#ALSO he made her do HIS schoolwork and only recently cleaned up his act

[nemeliis]

Why was Chimbley scared to get kicked out of the room when he rested his head on Annie?

also, On a scale of 1 to 10, how cute would annie and ginger say chimbley is, also personal opinion from u (i think hes 10 fr hes so Skrunkly)

Chimbley is a TEN on the cuteness scale and that will not be changing. Ever.

Chimbley's old caretaker's heavily neglected there children; treating them as accessories and pieces of property rather than actual humans. They are obsessed with rising up the Astoria family name and making generational wealth - despite being millionaires, they are very greedy and selfish people.

They adopted Nigel not only to make themselves look better - but also because Vincent's wife, Maryanne, turned out to be infertile and thus, could not have children through conception. They both come from old money - and there families we're already under fire for underpaying worker's, the couple neglecting animal's — and it's also important to mention that Nigel's old guardians we're very wealthy - so they have a very powerful family name and they plan to keep it that way. No matter the cost.

Nigel's old caretaker's would heavily humiliate and banter at him whenever he made a mistake (ex. Spilling a cup), or whenever he wasn't perfect - affection would be withheld from Nigel until his guardians felt he had learned his lesson. (Which was never so...)

They heavily "disciplined" Nigel, which would usually involve extreme labor or overworking (ex. Cleaning there whole damn mansion, and then spilling a drink purposely afterwards and making Nigel clean it up.)

Maryanne and Vincent are the traditional nuclear family, perfect on the outside but never on the inside.

Vincent was more lenient, whilst Maryanne was more laid back. Unlike Vincent; she cared for her children dearly, but simply didn't know how to love them because her parent's we're very emotionally unavailable when she was a child, and thus she doesn't know how to display affection healthily - so she'll just buy Nigel expensive things or try to preoccupy him with game's/schoolwork because she doesn't know how to take care of a child properly.

Also - Vincent was also psychically abusive at time's, and would attempt to discipline his children by hitting them - or burning them with hot objects such as a cigar or a hot bowl. Vincent is also a humongous asshole and enjoys the pain of other's. He is extremely vain and has a humongous ego that's practically unshakable, he acts very confident and charming, donating to charities to keep his reputation clean on the outside while also doing under the table deal's - which is how he got most of his revenue and started his own company. But under that facade Vincent is an extremely insecure piece of crap and he's a humongous wimp.

They actually had another child as well by the name of Delilah, but she ran away along with Nigel and now Delilah lives with a kind couple who run a book store who managed to get custody of her with the court. But Nigel ran away as far as possible because Delilah had told him to - so he's technically considered a missing person, and has been for 3 year's.

They also have adopted another child recently...and she's a little odd - it's probably nothing to worry about. She's the perfect child in every way, never complaining or making a sound, every single piece of work she does is flawless and she's a child prodigy. Her parent's couldn't be more proud of there new family heir. Though the question remains, why are her eyes so red? And what's with all of the crows out here lately?

#law of talos #abnw au #Vincent abnw #Maryanne abnw #Delilah abnw #Astoria family abnw #chimbley sweep #endzone chimbley #annie law of talos #ginger law of talos #emotional neglect tw #emotional abuse tw #neglect tw #abuse cw #ask me questions

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

#10: Felix, Part Two: The Episode Itself

Here’s Part 1

So, uh... here's the thing. I was going to divide this post into three parts, but I had to cancel the third part where I analyze the stuff involving Astruc defending the episode on Twitter, specifically a certain scene that really showed off some serious double standards in regards to the way Adrien is being written, because Astruc deleted most of his tweets regarding the episode. I wonder why he did that? I thought he wanted to expose himself publicly and interact in a peaceful way.

So yeah, instead of a big three-parter, this is going to be a two-parter, and I apologize for that. I might be able to do a third part if anyone has any screenshots of some of the tweets Astruc made after “Felix” aired. If you did, I would really appreciate it, but if not, it's fine.

Either way, let's just get this over with, because I have SO MUCH to talk about. My friend, can your heart stand the shocking facts about Season 3, Episode 23 of Miraculous Ladybug, “Felix”?

So we start off with what Gabriel does for half of his scenes when he isn't Hawkmoth, monologuing to his (possibly) dead wife, Emilie about how Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous will soon be his and all that crap. Sure, he's sent God knows how many Akumas after Ladybug and Cat Noir, and they've all failed miserably, but I'm positive he's getting close to his goal.

After he finishes cleaning his and Emilie's silver wedding rings that sadly don't allow them to transform into Ultraman Ace, Gabriel goes to check on Adrien, singing to a statue of Emilie (glad to see the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree), intending to tell him that he is Hawkmoth.

Gabriel: There is something important I have to talk to you about. I think about telling you every day, but I don't know how to find the right words.

Adrien: I think I already know, father.

Gabriel: But, how?

Adrien: I've noticed how close you and Nathalie have become. If she can make you happy again, then... as far as I'm concerned, she's already part of our family.

Yeah, apparently it's obvious that Gabriel and Nathalie are close or something, with how casually Adrien assumes they're planning on starting a relationship. I mean, it's not like Nathalie is close to Gabriel because she's his secretary or something like that.

Gabriel's response isn't any better, as he immediately jumps down Adrien's throat for daring to assume he might try to move on from his wife.

Gabriel: How could you possibly think such a thing?! Nobody could ever replace your mother! As long as she is still in our hearts, she lives on!

Even Adrien's face shows he's a little taken back by his father's brief outburst.

Part of me likes to assume that Plagg is trying to not break out into laughter at how crazy Gabriel sounds, while Nooroo is mentally questioning the sanity of his master.

Plagg: Wow! Your father's like a piece of tomme cheese, where the rind's so thick it's almost impossible to get inside the center.

Adrien: Don't be so hard on him, Plagg. It's been a year today since Mom... went away forever.

Oh my God, just say she DIED already! Why are so many kids' shows afraid to say the D-word? How can I cite an episode of Caillou of all shows as something that that actually talked about death to it's audience in a nuanced way?

It turns out that Adrien's aunt is visiting for the day, as it's the one-year anniversary of Emilie's “going away forever”. We also learn that the gene pool in Adrien's family is so shallow, a toddler could swim in it, because Emilie's sister looks exactly like her.

Even better, her name is Amelie. I bet the parents thought naming their kids Emilie and Amelie was hilarious for like three minutes.

And of course, she also brought her son, the asshole of the hour.

Someone cue the Imperial March.

So Felix is finally here, and of course, he looks just like Adrien. It's almost like the animators didn't want to create any new character models for this episode, so they thought nobody would notice if they just reused a few. Seriously, towards the end of the episode, we see Felix wearing the Cat Miraculous on his hand, and none of the animators noticed it.

So while Adrien is happy to see his cousin, Felix isn't. I'll talk more about it in a minute.

Amelie mentions that the wedding rings are actually heirlooms in her side of the family, so she naturally wants them back. Of course, Gabriel, being Gabriel, responds accordingly.

Gabriel: These rings are obviously very special to me.

Amelie: And they're very dear to me too, Gabriel. Those jewels have always been in the Graham de Vanily family, not the Agreste's.

Gabriel: We'll discuss it later.

“Yeah, yeah, these rings are priceless family heirlooms or whatever, but why can't you think about how important they are to me?”

Meanwhile, Marinette and her friends are planning on recording some messages for Adrien to cheer him up on this day, but Marinette isn't sure what to say before she decides to confess her love to him. I'm sure Adrien will get the message and return Marinette's feelings this episode... and Cliff Hanger will finally escape that cliff he's been hanging from for years.

Speaking of, Adrien and Felix are hanging out in the former's room where we learn that Felix's father passed away recently. We don't know how long, but with the way they talk about, it's clear the funeral wasn't too long ago. Keep this in mind.

So while Adrien leaves the room to get a chess board for the two to play a game of, Felix, for no reason, decides to search through Adrien's things and crush a piece of cheese that Plagg had been aging for two weeks. And here is the interaction that helps this episode go from mediocre to aggravating, just because of what they imply here.

Adrien: Listen, Plagg. Felix lost his dad not so long ago, he's probably not himself.

Plagg: I'm sorry, but there's just no excuse! You never touch my cheese, and yet, you just lost your mother not so long ago, right?

Yes. The show is actually implying that Adrien is better than Felix because Adrien isn't acting out because his mom “went away forever”. Keep in mind, we know that Felix just lost his father, while Adrien has had a year to cope. I'm not saying he can't be sad anymore, as everyone processes grief differently, but you can't set up Felix as a foil to Adrien just because they both lost a parent, as their situations are entirely different.

Oh, and when Plagg's statement upsets Adrien, it isn't because he's angry at Plagg for making the comparison, it's because he mentions Emilie. And this argument is never brought up again.

I still can't believe this episode is basically saying that even if you lose a loved one, that's no excuse to get emotional. This isn't just a horrible lesson to teach children, but it pisses me off on a more personal level. Why?

My grandfather died last year after a long battle with lung cancer.

He had been in and out of the hospital for a few years at this point, and part of me was relieved that he was finally free of the pain. I tried not to let it bother me, as I had already mentally prepared myself for the day he would die whenever he was readmitted to the hospital. But it was still painful to go through because he was so important to me. Instead of simply telling someone how I was feeling, I threw myself into my schoolwork in an effort to distract myself from actually confronting my emotions. After seeing A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, a movie where the main character made peace with his father on his deathbed with some encouragement from Mr. Rogers, it made me think about how unhealthy it was to bottle up my emotions, so I started to open up more about how I was feeling. When I told my mom (who was his daughter) about why I was so conflicted regarding his death, she said it was completely understandable, as she had been an emotional wreck as well. I also talked with my therapist about how this was affecting me mentally.

What does this have to do with the episode? I don't think Felix had access to this kind of emotional support when his dad died, or that he tried coping the same way I did initially.

And the worst part is that this could have been used to teach people a lesson on how to cope with losing a loved one. Maybe Adrien could have helped Felix find a healthier coping mechanism, or simply help him open up emotionally, teaching him that it's okay to be upset when someone close to you dies, but that you just need to be honest about your feelings.

But no, rather than portray Felix's actions as a troubled youth lashing out because he's angry at the cards the world dealt him, Felix does several awful things this episode for no other reason than because he's evil, even though he has a good reason to hate Adrien and Gabriel.

So the very next scene, we see Felix has stolen Adrien's phone and is going through the messages that Adrien's friends sent him, but not before insulting his crush on Ladybug. I'm not sure if that's supposed to reflect the fandom's criticism of Adrien's crush on Ladybug, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was.

Nino's Message: Hey, my dude! I'm not quite sure what to tell you, except that, you're my man, dude! And bros are always there for their guys!

Felix: (Mockingly) “Bros are always there--” blah, blah, blah! Moron.

Rose's Message: Unicorns have a saying: even when there's nothing but gray skies and rain, all it takes is one little sunbeam for a rainbow to appear!

Felix: Loser.

Max's Message: It's one hundred percent proven, you should feel fifty-two percent happier with a healthy dose of laughter. So Markov has uploaded a few jokes for you! Starting with--

Felix: Freak.

Chloe's Message: When my mother left for New York, I felt so sad. It felt like she was... (sighs) She came back, and I know how lucky I am. So, you can count on me, my Adrikins.

Felix: Chloe. Just as annoying as usual.

And that line right there is the only time Astruc actually liked writing Felix, as it gave him the chance to satisfy his need to insult Chloe.

And then when he sees Marinette's message, he deletes it because... hell if I know

Again, this scene could have worked if it was interpreted as Felix saying stuff that he wasn't dependent on others for support and that he could easily power through life on his own, but nope! Instead, he hates Adrien's friends and only deletes Marinette's message instead of all of them simply because he's evil, heart blacker than Don Cheadle.

Felix continues to show how awful he is by dressing up in Adrien's clothes and—Oh, son of a bitch, SERIOUSLY? This is the SEVENTH evil doppelganger plotline we've had in THREE SEASONS! You're telling me this isn't doing the same thing over and over again, Astruc?

Yeah, so Felix records some messages to send to his friends that, once again, could have worked if this episode was actually teaching a lesson about dealing with grief.

“Adrien's” Message:  First of all, thanks so much for all your messages, guys, really. Sending me messages on today of all days... (angrily) to remind me how sad I'm supposed to be feeling? Why, that's great! Really, Thanks a lot!

But because nobody ever considers how Felix is feeling, it's never acknowledged, because that would actually involve writing him with complexity.

Gabriel gets a message from Lila, who recently became one of his confidants to spy on Adrien, tells him about the fake message, and decides to use the negative emotions felt as an excuse to get rid of his in-laws. No, seriously.

Gabriel: All this disappointment might just help us get rid of our unwanted guests.

To be fair, I'd probably do the same thing just so I wouldn't have to talk to some of the people I hate at my job.

And so, Hawkmoth akumatizes Alya, Juleka, and Rose into the Punisher's Trio, who are basically just their previously akumatized forms Lady Wifi, Reflekta, and Princess Fragrance. Because why would you expect anyone to use an original character model for this episode?

All joking aside, this development raises several questions. First, why wasn't Nino one of the Punisher's akumatized? He's Adrien's best friend, so shouldn't be just as upset as everyone else? Hell, the whole reason he was akumatized into the Bubbler in Season 1 was just so he could throw Adrien a birthday party after Gabriel said no. Then there's the fact that Chloe could have also been akumatized because she's just as close as Adrien, which is another wasted opportunity here.

Second, why bring back Reflekta and Princess Fragrance of all villains? It doesn't even make sense when you consider their motifs are based off of the circumstances that led to them getting akumatized in their respective episodes. Juleka became Reflekta because of her anxiety over easily blending in, so she got the power to turn everyone into an exact copy of herself so they could understand the feeling. Rose became Princess Fragrance when Chloe destroyed her letter and perfume bottle dedicated to the prince of a foreign nation, so the perfume bottle was the basis of her powers. At least Lady Wifi makes sense as the akumatized object this episode is a tablet used to record the messages to Adrien, but Reflekta and Princess Fragrance have nothing to do with the plot of this episode, and just feel tacked on. If it was just Lady Wifi or the Bubbler, I'd get it, but this just doesn't work.

Third, what exactly is this show's obsession with Reflekta? We saw in Reflekta's first episode that her powers had a huge drawback as if either of the heroes is zapped by her, she can't get their Miraculous, like what we saw happened to Cat Noir. Yet, this is the second time this season that Hawkmoth had the bright idea to bring back Reflekta (even giving her a giant robot to amplify her powers). At least Lady Wifi and Princess Fragrance's powers worked together well (Lady Wifi could freeze someone in place, while Princess Fragrance can brainwash them with her perfume), but Reflekta just feels like the odd one out here.

Fourth, and most importantly, why did we only get to hear the line “At your service, Princess Fragrance!” A single time this episode?

So the Punishers head to Adrien's house to take their revenge, but see Felix, still dressed in Adrien's clothes, and are naturally confused. Adrien pretends to be Felix by running away while laughing evilly (so not too far off from how Astruc sees Felix), while the real Felix and Nathalie put up a good fight against the Punishers.

And then... here is the moment that shows just how skewed Astruc's view of Adrien really is.

Felix pretends to confess his love to Ladybug as Adrien, trying to force a kiss on him, making Ladybug punch him in the face by claiming that the real Adrien “would never be so pushy”.

BULL. SHIT.

Yes, Ladybug doesn't know that Adrien is actually Cat Noir, but it's clear that this scene is meant to solidify just how Felix is far worse than Adrien because according to Astruc, he would never do that.

But maybe I'm being too hard on him.

It's not like Adrien has ever forced himself onto Ladybug, right?

I mean, imagine if the show just ignored something like that.

All while trying to teach kids the importance of saying no when someone harasses them.

Can you imagine if someone was that oblivious to their own hypocrisy?

I'm not saying that the lesson is a bad one, but you can't call someone out for doing something bad, and then ignore one of your main characters doing the exact same thing!

Even in the context of the episode, the comparison doesn't work. We know that Felix is only doing this to make Adrien look bad, and has no romantic feelings towards Ladybug like Adrien does. Felix knows what he is doing is wrong, while Adrien doesn't. Whenever Cat Noir tries to kiss Ladybug, he is never aware that what he is doing is wrong, and while he is almost always stopped from kissing Ladybug for one reason or another.

