#why is there a floating guy with a green dog?

[skylersprompts]

DC x DP Prompt *16*

After he got crowned, Danny started to clean up in the Ghost Zone. One thing he found was an empty lair. An elegant room full of books with a fireplace and comfy armchairs. A ghost was tied to this place, but he never saw them. But he still could feel that the lair was tied to someone, what meant that the ghost didn't end to exist.

It took some time, but Danny was able to follow the bond from the lair to the ghost. He found himself back in the mortal realm and his first thought was that the ghost got somehow stuck here.

So the plan was to find him and bring him back to the zone. Except as soon as Danny made the plan, he should have known that nothing ever goes according to plan for him.

The bond lead him to a young man with black hair that had a white stripe in it. And the man was very much alive, but also didn't seem to be possessed. But he also absolutely felt like the lair.

Invisible Danny followed the guy around and he found out quite a few things.

His name was Jason Peter Todd.

He lives in Gotham.

He is the vigilante/crime lord Red Hood.

He came back from the dead as a revenant.

He got dipped into some corrupted ectoplasm.

He had sever anger issues because of that.

So... Danny made another plan. Jazz had told him about emotional support dogs, because she liked to work with them. And Danny was pretty sure that it shouldn't be to hard to train a ghost dog to do all of this.

It was a nightmare to train Cujo, but after almost six month he was positive that it would work. He took Cujo with him to Gotham and waited till he had a moment where he got Red Hood alone.

The first thing that happened after he made himself visible but not tangible, was that Hood shot him. Like, rude. But because of that he was here.

"Hello. My name is High King Phantom of the Infinite Realms and I am here to give you your prescribed emotional support ghost Dog. His name is Cujo!"

[snaileer]

Dare to Live (Part 2/2)

DPxDC Part 1

It all started with a dare really. You’d think, after all these years, after having done at least a /bit/ of growing up, Danny would be able to refuse a dare from his best friend.

But here he was, about to drop through a mystic portal with full intentions to make Tucker eat his words.

And Sam too, for agreeing!

“Come on Danny, times a ticking, sands a wasting.” Tucker said in a sing song voice, floating behind the portal lazily.

“Yeah, Danny, we didn’t spend two days finding the perfect dimension just for you to chicken out,” Sam said, laying on her back in the air and pretending to inspect her nails.

Danny felt his eye twitch.

“I told you, Sam, he couldn’t be mysterious and mystical if he tried, even under pain of a double. Dog. Dare.” Tucker emphasized.

Danny whipped his head around, staring his best friend in the eyes, “You really think so Tucker? A double dog dare?”

Tucker smirked, leaning back with his arms crossed and a smug look, “I know so.”

“Then prepare to eat Lunch Lady’s hairnet, Tuck, you’re on!” Danny grinned and shot backwards through the portal.

He relished the way Tuckers face went green as he passed through. Well, greener.

Danny turned invisible the moment he felt the resistance of a dimensional barrier go past him, and boy was that the right decision, the whole place was in chaos.

Danny floated invisibly in the sky with a puzzled look on his face. Was that guy… flying? What in the-?

A laser beam passed through him, making Danny look down to see he was intangible, but why? Could he be tangible again? He focused, and yep, there he was, tangible and visible- visible?! Danny lost focus and disappeared again.

Hmm, okay so looks like his default state here is invisible and intangible but like even more so than back home, interesting.

Danny looked back at where the laser came from, surprised to see an entire ship behind him. And not like a pirate ship, oh no, not even a cruise liner, a big, bony looking alien ship.

Danny wanted to squeal! Aliens! This realm had aliens!

Calm down Danny, remember the dare, mysterious, mystical, think, what gives off big mystical vibes?

Ok, first off, royalty. Danny summoned his crown, ring, sword, and cape, ok good but what else?

Eldritch maybe?

Okay he’s already got fangs, and blue skin, he could probably let his hair be a little more free floaty, and he’s already a full grown adult with shoulders like his dad, that should be enough right?

Another laser shot through him.

Rude!

He looked back, surprised to see a group of people aiming weapons at the big alien ship. He looked closer.

Was the… was the alien ship trying to… to crush this city?

Were these…. bad aliens?

Noooooo, that meant he had to stop them! But he likes aliens!

Danny reluctantly reared up to punch the big ship, pausing when he saw how the other flying people were struggling against it.

Oh Idea?

Super-strength? Now there was mysterious and mystical.

He smirked, oh he had the perfect entrance!

Thank youuu Kingly strength.

Danny positioned himself in front above the ship then created a double actually touching the ship.

He let himself appear, keeping his double invisible as he held out a hand and then swiped it down, using the double to push the ship into the ground.

Luckily, as Danny had just noticed, the ship seemed to be floating just outside the main city area and most everything below it was already destroyed.

Err, well, it certainly was now.

He fought the urge to wince. Mystical powerful beings in the sky don’t wince, Danny.

Still, he looked around at all the destruction. He hadn’t been back in a human realm since his own life, and the destruction had been common place then too, in his own hometown at least.

This was… worse, much worse. He really had to hold back a grimace as he saw a couple ghosts start forming on the edges, he could feel that they were feeding off of his own ambient ectoplasm.

Yikes okay, maybe giving a source of brand new ectoplasm at the sight of a disaster was not the best idea but… he could fix this!

Danny held out his arms, calling the newly formed ghosts to him, letting them use him as a portal to the Zone.

And then he very quickly locked up his aura from releasing more. No one saw that right?

He stood there floating for a minute before he saw the blue and red flying man begin to approach him.

He smirked again, aw yeah time to see if it worked!

Danny lowered himself marginally to meet the man in the middle.

“I am Superman,” Weird name but okay, “Protector of Earth. Thank you for helping us. But…” Superman looked hesitant, “Who are you?”

Aw crap, okay think Danny, big dramatic name, do NOT blurt out your real one. Double dog dare, come on think of something, anything, you have been staring for way too long-

“I am High King Phantom of the Infinite Realms of the Eighth Dimension; The Great One, Feller of the Tyrant Pariah Dark, Tamer of Vortex, Conquerer of My Future Now Past, Keeper of Death and Life, Wielder of the Ring of Rage, Bearer of the Crown of Fire and The One True Balance.” Danny blinked slowly, hoping that was ‘mystical’ enough for Sam because ancients he was really running out of coronation titles there.

“You are well met Superman, Protector of… Earth.”

Hang on. Earth? He was on Earth? Not his Earth but really this was Earth? With Aliens?

He wanted this to be his Earth, dang it why did he have to get the boring ghost invested one?!!

The man looked like he wanted to back up by about thirty steps so.. it worked?

“And.. Your Majesty is here because…?”

Danny stopped his gentle float.

Uhhh. Uhh. Okay good reason, think of a good reason to be here. Visiting? No that’s dumb, it’s not a zoo. Uhh, curious, no that’s not mysterious enough! Okay mysterious, mysterious, think mysterious. OooOooooOo, MysTeRIouSssss.

Who does he know that’d be mysterious enough to pull this off?

…

Clockwork!

Okay, what would Clockwork say? Uhhhh

“You will find out all in due time, Superman of Earth,” Was that good? No that sounded threatening, “But for now, I am here simply to observe.” That was better right? Okay leave before he asks more questions.

Danny floated down to where the other colorfully dressed people stood in a semi-circle.

Well colorful and one in all black.

“Superman, who is this?” The one in all black said with a glare as he stepped forward.

Danny opened his mouth to recite the titles again, points for mystical-ness, when he was cut off.

“Batman, this is King Phantom of the Eighth dimension, he’s… visiting?”

‘Batman’ raised an eyebrow under his cowl, “Eighth dimension, is that at all related to your troubles with a certain fifth dimensional imp?”

Now Danny felt justified in being at least a little offended, “Watch your tongue, Man of Bats,” that was a sufficiently mystical naming right?, “Accuse me of being a fifth dimensional pest again and we shall see how long you last in no dimensions at all,” Danny paused, “Mortal.”

Ha, in your face Tucker, he was so good at this!

Tag list:

@blep-23 @theblackcatscratchpost @fylylowo @coruscateselene @breesperez139 @kataaitheskittle

[pansexualkiba]

"Tsuyu-chan?" Ashido wondered. "What's happening?" Asui turned to Ashido from where she was floating a foot off the ground, coated in a roiling aura of shadow. Her eyes had turned red, and her hair was now no longer green-black, but black-green.

"I'm evil now. Kero." Asui replied completely normally. Her voice echoed upon itself, folding in the voices of Asuis past and present.

"Why?" Ashido asked.

"I was offered some garlic bread from a voice beyond the realms." Asui dismissively waved a hand. "It happens sometimes."

"Hey guys!" Midoriya greeted the room. "Sorry I'm late, someone tied a dog to the train tr-" He froze.

Asui stared back at Midoriya.

Midoriya began to blush furiously.

"What." Asui deadpanned.

"H-Hiiiii, Tsuyu..." Midoriya wheezed. He leaned towards Ashido. "Woooow, is Tsuyu evil now?" He swooned.

"Midoriya-chan." Asui said. "Be for fucking real right now."

"THAT'S WHAT IT TAKES?!" Bakugou screamed. "IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME!"

"I can't believe this shit." Shinsou huffed. "I spend my whole life trying not to be seen as evil and the minute I want to bag a guy I need to do the EXACT OPPOSITE?!"

[katsona-the-katsequel]

Persona Dashboard Simulator

🧮 gwenfenrir Follow

721 notes

🐃 feathered-umbrella -deactivated202383

polls that would have broken the featherdom in the 80s

💿 wanderlust67 Follow

This is Green Parakeet erasure

🥟 blackcondorfucker Follow

do Parakeet fans don't know how to fucking read???

1,342 notes

👽 rubleng Follow

I dreamed I was in a church. But it was a floating church in space. The Phantom of the Opera was there too (never seen the movie/musical?) and he asked me about my name like a fucking kindergarten teacher. I think my dream self thought this was a Death Note episode??? Because I said smth like "Nah, no cuffs for your homosexual ass" or some shit like that. Idk I wrote this as soon as I woke up cause it seemed like something my audience would like.

👽 rubleng Follow

What the fuck is everyone in the notes talking about? OH MY GOD DID I TALK TO GOD??? GUYS???

13,819 notes

🧅 bloodfromsky Follow

My grandparents are from Inaba. The fact that not even 5 years have passed before some Hollywood exec decided to capitalize on the murders and their trauma? Honestly, fuck everyone.

🎠 cut-chaos Follow

i mean, we ARE talking about the same industry that made movies gloryfying the Zodiac Killer, JOKER and Ted Bundy y'know

5,477 notes

🛕 outreal Follow

I swear Sumaru isn't even a real place anymore

216 notes

🧊 mustardice -deactivated201051

I swear i'm not making any of this up. This isn't a creepypasta or anything like thag. Last night my phone turned off in the middle of the night. Ofc i panicked and tried to turn on the light but it didn't turn on. So i'm thinking that maybe the power is ojt and go check outside but everything was green. As if there was a green light or something. And then i noticed there was a fuckgin coffin in the middle of the street. Just floating tjeew. I know my horror movies so i just go back inside and watch it from my window. I'm fucking terrified. But then everything goes back to normal and i swear the coffin turned into a person walking their dog. My lights worked again and everuhting. I'm fucking scared and i don't know what to do cause i know it was real i lived it. Idk

☯️ shellsunflower Follow

And everyone clapped.

🐨 wandering-traveler Follow

Imao the Kirijo Group got them

🦥 lawfulinsane Follow

Ok, but do vampires walk their dogs at 12 o'clock? Asking the important questions 🤔

8,972 notes

🚝 freemiumango Follow

Risette this, Kanamin Kitchen that. Why are y'all always pitting bad bitches against each other?

3,887 notes

🐂 day-paladin Follow

Just found this blurry ass picture in my gallery??? Apparently I took it on Christmas Eve. I feel like I'm tripping

572 notes

[jogos-delulu-wife]

what about jealous Jogo...? thoughts?..

Ooooo i like it let me shine a little light on my fantasies here

Let’s just say there’s kind of a pre-established relationship but it’s not official yet

Jealous Jogo is a menace, not like a kid running up and blowing raspberries and glaring at your guy friend that you brought home to study but more in a “I’ll just have to show MY human why this guy shouldn’t even be here 😒 insolent humans think they know what’s best heh” *causes pipe in hand to over heat* “HEY KID COMEHERE I wanna see how well you can handle yourself in a fight”

Of course the new guy Geto recruited who seemed a bit to eager to show off jumped on it, you watched with a look a sympathy shaking your head, you looked over at Jogo who seemed more focused, you were smiling how he tucked his pipe away resting his cane against the chair he just jumped out of

it didn’t take long for Mahito and Hanami to gather and watch the fight, you had long ran away into the ocean clinging to Dagon to avoid all the fire and lava attacks, Dagon was just floating in the same spot both of bobbing up and down in the light waves, Mahito’s cheers were heard and Hanami was watching intently, soon Choso and Geto showed up

Right when Jogo placed his hand on the boys stomach, it was over, you watched the kid get roasted and cringed at the smelling of burning flesh and hair before Mahito cheered with a sadistic laugh saying he wanted to fight next

Geto sighed pinching the bridge of his nose and you moved in closer going to do your job, it didn’t take long for you to fix up the boy with your reversed curse technique, he was up and touching his face and chest not believing how he had almost died the bot started to hug you rambling about how he almost dies and he’s so thankful you saved him how if there’s anything ANYTHING he can do to repay just let him know,

Briefly locking eyes with Jogo you pushed the kid off “Thanks but it’s literally my job your not the first person I’ve had to help and you won’t be the last, please let go

You trailed after Jogo when he left all broody sitting in his chair with his pipe, you huffed out a smile hugging his shoulder from behind, he had taken a bit of damage so there you stood resting your cheek against his head and your hands lightly touching his chest, the green light emitted from your hands started to heal him as he puffed on his smoke you kissed his cheek feeling how hot his skin was burning and he looked away trying to hide the slight pout🥺

It’s a long week of Jogo watching this sorcerer boy chat you up, and touch you so casually, he got tired of being passive and became passive aggrESSIVE

He was by your side- squinting at this wanna be lover boy, one day you decided you wanted to grill out, mostly because you’d been craving a burger and didn’t exactly wanna pay all the extra money for just one burger and fries when everyone-Geto- could pay and you could get your fill of Hot Dogs, Burgers, Chips, sides and drinks, so after pestering Geto long enough he sighed handing over a small black silky coin purse with the fun little kiss lock clasp you pop open and closed. You thanked him and rushed to drag Jogo with you being stopped when Loverboy asked if he could with you, Jogo locked eye contact with you over lover boy’s shoulder, smiling at Jogo “i was just going to make a quick trip with Jogo to the store and back, i doubt you wanna- please? I’d really just like to spend time out.”

