#just a never ending stream of screenshots of this announcement

[gillianthecat]

‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

[heartfullofleeches]

Incel, femcel, or themcel. We just need a greasy, chronically online mean person to be a yandere. Any ideas on how that would work?

(The best idea I could come up with is streamer reader)

Livestream began twelve minutes ago.

"Oh? Shit, is that V? What's up, buddy- welcome back."

You're so perfect. Near a quarter of an hour late, and you still grace them with a greeting. They knew you weren't like the others they wasted their time on. No, you're kind. Inviting. God they loved you so much.

V stumbled across your channel on night during a drunken relapse into pouring their hours into viewing the lives of random strangers online. It was all they had to do after work with none of the potential partners they messaged ever responding to their texts or calls. Their lost.

You were in the beginning period of streaming with only ten followers to your name; majority likely close friends and family. V planned on giving "light" critic of your performance, but something about the brightness in your eyes as they joined the stream sobered them up and glued them to their seat completely.

"Hi, welcome. Your name is actually too long to fix on the screen. Is it cool if I just call you V?"

And they were hooked on you ever since.

Little by little, your fanbase grew to the comfortable size it was today; your first real viewer front and center for each recording. Despite the boost in popularity, you never forgot those who gave it to you in the first place. V likes to think they're the most valued member with their donations and the equipment they sent once they had convinced you to open a p.o box. Shame they never pin pointed the location before you announced your move and had it closed.

"Since you're here. I can try on that jacket you sent me before I finish packing. It's so cute."

V wipes specks of drool off their screen as you sort through a cardboard box and slip the coat on. You were wearing something they touched. Fuck, you're so cute they could just devour you alive. With no roomates, they could get away with licking their phone unlike last time, but they refrained from said temptation for now. Cat ears sprout atop your head as you pull the hoodie on. You rub your shoulders as the jacket's interior snuggles your frame.

"Whoa, much warmer than I expected. I might wear it during my flight."

You better. Since you forced the thought into their head, if they see you with anything else in your photos they might blow a gasket. Just imagining random commentors wondering where you got the coat and you answering with a nod at their existence gave V the ego boost of a lifetime.

"It's getting kinda late. We'll do some more chatting then I gotta bounce for the night."

V watches the rest of your stream with the loudest voice of the crowd. They wait until it ends to begin their nightly routine of screenshotting their favorite moments of the stream. The highlight was a frame of you posing like a cat following another's chatters request. Having so many pests ruined some of their enjoyment, but times like this they'd let slide. For now.

-

V sits alone at the bus stop the following day. The prized picture taken previously was now their lockscreen photo. The fifth change in the last two days. A creature like you was bound to have unworthy trash throwing themselves at your feet daily, but they knew that with your history it would only take one hello for you to fall as madly in love with them as they were you. You're different like that. If only they could meet you.

V is pulled from their moment of bliss by a tap on their shoulder; scowl ready for whoever dragged them from heaven - until they see whose standing in front of them.

"Hi, I hope I'm not bothering you, but do you know if this bus goes to this street? My taxi didn't drive out that far apparently...."

The stranger blinks, cat ears shifting.

"Sorry- have we met before? You seem familiar. "

[spacedadkronos]

Ooo, lol, looks like someone got their knickers twisted so hard they wrote a whole essay about how they're categorically correct about an ultimately subjective matter. That's always a winning approach.

Please do not try to "educate" me the difference between writers and executive producers in animation. I have an animation degree. I'm not a child.

 I follow both Brent and Alan on Twitter and have been for like 3 years now. I have been watching their updates since the announcement of the show 2 years ago. I have pics of them celebrating finishing up the writing. Here's proof that they wrote it, including screenshots of the IMDb Brent had linked on his Twitter. 

I said this is not what they consider THE sequel. Obviously it is *a* sequel. I'm saying people should not be treating it like Megamind 2 when it is a pilot for the TV show. They want a real theatrical sequel.

This is a random screenshot I felt was important

I think this person better put what I meant about not as many people would care this much if it wasn't on streaming:

Megamind was an arrogant little egomaniac for the entirety of the first movie. Not sure how you missed that. Roxanne appears dissatisfied with her place in life from her recording at the Metro Man Museum with Hal onward, and does her level best to become the hero her city needs because no one else is going to stand up and do it - not sure how you missed that, either, but her whole character arc is about stepping up to the plate to do good. Well done reducing her to a single career point and then discarding her. I wasn't surprised to see her frustrations with going right back to reporting. That was a headspace that made a ton of sense for her. It was set up incredibly well.

And Megamind himself says, "some days, it felt like it was just me and Minion against the world," so you might think I agree with you there - but in fact I'm going to point out the SOME days, it FELT LIKE. There is no reason to believe that he never had any other professional associates between the time he left the schoolhouse and the time we see him as an established supervillain. In fact, I can and will argue that there's room to interpret *he himself* saying he wasn't always flying solo. It's up to interpretation - but it's there.

And no, Roxanne and Megamind are not and should not be "quasi-dating" unless you want to look past the enormous Bernard lie. Which I can't say I'm surprised you did, since Roxanne doesn't matter as anything other than Reporter Romantic Interest, apparently. The end of the original implies they have *potential.*

But I'm not trying to convince you. At the end of the day, you didn't enjoy something you hoped to enjoy. You missed a few key points about the original, so the pilot of the show didn't line up with some of your expectations and it pissed you off. That's a shame. But instead of offering some grace and recognizing it for what it is - a movie designed for a younger demographic than the original, the first ounce of love Dreamworks has shown this IP since its initial release more than a decade ago, and as much story as could be crammed into 83 minutes because the people making it only had so much time within which to work, which is *honestly a fun ride* if somewhat tonally dissonant compared to what YOU were hoping for - you've decided instead to focus on what it wasn't: What You Personally Wanted. And you've decided to make your disappointment everyone else's problem instead of processing it like an adult and moving on.

I think you're boring, I think you're unkind, I think you're a whiny little bully who came onto MY POST to bitch and complain about how you're the god of what I'M allowed to enjoy. Block me, if I make you so miserable. I'm busy having fun.

[roo-bastmoon]

Roo is a bit of a party pooper here. (But Roo does not poop at parties.)

A GENTLE WORD OF CAUTION REGARDING STREAMS, ALBUMS, and SYMBOLS

First and foremost, streams are dropping like hell this weekend. So please run playlists on all possible devices (I'll put links at the bottom of this post). PLEASE DO NOT NEGLECT STREAMING as we are in the red.

Of course we need to focus on Angel right now. However, Like Crazy, Face, and Jimin himself are predicted to be nominated for song, best album, and artist of the year for MAMA. Actual trophy awards at a broadcast year-end award show! But the digital points are low for song and album, so we need to work on CONSISTENT global streaming for Jimin in addition to all our boys every single day!

Second, a Naver article stated that Jungkook's album will drop on July 14th. Another Naver article reported on that article, and then a bunch did. We've been here before, where the media ran with a bit of gossip and then got clowned later.

What the company SAID was:

“The schedule is yet to be finalized, and is to be announced subsequently.”

Now, JJK1 could very well drop in five weeks. But I've heard no chatter anywhere about final touches on post-production, album design, distribution plans, or promotional schedules... they don't just put the songs in a can and then press a button and it's out in the world.

Plus, a year ago, there was a strategic plan shared with investors that mentioned Q4 for him (though that was more of a road map than a firm commitment).

JK did say during last year's Festa that he'd go after Yoongi. So maybe it will happen as soon as July? That would be wonderful, because it seems like Jimin still has music to release, so maybe they can be supportive of each other's projects this summer and fall, before enlisting (hopefully at the same time!).

But I hope JJK1 doesn't go up against the Barbie soundtrack on July 21st because that has so many heavy hitters, my lord, we never catch a break!!

I will just say that JJK1 is one of the most anticipated global releases of the year. It will require a lot of logistics and likely heavy in-person promotion. So I just want to caution folks in getting too emotionally invested about a mid-July date.

It could be. It could not be. Best to wait for an official announcement, which will likely come at least 3 weeks before drop. So let's keep our ears perked after Yoongi's last concert on June 25th...

Third, some folks are reading into a lot of symbols these days. Which is fine! But I'd like to ask that we just be careful with it.

Personally, I only subscribe to a number theory if the timestamp or the numbers that the members write/say are in exact order and we can draw a straight line between that and a known special date. I do not use addition, subtraction, division, or re-ordering of numerals to get to a desired outcome. I don't know K-ARMY who do that either. But I'm not out to crap all over people who do!! It's fun to theorize!

For me, it's fun to look at number stuff the same way it's fun to read tarot cards. We tinker, we point out possible coincidences or patterns... Just please, I gently ask you to keep to theory and not fact. The last thing we want is for someone to cherrypick a screenshot and drag things out of context.

Speaking of symbols and theories becoming fanon facts...

Jimin posted old photos of him looking ADORBS with a tangerine today (which Tae helpfully commented to make sure we'd all understand it was a tangerine, lol). So Yoominners rejoice:

While Jimin's social media DOES feature plenty of Yoongi (D-Day, Suchwita, possibly photos where Yoongi's shoes appear in a mirror) and TikTok dances, plus he did come on live (FROM HIS HOME!!) on Yoongi's birthday... Jimin's social media also has Hobi, Jin, Joon, and Tae on it! But predominantly it's Yoongi who shows up on Jimin's Insta. We haven't had any Jungkook on his Insta since White Day of last year--interactions with Jungkook seem reserved for WeVerse lives and posts.

Make of it what you will.

To my mind, it does seem like certain "soft" subunits were paired up since Festa of last year. (Hobi spread love to everyone, then there was Namjin's DeliciouSeoul commercials, Yoonmin's Busan [??] tourism commercial, Taekook as yet to be determined but it feels like it's coming...) So the lines between work posts and relationship posts also begin to blur a bit for fans, especially since the members all adore each other anyway...

Whether there was a strategic plan in place or not for how what I perceive as soft subunits promote, I don't know.

But meanwhile, certain other "promotions" seem to organically play out: JK sings all his members' new feature songs, but hypes Jimin's the most (on random lives he does without permission). JK came on live often, but a pattern is emerging where that typically happens when Jimin is away or busy. JK hangs out with Tae and went to the Harry concert with other members, but calls for Jimin to join him most often.

Again, it's fun to speculate what this might mean.

Meanwhile, today Joon posted a gym whiteboard workout in which the initials JK and JM appear, and so folks assume minimonikook are getting swole together. I like the mental image, not gonna lie.