Like when the episode tried to compare two different characters reacting to losing loved ones when there are different circumstances regarding them, the comparison DOESN'T WORK.

And to add insult to injury, Cat Noir shows up just to insult Felix by implying he doesn't have a lot of friends because of the way he acts, because why would he? After all, he's a complete loser that nobody would want to be friends with, and if you like him, you're an idiot for thinking so! At least, that's probably what Astruc was going for.

Ladybug summons her Lucky Charm, leading to a brief Mexican standoff, until Felix steals the tablet containing the Akuma, making a deal with Hawkmoth that he'll help out the Punishers as long as he gets the wedding rings. Do you hate Felix yet? Come on, do you hate him? WHY WON'T YOU HATE HIM, GODDAMN IT!?

This whole bit is completely pointless as Ladybug immediately finds a way to stop all four of them and de-evilize the Akuma.

And when it looks like Felix is actually apologizing for his actions this episode, it's naturally a ruse he put on to steal one of the wedding rings from Gabriel to give to his mom. Because why would Astruc even think of portraying him sympathetically, or at least have him learn a lesson?

So Felix stares out the window with an evil look in his eye (possibly foreshadowing another appearance), as Gabriel takes Emilie's wedding ring to wear for himself, and the episode mercifully ends.

It also means that I never have to watch this episode ever again.

Do you understand why it took so long for me to fully analyze this episode? Hell, it would have taken longer if Astruc didn't delete his tweets defending the kiss scene and how Cat Noir is totally a gentlemen unlike Satan, I mean Felix.

What else do I have to say about this episode that hasn’t already been said? Well, I do have one thing.

I’m not that big a fan of Felix.

I think he’s an okay character in fanfics, but I’m more indifferent to him and fanfics that ship him and Marinette together. I don’t know, maybe that’s because there are so many Felinette fanfics that are heavily seasoned with salt, or it could just be because I’m complete Love Square and Lukanette trash.

But just think about the fact that the scathing criticism of this episode was delivered by someone who isn’t that into Felix. That is how bad this episode is.

In addition to being an obvious mouthpiece for Astruc to yell at fans why they’re idiots for actually liking Felix, it does so by touching on delicate subject and trying to act like it’s easy to tell how Felix is worse than Adrien when the circumstances are nothing alike.

But the fact that Astruc takes a popular character just to portray him as a complete menace just to antagonize his fans is ridiculous, utterly ridiculous.

#immaturity of thomas astruc #thomas astruc #thomas astruc salt #miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug salt #felix salt #felix agreste #felix graham de vanily #adrien agreste #cat noir #chat noir #marinette dupain cheng #ladybug #gabriel agreste #hawkmoth #hawk moth #alya cesaire #lady wifi #juleka couffaine #reflekta #rose lavillant #princess fragrance #nino lahiffe #max kante #markov #nathalie sancoeur #amelie graham de vanily #emilie agreste #i can't believe i spent almost a month writing this #all while balancing work and finals too

[bee-kathony]

I’ll Be Seeing You | Phillip & Eloise 1950′s AU

Phillip Crane places an advertisement in the newspaper seeking a tutor for his young children. He did not expect the beautiful Eloise Bridgerton to respond, nor did he expect to fall madly in love with her.

Ch. 1 “A Letter” 

Cambridge, England | 1952

It was another dreary day.

The pitter patter of raindrops on the window pane was giving Phillip a headache. At least, that’s what he tried to tell himself. Truthfully, it was the pitter patter of small children’s feet running up and down the hall just outside of his office.

Phillip Crane was a terrible father.

He knew it, and so did his children, Oliver and Amanda. They were twins, aged nine, and lived to make sure Phillip’s heart rate was never at a normal speed. Of course, he couldn’t have been blessed with perfect children that behaved themselves, and sat quietly doing their schoolwork. No child was perfect — no adult was perfect for that matter. But, his children… they wreaked havoc on 113 Grantchester Meadows.

Marina Crane, Phillip’s wife had passed away several years ago when the children were young. Ever since then, it had just been the three of them. He hadn’t been very present in their lives, as he was a Professor of Botany at Cambridge University. Most of his time was spent in his offices at the school or in his greenhouse in the back garden.

His marriage to Marina had not been a happy one. Although, it had started out blissfully happy. Phillip had just graduated from university, and Marina was head over heels in love with him. He hated to admit it to himself, especially now, but Phillip had not been in love with Marina — not in the way it mattered.

Marrying her was the right thing to do, and he was looking forward to becoming a father. Of course, they were both young, but they were in it together. Phillip could only blame himself for not using protection that one night nearly ten years ago. He had been seeing Marina for three months before they first slept together.

Phillip thought he might be a better father, if he himself had had a better example. Growing up, Phillip’s father had been anything but present. And when he was around, his father beat him with his belt, yelling at him to be a better lad like his brother. So Phillip blamed his father for the way he was. Uncaring and selfish.

He wanted to be better for Oliver and Amanda, but he simply didn’t know how.

In the years following Marina’s death, Phillip had spent many restless nights blaming himself. She had been so unhappy after the children were born. Marina became quiet and withdrawn, helping with the children only when Phillip begged her to. When he thought of the three years following the twins birth, he should’ve known that something was wrong.

But it was also in those first several years that Phillip became a teaching assistant at the university. His days and nights were given to his career, and he just wanted to provide for his young family.

Phillip should’ve seen the small bottle in their bathroom and questioned it. He should’ve seen that Marina was growing more and more unhappy as the days passed. He should’ve been there when she took too many pills. And he should’ve been there for his children when they cried out for him in the night, screaming for their mother.

Shaking his head, Phillip sighed and leaned back in his chair. He would never be able to erase the guilt he felt about Marina’s death. Nor would he be the father his children needed him to be.

Which is why he tried to hire the best nannies for them, but his children terrorized each and every poor young woman. Whether it was frogs in their beds, or salt in their tea, each nanny practically ran screaming from the house.

No one wanted to take care of his children, he knew this. But what they did need was someone to help them with their studies. Being a professor, Phillip knew that he should be the one to sit beside them as they did maths, history and science, but he barely had the time.

Phillip opened the bottom drawer of his desk, pulling out a clean sheet of paper with his letterhead. What his children needed right now was a tutor.

Tutor needed for two children, aged nine. £1 a week. Contact Phillip Crane, 113 Grantchester Meadows, Cambridge CB3 9JN UK

It was a simple and straightforward advertisement, and Phillip prayed that it worked. He needed someone desperately to come and help his children. More than anything, he needed someone to help him.

He folded the letter and sealed it into an envelope, addressing it to the local paper enclosed with the funds to get it into print in the next edition.

Phillip rose from his chair, and ventured out into the hall. With the letter in hand, he intended to walk down the street to the post box, but his children had other plans.

*squish*

“What in God’s name?” Phillip looked down at his left shoe that had just stepped in something unidentifiable. Two small giggles could be heard from down the hall. “I guess nobody wants dessert tonight.”

“Wait!” Amanda shouted, and came running out of the hall toilet.

Oliver begrudgingly followed behind his sister, arms crossed over his small chest.

“I would ask what this is,” Phillip shook his foot, grimacing. “But I’m afraid I don’t want to know.”

“No, you don’t, father,” Amanda tried to cover up her laugh to no avail.

“If you want dessert tonight, then you both will clean this up by the time I return from the post box,” Phillip tried to be stern, but he just didn’t have the heart.

A better father would not bribe his children to clean with dessert, but it was the best he could do. Nothing else seemed to work with the twins other than incentives with sweets.

Phillip hopped his way down to the toilet and cleaned off his shoe, trying not to look too hard at what he had just stepped in. Thankfully, nothing had happened to his letter, and he left the house to post it.

When he returned minutes later, the mess was cleaned, and the twins were nowhere to be seen. Apparently, they really wanted dessert tonight.

Phillip couldn’t blame them for acting out. They barely had any guidance from an authority figure, and for the most part were allowed to run amuck. He had unknowingly created his own chaos.

Dinner would not be ready for another several hours, so Phillip elected to spend that time in his greenhouse. His own slice of heaven on earth. Well, his true slice of heaven belonged to his family’s country home several hours outside of London, but his backyard was a close second.

His one true passion was botany, and all things green. Currently, he was attempting to fatten up a strain of peas. Phillip skimmed the contents of his last journal entry before checking on the latest pods.

Not much change since the last entry, but he noted the height and circumference anyways.

Peace filled Phillip as he piddled around in his greenhouse, and as the plants embraced him, he was able to push away that voice of guilt and forget. In his greenhouse, he was not a widow, or a father. He was just a man. A man who was trying his best.

++++++

Two weeks later, Phillip arrived home to find his post sitting on the front table. Three times a week, a housekeeper came to clean and collect any mail. As he made his way to his office, Phillip grabbed the letters addressed to him. Bills, more bills and then a letter from an E. Bridgerton. Perhaps this was in answer to his newspaper advertisement. It had been a couple weeks, and Phillip had nearly forgotten about it.

Laying his leather briefcase on top of his desk, Phillip opened the envelope and pulled it out, skimming its contents.

I write to express interest in tutoring your children, aged nine. I have experience with young children, as I am the fifth child in a large family of eight. My education is mostly self taught, but I have recently begun attending university. I am available to begin work immediately.

E. Bridgerton

Phillip thought it odd that the writer did not sign their first name, instead opting for only an initial, but brushed it off. The writer came from a large family and had experience with young children. Surely this would be the most important part. He knew that anyone with a basic education could teach them, but it was how they could handle his children that mattered.

Pulling out another clean sheet of paper, Phillip wrote his response.

I would be glad to offer you the position of tutor for my children. They are difficult spirited, and eager to learn. Please come to the address enclosed next Monday at 9am.

Finally, he could breath a sigh of relief. His children would have a tutor, and Phillip could rest easy knowing that they would be shaped and molded while he molded the minds of university students.

++++++

As Monday arrived, Phillip watched the clock all morning. He was anxious to meet the man that would be the twins tutors. If he had just started university, then he would be young, most likely.

“What is the man’s name?” Oliver asked over breakfast.

“I don’t know,” Phillip shrugged. “He only signed the letter with his first initial.”

“That’s odd,” Amanda remarked, slurping her milk.

“Very,” Phillip agreed.

Just as Phillip took a large bite of his toast, a knock came from the front door.

“He’s here!” The twins shouted and jumped up from the table, running ahead of Phillip.

“Please don’t run,” Phillip tried to grab them, but they were too quick. He wondered how long the tutor would last. He gave him until the next day before he gave up, telling Phillip to send the twins off to boarding school.

“Can I open the door, father?” Amanda asked and he nodded.

Phillip was expecting a young man, perhaps he had even expected a man near his own age. What he saw in front of him now was most certainly not a young man, but a woman. A very beautiful woman with wavy brown hair and captivating eyes.

“Hello,” she smiled warmly. The woman offered her hand to Amanda who shook it excitedly.

“Can I help you, miss?” Phillip asked, looking behind her to see if the tutor was arriving.

“You are Phillip Crane?” The woman asked, holding a letter in her hand and a satchel in the other.

“Yes,” Phillip nodded, brows scrunched together.

“Well then,” the woman smiled again, nearly knocking him off his feet. “I am your new tutor. Well, not your tutor,” she laughed, a sound that filled him with warmth right to his toes. “Your children’s tutor.”

Phillip didn’t know what to say. The last thing he had been expecting was for a woman to be his children’s tutor. Not that women weren’t qualified… but he had just assumed the author of the letter was a man.

The woman bent down on her knees before his children, taking their small hands. Phillip wanted to weep at the gesture.

“You must be Amanda, and Oliver,” she smiled, squeezing their hands.

His children looked over their shoulders at him, waiting for him to speak.

Blinking, Phillip cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, Miss Bridgerton. I assumed that you were a man. But you’re a woman.”

“Yes,” Miss Bridgerton rose, offering her hand to him next. “Thank you for noticing. I’m Eloise Bridgerton.”

Phillip slid his hand into hers, nearly biting his tongue as a wave of electricity shocked his palm at her touch. Eloise. Eloise Bridgerton. Miss Eloise Bridgerton. This beautiful and lively woman had come to teach his children. Phillip didn’t know it yet, but Eloise Bridgerton would be doing much more than tutoring his twins. She would be the balm to his broken and fragile heart.

“Shall I come inside?” She dropped her hand from his, picking up her satchel.

“Of course,” Phillip flexed his hand beside his thigh. “Please, do come in. I’ll show you to the children’s nursery.”

Amanda and Oliver ran up the stairs, leading the way and Phillip escorted Eloise to the nursery where the children did their studies.

“This will do nicely,” Eloise grinned. “I assume that you would like me to begin this morning?”

Phillip nodded, captivated by the vibrant energy she radiated. He tried not to compare Eloise to Marina, but it had been so long since he had seen such life in a woman. Such joy and a thrill for living.

“I am running late for my class,” Phillip glanced at his watch. “If you need to reach me, I have left my office number on the table by the front door. I’m sorry we did not get a chance to properly introduce ourselves.”

“That’s alright,” Eloise smiled and pulled out a stack of papers from her satchel. “I expect we will get to know one another in the coming days.”

“Certainly,” Phillip nodded and then looked at his children, worry crossing his face. “Please do not burn the house down for Miss Bridgerton. Wait until I come back.”

The twins laughed, and Phillip sent up a prayer hoping that the house would still be in one shape when he returned.

As Phillip drove to the university, all his thoughts focused on Eloise. He wondered if she had only signed her first initial in the letter because she thought he would not hire a woman. Hoping he would not have allowed gender to come between his decision, Phillip thought he would have still hired her had he known. After all, it was her experience with young children that impressed him the most.

During his class on the anatomy of an orchid, Phillip’s thoughts continually drifted towards Eloise. Her bright smile has he answer the door. The glasses perched on her nose. The fitted sweater that hugged her curves. It had been a very long time since Phillip had felt any sort of emotion towards the opposite sex.

It was the more intimate thoughts of Eloise that Phillip was thinking about when he arrived home later that afternoon. For the first time in a long while, he was happy to be home, a smile crossing his face.

“Hello?” He called out, dropping his keys in a small dish near the door.

A loud thud could be heard from upstairs and he climbed the steps three at a time.

“Oh for Christ’s sake!” Eloise shouted, standing outside of the children’s nursery.

Phillip had expected the house to be in shambles, but he had never expected the sight before him. Eloise Bridgerton covered in flour — what he hoped was only flour.

“Miss Bridgerton,” Phillip gasped, walking towards her. “I am so sorry. You must please excuse my children’s awful behavior.”

He knew she wouldn’t last. His children were a menace to society. How could anyone, especially the bright Eloise Bridgerton put up with them?

Instead of stomping down the stairs and out the door in a rage, Eloise began to laugh.

“Are you alright?” Phillip reached out to her, his hand brushing against her flour covered arm.

Eloise only laughed more, and then the nursery door opened slightly. Two small heads poked out, looking entirely mischievous.

“It wasn’t our idea, father,” Oliver crossed his heart.

“I don’t believe that for a second,” Phillip ran his hand over his face. “You’ll apologize to Miss Bridgerton this instant!”

“No, no,” Eloise stopped laughing, her hand reaching out to clutch his arm. “They are telling the truth! It was my idea.”

“It was your idea to cover yourself in a bucket of flour?” He asked, confused.

“Well,” Amanda snickered. “It was our idea to cover her in flour, but then Miss Eloise suggested that we set the trap for you.”

“For me?” Phillip cocked a brow at Eloise, who’s cheeks blushed.

“Just a spot of fun,” Eloise chuckled, then had the decency to look embarrassed.

Phillip truly didn’t know what to say. Disciplining his own children was one thing for their mischief, but he couldn’t very well punish Eloise. If he wasn’t so shocked, he might have just laughed.

“Children,” Phillip said. “Please clean up this mess. I need to have a word with Miss Eloise.”

Surprisingly, the children bent down to scoop up the flour into the bucket that had been perched on top of the nursery door. They probably didn’t want to miss out on what Phillip was going to say to Eloise.

He pulled her aside, his hand on the small of her back.

“I must apologize for my children,” Phillip smiled briefly. “I would say they know better, but it’s just their nature to cause chaos.”

“As it is mine,” Eloise smiled, wiping the flour from her eyes. “I assure you, it was all my idea. But as I was setting the bucket on top of the door, I sneezed and it came tumbling down.”

Phillip looked at her curiously.

