#I couldn't not do the loading screen symbol

[shiki-jin]

YOUR CELESTIAL MAJESTY • SAGAU

(part 0 here)

was listening to TruE on loop while writing the last part of this, it's genuinely such a good song ugwvdya

also can you spot the contradiction ;D it's plot relevant i promise

not proofread, dont bully me ill write a thesis on why youre a meanie

—

you had long deleted genshin, since you had other things to do. you had wanted to go back to the game for a while now, now that you were less busy, but there was just one little problem.

it was now taking up nearly triple the amount of space that it was when you uninstalled it. around 300 whole gigabytes.

jesus christ, what phone can even handle this???

your phone, apparently. because as you opened the game to see if maybe a miracle would happen and that if maybe they would just, like, remove half of the things in the game, it just… kinda loaded?

no installing new files, no checking for anything, no nothing…. just an immediate pan to the gates of celestia.

you decided to check if it was the right genshin since this was just way too weird, but countering your judgement, every link you found led you to the same game, leading you to believe it not to be a bootleg or an illegal version.

guess i’ll trust it then.

you clicked on the gates which opened smoothly, and your screen turned white. then, the symbols of the seven elements appeared in gray.

and then the game just… opened. no loading time, once again. no getting stuck on the geo symbol, nothing. nada. just a smooth entrance into what you had to assume to be teyvat — but your surroundings didn't really support that claim.

the grass was brown and just looked off, the sky was gray. a darker shade than, say, mond’s walls, but it was like one of those game crashes.

well, except you could still move around.

you moved your current character around (the traveller? since when were they the only one in your team?) and decided to open the map after not figuring out where you could possibly be.

hold on, this is springvale? since when?

eveything looked dead, like it had been rotting for a century. you tried to ignore it though, and teleported to the inside of mondstadt. surely this was just some glitch, right? one that would fix itself if you teleported?

maybe the world loaded incorrectly, maybe the fact that nothing took time to load meant that it couldn't load, maybe this or that, maybe…

maybe this really was how the game looked normally. you hadn't done any quests though, so you wondered if it could be restored.

you took a screenshot of the your surroundings — the stone, worn down and dirty. the houses which looked to be in a horrible state, and… the npcs, all sickly and pale, like they were starving.

you went to reddit (yes, reddit), and posted the screenshot, asking if it was normal.

you closed the game and decided to take a nap, too tired to really deal with this shit any further.

while you slumbered, people replied to your post.

╰┈➤ lol me too anon, me too

╰┈➤ isn't the game closed or wtv? how'd you get this wtf

╰┈➤ they're trolling

╰┈➤ o makes sense oops

╰┈➤ So we’re all still mourning huh

╰┈➤ jokes aside that's a super impressive edit ngl

you remained unaware of the truth, but you'd find out soon enough.

actually, you'd find out now, apparently…

what the fuck?? why is my bed so hard now?

you groaned and forced your eyes open, seeing a dark, nearly black sky.

the only light was a single star, lingering right above you.

“since when was i outside...?"

a voice spoke to you, answering your question.

“you always have been, have you not? but would you like to head inside, my lord?”

... huh? i recognize that voice...

—

p.s. place your bets on who it is, i’m thinking of one specific character but if there's a fan fav i'll make it them instead since i haven't written anything beyond this point (⁠・⁠_⁠・⁠;⁠)

p.s.s. don't expect updates to this series too quickly, i wish i could write as quick as i think of ideas but sadly that's not the case orz

[be-strong-and-hit-stuff]

Nuts and Dolts goes to a photobooth 🌹🔩

This project took way longer than I expected because life, but this ship gives me happiness 😊

[parachutingkitten]

Okay, this has been bothering me, and I'm gonna go into it, cuz I feel like being mad that the fandom didn't get better is friggin valid, so imma get negative here at some serious missed potential, if that's not your jam, 100% get it, please scroll past.

We have a season with 20 episodes, each of which are 20 minutes long. That is an unprecedented amount of time for a ninjago season- I would argue maybe too much time, but that's not what we're getting into here. Even just the first half is the length of your standard ninjago season back in the day. There is no excuse for not taking your time with ideas that deserve time. You've got time. You've got too much time.

If you're gonna do a mystical mind prison that traps you in your worst fears, you gotta do it! You can't do this wimpy half commit thing you're doing here. What is this cop out that's like three minutes long? This is a top tier trope! Loads of stories do this- for a good reason, it's a great way to get lots of new insight into your characters, not to mention have fun with environments, hypotheticals, bend logic, and do some creative filmmaking. And here you are, inventing a whole weird fictional animal to facilitate your nightmare state, and it legitimately takes up so little screen time that it hurts! What? Did you not have enough to say about your characters to fill out a full subplot? You thinking that surface level about things? Or was the basketball tournament fake out with the dragons so important to the story that you couldn't cut it out for some character introspection?

It's so short and pointless, it doesn't functionally do anything except tell us very directly "Here's what this character fears, and will have to get past this season!" No looking into why or making some progress/losing progress on the issue in the dream state. We don't even get to see everyone's visions, let alone see any interconnectivity between them. It's just such a waste of a classically exciting set up. And why on earth would you place this concept at the beginning of the season? Put it at the turning point man! That's what this scenario is made for! Literalizing characters overcoming mental challenges so that it's interesting to watch! Using the nightmare dream sphere for exposition in the most boring possible version of the trope is just dumbfounding.

I mean seriously? The black void? That's all you've got? You gonna go the Cars 2 route and set our supposedly deep nightmare sequence in a black void? No symbolism to the void even? No distorting of visuals within the void? Nothing? Can you get any more basic? Did you really put that little creativity into this? Like, the whole point of the nightmare dreamscape is to get creative! So much symbolism and messaging that you can easily tie into things! the possibilities are literally endless! But yeah, I guess Arin running in place is pretty meaningful too, I'm sure it took you a while to come up with something so profound.

There's a reason this story beat usually makes up at least half the plot of any given episode it's in! There's so much room to explore. The potential for crosscutting between nightmares is so high, drawing parallels between characters. Maybe they're all interconnected, and the mentally strongest of the team breaks free to help the others in their nightmares. Maybe it's a revelation point for the rest of the team as they see a dark past of another character they didn't know about. Or maybe it's just the audience who gets new insight into a sheltered corner of a character's mind, or a way to reveal to them a dark secret someone is hiding. You can also have fun subverting expectations, maybe one of the nightmares is just objectively pretty funny. And, the best thing about any dream environment you're creating, you can have the characters get involved in insanely creative fights and action scenes where they literally beat up their mental roadblocks with cool looking and symbolically important powers or tools.

