#i went for blue and this ended up looking green as hell on my phone bye. it looks blue on my laptop and green on my phone DHSJHSJ.

[jimimn]

[namjoon voice] HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRO!

[trina864]

Distance between us | KTH - Requested

Summery: Your insecurities rise as your boyfriend becomes more and more distant. Maybe he just needs some space? Paring: Boyfriend!Kim Taehyung x Reader Genre: Fanfiction, Romance || Angst, fluff. | est relationship Word Count: 2.6 k Warning: Little angsty, insecurities about the relationship. ‣ A/N: My first request, let's see how this goes, hope you like it (:

Your beating heart would always no matter what beat just a tad bit faster whenever your boyfriend walked past you.

His brown eyes the worlds prettiest art in your opinion. You just loved how they always looked at everything with a new take. He saw the world through another filter, which you deeply loved.

Yet it seemed that same eyes never looked to long in your direction.

You had tried everything there was to try in the ‘how to be a good girlfriend’ book and it didn’t work.

You had tried cooking his favorite dishes, get him to talk about his hobbies, Hell! you even tried dressing up! Dressing in a floral dress which you knew Taehyung would like even though you didn’t like it on your body.

He was still not communicating with you.

And you felt it, each late afternoon when he got home from work whereas you had been home studying for your final year in university. He never greeted you like you greeted him. He always walked past you right into your shared bedroom where he would sleep with his back facing you.

You’ll admit that Taehyung hasn’t always been the most clingy boyfriend or most talkative guy, but it had gotten worse over time.

And now you had reached a point where you were starting to doubt if he even loved you.

Over the phone:

“I just don’t know what to do anymore Jimin, he’s always so cold, he never says anything always just walks past me as if I’m not here.”

- “Y/N, listen to me. Taehyung loves you, trust me. It’s probably just work, you know he takes his photography very seriously.”

“But still Jimin... What if I did something wrong? Maybe I insulted him in some way? Or what if- what if he doesn’t love me anymore?” You voice quivered into the phone making the man on the other side sigh.

- “Y/n just trust me okay? Taehyung does love you. I’m sure he didn’t mean to seem distant. Just go talk to him instead of ranting to me.”

Were you ranting? Was Jimin being tired of you too? You’re sure Jimin didn’t mean it like that, yet in your already vulnerable state you couldn’t help the thought going through your head.

“Yea you’re right Jimin, I’ll go now. See you later.” And you ended the call before he could answer back.

You were sitting in yours and Taes blue couch, a Kdrama in the background and the plush blanket your mother had gifted you in your lap.

Old pictures of you and Taehyung decorated the soft green walls of your apartment. You two looked so happy on those old photos, just like every new couple who were still in that puppy love phase.

You were all finished with your studies for the day so that gave you lots of time to overthink every little thing.

Taehyung and you met each other back in high school. You had seen him at a party and in your drunken confidence walked up to him and gotten his number.

The next day you had invited him to a coffee date where you discovered that he didn't even like coffee.

That seemed like it was decades ago.

You were pulled out of your thoughts when you heard the door open and a tired Taehyung came in.

“You’re home early.” You stated with a smile as you pulled the blanket off your lap and got up to greet him.

“Mhm. Got done early.” He said not looking at you and walked past your outstretched arms.

You wanted to cry as you were left in a puddle of your own loneliness, but you kept it cool.

“What do you want for dinner? I was thinking an easy kimchi ste-“ you started and turned back to your boyfriend, but Taehyung interrupted you.

“Don’t bother, I’ll just take an instant ramen." He said and went to the kitchen leaving you with sunken shoulders once again.

You sat down, wrapping the soft blanket even closer to your body in an attempt to comfort yourself. It worked in some sense, yet it would have been so much better with your boyfriends strong arms around you and his fingers tracing your arms.

The drama in front of you was at this point only confusing you with all the missing things you hadn't watched.

You could hear Taehyung mumble to himself from the kitchen. You stood up and walked towards the kitchen, you didn't like being alone.

It the relationship you had always been the clingy one, it was often you who started conversations or kissed him. Whenever he started something you would jump in excitement.

Were you truly getting to clingy for him? Maybe he was suffocating in the relationship. That was the last thing you wanted.

When you reached the small kitchen you immediately went to Taehyung back-hugging him. He didn't lean into you, he didn't shake you away, there was just no reaction from him.

You let go and walked in front of him placing yourself in between him and the kitchen counter.

Taehyung was looking down at his phone with a deep frown placed between his eyebrows, and his jaw scrunched in a tight hold. It was clear that he was angry.

You softly tickled him with a chuckle trying to cheer him up, but he wafted you away without looking up from that damn phone. You both heard the ding from the kettle - this time with Taehyung looking up and walking over to his food.

And then again he left you as he had finished the making of his food.

It was certain now. He was really showing you every sign there was to show, he didn't want to be with you. He didn’t even try to hide the obvious.

You didn't know what to do with this information. You couldn't give up on your relationship, you simply loved him too much and was way to selfish for that.

But staying like this was too hurtful. Your heart couldn't take any more rejections.

Then an idea popped into your head. If Taehyung really was strangled by your clingy behavior then you would have to give him space.

Maybe with space he would come back to himself. And with that thought in mind you made a rule for yourself. You couldn't be as touchy and sticky as you have been, Tae needed air to breathe, and you would give him the air.

Days later nothing had changed between you two. There was still a growing distance, as the earth sliding away from the sun.

You had really tried your hardest to give your boyfriend the space he needed. You stopped texting him every minute and stopped jumping onto him whenever you saw him.

It didn't seem to work, you doubted he even noticed your attempts at making things work out.

Taehyung had in fact noticed your change in behavior. You didn't greet him when he came home from work, never asked what he wanted to eat, and you didn't hug or kiss him as much.

He wondered what had happened since you stopped. Yet he had a feeling it was his fault. Taehyung had never been as good as you to express his feelings - he knew that.

But he had never thought that his lack of expression would make you turn into exactly that - expressionless.

He didn't like the way your relationship were going, or how you were starting to change yourself. He knew it was his fault, yet he didn't know what he could do to get you back to yourself.

Currently you two were sat on each side of the couch seeing some drama you had put on before he came home. It wasn't awkward between you, yet it wasn't comfortable either.

Once again his phone buzzed, and you watched as a new deep frown was put on his face.

The next few days was the same. That weird atmosphere in the air between you.

Taehyung now really missed the old you. There was no light to his day if he didn't have your hugs to look forward to, or your concern for him, or your resecuring smiles.

He wanted you to tell him it was okay, that everything would be good.

Taehyung was the only one of you with an income at the moment which he didn't have any problem with, he knew it was hard to finish university, he could see that on the bags under your eyes.

But sometimes he was really stressed knowing he was responsible if the rent wasn't paid. Or if there wasn't food on the table.

At the same time there was so much drama at his work. There was a new boss who was a pain in the ass, always trying to tell him how to take his pictures, and always trying to make him work when he was officially off.

That was why he just wanted to come home to your hugs. To your beautiful soul pulling him into the universe called you.

You on the other hand was almost dying by the hand of your own doubt. Was he really done with you? He hadn't done anything to get your attention, you don't even think he noticed how you tried to please him.

Tonight you had gone to bed early. You couldn't stop thinking about Taehyung.

Why was it so hard for you when you were partners? It shouldn't be like this.

Maybe he just wanted to end it, but was pitying you to much to actually do it.

With these thoughts running around in your head you were so certain that they were true when you heard Taehyungs voice for what felt like the first time in months.

"Y/N... We need to talk." He spoke softly as you turned around to face him and sat up on the bed.

You couldn't look up in his eyes, not when you knew he was annoyed by you and wanted to end your relationship, not when your own eyes were filled with emotions you'd rather want saved for yourself.

"W- what do you wanna talk about?" You stammered out playing with your fingers.

You could feel and hear him walk closer to the bed. He sat down in front of you on the purple bed covers.

"Y/N, look at me plea- please." His voice broke making your eyes turn upwards to look at him.

When you saw his eyes too filled with emotions you wanted to cry out. For the first time in a while you could read him, you could make out his words without him having to tell you.

His fingers sneaked over your hands and took them into a tight hold.

"We need to talk about us." He said immediately causing anxiety to rush through your blood.

"U- us? What do you mean?" You didn't want to make assumptions, but it sounded just like what you had feared these past few days.

You looked down once again, this time with your eyes retreating with tears in them. You really didn't want to lose Taehyung. He was the star showing you the way, without him there was nothing.

Taehyung even though a little withdrawn had always been a big support, always telling you to go for what you wanted. It was his fault that you hadn't ended up working on a tankstation, but actually found something to do with your life.

"I mean that there's been this t-tension between us, a- and I feel like that's my fault." He said which made you look up.

When he saw the tears in your eyes he understood that it defiantly was his fault. As if second nature he moved closer to you and took your frame into his strong hold.

It only caused more tears to fall when he finally showed the emotions you had been longing for. Finally there was comfort from your boyfriend.

"I- it's not your fault Taehyung. I k-know that you're not t- too fond of deep emotions and I've b- been too clingy.-" Your sobbing voice stopped when you were interrupted by Taehyung.

"Y/n stop. You have never been too clingy, I've been too distant, and I'm sorry. I never meant to make you doubt yourself. Y/N, your hugs, your greetings, everything you do is the things that keeps me going." He expressed making you fall silent in his arms, listening to him as he caressed the soft crown of your head.

"I've never been good with feelings, or with expressing them. But I do know that the feelings I feel towards you is the strongest and best things I've ever felt. Please, don't distance yourself from me." There was a new desperation in his voice, which you hadn't heard from him before. Yet it was nice to know that it existed.

"Tae... I only distanced myself because I thought that was what you would want." You admitted softly smiling as you suddenly realized that everything was going to be okay.

"Now why would you do that? I need you as you are! Nothing less." He laughed softly stroking your hair.

"It was just... You stopped hugging me back and whenever I would ask what you wanted to eat you would take an instant ramen instead. It hurt. So I thought you needed some space." You said as you could feel Taehyung slow his movements.

He didn't look at you knowing you were right, he had been more distant that usually, but he never realized it himself. He couldn't believe how stupid he had been for taking your care for granted.

"I'm sorry Y/N. I don't know why I've been so distant, I think it could be because of work, I have this new boss and he's so awful. Whenever I came home I was still too angry to hug you and I didn't want to burden you with making food to me when you've been studying." He explained.

You looked up at him with serious eyes hugging his arms closer to you and falling back into his stomach.

"Tae you need to say things like that! I'm your girlfriend, if you wanna rant to be about your shitty boss then you do that! Don't think too much about my studies, I'm home all day anyways so my life gets quite boring, I could use the drama." You scolded with a smile on your face, a smile which was contagious as Taehyung too softly laughed pulling both of you down to the soft mattress.

"Besides I love cooking for you. Don't think it's a burden for me, I really-... do enjoy it." You said a yawn rudely interrupting you.

Taehyung scoffed looking down at your form.

"Tired?" He asked as he tangled his legs with yours. You would've made a big thing out of it, if you weren't so tired.

"Yeah..." You said your eyes softly closing and opening.

"Nap-time?" His voice dropped a few octaves only lulling your further into dreamland, with him being the main character in your world.

"Mhm... sounds like the perfect idea."

You felt his arms letting go only to pull the plushy covers over you and himself, when they again found their spot on your waist he pulled you closer burring his head into your neck.

It would have surprised you how touchy he was, normally you would be doing these things, but you were too tired, too worn out by the rush of anxiety you had felt during yours and Taehyungs conversation to notice the surprise.

Fairly before your eyes closed and your mind wandered off you heard Taehyungs soft whispers.

"Sorry I was so distant, I love you Y/N."

And then you fell into dreamland, in your boyfriends embrace, with his words echoing as a sweet melody.

[goodluckclove]

FINAL BLIND TRUST SNEEK PEEK

The results were close enough that I decided to post something that I think is happy and sad. I also don't think I've posted anything directly about Regina Mustard Kaufner, matriarch of the Kaufner family. This feels like spoilers and kind of is but kind of isn't because even in context it leaves you with more questions than answers.

Enjoy reading the start of the mom I really wish I had. I like her a lot.

Seriously guys I need to stop revealing more of this novel before it comes out. I'm just so fucking excited aaaaaa

“I’m going to take them.”

“What?” Enoch said from the other end of the phone. “Mustard, no. That’s kidnapping.”

Regina leaned back in the car seat and kept her eyes on the doors to the University. “Yes,” she confirmed. “I’m going to kidnap them.”

“Fucking hell – that’s…” Enoch trailed off, and when she spoke again she was much calmer. “We’ll call the police. If we have proof of abuse we can call the police.”

But we don’t have proof, Regina wanted to point out. All we have are the visions of my son and some bruises that’ll be covered up by an organization with authority near to that of the Catholic church.

Enoch clicked her tongue anxiously, as if she were right beside her waiting for class to get out. “I don’t like this,” she said. “You said the parents refused to meet with you. What if they’ve tracked your license plate?”

“I’m being very discreet,” Regina tried to assure her.

“Well if you’re still in the Doctor’s car then no, you aren’t. Regina, you can’t keep taking these kinds of risks. You have children to think about.”

The doors pushed open and released a sea of purple-suited children all around Scott and Tenzin’s age. Regina immediately stopped paying attention to what her love was saying. She shifted the phone into her opposite hand and got out of the car, standing to peer through all the faces and dissect the crowd into parts. Looking for the smaller body. The larger set of eyes.

Because yes, Regina did have children. And right now, one of them needed her help.

Once the crowd started to thin Regina began to worry. Did she miss her chance? She was starting to consider pulling off and circling the surrounding city blocks, but before she went any farther with that line of thought she caught sight of a familiar face she was seeing for the very first time.

They were smaller than the other kids and walked a little slower – not from noticeable depression, just deep in thought. They had a young face that was still slightly older than what made sense for their age, with large, deep-set eyes hued a warm shade of brown.

This child matched Scott’s description of Eddie. What identified them for certain, however, was the feeling that flooded Regina’s system as soon as she caught site of them. Her love for those around her came in varying colors. For Enoch it was a bright emerald green, while Tenzin was more of a comforting blue-gray. It was always different for everyone – always – and yet when she looked at the child absently making his way down the stairs she felt the exact color of love she felt whenever she looked at Scott.

Sunflower yellow. Every single time.

It had to be them. Eddie.

Enoch was in the middle of explaining some kind of Louisiana legality when Regina hung up on her without a word. She got out of the car and fidgeted, unsure how to do this. She had no intention of stealing them if they didn’t want to go with her. It would help to find a way to explain who she was in a way that would make sense to the child – but in a way that didn’t encourage them to strike up conversations with frantic strangers in the future. Everything that made sense before Eddie walked outside now felt just as wrong as everyone had been trying to tell her.

This wasn’t Scott. Regina had to remind herself that. This was the other fragment of the being that ended up developing into her son. Was she truly as responsible for this half of his spirit as she was for him?

Not seeing a gap in the sidewalk, Eddie stumbled and scraped his knee against the concrete. From across the street Regina could see the wound, a grating of skin just deep enough to swell blood. It was the type of thing Scott would proudly show off before washing clean with a hose and bounding back off with his day. Eddie, however, stayed still. They did not move. Staring down at the blood, they broke down immediately in quiet tears.

No one was helping them. A few purple-suited adults looked at them as they passed, but did nothing. Regina bore this sight for maybe ten seconds before she grunted in annoyance and ran over to their aid.

“Oh wow!” She exclaimed. “You really tumbled, didn’t you?”

Eddie shrank even smaller on the ground and turned his face away from her. Horror weighed her heavy in place, and Regina knelt down and adjusted her attitude.

She started by speaking much softer. “Does it hurt?” She asked.

“It – It’s scary.”

“The blood?” Regina glanced down at the trickle of red running down just below the hem of his shorts. “Yes. You don’t like blood,” she smiled vaguely. “It’s kind of spooky isn’t it? Do you think it means that something bad happened?”

The child nodded. They lowered their arm away from their face, though still kept their eyes focused down from Regina’s direct line of sight. A sign of respect from Academy children, she learned some time ago. It disgusted her to think about.

She rifled through her bag and pulled out a few paper packets. “I keep sanitary wipes on me,” she said, tearing the top off of one. “They’re for my son. I don’t think he would mind if I used a few to help clean you up, though. Would that be all right with you?”

