#i welcome input here because i definitely do NOT know what i'm talking about

[exlwandering]

Celica and Lemal Part 5

I actually wrote this stuff like just yesterday and today so it's actually reasonable me posting this now. Horary! Any way, enjoy these two weirdos, this is definitely my favorite chapter thus far because its mostly just them finally talking to each other and this is were other bigger world elements start coming out so world building wise this was really fun to write. I've said it before but I think I should have the next part soon ish. Hopefully I'm not jinxing myself tho

Lemal

“Alright Mont, why won’t she talk to me? Let’s figure this out!”

“Well what do you want me to do about it? It’s her own damn problem if she won’t answer you.”

I invited Mont into my office today to talk about Celica, to figure out how to get her to like me, or figure out why she doesn't like me so far. “Maybe because you’re a prick?”

Unfortunately Balasey invited herself.

“Why not give her some presents? Women tend to love that!”

And so did Cuss.

“Okay thank you Balasey, Cuss, very… Helpful. But we really need to discuss, and truly discuss, any problems. 

“Well,” Mont starts, “what have you done so far. It’s only been two full days so what’s gone wrong already?” He chuckles to himself.

“Oh I’m so glad that you can laugh at my marital troubles, aren't you lucky that you’ll never have to worry about me doing the same to know mister no-marriage. Ha.”

He gets quiet and glares at me. “Don’t you mention that like it’s a joke or I’ll walk out of this room right now. That’s a promise.”

“Oh don’t be so dramatic, Mont, you know I don’t mean it. Relax.”

“You've yet to answer his question,” Balasey finally pipes up. 

“I was waiting for you to add your cents, okay here we go. I’ve: complimented her, trying to get her new dresses, though she’s yet to be fitted, bought her fabrics, tried to get her to talk about herself and when she wouldn’t do that I thought I’d open up about my own interests. So I don't know. I couldn’t tell you, I’ve done everything that Father can’t and won’t.”

“Oh well that’s why,” I turn to Cuss, I wasn’t expecting his input. “You’re using Father as a guild map, you’re bound to lose that game brother, HA!”

I glare at him, growling under my breath, he tucks into himself in response. 

“He’s right about that,” Balasey comes back in. “As well as all that is well and good to compliment her and give her gifts, but it means nothing to the Compatu given the whole reason she’s here.”

I give her a moment to answer but she doesn't. 

“Well why is she here other than to marry me,” I ask, consciously.

“What the hell do you mean why else is she here? You don’t know!?”

“Well why don’t you enlighten me!”

“Well I will!” She loses a sigh, “She’s here to die. All of them have always been here to die and almost every single one has. Only like, what, three have lived longer than a few months, and our uncle has the only one to date to ever survive into old age. Do you know that? Why should she trust you at all? Her family likely told her ‘it’s better to stay quiet, best not to anger him.’ You really are stupid if you haven't thought of that as a possibility. That’s she’s scared you’ll eat her-” 

“Oh and there it is, the delusion! Okay, thank you for the input sister, now I think you’ve overstayed your welcome.”

“OH you brat!! Just get away! You disrespectful, arrogant, little boy!”

She screams at me, not unexpectedly, but I can hear her voice crack and I see her eyes tear up. It’s not my vault, however, if she's consumed with fake knowledge. She needs to learn that her fallacy is hardly ever correct.

“And just for your stupid little information Lemal!!! She can’t hear us!! COMPATU TALK SO LOUD BECAUSE THEY CAN’T SPEAK AS LOW AS US!!! AND THEY CAN’T HEAR AS LOW EITHER!!!  You little idiot!! She can’t hear you if you're talking to her!! You have to use paper! Like Mont did when he picked her up!! BECAUSE, BELIEVE IT OR NOT, HE HAS SOME BASIC INTELLIGENCE! UGH!”

She runs out of the room, slamming the door behind her. 

“Alrighty, if you say so little sister!” I smile to myself but it doesn't last long. Mont’s looking at me like he’s confused. 

“What? What’s wrong?”

“She’s… She’s right about the hearing thing you know. They have whole legends calling us ‘the silent death.’ Because they can’t hear us.”

“Mont can you please not-”

“She is right, Lemal. Compatu cannot hear us talk. Her mother on the carriage ride actually asked me if we could not talk. They don’t think we talk, Lemal. They. Can’t. Hear. Us.” 

“Are- Oh shit you’re being serious. Oh shit. OH SHIT! She can’t hear me!! No fucking wonder!! You’re not pulling out my feathers are you?”

“No! You idiot!” 

“Fuck!”

Cuss comments, “well go to her with some paper! So you can actually talk to her! And remember that weird magic lady from a couple of months ago? The Madam I think? She gave you an ear thingy so you don’t have to learn languages! Why not use that?”

“Sorry-” Mont tries to cut in but I cut him out by standing and running out of the room. As I’m leaving I hear Mont ask, “Is that true?” 

Cuss just responds with an, “I don’t know, that’s what she said! Lemal just called her a cracked pot and set her away...”

I rip through the hallway and for the first time ever find her where she is supposed to be: the fitting room. She’s completely naked but I can’t even care. 

“Everyone out!!”

“But your majesty, we’re almost done here, just a moment longer-”

“I. Said. Out! Go. Be gone! Everyone.”

Relua goes to pick up Celica like an idiot, “Leave her.”

She pulls back and quickly leaves the room before any more fuss can be made. 

I look over at her again, she’s curled in on herself, shaking. 

I shout at her, “Can you hear me?”

She looks around. Confused. 

I say it again. 

“Can you hear me?!”

Her eyebrows furrow.

“This isn’t working, okay! If you can hear me, clap your paws together.”

I go to clap my own hands but I stop myself. I silently pray that she’ll do it. 

She doesn't. I try one more time.

“Celica, my darling. If you can hear me-” I take some steps toward her and I’m only a few feet away when I say, “I need you to say literally anything while… Touching your nose with only one finger. 

I wait several seconds. 

She does nothing but curl in on herself more. 

I panic for a moment, thinking this whole time she hasn’t been able to hear me, oh my god. How could I not have noticed this! But I come back to reality for just a moment, and a moment is all it takes to see that she’s terrified, crying and hugging herself so hard that her delicate little claws are pushing into her own skin and are starting to draw blood. 

I reach for her, to let her know that I mean her no harm but she pushes back, forgetting she’s on a stool and falls onto the floor with an unceremonious thump. 

I quickly go to pick her up but she fights to get out of my embrace. Clawing and pushing to get away from me and so I let her go. I look for anything that might allow her to understand I’m not going to hurt her. 

I look around the room and notice that one of the walls is holding up chalk, and on closer inspection is revealed to be a chalk board covering an entire wall. 

I quickly write down, “Calm down love, I’m not trying to hurt you!”

She shouts back, “Then what the hell are you doing?? Why were you trying to grab me??”

I start to write again, “I didn’t know you couldn’t hear me.”

I look back at her and instead of seeing relief, like I would have loved to see, I see anger. 

She chucks a pillow at me. 

“What the hell do you mean ‘I didn’t know!!’ Are you fucking stupid? Even Mont knew and he said he wasn’t even an official member of the royal court! Why did he know and you didn’t? Who told him? How did Relua know? The Towle lady? She can’t even write! Even Rami knew and you’re telling me you didn’t know? How could you not!” 

She breathes deeply, shuddering still. She is right though. 

But my bigger question is why didn’t anyone tell me. Why didn’t anyone at any point see me talking directly to her and not think to tell me? I really am surrounded by idiots. 

I just write on the wall once again. 

“I think I might have a solution. Let's go.”

I wait until she reads it to go and pick her up before she yells, “damn it no! I’m done with the holding! Stop it, I can walk.”

I go back to the board and write one word. 

“Naked?”

“Yes naked, who cares, I don’t! I just wanna stop getting vertigo every time I need to go somewhere!”

“The answer is no.”

“AH- What the hell-”

I cut her off by picking her up and just wrangling her in my arms. It takes some great effort to keep her more or less still but if she doesn't want to keep her dignity then dammit I’ll make her keep it.

I rush us both down the hall, her grunting and scratching at me the whole way there, and there are several moments where I go to tell her to stop before I remember again: she can’t hear me damn it. 

I enter my office and slam the door behind me, the door cracking like lighting. That crack comes with a bite on my finger. I drop Celica. 

“What the hell was that for?” I hold my hand and look at my finger, blood pouring out.  “UH! I don’t care about this!”

Looking around the room I try to remember where I threw that letter: The waste basket. 

I dive for it hoping it hasn’t been emptied and lucky it hasn’t. Ripping it over I skim over the words.

King Lemal… I implore your agreement to a multi-world union… Great trade opportunities… an ear piece as compliments of The Greed Court. …allows multi language communication without any need to learn any of said language, instructions in my package. I look forward to our next meeting, King Lemal.

Best wishes

~The Madam Greedal~

I look around the room looking for this package, slamming the letter down onto the table. 

I push things around, open drawers, look through my bookshelf but nothing. It takes several minutes before I check the wastebasket again and while I don’t find it there, I do find it under one of the legs of my desk. 

“A-HA! Look what I found! Celica?” When I turn to look at her she’s reading the letter from the Gremal lady. I sigh, paying it no mind, instead pushing my attention to the “ear piece” whatever that means. 

Opening the box reveals a strange almost spiral shaped thing, it’s small but it would be too big for Celica? I don’t actually know. I pull out the instructions and illustrations to show how to put them into different types of people's ears, starting with Shatto and ending with Compatu. 

It shows the piece being dropped into one ear with the sides raised - I suppose for structural support- and waiting until a red light shows itself. Once it does the wearer pushes it into their ear until they hear something? Like a small chirp? Then the light should change to blue and then turn off. Great. This makes no scene but it’s worth a shot. 

I grab Celica’s attention from the letter by pulling it out of her hand and then placing the instructions in their place. She looks it over and when I go to place the thing in her ear she growls- fucking growls- at me!

“You don’t put anything in me.” 

After a moment she looks shocked and then pulls back into herself.

“I- I need a little more time to understand the instructions. Can we go back to your room?”

I sigh, I don’t want people just looking at her almost completely naked but if she won’t let me put it in…

I nod. Giving in as quickly as a fool. But this time I think to put her in my coat, and better yet she barely fights me this time, only groaning when I go to pick her up.

Before we leave I write, “by doing this you promise to put some clothes when we get there,” on a piece of paper.

When she’s done reading it she says, “that’s why I wanna get to your room, I’m cold as hell! Why do you guys have to be so far down south. It’s summer damn it. It shouldn’t be so cold.”

Getting back to our room she jumps out of my arms and onto the floor. She marches herself right over to her chest and pulls out, pants, a shirt, and a bright orange sweater. She pulls them on herself -and what’s so cute is that her pants have a hole to let out her tail- before grabbing the instructions and ear thingy and sitting right down on the floor. She combs over the paper for several minutes, her tail twitches in unison with her nose, her eyes squinting at the papers. Finally, she bends her head to the side, drops the piece in her ear and says to me. 

“Lemal, nod when it changes to red.”

I do that, and after a moment the light makes red light and I nod. When I do she pushes it into her ear and stops when it turns blue. I hear a small chirp from the thing and she looks at me. 

I pick her up when I stand and place her on the edge of the bed and she glares at me a little. I don’t mind.

“Well… Can you hear me now Lovey?”

She pulls back and blinks at me. Several seconds pass before she says: “I-... I did not know you would sound like… That.”

Celica

“What the hell do you mean ‘Like that?’” He crows back at me. God that was a stupid thing to say. Who the hell wouldn’t take offense to “I didn’t know you would sound like that!” UGH. He’s gonna kill me or I him. (Most likely he'll kill me though. But his voice is so much lighter than I thought it would be, you'd think someone so big would have a deep voice, yet here we are.)

“Oh I didn't mean- Not that it’s bad! I- um… I’m sorry.”

I look down at the hard wood floor.

And then he fucking laughs.

I look up at him to see his head pointed up, his eyes closed and beak open wide, releasing a  deep and throaty laugh. His head moves back and forth and he sounds almost like he’s cawing. He really is a bird. 

After a moment he puts his hands on his eyes before whipping fucking tears from them. 

He takes a deep breath before saying, “Well at least I know you can hear me.”

I glare at him for a moment, caution be damned. 

“What the hell made you think I could hear you in the first place? I thought you all knew that I can’t hear you. Riddle me this King Lemal: how does a bath servant who can’t read or write know that I can’t hear your kind but a fucking king has no clue?”

I stand so that I have a better chance at being eye level to him for once, he still has to look down at me. 

The smile from his face still hasn’t faded when he says, “well how was I to know? I didn’t think that was possible and no one bothered to tell me. Actually, riddle me this girl: why did it occur to no one to maybe tell the king that the woman he’s marrying can’t hear a word he says?”

“I actually have an answer to that,” He crooks an eyebrow at me, “two answers in fact. For one, maybe people are afraid to correct a king, this seems less likely to me though. What seems more likely is that it’s such common knowledge people must have assumed that you’d get mad if they so much as presumed how much you do or don’t know.” I leave him an angry smile before curtsying ironically.  

His smile drops a little but only for a moment while he rolls his eyes at me. “At least you have an answer.” He then stands and before I have even a moment he pulls me up and quickly drops me again on the bed. I grown as another headache hits me.

“Oh for fucks sake can you stop doing that” I rub my eyes. 

“Doing what?”

“Picking me up? It’s a nightmare! It gives me headaches, and people drop me, and I hate being so damn high! I get such horrible vertigo!”

He crawls onto the bed and lays flat on his back before asking, “why would anyone not like to be quote-un-quote high?”

“Because.”

He looks at me with a stupid smile. 

“...I have a chronic fear of heights. You picking me up makes it worse.” I try to look away from him but I can’t, even turning completely around only results in me seeing him even more clearly. I silently curse my eyes. 

He clicks his tongue and says, “naw, how cute, the little Compatu is scared of heights, how adorable.” He grabs my sides and pulls me to him, whispering right into my ear, “am I too big for you Celica?” 

I can tell he wants me to blush. It just makes me want to claw his eyes out. I push him away with my legs. 

“Be quiet.”

He waits for a moment before backing up. He sighs and lays on his side, propping his head up with his hands. 

“You're so cute Celica, I just wanna say that, since you haven’t heard me before now.” 

That one does in fact make me blush and i feel stupid for doing so.

“What do you want.”

“I want,” he rotates his head until he’s looking at me upside down, “to talk to you, to get to know you. So… What are… Your favorite… Hobbies?”

“Is that really the best you could come up with?”

“Oh come on! Humor me Wife.”

I growl at him but it only serves to make him chuckle.

“I like to write. And read. The arts in general suit me very much I think.”

“Oh~ what types of stories? What art? Do tell.”

“Well I like-”

“Romances? Oh I can just imagine you all curled up enjoying a nice long romance.” He smiles and winks at me.

“Historical texts.”

“...What?”

“I like studying history. A little. I packed five or six books on my kingdom's history, two on yours and a couple others. They are mostly textbook styled but they do have some personality to them and my favorite one talks about its subjects in a discovery type of way and the narrator constantly falls into little obsessive episodes. It’s very funny to me.”

For a moment he could barely do anything but stare at me

He looks vaguely confused. “So… You’re a little historian, okay.”

“Not really. History is just fun.”

He thinks for a moment before asking, “Do you read anything else? Or write? Mont told me you write pretty frequently.”

This kind of strikes me, I guess Mont told Lemal about how I wrote the whole way here. “...I do, but mostly just about my own life, or my family. I don’t write many original works, and besides, it’s important for royalty to write about their experiences, you know, for history's sake.”

He nodds when he says, “Hmm. Well I don’t think you’re wrong. Oh, but Question: if it's for the people of the future to read, why don’t you want me to read it.”

“Are you from the future?”

He laughs at this. “ I suppose not. But still, why?”

“While I'm alive, my thoughts are private and totally mine, no one else's. Not even yours, King,” I bite back.

“Aww, I told you, just Lemal for you.” He stops for a moment, scratching the side of his beak, (he’s actually got a small dent exactly where he’s scratching. I guess he does that a lot. Maybe it helps him think?) he mutters, “I actually don't think you heard that.” 