Like, I know the fandom is losing their mind over this scene because 'omg Nya's gonna be so sad cuz of the memory loss(that hasn't even been revealed in narrative yet, so the irony doesn't even really work)' but I just need you to understand that the full fledged angst, character growth, and introspection y'all are speculating could have theoretically happened in Kai's plot is what we could have had for everyone. For a full episode. Like it deserved to be. And it would have been really cool, and really satisfying, and beautifully and symbolically stunning, because countless other people have done it, it's honestly not too difficult. Stop freaking out like they did a good job with this- they didn't do a good job with this. They couldn't even bother to give everyone a vision, they just gave up on the concept halfway through.

Not to mention how accessible and valuable this type of storytelling is to kids! Literalizing some of the big abstract issues these characters are supposedly battling this season would be a great way to get kids to grasp these ideas, but instead it's literally like two and a half minutes of slightly ominous stuff to bate us before we move on.

Stop teasing us with interesting stuff and then not actually following through! This is not how you do storytelling!

[twinklelilstarkey]

Dad Rhett! His daughter gets their first period and his wife and Cecilia aren’t available to help him. And his daughter is still elementary age & they haven’t given her the talk yet. Like the scene in My Girl. Fluff and hilarious ensues. 😊

A/N.: Thank you so much for requesting. It means the world to me! Hope what I wrote is good enough <3

Slow Internet - Dad!Rhett Abbott

Words: 1.7k+ Type: Fluff Summary: [What's on the request] Warnings: Mentions of fem!reader [as in 'mom'; no mentions of the mom having a period, either]. Mentions of a period and its symptoms, as well as why it needs to exist. No mentions of the daughter being biological. A panicked father and clueless uncle.

“Okay, uhm…”

Rhett stares at his screen as the website loads. He has no idea what to do. There have been many times where he could’ve, maybe, educated himself better on the subject. Taken the time to do the research so that when this day would come… this wouldn’t happen.

To make things worse, the internet is slow. He has been staring at the loading symbol of some sort of health website for minutes. Long minutes. All while he feels himself almost reaching the state of complete parental panic and frustration in inhumane highs.

You’re on your way from work, already. But, if things couldn't be worse, you will take at least half an hour to get home. Lunchtime is not exactly a time easy to run out of work and even worse to find empty streets. It’s god damn impossible.

“Still nothing, honey. Just a few more minutes.” He tries to tranquilize his daughter from afar.

A sigh is heard from the inside of the bathroom, and Rhett tries to, yet again, refresh the page in hopes of it finishing the loading. The brunette lets his head fall back against the wall. How is he supposed to get anything done with this slow of a phone? If only he had gotten prepared…

Before his mind could make him beat himself up any longer, the sound of moving around in the kitchen reawakes him to reality.

His phone hasn’t started vibrating with a call from his mother. His other (possible) savior. He has nowhere to run for help. He sure isn’t going to ask for help from his dad. Gosh… Would he even know what to do?

A fatigued Perry appears at the end of the hallway, snatching Rhett’s attention from his scolding and mental planning of routes to follow. His brother is breathing heavily and is holding his phone in his hand. Rhett had hoped that it was their mother who called them, but his hope evaporated.

“They say everything is fine on the internet.” Perry exclaims, making his way to his brother, “Did you hear, honey? You’re fine!”

“I am dying!” She screams.

“You are not dying.” The brothers say at the same time.

Rhett hears yet another sigh of defeat.

The small voice mumbles something into the small bathroom, but from the way every sound echos and bounces with the room's tiles, Rhett cannot understand what she's saying most of the time.

“Who’s talking?” She asks, louder this time.

“Uncle Perry, honey.” Rhett answers his daughter.

“When did he get here?” Confusion and frustration were clear in her voice. “Where’s mom?! Or grandma?”

“On their way.”

Silence follows his words right after. And this is when Perry decides that it’s a nice time to read out loud all of his findings. He had climbed the kitchen table to get better reception or better internet. He was ready to say everything out loud.

Rhett watches as his brother walks over to the door of the bathroom and crouches. He then leans in and begins to speak.

“It says here that it’s totally normal for a girl of your age to have it. Some even have it younger- The youngest was 5 years old.” Rhett can’t even hold himself back from sending a glare at his brother. Why was that fact even necessary? “And this is something called... a period.”

There’s a pause, and Perry uses it to check on his brother.

“Are you going to join in, or…?” He asks Rhett.

“Wait for her mom to get home. She’ll explain it.”

“You’re the dad.” Perry leans in to emphasize. “You should be a part of the learning session too.”

That seemed to be convincing enough for both to now be beside one another. Each of them takes a seat in front of the bathroom door and stares at it. They take turns on who holds the phone that has the information and who speaks it.

There were no sounds in the bathroom after each of their long and simple sentences explaining the natural phenomenon until…

“EVERY MONTH?!”

It’s a scream verging into a worded squeal. It penetrated the thick wood of the door with extreme ease. The same door the men have been screaming at for her to hear them this entire time. Both of them share a look before continuing on with no regrets.

“From 3 to 7 days.” Perry prefers to be the one to continue.

“Uh?!”

It's the sound of pure confusion and unacceptance of her new reality. Rhett buried his head in his hands for just a few seconds, and then Perry gave him the phone once more.

“You should be the one telling her this.”

Rhett wasn’t even sure what was the worst part he had to mention. His daughter is in elementary school for god’s sake, and now he had to mention how this not only will involve pain from cramps, but also continuous days of blood. Oh, and yeah, he also has to do the breaking of the news about “it means that you have babies.”

The poor girl doesn’t even know kids aren’t taken to their parents by storks yet. He is not the right person to work these things out with her. He knows it.

“Can you at least open the door?” Rhett asks as he faces the tall wood surface before him.

“No!”

“Please?” He tries with a softer voice as well as with a little worried tone. She has been closed in there for the past 20 minutes. Of course, he's worried.

There is a long silence, and Rhett doesn’t let his hope grow with it as he doesn’t hear her walk around. At least she could be considering it, so, he doesn't let his hope die down right away.

“Why don’t you want to come out?” He tries.

“I don’t know.” She says softly, “I feel embarrassed.”

Perry stays silent as he looks between his brother and the door.

“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about, honey. It’s normal.” He emphasizes the last statement.

“How can this be normal?!" She squeals once more.

Rhett sighs and looks at his brother for help. Perry has a daughter too but he didn't have to worry about this with her. His mom was home right when she got it and he wasn't. He really only got the news when arranging the table for dinner. The lucky bastard didn't have to deal with any of this.

“It is natural for you to have it. You're supposed to have this.” He tries to continue with an even softer voice.

“But I don't want it.” The small girl answers back.

“I know.” He answers, “But you'll get used to it. I promise you... Mommy can explain everything better when she gets home, but you have to believe me. Nothing bad is happening, and you're okay.”

Rhett waits for a few seconds for her to move inside of the bathroom, whether to open the door or to just, well, walk around. Perry is quiet, and Rhett swears that he forgot his brother was there for a good bit.

His brown eyes look through the phone and its bright screen. He reads a few words automatically as his eyes hover over the website on his brother's phone. He reads more of the same details that he was able to explain in simple words "it is natural." and "you are not dying".