Jogo standing in the middle of the 3 of you- puffing smoke out like a train to obscure the boys view, making the summer heat just a little more unbearable as you all walked to a small grocery shop finally inside the AC you set out to find everything, your fingers always brushing and lightly taking hold of Jogo’s hand, to some people it looked like you were quietly talking to yourself, but honestly you were having a hushed conversation with Jogo who only spoke so often being occupied with making sure there was no space for Loverboy to talk or get close

Getting back home and starting up a grill Jogo was right beside you, and loverboy still hasn’t gotten the hit, and as ridiculous as it sounds every time he tried to touch, does touch, or for some reason has a hand on you Jogo just smack it off. “Watch it brat.” “Tch pathetic humans and their small brains always driven by lust.” “Heh, try it again and I’ll make sure reversed cursed techniques won’t help you��

“Jogo,” you finally looked over at him after stuffing your face with your burger “you never asked me to be your spouse so~” you shouldered Jogo a bit “If you don’t start asking I might get snatched up soon.” You were joking about being snatched up but serious about the asking, maybe if he gave you a reason to say “NO, I have a boyfriend.” It would scare off loverboy faster than anything really, plus you were tired of him asking “Why is Mount Fuji so mad? He missed his old man nap or something?” Every time Jogo would cockblock him. Jogo rolled his eye and huffed mumbling something you didn’t hear as you bit into your burger again

Night time came and the night got chilly, ocean breeze was colder than normal, the starry sky seemed almost to perfect. You watched as Dagon sat in the send his chubby little body taking up the heat left in the sand, wanting to do the same, you sat in the sand next to him burying your toes and leaning over onto him, he smelt like ocean breeze with a little bit of salty winds. He made a sound and his eyes lifted to look at you, you smiled at him and he closed his eyes.

Jogo was watching from far away, everything was fine everything WAS perfect until HE showed up, you eyed the new guy who was smiling and staring at you from the table where Kenjaku, Mahito, Hanami the new guy himself were playing some table game. Jogo’s little eruption went by unnoticed as he lost his last bit of patience.

Standing up and walking over to you he pulled you up and then in for a kiss-

Your eyes wide before you smiled against his lips taking his face in your hands kissing him back, Mahito’s chatter could be heard but not understood, opening an eyes to look in their direction you saw loverboys shocked face, finally you pulled away from Jogo and rested your head on his, “You still haven’t asked me anything Jogo~”

Draping his shawl over Dagon he dragged you with him to his Beach chair sitting down and you followed sitting between his legs your back against his chest, looking up over your shoulder at him. “S-No.” he stopped you quick.

Jogo’s arms hesitantly wrapped around your waist, his chin resting on your shoulder, you were enjoying his body heat, how it radiated off of him in a comforting manner.

“Y/n,” he whispered close to your ear.

“Yeah?”

He let out a frustrated sound, and you giggled, “True human having a bit of trouble self expressing hm?

It didn’t take long for Jogo to finally ask “Will you be my significant other?”

Looking at him, his eye was diverted, the purple blush on his face was warm, and you smiled straining up to kiss him “I’d love too”

🩶🩶🧡❤️🧡🩶🩶🧡❤️🧡🩶🩶🧡❤️🧡🩶🩶

Yyyaaayyyy I’m healthy again and getting back into it 🎉

Jogo Fans!!

Assemble!

[kimpossibly]

🪐 ; planet: send me this emoji + a character on my writing list + any word of your choosing and i'll write you a ficlet using the word as a prompt!

cats + wednesday addams !

WEDNESDAY ADDAMS + CATS

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hi hi hi this is so cute!! I'm not a cat person in the slightest (I'm one hundo percent a dog person tbh) but I can soooo imagine Wednesday having a black cat. I didn't know if you wanted me to add romance into it so I just tried to keep it plain simple, just using the prompts! I'm so sorry this took me so long to get to, I had some family emergencies come up really recently and so I haven't had much time to really sit down and work on anything other than school or family stuff. Hope you enjoy and thank you my love for the ask!

PAIRING: wednesday addams x gn!reader WARNINGS: cats (?? idk if that's a needed warning but I figured I'd list it anyway haha)

Wednesday didn't take in strays. She was usually too busy with her own endeavors to really have time for them — you were the exception of course. But she liked having you around, and that made all the distance. So when the black cat appeared on her doorstep, staring up at her with big green eyes, she didn't need to think twice.

"Shoo. Go," she said monotonously, staring at the creature with disdain. When it refused to move, she made a shooing motion with her hands. "I said leave."

You appeared around the corner, your face twisted in a frown. "Who are you talking to?"

Wednesday stepped aside to reveal the cat on your doorstep and, to her surprise, you broke out into a massive grin. "Aw, look at the little guy!" you swooned, running over to pet the cat. It appeared friendly, nuzzling into your palm. "I wonder if he's lost?"

You searched for a collar, but none was found. "He might've run away," you suggested.

And Wednesday, who saw a new problem arising, was quick to shut you down. "He can find his way home. Leave him be."

A sudden crack of thunder rattled the window panes as the first drizzle of rain began to dot the sidewalk outside. The cat looked around at the worsening weather, then back at you, its wide eyes frightened. You looked up at Wednesday with a matching expression, your own eyes pleading her to let the cat stay. She let out an almost imperceptible sigh, then nodded for you to bring the cat in.

You smiled at her as you scooped the cat up, bringing him inside. Within a few hours the cat had been bathed, fed, and given a place to sleep. All the while you'd led him around the house, giving him a tour (as Wednesday watched, fuming, from the side). You'd murmur "Here, kitty," you coax him to room after room, speaking to him like he could understand you perfectly.

After a while you walked about the house, holding the cat in your arms like it was a baby. It seemed to enjoy this time of treatment as it pawed at your hair and clothes and nuzzled its head into the crook of your neck.

"I feel like we should give him a name in the meantime," you mused aloud, "so that we don't have to keep calling him kitty. I get the sense that he doesn't like it."

"Perhaps we should let it go, then." Wednesday said, suddenly appearing in the doorway. "Wouldn't want to wound its pride."

You ignored her, suddenly having a bright idea. "Why don't you give him a name, Wednesday? Just one that we can use before we go out and find his owners tomorrow."

Wednesday kept her stoic glare forward, causing you to pout. "Come on, look at this little face!" you said, turning the cat toward her and squishing its small cheeks. "This is the face of a cat that wants to be properly addressed."

Wednesday did not want pets. But she couldn't resist you.

"Poe," Wednesday said finally. "After Edgar Allen Poe."

You grinned at her. "I think it suits him."

You floated away then, Poe in hand, to introduce him to Thing. The two did not get along at first, with Thing being slightly afraid, slightly jealous. But, within minutes, Poe was chasing him around, playing a lighthearted game of tag. Wednesday watched as you sat on the floor, playing referee to the game, smiling all the while. She crossed her arms over her chest, determined not to enjoy the sight, but even she had to admit — the cat was kind of cute. Or maybe it was how much you liked the cat that was cute.

The next day, you went out about the neighborhood, knocking on doors, asking around, and putting up flyers that Thing had helped you make. No one claimed the cat, and no one rang your line to claim him. You had to negotiate with Wednesday to let Poe stay another day. Then another, and then another. No one asked after the cat.

Four days later you were on the couch, reading and drinking coffee, the cat curled into your side. Wednesday came and sat next to you, eyeing the cat carefully. "They've been known to eat their owners after they die," she said.

"That's only if they're starving," you replied without a beat. "Dogs could do the same thing. Or humans."

"Don't get so morbid with me — I'm not in the mood for romance." she said.

Poe suddenly stood, crawling away from his perch next to you and found his next interest in Wednesday, brushing his cheek against her black sweater. She looked down at him with disdain. "This won't work out for you."

You just chuckled to yourself. "You're communicating with him. It's the first step."

Wednesday looked up, alarmed. "First step to what?"

You just got up to refill your coffee mug, humming as you did so.

The days dragged on and Poe became a fixture in yours and Wednesday's house. More than once you had woken up to find him curled at the foot of your bed, purring softly as he slept.

And Wednesday was, against her own will, warming up to Poe. You'd catch her mindlessly petting his head when she thought you weren't looking. She'd even slip him treats secretly just to gain his favor.

Within a week, you were nearly convinced that Wednesday loved Poe just as much as you did. So you had to put it to the test.

One day you walked into the living room, where Wednesday was sat writing her novel, Poe curled at her feet. You sighed sadly. "Wednesday, I've been thinking, and you're right — we can't take care of a pet. I think it's time we take Poe to a shelter, don't you think?"

Wednesday turned, eyes wide. You blinked. "Do you disagree?"

Wordlessly, Wednesday bent down and scooped Poe up, holding him tightly to her chest. "He stays."

You just smiled in satisfaction, nodding once. You sat down next to her, petting Poe softly. "How could I have seen that coming?"

[the-evil-lovable-simp]

Phantom love

Luigi x ghost reader

Part 1

You were sat on your bed, of your secret room. Unlike many of the ghosts that were here now, because of King Boo, you were one of the ghosts that were already here. You kept your bedroom a secret, so no one would intrude. Suddenly you heard a noise, you looked out your window to investigate, to then see that a pink coach had parked in front of the hotel. This is a shock to you, living people shouldn't come here. you turned yourself invisible and seeped through the floor, you immediately saw a man in red with blue overalls with a matching red hat and a princess in pink, and then you looked over to a group of three creatures you had never seen before, trying their best to sort out pink luggage. But then your attention was snapped back to the door as another walked into the room. The man had poked his head in, he was wearing the same outfit as the red guy but green. He looked a bit nervous at first.

"oh.." he said lightly.

"Oh!" he said realising there was no threat, little did he know this whole place was one big threat. He smiled then laughed and walked in more.

"Oh, yeah!" he said before a dog barged in. This surprised you even more, what the heck was going on? But before you could think about that any further, confetti exploded everywhere. You floated down to inspect what was going on. You noticed something in the corner of your eye, the green man's dog had walked up to you, it didn't bark, which surprised you until you noticed it was a ghost dog. You waved to it and it started jumping up and down, this, catching the attention of the green man.

"What is it, puppy?" He asked walking over and crouching. The dog looked back at you, making him look at you too. He looked visibly confused because, to him, nothing was there. He continued to look and you felt beating in your chest, it was pulsating through your entire body.

"Ehem, are you ready to check in!?" the man at the desk but in.

"Oh, um, yes! Thank you!" The green man said looking away from you. Then everyone's attention was on the lady at the top of the stairs, you knew her she was the owner of this hotel. You watched as the man didn't even check them in. You were brought out of your suspicions when you heard someone sneeze, and you instinctively said,

"Bless you,". This caught the attention of the six guests. The red man looked around before saying,

"Did you-a hear something?" The green one looked at the red one and said,

"Y-y-yes," He looked around, a bit spooked. The hotel owner, you know as Hellen Gravely, turned around a bit miffed off.

"I didn't hear anything, I'm sure it was nothing!" she said sternly as she turned and they all followed her, as did you. She stopped at an elevator, you watched them pile in. Then Hellen walked in and placed herself at the front, her face twisted into an evil grin, and you rushed to squeeze yourself into the elevator as well. The dog was staring at you again, and you started to feel uncomfortable. Due to this, the lights started flickering, making the green man start to quiver. The light bulbs exploded, and everyone shrieked. But then the door slowly but finally opened.

Everyone rushed out, and you slowly followed. You didn't notice everyone else stop, and continued. You went straight through the pink lady, making her gasp. Everyone looked at her.

"Heh, just got a shiver up my spine," she said awkwardly, Hellen scoffed.

"Mario, Luigi and Peech's rooms are over here," She spoke with an annoyed undertone. 'Mario, Luigi and Peach, ay?' you thought, 'that must be why their hats have those letters on them, a bit self-centred but, eh. And that must leave the woman in pink to be Peach'.

"We've prepared rooms for you Toads as well!" She continued. 'oooooh, that's what those mushroom people are' you said in your head.

"I hope you enjoy your stay! I daresay you'll remember it for the rest of your lives!" She added before laughing. You watch them disperse, before she waved them off and laughed some more. You floated down the corridor, watching them say goodbye to each other. You went into...Peach's room first and saw her unpacking a tea set. You drank out of the cup while her back was turned. You went to the wall and heard you say,

"I swear I filled that cup," you giggle and phase through the wall to see what you thought was Mario, eating pizza on his bed. You laughed and poked your head into the next wall to see Luigi getting onto his bed, which he looked way too small for, with a 'heyah' sound. You phased fully through and watched him grab his luggage with an 'ooh' he then opened it with a noise of approval. This man's mannerisms were so adorable to you. He then pulled out a book and a torch, he flashed it on and off. 'Better stay away from that thing' you thought, making a mental note.

You then watched him crawl to the top of the bed. His dog joined him as he opened his book and immediately fell asleep. You stifled a laugh but then didn't fail to notice his dog staring at you again. You went up to it and read its collar, Polterpup, you rolled your eyes. You stroked the pup, its tail started wagging. Luigi started to stir so you flew away, through the roof. You went back to your hidden room to rest, even though you didn't need it.

Guys there’s also a part 2, Tumblr has just censored it for some reason🤷

[prismaticpichu]

Concept: experimental modified time materia brought out in sparring malfunctions somehow and now Zack and the Banora duo have a lil Sephling on their hands

LITTLE SEPH!!!!!! <333 Ahhhh this is glorious!!!

I would love to write this out some day dhdhdhd! I don’t have the full energy rn, but bc it’s such a phenomenal idea, I will try my best with one of my good ol’ fic/synopsis hybrids!

For a long while, everyone just stares, three mouths agape and three eyes struck with lightning. One minute they’re sparring, four swords going at it in at blazing speed. And the next—

“WHAT DID YOU DO, PUPPY?!” Genesis roars, whirling around to face the absolutetively befuddled Zack. See?This is why they don’t invite him to their TRAINING SESSIONS. The squirt was a walking heartbeat of destruction, pop songs, and comically large slip-ups. Nothing good ever happened when he was around.

“Don’t look at me!” Zack tries to defend himself. “All I did was cast Stop!”

Angeal gives a slow, incredulous blink, molasses on his lashes. “You stopped him alright.”

Meanwhile, at their feet, a 3yo Demon of Wutai cocks his head, sitting on his butt, his clothes and armor having conveniently shrunk to fit the size of his regression. Not Masamune though. That thing is abandoned on the floor, unaffected and forgotten.

“…Doc’ors?” Sephiroth blinks, his catlike eyes wide and round and sponging up most of the green in his eyes, his quicksilver hair gushing all the way down to his lap. Who are these people? They’re tall. And big. They aren’t wearing white coats either. One looks strong. One looks like he’s ready to explode. One of their heads’ looks like a mop.

Upon hearing him speak, hearing him squeak in his little Seph voice, Zack’s heart completely melts; all his bafflement and paranoia and most likely sense of reality is zapped away as he scoops up the little guy, raising him high in the air Simba-style.

“Ohhh look at you! You’re like a little doll! in ShinRa wear, Seph! Look at those eyes! Those pauldrons! Boop!”

Angeal and Genesis proceed to watch in deadlike silence as Zack boops the little guy’s nose, raising him up and down and up and down and upsy daisy and downsy daffodil. Seph is frozen at first, these gestures completely and utterly alien… but it’s not long before he’s clapping his hands and little giggles are bubbling from his throat. He likes mop head!

“Would you cut that out?!” Genesis roars suddenly—loud enough to startle the poor baby Seph, consequently causing him to start crying in the puppy’s arms. Zack’s face immediately hardens as he hugs Seph close, and now it’s his turn to whirl around in disapproval. Yeah, GENESIS.

“Hey! Be gentle with him!” Zack scolds, little Seph clutching at the fabric of his collar.

“That is Sephiroth, you nimrod! Do you not see the issue here?”

“The issue is that you’re scaring him!”

“He’s… SEPHIROTH.”

Angeal is wondering where the nearest retail shop is hiring.

