#hopefully it lasts and we're able to get the next few chapters finished!

[allylikethecat]

not the same anon buuuut i would really love a 🦆 update

is fictional! matty still in the corner for trying to make unsanctioned bad choices in that one?

Hello Anon!

Hopefully the Ducklings update will be ready for Tuesday 👀 Fictional!Matty and I seem to have reached a compromise and he's being let out of his time out corner... hopefully we can keep it up to finish the chapter! I'm so happy to hear that you're enjoying Ducklings though and I'm so sorry there was such a delay between chapters! Hopefully that will be remedied moving forward! I hope you enjoy the new chapter and look forward to hearing your thoughts! Thank you again for reading and for your continued support! I hope you have a great rest of your week!

❤️Ally

[aimlesspixel]

Isat Scintillation - Side Stories V1

I more so wrote these as a way to practice getting a feel for how the different character's think and act but since they are events in my fic I figured I may as well put them out there! Please make sure to read Chapters 1 and 2 first before biting into these.

Mirabelle

Mmph, Siffrin still looks like their pushing themselves a bit to keep up this pace. Don't they know how important rest is for recovery? He doesn't want any of us to worry i bet. I know we're going to reunite Bonnie and Nile but that doesn't mean that we can't slow down.

I wonder what Bambouch is like I know it's close to the sea but not much more than that. I'll ask Bonnie sometime.

Still I can't believe we managed to save Vauguard. We really do owe Siffrin I overheard her talking to them back when we just finished discussing our plans and if she's right we really didn't have any chance at victory without them. I'm so glad that we managed to save them from the time loop.

"Mirabelle is something wrong?"

"Oh madame! No nothings wrong, just lost in thought i suppose." "Alright well I'll leave it at that then I'm not particularly good with feelings. Besides that though i was curious if you'd like to discuss books?"

"Oooh would you really?! I have so many to recommend! Like the cursing of chateaux castle! And-"

"Slow down, yes I'd love to and please don't shout in my ear."

"Oh• sorry Madame."

"You were excited, in my endless magnanimity i shall find it in my heart to forgive you this time."

"Of course Madame I thank you graciously for your forgiveness (with a giggle)."

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

Odile

Working too hard huh? Siffrin definitely worked too hard back in the house especially with the almost ending the world business... It's been bothering me a while, how come Siffrin and the king both knew wish craft? I mean they did start the loops (according to that star looking fellow named loop and our conversation with them) with wish craft they accidentally did so how did they know about it?

My best guess is with the last thing the king said about his country. If they're from the same place that may explain it.

Actually that explains a few other things too like why Siffrin said they can't go home and their poor memory I mean the whole thing with the king was no one could remember his country right? I can't imagine how that would affect someone who grew up there and moved to live elsewhere before everyone couldn't remember.

"We know you're all excited to see us but we need to find an inn so we can rent a room for the night." The kids apologize and run off. Honestly I'm glad we have the time to talk with the locals and such, not having the stress of Vaugaurds imminent doom looming over is a great change of pace.

We've come through here once already but we were collecting orbs then so I'll just ask the defenders around here.

"Welcome! Welcome! Are you looking for a room today?"

It's a bit impressive how fast Vaugaurde is able to continue regular operation after such a large scale emergency. "Yes what kinds of rooms do you have?"

"We have single, double, and triple bed rooms available"

No reason to change tradition "The three bed room please."

"Of course here's the key I'll show you to the room"

The room is pretty spacious for a three bed inn room. Maybe they're treating us since we just saved Vauguard. That's probably it honestly. Well i wont deny a little special treatment as long as we're still paying properly

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

The Next Side Stories collection will feature Isabeau and Bonnie btw so hopefully you're looking forward to it!

[honeyhotteoks]

hi friends!! quick little tnt update that i think everyone will be excited for!!

so last time in mentioned tnt, i think i let everyone know that i have some chapters finished but was hitting a bit of a block with the next one. i am happy to report, i finally got through it and i have chapters to post!! i'm planning on posting the few tomorrow, mostly because the next two chapters are short and transitional and the one after that is long and gets right back into the plot...... everyone's waited long enough.

i'm going to take a read through them tomorrow for any last changes, and then post them! i have two more chapters after that fully fleshed out which will go up soon-ish, and then i need to finish things out with a few more to close the work out, but those are still in progress.

please read the upcoming content warning under the cut though, we're about to hit some heavy stuff that might be triggering and i want everyone to be prepped for it if needed. additionally, i am no longer able to keep up with taglists for this or any of my work. i know that sucks, but it takes so long to get the taglists up and working and i'm so overwhelmed with that and requests to be added.... so i'm sorry but i gotta do what i gotta do to even get it posted.

okay, warning under the cut, and a big thank you to everyone for waiting!!!

the next few chapters of tnt are going to deal with some heavy, heavy material. i've been warning about this from the top of the fic, but it's been awhile.... and i want to make sure everyone is reminded if they need it.

in chapter 10 there is a pretty frank conversation about alpha/omega/pack dynamics that is going to look similar to conversations around lgbtqia+ bigotry and issues with family not accepting 'non-conventional' dynamics. while obviously we're talking alpha/omega/beta here and not straight/gay/etc., i think it's on the nose enough that some readers may want a warning about it.

starting in chapter 12 we're hitting a bit of a hurt/comfort arc. reader is going to be physically threatened in a way that is pretty scary and traumatic for her. i want to be clear that a s*xual assault does NOT occur, but because i'm dealing with alpha/omega power dynamics in this fic, it's intentionally written in a way that may mirror that experience for some readers.

the chapters that handle this deal with the physical/emotional assault itself, though descriptions are kept to a minimum where possible, but we do spend a good amount of time in the after effects. there are conversations about ptsd, nightmares, trauma, allusions to coerced sex (extremely briefly nothing happens), a trauma response that resembles self harm (she's fine, she will be fine, this will not continue), police response to the incident, and open conversations with her friends after about how she feels, etc.

i will also assure everyone, yungi are the good guys here and really come into play during the comfort part. they're 100% there for our girl and they are not going to harm her in any way. same with any other ateez members.... that might spoil it for some, but honestly i don't care... i'd rather everyone feel safe reading.

hopefully you feel like i write this section responsibly. thank you all so much!

[hummingbird-games]

Dev Diaries

April 4th, 2024

😃When did writing updates become such a chore to me??? I remember when I was excited to share what I was doing, grrrrrrrrrr...

Well. Here's what's happening in Gemini World:

The Knight Dance HOPEFULLY will go live this month because the team and I are entering it in the Amare Festival. I really want y'all to play this game but I also have been working on it for so long that I want to check it off my list lol.

Please check Ko-fi for free posts (and if I'm not posting enough HSD on Tumblr, which, I'M SO SORRY!!!) The most recent thing I threw in the queue was a certain student's I.D. card 👀 but I have plans to put everyone's on there!

HSD: JY #2 is getting its updated, non-snapshot demo this summer! Also, I'd like to clear up some confusion. As awesome as it would be, the full game is not coming out this year. The focus is to put out this last demo and then hunker down and finish writing. As of this post, I decided to write Ryan's full route from top to bottom. His common route content and Billie's are the only finished ones (and may or may not make an appearance in the upcoming demo. lol idk yet). However, Ryan's route has been crystalized in my mind for MONTHS so I figure we'll get my boy out the way so I can focus on the rest of the children 🥲Remember, Florence still doesn't have an outline and das not good....

One of the things I want to be better about with this sequel is embracing the spectrum that is asexuality and aromanticism. I did...something with the first game ☠️ but I feel like the rep could have been better in a lot of places (and I identify as ace, not aro, so I KNOW rep could have been better 🤧)

Having a friendship route was a solid decision, and even if most players didn't fool with it, a few let me know that they played HSD #1 for that feature. Which is cool because I'm tired of playing games that make ending up with a friend character a consolation. FRIENDSHIP IS NOT A CONSOLATION!!!

That said, there are STILL so many things that I won't be able touch on in HSD #2, but I don't claim to be the authority on any sexuality. The above screen is only seen in the friendship route and gives flavor dialogue that can help players define their MC. As someone who came into her asexuality waaaay past her HS and college days, I didn't have the representation to better explain and understand myself, so. Yup.

Alsoooo while we're going on about this sequel, no spoilers but even if you pick a romance route, you're not safe from friend angst 🤷🏽‍♀️Now, if your MC is directly affected or just a poor bystander...?👀🔍

And that's it! April is gonna be SO MUCH FUN because so many game updates are dropping

Our Wonderland finale *sob*

TCT DLC bonus stories

Date With Death DLC Kickstarter

chapter 7 release date announcement for College Craze

Breathless Winds release

And other stuff I probably forgot! So yeah. Heading to work now, but I hope all of y'all have a great day/night, and I'll see you in the next update! 💛

- Gemini

[tricitymonsters]

How is the game development going. Doing good?

whew yes! Thank you for the check in! Sorry for the hermitude, going quiet when I'm focused or a little stressed is kind of a bad habit of mine orz orz!

Let me give you a status report of where things have been at:

Programmer and UI/UX designer have been hard at work overhauling the game's look and implementing all the UI features I want to include. This is an intense task that originally, I thought I would be able to implement on my own but I overestimated my coding skills. Passing this task off to two experts will result in a much higher-quality experience and right now, I'm kind of giving them space to do their thing.

I have mostly written the intro chapter that will serve as the "hub" from which you choose which RO route you'll be going down. This chapter has a strong focus on opening up more of the setting and its mysteries to the player as well so that a full story can be told through each route as it unfolds.

I am currently working on packing as much polish into this chapter as humanly possible. Visual effects, more backgrounds, more music, more sfx, Steam achievements, etc. I've implemented a CG gallery where you can view your unlocked CGs as well as a music room where you can listen to the OST. I really want the intro to shine.

Atlas is currently working on sprite pieces for the Enforcer monsters and then will be moving on to the intro's unlockable CG.

I've also done some work on upcoming chapter releases. Once the intro chapter releases, I want to do VASTLY quicker updates to add story chapters in rotation so I'm trying to get the jump on a lot of the writing and coding that needs to be done for those.

All three routes have been outlined/mapped out.

Still waiting on 2 sexy pinups from the Kickstarter rewards to wrap up. Once I have all three complete I'll begin distributing them to backers.

The Kickstarter character Q&A is mostly complete, the text has all been written and I'm laying it out in a visually impactful PDF as we speak. This will be distributed as soon as I'm finished, hopefully early next week.

As of right now, the intro chapter is still on track for an early Q1 release on Steam (Itch.io will follow shortly thereafter), though if things start to look like they need to be pushed back a little or something, I'll be super proactive in communicating that to yall (just like when the Amir concept chapter was pushed back, I'll make sure yall know what's going on). But yeah! As of now its a lot of business as usual/ no real hiccups to report, I've just kinda had my head buried in the meat of the project for a couple months now.

