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bosstoaster · 2 years

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I posted 1,210 times in 2022

That's 380 more posts than 2021!

53 posts created (4%)

1,157 posts reblogged (96%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@peachdoxie

@roach-works

@jabletown

@headspacedad

@chaoszonenate

I tagged 406 of my posts in 2022

#mgs - 103 posts

#otasune - 40 posts

#bt writes - 23 posts

#cr spoilers - 20 posts

#voltron - 14 posts

#cr - 9 posts

#cr3 - 9 posts

#submas - 8 posts

#bt memes - 8 posts

#critical role - 8 posts

Longest Tag: 128 characters

#fun fact the best thing about mgs is that it's totally canonical for every character to have a five page philosophical monologue

My Top Posts in 2022:

So y'all I'm really trying not to get too hopeful but there's a sweet lil doggo in need of a forever home and my roommate and my landlord are both on board and he's just a little guy!!!

21 notes - Posted January 14, 2022

"She's too fucking weak" Imogen's BBEG arc has really begun huh?

22 notes - Posted September 15, 2022

Time Fades Away

A sequel to A Secret I Will Keep

Pairing: Otacon/Solid Snake Gray, Fox/Solid Snake (past, mentioned)

Summary:

A few months down the line, Snake and Otacon look into the works of Para-Medic to continue to fight Snake's advanced aging. Turns out, her main laboratory is a relatively short drive away. The remains of Dr. Jane Clark's work are their own kind of haunting.

Excerpt:

The laboratory reminds Dave strongly of Shadow Moses, left to rot for all those years. The climate is better for habitation, but worse for preservation. From the stains on the floor, water has gotten in from Washington's many downpours and eventually stagnated and evaporated. No doubt pests have also been in and out, from what looks like exposed, frayed wires and old droppings. There’s also the huge, dark stain right next to one of the examination tables. Dave’s lip curls up in disgust. There could be any untold number of reasons for this stain, especially given Clark’s line of research. But the fact that the rest of the lab only shows signs of environmental water damage suggests that no one cleaned this up like usual, and then the place was sealed. Which would make this the spot where Dr. Jane Clark was killed by Frank. Dave touches his boot to the long dry spot and hopes Frank got to feel like he evened the score. A lab accident, according to the Patriot files. When Clark died, Dave likes to think she knew that nothing was an accident. It was a series of events she’d started and perpetrated. Frank just followed it till the logical conclusion. Whatever suffering Clark felt was entirely her own doing. Frank was always good at waiting for the right moment. He took all the hits he needed to if it gave him the perfect lethal opportunity. (He also took hits he didn’t need to. His literal fatal flaw.)

31 notes - Posted December 4, 2022

Rudimentary Lye

Part of Don't Let's Start Adjacent

Pairing: Gen, Ryou & Shiro, Ryou & Lotor

Summary: It shouldn't be a big deal for Ryou to sit in on Shiro's behalf while trying to bring in new coalition members. He doesn't like it, but it's fine.

That is, until Lotor shows up and makes himself the team's problem, and Ryou is stuck in the role in far more dangerous circumstances.

Just his damn luck.

62 notes - Posted April 1, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Last hellsite standing

28,030 notes - Posted April 25, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #Lol Nate coming in 5th when I've been following you for a month #Also that tag #Yeah #Also the difference between 1 and 2 lol

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branzycrafted · 2 years

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i find casinos super cool but i don't actually know a lot about them, tell me some casino facts (basic or fun or whatever idm) ^_^

WOOOWOOOWOOO ALRIGHT SO!!! We have literally the worst memory ever so I don't get to remember a WHOLE LOT just off the top of my head so I'll go on about some stuff that I do know!! >:D (P.S. PIERCE AND I SHARE A SPECIAL INTEREST IN CASINO STUFF, MINE REVOLVES AROUND GAMES AND THINGS LIKE HOUSE EDGE WHILE HIS REVOLVES AROUND STUFF LIKE RULES/REGULATIONS AND MANAGEMENT SO!! Curiosities on things like regulation and laws and blacklist stuff and etc could also go to @clownpierced!!)

FIRST OFF my favorite thing to go on about: SLOTS AREN'T RIGGED!! NOT THE WAY PEOPLE LIKE TO THINK!! The long and short of it is that the only way slots games are "rigged" is RTP which is perfectly legal and just means that the games can be programmed to generate a certain profit back to the house!! RTP is a percentage figure that basically gives you a rough estimate of how much you can expect to earn back in wins. Industry standard falls around 92-96% RTP most ideally around 96%, anything below I believe it was 95% is considered low RTP. So for example the slots game Mega Moolah has an RTP of 88.12%, so that's pretty low!! Say you have a slots game with an RTP of 90% and you bet a total of $100, you can expect to win back about $90 in wins. So no casinos aren't going heehee you can't win at this slots game it's a scaaaamm!! NO that's illegal and gaming commissions would NEVER let that would never pass. Plus it would suck for business cause no one is gonna play a game they know they can't win. And casinos really don't need to rig slots games to make a profit!! And I'll bring up a point that Pierce made: Literally it's so likely that more patrons have rigged slots games than the house has. There's no way you're rigging a slots game and getting away with it at this point. SO YEAH!! Slots aren't rigged, you just might be unlucky and you might be playing a slots game with RTP that sucks. You can freely check the RTP of slots games online too! And you probably should cause well you typically wanna play high RTP slots, though there is strategy to playing low RTP slots.

SECOND: Roulette my beloved!! To start off there are 3 types of roulette wheels: single-zero (French/European), double-zero (American), and triple-zero (Sands Roulette). The number sequences are:

Single: 0-32-25-19-4-21-2-25-17-34-6-27-13-36-11-30-8-23-10-5-24-16-33-1-20-14-31-9-22-18-29-7-28-12-35-3-26

Double: 0-28-9-26-30-11-7-20-32-17-5-22-34-15-3-24-13-1-00-27-10-25-29-12-8-19-31-18-6-21-33-16-4-23-35-14-2

Triple: 0-000-00-32-15-19-4-21-2-25-17-34-6-27-13-36-11-30-8-23-10-5-24-16-33-1-20-14-31-9-22-18-29-7-28-12-35-3-26

AND YOU DON'T WANNA PLAY SANDS ROULETTE. Because the house edge is the worst of the 3!! House edge for single stands at about 5.26%, double at about 2.6%, and triple at 7.7%

So for every $1 million bet at each, the house can expect to get about $52,600, $26,000, and $77,000 respectively. SO JUST MAYBE DON'T PLAY SANDS ROULETTE IF YOU WANNA WIN MORE

Now thirdly, when it comes to betting!! There are inside bets, outside bets, and call bets.

Inside bets: Straight/single (single placement), split (2 vertically/horizontally adjacent numbers), street (3 consecutive numbers in a horizontal line), corner/square (4 numbers that meet at one corner), six line/double street (6 consecutive numbers forming 2 horizontal lines), trio (3-number bet involving at least one zero, 0-1-2 on either layout, 0-2-3 on single zero only, 00-2-3 on double zero only), and first four (0-1-2-3, single zero only), basket (0-00-1-2-3, double zero only)

Outside bets: 1-18 (Low or Manque) or 19-36 (High or Passe), Red or Black (Rogue ou Noir), Even or Odd (Pair ou Impair), and dozen bets: 1st (1-12, Première douzaine or P12), 2nd (13-24, Moyenne douzaine or M12), and 3rd (25-36, Dernière douzaine or D12), column bets (example: 1-4-7), AND MY FAVORITE!! snake bet! This one I wanna talk more about after I list the call bets/announced bets

Which are: Voisins du zero (17 numbers between (and including) 22 and 25), Jeu zero (7 numbers between (and including) 15 and 15), Tiers du Cylindre (12 numbers roughly opposite side of Voisins du zero), Orphelins (remaining 8 not covered in the Voisins du zero and Tiers du Cylindre bets)

Alright now SNAKE BET!! My arm tattoo personally is actually designed after the snake bet

So! This bet is commonly referred to as the red snake bet because it covers red numbers in a snake-like pattern. The snake bet covers the numbers 1, 5, 9, 12, 14, 16, 19, 23, 27, 30, 32, and 34, and it has the same payout as a dozen bet. HOWEVER! There's also technically a black snake bet that you don't really see!! It's essentially as close to opposite to the red snake as you can get it, but it looks a little wonkier. The black snake covers the numbers 6, 8, 11, 10, 13, 17, 20, 22, 26, 29, 28, and 31

A layout like this!

Also, one of my favorite little roulette phrases to say for no reason is "Rien ne va plus!", which is an announcement made by the croupier when no more bets can be placed while the wheel is spinning.

AAAALLLRIGHT NOW!! Just some random bits here and there!!:

-The house edge for blackjack is roughly 2% for inexperienced players and 0.5% for experienced players/with the best strategies in place

-A soft hand in a game of blackjack is when you have an ace card and a non-ten card, this is because an ace can be counted as either a 1 or 11

-There are a couple ways to indicate your plays in blackjack, for hitting you can either say "hit" or either make a little 1-2 finger scratching motion towards you on the table or sort of wave towards you in a "Come here" motion, and for standing you can either say "stand" or "no more" or move your hand sideways just above the table with your palm facing down

-The house edge for slots games is typically 5-10%

-Casino cards that are purchased will have some sort of card markings like the corners being cut or holes being punched in the corners or some area of the card. This is to indicate that the deck is out of rotation/not in use and prevents people from cheating/trying to use them in the casino

-It's stated to be best to play smooth jazz or similar in casinos, casinos might like to play things like jazz or classical music to create a sort of warm ambience, but other popular types of music to play include rock music and electro dance music

-Here's one from Pierce!: Dennis Nikrasch, one of the more infamous casino scammers, got caught because a woman from the team he put together got sick of the way he distributed the earnings among the team (70% wet to him and 30% went to the rest of the 9 members to distribute evenly, yeesh), and she got so sick of it that she reported him to the police!! The FBI got involved and he ended up pleading guilty to charges so he only got an 8 year sentence. So if you're gonna pull some insane scams maybe pay the rest of your team fairly!! Or just y'know don't risk it—

AND THAT'S ALL I GOT FOR NOW!! Enjoy the random yelling about a couple casino games and remember the good ol saying, la maison gagne toujours! (Aka the house always wins!)

#THANK YOU FOR ASKING AJFJGJ #I am SO passionate about the ''Slots Aren't Rigged'' thing—#[''roll the dice!'' | 🎲.txt]#long post #I think half the reason we love the roulette wheels so much is because that was our best scam LOL #SUPER RIGGED ROULETTE WHEEL MY BELOVED. HOUSE EDGE OF 100% EXCEPT WHEN I FLIP THE WRONG LEVER

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cerastes · 2 years

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Gimme a very important 3, and maybe a 31 and a 38 if you've got the words to spare, buckaroo

*THE VENDING MACHINE WHIRRS AND GRINDS, DROPPING THE DESIRED SODA*

3. Favorite childhood game?

Easily Donkey Kong Country. It's not an ironic joke or anything when I say I love to play games listening to the DKC or adjacent OSTs, or my love for funny monkey game, it really is my treasured childhood favorite. I think it was a combination of it being The Funny Monkey Game, thus, a fun and vibrant game full of personality, coupled with some really challenging platforming near the end, and David Wise going off every single one of his shits and composing a soundtrack for it that simultaneously is vigorous and bouncy, and yet, that could very well play during a one man expedition of the ruins of a lost civilization.

Another part is that DKC was the one game all of my siblings also enjoyed. I played the most games out of my siblings, in terms of quantity and in terms of dedication to bettering myself at them, but DKC was the one game that all of us liked, so we'd sit around the old, small TV and pass around the controller each life. That certainly was very fun and memorable. I remember keeping my eyes glued on game magazines to see when DKC2 would release, and after that, DKC3.

31. Game with the best theme song?

I think a number of answers apply here, for a number of reasons, mainly the question "What constitutes a Theme Song of any given title?"

About title/main menu music: Believe it or not, I think the first time a main title song truly touched me was Ocarina of Time. I'm not a Zelda fan. The only Zelda game I have played is Ocarina of Time, and by sheer technicality, Wind Waker and Twilight Princess, but only because my brothers tagged me in to beat the final boss since "you're good at fights, Drimo". But, the sheer solemnity and simmering emotion of Ocarina of Time's title theme has stuck with me for a long time. Eventually, it would be Armored Core: For Answer's "Someone Is Always Moving On The Surface" that would establish itself as the apex of title music.

If it's about the track often associated with it: SIMON'S THEME IN SUPER CASTLEVANIA IV, BABY, without a shadow of a doubt, the fact that it plays as you open up whooping undead ass with wild gusto is one thing, but, there's another place where Simon's Theme comes up: Phase 2 of the Dracula final boss fight. At that point, Dracula panics, and is so afraid of Simon that he can only spam the same predictable lightning spell over and over after a variety of tricky, clever fireball spams. Simon's Theme starts playing during this phase, overriding Dracula's because Simon Belmont is the boss fight now. That was the first time a video game made me feel so, so powerful: Not due to giving me huge numbers or big flashy attacks, but simply by virtue of using the conventions of the medium to tell me "You. You are the threat in this room now."

And if it's about sheer memorability: I would say a tie between the incredibly iconic Kingdom Heart's Simple And Clean and GunZ: The Duel's Theme Rock. Simple And Clean, with the accompanying cutscene, encompass I think everything right with being a teenager into anime, whereas GunZ' Theme Rock hits the vibe of "solemn gunslinger loading bullets into the cartridges of his submachineguns, silently, in the corner of an abandoned building, with a glass of whiskey, moments before going out and getting into another meaningful gunfight".

