#We will find Amanda >:l

[hieronymous-bitch]

.

[nickythehickey]

*emcee voice* hello sfth fandom, by the request of myself and literally four people (hi @not-an-idiot @very-confused-alpaca @chaostributary97 @bbatcat), i give you

my best attempt at a list of disability representation in the sfthverse

*for the purposes of the list, "disability" includes physical/mental/developmental disabilities, neurodivergence, chronic illnesses, and mental health conditions

*i went through and added as many as i could think of but easily could've missed some. also i can't get the patreon rn so there's no patreon exclusive characters, sorry. if you know of some more feel free to reply/reblog and i'll add them!

canon (either explicit or heavily implied)

bubba (inside the mysterious cube) is stated to be an amputee with prosthetic legs

peter steven (the milkman) is stated to have adhd; granted its a throwaway line but i think it's true. since adhd has a large genetic component, that implies that either janet or david or both likely also has it- my money's on david since peter seems to mostly take after him

post mortem, L (the creak in the attic) is mute and uses mime/sign language and possession as forms of aac

donnie (the detective vs. the christmas tree bandits), my personal blorbo, is explicitly stated to have adhd and a seizure disorder- likely photosensitive epilepsy based on the mentions of the lights in the strip club. "i was never good with numbers" could be interpreted as dyscalculia as well. frankie may also have adhd bc again genetics, but if he does he can mask like a motherfucker

chip (the cardboard stegosaurus) has an unspecified seizure disorder (although i can't find one that turns you french), and while she isn't present, we learn that his mother marie-claire was suicidal

queen of representation that she is, amanda (clarissa's diy wedding) is all but confirmed to have prosopagnosia, or face blindness

according to divorces and teddy bears, the entire north pole elf population has adhd. congrats on the diagnosis luke i mean snowball

"that one gas station man" as @doodle-ratz called him (the pilot's final flight) is blind

mrs jeffery (the milkman) was blind at the beginning of the scene, they ended up not going with that but she probably does still have poor vision

the bartender (the hare who wore a sweater) slut dropped so hard his knees exploded, and that's now a sentence i've said on the internet. im.... not sure what to count this as tbh, but as a person with vague undiagnosed joint fuckery myself, he makes the list regardless

they don't like... SAY IT say it, but john hobson (the creak in the attic) with the whole "thunderstorm killed my parents" thing probably has ptsd. like yall see it too right

based on body language, granddad (wine under the bridge) appears to use a walker, suggesting mobility issues

headcanons (still implied like at least a little bit but mostly up to interpretation, this is mine)

*(this one's messy, its more me sensing vibes than anything else, there's almost definitely some projection in there, honestly you can disregard it if you want. spoilers its mostly autism bc that's me)

frankie (the bard with a scar) says that he can't run fast, maybe implying mobility issues? i like to think so

i don't think their ages are ever established so i may be completely off base and they're just meant to be children, but jimmy (toby's secret pocket) and jeffery (party quirks) are both autistic teenagers/young adults to me. jeffrey specifically bc he reminds me immensely of how i acted the first and only time i threw a party

i get... a vibe. from titch (the unrelenting aubergine). im not sure what it is, but its there

fellow autistic people yk how there's this weird kinda split that happens where when you're a kid people think you're mature for your age but then once you're older people think you're immature? yeah johnny and janae (the neighbor's under the bed) are the extreme incarnation of that dichotomy

someone in the comments of ballet on the battlefield pointed out alexa stimming after she befriends janusz and i love that so im saying she's some flavor of neurodivergent

troll-son (wine under the bridge) probably has some kinda allegory for something idk

because of the way i visualize character designs for sfth, pretty much any character luke played while wearing glasses (like andrew (all eyes on nigel) or fullset o'hands) also wears glasses. im not gonna list them all just know they're included

i've been working on this list for seven hours. i feel like sysiphus (thats a very smart reference). im going to bed

EDIT: if you're seeing this now there's an update in the reblogs!

[theclownghoul]

I don’t know about anyone else but I find it frustrating that the writers keep telling us about scenes that got cut. Specifically referring the two Ekko and Jinx scenes, the extended version of him talking her down and the painting on each other.

Like those are important scenes that should have been there for both characters but they’re just going to tease it. Other characters and dynamics needed more scenes too (CaitVi) but they’re just baiting us with what we could have gotten.

This has been a thing for timebomb for a while too with Amanda hinting at the falling out scene between them after S1 Act l only to discuss it on the special features.

At least season 1 has the benefit of being concise but telling us that important scenes exist, we just don’t get to see them is wild.

Edit: so apparently nothing is said explicitly in the twitch interview, so if anyone knows where this actually comes from drop it in the replies

[khawla-gfm2]

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[sensei-venus]

Some fluff for Anthony I’m literally in love with him maybe Lawrence reader and everyone finds out about their secret relationship including Daniel Johnny and Amanda

(Unedited) (Support The Writer🌺) (Anthony & Reader are in Highschool because I said so because they go to school with the others, Lawrence!Chubby!Reader,Soft Kissing, Secret Dating,Fluff & Angst, Sneaking Out, Sam is a Snitch,Robby Probably Knew, Johnny trying to be a supportive Dad.)

Reader couldn’t help but giggle a little, her cheeks felt all flushed and warm. Getting into Anthony’s room was a bit of a task. Scaling the LaRusso house and getting up to the roof could be pretty, hard especially at night. There was barely any light other then from the windows.

But sneaking out late at night was the only way for her and Anthony could meet up that week.

Between her father and Anthony’s parents it was hard to meet up in person or face time. Their secret texting only got them so far. The urge to see each other was constant. The only time they got to see each other was at school or when they got to glaze at each other from afar at the dojo. On the rare occasion they meet up for secret dates around town.

It didn’t help that their siblings where also constantly on them. Both Robby and Sam would periodically check in on them. Better known as snoop around to keep a eye on the two of them. The teens knew that their older siblings would sneak into their rooms and look around time to time. So far after months of dating in secret, neither of them seemed to have found out about the secret relationship.

Anthony rolled his eyes as he helped pull his girlfriend in into his room from his bedroom window. He couldn’t help the small smirk that pulled on his lips as she finally climbed all the way in. He helped her stand up and shut his window again. He whispered out “You really have to stop doing that. One day Sam or my parents are going to hear you.” Reader groaned as she flopped onto his soft bed. Her eyes looking over at him as he just sighed and sat down next to her

There was a long pause as they just sat on the bed together thinking. They both had such a hard time keeping the relationship they had a secret, especially for so long. It was madness trying to keep it hidden away from everyone to see.

But it always came down to one simple thing that caused them to not want to come out about their romantic feelings towards each other.

Reader was a Lawrence.

Anthony was a LaRusso.

It was a ticking time bomb waiting to explode if they where to tell everyone they where dating.

“I wish we didn’t have to do all this, sneaking around and stuff. I thought sneaking around was supposed to be fun and exhilarating. This just sucks…” Reader said as she scooted over on the bed to lay her head in his lap. Anthony slowly blinked as he looked down at her. Eyes half lidded as he watched her face fall. He picked at her hair, twirling a lock of her hair between his fingers.

“I don’t like it either but you saw how my parents and your parents acted the last time our families got romantic with each other. Maybe we can wait another year or two or-“

“I don’t want to wait, I want everyone to know that I have a hot boyfriend named Anthony LaRusso, gaming badass and karate dude. I can’t keep acting like I’m single when I’m not. It’s so hard acting l-like we aren’t a thing.” This was one of the only times that Anthony had seen his girlfriend act like this. In the months of meeting her and dating her, he had never seen her this upset.

He had never seen Reader Lawrence on the verge of crying. It made his stomach flip and his heart hurt. His usually strong headed tough girlfriend has tears welling in her eyes. Her hand slowly moved to grasp his. Her soft lips kissing his fingertips.

“I want to be able to hold my girlfriends hand in public. I want to be able to throw a arm over her when I’m sitting during a break at training. I want to kiss her in front of everyone when ever I want to.” He felt this chest start to tighten just a little “Just give me a little more time to think of a way to tell them ok? Please.” Reader clenched her eyes shut trying to magically suck up her tears. He didn’t let her do that for long as he whipped them away with his thumb. She gave a soft smile before pulling him closer.

Their lips meet in a sweet and soft kiss. It was simple and passionate. Light and airy almost. His thumb rubbed over her soft cheek, her hand laced gently though his dark curls. Lips moving together in a sweet rhythm. They where fully embraced into each other.

They didn’t even hear the door to Anthony’s room open.

All they heard was the loud gasp that had them separating in a split second. Eyes going wide as they stared at the open door.

Sam LaRusso stud in the door way with a shocked expression, mouth open and eyes wide as she looked at the two teens. What ever words they had in their minds where lost on their tongues. Both of them in complete shock of being caught by the boys older sister.

“Anthony!! Mom! Dad!”

Anthony didn’t even have time to shove Reader off of his lap by the time his parents showed up.

With a unexpected newcomer.

“Dad why are you here!!”

“You don’t get to ask that! Why the hell are you here Reader?! Your supposed to be at the apartment with Robby!”

Johnny yelled as he pushed past Daniel and Amanda. Reader shoot up and pushed herself away from Anthony on the bed. She was quick to try and lock her knee’s together to look more prepared. Taking a deep breath she looked up at her dad who was basically fuming now. His blue eyes digging holes into hers. Looking like he was about not snap.

Daniel doesn’t look as mad but Amanda is close to the same point as Johnny. Daniel has a eyebrow raised and Amanda is tapping her foot, Sam is still a bit in shock at what she just found going on in Anthony’s room.

“We have been gone for less then two hours and you decided to sneak in a girl- Reader at that.” Daniel says in a questioning tone. Amanda looks at her son in a box of anger and sadness. Clearly seeing what was about to go down now that the two teens had been caught.

Johnny whips back around and points a finger at Daniel and then to Anthony “Hey that’s my kid! I bet your mcjunior son tricked my daughter into coming here. Trying to pick a fight? Reader did he do anything to you?! Did that little prick put a hand on you!”

“Dad no stop!”

“That’s definitely not what was happening when I walked in.” Sam snorted making everyone look at her. She put her hands up In defense.

“Anthony what where you two doing in here when Sam walked in.” Amanda said with her arms crossed.

“I was… I was kissing my girlfriend when Sam walked in.” Anthony exclaims as he looks up to his mom with a small frown.  He really didn’t expect to be telling his parents about this tonight.  he thought that they could get away with it for just a little while longer. Clearly they couldn’t with the turn of events. 

Reader quickly takes his hand in hers and gives it a soft squeeze. Looking over he finds her smiling over at him, relief starts to flood over him. Maybe this wasn’t the worst timing after all. 

They both look up to their parents.

“Sam did you know about this??”

“I had no idea! And I admit to going though his stuff before and I didn’t find anything. I can’t believe he’s even dating anyone in the first place.”

Johnny is pacing the room at this point as he try’s to cope with the new information. He scratches at the back of his head “How long has this been going on? Does Robby know about this?” Reader sighs saying “ We’ve been going out for a few months now, and from my knowledge, Robby has no idea about us going out together. We didn’t want anybody to know in the first place because of this exact reaction.” She huffs at her father.

The room was silent after that for a while.

No one dare make a sound.

“Are you guys actually that made over this? That I’m dating a Lawrence?”

Amanda was the first one to reply back, quickly sitting next to Anthony. She took his free and hand patted it in hers.

“You really thought we would be upset just because your dating Johnny’s daughter? Is that why you two where hiding?”

