#someone on twitter pointed out how wifi works

[serasfanfiction]

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3| Part 4 | Part 5| Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12

CW: For Valentino being Valentino. He doesn't do anything, but he does say some things.

oOo

The closer they came to V Tower, the more loud everything became.

Paper posters gave way to bulletin boards. Every street was lit with flashing signs and arrows, pointing the way to different businesses down the main strip. Advertisements were nearly plastered on every single available surface, competing with each other in a cacophony of bright colors and promises to make all of one's troubles go away, if only one bought the product.

Sinners wandered the streets, some glued to their phones as they typed out a text message, watched a video, or shouted at someone on the other end of a phone call. Some sinners loitered around various shops selling televisions, each screen showing an advertisement for the latest gadget VoxTek was selling.

The Vees made it ridiculously easy to learn their faces, as none of the trio were shy about plastering their likeness all over their wares. Vox was clearly unafraid to throw his reputation behind anything he supported, one advertisement proclaiming, "I'd buy it." Valentino left nothing to the imagination - figurative or literally - on what he was selling, with various larger than life posters that featured the moth scantily clad and in suggestive poses. Velvette was significantly more reserved, in comparison, with only a billboard advertising her perfume, named, Love Potion.

Quite frankly speaking, it was all a bit overstimulating.

Walking nonchalantly at his side, Alastor barely gave any of bombastic sights around him a second glance. He had made little commentary since they had set out from the hotel earlier in the day, falling silent as they had entered the Vees territory. Where all of this technology was practically invented yesterday, as far as Lucifer was concerned, Alastor had lived on Earth when most of the technology around them was still in its infancy stages. Advertising, likewise, was hardly new. Humans had been shouting at each other to buy this or to buy that since they'd first come up with the idea of selling a product. They may not have had flashing lights in the 1920s or 30s, but there had been posters, billboards, and radio ads.

Modern technology just made everything more... flashy.

Lucifer watched a group of sinners standing before an electronic shop, TVs stacked up in the window. Each TV was showing the same thing: an advertisement for the latest cell phone. He was a little surprised he still cared enough to be sickened as Vox straight up hypnotized the viewers into buying the phone. He shook his head in disgust a they passed group turned mob making a mad dash into the store. "Quite the salesman, Vox is," Lucifer commented, not trying to hide his judgmental tone.

Alastor snorted. He glanced at the group scampering out with their new cell phones as he drawled, "Vox has always had a... persuasive sales pitch."

It was Lucifer's turn to snort as they passed another poster of Vox, this time just the overlord and his VoxTech logo. His ever present slogan, Trust Us, curved around the logo. "You mean he hypnotizes people into doing what he wants." It was good to know in advance. No one had ever tried to hypnotize the Devil himself before and he wasn't keen to find out if it was possible.

"Hm," Alastor hummed in agreement. "Just so."

V Tower was easy to spot, even with all the noise going on in the background. The number of surveillance cameras also began to increase the closer they got to the trio's headquarters. Lucifer eyed one as it followed their trek down the street. "So much for keeping our arrival a surprise."

The redhead smirked, obviously pleased about something. Sing song, he assured, "I wouldn't be too sure about that."

The blonde sighed. He was walking right into it, he knew he was. He was going to do it anyway, because damn his curiosity. "Oh?"

Alastor twirled his staff around his fingers like a baton. "All the cameras we've passed so far have been laughably easy to take out." With a practiced hand, he caught the staff, it's tip pointing at the offending camera. As they passed it, the little button on the side of it blinked from green to red. "Vox isn't paying attention to his little toys. Dear me, he must be away from his surveillance room."

Lucifer squinted at the camera dubiously. "You can tell we're not being watched, by, what? The camera not coming back on?"

Alastor laughed, short and cutting. "Oh, it's more than lack of interaction." He leaned in close, as if he were parting with a juicy secret. "I can tell when Vox is watching." His smile was sharp and cruel and said everything about how pathetic he found the overlord in question. "His attention has a certain... desperation to it."

Lucifer wasn't certain which part of all of that to focus on first: the fact that apparently Vox had flat out stalked Alastor to the point Alastor knew when he was being watched or the fact that Alastor clearly found the whole thing hilarious.

Father, these sinner could be fucked up sometimes.

Lucifer grinned, unable to pass up the opportunity he'd just been handed to needle the deer demon. "Didn't do much about the camera that recorded the fight."

Alastor's expression soured around the edges. His ears flattened as he resumed his previous position, snide as he pointed out, "Yes, well, I was a bit distracted by doing all the work. You should try joining in next time."

Alastor hadn't let him get involved in any of the attacks, insistent that he had everything covered, and they both knew it. Lucifer had let him because he always half hoped someone would kill the asshole.

Lucifer let the conversation drop with little more than a roll of his eyes, his mind drifting as he processed this new information. If Alastor could indeed tell when Vox was watching (which, creepy) and had been surprised by one of the attacks being filmed, one could infer that Vox was keeping the hotel under a certain level of constant surveillance.

After returning from their day out, he had hauled himself up in his room as he scoured the news for mention of any attacks. Had tracked down the news reports Rosie had mentioned. There had only been a number written reports and many more reposted written reports, with a single video dedicated to the subject. The video itself contained footage from the first attack, despite the news articles having all been posted fairly recently. Judging from the general comments under the articles and the video, few people were interested in the hotel itself beyond wanting to know if it still stood or not.

They had been lucky the fight had forced the drone to retreat or risk being destroyed. Distance had rendered the video quality poor enough his bleeding hand wasn't visible for all of Hell to see. Everyone already knew angels could be harmed, killed even. It wouldn't do for anyone to get it into their pretty little heads that angel weapons might work on him or Charlie, however.

(Lucifer tried not to think about the main image he had seen, again and again, in those news articles. Tried not to think about how reverent Alastor had looked like as he reached his hand out to the Devil, as if he were the only God the sinner would ever be able to touch. The framing of the image had made it appear like it was something so different than it had really been.)

Light pressure on his shoulder drew him out of his thoughts. Out of the corner of his view, he caught Alastor withdrawing the hand he'd used to get his attention. It was a good thing he had, as it took a second for the sensor above the door to register their presence and trigger the door to open. He could only imagine what the media would have thought if a camera had caught Lucifer running right into the front doors of V Tower while lost in thought.

They stepped through the doors into a lobby themed in oranges and reds with purple accents. Hearts were definitely a motif, accenting arches and their support columns. Purple lanterns dotted every other column, more decoration than function. Lucifer took in the additional advertisements, some on the walls, some on a-frames. A large, flat screen tv displayed the VoxTek logo, but there was nothing currently playing on it.

There were a number of employees dotted around the lobby. A sheep sinner carrying a precarious stack of tablets raced off in one direction, while a horned rabbit sinner ran in another direction with an armful of clothing. A trio of sinners loitered off to the side, whispering back in forth in a frantic, hushed argument about what sounded like bottom lines and stocks. Near the back of the lobby, a blue and yellow sinner shouted about "messy actors" and "shitty wardrobes" as he frantically slammed his finger into the up button of the elevator.

At the center of the lobby, themed similar to the surrounding columns, was a welcome desk, currently being run by a white haired, fuchsia skinned sinner. Her tiny bat wings fluttered and drooped as she fielded calls. Distracted as she was, she failed to notice anyone had entered the lobby until Alastor and Lucifer had already reached the desk.

"One moment, please," she said to them, showing that she had at least noticed they were there. "Now where did Velvette say she wanted her calls sent to today...?" She bit her lip, finger hovering over one of a quite frankly insane number of optional extensions. Her eyes darted back and forth between two of them, before she shrugged and for all intents and purposes flat out guessed which one to send the line to. "Thank you for waiting," she said in a practiced, albeit polite monotone. "How may I... help..." She trailed off as she finally laid eyes on who had walked into the lobby, eyes going wide. She gaped as she recognized Lucifer but went completely blank as she took in Alastor's presence. The blonde was fairly certain that if he could read minds there wouldn't have been a single thought going through her head at that moment.

Lucifer fixed an equally practiced polite smile on his face. "Excuse me, miss," he began, only to pause when she failed to regain her senses, apparently still too flabbergasted by his companion. Brow twitching, he rapped his knuckles sharply upon the marble surface of the desk.

The noise seemed to do the trick, the sinner snapping out of her trance to jerk her head around. "Yes! Um." She swallowed, casting one last nervous glance at the Radio Demon. Between looking at Alastor and looking back at Lucifer, he could see her clawing her professional mask back on with the kind of experience that came from needing to remain calm when one's life was on the line. "How may I help you, sirs?" Her voice didn't even shake a little.

Noting the reaction and shelving the topic for later, Lucifer said, "Please let Vox know we are here to speak with him."

The sinner blinked, disbelief clear as day on her face despite her best efforts not to show it. "You..." Lucifer had the distinct impression the 'you' here was Alastor, even if she wasn't looking directly at him. "Wish to speak with... Vox?" Her tone suggested that had she not been speaking with Lucifer Morningstar, the literal king of Hell, she might have asked him if he was smoking something.

The noise, or lack there of, reached his ears. The general hustle and bustle of when they had entered had completely died down to be replaced by whispers and murmurs. Even without turning, he could feel all eyes on them. Lucifer glanced at Alastor, whose Cheshire Cat grin suggested he was internally laughing at all the fuss his being here was causing. His ears flicked to and fro as he followed different conversations.

Smile fixed in place, he affirmed, "Yup!" He waggled his fingers in the direction of her phone. "Now, please."

The receptionist stared off into the middle distance, the same blank look in her eyes he'd seen on soldier's who'd died at war. In the fatalistic tone of someone who didn't expect to have a job (or possibly be alive) in the morning, she said, "Whelp, this job sucked anyway."

Someone, a little too loudly, stage whispered, "Oh, I would not want to be in her shoes, right now."

Without turning, the receptionist flipped the person off with one hand while picking up the phone with the other. She pressed a seemingly random button as she put the receiver to her ear, a down right manic smile crossed her face.

Lucifer (and likely everyone in the lobby, as well) could tell the instant the phone was answered on the other end. A voice that matched the one's he'd heard in the advertisements bellowed, "WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT INTERUPTING MY MEETINGS?"

Taking advantage of the fact that it sounded like Vox was a sinner who needed to breathe on occasion, the woman said, voice picture perfect cheerful, "The King of Hell and the Radio Demon are here to see you, sir."

A very long, audible pause, both on the phone and from the lobby around them. Then, "WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN ALASTOR'S HERE??"

Lucifer raised an eyebrow at the redhead, incredulous. Seriously? What kind of history did these two have that Alastor showing up at V Tower was causing this kind of fuss? It was almost enough to make him forget he had been totally overlooked in that last statement.

Around them, every camera in the lobby suddenly came to life, zeroing in on them. Lucifer could tell by their synchronous motion, someone was likely watching them. Alastor's whole posture changed as he turned on one of the cameras, head tilted just so and smile lazy as he waved at it.

As one, those very same cameras began to sizzle and pop as they were all taken out.

Lucifer noted the redhead looked far too pleased with himself for that to have been anything other than deliberate. He knew Alastor hated being recorded, but that was just petty. Turning his attention to the receptionist, it was only because of his heightened sense of hearing that he was able to hear Vox, voice considerably more in control and at a much more reasonable volume, telling her to send them down.

"At once, sir." She set the phone down at leisure, as if she hadn't just had her eardrums tested by her boss shouting in them. Still looking at something only she could see, she said, "Vox will see you now." She pointed behind her to a set of elevators. "Please use the elevator on the right, as this is the only elevator with access to Vox's personal office." Placing her hands on the desk in a deceptively casual way, she finished, "Please have a hellish rest of your day."

"You, too," Lucifer said on reflex. He watched her as they made their way around the desk, throwing glances over his shoulder after they'd passed it. Under his breath, he asked of Alastor, "Think the hotel needs a receptionist?"

They had a front desk, didn't they? And a land line? Maybe? There was no mail service in Hell and Alastor had to get communications somehow, seeing as he refused to touch anything more modern than a radio. He'd check on it when he got back.

"Ha!" Alastor side eyed him. "Come now, your Majesty, you don't want poor Husker to be out of a job, do you?"

Lucifer belatedly remembered that apparently Husk doubled as not just their bartender, but also as their receptionist. He guffawed. One the one hand, Husk was indeed an great bartender, even willing to be a patient ear for one's troubles, if he tolerated them. He was certainly an exceptional judge of someone's character. On the other, was he a good receptionist? No offense meant to the avian feline in question, but, not in the slightest.

Lucifer added the mental note to check in on the receptionist later to his growing list of things to do.

The elevator opened without them pressing any buttons, suggesting that Vox, the creep, had other ways of keeping tabs on them. Lucifer and Alastor stepped in, the former not thrilled with how tiny the elevator was. There was just enough room for the both of them to stand side by side with little to spare. Insult to injury, the most obnoxious elevator music he had ever had the displeasure to have inflicted on him played over head. There were no buttons to chose from, but there seemed to be none needed as the elevator began its decent on it's own.

Lucifer reiterated: what a creep.

More to fill the silence and distract himself from the growing need to destroy the speaker putting out that horrible noise, he asked, "You ever been here before?"

In the same way most people would say, 'I'd rather die, thanks,' Alastor scoffed. "Absolutely not! I'd never inflict such poor company on myself willingly." Still, it wasn't hard to notice the little ways Alastor was on high alert, very much aware of the fact that he had walked willingly into enemy territory. His ego didn't allow him to worry, but it still paid to be alert to potential surprises.

Thankfully, the elevator didn't take long before reaching its destination. This new room was vast, with a color scheme nothing like the lobby's. Where the lobby was warm shades of orange, red and purple, this room was all cool shades of blue, red, white. The room was dark, only illuminates by dozens upon dozens of screens, most glowing with white light, a handful with red light. Red light filtered up from what appeared to be a deep pit surrounding a bridge-like walkway. Attached at the end was a round platform and attached to the platform was a seat surrounded by even more monitors.

This wasn't an office. This was a surveillance room.

Walking down the walkway was none other than the founder of VoxTek, Vox himself, striding along with all the confidence of someone who was at the top of their industry and knew it. His smile was wide and Lucifer immediately pegged it as the fake kind he usually saw on car salesmen. "Your Highness! Welcome!" Vox greeted. When he was close enough, he offered his hand out for a handshake.

Lucifer eyed it, just long enough to make it look like he wasn't going to take it. He didn't expect anyone to actually bow to him in greeting, but something about this guy left him half tempted to push for it now. Taking the hand, he allowed Vox to shake it to be polite.

When it came time to greet Alastor, the TV demon merely gritted his teeth and said, voice dripping with venom, "Alastor."

Alastor didn't appear bothered in the least by the rude greeting. Matching vitriol with amusement, he merely said, "Vox."

Lucifer looked from Vox, to Alastor, and then back to Vox. Man, he was so sorry he hadn't asked for more details on these two before they'd gotten here. Predicting this could go on a while if they were left to their own devises, Lucifer pointedly cleared his throat.

Vox's smile smoothed out, salesman mask back on place. "Yes, of course. Now, your highness," the sinner held out his hand towards the bridge, indicating he'd like them to come into his "office" proper. Lucifer didn't fail to notice there was only one seat down that way and it was meant for Vox. "May I call you Lucifer? Lucifer--"

Oh, absolutely not. They were going to have to nip that in the bud. Even Alastor, who had somehow become his rival for his place in his daughter's life and literally lived down the hall from him, was smart enough not to call him by name.

"The word you're looking for is 'Majesty'."

Vox paused, body tensing. The fallen angel got the impression he wasn't used to being interrupted. "Excuse me?"

Lucifer effected a bored stance, one hand settled on his cane as he explained, deliberately just this side of hostile, "Your Highness is how you would address my daughter." He looked Vox dead in the eye, making it pointedly clear he was deadly serious and there was going to be none of this BS about who was calling the shots. "Your Majesty is how you address your king."

Vox interestingly grew more calm in the face of his king's ire. "Of course, your Majesty," he said, immediately correcting course. He offered they move the conversation to the platform again. This time, Lucifer nodded. He followed as Vox lead the way, noting how the TV demon never quite turned his back on them, seemingly uneasy having Alastor at his back, even this deep into what was his own territory.

Lucifer took the time spent crossing the bridge to exam the pit around them. While the red light obscured the bottom itself, he was able to make out what appeared to be a very large tank behind equally large glass walls. Swimming around without a care in the world were what appeared to be several glowing sharks. He followed one as it made its way from one side of the pit to the other, able to sense there was nothing natural in their design. These creatures may have appeared to be alive, but they were all circuits and wires, through and through.

When they reached the platform, Vox showed sense by not going for his chair. He did stop in the center of the circle, a subtle attempt to regain some control of the situation. "Now, your Majesty," he began, just sincere enough it was impossible to tell if it was fake or not. "Please, tell me how I and VoxTek can be of assistance today."

Lucifer watched him. Watched the way his face was turned to Lucifer, but his eyes kept ticking to Alastor. Noted the way his body was tilted ever so slightly in the redhead's direction, as if drawn by a magnet he couldn't resist. Vox may have been putting on a show of talking to Lucifer, but he very much only had eyes for Alastor.

Someone was obsessed.

Someone was obsessed really badly.

Something that felt suspiciously like possessiveness reared its head deep within his chest. Lucifer had no more of a claim on Alastor than Vox did, but Alastor had chosen to live under his roof and was his daughter's hotelier. Finicky to the last, with all the loyalty of a feral, stray cat, Alastor was theirs.

Smile all teeth, eyes gold on red, Lucifer raised his free hand until they were right under where Vox's nose would be if he had one. He snapped his fingers, once, twice, sharply.

Vox nearly went cross-eyed, as he zeroed in on the offending digits, leaning slightly back.

"I know Alastor is very eye catching," Lucifer drawled, voice deepening as he let his displeasure seep in. "But you are talking to me. Do you understand?"

The TV demon had the grace to raise his hands, not necessarily in surrender, but certainly in a pacifying manner. It was easy to see him cycling through possible responses, as he fished for the one that would deescalate the situation the fastest. "I apologize, you Majesty, for any offense," he settled on, tone so polite it reeked of falseness.

