#Nosy is kind of a bad influence

[kiwiplaetzchen]

Ta-da :D

NOSY! 💚 CHARLIE!! 💙

LEVITATING NOSY!!! 💚💕

@wrenegade-accio Rae!! Don't you dare just waddle in here, show me this cute masterpiece, and just say "Ta-da"!! Come here!!! D:< *Crushes you with hugs.* 💚💚💚

It looks so adorable! This made my day!! 🫂 Thank you so much! 💕🐰💚💕

[secondhand-snow]

a body of impulses

chapter 4: staining the future

lukas matsson x f!roy reader (succession)

★chapter 3★

wc: 8.6k+

warnings: super dysfunctional family, roman roy as his own warning, mention of phone sex, manipulation, praise, no use of y/n

summary: The fall back to the real world after your time spent with Lukas hits you hard. But your family hits you harder, and they hit to kill.

author's note: snow writes a fic without graphic smut?!? insanity. please consider liking, commenting, or reblogging if you enjoyed!

Logan’s birthday is… Logan’s birthday. The day is always celebratory, and always ends in trouble. Chaos tends to be inevitable when your family is together, like two comets on a collision course, helpless to stop the impending crash. Even intimate get-togethers are no exception. You were fully prepared for this, readying your mediating skills and considering any possible issues that could come up at the event. Until, your siblings inform you that they will not be attending. On one hand, it’s a shock. Missing something as important as your father’s birthday because of a fight seems unreasonable, especially when you were so sure you would see them in person again. On the other hand, the lack of their presences could avoid the conflict you were expecting. Either way, your focus shifted from getting ready to stop blow out fights to preparing to answer nosy questions on the whereabouts of your family. 

It was nice to talk to your siblings after weeks of no contact. The discussions you had were usually meager, straight and to the point. But all the same, it gave you some sense of normalcy in your vastly changing life. That and the less you spoke to them, the less you had to lie to them about what you were up to. Between Lukas and work, it felt like you could barely get out a sentence without potentially compromising an immense secret. You’d gotten uncomfortably close to disclosing your relationship a couple times, both with Roman, both due to your increasingly frequent trips to Sweden. Luckily, you’d been trained enough in keeping the peace to brush over the details of your life and get him to talk about himself, the suspicion leaving his mind almost instantly.

In addition to rekindling your relationship with your siblings, a strange sort of friendship was beginning to form between yourself and Tom. You were the only two in the immediate family that hadn’t jumped ship yet, well, besides Greg. Since he wasn’t really speaking to Shiv, and Roman and Kendall would rather die than see his face, you were the only one Tom could go to for a genuine conversation. Unless he wanted to talk to Gerri, Karl or Frank, but Tom preferred speaking to someone who wasn’t at least 20 years older than himself. Because of this, the two of you began bonding in a way you hadn’t had the chance to before. When Roman wasn’t making crass jokes over your shoulder, influencing your opinion with his humor, Tom wasn’t actually that bad. 

He was more down to Earth than your siblings. He had grown up rich, but not your kind of rich, and it gave him a sort of level headedness that you didn’t see often. His jokes were pretty funny, and his midwest accent gave his speech a natural formality that was strangely captivating. You liked talking to Tom, you even began to see him as a friend during the months after the GoJo deal began. Not only was he sociable, he was actually good at what he did. You’d always thought that he got his position through his relationship with Shiv, though when you began working with him on the GoJo deal you saw that his work ethic had a genuine quality to it. He could be a little brutal at times and looked out for himself before others, but who wasn’t in this business. By the time Logan’s party came up you found yourself honestly enjoying his company.

When you arrive at Logan’s penthouse, the party has already begun. There’s a good crowd of people mingling, mostly executives from Waystar’s corporate world and old business associates of your Dad’s. You’re happy to see Colin, who you greet with a friendly smile, and annoyed to see Kerry, who you give a tight lipped grin. Your dad is at least somewhat happy to see you, giving you the rare hug in welcome. 

Buying gifts for a man that has everything is incredibly difficult, and after the watch situation from last year, you were even more terrified of Logan’s reaction to your present. You had settled on purchasing him a Navy medal of honor from WWI to add to his collection and wrapped it weeks in advance, trying to push the worry from your mind for as long as possible. As he opens the present now, his reception is better than you hoped for. Your dad offers you a small thanks and notes that he will add it to one of his display cases later. Internally you doubt that he will, but at least he was kind to you publicly. With another quick hug and a promise to see him again in a bit, you enter the throng of people once more and begin looking for a drink.

It’s really only natural that you gravitate to Tom, joining his side with a glass of champagne as soon as you spot him in the mass of suits. He cracks a few jokes, makes a few comments on work, but mostly you just stand together and look engaged in conversation, successfully deterring any onlookers from bothering you to ask prying questions. You make frequent trips to the bathroom. Not to actually use the toilet, but to answer your messages from Lukas. It was too much of a chance to open his texts around others at the party, since so many of them knew him well. He knows your at Logan’s birthday, he even considered attending himself before getting too busy with work. His goofy texts brighten up the otherwise dull day, giving you something to look forward to and keeping you awake amongst the bland chatting you’re obligated to engage in.

It’s after one of these trips to the bathroom that the first sign of discord begins to creep into the party. It starts with Cousin Greg, who’s chattering incessantly in Tom’s ear as you approach the pair. 

“-I’m kidding, I really do like her.” You seamlessly attach yourself to the conversation as you join them, keeping pace as you begin to walk from room to room.

“Like who? The blonde teeny bopper you brought?” 

“Yeah!”

“What, did you meet her on Raya or something?” You get a small laugh from Tom at that, the three of you pausing your stroll for a moment.

“She’s used all the display towels in the bathroom and now they’re sopping wet, she’s gabbling about herself and posting on social media.” Greg scoffs a bit at Tom’s critique, looking around to be sure the blonde was nowhere nearby. “She’s asking people personal questions- and she’s wolfing all the canapes like a famished warthog!”

“People are overreacting, okay? She brought a normal kind of handbag!” 

“Greg, the massive purse is one thing. Posting pictures of the inside of my father’s house on Instagram is actually incredibly invasive. She’s basically a security risk at this point.”

“You are a laughing stock of polite society.” As Tom chimes in, the unmistakable face of Greg’s date begins to approach you, a look of concern on her face. Tom whispers as he finishes his comment. “You’ll never go to the opera again.”

“Maybe- we should go?” The woman’s voice has a twinge of vocal fry, her hand holding her phone protectively close to her body.

“Oh are you okay? What, uh, what happened?” Greg stoops from his normal towering stance to direct his quiet tone towards his date.

“Nothing! I just asked Logan for a selfie.” 

“You asked my dad for a selfie?” You can’t help the small laugh of disbelief that leaves your mouth at her confession.

“Yeah- oh! You’re- uh…” The woman is at least socially conscious enough to realize her mistake in not addressing you, an awkward smile coming to her face as she continues. “I said ‘Congrats on the big deal.’ I was like, ‘Ker-ching, am I right?’ I was being funny!”

“...That is hilarious.” 

It’s a little while later when things start to get worse. Logan had disappeared with Colin a couple of hours ago, and was now ignoring calls as his executives tried to contact him. Additionally, Kerry had come to you and asked you to talk to your siblings, to get them to text or call Dad for his birthday. You gave her the same strained response you’d had to repeat so many times in the past few months, “My siblings are capable of making their own decisions.” Despite this, you did text them to let them know of Kerry’s request. They left the message on read. It’s you who’s finally able to get through to Logan, letting him know that there was some trouble with the Pierce deal. He arrived back at the penthouse only a bit after you contacted him, immediately stopping the party and kicking out the crowd. 

And so, on a day that was supposed to be calm, work-free, and relaxing, you ended up gathered in Logan’s home office with the tension rising rapidly. It’s concerning how quickly the group is able to find out that it’s your siblings who are the rival bidders. It’s more concerning how upset Logan is when he finds out. He swears. More than usual. He yells at both you and Tom, telling the pair of you to call Shiv and tell her to get her own idea. To your credit, you do call her, but you go straight to voicemail. 

You’re helpless in the situation, in a sort of trance of dissociation as chaos unfolds around you. You barely even perk up during Logan’s “roasting” rampage, refusing to cause a spectacle for your dad’s amusement. Unfortunately, Greg doesn’t have the same foresight as you. What snaps you out of the haze is when Tom finally gets through to your sister. The two of you huddle around his iPhone in the corner of the room, trying to maintain some sense of privacy as speakerphone causes your conversation to echo around the office.

“Hey, Shiv” Tom’s is clearly stressed, an unnatural lilt in his voice as he speaks.

“Hi?”

“Hey. Tom!” So Kendall’s with her.

“Fuck you, man mountain!” And the voice of Roman solidifies your siblings' involvement in buying Pierce. An inaudible sigh leaves your mouth as the worst is confirmed.

“Hey, look, so… we were just wondering if we’re not being- uh, played a little here. Since this is all indicative.” 

“Okay, well, what did he go up to?” Shiv’s tone is simultaneously annoyed and eager.

“Well, we can’t tell you that.”

“He didn't go to nine, did he?” 

“Well, we were just wondering, you know, all things being equal, the asset does have a price. And it would be- it would be crazy to add an emotional… uh, premium here.” Tom is beginning to scramble, his demeanor becoming frantic as he searches for some kind of tactic to convince your siblings. “So, should we be looking for a back door on this?”

“What's Dad's ceiling?” Shiv asks the question like she already knows the answer. You wonder if she really does.

“Well, what's your ceiling?”

“Why don't you go first, Tommy? Build that trust, brah!” Kendall’s tone is surprisingly happy, like he’s high either on coke or on the thrill of bidding. 

“Well, his ceiling is-- is... Uh, well, I... Your dad is just–”

“It’s higher than yours, I can guarantee that.” You cut in for the first time, saving Tom from his own bumbling.

“Oh hi baby sister! Decided to join the rebellion yet?” Roman stretches out the nickname, whining in a way he knows you hate, trying to rile you up to their level.

“Do you even have the financing for this? Or are you pooling together all your lunch money just to piss off Dad?” Maybe it’s the fact that you’re over the phone, maybe it’s how stressed out this situation has you, but you find yourself bolder than normal. For once, you’re going head to head with your sibling’s wit without backing down.

“We’re not doing this just to piss off Dad.” Shiv deadpans, interjecting before Roman can get another word in.

“Right because you have such a genuine interest in a left leaning, family based news conglomerate that’s a direct competitor to ATN.” Your normally soft and regulated tone has a sharp edge to it, cutting through your family’s bullshit like butter. “What happened to the media company you were starting, you seemed so excited about that? The hundred, or something?”

“It’s still news and media, it's just-  just starting from nothing versus, like, starting from an already established network.” Kendall speaks next, you can hear his chair vaguely creaking as he sits forward to direct his voice into the phone.

“Well it’s not worth it, what you’d gain from buying Pierce is nothing compared to the damage you’d do from fucking this deal. You know that.” You take a breath before finishing your piece, voice softer as you attempt to appeal to your family’s empathy. “Right now, you can still come back from this. Things… aren’t too broken, yet. We can fix them. If you go through with this, I don’t know if that will still be true.”

There’s a long pause before Shiv speaks again. “Our ceiling is 12.”

“Fuck off!” Tom can’t contain his shock at the statement. You tilt your head back, shaking it in disbelief with your eyes on the ceiling. “Yeah, well, our’s too. Okay?”

“Okay!” 

There’s a familiar beep as the call ends. You don’t look at anyone’s faces as you reclaim your seat on the couch. You barely speak for the rest of the night. You don’t flinch when your siblings win Pierce, don’t look up when your dad screams at them through the phone, don’t say goodbye to anyone as you leave. Your resolve only crumbles in private.

That night, you call Lukas. He answers on the first ring, smiling into the camera as you greet him on Facetime. You can’t say much about the business that went down today, but he knows you well enough to fill in the blanks. Lukas has listened to you vent about your family so much, and everytime he consoles you like nobody else. He remembers past issues, connects them, brings them up to understand the context better. He frowns when you cry, he tries to make you laugh when you’re mad. He’s single handedly crushing your apprehensions on the relationship one night at a time. 

You feel refreshed in the morning, maybe you cried all the angst out of your bloodstream. There’s already a text from your boyfriend making sure you're okay, asking you to text him updates about your day. It’s one of the rare occasions that you won’t be in the office. Instead you’ll be at Connor’s wedding rehearsal, doing just as much work, only with your family instead of the company. Inside, you’re dreading the event. It’s awful, just 24 hours ago you were excited to see your siblings in person. You’d been prepared to hug and smile and laugh. Now, you weren’t sure if they’d even come. And worse, you had no clue how they’d react to your presence if they did attend.