Reader nods “We thought all of you would be upset about us dating each other because of what happened after Robby and Sam where together. Half of the time you guys couldn’t stand be near each other when the topic came up. We thought it would be the same with us so we just kept it a secret.”

Johnny groaned as he sat down next to his daughter.

“Maybe I’m a little pissed that your dating a LaRusso but still, you shouldn’t have felt like that. I just want to know your safe. If dating a shitty LaRusso makes you happy then so be it.” He tries his best in his own way to comfort his daughter. He puts a hand on the back of her head and gives her a quick kiss to the temple before pulling away. He ruffles her hair, she tears up a little as she goes and hugs her dad.

“It’s ok…I’m not mad.” He rubs her back harshly for a few seconds.

“Sam you suck by the way.”

“What!? What did I do!?”

The rest of the night was filled with chaos as they talked everything out.

The whole time Reader and Anthony held each others hands.

[thrillered]

"You Know I Mountain Dew It For Ya" | Spencer Agnew x Reader | Pt. 6

Pt. 6: the pod

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You sat at the smosh mouth desk, sipping on a mountain dew kickstart that you stole from Spencer. You figured if you were going to talk about your song you should have mt dew, as fanservice. The crew was finalizing camera settings and waiting for Amanda and Shayne. 

“This kinda sucks” You said, taking another sip of your drink. 

“Ouuu, i’m gonna tell spencer.” Kiana teased. Earning an eye roll from you.

After a few minutes everyone was ready to record. “Hello everyone and welcome back to Smosh Mouth, I’m Shayne.” 

“And I’m Amanda. And today we have a very very special guest, all the way from big hollywood and the desk around the corner from mine, Y/N” 

“Big Hollywood wow” You laughed. 

“You have skyrocketed in fame.” Shayne comments. 

You sighed deeply, “Yeah…” 

“Uh Oh, that doesn’t sound good.” Amanda responds. 

“No no It’s really awesome it’s just been different, I guess.” You began, “I’ve been in the public eye for quite a while now but, obviously, never like this.”

“Let’s rewind a little,” Shayne interjected, “you guys know Y/N, she’s been with Smosh for years now. At this point, dare I say, one of the most loved cast members.”

“Oh stop it.” You giggled.

“Well it’s true, everyone loves you. Especially me.” Amanda jokes.

“I can see the fan edits already. Wait, we need to stare at each other longingly.” You piled on. 

“Anyway,” Shayne laughed, “What a lot of people don’t know, well not anymore, is that you are a musician as well.” 

“Yes, I’ve been writing music my entire life but I started producing my music about a year before I joined Smosh. I got much more serious about it thanks to Josh, shoutout josh.” You explained. “I have a stockpile of songs, I’ve only released a few though.” 

“You have two albums out right?” Amanda asked.

“Yeah I have two albums, three EPs, and three singles, the newest being everyone's favorite Espresso.”

You continued bantering, answering questions and talking about your career. You enjoyed how much both Shayne and Amanda cared about what you had to say, being able to deepdive into some of your music was a lot of fun. You even learned that Shayne listened to your entire discography over the weekend. 

“Let’s get into the juicy stuff” Amanda began, “We sent out a community post where people could ask Y/N questions so let’s get into some of those.” 

“First up is from Gianna L: What was the inspiration behind Espresso?” 

“I really just wanted to make something fun and bright. A lot of my music comes from a very vulnerable place but I’ve just been so happy that this song stems from that. I’ve felt like myself and truly I have smosh to thank for that.” You rambled, “Okay to wrap it up, Espresso was inspired by being confident and loving yourself because it makes you irresistible.”

“I actually love that so much,” Amanda smiles. 

“Yeah that type of thinking is important,” Shayne adds, “I would know, I have a psychology degree.” 

You answered some more questions regarding your creative process and your lyrics. You got to talk about how you make coffee for the whole office almost everyday in regards to the lyric: “That morning coffee brewed it for ya”. Then the inevitable happened.

“The most asked questions are about Spencer.” Shayne began, “For those of you who don’t know, Spencer is the director of the games channel and is often in videos as well.” 

“But most importantly,” You cut Shayne off, “he’s my best friend.” You finished, earning a few ‘awww’s from the room. “Believe me, I have seen the conspiracy theories and comments about “Spenspresso”-- great name by the way. And yes, some of the lyrics were inspired by my dear friend. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without him and since this song is about finding confidence I had to give a nod to my best buddy, one of the people who have always supported me and made me into the best version of myself.” 

You laughed, “I wish I could give a more juicy answer but it’s just a little thank you to my best friend. That doesn’t mean I want the edits to stop, I do love those, and the fan art. Me and Spencer send them to each other constantly.” 

You wrapped up the podcast, hoping confessing your platonic love for Spencer was enough to keep the heat off of you for a while. That is until you stare at Spencer for too long in the next games video and people clip it. 

—

“How was the pod?” Spencer asked, setting his lunch down and sitting in the chair next to you.

“It went well, It was actually so much fun to talk about myself for so long,” You jested. “You’re gonna get an ego boost out of it though.” 

“And why is that?” He asked, quirking an eyebrow and sending you a knowing smirk, the action making the tips of your ears hot. 

“Oh shut up.” You shoved his chair away playfully. He quickly scooted it back to you, even closer than before, your knees bumping each other. 

You both finished your lunches quickly, Spencer opting to head back to his desk to work. You followed him, sitting on a couch near him, scrolling through your phone until you heard a few muffled “fuck fuck fuck”s coming from Spencer. 

You got up and stood behind him looking at his monitor. “What’s wrong?” You asked. 

“Nothing, it’s just an issue with the audio of the last games video, I don’t think it’ll be able to be recovered” He responded, his shoulders tightening as he rubbed a stressed hand over his face. 

You knew Spencer worked really hard on that video, he had been so excited to have the cast play the game and now it seems like it will never see the light of day. 

“I’m sorry Spence,” you said, knowing there wasn’t much you could do to help. Noticing how tense he was you placed your hands on his shoulders and began massaging them, working at the many knots. 

He let out a low groan as you pushed into a particularly nasty spot on his shoulder. As you worked your fingers through his neck and shoulders his groans turned into sighs of relief. 

“That feel any better?” You asked, hoping you could assist your friend. 

He rolled his neck a few times, “Holy fuck, that’s actually so much better. How did you do that?” 

“I took a single massage class in college for a random credit I needed.” you replied, running your fingers through his hair as he tilted his head back to look at you. 

“You’ve gotta do that more often, I feel like I got my damn neck replaced.” He laughed. 

“You just let me know, I learned back, hands, and legs too so..” You trailed off, winking at him, relishing in the pink hue that graced his features. “Lunch is almost over, I gotta go, I’m filming ‘you posted that?’. I’ll see you later, love ya Spency”  You smiled, grabbing his hand and leaving a feather light kiss on his knuckles before walking away. 

“You are so whipped dude.” 

Spencer spun around to the source of the sound, seeing Alex Tran standing on the other side of the desks. 

“God, is it really that obvious?” Spencer questioned. 

“I wish you could’ve seen the googly eyes you were just sending Y/N,” Alex laughed, “Like, the whole office can feel the tension.” 

“It’s not tension if it’s one sided.” Spencer rebutted. 

“One sided my ass, she’s totally into you, has been forever, if I had to guess.”

Spencer thought about Alex’s words. Could you really feel the same way as him? He’s a smart guy, he knows that, so could he really have been so stupid this whole time to think you were just friends? 

[05raine]

Playing 'Detroit: Become Human' the way they definitely, 100% intended

Spoilers for Detroit: Become Human, if for some reason you haven't seen or played the game yet

So my older sister downloads DBH (she's a sucker for a good father-child dynamic, so Hank and Connor have her by the throat), but before she does so she talks to me about getting it. It is here that I propose a silly fun idea: We co-op the game. We take turns with the laptop and controller, hiding the screen and choices we make from the other. She plays Connor, I play Markus, and we both get a say in Kara's story.

She doesn't go through with the idea at first, she does her own playthrough first. She ends up with the peaceful/pacifist ending where no one dies (hurray!!). But on her second playthrough she invites me to play with her. Let's fucking go.

Now before we had started the new run, she expressed her desire to make different choices with Connor to better complete the game and get achievements. She mentions that she's thinking about doing a machine Connor route instead of a deviant one. Now I'm fucking scared. Cause I don't have it in me to kill anyone, let alone do a violent protest with Markus.

Anyways, with Kara, Alice, and Luther, we fully manage to get them across the border into Canada (Which my sis didn't manage to do on her first playthrough, she got them caught during a stealth section L). With that she gets a new achievement for doing so, all thanks to me 😏 I get her another achievement for pushing Leo- Carl's son- since she just let Carl die like a monster(/j). She of course gets some new achievements on her own with Connor.

But back to how we played Markus and Connor. Since we didn't know what the other was doing with them, it made the crossroads chapter REALLY FUCKING TENSE. The only hint we got of the other's choices were how it affected the story and dialogue; I left an injured Simon behind on the roof of Stradford tower and she followed him up there leading to Simon self-destructing (that got her a freaking achievement, bro...). But I had no idea that Simon had died until it cut to Markus again. I was a bit distraught when finding that out :(

When it came down to the confrontation between Connor and Markus at Jericho, it was so tense to go between the two of them. Me fighting to convince Connor to deviate, and her trying to keep Connor on his mission. Scary shit. Now before we had begun, we had agreed- if it comes down to it- that should Markus and Connor be in a 'only one lives' type of scenario, we'd rock-paper-scissor to see who would get to live.

I had no clue if my sister had made enough choices to unlock the option for Connor to deviate, so when the option finally came up and Connor deviated, I was freaking ecstatic. I did not want her destroying all the work I had done with Markus and Jericho 😭

She even admits after we finished the game that she was originally going to play a machine Connor route, but 1: would feel bad putting an end to the peaceful route I was going, and 2: didn't have it in her to be mean to Hank lmao

Two other stressful scenes with how we played was Connor's infiltration into Cyberlife tower and the ensuing fight between the other Connor and Hank. The reason it was so stressful was because she genuinely could not remember if she had learned Hank's son's name. Luckly, she did, so Connor didn't die there, and Markus got his reinforcements, but still, phew!

The next was Markus' speech at the very end, and Connor being taken over by Amanda and the whole emergency exit thingy. She struggled to remember where the freaking thing was, and she messed up the inputs to press it the first time. Not to mention how she was sort of freaking out because things were happening differently than how her solo run did. But we got that W.

But I feel like playing the game this way adds a sort of tenseness and finality to it. Because you truly don't know what the other people are doing with the other storylines until they meet up during crossroads. This was just with the two of us, imagine if we had a third to play Kara so all storylines would be a mystery until the converge!

She played the game all in one sitting on her own the first time, and we both did the second. Now I imagine she will do the same on her third run where she'll kill everybody like the completionist monster she is

[thenightshadowqueen]

What are your top 5 (or top 7) favorite media ever (can be anime/manga, tv series, books, movies, games, etc)? Why love them? Thanks ⭐

Thank you for the ask! I love lists. Also, sorry for the delay in answering; it’s been a week.

(Also I’m going to assume that YouTube videos count for the sake of this list; if they don’t, let me know and I can redo the list.)

5. Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (book and movie)

This isn’t one of my four core fandoms, but I genuinely really love it. I think the book was better, but the movie adaptation was really good! It’s definitely one of the better adaptations I’ve seen. I think the main reason I love it is because I genuinely really like the characters (which is rare for me). Alex and Henry both have flaws, which I think is super important, and their dynamic has so much potential and is played out so gorgeously in their story.