Lucifer let him have it because it seemed Vox was finally cottoning on to the fact that there was a larger predator in the room then either of the two sinners. The reluctant king withdrew a step, pleased when Vox's eyes followed him, with not a single glance at Alastor. Now that he had the CEO's full attention, he decided it was time to get this show on the road. "I have a message for everyone in the Pride Ring. I've noticed how many people have a TV or a cellphone. I've also noticed VoxTek's reach." Lucifer said this last part only because it was true. However they had managed it, VoxTek has even managed to make it's way into the other rings.

For the first time since they'd arrived, Vox's smile actually appeared real. It put into stark light how fake the one he had been wearing up until this moment had been. "We would be thrilled to feature you on one of our television shows, your Majesty." He was smart enough not to look at Alastor, although it was obvious the next part was directed towards him. "Our viewership ratings have been going through the roof over the last few years. Statistics show that almost every household in the Pentagram City has a TV these days."

It was a good sales pitch. It might even have been true. The hotel had even had a TV, although Lucifer had explicitly forbidden anyone from bringing one into the palace, the exception being the live-in servants' personal quarters. Regardless, Vox hadn't said that to try and sale anyone on anything, he'd said it to rub it in Alastor's face that Lucifer had chosen to pass his message along over Vox's medium, instead of Alastor's.

Although they hadn't discussed it ahead of time, Lucifer found himself saying, in all the casualness of it having been a given, "If Alastor wishes to broadcast the message simultaneously over radio for our viewers who prefer the medium, he's more than welcome to do so, but we're not here to discuss that." He was fairly certain, even without turning around, that Alastor hadn't given it away that this was news to him.

The idea was reinforced by the way that Vox's eye twitched before he could regain control over it. "Yes, of course we want it to reach all of the intended audiences." Hands coming to rest at the small of his back, the TV demon attempted to steer them back on course. "Now, about the content of the message."

Lucifer tilted his head to the side. "Does it matter what the content is? Unless you prefer I go somewhere else to do this." Something that was also true. Mammon may lack any talent of his own, but he knew a cash grab when he saw one. He jumped onto the bandwagon that was television sets, TV shows, and moving advertisements as soon as the technology had hit Hell. The only reason none of his products where seen in the Pride Ring was because Lucifer limited his exposure to sinners were ever he could. If he gave him the green light, Mammon would topple VoxTek within a matter of months, if not less.

Vox paused, sensing he was in troubled waters, but not quite sure from which direction. "No, no. We here at VoxTek simply prefer to make sure that all the content we put out is content we stand by--"

Lucifer leaned in. If his tail were out, it would have been thrashing. "Are you saying your king could say anything VoxTek wouldn't support?"

Vox's screen left eye widened ever so slightly, the sclera going from a solid red, to more hypnotic red and black. It was there and gone in the blink of his eyes. His voice sounded glitchy as he gritted out a, "No."

"May I suggest something, your Majesty?"

Lucifer broke off what was quickly becoming a staring match with Vox to turn his attention to Alastor. The redheaded sinner had been standing behind him, seemingly content to watch the drama unfold from the side as Lucifer took the lead. Considering their rivalry, Lucifer was a little hesitant to allow Alastor to enter the fray, lest he potentially make things worse. However, he did appreciate the fact that these two knew each other better than he knew either of them.

Giving away the floor, at least for now, Lucifer gave a single short nod, for him to proceed.

Alastor stepped up until they were side by side.

Unable to resist now that the redhead had center stage, Vox immediately shifted to face him, Lucifer all but forgotten. He frowned, almost all pretenses of being a businessman all but thrown out the window. "What are you doing here, Alastor?" He snipped at the redhead. "I know you'll take any opportunity to move up in Hell, but I didn't take you as a kiss ass."

Alastor smiled at him, as if he were a short sighted child. "We hadn't gotten to that part, have we?" He gave his staff a little spin, noting the way Vox's eyes narrowed as he took in it's repaired state. "His Majesty asked me to stand with him as he gave his address."

Vox snorted, doubtful. "You'd never agree to appearing on screen." He actually started to laugh at the idea, until he realized Alastor was completely serious. "Wait, you said yes?" Gaping, he turned on Lucifer, seeming in his shock to forget who he was talking to. "What the hell did you do to get him to agree to show up on TV?" He glared back and forth between then, baring his teeth as he asked, "What, are you two fucking or something?"

Lucifer narrowed his eyes, lip curling back. In one fell swoop, Vox had just reduced himself to less than scum on the bottom of his boots. The only reason they were continuing this conversation was because he didn't feel like dragging Valentino down to the Greed Ring. "Maybe you just don't know how to speak his language," he snipped back, mouth moving before he could think about what he was saying or how much it gave away.

Before Vox could think too deeply on it, the redhead cleared his throat. For all that he preferred to be an unseen voice on the radio, Alastor did how to play his audience in person. "Let me sweeten the deal," he said, his hand running down the pole of his staff, eyeing the TV demon as he did so. "If you agree to broadcast our King's message, I'll do that one little thing you wanted me to do when you asked me to join you." He pointed the microphone end at Vox, the tip perilously close to his screen. "From when you agree to the end of the broadcast."

Vox stared at the microphone. Slowly, he raised his eyes until he met Alastor's. Something that looked suspiciously like sadness peaked through his anger, although Lucifer was certain they weren't supposed to see it. "You'd really do that. For him?"

Alastor withdrew his staff, tucking it under his arm. With his free hand, he reached out until a single claw rested under Lucifer's chin. Encouraging him to look up at him, Lucifer let Alastor tilt his head up and around to meet that fond expression on the redhead's face. "As his Majesty said, he knows how to speak my language."

Vox's eyes widened, a dawning expression coming over him. Real horror followed shortly behind it. "Holy shit," he whispered, staggering back. Lucifer tore his gaze away from Alastor's just in time to see him drop into his chair as if his strings had been cut. Dragging a hand down his face, Vox said with absolute certainty, "You actually made a Faustian Bargain."

He said it like this was his worst nightmare came to life.

Beside him, Alastor practically radiated smug triumph. It was all the affirmation he needed to give.

All of the fight hadn't been been cut from Vox just yet. Unhappy as he was with this set back, Vox was already trying to figure out how spin this in his favor. An elbow resting on each arm of his chair, the knuckles of his joined hands pressed to his lips, he countered, "Alright, Alastor does his thing and I'll broadcast whatever you want." His grin took up most of his screen, all pretenses of friendliness dropped. "Give me an hour to prepare the studio for you."

Before Vox could run off, Lucifer placed one last little condition on him. "Vox. Make sure the other Vees are in attendance." At the TV demon's questioning tilt of his head, the blonde merely said, "I wouldn't want anyone to miss my message."

Whatever Vox thought of this was hidden behind his joined hands. Instead of bothering with any of the usual ways out of the room, Vox transformed into a bolt of electricity, disappearing into one of the monitors.

Silence descended over the room. Then, "You two have history."

Alastor snorted. "You know how to use your eyes, your Majesty. I'm impressed."

Lucifer ignored the sarcasm and the insult in favor of observing his companion. The redhead's brows were furrowed with concentration, eyes closed and the very air around him warped to a noticeable degree. To Lucifer, a creature who had existed before physical matter, picking up on the way Alastor was enhancing certain electromagnetic waves around him was child's play. Hoping to kill two birds with one stone - learning more about their shared history while figuring out what the sinner was doing - the little king gave into his curiosity and asked, "What did Vox want you to do?"

Alastor didn't answer for a moment, whatever he was doing taking quite a bit of his concentration. Lucifer patiently waited him out. Several minutes ticked by with nothing by the hum of the monitors and the swimming of the sharks to keep him occupied. Cracking open a single eye a slit, Alastor reached a point in whatever he was doing where he could split his attention. Lucifer noted the pupil of the visible eye was a dial.

"Do you know how the technology in that silly little device in your pocket works?" Alastor asked by way of response.

The only things Lucifer tended to carry on his person were his cane, which was in his hand, and his cellphone, in case Charlie tried to call him (rare that it was). His cellphone, which was indeed in his pocket. Fishing it out, he eyed it. He knew it worked. He knew how to work it. Did he really need to know more? Besides, it wasn't one of VoxTek's cellphones, which made him less wary of it. Confused as to where this was going, he said, "It works, isn't that all that matters?"

"Such a pedestrian response." Alastor hummed, his microphone coming over to point at the little device. "You device works because it's able to transmit data via radio waves." He used his staff to gesture to the room around them, his eye falling shut now that he no longer needed to see to engage in the conversation. "Vox's specialty is electricity. He can interact with anything that uses it."

Lucifer remembered the way the TV demon had disappeared into his monitor, a chill running down his spine as he imagined what all else he could likely interact with.

"Radio waves, on the other hand, are my specialty," Alastor continued. This fit with what Lucifer had observed both in the current moment and back at the radio tower. "Usually I simply use them to connect myself to any radio in Pentagram City, but I can also enhance them." His edges of his smile tightened. There was no strain in his posture, but Lucifer was suspicious they might see hints of it if this carried on too long. "When Vox wanted to introduce wireless technology to Hell, he suggested that we team up. He would create the technology and the demand, and I would enhance his reach." His expression sharpened into a sneer. "I had no interest in being a mere tool in elevating him to the top."

Judging from the short interaction he'd observed, Lucifer was suspicious Vox had wanted much more than just to use Alastor as a tool. Vox had done little to hide the depth of his anger and hatred, and no one reached that level of emotion without having swung in the opposite direction first. Lucifer wondered if Alastor had really turned Vox down because of his own lust for power or if Alastor had seen the way Vox had looked at him and hadn't been interested.

Since that question was more likely to shut down the conversation then receive an answer, resigned himself to never knowing. Either way, he supposed he should be happy that Alastor had turned Vox down. Lucifer didn't want to think about what they could have accomplished if they had somehow found a way to work together.

Instead, he went with, "So, you can interact with anything that receives radio waves, then. Not just radios?"

In response, his cell phone dinged. The screen lit up to the lock screen, showing he had a new text message. Though it should be improbable, there was nothing in the place of a sender's name. Lucifer silently frowned at it, suspicious of who was the sender, but unwilling to open anything he didn't know who it came from.

As if sensing his distrust, Alastor crooned, "Go on. I promise it's not spam."

Lucifer was still wary, but he unlocked his phone. If this was malicious ware, Alastor was getting him a new phone.

The text message was indeed not spam. When he opened it up, there were simply two words:

You suck!

Lucifer glared at the message. "So, what? How would this help Vox?"

Alastor wagged a finger at him. "I'm currently high jacking every TV and cellphone with it's WIFI turned on. 666 News has never been more popular than it is right now." He paused, as if searching for something. "I excluded most of the phones in the hotel, but I do have Angel's."

Lucifer whistled, giving credit where it was due. That was honestly incredible. Terrifying in it's reach, holy shit, but incredible. A thought crossed his mind, an unholy grin slowly spreading across his face as he wondered, "Wait, if I reply to this, will the message go straight to you?"

"Ha!" Alastor shook his head, using his microphone to bop the top of Lucifer's hat. An impressive feat, considering his eyes were still closed. "Sorry, but I'm merely a transmitter and an amplifier. My abilities don't work that way."

Lucifer straightened his hat, half tempted to try anyway, just to see if it were true. Perhaps he would another time.

He was interrupted from any further questions by one of the monitors coming to life over Vox's chair. A moment later, the sinner himself reentered the same way he had left. Vox settled back in his chair, legs crossed and significantly more calm than when he left. "The studio will be ready for you in half an hour." He glanced once at Alastor, who had opened his eyes upon the TV demon's return, before returning back to Lucifer. "Let's relocate there now, shall we?"

Lucifer nodded. Instead of leading them towards the elevator they'd come down in, Vox merely joined them in the center of the platform. It became apparent why when the very middle suddenly began to rise, revealing there was yet more ways in and out of the surveillance room. Once they were back in the lobby, he led them over to elevator on the left, only sticking with them long enough to press the button of the floor with the studio, before pulling back out of it. "I'll meet you up there."

The door closed, once again leaving just the two of them and that horrible elevator music.

Lucifer glanced at Alastor. He still looked fine, but he was definitely putting out a lot of power. Feeling concerned (Alastor had agreed to do this for him) and wary of insulting him, he asked, checking in, "You doing okay, still?"

Alastor's ear twitched, the widening of smile showing he wasn't insulted, but rather amused. "Oh, don't worry your little head, I'll be just fine, your Majesty." Eyes aglow with more than just the power it took to carry out his promise, he added, "But I expect a reward when we return to the Hotel."

Lucifer felt a jolt run up his spine. The chain around his neck didn't manifest, but he could feel it tightening ever so. Alastor was invoking their deal, officially giving him his 12 hour notice. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised, as Alastor had yet to actually invoke the deal since making it with him. Tilting his head so his hat hid his expression from both Alastor and the camera's gaze, Lucifer grumbled, "Should have known you'd do nothing for free."

The doors to the elevator opened, illuminating the redhead's sinister grin. A few sinners had paused to catch a glimpse of them as the doors opened, only to pale at the expression on Alastor's face. They quickly scurried off to carry out their tasks. Lucifer stepped through the doors, taking in the chaos in front of him. Numerous demons were running around, similar to the frantic energy he'd seen in the lobby, everyone getting the studio ready. A stack of papers and angry shouting from a blonde woman in a red dress (what was her name? It started with a K) suggested that something else had been planned for this hour, but had been cancelled due to Lucifer's abrupt interruption.

Lucifer might have felt bad, if it weren't for the fact that he knew without a shadow of a doubt this particular reporter was likely going to find some way to verbally eviscerate him later. He may not have remembered her name, but he did remember her particular brand of cutthroat journalism and the outright nasty things she had said about his daughter in the past. And her casual abuse of her co-reporter.

As if sensing she was being watched, the reporter turned her head a full 180 degrees, her smile down right unhinged and full of promises.

Not for the first time since landing in Hell, Lucifer almost wished he was still capable of creating Holy Water. There were some situations one just needed a spray bottle full of the hard core stuff for.

"Your Majesty," Vox pipped up, appearing from seemingly nowhere. The only reason Lucifer didn't jump was because he was still caught in a glaring match with a literal reporter from Hell. "This way, please."

Lucifer carried on glaring at her, right up until he physically couldn't. "I don't care who you've got sitting with me, I don't want her anywhere near me."

Vox followed his gaze, snorting when he saw who he'd been making a stink eye at. "Oh, no worries." He turned his own glare on Alastor. "I'll be copiloting right along with you."

Lucifer took in the two chairs. If he was sitting in one and Vox in the other, Alastor was going to be left standing. Judging from the gleam in the TV demon's eye, this was on purpose. Vox pulled out the seat on the right, the malicious reporter's coworker's usual seat, a smile so fake one would have to be blind to think it sincere spread across his screen. "Just a few more finishing touches, and then we'll be ready to begin." He turned on his heel and disappeared back into the bowels of the studio.

Lucifer blinked down at the seat. He could already feel the sheer number of eyes from the people in the studio, watching and waiting to see what he was going to do next. This was the first time almost every single one of them had ever seen him in person. He already hated everything about this. It was more than enough to make him want to retreat back to his room at the hotel and not come out for the rest of the month.

A gentle brush, an almost tickle, against the back of his neck, the feeling almost shockingly intimate, startled him. He inhaled sharply, not having noticed that he had stopped breathing. Instinctively, he turned his back on the growing crowd, his hand coming up to half way, before he aborted the motion. Turning to face him, Lucifer noted that Alastor appeared to have not done anything, standing in that default pose he favored. The only reason Lucifer could tell it had been him that touched him was from the way the redhead was watching him.

"Smile, your Majesty," Alastor murmured, voice pitched low and soothing. "The hardest part is almost over. I'll be with you the whole time."

How out of sorts had he been that even the Radio Demon was taking pity on him? That the reassurance was a comfort?

Lucifer breathed in slowly through his nose, breathing out even slower through his mouth. His racing heart began to calm, as he reminded himself that he had taken on far more terrifying beings than a room full of nosey sinners. This was all for Charlie and the safety of her dream, and for that, he could handle anything.

He dropped into the offered chair, the anticipation of a battle falling over his shoulders like a weathered cape.

A door opened off to the side, one that he hadn't seen anyone coming and going through. Stepping through were none other than Valentino and Velvette themselves. Velvette was typing away on her phone, muttering about an interruption to her photo shoot.

Valentino paused as he caught sight of Lucifer and Alastor. "Oh! If it isn't papito, himself!" The grin spreading across his face and choice of wording caused the blonde's skin to crawl. Sauntering over, Valentino nearly draped himself over desk, bringing his and Lucifer's faces far too close together. "You wouldn't want to hang around after this little show for some one on one time, now would you, mi pequeño rey?"

Lucifer had barely managed to do more than lean back in his chair, trying to escape the heavy stench of smoke and hard drugs that hung around the Overlord like a second skin, when a weigh settled heavily on his shoulder. He glanced up, finding that Alastor had stepped up beside him, hand placed in such a way that it wrapped possessively around shoulder and was beginning to snake around the back of his neck.

"Valentino." Alastor's filter was grating, a warning despite his pleasant smile.

Valentino lazily blew out a thin pink, heart shaped mouth of smoke. It hit Alastor in the face. His smile was filthy as he gave the deer demon a once over. "Don't be jealous, venado, my offer is still open to you, too."

The static glitch of a record screeching. It wasn't hard to pick out Alastor's distaste with everything from the offer to the Overlord himself. "Pass," he quipped back, shotting down the offer with extreme prejudice.

The pimp shrugged, viewing it as his loss. He turned his attention back to his original target. "What do you say, papito? We could--."

"Val." Vox's voice was barely recognizable through whatever filter he was using, the noise causing Lucifer to flinch as it grated at his ears.

Valentino pouted, somehow making it look aggressive. "Vox, querido, what have I said about using that tone with me?" He twisted around in a way that accented his figure. "Don't be upset because the Radio Demon's already turned you down."

"The show is about to start, Val," Vox pointed out evenly and sternly, despite the dig. Lucifer was beginning to pick up that when it was anyone other than Alastor, the TV demon might actually be able to keep a cool head. "How do you think it will look if we don't start on time?"

