#yall seen the maze?

[mcgilm]

my husband

[rapidhighway]

Not enough possession in sonic we gotta change that

[catsconflictscopicsandchamomile]

hate to be an ass, but yall do understand that Disney only dropped Percy Jackson a few hours (no, not a day, its a few hours) early because they knew that this miniscule action on their part would make yall "conveniently forget" that they are SUPPORTING GENOCIDE

but have fun praising Lord Disney while you roll around in the crumbs they threw yall ig.

people are dying

[newtstommy]

to invent a language by tommyglued; newtmas, 67k, complete, M {read chapter two on ao3}

Two best friends, inseparable since the day they met, return from their road trip on different days. One moves out of town with his sister immediately, the other locks himself inside the house as soon as he arrives. The town in question is called Haven and, staying true to its small town workings, erupts in gossip.

A decade and a half later, it's an ordinary day of tending to plants and navigating workshops for Newt. Quite ordinary, indeed, until the Garden's doorbell chimes and an unexpected guest voices his presence.

Thomas always had a knack for turning Newt's world upside down, after all.

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5

[thefluxqueen]

its deeply funny to me that my first impression on a decent amount of people ive met at this point has been the abyss. like hey :) heres me at my most Insane. heart <3

[ylove-bandaesthetics]

OMG YESSY SPOOKY MAMA the sequel of The Exorcist is finally here it’s dropping next month I think!!! Search up the trailers it actually looks great?? And Ellen Burstyn will be in it, she’s back she will be playing the same character!! OMFG CAN’T WAITTTT THIS SHI LOOKS SCARY AF 🎃🎃🎃🎃

[spacedace]

Here be the first little bit of the new DP x DC AU I warned about earlier where Tim, due to his constant repeated attempts at cloning Bart & Kon, accidentally summons slightly eldritch Elle who is very interested in what he’s up to.

As always feel free to run with this as a prompt if yall find anything here interesting :D

*

Tim didn’t mean to summon her.

He’d been in the lab, staring at the data on the latest failed attempts at cloning Kon and Bart and feeling like he was cracking in two. Eyes burning, chest tight, world spinning out into shifting impossible shadows around him as his mind and body struggled to push him forward into another day without sleep. The hush of water in the tanks, his unsteady steps on the cement floor, the chill seeping into his bones.

He stumbled and swayed through the maze of the lab, numbers dripping like blood down the screen as he tried to stare at the figures. He needed to try again, needed to bring them back, in whatever capacity he could. This time would work. This time he’d get it right.

When he saw her, feet clumsy as he rounded a corner, he thought she was just another hallucination.

How could she be anything else?

Skin like a polished mirror, hair like the white-hot flash of lightning, eyes as green as the depths of the Lazarus Pits. She floated before a tank, spectral and strange with a long wisping tail that drifted off into nothingness in place of legs, body shifting and changing before his eyes in ways that bodies should not be able to. Outside of the eyes the face was…not there. An impression of the shapes that you’d expect to see in a human face, like the Question’s. Sometimes though the features defined, sharpened. Mirror bright skin crackling as faces took shape in the glass.

In the low light of the lab, he almost imaged one of those faces was Kon’s. Dimples and freckles and high cheek bones and the slant of a silhouette that haunted Tim’s dreams at night. A flicker of her lightining hair and it was gone. Smoothed back into soft blankness once more.

He watched from the of the aisle as she lifted too-long mirror shard fingers and rest them gently on the glass as she seemed to peer in at the lifeless body inside.

Attempt 76.

One of his tries with Bart. The organs hadn’t grown right during the age-up process. Tim had cried for that one as he had for all the others. As he had for Bart and Kon when they had died. As he still did as the fact that it was more maddened grief than hope that kept him pushing forward anyway.

He closed his eyes to the hallucination at the end of the aisle. Breathed deep and steady. It might be gone when he opened his eyes again. It might not be. It might be something - someone - else when he dares look next. He’d been through this time and time again over the days and weeks he’d been throwing himself at this agonizing wall. The only difference this time was the intricate strangeness, the total lack of recognition he had for the figure, baring the moment he almost saw Kon in its face.

Coffee. Maybe some harder stimulants, if he had any left. New data to review, new attempts to be made. He didn’t have time for the effects of sleep deprivation.

Tim opened his eyes.

He jerked back as he came face to face with himself, warped and strange and green in the reflective face of the being where it now hovered so close that if it breathed he would feel it upon his face.

She tilted her head at him, curious. Hands rose to cup his face, rest on his shoulders, wrap around his arms, cradle his hands. More hands than he’d seen before. More hands than he was able to truly comprehend, stomach souring as his eyes stung and strained in the attempt to look at the impossible warping of her body. Despite the glint of shattered glass that made up her fractured palms and splintered silver fingers, her hands were soft and warm where they curled around him. Almost human in the way they held him in place, the hold pleasantly firm.

He’d never had a doting elder aunt to pinch his cheeks and demand to get a look at him, but he imagined this might be what that felt like. The way the being shifted her head from side to side, his reflection warping in the curved reflection of the planes of her featureless face, added to the strange idea. His hallucinations didn’t normally touch him, though. And never so…kindly.

Tim felt his blood go cold as he realized it might not be a figment of his fracturing mind floating before him.

Swallowing nervously, he tried to shift backwards, to slip out of the many grasping hands before the softness turned sharp and began to cut into him. He felt something cool against the back of his legs, hair standing on end as static electricity built up on his skin where he brushed the trailing tail he hadn’t noticed her curl around him. The entity leaned in close, the depthless green of her glowing eyes consuming Tim’s entire field of vision, and he was flooded by the sudden, horrible awareness of being Known.

The world fell away from him, his stomach lurching with the sick-sweet feel of free fall that used to exhilarate him when he’d first become Robin and had flown from rooftops dangling by his grapple and his belief in the magic being Robin instilled in him. The lab, the equipment, the piles of data and desperate scribbles, the failed clones, Tim himself. All swept away in the flood of green and the roar of lightning and the cool press of glass.

He came to would could have been minutes or centuries later. Gasping and sick on the cold cement floor, shivering as he dry heaved. His mouth full of salt and copper and the burning crackle of ozone at the back of his throat.

For a moment, disoriented and dizzy, he thought it had all been a hallucination after all. Or some fractious dream visited upon him by his torn and tattered mind after he’d finally collapsed from exhaustion on the lab floor. That the entity truly had been just in his mind, a consequence of his refusal to rest until his work was done.

Then he felt the glass-cool fingers running through his hair, the warm hand rubbing at his back, heard the low murmurs of reassurance in a voice that was almost, almost human.

He spasmed as he tried to jerk away, hissing with the sharp sting of pins and needles dancing over every nerve. His limbs were heavy and clumsy, and he was crashing back to the cold floor under his own weight before he could even try and drag himself away. His breathing came in short, aching gasps as he tried to twist away, only managing to roll to his back to see the entity where it sat calmly looking down at him.