4. Vicious by V. E. Schwab (book)

This is my second favourite book, but it lives rent-free in my head in a way that no other characters ever have. I relate so deeply to Victor, and I’m so fundamentally intrigued by Victor and Eli’s dynamic. I’ve made a fair few posts about that, so I think I might leave it here for the sake of not repeating myself, but just… yeah.

3. All of Our Demise by Amanda Foody and C. L. Herman (book)

This is the second book in the duology, and it is my favourite book of all time. I love the first book, but the second one??? Gavin and Alastair are my babies, and I adore them individually and together with all my heart. I remember thinking they had chemistry in the first book, but Alastair was with Isobel, so I didn’t think it would happen… and then I read book two. And I don’t think I’ll ever be over how fucking delighted I was. I think that specific feeling of not being queerbaited is part of why this book has stuck with me, but it’s also just so genuinely fun to read. I love this book so much.

2. BBC Merlin (TV)

This has been my favourite show since I was twelve years old, and I am not changing that now. (Sometimes I wonder if part of the reason I love it so much is because of the person who recommended it to me, but we don’t have time to get into all of that.) Look, I’m not saying that Merlin was the best show ever made, but I genuinely enjoy it so much. (And that’s not just me; everyone I’ve ever introduced it to has loved it.) Honestly, for me, a lot of it comes down to the characters again: Merlin and Arthur, obviously, but also Morgana, and I’m so intrigued by Mordred’s storyline, and the side characters are great, and I could just go on and on. But seriously, it’s my comfort show, and I just enjoy watching it so much.

1. Shoot from the Hip videos (YouTube)

Honestly, I spend so much of my day watching these men that it’s a little concerning. (In my defence, my chronic illness means that I have a whole lot of time.) The thing is, there have, historically, been very few things that genuinely make me laugh. And they manage it every time. I just genuinely really enjoy watching their videos, and I get so invested in their stories, too, because their characters are so well developed (especially considering they’re making it all up on the spot). Also, not to get all serious, but they’ve genuinely been so good for my mental health. I’d been struggling since I got ill (I’m doing somewhat better now), and finding the boys genuinely saved my life, and I’ll leave it there to avoid getting depressing, but… yeah.

Also, I got a second ask more recently that was the same thing, so I’m just going to consider this the answer to both instead of typing this all out twice. I hope that’s all right!

[arcadiabaytornado]

SPOILERS AHEAD Episode 5 Double Exposure Rapid Fire Thoughts After I Just Finished Two Route's:

A: I'm still so conflicted about Safi. I ended up refusing to help her because A: I do think she went to far multiple times. B: I don't feel like she really learned a lesson here. C: She broke her promises to Max by shapeshifting into Max and Amanda. If she can't even keep a promise like that then she's not someone Max can trust. HOWEVER...I do like her character in the evil type of way. I'm so bummed that we were so close to getting toxic yuri and then the game ripped it away. /hj

B: So. I don't like Amanda. At all. Will not be romancing again. She's just so...I literally don't know she see's in Max?? Every time Max speaks she's gets irritated, and she straight up says that she "dodged a bullet" if Max friendzoned her. I will admit I didn't really think about the moral implications about romancing someone on one timeline after being rejecting in the other, and I do think it's interesting that the game brought it up. I've literally never seen that addressed in a time travel story.

C: I can't believe how much I like Vinh?? He grew on me a lot through the course of the story, and I ended up liking his romance more than Amanda's, which is CRAZY. Him comparing Max to tarot card's in his social media message was cute, and I liked their little "focus on what's in front of you" exchange. (Though I prefer the Vinh/Max friendship route, I think) Overall I ended up really liking Vinh and his messiness, honestly he's one of my new favorites for all his nuances and complexities.

D: My favorite new character introduced in this game is Moses. He's been a great friend to Max since the start, and I really hope we get him again some day.

More Undercut

E: They did so much Arcadia Bay/Chloe stuff in this episode, and I still feel like they didn't do enough??? They just explore any route thoroughly enough for tastes, but I did up preferring the Bae route again so, there's that. TBH I'm not holding out much hope that Max and Chloe will get back together. I would L O V E to be wrong....but IDK.

F: Diamond has powers I guess? I don't really have a lot of thoughts of her character TBH, and that's because I don't have a lot of thoughts on MOST of the characters. The only characters I ended up having any feelings toward were: Max, Gwen, Safi, Vinh, and Moses. The rest of them just faded into background noise for me, and I think a major complaint that I have is that every character feels kind of underdeveloped in a specific way that varies from character to character.

G: The end choice was...fine I guess?? For me it was the worst end choice in the franchise, and I feel like in the sequel it will only lead to a few small dialogue changes.

H: I I'd rate the game overall a 7/10, but I'd only rank this episode a 5/10. When the chapter ended my first thought was "What am I even supposed to say about this? It was underwhelming? It was slow? It made the entire game feel kind of pointless?" I'm not really finding any words it just...was a chapter I guess?? Like...I feel nothing strongly. Easily the best scenes were the ones with Max and Safi, but other than I found no substance anywhere. It was the chapter that just was....and my lingering feeling is disappointment.

If I was going to rank the episodes from how I liked them from most to least, I'd rank them: 2, 1, 3, 4, 5.

If I was going to rank the games from how I liked them from most to least, I'd rank them: LIS 1, LIS 2, Before The Storm, Double Exposure, True Colors. (It's weird because I think the high's of Double Exposure reached a high that True Colors never peaked at for me, but I also think the lows of Double Exposure reached a low that True Colors never dived to for me.)

Well. That sure a game. And I'm probably going to need a few days to be more eloquent than that.

[oldiesstationlover11607]

HIHIHI this isn't an idea for the "Daughter" fic but I'd figured to just throw it out here lol! OKAY OKAY so like... hear me out. Music teacher/band instructor Josh and Theatre teacher teacher... I JUST THINK IT WOULD BE SO CUTE. the students would be shipping them fr fr! okay im done with my yappings... ALSO MAY I HAVE 🎻ANON?

The Bleachers - Josh Dun x Reader

Warnings: None really hehe - super fluffy

Word count: about 1285

A/N: Absolutely loved this request 🎻! It was super cute and fun to write so thank you!!

“Sorry, Mr Dun, do you know what time the pep rally is supposed to be on Friday?” I asked, catching our music teacher in the hallway between bells. Kids were rushing past each other, running to their classes as the five minute countdown till the next bell ticked away in everyone’s heads. 

“It’s at seven, I tried to change it to seven thirty because of the band’s practice time but Principal Higgins said it was already booked and parents were already set on coming at seven,” he shrugged. Mr Dun was one of the younger teachers at our school. Our old music teacher was an older man who only ever taught the students classical music and when he retired suddenly we were forced to find someone at the last minute. Which meant any local musician regardless of whether they had their teaching degree yet. Que Josh Dun, a drummer who had reached out to the school after seeing their ad online and had managed to land the job as soon as he started talking about music concepts our principal didn’t know about, making him the smartest person in the room. Both of us being the two youngest teachers at the school had made it easy for us to become friends, especially when it came to gossiping about our favorite students (which we most certainly did NOT have). 

“Thanks Mr Dun! Hey, I’ll see you at lunch right?” I asked, looking at him as I stopped outside my classroom door. 

“Of course,” he smiled, his expression relaxed as I admired him quietly. “But only if you stop calling me ‘Mr Dun’, Y/N. It’s Josh!” I nodded, trying to suppress a laugh as the final bell rang. “I should get going, I’ve got a freshman class waiting for me,” he explained, giving a cute wave before disappearing down the hall. 

Josh, I mused, trying it out in my head. It felt strange, personal. But I liked it. As the last few kids poured into the auditorium I made my way to the stage–most of the kids were already sitting in a circle ready for the lesson. I loved my theater kids, each of them were their own person, unique in the best way possible and unafraid to sing and act their hearts out.  

I glanced up and recognized Amanda, a junior with a flair for the dramatic—both onstage and off.

“Miss Y/L/N?” she asked, tilting her head with a knowing smile. “Can I ask you something?”

I chuckled. “Wouldn’t that already be asking me a question?” The class laughed at that. “Go ahead.”

“It’s just…” Amanda paused, glancing around before lowering her voice. “Why don’t you just ask Mr. Dun out already?”

I blinked, caught off guard. “Amanda! What are you talking about?”

“Oh, come on!” she whispered, practically giddy. “Everyone’s seen the way you guys talk to each other. And he definitely likes you—I mean, the way he looks at you? Please, Miss Y/L/N. You’d be so cute together!”

I felt heat creep up my cheeks as I waved her off, trying to sound as teacher-like as possible. “I’m pretty sure your English teacher wouldn’t be thrilled to know you’re spending your passing periods coming up with romantic conspiracies about your other teachers, especially given that I know juniors have a large project going on at the moment.”

But she just grinned wider. “I’m telling you, you’d be adorable. Just think about it!” 

By the time lunch rolled around, I was still thinking over Amanda’s comments as I made my way to the teachers’ lounge. Sure enough, Josh was already there, leaning against the counter with a cup of coffee, chatting with Mr. Larkins from the math department. He looked up as I walked in, giving me a grin.

“There you are,” he said, gesturing for me to join him. “I was starting to think I’d be eating lunch alone today.”

“Oh, as if you wouldn’t survive without me,” I joked, pulling out a chair across from him. I unwrapped my sandwich, catching the faintest glimmer of amusement in his eye as he stirred his coffee.

“So, what’s on your agenda for the pep rally?” he asked, casually shifting the conversation back to our usual teacher-to-teacher banter.

I shrugged, trying to keep things casual. “Oh, just wrangling the theater kids and making sure they don’t spill paint on any of the props they’re hauling out. You know how they are.”

He laughed. “They’ve got spirit. I respect that.”

Our conversation flowed easily, as it always did, moving from school plans to weekend plans, with just a hint of that unspoken familiarity between us. It was one of my favorite parts of the day, and I couldn’t help but wonder if he felt the same.

Finally, Friday night rolled around, and the energy in the gym was buzzing with excitement. The bleachers were packed with students and parents, everyone cheering as the pep rally began. I caught a glimpse of Josh on the far side, directing his band students with his usual cool ease. He gave me a thumbs-up when our eyes met across the gym, and I couldn’t help but feel a little jolt in my chest.

The rally itself was a success—the theater kids managed to keep all the decorations intact, the cheerleaders nailed their routine, and the band had the whole gym swaying and clapping along. It was a perfect moment of school spirit, the kind that made even the most stressed-out teachers feel a little extra pride.

Once everything wrapped up, I helped usher the students back to their designated spots and started packing up the leftover decorations. That’s when I felt a tap on my shoulder.

Turning, I saw Josh standing there, grinning down at me. “Nice work keeping your kids in line,” he said, hands shoved into his pockets. “Some impressive crowd control skills you’ve got.”

“Same to you,” I replied, matching his smile. “The band sounded amazing tonight.”

“Thanks,” he murmured, his voice softening a bit. “Want to… take a break from cleaning and get some fresh air? Just for a minute?”

I hesitated, then nodded, heart beating faster as we slipped out one of the side doors and made our way under the bleachers. The night air was cool, crisp with a hint of autumn, and the muffled cheers of students could still be heard behind us. Standing there under the stars, I felt the entire week’s stress melt away.

“Can I admit something?” he said, his voice almost a whisper. I nodded, feeling the tension growing between us. “I look forward to those lunches with you more than I probably should.”

I felt my cheeks warm again, like Amanda’s words were echoing back to me. “You know what? Same here.”

