#can't see it in movement here because this is static so i just wanted to scribble the things down that i would remember about it

[woahjo]

cw: fwb, unprotected sex, creampie, no aftercare (it prob happens but i did not write it), casual sex, very very light pain play (satoru pinches), semi-rough sex, light femdom (kinda)

fwb with satoru gets really messy really really fast and then you both have to pretend that it didn't happen... then ofc the next week you start sleeping together again because you can't keep your hands off of each other.

there's a lot of frustration. a lot of emotion that neither of you are all too eager to claim, and it charges you both up like static set to shock. it makes you... angry and vindictive, chasing something that you both refuse to give a name to (even if the name is obvious).

it's a thursday and the night has gone as either of you had expected it to. truthfully, you didn't come over to satoru's place to fuck him. he's your friend, even with all the sex you have, and you really just came over here just to hang out. of course, one thing led to another and the proximity, teasing words, his hand on the top of your thigh, fingers creeping further and further up... well, of course you ended up like this. it seems to be a natural state for the two of you.

straddled across his lap, you can feel the heavy press of his cock inside of you. satoru's head is angled back, exposing the underside of his jaw as he closes his eyes to admire the tight squeeze of you around him. his hands grip your hips tightly, slender fingers squeezing into the soft padding of flesh your figure provides. his breath comes quickly and through an alternating mix of gritted teeth and a slack jaw.

you've got the lead, rolling your hips forward and bracing your weight on the couch behind him. the pace is brutal and his cock bullies your insides with each frantic roll of your hips against his. you can feel the way he moves to meet you, desperate and wanting, his chest covered in a slick sheen of sweat. his shirt and your shorts are the only things the two of you managed to take off and the rest of your clothes stick to your bodies as they gather heat.

satoru's hand snakes it's way under your casual t-shirt, kneading the soft flesh of your breast and then delivering a painful pinch to the delicate skin. you shudder, enamored by the wide feel of his palm on your skin and he grins lazily at the easy access. you haven't even worn a bra, how telling.

the expression frustrates you. satoru tilts his head forward a little bit to look at you, delivering a sort of cock-sure grin that makes your cunt throb and your frustration flare. then, he drags his eyes down your body before focusing in on the place where the two of you meet, intensely focused on catching glimpses of the base of his soaked cock and your pretty, parted cunt.

you grit your teeth, leaning up so that you're looming over him and picking up with the aggression of your movement. there's a desperate sense of pressure in your lower abdomen and satoru tilts his head up to look at you as you reorient yourself to be on top of him. you can see the way his lips curl up, wetted by his tongue darting out to lick them. his expression is stiff and pleasure ridden, white eyebrows knitted together and a flush across his features as he looks back down between the two of you. one hand squeezes your breast and the other moves your hips along with you, painful pressure where each finger meets your body.

you take his face in your hand, your fingers sinking into the hollows of his cheek, forcing his expression into a half pout. satoru is forced to look at you and he tears his eyes away from where the two of you meet to rest on your face. they're blue and glassy, watering with whatever desperate, wild emotion this sort of thing brings on. you feel him grit his teeth under your grip and you can't help but grin, tilting your head to the side.

"tell me you want me," you demand, your voice breathy.

"i want you," he says. satoru doesn't even stop to think about it. normally, he might put up a fight, but tonight, you have the power and he admits his desire freely and with a desperate undertone.

"yeah?" you tease, picking up your pace. your breathing comes quickly, it comes as a tell. "how badly?"

"so badly," he grunts, his face still caught in your grip. "so much."

you grin and satoru sucks in a sharp breath through his teeth as your cunt clenches around him and you bore down on him. you feel him twitch inside of you and shudder, bringing your face close to his.

"tell me you love me, satoru," you demand, feeling the way his breath catches in his throat. you don't stop the movement of your hips, teetering on the edge of an orgasm as pleasure mounts in your lower stomach.

satoru grits his teeth and seems to pause at this. his breathing quickens, eyes screwing shut before you deliver a squeeze to his cheeks that tells him to open them.

"come on," you pant. "tell me you love me."

and satoru does.

"i love you," he says on an exhale, the words breeching his lips as if he'd been holding his breath. you clench down around him and satoru says it again, sharper this time and with a whiny undertone. "i love you."

you let go of his face, putting your hands on his shoulders as you creep closer and closer to the edge. satoru's fingers dig into your hips and you feel the way his grip tightens and twitches as he creeps closer. your nails dig little crescents into satoru's upper back, almost begging it to bleed.

with a groan, you push your chest forward and cum over him, your hips twitching as you try and fail to keep up the pace. it takes everything you have not to slam your knees closed in front of you. instead, you press yourself down and against him, raking your nails across his back and you briefly register the sound of satoru's choked moan before you feel him spill inside of you.

there's no pleasure greater than this. there is no better feeling than coming around him with heavy words in the air. satoru's fingers don't let up on your hips and his chest heaves with each breath. they keep you over him and you watch as he leans his head back on the couch and closes his eyes, satisfied with the feeling of plugging you up and spent with the admission (maybe a lie, maybe not) that you dragged out of him.