38. Have you tried a game, hated it, then tried again, and loved it?

I mentioned Baroque on this one before, which is an example of something formative to me, incredibly dear, a building block in the Dreamer you know and love nowadays. Now, I'll give a more contemporary answer: Final Fantasy 14.

I started playing FF14 March of 2021, is what I would usually say, but that's when I made Alkelda. I actually did try FF14 before that, many years ago, when Heavensward was the newest thing, and I didn't try it alone, I tried it with Iron, actually. Long story short, we hated the two hours we put into it, and then we played Team Fortress 2 instead that night.

Then, last year, I really needed something to sink my teeth into around that time, and after much deliberation, I said, yeah, alright, let's give this another try, I've heard it's become better. I didn't try the free trial, however, I committed to the bit from the get-go and bought the full pack, which at the time was up to Shadowbringers. I was going to give this a fair try, and I did!

I didn't tell anyone initially because I didn't want to give false hope to anyone that I'd play it, mainly because I was hating ARR really badly. But when I got to Heavensward, the gameplay still sucked balls, but the story picked up hard, and I was enjoying myself. Stormblood, the gameplay was still very, well, unengaging, but I was loving the narrative end of it, so I was treating the whole thing like a Yoko Taro game: Fucking horrendous gameplay, but good music and story, which I normally don't do, but FF14 was popping that hard for me, narratively. Then Shadowbringers hit and now I FINALLY was actually enjoying the gameplay AS WELL as the story.

SO IT TOOK QUITE A BIT OF PATIENCE BUT WE GOT THERE.

#ryo maybe

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broadstflyers · 3 years

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A/N: I am so excited to be starting my first ever series. This is inspired by Taylor Swift’s “Cardigan” because her music creates stories in my head that I must write down on (digital) paper. Please keep in mind this chapter is written in past tense, and the story probably won't be in present tense for at least another few chapters. Let me know what you think! If you want to be on the tag list for the next chapter, or drop any (constructive) feedback, you can take this survey here.

Word Count: 2.3K

Warnings: None

Summary: They say at fourteen you’re too young to know you’re in love. But what if you aren’t?

Navigation: chapter two

Grade: 9 Age: 14 --------------------------------- As sure as you are that spring comes after winter, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, and seconds turn into minutes, you know you are in love with Joel Farabee. Not the gushy “I want to hug you and kiss you and never let you go” love, the intense “I want to burst at the seams because I just want to scream it on the rooftops and tell you and it literally crushes my heart that I can’t” love.

Yeah, that love.

The problem?

You were only fourteen when you knew.

Yes, the grand old age of fourteen. The age you were supposed to be nervously texting multiple boys, wondering if you were going to be asked to the ninth grade dance and worrying about who your first kiss was going to be, or even the first person you were going to hold hands with.

It started on the first day of school, but the start of it all was less than romantic. You shuffled up the hallway with one of your best friends, your feet felt like lead.

“What’s wrong?” Luna whispered in your ear.

“I really hate math,” you huffed. It was the last period of the day, eighth period, and you had to spend it in what was probably going to be a room full of rambunctious athletes who would be itching to burst out of the room at the very sound of the bell. How did you know this? Because you had been stuck in a class like that ever since the beginning of middle school. It made for some laughs, yes, but for some reason a pessimistic attitude bitterly swarmed around you in dark circles. Also, math in general made you anxious, and it didn’t help that the last few years you had to fend for yourself because of your lack of friends in said class.

“Well, at least you’ll have me this year,” Luna attempted to reassure you and your looming anxiety.

“Yeah, but I wonder who’s going to be in our class this year,” you mumbled. Your stomach swarmed with butterflies, but you’d rather call them icky moths.

Luna opened her mouth to respond, but you reached the door frame before her. Before you could even make it through the entrance, you made eye contact with a group of rowdy boys sitting at a table directly in front of you. You stopped dead in your tracks. They paused in their shouting to turn and look at you and Luna, since you were only about seven or eight feet away.

You scanned their faces, and you recognized most of them. They were mostly hockey players that played for the local team that looked for a shot at the NTDP in just a few short years. It was Syracuse, hockey was a pretty big deal there. There was also the prospective varsity quarterback and his star wide-receiver, these labels given to them at just fourteen. Of course, more athletes. Suddenly, you locked eyes with this boy you strangely have never seen before. His hand was hovering in air over his friend’s head with what you could only assume is his friend’s pencil in a lame attempt to keep him from grabbing it.

He blinked a few times, and you might have blinked a few times, you honestly couldn’t remember.

You snapped out of your trance and looked over to the board that said, “Welcome class! Pick your seats for the first day!”

“Hey,” Luna nudged you and grabbed your arm, “let’s sit over there.”

She lead you to a table adjacent to the boys’ table, despite your unheard protests of being “too close” to them.

You took your seat huffing, and you pulled out your binder and got ready for class, something you wished the crazy boys would pick up on. Thankfully the bell rang, your teacher shut the door, and class began.

That’s the first time you saw him. Not very eventful, but hey, you two were awkward fourteen year olds just entering grade nine. Of course things were not going to be all fireworks and love at first sight.

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

A few classes went by, and the only disturbance that occurred was when the class was taking one of those horrible diagnostic tests. See, you really hated disturbances, interruptions, anything relating to that matter.

So when this dude named Joel (you learned his name when he was yelled at for playing rap music in the middle of class) started fooling around with his friend while you were trying to figure out why letters were in math now, you weren’t happy, to say the least.

And when he locked eyes with you and made a silly face, yours did not move in a rather unamused manner. You simply blinked and looked back down at your test.

You missed his face slightly fall, but it was short lived when the teacher yelled his name from across the room and made everyone jump ten feet. He was quiet after that.

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

It was a random Tuesday in late October.

You and Luna were chatting about your previous classes, until you both stopped in your tracks and you raised an eyebrow. Everyone in your class was standing up and congregating away from tables. You could hear the ominous music creeping over everyone’s heads.

“Oh no,” you whined to Luna.

She winced. “We’re being assigned seats, aren’t we?”

You nodded. You both stood in the sea of kids and awaited your fate.

“Alright, everyone,” your teacher said. “You guys have been extremely chatty lately.” She paused to side-eye Joel and his friends.

He opened his mouth to protest, but he quickly shut it when she frowned.

“So you leave me no choice, but I must assign seats,” she dramatically said as she unveiled the new seating chart on the board.

Everyone pushed and shoved to the front to see where their name lied in the cards of fate. You heard some soft celebrations and loud protests.

You nudged your way in and scanned up and down the board. Luna wasn’t at the same table, but she was sitting facing towards you at another table. Hopefully you and her would be able to make eye contact. You scanned until you see your name fall right next to someone who you would rather forget you treated so poorly. It was there in bright, bold red.

Joel Farabee.

“Aw man,” you and a voice said in unison. You looked up at your side to see that it’s him. Oh dear brother. Did you both just admit out loud that you don’t want to sit next to each other? You and him rolled your eyes at each other, huffing that you’ll be forced to be in each other’s presence.

And you knew he was thinking some sort of variation of what you were: how dare your teacher.

You trudged over to your seat and plopped down. He threw down his stuff and sat next to you. You could sense his extreme dislike for your rather serious demeanor. Hey, you could crack a smile.

Just not around him. And for the life of you, you couldn’t figure out why. It’s almost like if you did, you knew you would never stop...

You both avoided eye contact, you played with your pencil as he yelled to one of his friends across the classroom about some stupid video game.

And that’s just how it was for weeks. You’d both come in, sit down, he’d scream to his friends, you’d fight shooting him a really dirty look.

Until one day, you accidentally did. Now, later when you told Luna, you swore up and down you didn’t mean to, and it was just the fact that seventh period gym was terrible (but when was it not). Okay, so maybe you were fed up with him yelling about whatever rap song came out, or whatever Instagram model popped up on his feed (that made you shutter).

But what you did wasn’t really admittedly the nicest.

“Joel, do you always have to yell so freaking loudly?” you snapped.

He feigned a stunned expression, or maybe he really meant it, who knows what goes on in that boy’s seemingly empty head.

“Do you have to be such a downer…like all the time? Kinda ruins the vibe bro.”

You rolled your eyes. “Thanks Joel, because the number one thing I care about is ruining your ‘vibe’,” you put that word in air quotes, “and not getting any work done in this class, bro.”

Now he rolled his eyes. “Look, you could benefit from loosening up a little, you know? You’re kind of just, not a fun person.”

A look of real hurt flashed across your face. One that he caught. “No,” you punctually state. Then you turn your seat so you completely have your back to him and you’re facing the board.

Meanwhile Luna and your table-mates watched the whole situation unfold. Okay, and maybe most of the class.

And when the bell rang and he called your name, you simply decided you didn’t hear it.

“He’s calling you,” Luna prodded.

You just shook your head as you continued down the hallway to the bus. On the bus, you had some thinking to do.

Did he really think of you as...boring? You usually didn’t let the immature words of boys get to you, but this, this really hurt.

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

“I’m sure he didn’t mean it,” Luna insisted that evening while lying on your bedroom floor that same Friday evening.

“Yes he did, and he’s kind of right,” you begrudgingly conceded. “I haven’t been the nicest to him,” you sigh into your hands, “and maybe I should be.”

“Well, what’s stopping you?” Luna curiously asked.

“I, I don’t know.”

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

The following Monday, you winced and leaned into Luna as you approached the classroom. To say you were terrified is an understatement.

But you took a deep breath, held your head high, and locked your face into a neutral expression. You never let anyone get the best of you, and you weren’t going to let Joel out of all people be one of the first.

Luna offered a small sympathetic smile as she made her way to her seat.

Your heart beated out of your chest anticipating his arrival. Sure enough, you caught him out of the corner of your eye. He took his time and strutted around the room to talk to all the friends he had. He was obviously looking to avoid you, too.

Coward.

Eventually, he made his way to his seat. He cleared his throat, but you didn’t budge. Ever heard of being saved by the bell?

“I’m going to hand back everyone’s quizzes from last class,” your teacher announced. You audibly groaned. That quiz did not go well. Who puts diamonds and boxes and something called factoring in math?

Sure enough, she shoved a C- into your sweaty hands.

“Dang,” you whispered.

You glanced over at Joel’s paper. 100%.

Are you kidding me?

His prying eyes had the audacity to spot your C-, as if you didn’t pry on his paper seconds before.

“That’s rough,” he said, trying to make eye contact with you.

“I- um, yeah, it is,” you choked out with your eyes still glued on your paper.

His heart broke when he heard your wavering voice. He had to do something.

“Can I see it?” He quietly asked, when quiet usually isn’t typically his demeanor.

You furrowed your brows in confusion. “Uh, sure?”

He took the paper and started drawing stars around the C- mark, very messily, may you add.

You went to take the paper back, but he moved it away from your grasp.

“One second,” he pleaded. He stuck his tongue out in concentration.

You tried to see how badly he was defacing your quiz, but the position of his arm prohibited you from peering over to see.

“Done,” he proudly said as he slid the paper back over to you.

Instead of a plain old C-, there was now...a C- with stars around it.

“Joel, this is very lovely and all, but why the stars around the C-?”

He smiled with his sickeningly sweet toothless grin, and your heart absolutely backflipped into oblivion.

“That’s not a C-,” he goofily joked, “that’s the moon, y/n,” he said through a smile. “See it?”

You looked up from your paper and looked at him in the eye. Your hands shook from adrenaline, your heart was fluttering, goodness, you didn’t know how you could feel any lighter.

That smile was going to be the death of you.

“Yeah, Joel,” you cracked a smile, “I do see it. Thank you,” you sincerely said.

Crack a smile.

You cracked a smile.

His heart skipped a beat. He knew instantly he was going to do whatever it took to keep that smile on your face for as long as possible. He didn’t care what he would have to do.

He smiled once more, and he turned to his buddies to shield his face from you. He didn’t want you to see how red it was turning. He proceeded to explain to them how perfect his stars were and how no one could top them. Something along the lines of “Bro, you have to see this one, it’s so perfect bro…” He also told them how he made you feel better while slapping his chest, for some reason, as in yeah, I made the mopiest girl in school smile. He sounded like he was priding himself on it.

His smile, the way he talked about you, those freaking stars. You’d let him draw those all over your arm instead any day.

At that age, you may not have known why there were letters in algebra, but you knew that the way he made you feel wasn't the same as you did with your two other crushes back in middle school. This just felt...absolutely weird.

But absolutely right.

And that’s the story of how at just fourteen years old, you knew you were absolutely screwed.

#joel farabee #joel farabee imagine #joel farabee x reader

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thewrongshop · 3 years

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Tagged by @bluejayblueskies !! Thank you! :)

1- Why did you choose your url?

It's a reference to the scene in Good Omens where Shadwell accuses Aziraphale of "seducing women with his wiles"! Somehow hearing the mildly distressed response "I think perhaps you've got the wrong shop" during what I'll call a formative period of my life made that phrase stick with me, can't imagine why :)

2- Any side blogs?

Nope!

3- How long have you been on tumblr?

Since somewhere around October 2020 I think?

4- Do you have a queue tag?

Nope! I know this is silly but I don’t like the idea of things being posted when I’m not around to monitor them lmao

5- Why did you start your blog in the first place?

Spent a solid year just sitting on the sidelines staunchly refusing to make my own blog, and then some very lovely people made some very lovely art for my fic that got posted here and one thing led to another :)

6- Why did you choose your icon/pfp?