OH LEST I FORGET. Kickstarter merch will begin manufacturing at the end of 2023, meaning that I hope to start shipping rewards in early Q1 as well. I plan to send out backer surveys for shipping addresses as close to fulfillment as possible to minimize the need for corrections. >:3

Manufacturing will take several weeks to a couple months depending on various factors, one of which is that I will be reviewing samples to check for quality and between production and shipping, that will probably eat up several weeks on its own.

SO yeah, I've kinda been working at this stage for the last few months and it feels like there's less to report as I've got my fingers in about 20 pies right now instead of focusing on and then completing one task at a time. But game dev is kind of the practice of wearing many hats and sometimes I have to split my focus in funky ways. But we're still on schedule, which is one of my highest priorities!

[cicimunson]

Dollhouse Part 3

Chapter Summary: You go to Eddie’s house to get Billy’s drugs. Eddie suspects something is wrong when he takes you home. You spend more time with him, and you’re starting to like him.

(Series Summary, Pairings and Characters listed on Part 1)

Warnings: Drugs, physical abuse

Word Count: 2.8k

Part 1 2 4 5 6 7

You were able to get through Jason's party, although he was disappointed when you told him you were tired and had to leave early.

He had kissed you way too hard for way too long, tasting like beer and Cheetos. You had endured his tongue in your mouth for as long as you could, whispered you loved him too, and left before he could kiss you again.

You weren't sure when you had stopped loving Jason. Maybe last year when his friend had stuck a hand up your skirt and Jason hadn't wanted to confront him and cause a scene before the game. Maybe it was a few months ago when he saw you crying with a black eye from Billy and just accepted your story about walking into a door even though you were obviously lying and upset.

You wished someone would notice what was happening to you. You wished someone, anyone, would step in and help. But if anyone did notice, they didn't care.

You finish dressing, just ripped jeans and a t-shirt, throwing on sandals and heading to the kitchen.

Max and Sarah are at the table eating cereal and watching cartoons.

"Morning." You ruffle Max's hair and drop a kiss on top of Sarah's head. Max grunts and continues shoveling Honeycombs in her mouth.

"Can you keep an eye on Sarah for a little bit? I have plans."

"Mmm." She mumbles, not even looking up from the TV.

You hesitate. "Also, could I borrow fifteen bucks from you? It's important or I wouldn't ask. I'm baby-sitting next weekend, promise to pay you back."

She fishes money from her jeans pocket and slaps it in your hand. "Yup. Now, shut up. Toons are on."

You roll your eyes but squeeze her shoulder affectionately before heading out the door.

I wonder if Eddie's even awake. He seems like the type to sleep in on weekends.

You drive to the trailer park and climb out of the car, breezing up his door and knocking. 

After a few seconds it opens, and Eddie's uncle peeks out at you.

"Hi, Mr. Munson, is Eddie up?"

"Mr. Munson was my father. Call me Wayne. I think he's still sleeping, but feel free to wake him up." He jerks a thumb down the hall.

You debate leaving, but you really want to square your debt with Eddie. Sure, he said you didn't owe him anything because of your little confession, but you still didn't like feeling like you were in his debt.

You slip into his room. He's sprawled out in bed, shirtless, with only a thin sheet pulled up to his waist. You swallow hard, your eyes drifting down his frame.

His tattoos are the first thing you notice. You wonder if they have any meaning for him or if they're just for show, like Billy's. Your eyes drift lower, resting on the little happy trail that disappears under the sheet.

Great, I'm a lurker. Not creepy at all.

You tiptoe forward and drop the money on his nightstand.

Hopefully he knows it's from me.

You can't resist one last glance at him.

His hair is everywhere, splayed out on the pillow, hanging over his eyes, sticking to his flushed cheeks. His pink lips are parted and he's snoring softly, occasionally letting out a little moan.

How did I never notice how handsome he is before now?

You turn to leave. You're almost to the door when he coughs.

"Y/N? How long have you been here?"

Shit.

You turn back to him and plaster a smile on your face. "Just a few seconds. I was dropping off the money I owe you."

He rubs his face. "Huh? You don't owe me anything."

"I know you said we're square, but I still wanted to pay you back. I'm gonna go now."

"So you don't want to hang out today?"

"You're still in bed."

"Yeah, well, I'd get dressed, but I'm kind of indecent under here. I mean, if you don't mind-" He lifts the hem of the sheet slightly and grins cheekily.

Oh my God.

You whirl around, putting your back to him. "Eddie!"

He snorts. "Relax, I'm kidding. You're wound way too tightly, you know. You gotta chill out before your head explodes. Wait in the living room. I'll be out in a minute."

You hurry down the hall.

"And don't start poking around anything, Ms. Nosy!" He calls after you.

Wayne sticks his head in from the kitchen.

"Eddie's friend, would you like some bacon or eggs?"

You smile gratefully. "I'm fine, thank you."

"There's orange juice if you'd like some."

"Hells yeah, hit me that OJ." Eddie pops up behind you. To your surprise, he takes your arm and tugs you into the kitchen, pushing you toward a chair at the table.

His uncle smiles kindly at you from the sink where he's rinsing some dishes.

"I'm heading to bed, Eddie. Try to keep the noise down, okay?"

"We're leaving in a few. Nite."

Wayne gives you another smile and leaves the room.

"We're leaving? Where are we going?"

"I have band practice."

"You're in a band?"

"Yup." He puffs his chest proudly. "I normally don't let people sit in on rehearsal, but since you were dying to spend time with me today, I thought I'd make an exception."

This ass.

"I'm not dying to spend time with you, Munson. If anything, I'm dying to get away from you."

He flops down in the chair across from you, a piece of toast dangling from his mouth. You scrunch up your nose as he chugs orange juice directly from the carton.

"Priss." He taunts.

"It's gross. My little sister does it, too."

He holds the carton out to you. "Take a sip."

"No way."

"Come on, I dare you."

"Never."

He grins. "Such a priss."

That does it.

You snatch the juice out of his hand and take a long drink. He watches you, smirking.

You open your mouth and show him the juice, then gargle before swallowing.

His mouth falls open, then he bursts out laughing, banging his hand on the table.

"Shh, your uncle!" You scold with a giggle, placing your hand over his to stop him.

When your fingers touch, heat shoots up your arm. You both stop laughing. He stares down at your hand, mesmerized.

Did he feel that too? That…what even was that?

He clears his throat and you quickly move your hand away. 

"Did you drive? You might wanna bring your car. Unless you don't mind sitting in the back of the van."

"Are we picking someone up? Why would I have to sit in the back?"

"My guitar is always shotgun, priss."

__________

You can't take your eyes off Eddie. You know his friends can tell that you're watching him, hell, he can tell you're watching him, but you can't look away. You haven't looked away in over an hour.

The way his ringed fingers zoom up and down the neck of the guitar, the way he throws back his hair when he's playing, the way he sings the words to himself under his breath. Everything about him is…sexy.

What is wrong with me? I have a boyfriend. Jason and Eddie are nothing alike. Why am I feeling like this?

"Let's take ten." Eddie tells his friends when the song ends. He jogs to you, shaking his head to fling sweat around.

"Ew, Munson, I do not want your body odor on me!" You tug his bandanna from his pocket and wipe his forehead. He looks surprised but doesn't comment on your forwardness.

"What did you think?" He asks with a knowing grin. "You certainly seemed to be enjoying yourself."

"Honestly? It's not my preferred type of music, but you guys sound really good. You certainly put on a show."

He winks at you. "That we do."

"This was fun, but I really have to get home. I told Max I'd only be a few hours."

He looks disappointed but nods. "I'll walk you out."

"Nice to meet you!" You call to his bandmates. They wave.

"They didn't mind that I came with you, did they?" You ask when you're out of earshot.

"Those guys? Nah, they're cool. You were really nice to them."

"I'm nice to everyone." You retort.

"You're mean to me." He teases.

"Am not."

"It's okay, I like it." His eyes widen when he realizes what he's said and you blush.

"Well, thanks for today. I really did have fun." You say when you've reached your car.

"Hold on." He pulls the money you put on his nightstand out of his jeans pocket and holds it out to you. "I'm a man of my word. You admitted you flirted, you don't owe me anything."

But was it reciprocated? Do I even want to ask? Do I even want to know?

"Tell you what, Eddie. You can keep the money. But I want you to do something for me this time."

He raises his eyebrows. "What's that?"

You smirk at him. "Admit you flirted with me first."

He takes a step back, then shakes his head. "You're delusional, priss."

"Am I?" You press him. "You were watching me. You smiled. You winked! What was that, if not flirting?"

"I was watching you because I thought something was wrong."

It's your turn to take a step back. "What?"

He shrugs his shoulders. "I don't want to make you mad by implying anything, or acting like I know you on a personal level or something. But, I don't know, you looked sad. Worried. It caught my attention for some reason. Your friends were talking, you know, being their loud obnoxious selves, and you barely looked up from the table. And it's none of my business, but I thought, I guess I thought you weren't okay. Or something. I don't know." He runs a hand through his hair. "I'm not making any sense, huh?"

You're blinking back tears. He noticed. Eddie fucking Munson noticed that I'm not okay. How is this even possible? 

Your relief is short-lived however, when it dawns on you that you can't explain why.

I can't tell him. I barely know him.

"It's sweet you were worried, but I was just tired that day. Cheering takes a lot out of me."

He doesn't look convinced. "I know I'm pressing my luck, but since we're on the subject of things being not okay, what was that scene I walked in on last night? You looked like you were crying. And then Billy started grilling me about-"

"It was just a misunderstanding." You wave a hand dismissively. "He was just wondering where I'd been. He's overprotective sometimes, that's all."

Eddie can tell you're trying to shut the conversation down. He debates pushing the issue. All he's thought about since last night is you standing there with tears in your eyes, looking scared and panicked.

If I push her, she'll pull away. Like Mom did.

"It's none of my business, anyways. I'm sorry I asked."

You nod, grateful he's dropping it. "It's sweet you care. Thanks, Ed." You hug him.

He's stiff in your arms like when you hugged him before but he softens quicker than he did last night. One of his hands sprawls flat on your lower back, the other coming up to cup the back of your head.

His body feels so good against mine. Wow. I've never felt this before, not even with Jason. He feels so nice, and he smells-

You lean back. "Jesus, Eddie, take a shower. You smell like sweat and cigarettes."

He laughs. "That's what a real man smells like, priss! Of course you wouldn't know that, seeing how your boyfriend has his mommy powder his ass every morning."

You shouldn't laugh. That's your boyfriend he's joking about.

You fight back the urge to giggle but can't help yourself.

Eddie grins. "You know I'm right."

You shake your head. "I gotta go." You realize you're still standing in each other's arms. Eddie must realize it too, cause he glances down and instantly releases you.

"Give the money to charity, Ed. I'm not taking it back." You tease, before hopping into your front seat. The window is rolled down, and he tosses the money through it onto your lap.

"Eddie!" You exclaim, exasperated.

"I admit nothing!" He calls over his shoulder as he jogs back to his friends.

__________

That following Monday, you're standing with Jason and your friends at the lockers, keeping an eye peeled for Eddie. He saunters down the hall just a few minutes before the bell rings, glancing around that no one is watching before giving you a little salute.