Valentino's pout to edge in the direction of a normal pout. "Spoil sport." He leaned back until he was facing Lucifer. He reached out, running a single finger along the underside of the blonde's chin. "Call me if you change your mind." Offer made, he thankfully, finally got off the desk and made his way back over to Velvette.

Lucifer was going to take a long, hot shower when he got back to the hotel. With acid. Regrow some nice, new skin that Valentino had never touched.

Alastor pulled him from his thoughts, giving the back of his neck a squeeze. Lucifer was almost sad for the loss of contact when he pulled his hand away so he could resume his prior position.

From where he stood, Vox watched the two of them, his expression unreadable. Several minutely later, the blue and black themed sinner dropped into his own seat, calling out to the cameraman as he did so. "How's the camera holding up?"

The cameraman peaked at Alastor, indicating this question was because of the redhead's tendency to take out anything with a camera around him. The sinner studied his monitor and then gave a thumbs up.

Vox clicked his tongue. "So," he gripped, irritation heavy in his voice. "You can be recorded without destroying my electronics."

Lucifer couldn't see Alastor from where he was standing almost directly behind him, could only hear the tapping on his fingers on his microphone. His taunt was malicious as he came back with, "We both know I can be photographed ...when I want to be."

The TV demon grimaced, the hit landing where it obviously hurt. He had little time to recover, as the cameraman began his countdown. As he hit zero, Vox's smile was back in place, just a lot less real.

"Top of the hour, folks!" Vox's voice was loud and boisterous, the rhythm and pace almost break neck. "Breaking news: in a rare interview, we're joined by none other than the King of Hell and the Devil himself, Lucifer Morningstar!" Vox leaned over, holding a hand out to indicate the fallen angel sitting beside him. "Please, give your people a little wave, your Majesty."

Lucifer resisted the urge to flip him off. Gave the camera a little wave with little enthusiasm.

Vox carried on, unphased, "Equally rare and unlikely to never happen again, fellow sinners, we also have radio talk show host, the Radio Demon himself, Alastor!"

Alastor didn't wave. He grinned straight into the camera, as if staring into the very souls of the views, eyes and teeth alight as reality itself threatened to warp around him.

The camera gave an alarming whine. The cameraman gave an alarmed cry as it threatened to give out.

Point made, Alastor seemed to remember he was supposed to be behaving. The camera stopped whining as reality returned to normal.

Vox's eye twitched. Smile strained along with his chipper tone, he said, "Your Majesty, I assume your being here is because of the attacks on the hotel your daughter is running?"

Lucifer gave him his own chipper smile. "You mean the attacks you only know about because of your voyeuristic habits?"

Vox laughed, a touch nervously. "You've clearly never dealt with the paparazzi, sire. One has to cross a few boundaries if they want to get the exclusive first."

Was that what he was going with?

Either blind to it or ignoring it, Vox glossed over Lucifer's offense, moving on to, "Please, tell us, do you have any idea who's behind the attacks? We're dying to know."

Lucifer highly doubted that. Or at least, doubted Vox cared. It was more likely he wanted the hotel to fail or get taken out, judging from his poorly concealed eagerness. He leaned his elbow onto the table, chin resting on his palm. "I'm not here to waste my time nor the listeners' with an interview." He took delight in watching Vox falter for the first time since the interrogation began. Over his shoulder, he called sweetly, "Alastor?"

Alastor's voice was just sweet and still more bloodthirsty. "Yes, sire?"

It was a show of how in tune Vox was with Alastor's moods that the TV demon was already beginning to sweat. He was doing a good job of hiding it, Lucifer would give him that. It was a pity he was sitting beside someone who could see right through him, when he chose to make the effort. Lucifer rose from his chair, the blue and black sinner nearly taking a screen full of wings as they manifested. "Be a doll and make certain Vox doesn't get any ideas. Like interfering."

"With pleasure." Alastor's words were nearly lost to his filter. The air around them crackled, the shadows in the corners of the room growing unnaturally dark. Vox dropped all pretenses of pretending he wasn't unnerved, leaning back as much to avoid the wings as to distance himself from the redheaded sinner.

Red and white wings fluttered, giving Lucifer the lift to make stepping up onto the desk look effortless. Papers flew everywhere and a few people made startled noises as they were hit with a few errant pages. His wings fanned out, allowing him to gracefully fall into a seated potion on the other side of the desk. He leaned to the side, placing his weight on the hand braced on the desk, head rolling until he was facing the other two Vees. "Velvette, if you value your life just sit there and look pretty for a bit."

Velvette narrowed her eyes to slits at him. "What the hell?"

Valentino waited to see what advice he had for him. When he received none, the pimp blew out a lung full of pink smoke. His expression turned sultry. "Nothing for me, pequeño rey?"

Lucifer didn't respond, not wanting to give the game away too soon. Relaxing his control over his form, he allowed the full extent of his corrupted, angelic form to appear on full display for all of the viewers to see. Far too many eyes focused in on not just the camera, but the cameraman and the sinners directly around him. Each of them instinctively shied away, hindbrains warning them they were out in the open and too exposed. Vox attempted to push his chair back, the area around the desk suddenly a little too hot, only to be stopped by the end of Alastor's strategically placed staff locking the chair in place.

Lucifer rolled his head back around, until he could easily stare into the camera. "Now, to clear up a few things: I could care less about sinner politics." He grinned in that way he knew looked off, even for a creature of Hell, leaning into the fact that he wasn't human and had never been human. "How you decide to throw away the one good thing you stupid, stupid little humans have going for you is up to you." His pupils were lost in a red glow as his temper spiked, the flame of hellfire blazing between his horns. " What I do take issue with is someone sending hitman to threaten my daughter over something as silly as potential lost contracts."

He slid off the desk, the sinners in front of him all collectively taking a step back. Only the cameraman stayed in place, too frozen to move. "Perhaps it's my fault, I've been away a while." He held out a hand, fingers searching until he found the particular contract he was looking for. "Perhaps it's yours for never reading the fine print." His hand closed around his desired target, a chain made of pink, translucent smoke, deceptively fragile, coming into being. One end led out the doors. The other end led off to the side, leading over to a certain Overlord.

Valentino's and Angel's contract.

The pimp held up his wrist, confusion evident on his face. "The fuck?"

Lucifer's grin was all teeth. He wrapped his hand around and around the chain until he had a nice, solid grip on it. Without warning, he viciously yanked on the chain.

Valentino was pulled so hard, his shoulder nearly popped out of its socket. The pimp yowled like a cat dropped into pool as he was sent crashing to the floor. Lucifer didn't give him the chance to recover, reeling him in like a particularly resistant fish, the Overlord shouting and cursing as he was dragged across the floor. The Devil gave no quarter, even when he had him where he wanted him, pressing his heel into Valentino's back and twisting moth's arm until it was just short breaking.

"You see," Lucifer carried on, tone bored and voice raised over the slew of insults being thrown his way, "There's this little clause in your contracts that say I have the final say in every single one of them."

"You little shit!" Valentino hissed, twisting in a way that should be impossible for someone who purportedly had a spine. "We had nothing to do with the attacks on that shithole your hija is running."

Lucifer pulled on the chain until he could hear the shoulder pop. The sinner's claws dug into the ground beneath him, glare baleful. "Maybe," Lucifer said, almost nonchalant. "But you're the lowest kind of sinner: the kind that profits on selling human flesh and locks people into contracts so they can never escape."

The moth demon snarled, composure gone. "Every one of those whores came to me willingly. I made them stars. They would be nothing without me."

The Devil peered down at him, unmerciful. All of Valentino's sins where on display for him to see and judge and he found him wanting. "Nothing gives you the right to abuse another human being."

Lucifer returned his attention to the camera. He wrapped his free hand around another section of the chain, pulling the links tight between his two fists. "Let everyone remember that your little deals mean nothing if I say so."

Without further ado, he pulled almost effortlessly on the chain, Valentino's strength that of a kittens next to his. A link, just off center, gave, pulling apart until it shattered. Each one of the links similarly followed suit, falling from his hand like crystalline shards. They vanished like the smoke they had originally appeared as before they could hit the ground.

Valentino's arm, free of the chain, fell to the floor with a heavy thud.

Lucifer stepped off his back, releasing him. Stepping around the desk this time, he held his hand out to Alastor. The Radio Demon blinked back at him, something delighted behind his gaze.

It looked a little like victory.

He took Lucifer's hand.

"The Hazbin Hotel and every one of its residents are under my protection," Lucifer declared into the stunned silence, voice projected loud and unearthly, raising the hair on ever sinner's head, save the one in front of him. He looked upon each of the sinners in the room, gaze coming to rest on the camera lens. "I will not have mercy upon anyone looking to cause my daughter anymore trouble."

To his right, a portal appeared. Without another word, he stepped through it, pulling Alastor along with him.

As everyone continued to stare, the portal vanished and they were gone.

tbc

Translations:

-Papito: Little daddy

-Mi pequeño rey: My little king

-Venado: Deer or venison. I chose this word as a way for Valentino to make a dig at the fact that Alastor's demon form is a type of food source.

-Querido: Darling, used if you love or like someone. Chosen as a shoutout to the affair they're clearly having.

[cupids-chamber]

— HOW WOULD YOUR PARTNER REACT TO SEEING YOUR OLD TWEETS SIMPING FOR SOMEONE BACK IN YOUR WORLD ?

Gender neutral reader / Fluff / Slight crack but taken slightly seriously / some suggestive jokes (Octavinelle part) / Partially edited and re-read so mistakes may occur / Lazy writing / 0.9k words

A/N: Anon was lowkey simping in my inbox, but yk what.. this is a safeplace.. so y/n's tweets are gonna be me simping on main. Also very lazy forgive me I'm tired.

★ HOW DID YOUR LOVER/CRUSH FIND YOUR OLD TWITTER ACCOUNT? You will never quite know.. It took awhile.. But for some reason he was able to get ahold of your old phone and somehow, by some magic of sorts.. Surely the great 7 favored him, because not only was he able to get on your phone, but guess your password as well.. And even find his way onto your twitter account. 

— DEUCE SPADE ♠️ ; Your partner may have been quite dimwitted and dense in typical topics, but Deuce had a knack for mechanics and it was quite sweet of him to offer so kindly to help fix your old phone up, since you didn’t like the quality or durability of the one Crowley had given you; so of course you agreed; that and Deuce’s face was adorable. You were also quite curious if you could download apps from Twisted wonderland on a phone from your previous dimension, and you were even more curious as to if you could contact and use things you had already downloaded on the phone using wifi from here? Maybe you could contact people from over there.. 

Deuce worked hard to fix your phone, and of course he had to check it before giving it back to you! He couldn’t hand you an unfinished project, then you’d find the poor blue-bird incompetent! Turning on your screen it loaded and displayed your twitter account in full view for him, ‘Is this app similar to magicam?’ Deuce thought to himself, he couldn’t help but mindlessly scroll through the app and your various posts.. He was left quite conflicted.

Deuce actually didn’t think much of it, partially because he trusted you quite a large sum and because he was also rather dense and couldn’t quite understand what exactly you meant with those posts. The only reason he even started to see doubts was when both Ace and Cater pointed out your behavior on the posts. 

Sure Trey and Riddle tried providing somewhat comfort, well the best they could; towards their poor first year. Deuce didn’t favor jealousy, his mother always taught him how dangerous a feeling as dark as jealousy can be. His mother also taught him to communicate his feelings, so that’s what he did. 

Deuce chose to communicate with you, it took him some time. But Deuce is beyond aware of how dense he can truly be.. And he loved that you were ok with that.. Deuce expressed his discomfort, and though it was hard to process, he understands your posts were mainly a humorous joke, and that you’d never truly feel attracted to.. that..(He also gets so much more clingy, he doesn’t realize this thought)

— AZUL ASHENGROTTO, JADE LEECH, & FLOYD LEECH ♡ ; Azul was truly a favored witch, blessed by the great 7. No.. you’d say the Octavinelle trio was blessed by some unimaginable fortune. As Floyd played around teasing you, and chasing you around.. Jade handed Azul your phone.. You didn’t quite realize when the tall eel had taken your phone out of your pocket and handed it to his brother. 

And now it was in the hand of the great sea witch himself. “Oh— what’s this?'', Azul opened up the little bird icon on your phone, thinking it wouldn’t be anything as surprising.. Nothing he hasn’t already found out and collected as blackmail when he inevitably asks you out and just.. In case you were to.. Let’s just say by some unpredictable future, reject him. Of course he’d deal with the tweels nagging about that later. 

Floyd stops in his tracks, as he closes in on viewing your phone screen with the pair.. The trio then move onto your profile.. “Wait.. isn’t that— MY PHONE!”, before you could fight to grab it back, Azul reads your first three tweets out loud.. For everyone in the office room to hear. 

Let’s just say no one predicted that.. And you remained frozen in your spot.. What could be more embarrassing than your crush’s literally going through your private tweets about some.. Questionable things. 

The three of you stood there in utter silence, well Azul had lots more to add onto that blackmail folder. It took a while before Floyd finally chose to break the ice between you three.

“Hey shrimpy— do you have a voice kink by any chance?” 

“FLOYD!”

— MALLEUS DRACONIA ♛ ; Malleus has been a well composed person, he does get confused.. But that's because he’s unreasonably dense. It’s quite surprising, his obliviousness in some cases makes him so unintentionally funny and you quite literally hate how people would rather be afraid of him then get to know how ridiculously hilarious he could be.

That’s not to say he lacks in any field, he’s quite smart and though it takes him a while to process certain modern lexicon it’s still a fun experience. And it’s funny seeing him try and implement certain phrases into his day to day life; one time he said slay while Silver was training, and Silver lost his balance while Sebek had a breakthrough about how you ruined his wakasama and turned him into Lilia. 

Now despite these improvements, you really should have told your little crush about the aspect of typical privacy.. And phones. Because you found him scrolling through your twitter account, looking star-struck and frozen as your phone reflected a certain tweet you had made previously.. Oh how you’d explain this one to the green haired gremlin.

Gets more clingy, and possessive. Also he unintentionally says some of the most threatening yet attractive things. (Border-lining: “Are you trying to kill me or is this your way of flirting”)

© cupids-chamber, do not repost, plagiarize, translate, or adapt my work without prior permission and or confirmation.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for making dinner plans the same night my friend arrived in the country to stay at my place?

My friend Erin (27F) and I (25F) are both citizens of Country A and have lived/worked in Country B for about ~3 years; up until about a year ago when she got a promotion that sent her back to Country A. She's sent back to Country B for work related things about twice a year, and she tries to use a few vacation days to arrive a little early or stay a little late for personal visiting time. She was set to arrive last week and had asked if she could stay at my apartment for a few days before she got the company hotel, and I said yes. All she had said in advance was she'd arrive at night; trains and public transport are really good in Country B and we know the language / city very well, I didn't need to pick her up at the airport, just at my local station to walk to my apartment.

The day of her flight, my boyfriend (27M) asked if we wanted to go to dinner. He absolutely did not mean a nice dinner - just meeting up for chicken or traditional noodle place, nothing fancy or long. He's a Country B local and lives south of where I live/ my office is, so, deciding where and when to meet up would really affect timing to meet up with Erin. From my morning onward I began messaging her asking about when her flight would arrive/ when she'd get into the station. I was mindful of the time difference and I was sure I would catch her before the flight. I'm not allowed to be on my phone at the office, but I kept checking and texting / messaging on different apps throughout the work day, to ask when she would arrive, hoping that even if she was on airplane mode and on the flight, she would get at least one of the messages. At one point I did add that my boyfriend and I were thinking of getting dinner after I finished work and so wanted to know when she would arrive, and that I could still meet her at night. Verbatim one of my messages: "I'm not sure what time your arrival is but we might have dinner plans, but the night is good - I'm just trying to figure out timing." The last few hours of work I couldn't check my phone at all. I also told my boyfriend that dinner probably wouldn't happen, unless he wanted to get up and meet us for a later dinner once Erin arrived, but I couldn't tell him when.

Finally when I finished work, I went to see if Erin had responded at last. She had blocked me on Instagram and Snapchat. I went on Twitter, checking the apps I had messaged her, and she had unfollowed me, but she had a public account, and was saying: "some girls are the fakest" "quality over quantity cut the dumb bitches off" etc. So I iMessaged her asking what happened and what I did, and she said, "you're a bad friend, so I don't want to be your friend anymore." "I asked you like five times before coming if I could stay at your place and now you want to see what's up with that dumbass looking boy." "I'm super burned off by you."

I told her I was kind of in shock and didn't know what to say. I told her "I just needed to know timing" - I didn't even know when she was sending the messages if she had landed or had plane wifi. She said she had found someone else to stay with last minute and just kept saying I'm a bad friend and she doesn't need me as a friend.

I'm stunned. I've seen her be angry and irritated before but we've been friends since undergrad and we've never had a fight. I'm rereading my messages I sent her through the day and trying to see if I said anything in a way that implied I was cancelling on her. I genuinely only meant to know when she was arriving so I could figure out how to spend my evening and what to do for dinner. All I knew was "night" - I didn't know if she was coming at 5, at 8, at 9, at 10:30, and what I would do or could do for dinner depended on when she would be at the station. Maybe I shouldn't have said that the option I was specifically thinking of was dinner with my boyfriend? But I mean - I really didn't mean to imply her time was deprioritized or that she couldn't stay at my place? So maybe I shouldn't have tried to make other plans at all? I'm really just trying to logic this out and if I shouldn't have tried to do dinner too.

What are these acronyms?

[theogalison]

Chitty Chat Catch Up

...That could have been a better headline if I could find an antonym for "Up" that started with "C".

Things have been pretty tumultuous for me lately, and as a result there's been a lot of changes that have already happened to my "outward" online appearance and others that are surely going to be happening in the near(ish) future. I'll try to keep this brief to not waste any time and to not look like a complete buffoon (if that's even possible, but I digress).

So, let's rewind back to the end of May of this year. As I had left everything, I was taking a hiatus from video production to work on the new SubdermalGazette.com. That work is still going on, and will continue going forward as planned (with some caveats).

