#im glad you had a life changing food experience

[bethiewhimsy]

Deus this information is absolutely irrelevant but I just had to most amazing toe curling mouth watering back arching worthy food of my life

no this is very relevant. very important even. what did you have.

[xkatsukizukux]

I'm autistic and recently I got some headphones to help with my sensory issues and here is my experience so far. Maybe this can help you too.? Basically Inside, outside, the world is too fucking loud!! Meltdowns and shutdowns being a regular occurrence made me realize I needed to do something else.

At first I was very hesitant and had my own internalized ableism to work through. Since working through it, I literally cannot live without them! I don't know how I used to live like that! It took some getting used to but I love my headphones and wear them like 80-90% of the day now lmao

Doing the dishes, laundry, making food and going out has become drastically easier to handle and I feel my body is calmer while having them on. I also use sunglasses more when I go out or when it's particularly bright. Basically my life is changed just by allowing myself to give what I needed all along.

Now that I'm more aware it's shocking how I can feel the difference when I don't wear them. Just average things can instantly add to the overwhelm. I truly can't believe I just "pushed through it" before this.

If you are hesitant on giving yourself accommodations because you think you "don't need it" or "it can't be that bad, I'll just push through it" or "I'll look weird or what if I hate the experience?" Or whatever other ableist thought that's holding you back...

But what if it helps you? What if it makes your life easier? What if it gives you more energy? What if you allow yourself to be kind to yourself and accommodate your disability? It's a good thing. A kind thing. Being more aware of my sensory issues and ways I can accommodate has made me realize just how horrible I've been towards myself regarding me being autistic.

Do I still have meltdowns and shutdowns and other issues? Yes. But I can 100% say that it has helped lessen the overload and increase my ability to function day to day.

You deserve that extra help. I hope you can give yourself that. Im glad I did.❤️

[ashtoberr]

ASHUTA IS SO COOL OHHH MYYY GODDD •□•!!!!!

Hi hi I loveeee your csm oc / insert ♡♡ THEYRE SO COOL Her lore is so interesting 💭💭 At least. The lore that I've seen so far is so interesting. AND HER DESIGN IS SO CUTE I ADORE IT SM 🏂🏾🏂🏾🏂🏾

I always love it when ocs break the "norm" of their universe (idk if that makes sense but her being a vampire when most, if not all of the supernatural entities are devils/Devil adjacent is so swag and cool and based I LOVE SEEING CHARACTERS LIKE THAT 🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽)

Her and Aki seem so cute too :3cc I don't think you understand how STOKED I was to see them in the selfship tag. Saw it and ran around my room screaming (in spirit not in action) because YES !!! FINALLY!!! IM STARTING TO SEE MORE PEOPLE W/ CSM SELF SHIPS / OC X CC SHIPS !!!!

I wanna know all ur thoughts about Ashuta 💭💭 She genuinely seems like such a cool character they're so epic and awesome n cool n swag ((o(^∇^)o))

OMG HI!!!! IM SORRY I JUST SAW THIS Ahhh thank you so much!!! It's super exciting to met another CSM selfshipper!!!! :DDD I'd love to hear abt ur self insert omg I'm so glad you like her!!!!!!! It actually means a lot, she makes me really happy to work on :D

And trust me I will provide on Ashuta lore >:3 Here is The Food For Today. I didn't include art this time bc I have been eepy. I have ideas for long after this, but this is the general gist. I plan to eventually draw a lot (if not all) of this out. Here's her concept for her first appearance and mission (Chapters 14 to 20, or up to episode 7 in the anime):

So, after being found by Makima:

She is added to the team briefly after Denji and Power. I'm currently undecided at which point she should enter the story; I'm thinking about prior to Chapter 14.

Makima helps her find a place (up until this point, she's been homeless since becoming a vampire) near Aki's apartment, encouraging her to make friends. She suggests Denji could use a friend since he's similar to her (not fully human, rough background).

Ashuta believes that since she'll be on a team of devils and humans, she would be more likely to make friends since they should be more accepting, right? She shows up to the Hayakawa apartment with some food, trying to introduce herself as a new member of the team (and not disclosing herself as a vampire yet- Power can tell, but doesn't care enough to point it out).

Denji thinks at first she's friendly, but a bit too polite and wonders how someone like her got chosen by Makima. Power doesn't initially feel strongly about her either way, though she's delighted to meet Meowy.

Aki thinks she's polite (and finally someone easy for him to get along with on his squad), but questions why she became a devil hunter after a couple hours of them hanging out. She briefly explains that she's a vampire, and that her life was ruined by the Vampire Devil. Aki's tone quickly changes knowing she's not human, and the night is sort of abruptly ended.

CHAPTER 14:

She's integrated into the group with Chapter 14's mission in the hotel being her first (could be retconned later.)

She's a bit hurt with the talk of Aki and Arai not trusting "non-humans" and saying they don't have human rights, so she's quick to become very quiet since she assumed Makima's team of devils and humans meant she was more likely to be accepted.

Himeno can quickly tell that she looks upset and comes over to strike up a conversation, and the two make small talk throughout the mission. She tells her to not mind Aki, that he's just had bad experiences with devils. Ashuta protests that she's not a devil, but a devil makes an appearance before Himeno can respond.

Himeno discusses with Aki later in the mission that she's surprised Ashuta is so conscientious for a vampire- Aki shrugs and believes it's her being deceptive. Himeno goes to suggest he give Ashuta a chance.

CHAPTER 15:

Ashuta does bond a bit with Denji over the mission, both of them asking each other questions about their respective species ("So are you allergic to garlic?" and "Does it hurt when your chainsaws come out?")

CHAPTER 16:

In hopes of winning Aki's approval, Ashuta offers to help Aki hunt for the devil. She explains that since vampires don't really need to sleep much, she could help him all he wants.

Aki, unimpressed, asks why she's so hellbent on trying to please him when he doesn't care about wether she lives or dies as a non-human.

CHAPTER 18:

In the hysteria of facing the eternity devil, Ashuta finally snaps at Kobeni after trying to keep everyone calm the entire mission, telling her she's going to be a shit devil hunter if she freaks out at the slightest inconvenience. Kobeni yells back that it was easy for her to say, that she'd been calm and collected the entire mission because she can't die. Ashuta yells at her that pussying out and turning on her teammates made it more likely for all of them to die, and to shut the fuck up and help if she was going to stay a devil hunter. It certainly doesn't make Kobeni like her, but it shuts her up.

CHAPTER 20:

Ashuta joins the newbie welcome party. Denji questions how she can eat if she's a vampire, and she shrugs and explains that it's the same way devils eat- the only difference is human food isn't of nutritional substance to her and she doesn't retain any energy from it, she eats it for nostalgia purposes and the taste.

Ashuta lightens up when Makima joins the party, glad to see someone familiar- she considers Makima a friend, being the first person who was nice to her.

During the party, Makima asks Aki how Ashuta's first mission was, and wether she had done satisfactory. Aki admits that she did well, and Ashuta can't help but be a little happy at his approval.

As the night progresses, she gets drunk enough where she feels less afraid to approach Aki again. The two actually end up talking some. While drunk, Aki apologizes for the way that he had regarded her earlier in the night, and that she handled her first mission well, remaining composed in such a stressful situation .

Ashuta shrugs, and says it's fine- when she was turned into a vampire, she'd been shunned by everyone she once knew. She explains she still considers herself the same person she was before, but she fears rejection from humans more than she fears injuries from devils. He suggests she come stop by their apartment again sometime (more out of drunken guilt than actual like for her, but it's a start to them becoming friends).

[mooifyourecows]

moo there’s so much to share !!!

first of all, spotify wrapped is out and the amount of joy brought to me by looking at yours is unmatchable. ALSO i don’t use spotify so mine isn’t annual BUT i checked my apple music replay today and i think it is so telling so i will put some pictures! (also for top artists my fifth is matt maeson but i messed up my picture because i was in class and distracted)

also !! thanksgiving !! saw that you made your dinner high and i think that is so fun , and glad you didn’t get hurt or anything ! i’m so spacey already i can’t imagine cooking while inebriated (does inebriated work for things other than alcohol? would intoxicated be the right word? i’ve always thought of it as intoxicated as drunk and inebriated as high)

thanksgiving was super fun this year , and i also cooked thanksgiving dinner ! not all of it of course , but i helped with everything but the turkey and did a couple things myself ! made the casseroles and stuffing and made pumpkin cheesecake and the pie filling for the pumpkin pie ! then the other stuff we made , mashed potatoes , sweet potatoes , and brussel sprouts that i helped with all of and we also made pecan pie and cornbread stuffing and greens and stuffed mushrooms. the desserts we made were a tart with maple custard pecan crust and apple roses (left) pumpkin cheesecake (middle left) pecan pie (middle right) and pumpkin pie (right) super proud of them

and i forgot everything else i wanted to say but i am also doing very well in school !! lowest grade is 87 (and a 17 but i am working on it i just have a very big missing assignment) and i am looking into colleges and majors and what colleges are good for each major so hopefully i can find some cool places to look into more !

i hope you’re doing well and enjoying the beginning of the holiday season !!

Matt Maeson and Bon Iver = great taste

(I don't listen to enough of mitski or loona to be able to tell if that = great taste but i assume it does)

i think inebriated is mostly used for drunk but i get you 👉 though in my experience, cooking while drunk is more dangerous than cooking while high. when i'm drunk, my pain tolerance gets too high and i'm way too off center so i am pretty much guaranteed to burn or cut myself. usually burn. i think i've burned myself on the stove or oven every single time i've drunk cooked. and i usually don't realize how bad it is until the next day so that's no bueno! don't drink and cook, unless you are not using harmful tools or have the supervision of a sober person! meanwhile when i'm cooking while high, it just takes me like… double or triple the amount of time to complete tasks because i constantly forget what i'm supposed to be doing, or get so enraptured in what i'm doing that everything else fades away and I've been doing the same thing for an hour when it was supposed to only take ten minutes

EITHER WAY, this is me being a responsible adult: don't do drugs or drink alcohol and then do potentially dangerous things

your food looks delicious babe, im glad you had fun and had lots of yummy stuff to eat 🖤

Congrats on your good grades too! good luck looking for schools and majors but make sure you don't stress out too much about that stuff. it's totally natural and expected that you change your mind about what you want to do. nobody should have to make a decision about the rest of their life when they're just a teenager! don't be afraid to test things out first, go to school undeclared for a few years if you want, just to try out different courses and learn where your true passions lie! There are so many jobs and fields out there that you don't even KNOW about when you're a teenager but could discover from just experimenting with classes that interest you. so don't feel like you gotta pick something and then stick to it for the rest of your life! Change your mind a million times, I highly encourage it 🖤🎉

thank you for the cute pup pictures 🌈

[webslingingslasher]

j!!!! just got back home from the beach🥺🥺 im sad i miss the beach so much.. i had the most magical time :(((

i saw so many things it's crazyy. this is gonna be long but i would like to yap!

on our first day, i saw a rainbow!! and chicken surfing😭😭😭 i have a pic of it idk how to send thru ask JDJXJDJ but i swear i have proof😭 then on our 2nd day, i went kayaking with my mom and we saw a jellyfish out of nowhere!! it was just one (1) jellyfish, which is weird bc it was literally the only one in the area and it popped up beside our boat, so cute!! it was orange!! 🥹 our boat was the clear plastic one, like the crystal kayak! also, it was raining :’) we were in a lagoon.. mangroves were everywhere, the water was green.. felt like i was in a movie fr..

the 3rd day was truly the most magical. we were at a beach place, there were a few restaurants in it (like 2??) and a boardwalk, and it's also a surfing place. so pretty!!! i ate pizza by the shore 😎 i also saw a golden retriever swimming so cute 🥹 then at night we were on a rowboat in the water in pure darkness. like there was no light except for the stars, and you could see their reflection on the water 🥹 i was with my dad, my mom was on another boat with my aunt. but yeah, we saw the stars!! we also saw some fireflies, 2 of them stayed on my hand for like the entire time!! and we also saw planktons in the water🥹💙💙 i even saw a shooting star, not even kidding.. the whole experience was so magical i actually cried (in silence) 😞

then on our 4th day, we went back to the surfing place and i went surfing with my mom!! i got sunburnt LOLL but it was so fun 🥹 we also had someone to take our vids thru a drone, the drone guy was so handsome..... 🧍‍♀️ but yea he rly offers drone services and he owns a restaurant too i think (aka where i ordered the pizza. loved it.) a businessman!! very attractive. handsome AND attractive. im bummed i dont have his ig but oh well. i have a reason to go back😁 im also going to edit a video of our trip. my mom has his contact (we reserved our surfing slot thru him), maybe i can i ask her to ask him for his ig so i can credit him for our drone vids😹

then on our last day, we went kayaking again but on a river!! it was so beautiful🥹 i saw red and blue dragonflies they were so pretty :( i saw a lot of fish too, and birds flying around on top of the water!! it was so pretty. and like the mangroves were on both sides of the boat, so we were in the middle. idk if i explained that right but i hope u can imagine it lol. but yeah, and there were fallen leaves on the water too so it was rly so beautiful🥲 it was in the afternoon so we saw Everything clearly

i had sooo much fun. and the food was soo good too, like i have a fav restaurant in there already. not the drone guy's oops it's a diff one, the food i ordered was too good i had to go back and order it again

but now im bored and sad bc im back home with nothing to do😭😭 it's like experiencing pcd but from vacation :︎’) i miss it so much already🥺 im not ready to go back to school and start my thesis kdmcmfjdj god.. this was truly a life changing trip.

-🧚🏼‍♀️

chicken surfing

THE IG CREDIT TO GET THE INSTA IS SUCH A GOATED FUCKING MOVE LETS GOOOOOOOOOO also- jellyfish freak me out.

i'm so glad you had fun bestie!! it sounds like a great trip! (minus the sunburn)

[blookmallow]

ok i REALLY gotta start going through my fallout 4 backlog. lets get this going

i have been having a delightful time

----

my girl ruby before Everything Happened

i love fallout giving me the ability to alter my character's face over time so i can gradually add more scars and stuff. i love it. its weird to me looking at this screenshot now bc she's changed so much

though it occurs to me i think i took this before i had completely finished with her face bc shes supposed to have freckles and for some reason doesn't but w/e

i LOVE that fallout 4 shows us Before the war. i love the intro a lot

i didn't know about codsworth's massive name database and happened to pick a name he had programmed and let me tell you hearing him say my character name threw me for a loop sfjg

i cannot believe how many names they accounted for this is excellent

oh look i have a baby

i don't love the assigned backstory though it took me a while to be able to define my character and it still doesn't really vibe very well for ruby. i think she was dating (nate? literally i dont even remember my tragic backstory husband's name sdgfjh) because he was a nice guy and she had no Reason not to. he proposed and she said yes because there was no Reason to say no. getting married is just what people do. they weren't Planning for a baby, but she got pregnant, and well, that's what's happening now. she wasn't opposed to the idea. she loves children. but the domestic life was never what she Wanted, not really. the truth is she loves the post apocalyptic life. she misses the world before but she loves fighting for justice and going out to rebuild the commonwealth with her own hands. she loves urban exploring and scavenging. and it tears her apart because she feels like she shouldn't. she lost her family. she lost her husband. she lost her whole life and is surrounded in human tragedy every day. but in her heart she feels she was made for this

i don't know if it's the writing or if it's me or what it is but i just didn't really feel anything about this. maybe just because i was given no time to know this man or my relationship with him but im channeling it into my character as "she doesn't feel as hurt as she knows she should and doesn't know how to process any of this"

why are the names written in like this. this makes no sense everyone else is listed by surnames except my family. i know it's probably so that you have no established last name but it's weird

loving the fact that i can just x-ray vision all the containers and see what's in everything without even opening them. extremely convenient

YOU'RE STILL HERE

MY BOY

i felt so bad for leaving him behind i m so fucking glad he's okay but also, he has been stuck here alone for like 200 years. the trauma he's coping with is genuinely horrific

my GOD everything looks so beautiful!! i had such a weird clashing emotional experience with this intro bc like. i love new vegas but it is very beige. and there's so much color here despite the destruction. i love the retro futurism aesthetic. the radio music is so jazzy and bouncy. so im having a great time and super excited to explore this new world but also, this is the worst day of my character's life,

PUMPKIN

THERES PUMPKINS

not food

ew

BLUE!!!!!! LOOK AT THAT BLUE i love these i love them

fsadjgh thanks

war never changes

how did this even happen what caused these skeletons to stay like this

sweet rolls....

who did this

shout out to this fucking mannequin for scaring the shit out of me when i looked over here

just. 200 years overdue. it's fine

i keep finding these and i pick them up every time im on a personal mission to find a library to put them in sfjkdg

BLOOD CAN???????