She had a face now. A solid, steady one that fit her in a way that made him think it must be her real one, though what that meant exactly he didn’t know. The glowing eyes had dimmed and shifted, more human looking with black pupils and white sclera. Button nose marked with silver-tarnish freckles that spread over her cheeks too. A mouth, with lips curled into an apologetic smile. Her hair, still shifting as if caught in a wind that wasn’t there, was still the bright white it’d been before, but the lighting of the locks had settled into faint crackles between the curls. Whatever she was, whatever she’d done to him, he could look at her without feeling like his mind might just crack in two.

“Wha-“ His voice cracked, painful and hoarse like he’d been screaming. Maybe he had been. Swallowing around the burn in his throat, he choked out a hissed, “What are you?”

Her head tilted in that curious slant again, more human features giving her a bright, youthful look as she peered down at him questioningly. “You summoned me, Little Gaffer, shouldn’t you know?”

*

Gaffer is a term used for a glass crafter, as well as light technicians for stage/movie productions. I’m using it as the term for the person who creates a Clone, with the clone themselves being a Mirrorborn, and the person they are cloned from being called the clone’s Reflected. Gaffer is probably a bit of a stretch for this, technically I think someone who makes mirrors would be called a Glazier (Glaziers are glassmakers) but I wasn’t vibing that as much. Besides I like the vibe of glass + light = mirror in a way.

Anyway, opening volley of a new AU where Tim ends up becoming like a warlock to Elle to get his loved ones back, while Elle is just having the time of her sorta eldritch little life watching this absolute mess of a human wreck shit and cause so much chaos even without the powers she starts giving him.

(Elle in this is both the God Queen of Clones/Mirrorborn as well as the Ancient of the Speedforce (which I’ve decided is called the Ever Onward in the Infinite Realms, because I literally can’t be stopped from trying to make normal DC things sound mystical because spooky Infinite Realms aesthetics haha)

Have a tiny bit more written for this, but don’t know how much I’ll end up writing for it with all the other projects I have currently lol, so if anyone is interested feel free to run with it as you so desire haha

[lackablazeical]

Rewatching Rise makes me notice a lot of things but one thing is just how. Much of an asshole Leo is!!!

Like I've seen things abt how ppl think he's OOC in the movie bc of how much of an ass he is but... like, 60% of Rise wouldn't have happened if Leo wasn't a douche. Of the top of my head, theres:

Pizza puffs, Air Turtle, Flushed but Never Forgotten, Lair Games, Shell in a Cell, You got served, Bad Hair Day, Sidekick Ahoy!, Down With The Sickness, Minotaur Maze, The Gumbus (kinda), Jupiter Jim Ahoy!, and Many Unhappy Returns

Leo is snippy, refuses to listen, is often hurtful, etc etc. I'm also probs forgetting some like.

Ain't no way yall ever thought Leo was nice. Most 'nice' things he does are self-serving at best like. Be REALLLLLLLL. And that's such an amazing part of his character. He has self worth issues, and he's toxic because of them. It's realistic and I love it

[svmjaeyvn]

love maze, s.jy.

chapter six pairing: jake x afab!reader word count: tbd (series)

masterlist

add yourself to the taglist here!

genre: college!au, mutual friends, fake dating, smut.

synopsis: an unfortunate encounter, drunken mistakes, and a sort of (definitely) stalker leads jake sim ‘dating’ his best friend’s childhood crush.

or, your life gets intertwined with a rich boy’s in attempt to not get sued by his crazy personal fangirl and like with all good cliches, sex overcomplicates things.

contents: smut, sort of strangers to fuck buddies to lovers pipeline, childhood best friend!jay, mentions of best friend! yunjin, curly haired & mixed reader, uni!au, rich nepo baby!jake, enha frat boys, lots of kissing, fake dating turning into fwb real quick, totally way too into it for it to be fake early on, big booty reader that’s jake’s obsessed with, partying and alcohol use, slight violence, he fell first and harder trope, stem bf & writer gf, (kinda overly) possessive jake, some angst to spice things up, daddy issues, hyper independent reader who struggles with her feelings, fluff and happy ending!!

a/n: hello~ i’ve never been a tumblr girly but i have went through my w*ttpad era back in 2018 so bare with me y’all. this will be a series but not that long (i hope) so pls look forward to it. warning tags will be placed before each “chapter” to specify what to expect. pls pls reblog and interact, i’d love to have feedback and see what your thoughts are. okay! yay, for now enjoy and thank you sm :D

MDNI, 18+

tap below to continue

CHAPTER SIX: EXS

previous masterlist next

word count: 3.3k

warnings: swearing, kisses, calling minjun a stalker, protective jay and ni-ki

a/n: not a lot of jake in this one i know but i have to make a plot and conflict yall 😩 adding in bbg riki and some more best friend!jay pls enjoy

           "HOW MANY TIMES have I told you to wear the gloves when you do the dishes?" You tsk, delicately wrapping the small gash that ran along Ni-ki's, the newest trainee at your work, hand. He sheepishly smiled, tilting his head in the smallest of ways.

"Sorry noona," He mumbled out, embarrassed by his third time sitting like a kid being scolded due to his clumsiness. "I needed the steaming pitcher so I just reached in the sink and didn't see realize the tongs were so sharp,"

You shake your head with mock disappointment though a small smile perked at your lips nonetheless. With the middle of the semester rolling around, most freshmen had found themselves finding a rhythm with balancing their school lives enough to find a part time job. You've seen numerous come and go, Cho— your generous manager who was the sweetest old lady that ran the cafe, always took them in for at least a short amount of time.

Ni-ki was your favorite thus far, always listening intently (to everything aside from the dishwashing) and picked up the skills relatively fast. Respectful but also comfortable enough to joke around with, the two of you had become a dynamic duo in closing four days out of the week together.

Of course he was still a boy, a young and partially annoying one at that but he reminded you of your younger brother, weaseling his way in having a soft spot in your heart even though it had only been two weeks.

"Okay now we switch, you run the front I'll clean up back here," Satisfied with your makeshift bandaging, you shoo the younger boy along who rolled his eyes but nonetheless disappeared from the back of the house. Cleaning up the medical kit and barely managing to slip on your gloves to handle the load of piling dishes, you noticed his head poke in around the corner.

"Someone would like to talk to you," He hums before disappearing once more, not giving you enough time to determine whether it was a good talk or bad one in having to handle the customers. With a small sigh, you make your way to the front, prepped for the worst but your tension dissolves seeing your bright smiled best friend leaning over the pastry case.

"Off the glass," You warn, making your way to the register where Ni-ki stood with a goofy smile. Jay reluctantly stands himself up straight, pouting seeing as you didn't greet him with the same warmth he was expecting.

"That's not very good customer service, where's ajumma Cho? I'd like to file a complaint," Jay tuts, peering around the store though he knew well enough it was only you and Ni-ki in the building. The younger boy lets out a small snort, used to his antics in the past two weeks of running into each other and forming a budding friendship through their mutual teasing over you.