However, there was an incident on Twitter that involved me making a decision to distance myself away from content that I did not want to see, and that led to a confrontation by an aggressive (now ex-)follower. The incident left me traumatized to an extent (amplifying my anxiety to levels that it was beginning to affect my physical health), and the fact that Twitter told me that the aggressive behavior was 100% "did not violate their rules" gave me a rude awakening.

My immediate response was to leave Twitter. This really did nothing to help me and my anxiety, and in reality made things astronomically worse for me in ways that I would rather not discuss publicly. This, in turn, caused a runaway snowball effect leading me to think "Damn, if I wasn't such a garbage content creator, then maybe people would actually respect me." And that's where this community post on YT came from:

At this point, I have already invested a small fortune into the Subdermal Gazette's future, but that incident and the fallout from me leaving Twitter led me to put my foot down and say "No more." The money invested is for the site, which I still have plans on doing, but I had not yet invested anything into the video stuff, and that along with the feelings that I wasn't good enough for anyone led me to drop the axe.

After all of that happened, I basically just "drifted" along and tried to figure out what the hell I was going to do next. Well, I knew what I needed to do, and was working on what I needed to do, but it wasn't working out like I was wanting it to. I'm sorry if that sounds vague, but there's a method to my madness, I swear!

And then came last Wednesday, the 7th of June. My internet went out that afternoon and stayed out until well into the next morning. Folks, when you don't have any access to WiFi and your mobile data makes 2000s dial-up look speedy, you tend to get bored and lost in your thoughts. I was cleaning my fridge out and I got this eureka moment.

A lot of the stuff that had been dragging me down, emotionally and mentally, for the last couple years, was stuff that I wish that I could do over, or stuff that I wanted to do but couldn't do because of 2020 in general. Everything, from what happened in June 2021 (funny how these always end up being June things, amiright?!) to now and everything in between really could be tied back to one common element. And until now I really wasn't in a great position to do something about all of that.

While I was technically IN a position to do something about all of that, I really couldn't because I buried myself so deep into being Theo Galison, if that makes any sense. I always kept telling myself "Nah, I'll do this after I finish editing this video." or "Nah, I'll do that after I plan out these reviews." To make more sense of it, I've been using the Subdermal Gazette and my whole Theo persona as a crutch to deal with grief that I had suffered a few years prior.

Let me put this in terms that are familiar to those who will likely read this: Subdermal Gazette is my Headspace and Theo is my Omori. I know that's a stretch of a parallel (I'm not living off the guilt of a lot of absolutely horrid stuff like Sunny, obviously). I can keep living in this cycle of grief and despair, or I can do something about it. And I'm going to do the latter.

Of course, if you're going to make huge changes in your life, you're obviously going to have anxiety about THAT. However, as this week progressed, a lot of interesting things have happened (CrowdTap's false allegations, for instance, and other things that are more private). Now, I'm not a spiritual man by any means, but I feel like everything that has happened has been a sign from a higher power telling me that "Hey, this is where you need to go." and "Everything's going to be okay."

And I took those feelings and that inspiration and turned it into motivation. I started exercise again (as I posted on Instagram, I'm doing Ring Fit Adventure once more... just with more self-discipline). I started eating right, and I started making sure that I get plenty of sleep every night. Those actions alone have made an astronomical difference in my quality of life.

Are things better now? Not really. In fact, one can argue that things are a bit bleak right now. But I'm still feeling hopeful. I could go on and on about other things, but I think I need to wrap this up because I'm sure at least one person reading this is thinking "Bruh, if this what you call 'brief' what the hell do you call 'extensive'?!"

Even though my return to Twitter was brief and was only intended to call out CrowdTap for their scammery, I feel comfortable with myself to take the good with the bad and give it another try.

As for the Subdermal Gazette, it's still happening and I hope to have something up by the end of the summer. Well, if I'm going to do it, I need to have it done by the end of the summer, I mean. The videos are now unlisted because I still stand by my beliefs that the quality wasn't that great (and I think that's something to talk about in another episode of SUT). I may or may not make new video content with some changes in mind, but that's going to depend on quite a lot of stars aligning. As of this writing, I have zero idea on what the rest of the summer will bring, so I'm going to stop short of making any promises that I cannot keep. But if I do have something to announce, please rest assured that it will be somewhere (here, Twitter, Instagram, Mastodon, etc).

Until next time, I'm still not shutting up. ~ Theo 💚

[adelineleson]

First things, first

 Welcome all who have ventured my way today, I have recently taken up a venture of sorts that I didn't plan on taking. But, such is this thing called life, it takes us places we never dreamed of, if we allow it to. 

Which brings me right to my first point of advice for all willing to listen. 

Get off the internet, right now, stop reading my words and go find something much more productive to do with your life. You're welcome to come back & I sincerely hope you do. But, not until you have escaped the hold this place has on your mind, your body & your daily activities. Stop caring what people are doing, stop caring about what people think about what you're doing, keep those opinions, stories and observations to yourself for your own gain instead of handing them out to total strangers to utilize in their day to day life and make money. 

Your words, your life, your thoughts, your experiences in this life are valuable and we need to stop handing them out like it was Halloween, especially since no one said Trick or Treat, they just took.  

You need to put that bowl that is filled with little quips from your life back on the kitchen counter & start treating yourself. You're more worthy than you think you are & the only way to truly understand my words, is to try it out for yourself. No more free treats for them!

Your life never has and never will be lived by anyone else. The worlds deserves to know your story, a story they will never know if you just hand it out for free to whoever is around when you speak up. You may not make the top ten sellers list, we can't all be top sellers. But, I don't think we want to be, if I'm being honest. Our lives might be mundane. But, that word can not be used to describe us. We may have never been known to stand out from the crowd. But, our crowd sure has always stood out. 

So, from here on out, if you see something you want to talk about, write it down or create your own page to discuss these topics that pull your interest, start writing your life story until it falls into the places that make sense to you. Whatever you do, stop talking out loud on forums, in comments & on Twitter. {at least for awhile} When the pieces of your life, opinions thoughts & musings fall into place, they will do so under your own branding that you have control over & can maybe someday utilize to treat yourself better instead of someone else getting treated off of your hard work, the life you have lived.

Doing this, is how I ended up here. I sought out something I had never attempted before. I know what I have to say might not be much. But, it's more than what other people have, my experiences & I noticed one day that my stories and thoughts were worth more than being placed on an empty table for just anyone to pick up and take. Protect your worth, protect your stories, protect your opinions and create something more out of them than what modern day society has been offering us. 

We know we are worth more than this, we just have a harder time seeing it and this is where I come in, you've read my words, now go write your own.

Yes, I am talking to you, I know you're thinking 

"But, I'm not that special" 

"My life isn't interesting"

 "No one cares" You may not be Gandhi special or Cobain interesting and So what if no one cares, no one cares right now because you have surrounded yourself with people who don't care & that is reflecting back on you. Turn the opinions of others off for a week and you will find the people who do care once you step our of your comfort zone and explore past the walls you've built. Eventually you will find, the only persons opinion that honestly matters in terms of your life, is yours.

So go! Turn the Wifi off for the day, stop letting the internet distract & steal from you. Keep pencil and paper handy then sit quietly with your day then let your thoughts create something, a blog, a store, a book, a short story, a comic, a photo shoot or a painting. Find yourself again because growing up you knew who you were and what you were going to be. But, somewhere along the way society robbed us of those dreams and now, it is time to take them back. 

Until next time, 

Stay Strong Generation X we've got each others back, even if we all don't realize it yet. 

[clarissalance]

Watermelon-flavored popsicle

Pairing: Xingqiu x g/n!reader, mention of Chongyun

Warning: light swearing, kissing, a lot of grammatically errors.

Word count: 3404

Summary: A coincident meeting between you and Xingqiu on Yaoguang Shoal might have changed your relationship.

A/N: Here is my come back for summer. This piece has been in my folder for so long but I just don’t want to check the errors and proofread. Luckily, I have found my motivation (no more wifi) and here is the piece. This one is inspired by imagination if I can go to the beach ( I hate corona).I hope you have fun reading this oneshot (and feel my desperation to enjoy the sunny beach) Next up will be Kazuha, I think :D. Please send Xingqiu a lot of love~~ (❤´艸｀❤)

Picture credit:  @polarbear43666 on Twitter. 

Summer in Liyue has always been sweltering, burning, and unbreathable. The sun stands proudly in the middle of clear azure sky, not a single cloud dare to tread near the glowing king, blocking the beam of lights shine down the city. 

Today is also another day of undesirable temperature. Even when the city is a harbor, the cool breezes from the sea can’t calm down the rising heat from the road, nor the glowing businesses or the flock of people going to the market. Living in the city for 5 years, you know not to tread near the market during working hours, so you decide to go somewhere quiet, relaxing and enjoyable. 

Yaoguang Shoal.      

Normally, you would have gone to a teahouse or a bookstore to escape the hot weather, but today, those areas are swamp with people. You might have a brief idea of why they would be so crowded in there. It can only be Yunjin performance, or the teahouse is having a giveaway.    

As much as you love to enjoy her breathtaking performance and intriguing stories, you wouldn’t risk getting trampled by those people. Maybe another day, when people aren’t packing inside the teahouse. 

As soon as you arrive at the shore, the thick scent of salt waffles around the tip of your nose, sounds of waves calmly splashing against the coast. Slowly, you remove your shoes and sink your feet down the fever-like golden sand, heading toward the white bubbles splashing waves. 

You should have brought a flip-flop instead of shoes. 

At the burning sensation on the sole of your feet, you start sprinting toward the nearby small patches of grass hiding under a gigantic shade, hoping to save your sensitive skins. 

As soon as you jump on the lump of grass, you can’t help letting out a painful hiss, jumping like a grasshopper on the surface. This place isn’t very far from the water, maybe you can put on an umbrella here and enjoy the breathtaking scenery.  

Afar, you can see a few white cranes enjoying the cold water while looking for fishes, bathing under the scorching heat. Propping yourself on your knee, you sit down and enjoy the feeling of wind combing through your messy dark locks. From here, the sound of splashing water on the sand, the soothing sensation of a peaceful summer gently sinks down your skin.  

You’re lucky to find a shade in the middle of a shore, under the scorching sun glaring holes on your head. Unlike the harbor, Yaoguang shoal is much more breathable, the cool breeze brings the smell of sea salt dancing on your skin, slowly imbued your silky dark lock with the distinctive scent of the ocean. 

Letting out a lazy sigh, you leisurely drift into a slumber, opting for a relaxing nap while enjoying the sound of nature. 

How great is it to not have someone disturb you? 

“Y/N?” 

Maybe you speak too soon. 

Furrow your brows, you slowly open your eyes, annoyed by the sudden intrusion. The bright light clearly wants to pierce your eyes, but the figure moves closer and blocks the over-enthusiastic sun out of your gaze. You slowly sit up, squinting hard at the dark figure. 

“Xingqiu?”  Widen your eyes at the familiar shade of blue, you look at him quizzically. “What are you doing here?”

The male lets out a breathy chuckle and crouches down, letting light falls on his face.   

“Me? The weather is nice, so I’m strolling along the shore and enjoy the weather.” 

At your comical gaze drilling at his head, and the hydro user finally raises his hand in defeat. “ Fine, fine. I was on my way back to the Harbor after helping the traveler with some commissions.” 

“ The harbor is the other direction.” You dubiously point the opposite direction, a small gust of wind picking up and tousling your hair. “ If you’re heading this direction, Dragonspine is where you're heading.” 

 “What are you doing here?” The young man ignores your remark and changes the topic, eyes curiously wander down your lying body on the grass. 

“ Escaping the heat from the harbor.” You hum and scoot to the other side, sparing Xingqiu a space to sit. He must be drying staying that long under the sun. 

He quickly sits down next to you, slowly peeling his boots and socks away. The area is small, forcing you to stay close to him, your shoulders almost bumping into each other. As much as you love skinship, any physical contact is overbearing in this weather. The scenery would have been more romantic if you’re sharing body heat in the bizarrely cold Starglow Cavern.

Wait… why did Xingqiu sit down and remove his boots? Isn’t he supposed to go back to the harbor? 

“ You aren’t going back to the harbor?” You tilt your head and his side profile. 

“ I was, but I change my mind.” The blue figure has his eyes on the boots, unlacing the footwear. “Sitting here with you is much more breathable than cramping inside the teahouse and the bookstore.”

  …But you didn’t agree to let him stay in the first place. Why is he still here then? 

You just offer him a place to sit down in the shade, just because he was sweating profusely under the sun when you were talking to him. It’s called an action out of politeness!!! He isn’t supposed to take the offer and makes himself comfortable.

Great, now you’re stuck with a body heat that you desperate to get away from. Roll your eyes, you let your gaze fleet over the vast clear ocean in front of you. 

From here, you can slightly make out an outline of Guyun Stone Forest peeking behind the thickening clouds. That majestic scenery, the infamous fight between Osial and Res Lapis, you wonder how big that fight was to create a whole island with a gigantic unique shape?  After thousands of years, you can still feel the rumbling energy threatening to break the seal of lord of Geo, yet something manages to force them down. Perhaps, there might be someone there securing the seal, holding the remaining pieces together. What would happen if that seal finally breaks again? Will the entire harbor engulfed by the anger of the lord of Vortex, or, will the new Geo archon will defend it?    

“A mora of your thought?” A youthful voice calls out, and you whirl your head in his direction. “ You look so deep in thought.” 

“ Ah… I was just thinking about the Guyun Stone Forest.” You shyly scratch your head, eyes don’t meet his. You totally forgot someone is sitting next to you. Xingqiu doesn’t comment, he lets his gaze drift to the Stone Forest, and the silence falls. 

This time you don’t let your eyes stray to the exalted scenery hiding away under those clouds. Instead, you observe the hydro user, who is just a few inches away. His features are soft, yet so define. The sharp eyes, the slope of his nose, and the plush lips. Under the smooth cerulean locks is his signature amber orb. You have always felt enamored under his gaze ever since you first met. That golden eyes are always filled with the determination and sharpness of a predator. You love it when the soft, bubbly Xingqiu turns sharp, or when he’s practicing his swordsmanship.   

“Take a picture, it will last longer.” The hydro user says, his voice remains calm and unwavering, almost make you mistake for someone else. “ How is my face?” 

“ Utterly unacceptably handsome.” Propping yourself on your elbow, you stare into his deep eyes, answer honestly, try to hold your scoff. 

Xingqiu doesn’t comment on your compliment but tilts his head the other way, avoiding your hawking gaze. Obviously, he knows you like to mess with him, trying to pull a reaction out of the shameless nonchalant friend when you’re bored. How you wish he would at least give you an entertaining reaction. 

You remember those days when Xingqiu and Chongyun are easily flustered. Nowadays, only Chongyun is still affected by your antic. How does that popsicle boy not immune to your frequent teasing is also a big mystery you’re looking for an answer to. 

“ You shouldn’t say someone is handsome if you don’t mean it.” After a while, the calm hydro user is back, composed, and relax. How can he be so lax in this atrocious weather, you don’t want to know. 

“ But… you’re handsome ?” 

“ You’re just trying to make me fluster.” He replies, a blush slowly creeps on his cheek. You don’t know why he’s trying to deny your compliment. He’s handsome, and you’re just using that fact to turn him into a tomato. Why does it sound like he’s trying hard to convince himself his face isn't aesthetic to look at? 

You open your mouth but close it. Speechless, you don't know how do you convince him that you honestly compliment his features, not… uh baiting him? Do your compliments sound like cheap-ass flirtatious attempts people usually get in a combo when they visit the tavern?   

Your motive isn’t as pure as it can be but your compliment does: honest, and authentic. How could he twist your words into something so scandalous like that? Outrageous! 

Your lips part to speak, but something cold and hard is shoved inside, and your olfactory bulbs almost explode with flavor (and numbing cold). The feeling of fruity sweetness seeps on your tongue, with a tingle of refreshing feeling dancing on top. Glaring dagger at Xingqiu, you notice his gloating face while biting the signature blue popsicle. Did Chongyun give that to him? 

Plug the freezing item out of your mouth, the vibrant pinkish color glowing under the sun, slowly dripping down your hand. It is a watermelon-flavored popsicle. He could have handed it to you nicely instead of almost choking you off and stop your sentence like that. Nevertheless, you still enjoy the watermelon-flavored popsicle while pouting at the young man. 

“ Where did you get this?” In between you lick, you look up at him, surprised to see half of the popsicle has disappeared. Did he just chomp all that in less than a minute? 

“I bought it, of course, food doesn't fall from the sky.” This young man is much more handsome when he has his mouth closed. You are really contemplated whether to use your handkerchief to shove down his throat. Or maybe a rock could do the job well too. 

“So, pay me.” Xingqiu suddenly brings his hand to your face, mischief glowing in his amber eyes. The audacity of this hydro user must have rocketed the sky after so long not having a good fight. You give him a forced smile while elbow him in the stomach, voice dangerously low. 

“ Our friendship doesn’t even worth a single popsicle? Really Xingqiu, I’m so disappointed.” You fake a sigh, head shaking in disapproval.  

The god-damned bastard avoids your blow without a hitch and even slithers his hand on your waist to tickle you. Oh, he must be looking for death this time. 

With the popsicle still inside your mouth, you sneakily raise your hand, attempting to push Xingqiu into the lava-like sand as revenge. It'd be a perfect touch to your lovely afternoon to see him tumbling on the group while jumping like a hissing cat. 

How naïve of you, to think that he doesn’t spot your little antic. This is the young man always out-performing you in every aspect, even in eating a popsicle. 

Without even looking at you, he catches your wrist effortlessly while still licking the ice cream. His body relaxes, compare to you, who almost tumbling toward him if he doesn't hold you in place. In a panic, you try to wriggle yourself out of his hold, but the young man only tightens his hold, remains unfazed by your swinging attempt to fling his hand out of your wrist. 

“ Let me go Xingqiu!” Instead of laughing at a hissing Xingqiu tumbling on the sand, you become the angry cat here. 

“ So you can hit me? Of course not.” He replies gloatingly, chins lackadaisical, his fingers wrap tightly around your wrist. 

“It’s hot.” 

