#I don't like to call people out typically but this has been bugging me so I had to do it

[cat-of-starlight]

I say this in the most lighthearted way possible, but it HAS been bugging me so take the memeee-

NOTE: Free for personal use, please do not repost my edits without crediting me

[heartfullofleeches]

Childhood best friend Darling and Bugman always seems like such a silly concept to me cause stuff like this can happen-

Darling drunkenly calling Bugman sobbing and rambling about how during their night out they saw a bug crawling on their arm and killed it in a panic only to realize what they’d done and feel horrible about it so now they’re begging Bugman for forgiveness and to not hate them forever

Darling taking the time out of their night to apologize and legitimately feel remorse, even if they are under the influence, is exactly why Bugman forgives them and falls a little deeper in the love with them everytime. Childhood Bestie Darling was terrified and I mean terrified of bugs as a kid - While they're frightened, Darling is aware and respects how important insects are to Bug. They won't be the first to touch one, but they also aren't the type of person to kill on sight and for Bugman that speaks volumes.

-

"So I was cleaning out my closet the other day and the biggest spider I've ever seen crawled out some boxes. I'm telling you it was huge!"

"Gross! Did you kill it?"

"What else was I supposed to do? Just let it walk all around my house until it decided to bite me?"

They aren't mad. It's typical for people to fear what they don't understand. That poor creature was probably more terrified than that human - finding a safe home just for it to be ripped from you in the most ruthless way. Bugman wasn't the type to shed a tear over someone they've never met, yet a prickly sensation prods at the corners of their eyes.

Such a tragedy....

-

"Bug?...."

A call? At this hour? Something must be wrong.. As Bugman wiggles their other arm free of their sleep bag, your voice picks up over the phone again.

"It was an accident, I swear... I felt something on my arm and I just - reacted. I, uh, put the body in a napkin. We can have a funeral for it or you can add it to your collection. I can't really tell what it is, but I'm sure you know. You know everything about bugs.."

Is this... Are you calling them because you killed a bug? Any resemblance of sleep clinging to Bug was thoroughly shaken off by the tiny catch in your voice. Are you crying as well? Over a bug?

"I'll be there shortly. Please refrain from shedding tears over something so small."

"But you care about them, Bug!- And I care about you!"

"You ..do?" In all your years together, the notion that you truly care about them and their interests never fails to leave them speechless. You despise bugs. Exposure therapy in controlled environments with their pets has help some, but you still tense up when you see one. You hate bugs, but you love Bug.

"Is it alright if I stay the night when I come by?"

A small chuckle cut through your tiny sniffles. "Why wouldn't it be, Bug?"

Bugman has never put in their shoes and been out the front door quicker.

[blasphemecel]

Michael Kaiser — Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy

PAIRING: Michael Kaiser/Reader WORD COUNT: 1.3k TYPE: Angst, Post-break up WARNING(S): Don't read if you're sensitive to medical stuff, also tw for KAISER-TYPICAL MELODRAMA

“Are you fucking kidding me? That just sounds made up.”

“Sir,” the doctor, who’s been having to deal with Kaiser acting like the hospital is a debate club for the past fifteen minutes, says. Then he lets out a sigh and pinches the bridge of his nose. In all honesty, he does not want to deal with this. “While there’s an existing argument about the classification of broken heart syndrome, it is a real thing that happens. And you have it as we’ve deduced.”

“I don’t have health problems,” Kaiser says. Of course, those words fly out of his mouth without trouble even when Ness had to call an ambulance on him and everything, since he looked like he was on the brink of death today at practice. “Much less from bullshit reasons like a broken heart.”

“You don’t need to take it literally. That’s just the name. The trigger for the stress varies from case to case.”

Kaiser hopes his defensive statement didn’t reveal anything too personal, and decides to throw off any suspicion by staring down at his lap while frowning like a kid who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. At least the doctor doesn’t seem to care because he’s not prying for unnecessary details. Not yet, anyway.

“For how long have you been ignoring the symptoms?”

“I haven’t been ignoring anything,” Kaiser says.

Sure, he was dizzy a few (many) times and short of breath, and disregarded it. And while he can sense the tightness and pain in his chest each time, a recurring physical and tangible ache, Kaiser interprets the experience as some kind of metaphor for the figurative stabbing he was a victim of. The arrhythmia is a natural indignant response to whenever your irritating face pops up in his imagination, since you’re the perpetrator.

All this over some shitty break up. While it’s stupid for someone whose career is in sports to shrug off such obvious signs, until today Kaiser never truly thought it was serious enough to warrant such an overreaction from his body. You shouldn’t have this much power over him. He’s going to kill you next time he sees you for doing this to him.

He’s deep in denial and the grave he’s been digging with his stupid lies is shallow in contrast, inefficient. Can’t even deceive himself.

“It’s most common in people over fifty.”

Kaiser rolls his eyes. “Thanks. I really needed to hear that.”

“What I’m saying is, I assume you’ve been ignoring this for some time and it escalated to a bad attack. So, do you recall if you’ve gone through severe stress recently? Anything traumatizing even, either physically or mentally? When was it? If you could be exact, that’d be helpful.”

Traumatizing? Traumatizing? Is this man fucking kidding him right now?

Kaiser stares at the doctor as if he’s the stupidest person alive. Forget a person, he is a bug for such a suggestion. Through grit teeth, he relents, “There was something two weeks ago. By the way, it wasn’t traumatizing! That’s ridiculous.”

What’s even more absurd is the notion Kaiser wouldn’t know how much time has passed with perfect accuracy. Fourteen days he hasn’t been sleeping well, hugging his pillow and crying like a loser, cursing you, wanting you back, both a worshipper and a heretic.

What was he feeling at that moment, when you broke things off? Was it overwhelming anger which got him to this point? Though he’s been reliving the moment over and over, Kaiser still can’t identify it. Just something intense zapping him through his veins, a devastating shock, a surge of adrenaline. But surely it was resentment at your audacity to throw him away like disposable trash? He doesn’t like the thought that he’s been so pathetically sad, he got sick because of it, so this is what he’ll go with.

Thinking about it is enough to make him start picking at the skin on his neck like he’s trying to peel the ink off. It’s almost vile. At least he retains the common sense not to squeeze it in front of a medical professional who can send him away to a psych ward with ease.

The doctor, too, looks at Kaiser like he is an insane person. Good thing they pay him enough for this — otherwise, he doesn’t know how he’d deal with having a strange man with a bizarre haircut give him attitude over his diagnosis when it should be reserved for his barber or whoever is responsible.

“Two weeks ago, okay,” he says, writing it down. “Lucky for you, this is temporary and reversible unlike most other things we checked you for. You’ll be fine in about two months with the treatment.”

“So, like I thought, it’s not a big deal. I can still play football, right? Don’t need to lay off or anything?” Kaiser asks.

The doctor sighs. Again. He wants to measure the circumference, thickness and density of Kaiser’s skull. “You’re not listening,” he says, clearly exasperated, but still trying to exert patience. “Your heart is weak and not functioning properly at the moment. You can’t immediately jump back into living the way you usually do. It’s still serious no matter what you say and it can cause complications.”

Kaiser makes an annoyed expression like this is all one big inconvenience rather than a threat to his quality of life. “Are you serious? You’ve got to be shitting me.”

“I’m honored you seem to think I’m a hilarious comedian, sir, since this is your nth time asking, but it’s not the case,” he says levelly.

“Don’t get clever with me.”

A sharp inhale through the nose and the doctor’s back on track, maintaining a feeble grasp on his inner peace, at least enough not to snap. Then, after this brief recollection, he reaches out to grab something, then holds it up. It’s a picture that looks either like an abortion-to-be or a black and white photo of lasagna… maybe. “This is your heart.”

Kaiser almost forgot about the ultrasound or whatever since he was strung out and sedated- relaxed throughout that whole ordeal. At the sight of it now, always theatrical, he decides the best course of action is to wrinkle his nose and say ‘eww,’ even though he’s not squeamish. But treating the matter seriously means admitting he has a problem, and he can’t have that.

The doctor pretends he can’t hear anything and points at the relevant area with his finger to illustrate the crux of the matter better. “You have apical ballooning. Do you get it? Even if it’s temporary, you can’t treat it lightly. So-”

Kaiser tunes out the rest of the explanation. Blah, blah, he could harm himself, very original. His gaze is stuck on the echocardiogram, though, and this time he’s nauseous for real, the tiniest bit. It strikes him as particularly ugly and deformed. Organs are repulsive to begin with, anyway, but this… thing is his, and he’s seeing it now. In any case, nothing so disgusting is worth loving or treating with care.

Is this how you’ve come to see him? What does Kaiser look like in your eyes? Ugly and maladjusted on the inside? Someone who likes laughing at other people’s misery, but can’t take even the slightest puncture? So out of touch with his emotions — and of his own volition —, he’s started experiencing them in the most visceral way possible. His desire for you: torment, a disease.

Would you find him dramatic? Maybe, but at least you’d make him laugh and smile and anything else his troubled mind has decided he needs at the moment, from you alone. Doesn’t matter, though. He’s not privy to that kind of thing, not anymore.

There’s a sting in his eyes and Kaiser wipes away his tears with a hasty swipe, though a few more stream down his cheeks. He doesn’t even know what he’s crying about again.

The doctor observes the display with the distanced apathy of someone who’s watched people die and shit themselves.

He gets discharged with a prescription and elaborate instructions on how to go about his physical activities until it’s deemed he’s fully healed at the later check-ups.

Great. Pitiful.

___

What's funny is that Y/n's probably having a good day while all this is going on

[sweetlikehoneystingslikeabee]

How would Croc, Bane, and Harley deal with an s/o whose libido is really high but hesitant to initiate? Like always dtf but, at the same time, not wanting to impose?

"Considerate but Wanting" Killer Croc, Bane and Harley x S/O (not poly)

While I don't deal with this particular issue, I do get why you'd be worried about that.

TW: NSFW

Killer Croc

THE PROBLEM IS... He is also very hesitant to initiate at first because of how he looks. Genuinely, he's so into you, he would consider just taking care of himself when needed to not put you out. He would take the romantic relationship over a sexual. Even with his more... carnal, animal tendencies.

There's a slim possibility he could even interpret your hesitation as not wanting that from him. It would get to the point that if you did ask, he'd insist you don't have to if you don't want to. He gets it.

Once you explain, however, he feels kind of silly about it? Not that you're silly or your concerns are silly, but that it was really just you trying to be nice vs. anything about himself. He might even joke "Because of course it had to be all about me, huh, sha?"

Tell him in the future. If he's not in the mood, he'll just tell you. The chances of that are fairly slim, though. Unless something is actually going on, he's more than happy to indulge in that wild side. Wanna go for a ride? He's not gonna complain about seeing you bounce on his cock.

Bane

He himself is fairly mindful (or at least tries to be) of things like this, so he understands. Everyone has needs and these needs should be fulfilled when possible- Whether with a partner or on their own. Plus, he'll make it clear there will be times he's not around. Whether because he's been incarcerated or his has business in other places too dangerous for you to attend...

It isn't something he would like per say or want, but he would be okay if you sought out those needs safely with a third party- Is that what this is about? He wants to be very clear and understanding on all levels of your relationship. That's just the kind of partner he is.