And hey y'all! Maybe Jimin is summoning Min Yoongi with a tangerine. Maybe Jikook did hit the gym with Joon and draw on his whiteboard. Maybe Tae did grab a bite with JK in the one day before he dyed his hair and allegedly went to Spain to film a music video. It's fun to speculate. It's what fans do.

I just want to caution folks from stating things the members do or feel as if they know for sure.

Those are cult tactics and, for me at least, the lines are starting to blur a little bit these days between Jikookers and Taekookers... in that folks are more than happy to assume that secret private couple getaway trips are pure fact, that words mumbled off screen say exactly what we want to hear, that the company has a clear-cut nefarious plot to hype specific members and bury others... and that there are hints of Signs and Wonders everywhere.

And maybe these things are shaking out and really happening. But we don't know. So I feel more comfy discussing this sort of thing when people include "I think" or "it seems" or "maybe" as we talk about it--I like to have a little wiggle room--because when I see my fellow Jikookers start to "witness truth," it comes off far more like a religion than a supportive fanbase.

I say this gently because at some point we've all done it, especially when we are in a hurry and speaking casually or joking around. I'm not judging, just cautioning.

Words matter. Believe me, I learned my lesson, and words matter.

And when it comes to Jikook, we don't really need to grasp at straws. While our boys are a lot more private these days, they still have exclusive, intimate tones and touches and interactions that we glimpse.

And the circle around them still heavily imply they come as a package deal. For example...

Fourth and finally, we got this awesome interview with Polyc, who had some wonderful things to say about Jimin and the members:

And it was sort of implied that Jimin spoke many times with Polyc about the membership tattoo over the five months that JK was getting his arm retouched--maybe while they were in the shop together? Maybe while his moon tattoos were getting done? Or maybe not.

But Polyc basically said Jimin was the one to usher each member through the process. (Which is a bit of a different impression than I got last Festa when Tae said "I will go with Jungkookie!" because back then it implied it was JK who acted as the conduit between the members and his tattoo artist, but here's some strong evidence that it was Jimin all along who bounced around ideas and made it happen and comforted each member's anxiety. Interesting.)

It's almost as though Jimin and Jungkook are the soft subunit that never gets official promo but keeps bubbling up everywhere.

Okay so that was my long-winded way of pooping on the party just a little, but hopefully not enough to dampen anyone's spirits!! No one is doing fandom "wrong" -- I just want to keep our hearts and intention pure, and our actions honorable, that's all.

In conclusion: speculation is fun! But assuming is not.

And now? Please STREAM!!

AND PRE-ORDER TAKE TWO WHILE YOU'RE AT IT!!

I love you all so very much! Be well, puppykitties!

Love, Roo

[vtuberconfessions]

Goddamit

I only just heard abt riro (i live under a rock)

Idol was my safe corpo, it never seems tense at all there 😭

Also uh, could i ask what you know about it all? I know what was in the official announcement, and a little bit abt behind that but not much, could you fill me in if possible?

TL:DR

Screenshot from a members-only stream that was taken down shortly after it ended. The claim about her dating a manager has no proof to back it up so far.

[changingplumbob]

Not Sims - Just Reign

So I binge watched the final 5 episodes today and... I am emotionally compromised. See below for my ramblings and how I attempted to make album art a decade ago.

If you clicked keep reading I'm going to assume you don't mind reading my rambles so I'm just going to indulge myself here. I need to process and getting it out helps me process.

I first saw Reign during my final year of High School and fell completely in love. Quite aside from English History being a special interest for me at the time, Adelaide Kane and Toby Regbo were so gorgeous. Honestly the signs that I'm bisexual were right there but it just did not click.

If you're my moot you will know by now I am a massive romantic. So of course I would get invested in the Mary Francis love story. Thanks past me for routing for Francis from the start, smart choice.

The outfits took my breath away, as did the wonderful landscapes. I fell in love with everything Mary wore and tried to find a graduation dress that was as close to something like that as possible.

The music! I loved every track they put with the episodes. Shout out to that one youtube channel that was posting full versions of the songs. I have a playlist with the music from the first two seasons and have listened to it on loop so often. There was a website that would post screenshots of the episodes and I would copy paste and make my own album art. Not to do anything with, they were solely for me to see when the songs came up on my iPod.

BUT I only watched the first two seasons before I took a break. History wise I knew Francis would die before they had a child, but the end of season 2 seemed to announce his death was approaching and my romantic self could not handle it. So over the next few years I rewatched the first two seasons plenty, and continued to listen to the music. I tried to watch season 3 in my first year at university, I really did. But things were different back then and I could only find low quality episodes because legitimate streaming services were in their infancy, if they even existed.

During my post grad diploma I would take a train part of the way to my placements. It was on the train that I happened to catch someone watching Reign on their phone. Not just any part of Reign either, the recap that shows Francis dying and Mary saying goodbye to the coffin. You bet any progress I had made towards being able to watch it was reset.

Following the worst of my depression, last year I began to feel a proper interest in things I love again and I wanted to see Reign to its conclusion. So I got myself the DVDs for season 3 (I don't have netflix, plus I like having physical copies of things) and worked my way through. Since I hate spoilers I didn't want to read the blurbs included in the cover so I never knew which episode Francis would die in, I was happy he was in it for so long. The whole plot with Francis having made Mary a sword for taking back Scotland made me love them all the more.

I gifted myself season 4, the final season, for Christmas. I've been watching it in bits and pieces. I have this thing where if something is ending I try to hold off the ending for as long as possible. But today I was so under the weather that I did watch the last disc all in one go.

Side note, Rizzio. I can't believe that actually happened! But wikipedia says it did. It really sounds like something a drama show would make up.

I've always known Queen Mary was executed for supposedly trying to kill Queen Elizabeth. I wasn't sure how Reign would tackle that. I figured they would do a flash forward or do that text over screen thing. I love neat endings but my heart could survive not seeing the end of Mary. I begun the final episode, saw Toby Regbo's name in the starting line up and immediately teared up. If he was in the episode then they were certainly going to show her death. Those end scenes, they made me happy and sad all at once. I loved that Francis was there for her, and I loved the flashbacks through their life together. Damn did it make me cry though.

The main characters have had a place in my heart for a decade. So heck yeah I'm grieving the loss. I know I'll watch it again, so it's not a permanent goodbye, but it's tough to see the end of anyway.

[flyingcookierambles]

the final dragalia...

hi fellow losties

lets cry together

im live streaming the final hours on twitch, trying to finish the story

some twitter threads of my dragalia stuff i guess idk (ill be updating this as i go today for memories sake to have these together i guess. idk. stupid sentimentality) 1 (edit: moving the rest below, i think that theres a lot surprisingly) + kit

currently. no doing so well, crying. i feel like im losing a good friend today. literally the more i think the more i cry. its like the going merry all over again. i havent cried this much in years...

sad incoherent rambling below....

1am edit: we did it Losties. we were all together for the final moments. I made a highlight of my final Dragalia stream. There was a home screen walk with Faeblessed Tobias and Bondforged Euden and then the last 41 seconds with the Wagabound Pupper. man. seeing that little 3d computer dog with the pop up screen saying that he is ours forever, since he was originally just a 1 day character for a previous April Fools. just. a bit of a slap in the face. i’ll post my final screenshots tomorrow probably. my throat’s a little tight and i think im gonna cry again. i didn’t even cry this much when A3! eng died...maybe it’s because Dragalia is older. almost got to 4 years. it’s been my comfort game throughout college.

anyways here.

goodnight i have work tomorrow.

desperately trying to download all the assets i can, including the final stubborn 12 of all like 40+ GB of the files. all the good mmees, the laughs and cries, the ups and downs of the story both in an emotional sense and a writing quality sense. just. nothing. thankfully the entire story and all the character stories are preserved thanks to the subreddit and discord.i should’ve played more too. but. ever since the ending was announced. not just in August, but in March. I haven’t played dragalia fully. i didnt do kaledoscope bc i am not good at hack n slash rogue-likes (i suck at hades lol. im only good at rogue dungeon crawling turn based like etrian). im just so full of regrets, even more so than A3!, i think because it had like 0 gameplay and all story and i read most of those. dragalia is. was. will be was. huge. so underappreciated....

if a private server comes up in the future, im ready. i hope.

*looks over at the filtering out unneeded assets message on CMD as the program struggles to get these last 12 stupid files*

twitter i guess

jake calling ferran little duck

never got summer ieyasu....

atlantis. they really were just like. yeah merpeople are real ok lets move on lol. i wonder what would’ve happened had it been able to be expanded on...

random gacha luck posts 1 <- faebless tobias summer curran  notte+others

new years/ox clan pulls gluca  ilia 2nd gala pulls  random i literally dont even remember her event story or what lol  + all the northerners at once lmao + summer ranzal! in . oct 2019 +

children of the forest event + masucla home

reacting to a lot of adventure/castle stories thread

blonde himbo grandpa came home!

2021 april fools + valentines + persona5/strikers collab i think i might’ve livestreamed this too or at least have some saved screen recording of it somewhere. i know that this is twt threads only but that was such a good event + the entire HUD/GUI was redesigned to be p5 themed it was actually really beautiful and we can never see it again sobs + new years 2021 map + 2020 FEH 2 + first gluca run + 2019 halloween + random 2019 screenshots? + more random fractured futures 2019 + 2 more + 2019 anni & random gbf + home screen 2019 anni + the first FEH event 2019 huh my twt media doesnt go any further i might have just not used it between when it was first made in 2015 and then 2019 lol

grandpa humid ilu

issac/tobias first look

dragalia sword?

robot lesbibabs

croptops.. (bonus random thread started with me being an enstarrie for bastard man rinne)

card

tobias story

alchemy

“share the will of the goddess with him” *pulls out a knife* + 2020 northern ilian church

2020 summer norwin + mikoto + 2 + festival thread (bonus a3! en) + W I D E Mei Hou Wang +

bonus the 2020 gacha brainworms parasites i had on my phone at the time

haha remember when leo was a bad guy

[areislol]

Hi i recently just saw your "streamer au" and i want kazuha, scaramouche,ayato,diluc for the part 2 of "reader saying that they have a boyfriend" ^^