#gojo x reader #gojo satoru x reader #gojo smut #gojo satoru smut #jjk smut #gojo satoru #jjk #mdni #tw.fwb #he's a little subbbyyyy in this weeeeeee #anyway idk where this came from.love u #cal.writing #char.gojo

[falling-star-cygnus]

somebody reblogged my appleradio post and tagged it as "not a ship" ...

anyway, budding qpr Lucifer and Alastor because i love them :D Duckie Deer pt.1 {pt.2}

{Lucifer is hunched over his new desk in Charlie's hotel, his grin bordering on maniacal as he puts the finishing touches on his newest rubber duck. In a flourish, he holds the little thing high- or as high as he can feasibly reach anyway- in the air}

"Now presenting..."

{The King of Hell pauses for dramatic effect, despite not actually having any audience except the judgmental stares of his scattered ducks}

"The Wendigo Peace-Offering Red Radio Rubber Duck! ...That switches hands!"

{Lucifer grins a bit more genuinely as the little thing teleports from one hand to the other, twisting into the shadows between his fingers and out to his palm. The more tolerable version of it's intended recipient, he thinks}

{For the sake of Charlie, he had begrudgingly decided to try and befriend the agitating Radio Demon. After all, if they were going to be sharing the space here for the foreseeable future it only made sense for them to get along, right? Or at the very least, try to tolerate each other}

{And what better way to do that then with a rubber duck?}

"Heh heh heh..."

{The king chucks the duck at the door}

"Who am I kidding, nobody wants a rubber duck look-a-like. That's weird, it's a weird gift!"

{As Lucifer rants, he fails to notice the rubber contraption nailing the object of his ire in the forehead. It bounces with a squeak into red tipped hands}

"I'd argue talking to yourself is weirder, your highness."

{That familiar mocking drawl and static covering, the sarcasm on his title, it causes the king to whirl around. Alastor is indeed standing in front of his door, pinching the horn of the duck between his claws with a raised eyebrow}

"Alastor! Just the annoy- uh- just the demon I wanted to see. At this exact moment. ...How much of that did you hear?"

{Smooth. Totally nailed that.}

{One of the hair tufts upon Alastor's head twitches in his direction, confirming Lucifer's suspicion that they were, in fact, ears. It's embarrassing how much effort it takes to stifle the coo that wants to erupt from him at the subconscious movement}

{He has a feeling the Radio Demon wouldn't take kindly to it}

"Hm... Is there any particular reason for this... look-a-like, as you called it? I can't imagine anyone in either of circles would appreciate a duck of my visage."

{Oh good. So just the last part, then. He could still salvage this}

"It's for you!"

{…Damnit.}

{Lucifer sounded too eager. Waaay too eager, actually, if Alastor's steadily raising eyebrow was anything to go by. The king clears his throat}

"Ahem. Uh- it's for you, actually. A peace offering! Since we're going to be around each a lot more often, I figured- well, we might as well try to get along- right? For Charlie's sake. Not- not because you're tolerable. Or because I like you. Heh. No."

{The deer demon blinks slowly, raising the rubber duck up to his eye by it's horn. His perpetual smile- seriously, is that thing stitched on or something? -looks painfully strained.}

"Is that so?"

{His voice is less staticky then usual, which encourages the King to keep going. Lucifer nearly lunges forward, grabbing Alastor's hands and adjusting the duck to rest in one of the Radio Demon's palms}

{He feels a little bad for the flinch and hitch if static that comes with it, but he ignores it for Alastor's sake. He'd like a comment about that even less then a comment about his adorable ears}

"What are you do-" "It switches hands!"

{Alastor quiets at that, his glare softening just slightly around the edges with a blink. Again, Lucifer takes the small allowance and runs with it. He uses his thumbs to push against the joint of Alastor's fingers, furthering flattening his palms; an awkward laugh spills from him}

"Hah- Give it a try! Just- think about it switching and-"

{The duck slinks into Alastor's other palm before the king can finish his sentence. It goes back and forth a few times, filling the deer's eyes with a sense of unguarded wonder that has Lucifer's breath hitching}

{It's gone as soon as Alastor remembers his company}

{The Radio Demon pulls his hands away from Lucifer's, keeping the duck tucked securely in his hand. The king tries not to mourn the loss, both of his surprisingly warm fingers and of the glimpse into his head Lucifer was so graciously privy to today}

{Baby steps, he reminds himself. Something dangerously hopeful stirs in his chest}

"I see..."

