#needed to figure out their design for their No Good Very Bad trip out there

[necronatural]

dante in the outskirts what will they do

[see-arcane]

Our good friend Jonathan Harker is getting ready to leave for his business trip, Mina Murray is picking out a new journal, Lucy Westenra is charming a gaggle of smitten suitors, Abraham van Helsing is wrapping up his lectures, and Castle Dracula is prepping the guest room for a very long stay.

Which must mean that Dracula Season is here again!

 ‘Dracula Season’ being a catchall term for the voracious reading, memeing, writing, illustrating, analyzing, and general fun-having that’s ensued since Matt Kirkland’s project, Dracula Daily, caught on with us back in 2022. The Substack had already been running before then, but it sparked a conflagration as time went on and readers old and new to Bram Stoker’s Dracula—the actual novel, not Coppola’s fanfiction—devoured it in a way that scratched an itch none of us knew we had. Stoker wrote the book in epistolary fashion, clumping sections together as needed for the pacing without perfect adherence to chronological order. Matt went ahead and put all the events in order and proceeded to set up a lovely chain of emails that delivered entries on those correlating dates.

This style of organization and pacing turned out to not only make the virtual book club that much easier to engage with, but left space in-between to stew on the story and relate with the characters themselves. Every day of waiting in the book feels weightier when you have to pace and sweat and worry in tandem with poor Jonathan trapped in the castle or Lucy wasting away or Mina running out the clock before she loses the fight for her own humanity. And while we sat with the story or the lulls between Dracula Seasons, some of us found ourselves craving more of that ghastly gothic horror goodness to the point that we figured:

“Well. Why don’t I make something?”

And then we did! Tons of creative works have been churned out in the wake of Dracula Daily’s high. I figured that while we’ve still got a bit of time to wait for May 3rd, we should check out all this new stuff in the meantime. (Plus a handful of neat stuff that just clicks with the Dracula itch overall.)

So, in the interest of Dracula Season pregaming, let’s take a look at…

FICTION

Blood of My Blood – A recent addition to the Dracula Bad Ending AU pile, and definitely one of the most harrowing and addictive group-produced narratives I’ve ever come across, Blood of My Blood is the dramatically gothic currently-WIP work of @ibrithir-was-here and @animate-mush’s devious design. Give or take a heap of other fascinated folks (hello!) adding ideas to put more Horror into the Horrors that our cast has to face. The premise:

The Transylvanian climax went fatally sour and the Harkers were forced to shelter with Dracula himself, including their half-vampire son, Quincey. Cut to two decades later, and Quincey finds himself out in modern London, smitten with Lu, adopted daughter of Arthur and Jack, and diving into certain bloodstained old documents that detail the real history of how his parents came to live in the castle. Said revelations coming not a moment too soon, as a storm is coming for him straight from the Carpathians…

Dracula Daily Sketch Collection – An array of illustrations that captures every entry beat by beat, the Dracula Daily Sketch Collection by Georgia Cook, alias @georgiacooked was dished out over the course of the last Dracula Season. Some of the most fun character designs out there.

Fanfiction Spotlight: BlueCatWriter – With a whopping 99 works devoted to the novel Dracula (so far, the number may have gone up since I blinked), @bluecatwriter is one of the most prolific and talented fanfiction scribblers out there. Romances, nightmares, and overlaps between the two seem to crop up the most, give or take a crossover. Seems fitting that those blue paw prints have contributed to BoMB too.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlefolk – An ongoing comic in which all your favorite characters from the Classics section get together and tackle some perils ranging from the mundane to the monstrous. Started by the amazing @mayhemchicken and posted on @lxgentlefolkcomic, this series is a love letter to beloved Victorian era lit, with a spotlight on the two couples leading the League. Namely, the Harkers, ala Dracula, and the Nortons, ala Sherlock Holmes,’ “A Scandal in Bohemia.” Mina and Irene are the driving investigative and steering forces here, and still deeply in love with their likewise-infatuated husbands, just like in their canons! What a concept! Alan.

Without spoiling the full character list, just know there are going to be a ton of familiar faces roaming around before you finish reading the first arc. Said arc having conveniently wrapped up just a few days ago! Give the comic and its bonus silliness a look if you’re in the mood for a new comfort-adventure epic.

Re: Dracula – Probably the most well-known and incredible thing to come out of the initial Dracula Daily wave. This podcast is a full audio drama that follows the same format as the Substack, with episodes coming out in time with the entries themselves. And it has an unfairly cool soundtrack. They have a Tumblr with @re-dracula, a site and a Patreon to check out before the series kicks up again on May 3rd. (Also, keep an eye out for their next work, an audio drama in the same style with Carmilla.)

The Soldier and the Solicitor – Another treat from @ibrithir-was-here, this one involves a bit of time travel trouble. Quincey Harker has stumbled out of World War I and into the same dark forest where his father once fled for his life…then runs into the man himself, on that same night. Jonathan Harker, young and starved and lost, who has no choice but to trust this stranger while the Weird Sisters are at his heels…despite said stranger having no shadow. It’s a tasty emotional trek, already complete on Tumblr, but now it’s turning into a Webtoon. While Ibrithir is juggling a number of other stories, she’ll be redrawing spruced up versions of the comic and adding a few new scenes as things unfold.

Substack Stack – You know what’s better than one emailed-out public domain book club? A mountain of them. Just. So, so many of them. You’ll see that a lot of these are finished, but some are still ticking along. Either way, they’re all great picks if you’re craving some more old school lit to fill the void between undead emails.

Frankenstein Weekly – Frankenstein

Jekyll and Hyde Weekly – The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Voyage of the Nautilus – Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

Letters from Watson – Sherlock Holmes

The Invisible Mail – The Invisible Man

Letters from Bunny – E.W. Hornung’s short stories of the eponymous Bunny and Raffles

Letters Regarding Jeeves - P. G. Wodehouse’s Bertie Wooster short stories, including the novel, Right Ho, Jeeves

…

……

………

…The Beetle Weekly – The Beetle (NOTE: Do Not Read This.)

The Vampyres – A novella I finally wrenched through the gears of self-publication as of March this year. Starring a petite but powerful paranormal cast, The Vampyres, centers on an unscrupulous undead fellow who finds that the revenants of the world are being mowed down by an entity known only as ‘Quinn Morse.’ Between trying to save his neck and figure out where the shadowy bastard came from, the Vampyre in question crosses paths with a new paramour and handy human shield in the form of a grieving Good Samaritan. He’s even polite enough to invite the Vampyre into his home while he’s in dire straits! Surely this will end well. All the info is available here and a little author site is over here.

What Manner of Man – This is the one made for everyone who started out hoping there’d be a real love story with our good friend Jonathan Harker and the Count when he was at his most charismatic. Where that sea of wonders dried up into a mire of horror, What Manner of Man by @stjohnstarling keeps things firmly on the romantic tracks. This Substack stars the letter-writing priest Father Victor E. Ardelian as he finds himself meeting with one enigmatic Lord Alistair Vane. It isn’t long before interest turns into intrigue and intrigue into undead intimacies.

The entire novel has been completed—along with multiple epilogues in the author’s Patreon, allowing readers to choose for themselves just how the uncanny romance plays out in the end—and the Substack now has a number of other gothic goodies piling up in the meantime.  

NONFICTION

Dracula Daily: A Unique Reading Experience: This one comes courtesy of @realwomenofgaming. It’s a short and sweet piece that amounts to a fun snapshot of the entire Dracula Daily ride. A cozy couple-minute read.

‘Dracula Daily’ is the One Substack You Need a Subscription To: Features my favorite Matt Kirkland interview. @mattkirkland, if you’re still floating around on here, thank you for dispatching our vampire newsletter again this year.

Dracula Daily is Tumblr’s hottest new book club: Alright, the ‘new’ part is worn out by now, but this one is still a delightful article to swing back around to. Two years on, this Polygon piece is a time capsule of those early months when people outside our bookworm bubble realized we were all happily receiving letters from our favorite classic gothic horror blorbos.  

“How Mina Murray Became Dracula’s Girlfriend” – Princess Weekes, if you ever read this, thank you, thank you, thank you. I am sending oceans of love and millions of rewatches to your video essay. If you haven’t seen it yet, “How Mina Murray Became Dracula’s Girlfriend” is one of the most refreshing and well-made breakdowns of both the title subject and numerous other issues that have proliferated in the public view of Dracula’s cast and plot as adaptations endlessly warp or outright bastardize the actual novel. An incredibly cathartic watch.  

Literary play gone viral: delight, intertextuality, and challenges to normative interpretations through the digital serialization of Dracula: A mouthful of a title for an even more elaborate article about the Dracula Daily phenomenon. This one is a full-on study that analyzes just what happened within the big bloodsucker book club surge and how its ‘wandering reading practices’ enriched the experience for participants.

 “The Undying Undead: An analysis of the Dracula Daily community for a theory of online community formation and interaction” – We have a thesis on here! Look at that! @sirangelothebestest’s MA thesis used our vampiric book club as the bones for a massive brick of an academic piece that definitely deserves a look.

…And I think I’ll go ahead and cap things here.

This isn’t everything I got recommended, but if I had squashed all of it in here, I think folks’ eyes would start to fall out of their head. I hope you can find something cool to comb through here. Or, if there’s something great I overlooked, tack it onto the list! We’ve got just two weeks to go until we’re off with Mr. Harker. Let’s enjoy our respite before those castle doors close behind us.

[eternalxvenus]

˚ ༘♡ ·˚꒰ birthday girl ꒱ ₊˚ˑ༄

summary: since it's my birthday i can't get the idea of spending your birthday with rafe out of my head so here's a little blurb about it. (angst version)

cw: smut 18+, rafe x f!reader, rafe spoiling you like crazy, fluff

wc: 0.5k

notes: im obsessed with this man like i need him so bad 💔

Rafe would wake you up with kisses and a quick orgasm to start your day. He'd just keep saying how much he loves you and that he doesn't deserve such an amazing girlfriend. Then he'd take you to a fancy breakfast/brunch spot. He wants to begin the day on a good note. You'd get all dressed up and do your makeup so he could take some pictures for you. And best believe he paid for the hair, nails, lashes, eyebrows, everything. He was completely spoiling you rotten. You offered to pay for some of it or at least half and he looked at you like you'd grown three heads. "It's my job to spoil you. You shouldn't have to pay for anything. Ever."

After breakfast, he'd take you shopping (obviously). Handing his card to the cashier every time while giving you a smile and telling you how beautiful you are, and he can't wait to see you wear all the different outfits (and take them off you later). Many clothes, jewelry, and designer bags later, you figured he probably spent thousands of dollars on you today alone. And the entire time all he did was watch you with such adoration as you tried things on and looked at stuff you liked.

He'd come along to dinner with you and your family, putting up the sweet innocent boyfriend act. You knew he was getting antsy though. His hand would start to caress your thigh underneath the table, squeezing occasionally. While your family was busy talking he leaned in and kissed your cheek before whispering, "I can't wait until I have you in my bed moaning my name."

Dinner wrapped up shortly after and once you were both in the car on your way to Tannyhill you could see his bulge straining against his slacks.