You roll your eyes at him, watching as he puts in his combination. He opens the door and you fight the urge to laugh out loud as the fifteen bucks flutters to the ground at his feet.

He looks confused for a moment, then it hits him and he grins widely. 

You kiss Jason's cheek. "I gotta get to class, babe. Love you."

He nods and you stroll past Eddie, slowing your pace when he's right beside you, pretending you're adjusting your ponytail.

"This isn't over, priss." He mutters playfully under his breath.

"We'll see." You wink at him and head to class.

__________

During lunch, Eddie's nowhere to be seen in the cafeteria. You wonder if he's ditching, or if something's wrong. You're taking your tray to dump when Mike Wheeler approaches you.

"Hey, are you still baby-sitting my sister tonight? Mom wanted me to ask."

I don't baby-sit during the school week unless it's an emergency, Karen knows that.

Mike gives you a pointed look, raising his eyebrows and looking down. You follow his gaze.

"Yeah, I meant to call her back. I'll be there tonight, of course."

He drops a folded piece of paper on your tray.

"Okay, cool. I'll let my mom know."

You nod, slipping the note off your tray before sitting it down and hurrying out of the cafeteria to the bathroom. You duck into a stall and lock it, then unfold the paper.

Hey priss, missing me? I'm in the woods behind the school, if you're not too busy helping your boyfriend learn to use a fork.

You giggle. That dick.

You stick the note in your jacket pocket and head to the back of the school, glancing around repeatedly to make sure no one spots you.

You get nervous when you enter the woods, briefly considering turning back. You keep going, coming to a small clearing with an old picnic table.

Eddie is sitting there, doodling in a notebook. He looks up when he hears you coming and smiles.

"I knew you couldn't resist me.'

You snort. "Dream on, Munson. I just came to see what you wanted."

"You, obviously."

What did he say?!

He flushes and clears his throat. "That is, I wanted you to see my new drawing. You like art, right?"

"Uh, yeah, I do." You slide onto the bench beside him.

He turns his notebook towards you. "Whatcha think?"

It's another dragon, but it's not red and black like the others in his room. This one is light purple, almost the same color as the scrunchie you always wear.

Does that mean something? The color?

"It's beautiful, Eddie. I love it."

He tears the page from the notebook and hands it to you. "It's yours."

"Really? That's so sweet of you."

He shrugs. "No biggie. I like to draw."

"Well, thank you. I'm gonna put it up in my room."

"What will you say when Jason asks where it came from?"

Good point.

"I don't know. Maybe I'll tell him the truth."

"You wouldn't." He shakes his head.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Come on Y/N, you know why."

"Because he doesn't like you? That doesn't mean I don't have to."

He sighs. "That's exactly what it means, priss."

"He doesn't own me, Eddie. I can like whoever I want to."

"So you're admitting you like me?"

Oh, he's clever.

"I'm not admitting anything. Last time I checked, you were supposed to be the one admitting something to me, remember?"

He taps a finger on his chin. "I was? I don't recall that."

You shove him playfully. "I hate you."

He catches your hands.

There it is again. That tingly feeling.

You meet his eyes. He's staring down at you, his lips slightly parted.

You blush and pull your hands away. "I gotta get back to school, class starts in a few minutes."

"You could always ditch with me. We could go see a movie or something."

I really wanna say yes. But I shouldn't. Jason will be looking for me.

"I have a test next period, but maybe next time."

He nods. "Sure. Next time."

[autistic-donnie-tello]

a little life update since I've been gone

life got really hectic these last few weeks, so I stepped back from social media again so I could try to finish out my semester strong

I finished my school semester last week with 3 A's, a B-, and a class I'm pretty sure I failed but I'm too scared to check haha

We had to rehome my dog :( we live in an apartment and he just got too big, and he had a lot of energy and we didn't have the time to give him the attention he deserved. he now lives with a family with 3 other dogs and a huge yard just for them! it was hard, and my partner and I both have cried a lot, but it was a decision made with his best interest in mind

to try to curb that pain, we got another cat. we though a cat would be much better for us, as we're both full-time university students, soon he'll be working full-time, so having a pet who doesn't need much active attention from us would be better. plus, her shelter name was the same name as the dog we had to rehome, so it felt like fate. we named her after one of my favorite undertale characters, napstablook!

I quit my job. I spent WEEKS trying to contact my manager about the fact that she kept scheduling me when I had classes, and she never responded. I hit a breaking point when I went into work and the store hadn't even been opened yet (something I don't know how to do), so I went home and quit. Somehow my manager was able to respond to that "I quit" text in less than 10 minutes, meanwhile all my previous texts went unread for 3+ weeks.

I start summer classes next week, but I should hopefully still be less busy than this last semester

I'm currently working on the next chapter of Colors of the Dead, and I'm hoping to have it posted by either tonight or tomorrow! we have someone from out of state staying with us though, so we are still kinda busy and it may take a bit longer than that. fingers crossed though!

I'm in therapy now. I'm hoping it'll help with the mental health issues I've been struggling with; right now we're trying to tackle my trauma to hopefully start to fix things at the source.

I'm still gonna be pretty busy this summer; I've got wedding planning, my sister is moving across the country, my partner is graduating with his Master's at the end of the summer, there's a lot going on. but I'm hoping to get back into this community!

[barry-j-blupjeans]

38 and Merle for the fluff prompts? :0

(I'm really missin Merle today </3 )

38. "May I have this dance?"

--

The sun was setting over the forest that lined the horizon, but the wedding reception for Carey and Killian was still in full swing. For the adults, at least. Mavis and Angus had taken up one of the tables in the back to stay away from the crowd at large. Angus had brought a few books along, as he promised he would last week when they talked over their Stones. Mavis would have brought her own books, but she wasn't really sure if she'd be allowed. A lot of the weddings at the Coralheart Clan were kind of stuffy and loud, and Mavis was told several times that "reading during an important event was rude". Mom defended her a lot, but it didn't always get through people's heads.

But this wedding, no one really commented on it. Maybe that's because they didn't have the Coralheart Clan's explanation, or maybe it was because they were too busy celebrating, but Mavis definitely wasn't going to complain. She was almost caught up with Caleb Cleveland, Kid Cop again and with the next book coming out this fall, she wanted to be ready.

Mookie had drained his energy out within the last few hours and now, he was on the chair next to Mavis, his head pressed against the table, fast asleep. He had one thumb in his mouth, a habit that Mom was trying to train him out of, and his shoes had been kicked off. Angus had already left because he had a "very important job interview for a very important job!" to get to tomorrow morning. He had left three books with her and, while Mavis was pretty tired herself, she was determined to get through this next one before going home.

"You doin' alright, pumpkin?" said a voice from her right. Mavis looked up to see Merle standing there. He had abandoned his bowtie and suit jacket directly after the ceremony and Mavis didn't know where his shirt and shoes had ended up, but they weren't with him now.

"I'm okay," Mavis said, voice low. She glanced over at Mookie and Merle followed her gaze.

"Might be time to get home soon," Merle said. "Don't wanna give a grumpy Mookie back to your mom, huh?"

"I just want to finish this book first," Mavis said. "I've got five more chapters."

"Gotcha," Merle said. Mavis lifted the book back up to read, but she didn't get past one line before Merle said, "If you got time for five more chapters, d'you think you've got time to for a dance with your old man?"

Mavis glanced at her books. And then at Mookie, who snorted in his sleep. Then, back at Merle, who was smiling at her hopefully.

"Yeah," Mavis said, slipping an unused napkin between the pages (she'd normally dogear the page but these were Angus's books, after all). "I think I can do that."

"Well then," Merle said, holding out a hand. "May I have this dance?"

Mavis grinned, cheeks a little flushed. She took Merle's hand and hopped out of her seat. Her feet were aching and she was thankful Mom made her pack flat so she was able to take off her heels earlier. She followed Merle out to the middle of the dance floor, where he waved at somewhere behind her and lifted a thumbs up into the air. The music quieted and then stopped completely. And then, in place of the drums-heavy song they had had before, someone started to play the piano.

"It's a better vibe," Merle said, doing what might have been a wink, but with the one eye, it just looked like he was blinking at Mavis with intention. A violin joined in. Mavis's eyebrows shot up and Merle grinned. "Look, Killian asked 'em to play it anyway. Anyone ever teach you how to waltz, Mavvie?"

"Glymeth tried," Mavis said. "But it didn't work out too well."

"That's alright," Merle said. "Here, we're gonna divide it into little steps like this. Put your hands like this-" Merle moved Mavis's hands into position and she felt a little bit silly, but didn't comment on it. "And then we step this way, and then that way. One, two, yeah? And then-"

"Sorry!" Mavis said, retracting her foot from where she had stepped on Merle's.

"You're good!" Merle said. "Takes a while! Try again."

They repeated a simple motion a few times, Merle leading. Sometimes, Mavis would step on his foot and try to stop, but he'd just shake his head and smile. They spun as they danced, nearly crashing into a few of the other people around them. Mavis could see Aunt Lup and Uncle Barry playing their instruments on the stage when they turned one way. She could see Carey and Killian swaying softly, much less chaotic than earlier, when they turned the other.

When the song finally came to an end, Mavis was sweaty and out of breath, but she felt lighter than she had all day. Merle brought their hands down and they escaped off the dance floor, past Uncle Taako who was attempting to drag Mr. Kravitz into a salsa that seemed way too fast for the next song that began.

"I'll leave ya to your book," Merle said, voice lowering again as they got to Mookie. "And your done come find me, okay? I'll get'cha home."

"Okay," Mavis said, hopping back up onto her seat. Merle smiled and squeezed her shoulder, saying,

"Love ya, Mavvie."

Love you too, dad."

[siri-ike]

Bellyache pt.2

Prev

He'll be fine. He once threw up an entire, live centipede. There's nothing that can keep Mikey down for long. Raph really picked the best twin. Ok, so they aren't really twins, but technically, Leo and Donnie aren't either. They just decided these things based on appearance. Does that make it any less true? Point is he'll be fine. Crabs. What was Mr Bishop saying, something about frogs. Oh no, he's looking at Raph.

"Perhaps you can answer the question." For a moment, he just looked like a baby turtle in headlights. "How do reptiles react to the cold?" Thank goodness he was in Bishops' class and not Lucas's.

"t-tired?" He stutters out hopefully.

"That's correct. Reptiles are cold-blooded and therefore need external heat to stay warm. If it gets too cold, their heart rate slowes down, and they hibernate. This can leave them vulnerable to predators."

Surviving biology was no easy feat now that they're on the chapter focusing on reptiles and amphibians. It seems Bishop only ever calls on them rather than the other students. 'He probably just wants to make sure we're on track with everyone else since we haven't been in school as long as them.' Leo had said. It's like he just can't help but lick the boots of any and all authority figures. Heh. Ya'know, gross metaphors aren't the same without Mikey taking them too far. It's not like he misses him or anything. Raph can handle school. He's been handling school. For, like, almost two months. He's got this. It's just a few hours. Alone.