“ Eat your popsicle then.” His hand holding your wrist brings up to point at the melting ice cream on your hand. “It’s melting.”

Of course, everyone can see that. Shooting pointed gaze at him, you try to shake the tight grip on your wrist a few more times, but nothing avails. He doesn’t let go, and your other hand is busy holding the popsicle. If you have another one, maybe you can peel off his fingers. Too bad you only have 2 hands. 

Sigh out in defeat, you give Xingqiu stink eyes before turning your attention back to the watermelon popsicle, occasionally look down at his grip to find an escape route. You don’t believe you can’t escape from his grasp! 

The hydro user doesn’t let your hand go after he finished his popsicle, instead, he slumps down with one cheek resting in his hand, staring at your face blatantly. You don’t usually mind but being gawked at while eating isn’t as comfortable as you thought. 

“ What?” Finally, you look up to face the mischievous blue boy. 

“ Can I have a bite?” 

“ Obviously n-” He doesn’t wait for your answer and leans in. Your first reaction is to be dodged away, but the sneak has your wrist pinned on the grass, forcing you to stay still. 

As soon as you realize your immobile state, Xingqiu is a few inches away from your face, licking the popsicle, and then biting off the edge near the stick. His smooth cheek brushes past your fingers, the deep blue locks fall on his face. From here, you inhale a hint of mint and sweet vanilla. Instead of the familiar scent of woodsy musky of old books, you notice a whiff of summer and salt on him. 

Stunted by his sudden closeness, you remain to freeze even after he pulls away. 

“W-wh-what did you j-just do?” To your horror, you stutter. Not once, but twice.

“Eat your popsicle.” 

As nonchalant as ever, he shrugs while swiping the remains on his lips, like he isn’t the one who just leans in so close to you. You are too dazed to even realize the popsicle hang close to your mouth is dripping down your clothes. 

Startle at the coldness, you hastily look down and scrunch your face at the mess. Ugh, it’s because of him, again! 

“ Need me to eat that for you?” he offers, but you swear you hear a hint of playfulness glinting in his voice. Quickly, you bite off the remaining before he can steal another bite, forget how sensitive your gum is. The result, you can already imagine, is brain freeze. 

Hissing at the sudden burst of frost blooming in your mouth, unconsciously grab on Xingqiu, squeezing his hand tightly while squirming vigorously. You shouldn’t have bitten off the whole thing, even when it melts. Hand in hand, you can feel the warmth of his fingers caressing your wrist, and they slowly move down and intertwine with yours. That opportunistic guy. 

During that heated moment, you remember yourself instinctively looking for a source of heat. At one point, your brain decided to throw the remaining sanity out the window. It convinces your body that the crook of his neck is the best source of warmth to melt the overbearing sensation in your mouth. And your body decides to do without giving another thought. 

Face buries deep in his neck, you are engulfed in his strong musky scent, naturally, you freeze dead on your track. 

What have you done? 

How do you get up? 

How can you look at his eyes now? 

With the dreading thoughts constantly running around your mind, you can only hit your head on his shoulder blade in shame, earning a rumbling chuckle from the young man. 

“ Don’t laugh!” Your whiny voice is muffled by his clothes. Upon your request, he doesn’t stop at a chuckle but starts to wheeze, chest rumbling. Your cheeks burn crisp with embarrassment, yet you can’t find a single hole to hide. 

“ Hahaha… Why did you do that?” He bursts out ungracefully, his shoulder shaking vividly. Xingqiu is teasing you on purpose!!  

You also want to ask why did you do that too. Why did you do that without even thinking about the consequence again? 

“ Stop laughing!” The audacity of this boy, after you told him to stop laughing, he snorts louder and teases you more. You thought this chivalrous nobleman would only snort for a few minutes,  then he would comfort you like the novel. Too bad, life isn’t as predictable as the novels. What you expect is the comforting hug, or his hand patting your head reassuringly. What you get instead is a never-ending tease and the constant re-telling of the scenario in an out-of-breath voice. 

Moving away from his neck, you pout and sulky. Despite being under the shade and cool sea breezes, you feel the heat rushing at the back of your neck and on your cheeks, a friendly reminder. Fingers fondling the edge of your shirt, you pretend to be deaf at the puff of his laugh. Is it too late for you to move to Inazuma and never see him again?

 Actually, it might be better to start avoiding than do nothing. 

You attempt to stand up abruptly and prepare to sprint off, fleeing away from the young hydro user who is making himself relax next to you. 

Notice the use of the word here: “attempt”.

Xingqiu quickly sees through your plan before you can start it.

  Unlike last time, he saw your movement and stopped your hand in the mid-air. This time, he is a step ahead and caught your chin between his fingers, tilting your head toward him, his mesmerizing golden eyes pierce through you. 

Catch-off-guard by his sudden closeness, the unsuccessful plan is extinguished at the back of your head.

Out of everything, why would he choose this way for your attention? You feel like you have no sanity left every time he does something intimate. 

How weak are you for him? 

The deep amber orbs study you intently like he’s trying to ingrain your face into his memories. The glimmering eyes always full of mischief and playfulness now is like an abyss, easily pull you in and spiraling into the darkness. The bubbly, transparent Xingqiu is replaced by a mature, mysterious, and charismatic man.

The distance between you slowly shorten, and finally, he’s a breath away. You nervously hold your breath, eyes widen at his every movement. Being this close, you can see his fluttering lashes, his sudden quicken breathing, and his plump lips dangling like a piece of meat in front of your hungry gaze. What is this feeling of heat rising up to your chest? 

Like a moth drawn into flame, your eyes follow when his tongue darts out to wet the soft kissable pad, his lips transform into pinkish color, just like the watermelon popsicle. 

Butterflies roaming inside your stomach, your fuzzy mind lets out a weak resistance, telling you to turn away, escape from the cradle of his finger on your chin. 

However, your instinct gives in.

You part your lips and angle up, time stops when his lips meet yours. It is a light brush, yet you can feel your heart pounding wildly inside your chest as the mint frosty scent invades your sense. Your breath slowly turns labored, yet all you can focus on is how soft he felt on your lips and how addicting he’s tasting on your tongue.

When your visions start to blur, and your legs threaten to give out, you finally decide to part away, but the hydro user has his hands cupping on your cheek doesn't think so. 

“Let me taste you again.” Xingqiu whispers, his voice deep and smooth like velvet. 

And then he pulls you in, claiming your mouth again, passionate and intense. He tastes like the watermelon popsicle you just ate, like a sunny summer you used to love, like a soaring kite in the sky. 

You don’t think you hate the feeling of his lips on yours.      

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

Okay, someone needs to say this because you need to hear this. All your reviews on season 4 are bad faith criticism. Each review, you keep bringing up past drama’s and letting it affect how you view an episode. You allow what you wanted the show to be get in the way of reviewing it objectively. Example, in your Queen banana review, you brought up the abandoned redemption arc to complain about how this episode was “awful” when it was actually decent.

(I’m assuming these three asks are from the same person judging from how I got them all around the same time)

Like I have said in response to criticism before, the things I say on this blog, especially in relation to my reviews, are purely my own opinion. While I have given negative reviews of some Season 4 episode, I am fully aware that others are still huge fans of the show. Just because I don’t like certain aspects of the show doesn’t mean nobody else is allowed to like those same aspects. This is my personal opinion and I am fully aware that not everyone will agree with me on some of the things I say.

I highlight continuity, or rather the lack of continuity because it’s clear Astruc wants to tell a story that will stretch across the entire season while acknowledging the events of previous episodes. You need to understand how Marinette became the Guardian for episodes like “Truth”, “Lies”, “Gang of Secrets”, “Mr. Pigeon 72”, and “Furious Fu”. You need to understand how Hawkmoth/Shadowmoth knows the identities of all the temp heroes for episodes like “Optigami” and “Sentibubbler”. You need to know why Chloe lost the Bee Miraculous permanently for episodes like “Sole Crusher” and “Queen Banana”. I only bring up continuity errors when the show fails to bring up continuity or when they decide to change continuity on a whim, like making Luka and Juleka twins when Luka was older, or claiming that Cat Noir is an important hero when previous episodes have shown him screwing around on the job. I feel like in order to help emphasize my point for an episode, I need to bring up how it either contradicts what happened in an earlier episode or if Astruc decides to retcon something on Twitter.

Even in my reviews of some of the episodes I didn’t like, I still tried to point out positive moments in them that I still enjoyed, like some of the jokes in “Mr. Pigeon 72”, the action in “Gang of Secrets”, and even most of the scenes with Adrien in “Rocketear”. I also gave very positive reviews of “Furious Fu”, “Guiltrip”, and “Optigami”, so I wouldn’t say I’ve been overly negative this season. While I understand I am biased in my opinions at times in my reviews, I still try to see the good in episodes despite my overall feelings on them instead of just ignoring the good moments like some critics would to push their rhetoric.

As for Chloe, I understand I have said this multiple times and I understand some of my followers are sick of hearing this, but regardless of intention, how can you justify wasting eleven episodes on a character arc that goes nowhere and barely impacts the plot and then insult anyone who disagrees with your writing? Just because this is what Astruc wanted, it doesn’t mean I automatically have to agree with every single writing choice he and his team make.

I thought Rocketear’s design was boring because the teardrop design was very underutilized and didn’t really tie much into Nino’s motivation for getting akumatized in the first place. You would think since the first half of episode had Nino act like a detective, the Akuma form would be themed after a detective, but he doesn’t even cry that much to justify the teardrop motif in the first place. Like you said, a simplistic design can work if the simplicity adds to the charm and fits the motif. Lady WiFi is a good example. Despite only having a black and white color scheme with not that complicated of a jumpsuit, some of the visual aspects like the Wi-Fi symbol and power button on the front really add to give the whole suit a very sleek design with a cellphone motif. The simple blue and black for Rocketear just made the suit look generic because the few details put on it didn’t really add much to the suit in my opinion.

I am not telling anyone they are wrong for liking the show. While some people agree with the things I said, it is because they make the conscious choice to do so. You can’t tell me there hasn’t been a single piece of media you feel let down or disappointed by, something that you wish could have been better. This is why I try to offer alternatives to certain things in the show for reasons I personally think could be interesting. You are not being forced to accept my reviews as the absolute truth, and you are not being forced to hate the show. If you do like the show, I respect your opinion and the way you personally view Miraculous Ladybug. You have the right as a free citizen to form your own opinion. All I ask is you respect my own opinion and how I personally view it as well.

[eusuntgratie]

Maybe quarantine is getting to him, a bit. He promised himself he'd never watch a CW show after, you know, being in one, but Dylan... well, he's going through it. And by going through it, he'll admit that Tyler's ass in that suit is going to destroy him.

He thought he'd watch the first episode and it'd be good to catch up on an old friend's work, they don't talk as often as they used to and there was always a tinge of 'almost but not quite' to their interactions that left things slightly sour. Like, maybe if he'd said or done something differently -

Anyway.

He didn't, so, they don't talk that much anymore. It's fine. He watches Tyler's show and he wouldn't admit it if you paid him but if his hand ends up down his sweats half the time, teasing, biting down on his bottom lip as he tries to watch through half lidded eyes as fuckin' Tyler, who knew him as an obnoxious teenager and didn't hate him, god, fuck, who put up with so much shit, and somehow still looks like Michelangelo took a chisel to a block of marble on a particularly good day and created a specimen of a man.

Dammit.

It's becoming a problem.

Tyler should not be this attractive in spandex. Objectively, Dylan knows a lot of people are attractive in spandex, that's kinda the point, but Tyler is ridiculous. And Dylan wants wants wants, and cannot have, and so he's stuck and well and truly not fucked in the way he wants to be.

Maybe quarantine is getting to him, a bit.

He's doing press for Love and Monsters, which, huh, is out on Netflix, who knew, the little movie that could, and someone, some interviewer from somewhere on a shitty wifi connection asks him if he watches Superman and Lois.

He can pretend it's the video that freezes for a few seconds but he has to stutter out an answer eventually.

"I mean, it's Hoechlin man, you gotta watch for that ass, right?"

Fuckin' brain to mouth filter is for shit these days. He has got to start talking to actual human beings again.

"Sorry, can you cut that?" He says, but the connection drops and fuck. Fuck fuck fuck.

He should email his publicist and inform them that there's a shit storm coming their way and all the old bullshit will be returning in full force but -

A part of him misses that. That people actually thought he could get with Tyler. That Tyler would look at him and pick him, out of anybody he could have. It felt powerful, and when Tyler didn't rebuke it, it felt -

Something.

So, he just kind of lives with the low level anxiety of knowing that it's going out into the world, and deletes Twitter from his phone (again).

He might, he decides, just live in his bed and do the whole John Lennon thing, like, maybe try start a revolution or something. But that seems kind of difficult and he doesn't think he has the ability to pull it off. Tyler probably could. Goddamn, Tyler could turn a nation with the raise of an eyebrow.

Dylan's phone rings and it's - Tyler. Which. Is not unexpected, but at the same time, he can't say he was expecting it. It's complex.

"Hey," he says, like, this is very normal. I waxed lyrical about your ass and now you're on the phone to me. All very normal.

"You like the suit, huh?" Tyler asks, and there's a catch in his voice, it's rough and kinda breathy like it'd get after Tyler had been running. Except that isn't what Tyler's doing, Dylan doesn't think. The cut off whine confirms it, and fuck, oh fuck, this is - he doesn't know what to do with this.

"I like the suit, god, you have no idea," Dylan says, and feels the blood draining southwards, his body fizzing and alive for the first time in months. "The things I'd - Ty, you have no idea."

"Some idea," Tyler grits out, "think you like my ass."

Dylan whimpers and palms himself through his sweatpants.

"I'd - fuck - I'd worship that ass. Ty, I would. I'd do - the things I'd do. Anything. Anything for you. You know, you have to know. Before, and now, and - fuck, Ty, you're so perfect, like -" Dylan doesn't know what he's saying, what he's doing, except he's already on the edge and he can hear Tyler's breathing and it's doing things to him that he could never have imagined.

"Want you to. Want you to - Dyl, need you so bad, need you, need you - fuck, fuck - " Tyler cuts off with a whine and Dylan shakes through his own orgasm, coming hard and fast, blinking away spots from his eyesight.

"The fuck was that Ty?" He asks, suddenly nervous. He wipes his hand on his sweats and notices how sweaty his other hand is on the phone.

He hears Tyler laugh. It's warm and feels good to hear.

"You fuck me up," Tyler says, "you always did. Could never get you out of my head. Still can't. You were the best thing that never happened to me."

"You fuck me up too," Dylan says, honest. "Always wanted - more. So much more. Thought we could've been something."

"We can," Tyler says, "we can. God, Dyl, we can. If you want - fuck, we can try this. We could work."

"We could work," Dylan repeats.

"Yeah," he can hear Tyler's smile.

"I - take care, okay?" Dylan says.

"I'll see you soon," Tyler says, and it's a promise.

"Yeah," Dylan says, and Tyler breathes on the end of the line for a couple of seconds before hanging up. Dylan cradles the phone in his hand loosely.

They could work.

Yeah.

HOBRIEN ANON THIS IS A WORK OF GENIUS thank you for your service on this fine day we love you

🥰🥵😍🍑🍑🍑💦💦

[swiftgronmasterpost]

Late Stage Swiftgron Part 2 (things get loud with babe):

April 18, 2018 - Dianna posts to Instagram about “commitment issues”:

April 20, 2018 - Babe (a song that Taylor wrote in the Red era) about a lover with shall we say “commitment issues”.

Later when the Babe music video is released people (even non Gaylors) notice that it is nearly a shot for shot remake of the I’m Not The Only One music video that Dianna starred in back in 2014. 

What’s more psychotic is that the song Babe itself is only three minutes and 35 seconds long:

But the music video has had a full minute and 4 seconds to it to make it the exact same length as the I’m Not The Only One music video. I do think that this is pretty hard evidence that Dianna did step out on Taylor at some point back in 2012.  I do not think, however, that it was the chronic issue that the fandom seems to think it was.  This is the only song that appears to be about Dianna that accuses her of cheating.  The breakup songs on 1989 do not insinuate that the relationship ended due to cheating.  In fact, in Style Taylor says “I’ve been there too a few times” when it comes to being with other people.

I actually theorize that the track was not released on Red because Taylor wrote it while upset and hurt, and then they reconciled and worked it out.  I think Taylor didn’t release it at the time because she forgave Dianna for the indiscretion and they moved on from it as a couple.  I think in her heart of hearts at the time Taylor did not want to put Dianna “on blast” that way.

I think down the road in 2018 they’re obviously long broken up, and have long moved on from the slights of old and Taylor let Dianna know she was going to release the song.  Dianna’s “commitment issues” post makes it seem as if it’s a bit of an inside joke between them and Dianna is poking fun at herself and the old and forgiven incident.  At least that’s how the situation reads to me.

Taylor posts a cute video talking about the song with a cheeky smile and a heart to ig:

Another theory I’ve been mulling over is the possibility that Dianna and Taylor hooked up some time in 2018 prompting Taylor to paint herself as the other woman (as Dianna would be cheating on Winston making Taylor the other woman) in the mv.  There’s no hard evidence for it but it’s possible...

June 6, 2018 - Dianna posts a now deleted selfie and rant about how amazing KIlling Eve is (this post was deleted late summer/early fall 2020 for no apparent reason):

It’s probably a coincidence but her shirt reads, “SANS SOLEIL” which means, “without sun” in French.  Karlie is known as “sunshine” in the Gaylor Swift Cinematic Universe.