"Aw Rafe, do I look that good? You can't even control yourself?" You hoped he'd excuse your teasing since it was your birthday. In reality, though you wanted him just as bad.

You were barely able to get inside before Rafe was all over you. Luckily his family was on a trip, so you had the house to yourselves. He got you to his room and practically ripped off your new and very expensive dress. Mumbling out "I'll buy you a new one." In between your fervent kisses.

Once he was inside you, all that could be heard were the sounds of skin, arousal, and moans. He was so rough yet passionate with his thrusts. "I couldn't wait to give you this birthday dick. Fuck, baby... I fucking needed you." At that point you couldn't yourself as you started babbling out whimpers of his name and 'I love you'. He wasn't gonna last much longer as his rhythm was lost. Even as your orgasm came and his following shortly after, it was obvious more rounds were in store for you, Rafe saying a breathy 'Happy birthday baby' before flipping you over and sinking into your heat again.

likes, comments, and reblogs are greatly appreciated!

[chosolala]

༘˚⋆𐙚｡⋆.✧˚ Gojo headcannons

like the title says, here are some ‘silly’ little headcannons i have about satoru gojo ᡣ𐭩ྀིྀིྀི

he has the craziest collection of glasses, every style shape and size, sometimes he’ll let you borrow a pair if you really need to but only if he gets to pick them

he collects digimon figures and collectibles, despite how lame it sounds his collection is actually pretty cool

he never talks about his emotions, he tries to ignore it but he feels everything so deeply.

he’s actually quite emotionally unavailable, he masks a lot with humor or being goofy overall.

he still considers suguru his best friend and secretly hoped he would turn around and come back to him

his love language is physical touch and gift giving, i mean he has a lot of money to spend and doesn’t mind spoiling you to whatever you want or whatever he wants you to have

he always has his hands on you, in public or in private he always wants to be close to you or touching you in some way or form, even if it’s just his foot touching yours under the table at a restaurant.

he’s really good at stupid and kind of useless things, like he could destroy anyone in a game of random trivia or bowling or monopoly and is such a sore winner, he never shuts up about it

he uses super overpriced lip balm for no reason, like he spends $40 on a single lip balm just because he liked how it smelled, at least his lips are always moisturized

he really wants to adopt a pet but he just doesn’t have time and it makes him really sad

he still blames himself for what happened to geto

he loves binging tv or movies, his idea of a perfect saturday night would be cuddling up on the couch with you and watching a movie that’s so bad it’s actually funny

gojo is actually very smart and logical but everyone just sees him as this silly jokester

he loves shopping. sometimes he goes shopping with nobara and they get into disagreements because they don’t like the pieces the other chose, like gojo would get mad because nobara thinks the shirt he chose for himself was ugly

he has a big sweet tooth, he loves baked goods

he is very good with his hands

he is a diva, he’ll go get his hands manicured with you and get facials done with you, even if you don’t necessarily like that stuff he’ll convince you to go.

all his clothes are designer/brand name even if it’s not a visible brand, its always branded, he is very boujee.

every chance he gets his taking you on weekend trips or vacations, he loves traveling with you since you’re the only consistent thing in his life and you give him some sense of normalcy

he sleeps in digimon pajama pants sometimes, he’s had them for years and just tries not to wear them around you.

#selfieking, his camera roll is full of silly selfies of him and pictures of the two of you together. he also has a lot of embarrassing pictures of megumi when he was younger and teases him with these pictures

he loves aquariums because they remind him of better days, he gets lost in the imagery infront of him

he also loves taking baths, he doesn’t often since he doesn’t have time but when he does he goes all out, bubbles, candles, bath bombs, tv shows on his laptop, dim lighting. he just likes to make the most of the time he has to relax

once he has you to himself, he shows you off to everyone, all his social medias are just pictures of you two on your dates and him posting about how lucky he is to have you

he never talks about geto, even if you asked he would just say he’s an old friend and end it at that.

he still catches himself wanting to tell geto certain things that would happen but then remembers geto isn’t in his life anymore

[acepalindrome]

SDV QoL Mod Recommendations

(1.6 Edition!)

Some years ago I made a big list of some of my favorite Stardew Valley mods, because I am a mod gremlin and there are so many fun and cool things you can do with your game! Modding has changed a lot since then. Some of the old mods have been abandoned and aren’t compatible with 1.6, and lots of new ones are popping up all the time to help keep this 8 year old game fresh and interesting! So I’ve put together a list of mods that currently work with 1.6. Since there are so, SO many mods, I’m just going to list quality of life mods for now. Let me know if you guys are interested in recommendations for expansions, cosmetics and other fun stuff!

Firstly, if you’re new to Stardew modding and don’t know how to start, I highly recommend checking out Salmence’s How to Add Mods video on YouTube. He walks you through all the steps and makes it very easy to get the hang of it! And without further ado:

The Mods

UI Info Suite 2: I’m new to this mod, but now that I’ve got it, I’m not sure how I lived without it! It does so much! It shows your daily luck, any birthdays, if it’s going to rain tomorrow, when tools are ready with Clint, when the traveling cart is in town and more! It also shows the range of your sprinklers, scarecrows, bee houses and junimo huts, and if you mouse over your crops, it shows when they’re ready for harvest! Super useful, and the daily icons are small enough that they don’t feel intrusive. I usually get all my mods from Nexus because it’s easy and reliable, so I had put off trying this one since it’s only on GitHub. I absolutely should have tried it ages ago.

NPC Map Locations: Shows where everyone is on the map. No more running around trying to figure out where someone is to give them a birthday gift! This is an essential mod for me, it’s such a simple but good improvement!

Look Up Anything: This one basically eliminates the need to have the wiki open in another window. Virtually everything in the game can be clicked on to give you more information. Mouse over Shane and press a button to see his birthday, how many hearts he has and how many points to the next heart, and all loved and liked items (with items you have on hand highlighted!) Select the hardwood in your inventory to see how many you have total (including storage you don’t have on hand,) everything it can be used for and how many you need for each thing, so you know how many you need! Almost everything can be selected to give more information!

Visible Fish: Useful AND pretty! It shows all the fish currently available to catch swimming in the water, so you don’t spend ages trying to catch something that doesn’t spawn at a certain place or time! Also it just looks really nice. I love seeing the fish in the river when I’m just passing by!

FriendsForever: Eliminates friendship decay, so people don’t hate me if I forget to talk to them for half a year! Also works on animals, so I can ignore my pigs all winter and they still love me.

To-Dew: You can make a to-do list that will appear on the screen and can be marked off as you complete different tasks. No more will I take a trip to town for seeds and forget that I also wanted to donate to the museum and give Caroline a daffodil! You can also set items to be reoccurring on certain days of the week, if you want to remind yourself to look for forage on Saturday, or make Thursday your designated day to empty and refill your kegs. Very customizable! I also like to make lists of all the seeds I want to buy every season.

TreeTransplant: Robin can now move trees around your farm just like she moves buildings! I’m really bad at planning my tree placement, and it’s so frustrating to have to cut down full grown trees to change my farm layout. Now you can move trees anywhere!

Fishing Made Easy Suite/Combat Made Easy Suite: I love these mods over others that make fishing/combat easier because you can decide the exact degree you want to make things easier! You can make fishing anywhere from 5% easier to 99% easier, if you want to just take the edge off the difficulty, or make it impossible to fail a fish. You can take just a little less damage from monsters to make the Skull Cavern less daunting, or become unkillable and oneshot everything. They also have options to do fun things like put legendary fishing in fish ponds or craft magic rock candy. You can also make things harder, if that’s what you want!

Automate: Machines can pull items from chests, process them, spit them back out into the chest and pull in the next item automatically, without you having to do anything! It can be a little op early on, but it’s super handy when you have a million machines to keep track of. I especially like it for things that have shorter processing times. I can stick a chest of ore and coal next to some furnaces and let it do its thing! Or put a bait machine, recycle machine, crab pot and chest all together. The crab pots will empty and refill every day from the bait generated by the bait machine, deposit fish and trash into the chest, and any trash will be processed by the recycling machine! There are tons of fun ways to combine different machines!

TimeSpeed: Lets you stop, slow or speed up time! You can select time to freeze at certain locations (I like time to stop when I’m inside a building, like in old farming games,) set time to move slower or faster in general, or press a button to change it on the fly!

That’s all I have for now! Links will be coming in a reblog because tumblr is weird about posting links sometimes. Let me know if you’d like recommendations for other kinds of mods, like cosmetic mods, expansions, stuff that adds items or changes dialogue! I love to share the cool mods I find!

[bastardblvd]

submitted entries for the slimeball alley on bastard boulevard collab event. please be mindful of content warnings and boundaries set by authors. want to join? read our guidelines here.

KEY: 🦠 = NSFW ⚠️ = DARK CONTENT

"DOUBLE DOWN" by @ryndicate 🦠 ⚠️

fem reader x slimeball!hirofumi yoshida, reader x stepbro!denji

"didn't know you were into that kinda stuff."

"SAFETY FIRST" by @strawberrystepmom 🦠

fem restaurant manager!reader x fake OSHA inspector!jiraiya

when an inspector unexpectedly comes to your restaurant, you figure out how to get yourself out of trouble.

"A RIDE FOR A RIDE" by @thus-spoke-lo 🦠

afab reader x taxi driver!zoro

it's 3am and walking home from your shitty job at the diner seems like a drag, so you call a cab, hoping for a quick trip back to your apartment so you can finally catch some sleep. your moss-haired, muscle-bound, directionally-challenged cabbie definitely gives you a ride you didn't expect.

"COMPLIMENTS TO THE CHEF" by @thus-spoke-lo 🦠

afab reader x slimeball line cook!sanji

a few nights pass after the sordid events of "a ride for a ride", and you're working another late night shift at franky's flapjack shack with sanji, that damned pervert cook. sanji manages to piss off your only remaining customer for the night, leaving the two of you alone in the restaurant. soon, things start to heat up in the kitchen--and not just because that one oven door won't close all the way.

"TITS FOR TAT" by @bloompompom 🦠

sorority girl!reader x tattoo artist!eren jaeger

"i hope you have a good idea about how you're going to pay for that tattoo..."

"DELIRIOUS" by @saccharine-darlin🦠 ⚠️

fem camgirl!reader x slimy sex shop owner!gojo x sex shop employee!getou

"your conservative town is something you've never thought that would let a sex shop pop up, it seemed too good to be true, and little did you know after the first time you visited you'd be caught in a web by the two perverted men who run it and quickly you learn that they always get what they want."

“PAY UP!” by @zeninsama 🦠

fem babysitter!reader x designer sunglasses model!gojo satoru

satoru's poor time management has you working overtime, and this cheap bastard has something other than cash to pay you with

"GOD BLESS ME, IT'S SUMMER" by @dolcezzzza 🦠

afab reader x slimeball ice cream truck driver!nicholas d. wolfwood

"open up."

"TRIPLE STRIKE XXX" by @em-plosion 🦠

new employee!reader x bowling alley owner!satoru gojo

"the animated neon signs glowed brightly against the wet pavement and the ‘help wanted’ flier in your hand. having to move to this hell hole of a town was bad enough but trying to find a job in it was worse, at this point this shitty bowling alley seemed to be the best option."