[pearlsofthec]

hi girl i really need to vent to someone about this… im currently in my first year of college and i’m taking a bachelor that i really love and feel like it’s meant for me. but nevertheless i struggle to bring myself to study - im a very lazy person and i feel like i do my best only under pressure. but that gives me so much stress and its not healthy to my body. i know that laziness is my weak point but sometimes i feel guilty about not studying because “im not feeling it” and i always have to rush myself.

whats your experience with uni? do you have any advice for me? thank you feel free not to respond if you dont feel like it ❤️❤️❤️

Hii I'm glad you sent me this message because I honestly go through the same procrastination rabbit hole during exams seasons, and even though I don't know if I can offer you a solution, I can at least say I totally understand where you're coming from!

I'm not exactly cured from this, but a few things have helped me work through it, and I'm gonna share them with the hopes they could help you too! SO, first of all, although it may sound completely unrelated, changing my diet actually increased my focus so so much. Last year, my diet consisted mainly of carbs, bad, easy to get carbs, which not only end up making you look unhealthy, but also feel sluggish. I knew how eating would always make me feel sleepy, so I would just postergate having any as much as I could, drink a lot of caffeine, eat a completely unbalanced dinner and sleep almost immediately. In theory that sounds somewhat practical, but when I tell you I could not focus or be productive at all while doing this crazy routine I mean it. Staying consistent in your work also means staying consistent in other parts of your life, so I definitely would recommend working out your health routine in coordination of your study routine! I wrote about the food situation, but that alone would have made a fraction of the difference I've felt having solved both that problem and organizing a consistent physical activity schedule (I do 1h of pilates/ yoga 4-6 times a week!).

I also had to get in my head that there will never be a perfect time to study. I'll never feel like studying, I'll never be in the mood to read a book about the conservation of architecture or do three hours worth of physics exercises, so I stimulate myself with the thought that though there is no perfect moment, this could be the as perfect as it gets moment, and just force myself to do it. I think more than anything, it's important not to fall into the trap of only working when you feel motivated, and create a work routine that's tied to your habits. There's this portuguese saying my mom always tells me "The "perfect" is the "good"'s enemy", and though it may sound crazy, it kind of makes sense... sometimes you procrastinate so much trying to achieve perfection, that you forget that a good result, is far more valuable than a well intentioned unfinished one.

There are probably more things, but I think I've already bored you enough! I'm sure you're gonna get there, let me know <3

XX

[llonelywater]

hi everyone, thank you so much for coming down today. I thought it would be nice to just give a round of thanks to everyone, even though I think I have written almost everything I wanted to say in each individual letter, sorry my handwriting is quite atrocious so feel free to ask me if you can't understand what I have written.

first i must really thank waye, martha, and weiyun for planning this wedding dinner gathering event. they really took the wheel and handled every single thing for me with the sole task left for me to do being to just turn up for my wedding, preferably not in scrubs. I was really so out of touch that up til 1 month before this I was telling people the wrong date of the gathering and that I was getting married at some fancy restaurant I think it starts with a C. yet this happened and it was only made possible by this amazing group of friends who willingly, through no coercion at all, stepped up and planned this day for us. thank you so much for the love and generosity of your time and effort. thank you for being a hundred times more vested in my own wedding that I ever was. you all are really fricking amazing.

moving onto each friend group. martha, thanks for showering me so indulgently with your love, kindness, and empathy throughout the years. weiyun, thank you for your fourteen years of your steadfast presence and a friendship rooted in memories from back when we were wearing pinafores and writing godawful fan fiction about Korean boy bands. sorry this dedication is very short because I have written practically everything I wanted to say on your letters, and every time we try to say nice things aloud to each other we invariably end up traumatised and in tears.

waye, you are easily one of the most thoughtful and generous people that I know and I am very lucky to have been blessed by this generosity. when I think about those dark days roaming in the dungeons of SGH GS, I think about all the times you saved my ass, bought me food, did my changes for me and got scolded on my behalf when we were coHOs. beyond that, I'm glad that after all these tumultuous years that we shall not speak of, we are standing here today, in this joyous occasion, that was made possible because of you.

jingles, thank you for your quiet and understated presence. when we first crossed paths briefly in JC I thought you were this really cool and mysterious and stoic person. but I think over the years, as CG mates, and then as friends, I have noticed all the times you have let down your defences and realised that you're actually a very nice and squishy person inside. thank you for your friendship. and your dogs.

SB, I still think fondly about the times when we were nineteen and I was sleeping over at your place every other weekend and we would creep into the kitchen at 2am and eat ice cream out of the tub and stay up talking til 5am and then feel like death the next day. our friendship has evolved so much since then and so many things have happened. but fundamentally there are things that have remained the same. thank you for ten years of kindness, softness, and quiet strength.

zich, my long suffering friend in the absolute shithole that is residency. thank you for being the silver lining to some of the most painful and traumatising experiences such as SGH DMO and CGH IM, for a friendship forged through camaraderie, pain, suffering, and a strong desire to go on strike against MOHH. thanks for wanting to stand up for me when I didn't even want to do it myself. I look forward to many more years of shared suffering with you.

to the rest of leon's friends - members of the three musketeers, pehyu and melvin - thank you for being such an integral part of leon's life through his poly years and then before that. they always say that you are the company that you keep and Im really grateful that Leon has had the opportunity to meet friends like you. thanks for trying to include me during your gatherings despite our hectic schedules and I look forward to more outings and holidays together in the future.

to leon's batch mates, thank you for being such a large and important part of leon's work life and then also being so much more beyond that. whenever Leon mentions that he's meeting his batch mates, he always sounds so joyful and excited that I feel happy on his behalf. special mention to leon's work wife Clinton for bringing Leon out before this event to give him a proper haircut and pick dress shoes with him, because otherwise Leon would literally have turned up in sneakers today. while I might have taken over your job as his official wife, I am more than happy for you to remain his work concubine and continue to fuss over him during the times that I can't.

lastly to leon. in the five years we have been together, you have showered me an amount of love and care that I can only describe as surreal. I can say with confidence that nobody has ever taken care of me, like you have taken care of me. I spent a large part of my life being independent and self sufficient, and after we got together, I remember wondering to myself at the start of my relationship, 'this is so much love, way too much for me to handle. what do I do with this much love?' but as time went by I have learned to accept and understand and grow into this love. as we become husband and wife, I promise to hold onto this love, cherish it, and grow it together with you. you are easily my favourite person and butt, and I love you so, so, so much.

[shaw-kai]

if anyone noticed i was gone im sorry i was busy being severely mentally ill and nowadays can only focus on doing drugs :(

i miss my mutuals and my friends a lot. im often unsure of where i am, what im doing or saying because im always so high, but i always remember my friends..

If anyone reads this, hi! My life has been going horribly for the past year and my phone broke so I haven't even opened tumblr in god knows how long but, I'm still alive! I still like doing art and playing the piano~

The most disgusting things have happened to me since I was last here, my life has changed completely, I'm in the middle of two legal battles for two different instances where I was r/ped, im a prostitute and I gain just enough to get enough food to survive and some weed. I recently had a pregnancy scare. I also got an std from a client and passed it to another, so that's great too /s

Now that I'm more traumatized, I'm also more aware of my now officially diagnosed DID. I love my alters and I'm very glad we are beginning to get to know each other better.

I had the pregnancy scare a little before and during the release of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, and also a different traumatic medical experience during that same time period so........ automatic Nemona alter. Yeah.

Anyway, mutuals and friends and followers if there are still any, please feel free to send me a dm if you want! It might take me a while (or not, depends) but I promise I will respond!!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful day/night! I might not be as active as before, but I'm here. I'm back on this hellsite :)

[rainbow--panic]

Human!animatronics x reader

Pairings:human!Animatronics x reader

Warnings:none/may have a tendency to use she/her towards reader

Hey guys, so i finally was able to get at of writers block and decided "hey, would it be fun to do a human! animatronics x reader scenario series" so please request future scenarious!

The list of animatronics include:GR Freddy,GR Chica,Montgomery gator, roxanne wolf, sundrop/moondrop, GR Foxy, GR Bonnie, and DJMM

as for the designs of all of them, please picture them however you like, i suck at drawing humans so im not even going to try lol

enjoy my five pages of introductory

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

Life at the pizza plex was rarely ever slow, you were told to always be aware of your surroundings. Today was your first day, you were a mechanic, you were also an on-call janitor and on-call security guard. Multitasking was kinda your thing so you had experience in all required jobs at the pizza plex, that also included working in any food departments, but you were told that you’d probably work with food so they wouldn’t mark you as an on-call chef.

As far as you knew you would only be working days, but your schedule was going to be changed around once you “Show initiative and were able to handle the difficult terrain of the job” as one of your higher ups had said. In all actuality what they said was “When you start getting used to working in the day when everyone is here you will be working at night when no one is around”. The job was paying high though so you didn’t mind entirely.

You weren’t familiar at all with the pizza plex, all you knew was that the lead singer was a guy by the name of Freddy fazbear. From rumors you heard, no one would work at the plex because of some missing kids incidents there a while back. It was said that the place was haunted by all the missing kids, but in all honesty that only intrigued you more.

You were told to show up to the pizza plex early, so there you were walking into the plex you were greeted by one of the day shift security guards. “Heyo, you must be (Y/N), my name is Doug, i'm here to show ya around this place, but fair warning” he said as he deadpanned, you felt a chill go up your spine. Doug pointed the flashlight up to his face “This place is huge, if you get lost you may never get out. Ooooooooo~” he taunted as he waved his fingers. For a moment you looked at him before you both cracked up laughing.

“Apologies, the opportunity was too good to pass up.” Doug stated as he wiped a tear from his eye. “Your good, you actually scared me there for a minute.” Doug apologized again and then beckoned for you to follow him. “Before i give you the gand tour of the place, we have to go to rockstar row, thats where all the hot shots are!” he exclaimed excitedly. “Hot shots? Do you mean the fazbear gang?” you asked. “Yes! Freddy,chica, and the two newbies roxanne and monty, which might i say they have to be the cats meow, so talented.”

On your way to rockstar row you spoke with doug, he seemed very friendly, you liked doug. After a long walk you made it to rockstar row. “Wowie doug, you weren’t lying, this place is big.” He laughed. “Oh honey we barely covered any ground!” You sighed, worried about how far you would be walking everyday. “Now we are ganna be going to each of their rooms, they know we are coming and you’ll probably be seeing them get ready for the day, putin on makeup and clothes and all that goodness.”

The first door y'all came up on was Freddy Fazbears. Doug knocked and called out “Freddy, are you decent?” It was silent for a moment when a voice called back. “Yes I am, you may enter.” Doug pressed his pass on the button and the door slid open. “Heya freddy! I got the newbie here with me, say hi to (Y/N)” you walked bashfully behind doug. Freddy got up, he was already all dressed with makeup covering his face, he walked up to you and shook your hand. “(Y/N), what a lovely name, Im freddy, im so glad you’ll be joining the crew!” he said happily.You blushed lightly “Its good to meet you too Mr.Fazbear” he smiled sweetly to you. “Please, call me freddy.”

“Yes sir, freddy.” Doug elbowed you and smiled at you. “Well they gotta meet the rest freddy, i'm sure you’ll meet again.” You said your goodbyes to freddy and walked out with doug. “He’s quite the sweet talker, eh?” he said as he elbowed you again, causing you to laugh awkwardly, agreeing with him.Next was one of the newbies, Roxanne. Again doug knocked and asked if she was decent.

The door opened and there stood Roxanne, she looks happy. “Heya doug, do you have the new member with you?” she looked over to you and smiled happily. “Hello, you must be the newbie! My name is Roxanne, but please call me Roxy, whats your name?” You couldn’t help match her excitable energy. “Im (Y/N)! Nice to meet you roxy!” Overall Roxy seemed really friendly even though your time with her was short. Doug yet again excused the both of you so you would have enough time to meet everyone else.

Next up was montgomery gator, the newfound ‘bad boy’ of the group. “Now (Y/N) i am aware that you might have heard some stories about Monty, but how he will acts will surprise you.” You felt a twist in your gut, was this going to be a good surprise or bad surprise? Guess you were going to find out. Doug does his knock and call and a voice answers that y'all could enter. Upon entering the room the first thing you notice is some golf clubs by the door, a whole bag of them. Doug talks to Monty and then introduces you. “And this is (Y/N)” he gestures to you, but you were busy looking at all the golf stuff in his room.

“Ehem” doug clears his throat to get your attention. You quickly turn to look at Montgomery. “Oh sorry, uh hi im (Y/N), its nice to meet you montgomery!” you smile at him. Montgomery really did look like what you envisioned him to look like, he looked like the type of boy fathers would warn their daughters not to hang out with. Montgomery blushed and turned his eyes somewhere else. “Its a pleasure to meet you (Y/N), and please call me Monty, you are very pretty, perhaps we can play golf sometimes?”

You were both flustered and confused. For one he looked like such a baddie but yet he played golf of all things? And you didn’t expect him to be so direct. “Oh yeah sure that sounds fun.” You answered quickly. Doug escorted you out so that you could meet chica. “Not what you expected, huh?” You looked at doug. “He plays golf? Of all things, golf?” Doug laughed at your surprised expression. “I know, he looks like he would rather start a bar fight the play golf.”

The final room was chicas. Doug couldn’t even knock before chica opened the door and practically jumped on you and picked you up. “Oh wowie you must be the newbie, (Y/N) right? I heard doug introduce you to the others through the vents. Oh its so nice to meet you im so excited to have you here! You’ll fit in just fine here!” she continued to ramble on and on about how much you would love it there and how on yalls time off you could hang out and grab pizza. Doug tapped Chica's shoulder. “Sorry for interrupting you, but i still have to show them around the plex and introduce them to the others chica.” Doug said. Chica put you down and told you she could wait to hang out with you. “You ok there?” asked doug. “Bit overwhelmed but i'll manage.” Doug laughed again. “Well if you like chica, you’ll love sun, but first i gotta show you around the rest of the first floor.” Doug informed.

