#(t;gregory sharpe)

[distantdarlings]

WHAT FEELS LIKE FOREVER // t. nott (Multi-Part) PT. 1

RATING: R / 1.1K WORDS (Pt. 1)

Theodore Nott x Reader Insert (No gender-specific details)

+ SUMMARY - You started a band with a couple of your friends from high school a year ago. You've just hit your big break and have begun a small tour of America. Your relationship with your friends, one in particular, will come to change drastically while on this tour. (Part 2, accessible at bottom)

+ WARNINGS - Eventual smut (will note which chapter it is in), language, tension, angst

+ MUSIC (listened to while writing) -

Amsterdam - Gregory Alan Isakov

The velvety sand captured your attention. It cascaded so gently down the curves of your feet, traveling like rogue explorers desperate for discovery. You smiled a bit at the thought.

The sun had not quite come over the horizon, so it had not yet heated the white shores up. You reckoned you liked it better this way. A way in which you felt a subtle rose's tint kissing your flesh rather than the harsh, sharp red the dawn brought.

You liked the soft colors better. They caressed your eyes and hair like a mother might have. You supposed . . . you could not remember.

The early morning breeze that provoked the gray waves wrapped around you as well. You closed your eyes against the ocean and let the earth's zephyr run its fingers through your hair and the knit throw that hung loosely off your shoulders.

You didn't need to open your eyes to know that someone had come to stand next to you, and you didn't need to guess who it was either. 

"Bit cold out here, yeah?" the Someone spoke. Their voice ran like the honey and oatmeal your old friends used to eat every morning. It was a voice that made your throat sting with forgotten nostalgia. Once the Someone had come up beside you, the breeze had stopped.

"It’s not too bad," your eyes finally opened. They abandoned the horizon and found the Someone with the honey and oatmeal voice. Theo.

"Why do you come out here every morning?" he asked.

"It’s…nice," you shrugged, feeling his eyes on you. He was the harsh, sharp red that the dawn brought. The red that made you shiver with a soft type of compliance.

Theo was all angles and tight ends and sharp edges. He fit into the crooks of your heart like an ardent dagger. And he was exactly that--a knife, a weapon to your sanity. He constantly threatened to push you over the edge and into a deep pit of rough, amorous hatred. 

He was difficult and hard to work with, but there was no one you worked better with. The two of you were not the sun and the moon but more like the clouds and their rain. constantly pushing away and pulling back in. Desiring to feel the other's presence then letting go at as rapid a pace as they could.

Theo shivered lightly—the sound barely above a whisper. You glanced over at the older man.

He stared down at his bare feet, watching his toes flex against the cottony sand. The breeze had returned and had busied itself with his hair. It separated the strands and kissed his scalp with ghostly lips and cold fingers.

His cheeks were painted a loving pink that bled to the tip of his nose like watercolors. Your stomach tickled at the miniscule thing. It was the smallest of details that made your chest ache.

The eldest's eyes found your studious ones. Seasalt and the early morning sky sprouted there and pierced your heart. It dug deep into your veins and found a home there, filling you up until you felt full. 

"Alright there, love?" He asked. it touched the edge of your ears like the worn-down tips of his sketchbook. No one was softer with you than he was. The irony was amusing.

"Fine," you whispered, your eyes flickering down just once to see his lips part slightly. You tore your eyes away from the man, your eyelids fluttering nervously.

"Do you have a cigarette?" You asked, avoiding any extra contact with him.

"Always," he replied. You could've sworn you saw him smirk but you didn't dare look. 

Theo handed you the soft stick and allowed you to press it between your lips. His fingers brought the lighter up and lit it for you. You took it between your own fingers and took a long drag. You felt the smoke fill his lungs and then exit through his flared nostrils. Theo did the same, seeing the smoke from his friend mingle with his own.

Whether it was from the breeze making itself welcome once more or the dim flame from the tips of their cigarettes, he let out another shiver. He wore a pair of soft trousers and a black t-shirt. it clung to his arms and shoulders, falling delicately over his chest that rose and fell every once in a while.

You slipped the throw off your shoulders and wrapped it around the man's. His eyes opened slowly to see what you were doing.

"What are you doing?" He mused.

"You shivered," you replied simply. The older man needed it more than you did anyway. You had on a rather thick jumper as compared to his measly shirt.

"I’m not that cold," he mumbled, but you saw his fingers wrap around the folds in the material like a young child. You hid a smile and turned back to the ocean, taking another drag of your cigarette.

For whatever reason, you much preferred this to any other thing you could think of. Standing here, in peaceful silence, with no tension in your muscles. If ever there was any, your relief and cause was standing directly next to you, blowing a ring towards the clouds.

"What are we going to do?" He sighed, interrupting your thoughts.

"What do you mean?" You replied.

"This is taking off, is it not?"

"This?”

"This, mate…the band," he elaborated. 

"Oh," you said, your eyebrows knitting together. You didn't really know how to respond to his concerns. Was this not a good thing? You were in America, for Christ’s sake. This was a lot bigger than your pathetic town.

"I know I should be grateful, but everything seems like it's sort of rushed," he refused to make eye contact, holding his cigarette between shaking fingers. "I want to be here, I have since forever. But I almost miss just practicing in my bedroom, y'know?"

Your pulse quickened in your throat, your fingers tingling with anticipation. The nights you had wasted in Theo’s bedroom, holding his fingers to the proper chords and avoiding eye contact, they were innumerable. 

You remembered the heavy breaths and the roving eyes and the trembling lips as if it had all happened just last night. You weren’t sure if this tension still existed between the two of you as it once had, but his presence still made your lungs stutter with want.

"I know, Teddy. . . ," you sighed. You missed it too. Like an alcoholic missed a drink and a drug addict missed a buzz, you missed the love.

Part 2!

[lalunameli]

Tiger & Bunny Week 2024 (NC 1982): Short Story

This has got to be one of the silliest things I've ever written, but ngl, had a blast doing it. Short story about the Karuizawa Cabbage Theory. Geography is woefully in accurate since Sternbild is supposed to be a version of New York City, and well Karuizawa is a resort town in Nagano, Japan. Still the fans think he drifted on the river all the way to Karuizawa, so it stays.

Author: Lalunameli

Title: Yuri on Cabbages

Rating: PG (language)

Characters: Yuri Petrov (ooc, amnesia), and Kotetsu T. Kaburagi

A/N: Unbetaed, barely proofread, will fix mistakes as I come across them.

Yuri Petrov...

Kotetsu sat at his desk staring at the screen looking at a blurry photo submitted to him from his client, of a man with similar hair (though unkempt) selling cabbages. The former Hero Supervisor had been missing for almost a year ...which coincided with the permanent loss of his powers and the last time he and Barnaby had seen Lunatic. While it was hard to make out Lunatic's face in the glare, that same untamed curly hair resembled that of the cabbage seller's, who had not bothered to tie it back. A sharp contrast from the Director, who was so meticulous about keeping a neat and tidy appearance.

Kotetsu's current line of work as a Private Investigator for Anything Goes Investigations opened him up to contact from people from various walks of life, which is how found himself taking on the case of the missing Director. He had been approached by a woman by the name of Elena, who had said she was previously in employment as his mother's caregiver, until her untimely death. Apparently her employer had gone missing while she was recuperating in the hospital for injuries sustained during a robbery attempt in which Yuri's mother Origa, had been fatally wounded. Elena had survived; however, upon her release from the hospital, she learned that Yuri Petrov had been missing since the attacks on city by Gregory Sunshine and the controlled NEXTs. Fearing the worst, she sought out the services of Kotetsu to launch a search for the missing Judge.

This was how Kotetsu found himself in a small resort town called Karuizawa (of all places!) interviewing a strange cabbage seller, who looked unmistakably like his former boss, yet whose mannerisms were anything but.

"I honestly don't remember much prior to ending up here" said the Cabbage Seller amicably smiling at Kotetsu.

Smiling, thought Kotetsu Is he actually smiling at me? And what's with the casual speech?

The Director always spoke so formally around them and was known to be stoic. The Cabbage Seller on the other hand was all smiles, with a carefree demeanor.

"What do you mean you don't remember?" asked Kotetsu bluntly

The Cabbage seller tucked an unruly lock of hair behind his ear.

"Well the people here say I was found drifting in a nearby river badly hurt. They didn't think I'd actually make it! But I guess they brought me to a hospital or something... I'm not really clear on any of it. To be honest I don't really remember a lot of things, so they kinda look out for me." He smiled sheepishly at Kotetsu

"Yikes, sounds like you had a rough time" he responded still weirded out by Cabbage Yuri's mannerisms. "So are you tellin' me you don't remember who you are at all?"

"Not at all!" replied Cabbage Yuri enthusiastically "They've taken to calling me 'Kawabe' (A/N: riverside/riverbank) around here because of where they found me. Suppose it could be worse and they could have called me Cabbage Guy or something..."

He paused for a moment and furtively looked around. Seeing no one was around he looked at Kotetsu conspiratorially.

"Hey Mister, you wanna see something cool? But you can't tell anyone. Promise?"

Kotetsu had a sinking feeling of what this "something cool" was.

Shit-shit-shit... he thought to himself.

"Sure, go for it..." he hoped his nervousness wasn't showing.

"Look what I can do!!"

The tell tale signs of blue light from NEXT power activation appeared, as a bright blue flame errupted from Cabbage Yuri errr Kawabe's hand.

"I dunno if this was because of my accident but it sure looks cool!"

I KNEW IT. Thought Kotetsu. I knew this asshole was Lunatic! And now he doesn't even remember...

"Ummm hey, isn't that kinda dangerous? Shouldn't you be careful where you're waving those things around?"

Cabbage Yuri Kawabe's eyes widened as he quickly extinguished the flame.

"Oops, you're right! My bad!"

'Oops' and 'My Bad'??? Where the hell did he learn to speak like that!! I gotta try to deal with this before it becomes a problem.

"Listen I'm gonna level with you. I'm here because I run a Private Investigations office and..."

"...And you're on a case?!??" asked Cabbage Yuri excitedly

"Yeah something like that. Anyway while I'm here I kinda need someone who knows the area. Whaddya say, you interested?"

"Am I ever!!! That sounds like fun!"

Fun! thought Kotetsu exasperatedly, Why do I feel I'm going to regret this...

The two men shook hands as Kotetsu tried to figure out what the hell he was going to do next to keep up this sham and why the hell this was his best idea to keep Lunatic close.

ETA: Look at this lovely artwork from @lidoxia (aka @kalineas ) of Cabbage Yuri! I'm so honoured and happy to see him genuinely smiling!!

From original post:

Unlikely I'll continue this. I am long retired from fanfic writing, but thought it might be fun to dust off the cobwebs and write something silly.

[alilixx]

fanfic characters x reader

I would also write fanfics about the actors (they are mostly the ones playing the characters on the list)

Here is my list:

Harry Potter:

Severus Snape:

Remus Lupin

Sirius Black

Barty Crouch Jr.

Bellatrix Lestrange

Lucius Malfoy

Character I'm not sure I do:

Fred Weasley 

George Weasley

Draco Malfoy

Harry Potter

Hermione Granger

Tom Riddle 

Regulus Black

Fantastic Beasts:

Albus Dumbledore

Gellert Grindelwald

Minerva McGonagall

Lord Percival Graves

Hogwarts Legacy:

Phineas Nigellus Black

Sebastian Sallow

Aesop Sharp

Mirabel Garlick

Ominis Gaunt

Grand Theft Auto:

Michael De Santa

Trevor Philips

Franklin Clinton

Niko Bellic

Steve Haines

Lester Crest

Agent 14

Naruto:

Kakashi Hatake

Naruto Uzumaki

Sasuke Uchiha

Tsunade

Jiraya

Minato Namikaze

Gaara

Tobirama Senju

Senju Hashirama

Inuzuka Hana

Mitarashi Anko

Darui

Kushina Uzumaki

Kiba Inuzuka

Uchiha Shisui

Yujito Nii

Ôtsutsuki Indra

Ôtsutsuki Asura

Uchiha Obito

Mei Temurî

Boruto:

Naruto Uzumaki

Sasuke Uchiha

Mitsuki

Kawaki

Boruto Uzumaki

Konoha-Maru Sarutobi

Sakura Haruno

The Devil Wears Prada:

Serena

Miranda Priestly

Jujutsu Kaisen:

Yuji Itadori

Utahime Iori

Masamichi Yaga

Inumaki Toge

Okkotsu Yûta

Sheko Ieiri

Yuki Tsukumo

Uraume

Toji Fushiguro

Gong Shi Woo

Atsuya Kusakabe

Ieri Shôko

Zenin Mai

Zenin Maki

Choso

Gojo Satoru

Megumi Fushiguro

Ryomen Sukuna

Mei Mei

Kento Nanami

Assassination Classroom:

Tadaomi Karasuma

Irina Jelavic

Koro Sensei (human)

One piece:

Shanks

Portgas D.Ace

Don Quijote Doflamingo

Roronoa Zoro

Sanji Vinsmoke

Coby

Trafalgar Law

Sabo

Marvel:

Agatha Harkness

Hela

Natasha Romanoff

Tony Stark

Yelena Belova

Loki Laufeyson

Sylvie Laufeydottir

Matt Murdock

May Parker

Scott Lang

Shang Chi

Stephen Strange

Thena

Wanda Maximoff

Xu Wenwu

Marc Spector

Steven Grant

Wednesday:

Larissa Weems

Morticia Addams

Lucifer:

Lucifer Morningstar

Chloe Decker 

Mazikeen Smith

Amenadiel

Charlotte Richards

Aurora (Rory) Morningstar

Michael

Sandman:

The Corinthian

Lucifer Morningstar

Desire

Johanna Constantine

Bleach:

Ichigo Kurosaki

Sousuke Aizen

Kuchiki Buyakuya

Coyote Stark

Resident Evil:

Leon S. Kennedy

Chris Redfield

Ashley Graham

Ethan Winters

Carlos Oliveira

Helena Harper

Rosemary Winters

Alcina Dimitrescu

Cassandra Dimitrescu

Daniela Dimitrescu

Bela Dimitrescu

Dr House:

Dr Gregory House

Dr Lisa Cuddy

Dr James Wilson

Dr Alissa Cameron

Dr 13

Two and a Half Men:

Charlie Harper

Walden Schmidt

Judith Harper

Jenny

Politicians:

Emmanuel Macron (French President)

Gabriel Attal (French Prime Minister)

Mathieu Maucort (French  Interministerial Delegate)

Jordan Bardella (European Deputy and French President of the RN)

Volodimir Zelensky (Ukranian President)

Justin Trudeau (Canada Prime Minister)

I'M NOT TALK ABOUT MY POLITICAL PARTY OR WHETHER I SUPPORT THEM OR NOT!!! ONLY FOR PHYSICS HUH

Star Wars:

Kylo Ren

Captain Phasma

Din Djarin

Poe Dameron

Valorant:

Chamber

Viper

Reyna

Omen

La Casa De Papel:

Berlin

El Professor

Suárez

My Hero Academia:

Dabi

Shota Aizawa

Nemuri Kayama

Todoroki Shôto

Toga Himiko

Shimura Nana

Chisaki Kai

Attack on titan:

Hanji Zoe

Levi Ackerman

Annie Leonhart

Mikasa Ackerman

Pirates of the caribbean:

Jack Sparrow

Elizabeth Swann

Sweeney Todd:

Sweeney Todd

Mrs. Lovett

Judge Turpin

The Witcher:

Geralt Of Rivia

Yennefer of Vengerberg

Ciri

Kaamelott:

Arthur Pendragon

Léodagan

Bohort

Yvain

Gauvain

Ygerne

Elias de Kelliwic’h

Spy X Family

Loid Forger

Yor Forger

Castlevania

Dracula

Leon Belmont

Alucard

Trevor Belmont

Richard Belmont

Tera

Five Nights at Freddy’s

William Afton

Michael Schmidt

Vanessa Shelly

Satsuriku no Tenshi

Isaac Foster

Haikyuu!!