June 9, 2018 - The aforementioned Babe music video is released 

Let me show you just how similar this music video is to I’m Not the Only One:

first, you should know that YES taylor came up with the concept for the music video:

the second thing you should know is that the babe track is 3 minutes and 35 seconds long but the babe music video is 4 minutes and 39 seconds long:

you know what else is EXACTLY 4 minutes and 39 seconds long?

that’s right…the music video that she’s basically copying in the babe mv that starred dianna way back in 2014

opening shot:

kiss goodbye (at almost the same timestamp):

similar shots at the same timestamp:

and again:

and again (these are also basically the stills used for the mv before you click play):

both women driving at the same fucking timestamp (y’all taylor swift is insane holy shit):

in the store shopping at the same fucking timestamp no she is literally unwell someone get her into a facility now:

cheating happens at the same timestamp (seriously tay get help✌️):

here’s another similar shot of my babies at the same timestamp;

cheating husband coming home, same timestamp:

very similar shot of the husbands walking up to the door at the same fucking timestamp (i get it taylor you’re laughing at us from the prison cell now):

similarities that happen at different timestamps

wifey drinking out by the pool:

wifey fiddling with ring:

cheaters drinking it up together:

wifies drinking it up as well (several times both in the mv):

wives do away with the husband’s clothes (Dianna burns them while jennifer dumps them outside in the front lawn):

Pretty much the only thing that’s different about the music videos is the ending.  the babe cheater gets dumped while dianna takes her cheater back but ofc we know how taylor likes to change the endings (like she did with love story) or at least to try to change the ending (peter losing wendy).

July 13, 2018 - Taylor visits home and posts to IG with the lyric from style “Take me home” as the caption:

Taylors on the Rep tour and we get this series of surprise songs I consider to be Dianna songs:

“Ours” - Foxborough, MA July 28th

“Out of The Woods” - Toronto, Canada August 3rd (Karlie’s birthday)

“Come Back… Be Here”- Toronto, Canada August 4th (august 4th 2014 Taylor wears one of the Style mv outfits)

“This Love” - Atlanta, Ga., Aug. 10

These shows are all in succession I think it could be a coincidence or perhaps Taylor’s reaction to Karlie’s engagement announced on July 24, 2018...

August 25, 2018 - Karlie shows up to rep tour in Nashville and Taylor plays Better Man 💀

August 31, 2018 - secret song is Swiftgron “Begin Again”

February 24, 2019 - Swiftgron reunion? at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party both Dianna and Taylor are there and they both post to Instagram about it(Dianna posts two days later):

She also comments to a friend that they stayed out until 3AM.

Taylor’s post:

March 7, 2019 - Dianna sees Fleabag at SoHo House:

April 9, 2019 - Dianna posts with a caption about being 13 years old, unrequited love, and 143 in reference to the show Pen15:

June 14, 2019 - Taylor adds “Woman” by Mumford and Sons to her ME! playlist - the song is rumored to be about Dianna written by her (now ex) husband Winston Marshall:

September 7, 2019 - Taylor is noted to be at a Fleabag performance in London at the at Wyndham Theater.

September 23, 2019 - Dianna posts about Phoebe Waller Bridge (who wrote Fleabag, and EPs Killing Eve among other things):

October 5, 2019 - SNL!!!!! - Taylor is the musical guest on SNL while Phoebe Waller Bridge hosts and DIANNA IS IN ATTENDANCE with a VIP guest pass (can only be granted by a cast member, host, or musical guest) and also noted to be “in Swift’s inner circle” at the afterparty:

Taylor performs Lover:

And with huge lesbian energy she also performs False God:

(if it weren’t for DIanna showing up at SNL I probably wouldn’t have even gotten interested in Swiftgron so you have this holy night to thank for my blog @swiftgron-get-married​ as well as this timeline!)

A blog contributor reached out to someone (non-biased, I know some Kaylors reported that DIanna was there for PWB but that isn’t what this person said) who was at the performance on Twitter and this is what they had to say about the night:

“Dianna was definitely paying attention”

Other fan reports state that Dianna made a face when Taylor sang “magnetic force of a man”:

December 13, 2019 (Taylor’s 30th Birthday) - Dianna adds the song Got It Bad (which is an incredibly sensual song) to a Playlist entitled T 2017 on her private spotify account Some time in late 2019/early 2020 - Ashley (re)follows Dianna on Instagram February 2020 - Dianna and Taylor are both in London at the same time

Click here to keep reading!

[canaryatlaw]

okay so, I have a super long crazy travel story from June 2014 that I'm always telling and the full version of it just came up on my facebook memories and I feel the need to post it (it was a tumblr post at the time too, it got like 150 notes) mostly so I can post the link on twitter, so here you go:

Okay, here is the full, unedited story of the absolute ridiculous adventure we went on yesterday. It is long.

The plan for the day was to pack up from our London location, hop on a train to a town called Keighley, where we would get on a steam engine train to a town called Haworth that is the location of the Bronte sisters home, and spend the day there. We were then going back to Keighley, take the train to Lancaster, then catch the final train up to the Lake District, with an expected arrival time of 8 pm.

Well, for waking up at 6 and running across London, through the tube, and to the train station with all your luggage for a 10 day trip went surprisingly smoothly, but after we get on the first train that ends. Upon arriving in Keighley we had about half an hour to get the next train, so the plan was for a rental company to bring a van to the train station in which we could store our luggage for a few hours, so we could walk (up a ridiculous incline) all over Haworth freely. Get to train station, no van. Oh. Well apparently the rental company sent somebody to take our professor to get the van and bring it to the train station without telling us, and said person was sitting in their car texting, oblivious to the visibly panicked Americans who just showed up. He does find her and manages to get the van back to the station. We load our luggage in and quickly hop on the steam train. Okay, stressful, but not too bad.

We arrive in Haworth and are told the Bronte house/museum was "just at the top of the hill." Well, apparently the British have a different definition of this phrase than Americans. Just up the hill turned out to be several miles up through fields, stores, old houses, everything. But yes, we reached it- and it was at the very top of the hill. Go on tour, look around town, nice little time. We were to meet to walk back and catch the train at 4. It was imperative that we were on time, as upon arriving back in Keighley, our professor had half an hour to return the van and catch the only train back to Lancaster. Amazingly, we did it, despite how far away the rental place was. It looked like that headache was over and we just had a long, luggage attached ride up to the Lake District.

Well, now the real fun begins. We arrive at the Lancaster station right on time, with about 20 minutes until our train north. Our professor double checks with the station manager about what platform and what train. The warden is very friendly, assuring us that we're in the right place and cracking jokes with us. As the train pulls in, our professor yells to the warden to confirm, and he does. So we board the very crowded train with all of our suitcases. It takes us a good 5 minutes just to get seated with our luggage out of the way. As we get settled in, the conductor comes to check tickets. Our professor hands him our group ticket with itinerary....oh no. This is the wrong train going in the wrong direction. Bad. We were told we had to get out at the next stop to take a train back to Lancaster, to then board a correct train.

Well crap. We get off at the next stop, irritated, and again ask for assistance. We easily found the train we were looking for....the one that didn't arrive until past 9. It's just past 7 at this point. Mind you we are in the middle of nowhere. There is literally a station platform and a small strip of stores. No town, no wifi, no buses, nothing. This sucks, but we have to just wait it out. At the end of the small strip of shops is a "micropub." Everyone was pretty fed up at this point, so we decided to head over to unwind a bit. Micropub was a very accurate descriptor. The whole place was about the size of a bedroom, and already filled with people. Did I mention there were 15 of us? Also, they only had drinks and pub snacks. Oh well, everyone is just like what the heck so we get some snacks and a good number of us get a (singular) drink. We sit on the sidewalk outside of the pub consuming this, much to the amusement of the British patrons. They got quite a kick out of the largely given up hope group of Americans. We actually manage to have a bit of fun, and by the time the train comes everyone is happy and laughing, and just a little bit tipsy.

We take the train back, literally one stop, and wait at Lancaster for the right one. Everyone was pretty much in that crazed overtired mode where you act ridiculous and think everything is really funny. The other train patrons obviously thought we were crazy, and the station manager was quite embarrassed by his snafu that landed us back here. But hey, the right train finally comes. It takes a good 5 minutes stopped at the station for us to get all our luggage stacked and make sure everything was correct. We call ahead to the car company that was to meet us with the rental in the Lake District and the Bed and Breakfast where we'd be staying and they were both able to accommodate our time change. How lucky! Almost. We get off the train at the Lake District and unload all our luggage. Just as the train is leaving and and everyone is collecting their individual bags, we notice that nobody is claiming this black suitcase, that suddenly looks quite unfamiliar...oops. We took someone's bag by accident...and the train is gone. Well we all felt bad knowing we just made someone else's day a little worse, but we give it to the station manager and go to meet the people with the two vans we'd be using for the next two days. Except there not there. So we wait...again. Finally, they do show up, with a quite clueless old man trying to instruct us on how to program where we were going into the GPS and failing miserably. Keep in mind we had very shotty cell service (since we were still in the middle of nowhere) and using data overseas is quite difficult. We can't figure out how to turn the audio of the GPS on, so we resign to leaving the station going off the visual instructions. It was only supposed to be about a 20 minute ride, and hey, what else could go wrong at this point right? Surely we had exhausted our Murphy's law quota for the day. I mean, we had gone on 9 trains.

Well. Apparently at this time of year the sun sets very late here. As in it was finally getting dark…at 11. But when it did set, it was very dark. So we are traveling further and further away from the small bit of civilization we had on very narrow European roads, in the middle of the woods, in the middle of nowhere, and the GPS starts malfunctioning, telling us to go down a road then when we do starts re-routing us elsewhere, ad infinitum…Oh yeah, and there's also a whole lot of mountains here (seriously it looks like the shire, it's gorgeous) so the roads were quite hilly, and we had an American driver who's not totally accustomed to this, and it's a manual transmission…what's that burning smell? Is that smoke? Oh no, that's smoke. And it's coming from the car.

Crap.

The transmission was not happy and started smoking, everywhere. The smoke then got through the AC vents into the car, where everybody starts choking and coughing…so we pull over and literally jump out of the car. It was at this point where I was legitimately worried for my life. We were in the middle of the woods, on a hill, with a broken car, no cell phone service, and by now it's midnight…yeah, this was bad. I was also partially convinced the car was going to blow up.

And then in an unforeseen plot twist, I managed to save the day. We were trying to figure out what the heck to do when I tried to look at my maps on my cell on a whim…and it loaded. What? It had us located. Okay….so I type in the name of the bed and breakfast, not knowing the address…and it loads. Oh man, the GPS on my phone is working!! The transmission had cooled down some, so we very carefully climbed back in the car, trying to follow my GPS. It took us another 40 minutes of nowhere-ness…up to the point where the road was only wide enough for one car, barely even enough for our van. And about a hundred "are you sure we're going the right way?" to which I could only respond "…no?" And then there was a rabbit in the middle of the road, so we slowed down…and it stopped. So we move forward and it moves, then reverses, then stops and we were all going crazy and screaming for the poor rabbit to get out of the road and not meet it's death at our hand. It's probably relevant to mention that this is also where Beatrix Potter lived, so that probably fed into that….and the inn appears. Miles away from absolutely everything. We pull in, I shut the navigation off, and then look in the corner of my phone to see that it had just now switched to no service whatsoever.

The really crazy part? When we headed back into town today with a better sense of direction, I had no service for at least 5 miles away from the place. There's no way my GPS should've lasted that long. And so that's the ridiculous story of how Rachel saved the day. 📷

(the fact that is left out of that story is my phone gps only worked because I went ahead and switched my data on, which resulted in a $600 phone bill, but I deemed it was in fact an emergency and my dad had no issues paying the bill, so it all worked out)

[gelo-p]

Blooming in ZERO: Memories

I’ve decided to T100 the Re:ZERO collaboration! Let’s review how it went. XD

WARNING! A rather image-heavy post

Step 1: Roll for Rinko! (She’ll make my team stronger) Strictly speaking, I didn’t need her (means more work though), but I thought maybe I’ll get lucky? ^o^

I only had enough stars for 3 10-pulls though, and I have to say, this paid gacha was really tempting... (my Twitter friends all got Rinko WTF)

I’m broke though ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

We would quickly learn that we were overloading the servers, LOL. The game was very unplayable during the first two hours. During my first roll, the connection actually timed out D:

When I logged back in, I saw my stars got deducted, but thankfully I had new members in the waiting room. ^^

I actually got the limited Ako during that very first roll!

And so I tried again.

Fuck my luck. I’ve done 3 10-pulls, and all of them sucked.

Time to start playing I guess...

Oh right. The connection was bad.

Really bad. >_<

It’s been a while since I met coldgaze (P3), a fellow T10 from the Cycling Seasons event! That guy rarely shows up in the public rooms, LOL.

Also, we got a login campaign for 2500 stars! Which means another 10-pull! ^o^

...Why did I even think my luck would improve. >_>

Know what?

I SUMMON THEE! BLACK FRIDAY SALES!!!

MWAHAHAHAHAHA RIP wallet-kun, RIP being an F2P player 2020-2020

I swear to Babanbo-sama, if I don’t get Rinko using the paid gacha-

OMG D:

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE-

YESSSSSSSSSS

I am now a believer in the Babanbo religion.

WHAT? Had I known I would be rolling both Rinko and Ako in this single paid gacha I would have started with this and avoided wasting 10k stars!!!

>_<

(Of course, I couldn’t have known. Although in hindsight, I definitely should have tried rolling the paid gacha first... but then we only got the Black Friday sale news after I already spent 10k free stars, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )

Fuck yes, Rinrin. Fuck yes.

I already had a good 4* Yukina, so I didn’t really need to roll for her anymore. Not to say I didn’t want her ^^

Anyway let the tiering continue!

First checkpoint: Almost at T100!

Let’s talk about Unite! A to Z for a bit.

I’ve been tiering since forever and one of the many gripes casual players like me (yes. I’m casual) is that a lot of the more serious players go into the public rooms and just spam the hell out of this song. I understand why they do it (tl;dr - short length, high score, aka “meta song”), and I can’t really stop them from doing it.

There are other meta songs, like Jumpin’, that give a little less score for a little longer duration, but players really, and I mean really, like to spam A to Z. I could argue that you can’t really get the full benefit of A to Z 100% of the time (players take time picking songs and difficulty anyway, and you’re not always going to be consistent with your score), so in the long run, there’s no significant harm in picking other meta songs (maybe I should do the math..?), but no.

For those players, 100% AtoZ.

And it’s gotten really annoying, to the point that players like the one in the screenshot just straight-up disconnects when AtoZ is picked.

Anyway, back to the story. ^o^

WTF? Why is Gigguk (the #77 guy) tiering? XD Is that really Gigguk?

Who knows? XD

99 ILLUSION IS MY LIFE

I feel bad for P4, LOL. Surrounded by Yukina cards. XD

WE ARE UNSTOPPABLE

Progress report: T35!

I took this screenshot just as I finished a game of AtoZ...

...and the game disconnects WTF GIVE ME MY FLAMES AND EFFORT BACK

(the score’s a bit higher since it wasn’t completely tallied yet when I took the 1st screenshot)

I’ve seen Bad Wifi Pam a couple of times during my entire Bandori career and when I saw this, all I could think was-

“Is it finally gonna happen?? IS IT!?”

“YESSSS!” XD

I’m sorry Bad Wifi Pam, but that moment really felt like I saw the DVD logo diving into the corner XD

I hope they didn’t lose too many flames though.

I told you, people just hate AtoZ XD

We didn’t sign up for a rhythm that only has one song, come on!

My connection got bad a couple of times and I was punished for it. >_<

There are 2 impostors among us.

P3, when has that ever stopped them LOL

UGH tell me about it, P4.

FINALLY A RANDOM ROO-

WHAT-

WHY, P1 WHY!?

I changed my name to encourage Random songs ^^

..not that it would work, but whatever.

We more than managed to...

Stay Alive. ;D

I’ll see myself out.

WTF is this, a Mexican Standoff???

More AtoZ haters (also known as Etuze, well, coz that’s how Aya pronounces it... We love you Aya! :”> )

Finally ran out of drinks.

It was time to burn stars for flames.

:|

:|

:|

:|

(That Orion guy ended up as T9, BTW. There’s more incentive to AtoZ spam when going for T10, but it doesn’t make it any less annoying for me.)

MY PC DIED WTF

It got fixed after a restart though, so thank fuck.

Now that I think about it, I need to really get down to the bottom of my GPU issues.

LOL, one time I picked Happy Synthesizer for the lulz, and one of the AtoZ spammers disconnected :)))

TBF, nobody likes to see Happy Synthesizer in Multi.

I’ve decided to be an asshole and just delay AtoZ. Oh? What’s that? AtoZ again? here, let me take 30 seconds to pick a difficulty.

Please note that this is an asshole move, since the other players are gonna get dragged into it. But I was really sick of it.

Hey! A friend that also hates AtoZ!

Anybody wants Miracle Crystals? -_-

Someone actually copied my name WTF XD

Woke up on the 2nd-to-the-last morning to see myself almost out of T100 contention.

Check out my challenge points tho. 8-)

It was time to burn them!

STOP THE COUNT! STOP THE COU-

Yeah nah fuck you. Count them all.

Aaaaaand we’re done! I parked at... this score, and I was fairly confident I’d still be in T100. ^^

...Unfortunately, I woke up the following morning to see that Bestdori projected the cutoff to be at 10.6M. That is waaay too close to 11M for comfort. So I panicked and played some more, even got to Level 230 in the process XD

Eventually the cutoff never really reached 11M, so I guess I didn’t have to? :3

I’d rather regret the extra effort though, than potentially lose T100 standing.

Now we’re done. 8-)

Just waiting for the event to end!

AAAND EVENT OVER! *victory fanfare*

LOL one of the T10′s got banned. Don’t cheat, kids.

IT’S HEEEEREEEEE

YukiRan SayoLisa YukiRan SayoLisa YukiRan SayoLisa YukiRan SayoLisa-

[summersubin]

tutoring sessions

- yeonjun x taehyun

- 2.5k

- yeonjun doesn’t like that his new tutor is younger than him but he really can’t fail this class. besides, the sophomore is really pretty. he can’t stay mad at him for long. (cr: taejunaus on twitter for the prompt!!)