If it really is just a matter of feeling like you're imposing on him, he'll let you know it's not a worry. Typically speaking, even if he's not really in the mood himself, he's more than pleased to help you out. Whether it's a spicy phone call when he's away or... a helping hand between your legs when you are together- He doesn't want you to feel as if you're a bother.

In moments where he's truly unavailable either emotionally or physically, he'll just tell you. You're both adults. While some might not be able to handle these conversations with grace, he is not one of those people.

Harley Quinn

Probably the most appreciative of the gesture. She is also usually dtf most of the time but when she's off, she is off and doesn't want to feel hounded. Not that you would do that, of course, but... It's very sweet you're considerate of that. She's certainly had her fair share of partners that have tried to push even after she said she wasn't in the mood.

She would be delighted to eliminate your fear of imposition by hitting on you at every possible opportunity. If she senses that she for some reason is getting too much, she'll try to pull back but considering everything that's happened in her life, she's not shy. She's going to encourage you to not be shy, either! Be comfortable. The two of you can get real snug as a bug in each other's skin.

I think she'd really get off on seeing how long she could make that libido last. She's got a collection of fun toys you can sit on, get plugged into, whatever your fancy- She'll mark how many times you've cum in lipstick on your thighs. Or maybe you can do the same to her. It's all in good fun.

Expect spank bank pinup photos for when she's away or in an off mood. She's got you covered, sugarpop!

[libraford]

I don't mean to keep talking about work shit but I'm back in that place where I like what I do and want to continue to do it, but there are parts of it that are starting to wear on me personally.

Work bitching under the cut.

We have a whole new crew this season except for me. And my boss is getting more stressed out because of her bosses, which means that when the new crew has questions it falls to me. Which is fine- the person who trained me was real knowledgeable and I'm decent at coming up with solutions to problems on my own.

The new people think I'm 'very chill.' But the truth is that most of the problems they're fussing over are things that I've encountered before and I know how to solve them or who to call if I can't. Sometimes my solutions aren't perfect and the overhead bosses notice that we had to rig something.

My immediate boss wants perfection. I told her that I can't promise that. She still thinks that I can do that, but I've never been a perfectionist. She will show you every hair out of place, every wrinkle in every collar, every misplaced crop.

Well?

Our subjects are children and children are imperfect. I didn't wash my hair for a year in fifth grade because I had constant earaches and didn't want to get my head wet. Sometimes kids are just funny looking- they make weird faces when you tell them to smile, they bug their eyes out, they don't sit still. Like I'm sorry, parents, that your kid doesn't sit with perfectly placed hands and a natural smile- but that's your goofy kid. Love and cherish their goofy years.

With most kids, I have a few tricks for getting them to fix their shirts and hair, get into the correct pose, and somewhat approaching a natural picture smile. But when you're doing 60 subjects a minute, some of them are not going to be perfect.

Yesterday I had a student who was special needs, did not like to be touched, and had specific wants for her photo. Her mother died last month and she wanted a photo of her holding the locket with her picture in it. Its the cutest photo ever.

They'll see that I went off-book. They'll see that her skirt isn't perfectly pleated. They'll see that she has some stray hairs.

I made an accommodation for this child. I accepted that we weren't going to get it perfect, but we were going to get a photo that her grandparents were going to cherish forever. Its truly an adorable photo. If I waited for perfect, I wasn't gonna get it.

Another kid was having a bad day. She was crying. I had to take her picture while she was crying, which is insult to injury for a kid who is having an internal crisis. We weren't going to get perfect.

I instruct the special needs teachers to send their kids to me because I'm very patient and I know some tricks and I know my equipment and I know how to make some adjustments to make it easier that some of my new photographers might not. I may not get perfect. I hope for happy, I hope for 'looking at the camera.' Its a win if I get both.

When I'm doing yearbook candids, I do fast and good. I have a system that allows me to take a rather high volume of decent photos that I know will look good in a yearbook without interrupting a class to get them. You literally can't get perfect here except on accident. They're kids in their natural environment.

When I'm doing sports candids I aim for volume. I know where to stand to get the best shots. If I take enough pictures, occasionally I get a really good one. But I don't look for perfect. I can't be like 'hey basketball dude, could you twist your hips a little bit to get that flattering curve of your spine?' Not happening.

I learned to work fast because I am being asked to do multiple things within a short time frame, so I learned how to process tasks in an efficient way: learning the typical building layout to minimize my workload and prepare for certain hiccups that happen often.

I mention them to the new people. I tell them that I am good and fast because I have done these things for three years and I am familiar with thinking on my feet. Often, I have to get things done quickly so that I can go help the new photographers who are struggling. If they prefer to go slow and focus on details first, that's fine. I will focus on volume and speed, I will pick up the slack while they are still learning.

I am told that I am going too fast. I need to slow down, focus on details, get things right instead of get them done.

But which would you prefer? That your kid was just a little messy for their photo or that I didn't take their photo at all because we ran out of time? Last season, one of our photographers had an emergency and I had to photograph nearly 800 students by myself.

The boss was shocked that they were good. Glad to hear we were expecting garbage.

Yesterday, while at a job, the boss was there to help one of the new photographers with one of the more complicated tasks. The new photographer felt that she was being pressed to go faster than her standards would allow. I told her afterwards that speed comes with time, there are some things you can't account for, and it wasn't necessary to push her that hard.

Our other new photographer is a 'perfectionist' and she takes so very much time getting every hair and every position and every expression, but she struggles to put up her equipment every time and if there's a problem she shuts down and can't think of a solution.

I have to be able to set up quickly so that I can make sure she has an extra hand to help her with issues. I have to photograph quickly to make sure that if she needs help I'm available.

And her photos are not really that much better. I'm often coaching her on cropping, on posture.

Slow does not equate perfection. Every person I've met that calls themselves a perfectionist is a perfectionist until it comes to the actual job.

She wants me to do class groups. Every time she trains me on class groups, there is some reason that I have to hop onto a solo unit. The first time it was because one of our photographers, another perfectionist, was taking too long and it created a bottleneck. Last time, it was because our other photographer went into labor and the remaining photographer was slower than hell.

So I'm learning that my speed and ease is an asset in these situations, but in situations where speed is not an asset then I should slow down- which experience tells me that if you slow down you're not guaranteed to do better.

Earlier in the week, I was showing one of the new girls how to do a dance backdrop setup. I had her look over my shoulder while I did the white balance and then exposure. I had shown her how to do it on a previous day and this was just reinforcement. Its also something that we do literally on every job, just in a different context- she should understand the concept and I gave her the option to raise any questions.

The boss told me that if I'm training someone how to do something I should show them how to do it, then mess up the settings on purpose for them, and then have them fix it. We were running behind schedule and I had actually been on schedule to leave like two hours prior but chose to stay so that we could work on this project together. I was not intending on training anyone.

She asks me why I don't want to become a trainer.

Its not usually like this. Usually, I can coast a little. But I'm filling the shoes of a couple people that had to sit this season out and now she's busting my chops to be perfect when 'perfect' was never my goal.

I dunno.

Its exhausting.

[king-crawler]

Recently when I tried to figure out why Turbo went, well Turbo I realized something. At first I came to the conclusion that it was because of his code, but then I remembered the plot of the movie and completely scrapped it (though there might still be some merit with it). Then i thought that “hey, this fucker has been surrounded by picters of himself since he was plugged in, hes the star of the show, so of course he would get a huge ego out of it, said ego also being his subsequent down fall, but why diden't Felix also fall in the same trap? he was the hero of his game too”. And I think it's because he wasn't alone. Now I'm not gonna overshadow the twins. They're there too but considering how Turbo treated them in the little screen time we got to see them together I doubt that they were on good terms, they might have been in the games early days but I digress.

Felix, unlike Turbo, had friends within his game, a small community to look out for him just as he does for them. They made him pies, dedicated parties to him, cherished him, but Turbo?. Who was gonna bake him pies? Who was gonna throw parties for him? Who was gonna cherish him? The Twins? FUCK no. And i think that's what tipped him over the edge, his ego made him push oway his friends and coworkers just to get a sliver of stardom. And when he had all the attention ripped oway from him by another racing game had to have been his last straw (you saw the face he pulled in the flashback. God, just imagine seeing one of your neighbors destroy their own career live, in broad daylight too, must have been horrifying). I love a good character that just dooms themselves to the narrative with their own actions (Turbo was a whore for the limelight).

Going a bit of topic here but “going Turbo” wouldn't work if it was any other main character in the movie, “going Ralph” just doesn't work. Could be because “Turbo” isn't really a name, it's a word, the name of his game, “Turbo Time”. So my proposal is that whenever there is an au where say, Calhoun game jumps (for whatever reason) they call it solo mission. “You're not going on a solo mission are you?” sounds more riveting, to me, and in character for Calhoun. Perhaps that was the last thing she said to her men before she left. For Vanellope id imagen something like “going on a sugar rush” and something about crashing. Because when the sugar rush ends you typically crash.

And that gave me another thought, how many “Turbos” are there out there? How many characters went outside their game or against their script on working hours. How many of these incidents were considered bugs or glitches (how many were turned into creepypastas). It feels like a huge liability risk and the only instances of us hearing about it is with Turbo, which I find strange. Is it like a silent rule? That no one is allowed to leave their game and that's it? That's a super thin line, like yeah you can argue that its there to keep them alive but who told them that? And the second movie doesn't help that, it's just, eurghhh, i don't like the second movieeeee… But it does give the homeless game characters a chance to find a potential new home. There's so much out there in the wilde wilde internet to explore and find new potential in, to not be tied to the arcade has to be a bit liberating for some :)

Sorry for the sudden rant, I just got a kick and could not not write this down.

DONT BE SORRY !! GO OFF!!!! THESE ARE REALLY COOL DISCUSSION POINTS

The whole turbo vs Felix thing really stuck out to me. Turbo Living in a game with only 2 other people who hate him ? While Felix gets praise and attention from dozens? No wonder Turbo went haywire 👀 like do you think he envied Felix ………

[soobinzzwallet]

Be my baby ? જ⁀➴

Jake is head frat boy and you need someone to help you get rid of your ex (frat) boyfriend. Jake loves you secretly but do you? And as much as him?

What better situation to be in :D

frat boy Jake x reader

TW: violence, rumors, abuse, slutshaming

note ♡ : Enjoyyyy! I might do part 2

♡ 8:20 PM

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

Summer is back, the weather is more sunnier and warm on the skin and that means bikini's out and more house parties are back. More frat house parties. Where the craziest shits happen as in dealing,stripping and whipping out you know what.

For you hell only begun now, since you broke up with your ex "k". He has been bugging you left and right about how you're missing out or you lost a diamond. A diamond? Please he was a peace of shit. Cheated on you multiple time with diff' girls. You did Not take that.

But unfortunately for you, you couldn't just be alone and weep about the heartbreak. Your friend Yunjin obviously had to drag you to another frat party that oh by the way your ex is also part of. Yeah life sucks right now for you. But you couldn't say no to Yunjin. She'll kill you if you said the simple word of two letters n and o , " no" .

She wore a black skirt witha silver top that also had diamonds on them along with glitter. She also had black boots on along with a black and silver belt around her tiny waist and silver jewelries ofc.

You wore a black short who covered enough with ripped black leggings under the shorts. You also wore a graphic black T-shirt your dad use to own and over that a black zipper with your black converse. And for jewelries you only had your silver rings and chains. They're casual.