“You're right, I didn’t hear it but I could tell what you meant. You have…” I wave my hands for emphasis, “very expressive body language.”

He laughs before nodding, “I suppose you’re right. By the way, why didn’t you ever try to tell me that you couldn’t hear me?”

I sit quietly for a moment before saying,“I thought you were toying with me.”

His eyes widen and he pulls his head back. “No. No never, I don't like to…” He stops short, “And I would never do that to you. Happy wife, happy life. So I don't intend to play with your mind like that.” He reaches out to me and boops me on the nose, making me sneeze. I Swear he squeals just a little, like the thought of my sneezing is just too cute.

I sit there for a moment, I can’t tell if he’s completely serious yet, it seems like it but he always seems to have this aloofness to him, but then he acts so caring in one moment and then the next… I don’t even know. So all I can respond with is a quiet, “that’s good.”

He smiles a little bit. It makes me want to change the subject. 

“...What do you like to do? Hobbies.”

“Naw, is that the best you can come up with?”

I look up at him caught off guard, he's laid down now, lounging on his back, hands behind his head and smiling at me. 

Before I can say anything he picks up again, “I like to hunt obviously, and I'm a bit of a reader myself. However I do have one obsession that’s been nagging at me recently.”

He gets quiet and waits for me to say something so I respond bored,” and what would that be.” 

“Oh, nothing much, just a little Compatu named Celica, she’s rather adorable from tip to tail. Tell me, what do you think of my obsession, hmm?” (He thinks he’s so damn clever.)

“I think it’s rather boyish and that you might hope to reign that ‘obsession’ in a bit, after all you’ve only known her for about three days.” 

“Wise words, I suppose. However I’m not sure I’ll heed your advice, little love, as soon we'll have known each other for a lot longer.” 

He reaches out for me and scratches under my chin, the sensation is nice but the fact that he’s doing that with a claw that could push through my skin like butter makes me weary of the touch, so I push him away. 

He clicks his tongue in disappointment before pulling his hand back. 

“Why are you so weary of me?”

This feels like the most obvious thing ever to me, maybe he just thinks I'm dull? Or that now that we're married I should hand myself in whole to him. Trust him. (Well excuse me for having survival instincts.) “Well for one I don’t know you, this is the first real conversation we’ve had.”

“Well that’s nothing, my own father met my mother the day of their wedding just as you and I did, hell, he picked her out from a collection of other women.”

“That’s disgusting,” I pulled myself further away from him.

“What? No, not at all. Wait, how do the Compatu usually marry?”

“Normally. We meet someone, get to know them and fall in love, then after a long time of being in a relationship they may get married, but the decision is mutual, not… Like this.” I curl in on myself, hugging my knees to my chest. Looking over at him, he almost has a remorseful look on his face but it’s overshadowed by his confusion. 

After a moment of being quiet he nearly whispers, “Have you ever been in a relationship before?” (Thinking about it, it’s like he’s scared of the answer.)

I turn to him, sighing before saying, “yes. Three. I loved them all very much, especially my last one… But he didn’t know who I really was until the end of the relationship, and when he found out that I was promised to you…” I closed my eyes and turned from him, I don’t want him to see me cry. So with a shaky voice I finish, “he left me, so that he wouldn’t be.. I don’t know. Reprimanded? Killed even? By the- ...By you.” Silence fills the room but before I know it, Lemal pulls me into a hug. He wrapps his wings around me and rests his beak on my head.

“I am truly sorry, My Love. You didn’t deserve to be hurt like that.” He then wipes a small tear (that I hadn’t realized I had shed) away with his claws.

“It’s fine.” I try to pull myself out of his arms. “Anyone who would just up and leave like that is not someone I want in my life anyhow.” Finally I pull so hard that I pop out of his hands, go flying into the air and land on my face. 

He fucking giggles. 

I mutter, “fuck you…”

“Excuse me?”

I stay quiet for a moment before saying it again. “Fuck. You.”

After an almost amused moment of silence he says, “Wow. I comfort you and then you curse me, how kind.” He’s crosses his legs and is propping his head up with his hand now.

“Well you laugh at me when I try and get out of your grasp, what's fair is fair.”

“Oh no, no, no, that wasn’t fair.” He says pulling me by the waist until I’m in his lap again. I don’t think he can help himself from touching me. My evidence? He’s rubbing my waist, and I can see how he tilts his head a little to get a better look at me. I hate how I almost like this type of attention, it's been forever since I’ve just been touched like this .(But does it have to be him??) 

He’s about to say something but stops short. Maybe it’s because I’m not fighting him?

No matter the reason he keeps going, groping me and moving his hands further back unti-

“Ee!”

He pinches my fucking tail, hard. 

I finally kick myself out of his grasp. 

“I should have known that would be too far.” he mutters.

When I’ve positioned myself to have my tail facing away from him I ask, “what the hell were you trying to accomplish there?! That shit hurts!” Still rubbing the base of my tail mind you.

(I’m lying. I hate that I have to lie. Frankly it shouldn’t have felt that fucking good. I hate myself for liking it actually. Stupid, Stupid-)

“I- I’m not actually sure. But I am sorry. If that helps?”

“No you’re fine, I let you go that far anyway…”

“So… You liked it? Other than the pinch I mean.”

“I’d prefer not to answer that.”

He smiled then, more than likely knowing the truth.

I just want to change the subject now. “So… What’s your family like, you said something about your mother and father, what are they like?”

He blinks at the subject change but submits to it. “Oh my father is a bastard, not that I’m ever going to tell him that, and neither should you. Not that I think you will though. It’s my mother I’m more fond of. We’ve always been rather close. She is one of the fairest women alive, even with her growing age there is not another woman who could even compare.”

“That’s… You know how odd that sounds coming from her son. Right?”

“I do, but that's what she tells me all of the time, and she is beautiful. It’s why my father picked her actually. She was known as the most beautiful woman in all of our territories and so she was brought to the palace here and was wed to my father. Of course you’ve seen her so you know just how lovely she is.”

“You’re right, I have seen her.” I think of the stylish woman that poked and prodded at me, and the judgmental looks, those make a bit more sense now, she must be pretty vain. “She was the previous queen, correct? What was her role here?”

“Oh she wasn’t Queen, nor was my father King.”

“They… Weren't?”

“Not at all. My father was what you call the breeder. The second born son is to marry and have children. His first son shall be King and then the second born is the Breeder and so it just goes on like that. It’s rather unorthodox compared to the other species' way of doing things.”

“Is that because of our marriage?”

“Yes, it is my smart, little Wife. The Breeder may marry whom he wishes but the King has a moral responsibility to tradition and so on, so forth.”   

“Interesting. Wait so back to your family, you have a younger brother?”

“I do, he’s rather dull but he’ll likely do rather well at his role. He’s always going on about finding a wife that he loves and such, and if he accomplishes that fast enough he’ll likely produce dozens of little children. I also have a sister, she can be rather delusional and my father has to threaten her with marriage almost every hour for her to behavior but that’s just because she has no real role to play in court, but honestly there aren't any roles for her to play anyway given her woman hood. And she’d do no good as a breeder given her refusal of men, she continues to perplex me.”

“Wait so she just does nothing everyday and that’s just okay? Surely she must do something everyday.” That’s such a horrible fate to me, just doing nothing but being seen for the rest of my life, I can only pray that that doesn't happen to me here. For now I have my tunnels but as soon as I’m done… What then?

“Oh she does, she taught herself to read when she was only, what? Four or five? And ever since you could always find her in the library, but it clouds her mind rather horribly, she barely takes care of herself and her delusions have nearly completely taken her over.” He looks so remorseful for her.

“That’s terrible, she doesn't hurt herself does she? Have you taken her to the doctor or some type of physician or psychiatrist?”

He shakes his head dismissively. “No, father doesn't think that’s needed, I don’t think so either, she just needs to do something other than just think, or at least that's what I believe.”

I’m quiet for a moment before he decides he’s had enough of the silence.

“Anyhow though I don’t want this conversation to get too dark, so do you have any siblings?”

I laugh to myself (more of a giggle to be honest but that’s a bit embarrassing to admit.) 

“Do I have siblings? A better question is ‘does the amount of siblings you have ever end!”

“Oh? How many do you have?”

“Guess,” I say, still giggling to myself.

He sits for a moment before saying, “well it can’t be any more than- what? 10? No! I’ll go 15, just to be safe.”

I laugh right into his face, harder than I thought I would for a long while. I have no doubt that he thinks he’s way over shot but oh do I have a surprise for him.

“I have thirty-one siblings!” I spout out. At this point I am laughing so hard that I might throw up and when I look at him again his beak is as open as a broken hinge and his eyes are so wide that I can see the whites of his eyes (I guess he doesn't have all black eyes after all, huh.)

“Woman! DO I feel sorry for your mother, my goodness! Unless you have several? How does one even get that many children! Thirty-two children- by Magont! That’s just insane!” He’s laughing at the end of his sentence but there's a twinge of nervousness. 

“Don’t worry too much, I was born in a litter, all Compatu are.”

“Wait so- how does that work?”

I compose myself before explaining, “I was in my mother's first litter and was supposedly the first one out, but there were- and get ready for this, you’re gonna freak out so compose yourself.” He fixes his poster, hands rested in his lap and nods when he’s ready. “I was one of seven in my mothers first litter.”

His beak breaks itself open again and he laughs again, “How does one woman hold that many children in her? My goodness!”

“Well in all fairness Compatu babies, even when they stretch out all the way, arent even as big as my hand, so… They’re really tiny.”

He puts my hands in his and rubs the back of them with those claws again. (To be honest it’s not really that scary anymore, I mean, he’s always been rather gentle with me. Other than earlier but in all fairness I was fighting him to get out of his grasp and naken, and who knows how people here would interpret that.)

“Thats’ an adorable image,” he practically sighs this into the air, his voice going soft. 

“It really is, when we’re born, we’re blind as well so our mothers and fathers have to lick our eyes open. It's cuter than it sounds, I helped deliver my mother’s fifth and last litter and it was really sweet. My father says he was the one to give me sight. I wish I could have kids…” I let that last bit out before I consider what I’m saying and before Lemal can say anything in response I change the subject, just a little. 

“So what do Shatoo babies look like?” I fake a smile and look up at him and it felt like he was blushing, hard to tell though.

“Well…” He starts, I suppose remembering his siblings' births, “they are also rather cute. I didn’t see my little sister being born as I was at a military camp at the time but when my brother was born I was very much present, almost wishing I wasn’t.”

We both laugh for a moment, “but my brother had small little legs, no real claws and a very short beak, very round. It gets longer as we get older but it stops while we’re still pretty young. I remember how it took me years to grow into mine all the way and I’m still not sure if it’s too big for me, haha.”

I laugh at that too before thinking, “Wait, why do you have to grow your beaks? Do you know why it’s so short at first?”

“Oh, so it doesn't scratch the mother on the inside, you know, while she’s pregnant.”

Excuse me what. “Wait, I thought Shatoo were hatched, like in eggs?”

His eyes widen and he caws to himself, “What? No! Not at all, our women get pregnant! Why did you think of eggs?”

I look him up and down, “maybe because you’re a bird? Aren't you?”

He shakes his head in disbelief “Not really, I think more canine actually. I mean-” He slides off of the bed and takes off his shirt, “Actually take a look at me, look past the feathers and wings and beak, actually look at my body.”

I do and sure enough everything suggests canine. Long thin limbs that can be used to walk on all fours, backwards knees, and hands that take the shape of elongated paws, and feathers covering his legs entirely until a furless set of paw like claws … That would also explain the teeth.

“Huh, I guess so.”

He smiles

“Okay but you can’t blame me for thinking that!” I shout, laughing to myself.

He too laughs hard, holding himself up by leaning on the bed, his head moving up and down. Eventually that up and down motion becomes shakes and he just says, "I'm gonna go change into some sleep clothes, I’ll let you change in here.” He reaches into his dresser and pulls out his night pants and heads to the toilet room to change. 

Once the door closes I head for my chest and pull out a loose knitted nightshirt, shorts and a book, the favorite one that I had talked about earlier. The Strange History  of our Nation's Most Beloved Monuments, Catacombs and Palaces.

I jump back onto the bed and change, throwing my day clothes on top of the chest, right then the door opens and Lemal comes walking out in just his night pants, he then quickly throws himself onto the bed onto one his giant hides.

His eyes are closed and he looks very comfortable.

“Hey,” I start, curiosity grabbing me. His eyes open and he looks up at me. “Did you hunt and skin that?” I point to the hide and he awkwardly looks down the whites of his eyes showing again, making me smile a little. 

“Why yes I did, this was one of my first actually, my father and I went hunting and he taught me how to skin animals. This particular beast was a Barcuma. They're actually almost the size of a Shatoo, which was very scary to little me. My father took me to kill one so that I wouldn’t be scared anymore. It nearly killed me. But I wasn’t scared anymore.”

“Hold on,” I start, “did he send you to kill it by yourself! Were you okay?”

He caws (which I guess is like his version of snorting), “Oh no. Very much not, it broke my arm actually, it put up a real fight. Wanna see the scar?”

I’m taken aback by this, is he actually looking back on this fondly? I give him a small nod and he lifts himself to his knees and shows me the scar, it takes a little bit of looking but in the middle of his bicep there is a jagged gray scar where his feathers just stop. Despite myself I reach for his arm and lightly trace the scar. It goes almost entirely around his arm. 

“That must have hurt so terribly.” 

“Oh trust me, it did. But it was the first scar I ever got, it’s a sign of strength against adversity and fear.” he pulls his arm up and admires the scar, proudly. “Every scar on my body is a sign of strength and that is incredibly important to me. Both the scar and what it represents. They all mean something different too, some type of adversity. You know?” I give him a very close once over then, and when I do this I see dozens of smaller scars. For example: one on his neck that looks almost like a stab wound; two under his left eye, they’re thin and short; a massive bite mark on his side, looking around him it goes almost all around his back and some small bits of skin are missing around each tooth mark; and dozens of scratches and bite marks all over both of his wings, making them spotting in places (and that's just their insides, their outsides must be much worse).

After a moment of silence from my part I whisper, “That’s terrifying Lemal.”

He laughs a little before saying, “oh don’t worry about it my Little Love. And again, I look at them in fondness. And more are to come. Besides, I'm not the only one with scars to show for.”

I crinkle my brow in confusion before he gestures to my thighs. I realize that he’s talking about my digging scars. Some are as fresh as from yesterday. 

“Oh, no, those aren’t really like yours.” When I look back at him he’s laying down, and is stretching his wings out over the bed. “Hey, leave some room for me!” I Laugh as he lifts his wings and after a moment I crawl under his wing and sit down on a pillow. He drops his wing and it rests over my legs. 

“Why aren't they the same, how did you get them?”

“Digging madness.”

He looks confused and especially sounds it when he asks, “Digging madness? I haven’t married a mad woman have I?”

“Ha you wish, but no. Digging madness usually happens with royals because we live in the palace, Compatu have the natural instinct to make burrows instead. So after a while you start experiencing ‘digging madness’ where you kinda get really obsessed with digging a burrow. Sometimes in the same place, sometimes not. It’s just a very intense need to dig. Doesn't really matter if it becomes a burrow or not.”

He’s quiet for a moment before asking, “is that what happened the other day? I know you said you were making a garden but…”

I panic for a moment, and I really try not to. IF I’m unlucky enough he'll be able to tell what it is before I even answer. So in my smoothest most non-lying voice I lie, “Oh, umm well both. Needed dirt for the garden and I got digging madness as a result of digging too much for too long. That’s another way to get it.” (It really is though. You know I find the best way to lie is to add truths to the lie, like how I did get digging madness, that I needed dirt for the garden. But not why. None of that was actually a lie thinking about it, I just didn’t tell him everything.)  He begins to nod but I just wanna change the subject, so I spit out, “What were you doing that day? What were you up to?”

His eyes widen in interest and he looks away from me, “well, my Celica I was busy in the trading town nearby getting fabric for your new dresses! You're gonna look just so cute in them, I’m designing them myself. Also,” he looks back at me, “Do dresses for Compatu have little holes for your tails?” 