Sure thing!! make sure to stay safe <3 streamer! kazuha, scaramouche, ayato, diluc x online friend! reader kazuha: recommend listening to: everything - the black skirts scaramouche: recommend listening to: my kind of woman - mac demarco ayato: recommend listening to: the feels - twice diluc: recommend listening to: try again - d.ear x jaehyun

streamer! kazuha x online friend! reader • kazuha is always giddy whenever you're around • he has been crushing on you since you've both started talking • he has never thought of you having a bf once, his mind has been to preoccupied with you so he hasn't really have had the chance to think abt that.. • so when u tell kazuha and his viewers that you have a lover now, everyone can practically see kazuhas facial expressions droop • kazuha keeps his cool ofc, he gives you a "that's nice to hear y/n. is your bf treating you well??" • you can literally hear his voice break when he mentions "ur bf" • kazuha's chat is basically now teasing kazuha.. • "yea!! he's treating me like a queen." kazuha nods and you feel so bad, he looks like a sad puppy.. • anyways, there was a long silence, everyone taking this opportunity to clip kazuha's expressions and make a sad edit of him ;( • you just kinda sit there in silence, kazuha suddenly ends the stream and ur left their dumbfounded(along with his viewers), you know he's not feeling okay(who would've know that he, kazuha would get all dull and moody over some news??) • you text kazuha and apologize, explaining that it was all just a prank and that you hope that he's not mad at you. • kazuha reads the message and scolds you, but forgives you. • he makes you pinky promise(virtually) that you wont ever do that again. • "y/n can we ft?" - "sure kazuha what's up?" • "pink promise me that you wont prank me like that ever again. " - ".... why....??" • "because! just because." "okay kazu" • he probably screenshots you pinky promising him just for proof. *puts it as his wallpaper also* • one lovely day, you was just scrolling through your fyp and you stumble upon an edit of you and kazuha playing games together and then him *clearly* upset over something you say(the bf prank thing), you chuckle and went into the comments.. • "omg!! poor kazuha.. :(" "do u think she's pranking us??" • right.. kazuha forgot to tell everyone that is was a prank, you text kazuha and he says sorry and addresses it right away. • his fans are a bit mad at u cuz u made kazuha upset. you apologize to them and said that u already pinky promised kazuha that you wont ever do that again. • honestly, kazuha doesn't like those sad edits so he presses the "not interested button" on the edits and instead watched the "kazuha x y/n" or the ship edits. • those videos give him hope and courage. • he wish he could meet u irl :(

streamer! scaramouche x online friend! reader (angsty??) • this bitch • scaramouche is a "know it all" and "selfish/rude" person. • well that's what everyone thinks, and they think that because every time he streams, he always sounds so rude when talking to his fans or just looking mad over all. • but when it comes to u?? oh boy, he's a whole different person - he's not even scara! well the scara that people see on twitch. • his viewers know who you are because you come join his streams whenever you're free, and they love you!! • so when you come onto stream and announce to everyone that you have news, all the attention was on you. scaramouche had to shush everyone and glares into his camera cuz he knows he's scary soo why not?? • you explain that over these past few weeks, you've met a special someone and that you and him are dating now!! • scaramouche was left there, shocked. • you?? his crush?? having a bf?? • no but the fact that u didnt tell him before.. • anyways scaramouche acts all calm and EVERYONE, including you can tell that he's obviously not. • "scara you okay?" "yes, im totally fine." "you're such a bad liar scara.." "okay and?" • honestly, this was meant to be a prank, and it is!! and the whole point of it was to see his reaction and you got it. but the way scara was giving you attitude, the way he glared at you even tho it wasn't UR fault made your heart shatter into pieces. • you was just done with scara?? like sure he was nice to you and all but he's always so, mean and cold?? you're not the one to judge, you dont know what scara has gone through but this was it. • you sigh *dramatically* and tell everyone that you was tired and left, everyone could tell that you was annoyed or pissed off at something. • scara didnt meant to get mad at you or sound mad, he was just jealous and didn't like the idea of you having a bf, sure it's your life, your choice and he'll always support you but something about the fact that you had a bf pissed him off. • he told everyone that it was the end of stream and told everyone to go sleep. • he went on ur discord and checked if you sent him any messages - and you did. "look scara, im sorry if i made you mad or anything im just letting you know that it was just a prank and that it was nothing more. i just wanted to see your reaction but it seems that my prank made you upset and i apologize. im going to sleep now so ig sleep well scara." • well shit, you're mad at him now aren't you? • *ur mad at him but not rlly.* • he apologized to u, instead of a simple "im sorry.", scara wrote a whole paragraph. • he was relieved that it was just a prank and nothing more, he still felt bad and told everyone on twitter that it was just a prank. • when u woke up, u straight away went to see if scaramouche texted u anything, and he did - and so you read his messages. you felt bad and forgave scaramouche. • scaramouche read your message, he was at ease as he read your message. • ever since then u swore to scaramouche that you'll never do that ever again. • everyone still made edits of you and scaramouche, ship edits, pov edits, and alot of angsty edits. • scaramouche would often share you them, you two would laugh a them(not in a bad way). • he knows u dont have a bf so he'll try anything to gain your attention and make u fall in love w/ him.

streamer! ayato x online friend! reader • ayato is such a flirt, he always catches everyone's eye and they fall in love w/ him and blah blah blah. • he has had many gfs, and ayato has gotten many confessions. • but out of everyone, YOU had to get a bf?? • "hey ayato.. want to know something special??" "mhm, go on" • "I HAVE A BF NOW!!" ".. repeat that again darling?" • after you said that you had a bf, and after rephrasing your words • ayato is obviously shocked, but he hides it - he congratulates you and wants to know ur bfs name. • you laugh and say that you wont be giving any names out, he gives u a smile that literally screams *please give me his name, for purposes.* • his heart is broken now, and it's all ur fault(jk) • ayato stays quiet as you go on about him, describing your bf. • his mind if full of "why didn't i confess earlier?" "was i not good enough?" "i knew that she would find her love sooner or later, but why now?" • you suddenly burst out laughing, catching him off guard - in between laughter you say "im sorry ayato!! ur face is too funny.. it's a prank, i dont have a bf" • you fall onto the floor, still laughing and ur stomach was in pain. • ayato is left there confused and stunned to say the least. • he smiles, but this time he smiles genuinely, knowing that u actually dont have a bf and it was just all a prank. • he's "mad" at you and starts to "wow how could you do this to me y/n" you. • you both laugh and both say sorry to each other. • nobody knows at this, cuz it was just between you and ayato. • you still tease ayato about it. • "you should've seen the look on your face!! you looked so scary but it was still funny." "yada yada yada, y/n you should've felt how my heart broke, you hurt me!! but you already pink promised to me that won't ever do that again." "did i really promise that now??" • honestly, he could confess to you, right now - but he doesn't want to risk breaking the relationship between u two.

streamer! diluc x online friend! reader • diluc was always known to be quiet and reserved, even during streams he doesn't talk much. • but once you're around - he puts more effort into speaking, only speaking whenever you ask diluc something or just want to talk to him, which is everyday. • you've brought the other side of diluc out(does that make sense??), you've made him more confident in himself and he's really thankful about it, and that's what made him fall in love with you • your caring and loving nature lured him in, and so when you say to him "i have a boyfriend, diluc!!" his heart immediately drops. • his mouth agape, eyes wide and the look on his face kind of scares you? • you've never seen diluc so, upset before?? the way his eyes drop when you mention the word "boyfriend" made you regret saying that. • diluc gave you a small smile "that's great news y/n!! im glad you've found your s/o." • his heart ached while saying that, he hated it. he hated how he said it, he hated how he had to say it, he didnt want to say that, ever. • you pouted, god his stupid sad face was making you sad. you gave up and said sorry, "oh diluc.. im so sorry :( it was just a prank! i dont have a bf at all. i dont need one, i have you!!" • that made diluc look at you, was u being fr? • diluc didnt know why but when u said "i dont need one, i have you", it made his heart race. it made his heart feel warm, it made him feel good(a good kind of good). • diluc smiled, and his smile never fails to make you smile. • and since then, you've never dared to prank diluc like that ever again, and diluc is still planning on when he'll ask you out, to meet you irl, to take you out on a date, to be your boyfriend. • you tell diluc's viewers about it, while diluc was going toilet or something ofc. they're all upset, they would've also liked to see his reaction!! but you quickly said that they wouldn't have liked his reaction as diluc looked really upset :( • u and diluc probably see some angsty animation of u two but you two are quick to click "not interested". • perhaps, he has a chance with you

they're so precious, <3 a/n: if u enjoyed this pls go check out my other genshin hcs/liking + following + reblogs r appreciated. note: sorry if this was bad!! it's 8:10 pm and im not really feeling well. I dont know if im going to post any headcannons today.

[aijlin]

Cyberspace Fame

Characters > Scaramouche!

Type - fluff, modern!au, headcanons NOTE! streamer!scaramouche x fem!reader

TW : NO WARNINGS JUST FLUFF <3

> Scaramouche is a famous streamer on the internet ⌙> His user would probably be something like kunikuzushi_ or something like that

> He'd play games like Valorant with his friends or play solo: childe (though he hates him), xiao (only sometimes), kazuha (same as xiao)

‣You were the lucky lady, the lover of yours truly

‣The stream of course heard about you, but scaramouche would never bring it up

‣ You'd sometimes walk in his room to give him a kiss on his forehead or a hug. The chat would go crazy. ‣ Scaramouche, being the overprotective person he is, he doesn't allow you to show your face.

"It's for your safety, who knows what would happen."

There was this one time where you were in the background, and he started freaking out not knowing whether the chat can see you or not.

The next day he'd scold you, and you'd just sit there. Staring blankly at him. "Sorry scaramouche :c" He'd just stop, and stand there frozen. Then he'd give a hug. "nono, don't be sorry. I just wanted to keep you safe. Just don't do it next time..."

---

‣ Scaramouche actually announced (after some thought) that if he reached 10 million followers, he'd reveal your face. (Such a hypocrite)

‣ After announcing that, his followers increased tenfold.

~ from 50k, then 90k, then a million, to 5 million. It seemed that everyone wanted to see your face. When scaramouche told you about this, you'd give a small laugh. | "I'm irresistible, everyone would love me hehe, AND you are a hypocrite~~"

Then one day, he received a notification telling him he reached 10 million. His eyes widened and he almost jumped off his chair. You came over to see the notification too. You expected this would happen.

As promised, he was going to show your face. At around 3, he started the stream. from 1 viewer increased to 190k viewers. "Alright, as promised today I will allow y'all to see her face" You come in the camera. You had (haircolor) hair, nice lips, smooth face, basically everything about you was pretty.

The whole chat started simping, taking screenshots, clipping, EVERYTHING. ---

'OMG Y/N SO PRETTY I'M SIMPING AGABHASHFH'

'SCARAMOUCHE? WHY HIDE THE BEAUTY OF THIS WOMAN???"