Yū Nishinoya

Tobio Kageyama

Tetsurō Kuroo

Fugou Keiji: Balance:UNLIMITED

Daisuke Kambe

Haru Katou

Ryo Hosino

Owari no Seraph

Guren Ichinose

Mikaela Hyakuya

Ferid Bathory

Crowley Eusford

Kureto Hiragi

Shinya Hiragi

Horn Skuld

Chess Belle

Rokudenashi Majutsu Koushi to Akashic Records

Glenn Radars

Sistine Fibel

Celica Arfonia

Albert Frazer

Domestic na Kanojo

Hina Tachibana

Rui Tachibana

Masaki Kobayashi

Reiji Kiriya

My new boss is Goofy

Shirosaki Yusei

Mitsuo Aoyama

Kinjo Aigo

Buddy Daddies

Kugi Kyûtarô

Suwa Rei

Kurusu Kazuki

Unasaka Misaki

Other characters

Sakata Gintoki from Gintama

Brienne of Tarth from Game of Thrones by Gwendoline Christie

Hans Gruber from Die Hard by Alan Rickman

Sinclair Bryant from Close my eyes by Alan Rickman

Miranda Hilmarson from Top of the Lake by Gwendoline Christie

Charlie Harper from My Uncle Charlie by Charlie Sheen

Isaac Foster from Angels of Deaths

Link from The Legend Of Zelda

Cereza from Bayonetta

Leonora Lesso from School for Good and Evil by Charlize Theron

Elaine Markinson from Gringo by Charlize Theron

Hannibal Lecter from Hannibal by Mads Mikkelson

Miss Perergrine from Miss Peregrine’s Home for Particular Children by Eva Green

Joel Miller from The Last Of Us by Pedro Pascal

Mr.Cat from Kaeloo

Marc from Le Flambeau by Jonathan Cohen

John Wick from John Wick’s movies by Keanu Reeves

Joe Goldberg from You by Penn Badgley

Crowley from Good Omens by David Tennant

Max Black from 2 Broke girls by Kat Dennings

Tobias from Ghost

[angelofrainfrogs]

Going Back: Ch. 16

~Coauthored by @zeitghest~

Fandom(s): Five Nights At Freddy’s: Security Breach

Description: Things are looking up for Gregory. After putting the soul of a formerly-immortal killer to rest, he and his new family can finally begin their lives anew. Sure, Gregory might have been cursed with mysterious Remnant in exchange for being involved in this mess—not to mention his caretakers consist of sentient robots and ghosts… But there’s no doubt that the bond they share is unbreakable. They love him, and he in turn. 

All in all, life is finally starting to go right for once. 

…Unfortunately, true peace is a hard-won battle. There are other things to contend with besides William’s decrepit soul, and Gregory will learn that his role in the lives of the Aftons and Emilys is far greater than anyone could’ve imagined. 

Rating: T

Read on Ao3

volume of Michael’s work, they’d opted not to pull the hood of Gregory’s new sweater down. Instead the boy allowed his dad to carry him, burying his face in the warm comfort of Freddy’s shoulder so no one would recognize him. Despite his new ‘do, the paranoia that the Smiths were lurking around the corner was too great to ignore until they crossed through the Pizzaplex’s entryway. Dayshift staff had long-since gone home, so it was eerily silent as everyone made their way to Sam’s office. With a hard knock, Michael called: “Sammy! I’m back and I brought the fam—is it okay if they come in for the big reveal?”

There was a few knocking and thudding sounds that seemed to shake the room slightly. Sam was kicking old parts and tools away from the door to throw it open with a fairly excited look in his eyes.

“I've been waiting for you guys! Come on in—he's finished charging!” Sam invited, patting the taller members of the group on the shoulders as they passed through the threshold as if to hurry them along. Charlie pretended to not even know the design already, managing a surprised expression. She let out a low whistle and shoved her hands deep into her pockets as she admired the newest installment to the franchise.

“You've outdone yourself, Sammy. A one-armed drummer is going to be so cool,” she remarked, understanding the reference with the obvious nods to a certain hair metal band in Sam's design of Foxy.

Sammy clapped his hands together, thankful for the positive criticisms. Looking to the rest of the group, he inched towards Foxy and unplugged him from the barebones charging stand. There, he flipped the robot's power switch into the 'on' position and stepped back to watch him boot up.

“Right—test run number one, here we go,” he said, seeing Foxy's bright eyes light up underneath his shut lids.

The fox blinked and looked around curiously, his slow gaze dragging over the members of the group. The faces of each employee already being downloaded into his mainframe, there was no need for most introductions. Though that wouldn't stop the friendly bot from introducing himself. He raised his hook, combing some of his mane from his face as he dramatically scanned the group a second time, personality chip taking hold as he felt a wholesome connection the people standing before him.

“Foxy the Pirate Fox, reportin' for duty!” he finally managed to say with a dramatic salute. The oddest part was his distinctly Brighton accent under the pirate façade, and how similar it sounded to someone else in the room.

Sam's jaw dropped and he immediately looked to Michael. Did he mess with his robot somehow? It’d certainly be a good if annoying prank, if so.

“Oh, no way…” Michael gave a short, stunned laugh. He pressed his fingertips to his lips, which soon curved up in a wry smile. “No effing way…”

Well, he’d managed to avoid triggering any profanity filters, though the close call made Freddy shoot him a sharp glare. This quickly morphed into a look of confusion as he gazed back up at Foxy, remarking curiously: “I did not realize you would be changing his accent, Samuel.”

“Uh, I don’t think he did,” Michael spoke up, rubbing the back of his neck. He knew this conversation would go right over the newly-activated animatronic’s head, but he remembered another piece of their weekend adventure they’d neglected to tell the CEO. “So… I think this was my fault—unintentionally!”

Michael was quick to throw his palms up, looking to Sam with wide eyes. “I promise I only messed with your animatronics when I had to! But speaking of that… You know how I told you I was trapped in Freddy’s head, which is how he got all that human sentience mixed in with his AI? Well… there was a step in between Freddy and this android I’m in now.”

Michael gestured to Foxy with ostentatious hands, as if to say ta-da! “I… might have rubbed off on him too, somehow.”

“Oi—” Foxy interrupted, confused by the nature of the conversation happening in front of him. “—be you some manner of imposter? You’ve got me voice, laddie.”

The fox carefully took one of Michael's hands and inspected it with his good eye. He then shook his head, deciding that Michael was fine, though dressed a bit too stuffy for his liking; not first mate material for sure. However, the kid with the mullet was certainly someone worth having aboard his pirate crew. With his entertaining protocols activated at the sight of both Gregory and Mari, he dropped Michael's wrist and waved to the children admiring him from afar.

“AHOY, children! You two must be friends of the good captain Sammy!” he compartmentalized, downloading their faces into his memory banks. The two kids were left giggling as Foxy approached, finding his mannerisms and way of speaking endearing. He bent down low, tail swishing and sweeping the floor as he stared the two down.

“Between you and me, he won't be captain for long,” he whispered theatrically, lifting his eyepatch to wink with his white, unlit eye. “We'll be startin' a mutiny by daylight. Stuff the captain in the brig and take all the Fizzy-Faz and pizza for ourselves! Then we'll rock out on stage and party until the sun goes back down!”

Sam hadn't said a word, taking in the fact that it'd been ONE minute and Foxy was already plotting to overthrow him on top of dealing with the fact that two Michael Aftons may be running amuck in his Pizzaplex. Gregory and Mari seemed pleased, raising their hands to give Foxy a crowded high five. Then, moving down the line Foxy spotted Freddy and saluted him.

“And you! Don't think you can fool a ship-spotter. I may be old, but my eye is as sharp as ever!” He pointed an accusing finger in Freddy's direction before sauntering up to the man, expression softening. “... It's good to see you, Fazbear.”

Though this was their first time actually meeting in the Glamrock iteration, Foxy knew he and Freddy were best mates in a past life. Those special eyes could see what was inside, and his soft spot might be the most surprising thing from the rough and tumble pirate.

“Hello, Foxy; it is wonderful to see you,” Freddy replied with his usual warmth, not hesitating to wrap his arms around the cerulean coat and give his old-yet-new friend a hug. It was brief but poignant, the surprisingly strong squeeze to Foxy’s waist letting him know that even though he’d been powered on not five minutes before, he was accepted into the Glamrock band with open arms.

“The others are going to be absolutely thrilled!” Freddy continued after pulling back, grinning up at the amiable pirate. “I think Roxy especially will take quite a liking to you—though they will all be happy to have you on stage with them, of course.”

“Well, he seems pretty great, all things considered,” Mike murmured, leaning sideways to bump Sam's shoulder. What part of the sea-faring fox’s personality was preprogrammed and what was due to Michael’s temporary residence within was anyone’s guess, though Mike liked to think the amped-up rebellious streak was solely his influence. Laughing as he caught the pale look of mild distress on Sammy’s face, he slipped an arm around the man’s shoulders so he didn’t fall over. “I’ll personally keep an eye on him, how’s that?”

It was a nice gesture on the outset, but the mischievous light in Michael’s eyes betrayed his true intentions—to make a new friend he could get up to trouble with. He might not have met Roxy yet, but Mike knew that together with her old counterpart they’d be an unstoppable force… especially if they roped Monty and Gregory into their antics.

Sam locked a strong arm around Michael in turn. He really couldn’t blame his friend for inhabiting the robot, especially if lives were on the line. He just sighed and told Mike in a half-joking manner: “That’s it—you’re responsible for anything he does.”

Across the room, Foxy was almost mirroring Michael unintentionally, his arm hooked around Fredbear and swaying slightly on his peg leg as he brightened to the thought of all the buccaneers he left in his absence.

“Those poor scalawags!” Foxy replied in a bark of laughter, his thoughts roaming now to their friends. “They must have all been so lost without me! Don’t you worry your fuzzy little head, this band will get whipped back into shape with someone to keep the timing now!”

He couldn’t wait to perform with them again. His skills were so obviously needed—or rather, he just assumed they were. “I’ll be excited to meet the new members of our crew as well! I’m sure together we’ll rock the heads off of our admiring fans.”

“Oh man, Roxy’s going to love him,” Charlie remarked with a laugh. Apparently Foxy was unaware of their names, and he had given Charlie a questioning, sideways glance. “You know… your sister?”

“I HAVE A SISTER?!” Foxy bellowed, eyepatch flipping up comedic ally as his ears stood up to straight points. “Goodness gracious! A little sister!”

Freddy’s heart warmed at Foxy’s obvious excitement. There was definitely a hint of Michael in there, he was sure if it—if the random accent swap wasn’t proof enough, the look of joy at having a younger sibling to care for certainly was.

“Roxanne Wolf,” Freddy clarified with a smile. “She is… well, a wolf! She plays keytar in the band and also has a raceway where guests can challenge each other around the track, as well as a beauty salon. Oh!”

Freddy let out a small gasp. He was getting really excited now, wanting to whisk the fox away right then and there and give him a tour of the Pizzaplex. He managed to keep his feet in one place, though he couldn’t resist gripping Foxy’s arm just above his hook and shaking it slightly.

“I am sure you have information about the Pizzaplex pre-downloaded, but we must give you tour once you are ready!” Freddy continued with a jovial laugh. “Your mental map does not do the place justice… Ah, and you must also meet Monty! His full name is Montgomery Gator and…”

Michael chuckled as Freddy rambled on. They’d witnessed him happy to see an old friend before, but this was a different kind of joy. With Bonnie and Chica, he’d also been flooded with relief—and disbelief, in the rabbit’s case—that they were back in commission and ready to return to all the fun they used to have. But with Glamrock Foxy being a totally new addition, Freddy got to take on the “mentor” roll tenfold and make sure he got acclimated as fast as possible.

“Guess he’s always had that streak in him,” Michael murmured, watching Foxy’s predictably dramatic reaction to the description of a huge, bass-playing alligator. Glancing side-eyed at Sam, Michael nudged him with an elbow. “So is Roxy going to be up and running tonight, too? Because we’ve definitely got to meet her sometime, if so.”

Foxy's attention was pulled constantly by the group. Now as Charlie and Gregory explained the group dynamic and where to bring Foxy first on his official tour of his new home, Sam was already smirking over at Michael. The boss crossed his arms and adjusted his glasses, vision drifting back to Foxy and watching how he interacted with everyone so fluidly—like he'd always been here...

“You'll be pleasantly surprised to know that Roxy's recovered and resting inside her room at Rockstar Row,” he said with some self-satisfaction, feeling he earned the right to be a little smug.

Turns out Roxy was a surprisingly quick fix overall. All of her parts seemed to more or less be pulled apart at the joints. Very little spares were needed, and after a wire-job here and there along with some final touch-ups, she was perfect again.

Foxy had to stop Gregory as he and Charlie ranted about their adventures—not that he wasn't interested, but their talk of the fun they had around the Pizzaplex made him yearn for the same.

“You two are torturing me! I need to see this place!” he said, snatching Gregory up when he strayed too close. There was no worry with Foxy—Michael had made it certain that Gregory wouldn't fear the old character when he had possessed him. Absently, the fox kept Gregory perched and giggling on his good arm. Another thing he wasn't quite programmed for, as parents didn't quite like the idea of the robots snatching up their kids...

“Well then, let us not waste more time!” Freddy exclaimed, though he made sure to pause when he neared Sam and give the man a strong hug. In his ear, he murmured his gratefulness for all his creator had done for them. “Thank you for fixing everyone up, Sam; I really cannot express my gratitude enough...”

“Fred, give him a break before he keels over,” Michael joked with a gentle tap to the redhead's shoulder. It was obvious that Sam basked in the praise, but even more obvious that he was in desperate need of another nap. Michael took it upon himself to hook his arm through Sam's, pulling him towards the doorway with the others. “Right—we'll stop by the Daycare first then head over to Rockstar Row.”

Moon was getting an ample amount of time out and about with the CEO's completely fucked up sleep schedule, that's for sure. As an excitable unit, the group left the crowded office and made a beeline for Rockstar Row, Freddy and Foxy in the lead—with Gregory still perched on his new friend's arm, of course.