"HANDS TO YOURSELF" by @agirlwithapen 🦠 ⚠️

reader x dirty old man!kishibe

you’d purposely chosen the early morning transit. today was a big day, you see. you were interviewing for a position your friend had offered. it was your chance at stability, financial stability. “first impressions count.” you remember telling your soon-to-be boss over email. they do.

"CAN I HAVE A NUMBER 5?" by @gunfiendbabymama

yuuta okkotsu vs. aki hayakawa

the mcnuggets showdown.

“HONEY TRAP” by @maliciouslove 🦠

fem reader x slimeball starbucks barista!denki kaminari

having a slimebucks apron is equal to having unlimited rizz (source: me) and denki proves it by bedding his brand new colleague on her very first day of work.

“THE HR FILES” by @if-dreams-do-come-true ⚠️

afab reader x corrupt cop!kishibe

kishibe is a shameless corrupt cop with a penchant to make inappropriate advances at fresh faced interns and the reader is unfortunately his newest victim.

"STICKLER" by @princess-okkotsu 🦠

after a run-in with grimetown's sleazy cop nanami, you've come to the dmv to replace the sticker that was stolen off your car from a certain freeloader. you've got to convince the dmv employee, a stickler for the rules, that you quite badly need this problem squared away today.

[fandom-go-round]

Hello. Do you have any headcanons of Pig, Huntress and Artist (dbd) dating S/O, who's good at reading facial expressions?

Thank you for your patience Anon! I hope that you enjoy these!

Warnings: Implied Canon Typical Violence, Implied Unhealthy Relationships, Stalking, Questionable Mental States (Non Sexual)

The Pig:

Amanda appreciates that you’re so good at reading people. Or in this case mask expressions. She doesn’t like to take her mask off, even outside trails. This means that if you want to get to know her, you need to get to know her through the mask. Her mask isn’t very expressive but there are clues you can look for to figure out how she’s feeling. A head tilt means she’s listening, her head going back means she’s annoyed. Amanda says a lot with very little once you learn how to read her.

Her eyes show a lot of emotion and you often stand so that you can see them clearer in the light. She thinks it’s odd you’ll stand just off to the left or directly in front of her but there’s a reason. Pig isn’t going to stop you from doing what you want, even if it’s going to get you hurt. She thinks it’s funny when you go to get a better angle and then trip on a tree root or step into a hole. Her laughter might sound mocking but it’s one of the only times you hear her laugh so you’ll take it.

She will get jealous if you spend time reading the other killers like you do her. She wants to be special to you and takes that very seriously. Even if you’re only doing it to stay alive, a part of her is going to be huffy. Make sure to spend extra time with her or ask her what she wants to do. Amanda will take things into her own hands and if you really want to see her face, this might be a good way to gently hint that she needs to express herself. The Pig might grumble but she does care about you and wants you to be happy.

The Huntress:

It’s not something that Anna notices at first, she’s too busy watching you. You’re so interested in the world around you that it can be hard to look away. She’s drawn to you like a moth to flame. It takes some time for her to notice that more often than not you’re staring back at her. She knows that it’s hard to tell what she looks like and where her attention is, her mask is designed that way on purpose. Even so, you always seem to know when she’s watching and it makes her feel good to have so much of your attention.

It can unnerving to be the center of your attention; you read her so well and it makes her feel vulnerable. Anna isn’t use to being the one exposed, the one hunted. There’s a part of her that likes it and another that hates it. When she first realizes that you can read her like a book she’s not pleased, not taking it out on you but stomping around trials. As she gets used to it and understands that it’s part of how you express your affection, it gets a lot easier for her to handle. On bad days it can still be too much and she’ll end to spend some time alone before spending time with you again.

Anna is fairly neutral if you’re good at reading other people. It makes her smile behind her mask when you route other killers or tease the other survivors. She doesn’t get jealous easily but when she does, it’s with other killers who have masks. She knows the kind of focus you have to have to read them that well and it can make her feel insecure. Give her extra affection after trails like this and all will be forgiven.

The Artist:

She thinks that it’s fitting you’re able to read her so well. Carmina isn’t very expressive anymore and does her best to come off as cold and elusive. She can’t deny that she’s been drawn to you but the better you get at reading her, the more she wants to follow you. It’s your eyes she later realizes, when the urge to stalk is gone and she’s thinking about the trial. She loves your eyes; even more so when they’re fixed on her. She becomes determined to keep your attention as much as possible.

It’s not hard for Carmina to keep you entranced; she has a presence that’s hard to ignore but when you’re in her sights? You’re only torn away when it’s forced. It doesn’t start as love, it’s defiantly fascination but it goes from like to love quickly. She loves that she hardly needs to say anything, one glance and you know what she’s feeling. It’s a power rush she hasn’t felt in a while and she embraces it completely.

Carmina begins to show off when she knows you’re looking, making things seem completely random but it’s all for you. It’s flattering to see new pieces of art that relate to you in some way. It’s not super obvious but it may be more use of your favorite color or a landscape you enjoy. She’s not easily jealous but she does get annoyed if people have no idea you’re together. When she wants everyone to know they will and then her affection can overflow like a river.

[strwberri-milk]

tattoo artist kaeya having a thing for u, his regular client rosaria's cute little roommate, who is the exact opposite of her. he feels bad for fantasied a lot to the thoughts of u but he can't help himself bc he likes u so much

God I love tattoo kaeya so much actually I'm grrrr im also. i love jerking off idk how to explain it so there is smut in addition to kaeya being. god he likes you so much also reader is g/n

When Rosaria introduced him to a new client he didn't think much of it. He's tattooed a good amount of her friends and being someone who didn't shy away from any challenge meant he got a wide variety of customers wanting his ink on their skin.

As soon as you came through those doors he found himself much more distracted than usual, asking you a lot more casual questions as his intake session felt more like a friend, rather than a consult.

You didn't seem to mind, laughing and smiling as he talks to you and he's a little obsessed with it. He finds himself subconsciously flexing for you, trying to show off his sleeve or peeks of his back or chest pieces somehow. He doesn't miss the way your eyes wander just the slightest bit, thinking you've taken the bait until you make a very normal comment about how his tattoo looks so pretty and that he must have dedicated a lot of time to it.

He did, but he wants to start devoting that energy to you even though he barely knows you.

He works hard to try and design the perfect tattoo for you. To him, your body is so perfect he's so honored to paint it. He wants to bring out more of its beauty, obsessed with how shy and innocent you seemed standing next to Rosaria.

You were barely able to talk to him alone, needing her to stand with you as he talked to you. You seemed to be able to hold your own but the second she turned to do something on her phone you got even quieter, holding back until she came back.

He wants to have you all to himself, hoping that the next time he sees you Rosaria will be too busy to come with you. Maybe he'll ask you out, invite you for coffee or dinner on his dime and spoil you the way you should be.

Kaeya's mind wanders as he sketches, the lamplight bathing the lines of his pen as they twist and turn into something much lewder than he realised. The second he sees the figure on his book he slams it shut, not new to lewd tattoos but it draws attention to his cock straining at his sweats. He hadn't even noticed it until now, leaning back in his chair as he pulls the waist of his pants down to reveal his throbbing need.

He's glad he's in the privacy of his own home, biting his lip as he tries to ignore how badly he wants you. He shouldn't be doing this to you, not someone who was so sweet and kind. He should try to take you out first, put himself out there in front of you and see if you'll accept him.

Instead, he's sitting at his desk biting back barely concealed moans as his hand runs up and down his shaft. He can remember the way your warmth felt against him - you tripped when he took you over to view his portfolio - and the weight of your body as he steadied you.

God, he's so fucking desperate for you, not even needing to use his spit to lube up his cock. The head of his dick was practically spurting already, milky white leaking constantly out of his slit as his thumb teases it. Each swipe over it makes his hand jerk, imagining that it was your tongue stuttering from the feeling of him eating you out as you try to fit his girth down your throat.

"Fuck," he sighs, eyes closing as his hips begin to thrust into his hand.

"You're doing so good."

Despite you not being there, his overactive imagination was doing more than enough, grip tightening at the thought of you sinking down until you manage to meet his hips. He's got you on top of him, the way his balls rest against your ass making him gasp against your throat. His hands slip under your thighs and ass, bouncing you up and down at the speed he needs you.

"Kaeya!" you moan breathlessly into his ear, begging him to slow down while your body tries to keep up with his ruthless pace.

It feels even better to have you pinned underneath him, hands clasped with your own as you whimper. He's fucking into you so hard that your hips are brought up with each upstroke. The way your legs wrap around his waist make it almost impossible for him to pull out, your hole clenching over him tighter and tighter as you cum for him for the nth time.

His mind barely registers that it's the plush of his pillow he's roughly grinding into, the softness on his balls and sensitive tip making him whimper almost pathetically. He's worked himself up over and over, ignoring the mess of cum he's made on his sheets.

He hopes you'll say yes when he asks you out. His pillow won't survive too many other sessions like this.

[wakeupau]

AU Headcannons

This is just a few headcannons about this AU. Feel free to read em, but if you do, it may ruin your experience with this story. I won’t link so much (even though I already have muhaha) but enough for everyone to know where I’m going with this. A̶n̶d̶ t̶o̶ g̶u̶i̶d̶e̶/m̶o̶t̶i̶v̶a̶t̶e̶ m̶y̶s̶e̶l̶f̶ i̶n̶t̶o̶ s̶t̶a̶y̶i̶n̶g̶ o̶n̶ t̶r̶a̶c̶k̶.

RUN CHILDREN‼️

☀️ believes there’s a bright side to every situation. ♥️⚡️🌼⭐️💡🍎🌙 depend on him for reassurance. Mostly ♥️ and 🌼 though.

☀️ acts like Joy from Inside Out. A̶ c̶o̶n̶t̶r̶o̶l̶ f̶r̶e̶a̶k̶.

⚡️ and ⭐️ are great friends! They’re almost never seen apart, which is a good and a bad thing. They make a pretty good team, but everything can and will evolve into some sort of competition. One way or another. Some of it is unintentional.

⚡️and ⭐️ are also very sneaky pranksters. 💡 is usually the one who finds out in the end though.

Due to ⚡️’s impatience, ⭐️ sometimes feels peer pressured into some of the stunts he does.

Surprisingly, ⚡️ and 💡 also make a good team, the only disadvantage is that ⚡️ has a lack of… common sense.

⚡️ is impulsive.

💡 is an overachiever.

🍎 has an eating disorder, and isn’t very good at hiding it.

⭐️ can be immature and childish. And a coward.

⭐️ is easily scared.

Mischief Level:⚡️>⭐️

♥️ is very clingy.

🍎 and 🌼’s dynamic mirrors Apple Jack and Rairty’s in a way.

🌼 is a mix of Fluttershy and Rarity. Not very confident with people, but definitely her interests.

🌼 second guesses herself when she talks, especially to strangers. This also causes her stuttering.

🌼 is afraid that she is a pushover, and tries to act assertive.

