“How do you know?” He argued.

Mikey wrinkled his nose, considering this for a second before he shrugged.

“I ‘unno!” He finally declared. “I just do! You don’t?”

“... No,” Raph said, perhaps pouting a bit. “He’s a bird.”

“Well,” Mikey argued, crossing his arms over his chest. “I think he’s okay! I don’t think we should take him inside. I don’t think he’d like it. I think maybe we’d be, like… stealing him.”

“We can’t just leave him!” Raph protested, and Mikey paused, considering this, his lips curved into a pout.

“... Can we watch him for a little bit first, and see what happens?” He suggested after some thinking. “So then we know no cats will get ‘im or anything.”

Raph sighed. “... Yeah. Okay,” he finally agreed. “But if he’s still there in thirty minutes, then we should bring him inside. Okay?”

“Okay,” Mikey agreed.

---

They were golden-- so very much so that they were nearly white, as if superheated by the sun itself. They were built from nothing, it seemed, save for light and energy itself, but playing a melody of clinks and clatters regardless, filling the air with the sound of metal-on-metal.

The chains that materialized from his baby brother’s body.

They moved almost too fast to see, curling like snakes, twisting and shifting at Mikey’s command. With a forward thrust of his arm, leg sweeping around and his hands clenched into a fist, they obeyed him instantly, echoing his movements and flashing forward-- screaming-- howling towards their target.

Draxum just barely had the time to leap out of the way, flinging himself to the side and correcting his trajectory as he fell, frantically dodging the onslaught, and Mikey chased him. The chains twisted midair to follow the yokai, forcing him to dance and dodge backwards, hardly able to even conjure the occasional counterspell or strike in between running.

Running from Mikey.

It was all happening too fast for Raph to follow properly, but he realized, distantly, that Mikey’s eyes were glowing, light pouring from them and streaking down his face in globs of color. Like he was crying. Like he has tears made of honey.

Draxum lashed out with another spell, trying to find ground, and Mikey’s chains screamed out to meet them, shattering it midair. For just a second, Draxum gaped, his eyes wide as he watched. And in that tiny moment of hesitation, Mikey pounced.

He leapt forward like a beast on prey, his palm outstretched, reaching for Draxum, to touch, to grab--

At the very last second, the yokai yanked himself back.

In an instant, a bubbling black light enveloped him like a shadow and he blinked away-- as though he had never been there in the first place. Mikey stumbled slightly, lurching in the empty space left behind, his body jerking slightly at the sudden halt.

He faltered, wavering for a second, rocking on his feet. He blinked slowly, staring at the space where his opponent had once been as his shoulders slumped. In the silence and the still, ragged pants clattered through his chest. Raph swore he could hear them echo.

He blinked, swallowed, and finally found his tongue again.

“... Mikey?”

---

Raph gasped softly as he watched the little bird they had been watching leap up with a flap and flutter of its wings.

“It’s trying to--”

And it took him a few tries. But after a few false starts, the tiny creature took to the air. And in nearly a moment, it was gone, swooping away from the alley and out of sight.

“Whoa!” Raph gasped, his eyes widening. “Did you see that? That was so cool! He could fly all along!”

Mikey glanced back at his older brother and grinned brightly. “Yeah!!!”

He could tell. He could tell that that bird had been so happy to make it into the air and start to fly.

He could tell Raph was happy, too.

---

The halo that was surrounding their baby brother faded. The tears fizzled and dried up, the glow leaking from his eyes faded away with a flicker. And for a second, Mikey stood in one spot, staring off at nothing, his face flushed and his shoulders heaving with deep, shuddering breaths.

After a second, he coughed-- once, and then twice, hunching over slightly at the force of it. And he spat something shimmering and gold out onto the floor.

And then Raphael watched in horror as his eyes rolled back into his head, his knees going out from beneath him.

[gay-opossum-in-the-garbage]

DoeBall

————————————

Summary: You don’t recognize Doe in his true form at first

Warning(s): Mentions of obsessive behaviors, not proof read

Pairing: GN Reader X John Doe/Can also be read as You X John Doe

Perspective: 2nd person past tense

————————————

You had been cleaning for god knows how long. You wished that you could just lay in bed all day with your day off, but with how dirty your love was and how small the apartment was, it was a necessary evil.

Speaking of your love, he had been gone for a while now.

He was constantly wracked with anxiety when you left the house to buy groceries without him because of how dangerous the Valley was (and his general clinginess) so he insisted on doing the grocery run while you cleaned the apartment.

And you were perfectly fine with that, sure you loved him but his obsessiveness got a bit tiring at times. It was nice to spend a little time alone.

But it was a tad bit odd that he had been gone for so long. You checked the digital clock on the counter.

6:64 pm

He had left 3 hours ago. Usually he only took around an hour to do groceries since he only needed to visit one general store. That combined with the fact it was raining heavily outside made your stomach twist just a bit. You sighed and decided to focus on cleaning for now.

He’s fine. He’ll be fine.

No matter how many times you swept there was just more and more dust. You made another dust pile and sat on one knee, struggling to sweep the dust into the dust pan with the strange angle. Trying to maneuver the broom with just one hand was straining your wrist.

You sat there for what felt like 30 minutes just sweeping up the little lines that the pile made. You had finally whittled it down to one little line, and you finally breathed a sigh of relief as you swept it into the dustpan. You stood up and looked down at the floor.

There was still another line of dust.

You breathed a long frustrated sigh and slapped the dustpan on the kitchen island. You were going to put the broom away when you heard something from the living room.

*CRASH*

You jumped and tightly gripped the broom, eyes wide staring at the closed door separating the kitchen and living room.

You silently listened for any other sound, staying stone still.

You breathed in and out deeply and consistently, slowly creeping towards the oak door. You gripped the cold door handle, the cold contrasting your sweaty palms.

You breathed in and flung the door open charging head first into your small living room.

You let go of your breath and felt your shoulder relax a bit as your stared confused at the scene in front of you.

A big 2 foot ball of wet, black, curly hair with a big, yellow eyeball in its center was standing (well it didn’t really have legs, sitting?) in the middle of the room. It simply stared at you, looking shell-shocked.

It suddenly pounced at you at lightning speed. You let out a quick but loud yelp and smacked the broom down in front of you, missing the hairball by just a few inches.

“Get! Get back!” You said assertively as you threatened the creature with the red handled broom. It whimpered like a dog and jumped away like a cat being scared by a cucumber.

You pushed it back towards the door and cornered it against the couch.

With your newfound control over the situation you finally fully relaxed and actually looked at the thing. The more you looked at it, the more it looked… familiar.

“Doe!?” You dropped your broom and found your hands on the sides of your head, holding your hair, “what the hell happened!?”

You reached down and scooped up the big ball of hair, which you now knew was your lover, and held him at eye level while you spoke.

He had talked about his “true form” but you had never actually seen it before.

You had no idea his hair was his actual form.

He swung his tendril-like strands of hair around like arms, making chirps and other animalistic noises like he was trying to explain something to you.

You cocked your head to the side. He stopped suddenly and wrapped himself around your right arm, small whines coming from him.

You sighed and petted him while you grabbed a soft towel from the kitchen. You put the towel on his back and flipped him onto the towel like you were getting a cake out of a pan.

You fully wrapped him in the towel, making sure to leave his eyeball exposed. You held him close to your chest, the warmth of your body cutting through the cold of his wet one.

You sat down on your soft couch, him purring softly in your arms. He wrapped some tendrils around your neck, pulling you closer and purring even louder.

It was nice just cuddling like this, but you felt awful for attacking him and extremely confused why he hadn’t shapeshifted back yet.

“Hey baby?”

The little hairball look up at you, a little heart replacing his pupil. Well at least you knew he wasn’t mad at you.

“I’m sorry for threatening you, I thought you were some feral cat that broke in or something,” he let out a strange little noise that resembled a laugh, you smiled and continued, “and I love cuddling you like this, but why haven’t you shapeshifted back yet?”

He looked at you for a couple of seconds, pupil back to normal. He jumped out of your arms and and started walking towards the door of your shared bedroom, scratching at it like a cat.

You sat up and let him in, where he immediately started rummaging through his drawer. You shared a dresser, the top two being yours and the bottom being his.

He rummaged through the drawer for a few seconds before pulling out a mason jar with teeth and clothing scraps. He shook it, the contents shaking around. You looked into the drawer to see similar containers, with some being filled with…well you didn’t want to know. You swore one blinked at you.

“And you showed me this…why?” You questioned.

He untwisted the jar and started eating the contents right in front of you. A mouth that reminded you of a leech’s opened at the base of his eyeball and a long snake-like tongue wrapped around the contents in the jar.

You knew he ate teeth and you found some bite marks in your old clothes, but seeing him do it right in front of you and in this fashion was, well disturbing to say the least.