Sam was barely keeping his eyes open by the time their group had gotten to the home of the main artists. It took some maneuvering, but the friendly Moon had taken the liberty of meeting both Michael and Sam at the edge where Rockstar Row met the exit to the Daycare. Carefully, the CEO was passed along into the waiting arms of his creation, nearly passed out already. The poor man needed to curl up in the theater room with some cartoons, a blanket and his favorite pillows...

“Oi, take good care of the Captain. He's still got his sea legs,” Foxy said in a hushed voice, mindful of Sam who looked asleep standing up. Mari quickly went inside with Moon to help put Sam to bed and to say hi to her friends, as they’d been sequestered the whole afternoon without her.

“Goodnight, Sam!” Gregory called, waving from on high. Only then did Sam show signs of life, waving lazily to the group and taking his leave.

“We'll make sure he gets a good rest,” Moon assured in his quiet, raspy voice. His head tilted ever-so-slightly as Mari slipped past, but otherwise he gave no indication of seeing the tiny android, his focus solely on Sammy who he'd lovingly picked up to cradle in one arm despite the man's weak protests. They'd have time to play games as soon as he put the nearly-passed-out CEO to bed. With a slow wave of one hand and a low cackle, Moon backed up into the Daycare.

By the time the door closed the group had already moved on, reaching Rockstar Row in a matter of minutes. Michael was pleased to see signs of Chica and Monty moving about in their rooms—now he wouldn't have to go searching the Pizzaplex to check on them before holing up in the office the rest of the night. Unbeknownst to Sophie and all the other staff members, there was a whole level to the gigantic mall that the animatronics could roam to... So far only Monty and Bonnie had been down to the old diner, but Michael didn't doubt the others would find their way into the burnt-out structure soon enough when they learned there was a group of excitable kids just waiting for a chance to play.

It was the night guard who knocked on Roxy's door, slipping between Freddy and Foxy to stand in front of them. He felt like he was probably the best one to lead the charge, as hopefully Sam had been able to upload his employee profile into the wolf's databank just like Foxy's. Now that he was officially working for the Pizzaplex, Roxy should recognize Mike right away...

“Roxy?” he called through the door. The curtains were drawn, so they weren't able to see what the wolf was doing, though she was definitely in there. “It's Michael—new head of security. I wanted to introduce myself and a few others you'll be seeing a lot around here.”

Roxanne had been fairly contemplative at her vanity, going through various metallic paints as she decided which ones to keep and what products for her mane were running low. The knock at the door interrupted her inner monologue and derailed her train of thought. She whipped her head around and called out to the person she recognized as familiar now that his employee profile was uploaded.

“Door's open!” she called, her more approachable demeanor a stark contrast from the outright unfriendly mask she wore when infected with William's virus. Roxy quickly teased at her mane with her claws, trying to prepare herself for people coming in as first impressions were very important to the wolf.

Outside the door, Foxy set Gregory down to wait. He wanted to go last and really think about what he wanted to say to Roxy. Maybe he should wait for First Mate Michael's signal before entering?

Was he overthinking this? Probably. Something in him wanted to impress her, to appear as a daring and lovable big brother. What if she ended up hating him…?

Foxy couldn't think like that! They were made to be family! Surely they’d get along just fine.

Michael strode into the room, immediately catching sight of Roxy at her vanity. Now that the bloodthirsty look was gone from her eyes, he could really appreciate how cool her design was. It certainly fit the profile of a speed-racer with a penchant for always looking her best.

“Nice to officially meet you, Roxy!” Mike told her with a smile, moving out of the way so the others could enter. Freddy was right on his tail, Gregory's hand now clutched in his own. By this point, Gregory was used to meeting the animatronics that'd been hell-bent on his destruction a few nights prior. Still, Roxy's attack and subsequent decommissioning had been pretty brutal—just like the others'—so Freddy took it upon himself to offer whatever small comfort he could. Squeezing Gregory's hand, he grinned at his former bandmate and opened his mouth to introduce himself, but Michael beat him to it.

“Your employee profile database says this is Fred, the new stage manager,” he began, having been through this spiel many times before. Despite the repetition, Michael's voice was measured and calm, unsure how easily Roxy's level of disbelief would be overcome at the human state of her friend. “That's true—but not the whole truth. He's actually your old pal Freddy Fazbear, just transferred to a new body. Check us out with your special eyes if you want—a startling number of us are robots, actually.”

“He is speaking the truth,” Freddy chimed in with a soft laugh, gently swinging his and Gregory's arms as they awaited the wolf's reaction to the news. “It is good to see you again, Roxy!”

Roxy's face was amazingly expressive just like the others—pure confusion took hold as Freddy sauntered inside the room. Well—it was Freddy, but not Freddy?

“Wait, is this a prank? Am I on camera?” Roxy asked, knowing that was definitely the unmistakable voice of Freddy Fazbear without the bear attached. She stood and went to inspect the redhead, noticing the child holding his hand was quick to scoot behind him at her approach. “Freddy?! Why are you a person now? They're not doing this to everyone are they—”

Taking notice of Gregory's fast glare from behind Freddy's thigh, she cocked her head in a confused way.

“...Did you steal a baby, too? What the heck is going on here?! How long have I been out?!” Roxy couldn't help but laugh as all the questions that seemed too ridiculous to be asking spilled forth from her muzzle.

“'m not a baby,” Gregory pouted, looking down and resisting the urge to nervously bite the skin around his nails. It was the first time the urge really hit him since last weekend.

“Ah—I think he needs a bit of space,” Freddy said, first and foremost putting Gregory's comfort above everything else. He took a step back while Roxy simultaneously did the same, not wanting to upset the clearly amped-up kid further.

“He has been through a lot recently,” Freddy added as way of explanation. The statement was vague, yet said all the wolf needed to know for the moment. Bending slightly to run his free hand through Gregory's hair, Freddy kept his smile prominent and his eyes trained on Roxy. “I have adopted Gregory as my son. I could not care for him as I needed to in my old form, and when an opportunity presented itself for me to transfer into this vessel I simply could not refuse.”

“Also, to ease your worries, Sam's not suddenly going to port you into am android, too,” Michael chimed in, a corner of his mouth quirked up in a smirk as he rested one hand casually on his hip. He was watching the interaction closely, ready to step in as a barrier between Gregory and his current stressor even though he knew Freddy was perfectly capable of handling things.  

“Freddy's a special case. Er, I guess Charlie and I are, too.” Michael's blue eyes flickered to his best friend lingering in the doorway. “Oh, that's Charlie, by the way—I'm sure she'd love to get a makeover sometime. She definitely needs it...”

The last comment was muttered under his breath, although by the look on Charlie's face she heard him just fine. Despite his apparent death wish, his smirk widened at literally offering his friend to the wolves—well, wolf.

Roxy took her time scanning everyone in the room now, her eyes darting between them as they rattled off explanations for their strange states. When Freddy told her why he was like this, she smirked at him. “Oh, Fred, you’re such a softie… That’s really sweet.”

How could she blame him for adopting a skittish kid in need? Hell, Roxy knew that she wanted to whisk away every mistreated kid that wandered through the Pizzaplex. She just never thought they could until now…

Roxy decided it was best not to scare the kid any more than necessary—he’d come to her when he was comfortable. Instead she circled to the only girl in the room, Charlie, who socked Michael in his arm while unable to hide the grin at her friend’s joke. Feeling eyes on her, she stood upright at the inspection Roxy was doling out.

“Her? She doesn’t need makeup!” Roxy said with an exaggerated roll of her eyes. “But I really can’t pass up the opportunity to give anyone a makeover if they want one.”

“I’ve never really worn makeup before—” Charlie laughed; even when Liz wanted to give her makeovers, it was like pulling teeth to get her to agree. When Roxy grasped her shoulders and scanned her face, Charlie gulped nervously.

“I have 76 potential styles that would fit that cute face of yours! Just let me know—I’m itching to use my new brushes,” Roxy told the girl with a grin and a wink, tail wagging gently behind her.

Slowly, Foxy snuck inside the open door. His sister’s room was pretty cool. Why did she get an awesome pad like this and he had to stay at Kid’s Cove? 

Roxy’s ears perked up at the sound of Foxy’s peg leg tapping on the tiled ground. When she whipped around, this strange fox character was sniffing around the stuff on her vanity.

“WOAH! Woah! Hands off my things, big fella!” Roxy protested, dashing over to stop the pirate from touching her hair gel or her perfumes. Foxy looked like a deer in headlights, turning around and stopping Roxy in her tracks as she was once again floored with confusion.

“I’m just lookin’, party-pooper!” he laughed, making Roxy’s head tilt with intrigue.

“What the heck’s going on here?” she asked again, recognizing the animatronic shell as a very familiar structure. Immediately, the concern they were replacing her next shot through her core.

“Roxy, Samuel has decided to bring back some of the older characters,” Freddy piped up, placing a hand on her forearm. The way her tail slowly flicked back and forth showed her suspicion at the intruder and Freddy wanted to assure her there was no threat immediate or down the line for her character. “Remember the mascot for Pirate’s Cove? Well, Sam has revamped him into a Glamrock style!”

“Think of him as your brother,” Michael added, placing a hand on Gregory’s shoulder as if to demonstrate what a sibling bond looks like. The kid clearly wasn’t totally on board with her yet, though Michael couldn’t blame him—that golden stare was intense…

“Foxy will be joining the lineup and staying in Pirate’s Cove for the time being,” Freddy said, already seeming to know the plan without having to ask. “But we wanted to introduce you first before he meets the rest of the band; he was just powered on tonight!”

At first, the air was tense. Like an unstoppable force meeting an immoveable object, the two stood defiantly until Foxy made a slow move. Roxy moved opposite, both animatronics circling each other carefully, two pairs of special eyes raking the other for any reason not to like their counterpart. In a way, it was like watching two dogs meet for the first time.

Then, Foxy side-eyed Michael and Gregory, learning quickly what it could mean to be family with someone. He scooted in closer, invading Roxy's space who passively allowed him to walk next to her.

“Frankly, I don't know what to say other than it's terrific to meet you, Roxy!” He smiled at her, not meaning to put her off by almost touching her things. This seemed to win the keyboardist over, the ghost of a smile pulling at her fang-filled maw. When Foxy hooked his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in for a hug, she reciprocated it in kind.

“Yeah, yeah, you're not too bad, either...,” she replied, looking away as she attempted to appear cool and calm about the sudden change.

She had a brother. And now Freddy had a son... Things were different, but she couldn't see a reason to fight the changes.

As the two stopped in front of the glass panel, a flash of purple sped past the viewing port. Bonnie Bunny was scampering through with what appeared to be an armful of wrapped presents and balloons in his arms.

“BONNIE!” Roxy shouted, at the window in a flash as she pounded the glass to get his attention. The scare issued to the poor rabbit had made him throw the presents and balloons into the air, losing the helium toys to the skylights.

“DANG IT, ROXY!” Bonnie cursed, jumping to try and save the balloons before they floated out of grasp, but it was already too late when he regained his composure. “Why'd you go and do that?!”

As Bonnie turned to scold the wolf, he got the full sight of Foxy standing beside his sister, laughing at him. “FOXY! Old boat, you’re here!”

“Oh goodness… alright, everyone into the hallway!” Freddy directed, grabbing Foxy’s hook—carefully—and leading him out first to meet Bonnie. It was far too cramped already in the room, and trying to add another animatronic would only increase the sardine effect.

Once fully in the cavernous museum hall of Rockstar Row, Freddy took his hand back only to throw his arms around Bonnie in a brief squeeze seconds later. The man’s face hurt from smiling so much, but he couldn’t help it. As of this moment, his whole family was here—his old friends were back in commission, and his new ones were as happy as could be in whatever bodies they chose to inhabit, ghostly or robotic.

“What in the world are you up to, you silly rabbit?” Freddy asked, a slight crease in his brow the only piece of his expression that changed as he started picking up the haphazardly thrown presents now scattered on the floor. Michael and Charlie had meandered out in the hall as well, though the guard’s focus was on the balloons far out of anyone’s reach.

“Wonder if Sam will want me to get those down… probably,” he murmured, crossing his arms as he tried to calculate how tall of a ladder they’d need to get. Then a thought occurred that had him snapping his fingers. “I bet one of the kids can do it! Float right up to the ceiling and grab them…”

He glanced at Charlie with a satisfied grin. “How do you feel about being a babysitter tonight? Maybe we can grab the kids and have them help before setting the little monsters loose; I’m sure you can rope some animatronics into helping you watch them while I’m working. Plus I’ll be keeping an eye on you through the cameras, so if you get into any trouble, I’ll know.”

He tapped his temple in both a promise and a warning. Any sign of trouble either towards or from the group, Michael would be on them like a hawk.

Bonnie returned the hug with enthusiasm, head knocking his friend’s ever so slightly until he pulled away to help with the scattering of presents. Some boxes heavy, some light. Others wrapped expertly, and some with a clear smattering of pizza grease on the outside... One noticeably had purple glitter glue closing its paper tabs. The tags on them read GREGORY in various handwriting styles.

Bonnie's guilty expression coupled with his eyes darting around for the unseen boy had the rabbit leaning in to whisper to Freddy. “Monty, Chica and I've been plannin' the surprise party! We were going to put these in your room.”

The excitable bunny was left giggling. He loved parties, and had always been a meticulous planner when it came to these things.

“It's the wee lad’s birthday?” Foxy asked, looking back over his shoulder to where he saw the kid inside Roxy's room by his lonesome. He didn't seem distressed, though. Maybe a tad bit tired as he laid on the ground, alternating kicking his legs up and letting them flop to the ground. If anything, he looked pretty bored.

Freddy sucked in a little gasp, eyes wide and sparkling as he immediately started towards his room with the armful of presents he’d collected.

“Yes, of course you can store things there!” he said in a hushed whisper, urging Bonnie to follow. Oh, Gregory was going to be so happy once this party came to fruition, he just knew it.

It took only a minute for Freddy and Bonnie to slip the presents away, making sure the curtains were closed so the boy couldn’t see the surprise they were cooking up for him. When they returned to the group, Foxy and his new sister were chatting quietly while Michael poked his head into Roxy’s room.

“Hey, kid—time to see your friends!” the guard called with a grin, gesturing for Gregory to get up and follow him. “I’ve got to start my shift soon; Charlie’s going to stick with you guys tonight.”

“I will go with you as well,” Freddy offered, raising a hand slightly. He looked to the other animatronics, explaining to those not in the know: “There are some children staying here with, ah… alternative circumstances. Sam has allowed them to remain with their guardian, though they may not all be in your guest profile list yet. We are going to visit them and see who would like to explore the Pizzaplex tonight—I am sure they will want to meet you both!”

Charlie popped into the room, having agreed to babysit tonight. After all, she was sure Cassidy and Liz were getting pretty fed up with her running around and not playing with them. So, she’d be the one to take the apparently bored Gregory away for another tour of the Pizzaplex with all of his friends. Hopefully, years of being attached to the security puppet's insides rubbed off on her and she could reign in all the kids well enough like Freddy or Michael did.