'I ALMOST CHOKED ON MY FOOD WTH? HOW IS SHE SO BEAUTIFUL?'

'Definitely worth it B)'

'Bro hol' up, what?'

---

You gave a small smile, "Hello you guys! As you may know, I'm kunikuzshi's lover, y/n! Nice to meet y'all!" Scaramouche started blushing around her. You took one glance, and a smug look started growing on your face. "Oh? what's this? Scara's blushingg~~ hehe" Now practically half of the world was watching the stream. "No, I'm not." "Yes you are~" You give him a hug, then leave the scene.

The chat was shocked.

‣ In the end, you would appear in his streams more often.

‣ You'd also play with him and his friends. ‣ Your social media accounts gained a ton of followers

‣ You were the talk of the internet.

←

[baeshijima]

𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫!𝐚𝐥𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫!𝐲/𝐧

A/N : i have nothing to say other than the fact there will be an excessive amount of twitch slang bc why tf not + just,,, heavy streamer!albedo brainrot ;-;

masterlist

AIGHT

streamer albedo

…

pog—

so before we get into him being whipped for u, let’s go over the type of strimmer mr Kreideprinz is

fun fact that’s his twitch name—

albedo would be the type to do lots of variety streams of different games, but also the occasional art one if he wants to have a chill stream with his chat !!

speaking of chat… they’re an odd mix of wholesome supporters, KAPPA + POGGERS + catJAM (bc he always has some bangers on in the bg like yes u bless our ears my guy) + KEKW + EZ Clap + his own emotes spammers, mr albedo’s very own shrimps (me, ahEm—), and ppl who just appreciate his voice + gameplay

if there’s a troll he just bans them OMEGALUL

omg he has lots of emotes (which he made in some of his art streams so his viewers could choose some) for every scenario but we’ll get into the popular ones in a bit 👁👁

he’s most definitely one of the bigger, well-known streamers but with a smaller group of friends

his discord server has,,, a lot of ppl,,, 70k+ ppl big,,, rip notifs if ur in it ;-;

he has it muted tho 🐥 like, sir, that’s ur server pay the goddamn price smh

wait i forgot to mention this but he has his webcam on when streaming

so u can bet ur chickens that when ppl come to visit his stream bc of whatever category he has on, they stay for his visuals and voice <33

his twt 🤡 mans gets 1k+ likes, rts, comments within the first 5-10 mins

omg he gets soft when he receives sm support from his community 🥺🥺

gifts so many subs when hitting milestones, chat is wholesome or just whenever really HJKSDHKL 

also doesn’t swear much unless he gets played by his own game and/or someone is being incredibly annoying <//3

he also just,,, eats on stream

albedo straight up takes his webcam with him to show him cooking if his viewers ask for it

or he just orders food then and there and eats while chatting to everyone or watching youtube with his chat 🥺

nOW ONTO HIM BEING WHIPPED FOR U AS A GENSHIN STREAMER

this AR55 man 👩‍🦯

he can literally produce content from anything

from artifact farming, to spiral abyss, to running around mindlessly, to building characters he would normally never build, to him seeing how high up is considered too high to dive

and everyone eats it up bc it’s albedo <3

also !! he’s the type who includes the story quests in his streams so his reaction and thoughts on everything is just,,, there

now when u were first introduced in the prologue (yes ur one of the ogs + involved in the dvalin fight <33) he blanked and all his viewers could see was u on screen with him staring blankly in the bottom right of the screen

this man straight up saw u in a cutscene for one second and fell in love

his chat went wild omfg

he immediately made an emote for u and that’s his most popular one 😌

but i kid u not, the moment u appeared in that cutscene (one in which he will forever treasure in the crevices of his heart) was the moment he asked this exact question ;

“ so (y/n) banner when? ” 

and mihoyo heard his pleas and answered with ur event banner 

except it was like,, 4 months later 

at least ur finally here tho :’)

now he can have his lil science-y moments with ur voicelines ;-;

yes, ur the chief alchemist but ✨ 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 ✨

. . .

shut up

n e who

when he saw the notification from mihoyo’s official forums that u will be a playable character in the new update — along with new characters, region, events & a domain — i shit u not he did a rt, his own tweet, an announcement on the community feature on youtube, and made constant reminders to his viewers on twitch abt how he will be a (y/n) haver no matter what

he even added future (y/n) haver in his twt display name

what a shrimp—

the 1.2 update stream 🐥 he was there waiting for it to go live with like,,, 19k viewers spamming his chat abt predictions and obv ur official release + showcase

and when i say this man fell even more in love while watching ur trailer and character showcase 🥺 he wouldn’t stop smiling or being in awe bc ur just??? so stunning???

mihoyo clearly has a favourite child and it’s u

chat was spamming ur exclusive emote like crazy oml

u can bet it was also flooded with lots of POGs and POGGERS 

overall it was a very fun, chaotic stream filled with lots of (y/n) appreciation and love <33

also a very memorable stream for all his viewers bc of the side of albedo they rarely see unless ur involved

the day ur banner was to go live tho 🐥

the streams leading up to the fateful day consisted of him farming ur mats 

that’s it

boss runs, local specialties, hero wits, talent books, the mats needed for ur weapon he was inevitably going to pull for (only the best for the best, afterall) and many domain runs

many painful domain runs

all of it was worth it tho bc ur worth everything :’)

an actual quote said by him—

at least he can get u and ur weapon to lvl 90 right off the bat with all the artifacts tailored for u ;-;

and get u to that point he did HJSDKJF

once ur banner dropped? immediately started wishing

2 multis in and he gets u 😣

albedo nearly cried and was the literal embodiment of head in hands

wHEN I SAY HIS CHAT BLEW TF UP AND HIS MODS JOINED IN

modCheck has left the chat

everyone’s rooting for him :’)

pulled for ur weapon and got it in 1 multi

sir give me ur luck pls and ty

but yes he nearly choked on the gASP he let out while chat screamed even more

he blanked for a bit, i won’t lie ;-;

but when he realised this was real, he immediately went to his party set up and put u in

can we all get an f in the chat for his lvl 10 tartaglia 😔💔👊

his chat usually rages at him to build him but if he’s being honest, he cba

ur vl when he put u in the party tho <333

now he’s just spent half an hour running around with u, letting u do ur idle animations (will always be grateful for mihoyo creating u like this), reading ur very limited (for now—) character story and going through ur voicelines 

ur morning & about us (when he unlocks it) voiceline >>>>> his heart be running laps rn i swear

eventually he does begin to build u after much admiration on his end and at lvl 1 with lvl 20 artifacts, u already have 1.6k atk 🐥

now after he levels u and ur weapon to lvl 90, u have 2.8k atk 🐥

rip mobs <//3

he now plays u as his main dps 😌

the kit initially designed for u is meant to be more for support?? kinda like the whole ganyu or zhongli debate abt them being a dps or a support/sub dps ;-;

except ur more utility like venti or bennett

and even though the majority said at the beginning (aka, mihoyo, pretty much any other streamer and the larger part of the fanbase) that ur meant for support, he said fuck that and built u as his main dps

and i won’t lie, u do more damage than any of his characters, and ppl who co op with him

ur his pride and joy :’)

he went to take a look at ur consts to see if they were worth the rng suffering and, lo-and-behold,

they were

so now he’s using all his saved primos for u to try and get ur c6 const, along with making ur weapon r5 :’)

his chat gets a free view of him internally suffering when the gold light doesn’t come, and his external suffering when he loses the 50/50

in the end, he decided to whale for u <33

after nearly an hour, he has u to c6 and ur weapon to r5 ;-;

now all he’s been doing the whole stream is running around with u in open world, doing his daily farming, doing more domain and boss runs, exploring the new region (dragonspine) + ur story quest

he’s saving the event quest for another stream bc ✨content✨ 

in ur quest, he had multiple heart attacks and now has many, many screenshots <3

he now has a zoomed in pic of ur face as his twt pfp <33

okay so i also feel like he’s not all that bothered abt getting characters to friendship level 10 immediately and would rather let it happen through time

but obv ur not any other character *proceeds to debby ryan at u*

even if ur not fit for a particular domain or boss, he still puts u in the party so when collecting the blossom/rewards, u can get the friendship exp ;-;

he just wants ur name card so he can show off okay 🥺

when he lets his viewers pick out the playlist, 98% of the songs are from ur character demo theme 

they just know him so well 😩

they also just wanna see the way he smiles when he hears it play but shhhhhh

now he just has his in-game avatar as u, and ur namecard too <33

also his signature is just ;

“ (y/n)’s favourite streamer ”

[a-jynx]

:0 yall are ACTUALLY insane omg- 1,061 of you guys like my stuff??? im so thankful for you all and i hope my future works get as much love <33