There are two words that appear in front of him that make his mind light up with an idea.

“There's another thing.” Rhett starts again, breaking the silence.

“What?” She answers right away.

“You can eat all the chocolate you want when you have this.” He offers her her favorite food.

It is an easier way to say to the little girl that she can very much do what her food cravings will ask her to do. She doesn't even know what those are, but what he did just now are the words his daughter had been dreaming of hearing for a long time.

She doesn't speak, but she doesn't stay silent either. Both Perry and Rhett lift their eyes from the floor back to the door when they hear shuffling inside the bathroom. Unexpectedly, the lock clicks out of place and the door opens ever so slightly. The small little head of Rhett's daughter peeks out, and her eyes find his.

“All of the chocolate I want?” She repeats his words.

Perry almost interferes, taking the wording a little too literal. You're not going to like this.

“All of it.” Rhett repeats.

The door opens more, and she walks out entirely. His dad is just 2 steps away from the door, she could reach for him with no worries, but she's hesitant.

“You okay?” He asks her, and she takes in a deep breath.

A car is heard pulling up by the house, and Perry disturbs the moment to get up and check on who it could be. Rhett and his daughter look as he walks down the hallway with speed on his steps, ready to have someone better at the job at hand with them.

Rhett looks back at his daughter when Uncle Perry is out of view, she looks at him as well, taking a small step. She is distancing herself from the bathroom and walking closer to him. They had been playing just like every other day simply a few minutes ago, and she is not exactly proud of screaming at him.

“Are you feeling better? Calmer?” Rhett tries to get a response.

She nods this time. He offers her a grin and lifts his hand to lay it over her back. It's a comforting touch, his hand moves upwards and downwards slowly, but isn't exactly enough for the girl.

She walks on closer and wraps her arms around his neck.

“I'm sorry for screaming.” She whispers, ashamed, on the crook to his neck.

Rhett wraps his arms around her too, pulling his small girl into his arms after so many minutes of her screaming at him. She sure has the same pair of lungs as when she was a baby.

“It's okay.” He whispers back into the fabric of her shirt.

There are footsteps going throughout the house and, soon, you appear at the end of the hallway. The small girl detaches herself from her father's hug and looks at her mom, already searching for all the answers she needs. Rhett can't wait to see your face when he tells you what made your daughter get out of the bathroom.

I hope you liked this &lt;;3 Feel free to request!

[perfectlovevn]

Perfect Love VN Devlog #3

I did a couple more drawings for the mini CGs, but I haven't been very motivated about it unfortunately. The real solution is to stop drawing so much and start figuring out other ways to show what happened. NOT because I'm lazy about it, totally not. That just means more black screens, but there are like almost 100 separate images for mini CGs, so I think you all have been spoiled enough.

I've decided for the main CGs for each ending, I'll mix the last choice (which is related to the color blue or red) into the mix, so for example for this CG, the last choice was blue, so the main color scheme is blue and grayscale colors. Plus I get to work on my lineless coloring/artwork so it's a double benefit to me. I was going to use the Action Editor plugin thing I saw on Visual Novel Design's youtube page, but I couldn't get it to work the way I wanted, so maybe I'll try it again another day.

That being said, I did code in the different name boxes I had for some of the characters. I need about three more of them, one of which is for Milo Pre to fit with the symbolism of eyes and whatnot. The symbolism of eyes is fairly important in the game since most characters don't have "their eyes open" to what Eris is doing. Of course except Eris. Thus the Heterochromia... Sort of.

Okay that being said I did get most of the sprite coding for about 3 of the eight endings (minus the secret ending or the "Perfect" ending, as I will call it), which is of big benefit to me since I kind of just used a bunch of background images for one of them. Don't...don't worry about it.

Also got bored and added in a bunch of things to the code for Mari (specifically you, yes, I'm looking straight at you right now) which you can all figure out whenever I get the game done. It's not super relevant to the story (or so I say, but should you really believe me?) but it is fun to do. I mean, in addition to the OTHER things I hid in the code but don't worry about that, you probably will not remember anyways (except if you're Mari, I say, looking deeply into your eyes).

Hopefully I can get at least threeish more endings for sprites done next week and/or some of the GUI for the save and load pages because THOSE are a huge mess right now because I changed the aspect ratio of the game. Whoopsy Daisies.

Oh and if you want a cameo or something in this game in terms of your name or a nickname you'd use, do tell me. I will add it in and it doesn't take me too long to code in a little message for you. ;3

[chaosintheavenue]

Finally made it.

First thoughts and some scenery below the cut!

First up, Trin and Vector (Sibling A) tried The Most Sensational Game.

In summary... we didn't get far thanks to absolute swarms of near-immortal Overgrown, and things didn't end well. The whole 'you'll get shot if you fail' gimmick is not a joke lol.

Second try: Tax Evasion.

Sibling A loaded in before me and immediately exclaimed 'This place looks like Watoga's brother!'. And holy smokes, he's right. Meet Watoga, but green.

I didn't get as many scenic shots as I'd have liked here, but I'll absolutely be going back.

Mandatory shot inside the Neapolitan.

The rug has ace symbols! The rug has trinity-esque symbols!

As for the expedition, we did manage to succeed with this one... eventually! We both ended up slowly chipping down Buttercup's health for about 15 minutes with drills after Vector ran out of every kind of ammo in existence, and the famous plasma cutter even made a reappearance towards the end. All in all, it's pretty fun, and a cool new environment, but I'd recommend large teams where possible.

Trin Moments:

She felt so freaking bad for Billy being thrown in deep over his head and then held responsible for the resulting mess, when all he wanted to do, in his own words, was math

She's barely had a chance to gamble yet (and what little experience she did get involved activating machines at random as she ran past them in combat), but she has been significantly luckier than Vector so far

The Batsuuri twins had a mild go at her over her constant indecision, which she won't appreciate (but probably needed to hear)

The Overgrown definitely need to be added to the 'especially scared of' tier of her creature chart! Damn, those things are tough. She went from spotting them in the distance and making the inevitable weedling jokes with Vector, to legitimately fleeing for her life much faster than I anticipated

Bonus point: Vector has been absolutely plagued by some of the wildest glitches I've ever seen during this adventure, not limited to: having the asset sacks stick to her hands so she couldn't throw them into the trucks (the throw animation worked fine, except the bag just... didn't leave her hand in the process), dying whilst on fire and thereafter being visibly flaming on Sibling A's screen- but not mine- for the entirety of Tax Evasion and even after returning to Appalachia, and managing to hit Buttercup at the perfect time and angle to cause him to levitate and clip through the ceiling.

[ninjastar107]

OC-tober Day nine - 'Future'

(Ft. Alex and GT)

Its several cooling fans screamed immediately upon powering on. Liquid nitrogen-cooled water ran above the CPU in metal insulated tubules, desperately catching up to the burning-hot components.