~

After some intelligent discussion, baby Seph is brought back to Angeal’s place—just for the time being. And here’s where the fun starts! Everyone needs to chip in! Sephiroth is thirsty, first things first, having been plopped on the couch next to Zack. Zack is scrolling through the educational TV channels as Angeal fishes out a water bottle out from the fridge, walking it over—

“What’s that?”

Angeal stops in his tracks, blinking in surprise. “It’s water,” he explains—how is he supposed to talk to his friend? Like a preschool teacher? Like a therapist?

Seph’s confusion doesn’t fade. “Hojo always give me water in bowl.”

Zack pauses on Blue’s Clues.

…Excuse him?

Seph proceeds to explain that Hojo always gives him water—and, and food—in a little bowl that sounds suspiciously similar to a dog bowl. Angeal is dumbfounded, having to move Seph’s hands to hold the water bottle right while Genesis throws some untasty swears out there (covering his ears ofc). Zack, meanwhile, is floating somewhere between anger and an ache he can’t even pinpoint. All he knows is that he’s suddenly hugging Seph close, squishing his doll-sized leather jacket against his chest. That wasn’t cool, glasses man >:(

~

Following water break is play time! Zack whips out some crayons and paper to doodle with Seph while Angeal and Genesis prepare dinner—on a plate, thank you. Zack goes on to doodle some very nice pictures~ a giraffe, a river, a flamingo. He’s laughing and telling jokes with baby Seph, casually glancing over after a while to see—

“Uh, bud… what’s that?”

Seph doodled what can only be described as a pile of spaghetti—spaghetti that’s green, and has a face, and is dripping slime, and that has a bloody splotch for one of its eyes.

“I see her in dreams sometimes,” Seph says then, surprisingly blanched of emotion. “She visits me.”

Aight! Art time’s over!

~

“SEPHIROTH! GIVE ME BACK MY BOOK!”

No one could have predicted the Zoomies.

It was all going so smoothly…! Seph was pajama-ed, he had his teeth brushed, he was all snug and toasty and ready for bed—!

And he had Genesis’ favorite copy of Loveless. And zipping around the apartment at Mach 5 speed. And bouncing from furniture to furniture. And singing the Blue’s Clues song.

“C’mon, Seph…” Genesis finally corners him, bringing down his voice. “Give it back to your old buddy Genesis.”

“Okie!” Seph chirps, and proceeds to chuck the book with all his prodigious strength, hitting Genesis square in the nose. Bingo! He scored a touchdown!

“Nice shot!” Zack calls from across the room.

~

It’s bedtime! Angeal and Genesis collapse from exhaustion, Seph settled on the couch with a pillow and blankie. Zack takes an air mattress beside him, having even lent his favorite dragon plushie to the little bean to sleep. He loves it! All is well, the apartment falls silent, the craziness of the day and all its sci-fi stupidity fading away into a blessed oasis of peace.

Until the sobbing starts.

The sound is low, dim, stifled… a broken song that is being cracked between Sephiroth’s lips. Zack stirs immediately, shaking the little Seph awake and propping him up. Seph’s eyes are streaked with tears, glistening with beads of Mako-blue as Zack delicately gazes at him. His heart pretzels.

“What’s wrong, little bud…?”

Seph snivels, wiping his tears on Muffin the dragon. “I see her. She’s here. She says I should hurt you. Hurt two guys too.” His sobs break into something louder, splintering, and Zack can’t take it a moment longer; he settles himself on the couch and brings little Seph close, cocooning his arms around him, swaddling him, letting him cry into his chest. He doesn’t move, not an inch. Not even as Seph’s sobs slowly ebb and a faint snore replaces them.

Eventually, the warmth bubbled against him, breathing into him in calm, slow zephyrs, Zack closes his eyes and falls asleep.

~

Thankfully, in this case, time materia is temporary! Woooo! It’s very strange when Sephiroth wakes up in Zack’s arms, wearing onesie pajamas and holding a plushie. Very strange indeed.

“Oh…” Zack pulls back, coral flaring on his cheeks. “Hi Sephiroth!”

Sephiroth doesn’t say a word. He just glances down, absorbing the floofy sleepwear, his expression steely as a block of steel.

“Seph—“

“Don’t.” Sephiroth says, straightening, and steps over his sleeping best friends as he makes his way to the door.

[blackbutlerfandomnerddomain]

Day 3 (September 25) - Marriage/First Date

Misty fogs fill the air as a white gown wisp and flutter across the plane of shadows and icey cold air as a beautiful woman stomps around the halls of her large castle. “UGH! I hate this!” She shouted out, many flowers bursting into flames at her wake, her high heels stomping rather harshly on the red velvet rug under her. “Why did Eliza get married before me!? I’m obviously prettier and better than her! Her own wedding itself was even a disaster yet people still talk about how perfect it was!” She growls, her dark locks going unkempt from her loose braid over her shoulder as she floats up the stair steps to save the trip of actually walking up them until she made it to the castle ballroom in an upset hmph. 

The woman floats to the center of the room and claps her pretty hands together in a loud sound, “Steve! Put Eliza’s wedding video on!”

In a hurry, many ghostly gentlemen and women hurry and get a video reel up and rolling as pictures and videos begin to present itself onto the large marge ceiling above. With arms crossed she watches the images move and sound soon comes from them. “It was a complete disaster! I mean, the groom and her broke up at the altar and there were so many guys fighting over the whole wedding and she didn’t even bother to edit all that out? Uck!”

As soon as she said that, something catches her line of eye sight as the sound of a door slamming open echos–

“Stop that wedding!”

A handsome man in a red and black plaid suit and lovely groomed back ginger locks rushed right in panting out of breath with a somewhat flushed face, in one hand he had a velvet box and in the other a lovely bouquet of pink roses.

“Ha…Haa… I made it…”

“Steve, who is that?” Asked the woman as she watched him straighten his back up and swished his hair back again. One of the ghostly butlers looked up and mumbled, “I-I believe they called him Ace madam…”

“Ace…”That man stands there proud and full of light with such a different attitude than the others she saw in the video, she can feel her heart swell and swoon over those red eyes like the suit he wears.

“The ideal Prince that the princess always seeks, it does not even exist. There’s no way a guy who follows all your ideal terms and conditions exists, if you consider enough you would know. Just because you guys always give her fake hope like this, that’s why she is always seeking for the ideal partner that doesn’t even exist!”

“M-Madam..?” A ghostly maid quietly asked upon seeing her lady’s facial expression change into something else than her previous scowling anger.

The woman floats up to the ceiling, reaching a hand out until her pale fingers trace across that face of the young man in red.

“Yes, him… I have decided… I shall marry this man and make him my husband!

Ace runs down the hallway with Deuce in tail, both having frantic panicked looks on their faces as they slug their bags behind them or on their shoulders.

“This is why you set an alarm for the morning!” Shouted Deuce as he ran ahead of the ginger. Ace growls and jumps onto the stair railing and starts sliding down in fast speed, looking back he shouted back, “I just forgot Juice! You forgot your own alarm too!”

Down the halls are a trio of slightly older Heartslabyul walking calmly alongside each other’s shoulders.

“Come on Riddle-san, tell me more~” Whined Cater tries to give the shortest green puppy dog eyes. Riddle, however, only looked ahead unfathered by the begging and kept walking with lips in a fine line. “There’s nothing to tell.” He answered only that as he looked away.

Cater whined again and leaned back, “Come on. You’re having a crush finally!”

Black gloves quickly spring up and cover the ginger’s mouth as the dorm leader’s head goes bright pink. “H-Hush! Do you want the whole school to hear!?” Riddle growled out as his blue-gray eyes dark back and forth in worry. 

Right when he looked left he saw a large flash of black and red come right for him right at the most perfect moment when Ace Trappola decided to use some wind magic to boost faster in his race to the classroom with Deuce.

Before anyone can fully process the motion the first year collided with the dorm head rather hard, bodies hitting the hard rug floor in a harsh echoing thud.

Ace imminently sits up, hands pressed on the floor on either side of Riddle’s head he gets up in a push-up motion, and looks down at the second year under him with immediate apologies flowing out his mouth like a waterfall, “I am so sorry dorm head! Are you okay??”

Riddle just laid there, on his back, in the hallway, staring up at the trouble maker’s handsome face, his eyes staring at those reds of Ace’s and slowly darted to his lips that moved in words that haven’t yet reached his ears.

He swallows as he feels heat burn his cheeks and go across his whole face and even down his neck and up his ears as his heart rate quickened faster and harder than any heartbeat he ever felt before.

Before the card soldier could apologize again, the tense cold metal feeling of Riddle’s signature collar wrapped around his neck and Riddle stood up fast and stomped off hard and quickly.

“Oh come on!” Whined Ace as his hands grab hold of the collar, only to pause when he feels the warmth of his body head again. He removed it imminently after?

Ace rubbed his neck as he looked at the spot he was just laying on the floor, confused and curious of the reaction and action of Riddle.

“You okay Ace-chan?” Cater asked, picking a piece of dust off his shoulder with a muffled giggle behind his lips. Ace blinked for a moment and nodded. “Yes,” He answered, “Just confused, that's all.”

“Oh you’re just as handsome in person Acey-Pooky~!”

Riddle sighs as he turns the corner, trying to settle down his blush and poor heart in his tight rib cage. Settle down Riddle, you are not like a normal teenage boy who lets his hormones get the best of him! He screamed in his mind as he rubs his cheeks in a mushing motion as if that’d somehow stop the blood flow there.

Damn you Ace, just disappear for a day!

He sighs again as his breathing and blood rush went back to an average degree and turned on his heel and began to walk down the hall again.

That’s when he heard a noise he never heard before. . . The sound of a man’s scream of terror.

In a flash Riddle runs back around the corner and witnesses Ace being lifted off the ground by five different ghost males while he kicks and screams, a female ghost with long wavy dark locks down her back and dressed in a lovely gown floating above them all and in front of the six.

The woman floats closer to Ace and cups his face, forcing him to stare at her. A smile spreads on her red tinted lips as she calls out in a sing-song like melody, “Yes. It’s you, the one with the key~ My dear Acey-Poo, by sundown, we are going to be married~!” She squeals a bit in the end there, causing the halls to grow colder and thicker in air.

Ace’s eyes widen as his face pales. “Wh-What?!” He shouts in protests, frailing around more as the five who have him grasped hard began to move with the unknown woman.

Working fast as rage fills his chest now, Riddle quickly ran up to them. “ACE!”

The two redheads struggle and grab hold enough of their hands, Riddle gasping in fear at the sudden disappearance of the flood under his feet as he too gets lifted up off the ground as he clings to Ace’s hand.

The lady scoffs and turns her head away in a snob like manner, “You’re scaring my soon-to-be-husband you gremlin!” She lifts a hand up above her hand with clear intent to smack the shorter.

But before she could make contact, Riddle fell and fell hard to the ground of the school as his glove slipped off his hand into Ace’s hold, his face making harsh contact to the rug line of the stone floor as his elbows ached in soft burns. 

Ace struggles more upon seeing Riddle fall, calling out to him, “Riddle!” as tears threaten his eyes as dread and fear fill his lungs and stomach like a sour lunch.

But within a blink of an eye, as soon as the others whipped their pens out to prevent the kidnapping even further, the group disappeared with Ace’s screams of help and the mystery woman’s wicked joyful laugh.

All there is left is the cold dense air and rose petals that imminently dry and flatten to dust as soon as they touch the ground and Riddle on the floor staring at the spot in the air in shock.

“ACE!”

~

Roses tickle Ace’s nose as he rolls over in soft fabrics of bed covers, humming at the warmth that covers him blissfully like a sweet caressing hug.

The feeling of the sheets moving softly stirs him in alert as the sound of a soft sweet giggle comes from beside him. “It’s too early, Rosebud.” He whined as he crawled onto his stomach, his arms hugging the soft plush of his pillow in comfort.

The giggle happens again as he feels the presence of someone crawling closer, he feels soft lips dance in butterfly gentle kisses across his ear to his cheek and finally his eyelid nearest to the affectionate morning mate, a soft voice speaking in a honey sweet tone, “But I want to spend the day with my dear husband~”

Red eyes flutter open, the sun nearly blinding him as the morning greets him with much optimism. As his eyes adjust with the light he is able to recognize the lovely shade of red hair lay on the pillow beside him as big beautiful stormy blue eyes stare up at him as soft pink pout worthy lips smile in a cracked smile on a cute doll-like face.

“Please wake up soon my love~”

Ace jolted forward gasping for air only to immediately cough as he sucked in too much of the air into his tight and sore lungs and scratchy and sore throat, his hands running across his damp forehead and thick hair.

He pauses when he feels a fabric in his right hand and brings his hands down to see a somewhat smaller leather black glove in his grasp. Instantly, memories of before he conked out came flooding back from him and Deuce running because they were late for class they both had a test for that morning to his random kidnapping from six unknown ghosts and of course the falling of Riddle.

Gripping the glove close as his fingers curl and tighten into his palm, the feeling of dread and guilt swarmed Ace’s chest.

Riddle… He thought, the image of Riddle falling to the ground not erasing from his mind… Please…Be okay…

Then, the soft humming of a woman’s catches his attention.

Curiously, he ran his hands around to feel around the darkness until he stood on his wobbly knees and felt around some more until he managed to leave the shadows and into the light.

The light hurt and squeezed his mind and eyes like a harsh beating of drowning in icy cold water that boils hot immediately after, slowly dimming down into a comforting level so he was able to see he exited a wrapped large box of sorts in the large beautiful glass dome of the botanical garden on the school grounds. So it seems they just dropped me. He thought to himself as he shuffled forward carefully and confusingly trying to piece the pieces together.

Then he noticed the decor.

It was like the fairies from the Gala he went to went full pink and threw up all over the place. There were ribbons around the trees and lines, lights in the form of glass flowers that shine bright, many forms of flowers around it’s wake, and in the center of the entire place is a large stage with a not as large flower arch and a large seven layer cake coated in white icing with a God awful strange coral looking red mess of a centerpiece on top.

“Where the fuck am I…?”

A high pitch squeal causes him to jump and turn around fast to be met face to face of the ghostly girl from earlier who eagerly floated down to his level. “You’re finally awake Acey-Poo~” She giggled, her eyelashes flashing rapidly as if making morse code into his mind.

Ace cringed and stepped back in one large leap like step to create a distance between them. “Who the hell are you?!” He shouted. And he full on meant to shout.

The mystery woman blinks confused at him before giggling and grabbing hold of his hands and spinning the two around, “Oh Acey-Poo you’re so funny~! But I guess we should get to know each other for the next few hours until the party starts~ I am Lady Angelica Loaththorn, and you have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for you~” Her red lips pushed out and leaned forward to the ginger male who, in appropriate fashion, leans back in a started fumbling shriek. “Whoa there miss! What party??” He asked, no, more like demanded while he stared at her.

The woman, Angelica, giggled again, her voice like a scrapping nail on rusty glass, “Our wedding silly goose~”

Ice went right into Ace’s veins as he stumbled back, nearly falling from how far he stepped back, mouth opening and closing like a damn fish on the dock. “W-Wedding?! No way, lady! I don’t even know you!” He proclaimed, not phased in the slightest of her small pout.

“I knew you would hate the sudden surprise Acey-Poo, but it has to be done. If we don’t get married tonight during the full moon then we don’t get married!” She whined, trying to wrap her arms around him and growling when he ducked and moved away in protest.