“I thank you for hiring me,” Eloise took a deep breath. “I’m sorry for the mess I caused, and I do not expect you to give me a reference since I have worked not even a day!”

“A reference?” He asked. “Do you think I’m firing you, Eloise?”

“Well, yes,” she shrugged. “I’m covered in flour, and I plotted with your mischievous children.”

“Did they do any learning today?”

Eloise nodded. “We covered geography and maths today.”

“Then you have done what I hired you to do,” Phillip smiled. Without thinking, his hand reached out to cup her cheek, his thumb brushing across her bottom lip, caked white.

“You will allow me stay then?”

“I would be a fool to let someone like you go,” Phillip smirked. “I know my children are difficult to handle. If they let you in on one of their pranks then that means they like you.”

“Very well,” Eloise smiled widely. “I will return at the same time tomorrow!”

She turned then, a cloud of flour following her. Phillip saw her to the door, and once she was gone, he let his head fall on the solid wood. What had he just gotten himself into?

#philoise #phillip crane #eloise bridgerton #phillip x eloise #bridgerton #bridgerton fic #bridgerton fanfic #i'll be seeing you #1950's au #my fic

[drax-is-inthefandom]

Divergence of Faith

Chapter 1: The Basement

By the time the clock struck 6 in the morning, the last light in the Lake house was finally turned off. Barbara Lake, a current medical student and recently divorced mother, had finally finished her theoretical career jobs, after a full day of housework and schoolwork, she could get a modest three hours sleep before having to wake up to make breakfast for the day .

Funny that Saturday morning, she would not sleep just a couple of hours as she was used to, but rather that a little one with disheveled hair and bright blue eyes had been in charge of sabotaging her alarm to make sure she slept as much as necessary. By the time the sky was turning to warm orange hues, Jim Lake Jr was already awake and active, ready to take on as much housework as a 6-year-old could do - all because Mommy could finally take a break!

Breakfast was the main thing, because a growing child just like his mother, a future doctor, had to eat well. From under his pillow he pulled out the magazine page he had ripped from his last visit to the dentist and as fast and quiet as he could go downstairs, he ran to the kitchen to collect all the ingredients that were in the magazine recipe.

It was an omelet, something he could easily do without causing a fire, lately he was helping his mom in the kitchen and taking on more and more chores in food preparation, so he was confident that there would be no problem at all with him taking care of breakfast for the day by himself.

Confident and with a smile on his lips, Jim turned on the coffee pot so that when his mother woke up he could receive her with a cup of hot coffee along with the omelet. He could already imagine his mom rested, eating without falling asleep at the table and without having to worry about having to clean or do any other chores. He could even take care of lunch if necessary! Today he just wanted her not to worry about a thing.

He was in the middle of whisking the eggs when he heard something that brought him out of his fantasies. A strange noise.

He leaned out to the stairs, his ears sharpening to make sure his mom hadn't got up. Nothing, absolute silence.

There was nothing in the living room either.

"It's nothing" He said to convince himself, it was still early and maybe his head was playing a trick on him for getting up early. Obviously the darkness that was still in the house and that did not allow him to see anything through the windows was not causing him any paranoia to be hearing noises, clearly not.

But then he heard the noise again, this time louder and accompanied by what sounded like falling boxes.

Now he was sure where the noise was coming from. The basement.

His first impulse upon hearing such noise from the place of his house that he was most afraid of was running towards the stairs to look for Mom, to seek her protection in her arms and between her sheets. But hearing her light snores through her door, just as he was about to turn the knob to enter, made him stop.

He was supposed to be doing this to get her to rest, it was supposed to be a surprise, if he ran with her because he was scared of a noise, his whole plan would be ruined. He released the knob and went back downstairs.

Again he heard noises coming from the basement.

He gulped.

“I am a big boy. I protect mom now. ” With shaky legs, Jim returned to the kitchen to take what he considered a good weapon against whatever was in the basement: the largest metal spoon in the drawer.

Armed with his spoon and accumulating as much courage as he could on his little chest, the boy slowly approached the door that led to the basement to turn the door handle with trembling hands, fearful that his movements would alert any monster behind it and get himself attacked the moment he opened it. He raised the spoon in front of him when the door was finally open, shrinking and closing his eyes to avoid seeing his enemy in the face, as if the metal utensil was enough to scare him.

A few seconds passed and nothing seemed to eat him, so he opened his eyes.

He only found the darkness of the steps. He breathed again, not realizing that he had stopped doing it, he sat on the first step with the spoon firmly against his chest, waiting again for something to happen.

Again, nothing.

"You can do this, Jim." He took a deep breath, inflating his chest with it in a gesture of pure determination, and began to descend slowly, one step at a time and without removing the spoon away from himself. He kept his eyes open, waiting for them to adapt to the darkness in order to find any sign of what that noise had been, his ears until now only caught the light grinding of the wood under its weight as he advanced.

He was already halfway up the stairs when he finally saw something. What he saw almost made him throw the spoon out of fear, but again, as if it were a sword worthy of a knight, he raised it in front of him, threatening whatever was staring back at him.

"W-Who's there?"

He could swear it, yellow eyes were staring at him as intently as he was staring at whoever was the owner of those eyes. But he was sure it wasn't remotely as scared as he was. The growl that answered his question could assure it to him.

"W-Whoever you are, I-I'm not afraid of you!"

It was a raccoon, it must be a raccoon, whenever a strange noise was accompanied by bright and threatening eyes that stared at him from the forest, his mother always showed him that it was just a raccoon. This could not be different.

"I'm not afraid of you either"

Only that raccoons didn't speak.

He wanted to scream but the words were drowned in his throat, it had closed as a maximum security vault, with all the fear he was feeling his head only managed to tell his body to do one thing. He threw the spoon directly at the owner of those yellow eyes.

"What is this?" But his strength as a 6-year-old boy was not enough to cross the entire basement space to where the invader seemed to be, the utensil was halfway, in a neutral point of both where the light of the corridor still entered but the absolute darkness of the rest of the room began.

Jim felt himself shaking as he saw a hand approaching from the darkness, a blue hand. If he was not paralyzed before, now he was fused with the steps.

After the hand, an arm appeared, then another hand and little by little the body of the owner of those yellow eyes was revealed. In just seconds, the invader was fully revealed, all in order to smell a spoon he used to serve the stews.

It was ... A strange creature, clearly it was not a raccoon. Its skin was blue, but it had no texture of fur or scales or ... or skin, it was too smooth and firm. What was it made of? Another thing that drew attention more than the color of its skin, were the horns on its head, it had two pairs, two small on the top and some larger that waved slightly to the sides, they were a color similar to ivory. On his shoulders it also seemed to have protuberances, but they were not horns, they were slightly more translucent, it was noted by how the light that entered the basement interacted with these. Crystals? And… did he have more on his back?

"What are you?" He thought he had thought about it, but seeing the invader raise his head from sniffing the spoon to focus on him, he gulped at his loose tongue.

"Something you shouldn't be seeing" From the tone in which the blue creature spoke, it showed that he wanted to sound intimidating, aggressive, but even a small child like Jim could notice the shame that the slight tremor in his tone betrayed him.

"Then why am I seeing you?" He wasn't attacking him and seemed more interested in the spoon than in him, curiosity overcame any fear he had been feeling until now. He was a boy with a nascent streak for adventure. Could you blame him?

"... Because I failed to go unnoticed to enter your house" Now yes, the shame was more obvious. The invader dropped to his butt on the ground, taking the spoon in his hands to continue sniffing it.

"Why did you come into my house?"

"Because the sun is already rising" And the question that Jim was going to ask, was swallowed by the surprise of seeing the invader taking a bite out of his spoon, making half of the utensil disappear from a bite as if it were a simple caramel.

"... Do you have more of that? It was delicious.” It took him to see how the entire spoon was devoured so Jim could even remember how to speak.

"Uh ... I don't think my mom would like to know that you ate a spoon, if I bring you something else she may worry that she has lost kitchen utensils" A pout from the blue invader was his answer and Jim couldn't avoid a giggling, he puffed out his cheeks in a similar way to Toby when he was throwing a tantrum and it was a funny sight for him.

"Why are you laughing? Do you want us to fight? ” And his laughter died as soon as he saw the invader putting himself into a position similar to that of a bull ready to charge a bullfighter, he even moved his foot as they do to signal that it will take the hit! Jim moved his hands in frenzy, he was not very excited about the idea of getting rammed with those horns that he had on his head.

"Nononono, sorry, sorry ... You reminded me of a friend, that's all"

"... Did I remind you of one of your fleshbag friends?"

"... Fleshbags? Uh ... Yes, Toby may be a little… stuffed, but it's not to call him that”

"... Stuffed? No, I meant that all of you humans are fleshbags, you are a fleshbag”

"I am not a fleshbag!"

"Yes you are!"

"Not!"

"Yes!"

Now it was Jim's turn to pout, forgetting that he was in the basement, forgetting that his only light was coming from the open door into the hallway, he got up from the step where he was sitting and with a firm step, doing his best imitation to how he saw his mom acted when someone made her mad, he walked over to the blue invader and stood in front of him.

"I'm not a fleshbag, don't call me that"

His challenge position was quickly captured but he did not receive the answer he expected, until now the invader had remained sitting or walking on all fours, but seeing him stand in front of him with such bearing, made him respond in the same way. With a push of his arms, he got up and planted in front of Jim, puffing out his chest with the intention of appearing bigger, that even without that, he was at least a head and a half taller than the 6-year-old boy, and that without counting the horns.

"Well, humans are fleshbags, so that's what you are, fleshbag"

The two little ones held their gaze, blue eyes against yellow eyes, neither wanting to give his arm to twist in that silent challenge.

Their staring war lasted long enough that they had to look away to blink, both leaving their eyes dry for not wanting to give up. Jim was annoyed, but oddly, the invader laughed.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Because I did not expect to see a child stand in front of the great Draal, fleshbag"

"My name is not fleshbag! My name is Jim! Jim Lake Jr!”

"Then we already know the other's name, Jim"

A snort came from Jim's lips while Draal only laughed.

Funny that this would not be their last fight, because what these little ones did not know is that their innocent interaction would be the key point for a radical change in the both of their worlds.

A change that only time would tell what kind of path will take. Positive? Or negative?

The divergence of fate had only just begun.

#Divergence of faith #tales of arcadia #fanfic #draal the deadly #jim lake #trollhunters #drax writes #I wrote this almost a year ago #And I DO PLAN IN FINISHING IT

[wexhappyxfew]

HELLO LIL BEAN 💛 you already know who I’m here for eheh Death please!

LINDA AHHHH HELLO!!! :D Sorry that I’ve just been able to FINALLY get to this! My schoolwork load today was absolutely insane if I’m being quite honest and I already get distracted so easily, so the snow outside and just the everyday distractions of life aren’t that great either LOL!! But I AM FINISHED AND THE NIGHT IS MINE SO -- let’s get into it! In this post, we’ll be digging into Natia + Death’s relationship, and everything essentially surrounding their connection which, out of everyone and everything in the book remains ENTICING and one of the strongest - quite strange for someone like Natia and this personified being like Death right? ;) 

I really liked the way this moodboard turned out, because just about every aspect encompasses a bit of Natia + Death’s relationship with one another AND SO - I will be going through each photo to discuss their relationship and bring it to life a bit! I thought this would be a fun way, to not only have a reference image, but also a description as to WHY I decided on the images for the moodboard that depicts their relationship so vividly! But let’s get a few things hit right off the bat first!

(1) Not once do Natia and Death communicate through words - one of the most powerful things about their connection with one another is simply that. They never speak one word to each other yet, they have one of the strongest relationships throughout the entire book because of simply the deep-seeded connection they hold with one another.

(2) This deep-seeded connection is really rooted in Day 1 after Natia witnesses the death of her parents - though not a scene in the book, it is referenced a various amount of times and is a moment Natia tends to think about more often than not in her time. It’s sort of my play on when Death comes to her and begins to pity her. Oh yes....there is a whole lot of pitying - and Natia HATES pitying...we know this ;)

(3) Agent Mortem is literally Agent ‘Death’ or the Agent of Death. I specifically chose Mortem as Agent Mortem’s codename simply because he really is this perceived Agent of Death in Natia’s eyes. I’m also a Latin Nerd and well, Latin nerds like this stuff HAHA! But truly, weaving that in and showing that not only is Death extremely important to Natia, but so is Agent Mortem (quite literally Death in his own way) has been super fun for me to craft and explore!

AND (4) I want to bring up Death’s connection with War. War is not a very prominent figure I decided to personify within the story, though he is basically the main center of attention lurking in the foreground as this is based in simply WAR! But War makes important appearances and almost in ways you maybe would’t quite expect him to. Number 1, War and Death dislike each other from the start and that’s just my own personal view on this entirely in my own story telling way. Number 2, Death says plenty of times how War makes all these decisions without second though and he has to clean up the mess yet he can’t pull himself away from someone (ahem...Natia) who essentially does much of the same. It’s a load of dramatic irony twisted with wordplay and phrases with double meanings that I LOVE! 

(can you tell I’m such a nerd with this LMAOOO!!)

OKAY! Now that those are out of the way, let’s jump under the cut I have inserted to dissect the 9 pictures above - they won’t be super detailed (okay they kinda are lmao), just some reasons why those pictures are important, just for time’s sake! Let’s get into it!

PICTURE 1: “ can we act like we never broke each other’s hearts...” I really, really loved this aesthetic quote photo for many reasons as - not in a romantic sense - but more in it that 2 broken-hearted people are trying to mend one another and obviously fail at it....that sort of thing, and it’s quite interesting to craft. Natia can’t help but feel attached to Death, yet she is so immersed and surrounded by it and it has brought such an immense amount of pain to her being - but she can’t help but let His feeling remain, only letting her heart break further and His the same - he can’t pull away either. 

PICTURE 2: “ two people, male and female, standing on the edges of cliffs, with an abyss in the center - darkness coming from the male’s side and light on the female’s “ WOW WOW WOW can I just say this is literally one of my favorites?! Before the war, Natia was not the Natia all the readers know and love currently - she was happy, she played PIANO, she was a CHILD, she was simply a little girl. There was light. Death always was darkness - darkness and sadness and grief and pain. And so, this picture really shows the beginning of their relationship - he brings he darkness and she lets him, she doesn’t fight it - BUT WAIT WHAT’S THAT??? AN ABYSS BETWEEN THEM??? Oohhh yet - you didn’t think I’d leave that one out now would ya? BUT THAT COMES FOR MUCH LATER - to a time in Bastogne particularly that is a spoiler - time will tell though!

PICTURE 3: ‘ I’m not even a whisper in your thoughts yet you’re the screaming in mine.’ All I gotta say is one word - Bastogne. Shit goes down in Bastogne and let’s just say a good portion is between Death and Natia - good or bad who knows, but it goes DOWN. I can’t elaborate much as it is spoiler-filled, but come back again once we hit Bastogne, we can chat again on this picture - I got a whole LOAD of info on it!

PICTURE 4: ‘ Cloaked figure ‘ I am actually delving deeper into Krysta’s ask with this picture, BUT when creating Death, I actually created a picture in my mind - from the beginning I wanted to make it a man, just for the dynamic that would be between Natia and Him and to show Him in a different light! But let’s just say (you’ll find more on the ask I answer for Krysta when I post it) cloaks are a MUST for Death - why might you ask? Why must he be portrayed in a cloak AHAHAH - you’ll see! 

PICTURE 5: “Courage meets Death” I LOVE this entire picture aesthetic so so much for Landslide. In a way, Natia, in my eyes is Courage and Death is well Death. It relates back to picture 2 big time with the whole light v dark contrast that I discussed, but it’s not an overpowering of the other quite here - more of an agreement like you can vibe with me and I’ll vibe with you and we’ll leave it to that for the moment. Like Natia fighting Death - connections perhaps?! ;) They’re equals here and equals is what they’ll always be - never more, never less - Death and Natia or in this sense Death and Courage remain equals.

PICTURE 6: “black, grey and white female + crying image” This is more of a representation of Natia - showing the world she sort of sees - not exactly color, but not entirely black and white - more grey, sort of like her character in a sense OR IF WE LIKE TO VIEW IT THIS WAY - the morally grey character that controls her....ahem Agent Mortem....who quite literally sees the world in grey. Just a little play on an idea like that, which is super fun! 