I Sigh before reluctantly nodding (the last thing I want is more dresses, give me pants and I'm perfectly fine. Besides they’re so difficult to run in, especially when on all fours which I think I might have to do everyday for the rest of my life. I’m so glad I packed some other clothes.)

“Good,”  he says, a goofy smile on his face, “That’s just the most adorable image ever!” he looks over to me, “you’re gonna be adorable.”

I throw back a sarcastic, “Hooray.”

He clicks his tongue, “Naw, I know you don’t think you’re cute but you really are. I'll make sure that that is a very well known fact to you. Eventually.”

I sigh, “I am so grateful.”

We’re quiet for a moment. It’s kind of striking. Before now every single time we’ve gotten quiet with one another it’s always had this sense of awkwardness, or even hatred on my part. This feels different. Relaxed and comforting, if just this is the rest of my life I'm not too sure how opposed I am to the idea. Comfortably discussing our families, idly relaxing talking about our interests, it doesn't sound terrible.  If this is who he really is… It’s much better than the alternative to say the least. 

He’s smiling at me when he says, “what do you have there?”

I look down at my lap. “It’s that book I was talking about.”

He gets a slightly bored expression on his face, it’s playful though, “are you going to put me to sleep with your boring history lessons?”

I whack his beak with my book softly before saying, “I’ll show you, just let me read you one chapter, just one. You’ll be begging for more, I swear it.”

He gives me a look that says ‘I don’t believe you’ before actually saying, “sure. It’s a quick trip to sleep, so I don’t mind. Besides,” he stops for a moment before looking at me differently, very fondly, “I rather enjoy hearing your voice.”

We smile at each other for a moment before I open the book to page one. 

In the end I was right, we finished the whole thing, albeit very deep into the night.

[tyrannuspitch]

miraclesandmonsters replied to your post: this was meant to be under a cut but tumblr’s...

There’s also something rather disturbing about his paleness indicating his refusal to cross that line. Don’t think it was intentional, but it’s something that really should have been thought about, especially since vampires have been racialized throughout history

oh yeah. especially frustrating because baz’s paleness is something people expressed discomfort with in carry on, and she had a chance to /improve/ it here, but then... made it worse?

like... i don’t know. i’ve been trying to work out a way to make it better and it takes, like, ten caveats, and even then i’m not sure, but...?

vampire paleness =/= human paleness to anyone who knows what they’re looking at

(so baz as a mixed race vampire... might look *sicker* or *greyer* or more *washed out* than lamb but... not paler overall?)

vampire paleness cycling with hunger but within fixed parameters - they never look human, and they can only go so pale? (so a starving vampire doesn’t look too different /in skin tone/ from a reasonably-hungry-for-their-next-meal vampire?)

paleness as a loss or disconnection, as something to cope with / come to terms with rather than romanticise...

baz’s paleness specifically mirroring malcolm’s white hair as a sign of traumatic grief???

(--> further thought: the vampiric hairline is also malcolm’s. obviously malcolm isn’t a vampire and is in fact quite prejudiced [though not as much as natasha] but... hmmm)

maybe something with baz going ‘i look so much like my mother, Except.....’

maaaybe a discussion of race and identity and being ‘white passing’ but mixed race in a white household, but like personally i don’t think i could do justice to that and i REALLY don’t think rowell could, so i’ll leave suggestions there to ppl who know what they’re talking about

but BASICALLY it all comes down to is ‘get rid of the eating people thing. just get rid of it. stop it. STOP’ so.....

[its-not-a-phase-mom-i-d8-demons]

pairings: Lucifer x Fem!Reader, Mammon x Fem!Reader, Leviathan x Fem!Reader

warnings: tw abandonment (but it turns out okay, I promise), mentions of the act of birthing,

A/N: you came to the right place! as the second oldest of six children, I have some experience when it comes to pregnancy:) I hope you don't mind, nonny, but I'm gonna split this up into a few parts so I can do the dateables as well!

Lucifer

The moment you had shyly produced the positive pregnancy test from the pocket of your hoodie, it felt like Lucifer had entered into a fever dream filled with nursery designs, baby names, the expenses that pile up before the baby even arrives, researching human pregnancy, keeping you out of harm's way and healthy and happy...

So when you first stagger out of bed and rush to his bathroom, hand clamped over your mouth and one shaky hand on your slightly swollen tummy, Lucifer isn't surprised

He is very concerned, however. You had been so nervous to tell him of your pregnancy, you waited until the last moment before your bump was noticeable to tell him

That meant you had been suffering from all of these pregnancy side effects before he'd permanently moved you to sleep in his room

Lucifer hoists himself out of bed and pads into the bathroom, gathering up your hair, if any, into his fist and pulling your hunched form between his legs for support

You hate this feeling with a passion; throbbing stomach and a lump in your throat with little to no vertigo and tears rolling down your face as you try and catch your breath

You tell him it hurts, you ask him if he can take the pain away as your head rests on his chest, lashes fluttering with wooziness

Lightheadedness was unbearably common; you would suddenly grip his sleeve and he could watch the color drain from your face and your knees get shaky, body beginning to sway

He always catches you though, finding a place for you to sit or lie down and gather yourself

Tummy rubs become more common; the feeling of his hands against your bare tummy, spreading their warmth and nullifying the ache, allowing you to relax

He's extremely attentive as well and can tell whenever you need something

Water? Here's a cup sweetheart, remember, you're hydrating and eating for two people!

Craving something? Chocolate? Fried pickles? Chips of some kind? sweets? He's stockpiled anything you could want and locked it away just for you.

I feel like Lucifer would want your baby to be a little girl. A little princess he can carry on his shoulders and spoil with his love and gifts.

Satan ruined him for having another baby boy, but if that's how the cards fall, he certainly wouldn't mind. Unfortunately, he'd be constantly walking on eggshells, afraid he'll make your little boy into another rebellious child

That's the last thing he wants

Lucifer does his best to keep his kid away from Satan and Belphie and out of the 'Formerly Anti-Lucifer League', but sometimes you're taking a nap or out shopping with Asmodeus, and Satan and his brothers manage to coerce the little one into their shenanigans

One thing is for sure though, even if Lucifer didn't want any kids and the creation of one was unplanned, he would never ever turn you away

He's very responsible and does anything in his power to make the pregnancy as easy and happy as possible

On the day you are to give birth, he's a mess

He has already sweat through 3 shirts by the time the IV has been secured to your hand

Everything he says doesn't come without a stutter

He's squeezing your hand and kissing your hair during labor, trying to distract you from the burn between your legs as much as he can

You probably need extra stitches from baby's horns ngl

Definitely cries before the baby is even put in your arms

Refuses to let his brothers come and see you, "They can wait until we go home."

Lucifer is Smitten™

He smooches the tiredness under your eyes and tells you to get some rest

Surprisingly, he enjoys a lot of the names from the human world you discuss and will most likely pick one of those

But if it's a girl, her name is Lilith. I'm sorry MC, your input is invalid at this time

You don't regret 'final day in the devildom sex' at all when you get to witness the Avatar of Pride reduced to tears when the nurse puts the child in his arms

P-P-Pregnant? MC, ya better be jokin'...

Mammon

You weren't, judging by the pregnancy test(s) clutched in your fist

He's not mad at you, he's not upset, (in fact, he's the happiest he's ever been), he just scared

Broken Condom Victim™

He loved you just a bit too hard last week...

but let's be real here, HIS MC, carrying HIS baby?

That's like the highest level of ownership on his lovely human you could get! Levi, Asmo, Beel, Lucifer, everyone would be SOOOO JEALOUS!!!

AND

He gets to have a little one running around again!

You saw how sweet he was to babified Satan in the obey me anime premier! He LOVES little kids and nothing would make him happier than someone to play with (besides MC of course) that wouldn't make fun of him for messing up and being silly!

AND

You're so pretty!!

I mean, ya were always pretty, but somethin' about ya is different and yer even more beautiful than before somehow!

Mammon said, his entire face the shade of a pomegranate

Pregnancy glow is REAL

Asmo agrees, after stealing you away from an extremely overprotective mammon and hiding in the attic to chat without disturbance (mammon)

But as much as YOU know he would be the BEST father, comments from his brothers continue to drag him down and the evenings he cried into your shoulder became more and more frequent as your pregnancy progresses

Mammon, as we all know, is, in fact, a tiddy man

He likes to touch and squeeze them, and just gently hold them while cuddling or even browsing in a store, he'd just come up behind you and touch your boobs

(also, mammon likes all sizes, so if you have next to no tiddy like me, you'll be at his mercy as well. those with the large honkers, however, watch yourself)

Now that there's a miracle growing in your tummy, other parts of your body are preparing for its arrival, including your chest

Swelling, swelling, soreness, growing and darkening of the nipples, and swelling make it so Mammon can no longer touch your pretty tiddies :(((

(grammarly didn't like that word)

On the day mammon snack size was to be born, mammon is silent but extremely fidgety

It was early in the morning when you'd shaken him awake like, "mammoney, I'm going into labor" and he was out of bed and out the door with your luggage before you finished blinking

After grabbing your DDD's and you, he carries you down to the car (what dysfunctional family doesn't have a car? a nice one (Mercedes, Audi, you get the idea) for lucifer and a Volkswagon bus or something for his siblings to share) and drives quickly, but very carefully drives to the hospital, holding your hand the whole way.

He covers your eyes when they put the IV in, just in case you're squeamish, and rubs your arms as the drugs begin to take effect and there's a little fear in your eyes at the thought of pushing an entire human/demon being out of your coochie

He assures you and never lets go of your hand no matter how long you're in labor

When it's all over with and you are resting in your hospital bed waiting for the doctors to finish the Apgar tests and give you your baby

Mammon is speechless as the nurse places the baby in your arms

That's HIS KID!!

Immediately starts crying

The little horns poking out of the blanket? Those look just like his!!

Judging by the bit of hair on it's head, it looks like the baby will have hair like yours

If it's a baby boy, he thinks it should be named "Mammon II" but you just giggle and remind him of the deal he made with lucifer long ago, that his first born child, no matter the gender, had to have 'Lucifer' somewhere in their name

Human names are dumb, except for yours of course, so he searches for suitable demon names

The last thing he wants is a kid named Lucifer, so that will be the kid's middle name

He really regrets his past decisions now

Leviathan

"Levi?"

"Yeah, babe?"

"I'm pregnant."

*leviathan has been KO'd*

No joke, this man is literally floored and didn't wake up for a while and you were afraid you had just slain the fucking Lord of Shadows

Some Henry you were

You had to call Lucifer in to wake him up because he was still flat on the floor a half and hour later

Mammon is more that happy to tip a bucket of ice water on the face of the son of a bitch that impregnated HIS MC

Levi wakes up and pounces on you, gripping you tightly by the arms

"You're k-kidding r-right?"

Him? A father?

Uhhhhhhh

Unfortunately, Leviathan.exe has stopped working, try again in two thousand years

I hate to say this, but he definitely detaches himself for a while until his brothers, especially Asmodeus, literally beat him into shape

He comes back to you, a little bruised and sobbing, but not from the beating he just received

He's so sorry he neglected you! He's such a horrible demon, undeserving of your welcoming nature

He's gonna be the worst dad, and he's not good enough for you, and his kid will hate him just like everyone else does, he doesn't deserve you, he's so sorry for making you suffer the side effects and feel all alone,

Sir, I-

FALSE

It's your turn to shake some sense into him, reminding him that he would be the. best. dad!!

Not to mention the fact that you were just happy he realized his mistakes and came back to you

He begs you to sleep in his bed tub with him for security, and you have to admit his tail is very comforting

Levi does extensive research on human pregnancy and now at the dinner table, instead of talking about the latest slice of life anime he'd been watching, he's just spouting random pregnancy facts and you're laughing so hard it brings you to tears

When the weird dreams and vivid nightmares happen, Levi is right behind you, rubbing your swollen tummy, and letting you talk about them

A lot of them were about him and about your future child

Most of them were about how they got hurt in some way, either that or YOU got hurt and the baby died

These, more often than not, brought you to tears and stress you out, but Levi is right there, okay? Nothing can hurt you, nor would he let anything happen to you on his watch

Learns how to massage you (safely) to reduce stress

Definitely talks to the baby a lot

Levi begged you to be induced so the birth was safe and not a sudden occasion and you agree

On the day the doctor recommended, you arrived at the hospital and got down to business

Levi didn't really want to be in the room with you, but he knew he had to for your sake and he'd played a few birth simulators from both perspectives and you really needed him

Kinda sits there awkwardly comforting you and encouraging you, holding your hand and caressing your cheeks, a bit flushed from exertion and tears

Listen

If the baby is a boy, his name will be Henry and that's final

If it's a girl, he doesn't really care, as long as you don't name her 'mammonia' or something dumb like that

definitely crashes your hospital bed to snuggle until the baby is ready

cries when the baby wraps its extremely small digits around one of his own

also at the little horns protruding from its head

and the tuft of purple in its head

Also Smitten™

He's so excited to get home and show off his beautiful baby to his brothers and then formulate a plan to raise the kid to live and breathe TSL just like his daddy <3

--

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[farm-witches-fic-recs]

Hi witches, first I wanted to thank you for your work, I love reading everything you rec. There is so much content in this fandom that it's hard to keep up with it. I don't mean to sound rude but I do think you tend to only recommend fics by the same authors (which I understand! they are great authors and we all love them) but lesser known writers will never become more popular if blogs like this never recommend their fics. I'm not a writer, but I am an avid reader and I've read some amazing fics this year and I haven't seen any of them recommended on your blog, and you obviously have a lot of followers and get to a lot of people. You don't have to post this, just a thought. I hope this doesn't offend anyone, I don't mean to, I really appreciate your work.

Hi there! We’re not offended at all and we’re happy to address your concerns. There are a lot of factors in play here, so we’ll talk about them individually.

First and most simply, it kind of comes down to numbers and tags. An author who has written 50 or a 100 fics is going to appear on lists more often than someone who has posted 5-10. Especially in the smaller ships, with a limited number of authors, those will be repeated more regularly as well. But we are extremely pleased to report that we have rec’d over five hundred individual authors on our various lists so far.

When we get an ask, the majority of the fics we share come from tag searches. We enjoy creative and hilarious tags, but when we’re trying to find fics that meet those asks (which are sometimes very specific), if a fic doesn’t contain the exact tag we’re looking for, we likely won’t find it. Witches will sometimes also add fics to the list if we happen to remember one that also meets the ask.

Also along those lines, there are over 8,300 fics in this fandom and while we have collectively read most of them, we have not read all of them. And even if we could, we would never be able to recall every detail about all of them.  If we are completely unfamiliar with a fic (which is unusual, given the size of our group), we may choose not to include it.

We always welcome comments and reblogs on any and all posts with your additional suggestions and recommendations. We know we miss things sometimes and very much value your input as well.

One of the main reasons the farm witches began was because we did want to see more variety in the fandom fic recs. Our Friday lists (which was the only original intention for this blog, the ask lists came later) are solely opinion-based. We keep a long, long list of fics and fanworks we personally recommend that is regularly updated by the coven to make up the Friday Fic Rec lists. That’s why the fics on that list includes the comments about why we love that particular work. We include a mix of pairs and creators each week that is carefully curated to be a good variety. 

All of this being said, we will continue to use some discretion in what we recommend. If we list every single fic, there’s really no element of recommendation. At that point, we’re just a fic-finding service. We love answering the asks and being able to help readers get the kind of fics that they’re looking for.

If we could make some suggestions for writers who would like to see themselves represented more often: be thoughtful about your tags! Use them liberally. List all the major plot points (and physical activities) that you are comfortable with sharing at the get-go, because those are the kind of things people are after. 

We have noticed after nearly a year of farm-witching that there are definitely certain tropes (and sexual acts) readers tend to gravitate toward. If you are looking for writing ideas, check on some of the fic prompts we’ve posted where there is a lack of content on those sought-out topics. Put a new spin on a beloved trope that gets a lot of requests. 

The coven loves fics. We love supporting creators and we will keep doing exactly that for as long as we can. This blog doesn’t exist without followers, but it also can’t function without the witches doing the work. And it is work. We spend a lot of time on the searches and lists because we want to give you what you want. And we truly appreciate that you trust our opinions and what we can provide for you. 