At first Eddie didn’t respond. He wiped at his eyes and took a deep breath. Then he nodded.

“The thing about scrapes like this,” Regina told them as she gently wiped away the blood up his leg, “is that they feel a lot worse than they actually are. You’ve really only hurt a few layers of skin – and you have many layers of skin, Eddie – so you haven’t gone deep enough to cause any permanent damage on it’s own. This might sting a little bit, buddy.”

Regina pressed a fresh sanitary wipe over the wound. Eddie’s face scrunched up without making much of a sound, and once again she felt the sunflower yellow of adoration for her child.

“You’re being very brave,” she murmured. “Anyhow, it hurts because under your skin has things called nerves. And that’s how you feel things – most things, at least,” Regina was quickly reaching the borders of her medical knowledge. “You didn’t hurt your body. It’s more like you triggered the alarm system that lets you know that something bad could’ve happened. Does that make sense?”

Somewhere in that explanation Eddie gathered the nerve to look at her. They seemed uncertain, and yet more than a little curious. She got a better look at his eyes, and at the iris coloboma that gave them the quality of something antique and wise.

She supposed that meant they could see hers as well. She wondered if Eddie would ask about them.

“How do you know my name?” They quietly questioned her.

Regina’s eyes widened slightly. Did she call them Eddie? Was she so preoccupied with comforting them that she forgot to make any effort to do things subtly?

She thought about Enoch. She should’ve let Enoch come with her.

“My name is Regina,” she said. “But you can call me Mustard if you’d like. Wouldn’t that be funny? It’s like the flower, but it’s also a sauce.”

Regina stood up and pulled her wallet out of her purse. Eddie followed her lead and got up on their own accord. Still, they didn’t drop the issue. “Do you know my mother?” They asked.

She thought about the cold voice that spoke to her on the phone and shivered. “No,” she said, forcing a smile. “I’m actually...I’m Scott’s mom.”

“...Scott?”

There was a photo in the inner fold of her wallet. It was new, printed by Enoch only a week before Regina drove off on this terrible road trip, but already the creases were well-defined from folding and unfolding. It was of Scott and Tenzin, each only half-visible and under a pillow fort that collapsed over them mid-nap. Regina smiled at the image, then turned it to Edgar and pointed at Scott’s laughing face.

The recognition was stark. For a moment it was frightened. Then that broke away, and Eddie’s brown eyes once again welled with tears.

“He’s real?” They managed weakly.

-

in short, regina's entire perspective towards edgar could be summarized by this old nedroid comic:

if you have shit parents she probably would do the same for you.

[teenwolfmarvel-obsessor]

A Trek Through The Woods

Teen Wolf Masterlist | Full Masterlist

Summary: You have known Stiles and Scott since you were in preschool. When on the night before sophomore year, the boys roll up to your house in order to find another half of a body. Like always, Stiles doesn't always think his plans through. Of course the three of you - well more like two - are caught by Stiles' father

A/N: Enjoy this sneak peak of my Teen Wolf Fanfic! I hope to finish this story soon, so you all can read it! I will be publishing it on Wattpad btw :)

Notes:

This takes place on the first episode of season one

(Your Outfit)

Warnings: none

Stiles Stilinski and Scott McCall x-reader

(Your Outfit)

It was a cool Sunday night in contrast to today's weather being a bit warm. 11:30 am read the clock that sat beside my bed. I hummed to the music from my computer's speaker. Before heading to bed, I read the book that we needed to read for our English class. 

Of course, the boys hadn't even started to read The Giver, blaming it on how distracted they were with preparing for Lacrosse tryouts. Earlier today I had been with Scott and Stiles to help them with said tryouts. My mom - a nurse at Beacon Hills Hospital - was fast asleep in her room across from mine.

She worked tirelessly at the hospital all day. She was lucky to have a night to herself, which wasn't something that she got often. Melissa McCall and my mother have known one other since they were in middle school, leading to me Scott becoming friends at the age of two.

My nightly reading and listening to music were cut short by the ringing from my phone. None other than Stiles Stilinski's cross-eyed expression appeared on my phone screen. I paused my music and closed the book. "What's up?" I answered. From the other side of the line, Scott could be heard muttering something in which Stiles told him to shut up. "What're you doing right now?" Stiles questioned. I set my laptop on the end of my bed. 

"Just hanging out. Mind telling me why you're calling me at 11:30 on a Sunday night?" I replied, yawning. Stiles stated that the two of them were outside my house. Like he had spoken, they were leaning against Roscoe - Stiles' blue Jeep - with their eyes staring at my bedroom window. 

"What the hell are you doing here?" I knelt in front of my window. "My dad left 20 minutes ago from a dispatch call. Two joggers found a dead body in the woods. They're bringing in every officer from the Beacon Department, even State Police," a small smirk appeared on Stiles' freckled face. 

Scott reached over and snatched the phone from Stiles to say something. "Yeah, and he thought it would be a great idea if the three of us went to look for the body," he commented. I rolled my eyes with the phone still beside my face. With further convincing from the boys, I rubbed my cat's head before putting on my favorite green jacket and pair of boots (Outfit One). 

I already knew that it was going to be chilly tonight. The door downstairs was loud as hell, so I resorted to the window. My cat watched me as I slipped through the opening. My feet landed softly on the grass, barely making a sound. Stiles pulled out of the driveway to head towards wherever the hell we were going. 

"Just out of curiosity, you two do realize that it is the first day of school tomorrow, and both of you have lacrosse practice?" I poked my head between them. "First thing I told him," Scott pointed to Stiles. There were barely any streetlights, just one at the beginning of the road and one in front of a turn to a trailer park. "Wait, didn't coach say you could join the team?" Stiles asked. He stole a glance at me before looking at the road. 

"Awe, yes, because being on a team with ten horny high school boys is something that I want to be a part of for the year," I remarked, leaning back in the seat. They decided to not respond to my retort, knowing I'd lead the conversation any further. "I'm going to need a little more information about what we're doing?" I buttoned my jacket as I spoke. 

Stiles explained how the police weren't sure if the individual was murdered, but they did know that she was a female and in her mid- twenties. "Hold on, if they found the body, then what are we looking for?" I inquired. "That's the catch, they only found half," Scott turned to me. The mischievous smirk that sat on Stiles' face gave me an unwelcoming feeling.

"And we're going," he added. 

________

(Later - Same Outfit)

Stiles parked the Jeep right in front of the gate. A wooden sign hung from the middle of a chain: Beacon Hills Preserve - No entry after dark. Scott and I exchanged a glance before looking at Stiles who stood in front of the silver chain. I stuffed my hands into the pockets of my jacket. "Are we really doing this?" Scott's voice remained low. 

"C'mon, you're always bitching that nothing ever happens in this town," Stiles pat him on the shoulder. I brought a leg over and the two followed shortly after. Scott muttered how things happen in this town. "That doesn't count Ms. Prescott thinking someone was breaking into her house, but it was just some rogue racoon," I noted. 

We set forth in search for the other half of the women's body. Personally, I had no interest in finding this body but somebody needed to supervise these two teenage toddlers. "I was trying to get a good night's sleep before practice tomorrow," Scott claimed.

I walked in the middle with my eyes keeping a look out for anything suspicious. "Right, cause sitting on the bench is such a grueling effort," Stiles remarked. Our friend grumbled and insisted that he would be making first line this year. 

Their flashlights waved around the dark forest. The light illuminated certain features of the Beacon Hills preserve, introducing new pairs of glowing eyes from - what I hoped - a bunny or fox. "Hey, that's the spirit. Everyone should have a dream even if it's pathetically unrealistic," Stiles went on.

The night's cool breeze brushed against the back of my neck, goosebumps rose. Scott occasionally shined his flashlight onto the ground so I wouldn't trip and fall. "Which half of the body are we looking for exactly?" he questioned. "I didn't even think about that," Stiles replied.

"Okay, here's another zinger, what if whoever killed the body is still here?" I shared a look with Scott. Despite neither one of us being able to makeout the emotion we were displaying, I could tell he worried. 

"Also something I didn't think about," Stiles responded. 

We approached a hill that kept us from peering ahead. Both boys got up first. Scott brought an arm out to help me up, such a gentlemen. I set my hand into his so I could easily get up. "Stiles, it's super comforting that you've planned this out with your usual attention to detail," I wiped the dirt that landed on my palms. Scott took a much needed puff of his inhaler. 

I directed him towards the tree beside us so he could rest. He pressed his back against the trunk, chest rising up and down; his hands shook as he zipped up his bright red jacket. I began to feel uneasy by his state.

"Stiles, I'm thinking this wasn't such a-" I cut myself short when 'the spas' began bolting down the other direction. He dropped behind a fallen tree. We landed on the other side of him (GIF Above). From the corner of my eye I could see a wide grin creep onto Stiles' face. 

The three of us heard voices in the distance, but none of which that we were able to depict who they belonged to. Stiles leapt to follow the source of the sound. I called after him with Scott trailing behind. A bright line shined in Stiles' face which resulted in him falling on top of me. 

Our asthmatic friend must've hid before we were caught. Deputies surrounded us with flashlights directly on us, the light reflecting off of their badges. "This little delinquent belongs to me," Sheriff Stilinski disclosed. He saw that I was stuck underneath his son. I shoved Stiles off of me so I could get up from the ground.

Stiles popped up, wiping the dirt off of himself. "Do you listen in on all of my phone calls?" Sheriff Stilinski questioned with brows raised. "No, not the boring ones," Stiles' chest rose up and down as he wittily responded to his father's question.

Stiles spotted a few leaves stuck in my messy hair. He went to reach over to pick them out, but I slapped his hand. He was persistent until his father grabbed him by the ear. Mr. Stilinski led us over to the lit up sheriff's car so he could drive me home. I just hoped my mom didn't wake up during my escape.

[japhan2024]

Ian's Day: Ian and Anthony going on holiday together and being generally adorable?

Oh yes, and they definitely will go on holiday together. I feel it in my SPLEEN! Anyway,

Walnut Grove

Words: 1.397

Genre: general, a bit of fluff

Ian drove. Anthony was trying to make sense of a huge paper road map, spread all over the dashboard. He giggled.

"I'm so clueless and directionally challenged, we're so going to end up in a weird fucked up place!"

"Anthony, we are on holiday. There are no wrong turns. Just... adventure! Ian cracked a sideways smile at Anthony, who accepted the reassurance and sighed happily.

"No work, no social media, no phones! What a life!"

"Truly."

"I did a thing like this with a group of influencers a few years back. I thought I would go insane, it was so bad. But with you, it actually feels good, natural."

"You went on a group holiday with influencers?" Ian jokingly scrunched his nose and brows like Anthony had said something gross.

"Yeah, I did that."

"Hey, I'm just teasing ya. I actually feel the same. This is so nice." He sighed as well. "No frickin' avalanche of information directed at you at all times. And, haha, no corporate emails!!"

"No corporate emails!! Hell yes. It's like we're teenagers again."

"Ha! No teen has a beard as sick as mine!"

"True, or tens of thousands of dollars worth of tattoos."

"Geez, were they that expensive?"

"If you add everything up, yeah, they were."

"Well, Anthony, I think they add something unique to you, nobody has something like that. And I love that for you."

"Thanks! Oh, in a few miles, turn right."

"Thanks, buddy."

The land stretched seemingly endlessly around their rented Ford Mustang. It was clear blue skies, yellow grass and black trees to infinity. Hours passed and the sun began to set, when they approached their destination. The scenery had slightly changed, like minimal music, to include more and alive trees under a clear but darkening sky.

"Okay, the map says we have to take a left in a few miles, I can barely see anymore in this twilight. Let's hope we get there alright!"

Ian chuckled. "Imagine we get lost and run out of fuel, and have to just sleep on the side of the road."

"That sounds like the start of a horror movie!"

"Yeah, let's hope it doesn't come to that."

Sure enough, a large roadside billboard appeared with a big arrow pointing left. Green on white letters said 'Walnut Grove Resort'.

"Yes! We've made it!" Anthony yelled excitedly. They drove up a rickety driveway, along all kinds of holiday cabins. Rarely any had the lights on inside.

"Ours is number 31.."

They squinted through the dark, but finally, they found their house. It was right by a lake. Ian parked, and they jumped out of the car.

"This is awesome!"

Ian got a little key out of an envelope and they got into their house. It was very roomy and probably had an excellent view of the water and the forest that surrounded it. But it was so dark outside that they couldn't see anything.

Anthony walked around. "Wow, look at this room, look at the wooden walls, the high ceiling, the..."

"Fireplace!!" Ian jumped and made a victorious gesture, he walked to the fireplace and started to put blocks of wood into it, starting a fire. Anthony walked around some more. There was a huge bedroom with two beds and an en suite bathroom. There even was a second bedroom and another separate toilet. The kitchen was a bit old timey but large and when he opened the fridge, he saw it was fully stacked, just like they had ordered. Anthony did a little happy dance. Walking back into the living room, the fire was already crackling and Ian had taken seat on an incredibly comfortable looking fauteuil. Anthony lay down on the couch.

"You know what's funny?" Anthony asked.

"What?"

"If we would have our phones with us, we'd be scrolling right now! We wouldn't be able to truly enjoy this amazing house or even our holiday because we would be semi-working again!"

'You're so right. You know, everyone worries about AI taking over the world, but what part of people's lives isn't dictated by an algorhitm COMPLETELY, already right now?"

"I hadn't even thought of that. That's crazy."

"This fireplace is so fucking dope."

"I feel SO relaxed!"

"Yeah, me too, I'm already recovered from driving so long. I'm just chilling now."

They sat and lay about for a couple of hours just like that, and as the fire finally went out, Anthony stood up from the couch.

"Ian?"

"Yeah?"

"Let's go on a hike!"

"Bro, it's the middle of the night!"

"Yeah, dude! Dude... we might see her!" Anthony said this so suggestively that Ian laughed out loud."

"Who?"

"The Milky Way!"

"Is that a she?"

"Oh for sure. And she's gorgeous. I've never seen her in person yet though. It's been a life long dream."

"Well, how can I refuse that! Let's go live your dream, Anthony!"

They went outside where it was pitch-black. Anthony brought a flashlight but it only cast a small light on the path before them. They strolled along the path of the resort, alongside the lake. Then the road led out of the park and into the woods.

"I mean, this might be the end of us, Anthony. 'Last seen near their holiday home, Ian and Anthony mysteriously disappeared!' It's SO dark oh my god!"

"My eyes are adjusting to the dark though, are yours? I can see without the flashlight now. I even begin to see some stars!"

"No, don't put it out.. okay fine. But let's keep close?"

The genuine panic in Ian's voice melted Anthony's heart. He grabbed Ian's hand and they walked into the forest. And as they walked and it got even darker under the trees, the clear sky above showed the unfathomably large amount of stars there. The moon was only a sickle so that wasn't helping much. They continued, Anthony more and more enthusiastic, Ian cracking jokes to keep from being terrified.

"Wait! Anthony?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you see that?"

"Huh? Oh!"

There was a board with an arrow pointing left and on it stood 'Firewatch'.

"Ian, we HAVE to go. We will have the most epic view imaginable."

"Alright, but only because it's you. And after that I want to head back home okay? I mean to our holiday home, not actually home, we just got there..." Ian's voice trailed off. They were still holding hands and Anthony was rubbing his thumb on Ian's hand.

"I promise, okay?"

"Okay."

The turn left proved to be a less accessible path than they had thought and they slowed down quite a bit, having to let go and walk behind each other. But at long last, they reached the base of the watchtower.

"Are you sure we are allowed to go up at night?"

"It's not like we're vandals or something. We just want to see the view. Come on!"

They walked up the croaky metal staircase and Ian somehow found his courage again. "This is so cool," he said with a smile. Anthony smiled even wider.

When they reached the top, Anthony's idea proved to be literally stellar. The sky was filled to the brim with stars. They saw Ursa Major, Andromeda... they didn't know a lot of constellations after that but they still looked, in wonder, to the night sky they never ever saw in Los Angeles. They decided to sit down for a while.

"This is beautiful," Anthony said softly.

"Absolutely. Nature is crazy like that."

"Ian."

"Yeah?"

"I see her!"

"Oh shit you're right! Wow, look at that."

There, up among all the stars, was a large area that was extra bright. Like a path across the sky.