I made this one for ao3 bc I wanted something vaguely tma-adjacent and then was too fond of it to make a new one for tumblr!

7- Why did you choose your header?

No special reason for that one, just a nice pic from my camera roll!

8-What’s your post with the most notes?

Wow it might actually be the most recent chapter of my amnesia fic. I’ve never broken 200 notes and I am living in bliss <3

9- How many mutuals do you have?

25ish?

10- How many followers do you have?

139!

11- How many people do you follow?

57! I don't like when there's too much on my dash to reasonably scroll through in a sitting

12- Have you ever made a shitpost?

Not to my memory?

13- How often do you use Tumblr each day?

More since I caved and downloaded the app... no idea how often in numbers though

14- Did you have a fight/argument with another blog once?

No thankfully

15- How do you feel about “you need to reblog this” posts?

Not a fan, even if the ideas are good!

16- Do you like tag games?

LOVE them. I have far too much fun sharing facts about myself :)

17- Do you like ask games?

Also very much yes!

18-Which of your mutuals do you think is Tumblr famous?

I am simply not on this website enough to answer that

19- Do you have a crush on a mutual?

Nope :)

I'll tag @asexualzoro, @cobalt-knave, and @princess-of-purple-prose (only if you want to!)

#tag games #thanks for the tag this was fun!! :)#talking shop

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thedevildomdaily · 3 years

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Demonic Possessions Ch5: Diners Demons & Disasters

Note: Here's the Master List for the full story. I recommend reading my stuff on my actual Blog if you enjoy OM! official music! Thank you so much for the support. Please let me hear from you in the comment section. I wanna talk OM!

Warnings: Language...for now.

___________________________

When they arrived at Hell’s kitchen, folks cleared out of the Avatar of Gluttony’s way. Lena barely caught on to the many eyes drawn their way. She was famished and excited for her first dining-out experience in the Devildom.

“Your usual table is read-” Beel whizzed past the waiter, “-y.”

“Uhm, thank you…” Lena awkwardly nodded and quickly followed after the giant. She was afraid of not getting to eat anything on the account that he would clean them out of everything. That’s what Leviathan and Satan had warned them about earlier when they were shopping for room decor.

Speaking of the dev….you know, Satan and Mammon entered the place, causing the rest of the customers to flinch and stare with panic at their state. The blonde had caught a hold of his older brother’s jacket collar and was leading him, in his disheveled glory, to the waiter. There were many words exchanged. And soon, the owner of the establishment arrived with the check they were both after.

The rest of the group had managed to meet up with the more excited ones, filing in quietly, like normal customers. “There you are…” Simeon said, being the first to spot Lena and Beel. She was peeking over at his menu, asking questions about the ingredients.

“Was it really necessary to make a mad dash like that Lena? You’re making us look bad…” Zak looked embarrassed.

Lilly chuckled as she took her usual seat across from Lena. “If you’re worried about images that way, you picked the wrong crowd to hang with.”

“She’s right! These demon brothers are always causing scenes. Usually it’s over being selfish!” Luke added. The little pup took a liking to Zak after some demon started teasing him in the hallway, on the way to their next class. Simeon was busy talking with Solomon and Satan about their homework, so Zak was the only one around to aid him.

When everyone was seated, drinks were served. The group's banter filled the establishment and it felt like a cozy pub in an RPG, as Lena described to Leviathan sitting to her right. The group ordered so much, the owner had to start turning away other patrons.Then walked in the trio. You know, only the most intimidating demons in all of the Devildom.

“Wow! Fancy meeting all of you here!” Lord Diavolo boasted.

Lucifer gave a long sigh and glared at him with the response, “You knew they were all going to be here didn’t you? That’s why you were so insistent on it.”

Both Diavolo and Barbatos deflected Lucifer’s words and began to take a seat at the adjacent table from the large group. Grumpy joined them and the waiter rushed promptly to get their orders. The poor young demon looked so nervous, and who could blame him?

The saying “Time flies by when you’re having fun” was no joke. This band of misfits: demons, humans, angels, and nephilim were having a blast! There were many jokes at one another’s expense, slight bickering, questions about each others’ worlds. It was the exact thing that the exchange program was about. Then came the food.

One waiter brought an actual pyramid of burgers to Beelzebub; his personal platter. Another waiter was in charge of drink refills. It was quite a mess with everyone together; Save for Luke, Lilly, and Lena the rest were freaking giants. It was hard getting food passed around to the 14 people and 1 Beel.

The previously mentioned nervous waiter was now carrying a serving tray towards the Big Three’s table. Just as he made it in front of him, Mammon quickly scooted back without looking as he yelled at Satan about his check again.

The back of the chair smacked right into the poor, unfortunate waiter. It caused him to lose balance and the tray to teeter out of his hands. It was a scene shot in slow-mo like many movies: The plates left the tray, Lucifer’s eyes were so wide, and Diavolo was caught totally off guard.

Before the food could splatter all over the prince, Lena rushed to catch everything. Her secret ability was revealed in an instant: She was fast like a comic hero. But unlike them, she wasn’t the most agile. She did manage to get the tray and get the plates back on, but she stumbled backwards, slipping on Mammon’s dropped napkin.

Her eyes were squinted shut as she braced for impact. It felt...odd. She definitely landed, but there was no hard, cold floor. No broken glass sounds. In fact she knew she still had the tray of food in her head.

When she opened her eyes, Lena saw Diavolo towering over her at an odd angle. The whole place was silent enough to hear a pin needle drop. What the fu…

“Are you okay Lena?” The prince asked.

“I don’t know if I’m being honest with you…” she looked around to see her whole table just gawking at her dumbfoundedly.

Next she took in Lucifer’s bewildered expression, followed by Barbatos. Though, he of course remained the most neutral. What’s the deal?

Then it hit her. Diavolo’s angle. He was over her. No, he was embracing her! The giant of a man had caught her just as quickly as she had caught the food from falling on him. Their current position was probably the reason why everyone was quiet. Well that, and the fact everything happened in a nanosecond.

No, Lena and Diavolo looked like they had just danced one wild tango number and ended on a dramatic dip. It was hot. Or would have been without the fucking tray of burgers and fries. Sorry, DEMON burgers and fries. For someone as stark white as she was, Lena turned red like a lobster. Diavolo even had a tiny blush that only she could see from her proximity.

“MAAAMMMOOOOOOOONNN!!!” Lucifer closed the silence with his deep, booming voice. Everyone either laughed, took pictures, or hid their faces in embarrassment as the eldest brothers made a wild game of “TAG! You’re Fucking Dead!!!”

It was a good thing too. Well, not for Mammon of course. In that moment, Barbatos assisted Lena, by taking the tray. Diavolo raised her carefully to stand back onto her feet.

“Thank you, for saving dinner and my uniform.” Diavolo chuckled.

Lena gave a sheepish smile, “And thank you for saving my uniform, and the bill for the table I would have broken.”

The rest of dinner went off without a hitch. They laughed at the pictures they managed to capture. Lilly questioned Lena about what happened and she explained to everyone that nephilim are extremely fast. They also each had an ability unique to themselves. Though she and her brothers teased the rest of the group by not telling them what those abilities were.

“Well, it looks like both Lucifer and Mammon aren’t coming back,” Azri said, taking Lucifer’s seat. He was tired of having a sleeping Belphegor trying to use his shoulder as a pillow to drool on. “I’ll box his up for one of them to take back.”

“That’s generous of you.” Barbatos replied, giving a small hint of a smile.

Azri chuckled, “It is, especially after hearing that he put my darling sister in a filthy attic with no amenities…” That didn’t go past big brother Azri. “If I may, can I skip class tomorrow in order to fix things up for her?”

Barbatos and Diavolo exchanged looks before glancing over at Lena, who had moved seats to take funny pictures with and of the sleeping Belphegor.

“I know you’re wondering why I don’t just let her do it.” Azri continued, “Something happened with her not long before she finally agreed to come here. Obviously we’re a year late to the program. I don’t want to dish out her personal stuff, but I want to do something nice for her.” He finished packing Lucifer’s dinner and added, “I also can’t stand the thought of her sleeping in a room filled with cobwebs! And I know she will do a half-ass job at cleaning it herself!”

That made Diavolo chuckle and he compared the eldest nephilim to Barbatos.

“I am not that bad, Lord Diavolo. It’s my job to ensure you're catered to and well taken care of. A prince can’t live in dirty quarters…” Barbatos responded. Although he held a smile, Azriel could see the fury in his eyes. It made him chuckle.

*****

“Le, stop that! You’ll get in trouble….again!” Zak scolded, though unable to keep from laughing. Lena was holding her phone so it looked like she was petting Belphegor’s head like a puppy while he slept.

“He looks so cute though!!!” she stuck her tongue out at her brother.

Luke sighed, “It seems that you’re as bad as Asmo…”

“I wonder…” Asmo replied teasingly, before winking and giving Lena a kissy face from across the table. She chuckled and playfully returned the kiss.

“What does that even mean?” Luke asked innocently. It caught Zak off guard. He wasn’t used to being around innocent kiddos like him. Simeon intervened, however, much to the nephilim’s relief. He wasn’t sure why the kid followed him around so much.

*****

When the group was finished with their meal, Diavolo picked up the check. He and Barbatos headed out first because they had a busy schedule ahead of them the next day. “Good night everyone!” he chuckled and waved.Several of them returned the wave and thanked him. Lena couldn’t help but blush a little when their eyes met briefly.

“Mmmh-hmmm, I saw that.” Lilly whispered, giving a mischievous grin at the nephilim.

Lena shot the human a look, “What are you even talking about?”

“Oh I saw it too Lilly. I feel a little jealous now.” Asmodeus joined in. He puffed out his bottom lip, fake pouting at Lena.

“Oh fuck off. The both of you…” she grumbled, still blushing.

The group eventually had to split off into those who would go to Purgatory Hall and those that resided in The House of Lamentation. Before they did, Zak hugged Lena and told her good night. Azriel did the same, but revealed something that annoyed her.

“Lilly, let me crash on your sofa tonight please.” She gritted as they entered the house.

Asmo pouted, “But why Darling? I thought you liked snuggling with me…”

Lena sighed and nodded, “I actually do, Asmo. It’s just that I don’t want your pretty room to be engulfed in flames in the morning…”

The group stared at the nephilim with shock and worry. Well, Belphegor didn’t because he was passed-out and being carried off to bed by a sulking Beel, who wasn’t full.

“Azri got permission to skip school tomorrow in order to remodel my bedroom.” Lena sighed, “It is absolutely sweet of him, but anything design-related...well you saw him shopping today. He goes fucking nuts. I bet he will rush in before sunrise to start.”

Lilly scratched her head. “And what about the flames?”

“Well, we’ve not known each other long enough for him to feel it appropriate that I share a bed with someone in this house...even though it’s clearly none of his fucking business. I’m a grown ass woman.”

“Yeah you are!” Lilly chimed.

“If it’s none of his business, then why the concern?” It was Satan who asked this time.

“He’s already going to be in his weird-ass mood, so the shock and insinuation would cause him to snap. It’s happened more times than I can count.” Lena sulked and shook her head.

“OOOH! So then maybe Azriel’s unique ability is pyrokinetics then?” Leviathan asked with excitement, “Like El Lumino from the Revengers comic! He gets mad and accidentally burns things like Mrs. Magnificent hover jet in The New Revengers Vol 13, issue 42: El Lumino’s Ultra Bad Day!”

Lena hesitated, but eventually nodded. “Yeah. That’s like him alright. Now, don’t get me wrong. He is progressive. He’s a chill brother, who is the most responsible one of us. It’s just when “Crazy Azri” comes out, he is too unpredictable to take any chances. If ‘overprotective brother mode’ is activated, all bets are off.” It was really embarrassing.

“He did look pretty intense back at Majolish.” Lilly nodded, remembering his trance. “But then again, I recall someone else acting like a total zombie…” She and the brothers laughed at Lena.

“Ha ha. Very funny...oh wait! The clothes!!!!” Lena zoomed up the stairs. To the others, she simply blinked out of existence.

“She’s...gone?” Satan pondered.

“Don’t underestimate the power of fashion, Satan.” Asmo chuckled, “She’s probably swimming through all of those bags in her room…”

The brothers decided to all split up for the night, returning to their own rooms. Each one of them had a small bag from Majolish hanging on their door knobs; a gift from Lena for “putting up with her during the exchange program”. They each had a tie that matched their aesthetic. Of course Satan’s was a bow tie and Asmo had a pretty Lolita-style cravat.

Lilly took both Lucifer’s and Mammon’s dinners to their rooms. Neither one had made it back, which meant it might be a couple of days before they’d get to see Mammon again. Ouch!

When she went to her room, she found Lena sitting on her couch in her pajamas with a new pillow and Hell-o Kitty blanket she’d bought on that landmark shopping trip. She had a slightly revealing tank with a skull made out of flowers and booty shorts on. Lilly bit her lip and marched straight to her bed. Why?! She asked herself. Well, they were in hell and this had to be her personal torture lingering around her room in sexy nightwear. Well anything would look sexy on Lena.

((Heatha here with smexy news. Next week’s chapter will have our first bit-o-smut ☜(ﾟヮﾟ☜)))

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grimoire-of-geekery · 5 years

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I was tagged by @shadowcrafter. Thanks! I love doing these things.