[anonquack]

| 3am Calls |

Alex Quackity x Reader, Oneshot!

Word Count: 1700

Warnings: None! Just some fluff.

Summary: Unable to fall asleep, you reach out to a friend in order to help ease you into peaceful slumber.

The seconds are passing quickly, 1am turns to 2am, and it doesn't take long for 3am to hit. Stirring around in bed doesn't make the restlessness stop, the little sheeps jumping around your head fall and get back up, attempting once again to lure you to sleep, but it doesn't work. You find yourself staring up at your ceiling, hands resting on your stomach. There is a stinging in your eyes that lets you know you are indeed tired, yet when your eyes finally close, they can't seem to stay that way. These restless nights had been going on for a while, yet you didn't want to be a bother and reach out to any of your friends. Who knew if they were either sleeping or had better things to do. You wouldn't be finding out any time soon. But.. perhaps tonight it wouldn't hurt to reach out. You felt lonely just staring up at your ceiling, and your own thoughts were eating up at you, making the restlessness feel even worse.

You reach out for your phone, turning it on and immediately being blinded by the bright light. Once your eyes became accustomed to the light, you opened messages and took a glance at all the people you had sent some to. A certain someone definitely caught your eye, but you really weren't sure if he'd be up, considering some days he'd wake up super early. He was a busy man, and fitting into his schedule could be a bit difficult. After some thought and the skin of your bottom lip slowly being bitten off, there was a single message sent.

y/n

hi

It was too late to consider his possible sleeping state or the embarrassment that might overtake you in the morning when you get a text with something along the lines of "i was asleep. sorry". You run a hand down your face, deciding to accept your fate and that your luck ran out. Perhaps you'd go back to counting sheep.

alex ((:

hi

The notification casted a bright light on your face, but this time it was welcome. Your finger quickly clicked on it, taking you to the message app.

y/n

did i wake you up by any chance?

alex ((:

i was editing a video, dw

why are you up?

"i don't know." you said out loud as you read the message. "i really don't know.." a small frown appeared on your lips as you texted back:

y/n

can't sleep

alex ((: ahh, is that where i come in?

y/n perhaps.. if you don't mind ofc

alex ((: call me

The message caught you by surprise. Of course you had talked to him on the phone before, but never this late. Never without it being planned beforehand. Never this sudden. Not because you couldn't sleep. Millions of thoughts rushed through your head as you stared at the message. call me. How could one possibly say no to that?

You cleared your throat before pressing on his contact and clicking on the call button. Soon enough, the sound of ringing could be heard, and you held your breath. Of course, he would answer, but you couldn't help the nervous feeling of talking to him this late, and just.. randomly.

"hello?"

Your breath hitched slightly at the sudden halt of the ringing, and the smooth sound of his voice. It didn't sound like it usually did. His voice wasn't full of energy, like it is when he's screaming at his screen or joking around with friends. It was calm, and sounded like he was a bit tired. Who could blame him? He was up editing at 3 in the morning. And here you were, making him talk on the phone rather than encouraging he get some sleep.

"Hi.." you said as a small smile formed on your lips at the thought of how hardworking this man was. "How's the editing going?"

"Mm.. it's going pretty well. I'll probably upload it by tomorrow. I'm planning on just working on it for a bit more before heading to bed." He stated, to which you let out a small hum, "That's good. It's important that you get your rest."

Now it was his turn to let out a small hum of approval. "What's keeping you up?" He asked. You closed your eyes, letting his voice ring and echo inside your head, letting the calmness his voice carried take over you, making you feel calm as well. "To be honest, I don't know. Whenever I close my eyes I just can't seem to doze off."

"Well, do you wanna keep me company while I finish editing? We can talk about random stuff until I bore you enough for you to knock out."

His words made you let out a small chuckle, shaking your head before realizing he couldn't see you. "You could never bore me." You admitted, thinking about his previous words for a few seconds. "That sounds good, actually. If you don't mind.."

"I offered it, didn't I?"

You hum in response. "True.. its settled then."

He let out a small chuckle in response, and the sound alone made you smile. You took a moment to really think about what was happening. You'd keep each other company until either he finished or his soft voice lulled you to sleep, and you'd talk about random stuff. It was a sweet deal.

As you lay in bed, you could hear the clicking sounds his keyboard made when he typed or when he'd move his mouse around while editing the clips. During small moments of peaceful silence, you could hear his steady breathing or light humming.

You'd asked how his day was and listened as he talked about how busy he'd been lately, some of the stuff he had planned for the upcoming month, and how his hard work would let him relax for a few days.. soon. Just hearing how hard he was working and how genuinely excited he sounded about everything he talked about made a warm feeling appear on your chest.

You gave small comments here and there, asking if he could expand on certain projects that caught your attention, as well as asking how he was keeping up with school work. He gladly answered all your questions, but always made sure to ask, "What about you?"

You hadn't noticed that it was mostly him talking, besides your occasional comment. You were just happy to listen to him speak so passionately about everything he did, and to be completely honest, the calm tone in his voice was also making you feel sleepy.

But you'd never deny that it made you feel so.. included. Yes, this was a 1 on 1 call but he always managed to make you feel like your inputs mattered just as much as everyone else's. It was one of his qualities that you adored wholeheartedly.

It could be during a stream, a group call, or even group chat. He always made sure that everybody felt included. He was just that sweet.

So even if you were now half asleep, you always made sure to respond and also tell him how your day went and what you had been up to. It was nice just being able to talk about simple things like that with him so late.

"I think I'm gonna stop editing for tonight. Just have a few things left but fuck, my eyes are killing me." He finally stated after a questionable discussion.

"As you should. You work too hard.. give your eyes a well deserved rest." You said, slightly rubbing at your eyes. The faint sound of shuffling and a few clicks could be heard, presumably him turning off his PC and heading to his bed.

A few more shuffling sounds could be heard before he spoke again. "I know. Thank you, Y/N. You always remind me how important it is that I take care of myself." The smile was evident in his voice, and he sounded way closer than before.

"Of course.. that's what I'm here for."

"I'll remind you too. Don't worry."

"Thank you, Alex." Small pause. "Are you gonna head to bed now?" You looked at how long the call had been going for and realized it had been well over an hour, making your eyes widen slightly.

"I could. Orrrr I could keep talking to you."

"You could.. but you should also head to bed and-"

"I'm already in bed. Got my blankets covering me and everything. Tucked in."

"Did you tuck yourself in? I should do it for you next time." You joked, before realizing you might have overstepped some boundaries. You froze as the call remained silent for a bit.

"Maybe you should– But you're not really down."

Your body relaxed as you realized his response had the same joking tone as yours did, and that it was okay to joke around about this stuff. You let out a small scoff.

"I'm not down? I will gladly go tuck you in. Just send your location and I'll be there in 5 minutes."

His voice had gotten raspy, quieter, and even more soothing if even possible. Each of his responses seemed to calm you more and more with each passing second.

"Well I'm already tucked in so you missed out on that opportunity." He boldly stated.

"We could tuck each other in next time." You said with a smile on your lips, and that earned a small chuckle from him. "Maybe." He hummed in response.

You felt so elated at that moment. You'd had a wonderful conversation with Alex, and he'd managed to make you feel more relaxed. At that moment, you found your eyelids fluttering shut, and at last they didn't force themselves open again.

Alex had been trying to get comfy himself while you were falling asleep. When he realized the silence had gone on for too long, he listened closely for any sound coming from you, and was only met with steady breaths.

"Y/N..?" He asked, quietly this time. Nothing. He let out a small hum, a small smile on his lips at the realization that you had fallen asleep. "Goodnight, Y/N."

[3rachasaucy]

good little girl (pt. 2) || mark lee

Word Count: 2.4K

Type: angst, fluff, not really mature themes but maybe you'd disagree 🤷🏼‍♀️

Warning: cursing, mentions of alcohol & getting drunk, i can't think of anything else

Description: Mark is hopelessly hung up on you after you left him

A/N: this is pt 2! in order to understand, pls go read pt 1 (just scroll down a bit on my blog & it's one of the newest posts)! sorry this took so long 🥺 i genuinely wanted to post it so long ago, but it was midterm season & i was drowning 😅 but, i finally got around to finishing, so here it is! i hope you all enjoy & pls remember you are perfect the way you are 💕💕💕

♡♡♡♡

Mark sighed as you walked passed him on the sidewalk, talking with some girl he didn't know. He hated how you acted as if he wasn't there and even more how upset it made him. Why couldn't he just get over you? He had kissed plenty of girls and been over it the next day. What was so special about you?

"Hey, why don't we go to a party tonight?" Jeno suggested, noticing his friend's downcast expression. "Yeji's having dinner with her mom, so I'm free."

It had been a minute since Mark went to his last party. He had been so preoccupied with his thoughts of you. Maybe a party was what he needed; other girls to get his mind off you.

He certainly was getting over his upset feelings, which were being replaced by frustrated ones. "Let's do it. A party sounds really good right now," he finally said. He was ready to make bad decisions and regret them on a later date.

For now, he just wanted to stop thinking about you. It was obvious you didn't care. You kissing him that night must have been a mistake. He wished he felt the same way.

"And, you know, maybe Y/N does like you. Yeji said so herself that Y/N's always wanted a boyfriend that her parents adore, so maybe her fear is just that they won't like you."

Jeno was clearly just trying to make him feel better, but it wasn't working. So, what? Mark had to be a completely different person just to be with you? He wanted you to like him for him, not for someone his parents wanted him to be.

As they walked by the library, he glanced at his reflection in the windows. Was it his hair? The bleached blonde look may be off-putting. His clothes? They could be worse...nothing was wrong with leather pants here and there. He remembered the cigarettes in his pocket. That was a bad habit he had always wanted to quit but never had the motivation to do so. Maybe you could be his motivation.

He had a sharp tongue, too. Respect was always something he tried to work on. Personally, he felt that he should only give his respect to those worthy, but that wasn't South Korea's culture and he was expected to respect all his elders/superiors. His partying ways, well, those seemed to be dying out on their own due to you.

Was he really willing to change some of these aspects of himself for you? It seemed silly, but he was going crazy because of you, so might as well add more to that list...right?

♡♡♡♡

Jeno decided Mark had been at the party long enough. It was 11 PM and his friend was drunk and kissing yet another random girl. The party was a bad idea. Mark wanted you, so what was he doing? If you saw photos of the party and happened to see Mark kissing some girl in the background, it would be over.

Even if Jeno was just as unsure about your feelings for Mark, he still wanted to make sure the boy had a fighting chance.

"Why doesn't she want me?" Mark whined, his head slumping on Jeno's shoulder. "Am I that awful?"

It wasn't Jeno's first time seeing Mark drunk, but it was definitely his first time seeing an upset Mark drunk. He felt clingy and pouty...and childish. "You're not awful. Some people are just scared of love," Jeno reminded him, trying his best to keep Mark from slumping over completely. He needed to get some coffee into him. "I thought you were the same way."

Mark snorted. "Yeah, me too, but then stupid, good little girl Y/N came along and ruined me. Why does she have to be so perfect?"

Obviously, you were far from perfect, so it was amusing to hear Mark say you were despite everything. "You really like her a lot, huh?"

"It's like how you feel with Yeji. You know that feeling, right? Just thinking about them makes your chest tighten with happiness. That's how I feel about Y/N," Mark confessed quietly. "It's dumb, but she makes me feel like I'm not as bad as other people think I am. I like that feeling."

Jeno understood well. Before he was dating Yeji, he was in Mark's shoes, but Yeji helped him realize he had just acted that way to fit the image society had of him. He imagined it was the same for Mark.

A sigh left Mark's mouth followed by a loud groan before he whined out, "Where are we going? I'm tired!"

"Getting some coffee to sober you up and wake you up enough to get you home," Jeno told him as they arrived at the coffee shop. He glanced inside and found it was empty, which wasn't surprising. Then, you appeared. Crap. That wasn't good. "You stay here, okay? I'm gonna grab something really quickly. If you leave, I'm telling Y/N about all the girls you kissed."

Mark merely whined in protest before slumping against the wall. Jeno made sure he was able to stand on his own before rushing inside. "Welcome!" you greeted before turning around. "Oh, hey Jeno. You're alone?"

He felt nervous. "Why wouldn't I be? Yeji's with her mom."

"I know that, but I just thought you'd be having a guys night or something."

Right, that made sense. He needed to chill out. "Anyway, what can I get for you?" you asked just as Hyunjin, Yeji's cousin, left the storage room. "Oh, did you finally clean up your mess?"

He narrowed his eyes at you after greeting Jeno. "I wouldn't have spilled those coffee stirrers if you hadn't scared me," he reminded you, poking your side in a playful manner.

You were flirting with him. That wasn't good. Jeno checked to make sure Mark hadn't seen you. Luckily, the coast seemed clear. Jeno turned and you were staring at him. Did he look suspicious?

"Jeno...your order?" you questioned.

Ah, right. Duh! "Um, whatever has a lot of caffeine in it," he finally said and you nodded. "Something sweet, I guess."

Turning, you went to prepare his order. "What do we do, Y/N?" Hyunjin questioned. You turned and looked at him, confusion and concern evident on your face. "What do we do when he asks for something sweet and the sweetest thing here is you?"

Jeno wanted to hit him, but he didn't since he was Yeji's cousin. "Shut up!" you giggled, elbowing him.

"Oh, wow, isn't that cute," Mark said from the doorway, making Jeno jump. Shit. "Honestly, fuck you, Y/N."

What was he doing? "Dude, shut the hell up," Jeno hissed, trying to get Mark to leave, but the older boy refused. "Seriously, don't do this now."

Mark, unfortunately, was drunk and stubborn. "Here I've been suffering because you left me after we kissed but you've been flirting with Yeji's cousin. Don't you have a fucking heart or a little bit of decency? If you don't like me then fucking tell me instead of acting like I don't exist!"

You and Hyunjin were both stunned. Hyunjin felt uncomfortable and a bit apologetic. "There's nothing between me and Y/N," he tried to tell Mark.

"I don't care what you say. You expect me to believe you're just friends with her after I just watched you flirt?" Mark asked. "Can't say I blame you...she's perfect."

Jeno saw Mark's vulnerable state as an opportunity to get him to leave. "Okay, let's go," he sighed. Luckily, Mark complied. "Sorry about this, Y/N. He's not in the right state of mind."

The two left, leaving you still stunned and holding a coffee cup.

Yeji and Jeno went over to Mark's apartment the next day to confront him about everything. It wasn't meant to be intense, they just thought they should talk to him. When they got there, however, he was gone. According to the building's security guard, he had left after Jeno did. That worried them.

They called you to see if you knew anything. "No, I haven't seen him since last night. Why? Did something happen?" you asked before they explained. "That's not good. I'll go check the other apartment and keep you guys posted."

So, you left to see if he was there. You were really hoping he hadn't done something dumb and gotten himself into trouble.

When you got there, you could hear muffled voices. One of them had to be Mark. The other, however, was a mystery? Was it a girl? Mark said they didn't bring just anyone there to keep it private. You hated how worried you were at the thought of it being another girl.

Even so, you input the passcode before entering. "I fucked up!" Mark cried out, storming down the hall as you entered.

A tall guy was standing in the living room. "Oh, hello," he greeted. He looked you up and down before smiling. "You must be Y/N."

You nodded, still confused. He walked over and held his hand out. "I'm Johnny, Mark's friend. I've heard a lot about you," Johnny informed you as you shook hands. "I'm glad I finally get to meet you."

"Is Mark okay?" you asked, still confused.

He laughed. "Definitely not. Let's just say he did something he's regretting pretty instantaneously." You nodded. "Mark! Your girlfriend is here!"

You blushed at that. "Fuck!" Mark cried out from the bathroom.

Johnny turned back to you, still smiling. "Well, Y/N, it was a pleasure to meet you and I hope I can meet you again to better get to know you," he said. "For now, I'll leave you to handle the boy. Have a good day."

"B-bye, it was nice meeting you," you managed out as he left. The bathroom door opened again and Mark left with his hood on, the drawstrings pulled so you could barely see his face. "Mark, what did you do?"