“Married… Look lady-”

“Angelica~”

“Whatever~ I can’t marry you. I’m still a freshman in school after all!”

“Oh! That’ll be fine! It’s quiet normal for people to be married at your age~”

“In which world?!”

A ghostly butler wisp in and floats beside Angelica with a scared expression on his face. “M-Madam…”

Angelica’s chipper face drops in a scary sour expression as her eyes narrow and grow cold faster than a winter storm, her voice matching well with the ice that formed with her glare, “What is it Maxwell? Can’t you see me and my fiance are getting our wedding ready?”

The butler tenses yet shrinks back as he stares at the ground, Ace notices a visible shake and quiver in his transparent frame, “Y-Yes, well, it seems there’s some people here… T-They say… T-Th-They will take the groom away–”

“WHAT?!”

The glass ceiling and walls cracked harshly and some flowers grew heated and withered to nothing but gray mulch of stem and petals which caused Ace to cringe and sulk as he stared up at the woman he will apparently “marry”.

~ 

It wasn’t that hard to find the Ace you see.

Other students happened to have noticed the strange spectacle of Ace being carried away and Leona reported how there’s an unknown rumor of his favorite napping space being closed for an “important date” in which it didn’t take much to cross the conclusion that something was afoot there.

Trey, Epel, Cater, Jack, Sebek, Leona (who mainly came to reclaim his nap spot), Ruggie (who mainly came with to stop Leona from doing something stupid), Azul, Jade, Floyd, Kalim, Jamil, and Idia all hurried to the location in a rush to save their wild card friend and schoolmate with Idia only going for support and help as he’s getting strong sense of deja-vu in a way.

As the Botanical Garden’s doors open and the group of rescuers enter the building, they are instantly met with the odd sight Ace witnessed not too long ago which was topped off with a worried pale Ace standing beside a woman in white who floats there as if expecting them to burst through that very door.

“You are not invited to this beautiful ceremony!” Cried out the culprit in white who glares at these unwanted guests with cold daggers.

Ruggie’s ears flattened upon the heat of the glass dome and her shrieking shrill of a voice from the woman. Leona, seeing this, steps up with a scowling growl of his throat, “You have some nerve to come here in the morning lady. Not only that but to kidnap a random herbivore and do all kinds of random bullshit of the elements.”

Angelica hmphs and snarls back, “Begone you measly dirty furrball! This is a beautiful wedding between me and my dear charming Acey-Poo~!”

Some, though knowing full well of the situation in hand, couldn’t help but snort or laugh softly upon hearing such a disgustingly sugarly sweet affectionate nickname for Ace Trappola of all people!

Ace glued his eyes to all of them with a pleading look. “Please!” He cried out, “Tell her every bad thing about me! I will be mad later but please!”

Angelica laughs in response, “Nothing any of you say will turn away my feelings for my Acey-Poo~”

Deuce thought for a moment before he spoke up first, “He’s very much a rule breaker!”

The “bride” in the situation gave the dark haired guy a look to say he had formed an outer layer of skin and mucus in his hair before she retorted back, “Bad boys are cute though.”

Without stopping Epel joined in, “He isn’t that great at singing!”

Ace gave that one a look of “is that too far” yet Angelica laughed, “That just means I can shine brighter and he can shine the spotlight~”

“He’s very unmotivated!” Shouted Jack, ears perked way way up as if he suddenly was hit by lightning due to his sudden idea.

Ace chewed the inside of his lip as he stared at him. “Okay maybe that’s just–”

“His tail isn’t that good lookin’!” Floyd practically shouted out at random.

“Okay that’s too far!”

The crowd and Ace grew surprised as Angelica merely laugh and float around to the back of Ace, wrapping her delicate looking arms though for Ace it felt like a sharp sword was taunting at his neck, her voice a dove’s coo, “Love means you accept every single flaw of your beloved, that’s how much I love Acey-Poo so~”

Cold sweat dripped off the back of Ace’s neck as his throat caught tight hold of his breath as his heart began to beat in fear. I-Is this it…? How do I get out?!

“Yo, you’re connected to that ghost princess from last time, yeah?”

Everyone looked as the usually shy Idia stepped forward confidently yet his face was coated in shame for the one in front of him.

He tsked before he spoke up, “If that's the case then marry me instead.”

The crowd behind immediately caused an uproar, Azul hurrying to his side with worried ocean eyes. “What are you saying, Idia-San!?”

“Come on, I mean what I said!”

Angelica smirks and giggles out, her voice slightly darker, “Clever boy~ I can almost see what Eliza first saw you pass your little bitch appearance~”

Idia growled some, until he froze.

He fell hard to his knees as he coughed hard.

“I-Idia-san??” Azul knelt to his blue flamed friend, pausing at the sight of strange glowing pink markings going about his skin as his eyes became unfocused. “Idia!”

“While Eliza was weak enough to only freeze the body with just a mere slap on the face, she was never able to quite master her emotions like I~”

As soon as she said that, more of them started to fall ill with the same symptoms of markings and coughs.

Ace watched in horror before turning to Angelica with wide eyes, “Wh-What are you doing…?”

Angelica giggles and hugged Ace tighter as if she isn’t causing pain to the others, “Just a little poison ivy, nothing a little act of true love won’t fix~”

Ace only watched back in terror as Epel fell to the ground and Deuce caught him, tears streaking down his face in worry as the apple farmer coughs harshly and rasp like.

He can hear from behind him in his ear the sing-song tsk tsk from the bride, “Look at what your stubborn nature is going sweetie pie~ Are you just going to let them grow sicker? You’re a heartless monster at best and a coward at worst then~”

Red eyes widen more and burn in invisible tears as he hears Ruggie’s cries of pain and the look of Leona’s heartbroken expression.

He inhaled a shaky breath, “O..Okay… I’ll marry you… Just please… don’t hurt anyone else…”

Angelica spun Ace and her around as she squealed, “Yes~! Oh my dear Acey-Poo, you just made me the happiest girl in the entire universe~!” She giggled, ignoring her “groom’s” sickly depressed expression on his face.

“Now let us get forth to our wedding~”

~ 

Two shadows dance across a red brick wall as a blonde girl wearing a middle school uniform hurries to a shop window. “OOOOoooooooo~! Hey █████ , look at that dress, isn’t it cute~?” She chirped while pointing at a lovely robin blue dress. The one with short orange-red hair looked at her with an annoyed expression.

“Come on Alice, we talked about his…”

“Oh! Right, sorry Ace~! I’m still getting used to your new name~”

As the blonde continued on and on yappering to the dress, the ginger only felt his brain slowly go deeper and deeper down the deep end of misery, the stressful anxiety filling his system like pure sugar of a drink over the idea of this conversation…

“█████ look at this!”“Oh sorry █████ I forgot you cut your hair~”“I’ve always known you as █████ so please don’t hate me Acey~”

It was always the same… He can’t ever escape her… He will never escape…

Ace only stands still as a ghostly priest speaks to the room of sickly ill people who are forced to watch the scene go down, hands firmly straight to his sides.

“We are gathered here today to witness the ceremony of love and passion between Lady Angelica Loaththorn and Mr Ace Trappola in eternal love and marriage. If anyone were to dare reject this union, speak now or forever hold your peace!”

The trickster bit back the temptation of rejecting again, even more when seeing Angelica glare around the room as if they would stop this at this point of proving she’s a threat.

He pauses when he feels a familiar fabric in his hand and glances down at said hands, seeing the small black leather glove of his redhead Housewarden.

Riddle…

Suddenly, the door slams open.

“STOP!”

The ghost servants served as the shocked dramatic gasps as everyone, even the sickly ones, turned to the door.

That voice—

Ace turned his head around fast and his heart sore to the Heavens upon seeing the one and only Riddle standing there out of breath and red hair a crazed mess out of his usual groom style. His heart fluttered seeing his eyes shine with determination and rage, his heart swooned at the sight of him rushing in like some bad-ass in an action film, his heart beating fast just looking at Riddle.

Oh, He thought, his face slowly smiling, Now it makes sense…

Angelica growls, “WHY IS EVERYONE ANGRY AT MY WEDDING!?”

Riddle growled back, face flustered in anger and rush, pointing an accusatory finger at the bride, “This wedding has to stop! I won’t allow you to take him!”

The woman rolled her eyes hard and sighed, chest first in a dark tone, “You’re that little red gremlin from hours ago, you’re so annoying! Besides,” She clasps her hands into Ace’s, “Acey-Poo already accepted our marriage~”

The former Red Tyrant stared at his freshman shocked, his bare hand resting on his tender chest. “Ace…”

Hearing his dorm leader call his name like that made Ace want to cry, his eyes softening at those sad blue-gray eyes.

The bride growls again and snaps her fingers, “Steve, Maxwell, grab him!” On cue two ghostly butlers grab hold on to Riddle despite his clear protest.

Ace stepped forward fast, “Wait wait wait!” He shutters under the cold faux affectionate gaze of Angelica who stares him down as if her eyes knew what he was going to say, “We’re already getting married, there’s no need to hurt anyone else, right…honey?” He nearly signed out when she smiled and grabbed his hands again, interlacing their fingers happily. “Of course Acey-Poo~!”

Riddle was then held but a bit less rougher, forced to watch Ace hold hands with someone else and apparently be married to.

The ghostly preacher clears his throat and spoke up, “A-Anyway… Lady Angelica, do you have your vows ready..?” He sounded scared and jittery, a normal reaction for today it seems.

Angelica, not reading the air of uncomfortable dread of this apparently important day, giggles and nods, “Of course~” She turns and look at Ace, chest puffed out and chin tilted up as arrogates hits her tone and body as she speaks, “Ace, I love you so much and I vow to give you a life worthy of your love. I mean, I’m beautiful, I’m rich, I’m powerful, I’m a full package baby~”

As Ace listens to her so called “heartfelt vows” he thinks long and hard in his mind as the cold feeling swarms his chest, Well, I guess she’s right. She is a beautiful girl any other day I would be down to swoon, if I’m spending all eternity with her I guess that’s that. But…

He glanced behind Angelica some at Riddle, who’s still standing there looking on to the scene, a look of heartache on his face.

Ace thought back to the time of the dorm leader’s Overblot, that heart wrenching weeping and sobbing he created from his stone cold wined up doll expression of unresolved anger.

“I mean, what more can you ask for~?”

Angelica’s words hit him rather hard. Not in a sense he realizes he loves her all along for the half the day they spent together against his will and her threatening harm on his school buddies and friends, but in a sense that his heart felt pierced as he stares at Riddle.

I never wanted you to cry like that again…

“Do you have your vows ready Mr Ace?”

Ace blinks some before looking at the crowd than at the preacher and ghostly bride, a smirk soon coming on his lips.

“Yes, I do.”

Clearly his throat he held those ghostly hands lovingly and looked up at her, “I know you’ve must’ve been waiting for so long for me to stop dragging my feet, and for that I apologize. I vow to love you and only you, to make you laugh and smile every day while we’re around.”

Angelica smiles softly, though it more feels like a smirk, at these words. Riddle, on the other hand, slowly began to look down on the ground in defeat.

“I know we'll have our fights, and we might fight a lot, but even if we fight I promise and vow to always apologize first.”

Riddle blinks some and kindly glances up, peering the scene through the red veil of his bangs.

“I will make you happy, whip the tears off your beautiful face whenever you’re sad, ease the pain of your life inside and out with my entire heart. I will laugh at your humor, I desire to heal the heartaches you faced as you grew up and spoil you with sweets and kisses when you’re feeling blue.”

Warmth filled Riddle’s cheeks as his eyes widened. It was for the bride, nothing special, but… Great Seven it sounded like he was speaking right to him—

Angelica swoons softly, “Awww~ Acey-Poo you’re so romantic~”

Ace lifts a finger up and wags it, “Ah ah ah, I don't think I’m done yet.”

She tilts her head, and Ace continued, “If we’re going to spend every waking moment of eternity together I want to at least get some things off my chest so we can have a married life with no secrets, yeah honey~?”

The bride giggles and nods rapidly.

Swallowing a hard spit, the card glanced around the room until his eyes fell on Riddle. Here goes all my hard work on the secret… He thought as he sighed out.

“I’m transgender.”

The woman blinks.

“Eh?”

“It means I was biologically born female but transitioned to be a male.”

“Wh-What??”

Jamil blinks some and mumbled, “That explains the last one to shower bit.”

Leona mumbled as if joining the conversation, “I knew.”

Jamil looked at his upperclassman in shock. “You knew??” He hissed, voice matching well with his emotion. Leona shrugged, “It was not my place to bring up someone’s history and also it’s whatever right?”

The tense crowd watched as Angelia removed her hands off Ace slowly as he went on, “I also am pansexual, meaning I like girls, I like boys, and I like other kinds of people too. Also, I grew up in a divorced household so it looks like we’ll visit family twice on Christmas honey~” Ace smirks at the last bit when seeing and hearing her gasp.

He looked past her, softened eyes looking right at his captured dorm leader.

“And I’m in love with somebody else.”

This caused everyone else to gasp and murmur, well most as Floyd was very loud in his questioning, no one noticing Riddle’s cheeks flare up as he made a small gasp as well.

Angelica’s hands tighten into fists as she growls, “Y-You…”

“Hmm, what’s the matter honey~?”

She screams, “YOU LIED TO ME!”

Plants were set ablaze as the air grew hot and cold, causing many panic noises to come off everyone’s lip.

Ace ran past her and leapt off the strange wedding stage, his hair messy from the sudden hair and even more sudden warmth that cakes it, red eyes locking with blue-gray.

“Riddle!”

Riddle gasps softly and struggles again. “Ace!”

The ghosts were fast to let go of Riddle as Ace collided in a crash to the three, causing the pair of redheads to fall on the ground, almost mirroring their fall from earlier.

Angelica’s screams were all anyone could hear, “GUARDS, KILL THEM ALL!”

Riddle was first to stand as he grabbed Ace’s hand and ran across the Botanical Garden space in a hurry as ghosts chase them with swords and even muskets, Floyd whistling as he and Kalim cheer after them, “GO GOLDFISHIE AND CRABBY, GO!”

Riddle grabbed onto his pen and struck the first two with Off With Your Head rather easily, Ace following suit as he grabbed his pen and shot some wind at a few others right after.

Tightening his hand hold of Riddle again, he turned his head to him and spoke, “Shall I have this dance Housewarden?”

The king of roses smirked back and squeezed his hand, “You may.”

Immediately after, Ace spins Riddle around him like a toy ballerina, fire wrapping around them in a shield and attacking the ghosts.

The two move in gentle sync as Riddle bursts fire from his pen while Hellfire on Earth while Ace used every inch of air magic he can muster for a good fanning of the fires around him, hands never once parting from one another and when they did they were on the partner’s shoulder or back.

Angelica growls while watching this display and starts stomping around in rage of a tantrum. “GET THEM GET THEM GET THEM!” She cried and whined in screams and shouts as her guards one by one got cast out and snuffed by the flames the two made.

“Off With Your Head!”

Angelica shrieked back as she got weighed down by a heavy crimson and red metal collar around her neck, offense increasing in her facial expression.

The moment her raging eyes look up to scream again she is met with the sight of both Riddle and Ace squeezing their hands together, chest to chest, with their pens aimed at her.

The last image she sees before the sound of harsh winds went to her ears and fire went right at her.