Donnie missed lunch again. It's weirdly peaceful with just Leo and April. It's a little nice being able to just eat silently while they do their TCRI conspiracies. Lunch was some sort of fish. It doesn't matter. Raph'll eat anything that's put in front of him without much thought. Because any food is energy and energy is violence. Raph loves violence. He really does, honest. Sure, it's been a bit duller since being accepted by the humans, starting school, and legally mandated therapy. And yeah, some nonviolent sports have turned out to be fun, too. But he still dreams of violence,  just maybe not every night. But, right now. This isn't a problem he can punch. Nobody hurt his little brother. And Leo's right. It probably was something he ate. He did once try to eat a frog whole, so it was bound to happen.

After they finished their lunch, Leo insisted on bringing some to Donnie in the science room. He'd been examining blood samples from last night. 'Given voluntarily,' he claims. He's also been acting weird. But more the usual kind of weird. The kind of weird Donnie gets every now and then a couple times a year. Maybe it's the full moon. Maybe he's a werewolf. No, wait there's no wolves in New York. Ware-possum? Ware-racoon? Maybe Mikey's a ware - something and Donnie's trying to cure him. That's deffinetly what's going on. Raph should warn Leo and April so that- no, what if they're in on it? What if they're all just waiting to get him alone so they can turn him too?

"LEO!" Raph says calmly as they turn the smelly corner (Andrea dared them to lick the gross wall last week)

"yes?" That's exactly what a were-something would say.

"I have to, be um, at the mmnm. Reading starts moon- soon. I mean I, said I'd yelp- Help! At, eh, library, with, uh, bye." Nailed it.

After expertly evading his pursuers, Raph proceeds toward the gym, number one source of information. There's still about 20 minutes left for lunch, which means Mona-Lisa's still practicing on the hockey field.

Next

[holmesianpose]

Hi! How are you doing? I hope you're good! I'm just here to remind you that, even if the last time you posted a chapter of ofd (uhh, I was typing ofmd ehehe oopsie) was more than one year ago, we're still here waiting for you. No one has ever forgotten about it, about you, and no one ever will. So take your time, don't worry about us people loosing patience or interest in what you do because that will never happen, as what you do is actually real magic. Looking forward to hear from you, love xo♡

Oh my godddd you darling darling person <3 thank you for this!

I really appreciate getting messages like this more than I can say. It makes me especially happy to hear that there's at least one of you out there willing to wait because after not being able to work on OFD for almost a year I was finally able to get back to writing a bit this summer. First in June, and then again in August and September. I have been arduously chipping away at Chapter 58 (just ask @truthisademurelady she is my eternal cheerleader and witness to my suffering) and it has taken me longer than most chapters to write because I was so out of the story when I started it, and also because it is like an important chapter (I think maybe you all know why?) anyway, it's one I really want to get right, but it's been extra difficult since I haven't had dedicated time to write. Writing is so much harder for me when I can only do it sporadically (especially with this story which is now literally like holding an entire universe in my head, I am not very good at just casually dipping back into it). But I am ALMOST THERE. (It's probably going to be insanely long...)

I was really hoping to post the new chapter in September before the school year started (I teach at a university), but between one obligation and another, that did not happen.

However, even with teaching and everything else I have to do, I am going to try my damndest to keep up writing on OFD so I can get this new chapter to you guys soon. (My new goal is before the end of October 😅😅😅). The good news is I actually managed to get some writing done this weekend, so that is promising!

I just... cannot believe how long it's taking me to finish this story. I keep saying if I only I had a year, six months, even three months of dedicated time to only work on this story, I could get so much done. But sadly that is just not the reality of my life right now. So I'm eternally eternally grateful that there are readers out there like you who still care! And who are willing to wait! Because damn, if these gay petals don't deserve your love and attention after all they've gone through (and will go through... hehehehe)

Thanks so much for taking the time to write to me. Keep your eyes on this page in the next few weeks for hopefully news of the new chapter!

(And if you have a spare prayer for my muses, let them know I need them right now!)

[ranger-kellyn]

it's not exactly easy to sit here and type this up after two bad mental health days, but i'm doing my yearly tradition of sitting in lilsimsie's stream until it's midnight on the east coast, and have about ~40 minutes before this edible kicks in and well. better get writing lmao

looking back in my 2022 journal, i think it's fairly safe to say that the start of the year is always rough on me, mentally. we're officially in winter, and the seasonal affective disorder is in full swing, so like. i KNOW what's wrong. it happens every year. doesn't stop the low from kicking me in the gut, though

2022 has been a rough year. my job responsibilities have been picking up, we've been traveling more, and it's only looking to increase even further as i continue. and sure, that's the typical progression of a job regardless, it still stinks at times. the only thing that makes it manageable is the fact that i genuinely do like all my coworkers. it's always a good time when we go out for dinner and drinks when we're on travel, and the holiday party i went to the other week was a blast.

but 2022 has also been a bit of a...i can't think of the word. reckoning? the realization that like. (and DONT fucking come for me i KNOW i'm still very young but hang with me here) i'm aging.

and with aging comes different health concerns and whatnot. as much as i have the bad tendency to overshare on the internet, there's plenty i haven't really talked about, and i'm at a point where i really need to like. take control. before things get worse. two (or more honestly) health problems i've had this year are directly related to me having such a sedentary lifestyle. if i don't take control and start holding myself accountable to getting up and being more active, things are going to start getting bad.

i've already been trying to get up and do more stretches throughout my day when i can. it was also part of the "deal" i made with myself for allowing me to have my tv up in my bedroom. if i wanted to keep it up here, i have to do at least a few minutes of stretches each day, and so far it's never felt like a punishment, so hopefully i'll be able to hold myself accountable.

i'm also working on eating better. my aunt got me this super fancy rice maker for christmas, and it makes really good steel cut oats as well. there's not much i can eat in the morning without getting horribly nauseous, but oats seem to be the exception so. that's been nice to have! my first baby step goal with eating is to just. eat. 3 meals a day. they don't have to be huge elaborate meals, but at least something. from there, i can start worrying a little more about content. my other first goal is to try to ease off on the soda bc i KNOW i drink way too much. the last time i was able to cut it out was when i started by just. drinking a glass of water before i allowed myself to have the soda, so that's my plan for now.

also. cut back on the weed bc like...being high practically every weekend just so i can disassociate it away. is uh. Not Healthy, but clearly i'm not starting that one tonight dskflhk

BUT. enough about the negatives--

there were positives in the year, too. i moved to a bigger apartment. i got to travel to new places. i took my bestie to my cousins wedding and had a great time. i got to spend time with my friends. i went to a pride event at the science museum, and went to the My Brother My Brother and Me live show. i was fortunate enough to get tickets to see taylor this next year, nashville and two nights in seattle!

i also got a TON of writing done. i didn't finish my goal of finishing any of the three ongoing fics, but i DID get a lot of good writing done. after a multi-year hiatus, i was able to update Getaway Car with a new chapter before Midnights was released, and with only three chapters left to go, the end is within sight.

i've also done a ton of writing on countless other stories. i'm hoping i can carry this energy into the new year, and actually finish one of my fics in 2023 lmao

i'm also really hoping i can get back into drawing.

but anyways.

here's to hoping 2023 is a good one

[a-cacophony-of-silent-words]

Rating: Teen and Up Summary: Tim goes back in time to avert the end of the universe, but things quickly go awry and he’s left with an important decision to make: Carry through with the plan as he originally intended; Or make a risky play to change things for the better. Argothia’s Notes: Preview for the next chapter will be late, I still need to edit it because unfortunately we're catching up to my buffer and I still haven't finished writing Chapter 13 yet. Hopefully the preview will be up in a couple days. Enjoy Chapter 11!

-

“A pity that your visit must be so short, my daughter.” Father laments as he enters the room. He is not unwelcome – Never unwelcome – but Talia can not deny that she is still somewhat angry with him.

She does not turn away from the window, through which she can view the training arena and the pair occupying it this morning. Only two days since the latest setback. “It can not be helped, Father, Damian’s training must take precedent.”

“Indeed.” Father steps up beside her. “You have not yet told me, what do you think of the latest recruit?”

Unusual that he would ask her such a question. It is his League. His dominion. Not hers. Never to be hers as it stands. He is rarely interested in her opinion on such things. “What would you have me say of him? He is skilled, he is driven. Is there more I should say?”

She is careful not to tense when he reaches over and gently takes her chin in his hand turning her head to face him. Reluctantly she looks up into his eyes and resists the urge to shiver. He is her father, she adores him. Yet he frightens even her. There is no unkindness in his voice though, as he answers, “Your honest thoughts.”

“I… I do not understand why you have allowed him into our midst,” she admits with caution. “I can see that he is after something that I can not yet fathom. Surely you see this too. He is dangerous.”

Father nods, his hand leaving her face and coming to rest on her shoulder as he steps around behind her. “Look at him. Tell me what you see.”

She obliges. Down in the arena, Alvin trains with one of the few survivors of his attack on the Russian storage facility. “I see a skilled strategist and fighter.”

“Indeed. Now I will tell you what I see.” Father begins, a delight in his voice that Talia has not heard since last they faced her Beloved. “I see a desperate beast grasping for that which is still only just out of reach. Take this lesson to heart, dear daughter, There is no greater asset than a man who wants something so badly he is willing to throw away everything to get it. They are by far the easiest people to use.”

A hard lesson to learn from the other side, she knows. “I will remember it, Father.”

Father steps away but Talia remains where she is, her interest somewhat renewed as she watches the Russian assassin to throw Alvin to the ground where he lays laughing. Somehow she feels as though there is much her father is missing. That Alvin was able to build an almost easy camaraderie with an assassin personally disgraced by him not so long ago in only three days is a feat not many could manage. Perhaps… just perhaps, Talia thinks she can see in this boy something she has only seen a very few times before. That people are drawn to him. That they will listen to him. Follow him. Dangerous. But there are possibilities here. He is a solid strategist and a fighter nearly equal to Cain. She can work with this. “Father?”

“Yes?”

“I will be allowed some command over him, correct?” She turns her head to look over her shoulder.

Father frowns, thoughtfully. “Is this what you demand as recompense for the loss of Cain?”

“It is.”

“Very well,” he answers, graciously. “Than it is what you shall have.”

“Thank you, my lord.” She bows to him by way of a farewell. “Now, I apologize, but I must return to Damian.”

He tilts his head in acceptance. “Farewell, my daughter.”

“Farewell, Father. I will return when I have need of your new assassin.” She leaves the room. Walking down the hallway towards the underground portion of the compound and the port where a ship is waiting to take her back to her son. Truly she must give this all more thought. After all her Alexander deserves only the very best of teachers. She had intended Cain to be one of them, but if he is unavailable then perhaps the one who bested him could prove an adequate replacement.

.

As Bruce walks down the stairs into the cave he takes particular note of the look Jason gives him. It’s a look that Bruce has, in the past few months, come to identify as meaning that Jason is up to something he knows Bruce wouldn’t approve of. Typically this has been spending extra time on the exercise equipment when he knew he wasn’t ready for that much work. However, Bruce hasn’t regulated Jason’s training time in weeks and Jason doesn’t look like he just came from a work out. He’s sitting quite comfortably in the chair in front of the computer with nothing but a list of known Drake relatives open on one screen.