🌼 and ⭐️ are actually similar in some ways.

🌼 and ⭐️ are good friends.

⭐️ is more easy to scare than 🌼

⭐️ acts tough and brave around 🌼 and⚡️

🍎 is a great cook! 🍎 loves to try new recipes and food combinations. 💡 sometimes checks to see if they’re safe to eat.

🍎 loves to cook from scratch. She plants her own fruits and vegetables.

🍎 acts like a mix of Apple Jack and Pinkie Pie.

🍎 is the to-go person for desserts.

🍎 is an early bird because B R E A K F A S T

🍎 and 🌼 make food art sometimes.

♥️ is a pretty good liar because ♥️ is the most emotionally intelligent of the critters. It also depends on what the lie is. If it’s something small like stalling for a surprise everything is okay, but if it’s something serious, the truth may be told a little too soon.

♥️ is the most emotional. She isn’t necessarily a crybaby, but no one can watch a sad scene without hearing her weep behind her hands.

♥️ is a hopeless romantic and indecisive. She goes to library trips with 💡 and he has to wait a pretty long while before she finally decides what she is going to check out. (🍎 packs snacks for them because she knows lol)

🌼 likes to design clothing for special occasions.

🌼 is like Fluttershy from MLP (mostly her temper side).

💡 and 🌼 have pointless arguments about overlooking details. 🌼 says 💡 is overthinking the obvious. 💡 says 🌼 is taking too much time looking for small details. If that makes sense lol

💡 can also be a control freak depending on how much a situation applies to him and/or his interests.

💡 is a perfectionist, 🌼 is more relaxed.

💡 feels like he needs to know everything, if he doesn’t, he gets very depressed and puts himself down. (Calling himself stupid, etc)

💡 obviously has no emotional intelligence. It makes it hard for him to know when to stop and enjoy the moment during his long monologues about everything.

💡 reads psychology books in order to understand emotions and habits to help himself and his friends.

���� “studies” his friends’ behaviors to figure out better ways to help them.

💡 can’t ever really relax. When he tries to act subtle, instead of being calm, he gets very tense. ⭐️ helps out.

💡 is easily impressed. No one has to try too hard, but then again they do because he will question them.

⚡️ likes to annoy 💡whenever he’s busy by being a smart aleck sometimes.

⚡️ has been told on multiple occasions to slow/calm down.

⚡️ is a picky eater. Especially when it comes to vegetables.

⚡️ and 🍎 get easily distracted.

⭐️ has a massive ego./j

⭐️ talks to ♥️ about his narcissistic tendencies and takes her advice to be better.

⭐️ can be a pain in the neck.

⭐️ holds grudges and will use them against whoever caused them at any given time.

♥️ and 🍎 love making Valentines’ gifts. Especially “heart-shaped, chocolate chip, doubled stuffed cookies” The first bite is Heaven, the second you’re actually there.

☀️ gets the sugar cookie version since yknowwww

♥️ and 🍎 still say they’re not sweet enough as a joke when everyone else is literally bouncing off the walls because the sugar made them hyper.

♥️ and 🍎 are also good at party planning.

♥️ and 💡 also have quarrels. Book smarts vs emotional intelligence.

♥️ is like the therapist friend, but if anyone overshares, she will make sure they’re okay.

♥️,🌼, ⚡️and 🍎 are great at decorating.

If there’s ever a song, ♥️, 🍎, ⚡️, ⭐️ (barely) or ☀️ are the lead singer or start the song. (It’s almost always ☀️ or ♥️)

♥️ is better at giving motivational speeches than ☀️ ☀️ and ♥️ are like the dad and mom of the group. (NO SHIP THOUGH)

☀️ and 🌙 are great friends, or at least, in the best way they can be…

☀️ believes he’s doing the right thing, 🌙 is afraid to tell him otherwise.

☀️ doesn’t necessarily have anger issues, but if he’s too overwhelmed, he may snap or talk in a loud, irritated manner. His friends get startled or shocked by it whenever it’s all of a sudden.

☀️ tries his best to be easygoing.

☀️ isn’t good at hiding his stress, nor his problems.

☀️ needs help and guidance, but is afraid to ask because he’s the leader.

☀️ makes sure everyone knows who’s in charge. He literally owns that title like a trophy. (Considering the fact that ☀️ doesn’t have a specialty)

☀️ can get very emotional. Not as much as ♥️ though.

🌙 gets very anxious around his friends and doesn’t know why. 🌙 just feels a wave of depression when he’s around them, especially around ☀️

🌙 is in somewhat denial, he clings to ☀️ and asks his opinion on almost everything.

🌙 is scared he’s doing something wrong.

🌙 is miserable, no one really notices because he’s always smiling. 🌙 is also the least expressive out of the bunch as shown on promotional material.

🌙 gets confused between the the series and the reality.

🌙 is dissociative when he is overwhelmed.

🌙 is a night owl.

🌙 is more of a follower than a leader.

[starryredpandawrites]

The newest bendy bites be absolutely peak I’m all the more for it (I would love to rant forever about this but sadly sleep is needed for a brain to function so this will do)

First of - first Aid

The transition between food in the cycle and how it works for healing… (besides Henry… is not like this for some reason, he literally just has a passive constant healing effect in Batim it’s never acknowledged nor questioned even then Dark revival speaificly set up, idk if it will be the same in The Cage, admittedly kinda doubt it but it would be just an extra layer of fucked if Joey designed Henry to heal form his injuries at a rapid enough pace where he can get hurt, heal back up, and get hurt again without “dying”) gigantic rant aside. It’s unclear if the Ink demon can even get hurt physically enough for the sake of needing food to survive - or simply based of the fact he’s a gigantic ink monster that’s also a living breathing being that gets hungry and needs to eat a lot just to keep himself vigilant and perhaps not as “mindless” (cus like… he can’t starve to death, surely and sadly the Keepers would have found that out quickly) like say Batim pre “evolving”

It’s sadly not a topic that’s explored even then getting consumed is perma death in the cycle by itself (Inky, the widow king, Shipohoy Wilson & Steve respectively I belive to be the only ones we know can achieve this in DR)

My gibberish aside- Inky & Bendy would know that getting hurt in the cycle you’d need like a nice snack of a whole meal just to recover. Audery having fallen and scrapped up her knee on her way home from work and bleeding isn’t gonna magically fix itself in the real world. And that may very well take a good few attempts to really stick, yet even the cartoon logic and probably flexibility of Audrey’s body that few take advantage of will probably cause her to get less hurt but like… Shipohoy still snapped her legs at the top femur - bones are infact still in there. So Audrey would either have to teach him how wounds work, maybe some anatomy and what is really bad for a body to actually break or damaged and what is truely severe and what needs prioritizing (like how to hurt people who hurt his sister and make it hurt truely last)

Still, it could be something he’d mock her for probably in being clumsy and getting hurt, but I can also see him being worried about her for it. Not knowing what to do and feeling frustrated or helpless at food nor working anymore, so having to think and do other methods to ensure that she is safe and out of harms way. Could progress into learning more of the inner workings of animals to or simply Audery also returning the favors figuring out how to help Bendy in either of his form if he ever gets messed up. Just stuff like that

Thank you!!! I love rants but I'm glad you've chosen to prioritize sleep, haha. Also, these are good good thoughts, thank you for sharing 🥰

There would certainly be a tall learning curve for Bendy regarding injuries in the real world.

I imagine the Keepers would have done everything possible to kill Bendy and obviously it just doesn't work, including starvation. He doesn't need to eat, but he enjoys it a lot. It's his first and favorite hobby lol

He can get injured/stabbed/crushed but he heals really, really quickly. Like Henry, he would have a passive healing factor but much higher/faster. He doesn't have a lot of experience getting injured except for the Keepers.

I'm thinking he'll either have the same healing factor as in the ink world or it will be somewhat slowed. Leaning toward the latter because the idea of Audrey having to teach him first aid is cute. Imagine he trips and scrapes his knee and freaks out that he's still bleeding even tho it's been more than 2 seconds. He thinks he's dying and Audrey has to explain that injuries don't get magically healed here. She bandages his booboo and gives it a lil' kiss. Then, the next day it's her turn to be baffled because the injury is completely gone and she has to revise her statement about magical healing.

Imagine he actually believes her kiss healed him and she's just like, actually, I may have been wrong about you not being able to heal here, oops

Audrey is definitely more resilient than the average person but not invincible, like you said. She might able to bend her finger back pretty far but she still has bones that can break.

If Audrey ever got hurt he would totally do the thing where your sibling falls and your first reaction is to laugh your head off until you realize they're still on the ground and the worry hits. Then he would try to fix it by bringing her a snack. Audrey has to explain multiple times that injuries take time to heal in the outside world and he is very mad about it. Eventually, he would get used to it but secretly starts keeping a list of reasons the ink world is superior to the real world. He never shares it because it's a much shorter list than he expected.

Quick tangent, I don't think he's so naive that he wouldn't know what death is, but I do think he might forget how it works. Imagine he kills something, a bird or a deer and Audrey finds its half-eaten remains. She would scold him for being wasteful and he'd be like, If I eat all of it then it won't come back. Audrey has to remind him several times that death is permanent here and that deer isn't coming back no matter what.

Queue anxiety about Audrey permadying and she also has to remind him that the cycle is wayyyy more dangerous and that her chances of dying there (and possibly getting consumed) are way higher than in the real world.

Fun thoughts, thank you for the ask 🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍

[system-of-a-feather]

Re-establishing Baseline Plan

Since moving, I've (completely understandably and expectedly) had my baseline kinda fucked (did not help by with financial stress + job incompatibility + ear infection + really bad post ear infection cold + probable norovirus in literally one month) and so I've been really overloaded, stressed, and just in a place of mostly survival mode where most of my energy is focused on maintaining my mental and physical state in the easiest manners possible

I have been holding up well all things considered and have set up for a probably more compatible job + my fiance has managed to get a job again that he feels will probably work out well for him and I have at least like a week off between jobs to reorientate myself

So to take a good and active effort to make the best of this time, I want to make a plan to set myself up for success. I actually do this every so often when I really need to pick myself up (historically Lucille would usually do it but pros of being basically fully integrated is that I am Lucille as well as me) and I figured it would be a neat thing to display and demonstrate here cause I'd end up making it *anyways* so why not share with the class

If anyone likes this, yall can borrow it ^^

-----

Question One: What current coping skills and hobbies am I currently doing and trying with my time? Are they affective and would I like to change them?

Art, Drawing, Character Design, Art Fight Prep, Story Planning and Writing

This is one of the easiest and most reliable positive coping mechanisms and has gotten me through the majority of the month mostly on it's own. Compared to other coping mechanisms, this one is almost always something I can drag myself to do or at least ask someone to supervise me to make sure I do it when I feel I need some sort of self care. It serves greatly as an alternative when I find that I am doing maladaptive coping that I would rather not do and when in doubt, it has access to some level of social engagement should I feel I need that. With that being said, having relied largely on this for a month, this is suffering diminishing returns and starting to lead to general lack of inspiration and so diversification from this coping mechanism would be ideal

Weekend Gym Trips

This is actually a really good way for me to release energy, give myself space and time to think, and just feel better moving and existing in my body. It also mandates time for me to listen to music and serves a meditative purpose. That said, I have only been doing this on Saturdays and only once on Sunday and I would like to expand that to be at least 3 times a week or at least more spaced out.