PICTURE 7: ‘I broke my rules for you.” OH BOY THIS ONE JUST SCREAMS DEATH TO ME! I reference quite a few times for Death this sort of rule book he has for himself, a bit later on in the book and he says quite a few times as well that even He broke his rules for Natia - he kept her from Death more than once and kept her safe. He is simply DEATH, yet he goes and protects another from it? From HIMSELF? Yet he drifts so near? .....yep that’s exactly how it is. He broke her rules for her - nearly everyone - to protect her from Him.

PICTURE 8: ‘Death’s hand holding a mortals clenched’ So I really played around with perspective on the moodboard here and purposely made the strip down the center show Death’s side as the left and Natia’s as the right and meeting in the center! This image portrays the control Death seems to hold on Natia at times - her mind consumed and intoxicated by him and in the most recent chapter (Weapons Don’t Weep - *26) we seen right at the end, that admist the chaos, there stands Death, the shutting of his eyes as a way to attempt to silence the chaos for her - yet he is the reason for her having to bear all this chaos. It’s quite an intense dynamic, but very true their relationship!

PICTURE 9: ‘flirting with Death’ Okay, we all know Natia is confident in her own capabilities and who she is and let’s just say, she brushes a little too close to Death’s touch for many of her friends and family’s liking. In no way is this portrayed in a romantic sense, but more of in the sense that Natia’s ‘flirting’ with Death is almost a clear want from it, no matter how much Death tries his best to protect her from him. Yet they draw so close to one another which complicates things. It only adds more to the complexity of their connection with one another but is truthful in so many ways! 

#band of brothers #landslide #bob fic #natia filipska #natia filipska/death #connection + relationship #symbols and motifs #we love a good symbol of death #yes yes he is my absolute favorite symbol out of the entirety of the fic i can agree with that!!!! #and THIS WAS SO FUN OMG LIKE???? SO SO FUN!!! AHHHH

[mrslittletall]

Prompt: Self-Harm

Fandom: Bloodborne Characters: Laurence the first Vicar, Vicar Amelia Word Count: 2.297 AO3-Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18718291/chapters/54999370

Summary: Amelia is fulfilling her duties as a blood saint and sometimes that means that she has to rely on some more extreme measurements.

(Author's note: Self-Harm could have been used for a lot of different scenarios, but when I thought about it I had a clear picture in my mind and I used it for this fic. Please enjoy!)

Written for @badthingshappenbingo​ Hey, look at this, this prompt earned me a bingo ^^  I still have quite a few to fill out and even though I have ideas for some of them, I don’t have them for everything. I won’t take requests, but feel free to shoot me suggestions, maybe you help inspire me for a prompt.

“Amelia.”

Amelia looked up from her schoolwork to see Laurence standing in her door frame. “Yes?”, she asked.

“Do you have a little bit of time later?”, he asked, but not looking at her, gaze slightly averted. Amelia found it a tiny bit strange, normally he wasn't so distant with her.

“I need to finish my schoolwork but then I am free.”, she said.

“Good, come see me in my office once you are finished.”

And as suddenly as he had appeared in her door frame Laurence had left. Amelia shrugged and continued her schoolwork. She was sure that she didn't had done anything wrong, so whatever Laurence wanted to talk about was probably church related.

An hour later she knocked on the door of his office and heard the shuffling of paper and a distressed sounding cat before Laurence' footsteps were heard and he opened the door.

“Please, come in.”, he said and gestured for Amelia to sit on the couch, which she did, right next to that white cat with the fluffy fur.

“Mary, go sleep elsewhere.”, Laurence said and picked the cat up who complained with an annoyed meow and then joined the other cat Amelia had heard earlier on the shelf. She looked at them while she waited for Laurence to remove the cat fur from his clothes and to sit down next to her.

“So, Amelia, do you know why I called you here?”, Laurence asked.

Amelia shook her head and said: “I don't know but I assume it has to do with the church.”

“You are correct.”, Laurence said and took a deep breath. “Amelia, you are 13 years old now. It is time for you to start your duties as a blood saint.”

“Oh.”, Amelia always had known this day would have come it just had felt so far away all the time. Since the time Laurence had told her that her blood had reacted in a special way to the old blood she knew she would be a blood saint once she grew up, she just never had thought about how her life would be once she had grown up.

“What does that mean for me?”, she asked.

“Well, I will make sure that your duties don't intermingle with your school days, so we will take it slow first. One evening in the week and on the weekends.”, Laurence explained. “You know that your blood has a certain quality that is similar to the old blood. People will come to you and ask you for a vial.”

Amelia nodded along to his words, she had seen the other blood saints work, it was a constant drawing of blood and handing it to the sick or injured. Although... some of these people didn't look like they were sick and injured. Maybe they needed the blood for a bedridden relative.

“This means you need to learn how to draw your own blood with a needle.”, Laurence said. “At first you can feel free to ask the other blood saints for help but you must be able to draw your own blood in a matter of seconds for the future. It becomes especially important when we have the night of the hunt.”

Amelia nodded again and then spoke: “Will you show me?”

“Yes.”, Laurence got up and opened a few drawers until he found what he searched for. He returned with a needle and one of these medical tubes, the ones they used for the blood ministration, just smaller, and a vial. “I show you how to draw blood and then you do it yourself.”, Laurence spoke, kneeling in front of her. “There are different veins you can use but I prefer to take the one in your elbow crook. Could you please roll up your sleeves?”

Amelia complied and extended her left arm for Laurence. He dipped some cotton in a bowl of clear tincture and applied it to her arm. It was cold but didn't hurt. “Always use a clean needle.”, Laurence said. “We had quite some trouble with recurring sicknesses until we realized that sharing needles was what made people sick...”

Amelia once again nodded. She always had found it gross that people used to share needles and she could barely believe that it had been a regular occurrence at the early days of the Healing Church, that was when she still had been in her mother's womb. She was glad they realized that mistake.

“You put the needle into your vein, like this...”, Laurence murmured and Amelia flinched because of the sting. “And then you let the blood running into the vial.”

Amelia had her gaze locked on the tube and the vial. It was kind of fascinating seeing her own blood coming out of her body, first a crimson red before turning a slightly darker tone.

“And once it is full, you pinch the tube and then can pull the needle.”, Laurence said, pulling the needle as he spoke. Being relieved from the constant stinging pain Amelia breathed out and then watched as the wound on her arm closed right away. Small wounds like this would always close on their own.

“And then you put a cork in the blood vial and give them to the recipient.”, Laurence finished and put the cork in. “And in really urgent cases, you can apply it as a kind of blood ministration, but then you need two needles, one for the drawing and one for the inserting. Understood?”

Amelia nodded but then a thought occurred: “Um, Laurence... what do I do when there isn't a needle to draw blood?”

Laurence gaze darkened a bit before he spoke: “If you really must, then cut yourself a wound to get the blood flowing. It won't heal right away when it is deep enough. Your blood also should work when directly applied on the wounds, the important thing is, that it gets into the blood stream of the injured or sick person.”

“Understood.”, Amelia said.

“And now.”, Laurence continued. “Let me see you draw your own blood.”

Amelia blinked as she slowly shook herself awake. A dream... or a memory? Just how had she managed to fell asleep with a night of the hunt coming?

She looked at one of the antlers that decorated her office. It had fallen off the beastly skull of Laurence and she had kept it... Was his death really already twenty years ago? As well as Ludwig's shortly after? She shuddered as she thought about how the hunters had found a grotesquely transformed horse creature with the moonlight great sword stabbed through it's chest.

The official versions had been that Laurence had died during the great cathedral ward fire and that Ludwig had fallen in the hunt. But she knew better. They had transformed, had fallen victim to the scourge and every night of the hunt Amelia feared that she would show signs of the scourge too...

For know, she should get herself ready to act as not only the current vicar of the Healing church but also as a blood saint, giving out some blood to the hunters and then wait for anyone who needed her help. She gave Laurence' antlers one last glance and then got up from her desk to prepare herself for the hunt.

Hours later, once the sun had set over Yharnam, Amelia waited in the Grand Cathedral, praying to Laurence skull like she would do so often during the night of the hunt. The sounds coming from outside were terrifying and she just hoped that everyone managed to hide in their homes and... and that they wouldn't lose as many hunters to the beast this time.

It had been twenty years and the hunt would become more and more frequent. It had started once a year but gradually increased and now they could bet that it would happen every quarter year, just as the seasons would change. That for some reason Yharnam never seemed to cease being populated fascinated her, but at the same time, she had the feeling that they had became less in the last five years.

However, there wasn't time for musing because she could hear the knocks on the Great Cathedral and knew that her service was needed.

Amelia had given herself a blood ministration this morning to make sure that she had more blood in her body because a blood saint could only give out blood a certain amount of times before she needed to recover for a while. And today vials with her blood were heavily requested. Again and again she stuck the needle in her body and send the hunters off with a blessing, always wiping over the small wound once the needle was out, even though it would close in seconds. While the wound wouldn't stay the pain was still very real and she knew she could thank the old blood that she hadn't scarred yet.

The night went on and less and less hunters came for her services, either not needing any more of her blood or having fallen in the hunt... or having succumbed to the beastly scourge, it always seemed to peak during the hunts. As she continued her prayer to Laurence' skull Amelia thought about the recent years. She had the feeling that the hunters struggled more and more. Of course, it had been years since there had been talents like Lady Maria or Gehrman, both of them had died when she still had been small and Laurence had... changed after that. It got better when he met Ludwig and Ludwig was another one of the most skilled hunters but now...

There wasn't much structure in the hunt anymore. The Healing Church mostly took care of it, but the time of the Old Hunters, how the age around Laurence had been called as well as the time when Ludwig had rallied Yharmanites to join the hunt, it was over. The church hunters did their best, but every and each hunt Amelia had the feeling that the beasts took one too many.

Sometimes... sometimes there were tales of a truly marvellous hunter. A hunter who faced fears none of the others would ever think going close. A hunter who didn't seem to fear death. A hunter without a name who vanished as suddenly as they had came. These usually were the hunts with the least victims. Amelia often asked herself just from where these hunters came and where did they go too.

Thinking about it, Amelia hadn't left the town in twenty years. Why had she never tried to venture outside of the town? It wasn't like someone was forcing her to stay inside... or was it...

Her thoughts got interrupted by another knock and a hunter dragging their clearly massively bleeding and heavily injured companion inside.

“By the blood.”, she gasped and got up. “Get them inside, I prepare a blood ministration.”

“There's no time.”, the hunter replied, voice croaky and heavy. “We need some of your blood, now. Please, Vicar, we are all out of blood vials and he is bleeding out.”

Amelia gasped again and went to grab for a needle... only to see that they all had been used. And she hadn't given out only vials today, she also had done a few transfusions. Damn, she should have used the time to clean the needles instead of getting herself lost in musing about the state of the city.

She was quick to react however, Laurence voice in her mind as it was yesterday. She grabbed for a knife that she always was wearing under her robes and rolled up her sleeve.

“Show me the wound.”, she demanded and the hunter carefully lowered their companion to the ground, unveiling a large wound on his stomach, clearly ripped open by the claws of a beast. Amelia had seen a lot of injuries in her life, but it still almost made her gag.

She extended her arm so that it would hover over the wound and then braced herself as she took the knife and cut deep into her own arm, ignoring the shocked face of the hunter in front of her. She hissed in pain as she pressed the knife deeper into her skin, making sure that the wound would be deep enough to bleed. And it worked, blood seeped out of the wound and dripped onto the stomach wound of the hunter, ceasing the bleeding. Amelia still let herself bleed, making sure to cut herself a bit more every time the wound wanted to close, until the gaping wound on the hunter had started to heal.

She removed the knife from her arm and started to pant, feeling a bit light headed. She had used up too much of her blood and would need a blood ministration after the night ended.

“He should be out of danger but get him inside for a blood ministration immediately.”, Amelia said with a stern look on her face.

“Vicar Amelia, thank you. Without your help he wouldn't have made it.”, the hunter gave her a bow and then picked their injured companion up, wandering deeper into the church.

Amelia looked after them until they had disappeared and then looked at her own arm. The cut slowly had started to heal but she could see that her own blood was staining her robes and the floor and still dropped of her own arm.

Silently she picked up a piece of gauze and wiped it clean, then proceeded to wipe the floor and her robes even though it did nothing.

Then, she sat down and started to clean the needles. (Author's note: I already told in an earlier entry that I headcanon Amelia to have been a blood saint, mostly because she can heal herself in her boss fight and healing spells aren't a thing in Bloodborne minus one tool that can heal others, but I also like to think that blood saints can't heal wounds that are too heavy and so your continuous attacks are what is able to kill her, unless you let her concentrate. The cleaning needles thing? To be honest, every time I search up medical practice from victorian times I facepalm because these guys were idiots but I felt like the Healing Church quickly got that needle sharing was a bad thing and that some basic hygiene could maybe help people who just got a blood ministration to not get sick two days later again...)

#badthingshappenbingo #self-harm #bloodborne #fanfiction #vicar amelia #laurence the first vicar #cw blood #cw wounds #cw needles #littlewritesstuff

[marinsawakening]

Cracks in Concrete

Fandom: Mob Psycho 100

Wordcount: 4285

Warnings: a panic attack, general mental health issues, canon-typical use of cults (albeit it with minor implications that the Psycho Helmet Cult had more negative influences on its users than portrayed in canon). 

Summary: Character study/character development fic of Mezato, and how she grows up after the Divine Tree Arc. 

Notes: Mezato has ADHD in this fic, because I’m ADHD and I love her. 

///

Mezato woke up in the middle of the street, and around her, a crowd of people did the same. They blinked, stumbled, clutched their head as they looked around in confusion, a cacophony of voices asking each other what had happened, how they’d gotten here. Among the crowd there were members of the Psycho Helmet C ult she recognized, but also classmates, acquaintances, and many, many strangers; it was as if the entire town had simultaneously flowed into the streets for some kind of parade, only to then forget who’d organized the event in the first place.

The ground shook, someone screamed, and then, the Divine Tree was floating. It raised itself up from the earth and towards the sky, following a flock of birds towards the horizon. Still in a daze, Mezato raised her camera to snap a picture, only to find her fingers wouldn’t move.

“It must be Lord Psycho Helmet,” Eiji muttered next to her, wonder in his eyes as he looked up towards the flying broccoli.

Mezato didn’t answer. She simply watched as the Tree disappeared from view.

///

The only thing the News Club would talk about was the Divine Tree, and the mass amnesia the city had experienced. As a matter of fact, it was the only thing any kind of news outlet would talk about, even as the citizens of Seasoning City slowly began to accept and forget it, as they always did when something strange occurred.

“The disappearance of the Divine Tree was most peculiar, yes,” said the news anchor. “But for many people, the most distressing part was finding themselves on the streets with no memory of how they’d gotten there. Of the theories proposed, mass hypnosis seems to have the most credibility, but it’s likely we will never find an answer to the question of what happened that fateful day the Divine Tree uprooted itself.”

Forums on the internet were dedicated to answering that question. What was left of the Psycho Helmet Cult was convinced that it was their Lord who’d done it. They might be right. If anyone was capable of pulling off a stunt like this, it was Mob.

But whenever she thought about it, tried to figure out an answer herself, she got nauseous, and something settled heavily into her chest, an emotion she hadn’t felt in years.

Somehow, Mezato thought that all this might’ve been her fault.

///

Her phone rang and rang, but when she kept ignoring it, eventually, Eiji stopped calling. She should’ve picked up, at least done him the decency of saying she was quitting the cult, but she just couldn’t bring herself to care.

Mob was acting strange. Had been since the Divine Tree incident. Maybe it was just because Mezato watched him much more closely than she had before, but he seemed lost - or well, more lost than normal. Recently, he’d gained confidence and drive, and while he didn’t lose all of that, it seemed a bit off now. Sometimes, he’d drift off in class, or glance at nothing and seemed startled for no reason, or fall still when writing, his pen hovering over his notebook. When he did put pen on paper, he took less notes in class, and just seemed to doodle some kind of cloud over and over again.

It was always hard to tell with Mob, inexpressive as he was, but if you payed attention to the details, you could reasonable draw the conclusion that there was something wrong with him.