You don't eve know how she got them to let you in. I mean you weren't the typical girl they would invite. Even when you were still in a relationship with K, He would barely bring you. You had no problem with it tho. You felt uncomfortable going there. You'd rather read your books and stay in your cozy room and sleeping in your amazing bed.

But here you are... at a frat party where your ex is a member of. God please pray for me. The booming sounds of the music was clrear from blocks away now imagine if you were actually at the house party. When you arrived before getting out of the car you let out a big ass sigh. Because tonight was really going to be a long night for you.

♡ 8:50 PM at the frat house party

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

When you pulled up to the house you got hitt with a wave of smoke and a song scent of alcohol and aybe even drugs. You already begun to hate the decision you made to come to the party. Why does Yunjin have such a big effect on you? You're never able to say no to her, EVER! " Hey, let's go imma introduce you to my friends " she said.

You already knew her other girl friends who were mostly girlfriends of frat boys. They didn't like you for some reason, everyone if not most people thought you were a lesbian. And just because of a stupid rumor that K spreaded after y'all broke up. To save his ass and try to make people think he was a victim. "GUYS, this is Y/N. Y/N these are my firends, heeseung,jake,sunghoon,and jay my babyyy " she said.

they all introduced themselves and you did too. After that the one called Jake, he looked like a puppy more specifically a golden retriever. He had a black T-shirt and silver chainds and rings and a grey,blue mixed colors pants. They looked good on him, he looked good too. He was a solid 10/10 not gonna lie. He pointed at you in utter excittement " Hey our favorite lesbian ". Wich by the way he said it too loudly. You closed your eyes and internally rolled them and cursed under your breath before answering.

" I'm not a lesbian, it's just some stupid rumor!" you said trying to explain, hoping they would understand your situations. But you doubt it since they're prob friend with k. I mean they're in the same fraternity so, isn't that obvious that they would rather believe their own "brother". You just sighed again for the nth time today and decided to go look around the house and find a nice spot to chill.

You grabbed yourself a bottle of coke to have some sort of company while looking around. It was the usual college parties, drunk boys and girls. Dealers dealing , drinking , alcohol. A lot of alcohol and people being freaky in front of everyone ew. After a whie you thought you found a spot it was outside in the garden on a little secluded area from the rest.

You had a chair in hand from the bar and used it to sit on it and drink your coke while waiting for Yunjin to get done with whatever she's doing right now. You started rinking and enjoying the vieuw you had it was pretty. The stars were twinkling and they were beautiful too. It was when you almost finished your coke that you felt like you were hungry so you got back in and left the chair and the coke to go grab something to eat " maybe a cake would be good " you thought.

Your rushed trough the kitchen and trough the waves of bodies of drunk college boys and girls. It was when you almost got to your destination when suddenly a hand turned you around it was him. K grabbed your wrist and turned you around to look at him.

" Let me go! What do you want? "

" What the fuck are you doing here huh? "

" That doesn't fucking matter, let me go! "

" Oh don't worry i already know, you came here to slut around right? Trying to fuck the head frats huh? With your slutty bitch ass friend Yunjin-

SLAP!

You slapped him. You weren't going to take his shit anymore, no not anymore! But K didn't take that well, this time he choked you and pushed you to the wall. He put a lof of pressure in his hands that were on your neck. Since he was bigger and stronger than you, the pressure was even more. You almost couldn't breathe anymore and almost gave up when-

BLATCH!

A bat was smacked into his head, k fell down immediatly he was now unconscious big time. You looked at your savior trough hooded eyes, the ffect was still hard on you but it became better slowly.

" Are you okay? "

you didn't respond, couldn't actually...

" Y/N are you okay? " you remembered that voice. It was jake one of yunjin's friends. The one that looked like a golden retriever. He picked you up with a little grunt and set you on a table not far from where you guys justs standed. He took your face in his hands and checked for any bruises.

" Can you please send me somewhere,please? " you asked him and he let you go telling you to lead the way. And you did, you walked back to the area a little further away from the partying people. Soon you noticed that your coke bottle was now empty. " Oh uhm yeah sorry i drank that " he paused and continued " what happened back there? If you feel comfortable telling me ofcourse. " you responded.

" My ex is crazy, i caught him cheating and he was a pussy and started spreading rumors about me and harassing me. Because he thought i would tell other people about it " you said between little pauses.

There was a long pause until he responded " there might be a solution for this " you raised an eyebrow at him and then you suddenly realised how close y'all were to each other. So close that it'll seem that you were kissing each other. You just kept looking at him. When suddenly he closed the gap between y'all and kissed you hard. I'm saying hand on your waist that also wanted to travel to your butt but didn't.

" The solution is be my girl, baby " he said smirking at you.

♡ 9:20 PM

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

No proofread

Also it's ike 1 AM here 😭😭 my sleeping schedule is fucked up

[iwonderwh0]

Someone on reddit asked, "What do you hate about The Hostage chapter?" and i was like, "oh, it's my time to shine."

My reply, copied from reddit:

Tbh, Captain Allen's flippant response to Connor. But not for the reasons other people have commented. Yes, he was needlessly antagonistic. Yes, he should have kept his calm, and not escalated the situation.

But i understand that he was under a lot of stress, two of his men had been shot, an officer from the local PD was dead, Emma was currently being dangled off a very tall building, and Allen was being made to wait an hour for a fresh-off-the-line android to show up so CL could test out their new toy, when at any time, the deviant could jump. There was no guarantee in his eyes that it'd even work, for all he knew, Connor could still have some bugs to patch, and if he failed, a little girl would die. I'd be unbelievable angry in that situation, too.

No, what i don't understand is why Captain Allen knows absolutely NOTHING about the deviant. Connor asks him two questions, and he can't answer the first, and refuses to answer the second. Now, he could just be angry because of all the aforementioned reasons, plus Connor seems to be asking nonsensical questions from his standpoint (Who cares what the deviant's name is? We don't have time for that), but his response to the first question (and it's the same for all 4 questions Connor can ask) gives me the impression he knows absolutely nothing. Which is ridiculous, because that means he's been essentially sitting with his thumbs up his ass for an hour while Emma was in constant danger.

SWAT teams very rarely go into a mission blind, they are briefed on the situation before being deployed, or updated on the go. They know the importance of learning every bit of information about the situation as possible. For them, it can mean the difference between life or death. Especially for a hostage; standard procedure is to learn every single tiny detail you can about the kidnapper's life and motives. This is a big part of hostage negotiation, Allen should be familiar with this considering his job title. This is what he should have been doing, before he got the call that Connor was coming.

In addition, i don't know if Allen ever became a detective before he entered SWAT, but i know that every SWAT personnel must spend at least 2 years as a beat cop, same as everyone else. SWAT usually spend many years as regular officer, some gaining a higher rank, before tranferring. And even a lowly officer knows to 1) assess the situation, 2) learn the how (figure out what happened), 3) learn the why (figure out why this happened).

So.......you question the witnesses.

Emma's mother was there, being escorted out of the premises as Connor arrived. She would be a key witness, as she was presumably in close contact with Daniel often, making sure Emma did her homework, drafting grocery lists, delegating tasks, etc. And buying a new android to replace your old one is not a secret you would keep in a marriage. They're pretty pricey, and that would generally be a joint financial decision. She had to have known her husband bought the AP700.

Allen could have been questioning her....but i have my doubts. He doesn't know Daniel's motive. He doesn't know if this is out of character for him. Hell, he doesn't even know Daniel's name. So what the hell was he doing for that entire hour before Connor showed up?

Why the hell doesn't he know anything about the android he's trying to rescue a 10 year old hostage from??

This has bugged me for years lmao. I was curious of your opinion on it

I don't think Allen and his team was there planning to negotiate at all, and I might be wrong but from what I gathered from a quick research, SWAT doesn't typically do negotiation on their own, they have optional Crisis Negotiation Team attached to them (?) which although works closely with SWAT isn't exactly a part of it. Moreover, from their POV it's a case of a broken machine, not an actual hostage-taker with human motives that are even worth looking into as such — android took a hostage not because it had a reason to but just because it was faulty, end of story. You don't negotiate with a crazy robot, because it's not a person with motives. Even Connor is there wording it as "errors in his software".

So, I think Allen doesn't know those things because he doesn't exactly find them relevant on the first place, his job is to come up with an armed strategy aka the position of snipers, the helicopter, etc, like all those people around the area are organised by Allen, that's what he's been doing. Their team just wants to shoot the android in the right enough way without any negotiation, that's what I think is happening.

As you said, they escorted Caroline in the beginning of the chapter, which means they probably assessed the situatsioon of what and how happened from her words. So it is possible she didn't know the motive herself, so even from her POV Daniel just got bonkers out of the blue. And once again, in their eyes it's not exactly a hostage-taking as it is a case of a broken machine, something not reasonable to talk to. They might have as well be called in a scene with an armed monkey, a wild animal pet that got aggressive. Who gives a shit if there was a reason, it's a wild animal, it's not exactly an acceptable course of action to talk to it and reason. That's why Allen is do annoyed, I think, he sees it as ridiculous to even try to talk to something that doesn't actually understand you. A waste of time.

And regarding what Caroline even knew about tue situation... Buying a new android could really well have been a decision made on a whim because Really, have you seen how rich those people are? Ten grand for them can be an impulsive purchase, even people who Don't have the money sometimes make crazy expensive purchases they can't afford just because they suddenly decide to make a bad financial decision, and then they buy a used sports car just because they saw it on sale and it was slightly lower price and higher quality than usual or something. Things like this happen.

I honestly wonder if Caroline herself even knew about this decision at all, and I think, it's entirely possible she did not. It might have been a surprise from John's side. It might have been even that John's plan wasn't actually to replace an android but just to buy another one, for whatever purposes, without talking to Caroline prior. And if you look at the timing, Daniel shoots him pretty much immediately after he hit the purchase button. Even if Caroline did know about the plan to buy a new model (if there was indeed a plan), do you think she'd have a chance to connect the two things in such a short notice, possibly not having an opportunity to know that John proceeded with the purchase at THAT evening?

So yeah, I don't think the things you listed are really a fault of a chapter tbh. I love it the way it is, I think it makes sense. The only thing I find regrettable about this chapter is that it's barely ever mentioned later on in the game.

[gmajortom]

TAD D&D classes?

Oh buddy. You have no idea what you've just done

Warning: long post ahead

I'll start with Maomao because she is, in my opinion, the most difficult. For all that she'd love necromancy, I can't see her as a necromancy wizard- too much reading of things unrelated to her special interests, for one thing, and for another being a wizard in DnD is fuckin expensive. I don't think she'd be a spores druid either, because druids are generally pretty wise and spiritual which are two things Maomao definitely is not. Which leaves an Alchemist Artificer. That's an intelligence based class that's all about creating contraptions, poisons, and potions- in fact, at a certain level they gain immunity to the poisoned condition and resistance to poison and, I think, acid damage?? Idk I don't have the Player's Handbook in front of me. Anyways. High level Alchemist Artificers also gain access to the Raise Dead spell- which means that eventually, with enough experience and experimentation, Maomao would finally get a taste of some sweet sweet necromancy, despite all of Luomen's protestations.

Jinshi is a Glamour Bard- they're all about beauty and charisma and charming the hell out of people and acquiring secrets as they do so. But wait- there's more. Jinshi is way too fit and inclined towards masochism to simply be a bard; he's also a paladin. A palabard, if you will. Personally I see him as an Oath of Devotion Paladin, but I can also see him as an oath of the ancients, what with all that celestial nymph-like beauty. In any case, charisma is his main stat and he can be persuasive like nobody else when he wants to be, but he's also pretty intelligent and strong and, like any good paladin, prone to self-induced suffering.