Doug took you to a few gift shops, concession stands and the lot. “Oh that's right.” doug said as he reached into his pocket and handed you something. “This is your new security pass, it will let you into anywhere you need to go, but not everywhere you want to go.” he stated. “What do you mean ‘want’?” you asked. Doug informed you that you will only be entering areas in which the pizza plex needs you to enter, everywhere else is pretty much off limits. You nod your head, that makes you wonder what you’ll see.

Doug leads you up some stairs and then through the ‘Superstar Daycare’ doors. Walking down the hallway your legs began to hurt from all the walking, but you didn’t say that to doug, he’s probably use to the walking. Doug proceeds to walk you down another flight of stairs after the log hallway, at this point you're internally screaming. You both stop at a large door, doug opends both the doors. “I'm sure sunny won't mind me opening the doors since the daycare is going to open soon anyways.”

Doug called out for sun. You both look up to a room located above a ball bit. There's a man up there and you both see him jump off. “Oh my god” you say under your breath. “Don’t worry, that's his thing.” Doug reassures you. Sun pops out of the ball pit and makes his way to the both of you. “Oh hoo hoo! A new friend! You must be the new security guard, im sun, what's your name?” Man sun was taller up close, the tallest person you've seen so far had to be monty, who was around 6 ft tall, but sun had to have at least a foot and a half over him.

“(Y/N), it's nice to meet you!” you say cheerfully. He shakes your hand, “Please, call me sunny, everyone else does!” he smiled. “Sunny, she's going to have to meet moon as well,” Doug said to him. Sun smiled happily. “Should I get the lights?” Sunny asked. “Nah, I'll get 'em.” Doug answered. “Oh who’s moon? Is he sensitive to the lights?” you asked. Sunny thought for a moment before replying “Kinda.”

You looked at Doug, he had just got to the lights and turned them off. It took you a minute to adjust your eyes. “Wow, it gets really dark in here.” you state. “Yes, its to help the children sleep during naptime,” said a raspy voice. The voice was coming from where sunny was standing previously. “Uh sun?” you asked as you looked at him.

Instead of sun, there was a man of matching height where sun was, he was smiling at you and took your hand. “It's so nice to meet you (Y/N), I'm moon, I only come out when the lights are off, sunny however stays only when lights are on.” he explained to you. “Oh, ok, that doesn't make complete sense but it's nice to meet you regardless, moon.” he smiles. “Hopefully next time we meet our chat could be longer.” Doug yells out that the lights are coming back on. Moon bids his farewell and kisses your hand before the lights came back on, blinding you momentarily.

When your eyes adjusted, sunny was back where he originally stood. Confusion plastered your face. “What happened to moon?” you asked sunny. “Its like he told you, he only comes out when the lights are off.” ‘That didn't make any sense’ you thought to yourself. Doug practically drug you out of the daycare, saying goodbye to sunny. “I still have the other floors to show you around the other floors and I have a few more people to introduce you to.” Doug told you.

Dough eventually escorted you into the elevator and began to explain the levels to you. “So level 1-3 is all located in the same…area, if you will. Don’t get confused by the word ‘level’ just thing of it instead as ‘floor’, theres three floors in total, floor one has the main stages, floor two is known for roxys raceway, and floor three is known for bonnie bowl.” you nodded along with him. He told you about the utility tunnels that led everywhere. “Wow this place is huge, I hope I'm able to find my way around.” You were starting to think the money wasn’t worth it.

“Wait until we get to the fourth level and meet the dj.” you looked at him in shock. “There's a fourth floor?” you practically yelled. Doug broke out in laughter. When the door finally opened Doug showed you around. To save on time he didn’t take you in most of the places. ON the first floor he took you into an area called kids cove. It was a pirate themed play place for kids. Essentially it was just a big playground for kids to run around and play.

You heard footsteps and turned, looking down a hallway you saw an attractive, rugged looking man. “Just the pirate I was looking for,” said doug. “Avast, ya scalliwags best have a good reason for botherin a hard working pirate, like myself.” He said jokingly. “Foxy, this is (Y/N), they will be the new security guard here.” Doug tells him. Foxy looks you up and down. “Nice to meet ye (Y/N), I be the captain around these parts.” He reaches out his left hand, which causes you to look at his right as you reach your left hand to shake it.

You noticed his other hand was a hook. You must have stared for a minute because foxy said “I can switch between a hand and a hook,I only have the hook on when im workin” he stated. You blush and apologize for staring at it. He told you he was used to it so it didn’t bother him, he then excused himself because he still had some stuff to do before the plex opened up. Doug led you around the second floor and then up to the third floor, taking the steps all the way up.

“Sore yet?” Doug asked jokingly. You smiled but he was right, you didn’t know how you were going to maintain working here. “Pro tip-” he began. “Never skip leg day at your gym” he laughed to himself. He walked you to bonnie bowl. It was also huge on the inside, at first you thought it was just another arcade. The deeper you went you realized it was a bowling alley. Doug led you to a little dining area beside the alley way and he called out for someone named ‘Bonnie’.

Upon hearing their name, a nice looking man walked out from a door behind the dining area. He greeted Doug with a hug and asked who you were. Doug told him that you were the new security guard. Bonnie shook your hand and welcomed you wholeheartedly, but apologized for cutting the greeting short because he had some things to finish up before opening. You couldn’t believe after all this time it was still early enough where the place wasn't open yet. Doug led you out again and showed you around the rest of the third floor, then back to the elevator to take you to the last floor he was directed to show you. This last floor was full of arcade machines. Doug led you to a dance floor area. “Hm, that's weird, he must be gone. I'm sure he’ll come around soon, for now i'll show you the equipment, im sure they will have you doing repairs on it whenever it breaks, which isn't often, he takes great care of his equipment.'' Doug blabbed on as he brought you to the stage like area and showed you some pretty sophisticated dj equipment.

He then explained the tunnels behind him. He was standing near the entrance of the tunnel as he told you that ‘he’, who you still didn’t know, uses the tunnels to get around and that ‘he’ has amazing hearing. Suddenly a giant of a man walked up behind doug. This guy was huge, at least ten feet tall. Doug stopped talking when he saw your shocked face and looked behind him. “Ah, there ya are” he said to the huge man. “(Y/N), this is the man i was talking about, this is DJ music man” he said. DJMM looked at you, at first the look seemed cold, but then he smiled warmly. “NIce to meet ya, (Y/N), please call me DJ.” He reached his hand out and you shook it.

Compared to your hand, his was huge. He noticed how you started, he found it cute how aw struck you were. “Damn how do you even get that big?” you asked him. The sheer size of him amazed you, you had never seen someone as tall as him. “Guess it's all the veggies I ate as a kid.” he laughed. ‘Bullshit’ you thought to yourself. “Well (Y/N)” Doug began. “This was the last place i had to show ya, now we gotta go back down to the ground floor to get you all set up.” With that you and Doug were on your way back down, saying farewell to DJ.

You didn't know how this job was going to go, but you were excited.

[gb-patch]

Ask Answers: July 10th

I really let asks get away from me lately. I was super focused on working on that Patreon Moment. With that done I can finally think about doing other things, so here’s a new collection of answers!

Thank you for sending in questions everyone ^^.

For the new Patreon moment, will you be able to reference it in step 4? Or just like a tiny nod to it if you pick certain choices?

There won’t be. I’m sorry if you were hoping for that! The Patreon moment is meant to be entirely optional, it’s not something that gets you extra content in the main game.

Is the new CG artist the main one now? :0 I’ve noticed theres been a difference in the art style recently. Is the old CG artist still going to make art for the game? :0

The original artist still makes CGs for the game sometimes, but he mainly focuses on character sprites.

Are you going to put the NSFW our life moment on a website other than patreon? I would love to get it but I can't use patreon atm.

I don’t know. I'm afraid we can't release the Patreon Moment on a normal game storefront because we can't mix 18+ content with our family friendly game. If there's some other place similar to Patreon where it's not the normal type of full-scale public content releases we'd consider using that, but I’m not sure if there is another site that’s better than Patreon in that regard. I'm sorry.

Out of curiosity, in all of your games so far, which characters in each were the most fun to write? They obviously don't have to be your favorite characters!

Buffalo Seer in AFA, really everyone in XOD/XOBD is pretty equally entertaining to write, The Guide in LoV, and Cove in OL!

idk if you accept "personal" questions, but is there anything you've been watching/ listening to lately

Mostly, I’ve been watching/listening to Authortube videos as of late! It’s people who talk generally about the process of how books become traditionally published and/or share their own experience as they attempt to be published. I don’t have an interest in writing normal text based books, but it’s really interesting to hear about that world. I’m listening to a video about royalties right now as I answer these asks.

Will one of the desserts we get to pick be fudge? That'd be such a cute reference! 

Haha, yeah, it should. Unless I completely blank on it and forget when trying to include the various referential food options.

I don't know if this has been asked previously but what would be the approximate heights for the presets MC can choose from Step 2 ~ 4? Are there any measurement you had in mind? Sorry if I didn't make myself clear kk I've been struggling with my English lately 💀 

I don’t know, ahah. I didn’t have any numbers in mind for that. So it’s whatever you imagine it is!

I noticed a bug with the Patreon moment when it comes to what your character wears. When Jamie and Cove are kissing while my character only had dresses selected, I had both the option to remove the dress or to remove the shirt... Picking one of the options to interact with Cove, after he removed his shirt, it had Jamie remove their shirt followed by ther pants despite only having dresses picked. 

Thank you for reporting ^^

I keep refreshing steam to see when the new doc for xobd will be released. I noticed you haven't posted anything about it in quite some time. Would it be possible to ask about a timeline/potential date? (If it's even this year—) I know you and your team are probably working super hard, I'm just super curious! ~Thank you!~ 

There are more stories done, I just haven’t gotten around to publicly releasing them. Hopefully I will have a chance to spend the time on that sooner rather than later!

hello!! i’m not sure if it’s an update but i’ve just replayed our life and at the end i can’t propose to cove anymore? :(( i’ve actually tried playing twice but the options are not there anymore, did you guys remove the options? i’m sorry if you’ve answered this before!! thank you and have a good one :) 

I’m afraid things haven’t been changed or removed, so I think you might’ve accidentally picked the wrong things somewhere along the way and locked yourself out of being able to propose by mistake. Sometimes you meant to say you want to get married but instead you mis-click and have it so the MC isn’t thinking about marriage or something. All I can suggest is starting from the beginning of Step 3 and making sure to follow the steps listed in the FAQ. I’m sorry for that.

Did yall remove some of the options for when youre making out with Cove in the charity moment? I could've sworn you could grab his bonkadonk and its not there anymore 

This is the same situation as the above. We didn’t remove things and you’re not wrong that there are sometimes those options. But there are various choices you have to make to get those options and it sounds like you accidentally missed something. If your relationship isn’t long-term, you can’t do it for example.

HI IM SO EXCITED I CAN FINALLY GET THE STEP 3 DLC 

Thank you for getting it!

Is Shiloh super totally straight bc I’m very gay and a huge Shiloh fan, would my man make an exception?😩

Sadly, he is one of our super straight characters. I’m sorry.

Hi, I have a very dumb question. In Step 2 does Cove not wanna share his drink with us at the mall (or rather why he stops drinking it) because it's an indirect kiss? Or is it like ...weird to him to share? Because if I remember right he eats off our spoon in the birthday scene right? 

Yeah, he’s awkward about it because he likes the MC and it feels very personal to share a straw with his crush.

Hi! If you don't mind me asking, who is the artist for OL2? Their style is so pretty! 

Thank you for saying so! This is her Twitter- https://twitter.com/redridingheart

Do Beginnings & Always and Now & Forever exist in the same universe? 

Yep! XOXO Droplets also exists in the same universe. It’s one big GB Patch world, haha.

Do Pran's parents regret the way they raised him? Do they feel ashamed of it?

No. They’re the type of people best cut out because they’re not gonna change. Which is why Pran does go very limited contact when he’s an adult.

Hi! I just wrapped up my second playthrough of Our Life, and I absolutely adore it, but I had a question. I went to the gallery and found I was missing 2 CGS (specifically Step 1-3 and 2-3) and I had no clue where they would've shown up. Which moments are those found in? 

You get it by telling Cove about his dad offering you money to be his friend in Step 1 and Step 2. You can’t get both in one playthrough, since you can only tell Cove the truth once. I’m really glad you liked it!

Hi hi! Please, how tall is Baxter and Derek? Love the game so much and I can't wait to see more! 

I don’t know, aha. I think Baxter was around 5′10 and Derek was like 5′8/5′9, maybe. I really am not one who has specific heights for things in mind.

is adult cove a bottom, top, or switch? 

A switch, though would choose the top if he had to pick.

I was wondering if there is a way to transfer save data? Even if through the game files. I wanted to be able to transfer my save data from my desktop over to my laptop so that I could continue playing right where I left off from but I'm not entirely sure how to go about that. 

If you save the save folder/persistent data of the game from your desktop and put it into the game folder on your other device, that could work.

Hi! Is it possible for us to know the date when our life: now and forever comes out on steam? Sorry if you've mentioned it before but I haven't seen it and I'm looking foward to that happening and just wanted to know :) 

It’s gonna be a long time, I’m afraid. There’s no estimate right now.

I started playing Our Life with my sister a while ago, and I think you guys should know that we discovered your secret. >:)

L from death note and Cove are clearly the same person, and this whole game is just an origin story!!

I’ve never seen that show so I’m sorry to say I don’t understand the connection/reference you’re trying to make. I’m pretty out of the loop when it comes to media. I don’t watch movies or TV.

Will OL2 have options for disabled MCs?

I understand if it's too complicated, just curious

Unfortunately, it’s not really something we have a plan for. We couldn’t finish the game if we tried to include every disability and have it be meaningful. It’d just be too much content to create. But if we decide to only include a few, how would we choose which disabilities get to be represented and which are left out? I don’t know. It’ll probably have to be something we don’t include as an option again, sadly. I’m sorry.

playing our life > anything else 

Haha, I’m glad you’re enjoying it.

Honestly, I would like to thank Our Life for helping me come to terms with my sexuality. Before, I never would've actually thought that it was possible to like boys romantically and still be asexual. Almost all of the BL visual novels I've read had unskippable sexual content in them and it honestly just didn't click with what I feel. I'm glad I found Our Life. I love the game, the developers, and this fandom so much. Now, I can safely come out as homoromantic AND asexual (at least anonymously here anyway; my parents are still huge homophobes 😂). 

Aw, it’s great to hear you felt comfortable being yourself in the game! That’s wonderful. I’m really sorry about your parents, though.

Will the demo for OL2 be on android? Really not sure if I could wait any longer than I have to aha 

Yeah, it’ll be available for Android once we eventually release a demo!

Do all these reveals perhaps mean development is progressing ahead of schedule? Please let that be the case I'm already obsessed with Qiu 

No, sorry, aha. Art comes along much faster than script/programming-work for us. It’s gonna be a long time before the game is a finished thing you can actually play. But at least we can look at the beautiful images.