Rules: Answer 20 questions, tag 20 bloggers that you want to get to know better. (Y’all know me well enough to know I’m not going to tag 20 people, so just be prepared)

1. Name: Rune

2. Nickname: Runebeam (only Jasie calls me that), Runey, Encyclopedia Magica

3. Zodiac sign: Virgo (OBVIOUSLY)

4. Height: 6′0″ to 6′1″ (there’s been some confusion)

5. Languages: English, with a smattering of Latin, Italian, Old Norse, and both Irish and Scottish Gaelic. I tend to pick up words and things, but I’m not fluent in anything but American English (and can one really call oneself fluent in English if one speaks it exclusively as an American? *trollgrin*)

6. Nationality: American-born half-Mexican, half Whiteapean (Irish, German, Scottish mostly)

7. Favourite season: Winter (though Autumn also is awesome!)

8. Favourite flower: Roses! Every kind!

9. Favourite scent: summer peaches, cloves, lemon, something musky

10. Favourite colour: Goth (aka- black and whatever else I love at the time, usually jewel-tones like sapphire or garnet)

11. Favourite animal: my familiar Boo

12. Favourite fictional character: Regina Mills

13. Coffee, Tea or Hot Chocolate: Hot Chocolate (but it has to be made right!)

14. Average hours of sleep: Seven

15. Cat or dog person: Both

16. Number of blankets you sleep with: One to two depending on temperature

17. Dream Trip: I hate traveling, but it’s more fun if I’m in a car with my family. So, a trip across America wherein we get to see all the amazing sights.

18. Blog established: This one? Uh... I started it in 2012. Is that what you’re asking? I also have several sideblogs, none of which I use very much (except Kefka’s blog, cuz he’s a chatterbox on occasion)

19. Followers: getting close to 2600

20. A random fact: nearly every important or fun label about my identity, I had to basically have someone forcefully point out to me. I’m Mexican and I didn’t realize it until I was out of high school (don’t ask, long story). I have a Southern drawl even though I never lived in the South, because my whole family has roots from there and we never lost our accent or mannerisms. I had no idea I qualified to be a Goth until after someone pointed out that I’ve been Goth-adjacent my whole life, and only needed the money to make the step across and start dressing like the weird little shadow person I am. Literally, aside from being gay, genderqueer, and a witch, every other part of my identity I’ve had to be informed about, to my surprise.

I don’t wanna tag 20 people. I’m tagging four, and I’m not tagging them because they’re blogs I want to get to know more, I’m tagging them because they’re blogs I want y’all to get to know more. @hellboundwitch, @phoenyxthemage, @strands-of-starlight, @mysterious-dark-shadow and that’s good enough!

#Anyone else who wants to participate should do so! Feel free to tag me and blame/credit me for tagging you!

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gaybyevening · 5 years

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edeleth writing exercise

once in a while to get over writer’s block i do this exercise where i shuffle my playlist and write something about my chosen pairing, based on the song, and only through the duration of the song! it’s a lot of fun.

i wanted to do something for Valentine’s Day, but... huh. I don’t know. Maybe if I put my intentions out there I’ll be more motivated to follow through, who knows.

i think i’ll do another instalment of this in edeleth and doropetra and then i’ll write something more substantial in honour of valentines day. who knows. not me.

warning for nsfw content (nothing major though. no smut. maybe smut-adjacent)

1. Aly & AJ – Take Me

Edelgard will not apologise for her crude language, and it needs saying: Byleth makes her horny. The attraction isn’t entirely physical, of course, but right here, right now, she just wants Byleth to push her against the door and devour her whole.

The problem is… she doesn’t actually know what they are. They’ve been texting back and forth for a few months; they’ve hung out (alone, she should add) multiple nights every week, and… huh. It’s kind of frustrating. Does Byleth not see how much Edelgard wants her?

2. 5 Seconds of Summer – She’s Kinda Hot

Edelgard has a folder in her phone, full of candid photos of Byleth, sent to her by her friends. So far the most prolific contributor is Dorothea, followed closely by Ferdinand, of all people (and much to her horror. How could Ferdinand, of all people, notice her crush on Byleth? It’s okay, Edelgard thinks, because she can retaliate by sending him pictures of Hubert during their study groups.)

(Unfortunately, even Petra, Linhardt and Bernadetta have joined in on the fun.)

It’s two in the morning and there’s a text from an unknown number. It’s a picture of Byleth in her glasses, descaling a fish with stern concentration all over her face. There’s a blur of green near the edge of the picture.

Greetings, Edelgard. I thought you’d appreciate this.

Oh, no. Not Flayn.

3. The Turtles — Makin’ My Mind Up

Her suitcase is filled to overflowing with her clothes and other knick-knacks that have brought her joy over the years. The day is finally here: she’s finally able to run away with her beloved, just the two of them.

Byleth had brought her to the countryside once six months previously to look at the small and humble cottage they were going to move into soon, and the thought of a simple live delighted her to no end.

Days of idle and nothing nothing nothing with Byleth and maybe her friends whenever they stop by.

4. Elvis Presley — It’s Still Here

It’s hard to be broken up and stay broken up when the ex-girlfriend involved is your bodyguard. Edelgard feels a migraine fading into existence as she sits at some corporate event, Byleth by her side.

She looks away when she catches Byleth’s eyes, her own face becoming redder. It’s the same look she’s given when they’re about to absolutely desecrate Rhea’s office.

5. Sleater Kinney — Gimme Love

There’s a desperation to how Byleth peppers small kisses down her girlfriend’s neck. Perhaps it’s the fact that Rhea may enter her office at any second. Perhaps it’s the fact that they haven’t done this in a few months.

Perhaps it’s the fact that she still doesn’t know what any of this means.

“Byleth, I think I l-” Edelgard is cut off by Byleth’s lips on hers. Well, she never finished that thought anyway.

6. The Cure — Secrets

In the dead of night Byleth strokes the side of Edelgard’s cheek and the younger woman stirs, slowly opening her eyes.

“Yes, my dear?” she asks.

“Nothing. I’m sorry for waking you up,” Byleth answers with a kiss on her cheek.

Edelgard wants to snuggle into Byleth’s chest, but perhaps the grogginess isn’t letting her. Perhaps it’s something else, she doesn’t currently have the mental capacity to analyse every single action. That can happen when the sun is up.

Byleth sighs. In a few moments she will dress and slip out and into her own bed.

7. Brian Eno — Shell

Little Maude laughs as she picks up another seashell and puts it into her bucket. She inspects it and deems her collection sufficient and waddles towards her parents, handing her bucket to Byleth.

“Make my castle pretty, please Mama, Mommy,” she says with her best puppy-dog eyes, and Edelgard starts arranging Maude’s seashells on the girl’s sandcastle.

8. Lush — Desire Lines

Byleth murmurs in her sleep. Edelgard finds that out the third time Byleth sleeps over, much to her delightful surprise. The older woman is almost always composed and cool that at first Edelgard almost bursts out laughing when she realises it’s Byleth making small noises.

“You murmur in your sleep,” Edelgard says the next morning with a gentle, mirthful smile. “It’s very cute.”

There’s a blush forming across Byleth’s cheeks, red almost as furious as Edelgard’s covers.

(A few nights later she finds out Edelgard lightly snores in her sleep if she is very thoroughly exhausted.)

9. Julie London — Easy Street

There’s a signature frantic knock on the door. Edelgard knows instantly who it is. “Go away, Ferdinand,” she sniffles.

“Edelgard, I still don’t have your part of the assignment yet, and it’s due in two hours,” he says, a hint of panic in his voice.

“And if you’d let me talk, you’d know she’s sick today and has passed her part onto me,” Edelgard hears Hubert’s voice in the hallway.

“Ah! My apologies, Hubert. You know this class is important to me and I forgo any thinking at the thought of missing deadlines for it.”

“It’s quite alright, Ferdinand; although, you can make it up to me by buying me my favourite coffee.” Edelgard is absolutely disgusted. She’s alone this Valentine’s Day and the two are out there… doing that? Unacceptable—

She receives a text from Byleth. All is well again.

10. Years & Years — If You’re Over Me

This what-are-we relationship is going to be the death of her, someday. Technically, they’re broken up. They’ve been broken up for almost half a year now. (And yet, in that period, they have slept together a total of fifteen times. Shamefully, Edelgard has kept count.)

There’s just… something absolutely irresistible about Byleth in her bodyguard uniform, looking all stoic, accompanying her everywhere.

She’ll continue thinking later. For now, all her focus is on Byleth and her lips on Edelgard’s clavicle.

11. Purity Rings — Shuck

The only light in the room is from the moon, shining through the curtains. It hits gently on Edelgard’s face, and Byleth stops her ministrations for a while to admire her wife’s face. All she can think is beautiful beautiful beautiful and all she wants right now is to let Edelgard know that she is utterly and thoroughly loved: the good and bad parts.

Byleth smiles, all happiness and love, and continues undressing her wife and she is stuck in worship all night.

12. Hayley Kiyoko — Ease My Mind

Edelgard has been weird all month. Dorothea can see that. She’s been smiling at her phone, and yet weirdly refuses to share what’s so funny. She’s been sneaking around the post-grad dorms early in the morning and in the dead of night.

“Edie, can I talk to you about that assignment from last week? I can’t seem to find the right answer for this question right here…” Dorothea rambles, while a shadow sneaks behind Edelgard.

“Dorothea, who is this B.E. person? They seem to be sending lewd texts to Edelgard.”

“Byleth?”

“You roped Petra into this?”

13. The Radio Dept — This Time Around

They shouldn’t even be here.

Here is the ruins of a monastery ruined by a war thousands of years ago. Byleth doesn’t know how she ended up here. (It’s the voice in her head. The same one that screams that this face is a familiar one.)

“Come here, Kid! I got something to show you,” Jeralt’s gruff voice snaps her out of her thoughts.

“Miss von Hresvelg?” A man’s voice carries through the grounds and everything grinds to a halt.

14. Derek & the Dominos — I Am Yours

Byleth is in Brigid to consult on something. That is, at first. One thing led to another and she’s stuck there for another month. This would be a total disaster had it not been the letters they’ve sent each other back and forth.

As it is, it has been two weeks since the last letter and Edelgard is on the edge of her seat waiting for the next one. She’s been restless, every day asking Hubert for any new correspondence.

“I truly do miss her,” Edelgard says, sipping her tea.

That comment broke Dorothea. “Goddess, Edie, just text her like a normal person, I’m begging you.”

15. Sparklehorse — Heart of Darkness

Byleth has an unbeating heart and a darkness that follows her wherever she goes. She also has a goddess’s voice berating her when she misses the chance to kiss Edelgard.

As it stands, everything is alright, she reckons. Edelgard isn’t in the best place for romance: she’s busy with her final year project thesis and she’s in preparation to inherit her family’s company.

She’ll just be there, a shoulder to lean on, when Edelgard is tired from carrying the weight of the world.

#edeleth #byleth eisner #edelgard von hresvelg #my writing

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wendibird · 5 years

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2020 20 Facts Game

Was tagged by @midnightsilver (Thanks! This was fun! 💜😊)

1. Do you make your bed? I more or less try to put it in order once I get up. *LOL*

2. What’s your favourite number? Hrm. Don't really have one specific "favorite" number, but there are certain numbers I tend to like. 5, 8, 12, 17...

3. What’s your job? Nothing at the moment, but possibly hopfully working in a cafe soon?

4. If you could, would you go back to school? There are some arts courses I would find interesting, especially ceramics. But not just schooling for the sake of it.

5. Can you parallel park? Yes, I'm actually pretty decent at it.

6. A job you had which would surprise people? (Maybe a surprise for those who know me well irl) My 1st job was selling cell phones at a mall kiosk. (Almost everything else I've done has involved cooking.)

7. Do you think aliens are real? Yes I think there is other biological life in the universe. I have yet to see any concrete proof it has come here in a spaceship. Although microbes on Meteorites might be a possibility (Okay, I like MidnightSilver's response to this and totally agree with it, so I'm keeping her's. *LOL*)

8. Can you drive a manual car? I actually prefer them! And they're what I learned how to drive on.

9. What’s your guilty pleasure? Um, chocolate and erotic fic. *LOL* (Even better if they're combined somehow.)

10. Tattoos? No, but I'm not opposed to the idea.

11. Favourite colour? PURPLE!!! (And like, adjacent shades, like that deep maroon/wine shade that's almost purple, or that dark blue shade that's almost purple, and lavender, and violet, and lilac and I could keep going here...)

12. Things people do that drive you crazy? When people drive right at or below the speed limit when they're in the fast-lane and there's plenty of room in front of them but they will NOT get over because apparently "no one should have any reason to go faster than them so why should they get out of the way?"

13. Any phobias? Bees. And before anyone flips out, I wish NO harm on them! I know they're important, and I want them to live their bee lives and do their bee jobs but if they're buzzing right around me I freeze up. I can't even watch that one scene in SPN 1X8 "Bugs" and even the sound of all those bees makes me want to crawl out of my skin.

14. Favourite childhood sport? Kick-ball was always fun. *LOL* I was pretty good at the "dodge" part of dodge-ball too. (Not so much the throwing part.)

15. Do you talk to yourself? ALL. THE. TIME. (It kinda runs in my family though.)

16. What movie do you adore? Oh man, there are a LOT. "The Last Unicorn", "The Little Mermaid", "The Princess Bride", "Joe Vs. the Volcano", "Mulan", "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home", "Tangled", "The Secret of NIMH", "Clue", "The Land Before Time"

17. Do you like doing puzzles? Yes. Both regular jigsaw puzzles and like, "solve the riddle" type of puzzles, or even things like puzzle boxes.