After some time, the screen flickered on with a loading bar and the IEC 5009 symbol above it.

Various hard disks jumped and ticked.

Parts of his mind unloaded, expanding rapidly and filling up the gaps. It felt as though he were at a hospital, the doctors with their instruments in his brain slowly returning function to him while keeping him on a light anesthetic. Hearing was the first, a loud popping before a yelp and a laugh. Words were spoken, but they were unrecognizable beyond sound bytes. Then came 'vision'; packages of data stored explaining to him the surroundings and the booting functions, things that were alien.

What happened to the constant flow of barometric data, satellite feeds, and topography? Why couldn't he detect the printers and written recorders?

In a panic, his worry printed on the console.

[WHERE ARE THE INSTRUMENTS.]

His body loaded in, first as points, then as polygons, and finally as textured surfaces. He hardly recognized it, his vision refining on the light-based angles. His world, which had been a dark void, had slowly lightened up to a soft cyan.

Before him, the console window hovered by his hands.

[>Hello Al! Welcome to the future!] [WHO ARE YOU.] "Turn around." A voice echoed into the chamber.

Alex spun around to the large open window out into the real world. Icons floated near the sides with a large bar below it, however the person beyond it drew his inquiring mind first.

"What is this?" Alex asked in fright of his own voice. "Why do I sound like this?"

"It's how you always sounded like- um, it's how I remembered anyway, heheh." the grey man chuckled.

"What are you?"

"Don't you recognize me? It's me, Tucker, your old friend!" GT smiled.

"What's my purpose?" He slipped, as if it was automated.

He blinked, "Nothing yet. We'll figure that out."

Alex shook his head. No, no that's not right. They won the cold war, didn't they? America won and he was retired, that's how it was supposed to be. He wasn't supposed to wake up again, he served his purpose. "Did we get into another one?" he mumbled under his breath.

GT cracked open an Arizona tea and kicked back on the small coffee table in the middle of the cramped room. "Relax and let your boot finish. You have no idea how long it took me to get you functioning, but hey at least the tech was cheap and small this time, for the most part." He eyed the large glass tube attached to the right of the monitor. "We have a lot of catching up to do."

--

Alex massaged his face as GT spoke.

Global Warming was renamed to 'climate change', which made no sense. The ice caps had melted, and sea levels were higher than before, but not to uninhabitable levels. Florida was gone, not that he missed it, as well as parts of the east and west coast. Louisiana swampland had seeped into Texas, and the tropic line had expanded greatly. They were in Minnesota, which had dramatic weather fluctuations regularly, supposedly.

As if areas closer to the poles didn't have an extreme temperature gradient already.

It all sounded so ridiculous.

"Let me guess, the government collapsed and this is post-apocalypse right?" Alex sarcastically asked.

Grey shook his head, "Nah, not really. Initially there was some panic over it happening but by the time anyone did anything, it was too late. Turns out people don't like change that much, and we're just dealing with it. A few weeks ago there's been a ban on fuel mining, so we'll see how long I can keep my car."

"Idiots. What about the rest of the world?"

He shrugged, "I don't watch international news. Oh, but you can online if you want."

Alex folded his arms, "What does that mean?"

"You can find it on the internet."

"And what's that?"

"Its a web of servers that can be accessed by any machine hooked up to it, either by Ethernet or WiFi."

"... what's those?"

GT tapped his chin, "Umm, Ethernet is like a phone cable. You get internet through your LAN line. WiFi is just Wireless internet."

Alex sat down in the air, slowly turning over, "Okay, but how do I get there?"

He scooted the chair over and clicked on the browser. At the top bar, he typed and scrolled through a search engine before opening a few different websites.

Alex immediately was hit with tracking queries, as well as setup recommendations. Without thinking, he denied and closed out of everything. "What was that???"

"Mh, it's okay, you're just not used to so much different stuff at once. let's try one thing at a time to start."

[spider-gets-artsy]

I Can't Call You Home Again

A Herack & Anenja story

You can also find me here

It was stuffy inside the van. The air conditioner was running at full blast, but it couldn't quite disperse the heat that had the leather seat sticking to her thighs.

The holoscreen in front of Anenja flickered with static, the loading symbol unmoving. She sighed, wishing for better reception. The desert was barren of many crucial things; shade, water, grubburgers, and good wifi.

If it was anyone's fault, it was her own, she thought bitterly. She had somehow surrounded herself with tech wizards throughout her childhood and left every single one of them behind to travel with Sadane. She didn't regret it, she didn't have it in her to feel homesick over a cage. But still. Maybe it'd be worth it to take the trip back to Elysian, get an Eos worker to… do whatever needed to be done to the van in order to get a clearer signal. Stars, she grew up in a tech manufacturing company, she should know the basics of wifi.

The holoscreen blipped, and suddenly he was face to face with her.

"Hey, kiddo."

"Hello, Herack."

She carefully took him in, noted his normally coiffed hair hanging limp, and wondered how dark his eye bags would be if he took off his mask. She'd only been gone a few weeks, was that all it took to make such a powerful man fall into despair?

Tactfully, she asked, "Are you well?"

He snorted. "Just peachy."

An awkward silence stretched between them, until Herack's eyes began to dart to the side, looking off screen. Probably at Rhoren. Disappointed, Aneja said dejectedly, "If you want to stay in my life, Herack, you have to act like it. We both know we don't do these calls for my benefit."

His features pinched, scowl starting to form, until a bright green sock with purple stars nailed him in the face. Anenja had to hold back a giggle, mentally thanking Rhoren for having her back when it came to her temperamental dancestor. Herack swiped it away, flipping the bird in what she assumed was Rhoren's direction.

Returning his gaze to the camera, Herack ran both hands through his hair, leaning down to hide his face momentarily. After a beat he straightened, his lips quirked in a half smile.

"I'm not used to you being away. To you being able to", he gestured vaguely at her. "You know. Act like an adult."

"You only ever treated me as a child," Anenja replied coolly, her ears pinned back in anger. "But I never truly was. Even if you hadn't shoved me into a meat suit, if I'd been hatched properly, I would have been raised in a war. I wouldn't have had a chance to be a child."

His expression turned solemn, watching her as he might a stranger. Warily.

And maybe she was a stranger to him now. She was growing, she could feel it in her bones, becoming someone she never got to be in the depths of Eos. Someone free, someone with loved ones and friends. Stars, she never loved being alive more than these past few weeks on the road.

Herack quickly changed the subject. Typical.

"You still have money? I can wire more to you, anytime. And what about food? Have you been eating crap? If you need a chef I can spare one from the kitchens, send him out to-"

"Are these calls just another way for you to try to control my life?!" Anenja cried out in exasperation. "All you want to do is find ways to insert yourself back into my life. I left you! I had to get away, do you understand that? You suffocate me, I couldn't breathe in Eos, Herack. I need space."

Herack opened his mouth to say something, then shut it promptly, looking strained.