Gaoshun I see as being an Oath of the Crown Paladin. They're particularly loyal, law-abiding, duty-bound, long-suffering, and as I've mentioned, all paladins are prone to a lil bit of self-flaggelation. Trust me, I've been playing a paladin for the past two years. In any case, Gaoshun, as Jinshi and the Emperor's attendant, has gotta be a) politically savvy and b) prime bodyguard material. A crown pally is both of those things.

Basen is a straight up Zealot Barbarian. Barbarians are known for their constitution and their strength, and Basen has plenty of both; when barbarian go into a rage they gain resistance to damage done by pretty much any kind of weapon, as well as resistance to falling damage. Zealots are sworn to a cause- in this case, protecting the moon prince (and later lady lishu). Zealots also get a feature at later levels called rage beyond death, which essentially allows them to stay up while raging even if they're at 0 hp and would otherwise be unconscious and making death saves.

My darling Shisui, my beloved bug lady Loulan, would be an Archfey Pact Warlock. I just feel it in my heart. Warlocks are high intelligence and high charisma- and the way she played everybody and helped orchestrate the downfall of the Shi clan screams having the balls and foresight necessary to create a pact with something as tricky and eldritch as an archfey. Also, what is a pixie if not a bug with humanoid features?

Suirei, methinks, would be a Grave Cleric. Clerics are typically healers, but grave clerics are especially good with spells related to death and undeath. One of the spells clerics get is Feign Death, which can put a willing creature into "a cataleptic state indistinguishable from death". Sounds pretty familiar. Moving on.

Lahan, unlike Maomao, does have the resources and patience for books to be a wizard- specifically, a Divination Wizard. Predictions of the future are based on statistics, and what are statistics if not some beautiful numbers?

Rikuson, my beloved, would be a Mastermind Rogue. Am I projecting one of my favorite classes on to him? Yes. Do I think it also fits him objectively? Also yes. Masterminds are really good at strategy, being cool under pressure, and they have excellent memories for voices and languages. Their best feature by far, however, is their ability to help someone as a bonus action, making them both lethal in combat AND a consistent support in battle.

Lihaku is a Champion Fighter. I feel like I don't need to elaborate on this.

Lakan, much like Lahan, would be a wizard- but a Conjuration Wizard. In DnD, not only is conjuration about literally summoning groups of creatures to fight for you, it's also about literally manipulating the field of battle. Also teleportation. Basically- you gotta be good at strategy to be a conjurer. Also full spellcasters are weak ass bitches who will go down from a single hit.

Finally, Luomen is another character I see as being multiclassed- specifically, a Life Cleric/Transmutation Wizard. Like I said earlier, clerics are typically healers- and a life cleric is like, THE healer. I threw in a transmuter multiclass because we KNOW he's studied, and transmuters in particular study alchemy. Clerics are supposed to be fairly charismatic and wizards are known for being extremely intelligent, and both clerics and wizards are supposed to have a good amount of wisdom- personally, I think that describes Luomen in a nutshell.

Anyways, if anybody else has thoughts or differing opinions or suggestions of what other characters who I didn't mention might be, I would love, love, LOVE to hear about them! Or if you just wanna talk about DnD or ask some clarifying questions, please feel free to hit me up :)

[char-lie-spirals]

YOU HAVE A CORRUPTION GRAHAM AU?? YES PLEASE

Of course I do, who do you take me for! I have at least one Graham AU for all 15 fears! (Some are just. Less planned out then others!) This one is decently planned out tho so let me just,, elaborate a bit!

Warning for Corruption-typical content (bugs, sickness, and all) and uhh. Unreliable narration?

In this AU, Graham realizes that the last time he felt safe was when he had Amy's company... so maybe the solution is just Having Company? To check that out, he tries to approach her to apologize for how their last meeting went and sure enough! Not being alone feels better!

It's clear Amy isn't very interested in hanging out with him, though, which is fair... but also not the end of the world! He can make new friends! And until then, well... Even if he knows Oliver probably won't take him back, he's sure the man would be down to catch up! And talk! And... keep him company!

He wasn't wrong. While a bit reluctant, Oliver agrees to keep in touch, meet up sometimes, and just... hang out. They don't move back in together (even if that would make Graham feel much safer), but Graham spends so much time around Oliver that the NotThem,, doesn't really see the chance to grab him at any point??

He is Well on his way to falling for the "unhealthy love" side of the Corruption with how much he clings to Oliver's company, but then one day, as he's waiting for Oliver to come out of the magic shop he's applying to work at... he spots something that grabs his attention.

The ants. The same ants Jane Prentiss mentions in her statement from mag 32. The ants other people seem to ignore, but now he sees them and there are just so many! And he starts to wonder... maybe there are ants in his house. Or bugs in general. He wouldn't be surprised, with the state his place is in!

And you see, if there are bugs there, then they can keep him company! If he feeds them, they'll stay! And then he can be at home, and always have company, and he can always be safe!

He wasn't wrong. There are bugs in his house, and they seem to like him! Maybe? At least they stick around, and the scuttle around the place, and he knows he's not alone just from hearing them around, and he's safe! ,,hopefully.

Cut to [probably not April 7th, 2006, since the timeline is messy in this one already... but a day just like it]. Amy gets home, decides to spend a relaxing few minutes checking in on Graham and,, oh. Oh, he's just kinda lying on the floor?? Over there?? And she's pretty sure he might be fuckin dead.

She calls the emergency number to report that she just happened to glance out of her window and her neighbour looks like he's been dead for a few days?? Then she realizes that that pipe isn't supposed to be there?? And it's moving?? But before she can report that to the operator, the thing pulls itself up to the window, stays there for a few seconds, and then retreats.

Yes, the NotThem got a single look into the flat and decided "nope. Not messing with that, goodbye"

Unlike Amy assumed, Graham wasn't dead when she called in. According to the paramedics that had to get him out from under a pile of bugs, that was an actual miracle.

The second he's let out of the hospital, he goes back home, of course! His friends are there! The friends whose mere presence saved him from the monster he got to see before it retreated! He can't be away from his company for too long, it's not good for him :[

Not long after, wanting to avoid getting pulled away from his companions again, he leaves his flat with them and has no intentions of ever returning. He lives here and there, on the outskirts of London, collecting more friends and companions from all over the place,,

He looks like he's sick, he has way too many bugs crawling all over him, at some point he just lies down in a patch of moss and relaxes, knowing that he'll never be alone again, listening to their song... and he's safe

By the time he gets up from that spot again, not even the best doctors could help him. It's a good thing he doesn't want help, then, isn't it?

After all of this, he goes on to become friends with Jane Prentiss at some point, accompanies her to the institute, spends the entirety of season 2 in the tunnels, and gets up to a lot of "fun" stuff! Makes a lot of "friends" along the way!

Also this entire time, he is 100% convinced that having friends/company is the best thing that can happen to a person, so he goes out of his way to "befriend" people (declare them friends and try his best to help them out when they're in trouble! Which... would be nice, if he stopped to consider that the Corruption still scares some people)

I have,, a lot more ideas for the AU, but unfortunately my notes about it are incomplete because I think too fast to write things down :[ But speaking of those notes, you can have this little gem from them for getting through this entire thing:

[spookymystery67]

I Wish I Could Walk In Heels

AN: I didn't re-read once again out of fear I'd hate it, so hopefully this chapter doesn't suck. There is game plot and dialog that I changed here and there. Enjoy!

TW: Violence, mutant bug thing, zombies, language, sort of terrible flirting?, typical Resident Evil things, ect. I don't know, I suck at tags. Sorry if I traumatize anyone. NO MINORS!

Chapter 4:

-September 28th, 1998-

You and Jill were halfway to the surface when a sudden sound filled the air. 

"Jill, Y/n, it's me again. You two topside yet?" Carlos called through the radio.

"Working on it. So what's the plan?" Jill answered, holding the radio in front of her.

"The old tank's got me clearing the tracks. You two mind getting the subway infrastructure back online?" Carlos asked.

"And how do we do that?" Jill asked.

"Let's start by restoring power. I'll navigate you to the substation once you hit the main road."

"Copy that. Let's do this fast." Jill finished, shutting off the radio.

"So, you gonna join the other survivors when the train starts working again?" Jill questioned you, wanting to start a conversation.

You shrugged, "I don't know. I still need to get to the police station." 

"Why? What's at the police station?" 

"Hopefully, Ben. Alive. My guess is that Irons didn't let anyone leave their cells when all this started." 

"I wouldn't put it past him. Were you and Ben, you know, close?" She looked at you with a suggestive look, implying something in her last question.

You snorted, "Me and Ben? Yeah right. He's not my type. Plus, he was dating my friend, Katherine."

"Mmhmm, and what's your type then? Strong and broody? Someone with a goofy side? I know a guy." She joked.

"Are you trying to set me up?" You laughed.

"Well, I kinda owe you one. You have done me more than one favor in the last couple of hours I've known you." You laughed louder. "C'mon, what's your type? Now I'm curious." Jill pressed. You debated in your mind.

You've never really told anyone this before. Well, anyone besides Katherine and Ben. Questions about your sexuality never came up that often in your life.

"Not men." You bluntly responded. Jill nodded in understanding.

"Ah, only have eyes for the fairer sex. I respect that. Am I your type?" Jill asked, the teasing tone bringing a small grin to your face.

You honestly didn't know what your type was. You were never interested in dating in high school. You were too much of an introvert. And you haven't really met anyone that caught your eye or shared similar interests. You just knew that men didn't do it for you.

"Gorgeous. Badass, with a caring side from what I've seen… Yeah, you kinda are." You said, a teasing smile on your face.

"Sweet. So if you save my ass again we can go on a date." She joked.

"You gonna buy me dinner? I'd kill for an extra cheesy supreme pizza right now. And a shower. And a nap."

"We'll have a sleepover. Do you like movies?"

"Love them."

"We'll shower, sleep, then eat pizza and watch movies."

"Sounds like a dream. It's a date." You laughed, Jill joining you.

"Can't wait." 

You made it to the top of the station and gathered supplies. Herbs and ammo. According to Jill, these herbs have healing properties. You had no idea. If you had, you would have been grabbing them sooner.

You two make it to the entrance you used to duck under the half closed shudder to get to the outside. As you did, you noticed there were still people running away. One man, panting in fear, quickly ducked under the shudder you had come from where survivors were beckoned with yellow paint.

"More survivors. We gotta get that train moving." Jill said. As she did, I noticed how many more people have been infected and how much more the fire has spread. This whole city was a horror show. No corner you turned was left unaffected by the last week. By the last few hours specifically. You two carefully maneuvered through the streets, careful of zombies and being extra careful as to not shoot any survivors. 

Once you two reached another blocked off area, Jill took out the radio to contact Carlos.

"Carlos, we've reached the main avenue. Which way do we go?" Jill questioned him on the radio. You had your pistol out and kept your eyes peeled, ready to shoot anything that might try to snap its teeth at you or Jill.

"See a big transmission tower? That's the substation. You'll have to circle around through an alley to your right to get there."

"You mean the alley that's on fire?" Jill deadpanned when she saw the flames. You snorted at her tone.

"Maybe? Surely a tall drink of water like yourself can put out a few flames." Carlos' joking voice said through the speaker.