Hey! First of all I wanna say I reallllllyyyyy loooovvveeee Our Life and XOXO Droplets! I have over 300 hours of playtime on Our Life… Anyways, I was just wondering, are the Derek and Baxter DLCs going to come out at the same time? If not, which one do you plan to release first? :3 

They will come out separately and Derek will be first! Glad you like the game.

I keep replaying Our Life to get every possible iteration and I am loving it <3 I was wondering if Cove gets locked out of his confession because MC was talking to Lee, would it be possible to confess to him in step 4? 

Yeah, you can avoid the confession in Step 3 and then get it in Step 4.

Hi, my Cove wears bracelets through step 2 and 3 but I still don't get an option to give him a bracelet? I didn't even know that was possible until I seen someone else ask about it lol 

Hm, did you use the Cove creator? Maybe there’s a bug where using the creator to add bracelets doesn’t fulfill the requirement to give Cove a bracelet in Step 3.

Wait, I'm dense, when does Baxter appear in step 2? Is it from big park firework? I feel so bad since i really love Baxter and waiting to buy his dlc. 

It’s in the Soiree Moment. You have to be just friends with Cove, indifferent, or crushing but not ask Cove to the dance at all. Then while there you can find someone new to dance with. But if you bring Cove to the dance while crushing, the MC won’t wanna dance with anyone else so you can’t get the scene.

In step 2 when we go to the soiree I made my mc go alone and baxter chooses the mc to dance, i'm curious, why did he pick the mc? sorry if this has been asked before! 

Because the MC looked to be around his age, seemed to also be searching for a partner, and had nice legs. A perfect option for him.

I read some of the FAQs, and I saw that we could tell Baxter about the condo that he rented there was previously the mean old grandparents. how do we get the mc to tell him that? 

It happens in the DLC Moment “Late Shift”. If you don’t have a job you instead get a longer scene with Baxter.

I don’t know if you’ve addressed this or not, but are you planning on paying voice actors for our life: now and forever? 

Yeah, we pay our VAs in all our projects.

hey can i ask how you did the moments thing in ol? im trying to get into making visual novels and while im VERY sure its out of my comfort zone and all that atm i kinda wanna know just for the future, bc im p sure it would work well for something i wanna do :O but its also fine if you cant say for other reasons :> 

I’m afraid I’m not sure what you mean. Are you asking how we programmed the screen or something script related? Adding Moments like that is pretty straightforward, though. You just have buttons that open to different labels and then the scripts are essentially individual short stories/vignettes. Good luck with your VN!

Since Autumn becomes gender fluid later in the game, will there be a character who remains as he/him to romance in game? 

OL1 has the he/him LIs, OL2 is all about other genders.

I don't want to impose on your creative plans, but a parrot could possibly make a good pet in an OL-type game? They're pretty long-lived and likely to still be thriving by the end even if the MC got them back in step 1. 

I do appreciate the suggestion, but I’m afraid it’s not likely going to happen. I understand there are technically some animals that could theoretically live long enough to last the whole game that or we could have the MC only get a pet after some years have already passed. But the many things that would have to be considered/accommodated for makes it just something we probably can’t manage adding. I’m sorry.

As time passes will we be able to see Qiu and Tamarack's other stage arts as well?

They are both so cute i can't wait to be friends with them!

Yeah, we’ll show content from other Steps in the future. It’ll be a little while from now, though.

Can you date Cove and still have your family comfort you in the car?

You can’t get Cove’s Step 3 confession scene if you have the family comfort you in the car. But that’s not the only way to date him. You can get together with him earlier in the game or later on in Step 4.

Is Mc always going to be the one walking down the aisle or could Cove do it? Also could you choose to have one of your moms walk you? 

No. Cove wouldn’t want to walk down the aisle like that and the MC automatically respects that. And the MC also gets to have their preferences respected, so it’s up to you whether they want to do an aisle walk or not. You also can pick who, if anyone, walks with you.

Once step 4 is out, will you be able to go the whole game on crush/love without either of you confessing? 

Yes, as long as you tell the game you don’t want to progress the relationship. Even in Step 4 it won’t force you to officially get together.

Howdy, so in Step 4, there will be any Romance with Derek that is not part of any dlc? 

He’s only a friend unless you get his romance story.

Will the step 4 in OL2 be one big step or are you considering moments? 

Step 4 is just an epilogue in both games.

hi kind of a weird question but!! we know tht cliff doesn't start dating again but. wht abt flings? like does he ever do 1 night stands or anything? thank u!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Nope. Cliff has a very small interest in sex. If he’s not in a real relationship with a partner he’s crazy about it simply isn’t something he feels a need for, so one night stands wouldn’t even cross his mind.

sorry if you've already answered this, but i was wondering if there were plans for there to be bonus love interests in OL2 like how we have derek and baxter in OL1.

Maybe! There are side characters who could be given romance stories, but whether or not it will happen depends on funding and how long everything else takes to finish.

I don't know if i'm allowed to ask about ol2 here yet, if not u can ignore this or answer it later. My question is can you date one of them and be good friends with the other? I don't want to be strangers with the other bcs i love them both a lot :<

Yes you can!

what patreon level do i have to be to unlock the nsfw moment? im on the $5 one right now, will that give me access to the moment, or just access to the moment progress? 

That’ll give you access! Tier 2 and anything higher allows the player to download it.

[soramei]

Intentional - Part 1

Pairing: Bang Chan x Reader (she/her)

Summary: Landing your first real job at JYPE was something short of a miracle. You were prepared to face the new struggles of this elusive career whilst moving to a new country, however, nothing could have prepared you for him. Will stolen glances, secret touches, and hushed nights spent in the recording room ever be enough for the both of you?

Genre: idol!bang chan au, forbidden relationship, coworkers to eventual lovers, slow burn 

Warnings: none right now, eventual smut,

Word Count: 7.3k 

Masterlist

A/N: hey yall this is my first ff im posting on tumblr :D im kinda scared to post but i hope anybody who stumbles on lil ol’ me will join me along the way :) also important!!! i made oc/reader asian cus i am lol (and this whole thing is basically a glorified self insert) so plz keep this in mind when reading!! oh god i didnt realize how slow this first part was sry... 

The cold silence of the room felt like stabs at your inside. You commanded your feet to stop bouncing up and down as you unconsciously started to bite off the dead skin of your bottom lip. The white corporate light from above reflected off your brand new lanyard hanging delicately from your neck. You felt the coarse blue fabric rub against your neck as you mindlessly fiddled with your lanyard; the newly printed photo of your face stared back at you with a smile. 

The creak of the door to your left was what broke you from your nervous fidgets. Whipping your head up from your lanyard, you immediately stood up ready to bow to whoever came through that door. 

It was a girl. She looked around the same age as you, if not older. Her attire was what gave her away. Her appearance essentially mirrored yours: hair tied back into a ponytail with a white blouse and black work pants. She also had the familiar blue ‘JYPE’ labeled strap hanging from her neck. 

“Hello,” you spoke meekly, scared to disturb the cold silence that had a hold on the room you were in. 

“Hello,” she replied. “My name is Choi Na-eun, I’m the new social media strategist intern and today is my first day.”

This is so relieving, you thought, another newbie to share the stress with me. 

“This is my first day too,” you perked up, “I’ll be starting as the new junior Chinese marketing assistant.” 

Getting the acceptance email from JYP Entertainment was definitely a high point in your life. The feeling of butterflies swarming your insides as you clicked the email open only to see your acceptance was immediately locked as a core memory. All the years of memorizing thousands of Korean and English vocabulary flashcards, the panic attacks before your finance exams, and the many, many late night coffee breaks were worth it the moment you received your first legitimate job offer, and from the esteemed JYP Entertainment company no less. 

“Chinese marketing?” Na-eun asked. “So you aren’t from here, I take it.” 

You shook your head. “I am from China. I completed my degree a while ago with a major in Language and a minor in Business. To be honest, I’ve done internships back home, but it’s been my dream to move to a new country.”

All of what you said was true. Up until now, your surroundings have never changed in all of your twenty-three years living. From the walk with your grandmother to daycare to the vast campus of your university, the view of your city has never changed. Your social circle stayed stagnant since you were able to talk and your love life was — for a lack of a better word — uneventful. 

It wasn’t until the day you decided to start applying for careers outside your home country that you felt hopeful. Hopeful that you could find an escape from your inert lifestyle and escape the burnout and stress that has been building up over the years. And so, on a day when you were feeling unusually confident, you gathered up the courage and spent hours sending out applications to organizations all over Asia that pertained to your specific degree. The applications were mainly for small jobs at small companies, however, your strange spike of motivation gave you the confidence to apply to the everso esteemed JYP Entertainment located in Korea. Of course you knew about this company — you and your friends played songs by ‘Twice’ nonstop back in highschool — but you didn’t realize the full power that this company had on the entertainment market until you did your full research. To say that you thought you had no chance was an understatement. This application was so far of a reach that you purposefully forced your mind to erase all memory of even applying. 

However, with your education, your work experience, and whatever tiny bit of luck you had, you somehow made it through the initial application process. Then the next. And the next. Then the interview. And now, you were nervously sitting in this white painted room with Na-eun, in a completely new country, waiting for your manager to come greet you. 

“So you’re from China? You’ve got to teach me chinese sometime.” Na-eun smiled. 

You giggled in return while nodding your head. You were relieved that you’ve met a potential friend so early in your career in this company. This was one of your big worries. With your social circle being so stagnant for the majority of your life back in China, you rarely had the opportunity to meet new people, much less make new friends. 

You were about to inquire more into Na-eun’s life when the door to your left abruptly opened. In the blink of an eye, three new people strutted in — two women and one man. They seemed to be higher status than you and Na-eun judging by their attire. All three were styled in some type of blazer and dress pants and there was no lanyard to be found on any of them. 

“Hello new employees,” the man greeted. Judging by his face, he looked to be in his late thirties at the least. His hair was styled back neatly and his lips slanted up, giving him a fox-like appearance. “I am Executive Manager Kim. Joined beside me on the left is Social Media Manager An and to my right is Marketing Manager Chen.” 

Both you and Na-eun immediately stood up to bow and introduce yourselves. 

“Hello. My name is Choi Na-eun, I’m the new social media strategist intern.” Na-eun said. 

“Hello. My name is y/n, I’m the new junior Chinese marketing assistant.” You repeated after her, copying exactly what she said. You did not want to screw anything up on your first day, especially your first impression. 

Manager Kim reached over to Na-eun, introducing himself and giving her a firm handshake. He then slowly moved over to you, and reached for your hand. 

“Y/n,” he gave time for your name to settle on his tongue as he gave a sly smile. “You’re not from here, aren't you?”

You shook your head ‘no’. “No, sir. I’m from China where I studied language and business. I hope to do well here as the Chinese marketing assistant.” You replied, mentally cursing yourself for sounding so timid. 

“I’m glad to hear,” Manager Kim chuckled, “I’m sure you’ll treat me and your other managers well.”

You felt an uncomfortable shiver pass through you as he brushed his thumb along your hand before letting go. This feeling was excused as nervousness, after all, this was your first day and your first time meeting your higher-ups. 

You introduced yourself to Manager Chen, assuming that she would be the one you were to assist in your time here at JYPE. Judging by her last name, you presumed that she was Chinese as well. 

“Forgive me for being so straight up Manager Chen, but are you Chinese?” You asked. 

“That is alright, y/n,” she smiled, “I’m not. My Husband is, but I’ve lived in China for more than half my life. I don’t want to brag, but my mandarin has gotten proficient over the past decade or so.”

Proficient? It’s amazing. You thought. This first day was turning out better than you thought. Other than the weird feeling you received from Manager Kim, everything was turning out splendid. A potential friend and a manager that could speak your first language.

“Since it’s about noon right now,” Manager Kim took a look at his watch, “What do you all think about some lunch?” 

The other managers nod their heads in agreement and gestures for you and Na-eun to follow them out of the waiting room you were in for so long. 

The whole building seemed so clean. With every corner lit, by natural light or artificial light, you could clearly see that every room, every piece of furniture and decor had been purposefully placed. You couldn’t help but have a stupid look of awe plastered on your face as you mindlessly follow your superiors over to the cafeteria.  

You turned your head over to Na-eun and gave her a tilt of the eyebrow, silently saying wow, this is where we work. 

With the turn of a corner and several silent strides, your little group made it to the cafeteria. 

The difference between your claustrophobic waiting room and this vast room was astonishing. With countless tables and romantic yellow lighting, this place almost resembled a five star restaurant. You’ve never seen a cafeteria as extravagant and clean as this before. However, to be fair, you’ve never had the experience of working with such a large corporation before. 

The managers led you to the serving station where you grabbed yourself a tray and proceeded to spoon small portions of rice and side dishes onto your plate. This cuisine was different to what you were used to, but nonetheless looked delicious. You were prepared for the small cultural differences, especially with the food, but from everything you’ve witnessed so far, the culture shock would be easier to overcome than what you’ve anticipated. 

“Have this soup y/n,” Manager Kim’s grating voice came from in front of you, interrupting your inner monologue. “It’s good for your complexion.” 

As Manager Kim hands over the bowl of soup, you feel the sleeve of his blazer brush up against your shoulder, causing the pit of your stomach to drop.

First day nerves. That was what this feeling was. You thought. 

You quietly thanked him with a small nod and walked briskly from the service line, trying to find where Na-eun went with the other two managers. Thankfully, they were just a step away and you quickly made your way over to the comfortable spot beside Na-eun. She gave you a small grin and you both followed your way to a table right in the middle of the room. 

Soon, all five chairs of the table got filled and sounds of chopsticks tapping and scraping against plates and bowls filled your ears. An awkward silence dominates your table as you start to pick at your food. 

“So,” Manager Chen cleared her throat, “after lunch I was thinking we should go to a meeting room and discuss Miss. Y/n’s role in our new project.”

“I was thinking the same for our new Intern Choi.” Manager An cut in, “What do you think, Manager Kim?” 

“It all sounds good. I will be accompanying Manager Chen to her meeting room as I wish to also further discuss the preliminary steps for our project.” Manager Kim looked from Manager Chen over to you. 

“Project?” You ask. 

“We’ve had a very successful year with our idol groups and we wanted to ride this success and start marketing in China. Recently, we’ve noticed a very large and growing Chinese audience for this group. I’m sure you’re very curious now, however we can discuss further details once we are in the meeting room.” Manager Chen replies while taking a sip of the water in her glass. 

Manager Chen appeared to be a very professional and respectable woman. With prominent collarbones and wide shoulders, she easily looked the part of a confident and adored manager. She needed minimal makeup to highlight her tall cheekbones, and even with a short heel on her feet she seemed to tower over you. However, her warm and comforting voice was what broke her intimidating demeanour. Just listening to her voice felt like you were back in your high school classroom with your favourite teacher explaining the motif of a sad love poem. 

After some more awkward conversations mixed with a few work discussions, the five of you finished the delicious food on your trays. 

“Please excuse me whilst I head to the restroom” Na-eun spoke up after your group finished clearing the table. 

“Please excuse me as well.” You quickly followed, bowing as you both ventured off to the washrooms. 