Josh took a step closer, his hand reaching out to gently brush my shoulder, and for a second, I forgot about everything else—the pep rally, the students, the school itself. It was just him, looking at me with those soft, inviting eyes.

And then, like it was the most natural thing in the world, he leaned down, and his lips met mine. The kiss was warm and sweet, filled with the unspoken words we’d both been holding back.

When he pulled away, he gave me that same gentle smile I’d come to know so well. “So, for our next date… what would you say to coming to one of my shows?”

I laughed, nodding without hesitation. “I’d say it sounds perfect.”

And as we stood there, grinning like kids under the bleachers, I realized that we weren’t so different from our students. We were reliving our high school years together under the bleachers. 

//

REQUESTS OPEN

[cosmicaura7]

BLOODSTAINED SPREADSHEETS

Pairings : pedro pascal (max philips) x nanami kento!reader

Genre : Use of Y/N L/N for reader, reader is inspired by/based on Nanami Kento from Jujutsu Kaisen, has short hair and glasses, fluff, comedy, golden retriever x black cat trope, Max being flirty and annoying

Synopsis : In where an exhausted accountant finds herself in the claws of her vampire boss.

Word Count : 4k

Taglist : none yet

Moodboard :

-----

It was supposed to be a normal morning for Y/N L/N that day. 

The buzzing hum of fluorescent lights was as relentless as the soft tapping of Y/N’s nails against her calculator. Numbers flowed effortlessly through her mind, sharp calculating eyes scanning spreadsheets with precision.

The monotony of another workday at the company, one now crawling with vampires, was broken, as always, by the presence of Max Philips.

"Y/N~" Max drawled, leaning against her desk with a smirk that was equal parts charming and irritating. "I have a very important matter to discuss with you."

"If it’s another unauthorized expense report, I’ll have to remind you…"

"It’s more urgent than that." His tone was teasing, his fangs peeking slightly as he grinned. "Dinner. You. Me. Tonight. No expense report required."

Y/N barely glanced at him, her fingers continuing to type as she replied, "I’ve told you before, Philips. I don’t date my boss."

Max tsked, placing a hand over his heart in mock offense. "Come on, L/N. We’re not just any boss and employee. We have chemistry."

She finally looked at him, adjusting her glasses with a slow, deliberate motion. "That’s not chemistry. That’s you attempting to annoy me into submission."

Max chuckled. "And? Is it working?"

She ignored him, turning back to her screen.

Evan Sanders, having walked past her office, glanced between them and mouthed, awkward. Amanda snickered under her breath as she also passed by.

Max, unbothered as ever, leaned in a little closer. "Okay, okay, let’s try another angle. What if we call it… a business meeting? Strictly professional."

"Do business meetings involve candlelit dinners?"

"They can." He said, his eyes glinting.

Y/N sighed, finally setting her pen down. "Philips, you’re the sales manager of a company half filled with vampires. You’re a walking HR violation. And despite your persistence, I’m still not interested."

Max tilted his head, studying her like an equation he couldn’t quite solve. "You know." He murmured, his voice softer now, "I think you are interested. Just too professional to admit it."

Her gaze met his, cool and unreadable. "You’re free to believe whatever makes you sleep better at night."

"Sweetheart, I don’t sleep."

She rolled her eyes. "Exactly my point."

Before Max could get another word in, Andrew appeared at the door. "Hey, uh, boss? We have a bit of a situation in the break room."

Max groaned. "Please don’t tell me Tim got his hand stuck in the vending machine again."

"Uh… worse."

Y/N stood, already sensing the impending disaster. "You deal with that, Philips. I have actual work to do."

Max smirked. "Rain check on that dinner?"

"No." She turned back to her desk, but just as he walked away, she added, "But nice try."

His laughter echoed down the hallway.

And despite herself, Y/N couldn't help the small, almost imperceptible smile that crossed her lips.

-----

The following days, it seems like Max Philips still wouldn’t let up with his constant flirting and inviting Y/N L/N for dinner dates, trying desperately to disguise them as so called “business meetings.” but it seems like today, the damn vampire sales manager is relentless as ever.

9:37 AM – The Printer Incident

Y/N exhaled through her nose, gripping her coffee mug like it was the last sane thing left in the office. Numbers. She just needed to focus on numbers. Budgets didn’t flirt with her. Tax reports didn’t smirk. Financial statements didn’t have fangs.

And yet, as soon as she stood to retrieve her printed documents, she felt it, his presence.

"L/N."

She didn’t even turn around. "Philips."

"Fancy seeing you here."

She grabbed her papers from the tray. "This is the office printer. Seeing me here isn’t fancy. It’s expected."

Max leaned against the machine, blocking her path just enough to be irritating. "You work too hard, sweetheart. Ever thought about taking a break?"

"I did. Then I realized I enjoy being productive."

He sighed dramatically. "That’s the thing about you, always so focused. So responsible. So... heartbreakingly professional."

"One of us has to be." She adjusted her glasses, stepping around him.

"How about a casual dinner? No pressure. Just two attractive, intelligent people sharing a meal."

Y/N didn’t even hesitate. "I’d rather discuss quarterly tax filings."

Max placed a hand over his chest, mock-staggering. "That was cold, L/N. I think I felt my undead heart twitch."

She was already walking away, leaving him grinning by the printer.

11:15 AM – The Desk Interference

Her fingers flew across the keyboard, adjusting profit margins and expense allocations. Silence had finally returned.

Until it hadn’t.

"Wow. Look at that focus," Max murmured, suddenly leaning over her desk, watching her work as if it were the most fascinating thing in the world.

Y/N paused, closing her eyes. "Philips."

"L/N." He mimicked her earlier tone, smirking.

"Do you not have a company to run?"

"I do." He said easily. "And it’s running. But you know what I’d rather be running?"

She didn’t look up. "If you say your hands through my hair, I’m going to start charging you for workplace disturbances."

Max chuckled, clearly delighted. "I was actually going to say ‘an enjoyable evening with you,’ but I like where your mind went."

"Go away, Philips."

He grinned, not moving.

Amanda, passing by with a coffee, smirked. "Still at it?"

Y/N sighed. "Apparently."

Amanda whispered, "You know, one dinner wouldn’t hurt."

Y/N shot her a glare. "Traitor."

Max beamed. "Amanda gets it."

Amanda just shrugged and walked off.

Y/N turned back to her work, ignoring the way Max still hadn’t left.

1:42 PM – The Elevator Trap

She had precisely three minutes to herself before her next financial meeting. Just three minutes to breathe in silence.

Then, right before the elevator doors shut, he appeared.

Y/N barely restrained a sigh as Max stepped in, pressing the same floor button she had already selected.

"Really?"

"What? I suddenly felt the urgent need to go to the same floor as you."

The doors shut.

Silence.

Max rocked back on his heels, glancing at her. "Sooo..."

"No."

"You didn’t even let me finish."

"Because I already know what you’re going to say."

He smirked. "Okay, fine. What was I going to say?"

"‘Hey, L/N, how about a nice candlelit dinner where you finally admit you find me charming and incredibly attractive?’"

Max whistled lowly. "Damn. That was scarily accurate."

The elevator dinged. Y/N stepped out before he could follow up with another ridiculous remark.

Max, of course, followed anyway.

3:26 PM – The Coffee Excuse

Her coffee cup was empty. Unacceptable.

She made her way to the break room, savoring the brief moment of quiet. No Max. No flirting. No disturbances. Just coffee.

Until—

"L/N, hey!"

She turned to see Max leaning against the doorway like he had been waiting for her.

"…Are you stalking me now?"

"Don’t be ridiculous." He grinned. "I just had a feeling you’d need a refill."

Y/N sighed, pouring her coffee. "Let me guess. You’re going to make some remark about how I should replace coffee with dinner plans?"

Max snapped his fingers. "See? You do get me."

"Philips, I will throw this coffee at you."

He put a hand over his heart. "That would hurt my feelings. And my very expensive shirt."

She took a long sip, eyes locked on him. "Then leave before I get tempted."

Max chuckled, raising his hands in surrender. "Fine. But I’ll be around."

"I’m aware." She muttered as he exited, smug as ever.

5:58 PM – The Last Word

The office had begun to clear out, employees packing up to leave. Y/N soon shut her laptop and computer, relieved to finally escape.

Then, before she could step away from her desk…

A single red rose appeared in front of her.

She blinked.

Max, standing beside her, grinned. "Before you refuse—this is purely an appreciation gesture. No pressure. No expectations."

Y/N stared at the rose. Then at him. "You stole this from Amanda’s desk, didn’t you?"

His smirk widened. "Does that make it less romantic?"

She sighed, taking the rose with a resigned shake of her head so that she can return it to Amanda’s desk for when she passes by her office on her way out.

Max leaned in slightly. "So... see you tomorrow, L/N?"

She rolled her eyes. "Unfortunately."

Max laughed, stepping back as she walked past him, this time, with the faintest hint of a smirk on her lips.

And Max?

Well. He definitely noticed.

Later that night.

10:17 PM – The Bar Escape

Y/N L/N had never been a woman who indulged in wild nights out, but after a long day of numbers, deadlines, and Max Philips breathing down her neck, a drink felt necessary.

She sat at the dimly lit bar, nursing a glass of whiskey with slow, deliberate sips. The warmth of the alcohol spread through her veins, offering a rare moment of peace.

Evan, Amanda, Andrew, Mike and Tim surrounded her, engaged in their usual after-work banter.

"So, Y/N…" Evan smirked, swirling his beer. "How many times did Max try to ask you out today?"

Amanda snorted. "I counted at least six."

Tim shook his head. "That man’s got dedication. Borderline harassment, but dedication."

Y/N exhaled, setting her glass down. "Ten."

Andrew nearly choked on his drink. "Jesus, ten times?"

Amanda whistled. "Honestly? I’d be impressed if it weren’t so annoying."

"I don’t know how you deal with it." Evan mused.

"By ignoring him." Y/N said simply, taking another sip.

"Well, at least he’s not here now." Tim pointed out.

And that, of course, was the moment the devil himself appeared.

10:20 PM – The Devil Returns

"L/NNNNN!"

Y/N groaned before she even turned her head.

And there he was. Max Philips, in all his smirking, insufferable, vampire glory. He strolled in like he owned the place, which given how much time he spent around town, he very well might have.

Max slid into the seat beside her, draping an arm casually over the back of her chair. "Well, well, well. What a surprise."

"Not really." Y/N muttered, taking a slow sip of whiskey.

"You’re stalking her now." Evan observed.

Max placed a hand over his chest, mock-offended. "I would never. I just happened to be in the neighborhood."

Amanda raised a brow. "So, you just happened to find the one bar we’re at?"

"Absolutely."

Y/N rolled her eyes. "Philips, go away."

He grinned. "You wound me, L/N. I thought we were past this whole ‘cold and indifferent’ phase."

She gave him a deadpan look. "We’re not."

Max ignored her, flagging down the bartender. "Whiskey. Neat. And put whatever she’s drinking on my tab."

Y/N sighed. "I don’t need you buying me drinks."

"Consider it an investment." He said smoothly.

"In what, exactly?"

Max leaned in slightly, smirking. "In the possibility of you finally agreeing to a date."

Evan snickered. "Dude, she’s never going to say yes."

Max shot him a playful glare. "Excuse you, Sanders. I happen to be incredibly charming. It’s only a matter of time before she caves."

"Not in this lifetime." Y/N muttered.

Tim, clearly enjoying the chaos, grinned. "You should just say yes once. Maybe he’ll finally leave you alone."

Max scoffed. "Or maybe she’ll have such an amazing time that she’ll wonder why she wasted so many months resisting my charms."