Mezato considered pursuing it, like she normally would when she smelled a good story, and this could be a good story indeed. Mob acting like he’d lost something right after the Divine Tree had been removed from the city, combined with the knowledge that Mob had psychic powers, made for a strong possibility that he’d been involved in whatever had happened back then. If she could get the story out of him, she could sell it to actual news outlets, rather than being content with her little part in the school paper. It would be the smart move, and could possibly be interesting, too.

Mezato let it go. They weren’t close enough for these kinds of discussions.

///

None of her pictures had any pizzaz anymore. The composition was flat, the lighting bad, and the meaning missing. She struggled to write anything for the school paper that month, staring blankly at her laptop for hours before finally giving up and slamming it shut.

It wasn’t for a lack of interesting material; there was plenty of that. Even aside from the Divine Tree incident, there was change brewing within Salt Mid; Takane Tsubomi, most popular girl in school, was moving away, bringing all her admirers crawling out of the woodwork. Even Mob was planning to confess, and although, in all honesty, Mezato didn’t expect anything to come from it, she did hope for his sake it would work out.

She could write about the actual lines that had been formed by confessors, how Tsubomi had politely yet firmly turned all of them down, speculate on whether that was because someone else held her heart or because she was moving away soon, pretend that her turning down boys whom she’d never even spoken too before was somehow unreasonable. She had plenty of material to write a salacious story.

And yet, she couldn’t. All she had to show for hours of agonizing work was a blank Word document.

She let the deadline slide by, and didn’t offer any answers when the president came knocking.

///

Without the Psycho Helmet Cult or the News Club to distract her, all Mezato had to do was her schoolwork, and she’d never been good at that. She was plenty smart, but as soon as you put a worksheet in front of her, she lost all ability to think. It didn’t matter how much distractions she removed from her workplace, she would always drift off. Even a blank wall was somehow more interesting than her homework.

So she sat in her room and stared at her books, willing herself to write a summary, to study for the upcoming exams. The words blurred together, there but meaningless; she’d reread this paragraph fifteen times, and still couldn’t tell you what it said. The silence was maddening.

Vaguely, Mezato remembered the reveal of Lord Psycho Helmet, streamed for all Psycho Helmet followers to see. The Lord’s face was blurry, a spot she couldn’t quite place, but she knew it wasn’t Mob, because she’d never gone to pick him up. She couldn’t remember why she hadn’t. She couldn’t remember why she’d dismissed him, the next morning. She couldn’t remember why she’d helped distribute Divine Tree candy. She couldn’t remember why she’d encouraged people to pray to the Divine Tree. Then, she couldn’t remember much of anything.

Had there been something in the candy? Had she somehow helped to brainwash the entire city?

She clicked her pen, again and again and again. She could say that she’d never wanted that, that she’d never wanted to hurt people, but, well, she ran a cult. But it was a nice cult, really more of a club than anything, not anything like the ones you saw on TV, the way the (LOL) Cult had worked, where people became zombies completely dependent on the cult doctrine. It was just a group of people coming together in shared admiration for the mysterious Lord Psycho Helmet.

Only he wasn’t so mysterious to her at all, was he? She knew who he’d been since the start. She could’ve told everyone, put an end to the mystery real soon. And without the mystery, the cult wouldn’t have lasted; much as she wished he was different, Mob simply didn’t have the charisma to keep a group that large together. She’d seen how he’d behaved when he ran for the student council. He wouldn’t have lasted a minute on stage.

So why had she been so insistent to get him up there, then? Why had she kept the cult alive, why had she kept pressuring Mob to lead it? What did she have to gain from it?

Her leg was bouncing, and her pen had started leaking. She laid it aside, calmed her leg, sat back and stared at her textbooks.

She slammed them shut and stood up, shoving the chair so roughly it creaked. She’d take a walk. Maybe afterwards, she would actually be able to concentrate.

///

The boredom was suffocating. The teacher droned on, his words turning to gibberish before they reached her ears, and Mezato tuned it out, staring blankly at the board to give the impression she was paying attention.

In the end, those were the questions she kept returning to, again and again. Why had she lead the Psycho Helmet cult? Why had she tried to force Mob to lead it, despite knowing he couldn’t?

Why had she wanted to start that cult in the first place? Why had she decided to investigate the (LOL) Cult? Why had she joined the News Club?

She was bored. She was restless, but bouncing her leg or drumming her fingers or clicking her pen or anything else would get her in trouble, so she sat as still as she could and tried to ignore the way her muscles itched. Her knuckles were turning white as she gripped her pen, as she gripped it tighter and tighter in an attempt to relieve the stress without actually moving, until -

Crack. It broke, sending the plastic casing flying off her desk and spilling ink all over her hand.

“Miss Mezato, care to explain what happened?”

The whole class was looking at her. Mezato groaned.

“Any day now, Miss Mezato.”

“I broke my pen, sir.”

“Are you hurt?”

“No.”

“Good. Please go clean your hand, and get cleaning supplies from the janitor to tidy your mess.”

Ink had dripped all over her desk now, too. She stood up, carefully keeping her hands in front of her to avoid more ink onto her uniform, and hurried towards the toilet.

The ink was easy enough to wash off. Mezato watched it disappear down the drain, staring at the streaming water.

She was bored. She was always bored. Things only excited her for so long before she had to move on to something new, something shinier, something that she could explore, until she’d inevitably grow bored of that as well. Was that why she hadn’t been able to write anything for the paper?

Her hand was getting cold under the stream, but she couldn’t get herself to move. Was this how it was going to be? Was she just going to flit from one transient thing to the next for her whole entire life, never satisfied, always hungry for something she’d never get to eat?

Her hands shook. She tried to turn the faucet off, but couldn’t find a grip on the handle. She leaned on the counter, trying to breathe.

She couldn’t study for her exams. She could tell herself that she’d be able to do so next year, but that’s what she’d told herself her entire life. It’s what she told her parents when they scolded her, and she knew it was a lie. She wouldn’t be able to study any better next year, and she’d never be able to get into a good high school, let alone keep up with the studies required there. She’d have to drop out, and what then? What kind of future did she have?

She pressed her hand against her mouth, leaning over until she rested against the mirror, trying to focus on the cold glass against her forehead, but her heart was going a hundred miles an hour and her hand didn’t stop her from hyperventilating and oh god, she was having a panic attack over a stupid broken pen in the filthy school bathroom, great, fantastic, fucking awesome, she thought she was done with this goddamnit, but nooo, something as small as this was enough to set her off again because lord knows her emotions couldn’t just behave normally for once in her fucking life -

A pair of hands pulled her back from the mirror, and in reflex, she punched at them, hitting air. Everything was blurry, and she was pushed towards the ground, and then her head was pushed onto her knees, and she heard someone say something, but couldn’t understand what it was. Her breathing was erratic, and she desperately tried to gasp for air at the same time she tried to remind herself not to, because no, she wasn’t out of breath, she wasn’t dying, she was just hyperventilating and she needed to take less breath not more, she knew that, she did, but it was just so hard.

From somewhere, a voice filtered in. “Breathe in, one, two, three, four, five, hold, one, two, breathe out, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, breathe in, one, two, three, four, five -”

She latched onto the rhythmic counting, matching her breaths to the rhythmic counting, and slowly, slowly, she found herself coming down. The ground beneath her was cool, her uniform somewhat itchy, and the bathroom stalls smelled as horrid as ever. With a final deep breath, she lifted her head, blinking her eyes against the harsh, flat light.

Next to her was Tsubomi, sitting cross-legged on the filthy floor, staring at her with a blank expression.

“Are you okay?” she asked, monotone.

“Yeah,” Mezato said, her voice hoarse. Tsubomi nodded.

“Good. See you.” As she went to stand up, Mezato felt her throat constrict, and without thinking, she grabbed her sleeve.

“Stay,” she said, and tried very hard not to beg.

Tsubomi studied her for a bit, then sat back down. Mezato relaxed, focused on her breathing again, tried to return to a better state of mind.

They sat there for a while, on the bathroom floor underneath the sinks. Mezato barely even noticed Tsubomi, but her presence was just enough to help keep her grounded in reality.

“You know,” she finally said, after her legs relaxed enough for her to move them. “most people stay with someone after a panic attack. To make sure that they’ll be fine.”

Tsubomi just stared at her with that blank expression. “You said you were okay, so I assumed you were.”

There was a flaw in logic there, probably, but her brain was too scattered to find it.

“How did you know what to do?” she asked instead.

Tsubomi shrugged. “Panic attacks really aren’t that special. I know at least five people who get them on the regular.”

“Yourself included?”

“I’m not telling that to the school reporter.”

Mezato managed to snort at that. “C’mon, I’m not fishing for a story here. Haven’t even written anything for them in over a month.”

Tsubomi didn’t ask why. Neither did she answer the question. After a few seconds of silence, Mezato pressed: “Seriously, I won’t tell anyone. I really owe you one after that.”

“I don’t want to tell you,” Tsubomi said bluntly. “I don’t know you, and this is personal.”

Oh. That was... fair, actually.

Mezato shrugged. “Fine. Whatever. It’s your business.”

Again, silence. It was awkward, but Mezato felt that she could be forgiven for not keeping the conversation going, under circumstances.

“Can I have my sleeve back?” Tsubomi asked.

Mezato blinked. Finally, she noticed that she still held Tsubomi’s uniform in a vine-like grip.

She let go, and Tsubomi pulled her arm back. “Are you okay?” she asked.

Mezato’s first instinct was to say yes, but remembering Tsubomi’s earlier reaction, she shook her head.

Tsubomi shifted. “Do you want me to stay for a bit?”

“Yeah.” Mezato drummed her fingers against her leg. “Hey, why did you help me?”

Tsubomi pursed her lips and squinted her eyes, thinking. “It just seemed needlessly mean to leave you there when I could help,” she finally declared.

“You don’t seem like the type of person who cares for people you don’t really know,” Mezato replied, tapping her feet.

Tsubomi raised an eyebrow. “What gave you that idea?”

“You turned down an entire line of suitors one by one, ruthlessly.”

Tsubomi rolled her eyes, quite possibly the loudest expression of emotion she’d made thusfar. “I didn’t even know any of them. I could’ve ignored them entirely, or turned them all down at once. Instead, I took the time to turn them down individually, because that was the polite thing to do.” She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Just because I don’t let people walk over me doesn’t mean I’m cruel.”

Mezato stared at her for a while, and she stared back, not even blinking.

“How do you do it?” Mezato finally asked.

“Do what?”

“Just...” Mezato gestured to all of her. “You really seem to know what you want.”

“I mean, it’s not hard to figure out you don’t want to date someone you’ve never spoken to,” she said, deadpan.

“Well yeah, but like -” Mezato made a noise of frustration. “I can’t place it. It’s just. I have this feeling that you aren’t easily persuaded to do something you don’t want to do.”

“Well, neither are you,” Tsubomi retorted. “You’re well known for being stubborn, Mezato.”

“I know, but...” she trailed off, closing her eyes. Her feet tapped against the bathroom floor, and she counted to its rhythm. It was strange how infiltrating a cult was easier than speaking honestly.

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” she admitted, refusing to look at Tsubomi. “I’m probably not gonna get through high school, I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up - I have nothing to do, really. I distract myself with an endless string of hobbies that never go anywhere, and still, I’m always bored, and that’s the only thing I can see for myself in the future. Just an endless sea of boredom.”

Tsubomi blinked, then raised an eyebrow. “Are you asking me to give your life meaning in a public bathroom?”

Mezato burst out laughing. She doubled over, clutching her stomach, and laughed harder than she had in months, perhaps even years. When she finally finished, looking up through her tears at Tsubomi, she saw that even she had cracked a smile.

“Alright, fair enough.” She rubbed her eyes. “Guess I gotta figure that out myself.”

“I can’t do that for you,” Tsubomi confirmed. “I barely even know you.”

“You’re right, you’re right.” Mezato waved a hand. “Sorry to dump that on you.”

“It’s okay.” Tsubomi seemed to hesitate for a bit, then added: “Maybe buy a lollipop on your way back home.”

Mezato blinked. “What?”

“They always help me calm down.”

Tsubomi stood up and rubbed the wrinkles out of her skirt. “Are you okay?” she asked, holding out a hand.

Mezato grabbed it, and let Tsubomi help her up. “Yeah,” she answered, and she meant it, this time.

///

Why had she joined the News Club?

Why had she started the Psycho Helmet Cult?

Why had she tried to persuade Mob to lead it?

Because she was bored. Because she needed a goal. Because she needed something to give her life meaning.

Eiji picked up after only one ring. “Mezato!” he cried out, his voice tinny through the phone. “I’m so glad to hear from you!”

“I’m sorry I didn’t call,” she said, and she didn’t quite mean it, but she was getting there, maybe. “I’ve been going through a rough time lately, and I don’t think I can keep up with you guys. Sorry, I’m going to have to rescind my leadership position.”

Eiji sighed. “That’s a shame, but we did expect something like that. Losing the Divine Tree was hard on us all, and after the earthquake in January, I certainly don’t blame you.”

“Yeah.” She hesitated for a second, tempted to chicken out, but she steeled herself and asked: “Eiji, why do you follow our religion?”

When the answer came, it sounded baffled. “Because Lord Psycho Helmet gives my life meaning, of course. Because he does so for all of us.”

She breathed in. Breathed out. “A word of friendly advice. Find something else to chase.”

“What do you mean?”

She thought. And she thought. “Nevermind,” she finally said.

They hung up, and Mezato stared at the ceiling.

///

Mob had been doing better since the disaster in January. He was much more alert, didn’t look like he lost something, and in many ways, he seemed more relaxed than he’d ever been before. It was a sag of his shoulders, an easier way of talking; small things, like always with Mob, but they made a world of difference.

“Hey, can we talk for a second?”

He turned, waving at his brother to go on, and said “Sure, what is it? Does the Pyscho Helmet Cult want something?”

“Ah, no.” She tapped her fingers on her leg. “I dropped them, honestly.”

Mob raised his eyebrow, only a little bit; she was paying attention and even she barely noticed. “Really? I didn’t think you ever would, to be honest.”

“Well, I guess you could say I got some perspective, recently.”

There fell a silence. Mob stared at her, didn’t make a move to continue the conversation, and for the first time, she understood what he might have seen in Tsubomi. They were unnervingly similar, in a way.

“Listen.” She clenched her fist, then relaxed. “I need to ask you a question, okay?”

Mob cocked his head. “What is it?”

And before she could lose the nerve, she rushed out: “That whole mess with the Divine Tree. Was that my fault?”

Mob blinked. “What makes you think that?”

“It’s pretty clear that the problems started thanks to the Psycho Helmet Cult, which I was directly responsible for.” Her voice sounded steely, confident. Good. “Or at the very least, it wouldn’t have spread as quick as it did without them - without us, me. I don’t remember a whole lot from back then, but I think that, whatever it was, I was at least partly responsible for it. Is that right?”

Mob was silent for a while. “You’re sort of right,” he finally admitted, slow and deliberate. “Without the Psycho Helmet Cult, whatever it was probably wouldn’t have spread as quickly as it did. My memories were also wiped, but I talked with someone whose weren’t, and he confirmed that the Psycho Helmet Cult was instrumental to city’s brainwashing.”

Mezato clenched her fists.

“But,” Mob added. “he could’ve done it without you. You just happened to be there, and be convenient. So I wouldn’t say it’s your fault.”

Mezato let out a deep breath. “I - thanks. That’s nice to hear.”

She stood up, squared her shoulders. “I have one more thing to say.”

“What is it?”

She took a deep breath, and made sure to look him straight in the eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said.

Mob blinked. “What for?”

“For using you.” She looked him in the eyes. “I wanted you to lead the Psycho Helmet Cult not because I thought you genuinely could, but because it would be entertaining to see you try, and because it was entertaining to try and convince you. I’ve grown to genuinely like you, and I started convincing myself I really just wanted to give you a chance, but I was lying to both myself and you. I’m sorry for that.”

“Oh.” Mob shifted, breaking the eye contact. “That’s okay. I’m glad you admitted it, though.”

Mezato blinked. “That’s it?”

Mob stared. “Shouldn’t it be?”

“It’s just...” She started playing with the hem of her shirt. “I treated you pretty badly, because I didn’t really care about you, at first. I don’t care about a lot of people, honestly. I try to, but it’s hard, and I forget to try pretty often. So this just feels a bit too easy, I guess? Shouldn’t you be angrier?”

Mob shrugged. “You apologized, you seem like you mean it, and like you’re trying to do better. It’s in the past, and you won’t do it again, so you’re okay now.”