18. Favourite kind of music? I honestly like a wide range. Classical, Classic Rock, some Country, some Modern Rock, some Metal, combinations of those, European Gothic Metal (like the group Within Temptation)... One of my favorite bands ever is Savatage and their child The Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

19. Tea or coffee? Tea. I hate coffee. (And Peppermint tea is my absolute favorite.)

20. The first thing you remember you wanted to be when you grew up? An Astronomer. And it was from a very specific event. One year, when I was about 7 or 8, I was at a sleepover at a friend's house for her brithday, and it was August so we were out in a tent in her backyard, and I remember looking up at the night sky through the windows of the tent and seeing two different things that looked like "stars with rings around them." (I knew they were planets, but I was confused because I only knew about one planet, Saturn, that had rings around it.) And I wanted to be an astronomer when I grew up so I could figure out WHY I had seen two different ones. (Didn't happen, and I STILL don't know the answer to that one.)

Tagging: @lovedsammy @ladylilithprime @monkeysatemylastrolo @rodiniaorzetalthepenquin @myinconnelly1 And anyone else who might feel like doing this!

#about me #personal #2020 #tag game #participate if you want

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monstersdownthepath · 5 years

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Spiritual Spotlight/Theme Finale: The Monad

True Neutral Overseer of Creation, the Infinite, and Truth

Domains: Artifice, Darkness, Knowledge, Void Subdomains*: Toil, Night, Aeon, Stars

Concordance of Rivals, pg. 11

Obedience: Spend 30 minutes in meditation, clearing your mind of needs and prejudices. Then briefly wander and observe your surroundings, seeking a source of excess, accomplishment, or emptiness. Spend at least 30 minutes counteracting that phenomenon in some way, such as by creating something where nothing exists, providing comfort to a morose stranger, or thinning the excess population of ants in a field. Benefit: Upon completing the Obedience, select two Knowledge skills; gain a +4 sacred or profane bonus to the selected skill checks.

(*IMPORTANT NOTE: The Subdomains are my best guess; Subdomains are not listed in Concordance of Rivals. Anywhere!)

What a delightful Obedience! Meditate for a bit, and then help balance out the world! Awwww :)

Don’t worship the Monad if you’re a Ranger, or any other class with a Favored Enemy-Esque mechanic, because it won’t end well. I do enjoy that the Monad still allows its followers to pursue wants, though I’m sure that wasn’t the designer’s intention and likely just me toying with loopholes I see in sentence structures. Such as the loophole that you can view just about anything as excess, accomplishment, or emptiness.

Destroy a building, or help build a new one. Steal from the rich and give to the poor, or do the exact opposite (and be hunted down by me, personally). Kill bugs or introduce new ones to an environment. Destroy someone’s most prized possession, or give your own to someone in need. Comfort a stranger, or antagonize an ally whose ego is becoming unbalanced. Help to grow a crop, or take a torch to the whole thing. Really your imagination is the limit here, which could potentially lead to choice paralysis... but this also makes it incredibly easy to just Background Detail it without a need to elaborate. If your DM rudely demands details, you can turn it around and ask them details about the environment in order to find something you could correct. Two can play at that game!

Don’t be needlessly rude to kind or curious DMs, though. That’s not cool!

What IS cool is that benefit. While it’s not outstanding, becoming just a bit better at being a smart guy is always nice. Choosing Arcana and/or Dungeoneering is usually the way to go, but you can tailor your Knowledge bonuses day by day if needed. Heading into the wilderness? Pack Nature. Going into town? Might as well get Local and Nobility! The possibilities are endless! (actually there’s only ~45 combinations but y’know)

Boons are gained slowly, gained at levels 12, 16, and 20. Servants of the Monitors, though, can enter the Proctor Prestige Class as early as level 8. If entered as early as possible, you can earn your Boons at levels 10, 14, and 16. You MUST take the Monitor Obedience feat, NOT Deific Obedience. Monitors grant only a single set of Boons.

Boon 1: Aeon Arbiter. Gain Unseen Servant 3/day, Spectral Hand 2/day, or Gaseous Form 1/day.

Well right off the bat, Gaseous Form is painful to use most of the time. It reduces your speed to an agonizingly glacial 10ft, making it useful for getting into or out of a sticky situation but basically nothing else. You can’t really properly scout with it since you still look like a you-shaped gas cloud, but the defensive bonuses it confers means that if you get trapped in a tiny room or with a monster you don’t want to be with, any space that isn’t airtight can’t contain you. The fact it has no components also means you can cast it while grappled or restrained, so if you think you’ll end up snatched up and/or tied up, surprise your enemies by changing matter states!

Unseen Servant was, is, and always shall be one of my favorite spells in the game, even if it’s not a particularly useful one when you’re facing down a dragon, or even a single bandit. Your invisible buddy can perform all your menial tasks you require since it has an enormous 1 hour/level duration, and there’s a LOT of items that weigh less than 20lbs you could have your pal cart around. If you can’t foresee needing them later in the day, conjuring all three of them at once and setting them out on various tasks will multiply your own productivity immensely. I recently read a cute little guide online that pointed out a shovel weighs only 5lbs and a shovelful of soil will rarely surpass 3, so having a team of invisible workers digging trenches can help fortify any positions you hold. It’s just a fun spell! And it rewards knowing exactly what you can do with 2 Str and understand the limits of the servant’s manual dexterity.

Which leaves Spectral Hand, which is probably the most useful thing on this list, if less fun than UnSe. Using touch spells that aren’t Save-or-Suck is always dangerous when you’re a squishy caster, but Spectral Hand allows you to stay safely at a range to deliver them. With a range of Medium (100ft + 10ft/level) and a decently lengthy 1 min/level duration, Spectral Hand can likely last through one to three encounters to let you slap multiple foes with spells you’d otherwise never get to use. Don’t forget you can also use it to deliver buffs and healing to your allies, too! At 2/day, the only reason NOT to take Spectral Hand with this ability is if you adore Unseen Servant as much as I do, or are already in a situation (like a prison) Gaseous Form could save you from.

Boon 2: Immaterial Flesh. You gain the constant benefits of the Moderate Fortification armor special ability. If you already have a similar defensive ability, you increase that ability's chance to negate the additional damage by 10%.

This means that critical hits and Sneak Attacks have a 50% chance of doing no additional damage, for those who can’t keep track of all Pathfinder’s wild armor enchantments. It’s a boring ability, but a lifesaving one that can shear hundreds or thousands of points of damage off incoming attacks over the course of your adventuring career. Most creatures armed with Sneak Attacks have low damage on their normal attacks, so this ability can mean the difference between taking 4 damage and taking 40. Sure, it’s a coin toss as to whether or not it works, but a coin toss is better than having no way to avoid it at all!

I like the fact that if you’re already fortified or have some other method to dodge precision damage (it works on SIMILAR powers, not just fortification!), it’s increased. If you can get your hands on some Armor of Heavy Fortification, the chance to block the incoming damage becomes 85%.

I’m sad that no flavor details are given regarding what this power does to your physical body. It says ‘immaterial flesh,’ but what does that mean? Do you become a gaseous nebula or crystalline formation like the other Aeons? Do you get all swirly and galactic like the Monad? I wish it gave us more details, because it’d lighten up an otherwise bland but useful ability.

Boon 3: Creative Destruction. 1/day as a standard action, you can touch two creatures adjacent to you, or yourself and an adjacent creature. One takes 150 points of damage (Fortitude half; DC=10 + half your HD + your Cha modifier), and the other regains a number of hit points equal to the damage taken by the first target.

Ever wanted to just reach over and slap someone hard enough to kill them instantly? 150 damage--150 untyped damage, I should clarify--is not something to be taken lightly. That instantly kills most humanoids at that level and severely damages hardier monsters, with CR 16 creatures rarely exceeding 280hp at the highest. Hitting a squishy enemy caster with this power can end a battle faster than Power Word Kill, though with the downside that you must get close enough to boop them on the nose... but you aren’t required to make a touch attack. No, no attack roll is required. The only way this ability can miss is if you can’t physically touch your target, meaning incorporeal enemies are immune, and a DM may rule that certain gaseous creatures are, as well. While this ability may also intend for you to use your hands to do the touching, it simply says “touch two adjacent creatures.” You can technically use this ability by tackling someone, kissing them, or just poking them with your foot!

Now, this ability grants a saving throw for half damage, negating some of its burst potential... But that’s still 75 untyped damage that works against ANY CREATURE you can touch. Constructs, Undead, Outsiders, demigods, Great Old Ones, creatures with resistance or immunity to every element in the game and every negative condition you can think of, anything! 75 is less impressive but still impressive! It’s an enormous chunk to shave off any foe and you can indeed shave it off any foe, and they don’t have the option to avoid or lessen it at all! The fact it bypasses all forms of immunity and requires only a touch is AMAZING, and we haven’t even covered the fact that the second target regains HP equal to the damage the first victim took!

Like... 75 HP is big enough by itself. It can take a normal encounter two or three rounds to deal 75 damage, and you only need one action to undo it. And 150 HP? That’s typically enough to take someone with a d8 or smaller hit dice from 0 to full in an instant and restore anywhere from half to 75% of a Fighter or Barbarian’s health bar. But, here’s something else important: much like the destruction, the healing is also universal! Constructs are notoriously difficult to keep running due to their specific healing requirements, and Undead are similarly finicky, but Creative Destruction’s health transfer is accepted by ANY creature with an HP bar. Even yourself! That’s the best part! Even without an ally or another enemy nearby to transfer the health into, you can siphon it into yourself to beat down a bad guy!

And I suppose you could also transfer your own health into an ally that really needed it, but uuuuhhhhh 150 damage is a lot. That tactic should only be use if you have no other option!

And all you need to do to obtain all this power? Remove all your prejudices and help keep the world running smoothly. Perfect for a character of any alignment! except probably chaotic evil.

You can read more about it here.

#Spiritual Spotlight #Neutrality Notes #pathfinder #Dungeons and Dragons #Theme Week 19

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mamapeach7 · 4 years

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Daeul

Preview / Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6 / Chapter 7 / Chapter 8 / Chapter 9 / Chapter 10 / Chapter 11 / Chapter 12 / Chapter 13 / Chapter 14 / Chapter 15 / Chapter 16 / Chapter 17 / bonus

Chapter 6

You sure you didn't forget anything?

She read the text from Minji who worried her sister may have left behind some of her belongings. It was Monday morning, the day she would move into the estate and with a heavy heart she dragged her plain black suitcase from the bus stop.

Minji had a difficult time understanding why her sister had to leave home and had also forgotten that the job was live-in. They both decided that with one less sister at home, it was better that Minji move into Hanji's and put up her own apartment for rent.

Her older sister packed her bags for her, folding her favourite pieces of clothing and leaving the difficult things like skincare and makeup for Hanji, herself.

I'm not gone forever, Minji. Besides if I forget anything, it's only a half-hour drive :)

It's true, Hyuk had granted her permission to return home every weekend if she wanted to and she very much liked the offer as she would get to see her sister.

Tucking her phone away into the pocket of her long mid-calf skirt which was coloured a pale blue, a colour she learned was one of Daeul's favourites -- the others being green and red. She arrived at the gate where one of the drivers, perhaps twice her age, was waiting, and waved her hand in the air.

"삼촌/samcheon/uncle!", she called out with a beaming smile on her face. They older man jogged toward her and opened the door, smiling widely as he took her luggage from her and carried it into the house.

Suddenly, she heard the familiar sound of small feet pitter-pattering against the tiled floor and instantly knew who it was.

"Hanji!", she heard Daeul's small yet raspy voice call out to her, making her turn around to see him still dressed in his pajamas running to her with open arms.

"Good morning, buddy!", she laughed and held back from lifting him up to carry the boy in his arms. Instead, she patted his head as he tugged on her skirt and clung next to her. Taking the suitcase from the older man, she uttered multiple thank you's before walking inside with Daeul.

"Why're you up so early, huh?", she teased.

Missus Chae had entered the living room dressed in the same satin and grey outfit she always wore. "He heard you're coming early, today."

Hanji smiled warmly, looking toward the small boy next to her who covered his face in embarrassment. "Is that right, Daeul?"

"Daeul, why don't you show Hanji her room? Maybe you can help her unpack after breakfast.", the older woman suggested, grinning toward the boy. He proceeded to dragging her by the skirt toward the bottom of the staircase. She carefully dragged her luggage behind her, watching out for his little toes which she tried to avoid stepping on.

The older housekeeper had told her to leave her items downstairs for someone else would come to claim them and place them in her room in the evening, so Daeul ascended the stairs as fast as he could but took two steps per level due to his short strides.

When they had reached the top, he ran toward the pale white door at the end of the corridor and pushed it open with Hanji trailing right behind him.

The first thing she saw was the clock on the wall which was decorated with Roman numerals. It was large and beige, its numbers painted brown. On the adjacent wall rested a bed perhaps the same size as hers at home, only this one was plain white and not pastel pink and instead of one pillow it had three.

The walls were a creme beige colour, welcoming her with a warm and homey feeling which eased her nerves upon moving in.

"Does it fit to your accommodations?", Missus Chae asked with Daeul holding a small smile of anticipation on his face.

"Y-Yes! Yes, Missus Chae it's l-lovely.", she reassured, taking a step in and observing the features including a mahogany nightstand table and a matching closet.

"Missus Chae, is your room on this floor as well?", she asked in curiosity. The older woman shook her head, grinning. "Oh, mine's downstairs along with a few of the other housekeepers."