Nevertheless, you persist. You treat the rehearsal like a work event you really don’t want to go to, practicing fake smiles in the mirror as you do your makeup, donning your best cocktail dress, and pushing through the anxiety rushing in your veins. The actual rehearsal is mostly uneventful, your siblings missing from attendance. Of course, it’s incredibly awkward. Willa clearly did not want to be there, tears welling in her eyes every five seconds. Connor absolutely knew this, trying to make up for it with overt public displays of affection. At one point you swear she’s gonna call it off. Instead, she runs off to the bathroom with her bridesmaids for half an hour before returning like nothing was wrong. By the time it’s over and Willa is rushing out the door, you’ve settled into a round table at the restaurant with Connor. You’re expecting to be consoling him for the rest of the night. 

It’s just your luck that your family arrives less than five minutes later.

“Finally!” Connor’s sudden interruption in your small talk makes your head whip around, your eyes landing on the trio approaching you. You set down your champagne glass a little too hard, and plaster a polite smile on your face as they near.

“Found him!” Roman is the first to approach his demeanor casual as always, eyes skipping over you to focus on Connor sitting to your right.

“Hey, hey.”

“Hey.”

“Here you are, we missed you.” You keep your voice gentle as you address them, letting Kendall give you a small pat on your shoulder in welcome.

“Hello sir, hugsie?” Rome stoops to plant a semi-authentic hug on Connor, gazing over his shoulder to give you a small look of endearment. A silent show of forgiveness you’ve gotten used to.“We’re so sorry man.”

“Yeah, dad screwed us.” Shiv reaches over you to hug your brother. She gives you a tight lipped smile to acknowledge your presence. “Hey, bro.”

“Oh look at you, the rebel alliance. How is it out in those hills? Supply lines okay? Got enough to eat?” Connor alters his voice a bit, putting on a front of normalcy for his family, even if he knows you can see right through it. Your siblings are still leaning on the table, standing noncommittally as you stay seated with your eldest brother. “This is how it is, huh? Us and Dad on one side, you guys on the other?”

Roman doesn’t answer, disregards his comment in favor of asking a competing question. “You… okay man? We saw Willa on the way in.”

“Yeah, I think it’s all fine.” Connor’s resolve slips as he responds, voice lowering to a level thick with anxiety and gloominess.

“Well…” You give a sideways glance at him before moving your gaze to the rest of your family. “When Willa stood up to do her speech, she said ‘I can’t do this.’ And then she ran to the bathroom and stayed there for forty minutes with her friends.” 

There’s a universal cringe that spreads across the table at that information.

“Oh no, no, no. That’s not-” Roman takes a seat, slouches back in his chair as he tries to assure Connor with some rambling. “That’s totally fine, don’t worry about that. Just… toss her another ten grand. -Or a snowmobile and some teeth whitening vouchers.” 

“Any luck, Sylvia?” Connor directs his message to a blonde, tanned woman holding a glass of red wine in one hand and her phone in the other. She shakes her head. “That’s Willa’s mom.” He adds under his breath before getting up to go speak with her in the corner.

“It's… fine Con.” Roman’s volume dwindles as your brother walks out of earshot. You scoot back in your chair a bit, craning your neck to look over at Connor while your siblings continue speaking.

“This is so fucking weird.”

“Okay so- do we regroup at my place?” Shiv lowers her voice as she speaks, almost like she’s telling a secret.

“Shiv. He’s, Come on- he’s lookin’ a little rough. Don’t you think?” Rome angles a thumb to your oldest brother. His voice is thick with sympathy, a rare display of emotion from him.

“Well, sure.” Shiv’s still standing, tapping her foot impatiently as her words speed up. “I’m sorry that Dad fucked us, and I’m sorry that we’re late, but we do need to decide fast… so…”

“Wait, decide on what?” Your head turns back to the group at the table, eyes settling on your sister in front of you. “And- you’re leaving? Seriously? You just got here, you can’t spend an hour with your brother? He’s clearly going through a lot!”

“Yeah, we should stay.” Kendall chimes in, giving you a small nod of agreement. “And- I mean, I think we know, right?”

“Do we, though? They made some pretty compelling arguments”

“Sandi’s a greedy little bitch. She’s got her hand up the ass of the carcass of her dad, and Stewy’s just along for the ride. It’s a- fuck it! It’s a packet of horseshit!” Roman’s speech gives you more insight into what it is they’re actually debating. There’s a thousand different reasons your siblings could be talking to Sandi and Stewy, but with your family it’s never just innocent conversation. And with Shiv’s comment about deciding fast… whatever they’re up to, it has to be affecting something in the near future.

“Okay. What if I want to talk it through?” Your sister stresses the word I, like she is the ultimate driving force in this decision. Which, to be fair, she seems to be.

“Talk what through? What’s going on- what are you three up to now?” Your head shakes slightly as you ask the question, already preparing for the worst. There’s a slight pause as your siblings look at each other, which you use to take another sip of champagne.

“Okay, still incommunicado.” Connor’s presence breaks the rising tension, and stops one of your siblings from having to answer you. “I just really hope she’s okay. So, what do you say? A little bit of karaoke?” 

“Would it be possible to do anything other than that in the entire universe?” 

“No, let’s do it! Come on, just this one time.” You give Connor a little shoulder nudge as he sits back next to you, encouraging his idea with a smile.

“Yeah, she’s partying, I can party.” There’s an air of both hopefulness and desperation around your brother.

“I mean, we can go drink, right? Little bachelor party for POTUS- SCROTUS?” It’s honestly a bit of a shock to you that Roman is so quick to comply. Then again, maybe he just doesn’t want to talk to Shiv about whatever scheme she's involving them in this time.

“Well I mean… we three kind of-” Shiv tries to step in, giving her best impression of someone regretful to decline such a kind invitation.

“Oh sure, everybody’s busy.”

“Come on. Let’s give him a drink, sis.” With Kendall’s agreement, your sister is outvoted. Connor claps in excitement. “Let’s give him a drink.”

“Yeah! But- but not your usual… stupid places. Uh… somewhere fun- and real! Away from the fancy dance.” Connor stands to tower above the table, talking with his hands as he outlines his plan for the night. “A real bar with chicks. And… guys who work with their hands and grease and sweat from their hands, and have blood in their hair.”

“I don’t like these guys. They sound like a medical experiment gone wrong.” Roman’s arms are crossed, his eyes narrowed in fake suspicion as Con takes a long drink of his red wine.

“Yeah… I don’t think we have that kind of place just engraved in our memories. Might have to Google this one.” You stand to join your brother, grabbing your clutch as your other siblings rise with you. Shiv is a bit reluctant, not moving until you all begin leaving the restaurant, then hurrying to catch up with you. So you quickly find yourself on the cold streets of NYC, walking (because Connor insisted) to the nearest dive bar you can find in a three block radius.

The bar is like something out of a movie. Like something from another planet. It’s all wood paneling and dark lighting and sticky counters. There’s old TVs mounted to the walls playing baseball and a glowing red exit sign over the door as you step in. The soundtrack is muted classic rock with the clinking of beer glasses over a constant chatter of patrons.

“Ah! America… I missed you.” Connor is immediately out of his depth, blue suit clashing horribly with the plaid flannels of the other customers.

“This is charming.” You shoot Roman a smile at his attempt of optimism, he brushes you off with an eye roll as you follow your oldest brother to the bar. 

“Okay, what’s everybody having?” Ken’s straight to business, you wouldn’t expect anything less out of him. “What do you want?”

“Uh- do you think they know how to make a vodka tonic?” 

“They can make a vodka tonic, Rome. You’ll just have to settle for Smirnoff” You give him an eyeroll of your own. It’s moments like these you feel so much more normal than your siblings, despite the fact that you’ve had such similar upbringings.

“House red? Do I dare?” Shiv’s comment gets a genuine laugh out of you, and a string of both ‘yes’s’ and ‘no’s’ from you and Roman. She chuckles before deciding, “That- just a club soda with a sealed lid. Nothing from that… tainted nozzle.”

“Con, what do you want?”

“I’ll just have whatever a regular Joe would have. Uh, Belgian Weissbier? Not Hoegaarden, ideally.” Connor’s distracted by his phone, looking down at it while speaking instead of answering Kendall’s question.

“How do you feel about Miller Light?” You get a small scoff from Shiv at that, but Con’s already too engrossed in his iPhone to pay you any mind. You drift over to Ken as he starts ordering the drinks. The background noise is loud enough that you can’t quite hear as Shiv pulls out her phone and begins speaking to Roman. It’s only a second before he moves away from her, but you catch the vague mentionings of Waystar and Sandi before the conversation is interrupted.

“Hey, can I get a, um- vodka tonic, I’ll have a bitters and soda…” Kendall orders for the group, listing out Shiv and Connor’s orders before turning to you for your drink.

“A Cosmo?” You pitch in, receiving a nod from the bartender in confirmation. You turn back to the trio of your other siblings, catching Con in the middle of a sentence.

“-Anyway I am reassured. She’s definitely not on her way to Cuba. Well, her phone isn’t.” You move closer to peak over his shoulder, seeing a little dot on a map lighting up his phone screen. “Yeah, she stopped movin’. Guess she found a spot she likes.”

“Sure…on another man’s dick.” You, Connor and Kendall look at Rome with the same exasperated expression as he speaks. “On a much bigger, nicer, harder, younger dick is all I’m saying.”

“Rome, that’s not-” Your tone is breathy with annoyance before your brother cuts you off.

“Can we not? Because you know, I’m feeling… I’m having certain anxieties, huh?” Roman mutters a string of disingenuous apologies as Connor talks over him. “I mean, I wanna have a good time!”

“Okay, all right. Let’s have fun. We can monitor her dot together.” Kendall’s nonchalance makes you cover your mouth to mute a giggle that you know would’ve ticked Con off. “Let’s- let’s get it up on the big screen.

“Why so long…” Connor points to his screen with two fingers. He reminds you of Logan trying to figure out new electronics when he doesn’t have an assistant nearby to do it for him. “Her dot is at an aquarium supply retailer. That doesn’t look safe- is that a drug thing?”

“No.” Looking behind Con’s back, you see Roman mouth ‘I love him’ across the way at you. You respond with blowing a little kiss in his direction.

“You sure?”

“I am sure.”

“It is. It’s a drug thing.” Roman moves in, working his magic to aggravate Connor in a way only a younger brother can. 

“Now she’s at a dry cleaners?” Connor runs a hand through his hair. 

“She’s probably getting her panties clean. Mussed 'em up a bit.” They’re too preoccupied with bickering to notice as Kendall waves to your drinks and departs the bar on a phone call.

You sigh as the two boys continue clashing, moving over to grab your drink from its spot on the bar. The drink is good enough. The vodka’s not very smooth and the orange peel looks like it was cut by a 5th grader, but it’s better than you expected from the shabby chic destination. When you start to hear Roman mention cum, you decide to break into the conversation.

“Hey guys. Drinks. Look.” You speak slowly, making big hand gestures like you’re talking to toddlers. It gets a scoff from Roman, but breaks up the tension enough for Connor to come over and grab his (definitely not Belgian, probably not even wheat based) beer. Shiv joins you too to grab her club soda. “How do we feel about food?”

“I could eat.” Connor is still pretty engrossed in his phone, but looks away for a few moments to sip from his glass. For what it’s worth, he doesn’t complain about the taste. 

“Shall we grab some menus?” Rome strolls over to grab his tonic, making his way to the nearest table.

“Here? Isn’t that guaranteeing food poisoning?” Shiv crosses her arms, holding her position at the bar as she glares at your brother.

“Come on Shivvy, we’re being average citizens. Remember?” You bite your lower lip in a smile, following Rome to sit at the table. Con comes with you, not even bothering to look up from his device as he just moves with the crowd. She’s out ruled, once again, and gives in to join you three. It’s only a few seconds later than Kendall joins you again, an indistinguishable look on his face. 

“Hey, what’s up? What did I miss?” His tone doesn’t give anything away, the same monotone, muttered pitch that you’re used to.

“We’re… eating! Right here!” Kendall sits in the free chair next to Roman as the younger man points animatedly to the menu in front of him. “Billy Ray Cyrus’s Kentucky Fried Shit Shack.”