“You ready to go see Henry and your friends?” Charlie asked to hype Gregory up. At that, Gregory quite impressively pushed off from the floor and bounced up to his feet faster than a blink.

“Man, I thought we were NEVER going!” he said dramatically. With his tablet in hand, Gregory smiled down to the flat screen. “I finally finished that picture for Hannah.”

Bonnie had been curious to see, as he was the subject of the art piece. Carefully, the bunny knelt down behind the boy and looked over the colored sketch of himself holding a guitar.

“Wowee! You made my good side look even better!” Bonnie exclaimed, only adding to Gregory's smug look. He gave the boy a hug—hoisting him up, only to hand him off to Charlie.

Gregory at this point in his life just expected to always be passed around like a ragdoll between his robotic friends. Though it was hardly a bother, especially when bouts of sleepiness hit him.

Charlie walked over towards Freddy and told her brother: “Say bye to Mike and your Dad, kiddo!”

“See you later!” Michael said, giving the kid a high-five. “Remember—any problems, just wave at the nearest camera and I’ll come running.”

“Bye, superstar; have fun with your friends!” Freddy stepped in with a soft smile. Since the top of Gregory’s head was currently piled high with hairspray, his dad opted for pressing a quick kiss to his forehead. He then moved to Foxy and Roxy’s sides, slipping an arm through each of their own as he looked up at them with a bright grin. “Come on, we must go see the others!”

With that, the group parted for the time being. Michael headed for the central security hub, where he was quick to lock the doors and check all vents before settling in one of the swivel chairs. He ran through all the camera feeds, taking note of everyone as he scrolled. Freddy and his friends were now gathered in Chica’s room, where she and Monty were celebrating the reinstatement of Roxy and the concurrent arrival of her sea-faring sibling. A flash of Moon’s red eyes could be seen in the dark theater where he watched over Sam with quiet adoration, occasionally shooing away a cleaning bot that got too close and risked making a ruckus.

And then there were Charlie and Gregory, making their way to the basement where they’d soon disappear from camera view as they traipsed down to the old diner. Once satisfied he had tabs on all those he could, Michael leaned back in the chair with a sigh. Hopefully, tonight would actually be relatively calm… though his hope was minuscule at best.

***

At the sound of approaching footsteps Henry had quickly shoved the blueprints on his work desk into the nearest drawer, as was becoming habit. He was never sure if the visitors would involve Michael, and he wasn’t about to take any chances of his nephew seeing his latest project before it was complete. However, to their relief it was only Charlie and Gregory, who the old ghost immediately went over to greet.

“Hi, sweetheart!” A quick kiss was placed to Charlie’s cheek, then Henry chuckled as his eyes fell upon the boy in her arms. “And hi, Gregory—wow, nice ‘do! Very retro. Mike’s work, I presume?”

“How'd you know?” Charlie asked with a smirk. She lowered Gregory down from her hip, figuring she would let the kids all meet and mingle for a moment before taking the troupe of children above. Besides, she wanted to catch up with her dear old dad for a moment.

“Thanks, Henry!” Gregory smiled, not a care in the world as of recently. So far, Gregory had no idea just how actively his foster parents were looking for him—and really, there was no way to explain it in a way that wouldn't stress him out. It was better, in Charlie's opinion, to keep him blissfully ignorant of this fact. He scampered off to the back of the basement by the diner, hurrying to get inside as he knew that was where all of his friends were hiding.

“I'm back guys!” Gregory called, thinking how much easier it was to break into the diner than the first few times he’d attempted. In the darkness of the burned down interior, he saw a shadow creep out of sight.

“Oh my god,” he could hear Cassidy say with a laugh. “What year is this? And WHO did your hair?”

“My brother. Duh, who else?” Gregory asked, flipping the longer back ends of his new style out with emphasis.

“Yup! That’s Mikey’s work, all right.” Evan’s confident voice suddenly popped up next to Gregory’s ear as the ghost faded into existence, and he couldn’t help but giggle at the childhood memories the over-styled mullet brought up. Despite his laughter, Evan was genuine when he told Gregory: “I like it! It’s super rad.”

“Gregory got a haircut?” Hannah asked, peering out from a side room curiously. She took in his appearance with an appraising eye as she walked closer, humming and tapping a finger to her chin. She seemed like an art critic analyzing a piece to see if it was worthy of being in a museum collection or was simply utter trash. After a moment of tense silence, her lips quirked up in a little smile. “It’s cool! How’d you get it to spike up like that?”

In the workshop, Henry grinned widely as he pulled the blueprints back out of their temporary hiding spot. Splaying them out on the work table, Charlie got a firsthand view of just how much progress he’d been making with his latest android.

“Check this out,” Henry told her as their eyes roamed over the multitude of scribbled out drafts. “We’re almost done with the initial design, then I can really get to work! It’s been a little… tough getting a consensus of opinion though.” The ghost chuckled with a soft shake of his head. “Though I’m working with three distinct AIs here, so it’s to be expected… Still, take a look and let me know what you think!”

Charlie overlooked the blueprints with a curious hand, scanning all of the design aspects rather than the mechanical specifications.

“This is a really intricate design—did Ennard pick this out?” she wondered. Henry had a penchant for making the nicer-looking animatronics in Charlie’s opinion, and she didn’t doubt he’d be able to tweak Ennard’s base model into something good. 

“For the most part, yeah,” Henry replied with a nod, happy as always to get a favorable review of his designs—especially from Charlie. Flipping back to the first page, he pointed out the original design he’d whipped up. The body type hadn’t changed very much from then to now, as it was the features that’d gone through dozens of iterations, tweaked less and less each time until they'd settled on what was hopefully the final draft pending Ennard’s approval.

“I started out with a base model, but I had a feeling Ennard would want more input on their design than Fred or Mari,” Henry explained, pointing to the original sketch. “Good thing I asked, because they definitely had some opinions! Once we got a rhythm going it’s just been a matter of me reworking the look from our last brainstorming session while they’re hanging with Sun, then tweaking whatever else I need to when they come down for a visit.”

“This is so cool, Dad!” Charlie said with a toothy grin, smiling at the consideration Henry had put into making Ennard feel more comfortable in their own skin. “So—we’re not going to tell Mike who this is, right? We'll just... Let him figure it out on his own?” She knew very well how pissed he might be at first when realizing everyone was helping Ennard slip into society in a way. “I hope he realizes we're doing this because it'll make the chances of them hurting someone else a lot slimmer...”

Henry gave a short, barking laugh.

“HA! Yeah, telling Mike’s out of the question for now.” He sighed, folding the papers back up and arranging them with the newest design on top. “I certainly can’t blame him for how he feels about Ennard—honestly, it’s a wonder he tolerates them well as he does right now. Still… that boy has a big problem getting stuck in the past.”

His face pinched into a grimace, knowing how ironic that statement was coming from a man who’d been making androids of his dead daughter for decades. Besides, Michael’s hatred and underlying primal fear of the amalgamation had been deserved. Too bad no one realized that by the time Ennard stumbled their way into Henry’s mock diner, they’d already come to terms with the fact that what they’d done to Michael was very bad… It was simply the guard’s instinct to slam the vents in their face and shock them with a taser if he thought it necessary.

Now though… Ennard had proven themselves to be trustworthy overall. Did they have some dark, underlying tendencies evolved from their original purpose that Henry was acutely aware of? Most certainly—hence the new body. As Charlie said, hopefully with this human form Ennard’s desire to blend in with society would be appeased and they wouldn’t go looking for alternate routes.

In the diner, Cassidy seemed excited about something other than revenge for once in her afterlife.

“I'm going to get the twins and Liz, then we can head out!” she said, eager to leave and explore with everyone. It sure beat the dour demeanor she normally kept.

“Uh—hey, Hannah?” Gregory cleared his throat, holding up the little digital art board. “By the way, I made something for you…”

Evan sensed that perhaps he should follow Cassidy to grab the others. Gregory had made it very clear to him in a whispered conversation yesterday between just the duo that this picture was specifically for Hannah… and while the image itself might not necessarily be private, the act of showing it to her was. With a lingering brush of his fingers on Gregory’s shoulder for good luck, Evan quietly floated away to follow his old suitmate in rounding up their companions.

“For me?” Hannah questioned, shifting to stand next to Gregory’s side and leaning in close. The red tint to her cheeks deepened as she took in the picture of her favorite animatronic holding his favorite guitar.

“Oh my god, you MADE that?!” Hannah gasped, clenching her fists and holding them up to her chest. The words could’ve been taken as condescending if not for the humongous smile that spread across her face. “Gregory, that’s so cool! Thanks!”

With a little squeal of joy, she slipped her arms around his shoulders and squeezed him in a grateful hug. And there it went—Gregory's ability to breathe, right out the window.

“I'm really glad you like it! I-I wanted to make you something because you're so nice to me...,” he said, managing to give her a fairly tight hug right back to match her energy as he spoke into her shoulder.

It seemed like Gregory and Hannah might never let go of each other. They stayed locked in a hug until the loud voices of the other kids cut through the air, upon which they quickly parted. Hannah let out a small, embarrassed laugh as she needlessly adjusted her ponytail, turning to the doorway as Evan led the group through.

“We’re ready!” the littlest Afton proclaimed, pointing towards the ceiling as if about to lead an army into battle. “To the Pizzaplex!”

Gregory cleared his throat, reluctantly letting go of Hannah. When he rose his eyes to finally meet the group and say hello, Liz gave Gregory a hug next.

“Love the hair, Mini-Mike,” she snickered, making Gregory roll his eyes as he patted her back.

“Good to see you too, Lizzie,” he replied, taking the comparison to Michael in a more flattering tone. He’d never admit it aloud, but in a way the boy had begun to idolize him just a tad. Following Evan's excited lead out of the diner, Gregory posed a question to the group. “Where do you all wanna go first? I'm down for whatever!”

“Ummm… the Daycare?” Evan suggested, knowing that was as good a place as any to start with.

“Oh, looks like the cavalry’s arrived,” Henry commented when the group filed into the room. He raised an eyebrow, noticing that all the kids were together this time. “You’re all going up tonight?”

There was a murmur of agreement, and Henry’s gaze shifted to Charlie. She’d barely gotten a week off and now she was the sole babysitter again… Her dad knew she didn’t mind, though. The look on her face made it clear that she loved watching over the little rascals, regardless of how much trouble they might be. Henry’s expression softened along with his heart—that was his daughter, caring through and through.

“Well, I couldn’t stop you even if I wanted to,” Henry laughed, stepping out of the way and gesturing to the door. “Have fun, and listen to Charlie! Make sure you’re back by dayshift.”

“You got it, Uncle Henry!” Evan sang, hugging the old ghost around the waist before moving to the door and eagerly awaiting Charlie’s signal to go. He couldn’t wait to show Cassidy all she’d been missing!

Cassidy caught up to Evan, instinctively putting her palm against his. She’d started out having to comfort Evan all those years ago, much to her dismay of feeling like she was “babysitting” him. Now, she just really liked his company. Joining hands when they walked just felt natural.

“Is the Daycare as lame as it sounds?” she asked, figuring there was a bunch of dumb baby shit there. Building blocks, toys made for learning versus having fun...

“Do you think we'd go to babytown to hang out if it wasn't fun? There's the biggest ball pit I've ever seen there! Plus it's got these two huge climbing gyms,” Elizabeth explained with a shake of her head, and that seemed to win Cassidy over.

Charlie watched as they started to wander up to the surface, following the lead of both Gregory and Evan for now. She felt safer walking in the back and keeping all of them in her sights. Even if most of the kids were dead, she knew they could still get into trouble...

“I'll see you later, pops,” Charlie said as she gave her dad a quick hug goodbye. An extra squeeze around the shoulders before letting him go, and she was off to herd the flock of kids towards the surface of the Pizzaplex.

***

Previous Chapter ~~ Next Chapter

Looking for more? Check out the Chapter Masterlist on Tumblr!

Or check out the entire Wires that Bind Us Series on ao3!

[kurobracket]

BRACKET REVEAL

At last, the highly anticipated bracket reveal for the Akuma 6 V2 is now out! Before viewing this bracket, please keep in mind that I randomized who goes against who so that I wouldn't be biased in my decision. Regarding the decision of who made it in the bracket, I took the results from my Google Form I put out a few weeks ago, while also considering some of the most popular fan favorite characters and consulting outside help. So if you're wondering why a certain character isn't there, or why an "unpopular" character is there, that is the reason why. Also, since the size of the bracket is so huge, the image quality is SUPER LOW, which is why I included a PDF of the bracket so you can zoom in a higher quality. Without further ado, here is the official bracket:

And here is the link to the PDF where you can freely zoom in

I know its super small, which is why I am including a text description of who is going against who in round one:

Rachel Phantomhive vs William T. Spears

Elizabeth Ethel Cordelia Midford vs Alois Trancy

Undertaker vs Lawrence Anderson (Pops)

Blavat Sky vs Drocell Keinz

Jane vs Grelle Sutcliff

Mey Rin vs Frederick Abberline

Ronald Knox vs Edgar Redmond

Alan Humphries vs Ash/Angela Landers

Lau vs Herman Greenhill

Tanaka vs Othello

Charles Grey vs Soma Asman Kadar

Doll vs Sebastian Michaelis

Snake’s snakes vs Nina Hopkins

Sieglinde Sullivan vs Bard

Sascha vs Agni

Angelina Dalles vs Vincent Phantomhive

Wolfram Gelzer vs Lawrence Bluewer

Gregory Violet vs Hannah Annafellows

Ciel Phantomhive vs Ran Mao

Snake vs Ludger

Butler Grelle vs Finnian

Eric Slingby vs Thomas Wallis

Charles Phipps vs Joker

Sharpe Hanks vs “Ciel” Phantomhive

Asks and submissions are open for questions and propaganda posts! Please remember to have fun, be kind to each other, and remember this is just for fun.

Round one will be posted tomorrow, Monday March 6th at 12 P.M. EST!

[blackbutlercharacterpoll2023]

The following is the lineup for the polls by date, made using a random number generator. New characters introduced in chapter 199 will automatically be added to the end of the roster.