Finally he was done with his feast and shooed for you to the leave the room. After what you just saw you were perfectly fine with that. You closed the door, but pressed your face against the door.

There were strange fleshy noises for a couple of seconds. He opened the door, causing you to fall into his arms. He giggled and patted you on the head.

You looked up at him with a smile and cupped his face in your hands and warmly kissed him.

You pulled away and put a hand in his lips so he wouldn’t go in for another kiss.

“Okay, explain”

“I need materials for my faux body before I can fully shapeshift back. That’s what my snacks are for”

He giggled a little near the end with a big goofy smile on his face.

“And about the groceries?”

“It started raining, my fake body can’t handle water. I lost them darling, I’m sorry”

He nuzzled into your neck and you could feel him frown.

“That’s okay hun, we can just order some”

You could feel him start to smile softly after that.

“Oh, and I forgive you my love~”

He talked into your neck, softly purring and pulling you closer.

“You sure forgive quickly honey”

“How could I not!? You’re the love of my life! I love love love you! I could never be mad~”

You still felt a bit bad, but for now you just held him close, loving the warmth of his body. You stroked your fingers though his still slightly damp hair and kissed him on the neck softly.

He grabbed you by the small of your back and lifted you up, swinging you around and holding you bridal style, lovingly kissing you on the neck. He closed the door of your bedroom behind him and plopped you on the bed.

He wrapped a soft blanket around the both of you and held you tight to his chest, stroking you on the back. You wrapped your arms around his neck and put your head under his.

You knew you still had to clean, the house was still quite dirty.

But.

This was more important.

————————————

[chaifootsteps]

to be honest I kind of thought Stolas secretly wanted to go to the party he kept mocking as petty and silly the whole time but this post pointed out something I hadn't noticed before:

https://www.tumblr.com/wishful-thinking64/760199544146427904/one-hell-of-an-unpopular-opinion-05

specifically this frame for anyone who doesn't have time to read the whole thing: https://64.media.tumblr.com/a72b13f4373812b92494dc9a8627cbb3/f00ba9f46c367808-d2/s1280x1920/336a6eba2d728770dd9e440f82d62ee05d5559b3.pnj

this frame makes it look like Stolas changed his tune on the party specifically because he noticed Blitzo was pissed off by it. it's worse than just he was claiming to be above the whole thing but going just to hang out for a bit or something, this reading makes it more like Stolas was legit going to skip out but decided to go anyway, specifically to hurt Blitzo

that raised eyebrow and sly little smile just reeks of 'well now I know you're annoyed and it hurts you, this stupid party is more appealing'. which would explain why he keeps insulting everyone at the party even when he's there, he never saw any value in it outside of rubbing it in Blitzo's face

and that makes his "coMe to juDgE mE?" line even more aggravating, because like - yes? Stolas told Blitzo to his face he'd never go to something as petty as Verosika's party, saw he was pissed off by it, then went anyway to be spiteful - then resented Blitzo for it when he got caught being a hypocrite for like the 53rd time. why wouldn't Blitzo judge him? he has no moral compass and he's being way more cruel than what he's punishing Blitzo for

at this point I'm just fascinated by how the writing process on Spindle even works. Viv has the sole writing credit on this episode, which isn't surprising given how much it babies Stolas, but does no one seriously take a second look at these things? Did no one point out to her how Stolas is the absolute worst in this thing?

Viv's not a fan of having things pointed out to her. I'm not even kidding, she's cut people out of her life for challenging her just a little.

[starlightandroses]

Height Comparisons for the Wild Life Fan-Creators

So, that session 1 tho. Lotta height weirdness! And I can already tell this is gonna be hell for trying to determine where characters are in a space, so I did the math so y'all don't have to!

Of course there's definitely more than 1 way to do things, so if you don't like my math, don't use it! I'm also not a mathmatician so if my numbers are wrong pls let me know~

So where do we start?

Original heights, of course! Specifically, the original height of none other than Minecraft Steve himself.

Each minecraft block is a 1x1x1 meter cube, and Steve (and therefore all other cubitos) are exactly 2 blocks tall. This leaves Steve (and therefore the rest of the cubitos) at a default of about 6'5-6'6 feet tall.

Step 2 is where the shrinkage comes in. We know from the Sub One Crew that the smallest height possible is half a block, so 50 centimeters. The largest height possible, from what I can gather, is 6 blocks, so 6 meters, leaving a height range from 1'6-19'7 feet.

But, we can also go a little further~

With the way characters move and the fact that none of the characters really did proper experimental testing, it's hard to say how much height exactly is added per jump or per crouch.

So, I figured it'd be easier to just call it one pixel per jump or per crouch. (Crouching in reality is a bit more complicated because you can hold it down, but for the sake of easy math I'm just going to count the crouches the same as the jumps.)

Each minecraft block has a 16x16 grid of pixels on each side. If each jump adds a pixel and each crouch removes one, then that would be adding/losing 6.25 cm per jump/crouch, or roughly 2.46 inches. So... Not that much of a difference in the grand scheme of things.

This does mean, by these calculations, that getting from normal height to the minimum would take 24 crouches, and getting from normal height to the maximum would take about 64 jumps. And therefore, getting from max to min or min to max would be 88 crouches or jumps depending on which direction you're going in.

Yikes that's a workout-

Hopefully this helps put things a little bit into perspective when it comes to these cubitos and their height weirdness!

Here's hoping that session 2 involves a lot less math XD

[momojedi]

— YOU & ME. pairing. echo x gn! reader

**

type. oneshot note. requested by someone via ao3! it's based on the conversation between queen charlotte & king george! warnings. angst, argument, hurt/comfort, fluffy ending word count. 1.5k

star wars masterlist || pinned post

64.media.tumblr.com

When Echo came back, the joyous message quickly spread among his brothers of the GAR and even the Jedi celebrated the wonderful news of both the Republic’s victory over Anaxes as well as the return of one of their most loyal soldiers.

Captain Rex was in happy tears when he pulled you aside to share the message, a smile so bright like you’d never seen on his face before.

You’d immediately broken into tears at the news. He was back, the man you loved so dearly had survived. Your heart swelled with joy.

But Echo — he was broken.

“Echo?” Your voice was quiet when you approached him, his back to you.

“You shouldn’t have come,” he merely whispered hoarsely, almost as if he were in some sort of trance. You fiddled with your the cheap material of the tunic’s sleeves the Kaminoans had assigned you to wear. “I’m most happy to be here, though.”

Echo remained silent, not even granting you a glance. You bit your lip thoughtfully. You couldn’t help but feel guilty for not showing up sooner — he’d been through hell and back, and yet you couldn’t have granted him a single minute of your time to check on him? He just came back from the dead, goddamnit!

“I’m so sorry Echo, I should’ve come to see you so much sooner,” you started stepping around the cot to face him, sighing as you continued apologising with a heavy heart, “don’t worry, I won’t leave your side aga—“

“No.” Echo’s tone had grown snappy, catching you off-guard for a second. He looked at you and your voice was caught in your throat as it had been when you first laid your eyes on him: the anguish in his eyes screamed for support, for love, for any kind of comfort yet his expression remained unreachable. “No, listen to me: You shouldn’t have come,” Echo shut his eyes and took a shaky breath before continuing, “I don’t want you here.”

You frowned, though not a cold one—rather a confused frown, one that wasn’t sure what to make of his behaviour. He was acting strangely, not at all like the Echo you knew, practically begging you to leave him. And yet you didn’t budge. Echo shifted impatiently.

“Do you hear me? I said leave. Go back to the 501st, that’s where you work. And also where you belong.” Your heart shatters at that. He couldn’t possibly mean it. That wasn’t the man you knew. You remained unmoving. Echo got up, now towering over you with an expression so angered you almost took a step back. Almost.

Echo let out a frustrated groan. “I don’t want you here,” he barked at you, voice now growing louder and his tone now growing stricter. “I don’t want to see you. Get out!” Despite his angered expression, it seemed like he was begging you to go, his harsh words a mere cover for his genuine feelings. As if he wanted to protect—from what exactly though, you couldn’t really disclose.

You took a deep breath. You couldn’t exactly lie, although you knew he was hiding something, his words hit you deep. You remained silent for a minute, the room tense and quiet until you look him in the eyes. “No.”

“[Name],—”

“You just got back, Echo. I- I won’t leave you,” your volume was growing louder by each word and you slowly but surely felt the familiar pricking of tears in the corners of your eyes. Based on the swift way he glanced away from you, Echo noticed it, too. Why was he so focused on getting you to go?

“Leave,” he barked one more time, “that’s an order.”