Rolling your eyes, you lean against the counter expectantly. "What'd you need Jay?"

"I can't just come say hi?" He pouts, seemingly offended by your words while he shakes his head. "I haven't seen you in days teeny, you've been too busy with your boyfriend to give me any attention now,"

"I saw you when we had lunch," You deadpan, finding his dramatics amusing though you knew the mess that occupied the back room needed tending to before you were forced to stay late. "Seriously, I actually have work to do today so I can't talk—"

"I'll help!" Jay volunteers, the same boxy smile on his lips while you shake your head. "What? I've done stuff before! I'm bored and want to hang out, let me help. It'll show me what you broke college students do everyday to survive and stuff,"

"Let rich boy do the dishes," Ni-ki interjects, rolling his eyes at his ladder sentence though it was all in playful manner.

"As long as I get to wear an apron," Jay agrees, pointing a finger at the coffee brown colored uniform piece you had to wear.

It was a temping offer, and he wasn't wrong. Typically you had him clean the menus or refill caramel bottles whenever he wanted to be like a kid and help out but you really did dread washing dishes. With a reluctant sigh, you nodded your head and not even a split second later, Jay had made his way around the counter to the employees side.

"This is exciting," He hums, following you to the back while you reach into the locker cubbies, pulling out one of the spare aprons left just in case anyone needed it. Jay slips it over his head, securing the strings behind his waist while you point toward the far end of the room. His excitement visibly deflates seeing the mountain of items waiting to be cleaned, the cherry on top being the empty dishes Ni-ki waltzed in with a genuine smile of content as he added to it.

"Have fun princess," You laugh, patting his shoulder as you walked by and with some reluctance, Jay made his way to begin without a word of protest much to your surprise. Having far more time to do your tasks, you began with the inventory. Going through the store and marking down the amounts had while Ni-ki continued to clean and restock due to the end of the night approaching, it was peaceful with the younger boy taking hold of the aux to play his own music now opposed to the cafe playlist.

A few minutes passed without any words, finding comfortable silence and both of you working on your own things before the jingle from the front door indicated someone coming inside. "Welcome in," You called out, not bothering to look up from the fridge you were bent down beside while Ni-ki headed for the register to attend the guest.

"Hey," You stiffen at the familiar voice. Pausing in your count, you stare at the half empty milk carton in the fridge, waiting for the person to speak again, praying it wasn't what you thought. "Sorry man, is ___ here?" With a deep sigh, your head falls down. Ni-ki peers to the side, giving you a questionable glance noticing your reaction and unaware of what to respond with.

Sending him a half smile, you stand up properly, exposing your hidden figure behind the counter. You make eye contact with Minjun, void of emotion and placing the fakest of smiles onto your lips as you spoke. "How can I help you?" Decidedly going with the faux customer service route, you place the book down you were previously using to record while his eyes trail over your figure.

"Hi," Was all he spoke, almost hesitant and you had to hold everything in you to not roll your eyes. "You're a manager here now?"

"Yeah stuff changes over a year," You respond dryly, not particularly seeing the point in his attempt in a conversation. Ni-ki lingered, seemingly wiping at the warming station but he listened carefully, aware of how unenthusiastic you seemed and found it best to stay close just in case with how stiff the air seemed. "Something you need from me?"

Minjun opens his mouth only to close it twice over. Not having the proper words to say, he purses his lips. "I've been wanting to see you," Was all he could come up with, sheepishly scratching the back of his neck. "Heard you still worked here and figured it'd be the best place to find you,"

"Yunjin told you to leave me alone and that I didn't want to talk," You reiterate, sending him a pointed look while he nods along. "So you came to my place of work knowing I didn't want to see you," Another nod. "Yeah, think that's called stalking,"

Ni-ki stiffens up at your words. "Noona," He mumbles, coming up significantly closer to your side while you shake your head. Ni-ki was tall, significantly more than you and a majority of the male population was shorter than him but he was still a kid. Besides, you didn't need any protection, Minjun wasn't a dangerous guy, just an idiot.

You hold up your hand, silently telling him that everything was fine. Reluctantly, he backed away, though he still lingered and his eyes stayed glued to Minjun who stood on the opposite side of the counter.

"I just wanted to talk," Minjun starts, voice seemingly sincere but you shake your head.

"There's nothing to talk about,"

"No means no dipshit, did you forget kindergarten rules already?" Jays' loud voice interrupted the stiff air, the attention brought to him as he emerged from the back room, a drying towel being throw over his shoulder and his apron slightly damp at the waist. He makes his way beside you, arms folded across his chest and puffing out the muscle and veins that peaked out from his rolled up sleeves. You nearly let out a laugh seeing the tough guy act your best friend pulled, almost wanting to take out your phone and take a picture but you had to admit, Jay was intimidating when he wanted to be.

"Lovely to see you again too Jongseong," Minjun sighs, plastering on a more than fake smile at the man who always expressed his distaste over him even when you were together. "Didn't think you'd be a part-time cafe guy,"

"You gonna order or not?" Jay cuts to the point, his patience thin enough as it was and especially with people he didn't like. You made a mental note to applaud him for being mean for once.

"If I order will you go away so I can talk to ___?"

"She has a boyfriend," Ni-ki interjects, standing beside Jay who nods along. "Plus she doesn't like you, so I can either take your order or you can leave,"

Minjun's eyes flicker to you once more. "A boyfriend," He repeats. "Thought you told Yunjin to tell me that just to get rid of me,"

"Not everything's about you man," Jay rolls his eyes, quick to answer for you. "Being desperate doesn't really work for you,"

"How long?" He ignores Jays jabs, eyes focused on you while you shrug. "Recent right, considering you haven't posted anything about him,"

"You really are a stalker," Ni-ki grimaces, not knowing the full details but hearing enough to make his judgements.

Sending the two behind you pointed looks, silently telling them that you'd handle it, you look back at Minjun with a small sigh. "It's not really any of your business, is it?"

"Well with me you were all about posting stories and making sure I posted you so it's just surprising,"

Narrowing your eyes, you pick at the skin of your nails at your side, something that Jay took note of in your old habits whenever you grew irritated. "Things change. Being with a guy who provides reassurance and treats you well does wonders," You hum, no longer bothering with decorum. "I don't have time to go back and forth with you. If you want to order they'll help you, if not, leave,"

Without giving him time to protest, you made your way to the back of the building ensuring he wouldn't be able to follow. Jay was quick to tag along leaving Ni-ki to fend for himself but knowing the young boy would be fine.

"He's fucking insane," Jay rambles as soon as the two of you were out of sight and behind the door that separated the front from the back. "To think that after all the shit he put you through you'd just, welcome him back? Delusional ass who doesn't know how to take no for an answer apparently—"

You nod along, taking a seat in the plush chair that was tucked away in the corner of the room beside the desk. You stared at the ground, focusing on counting the tile patterns allowing for Jay to ramble as he paced around the room. Taking note of your unusual silence, he stops mid step to look at you, a small sigh leaving his lips seeing how your bottom lip was tucked between your teeth and how you continued to pick at your hands.