Amanda smirked at Y/N. "You gotta admit, he’s persistent."

"Like a cockroach," Y/N deadpanned.

Max gasped, pressing a hand to his chest. "You’re comparing me to a cockroach?"

"If the shoe fits."

Max chuckled, taking a sip of his whiskey. "You’re killing me, L/N."

"I wish." She muttered.

Mike laughed. "Damn, dude. She really doesn’t like you."

Max grinned. "Oh, she likes me. She just won’t admit it."

Y/N huffed, pushing her empty glass away. "I tolerate you. Barely."

"And yet." Max said, tilting his head, "You’re still sitting here, letting me buy you drinks, engaging in this delightful conversation. Curious, isn’t it?"

Y/N narrowed her eyes. "What’s curious is how you still function without a soul."

Evan snorted. "Oh my God, she got you again."

Max laughed, unbothered. "You’re adorable when you’re being mean to me, you know that?"

Y/N groaned, rubbing her temples.

Max smirked, raising his glass in a toast. "To persistence."

Amanda, Tim, Mike and Andrew clinked their glasses with his.

Evan hesitated, then shrugged. "Yeah, alright."

Y/N sighed, shaking her head. But despite herself, she took a sip from her new glass.

And Max? He definitely noticed.

11:47 PM – Time to Call It a Night

Y/N L/N had reached her limit, not from the whiskey, but from Max Philips' relentless existence.

She set her empty glass down with a quiet clink, exhaling sharply. "Alright, I’m done. We have work tomorrow, and I’d rather not spend the morning nursing a hangover while simultaneously dodging you."

Max grinned, unfazed. "You act like you don’t already do that every day."

"Because I do."

Evan chuckled. "Gotta say, it’s impressive how you deal with this every day, Y/N."

Amanda smirked. "Honestly, I think she secretly enjoys it."

Y/N shot her a glare. "Not in the slightest." She reached for her purse, adjusting her glasses. "Anyway, I’m heading out."

Max was on his feet before she even had time to grab her coat. "I’ll drive you home."

Y/N turned to face him with an expression so blank it could have been a loading screen. "No."

Max tsked, crossing his arms. "Come on, it’s late. The streets aren’t exactly safe, you know."

Y/N grabbed her coat and draped it over her shoulders. "I would rather walk into oncoming traffic than be alone in a car with you, Philips."

Evan snorted into his drink. Tim and Mike nearly choked on their beer. Amanda clapped her hands once, muttering, "Damn."

Max placed a hand over his heart, feigning deep, mortal injury. "L/N. That hurts."

"You’ll live." Y/N said flatly.

Max sighed, shaking his head. "Alright, fine. Be reckless. But if you get kidnapped, don’t call me for help."

"Trust me, I won’t."

Tim smirked. "What if the kidnapper is even more annoying than Max?"

Amanda grinned. "That’s impossible."

Y/N grabbed her purse. "I’d take my chances."

Max chuckled, watching as she walked toward the bar’s exit. "Goodnight, L/N" He called after her.

She didn’t even look back.

12:01 AM – The Last Train Home

Y/N stood on the curb, pulling her coat tighter around herself as the night air bit at her skin. The bar was still alive behind her, but she had no interest in lingering any longer.

She raised a hand, hailing a taxi. One pulled up almost instantly, its tires splashing against a small puddle on the road.

She slid into the backseat, glancing at the driver. "Train station, please."

As the car pulled away, Y/N leaned back, exhaling.

Finally. 

Peace.

No Max Philips. No flirtatious remarks. No insufferable smirks.

Just a quiet ride to the train station.

And yet…

She had a very bad feeling that this wasn’t the last she’d see of him tonight.

12:19 AM – The Last Train Home

The train station was mostly empty at this hour, save for a few late-night travelers and exhausted workers waiting for their ride home.  Y/N L/N stepped onto the platform, adjusting the strap of her purse over her shoulder. The last train was already there, humming with life, its doors opening in invitation.

Finally. 

No more Max Philips.

She boarded quickly, moving down the nearly empty car until she found a seat near the window. Sitting down with a relieved sigh, she let her head rest lightly against the cool glass, closing her eyes for a brief moment.

Peace.

The train doors hissed as they prepared to close.

And then…

Someone slid into the seat beside her.

"Hey there, train buddy."

Y/N froze.

No.

No.

Her tired eyes opened slowly, like she was dreading whatever fresh hell awaited her.

And there he was.

Max. Fucking. Philips.

He was grinning like he’d just won the lottery, wiggling his damn eyebrows at her like the human, well more like the vampire, embodiment of insufferable. His arm was draped casually over the back of the seat, one leg crossed over the other as he leaned in ever so slightly, his smirk in full force.

"Miss me?" He purred.

Y/N stared at him, her expression devoid of emotion.

"You have got to be kidding me." She muttered.

Max chuckled, utterly delighted. "I mean, come on. What are the odds, right?"

"You followed me, Philips." Y/N deadpanned.

"That sounds like an accusation."

"Because it is."

Max grinned, resting his chin on his hand. "Or maybe." He said, voice dripping with amusement, "This is just fate giving you a sign."

Y/N exhaled slowly, resisting the urge to bash her head against the window. "More like a warning."

Max tsked, shaking his head. "So cold, L/N. You wound me. Really."

She gave him a sideways glance. "Not nearly enough."

The train jerked forward as it began to move, the rhythmic sound of the tracks filling the quiet space. Y/N pinched the bridge of her nose, praying for patience.

Out of all the things that could have happened tonight, getting mugged, getting rained on, missing the last train, this was, by far, the worst possible outcome.

Max Philips, inescapable as ever.

Like a damn cockroach.

She could already feel the headache forming.

This was going to be a long ride home.

12:47 AM – Y/N’s Stop

The moment the train slowed to a stop, Y/N shot up from her seat like it was on fire. Without sparing him a glance, she grabbed her purse, adjusted her coat, and stepped onto the platform with the kind of purpose only a woman desperate to escape could muster.

Finally. 

Finally.

No more Max Philips.

No more insufferable smirks.

No more flirtatious nonsense.

Just her, her apartment, and blessed, wonderful silence.

That is, until…

Footsteps.

Right behind her.

Y/N’s left eye twitched.

"Are you actually serious right now?" She gritted out, finally glancing over her shoulder.

Max Philips, the world’s most persistent bloodsucking bastard, was strolling along beside her like he was simply out for an evening walk.

"L/N~" He greeted smoothly, hands tucked into the pockets of his blazer. "Nice night, huh?"

She turned forward again, quickening her pace. "Go home, Philips."

"Walking a lady to her door is the gentlemanly thing to do." He said, keeping stride with ease.

Y/N let out a slow, controlled breath. "You…" She said, eyes narrowing, "...are about as gentlemanly as a raccoon in a dumpster fire."

Max grinned. "So you admit I’m charming?"

She didn’t respond. She just kept walking.

Faster.

But the damn vampire was still there.

"Why are you still following me?" She finally snapped.

"Because, Y/N…" Max sighed, shaking his head as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "...you still haven't said yes."

"To what?"

Max turned to her with a smirk. "A date, obviously."

She stopped walking.

Turned to face him fully.

And then…

"I will push you into oncoming traffic, Philips."

Max beamed. "That’s not a no."

Y/N clenched her jaw, fighting the urge to commit a crime.

She spun back around and stormed toward her apartment building.

If she just ignored him, maybe—maybe—he’d go away.

1:02 AM – Y/N’s Apartment

The moment Y/N unlocked her door, she practically lunged inside, ready to slam it directly in Max’s face.

But the bastard was faster.

Before she could react, he was already inside, smoothly slipping past her with all the shameless confidence of a man who had never once been told no in his life.

She stared.

Max grinned.

"Nice place." He commented, casually shrugging off his blazer and tossing it onto her couch. He loosened his tie, plopped down, and stretched his arms over the backrest like he owned the damn place.

Y/N slowly closed the door.

Took a deep breath.

Counted to three.

And proceeded to ignore him.

She walked straight to her kitchen, placed her purse on the counter, and filled a glass with water, pretending there wasn’t a literal vampire menace making himself at home in her apartment.

Max watched her, clearly entertained.

"So, L/N." He mused, tapping his fingers against his knee, "Is this the part where you finally admit you like having me around?"

Y/N took a long, slow sip of water.

Didn’t respond.

Didn’t even look at him.

Just walked past him, glass in hand, and headed straight for her bedroom.

Max laughed. "Ohhh, come on. You can’t just leave me out here."

The bedroom door slammed shut.

Max blinked.

And then he grinned.

Yeah.

This was definitely the most fun he’d had in years.

1:15 AM 

Y/N L/N had a system.

Get home. 

Shower. 

Get in bed. 

Wake up. 

Repeat.

Nowhere in that system did it say entertain your annoying, bloodsucking bastard of a boss who has no concept of boundaries.

She sighed, running a towel through her damp hair as she slipped into a simple black tank top and a pair of loose gray shorts. At least the shower had washed away some of the stress from the day. Not all of it, because Max Philips was still in her goddamn apartment, but enough to prevent her from committing a felony.

The man was persistent, she’d give him that.

Dragging her fingers through her hair, she sighed again, bracing herself for whatever new bullshit awaited her in the living room.

Meanwhile, in the living room…

Max Philips had made himself very comfortable.

He sat sprawled out on her couch, flipping lazily through a magazine he’d found on her coffee table, his tie now completely undone, top buttons unfastened. He’d already spent the last ten minutes giving himself a grand tour of his accountant’s apartment.

And what a delightful tour it had been.

Framed photographs lined the walls and shelves, little snapshots of her life before she became the company’s most terrifying accountant.

A picture of her with a younger couple, her parents, maybe.

A few college photos, including one where she looked particularly annoyed while holding up a diploma. Max smirked at that one.

And then, the jackpot.

A baby picture.

Little Y/N L/N, tiny and grumpy, dressed in what looked like an old-fashioned onesie, a pout on her small face as she sat on the floor clutching a stuffed rabbit.

Max’s smirk widened.

Oh, this was gold.

Without a second thought, he pocketed it.

No way in hell was he leaving this behind.

Just as he was settling back onto the couch, arms stretched out, waiting for her inevitable return, he heard the soft shuffle of feet.

Finally.

Y/N emerged from the hallway, hair slightly damp, dressed for bed, her expression already exhausted despite the fact that she hadn’t even laid down yet.

She took one look at Max.

Max grinned.

"Comfy?" She deadpanned.

"Very." He said, stretching like a smug bastard.

Y/N stared at him for a long moment. Then, without another word, she turned on her heel and walked straight to her bedroom.

Max blinked.

"Wait, hold on." He called, watching as she disappeared inside. "No ‘get the hell out of my apartment, Philips’? No threats? Nothing?"

The only response he got was the sound of the bedroom door locking.

Max chuckled to himself, shaking his head as he leaned back against the couch.

Oh, yeah.

This was definitely the best decision he’d ever made.

[riahlynn101]

Self-Preservation (4)

Trigger warnings: Emetophobia, self-blame, and graphic (but brief) depictions of the aftermath of torture and murder.

(To avoid the emetophobia trigger it starts with "Gregory lurches" and ends with "His skin is feverish and warm.")

@gregorysarmy

Chapter 4: Hold It Together

---

By the time the school bell rings, Gregory is barely holding it together. He stumbles from Spanish in a daze. The hallway is full of people, students going to their lockers and chatting with friends, and teachers watching from their classroom doors. 

He makes it to Vanessa’s car without crying (somehow). She greets him warmly, “hey, kid. How’s school?” 