Reading Semi Regularly

This is a new habit and coping I picked up and its actually really good! It provides a unique sense of calm when I need it. Unfortunately I've started to drop off the past week due to general stress and illness, so I think its important to return to this. Perhaps set a general goal of "every other day" rather than every day to lessen the pressure.

Video Games

This was helpful but lately I have been not motivated to play anything and I believe its been burnt out. I think it would be good to resume this but it is currently impractical to force at the moment until overall wellness has returned.

TV with Boy

This is helpful but unforunately nothing seems to interest either of us to watch right now. (cri life is hard /lh)

Board Games with Boy

This is a new one and has actually been very nice. That said, it isn't always available and dependent on my fiance's ability to have the energy, time and interest to play them, particularly since I know he is less interested in board games than me. It is good to maintain the interest and offer, but not a coping skill to become reliant on.

Question Two: What sorts of things that I am currently not doing do I know tend to define behaviors, habits, hobbies, and interests that are done when I am out of survival mode and genuinely enjoying life?

Regular Birding, Particularly with Peers

Interest in watching anything on my own, youtube, TV shows, etc

Engagement in Music, Particularly my Musical Instruments

Engagement in Exploration and just independent travels without individuals

Engagement and interest in occasionally reaching out to Buddhist environments

Producing art work for the story that is more developed and inspired rather than "quick" or "reference" focused - actually focusing on the creative and artistic expression rather than the practical expression

Increased social circle communication irl beyond my online bestie, fiance, and online friend group chat; reaching out to individuals and developing new irl friendships

Question Three: Which of those hobbies do I think could be the most reasonable and easy to meet sooner than later (even better if I can make steps to start that right now / today)? In what ways could I make steps to make those first changes and help set myself up for success on expanding my engagement with life beyond survival mode?

Interest in watching anything on my own, youtube, TV shows, etc

While I am not extensively motivated in any manner to watch anything in particular, I am starting to randomly get a lot of bleach related stuff on my youtube and I have been meaning to watch TYBW arc. I have been postponing it because of arbitrary "I wanna read the manga first" and just general other excuses, but realistically those are putting up barriers that I may not get to at this rate and currently I could just use something I'm somewhat interested in to give me some independent relaxing engagement. I think I can set the goal of actually watching Bleach TYBW at least an episode a day starting either today or tomorrow and see if that can bring a momentum and habit into actually being able to watch things that interest me on my own.

Engagement in Music, Particularly my Musical Instruments

I can probably actually take my violin back out. The guitar would probably be better but for whatever reason I feel that my brain thinks that would require more - for a lack of better word - work, so I think I can at least try to find time this week to at least play a little bit of my violin.

Regular Birding, Particularly with Peers + "increased social irl connection [...]"

I can reach out and text my new irl birding connections to see if they are interested; if not I can at least plan to take a birding trip later

Engagement in Buddhist Stuff

I know there is an area I've been thinking of visiting that has free english services on Tuesday, I can make plans to go there that day, particularly since my Fiance should be working for the first day then anyways.

Question Four: What are additional goals and check points that we would like to try to bring us closer to the life style that we know tends to support a thriving mental state and life satisfaction rather than one of survival?

Independent Travels

During the time I have, I can keep in mind this goal and if I have down time think of potentially interesting and alternative places to go to explore; additionally I can plan birding trips to places I have not yet checked out.

Increased Social IRL Connection

It is dependent on if my now-ex-coworker still is interested, but I can follow up and see if we want to still play board games; if not I think potential more ways to reach out will be more viable to plan once a higher level of baseline is established; potentially see if there are any in person DnD groups around that I could make a habit of going to or any martial art dojos that we can afford

More Inspired Art

I think this is something that will come with time between lessening the burn out of my current art-as-a-coping mechanism goal as well as actually engaging in more media and independent interests as to gain more inspiration.

Question Five: Summarize the Key Points and Plans Discussed in This into a Bullet Points of Take Aways

Modifying Current Coping:

Diversify and lean off of using art as a main coping mechanism; give that one a break

Attempt to go to the gym more frequently or at least space it out more throughout the week

Continue reading; lessen the ideal to every other day in case demand pressure is adversely affecting it

Keep an open interest in playing board games with fiance

Changes I Want To Make Soon:

Start watching Bleach TYBW w/ at least one episode a day

Bring out my violin and try to at least play with it for one hour this week

Reach out to new bird peers to see if they want to plan a birding trip sometime, if not then plan one independently

Make plans to go to that place on Tuesday for the open Buddhist service

Changes to Keep an Eye Out For:

Opportunities to go somewhere new randomly for no particular reason or goal in mind other than to just see whats around us

Spoons and time availability to see out places to expand our irl social circles

Inspiration for art in general

Question Six: Set for Regular Follow Ups to Check Progress

Isn't tumblr's queue / schedule function super neat for this

[fizziepopangel]

 “Um, which whore are we talking about this time?”

When he and Valentino first began their relationship, it was solely about sex and using Val to help further his own power, but Vox eventually grew more attached to the moth pimp than he thought he would…. The dick was that good.

Vox acts as Val’s eyes when they’re out together. He’s working on convincing the man to just get some damn glasses, but for now, he just quietly describes things he knows Val might want to see, points him in the direction of whatever he should be looking at, and sometimes even takes pictures to let him look at later.

Being the youngest of the Vee’s, Vox and Val are rather protective of Velvette as if she was their child… So, whenever Velvette is sick and miserable, Vox does what every good father figure does for their chosen adult child: He plays her favorite childhood tv shows and cartoons on his face to cheer her up.

He would never say it but Vox sees Velvette as the daughter he never got to have in his life, he even endured what he refers to as he 'emo phase' (her pilot design)

Vox often turns his being into electric energy to travel through wires connected to modern technology that may be plugged in…. Sometimes, when he wants to get out of doing something, he hides within the wires and just doesn’t take physical form for hours, often doing it when he’s overwhelmed and needs to decompress.

Similarly, when Velvette or Valentino are pissed at him, they unplug cords he’s in when he’s traveling, effectively trapping him in the wires.

In hell, each sinner’s demon form usually ties into how they died, since this is rather common knowledge Vox has put out the story that he was an actor that died after being electrocuted by a livewire on the set of a movie he had been starring in…. In reality, he was an actor who died on set when he had a tv fall on his head while he was throwing a tantrum over something minor in his dressing room during which the ended up tripping over a wire, falling and tangling himself in the cord, and causing the tv that he had just unplugged to topple over onto him as he struggled with the cord.He feels like getting his head crushed by a tv in what sounds like a truly cartoonishly violent way makes him sound a lot less intimidating than his electrocution story.

Having his screen cracked or damaged is physically painful for him, with different damages resulting in different levels of pain/injury. All of the Vees have a repairman on speed dial just in case Vox needs a quick fix after an injury.

Vox only became ‘Vox’ when he ended up in hell, his given name from his time amongst the living was Virgil.

Vox absolutely recorded Alastor getting his ass handed to him in his fight with Adam, and yes he does watch it religiously because he 100% believes that it is better than sex (and yes, Valentino does take that personally).

At the time of his death, tv was still being shown in black and white, meaning that Vox could only see in black and white….In 1965, when tvs began to switch to color, Vox began to have issues with his vision for a time. This time frame came with Vox experiencing migraines, blurry vision, and issues with his screen glitching in and out of color and black and white. During this time, he absolutely thought he was dying a second death.

He’s actually a good cook. He co-wrote one of Alastor’s cookbooks when the two were friends… But the radio demon scrubbed his name and recipes from the book after their falling out. Vox was very upset to find that not only had his contributions to the book he had helped write completely gone, but Alastor used his falling out with Vox to promote his next cookbook: “Eat Your Heart Out: Valentines Recipes & Breakup Pick Me Ups”, claiming that a breakup with a friend was just as bad as a break up with a lover. Vox short-circuited when he saw this, he was livid.

In retaliation, Vox convinced Velvette and Valentino to go in with him on a series of cookbooks of their own… He learned quickly that he was the only one of the three of them that could actually cook.

Vox’s hat controls the wifi wherever he is, which is why his hat has a symbol reminiscent of the wifi symbol. When Velvette is being unusually disrespectful to himself or Val, Vox uses his hat to turn off the wifi in the Vee’s tower, usually resulting in a meltdown from the younger overlord.

Despite having been a tv star in his life, and controlling a good chunk of  Hell’s social media in his death, Vox actually doesn’t watch tv often and usually prefers to read.

The sharks in the aquarium in the Vee’s tower were all purchased by Vox. He calls them his babies, and he knows each and every single one by name and personality; picking up on even the tiniest changes in their personalities or swimming patterns. His favorite sharks are two that were fathered by his first pet shark, Vark, that he named Aux and Phono.

Vox absolutely loves dancing. All kinds of dancing, but especially swing dancing since it was the style he had seen his mom and dad dance to the most in his childhood.

Vox 2 Nite has been a late night show hosted by Vox, but it didn't get the views he would have liked, so he began shutting off all other programs at the start of his show and shutting the wifi down all over the city to force his ratings to go up.

[clash-of-the-wizards]

CLASH OF THE WIZARDS ROUND 1-B BOUT 6

HAMID SALEH HAROUN AL TAHAN (Rusty Quill Gaming) VS HISIRDOUX CASPERAN (Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia)

Propaganda under the cut!

PROPAGANDA

HAMID SALEH HAROUN AL TAHEN "Goofy guy, really. Lots of growth. Basically (without too many spoilers) he’s the son of banker, literally, super rich. Went to college to become a wizard, was very bad at it in a very good at it kind of way. No matter how much studying he did, it didn’t help him learn anything but when he needed them, the spells would work. Anyways, he got kicked out, was cut off by his parents, became a mercenary because he recognized a friend from university during a street fight with a bit too much death and didn’t figure out he was a sorcerer till season 3. He did learn not to be a little spoiled brat though, growth"

HISIRDOUX CASPERAN "HES SO COOL AND CHILL!!! Silly big brother wizard who slacks off and casts spells!!!"