"N-nothing! Don't worry about it," he told you nervously. "Why are you even here?"

Right, you needed to text Jeno and Yeji. "Jeno and Yeji went over to your place but found out you left in the middle of the night, so they were worried."

He nodded. "Okay, well, I'm alive, so you can just text them and be on your way."

Your eyebrows furrowed. "What the hell did you do, Mark?" you asked, stepping closer to him. "You didn't get a face tattoo, did you?"

"No!" he cried out, backing into his room to avoid you. "Just leave me alone!"

Of course, you just had to know what he was hiding. You could see he was about to trip over his mattress, so you used that to your advantage. The moment he fell backwards on the mattress, you tackled him.

He squirmed beneath you as you reached for his hood, ignoring his protests. Your eyes widened once the hood was down. "Mark! Your hair!" you gasped. Your fingers went to his now black locks. "What did you do?"

Clearly, he dyed and cut his hair, but why? "I did it for you. I thought you wouldn't be so embarrassed to introduce me to your parents if I looked more presentable. Now I look like an idiot who changed for some girl that doesn't even like him."

"Mark, I liked your hair and I don't want you to change who you are. I do like you, Mark."

His eyebrows furrowed. "You do? But...you left me," he reminded you.

You nodded. "Because I was scared. I mean, my boyfriend getting along with my parents is important to me and I also want a boyfriend who only loves me, but I wasn't sure you could do that," you confessed. "But that's different now."

Sitting up, he held onto you to keep you on his lap. "What do you mean?"

"Yeji told her mom about us and, it just so happens, our moms are friends. Her mom told my mom everything and my mom called me this morning to tell me to stop being stupid and date you." You laughed at his surprised reaction. "I guess I was so scared that I didn't think to talk to my mom. She told me that she thinks you sound like a sweet boy. She said any boy who treats me like a queen is good in her book and that I need to stop stressing and do what makes me happy."

Mark's heart was pounding faster than ever as he asked, "What does this mean?"

You smiled, running a hand through his freshly dyed hair. "It means that, if you'll accept me and forgive me for being a bitch, I wanna be your girlfriend," you confessed, making him smile wider than he had in a while.

"I'd love nothing more," he told you softly before connecting your lips. He had missed your touch and taste and wanted nothing more than to just melt in it. He briefly broke the kiss. "And don't use that language, okay? You're supposed to be my good little girl."

Giggling, you nodded before saying, "And only your good little girl."

"Shit, things are getting real PG-13 in here," Jeno said from the doorway, making you and Mark jump. "Damn, I really didn't expect this."

Yeji squealed happily. "This is great! Think of all the double dates and our joint wedding!" she exclaimed, making you laugh. Her eyes suddenly widened. "Mark! Your hair!"

His hand instinctively went to the black locks. "It was an impulsive dye job. I thought if I dyed my hair, her parents might like me and we could date," he confessed.

"That's so sweet! You dyed your hair just for our little Y/N? He's a keeper, babe."

You smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I guess he is," you said, making him smile.

Jeno was so glad things worked out, especially after the night before. "Come on, we came to take you to breakfast, but I guess it can be our first brunch double date," he said, making Yeji clap happily.

They led the way and you followed but were stopped when Mark tugged at your wrist, pulling you into him. "One more for the road," he mumbled before kissing you again.

You smiled into the kiss and he decided it was one of his new favorite feelings ever. One thing was for sure, you were his good little girl and he was your not-so-bad little boy.

[savoryscribbles]

𝚃𝚑𝚎 (𝙵𝚞𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎) 𝙷𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗

A/n: third times the charm? I’ve had to redo this multiple times, first time I put it in the wrong like font thing, and second I forgot to tag it!!! Ugh, stupid me. I really enjoyed writing this, I hope you enjoy reading it! Big thanks so @pigletxpoohbear and @someone-but-still-noone for proof reading, both of y’all were a huge help!

𝙼𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝙼𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝

𝙼𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝙼𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝙼𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝

𝙷𝚃𝙳𝙷 𝙼𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝

Info about this piece and the series can be found at the link above(third one down) ;) Enjoy!

⊱ ❀ ✿ ꕥ ✿ ❀ ⊰

I stand up as I hear the door open and close. Walking through the hallway I see Jumin before he can see me.

“Darling? I'm home.” He called out to me, just as I entered the living room. His eyes lit up as he saw me.

“Hello honey, welcome home.” I said as I walked into his open arms and wrapped my hands around his middle. He kissed my head as I buried it into his chest. He chortled, holding me tighter.

“I missed you.” I mumbled into his chest. He pulled back and looked into my eyes.

“I miss you every second I'm not with you.” He responded, kissing me on my lips. It was a short and sweet peck. He reluctantly pulls away from me and takes off his suit jacket.

“What did you have for dinner my love?” He asked looking at me while walking to the phone to call the chef.

“I- I didn't eat, I wanted to wait for you to get home.” I responded to his question.

“You shouldn't wait for me, okay? Eat when you’re hungry not when I do. I suppose you're hungry though. What would you like to eat my dear?” He asked before calling the chef.

“How about pasta?” I asked, following him into the dinning room.

“Pasta it is then.” He responds, causing me to roll my eyes. He never said no to me, he didn't even input his opinions when I was making a decision.

As Jumin calls for the chef, I think back to our conversation last night.

‘I would like to go property shopping soon.’ he said, breaking the silence.

‘Property shopping? For what?’ I asked, confused as to what he meant.

‘For our future house.’ He stated matter-of-factly.

‘Oh. Okay, when were you planning on going?’ I curiously responded, quite excited. Jumin had mentioned the prospect of owning a house a couple weeks ago, and while this information shocked me, I was extremely happy. Designing my own house was a dream of mine.

‘I was thinking of the day after tomorrow, I’m planning to take that day off so I will likely be home later than normal tomorrow because of that.” He explained, causing me to pout. I didn't want him home late, he works late normally, I had no idea how late “later than normal” would be.

‘I know love, it’s less than ideal, but you’re always saying I should be more respectful of Jaehee, so I thought this would help.’ he said, noticing my pout taking my hands in his, kissing them.

‘It’s fine, I understand, Jumin,’ I reassured him. Yes I love him to death, and I know he loves me with the same fiery passion, but he has to work. Work, so he can spend more time with me.

“Love?” Jumin asked, bringing my attention to him.

“Yes?” I responded a little startled.

“The chef will be here in 30 minutes.” He stated, walking up to me. Before I had time to respond he leaned down and grabbed my face with both his hands.

“Oh to know what thoughts go on in that mind of yours.” He whispered to me before kissing my forehead.

“Hmm. I was actually thinking about what you’d said yesterday. About property shopping tomorrow. Are we still doing that? Have you contacted someone?” I voiced my concerns to him.

“We are still going, or else I wouldn’t be late. And yes, I have contacted a real estate agent. They said they had multiple properties to look at, we’ll probably be gone most of the day.” He answered, walking to the door after hearing someone knock on it.

Jumin opened the door, finding the chef waiting with our dishes. He stepped aside to allow the chef in, while I had a seat at the table, which had been cleaned and freshly set.

“Thank you, chef Yoon, for preparing a meal so late, you always treat us so wonderfully.” I said to the chef as he set the dishes on the table and pulled the lids off.

“You’re welcome Mrs. Han, enjoy the meal.” He smiled before seeing himself out. As he left, my attention returned to Jumin. My husband sat across the table looking at me with what some would describe as ‘heart eyes.’

“Yes dear?” I questioned, making him come out of his stupor.

“You are always so polite to everyone, it reminds me of how lucky I am to call you my wife.” He said calmly before grabbing his cutlery.

There were small conversations while we ate, but nothing major. And soon it was time for bed.

As I finished changing, I felt Jumin take me into his arms. I cried out in shock.

“What are you doing?” I asked, clutching to him.

“Carrying my wife.” He stated unfazed. I laughed as he walked us to our bed. He set me down onto the sheets before walking to his side of the bed. Jumin turned the bedside lamp off, causing the room to go dark. Before I fell asleep I felt him wrap his arms around me.

I woke up, seeing my husband's face loom over mine.

“It’s time to get up dear.” He said kissing me all over my face.

I laughed, rising from the bed, and walked into the closet. After choosing a business casual outfit, that's also comfortable to walk around in a lot, I entered the bathroom, getting ready for today.

Jumin and I walked hand in hand out of the penthouse, towards the car that was already waiting for us. As we entered the car Jumin told Driver Kim the directions to, what I can assume is, the first property.

As the car pulled up to the vacant lot, I saw a man waiting near the driveway. Jumin took my hand, leading me gently out of the car and towards the man.

“Hello Mr. and Mrs. Han. I am Mr. Kae and I will be guiding you through these properties today.” Mr. Kae exclaimed when we were in earshot.

“This first property is almost half an acre, coming in at 25,000 square feet with woods surrounding the area. There is a lot of privacy, with no neighbors for a couple miles.” The agent said. I grimaced at the last part. Neighbors were something I definitely wanted, people I could talk to.

“The property does not come with a front gate, however one can be installed if you wish. This is also the cheapest out of all of the properties we will be looking at today.” Mr. Kae continued. I looked to Jumin, finding him already staring at me. We both shared a look of displeasure.

“I think that will be all for this property, me and my wife would like to discuss some things privately, so excuse us for a moment.” Jumin announced to the agent before walking us back to the car.

“I didn’t like there not being any neighbors, what if we need help? What if something bad happens and no one can get here in time?” I said to him, he nodded, agreeing with me.

“I don’t like that as well. I would prefer to live in a gated neighborhood. I’ve also looked at the location of each property, this one is the farthest away from my work.” Jumin added. We both agreed that this one was definitely going to be at the bottom of our list.

Jumin walked back to the real estate agent, and seemingly discussed our disinterest in this property. The conversation didn’t last long, because soon Jumin was walking back towards the car and me.

“Come on love, he gave me the directions to the next property.” He informed me, opening my door. As I buckled in my seat belt I heard Jumin get in on the other side, and tell the directions to Driver Kim.

“Forgive me, dear, I am so sorry, I forgot to ask you what you would like for our place to have.” Jumin confessed.

“It’s fine, I really only want a place with neighbors and beautiful scenery.” I responded. I didn’t want a lot, I really just wanted to design the house. He nodded, taking what I said into consideration.

The second property was similar to the first. However, this time there was an extra half acre and less woods. There were also a couple neighbors, we passed by them on our way there. Jumin and I both agreed that this was not the property we wanted.

It was nearing the end of the day, we had looked at several properties, none of them really feeling right. I was starting to give up hope by the time we reached our last property. Jumin had mentioned that this one was the closest to his work, which was a large plus.

“This is the last property of the day. As you saw this is a gated neighborhood, and the community here is great. This is the largest property you’ve looked at today, at a total of 2 acres. It looks over the city. It is situated a little further away from the rest of the neighborhood, as it’s the highest property.-” Mr. Kae kept on rambling, but I wasn't listening. I stared at the beauty before me. It was sunset, and the property seemed to face exactly east, which also meant that the back faced directly west.

The sunset was heavenly, and in that moment, I knew, this was the property I wanted. So I looked over to Jumin with a bright smile on my face. My husband doesn't smile much, but he couldn't stop himself as he saw mine.

“This is it Jumin. This is the one I want.” I said to him, still staring at the cultivating colors in the sky. I couldn't see it, but he nodded as well.

“This is the property we would like.” Jumin interrupted the agent, who was still rambling.

“Oh? Oh! Okay, this property is quite popular so there are already a few offers on it.” Mr.Kae responded.

At that point I stopped listening, knowing Jumin would handle everything financial.

“Come on love, let's go home.” Jumin said, leading me back to the car.

Once we got back into the car I saw Jumin on his phone. I was curious as to what he was doing, because he wasn't normally on his phone during car rides.

“Why are you on your phone?” I therefore asked, causing Jumin to look up at me. He looked away, thinking for a bit.

“I’m just making notes of people I need to call, like a home designer, and a construction company, there’s a lot I need to do.” He responded, listing some of the things that needed to get done.

“Can I help?” I asked excitedly. My dream might become a reality, and I couldn't help but express my enthusiasm.

“Of course, we will be approving the designs before they’re put into action.” He responded, a little confused as to what I meant.

“No! I mean, can I design the house side by side with the home designers?” I explained, still looking at him with hopeful eyes.

“I can’t think of a reason why you shouldn't be able to.” Jumin said, still looking a little confused.

“Yay!!!” I exclaimed, if we weren’t in the car I’d run up and hug him right now. He laughed at my enthusiasm.

At home we sat down on the balcony for our nightly wine drinking. Usually we’d talk about our week, but all I could focus on was the house. As I looked out into the night sky, all I thought about was how I couldn’t wait to see it from the amazing view of the, soon to be ours, property.

[redphienix]

making a reminder post at 4 am before I sleep a bit.

want to decide the next game for the blog to play through.

downloaded a handful of games from my backlog to choose between (hardly all available, but it's the handful I decided to pick between).

Can't decide now, decide later, input welcome but not needed.

Death Stranding

full playthrough, could be interesting, seems really 'chill vibe as you play' kinda game, doesn't sound like it'll be a 10/10 game that hypes me up or gives me a ton to say, but who knows.

Gundam Versus

Definitely NOT a full playthrough, probably just play through the trials and make some clips or gifs for fun, this is a multiplayer vs game and I don't have PSPlus anymore so we can all do the math, but hey it's that arcade fun I enjoyed from Fed vs Zeon but HD as fuck and with more fanservice to gundam series I know nothing about.

Downside: They sanction out a ton of gundam as DLC and while I don't know many gundam I DO know the BURNING FINGER! mother fucker- and he's DLC which I don't have- so I'll have a lot of fun but I also won't get to play as BURNING FINGER!

Since it's not a full playthrough this will be a short distraction for like a few days to a week and then I'll be back to picking the next game lol

Persona 5 Royal

I haven't played Persona yet. People dig that series, right? It's like, good, and I think it tackles big topics sometimes- with mixed results if that one video I watched around P5's release was anything to go off of but hey. Sounds interesting, and if memory serves that video was more in line with "This was a misstep or mishandling, but an effort was made and the other topics fair better" or something like that.

I'm dwelling on that instead of the game- I hear game is good- Wonder how long playing through P5 would be lol.

Crystal Chronicles

I would love to playthrough this whole thing but: No Plus, This Port Isn't Great (I think they patched some of the bull but it's a pretty cheap port)

As such: Curious how boring it'd be to try and beat solo. Might be fun in its own way.

Yakuza 6

Am I emotionally ready for Kiryu's death?

Never!

Is it about time I finally face it?

PERHAPS!

Judgment

Instead of Y6 I could tackle the dragon engine spinoff instead- I mean I heard good things!

River City Girls

I think this would be a really great time!

I'd have fucking NOTHING to say the entire playthrough but I could try and figure out something???

Hell maybe liveblogging wouldn't work but who knows, either way it could be a nice game to make gifs of and post boss fight vids, I dunno.

Looks fun!

Unravel TWO

I loved Unravel a lot and I've owned 2 since release or just about. I really should give it a run :)

Wonder if it's coop only, if so I can't right now but that's okay.

Pyre

Eeeeeeeh, I downloaded it to playthrough, and it's a game I have infinite respect and interest in- but also I just don't find the gameplay entirely enjoyable. It's on the better end for what a sports game can be to interest me- but for a whole playthrough?

I dunno man, maybe? There is a LOT to like here. Maybe.

OH! And it'd DEFINITELY be a game that gives me a ton to talk about! Those are the games I best enjoy liveblogging.

Phoenix Wright Trilogy

I'm like 1 case in- not so sure about liveblogging this one but I might sit down and play through it for myself because it seems really fun.

Ni no Kuni Remaster

I haven't touched this one for more than like a minute at release (of the OG version). It's one of those games people say is really good- I bet I'd like it.

Unrelated to PS4 downloads but options none the less:

FFTA2

I was an upset little bitch about playing through FFTA and the truth is I feel the same as I did then, but with like 80% less vitriol.