- a/n: i wrote this a while ago but didn’t get around to posting it here~ this is on my ao3 summersubin and i also posted it on my twitter hyukasnose!! please check out taejunaus on twitter, their aus are really good and i enjoy reading them a lot <3

~

TUTORING SESSIONS, read the pink flyer pinned to the announcement board in the school hallway. it fluttered with the breeze of students passing by in a hurry on the way to their next class. yeonjun, however, stood perfectly still, his school books in his arms, and stared at the innocent flyer with a conflicted expression on his face. his books lay heavy in his arms.

he never wanted to admit it to himself, but he needed a tutor. it wasn’t that he didn’t try hard, but the work in his classes just seemed to pile up so quickly on top of him that he was becoming worried he would never escape from underneath it. he felt the pressure of a million assignments weighing on his chest, and with all of his work to do, he was falling behind with learning the new material in his courses.

so, begrudgingly and with narrowed eyes, yeonjun reached out his hand, shuffling his school books into the crook of his other arm, and ripped one of the slips of paper with a phone number scrawled on it from the flyer. he slipped it in his pocket, and then decided to make his escape, hoping nobody had witnessed him. he turned, ducked his head, and walked quickly along with the other students, easily blending in with the crowd.

`

later, when school was over for the day, yeonjun pulled out his phone and the tiny slip of paper came with it. he almost dropped it by accident, its pink color catching his eye. he was on the bus now, and as he was sitting in his seat he placed his phone on one leg and the phone number on the other. he hesitated for a few moments, feeling like an idiot as the bus jostled him around in his seat, going over bumps in the road. finally, he rolled his eyes and picked up his phone in his hands, quickly typing up a text to the number listed from the flyer and sending it before he could talk himself out of it. he would call, but he was feeling far too self conscious already, and he didn’t need a whole bus of people listening in on his conversation.

yeonjun repeatedly glanced at his phone anxiously, and found a reply from the owner of the flyer coming through in a matter of seconds. so taehyun is his name, yeonjun thought after his new tutor introduced himself. he sounds nice enough. and he was nice, speaking to yeonjun in possibly a more formal tone than he expected, but he was fine with that, as long as it wasn’t overbearing when they were finally face to face.

they agreed to meet later that afternoon in a local cafe. bring some money if you want to. i always find coffee keeps me motivated to work, taehyun had said. the wifi is a bonus, too. yeonjun laughed at that. taehyun told him to bring his own supplies, which yeonjun was already pretty much expecting. it wasn’t like the flyer had specified exactly what kind of tutoring taehyun was offering, so he just assumed taehyun would be on board for whatever. it was funny, yeonjun thought, that he couldn’t seem to remember anybody by the name of taehyun in his class.

`

when yeonjun walked in the front door of the cafe, he was greeted by a warm gust of air that smelled of coffee and bread. he carried his schoolbooks against his chest, the weight feeling familiar in his arms. taehyun said he would be in one of the booths, so yeonjun didn’t worry too much about not being able to find him. he figured he would know him when he saw him. for a school night, the place seemed to be unusually busy. a low hum of voices filled the air and bounced off the well decorated walls, a gentle yellow glow from the lighting casting itself on the customers.

biology, he desperately needed help in biology. he could never seem to cram all the vocabulary into his brain and keep it there. it liked to ooze out like goo, and yeonjun wished he could pack it all together in there and secure it with duct tape. math, too. the formulas always ended up confusing him, and the second he thought he got it completely, he would move on to solve the next problem and find himself completely and utterly lost. he mulled over these things in his mind as he walked through the cafe, knowing he would probably have to explain them to taehyun if he wanted any help.

yeonjun was walking past the booths that sat just beside a giant wall of glass, passing each one booth by booth and wondering if he had arrived too early for their meet up. and then he stopped in his tracks. in front of him was a boy sitting in a booth only a few feet away from him. he was hunched over in his seat as he scrawled something into a little notebook on the table in front of him. the seat opposite of him was empty, yeonjun noted when he glanced at it. this is… taehyun? yeonjun thought, feet freezing into the ground.

his hair was caramel brown, not quite long enough to fall over his eyes but enough that it just brushed his eyebrows. the warm lighting complemented his honey tanned skin, and he held his pen between his fingers delicately as he wrote. he was in a cream colored shirt, and subtly something in the back of yeonjun’s mind flickered with the thought of how good it looked on him, how well he seemed to blend into the warm atmosphere of the cafe. the thing was, though, that by the looks of taehyun, he couldn’t have been any older than yeonjun. in fact, he had a younger look to him. upon thinking this, yeonjun had the realization that the reason why he couldn’t place taehyun in his mind earlier was because he wasn’t from his class. he was almost certainly a year younger, if not two, and this thought alone made yeonjun consider turning back and going home, pretending as if he had never arrived. being tutored by a sophomore… yeonjun thought, and nearly winced at the idea. he had gotten himself this far, but he didn’t know if he would be able to take another blow to his pride like that. however, just as yeonjun was raising his foot from the ground to turn around, the head of caramel hair in front of him suddenly raised up, and he was caught in the stare of big, round, captivating brown eyes.

taehyun gave him a once-over, taking in the sight of yeonjun’s schoolbooks and setting his pen down gently. he sat himself up in his seat, and then settled himself, closing his notebook shut.

“you’re here for the tutoring, right?” he asked, and yeonjun felt something strange twinge inside of him at the sound of his voice. he nodded meekly, feeling awkward and out of place. taehyun paused for a moment, and then eyed the seat across from him in a sort of wordless gesture, turning his gaze back to yeonjun.

yeonjun walked over timidly, regretting for a moment not leaving when he had the chance. as he was putting his books down on the table, he cast a few side glances at taehyun’s face.

“you’re not in my class, are you?” he asked hesitantly, adding, “what year are you… sophomore?” he looked at his books feeling a bit pathetic for a moment, hoping that he was only mistaken. he didn’t want to come to a sophomore for help on material he hadn’t even taken a class on yet.

“is that a problem?” taehyun interjected, and yeonjun lifted his head at the hint of aggression laced in his voice. he stared for just a moment, taehyun’s wide brown eyes trapping him under their glare, and suddenly he was embarrassed.

“no, no, it’s not,” yeonjun was mumbling without thinking, quickly sitting down in the seat of the booth and reaching a hand behind his head to scratch awkwardly at his neck. “i just didn’t recognize you, that’s all…” he trailed off. it wasn’t a lie of course, but it certainly wasn’t all either. he could feel a hint of warmth beginning to blossom on his cheeks and wished it would cut it out already.

“so, what do you need help with?” taehyun asked, and yeonjun subtly shifted uncomfortably in his seat under the boy’s scrutinizing gaze. he couldn’t help but feel the itch on his skin from coming to someone younger for help, but as his mind drifted back to the mounds of homework waiting to be completed by him, he clenched his teeth and knew he would just have to bear it. passing his classes was his only option, and if taehyun was the thing that would help push him to that point, then so be it. besides, spending the afternoon with this kid…..it probably…. yeonjun glanced up quickly between his thoughts and met taehyun’s patient eyes. probably wouldn’t be that bad.

he blinked away his thoughts, looking down and spreading his books across the table between them. “biology,” he blurted out. “and my math class…” and then taehyun was nodding, flipping open his little notebook and reaching for his pen. he started writing some things down.

“what are you writing?” yeonjun asked, palms flat against the solid cover of his biology textbook.

“just some notes. it will make things easier to keep track of.” taehyun muttered absentmindedly, not halting his movements. yeonjun watched him, eyes glued to the way his hand produced small neat handwriting onto the paper.

“i can’t remember anything in biology,” he continued, still observing taehyun as he skipped a line and began writing more. “it’s like it makes sense, but it never stays in my head.”

taehyun nodded shallowly, and yeonjun got this weird feeling like he was talking to his teacher. this kid was way too serious and precise.

“and your math class?” taehyun asked suddenly, lifting his head from his notebook. yeonjun paused. maybe it was the lighting or something, or the cozy atmosphere of the cafe, or maybe just his nerves messing with his perception, but something about taehyun’s face looking up at him like that made his stomach flutter. “um,” yeonjun uttered, wiping his palms against his pant legs. “yeah, basically the same thing. i always understand it in class but when i try to do it on my own…” he shook his head.

taehyun nodded again, quickly jotting it down. “okay,” he said, dropping his pen. “i’ll see if i can help.” and then he did something that yeonjun wasn’t at all ready for. he smiled softly, eyes crinkling a bit at the corners. oh, he’s cute, was all yeonjun could think, and he breathed out a laugh, returning the smile but looking down as he did so. what is wrong with you? he thought to himself.

taehyun reached over and picked up his biology textbook by the corner, half dragging it across the surface of the table until it was in front of him. he flipped it open, skimming the table of contents briefly before looking back at yeonjun. “what unit are you on?” he asked, and yeonjun’s brain was lagging. the thoughts coming in one after the other now, flitting through his mind about how pretty his tutor looked sitting there, and how embarrassed he felt, and how awkward he was acting.

“unit 6, i think,” he murmured, and thought he heard taehyun laugh the tiniest bit at his uncertainty as he found the page number and flipped to it in the book.

`

they sat there for the next few hours, yeonjun taking taehyun’s sincere advice on how he could study better but often finding himself distracted by the calm timber of his voice. taehyun had an excellent way of explaining things, and the more time he spent listening to him, the more yeonjun wondered how he could possibly be a sophomore. he watched the way taehyun’s expression grew focused when he was explaining more difficult concepts, like when they went over his math formulas together. he cursed his heart for the way it skipped ever so slightly every time he got an answer right, every time taehyun applauded him for doing it correctly on his own. he just knew there was a warm redness in his cheeks, for how long it lasted he had no idea, but he felt so strange being tutored by someone like taehyun.

by the time they were done, taehyun had a good few pages in his little notebook about things they had accomplished, things they needed to work on still, and how yeonjun should proceed with his classes. yeonjun had a good amount of notes as well, filling the pages of his notebooks with as many practice problems from taehyun as possible, knowing he would need them later.

“we can meet… next week if you want? here again?” taehyun asked, and yeonjun found himself once again pulled into his round brown eyes, thinking for a moment that he saw a flicker of hope in them. “yeah,” he responded, biting at his lip. “sounds good.” taehyun’s gaze flickered downward for a split second, and then back up again. he nodded again, and began to gather his things together. then he paused, and suddenly groaned, bringing a hand up to his forehead in frustration.

“we never got any coffee,” he said in a disappointed tone. “it completely slipped my mind.” he shook his head slowly.

yeonjun laughed, a bright and airy sound, and couldn’t help the smile on his face from forming at how genuinely upset taehyun seemed to be. “me too,” he snickered, and watched as taehyun looked up at him and dropped his hand. he began to smile too, a bashful look gracing his features at his own reaction.

“um, do you want me to buy you one? we can still order…” yeonjun blurted out before he could think. “i can stay for a little longer…”

taehyun’s eyes widened just barely, his mouth opening to speak and then closing again. “oh,” he said, gaze dropping down and raising back up. “okay,” he said quietly.

yeonjun smiled wide in response, laughing awkwardly. he asked for taehyun’s order, and taehyun gave it to him, still looking a bit taken aback. as yeonjun walked away to order their drinks, he could feel taehyun’s curious gaze on his back. the smile on his face wouldn’t seem to fade, but little did he know how much trouble he was in now. after all, he had a lot of studying to do, but when he would finally get around to it during the days to come he would find himself unable to focus or concentrate. his mind would be way too preoccupied thinking about his tutor that was annoyingly younger than him, and how pretty he looked under the warm lights of the cafe that afternoon.

[loquaciousquark]

Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E83 (Nov. 5, 2019)

A day late and many dollars short, but we’re here! Tonight’s preroll: minifigs & what I assume are tonight’s guests of Liam & Matt:

which is followed by lazy susan rotating the D&D minis from eldritch-foundry.com for the rest of the cast. Cute! Anyway, Dani is back and ready to rumble! Brian is briefly lambasted for only getting through mumblemumble questions last week, but it’s all smoothed over soon enough and we move right along.

Tonight’s announcements: Undeadwood finale is delayed one week due to some post-production tech issues. Should premiere Friday, Nov. 15. Brian marvels over Matt’s speech about God being just as feral as what he creates. Matt is also surprised. Marisha is apparently the living dice Snitch of both campaign 2 and Undeadwood - everyone wonders if it’s the seat, the chair, the floor, or some innate karmic sense Marisha herself creates. CR is also partnering with Operation Supply Drop for the month of November to support veterans. Matt announces (re-announces?) that they are partnering with Amazon to create a full second animated season, as well as two more episodes to the original season one. All backers will be able to still watch the full season one for free. Everyone is so excited & I’m excited for them. Good job, tiny D&D friend group. More details on the CR Kickstarter Updates page.

And now! Episode 83: Dark Bargains

CR Stats: Liam poured wine for 49 seconds. Brief sidebar as Liam expresses genuine nervousness being on the couch beside Matt; he normally talks behind his back on TM, since he’s not sure if Matt ever watches it, but now he has to watch what he says. Caleb’s smell has been mentioned 60 times. Matt acknowledges that he is clean and washed. [doubt] Nott’s death was the 60th knockout and 8th player death of C2. Half of those deaths were Frumpkin. Liam calls Frumpkin a magic fart with a weak wifi signal.

Our first question (23 minutes in, NOT THAT ANYONE’S COUNTING), reveals that Matt did design the HFB with some “big red buttons” for the characters to press, or want to press. He expected more group approval before some of them were pressed, though (the dreadnought). Liam wanted to clear all the corners of the Baldur’s Gate map. 

Caleb fears Halas because he’s one of the most powerful mages ever, he fears the lab setup/experimentation angle, he still fears the siren song, and is scared of the grains of similarity he sees between the two of them.

Liam knows they’ve continually seen fun stuff come from shitty situations, but Caleb sees the story of the HFB as “you’re not welcome here; this is going to suck for YOU! You thought you were going to have fun here? Fuck you!”

Matt loves those climactic moments though, because he loves it when the dice tell the story. Liam loves that there was a day where Matt rolled terribly in Undeadwood and played it as being embarrassed to be around all these amazing people.

Matt enjoyed getting to dig into the backstory of his world. He’s had references to pre-divergence stuff before, and it was a big joy to give more context to some of the things the M9 have been encountering.

Liam: “[Caleb] is gambling big when he thinks there’s something of worth to gain.“ He’d heard of a long-vanished mage who was messing with time stuff, and thought there might be a chance this was him. Then, once they found the gem, he started feeling this might be the real chance he needed to start messing with the crazy stuff he wants to do with time.

The bound devil was a general temptation, but in hindsight he can see why Jester was drawn to him. Matt often builds scenarios and has no idea how they will react to them (and acknowledges that the M9 did not fully read the poem that would have given them more info here), and sometimes he’s right and sometimes he’s very wrong.

Caleb is very distrustful of other arcanists and always assesses their level of threat to the group. Liam does think Caleb has come a long way since the start of the campaign. “A lot is changing for him. He’s very reactive in a lot of ways. Whatever is laid out for him in the moment that he can take advantage of, or that he cares about...I don’t know. The Betrayer Gods coming back is so much more important, and I don’t know if it’s going to make him let go of that stuff. He has to re-evaluate. He has to. He’s like an addict who has a weak day.”

Brian comments that Caleb seems to be a clinic in self-forgiveness. He wants him to do well, but at the end of the day he wants him to forgive himself. He also points out that it’s possible to get addicted to grief, and he sees that in Caleb; he’s choosing to stay in that space, and we are watching what that does to a person. Brian feels that he forms an attachment to the grief because it is the only emotional connection he has to the family he lost.

Liam nods and says these are things he’s been thinking about for months and months. He does not and did not have the answers when he created the character, and is looking forward to seeing where he ends up. He is not railroading his character; he’s letting the other players affect his character so that Caleb can remain malleable.

Matt loves how it reflects how real people inform the lives and actions of their friends in real life.

Cosplay of the Week: @suchamantis on twitter for a Caleb/spellbook cosplay. It’s gorgeous work!

Brief derailment into Liam pulling a Bane out of his mug and Matt hypersensually smelling the winner’s dice vault. I don’t even know what’s happening.

Revivify in this campaign is being used as a CPR/AED type thing. If they fail, the DC goes up and a longer-form raise dead spell must be used out of combat.

It did occur to Liam that this is the second time his bestie has been killed by a treasure box. Would Caleb make the same sacrifice? Liam says in a spooky voice that nothing is as strong as the twin bond...but when Caleb goes into full-on survival mode where all emotions are pushed to the side, he doesn’t know what would happen. He knew he was with two very magical people who could work miracles and was focused on just getting her up the steps to them. Matt was sure everyone would figure it out and was shocked when no one checked it for traps.

The effect of the diamond on Nott being different from the diamond on Cad was flavor related to the Power Word Kill trap that was on the chest. He built the revivify around that imagery in the moment. A lot of Matt’s flavor text around spells is built around the moment, the characters themselves, their gods, etc. as much as possible.

Caleb is glad to find the signs of magic that may be able to return Nott to a halfling, but was way too concerned about the gem to think about anything else at that time.

Fanart of the Week: @acemasters4 on twitter for a beautiful pastel stylized portrait of Caduceus and mushrooms.

Ashley is almost here! Brian allllmost tells us how many days but refrains. COME BACK ASHLEY.

The Angel of Irons thread has been planned since the very beginning: everything with chains and hunger was planned. He pulled it together with Yasha when he realized they would mesh well. She had created her backstory, and as the campaign proceeded he was able to marry some threads together to make story points. Liam compliments Matt’s ability to weave character & world backstory together; specifically, the crystals in Caleb’s arms were Matt’s idea after Liam sent the first draft of his backstory to Matt. Liam loved it and ran with it.

Everyone is so excited that she is coming back and Matt won’t have to plan for her to be suddenly absent again.

In a moment that shakes my world, Matt is discovered to be wrong about what class of magic Cure Wounds is in 5e. The question is about how Halas’s comment on healing being necromantic is a throwback to older editions of D&D where CW was a necromancy spell, and Dani reveals to us all that in 5e it is now Invocation. Matt chooses to accept this as a deliberate throwback to older editions to emphasize that “man out of time” feel.

Chris Perkins apparently once described BWF’s personality as “Power Word Kill for someone’s joy.” He also apparently did MMA & figure skating, because why not.

Caleb’s reference to Jester suffering in the ruby was purely coincidental regarding her mother. He didn’t realize until it popped out of his mouth.

BWF talks about how he likes where the campaign is at. He has a weird gut feeling that something exciting is about to happen. “I’m finally invested in this campaign after 83 episodes.”