also how should we celebrate 1K?? i genuinely have no thought behind it, so if there's something you guys would want to see lemme know !! without further ado; how the DSMP introduce you on stream; [dream team + others]

~~~~

Dream; - this mf doesn't have a face-cam but he does have a mic, so chat 100% heard you come in laughing about a TikTok - "babe-" - he's never jumped so high or muted himself so quickly, but chat was already flying with questions and you couldn't help but feel relief as you guys had been dating for months and you could keep it a secret for so long... - "do you want to come out about our relationship? i don't want you to be bombarded with questions and shit," "we'd have to tell them sometime, bubs," - after getting your approval, he'd unmute and start to introduce you; "okay, chat, uh... Yes, someone came in, yes they called me babe, and yes i am dating someone - sorry simps - this is Y/N, my partner, and I want you guys to show them love and respect since I love them-" "more than George?" - dream glared at you before rolling his eyes, mumbling "you're an idiot" under his breath - oh, and let's just say you guys were trending for a few days <3

Sapnap; - it was definitely during his shock stream (yes, im holding onto the stream for as long as i live) - he forgot to tell you - which doesn't seem possible, but he was busy trying to get dream to fix up the shock collar - "hey bubs what're you-" - once again he's never jumped that high before but he whipped around and stared at you, as you stared back at him before slowly - trying - to lower your voice - "you're streaming-" "i've been streaming for the past hour - how have you not heard me?!" "i've been gone, dickhead!" his mic definitely picked up all of that and there will be clips all over TikTok, so have fun finding those on your fyp ! - he would pause everything before stepping to the side, holding you and whispering (he remembered to mute) - "do you wanna meet them? i know my chat's already freaking out" "you do have some crazy fans babe.. but what's the harm in getting it done..?" -he brought you over, holding you in his lap, and began to answer all of the questions flying in 'how long have you been dating?' 'did you both move in with dream?' 'do we know them somehow??' a lot of questions that lowkey took over the stream but Sap was thankful - dream was being a dick with the cheap jumpscares - "i think that went well," and would you look at that? trendinggg~

George; - that little door that's always closed?? yeah, you opened it and came from there - you lowkey scared the shit out of him since he just saw it from the corner of his eye - "oh my god, Y/N what the hell-" - ayo this boy would actually yell at you to get out or something, but we both know you won't <3 -"okay, rude, i literally came to ask what you wanted to get for dinner" "yeah, and I'm streaming???" "yeah, i know, i can see that- oh you're streaming..." - you both would just stare at each other and would be so confused on what to do - i mean, they've seen you but like... are you guys ready to put your relationship out there? - George would end the stream, not bothering with a goodbye or anything since this was a big thing for you guys - and after discussing it over some take-out, you guys both posted a couple photos on both of your Twitters :)

Quackity; - o m g; he'd just laugh because you looked terrified but then he'd mute and step aside to hug you - he wouldn't know what to do at first; he obviously comforted you first but he had no real idea of how to approach this since he wanted to keep at least a little bit of his life hidden - would ignore it; donos turned off, any questions in bits he skipped over, and of course any questions in chat he ignored - he wouldn't want to pressure you into showing off your relationship when you both agreed to keep it out of your social media lives - ofc the questions would get a lot and if the fans found your socials, they'd spam you asking - finally, Q posted a photo on his Instagram story with him pressing a long kiss to your cheek with the caption 'mi vida'

Wilbur; - he'd watch you come in from his camera - definitely was too late for him to be streaming </3 - "hello, love bug.. did I wake you?" pls he'd be so sweet about accidentally waking you or something before turning his chair towards you, opening his arms - cradling you close, he'd go back to his stream, ignoring the flying by questions, going back to what the conversation was about until he pressed a few kisses to your hair, rubbing his thumb against your shoulder - "yes, chat, this is my significant other, and you can see they're sleepy, so it's going to be a bit quieter," - would ask for screenshots and clips because a) you'd been wanting a new home screen b) he knew you looked cute c) he wanted to gush about you and now was a perfect time- - "oh, chat, that reminds me of the time Y/N did-" and would tell the story; bragging about you came easy to that simp

Karl; - it 100% would be because you wanted to join </3 - probably during a JackBox game with his friends, and they looked like they were having fun - plus Karl mentioned wanting to come forward with your relationship when he noticed that everyone kept pointing out how all of Mr. Beast crew had significant others - his face would literally go :0 to :D so quickly because he noticed it was you - "baby?? did you need something??" "yeah, i wanna join :((" - his heart would explode because of perfect timing?? - "perfect ! Chat, this is-" he'd paused and pull you into the cameras' view with a giggle and pressing small kisses to your cheek as you laughed as well, slouching into his chest as he tried to read chat "this is my lovely, adorable partner Y/N!! - you'd laugh and wave before he unmuted in-game and announced you were wanting to play, which everyone agreed because you were so sweet?? and your answers were top-notch like omg

~~~~

hello, helloooo~

exciting news, i got a new job !! i went shadowing and paperwork today, so my first official day is Monday, so posts will be a little slower as I am now working full-time! I will try and get more stuff out and I hope it still gets all the love <3

Until tomorrow, I hope you have a beautiful day ~ J

[anonquack]

| His Merch |

Alex Quackity x Reader, Oneshot!

Word Count: 4256

Warnings: None, just some curse words. Fluff :]

Summary: Being such good friends with Quackity leads to the inevitable; catching feelings. In fear of ruining your friendship with him, you kept quiet about your feelings. Although usually good at that, after a merch drop and a slip-up on stream, you prepare yourself for the worst. Queue the incoming call from Quackity himself.

Today had been a productive day, in your opinion. You'd woken up earlier than usual, ate breakfast, cleaned around your apartment, and managed to get started on editing a video you'd recently filmed.

That's why you considered yourself very deserving of sitting down and enjoying your friend's stream as you ate some snacks.

Quackity had a fun stream planned, and had hyped up a 'big announcement' on Twitter, and the whole timeline was already speculating what it could be as they awaited for Quackity to start stream.

Being his friend had some perks though, contrary to popular belief. He'd discussed with you what the big announcement was as you sat on call with him a few nights prior to the big day. It was merch, and according to your past experience with Planet Duck products, it was sure to be soft and super comfy. You were very much looking forward to getting your hands on some of his new merch.

He'd brought up sending some to you, one of the previously mentioned perks of being his friend, but you politely declined. Much to his surprise. He'd asked why and you'd simply stated that "It was fine," and perhaps it came off as a bit rude. A 'no thanks' to his merch that you hadn't even seen.

But you had plans of your own, you wanted to acquire said merch on your own, and support him financially in the process. He didn't have to know that though, so with a small 'Oh' from him as his response, you swiftly changed topic of conversation.

Now here you sat, watching the stream as Quackity explained what he'd be doing with his friend John Smith. Riding go-karts around what looked like a storage unit. You couldn't help but worry as you watched them zoom around, occasionally getting close to crashing, and eventually doing just that.

The stream itself was rather fun to watch, but you kept your debit card beside you. This was in case he decided to drop the merch announcement out of nowhere. And that was exactly what he did. Another perk of being his friend was you grew a 6th sense for these type of things. Always had a feeling for what was about to happen when it came to Quackity.

You watched as the chat freaked out, watched as the notification from Planet Duck went out, notifying everybody that the merch had been released. You quickly typed into your computer, and the internet seemed to be taking its time to redirect you to Quackity's merch site.

After some time, it finally loaded and you began to look at all the options. The merch was wonderful, Quackity had been hyping it up to you (you'd asked for no reveals, wanting to wait like everyone else) and he had been absolutely right.

Most of the designs were new, except for the iconic Planet Duck logo, and were all very cute. You had Quackity's stream playing in the background as you maneuvered your way around the site, finally deciding on which merch you'd be buying.

As you went to purchase, a red sign alerted you that there was no shipping to your location. To which you quickly raised an eyebrow, panic starting to rush through you. Maybe you should've accepted his offer.

After refreshing multiple times and watching the Twitter timeline freak out as well over the inability to ship to several locations, it finally seemed to work, and the payment finally went through. A big "Thank you for your purchase" appearing onto the screen.

You let out a sigh of relief, clicking back onto the tab where the stream was, a small smile on your face. You'd actually managed to get it on your own. It was nerve-racking, when it seemed like you wouldn't be able to get the shipping to work, when it seemed like it'd sell out before you had the chance to buy some.

Now you finally understood what it felt like, the stress of getting your hands on merch before it sold out. It'd been an exhilerating experience.

You relaxed into your seat as Quackity's laugh filled the room. He was recreating bits from Fast and Furious, and zooming all over the place. You watched with a fond smile as he drove around, throwing random Spanish profanities at John Smith here and there.

The funky heart glasses he had on did nothing to ease the warmth that was spreading through your chest at the sight of him. You were suffering due to your confusing feelings towards your close friend, but nobody knew, or at least that is what you told yourself.

You tried to focus on something else, something that wasn't solely him. The go-karts were going pretty fast, and you remembered the scene they were recreating from the movie. Whichever random thought came to mind, you'd focus on it instead, too scared to let your thoughts wander elsewhere.

When it came to and end, you were conflicted. You were glad your heart would be able to catch a break, but you also missed him almost immediately. Sickening, really.

You took some time to reflect on what you'd done so far. Cleaned, ate your meals, worked on some editing, got some Quackity merch, and enjoyed a fun stream. It was rather productive, to say the least.

But there was still some time left in the day, and you figured you'd put the energy coursing through your body to use.

Taking a seat at your desk, you turned your monitor on before opening the twitch app. An alt stream would be perfect right now. After going live and sending out a tweet letting your followers know you were live, you patiently waited for the viewers to start coming in.

Considering this was an alt stream, you figured you'd play some random game and just chat for a bit before heading to bed. As the viewers came in, you gave your greetings before opening a tab for roblox, getting on a random server to play an obby game as you talked to chat.

There was a content smile on your face as you asked chat how their day had been, how they were feeling, your little character jumping around and passing through the beginner levels on the obby game.

"I'm actually in a really good mood, chat. My day has been going so well." You began, glancing at chat here and there, smile growing at the memory of the adventures acquiring Quackity merch.

After the chat was flooded with questions asking about what had happened, you indulged. "I was watching Quackity's stream earlier today, and it was so much fun!" The smile grew before softening as you focused on the obby. "I was also able to get some of his new merch."

The chat erupted into bits of 'friends supporting friends' to 'y/n in quackity merch???' and people yelling that they had been or weren't able to get merch.

Seeing the chat made you laugh, nodding your head a bit. "No because I was so nervous I wouldn't be able to get some-" you admitted, attention now focused solely on telling the viewers about your own experience.

"I was trying to purchase, and there was a line, and then it said it wouldn't ship to my location?? I was so worried I wouldn't be able to get some. But it finally worked. I'm excited for it to get here." You finished your small rant, a content smile on your lips.

Chat consisted of people agreeing with the technical difficulties occurring at the time of the merch drop, others saying they were too broke to buy anything. It felt nice, to see something from their perspective and also have shared an experience like this.

"Big Q actually offered to send me some, but I told him no because I wanted to get it myself.. Wanted to get it fair and square." You said as you refocused on the obby in front of you, fond smile on your face as you thought about how nice he was. He was willing to send all of his friends some of his merch, free of cost.

"Also wanted to give him my support by actually purchasing it, you know?" You added, resting your chin on the palm of your hand as it leaned against your desk. You took this time to read chat, which was exploding with what you thought was a combination of Quackity's username with yours, and 'bffs ur honor!!'.

You smiled at that, hands finally moving your character around. "Really, he has been such an amazing friend, extremely welcoming, always fun to be around. And just.. life is never dull when he's around. He's always been there for me when I needed it and well‐" A pause. "I'm glad I was able to support him in some way." You hummed softly as you finished up yet another small rant about Quackity.

At the realization that you'd been talking about him for far too long, and that he was not meant to be the focus of your alt stream, you cleared your throat and began focusing on the obby game once again.

You shifted the topic of conversation to the video you'd also been editing today, and that quickly took everyone's attention away from how affectionately and fondly you'd been speaking of your dear friend. Everyone was now excited about the new video.