Leaning down in front of you, Jay squats as his hands find way to your knees, leaning against you and forcing your line of vision to be filled by him. "You okay teeny?" He asks softly, the look of pity one you remember all too well and not what you wanted.

"I'm fine," You respond. And you were, for the most part. You just couldn't deal with your own emotions and Jay going back to treating you like a fragile piece of glass, it was exhausting enough having him be as attentive as he was in general. "Seriously, I'm fine. He's not worth my time anymore J, I just hope he got the hint and won't come back,"

Jay nods along, giving your knee a small squeeze in reassurance while you click your tongue. The door swings open, Ni-ki poking his head in the frame. "He left," The younger boy reassures, a small smile sent your way. "Am I allowed to ask noona?"

He looked concerned, an expression you had yet to see from Ni-ki and it emphasized just how young he seemed in your eyes with the innocent gleam. Gesturing for him to take a seat, you lean back in the chair while Jay settles himself on the ground. Peering up at the security cameras, ensuring to have a clear view of anyone were to walk in, you begin your story.

"Buckle up kid, you're getting a whole new level of lore from me tonight,"

           "THIS IS SUCH bullshit," Jay huffs, eyes focused behind you as he takes a rather large bite of the apple he had been holding for the past ten minutes. "I can't believe he transferred back,"

"You know, it's kind of heartwarming how upset you are for me," You tease, significantly less worked up over the situation although it was less than ideal.

"No I agree, he's a fucking asshole," Yunjin adds, shooting daggers with looks that could kill causing you to raise a brow. "What? I hate him. We're not even really related, my aunt is divorcing his uncle and I only hung out with him cause of her so now it's free range since he's being a weird idiot,"

"Are we talking shit?" Sunoo draws the attention to himself, placing his bag down and smiling brightly as he clasped his hands under his chin. "Who about?" He sing-songs, voice dripping like honey and a grin that seemed so innocent but the content behind it was entirely different.

"Her stalker,"

"Whose stalker?" Heeseung interjects, Sunghoon trailing behind him to join the ever growing table. Jay and Yunjin's fingers immediately point toward you, silently answering his question causing the older boys brows to frown. "What happened now?"

As you opened your mouth to explain, a rather loud one cut you off once again. "Noona!" Ni-ki calls out, voice booming as he made his way toward you with Jungwon leading. Rather obviously pointing in the direction you spoke of, his eyes were wide seeing Minjun on the other end of the plaza with his own group of friends. "What the hell is he doing here?" The youngest asks as they reached the table, now having all curiosity peaked of those out of loop.

"Who?" With the last member of the group joining, Jake smiled widely as he weaseled his way beside you, placing a quick peck to your cheek as he sat.

"Everyone here now so I can talk?" You ask aloud, glancing over the group and doing a quick headcount. Over the past week, with the concept of you and Jake being together, your friend group had merged with his. Well your two friends, one of which you shared already, had joined in with Jake's while Ni-ki had been recently adopted in after finding Jungwon and him shared a general ed class. You had to admit, it was nice having more people to talk to, your life had certainly become more interesting in the best of ways.

"Do tell," Sunoo urges, far too excited to know more as the certified gossip of the group, though he was always the best at giving advice so it was two sides of the same coin.

"My ex transferred back here," You finally say with a small shrug. Jake tensed up from beside you, his brows pinching together as he leaned in closer to listen to your explanation. "He came by my work the other day trying to talk and I told him to get lost and then now he's here,”

"He's weird," Ni-ki adds in, his face pinched with disgust as he shook his head. "Desperate stalker behavior,"

"Who is it?" Sunghoon asked, looking in the general direction Jay pointed in but not particularly locking in on anyone.

"Kang Minjun," Yunjin answered without missing a beat.

Jake lets out a scoff, leaning closer into your side. "He's a fucking prick. Came into class today and wouldn't shut up during the lecture," Taking hold of the unpeeled orange you had left since it seemed like far too much work at the time, he peeled the skin off without a word, holding out the first piece to you before popping one into his mouth. "Professor Choi loved it, annoying as fuck when most of us just come since attendance is mandatory even though it's a gen-ed class,"

"We're the same year, he had always been popular," Heeseung shrugged. "Definitely annoying considering he used his looks for basically everything and acted cocky all the time,"

"The pretty one?" Sunoo asks, glancing around while he gained a few pointed looks for the comment. "What? My bad I've never seen him before," He pouts, hands up to show his lack of defense.

"Stalker," Ni-ki reminds, entirely ambient on making it knowing for everyone how uncomfortable he was to be around. "Doesn't matter what he looks like, he's still a weirdo,"

Jungwon lets out a small snort at his comments while Heeseung suddenly changes the subject. The conversation topic switching over to plans of a staycation in the near future while Jake absentmindedly holds out the last slice of orange for you to take.

“He comes over here and I’m throwing this apple at his head,” Jay warns, holding up the partially bitten fruit causing you to grimace.

“I don’t think he’s that dumb,” Sunghoon snickers. “And that’s gross, you can see all your teeth marks,”

“Who cares?” Jay retorts, beginning to bicker as the two change the topic for the second time in a near minute. Everyone else following along, paying no mind and rather comfortable in one another’s company.

You felt Jake’s arm wrap around your shoulders, pulling you closer to his side as he leans down to your ear. “You alright?” He mumbles, breath fanning against your skin causing you to shiver but nonetheless nod along.

You pull away slightly, enough to see his face while a small smile peaked at the corners of your lips. You had to admit, it wasn’t ideal and made you exhausted having to deal with your past. You put on a brave face, one enough for the others but for some reason, Jake could see through it more than you knew.

He let out a small sigh, a lingering kiss placed to the crown of your head as he did so. “You’re alright,” Jake spoke, the words intended to reassure you, fully certain of it for your sake and that seemed to be more than enough to help your nerves for the time being.

Letting out a puff of air, you allow yourself to melt into his side, settling in comfortably as your head tucked itself below his chin, leaned into his chest and arms caged around you for extra support. Your attention was brought back to the rest of your friends, eyes meeting with Yunjin who sat with an amused expression being one of the ones who knew everything while Heeseung had his nose scrunched up with disgust.

“I hate couples,”

my tags!! @slutforsjy @jaklvbub @whowantshota @addictedtohobi @coolwitu @simjyunnie @kgneptun @graythecoffeebean @143ikeu @zyvlxqht @tesywesy @nxzz-skz @aishisgrey @missmischief1408

( pls make sure your settings make you applicable to tag )

[the-little-knight]

TADC HEADCANON LIST (With some illustrations >:-]])

This list is purely for silly purposes!!! If yall have different hcs, feel free to discuss em and all that!!