"It makes you feel so small, but in a good way, if you know what I mean," Ian said.

"Yeah. We're just insignificant specks in the universe. And yet, our lives are full of meaning. So just imagine, the amount of meaning and stories, and feelings, here in America, across the world, maybe even somewhere out there."

"Do you still believe in aliens?"

"Yeah, sure! If we're here, why wouldn't there be other planets like this?"

"If you say so, Anthony."

They sat there for quite some time before they headed back home. This promised to be one of their most unique and special holidays to date.

[white-poppie]

S♡ul-mate

Characters: Dabi x Gn! reader   Genre: angst, Soulmate-au Writer: @ white-poppie  

A/N: Reader is a civilian, more specifically a medical student with a Claw-quirk. They have retractable claws like lion.

Part 2:  𝐖𝐞 could’ve had it 🅰🅻🅻

My Hero Academia (僕のヒーローアカデミア)

In world where everyone was born with a soulmate assigned to them since their birth, people who very anomalies were considered pathetic.

If you didn't have a soulmate a) they died b) they aren’t born yet and c) maybe you are just unlucky.

By your age, most people had already met their soulmates in real life. 

Soulmates could connect with each other, between the ages of 7 to 8. You go to sleep one night and then BAM! you meet your soulmate in this parallel plane of dimension. People describe it being the same colour as the emotion your soulmate feels the most frequently. Yellow denoting happiness, blue-sadness, green-envy, red-anger, purple-pride etc. etc.

It is a different colour through each other’s eyes, seeing the most vulnerable parts of each other. However, your soulmate decided to never show up.

Whenever you tried to connect with your soulmate, all you could see was this never-ending darkness. You felt trapped and you mind forced you to wake up.

Eventually you decided to give up your futile attempts with connecting with your soulmate, thinking that maybe you were not unfortunate; perhaps your soulmate was just...dead; it was better than thinking that he chose not to contact you.

You were scrolling through your phone, trying to get even a wink of sleep if possible.

Years ago you had posted this question on a forum:

“Every time I try contacting my soulmate, all I see is darkness and wake up, can someone please help me?”

@/white-poppie: Idk bro, have you tried exploring the darkness yet? Maybe it is your soulmate’s most felt expression: despair or depression.

Have you tried exploring the darkness yet? What a weird thing to say. Why would one want to explore the darkness? All the poets and scholars said to stray away from it!

Slowly and gradually your eyelids felt heavy and you fell into a slumber.

Darkness...it was suffocating and unending. Your heart pulsating between your ribs, brain was overflowing with questions and anxiousness.

‘Try,’ your mind revolted, ‘at least try once so you won’t regret it later.’

With the loudest voice you could summon, you squeaked, “Hello?”

No answer.

“Hello!?”

“Who...” a voice replied, it was fait, but it was there, begging to be heard.

“Where are you?” you asked, propelling yourself further into the unseeking void.

“Here,” the voice said, it was gravelly and hoarse as a person’s voice is after screaming or crying.

There was a small luminescence in one corner and a shadow sitting in it; looking rather crumbled.

Your rushed towards it, but the closer you tried to get, the further the image went.

“Stop!” you huffed, tired as tears pricked your eyes in frustration. After years of praying you had finally heard their voice and now they were running away.

“Don’t go, please!”

“It’s too bright,” it answered, “why the hell is your subconscious so bright?”

“Huh?” you were taken aback by his sarcastic comment, “its complete darkness for me here, can you approach me, please?”

“Shit, that figures why you didn’t come to me after all these years.” Heavy footsteps echoed loudly, matching the rhythm of your heartbeat.

The light came closer and closer and closer until there was a small spark of physical light. The two of you looked at it as it rose above and spread colour into the realm. like a bath bomb. You closed your eyes at the expulsion and slowly opening them.

To say it was a magical sight would be an understatement. It was regal, it was the mingling of souls. The realm was etched with two colours, marbled together: Onyx and Ivory.

“White,” you whispered under your breath, “what does it mean?”

“Kindness, peace,” the man laughed. You looked at him clearly now; a tall man with the most beautiful cerulean eyes, and black hair that matched him beautifully.

“Wow,” you whispered.

“Find me scary or disgusting yet? Feel free to run away, I won’t judge you,” the man scoffed.

“No,” you answered with adoration in your eyes, “you look so cool.”

Now, Dabi was taken aback by that, its not everyday...hell no one has ever said anything like that to him.

“Name?” he said a little harshly that he intended, but you caught onto that.

“Yeah,” you chuckled, “I am Y/N L/N, a medical-student and I have a claw-quirk.” You extended your claws, showing them off and quickly retracting them.

“Impressive,” he whistled, “could’ve been a nice hero or a villain with that, but a doctor is more respectable.”

You laughed at his passive-aggressive comment, “Your turn.”

“You will be scared of me then,” he snickered, sitting down on the floor and crossing his legs while you did the same.

“I won’t,” you answered, “I won’t judge you even if you are a murderer, I am sure those people must have deserved that,” you joked, earning a laugh from him.

“The exception being if you are a predator,” you stated, “you are not a predator right?”

“Nah nah,” he laughed, “but yeah...I am a villain,” he paused looking at you, your expression was unreadable.

“I go by the alias Dabi,” the gears in your mind turned as you remembered that infamous villian all-over the news.

You hummed, “I have heard about you, you have that...Hell-fire quirk right?”

“Yep,” he answered.

“Dabi can’t be your real name,” you stated questioningly.

“It’s Touya,” he answered, “Touya Todoroki.”

“That’s a pretty name,” you said

“Never liked it, brings back some bad memories,” he sighed.

“I had a question,” you continued a little harshly, “Why didn’t you approach me when you could see me?”

“Look at me!” He exclaimed, “you think I can approach anyone being all burnt? Especially you, white soul.”

Tears pricked in your eyes, “you know I thought my soulmate was dead,” you said with your voice cracking that made even Dabi’s burnt heart hurt.

“Your soulmate died when he was 7 Y/N, you just have Dabi now,” he said while gritting his teeth.

“I don’t mind, Dabi,” you hesitantly held his hand in yours, “I don’t mind Dabi at all, he is just a product of this gangrenous society who failed to protect Touya.”

Dabi’s eyes watered as he looked at you, such sincerity and love that he had never experienced as a child.

“I am here now Touya, I am your soulmate and I won’t leave,” you smiled.

“They won’t let us be together Y/N,” he sighed, “I am a villain, I was born with tragedy in my blood; they never let you be infamous and happy.”

“Don’t you think, both of us have yearned long enough already? From nervousness, darkness and freeting. Being too kind and too depressed...we have always been truly alone,” you said feeling the realm fade away, suddenly hyper-aware.

“No! No! Its to early!” Dabi tried grabbing your hand but you two were already being pulled away, “I’ll be there Y/N! Wait for me!”

“I will,” you answered, feeling the emptiness claw your chest.

We are good people, aren’t we? We deserve a soft epilogue after all.

Part 2 is here!! : 𝐖𝐞 could’ve had it 🅰🅻🅻

My Hero Academia (僕のヒーローアカデミア)

Tags:  @rintaroubby @nanaseishiro @idowritingandstuff, @bakaface @denkis111, @jazzylove, @maybeleftoverjourneys, @lordmypantsaresocool, @futuristicallykawaiiturtle, @kristaline2dmensimp, @astrofai, @oikawatoorupdf​, @thegrayladyislookingforyou , @katsukichu

╰┈➤ Book order details (Request Rules) ╰┈➤ Special customers(Taglist)  

[theneurodivergentdummy]

Dude holy shit I just thought of something-

A purely random thought that might be genius. Ok so basically gremlin reader that can match Blue’s energy who is a big fan of him and wants to be trained under him. They go through daily training montages that includes running around, making tacos (usually explosive-), and battling each other until they just crash at home and munch on snacks and probably fall asleep in the living room.

Lol so basically a oneshot of their daily chaotic training. Can be platonic or romantic, your call.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!! YEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSS!!!!! 💙

BLUE X FERAL READER (gender neutral) (crackfic??) (Platonic)

enjoy!

Blue was asleep in his room when your dumbass self decided to crash through his door.

At 2... IN THE MORNING.

Blue woke up with an anxious start that day, and nearly skewered you with a bone too, if it wasn't for your quick reflexes.

You did a half squat, stared at him before raising your hand to point a finger at him.

"YOU"

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU HUMAN?!" Blue screamed back."MY FREAKING DOOR!"

"TRAIN ME" Your face bent in determination...oh wait... never mind you were just stepping on a Lego. Your face was bent in pain.

"WHAT?"

"TRRRRRAIN MEEEEEEEEE" You shouted, rolling the r in train.

Blue stared at you, he looked over at his clock, then back at you.

He went back to sleep.

"HEY!" You glared at his figure.

Stretch walked in, alarm written on his face at the sight of the demolished door.

"what the actual hell happened here-"

"BLUUUUUUEEEEEE!!! WAKE UP!!! TRAIIINNN MEE-" you screeched jumping on top of his bed, trying to pry the blankets off him.

"GET OUT YOU STUPID HUMAN ITS TWO IN THE MORNING!!!"

"Fine but are you gonna train me tomorrow?"

"YEAH SURE WHATEVER"

Stretch looked between the two of you confusion etched on his pale face."What??"

THE NEXT MORNING!-

It was 7 am, and blue was going to teach you how to make his famous breakfast tacos.

Stretch watched from the living room, fire extinguisher in hand, And his phone set to dial the firemen...just in case.

You walked in, with the ugliest apron on ever. Blue stared at you in dismay.

"IS THAT A JOKE." He said staring at your stain ridden apron.

"What are you talking about?"

"YOUR APRON IS HIDEOUS, THROW IT AWAY YOU CAN BORROW THE GREAT BLUES EXTRA ONE"

He threw you a green bundle of fabric. Unfurling it revealed that it was in fact... a dinosaur apron. Your carnal desires have been satisfied.

+2 charisma

After a long morning of taco making, bomb diffusing, and getting good use of the 84 fire extinguishers stretch bought, the tacos were finally done.

They were the worst thing you could possibly conceive.

Next you two were going to go on a 12 kilometer run.

You put on your old tennis shoes and started stepping out the door. Blue had packed only the necessities, water. So mutch water. And he made you carry it. 10 GALLONS OF WATER.

Let's just say the run ended with him carrying the remaining water, and you sporting two very busted knees.

Don't worry, stretch brought sparkly bandaids. So many bandaids. Everywhere.

You were exhausted. Completely drained. You managed to convince blue to skip the 14 hour deep clean of the entire house, and instead watch movies and chill.

It was 8pm, you were tired, so very tired. And hungry. You collapsed near the couch, too lazy to actually collapse on the couch. Blue confidently walked through the door, the remaining water in hand, approximately 4 gallons.

Upon seeing your exhausted figure on the floor he sighed. He dropped the water, and walked over to you.

"HUMAN. WHAT ARE YOU DOING."

you groaned into the carpet.

Stretch peered through the doorway. "They said they can't move... or breathe. You should probably move them to the couch. Before they y'know...die." he translated from your indescribable groans.

"AH I SEE. I TOLD YOU NOT TO WEAR A SWEATER WHEN RUNNING."

He picked you up and moved you to the couch.

The rest of the day was spent watching transformers on the tv, with stretch brining in his stash of chips and various candy. And blue made lemonade.

Thank you for requesting!!!

[heymickie]

𝗳𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗺: teenage mutant ninja turtles 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀: tmnt (ft. april & casey) 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀: 1447 🐭: so originally i posted this on my birthday (march 6th), but i ended up editing it. loosely based on an idea i had on my old account @littlefanscribbles-blog. 𝘁𝘄: mention of death 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶 𝗱𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲-𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁/𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗳𝗳 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗱 ʚ🍓ɞ 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲

𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗧 𝗢𝗡𝗘: 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗛𝗔𝗧𝗖𝗛𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦 𝗙𝗙𝗡 ʚ🍓ɞ 𝗔𝗢𝟯

“Just go in, cause hell, and get out,” a man with long dark hair said, looking at the map of the large building that seemed to ever be looming over the city. Covering the city in a dark shadow that only he and his friends seem to notice. He cracked his knuckles, looking over at his redheaded wife before looking back at the large computer with the map of the lab laid out. He watched as four dots blinked to indicate their friends’ location.

“That’s the plan, moron,” a gruff voice sounded. Casey didn’t need to even look at the computer to know that was the voice of the red-cladded terrapin.

“Yeah, but with you four it’s never quite that easy,” Casey responded before his wife nudged him, handing over the one-year-old that was in her hands.

“Too much chatter over the air wave,” the blue leader responded, April watched as the orange and purple dot went into a room. The blue and red dot stood in the hallway. April was the one that got intel about Stockman using the turtles’ DNA, she did trust the source, but she couldn’t trust that Stockman or the Shredder wasn’t ready for the turtles. She wished she could be more help, but it was hard with a bump and a child in toll.

“Okay, the fire wall shouldn’t be too hard to bypass,” Donnie informed, sitting down at the large computer to erase any mention of their DNA while Michelangelo occupied himself in the lab. “Don’t touch anything,” Donatello warned, cracking his knuckles before Mikey heard the clicking-clacking of the keyboard. Mikey looked around the stark white room, for once, he was ignoring the liquid of what would most definitely kill him. The orange turtle came to a stop when he saw four tubes. Under each tube was the name of each turtle and a number.

“Uh, Don,” Mikey called, rubbing at the fogged up glass of one of the tubes to see a human-sized baby turtle floating in some weird green goo. It wasn’t like the ooze that made them who they are, it was different. “I think I found what we’re looking for!”

“We’re in!” Donatello cheered quietly, not hearing his little brother. He opened up the needed files, blinking. “Wait,” Donnie frowned, his eyes scanning the data, he almost didn’t hear Mikey walk up to him.

“You guys need to see this,” Mikey repeated, trying to nudge Donnie away from the computer. Donnie tried to shoo him off, his eyes not leaving the reports he found. He couldn’t risk misunderstanding any of this.

“See what?” A pair of voices said, one being their favorite redheaded human and the other being the oldest brother. Mikey groaned, yanking the lab chair and turned it around to force his brother to look at the four tubes. Donnie got up, wiping at the remaining three tubes to see that each tube contained a small turtle babe. “What’s going on?” Leo questioned, his voice almost lowering an octave.

“You guys might want to come in here,” Donnie pulled out his turtle phone and scanned the tubes, sending the image and the data back to his computer at home. He could hear April gasp over the com. She wasn’t quite expecting children to be involved when her source told her about the stolen DNA. April was sure this was the exact reason her source had told her.

“Is that what I think it is?” April asked, “they made children?” She stared at the image sent to her. Leonardo walked their way, stopping beside his younger brothers. Raphael stayed near the door to keep a close watch, not exactly trusting himself around children.

“Yeah,” Donnie responded, “these four are the last of what they had of our DNA.” He stepped back, rushing back to the computer. “What started off as a cloning experiment turned into direct reproduction,” he looked over at his brothers and saw a few confused faces turn his way. “They are half ours,” he explained simply, “think of it like Superman and the first Superboy,” only Mikey seemed to understand that reference.

Leonard walked forward, stopping in front of the tube. Leonardo - #12. Twelve child experiments. His gut clenched. This was wrong. Knowing the Foot and Stockman, he didn’t have to guess what happened to the other eleven experiments, if they were still around. “These aren’t the only ones,” Leo added quietly, his throat felt like it was closing at the mere thought.

“There’s the number nineteen by my name,” Mikey said, stepping behind Leo. His voice sounded like he was in pain. Raph never left the door, trying to wrap his head around it all. “That’s so many kids,” Mikey almost squeaked, turning to face Donnie. Donatello sighed, placing his USB drive into the computer to copy the data. “Where are they, Don? Does it say?” Mikey’s voice almost sounded like he was begging, the face Donnie made was telling him the exact opposite of what the youngest turtle wanted to hear.

“All the previous experiments either died or were killed,” Donnie closed his eyes for a moment, not wanting to look at his baby brother when given the news. The number on the plaque doesn’t even include the five clones they tried to make. Each and every experiment started off as eggs, and after they were hatched they were all forced to age up, if Shredder or Stockman didn’t find something defective with them. The aging process killed the ones that Shredder and Stockman found suitable. “They are going to force these four to age up, and it’s going to kill them,” he finally opened his eyes, glancing at the data he had just read.