You bit your lip tearfully, eyes shut tightly. He had no right, you thought. But he did. He was a superior and he very much had every right to order you around. Yet you refused to give up, anger, rage, pain boiling up deep inside of you and before you realised it, you were screaming at him. All the fear, all the emotions you’d shut in ever since his disappearance finally breaking free.

“I WILL STAY!”

A surprised expression crossed Echo’s face and he stumbled backwards, startled at the sudden outburst. Big tears had now escaped your eyes, rolling down your cheeks as you gasped for air from the overwhelming pressure. Echo’s demeanour started to shrink as he looked at you with pleading eyes.

“[Name], please.”

“No.”

“[Name], you aren’t listening-”

You clenched your fists tightly at your side, sucking in a breath. “I am.” You spoke clearly and filled with determination. “I’ve heard that you don’t want me here, that you want me to go,”

“[Name],” He tried, raising a hand but you interrupted him.

“What I haven’t heard however, is that you do not love me.”

Echo had changed. So much was clear. He didn’t appear as the man he used to be, the mechanical changes to his body left him feeling uneasy and the self-assured confidence wasn’t as clear as it once was. But you knew him. His tendencies to put others before himself, to make sure of others’ wellbeing before caring for his own. Was he pushing you away to keep you safe from him?

Silence fills the atmosphere for a second and Echo’s eyes widen. When your breath finally calms, you continue.

“I’ve been suffering for so long, thinking you had died, thinking you were gone for good like so many before and after you. Day by day I watch your brothers pass, fully helpless and yet none hurts as much as your passing did,” you sniff, “I’ve felt like such a failure, and now you’re back yet you stay away from me as if I were some kind of disease.”

Crossing your arms over your chest, you pull your sleeves over your hands to rub the sticky tears off your cheeks. Echo opened his mouth, but you continued without giving him a chance to speak.

“But now it finally occurred to me; perhaps you’re pushing me away because you care for me. Because you love me. Echo, do you love me?”

Echo hesitated, eyes searching for something, anything before he stepped closer to you, his healthy hand grabbing your shoulder and his scomp settling on your other.

“I’m trying to protect you!”

But you remained determined.

“Do you love me?”

He pulled away as if your skin burned him. “I can’t— we can’t— this conversation … I can’t do this.”

“Echo,” his face snapped back to yours, “do you love me?”

“[Name]. Please stop,” he begged, tears burning in his eyes.

“Is it that you don’t believe that I could love you?” You let the question float for a moment, staring at him intensely before continuing, “I do. I love you. So much that I will do whatever you ask me to. And if you don’t love me, it’s all you have to say. Tell me you don’t love me and I will go. I’ll personally request General Skywalker to reassign me and you’ll never have to see me again. We can both live our separate lives, and I’ll fill my days and survive on my own. I’m ready to go there. But first you’ll have to tell me straight. Tell me I’m on my own in this crazy world.”

Echo’s words were caught in his throat as he stared at you before whispering. “I’m not a man anymore, I’m not even a machine either.” He tapped his head, right where the ports had been planted. “The separatists… they’ve invaded my mind. The— the heavens and earth collide in there and I don’t even know where I stand anymore.”

You refused to acknowledge his begging. “Do you love me?”

Echo carefully cradled your face, as if you were made of porcelain ready to crack at any second. “You wouldn’t want a life with me; no one would.”

“Echo,” you snapped, gripping his wrists to keep him from pulling them away. He gazed in your eyes, brows furrowed in a hurtful manner. Your voice cracked. “I will stand with you between whatever heavens and earth. Do you love me?”

And suddenly his walls were breaking down as he softly sobbed, burying his face into your shoulder. “I,” he begins, interrupted by another sob, “I love you. From the moment you were assigned to us, the moment I saw you, I have loved you desperately. I can barely function when you aren’t around. I love you, [name].”

You pulled away, pushing his head of your shoulder and before he can react, you pulled him into a passionate kiss. Without realising, you kept pulling him closer, as if he couldn’t be near enough.

Finally, you had to break apart for air, though he immediately pressed his forehead to yours. “I wanted to tell you,” he whispers hoarsely, “I wanted you to know how much this weighed on me but … I didn’t know how.”

“It’s okay,” you smiled, “we can catch up on all we’ve lost now.”

[mjshortformcjesus]

OK LOOOONG POST (i ranked all the saw traps except for the spiral ones)

starting with the worst and i’ll work my way up :3

74. lawnmower trap (saw 3d) because its boring and stupid

73. edgar munsen’s trap (jigsaw). this whole movie sucks ass but. the lack of filter on like this whole scene pisses me the fuck off

72. shotgun chair (saw v) idek it just sucks

71. hangman’s noose (saw 3d i believe) its really boring and basicccc

70. cyanide box (saw 3d) boring as hell im afraid

69. sentry gun (saw 3d) its kinda funny i suppose???

68. hoffmans ugly fucking rbt (saw vi) its fucking ugly

67. suspended cage (saw 3d) i would survive this no problem

66. chain hangers (jigsaw) i dont care for it and the needles and i hate it

65. spike trap (saw iv) its good i think its just like the one trap i cant watch :/

64. scalping chair (saw iv) idkkkk its justs like boring and yawn (really funny on 2x speed though)

63. grain silo (jigsaw) lordddd its badddd

62. electrified staircase (saw ii) i think this would fix my knees but like. the way its filmed lowkey sucks

61. public execution (saw 3d) good golly this one ugh. i think it couldve been good if it werent a stupid reason to get put in a trap

60. drill chair (saw i) lost points for being named jeff

59. shotgun keys (jigsaw) funny. i suppose

58. shotgun hallway (saw i) i liked sing ;-;

57. freezer room (saw iii) slow ass fucking jeff

56. cycle trap (jigsaw) not a personal fav but the corpse is really funny

55. brazen bull (saw 3d) diy top surgery ig but the wife didnt deserve that

54. ceiling jars (saw v) they couldve all fIT IN THERE

53. antidote safe room (saw ii) i hate xavier and i dont really enjoy when he cut the back of his neck off :/

52. electric bathtub (saw v) i liked the lady that got zapped ;-;

51. razor box (saw ii) its good but also akdjdjosjeoskdo

50. disembowelment (saw x) wooble wooble wooble

49. gas chamber (saw x) i hate cecilia so sos os os so much

48. oxygen crusher (saw vi) its a wee bit fucked up ngl

47. buckets room (jigsaw) personally i dont like it very much but @w3bcu1t does and i love her

46. neck tie trap (saw v) LMAO THE DECAPITATION

45. pipe bomb (saw x) ughhh its good but ughhhh

44. zep’s test (saw i) idek yall

43. magnum eyehole (saw ii) yea

42. spine cutters (saw iv) i liked art…

41. bedroom trap (saw iv) its icky but well done

40. horsepower trap (saw 3d) all i wrote for this was “lur lur lur” idk what that means

39. leg wires (jigsaw) ://////

38. wisdom teeth combo (saw 3d) the peanuts :3

37. jeff’s final test (saw iii) kajsisjslkaksndkd

36. razor wire maze (saw i) man oh man its a classic

35. the furnace (saw ii) :3

34. steam maze (saw vi) yea

33. exploding puppet (saw iv) OWAGHH lindseyyy

32. pig vat (saw iii) juice

31. flammable jelly (saw i) ngl its just for the name

30. knife chair (saw iv) hehe ha

29. eyeball vaccuum (saw x) slurrrppppp

28. silence circle (saw 3d) i wont explain myself

27. nerve gas house (saw ii) lowkey this trap fucks hard. easily the best group trap

26. laser collars (jigsaw) listen. i know it sucks. idc

25. the cubeeee (saw v) in my cube. straight up breathing it. and by “it” well haha lets justr say. neck air

24. classroom trap (saw iii) again. my notes just say “lur lur lur”

23. brain surgery (saw x) pabdodjeokeow

22. impalement circle (saw 3d) i…have no idea

21. radiation (saw x) gabrielaaaaa

20. bloodboarding (saw x) ITS SO AINSOEMEPW

19. pendulum (saw v) he-he got cut in half lmao

18. acid room (saw vi) tghe fucking body melting??? PEAK

17. bathroom trap (saw i) gay people

16. ice block trap (saw iv) fuck eric amiright

15. venus fly trap (saw ii) i loveee this one but poor michael probably didnt deserve that

14. shotgun collar (saw iii) live. laugh. lesbian.

13. pound of flesh (saw vi) this is a classic and i love it sm

12. the gallows (saw vi) AMERICAN HELATHCARE

11. shotgun carousel (saw vi) USA 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🦅🦅🦅🦅!!!!!