I still think FFTA is a huge misstep- they gave us FFT, one of the best tactical RPGs of all time with a mature and interesting story, and they kid-ified it with a kid story that holds no 'even applicable to an adult player!' angles and simplified combat and a REALLY stupid 'items teach skills' system like what Front Mission does but without the interesting robot stuff or interesting story of FM.

Basically I think it's a mediocre game geared towards kids, and that's Fine, but it's the ONLY followup to FFT we ever got- that's insulting.

Anyways I heard FFTA2 was better, and even if it's not I do think I'm better prepared to enjoy what it has to offer than I was for FFTA where all my years of spite tainted that playthrough.

Again, I still feel the same, just less bitter, lol.

Daggerfall Unity

I.... can feel my lifeforce draining just implying I play this next.

I just finished doing Morrowind, but it looks fun man... but it's also me practically begging for another 300 hour playthrough, like, man.

But maybe... lol

Pokemon Reborn

Heard this was a good and cool pokemon hack. That's about all I got- I have it downloaded (though I should check to see if I have the latest version) and it could be a good time.

Morrowind Expansions

I'm not ready for these, too soon after beating the main game, but later!

Dragon Ball Z - Attack of the Saiyans (DS RPG)

When I first heard about this game I thought it sounded like a top tier DBZ game- it's supposed to be a full turn based party based RPG of the series- like FF but DBZ, and sometimes it's just really entertaining to play something so simple in concept.

DQ4 (DS version)

This is one of those "Which do I play next in the series" moments, and 4 makes the most sense, obviously.

I've done 1-3, so ignoring the later ones I've played, 4 makes the most sense. I should double check which version is considered the best or at least the pros and cons first, kinda like how I sought out the SNES version of 3 or the GBC version of 1-2, but I think the DS one sounds like a good fit.

DQ9 (DS)

Not yet, later. I wanna go in order a bit more. But important to remember I COULD play this.

DQH Rocket Slime

I heard the DQ spinoffs were fun, like the mystery dungeon deal, or this one which I think is also a mystery dungeon deal I don't remember. Either way! I wanna say I heard this was really fun and I wouldn't mind finding out what this is.

DQM:J2

I don't really want to play this next since I just beat Joker, but I won't lie- I can't lie here.

I played a few minutes of this after beating Joker- and here's the deal, Joker had me tired by the end because it kinda just felt like a middling game.

The few minutes of this I played though? Revitalizing. Exciting. Interesting.

So while I don't want to play it so soon after Joker 1, I gotta admit, I don't think I'd hate playing it so soon lol.

DQ5 (ds version)

See DQ9<

DQ6 (DS version)

See DQ9<

Ghost Trick

I read that this was an interesting DS game, and I remember seeing something about this on like G4 or something back in the day.

Could be interesting to showcase.

Mario & Luigi Bowser's Inside Story

After I beat Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga it was recommended that I try some of the sequels and hey- I loved superstar, so good to weigh this option.

Mario & Luigi Partners in time

See previous.

Nine hours nine persons nine doors

I don't remember what this is, might be because I'm tired as I type this- I think it's an escape room game but that might be entirely wrong.

For some reason whenever I think of this game I think of danganronpa or whatever the fuck that game is and that's probably entirely wrong to compare- I vaguely remember this being renown at release as a cool game- so there's that.

Pokemon Soul Silver (maybe nuzlocke?)

Despite 2nd gen being tied for my favorite gen, I've never played the remake. So just casually replaying 2nd gen could be chill :) Nuzlocke optional but eh because I did nuzlocke 2nd gen before and it wasn't half as interesting as nuzlocking first gen was.

[wataponwrites]

Hi again~ I'd also like to request a "Ship-me-with" if that's okay with you?

I'm a straight girl & I'd prefer a male matchup from YGO (DM)!

Personality: Polite, appreciative, and understanding, yet passive, stubborn, and short-tempered (but I forgive just as easily). I generally don't speak unless spoken to and I'm sort of a loner? I'm just really shy, awkward and prefer my time alone heh :') But I'm still friendly and good-willing towards others tho! I can actually be silly and playful around family. They're very important to me! I can be hard on myself b/c I feel it's needed to improve.

Extra info: I love to draw and especially sing! (I want to be a voice teacher one day!) I also love taking pictures of the sunset & sea because they're so pretty~ Comedies and crime shows are my faves. ISFP & ♏! My style is cute & simple, though sweatpants and sweaters are often a go-to!

So sorry this was long! Definitely take as much time as you need to! Thank you very much in advance!! Looking forward to seeing more of your content~ (*´罒`*)♡

thanks so much for the request! apologies on the wait!! 🙏🏻 this...came out a bit longer than expected 😳

🍓 I Ship You With Yugi Muto! 🍓

Let’s get started! I feel like you guys met through school! It wasn’t love at first sight but, Yugi definitely had a small crush on you. But he didn’t know how to tell you, let alone barely knew you aside from being acquaintances! You guys didn’t really share the same friends either, which didn’t help the situation. But everyday he would try talking to you and getting to know you! Starting with just simple passing phrases and eventually small talk, he was determined to get to know you better! After interacting more and becoming better acquaintances, he asked you to join group of pals, and they welcomed you with open arms! It didn’t take long for them to warm up to you and treated you like you had been part of the group since the beginning! ✨

After becoming closer friends and getting to know you better, he fell in love with you that much more. He could immediately relate to your shy + awkwardness. When you two were first getting to know each other, your conversations probably went something like this -

“Um, hi.”

“Hi.”

“How are you today?”

“I’m good, how are you?”

“I’m good as well.”

“...”

“...”

“Did you finish the homework for today?”

“I did, did you?”

“I did, somehow.”

“Haha, that’s good.”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah...”

It was...a work in progress from you two both being a bit shy and awkward but, you both understood and managed! For him, it was good to know someone could understand how hard it was to communicate on the spot like that! I feel like you two hanging out would be a comfortable silence of you both just doing your own things. He completely respects and understands your need for alone time! If you’re ever in a public area and you just need some time, he will do everything in his power to make sure you are able to get what you need! He has a deep respect, as he also just needs that time to himself and will let you have as much as needed!

After getting to know you more, he decided it was finally time to confess to you, and got advice from his pals. He already had a clear idea of how he wanted to confess but, some outside input was never a bad idea! This all was a bit puzzling to him (yes i am a master at humor), but he felt confident as long as he stayed true to himself! So, here’s how he confessed:

He invited you to the local park that weekend - He had known you liked photography and told you that it had some gorgeous sceneries that maybe you’d be interested in, so he wanted to take you there! Though aside from photos, there was also many other things to do! You guys played DM, worked on your decks together, walked through the park, got some snacks at the local vendor, and some other little relaxing activities. The day was coming to an end though, but Yugi didn’t want to leave quite yet.

“Wait, before we go, there’s something I want to show you, if that’s alright!”

In a little secluded area in the park, if you go there at juuuusstt the right time of the day, you can perfectly see the sunset over the horizon.

“Um, I know you mentioned you liked taking photos of sunsets, so I thought you might like this..!”

After this, he’d tell you he wanted to let you know something and confess his feelings to you honestly and wholeheartedly. He also brought a bouquet for you! Where he had the bouquet this whole time? Who knows. But he had it then, ready to give it you! He was extremely nervous about your response (though he’d never let it show), and would understand and respect your decision to say no, but after hearing you say yes, he was so happy he could cry! He didn’t, but, asked if he could give you a hug. 🥺🥺 Later that night when he got home, he got a ‘Good job Aibou!’ and a thumbs up of approval from Yami Yugi. And maybe even a bit of teasing from him (LOL).

Now, onto your relationship! Dates with Yugi are always so sweet. 🥺 Small cafés, window shopping around the local mall, hanging out at the park, quiet evening strolls, hanging out at the game store, he loves little quiet dates where you can spend quality time together! Even if it’s just you two at home watching your favorite shows together - he loves it. Of course though, he’s down to do whatever you want to do for dates! He’ll always ask you what you want to do first before he gives an idea. He’d also totally take you on little dates to go photograph the things you like!

He’s so happy when you trust him enough to be playful and act silly around him! Just knowing you’ve warmed up to each other enough for you to be comfortable with him makes him so joyous! You two making small jokes and giggling together whenever you remember them 🥺💗

Also - wearing your sweatshirts. One day you let him borrow one because it was cold out that day but - he loved it so much! He always gets so excited to borrow your sweatshirts, they remind him of you and it feels like he’s carrying a little piece of you with him wherever he goes. If you ever decided to give him one he’d cherish it so much!!

Whenever you’re hard on yourself, Yugi’s always there to make sure you don’t go too hard on yourself. He’s always ready to be there to help you and make sure you take care of yourself! He has a problem of being a bit too hard on himself as well, so he wants to make sure you’re taking it easy and will be there to encourage you and has your back! Since he does the same thing though, you two will have to look out for and encourage each other that they got this! 💪🏻

Whenever you draw something for Yugi, he makes sure to handle it with the utmost care. He’ll go home and frame it to make sure it doesn’t get harmed and just keeps them all - whenever you draw for him he’s over the moon! He could also just listen to your singing all day. I feel like Yugi can definitely sing (his japanese VA used to be a singer in a band, little fun fact!) but he’d rather not, he’d much rather listen to you! And if you wanted to coach him, he’d be more than happy! You two doing a little duet together 🥺🥺

Over all, a very wholesome relationship with a very loving guy! 💗 I hope you enjoyed this, and thanks so much for considering my blog!! Have a lovely day!! 🌸🌸

[cancerbiophd]

hi, so, I'm finishing my second yr undergrad and I finally decided that I want to be a biochem major, and I rly want to go to grad school immediately after? im just rly overwhelmed and I dont know how to narrow down a list of schools where I want to apply. I figured you'd probably have the best advice & maybe personal experience to talk about? thank you so much for all the info you bestow us with regularly 🥺💓

Hey there! I’m so glad you’ve decided on a major and the trajectory of your career! And I’m also glad you reached out, because I agree the whole process of applying to grad school can be super overwhelming. 

Narrowing down a list of grad schools to apply for is definitely going to take lots of time and effort. 

But what/who can help:

Your university program/career advisor/counselor may already have some sort of battle-plan from the thousands of previous students who went through the same thing, or at least could offer lots of advice and resources. 

If you’re volunteering in a lab or plan to, the PI and lab members would also be a great source of information, especially other grad students. Even if they’re not studying the same program you’re planning on applying to, they still could have lots of wisdom to offer, even if it’s just observing what a day in their life is like. 

Related, your TAs are grad students themselves and can offer advice too. 

And other grad students you meet like myself! You’re welcome to join the Gradblr Support Group Discord--we have many prospective grads like yourself and have a chatroom dedicated to answering questions like this. 

GradCafe is an online forum regarding grad admissions and info about schools. I personally didn’t use it (because I didn’t know it existed), but I’ve heard it can be helpful. 

Now, for that list of schools: 

First things first, in order to narrow down a list, one must make a list. I recommend using Excel or Google Sheets to start one, and just type all the schools with grad programs you’re interested in in the first column. If you don’t know where to find such a list, an internet search of “universities with _____ phd programs” is a good place to start. You can modify that search term depending on your criteria (like the country you want to study in, or if you want to do a Masters, or MD/PhD, etc). (And if you’re considering between Masters vs PhD, I made a post here talking about the pros and cons. Keep in mind it’s US-centric and STEM-centric though; some countries and some fields (even in the US) require Masters before PhD). 

And while you’re making that giant masterlist, you can decide whether to include or exclude universities off the bat, such as geographical location, type of university (large vs small liberal arts), etc. 

Once you’ve started your list of schools, you can input criteria in the columns that you want to compare between each school/program. Some ideas include:

Application requirements: such as minimum GPA, recommended undergrad degrees, required standardized tests and minimum scores (some schools are getting rid of requiring the GRE, some want the general GRE AND subject tests; some require language proficiency tests if you’re applying to another country), application costs, etc

Geographical location and everything that comes with it, like weather, an area’s culture, proximity to family, etc

Yearly stipend if applicable, and if you can find it

Cost of living, which is related to the stipend, because some stipends may seem really high, but there may be a really high cost of living)\

Tuition costs if you’re applying for a Masters program, which doesn’t usually include stipends

Grad student funding: for example, my PhD program has whole page on their website dedicated to our internal program funding options

University and program ranking (if that’s important to you)

# of research labs in the program (more labs = more potential choices for your dissertation topic)

Types of research in the program (especially if you’re really interested in something specific)

University resources that are important to you (think about the resources you use the most in undergrad, or wish you had access to)

Notable alumni

Potential career options (like if you want to go into biotech after graduating, maybe being in a biotech-heavy city could be an advantage)

And more as you learn more about these schools and programs through your own research or with talking to other people (like program alumni)

Once you’ve chosen your categories and filled them in for your list of schools, you can start narrowing your list by comparing the criteria that are important to you, with the goal of thinning it down to the amount of schools you’re comfortable and able to apply to. 

A few other notes:

There’s no magic number for the # of schools to apply to, but keep in mind that each program’s application is separate (there’s no general “Common App”), and application costs can be upwards of a few hundred dollars each. There may also be “hidden” fees, like the costs for undergrad transcripts and standardized test scores to be sent to each school, the costs for taking those standardized tests, etc. (So it would be a good idea to have a budget sheet as well to keep track of all these fees)

I would advise to have a few “safety” schools so you can basically guarantee an acceptance. More on that here, along with other advice about grad school applications. 

I also have a Masterpost of Grad Apps here (though the GRE portion may be outdated, as some schools have removed that as a requirement).

As for my personal experience, I did all that (talking to other grad students and my PI at the time, making a list and narrowing it down, making sure I had safety schools, etc). Geographical location of the schools was an important first-pass criterion for me. I’m from California and Arizona, and my family was living in AZ at the time, so I only applied to schools in those states and Colorado. I was equally interested in Immunology, Microbiology, and Cancer Biology, so I applied to all those programs in I think 6 schools (sometimes more than one application per school). Because I couldn’t decide between those fields, I also applied to umbrella biology PhD programs, which gives you the opportunity to decide which home program to choose following acceptance and lab rotations (more info of the one I eventually went to at University of Arizona here if you want to learn more). 

I know that was a long post, but I hope it helped! Best of luck, and if you have any other questions, you know where to find me. My chat is also always open too. 

[hoardofhyperfixations]

In Place of a Liar

Warnings: Angst, no happy ending, Roman pulls a sword on Virgil

Pairings: Platonic Anxceit?? Kinda?

Genre: Angst

Summary: Virgil walks a mile in Deceit's shoes.

Virgil was confused, terrified, and hurt. He thought--no, he knew the others had accepted him, that they valued him, that they were friends. Hell, they were family!

So what happened?

He’d woken up at 7 in the morning, like always, put on his makeup, gotten dressed. The same things he did every morning. He went downstairs to get breakfast...only for the kitchen to fall silent. Patton frowned, falling quiet but glaring at him. He swore he’d seen that look before, though definitely not directed at him like it was now. Logan merely stopped talking and avoided looking at him, but Roman…

Roman drew his sword, pointing it at Virgil and insisting he get his “fiendish freak face out of here!”

Roman had never pulled his sword on him, not even when they hated each other. Patton had never given him that look, that disgusted and hateful look, not even when he messed up. Logan usually defended him, not act like nothing was happening.

Virgil swallowed dryly, the taste of morning still in his mouth, and fled quickly to his room. Only, his room was no longer situated between Logan and Patton’s doors. He knew instinctively to keep walking and knew, somehow, that his room was by the cold, cold Subconscious that he hated oh so much.

God, it was frigid in his room. Speaking of which, instead of a warm, queen sized bed with purple covers, there was a dark purple blanket on the floor with a very thin black one to cover up with and a worn, nearly flat pillow. All the items in here--which weren’t much--were raggedy.

This sucked.

•

Virgil had tried to leave his room one more time before realizing that the light si--no, he was one of them, he wouldn't use that term. He had only tried to leave once more before he'd realized that the others would kick him out of anywhere they saw him.

It hurt, of course it did. This time, Patton had joined in the insults.

“You're the bad guy, Anxiety. I'm going to have to ask you to take all of…” He gestured to Virgil's entire body, “that nastiness, and leave.”