“Let them die,” Raph called out, glancing out of the hallway. “Do you see anyone coming, April?” This was meant to be an easy mission. Fuck Casey for jinxing this. 

“I’m still here,” April looked at the computer screen, wiping away tears that surfaced. “Five, third floor but coming up,” she cleared her throat as she held her stomach before glancing at the sleeping ginger in her husband’s arm. April knew she was being emotional, but she couldn’t help but feel sad for all those lost hatchlings.

“Let's clear this shit, destroy the work, and get the fuck out of here!” Raph called to Leo.

“We can’t just let them die!” Mikey yelled, “You heard Donnie! They are basically our kids!”

“I don’t remember fucking another turtle! Do you?” Raphael growled out, rolling his eyes when Mikey turned to Leo.

“Leo, if we keep them here they will either die,” Donnie stated clearly, taking out his USB and sending his virus to shut down the computer for good. “The stress on their bodies from the aging machines will kill them, and that is if Stockman or Shredder doesn’t find something wrong with them first.” He stepped forward to the tube with his name, “This is just stasis ooze, we can get them out and move them safely.”  Raphael rolled his eyes, closing the door when April warned them they only have a couple more floors before the goons find them. 

“We don’t have time for this!”

“Raph!” Leo called out, trying to quiet his brother so he could think about this. He looked at his brothers, his wide blue eyes taking in the faces of each brother. Mikey was pleading. Donnie looked like he was trying to let Leo decide, but he didn’t look away from his pod. Raphael looked… Scared. “Mikey, find something to put the babies in! Donnie, shut down stasis!” Before Raph could protest, Leo sent his brother a glare. He knew very well that if they let these four die, that it would eat at each one of them. Even if Raphael was hiding behind his facade. It would be different if they were still eggs, but they’re not. They’re here. Alive. “Just watch the door,” Leo commanded, grabbing the baby in his tube once Donnie shut down the stasis. Mikey ran to Leo with four cloth lab coats to wrap the babies in.

“We can’t fight with kids on our back,” Raph reminded, pulling out his sais as the footsteps got closer.

“No,” Leo pulled out his swords, “but we can.” He let Mikey and Donnie handle the babies.

“I can lead you to the exit,” a relieved voice said over the radio, the boys almost forgot April was still in their ear. Casey stood beside her, rubbing her back with his free hand as he held their son.

“You’re a doll!” Mikey replied, holding the box while Donnie put in the last child. “We got them, let's go!”

[aylacavebear]

Dimensional Shift - Chapter 2

Story Summary: Maria was just a regular girl, worked at a gas station, wrote fanfic, and loved Supernatural. She even created her own supernatural creature for her writings. When the aurora borealis comes to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, one Halloween night, everything changes for her in ways she never expected. Will she be able to navigate this new world she's thrown into?

Word Count: 878

Please don't take my work. I'll post warnings for each chapter. Will eventually be 18+!

Warnings: Controlling parents, angst, family issues, weird events, drinking.

----------------------------------------- Chapter 2

It was late, nearly midnight on Halloween. She’d watched a couple of episodes of Supernatural after her shift at the corner store while eating dinner, then got back to writing. She had been so engrossed with her latest fanfic that the time passed without her knowing it as the words flowed from her fingers onto the screen before her.

When midnight hit, though, the lights in her studio apartment flickered, and the aurora borealis could be seen outside. That shouldn’t have been possible, not with her living in South Dakota. Maria got up from the table and headed toward the window above her day bed. 

Of course, her mind went to Supernatural; it was all she thought about, especially if anything odd happened, and this was more than odd. She could also almost feel the electricity in the air around her as she reached the window and looked outside. Maria would have found the sky beautiful if she hadn’t thought like a hunter out of Supernatural. The greens, blues, yellows, reds, and purples all seemed to blend together in odd ways as they danced across the night sky. Several shooting stars, which were meteors, streaked across the horizon. Her mind raced with questions: what the hell was happening? 

The power then went out in the entire city before a bright, blinding white light shined everywhere for a second, then it was gone, as was the aurora borealis, and the power was back on. Maria’s heart was pounding in her chest, and it felt like it was hard to breathe while the hair on the back of her neck stood on end, and goosebumps ran down her body. 

Can’t sleep now, she thought to herself as she walked into her tiny kitchen, retrieving a bottle of whiskey and a glass before sitting back in front of her laptop. She poured herself a glass, but when she went to go back to her fanfic, it wasn’t there. Most of her personal information from the thing was gone, almost as if it didn’t exist. She spent the next hour attempting to figure out what had happened and why her things were missing, including her favorite fanfic sites that she had written for numerous times. 

She sighed through her nose before taking another drink of her whiskey, it no longer lightly burning the back of her throat as she was halfway through it.

Great, what the hell was that damn light, she thought to herself.

She got back on her laptop and attempted to search it out, knowing someone had to have captured it with their phone, but she found nothing. That was when she noticed the date on the bottom right corner of her laptop, 9/16/2008.

“That’s not even possible…” her voice trailed off as she stared at the date. It was supposed to be October 31, 2022. 

Maria believed in the older beliefs, where things started, and knew that All Hallow’s Eve allowed the veil between the world of the living and dead to be thinner than usual. Still, she had never really put a lot of faith in much of any religion in her life. 

“Could it really have taken me back in time, and if so, why am I still the same as I was?” Maria’s mind raced.

She went back to her laptop and attempted to look herself up. Why not right, just to see, but there was no record of her, her parents, or her family anywhere online, not even on social media. She leaned back in her chair, sipping her whiskey, perplexed and puzzled. Her father’s law firm didn’t even appear on a single search. Her drink was gone, so at this point, she just began drinking from the bottle but didn’t even realize that she didn’t feel any buzz; her mind was too distracted by what had happened. She continued looking for anything online, even friends she used to talk to, but found no record of them either.

According to the time on the bottom right corner of her laptop, it was only nine at night. Her head was spinning, but it wasn’t from the alcohol. She hadn’t noticed that all her contacts in her phone were gone; the photos that had once held pictures of her with her family and friends had completely vanished, as had the tattoo of a black cat on the front of her left shoulder. It wouldn’t even make any sense to her until the morning, and she had no idea. 

Maria had finished her bottle of whiskey, mostly frustrated at losing her writing but also at the fact that she couldn’t find any information she had been looking for to figure out what had happened with the aurora borealis, the short power outage, and that bright light. She spent another hour online, still looking for some shred of anything to ease her worrying mind, but still found nothing before she finally called it a night, crawling into her bed and sleeping.

Her dreams were always the same, at least this last year; they were of Supernatural and Dean, of the fanfics she had written and ones she still had yet to write. She had no nightmares, just her fantasies playing out while she slept.

----------------------------------------- Chapter 3 - S4E1

Dimensional Shift Master List

Main Master List

[singdreamchild]

A Match Made in Hell || Cassius & Owen

Location: A seedy bar

Timing: September 17th, nighttime

Parties: Owen (@apaininyourneck) & Cassius (@singdreamchild)

Summary: Cassius goes to the bar and runs into a slayer and makes a spur of the moment decision that leaves them both wishing they had other options.

Content warning: Alcohol, brief mentions of suicidal ideation

It was late, later than most people went out drinking. That’s how Cassius found himself at a bar close to closing at a random bar, leaning back on the bar stool, sipping a bloody mary. As usual, he was dressed in all black. Skinny black jeans, chunky combat boots, and a black band t-shirt with a leather jacket thrown over it. His hair had grown past his shoulders. He had stopped caring about its length. He had forgone the black makeup, not able to be bothered with putting it on. Sometimes, it was better not to attract unwanted stares. He had been there for a bit when he noticed the man sitting in the corner booth, and his eyes instantly narrowed. That hunter that had tried to kill him. The hunter would have killed him if Richard hadn’t shown up like some kind of divine intervention. 

He bit down on his lower lip, brows furrowing as he stared at the hunter. Cassius turned to the bartender and ordered another drink, then took his liquid courage to walk over to the guy. Once he walked over to the hunter, he simply stood across from him so he’d look directly into his line of sight. Head tilting to the side, Cassius’s eyes narrowed as he stared the volatile stranger down. “So you do have something to do out of attempting to end people’s lives.” He spoke, voice clipped and accusatory. “Not that I call drinking alone a good hobby to pursue, but.” He shrugged his shoulders, swirling his drink in the glass. “I seem to find myself doing the same thing anyway.” Before he could be told to fuck off, Cassius slid into the booth across from the slayer, the vampire’s gaze piercing into the slayer’s.

—

Drinking alone was never done with the intention of ending the night alone. Every once in a while, there came a point where Owen had grown bored of his current list of people to rotate through, or they had gotten too clingy, or forced him to cut all ties by being a bitch that showed up injured to a fight. Besides, scoping out new faces was never boring except on nights like tonight, where the pickings were slim and the slayer found himself a few drinks in with no one interesting to talk to. Even the apps were letting him down tonight and he’d been close to calling it quits for the nights, perhaps giving one of the clingies one last call, when that faint crawl over his skin grew more invasive. 

Tilting his head up from the phone screen, a grin spread over his face. Not the evening he’d planned for but definitely interesting. “People is a bit generous, isn’t it?” His head cocked to match the vampire’s, sizing him up. He looked a lot less pathetic now than that night in the woods, face set in some inscrutable expression and to Owen’s surprise, the creature sat down. “Sure you wanna do that? Doesn’t look like your master is here to bail you out like last time.” There had been a thought of trying to track down this vampire, get some more information on the elder vampire and here it was, being served to him on a platter. 

—

Cassius gave the slayer a mirthless smile as he insinuated that he, as a vampire, was less than human. Perhaps he was right. Perhaps he was lower than human. A monster, that’s what he was, right? What everyone who didn’t understand insisted that he was? So, he needed blood to survive. How was it any different than a person who decided to eat meat? What of the animals or whatever? He tapped a finger against the glass before him, expressionless blue eyes meeting the hunter’s green. 

“Master, owner, past lover, thorn in my side.” Cassius waved a hand like the idea of Richard was inconsequential to him. Deep down, he wanted him to be. He hated how the idea of his sire got under his skin and dug at him. He hated that he missed the bastard. Most of all, he hated that he didn’t want the man dead. He should, by all reason, want him to be dead. After all, now that he was an elder vampire, what was stopping him from using the younger vampire to do his bidding? When was not getting what he wanted not good enough for him anymore?

Cassius hid the shudder that ran down his spine at the idea, then steepled his fingers in front of him. “He’s fled like the coward he is.” The vampire said simply, picking up his glass and gazing at the ice as if it bored him, swirling it a bit and taking a swig, then putting it back down, one of his silver rings clinking against the glass as he set it down. Perhaps he had drunk one too many. Perhaps he had simply given up on himself completely. Perhaps it was both. The vampire flicked the glass before him with boredom before letting his gaze fall back onto the slayer. 

“He has three slayers after him. Well,” he stopped, tilting his head to the side as he recalled what his sire had informed him of before all but disappearing again. “He did.” Cassius corrected himself with a shrug. “They’re all dead now.” That same deadened smile crossed his face, then disappeared. He then leaned in a bit, a brow raising as he spoke. “He’s one rejection away from controlling my every move.” He said, casting his gaze to the rest of the bar as if expecting the elder vampire to simply appear in the bar. “I want him disposed of. I’ll even help.” 

Cassius’s face suddenly lit up as if the idea of finally being rid of the one thing that made him weak would set him free, relieve himself of the invisible chains he wore when it came to that damned man—the man who was now disfigured. The man who had abandoned him left him to rot for all he cared. A snarl overtook the vampire's face, then reset to a cool neutral. “But he’s a nasty old bastard.” He then added on, pointing a clawed black nail toward the slayer. “But I know his weakness.”

—

Continuing this unexpected theme of Owen not needing to work for things in the slightest, the vampire blurted out information like the two of them were lifelong friends. Being in a relationship with your sire definitely sounded like a fucked up concept to the slayer, who currently rested his chin on his hand and listened with hidden enthusiasm. Getting romanced by an elder vampire who by all regards killed you wasn’t a lovely walk in the park, then? Owen never would have guessed. 

The vampire’s swig was mirrored by Owen, more so from habit than an actual need for more alcohol. Focus settled more clearly in green eyes at the mention of slayers, who had lost their lives trying to catch up with the abomination in question. “Sounds like a fun challenge,” Owen finally spoke, meaning every word. The easy kills did tend to get a bit boring from time to time. And then there it was. The real reason the vampire had set down, whether he had consciously known it or not. A deal, of sorts. 

“Well, well. Looks like someone left their boring as fuck conscience at the door,” Owen cooed, straightening in his seat. If his interest hadn’t been fully caught before, it was now. Finishing off his drink, he shook the ice cubes in the empty glass at the bartender, gesturing for two more to be delivered. It was clear on the vampire’s face that he didn’t exactly like his own idea and to be fair, neither did Owen. His skin crawled at the thought, and not just because of the blood sucker’s presence, of working with a vampire. There had only ever been one he had worked with and a promise made to never scoop so low again. 

The reward of killing an elder was tempting, though. 

“Why would I trust you? Better yet, why would you trust me? How do you know I won’t just settle for staking your grungy ass the second you turn your back?” 

The vampire bristled at the slayer’s words, it wasn’t that he didn’t have a conscience, it was that it wasn’t helping him get done what he needed done. Every time Cassius killed someone to keep himself alive, his mind screamed at him. Everything in him had hated what he had become. But that wasn’t important. What was important was getting back at the bastard that keeps trying to waltz in and out of his life like a revolving door. He stared down at his glass before draining the contents after the slayer motioned for another round of drinks. 

By no means did Cassius want this. In fact, he’d like nothing more than to move towns again and start over from square one. Maybe somewhere that’s overcast a lot, maybe he’d go back to London. Then again, it was hard to prove citizenship to somewhere that called you dead back in 1851. No, whether he liked it or not, he found himself bound to this place. Too many strange occurrences happened that seemed to get swept under the rug. He was safest here, much to his chagrin. 

“Oh, you shouldn’t trust me.” Cassius spoke after the bartender had brought over their drinks. “Nor do I trust you.” He tapped his finger against the rim of his old glass, staring down at the ice for a moment before letting his gaze drift upwards to the slayer’s. “But I can’t kill an elder vampire on my own, and nor can you.” He crossed his arms over his chest, lofting a brow as if issuing a challenge. “And I know you can’t do this without me because I’m the bait. And one whiff of something wrong, and he’d be gone.” He frowned, shaking his head as he leaned back in the seat. Richard was a lot of things, but he wasn’t an idiot. 

There was always the possibility that the slayer would turn on him the second Richard was taken care of. Of course, he knew that. “You could,” Cassius said simply with a nod of his head. “But I’ll simply have to cross that bridge when we get to it.” He sighed, sitting upright more in his seat. “Look, he’s hunting you. I know he is.” He leaned forward as he spoke. “He’s a dumbass that will do anything to keep me safe and by his side. You threaten all his hard work.”

At the very least, they seemed to be on the same page regarding trust. Owen would disembowel himself with a rusty knife before making the mistake of trusting a vampire again. Annoyingly, the vampire proved to be correct on more than the suspicion between the two. This proposal was beneficial to both of them, to a point of almost being necessary it sounded like. If this elder was truly on Owen’s tail then he hadn’t noticed it. That in itself was a big problem. Even as reckless and overconfident as he was, Owen wasn’t stupid enough to think he stood a chance against an elder on his own. Especially not if he got caught by surprise. 

The prickling of his skin, the way his fingers tingled with the need for action, enhanced every time the vampire leaned in closer. It was a tough battle, keeping himself from recoiling back or reaching over to slam the damn thing’s head into the table. Owen reached for his fresh glass instead, emptying more than half of it before he finally spoke. “I can and most definitely will. Might give you a headstart depending on how much you annoy me through all of this.” 

This was a bad idea, and not the fun kind that made his heart race with anticipation. No, this was working with a vampire of all things and the mere thought of it made his throat burn with the taste of acid. Using a vampire… that was the kind of phrasing he could stomach better. “You sure you wanna make this deal with me? Plenty of bleeding heart slayers out there who could risk their lives for your sorry ass.” Forcing away the discomfort, Owen leaned across the table. “Or did you maybe enjoy getting your ass kicked? You definitely dress like bottom material so maybe I shouldn’t be surprised.”