Mezato gaped. “I just admitted to not really caring about other people, and you think I can do better?”

“Well, at least you’re self aware about it. That’s a good start.” He frowned. “Wasn’t that something you said about Tsubomi, though? That it seemed like she didn’t care about people?”

“Yeah.” Mezato scratched her neck. “I might’ve been projecting a little.”

“That makes sense,” Mob said, shifting his bag. “Was that all?”

For a moment, Mezato floundered, then confirmed: “That was all.”

“Okay. See you later, Mezato.” Mob turned to walk away, but stopped short.

“Actually,” he began, reaching into his bag. “I have a friend that you might like.”

Mezato raised an eyebrow. “A friend?”

“Yes.” He pulled out his phone. “His name’s Hanazawa Teruki, and he goes to Black Vinegar. I think you two might get along.”

He looked up at her. “You want his number?”

She stared at him for a second, then cracked a smile. “Sure,” she said. “Why not.”

///

She made the next deadline for the News Club, turning in an all-out expose on the delinquent war between Salt Mid and Black Vinegar. The president was lyrical and the paper was well-read; the article was a slam success.

She’d written nearly all of it in one go, and when she’d been done, she’d sat back, smiling.

She might not know what she wanted to do in the future, but she knew what she wanted to do right now, and maybe that was okay. She was still young. She had time to grow.

For now, she had a fantastic article, a new friend, a bag of lollipops in her drawer, and she’d be fine.

#mezato ichi #ichi mezato #mp100 #mob psycho 100 #my writing #mezato #I've decided to put one or two fics up on tumblr as something of a test round

[trash-and-recyle-fics]

Rehab

Summary: Trouble should have been your name, considering how much you loved it. Your mom was killed in a car accident and that was the one person who stood by you. Now in California living with a friend you get into a little more trouble than you bargained for.

Warnings: Swear words. My punctuation mistakes grammar and spelling too. —-

—-You were nothing but trouble. Oh and you loved it. When you came kicking and screaming out of your mom she knew, when you caused fights in preschool. She knew. So when you got into a little to much trouble or fun you liked to call it she tried to ship you a boarding school. In California. The place were you can’t get a breath of fresh air if you went to the highest hill. Originally from Oregon you loved it there. That was home. Until your mom was killed. Social workers came to your house to get you. Your mom was supposed to be at work. A drunk driver killed her before she even made it halfway there. Sitting in a board room at the hospital you called a friend you met while in California. She was 20 and claimed to be a very close family friend. She bought you a plaine ticket and the social worker sent you on your way with a couple suitcases. Your mom’s remains would be sent to you considering she was an organ donor and they still could use some of her organs. Turns out she saved three people.

In the airport with the social worker by your side she handed you off to an employee of the airline. Being handed off was new to you, no matter what you did your mom always ALWAYS stayed by your side. She loved you and not knowing how you were going to make it was going to be hard. Your friend had lined a job up for you at her place of employment... a strip club. Being only 17 the manager was going to let you clean up the club and backstage areas. Until you were 18 he wouldn’t let you make your fair share.

TIME SKIP

California was hot, unbearably hot. It was uncomfortable. You in your skinny jeans and hoodie wouldn’t cut it. You had already met up with Sams and when you arrived at your new home it was nice. Small but decorated nicely, not in the best neighborhood. Considering the two dead bolts on the door. You could hear kids screaming and laughing outside as the played soccer in the street. Sam unfortunately had to go to work not long after you arrived.

“Hey Y/N the club is having a costume night so I’m on bartending duty, I’ll ask when they want you to start.” All you did was nod. Sam gave you a hug.

“I’ll pick up a movie for tomorrow night I don’t work then but I won’t be home til late I cooked dinner it’s on the stove and lock the door behind me.” Again you nodded as she kissed your head. “I love ya kid ain’t nothing gunna happen to ya I promise.” Soon after she left Borden over took you. The fimilar feeling of needing entertainment over came you. Grabbing your keys that were attached to your pepper spray you left and locked the door. After wandering around the neighborhood and not finding anything fun to do you headed towards the main road. Hoping it would lead you to downtown.

After finding your way to the lit up stores that stretched a couple blocks you found a diner. Beth’s the neon sign read. Right outside of the cute hometown style diner was your fun. Two bikes rode up and met with two more bikers. You sat on a bench facing the sidewalk, as the men walked into Beth’s your hands itched.

Not knowing what you were going to do just having a feeling it was great. Picking up a sharp rock by a tree. You ran your fingers over the edges, perfect to cut something. Without a plan you walked over to a bike and bent down so you were sandwiched in between two of them. You ran your fingers over the black paint over the leather seat and down to where there was wires and black tubing. Taking the rock you folded the black tube around the sharp edge and moved both the rock and the tube back and forth. A stream of fluids came out. ‘Oh shit’. You giggled and you stood up. Looking into the dinner was a mistake though. You made eye contact with a curly headed man with a goatee. Dropping the rock you pushed the bike you cut over and it knocked down another one on the other side. And you ran. A huge smile on your face. You wouldn’t get caught, you couldn’t. Climbing a chain link fence you heard the boots running after you. Once you reached the top you moved your body around letting a laugh go. Only to infuriate the bikers that were chasing you. You ran down the alley and onto a street. Almost being hit by a bike. And another one after that. But you didn’t stop you were able to make it around them and continue running. By now most of your energy was being spent on laughing. You ran through backyards and through streets. Finally making it to your house. Unlocking the door just in time too. A bike raced down the street. In your living room laying on the floor covered in sweat tears from laughter and your sides hurt from running and nearly choking on the bubbles of laughs.

When Sams got home you were showered and in your pajamas. Watching a movie and eating dinner.

“Hey honey, guess what boss said you can start to train in two days or so.”

“Nice.” You said shoving another fork full of food into your mouth.

“So tell me how boring it was here withou me.�� She had a smile on her face, a contagious one at that.

“I nearly started to clean it was so boring.” You said causing her to laugh.

“Go to bed soon and we can talk in the morning about school and jobs and funnnstuff like that.” She smoothed the top of your head and you nodded. Before she could make it down the hallway another bike went by, that had to be the third this hour.

“Those damn bikers.” Sams said under her breath. Again you nodded. ‘Indeed. The bikers.’ You thought.

TIME SKIP—— Noon-ish next day

“Hey Y/N! Get up we gotta go shopping!!” As you sat up Sams was in your doorway. We have to get you stuff for online school today. So hurry.” Rolling out of bed sucked. So did putting on pants.

Soon enough you were ready and heading out the door. Sams has mentioned getting lunch and maybe nails done before you went and your way to a bigger town to get the stuff you needed.

“You will love this diner.” She said as she parked in front of Beth’s. Ohhhh shittt. Rule number one don’t come back to the place you caused trouble for at least three weeks.

“You know I’m not that hungry can’t we just go?” You asked.

“No I am hungry and you need to eat. It’s going to be a long day.” As you stepped into the diner all was fine. In fact you had managed to stay calm enough so that Sams hadn’t suspected anything. That was until one man sat beside you and another by Sam.

“Can I help you.” Sam asked. Almost ready to punch the one next to her. You stared wide eyed at her.

“Oh you can actually, you see yesterday lay at night this one here.” The man next to you put his arm around the back of the booth. “Desided it would be a good idea to cut the fuel line on my brothers bike. Then pushed his and mine other. So wanna explain why ya went and did that sweetheart.” Sams was mad. No more than made she was furious.

“Y/N! You did what?!?!” She slammed her hand on the table. The man next to her let out a laugh.

“I’m sorry.” You wispered.

“Not good enough!! Why did you do it?!”

“I was bored and you were at work and-and I wanted something to do!” She shook her head. Then stuck her hand out to the man sitting next to you.

“I’m Sam. This is Y/N. She recently VERY recently came to live with me.”

“Jax teller. This is Bobby and the bike she cut and pushed our brother Tig’s. Also pushed mine.” Bobby nodded. Jax looked down at you.

“So why you do it sweetheart?” He was calm but Sams was not.

“You will wake up at 6:30 am to do you schoolwork then you will go to work and start to pay off the damages.” You looked up at her in complete shock.

“I have a better idea.” Jax said. Instead of just paying off the damages you will fix the bike. With help of my friends.”

“Sounds perfect.” Sams said.

“Wait what??!? I don’t get a say in this?!” You asked utterly confused.

“Damn right you don’t. In fact quite the opposite.”

You shoved a fry into your mouth and slumped down. Causing Bobby to laugh. You scowled at him.

“If you have time today you can start it.” Sams nodded.

“Oh you bet she has time I will be out of town today until 6. She can work til then.”

“Sounds good.” Jax and Bobby stood.

“She can ride with us.” Sams nodded as you shoved a handful of fries into your mouth.

She scooted out of the booth paid for the meal and left. Leaving you with the bikers. Fucking great.

Jax wrapped his arm around you and bent low.

“Are ya ready to work sweetheart.” You elbowed him in the stomach causing him to momentarily lose his breath. Making Bobby laugh again.

“Oh Jax you are going to have fun teaching her.”

You walked outside with the men closely behind you. Just to play with them you act like you were going to run, Bobby grabbed you by your wrist and you laughed. He shook his head and let go of you. You watched Jax straddle his bike and Bobby walk towards his. They both started it up and nerves over took you.

“Yeah I’m not getting on that thing.” You said taking a step back.

“Afraid you are. Here.” Jax handed you a helmet and you took it with very little confince. You strapped it on and put your hand on Jax shoulder. As you say on the bike he showed you were to put your feet and you grabbed his waist. Squealing from suprise as he revved the bike. As you went down the street you let your grip loosen and slowly so you were sitting strait up and on your own. Soon enough you pulled into a parking lot with bikes lined up and a couple of cars. A big sign saying TM. As Jax parked his bike you climbed off with assistance. You handed him the helmet and walked between him and Bobby to the shop.

“Tiggy!!”Bobby called as you were walking up. A man under the hood of a car looked up and instantly grew angery. He pointed at you and started to walk. Jax stood so half of his body was in front of you.

“The bitch.” He said his eyes big.

“Oh bite me Barney.” You said he was even more pissed. But you were enjoying it.

“Hey Tig She is here to fix it, the mess ok.”

“She don’t touch my bike she will probably cut the damn brakes.” He said looking at Jax.

Bobby had left and you stepped so you were standing by Jax.

“Oh I didn’t know what I was cutting.”

“So you admit it!!” Tig said shaking.

“Of course I do. I have to have fun one way or another.” You shrugged your shoulders. Tig just threw the towel that was in his shoulder on the ground and walked away yelling “PROSPECT!”

“Ok Y/N prospect will show you around the garage and show you a couple things. Introduce you to people all that.” You nodded as a dirty blonde haired man came jogging up.

“Hey.” He said nodding at Jax while giving you a semi weird look.

“This is Y/N. Show her around the shop introduce her to people. Show her shit, she is here to learn stuff to fix shit” Jax had said.

The blonde nodded and held out his had. “Half sack.” You shook his hand confused.

“Don’t ask him why his name is that” Jax said looking at you while lighting a cigarette.

“What if I wanna know.” You countered. Jax shrugged as Half sack unzipped his jeans. Before he could even get it farther down his leg you punched him in the chest.

“Don’t you fucking dare pull down your pants!! Don’t you know how to use your damn words!!?!” You yelled Jax laughed hard and Half sack held his chest.

“That hurt.” He said rubbing his chest and zipping up his pants.

“Good fuck. Whatever just show me stuff around the shop.” You said as Jax walked away laughing and you followed Half sack into the shop. About an hour later he was done showing you stuff and introducing people.

“Okay this truck just needs an oil change.” He said. Nodding, he started to point out stuff in the car as you asked questions.

“See where it says ‘engine oil’ you pull it out and wipe it then put it back in and wipe again. If it’s like this.” He said as he pointed to the rag, “it needs a change.” Again you nodded. As he went through the steps of teaching you how to change oil you had to be on a small step stool to be able to reach the inside of the truck. You would point to a part ask what it is he would explain it and its purpose.

“Hey Sack we got church. You are on babysitting duty we will fill you in later!” The man you learned to be Opie.

“Oh fuck you man.” You said just loud enough to hear and it caused him to shake his head with a smirk on his face.

“Why do they call you Half sack? Just don’t pull down your fucking pants again.”

“Lost a ball in the war.” He said glancing at you with a smirk.

“Oh shit dude. Sorry for your loss.” You couldn’t even get through half the sentence without laughing your ass off.

“Okay okay Y/N. Let’s get back to work.” You settled down and went back to leaning on the truck while standing on your stool.

Time skip———- 5 o clock

“Y/N!” You turned around and saw the man you knew as Chibs.

“Hey.” You said as you turned your body towards him and Half sack had started to changed a tire on a small car.

“Jackie Boy wants ta see ya.” His accent thick with every word.

“Where is he?” All he did was nod towards a picnic bench across the parking lot and you saw Jax there.

“I’ll be right back Half sack.” As you got up you dusted off your butt and pants. You couldn’t help the grease on your shirt though.

As you approached him he light a cigarette.

“Hey Y/N. Got some questions for ya.” You nodded as you sat down across from him.

“Today some things came up.. you got into a lot of trouble before you moved here huh?” Instantly your head began to spin.

“How did u know that?”

“Our club knows how to get information.” He said as he put his cigarette out.

“How much do you know?” You asked.

“Just about everything.” He said. His eyes were soft and concerned. You nodded and started to pick at the table.

“Yeah I got into trouble yeah my mom died yeah I don’t know who my dad is yeah I’m not a great kid with great grades. Can I go know?” You asked. He shook his head no. You didn’t care you stood and instead of going to the garage you started to walk out of the parking lot. You take the cigarettes you took from plies pocket while he wasn’t looking and the lighter Jax had on the table. You light one and cough when you inhale. Walking faster as you hear Jax’s voice. His boots comming after you and when he reaches for your wrist you turn and hit him in the face. Then you bolt.

Running from your problems is something you are good at. You make it from the shop to about 5blocks down the street. It would take you about an hour to make it home. When you turned to see Half sack on a white bike. You kept walking with the keys inbetween your fingers. He pulled over a little ways ahead of you and got off his bike.

“Leave me alone.” You said as you kept walking.

“Too bad I was kinda hungry. I was hopin you might wanna go to Beth’s then I can take you home.” You looked at him. Walking toward him you pressed your hand with the keys into his stomach not to hard but enough he knew you had them there.

“Just take me home.” He nodded and held out his helmet. You pushed it towards his chest not taking it. You straddle the bike and wait for him to turn around and get on. He does turn around but he puts the helmet on your head.

“Just leave it on.” He said his eyes soft but his voice demanding. You mock him as he straddles the bike and you take off after you tell him your address. Once you get home you thank him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow I guess.” He holds out his hand for a fist bump.

“No that’s stupid.” He smiles and you pound your fist agonist his.

“See You tomorrow Y/N. And wear something that can get dirty I know what im going to teach you tomorrow.” You nod and go inside pull out your phone to text Sams that you are home.

Let me know for a part 2

#fanfic #fanfiction #let me know #series #writing #soa #sons of anarchy #reader x half sac #reader x kip

[captainmvf]

The Golden Days Are Over- Part II (Chapter 2)

Part II Summary: The story of Carta Faber starts with the story of Ti Gold and how she perished in the early eighties with her partner, Ob Gold. But why is there a shroud of darkness over the fifteen robots and why did the actions of one purple gal trigger all of this bloodshed?

Chapter 2 Summary:

Ti Gold learns a few new feelings and separates from Ob Gold. Soon, it's the best day of their life. 

It's finally here! I've been busy with schoolwork and have been working on this chapter little by little but haven't found anything in my brain to write. I'll make sure the next chapter is written fast but hopefully I'll be working on my final.

Read it on AO3--> (x)

Ti Gold learned what hate was.

When a young child accidently dropped their vanilla ice cream on her midnight satin pants she was slightly annoyed but laughed it off as a childish antic. As the manager to the restaurant complained about her and Ob Gold in front of the duo she grew to dislike him greatly for his negative attitude and ugly appearance. But when Delilah ever walked into her view, heavily violet colored form smirking at her or someone else from afar, the air in the room grew heavy and thick with discomfort.