Seeing how easily the chat's focus changed made you ease up a bit, and you were able to enjoy the rest of your stream playing random roblox games and discussing some stuff with chat. It lasted for a bit longer before you finally decided to end stream.

Some goodbyes and after stream officially ended, you found yourself on Twitter. Everything seemed pretty peaceful on the timeline, up until the trending page came up.

Your name was trending, along with 'QUACKITY IN CHAT' and the infamous combination of usernames. A monstrosity, really.

You heard yourself audibly gulp as you clicked on the trending topic 'quackity in chat'. Much to your dismay it was true. There was screenshots that showed Quackity was watching your stream. That meant that he'd heard you talking about him in that sickening tone. That tone that was unnecessarily sweet and fond.

You didn't know who was freaking out more, the so-called shippers, the timeline, or yourself. You gently bit at the inside of your cheek, scrolling and reading all the tweets of people trying to guess how Quackity must've felt while hearing all that. Others raising an eyebrow at how long you'd gone on about Quackity and how 'perfect' he was.

You'd fucked up, that was for sure, and it wasn't even intentional or fan service of any kind. It was an alt stream, it wasn't planned in any way, shape, or form. He'd been brought up, and you'd accidentally spilled all fond thoughts you held of him.

Your cursor hovered over a specific tweet that read, 'want someone to talk about me the way y/n talks about big q'. It was sweet, and perhaps made you smile just a little bit.

As you read it over in your head, a notification popped up on your screen, the discord notification ringing in your ears as you read who the message was from. Quackity.

You messed around with your mouse for a bit before finally closing the Twitter tab, and instead opting to open the unread message.

Quackity

hey (:

You stared at it for a bit, blinking in disbelief at how normal the message came across. Perhaps he'd tuned in during the last half of the stream. Perhaps he hadn't been able to watch while you rambled about him, and perhaps he hadn't been on Twitter either. One could hope.

y/n hi (:

It showed that he was typing almost immediately after, and you tried your best to calm your nerves.

Quackity call?

You felt yourself tense at the message. Maybe he wanted to let you down kindly. 'Hey! Saw your stream, and I just wanted to ask if you could chill the fuck out. That was kind of creepy. Maybe never speak of me ever again. Do not perceive me any longer, thanks!'

Something along those lines for sure. That's what probably awaited you if you said yes to this. But what exactly were you supposed to do instead?

y/n ofc

It only took a few seconds for the call to come through. Stalling wouldn't help, so you answered by the third ring.

He greeted you, and everything seemed normal. The calls were normal between you two, but you were just on edge due to twitter trending and the stream that took place less than an hour ago.

"How are you feeling, Quackity?" You asked with a small smile, today was a big day for him, and you were sure he'd enjoy talking about how fast the merch sold.

"I'm doing great. Really happy that the fans liked the designs and just.. we sold a lot. I'm happy." He restated the last bit, the smile was obvious in his voice. You didn't have to be seeing it to know. Another perk of being so close to him. You had a clear visual image of what he probably looked like right now. Cute smile plastered onto his equally cute face.

"I'm really happy for you, Big Q. You deserve all the success that is coming your way and more." You hummed softly. Everything you were saying, you meant wholeheartedly. There was silence for a bit before he finally spoke again.

"I watched your stream."

Fuck. There it was. You should've expected it but it still hit like a ton of bricks. You felt your mouth turn dry, could barely manage to get out the word, "Yeah?"

"Mhm." Straight to the point. There was a bit of silence, you were unsure of what to say. Why had he brought it up? It was bound to happen, but what was the reason behind bringing it up? To tease you, let you know he wasn't interested, or because roblox obbies are just so much fun?

"You didn't have to buy it, you know?" He finally said, breaking the silence.

"I wanted to." You reassured, "the merch is really pretty. Worth every penny."

"I could've sent you whichever you wanted." He stated bluntly. As if it was weird of you to have gone and bought it on your own.

"Thank you, but I wanted to buy it myself. Let me? Please?" Let me show my support this way, is what you meant to say. It came out softer than intended, and you could feel your heart beating against your ribs. You really needed to watch your tone around him.

"Of course." He responded, just as softly. He'd drive you crazy one of these days. They'd have to lock you up, and you'd never see the light of day again.

"Did you have fun riding the go-karts?" You asked, a small smile on your lips as you wandered back onto the Twitter tab, a clip of his stream now on display on the timeline.

He let out a small laugh, "I did. Did you enjoy watching it?" You nodded before responding, "Of course. Was concerning watching you crash into walls though."

He hummed softly in response, possibly contemplating what to say with how long he took before he spoke again.

"Did you really mean all the things you said on stream?"

Somehow, even with your own attempts to change topic, the focus was back on your stream and the things that had been said. You wouldn't be able to dig yourself out of the hole you'd dug.

It was entirely your fault, for even allowing yourself to consider him as anything but a great friend. It was your fault for taking the late night calls, the sweet tones, and messages the wrong way. Your interpretations were all wrong and now you'd have to sit here and apologize for practically outing yourself on stream. For letting the whole world know that you had romantic feelings for a good friend of yours. You'd probably made him so uncomfortable.

You felt yourself cringe slightly at his words, already gone quiet for far too long. You had to speak up, even if it lead to a good friendship ending a few minutes from now.

"Of course I did. You're great, Alex." The use of his name was meant to assure him you meant it wholeheartedly. It made the moment feel more intimate, too. Much to your own dismay, yet again. You couldn't help it.

The possibility that your friendship with him could come to an end real soon made you act on your feelings. It left you unhinged. If it was all going to end here, maybe you'd allow yourself to act on impulse. End it with a bang.

"Thank you, really. I know I probably wasn't meant to hear all that, but it was really nice. Made me feel nice as well. And just, seeing that you didn't accept the merch from me because you wanted to support me directly.. thank you."

His voice was soft, felt like warm honey to your taste buds. You could almost hear your heart melting inside your chest, could feel it dripping down and touching your diaphragm, oozing into every single crevice in your body. You'd never understand how he had such effects on you. How he was able to make you so fond of him.

"I meant every single word. You deserve that and so much more." You reassured yet again, a small smile on your lips. You heard him let out a small chuckle, which made you laugh as well.

Moments later, he had turned his camera on, wanting to show you all the merch. You'd asked for him to put it on, since you were a 'visual learner' and had to see it on him in order to fully understand what it looked like. He had playfully rolled his eyes, but hadn't really argued against it.

So there you were, watching as he changed from hoodie to hoodie, moving out of frame to change into the shirts. You could feel your heart thumping harshly against your rib cage at the sight of him. Some looked bigger on him, some looked just right. They all looked wonderful, and super comfy. Perhaps that was simply because they were on him, and he looked so comfy.

He looked like he could give the best hugs.

"You really think so?" His voice came out a bit sheepish, and the light pink that dusted his cheeks was becoming more and more evident. Huh?

"What?" You said, a dumb look on your face as you tried connecting the dots.

"That I could give the best hugs." He stated slowly, as if he was testing how it sounded before adding, "Do you really think that?"

Had you really said that out loud? Fuck. It took acting on impulse to a whole other level. This wasn't something you two usually did, but I guess it was okay since everything might be ending soon. Ballsy moves.

"Yeah. You make the merch look so cozy." Your throat felt dry, eyes glued to his face, wanting to catch every single second of his reaction. Wanting to see each movement of his facial muscles, to find out what it could possibly entail. "Makes me wonder what your hugs feel like." You admitted.

Your eyes scanned the entirety of his face, perking up slightly at the sight of his face flushing, leaving him with the softest tint of pink to spread across his cheeks, almost matching his pretty lips. What the hell did that even mean?

"Maybe you won't have to wonder for too long. With guidelines being lifted and all." The line. Blurred at that very moment, for sure. His eyes were glued to you as well, which only made you hesitate every single movement you could think of doing at that moment.

"And in the meantime? What am I supposed to do?" Risky. Crossing lines, jumping over hurdles. This all had to be against friend rules or something. You could feel your sanity decreasing each second this call went on. But he wasn't stopping any of this either.

"I could send you a hoodie." The sentence brought you out of your Quackity-induced haze, making you quickly shake your head. What? Before you could protest or ask what the hell that was supposed to mean, he explained.

"My hoodie. Y'know. Mine. One I wear. You can give it back when we meet up, perhaps."

Your mouth went dry again, shocked at the domestic feeling it gave. He was suggesting he send one of his hoodies. It would smell like him. It was the closest thing to giving him an actual hug. It would be paradise.

"You'd really do that?" You asked, still in disbelief, but he quickly nodded his head. "Oh." You said softly, before a smile appeared on your face. "I would like that, then."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"I'll send it then." He hummed, smile spreading on his lips as well. Everything going on was making you feel dizzy. It felt so surreal.

You'd mentally prepared yourself for the worst, but instead were met with a flirtatious Quackity. He'd said sweet things to you before, but you never allowed yourself to take it seriously, not wanting to get your hopes up. And it never went to this extent.

It seemed he realized what just went down, a loud laugh escaping his lips. "Holy shit. You're gonna have one of my hoodies soon."

"I am." You chimed in, smile on your lips as well.

"And you'll wear it around." He added.

"I will."

"You'll look good, as always."

You could feel the heat rush to your face. What was going on? Was this real, or just a very cruel dream? Alex Quackity was fucking flirting with you.

"Are you flirting with me?" Bewildered tone, raised eyebrows. Your brain couldn't even begin to progress what was being said.

"What the fuck does it look like I've been doing?"

"Have you really?" Warmth spread across your chest at how blunt he was being. The line was gone. It'd been erased, never to be seen again. There was no shame in him. Admitting he was flirting with his whole chest.

"I have. Why are you so surprised though? I've subtly flirted with you before.. and I mean, were you not confessing your undying love to me on stream?" He raised a brow, feigned confusion on his face. He was teasing. You let out a groan, covering your face with your hands as he let out a laugh.

Surreal. He confessed to having flirted with you in the past. So you weren't delusional, nice to know. "Are you done?" You asked, face still covered by your hand in shame.

"I saw a tweet that was saying they felt like third wheels since I was in chat, and you were just going on about everything you liked about me." You kept your face covered. He was not stopping. Now he was the unhinged one.

He was visibly scrolling through the timeline at this point. "Oh, and one saying they want what we have. What do we have?"

You finally uncovered your face. "I don't know. Whatever the fuck this is, I guess?"

"Well, what is this?"

"Mm... whatever you want it to be." You finally answered, and there was a surprised look plastered on his face at that.

"Whatever I want?"