The glass of the garden crack and some even shatter as the bride’s ghostly wails and screams echo around the area as the fire eats her up, leaving only her abandoned wedding set up in her place.

The vibrant markings lifted off the flesh they consumed as the plants went back to normal and air finally lifted in ease, causing many to hug their friends and classmates close with tears of relief happening in their eyes.

Riddle and his wild card soldier watch the scene with relief as their hands are still holding onto the other.

~ 

The day ended with everyone returning to their teachers and dorm members who expressed great concern about the disappearance and the tales they told, the dorm leaders might have some things to answer to but nevertheless things are going well as the sun begins to set on the day.

“I’m glad things went well.” Said Riddle, a relieved giggle as he stands just a stray away from everyone else with Ace, hands still clasped in one another. His eyes did glance down at their hands and took a breath in Okay, maybe we should part now He thought, pushing away the guilty feeling of doing so.

However, as he moved his fingers to unlock the hand hold, he felt a sudden presence go near him. He turned his head to look at Ace and suppressed a gasp as he felt his lips against his own.

Blink rapidly his shoulders stay still as his mind wraps around the idea if this is a dream or reality, but slowly as the kiss was proven real he leaned in with fluttered shut eyes.

The best way to describe the kiss is sweet. For Ace, it was like biting a tasty strawberry in the summertime, the sweet tangy almost tart nature of those tinted lips soft like a rose petal in the wind. For Riddle, it was like checking in a candy story and eating the largest lollipop they had, the sweet sticky flavor that wraps around his lips and senses as childhood glee fills his stomach alongside the buzzing butterflies. 

As the two finally parted, eyes staring into one another, Ace rasped out, “I love you.”

Riddle’s heart fluttered as he stared into those red orbs.

“I love you with all my heart. I don’t care if you're Riddle Rosehearts, I don’t care if your family would hate it, I don’t care if people would claim it’s not right. I love you with every fiber of my being and my soul screams for you. When I was in there, besides everyone else, all I was thinking as my regret was I was never going to see you again. I was never going to see you smile over your hedgehogs again. I was never going to try and make you smile again. I was never going to hear that giggle and laugh you have again. I was never going to see how red your face gets when you're mad again. I was never going to hear you take my head again. I was never going to ask you to come grab a table with me and we spend a whole night laughing over your favorite colors and drink insanely good drinks and eat tarts with you. I don’t know what the hell the future might hold but I do know it feels so good to have the words “I love you Riddle” come off my lips. So, what do you say? Do you…feel the same way?”

Riddle knew it was his choice to make, but it felt like there was no other option.

As he stared into those red eyes so filled his love and warmth he never saw before his heart ached.

As he looked at that soft warm smile he felt his chest crust his insides.

As he slowly felt sickly sad he turned his head down.

His voice was weak and cracking with emotions, “...I do feel the same Ace.” Ace smiles and goes to kiss him again, making a small sound of Riddle’s hands covering those tempting lips. “But I can’t.”

Ace blinked and stared at him, feeling his heart sink down to his feet and breaking. 

“I’m sorry, but I can’t… We can’t…”

With those words left in the open Riddle slowly walked away from the hurt expression of Ace who stands there as the sun sets over the school of Night Raven Collage, both eyes misty and damp with rough emotions of back and forth.

WITH A HAPPY NOTE I MADE THIS!

for the @ridoaceweek challange!

[ask-pwp-prequel-au]

Pal groaned softly, tugging on his face. He felt weak, sick..awful. He had never felt this bad in his whole life. It was all just horrible. He felt like he was decaying. His chest hurt. His head pounded and ached. His limbs were on fire. Pal felt like he could go on and on about how much pain he was in.

I have something to do…

I don’t want to…

What if he kills me?

Shut up.

My thoughts are racing

Pal held his head before he tried to take his headband off, ease the pain in his head maybe. His headband hurt if he wore it for too long.

It won’t budge?

Why can’t I take it off?

Stuck- it’s stuck-

Stuck on what-?!

Pal hissed and began to tug. “Why aren’t you coming off?!” Pal snarled loudly. “It can’t be that- gasp the energy and heat behind the explosion that was hot enough to give you immediate 3rd degree burns could’ve..melted your plastic headband to your head!” Percy piped up, giving Pal the same amount of smug sarcasm that Pal gave him last night.

Pal shot a glare towards Percy. Percy only smiled smugly towards Pal’s dismay. “Great! How LOVELY!” Pal growled loudly. “Y’could say you’re becoming more of a machine day by day! Eaughahahaha-!” With a sudden punch to the face, Pal hissed angrily, tugging at his hair with burning hatred. Percy floated there for a while, stunned by the needless violence. Percy let out a rough scoff before disappearing. “It’s only been a day and I SWEAR you are the most annoying thing EVER!” Pal hissed loudly before taking a deep breath and getting ready for the day.

For the most part, Pal was zoning out, forgetting what he was doing a multitude of times. In fact, he only stopped when he tripped over something. Pal stumbled forward and glared at what tripped him. Oh! Oh.. wait OH!

Pal stepped back, staring at the curious, chirping Tamas. TamaOpti stared at Pal and TamaLanki chirped excitedly before hugging Pal’s face. Pal pulled TamaLanki off his face. Lanki looked excited. Pal’s eyes immediately started dripping with some strange green substance that Pal had already started getting used to. Tightly, Pal hugged Lanki, followed up by a tight hug for Opti too. Pal quickly sat down and hugged the two Tamas, sobbing onto the two. “Y-You’re alive..! You guys are ALIVE!!” Pal sobbed softly snuggling the two tamas. The tears seemed to do something to them, causing them to glitch and sputter for a moment. “You alright..?” Pal whimpered softly. The two tamas begin to explain their own story in their own language.

Opti was standing watch while Pal slept, making sure no threats came by. For the most part, no threats!

Lanki saw Opti staring at the wreckage of The Dog.

LANKI is a liar! Opti was standing watch for Nick.

Opti is changing his story. He’s a liar.

Pal snickered at the two beginning to bicker and fight. Lanki screeched at Opti for lying and Opti slapped Lanki when he screeched. Pal chuckled and soon began to laugh loudly, snapping the two tamas out of their anger at each other. Opti and Lanki looked happy that Pal was happy once more. “Where’s Bruti and Roachi?” Pal asked gently, attempting to stand up only to quickly stumble.

The Tamas immediately looked unsure and soon began to explain they had no idea. expressed their anxieties, mentioning that after Nick left, TamaBruti and the TamaRoachis had left to make sure Nick didn’t come back a second time. Pal felt an immediate wave of dread go over him. Pal, soon after, commanded the two of them to stay while he walked outside to find TamaBruti and the Roachis. He couldn’t lose them…

The wreckage of Percy….

Pal stared at the wreck, it was more ominous than he thought. It stared at Pal with an ominous grin. It wasn’t the most chilling thing about the creature though. The chilling part was Pal’s plan.

Pal had planned a glorious demise for Nick if he had decided to kill him. First, he’d allowed the Tamas to get a taste of flesh. He knew the Tamaterrorz were unsure about killing someone but he didn’t care. After he could see some blood, he had planned to tear Nick’s head off… replace it with a tamagotchi too! Why NOT?!

Pal clutched his chest, giving a rough gasp for air. He felt sick- he WAS sick! Sick in the head at least! Pal held his head, heaving loudly. A green color took over Pal’s eyes. He stumbled back, watching the green tears fall onto the ground. Gah-! G-Good to know those were real-! I-I guess-!!

A few eyes filled the empty sockets of Percy. In the moment, Pal screamed, figuring he was hallucinating. He gasped for air, feeling wires tangle around his body, threatening to consume him. There was a panicked chirp followed by, “Calm-! No- much calm!” This coo was followed up by rabid skittering. It didn’t take long before Pal felt a gentle hug around his waist. Pal whimpered and hugged the small creature back. TamaRoachi joined the hug soon after, hugging Pal’s face. Pal sniffled, his breathing settled down some. Slowly, he began to embrace Bruti and The Roachis. The Roachis began to whistle out a small tune to calm down Pal. “Y-…You’re all safe… you’re all safe,” Pal whispered, the green tears beginning to fade into normal tears as panic faded into joy.

TamaBruti hugged Pal for just a moment longer. “Is okayy, Pal?” Bruti asked softly, reaching up a hand to wipe away the tears. “Y…Yes, I think so, Bruti. Thank you,” Pal hugged Bruti back. The Roachis looked a little annoyed from not getting attention. Pal looked over before scooping them up and giving them small pets. “...Thank you for not abandoning me.” Pal stood up, smiling gently.

Hm, Pal had only just now realized this but his leg didn’t appear to be in pain. O-Other than a mild ache strangely. Pal hummed before picking up TamaBruti and the 4 TamaRoachis. “Come along you all. I have a few things I need to build,” Pal chuckled, not really believing himself either. He collected TamaOpti and TamaLanki and placed them all into the warehouse. “I’ll be right back.” Pal closed the door and walked out to the wreckage.

It was still chilling to look at but he didn’t have to be around it for very long. All Pal needed was the motherboard. If he could find where the motherboard was, he could transfer it into a new form. …Bingo, right on the back of the head..! It was like a small disk player, wildly impractical but easy to access. What spooked Pal was the strange goop on the motherboard. It looked almost exactly like the stuff dripping from his eyes. He didn’t remember putting anything of the sorts onto the motherboard. It didn’t even look like thermal paste–!

Wait, when was the last time Pal breathed-?

Pal took a sudden, deep breath and held his chest. “Hhhh…!” Pal whimpered and sat down. “Okay- hhhh…you’re okay..! You’re fine! You are…perfectly-! Fiiiine…” Pal stared down at the motherboard before walking away to his warehouse. The Tamas had all ducked away to hide in different places. Haa…hide and seek, the quickest way to cheer Pal up. Pal set down the motherboard and, soon after, Pal began to seek.

Pal approached three servers. On top of each one was a rubber ducky. Honestly, the story behind it was quite funny. Pal had placed a rubber ducky on one of them because he didn’t know where else to put it that was open. Next thing he knows, the other two servers crash the second he needs them. When he moved the duck to a different server, the server he took it from crashed. This went on until Pal went out and got two more rubber duckies to put on the servers. He was NOT happy about it but anything to keep them working.

Behind one of them, Pal heard a snicker. TamaRoachi. With a gentle reach around grab, Pal grabbed one of the TamaRoachis. Wait..one? The other three scattered from the area, running to different hiding places. “A-! H-Hey-! No fair!” Pal laughed lightly before setting the TamaRoachi down onto a dog bed. It cooed before entering sleep mode. Pal chuckled before noticing movement from a small drawer. Gotcha!

Pal crept slowly before quickly grabbing the 2nd TamaRoachi and holding up the ‘rabid insect’. It wiggled around in Pal’s grasp before settling down once they realized it was just Pal and he had intended no harm to the little bug. TamaRoachi looked excited before running off to the dog bed the second Pal placed it onto the ground. Pal chuckled and continued his search.

TamaLanki adored the venus flytraps. He must’ve been hiding somewhere near them. Checking where the venus flytraps were revealed TamaLanki hiding in a cupboard…with his arm sticking out of the door and one of his claws stuck inside the trap. Pal chuckled before very, very carefully removing TamaLanki’s claw from the Venus Flytrap’s mouth. TamaLanki’s arm reeled into the cupboard quickly, disappearing with a soft *slam.* Pal opened the cabinet to reveal TamaLanki in its disguised form. Pal carefully grabbed the toy and played the maze minigame quickly, awakening the toy. “Found ya~.” TamaLanki huffed and crossed his arms, swearing vengeance on the venus flytraps.

TamaOpti loved hanging from the ceiling. Maybe he’s up there..! Pal began to search the upper areas, moving a flamethrower out of the way. Oh by the way, he stores the more..random stuff up here. Among the trash was a flamethrower, a cool rusty knife he found while finding stuff on a nearby railroad track. There were a few wires and a ladder..there was some ribbon and hair dye. Oh! A snake enclosure! There was nothing inside but the spiders seemed to enjoy it. Hmfp, wasn’t for the dang spiders…

Aha..! One of TamaOpti’s tendrils stuck out from the mesh of cables. TamaOpti must’ve thought he was being sneaky. Pal very carefully bent down and lightly poked Opti’s tendril. “Boop…” TamaOpti let out a sputtered mess of electronic buzzes and pulled his tendril away from Pal. Pal chuckled and pulled TamaOpti out of the pile in the ceiling. “Found you my buuuzzyyy octopi!” Pal nuzzled TamaOpti, getting a jumbled crackling from TamaOpti that sounded like a gentle giggle. Pal looked at the ladder. The fall wasn’t too far down..Pal could absolutely jump and be fine- he was sure!

Pal got ready before stopping immediately and climbing down the ladder. “My leg is damaged enough. I shall not give into The Void’s Call today..” Pal said, humming to himself before he got back down to the ground level. TamaOpti ran off to the beds once he had been set down. Pal chuckled before noticing a TamaRoachi had fallen asleep on top of a shelf. Yoink! The TamaRoachi squealed before settling down quickly. “No sleeping during hide n seek..” Pal chuckled before setting the TamaRoachi down. It zoomed away too. Over by a pile of discarded plush and fabric was the final TamaRoachi. It had also fallen asleep. Careful not to wake it up, Pal reached down and gently petted its side before picking it up. It cooed and opened an eye before falling back asleep. TamaSleepy..

Pal set down the toy and began to look for TamaBruti. He liked many, many, many things in Pal’s warehouse. It was something new every day that TamaBruti had grown attached to. A week ago, it was the plush pile, yesterday it was Nick’s hair, on Wednesday, it was a flamethrower. Not to mention how it had grown to adore Percy’s cockpit during the entire duration of Pal building it.

Pal looked all over, finding a bone at one point. Hm, felt real but he never remembered murdering anyone. Oh well! Pal set down the bone, watching TamaBruti snatch it up the second Pal set it down. Aha! Guess the bone was his newest obsession. Pal snatched up (GENTLY) TamaBruti the second he saw him take the bone. TamaBruti squealed and conked Pal on the head with the bone. Pal was stunned, just sitting there and slowly realizing what happened. “I…need to stop scaring you…” Pal murmured before walking over to the beds and setting down TamaBruti. Pal smiled and looked over inside his house, quickly returning with a few treats for the Tamas. They chirped excitedly and shared another hug with Pal.

He loved these little guys with all his heart. Though, admittedly, waking up to see them was a shock. I mean, the day before, the creatures were normal tamagotchis and then the next day he woke up to gentle chaos in his warehouse. He had no idea what even happened! It was just- BOOM! There’s weird creatures everywhere!

Pal sighed and gently set down the Tamas, watching them get comfortable on the ground. He’d figure it out later. Right now, he has Tamas to put to bed and start work on-!

Him…

Pal looked over at his desk. The motherboard sat on his desk, glowing a little under his lamp’s light. The idea that it was the same motherboard in Percy gave Pal sharp shudders. He didn’t like the idea. It chilled Pal before he tucked the Tamas into their beds and began to work. Percy said he wanted it to be fast and versatile; tanky. Pal hopped onto his computer, loading up a 3d printing software. Oh, did he still have metal he could use to make the shell?

Pal got up from his seat and walked over to the 3d printer and looked at the metal scraps left over. Hmfp, mostly just plastic and stuff. Oh well, Percy requested a tamagotchi not a mechanized drone. Pal didn’t HAVE to use metal. Besides! Shells are usually…plastic n stuff. Not metal!