Bruce is far from being upset about that. If Jason’s right and Alvin is some relation to the Drakes then they may be one step closer to finding him. Besides the search for Alvin can easily keep Jason distracted from returning to Robin until Bruce is certain he’s ready. “Any luck?”

“Nah.” Jason gives a rueful smile. “Babs and I’ve been through everything but it’s a lot harder than I thought it’d be. The old judge wasn’t exactly the most public person. Gossip rags don’t even mention him for the most part so if he had a mistress or something we’re outta luck.”

“And Janet’s family all but doesn’t exist, I haven’t found a single Alvin. Even records of her second cousin, Edna, are pretty spotty and Jay actually met her so we know she exists,” Barbara chimes in from the computer, then greets, “Hi, Bruce.”

Bruce grunts a response then thinks better of it and responds properly, “Hello, Barbara.”

“So, while we’re all tied up in this, what’s on the agenda for the Big Bad Bat tonight?”

Stepping up to the computer, Bruce brings up the file on on his latest case. “With any luck I’ll finish the Drake Industries case.”

“Right, Jason mentioned that earlier. Something about the CEO being suspicious?”

“Something like that.” Bruce shrugs. “I’m going to talk with Chiles’s secretary and then the manager of Gotham South Bank and Trust. If I’m right they’ll have the last pieces of information I need to prove Chiles’s guilt.”

Barbara seems slightly amused as she surmises, “So if all goes right tonight the Drakes will come back from their trip to the news their CEO being arrested and that they have an estranged family member. Eventful.”

“Possibly.” Bruce answers with a sigh.

Jason sits up a little straighter. “Need some help?”

“No.” Bruce says, firmly, as he turns away to head for the lockers. “I’ll be back in a few hours. Stay out of trouble.”

“No promises!” Barbara replies, cheerily.

While Jason just grumbles, “Whatever.”

.

Jason leans back and watches as the Batmobile screeches out of the cave. He waits, bouncing one of his legs, impatiently, until the sound fades entirely into the distance. “Okay, he’s gone, did you set everything up?”

“Who do you take me for?” Babs scoffs. “Of course I did. You’re real lucky I’m good at multi-tasking by the way, you know that right?”

“And I’m very grateful that you’ve decided to exercise that skill on this.” Jason answers rolling his eyes but smiling anyway. He reclines in the chair and puts his feet up on the desk. “Besides it’ll probably be the same as every other night so far. We’ll just sit here scrolling through old census data looking for Alvin, waiting for something to happen on the Moneyspider front, and nothing will like the last three days.”

Babs hums in agreement. “True enough, but it’s got to happen eventually. Moneyspider’s hit every other well known charity or fund in the city, the Kane’s Veterans’ Welfare charity and the Martha Wayne Foundation are the only ones left.”

“Eventually, but the longer it takes the more likely Bruce is gonna catch me doing this and throw a fit about me not being careful or something.” Jason sighs.

He almost jumps when abruptly Alfred appears on his right and sets a cup of tea on the desk, nudging Jason’s feet in a silent request for him to take them off the furniture. “You are being careful, I hope, Master Jason?”

Jason puts his feet on the floor and gives Alfred his cheekiest grin. “Oh, come on, Alfie. I’m always careful! It’s fine.”

“Hm.” Alfred responds, noncommittally.

“Don’t worry, Alfred, I’m keeping a close eye on the scoundrel,” Babs assures him.

That does make Alfred smile, slightly. “Indeed. Well, should you two need me, I will be just over yonder.”

“Right, later, Alfie!” Jason watches him go, curiously. Alfred’s been up to something lately over by the lockers. It’s one of a very long list of mysteries on Jason’s to-investigate list lately and it’s unfortunately not really as pressing as the others so he can’t justify leaving to figure it out. Right now he just needs to focus on this Moneyspider thing. Frankly Babs has been doing more than just keeping an eye on him, she’s been doing all the work. In frustration he digs his fingers into his hair and ruffles his hair. “Urgh, I feel so fucking useless!”

“Don’t give me that.” Babs says, a gentle threat of a waiting lecture in her voice. “We wouldn’t even be doing this if you hadn’t caught on to something weird.”

Jason tosses his hands into the air. “Yeah, but besides that and the stuff we learned from Tim Drake what the fuck have I done but sit around? I keep trying to at least come up with a suspect, but like… the best I got is Tim Drake was definitely one of the hackers, but probably not Moneyspider!”

“Hey, that’s a step in the right direction.” She points out firmly. “Besides we can’t come up with a suspect without evidence and we don’t have too much of that.”

Gesturing, irritably, with one hand Jason leans his chin heavily into the other one. “I mean, we can eliminate some I guess. Like Tim, he’s probably the other hacker – which is damned stupid, he’s like what? Thirteen? – but I didn’t get any indication that he was interested in stealing from his own dad’s charity. And there’s not a lot of tech based villains in Gotham, ya know… Maybe Riddler?”

“No, Riddler would’ve started sending out riddles by now.”

“Yeah… And most of everyone else only really has tech guys to hack broadcast equipment or they’d go straight for a bank instead of…” Jason frowns. “Why charities?”

Babs seems a little surprised. “What?”

“Better yet, why these charities in particular?” He pulls up the list of charities hit again. “Look! The only ones they’ve hit have been ones created by local rich people. The Van Smith’s elderly care foundation, the Drake’s archaeology fund, the Martha Wayne Foundation.”

“It is November, hitting charities when they’re getting their biggest donations makes sense.”

“Yeah, but it’s still a long way off from peak charity season and only like two of these are charities that benefit from this time of year.”

She’s only quiet for a second before she says, “And if they waited for another two weeks they’d get so much more money… This is calculated and they’re not doing it to get the maximum amount of money. They need the money now and they’re targeting rich people’s funds out of some kind of vengeance. But… why? Penguin has backed off on overt criminal activity for a while and this isn’t Catwoman’s MO, who else would try something like this?”

“Maybe—” Before Jason can finish that thought a light starts flashing on the screen. “We’ve got a hit!”

“On it!” For a long time there’s only the clacking of Babs’s keyboard as Jason sits, literally, on the edge of his seat. He’s starting to get antsy when finally she starts talking again. “I’ve got an origin point. It’s… Gotham Juvenile Detention Center?”

Juvie? It’s a kid? It’s… a kid who’d target charities. Specifically charities founded by rich people. Jason’s mind goes back a few months and he has his suspect. He jumps to his feet. “It’s Lonnie!”

“What?”

Over his shoulder as he’s making his way around the chair and towards the lockers, Jason still manages to answer, “It’s Lonnie Machin! Anarky! That kid B put away in July, the one who incited a riot.”

“Oh! I--” Babs interrupts herself. “Wait… isn’t… Jason, this money’s going through an account in Gotham South Bank and Trust. Isn’t that the bank Bruce said he was investigating tonight?”

Jason freezes. What the fuck? What the actual fuck? His mouth feels dry as he asks, “What are the chances that this isn’t related to B’s case?”

She doesn’t answer. The clacking continues through the silence and then stops abruptly. “Jason. We need to call Bruce.”

“Why?”

“Call him now!”

.

Most of the windows of the office building are dark, with one dim exception. On the third floor a lamp is just visible through a single window, its light struggling against Gotham’s usual oppressive darkness. A shadow occasionally passes across the window showing that the light isn’t just for show. Thankfully the building is an old one so the climb isn’t particularly daunting, there are numerous footholds and handholds to take advantage of as Bruce scales his way up to the window.

Crouching on the ledge just outside the window Bruce checks just to make sure the secretary is indeed the figure he saw through the window. Sure enough there’s an elderly woman sorting files into their proper places at a large filing cabinet. Her hair, wispy and thinning, held back in an ever loosening bun, still has some streaks of a dark brown amidst the gray. The gentle curve of her face and resting smile gives her a gentle air. From what Bruce has learned of her that is an accurate assumption. He doesn’t want to startle her so he gently taps on the window until she looks up.

She seems somewhat surprised by him, but not frightened. That’s good. He opens the window carefully and steps inside. “Mrs Roberts?”

“That’s me, Mr Batman.” She shuffles towards him a few steps as she continues, “Goodness, but you’re a scary sight! You’ll have to forgive me, I don’t know how to properly greet a vigilante. If I were at home I’d offer you a cup of tea, but I’m afraid I don’t have any to hand.”

“Quite unnecessary.” Bruce says, a little off his game. “I only need to trouble you for a moment. Could you tell me what you know about Mr Chiles’s bank account in South Gotham Bank and Trust?”

“South Gotham?” She tilts her head slightly to one side and rests a finger against her chin. Slowly her eyes widen and she covers her mouth with the hand. “Oh! Mercy, yes! That’s the account he set up for that poor boy!”

“What?”

As she lowers her hand her expression turns very concerned. “Oh dear, I do hope nothing’s happened to it! You see, Mr Chiles – He’s such a good egg, Mr Batman – he heard about a boy in Juvenile Detention whose such a genius with computers! Can’t get the hang of the things myself, I’m afraid to say. Anyway, Mr Chiles thought it was such a shame that a boy’s entire future and potential could be ruined by just one mistake, so he set up this bank account for him. He said it’ll accumulate money until the boy’s released back into society or something like that.”

“I-I see.” Bruce is starting to see why Chiles keeps Mrs Roberts as a secretary. She’s… charmingly optimistic, perhaps to the point of naivety. “Can--”

The comm in Bruce’s ear abruptly crackles to life. “B?”

What could Jason want? Has he found out who Alvin is? It’ll have to wait. Bruce taps the earpiece in as casual a motion as he can manage. Signalling that he can't talk right now.

“Right. Got it. But, uh, hurry it along maybe? Babs and I have something… big.” He sounds... concerned.

Interesting. Bruce refocuses on Mrs Roberts who only seems a little perplexed. “Can you tell me who Mr Chiles set this account up for?”

“Oh! Of course! Now… oh dear, what was his name…” Her brow knits together as she thinks it over.

Jason has the answer apparently. “It’s Lonnie Machin.”

“I think it was, um, Machin? Yes! That was it! Lonnie Machin.” Mrs Roberts says with certainty. “You remember?”

Bruce scowls. Anarky? How did Jason--

“That’s part of what we need to tell you.” Jason hisses with urgency in his voice.

“I see,” Bruce says, both to Jason and Mrs Roberts. Then to Mrs Roberts alone, “That’s all I need to know. Thank you, Mrs Roberts.”

She shakes her head. “No no, I only hope I’ve been of some help. Please, Mr Batman, I hope you’ll do everything you can to protect that poor boy’s future.”

Ignoring the muffled scoff from Jason in his ear, Bruce nods to Mrs Roberts. “I’ll do what I can.”

He slips back out the window and steps off into the air, using his cape to soar safely back to the Batmobile. As he drops into the driver’s seat he orders, “Speak.”