There was a large part of Cassius that wouldn’t mind if the slayer took him out as soon as the deed had been done. To finally be free of undeath? To get the death he was cheated out of all those years ago? Part of him reveled in the idea. Part of him liked being what he was. He was at constant war with himself regarding the idea of dying. 

Cassius saw the way the slayer kept looking at him. He knew he was resisting the urge to end him right then and there. The fact that he wasn’t proved his own point. “Lovely, a game of cat and mouse to raise your already high blood pressure.” The vampire hummed to himself, letting his eyes scan over the man in front of him. With as angry as this man seemed to be – and it certainly seemed like he couldn’t turn it off ever– it wouldn’t surprise him in the slightest if he had the world’s worst blood pressure. 

Did he want to make this deal? He was asking to walk into the jaws of death. To walk into something that there was no coming back from. He either moved far away after this, or he ended up dead. Cassius stared down at his drink, thinking about it for a long moment. “I need a slayer that isn’t afraid to kill.” He then said, gaze hardening. “And I know you’re not.” He pointed a painted fingernail at him for emphasis. 

He then blinked, taking the jab towards him in stride. He then gave a simple smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “You say bottom like it’s a bad thing, darling,” you’re spoke plainly, the smile dropping from his face the second the words were spoken. “Come now, you’re no better with that stick you have shoved up your ass.”

As far as reasoning went, needing someone cold-hearted and deciding Owen fit the criteria wasn’t too dumb. The vampire was definitely working with a ‘high risk, high reward’ attitude or, more likely, desperation. The slayer wasn’t quite as desperate for this team-up which did make the idea of it slightly less appalling. Even so, he did smack the offending finger away with a hell of lot more force than was strictly necessary. 

Reluctantly, Owen had to give kudos in the way his dig garnered no real response aside from a blank smile. And delivering a pet name to boot. Ballsy. It was almost enough to make him forget what he was talking to. “I’ll take that as you enjoying the beating even more than I did, then.” And he grinned, the first real expression portrayed since the unwanted company had taken their seat. Because he was acting like a stuck up bitch about this, wasn’t he? Many slayers worked with creatures of varying kinds, even the undead, to get what they wanted. Why shouldn’t he take advantage of this pathetically desperate goth man to take down an elder vampire?

“It’s not a stick, actually, but good guess,” he sighed, shameless suggestion tainting the words as he finally allowed himself to relax, made much easier with the last swig of drink finally working its magic. “Alright, Cullen. I’ll help you kill your asshole of a dom.”

Cassius blinked a few times at the ‘not a stick’ comment, having half a mind to let out a deep sigh. He knew well what he was getting into and where it could lead. But the desire to be genuinely free overrode any discomfort from working with a slayer who would like nothing more than to see him dead. He’d have to plan an escape for after Richard was dealt with, and the sooner, the better. He had a shaky plan in place, one of which involved running like his life depended on it to lose the slayer and then move far away from Wicked’s Rest. He didn’t like moving around, not when he had a say in it, but it was necessary. When your employee works for you for ten years and looks exactly the same as the day they started, people start to ask questions. Questions he couldn’t answer.

Rolling his eyes at the sudden nickname, the vampire gave the slayer a forced smile. “Cassius.” He then corrected, picking up the new glass before him and taking a swig from its contents. He supposed if they were going to have to work together, the guy might at least know his name. He was a dead man either way, right? 

It took a lot to get the vampire drunk, being as he was. But he had drank before coming to the bar to make sure it actually took its effect on him. He was starting to feel the liquor do its work. Leaning back in his seat, he looked around the bar. “Well, then.” He spoke bluntly, raising to his feet awkwardly and grabbing the drink he had yet to finish. “I suppose we’ll be in touch.”

Owen took pride in being a sore loser, mostly because he made sure that losing rarely took place. Winning was so much more fun anyway, even when the competition part was completely unspoken. Case and point, the vampire only managing a single comeback before resigning to a defeated sigh. So much for that attitude they’d brought to the table but honestly, tall, blonde and brooding should have had some idea of who he was dealing with at this point. 

The name seemed fitting for whatever persona this man had created for himself, even though Owen would have been fine with spending the rest of their reluctantly shared moments coming up with new nicknames. “Owen. Or master, whichever works best for you.” The fun thing about desperate people? It was really hard for them to back out no matter how shit the circumstances they found themselves in. So obviously Owen would be antagonizing the vampire every chance possible. 

It seemed that no actual planning would be taking place right now, Cassius deciding suddenly to get to his feet. Owen leaned back, head tilted to meet the disdainful expression, the other’s inebriation clearly mirrored on his own face. “Just to be clear, my contact information is for vampire killing discussions only. No late night begging for another beating. Not in the business of pleasuring vampires.” There was a slight chance he was pushing his luck but the little inhibition he usually possessed was left at the bottom of that last glass. 

He knew the bastard’s name. Going from almost murdered by him to forming a horrifying alliance with his would-be killer was most assuredly the worst idea Cassius has had yet. With half-lidded eyes, the vampire raised his brows at the notion of calling the guy anything but his name. He shuddered at the thought. “Not happening, Owen, it is.” Cassius gulped down the rest of his drink and set the glass on the table, then let out a heavy sigh. “You’re going to have to work a lot harder than that if you try to annoy me to death.”  He didn’t want to plan now. He had to find his sire first, see where he decided to hide out. Every fiber of his being screamed at the idea of working with this slayer, he had been inches away from death the last time he saw him, and yet there he was. The perfect opportunity to kill the bastard that kept Cassius in the shadows, who had sentenced him to an eternity of damnation. He grit his teeth, shaking his head slowly. “Trust me, you are not the company I intend on seeking.” He replied with a plastered fake smile. “I have to figure out where he’s hiding first. Then I’ll be in touch.” With that, Cassius walked over to the bar to close his tab, then slipped out into the night with a terrible idea now squared away in his mind.

[lenaswritingandstuff]

To Love Him (I Don't Know How) [2012 JCS!Jesus x fem!reader] (Chap. II)

Requested: No Yes, by God​

Pairing: JCS!Jesus (Ben Forster version) x fem!reader

Summary: Reader wants and prays to see "the man with a lot of followers and who does miracles" as soon as possible, and for the first time in months, God answers her prayer - and possibly more.

Warnings: This is long as hell; English is not my first language

Wordcount: 2.7K

A/N: Here comes the second - and very long - chapter. Even though I already have an end for this story, I don't know yet what trope I'll use between slow burn or "fell in love very quickly" (cause I don't imagine this story having more than 20 chapters - MAXIMUM). If you have a preference or another idea, please let me know! I'm all ears :) Also, I have also posted this story on Ao3 but with an fem OC instead of a Reader insert, you can find it here. Hope you like it! GIF IS MINE. Take care xxx

Previous Chapter

Your mother held your arm all the way back home, and it was obvious she was still mad at you. You found that you did not care, your thoughts completely focused on whether you’d be able to see the man with followers and hear his voice again. And meet his eyes again. The sun was setting when you arrived in front of the shop – and, above it, the apartment you and your parents lived in. You were getting close to the door when suddenly, you noticed a young man with big, blue eyes and light brown hair which was shaved on both sides of his head. He was wearing a black leather jacket and his other clothes were of a very similar kind as those worn by the most of the preaching man’s followers. He was leaning against the wall, not so far away from the shop, with his phone in his hand and you stared at him, trying to understand what he was doing here. He seemed to make sure not to return your gaze – but for some reason you knew he saw you. By some kind of miracle, your mother didn’t notice him and simply opened the shop’s door. Once in, you took off your jacket and directly went to the back of the shop, not waiting for the rant you knew your mother would make. You went up the wooden stairs, opened the door of the apartment with your key and the rant started when you entered your home.

“Preferred listening to a mad man… rather to pray in the home of our Lord…” you heard your mother say. “Almost sinful…. A shame…”

You already were in the living-room when she caught up with you, angrier than earlier.

“You won’t eat tonight, little insolent”, she spat. “If it was up to me, you wouldn’t eat for two days. Pray the Lord to forgive you.”

You were not hungry at the moment, and even if you were, you had this feeling you wouldn’t care whether you were allowed to eat food or not. Not answering your mother, you went to your room and laid down on your bed. You were still thinking about the man with followers and the thought of possibly not seeing or hearing him again was starting to make both angry, frustrated, and somehow sad. I should have gone to him and ask where I could hear him again, you thought, angry at yourself. You wondered how it would be to hear him speak of other topics. To hear him speak of anything and everything. To see him move his hands as he talks and feel their touch, to look at his face, and have the green of his eyes stare back at me. You didn’t know for how long you stayed in your room like this but you were brought back to reality by the sound of the main’s door closing. You heard your father’s voice and then your mother’s, and five minutes later, someone knocked on your door.

“y/n? Can I come in?”

“Sure.”

You knew it was your father before he even spoke, because your mother never cared to knock on your bedroom’s door before coming in. Your father, so different from your mother with his calm eyes and sincere smile, came to you as you sat on your bed and bent to kiss your forehead.

“Are you well, my girl?”

“Yes, dad. And you? Were you able to help your friend?”

“Oh, yes. It was nothing serious.”

“Happy to hear it,” you said with sincerity.

Your father suddenly sighed and his eyes as well as his face became a little more serious.

“Your mother told me of what happened.”

You lowered your head. You were close to your father, who were much more understanding than your mother, and hated the thought of disappointing him.

“I’m sorry,” you said. “I meant to go the Temple, I really did, but I…I just lost focus. I shall pray God for His mercy and…I promise never to forget again. I know what I did is serious.”

But your father shook his head.

“That’s what your mother thinks. Make her think you repent, stay put for a few days and she will forget really easily all of this.”

“You’re not mad?” you asked, a bit surprised.

Your father rarely was angry and he did not have the same definition as “bad”, “sin”, and “serious” as your mother, but he still had principles. He shook his head again, raising his shoulders.

“Nah. You think everybody who, at one point, forgot to go to the Temple for a day is doomed to go to Hell? Well, I don’t. Otherwise, the Devil better start asking for rents.”

You couldn’t help but smile, and you father smiled back.

“God is generous and merciful. Pray for his mercy tonight before sleeping and I can promise you your soul is saved.”

You smiled again and he came closer to mess your hair, just like he did when you were little.

“Your mother told me dinner is ready. Let’s go.”

“I cannot eat tonight,” you said. “As a punishment.”

Your father looked at you for a second and then turned around towards your door.

“Close the shutters before coming.”

You couldn’t help but smile, got up to walk to your bedroom’s only window. You opened it and when you bent over to close the shutters, you saw that the young man was still here, now standing against a wall on the opposite side of the street. He looked at you, took out his phone from his pocket and left in the dark.

*-*

Your mother wasn’t obviously happy with your father canceling your punishment, but she didn’t make any remarks during dinner, simply keeping silence and giving you cold gazes. After dinner, you decided to directly go to bed – well, as far as your parents knew – and kissed your father on the cheek before going to your room. You sat on the bed, and remembering what your mother said earlier, you grabbed your phone and looked up on the internet to have more information about the man and his followers. It was easy, as he seemed to get a lot of attention. The first thing you learned was – at last – his name. Jesus. Jesus. A beautiful name, you thought while a half-smile appeared on your face. His numerous followers – thousands of them, apparently – were very active and had several slogans – “Follow the 12” was one of their mains mottos – and you wondered the meaning it could have when you saw another of their slogans. “Rome lie”. He is bolder and more followed than the others, you thought, both scared and admirative. Most people who go around claiming to be special never attack Rome.

However, only some of his followers called him special. Most of them called him “blessed”, “generous” for the way he did miracles – giving sight to a blind man, make a cripple whole again – and give food and money to the poor and cripples. After two hours of looking for information and watching videos of him gaining followers and preaching, you kneeled on the floor to pray. You prayed to God for forgive you for not going to the Temple today, prayed for your father’s health and happiness and prayed to see the man again soon. Please let it be soon. You went back to your bed, put some pajamas on and feel asleep with the image of the man – Jesus – smiling and his eyes shining. And it didn’t stop there – how could it have stopped? – as you spent the entire night dreaming of him smiling at you, holding your hands in the most tender manner, gently kissing one while closing his eyes. He opened his shiny green eyes, and his face suddenly seemed to come closer to yours, as if he wanted to whisper something to you, and then a noise woke you up.

You listened to see what kind of noise it was but only silenced answered you. You sighed and stretched, annoyed that an imaginary noise woke you up from sleep, but all of a sudden the noise came back, short and low. There was a silence for maybe a minute and then, the same noise again. You sat in your bed, and heard the noise once again, louder this time. You turned your head and realized it was coming from your window.

Someone is throwing pebbles at my window.

You quickly got up and almost ran to open the window and then the shutters. The sun was barely raising up in the sky, and when you lowered your eyes you saw only one person – Jesus’ follower who were already there last night. Him again?! You were too focused – and still too sleepy – to say anything, but it didn’t last long until he smiled at you, some pebbles still in his hands.

“Good day, miss,” he said, his voice too loud for your liking – this fool is gonna wake my parents up. “The name’s Simon. I’m sorry to wake you up so early and in such an impolite manner, but my Master has sent me to ask you something.”

“‘Your Master’?” you repeated, both amused and a bit confused. “You mean Jesus?”

“Yes,” the young man nodded.

“What does he want to know?” you asked, feeling both happy and a bit scared on why the man who did miracles would want anything to do with you.

“You seemed interested in his words yesterday,” Simon answered. “He wants to know if you’d like to hear him again today.”

You blinked, and stood still for a second.

“Yes,” you whispered, trying to contain your joy. “Of course I would. Where?”

Simon smiled.

“Let’s say the same place as yesterday. Can you come in the middle of the afternoon?”

You nodded. “Yes.”

“Wonderful,” he said. “I’ll see you there then. Sorry again for waking you up.”

“Do no worry.”

Still smiling, he bid you goodbye with a polite nod of the head, and left. Closing your window, you thanked God that your parents didn’t wake up and that He, for the first time in months now, finally answered your prayers. You quickly dressed up and went to prepare breakfast, hoping seeing you awake so early would make your mother less angry. You eat your part, and your mother came into the kitchen shortly after. She observed the table you set in the way she liked, and said nothing but her eyes could not hide the fact that was satisfied. You filled her plate, and your father then arrived, went to kiss your hair, and you filled his plate as well.

“May I go to the Temple this afternoon?” you asked with a gentle tone. “The full afternoon, actually.”

“As you wish,” your mother said. “It’s a good idea, after all.”

You met your father’s eyes and he winked, saying “Good job”.

“Thank you, mom. I want to apologize again for what I did yesterday. I never meant not to go to pray, and even less to upset or shame you.”

Your mother looked at you, surprised and a bit suspicious at the same time, and rapidly concluded you were sincere and nodded.

“I’m glad you repented.”

“As I am.”

You rose from your chair, and went down the stair to prepare the shop for the day. Your mother followed you moments after, and you spent the morning welcoming customers, secretly hoping one of Jesus’ followers to come in too. When you weren’t discussing with a customer – and it happened a lot as your mother liked to be the one to discuss with them – your eyes were focused on the shop’s windows, hoping to at least see Jesus of his followers walk in the street. You waited the entire morning, and almost lost hope when you recognized Simon and what seems to be several other followers pass by. Some of them looked at the shop and then quickly said a rapid sentence to Simon, who nodded, also looking at the shop. You ate with your parents at the back of the shop – In case a customer would come – and quickly finished your plate. Your mother gave you a confused look but said nothing, and you grabbed a jacket.

“I’ll be at the Temple if you need me.”

One your way there, you greeted neighbors or acquaintances and finally reached the Temple. You kneeled and prayed there, and while you did pray with the utmost sincerity and humility, this was the afternoon you ever lived. You prayed for the poor, the sick and the humble, for your parents’ health and happiness, but you prayed that today wouldn’t be the last time you heard and saw Jesus – after all, you didn’t know where he planned on leaving town – and also for his success and safety. After praying to have another destiny than the one your parents planed for you, you finally rose. Your knees were sore but you didn’t care. You almost ran out of the Temple, and headed to the same place as where you saw Jesus yesterday.