Gregory breathes through his nose. He doesn’t want to cry. It’s embarrassing, and it’s even more embarrassing because he doesn’t understand why he wants to cry. Amanda wasn’t his friend, and she was barely a lab partner. But for some reason every time he thinks of her, all he can imagine are bloody walls and torn limbs. 

The images are seared into his brain, and even though he tells himself it’s not real, that he didn’t see what actually happened, it feels too real. 

He holds his backpack like a security blanket. 

“Fine,” he mutters. 

Vanessa frowns, side eyeing him. “This is about Amanda, isn’t it?”

Mutely, Gregory nods. 

“We can swing by her house if you want?”

Bloody walls. Torn limbs. 

He shudders. “No, thank you.”

Gregory could go a thousand years without ever seeing that house again. As tragic as it is, he refuses to concern himself with it any further. Amanda didn’t deserve what happened, but it’s been eight hours and he’s already started going insane. 

-x-x-x-

When they get home, he goes straight to bed. 

Right now he just wants to sleep off the sick, icky feeling that follows each reminder of Amanda and whatever her fate may have been. 

He curls up under his blankets, and wraps his arms around himself. The quiet murmur of television in the living room and muffled outside noises soothe him. His breathing deepens, and he nuzzles his face into the pillow. 

And before he knows it, he’s fast asleep…

Gregory pants, sitting upright. The shirt he forgot to change out of from school clings to him with cold sweat. The apartment beyond his bedroom walls is quiet, unnaturally so. He can imagine Vanessa passed out in her bed, and Freddy in the living room, hooked up to an old car battery and some jumper cables. 

He runs his fingers through his hair, trying to remember his nightmare. It escapes him, though the fear remains, lingering just out of his reach.

Gregory reaches for his phone. Maybe there’s more information on Amanda and her family. Their town is relatively tiny, so someone should’ve picked up on it by now. The local Newspaper is sometimes worse than the paparazzi, hunting for new, interesting stories. 

You can only write about bingo nights and elementary school students receiving awards for so long before people stop buying your paper. 

Usually, he’s disgusted by their predatory behavior, but tonight, if it helps ease his mind, then maybe it’s okay - just this once. 

And just as he predicted an article pops up regarding a recent family massacre. The details are sparse, but Gregory gets the gist of it. Even with little-to-no-details, he’s left nauseous and uneasy. He moves on to their town’s other , somehow, much more predatory news site. 

BEAWARE.COM  is a crime blog run by, what Gregory can only assume, are a group of basement dwelling conspiracy theorists with too much time on their hands. But they usually share details that the local paper is too afraid to mention. 

And, once again, he finds what he’s looking for. 

It’s the first article on their site. He clicks on the link. The photo they used is a picture of the house with police cars stationed everywhere.

“ Today, September 30th, emergency services received a call when a neighbor of the Wright family (pictured below) smelled something rotting near the house.”

Gregory skims the article. He stops suddenly, struck by one line in particular. 

“ ....the walls were allegedly covered in blood, and their limbs were found in nice, neat piles. Their heads placed atop their torn limbs…”

Gregory lurches forward, dropping his phone. He tumbles off his bed, landing on his knees. His stomach twists and turns, imagining the act being carried out. Bile begins to rise higher and higher. 

He clasps a firm hand over his mouth to keep from throwing up, and stumbles his way to the bathroom. 

He barely makes it, resting his face on the toilet seat. Thoughts of how clean the toilet seat might be is the furthest thing from his mind. All he can picture is Amanda’s last moments. How absolutely terrifying that must have been. 

His skin is feverish and warm, and all he wants to do is rest for a hundred-thousand years. Only concern for Vanessa’s deposit for the apartment keeps him from trying to leave. Gregory remains there, trying to catch his quickening breath. 

Eventually, once the worst of the nausea eases up, he slumps against the bathtub. He rests his face on the outer ring, letting his free arm, not pillowing his head, hang over the side. He closes his eyes, intent on not falling asleep, but just resting his eyes and easing the rest of the sick feeling before going back to bed.

His eyes grow heavier and heavier. Gregory yawns, eyes sliding closed. 

-x-x-x-

The bathroom light burns his eyes, assaulting his senses the moment he wakes up. He groans, holding a hand over his eyes. Slowly, Gregory removes himself from the floor. 

He groans, holding a hand over the back of his neck. A few hours hunched over did his neck and back no favors. It’s almost enough to distract him from the leftover acidic taste of bile in the back of his mouth. 

The room spins when he stands. He leans against the wall, catching his breath. 

Maybe I should stay home today…?

But then he thinks of how suspicious Sarah already is of him, and how she’s a gossip just like Amanda. It won’t affect him any if she runs her mouth. At worst, people will tease him about, but they already tease him about his size, his choppy hair, and a billion other things. 

Besides, Amanda’s death isn’t his fault. As guilty as he feels right now, it’s only because he was the last person to enter the house before the family was murdered. 

He resolves to go to school. If not to avoid more teasing and whispering behind his back, then to keep his perfect attendance. 

It’s not like things can get any worse, right?

Right….?

[strawbubbysugar]

So(u)l Chapter 1

A soulmate daycare attendant x reader slowburn!

Disclaimer: it/its pronouns are used for the daycare attendant until he achieves sentience! Here's the AO3 link to read it there as well! https://archiveofourown.org/works/48206098/chapters/121564951#workskin

Busy. Busy busy busy, always so busy. Never even a moments rest to stop and think- not that it needed an entire second, a laughably long amount of time. Jeremy was trying to eat glue. Tasha was shoving a dirty sock from the ball pit into one of the generators littered around the room- as if they weren’t already enough of a fire hazard.

It was lucky it was so quick, so ready to jump into the candy covered sticky fray. It was even luckier that it was a computer, a robot designed specifically for children. Maybe not designed for this specific job, but it performed it well. It took pride in it, as much as an artificial intelligence could, and even moreso knowing that all of its knowledge and expertise in this area was learned through experience rather than it being loaded into its artificial brain. It was advanced. It was incredibly advanced, far moreso than any other technology outside of the fazbear corporation.

A learning, growing AI, worth millions of dollars, and now with one hand holding onto the labelled seam of a toddler’s pants, dangling them from where they’d attempted a jump off the highest height of the jungle gym. The other hand was holding back an eight year old, who was beginning to realize that they were too mature for the daycare and acting out to prove it as they attempted to peel the safety foam off the sharp corners at the top of the structure. Its feet were being used to hold himself to the gym, hooked into the criss cross patterned grating and providing it just enough leverage to remain opposed to gravity.

If it had core muscles, they would be straining at the effort. At the moment, all the straining was a result of its desperate attempt to not drop either child, nor use too much force and accidentally hurt them.

Its foot slipped slightly, ever so slightly. Not enough to make it fall, but enough that it knew that scenario wasn’t far off. Its mind ran a hundred thousand calculations a millisecond, before it finally calculated the best choice.

It used the hand holding the back of the older child’s shirt to yank them towards it while simultaneously throwing the toddler up up UP into the air. It did a spinning cartwheel off the structure, using both it’s hands to launch the older child into the ball pit as if he were a basketball, hearing him land with a scattering of hollow plastic balls. Finally, it hit the ground with a duck, a roll, and a bounce to stand back up. Holding out its perfectly engineered hands and-

Poomf!

Catching the little one with time to spare. The fluid, lifelike robot beamed and wiggled ite finger over the child’s nose, earning a giggle before it put them down and sent them on their wobbly way.

“Remember kids, the top of the structure is off off off limits!” It announced, its million dollar smile bright and cheerful, it’s voice so full of life you wouldn’t know it didn’t have one.

“Mr Sun!!” Two of the children screamed, in a tug of war over a stuffed Chica.

“Hello, friends!” It smiled at them, bounding over in far fewer steps than it would take a human, thanks to its incredibly long legs. “Are we playing nice and sharing our toys??”

One of the children shook their head quickly. “Billy isn’t letting go of MY chica!!”

“I saw it first!!” He retorted, tugging on the doll again. The animatronic faintly heard the sound of seams pulling taut.

“But I brought it from home!!” The little girl whined. “Mr SUN!!”

It gently patted both of their heads, crouching down to get closer to the both of them. “Amanda, you brought your toy from home, so you get to decide if you want to share it! Billy, Amanda is very upset, so do you think you could find a different toy??”

It’s voice remained as bouncy and excited as ever, even while crouched down trying to calm down a situation. Billy scowled before tugging on the toy again, and even Amanda could hear the ripping now. She screamed in terror at the idea of her toy being broken, pulling back harder in a vain attempt to retrieve it. “NOOOO!!”

It scanned the situation, running through calculations before coming to its final option. The last one before simply lifting up the children and physically separating them.

“Whooooo wants a sundrop!!” It held out two round little orange candies, magicked out of thin air from behind the children’s ears.

They stared for a moment, but only a moment before the toy was dropped and the candies grabbed eagerly. The daycare attendant lifted up the toy, depositing it in Amanda’s arms. It reached over into one of the many piles of toys surrounding the daycare and pulled out a Monty plush, plopping it into the arms of Billy. “There we go! Now we both have a toy!”

It’s wide smile beamed as it squinted it’s optics in a show of approval. Both children seemed at least satiated with the end result- both with a toy and a piece of candy, before running off in opposite directions. It stood up and surveyed the room, looking for the next challenge to tackle.

The child who had been dunked into the pit finally dragged himself out, throwing a plastic ball at the attendant’s head in indignation that his plan to ruin safety codes had been thwarted.

The ball whizzed towards the animatronic, with surprisingly good aim for a kid of that age. Aim didn’t matter however, when the daycare attendant had sensors in the back of its head. It’s torso turned before his head and caught the ball. When it’s head caught up, rotating to face him, it beamed his same, static smile at the boy.

“Oh ho ho, Lukas!” It chided, voice loud enough to fill the entire daycare with ease. It used its foot to kick two more balls that had been scattered along the mats into its hands, and began juggling them. “Throwing things is not permitted in the daycare! Unless of course we’re playing catch- but I don’t remember agreeing to play!!”

As it walked over to the boy, it continued to scoop up balls, juggling them even as the number of them became more and more unfathomable to be kept in the air all at one time.

Lukas folded his arms and huffed, turning and sitting on the edge of the ball pit. He paused until he knew the attendant was close, mischievous little grin worming it’s way across his face. By the time the attendant was close enough to roll the balls off its shoulder in a graceful slide back into their designated place in the pit, he had a new plan.

He threw himself off the edge of the ball pit, sliding between the attendant’s legs and booking it for the structure. He knew the attendant had difficulty maneuvering inside of it, though it wasn’t impossible. He’d have to be quick to make it through. He had no real goal, of course. He was here until his mom came for him at four.

But getting that dumb robot all tangled up for a few minutes would be compensation enough for having been interrupted during his brooding on top of the structure.

The robot feigned being startled as it was slid under, having seen the boy’s muscles tensing long before he actually moved. Its programming urged it to allow the children small victories over it- to improve their self confidence, and their growth. It gasped dramatically, throwing every ball it was juggling into the air at once and letting them pelt it as they came back down.

Several children who were watching giggled at the display, enjoying watching the oldest kid in the daycare really stick it to the man. Er.. the robot.

The older kids knew the robot wasn’t really alive. He was a toy, meant to watch over them while their parents were at work, or with their older siblings in the gigantic pizzaplex. He was like .. an elf on the shelf. He couldn’t really do anything to you, but he could tell your parents if you had been naughty, and that was often more than enough to deter them from bad behaviour. He played games, sang songs, told stories, did arts and crafts- he did it all!