“The bank account Chiles set up is being used to funnel money out of charities around Gotham,” Jason explains, quickly and efficiently. Then he pauses for a second before saying, “It’s being relayed out of Gotham and into the hands of a mercenary group. O has confirmation of them getting it.”

Mercenaries? Why would Chiles need mercenaries? Unless… Shit! Bruce starts the car and spins it around, tires screeching louder than the apparatus designed to make a similar sound. He floors the gas pedal and heads for the nearest hidden entrance to the caves. “Tell me everything you know.”

[shadowsong26fic]

Coming Attractions!

First Monday of the month, so here we go.

As per usual, this also means an open question night--my askbox is always open, but I'll be actively keeping an eye on it tonight. I do take prompts, but am not necessarily fast in filling them. Any fandom I've posted about here or on AO3 is fair game, as is any of my original stuff.

Short one this month, because I didn't get much done last month, whoops...a big work project took up more brainmeats than I expected it would, ah well.

Mostly moved, mostly everything is sorted; a few things I still need to finish organizing/putting away/etc. But that should also free up some brainspace hopefully!

Anyway. Actual updates.

Star Wars:

Pretty much the same as last week--need to catch up on OTP meme fills; poking back at my original plan for last year's SWBB so I can use it for this year. Not a lot of progress, but hopefully this month will be better!

BSG:

Big Bang matches have gone out! I'm excited to see how everything turns out. And hopefully get actually back into writing the many plotlines that are floating around in my head, lol...particularly The Other Battlestar which still needs an Official title and has been waiting to come out of my head and get Shared for like. over a year. even discounting the like 8-10 year gap when I wandered away from the fandom...

I should be picking up my rewatch soon, too! I have the back half of season 3, plus season 4, and maybe the webisodes (I have access to Face of the Enemy but not Resistance, so we'll see if I actually watch those). Which does mean we're coming up on my absolute least favorite episode in the entire series, haha. I haven't even gotten to it yet and I'm already mad about it (and have found an Additional Reason to be mad about it that I hadn't had before! Yay!) But also after that I get Lampkin, who I love, and while season 4 is a mess in terms of cohesion/continuity it has some of my very favorite episodes in the entire series, So.

Castlevania:

I haven't actually sat down and watched Nocturne yet (mostly because of the aforementioned work stuff), so I haven't quite fallen back into this fandom yet. I do want to get back to Incinctus, and I had one other plot thread idea for another fic based on the first series (essentially, shifting Alucard's S3 timeline by six weeks so the night Sumi and Taka plan to attack him is the same night Greta's messenger gets there, and then see where things go from there).

It's kind of interesting--I have approximately zero knowledge of the games, apart from a few bits and pieces I've picked up from reading fics and/or hanging out on a discord server. Which, of course, has been talking a lot about Nocturne...but almost entirely in the context of how it relates to the game characters/plotlines it's drawing from. Which means I'm both...more and less hyped for it? I don't know, I'm not sure how to word how it's impacted my interest/excitement/etc. for the followup series, because a lot of the comments about certain characters/choices completely fly over my head but they Dominate the server and I'm like "...okay?"

Anyway, we'll see how I feel about it when I watch the series. And if I do end up building a VC crossover in my head (because like. armand and the theatre are right there and while I was able to confine myself to a quick Easter Egg reference in Incinctus...lol.)

Les Mis:

The next chapter of P&J is coming, I swear. Also planning to debut Acheron this month because...I mean I know it's technically a Groundhog Day AU set in June, but it feels appropriate to start posting it around Halloween? IDK XD

Original Fic:

Again I do need to catch up on OTP memes. I do like the one piece I put out this month, which was about the Horsemen in Lux. They're a Delight and I love them.

...yeah, that's about it. Like I said, short post this month because I didn't get much actual writing done last month. Hopefully October will be better for me (if nothing else, hopefully I actually will catch up on all the backlogged OTP Meme fills, lol...)

[disneyanddisneyships]

Chapter 11! Some jelsa fluff before the storm. @gyubby99

It had been a few days since Jack and Elsa's first date.

They had gone on one other date since then. Jack had taken Elsa flying. Adter that however, Jack's real dilemma was what they were going to do next. That's when Jack had an idea. Elsa hadn't danced since the accident with Jackson. So, Jack was going to take Elsa dancing to get her back into it.

"Hey Elsa, you ready?" Jack asked as he knocked on her door. Since their first and second date, Jack had found out that Elsa loved the flowers called 'snowdrops'. So. Naturally. That's what he had for her. Elsa opened the door. Her hair was up in a bun and her dress was a beautiful shade of blue. Jack made note to compliment her later about how it matched her eye color as he gave her the flowers. "I'm ready! Where are we going?" She asked as she hooked her arm through Jack's. "Well Anna said the music room was just down the hall next to the ballroom so... we're going there," Jack answered. When the two got to the music room, Jack opened the door for Elsa. In the middle of the room there stood an old dark red piano. "Its my father's old piano!" Elsa exclaimed as she ran her fingers over the keys. "I asked Anna if she would ask the castle staff to tune it," Jack explained as he came up behind Elsa, wrapping his arms around her. Elsa smiled. "Thank you," she stated before turning around.  They were so close, their noses almost touching. Jack sqeezed Elsa a bit closer to him. "Can you play?" She asked, gesturing to the piano with a small blush on her face. "No.. but I thought we could just.. dance in silence," Jack replied. "Dance?" Elsa asked, a small frown forming on her face. "Yeah... Anna said that the last person you danced with was Jackson. I thought maybe I could change that," Jack stated. Elsa looked at the piano before sitting down on the stool in front of it. She stayed quiet. Jack walked over and sat next to her. "What's wrong?" He asked. "My father taught me to dance... but I stopped all physical touch with him before he could teach me how to do it without really focusing on each individual step... and then Jackson and I danced, and after he died I swore I'd never dance with someone again. And then my father died," Elsa explained. "And you decided never to dance again at all," Jack finished for her. Jack took her hand in his. Elsa looked up before she was pulled onto the small "dance floor". Jack and Elsa started swaying back and fourth in the middle of the room. They didn't move from that specific spot and no physical words were said. Elsa looked up at Jack, and into his bright blue eyes. She leaned in, connecting their lips. The dancing stilled as Jack's eyes closed and he kissed her back. It was as if fireworks went off in their heads as they kissed one another for the first time. That's when Elsa knew, this was the person she wanted to be with forever.

And in Jack's mind, elsa was the only one he felt he would ever love.

This was all the adventure the two needed for a while. Hopefully they would be able to live happy lives with one another.

Little did they know, 3 years would change that.

[s1rcus]

The Road to Love and Truth (Blackhill)

Rating: Teen and up

Words: 2827

Chapter: 2/2

Fandoms: Marvel

Characters: Natasha Romanoff, Maria Hill, Steve Rogers, Nick Fury

Additional tags: -

Summary: Maria struggles after her night with Natasha. She gets some good advice from Steve.

Authors note: Blackhill Bingo square I3 "Steve Rogers"

Story below the cut or in AO3 here

Maria still has a huge headache. She's been debating taking another aspirin to ease it down for the past 10 minutes, but it hasn't been too long since she took the first one and it might just not be working yet. The situation with Romanoff might not be helping either.

Without thinking she's making her way towards Phil's office. She's not sure why, she knows she won't talk about something like this to him. He's a good friend but she just can't talk about her sex life with him, less about feelings. Maybe he'll have some work she can do to distract her from the night before. She can't use her key card on a day off, (Fury has made it very clear she's not supposed to be doing work during any type of leave) so she can't go to her own office to continue work.

Phil isn't in his office. Now that she actually thinks about it, he has been on a mission since yesterday. She still needs something to distract her though. Maybe Fury would let it slide this once if she'd go do work, but she'd rather not see him right now. She decides to just go for a walk. Hopefully that'll clear her head a little.

------

The fresh air does help her headache and clears her head just the tiniest bit as well. She stands outside of the Triskelion for a short time and decides to go for a short walk along the river.

She keeps her eyes mostly on the water as she walks hands in the pockets of her sweats. She probably should've changed if she's honest, but she didn't want to go back to her room. SHIELD agents weren't that rare sight around these parts, but they definitely didn't go out in their gym clothes. She kicks around some pebbles every once in a while that are lying around the sidewalk.

She loses track of time, trying to just focus on nothing but the movement of the water. And she might have let her guard down, because she gets startled, when a hand taps her on the shoulder.

"Maria, what are you doing out here?"

"Jesus, Steve. Warn a girl next time."

"I literally yelled your name when I saw you. You're not usually this distracted. Are you okay?"

There's concern on his face and Maria doesn't like it one bit. She's fine, and even if she wasn't, everyone else needs to think she is.

"Everything's fine," she lies.

Steve gives her a long look, not quite believing her.

"You can always talk to me, you know? Whatever it is that's bothering you, I'll listen."

Damn Steve, and his kind heart.

"I know," she says.

"Okay, well I'm gonna finish my run. Come and find me if you want to talk about whatever this is," he says as he runs past her.

Maria just waves him off. She continues along the river for a while longer until her headache becomes worse again. Deciding it's best to just go back and take another aspirin, she turns around and heads towards the Triskelion again.

------

Eventually Maria realises she needs to talk to someone so she heads towards Steve's quarters and knocks on his door. He opens the door with a smile. They're good friends but it's quite rare she actually ends up on his doorstep.

"Hey, Maria. What's up?"

"I slept with Natasha," she answers as she pushes past him into his room. She sits on his bed, head in her hands. She hears the door click shut as Steve closes it.

"Not what I was expecting. How are you feeling?"

Maria groans at the question, "I don't know. I find out she's queer and few days later I find her in my bed. That's not how that should go. And worst of all I want to do it again, but I don't think I can just keep it at that."

"So you want to ask her out?"

"I think so?" She says and lays down on the bed so she can stare at the ceiling. "But I'm her superior, it's unprofessional, not to mention way too complicated. How am I supposed to be able to send her out there, if I'm worried if she'll make it back? How is Fury supposed to trust in me, if I get compromised because of her? Or what if I make the wrong decision, because I can't--" Steve cuts her off. She feels the bed dip, as he sits next to her on the bed and places a hand on her knee.

"Maria, you're forgetting one important thing, she's the Black Widow, she knows how to handle herself. Do you know how many times she's saved me out there? Because I've lost count by now. And Fury won't see you any differently if you start showing normal people emotions. Also stop worrying about 'what if's. Those are situations you can't know the answers for before it's too late. And for the record, I think you're already compromised. You care more about her than you know. Have for a long time."

"Fuck", Maria breaths the word out.

"Language."

"No, I actually fucked up."

"What did you do?"

"I just left her. She wanted to talk, and I just left her. I wasn't thinking clearly. I told her it was a mistake. Well it technically was because that was definitely not how I wanted that to go, but… I let her believe I don't want her. Shit!" She gets up quickly and starts pacing around. "I gotta go find her. Tell her that I'm sorry for how I treated her. That last night was great. Not that I really remember anything. To hopefully ask her properly out." She freezes on her tracks and turns to face Steve. "What if she says no? How am I supposed to continue working with her then?"