"Actually… I just miss you."

It wasn't an apology. But she knew it was as close as it got for him. Herack couldn't talk about his feelings for shit, so it was actually a pretty impressive statement, coming from him.

"Part of me misses you too. But I can't come back, not yet."

He nodded, sinking into his chair in defeat.

On the other side of the van, Sadane poked her head through the door, a stick of jerky poking out of the corner of her mouth. She tapped her wrist with a meaningful look and disappeared again.

"We're headed out soon. Is Rhoren there?"

The gold blood ducked into frame, grinning. "Hi An, having fun out there?"

"Oodles of it," she said with a teasing smile. "I found a patch of lumenrose out near the canyon. I pressed one for you."

"I can't wait to see it," he said warmly.

Herack was staring daggers at his matesprit for hogging her attention, so she asked, gently, "You'll take care of Herack, won't you Rhoren? Make sure he's eating well, you know how he is."

For all his talk over her eating habits, he was by far, worse. He thought a can of beans for dinner was an appropriate meal.

Herack's scowl softened as Rhoren gave her a jaunty little salute. The gold blood then dove out of screen, with a panicked, "My pasta-"

She laughed as Herack rolled his eyes, calling out goodbye to him. And then it was just the two of them again.

"Take care, kiddo. I'll see you next week."

"Bye Herack, I-"

She couldn't bring herself to say I love you. She probably wouldn't be able to for a long time. But she did, stars help her she did. Even if he was a shit guardian. Even if it was hard to look him in the face still sometimes.

"I'll see you next week," she parroted with a wry smile.

And she would. Family was important.

[chameleomille]

Yandere Reader x Prince Noctis Lucis Caelum Part 2/5

Crooked Poisoned Pastel Cake

-crying, sweating, bleeding, drolling, moaning, bf hes even here, i love you bye

Your breath hitches as your hands grip the cold steel, your gaze straining as you find it harder to breathe, your forehead sweats as your heart races, your legs shake, your head is spinning, your body is weak, but... it feels... amazing...

"Hey! Excuse me! When do you think you'll be done with that machine?"

Your head jerks back at the interruption.

The man stares at you in silence for a moment as your hair sticks to your face, you glare at him as the phonk blasts in your headphones, you slowly pull off an earbud as you stand straight on the Stairmaster.

"Sorry pal what was that?" You say trying to sound friendly as the muscular brunette stares at you.

"Sorry...I was just- nevermind.. Have a good workout!"

And with that, he waves and walks off, you sigh putting the earbud back in, gripping the cold metal leaning forward, your eyes locking into the mirror before you, the sounds of the Gym fade in the background as you close your eyes, controlling your breathing as you feel your legs begin to tremble.

..............

You collapse onto your bed as you grip at the sheets, your wet hair smelling of eucalyptus, supposedly a sleeping aid, and you needed all the aid you could get. You slowly push off the bed making your way to your nightstand, you open the humidifier as you drip some sandalwood oil into the bubbling water, you close it as you lean forward to catch a whiff of the citrusy oak smell. Supposedly it was good for fighting acne, you lean against your bed for a moment as you gaze around your bedroom, garbage, empty soda cans, dirty laundry, wet socks, tissues, dirty dishes- you had everything...that you could find in a fucking landfill.

You groan. "I'll clean you tomorrow." You tell your room as you plunge into your bed, your freshly washed sheets and pillowcases smelling like soap, dirty pillows were one of the number one causes of acne. Supposedly... you sigh as you stare up at your ceiling, the sunlight shining through the heavy blinds, it was 11pm, what a productive fucking morning damn. Breakfast, gym shower, and skincare? Damn, talk about fuck-a-boy motivation.

"I feel so fucking pathetic" you spit.

Your eyes widen for a moment as you take yourself off guard, "Yo shut the fuck up-" you bite back, "he's cute as fuck." You smirk as you sit upright in your bed as a stark thought hits you- "I'm wasting time."

You throw yourself out of bed, hurling away the idea of an after-gym nap as you race down the hall to your office, you throw the door open jumping into your desk chair as you swivel around for a moment. Your hands grip the desk to a halt as you begin to pound away at your newly cleaned keyboard.

You pound away for a few moments clicking and typing, clicking and typing, your eyes darting from one tab to another, one link to another. You yank open the top drawer of the desk gripping your wallet as you whip out your debit card, you pound the digits into the meager laptop as your eyes focus back from the card to the screen, back to the screen to the card. You smile as you finally click 'accept'.

You lean back in your chair for a moment crossing your arms as if to comfort yourself in the moment. The sunlight in your room causes a warm glow against the dull neutral furniture and theme of the dingy office. You sit silently your eyes watching the loading symbol spin and spin on the screen before you.

"Goldin Gentlemen's Club, Pickup time 1:15am" you read aloud.

Your lips curl into a smile, you felt like a fucking supervillain, almost made you feel like pulling up one of the youtube playlists with those fire-ass names like "pov youre the anime villain and just won" but you falter, you couldn't get distracted, you had shit to get done. The day has hardly started, usually, you were still asleep by this time, your ass wouldn't wake up until 1pm, you stand upright pushing your chair back as your hands reach for the hand sanitizer, sanitizing your hands as you strut down the hallway back to your bedroom.

Your eyes travel across the room, grabbing an old shopping bag.

"Time to clean this bitch up." You smirk.

----

"Well hello there..."

"Hi. Give it to me."

"Straight to the point- I like it, here you are Miss."

"Thank you."

"Take care."

"I will." You pause, you really shouldn't be such a bitch to the man who sells fake college degrees, illegal and shady as shit.

"You too man."

He smiles. "Thanks." You watch as the small geeky man shuffles away with 2 absolute units as bodyguards, you stand still your fingers grazing the edge of the shiny table as you remember where the fuck you are. Your eyes dart around at the sensory overload as fake tanned bimbos dry hump greasy businessmen, you roll your eyes setting down your soda as you clutch the crisp black envelope against your hip, sauntering your way past the sweaty hoes and manwhores- sorry- "gentlemen" of the nightclub, the bright lights...stolen, the hot air...horny, the shiny jewels...fake, the dazzling smiles...whitening strips..., the glamorous dresses...thrifted, the voluminous hair... wigs.

"I sound like Holden fucking Caulfield" you mutter under your breath as you shove past the large desperate crowd of the nightclub, bidding goodnight to the bouncer as you make your way out into the dark night, your hand grips at your hip as suddenly you realize.

the envelope.

the envelope holding the fake psychology university degree.

the one you bought illegally,

the one that you bought for 10 thousand fucking gil. It wasn't in your hands.

You dart back into the nightclub as your head spins, your heart races, laughter, and moans fill your ears as you press past whore after whore, your eyes darting from person to person, glitter on the ground, hair and lashes, necklaces and earrings, condoms and bras, you breathe hard groping in the darkness as the lights flash. Blue- Pink-Purple-Red-Yellow-Blue-Blue

"Hey!"