"Before, he was clumsy and he was trying his best when like not that experienced (he was Merlin's apprentice btw) but he has grown quite a lot now he's much more serious still kept his personality which means he can be sometimes still impulsive in the face of danger he's like 919-920 (but still look 19yo bc wizard logic) and is still like very hard-working and still learns to one day be worthy to be a master wizard He protects the universe against evil monsters. He doesn't want the power to go to his head so as a csq magic is never his first resort he will try to fight without it if he can (which is kinda badass) and then use magic if he can't Some of the cool powers he has: • Sleep Inducement: put others into an instant deep sleep • Banishing: able to banish and imprison (in like limbo for example) • Infinite Hallways: can cast infinite hallway portals that can trap ppl with no way out • Memory Projection: able to use his magic on the tree name carvings of Arthur, Gwen, and Morgana to bring their childhood memories to life (idk if he can do it if he doesn't know them) • Pyrokinesis, Flight & Telekinesis •Astral Projection • some kind of time magic: he capable of creating time traps (which slow down time in a bubble around the one who tripped it) His design is very cool and like he has a staff now, it's all between like nuances of blue and like dark, even his magic is blue so like love the consistency"

[jjtheresidentbaby]

HI HELLO HI HEARTBREAK HIGH AGERE OMG AAHH

do you have any regressor! Ant headcanons? no pressure if you don’t i’ve just kinda fallen in love with the headcanon hehe

- @beaistiny

Little Ant Vaughn headcanons

a/n: do I have regressor ant headcanons?? do I breathe air!! /lh /j also peep the new missy pfp

warnings: !!season 2 spoilers!!, references to bad parenting, drug use, etc (basically just canon stuff)

his little age can range from baby space to kiddo space, he doesn’t have a preference

baby space usually comes out involuntarily and after something more stressful but can also be used as a way to relax when he needs it

he’s so energetic when in kiddo space oml - always wants to be doing something, playing outside, drawing, dancing, it really doesn’t matter he just wants to be moving and engaging in an activity

to no shock, spider is the first person ant regresses around, back when the trio of ant, spider & dusty was still going strong ant always felt more comfortable with spider so he found it easier to slip around spider

the first time he regressed in front of spider it was not planned and was a bit hectic

spider thought ant was on drugs, ant was overwhelmed as spider desperately tried to “sober him up” by shoving water bottles into his hands and freaking out even more when ant struggled to hold & drink from them (he’s just a lil guy!!)

they figure it out eventually and spider is able to google what age regression is

he might spend too much time on google but sue him that’s his best friend!!

eventually ant becomes more comfortable with his regression and isn’t as secretive about it

dusty is oblivious. but harper & missy & sasha clock him within five seconds

cue three new babysitters!

harper watches over him a lot when she’s dating dusty and then when dusty leaves she keeps up with the schedule

her & spider kind of trade off like divorced parents lol

speaking of ants parents, they suck so bad & he hates being at home in general but especially if he’s regressed

after cash & harper move in together he spends a lot of nights crashing at their place, regressed or not

he has his own designated dresser in Harper’s room, it’s small but holds some extra clothes and any little gear he has

since amerie & malakai are over so much they find out about ants regression and instantly go “omg the babyyyy” and spoil him as much as two broke teenagers can

cash will babysit but he prefers it if darren is at his side while he does, they watch a lot of movies together to avoid any possible chaos without harper or spider around

missy gets back into babysitting regularly when she starts to date spider, they are so good with him & take him on lil kiddo trips

lots of arcade visits, beach trips, going out to get ice cream with some of the others, the aquarium & zoo (which they always invite quinni on)

ant dosent have a lot of little gear but he has some teethers (oral fixation go brr) and fidget toys

stress balls are banned though cause he’ll bite them and pop them open

he has a plethora of fidget spinners and hot wheels and army men that he’s constantly messing around with

he likes things he can easily slip into his pocket and carry around whenever

the sugar tooth this kid has is unmatched

all the candy and sweets are limited when he’s regressed, nobody can really do anything when he’s big tho

loves to make forts in harpers room and set up a mini projector so they can have movie nights

he’s very cuddly in general but especially with harper and spider

spider’s able to carry him around if ant wants and harper is so gentle and soft with him it makes him feel safer than he does with basically anyone else

[lemoncrushh]

Too Far From Texas | Chapter Five

STORY PAGE

Word Count: 5691

As soon as Lorelei and I arrived at our hotel, I was already in need of a nap, and it was just barely lunch time. On the drive, I’d told Lorelei that she could pick the music, and she surprised me by saying she wanted to listen to Harry’s CD which was still in my player. Though she was somewhat familiar with One Direction, she didn’t really know their music, but she was curious to hear what solo Harry sounded like. By the third or fourth song, she was already lying back in her seat with an approving smile on her face.

We’d stopped once for a bathroom break and to fill up on gas, and that was when I took the opportunity to check my phone. The day before had consisted of a series of short text conversations with Harry, him telling me he had landed in Chicago, me telling him to have a good day, and him wishing me luck on my San Antonio trip. That morning I awoke to one more text which I figured he’d sent very late, after I’d gone to bed, saying he was thinking of me and missed me. I wasn’t really sure how to feel about that, but I sent him a text back saying me too. So far he hadn’t sent anything else.

Lorelei rolled her suitcase next to the bed she’d designated as hers and announced that we should go have lunch on the Riverwalk. Despite my arguments that I wanted to get some shut eye, she insisted we needed to eat.

I’d just ordered my food and was people watching as I sipped on my mojito when my phone alerted me of a text.

In San Antonio yet?

I smiled as I picked up my phone to reply.

Yes. Having lunch. How are you?

Great. On my way to lunch too. Just wanted to say hi.

Hi :)

I’ll call you tonight. When I’m back at my hotel. If it’s not too late.

Ok. I should be up. I’m actually going to take a nap after this.

Ok baby x

The texts were short and to the point, but it was the term of endearment that had me grinning like a fool, staring at my phone screen for a few more seconds.

“Earth to Stacey!” I heard somewhere in the distance. I looked up to see Lorelei with her eyes wide.

“What?” I asked, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

She blew out a puff of breath. “Damn, that boy has you smitten.”

“Stop,” I rolled my eyes, laying my phone back down on the table.

“Please. Don’t tell me you didn’t deliberately have your phone out, hoping he’d text you. And when he did you gawked and giggled like a teenager.”

I took another sip of my cocktail. “I did not.”

“Uh huh. You are a smitten kitten.”

I glared at her. “Who was the one who said I should let myself be happy? Was that you? I forget.”

Lorelei chuckled. “I know I did, hon. I’m not putting you down for it. I’m glad to see you like this.”

I grinned sheepishly, pressing my cloth napkin flat in my lap.

“He calls me baby,” I admitted.

“He does?” Lorelei leaned forward.

I nodded, nervously covering my mouth with my fist. “Is it too soon?”

Lor sat back again with a shrug. “No. I don’t think so. I think it’s cute.”

“I mean, nobody’s called me that since...Tod.”

“It feels good, huh?”

I bit my lip. “Yeah.”

“He’s sweet.”

I merely nodded, feeling myself start to blush. Fortunately, the waiter came by with our food, and our conversation changed to plans for the book signing the next day.

Lorelei, always the most energetic person I’d ever known, declared that she was not the least bit tired, so she was going to stroll down the Riverwalk while I took a nap. I felt bad for abandoning her, but after the drive topped off with a relaxing lunch and alcohol, I was beat and had a dull headache.

I wasn’t sure how long I’d been asleep when I heard the sound of the door unlocking and Lorelei stepped into the room.

“Hey sleepyhead,” she greeted me. I noticed she was carrying a couple of shopping bags.

“Hey,” I rubbed my eyes. “What time is it?”

“Nearly four,” she replied.

“Damn,” I muttered, sitting up. “What’d you buy?”

Lorelei smiled, digging into her first bag and pulling out a long necklace with a pretty turquoise pendant.

“Very pretty,” I nodded.

Then she reached into her second bag and pulled out two t-shirts.

“For the girls,” she said.

“Lor, you didn’t have to do that,” I remarked.

“I wanted to,” she shrugged, dropping the shirts back into the bag and setting everything on her bed as she sat down.

“That reminds me,” I said, reaching for my phone. “I need to check in.”

I send a quick text to Tod asking if the girls were okay. He immediately responded with a yes, saying that Emery was wanting to go shopping for a costume, but he didn’t have time, he had to teach. With a frown, I texted him back.

I took her yesterday. She didn’t see what she wanted. You might have to order her something if she’s really wanting to be that Steven Universe character.

I’m not ordering her a costume. She doesn’t have to be that character. She can pick something else at the store.

Well then if you don’t have time to take her, I’ll have to take her Friday.

I guess so.

I wanted so badly to throw my phone across the room. Fucking Tod! Instead, I dropped my phone on the bed and walked to the bathroom, practically slamming the door behind me.

“You okay, hon?” I heard Lorelei call from the other side.

“I hate him!” I yelled back.

“Well, that’s nothing new.”

I washed my hands and splashed water on my face, trying my best to calm down. I was in another city, away from Tod and there was nothing he could do to me if I didn’t let him. So with a deep breath, I ran my fingers through my hair and opened the door.

“Let’s go out!” I announced.

“Yes!” cheered Lorelei.

Lor was in her element. I felt like a fish out of water. Which might be an ironic phrase to use considering the inside of the night club looked like an aquarium.

After a lovely dinner, we’d decided to have a drink at the bar of our hotel. But soon Lorelei got restless and asked the bartender if there were any fun night clubs nearby. He’d suggested one just a couple blocks away, and within minutes I found myself in a cab on my way to a club, the first time I’d been to one since my marriage.

The beat was starting to get to me, despite the shots of tequila Lorelei had bought when we’d arrived. I wasn’t drunk and the room wasn’t spinning, but the scent of perfume and sweat mixed with the loud bass of the music made me want to gag. It was probably the first time since my twenties that so many bodies were within close proximity to mine, except for maybe that time I had floor seats for Green Day and there weren’t actual seats. I felt light-headed and in need of hydration.

“Gonna get some water!” I yelled into Lorelei’s ear as she swayed her hips, a young latino giving his approval with his eyes.

She nodded at me, though she continued to flirt with the guy with her dance moves.

“What can I get you, Red?” asked the bartender. Normally I would have rolled my eyes. Like I hadn’t heard that one before.

“Just a water, please,” I replied with a sugary sweet smile.

I sipped through the straw as though I hadn’t had anything to drink for days, quickly reaching ice. I heard a voice next to me, and it took me a second to realize they were talking to me.

“I’m sorry?” I turned my head to see a man, his shirt and chest sweaty. He was somewhat attractive, but not really my type. If I had a type. Did I have a type?

“Let me get you another one of those,” he offered, pointing to my empty glass.

“Oh,” I chuckled, shaking my head. “It’s okay. It’s just water.”

“Well, then, let’s put something in that water.”

Before I could protest, the guy turned towards the bar and ordered something. When he handed me a glass with a grin, I smiled back and thanked him. Taking a hesitant sip, I quickly noticed it was nearly pure alcohol and most likely had no water in it. I drank it anyway, hoping the sooner I did, the sooner the man would go away.

“You have gorgeous hair,” he remarked, stepping closer to me.

“Thanks.” I just kept sipping through my straw, hoping he’d take the hint that I was not interested.

“What’s your name?”

I eyed him. “Stacey.”

“Beautiful name, Stacey,” he said, his hand suddenly brushing across my back. “I’m Chad.”

Of course. He looked like a Chad. He also looked really young. Too young for me. Or at least I thought, until I suddenly remembered Harry. Okay, I didn’t suddenly remember him. I thought about him a lot. He just didn’t seem as young as this Chad guy. Even though he was probably younger.

“Nice to meet you,” I nodded. I took the last sip of my cocktail, making it a point to slurp it as loudly as possible before setting it on the bar.

“Wanna dance?” asked Chad, leaning in.