As you expected, there was a lot of people gathered, but the blond man and the woman with feathers in her hair weren’t there. You first noticed Simon, who waved at you even though you were on the other end of the street, and you felt both nervous and happy as you approached the group, but the nervousness escaped your body as soon as you heard Jesus’ voice. Simon gestured to you to come and stand next to him, and you accepted with a grateful smile. Beside him there was another young woman with straight long, red hair put in a side ponytail. Her hand was in Simon’s and she offered you a kind smile with her mouth painted in blue – she looked gorgeous. You stood on the other side of Simon, and followed his eyes. Jesus was there, with the same long dark blue coat, speaking on equality and compassion this time and still meeting everyone’s gaze, and he didn’t take much time for his eyes to meet yours. You forgot to breathe for a second, and felt your cheeks becoming hotter. If his followed were solely listening to him yesterday, this time Simon spoke too, asking Jesus about his preaching. You could see he didn’t completely agree with what Jesus said, but he was still respectful – yet there was, you felt, a bit of anger and a sort of fire within him. But Jesus, far from being offended, listened to Simon talk, nodding even and answered him to explain his view in more detail. But for your great surprise, Jesus’ preaching didn’t last long, and after barely an hour, he thanked everyone. Just like yesterday, his followers packed their bags and dispersed. The girl with red hair warmly introduced herself to you – her name was Eden – and then followed Simon on his way to the end of the street. There was no one left except for Jesus and you, as all his followers were now far into the street, waiting for him. You were gathering your courage to ask him when he was planning on leaving but he looked at you, had a little, shy smile and stepped closer to you.

“I’m glad you could come again, miss.”

“As I am. Thank you for inviting me. Listening to you…was really inspiring.”

The more you heard him speak, the more you agreed with him.

The man looked at you, and his smile grew.

“I’m glad you think so. Yesterday, I couldn’t help but notice you seemed really interested in our views but that your mother, forgive me, did not seem happy about you being here.”

“There is nothing to forgive. You’re right, she wasn’t. Her and I have… different views, that is all.”

Jesus slightly nodded, and you noticed compassion in his eyes.

“May I ask,” you said after clearing your throat, “when you plan on leaving?”

“We’re…We’re leaving in two days.”

“Oh.”

Jesus’ eyes filled with regret, and you felt your heart drop. Two days. Two days already.

“I asked Simon to come to your home and ask you to come today on my behalf,” Jesus suddenly said, “because I needed to see you before asking you another thing. I needed to see if you were still as interested in our views and teachings.”

He says “our”, never “my”. 

“What is… that second thing?” you asked, the sadness only leaving a small place for curiosity in your being.

Jesus seemed to hesitate and think for a moment, lowering his head for a moment before looking back at you again.

“Do you wish, by any chance, to leave this place and come with us?”

Want to be added to my tag-list? Just use my Ask-Box!

Masterlist

[unnamable-lee]

Yknow what, what the heck ill post it. ignore the bad character dialogue

Sudden Return

~~~

HFJONE -- Lee!Taylor Ler!Charise -- Does contain ship content -- WC: 1065

~~~

“At least here stuff… happens. Back home, it’s just more of the same. Wake up, go to school, go to work, go home and go to sleep. I–I just wish I–” The buzz of a run down AC system wisped past Taylor. Bright green grass was replaced with the deep blue of her apartment mattress. In shock, the magazine frantically looked around. Everything looked the same all the way down to the tears and scratch mark on the walls. Even her phone still lay on the ground. Missed call and text notifications covered her lock screen as Taylor picked her phone up to check the date. Two days had passed since she vanished onto the plane.

Taylor scrolled through her notifications. “Missed call, missed call, missed call, and so many texts from Charise and mom,” she mumbled to herself. She tapped one of the missed call notifications from Charise and waited. The ring of the phone made the tension swell by the second. Finally, her girlfriend had answered the phone.

“Alright who is this? This better not be some sick prank. You know how I feel about–”

“Charise! Charise it’s me, Taylor.”

“...No it’s not,” the stocking hesitated. Her skepticism was understandable. Two days of radio silence just to suddenly come back isn’t something that just happens. “There’s no way this is Taylor. C’mon. Who is it really?” she tried to hold back tears.

“Please Char, I’m being serious. It’s me. Come to my apartment and you can see me in the flesh.”