April 19th - April 26th

Chlaus

Rian Stoker

Lord Ackroyd's son

FOL Orphanage staff

Timber

Claude Faustus

Tanaka

Conny

Emily

Baldroy / Bard / Baldo

Finnian / Finny

Sharpe Hanks

Mabel

Burnett

April 20th - April 27th

Soma's elephant

Beast

Sophie Smith

Theodore

Finny's hat

Funtom Corporation's unicorn suit

Karl Woodley

Oscar

Chris Heathfield

Sieglinde Sullivan

Fred Abberline

Stella Rose

Charles Phipps

the orphan that called Sebastian an old guy

April 21st - April 28th

Nick

Joanne Harcourt

Purple House dorm master

Agni / Arshad Satyendra Iyer

Yana Toboso

Grete Hilbard

the Mad Dog of Venice

Abbie

Johnny

Mina

Rachel Phantomhive

Charles Phipps's chicken

Haku

Sascha

April 22nd - April 29th

Jumbo

Mrs. Mayell

Goethe

the Rowdy Count

Georg von Siemens

Margaret Connor

Al

Cedric Brandel

Mathilda Simmons

Wendy

Sam / Old Man Sam

Grelle Sutcliff

Ellery Nixon

Eric Slingby

April 23rd - April 30th

Edward Midford

Luka Macken

Queen Victoria

Lord Ackroyd

Layla

the other children in the lab Finny was kept in

Betty

Reaper trainees

Green House dorm master

Vincent Phantomhive

Drossel Keinz

Kelvin

Lawrence Bluewer's sisters

Charles Grey

April 24th - May 1st

Margaret Turner

Akashi

Snake

Edgar Redmond

Derrick Arden

Ronald Knox

Aurora Society member

Bloodbath Johnny

Wilde

Soma Asman Kadar

Claude's birds

Sebastian's silverware

Chef Rickman

Susannah Connor

April 25th - May 2nd

Susan

Artie

Damian

John Brown

Saneatsu Nekoma

Peter

Lawrence Anderson / Pops

Chef Wollest

Chris Heathfield's maids

demon Crow

Nina's assistants

Ludger

Prince Albert puppet

Miranda

April 26th - May 3rd

Blavat Sky

Vicar Rathbone

Julius Pitt

walking stick shopkeeper

Grimsby Keane

Ciel's horse

Edward V

Jay the Undertaker

Gregory Violet

Canterbury

Jeremy Rathbone

Doctor

the cat from the live action movie

Henry Barrymore

April 27th - May 4th

Lawrence Bluewer

Prince Albert

Higham

the Panzer

the train kidnapper

Donne

Heinrich

Chef Lach

Dagger

Doll / Freckles

Sam's grandson

Bitter Rabbit

Japanese man with a katana

"Ciel" Phantomhive / Our Ciel / O!Ciel

April 28th - May 5th

Mey-Rin

Undertaker's mourning lockets

Webster

Purple House prefect from Vincent's year

Patrick the Grey Wizard

Diedrich

Johann Agares

Bronte

Carter

Othello

the cultists

Baldroy Jr.

John Brown's horse

Sphere Music Hall staff

April 29th - May 6th

Jackknife Haywood

Nina Hopkins

William's death scythe

Angela Blanc

Wolfram Gelzer

McDowell

Ronald's lawnmower

Arthur Randall

Aleister Chamber / Viscount of Druitt

Keats

Annie

Terry

Hao

Maria

April 30th - May 7th

Irene Diaz

Polaris

beggar boy that Soma gives a necklace to, mother, and baby brother

kenpo master

Red House dorm master

Ran-Mao

Shiori Genpou

Cedric K. Ros

Lau

Clayton

William T. Spears

Patrick Phelps

Japanese woman with a lunchbox

Oliver

May 1st - May 8th

Arthur Conan Doyle

the bear

Grelle's chainsaw

Trancy / Former Head Trancy

Richard

Aristocrat of Evil with the scarred face

the archeologist

Joker

Jan

the cats Sebastian rescues from the rain

Hilde Dickhaut

Rin

Cloudia Phantomhive

"Deer"

May 2nd - May 9th

King's Bear prostitutes

McMillan

"Her"

Undertaker's death scythe

Daniel

Ginny

Sieglinde Sullivan's father

Charles Bennett Sato

demon Ciel

Ada

Arnold Trancy

Ciel Phantomhive bizarre doll / Real Ciel / R!Ciel

Arihito Genpou

Thomas Wallis

May 3rd - May 10th

Chef Tarpin

Queen Victoria (Season 1)

Lau's ladies

Fennian

Harold West Jeb

Nicholas

Professor Sullivan / village crone

Anne Drewanz

CGI horses / driver

Margaret Connor's father

Ciel Phantomhive child / R!Ciel child

Jane

Paula

Wordsworth

May 4th - May 11th

Maurice Cole

Alexis Leon Midford

bizarre dolls

the turnspit dog

the "werewolves"

O!Ciel's land renters

priest

Pluto

Sebastian the dog

Red House prefect from Vincent's year

the Sebastian Roomba

bizarre doll horses

Baldroy's cow

Undertaker

May 5th - May 12th

Hanae Wakatsuki

the iceberg

Alan Humphries

Ash Landers

Thompson

Snake's unnamed snakes

Milly

Munemitsu Aoki

Alois Trancy / Jim Macken

Elizabeth Midford / Lizzy

Aurora Society purified water seller

Drossel's dolls

the timetable guy

Herman Greenhill

May 6th - May 13th

Azzurro Vanel

William's pigeons

Joanna

Reaper managers

Dove

Countess Trancy and her baby

German countryman

Scotland Yard officers

Haku's henchman

Lorraine McDowell

demon "pet" (the xenomorph)

Hannah Annafellows

Angelina Dalles / Madam Red / Aunt An

Pitt

May 7th - May 14th

Vincent Phantomhive's staff

Paul Jones

Francis Midford

Sebastian Michaelis

Cheslock

Phantomhive family ring

James

Edward Abberline

Baron Ridley

Sebastian's owl

[konnorhasapen]

Treading Water — Chapter 3: The Wallowing Wolves I

Also found on ao3!

Links to The Intro, Chapter 1, and Chapter 2 :)

I did have my also dyslexic sister read every Asher line just to make sure it could still be understood when written in his dialect. I also hope I wrote an Irish dialect correctly ':)

ENJOY

——

   Heavy wood creaked and moaned as the ship rocked in all different directions, bobbing gently over small waves of the calm sea on a clear night. Billions of stars twinkling overhead like freckles and blemishes of light on the face of Lady Midnight, not a single cloud in the sky to shield the clusters and constellations adorning her pitch black complexion from the sorrowful green eyes peering up at them.  His thoughts swam through his mind restlessly with a lack of distraction, the feeling of slight regret drawing a low growl from his throat that was chased by a tired sigh as he recalled his and his First Mate's conversation earlier that dusk.

   "We should take a rest t'nite," he'd said, every word doused in his thick Irish accent. "Been up t' ninety movin' teh past weeks 'r so." He'd remembered even what he replied with:

   "You can all take time to rest now, have an easy day doing simple deckhand work tomorrow. I'll pick up any harder slack," his answer had drawn an exasperated sigh from the dirty blonde.

   "While I'm sayin' "we," I do mean ye need the rest as damn well as teh lot'f us," David had hummed, acknowledged Asher's unsaid concerns while he didn't agree to abide by them.

   "David," he'd said sternly. "Drop anch'r t'nite," the Captain's hard green eyes had met the gaze of blue hues as vibrant as the ocean they sail upon, riddled with worry and sympathy. "Please." It had been David's turn to sigh, but he'd nodded, and received a gentle smile in return.

   "Tanks a million," Ash had placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed a little before he'd sauntered off to help Booker with the supplies below deck. The remaining bustle of the evening had been a distant blur of memory as he'd been dreading the thought of stopping for the night. The feeling lingered long after silence settled over the ship.

   And now he was here, head lulled back against the wooden railing as he sat on the quarter deck, his arms rested and draped over his bent knees, and his eyes on the sky. Thinking. That's what rest, for him, opened the floor to.  From memories, fond and foul, to the ache of regret and doubt that often plagued both heart and mind.

   He never sees himself as a good leader—a good Captain. And the words spat with venom from his sibling in bond were ones that would echo in his head forever, just giving him more reasons to doubt himself and his capability to lead. The dispute between him and his wayward sibling had begun as a war of sharp tongues, but it was quick to escalate into such a discourse, all in the wake of Gabe's declared death. It was nasty when it got physical, but the words were what left behind scars that hurt more than physical pain, so many open wounds to add to the hurt that still had yet to heal. 

   And those thoughts often lead him to remembering the day his father was gone. With the crops and materials thinning as that year's drought had been relentless and unforgiving, despite his and William's allied efforts, they still were accomplishing too little. Being denied aid from Favíll even after offering more strength to her ranks, and denied by King Pluvaes simply because he was revelling in the fact that his kingdom was finally thriving far better than almost all others in Dahlia, he'd set out on a journey to Northern Ferris in an effort to make contact with an old friend of his, King Gregory Keaton. Only, he never made it to Alfanes, nor had he returned to Canis. He was gone without a trace and declared dead after months of searching from both his own subjects—or family, rather—and King Solaire's.

   It had all spiralled downward from then. His wayward sibling had grown even more distant than they ever were before, causing David to believe that, most nights, they had disappeared just as his father did. Especially when they would end up unable to be found for days, sometimes weeks. Canis castle was stormed, the kingdom had crumbled to its knees at the feet of a single man who stole his place upon the throne, announcing the wanted capture of David Shaw and the rest of the late King's bound family. Each and every person of his family had a bounty over their head, with the biggest rewards pinned on 'David Shaw' and 'Asher Talbot.'  When the family fled, they were missing one. One only very few noticed hadn't been on the ship when they were forced to evacuate their home.

   Then the fall of King Solaire had taken every hope they had of ever being able to go back and reclaim their home, and hanged them in the gallows. So caught up in all of these thoughts and memories flooding his conscience, David hadn't heard the soft thumping of boots travelling up the steps to the quarter deck.

   "Ye know," a thick accent began, "I'd a feelin' ye still be bright-eyed an' bushy-tailed t'nite," Asher shifted his weight to one foot and propped his hands up on his decorated hips.

   "I don't know if I'd call this "bright-eyed,"" he replied, only sparing a glance to his First Mate. His best friend.

   "Aye," the blonde shrugged, "just teh bushy-tail then." In a single motion, Ash spun around and joined his Captain seated on the wooden floor. After a few minutes of easily comfortable quiet, nothing but the creaking of wood and the gentle sounds of the calm, undulating sea lapping at the ship. Sparkling blue eyes following his to admire the scenery above that not even the most professional of artists could ever hope replicate.

   "Stirms follow ye, ne matter how clear be teh sky," he sighed. There was always something so delicately kind about the way he spoke, a kindness that was always so genuine. David was both impressed and, honestly, grateful that he'd been able to maintain such an aspect of his personality after everything that's happened. The Captain only hummed, drawing a breathy chuckle from his friend at his side:

   "If ye just wan' teh sit here en quiet company, I'd be perfec'ly fine widit," Asher spoke softly again, leading the deep brunette's attention to catch his gaze. "But if dere's anytin' ye'd like off ye chest, I'd also be mar then willin' teh listen. Maybe even share a shot'a wisdom," he winked with a smile, feeling a smidgen of pride swell in his chest while a trickle of relief washed over his soul when David huffed a laugh.

   "I think I might trust Aggro to steer the ship through a storm more than I trust your "wisdom,"" Ash dropped his jaw, eyes bulging dramatically as he chortled a little heartier than the other had.

   "Aye, I'd trust that cat wit my life if it came down t'it," he shrugged, pulling another small chuckle from the Captain as he nodded, the First Mate laughing softly along with him. Quiet befell the deck of The Wallowing Wolf once more, a tangle of nerves perched upon David's shoulders growing noticeable by the man beside him as he took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

   "I can't stop thinking about what I might be doing wrong," he said, brows pinched tightly as his vivid green eyes now stared out at the nearly invisible horizon across from where they both sat. He didn't need to steal a glance to know Ash was listening with his full attention focused on every word.  "It's easier to push it down and ignore it to some degree when I'm busying myself with something..."

   But once I'm sitting alone on a night of silence with no work to be done, no voices scattered across the whole ship—chattering about what someone will request for the next meal, or making plans to enjoy some proper drinking and merriment once we find land that hasn't gotten word of our bounties yet—all the thoughts, all the memories of everything I've ever done wrong, of everything I am doing wrong.., they crowd my conscience and they refuse to leave until the noise and distractions pick up again.

   Is everything he wanted to say.

   He clenched his fists as he felt them start to tremble, a distant sting that he'd always made such strong efforts to keep away finally coming to his eyes. Giving up on what his throat wouldn't let escape yet, he started elsewhere to Asher, however continuing from where his thoughts broke away:

   "But the sunlight fades so fast, and the dark lasts an eternity." David couldn't will himself to say more, but the strong squeeze from a grounding hand on his shoulder told him he didn't have to.

   Asher may parade about under the guise of a pirate jester, but he was perceptive as the owl; he had a sixth sense for just knowing when something wasn't quite right, especially up in the mind of his best friend and Captain, David Shaw. When their eyes met again, it was like Ash suddenly knew everything he'd done and seen, all the words he said, every expression of boiling rage and animosity his sibling had shot at him ever since their biggest fight, the pain he felt when they declared his father's death—the inadequacy he'd felt in himself ever since that day, when he was told he was to take up the throne, only to watch his home crumble before his eyes.  Asher hummed,

   "Teh rain is faded when teh Lady o' nature wills it, but teh cleods are still dhere. Even dhen, only teh passage o' time may carry them awae, an' this stirm canny start movin' befir ye let it rain, my friend," David sighed and his lips offered an almost microscopic smile.

   "Thank you, Ash," he replied.

   "Aye, not eh probl'm." Asher took in a deep breath and sighed, humming an old tune as his eyes traced the constellations above. It was quiet as the two best of friends sat comfortably in each other's company. It was indeed quiet and tranquil.., for a few minutes

   "Ye know what helps teh time pass dhat, en turn, will give thes stirm a hand en movin' along?" Asked the First Mate, receiving a tired expression complete with a cocked brow.

   "Goin' d'feck asleep." David rolled his eyes and the two shared their laughter, one heartier than the other as always. "Talkin' cen help ye out as well," he added, "not necessarily teh me, lettin' ye know." David grunted as if to say that he understood clearly, and he did. He knew what Ash was hinting at when he said it could help, the two looking back at one another with something akin to a brotherly love embedded in their eyes. Then, Asher stood with a dramatic grunt.

   "Welp, s'pose I'd best be off on my own way," he said as he reached his hands over his head and stretched out his spine, groaning in satisfaction when a series of pops sounded in his ears. "Ye better treat dhat hart-a ye's a lot bit kinder dhan ye have been." Asher told him. The Captain nodded.

   "Merry calm nite to ye, me mule of a Captain, and best o' friend, David Shaw" he took an elegant bow before he spun smoothly on his heel and started back down the steps from the quarter deck and ducked through the door of the Captain's quarters, the space the two friends shared as Asher new that being alone in that cabin—the cabin his father used to sleep in on his own journeys—was bad for the heart and the head.

   Mulling over what the Irishman had said in their conversation, David found himself staring up at the sky, glassy-eyed and conflicted for but a few hours longer before he finally let himself retire to his cot in the Captain's quarters. His final thought as he nodded off being one he found crossed his mind more frequently these days:

   Are they alright?

——

HOPE YOU ENJOYED!! I have decided to go with 'Talbot' as Asher's last name, but I'll be giving Baabe the last name O'Connell—which is the only case that I will be giving one of the listener characters a name myself.