I should get her number so I’m not completely a loner in this place, you thought to yourself. And so, after a quick inner struggle to speak up, you finally decided to ask. 

“Hey, should we exchange contacts? I don’t wanna look like the newbie eating in the cafeteria alone after today.” You chuckled. 

“Totally!” Na-eun beamed. “I was actually thinking the same thing…” 

And so, you both quickly exchanged each other's contact as you made your way to the restrooms. 

The hall of the washrooms were narrow, hidden away from the main cafeteria. You walked in, deciding you only wanted to retouch your hair and makeup before your first official meeting. You carefully fix the loose hairs that somehow escaped the confines of your elastic and dab on a fresh layer of foundation before applying your lipstick which rubbed off while eating. Looking over at Na-eun, you see she’s quite in the zone redoing her mascara. 

“Hey, I’ll just wait for you in the hall.” You said. 

Na-eun gave you a disinterested nod back as she kept focusing on her mascara. 

You walked to the end of the hall, leaned against the wall, and pulled out your phone. Smiling, you opened the virtual Tamagotchi app and saw your little friend staring back at you, bouncing up and down. The bundle of virtual pixels happily bounced as you fed and bathed it, making you happier in return. Playing this game, you were so entranced with your phone that the abrupt closing of the washroom doors broke you out of your hypnosis fast, causing you to flinch and drop your phone. 

You looked up, only to see a brown haired man wearing a long sleeved black shirt. The hem of his sleeve fell, covering his hand as he bent down to pick up your phone. He stood back up, fully facing you now and you immediately recognized who he was. You weren’t a fool, of course you did all your research on the artists of JYPE before applying for the job. Looking down at you right now, holding your phone in his hand, was Bang Chan of Stray Kids. 

The wispy tufts of his brown hair bounced over his forehead as he stepped over to you. He smiled, his dimple poking out of his cheek, and handed your phone back to you. “I think you dropped this.”  

Blushing tomato red, you embarrassingly accepted the phone, trying not to make your shaking hands noticeable. It seemed like that failed, however, as you noticed him glance at your hands and dimple grow deeper. 

“Thank you.” You meekly chirped and lowered your head, still in awe that you somehow bumped into a JYPE idol in the bathroom hallway of a cafeteria. 

“It’s good that there’s no cracks.” Bang Chan said, looking in your eyes. 

You looked back into his eyes. His smile never left his face, and you physically felt the warmth radiating off his body like rays from the sun. Some boring, objective part of your brain knew this interaction only lasted a fraction of a second, but you swore that time froze.

“Hyung!” A distant voice called. 

Your trance was broken as Bang Chan looked over to the person calling his name. He turned back to you, politely bowed, and casually sauntered over to the man who called him. 

What just happened? Your inner monologue ran, still trying to process the embarrassing interaction. The scent of his cologne lingered, swirling the atmosphere around your body. 

Thankfully, you didn’t have too much time to dwell on this interaction as Na-eun finally opened the washroom doors and was making her way toward you. 

You and Na-eun trailed behind the managers until you reached the set of elevators. It was there where you had to unfortunately separate from your comfort work buddy as she hopped in the elevator across from yours with Manager An. The other two managers led you to the elevator at the end and pressed the button for your destination floor. The ride in the elevator was silent. You stood there, fiddling with your nails. 

Once the elevator gave the ding of arrival, the three of you headed down a hall where you presumed had the meeting room. 

Manager Kim took a look at the watch on his wrist. “We are a minute late, everybody should be there already. Enter silently and respectfully.” He said in a stern voice.

You reached the frosted glass door of the meeting room and entered through the already opened door. The managers followed behind you with Manager Chen being the last one in and closing the door. 

Your eyes widened at whom you saw.

There was Bang Chan, who sat in all his glory, staring right into your eyes with his mouth ajar. His shocked expression didn't last long, however, as he quickly composed himself to fit with the professional atmosphere of this room. 

But why was he here? You thought. He’s an artist, isn’t this a management meeting? 

Your inner monologue was broken by Manager Kim’s stern voice. “Y/n, why don’t you sit with me for today?” He asked with a slight tilt of the lips. His hand was hovering above your back, almost guiding you to the seat just right of the head chair. 

Your heart rate quickened. There was no way that you could handle sitting right beside a high position manager on your first day. You barely knew what your duties entailed, you definitely could not handle the pressure of this seat today. You whipped your head around to look for Manager Chen. She was already sitting in her seat, looking like she was right at home. 

“Manager Kim, if you don’t mind, I would like to sit in this position for today, '' a voice spoke up, “I have a lot of new ideas I’d like to share that are written in my notes.” 

Bang Chan.

He paused a brief second, eyes switching between you and Manager Kim, and raised his iPad to show the screen filled with words. 

“I don’t mind at all, go ahead.” Manager Kim monotonously replied. He then made his way to the head chair. 

You looked over at Bang Chan, trying to subtly send the most grateful facial expression over to him. He returned your look, slightly grinning as his fingers tapped on the screen of his iPad and sat down to the right of Manager Kim. You looked over to see Manager Chen gesturing you to sit in the chair beside her and swiftly made your way over. At your seat, she handed you a notepad and pen, both adorned with the JYPE logo. 

“Now, as of 1:02 p.m., September first, the meeting will officially begin.” Manager Kim clasped his hands together on top of the table. “As most of you already know, we are in the preliminary stages of planning a Chinese debut for our artist group ‘Stray Kids’. All we have right now is the estimated timeline, which is four months. We have a basic grasp of the concept we are working towards, however, as you all know, trends are always changing and growing. While we are working to create a new and original concept for Stray Kids, we also want the concept to gather as much audience reception as possible.” 

Wow. That was a lot to take in. Your hands struggled to keep up with writing down what Manager Kim was saying. You knew this relatively new group was really starting to explode in the past year, but a debut in another country? This group must work really hard to even have the company consider a step as risky as this. So this is why Bang Chan is also involved in this meeting. 

You peaked your head up from your notepad. Bang Chan sat across from you, one hand on his chin and the other one holding the pen to his tablet. 

Manager Kim then carefully discussed the duties that each group in the room would take. Many of the jobs were directly involved with developing the concept itself, such as producing music, concept art, and theme development. Your pen never took a break from gliding on the notepad as you hurriedly jotted down everything that Manager Kim said. 

Eventually, Manager Kim’s delegations moved to Manager Chen. “Manager Chen, I’ll let you take over from here.” 

“Thank you Manager Kim,” Manager Chen cleared her throat. “While my main job here was to market Korean comebacks towards the Chinese audience, this new project changes things up a bit. Now, not only will I be in charge of marketing to the Chinese audience, but I will also be directly in charge of the concept itself. I will be working carefully with our team in China to monitor the trends which we can incorporate into our debut.

“This is my new assistant, y/n,” She turned and gestured to you. You politely nodded your head. “She will be gathering information on useful trends and reporting back to me, as well as some translating. Please report any ideas that you deem useful to her by the end of every week for her to sort through and deliver to me.” 

You almost want to call Manager Chen crazy for giving you so much power, after all, you were only starting out as her assistant. Despite this, however, you were determined to go above and beyond with the new responsibilities given to you, after all, you knew that choosing to work in an organization as big as JYPE would take blood, sweat, and tears. 

After some clarifications given by Manager Chen and a few more questions directed at her, Manager Kim took the reins back in his hands. 

“Now, as I’m sure you all know, this is Bang Chan: the leader of Stray Kids. Although our management team is in charge of this debut, we like to include the opinions of artists whenever possible. He will make an appearance whenever he can and act as a representative of Stray Kids, sharing their ideas and opinions.” Manager Kim explained. 

Bang Chan politely introduced himself, and quickly went on to express some concerns of his members. He made sure that each concern was answered thoroughly by Manager Kim before moving on to the next. 

“As for our concept ideas,” Bang Chan’s soft brown eyes met yours, “will I have to report to y/n?” 

You felt your ears redden. 

“You could, yes,” Manager Kim straightened his back, “but if you find the weekly deadlines too much of a problem, you may just report to me or at any subsequent meeting.” 

“No worries sir,” Bang Chan’s eyes lingered on yours for a fraction of a second more before grinning at Manager Kim, “I’m always punctual.”  

The rest of the meeting consisted of more introductions and preliminary plans. After about an hour, everybody seemed satisfied with the contents of the meeting and were starting to pack up all their clutter on the table. You looked over at Manager Chen, silently asking what should I do next? 

Manager Chen smiled. “Let's head to my floor. I can give you a quick tour, you can get settled at your desk. I have some paperwork that I’m almost done with; I’m sure you’ll have no problem finishing it for me.” She already was standing up and straightening over the creases of her jacket. 

You stood up as well and followed behind Manager Chen like a lost baby duckling. You both made your way over to Manager Kim to bid farewell. You politely thanked him, said your goodbyes, and were about to leave when he stopped the two of you. 

“Manager Chen, let’s go out for drinks tonight.” Manager Kim took a look at the intricate watch on his wrist. “With our whole team, of course. It’ll be a welcoming night and we can get to know the people on our team better.” 

“That’s a great idea, Manager Kim,” Manager Chen nodded at his idea in approval. She turned on her iPad to quickly get a glimpse at her schedule. “What do you think y/n? Can you make it tonight? I know this is very last moment, but I think it’ll be a great opportunity for you to get to know your coworkers better.” 

“I should be able to make it.” You definitely could make it. You had no plans anyways. 

“Am I invited to this top secret party you’re all having?” A now very distinguishable voice came from behind you. Bang Chan stared at Manager Kim with a very mischievous expression. 

“Would your manager allow it?” Manager Kim questioned, knitting his eyebrows. 

“I’m on a diet, so I can’t drink alcohol or eat anything,” Bang Chan’s nose scrunched up in annoyance, “but I want to be as involved as I can. Just because I’m an idol doesn’t mean I can’t help behind the scenes as well.”

“Very well,” Manager Kim nodded with a fixed expression, “Let’s all meet at that restaurant about a block away west. I’ll go tell the others.” And with that, Manager Kim left you, Manager Chen, and Bang Chan to stand in awkward silence. 

“Well,” Bang Chan cleared his throat and clapped his hands together, “I’ll get going as well to do some work now, but it was nice meeting the both of you.” 

“You as well.” Manager Chen replied for the both of you and Bang Chan left soon after. 

Manager Chen then led you to the elevators again and you headed up yet another few floors to reach your destination. You nervously fiddled with your hair as you silently waited behind your boss, looking up at the smooth lines of her blazer every few seconds. The elevator doors dinged, letting you know of its arrival. The two of you swiftly headed out the elevators and walked to what you presumed was Manager Chen’s office area. You kept following behind Manager Chen in silence before you stopped in front of a set of doors that looked identical to the ones at the previous meeting room. Manager Chen opened the doors for you, and you headed in. 

You paused a step in, looking wide-eyed at the interior. The office was clean. A big glass desk sat right in the middle of the vast room in front of a huge set of windows. There were a couple of soft looking chairs placed right before the desk with a huge rug right underneath it. Over to your left, you spotted a water dispenser with a kettle right beside it. You stared at the room a bit longer before realizing you must have looked very stupid with that astonished look on your face. 

“Is this your office, Manager Chen?” You asked. 

“Yes. It seems that you like it,” She chuckled. You felt the heat rise to your ears. 

“Since you’ll be working so close to me, I’m sure you’ll be happy to come here more often.” 

“Thanks.” You awkwardly laughed. You blamed your bad response on the fact that you still weren’t familiar with the language, not your blatant awkwardness. 

Manager Chen made her way over to her desk, picking up a small stack of papers. “These are some letters I’ve received from several designer companies in China. Since we are still in the very preliminary stages of this project, we would like to keep our options open for the stylists here.” She picks an annotated letter from the pile. “I’ve translated and created a summary of the main points of this letter. There are a few more left which I believe I can trust you with. Just do as I did with this letter and add the sample pictures along with it.”

You quickly complied, taking the stack of papers from her hands. 

“I’ll show you to your new work space.” She led you out of your office and over to a cubicle that wasn’t too far away. It was considerably smaller compared to Manager Chen’s office, but you thought it had a certain coziness to it. Plus, working close to your coworkers could also boost your motivation. “Here is your desk, it’s not the most exciting thing, but you may bring photos or whatnot to decorate it. Now, I’ll let you settle in and get started on your work. You can meet me at my office around six, I can double check your work before we leave.” 

You thanked her before she left and immediately got started on your work. You diligently translated the whole of the letters before picking out the main points that matched with Manager Chen’s example. After this was done, you included the photos that came with each letter and slipped them into their own cozy folder. This work was monotonous, sure, but it was something you needed on your hectic first day here. 

You were so captivated by your work that you completely forgot about the time. The sun was starting to set, and you only remembered to look at the time after you tucked your last letter neatly in its folder. You briefly panicked, praying that you weren’t making your manager wait. Thankfully, it was only a quarter until six. You took the next fifteen minutes double checking your work, making sure to also check the time every once in a while. At exactly six, you left your desk and scurried over to the big doors of Manager Chen’s office. 

Knocking a couple times, you waited patiently to be let in. 

“Come in.” 

You let yourself in, handing the papers to your manager, then sat quietly in one of the chairs before her desk, crossing your fingers together. You fiddled with your thumbs, patiently waiting for Manager Chen to speak up. 

“Not bad, this is some decent work.” Manager Chen announced as soon as she finished glossing over your work. “I’ve noted some places that you can either fix or improve. I’ll scan them and hand you a copy tomorrow.” 

You let out a breath that you didn’t know you were holding. A tidal wave of relief washed over you as you let yourself relax further into your chain. Not bad, this is some decent work. You proudly repeated this moment in your brain. Although you were disappointed with the mistakes that you let slip through, to get somewhat of a compliment on your first day meant a lot to you. 

“Shall we get going now?” Manager Chen asked. 

You grabbed your bag and stood up. “I’ll let you lead the way.” 

                                                         _______

It seemed like all you were doing on your first day was following Manager Chen around like a lost puppy. The situation right now was no exception either, as you tried to copy her confident strides over to the restaurant a block down. You watched the busy rush hour streets and sidewalks fill with people, some people going home after a long day, some people going to party just like you.

Soon, after a few more minutes of walking, the both of you arrived at the small wooden doors of the restaurants. It seemed like the both of you were a bit late as Manager Kim was already waiting in front of the entrance with the rest of the team. Bang Chan was also there, head down looking at his phone. 

“Sorry we’re late, have you been waiting for long?” Manager Chen somehow sounded confident despite making everybody wait on her.

Her voice seemed to have caught everybody’s attention. You watched as Bang Chan swiftly turned his head up from his phone, his eyes making contact with yours. You immediately focused your eyes somewhere else, trying to casually play off the fact that your eyes subconsciously drifted to him. 

“We’ve only been waiting for a couple minutes.” Manager Kim gave a tight smile. “Let’s go in before you all get too cold.” 

Your little group of around ten people slowly entered the doors, filling the restaurant. Manager Kim called over a waitress, signaling that you had ten people in your group, and let the waitress lead you all to a long wooden table. 

The restaurant was nice, nothing too fancy, but that’s how you could tell the food was good. With dim lighting and tightly packed tables, it made you feel fuzzy and warm on the inside. 