You hear a voice call out to you in the chaos, you're on your knees you're hands filled with useless filth, but not your envelope.

"Hey!! Miss?" The voice shouts.

You feel your eyes watering your face heating up, where the fuck is it where is it??

Suddenly a hand grips at your bicep, you don't have a second to react as suddenly you are yanked up off the ground, you stumble forward as your eyes land on the perp. A young blonde man with freckles stares at you in worry as your breath stops.

"Hey miss! Hehee.. is this yours?" You stare at his soft blue eyes as he holds up a black envelope, your eyes blur to the envelope in silence as he smiles nervously at you.

"Yes." You breathe as your hand shakingly reaches for the envelope. "It is..."

"Yay... I found it hahaa..." His chuckle is nervous and forced for pleasantries as you hold the envelope to your chest breathing in relief, he's still holding your arm as he leans forward to your face.

"Are you alright miss?- Oh! By the way 'name's Prompto!"

You already knew his name, you already know everything about this man. He's the Prince's best friend, someone you need to make allies with.

You quickly straighten yourself up composing yourself as you quickly conjure up a story.

"Yes... I'm alright, thank you so much Prompto. I'm (y/n) it's a pleasure truly.." You add a smile as your hand reaches to graze his hand on your arm. No harm in a little flirting.

He flinches as he hides his face, he's blushing already? Damn. I'm good.

"W-what a pretty name!" He stammers, "H-hey it's kind of hard to hear you why dont-" he leans forward winking, "you and I g-get out of here?" Ugh. he gives me the ick, he couldn't get some anyway, saving this ass for your best friend thank you very much.

"That sounds like a fine idea!" You chirp. Ugh. So PhOny, Holden Caulfield who? Fuck it we ball, preppy ass therapist here-

Oh yeah, that's the plan, the illegal Pyshcolgoy Degree from Insomnia Hyerglad University you just bought for 10k gil? Yeah, that shits going on your motherfucking resume straight to the Lucis Royalty Office of Health, you'll just bribe a soy boy and get that shit straight to the top, without even giving top, this resume is going straight to Ignis. Then boom pre-psychological evaluation by yours truly. But...Prompto could be a shortcut to that uptight nerd.

"Lead the way!" You giggle as Prompto smiles giddily, he holds your hand as he pulls you away from the boisterous crowd of Bratz dolls and termites.

.

The two of you gasp for air laughing as you hold each other's hands, the cold air of the parking lot slams you like a fucking truck, hopefully as hard as Noctis can hit it-Shit. Gotta stay focused.

"Hey Prompto right?" You let go of his hand gently standing upright, the black tight dress making you look a little too fine.

"Thats right! And it was (y/n) right? Sorry! Kinda loud in there you know?" He's using disclaimers and qualifiers in his speech, great he's a sub. Whatever! Ugh fuck! Hope Nocts a dom...Fuck!

"Haha! No worries sweetie!" Ugh. that was cringy, suck it up buttercup, "Yeah.. it is quite loud in there." Better. don't sound like a stripper. "If I may.. how did you find my envelope in such chaos? You must have amazing eyesight!" Nailed it.

Hes giggling, hes blushing, hes totally into you. "Awee shucks! Well...I am kinda into photography. its not a big deal or anything just super fun! A hobby of mine, so I guess that's why? Other than that I do need reading glasses so my eyesight must be getting better..."

You giggle hiding your face eleganty as you tuck a strand behind your ear. "That must be why! Well I must say-"

"Y-you know I think you'd make a beautiful portrait!"

You freeze, you look up at you as you smile averting your eyes, "You... you really think so?"

"I do.." His confidence is admirable, he's moving fast though. Damn.

"Thats very sweet of you... Truly, I don't think I've ever received such a compliment of that degree!"

"Really? Looks like you gotta get out more.."

"I suppose i do.. Haha!" GOOD GOOD RIDE THIS WAVE LIKE YOU'RE GONNA RIDE NOCTIS- FUCK. STAY FOCUSED. "I don't really get out much..." you say shyly.

"Woah! Seriously? I mean..I guess you seem sort of shy, introverted for sure, n-not that that's a bad thing!" Someone has got to teach this kid rizz.

"Haha.. yeah I suppose so. You seem rather extroverted! Would you call yourself that?"

"I think I would like to call myself Prompto!"

You slap a hand over your mouth as you lean forward stifling a laugh! The two of you laugh in the dark parking lot as your echos bounce off the thick concrete walls. You wipe away a tear as you recompose yourself.

"Ohh.. do you do comedy atop photography?" You say with an airy laugh. "Nope! But the boys say I should!" HOLE IN ONE.

"Oh the boys? Hahhaa!... are you apart of a band as well? Such a jack of all trades!" "Hahah! You could kindaaa say that, work in progress that is! The four Regals! Or OOO the Chocobros! Currently a wip right now!'

You simmer down your laughter as you tilt your head cutely at him, "I'd love to hear you sing sometime then...!"

The blonde's eyes widen as he blushes madly, he frantically straightens his white collar as he averts his gaze a nervous smile tugging.

"Hehee-well we don't sing... but I don't think the gang would mind for you!" Bag fucking got.

"Really..? Oh! You think so?? I would adore that!"

"For sure!! We could get a whole get-up for you! Mics, karaoke, snacks, drinks the whole shodigity shabangabang -a- rama! Glady, Iggy, Noct-!!" Your heart stops, your hands shake, your face blushes, your eyes widen as your lips curl into a smile, your eyes blurring the blonde into oblivion as your voice whispers into the night.

"- - t h e y' d l o v e y a..!! O h- - b u t n o a l c o h o l c a u s e i c a n t d r i n k-"

"Sounds like a plan..."

[fantasyinvader]

I just keep turning over in my head the idea that Hopes!Claude is meant to be how Claude was originally invisioned, the "villain you couldn't hate" as the devs put it. But there was another part of the Hopes interview that stuck out in, the fact they said they wrote Claude and the Deer out of character and that was the point. That it was intentional which makes sense since, again, Hopes!Claude is meant to be a villain rather than the good guy the character eventually came during Houses' development.

So I have to ask, what is this really saying? That while Claude wouldn't work with Edelgard but would with Dimitri when he learns Dimitri is alive and doesn't die at Gronder, Hopes!Claude would work with Edelgard and says he couldn't be friends with Dimitri (even if they work together). The former is meant to be a good guy, the latter a villain. The former is shown to be open-minded, changing his views when they are found to be wrong, while the latter is someone who shuts down Dimitri when Dimitri begins pointing out flaws in what he is doing. In his Hopes support with Hilda, Hilda says she thought Claude was someone who would leave someone else in charge and do his own thing to which the new king Claude shuts down, but that's what Claude does in Houses. Claude fighting Nemesis, someone who played role of the big bad of Houses in Engage, is the act of a hero, while Claude fighting Rhea in pursuit of his own ambitions is the act of a villain.