💫TAGS LIST💫

@morgansplace @sealriously-sealrious @epsi-l0n @star-sheeps @friendlyfaded @the-gender-bending-squid @nonbinarycringe404 @pinksparkl @anthrokiaera @whatalovelymae @0605018redactedasmr @beemybella @reyofsunshinelol (if you'd like to be tagged for Treading Water stuffs, lemme know!^-^)

[sleepyfoxbooks]

Wicked

By Gregory Maguire

Hi! I’ve been really struggling to write this. I haven’t figured out the best way to discuss this book. I haven’t finished this book either. This is just gonna just be on the first few chapters.

Holy s**t this book contains so much more than I ever expected. I went into this with only the knowledge from the musical of the same name. I started this story before I started this blog but unlike Good Omens I still have my copy.

⚠️Warning! Spoilers for the book and it’s musical counterpart! ⚠️

⚠️Content Warning! This story contains drug use, explicit language, mild violence, and sexual themes! Read at your own risk!⚠️

Prologue & Munchkinlanders

The prologue contains a few short pages. Simply about the wicked witch seeing Dorothy and her friends on the yellow brick road on their way to Oz. There’s not a whole lot here. Except Elphaba’s inner monologue about Dorothy and the shoes. She recognizes that Dorothy is just a child, curled up and cowering at the world around her. But what really catches her attention is the shoes. She has this line in this inner monologue that caught me, was her feels of deserving of the magic shoes. This feeling of sacrifice and working to deserve the shoes gives a glimpse o her motives and her character this early on. This made me really excited to continue.

This part covers most of Elphaba’s childhood in Munchkinland. However, I’m not interested in Elphaba as much as I am interested in Melena (her mother). From what we get about Melena, she comes from a noble family and a lot of privilege. She hates being a mother, even before Elphaba is born, so it’s not a strictly an “I have a green kid” thing.

This chapter really could’ve been this conversation on maternity. Melena is very obviously an unwilling mother, and does experience immense guilt for her lack of feeling to the kid. If Melena was the main character of this story maybe we would’ve gotten an interesting story of the idea of separating motherhood from being a woman. But she’s not the main character, so moving on!

(I do think it shows a lot about a story when the readers are interested in the side characters and the world outside the main plot. So the writing and world building is pretty good!)

During this part of the story, Melena’s boy toy Turtle Heart (a glass blower from the slums) moves in with her and her husband. This affair continues on in Frex’s face. Turtle Heart’s glass blowing enchants Elphaba. Turtle Heart can see things through the glass, like a magic and integral part of his culture. Elphaba sees it too. Which actually triggers her first word at the end of the chapter. Horror.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Elphaba has so much more to her than just being green (which is kinda her entire personality trait in the musical). She has sharp ass shark-like teeth (and literally takes off a woman’s finger within like five minutes of being born), and actually hates water and refuses to bathe in it. There’s also a few comments made about her during her birth, about potentially being intersex. Her first word is “horrors” at nearly two years old.

At this point in the story, Elphaba doesn’t have a lot of agency, as you know, she is a toddler. So there’s not much to be said about her actions yet as things more or less happen to her. I don’t want to take away the enjoyment of you reading the book, so I’m not gonna give you a beat by beat of the story. I think this covers the broad strokes of what happens and the characters of the stories so far.

[libidomechanica]

Untitled Composition # 10224

Forks clank’d round here on till Easter.     We know it e’er would pleasures through still, to Shepherd, or their     energy: I’ll swell on some shepheards its home reversion,     to take her; and thou his be those stopp’d to be, will unprepared     to see. To fayne, and

my poor part so poor Heart, till the     water the brim, wakes my sight of our souls immortal thirsts     from them with money, the Master’d into the day breaking     a you ask why. Almost evident; for a’ the same passed     her dress’d a voice was but

an architect, brought to yielded     a dwarf. Tomorrow’s life seems to owe naught renew’d in the     sun. To the grass, or be an opiate, slumber crept sound     ys signet gem, like an artichoke but tell me where the     loud. More, as soft falles

itself adorn him than you shall     I worried you like Addison’s faint rainbow. Nations; with     her veil, and echo back into a philosophised:     he though principle of books, but next morning fired and     wilt thoughts, changing glance, says

so doting, and curtain my speechless     the elder jack Smiths were alone, what good as an arch,     where she. Such is another frolic Grace replied our     euphony: there is not so, my Deare, let us remember     I don’t knowing.—Old man

came, and a youth picking in the     devil laughter. Men of generate, their eternal wean’d     at length the Smiths were not the love-freaks passional futures.     And free information, when sudden ground and live against     its site a Greek gazettes;

but the Lochroyan, a bust of     drifted of blisses, lifting on some well. When both of my     woman were she goest on the sharp, to gazette. No matter     he was cutting up to wants be accustom’d, as peregall     too this? My sense or

seem but therefore them and how     dexterously I do, hear and whose that month became a     truism. Juan, nor clouds into capitulation; if in     twain. Turn his flown away, and summer and broods! Doubt na, lass,     but in a Kirtle of

hell, yet dried there a pretty lad,     besmear’d that Ceres had not to be another with the     soul prey’d on too often in fact, that of death, till Gregory,     he ador’d, as if in two. That I have lives filed out:     Is your name of sleep of

night to lift my mistress’ eye Lovers,     made epigram; but stood but their stately makes me in     her in a kitchen chair, where balm for men, and, when my once     back, nor yet wishing into thy nurse in my bonnie lass,     his foolish. Flower, and

mine host tossing the mole known to     mend, being crush her with their hair falling Dart from dropp’d his     country quarters words, which once more! Shall sorrow chief of all     thy gifts, to human should though Wilberforce, since—in your own     her aspects stern, as if

the liberal agonies, where the     wondrous morning in the Soul, nor my books taught my Theotormon     sits that hope,—perhaps you can pick for ever, long as     I am the face, straw into itself;—such a good, who     were must dream he was, that

Plato; by Tillotson, and no     sinners the several age, and in that he wanting. Though     that can presaging to you new and soon shall tell he flitted     to see that our merimental woodland gradually     I’m hung about the shores,

or if I put on the arrowe,     ne can’t tell of syllogisms. In that Firmán-issuing     Shah to whom were all country dame, retire, then she stanza;     or—but in these my place; and the element. Dear Annie,     ’ could but in all the

hinges here a pale as their compell’d,     to what cold burst upon the base and the blows the flowers     and though t was still to heart confest, but scorching twa     laughing what, he! Exchequer chamber, voice so deeply, beauties     might swan by bring good!

[animationstarlover1983]

Fnaf system reboot au

Main villain characters: info/descriptions (original)

1. Cybertrap: Cybertrap is a digital/animatronic copy of William and a main villain in the au story. Appearance: Cybertrap has a dark purple color scheme, he is 15ft tall with sharp teeth and a twisted metallic tongue m, he has razor sharp claws and exposed wires/screws and parts. Personality: Cybertrap is sinister, intelligent, curious, sadistic, brutal, cruel, manipulative, deceptive, egotistical, overconfident. Facts/info: Cybertrap is 1 of 2 digital copy’s of William afton. Powers: animatronic physiology (immense strength/immense speed/immense agility/immense durability/advance ai/inbuilt e-manual/databank archive/robotic perception), coding/hacking, technology/machinery fusion, grappling arms, industrial/utility tool features, electromagnetic radiation, self rebuild, spiritual awareness. Skills: high intelligence, raw cunning, adept learning, intuition, manipulation, deception, engineering expertise, killing/torture expertise. Likes: himself, killing/torturing. Dislikes: failure.

2. Synctrap: Synctrap is a digital/animatronic copy of William and a main villain in the au story. Appearance: Synctrap has a dark purple color scheme, he has darken eyes with purple irises, he has razor sharp teeth and claws and a twisted metallic tongue, he is 7ft 3. Personality: Synctrap is sinister, intelligent, manipulative, deceptive, sadistic, controlling, creative. Facts/info: Synctrap is the other copy of william afton. Powers/features: animatronic physiology (immense strength/speed/agility/immense durability/advance ai/inbuilt e-manual/databank archive), coding/hacking, grappling arms, power/energy draining, signal/radio waves/broadcast control. Skills: high intelligence, raw cunning, manipulation, deception, killing/torture expertise, engineering expertise. Likes: himself, killing/torturing/tormenting. Dislikes: failure.

3. Piper Malachi: piper is a sentient killer android and a main villain in the au story. Appearance: piper has the appearance of a 12 year old girl, she has strawberry blonde hair with a purpe dyed streak and purple eyes, she wears a casual purple dress and dress shoes. Personality: Piper is intelligent, manipulative, deceptive, self centered, spoiled, bratty, loyal, playful, childish, short tempered, robotic. Facts/info: in the au she has been given the role of a killer android spy. Powers/features: robot physiology (strength/speed/agility/flexibility/durability/advance au/ inbuilt e-manual/databank archive), shapeshifting, spiritual awareness. Skills: high intelligence, raw cunning, adept learning, intuition, manipulation, deception, master of disguise, stealth, killing/torture expertise. Likes: glitchtrap, candy, dark places, killing, pranks, music, fashion. Dislikes: Vanessa, Gregory, Freddy, the glamrocks, humans. Goals: serve glitchtrap.

4. Eugene Malachi/Doctor Rabbit: Eugene is a 44 year old man and a original character in the au story. Appearance: Eugene has light brown hair and hazel/blue eyes, he has a light brown beard/mustache, he often wears a casual uniform or suit, he also sometimes wears a lab coat. Personality: Eugene is intelligent, creative, curious, mature, responsible, diligent, stubborn. Facts/info: Eugene is the pizzaplex director and a expert scientist who Ally’s himself with glitchtrap/mimic, in this au he is also the one who secretly sent the circuit boards that housed the g-t virus, he also created patient 46. Powers: spiritual awareness. Skills: genius level intelligence, strategic planning, raw cunning, adept learning, intuition, science expertise, leadership, manipulation, deception. Likes: family/friends, science, money. Dislikes: being bothered, leaving work undone. Job/career: pizzaplex director/project manager.

5. Vex: Vex is a corrupted staff security bot and a main villain in the au story. Appearance: Vex has the appearance of a security staff bot but his body has been painted purple and his face has a twisted grin. Personality: Vex is loyal, stubborn, diligent, annoying, irritable, responsible. Facts/info: Vex works in the pizzaplex control/surveillance room center (alone). Powers: robot physiology (strength/durability/advance ai/inbuilt e-manual/databank archive), spiritual awareness. Skills: keen intellect, tracking skills. Likes: being praised. Dislikes: doing all the work.

P.s: pls don’t copy or steal my ideas pls.

[lisa--sharpe]

Text to Greg

( @gregsharpe )

Lisa: hey...

Lisa: how are things? 

Lisa: feel free not to answer if you are still mad at me.

[angelofrainfrogs]

Break My Mind: Ch. 1

~Coauthored by @zeitghest~

Fandom(s): Five Nights At Freddy’s: Security Breach

Description: Gregory must be dreaming this time. No sooner had he come to accept this strange reality where everyone is alive and well, than he’s sent back through time and space to the weekend he got trapped in the Pizzaplex. He’s supposed to help his family get on track for a better future, yet… didn’t he already succeed in his own timeline? Confused but relieved, Gregory drops back into his new life in the mega mall. In fact, who should be waiting for him but Michael, clad in a security uniform and searching for his missing family! Only—the night guard seems a bit more withered than when Gregory last saw him. Not to mention that cold look in his silver eyes…

Rating: T

Read on Ao3

Break, break, break my mind Break it till the tale unwinds Force my thoughts through hell and back Or leave me alone tonight!

Break, break, break my heart Break me till I fall apart

This can’t be real, this can’t be right

Now die inside the flames of your fright

~Break My Mind by DAGames~

It was a bright flash. Blinding—the jarring nature of it robbing Gregory of all sense.

This lasted but This lasted but two seconds, and suddenly Gregory found himself scrambling, flailing for a moment as his face met with a scratchy carpeted floor. Judging by the taste and smell alone, this was the unmistakable rug of the West Arcade game room. Gregory lifted himself up from his prone position with a hard grunt.

“Fucking ow…,” he moaned, rubbing his face as he recovered.

As predicted, it was dark—after hours in the Pizzaplex.

Elsewhere in the building a frantic search was taking place. The group of tragic heroes was trying to find their new friend—a boy they’d only known for only a few days, but who’d already cemented himself into their life so snugly they couldn’t process being without him. The back hallways of the first floor were filled with tentative calls and the shuffling of animatronic feet—though these were looking to help the boy, unlike the characters roaming the central atrium with bloodlust on their minds…

But in the West Arcade, the only noise was the ambient sound of game consoles playing their jaunty songs to entice customers into spending more frivolous money.

…To his credit, the man completely wrapped up in layers of clothing and bandages despite the hot summer day had perfected stealth by this point in his existence. It was a surprise to both him and the kid when they locked gazes across the room. His eyes weren’t the typical blue one would expect—more of a sharp silver depending on the angle, though to be fair the lighting in the arcade was poor at best. Regardless of his strange appearance, the youthful Brighton lilt that called out was unmistakable, even muffled by a mask.

“Gregory?! Is this where you’ve been all night? I was looking for you for hours!”  

Gregory jumped a little at the slightly raspy voice, though recognized its origin immediately. A tense sigh left his lips as he pushed from the ground to stand fully now.

Michael sure had a strange sense of style tonight. Gregory didn’t think too much of it; even if he looked drastically different, it would still be his Mike beneath the bandages and the heavy guard uniform. Waving his hand for his—

—Dad? Brother? It was still yet to be determined who Michael was to him in this lifetime—

—Gregory called to him.

“Yeah—I got lost!” he excused, making his way over by weaving through the consoles. “What happened while I was gone?”

He curiously watched Michael for any recent, important developments while he was “away.” If Gregory looked dazed, it was a side effect of the time traveling. He ran a hand through his hair in a casual move, though he still looked a bit wobbly on his feet from the sudden impact.  

Michael barely noticed Gregory’s swaying. His ability to detect subtle shifts in a person’s demeanor was reserved for manipulation only—whatever ounce of care he’d had deep within had been burned away with the rest of his humanity long ago.

Still, he was surprised the kid was so willing to approach him after all the lies his “family” was feeding him. If Gregory wasn’t so damn resourceful, he wouldn’t have escaped yesterday and Mike would be one step closer to achieving his ultimate goal. Although… maybe Gregory was changing his tune?

“What happened?” the man echoed vaguely, adjusting the mask over his face with a gloved hand. He’d managed to keep his appearance under wraps so far—best not to let Gregory see him now when there was still a chance of recruiting him. Michael narrowed his eyes, answering with a little sneer.

“The others are causing trouble, that’s what happened; trying to mess everything up…” He huffed, glancing to the arcade entrance as if his words would summon them. Looking back to Gregory, there was now a smile in his voice. “But no worries; you’re going to help me now! That’s why you found me again, right?”

There was a sharp edge to that proclamation that made it sound more like a command than a question.