Everyone pauses to talk about how beautiful Matt’s hair is blowing in the wind. BWF tells a story about how based on how they were sitting in Undeadwood filming, Matt’s hair would blow ever-so-slightly in the A/C and people thought they did it on purpose.

Matt had a good time at Blizzcon! He was glad to see people gathering for the Hong Kong protests; he understands it’s a very complicated situation where the initial punishment was way too harsh and caused a ripple effect, but he was glad to see the space where the activism was welcomed in response.

Matt enjoyed cosplaying again for the first time in a long time, both at Blizzcon and as McCree for the Halloween episode. When he was buying adhesive a shop worker upsold him on an inferior product, which is why his beard started falling off during the show. Sad times, Matt. :(

And that’s all! Is it Thursday yet?

[centrespiritual-blog]

2020: The Year of Chakra & Inner Wounded Child Healing

Hello. Long time no see!!

I don’t have any profound proverb for you today, but I am on the cusp of what I feel to be a critical turning point in my life.

But let me start at the beginning.

So, ever since the beginning of this year, I have felt strongly drawn to the chakras. Not to say I wasn’t interested in them beforehand, but I have felt increasingly more drawn towards chakra work. Now, I think it's safe to say that if 2020 has done one thing, it has definitely influenced our feelings about personal safety and security, whether that be in the world around us, having to move back in with family and thus uncovering old wounds, etc. I am sure collectively we have been dealing with some root chakra areas in our life in one way or another.

Now, my lower chakras, could use some work. I knew it was a lot of work, but I didn’t know quite how bad the situation was until I took a chakra test this year that really gave me a reality check. Here are my results and you can click here to take the test for yourself.

(p.s. I got this quiz from a healer I respect highly on Twitter who posted it this isn’t just some random quiz I found lmao)

ya. lmao.

According to the Highly-Respected-Twitter-Healer-Whose-Name-Escapes-Me-Right-Now when a chakra is in the negatives that means that it is closed. Not just under-active, it is literally CLOSED. 

And so, over the past few months I have found that I have been in situations that are calling me to do some root chakra work. And as of the past few weeks, things have really gone full throttle. My family situation is really the core of my lower chakra situation, especially my root. But if there’s one thing quarantine has brought, it has been familial healing (for the most part). I am currently the closest I have ever been with my family, a closeness I honestly did not think would be possible. I thought for the longest time that I was just too different from my family for us to ever be friendly. I could love them and respect them, but I didn’t think we could be friends. I don’t know if that makes sense to some of you but for those who have been through similar feelings I’m sure you can relate. They have been so reassuring even in the face of hardship that they love and accept me and that I am safe and secure in their home, that I am always welcome.

And I am actually starting to feel it!

Jamaica (my home) recently had their emancipation and independence holidays, and for that week and a half I stayed in “country” (aka all of Jamaica outside of the Capital, as affectionately called by those living in the Capital, Kingston) with my more extended family. And that trip went just as well! There was no major family drama, a spat here and there but nothing that surpassed a day or an evening. Which when a whole family is put together for a week and a half is a very happy surprise. My cousins and I all agreed that we had all reached an age where we can more easily relate to each other, we can hang out with each other and do similar things, we can understand each other. I loved it.

I find being in “country”, specifically the “country” I went to this past holiday (which shall not be named for privacy reasons haha) is always a healing experience. The bay is always so filled with life, whether its other people in other houses on the bay, fish in the water, bees in the sea grape tree, or birds in the morning, life is everywhere! I am constantly barefoot, the wifi hardly works, I am able to kayak and swim the bay and just be in the moment with nature. I’ve been very blessed to be able to go twice this year so far due to covid having the house more available, this past May being the first time since my spiritual awakening, and I am able to get more from each visit there than ever before!

Coming home from “country” I feel equipped to face any familial tribulations with a clear and open heart and mind, to observe any fears and thoughts that arise and allow them to come and go and ground myself through the process. I feel equipped to put on my Big Girl Pants™ and take charge of my life. If that means putting myself through school I am ready. I know I am more than capable of doing it, and I will have my family’s love and support on my side to help me through.

This is definitely just the tip of the ice berg of the situations that have been encouraging me to do my chakra healing, but I shall leave you with this:

Please. PLEASE. Listen to your intuition. Honour your feelings. You are the creator of your reality, the more you feed into your energy and raise your vibration you will be SHOCKED at what comes your way. I have only been intentional with listening to my intuition as of this year and I can say that it is crazy how the universe works when you stop shrinking yourself!

The universe will prepare you for your path. And when you get there, you will feel ready. If you don’t feel ready yet, the universe will circle back to you. Whatever is meant for you, IS MEANT FOR YOU. You cannot run from your path forever, and you won’t run forever. Trust the process.

Listen to what is calling you. (This is similar to No.1 but different ya feel)  It could be as small as messaging someone when you think of them, or doing a task the minute you think of it. It may seem like nothing, but the more you listen to your intuition and your higher self, the more you begin to open yourself up to higher interpretations and higher and stronger attractions into your life.

Anyways my loves, I am not sure what this point in my life will bring. There is so much change happening at once. But I know what is happening now is setting the precedence for the next 10 years of my life. I feel it. And the healing happening here will follow me through the rest of my life. Good things are happening, and I am so so excited to see what's to come. Stay tuned :)

[let-it-raines]

fic prompt for captain swan! "my flight was delayed so i'm sitting it the airport scrolling through tinder and the man behind me goes "ouch hard no for that one?" and i turn around only to see the man i swiped no on right behind me!" thanks :)))

She hates airports.

They’re basically like forcing everyone into a large (and yet somehow very small) room where germs are passed around, people are pissed, people are tired, and only a small amount are there to actually go on vacation where life is fun. Most everyone is there for work or to visit family, and really, what’s so fun about that?

Okay, so maybe she’s on her way to visit her parents in Chicago, and she’s not exactly happy to have woken up at four in the morning for her seven o’clock flight when it ended up getting cancelled because the weather in Boston and Chicago both seriously suck in February. Seriously. Snow is pretty and all, but she’s tired and wants to be sitting in her parents’ living room eating the breakfast casserole she knows that her mom is making for her right now.

And she’s stuck at Logan standing in the longest line in the world for overpriced coffee.

She doesn’t even really want coffee. She wants hot chocolate, but she really needs the caffeine.

She needs a lot of caffeine.

Sighing, she pulls her phone out of her pocket, figuring that she can at least use the free Wifi and pass the time by scrolling through the internet. And she does, making her way through all of Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. Hell, she even goes through Facebook. She doesn’t even know when she last used Facebook.

It had to have been at least a year ago when Ruby and Dorothy got married, and she wanted to see all of the pictures Ruby had tagged her in. But that had definitely been the last time. She should probably just delete the account.

The line moves at a slow pace, and she’s convinced she’s never going to get her coffee, so as a last resort, she opens up Tinder, which is also something she hasn’t used in awhile, probably not since she was trying to find a date to Elsa’s wedding in June.

Why in the world are all of her friends getting married? What is she doing with her life? Woah, Emma, don’t go down that road. She’s fine. Everything is fine, and her mom totally isn’t going to hound her about why she’s not dating anyone while she’s eating the cold breakfast casserole that she’s missing right now.

Her mom is definitely going to hound her on it, especially because her cousin who is younger than her just announced that she was pregnant when they were all eating Christmas dinner. She could practically feel her mom screaming “baby, baby, baby oh” all Justin Bieber style.

Her mom is not as good of a singer as Justin Bieber…not that she would ever admit that…out loud. She’s twenty-seven years old, single, childless, and she can jam out to Justin Bieber and the Jonas Brothers if she wants to while she’s driving down the road late at night following a guy for one of her cases.

She’s a consummate professional. Always.

It takes forever to go through the profiles, a bunch of sleazy guys who pose shirtless in their pictures and write some of the dumbest captions in the world, and while she may not have always had the best taste in guys, she’s not about to go on a date with Matt from Boston who is looking for a “hot girl with an ass that won’t quit.” Her ass won’t quit, but her ass has standards. And it goes on and on like that, every single guy she sees just kind of looking like a douche, so she’s constantly swiping left simply because she can.

“Ouch,” someone groans behind her, right in her ear really, “so it’s a hard no on him, huh?”

She turns around, about ready to chew this dude out for looking over her shoulder, and it’s exactly when she sees familiar blue eyes and dark hair of the guy she just swiped left on.

Well, shit.

She’ll just walk to Chicago. Screw the snow. She’ll walk and then move there so she never has to run into this guy again.

Seriously, what are the odds? She needs someone super smart and good with statistics to figure out what exactly the odds are of having the guy you just rejected on Tinder standing right behind you in line at a Starbucks in Logan International. She’s also kind of regretting swiping left because, well, he’s hot, especially in person. His profile wasn’t bad, it was actually pretty good from the glimpse she got of it, but she was kind of on a roll of rejecting guys. It felt…powerful almost, and the more she thinks about that, the more she realizes that she really is tired if she thinks silently rejecting on guys is making her feel powerful.

But Matt from Boston totally deserved it.

“Seriously,” she whines when she looks up at him and the way his lips are stretched into an actual smirk. A smirk. In real life. And not on a Disney character. It’s insane. He’s smirking at her, his thick brows moving across his forehead, and she’s still considering just not going to visit her parents for their thirtieth anniversary party. “So I’m guessing you saw that.”

“I did just see you reject me without really even reading my profile,” he laughs, his British accent coming out stronger than it did when he first spoke. She didn’t even realize he had an accent at first. “I mean, come on, love. My profile is pretty good.”

“Obviously not if I just swiped it away like nothing.”

“Ah,” he sighs, crossing his arms over his chest and adjusting the backpack on his shoulders while his lips press together into a straight line, “well, maybe. Or maybe you were simply rejecting every man in Boston all while waiting in this ridiculous line. You were going pretty fast.”

“And you were invading my privacy.”

He shrugs, almost like he doesn’t have a care in the world while she feels irritation prick up over her skin. “I don’t mean to point out the obvious – ”

“Which is exactly what you’re about to do.”

“Aye,” he laughs, his eyes crinkling at the sides, and oh no, she will not find that attractive, “I am. I really didn’t mean to pry, but I’m a wee bit taller than you, and the way you’ve been holding your phone is directly in my eyeline while I watch the television playing. And imagine my surprise when a beautiful woman rejected me without even giving me a chance. I wasn’t planning on getting rejected this morning.”

“I’m guessing you don’t get rejected a lot.”

“It has something to do with my devilishly handsome good looks.”

“Oh my God,” she groans, rolling her eyes while he moves his eyebrows again. Why does he keep moving his eyebrows? “That is so conceited.”

“Or confident.”

“Conceited.”

He shrugs. “Whatever you say. So why the rejection of men on this fine Thursday morning?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“I would. That’s why I’m asking.”

“Flight’s delayed, I’m bored, and I really want coffee.”

“The same could be said for me, but I do feel like I would give your profile a chance.”

“Guess you’ll never know now.”

“Perhaps.” He smiles down at her before he uncrosses his arms and sticks his hand out. Oh wow. He’s really about to introduce himself to her. Maybe the guy really does have confidence. “Killian Jones.”“Emma Swan,” she says warily, taking his hand in hers and shaking it up and down three times. She definitely doesn’t notice how warm his hand is. Nope. “It’s nice to reject you.”

“It’s nice to be rejected.”

She and Killian talk as they move through the rest of the line. It’s awkward and stilted sometimes, but he’s a pretty persistent guy. And obviously he does not feel embarrassment because he powers through it all and chats away about his job at an engineering firm and then asks her far more questions than necessary about what it’s like to be a private investigator. He seems genuinely interested, and that may be the first time that has happened…ever. But he’s a nice guy, funny at least from what she can tell, and when she finally gets to the front of the line, she pays for his coffee.

She’s not really sure why she does it. Maybe it’s some kind of apology for rejecting him, even if she doesn’t need to apologize for that, and maybe she just figures there’s no harm in being nice. Plus, he drinks black coffee, so it’s not like it was expensive.

She was really scared he was going to order something complicated for a minute there. He seems like the type of guy who would do that.

He also seems like the kind of guy who would part ways after he got his coffee and leave her be, but he asks her if she wants to find somewhere to sit. She does, so she follows him until they manage to find a spot on the floor next to the windows, settling down on the ground and completely ignoring how disgusting this has to be.

It just has to be.

She’s sure of it.

Killian’s apparently flying to New York for a conference, something he’s not at all looking forward to, and his flight has been delayed until at least one. So really, he’s going to miss the entire first day of it, and a part of her feels like maybe the man is happy to be stranded in an airport.

She’s kind of happy to be stranded in an airport.

Yeah, this has got to be like that movie where the girl gets trapped in a romantic comedy? She doesn’t meet men in airports who are charming and funny, especially men who also use Tinder. She really can’t say anything. She uses it too. Maybe he was simply looking for a wedding date. Maybe he was looking for a hook up. She can’t blame him there either. Sometimes you just need to scratch the itch.

She does have a bit of a hard time believing that he has trouble finding someone to scratch the itch with, but hey, maybe he doesn’t always have a great first line like calling her out for rejecting him.

She wonders if people still even use pick up lines. She also wonders if they’ve ever worked. If someone walked up to her and said “Do you believe in love at first sight or should I walk by again?” she’d definitely have to hold herself back from slapping someone or tossing a drink.

She swears she’s not a violent person.

Maybe just a little.

“So tell me, Swan,” Killian begins, fiddling his fingers over his thighs and the suit pants that are stretched with the muscles, “you’re from Boston, correct?”

“That would be correct.”

He smiles, all of his white teeth on display, and she wonders what dentist he goes to. “And I assume that you’re single from your use of dating apps.”

“You’re a very smart man, Jones.”

“Oh, well that’s never been a doubt.”

“Stop,” she groans, reaching over and knocking her shoulder into his while she laughs.

“Never,” he promises, twisting a ring around on his thumb. It’s weirdly hot, especially since she knows it’s not a wedding ring. This conversation would have stopped before it started two hours ago because they have definitely been flirting, and she’s not going to flirt with a married man. It’s been awhile since she’s flirted with someone outside of work, but she knows how these things go. “So you’re from Boston and you’re single. It’s a funny coincidence because those two things happen to be true about me as well.”

“I’m glad we finally found something we have in common.”

“Aye, me too, even though we both have fantastic taste in comedic television.”

“That’s true,” she laughs, her lips stretching into a smile while her entire body buzzes with energy. She knows where this is going, and she likes it, which only surprises her a little.

“So I was thinking, maybe when we get back from our trips, you might like to go out to dinner with me.”

She hums, tilting her head back against the glass while Killian scratches behind his ear. “I think that might be a good idea. But I should warn you that you’ve already been rejected once, so I would suggest that you be on your best behavior. Or your worst. It kind of depends on how you want the night to go.”

“I’ll have to think on it. I do so fancy you when you’re irritated with me for peeping over your shoulder.”

“You’re a weird guy.”

“Who you’re going on a date with.”

“That I am.”

And it’s one date, then two, then three. And it goes on and on and on as she and Killian travel across all of Boston going to restaurants, museums, and baseball games. Eventually the fun dates slow down. They don’t stop, but they’re replaced by takeout at home, by a run down at the river on Saturday mornings, or by a cup of coffee in the morning before work when she’s staying at his apartment working on a case while he’s rushing off to do whatever it is he does as a civil engineer. She’s not entirely sure, simply because she doesn’t understand the mathematics of it, but she doesn’t really care as long as he’s happy doing it.

She loves him. She loves him a lot, actually, and it constantly surprises her how happy she is getting to have someone by her side who laughs with her and yells with her and who will let her eat all of the junk food in his apartment without complaining.

Okay, so he complains a little bit, but it’s really only when she eats his Doritos. It’s his favorite American snack, and he’s very protective over the cool ranch flavor. Anything else she can have.

She thinks it’s kind of weird, but then one day he’s at work while she’s at home doing research, and she really wants the chips. It takes some maneuvering, some climbing on cabinets because he put them on the shelf she can’t reach, and then she’s grabbing the unopened bag while making sure she doesn’t fall backwards and bust her ass. She doesn’t when she gets the chips, but she almost does when she spies a small green velvet box tucked into the corner. She knows what it is, wants to open it so damn bad that she almost does, but she restrains herself. She knows Killian, knows that he probably put a lot of effort into the ring and into his plan for proposing (holy shit, he’s going to propose), so she puts the Doritos back and pretends that she never saw it.

The weeks pass, and for awhile, she forgets about the ring even though something in the back of her mind is nagging at her, a little doubt trying to freak her out about why he hasn’t asked yet. But she does forget, doesn’t focus on it constantly, and they go about their lives.

It’s only when they’re at Logan again, two tickets in her wallet for them to fly to Chicago to visit her parents so Killian can meet them, that she realizes what he’s going to do. He somehow manages to get them in nearly the exact same spot on the floor as that first day, their thighs pressed together this time with no distance between them, and he hands her a diamond ring and whispers in her ear.

“I know that you swiped left on me the last time we were here, but I’d really like it if you put this ring on your left ring finger. Forever, preferably.”

Needless to say, she deletes the app.

[themysticalstuff-blog1]

The Beginning

In the beginning, businesses often started in small spaces such as a garage, a tiny bedroom or a walk-in closet. Mine, on the otherhand, started in the front seat of a car while working for someone else. Having a homebase didn’t help much when my job was driving around 7 states for 9 months out of every year. Although I had internet on a small phone, I didn’t have it for my laptop. Setting up training for my new business was done on my phone while the actual training was done on my laptop in Dennys, outside McDonalds, Starbucks, etc. Anyplace with wifi, a drive-through for coffe and a meal. Finally, I reached a point where I needed to purchase a website and began working, in earnest, for myself while I still had an income from my job. Now...at long last...mystical-marvels.net has become a reality which just goes to show ANYONE can start a business on line.

How I did it, who helped me and where am I going next. Social Media first for me. I have a personal Facebook and Twitter accounts which I posted my announcement on with a link to mystical-marvels.net. Next I wentr onto Business.Google.com and registered there, I came to Tumblr next, from here I will sign into YouTube, Instagram, Messenger, Whatsapp, and a few others. I found a list of Social Medias by googling for a list.