"Yeah." You paused. Would he regret this after he got out of this haze? What if it had just been flirting for fun? But he wouldn't play with your feelings like this, would he?

Alex Quackity was perfect though, and perhaps he had a sixth sense about when stuff was wrong with you, because he caught on to your hesitation.

"Hey." He called out softly. The teasing, flirtatious tone was gone, now replaced by the softer tone reserved for late night calls, or when everybody else in the vc had left and it was just you two.

You look at where his face was on your monitor, relaxing a bit simply by his tone and the soft gaze he held on you.

"I know everything sort of progressed pretty fast tonight.. but your stream really helped me realize a few things. I do like you, y/n. Not fucking around or anything." He said it in a firm tone, one that told you he wasn't messing around, but still felt oh so intimate.

Everything he was saying was exactly what you wanted and needed to hear. Reassurance that your feelings weren't unrequited. You couldn't believe your rambling on stream had lead you guys here.

"I like you, too. If that wasn't obvious already." You mumbled out, eyes averting before glancing to see his reaction. He had the biggest, cutest, grin on his face. Charming, and extremely contagious. You couldn't help but smile back.

Holy shit.

"Is this real?" You asked out loud, smile never leaving your face.

"It is. All thanks to your ranting on stream. How cool is that?"

You couldn't help but still feel rather embarrassed that he'd heard all of it, but it had brought you two here. All embarrassment was worth it. Especially if it meant it opened up a whole new world of possibilities for you two.

"Very cool." You mumbled, before a smile appeared on your lips. Today really couldn't have gone any better.

[psianabel]

No look I feel so bad for the people who want to catch up on KHUx now. You ... don't get to experience what the people went through following this game for years, waiting month for month for an update.

Exactly this experience is what KHUx makes it special to me.

Now you have to watch a 6-8h cutscene movie, READING the entire time, watching it on Youtube, because the offline App version is just a terrible way to do it.

You don't get to hype yourself up each month, waiting for the official KHUx Twitter account to post this one tweet that announces a new story update, seeing one or two preview pictures. Freaking out, starting to theorize because oh my god, tomorrow (or in later cases, in two days) new cutscenes get added. You don't get to wait patiently for people to drop screenshots, crumbs of translations, picking apart a story that's been told there. You don't get to wait for the fantranslation to come out, comparing them between each other (between Cherrim (petalscythe), Everglow's video, goldpanner), starting to theorize on those.

You don't get this feeling of digesting of these 5-10min of cutscene for a month or even longer, three months, half a year.

You don't get to experience experiencing seeing these scenes together with other people for the first time. Collective yelling at each other, pointing out things you may have missed. People streaming these updates on Twitch / Youtube. (Especially shoutout to Damo279, showing up in a suit for the KHUx (jpn) ending, feeling the dread that the english version didn't drop an hour later like the last update, translating the ENDING on the fly with the help of Google Translation and a friend. Over 500 people in the twitch chat alone. Showing up in a clown costume for the english version of the ending. I'll never forget this experience. Magical.)

The people you became friends through this, this shared experience through this game.

You just can't get with the cutscene movie.

I understand that it's a chore to go through these hours and hours of intense content, that you might even get a headache, because you need to focus for so long, to read this dialogue for so long. The magic is gone by doing this.

"Mobile game bad" yes maybe. To you. But you just ... don't get it. It was so much more than this.

It was what Kingdom Hearts is about. Sharing moments with friends.

And I'm sad that new fans of the series cannot get to experience this magic anymore.

[theageoftheunderstatement]

NME: Arctic Monkeys’ mysterious new album roll-out is refreshing in an age of over-exposure

By Mark Beaumont, 29th November 2021

It’s become known in hype-pumping circles as the Elden Ring Method. You say nothing about a major project – a collaboration between the people behind the beat-your-ass-blue Dark Souls video game series and Game Of Thrones writer George R. R. Martin, say – for years on end, until desperate fans start thinking the whole thing’s been cancelled. Eventually they’ll start hunting out the tiniest easter egg hint that something might be happening, like the entire internet is one big Marvel trailer.

Blurry screenshots of menu screens in the background of obscure developer webinars; leaked internal sketches of boss designs; Hidetaka Miyazaki TikToked in a public toilet, emitting flatulence widely deciphered as a morse coded release date. By the time you’re ready to actually unveil anything, the public has worked itself into a froth of anticipation akin to that around Prince Andrew’s extradition and the damn thing sells itself.

Arctic Monkeys are clearly masters of the Elden arts. Drummer Matt Helders quietly announced that plans for a seventh album were underway back in January then – for 11 months – silence. The only ‘announcement’ as such came from the Insta of a Suffolk farmhouse called Butley Priory in August, in which the proprietors – who presumably never got the NDA through – declared: “We’ve had a band staying for the last month recording an album. Musicians love the acoustics in the Great Hall and Drawing room, with their high vaulted ceilings. Being serenaded while watering and weeding the garden, listening to the double bass, drums and piano wafting out of the open double doors was pretty nice. Thank you Arctic Monkeys.”

Arctic Monkeys in “pretty nice” new album shock! All hail the birth of Horticulturock! The band themselves, though, said nothing for three more months, until Helders told 5 Live’s Rick Edwards earlier this month that the new record “makes sense when you think about it in the context of the last record…it’s kind of hard to describe. You can tell it’s the same band.” Monkeys back to their ‘sense-making’ best! “Indescribable” album “definitely by Arctic Monkeys” reveals drummer!

Yet, like Cloverfield films and footballers on The Masked Singer, the less we know about ‘AM7’ (yes, it’s got a fan-sleuth nickname), the more the excitement around it grows. Perhaps because there’s a deeply reassuring frisson about being made to wait for something in an age when our every cultural whim is serviced at a word by a helpful home AI-slash-advertising surveillance bot. There’s intrigue in underexposure, a tangible added-value to a major piece of art that isn’t trying to throw itself out of our timelines at us like all those Instagram ads for hair transplants and butt plugs (everyone gets those, right?).

In an era when mainstream acts are expected to maintain constant engagement with their fanbases to appease the streaming overlords, trying to stir up an air of mystery around a new release often looks a bit try-hard and contrived. Witness those acts that surreptitiously have their ‘secret’ new logo spray painted onto a Great Pyramid just as the social media manager from their major label press department happens to be passing. The compulsion to be seen as secretive and protective of high-profile new albums can even have casualties.

When Australian TV presenter Matt Doran “insulted” Adele by admitting he hadn’t heard her new album ‘30’ before interviewing her, it wasn’t the poorest research job since Alan Partridge, when asked by an interviewer if he’d read their book, replied: “No – I never read the books!” Instead, he fell foul of the standard practice of major labels emailing A-list music streams to journalists under code-names. He just didn’t click on what his inbox likely told him was an album called ‘Cry Me A Cash River’ by Sheeran’s Worst Nightmare.

With Arctic Monkeys, however, there’s a genuinely sanguine attitude to their encroaching seventh record, smacking of self-assurance and confidence in their music. No marketing ploys or subliminal hard-sells here. Just a band becoming increasingly comfortable with their elevated standing, happy for the music to speak for itself and disinterested in playing the industry’s games. It’s an old-school approach but, when new-school practices make every act seem pushy and desperate, it’s refreshing to feel invited into an album rather than bombarded by it. There’s no chance, for example, of waking up one morning to find the new Monkeys record has been welded forever into your iPhone in the night, a la U2.

There’s a far greater sense of discovery and connection to music you have to seek out a little, join a few dots and piece together some clues. A certain romance to being seduced by the coy soft sell. The second we get through Elden Ring on the ultra-hard New Game Plus mode, Arctic Monkeys, we’re all yours. 

[milktei]

Streamer Couple Living Together Headcanons

Kozume Kenna x gn! Reader

Genre: Fluffy hcs

Requests: Open :3

a/n: this is my first time writing in a headcanon format so hopefully this is good! :)

Both being popular streamers with fans that loved your relationship, the biggest announcement for both fanbases was the fact that you two were finally moving in with each other.

Your fans couldn’t wait to see what they’re favourite streaming couple would be like once they were together 24/7

It was revealed in your house tour vlog that you each had your own offices to work in separately, your fans really loved seeing the two different decoration styles and then the mixture of the styles in the bedroom and living room.

You were definitely louder than Kenma while you streamed, often his viewers could hear your cries of grief whenever you died in a game, or your laughter while talking to your friends.

“Yeah the graphics of this game are actually really nice and-“ “MOTHER FUCKER” “Sorry that was y/n…. but you guys probably already knew that”

There would be a lot of small yet sickeningly sweet interactions between the two of you on a regular basis. Such as one of you two dropping off food and drinks to each other and giving them a quick kiss during stream which results in chat going crazy, they would take screenshots and tweet about how sweet the way you two looked at each other was.

If you two play a competitive game together it would usually be in one office, but there were times where you played in different rooms and Kenma would end up killing you and chat could hear you stomping from your room to his.

“KOZUME KENMA” “Pray for me chat they used my full name”

COOKING STREAMS chat loves how domestic and cute the two of you look during these streams they just can’t get enough.

“Kenmaaa stop reading chat and help me mix this”

One time you were playing a horror game and kenma had managed to sneak his way into your office without you noticing

You were too hyper focused on the game to read chat warning you of the second person in the room and next thing you knew kenma had scared you out of your chair

Yeah that was clipped multiple times and it even managed to get viral

you made him sleep in his office that night but ended up being too paranoid so you both ended up sleeping on the couch in his office

You got your payback one faithful day when he was trying out a new vr game

You snuck into his office and scared him causing him to fall to the ground and let out a sound that chat had never heard before

They didn’t let that one go for a while and you even made it your sub alert for a while

Do not laugh streams are hard

Not because of the videos chat sends but because the faces you both make to hold back laughter makes you guys want to laugh even more, you both need a lot of lives if you want the stream to last even an hour

Sometimes kenma will donate to your stream and activate your text to speech in order to ask about mundane everyday things

Kodzuken donated ¥2500 “Do you want ramen?”

Kodzuken donated ¥5000 “F”

Kodzuken donated ¥10000 “I’m starting the laundry do you need anything cleaned?”