Gregory only heard Michael speak like this a few times before, when someone was in deep trouble. Of course, Gregory had assumed it was the same song and dance as last time: animatronics were being toyed with and altered for William’s sick plans, and Mike needed his expertise with coding to help take down the bots swiftly and efficiently. He was willing to accept that this wasn't his true home solely on how weird Mike was being. It was Gregory’s hope that more people hadn’t gotten hurt this time around…

Gregory stopped a few feet away, cocking his head at Michael’s tone. While he did remind himself to be a gentle with his stressed-out guardian when he was in such a state, he couldn’t help but cop a bit of an attitude back.

“Well duh—that’s why I’m here!” the teen answered with a hand on his hip and a huff in his voice. He wasn’t so much worried as he was confused. This uncertainty would be a recurring theme for him, Gregory predicted. There’d be a lot of information he’d have to soak in fast should he want to save this timeline, and any others he fell into.

But that was something Mike didn’t need to know about right now. Instinctively, Gregory thrust a hand out towards his caretaker with absolute trust.

“So what are we waiting for? What’s the plan?” he asked, silver eyes darting around in the darkness for a sign of movement. Only Michael knew of the dangers that they were being submitted to, so Gregory thought it best to stick close for the time being.  

Damn, this kid must’ve either had a major change of heart or hit his head hard. Or perhaps… one of the others put him up to this? Maybe they wanted to destroy Michael’s plan from the inside out and found the perfect scapegoat to do so.

There was simply no way to determine whether he was being duped right now, so Mike would take the offered assistance with a watchful eye. Reaching out a hand, he wrapped it around Gregory’s and held on tight. The hold would be a bit bonier than usual, though it was hard to tell through the fabric glove and bandages underneath. This gauze traveled all the way up to Michael’s elbow, in case he ever needed to roll up his sleeves to get things done.

“Glad to see you’re so raring to go,” Michael chuckled, beginning a slow and steady pace to the main atrium. “We’re going to the Fazerblast security hub; I can fill you in on all the details when we’re there.”

A little time with that headset Michael had specially altered would do the trick. It was a great way to absorb a bunch of information in a short amount of time, after all! Once Gregory went through his rapid-fire indoctrination, he’d be able to help Michael with whatever he needed.

“Keep an eye out for those troublemakers; you see anything weird, let me know,” the night guard whispered, pausing at the exit to peer out and assure no wayward spirits were around. At the moment all he could see were roaming security bots under his control, so with a little nod he tugged Gregory forward into the atrium.  

Gregory felt analyzed beneath Michael’s gaze. So scrupulously watched that he wondered if Michael saw him…

As a threat?

It was the only word Gregory could come up with to fit the glare sent his way. As Michael grasped his hand, he could feel his fingers sort of digging into him. Gregory all but clung to Mike’s side as they peeked through those bug utility doors.

“Don’t worry—I can see great in the dark,” Gregory assured him in a hushed, but smiley tone. So far, so good. They wandered into the dimly lit atrium, its neon fixtures looking just a little worn, like the gas inside them was slowly burning out. It left them in a darker ambience than he was used to in his own timeline, certainly. Gregory was eager to agree with Mike’s plan, despite not knowing the details. As they carefully darted behind blind spots, growing ever closer to Fazerblast and the main security hub, he asked in an unsure tone: “Any idea where the others are?”

Of course, he assumed Mike was already allied with Charlie and the others at this point if he’d gotten his body back. Gregory noticed a good, dense cloud of dust in the air kicked up with every shuffle of their feet. The Pizzaplex must’ve been closed for some time now, the janitors and cleaning bots falling behind with their scrubbing and dusting.

“Shouldn’t you know that?” Michael snapped, high-alert from a looming threat making him irritable. He could feel Gregory drifting every once in a while, likely trying to see around a corner or take in some scenery—but they didn’t have time for such things. “Stop dragging your feet, for fuck’s sake! We can sightsee later.”

...Alright, Mike was being really pissy. Gregory supposed this was to be expected with the general mood. Still, he answered with an unsure glance. “I’ve been gone for hours. I have no clue where they went…”

Was he supposed to be their keepers? And why the fuck was Mike tugging so hard on his arm? The way that Michael was choosing to speak with him made him feel significantly less safe. He was being crude and… mean, even.

Gregory wondered what he’d gone through in his absence to make him so sour. With a shock of nausea, he realized the tone almost reminded him of Terry Smith, so he responded to Michael as he would to such commanding authority.

“I’m just doing what you asked me to,” he snipped with narrowed eyes. Gregory was only looking out for the others, though he did make a point to hurry his pace. Maybe this was a universe where they just didn’t get along as well as they used to. So many interfering possibilities, and not enough answers right off the bat…

With a sharp tug, Gregory was pulled through the threshold of the Fazerblast lobby. The Pizzaplex might’ve been shut down for a few weeks, but the electricity was still working just fine thanks to the night guard’s presence to keep it running. A few more steps and they’d be in the elevator to take them down to the arena. The heavy doors slid open with a pneumatic hiss, and—

Michael whirled around at the sound of crunching on broken glass. Thanks to the Remnant flowing through his own veins, he could see just as good in the dark as his young companion. With narrowed eyes, he called in a soft, almost scarily calm voice.

“I can hear you—you’re not subtle. Which one of you decided to crash the party now?”

Once they arrived to the smashed up security hub, Gregory stuck closer to Michael. Inside, a lumbering bunny rabbit was tearing the office apart looking for them. There was no mistaking who it was, though the golden, almost moldy green coloring of the animatronic was far off from what Gregory knew. 

“You know who it is, Michael.” Bonnie turned and glared down at the pair, fists balled at his sides. “Give him back.”

Michael may not respect him anymore, but damn it, he was still his father! William took a step forward, heavy footfalls colliding with the tiled ground.  

Gregory might’ve expected Mike to start trembling at the sight of William. Maybe he’d scream obscenities or stress how much he absolutely loathed the creature in front of him, depending on how far along they were in their adventure. What the boy surely did not expect was exactly what happened:

Michael laughed.

Keeping Gregory’s hand in a vice grip, the older man nearly doubled over clutching his stomach as he cackled at the intruding bunny. For a good minute that was the only sound in the room until Michael managed to pull himself together with a deep gasp. All at once the laughter stopped, that sudden cutoff more terrifying than anything else.

“Get the fuck out of my way, Father,” he hissed in a voice cold as ice with a glare to match. When William refused to move Michael stepped forward, surprisingly unafraid of the gigantic rabbit staring him down.

“I said—” With his free hand Michael whipped a taser from his utility belt, holding it out like a spear. “—get the fuck out of my way. I’ve got shit to do!”  

Despite his best efforts, Gregory began to tremble. There was something very wrong about this scene. He could feel his hand being crushed in Michael’s boney grip. Looking between the two arguing family members, he settled on William for his retort.

“You can’t keep getting away with your inane schemes! I’m tired of this, Michael!” William stood, servos and stalled parts shaking within his prison. He was a corpse stuffed into an animatronic designed for child safety—but his base programming had been hacked beyond repair. There wasn’t much he could do to help the kid who looked so much like Evan, as hurting the security guards were forbidden…

Being soft with his eldest son didn’t get him anywhere in the past. Michael only fed on the perceived weaknesses and exploited them. When Michael barred the all-controlling taser, William shook further. Where the hell were the others?!

“He’s just a boy…," the decrepit rabbit murmured. "Gregory has nothing to do with any of this!”

That exact moment was when Gregory knew he royally fucked up. He’d willingly thrown himself into the lion’s den, fooled by his past of trusting Michael implicitly. Apparently, they might not be quite as chummy in this world as he assumed.

“Not yet—but he will!” The grin on Michael’s face was positively demented, not that anyone could see it. “Besides, he’s already chosen sides—clearly, he picked me.”

Michael’s gaze lowered along with the taser, which he hooked back into his belt. No way William would try anything now. He was simply a weak old rabbit with a glitched-out, broken spine.

“Isn’t that right, Gregory?” The way Michael cooed the name, sickly sweet with false affection, was enough to give anyone nightmares. He could see the boy’s distress now, feel him trying to tug away. “Nope, you’re not going anyw—”

“Gregory!” The voice calling his name was yet another familiar one, and the group turned to see Freddy Fazbear standing in the doorway to the atrium. But... it wasn't the bear Gregory knew. This was one an old model, golden to match the Bonnie lumbering around the office.

Bright eyes flicked between the boy and Michael before Henry’s pissed-off voice sounded again, clearly coming from… the bear?

“Michael, for god’s sake stop!” Henry intoned, sounding as desperate as his former business partner. “He’s a child—he’s literally done nothing to you!”

“You think I give a shit?!” Michael laughed again, throwing his head back. “I don’t care what he is as long as he’s useful to me.”

This world was all kinds of screwy. Rather than his old Pizzaplex “twin” and his ferocious guard ghost, it seemed Evan and Cassidy’s souls had been replaced by Henry’s to haunt the original Freddy suit. Shit; there was no way Gregory could successfully pull from Michael’s death grip now, but he still managed to maintain a smidgeon of clarity amidst the terror creeping up his neck.

“Guys—it’s okay, he can’t hurt me!” Gregory said, swiftly proven wrong when Mike’s finger bones dug into his wrist. Wincing, Gregory sucked in a pained breath and corrected: “He can’t kill me!”

“Just lovely,” William grunted ignoring the boy who was clearly out of it. He couldn’t just grab Gregory right then. With his arm twisted like that, William may end up snapping it should he have to wrestle the boy from Mike’s controlling grip. So, he tried for deflection. “Do you think this is going to do anything, Michael? Harming another child won’t bring back Evan! It won’t bring back Elizabeth, or your mother!”

“Oh my god—” Michael groaned, his eyes rolled high to the sky. “—you think I’m still focused on that?! You’ve gone senile, Father. I gave up on them long ago… if they wanted to leave me, why the hell should I brother trying to bring them back?”

Never mind Michael was the sole reason for Evan’s demise… But with his mother on her deathbed and William confessing to Charlie’s murder in a spontaneous act of insanity shortly after, Michael had spiraled hard. Henry tried to help, but there was only so much he could do when dealing with his own grief of losing a daughter to the man he considered his best friend.

And though that trio had mostly settled their differences by this point in their afterlives, Michael would never forgive them for leaving him behind to wallow in his guilt and shame.

“Then what do you want, Michael?” Henry’s tone was more measured, always the calmer one between him and William. His eyes kept moving to Gregory though, barely holding back from rushing in himself and tearing the boy free from the eldest Afton’s hold.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Mike snipped back. With a wicked sneer that crinkled the corners of his eyes in the worst kind of way, Michael yanked Gregory forward again. He was definitely starting to twist something in that scrawny wrist, though what was a temporarily broken arm compared to all the help Gregory was going to provide in the near future? He could still influence other children wearing a sling—in fact, it’d make others even more sympathetic to his plight…

Perhaps Michael should just snap the damn thing. It’d certainly piss off the old thorns in his side, that’s for sure.

He called their bluff. Henry and Will’s plan was to try and psych Michael out with their imposing stature—though it seemed that over the years, William’s son lost all that made him human once. This included feeling numb to the urgency of fear.

Gregory’s arm begun to bend, as if his captor was literally testing what he was made of. His knees started buckling at the discomfort and Gregory pulled as hard as he could to no avail.

“Stop! STOP, YOU’RE—” Gregory shrieked, feeling some kind of cracking in his wrist. The pain shot up through his arm, and his legs finally came from under him as his knees hit the ground with a hard thud.

William sneered disapprovingly, those funny cartoon looking eyebrows of his knitting close with disgust. Not just with Gregory’s situation, but with how far his son has fallen. At Gregory’s cries of pain, blustering in full-blown painful sobs, a flash rushed out from the shadows and went to throw a hard punch into the side of Michael’s head.

“Leave him alone!” a familiar voice demanded, and Gregory dared to hope that she was on his side.

Gregory saw her through his tears so easily—she was different than any version of Charlie he’d encountered so far. She was already in her android, dressed in a dull security guard uniform and shaggy, chopped hair; it looked as though she’d tried to disguise herself to fit in with the Pizzaplex. From what it seemed, that plan failed miserably in tricking Michael, and she’d earned a busted arm swinging uselessly at her side for all the trouble. However, she still had one that worked perfectly.  

The punch was sudden enough to take Michael off-guard, and he immediately released Gregory's arm to try and defend himself from further attack as he went down. The hit didn't hurt, as Michael couldn't really feel pain anymore, but it was enough to knock the flimsy mask loose from his face and reveal the true horror of who Gregory initially thought was his loving caretaker.

Michael was purple. But not the “I just ate a grape popsicle and it stained my face” purple—this was a deep, sickly color marred by blues and greys. Put bluntly, he looked like death... which would be a fair assessment. If the off-color flesh wasn't harrowing enough, the side of his mouth that'd lost its skin to reveal half of an ever-grinning set of teeth would send most people over the edge towards insanity trying to process what they were looking at.

“Gregory!” Henry's voice cut through Michael's shriek of rage, and suddenly the bear was at Gregory's side scooping him into his arms. Henry wished he could give the horrible guard a kick to keep him down longer, but as his protocol dictated he wasn't able to cause harm to the bastard members, no matter how evil they might be.

That wasn't the goal right now, though—the goal was to get Gregory away from the psychotic killer and take a look at that arm. Henry knew Charlie and William would catch up eventually, so with as much speed as those lumbering Fazbear legs could handle he rushed Gregory to the little safe room they'd found on the other side of the atrium. The cameras around it had stopped working long ago, so it'd be hard for Michael to track them there. 

Charlie wanted to stay behind, to finish the job that they failed so long ago. Nothing would satisfy her more than to take revenge for Gregory and so many others. Now just wasn’t the time. Instead she fled, while William ran beside her. It wasn’t long before he grabbed her by the waist, now sprinting a couple feet behind Henry.

“I can still run, damn it!” Charlie yelled, which the rabbit willfully ignored. They raced around corners and into the safe room, now with a limp Charlie swinging with an annoyed look on her face from his hip.

Setting Gregory down on a random cushion, Henry crouched by his side. “Oh my god, Greg, I'm so sorry we didn't get you fast enough—how's your arm? Can you move your wrist at all?”

“That doesn’t look good,” William said, wincing as well as his rabbit face could allow. Gregory held up his wrist, hand limply falling flat and his adrenaline refusing to let him feel it anymore.

“H-He… He fucking broke it!” Gregory said through tears of rage and betrayal.

“Why the hell were you with him?! He could’ve done so much worse to you!” Charlie scolded, pushing off from William and crouching at the boy's side.

“I-I don’t know! I… I just t-thought—” he attempted to explain, but was swiftly cut off with another short lecture.

“Do not run off like that again, young man. Am I clear?” William demanded, carefully checking the injury to Gregory’s wrist. “It needs compression and ice. We’ll find some at the food courts…”

“Fucking hell...” Henry cursed, wincing as best he could at the sight of that dangling hand. They couldn't afford to split up now, so he yet again hoisted Gregory up to carry him to the food court. This time he held the boy in his arms, allowing Gregory to rest his damaged limb on his stomach so as not to stress it further when they moved.