I blinked. “I’m sorry. I really have to go to the ladies’ room.”

“Oh, okay,” Chad cocked his head.

“Excuse me,” I said. I started to walk around him, then thought perhaps I was being a bit rude. I turned back to look at him. “Thank you for the drink.”

There was a line for the bathroom. I fanned myself with my hand, wishing I hadn’t drunk Chad’s cocktail. I leaned against the wall and pulled my phone out of my pocket, ready to text Lorelei, even though she probably wouldn’t notice. My heart fluttered in my chest when I realized I had a missed call from Harry, and he had left a voicemail. I knew I wouldn’t be able to hear it in the noise of the club, so I waited until I was inside the stall to listen to it.

“Hi Stacey,” he greeted me. “I got back to the hotel earlier than I thought I would so I reckoned I’d ring you. Guess you’re busy. If…if you get a chance, call me back okay?”

I heard him sigh then, and I’m not sure why, but it turned me on. “I miss your voice. Is that weird?”

No, I shook my head. God, why was I sitting in a bathroom stall in a noisy night club when I could’ve been in my nice hotel bed talking to Harry on the phone?

“Talk to you soon, baby,” Harry said, completing the message.

Without hesitation, I quickly texted Harry, letting him know I was out with Lorelei but would call him as soon as we got back to the hotel. I didn’t wait for a reply as I pulled up my pants and left the stall. I was washing my hands when I heard Lorelei’s voice.

“Hey, there you are!” she exclaimed, taking the sink next to mine. “I saw you with that hunk at the bar.”

“Hunk?” I laughed out loud. “Hardly. More like frat boy.”

She made a face, seductively sticking out her tongue. “Those aren’t so bad.”

I nudged her hip with mine. “You’re awful.”

“Okay Miss British Boy Band Hottie.”

I side-eyed her as I grabbed a paper towel. “That didn’t even make sense.”

She giggled as she followed me out of the ladies’ room. The music hit me in the face once again as the blue and red lights bounced off the walls.

“Can we go?” I asked.

“Sure,” Lorelei shrugged. “My sexy latin lover has found another partner anyway.”

We took another cab back to the hotel where I kicked off my heels and stripped out of my jeans as fast as I could. Then I scrubbed off my makeup and got into bed, prepared to call Harry. But when I laid down, I noticed he’d replied to my text.

Let me know when you get back.

I texted him with an “I’m back” and within two seconds, my phone was ringing. Only it wasn’t for a regular call.

“Holy shit, he’s wanting to FaceTime,” I cried.

“Who, Harry?” Lorelei asked as she rubbed lotion on her hands and arms.

“No, Donald Trump,” I snapped, finally answering the call.

“Ewww,” Lorelei sounded just as Harry’s face came into view.

“Hi,” I chuckled.

“Hi, beautiful,” he grinned.

I half covered my face with my hand. “Oh my God, I’ve already taken off my makeup.”

“And?” Harry raised a brow.

“I look awful,” I groaned.

“Oh give me a break,” Lorelei jested from her bed. “Like you’re never gonna let him see you without makeup.”

“You hush!” I pointed at her as I heard Harry chuckle.

“I just called you beautiful, do you want me to say it again?”

“Oh God, he’s so freaking cute!” exclaimed Lorelei.

“He can hear you, you know?” I glared at her.

“Good!”

I shook my head as Lorelei rose from her bed and headed to the bathroom, mouthing that she’d give us a little privacy.

“How are you, Harry?” I asked him shyly.

“I’m fine. How was your evening?”

“It was...interesting,” I laughed.

“Yeah? What’d you do?”

“We um...went to a club.”

Harry smiled. “Oh yeah? Do you dance, Stacey?”

“Not so much,” I replied. “A little maybe. But it just wasn’t really my kind of place. Too loud. Or maybe I’m too old.”

“Doubt that.”

“Some guy hit on me,” I giggled, covering my face with my hand again.

“Now that I don’t doubt,” Harry commented. “Just one guy though?”

“Harry,” I shook my head.

“What?” He had a smug look on his face, his eyebrows raised as he jokingly mocked me. I couldn’t help but laugh.

“The bartender might’ve been flirting with me a little bit.”

“Mmm hmm,” Harry nodded.

I felt myself start to blush so I looked at the painting on the wall to my right.

“Anyway, while we were there, I got your message, so we came back here.”

“You left the club just so you could talk to me?”

My breath hitched in my throat. Had I just confessed something unknowingly?

“Well...you know…” I stumbled. “I’d had enough to drink, I was ready to go.”

I dared to shift my gaze back to him, and when I did, his face broke into a wide grin, his dimples just about making my heart stop. I bit my lip, knowing without a doubt my face matched my hair.

“What time’s your book signing?” asked Harry.

“Ten,” I replied, sitting up and scooting back against the headboard. I lifted my knees, and resting my forearms against them, holding my phone.

“Same store chain?”

“Barnes & Noble, yeah.”

Harry nodded.

“Don’t think I’ll be as lucky this time to bump into another pop star at Starbucks, though,” I quipped.

“Heyyy.”

I giggled. Again. This guy made me laugh a lot. Mental note taken.

“You never know,” he shrugged.

“Pretty sure that was a once in a lifetime scenario,” I remarked. “Actually more like once in a few lifetimes.”

Harry shifted his eyes, and I could tell something was rolling around in his brain, but he didn’t voice it. Instead he asked me how my kids were.

“Good, I guess,” I answered with a sigh. “As soon as I get back I have to try to find a Halloween costume for Emery. We didn’t find anything yesterday and apparently her dad’s not going to take the time to get her what she wants.”

“What was it she wanted to be?” inquired Harry.

“Lapis something. From Steven Universe. She loves that cartoon.”

“Oh, okay.”

“It’s probably something I’d have to special order, and I don’t think I’d get it in time,” I explained. “So I guess she’ll have to pick something else. Something we can get at the store.”

Just then, Lorelei re-emerged from the bathroom, crossing the room to her suitcase.

“Don’t mind me,” she said, waving her hand. “Just getting my book, then I’m going out on the balcony.”

I smiled at her gratefully as she closed the sliding door, giving me a thumbs up.

“I should probably let you get to bed,” Harry said softly. “It’s one in the morning.”

“I’m actually in bed,” I teased.

Harry smirked. “I meant sleep.”

“I’m not that tired,” I shrugged. “I had that nap today. But I bet you’re tired.”

Harry cocked his head from side to side. “Kinda.”

“Mmm,” I nodded. “Get some sleep, Harry.”

“I like talking to you,” he stated, though I wasn’t sure if he meant he didn’t want to hang up yet.

“You do?”

“It calms me,” he said.

I grinned as I wrapped a strand of hair around my finger. “That’s funny. Because I feel anything but calm right now.”

Did I just admit that out loud? My heart was practically beating out of my chest, my face so warm that he surely noticed the red shade of my skin.

“Why?” Harry asked. “Do I make you nervous?”

“Not really nervous…” I hesitated, trying to think of the right word. “More like...excited.”

Harry raised his brows, a tiny movement that was enough to make my pulse jolt. “Excited, I like that. Excited about what, exactly?”

I pulled the covers up to my chest, tracing the edge with my finger. “You know,” I muttered.

“No, I don’t. Tell me.”

I licked my lips, avoiding his gaze.

“Baby…”

I shut my eyes, taking in a deep breath. “I...I really like you.”

“I thought we established that already,” Harry chuckled low.

“And I’m very attracted to you,” I added.

“Kinda reckoned so by that kiss.”

I finally lifted my eyes then to look at him. The expression on his face was indeed calm, with a hint of question.

“I guess so,” I agreed.

“Tell me what you’re excited about, love.”

I let out another breath and rubbed my eye. “Well...I guess...you and me,” I said. “Us.”

Harry’s dazzling smile returned to his face as I saw him shift in the camera, seemingly lying back, his arm behind his head.

“What are you doing?” I asked, most definitely nervous now.

Maybe I shouldn’t have confessed that just yet. Maybe there was no “us”. Maybe we were just two people chatting, passing time while we traveled. Maybe this meant nothing more than I was lonely and lucky enough to have a cute guy flirting with me over the phone.

“Getting comfortable,” Harry replied. “I wanna hear more.”

Okay, he had said he was trying to woo me.

“More of what?”

“More about us,” he said, his accent making “us” sound more like “ooz”.

I couldn’t help but giggle as I slid down the bed, my head hitting the pillow.

“Stay like that,” I heard Harry murmur.

“What?”

“Just like that. Your hair spread out on your pillow, that gorgeous smile on your face. You’re so pretty, baby.”

“Stop…” I rolled my eyes.

“No, you stop. Don’t move.”

“Huh?”

“Look at me,” he instructed. “Hold your phone a little closer.”

I moved my hand slightly until he told me to leave it there. Then he leaned closer into the screen until all I saw was a blur of his lips as he attempted to kiss me through the phone. When he moved back to his original position, he had a pout on his lips.

“Not as good as the real thing, but it’ll have to do,” he sighed.

“Harry…”

“Yeah?”

I swallowed hard, trying with all my might to relax and not make a fool of myself by saying the wrong thing.

“You definitely have this wooing thing down,” I commented.

Harry smiled. “Just imagine what I could do if I was there with you.”

“No,” I quickly shook my head.

“No?”

“I refuse to imagine that.”

“Why?”

I shut my eyes again and breathed out my nose slowly.

“Because...I’d want it too badly. And then I wouldn’t be able to get it out of my head. And it would just be torture.”

“Stacey…”

“We should probably go to sleep now,” I announced.

“Alright, baby. Talk to you tomorrow, yeah?”

“Yes,” I nodded. “Goodnight, Harry.”

“Night, love.”

I rested my phone on the night stand and headed to the bathroom just as Lorelei opened the balcony door. I didn’t make eye contact with her until I returned and crawled into bed.

“Everything okay?” she asked me.

“Uh huh,” I nodded with a sigh.

“Smitten kitten,” she teased as she reached over to turn off her lamp. “That’s what you are.”

“I am,” I giggled leaning my head back. “God, I so am.”

Like the Barnes & Noble in Houston, this one was also cold when we arrived. It had also rained during the night, the overcast weather making it even chillier. I was grateful that everything was already set up when we got there, no sweating woman carrying boxes. Lorelei and I were able to take our seats right away.

“Good morning!” a young, chipper brunette with a ponytail walked over to us. I noticed she was wearing a Starbucks apron. “My name’s Melanie, and I’ll be assisting you with any beverages you’d like today. Can I get you started with something Ma’am?”

Lorelei sat up straight. “Oh gosh, that would be great. Could I get a tall, non-fat caramel macchiato?”

“Sure thing!” piped Melanie, scribbling something on a pad. “Lorelei, correct?”

“Yes.” Lorelei dug into her purse and pulled out a ten, attempting to hand it to Melanie.

“Oh, no ma’am,” she shook her head. “It’s all taken care of.”

“Oh,” Lorelei stared ahead. “Thanks.”

Melanie then addressed me. “And you’re Stacey?”

“Yes,” I nodded.

“Grande soy white chocolate mocha?”

I glared at the young girl. “Yes. How did you-?”