However, your thoughts on the restaurant were soon broken by a hand on your shoulder. 

“Y/n, why don’t you sit with me?” Manager Kim’s lips curled up, “After all, this is a work gathering, how good of a boss would I be if I didn’t even treat my newest team member to a drink?” 

Your brain was in shambles. You seriously didn’t feel comfortable sitting with him all night. However, the logical side of your brain was saying something different. He’s just being nice as a boss. You don’t know how people in this country act anyways, stop being paranoid. 

It seemed like your inner turmoil was taking longer than necessary, as you heard another familiar voice speak up. 

“Manager Kim-” Bang Chan called out. 

“You don’t need to sit with me here, Bang Chan.” Manager Kim chuckled as he stared directly in Bang Chan’s eyes. “I’d rather not talk about work outside the office.”

You watched as Bang Chan’s eyebrows furrowed, looking back to you in reluctance. You smiled at him before turning your attention to Manager Kim. It was just one night, right? Plus, there’s no harm in establishing a good impression with your boss. 

“I’ll sit with you, Manager Kim.” You smiled, “thanks for offering.”

And so, you took your seat next to Manager Kim at the table. Bang Chan, who was to your left, looked askance at Manager Kim for a brief second before his facial expression did a complete 180. His familiar, boy-ish smile was plastered on his face like it was the most natural thing. 

When the menus came, everybody at the table — including you — started to order onslaughts of food and alcohol. After brief moments of casual chatter about topics such as the weather or how good the food was here, everything that was ordered arrived at your table.

You grabbed a can of beer and started sipping on it. You’ve drank before — of course — with your old friends at university, but it’s been at least a year since you last did. Better ease myself in. You thought. 

However, your preconceived plans were ruined when a small glass of clear liquor got pushed in front of you. 

“Y/n, surely you aren’t going to sip on that can all night.” The ends of Manager Kim’s lips curled up. 

“Wasn’t planning to, sir.” You replied while tipping the glass up and into your mouth. The bitter liquid burned your throat as it went down. You took a moment to recollect your surroundings. Seems like your tolerance was higher than you thought. 

“Bang Chan, do you not drink? Why not eat something then?” Manager Chen pointed to the food on the table. 

“No can do ma’am, I’m on a strict diet. My manager would kill me.” Bang Chan pointed to his glass of water. 

“In that case,” Manager Chen filled another glass, “Y/n, have another drink.” She slid the glass down the table in front of you. 

You gladly accepted your second drink, downing the alcohol in one go. Your eyes instinctively squeezed together as you felt your throat burn. From the tips of your ears to the ends of your toes, your whole body felt warm and alive. 

You lost track of the time. As your conversations got livelier, your head got fuzzier. You stopped counting your drinks after four, especially since so many people were eager to offer the new employee a drink. Although your vision was starting to blur, you could still think straight. I can still think, you thought to yourself, still — what a powerful buzz.

Your thoughts ran rampant in your mind as you stared at the lightbulb across the room. What a pretty light. So bright. Warm. 

“Y/n.”

Was the light calling your name? 

“Y/n!” 

Your eyes focused again and snapped away from the lightbulb. Where was the voice coming from? You slowly turned your head. Bang Chan.

“Hi.” You smiled. 

“Hi.” He smiled back. So bright. Warm. “It’s been hours and I haven’t even offered you a drink yet.” 

You tried to focus your eyes on his face as he slid the glass over to you. One more drink wouldn’t hurt your buzz, right?  

You gladly accepted, slowly moving your hand over to the glass to pick the clear liquid up. It went down in one go just like all the others. 

Huh? Was this water? 

You struggled to focus your eyes on the person who offered you the drink. “That was yummy.” 

“I bet it was,” the talking blur chuckled, “How about another one?”

You nodded, then took the glass he slid towards you. It’s funny how water flows even when in a cup. Water. You needed to pee. 

“Hey,” your words dragged out, “where’s uh, where’s the washroom?”

“Follow me. I’ll show you.” Manager Kim stood up and reached his hand out towards you. You didn’t want to take it, but it seemed like nobody was noticing his offer. 

Reluctantly, you took his hand and stood up, only to stumble down again. Did your knees not want to listen? 

“Whoa there, better hold on.” Manager Kim said. 

“No, I can walk. I-I can walk.” You let go of Manager Kim and tried to focus all your brainpower on moving your feet in a straight line. This tactic only worked for a second, however, as your knees gave in and you stumbled down. 

“It’s obvious that you can’t.” Manager Kim’s lips turned up. “It’s time for you to go home. I’ll take you back.” 

What? No. You didn’t want Manager Kim to take you home, not after all the awkward events of today and the general vibe from him. You tried to express your thoughts, but nothing came out of your mouth. 

“Manager Kim, you’ve been drinking!” Bang Chan’s voice came from some part of the room. “It’s not safe to drive, I’ll call a taxi for you.” 

“What about Y/n here? I’ll get a taxi for us both.” Manager Kim said. 

“I called my manager earlier to pick me up, we can drop her off along the way. It’s not a good idea to put two drunk people in a car. I’m completely sober right now, so let me do all the work.” Bang Chan grinned, patting Manager Kim on his shoulder. 

“Is that what you want, Y/n?” Manager Kim glared. 

You dizzily nodded. 

“Alright. In that case, I can call my own taxi later.” Manager Kim grimaced. 

“Stay safe, Manager Kim.” Bang Chan smiled. He turned to you. “My manager’s been waiting outside for a while now, do you want to leave now?” 

You nodded. You tried to start walking again, but your damn knees just wouldn’t listen. 

“Do you want to hold on to me?” Bang Chan knitted his brows together and held out an arm.

“I,” you slurred, “can walk.” You tried to start your feet again, only to end up stumbling down. 

“I know you can,” Bang Chan said as he reached his hands out to stabilize you, “but — ah —  I’m really tired after today. Can you hold on to my arm so I won’t fall out of exhaustion?” 

You agreed to help him. Bang Chan waved to everybody still at the table before leading the two of you out to a black SUV. He allowed you to stumble your way in the back seats first before sliding in himself. He asked you for your address, which took many tries for you to accurately type it into his phone. 

You leaned your head against the window, staring at passing blurred lights as Bang Chan’s manager started driving. Just being away from the loud and bright environment seemed to have cleared your head a little, but the pounding would not stop. You cursed yourself for being so irresponsible on your first day, especially because you were still alone in this new country.   

“Hey,” you felt a gentle tap on your shoulder, “want some water?” You looked over to see Bang Chan holding out a plastic bottle with the lid screwed off. 

You languidly reached your hand out for the bottle and gulped down as much water as you could in one breath before handing it back to him. The street lights started getting blurrier as you tried to fight exhaustion, the muscles in your eyelids starting to get more and more uncontrollable. 

“Y/n.” 

“Hmm?”

“Don’t fall asleep yet, we’re almost there. Ten more minutes.” 

You couldn’t hear anything after that, however, as you felt your eyes give up on you and your body fall into a deep sleep. 

“Y/n… Y/n.” A familiar voice called.

You fluttered your eyes open, your head pounding. Not knowing where you were, you surveyed your surroundings in a panic. It seemed as though you were in the back of a car… Parked outside of your apartment building? 

“Hey, you’re finally awake.” Bang Chan’s voice entered your ear. It all came rushing back to you; the restaurant, the drinking, entering the SUV. 

“How long have we been parked here?” Your groggy voice sounded inhuman. You had to clear your throat a couple times. 

“It’s only been twenty or so minutes. I’m not allowed to leave the car, are you able to get home alone? I can ask my manager to go with you.” Bang Chan scratched the back of his neck. 

“I should be fine.” You mumbled, a bit embarrassed to have fallen asleep in the car of a person you just met that day. This wasn’t even his car, it was his manager’s. 

“Hey… can I put my number in your phone?” Bang Chan avoided your eyes. “Just so you can tell me when you get home.” He quickly added. 

“Okay.” You awkwardly handed him your phone with your contacts already opened. He quickly typed his phone number in before handing it back to you. 

“Text me when you get home. Remember to lock your door, okay?” 

You thank both him and his manager before hurrying back to your apartment. Your head was still pounding unrelentlessly as you pressed the elevator button for your floor. The events of today were still unprocessed in your brain. You met a potential friend, which was a highlight. However, you also met two higher up managers and an actual idol, only to get hilariously drunk in the presence of. At least it’ll make a good story to tell my mom. You thought. 

In no time, you made it in your apartment and locked the door behind you, remembering what Bang Chan told you in the car. You texted the new number in your phone. 

Y/n: Hi. It’s y/n. I just entered my apartment.

Not even a minute later, your phone lit up, signaling a new text message. 

Bang Chan: great!! remember to lock the doooor hahaha ( ◕ω◕✿ )

You subconsciously grin at your phone. Cute. Throwing your phone haphazardly on your bed, you begrudgingly began your night routine. After washing up and throwing on a random shirt from your closet, you fell on your bed ready to sleep. You were about to close your eyes when your phone lit up again with a ding. It was another text.

Bang Chan: Hey… Just so you know, if you ever feel unsafe around the office just tell me okay? I’ll always try to help you in whatever way I can.

[therianomalocaris]

kinda felt like writing down some thoughts about fictherian VS humanoid fictionkin after listening to jasper and polybius' othercon panel (which i couldnt attend due to time zones being whack)

as a canon divergent homestuck troll, looking and acting slightly more animalistic than in the webcomic (i had a tail, longer animal-ish ears, claws, i growled and clicked and hunted for food, etc.) while still being humanoid, i feel like i dont really know where i fall in the fictherian/humanoid fictionkin distinction. sure i could talk and wore clothes, but i was physically closer to an anthropomorphic animal than a human- especially once you factor in the bug-like characteristics of my species, it becomes hard for me to find a space where i feel 100% included.

i was definitely alien, but alienkin communities dont feel right to me as a character specific fictionkin. a lot of my therian instincts can be found in how i was vriska, but i exclusively talk about being an anomalocaris in therian spaces for fear of being scrutinized. on the other hand, character specific fictionkin spaces often dont allow for open discussions about hunting instincts and such. i feel like i always have to walk a fine line when discussing my existence as vriska because of all of this.

i also feel that being vriska comes with its own connotations: i often joke about being "the poster child for problematic women in fandom", but nobody could ever disagree with that statement. coupled with homestuck carrying its own baggage, i feel that the statement "i am vriska serket" is often met with a specific attitude that means i cant really go in-depth about experiences that are definitely real and definitely affect my day-to-day life. i feel that people just wont take it seriously.

in times when ive actually talked about it, it was never quite as in the open like im doing now. discussions had on private discord servers and passing mentions in forum threads or tumblr posts, a lot of "i dont claim my experiences are the exact same as-" and "i dont know if it's the exact same thing but-" used to qualify my statements so people dont feel like im trying to enter a community i dont belong in. but then, i dont really know which community i can even truly call my own.

i am very glad that the community is becoming more open to people like me talking about the nuances of our experiences and the way we might blur the lines between already accepted terms and definitions. even though pushback is somewhat inevitable, i am excited to see changes being made and real talks being had.

[coolbeansbuddyofmine]

Once again got off a phone call with my parents and I have some thoughts.

Nb: this is not an universal desi experience, yes I know. And my parents are very open minded and helpful with my mental health struggles and as young parents, they did their best and did pretty well for the first part. I love them I miss them I’m grateful for them and I appreciate them.

Now that is said.

Moving on.

Parents called me after 3 days of ignoring my calls. I get it. My sister’s in school, they have jobs and work and they’re busy. I get it.

But when I pull the same excuse, im the one supposed to apologize for ignoring one call meanwhile they ignored 12 in a row. They’re the only ones entitled to worry, okay.

And even when they do call me after 3 days, where’s the hey hi how are you? Everything good? How’s school? How’s life? How’re your friends?

No.

It’s immediately hey how’s school? How are you doing in classes? Did you finish the work? Are you studying for finals? You better not be going out. Stay in and study. How was work? Did you get paid? How was your internship? Will you be able to put your new project on your resume?

And stuff about how I’m eating “good” food and exercising right.

I get why they ask this. It’s their concern for my future manifesting itself and I’m glad they care.

But where’s that concern for me and my present.

And then, they bring up, oh Cousin A got into B and X from Y family did this.

Thank you but how is that relevant?

I’m already very aware of your disappointment and dissatisfaction with me as a child as your daughter as a student and with my university and my life choices. I know you what you guys and the family think about my choices. I hate it and it makes me want to die, but I know and it’s okay.

All I have ever asked you is that please don’t compare me to others. I’m making my own decisions and I’m happy with where I am in life, truly.

But.

But you know that a lot of my previous mental health issues with self harm, suicide ideation, depression, anxiety stemmed from this comparison and this pressure you and I put on myself for finally making you proud of me. I craved your validation then, and it’s only now years later, I’ve learnt to stop expecting that. But it’s not gone, and like many people, sometimes I reverse back into those habits, and I need you to avoid these triggers for me so I can be a healthier person and we can have a healthy parent child relationship.

I need you to understand that all I want now is for you to just understand me and tell me you love me and accept my choices. I don’t want to hear about A or B, because I don’t care and I don’t want to be them.

Growing up in the desi household as the oldest daughter is truly one of the most debilitating childhood experiences over a span of time, because I was the emotional sponge for everyone to vent, I was expected to shut up and be a good girl, I couldn’t do societally unsavory shit for women like drink or act promiscuous, I had to be a mother, a daughter, a sister, a niece and constantly juggle myself through these roles without ever being allowed to explore myself. I’m not allowed to have opinions or speak up or be mentally ill or have god forbid interests aside from doing well academically and doing shit to get me into college and then be expected to give of all that education up for marriage and motherhood.

When I did gain my voice and opinions, I spoke up and I wanted better, and I was chastised shouted at and scolded and going down a dark path.

It was only at the literal worst possible moment that parents sought help and helped me improve and tried to improve.

And I’m grateful for that.

But these toxic behaviors take me back to that time where I cried in all our fights, where I went to “sleep” crying and you didn’t talk to me until apologized even though I asked you for a break. We’re past this and I don’t want to regress to that. I don’t want to have to make the first move and bear the brunt of the burden for changing you so that my sister could have a better relationship with you. I hid so much from you about you that upset me because it was important to me to maintain our relationship. I ignore my sister’s comments about how I treat you ungratefully even though I’m the reason she doesn’t hate you, because I tried. Just because you got me therapy doesn’t absolve the fact that you were the reason I had to go there.

I’m sick and tired of being you punching bag and garbage can for all your shit. Respect me and want me as your daughter.

I have enough self respect for myself to demand that now.

Man, being the oldest daughter in a desi household is tough

[daydream-believin]

Recipe For Disaster 2: Electric Boogaloo

Summary: Jim is NOT happy about his sister’s boyfie. (not a part two despite the confusing name)

Warnings: swearing, a gilmore girls reference, divorce kids got daddy issues

Word Count: 5560, my longest yet woohoo

A/N: here it is im finally done with this. i- im tired. i love jim he was my favorite until doux came along but he can be a little bitch boy sometimes. and the word of the day is giggle im so sorry

tags: @alovesongshewrote​ hope i can deliver now that you have expectations lmao

It was a good Saturday. The trollhunters trio had gotten an early start on training, and thus Blinky had released them for an early lunch. It was a particularly successful day, with Claire really getting the hang of the shadow staff, so they decided to not make poor Jim cook for once and go out for a treat. And Toby really wanted a sandwich from Benoit’s.