“Roman, they’re gonna spit in your food if they hear you say that.” You shake your head, a small smile on your face as you turn your attention to your own laminated menu.

“Well, they seem to have some hearty fare.” Connor follows your lead, looking over the meal options himself.

“What was that shit?” You’re glad Roman asks before you do. The question is on your mind too, but it sounds less suspicious coming from your brother.

“Uh- Stewy…”

“Oh great, what the fuck now? What?”

“Well actually guys, can i- can i show you something?” Ken pulls out his phone, screen illuminating his face in the dark lighting of the bar.

“Yeah…” Shiv leans over to peek at Kendall’s phone while Roman tries to tune out the action happening before him. Instead of giving Ken the attention he’s asking for, Rome’s eyes scan the menu before he begins his interruption.

“Ooo, wings! I wonder from which particular creature they snip these wings.” He shifts the cadence of his voice, making his tone all whimsical and silly. “Perhaps a mammal…”

It’s um… on the comparables. It’s- it’s actually pretty fucking intriguing.” The information Kendall gives leaves a puzzled look on your face.

“Wait… why are you looking at the market comparables for Waystar?” You set down your menu as you make eye contact with Ken, narrowing your gaze slightly. “I thought you three were done with the company, completely into your Pierce-thing now.”

“Well, it just makes you think.” Shiv pitches in, your eyes shifting to her, brows still furrowed in question. “Maybe Dad isn’t on it like he used to be… he’s getting pushed around-”

“Fuck, she’s in the East River.” Connor’s outburst makes you whip around in his direction. You feel like a bobble head trying to even out our attention between your siblings. “She in the fucking- wait, no. She’s on the bridge, she’s headed to uh- Williamsberg.”

“Con, I love you, but there’s other shit going on.” You keep your tone gentle with him, a reassuring but slightly strained smile on your face.

“Not to be dicks but- can we do a little breakout chat? Just the three of us?” Shiv is already moving in her seat by the time the question is out of her mouth. Her eagerness makes you crinkle your nose in agitation. “We won’t be long, like, two minutes max.”

“Hey, fuck it. Why don’t we fold them in?” Rome scratches his nose and raises his shoulders in indifference as he addresses your sister. 

“Well, they’re not on the board so…”

“Yeah but they have sizable shares, so if the deal-” Roman makes a cutting sound low in his throat, “-they lose their payouts.” 

“Excuse me?” Connor’s focus is finally on the group instead of his phone, his hand now holding the beer glass he’d previously forgotten.

“Oh yeah, so, Shiv wants us to get mixed up in some sort of drug deal that will fuck the vote tomorrow.” And all your suspicions are unfortunately confirmed.

“You wanna fuck the deal?!” You can’t keep the shock from your voice.

“Um, no. A small delay, we all want the deal.” 

“And, look- I think I agree.” Kendall’s admission just surprises you more, causing you to shake your head lightly in disbelief.

“Oh, what the fuck now?”

“So, what? You think Waystar’s worth more than what Luk- or, Matsson’s paying, and you want to drive the price up?” Shiv and Ken nod in confirmation. “That’s so fucking stupid, he’ll walk if you try to force him to that!”

“Yeah, you’re gonna force Dad to grovel?” Connor steps in again, his expression mirroring yours. “Oh man, how long will a renegotiation take?”

“It’s a play.” Shiv moves her hands in front of her like she’s trying to smooth the air between you, trying to brush the tension away from the five of you. “More money is more money, and that’s all there is to it.”

“I just- I can’t” You stand from your seat, moving to squeeze behind Connor’s chair. “I need a break, just give me a minute.” 

“What, you running to Daddy?” Shiv calls from behind you. You flip her off.

 It’s not too difficult to find the bathroom in the restaurant, luckily it’s an individual stall with a lock on the entrance door. As soon as the latch comes down, you take a deep breath and let your back rest against the white tiled wall behind you. A hand comes up to brush hair out of your face, you fold your arms across your chest with a sigh. Reasonably, you should call your Dad. You should tell him about their scheming like a good daughter, let him deal with your traitorous siblings in any way he sees fit. But as you reach for your phone, your fingers end up dialing a different number.

“Have you been talking to my siblings?”

“A few of them, yeah.” Lukas answers your Facetime on the first ring, your phone showing an image of him sitting back in an armchair, donning a white tank top.

“Like, recently?”

“I just called Kendall a few minutes ago.”

“Fucking- I knew it.” Your jaw clenches involuntarily. If you were still a child, you’d be stomping your foot in anger.

“What’s going on? Are you okay?” Lukas’s face tenses a bit, his eyebrows coming up to form lines on his forehead as he questions you.

“Whatever you said, it’s convinced Kendall to fuck the board vote tomorrow.”

“Oh, really?” Despite the inquiry in his voice, he doesn’t seem surprised at the fact.

“They want more money from you, these market price comparables have influenced at least two of them, probably even more board members” Your filter for business information has been blown to pieces, at this point you’re letting whatever you want fly from your mouth. You’ll probably regret it in the morning.

“I figured.”

“Are you really gonna walk if they try to negotiate for more?” You can’t help the pitiful, almost whiny sound at the end of your question.

“Hey, it’s okay, I have it figured out. The deal will be fine regardless of what happens, I promise you.” Lukas’s tone takes on that nurturing tint he uses when you get flustered around him. You know that if you were there in person, he’d be pulling you into his lap to stroke your hair. “This has got you all worked up, huh?”

“I just- I feel so torn lately.” The sharp edge to your voice begins fading as he starts to coax the anger out of your system. “I just want everything to work out and everyone to be happy. And that’s really fucking hard when the people you love are all at eachother’s throats.”

“I know, you shouldn’t have to go through that. You’re just so caring, sometimes you can’t look out for yourself.” 

“I really miss you.” Your voice breaks a bit at the confession, fingers coming up to dab at the few tears that have gathered in your waterline. These moments with Lukas are like nights. Nights where the sky is dark and covered in clouds, and every once in a while the moon will peak through the haze and illuminate the entire world below. Somehow, just a minute with Lukas will brighten your entire demeanor, and will change you for the better.

“I miss you.” There’s a sad sort of smile on his face when he continues. “You have to take care of yourself when I’m not there. Don’t get overly involved with this shit, you know it’s ultimately out of your hands.”

“I- it’s like there’s so much going on I don’t even know about. And I’m just over here worried about how everyone feels.”You wrinkle your nose at the mention of feelings. Lukas gives a small chuckle at that, you wiping your tears with a newfound smile. “You should’ve seen me, I got so pissed when they said they were gonna fuck you over.”

“Aw you defended me?” He makes a little pouty face, putting out his lower lip with his best puppy dog eyes to make you laugh. “I love it when you’re feisty, turns me on.”

“Can I come up?”

“Absolutely, just tell me when. We have our company retreat soon, so before or after that I’ll carve out some time for you.”

“Oh gee thanks, cutting out time from your busy schedule to be with your girlfriend.” Lukas gives a fake frown at that, your smile grows wider in response. “I’ll talk to you soon.”

You hang up the call with a wave before tucking your phone back into your bag. Going to the janky mirror bolted to the wall, you fix any smeared eye makeup after splashing a little cool water on your face to calm down. Your head feels clearer after that conversation, your emotions more regulated and understanding a little deeper of the issue at hand. It’s strange how just a few minutes away from your family can change your mood so severely. Making your way back down the wood paneled wall of the bar, you join the silhouettes of your siblings back at the table. 

“-I wanted to get married tomorrow. I wanted to spend tonight with my family and tomorrow with my dad and I wanted to get my fucking money out.” Connor’s arms are crossed as you back down next to him, shooting a concerned look to your other siblings. “If I were you I wouldn’t have fucking come back.” He gives you a shake of his head and a glare from the corner of his eye.

“What even was that about? Were… were you telling Dad?” Kendall raises his eyebrows as he addresses your presence again.

“No, I wasn’t. That’s your own shit, I don’t wanna be involved.” He nods, but still has a look of suspicion in his eyes. “Sometimes you guys just give me migraines. But anyway, can we do anything else, Con?”

“...I would like to sing one fucking song at karaoke, because I’ve see it in the movies, and nobody ever wants to go.”  There’s a short pause before Connor speaks, but he seems happy enough to switch the subject. Shiv smiles in the background of your view, Roman puts his head down on the sticky surface of the table. You put an arm around the back of Connor’s chair and smile at him during the lull in conversation.

“You wanna do karaoke?” He nods. “Let’s do it, Mr. Bachelor. You only live once.” His face lights up at your optimism, Kendall looks at your other siblings in apprehension.

“Can we do literally anything else?” Rome’s voice is muffled from its position, and Shiv puts a hand on his back in consolation.

“Come on, one song on the night before his wedding. Toughen up, Rome.” Ken deciding to support the idea makes it 3 to 2, Connor wins.

And so, with a substantial amount of whining from Roman, your party makes its way to a new location. This time, Connor allows you to get chauffeured by his driver, sparing you from the cold New York air. The karaoke bar is all modern white surfaces and bright pink lighting. The partygoers range from business men just getting off work to bachelorette parties dressed in animal prints. Luckily, the venue has a private room available at short notice and the five of you are quickly escorted there by a polite usher.

“So, what happens now?” Connor walks to the center of the room, not waiting for the door to be fully closed before eagerly exploring the new space.

“Uh, well… someone has to humiliate themselves in the shame palace.” Shiv holds up an inflatable saxophone toy with a smirk while your brother joins Con on the couch.

“It’s not humiliation, Siobhan. It’s supposed to be fun, remember?” You move to a wall holding a mounted flatscreen and two wireless microphones, beginning to fiddle with the electronic there.

“Think they have "Desperado" by The Eagles?”

 “I would imagine they do. Longest night of my life.” Roman is still looking around with his hands on his hips, surveying the room with a grimace on his face

“Oh, shit. She's gone dark- why has she gone dark?” Connor is once again transfixed on his phone, a panicked expression coming across his features as he rambles. “I mean… is this it? Is she going off with some buck and they're gonna…you know?”

“Hey, take it easy. Kendall moves the thick book of songs that Connor had been flipping through over to himself, trying to calm him with his causal tone. “Maybe-maybe her phone just died.”

“Yeah. Have you ever considered that she might not be right for you? This could be good. Yeah?” Shiv is still perched by the tub of comical accessories, saxophone now abandoned as she leans with her hand placed on the counter. “You'll meet someone else.”

“Connor?” There’s a pause in Kendall’s speech, a soft look in his eyes when he continues. “You're not doing better than Willa.”

“I would agree. Do not let Willa go.” 

“Romulus.” Ken’s begun to pour the provided champagne, holding a glass out to his younger brother carefully. When you see the drinks begin flowing, you make your way over to your brothers, leaving your attempt at understanding the karaoke technology begin. A chime on Connor’s phone grabs his attention again, a low sigh leaving his mouth before he speaks.

“So… Dad’s on his way.”

“What?”

“He wants us to meet him down at the car when he gets here.” Connors admission makes even you puzzled, looking around at your siblings in confusion.

 “What the fսck?” Shiv opens her arms, clearly in a similar state of discomposure.

 “How does he know we're here? How do you know he’s coming?” Kendall’s voice takes on a bit of an angry edge as he looks at you. “Did you tell him? Is that what that little ‘break’ was about earlier?”

“No, I wouldn’t do that!” You’re quick to defend yourself, crossing your arms over your chest as some kind of protection, some kind of armor.

“Fuck, you totally did. You’re lying!” Shiv sounds shrill behind you, her accusatory tone making you draw your eyebrows together in annoyance.

“Well, no. I told him… that it’s the night of a thousand wobbles over here and he needs to talk to you.” Connor finally steps in, taking the heat off you.

“Why the fuck would you do that?” You turn back to your oldest brother, arms coming out in an expression of absolute bafflement.

“My life isn’t filled with secrets like some people. I share things, and I want my father to be at my wedding.” Shiv moves to the back to the couch, leaning over it with two hands bracing herself.

“You mean you want the money?”

“Well no- Siobhan, that was not my primary consideration.”

“I mean, what do we do? Do we- do we leave? I mean…” Roman’s moved a hand to his mouth, chewing at his fingernails in anxiety. It’s always startling to you, how quickly he can turn subservient at the mention of your father. “Will he come in? He’s not coming in, right?”

“I am totally down to leave.” You move closer to Roman’s side in support. “I don't want to be around you-” your finger points at Connor in objection “if you pull insane shit like this!”