"Fuck you." Jill sighed as she shut the radio off. Clearly she wasn't in the mood for his flirty jokes. 

"Alright, let's see if we can get this fire out. Hopefully it won't be too much of a hassle." You said. And, as if the universe just loved to torment you, you had to get a tool to get the fire hydrant to work.

"This is gonna be a hassle." Jill sighed. 

"Yeah." You huffed. 

You both walked out of the alley, barely making it fully onto the street again when you saw zombies just full on knocking down and picking up the fences blocking them from getting to the two of you.

"You have got to be kidding me." Jill said as the horde walked closer.

"Those are some weak ass fences. No wonder this outbreak spreaded so fast." You said. You raised your gun, prepared to shoot at any moment.

"Wait, back up with me." Jill said.

You didn't bother questioning her, backing up, away from the zombies walking toward you.

Jill quickly took aim and waited until all the zombies were in one spot, before shooting a red barrel sat next to a crashed car. The barrel exploded, sending debris and zombies flying through the air. You block your face and squint from the heat of the blast. When it faded, you saw all the zombies were dead.

"Huh. How'd you know it would explode?" You asked.

"It's red. Red means flammable."

"Why would someone just leave flammable barrels around?"

"Why would someone create a virus to turn people into monsters? The world is full of questionable people." Jill shrugged.

"More like fucking idiots." You sighed. You were tired. You haven't been able to sleep more than a few minutes since a week ago. You were running on pure adrenaline at this point.

"Well, I guess the bright side is that we have access to a whole new street. We can look for a hose for the fire hydrant." Jill said, gesturing to the somewhat clear street corner, bright neon signs lighting up the area.

"Sure. I suppose. I'm getting tired of all these sidequests." You said. You both began your trek through the brightly lit street.

"Me too." Jill agreed. 

A while later, you both had successfully found a fire hose. Only having to avoid a few zombies in the process. You made it back to the flame filled alley, fire hose in your arms.

"Here, you can do the honors." You said, handing Jill the heavy fire hose.

She huffed from the sudden weight, "Thanks so much. You really shouldn't have." 

"What are friends for?" You joked.

Jill set up the hose and began spraying water onto the flames. It takes a few seconds for the flames to finally go out.

"There." Jill sighs, putting the hose down that was no longer needed.

"See. It would have taken me far longer if I had done it." You said, nudging her arm playfully.

"Mmhmm. Let's go lazy bones." Jill said. You both start forward once more.

"In my defense, I haven't slept in a while. It's honestly a miracle I've made it this far." 

"No, you have some natural survival skills in you. I've seen you shoot that gun. You only miss a couple of times." Jill teased.

"Hey, I do pretty good for someone who had absolutely no experience with guns, thank you very much. And why do you think I try to avoid shooting?"

"Is that why you haven't used your shotgun? You don't know how to?" She asked, pausing in her step in the alley, standing near a building.

"Honestly, yeah. I found it and figured I'd take it in case I lost my handgun or ammo for it. I probably would have figured it out through trial and error." 

"And get yourself killed in the process. Let's stop real quick and I'll show you how to use it."

Jill quickly went through the step by step process of shotgun 101. It's pretty much similar to the handgun. Just have to watch out for more recoil. But it was nice to understand how it worked and how to reload.

You both walked through the back entrance of a repair shop. You immediately saw bolt cutters, shining in a spotlight on a wall.

"Looks like those could be useful." You said.

"Yeah, can you carry them in your backpack?" Jill asked.

"Oh, now I gotta carry everything?" She smirked, nodding. "You need to get your own backpack." You said, grabbing the bolt cutters and slipping them into your backpack.

"Why should I when I have you and your never ending abyss of a backpack. How much stuff can you carry in there anyways? It's not that big of a bag."

"A lot if I put my mind to it. Speaking of where we are putting things. How are you carrying so much stuff?"

She shrugged. "Skills. Now, use the bolt cutters on that yellow chain on the door." She demanded, pointing to the door.

"Alright, bossy. Is this pay back for the fire hose incident?"

"Maybe."

You used the bolt cutters on the chain, causing them to break and unlock the door. You and Jill entered the room, noticing an injured man panting against a car. It's a car repair shop.

You and Jill quickly rushed forward to check on the man. "You're U.B.C.S?" Jill asked, kneeling down to check his wounds. You took your bag off your shoulders and knelt down with her, looking for your med kit.

"Y-yeah. Careful, careful." The young man gasped as Jill touched a painful wound. A bite.

You and Jill shared a glance after looking at the man. "C'mon. Don't look at me like that, alright? I'm not infected." The man said.

"Okay, we'll take care of-" Jill starts.

"No no no, wait! Please!" The man's cut off by a gunshot to the head, killing him instantly.

You and Jill gasped, turning to see the man with graying hair behind you who held the gun. Blood was splattered on your face.

"What the fuck!" Jill exclaimed, standing up in anger. You follow suit, attempting to wipe the blood from your cheeks. Luckily it didn't get in your eyes or mouth.

"He was infected." The Russian man said casually.

"He might have been infected!" Jill shouted.

The man scoffed. "Are all S.T.A.R.S this soft? No wonder so many of you are dead." He said, beginning to walk off.

"And what are you? U.B.C.S? Killing your own people?" 

He huffed and turned to face her from the stairs. "He would have turned. Where is your sense of self-preservation?"

She said nothing and glared. You walked up to stand by her, ready to help fight the man if she needed you to.

He tsked and began walking up the stairs again. "Go back to the subway station. We don't need a bleeding heart like you getting in the way." He shuts the door behind him.

You rubbed Jill's arm in comfort before turning to look at the man. You saw a book sticking out of his pocket and picked it up in case it had information, skimming through it.

It was a training log. The man's name was Murphy. He was apparently in prison for murdering twenty gang members and Umbrella had let him out to work for them. He seemed to have had a motev for the murders as his brother was killed by a gang member. Not that you really approve murder. You just understand why someone would do so when blinded by grief. 

"Find something?" Jill asked you.

"Uh, that guy that just left, his name may be Nicholai. That's just a guess though. But the way Murphy over here described Nicholai using him as a shield during training just screamed it's self-preservation dude." You said.

"Yeah, you may be right." She glanced at the dead man, saddened by another loss. "Let's get out of here. There isn't anything else here that we need." 

You nodded and you two made your way up the stairs and out of the shop. You tried not to look at the body of the man as you left. As sad as it sounded, you've been trying to stay disconnected with your empathetic side since this all started. It's hard to go through the city knowing that all the dead and undead were once people like you. People who had feelings and family. People who you and Ben tried and failed to help.

You made it to a dark alley and looked ahead, seeing dogs and a crashed police car with the lights still flashing. Oh yeah, animals get infected too.

You and Jill did your best to avoid getting bit by the dogs, stunning them and shooting them to put them out of their misery.

Finally, you make it to the entrance of the transmission tower. The door was locked. Figures.

"Great." You sighed.

"Maybe that guy has something that can help." Jill motioned to the man slumped to the ground with a box in his hands.

"Let's check." You walked over and carefully grabbed the box from the dead man's hands. You screeched and jumped away when a bunch of bugs came exploding and crawling out of the man's stomach, guts exposed.

"Oh my god." Jill gasped.

You shivered and gagged. You hate bugs. Hate hate hate!

"Here you open it." You shoved the box in Jill's hands, not wanting to chance it. There could be more bugs in there.

She carefully opened the box, finding a lock pick.

"Nice. You know how to use it?" You asked her.

"Yeah. You?" She asked, you shook your head.

"I'm more of a climb through the window type person." You said. 

She raised a brow at you. Oh yeah, she was a cop. Maybe you shouldn't talk about how you've broken the law during your time as Ben's assistant. "I've locked myself out of my apartment more times than I care to admit. Crowbars were my best friend in those scenarios. Had one left on the ledge."

Not entirely a lie there. You have had to lodge a crowbar through your apartment window after you've locked yourself out. And you hadn't wanted to call a locksmith, thinking you could "do it yourself" for free. You almost had the cops called on you by your neighbor before they realized it was you being an idiot.

"That's not safe. Someone else could have broken in." Jill scolded. You shrugged. "Nevermind. Let's just get this over with." She walked over to the gate lock and began picking it.

"Where did you learn to pick locks?" You asked as you watched her work.

"My father." She deadpanned, you could tell she didn't want to elaborate further.

"Huh. My dad never really taught me anything. Except how to sweet talk my way out of trouble. Very helpful since became Ben's assistant." You said.

"How'd you become his assistant anyways?" Jill asked as she worked on the lock. 

"I found an ad somewhere in the papers. I needed a job that wasn't the fast food place I was working at. So I figured, why not apply. He liked me, I liked his thought process and his goals, and the rest is history."

"Now you're here, stuck with me. In a city wide outbreak where everything is trying to kill you. How's that feel?" She joked weakly.

"Well, it could be worse. I could still be alone. I'm glad I found someone I can trust in all this." The lock clicked and she stood and turned, giving you a smile.

"Ditto. I'm glad I have someone watching my back through this."

"Even though I suck at shooting?" You joked.

"Even though you suck at shooting." She laughed. She walked through the gate, holding it open for you.

You went to walk through the gate when you heard something behind you. You turned to look and saw nothing. As you were about to shrug it off, you saw a slimy substance falling from above. You looked up and saw a giant, mutated bug. The bug shrieked and grabbed you by the neck, still hanging from above. You screamed.

"Y/ n!" Jill yelled, running to help you.

Something slimy and tongue like is shoved down your throat, causing you to choke and gag from disgust. Jill gets it off of you and shoots the bug-like creature, killing it instantly.

"Fucking gross." She grimaced.

You choke and gag trying to get the disgusting sensation out of your throat. Of something crawling within you. A parasite.

"Here, you need an herb. Quickly!" Jill urged, coaxing you to swallow the herb in her hand.

You gasped and shoved the herb in your mouth, swallowing quickly. You immediately felt the urge to throw up and turned away from Jill, puking the parasite on the ground near the dead bug creature. You closed your eyes, trying to regain your breath and calm your beating heart.

"You okay?" Jill asked, rubbing your shoulder in comfort.

"No." You rasped. That was disgusting. You felt disgusting. You hate bugs.

"You know, I won't blame you if you'd want to wait out here. I can get this done alone if I have to." She told you.

"I'm thinking about it." You joked weakly. You shook your head and sighed. "No, I'll come with you. Hang on a second." You reached into your backpack and grabbed a pack of gum from your bag. You stuck a piece in your mouth, the mint refreshing the nasty taste in your mouth. You offered one to Jill and she smirked, taking a piece and sticking it in her mouth.

"Of course you have gum." Jill laughed.

"Well, yeah. I wish I had a toothbrush. My teeth aren't too bad right?" You haven't brushed in two days, having unfortunately lost your toothbrush and your cleaned bottled water when you had to run away from a public bathroom that was suddenly overrun with infected people. Finding out the hard way that the water was infected. Best not to drink the city water. 

"No, you're fine. You surprisingly don't smell as bad as you look." You glared. "I mean, well, you know what I mean. You smell fine. And your teeth are fine. Now get up, we have things to do." She helped you to your feet from your kneeled position.

"Thanks." You deadpanned.

"Don't mention it. Let's get this over with."

You two quickly made your way through the building, shooting any bug that so much as twitched at you, working to get the power back on. There was some kind of disgusting growth covering the walls of the building. You weren't even sure what it was. You didn't want to know.