They opted to walk to downtown instead of biking, as a way to cool down. Plus, it would give them time to digest their food on the walk back, before they returned to training once again. Although that was more of a problem for Jim and Toby, since Blinky wanted Claire to start reading a certain book this afternoon. She’d be in the library, quietly sitting while the boys go back to running around and fighting. The spring flowers had just started returning to Arcadia Oaks. The flowerbeds that decorated town added a cheery air to the day. Happily, Jim ran up in front to kick a pebble as they came up towards the bistro around the corner. He stopped in his tracks.

“Is Y/n’s boss flirting with her?”

The other two teens came around Jim to see. Y/n laughed at Douxie’s dumb joke and put her hand on his shoulder.

“And is she flirting back?” Jim asked incredulously.

Claire didn’t take this the same way Jim did. “Aww, that’s so cute.”

“No it’s not. It’s weird. And wrong.” Jim asserted.

“What are you talking about,” Claire lowered her brows with an annoyed tone.

“No, no. he’s right. Y/n doesn’t flirt. Or date. I’m not even sure she crushes.”

Claire shook her head, “That can’t be true, TP. She’s like, old. You two just didn’t notice it.”

“Oh, no, we noticed it. She went to every school dance alone, even senior prom.” Toby added. “It was kind of sad to be honest.”

“Remember that time that big movie star came into town? He was the prettiest guy I’d ever seen, and Y/n was just like ‘eh he’s okay, I guess’. We literally had a fight over that one.” Jim chuckled.

“I literally can’t imagine Y/n in a relationship. She’s just too all over the place.”

Claire rolled her eyes and gestured her hands towards the scene in front of them. “Well, she seems to be doing just fine now.”

Jim didn’t know why, but this made him a little huffy. “Whatever. It’s just a crush, anyways. She’ll get over it soon enough.”

Douxie leaned over to give Y/n a quick peck goodbye before he headed into Mr. Benoit’s to start his shift. He had swapped shifts with one of his coworkers for the day, so he could have the evening off. Y/n headed back to the bookstore. She tucked her hair behind her ear as she left, smiling to herself. The three trollhunters still stood right where they were, staring.

“I don’t think it’s just a crush, Jimbo.”

Jim was outraged. How. How was this happening. He could understand her not telling her family, their mother could be a bit nosy sometimes when it came to her daughter’s personal affairs. But his sister had often said she didn’t have enough time to pursue a love life whenever their mother probed her. There was no way she just started having said time. Right? It was curious, too, that out of all the people she could have chosen in Arcadia, she chose Douchey. That guy had girls fawning over him wherever he went. There was no way Y/n was into that.

Come to think of it, Y/n had been acting really strange ever since she had gotten that job at the bookstore. It was so easy to make her laugh now. She was actually wearing her hair in different styles instead of her signature. She actually enjoyed Barbara’s cooking. Or at least complimented it a lot now. Still a baffling action nonetheless. It was if she was experiencing the side effects of something. And that bookstore reeked of magic. Magic had the power to drive people out of their minds. He’d had plenty of first-hand experience with that. This whole situation was fishy.

“Well, I think it’s so cute they’re together now.” Claire said cheerily. He loved her but she wasn’t exactly the best when it came to making judgement calls. Hell, the fact that she was dating him after all he’s put her through was enough proof of that.

“Well, I think its magic.” Jim deadpanned.

“What.” Claire snapped.

“He’s got a spell on her! Some sort of enchantment. A charm!”

Toby was too tired from training today to deal with this. “I’ll agree, he does have charm, have you had him as a waiter? But not the kind of charm you’re implying here, Jim.”

“Douxie is my magic teacher, Jim. I promise, he’s a really nice guy.”

“Nope. There’s no way my sister would be into a guy, let alone a guy like,” He tried to find the right words but just sputtered, “Like that!” he motioned to poor Doux, who was changing the specials sign out front. Douxie was one of those bistro employees who always got asked to draw up the sign because his calligraphy was so good. Doux had to admit, his handwriting was messy compared to Merlin’s standards, but to Mr. Benoit’s he was a calligraphy god.

Toby looked Doux up and down. “I don’t know man, Y/n is kind of alternative.”

“Yeah, who do you think helps me dye my hair all the time? And sneaks me into concerts?” Claire added.

“Okay. I get that. But he’s just not good enough for her.” Jim said through gritted teeth.

Toby sighed. “Then who is?” he asked wearily.

Jim got defensive. “I don’t know! A prince, maybe. One that’s in line to be king. Not one of those waiting-for-a-brother-to-die ones, but a real one.” He nodded his head like any of that was realistic. “Definitely not just some wizard who works in a bookstore.”

“She’s just some wizard who works in a bookstore, though.”

There was no getting through to Jim. “Think about it guys, my sister, suddenly getting cozy with a magic man? Bushigal. She’s under a spell. I’m going to fight him.”

“No, no you’re not,” Claire asserted, “You’re going to have lunch like we planned AND you’re going to be civil.” Claire and Toby both grabbed one of his arms and dragged him towards the bistro.

***

The hostess guided them to the table. Claire sat across from Jim and Toby. They were handed the menus. Claire showed interest in the lunch specials while Toby flipped to the sandwiches. Jim just brooded while he stared unblinking into the first page. And by chance, and by the fact that this scene would be boring and or pointless if not, Douxie was the waiter for said table. After handing off the check to one of his other tables, he waltzed over to the trio, happy to see his protégé.

“Ello lads, how’s it going? How’d that test go today, Claire?” Douxie ruffled her hair. Jim narrowed his eyes at the sight.

“Horrible! I bombed it for sure!”

Toby rolled his eyes, “You say that about every test, Claire, and then it turns out you aced them.”

“No I mean it this time, TP. I didn’t even finish the last three questions. It was so bad!”

“Yeah, okay, I’ll believe it when I see it.”

Douxie chuckled. Oh to have the problems of these youngsters. Claire and Toby got into some sort of glare match where they both just made more and more aggressive funny faces at each other. Both finally conceded and they fell into giggles. Douxie was glad to see Claire having so much fun, but he noticed someone else at the table who was not having said fun. His apprentice Claire’s boyfriend, his master’s champion, and his darling Y/n’s brother, looking like his dog ate his homework, or whatever teenagers got angry about these days.

“Cheer up, lad.” Doux grinned at Jim, “Hangry? I get that. You look like you could use a good meal.”

“Well strangely I am in a cafe”

Claire kicked Jim under the table. He tried his best to stifle the grunt of pain. “Don’t mind Jim, he’s a tad grumpy from a bad training session. And we’ll take waters all around.” She smiled. Doux hurried off to go get their glasses.

In the end, Toby couldn’t pick a sandwich. He had three favorites and couldn’t decide between them yet. Jim and Claire had his back. They both got one of them and he got the third. Then they would all share the halves. A good plan. And it was a delicious one. Toby was thankful for his partners.

***

After finishing up training and walking Claire home, Jim and Toby went their separate ways. Toby had promised his Nana he’d go with her and her boyfriend to see a play in the next town over. Jim had promised his mother he’d be home for a family dinner. He wasn’t able to be home in time to cook, so this was going to be a roulette wheel when it came to food. He was betting on Y/n. As he came to the front door, he cracked it first and smelled the air before going inside as to make sure his candid reaction wouldn’t be bad. The aroma coming from the house was heavenly. Alright, Y/n. Jackpot.

Jim swung the door open wide as he strutted in. Everyone was in the kitchen, it looked like. He put his bag up and called to his family that he was home. Which was met with the two voices he had expected, but one he hadn’t. And it was a voice he didn’t want to hear right now. Douxie. Hisirdoux fucking Casperan. In his house. In his kitchen. In his territory.

Jim immediately felt his muscles tense up. He took a deep breath and put on his best fake smile before heading into the kitchen. Y/n was sautéing something over the stove. Barbara was stirring something which meant that she had insisted on helping and Y/n had done the equivalent of giving your younger sibling a game controller that wasn’t plugged in. The offending wizard was leaning over the bar counter from the other side, chatting away as if he had any reason to be here.

Once Y/n caught sight of Jim, she bubbled. “Jim! How was hiking? You three have fun?” she knew where he actually spent his Saturdays but they had to keep up the rouse for their mom. While Y/n particularly didn’t care for the lying, she also agreed with Jim that some things are best kept from worrisome mothers. Barbara gave her enough shit already for her frequent homecomings from bars and shows in the wee hours of the morning with scrapes and bruises. If their mother knew about Jim’s marginally more dangerous late-night escapades, she might actually have a nervous breakdown.

“Oh yeah, it was great. We saw a deer. It had a baby with it.”

“Majestic.” She turned and gestured to the man at the counter, “You remember Douxie, right?”

“Of course,” Jim said through gritted teeth forced into a smile. “In fact we just saw each other at the bistro earlier today.”

A timer went off. Y/n expressed her delight that something in the oven was done. Barb got some plates out of the cabinet, while Y/n pulled the main course out of the oven. She handed Jim the plates and silverware and sent him to go set the table. Jim supposed this was better than having to talk to Douxie. Until Douxie insisted on helping him. Great.

“So, Jim, I’ve heard a lot about you-”

“I’m sure you have.” Jim cut him off. Douxie was a bit confused, but figured he was still grumpy like he was earlier at the bistro. He’d leave the moody teen alone then. Perhaps he be in a better mood after getting some food in him and spending time with his family. Doux would try for conversation again then.

Jim did not get any less grumpy, to Douxie’s dismay. And Y/n’s. Y/n really needed both her family members to like her boyfriend. They were all each other had, and any strife would put a strain on their tiny closely-knit family unit. Y/n loved Douxie, and she wanted Jim and Barbara to love him to. To accept him. It would help put a validity to her feelings. If they liked him then she had made the right choice. She could never be with someone her loved ones hated. And as a bonus, it would be nice if she could give Douxie the family he never had. He deserved as much.

Luckily, Barbara had taken quite a liking to Arcadia’s most charming waiter. Jim however, was subtly hostile. Or at least he thought he was being subtle. It was very apparent to the other three at the table. As Douxie was animatedly telling Barb some story that she was laughing very hard at, Y/n turned to glare at her brother. Jim tried to feign innocence. Y/n rolled her eyes and put some more salad on her plate. Jim noticed the bracelet on her wrist. Funny, she had never been one for jewelry before. But she started wearing this one everyday right around the time she started working at the bookstore. Interesting.

Douxie finished up his story and turned his attention to Jim. He’d try once again to engage the trollhunter. He knew how important this was to Y/n. Douxie was going to make this little man like him if it was the last thing he did.

“I saw the school play you were in a couple weeks ago, Jim. You were quite the actor, and I know Shakespeare’s tough. Have you ever thought of going into it professionally? Claire’s told me she wants to. You two could be one of those celebrity power couples.”

Jim just offered a short thanks that was less hostile but not exactly enthusiastic either. Well, at least Doux was getting somewhere. It’s a start. Y/n was content with this. Jim would warm up to Douxie eventually. It didn’t have to be right away, even if she would have liked that.

After the dinner conversation had died down and the food long gone, Y/n set out to clear the table and clean the kitchen. Barbara also went to help her, but Douxie assured her he’d take care of it. He was a world class waiter after all. He stacked up the plates as Y/n grabbed the dinner dishes. And so the two set off to the world behind the wall, to clean or canoodle or whatever. Jim wasn’t too keen on thinking about it. His mother pulled him into the living room to sit on the couch and preceded to ask him twenty questions about Claire. He was almost happy when the lovebirds came back.

And then his mother made them all play some card game for three hours straight. All while the lovebirds flirted away right in front of them. It was like they had no shame. This guy just had to have Y/n under a spell or something, Jim was sure of it. There was no other explanation. As she giggled at another one of Douxie’s stupid jokes that weren’t even funny, Jim felt sick.

Finally it came time for that douchebag to leave. Jim rolled his eyes at his mother and sister fawning over Doux as he made his way to the door. He slinked over behind them to watch the guy leave and make sure that he left. As Douxie went through the door he gave Y/n a quick peck and said the stupidest line Jim had ever heard. Who does this guy think he is. Once the door was shut and Doux had indeed walked away, Jim scoffed.

“Bet that guy has a bank of pickup lines he’s memorized. There’s no way he came up with that on the fly.”

***

Jim was furious. He fought like a madman during training. Draal was just making it worse by encouraging it; he really liked the kid’s fire today. Draal had no idea what was up with him right now, but Jim was giving it his all. The trollhunter was rarely this aggressive. Blinky looked on as Jim growled and shouted with every strike. He hadn’t seen his son frothing at the mouth like this before. It was glorious. Keep this up and Angor Rot won’t know what hit him.

Claire and Toby were also training, with Arrggh, albeit with not even half as much gusto as Jimbo. They were also a wee bit distracted, trying to wind Jim down from said gusto. He came over to where they were to get some water. Taking this opportunity, Toby tried appealing to him once again.

“Dude, give it a rest, this is just like how you got all pissy about your mom dating Strickler.” Toby was exasperated.

“Y/n can’t date guys, my mother can’t date guys, no men should be frequently invited into our household! No boys allowed! Me and Toby are the only boys allowed!” Jim growled. He stormed off across the keep to go land another hit on Draal.

Blinky blinked. He was taken aback at the hostility from his charge. “So, do either of you have any idea as to what that was about.”

“Right now the winning theory is that this is like, about how heartbroken his mother was when his dad left, so now he doesn’t want that to happen again or something,” Claire sighed. Her teacher really was a good guy. Lonely too. Just like Y/n. They were going to be good for each other. Her boyfriend should be happy for them. Jim took a particularly dirty swipe at Draal. Toby grunted in sympathy. “Or maybe Douxie just poked Arcadia’s most possessive bear.”

***

Jim and Toby were walking downtown, enjoying their free time after a trollhunting mission on this fine Sunday afternoon. That is, until they came in sight of the bookstore. Jim felt that bitter feeling in his stomach again. He knew Y/n wasn’t working today. Douchey would be all alone. Now was his chance to confront this and end it before it got any worse. Toby noticed the malice in his eyes as he stomped towards the bookstore.

“Woah dude, what’re you doing?”

“I’m just going to have a little chat with Mr. Casperan that’s all.”

Toby threw his head back in exasperation. “There no talking you out of this is there?”

“Nope”

The bell jingled as they walked in. The bookshop smelled like Christmas. And Jim was about to try and talk politics with his racist uncle at the dinner table. Douxie came over and greeted them cheerily.

“Good afternoon, lads. Looking for any book in particular?”

“I’m not a part of this. I just happen to be with him physically.” Toby quickly asserted. Douxie quirked a brow at the odd statement. Jim pushed forward aggressively. Doux had the sense to back away from the boy.

“I’m onto you, wizard. Just what did you do to my sister? Did you slip her a love potion? Is that bracelet she’s been wearing charmed?” Jim growled. Toby cringed on the sidelines.

Douxie blinked. “Excuse me?”