"Maria", Steve warns her.

"Right, won't know the answers before it's too late." She takes a deep breath. "Okay, I'm gonna go to find her. I wonder where she could be."

"At the gym with Barton."

"How would you know that?"

"Just a hunch."

------

She does find Natasha at the gym. She's beating up Barton at the mats. Maria decides to just stay by the door and watch, she'll notice her eventually. Natasha seems more tense than normal, maybe even a little angry. She doesn't move around as smoothly as she usually does. Her movements are a little more jacked, more forced. Maria realises that she's not fighting with a clear head. She's trying to push her feelings out. Maria was the reason the Widow's usually flawlessly smooth fighting style looked harsh and broken. It makes her heart twinge.

Eventually Natasha pins Barton down and he taps out. She gets up and her gaze shifts to Maria's. Maria physically flinches under her gaze. She quickly straightens her back and neutralises her face, when Barton gets back onto his feet and notices her presence.

"Commander," he coughs, eyes moving from Maria to Natasha and back again. After a couple of beats of silence he starts backing towards the men's locker room. "I'll just go then."

Maria just looks at Natasha, not really sure what she's supposed to say. Before she's able to say anything, Natasha turns on her heels and heads towards the women's locker rooms. That gets Maria on the move as well. She runs after Natasha and grabs her from the upper arm.

"Natasha wait," Maria says and Natasha stops on her tracks. "I'm sorry about earlier. Can we talk?"

Natasha turns around and Maria tries to look as apologetic as she can. Natasha just stares at her for a while.

"Fine. My quarters in 10."

Maria nods and drops her hold of the other woman. She didn't even realise she had still been holding her upper arm. Natasha eyes her quickly once more before she turns around again and heads out of sight to the locker room. Maria just stands still for a while, looking after her, until she spins around as well and heads out of the gym and towards Natasha's quarters.

------

Natasha is punctual as ever, and appears exactly 10 minutes later. Maria follows her silently into her room. Natasha sits down on her bed, one leg under herself while the other hangs off the edge. Maria is reminded of the morning. She stays standing near the door, but is faced towards Natasha. She's trying to figure out her words, even though she's been trying to figure out what to say ever since she walked out of Steve's quarters.

"Well?" Natasha prompts her.

"I fucked up. I'm really sorry for how I treated you. I panicked and I fucked up. I try my best to keep my private life and work separate, and I mostly live at work so… I'm having a hard time, to put it lightly. I also have never done this before."

"What? Been with a woman?" Natasha asks with a serious tone. It takes Maria a beat to realise she's not actually seriously asking that.

"No, Romanoff. You know that's not what I meant. I mean sleeping with a co-worker. Actually kinda never slept with anyone without being on a date first. And especially never had someone in my bed in a SHIELD facility."

"So I was your first one night stand?"

"About that, I wouldn't mind doing it again."

"Was I that good?" Natasha asks with a smirk.

"Natasha! I'm not talking about the sex. I'm talking about all of it. Everything since the mission. Spending time together at that bar and during the mission and also everything that came after."

"Wow. Is Commander Hill getting soft?"

"No,” she says. Taking a breath she continues, “I'd just like to see if this could become something. You're one of the few people around here who I can stand, and I actually had a really nice time yesterday. And I'm not regretting what happened after, so that probably says a lot."

Natasha gives her a small smile.

"What changed?"

"What do you mean?"

"You left the room in such a hurry and now you're here saying you don't regret it."

"Yeah, that. I might've talked to Steve and he had some good advice."

"You went to Steve?" Natasha's voice sounds almost scandalous.

"Who else would I go to? Fury? Do you think I have many friends around here? People who I could talk to?"

"Fair enough."

"So, if I'd ask you out on a date what would you say?"

"I would love to, but do you really want to go on a date? Because I feel like we're not the dating kind of people."

That was actually fair, she did always hate going on dates.

"What do you suggest then?"

"How about this?" Maria is really unsure about how she should feel about the smirk that follows that one simple question.

Natasha gets up and walks towards Maria. She stops when their chests are basically touching. She grabs Maria's hands and wraps them around her waist. Then she wraps her own arms around Maria's neck and rises up on her toes to kiss her. Maria basically melts into it. Eventually she lifts Natasha up and they move on the bed. Natasha seems very impressed that Maria can lift her. Maria might be a bit hurt about that.

------

When they decide to leave for an early lunch (neither remembered to eat breakfast), they're barely 100 feet down the hallway from Natasha's room, when they're stopped by a junior agent.

"Commander, Agent Romanoff. Director Fury wants to speak to both of you."

Maria and Natasha exchange a look.

"Did he say what about?" Maria asks.

"Not really," the Agent answers but there's a look on his face Maria doesn't like. It's like he knows something he shouldn't.

Maria debates for a little bit, if she should push and get some answers from him but decides against it. She dismisses the agent and starts heading towards the Directors office with Natasha.

They get a couple weird looks and smiles on the way there. They walk the whole way in silence. Both clearly trying to figure out what Fury wants from them.

Fury sees them immediately, which tells Maria that it's something important. She's getting nervous. Natasha is here as well, so her mind goes only to a specific direction, but how would Fury know?

"Director Fury, you wanted to see us?" Maria greets him.

"Hill, Romanoff. Has either of you checked the news today or any social media?"

Natasha shakes her head. She's been awfully quiet after they ran into that agent.

"No, sir. I haven't checked my phone at all today. Pretty sure it's dead anyway. I've been a bit distracted," Maria answers truthfully. There's no point in lying.

"Well, you probably should stay out of social media for a little while but that's just a suggestion. Do you have anything else to report to me?" His eye shifts from Maria to Natasha and back.

He knows. Maria takes a deep breath. She feels Natasha's hand touch hers, a sign that it's okay.

"Yes, sir. We, uh... Natasha and I are involved."

"Will it be affecting your work?"

"No, sir."

"Then I'm happy for you," he says with the slightest hint of a smile.

Maria is surprised and she can sense that so is Natasha. She lets her posture get a little more relaxed.

"Now to the real reason I invited you in," Fury says as he pulls some tabloid articles up on the screen behind himself. They're all saying basically the same thing: Black Widow at a gay bar with a mystery woman . Some of them have clearly done a better job with trying to figure out who this "mystery woman" is because a couple of them have actual pictures of Maria along with her name. And there's pictures. Pictures of them kissing, the intense looks they changed during that night and pictures of them leaving together.

"We tried to get them down before they spread too far, but clearly we didn't manage that. Anything about the Avengers' personal life spreads like a fire. I'm sorry about the situation it puts you in."

Both of the women just nod. There wasn't anything to say. Fury takes this as his answer and turns off the screen.

"Well then, you're dismissed. Hill, if you could stay for just a little longer?"

Natasha squeezes her shoulder a little before she steps out of the room.

"Sir?"

"No reason to be that formal anymore. This is just me checking on you. How are you feeling?"

"Well, that's a lot, but I think I'm fine. It's not the way I wanted things to go, but I guess it's good that it's out. If we wish to go out, now we don't need to worry if someone sees us or not."

"Okay, still I wish the situation wasn't this. I strongly suggest that you don't check any social media for the next few days. I know you think you can handle it, but there's gonna be some bad stuff there and I'd prefer the dust settles a bit first. Also if anyone, and I mean anyone, in SHIELD gives either of you a hard time because of this, let me know. I will handle it. It's out there, so everyone knows. I wish you could've handled this on your own terms, but the situation is what it is."

Maria smiles at him.

"Thank you, Director. I know I said it won't affect my work, and I truly believe and hope so, but if it ever seems like I'm putting her before the mission; pull me out of it, if possible. I know I won't be happy about it, but I need to know that I won't be making mistakes because I'm compromised."

"Of course. But I have full belief that you'll do great even then."

Maria nods and heads towards the door but Fury's voice makes her turn around before she gets to open it.

"Also, before you go. I am truly happy for you, Maria."

Maria smiles at him and nods her thanks and joins Natasha on the other side of the door.

Natasha hugs her as she closes the door. Maria circles her arms around her and presses her cheek against Natasha's head.

"That went better than I expected." She hears Natasha mumble against her chest.

"It did," Maria agrees.

"I'm so sorry about the articles though. If I would've just realised--" Maria quiets her with a kiss.

"Natasha, there's nothing you could've done about it. The second we walked in there everyone was paying extra attention to us. Those articles would be there even if we hadn't kissed. I'm just glad we did. I don't think I would've ever dared to take this step otherwise," Maria says. She looks Natasha in the eye and they exchange smiles. "Now, how about that lunch?"

[jazminetoad]

In My Reality | Prologue

Hey, I was bored so I decided to start a fanfic series of the Tatsumi Brothers from Juuni Taisen. Yay

It’s a “Tatsumi Brother x Reader” story about how the Tatsumi Brothers enter the reader’s reality which kinda flips her world upside down.

So I just finished the prologue. If you guys like it or if I’m bored again, I’ll make the first chapter. (Click “Keep Reading” to read the story)

"[Name] get out of bed; It's 3 in the afternoon," my mom told me as she came into my room with fresh, clean clothes. I didn't have to look over to know.

Groaning, I removed my mask from my eyes then rolled over to face up at the white ceiling. The sunlight seeping in from the blinds caused my sight to cringe before it finally adjected to the light and I could see the grey walls lurking in the corner of my eyes. Arising from my queen-sized bed a yawn escaped from my mouth. My form reached over and placed my sleep mask on the nightstand, next to my water mug.

"Morning mom," I greeted her as she sorted out the pile of clothes on my dresser. Looks like she did a colour load, which means no pants to put away.

"Morning sweetheart. Can you put your clothes away before you come downstairs?"

"Sure," I simply answered as I slipped out of the cozy sheets I once was tangled in.

"Thank you. I'll see you when you come down," she stated, placing the last of my t-shirts neatly on the others. Afterwards, she wrapped her arms around the remaining clean, clothes that weren't mine, carefully balancing them as she left my room and closed the door behind.

The click of the doorknob echoed into my ears when my feet landed on the fuzzy rug. My eyes drifted their gaze to the plain black bodypillow wrapped in [f/c] blankets, reminding me of a burrito. It just had the colour for the case, no special Anime character on it. I wish there were one though; it'd make the nights seem less lonely to see my favourite character's face on it. However, a pillow is a pillow. Despite me using it as an illusion for myself it doesn't change the reality that when I hug it in my sleep or when I'm awake no arms will return my embrace.

A sigh falls out of my breath, my eyelids dropping in sync. I turned my head away from the lying pillow and dragged myself to the other side of my bed, towards the dresser that patiently held the clean clothes my mom put there. I opened a drawer, putting my undergarments away first then my socks. Once those were put away, I moved to retrieve hangers from my closet, passing by my desk and shelves as I did.

If you were wondering why I slept so late into the afternoon, well, it's currently winter break, so that means I can stay up late and sleep in late past noon. Sadly enough, it's January which means the break almost over, and that means school is standing around the corner, menacingly. Just the thought of it disturbs my mind as that reality tries to infect my thoughts.