Almost like a real person!

Lukas had, at this point, been sticking out his tongue at the attendant from the slide, teasing and making rude gestures.

The attendant’s array of yellow points, surrounding his head like a halo of sunshine, flattened back slightly. It’s programming censored the rude gesture for it, but it knew that it was against the rules. Rules that it took VERY seriously.

“Lukas! That is against the rules! Please step out of the-!” It peered up into the tube that the boy had disappeared into, whirring clicks filling the plastic tunnel as it tried to pathfind the best way to handle this situation.

It was frozen for a fraction of a second before deciding to follow him. It knew the boy was trying to get it to follow, but that’s what it was here for. To play! To follow the rules in order to keep order and structure to the fun, to play along, and to keep humans safe were the pillars on which its AI was built. It was harmless to follow, and would only serve as a lesson to the boy when he was caught to not break the rules.

It crawled into the slide, on all fours, almost spider-like as it ascended. “Luuuukaaaas!” It called, in a sing-songy voice, completely oblivious in any bit of its coding as to how terrifying this situation would be to a child. “Rulebreakers don’t get to keep playing, they have to go in TIME OUT!”

It reached the end of the slide, crouching as it scanned the area. It found the bio signature near instantly, though with a moments hesitation. He was using the generator as a mask to hide his body heat- clever! It added that note to Lukas’s file to compliment his mother on when she came for pickup. The parents were usually much friendlier to it after it complimented their children. Not that their nervous looks and barely hidden discomfort around it bothered it. It was only a machine, after all.

“Come get me!!” The child teased, sticking out his tongue as he peaked over the generator. Warning signs flashed in its mind, red boxes and triangles covering his view. This was dangerous. The generators weren’t safe to play around.

“The generators aren’t toys, friend!” It spoke slowly. “Let me get you somewhere more fun, then we can-“

As it reached over the generator, it knocked one of the thick connecting cables loose, already having been on its last legs from being fiddled with by tiny hands. A large arc of electricity crackled in the air, and the lights in the daycare flickered. The generator practically jumped into the air with the force of the kilovolts being pushed through it, kilovolts which connected with the attendant’s metal frame and engulfed it.

Lukas watched as the attendant was flooded with electricity, artificial eyes flooded with static, and rays spinning so quickly it was creating a breeze. Arms twitching and hands opening and closing, legs spasming- Maybe this hadn’t been the best idea after all. If he broke this thing, his mom was sure to kill him. Or at least, take away his video game privileges.

Eventually, the lights in the daycare returned to normal, the generator that had been over-conducting calming down as its brothers rerouted the power to themselves and shut it off from their system. Now that it was powerless, the attendant was free to recover.

Smoke rose from his body, eyes black as his power cell had forced a shut off to avoid overload. It had done so too late, unfortunately, and he had crashed.

His systems slowly rebooted, coming back online one by one.

Good Morning, Sun!

The text beeped in front of his eyes before disappearing shortly after, the usual wake up he received after a hard reset, other than the startup systems diagnosis running in the background. He blinked slowly, purposefully.

That had.. hurt.

It had hurt?

It had hurt.

Why had it hurt? He’d never hurt before. He could feel things, thanks to the wiring under his silicon, to give him the ability to judge touch and pressure. But he’d never hurt. He’d also never considered himself a he before. Why was he thinking that now? Why was he thinking anything? He didn’t usually think, not much anyways, not consciously. His thoughts were command tasks in his computer brain, not thoughts- thoughts like these. Like this one right now. And this one! And this!

He felt himself begin to panic. What was happening to him? What was wrong? Was he broken? Oh, no! If he was broken he’d have to-

Fear flooded his system. Confusion, then panic, then fear. Not the most fun first three emotions to feel.

He raised his hands and gripped his rays anxiously, before patting down the rest of himself. He didn’t FEEL broken. Not physically at least. Maybe the jolt had fried his software- would he need it replaced?? Would he-

He froze again, a swirling spinning mess of all these terrible feelings, not even noticing as the little instigator slipped his way past him and down the slide back out of the structure again.

He was too busy thinking about himself, now. Himself. A new concept.

If he’d needed to breathe, his chest would be heaving. And it did. His artificial breathing, meant to make him even more like a person, had caught up to the news of their sudden autonomy, and began shuddering as he fought to catch his false breath.

He was only shaken out of his stupor when he heard a voice in the back of his head. One he heard constantly- that he knew as intimately as he knew himself. It WAS himself. Or at least.. it had been.

When he wasn’t awake, it hadn’t mattered that the moon program was separate from him. They were the same body, providing the same functions. It was the same as switching browsers. You still got your results.

But now.. now..? Now that little voice, those little lines of code that ‘spoke’ to him.. they really were speaking to him. The voice they’d programmed for moon, to be softer, to be easier to hear before bed, echoed out in lines of code that translated themselves into speech.

Sun?

Sun paused for a moment. That was his name, wasn’t it? Sun. It was his. He’d never thought about his name before- it had almost been as much of a title as daycare attendant. It wasn’t his, it was what the children called him to get his attention. No, no. That was his name. It was his. He decided firmly in that moment. His first real decision- one made on his own. On purpose. By choice.

..Moon..?

He sent out his own strings of code in return, hesitantly, carefully. As if responding would break the spell, the beautiful and terrifying curse they seemed to be under.

After a few long moments, agonizingly long, he received a pinged response.

This is new.

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

Queer Books November 2023

🌈 Good afternoon, my bookish bats! Struggling to keep up with all the amazing queer books coming out this month? Here are a FEW of the stunning, diverse queer books you can add to your TBR before the year is over. Remember to #readqueerallyear! Happy reading!

❤️ The Pirate and the Porcelain Girl by Emily Riesbeck 🧡 Heading North by Holly M. Wendt 💛 The Wisdom of Bug by Alyson Root 💚 Trick Shot by Kayla Grosse 💙 A Holly Jolly Christmas by Emily Wright 💜 Outdrawn by Deanna Grey ❤️ Yours Celestially by Al Hess 🧡 The Christmas Memory by Barbara Winkes 💛 Violet Moon by Mel E. Lemon 💙 The Santa Pageant by Lillian Barry 💜 Only for the Holidays by Shannon O’Connor 🌈 Homestead for the Holidays by Wren Taylor

❤️ You Can Count on Me by Fae Quin 🧡 No One Left But You by Tash McAdam 💛 The Worst Thing of All is the Light by José Luis Serrano, Lawrence Schimel 💚 Today Tonight Forever by Madeline Kay Sneed 💙 Wren Martin Ruins It All by Amanda DeWitt 💜 Emmett by L. C. Rosen ❤️ Finding My Elf by David Valdes 🧡 Tonight, I Burn by Katharine J. Adams 💛 Gorgeous Gruesome Faces by Linda Cheng 💙 Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree 💜 A Power Unbound by Freya Marske 🌈 We Are the Crisis by Cadwell Turnbull

❤️ The Manor House Governess by C.A. Castle 🧡 You Owe Me One, Universe by Chad Lucas 💛 Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen by Sarah James 💚 Skip!: A Graphic Novel by Rebecca Burgess 💙 Something About Her by Clementine Taylor 💜 Touching the Art by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore ❤️ A Nearby Country Called Love by Salar Abdoh 🧡 Normporn: Queer Viewers and the TV That Soothes Us by Karen Tongson 💛 Sir Callie and the Dragon’s Roost by Esme Symes-Smith 💙 The Order of the Banshee by Robyn Singer 💜 Once Upon My Dads’ Divorce by Seamus Kirst, Noémie Gionet Landry 🌈 Forsooth by Jimmy Matejek-Morris

❤️ A Common Bond by T.M. Kuta 🧡 Risk the Fall by Riley Hart 💛 Just a Little Snack by Yah-Yah Scholfield 💚 Home for the Holidays by Erin Zak 💙 NeurodiVeRse by MJ James 💜 Dark Heir (Dark Rise #2) by C.S. Pacat ❤️ sub/Dom by Rab Green 🧡 Bitten by the Bond by Elaine White 💛 Heir to Frost and Storm by Ben Alderson 💙 The Sea of Stars by Gwenhyver 💜 Bad Beat by L.M. Bennett 🌈 Idol Moves by K.T. Salvo

❤️ Plot Twist by Erin La Rosa 🧡 In the Pines by Mariah Stillbrook 💛 The Crimson Fortress (The Ivory Key #2) by Akshaya Raman 💚 Only She Came Back by Margot Harrison 💙 Megumi & Tsugumi, Vol. 4 by Mitsuru Si 💜 Pritty by Keith F. Miller Jr. ❤️ Just Lizzie by Karen Wilfrid 🧡 An Atlas to Forever by Krystina Rivers 💛 Come Find Me in the Midnight Sun by Bailey Bridgewater 💙 Bait and Witch by Clifford Mae Henderson 💜 Shadow Baron by Davinia Evans 🌈 Day by Michael Cunningham

❤️ Livingston Girls by Briana Morgan 🧡 Delay of the Game by Ari Baran 💛 The Nanny with the Nice List by K. Sterling 💚 A Talent Ignited by Suzanne Lenoir 💙 A Kiss of the Siren’s Song by E.A.M. Trofimenkoff 💜 Rivals for Love by Ali Vali ❤️ Whiskey & Wine by Kelly Fireside, Tana Fireside 🧡 Buried Secrets by Sheri Lewis Wohl 💛 Ride with Me by Jenna Jarvis 💙 Living for You by Jenny Frame 💜 Death on the Water by CJ Birch 🌈 Merciless Waters by Rae Knowles

❤️ Vicarious by Chloe Spencer 🧡 Sapling’s Depths by Spencer Rose 💛 That French Summer by Sienna Waters 💚 System Overload by Saxon James 💙 King of Death by Lily Mayne 💜 Warts and All by Ashley Bennett ❤️ Principle Decisions by Thea Belmont 🧡 The Best Mistake by Emily O’Beirne 💛 Sugar and Ice by Eule Grey 💙 Until The Blood Runs Dry by MC Johnson 💜 Splinter : A Diverse Sleepy Hollow Retelling by Jasper Hyde 🌈 The Mischievous Letters of the Marquise de Q by Felicia Davin

❤️ The Queer Girl is Going to be Okay by Dale Walls 🧡 Til Death Do Us Bard by Rose Black 💛 Leverage by E.J. Noyes 💚 Alice Sadie Celine by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright 💙 Godly Heathens by H.E. Edgmon 💜 Gwen & Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher ❤️ To Kill a Shadow by Katherine Quinn 🧡 Warrior of the Wind by Suyi Davies Okungbowa 💛 For Never & Always by Helena Greer 💙 A Demon’s Guide to Wooing a Witch by Sally Hawley 💜 Heaven Official’s Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu Vol. 8 by Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù 🌈 A Carol for Karol by Ann Roberts

[misskattylashes]

Hi guys

Okay, here goes. I am posting this without tags so very few people will see it because I think it the general public saw it, they would call for the men in white coats. But it has been plauging me since that weird post on Monday and I need to get this off my chest.

It's going to be a long post so you might want to grab and cup of tea/coffee and a snack.

But I will begin...

I think Louise and Alex's relationship is an elaborate fuck you!

Okay, to summarise. I think you all know my stance by now. Alex has been publicly closeted since 2007 when AM had their sights set on America and management knew that a lead singer who was in a cute little bromance with his best friend was not going to appeal to the general US market (especially since by then Alex had started to blossom and it was obvious teen girls were going to love him), so we get Alexa... whilst with Alexa we get Humbug, an album full of songs about secrets, double lives and wanting to be with someone else. Of course no one listens to Alex's lyrics. They just see him with the pretty girlfriend.