10. 10 pints of sacrifice (saw v) when- when the hands do the flappy i lose my shit

9. amanda’s test (saw iii) ANSOSJOSJknosjoskijsi&/918Jwboajaosj

8. needle pit (saw ii) isjsisjsoajaoanoak

7. reverse bear trap (saw i and 3d) amajda ambda andbaa mandy ambda amanda (and jill i suppose)

6. mausoleum (saw iv) mmmmmmmmmm

5. eric’s test (saw ii) oh goodness. i fucking hate eric matthews.

4. bone marrow (saw x) i really like this one

3. glass coffin (saw v) silly haha

2. the rack (saw iii) THE PRACTICAL EFFECTS RAHHHHH

angel trap (saw iii) i loveee kerry i loveee the effects i loveee the rats on her in saw iv i loveee amanda appearing as kerry’s ribs get ripped open

yayayaya i did it. yall can ask if you have questions :3

[onyxsboxes]

After a bit of delay, here are the songs titles from the LCAPT Clegan playlist

1. Learn to Fly by Foo Fighters 2. Clearest Blue by CHVRCHES 3. I'm Not In Love by 10cc 4. Death and All His Friends by Coldplay 5. Til Kingdom Come by Coldplay 6. The Queen Of All Everything by Ott 7. Love song from a dog by Shovels & Rope ft. gregory alan isakov 8. If we were vampires by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit 9. Passenger seat by Death Cab for Cutie

10. In our bedroom after the war by Stars 11. Early mornin’ rain by Peter, Paul and Mary 12. I was made for loving you by Yungblud cover 13. Visions of Gideon by Sufjan Stevens 14. Fourth of July by Sufjan Stevens 15. Lover, You Should've Come Over by Jeff Buckley 16. The Roads by Jonah Kagen 17. Next to You by John Vincent III 18. Seen My Man (Wisconsin Demo) by Trixie Mattel 19. Beneath Oak Trees by Dylan Gossett

20. Heaven is a Bedroom by TV Girl 21. Wicked Games by The Weeknd 22. Itchy Teeth by Marika Hackman 23. Breakup by Ashton Irwin 24. Work Song by Hozier 25. I’m Low on Gas and you Need a Jacket by Pierce The Veil 26. Betting On Us by Myles Smith 27. I'm the Sinner by Jared Benjamin 28. Running to You by Jamie Drake & Jamie Jackson 29. Look After You by Aron Wright

30. Smokestacks by Layla 31. Run To You by CJ Starnes 32. Gale song by The Lumineers 33. White Ferrari by Frank Ocean 34. Can You Hear the Rain Love by Richard Hawley 35. Say Yes To Heaven by Lana Del Rey 36. Talk Show Host by Radiohead 37. Untold by RY X 38. Lovers Rock by TV Girl 39. Waiting Room by Phoebe Bridgers

40. I Will by The Beatles 41. Glimpse of Us by Joji 42. Somethin' Stupid by Frank Sinatra & Nancy Sinatra 43. When the party is over by Billie Eilish 44. I love you by Billie Eilish 45. Blue jeans by Lana Del Rey 46. The secret marriage by Sting 47. Wicked game by Ursine Vulpine 48. Love Me Like You Used To by Lord Huron 49. Need you Now by Lady A

50. Strange Birds by Birdy 51. Old Money by Lana Del Rey 52. The Night We Met by Lord Huron 53. Piano Man by Billy Joel 54. Alley Rose by Conan Fray 55. Good Luck, babe by Chappel Roan 56. Be Nice To Me by The Front Bottoms 57. Saturn by Sleeping At Last 58. So Long, London by Taylor Swift 59. From Eden by Hozier

60. I Should Live in Salt by The National 61. Demons by The National 62. Graceless by The National 63. Your Mind Is Not Your Friend by The National, Phoebe Bridgers 64. Don’t Swallow the Cap by The National 65. Dreaming by The National 66. This Isn’t Helping by The National, Phoebe Bridgers 67. Issues by Julia Michaels 68. Gorecki by Lamb 69. Ends Of The Earth by Lord Huron

70. Dark Red by Steve Lacy 71. Fireproof by Coleman Hell 72. Heavydirtysoul by Twenty One Pilots 73. All I Want Is You by Barry Louis Polisar 74. I Found by Amber Run 75. Beautiful by Josh Zandman 76. Budapest by George Ezra 77. Be Together by Major Lazer 78. On The Nature Of Daylight by Max Richter 79. Guiding Light by Mumford & Sons

80. My Blood by Twenty One Pilots 81. My Madonna by Dexter Freebish 82. Chemicals Between Us by Bush 83. Protect Me From What I Want by Placebo 84. I Feel Loved by Depeche Mode 85. Gimme Some Lovin’ by The Spencer Davis Group 86. Little Light Of Love by Eric Serra 87. Fire and Flood by Vance Joy 88. Pride (In The Name Of Love) by Clivillés & Cole 89. Holdin’ Out by The Lumineers

90. If I Go, I’m Goin by Gregory Alan Isakov 91. Letting The Cables Sleep by Bush 92. This Feeling by Chainsmokers 93. Me And You by Barry Louis Polisar 94. Silver sable by Cigarettes after sex 95. How I Learned to Love the Bomb by Glass Animals 96. Hellofazoo by Until the Ribbon Breaks 97. Mr. Forgettable by David Kushner 98. John My Beloved by Sufjan Stevens 99. Alan by Perfume genius

100. One line by PJ harvey 101. Putting The Dog To Sleep by the antlers 102. In My Arms by Alex g 103. Certainty by Big thief 104. Angel In The Snow by Elliott smith 105. Nothing Matters by The Last Dinner Party 106. The Loneliest by Måneskin 107. Till forever falls apart by Ashe, Finneas 108. Whish that you were here by Florence + The Machine 109. I Forget Where We Were by Ben Howard

110. Bite by Troye Sivan 111. Lowlife by Poppy 112. Real Love Song by Nothing But Thieves 113. Like You Do by Joji 114. Be My baby by The Ronettes 115. Burn by Tom Walker 116. Lucky by Bif Naked 117. Fair by The Amazing Devil 118. Bitch by Meredith Brooks 119. I wish you were a girl by 12 RODS

120. All i think about now by Pixies 121. I know by Fiona Apple 122. Sweet tooth by Cavetown 123. Flawless by The Neighborhood 124. Can’t Help Falling In Love by Elvis Presley 125. Simply the best by Billianne 126. I remember everything by Zach Bryan, Kacey Musgraves 127. Coal by Dylan Gossett 128. i am not who i was by Chance Peña 129. I Bet On Losing Dogs by Mitski

130. Two slow dancers by Mitski 131. Lucky to get him by Aly and AJ 132. Crack baby by Mitski 133. I don't smoke by Mitski 134. Smoke gets in your eyes by Helen Forest 135. Love by Daughter 136. Can’t Help Falling in Love - DARK by Tommee Profitt, brooke 137. Chills - Dark Version by Mickey Valen, Joey Myron 137,5. Skyline by Sibewest 138. Beautiful Crime by Tamer 139. Act natural by Margaret Glaspy

140. Betray my heart by D'Angelo 141. I will be your friend by Sade 142. Can’t Take My Eyes Off You by Frankie Valli 143. I Didn’t Know by Sofia Carson 144. You by A Great Big World 145. This Woman’s Work by Kate Bush 146. Can't you see - acoustic by Matthew and the Atlas 147. Cowboy by Jack Van Cleaf 148. Feels like Home by Caamp 149. Carry You Home by Alex Warren

150. Belong Together by Mark Ambor 151. The First Day of My Life by Bright Eyes 152. Kaleidoscope by A Great Big World 153. Monsters of the North by The National Parks 154. The great war by Taylor Swift 155. Free by Florence + The Machine 156. I know the end by Phoebe Bridgers 157. Another Man’s Jeans by Ashe 158. I’ve Told You Now by Sam Smith 159. Love Me by Elvis Presley

160. Moment’s Silence (Common Tongue) by Hozier 161. Ocean Eyes by Billie Eilish 162. Take me home, country roads by John Denver 163. Army Dreamers by Kate Bush 164. I'm No Angel by Dido 165. We’ll Meet Again by Johnny Cash 166. Cowboys are frequently secretly fond of each other by Orville Peck 167. If We Were Vampires by Noah Kahan, Wesley Schultz 168. You Belong To Me by Jo Stafford 169. Goodnight Irene by Frank Sinatra

170. All I Want by Kodaline 171. Me and my Husband by Mitski 172. The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades is out to get us by Sufjan Stevens 173. As the World cave in by Sarah Cothran 174. Dead of Night by Orville Peck 175. invisible string by Taylor Swift 176. The Ghost of You by My chemical Romance 177. We'll Meet Again by Vera Lynn 178. Love in the Time Of Socialism by Yellow house 179. Northern Downpour by Panic! At The Disco