It does get a laugh out of you but really he needs to stop giving you his money when he could easily walk into your office or even text you

[morganaspendragonss]

holly's august extravaganza day 4: a friend in me

📍 anon - I don't know but I feel like Carlos and Nancy can have such an awesome best friend dynamic. Maybe something sad/scary regarding Nancy happens where she has to make a report at the precinct and Carlos doesn't tell anyone as she made him promise so he starts to just check on Nancy and they just develop this caring, supportive, beautiful, fun, full of banter friendship to the amusement of TK and the 126.

kept this separate from your original ask because i want to keep those other prompts you sent alongside this one for later 😊

ao3 | 2k | hurt/comfort, brief references to gun violence, mostly just carlos and nancy being besties

Carlos has never seen Nancy look so small.

She’s sitting hunched over in one of the interrogation rooms, shock blanket around her shoulders, hands seemingly moving of their own volition to tear the empty styrofoam cup in front of her to shreds. As soon as Carlos had seen her being escorted into the precinct, shaking like a leaf and clutching her coat like a lifeline, he’d persuaded the officer with her to let him take over the case. His association with the 126 is well known so the officer had been reluctant, but Carlos had managed to wear him down, saying that he doesn’t really know Nancy that well.

And it’s—it’s not exactly a full lie. Through their hangs and TK’s stories, he’s coming to see Nancy as a force of nature, a woman who will let nothing and no-one stand in her way, whether that’s out on the field or during a game of Monopoly. But of her personal life, Carlos knows next to nothing; she mentioned a sister a few weeks ago, and TK delights in teasing her about her growing crush on Marjan, but that’s about it.

He needs to make more of an effort, he decides. When they’re anywhere else but a police station.

Carlos knocks lightly on the door to announce his presence before entering the room, sending her what he hopes is a reassuring smile. Nancy visibly relaxes at the sight of him and she drops the remains of her cup, though Carlos doesn’t miss the continuing tremble to her hands.

“Hey Nancy,” he says, sliding into the seat opposite her. “How are you doing?”

Nancy’s lips twitch, the corners barely curving into the beginnings of a wry smile. She breathes out shakily, meeting Carlos’s eyes for the briefest second before staring back down at the table. “I’m not great,” she answers, and for her to admit to that… Well, Carlos suspects it’s not a regular occurrence.

He nods, reluctantly pulling out his notebook and pen, hesitating before flipping to the next blank page. Nancy tracks his movements, resignation clearly etched all over her features. Carlos glances at the two-way mirror—not that it does him any good—then reaches across the table to take Nancy’s hand.

“We don’t have to do this right now,” he murmurs. “If you need more time, just say the word and I’ll leave. Or if you’d prefer to talk to someone you don’t know, we can do that too. Anything you need.”

The sudden tightness of Nancy’s grip is unexpected, as is the flash of panic in her eyes.

“Please, don’t go,” she whispers. “I don’t—” She cuts herself off, shutting her eyes and breathing slowly for a few seconds. Slowly, her hold on Carlos begins to loosen until her hand is slack in his, then she draws both hands into her lap and straightens in her chair. When her eyes reopen, she seems more like the Nancy Carlos knows—strong, confident, assertive—though there’s still clearly an undercurrent of fear underneath it all.

“I’m fine. Let’s do this.”

Carlos bites back an are you sure and settles for clicking his pen, his smile unwavering. “Can you run me through what happened, exactly?” he asks. “Take your time.”

A second or two passes, then Nancy nods, her voice steady when she speaks. “I was restocking the bus at the end of shift. I was alone; Captain Vega was in her office and TK was with the others in the showers—he did try to help but he’d had to go into a fire on our last call to help a patient and the smell of smoke was giving me a headache, so I told him to go.”

Carlos pauses in his note-taking, mentally filing that last piece of information away for follow-up as soon as he sees his boyfriend again. Judging by the amused quirk to Nancy’s eyebrow, she’s fully aware of where his mind has gone, so Carlos clears his throat and motions for her to continue, forcing his thoughts back to the present.

“Like I said, I was alone. I didn’t mind it; it was kind of relaxing, you know? Then this guy appeared from nowhere and pointed a gun at me, saying if I called out or turned on the siren or anything, he’d shoot. I thought—” She inhales sharply, her knuckles going white on the tabletop and her jaw clenching tightly. Her voice sounds different when she next speaks, more controlled, as though forcing each word out. “I thought it was happening again. I thought he was going to take me somewhere, make me his personal pet paramedic, something like that.

“Turns out, he just wanted drugs. I gave him what we had on the rig and he seemed satisfied, so I figured he’d shoot me anyway ‘cause I’d seen his face, right? He didn’t—obviously—but it looked like he was considering it.” Nancy pauses and flicks her gaze up at Carlos, biting her lip. “I think he might have done it,” she admits quietly, “but he got spooked by one of the guys making noise so he just bolted. I’m not sure how long it was between that and TK coming back and finding me. I’m sorry.”

Carlos shakes his head. “It’s okay. We can check the cameras at the station. With luck, that should get us an ID, maybe a license plate if he drove. I think that’s almost everything; just one more question, if that’s okay. Can you tell me what you gave him exactly?”

Nancy nods. “Morphine, Ativan, tramadol… I’d have to check stocks for the exact amounts.”

“We’ll do that, don’t worry about it.” Carlos taps his pen on the pages before flipping his notebook shut and leaning across the table again. “Are you okay?” he asks softly. “Speaking as a friend and not a cop, if there’s anything you need, anything I can help with, let me know.”

She smiles wanly. “I’m okay. I just want to go home and forget all this ever happened.”

“Fair enough. I’ll walk you out to your car.”

Carlos half-expects her to brush him off, but she just nods and allows him to escort her back through the precinct and out to her car. He dithers awkwardly, shuffling his feet as Nancy turns to him, one hand on the door handle.

“Thank you, Carlos. For real. I have the feeling it wasn't a coincidence that you were the one in that room with me.”

The tips of Carlos’s ears go pink as he finds himself caught out. “That, uh… That would not be inaccurate.”

“Well, thanks.” She pulls open the car door and Carlos takes a step back, wanting to wait until she’s safely away to go back inside. Nancy ducks as if to get in, then pauses and straightens again, biting her lip as she looks back at him.

“Hey, Carlos?” she says. “Can you do me a favour and not tell the others? Not even TK. They— They know vaguely what happened, but I’d prefer it if the details and, uh, some of the other stuff I told you could be kept between us.”

He agrees immediately, just grateful that she trusts him enough to handle this for her. “No-one will know any more than they need to,” he promises, which seems to relieve her. She thanks him again, then gets in the car and drives away, Carlos watching after her with one hand raised in farewell.

*

It grows from there.

It’s not intentional exactly, but one text to check up on her soon turns into a steady stream of messages, stories and jokes and even the occasional meme passing back and forth between them. Carlos especially appreciated Nancy's carefully curated collection of dirt on TK, which, as a concerned boyfriend, it is his duty to know. Many a conversation has been spent griping about TK's accident prone ways or sighing over his latest mishap.

Lovingly, of course.

Nancy, 15.48: you’ll never guess what happened this time

Carlos, 16.22: ?

In answer, he receives a picture of a dejected-looking TK sprawled on the floor with Buttercup’s front paws squarely resting on his chest. Buttercup’s tongue is lolling out, a wide grin on his face, and in the background stand the rest of the crew. All of them also seem to have their phones pointed towards TK—probably the reason TK looks so down, as Carlos knows his boyfriend couldn’t be upset with Buttercup to save his life.

Nancy, 16.26: he thought he’d try to teach buttercup some tricks. turns out, dog trainers exist for a reason

Carlos has to stifle a laugh—technically, he is supposed to be working—but his attempt at being subtle is thwarted when his phone repeatedly pings with similar texts and photos from Paul, Marjan, and Mateo. He screenshots the sudden influx of notifications and sends it to Nancy before saving every single photo.

Nancy responds with a laughing emoji and a promise to keep him updated.

*

Not all of their conversations are about TK, naturally.

Carlos, 19.10: I don’t understand why you don’t just talk to her

Nancy, 19.12: i do talk to her. every shift, actually

Carlos, 19.13: Nancy

Nancy, 19.13: carlos

Nancy, 19.14: i don’t even know if she’s into women, alright? it’s not like i can just march up and ask, that’s like waving a banner saying ‘hey, i’m in love with you’ in her face

Carlos, 19.16: Oh, we’re talking about love now, are we?

Nancy, 19.17: can it, reyes

Carlos, 19.20: Noted. Look, take it from someone who’s been navigating gay relationships in Texas his whole life. Sometimes you just have to go for it. Ask her for coffee, test the waters, see where it leads. You never know, it might work out. I mean, look at me

Nancy, 19.24: wow, way to rub your happiness in my face 😑

(Carlos doesn’t find out if she follows his advice, but he does notice her and Marjan showing up to their hangs together)

(Nancy does not appreciate his smugness)

*

Without even realising, they become a formidable team. This fact is highlighted one game night about three months after the incident, when Nancy and Marjan blow into his and TK’s house, a determined glint in both their eyes.

“We’re switching up the teams,” Marjan declares, much to TK’s outrage.

“What? Why?”

“Because,” Nancy continues, “we’re tired of losing to you guys. You’re like, freakishly good at board games and it’s not fair. Plus, we have to watch you both being all lovey all the time when you’re on the same team and it’s exhausting. We want to see you being competitive for once.”

TK pouts, but Carlos just shrugs when he looks to him for backup. “It’ll be fun,” he says, smiling at Nancy and Marjan. TK still looks put out, so he leans in close and half-murmurs, “C’mon babe. How about a prize for the winner?”

TK perks up considerably at the suggestion, and, going by the twin looks of despair on Nancy and Marjan’s faces, they caught both the comment and the innuendo. Marjan groans and Nancy raises her eyes skyward, as if pleading for divine intervention.

“This was a great idea, actually,” TK says, grinning. He quirks an eyebrow at Nancy. “You and me, Nance?”

That seems to shake Nancy out of her silent prayers for strength. “Uh, no. I’m with Carlos.” To emphasise the point, she strides forward and grabs Carlos’s arm, dragging him to the couch. He nudges her gently when they sit, smirking at the disgruntled way she digs into the snack bowl.

“You did say you wanted to see us being competitive.”

“Shut up.”

*

In the end, TK ends up paired with Mateo, and Marjan with Paul. It’s clear from the outset who’s going to win—Nancy and Carlos dominate the board, and not even Paul’s master strategy is enough to catch up with them.

They win by a comfortable margin, fist-bumping in celebration. There’s a general air of bemusement in the room, and when Carlos looks round at the others, he finds four pairs of eyes fixed on them.

“What?”

“Since when have you two been such a good team?” Paul asks, leaning back in his chair and raising an eyebrow.

Carlos shrugs, sharing a smile with Nancy. “Guess we just are.”