Ob Gold would either give her partner a disapproving look or a sharp cough whenever she saw Ti Gold stare hard at the security guard. She couldn’t see anything wrong at all from her viewpoint but there was always something or other that made her partner freeze up and emit a rumbling within their chest.

It soon became apparent to Ti Gold that Ob Gold had a flawed processor and that there was a growing rift between the two. After each performance on stage she found that Ob Gold didn’t want to bring up an actual topic of discussion.

The taller robot would look at Ob Gold, “Today was a great performance.”

Ob Gold would nod before looking away, “It was.”

“Let’s have a blast tomorrow.”

They would then not talk to each other for at least twelve hours.

Soon the staff then noticed more disturbances offstage whenever closing hours were in effect. Pots and pans would be spread in odd places in the kitchen, supplies would be jumbled together in the Janitor’s closet, stage lights and props would be pushed towards the middle of the stage almost like a dividing line, and more children’s drawings would appear on the wall albeit a bit darker or heavier than the other pieces. This was first pushed aside as just a weird coincidence by the staff but as this continued over the weeks they then decided that this could no longer stay unsolved.

A team was decided to deal with this one Thursday night as they were told to hide out around in staff-only chambers until they felt a disturbance after hours. On this such team was one of the previous mechanics that had helped set up the two golden animatronics, a begrudging Christian, and the manager himself.

They had to wait two whole hours after closing until Christian saw the tall figure of Ti Gold walk past.

He dared to not move as the tall robot sauntered past the boiler closet. Ti Gold’s eyes were lowered to a dim setting that made the lights on her face appear as pinpricks. Her front was shaded and hard to make out with the drowsy lighting. She moved slowly as she made her way towards the back of the restaurant.

Christian peered slightly out of the door and watched as Ti Gold’s large form faded into the darkness.

On the other side of the restaurant, the manager was hidden in a corner that was hardly accessible to the daytime patrons. He watched as Ob Gold walked calmly from the stage area and towards the kitchen. The lights in her eyes were off and she had the appearance of a ghost in the pale lighting.

An idea came to him as soon as she disappeared from sight behind the pane glass windows that were grafted onto the kitchen doors.

Friday morning, he stormed into the dinner with a mechanic that was new to both robots. He found both ready to start the day on stage, each with a dark expression on their fake faces.

“There will be no more nightly wanderings from the two of you,” he announced. “Following Amelia’s shock I should have impounded the two of you back onto your places but no, I was too lenient.”

Ti Gold squinted in his direction.

“Allow me to introduce your new babysitter, the night guard, Ethan,” he then gestured to the man that came in with him. Ethan gave a little wave.

Ob Gold looked at Ethan and gave him a warm smile, “Hello.”

Ti Gold turned her back out of spite but wished she wouldn’t appear so mean in front of someone new.

“You are to remain on stage for the rest of the night or you will be revoked your daytime privileges for the following day. Are we understood?”

Ob Gold nodded but it took Ti Gold a few moments to struggle out a ‘yes sir’ before going back to adjusting her microphone.

Ethan followed the manager out.

Once the doors slammed shut behind them, the long-haired robot turned angrily to her partner, “This is all your fault.”

“Me?” Ti Gold barked out a snobbish laugh that she had learned from Delilah. “I only went out to check security but I somehow managed to scare one of the guards! How did I cause this?”

“If you hadn’t been so obsessed with Delilah then you wouldn’t have gone off the deep end!”

Ti Gold swiftly turned to face her partner, “Oh so we’re back to discussing about how I’m crazy and Delilah is a saint? I know what I saw! I had security programming running in my systems when I gazed at her!”

“Bullshit!” Ob Gold emitted a swear and growled like Christian would when his engineering work went wrong. “I have seen her do nothing but good and yet you let some software that may be on the fritz judge your surroundings for you?”

“It’s working fine! I even saw a guy outside with long pants that was painted purple as well!”

“That proves nothing. We have a job to entertain the children during the day and nothing else. It’s time you got your head out of the crowd and back into the stage lights.”

The two didn’t speak for a full week.

Ethan did come in for his shift every night at twelve, just a few minutes after the rest of the staff left. He would sit in the office and watch the security feed every five-to-ten minutes to check for any movement.

The two instead who only ‘deactivate’ after each performance and only move and speak during performances. This was a childish display of playing dead to the manager but thankfully he would only nod in confirmation and mutter ‘just as machines are supposed to act’ before walking away.

Ethan grew lax as he saw that Ti and Ob Gold had given up on moving after hours and had quit trying to kill time for themselves. He started to barely even check the cameras, only the stage. A few times he would swear that he saw one flinch or look his way but the feed would go out and return before everything appeared normal.

Ti Gold hated being a statue. Ob Gold only put up with it because she was loyal to a fault.

Then one night, a most curious incident occurred.

It happened while Ethan was sound asleep in the office, snoring away in the faux leather chair. Both of the robots heard a tapping noise at the front entrance and a faint ‘tick’ before a rock smashed through the glass window.

Both jumped in alarm at the noise but Ethan only snoozed away as he laid at the other side of the building. A black-clad figure eased their way between the shards of glass before stepping onto the tiled floor, mindful of the smashed glass. Another figure, almost identical to the first, stepped through the smashed entry way and gestured to the security camera that was currently facing away from them.

The two then stealthily stuck close to the walls and hung in the darkened areas of the establishment.

They passed the curtained stage and one pointed to the other-

“Hey, Earl.”

“Shh!”

“Wanna try behind those curtains? It’s dark enough that even a regular camera won’t even take notice of us.”

“You forgot the term probably.”

“It’s worth a shot.”

“…if this fails, you’ll be the one paying bail this time.”

With a final nod to each other, the two made their way behind the curtains just as the camera’s view swiped over where they had entered from.

Both stood up from their spots on the polished wood and looked up in awe at the two unmoving robots. They knew that there would be performing machines but they wouldn’t have thought that the two would be so tall…or so unguarded.

The burglar known as ‘Earl’ quietly spoke, “How much money do you think we can pawn off for at least one of these?”

“They’re new,” Earl’s partner replied. “Also they’re on different technology as the others in that location down south.”

“Ohio?”

“No, that one’s just…different.”

“Supposing that they run on batteries or need charging, do you think we’d also need to steal their equipment?”

“Not really, with all the tech junkies around they’ll probably find some way to make it work for them.”

“We could get delicious money off of them, but we don’t have enough muscle power to take them both or just one of them.”

“You’re right, we came for the money and we’re going to leave with this branch’s savings. Let’s go.”

The two looked around before exiting backstage.

Once out of earshot, both Ti Gold and Ob Gold slowly turned their heads in the direction of where the suspicious two went off.

Ti Gold was the first to speak up, “We have to stop them.”

Ob Gold responded, “Yes, but let’s be rational. If Foreman finds out-“

“I don’t care about what the manager has to say,” Ti Gold glared. “He can go stick a couple of breadsticks up his ass.”

Her partner put her hands over her ears at the sharp language. Ob Gold had recently found out about the impact of saying ‘nasty’ words with Ti Gold but only the longer haired of the two decided to follow up with clean words.

She sent her partner a very unappetizing look before removing her hands from her ears, “We can’t let Ethan see us move around or we’ll get reported and reformatted.”

The word ‘reformatted’ was tossed at them a few days ago as a warning. Both robots then learned what a racing feeling in their air tubes and the combined power of their processors stalling was called.

Fear.

To put a robot under such a horrific experience was a sentence worse than death. It held the same meaning as brainwashing but with more lobotomizing towards the body, forcing the given robot to have a changed state of mind and to remove the basic functions that gave them personality. If each robot were given the same basic design, then each robot would be given the name of ‘Drone’ with a serial number that provided no expectations of what they were built for.

It meant that if the golden show business duo didn’t follow the man-versus-machine rules, then they would be put under the mechanic’s watchful gaze and sent out to look like a chipmunk and chop wood- forgotten forever.

…well, figuraly speaking.

Ti Gold clenched and unclenched their fists. She looked Ob Gold in the eye, “Fine, give me a plan.”

Ob Gold gave her a sly smile.

Down the hall the two burglars went as they easily made their way towards the back of the building to where Ethan was snoozing away the early hours, dreaming of the precious money his daddy will bestow upon him after completing yet another easy shift. Just two…or three more…hours left…

It was then that Earl had the terrible sensation of being watched. He looked up at the security camera closet to him as it stayed in place, never once blinking red to signal that the security guard was looking through it. The blonde shrugged it off and lead his cohort further towards the desk in the back.

“Hey, do you hear that?” the other burglar shook him out of his focus.

“It’s just the AC Tim, sometimes it whistles depending on the temperature,” Earl spat back.

“No dude, listen.”

The two stopped and Earl brushed the hair away from his right ear in order to pay close attention to whatever sounds were emanating within the building. It sounded like what you would expect from within the walls of a wood and cement one-story building built in the early eighties. There was the classic AC keeping the machinery cool and the humming of vents and fridges, the whirring of security cameras and the snores and sniffles of a tired guard, the dripping of a leaky pipe outside of the building and the howling winds of a hot summer night silently caressing the windows and bricks that decorated the outside.

Then there it was.

Softly, almost blending in with the background, were slow music notes. They weaved and danced around all the other noises and flowed as if it belonged there, a part of the melody that was Fazbear’s Diner. It was nearly unrecognizable without it.

The melody had a marching tune to it. Bearing the fact that the tune was being played by a music box made the song much more melodic, sad even. It was probably tear-jerking to some emotional moms or patriotic Europeans, but it didn’t have much of an impact on the two.

There was only that creepy feeling that music was not supposed to be playing after hours.

All other sounds were tuned out as a sinking feeling fell flat in the two’s stomachs, as if each had a depressed man rope their ankles together to a cinderblock and drowned themselves in the thieves’ stomach acids. There was the calming voice in the back of their heads telling them that someone might have accidently left one of the switches for the stage on before they left for the day.

“Let’s keep going,” Earl insisted and they turned towards the hallway, away from the cafeteria.

Both stopped dead in their tracks when they saw a neat, perfect, straight out of the plastic packaging party hat in the middle of the hall. The green, pink, and yellow stripes didn’t appear fun anymore but sicklier, disgusting, as if those colors should not be allowed to clash together.

Under the party hat’s view were words written in black paint.

‘ENGAGE THE PARTY HAT MOTHERFUCKER’

They each took a step back and looked at each other, not saying a word. The two had barely noticed that the music had stopped playing.

“Dude,” Tim spoke softly.

Earl shook his head at him, “Don’t. Say. It.”

“This is some Scooby Doo bullshit right here-“

“WHAT the fuck man!”

Despite the outburst from Earl’s end, Ethan didn’t not stir from his slumber. At this point, not even a large meteor from space breaking through the Earth’s atmosphere could wake up this young man.

They quickly turned back around, not willing to engage in any activity. The situation had taken a sour turn.

After reentering the cafeteria, the two were met with pitch blackness that made their eyes go blind. This was abnormal since the shutters on the windows let in just enough light from moonlight and the streetlamps to filter in but now it looked like someone had shut them, obscuring anyone from looking in or for light to be given to those who work afterhours.

Earl opened and closed his mouth but no sound came out.

They didn’t notice the two specks of white light peering out of the darkness right behind them.

Their attention instead was drawn to the backstage door as it slammed shut and proceeded to reopen very slowly. Both adults crept nearer to one another to make sure that this was really happening.

Another tune began to play, but this one was more sorrowful than the last. It swayed and waltzed across the two as the other noises in the building halted all actions to let it play. This was no march or fanfare but a slow and mysterious question like tune that made the hairs on the back of their necks stand up.

“All I ask of you…”

“What the hell? WHAT THE HELL?” Earl grabbed Tim and took a step back.

The two glowing specks towered above their shoulders and shone brighter, illuminating their backs. Time turned around and paled at the sight.

“Uhh…Earl?”

“WHAT?!”

Earl turned to look in Tim’s line of sight and saw the two glowing orbs.

Then at least ten more white lights appeared in two straight rows under the original two and slowly distanced themselves. Just like teeth.

The creature before them groaned and a high pitched noise escaped from its dark throat, making the two’s hair go white with fright. It leaned over them and the pitch increased as the music had gotten faster. Just as it was an inch away from their faces, it spoke.

“Run.”

That was when Earl and Tim booked it for the exit, screaming incoherently. Instead of exiting through the entrance that they made they accidently rushed into a funny mirror that was near the entry way. Earl’s nose started bleeding profusely as Tim actually managed to jump over the shattered glass and out into the parking lot but tripped on the landing. A minute later police cars rolled into the lot and trained their lights on the pitiful scene.

As soon as the two had started screaming, Ethan had been woken up momentarily and had hit the emergency call switch within the office to signal the authorities before drifting back to sleep. Good thing the nearest police station was just a few blocks away. By the way, this all was only an accident.

The crooks were detained and put into each a separate car as Ethan groggily made his way to the front of the building to check what all the hubbub was all about.

“What the…?” he rubbed one eye and yawned as an officer approached him.

“Son, can you tell me-“

“THAT PLACE IS HAUNTED!” Earl screamed, making the officer and Ethan turn to look at him. Earl had half-white half-blonde hair that was frayed and his eyes were wide and crazy, the blood kept on dripping from his left nostril.

As another officer put him into the squad car he fought to look at Ethan and screamed, “Get out while you can! There are demons that lurk in that building! I tell you!”

With one final push he was shoved and locked into the car. He banged on the window and shouted some more before the car rolled away, out of sight.

Ethan looked back at the deputy as he was about to spoke as another car rolled up.

“Ethan!” the booming voice of the manager made him flinch. “What in blazes is going on around here?!”

The guard raised his hands, “Well, sir-“

“Are you the owner of this establishment?” the deputy put himself in front of Ethan.

The manager blinked and looked up at the officer with his small eyes, “No, I’m the manager.”

The deputy tipped his hat, “Well, you see, your employee here raised the alarm and we were able to come just in the nick of time to arrest the two deviants who had trashed the entrance and were out to rob the place. You’ll have to fix your window but everything else seems to be in order.”

Ethan’s boss split into a wide, toothy smile and exclaimed, “Well then! Guess I gotta get the insurance company on the line and make sure the janitor shows up in the next hour so we can open tomorrow! Thank you, sherriff.”

“Deputy.”

“Whatever.” and the officer went back towards his car to where a quite Tim was holding his arm and staring at the floor of the car. He started up the car and pulled out of the lot.

The manager looked at Ethan, “My boy, looks like you have done splendidly tonight!”

“I have?” Ethan rubbed the back of his neck and blinked before coming to an understanding. “I have!”

“Yes sir-ee,” he grabbed Ethan’s back and led him inside. “I bet I can get you a promotion to head security guard, which means that, not only do you get a raise, shorter hours once we get someone else to fill in to be your fellow coworker.”

“Oh boy!” the two continued to chat towards the office before a faint scream could be heard.

“YOU WROTE THIS?”

Seconds later a party hat was thrown into the trash and burned along with its previous contents.

Meanwhile, behind the golden curtains of the stage, Ob and Ti Gold stood perfectly still as they heard what went on.

“Do you think I spelled ‘Motherfucker’ correctly?” Ti Gold whispered to her partner.

“Judging by our manager’s reaction I think you did a spot on job.” Ob Gold smiled.

The two then made snickering noises and bobbed their shoulders to make it look like they were laughing. Once the air was cleared of laughter the two looked at one another before looking away shamefully.

“They didn’t give us any credit,” Ob Gold stated sadly.

“They didn’t see us.”

“I was kind of hoping you would mess up and let them see your face.”

“That’s kind of hard,” Ti Gold turned to let Ob Gold see her face and she let the springlocks on her face unscrew to reveal her endoskeleton’s head. Her eyes were built a full inch away from the metal head and only the front was uncovered to allow light to travel away from her head.

“Now if I had lit my lights while my face was whole, then those two would have been able to know who was tormenting them.”

“What about the teeth trick? How did you cover your mouth when-“

Ti Gold redid the springlocks for the bottom part of her face to cover up her endoskeleton’s mouth.

“Oh.”

Ob Gold turned away as her partner redid the rest of the locks. There was silence between the two for a while.

Ti Gold finally spoke, “I think you’re right.”

The shorter one turned to her, “About what?”

Ti Gold turned away, “I am obsessive. I try to keep things in order and push you too far. Sometimes I’m able to take a step back and view what I’m doing but most of the time I’m just surging forward and just trying to prove to you that I’m right.”