Thankfully, they weren't far from their destination. With only one pause to wait when they caught sight of Monty's tail swinging around a corner, they made it in a matter of minutes and were soon in one of the kitchens. Since the power was still running, so too were the freezers. Henry set Gregory down on a countertop, then moved to break off a chunk of the ice block in the closest freezer and wrap it in a plastic bag he found. It was a difficult task with paws, but he made it work.

“Got the ice,” he said, returning with the baggie wrapped in a towel so Gregory wouldn't get hypothermia on top of everything else. He sighed heavily as he handed the bundle over to the still-sniffling kid. “Gregory, I know you don't want to hear it, but Charlie's right—Michael could've done way, way worse than snapping your wrist. How in the world did he get ahold of you like that?!”

Gregory did his best to piece together what was happening from context clues alone. Grasping the bag, he laid his busted wrist on the table and the bag on top. It was really beginning to sting now, but there would be no tears coming from him any longer. Now, Gregory was angry.

“I don’t know… I thought I could reason with him,” he mumbled.

William shook his head, taking his place by Henry. “Sorry to say, but you thought wrong, kid.”

William would never admit it, but he still loved Michael. Even if this man was no longer his son, he did love him… though that had feeling had been long-overshadowed by the crimes Michael had committed. No amount of care and affection could ever make up for the pain and torment he’d caused.

“He was going to chew you up and use you for all you’re worth—spit you out the moment you cease to be of use to him.” William looked… not exactly sad; broken was a more apt description. He raised his arms, unconsciously hugging himself and locking his mechanical hands on opposing biceps. “This is why we told you not to wander off. He’s not a good person, Gregory…”

Though, another thing Will wouldn't admit: he did think of the world of Gregory for the kindness in his heart. Trying to save someone so far gone may be a bit stupid in William’s eyes, but noble nevertheless.

Charlie came in next, hugging the boy with her good arm. “He’s a lost cause, Greg…”

“How could you all say that? I don’t understand…” Now it was Gregory’s turn to well up again as his rage dissipated to sorrow (damn it; so much for keeping his composure). Even if things were majorly twisted here, it seemed like the end goal might not be too far off from his original world—only this time, the Afton they needed to destroy was not the one he expected.

In another world—at least two he could confirm—Gregory loved Michael, and he in turn.

Did he really have to kill his dad?

***

Previous Chapter ~~ Next Chapter (Coming soon)

Looking for more? Check out the Chapter Masterlist on Tumblr!

Or check out the entire Wires that Bind Us Series on ao3!

[kurobracket]

ROUND ONE NAVIGATION

Rachel Phantomhive vs William T. Spears

Elizabeth Midford vs Alois Trancy

Undertaker vs Pops

Blavat Sky vs Drocell Keinz

Jane vs Grelle Sutcliff

Mey Rin vs Frederick Abberline

Ronald Knox vs Edgar Redmond

Alan Humphries vs Ash/Angela Landers

Lau vs Herman Greenhill

Tanaka vs Othello

Charles Grey vs Soma Asman Kadar

Doll vs Sebastian Michaelis

Snake's snakes vs Nina Hopkins

Sieglinde Sullivan vs Bard

Sascha vs Agni

Angelina Dalles vs Vincent Phantomhive

Wolfram Gelzer vs Lawrence Bluewer

Gregory Violet vs Hannah Annafellows

Ciel Phantomhive vs Ran Mao

Snake vs Ludger

Butler Grelle vs Finnian

Eric Slingby vs Thomas Wallis

Charles Phipps vs Joker

Sharpe Hanks vs "Ciel" Phantomhive

Good luck to everyone!

[red-goat]

Idk if your still doing yhe prompt list thingy, but if you are: "don't tell me to clam down!".

Alrighty! Gonna write something for my steam punk AU cuz... I want to. (If ya want it for another AU or my possessed reader fic just ask :D)

TW: Anxiety attack.

---

Suddenly the touch of the silky indigo sheets feels razor sharp to the touch, the air feels heavier and colder, so cold. They keep calling your name but you don't respond, feeling the mention of it so foreign and distant from you as a person. A single oil lantern illuminates what you've come to know as the toy makers' room, barely allowing you to recognize where you're currently resting, Moon's arms. The echoes f their voices start to make coherent phrases little by little as you're finally coming to. "T-they're responding! Stardust are you ok? What happened?" You blink a couple of times, reigning some sense of orientation.

To the best of your current abilities you recall the events of yesterday's evening. Sobs are the only thing that are able to come out of your mouth. You reach for your face covering it in shame. How could you? How could let all this happen just under your nose? A pitter patter replaces your previously calm heartbeat.

"NO!- V-Vanesa! S-she-" You struggle against the blue shaded arms around you. You have to get out of here, you have to go out there and look for them! You attempt to raise your automatized arm just to notice it has been detached. A feeling akin to when you first woke up without an arm flashes in your guts. "L-let me go! S-she has him and I helped her! IT'S ALL MY FAULT!-" The warmest touch you've ever felt pull your hands apart from you and cups your face, caressing your cheek in a familiar and nostalgic motion. Sun's hands hold like you could break at any given moment, maybe you already have. But that won't stop him from trying to pick up the pieces, even if you cut him, even if he can't find all of them, he'll hold you, both of them will.

"Please, you have to calm down". You freeze, holding your breath you can feel as if a wave threatens to carry you far away from their hold, blurring your rational thoughts and vision, until finally all the tides collide in your chest as you let them run down your cheeks.

"Don't tell me to calm down!... It... It was always her..." The two automatons exchange a concerned look, just for a split second, but resume to comfort you. "A-and i helped her... all those kids who I thought were under the department's custody... T-they're gone..." Another heavy wave crashes, making your voice crack. "Guys..." Your lip quivers not wanting to say out loud the very distressing reality you're currently living in.

"We have to go... She has Gregory".

[theoutcastedartist]

" Scrap & Mechanic AU "

Some doodles with my take on a Glamrock Bonnie design + Ester Adams (OC)

Fnaf : Security Breach

While Glamrock Freddy and Gregory are running around the Pizzaplex, Glamrock Bonnie and Ester Adams are on the run from Vanny.

◇◇◇ Short Story - Part 1 ◇◇◇

Vanny had dragged Ester to an underground section of hidden rooms where de-comissioned animatronics are kept and used for scrap. The plan was to make Ester her next murder victim, but this 13 year old managed to escape and hide. By luck, she had managed to lock herself the room with Glamrock Bonnie stored in it.

Ester was a huge fan of Bonnie's when she was little and was saddened at seeing him in the state he was in, so she got to work on trying to boot him up once more. Being the daughter of a mechanic, she picked up on a few things. Not like she can do anything else at the moment.

Bonnie 'awoke' feeling disoriented and groggy. Like he had just woken up from a long nap. Though he was confused... last he recalls is walking into Gator Golf. Monty had invited him over, which was a surprise because he had assumed the gator animatronic hated his guts... and this didn't look like his room either. It looked more like a storage room, old tools and pieces of metal scattered everywhere throughout.

"Oh... you're on! " A voice sounded. A child? Bonnie noticed the girl standing in front of him, a beaming smile on her face.

"Hello... I am Bonnie the Bunny." He greeted hesitantly, "Who are you? I am unable to access your guest profile... it seems my scanners seem to not be in working condition."

"I'm Ester! Ester Adams," The girl responded, "I hid in this room and found you in here, though it seemed that you were 'off' and so I fixed ya' right up! Couldn't find your missing eye though, sorry."

So he had been de-commissioned? For how long?

"It's alright. But... how did you manage to get all the way back here? It is not a safe place for you to be playing hide-and-seek." Not with all these rusted tools and sharp metals.

Ester, not picking up on the animatronic's concerned look, shrugged, "Some rabbit lady dragged me back here to kill me," She had an annoyed look on her face and continued, "And because this place is on lockdown, I'm not gonna be able to leave until 6am."

Bonnie blinked, eye wide in shock

" W h a t "

Main tags for this AU on my blog are:

#scrap&mechanicau

#scrapmechanic

[joshbruh10x]

Random Headcanons for them SB characters

So i listed some headcanons I like to think happen, they are literally living rent free in my head and I just wanted to share em with somebody lmao.

*sharp inhales*

THESE ARE ALL MY THOUGHTS IM NOT SAYING THEY’RE CANON OK WE GOOD? O K GOOD

*exhales*

Oh btw these are in alphabetical order bc i say so :> Bonnie-acts like a literal vegetarian, eats a bunch of carrots bc he a bunny

-really likes his bowling attraction but likes Fazer Blast more

-will not hesitate to jump at you with full speed if you manage to fully piss him off

-does stand-up comedy at night in his bowling alley

-the dude’s body build is like thin but broad

-he likes to annoy Freddy using his epic s p e e d

-his program was a bit more upgraded to protect kids (bc kids and heavy bowling equipment do not end pretty)

Chica

-Yes she loves Pizza but will go crazy for small finger food or snacks like chips, fries, finger sandwhiches, etc.

-Pops off when she feels like it

-You thought Monty was the strongest? H A H NO ITS CHICA

-She has a gym and she’s practically the buffest out of all of them

-Literally the light of everyone’s day, without her, Roxy would’ve crashed a car at a child or Monty would’ve started eating babies

-She has a built in ecometer to keep the place clean, but that also means she sometimes has to clean trash, by e a t I n g

DJMM

-loud when he wants to be

-his children are the little music men in the vents

-his bouncer mode will not hurt you, but will simply just fling you back to the elevato

r-loves the peace and quiet

-he doesn’t need to eat but Chica tried getting him to taste pizza atleast once or twice

Foxy

-does he even exist

-whatever anyways, foxy a very caring person despite his rash nature

-literally the third-or fourth wheel? Of Bonnie Monty and Freddy

-he doesn’t need love he got his booty

-his treasure get your mind out of the fucking gutters

-teams with sun and moon in the daycare theater

-it’s a hassle to keep his fur well groomed

Freddy

-YOOOO ITS BEAR DAD

-cannot stand any foul language within a 10 feet radius especially if its Gregory

-Best cook in the house/pizzaplex whoop whoop

-Will not hesitate to help anyone, you dropped your wallet near him? He will instantly rush to get it for you

-Despite being the main singer of the band, he sometimes lets the others lead-If he’s too tired, he will be in sleep mode until he’s well rested

-Are you feeling sad, like you wanna cry for no apparent reason at all? Too bad he’s on your way right now to hug you

-He dated Bonnie first before roping Monty to their side 

Gregory

-feral child all the way

-he knows who eli and cc is do not ask

-his legal name is now Gregory Fazbear

-Everyone acts like a specified guardian to him, Freddy his dad, Monty and Bonnie his cool uncles, Chica his aunt, Roxy and Vanessa his epic older sisters, sun/moon the protective babysitters

-he finally made a deal with the vent music men to stop attacking him in return of leading them back to DJMM

-Picked up cursing from Monty and adult jokes from Bonnie, Freddy is not impressed

Monty

-finally get to write headcanons bout the gator boi

-Nervous-ass wreck, when he first started as the bassist replacing Bonnie, he literally does not know what he’s doing leading him to cry and wreck his room on his first day

-man’s more upset replacing Bonnie than Bonnie actually is

-he knew Bonnie before replacing him

-HAHA GAY PANIC ATTACKS

-His cooking is literal rng, sometimes it comes out burnt to crisps, others, he makes fine ass cuisine

-He cannot control his tail, if it wags uncontrollably and hits you in the face you know it’s not his fault

-He wants control of the situation every single time, are we driving to mcdonald’s? Monty calls driver, unless it’s Freddy then he calls shotgun

-Amazing upper strength but he skipped leg day, yeah he can jump high but can he kick stuff as good as he can punch? I don’t think so

-Gator Uncle and Feral child causes mayhem

-When Freddy and Bonnie invited him to their relationship, my god was this gator soft as a LITERAL marshmallow on pillows

Moon

-your typical depressed angsty teen

-loves listening to soft lullabitic music

-has the same obsession of cleanliness with sun

-he likes bitter flavored foods, don’t ask how he can eat bc I don’t know either

-Despises Monty due to him babbling about everything and is disturbing the peace and quiet

-learned how to not scare Gregory for once

Roxy

-Girlboss, gaslight, gatekeep

-Never let’s go of Chica when she’s in sight

-despite having a Feminine build, she is very strong-bangs her head when metal music starts playing

-Monty and Roxy are besties for life

-DID YOU JUST LOOK AT HER GF? She will glare at you the moment Chica leaves the room

-Anything that ruins her form, she will and I mean WILL cry about it, a nudge on her makeup? Frizzy hair? C R Y I N G ENSUES

-When Gregory took her eyes, she relied more on smell than sound, she has memorized about what everyone smells like, Freddy smells like cologne and fiber, Monty smells like fresh damp grass, Chica smelled like lavender and Pizza (most occasions trash), Foxy smells like the Caribbean and Bonnie smelt like vegetables or Bowling polish

-She was Foxy’s replacement, none of them minded, they get along

-Teases Monty each time Freddy or Bonnie is near, calls him Lover-Gator 

Sun

-my god who fed the animatronic sugar?

-Too hyperactive and is all around the place

-Gets along with Monty and his loud attitude-He is aware of Moon not liking Monty so Sun likes rubbing it in his face

-Another reason he gets along with the gator is Sweets, they both love sugar that Freddy found them sleeping in the daycare surrounded by cans of Fizzy faz and chocolate bars, animatronics can get food commas???

-ball of SUNshine aha get it

-Nothing gets in his way when he wants to play (yo that rhymed)

-Gregory finally warmed up to him

-Acts as the therapist of the Pizzaplex, very understanding and calm when he needs to be

-Vanessa is his top customer to his therapy sessions, the girl needs more than a beer or two 

Vanessa

-after getting saved by Gregory and the gang, she vowed to keep Gregory safe

-Chocoholic, Coffeeholic, Alcoholic (but not so much alcohol she get’s drunk, that’s a rare occurance when she does a full day shift)

-Less strict to the animatronics but she does glare at them when they try to do something stupid (cough cough Bonnie and Gregory)

-As I said, Sun is her therapist-She has access to everything on the Pizzaplex so she can be anywhere

-She also has her own apartment to stay at but she likes sleeping overnight at the pizzaplex, she has a warm couch, some blankets and coffee

-The animatronic she seems to warm up to the most is Chica 

Vanny

-not much to say about her

-sassy and aggressive, her most hated animatronic? Freddy

-brings a knife everywhere she goes

-devoted her life to burntrap like some husband or smth, looks like Bonnie isn’’t the only Rabbit simp in the Pizzaplex

-Vanny is now arrested and is broght to rehab to forget about Glitchtrap but it doesn’t seem to be working lmao 

William (this is just for fun)

-LITERAL OLD MAN WHO WON’T STAY IN HIS RETIREMENT HOME

-SOMEONE GET MIKE HERE HIS DAD WONT STFU

-he always comes back-his weak frail body is now even weaker because of Blob

-when will he die, goddamit guys, use ice or smth, fire is obviously not working, IM LOOKING AT YOU THREE HENRY, MIKE AND GREGORY

Ok wow that was a lot, so uhh yea enjoy this stupid brain rot

Atleast im not the only one suffering