Hanji tilted her head, wondering why she who was not that different from Missus Chae and the other members, had a room on the second floor while they rested downstairs. Perhaps it was another rule needed to be close to Daeul much like the table one.

"Alright, I'll be prepping breakfast if you need me. Make yourself at home, Hanji.", the elder said with a grin before exiting the room and proceeding down the stairs.

Hanji looked toward Daeul who had already found his way onto the large bed, sprawling his limbs across the fresh white sheets with a smile on his face.

"Look at you! Will you sleep here, Daeul?", she teased as she sat next to him cupping his face and cooing at his giggles.

She spent her day like all the others -- breakfast and reading in the morning, lunch, drawing and physical activity in the afternoon. Daeul enjoyed music and oftentimes danced to the songs on Hanji's playlist, which was compiled of modern day pop and a few songs dating back to the 50's like Elvis Presley and the entire Back to the Future soundtrack.

By the time it was past six in the evening, she had forgotten that at that time she would probably have been home already. Daeul was to take his bath before bedtime which was eight in the evening, and it certainly took a while for the boy to wind down hence why they made bath-time early.

"Daeul, come! Let's have your bath now.", Hanji called from the bathroom on the second floor, already running the lukewarm water and foaming up the bubbles in the one foot level water.

Suddenly, the said boy came running into the bathroom butt-naked, laughing from the top of his lungs and throwing himself into Hanji's arms.

"Why are you --"

"S-Sorry, Hanji! He managed to strip himself, already.", one of the younger male housekeepers explained, catching his breath at the doorway. She laughed loudly, throwing her head back while embracing the boy in her arms.

"Alright, let's get you cleaned up."

If only she had known he was the most hyper during bath-time, she wouldn't have worn such a nice skirt while bathing him. By the end of the twenty minutes, the bathroom floor was covered in bubbles and puddles of water which she knew she would have to clean up later.

She wrapped him up in a towel and changed his diaper, patting some baby lotion and powder onto his neck and chest before changing him into a pair of teddy bear pajamas. Laying him down in his small bed, she turned on the nightstand lamp and sat next to him in bed.

"You wanna read, Daeul?", she offered as she pulled up a picture book and rested it between their laps. It was a new book they hadn't read yet -- about a pair of siblings who wander off in the city after their parents ask them to buy a list of vegetables -- a carrot, two stalks of celery and one large broccoli bunch.

By the time the siblings had picked up the celery, Daeul's eyelids had already became heavy and shut completely. He breathed and snored lightly, letting Hanji know that it was time to place the book down, turn the lamp off and switch it with his rocket ship-shaped nightlight.

She slid off the bed and tucked him in his duvet before slowly creeping out of the room and softly shutting the door behind her.

Fun Story Fact #6:

The team in the house is composed of seven with Missus Chae being the head of housekeeping with four others, two of which alternate on cooking duty, and two drivers.

#dean #deantrbl #deanfluenza #kwonhyuk #story

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tenorhotelsanaheim-blog · 5 years

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20 Disneyland Keys and Fun Facts

1. The Matterhorn has two lines, one that wraps around the Tomorrowland side of this mountain, and another that wraps across the Fantasyland side. The Tomorrowland side track feels like a quicker ride, while the Fantasyland track feels diminished. 2. The Fantasyland side line of the Matterhorn provides you two views of the Abominable Snowman, while on the Tomorrowland side you pass him . 3. From the lobby are lots of intriguing Disney artifacts and exhibits. 4. The Morse code that is being tapped out in the second train station is that the address Walt Disney gave at the opening ceremonies. In that address he said that it'd constantly cost 10 cents to get into Disneyland and the rides will always be 5 bucks. That address can be found at the main entrance by the flag pole. 5. The Monorail operator can let a few men and women ride in the front Monorail cottage. Ask the operator as soon as you begin to pass the turn stile. 6. Ask the operator as soon as you arrive. 7. If you dine at the Blue Bayou in New Orleans Square call beforehand to request priority seating and ask especially for a table from the water. 8. This is one of the very best times to select attractions, due to the shorter lines. Also during a fireworks show is a Fantastic time to grab short lines 9. There's a ride board situated just a bit southwest of the castle. It contains information on ride wait times and closures because of mechanical troubles. Check the ride boards until you walk all the way to a single corner of the park and also to locate the attraction shut. Indiana Jones and Splash Mountain are constantly having mechanical issues but they usually only last a few minutes. 10. Use the train to conserve your energy but remember you can not take strollers on board. 11. Try riding the Jungle Cruise early or at the end of the day; the line most likely will be shorter unless Indiana Jones is broken down, and then everyone goes to the Jungle Cruse. Make sure the line doesn't wrap around within the building . 12. If it's your birthday, go to City Hall and Find an anniversary match, (City hall is adjacent to the fire station and also the first building on your left as you enter Main Street) 13. He used this space to rest while working in Disneyland. Above the buildings in New Orleans Square are other flats where Walt's household would stay. The Disney gallery was initially planned to be an apartment for Walt, but he died before it was launched. 14. During a fireworks shows, stand in front of the Castle, near or on the huge compass at the cement maybe not down a walkway or behind trees which may block your view. The principal fireworks are lit over the rear lot behind the park. 15. Get a schedule of exhibits and parades. For important shows plenty of people line up 1-2 hours before the start time. If you are planning on going to California Adventure in a parade You'll Have to wait because you may End up trapped on Main St. with a Massive parade bunch 16. After the Buzz Lightyear ride your will email your photo to your friend at no cost. Just remember that you're also sending your sport score bad or good. 17. On the map they'd out at the front gate. The region that shows all of the green trees between Space Mountain and Main Street is the employee cafeteria and break region. When Disneyland was originally supposed that region was going to become a Boston village. 18. Star Tours has real movie artifacts from the film Star Wars. A few of the robots you can view as you walk through were originally from America Sings, the singing poultry series from the 1970's which was enjoying where Innoventions is now. People also viewed: - Non Luoi Trai - Do Go Tan Phat - Non Snapback - Mu Luoi Trai Dep - Airbnb Disneyland 19. The singing chickens from America Sings are now in Splash Mountain. You are able to see how a number of the chicken's hands look like they are holding guitars. 20. It is a Small World river has recently been upgraded for the first time in 50 years with a fresh non-leaking canal. In addition they have also added new Disney characters to each of those theme places you pass through. It is fun to see whether you can discover all of the Disney characters.

#anaheim hotels #anaheim #disneyland #disneyland rooms #anaheim rooms #rooms anaheim #rooms

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19umbrellas · 5 years

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The Great Escape || Ben Hargreeves x Reader || Chapter 2

Description: After the death of your childhood sweetheart you began to have very gory and horrific nightmares that lead to your drug and alcohol problem. After your family found out, your sister admitted you to a rehabilitation facility you begin to see glimpses of your old lover walking about the hallway. Have the nightmares finally drove you insane or is your beloved Ben Hargreeves really back from the dead?

Read and find out uwu

Word Count: 1824

Index: uwu

CHAPTER 2

"(y/n)? Who the hell is (y/n)?" Klaus asked his brother as he sat on his own bed. Ben was sitting on the adjacent bed as he looked down at the ground and huffed out a laugh. "... She was someone special to me." Ben said but his answer only made Klaus even more confused. "Since when did you have someone special?"

Ben gave Klaus a look before he stood up. He walked in a circle before looking back at his brother with a rather awkward expression. He took in a deep breath before started to explain.

The school bell rang, signaling the end of the final period. Students rejoiced as they all quickly tidied their desks and ran out the classroom. You and your friend were the last ones to leave since you both hated being pushed around by rowdy and hyper 14 year olds. As the both of you exited the building, you decided to go to the 7eleven store right around the corner. Your friend agreed to accompany you so now you were both sitting on an outdoor booth as you sucked on your blueberry slurpee.

While the two of you were talking, your friend got a call from her mom, telling her that she was coming to pick her up. She asked if you wanted to come with them but you declined, saying that your sister was coming to get you. She nodded and said her goodbyes before she walked back to the school's front to wait for her mother.

You stayed for another 10 minutes before you decided to leave. Your parents didn't give you a cell phone yet so you're used to calling your sister on the park phone booth. There was a payphone in front of your school but you preferred to wait in the park.

After you rang your sister to tell her that you were done with school she asked you to wait for a while since she was still in the middle of doing a project for one of her major subjects in college. You agreed and went to sit on one of the benches as you pulled out one of your notebook and began to draw doodles. You weren't a very gifted artist but you thought that drawing was really fun and it helped pass the time.

You were drawing a small cartoon fox when you heard the familiar tune of the Ice Cream cart that frequents the park. You quickly spotted the pink cladded vendor near the fountain and you were pleasantly surprised to find no one else waiting in line for his frozen goodies. You put your notebook back into your bag and approached him. You fished out the money left in your skirt pocket and counted it as you walked. You had enough for chocolate coated popsicles so that's exactly what you ordered. As the ice cream man rummaged through the insides of his portable ice box another kid had appeared and stood next to you.

He was slightly shorter than you but he looked the same age. His hair was neat and tidy and his face was a bit chubby and pouty which made him look kind of cute in your opinion. What really caught your attention, however, was his uniform. It looked like the boys uniform in your school only his was black and red in contrast to your school's light gray and blue.

You caught him trying to sneak a glance at you but he quickly looked away when he realized you were staring. You blushed, realizing it too and turned back to the ice cream vendor. He grunted a few times as he pushed aside popsicle after popsicle until he finally found the one you were looking for. "Here you go, young lady." he said as he handed it to you. You thanked him but before you could walk away the boy spoke.

"What popsicle is that?" he asked in a rather rushed tone, he looked a bit tense. "Chocolate coated." you replied. "How much?" he was stuttering a bit. "Sorry kid, she got the last one." the vendor said, cutting you off. "Oh..." the boy said disappointingly.

"You could try their vanilla one." you suggested. "It's almost as good." The vendor reacted to this and checked in his ice box for any vanilla flavored ice cream and sure enough there were some left. "I'll take one." the boy said. The vendor gave him his popsicle and the boy gave the vendor the amount that he owed. The vendor tipped his hat in gratitude and the two of you walked away. "I'm Ben by the way." he said as he stopped to extend his hand. "(y/n)." you shook his hand and smiled.

"Which school are you from?" you asked, trying to push the conversation forward. "Our uniforms are quite similar, other than the colors." Ben paused for a bit before saying, "I'm homeschooled, actually.". You stared at him, tilting your head as you raised a brow. "You need a uniform for homeschool?"

"Uh... " Ben was getting flustered and nervous as he found it more and more difficult to speak. He wasn't exactly used to talking to girls, other than his sisters. In fact, he wasn't exactly the most social of the bunch either. He stumbled on his words a bit as you patiently waited for him to continue the conversation with a growing smile but before he could mutter a full word you heard a beep coming from behind you. Your sister was waving at you and motioned for you to get in the car. You waved back before turning back to Ben. "Um, to be continued?" you gave him a shy but yet koi smile. "See you next time, Ben." you turned on your heel and ran towards your sister as she honked impatiently. "Yeah, see you." Ben mumbled as he watched you drive away.

Behind him Allison fell from a tree and Vanya stood up from one of the bushes. The ice cream vendor looked a little shock at this but said nothing. Allison quickly got up on her feet and dusted herself off. She squealed as she rushed over to Ben and squeezed his arms "Oh my gosh, Ben, She totally likes you!" hearing Allison say that made Ben's stomach flutter

"How can you tell?" Vanya asked as she walked up to them, picking off all the twigs and leaves that managed to get stuck in her hair. Allison rolled her eyes. "Uh, duh!" she retorted "She said she wanted to see him again."

"See you next time is a pretty loose expression. She could just be saying that to be polite." Vanya pointed out but Allison waved her off. "Okay Ben, you did good today but you gotta do better tomorrow when you see her again." she grinned. "You gotta stop the whole nervous-stuttering-thing, okay? You're starting to sound like Diego." Ben nodded as he awkwardly scratched the back of his head. His forgotten popsicle was melting onto his hand.

"What makes you so sure she'll come tomorrow?" Vanya asked. "She always hangs out here after her school's dismissals." Ben said casually. Vanya cringed "How long have you been following her?" she asked "Isn't what your doing kind of... Stalker-y." Allison hushed Vanya and looked at Ben. "Don't listen to her. I think it's romantic." she stated and Ben gave her a half smile.

Ben still couldn't get over the fact that he was finally talking to you. He was already familiar with the feeling of butterflies in his stomach whenever he sees you but the hard thumping in his chest as he spoke with you was an entirely new sensation. "You guys promise you won't tell Luther and the others about her, right?" he looked at his sisters pleadingly. Allison motioned a zipper on her lips, placed her hand on her heart and gave him a wink as Vanya simply nodded.

The next day Ben was sitting on the bench where you usually sat and you greeted him when you arrived. The two of you continued your conversation you had yesterday and it wasn't long until the two of you really hit it off. You were laughing, he was laughing, Ben was starting to get more comfortable around you, the two of you talked until the sun was setting and your sister angrily came to pick you up because you didn't call her sooner. The two of you said your goodbyes but not before you promising to meet each other to here again. And you did. Everyday without fail.

You had to admit, if it was some other boy who approached you that day and you found him waiting for you in your usual spot in the park you would have booked it and waited for your sister at your school. But it wasn't just some other boy, it was Ben, and as much as it embarrassed you to admit it you saw something in him that you really liked and that's why you stayed.