I hate reality. I know not all of it is shit, but there's enough of it that makes me want to drown myself in the world of fiction. Whenever it's the weekend or breaks from school, I binge Anime, tv shows, YouTube, and movies, so that's the only thing on my mind. I then write or read fanfiction, there is the rare occasion I sketch something but I'm not good at art since I don't practice enough. By the time I return to reality after having my head stuck in my imagination for so long, I can barely focus without going back to daydreaming. Eventually, that wears off, and then reality is what floods my brain; I despise it but I know I can't be stuck in my fantasies forever. Luckily my friends provide that nice spot in-between for me, helping me stay in the real world but also let me discuss the fictional. Then there's also my bro.

"Yo sis," my brother's voice called from the other side of the door after his fist knocked on it. "You wanna continue Code Geass?"

My bro is the best. Unlike most siblings I know, we actually get along. He's also a big help in my life, one of the reasons why I haven't lost my mind. He makes sure I don't overwork & stress myself and reminds me to have fun and chillax. I love him for it, and he's practically my best friend. We aren't the exact same age but we were born in the same year, just a few months apart so we get to be in the same grade. He's the older one. He's also taller which means he can t-pose over me, and we reenact the meme; it's great.

"Yeah," I answered. "Just let me get ready."

"Alright," he replied before I felt the vibration of his footsteps grow distant from my room.

'Heh, if I had Takeyasu's ability, I'd be able to sense his movement better.'

I chuckle to myself at the thought floating in my mind as I put the final shirt away. My two favourite characters that I desired to be real was the Tatsumi Brothers, Nagayuki and Takeyasu. I love those two. Whenever I watched their episodes from Juuni Taisen, I always smile. They make my heart feel something that I never felt for any character before. I don't want to be cliche and say true love, but to me, that's what it feels like. I know they're fictional characters, so I won't get much out of it, but strangely enough, I'm okay with that. I can't imagine my heart belonging to anyone else. I do wish they were real, though. I even used my wish on the bracelet my friend, Meri-chan, got for my birthday one year, that they'd become real.

The bracelet was some urban legend. It was lime green and had a few beads on it. The legend goes that you make a wish and when the bracelet breaks, your wish has come true. 'Course, it's most likely a bunch of baloney but that didn't stop me from wishing that the Tatsumi Brothers would become real. I currently just wear the bracelet as an accessory since the wish probably won't happen, it's not like the thing is going to break anytime soon.

Grabbing my towel, my other hand opened my door. I slipped down the hallway and slid into the bathroom, my foot pushing the door closed as I put the towel on the towel rack. Hopefully, I don't take too long because we were left on edge on the last episode of Code Geass we watched. Well, I'll finish sooner than my wish coming true that's for sure, heh.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Okay bro but if you think about it, Lelouch-"

"[Name], I washed your school uniforms. Can you put them away while I start on tacos?" Mom requested from the kitchen, interrupting the Anime, my commentary, and reminding me that school is coming soon. "You too, [b/n]."

"Yes, mom," we both respond.

My brother picked up the remote and hit the pause button so we wouldn't miss anything. I pulled myself up from the plush couch, disappointment growing on me since I had hoped not to be interrupted until dinner was ready. Well, I guess I could let the disappointment wither away since it's Taco Tuesday, my favourite. I chuckled to myself as my feet reached the next level above the main floor and headed down the open hallway to my room.

My laughter died out upon seeing my seven school uniforms, five that were the regular female uniform and two that were gym uniforms. Unlike most students, I didn't like the idea of having to wash my uniform every day, so to make things simpler, I paid for six more with my own money. It was a bit irritating, using the money I earned from my summer job for this instead of getting something else. Still, my practical choice, so I didn't necessarily have to worry about my mom washing my uniform every night.

"Hhhhhh, why does school have to come back so soon?" I asked myself as I picked up one of the uniforms.

The uniform wasn't too special, a simple white blouse, a blue skirt, a blue jacket, and a blue & black striped tie. Students could decide if we wanted to wear tights, leggings, or shorts underneath the skirt as long as it was black or white. I wore leggings unless it was summer which I then wear shorts and knee-high socks. There are those girls that only wear thigh-high socks and panties under their skirt to which my nerd brain questions why. 'Course that's their choice, have fun with your ass cold.

A Discord ringtone made me resurface from my pond of inner thoughts. Becoming aware of my surroundings, I realized my friends Meri-chan and Kamida were calling on the Discord group chat we had. I could tell by the laptop I had open on my desk. I quickly put the uniform I had in hand on the rack with the others before sliding over and clicking the answer button that popped up.

"Yo, what's up nerds."

"Hey I'm not a nerd," Meri-chan protested. "I'm a cool kid."

"Meri-chan, we're all nerds here," Kamida stated before greeting me. "Hey [n/n], how you doing?"

"Eh, good I suppose but I could be doing better, Kami," I answered simply. "How's life?"

"Pretty chill but I got bored, so I decided to call you guys."

"Well, I'm just putting my uniforms away," I informed them and went to put the last uniform away.

"I sometimes forget that you have more than one," Meri-chan commented before I heard her gasp. "Hey, how 'bout we hang out tomorrow, we only have so many days before we have to go back to school."

"Oh, don't remind me," I groaned, hanging my head, then went back to putting the uniform on the hanger and walking over to the closet, hanging it up with the rest.

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea Meri-chan, we could hang out tomorrow," Kamida suggested.

"I'm down," Meri-chan quickly responded.

"Welllllll..." I hesitated, sitting down in the [f/c] spinning chair in front of the desk.

"[Name]."

"You see, I kinda want to stay inside my last few days..."

"[n/nnnnn]!" Meri-chan whined.

"Come on [Name], you know you can't stay cooped up inside forever," Kamida reminded me.

"I know," I grumbled, leaning back in my seat. "Fine, I'll come out tomorrow, but it's going to be after 2."

"2 am, geez [n/n] I didn't know you'd be willing to come out that early," Kamida joked.

"I meant 2 pm," I corrected.

"Okay," he chuckled as Meri-chan pipped in.

"But if you're late again, you're buying lunch this time."

"Okay, bet, but what if I'm not?" I inquired, my fingers tapping on my desk.

"Mmmmmmm," she hummed, seemingly to be thinking.

"It's fine I'll pay for lunch tomorrow."

"Alright, but don't use it as an excuse to be late."

"I won't," I reassured her. "Anyway, I'm gonna go watch a few more episodes of Code Geass with my bro-"

"You still need to watch Dragon Ball Z," Kamida interrupted.

"And you need to watch Juuni Taisen," I countered, emphasizing the "you".

"Yeah, yeah," he brushed it off. "Anyway, go have fun with your bro. We'll call again later on tonight."

"Alright, bye guys." I left the call and closed out of discord then proceeded to shut my laptop.

Kamida and Meri-chan were my two friends from school; we've known each other since childhood. 'Course Meri-chan isn't Meri-chan's real name, that's just a nickname Kamida and I gave her. Occasionally, they called me [n/n]-chan but not too often. Then there are times where we call Kamida, Kami-kun, but mainly Meri-chan does it out of spite since Kamida doesn't like it. Especially when Meri-chan does it in her kawaii voice. Those two are the only ones outside of family that have the same vibe I do, that's probably why we've been friends for so long.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey, you guys ever wish fictional characters could become real?" I randomly asked out of the blue, staring up at the white ceiling as I waited for my friends over the call to answer my question.

"All the time," Meri-chan answered.

"We know simp," Kamida smugly commented.

"Nuuu!" Meri-chan pouted while Kamida and I laughed. "Hey, if anything [n/n] is the simp over here, she's the one actual crushing on the characters."

"Hey don't call me out like that."

"Ha! She doesn't deny it," Kamida jeered.

"Okay, what about you and Android 21?"

"Ack-" Kamida blurted before muting himself, causing me and Meri-chan to giggle. A few seconds pass by before he unmuted himself. "Why are you asking this question [n/n]?"

"No reason in particular-"

"Are you sure it's not you wanting to talk about Juuni Taisen?"

"No- it's not just that. I just think fictional characters would make reality interesting."

"Right..."

"Meri-chan if you could bring someone from Juuni Taisen to-"

"My boy Uuma! You should know this by now."

"Bruh-"

"Well, it's either that or Usagi, and I rather be alive thank you."

"Who's Uuma again?" Kamida inquired, not knowing who was who quite yet since he hasn't watched the Anime.

"Uuma is the warrior of the horse," I informed him.

"Right," Kamida mumbled before letting out a yawn.

"You sound tired, go to sleep!" Meri-chan told Kamida.

"No, you go to sleep."

"Guys, we're all on the same timezone. If one of us goes to sleep then we all do," I stated. "It makes sense since we're all planning on meeting up tomorrow."

"I guess we go to sleep," Meri-chan said bluntly.

"Yeah, alright, goodnight guys," Kamida yawned.

"Night."

"Night guys."

With that, we each left the call. I, however, didn't fall asleep right away. I woke up late and the night was still pretty early, so I opened up the Funimation app on my phone. Scrolling through the list of saved Anime, most of which were halfway through since my brother and I are watching them together, I came across Juuni Taisen.

"Why not..." I muttered to myself as my finger tapped on the Anime and went right to click on episode 7, In Like a Dragon, Out Like a Snake (Part 1).

By the time I finished episodes 7 and 8, it was 2 am when my eyes glanced at the clock in the top corner of my phone. Sighing to myself, I leaned over and snatched my charger off the nightstand, plugging it in the wall before connecting the other end to my phone. Turning off my phone, I placed it on the nightstand and snagged my sleep mask, putting that on my head.

As I laid there on my bed, silence flooded the room, not a sound to be heard but my own breathing. Vines of sorrow began to grow on me as the feeling of loneliness came over me. I tried to pull myself out of the emotion, turning over and wrapping my arms around the plain bodypillow in an attempt to comfort myself. In the end, it only helped slightly. It didn't erase the pain because I knew there were no arms that would hug me back. A tear escaped my eyes before I pulled my mask over them, and a final thought appeared in my mind before I entered the dream realm.

'I wish I wasn't alone...'

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

"Congratulations, Tatsumi {Ani|Otouto}, warrior of the {dragon|snake}!" Duodecuple exclaimed. "You are the winner of the 12th Juuni Taisen, everyone give yourself a hand!" The man started to applaud but soon stopped. "The antidote has settled in by now. You'll be fine."

{"Tch|Alright"} the Tatsumi brother simply responded.

"Now that you've won the Juuni Taisen, you can make one wish of your choice. Would you like to make your wish now, or would you like for it to be granted later?"

"In all honesty, when I arrived at the Juuni Taisen I wished for {nothing|money}, I didn't need anything else really but now that {I'm here|I had time to think about} I don't want to wish for {nothing|money}."

"Oh, do you have another wish in mind?" Duodecuple inquired the Tatsumi brother sitting in front of him, alone.

"Yeah... I wish me and my brother were never apart of the Juuni Taisen."