CW!!!! ALCOHOL AND MARIJUANA MENTIONS

Kinger’s fascination with an “insect collection” is just based on him being a game developer in the real world (Thank you Matpat for that one)

Jax knows a surprising amount about bugs 

Pomni almost got gaslit into believing her name was “Pom-Pom”

^ it was Jax's fault, he thought it was super funny

Ragatha occasionally has the same issue as Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas, albeit with less stitching back together!!!!

Jax has asked for alcohol many times, Caine has only fallen for getting him some four or so times.

Ragatha occasionally lightly punches Jax to get him to shut up (Usually in the side, arms, or stomach)

^ Getting punched in the gut usually ends up winding Jax quite a bit 

Kinger has had his hands replaced upwards of 100 times in his years in the digital circus!!!! (Usually things like the Zooble situation cause him to fully lose his hands)

Caine loves a good maze!!!!!!

Zooble, much like Jax, has asked for weed, but because there aren't as many fun names for it, it hasn't worked as well as Jax tricking Caine for alcohol

Pomni is a fidgeter, usually seen squeezing onto her own clothing and shifting on her feet

Pomni used to be very regular to swearing before the circus

Caine ended up being lectured by Pomni that it's not normal to watch people sleep, he thought it was something humans were used to because of what parents and mothers do for babies

Gangle owns multiple body pillows, she had to explain she doesn't own them for any other reason than to have something to properly hug onto

^ Jax was the one that teased her into explaining it

^ Gangle ended up crying from embarrassment

^ Aaaand Ragatha ended up steppin in to help first

Jax ended up flipping off the camera one time during the weekly mandated theme song, and since Caine didn't have a built in censor-sensor for that, he got away with it the one time.

Caine sometimes has to go through major bug patches, and starts speaking gibberish during the update....

Pomni, despite having bells on her costume, is amazing at stealth

Jax plays the most annoying peacemaker possible, but does a good job at it

Kinger often makes references to pop culture items and series, but nobody gets the point, mostly because nobody can remember quite where any of it comes from (And neither does he)

^ Pomni has gotten close to remembering

^ So has Zooble

Kinger is no stranger to fun wordplay!!

Bubble is the ai with the least amount of idle animations and the least coding going into his dialogue.

Pomni is an amazing singer, despite her anxious cadence when she talks plainly.

^ She also has a great voice to soothe people with when she isn't on the verge of a breakdown

OKAY THATS IT BYEEEEE

[mcgilm]

hey guysss, your next challenge

draw airy from hit web series object show hfjone 3 2 1 goooooooooooooooooooooooooooo... *moves microphone away*

[stormblessed95]

230328 JK Live Stream all about Jimin for 100 minutes

The way that he basically started this live solely to talk about/focus on Jimin? Like sir, what were we even here for? Just to watch you support your boo? I'm actually totally fine with that. Lmao he talked about himself and his CK deal for like 10 minutes before moving on to Jimin and Jimin only. Lol he said "I Miss Jimin" literally, on weverse and then proceeded to show us just how much he missed him!

The way he fully stated he started this live because he hasn't seen Suchwita yet but since Jimin was on the show, he wanted to watch it and wanted to watch it with us. Cutie. You can watch his full reaction video with eng subs here:

He immediately wanted to know why Jimin wasn't there right off the bat 🤣 then was looking forward to what Alcohol Jimin brought with him to share. And was not surprised at all to find it was Soju saying that's "very much like Jimin hyung." The drinking buddies those 2 are, he WOULD know. Lol and his little complaints about wishing he was there drinking with yoonmin too were adorable.

The way he was concerned over Jimin eating the too hot food. And the way he giggled over yoonmin talking about Jimin performing on stage with Yoongi on tour and about Jimin acting cute for his face time fan calls.

And the confirmation from yet another member that the dumpling incident was watered way down for fan consumption when they shared about it and it really was so crazy. Lmfao vmin what did yall do!!

Plus we were blessed with a small glimpse of his beautiful smile and reaction to the iconic jikook black swan lift 🥺😭😍

The way he immediately agreed with Jimin about being in BTS for a long long time. 🥺 and his cute comments about how the show seems fun and he would also like to be on it one day! And the way he started to compliment Jimin on the way he expressed himself but cut himself off/got distracted lol

He reacted to SMF pt 2 MV here too. Lol and loved it. Throughly. Lol full video here:

He wanted to confirm the lyrics correctly especially for the maze lyrics. He was humming along and also lowkey already knew the choreo too. It was so cute. I love him.

And the way he smiled so proudly during the "I won't stop even if they mock me" lyrics 🥺

How we got the transition into shirtless Jimin and verse 2 and we just breifly totally lost JK there. 404 error not found is correct. Slack jawed for a bit there understandably lol

The way he heaped praise upon verse 2 which was so heartwarming

And he watched the dance practice for SMFpt2 too, which you can see the whole reaction here

The way he was humming along and then dancing along lmfao he didn't have to go so hard with the Summoning park jimin dance 🤣

And we even reacted to a BTS teasing Jimin compilation video??? Lmao jungkook??

PLEASE just watch the linked video. Lmfao it's less than 10 minutes and he looks SO SMITTEN the ENTIRE TIME. The reaction to their jikook moments from so long ago? The giggles at the other members lovingly teasing Jimin too? The way he melted watching Jimin sing promise too? MY HEART CANT HANDLE IT I CANT BELIEVE HE REACTED TO A JIMIN COMPILATION HONESTLY

Just the whole live he looks soooo??? In love?

And he commented about how he watched Jimins pixid video too and enjoyed it. Lol it really was just a night of binge watching Jimin for this man.

He is really just out here supporting Jimin fully and he misses him so much. We know they've been spending time together too. They mentioned JK being at some of Jimins Rehersals. We know they met with up with the other members for an OT7 dinner. I just know there is more we don't know too. But it just speaks to how much time they normally spend together when that's clearly not enough and the way they are missing each other SO MUCH even with those other times spent together. They are used to living in each other's pockets clearly lol. And now that they have so much going on and Jimins schedules are so crazy, that time apart is driving JK to do a 100 minute live stream about how much he misses his hyung. Lol Jimin you better go over their for that promised dinner he wants to cook for you!

Not to mention, JK really brought it back to prove his point. Jimin is his catalyst. His inspiration at so many times. JK really sat there and watched Jimin for 100 minutes and then immediately said goodbye to us because he was struck with inspiration and motivation to go work. "I suddenly feel like I have to go do something." "I think I have to go work." "I'm going to go work now! Bye!" With an abrupt hang up! Lol it was giving, I don't want to say more than i should about Jimin right now and wow, the inspiration struck and I REALLY am interested in seeing whatever it is you worked on Jungkook! Music? Art? New song? If Jimin inspired you so much, I'm very intrigued! 🤣

They really are so precious. So cute. And so sweet. I hope they got to go over and spend some lengthy time together already, or if not. I hope they get the chance really soon. As they are both very clearly craving that time together!