“There’s no other explanation for your ‘relationship’. You’ve got to be magicking her. And I won’t just sit here and let it happen. That’s my sister and it’s my job to protect her from creeps like you.”

Douxie took in the boys words, and a deep breath. He tried his best not to sound too defensive and provoke the kid further, “Okay, wow. That’s quite an accusation there, friend.” He moved away from where the boy had backed him into a bookshelf. “You know, out of all that you just implied, the part I think I’m most offended by is the fact that you’d think I’d mess with Y/n’s free will like that.”

Douxie straightened some books on a nearby display. “You know Jim, when it comes to love-” Jim stormed out of the bookstore before Doux could take his lecture any further, grabbing Toby by the arm so he’d follow. Toby mouthed a big ‘I’m sorry’ to Doux as he was pulled out of the store.

***

Jim’s pencil felt abused. He was furiously scribbling the answers to his homework with a heavy hand. He still had a lot of pent up rage, even after accosting poor Doux. After snapping his lead for the seventh time in the hour, Jim decided that switching subjects to Spanish instead of math for a bit might help him calm down. He moved to his bed to start the assigned reading. He laid on his stomach, propping up his head in his hands to see his textbook. His blue eyes perused the paragraphs punctuated by cheesy cartoons. He was halfway through the third page when a knock came at his door. Taking a deep breath, he called for whoever it was to let themselves in. His sister stepped into view.

Jim ran a hand through his dark hair. Here comes the scolding. He didn’t even have to ask if Y/n had heard about what he’d done today. If Douxie himself hadn’t told her then Tobes certainly did. Jim wasn’t proud of it, now that it was all said and done. He knew he deserved whatever Y/n was about to dish out. He sat up and crisscrossed his legs. She pulled his desk chair over and sat backwards in it so that she was facing him on the bed.

That’s it. No scolding came. She just sat and looked at him, neutral faced. He squirmed at the nothing. She lifted up the coffee mug in her hands and took a slow sip, not breaking eye contact with him. Jim began to sweat. He tried to avoid her gaze by looking down at the floor, but he could still feel her eyes upon him. Sighing, he had to admit defeat.

“Okay, so I do feel bad about what I said to Douxie today.” He looked back up to meet Y/n’s eyes. She raised a brow. “It was wrong of me to jump to conclusions like that, I’m sorry.”

Y/n appeared to be satisfied by that. A smile spread across her face and she nodded to him. She stood up, and ruffled his hair on her way out. Still refusing to break her silence, she motioned for him to follow her downstairs.

***

Y/n set her coffee cup down on the table. She pulled another mug out of the cabinet for Jim. Grabbing the coffee pot from its nest under the coffeemaker, she filled Jim’s mug and topped off her own. Sliding the mug across the table to Jim, she sat down. Jim could smell the aromas of the several colorful dishes baking that he could see through the screen of the oven door. Strange, it was already half past nine. There was cinnamon in the air, so at least one of those dishes contained dessert. Jim’s stomach growled at the thought.

“You know I’m not the one you should have to apologize to, Jimbo.”

“I know, I know,” He looked at the ground, “I’ll go talk to him tomorrow after school.”

Silence filled the kitchen again. Y/n took a sip of coffee. This conversation was going to be hard. She wasn’t particularly looking forward to it. She opened her mouth to speak, but stopped. She took yet another long sip of coffee to figure out a good enough way to word this. She took a breath.

“So, uh- listen Jimbo. I- I know it’s tough, ya know, with it just being us. And our family’s tight because of it. But you can’t get so protective that new people can’t join it. Or even try.”

Jim took a breath, “I know it’s just, I-, what happens when we, when you, get so attached to him, and he decides that he doesn’t care for you anymore. When he turns out to be bad. When he just disappears. Like- like they do.”

“Oh, Jim,” She reached across the table for his hand. “That’s my risk to take, Jim. I fully recognize that what I’m doing is hazardous and I could get hurt really bad. But I still chose to do it. I choose it every day. We all do, when we fall in love.”

Jim took a sip and lingered, staring into his cup. “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” He chuckled, “I know I’d be devastated if Claire ever wizened up and left me.”

“Look, you gotta trust me okay? Douxie isn’t dad or Strickler. I promise. He’s kind. I trust him. After you apologize, I think you really should start to make an effort to get to know him. If not for me, for Claire dude. And I think you’ll really like him. Promise you’ll give him a chance?”

Jim sighed in defeat. “Alright. I promise.”

She stood up and stretched out her back, making those stretching noises that people do. She checked the food in the oven. The buns were ready, but the quiche still needed a few minutes. She took out the pans and put them on the cooling rack. After fanning them for a few seconds, she turned to Jim, “So you want a spinach bun or a cinnamon bun?”

“How is that a question?” Jim laughed.

“Spinach bun it is then,” She teased as she tossed him the cinnamon one.

“What’s all this for anyway?” He gestured to the oven and the buns.

“Oh, uh, its actually for a date tonight?” She looked warry of how he’d react.

“Okay,” He guessed now would be as good a time as ever to start letting this go, “You crazy kids have fun.” Y/n laughed, relived.

Douxie had just finished up the sweeping and was ready to close up. As he headed to towards the front doors, he took one last look around the place to make sure he didn’t miss anything. All clean and tidy. Whoever opened tomorrow would appreciate it. He flipped the neon sign from open to nope and started locking up. Which is when his girlfriend pounced on him and almost gave him a heart attack. She just appeared out of thin air to tackle him into a hug. Scared the living daylights out of him. Y/n apologized profusely when she noticed him freak out but was still snickering between sorries so she probably didn’t mean it. He asked her just what the hell she was doing here and she picked up a picnic basket that was on the ground to show him.

“I just knew a certain wizard hadn’t eaten yet tonight.”

***

Y/n felt the ground beneath her back through the picnic blanket. The new spring growth had made them a cushion of sorts. Her head rested in the crook of Douxie’s shoulder as his arm was wrapped around her. It was nice here. Comfy. She could smell his hair and feel his chest move as he breathed. Their heartbeats made a nice rhythm to accompany the cricket song and the noise of the trees swaying. The stars were so lovely tonight. Stellar.

Douxie broke the quiet. “So I brushed up on my astrology.”

“Oh yeah?” Y/n quirked her brow. Astrology was one of her biggest interests. She’d loved it since her grandmother had given her a book about it when she was small. It was a well-worn, well-loved book. Her grandmother had handwritten things in the margins too. She’d been talking Douxie’s ears off about it during work earlier that week. Something was just so fascinating about how there were gorgeous balls of light in the sky that could tell you the future. There really was magic embedded in the fabric of the universe. It was sweet that he would care enough to learn about her interests. Very sweet indeed. The fact that he went out of his way just so he could talk to her about something she loved? Tooth-rotting. She wasn’t sure if her heart sped up because she was excited to talk about astrology or because of the sugar rush he just gave her.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve needed to look at constellations, we do have GPS now, but I think I remember enough,” He pointed to the sky, “That’s Pisces, right?”

“Yes!” Y/n couldn’t stop herself from smiling so wide her cheeks hurt.

“And that’s Aries, which marks the beginning of spring,” He looked back at Y/n who nodded to him, “oh, and look! We can see Venus tonight.”

“Hey Douxie, I love you. And You’re really making me want to kiss you right now.”

He chuckled and wiggled his eyes brows teasingly, “Ah, yes, I am aware of the effect I have.” She rolled her eyes and put her hand on his face to push him away. If he saw the blush creeping up on her, he’d just get flirtier. She wasn’t sure she could handle that. Something caught her eye and instantly stole her attention.

“Look! A shooting star! Make a wish Doux.” She pointed to the streak of light that flashed.

“I don’t need wishes when I’m here with you, Love.” If her face was pink before it was bright red now.

Y/n hid her face in her hands, “No! You were supposed to say something silly,” She came back up to look him in the eyes, “not something that makes me want to kiss you even more.”

He leaned his head in closer, “Well, what’s stopping you, Y/n”

Well, that was obviously a dare. She couldn’t not kiss him now. So she did. They melted into it instantly. At first it was sweet and slow, but they got a bit hungrier, and the kiss got a bit sloppier. Douxie smelled like the bookstore, Y/n loved the smell of the bookstore. It was everything safe in her life. He was everything safe in her life. Her best friend. He brought his hand up to cup her cheek. He loved how her lips just fit together with his perfectly. Y/n Lake was everything he’d been waiting for all these years. Soft and kind, with such a beautiful heart. Not to mention, a badass. Yet, even with all his ancient baggage, she still cared for him. Made him feel like new again. Out of all the wizards of Arcadia Oaks, she chose him. He still couldn’t believe it. They pulled apart way sooner than either of them wanted, but they did have to breathe, so it had to be done. Locked in Douxie’s gaze, Y/n broke the intensity to giggle.

“But really, I was setting you up for a joke. You know what you could have done with that, Doux?” She teased.

“I’ll remember that for next time, Love.”

“Ah, they’re super rare. This is the first time I’ve ever seen one in all my stargazing years.”

“Well, we’ve got plenty of time to see the next one. And the next one. All the shooting stars you want. Only seeing them every few decades could make them a special little thing for us.” He said so nonchalantly, as if he hadn’t just implied that he expected their love to last for countless decades. As if it were a given. Suddenly it hit her. She could live thousands of years by his side. She would live thousands of years by his side. This was it. She wasn’t even sure humans could turn this vivid a shade of red. Y/n’s heart was gonna pop if it beat any harder.

“Stars, are you just hellbent on making me combust tonight? It too hot out here for this.” Douxie just laughed, a twinkle in his eye. She focused on her beloved stars to calm her down. She sighed, “The stars really are beautiful tonight.”

“You know what else is beautiful?”

“Me?”

“You- aww, you’ve heard that one.”

Y/n’s snort rung in the air. So, he does just have a bank of pick-up lines he’s pulling from. Interesting. Guess it must be tough having to be Arcadia’s most charming waiter. They stilled again. The comfortable silence embraced them. And they could have basked in it all night, if Douxie had not a burning question he had been waiting to ask his beloved.

“So- uh,” She looked to him expectedly, “Do you think there’s life out there?”

Y/n tried not to laugh too hard with Douxie’s very serious tone, “Yeah, yeah I do.”

Now it was Douxie’s turn to smile so wide his cheeks hurt. “Really?”

“Yeah,” She said, “I think it’d be kinda arrogant to assume that with all that vastness up there that we’re the only ones who exist.”

“That’s a really good point.” Douxie said excitedly. He pulled her tighter into his embrace and snuggled. “I think I’m going to use that on Zoe next time she tries to tell me that I’m crazy and aliens aren’t real.”

“Yeah Babe! Win that argument!” Y/n encouraged.

She peppered his face with kisses. That big smile stayed on his face as he closed his eyes in delight. He repaid her with a nose kiss. And she repaid that by starting another snogging session.

***

Little did they know that shoot star was really aliens akiriddion spaceship crash 3below wait shit the akiriddions landed in like season two and ive set this in one ugh just pretend like this makes sense hfhadhiufs

[spookypotato]

so for day 2 of spooky season🎃:

I just got motivated to write a fic, because of the wonderful sweater weather discord server (Thank you to everyone who told me to sleep and cared about my health, @im-oknutzy-trash , @jacklighting , but it was so awesome I'm glad I didn't😅). I don't know if it's any good, but I had a lot of fun with this chapter and if you like it I might publish it if I go on.

characters by the amazing @lumosinlove thank you for your universe!

This is about Nate. The waiter at Sid's that payed for their meal after the were outed, but if he was also their waiter the day of THE GREASE INCIDENT.

The Lion Shift - Part 1

"got my nametag, got my apron, got my notes and my pen", Nate whispered to himself as he prepared for his daily shift at Sid's Pizza.

He wanted everything to be perfect. Just as always. They did have a reputation to uphold of "best Pizza in Gryffindor" after all. Even the city's ice-hockey team were regulars and had personal connections with some of the cooks and staff there. And because ice-hockey was pretty much holy to all of Gryffindor - and so were their players - only the most experienced waiters were allowed to serve them, just in case.

Sid had told Nate earlier that he'd be alone today though, Ian who was supposed to be working today called in sick just two minutes before opening time and now Nate was all alone. It was unlikely that anyone could cover that fast. But the place wasn't busy so all should have been good.

It all should have been.

Nobody expected a lion to show up then. Luckily it wasn't the whole team, but it was still so important. And Nate was alone. He had to serve a lion. After two weeks of working at Sid's. He was being transferred to the most important task out of nowhere. With not even close to enough experience.

He would represent Sid's as best as he could, of course, but if the player told the rest of the team he didn't want to come to theirs anymore, Nate would be fired. Thrown out of all of Gryffindor to be honest.

He took a deep breath. No. He could do this. It's just a costumer as any other. Well, only that this costumer was a celebrity everybody loved and he could just as easily destroy his whole future. No. It would go well. He was sure.

He maybe should also not have the - shit - the captain of the lions, he realised now, waiting that long for a table.

Walking over as fast as he could, without looking stressed - which he was of course in no way - he started to mentally calm himself before trying to make his voice sound steady:

"Welcome to Sid's Pizza! Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin, right?" They were supposed to know the whole team including staff, but he was so nervous at that moment it suddenly made him unsure.

"Yeah.", the team's medic answered a bit surprised as Captain Black began to smirk. Maybe Nate said something funny and didn't realise it, but he guessed being funny was a good thing so he just went on.

"May we offer you a booth in the back? It would be a bit more private." He saw the medic looking at the floor slowly and fidgeting with his coat for a moment. The captains cheeks getting a bit rosy at his statement. He thought about it for a second, but then added "you know, because of all the paparazzi?"

Yup, he was fired. He was so polite in the beginning. It was going so well. 'you know'?! He wasn't best friends with Sirius, he was their waiter. He should have addressed them properly. How could he have been so stupid.

Sirius, apparently noticing him debating with himself, smiled and said: "Yeah, that would probably help a lot. Thanks, mate."

On autopilot he showed them their table. After they had sat down and he had brought them the menus though, he walked to the kitchen quickly, the heat in his face increasing with each thought and step.

Sirius Black just called him mate. Mate. This moment was by far the best in his life. He didn't mess up. Well, he did, Sirius just didn't seem to mind him messing up. But then again he was sitting on the kitchen floor talking to himself instead of severing the people the food they were waiting for outside.

So he jumped up and took a peperoni pizza, two small margaritas and a Greek salad to table four and got the cute couple on table six icecream to share, as requested.

Going back to the more important task. The world famous ice-hockey player and his- friend? team's medic? boyfriend? he didn't want to assume, but they would make a rather adorable couple. Now that he thought about it, there was something between them. The way the Captain had blushed when Nate suggested a more private booth. The way the medic is still constantly fidgeting with his coat next to him.

There weren't any openly gay ice-hockey players in the NHL now, but they could still be dating. Or, well, maybe they weren't yet but they seemed to flirty to be friends?

Since he himself had struggled a lot with secret gay pining, though, he just decided to try to make them see the obvious mutual attraction. He wouldn't go full on matchmaker with them, still not wanting to get fired. But he could just change the restaurants music or bring them a dessert to share... a milkshake with two straws and once they'd drink they would stare longingly into each other eyes and- okay maybe he'd watched to many romantic movies lately, but he would at least try out a few things.