“Facetime me first. I’m not about to get killed tonight,” the girl’s voice was shaky. Taylor transferred over to a video call, giving the camera a soft grin before being met with an ended call. Hopefully Charise was just excited.

```

A cacophony of loud banging on the door and a desperate shout could be heard past Taylor’s apartment wall. This was sure to get a noise complaint. Taylor opened the door and was instantly slammed into the floor in a bear hug tighter than any hug she’d experienced before. Charise let faint sobs slip from her as she cuddled closer to her girlfriend. Returning the favor, Taylor wrapped her arms around the knitted stocking. A few minutes had passed before Charise managed to squeak words out, “Where the hell did you go? You vanished out of nowhere when we were talking on the phone, but now you’re suddenly back. Are you okay? Are you hurt at all?”

“Everything’s good, Char. I promise, but I don’t think you’d believe anything I’m about to tell you,” Charise lifted herself up to stare Taylor in the eyes.

“Why would that be? I mean, what happened was already unbelievable enough. It can’t get worse.”

“Oh but it sure can,” Taylor continued on to explain the honestly horrific story of where she went, yet she managed to keep it lighthearted with little sound effects and her usual slang. Whether it be watching someone watch a baby get impaled by a wood pole or flying off said pole, Taylor did her best not to make it too serious despite the darkness of what had happened. “That Bassy person still freaks me out a ton. It was so fucking creepy.”

“Yeah, that doesn’t sound fun at all. I do have to ask, are you sure you weren’t on anything?”

“Charise, you know I don’t dabble with those types of things.”

“I don’t know; that whole story felt like a whole trip, even to me!” The two laughed together as they got up and lay on the creaky, springboard mattress. Eventually, the room fell silent as the two objects lay next to each other to simply enjoy the other's presence. Charise would look over to Taylor every now and again before darting her eyes back to a different part of the small apartment when the magazine tried to look back.

“Do you need something, dear?” Taylor asked as the quick glances became more obvious.

“Oh I just– I was wondering if I could–” Charise cut herself off and placed her palms over her face, “I was wondering if I could do the thing,” she peeked through her hands to see a stupefied Taylor looking back. “Sorry, it’s okay if you don’t want to. You just came back. I just thought since it cheers both of us up that–” Taylor placed a finger on Charise’s mouth.

“Yes, Char. You can do the thing,” it would be nice. After spending two days on a weird mystery planet, doing something with Charise felt like the best way to forget about it all. “Just try not to wake anybody UP–” Taylor was abruptly cut off by nimble fingers bouncing around her pages.

“Ha! Tickle monster has got you now! God your smile is adorable,” the stocking teases as she continues to fiddle with Taylor’s sides. The poor girl was giggling like crazy; she didn’t want to wake any of the neighbors up.

“Chahahar you bihihtch!” Taylor cursed between frantic giggles. Charise gasped in offense.

“How dare you use that language around me! This calls for drastic measures.”

“Waihihit ChAAHHAR–” Charise’s hands had gone to where Taylor’s hips would be, softly kneading at the spot. Taylor couldn’t keep quiet anymore, so she’d apologize to her neighbors later. “HEHEY NOOHOHO FAIHIR!”

“Yes fair, Tay-tay. Say sorry, and then I’ll let you go,” teased Charise as she knew what the answer would be.

“NEHEHEVER!”

“Oh well. I guess I’ll have to pull out my secret weapon,” just as fast as she had declared, Charise began to scribble her fingers all over Taylor’s stomach. Of course, this resulted in Taylor snort laughing. “There it is! There’s the real laugh of my beautiful golden girl.”

“SHUUHUHUT OKAY I’M SOHORY,” Taylor shrieked between snorts and laughter. The stocking slowed down her pace before eventually stopping her attack. For now. As one final blow, Charise took in a deep breath and laid a raspberry in the middle of Taylor’s stomach. Letting out her last few laughs, Taylor hugged herself and rolled around the bed. Residue giggles escaped Taylor as Charise cuddled up next to the tuckered out girl.

“Never vanish out of thin air again, alright? You made me worried sick.”

“I won’t make any promises,” Taylor shook her fist in the dusty air seemingly directed at a certain someone. The couple giggled a final time before drifting off to sleep.

[eyesoverinfinity]

Hitman/Left 4 Dead crossover part 2

I'm not sure how much the Hitman and Left 4 dead fandoms mix, but I've noticed that 'The Blue Streak' suit looks an awful lot like Nick's suit. I mean......

I can't be the only one that see's this right?

Hell, this is probably what Nick's suit looked like before the green flu!

But, since I made an Au about it, I may as well write a bit.

------------------------------------//-------------------------------------

47 was siting at on a table in a outdoor eating area closest to the edge of the estate, his current target was throwing a huge party to celebrate a business deal that was going to happen. if this deal went ahead it would be incredibly bad for the client, and since this the deal was a cover to give away quite sensitive data on the current government activates, it could lead to links with ICA being found. That wouldn't stand.

The target themself had yet to get to the area, and 47 had already taken time to scout out possible exit points for if he needed to leave in a hurry. So for now? he was just waiting, biding his time.

His phone rang, which wasn't normally something that happened but he took it in stride as he did with most things.

"hel-"

"47 YOU STOLE MY %^&*ING SUIT!" It was Nickolas Moore, otherwise known as:

"Agent Ace." 47 acknowledged.

"Don't you 'Agent Ace' me, you stole my suit!"

"I was... in a hurry." 47 defended in his constantly monotone voice.

"It was in the dryer of the safe room! You broke into the saferoom me and my team are using to steal my suit!" Yelled Agent Ace, as 47 moved out of the eating area so no one would over hear the conversation.

"And it's the suit your worried about?" 47 asked

"Look, we both know that you can break into anything if you wanted to. I want to know why you broke into an ICA safe room JUST to steal my suit!"

"it was convenient." 47 admitted, he could hear Agent Ace stuttering and trying to find the right words to throw back at at him. He was failing.

47 briefly heard someone else talking on the other end and the phone being handed over to someone else.

"47, this is Agent Coach." Agent Coach was interesting, he asked to be named after his previous profession and seemed to love driving agents lower than him crazy trying to guess his name. The handler of Agent Coach, Ace (and Rider): Rochelle Halloway was in on it too.

"Nick's having a hissy fit so I'll be taking over. Now: I don't condone you breaking into saferooms to steal things and Miss Burnwood will hear about this, but so long as you bring it back in the same condition as you found it. I'll make sure Agent Ace doesn't do more then file a complaint."

"Consider it done." 47 agreed, in truth he was going to have it dry cleaned afterwards anyway.

A fancy car pulled into the carpark next to him.

"I have to go, I've spotted my target."

"Happy Hunting 47." Agent coach hung up.

47 put his phone in his pocket and began to peruse.

------------------------------------///---------------------------------------

and that's what I thought of, If you like it or want to do some of this au yourself, please let me know! I'd love to hear what you come up with!

eyesoverinfinity out!

[alphashley14]

One of Us

A Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated/Mystery Skulls Crossover

<Prev Next>

Chapter Four

Freaking Out

Ricky was so startled at the sight of the furious dog he shouted a curse word and shot out of bed, only he got tangled in the sheets and ended up falling backwards on his ass with his back against the wall, knocking the lamp off the nightstand in the process. So… what ended up coming out of his mouth went something like this: 

“SHIT!” *shoots out of bed* “ What the fuck-” *stumbles* “AAH!” *falls on ass and bangs head* “OW! Fffuck! ” He cursed, rubbing the back of his skull where his noggin had bounced off the wall.

“You’re not Raggy.” The dog growled. 

And that was when Ricky’s wits returned to him. Wait a minute. “Scooby?” And indeed, there was no mistaking the talking great dane with the blue collar. “What the hell are you doing in my-” 

Ricky’s surroundings finally registered in his brain. 

“This… is not my room.” He said dumbly. 

And if Scoobert’s presence and his surroundings were any indication, then that had to mean he was in Norville Rogers’ room, in the Rogers’ Mansion… How and why?

“No. It’s Shaggy’s room!” Scooby snarled, hopping off the bed and advancing menacingly. Oh shit. Ricky scrambled backwards. “And you are not my Shaggy!” 

Ricky was suddenly very aware that in spite of his goofy disposition and friendly yet somewhat cowardly nature, Scooby was still a 160-pound great dane with a bite force of approximately 238 PSI, and was therefore very capable of ripping Ricky’s fragile human body to shreds. Especially if he thought Mr. E was an imminent threat to his beloved owner.

“N-now Scooby,” Ricky said, his back finally hitting the opposite wall, “let’s talk about this! I swear, I have no idea how I ended up in Norville- I mean, Shaggy’s room. But! I will be happy to vacate the premises!”

“Who are you? ” The dog demanded. 

“Who am I? What are you talking about? We’ve met several times. You know who I am!” 

“I know you are not my Shaggy! So who are you?” 

“What-”  That was when Ricky’s eyes fell upon his own hands, held out in front of him defensively. 

Those were not his hands. Or his arms. And this green shirt definitely wasn’t his! Wait a goddamn minute-  

“What the fuck-” Ricky’s hands- whoever’s hands they were- covered his mouth with shock, and all he wanted was to repeat the three words he’d just spoken, because that was when it occurred to him that that was not his voice! 

I need a mirror. Now.

No longer caring about potentially getting eaten, Ricky scrambled to his feet and ran. Past Scooby and through the doorway, not really knowing where he was going, but he was in luck. Shaggy’s attic bedroom came with a bathroom, and he’d just run right into it. Ricky clutched the edge of the sink and looked up into the mirror- 

Right into the terrified eyes of a reflection most definitely that wasn’t his. It belonged to Shaggy Rogers, his counterpart in the latest Mystery Incorporated.

What the actual fuck? 

That’s not me! 

But it is. 

That’s not me! 

It is me. 

BUT HOW?! 

Ricky was not usually a fainter. He’d fainted a couple times quite a few times many times when he was young, scared shitless by the latest monster in the middle of investigations. But he’d grown out of that (he’d grown out of a lot of things) when his best friend had betrayed him and ripped his innocence away. 

So… fainting. Add that to the growing list of things he’d done today that he hadn’t done in 20 years.

༻˚⁺･⚉｡○✼༓☾⦾♫෴♡💛♡෴♫⦾☽༓✼○｡⚉･⁺˚༺

Twenty minutes later, Fred, Daphne, and Velma were pulling up to the Rogers’ residence, summoned there at the early hour of seven thirty in the morning by a panicked phone call from Shaggy’s phone. 

Only it hadn’t been Shaggy on the other end, and Scooby had sounded so freaked out that he was stumbling over his lingo, with R s every other word (he didn’t do that very often anymore), and given such he was nearly unintelligible over the phone. Between the three of them individually translating together and then talking about it on the drive over, they came to the conclusion that it was something along the lines of: “Something’s wrong with Shaggy” and “Something’s in Shaggy.” Also something about either “a monster” or “imposter” . They couldn’t tell, but either way it sounded bad. 

They rang the doorbell, and a very disgruntled Mrs. Rogers let them in, clearly understandably annoyed at being woken up this early on a Saturday. They went upstairs to Shaggy’s room, only to find it in disarray. Hearing a noise from the bathroom, they rushed in to investigate, and this is what they found: Scooby with his hackles raised, growling up at a very freaked out Shaggy, who was in the corner of the bathroom, perched precariously on the edge of the sink in an attempt to stay as far away from Scooby as humanly possible. 

“Scooby!” Daphne cried. “What are you doing?!” 

Her concern and shock was shared by Fred and Velma for good reason: none of them had ever seen Scooby act like this. 

“Scooby, what gives?” Asked Fred, rushing forward to drag the dog back by the collar.

“What in the heck is going on?!” Asked Velma.

“Rat’s not Raggy!” Scooby growled, pulling against Fred’s hold. 

“What do you mean that’s not Shaggy?” 

“Looks like Shaggy to me, Scooby.” Fred grunted through his efforts to hold the massive animal back. 

“Jeepers, Shaggy. Are you alright? Do you have any idea what’s happened to Scooby?” Daphne asked.

“Oh, I’m ffffine.” Shaggy said shakily from his perch on the sink. “Everything’s just fine, because I’ve come to this conclusion that this is uh… a dream. Yes! This is a dream. I drank a lot more last night than I thought, and the alcohol has resulted in a strange and vivid hallucination in which I am for some reason stuck in the body of a sixteen year old boy. And when I wake up, I will be back in my own room, back in my own body, and my life will be terrible, but at least it will make sense.” 

“Come again?” Said Velma dryly. 

“Ha! That is such a Velma response. Right down to the dry and sarcastic sense of humor! Figures that’s exactly what my brain would think you would say to that. Haha! ”

“Norville Shaggy Rogers, if this is your idea of a prank, it’s not funny!” 

“Shaggy, why don’t you get down from the sink, and let’s figure out what’s going on?” Daphne asked, a bit more gently.

“Depends. Will Scooby promise not to maul me first? This may be a dream, but I’d rather not experience that.” 

The rest of the gang looked expectantly at Scooby. 

“Fine.” The dog spat, finally stopping his attempts at lunging. Fred let him go, and Scooby turned around and stalked back into the doorway. “But he had better tell me where the real Shaggy is!” 

“Beats me. But what does it matter? This is just a dream.” 

“Uh, You’re not dreaming.” Fred said. 

“It’s starting to sound more like you’re trying to convince yourself of that than us.” Velma added. 

“Do you need help getting down?” Asked Daphne, noticing his hesitance.

“No.” Shaggy spat in a very un-Shaggy-like way. “I’m just f-INE! OW! Fuck!” Shaggy shouted as he moved his foot just wrong, slipped and fell off of the sink, stumbled off, and banged his head on the floor. (For the third time that morning, little did the three of them know)

“Jeepers! Are you okay?” 

“Shaggy” was rubbing the back of his head, but he didn’t seem overly concerned about the fall. “Shit… that hurt. Oh my god , if I was dreaming that should have woken me up.” He pinched himself on the arm - twice, just to make sure - and then promptly started to hyperventilate. 

“Hey, are you okay?” Velma asked. 

“Velma!” Shaggy cried, looking up at her from where he was sitting on the floor. He scrambled to his feet, looking desperate and thoroughly terrified, and grabbed her by the arms. “Velma, I need you to listen to me. I know you’re the skeptic of the group, and I know you still probably think this is a prank, but I need you to believe me, because I’m having a hard time believing myself! Scooby’s right. I. Am. Not. Shaggy! I am a 37-year-old man trapped in the body of a 16-year-old boy, and this feels so wrong, and I don’t know how this happened, and I’m kind of freaking out!” 

“What I believe is that you hit your head too hard.” Velma scoffed. “This is ridiculous! ‘Shaggy’s been possessed or body-swapped, ha-ha.’ Very funny, but you need to drop this!” 

“Yeah, Shaggy! If this is a prank, then you’re taking it way too far, scaring Scooby like that!” Daphne scolded him.

“It’s not a prank!” The great dane interjected. “That’s not Raggy!” 

“Thank you , Scoobert.” ‘Shaggy’ said pointedly.

That’s when Fred suddenly spoke up. “Wait a minute, gang. Something’s up.”

“What is it, Freddy?” Daphne asked. 

“Velm, I know this is going to sound crazy, but I’m starting to think that might not be Shaggy.” 

“You had better not be in on this too! But for the sake of this charade being over, I’ll humor you. What exactly do you mean by that, Fred?” Velma demanded. 

“Shaggy- he has done a lot of talking in the past few minutes, but he hasn’t said the word ‘like’ even once since we got here.” 

Velma opened her mouth to argue, but then she quickly closed it again. Then she paused to think. 

She couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed, but Fred was right. Shaggy hadn’t said ‘like’ even once. It was his go-to filler word. Even when Velma had tried to get him to stop saying it while they were dating, he hadn’t been able to break the habit and they had quickly accepted it and given up. Even when Shaggy acted (which he couldn’t do particularly well), such as when he was doing it as part of his role as bait during a mystery, or when he’d pretended on stage for Vincent Van Ghoul’s play, he still ended up using the word ‘like’ along with his lines. In all the years Velma had ever known Shaggy, she’d never once heard him speak that many words without using the word ‘like’ over a dozen times. 

Which meant one of two things: he’d broken the habit just for this ridiculous joke, he’d been faking it the entire time, or that wasn’t Shaggy. 

And it wasn’t just “like”. Shaggy’s entire manner of speech had changed. It was still Shaggy’s voice, but it was as if it was someone else using it. His movements and mannerisms had altered as well, and yet something about him was familiar. Sure, it was entirely possible that could be achieved by an experienced or otherwise talented actor, but Velma had seen Shaggy’s acting, and he was nowhere near that good. 

“Okay, just what the heck is going on?” Velma demanded. 

‘Shaggy’ took a deep breath. “I’m not Shaggy.” He insisted, much more calmly. “I don’t know how this happened, and I swear I had nothing to do with it. The last thing I remember is falling asleep in my room, then having this really weird dream, and then when I actually woke up, Scooby was growling at me and I was in Norville’s body for some reason!” 

“But if you’re not Shaggy, then who are you?” Daphne asked. 

Not-Shaggy froze like a deer in the headlights. “Yeah… about that.” He said nervously, backing away from them until his back hit the wall. “I can answer that, but you’re not going to like the answer.” 

“You knew all of our names, so you’re clearly someone we know.” Said Daphne. 

“An excellent observation, Daphne.” 

“Oh for crying out loud, just spit it out!” Said Velma.

He sighed, clearly bracing for impact, and told them his name. “Velma, it’s me. It’s Mr. E.” 

“Mr. E?!” The entire gang exclaimed in unison. 

“And that’s why I was so quick to disclaim that however this happened, I had nothing to do with it! Because this seems like exactly the level of crazy Professor Pericles would cook up - or myself, until recently! But now everything's clearer than it’s ever been but it’s too late for me to fix it and- AAAGH!” A frustrated yell tore out of him and he sank onto the floor, cradling his head in his hands. 

He sat there for a few moments, calming himself down. And the gang were in such a state of shock they didn’t move nor speak, until he finally looked up at them with glistening, desperate eyes. “You kids don’t trust me as far as you can throw me - as you shouldn’t, because I’ve been stupid.” He said, much more calmly but with just as much hopelessness. “I never should have trusted Pericles, and I never should have let things get this far. Cassidy was right about everything and I need you kids to know I’m sorry. About all of it. I really was in your corner in the beginning, but I never should have left it. But as much as I don’t deserve it, now I need your help.” 

There was a moment of stillness, the four of them stunned into silence, before Velma finally tried to laugh it off.

“Hardy har har, Shaggy. Very funny.” She said. But her laughter was half-hearted, in an attempt to lighten the mood. “Listen, if you want to pretend that you’ve been body-swapped with Mr. E of all people, then you should at least act a bit more in-character for him.” 

Mr. E opened his mouth to argue, but then he suddenly closed it, and a look of realization and horror appeared on his face. “Body swapped…” In an instant, he scrambled to his feet. “Velma, Fred, Daphne, Scooby - one of you! I need you to listen to me very carefully. This is going to sound insane, but if I’m in Shaggy’s body, it can be assumed that Shaggy is in mine! And if Shaggy is in my body then-” 

Mr. E didn’t get to finish his sentence, because that was when Fred’s phone rang. 

༻˚⁺･⚉｡○✼༓☾⦾♫෴♡💛♡෴♫⦾☽༓✼○｡⚉･⁺˚༺

Twenty minutes earlier

When Shaggy Rogers woke up, he didn’t feel immediately hungry, his left side felt super sore for some reason, and that whole arm felt as if it had fallen asleep. That really should have been his first indicator that something wasn’t right. But no - it wasn’t that. As the fog of sleep cleared, the first thing he realized was that there wasn’t a giant, furry body pressed up against him. And it was Scooby’s absence that prompted his eyes to open. 

He went from drowsy to wide awake when he realized he wasn’t in his room. He was in a large, king-size canopy bed with a red comforter and sheets. A large fire burned in the fireplace to keep out the cold. He immediately knew where he was, because he and the gang had stayed here overnight once before: one of the guest rooms in the Burlington Library. 

But what was Shaggy doing there, now? 

Then Shaggy tried to sit up in bed. 

And that’s when the panic began. 

For when Shaggy tried to shift, one arm moved and the other didn’t. And when Shaggy looked down it took all of six seconds for it to register in his brain that it was because his entire left arm was missing.

Shaggy screamed and leapt out of bed, his remaining three limbs getting tangled in the sheets in the process, causing him to go tumbling out of bed. Footsteps approached fast and the door suddenly burst open. 

“Arthur! Arthur, what’s happening?! Where’s the danger- Arthur?” The person who had entered the room’s war-ready voice broke out into a more confused tone before they stepped around the bed. 

It was Vivi, with her bat at the ready. But through Shaggy’s haze of panic he barely realized it. “LIKE, ZOINKS! LIKE, MY ARM! MY ARM! LIKE, MY ARM’S GONE!” 

“You’re not Arthur.” Vivi said almost immediately, and with certainty. 

“Like, my arm, man! MY ARM!” Shaggy babbled, starting to hyperventilate. 

“Hey easy, easy. It’s going to be alri-” 

That’s when the flames in the fireplace suddenly turned pink, and a very angry ghost exploded out of it and shoved past Vivi, right at Shaggy. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH ARTHUR?!” He roared! 

Shaggy screamed with fear and shrank in on himself, trying to disappear through the floor. 

“ZOINKS! Like, I don’t know. I don’t know! Just like, pleasedon’tkillme!” He begged, trembling with fright. 

Seeing that look on Shaggy’s face made the ghost immediately back off, the flames engulfing his head and shoulders settling into a vaguely familiar hairdo. For he remembered vividly a night three years ago, when that very same face and that very same voice had looked up at him with that exact same expression and tone of pure terror. Vivi grabbed the guilty ghost by the arm and dragged him to the door. 

Shaggy couldn’t hear them and had no way of knowing that ghost was actually Lewis, but this is what Lewis and Vivi discussed: 

“Is Arthur possessed again?” Lewis asked quietly. 

“I think so, but I don’t think this spirit is malevolent and he might not even know he’s dead.” Said Vivi. “Go get Mystery - he’s better at exorcisms than either of us. And calm yourself down.” 