She chanced a peek at Ob Gold and continued, “I’ve been hooked on Delilah. I know she’s not what she appears to be and that won’t stop me from trying to prove it. For the now, I’ve seen what we can accomplish together as a team. Being separate has turned us apart and made us get a babysitter to make sure we were behaving. I can’t stand it anymore.”

The taller turned fully to Ob Gold, “Can’t we be friends again?”

Ob Gold’s face was blank. A moment passed between them that felt all too long to Ti Gold.

Finally, Ob Gold took a step towards her, then another, and another, before throwing herself onto the taller to hug them.

Ti Gold was surprised but returned the hug steadily.

“You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to hear you say that,” Ob Gold said with a smile in her voice.

Ti Gold also gave a smile, feeling something tug at her music box strings. The feeling was something new but almost familiar. She had seen parents kiss each other and teenagers in the crowd sit very close to one another to hold their hands in each other’s grasp. Kids didn’t really act the same way and nor did babies. A mother in the crowd would often kiss their crying child and hold them close or a father would help their offspring succeed at a hard videogame and help them carry their large prize back to the car.

Love.

She clung on tighter to Ob Gold, accepting the fact that she was growing up.

The next day they had decided to pull out the table from the backstage area that the employees use while working stage shifts onto the middle of the stage and were each sitting in a chair. Ob Gold had scourged up some papers and crayons while Ti Gold was reading an early edition newspaper that had been thrown through the open door as the insurance woman had walked in (the paper then proceed to hit Ethan squarely in the face).

The front cover read ‘Fazbear’s Diner Scoundrels!’ and featured both Earl and Tim as they told about their experience and the newspaper portrayed them as shady drug dealers and Ethan as he told a wildly unconvincing story of what he did to scare off the crooks.

“Garbage,” Ti Gold sneered as she turned the page to look at menswear. She whistled at the striped tuxes and orange pants.

Upon turning to the funnies she looked to her left at the third chair that they had moved. What sat in it was a large five-foot plushie of a sock monkey-esque figure with a black body and white rings around its arms and legs. There were five rings around the arms and nine for the legs. Its head was ovular and had profound red cheeks. Only the front half of the head was white as the rest of it was black like its body. The face had a wide black smile with red lip stains and happy squinted black eyes that had purple tear stains that poured out of the bottom and ended at the top of the mouth.

Ti Gold chuckled and patted the arm of it, “Cute.”

It belonged to the prize corner and was a very hard to win prize. Only kids with at least seven thousand tickets could pull off winning such a prize. Due to the complexity of the prize, only five were in stock and quickly gathering dust. Apparently it was a character from another location and wasn’t popular at Ti and Ob Gold’s home.

Ob Gold sat in the chair across from the newspaper reading robot and hummed as she drew a picture of Ethan in his office, sleeping, “I wonder why nobody would take such an adorable thing home.”

“Maybe the kids today might want to have a crack at it. I hear there’s going to be a birthday party soon.”

“Hopefully a few kids that bring lots of money will try to aim high. It would be sad to watch some gorgeous things continue to be locked away.”

A new window was installed in place of the smashed one from the previous night’s events with a grumbling manager who thought that the insurance woman was certainly scamming him. Ethan was given a new coworker named Eric who had recently applied to college and wanted a summer job before heading off for school.

Speaking of Ethan, now he told the same story he had sold to the local newspaper to all of the other employees, but now with more exaggerated actions.

Right at the moment there was a cluster of Stephan, Christian, Amelia, Delilah, Eric, two waiters, and someone from the kitchen. Amelia hung on to every word as if it were true as Delilah smiled and nodded along, believing only half of what was said. Stephan had a stony face and Christian was rolling his eyes in a good nature. Eric looked at his new boss questioningly as if trying to figure out Ethan’s IQ with just spending a few minutes with him as the rest of the staff tried to dodge all of the improve actions the guard threw at them.

“The blonde guy was all like ‘I’m going to shoot this guy with five lead bullets and make him drink his own piss’ but then I swung out and HOO! HAH! Right in the kisser! I make sure he goes right through that old window!”

“I thought the other guy was the one who went through the window?” Christian muttered to his fellow coworkers.

Thankfully the manager rounded the corner just in time to lecture them, “What are you doing? Ethan! Eric! Go home! Get some rest! Your job is over! The rest of you- get back to work!”

Very soon the day went back to normal. The birthday party posse wasn’t scheduled to arrive until five or six at night and would probably last until closing. Amelia had to fill in as a waitress for half the time due to the overcrowdness that was a Friday afternoon as Delilah went on extra rounds to circle around the cafeteria and the arcade as Stephan patrolled the halls to keep an eye on the staff and any wandering guests.

Ti Gold was busy sticking to routine but would always give a little extra when she had to reply or turn to Ob Gold. She couldn’t help but have a dreamier air when spouting song lyrics while looking at Ob Gold’s optics.

The shorter of the two would respond with equal enthusiasm and give a longer draw of breath while blinking towards the audience. Ti Gold assumed that this was because Ob Gold was glad to be with her again.

“Heartaches/”

“Ba ba boom/”

“Hear-ar-arta-aches/”

“Da va bum/”

“It doesn’t matter how my heart breaks/”

“Yea da vum/”

“’Cause my art aches for/”

Everything was going perfectly.

Ti Gold had never had a better day in her life. Ob Gold was beautiful, the music was fantastic, pizza was certainly delicious, and the building was overflowing with excited kids. If there was one thing missing then it would be the fact that Ti Gold would have wanted their long hair back, but that was not important.

Soon the birthday bash arrived and the two were busy prepping themselves for the special performance and for when they’d travel offstage to help the special kid with their cake and presents.

Once seated into their bright primary colored throne the birthday girl was given a cardboard crown that was painted yellow with golden hues with plastic gems that had been hotglued on. They clapped their hands in glee as the pizza arrived.

The lights in the cafeteria dimmed as the stage lights focused on the golden curtains.

“And now! Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages! We like to introduce to you a special song from our golden duo!”

Gold curtains parted and there stood Ti Gold and Ob Gold with their signature mic and guitar. The shorter of the two slightly strummed their guitar and hummed a high note as Ti Gold stepped into the spot light.

“We gather here today to play a special tune for our birthday champ. Casey, please stand up!”

Casey giggled, clapped her hands again and stood up just in time for a stage light to fall on her so everyone in the crowd could see the birthday girl.

Ti Gold began to sway from side to side, “You’re turning another year old/”

Ob Gold came in as backup, “Another year has gone by/”

“Just in time for a new year/”

“For a new you/”

“Do you know what this means?/”

“We get to put a new candle on your cake/”

“We want you all to gather ‘round/”

“And sing away the sadness/”

“You don’t know what the new you has planned/”

“It’s best to wish you on your way/”

“As we get to see you grow~”

Five staff members from the kitchen rolled out a birthday cake from the freezer with seven candles already standing up straight and erect, ready for lit matches to light them up. Once the cake was put onto the table a larger candle was placed in the center of the handsome cake.

The staff lit the first seven before slowly lighting the large one, only for sparks to ignite from its tip and for the audience to gasp in amazement.

Colored lights appeared and swirled around the stage as everyone got ready to sing along to one of the most famous songs throughout the known universe.

Ti and Ob Gold were illuminated together as they sang in unison with the crowd.

“Happy birthday to you/ Happy birthday to you/ Happy birthday dear Casey/ Happy birthday to you~”

There were many applauses from the audience and from the party group itself as a few of Casey’s friends cheered for her and sang their own corny versions of the happy birthday song. Casey thought up of a wish before blowing out her candles as many family members around her took pictures of her with the flash on.

It was a controlled fireworks blitz in its own right.

Ti Gold and Ob Gold each took their bows as rehearsed as a few of the children shouted their stage names in approval.

“Titan! Obelisk! Titan! Obelisk!”

Just as the curtain closed over Ti Gold, she saw Casey smile up at her.

Ob Gold clapped her on the shoulder and smiled, “I think you did rather well.”

If Ti Gold could blush then her face would be beet red by now, “You think?”

Her partner nodded.

Stephan breathlessly walked up the backstage steps and took a minute to catch his breath and pant, “Al-alright. You guys need to get over th-there and w-wish that girl a happy birthday.”

The two took their leave, Ti Gold allowing Ob Gold to go ahead of her. Just as Ti Gold finished descending the staircase, she heard Stephan breathe, “Funny…I couldn’t find Delilah anywhere…”

She halted in place as her eyes widened in disbelief. Delilah was supposed to be the one to look over their performance and send for them today.

During the performance she was too caught up in the beauty of her partner and the joy that was Casey’s birthday bash. She didn’t see a flash of smooth black hair or dull purple while looking out across the crowd.

Maybe since the building was so packed she had been caught up in the arcade? There could have been a nasty fight that had broken out of one of the machines had been broken by a rowdy child- those could be excellent excuses. Perhaps she had to help Amelia with something?

No. Amelia was at the hostess desk and seemed to be fine. If her friend was in any trouble then Delilah would have stormed over and helped her, right?

That left one conclusion, and it made Ti Gold’s processor stall in fright.

“Ti?” Ob Gold’s worried tone sucked the top hated robot back to the present.

“Yes?” she looked down at her partner.

Ob Gold tilted her head, “We need to get out and visit the birthday girl, Casey.”

“Err- right!” Ti Gold tried to shrug it off and approached Ob Gold.

“Is everything all right?”

No.

Ti Gold tried to laugh it off, “Of course! I think I have a bug in my system though.”

That only caused her partner to worry more, “Oh no! Do we need to make our visit short or should Stephan take a look at you?”

Ti Gold put her hands up, “I’m fine, honest. Just need to check something out in the halls.”

That made Ob Gold’s concerned look turn into one of frustration.

“Tell me what’s wrong!”

The two stood there for a moment before Ti Gold spoke, “Trust me, let me go check in the hallways for a moment and I’ll meet you at Casey’s side.”

An air bubble gathered in one of Ob Gold’s tubes, “Go.”

She turned away and headed for the cafeteria, “Just go.”

Ti Gold waited until Ob Gold was out of earshot before scampering for the back halls.

The back halls were a place only for employees. There were rooms for lockers where the employees could stash their belongings for the day and even a few storage rooms where trusted employees put old props or equipment into hiding for a later use. Employees were trusted to keep their breaks secluded in the halls and thus one of the rooms had been put aside as a breakroom with tables, chairs, a television set, and a ‘borrowed’ coffeemaker. Someone with a sense of humor had put a pair of googly eyes on the coffeemaker and given it popsicle stick arms and legs.

The tall robot herself had been to the mysterious back ways during her night time wanderings. She did stop going to Parts and Services after the night she had accidently spooked Amelia. That night had not only warned her of Delilah but it also made her not want to scare any other human beings. Despite the escapades of earlier that week, she had taken an oath.

Today, everyone’s attention was on the amazing birthday party. No one had any doubts that the day was going to go sour or that anything was going to go wrong. Everyone would have a wonderful time. No one was going to cry. No one was going to get hurt. Any security guard would instantly rush to the trouble but Ti Gold was going straight for it before it would dare make a move.

After all, the safety of the children was their number one priority.

No human being could stand in the way of an angry Fazbear Entertainment robot.

She had just finished crossing the entrance hall when she came to a fork in the road. Ti Gold shut her optics to focus her attention of the sounds of the building. There was the great party happening only twenty feet away, where Ti Gold could easily rush too in three great strides if need be. Then there were the vents, pouring out bucket loads of fresh, cool air. The rush of pipes for cold and hot hot water for both the kitchen and the restrooms.

There!

Her optics snapped open at the sound of heavy feet rushing through the halls. She turned towards the left and followed the sound.

Only one kind of person made such careless step- a playful child!

“Hello?” Ti Gold called out. “Don’t be afraid, you’re not in trouble. I can take you back to the cafeteria.”

The kid only scampered further away.

Ti Gold rounded the corner and peeked out in time to see white legs with slip on shoes go out of sight. She frowned.

“Are you okay? It’s not safe to be back here.”

She decided to take a more cautious approach towards the little girl.

“Listen, there’s a birthday party going on and I’m performing. Would you like to come out and see it? There’s cake, a nice birthday girl who would love to meet you, and my good friend who’s also performing.”

The girl only scampered to Ti Gold’s left.

“Please don’t be afraid. My name is Titan, I’m one of the singers on stage, my good friend is Obelisk, she’s the other singer. We’re harmless.”

The steps disappeared.

Ti Gold also stopped to looked around, “Where did you go?”

The girl’s steps escaped behind her.

She instantly turned around in shock and exclaimed, “Wait! Are you sure you know where you are going?”

They only grew further and further away.

Ti Gold raced after them, “It’s okay! Look, you can call me Ti Gold. That’s my name backstage. Obelisk’s name is actually Ob Gold. We don’t mind getting to meet new children. You can come out and we can show you around.”

The girl escaped to Ti Gold’s left and headed further away from the cafeteria.

“You’re going the wrong way! If you want to get to the cafeteria and stage area then you should have made a right, I have to get back out there soon and introduce myself to the birthday girl.”

Soon she was by the back exit, a place for Ti Gold had never ventured out as far. The tall robot stopped and rubbed her wrists- a nervous habit she had picked up from Amelia.

“Listen, I haven’t gone this far in the building. Can we please head towards the front? I’m…”

Scared.

At this point in the building there were no sounds, no whirring of the security cameras, only a dull hum of what was going on near the front and a faint whoosh of the AC system as air gathered around her ankles. It gave Ti Gold the feeling of abandonment, of lonlieness.

She spoke out in a low voice, “Where did you go?”

There were faint steps behind her but she thought of it as only an employee. The steps then rushed at her at the same density as before and Ti Gold slowly turned around to meet the child she had been chasing.

WHAM

A massive force hit her face and she went toppling over on the floor. Ti Gold had never actually felt pain before, but as bit and pieces of her face flung off of her she gave a not-so subtle shriek that sounded like a fox getting its tail ripped off.

A few ends from her fingers also took a trip to the floor as they clinked against the shiny tiles and her ankles twisted, the wiring inside of them popping lose and rendering her feet useless. The right part of her jaw was unhinged and her nose was crooked, her whole face feeling like it was on fire.

“Well, well, well,” a sickly sweet voice was all that Ti Gold could make out as her optics stared up, trying to will the ceiling to stop spinning.

She blinked once before training her eyes in the direction of the voice.

“Christian’s drugged, he won’t be waking up anytime soon,” there was a grinding noise, as if something was being dragged against the polished floor.

A pointed face leered into Ti Gold’s view, “Looks like it’s just going to be us two for a while.”

Her optics adjusted and instantly she recognized Delilah’s gnarly face before her vision adjusted her image to be doused in purple. Was it just her or were Delilah’s teeth more yellow than before?

Delilah began gathering the bits of Ti Gold from the floor and put them into her front pocket before slinging a sledgehammer over her shoulder. She smirked, “This is going to be so much fun!”

Ti Gold began resetting her vocalizer since it had been jimmied from its place due to the crash. Her voice box could only produce static as it searched for a source to unscramble the signals from her processor.

The evil guard only laughed, “Trying to cry out for your girlfriend? Don’t worry, she’s just on the other side of the building.”

She stepped to the side and gestured for Ti Gold to stand up, “Well go on, she’s probably getting worried thinking about where you might be right now.”

Ti Gold couldn’t get up; her processor was scrambling for the commands for her legs to move or to just get out of there!

Delilah leaned back up against Ti Gold’s face, “Don’t wanna? Rather stay with me? That’s fine.”

She stood back up and went around to Ti Gold’s nonmoving legs to use her free hand in order to lift one of them and begin to drag her towards another section of the building.

“I have plans,” began Delilah. “You’re an essential part to them. I can’t afford for you to go heading off now before my plans can be complete.”

At this point, Ti Gold decided to squint one eye in Delilah’s direction and shrill louder than she had ever done before.

It wasn’t long before they made it to the Parts and Services room as Ti Gold’s leg was dropped and Delilah made to shut the doors.

Ti Gold was wracking her processor for a way out of this situation when Delilah peered at her face again, “Let’s get started, shall we?”

That was when her image flickered in and out of existence before reappearing as a deep purple monster with a sickening grin, black and purple eyes, sharp claws, and four extra appendages on her back.

This was the worst day of Ti Gold’s life.

#mvf talks #tgdao2 #tgdao2 ch2