“Yes, Padre is right!” Roman agreed, reaching for his sword. Virgil tensed on reflex--not his, he'd never had a reflex for something like that--and got ready to sink out.

“But I was just trying to-” He started to protest, thinking that maybe it was all a big misunderstanding.

“Get out, you sleep deprived raccoon!”

Yeah, after that, Virgil had snuck around.

•

Virgil didn't wait to be summoned for the video. He never did, just popping up as soon as his input was needed. Immediately, there were groans and sounds of various levels of disgust and irritation.

“What is he doing here?”

“Oh, this guy…”

“Ugh…”

“Salutations, Anxiety.” Virgil dignified only Logan's greeting with a response.

“Hey, Logan. Hey, Thomas.” He waved slightly, ignoring how his stomach twisted at Thomas’ wary and untrusting look. His own host didn't even like him?

“What do you want, you fiend?”

“Well, I'm just here to help Thom-”

“We all know anxiety is terrible for Thomas.” Patton said, smile now forced and fake as he stared Virgil down. Virgil shrunk in on himself.

“Yeah, Thomas, don't listen to him. He's probably plotting something to trick us!” Roman announced. Virgil felt Thoma's fears spike up a little and raised his hands to move them around as he reassured them. The sudden movement wasn't smart.

Roman's katana was at his throat in an instant, and he could barely swallow against the cold, sharp metal.

“Roman-”

“Shut up and leave, you creepy, raccoon-faced freak!”

Virgil glanced around, his gaze met with untrusting looks and glares. Seeing no one would listen to him, he slowly sunk out, eyes cast down as he appeared in his cold, cold room.

•

Dinner time came and he, correctly, assumed he wouldn't be welcome, so he ignored the growl of his stomach in favor of planning to steal snacks or leftovers.

Later that night, only when he was absolutely certain the others were asleep, Virgil snuck downstairs, doing his best to avoid creaky floorboards. He found a granola bar no one seemed to want on the table and snatched it up.

Virgil pried the fridge open as quietly as he could, digging through it in search of leftovers.

“What do you think you're doing?” Someone hissed behind him. Virgil winced and turned, expecting it to be Roman. His heart wrenched and his stomach twisted into a knot when he saw Patton looming over him with an uncharacteristic scowl and a hateful look in his eyes.

“I- uh, I was just getting something to ea-”

“Listen here, Anxiety. I understand that you have to be here, since Thomas knows about you, but you stay away from me and away from my family. Got it?” Patton growled. Virgil bit back a whimper, clutching the granola bar tightly and nodding quickly. “Good. Now get out of my kitchen.” He snapped.

Virgil sunk out so quickly he felt dizzy when he got to his room. Not to mention sick to his empty stomach…

Not only had Patton--Patton, his fatherly figure--basically threatened him, but there was something sickeningly familiar about it.

They-- they treated him like a monster! They didn't even listen to him! They wouldn't even let him eat!

Virgil suddenly froze and stiffened. He knew why Patton's glare was familiar and why he'd seen all this before.

“Deceit.”

“Took you long enough.” Deceit's smooth voice said from the shadows.

“What did you do?”

“This is a dream, don't worry. I bribed Remy, is all.” Deceit waved a hand dismissively. “How did it feel living my life? What's the saying...don't judge someone until you've walked a mile in their shoes?”

“...” Virgil frowned. “Well- it's different. You actually act like a villain and pretended to be Patton!”

“Because none of you would listen otherwise!” Deceit shot back, then forced himself to calm down. “It’s not fun being a true villain, is it? At least before, you had Morality on your side. I have no one, not even you anymore.” He hissed, crossing his arms. Virgil hugged himself, rubbing his arms to try and warm himself up while avoiding eye contact guiltily.

It was so, so cold here, and Virgil knew snakes were cold blooded.

He swallowed.

“...when am I gonna wake up?”

“A minute or so. I’ll be waiting for when you and the others come knocking to berate me for bothering you.” Deceit said coldly, then faded into nothingness.

Virgil frowned, sitting on his ‘bed’. Did Deceit’s room really look like this? Well, the colors were probably different, but…

Virgil swallowed again, feeling his stomach twist and lurch, both in hunger and because he was upset. He and the others had things to talk about when he woke up.

General Taglist: @superkat500 @all-hail-red-leader @demonvirgil @llamaavocado @angels-ofthe-sea @anyay666 @detroit-become-pan @kaioanxiety @definitely-a-plant @shesavampirequeen

@sidespromptblog

[dsudis]

Hey dira, longtime fan of your writing here. I was wondering if you had any tips on your workflow that you'd be willing to share? In particular things like how you plan out and plot your longer fics, and how you juggle multiple projects at once, or stay inspired to keep writing when you've hit a block? For someone so prolific I'm sure you must have a lot of awesome advice for people getting started with writing their own fics!

Thanks! It’s very kind of you to imagine that I have some wisdom to pass on here. I don’t know that I can say anything that’s directly helpful, mainly because everyone has their own process suited to their own style and circumstances, and also because–other than being semi-organized about writing original stuff when I was doing that, uh, at a detectable volume, which I haven’t been this year–I’ve never really cultivated anything that feels, from the inside, like a System for writing.

I do keep track of e.g. how many words I write per day per story, because I am a nerd and tracking that makes me feel accomplished or in control of the process somehow; if that kind of tracking stresses you out, don’t do it. If it’s fun and pleasing and you get a little hit of dopamine when you look at your lovingly color-coded grids, go for it. 

There isn’t really a way to make any of this stuff easy, I don’t think. (I mean, but what do I know, I don’t even use Scrivener. I’m told it’s great?) 

If writing long fic doesn’t come naturally to you, maybe you want to write short fic, and that’s what works for you. If you want to write long fic but you find yourself floundering in the middle or struggling with structure, welcome to writing long fic: it kind of sucks sometimes. I do a lot of talking out stories with anyone who will hold still long enough–my zero draft/first outline is usually a chat transcript. But for some people they don’t want input or an audience until much later in the process, so if that’s you then jot down all your own thoughts privately.

(Do write stuff down, though. No matter how obvious the thought seems, you will not remember it later.)

If juggling multiple projects makes you feel more stressed out or confused, maybe you want to work on one thing at a time. If writing one thing at a time makes you feel like you’re missing out on a hundred other opportunities, or you’re spending all your time daydreaming about other stuff instead of writing the thing actually in progress, maybe you want to juggle. When I feel like I want to be ~fair~ to all my WIPs I use a random number generator or random list-orderer to decide what to work on during any given writing time. When I feel like I have one thing at the forefront of my mind, I back-burner the rest until I run out of steam on that one. Some people have like, schedules and systems and stuff, apparently, idek.

As for staying motivated… man, 2019 has been a bit of a WIP graveyard for me. 

I gave up on a lot of stories this year, and my writing ground nearly to a halt–by my personal standards, and those vary from person to person too–from about May to September, for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it’s like that. Some stories are just not worth the misery to keep going on, and the best thing to do is set it aside for a while or forever. Sometimes if you’re blocked it means you’re going the wrong way and you need to back up and try taking the story on a different path. 

But if you’re determined to finish something and you’re confident that you’re on the right track with it, then you… keep showing up. Keep going. One sentence at a time–one sentence a day, if you have to, and I have definitely had stretches of time with some of my long fics where that was all I could manage to do. Sometimes one sentence a day was more than I could handle. But if you keep at it long enough sooner or later you do reach the end, and if you do that enough times, sooner or later people on the internet will imagine you know what the fuck you’re doing. :)

[splitscreen]

You think it's reasonable and not over the top to tower over a teenager who you have age/height/strength/general societal advantage over? And who didn't understand what she'd done wrong? I'm sorry but you're objectively wrong here. Nick could've said what he needed to say from across the room. None of the men on this show are worth shit, even Saint Nick, who didn't care a bit about the handmaid's suffering until he met one he fancied.

alright, so first of all, i don’t know what you were hoping to accomplish by coming to me anonymously and sarcastically calling nick “Saint Nick” and saying all men on this show are shit. obviously, i’m not gonna agree with you. i’ve made it abundantly clear where i stand on nick and all the other men on this show (and in case i haven’t, here it is in black and white - the only man worth anything on this show is nick), and coming at me without even the decency to put a name on your inflammatory remark makes me want to disregard this entirely. but i’m not going to, because i’m not wrong here.

to say she didn’t understand what she did wrong is incorrect. she’s 15 years old. gilead has been around for… what? five years, at max? they aren’t very good at establishing cut and dry timelines, but the point i’m trying to make here is she would have learned to read before gilead took over. so there’s no way she didn’t at least read the letters that were on the ends of that bundle. even if she didn’t know what it was, she had to have known nick shouldn’t have it. why else would she have pulled it out? if she had seen it and known it was nothing, she’d have just left it where it was. but she pulled it out and left it where nick could see it. she wanted him to see it, to know that she had seen it. she absolutely knew what she did was… well, maybe not wrong, but she knew she had stumbled across something controversial, something that would make waves with nick. something that he knows (and we, the viewers) is insanely dangerous for him to have. 

so, yes, i do think his reaction was reasonable and not over the top. he didn’t tower over her. he got close to her, yes, but he never got in her face, he maintained distance. he never touched her, he never raised his voice. his reaction was perfectly reasonable given the situation. what she found could very well cause them ALL (including eden) to be killed, especially in the wake of that attack. he needed to stress to her that what she did was dangerous without outright telling her what he had or what she had found. so he had to get firm with her. and honestly, i think the way she reacted to HIM made it seem more severe than it actually was. however, i think her reaction was what it was because she was shocked he was showing any sort of emotion towards her. up until that point, he had been pretty consistently indifferent towards her, or lukewarm, at best. he’s not mean, he just doesn’t have any interest. so if suddenly he’s showing any emotion, she’s going to be shocked and surprised and overreact to it. if he had spoken to june like that (which, i’d argue, he has, when they had their little spat in the boston globe), she’d have just fought back with him. but because eden isn’t used to him showing any kind of emotion towards her, of course it was overwhelming so she reacted to it the way she did.

ALSO i think it’s entirely unfair to say he didn’t care about the handmaids suffering until he met one he liked. he cried as they were taking away the handmaid who hung herself before june. so like… yeah he caught feelings for june and maybe that’s what drastically changed his perspective. but maybe the reason he caught feelings for june is because he felt awful about the previous handmaid feeling so hopeless that she wanted to kill herself, that he decided when the new one came he would be just a little nicer, talk to her a little more, try to make things a little less awful in whatever little ways he could. and then he wound up really liking her. i’ve never said nick is perfect. as a matter of fact, i don’t think he is. i think he does his best to be a good and respectful person at all times to people who deserve it. he might not always do it the right way, but i truly, truly believe he tries, and that’s what’s most important to me about his character.

finally, the last thing i want to say is, i’m all for everyone having their own opinions on the characters and relationships on this show. i definitely don’t always agree with what other people think  (i know there are people out there who actually like fred and just… yikes) and that’s fine! but what i DON’T do when i run into someone who has an opinion different than mine is anonymously run to their blog and tell them they’re wrong in their interpretation and that the character they like is shit. that just makes you come off looking like the bad person here. so… if you want to think nick towered over her and intimidated her and is a piece of shit that’s fine. but you need to do it in your own space. or go drop it in the inbox of someone who you know is gonna agree with you. but this is a nick friendly space, so this type of message really isn’t welcome here. but thanks for your input anyway. 

[dailyaudiobible]

04/12/2021 DAB Transcript

Joshua 5:1-7:15, Luke 15:1-32, Psalms 81:1-16, Proverbs 13:1

Today is the 12th day of April welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I'm Brian it is wonderful to be here with you today as we move into this week and get settled and get to work. We’re also getting settled and taking the next step forward in the Scriptures in this adventure that we are on together for a year all the way through the Bible all the way through a year all the way through life together. So, we…we’re getting ourselves moved into the book of Joshua. A couple days ago we began the book of Joshua, which was definitely and is definitely a transition. We crossed the Jordan River in our reading yesterday and it…in our reading anyway, it was the first time we’ve been there in 400 years, more than 400 years, but this time we’ve crossed the Jordan River with the children of Israel with the intention of settling the land, the promised land. And, so, let's dive in. We’re reading from the New English Translation this week. Joshua chapter 5 verse 1 through 7 verse 15.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in the gospel of Luke today we have a very, very famous passage, a famous story or a parable told by Jesus about the lost son who returned. And we know the story, we just read the story, so I don’t have to re-tell the story. And there are so many ways of looking at this story. It's a beautiful story that has been examined from a bunch of angles. I just want to kind of zoom in to the last part of the story because it seems as if one of the main points of the story is that…is that it's all already yours. That is essentially what gets said to the older son who is a little confused and a little ticked off that his…his brother comes home and all the sudden there’s this grand celebration, when this brother, all he did was take half of the assets and go squander them and wild living. And then he comes home, and he has the audacity to come home. And then dad is so excited that he's killing the fattened…like they're throwing a huge party. So, he’s a little bit exasperated and there's this confrontation with the father where he's like, “look I've served…I’ve served you…I’ve served you faithfully. I’ve done what you told me to do. I've obeyed your commands and you never did anything like this for me.” And the father's response, I mean quoting Jesus, the father says to the disgruntled son, “son, you are always with me and everything that belongs to me is yours. It was appropriate to celebrate and be glad for your brother. He was dead and is alive. He was lost and is found.” In other words, the father is saying, “son, it's all already yours.” And in the case of the story the son that had gone off and wild…and lived wild and squandered his resources, he's back alive but he already spent his resources. He's back with his father but everything in the estate belongs to his father and will be passed to the first son because the second son already took his reward and squandered it. So, the father's like, “I'm just glad to have my son back. Everything else is already yours.” The way that this becomes a mirror for us in our own lives is when we put ourselves in that same position. “I've been serving you faithfully. I have obeyed your commands. I have been faithful and loyal to you. And yet I look around and see blessing descending on people who don't deserve it. And you never did anything like that for me.” And you see how we can get into that posture very easily. I bet that even as I'm describing this, we can think of situations that are currently in our lives or have been in our lives we’re we’ve felt that way. And, so, it might help us when we find ourselves in this kind of tired out weary worn-out situations where you feel like, “I'm…I'm trying to be faithful, and I just don't see any breakthrough. I don't see any forward progress.” It would help us to remember what the father in the story says. “You are with me all the time and everything that belongs to me is yours. It's all already yours. Let's celebrate that one who was dead to us is the live.

Prayer:

Father, this definitely touches us in all kinds of places, places where we’re selfish and self-absorbed, places where we want to put ourselves in the in the seat of the judge where we can make the kinds of judgments that are only Yours to make. All kinds of things come from these kinds of postures. And yet if we would realize there's really nothing to get, it's all already hours that we’re not really trying to compete with each other to get more of You, that all of You has been poured out to all of us and You love us all, then we can enter into the rejoicing as well when one who is dead has been restored to us alive and when we remember that we are inheriting a kingdom. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the mighty name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaaudiobible.com, that is home base, that is where you find…well…that is home base on the Internet. And, so, be familiar with that. Check it out.

There are resources that are available in the Daily Audio Bible Shop there, fun things, things to take that journey deeper, things to write on, things to write with, coffee and tea. Just over the years we've just developed resources for the journey through the Bible in a year. And, so, check those out at the Daily Audio Bible Shop.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well. There’s a link on the homepage. If you're using the Daily Audio Bible app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner, or the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement…well....you can hit the Hotline button that's in the app, it’s the little red button up at the top, hard to miss it, very plain, very easy to see. No matter where you are in the world, as long as you have Internet, you can hit the Hotline button and share from there, or there are a number of telephone numbers depending on where you are in the world. If you are in the Americas 877-942-4253 is number to call. If you're in the UK or Europe 44-20-3608-8078 is the number to call. And if you are in Australia or the lands down under 61-3-8820-5459 is the number to dial.