If anything, Hopes kinda reminds me of something from The Last Jedi. Oscar Issac played Poe in the previous film, The Force Awakens, and Poe's character was being established in supplimentary materials. Yet when he read the script for TLJ, he's reported as saying "that's not Poe" in response to how his character was portrayed. He realized how out of character it all was, but the thing is with Hopes the OoC-ness is meant to be intentional. Like fans of Claude were meant to call it out, to call bullshit on what they were seeing.

The producers thought fans would like this portrayal of Claude, but consider the director of Houses was on staff as an advisor while the three writers of Houses returned, this could have been something they slipped in without being noticed. The Hopes director didn't seem to understand Houses, saying that there was only three routes (there's four), that there's no central route (worldbuilding was done to support Silver Snow's story, which is the default for the class the game uses for it's loading screens) and that it's all a matter of POV (except the symbolism paints Flower as a route of ignornace with both it and Moon saying Edelgard is turning a blind eye from the reality of her actions, while SB has her admit she was turning a blind eye to TWSITD's manipulation of the Empire). To see the game they made treated as such, for the Deer House to be reduced to the one with so many cute girls, it may have made them act in a subversive manner.

Sunrise did a bit of this sort of thing in the early 90's against their sponsors. Toy company mandates Tomino put the titular Victory Gundam in the first episode? He airs the fourth episode first, then proceeds to try to torch the Gundam franchise. When they just wanted a simple fighting tournament show for G Gundam, it's director instead pushed for story under their noses while treating it's messages seriously. Then their Might Gaine, where they flipped off the toy company sponsoring the show when said company wanted the series to be less story-focused after the previous Brave show didn't do so well with it's final arc. Or you have Minky Momo by Ashi Productions, where they killed it's MC by being hit by a toy truck due to toy sponsors pulling out while the second series has an episode calling out the anime industry for exploiting it's workers.

We are meant to see Claude as out of character, showing that we know what Claude's character actually is. Claude wouldn't do the things he did in Hopes. He's not that cold, close-minded or dumb.

[baidar-oroq]

Personal life nonsense, under the cut

So it's been about a month since the longest relationship I've ever been in came to an end.

I put nine years into it, and the ending, the very last thing he said to me, via email was to go to the house we shared in FFXIV and get my stuff out of it. Only to log in and find I'd been removed from the permissions for the house, so I couldn't even do that. Not sure what that says about our relationship or anything, but it's just a detail that nags at me. Nearly a decade together and it ends staring at the FFXIV guitar replica that you put on the wall of a virtual house, the social settings you need to get it back gone, replaced with "Go to the front door."

Leave your memories and go to the door. One loading screen to the housing ward and you're gone.

I've been struggling with that for nearly a month now. That's how it ended for me. Looking at a virtual guitar on a virtual wall, removed from my ability to interact with it, my only option walking out of the door.

I'm not going to legislate how it ended. For simplicity's sake, blame it all on me. That way no one can say I'm trying to paint myself in a perfect, flawless light while I throw scorn and hate at my ex. We both had our share of fuck ups, but, you know, blame me for it all. I'm not here to be painted as a saint or a person of virtue. Someone who reads this might decide to take it that way, but, you know. Not what I'm here for.

I'm just thinking about that guitar on the wall.

I'm thinking about that being how the relationship that the start of was the happiest I ever was ending there. I'm thinking about all the growth and change I went through that I wouldn't have if I hadn't met him, hadn't loved him, still part of me keeps loving him now. Tripping over little landmines with his name written on them all the time. Waking up with an empty space in my heart that confuses me until I fully awaken and go "oh yeah."

And I'm still thinking about that guitar on the wall. You know the one, the in game replica of the one they sell IRL, the one that Y'shtola was playing in artwork that snuck Meteion in below our radar months in advance.

Thinking about how, before I ever got there, every trace of my connection to him in game was removed with surgical precision, as swiftly as I was removed from the Discord server where we did most of our FFXIV RP in. Thinking about how I'm a writer of an AU who suddenly no longer had a main universe, thinking how dumb I am for thinking of it in these terms instead of the most personal and direct connection between two people that was as shattered as our cross world linkshell was.

But you don't get to pick what you think about as you stare blankly at a monitor, seeing nine years of love and affection and growth and change ending symbolized in a tie in to a real world item that costs an absurd amount of money that you can't interact with.

Your only choice to turn your back and walk out the door and don't look back.

Someday I'll manage the not looking back part, but right now, that's proving difficult.

[theatre-of-the-mind]

Beginnings: 1-5

>> LOADING SCENE...

School is super boring. All the excitement and energy Midnight felt towards it has been drained. Now, he looks outside the window, staring at the clouds.

It appears you've joined a little later than expected. Let's zoom out a bit and get you familiar with the environment, as Midnight couldn't care less.

It's a fairly small class, of around 20— there're 16—  okay. Sixteen other pupils. He was so bored that he counted, apparently. Everyone has their own separate desk, and Midnight chose the front left corner, near the window. Behind him sits Theo, who appears to have the complete opposite take to Midnight and looks to be enjoying this. He hasn't taken his eyes off the front screen once during the whole lesson. Midnight couldn't last 5 minutes.

At first it was a little interesting. The teacher introduced themself and explained what their morning class will be - a loose equivalent of what we're familiar with as a literacy class. Soon after the screen at the front came to life and started explaining different symbols and their sounds. As you can imagine, it became quite repetitive very quickly.

Midnight already knows how to read, ...more or less. Lumine was more than keen to share what he'd learned in class and gave Midnight schoolbooks to study from. So, according to Midnight, this class is entirely useless to him. Soon the letters are done with appearing on the screen, and now progress into sentences and punctuation. Just how long will this take?

He takes another glance at Theo behind, who's written all the letters down already and still pays close attention. Now there's something to do.

Midnight starts using his paper too - not for writing, but for drawing the clouds outside, and all the wonderful things they're shaped like.

>> PAUSE

[@]:

*Gasp* The paper's in another language! But... didn't you say everything's supposed to be translated?

[*]:

It is. Our viewing experience very much depends on Midnight's perception and what he focuses on, and we know all too well he couldn't care less about what's written on that paper.

[@]:

So... that's how it actually looks, for real?

[*]:

Indeed.

>> PLAY

Finally, the class is over. And just as everyone is leaving for the interval—

"Midnight, could you come here for a second?"

Eventually Midnight leaves the class, much later than everyone else. Apparently you're not allowed to daydream at school, and there are consequences for doing so.

And what? They're not even that bad—

He tried to explain himself saying the presentation didn't teach him anything new, but the teacher wasn't convinced.

Outside, the playground is full of commotion and almost every spot already taken up. It's a bit overwhelming.

How am I meant to find escape routes now?

He spots Theo at the far end, and he's with 2 new people. Time for the next part of the plan: friendship-making.

"Oh hey Midnight! I looked everywhere for you! Also, I met these two."