Very carefully, Pal began to switch out the material for his 3d printer. Hm, he was low on a lot of colors. Shocking considering that Pal could’ve swore that he had used more white over any of the other colors. Oh well. Pal swapped the color to white and returned to his computer to start work on making the shell. Percy wanted versatile, maybe extendable arms? Those could work well.

Over the weeks, Pal had worked out any bugs and issues with the creation. The extendable arms worked wonders! He could grab stuff from anywhere in his warehouse! Percy should hopefully enjoy this. This new form was fast, versatile and tanky! Only issue was that it wasn’t a tamagotchi as requested. Pal stared at the toy before him, using a prototype build of the motherboard for tests. It looked alright, the prototype motherboard was able to give Pal an idea of how it would work; the buttons worked, everything worked perfectly. Now, it was time to see what Percy thought of the toy…

Pal carefully put Percy’s motherboard inside the toy and turned it on. Pal didn’t program the toy with a very expressive screen..face thing. Naturally, this meant that Percy must immediately shatter this idea. Percy groaned loudly, eyes opening and expression changing a whole lot to be as expressive as possible. Pal stepped back a little. “So..Percy, are you there?” Pal asked softly as Percy stood up and stretched. Pal looked stunned by Percy wrapping his arm around Pal quickly and roughly pulling Pal towards him. “I am here! Eheh! Glad you were smart enough to add in limbs! I would’ve found a way to kill ya if you hadn't!” Percy laughed, pressing his head against Pal’s and generally just refusing to give Pal ANY space. Pal hissed and struggled a little.

“Percy-! Do you have even the slightest clue what personal SPACE is!?” Pal hissed, kicking his legs and trying to break free from Percy’s death grip. Percy laughed before roughly dropping Pal on the ground, seemingly slamming him down as roughly as he possibly could just to be a jerk about it. Pal hissed and rubbed the sore area. He brushed himself off and huffed angrily. “Anyways…how do you feel about this new form, hm?” Pal asked, looking up at Percy as he seemed to plot something for a moment. “Oh? Oh! I feel WONDERFUL!” Percy laughed, grinning a ‘completely normal’ grin at Pal that didn’t make him uneasy in the slightest.

Percy launched out on arm and wrapped around TamaLanki suddenly super tightly. Pal hissed, “Hey! Put him down!” Pal shouted at Percy before watching him extend his arm to his very limits. “If you say so, Creator~!” Percy suddenly dropped TamaLanki from high up. Pal barely caught Lanki and glared daggers at Percy. “D-Do that again and I’ll shut you down even if you kill me!” Pal hissed, threatening Percy. Pal hugged Lanki and started to soothe him. ���You’re okay..you’re safe..” Pal whispered to Lanki as he teared up and began to sob. Percy chuckled softly and turned away from Pal. “Like you can make me do anything, sludge,” Pal looked up at Percy, confused. “Why’d you call me..Sludge? I expected you to comment on how..I’m a human and..y’know.. weak..” Percy looked amused, looking back at Pal. “You haven’t figured it out yet? You’re. Not. Human!” Percy laughed loudly, holding up Pal’s chin before pulling him towards him again. “You haven’t been human since that substance entered your veins! You’ve been a machine!” Percy laughed, staring holes into Pal, looking straight through him. Pal was taken aback. “Wh…” Pal shook his head. “Y..You’re lying..!” Pal gasped, shoving away from Percy and gently setting down TamaLanki. “Am I, Pal..? I don’t lie…”

Pal stepped back, covering an eye as green tears began to fall onto the ground. “Hm..I’m starting to realize something when it comes to you, Pal! Nick was your support system. You became parasitic when he had left because you had been without support in so long! You were scared of returning to THAT part of your life!!” Percy laughed. Pal rapidly shook his head and covered their ears. “SHUT! There is no excuse for my actions, got it!? Now shut up because I am NOT afraid to deactivate you, GOT IT!?” Pal shouts at Percy, getting a sharp laugh out of him. “Sure..whatever, Sludge.” Percy turned away before swinging up into the roof. It did not take him long in the slightest before he fell back down to the concrete floor. Pal scoffed a laugh before leaving the warehouse out the back entrance. He didn’t wanna stick around for Percy getting angry and possibly losing it.

Pal walked back inside his house and laid down for the night, snoozing on the soft bed. He’d book an appointment with a therapist tomorrow. I mean..he kinda has to, considering everything…

[hancocksspouse]

Ch. 11

—

It was the green fog rolling around ahead of them that tipped them off before they were even close enough for the Geiger counter to read it. A sickness began to coil around in Doll’s stomach the same as the radioactive air ahead of them and she had to stop and gather herself before they got any closer. At first, she thought it was the rads making her feel sick but realized it couldn’t be, recalling the lack of sound from her counter.

She knew this feeling. It wasn’t a good one.

“You gonna be okay, sister?” Hancock asked, still holding her helmet firmly under his arm as he promised he would, looking up at her. She swallowed, her throat clenching tightly.

“Have you...ever been here? In the Glowing Sea?” She asked, staring ahead of them. Hancock looked in the same direction and frowned.

“Personally, nah. Never had a reason to. But I heard about it from all kindsa people. Scavvers, settlers, drifters. Even came across a child of Atom that told me about it”, he said, lighting a cigarette.

“Ground zero”, she murmured quietly. He nodded in response.

“Yea”.

A silence floated between them for a moment, neither one moving from their spot and Hancock knew why.

The commonwealth had always been like this for him. He grew up in the aftermath of the war, knowing nothing but the wastelands as they were now. Shacks built of scrap metal and rickety boards and dusty, dingy mattresses were a norm for him. Bugs the size of full grown dogs and super mutants was just another day in the ‘wealth as far as he was concerned and everyone carried a gun on them, if not more and a few molotovs.

But she was pre-war. 200 years on ice with only the memories of her life before. She woke up to find everything as she remembered gone. It had only been a few months for her and despite their constant running around, she never saw the extent of the destruction from the bomb site itself. She only saw the fallout afterwards and she was about to step foot into the crater that wiped out her home state as she knew it.

“Listen, Doll”, he said, dropping the butt of his cigarette and stomping it out before turning fully towards her, brow furrowed. “Before we go in there, I want you to know that...nothin’ you’re about to see in there is gonna be particularly...nice. Not a whole lotta people go in there on purpose but regardless of whether it’s the rads or somethin’ else, no one comes outta there the same.”

Her jaw clenched as she felt every muscle in her body tense enough to make her physically incapable of responding, but she didn’t need to.

“However, no matter how this goes, what you see, if this Virgil guy is even in here, or whatever the hell else happens, I got your back, sunshine. I promise”, he said, a small smile on his thin lips. It almost reassured her enough to distract from the sinking, overwhelming dread that had settled into her heart as she nodded back, trying her best to smile. Hancock held up her helmet to her and she took it from him and latched it into place, taking a shaky breath as her eyes adjusted to the crosshairs now in her line of sight and her stats in the lower corner.

“Thanks, Hancock”, she finally choked out before gathering her nerves and walking slowly through the veil of green, rifle in hand. He chuckled as he followed with his shotgun.

“Not a problem, sunshine”.

-

The quick change of scenery between where they stood now and where they were not even 5 ft ago was jarring to her. Everything was dead. From the very ground itself to the husks of trees scattered throughout. Her pace had slowed a bit as she took in the destruction surrounding her, trying to ignore how hard her throat was clenching and how difficult it was getting to breathe.

As much as she hated confined spaces, she was now thankful for the helmet covering her face so Hancock couldn’t see the way her jaw lightly quivered as she took in everything she was seeing. The decimated bridge, the pools of radiation and the feral ghouls that stood in it.

“Are they even aware of what happened?” She asked out loud. “Do they even know they’re here? Or that they were normal people once?”

Hancock’s brow rose in worry as he looked from her to the ferals in the distance, sighing.

“I can’t say they do. But maybe they’re better off for it”, he said. “So, what do you wanna do? Go around ‘em or...?” She lowered her weapon slowly.

“Let’s just...keep a low profile and try to avoid getting their attention. We aren’t here for them”, she gently said, continuing their pace. Hancock swung his shotgun onto his back and followed along behind her.

“Heh...you’re too kind, sunshine”, he chuckled. The shoulders of her armor slightly rose in a shrug.

“I won’t attack anything that isn’t trying to hurt me first. Feral or otherwise”.

The rad count began to bounce rapidly and she stopped for a moment, looking at her pip boy. Locations were showing on her map of the area. Not many, given where they were, but a few. Enough for her to consider finding them to see if they could find any leftover supplies or at least a resting spot.

“Things goin’ wild. Shouldn’t be too hard to find where we’re goin’ but we gotta make sure that suit holds”, Hancock said, walking a few steps ahead of Doll. “There’s a buncha nasty stuff out here could make a dent in that”.

The twists and turns currently taking place in her stomach were nothing to ease her and the farther they went, the worse it got. Gangly, skeletal bodies shuffled through puddles of glowing radiation, unaware of who they were, what they were, or why it even happened and all she could see in the deteriorating bodies were victims of a war that nobody won. The walk continued. It had to. Her feelings told her to grieve, to stop and cry and mourn. Her logic told her to keep going for now until she was at least safe to do so.

When she finally comes back to herself, she notices how Hancock has stopped ahead and seems to just look down into the crater below him. It gives off a brighter green and she frowns, knowing it can’t be anything good if he’s stopped there.

“Hancock...?” She asks and when she joins his side and looks down, she sees what he sees. A small group below of people that are willingly living in the radiation. Their hair is patchy and falling out, frames becoming thin and gaunt. Some are on their knees, facing the pools of radiation and praying to it. “Are they...?”

“The Children of Atom”, he nods, frowning. “I don’t really want us goin’ down there but they may know where your scientist is lying low out here”.

She doesn’t look at them the same way she looks at the ferals. The way she looks at them is of resignation to the fact that they chose this. That they’re willingly wasting away in worship to the same thing that took her life away. Their reverence reminds her of the same people that at one point would demonize and harass her for things out of her control, but she reminds herself that these aren’t the same people. They’re worse because they’re armed.

“Don’t have much of a choice”, she says, slowly making her way down. “Stay here-”

“Nope”, he interrupts, matching her pace. “Especially not here”. A small smile comes over her and she nods as they approach one of the worshippers.

It’s obvious how wary she is upon seeing Doll and Hancock approach, but she meets them calmly.

“You approach Atom’s holy ground. Why? State your purpose or be divided in his sight”, she states. She makes it clear she’s the leader of this group and Doll steels her nerves.

“I’m looking for someone named Virgil”. The woman raises a brow for a moment.

“Virgil? Yes...we know this Virgil”, she responds. “What do you want with him?”

“I just need some information from him”, Doll says. Her tone sounds mildly hopeful and Hancock can hear it, remaining silent by her side. A suspicious look comes over the woman’s face.

“He has sought refuge with Atom. I would know more before I tell you where he is. What do you want with him?”

“I need his help reaching the Institute”, Doll says. She’s desperate now and mentally kicks herself for making it so clear.

“I have heard of this Institute. They hide themselves, trying to avoid the power of Atom. A futile effort”. The woman shakes her head in a menacing manner, only making clear how their ‘faith’ is rooted in cult mentality. “In truth, this Virgil has caused some concern. Some believe his presence is an affront to Atom. Though he came to trade with us on a few occasions, we have had little other contact with him. It was quite clear he wanted to be left alone”.

Doll swallows the forming lump in her throat, scared of their lead growing cold and their journey being for nothing, but the woman continues to speak.

“You can find him southwest of the crater, living in a cave. I would approach cautiously, were I you. I feel he does not want visitors”.

The sigh that escapes Doll is louder than she thought but she simply shakes her head.

“Thank you. We’ll leave you be now”, she says, checking her compass and immediately heading southwest, eyes peeled for a cave. Hancock glances around at the other worshippers that had since been shuffling around them but keeps pace with Doll as they continue on their search, having learned what they needed. 

“Well, now you’ve met some of the Children of Atom. Whatcha think?” Hancock asks. Had it not been for her helmet, he would see the way she throws her brows upward.

“I think they’re a cult that doesn’t realize all they’re doing is worshiping science but if that’s what lets them sleep at night then that’s their business”, she says. Her tone makes Hancock chuckle a bit at hearing the slight relaxation in her voice.

Their path begins to take them up a rocky hill and they both draw their guns and slow their steps.

“Can’t be too far from a cave now”, he says. A low rumble reaches their ears and they freeze upon hearing thundering footsteps and falling rock from the hill ahead. Horns peek out from a pile of rock and a deathclaw roars, seeing them below.

“Fuck”, Doll mumbles, taking aim. The gauntlets of her armor are too large to reach into her bag for explosives and they both slowly back up from the monster. “Hancock, we’re gonna need grenades, molotovs, something to slow it down and weaken it”.

“I got it”, he says, pulling a grenade from his bag and biting the pin before throwing it. The sudden explosion makes it stagger and slow down but it lunges towards them anyway. Both continue firing at it until it gets close enough that a shot from Hancock’s shotgun fires off while it’s mouth is open, hitting the soft spot in the roof of its mouth and blowing its brains out. The behemoth crumbles to the ground and both take a big breath of relief, reloading their guns.

“Bet that’ll be a good story to share when we roll back through GoodNeighbour”, she chuckles. Hancock nods with a smirk.

“Oh, believe me. That one’s gettin’ told more than once”. He looks up at where it was perched and points. “Wouldja look at that? I believe that’s exactly where we need to be, wouldn’t ya say?” Doll looks up and sees a cave entrance a few feet from where the deathclaw stood.

“I do believe it is”, she says, keeping her nerves under control as she makes her way towards it. Hancock catches up to her and stops her for a moment, confusing her.

“Lemme scout ahead for this one. If he’s hostile and hurts me, I’ll be fine but if he puts a dent in your armor, you’re toast and we’ll be stranded out here”, he says. She frowns but nods, allowing him to enter the cave first as she follows.

The cans hanging from the ceiling let them know he’s not one for company and so do the turrets but oddly enough, they don’t fire in their direction. A few steps further and Hancock’s brows furrowed as he turns to Doll.

“There’s no radiation in here”. He looks confused but Doll realizes he’s telling the truth when her Geiger counter makes no noises. She hesitates as she reaches up to unlatch her helmet but does it anyway, trusting Hancock and when she unlatches and removes it, she’s surprised to find it true.

“That’s...but how?” She asks but he can only shrug while she exits her power armor with a sigh. They hear footsteps further down and slowly follow the sound as a towering green form comes into view. Doll stops suddenly, making Hancock walk into her on accident. Her arm quickly shoots out and stops him from falling, pulling him against her before jerking her chin towards the figure.

The gargantuan form made it clear they were a super mutant but they’re dressed in what looked almost like a lab coat, stitched together piece meal to accommodate their body. The room itself is neatly arranged and even includes a terminal and a lab that looks well used.

“I...I think that’s Virgil”, Doll says as he looks their way, seeing the ghoul and wanderer in his doorway. He turns to them, chin up, small glasses balanced on his nose.

“Hold it!” he says, making them back up slightly. “Take it nice and slow, no sudden moves. I know you’re from The Institute, so where’s Kellogg? Huh? Trying to sneak up on me while you distract me? It’s not going to work! I’m not stupid, I knew they’d send him after me!” 