“This doesn’t even affect you, why are you so upset?” Shiv’s eyes narrow in a glare at you, still suspicious from your current connection to Logan.

“Because it’s evil and manipulative and- fucking conniving!”

“You know what? Just be water, my friend.” Kendall is surprisingly calm in the situation. You wonder if he’s high.

“‘Just be wat-’ Wow, thanks man.” Roman turns to you. “What happens if I kill a Buddist? Do I get reincarnated as a fucking Buddhist?”

“I hope not.” You sigh, grabbing the champagne from your brother's hand and swallow it in one gulp. “Fuck it, I’m really just gonna leave. I don’t think I can take any more of this shit tonight.”

“Honestly I would too, you don’t need to be a part of this.” Roman runs a hand through his hair as he begins pacing across the room. 

“I don’t know whether to be offended or not…” You move to reach across the island table grabbing the mostly full bottle of champagne from its resting place. “I’ll just deal with Dad on my own. I’d rather not experience his wrath in front of other people. And looking at Connor makes me want to vomit right now”

“Fair enough.” Kendall is still calm, leaning back on the couch as he addresses you with an expression so neutral that it makes you want to roll your eyes.

“Do you wanna come with?” You make eye contact with Roman, eyebrows raising in question.

“... I dunno-”

“If you wanna run away you can. Just send him another little text later, ‘Sorry I missed you Daddy, take care!’” Shiv makes her voice all whiny when she quotes your brother. She’s clearly trying to aggravate him, get him to stay even if it’s not the best idea. You silently pray that Roman’s strong enough to resist her.

“Fine, I’ll fuckin- stay. Let Dad strangle all of us together, mass homicide.” But he’s not. He gives in to Shiv too easily, makes you frown in empathy.

“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow then. Text me later okay? I worry about you guys.” As you turn to leave, you add one thing over your shoulder with a little grin. “Don’t… don’t let him push you around. As much as I disagree with you, you have to make your own choices. Even if they’re wrong.” 

On the way home you finish the bottle, staring out the backseat window of the SUV as the bright lights of NYC whizz past you. When you enter your apartment, you only pause to set down the empty drink and kick off your heels before flopping back onto your bed. Your chest is a little giggly and your brain is a little fuzzy from the alcohol. So of course you decide it’s the perfect time to call your boyfriend.

“Hiii!” You speak as soon as he answers, drawing out the word with a cheeky smile on your face. You’ve rolled onto your stomach by now, supporting yourself with  your elbows as you gaze lovingly down at the image of Lukas in your phone. 

“Oh, you’re drunk. And sexy.” You laugh at that, it’s always surprising how quickly Lukas can read you. To be fair, you do look really hot. Your cheeks are flushed, your hair is messy, and your mascara is smudged beneath your eyes. It reminds Lukas of how you look after he’s fucked you really well. 

“Yeah…I drank a bottle of champagne. By myself.” 

“Things went that bad?” His eyebrows furrow a bit as he questions you, clearly worried about your wellbeing.

“Kinda? It was actually Connor’s fault this time though.” You roll onto your back with a sigh, hair splaying out behind you in a halo. You hold your screen above your head, giving Lukas a little peak at the cleavage coming out of your shirt.

“Really? What happened?” His eyes dart to the sliver of your skin, but come back up to your eyes as he awaits your response.

“He, like, went to our dad about the shit Shiv and Rome and Ken are up to. The vote stuff I told you about.”

“And Logan was mad?”

“I assume so? I kinda left before he got there… it was just too much.” Your lips come together in a frown. “I dunno, maybe I shoulda stayed.”

“No, no, you did good. Looking out for yourself like I told you to.” Lukas gives a smile that you can’t help but mirror. He knows how his praise gets you.

“Maybe, we’ll see what happens. With him it’s like night or day. He’ll either love that I didn’t agree with them or hate that I didn’t rat them out to him.”

“Well, I’m proud of you. Regardless of what he says.” His tongue darts out to wet his lower lip, eyes traveling back down to your cleavage.

“Thank you.” You pause for a second just looking at him before you continue. “If I wasn’t so drunk I’d have Facetime sex with you right now.”

“I can tell. Your pupils are so big your eyes look black.” Playfully, you roll your eyes in response. “Call me in the morning, I’ll take care of you then.”

“Okayyy, and I’ll see you soon right? Come up before your retreat thing?”

“Of course. I’ll talk to you in the morning, go get some sleep.”

You do end up getting some sleep that night, following your boyfriend's wishes. But you also energetically masturbate to his past dick pics to tire yourself out. When you tell him that in the morning, he audibly groans at the fact that he missed watching you. 

In the end, Logan isn’t mad at you. He’s not pleased either. But, being indifferent is better than you expected. Atleast, that’s what you tell yourself. He invites you with the core executive crew to come to Sweden for a sudden meeting with Matsson, and of course you accept. It means you’ll miss Connor’s wedding, but you honestly don’t want to see him right now anyways. Plus, it means you get to see Lukas sooner than expected. Ken ended up texting you a brief recap of what happened after you left last night. When you read it in the morning it makes you glad that you weren’t there. 

It almost feels like yesterday was a dream. Like life is all back to normal now and things will carry on just as they always have. The deal will go through, Logan will be happy leading ATN, your siblings will be happy with Pierce, or whatever they end up working with. And you will live happily ever after with Lukas, ideally on Mars, or in outer space, or some other place that alienates you from all physical contact with your family.

At least some of that ends up happening.

© secondhand-snow 2024

[ryuichirou]

do you have any headcanons for the twst boys' opinions on gossip?

Anon, this is such a fun question to be honest lol One of those questions when at first I think that I won’t have much to say, but I guess I do have something to say about all of them. Spoiler alert: the absolute majority of them ended up being such gossips omg. NRCreally is a school for assholes…

Thank you for your question, and sorry for the delay!

Riddle – he thinks that gossip is stupid and useless because he has the idea of a typical gossiper in his head, and he hates that person. That being said, Riddle was raised in the household in which his parents shittalked everyone in their town all the time, so he is kind of prone to doing that, and I would still count it as gossip lol Still, if you asked him, he would say that he prefers to mind his own business.

Ace – one of the biggest lovers of gossip in this school, he is always the first to ask questions when he gets a feeling that something is going on somewhere. He isn’t interested in every single piece of gossip though, so a lot of times he rolls his eyes and says “WHO CAAARES”… And sometimes he gets defensive and says that he doesn’t like people talking behind their backs. As if he doesn’t do it himself.

Deuce – he used to hate gossip as a young delinquent because he always felt like people were gossiping about him… he still feels that way, so he gets anxious about the idea of gossip. But he is still pretty curious and can’t fight the urge to eavesdrop when Ace asks someone to tell him about something that their senpai were doing the other day.

Trey – he doesn’t care, he really doesn’t. Alright, he cares a little bit when it concerns someone he cares about, and yeah I guess he is also a bit of a hypocrite lol But! The gossip just keeps finding him! People keep telling Trey their secrets! Or someone else’s secrets! So the majority of time he just laughs awkwardly and thinks about how he didn’t ask but now he has this piece of information in his head that he won’t be able to forget.

Cater – probably the biggest chitter-chatter of the school. He is unapologetically nosy and likes to “do his research”, i.e. casually ask about certain things, hint at wanting to know certain things, shares certain things… he is the type of person to scroll through someone else’s entire magicam profile just to see when exactly they started interacting with some other influencer. He doesn’t see it as a bad thing, he just likes being informed!

Leona – another one who visibly doesn’t care, but gets interested every now and then without really showing it. He knows more that people think because a lot of times he just pretends to fall asleep while others are talking. But he rarely discusses anything with anyone.

Ruggie – he hates it when people are being judgmental about him (or anyone else) being nosy because COME! ON! Everyone likes to gossip, don’t act like you’re above it! Who cares! So yeah, he gossips, but he also knows much more than he lets others know. He is very protective of some of the information he obtains though because it could be useful later…

Jack – he hates gossip. His moral principles don’t allow him to eavesdrop and take an interest in other people’s business when it doesn’t concern him personally. It doesn’t mean he never gets interested, and sometimes his ears move in a very obvious manner, showing that he is in fact listening, but he tries control himself. “Mind your own business!”

Azul – this guy used to gossip with his grandma all the time. Grandma Ashengrotto knows everything about everyone because people always go to her to solve their problems and complain, and she is as lovely as she is sneaky and judgmental. Baby Azul always giggled when his grandma greeted someone with a smile and soft voice despite talking shit about that person to Azul only a minute ago. And he is exactly like her… He hates everyone, he judges everyone and gossips a lot. He is very selective about who he gossips with because he doesn’t want people to start going around saying “well Azul told me this”; so he only talks shit with Jade, Floyd, and Idia. To Azul it’s just collecting information + venting.

Jade – he listens to every single piece of gossip and absorbs it like a sponge. He doesn’t really discuss all this, aside from occasional shittalking sessions with Azul and Floyd, even though it’s always job-related with them. If there was a rank of characters who know the most about the rest of the NRC students, Jade would probably be in top5. He is confident in his channels of information though, so if he really wanted to, he could’ve been the second. No one beats Rook, I’m sorry. Jade also really enjoys listening to other people gossiping and acting like this is the first time he is hearing about what they’re talking about.

Floyd – he has the same channels of information as Jade, but his opinion on gossip really depends on his mood. Sometimes he gets super nosy, but a lot of times he doesn’t care. If the gossip is fun to listen to, he’ll be obsessed and ask a lot of questions. If it’s just “this guy slept with this guy”, he stops listening right away: why would he care? Sounds lame and not interesting.

Kalim – he is an innocent gossiper. He doesn’t mean anything bad by it, he just hears something about someone and goes “no way!” and then he ends up learning a lot of shit he probably shouldn’t know. He hangs out with Cater and Lilia, so this happens to him a lot. Good thing is, Kalim forgets everything instantly lol He does mention this stuff to Jamil sometimes though.

Jamil – he would be a gossip if he had someone he trusted enough to gossip with. He knows a lot of things because, similarly to Trey, sometimes people just dump their secrets on him, and he is usually annoyed when it happens. But then again, he is just as hateful as Azul, and he finds it hilarious when other people flop.

Vil – now this is someone who genuinely hates gossip because he was surrounded by it since he was a preschooler. Even though he has a very tough skin and the majority of things that people say doesn’t bother him, he used to be more sensitive and even now still gets upset when he hears certain things… well, we know how it is with Vil. So in theory, he hates when someone is talking behind someone else’s back. Which doesn’t mean that he doesn’t do that himself, mind you lol He enjoys discussing people too much, not always in a bad way. He only does it with people he is very comfortable with though, so mostly with Rook. He also shittalks Leona with Lilia, but that’s a whole different thing.

Rook – I mean, he did straight-up tell everyone about Ruggie eating dandelions lol Even though he doesn’t mean anything bad by it; Rook knows too much information about everyone not to spill the tea every now and then. Sometimes he could spill it on purpose though, if he feels like the person hearing it would benefit from it in a way that it would make them realise something important or make the right decision… And sometimes he just tells something and goes “oh la la pardon I didn’t know it was a secret I am very sorry”. He isn’t sorry at all. Also yes, he could talk about other people’s business with Vil in private for hours.

Epel – gossip is stupid! And yes, he’ll still be very interested in it! A lot of it is that he just doesn’t want to miss out. He sees his friends discussing someone, he doesn’t get what they’re talking about, he gets annoyed and asks questions, and now he is gossiping with them too. He also doesn’t know any tea that is too juicy, but if he did, he would probably tease the person… as long as it isn’t a senpai because teasing them is scary + he will get smacked by Vil for that.

Idia – like I’ve already mentioned, he talks shit about others with Azul, but he also does it with Ortho all the time. He isn’t very interested in others’ affairs, but if he gets frustrated about someone, he will vent and he will talk about everything he doesn’t like about them, including that one time they said something stupid, and Idia went “huh? you don’t even know that? lol what a noob”. When he isn’t annoyed with anyone though, he doesn’t care. He’ll just talk shit about stupid people from the internet then lol

Ortho – he gossips just for the sake of it. He really enjoys his new experiences as a proper student, and gossiping with friends is very important to be a proper student! But since he grew up around Idia, sometimes he gets very “ehhh, isn’t this just sad? lmao”, so to speak lol But it’s okay, he is learning to wait a bit before jumping into fully toxic gossiping mode.