Ending with this funny tweet (follow the link!) Because it's so true 🤣🤣🤣

[the-real-rain-world-confessions]

Response ask (sorry admins) to the two other posts about Pebbles being a "troubled teen" since, well, im the one who has begun the discussion, submitting the first ask. yalls responses got me banging my head against the wall, im ready to deanon myself at this point honestly

I really do not have enough energy to go through each of the points you've both brought up but 1. Suns does not HAVE to pick up on social ques, they are not his guardian or something to owe this to him. We've seen them being rather awkward in conversations in general. The "bug in a maze" log for example, they really do have a lot of trouble reading the room

2. Pebbles has not been called explicitly immature a single time, Sig only said that he "is stuck in a phase"

"NSH: I think a lot of us were like that in the beginning. I remember being in that phase a very long time ago. It takes many iterations for our world views to develop and for us to realize the flaws in those lines of thinking."

And Suns denies this immediately, stating that together they've made a lot of progress. I think it's reasonable to believe them rather than Sig because let's be real it's unlikely that Pebbles and him talk all that often. Plus Suns and Pebbles are close friends. Not acquaintances

Pebbles is likely to be one of the last iterators ever made, that is true. Does not mean that he's a kid though, iterators having to go through aging phases, like us humans do, would not make a lot of sense. They are purposed organisms, they need to get to fulfilling their purpose from the day they are put online. Pebbles would be less experienced obviously, but that wouldn't make him equivalent to a teenager. Adults don't suddenly turn into teens on their first day on a job...

How does interpretation of Pebbles being an adult (whatever that would mean for an iterator, the point is that he definitely is someone who can take the responsibility) infantilizes him? What. Im assuming you're talking generally about me infantilizing teens but no they're still not mature enough lol. Period. Do i even need to explain this one

(Also are you guys... good thinking that he's a teen considering the stuff that videocult had posted on twitter/x? The whole catboy and onlyfans shit? You know they had his page denied not because he's "underage" but because he's not real right?)

.

[fourstarsoutofnine]

Your Linksona. Hand it over.

HAJAHASV thank you so much

I’ll use this to tell yall a bit more about him

-He grew up in hateno; his father was a knight-turned-farmer after getting honorably discharged(I tried to look up how that works for royal guards, couldn’t find anything on it so I’m just gonna assume it’s the same as it is for US military)

-He(Leo) was always a pretty snarky guy, though before the calamity it was mostly in his head. After the calamity, though, he has a bit of trouble keeping his thoughts to himself. He kind of just says whatever pops into his head

-And because of such, a lot of people talk, and you can imagine where that goes.

“That can’t be the princess’s knight! He’s way too disrespectful!”

-This causes some major insecurities for Leo. First he had to train for the master sword, when he used to just have it, and now he can’t even control his mouth?

-Hehe funny boy trauma.

-He also has a lot of pent up anger towards the goddesses, especially after choosing him again when he failed. Is it just so they can laugh at him? Watch him fail again? He thinks so.

-He doesn’t wanna do this. He wants to save Zelda, of course, but he wished he didn’t have to.

-And don’t even get me started on how tragic it was when totk happened.

-The panic attack this boy had, yeesh

-I’m thinking about giving him scars, I’m just not sure where they’ll be yet, but know he’s got some.

-Now onto some fun stuff—this boy loves animals. Dogs, his horses, all of them.

-He likes the caves. They’re like little mazes and it’s fun to go through them.

-Shield-surfs. Literally. Everywhere. And I mean Everywhere.

-Hates the depths, thinks they’re terrifying

-Ironically though, he does like treasure hunting in there.(Will do anything when there’s treasure and money involved)

-Loves to fight lynels and boss bokoblins.

-Also loves putting majora’s mask on and getting in the middle of a crowd of bokoblins +boss bokoblin and grabbing a dual handed weapon and spinning to attack. Thinks it’s hilarious.

-He and tulin are a chaos causing duo.

-You should’ve seen the look he had on his face when he found out about Yona and Sidon

-And the look he had when he saw Yunobo with that mask.(he almost fully got into a fistfight)

-acts like he’s not all that smart, but likes to do research on things. His favorite, and most dangerous subject is the gloom hands.

-loves helping Purah and Robbie

[mazegays]

could've followed my fears all the way down

sorry about this one in advance, yall. don't yell at me too much. or do, maybe it'll be cathartic

Chapter 20

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21

Sonya and Anya don't catch up to them until the fifth day after their split.

They haven't seen Thomas either. Minho doesn’t want to give up; he feels like every time he peers around a tree, he could find Thomas.

Just because it hasn’t happened yet doesn’t mean it won’t. Harriet just gives him a dry look when he says anything like that out loud, and if it were anyone else, he would be doing the same. Minho’s usually much better at remembering the stakes and realities of a situation. Thomas, though still cynical at times, is the one who always believed in a way out.

But if Minho treats this like the Maze, like the Scorch, like Denver, then Harriet might end up having to haul his ass out of the woods. So he’s trying to be hopeful.

The storm has abated by now, finally, and it's made it a little easier. The wind is back down to a gentle breeze.

But it’s like Thomas was never here.  The rain and mud washed away his tracks, and now they’re not going to get him back. The markers they’ve been seeing every day are enough to keep them on the path, but it’s futile. 

"We don't have enough food for much longer," Harriet tells him, as though he doesn’t know that. "We can't stay out here."

"Thomas probably took a slightly different path and is already back. He's smart." Sonya says, but she doesn't look like she believes it.

Why would she?

Minho wants to insist they stay, or continue on by himself, but that’s how they lost Thomas.

He can’t do that. 

He can’t make them lose someone else that way.

His anger and worry at Thomas, for Thomas, have given way to numbness.

Even the dread that nearly trapped him in place those first few days is gone, blanketed by absolute nothingness.

They're not going to find him.

Thomas is…

Thomas is gone, and they probably won't even find his body.

He's going to have to tell Gally.

Minho knows, over the next few days, that they will make it back.

"He's gone, isn't he?" Frypan will ask. Or maybe someone else. Maybe it’s Gally, maybe he gets himself out of the cabin for this. 

Of course, everyone else is waiting, too. They’ll want to hear what happened.

Minho can't force himself to say it. Not even in his imagination.

Thomas is gone.

He’s not coming back.

Minho failed him.

finish on ao3 or under the cut

Thomas is dead. Gally knew— he'd known it was a possibility, but he hadn't thought it would be real. Thomas is—Thomas was too smart for that. Too determined, stubborn, to die like that. Out in the forest, alone.

Had he been scared? In pain?

Had he died thinking that no one was coming for him?

Gally wishes he had been there.

He wishes Thomas had never gone in the first place.

"He's someone else we'll never get to bury." Sonya told him that Minho has been completely silent since they turned back. Gally hadn’t expected to be the first to hear him speak. "We have too many of those, Gally. It was never supposed to be Thomas."