Klaus looked at Ben with furrowed eyebrows. "Are you telling me you had a girlfriend back when you were still a little squidling?" he asked and Ben nodded. Klaus stood up and so did Ben. "Wait, wait, wait, so, you." Klaus gestured to Ben. "Ben Hargreeves, Number 6, adopted son of Reginald Hargreeves, had a girlfriend when you were 14?" he asked in disbelief and Ben answered with a simple yes. "How the hell did you keep that a secret from dad? From the rest of us? Why didn't you say anything when you came back as.... As.... This... " Klaus' brain was forming too many questions too fast and it gave him a small headache trying to process all of them and he groaned.

Ben looked down for moment, feeling a bit guilty, before saying, "Look, I'm sorry I didn't say anything to you when we were kids. I just thought you were going to rat me out to dad or something." he tried to explain but Klaus looked at him with disdain. "But you told Allison and Vanya?" Klaus slowly, shook his head his voice getting higher. Ben sighed at his brothers over reaction. "I needed advice on how to talk to girls, okay! If I my super power was to smooth talk girls into liking me I never would have told them." he tried to defend himself but Klaus was still visibly upset. At this moment, Ben was starting to miss high Klaus. Sober Klaus always gets so moody when he's in the withdrawal stage.

"You know what? I can't deal with this right now." Klaus said as he flung his hands down his legs. "I'm going to go and try to get something drink from the cafeteria because oranges juice never lied or kept secrets from their brothers.". He stormed out the room leaving a frustrated Ben huffing with his arms crossed.

A.N.: Hi guys!

Just wanna say thank you all for all of ya’ll supporting this story I honestly didn’t expect this much attention on the first few chapters huhu, anyways, I already made an index thingy, link is up there, so it would be easier for you guys to navigate.Hopefully huhu.

Also, updates are like 100% faster in my Wattpad because that was the first place I posted this on huhu so if you have a Wattpad acount or if you have the app just put this story in your library and follow me if you want. My username is number_19_the_writer and the link to this book is on the index thingy. uwu thanks for reading! Have a nice day!

Taglist:

@purple-alien-monkey

uwu I gochu fam

#ben hargreeves #ben hargreeves x reader #ben hargreeves x you #ben hargreeves fanfiction #the umbrella academy #the horror #the umbrella academy x reader #fanfiction #number 6 #number six #number four #number 4 #ben hargreeves is bae #tua x reader #reader insert #x reader #writing

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prairiedust · 6 years

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The Folklore of Supernatural

Part two of a series I started with this post.

I’m reposting this as the second installment of my midseason hiatus “The Folklore of Supernatural” series, even though it was originally written as kind of a long cracky way of looking at the “sleeping beauty trilogy” of episodes in season 14 (The Scar, Mint Condition, and Nightmare Logic.) The original question I was tagged into was “Is Dean actually dreaming?” and I can not find the original post about this, so I won’t tag anyone in particular (you know who you are and I love you because this was fun to write.) I posted it once in the dead of night with no tags, but I’m republishing it as part of my larger take on folklore as a theme in season 14 of Supernatural. Bear in mind that this was written before Optimism, when it became clear that these were not part of an extended dream-sequence, BUT ALSO before The Spear when it was revealed that Michael could repossess Dean. (I’m going to talk a little bit about timing and writing meta, further on.)

I want to say a couple of things before the cut, too. This is a big old Sleeping Beauty post. I know there’s a lot of SB ideas out there in the metasphere but I’ve deliberately avoided them because I wanted to get my thoughts out here and I am Very Slow. Feel free to tag me into other posts, send me asks, whatever, because I think it’s fun to talk about. However, just because this is a “sleeping beauty” meta does not mean I want to go all the way to the end of that metaphor in this series. This particular post is general audience meta. I can’t tell anyone who might read this that no, you aren’t allowed to see a DeanCas parallel in a meta which relies heavily on a romantic fairy tale and one that was a destiel fandom in-joke after Cas died, at that. I will say, though, that I see it, so if you want to duck out now because I’m a lowkey shipper feel free. Also, I can’t endorse predictions based on meta, either, even my own, even when I think there is a big neon “Texan Star” sign saying “destiel goes here;” there is absolutely nothing stopping anyone involved in the show from making a hard left when the signs said we were going right. So rather than seeing this as a defense of DeanCas subtext, let’s call it an experiment in close reading. If nothing else, it will be fun. (Bear in mind that I am a massive dork so my definition of fun involves Charles Dickens.)

Aaand... here we go.

Is Dean asleep, and have the last three episodes (The Scar, Mint Condition, and Nightmare Logic) been a dream? How can we possibly “answer” that question at this point in the show?

We’re trying to speculate about a text that is a constantly moving target. If, for instance, you start to read the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, and you know from a blurb on the back of the book that she was an anthropologist who collected African-American and Caribbean folklore, and you get to the place where the protagonist Janie’s second [redacted] ends, but there are a lot of pages left ahead of you, and you think, wow if this happens a third time, I have a theory that the third [redacted, go read this book] would be special based on what I know about folklore and the “rule of three,” well by the end of the book you will know whether or not you were right. Janie either finds a third [redacted], or she doesn’t, and it’s either special, or it’s not.

Supernatural has not ended, so there is no way of saying “Oh, the main theme we are supposed to take away from this show is ____.” I mean, we can put big money on “family” but still. With a television show, it’s hard to even say, “The over-arching themes in this season are____” until the season finale, because it is a text that is being written, filmed, and published serially. The fluid nature of subtext in serial literature was something I studied under a Brit Lit professor– she said, when we set out to read David Copperfield, that sometimes themes in Dickens concluded early or evolved late, or didn’t pan out, because Dickens changed his mind or was pressured by readers to maintain a character that he hadn’t planned to keep around (I think that character was Micawber but I can not find a shred of evidence anywhere, even in my notes from my Brit Lit class, because she kind of mentioned it in passing and I didn’t like Dickens very much when I was younger, so obviously I didn’t learn it well.) And even when you get to the end of a Dickens serial, you still might not get closure– he totally rewrote the conclusion of Great Expectations because his friends wanted angst with a happy(ish) ending.

But this particular “sleeping” symbolism that has been pointed out is really, really structurally sound and can be very well supported. What it means is (shrug emoji)

Going back to the first post in this series, the support for this reading comes from an understanding of folk tales. I’ll be primarily using European Sleeping Beauty stories, as that is what is most accessible to an American/Western audience. And, it was deliberately alluded to in the text of the show. But first let’s talk about formula tales in more depth because that is what sets this theme up in the very first episode of season 14.

Michael met with three different beings in the season opener Stranger in a Strange Land and asked each of them “What do you want?” This is in no uncertain terms a formula tale found in folklore all over the world, and you know about the rule of three even if you’ve never actually acknowledged it. In Goldilocks and the Three Bears, for instance, Goldilocks tries two bowls of porridge before finding one to her liking. She tries two chairs before settling on Baby Bear’s chair. She tries two beds before falling asleep in the one that was “just right.” There were three challenges, two of which failed and one that satisfied her. Goldilocks is an original work (and please read the Wikipedia article, it is fascinating how many revisions this story has gone through, and in fact “Goldilocks” wasn’t even the original main character) but it was based on a folk formula and has entered American oral tradition. Similarly, in the German folk tale The Three Little Pigs, the first pig’s house is destroyed because it was made of straw, the second house failed because it was made of sticks, but the third house was made of brick and withstood the huffing and puffing of the wolf. So the pattern in the rule of three is often two challenges that fail or are flawed and one that finally succeeds or satisfies the necessary conditions. For short, I’m going to call this grouping 2/1. In the Michael story, 2/1 is human, who fails, then angel, who fails, then monster, who Mikey likes. In addition, there is a primer to the rule of three in that first scene, just to make absolutely certain that the audience notices it-- Michael has Jamel guess his identity three times.

This 2/1 formula could be just something Dabb did because he wanted to do it. It’s ancient, and Michael is an ancient being. But. Can it also mean that “folktales” is a theme on the show now?

As the saying goes, “Once is an occurrence, twice is a coincidence, three times is a pattern.” Folklore continues into the season in many different ways.

In Gods and Monsters, the scene where Dean shakes loose and punches the mirror probably lit up everyone who saw it with “mirror mirror on the wall” vibes, from the story of Snow White. The enchanted mirror is such a common “trope” in folklore that it has an index number that folklorists and others use to refer to it in their scholarship– it’s Aarne-Thompson index number D1163. So, another solid subtextual reference to folk tales. There is so much more in that episode about storytelling and retelling and the concept of sequels, but that’s for another discussion.

We get to The Scar and Jack mentions Sleeping Beauty and no lie I ascended for a full minute. “Sleeping Beauty” is Aarne-Thompson-Uther Classification of Folk Tales number 410 because this is another story that is found freaking everywhere. (I have to make an aside about the use of the term “folk tale” just because it is in my nature not to leave things like this ambiguous– it isn’t completely certain that the Sleeping Beauty we know of Brothers Grimm and Disney fame is 100% for shore an oral tale, or at least isn’t a tale that got a little finessed when it was first written down. See, a guy in pre-Renaissance Naples named Giambattista Basile included a version of it in a collection of child’s tales hundreds of years ago (it’s horrifying btw, cw for non-con at the very least if you go looking for it) then Charles Perrault (of Puss in Boots fame) got hold of it and rewrote it in French, and folklorists are pretty certain that the story of “Briar Rose in the Forest” that the Grimm brothers collected was the Perrault story that had made its way back into oral tradition in Germany. And, like, it’s not a huge reach to say that the history of the Sleeping Beauty story that is explicitly mentioned in the show’s dialogue by Jack is more subtext about how stories are transmitted, how they are told, what happens when they get loose in the wild, etc. That’s how allusions work, and that’s coming up in my third post.)

So, three times means green light to consider “folk tales” an official thing this season, at least for a while. And the cherry on top is that Sleeping Beauty was the third story referenced. It’s neat.

But NOW. On to THE question the OP posed:

Have the last three episodes been Dean’s dream?

I’m going to pass up surface mentions of dream states and solely focus on the actual “sleepers” in these episodes in order to get at the allusion’s architecture.

In Nightmare Logic, the sleeping beauty OP has identified is Sasha’s father, who is locked in a dream-state by a djinn. In Mint Condition, the sleeping beauty is Stuart, who is in a mysterious coma-like sleep after an attack by a possessed chain-saw. In The Scar, Lora is in a sleep-adjacent death-state after being hexed by a witch. (I saw that her name on the iTunes subtitles is “Lora” which is a variation of Laura but spelled this way evokes “of lore” and that was pretty neat. Another tiny detail that bolsters the theme.)

Is Lora really a sleeping beauty, though, and why is that important?

Remember our rule of three pattern that we were given in the premiere– 2/1. Two people in this group will be more similar to each other than to the third. Both Stuart and Sasha’s father are alive, while Lora is technically all the way dead when she is in the sleep-like state. Superficially, Stuart and Sasha’s father are men, whereas Lora is a woman. Just throwing that out there. If I were writing this post for a grade, that right there is called “padding for word count.” But it is also a valid point, so we’re going to use it. Neither Stuart nor Sasha’s father are shown to resume consciousness by the end of their episodes– Stuart not at all, and Mr. Rawlings only stirs fitfully. Lora is revived when Jack breaks the spell. On the other hand, Stuart is never in continued danger in Mint Condition after his “touch and go” operation (he’s presumably safe inside the salt circle) and is expected to recover naturally, whereas both Mr. R and Lora will die/stay dead if the threat against them isn’t neutralized. Mr. Rawlings is similar to Lora because they are both under “medical care”– Mr.R is ostensibly in hospice and Lora is in the Bunker’s sick bay, and to top things off Stuart is the only one who was treated by an actual doctor: Mr. R‘s nurse was a djinn and Cas is not a doctor he just played one on TV.

The thing about close readings is that anything you can argue is probably valid, but one thesis might be better supported than another. I’m really really tired and there might be more differences and similarities that I am missing. But when you’re gathering the evidence to support a theory about a text, you can end up going a bridge too far and you’ll find yourself staring into the void, completely unable to make any progress, so at some point you just have to stake out your foundations and start digging. (Yeah, I mixed metaphors, I mixed three of them, it’s awesome, get off me.)

So. There is more evidence that Stuart and Mr. R are more similar to each other than either one is to Lora. If we apply the 2/1 template, Lora is the character who satisfies the parameter of being “odd man out.” That still might not make her a sleeping beauty for the purposes of answering the “Is this Dean’s dream” question, and here’s why.

(This is the speculation part. I love this stuff, but again I offer the caveat that using subtext to make plot predictions in Supernatural is like trying to write on a cloud with smoke. Anyway.)

If she’s the sleeping beauty, the subtextual message is that Dean might actually be dead (or might have to die to satisfy the condition that Michael is destroyed.) That possibility was brought up in both 14x01 and 14x02, before Dean came back. And eugh no one wants that. It also means that we had to have read these three episodes backwards to find the character that fits the template, because if Lora is a sleeping beauty, and if she is “the” sleeping beauty for subtextual purposes, she actually came first in the series, and you have to run the episodes backwards to get to the 1. That is subverting the trope. However, if you get the thing you want the first time why go on to the other two challenges? There is a lot in this season about calling back to earlier parts of the narrative to contextualize the present– for instance, in Gods and Monsters, Michael says to the werewolf, “You think you were picking me up in that bar?” or something to that effect and then revealed that he was, in fact, the one stalking her. In Mint Condition, we are introduced to the Janitor Victim as a Dean mirror, but we do not know for certain yet that Hatchet Man is a post-Azazel John Winchester mirror, so that scene is given greater meaning by information that is revealed later in the episode. Structurally speaking, it would be fair to say that the information we have now, that Lora the dead girl is “the” sleeping beauty, based on having seen the other two candidates, means a dead Dean reveal has been primed by the subtext. And like, no thank you?