180. Better in the Morning by Birdtalker 181. doomsday by Lizzy McAlpine 182. Guilty by Al Bowlly 183. Heat Lightning by Mitski 184. everything i wanted by Billie Eilish 185. Blood Moon by Josiah and the Bonnevilles 186. Night Terror by Laura Marling 187. Vengeance Is Sleeping by Neko Case 188. Finally Stop Dreaming by Dylan Gossett 189. The Yawning Grave by Lord Huron

190. Learning To Fly by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers 191. Hounds of Love by The Futureheads 192. Now I'm in it by HAIM 193. Stand Back by Stevie Nicks 194. Moonlight of Your Room by Joe Pug 195. Blue by Mai Yamane 196. Call Your Girlfriend by Robyn 197. Unchained Melody by The Righteous Brothers 198. Summer Of '69 by Bryan Adams 199. Fix you by Coldplay

200. Sun Bleached Flies by Ethel Cain 201. I walk the Line by Halsey 202. The Greatest by Billie Eilish 203. I'll be seeing you by Billie Holiday 204. We will not be Lovers by The Waterboys 205. Triptych by Samia 206. In a Jar by Dinosaur Jr. 207. Dionne by The Japanese House, Justin Vernon 208. Nothing Like by Mannequin pussy 209. True Love Waits by Radiohead

210. Weird Fish/Arpeggi by Radiohead 211. I’m a Fool to Want You by Billie Holiday 212. A Life of Arctic Sounds by Modest Mouse 213. Soldier Boy by The Shirelles 214. Casual by Chappel Roan 215. Ruined by Adrianne Lenker 216. Without You by Tobias Jesso Jr. 217. That's Where I Am by Maggie Rogers 218. Die Young by Sylvab Esso 219. Violet hill by Coldplay

220. You made me love you by Patsy Cline 221. Smoke gets in your eyes by Eartha Kitt 222. Piece of my heart by Erma Franklin 223. Love and anger by Kate Bush 224. Guilty by Johnny Desmond 225. I Can’t Begin to Tell You by Bing Crosby 226. People Will Say We’re in Love by Frank Sinatra 227. You’ll Never Know by Dick Haymes 228. You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To by Dinah Shore 229. Speeding Cars by Walking On Cars

230. Girl Crush by Harry Style 231. Fine Line by Harry Style 232. Bittersuite by Billie Eilish 233. Et même après je t'aimerai by Hoshi 234. Tourner dans le vide by Indila 235. What was I made For? by Billie Eilish 236. Maybe by James Arthur 237. Happy Together by Gerard Way, Ray Toro 238. Dandelions by Ruth B. 239. When the Darkness Comes by Shelby Merry

240. Silver tongues by Louis Tomlinson 241. Telepathic by Starset 242. Always by Isak Danielson 243. Like real people Do by Hozier 244. Iris by The Goo Goo Dolls 245. Can you hold me by NF, Britt Nicole 246. Moondust by Jaymes Young 247. Maps - triple j Like A version by Camp Cope 248. We made it by Louis Tomlinson 249. Adore you by Harry Style

250. Love song by Lana Del Rey 251. Satellite by Harry Style 252. Late night Talking by Harry Style 253. Home by Edith Whiskers 254. Guilty as Sin? by Taylor Swift 255. The Light by CHPTRS 256. Started With You by CHPTRS 257. City Lights (Symphonic Version) by HAEVN 258. This Is Why I Need You by Jesse Ruben 259. Never Stop (Wedding Version) by Safetysuit

260. Sacrifice by Elton John 261. Who we are by Hozier 262. Politik by Coldplay 263. All I need by Radiohead 264. Can't pretend by Tom Odell 265. Would Anyone Care by Citizen Soldier 266. Hold My Hand by Lady Gaga 267. Warriors by Willyecho 268. Brother by Kodaline 269. Protector by City wolf

270. Texas reznikoff by Mitski 271. Pin by Grimes 272. I'm your man by Mitski 273. Haunting by Halsey 274. Twin flame by Weyes blood 275. Why Can’t The Dark Leave Me Alone? by Toni Fisher 276. No Other Love by Jo Stafford 277. Your Best American Girl by Mitski 278. Careless Whispers by George Michael 279. Sailor Song by Gigi Perez

280. Sidelines by Phoebe Bridges 281. not a lot, just forever by Adrianne Lenker 282. forwards beckon rebound by Adrianne Lenker 283. Norman fucking Rockwell by Lana Del Rey 284. Long Long Time by Linda Ronstadt 285. Break by alex_g_offline 286. Some Velvet morning by Nancy Sinatra, Lee Hazlewood 287. Overtime by Rainbow Kitten Surprise, Kacey Musgraves 288. The John Wayne by Little Green Cars 289. Pale blue Eyes by The Velvet Underground

290. You'll Never Know (78rpm version) by Frank Sinatra, Bobby Tucker Singers 291. Come on Mess me up by Cub sport 292. While I can by Keaton henson 293. Flying :)) by Tom Odell 294. Cornflower blue by Flower Face 295. Remember by Seinabo Sey, Jacob Banks 296. Once more to see you by Mitski 297. Back to the old house by The Smiths 298. Symphonia IX by Current Joys 299. So real by Jeff Buckley

300. Half return by Adrianne Lenker 301. Fade into you by Mazzy Star 302. All We Ever Do is Talk by Del Water Gap 303. Dirty Little Secret by Artemas 304. Too Sweet by Hozier 305. Anyways I Love You by Wild Rivers 306. like you’re god by Mehro 307. Size too small by Sufjan Stevens 308. Cheers Darlin' by Damien Rice 309. Lotus Flower by Radiohead

310. Twilight Time by The Platters 311. Because of You by Tony Bennett 312. if i needed someone by The Beatles 313. Standing next to You by Jungkook 314. Falling away with You by Muse 315. Exist for Love by AURORA 316. Sata vuotto by BEHM 317. Blood Sport by Sleep Token 318. Oblivion by SYML 319. Timezone by Måneskin

320. Own my mind by Måneskin 321. Pushing Up Daisies (Love Alive) by Brothers Osborne 322. Unbroken by Tim McGraw 323. I Was Born To Love You by Queen 324. You’re My Best Friend by Queen 325. Think I’m In Love With You by Chris Stapleton, Dua Lipa 326. Something To Talk About by Bonnie Raitt 327. Parachute by Chris Stapleton 328. Love The Lonely Out Of You by Brothers Osborne 329. Here Tonight (The Acoustic Sessions) by Brett Young, Charles Kelley

330. Stay A Little Longer by Brothers Osborne 331. The End by Halsey 332. Birds of a feather by Billie Eilish 333. Found Heaven by Conan Gray 334. Down bad by Taylor Swift 335. I do by Renee Rapp 336. The good I'll do by Zach Bryan 337. Half Light by BANNERS 338. Resistance by Muse 339. Far from home (the raven) by Sam Tinnesz

340. Francis forever by Mitski 341. I love you by RIOPY 342. This must be the place (naive melody) 2005 by Talking Heads 343. Maps by Yeah yeah yeahs 344. Cinnamon Girl by Lana del rey 345. I'm on Fire by Bruce Springsteen 346. Fire on Fire by Sam Smith 347. I'm Making Believe by The Inkspots and Ella Fitzgerald 348. Watch Over You by Alter Bridge 349. Summer song by Remy bond

350. Off to the races by Lana Del Rey 351. Almost (sweet music) by Hozier 352. giveuwhatuwant by The Driver Era 352,5. Birds of a feather by Billie Eilish 353. Big Mike’s by Dijon 354. Simulation Swarm by Big Thief 355. I Wanna Be Yours by Arctic Monkeys 356. Little Bit More by Mk.gee 357. Be Well by Ama Lou 358. Unknown/Nth by Hozier 359. Asleep by Smiths

360. Lucky by Atta Boy 361. Big Jet Plane by Angus & Julia Stone 362. Parallel Universe by Clara Benin 363. Dói Tanto by Gabriel Froede 364. Eyes Off You by Prettymuch 365. Secret Love Song, Pt. II by Little Mix 366. Finality by Woods of Ypres 367. Pra Ser Sincero by Enganheiros do Hawaii 368. Wherever You Go by The Calling 369. Janeiro by Esteban Tavares 370. I will follow you into the dark by Death Cab for Cutie

371. Tiny vessels by Death Cab for Cutie 372. King and Lionheart by Of Monsters and Men 373. Bloom (Eros) by Sleeping At Last 374. No One’s Gonna Love You by Band of Horses

25/10/24 edit: 17 songs added (357 -> 374)

[letmesleep8]

even if I die screaming // elliexreader

CHAPTER 4: There's an ocean in Nebraska

AO3 | chapter 3 | chapter 5

content warnings/tags: subtle homophobia, mentions of alcohol/being drunk, mention of cannibalism as a metaphor

notes: oh my, look who it is! i know it took me quite a while to post this. sorry, i was in a depression. but anyways, here is the chapter! i promise I'll try to post the next one soon this time. have a great evening! or morning. or anything.

tag list: @h4-rt3s @sallythatgurl-64 @pinkinternetfire @lorelaihehe (sorry if i tag you without you asking or something, unless you're lorelai, that was on purpose :3)

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────••─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────••─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

"I hate it here so I will go to lunar valleys in my mind

When they found a better planet, only the gentle survived"

— I Hate It Here, Taylor Swift

January 23, 2039 Winter

Dear diary, 

Today was strange. I came home from the get-together and ate the whole rest of the cake I made. My head hurts and I feel like my fingers smell like Ellie. I can still feel her phantom touch in my face whenever I close my eyes for too long.