You finally pulled up the last lever, sighing in relief that you could finally leave.

"Done. Time to get the hell out of here." Jill said. You nodded in agreement, shooting and kicking away the angry giant bugs that ran at you.

"Agreed." You both ran, dodging any creature that lunged at you, until you finally made it outside.

"Okay. All that leaves is the main power switch." Jill panted, running up the stairs to the power station.

You both walked over to the control panel. Jill finds the switch and presses it, starting the power and destroying all the growth and bug-creatures. Mutated cockroaches? You weren't sure what type of bug it was. You just wanted them dead.

"Enjoy that." Jill said, watching the nest crumble.

"Good riddance. Hated those fucking things." You shivered.

"Me too. Come on. We gotta radio, Carlos." Jill said. You nodded.

You two began making your exit as Jill called Carlos.

"Carlos, it's Jill. We've restored power to the subway." Jill said.

"Nice going!" Carlos' voice sounded. "Next up is the traffic control system. It should be in the subway company's offices." 

"Right. I think I know the building." Jill said.

"Really? Way to go partner. One step ahead!" He said.

"Not your partner." Jill finished, shutting the radio off.

You snorted, "Awe, he seems sweet."

"You can have him." She joked.

"I'm good."

You two walked down some stairs, making your way to the offices. You stopped to gather supplies you found lying around and hiding in lockers. They're probably not going to need it anymore. You pushed through an orange door, making it outside once more, then went through a gate and onto a street, following Jill's lead.

As you were walking, you had a sudden feeling of dread in your chest. It was quiet. Too quiet.

"Hey, Jill-" You started.

"I feel it too. Stay close." She said, feeling that something was wrong. 

As you two walked by the police cars with the flashing lights, the wall to your right exploded, bricks flying everywhere. You gasped in shock and saw the tall and strong monster that had been chasing Jill earlier. Guess it recovered.

The monster growled, the sound similar to the word "stars". It started going after Jill once more and you grabbed her arm, pulling her way from getting hit.

"Are you shitting me?" Jill yelled, frustrated and frightened.

You both dodged and ran around it, continuing to your destination. Now with the added problem of that thing chasing you.

As you ran, it lunged forward and smacked at you both, knocking you back. You guess it's not doing the eerily slow walk anymore. You shot at a power generator, making it shock the monster and pulled Jill to a run, dodging zombies while you went.

You made your way back to the repair garage and Jill pulled out her radio. "Carlos, that thing is still alive! It's after me!" Jill yelled.

"What? Run! You both come back to the station!" He told her.

"Not until we get traffic control online." Jill put the radio away and glanced at you questionly.

"You okay to keep helping me? That thing is only after me. You'd be safer away from me."

"No, I'm not going to leave you to fix the train by yourself. And I'm not leaving until I know you're safe. It's the least I can do."

Jill nodded sincerely. "Thank you."

You both finally make it to the offices, careful as to avoid anything trying to kill you. Jill pulled her radio out again.

"Carlos, we're in the control room. Now what?"

"Nice! Now you gotta plot out a route." His voice said through the speaker.

"Okay, gimme a sec." Jill handed you the radio to hold and got to work. "Alright, where are we headed?" She asked through the radio in your hand.

"The train is stopped at Redstone Street. We need to reach Fox Park Station. Can you program that in?" Carlos asked.

"Hey, I'm supercop. Consider it done." She joked. You chuckled and watched as she input the directions. She did so successfully.

"Carlos, it's me. I've finished inputting the subway route." She said, gently taking back the radio from your hand.

"Jill, you are amazing! Tough as nails too. Hurry back to the station. We'll make sure the subway is ready to depart." Carlos said.

Jill put the radio away after that. "He's right. You are amazing. Just thought you should know." You smirked.

"Shut up." She snorted, smiling sheepishly. "We better get going to the station. Thanks for your help, by the way. And the company. It's nice having someone to talk to through all of this." She told you.

"Don't mention it. I couldn't just leave you to do this by yourself. Even supercops need help once in a while." You both laughed and made your way out of the office.

Now you need to make it back to the station in one piece.

[wake-me-up-inside-imagines]

Hello! Could I request Ace and Levi from drdt with a fem! ult novelist who is tired all the time and overworks herself?

Sure thing! I feel like these two boys are kinda underrated in the fandom so I'm happy to write for them!

Ace and Levi with a Fem! ultimate novelist S/O who's constantly tired

Warnings: none

Fem! reader

Levi:

-Concerned boyfriend

-He has a deep appreciation for your talent and the dedication you put into your writing, but he hates seeing how normal it is for you to be so exhausted all the time

-But he also kind of gets it, there will be times when he's so invested in his work that he'll forget to take care of himself as well

-He understands that it's not as simple as getting up and going to bed, especially when you have the intense need to finish something, no matter how long it takes

-That being said, he'll do as much as can to help you manage your sleep and your work balance

-He'll make a planner setting aside ample time to work, while also giving you time for yourself and to sleep, Scheduled around your working needs

-Like if you do you're best writing at night he'll set your work hours for the evening or vise versa, as well as how long it typically takes you to get a certain amount of work done

-If you refuse to come to bed, he'll straight up just... pick you up and carry you to your bed

-He'll stay with you if you have a hard time sleeping, he has a very comforting presence

-He often helps you with writing ideas during your writer blocks, he knows how much they stress you out and he doesn't want you to be stressed

-More on the writing side of things, he loves talking to you about your books (He's read them all and has the next one on preorder)

-He enjoys hearing about your writing process, what inspires you, if any of your books are inspired by real events or people, ect

-Once your newest novel drops, he reads it as fast as possible so he can discuss it with you

-He's also just enamored by the way you write, you're not called the ultimate novelist for no reason after all

-Whilst reading, he can tell how much love, effort, and care you put into the writing, perfecting every last detail

-He's super proud of you, he just hopes you'll sleep more once you begin working on your next book

Ace:

-Ok I mean this in the nicest possible way...

-He thinks your lack of sleep is stupid

-Has the mentality of "why are you tired? Just sleep lol"

-Even after you explain it to him, he doesn't really understand why you don't sleep

-But he has enough braincells to understand that it impacts you pretty heavily so he stops insulting it

-He didn't see why it was a big deal at first, but after using his observation skills for once, he's like "oh shit this is an actual issue, uh oh"

-He wants to help you because even though he can be insensitive he loves you, but also, he's Ace so his methods are a bit more... harsh I guess? (annoying is probably a better word actually). But they are super effective

-He has this really strategic way of getting you to sleep, he calls it "annoy Y/N until she has no choice but to sleep because I won't shut up until she does"

-As I said, it's very effective

-Once nighttime rolls around, he'll start whining and begging for you to come to bed with him because 'he saw a shadow move and he needs you to protect him from it' or some dumb shit like that

-He's purposefully playing up his anxiety to get you to sleep and it's working surprisingly well

-If you still refuse, he'll just keep bugging you, it's not like you can work with him constantly talking anyway so you might as well sleep

-He also has an iron grip on you while he sleeps so good luck trying to get up after he falls asleep to do more work because that's not happening

-I can't say he's read all of your books because I'd be lying (he doesn't strike me as an avid reader tbh) but he does want to read the one you've been working on

-Once it's out, he'll read it and praise you on your work (although it'll probably take him awhile to finish)

-He genuinely likes your writing and he's decided to go and read your other stuff now

(I hope you enjoyed! I feel kinda bad for clowning on Ace so much but it's just so easy to do, I had to)

[theneighborhoodwatch]

I been having so much fun thinking and looking up things with this new update, I have a big theory about the bugs and some though about some of the glitch that happens in the audios on some of the official content (maybe we have to form a phrase or hints of the next update, posible through Eddie, as wally asking for purple in the "just so" segment) but with way

Soo I know a ot of people say much about how Wally's message talk to us directly bc he's being sentient and trying to reach us (posible through the red book) and the QA can hear his callings through the phone, much of this is how Wally is trying to interact with the REAL world, with US the humans. (Also as the message progress he sounds more distorted and in distressed)

So that made me think about the bugs tapes and how different they can be compared with what we seen only the public knows, for instance they sound more clear, like your hearing a recorded video or passing conversation, but my point is that they sound so free and casual like just living in their own world,

I think (besides the point that they're maybe in a capsule world unaware of all this) I have two options:

1 this are the first time when wally start to being more self aware of his surrounding, friends and his world making him disassociate bc some of the audios sounds more fainted that the other and as they progress they were becoming more clear and loud

2 OR we're seeing through him, like asides of him just being there it looks he barely moves and speak zero times until someone else call him up (I think they don't notice much bc he's normally a calm fellow and just interact when spoke too) like he's snapping up to them again (I mean he could just being in his own head I been there before and now but something about us seen and hearing this, I don't think it was supposed to)

Either way I believe this moment all were from the same day (Barnaby and Eddie telling thing that happened in other tapes) I'm unsure if this are from the past or recent time but something is clear for sure: he's getting distant and quiet and something is coming (maybe he's getting more focused on seeing and start to get distracted from his reality)

At least Barnaby and Home start to notice.

On a side note I don't think neither wally or Home are evil or the villains from this story but I do think something sinister and dark is influencing on them big time (the black mold maybe)

If this has been sent to you before feel free to ignore I been having so many thoughts about this and just wanna see what you think

See ya!

i don't have much to say to this that you haven't already said yourself, so just imagine that i'm nodding along emphatically. as sweet as it is to see the neighbors freely interacting with each other, there's also this sort of. aimlessness? to it all. the reason behind their world being constructed in This Very Specific Way is no longer there, but the universe still functions as though it is, so you have these characters acting out the general structure of a typical episode, but there's no actual overarching plot or lesson (at least, none that we see) because who's gonna be there to see it anyway? but - if you were made for that kind of show, what else are you going to do? can you do anything else? is getting the show back, or at least an audience, really the answer here? questions that i think the neighbors will have to grapple with once more of them start to Notice Things.

as for what is actually going on in these videos, i think i lean more towards the first option. i don't see wally or home as particularly villainous, either - but desperation can drive well-meaning people to do some terrible things.

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

Some Mouse House news today. One story is true, the other *might* be true.

Today, Sean Bailey steps down as head of Walt Disney Pictures. The studio of Disney's massive film division that does all the live-action movies, and in some cases, animated tech demos that look like real-life simulations. Ya know, THE JUNGLE BOOK (2016) and THE LION KING (2019)?

He singlehandedly ushered in the whole remake craze (on top of saying some very weird and obtuse things about the animated classics they are largely based on), whilst trying to launch new franchises out of over-budgeted risky movies, and suffice to say? I'm more than happy that his replacement is Searchlight Pictures' David Greenbaum.

Greenbaum will now lead a combined Disney Live-Action/20th Century Studios effort, while Matthew Greenfield continues to lead Searchlight. This is a very smart move I feel, as Searchlight were usually quite good with budgets. They greenlit several outre and unique movies. Most recently Yorgos Lanthimos' POOR THINGS, which I loved. In the weirdest sense, and you'll probably think I've lost the plot in saying this, but... The $35m hard R-rated sci-fi black comedy with plenty of sex scenes felt more in the spirit of "Disney" - creative, game-changing, and bold - than a lot of the titanic-budgeted seemingly-noted-to-death movies released under the mainline "Disney" name in the recent years... That's quite something!