Lilia – he enjoys gossip a lot, and he doesn’t see any harm in it. It’s okay, it’s okay~ All this teenage drama doesn’t matter anyway. So he is one of Cater’s biggest enablers lol Sometimes Lilia wants to gossip with his boys, but they aren’t very good at it… he would get very toxic around Idia though. Lilia knows shit, and Lilia doesn’t mind bringing it up if he really wants to shit on someone. He doesn’t care if someone gossips about him, too.

Silver – he doesn’t get it. If someone tries to talk to him about someone else’s trouble, he’ll just get concerned and say that he hopes it gets better for them. If he hears that someone made out in the closet, he’ll just get confused… He really isn’t much of a gossiper. How did Lilia manage to raise him like this?

Sebek – why should he care! He doesn’t! This doesn’t concern him at all!.. Buuut he is still technically a part of the first years’ friend group, so he gets to listen to them yapping about someone else’s personal drama a lot. He is similar to Jack in a way that he tries not to listen and to think about something else, but he still gets kind of invested after a certain point…

Malleus – he would really enjoy a private conversation discussing something in a bit of a playful manner, but he doesn’t usually get to. Usually he gets left out, and whenever someone does try to gossip with him (mostly Lilia), Malleus just ends up getting annoyed because he is talking about some people Malleus doesn’t know or events he wasn’t invited to. The boy is too bitter to even gossip, oops…

[seralyra]

Fic idea I had at the start of Secret Life that didn't age well:

Grian joined the Watchers after leaving Evo for a time as a way to de-stress. Watching is much less hard work than creating, after all. But his urge to be active, play and meddle in a much more direct way brought him back to being a Player.

Or at least part time Player. He still has his Eyes everywhere. He wants to see what his friends are up to when he's not with them, after all. Nosy boy that he is. He tends to come "home" to watch every now and again, catching up with the other Watchers.

The Watchers love watching him in turn, especially the little death games he's hosting every now and again. But just watching... well if you're invested in a show as much as the Watchers have been, someday just watching just isn't enough. Also Grian has been a bad influence on them.

Grian isn't all too sure he should allow a bunch of otherworldly beings to directly interfere with his games. He knows exactly how well that had worked on Evo. Although back there he hadn't been one of them and he hadn't been the one to host the games.

But whenever he comes to visit his weird family to watch and relax, they keep pestering him. And eventually his resolve crumbles.

The Secret Keeper is his solution to keep his Players safe from the Watchers more... aggressive... playstyle. Through the Secret Keeper they can affect the game without breaking it. And Grian, being the admin, can do damage control by bending the rules to fit everyones best interest.

What he didn't account for was the Watchers ulterior motives. They'd seen Scar and Grian dance around each other in circles for too long at this point. And they were determined to do something about it.

First point of the agenda: Get BigB out of the picture and make him dig a hole.

Second point... okay they got a bit distracted with the whole Mumbo and Grian dynamic. Those two were just the funniest people together, who could blame them?

Third... profits? They were still working it out. But they would get there. If Grian liked it or not.

On a more meta note and to explain my made up concept:

I always liked the interpretation of the Watchers as a representation for the audience. We meddle. We can be kind and cruel. Some of us are the ultimate backseat gamers. But most importantly: We are fluid.

A lot of the audience doesn't just watch. We also create and play. We switch roles. Sometimes we are Watchers. Other times we are Players.

We can't enter all the universes directly, of course. The Hermitcraft servers. The Traffic Life servers. Those are glass bubbles for us to look into and yell at. But even if we can't enter them we can usually affect them from the outside.

The Secret Keeper is our way of getting into the Life Series this season. Grian explicitly told us to come up with tasks, making us the Watchers.

And thus the Watchers in this take aren't (always) cruel and don't force Grian to just watch. They can be forceful and demanding, but in the end, they are fond of Grian and don't want to actively harm him.

It's more of the other way around! Grian is different from them in the sense that he was a Player first and a Watcher second. And he's been slowly showing them the joy of creating on their own. They've dabbled in meddling, of course. But they usually were very passive when they weren't busy keeping worlds running.

But now? Now they really wanna play, too.

[sea-owl]

I have had a shitty day today.

What has put a smile on my face is your accidental marriage trope.

Tell me, what kind of a shitshow does Phillip walk in to ag his first family dinner?

How does he top the chaos with his twins?

Not going to lie, I kinda want it to end with Violet smoking a cigarette in the garage. Trying to recover

I'm sorry you had such a bad day lovley.

Let's see, I've been debating this for a while but what if the accidental marriage also happened in the Full House au. So now we got the Crane twins running wild but they're being horrible influences on their younger cousins. Meanwhile Penelope is trying to stay calm because holy shit the random man from London aka her baby daddy was also here.

The Bridgertons descend on Phillip's home so they can work out some sort of agreement for the anullment, and they're nosy. They need to see what kind of man Eloise married, even if it's only temporary. Plus, since they're trying to stay on the downlow, it would be more inconspicuous for the family to travel separately to an unknown location to the media than to one of their homes.

One by one, the Bridgertons started to show. First to show was Sophie and Benedict, who live the closest. Anthony, Kate, and Violet were next. Violet just had to scout out the new potential grand babies. She has a gut feeling this Phillip fellow and his family are gonna be around longer than what the others think, no matter what Anthony says. Daphne and Simon follow behind. Gregory and Hyacinth drove all the way from University to see this shit show, some good quality entertainment right here. Colin and Francesca are the last to arrive.

Michael can't tell who's tenser between his two friends. He can understand why Phillip is tense. The Bridgertons are a powerful family. Hell, he remembers when John first started dating Francesca how big of a deal it was. Now, here was poor Phillip who just accidentally married in on a drunken night. Penelope has a story with these people though, he can tell.

The meal itself goes well. The Bridgertons ask questions. They learn Phillip is a botanist and a part time professor. He's never been married. He's 30. Favorite color is green. His two friends live with him mainly because he doesn't know what to do with this big house he inherited, so why not let his friends live with him. Two of the four children living in the house are his. No one admits that those children are from drunken one night stands. Better to keep that quiet.

Michael and Penelope get asked questions too. More so Penelope than Michael since Michael already knows the Bridgertons.

Things start getting interesting when they discuss the plan for Eloise's and Phillip's anullment.

"We can't do the anullment right away. The media is in a frenzy right now from Eloise's posts," Anthony starts. "That being said, they'll also be in an even bigger frenzy should we do the anullment too soon or if Eloise is spotted living with one of us. Do you mind her staying here?"

Phillip looked from Michael to Penelope. While it was his house, they lived here too, and he was always fair about them getting their say. Michael shrugged, he didn't mind. Eloise could easily keep up with the kids, and it seems like she's developing a fast friendship with Penelope, too.

"That's fine," Phillip agreed. "Just as long as the children living here are kept out of the media."

Anthony nodded. If there was one thing the Bridgertons could do, it was control the narrative. If they didn't want someone to be known, they could do it. I mean, look at Francesca, no one could find anything about her online unless she shared it. "Our family would feel more comfortable if two of us could possibly check in and keep an eye on things."

Eloise raised an eyebrow. "Are you siccing a babysitter on me?"

"I'm sending damage control," Anthony shot back. "You know Colin and Francesca are some of the best at getting the media to calm down."

"Why can't it be Benedict?" Eloise questioned.

Everyone looked towards the said Bridgerton and his very pregnant wife sitting next to him.

"Very well," Eloise muttered.

"Besides," Colin said. "We'll only be checking in. Officially, Fran and I will be visiting Benedict and Sophie to help them prepare for the baby."

Michael watched Penelope tensed further as Phillip agreed to the babysitters. He really needed to get that story out of her.

Then Violet asked to see the children. "I brought some sweets for them."

Phillip and Penelope got up to go get their respective sets of twins while Eloiseled her family to the sitting. Michael follows his friends to give the Bridgertons some privacy, and he figured this was his best chance to talk to his own little family.

Once they were far enough away from the dining room and not in hearing distance of the kids, Michael pulled his friends to the side. "You two need to relax. I don't know who was tenser between the two of you. I bet if we had put some coal in your hands, we could have made diamonds."

Phillip sighed while Penelope shot Michael a dirty look.

Michael shrugged. "Hey the scary part is over. Now we get to watch Violet get the kids on a sugar high."

Phillip rubbed his temples. "Oh lord, Amanda and Oliver on sugar."

Michael laughed. "Oh, I can't wait for my nibblings' chaos. But before that," Michael turned to the short red head. "What was with you this evening? I understand why Phillip was tense. But you were just as bad."

Penelope let out her own sigh. "Do you remember the random man from London?"

"Your drunken one night stand baby daddy? Yeah, what about him?"

"He's in the sitting room."

Both boys jaws dropped. "Which one?!"

"The babysitter," Penelope answered.

Michael couldn't help himself, he really couldn't. He busted out laughing. "So let me get this straight. The Bridgertons, one of the most powerful families in the country, the same people who gave even my perfect cousin John a hard time. You," he points to Phillip, "accidentally marry one, and you," he points to Penelope, " have babies with another. All thanks to drunk nights!"

Oh this was perfect! Michael couldn't wait to see this shit show play out. Couldn't ask for better entertainment.

"Aren't you in love with Francesca? Who's the other babysitter?"

Oh now why did they have to be rude and bring that up?

[strange-destinations]

....I need you to break down which Game of Rassilon characters would survive Dracula now please.

ah fuck okay, here we go. going by @canyourfavesurvivecastledracula's set of critera at the top of the blog...

Riley!Doctor - Wouldn't take the crucifix because she's already got several spare ones in her pockets, somewhere, maybe, she'll go looking for them later. Of course she's sneaking around and getting nosy. It's what she does. Holds Dracula's attention well enough until he says something really blatantly evil, and then she promptly snaps and ruins everything and turns the whole deal into a survival horror game. Finds a rusting sword somewhere and beats the three vampire gfs back with it. Uses her scarf to rappel her way down the side of the castle, and uses a combination of Venusian Akido and clever sonic screwdriver technobabble to disrupt the vampiric influence on the wolves. She's the Doctor. She'll be fine.

Millie - the real-life Amelia Earhart was somewhat religious, so I can easily see her taking the crucifix if offered. Talking and climbing aren't what's going to save her here. Her greatest strength is piloting and repurposing things. In the absense of a plane or spaceship, she might very well hijack the carriage Dracula drove in on. 50/50 chance of her managing to pull this off.

Travis Killian - Travis's greatest strength lies in his ability to fuck with technology, and unfortunately castle Dracula is not wi-fi enabled. He's genre-savvy enough and probably knows enough vampire lore to get a good grasp on what's going on, but that's not going to save him. I don't doubt his ability to survive a few terrifying conversations with the Count, but I do doubt his ability to climb down a ladder, let alone a massive castle wall. Probably going to die without assistance, let's hope he asks for help.

Roman - Roman would try to shoot Dracula several times and miss, every time; but that only happens at the climax of this little disaster. Vampires and Time Lords are natural enemies, so he'd have a pretty good idea what's going on from the start. Being left in a creepy old building owned by a malicious entity that wants him to suffer and lose his mind is kind of already Roman's thing, so he gets bonus points for that. Roman can absolutely talk his way around Dracula and in fact I'd pay actual money to see those conversations. When things inevitably go to shit and he has to run like hell, the aforementioned bad Marksman score kicks in. He fails to even so much as wound Dracula, and probably isn't remotely equipped to climb down the castle walls. The wolves probably get him. Sorry, Roman. He dies, but don't worry, it's all part of the plan.

Carrie Vu - after ascertaining that someone really weird is going on in the town, would turn up at Castle Dracula's front doors and offer him girl scout cookies that she doesn't own in order to sneak in and snoop around. Dracula would not be fooled but would let her in anyway. Every conversation between Carrie and Dracula is the equivalent of getting beat around the head with a rubber chicken. There's no way to predict how any of this will go. Dracula is too bemused and off-balance to contemplate killing her at first. Gets very very offended when he calls her iPhone a foul bauble of man's vanity. Would manage to get at least one good whack in with her baseball bat. The vampire GFs do eventually get her and things look hopeless, but the Corsair swings in at the last moment to rescue her, and the resulting scene is like something off the front cover of a horny romance novel.

Dan!Doctor - Would take the crucifix, insist on paying or giving something back, comedic 5-minute sequence of him pulling random currency and bizarre items out of his pockets. Solemnly promises to do something about the babies getting stolen and eaten, and this is his entire life goal for the next few weeks. Probably manages Dracula marginally better than Riley!Doctor, can keep up and hold a conversation while carefully plotting his exit route. Locates every coffin and regretfully destroys them. Very thoroughly makes sure that no part of Dracula's cunning real estate plan will ever come to pass. Escapes Castle Dracula by jumping out a window because climbing is too slow. He's good at falling off things, he'll be fine probably.