Mom’s drunk, she's already completely asleep in her bedroom. I locked myself up in mine, I’m afraid she’ll smell the weed. I feel bad, guilty. I can’t sleep. I am a terrible daughter and I deserve nothing she’s ever fought to give me. I am a disappointment and I promise I won’t do anything like this ever ag- 

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────••─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────••─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

I heard a noise on my window, I first thought it was maybe a bird. One more time, I heard something hitting the frame. I got up to check and got scared by the pebble that almost hit my face. 

“Oh fuck, I’m sorry!” Ellie looked worried and embarrassed. I simply laughed.

“What are you doing here? It’s, like, four a.m”, I sat on the frame. “You should be in bed.”

“I couldn’t sleep.” She swallowed, nervously. “ Y’wanna go for a walk?” I unknowingly held my breath and bit my bottom lip to the blood. If Mama wakes up and doesn’t see me in bed she would be so worried, but at the same time, I couldn’t pretend like living under her subtle rules wasn’t killing me slowly. 

“Help me get out.” I said and Ellie smirked, giving me her hand. I jumped off the frame and tripped a little. “Where are you taking me?” I started following her down to the trees. 

“Just follow, I promise you’ll like it.” She smiled and so did I. Just then I realized she hasn’t let go of my hand since I jumped out of the window. In fact, she squeezed it from time to  time. 

I went with her up to a small clearing across the creek, we had hung out around there before. The difference is that now there was a blanket on the floor with what seemed to be a telescope on top.

“What is this?” I sat, smiling. “Where’d you get this thing?”

“Oh, this old thing? Joel found it and gave it to me when I was, like, fifteen.” She sat down by my side. “I just remembered it, y’know, when you started tracing the stars on my back and shit…” 

I felt my cheeks getting completely flustered, so I hid my face between my hands. “I am so sorry about that, it was embarrassing as hell.” I sighed and chuckled, throwing my head back.

“It’s not embarrassing, you were just high”, Ellie laughed. “T’was sweet.” Her cheeks started becoming rosy too. I laid back on the blanket. “Hey, c’mere. Let’s check this thing out.” I  scooted closer to her, looking into the telescope and then giving her some space to look too, her shoulder brushing against mine. “Damn, the sky’s always so pretty in Wyoming. It was always smokey back in Boston.” She said, looking amazed. 

“You’re from Boston? “ I asked.

“Born and raised.” She replied.  “You?”

“Nebraska. Never traveled that far.” I chuckled. “Have you ever seen the ocean? “

“ Yeah, sure! Wait… Haven’t you?” I shook my head, she looked surprised.

“Yeah…” I laughed. “Nebraska isn’t really beachy, y’know?”

She laughed, elbowing me softly. “Well, then we gotta take you somewhere that is! Where’d you like to go, miss?” 

I smiled. It was fun pretending like we weren’t trapped here forever sometimes. “Well, I think California must be nice, you know? Maybe Florida. Just don’t think we could get there by horse.” 

She laid back on the blanket, arms above her head, and sighed. “Man, I wish it was easier to find a car that actually works. I could drive ya there, you’d see the beach.” 

I watched as she laid there, the skin under her slightly open flannel chilled by the breeze. I wondered if her chest was freckled too, where did her spots end? I didn’t even realize I was staring, when something slipped my mouth. “Well, actually-” I stopped myself, but it was kinda late, she seemed interested and I couldn’t leave those forest eyes guessing. “My mom, she keeps a car battery hidden. But it’s for desperate situations, a safe way out. But don’t tell anyone I said that!”

Ellie’s hand reached for my nose, booping me like a cat. “Relax, spacegirl. Your secret’s safe with me.” She laughed and I laid on the blanket too. 

The sky was a deep blue, the stars like snowflakes. I thought I saw a beam of light or something, maybe thunder, but soon I realized: it was a shooting star. “Ellie, quick, make a wish!” I closed my eyes. “Aw shit, okay.” She closed hers too, smiling. 

“I wished for my mom to find me new records.” I smiled, “what did you wish for, Els?”

She blushed in the slightest, looking away. “Oh, yeah, I forgot to make one.”

“You’re just lying now.” I laughed. “Come on, you can tell. What would you like right now? A car? A camera? A puppy?” 

I felt her eyes analyzing every single inch of my face and her lips parting, almost involuntarily. “I wish you liked girls.” I felt my heart dropping to my feet, my throat went dry, I stayed silent. She sat up immediately, I did the same. She started putting the telescope away, getting ready to leave. 

“Wait, Ellie, don’t-” I touched her shoulder. “I… don’t like boys, I- Girls… I’ve never tried.” 

I could see her face light back up but she was trying to keep it nonchalant. “Do… you want to?” I swallowed and breathed in deeply as I simply nodded in response. Her face went straight up red, it looked like fire. I think I may have caught her by surprise. 

The girl took her left hand towards my face, tucking away a strand of hair behind my ear. I was almost panting as she got closer to me, our noses touching. My eyes went to her lips, chapped but pink, burnt from the cold. She exhaled into mine as she finally locked them in, her hand now on the side of my neck. Almost as if programmed to, I opened them up for her.

Her mouth was heavenly, her tongue felt like a warm treat. So I kissed her, I kissed like I longed for it for ages, I kissed her like a movie, I kissed her like everyone could watch. I took my hand to her neck, hers climbed its way up to my hair, holding onto it like I’d run away. But I would never, I wish we would stay like this until the end of times. 

Quickly, the simple kiss had turned hungry. I felt like she was going to eat me whole, devour me like a beast and, truthfully, I didn’t even mind, I waited for it, too. I wished for her body so bad that I wouldn’t even mind becoming part of it. It felt like an out-of-body experience how she held me like I was always hers. 

Until I heard a voice coming from beyond the creek. “Els, sorry for interrupting but she should come with me. Quick.” It was Dina, she seemed worried. I followed her, she told Ellie to not come along. 

When we went back to town near my house, I could hear my mom talking to Mike. “Just- gone! I just woke up and she wasn’t there.” Dina stepped closer, “found her!” She smiled, not really knowing what to say. 

Mama took into a tight hug. “Oh my God, you scared me so much!” I could smell the worry in her, or maybe it was just the alcohol. Didn’t take long for her to switch and slightly shake me. “Where the hell were you!?” I froze. 

“I- I was just stargazing, with Dina, you were asleep-” I didn’t have a clue what to say, I am a terrible liar. Always been. 

“Don’t you lie to me! Where were you?!” Her voice became angrier. “You were with that girl again, weren’t you? Joel 's girl? I told you to stay away from her!”

“No, mom, I wasn’t with Ellie, I swear.” My lip was trembling. “I just went for a walk! I thought you were asleep…” 

“Go home. Right now. Go.” She looked so disappointed. My eyes filled with water, I had never seen her like that. Mike tried waving goodbye to me but I was so  distraught that I didn’t even pay attention. I just went straight back home and cried in my room for the rest of the night, sitting on the windowsill. I felt unworthy.

[popculturebuffet]

Ramona's Kitchen

Ramona:(Notices all her teas and what not are on the counter) Scott sweetie.. why Scott: (Obliviously playing Donkey Kong 64 in the living room) Look I know it's not a great game but it has the DK Rap Ramona, the DK Rap. It's a rap but it's about monkey's. Ramona: Not that. Why's all our tea out here? (Opens cabinet to find...) Roxie: (Scrunched into the cabinet having moved a lot of things to the counter. ) Sup Ramona: (Dryest look imaginable) Roxie: Don't tell me your not impressed Ramona: A little but i'm mostly asking what the hell. Roxie: I needed to see how your relationship was going. Make sure he was treating you right, score you on the rebound if he wasn't. Normal friend stuff. Ramona: Roxie you were here yesterday. And last saturday and Roxie: Yes but you KNEW I was coming. I had to make sure he was a good boyfriend when he's NOT expecting me.. and he is. Not every man finds an N64 on the side of the road Ramona. Treasure that. Treasure that. Ramona: Okay look you can't do (Gestures) this. This isn't healthy. And i'm also not sure our cabinet's are well built enough for this. Roxie: You think i'm some ametuer flowers? I checked the limits of your cabinet's last Saturday. I am the cabinet master! Ramona: i'm just saying maybe get out a bit more. Talk to someone who isn't Todd. Won't enable this. Todd:(voice from under the sink) She probably has a point Ramona: (Sighs and opens the cabinet under the sink) Todd: I'm stuck down here. Ramona: .... Kinda proving my point there buddy. Todd: Indeed I am.