(Maybe it's just something of a shock to see a movie simply made by a FILMMAKER come out Disney. After all, when Walt Disney saw TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD in 1962, he was floored by the film and lamented... He wish his studio could make a picture like that.)

So yeah, as you can tell, I'm thrilled with this move. I feel that the output of the "Live-Action" end of Disney hasn't really been for me for a long time, creatively, and maybe Greenbaum will course-correct. Take a chance on different filmmakers, let them come in and make a really cool movie that isn't buckled under notes and mandates that attempt to make the proceedings "more Disney" - whatever that means. Less things like ARTEMIS FOWL and LION KING and this TRON-in-name-only sequel with Jared Leto, more stuff like the first PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN and assorted smaller movies. These things don't have to be $150m+ behemoths, either.

This move has been a long-time coming, I feel, especially after the film division lost money on HAUNTED MANSION and live-action LITTLE MERMAID, in addition to seeing diminishing returns elsewhere.

(And hey, on the off chance... Maybe we can see another Muppets movie get off the ground, haha.)

Sooo... As for the other piece of news...

Apparently Pixar is working on a movie called DUCKS.

And it's a full-blown musical, too... A first for Pixar...

Right now, this is all coming out of the rumor mills and I feel it should be taken with a grain of salt. Much like that soccer movie set in Barcelona that they were supposedly developing around 2018.

What's interesting is that a locked Facebook account and a locked Twitter account have been made for a "Pixar Ducks" thing. So maybe... Yeah... Maybe DUCKS is a movie in the works at Pixar. Or it's a short.

Some have pointed out that this news arrives a little after the release of Universal/Illumination's animated duck romp MIGRATION, which brings up the pairs of yore: A BUG'S LIFE and ANTZ, FINDING NEMO and SHARK TALE, RATATOUILLE and FLUSHED AWAY, the ill-fated NEWT and RIO... But really, sometimes great minds think alike. Remember how we had three animated movies about Sasquatches/yetis from September 2018 to September 2019? SMALLFOOT, MISSING LINK, and ABOMINABLE?

Sometimes it just happens...

I've also noticed people saying "Wait a minute, what about COCO? Wasn't that a musical?"

COCO, when it was coming out, was carefully described as a movie that was about music, not so much a "musical". I don't see COCO as a "musical", myself.

You see, I feel musicals inhabit a heightened reality of their own. Typically, in musical movies, when characters start singing, everything else around them is engaged. Like the whole block or the whole neighborhood or the whole area was prepared for this moment, and are going along with it. For some people, that's weird. "Why are they all singing? Imagine doing THAT in real life!" That's the point of musicals, I feel. The singing is the characters' feelings, their world, their point of view. These movies don't follow a literal reality, and that's what has always made them and their theatre counterparts so special for so many years.

COCO, by contrast, is about musicians. They pick up a guitar or instrument, and when they play music and sing, it's not of a heightened reality. Everybody else goes about their business, the whole block isn't singing- You get where I'm going with this, right? There's a clear difference between COCO and BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.

Some 30 years ago, when Pixar was working on TOY STORY... Their first ever feature film, they specifically didn't want to do a musical or something with an "I Want" song. A little list of rules, so that they wouldn't make something similar to what Disney was doing post-OLIVER & COMPANY. Many of the other animation studios were mimicking that formula as well, as evidenced by all the SWAN PRINCESS and FERGULLY types that were being released all throughout the '90s... It's understandable that Pixar and their tight-knit culture wanted to avoid that at first...

But we're in 2024 now, and Disney Animation has long balanced out musicals with non-musicals (BIG HERO 6, ZOOTOPIA, RAYA, etc.), while other studios have tried other kinds of musicals that don't try to recreate what Howard Ashman and Alan Menken perfected circa 1989. Like the SING movies, those are jukebox musicals, the TROLLS movies are more like pop musicals than they are Broadway...

So, some three decades after the release of TOY STORY (assuming that this film comes out in 2026 at the earliest), yeah! Pixar making a musical isn't so far-fetched. What this studio brings to that genre remains to be seen, but I'm interested nonetheless. They could possibly re-invent it in a very cool, fun way. I just find the title to be curious... Ducks... Talking animals... It seems very basic, but there's a lot we don't know, so I'll wait til I hear more. It could be about, say, duckpin bowling for all I know.

My other question is... Who is directing it? I know that the following filmmakers have pitched or are working on films at Pixar:

Brian Fee (director of CARS 3)

Enrico Casarosa (director of LUCA)

Domee Shi (director of TURNING RED)

Dan Scanlon (director on ONWARD and MONSTERS UNIVERSITY)

Kristen Lester (director of Sparkshort PURL)

Rosana Sullivan (director of Sparkshort KITBULL)

Aphton Corbin (director of Sparkshort TWENTY-SOMETHING)

Daniel Chong (creator of WE BEAR BEARS, storyboard artist on CARS 2 and INSIDE OUT)

Their schedule currently looks like this:

6/14/2024: INSIDE OUT 2

06/13/2025: ELIO

03/06/2026: Unknown

06/19/2026: Unknown

TBD 2026: TOY STORY 5 (likely summer)

So, logically, this could be their spring 2026 original movie while TOY STORY 5 expectedly takes the prime summer slot. Maybe! Perhaps it swaps spots with something else, I don't know.

We do have a D23 Expo coming up this year, so maybe we'll learn what Pixar's post-ELIO films are that aren't sequels. If DUCKS is real and it's moving along quite nicely, then that should be the one. We shall see...

[your-divine-ribs]

I’m With the Band Part 22

Words: 2.7k

I’m With the Band Masterlist Main Masterlist

The terrace looks empty as I step quietly out on to the decking. It's littered with evidence of the party that's just taken place, empty bottles and glasses stacked on every surface. It'll be one hell of a clean up operation I think to myself, but that's not any of my concern. That's the beauty of staying in hotels. You can make as much mess as you like and someone else will clear up after you.

Mind you, that's not much different from my home-life. After the infamous party that I'd held that was responsible for getting me shipped off out to spend the summer with my cousin I hadn't been expected to clear up the mess that I'd caused even then despite my parents being furious with me. They did what they normally did with problems. They threw a large amount of money at it and it just went away. Even their so-called punishment didn't make me feel like I was being penalised. I was out here having the time of my life rather than feeling anything close to being contrite about the problems that I'd caused.

A lesson learnt? Not a chance.

The heat of the day has finally given way to the cooler night air now and there's a gentle breeze caressing the bare skin of my shoulders and arms and legs, my little silky slip not really covering much. I probably should have pulled on something a bit more substantial seeing as there could well be party guests lingering out here, but that's not really my style. I'm certainly not shy and besides, there are particular people who I'd be only too happy to parade my scantily-clad form in front of. And as my ears pick up the muted sound of gently plucked acoustic guitar strings I smile to myself. There's only two people that sound could possibly be emanating from, and with Sam now fast asleep I'm entirely unbothered about which of those two people I might find out here.

So I'm in for a real surprise when I step around the screen of foliage to discover not just Van or Johnny, but both boys sitting on the decking area that I was sat at with Lucy earlier. They're sitting opposite each other, Johnny with his feet up on the table in between them, both cradling their acoustic guitars.

Van's the first to notice my presence and he stills his playing immediately as I come into view, his eyes bugging out of his head as they trail down to take all of me in. In typical Van style he's not remotely surreptitious about it, but that doesn't bother me. I just push out my chest as I stand there proudly, my perky breasts pressing against the silk, nipples stiffened in the cool night air.

"My eyes are up here Van," I smirk, pointing to my face.

A loud snigger comes from Johnny and Van laughs too, cheeky grin stretching wide as he forces his gaze upwards. "What you doing out 'ere anyway? Thought you were going back to sleep. You said you were knackered."

"Oh sorry, am I interrupting something? Shall I go back to bed?"

I look between the two boys, already knowing the answer by their eager faces and they don't disappoint. "Nah, we're just chilling aren't we Bonds? Setting the world to rights. Come 'n join us."

"Yeah," Johnny agrees, patting the vacant space next to him. "There's room for a little un right here."

I don't need much encouragement, stepping quickly forward and taking the seat next to him, sitting close enough to him that I can brush my thigh up against his if the mood takes me. His guitar gets cast aside on the seat on the other side of him, instantly forgotten as he slips an arm over my shoulder, pulling me close. I nestle into his side.

"Surprised to see you out here on your own anyway," he says. "Thought you had company tonight."

"Oh not you as well!" I make a show of grumbling for Van's benefit, purposefully not looking at him even though I can feel the suspicious glare radiating off of him. "Why does everyone seem to think I went and pulled last night?"

"Well... you and Sam did look quite cosy earlier, that's all I'm saying." There's a teasing tone in Johnny's voice which doesn't go unnoticed by Van who's scowling when I eventually look across at him.

"Reckons he's god's gift just because he's got some number one album out," he sneers. "Thinks he can just stroll in here like he owns the place tonight too. It wasn't even his party. Who the hell invited him anyway?"

"I did actually," Johnny replies bluntly. "And you know I did because you agreed to it. Stop being such a mardy arse Van. Sam's a nice guy and so are the others. They'll be playing loads of the same venues this summer as well so you'd better get used to having him around."

Van's brows are knitted together in a thick frown as he jabs at the strings of his guitar, producing an ugly twanging sound. "Doesn't mean I have to like it."

I elongate my leg under the table, knocking Van's shin with my foot playfully. "Oh my god you're so moody! You've not changed a bit from when you were twelve! You've got that same sulky look you used to get when you were jealous of Larry being better than you at FIFA!"

"Still does!" Johnny snorts.

"Am not bloody moody," Van protests, batting my intruding foot aside. "And I'm not jealous!"

Johnny and I exchange looks, laughing which winds him up even more.

"Am not!" he groans.

Then Johnny's pretending like Van's not even part of the conversation, looking down on me as I rest my head on his shoulder. "I reckon I know what's caused all of this tonight. Seen him in this same mood plenty of times. He's feeling slighted because he didn't pull..." Then he looks across to Van. "Isn't that right mate?"

"Is it fuck!" He blurts, then his eyes dart purposefully to me. "Anyway, who's to say I didn't pull? Maybe I did and the girl in question just doesn't know a good thing when she sees it!"

I'm laughing on the inside, but I maintain an aloof expression, narrowing my eyes at Van. "And there you are saying Sam thinks he's god's gift! Look who's talking!"

Van and his big mouth. I don't want Johnny to know that I've been hooking up with him the same night that I've snuck off for a crafty shag with Sam, all the time whilst playing the long game of trying to seduce him. Things could start getting very complicated.

Fortunately for me Johnny doesn't seem to be paying any mind to Van's blatant comments. He chuckles softly beside me whilst Van and I tit for tat for a while, back and forth, winding each other up. The arm that was draped over my shoulder slips down and comes to rest around my waist and I feel his fingers flex gently against the silk, soft caresses that threaten to distract me completely from my mission of provoking Van. And maybe that's his intention. I've not known Johnny for long but he exudes a certain calmness. I'm sure all of this bickering is upsetting his equilibrium.

"Ey, give it a rest you two. This isn't what I've got to look forward to all summer on tour is it? Thought you and Larry were bad enough with your usual sniping at each other Van! This isn't what I signed up for!"

Surprisingly, Van relents straight away, shrugging as he cocks his head back and fixes me with a smirk. "Can't help it, it's Bella. She can't help having a go at me. Reckon it must be all this unresolved sexual tension between us!"