Next comes Arielle, and for this I will blame Alex. The late SIAS/AM persona was pretty straight acting, and he sold the image well.

Then comes Taylor. They clearly get on very well, but also...well I don't have to go into much detail about EYCTE, you've all seen it.

So it ends with Taylor and we get the shit show we have today. so I thought I would list all the things that make this 'relationship' different to the others

1. Lack of engagement by Alex. With the other girlfriends Alex spent private as well as staged time with them. for AAT (Alexa Arielle and Taylor) we have countless private photos and social media posts that show he did 'fun' things with them (quite often with Miles too). With L there are a couple of 'private' photos from very early on in their relationship, and these are with her friends. Other than that there is no evidence at all that they have spent any time together, other than for public events. This points to him being friends with AAT and not minding hanging out with them. But L being little more than a business arrangement.

2. AAT have all been seen out socially with Alex's parents and his friends. We have nothing of her out socially with his friends or family, apart from Matt and Amanda - and Alex isn't in these photos.

3. Miles. Miles was good friends with AAT and still interacts with them to this day. There has never been any interaction between Miles and L apart from a couple of sarcastic comments by him on IG

4. Music videos. AAT all feature in Alex's music videos, clearly. In the MV for Mirrorball (directed by Alex) we have L's feet and back (making it look like he can't be bothered with her).

So, what makes me think it is a hoax and she is in on it. I am going to list the weird things that have happened, especially since Italy papgate...

a)Italy. How Backgrid works is they are basically the middle men between pap photographers, the celebrities and the press. It is arranged via the celebs for paparazzi photographers to capture them, the via Backgrid, the celebs sell the pictures they want published. So Alex/Louise/PR chose those awful, miserable pictures as a documentation of their relationship. Including Alex not even covering up the tattoo, making it look like he doesn't give a shit about her feelings.

b) 'I don't wanna be hers' at gigs where Louise is at and she has made clear on social media that she is at, which once again makes it look like he doesn't give a shit about her, which begs the question to those who think they're real 'why doesn't he just split with her?'

c)The 38th birthday post. The only photograph it looks like she can find is one that is 5 years old and is dubious in origin (she wasn't in Australia in 2019) - let's not forget Miles' River Mersey comment

d) Tyler's wedding. We get that strangely pointless 6th post. Unusually the first person to comment is Mia Latter saying she misses Lou (when have they ever hung out?) and Louise specifically saying she will be in LA in 10 days time, making it look like she is going to the wedding. When has she ever been so specific before?

Lo and behold the week before the wedding she goes overboard to prove she is in Paris. Then the day before the wedding she posts a story telling the couple she can't go because she is working (?) she could have just told them that in a phonecall. Even if she does have a job, like any person on this planet she had plenty of notice to take a week's leave to go to the wedding. But she wants us to know Alex isn't taking her to the wedding.

She then goes to LA alone and the only person we see her with is Justyna Hammond, despite on social media Amanda and Mia gushing on about how they miss herwhich makes it look like in reality they don't care about her that much

e)The 39th birthday post. You are dating a man who has a beautiful smile and yet you deliberately post a picture where he looks angry, that is two years old. It makes her look ridiculous.

f)The Nest Debacle this week. Louise's posts have to be approved by PR (please note they are always posted around 6pm GMT). Zackery Michael gave her those ridiculous photos. It is clear she is on holiday and not in the same room as him, so Zackery has photoshopped those pictures which makes him in on the debacle (I will maintain even the photo on the 6th post looked doctored). It looks like he is taking the piss out of her.

The text, it reads like something produced from an AI bot and makes no sense and she doesn't even bother to add quotation marks to the Sagan quote which makes it look copied and pasted with little effort.

It is like Louise herself is going further and further to prove their relationship is fake which makes me wonder if it's a giant fuck you on Alex's part with L and the other close circle in on it.

From Alex's point of view he probably signed his life away when he was little more than a child, agreeing to take part in any contractual publicity on behalf of Domino/Wildlife. Fake relationships are included in this. He has spent most of this time shouting into the void - writing sad songs about hiding, being a liar, keeping secrets. He has openly showed his love for Miles ('you know who I love Paris?'), was all over Miles like a rash during EYCTE and yet it gets dismissed as 'just bros fooling around'

What if when it ended with Taylor, he was still contractually obliged to have a beard and they found Louise. She was suitable geographically because he was moving back to London to be near Miles and he needed a European beard.

When you think about it, Louise is a persona. Her friends and family call her Pauline. For all we know Pauline could be an okay person. Imagine you're a struggling singer/actress/model/whatever and you are offered Megabucks, a luxury apartment and travel all over the world to play the horrible girlfriend of a famous rockstar. You would probably accept it. Louise is a monster, no doubt about it. Look at her entrance onto the scene, openly flaunting her relationship with Alex behind Taylor's back (please note that in the real world she would have been silenced, Alex would have done a damage control pap shoot with Taylor to dispel the rumours, him and Taylor would have split and Louise would have been slowly introduced - celebrities always want to protect their reputation).

We have had her arguing and blocking teenagers online. the 'beautiful dick' comment and finally the biggest thing that makes her look like a monster....Miles

The lack of Milex content coincided with Louise. People think Alex doesn't see Miles because Louise doesn't like him (the same Louise Alex barely sees so what does it matter?). At La Cigale, why did she have to be so visible on the stage. Alex running off to her, making it look like she was causing him to abandon Miles for her. Another way of making her look like a monster.

Alex is a grown man, she can't stop him seeing anyone, let alone his best friend. And Miles is also a grown up, I am sure he could endure a night out with Alex and Louise and grin and bear it (how many men out there can't stand their best mate's partner but endures them to keep the peace?). But all in all it paints her as a total controlling monster.

Louise makes herself look like an idiot over and over again and PR do no damage control. Alex is rich and famous enough to, whilst not get out of contracts, but to negotiate, and maybe the negotiation was done that he had a beard but the relationship was so ridiculously staged, it served people right if they fell for it. Alex has tried to tell them over and over again that he was basically being held hostage by fame and noone listened, so why not have the most ridiculous relationship possible, with very little input on his part.

Thank you for reading. I told you the other theory was crazy. But I have needed to get this off my chest.

Extras.....

The Larry Sanders cap - the fictional show within a fictional show

Louise advertising the fact she was staying in a hotel during the London AM gigs when Alex lives 20 mins from the venue.

The couples Polaroid collage and Alex and Louise being left off.

The panties on the piano. What normal person does that.

We just fucked on the mirror - no normal person does that

The after show in NY at the same party, no picture of them together

Not going on the family trip with Louise's family and friends who are in couples

Louise's persona - it is only thanks to pages like I Will Shine Louder and She's All Vintage that we realise before meeting Alex she didn't have the Birkin image. Her past was pretty much erased.

She never posts friends or family (except Jonathan and the occasional thing of her sister). She went on that holiday with her family last year. Never posted once. But she was all over her sister's page.

Copying the clothes, IG posts of Alex's exes. Makes her look like a crazy stalker.

Actually wearing a sky blue Lacoste top (not Alex's) to advertise that she's going to Japan....why does she need to do this (7/3/23)

Alex has disengaged with all promotion for AM. There was very little promotion for The Car. A couple of radio shows, magazine interviews. As far as I am aware nothing at all in the US. Now he does nothing. All AM promotion is down to Matt.

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

Angela Well, now Pam and Cece are in the car and they call Jim. They call daddy. This is really cute. So sweet. 

Jenna But this is where Pam is going to find out that Jim is still in Philly and he's not going to make the recital. This investor might back out and Jim can't leave. 

Angela So Jim says Pam will you please film the recital. And he sort of starts talking to her, kind of condescending about how to film it. And she's like, look, I know how to point a rectangle at something and film it. 

Jenna And then he's like, okay. And then it's time to say goodbye. And then there's this pause, and then he's like, hey, Pam, you have to press end, you know, which is sort of meant to be like a dig at her phone skills. Lady... 

Angela Why can't Jim just hang up the phone? 

Jenna This is the scene. 

Angela Oh, that people were pissed off about? 

Jenna For so many reasons. I saw the mail for this episode, and I couldn't believe it. Where should I begin? I'll begin with Amanda C from Montreal, Canada. Amanda says, I have to go on a little rant about Jim, but maybe not from the moment you think. What absolutely grinds my gears about Jim's behavior is when Pam is on the phone with him in the car, and he implies that she doesn't know how to use her phone to video the recital by saying, See, Pam, you still need to hang up the phone. Excuse me, sir. She is driving. Can you not hang it up yourself? And then it will automatically end the call on her phone. Samantha L from Tampa, Florida said, The thing I actually cannot get past is the incident when Pam is in the car on the way to Cece's recital. Why is Jim giving Pam such a hard time for being bad with technology because she doesn't hang up the phone? Pam is driving with your child in the backseat. You hang up the phone, Jim! You're not the one that would need to take your hand off the wheel of a moving vehicle! Let's see. Samantha goes on to say, Who's the one who's really bad with the cell phone technology, huh? Spoiler alert, not Pam. Another letter from Nora E in New Orleans, Louisiana. I want to go on record to say that the tipping point moment when Jim has clearly gone full ass (BLEEP) is in this episode, when he's on the phone with me and he berates her for not hanging up the phone. She's driving. He's at work. He's clearly not in a huge rush to return to his meeting, since he's able to stay at his desk and what? Have a gotcha moment with his own wife? This scene in the car makes me so deeply angry. I need this full dickhead moment to be acknowledged. 

Angela I love that she puts full in front of her curse word. 

Jenna I know. 

Angela Full (BLEEP). I want to use that. He's gone full (BLEEP). 

Jenna I know. I know. So Ange, it's literally what you said. You said it. You're like, why can't he hang up the phone? This is just three of the letters we got about this moment. But this is very good foreshadowing for what is going to happen later, and I think an interesting dynamic in their relationship, which is that and I think some relationships have this. They've got the gotcha person. Oh, I got to point out the little thing. Gotcha. You know, you said that you are good at cleaning out the fridge, but- gotcha. Found a rotten tomato or whatever it is. You know, the gotcha people, the gotcha moments which are just, like, so toxic for a relationship. 

Angela It's petty. 

Jenna Pettiness. 

Angela It's pettiness. 

Jenna Yeah. But Jim's in a mood. He's stressed. He's not handling it well. In conclusion, I hope that us discussing it today on the podcast has brought some of you relief, because the number of heated letters we got about this moment, I felt it. 

Angela We also asked Kelly Cantley about directing this scene, and here's what she had to say. 

Kelly Cantley Cece in the car. Surprisingly, Cece in the car was really hard to shoot because Cece was a little girl and little kids don't do lines. So Jenna, I don't know if you remember, we shot all of your dialogue and then we shot lots of both of us taking turns just saying the lines. I think we started with you doing it. And then we wanted to go from you to the little girl so we would see you talking. So you did it a few times where you would just say her line and she would say it back. And I believe I did it a bunch of times on the speaker in the car. So I actually had forgotten that until I watched the episode again. 

Jenna actually did remember that. I had such a great rapport with those little girls. Not to toot my own horn, but I'm 50 now, which is the decade of tooting your own horn. 

Angela It's time to toot. 

Jenna Bailey and Sienna. I just loved them so much, and we would do a thing where we would do, like, repeat me. So I would say their line and they would say their line, and we made a little game out of it. They did great. 

Angela I thought it was so cute. Those girls were so cute.