Arthur nodded, guilt stabbing him in his non-existent guts, and quickly left to do as Vivi had asked. Then she closed the door behind him and went back to the “spirit” inhabiting Arthur. 

“Sorry about him. He was just worried about Arthur.” 

“Like, you know that g-ghost?” Shaggy trembled. 

“Yeah, he’s a friend. Helps us out in our investigations sometimes. But you, I’m not so sure about. What’s your name?” 

“Huh? Like, Vivi, you know who I am. We’ve like, only met a couple times but like, I don’t think I’m that forgettable.”

Vivi blinked at him. 

“You know who I am?” 

“Like, yeah. Why don’t you know who I am?” 

“Well let’s see. Refresh my memory. Who are you?” 

“Like, it’s Shaggy. From Mystery Incorporated?” 

Vivi suddenly looked as if she had swallowed a lemon. “Shaggy?” 

Oh that poor, poor kid. Had Shaggy been killed ? Had the original Mystery Incorporated killed their successors? Cassidy had warned them the parrot might try to! Why hadn’t they stayed in Crystal Cove, where they could protect them?! 

“L-like, why are you looking at me like that?” Shaggy gulped. “And like, why aren’t you more freaked out that like, my arm’s gone?!” 

That was when there was a knock at the door. Vivi rushed to answer it and all but dragged Mystery and Lewis (both in their disguised forms) inside. 

“Guys. It’s Shaggy. ” She whispered at them urgently. 

“What?” The two of them exclaimed quietly in unison. 

“Shaggy. The lanky kid that kind of reminded us of Arthur from Mystery Incorporated!” 

“The kid always wearing the green shirt?!” Mystery said. 

“That’s the one.” 

“So what? He died and is now possessing Arthur’s body?!” Lewis asked. 

“Seems like it.” Vivi said sadly. 

“Now just hold on a second! We just talked to Mystery Inc yesterday!” Mystery said. 

“Oh my God, the Highway Dandyman killed them after we let him go!” Vivi cried, the color draining from her face with horror.

“I sincerely doubt that.” Said Mystery, the calmest of the three. “Let me have a look.” 

The Mystery Skulls walked over to Shaggy-in-Arthur’s-body, who hadn’t moved from his place on the floor, and Vivi and Lewis hung back while Mystery took over. 

“Hey there, Shaggy!” The little dog said, wagging his tail in an attempt to put the kid at ease. It was a given that the boy liked dogs, given his relationship with Scooby.

“Oh. Um, like hi, Mystery. It like, it was Mystery, right?” Shaggy asked nervously. 

“Yeah, it sure was. Now, we’re trying to figure out exactly what you’re doing here, so can you answer some questions for me?” 

Shaggy nodded. 

“Alright. What’s the last thing you remember?” 

“Well, like, the gang and I caught the Highway Dandyman last night,” Vivi and Lewis gave audible sighs of relief hearing that, “and it like, kind of wore me out. So like, when Scooby and I got home we ate like, three dinners and went straight to bed. Then I woke up and like, I was here.”  

“Okay, Shaggy. Well, can you do me a big favor? I need you to just hold really still and look at me, okay?” 

“Like um… okay. Sure, man.” 

Mystery placed his front paws on Shaggy’s knees and stared into his eyes, putting the boy into a trance as he probed his aura. 

There was… something strange about this. 

After a few moments of searching, Mystery broke the trance. “There’s a few problems with your theory, Vivi.” The kitsune explained. “Arthur’s soul isn’t here. At all. And his boy is still alive.”

“What?” Arthur and Vivi explained in unison. 

“Like, what are you talking about? Like, of course I’m still alive! Would somebody please tell me what’s going on?!” Shaggy asked, getting very scared once again.

The Mystery Skulls looked at each other. 

“Shaggy,” Vivi said gently, “I think it’s best that you see for yourself.” 

She took him by his remaining arm, helped him up, and led him over to the dresser, which had a large mirror above it. 

Shaggy blinked at his reflection in surprise for a few moments, turning his head and waving his hand experimentally, before realization and acceptance dawned on him and all he could say was, “Like… Oh.” 

“Are you okay?” Lewis asked. 

“Like… I think I’d like to sit down.” He laughed nervously.

Lewis quickly pulled over an armchair for Shaggy to fall into. 

“It isn’t your arm that’s missing, Shaggy. It’s Arthur’s.” Vivi explained gently. “Unless we’re on the road, he takes the prosthetic off at night when he goes to bed. He says it’s more comfortable that way. We don’t know how but… you’re in his body.” 

“It’s alright, Shaggy. We don’t know how this happened but we swear we’ll do whatever we can to help.” Mystery promised. 

“Anything we can do for you right now?” Asked Lewis. 

“Like, um… breakfast would be nice. And I have some questions. But like, I don’t know how to function with only one arm.”

“I’ll help you put Arthur’s metal arm back on. It’s highly advanced technology. Doesn’t take much practice to use it. Then we’ll get you some breakfast and… call your parents?”

“Like, no way. My parents just… they either won’t believe it or won’t care.” Shaggy deflated. “But my friends will.” 

Ten minutes later, Vivi had helped Shaggy put Lewis’ prosthetic back on (it was so weird but also a little awesome having a functional metal arm that he had little to no feeling in), he was dressed in Arthur’s clothes (minus the vest), and they were following the smell of pancakes, bacon, and eggs to the Burlington Library’s kitchen. 

Don Fong, the odd little chef who’d thrown meat at Mystery Inc the whole time they were there on their visit, was nowhere in sight. Lewis was just finishing up making breakfast for Vivi and Shaggy, and Mystery was already digging into his bowl of sausages, liver, bacon, and raw quail egg. There was a CD player on the counter playing one of their songs. 

"I can’t fight this feelin’, 

It’s not in my head!

And I know it’s somethin’ I did, baby! 

I can’t fight this feelin’, 

I’m out of control!

Got to get back to the life that I know! "

"Oooh!"

"I’m not freakin’ out. 

But it feels like time is runnin’ out, 

How did this shit come about?

I’m not freakin’ out!

But I’m afraid, 

Afraid of losin’ you!"

"Oooh!"

Lewis turned the oddly appropriate music down and put their plates on the table - three pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon with a glass of orange juice for each of them. 

“Like, thanks for the food, man. So like, you guys thought I was a ghost at first?” Shaggy asked as he sat down. That did not look like enough food, but the Mystery Skulls were being so nice to him. And he felt oddly not hungry in this body. Peckish, but not starving. 

“Yeah. We did say our paranormal investigations are usually real.” Lewis said. “And possessions, we’ve dealt with many times. But this- this is definitely a first.”

“I hate to push you Shaggy, but I really think we need to call your friends. Now.” Mystery said. 

“Like, what makes you say that?” 

“As I said earlier, Arthur’s soul isn’t here, and you’re currently in his body. Which begs the question: if Arthur isn’t here, then where did he go? So my only guess is that if you’re in Arthur’s body, then Arthur is most likely in yours.” 

Shaggy swallowed his mouthful of pancakes (which were delicious - Lewis was an amazing cook) so fast he almost choked. “Like, zoinks! I always sleep next to Scooby Doo! If he wakes up with Arthur in my body next to him, he’s like, totally gonna freak out!” 

“And Arthur’s skittish around large canines.” Mystery winced, looking oddly guilty.

“Wait- oh no. Shaggy, were you wearing green when you went to bed last night?” Vivi asked.

“Like, yeah. I’ve got a green sleep shirt. Why?” 

All three of the Mystery Skulls winced. 

“Like, is that bad?” Shaggy gulped. 

“No, no. It’s nothing you did, Shaggy. You can’t possibly have known you were going to end up body-switched with Arthur. It’s just… for his own reasons… Arthur has a very strong aversion to wearing the color green.” Lewis explained, looking very sad about it. 

“Let’s just make the stupid phone call. Shaggy, Arthur has Velma’s number in his phone- which I realize you can’t unlock because you of course don’t know his password. So let’s just use mine. Who would you like to call?” Vivi asked.

Shaggy thought for a moment. “Not Velma. Velma will probably think this is a joke. So like uhm… Fred? He’s kind of the leader of our group, and he has the Mystery Machine so… if the others aren’t already together, he’ll get them.” 

“Okay then. Let’s call Fred. What’s his phone number?” 

Shaggy told her. She dialed, and handed Shaggy her blue cellphone.

The other side of the line rang for only a moment or two before Fred picked up on the other side. “Fred Jones, here.” 

“Like Freddy! Man, am I like, happy to hear your voice!” 

“Shaggy?” 

“Like um… yeah. I know I don’t like, sound like myself, but like, it’s me. This is gonna sound like, totally crazy. But like-” 

“Let me guess. You’ve been body-swapped?” 

“Like, yeah. How did you know?” 

“Scooby called us in a panic a while ago. We’re all at your house already."

"Raggy!" Shaggy heard his beloved dog exclaim on the other end of the line. 

"Like, Scooby Doo!" 

"I was so worried, Raggy! I woke up next to you - but it wasn't you!" 

"Like, I know, buddy. Don't worry. We'll be together again, soon!" 

"Don’t worry, Shaggy. We’ll drive over to Destroido right now to get you!” Fred said with determination.

“Destroido? Like, why would I be there?” Shaggy asked, bewildered. 

“Wait- You’re not at Destroido? Then where are you?” 

“Like, I’m at the Burlington Library with the Mystery Skulls, dude.” 

“Wait a minute, Shaggy. Whose body are you in?” 

“Arthur’s. Like, the guy always wearing the orange vest. Isn’t Arthur like, in my body?” 

“... No. But you are not going to believe who is. Hey-!” 

Shaggy heard some scuffling on the other end of the line, and then a different voice came through the phone. Not Fred's. Not Scooby's. Shaggy’s voice. Only it wasn’t Shaggy using it. “Norville- I mean, Shaggy?” Whoever-it-was asked.

“Arthur?” Shaggy answered hopefully. 

“No. This isn’t Arthur.” Not-him groaned. “It’s Mr. E.” 

Shaggy’s stomach sank into his guts. Mr. E, their enemy was in his body! “Like, Mr. E?! What the hell, man? Did you have anything-” 

“As I told your friends, I had nothing to do with this. And I’m just as freaked out and confused as you are. I know you don’t have any reason to trust me, but I need you to. And I need you to put me on speaker. I need to talk to the Mystery Skulls. It’s about their friend. Please. It’s very important.” 

Shaggy didn’t know what possessed him to listen. Maybe it was because he’d never heard Mr. E sound so desperate or so sincere before. But he did as Mr. E asked. “Like, you’re on speaker.” He said glumly. 

“Thank you, Shaggy. And hello there, Mystery Skulls. We haven’t been acquainted.” 

“You don’t sound like Arthur.” Vivi said shakily. The entire group looked scared for their friend. 

“No. I’m not Arthur, and we haven’t met. But I’ve heard of you, and you may have heard of me. This is Mr. E speaking. My real name is Ricky Owens. I’m a member of the Original Mystery Incorporated. And I’m also for some reason suddenly in Shaggy Rogers’ body, just like Shaggy is in Arthur’s.”

The three Mystery Skulls gave each other a sideways glance. “We know who you are.” Vivi said. “We’ve heard a lot of mixed things about you.” 

“Then you know who I’ve stupidly decided to associate with.” Mr. E said. “I’ve been a fool, and I’m undeserving of your trust. But I need you to listen to me right now, because this isn’t about me. This is about Arthur.” 

“What about Arthur?” Asked Lewis, his voice laced with worry.

“I’m in Shaggy’s body, and Shaggy is in Arthur’s. Which means it can be assumed that Arthur must be in mine- Oh god, that poor kid. This is going to sound insane but-”

“But what? And why should we listen to you?” Vivi demanded. 

“Because if Arthur is in my body, then he’s in serious trouble!” 

༻˚⁺･⚉｡○✼༓☾⦾♫෴♡💛♡෴♫⦾☽༓✼○｡⚉･⁺˚༺

Back in the lower levels of Destroido, Arthur Kingsman was standing alone in an unfamiliar master bathroom, anxiously clutching the flesh and blood left arm attached to his body that shouldn’t be there, staring into a broken mirror at several dozen reflections that were most certainly not his. 

Also quietly and calmly having an anxiety attack. Because what’s cake without icing, right? 

But this was fine. This was totally fine. 

He definitely wasn’t freaking out.

Ya'all had to know this was gonna be a good chapter when it was named after one of the Mystery Skulls Animated videos! And this, readers, is the chapter where you say: "Ooooohhhh. THAT'S how this story was inspired by 'The Mirror's Gaze'." For real though, it was so fun to write!!! This was the chapter where as I was writing it I was like: "Finally! The stage is almost set and the plot is finally really getting started!"

Chapters 1 through 10 of One of Us are currently posted on Archive of Our Own.

[infinity0nhigh]

“A daydream spills from my corked head / Breaks free of my wooden neck / Left a nod over sleeping waves / Like bobbing bait for bathing cod / Floating flocks of candled swans / Slowly drift across wax ponds” “…we’re all too small to talk to God. yeah, we’re all too smart to talk to God.”

Spent most of last night dragging this lake for the corpses of all my past mistakes / Sell me out, joke’s on you / we are salt, and you are the wound”

“We all carry these things inside that no one else can see / they weigh us down like anchors, they drown us out at sea / I look up to the sky, there may be nothing there to see / but if I don’t believe in him, why would he believe in me?”

“They say the captain goes down with the ship, so when the world ends, will God go down with it?”

“I saw her with her hands tied back / And her rags were burning / Crawling out from a landfilled life / Scrawlin' her name upon the ceiling / Throw a coin in a fountain of dust / White noise, her ears are ringing / Got a ticket for a midnight hanging / Throw a bullet from a freight train leaving”

“Walking to the other side / with the devil trying to take my mind / and my soul’s just a silhouette, from the ashes of a cigarette. Sometimes, the jail can’t chain the cell / and the rain’s too plain to tell / all alone by a barren well / Scarecrow’s only scaring himself”

“Stretched to the limit, attention spans snap back, retract, collapse in the laugh tracks / Noise response, applause and hand claps / floodgates open to the sound of the rainbow / Breaking point’s on the verge of pointless / Fools anointed to the followers’ fanfare / Look for the common, not superficial / Code Red cola spurns conformity crisis / Perfunctory idols rewriting their Bibles, with magic markers running out of their ink / Lives in White-Out, turn the lights out / fax machine anthem’s got their hands up”

“Wishes bounce me weightless / the infrared scope on pointlessness / the bulls are sedated, and this fight’s fixed”

“I love everything about you that hurts, so lemme see your moves / lips pressed close to mine, true blue” “Trade baby blues for wide-eyed browns, I sleep in your old shirts and walk through this house in your shoes. I know it’s strange. It’s the strangest way of saying ‘I know I’m supposed to love you.’”

“It’s these substandard motels on the corner of Fourth and Fremont Street / appealing only ‘cause they’re just that unappealing / any practiced Catholic would cross themselves upon entering / The rooms have a hint of asbestos and maybe just a dash of formaldehyde / and the habit of decomposing right before your very eyes… along with the people inside / What a wonderful caricature of intimacy”

“When the moon fell in love with the sun, all was golden in the sky. All was golden when the day might the night.” “When the sun found the moon, she was drinking tea in a garden, under the green umbrella trees in the middle of summer. When the moon found the sun, he looked like he was barely hanging on, but her eyes changed his life in the middle of summer.”

“Give us this day our daily dose of faux affliction. Forgive our sins, forged at the pulpit, with forked tongues selling false sermons. / Because I am a new wave gospel sharp, and you’ll be thy witness / so gentlemen, if you’re gonna preach / for God’s sake, preach with conviction.”

“I’m breaking my teeth off trying to bite my lip. And there’s all kinds of redheaded women that I ain’t supposed to kiss. And it’s this color that never fails to turn me blue. So I just swallow it and hold onto it, and use it to scare the hell out of you.”

“Sister, I’m not much a poet, but a criminal, and you never had a chance.”

“I’m casually obsessed, and I’ve forgiven death. I am indifferent yet, I am a total wreck. I’m every cliché, but I simply do it best.” “Went to sleep a poet, and I woke up a fraud. To calm your nerves, I’m feeling for my clothes in the dark.”

“The next time the phone can wring my neck, it gets no answer. And the time that I spent telling it my roots; I’m shaking in my boots. But still it looks at me like an old friend I’ve betrayed. The dark side of the doormat is the one your shoes have frayed.”

“I’ll be stuck fixated on one star when the world is crashing down.”

“You claimed all this time that you would die for me. Why then, are you so surprised when you hear your own eulogy?”

“I fell from the heavens as a fetish blessed with an operatic skeleton. And as the stars watched me descend, I cracked a family tree and, broke off all the branches.”

…are some of my favorite lyrics.

[dzpenumbra]

12/1/22

What up, December?

So I had a rough night last night. I had a really tough time sleeping. Falling asleep was okay, but my dreams were very intense, and I kept waking up feeling unsafe. PTSD shit, I guess. I didn't get to bed until like 4:30, super over-tired and exhausted, and I got a little higher than I was intending. I woke up just before dawn and it was just... surreal.

I was tempted to actually get out of bed, hook up my drawing tablet and storyboard this mental image that I was navigating. I didn't because I knew how bad I needed sleep, but I was very tempted. The storyboard was like... the first frame I wanted to try to replicate what it looks like when you're looking at the back of your eyelids with your eyes shut. Well, mine at least, I have no idea if others' experience of that is the same as mine... The weird static-y/pinpoint texture and the flowing afterimages superimposed on the darkness. I was trying to figure out what color dull afterimages are. They kinda look like red, but they can have greens, blues, whites and purples to them too. Try it yourself, close your eyes, let the monitor afterimage fade a bit and then try to identify what color it is. I want to say a lot of mine are purples and reds. So I kinda swam in that concept, then the next frame of the storyboard would be like... shapes forming in the afterimages. Segmenting into shapes like cells. Then the next frame would be a gradual animation of the eyelids opening, which would be sorta keeping the afterimage/static superimposition, but wiping the black background up slowly with a blurred edge, adding in a layer underneath of the super-dark ceiling. But I wanted to have... spirits. Dark face forms. Not like... realistic, but like pareidolia. I wanted to have the frame packed with them, and many very close. Then I wanted it to go third person of getting up and going to the bathroom with a cell phone as a light, and the light creating a bubble of safety. The spirits like... claw and crawl behind and cower back from the light ahead. Like... kinda Spirited Away vibes? But like Spirited Away meets Scary Stories To Read In The Dark. And that was pretty much it.

I wanted to do it either fully animated as a very short sequence or semi-animated as a hybrid micro graphic novel. I've been feeling this calling to do animations or graphic novels of my dreams, and having so many vivid dreams lately has been like... duhh... my inspiration is screaming for me to do my damn job! But I've been so wiped. It's so damn hard to get a notebook and recall a dream on like 3 hours of sleep, but when that notebook is downstairs and packed in a box? No way in hell that's happening, sorry. So I went back to sleep. But I was woken up a few hours later by the maintenance guy actually keying into my apartment. Yep.

I'm still getting used to the sounds of this place, there's a lot of old wood structural beams that crack and pop a lot. It's not the end of the world and I'll get used to it quick. But this dude knocking on the door, in my half-asleep mind, sounded exactly the same as a wood beam popping. Then I just hear someone like right below me going "hello?" and I pop out of bed so fucking fast! I threw on clothes and got the space heaters back to him and went back to bed.

After a bit more sleep, I got up, made some really weak coffee... and some ramen. I got all my dishes and food stuff unpacked in the kitchen which was a big win. Hung out with the kitty, did some yoga, chilled, watched some skate documentaries on Tony Alva and Spike Jonez while I sorted stuff. I decided to order chinese takeout. I'm gonna splurge on the delivery stuff now that I can actually get delivery, I literally can't remember the last time I got delivery dinner before this place, like over a decade. The grubhub guy sent me a text saying he was going to leave my food on a bench at the main door so I just sprinted up to get it and... it wasn't there. I was like... "I'm in the entrance" because I was worried someone maybe took it? He said he was still 15 minutes out... I facepalmed so hard! So I just chilled at the entrance for like 20 minutes waiting for this guy. While I was there, this dude with a beard was walking past and was super smiley and friendly in passing. I was on my phone looking at stone beads on Etsy and looking for mineral shops in the city - it looks like there are three, I'll have to check them all out individually. The guy came back and was on the phone with his two young kids, he seemed really stressed, but was managing really well. Then finally the food came!

On my way back to my place, I had to pass by the dude and his kids, it was a little awkward because I was barefoot and like trying to go in a hurry doing my whole social anxiety speedwalk to get back to my apartment and eat my food. He let me pass and I turned back to say "have a good one" and he spotted my hoodie. Since I'm indoors, I decided to dig up my Born of Osiris hoodie because it's really lightweight, it's my summer/early fall hoodie. Complete fluke that I had it on. He said he was the soundguy who went on tour with them back in like 2009/2010. I was like... what?! We introduced ourselves and I told him I was on the floor below him. I don't know what to say, good lord, I'm surprised I gave him the right name! So we just kinda left it at "see you around." And I guess that's how you meet new friends in your 30's/40's?

I've been on a huge confidence streak lately, but to be completely fair to myself, I've been in extreme isolation for a very fucking long time. I'm granting myself permission to be clumsy and awkward a bit. But check this out. In telling my mom about this serendipitous encounter, she told me there was a recording studio in my building complex. There's also a tattoo studio, but I'll get into that some other time. So... if this guy works there, which I have suspicions he might... I might be able to get a producer. And make music and not have to worry about bothering my neighbors. How. Fucking. Cool. Would. That. Be?!

So yeah, the chinese food was not worth it. But the synchronicity and connection was well worth the cost of mediocre fried rice, watery dumplings and funny-tasting chicken with broccoli.

I spent the rest of the night eating and breaking down a cardboard box to make apotropaic sigils with. I learned that term today. Symbols people have historically used to ward off evil spirits, protective symbols. I don't even care if they don't "work" and they're just "superstition", I put a lot of energy into making cool designs that look neat and a lot of energy and thought into making my home a safe and positive place. That counts for a lot in my book, I hope it can bring me peace and a sense of safety tonight.

I'm going to get ready for bed now, I hope to get some more art done tomorrow in addition to continuing to unpack. I miss art dearly, this move has really gotten in between me and my creative sparks and that tends to set off existential crises.