Lita Fane - Lita's wary enough that I have serious doubts she'd even go up to the castle in the first place unless coerced or forced into it. She feels much more like the person to stay down in the town and try to help the people living there. Assuming she has to go to the castle anyway - I don't know if the crucifix would be even recognizable to her as an important item, so she'd probably just be really confused about it, might take it just to be polite. Engineering skills aren't really helpful to her here. I don't think she'd be great at talking to the Count, either. Dracula sets off every red flag possible for her - Lita's having a bad time. It doesn't feel like she'd be an especially great climber, either. Lita's a survivor, but probably not in this case. Vampires were never really the thing she learned how to survive.

Stanley Campbell - Oh, god. Sorry, but there's just no way Stanley would notice that Dracula is even remotely a vampire until it's way WAY too late. 50/50 on him taking the crucifix but I'm thinking maaaybe not. He'd probably end up wandering. Dracula would lose interest in his tangents very very fast. He ain't climbing his way out, with OR without crocs. One way or another, he's not moseying his way out of this one.

bonus: Joseph!Doctor - a stick is just a stake that hasn't been sharpened yet. Dracula's going down.

[danieyells]

I was reading Leo's affinity lines and his max affinity line has him making a bet with PC about who falls for whom first.

What if PC said something like "Jokes on you, I am already in love but it's not you", and the rumour spreads and now all the ghouls are thinking whom it might be , while Leo is just ... Leo

It would be even more funny if it's just an NPC they are in love with or even better if it's the janitor 👀

Lol I feel like Leo's reaction would be very 'this isn't about someone else you might be in love with this is about me' like. What's it matter if they like someone else? Do they think they're the only person he likes? NOT THAT HE LIKES THEM-- the bet still stands. They can love other people all they want but that doesn't mean he won't be among them.

On the other hand he probably wouldn't believe them when they say it's not him U: like yeah okay of course you're not in love with me. You'll admit it eventually.

But yeah I think if a rumor that the scholarship student was into someone got out people would start speculating. . . .and Leo would wanna know who it is and try and find out or get them to spill. Because he loves gossip and tea and being nosy. And he'd probably judge your taste unless it was like. Jin or Romeo. Or him, obviously.

You like Tohma? That fake ass guy??? I don't think you'd be worth faking love for for him.

You like Kaito? You'd be a terrible influencer if you fall for your simps that easily.

You like Lucas? Well that's just hopeless.

You like Alan? He sees the appeal in a good himbo at least but the guy's just as hopeless as Lucas.

You like Sho? Ha. Good luck with that. Sho's kind of a heartbreaker. Good luck with not falling for Leo too when they're basically a package deal!

You like Haru? The guy too busy to even attend to himself? Have fun pining I guess. Pretty pathetic.

You like Towa? Your taste is fascinating they should study you in a lab.

You like Ren? Yeah Ren probably doesn't like you. Pathetic.

You like Taiga? Are you some kind of masochist? Oh he's heard of this you're into vore aren't you. Freaky.

You like Subaru? Pretty boy with the perfect life and submissive personlity? That's about as basic bitch taste as you can get.

You like Haku? Again, fake. You like guys who make the first move and who're probably gonna cheat on you.

He doesn't know Zenji exists(maybe??? Maybe he could hear him with his stigma????) but. He wouldn't even know where to start with how bad he'd think your taste is for that.

He probably doesn't know about Ed either but he'd absolutely judge you for being into a vampire. Like is your fyp all gross booktok romance shit?

You like Rui? Hopeless. Maybe he can put you out of your misery lol

You like Lyca? Again, judging you for being into werewolves.

You like Jiro? Laughably hopeless! Jiro doesn't like you for sure.

You like Yuri? Once again you should be studied in a lab, but maybe you'd enjoy that too much.

You like Cornelius? Jokes about calling the cops.

You like Moby? You're a pervert with a tentacle fetish. Also you'll always be second to whatever group or whatever he's simping over.

You like Nicolas? You've got the most bland milquetoast taste in men he's ever seen.

You like Hyde? That is hilarious and he is going to text Sho right now oh my god. Hyde's a weirdo so maybe you have a chance there but Sho is never gonna let you live this down.

He probably doesn't know the janitor--at minimum he'd concede that he's a good looking dude--but if he did know him he'd probably have similar criticism to Haku. The guy feels fake and like he flirts with every cute girl he sees. Also, gross. Yeah Darkwick is pretty clean, not a ton for him to maintain, but still. And he'd probably have a similar "well I guess NPCs fit better together" reaction to the janitor or a general student lololol

[silusvesuius]

Just 2 expand on what you posted abt telvas gf/bf what kind of person would he be into? Would it b different the stuff he’s attracted 2 in a guy vs a girl orrrr … Ps I luvvvv ur nelvas stuff. Ur so rite & u must speak the truth 🫶 also would neloth react diff to him having a bf 2 a gf …. The ppl want answers

omg Thank you 4 this ask 🥰 my thoughtums under the cut

hmmmm this is very much in the nelvas lens 🔎 but i can't help it cause i swearrrr their existences blend into each other. so here's wat i think i believe talvas under nelothian watch would grow to want to be coddled and pitied by ... Women 🙆‍♀️ very gentle and patient women that he can view as very motherly. Where are his parents man if i was his age and being thrown around like a pizza by an old ass man i'd be crying so hard i'd want to go back home stat. i can't even picture talvas having fun ever in his life anymore so..... JKUIUDFDOFIOR i couldn't say it'd be someone that's on the same wave as him or is trying to change him into a more confident person.. he'd just want to be pitied a lot. but as i said not in the way that this pampering behavior would prompt him to realize he's being harshly mistreated by neloth, it just serves as empty words to soothe him and his Damaged Dead Decapitated self confidence and self perception 😸 as 4 men my first instinct is to say he;d like older guys but that's too obvious. but yeah. i think talvas has the most awful social battery so he hates loud or 'fun' people so he'd lean on men that are either very ' ' gentlemanly ' ' or generally Smart and have something interesting to say. it'd be harder for him to hold long-lasting relationships with dudes cause the only Dude his life revolves around is masta neloff 🏆 he'd feel a bit bad or awkward about leaving women tho just cause he's a nice boy. tho the thing that stays in both male and female dating ventures is him being unable to feel real love towards anyone. or should i say attachment. && i bet it makes him SAD. but he can't do anything about it. he's superglue'd to neloth in attachment terms tho.. talvas with him is the personification of that 'when the only person you know at the party is busy talking to someone else (guy standing awkwardly on the side)' thing.. his unability to get actually close with others just has to be blamed on neloth ruining his self image too. You know neloth will get pissed at his tea not being hot enough and then insult your entire existence he dgaf about making things really personal for no reason . KING.

First of all tho iiiiii jsut know talvas would NEVER tell neloth that he's seeing anyone. 1. cause it's none of his business 2. cause he's embarrassed about it. he doesn't just date often anyways so neloth doesn't have to know, not that a noticable change happens. if neloth found out about any relationship at any point he'd get nosy as faaaack for no reason even if he'd try to not be. Nosy. he can't help it 🥳 if he asks talvas what plans he has for the day && he answers 'none' like 3 days in a row he's gonna start yelling in his face like THAT'S HOW I KNOW YOUR STUPID ASS GIRLFRIEND DUMPED YOU YOU DEGENERATE WHAT FEMALE WANTS A BORING DRY AF FAILURE FOR A MANDon't ask me how i know u have a girlfriend though :) you were saying?

Second, as for his differing reactions, yk his blood is boiling and cooking him from the inside if it's a man. i think him witnessing other men have influence on talvas would just make him feel like talvas is being 'tainted' (by the wrong people..?) and put in a wrong direction for his life (neloth views talvas' relationships to men only as him being lead or tutored by them in one way or another; he expects him as a younger man Only to look up to ONLY other men if that makes sense). he'd be more intrusive and maybe homophobic for talvas' man-on-man dating just cus he thinks he actually owns talvas and he can't and shouldn't have other (especially older) men in his vicinity.. with women he'd just get mad @ them being very lovey dovey to talvas like to a baby. imagine just living your life and some old ass man starts grilling you about how you shouldn't coddle men and especially that dude you've been seeing cause he did nothing to earn it . also he just hates women in general, especially the type talvas would like.. women that are just kind from the heart and Angelic are useless beings to him. even then i still know he'd be a big fan of purity and kindness in a way.. like something he wants to study... he's not necessarily attracted to those traits but likes seeing how they come to the surface when someone with that docile nature is confronted with vile behavior... so like.. Talvas. 🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅 that's it pretty much 🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅

[imjustabeanie]

My part of the exchange with @fourtyfourcatss !

Sorry for the wait! I hope you like it!

Your kuroshitsuji match is….Sebastian!

Now listen it was a very tough choice cuz your runner up is Edward, but in the end I think your chemistry with sebby is better. Anime Sebastian is a sweetheart compared to how bitchy he is in manga (he is my fav but someone slap this man).

Sebastian is charming and very manipulative….he has a lot of facades and can just become your dream man if he wants to which means that getting down to the real him is the challenge of a lifetime. Heck who knows why he decided to court someone. But I ain’t here to analyse morally um…dubious characters or anything cuz we’d be here for the night and I’m a beige flag who loves red flags so anyways. I think Sebastian is the type to fall later and be surprised that he can even fall in love. This means that when he realizes it’s serious he will distance himself at first and then basically stay glued to you. He’s quite a possessive lover because love is foreign to him. This sums up how you got together and the biggest obstacle in the relationship.

Sebastian is a lover who’ll always hype you up and help you achieve your ambitious goals. It can get overbearing sometimes because you don’t want to disappoint him but really just talk to him about it as he’s not the most emotionally intelligent. He loves how passionate you are and if it’s in his field, he will happily coach you and help you out without showing off much. He also appreciates your honesty because dealing with fake people all the time can be so tiring (oh the hypocrisy…).

He is not a negligent lover but he’s also not always here due to his deals and job. He makes up for it when he’s back by giving you a divine royal treatment. Nothing is impossible for you (his words). I also headcanon that he tries to buy you gifts based by what other couples buy but he still finds the concept foreign because demons aren’t that materialistic. You two are also Undertaker favorite visitors due to your humor (he teases Sebastian about his feelings each time).

He lives to impress and he won’t rest until he can impress you. The main reason is pride. If this one hell of a butler couldn’t impress his lover then what kind of demon is he? No he won’t stand for it lol. This results in a pouty Sebastian that you can tease and reassure. Careful, he’ll return the teasing tenfold. This man won’t hesitate to show off his demonic strength and just exhaust you with work which is quite embarrassing cuz you’re physically active and tired while he is smirking. You’re more considerate than him and he’s a bad influence that’ll encourage you to put yourself first all the time even if it’s harmful to others.

Your artistic side makes him happy because you two can just enjoy art together and there’s a high chance he’ll tell you a story about the artist. Heck if he can he will even let you contact your favorite writers, even if they’re dead. Your logical side is a breeze to him because he’s surrounded by idiots whose savior is you. I mean you’re the only one who’ll patiently explain everything easily while Sebastian is just condescending to them! Sebastian is a little old fashioned but if you want to try a new creative way he will help you out. It’s shocking because he usually dismisses the idea when someone else proposes it.

Overall it’s quite an adventurous relationship who does have its up and downs due to Sebastian origins so…good luck. I don’t even know how I squeezed out so much from your description…is it me or do I write like I’m a couple therapist?

Your Hades match is…..Zagreus! With Hermes as a close runner up

Him and Sebby is like cats and dogs. Zagreus is the definition of the clumsy golden retriever boyfriend who means well lmao. He’s nosy, curious, creative, AMBITIOUS, and so honest it’s not surprising that you two got together. Your matchmakers were Cupid and Aphrodite even blessed your union (please they pushed him to confess after being tired of his rambling).

You two are so ambitious you’re making Thanatos go crazy. I mean you’re more rationable than him but you two always hype up the other which creates trouble. Zagreus is proud of it and proud of you. He’s always rambling about how creative and good you are to him. He loves to read with you and tries to help you out in your writing by giving you new ideas and such. Heck he walks around with a notepad in case you have a new idea you want to write down. He’ll take it out even if you two are in the middle of a battlefield. Due to his lack of self preservation, the thinking is left to you and he’s the bodyguard. Just because he’s reckless doesn’t make him less protective. Dying sucks, even if you come back to life, that’s why he will do his best to never let you die. If you die before him he goes on a rampage and then comes back all sad and apologetic to you (he wants to bring the head of your enemy but doesn’t know how you’ll react. That’s mythology romance lol).