"Fuck off!" I retort but I'm grinning now. "In your dreams!"

I go to strike Van with my foot again, higher up this time, feigning to plant a kick where it would really hurt, but he's much too quick. He shoots his hand down in an instant, grabbing hold of my ankle which he holds in a vice-like grip.

"Let go!" I squeal, wriggling and tugging my foot to no avail.

"Nuh-uh," he shakes his head emphatically, eyes twinkling with mischief. "Not unless you admit how much you fancy me!"

I can't see what his free hand's doing under the table but I can well imagine by the shit-eating grin on his face.

"Don't you dare!" I warn, trying to sound stern but I can't control the giggles that are bubbling up from inside.

And then with a wicked cackle he unleashes a tickle attack on my foot and I can't control myself, thrashing about like a fish out of water, giggling breathlessly whilst I try to hold my slip down over my thighs to preserve my modesty. Johnny just looks on, laughing heartily as I struggle ineffectually.

"Van... you bastard... stop it... please!" I manage to gasp out. "Help me Johnny, don't just sit there!"

"Sorry lass, you're on your own!" He chuckles.

"C'mon Bella," Van teases. "Just tell me the truth!"

It's torture. I absolutely hate being tickled, and I'm completely helpless. Van's much too strong. He's in his element seeing me like this, his fingers mercilessly dancing up and down the sole of my foot whilst I buck and curse at him. His grin is victorious.

"Just say it... go on! Tell me how much you want me!"

"FUCK... OFF!" I cry, my belly starting to ache from the constant laughter.

"I think you might have to tell him what he wants to hear love," Johnny laughs.

I have tears running down my cheeks now and I can only imagine how I must look. I wanted to be the picture of sultry temptation slinking out on to the terrace in my pretty nightwear, but instead Van has reduced me to a breathless, giggling, highly unsophisticated mess.

"I'm waiting Bella! I could go on all night ya know!" Van taunts, and I think I've reached my limit, my throat sore from all the yelping and giggling.

"Okay, okay, you win. Just stop... please!" I cry desperately.

And true to his word Van stops, although he doesn't let go, maintaining a firm grip on me. "Got anything you'd like to share with me, eh?"

The smug grin on his face should wind me up but he just looks so daft that I'm laughing again. "I fancy you!" I mutter, trying to mute my own grin but I can't help the way it splits my face in two.

But Van's not satisfied with that. He screws his face up, cupping his free hand around his ear. "You're gonna have to speak up love. Can't quite hear you."

I glower at him. I can't win, and Johnny's no help at all, still chuckling away at Van's ridiculous prank. Well then... I might as well have a bit of fun with it.

"Okay! Okay! I fancy the pants off you if you must know. I wanted you since the first moment I laid eyes on you! I wish you'd just take me bed right now!"

"Oh god you've done it now!" Johnny says, grinning and rolling his eyes. "Never gonna hear the last of this."

Van sits there glowing with smugness, triumphant. "What did I tell ya Bonds? Just as I expected!"

I'm transported back in time to when this sort of childish teasing was Van's favourite hobby, but times have certainly changed. I hate to admit it but I don't think I've had this much fun for a long time. Once again I'm struck by how different it is spending time with these boys rather than the ones I'm used to keeping company with back home. I'm beginning to realise how exhausting it is keeping up the pretence of this elegant, polished persona and all for what? Ensnaring an insufferably boring, stuffy rich boy whose only attractive feature is his daddy's bulging bank account?

Maybe there is more to life after all...

"Don't look so smug Van, I'm gonna get you back," I warn playfully, trying for an ominous tone as I snatch my foot away as Van finally releases me.

His eyebrows dance upwards as a sly grin takes over. "Hmmm, we'll see about that..."

I'm just contemplating a fitting revenge when I hear footsteps on the decking and I whisk my head around quickly. My heart's ready to drop as I imagine turning to see Sam standing there, but thankfully it's not, it's only Larry. My heart sinks anyway as his eyes fix on me, darting down to my provocative nightwear before flitting between Johnny and Van.

"Didn't think anyone was still up," he states, then he quickly slips out of his jacket and starts towards me, arms outstretched with the garment. "Jesus Bells, you'll catch your death out 'ere in that skimpy little thing. Here, put this on."

Before I can protest he's draping it over my shoulders and I feel Johnny's hand slip away from my waist as he straightens up in his seat.

Bloody Larry, he sucks the fun out of everything. I can practically feel the playful, flirtatious atmosphere evaporating into the night air as he takes a seat next to Van and asks him if he's got any rolling papers. The two lads immediately set about rolling up, starting to chat amongst themselves.

I turn my attention to Johnny and a small yawn escapes me unbidden. I shoot up a hand to stifle it but it doesn't go unnoticed. Johnny leans into me.

"You tired lass? Why don't you get some sleep? You ought to ya know. I always try and get as much as I can in before tour. Don't tend to get an awful lot on the road."

"Why's that? Is it just one big party?" I ask hopefully, my head full of hedonistic gatherings in hotel rooms and drug-fuelled all-nighters in various city hotspots.

Johnny grins warmly, shaking his head. "Nah, it's one of our roadies, Dougie. He snores like a motherfucker. Sounds like a bloody jet plane taking off! I always luck out and get the bunk next to his."

"Oh," I giggle. "I thought maybe things got a little crazy. You hear so many stories of rock bands on tour..."

Johnny reaches up and plucks the rolled spliff that he's had tucked between his ear and his cap. "Sorry to disappoint you Arabella, but we're not party-animals. We like a good time, don't get me wrong, but we're not into all that wild rockstar shit. Van's always saying we're doing the rockstar thing all wrong."

I watch him light up and take a deep inhale, softly smirking at him when his eyes meet mine. "Well, it's a good job I'm coming along then, isn't it? I can show you lads how it's done!"

I lean forward and pluck the spliff from between his lips, taking a drag and holding the warming, acrid smoke in until it's scorching my lungs. Then I tip back my head and blow out the plume of smoke into the night, knowing without looking that Johnny's eyes will definitely be trailing over my frame. When I get to my feet and look down on him he's gazing up at me with a hint of longing that he can't hide.

I'm torn for a moment, but I know that it won't be easy to work on seducing Johnny with Larry sitting there... and what about Sam? I decide to cut my losses and go back to bed. I have the rest of the summer stretching out ahead of me after all, so what's the rush?

"Think I'm gonna go and get my beauty sleep after all," I tell Johnny, a warm glow simmering in me as he leans forward, catching my hand and raising it to his lips, pressing a small kiss to it.

"Not that you need it love," he smiles. "But goodnight anyway."

"You're not going to bed are ya?" Van pipes up. "We still need to discuss this confession that you've just made!"

I giggle, rolling my eyes before turning away, waving a farewell to the lads who all bid me goodnight as they watch me go.

[reikurusu]

Ask Meme

I got tagged by the lovely @jalapenobee!! Thank you!! <3

Do you make your bed?

I neatly fold the cover open during the day so it can air out a bit? xD But when I go to bed, I always pull the mattress cover (whatever that's called in English) neatly because it often crumples up. But I don't daily make my bed, no.

What's your favorite number?

Not really.

What is your job?

I've worked at a local library for a little over a year now! It's really fun to do! I have to take care of the adult non-fiction section, which is more fun than I would've thought, as well as admin and helping people during opening hours. Right now, a colleague has been absent for 6+ months, so I've been taking on her section as well, which is youth (fiction and non-fiction) and comics. So quite a lot at the moment. But it's a really fun job!!

If you could go back to school, would you?

I'm not sure... I didn't hate going to school and it was actually a lot less stressful than adult life. I think I'd mainly go back to be my younger self again and maybe do things differently?

Or are we talking about going back to school at this age? If school was the only thing I'd have to focus on, and money and all didn't matter, I think so, yeah! Probably something creative or art history or something.

Can you parallel park?

I can.... But it's either perfect on the first try or I have to retry like 5 times. And if there's a car waiting while I'm failing... Yeah, we're going around the block again and try again afterwards.

A job you had that would surprise people?

I think my previous job. I worked in retail as a Saturday job during college. After graduation, I worked at a company for two years but I quit because it wasn't my thing and was lucky that the store I used to work at was looking for someone. I really liked working there and there was a lot of varied work (admin, window dressing, helping clients,...). But I feel like people at my current job (library) are surprised when I tell them I worked retail? I don't get it, though.

Do you think aliens are real?

Hmmmm... I don't think aliens like the stereotypical aliens exist, but there's no way the universe is this gigantic and Earth is the only place with life.

Can you drive a manual car?

It's the only kind I know how to drive. I've never driven an automatic car. I actually love shifting gears. It gives me something to do while driving, if that makes sense xD

What's your guilty pleasure?

Uhm... I don't think I have one? At least not something that no one else does? Nothing special comes to mind atm...

Tattoos?

None. I just have no idea what I'd want to have permanently on my body. So I doubt I'll ever get one.

Favorite Color?

Blue! All kinds of blue! But I really like a minty-blue, like this.

But lately, I've come to love yellow as well. I'm not sure why, but it's been making me happy for some reason.

Favorite type of music?

In general I either like a song or I don't like it. And because of this, my taste in music can vary a lot. I can like certain songs by a certain artist, yet despise the rest of their music.

As for favourite artists, I love Taylor Swift, The Script and Niall Horan. I think those are my top three artists (she says without any actual proof of it).

Do you like puzzles?

Like, riddles or jigsaws? If it's jigsaws, I haven't made one in years! I'd love to, with some music or tv show in the background, but I don't have the time for it. If it's riddles, yeah, I love riddles! Doesn't mean I'm good at them but I played my fair share of Professor Layton growing up!

Any phobias?

None that I know of. Like, I'm not a fan of creepy bugs and heights and blood and all those typical things, but I wouldn't call them phobias. Like, I'm not a fan of spiders, but I'd never kill one and just put it in a jar and take it outside. So nothing I'm insanely scared of.

Favorite childhood sport?

I don't think I had a favourite sport growing up? I'm not really the most athletic person. But I do know that I was decent at shooting basketballs into the hoop, even for being short lol

Do you talk to yourself?

... Do people not do this? I do this all the time??

What movie(s) do you adore?

I'm not sure if I have an actual favourite movie, but I love Tangled and The Lion King!! I also really love Back To The Future. *looks at dvds* OH! The Holiday and Love, Rosie as well!! I think these are all films I'm always down to watch.

Coffee or tea?

I'm definitely more of a tea person. I most often drink black tea with milk (like, at breakfast, in the evening and when I'm not at work, in the afternoon as well).

I also drink coffee but when I do, I have to have it with milk and sugar and often with some sort of syrup (vanilla, hazelnut or caramel). Or iced! Iced coffee!!

First thing you wanted to be when growing up?

I think I wanted to become a farmer? At least that's what my mum told me. I can't imagine being a farmer now, I think kid me thought it would be fun to have a bunch of animals and be outside all day. Grown up me knows it's very different from that. And very often not that nice for the animals...

Also a veterinarian! But.... Y'know, blood and cutting into animals... Pass.

I'm going to tag a couple of mutuals and followers I very often see in my notes, but obviously anyone who wants to do this, can!

And don't feel obligated to do this just because I tagged you! <3

@silversoulstardust @actually-the-devil @in-a-faith-forgottenn-land @keeeegs @aflockofravens @heytheredeann