The other possibility is that Lora, since she was dead and not unconscious, is not “the” sleeping beauty. The third “sleeping beauty” (IF there is one) would show up in 14x06 Optimism. (That title is really stressing me out.) Why would that be Dean and not some other random character? Because if we exclude Laura, the pattern resets from 1/2 to 2/1 beginning with Stuart. Stuart is a Castiel mirror, though, which is not quite right. Mr. R is a John mirror (although that episode is a lot murkier and I’ve said before if someone wants to say he’s a Dean mirror because of the djinn connection I’d agree, in which case BLAM we already have a winner.) [editor’s note, I only left Jack out because we already knew he was dying and thought this subtext was priming a twist, more at ten, this aside has been brought to you by the letters LOL.]

But then, where have the last three episodes come from? If he is dreaming, it could be one reason why the djinn couldn’t wring a nightmare out of him, and that the moment before he killed the monster with a bookend was his subconscious trying to signal to him that something is wrong…

I have said a couple of times that subtext isn’t always predictive. Some authors will have multiple subtexts or will use subtext to straight-up fool you (*waves to thriller writers.*) But the exception proves the rule here– we as readers/viewers rely on subtext to prepare us for what might be coming next. Subtext helps provide that slow build to climax that makes, say, Neville Longbottom’s absolutely stunning house cup win in The Sorcerer’s Stone such a stand-up-and-cheer moment, or that makes Harry Potter’s realization that it is his patronus, not his father’s, that saves his past self in the Prisoner of Azkaban so satisfying. Lack of subtext is the reason there is so much grumping over Mary/Bobby. I mean, they what? Had a walk in the woods together? She called him “old man” once, is that even a term of endearment??? [full disclosure I never liked those two together until after Nightmare Logic.]

And scene!

That up there is where I stopped, and now it’s clear that the person who all this was pointing at was Jack, who fell into a dramatic swoon at the end of Optimism. There were two “sleeping beauties” in that episode, too in the 2/1 pattern of the folktales we’ve discussed– the zombie, who is in sort of a dream state, and Charlie, who is knocked out by fly guy. (Again, fully dead is a red herring and doesn’t count. That’s some positive subtext.) That was basically a lot of words to be able to summarize that, yes, sleeping beauty and dreamstates is a thing so far, but where it was going was hard to predict.

There is something really important that can be taken out of this close reading, though, that is carrying throughout the season.

Jack was the character who actually said the words “Sleeping Beauty.” Jack sort of volunteered himself as tribute. Another theme this season that was made explicit by Subtext Primer aka Mint Condition is that the words characters are saying are more important than they ever have been.

AND ONE MORE THING! The above was written before Unhuman Nature and Byzantium and The Spear! Dean has been put back to bed by Michael! But but Castiel stepped into the Sleeping Beauty deal! Where are we going! There’s no earthly way of knowing, which direction we are going…

Anyway in the next installment of this really long meta that will probably never end I want to explore what the history of the Amero-European Sleeping Beauty brings to bear on this season.

#the folklore of supernatural #the folkloristics of supernatural #season 14 #dabb era

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yukipage · 6 years

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Antithesis: Chapter 14 (Darkiplier/Reader)

Characters: Darkiplier, Reader

Summary: Choices is the theme of the day, when you land in the other dimension. Some unimportant, some life-changing. What will you pick?

While it may be fine for a simple piece of paper, traveling across dimensions unsheltered as a complex organism comes with some… complications. The space between realities is nothing to sneeze at, so the demon has to rush them through to ensure their physical and mental healths are in peak condition for the super-duper ultra, very exciting half-time game. Not that he would have any trouble speeding the process along; on the contrary, it was quite easy for him. The demon had nearly unlimited power and that could get terribly boring from time to time. Piddly actions, such as limiting Darkimoo’s teleportation, he could perform with a snap of his fingers. Only the greatest of feats came with a power limitation, and a small one at that: consent. At least two parties involved had to be willing participators. It was becoming increasingly too simple to manipulate his subjects into doing something fun, though. Ah, well. This new game should be exhilarating, if at least for a short while. One of the chosen players has proven to be extremely interesting, a good choice if he does say so himself. She holds the potential to amuse even outside the game, if he can clear the conditions. Just as much of a child as he is a strategist, the demon wiggles on his throne in eagerness of what is to come.

You can sense the change in surroundings as soon as you close your eyes. Darkiplier is gone from your arms and you feel a cold surface appear below you, offering no solace. It is as if the journey through the portal had taken no time at all. Your tensed body relaxes slightly and your eyelids open. You are in a most curious room. The walls, black in color, swirl and wisp like smoke trapped behind glass. The floor is made of the same material. You run your hand over it; it’s as smooth as polished stone. Despite the shade of it all, the windowless room is well-lit from several mounted lights dotting the walls. A luxurious canopy bed stands to one side with a dressing table next to it. Atop the little table sits a clear basin, filled to the brim with what seems to be water, and a cup. Your thirst once again hits you at full force and you scramble over to the container. Snatching up the cup, you only hesitate for a second before plunging it into the liquid. You drain the glass in one gulp and fill it again and again, hardly savoring the feel of cool, sweet water running down your throat. You drink until you can hold no more, then tiredly shuffle over to the bed. The water sloshes around in your overfull stomach as you sink into the mattress and heave a sigh of contentment. You swear to yourself that you never again will take water for granted. Now that your thirst has been quenched, you sit up and try to get your bearings.

You absentmindedly run your finger through the coating of dust and sweat on your arm. What you would have expected is for the stupid half-time game to have started already. Instead, the demon just split the group up. You assume that the others are in different parts of this… house? Building? You don’t even know what kind of structure you are in. You attempt to ignore your aching body as you cross the floor to open one of the two doors located in this room. Door number one leads, surprisingly, to a bathroom. It carries the same aesthetic as the rest of the room, but never-the-less seems to be a normal restroom, shower and all. A small pile of white cloth is folded neatly on the closed toilet lid. You graze your hand over the fabric and gasp. It’s the softest thing that you’ve ever had the pleasure to feel. Smooth and silky, your fingers pass over it almost frictionlessly. Gingerly, you pick it up and realize that it’s a sleeveless dress. Fresh undergarments lie tucked underneath it. You hold the item up to the mirror. It seems to be your size, but it’s pearly white pleated folds starkly contrast with the layers of dirt covering your skin and laced into your bedraggled hair. You resolve to take a shower.

After spending nearly an hour indulging yourself under the pleasantly cool water while scrubbing the grime off of your body, you step out of the shower and dry yourself off. You slip on the clean undergarments and the dress. Immediately, you are in heaven. The dress flows over your form like water and feels lighter than air. Moving your hips back and forth, you swish it playfully around. Another glance in mirror takes your breath away. Even with your wet, stringy hair, you look like an Egyptian goddess.

Your senses return to you when you step back into the main room. As far as you can see, you only have two choices. Option A: cocoon yourself in the blankets on the comfy bed and sleep until something happens. Option B: go through the second door and see if it leads somewhere; if it does, explore said somewhere until you find someone. Something, somewhere, someone; neither of these plans are very specific. First you need to test if option B is even possible. You pull the door open a crack and peek out. It opens up to a hallway lined with doors, stretching far to an adjacent passageway. Glancing back in the room, you stare longingly at the bed.

Screw it, you can’t just sit here and do nothing. You step into the hallway barefoot, loathe to put back on your defiled shoes. You leave the door open. The corridor stretches just as far to your right as it does to your left. In a moment of decision, you turn right. As you go, you try several doors. All of them seem to be locked. When you reach the end, you turn right again. Try every door in the corridor. This time turn left at the end. Wash, rinse, repeat. You quickly lose yourself in the maze of doors. The sameness of it all and the hopelessness that comes with being completely and utterly lost starts to unnerve you. You feel as if you are doomed to wander these halls for all eternity, always searching and never finding anything. Then you turn another corner for what feels like the millionth time and run headlong into a giant ring.

Rubbing your tender forehead, you step back and see that the giant ring is in fact a handle attached to a large door. You shrug and start to tug on the handle. It opens more easily than you would think for a door that size. You peep in.

The entrance leads to a massive chamber. Rows upon rows of chairs line the space, parting only in the middle for a blood red carpet. At the end of the carpet, steps lead up to a gigantic geometrically shaped throne. On the throne sits a small shadowy figure dwarfed by the largeness of its surroundings. The figure is humanoid in shape, but with no distinguishing features except for an unsettlingly large mouth, stretched into a grin, and two white, pupil-less eyes. Those eyes happen to be trained on your person. The figure speaks. “Hey there girly! Why don’t you come on down? I’ve been wait’n for sooo looong.” He spoke with the voice of the demon. This was the demon. You never thought that he had a physical form, let alone that you would ever see it. You open the door just wide enough for you to step through and start down the aisle. It’s not like you have a choice or anything.

You venture to speak as you walk. “I thought...” Your voice cracks. You start over. “I, uh, thought we were supposed to start your game or whatever.”

“Heeheehee,” the demon giggles. “That we will, that we will. I just wanted some alone time with you before the fun begins. You know, so we can talk.”

“Talk?” You grow bolder as you stop at the steps. “What could I possibly have to talk about with you?” Once you are close, you get a good measure of his actual size. He’s no larger than a child. The eyes and mouth still unsettle you though.

“I have a proposition for you. One might call it… hmmm, shall we say, a deal?”

You step back and throw your hands up defensively. “Oh no. No way. Your deals have caused nothing but trouble for me and for Dark.”

“But this one would solve aaall of your problems. And you even get to choose which one to take! Option A or Option B.” He winks at you.

“What? How did you…”

“Option A. After we finish these games, it’ll be no fun with either Darkimoo or Glitchy just running around by themselves.” The demon makes what you assume is a pouty face. “So, I’ll take them out of their hosts for you! See? That would make your life so much easier! Darkimoo would be out of your hair forever and ever and ever. You would go back to normal.”

You stare at him in shock. “Would Mark and Jack be alive?”

“Of course, silly. That’s easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy.”

You gulp. It seemed like everything that you had been striving for. And yet… Something unsettling nags at the pit of your stomach. You do you best to suppress it. “So what’s the catch then?”

“Wait, wait, wait! You haven’t heard Option B yet! B is the real kicker. It’d keep me entertained for a long while. I’m sure you’ll like this one.” The demon rests his chin on his hand, his elbow supported by the arm of the throne. “I could make Darkimoo fall in love with you,” he croons with a sly grin.

You turn as red as the carpet you're standing on. “Are you crazy?” you stutter. “ I’m not… he’s not… I wouldn’t… Why? I don’t…” He presses his fingers against his thumb and your mouth clacks shut involuntarily.

“Oh please, my dear,” he spits out mockingly. “It’s so painfully obvious. You run back and forth with him, all over the world, without protest. Don’t tell me you aren’t enjoying the time spent with him. Enjoyed him holding you. You do everything he asks you to.” You mumble a muffled protest. “And what girl wouldn’t fall in love with a man like that? He’s saved your life three times, carried you on his back, offered to give you anything you desired. And what a dreamboat, smart, powerful, handsome, and with that amaaazingly sensual voice. Ah,” The demon pretends to swoon. “The real Markimoo would never even glance your way. But this one? He would be yours. All he would need is a little nudge in the right direction. You would never be lonely again. And, I’ll even throw in the removal of Glitchy. How ‘bout them apples?”

Through this whole speech, you shrink smaller and smaller into yourself with every word uttered. He just might be right. He just might… Oh, who are you kidding? Of course he’s right. You want to smack the living daylights out of yourself for being so stupid. You? Fall in love with a being that kidnapped you, locked you up, and dragged you around half the world? How could anyone be so ridiculous? Yet, it is true. Every single word that he says is true. He releases his hold on your mouth. “Well? What do you have to say?”

You feel like a cornered animal. You lick your lips nervously and swallow, your mouth suddenly very, very dry. Eventually, you find your voice. “F-fine. You win.” You hang your head in defeat. “I, uh…”

“You love…”

“I love… dang it! Don’t make me say it!” Tears stream down your cheeks.

The demon cackles. “I knew it! I knew it, I knew it. So, now that everything is laid bare on your end, I’ll expose mine. In exchange for either of my lovely proposals, I get the right to inhabit your body until the game is finished. Then I’ll do what you’ll have me do and be on my way. It’s simple, really. A bargain, if I do say so myself.”

“You want to inhabit my body? Like possess me?”

“Yeppers. And only for a teensy weensy amount of time. However. There is another catch. This deal is available if and only if you win the super-duper fantabulous extra-exciting half-time game. You get to make you choice at that time and what happens, happens.”

Your mind reels. This is so much, too much to handle. You��ll have to choose one way or another; you might not even get to if you lose. What if you don’t take the deal? Then there’s a hundred percent chance of either Sean dying or… Darkiplier and Mark dying. You don’t think you would be able to survive either one. You tell yourself not to be selfish. You tell yourself that you’re better than this. You should pick A. Regardless of morals, you still don’t know which one you would choose and it eats you up inside. You sigh. “I’ll take the deal then. When I win.”

“Excellent. The game can begin now! Let’s bring out our brilliant contestants!”

#darkiplier x reader #youtuber x reader #markiplier egos #darkiplier #markiplier #fanfiction #writing #antithesis fic #yuki's fics

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