[twnj]

Fit like a'day! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Sup!

A'right, mate?

...hello 👋 😊

Welcome to my (mostly) Naruto blog-of-sorts!✨️

I do a bit of drawing and dabble in writing on occasion 🎨✏️📖

Where can you find me?

Mainly here tbh.

Twitter - twnj91

But if you search twnj (or time-waster-no-jutsu) you can pretty much find anything I've done on the net for the last 20yrs (please don't judge me...).

🌟Main fandoms are Naruto, Harry Potter, MCU, DragonBallZ, ATLA (and anything else that takes my fancy) 📖

🌟Main ships are Shikatema, SNS, Shikajin, kakasaku, romione, Vegeta/Bulma, Sokka/Suki- if it's written well, I could be convinced of any ships if I'm honest 😅

Thank you to @cafekitsune for the lovely dividers

✂️ See below the cut for my Artwork masterlist 🫡

🎨Artwork Masterlist (In no particular order)

Grandmaster by notquitejiraiya ♟️❤️

I'm not pretending.

Nah, You're Good.

Dragon

I am not weak- redraw

Taste

Shikadai Birthday headcanon

Shikamaru 18th Birthday

Fucking Hell, you're beautiful

Just being a good Second

Good kid, good man...

Daydreaming

Keep looking at me...

Ruin Me

In the hotel lounge

Crouching Kank

In the hotel lounge Tem POV

By the pool redraw

You don't want to fuck him...

Do something for me

If you say so...

Military Oath - Headcannon

Short back and sides - Headcannon

Reunited in the rain

One stranger however

Somehow, he was here.

Headcannon Shikamaru watching her

Answer machine

Cover of 64

Douche

Teach me something new...

Locked eyes

Look at me - original

I want you to have me...

Draw-ish

Recommendation

Tell me what you do want

Metalhead choji - Headcannon

Why are you sorry?

Time doesn't stand still for the living

That's a horrible this to say...

Nevahööd of them - Headcannon

I am not weak - original

Ice bucket

I have a banner...

I think I just need more sleep, man... - Headcannon

First kiss

Shut the door, Temari... - original

Terrible Second

He's really gone.

Daydreaming - original

Notoriety- then and now

I want that...

Fucking idiot

Go fuck yourself.

She ruin you...

On the metro

...do you enjoy it..?

By the pool - original

In the hotel lounge - original

Bullshit

Naruto 🍃🍥

The Night Sky Passing By - Kintou

Shikamaru Scottish AU - singing

Shikamaru Scottish AU - session

The Huntress - A.N.B.U by Servenna and Sillysnowden11 here

Accidental PDA - Wrong time, Worse place by eeveleon here

Blood and Gold by Majsasaurus

Butch F1 Temari

Trenches - No One Cries for Unknown Soldiers by Majsasaurus here

It's been a long time - No One Cries for Unknown Soldiers by Majsasaurus here

Boruto 🍥🌀

Chromatic Aberration

Guiding- Sway by Clumsydragon28

Neck kiss - Sway by Clumsydragon28

Chocho - Spice Unites by Clumsydragon28

Spices Unite - Headcannon

Olympics - Inojin 100 metre schlong p.1

Olympics - Inojin 100 metre schlong p.2

Olympics - Chocho

He has the hunger...

Tongue piercing Inojin

Getting her nails did.

The Daily Lug blog 🦻

The Audiologist

Other 🤷‍♀️

Katie Morag inspired Scottish Miku

[bramble-mouse]

Kiss Me Goodnight, Not Goodbye

Fandom: Mafia: The Definitive Edition Characters: Borrower OC (Penelope “Spirit” Maymore), Paulie Lombardo Content Warning: Injuries, strong language, alcohol Word Count: 2700 A/N: Another commission of Penelope and Paulie for @64-jungle-planks ! The title is based on another jazz song. 

“Sonavabitch…”

The key turned, held fast by a shaking but stubborn hand. Paulie’s normally coiffed hair was a mess, loose from its boatload of usual pommade. He sported a black eye, a fat, split lip and a bloody nose, not to mention the many other cuts and bruises he’d picked up from today’s job. He and his boys had gotten out of there alive, having gained the upper hand. Those bozos what attacked ‘em were making good friends with the bottom of a lake now, and Paulie’s gun was short of half a dozen bullets. 

Paulie shouldered the door open and limped inside, dropping his hat and his coat on the ground in the entryway. He didn’t even bother with his shoes. He slammed the door shut behind him, locked himself in tight.

What the hell was he gonna say to her- to Spirit? He’d met that little lady half a year ago now at Salieri’s during a solo night watch and aside from popping back to grab a few things, she’d more or less made herself at home. He was aware of the old mouse hole she’d insisted on hauling up in, rather than the night stand he’d offered; there was a stubborn streak on that dame a mile wide that Paulie couldn’t help but like. 

Despite living in close quarters with mobsters for a good month, Penelope hadn’t had time to piece together exactly what the beans who owned the walls she lived in did. No- she’d been too damn busy grabbing their leftovers and surviving life as a rodent-sized person to bother. She’d never asked too much, and Paulie had dodged the question when she did.

“What do you do for a living?”

Paulie swore under his breath and considered going to Spirit’s mouse hole right away. The instinct had grown more immediate over the time he’d known her- and the comfort that little lady brought him after a rough day always took the edge off.

And yet his fuckin’ nerves. She would ask about his bruises, his cuts. Why he smelled like sweat and gunpowder rather than whiskey and tobacco smoke. Paulie’s stomach turned in knots as he wiped dried blood off his upper lip, felt the sting of it cracking inside his nose when his nostrils flared. 

Dark eyes drifted towards an unkempt kitchen. Last night’s pot for pasta and sauce sat in the sink full of murky water. A bottle of half empty whiskey (a rare bit of good stuff from across the pond he’d managed to snag) sat temptingly on the counter next to piled up plates and coffee mugs. He pursed his lips. 

Paulie entered the kitchen, grabbed the bottle and his last clean glass, filled it with ice and poured the amber liquid over. He took a deep swig and felt the sweet smokey burn of it. He liked Scottish whiskeys. They bit harder and made forgetting the hurts from a day all the easier. He lingered with his hand on the neck of the green toned bottle, brushing his thumb along the frosted glass. He could just drink the whole thing. Let everything melt away about those goons kickin’ his ass, make it easier for him to avoid the entire conversation he was about to have with Penelope because there was no damn way he was dodging this now. 

He took a deep breath, felt the anxiety roiling inside of him, coiled in his muscles and ready to spring. He left the bottle on the counter, hobbled out into the living room and collapsed onto the couch with a groan through gritted teeth.

“Paulie?”

That small voice. He thought about how Penelope sounded when she sang, the confidence and sweetness combined into a rich tone he could listen to for hours. Where did such a little woman get off outdoing most of the women his size he’d ever met, anyway? 

“...Jesus Mary n’ Joseph, Paulie!”

She gasped. He noted her presence on the coffee table, staring up the length of his body, her eyes wide with a mixture of concern and anger.

“What happened?”

Paulie let out a humourless chuckle. He raised his glass to his lips and took a swig. He winced when he felt a drop of whiskey get in his split lip.

“Fuck!”

He hissed.

“Just another day in paradise, sweetheart. Don’t I look even more handsome like this?”

Paulie snorted. 

“When are you gonna tell me what the hell has ya comin’ home with cuts and bruises all the damn time?”

Spirit insisted, her arms crossed.

“Ain’t none of your business.”

Paulie spoke curtly. His smile fell. 

“Bullshit! This is the worst shape you’ve been in yet while I’ve been here with you.”

Spirit snapped.

“I wanna know what the hell happened. And you’re gonna tell me this time!”

“I said,”

Paulie grit his teeth. The business of the day well up and his rocks glass went flying across the room, smashing into a wall. 

“It’s none of your fuckin’ business!”

He leaned forward. Paulie looked mean, angry in a way Penelope hadn’t ever seen. A part of her screamed to run, that he would kill her but instincts be damned. Penelope trusted that Paulie would never hurt her. She balled her hands into fists and stood her ground. She stared up at him, locking eyes and bit her tongue. She wanted to shout at him, call him a damn fool and an asshole for speaking to her like that. 