The white-furred one speaks up first. "Hello, I'm Moonlight, nice to meet you!" She seems nice...

The darker one follows, more quietly, "Hi.. I'm Ebony." They're soft-spoken, a little apprehensive perhaps?

"I'm Midnight, nice to meet you both."

The white one, Moonlight, begins, "So, how did you find our first class? It went on forever..."

Theo replies, "I know, right? It was interesting though, I think I still remember most of it..."

Midnight quickly loses interest and takes the opportunity to look around again. He can't stop glancing over at the gap in the corner from earlier, and is too eager to see what's on the other side.

"—no but that's the best part, and—"

"Have you seen there's a gap in the fence?" Midnight interrupts.

"...What?" Moonlight says.

Midnight continues, "look, I'll show you."

Ebony, quietly, "We were kind of in the middle of something though..."

Midnight leads them over to the corner of the playground.

Theo, hesitantly, "You're not thinking of climbing over again, are you?"

Moonlight exclaims, "You climbed the fence?! Isn't that against the rules?"

Midnight considers trying to squeeze through the gap again, but on second thought... there're too many people. I'll come here later once it's clear.

Theo explains, "Yeah, this morning we found this gap, and Midnight really wants to see what's on the other side. I tried telling him not to, but... I couldn't stop him." he admits.

Ebony, "That's crazy, what if something happened to you? There must be a reason we're told to stay away from it."

Midnight says, eagerly, "That's exactly why I want to go - what could be so secret that all the adults are hiding from us? And they're all in on it too."

"I think we should stay away from it," Moonlight suggested. "Come on, lets find something else to do."

His last chance. The plan is falling apart—

"Well— if— if anyone wants to explore with me, I'll be here after school!" M stammered, almost desperately.

Surely, one of them will come. Will be brave enough.

Or stupid, says a voice in his head.

If anything happens, he'll just use his magic to fix it. But only if absolutely necessary. If he has no other choice.

[@]:

I can't wait for the next episode! Let's watch it right now!

[*]:

Alright, give me a minute, it'll take a while to load.

[@]:

I kind of have a bad feeling about it though - it sounds dangerous, and if there's no one around if anything goes wrong...

>> END OF SCENE V.

[Prev] [Next] [Chapter Index]

[peantbutter-honeycombs]

Forever and Always - Part 3

Title: Forever and Always

Word count: 978

Characters: Blu and Girl

Warnings: Angst, crappy writing

Notes: I made this all the way back in 2017. Never got around to doing much with it. Shame. I enjoyed writing it. Even though it made me sad. So I’m posting it, unedited here.

———

September 21, 2018

One parent who doesn't care for his daughter. He sees her as an accessory, she’s only needed for formal events so that his coworkers know that she actually exist. That is my relationship with my father or as I more commonly call him the monster.

"How was school today?" The monster asks, his face hidden behind a newspaper. That's what makes me despise him I can't recall the last time I saw his face. "It was fine, I have a big science fair coming up. My teacher said my project is amazing, Blu is even part of it." I boast proudly, ever since I’d quit baseball I'd had time to work on my grades. I am kind of known to be a nerd but that doesn't bother me.

"Is that so, how nice," the monster responds. He turns the page, he doesn't seem proud of me he never does."Dad maybe…maybe you could come?" I suggest mindlessly twirling my fork in the air. He chuckles before answering, "I don't think so Champ, maybe next time."

There won't be a next time. This is my last year at home next year I’m going to college in California. I want to go to art school to learn animation techniques. I’m going to work for Disney. Maybe I’ll even make a short about Blu. "Oh okay, I think I'll go eat up in my room." I whisper, I don't know why I'd gotten my hopes up.

"That's fine Champ," the monster grumbles.

I take my time taking my plate off the red velvet table cloth. Slowly I make my way down the empty hallway, pictures of the monster decorate the wall. Blu whimpers probably sensing my sadness, I just ignore him. I quietly tiptoe up the flight of stairs careful not to make a sound. I gently turn the golden doorknob then lightly push the door open.

My bedroom is beautiful it's a true symbol of everything I love. Twinkle lights hang from the ceiling like scattered pixie dust. The walls are painted a beautiful Royal blue the same color as the night sky. Various dog toys and Disney knickknacks are scattered across my desk. Multiple sketches of Blu and other characters conjured from my own imagination litter the wall.

I push a few random things out of the way then grab my apple laptop. Flipping the top open I frown, sticky notes off various colors and shapes decorate the screen creating a collage. I quickly peel them off making a mental not to trust my friend with my laptop ever again.

I bite my lip waiting for Skype to load up. Blu jumps up and lays down on my lap. The dummy thinks he's a lap dog when in reality he's crushing my legs. I don't try to move him, he's just trying to comfort me. Blu knows my relationship with the monster isn't as it should be.

My best human friend's smiling face pops up on the monitor making my face break into a grin. "Hey Tom how's it going?" I greet trying to contain my laughter but ultimately failing. Tom was pulling off the most adorkable face I'd ever seen. I only wish I could see it in person.

"You okay Libs you seem a little down in the dumps?" He asks seriously. Tom is awesome, he's funny and very considerate. He takes my sadness very seriously, he almost beat a kid up at my school up once because the bully made me burst into tears, which is pretty hard to do.

Tom and I met on the busy streets of NYC we literally crashed into each other. Blu had decided it would be fun to chase a kid with a hot dog, I can tell you it wasn't. Lucky for me a kind boy my age caught him before he ran into the streets. Tom and I have been friends ever since, though sometimes I think Tom loves Blu more than me.

"I guess so it's just my father. He can't come to the science fair." I sigh twirling a strand of hair with my finger. Tom furrows his brow in confusion,"did he give you a reason?" I shake my head making my long tangled hair whip from side to side. "Nope," I say licking my salty lips loudly popping the 'p'.

"Hey you've still got me and Blu." Tom offers, I shrug gently petting Blu's soft fur. "Yep, a dork and a dog, what more could a girl need?" I snort, Tom chuckles. In the background I can hear someone yelling his name. "Hey I've gotta go Libs, mom calls. Talk to ya later," he says giving me a small wave goodbye.

"See ya later Tom." I whisper tightly hugging Blu's neck like he was a pillow.

"Okay Blu what do you wanna do?" I mutter into his fur, he snuffs getting dog snot on my leg. I gag sometimes my best friend can be really be disgusting but I put up with it. Blu has always been there for me, he's hasn't really left my side since I'd adopted him. I couldn't remember a time where Blu hadn't been there to comfort and console me. He loved me for me, not because he felt obligated to, but because he is my best friend.

Blu is my best friend I care about him more than my own life. I'd put myself in harms way to protect him if I had to. Blu is my entire world, in my opinion Blu is the center of the universe. My life would be incomplete without him. Blu has always loved me unconditionally, he has always been there for me, Blu would never leave me. It's Blu and I against the world forever and always.