“Got it!” Melanie beamed, turning back from where she’d come, her ponytail bobbing behind her.

“What in the world?” I turned to Lorelei.

“That’s nice,” she said. “Complimentary drinks.”

“No, I mean, how did she know my order?”

Lor shrugged. “Beats me. Maybe the Houston store told her.”

“I doubt that,” I shook my head. “I’ve never heard of-” Suddenly it dawned on me. “Harry.”

Lorelei’s lips turned up into a smile. “That kid. He did this.”

I sat back in my chair, folding my arms, my own grin on my face. “He certainly did.”

Melanie brought our coffees and shortly afterwards, the store was officially open for the book signing. Just like before, we had all age groups of readers, all eager to tell us how much they enjoyed the book. Some hoped we were releasing a sequel soon, some wishing for a completely new story.

During a small break, Melanie returned to ask if we’d like anything else. I just asked for a water while Lorelei ordered a slice of lemon cake and another latte.

“What?” she voiced when I eyed her. “Your boyfriend would want me to.”

I poked her in the side with a sneer. “Boyfriend?”

Lorelei widened her eyes and fluttered her lashes. “Fine, so maybe you haven’t given it a title yet, but as far as I’m concerned, you’re getting close.”

I shook my head and excused myself to go to the bathroom. While inside, I considered my friend’s words. She was right, we hadn’t exactly confirmed what we were or where this...whatever this was...was going. But what if…? What if Harry Styles became...my boyfriend?

Oh God, I was being ridiculous. We had one semi-date and hadn’t even seen each other since, other than the FaceTime call the night before. I had no idea if and when I’d be with him again. And it looked as though both of us would be busy for a while.

Still, I couldn’t help but wonder. What if…?

After the book signing, which turned out to be lucrative, Lorelei and I went out for Chinese. I was on such a high, feeling great about the book sales (and admittedly Harry and his thoughtfulness), I ordered wine with my dinner and proposed a toast.

Lorelei seemed to enjoy my glee and enthusiasm, and even commented that I had loosened up a bit.

“So glad to see you like this, hon,” she said, raising her glass. “I think Harry is good for you.”

I smirked. “It’s not just Harry. I’m happy for us. And I’m grateful for you.”

“Aww,” she sounded, tilting her head.

“I love you, Lor. You’re my best friend.”

“I love you, too,” she echoed, clinking her glass with mine. “Now let’s eat before you make me cry.”

It might’ve been some really strong wine, or it might’ve been the fact that I hadn’t consumed anything all day except for coffee and a muffin, but after only two glasses of wine I felt more drunk than I had the night before at the club. I stumbled out of the elevator and waited for Lorelei to unlock the door. I groaned as I plopped down on the bed, covering my eyes with my palms.

“Do you need some coffee or something?” I heard Lorelei ask.

“God please, no more coffee!”

I heard her chuckle. “Alright then, Advil?”

“Yes, please.”

“Gonna get some ice. Be right back.”

When I heard the door click closed, I took in a deep breath and released it slowly. Between the wine and the Chinese food, I had horrible heartburn. So much for the high I’d been on.

I suddenly heard a knock on the door and my first thought was that Lor had forgotten her key. I groaned again as I rose from the bed to open it. But what I saw was not Lorelei with her bucket of ice.

“Ms. Barnett?” smiled the tall, blonde woman whom I recognized as the concierge that I’d spoken with when we’d first arrived. In her hands she held a beautiful vase full of flowers.

“Yes, hi,” I greeted her, eyeing the bouquet.

“Flowers for you,” she said, handing the vase out to me.

“Oh!” I exclaimed. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Have a good evening.”

As the woman turned away, Lorelei passed her, giving her a nod and a smile. When she saw the flowers in my hands she whistled.

“Wow, look at you!”

I followed her back into the room, the door closing behind us. I inspected the bouquet, finding a small card. Setting the flowers on the table, I pulled the card out to read it.

Can’t get you out of my head. But I wouldn’t call it torture.

Until I can be with you… H

I shut my eyes, pressing the card to my chest as I took another deep breath.

“Don’t think I need to guess who those are from,” said Lorelei.

I shook my head, my eyes still closed.

“They’re lovely,” she added.

I nodded.

“Here,” I heard her whisper as she tapped my shoulder.

I opened my eyes finally to see her with a glass of water in one hand, two Advil in the other. I told her thanks and took them from her after replacing the card.

After a little cat nap to nurse my headache, I felt better and texted Harry to thank him for the flowers and the coffee. He replied so quickly it was almost as though he’d been waiting to hear from me, though I knew he hadn’t. He said he was on his way out and most likely wouldn’t get to talk to me before I went to bed, so he told me goodnight and to have a safe trip home.

Lorelei and I watched a movie before going to sleep, even though I was only partially paying attention. I’d hoped it could be a distraction, but no such luck.

I had to admit, I wasn’t sure how to interpret these feelings I was having. I knew I liked him. I knew he liked me. He made it very obvious. The truth was, I wasn’t used to being treated this way. Not even Tod had been so thoughtful and attentive, even in the beginning of our relationship. Was it too much? Was I setting myself up for heartbreak? It was almost like a fairytale, or at least like a romance novel. But even fiction didn’t always have a happy ending.

“You’re going without me?” I shouted.

“It’s not my fault you didn’t call your mom to babysit, Stacey. I told you about this a week ago.”

Tod stood beside the closet, buttoning his shirt.

“But that’s not fair. I told you I forgot!”

Tod ignored my admission, his jaw set as he sat on the bed to put on his shoes and strap his watch around his wrist. I felt the tears begin to fall as my chest shook.

“So just because I didn’t get a babysitter, you’re still going?”

“He’s my friend, Stacey. Not yours. It doesn’t really matter if you go.”

“Are...are you serious?” I felt like he’d just punched me in the gut.

With a look of hatred, Tod rose from the bed and walked around me. When he reached the top of the stairs, he told me he’d be home later, but didn’t know what time.

For reasons unknown, I followed him in silence down the stairs and watched him walk out the back door, shutting it behind him. It was only then that I noticed my cheeks were soaked, my bottom lip trembling. Yet inside, all I felt was pure rage.

Running for the door, I swung it open, the sound of an engine revving up coming from the driveway. I pounded on the driver’s side window when I reached it, begging Tod to roll it down even though no sound came from my mouth.

Finally, the window descended, the driver behind the wheel not Tod, yet someone else I recognized.

“Please!” I screamed. “Please don’t do thi-”

“Don’t do what?” he asked, his green eyes blazing with anger.

“Don’t….don’t…”

I sat up in bed, the breath knocked out of me. My hair was stuck to my face, wet from sweat, or perhaps tears. Though the room was dark, all I could see were circles, shapes blocking my vision.

“Stace, you okay?” I heard to my left.

Blinking, I turned my head to see an outline of Lorelei, lying in bed.

“Yeah,” I exhaled. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

She sat up, reaching for a glass on the nightstand. “Need some water?”

I nodded as she flipped on the lamp and handed me the glass. I blinked again, adjusting my eyes to the light. Taking the water, I drank it all in two gulps.

“Another dream?” Lorelei murmured, sitting on the edge of my bed.

“Yeah,” I sighed, running my fingers through my hair.

“I’m sorry. A repeat or a new one?”

“Repeat,” I said. “But the end was different.”

“Oh. How so?”

I looked at her. “Harry was in it.”

I’d never been to therapy. Lorelei and a couple other people told me I should have. At least while I was going through a divorce. Lor had seen a psychologist during her divorce, even though her marriage had only lasted a couple years, one she insisted had just been a dumb mistake. But she swore by her therapy, saying it was the best thing she’d ever done. It had opened her eyes to so many things about herself, not just her marriage.

It wasn’t that I was afraid to go. I knew it probably would have done me good. But at the time, I was struggling with trying to make the best life for my kids and me, and financially it just didn’t seem like a priority.

Two years later I felt like I was finally where I wanted to be, or at least getting close to achieving that. The only blip was that I somehow still let Tod get to me.

Tod never hit me. He never abused me, not really. I suppose a therapist might try to get me to admit that I was emotionally abused. And that might’ve been true. I just felt like because we had children together, it wasn’t fair for me to play the victim. He was a great father. Our girls loved him, and I believed that what was best for them was to have both parents still equally a part of their lives. But I couldn’t deny that he still made me want to spit in his face from time to time.

I continued to have dreams about him. When we were dating, before we ever got married, I would have dreams where he would leave me. Sometimes he’d be really mean and angry in the dream, sometimes just a cocky asshole. And sometimes in those dreams, he was leaving me to go back to his ex-wife. When I’d wake up, Tod would hold me and promise me that would never happen, that he was mine forever and he loved me.

I didn’t know exactly why I had those dreams, but I figured it stemmed from some kind of fear of abandonment, much like my mom had suffered when my dad left. I just wanted to be wanted.

As the years went by, I had the dreams less often, but every once in a while, I’d wake up in a pool of sweat. They’d finally dissipated until one night after the divorce I’d had another. And another. I continued to have them sporadically, but this was the first one I’d had that included a different man.

I knew what it meant. I didn’t need therapy to figure it out.

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[otakween]

Digimon Data Squad (Savers) - Episode 19

Another lore episode, this one was kinda boring, ngl. I think I was also just tired when I watched it tho, so I won't judge too harshly. I did like the brotherly bonding going on between Masaru and Ikuto. Tohma was the one to get brushed to the side for once with Masaru and Yoshi taking Ikuto on a road trip. This is what I was asking for, so I'm pleased.

Notes:

This episode was very dialogue heavy. I barely got any screenshots because of all the subtitles (I try to avoid those). I didn't notice as many off model bits this time, so that's a step up.

We got some backstory about the Digital World Exploration Squad. (DWES? lol). It felt a little too vague, so I hope they plan on revealing more. I suppose we'll learn stuff from Ikuto's parents.

They did the dumb cartoon thing where Ikuto had his hair wrap as a newborn lol. Made me roll my eyes. I'm pretty sure we could figure out from context clues that it was Ikuto.

I was a little surprised by Ikuto's parents designs, they were very distinct. His dad is plus sized and shorter than his wife and the wife doesn't look like a generic anime mom either. Good job character designers 👍

As someone who has a systems related job, I felt bad for Tohma being forced to play IT guy for the whole episode lol

IDK about y'all but when I'm car sick, I'm pretty sure multiple hot dogs is not the solution. 🤢 (The non car sick me wants one tho)

Masaru simultaneously squabbling with and looking after Ikuto was nice big brother energy. And Yoshi was giving mom friend. (Although we barely see her interact with Ikuto which is a little disappointing).

When Lalamon was like "I'd love to take over driving but I'd be useless" I pictured what Lilamon would look like driving lol. I guess she'd be too big. Maybe Sunflowmon could drive tho? (In other words, I think Lalamon was making excuses >:/)

Ikuto's scream when Falcomon calls him a human was pretty intense in the sub. Made me think about what kind of psychological damage it would cause to have that sort of identity crisis. Boy needs major therapy.

The "no matter how you look at it you're human!" thing is kind of funny considering all the humanoid digimon out there. I guess those do have animalistic features though.