A minute of quiet ensued, human and borrower staring the other down. The clock ticked away. A car on the road outside honked its horn then sped away. The far away muttering of folks passing by on the sidewalk followed the rhythmic tic-tocking of the clock, the words too muffled to mean anything. Finally, Paulie of all people, backed down. His shoulders relaxed and he sat up.

Paulie’s heart sank. He felt like an ass. What had Penelope done to deserve his anger? Plenty of other jokesters at ‘work’ deserved it. They deserved a smack in the kisser, a good strong threat to keep’em in line.

But Penelope? His Spirit? 

He sank back in his chair and buried his head in his hands. There was glass on the floor now and an expensive, age-rated scotch wasted on old wooden floorboards.

“...Look, I...uh...”

Paulie said, his voice rough. He cleared his throat.

“I had a rough day is all. And...maybe I’ll tell ya what I do some day. But ya gotta understand, Spirit, I can’t just…”

“Shut it, Paulie”

Penelope cut him off.

“I’ll be back in a few. You move off this damn couch, you’ll get even more of an earful, got it?”

Paulie frowned and moved his hands from his eyes. Before he could catch a glance of the borrower again, she’d vanished seemingly without a trace. How was she so damn fast, he would never figure it out.

He took a deep breath, felt the anger in him subvert. Instead, he felt a pit of guilt yawn wide in his chest. Apologies were hard for the capo, almost impossible. Paulie rarely gave them to anymore- to anyone. He kicked his shoes off and let them drop onto the area rug, then swung his legs up to lay down on the couch. Paulie folded his hands atop his stomach and stared up at the ceiling. It was white- or had been once about a time. There were cracks that couldn’t be hidden by the fresh coat of paint the landlord had used to cover up the wear on the place when he’d moved it. Paulie didn’t give much of a damn anyhow how banged up his apartment was. This place was his. It had a kitchen, complete with an icebox. He had a bed to sleep in, though he’d always been far better friends with his couch. There was a radio, a telephone, a spot for a couple pictures of his ma, his childhood dogs before things went really sour. 

And now, there was Spirit. How long until he mucked things up with her? Maybe this was the final straw for her- and Paulie wouldn’t blame her one bit. He’d never had a knack for girls and even she was gonna be no exception. 

“Quite mopin’, Paulie..”

Penelope chided.

Paulie nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a tickle on his hand and realized the damn broad was standing on top of him, a bag over her shoulder.

“It’s called ‘broodin’, honey. Kids mope, men brood.”

The corner of Paulie’s lip pulled up into a clumsy smile.

“See, I like that better.”

Penelope countered.

“When you’re smilin’. Now sit still, I’m gonna patch you up.”

Patch him up? Paulie’s brows furrowed. At one time, he might have doubted she could. After watching her traverse his apartment on her own and knowing what a Jack of all trades Penelope was, he figured she could fill in for the good doctor just fine. Paulie nodded and rested his head on a throw pillow.

“Well, get me fixed up real pretty then, doctor.”

He hummed.

Penelope decided to start with his face, where the damage looked the worst. Whoever had done this to Paulie had been intentionally aiming for his head. There was vicious intent in every blow delivered to him. Anger rose again in her, but this time, it was solely reserved for the bastard that’d hurt Paulie. She wished she were bigger, that she could give back what the jerks had given but this was the hand she’d been dealt in life. Instead, Penelope could be better than any drink in the world for Paulie, to help take away that pain for a little while. She wanted it more than anything.

She scaled up across the broad plane of the man’s chest, covered in shirt, tie and vest. Even covered , she felt the power in the body below her. Paulie was strong and that was some comfort to her; the bloody knuckles Paulie sported proved he wasn’t the only one who’d gotten whupped today.

Penelope stopped atop Paulie’s throat. She felt his Adam’s Apple bob nervously below her, and heard his breathing nearly stop. She braced herself against the soft edge of his jaw and felt something hot and tingling shoot through her fingers, all the way to the pit of her stomach. He’d held her, sure. They’d joked around, teased- maybe even flirted a little over the past months. Paulie’s shoulder became her vantage point any time he was home with her. But this position, where she could feel Paulie’s pulse through her feet? She felt so close to him now, closer than Penelope had ever been with another living soul.

.Penelope lingered a moment longer, leaned against Paulie’s stubble pocked chin. She felt her frustrations for Paulie’s secretive nature regarding his work ebb- at least for now. She pulled herself up onto his face and found the first target- that split lip.

When Paulie felt that little hand brush his lower lip, he remained stock still- and felt his insides burst with colour and fire. Had he ever been touched on his mouth so tenderly before? He knew rationally that Penelope was just fixing him up. She would work whatever borrower magic she had to offer, maybe ointment or the world’s tiniest aspirin, and she’d move on.

“Do ya know how worried I was?”

Penelope said.

“Ya...ya have some nerve, waltzin’ in two hours later than ya said ya would, lookin’ like this. I...”

She swallowed. Paulie heard her voice waver. He remained still with her so close to his face like this. His gaze darted down in her direction and for what felt like the first time, he could make out details.

Penelope’s features were conflicted at the moment, frustrated and on the brink of tears, but God, she was so pretty. There was something about those soft, confident features that made his heart sing. Her brown eyes were like cinnamon, set behind her glasses. 

“I’m just glad you ain’t look worse. I...I care too much about you to see you hurt that way.”

Penelope’s words made Paulie tense, then relax. She could feel his frantic pulse as she reached into the bag she’d go to her mouse hole pad for. Inside was a home made paste every borrower learned how to make, the sort to help cuts heal up without infection; infection was always more dangerous than the initial wound for a borrower, a lone one especially.

“Oh, listen how sappy I’m gettin’, over a bean like you.”

“The tables turned now, ain’t they, Spirit?”

Paulie chuckled and spoke, careful not to open his lips much while she worked on them.

“Guess ya finally fell for my charm.”

Penelope remembered how he’d set her shoulder, the way he’d brought her ice and even tried to figure out painkillers for her those first few nights. Paulie had been so damn fretful over every little thing regarding her. How could a man that rough be so kind? Penelope knew better though, that there was no person who was only they appeared on the surface.. Paulie was a jerk who teased her into anger because he thought it was funny. He drank too much, spoke too loud, said stupid things. But he was also so gentle with her, rattled her bones with his laughter, called her pretty, brave and smart. 

“Paulie, I love you.”

She said, and it was as much revelation to her in that moment as it was to the capo she stood on.

Paulie couldn’t speak. Not after hearing those words he thought he’d never hear from a soul ever again. Not after ma. 

He wondered if this was a prank. If Penelope was getting him back for all the time he’d spent poking and prodding and flirting because she was hilarious when he pushed the right buttons.

But instead of saying something stupid, Paulie decided to put his mouth to better use. Those plush lips puckered, and a gentle hand pressed his Spirit’s little body against them. He felt the curves of her form against his body, hidden beneath trousers, suspenders, a comfortable collared shirt. He smelled her spice, something bright like lemons and chili peppers. Penelope leaned in, her body relaxing against Paulie’s mouth. He felt a tickle on his cupid’s bow- a borrower’s kiss back.

The kiss parted and Paulie sat up with a complaint of his stiff, battered body which he summarily ignored. He cupped Penelope in the dip of his hand and kissed her again, a soft brush of his lips against the side of her head. 

The borrower leaned back against the wall of Paulie’s calloused fingers. She reached for his thumb and kissed the tip of it. There was no need to hear the words ‘I love you’ from Paulie now, not before he was ready to find them himself. There was no mistaking the intent from his kiss. 

Spirit finished getting the beaten up bean’s hurts bandaged, stitched and cleaned before she insisted he have something to eat. They shared a dinner of reheated spaghetti (his ma’s recipe for the sauce), listened to a few tunes on the radio, and before Paulie could find the mind to stay up too late, Spirit scolded him into bed.

This time, he didn’t get in alone. The capo turned over under a mound of comforter to turn off the lamp but paused, arm extended. There was Spirit, in a long night shirt, laying on the pillow next to his head. His pupils dilated, his lips parting. Penelope smiled, scooted a bit closer. The neckline of her night shirt dipped down low with the first few top buttons undone, and Paulie could make out the suggestion of her breasts. He wondered how soft they were. Maybe he’d have to test that theory out quickly…

“Lights out, buster.”

Penelope arched a brow, as if she’d read his mind- or maybe she’d just noticed where Paulie was staring. 

Paulie chuckled. How on earth had he gotten this lucky? He flicked the switch on his bedside lamp and rested his hand at Penelope’s back, his thumb gently stroking her side. He buried the tip of his nose into her torso, smiling wide as the light from the streetlamp cast in slits across the bed through the blinds.

“Yes ma’am.”