No. It wasn’t. 

Because Thomas should have known better.

Because Thomas is the one who got them out of that fucking Maze in the first place.

It was never supposed to be Thomas.

Did Thomas even know they loved him?

Gally thinks he'll spend the rest of his life wondering that.

"Boys," Everyone is talking so very gently around them right now, like they're going to break.

He hates it, but it’s also not far from the truth.

"Would you like to plan a… a service, or anything? Say a few words?"

"No amount of words could describe what Thomas was for us, Anya." Minho’s voice is rough, angry. Worse than it was before.

"Not now, Anya, please." He finds himself whispering.

A service, memorial, anything, it will make it all too real. 

This can't be real. Not yet. 

Because if it's not real, then Thomas could come walking out of the forest anytime now, maybe a little hungry and beat up but otherwise okay.

He doesn’t want to admit it.

He knows he doesn't have a choice.

Sonya doesn’t know what she’s doing.

She hardly goes to the greenhouse anymore, even though she's technically in charge of it.

It's just not the same, knowing Thomas is never going to join her for dirt wars ever again, that he’s not even going to see the trees he planned grow. 

Gally and Minho hadn't planned a service— Minho’s still hardly speaking, and Gally seems angry at everything— so she, Harriet, and Frypan had figured something out.

It felt wrong, to just… say that he was gone and not do something. 

Even in the Glen, they’d buried their dead, when they had bodies. They’ve been lucky enough to avoid anyone dying here, even though everyone knows someone who died on the way here. Even the little kids.

In the end, they'd done a big service— Minho and Gally didn’t come to that one— where almost everyone had something to say. 

Most of them had hardly known Thomas. They’d known, or known of, the boy who was supposed to be WCKD’s cure. They understood that he was one of their leaders, but they didn’t know Thomas.

It pisses her off. None of them cared until he died. Thomas wasn’t theirs to mourn, wasn’t theirs to talk about like they’d known him since he was a little boy.

There’s probably not a person alive, and they’re certainly not here if there is, who would have known Thomas when he was a kid. Who would remember knowing him as a kid.

The smaller service— Frypan, Harriet, Minho, Gally, Brenda, Rosa, Frankie, Aris, what’s left of the Gladers and herself— is still more painful.

At the one with just them, they plant a tree a few feet back from Thomas’s favorite spot at the firepit. 

It’s out of place, and looks weird, and Thomas would hate it if he could see it.

He’d complain about them messing up his layout, and he’d be right. He’d tell them that it’s a fire hazard.

But he’s not here, so it doesn't matter what he thinks.

Sonya didn't think she'd miss him this much.

Yeah, they’re friends. Outside of Harriet and their remaining Glen girls, she might even say that Thomas is her closest friend. Somehow, she didn’t think it would hurt like this. Every time they’d lost someone in the Glen, in the Scorch, during that final escape, girls she’d spent months and years with, that hurt was expected.

Fresh grief is a bigger wound than she remembered.

Sonya doesn’t even have the peace of knowing how he died. None of them have the closure of burying his body.

Sonya misses him five, six, seven times a day. She’d expected to grieve, she’d known it would be hard.

 She didn’t think that she’d be finding his ghost everywhere she turns.

Minho almost doesn't go to the tree planting.

He doesn’t go to the bigger service they have, a memorial, he hears someone call it. It would be too much to hear everyone talk about him.

At least when they plant the tree, everyone there, everyone in their group, gets it. They’ve all buried friends far too young.

 They don’t say a lot. 

Minho’s let the anger and sadness build up, and it feels like they’re choking him when he tries to speak. 

Thomas convinces him to go, in the end. He remembers how when they started planting the saplings everywhere, Thomas could ramble about every one.

He'd had fun, organizing them and telling anyone who would listen facts about the trees. Minho doesn’t even know where he learned all of those facts, or if they were just there, in his head. He can’t ask now.

He wants to ask. He has so many things he wants to ask.

So many things he wants to say.

But all he can do is think about Thomas and his stupid trees. The stupid trees that meant he’d been at least a little happy, again. He’d found something he liked.

He’d been smiling, and honestly it had been the most Minho had ever seen him smile, when he was talking about those trees. Thomas was always so serious, so focused, so ready to throw himself into everything. 

Minho won’t see that again. He won’t hear Thomas talk about trees again.

The tree they planted is the wrong type of tree for this area, but it’s also Thomas’s favorite: Spruce. It's a beautiful sapling, a little bigger than the other ones they planted earlier.

They got as close as they safely could to the firepit, and Minho wants to hate the tree.

It's a tree. It's done nothing to him, but he wants to hate it anyway.

Instead, he sits under it and thinks about all the things Thomas used to tell him about spruces.

He should have paid more attention, because he doesn’t remember most of it.

If he did, he thinks he'd feel a little better.

He’d certainly feel a lot less like he’s going to forget Thomas as  easily as he forgot his words, already lost forever.

Since he's been okayed to do a little work as long as he takes it easy, Gally finds himself taking Thomas’s place in the kitchen.

He was hardly in here when Thomas was, but something about the organization of the area he works in screams 'Thomas'.

Frypan is endlessly patient with him, even though Gally knows he’s grieving too. It can't be easy, because he’s back to being angry at the world in a way he hasn't been since Thomas came up in the Box.

He has to stop thinking about Thomas.

Jamie, Anya, Jorge, even Brenda— everyone keeps telling him grief takes time. It's not going to be easy, and he’s going to feel more than one thing.

He knows. He’s lost people before. He’s lost too many people. He doesn’t know if he’s buried more friends than they have, but he’s done this time and time again. Too many of them never got a burial. Some of them he still doesn’t know about.

They think that he doesn’t know loss, but Gally can’t bring himself to tell them that he’s lost people before.

People he loved, even. Maybe not in the same way he found himself loving Thomas, but loved all the same.

He's done more than his share of grieving.

Gally knows he shouldn’t think it, but he does: What if Thomas did this on purpose? Had things gotten worse? Was that why he'd been pushing them away again?

The worst days are the days he finds himself thinking like that.

He wants a reason. He wants to know why, and how, and he wants to be mad at Thomas but mostly he just wants him back.

He wants to tell him properly that he loves him.

He wants to have a chance to figure out the three of them, together. Before Thomas, Gally would have never considered being serious with Minho— they had a fling in the Glade, but who hadn't?

Well, Newt and Alby, maybe. They’d been pretty serious. Tried to keep it quiet, so that it didn’t seem like favoritism or whatever when Newt took on being Alby’s second, but none of them would have thought it for a second even if Newt hadn’t tried to throw himself off of a wall. Newt could be a right shank, at times, but he was good at managing the Glade. 

Chuck would have been too young, they would have had to have been there for a few more years before he’d had a fling.

Thomas, who just wasn't there long enough.