Doll raises her hands slowly, her guns still holstered as she takes a breath. 

“Take it easy. Kellogg’s dead”, she says. The look on his face does not relax, maintaining the air of suspicion and distrust. 

“Dead?...He’s...dead? Don’t you lie to me!”

She closes her eyes for a moment and looks back up at him. 

“I’m not lying. I killed him myself”, she calmly states. Virgil’s shoulders slowly begin to relax. 

“Did you? Kellogg was ruthless...There’s a reason The Institute used him to do their dirty work for so many years. I knew they’d send him after me; tried to prepare for it. But I still wasn’t sure I’d make it...” 

Virgil’s gaze and mind go elsewhere for a moment but he quickly recollects himself and looks up at the two wanderers that are now standing in his cave, boldly claiming to have killed The Institute’s lap dog. 

“And so you. You killed him, eh?” he asks. “Then what do you want with me?” 

A number of thoughts begin to race through her head all at once at the sudden question and for a second, she’s afraid she’ll take too long to answer him, but her racing thoughts soon grab a question from the air and force it from her mouth. 

“Why did you leave The Institute? I know you came from there”, she says. The question makes Hancock almost raise a brow at the boldness of it but he can’t help but agree that it’s still a good one. It wasn’t often they came across someone that escaped from The Institute that wasn’t a synth escapee, but instead, a scientist. An employee. One of their own. 

Doll, however, didn’t see it so much as bold but invasive. However, ever since hearing of his escape, she had to know what it was that had suddenly changed his mind about being there.

“You know about the escape? But how?” he asks her, but quickly shakes his head. “No, it doesn’t matter. I’m not going back...I can’t go back. Look at me!” 

It’s clear he’s getting frustrated and he turns his back to them, walking to the other side of his cave as Doll and Hancock slowly follow behind him. 

“Why are you even here? What do you want?”

“Relax”, Doll says. “I just need to know how to get in there”. 

They can almost hear the bones in his neck pop by how quickly he suddenly turns his head towards them. 

“Wait, what? Are you serious?” He turns back to them and she does not miss the pseudo judgmental look that comes over his face. “You want to get IN to The Institute? Are you insane?”

“Sometimes”, Hancock mutters quietly to himself, staying on guard. He doesn’t yet trust that things will remain peaceful but he will not deny how crazy they sound when they tell people what they’re setting out to do. Doll glances back at him, a brow raised and he puts his hands up before she turns back to Virgil, who continues to tell her just how impossible their mission is. 

“Never mind how nearly impossible that is, even if you were to succeed it’d almost certainly end in your immediate death”, he says, trying to make sense of what Doll has just disclosed to him. “What reason could you possibly have for taking that kind of risk?”

At that question, she can feel her throat tighten up but she clears it and sighs. She’s already revealed their intentions to him, she may as well tell him the why.

“I’m trying to find my son...The Institute kidnapped him”

Virgil’s face visually softens and he quickly understands.

“Oh. Oh no. I had no idea. I’m sorry”, he says, his attitude suddenly far more sympathetic to them. He lets out a deep sigh and awkwardly looks away.

“Yeah, the Institute has taken people from the Commonwealth in the past”

And with that, she knows they’re on the right track.

———

Damn, this update took a long ass time but in my defense, lotta shit has happened since I started this one. I do love this chapter however because i remember playing this part of the game and just wandering the glowing sea and finding all of the factories and just having so many questions with so many grim answers.

But hopefully, the wait was worth it!

Enjoy and as always, all interactions are welcome. Just be polite 🖤

-Hancock’s Spouse 🖤

[fountainpenguin]

"Watch as he buckles and bends but never breaks... No mistakes!" (x)

---

New Dog's Life chapter today! Only the most expected Traffic SMP content in this 'fic <3

Chapter 7 - “Firebreak (Etho)”

Read on AO3

Start from Chapter 1

---

After dumping PiglinMyNose off at Jimmy's game night, Etho searches the portal hub for SnifferMyFeet. Pig may have laughed in his face over the whole "let me look at your code so I can rebuild Joel's vessel" thing, but maybe Sniff will take the bait?

AKA - The one where Etho drinks his Respect Camera Account juice, discovers he has a half-ex, and commits a crime.

(First 1,000 words under the cut)

Etho

Self-Taught Programmer

Full-Time Hero

💚  💛  ❤️

Etho doesn’t make a habit of frequenting Jimmy’s parties. Tango’s? Sure; he loves the guy. Tango knows how to play him like a note block, hitting all his greedy keys and collector’s instincts. Tango deals cards of his own making. He customizes every party like a snare. And he themes his snacks; that man does not cut corners. Which isn’t a slight at Jimmy; no, no, no! It’s just…

… My line of work never lends itself to drinking. Especially on nights like tonight. Oh boy. He’s got a whole lot of work to do. As he and PiglinMyNose approach the card shop, Etho pulls the communicator from his pocket and glances at the screen. Right, okay. Three things to note here:

One full Overworld day/night cycle has passed since Joel’s vessel started disintegrating.

He gets twelve before the Between dimension kicks him to his original soul spawner. If it’s still standing. It needs to be standing; Etho’s hearts can’t take another strand of pressure.

Three hours is not a lot of time to do the aforementioned ‘a whole lot of work.’

Well, this is why they think I pull off miracles. He’s never failed before… in a way that anyone would hold against him. But as they climb the outdoor stairs towards the roof of the card shop, Etho… presses his tongue against the inside of his cheek. So, Pig bailed. If I don’t find a new model, I’m dead in the water. Then Joel’s going back to spawn town.

Yeah. Because he totally wants to be the one to tell Lizzie her husband isn’t coming home.

Etho’s comm is still glowing blue. His screen displays a pulsing infinity sign, indicating his player’s still online (definitely fiddling around on the single-player). All the block updates are logged to the world file and since he’s playing solo, Etho technically doesn’t need to be there… though his neck twitches instinctively in that direction, and in his newbie days he definitely couldn’t have broken the pathfinding pull. That’s one of the benefits of dedicating your whole life to a couple single-player series, actually. Once you’ve been around long enough, you’ve got a system. You get a feel for when it’s okay to step away without everything crashing down.

But time ticks regardless. Once he passes into sunset hour, the screen in his hand will glow orange. And when it hits green… Well.

That’s phantom hour. And no one ever makes it to the end of phantom hour.

Correction: One person has. But that’s because Martyn pushes himself farther than his body can handle for the sake of his newest partner in crime. He’s stupid soft on them. Not Etho’s business; just a rumor he heard floating between Pearl and BigB a couple months ago.

Anyways. Yeah, he’s got time to be here. When the big boss logs out, the infinity sign will click over to a timer and start ticking down. Etho’s an oldie; he’s built up his stamina and he can last in Between longer than most. Maybe… six hours without a break? That sounds right these days. He’s pulled multi-play sessions before, and though they leave him exhausted, he’ll do it again. He’ll do it a thousand times for no one but himself. It’s relaxing, honestly. No one can need you when you’re the only one in the friend group left awake.

“Pig, can I see your comm?”

Piggy Boy moves like he wants everyone to know he’s a newbie, loud and clear. His mismatched shoes smack on every step. Jimmy always hosts his parties in the rooftop garden of Beef’s card shop and Pig skirts back and forth, peering over the stairs. They’re nice stairs; Scott put a lot of thought into picking a stone design that isn’t slippery. Pig leans so far that he drips blue slime droplets on the road below. He stares for a few seconds, then seems to register the question. His comm’s on his wrist. He extends his arm towards Etho without looking over. Etho glances at the screen. The timer’s steadily pulsing, orange glow undeniable.

I guess that makes sense. He’s Joel’s camera account… and Joel’s player would’ve been kicked when his vessel broke apart. That’s probably what this whole thing translates to in the outside land. A weird bug. Another glitch in the system. Overheated device, maybe. Nothing a little turning things on and off again won’t fix. Thoughts and prayers. Give it time.

Etho blinks, quietly, and tries not to envy Watcher Joel.

“Oh! Oh, what in the world? Dude, I’ve never actually seen the clock tower before! Any other day, I’d just go straight home. Sniff’s so fussy when I’m late; he’s just one of those silly gooses.”

“Pig, come on,” Etho calls softly. “Let’s keep it moving. You’re gonna drip all over the stairs. Let’s keep moving, okay?”

Pig bobs his head and sprints up the rest of the stairs to the garden. Oh boy. Etho keeps right on his heels. There’s chatter, but it’s pretty mild at this time of afternoon. Even with the break they took after the server glitch, Grian still let them out early and Jimmy’s got a couple hours to go before game night starts. As Etho crests the final step, he spots the canary-winged man hanging up a little ‘Welcome’ banner, chatting with BigB and Tango. Tango’s really into it, making wild arm gestures. His flicking tail could knock the feathers off a chicken. BigB sits on the railing with his moth wings twitching, glancing back like he’s watching for someone to pass through the streets below. And Impulse stands on Tango’s other side, rubbing his eyes with intent to kill. Geez. Somebody squirt hot sauce in them or something?

None of them pay any attention to the two newcomers at the top of the stairs. Bdubs and Martyn, however, snap around like they’ve been shot. They abandon the azalea they were looking at so fast, it’s like they were waiting for an excuse. Ah. They can smell Pig’s invisible sync cord ticking down through sunset hour. It’s what phantom hybrids do.

“Heeeey, gorgeous,” Bdubs crows, ducking forward. He keeps his hands clasped behind his back, his mossy cloak swishing like a cape behind him. Now that they’re off the Dog’s Life server, Bdubs isn’t using his battered, bruised skin anymore. His smile could sink a sandstorm. There’s light and dancing in his sugar-brown eyes, and Etho wraps a warning arm around Pig’s shoulders. Bdubs ticks his tongue and veers away at a slant. “You’re off spectator for the evening, huh? I see how it is! Well, you’re in luck. It’s party time tonight and you’re in the best part of town!”

Pig, oblivious, smiles back at him. “There he is! Well, hello there! And yeah, I’m doing fantastic, actually; we love to see it.”

Jimmy’s distant voice trails off. He turns. Etho catches one split-second of shock before Martyn’s head blocks his view. Martyn straightens, poised as though presenting himself before a king, with a glass of sparkling cyan balanced in his hand. “Aww, it’s baby’s first corporeal night, then? Come get a drink, Pig! It is ‘Pig,’ right? We’ve got 1s.”

“What’s 1s?” Pig asks, absently brushing Etho’s arm from his shoulder. Etho presses his lips together, but doesn’t replace it. He steps to the side, a little closer to Bdubs.

“You know! Numbers!” Martyn thrusts his glass in the air. The binary code sloshes around inside. “It’s the blue one. Tastes a bit like sushi and a li’l like chocolate. Give it a sip, if you’re up for it. You might like it. Though it’s a little flat this time of eve, if I’m honest… It’ll perk up once the night gets rolling.”

Pig reaches for Martyn’s glass, which sends Martyn backpedaling and spluttering, telling him to keep his mitts off and go fetch his own. Etho winces.

“Pig, you might wanna stick to 0s…”

“I want a glass of 1s,” he says, pushing forward, and Martyn, beaming, swings an arm around Pig’s neck.

“Well, you heard the guy! He maxes out experience points tonight. Let’s get him his 1s!”

[Cnt'd on AO3 - Link at top]

[floatingcatacombs]

Bro Your Taste....

12 Days of Aniblogging 2023, Day 5

Watching the Elitist Anime Superbowl play out earlier this year on Tumblr reawakened something in me. Seeing Evangelion lose to Mononoke like that in round two felt downright heretical. But why? I started but never finished NGE and I haven’t even seen Mononoke, so I shouldn’t have a dog in the fight. And yet, there’s an unspoken yet established hierarchy in my brain that tells me that Eva is better than Mononoke. These polls were a bit of a wake-up call for me that this isn't actually a common framework or approach anymore! So I thought it might be worthwhile to give an account of what anime elitism meant, and means, to me.

tldr (from KC Green's anime club)

Rather than going through all the shows in the bracket, it may be more useful to start by identifying which internet communities skew elitist in the first place. I started watching anime in the early 2010s, so Usenet and early forums and email discussion groups are lost on me. But I did my time on 4chan, for better or for worse. /a/ is perhaps the textbook example of an elitist community, and I would say that they’re responsible for establishing most of the modern weeb canon. The anime blogosphere, though diminished these days, is also a tastemaker, especially when you start seeking out “hidden gems” to make your taste seem cooler and more unique. I originally considered making Floating Catacombs a WordPress blog to try and link up with some of these folks, but ultimately determined that the baked-in audience of Tumblr would better serve my purposes (and they’re owned by the same damn guy now anyways). Lastly, as those previous communities declined, patchwork groups of elitists began to form on Twitter, where many still reside to this day arguing and ass-kissing amongst one another.

Elitism is, in part, an acknowledgement that the vast majority of anime is dogshit. Just look at any given season and count up the isekai shlock, blatant wish fulfillment high school romances, and mediocre shounens ripping off other mediocre shounens. At least 75% of anime is stuff you’d have to pay me to watch. Of course, this isn't unique to anime, being just as true of live-action TV. The difference is that prestige television doesn't have to compare itself to soap operas or reality TV, whereas anime is still commonly treated as a genre in of itself rather than as a medium. As long as that’s the case, anime elitism will always have a place, as a way to say “oh I like anime but not like that” so your taste doesn’t automatically get lumped in with the most low-quality and/or sexually dubious shows of the time.

And obviously, elitism can just as easily be framed as a reaction against the masses. There’s liking Mushishi for the sake of liking Mushishi, and there’s liking Mushishi because its serenity and thoughtfulness reflect well upon you for being able to appreciate it, unlike those dirty Redditors and MyAnimeList denizens who need fanservice in everything they watch. Unfortunately, this means elitists have a tendency to elevate some truly pretentious stuff that looks cool but just isn’t very compelling or deep under the surface. Ergo Proxy is my personal go-to example of this– how it beat out Stand Alone Complex in that Tumblr poll is a mystery to me. I’d argue that Lain is also overrated in this way, but I don’t want to hurt all the sad neurodivergent extremely online women who probably make up my entire audience.  

One thing I've noticed is that elitist communities don’t make a ton of art or fanfic or other creative works. For them, the primary way to participate in fandom is to argue over whether or not a show was good, or if a given part of a show was good (waifu wars, etc). This makes the output of these sites fairly ephemeral (in particular, imageboards automatically delete threads to make room for new ones), but it also means that people will constantly repeat themselves and get in the same arguments to make themselves persistently heard. We’re still arguing about Evangelion 25 years later, after all! After using shows as a cudgel against other shows for a long enough time, you can start to form a hierarchy of notable anime in ways that you can’t really with Tumblr or Reddit or any other community that largely hops from show to show as they come out.

The canon for anime elitism is mostly contained to the late 90s and 2000s, and I think there’s a few reasons for that. As I brought up in the Patlabor post, the 80s are something of a dark age for broadcast anime, while the 90s contain some of the last beautiful breaths of cel animation. The 2000s were when 4chan had an outsized presence online, so it makes sense that a lot of shows deemed elitist come from the era where their taste was king. By the mid-2010’s, after GamerGate, moot’s departure, and the blatant fascism on every board, 4chan’s cultural clout had effectively zeroed out.