Zagreus doesn’t mind how blunt you are considering his entourage, but he always has a witty comeback. Only he can make these comebacks to you. He is always optimistic and will do his best to improve himself for you. Even if you have issues empathizing with others, he will be patient for you and learn how to be more communicative. I believe that this and his family issues are gonna be issues in the relationship because if he feels that he’s burdening you he’ll break up thinking it’s for your own good. He does need reassurance.

Zagreus love language is definitely acts of service and words. He always compliments you and tries to remember the little things that make you happy. If he hears that something is causing you issues he will try to solve it for you in the shadows (if it works he will come all proud and if it doesn’t work he will come to you apologizing like a scared puppy lol). Also, at first his father doesn’t like you and tries to chase you away contrary to his mother. It’s only after the game events that his father will welcome you under the threats of his dear wife.

[saturnisfallingdown]

don’t watch good omens and i’m not planning to but i’m nosy: what’s coffee theory

IM SO GLAD YOU ASKED !!!!!! IM GOING TO TALK FOR A VERY LONG TIME NOW!! thank you so much nora welcome to my cave!! its homey in here. we talk about bbc prime video series good omens.

So for the Context: as im sure youve seen if youve ever glimpsed a gifset in the past week, Good Omens season 2 ends with a big tragic decision. Aziraphale meets with Metatron, a bigwig in heaven. Metatron tells him about how due to Plot Reasons, they need a new supreme archangel in heaven, and Aziraphale is the perfect fit for the role. Local demon best friend Crowley confesses his love and tells Aziraphale about how he wants them to run off together and leave heaven and hell behind, but Aziraphale is incredibly set on using a powerful position in heaven to do some real good. Crowley is offered the chance to join him, but Crowley stays on earth while Aziraphale goes up to superheaven. This causes the big tragic break-up between the two of them you've seen giffed one billion times.

Now onto the theory itself. The important thing to note about Aziraphale's conversation with Metatron is the, you guessed it, coffee!! Metatron, in human disguise, picks up a latte with almond syrup from the shop across from Aziraphale's place. Before he gives Aziraphale the job offer, Metatron gives him the coffee and insists he drink it in front of him.

The "Coffee Theory" is this: Metatron in some way (the method is disputed) spiked the coffee, and whatever was done to it affected Aziraphale's mindset in order to get him to leave behind Crowley. Some kind of a magic angelic brainwashing potion.

The theory sprung up for two reasons, the first being that the coffee is focused on a weird amount. Metatron asks Aziraphale to drink it in front of him, an entire scene is dedicated to it being purchased, it's a whole thing. The second, really big reason, is that people didn't think the ending of the season made sense. This is to say, Aziraphale choosing the bureaucracy of heaven over his best friend of 6000 years. Many claimed it was "out of character" for him, and thought another force might have been behind his actions.

So yeah, that's the coffee theory. It's been a biig source of debate in the fandom recently, and therefore many people still swear by it!!

But with the facts and logic presented, we may briefly enter the opinion zone! This is all my measly two cents. This being said however: I am not a coffee theory bitch!!!!!!!!

I am someone who grew up in a very shitty church, had a lot of my decisions influenced by it, and I think Aziraphale's actions made perfect sense!!! I think it was entirely in character! Aziraphale's entire character, as we've seen it throughout thousands of years, holds so much hope in heaven! Even if he sees himself as separate from it, it's clear he still thinks of heaven as a tool to do good, simply led by bad people. He doesn't see the inherent flaws in the system like Crowley and the audience do. I think it's a totally logical leap for his character dedicate himself to doing, what he thinks, is undeniable good through heaven! He thinks he can fix it, and that's worth leaving behind the person he loves most! That's incredibly strong character writing, and to chalk it up to a magic mind control potion and actually aziraphale wouldve totally left heaven if he wasn't drugged just. removes so much of that impact!!

[asparklethatisblue]

13, 14 and 21 for nosy asks :D

Biggest turn ons

Oooh hm. I tend to like red hair, but otherwise I don’t really have a set of physical characteristics I’m particularly into. I like people who are a bit silly I guess, and have positive attitude. I tend to be kind of 🥰 if someone is extremely passionate about something and loves talking about it without being condescending about someone else not knowing about it. Like yes Queen! Tell me about how Richard Lionheart’s politics were actually shit or how the migration of butterflies influences the ecosystem of the Americas

Biggest turn offs

Personality wise? Being unable to let someone else have joy and bringing everything back to negative crap. Physical appearance? Somewhat messy moustaches 😔 it’s so bad, it’s so bad especially if a guy I’m normally insane over has one. Like what the fuck, shave it off, I can’t bear to look at it. At least grow a beard of you insist on that fucking thing.

What I love most about myself

Hm. I try very hard to treat others well, even if I don’t know how to do it beyond being polite sometimes? I tend to try and help friends even if I wouldn’t do a thing for myself?

[skeleton-mischief]

Cash Serrif

Now what do you want? Gold? Alcohol? His time? Well, you already have it now.

*SF!Purple Papyrus seems annoyed, but he'll hear you out

- Official height is 6'3

- He/They

- Recovering drug addict

- Drinks Hot Sauce

- Adores money but is frugal

- Can swindle you out of your life savings

- Best to go to for deals and thrift shopping savings. a haggler

- One of the worst pranksters

- Can tell when others lie easily but is slick about catching them

- Smokes the most out of all the others, not recovering

- Is blind in his right socket

- Writes erotica but hides it

- a cat person

- Younger Brother of Razz

- Good friends with Coffee, Stretch, and Rus

- He will flee to avoid fighting until cornered, but he'll make sure to take you with him. It's not a matter of being a coward, but he just doesn't like using his magic for fighting

- Stingy, he keeps track of debt, but is reluctant to pay others back

- Greedy, easily bored, impulsive, intuitive, frugal, creative, open minded, lazy, genius, playful, nosy, sassy, untrusting, blunt, loyal, observant, mellow, rebellious, cynical, clever, lighthearted, sarcastic, and mischievous

- Curses frequently, even in front of authority since he doesn't care

- Loves PDA, he wants people to know who he associates with as a sort of way to mark them as untouchable

- A great Gambler, he's only lost once and it cost him

- Used to think lowly of the Swap brothers, yet eventually realized how strong their bond was. He respects Powder and admires Stretch

- Never had a bad relationship with Rus, the two never bothered to dislike each other because of their brother's tiff

- Grew to see Wine, Powder, and Carmine as role models despite hiding this fact

- Loves to stir the pot and gossip about things

- Loves to joke, but if someone doesn't laugh for a serious reason, he refuses to joke like that again

- Slacks off often, but never misses a deadline if serious

- Can be personable, kind, and sweet in small moments if he likes someone

- If he doesn't like someone he's rude, dismissive, and sarcastic while showing that malice

- He forms his own opinions on others through their actions instead of listening to others, since he would want someone to do the same for him. He doesn't have a good reputation, after all

- Adores spicy desserts, but also cheesecake

- Doesn't like to be judged but allows people to do it, he doesn't blame them after all

- Once he recovers from his addiction, he's serious about it.

- His magic smells of cedarwood, magic tastes like nectarine

- Best friends with Stretch, as he helps ground him. He helps his confidence

- Can easily get out of doing something with his smooth talk, but he ends up kissing ass if caught

- Great at funding and bills despite having gambled people their items

- He has detachment issues, but this is a facade since he actually loves and cares for others very deeply

- Hyperventilates when crying, hates to be seen so he tries to hide it

- He was always more popular than his brother since he fell into influence while his brother was part of the Royal Guard. He saw what it did to Razz, and he hates it, so he retaliates as a result

- He often caused drama to get his brothers attention

- He talks a lot of shit about others, but no one is allowed to talk shit about Razz

- He grew distant as he grew older until he and Razz blew up on each other.

- He often felt his brother was ashamed of him while underground, watching his brother value power. Because of the underground's influence, he too found himself valuing worthless things such as physical pleasures

- Actually a huge dork when in love, he has never experienced it despite his "ladies talk"

- Smokes with a Calico lighter

- Yellowed bone, it's worse than other AU's because of what he has

- His magic is green when underground, despite it originally not being so. Because of the drugs that he takes and the abuse of his mind, his magic went from an orange to a sickly green

- When his brother and him argued, Cash would get high, attempting to "dream" about the two being close again. He secretly hated not being close to his older brother

- Goes to free events just for free shit

- Now that they're above ground, he tells Razz where he goes and tries to actually work on himself

- He enjoys gaming, especially with the others. However, he actually ends up being a sore loser once he got his ass kicked in Mario Cart from Coffee

- He tends to sneak around and is able to get information on others, but he's only a threat if you cross him or his loved ones. He's not afraid to record, and is actually willing to take initiative to provoke someone to get them to talk

- His compliments can be kinda weird. Such as "that was so great that I'm spinning on porches in Ireland" "????"

-He doesn't talk about his interests often and this is a pain when trying to figure out what his hobbies are. But if you ask and show interest when he's in the middle of being excited or secretly taking part in, he'll be shy and ask you to not tell anyone. He is willing to talk about it though

- He often takes smoke breaks outside with Rus, even if he has to sneak it due to Razz's protests against it

- He butters someone up with compliments if he's caught, trying to slide away from a situation

- He would call his lover babe or baby, even if it's sparingly

Closing Notes: most of these are personal headcanons about random ways he is how he is when underground. He'd need a lot of time and patience, since he was so altered by the underground. He progressively let's his guard later on, but until then? He has a lot of work to do

[blccmingrose]

.*･｡ﾟ ━ (natasha liu bordizzo, cis woman, she/her) the fates have spotted katherine "kate" zhang walking along the streets of ogygia. the 27 year old has been here for four years and currently lives in delos cottages. word on the street is that she is attentive & caring, but can be pretty overbearing & vengeful. i’ve heard she is a nurse, which is pretty fitting for someone who was demeter in a past life. on the night of the murder she was supposedly working, but who knows if that’s true or not.

┊𓄹࣪₊˚➛ Basics !‎

Full Name : Katherine Rose Zhang

Alias : Kate (most common), Katie, Kat, Rose

Gender Identity | Pronouns : Cis woman ; she/her

Sexuality : Bisexual

Occupation : Nurse

Personality Traits :

+ : attentive | caring | empathetic | reliable | loyal | generous | organized | compassionate

– : overbearing | vengeful | controlling | petty | nosy | temperamental | bossy | stubborn

┊𓄹࣪₊˚➛ Background !‎

Past Life:

In ancient Greece, DEMETER was mainly known as the goddess of harvest and agriculture but also related to health, birth, and marriage. Most of the time, she was depicted as a compassionate and generous goddess, but one shouldn't take her kindness for granted, for she was also pretty vengeful and her wrath would often cause great damage.

Current Life:

[Coming Soon] (I actually have to finish plotting it out with Kat, but I'm lazy and in a hurry to interact, sorry)

SUMMARY: she's a tired nurse trying to keep her life together, sometimes as bitter as her everyday coffee, but also very loving and gentle. She really just wants to take care of her plants in peace.

┊𓄹࣪₊˚➛ Headcanons !‎

Gardening is one of her major hobbies, has one of the most beautiful gardens in town. Her entire house is full of plants, the most healthy and vibrant one has ever seen, she tends to them like they were her children.

She is a problem solver, the person you should call if you want to get shit done.

She is an excellent cook, a lot of the ingredients she uses were grown by herself. Often gifts her neighbors and friends with food. She's also generally a food enthusiast, likes trying new recipes, and values eating at a good restaurant.

Mom friend!!! She takes care of everyone around her, making sure they are all fine and healthy, you can always count on her, gives a lot of (mostly unsolicited) advice.

She's the type of person who loves to help others and feel useful, but she might complain and be bitter about it, but she's doing it out of the kindness in her heart! definitely an "I told you so" kind of person.

Totally a spring/summer baby, hates the winter with her entire being (👀). She thinks it's depressing and cold like it wants to steal the happiness of everything around. She gets really moody during the season.

Tea lover and may be considered a coffee addict. She refuses to do anything without having her coffee first, she'll love you if you get her a cup.

Kate is also a poetry lover. Has written some pieces that she keeps to herself.