Thomas should have gotten that chance. Gally thinks that if things had been different, if Thomas had been sent up earlier, they could have been something. They would have worked together so well if they hadn’t started out the way they did. If Gally hadn’t gotten himself Stung and Changed, or if he’d ignored the flashbacks. Why would he think that the Creators would show them anything good, anyway?

He just really wants to know why, and he’s going to be asking himself for as long as he’s going to be wondering if Thomas really knew what Gally had meant when he’d said ‘I love you.’

Because at his core, Gally can’t help but feel this is his fault somehow.

Harriet’s not sure how she should grieve. 

She wasn't as close to Thomas as Sonya was, but she liked him. He made Sonya smile, and got along with the girls. He was smart, and when he was in the right mood, quite funny.

She’d thought that they would find him in the woods. He knows how to follow a path, even if Sonya and Aris hadn’t marked it. Surely he can’t have gone so far that he couldn’t find his way back at all.

Harriet doesn’t want to think about what the storm might have done to him. She hopes he wasn’t unlucky enough to get struck by lightning. 

They’d been friends, even if they weren't close in the way he and Sonya were. She wants to help Sonya, but she doesn’t know how, not when she can’t figure out how to help herself.

Mostly, she can't explain why she's taken to running in the forest. Minho doesn’t anymore; when he doesn’t have a task to do, he sits under Thomas’s tree, like it can give him answers.

Both Minho and Gally have gone near silent, doing their respective tasks and moving on. Before this, Harriet wouldn’t have thought of them as being so similar.

From some of the Gladers’ stories, though, their anger can look the same, so why not their grief as well?

She focuses her mind back on the path when she steps on a rock. It bites deeper into her foot than usual. She’s going to need a new pair of shoes soon if she keeps this up. She’s been alternating routes, and if she were asked if she were looking for clues, she’d deny it.

She’s not going to find him. Harriet knows that. If Thomas  were anywhere close, they would have found him sooner. They would have gotten to him by now.

Maybe he’d still be alive, then.

It’s been too long now.

She doesn’t go far in— no one does. They don’t want a repeat of what happened to Thomas.

Not usually, at least.

But today, it’s like she’s being pulled farther in.

She’s not far from where Minho and Thomas used to run every day. She can’t bring herself to follow that exact path.

In fact, she thinks that’s the ditch Thomas almost fell into.

Today, she detours down it, thinking that maybe it will help ease the grief that sits in the back of her mind. She knows she’s not going to find anything, not Thomas, not a body, probably not even a dead animal, but maybe just following her instincts will be enough to quiet them down.

Hopefully for good.

Frypan was hoping for a normal day— as normal as they get around here with no one knowing how to cope with Thomas being gone.

No one’s said it out loud yet, but Thomas is the first person they’ve lost here. This is supposed to be a safe place, and it has been. Sure, Thomas was being an idiot, charging headfirst into everything, but Frypan knows how Vince is.

People talk when you’re serving them food. He’s got all of the best gossip here, and some of the things he’s heard just have him convinced that some of Vince’s reasons for sending Thomas in particular on this mission are less than ideal.

Frypan just wants one normal day.

Or as normal as they get with all of the adults not knowing what to do with them. They’re all too old to be treated like kids, yet they’re too young to be taken seriously.

Gally’s working with him again, but he’s always angry. 

He’s not sure who Gally is more angry with: Thomas, for being a shucking dumbass, Minho, for not finding him, or himself, for being mad at them.

Maybe it varies. Maybe Gally’s anger shifts with each forceful chop of his knife.

Frypan thinks he sees Harriet out of the corner of his eye, running awkwardly, but it’s about that time of day. 

Harriet runs. Minho sits under the tree. Sonya’s in the greenhouse. Gally’s always angry.  Frypan cooks.

It’s not too far off from how things ran in the Glade, actually. Just… different people, this time. More to be angry at, more grief, knowledge of the world beyond their safe haven.

When they’d been told they were coming to Paradise, Frypan had expected a lot more than this.

Some days, it feels more like this is just another trial, another form of the Maze, but one they don’t know they have to solve.

Those are the days when he tries something new, or shows someone else something new. It’s the only way to make himself feel better about it. Even if this is another test, he can manage that much.

“Hey, Gally, have I ever shown you how to make strawberry applesauce?”

Apples are out of season, so he shouldn’t be using the ones he does have in the cellar, but fuck it.

He needs something to focus on, and so does Gally, something that's not just stabbing a knife into food over and over again.

“No, why?”

“Let me teach you.” Gally’s picked up on a lot; Frypan lets him do most of the work while he just guides.

It’s not the same as making strawberry jam with Thomas, but it feels a lot like it.

“Do you think he knew?” Gally asks, adding more chopped apples to the pot. “That we loved him? I think about it a lot. What if he didn’t know? Really, actually didn’t know?”

“He knew. He might not have known how to handle it, with what happened right after, but he knew.”

Frypan hopes he’s right. For Gally’s sake, and for Thomas’s.

“I think Thomas would have liked this.”

“Me too.” That’s why he had him start making it.

“Why’d you put me at his workstation?”

“Because you needed something to remind you that he’d been here that wasn’t painful.” He says truthfully.

And so he hadn’t felt like a ghost was following him around the kitchen, quietly learning everything and enjoying himself.

Thomas’s lack of questions in the kitchen is still something he wonders at.

“Thank you, Fry.” They only talk when Frypan is giving Gally directions after that.

Gally’s too solid to be a ghost,  but now Frypan’s afraid he might have just replaced one type of ghost with another, and the new one is much worse than the first.

<;- 19 21 ->

[chewed-gum-87]

fell asleep for a few hours and had a dream where the house I lived in when I was 10 looked completely normal exactly how it used to be except the upstairs looked SO FUCKIN BEAUTIFUL AND ROYAL AND EXTRAORDINARY like the ceiling lights were so fucking fancy and golden and so detailed, the stair railing was absolutely magnificent it had little angels and people statued into it, there were three tables which were so nicely layed out, the walls were a very pale dark green with golden glitter on it and there were little swan statues on the tables, and the carpet was red and gold, and the curtains were white and had golden frilly stuff on them and it was just so beautiful I wish yall could've seen it omg. imagine how cool it'd be if there was a way to take pictures and videos in your dreams and then show em to others when you wake up that'd be great. but anyway and then for some reason somehow the left wall of this whole upstairs hallway was somehow another room? and there was like a "mirror part" of that long wall room that was just bit of mirrors put in a way that it kinda looked like a very small mirror "maze" and at this point the atmosphere was very thick and warm and whatever idk how to explain it but there was like a platform behind those mirrors that had a black rocking chair on it and some person was sitting on it wearing an old looking long thick fabric black dress and their face was covered by some thick black fabric as well and they were slowly rocking in the chair. then I asked alcina who that was and I don't remember what she said but then she took me to another part of that long wall room hallway thing and there was a long dining table and we sat down there at the table and ate keychains. then I stood up and looked out the window and after that I woke up