And that's it for today except to remind you of what is true every day, I love you, I’m grateful for you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

This message is to Carlos. We hear your prayer, we hear your needs, and we're all praying for you Sir. We're praying for your family, for your wife, your children, your grandchildren, and you as well. Just know that you're not alone during this time. This is Steve from Albertville AL and I just wanted to have maybe a word of encouragement that through prayer you can get through this situation. God bless you. I pray for you my friend in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Good morning DAB family it's the 8th of April I'm calling in today, this is Laura from Heather Hill Florida. I’m praying for Carlos who called in today. He's been listening to the DAB for 10 years. Carlos I’m praying for you and your family, all of you that have covid. I just know it's been a few days now since you called in and you're into this a few days and I just pray heavenly father that You would completely heal Carlos, his wife, his daughter, his grandsons. I pray You heal this family completely of this covid. I pray Father that they would recover quickly and that Father that they would not spread it to anyone else in their…in their vicinity. Lord I pray for complete healing, that they would not have any serious issues, that it would pass quickly and Lord that this virus would be eradicated soon in our world. Father, please bless this family. Protect them. Protect them from harm in Jesus’ name.

Keota from New Zealand DAB family this is my first time calling in. My name is Kate. I wanted to express my gratitude for all that I've learned and all that I’ve absorbed since the 1st of January this year when I started listening. It's really affected me deeply, the whole context of the word and understanding it. I feel like I’ve really encouraged and grown in my faith, my understanding and my relationship with God, my relationship with others. I'm seeing things in a whole new light. I was surprised by given a short notice of eviction from my rental. I live in an area where there's…it's a holiday area so there's not many rentals and everything and real estate is in high demand. So, the opportunity of getting a new place to live is very low if non-existent. Impossible would be more accurate. I decided when I got that notice I was completely relaxed and almost bemused about, “OK God. Where are we going with this? Where are you going to lead me?” The old me would have been panicking. After listening to Brian today 7th of April talking about “seek first the Kingdom” I realized that I have not been worrying, I've been relaxing and letting Him do it. And He's done it. He's provided the impossible, not only a rental but cheaper than the one I was in before and I am…had so many people just come and help. I am amazed. I am very grateful. I'm astounded. I’m humbled. So, thank you for all your input. I hope this encourages someone, that our God is a provider. God, He loves us so much. He's in every detail. Thank you.

My family is feeling a little bad because my uncle just passed away. Please Mr. Brian pray for...

Hello Daily Audio Bible family I'm reaching out. I need prayer from my beloved daughter. Her husband has been battling depression and…and mental illness of some sort and she tried fervently to get him help to get him committed and get him…and he was always able to say the right answers to not be able to be admitted to the metal place. And finally, he took things in his own hand and committed suicide on March 26th. And, so, now there's no chance of reconciliation at all, obviously, in this world. And my daughter she now wants to join him. And I thought that she meant like where he did the deed. No, she literally wants to end her life now too. They've been together 14 years. Anyway, I just appreciate if you could just uplift my daughter Robin, please. And she does know the Lord, but she is in such pain and suffering right now. I want everyone to know who even thinks of committing a suicide, do not. Do not. The pain and the horrific wave that results from it is just…if you only know how unbearable it is. Hopefully anybody who is tempted will not do it because it's just the horrific counter of the aftermath of suicide is so painful. I mean I…I grieve for people who die of natural causes or, you know, accidents or…or worse but when someone…

[transgenderteensurvivalguide]

I'm a trans demiboy and want to take T, but I'm part of a OSDD system and the host is genderqueer and is not sure if ze wants to take T. I don't know what to do because everything is so confusing.

Ren says:

Although none of my alters are interested in medical transition, I know that this is a really common issue for a lot of systems, so y’all are definitely not alone in this. Balancing everyone’s interests is always difficult, and the possibility of medical transition makes that even more complicated.

I think the best thing you can do is (metaphorically) sit down with zir and talk about the pros and cons. Here are some questions I would bring up:

What are my own “transition goals”? What is the ideal body for me?

What are the “transition goals” of my alter(s)? What would their ideal body look like?

What about each of our ideal bodies clashes?

What about each of our ideal bodies works together?

What do I personally want to get out of testosterone?

Is there anything about testosterone that I don’t want?

Is there anything about testosterone that other alters would like, or be okay with?

Is there anything about testosterone that other alters don’t want?

Out of those things, is it possible for alters to handle that discomfort in other ways? (For instance, would those unwanted effects of T be tolerable if they had input in the way you dress when you cofront, if you ever do?)

It’s also worth considering who fronts the most, who tends to feel the most dysphoria (as in, who experiences the most distress), and who feels the most connected to the body. Usually, we say that you’re the only one who can determine your transition, but in a system, the body doesn’t just belong to you, and we have to be careful to respect others’ needs about the body. If the host fronts much more often than you do, or if they’re likely to experience a great deal of distress if you transition, it might not be a good idea to transition, unless they’re definitely ready to do so.

I know it may hurt or feel unfair to have to compromise like this, but when it comes to intrasystem issues like this, we’re always dealing with relationships, and relationships always require a lot of compromise and communication. All of your alters (if you have more than just your host) need to be informed and have input in this decision, because it affects everyone.

Because I don’t know your system very well, I’m afraid I wasn’t able to be too specific. If you’d like to talk more in-detail about your situation, you’re welcome to message me at my main (you can find it on our meet the admins page).

[dukereviewsmovies]

Duke Reviews: Chopping Mall

Hi, I'm Andrew Leduc And Welcome To Duke Reviews Where We Continue Our Annual Monsterween...

With A Really Bad Slasher Film, I Call Chopping Mall...

I Was Originally Thinking About Talking About Killer Clowns From Outer Space But Since The Happy Death Day Movies Were A Mix Of Slasher/Sci-fi And Comedy I Decided To Not Do It This Year And Instead Make Up For The Lack Of Gore And Blood In Those Films With This Film...

Now, Let Me Ask You Something, With A Name Like Chopping Mall What Would You Expect?

Oh, And Don't Bother Writing Your Answer In The Comments Because I Already Know Everyone's Answer, You Expect A Guy Who Looks Like Jason Voorhees Going Around A Mall, Butchering Unsuspecting Teens...

But No, The Person Who Made This Movie Thought...

(Person 1) "Ha! Who'd Want To See That? No, Instead Let's Do Killer Robots Who Gain Sentience During A Thunderstorm And Decide To Kill Teens Inside Of A Mall During A Late Night Party"

(Person 2) "Late Night Party/Orgy"

(Person 1) "Well, It's The 80's And You Can't Have A Slasher Movie Without Sex, So Why Not"...

But Is This Film As Horrible As I'm Making It Sound? Let's Find Out As We Watch Chopping Mall...

The Film Starts With A Film On The Secure-Tronics Protector 101 Robots Which Is The New Security System At The Plaza Park Mall To Which Their Creator, Dr. Sam Simon Is On Hand To Answer Questions Concerning The Robots...

(Start At 2:00, End At 4:35)

We Get A Title Card As We See The Goings On At The Mall...

Yes, That's Nice, Oh, Look They Got A Scoops Ahoy!...

(Start At 1:44, End At 1:52)

During The Credits We Also Discover That Roger Corman's Wife, Julie Corman Produced The Film...

Oh, I Guess That Explains Why There Are So Many Roger Corman Movie Poster Along The Background Of The Next Scene...

And It's In This Scene We Start Meeting Our Fodder For The Killer Robots Starting With Alison And Suzie (Played By Scream Queen Barbara Crampton) Who Work At A Barbeque Joint But As Suzie Puts It Tonight They're Going To Have Good Times To The Max...

However, Alison Doesn't Want To Show Because She Doesn't Know Anybody Despite Suzie Telling Her That After Tonight She Will, This Probably Leads To The Worst Piece Of Acting In This Film...

Wow, Was It Too Much For You To Put Emotion In That Line, Sir? Did They Not Pay You Enough To Say That Line The Right Way? Or Did You Just Think Eh, No One's Going To See This Movie, So, I'll Just Half-Ass It So, I Can Get A Paycheck...

Meanwhile, While A Storm Is Going On, Lightning Hits The Control Center Causing Alarms To Go Off As The Robots Gain Sentience, Killing The One Man In The Control Room...

But As That Happens We Meet 3 More People On The Robot Killing Fodder List, Named Ferdy (Not Fergie) Mike And Greg Who Are Using Ferdy's Uncle's Store For The Party Tonight With Beers On Hand And Suzie Setting Ferdy Up With Alison...

Meanwhile On The Other Side Of Town 2 More People On The List, Rick And Linda Have Engine Trouble Which Linda Manages To Fix, Most People Believe Them To Be Married But Me, I Don't Think So Because They Mention About Using Their Wedding Money To Fix Their Automotive Business So, That To Me Tells Me They're Not Married But They're Trying To Do So, But I Don't Know If Anyone Has A Definitive Answer For This Write Me In The Comments...

Meeting Our Last Victim In This Movie Leslie At A Clothing Store, She Runs Into Her Boyfriend Mike Who's There To See Her Despite Her Father Being There As They Tell Him That They're Going To A Birthday Party For Suzie Tonight Which I Don't Think He Believes But He Buys The Story Enough So They Can Continue Making Out...

With Alison's Dad Giving Her Permission To Go To The Party, Suzie Is Ecstatic As They Head On Over To Ferdy's Uncle's Store While Another Control Room Attendant Gets Killed By The Robots...

With The Party Underway, Everyone (Except Ferdy And Alison Who Are Introduced To Each Other By Rick And Suzie) Drinks Beers, Dances And Makes Out...

With The Protector Robots Going On Duty, The Teens (Except For Ferdy And Alison Who Are Watching A Roger Corman Movie) Do One Of The Things You're Not Supposed To Do In A Horror Movie...Pork...

(Start At 1:01, End At 1:07)

Meanwhile, A Janitor, Portrayed By Joe Dante Regular, Dick Miller Mops The Floor Only To Get Electrocuted By One Of The Robots...

(End At 1:15)

At Least It's A Better Kill Than How You Died In The Terminator...

His Character Was Also Named After A Character He Played In A Corman Movie Entitled A Bucket Of Blood So, I Guess They Were Honoring Him...

Out Of Cigarettes, Leslie Sends Mike To Get Some But Not Before Offering Him Some Incentive To Hurry Back...

Eventually Finding A Vending Machine, Mike Is Confronted By One Of The Robots Who Asks Him For His Identification But As Mike Shows It To Him, Giving A The Day The Earth Stood Still/Army Of Darkness Reference...

(Start At 0:57, End At 1:03)

It Tranquilizes Mike Only To Kill Him Off Screen (Don't Worry We See The Body Shortly) Wondering Where Mike Is, Leslie Gets A Shirt And Underwear On To Go Look For Him, But Eventually Finding Mike, Who's Throat Was Slit by The Robot...

Confronted By One Of The Robots, Leslie Gets Chased By It As It's Lasers Fire At Her Eventually It Hits Her In The Back And On Her Butt Before Taking The Killshot By Blowing Her Damn Head Off...

With Everyone Watching Leslie Die, The Robot Along With Another Robot Break Into The Store To Go After The Others As They Fire Lasers At Them, Eventually Making It To The Back Storeroom, The Main Mall Doors Are Now Barred Until Six Am And With The Robots Placing Dynamite On The Door To Blow It Open, They Have No Choice But To Separate With The Girls Taking The Vents While The Guys Take The Emergency Exit So They Can Get Some Weapons To Take Down Those Robots...

With A Robot Approaching, The Guys Try Firing Shots At It But Unfortunately All Their Bullets Bounce Off Of It Which Forces Them To Roll In A Propane Tank So They Can Blast At That To Blow The Robot To Kingdom Come, They Manage To Succeed But It Was Only Enough To Deactivate It For A Short Time...

Meanwhile In The Vents, Suzie Quickly Becomes The Worst Character In This Movie Because She's (Acting Like Suzie) Gotta Get Outta Here And She's Gotta Find Greg Because He Needs Her..,

Bullshit, You're In A Safe Place Get Out While You Can! Honestly, Why Do You All Love This Woman When She Plays A Character Who's An Idiot?!?

So, Getting Out Of The Vent, The Girls Land In A Hardware Store Where They Decide That If They're Going To Fight They Might As Well Go Prepared So Grabbing A Few Small Quarts Of Gas, They Molotov Cocktails So They Use Against One Of The Robots While The Boys Set A Propane Tank Trap On The Elevator For One Of The Robots To Fall Into...

With The Robot The Guys Deactivated Coming Back On-Line, Another Robot Starts Chasing The Girls But As They Hide Behind Planters, Alison Throws One Of The Molotovs At A Robot Only For It To Walk Right Through It...

Making A Run For It The Robot Starts Firing It's Lasers At The Girls As The Guys Try To Find Them But When Suzie Gets Hit In The Leg, The Robot Fires At The Molotov In Her Hand Which Sets Her On Fire, Killing Her...

Honestly, When People Are On Fire In Horror Movies Why Don't They Stop, Drop And Roll Instead Of Screaming Your Head Off Like A Moron Before You Die Either That Or Run For The Nearest Lake Of Water?

With The Guys Arriving, Linda And Alison Manage To Get Away While The Guys Hold The Robot Off But Eventually Reaching The Elevator, The Robot Goes In While Everyone Attempts To Fire At The Propane Tanks On Top Of The Elevator With No Luck But One Shot From Alison And Kaboom! Both The Elevator And The Robot Go Down...

(Imitating Rod Serling) The Next Time You Check Yourself Into Your Neighborhood Malls Elevator Be Sure You Know Exactly What You're Getting Into Otherwise You May End Up A Permanent Resident Of The Twilight Zone.,,

Hiding Out In The Restaurant Where Alison And Suzie (When She Was Alive) Works, We Get A Small Scene Of Character Development I Guess, Before Ferdy Tells Them That The Robot's Master Computer is On The 3rd Floor And If They Blow It Up, It'll Shut Down The Robots...

But When They Try To Go To The 3rd Level, Greg Goes Up The Escalator Only To Be Thrown Over The Railing By One Of The Robots

To His Death...

But As They Try To Make A Run For It To Another Escalator Another Robot Confronts Them Which Forces Them To Take Shelter Inside Of Another Store...

Taking An Escalator Inside Of The Store To Level 3, One Robot Tries To Laser His Way In While The Other One Goes To Level 3..

Relaxing, For The Moment They Come Up With A Plan To Use The Mannequins As Bait While They Shoot At The Robot...

No, Wait You Might Hit Kim Catrall!

Oops!

Firing His Laser At Them, They Eventually Reveal A Few Mirrors Behind The Mannequins Thus When The Robot Fires At The Mannequins It Causes One Of The Laser Blasts To Fire Right Back At It...

(Robot) Malfunction, Malfunction, Need Input...

But As The Robot Begins Firing Crazily One Of The Blasts Hits Linda, Killing Her, Mad About This Of Course, Rick Boards A Vehicle And Rams It Into The Robot Blowing It Up And Electrocuting Rick At The Same Time...

So, With Ferdy And Alison Being The Only Ones Left They Decide To Go Find That Computer By Splitting Up To Try To Find It, But As Alison Goes Down A Long Corridor, She Enters A Room Full Of Junk Only To Be Confronted By One Of The Robots, Ferdy Comes To Alison's Rescue As She Screams And Knocks Out The Robot's Laser...

Chasing Ferdy, He Tosses A Fire Hydrant At The Robot When He Runs Out Of Bullets Only For The Robot To Toss The Fire Hydrant Right Back At Him Supposedly Killing Him But..

(Start At 0:43, End At 0:51)

With Alison As The Only One Left, She Loses The Robot Inside Of A Pet Store Only For It To Find Her Again Once She Get Out But Climbing Down Only To Fall On A Tent, She Heads Toward A Paint Shop Where She Dumps A Bunch Of Paints And Thinners So She Can Lure The Robot Inside So She Can Blow It Up With A Flare She Got From The Hardware Shop And...

(Start At 1:38, End At 1:59)

It Works!

So, With The Robot Gone, We Discover That Ferdy Is Alive So, Him And Alison Can Live Happily Ever After And Get Our End Credits...

And That's Chopping Mall And Well, It's Bad But It's Good Slasher Fun...

I'm Not Going To Lie, Folks The Acting In This Is Horrible And The Title Is Definitely Misleading But The Kills Can Go From Dull To Freaking Awesome And Because Of That I Say See It And To Have A Nice Day While Doing It...

Until Next Time, This Is Duke, Signing Off...