┊𓄹࣪₊˚➛ Connections !‎

Established:

Younger Sister: Kora Dunn-Zhang

Wanted:

Good/Bad influence (she's our rule following, goody two shoes, control freak kind of person, let's get her someone who's the opposite of that and wants to make her relax, or only make her worry more, who knows?)

Regular Patient (someone who often comes to her for medical care and she worries about)

A friend that she can have tea/coffee with, occasionally drink, someone that would listen to her complaints, and will turn the table and give her unsolicited advice

Someone she can be a mom friend to

Exes / One-Night Stands (ngl would love some drama)

Someone she dislikes for no reason (?)

***Give me anything, let's plot

┊𓄹࣪₊˚➛ Ooc Info !‎

I'm Anne (she/her), a 21yo, Brazilian, stressed uni student on her way to changing majors. I don’t know how to properly maintain a conversation, but I’m always eager to plot. You can check my other muse Liz (Nike) here @victorylaurels

[windfavord]

STARTER GUIDE.

This is a quick and easy guide for anyone who is writing a starter for me, or needs help coming up with a plot idea.

locations.

Wanderer can be found potentially anywhere on the island. He's more likely to be in places with less people, as he's not overly fond of engaging with humanity, and is especially drawn toward places with special significance to the island's magic and history. It wouldn't be difficult to find him in the Aether Reserve, Deep Fanalea and the Lunar Coast, or lingering in the Central District near the Temporis Tower, hoping to uncover its secrets. He'll also be spending a lot of time in the archives, surrounded by piles of books.

scenarios.

Wanderer isn't planning on going out of his way for spontaneous socialization and making friends. He is, however, extremely nosy and prone to poking around in other people's business, especially if he thinks there's useful information to be found. He doesn't really care for casual conversation and will avoid small talk when possible, so you'll have to be persistent to get him to actually chat with you. Some potential ways to start an interaction: ⟡ your muse notices him poking around somewhere, seeming suspicious (and he probably is) and decides to see what he's up to ⟡ your muse has run into trouble out in the woods somewhere, and wanderer happens upon them. whether he helps or not... is debatable (not really, he probably will help-- he just might complain about it) ⟡ wanderer ends up getting into trouble. he's arrogant and over-confident, plus he doesn't think too highly of his own safety. there's a high likelihood he'll offend someone he shouldn't. ⟡ ask him to help with something. depending on what mood he's in, he might actually help out. he likes being useful. ⟡ your muse notices that he's interested in the island's secrets and decides to share one or two with him. this is probably the best way to get on his good side.

dynamics.

friendly - Wanderer is not a nice person-- definitely not. He doesn't act out of kindness or benevolence, and he doesn't have any use for making friends. Even if the way he acts or talks is off-putting, he's not going to soften his edges for others' benefit or comfort. Of course, much of that is a lie. The reality is that he is quite friendly by nature, even if that nature has been twisted and suppressed over the centuries of his life by betrayal and by the manipulation of others. It's just that right now, he certainly doesn't think of himself as a good friend, and doesn't think he needs or wants friends. The fact that he craves it is… well, there's no need to bring that up. He'll do his best to push people away, but he won't push too hard. It's a wall he's built around himself, as well as a test to see if people will stick around, as he has no desire to put effort into a friendship that will just end in betrayal. He's got quite a lot of mistrust, and a cynical view on life, but very slowly he's starting to learn and grow beyond that-- even if it's hard for him to admit. Someone who's patient enough to put up with his pushing away and his testing their friendship will eventually wear him down, though-- and he might actually accept them as a friend. In that case… he's really quite loyal, and will show that he values them, even if in roundabout ways. Because of his innate desire to be useful and wanted, he's also somewhat easy to influence. Even more so because he tries to ignore that desire-- this can be good or bad. He would say he doesn't want to be used by others, but for those who offer him a purpose or a place… he's more likely than not to take their side and be their ally. Be careful though-- he can be a bit of a wild card, doing what he pleases and testing just how far you'll go to keep him in check. While he generally isn't going to go out of his way to be obviously nice, he does have a soft spot for children and the elderly, and will help them out where he can. It's one of the rare times where you'll actually be able to see him without the abrasive front-- thus, it's a little easier for such people to befriend him.

antagonistic - By default, Wanderer considers everyone to be an enemy or potential enemy-- even his friends. He keeps a wall between himself and others, which often comes off as quite abrasive and aggressive, and he gives off an air of superiority that marks his own insecurities. It's not difficult to see how, even though he's not intending on making enemies, people might not be too fond of his attitude. Still, he usually isn't going to seek out a fight just to fight, not unless it serves some purpose. Most of the time, he'll just ignore people and things that don't actually interest him, and he looks down on those who cause trouble for trouble's sake. If you do wrong him in some way, however, he won't just take it-- he believes in repaying others their due, whether that's in gratitude or in revenge. Once the debts are settled, though, he's not going to needlessly hold onto a grudge and will let you go on your way. He has a tendency to insult people readily and often, even his friends, though the severity can vary quite a bit depending on how much he likes you or how irritated he is. He doesn't really care if people are offended by him (those who get too offended aren't worth his time anyway) and won't hesitate to hit where it hurts, though he does have some difficulty taking that back. Despite his difficult personality, it's actually kind of hard to make a true enemy out of him-- the one way to do that is to betray him, or to deceive him in order to make use of him for your own purposes. That's what will make him hate you-- and that's a grudge he won't easily let go of. romantic - Unless it's to tease someone, he's really never thought about romance at all. He wouldn't even think he's capable of romance, because in his mind that especially would require a human heart-- even if he's coming to accept that emotions do not. That being said, it's not impossible to win him over. If the chemistry is there, then it's there-- no matter how hard it might be for him to realize what's happening or how to handle it. I'm not going to go into any relationship planning for romance with him, though-- we'll need to see if the right chemistry is there between the muses, and he'll need to get to a point where he realizes that your muse actually cares about him as a person, and not just what his use to them may be. As far as physical relationships go, though, that's going to be a no-go for now. He has an odd relationship with his body, so it would be really difficult for him to have any kind of physical relationship with anyone else that's in any way healthy. Pushing for something physical is a sure way to get him to think you're just trying to use him.

[realmythsmoved]

headcanon questions. what are your muse's most negative traits? how do these traits influence their lives? & does your muse consider themselves a good person? why or why not? / for whoever you like, & feel free to answer for multiple muses!

Persephone: Persy can be very nosy. And almost idealistic and loyal to a fault. It takes a lot to shake her loyalty. But once it's shaken, you'd have to work hard to earn her trust back.

Persy's nosiness influences her life a lot because it leads how she interacts with others. She'll never pry if someone's clearly uncomfortable speaking about something, but she will wonder. And her idealism and loyal nature can for sure be misused by bad faith actors.

Persy, despite knowing that she's flawed does consider herself a good person. She always does her best to be kind to others, and to help those who need it. And in her opinion, that's what matters.

Victoria: Victoria can be a bit of a pushover. A real people-pleaser. Others can misuse that and force her to do things she doesn't really agree with if she thinks about it, but she doesn't always have the courage to say no. Meeting Alex, however, unlocks her courage. She now knows that some of the things she was doing are wrong. The trouble is, she is still willing to give chances to those, like her father and older brother, who perhaps don't deserve them. She also does not tend to go far enough in her dreams of the future, of a future where all werewolves are free to do and be whoever they want. And that's solely because of her misguided loyalty to her family and what she knows it would mean for them, even and especially her mother. She can also be very naïve. And like Persephone, idealistic and loyal to a fault.

Victoria's negative traits definitely affect her throughout her life and throughout the story I'm currently writing about her and Alex. However, she is aware of her flaws and does her best to work on them.

Despite knowing she is flawed, Victoria does think of herself as a good person. She does think she's got room for improvement. But if she didn't think she was good at this point, she probably wouldn't have the energy to keep going. (Of course, that might change in the future. She could easily think of herself as a bad person as well. Especially if she were to hurt someone she really cares about. Or they were to reject her, even if it wasn't fully about her. And Victoria could still have the energy to keep going cause she'd think 'well if anything happens to me I'd probably deserve it but I'll do as much good as I can on my way out and hopefully that's enough.' )

Alex: Alex has definitely got a temper. She's also very impulsive. Very much 'do first think later' type. She doesn't have a ton of patience. And though she tries to keep an open mind, she doesn't have a lot of patience for naivety or lack of awareness, hence why she doesn't exactly like Tori in the beginning. That does change, though. So I'm unsure if that's a full-on flaw of hers, or if it's just one that she had but has improved upon.

Alex's negative traits definitely affect her. Especially her temper and impulsivity. It's why at the end of the first book she's going to [redacted] the [redacted]. <3

Alex doesn't fully think of herself as a bad person, but she doesn't see herself as fully good either. She exists in the morally gray area. And she's relatively comfortable there. (Though mun would argue she is a good person. She's just imperfect, as all people are.)

[erigold13261]

… Shoko and Catherine? … Suguru, Tatiana and Liv? (Any versions!)

Hmmm... Shoko and Catherine... I honestly don't see these two really having all that much chemistry together for some reason. At least when it comes to adult Catherine (especially post husband death and pre-revolution. She wouldn't really care all that much for Shoko, mostly wanting to keep it from Yinu as it seems like a bad influence).

So let's go with teen Catherine and teen Shoko!

Teen Catherine would have loved to meet another plant elemental outside of her family when she was younger (as of right now I don't think she met another one until she was a young adult but that could change), and so would have taken great interest in Shoko.

Shoko I can see humoring Catherine and all her questions (considering Shoko has met a lot more plant elementals in its life already) and just being pretty chill for the most part.

Maybe Shoko ends up doing something that gets Catherine mad or upset (maybe it smokes in front of Catherine who hates the smell and hates underage smokers), and that can cause a fight between the two (with Catherine being very angry and loud while Shoko is calm but also calculated).

I don't know, I'm struggling a bit with these two. They don't really seem like they would vibe together, but they would be cordial enough (now if Rubato, Suguru, and Satoru were there, I can see more opportunities for Shoko and Catherine to interact/become friends).

The two are just too different in the sense that Shoko isn't really the one to step on people's toes purposefully, and Catherine is more of a reactionary kind of person. Meaning the two would just hang out and talk about shallow topics since there is no one there that would set one or the other off.

Overall the two would just be chill and talk about simple things. Mostly Catherine doing the talking and asking while Shoko just answers and listens.

(Also, I can see Catherine struggling with the it/they pronoun at first, and being pretty uncomfortable, so she just resorts to using Shoko's name instead of pronouns. Along with that, one thing I would say about an adult Catherine and teen Shoko interaction would have Catherine wondering what happened to Shoko's back if she ended up seeing it, and just having this pity/sorry look on her face that Shoko would just absolutely hate).

Now for Suguru, Tatiana, and Liv... I don't have an idea for a young Liv yet, and adult Suguru I am still figuring out. So you know what will be a neat idea? Teen Suguru, teen Tatiana, and adult Liv!

So I can imagine Tatiana and Suguru getting along pretty well honestly. The two are just troublemakers who would actively like to try and make Liv's time with them really annoying (especially Tatiana who finds the whole science thing stupid and annoying).

Though, I can also see Tatiana and Suguru getting into a fist fight! Mainly because Suguru wants Tatiana's time powers and so tries to take them (or at least get some of them) and Tatiana doesn't need powers to kick his ass.

Liv is just watching these teens be idiots, but also asking them about their powers. Being a bit too nosy for their liking (and so they probably try lying to her which I can see her having a lie detector in her tech, which creeps the two out, especially Tatiana who doesn't know of technology like that that is portable).

The three are just gonna be a tense mess or keeping their guards up against each other. Liv definitely has some device that would temporarily stop powers if either of them tried to fight her, Tatiana is constantly having little sparks fly off of her (and her hair is very bright at the moment) ready to defend herself, and Suguru is filtering through the powers he has right now trying to figure out what could be used when in case he needs to protect himself.

At first everything was fine like I was saying, but then Liv asked about powers, Suguru wanted Tatiana's powers, Tatiana gets upset and ready to fight. It all goes downhill very quickly.

Even if Liv does end up using her temporary power disabler (it doesn't last long at all and can be fought against if you are strong enough), both Tatiana and Suguru know how to fight without powers. Though Liv's tech would easily allow her to fend both of them off (especially if they don't have powers).

So it's just a stalemate between the three by the end of the interaction, with all of them keeping their distance but still probably "talking" to each other until they have to leave (Liv is the only one really talking to them, the other two are being snarky and sassy).