There’s also the blunt argument that simply fewer cool artsy anime get made these days. Ping Pong is one of the last truly “elitist” shows I can point to, and that was nearly a decade ago. Due to the overlapping issues of anime overproduction, poor working conditions, and production committees seeking ever-safer investments, a lot of the stuff that comes out these days has a very workmanlike quality to it, competent but never targeting excellence.

OHHH YEAHHHHH

But my final reason for the decline of elitism is a wholly good one – more people are appreciating the good stuff these days! Watching anime has somehow become a normal hobby for the teens that grew up after me, no longer something that needs to be hidden and consigned to small school anime clubs. While battle shounen still reigns supreme, it’s probably leagues better than the comparable stuff from 10 or 20 years ago (though still pretty damn misogynist most of the time). More importantly, new fans and old-guard elitists actually agree on the good stuff! Works like Mob Psycho 100 and Trigun Stampede were huge hits and bridged the gap between these groups through their quality and style, and in Trigun’s case by re-adapting a classic. The breakthrough success of Bocchi the Rock demonstrates that people can vibe with more experimental animation now, and it doesn’t have to be relegated to its own sphere outside of the anime mainstream. And Oshi no Ko has a difficult “dude trust me” pitch but successfully synthesized the pretentious and the mass-market in terms of both its audience and its themes. (I would guess. I haven’t actually seen Oshi no Ko either. An important, unspoken part of anime elitism is lying about half the stuff you’ve seen and just going with the flow on how people around you felt about it). Combining an old-school 90’s-2000s feel with insane pacing and fights, Chainsaw Man similarly captured a wide audience. Even if people have qualms with the overall quality of the adaptation, that one episode shot like a movie won me over. It’s good that some of the most popular anime can be artsy as well, and if that’s what ultimately does elitism in, it will be a happy ending. May poptimism save us all.

In the meantime, elitism lives on in the manga world, where smug assholes can talk about how they liked a series before it got adapted. Manga is very popular these days, but that's mainly driven by people diving into the source material for anime that they enjoyed. This leaves fundamentally unadaptable manga as the last bastion of elitism, which makes sense when you consider how people talk about Berserk.

I’ll leave you with some rapid-fire hot takes of mine.

Steel Ball Run is not that good and its ranking on MyAnimeList as the second best manga of all time is nonsense. It will receive more proper crit in a few years once the inevitable David Production adaptation shines a light on its more troublesome bits.

After rewatching it this year, I can say with clarity that Everyone Is Sleeping On Concrete Revolutio

Goodnight Punpun kind of sucks! Might just be me.

As far as beloved 90’s psychological anime goes, 4chan and Reddit historically love Eva, while Tumblr overwhelmingly went for Utena in that poll. This whole thing smacks of gender.

The Gundam fandom historically has something of a reputation for misogyny, so it’s really funny and good that my exposure has instead been almost entirely trans women on tumblr. We will inherit the mecha genre.

Actually, screw manga, there is only one vector for anime elitism now, and it’s Thunderbolt Fantasy. You gotta get in on Gen Urobuchi’s Wild Puppet Show.

[delugedecade]

Scooby-Doo! Music of the Vampire

forcefully review as watched by Deluge

spoilers, obviously, but then again, I’m the one watching it for the first time.

Title card already.

The fourth wall? Absent

Man just ate a leech

Oh we're at the ending chronologically

Always starting with a solved case

Velma listening to her own music instead of Daphne's show tunes.

Oh they actually are going the musical route. I thought it was just gonna be a gimmick of the vampire

JEEZ VELMA CAN YOU DRIVE ANYMORE DANGEROUSLY?

Van Helsing? Interesting

Spoken like a preacher. Hate that guy already.

What does a corn dog even taste like? I still haven't tried one.

Damn, Van Helsing not doing so well.

Again, If you have to explain the joke, it's no longer a joke.

Man just has a vampire in a coffin

Letting free an actual vampire sounds for tourism sounds like the perfect motive

That kid is far too into the vampires.

Okay Daphne, A tad enthusiastic, if not obsessed.

That's an Ankh...

Oh... Actual Vampire... That's not good.

Bram, Like Bram Stoker.

I feel he's the only one in on it, the rest of the troop aren't

Well, They did say they only perform at night, nothing about appearing only at night.

Yeah, all he did was get tased.

Damn, They just Tazed Fred multiple times like it was nothing.

Geez Lita, Really selling out on the vampire stuff. But obviously lying, vampire had green eyes.

Poubelle is really amassing an angry mob.

Daphne got lockpicking.

Of course Poubelle is a politician. Riding the hype to increase his ratings. but probably not the vampire.

Yep Angry Mob.

An interesting take on the hall of doors gag.

Shaggy, all you did was get scratched.

Hahaha I get what's happening. Shaggy's been reading the book and he's hungry, and now its a scene joking the melodrama of vampire love books.

YEAH SONG JUST ABOUT SCOOBY AND SHAGGY, though it does sound a tad autotuned.

Daphne's fashion sense coming handy

Yeah, It's getting pretty hard to determine who the real culprit is.

Bram possibly, but a bunch of scenes show he didn't realise.

Van Helsing, likely to ring up more tourism to save himself.

Don't think it's Lita.

Poubelle possibly, again to improve his status.

Those projectors were probably how they made it look like Bram disappeared in his act, but now more likely as well for the vampire and bat projection.

Yes, very cliche. Maybe eternity as a great performing band.

Yeah, Brams most likely culprit now, initial faint from the group was to bring them under spell maybe.

Maybe Shaggy will notice he's in the sunlight and not burning up.

So Tulie's the name of the guy at the beginning.

Hmmm, Sounds like the vampire floating around with Tulie's shoes.

Okay, The method acting is going a bit far, and I don't think its them anymore.

A bit of Mystery Inc Sass from Velma calling Shaggy a weirdo.

Again, why is an Ankh the vampire talisman?

Okay, really pointing to Van Helsing, trying to drum up more sales.

Has direct access to the vampire stuff, Could have stolen the boots since he lives there,

Sleeping gas maybe, Oh it's some other gas according to Velma.

There goes the cloak and the real culprit.

Yep, Van Helsing. Just to bring back his family's name. Kinda Sad.

Hmmm. Surprisingly fun experience that tied up pretty well.

9/10

@submissiveking99 @tokufan400 @freeusemuses @asexxxualauthor

[angela-the-fox]

POV:Dave and Bambi crews meet Aesthetic themselves.

(The Aesthetic Dave and Bambi were a little nervous to meet their original self as Dave was confused and Bambi was a bit curious of why,what,how they actually look the same,but in a different outfit)

Context:

The day where Dave and Bambi are chilling in his own house along with Tristan.Dave was grilling hot dogs while Bambi was on the phone and Tristan is in his room,doing a few things.But all the sudden,they heard a strange sound from the portal and the two figures came out from the portal and they were shocked to see the two figures as them,but they look different.

The aesthetic Dave was wearing a black top t-shirt and white sweatshirt with black stripes along with black pants and a pillow where he sat on it.The aesthetic Bambi wearing a white hoodie with maroon and white lines along with black sleeves,dark grey pants and green hat with a little flower.Both Dave and Bambi was really confused at this moment while the aesthetic self were started to get surprised and feeling super shy to talk to them.Usually,original Bambi doesn't sits on Dave's lap while aesthetic Bambi does, because he was confident and not shy person to his wheelchair friend.So,before they could greet them,but they start to get curious.

Dave:Uhhhhh....what?!?!

Aesthetic!Dave:....*feels too innocent and uncomfortable to speak*

Bambi:What Dave...wait,they look really like me,but....different outfits and.....a flower on its hat.

Aesthetic!Bambi:Uh....h-hi...*stutters from shyness*

Dave:Is it just me,or do they look....different like us,but...other outfits.

Bambi:*eats corn*Sounds like it to me,Dave.They are,but a different look.

Aesthetic!Bambi:"feels uncomfortable*I.....i....i feel a little not comfy to talk a-a-about it.You're making h-him un-un-uncomfortable.

Dave:Oh really?

Aesthetic!Dave:*nods nervously*

Dave:Oh...my apologies.I maybe scare your friend like that.

Aesthetic!Bambi:Oh y-y-yeah....my f-friend is...r-really m-m-m-mute and couldn't s-s-speak at all.

Bambi:Hmm, sounds interesting for your friend like my version of Dave from your Dave.

Aesthetic!Dave seems to be enjoying seeing his friend talking to their original selves,but sometimes feels flustered because he couldn't talk originally as always makes a quiet squeak whenever he's embarrassed to talk about it.

A few hours later

Dave:So... you're telling us that you guys are in another universe,right?

Both Aesthetic!Dave and Bambi nodded at Dave's question while Bambi was still eating his corn.

Meanwhile with Tristan and Cheating Expunged.

Tristan and Aesthetic!Tristan started to find themselves.

Aesthetic!Tristan:Ahh,i didn't expect that the original me didn't find it really satisfying.

Tristan:Uhhh,pardon?

Aesthetic!Tristan:Ah hahaha,my apologies, you're just the original version of me.Well,you have the 'Hair' on top of your head,but mine is 'Fluff' and has a different outfit.

Tristan:Ahhh,i didn't know anything about aesthetics.

Another in the meantime,both Cheating!Expunged are in their realm,looking confused.

Aesthetic!Cheating:Hmm,seems like i haven't met my own original self.

Cheating!Expunged:Yeah...fair point😒

(The Aesthetic!Cheating sometimes feels calm,but original Cheating!Expunged get super curious but interested).

________________________________

(Aesthetic Bandu and Origin Bandu had trans and pan bandanas on their necks).

In this realm were filled with floating phones,Bandu was watching some furry videos and from the sudden,a portal appeared from behind him and saw the other Bandu but aesthetically.

Bandu:*surprised*Woah....i can't believe that i just met the other me,but a different look.

Aesthetic!Bandu:Well...sounds like it to me.

Then both Bandu's turned into their origin forms and they look the same,but from another look of itself.

(Both Bandu's were enjoying their own self).

________________________________

(With Disruption Bambi)

(On the right, Disruption Bambi's face still has burn scars,skin is a bit darker and has a new look with different shirts and darker overalls and he looked calmed and doesn't have scandals).

Disruption Bambi:WHAT!!!Holy *quack*

Aesthetic!Disruption Bambi:Uhh what.Are you getting issues or is it just me.

(Original Disruption Bambi was shocked and Aesthetic!Disruption Bambi was a bit calm from outside and from inside has nerves).

________________________________

(With Expunged/True Expunged)

(The left,his true form on his face has a big glitch, because didn't want to show it).

Aesthetic!Expunged:I didn't know that my normal self looked really chaotically amazing hehe😏

Expunged:Oh,cut it out other me.

(The original Expunged in True Form was normal and still felt chaotic and Aesthetic!Expunged in true form beginning to become rivals).

[boobachu]

Sonic Prime gush

No one wants to talk about this and I don'[t want to spoil people so hiding under read more

Okay so first off: I hate the prime universe. Big is ugly, Knuckles sounds weird, Amy acts weird, Shadow acts weird, Rouge isn't showing her titties and everyone sort of acts like a budget 3D children's cartoon. The way they smile, and stand it scared me it was like Sonic Boom or Pac-Man or Mega Man...

Tho I looooove the animation, sometimes they seem to move like claymation, they're actually animated like cartoon characters! Something in the games Ive only seen in Sonic CHampionship and Sonic Riders!!

Also even tho the prime universe sucks, you barely see it!

Tho.. the weird wormy story telling is like... "dude why didn't you just have a longer intro instead of jumping back to finish the intro"

Like, it persists through the whole season so like... aunno I don't get it. My friend said that Ben10 man wrote this and it's a Ben10 thing but I never watched Ben10

Oh yeah I love Sonic's voice, like... he actually sounds like Sonic for once! It's very modern but like... duh. It's not 1999 anymore (sadly) so he kinda sounds like what corporate thinks is a tiktok but oh cool there's foxy comics in Sonic's world

(oh yeah! I can screeny on VLC!)

Like, aunno Sonic looks off but I also kinda love how he looks like those Y2K Archie comics like...

Also, isn't it weird that Rouge was made into a good guy instead of a dubious guy?

Also Rouge is the best she's been since SA2. The personality is... eh, but her mannerisms are great.

Also this smile reminds me of Robot Chicken

Like did Seth Mcfarline make this? It reminds me of Toyfaire theatre titan maximum

Also it's weird the egg-o-matic isn't in the series? Like supposedly this is canon now so like.. where's the egg mobile?

It's weird how Amy is sorta like the brains (tactics) instead of Rouge or Tails or Sonic. Kinda reminds me of Sally Acorn.

Tho the AU Amys are fantastic like it's almost like she's Sonic's rival like Knuckles used to be. I love seeing them fight! I fucking hate the baby Robotnik tho.

Also it's weird that only Sonic Underground world got AU Robotnik(s) but Junghole and pirate world didn't.

Like, this is all we get? Where's colonial eggman or monarch eggman... well I guess both are the same...

Where's Good Robotnik? I want to see a universe where Sonic's pals n gals are the villain and Robotnik is the force of good.

This is going to be 24 episodes and it's not (quite) Quantum Leap in that it's episodic... it's more worm spaghetti.

Also

I fucking DIED when he said his name! NINE?!?!! They did it! They made him canon!!!!

Well only sorta... not really... well I mean hey.

Also is this a Spider-man 2 reference... except Spider-man saves Doc Ock?

(God that smear) XDDDD

Also it's weird that like, they seem to reference the classic games?

but like, later Sonic remembers Knuckles in the hidden palace but the floating island doesn't seem to exist? Like is the hidden palace in green hill?

Cuz like the stupid palm tree is a reality anchor, there's the loop-de-loop, nexus of shattering, and a palm tree they "gave" to Sonic because I don't know the real superpower of teamwork?

Also Sonic seems to be sorta connected the the crystal he shattered? Like the glue to the multiverse? Pretty weird.

Nine would be my favorite character if not for Rusty Rose.

Like she's the Robotniks' lap dog but she seems to be roboticized but more robocop than SatAM (which, Wildbrain is basically new DiC) and she's a formidable opponent and I love her?

She is basically mind-controlled by the Robotniks (then later Nine) so I wonder how much of her is her and how much of her is programming and how much of her is lost...

Also I wonder how long until someone makes fetish art of Nine controlling Rusty (I'm busy working on JG so not it)

Shadow seems to be lost in the void and can only communicate with Sonic when he's running fast which causes him to warp similar to Sonic CD

Sonic also warps when he touches a jewel (sorta like Sonic CD except no)

I wonder if there will be six worlds: one that focuses on each character's social problem, on the rewatch I realized Amy cared about forests in the shattering, which, the jungle episode is about Thorny Rose wanting to defend the jungle at all costs.

So is SU world about Nine needing Sonic?

is pirate world about Knuckles not thinking?

Will there be a Rouge, Robotnik and Sonic worlds?

Will Blaze or different Sonics be in the show?

Aunno!

This is an interesting sight to see.

Also

Rings actually act like rings???? What is this nonsense?!

Wait someone in the credits is Miles "Tails" Wyrth? XDDD okay I mean how can you not

Aunno, kinda feels like they wasted the first season stevenbombing but like... aunno it's good.

If they release it on BluRay I'll buy it (downloaded Mkvs off a website)

I do wonder how Shadow plays into the story cuz it kinda hints that only Sonic is lost and no one is "split up" but time is breaking down or something but like...

They're air shoes.