{Alastor looks, on some level, like he's lost his footing. He came in here expecting to trade insults like usual, no doubt, especially after getting bonked with a rubber duck of all things upon entering}

{And instead he's left cradling a gift made in his image}

"Well! It'd certainly be rude to refuse such a thoughtful gift from his majesty. Even if it's a silly one."

{It's a feeble attempt at regaining control at best, they both know it. Lucifer sticks his hand out with a flat expression.}

"If you don't like it, give it back."

{Alastor's smile tightens, just like his grip on his rubber duck}

"Now, now, I just said it'd be rude to refuse. Surely your manner aren't lowering themselves to your height?"

{And just like that, normalcy is restored as Lucifer sputters at the jab. The king stomps forward, maybe childishly but no one who matters is around to judge him-}

"What did you even come up here for? If I recall, your 'radio tower' is on the other side of the other side of the-"

{The deer demon had stepped on a wild rubber duck in his subtle attempt to keep distance between them and with a burst of static, Alastor had begun to fall backwards}

{Lucifer acts on instinct and summons his cane,- he's pushed his luck with touch already today- bracing it behind the wendigo's back.}

{It leaves the two in an... awkward situation to say the least. Alastor's long legs pulled out from under him and his lanky torso held up purely by the thin rod of his staff.}

{It leaves Lucifer looking down for once to make eye contact}

"...who's the short one now?"

{Alastor melts into shadows, still holding the rubber duckie look-a-like in one hand as he reappears behind the king. He can feel the radio demon's hand on his collar preventing him from falling flat on his face.}

"Still you, my friend."

{...friend. Lucifer could get used to that.}

#i just think they're neat #if anyone likes this i'll make a part 2 #appleradio #radioapple #duckiedeer #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel 2024 #lucifer's rubber ducks #alastor the radio demon #lucifer morningstar #hazbin hotel alastor #hazbin hotel lucifer

[hairmetal666]

Steddie paranormal investigator modern day au

I watched Buzzfeed Unsolved and this happened. Sorry?

Eddie's got his phone up, focused on Steve as he drives. "We should hunt ghosts, Stevie."

"What?" Steve says. He's being safe and concentrating on the traffic in front of him, not on Eddie's latest TikTok antics.

"Paranormal Investigation! It would be fun."

"Absolutely not."

"We're doing it."

"Eddie. No."

"Steeeeeeve, c'mon! It's like you've trained your whole life for this."

Steve looks at the camera then, hazel eyes serious. "Yes, and I've retired from active duty."

Eddie pouts until Steve rolls his eyes.

👻 Investigation 1 👻

Steve has one hand in his jacket pocket, the other holding his phone at it records his surroundings. "Hey, ghosts. Feel like talking?"

"Really? That's all, Harrington? You promised you'd act like you care."

"This is me caring! What else do you want, Munson?"

"Care with enthusiasm."

"Please enlighten me on how to do that." Steve keeps his voice even and deadpan, giving his head a pigeon-like tilt.

Eddie bounds forward, a bright and real smile lighting his face. "Hey, ghosts!! I'm Eddie. This is my best friend, Steve. We're here because we wanted to talk to you. Maybe you can start by introducing yourselves?"

Steve glares. "How is that different from what I did."

"How--Steve you--oh my god. You didn't even introduce yourself!"

"To the ghosts?"

"I thought you were raised to be polite."

"Yeah, to people, dude."

"Ghosts are people!"

Steve snickers, eyes glistening, and Eddie slaps at his bicep.

"Don't hit me," Steve says. He knocks Eddie away with his hip.

"Well, don't nudge me." He elbows Steve in the ribs.

There's just a flash of blinding smile from Steve before he launches himself at Eddie, full blown slap fight erupting between them. They giggle and shriek, and then Steve pins Eddie's hands together. They're breathless, panting and flushed, hair mussed.

"Is this respectful to the ghosts, Munson?"

"You started it," Eddie sicks his lower lip out. Steve tosses his head back and laughs, misses how Eddie's eyes linger, drink him in.

👻 Investigation 7 👻

Steve walks into frame, holding his phone as he records. "Hey, hi. My name's Steve, and this is my buddy, Eddie. We're here to chat, if you feel like it."

"Yeah, we just want to learn about you. See what you're doing. Did you die here?"

"Is that respectful?" Steve hisses.

"Shut-up," Eddie hisses back. They momentarily get distracted shoving one another.

"If you're around, let us know," Steve says. "There's this rocking chair here, could you maybe move it for us?"

"Yeah, and hey," Eddie fiddles with the flashlight in his hands. "I'm gonna set this flashlight right here on the ground, and if you can't move the chair, why not turn this flashlight off for us, okay?"

He leans down to put the light on the floor, his phone camera capturing a few seconds of Steve watching him, a little smile on his face. A beat passes and Eddie's movements slip Steve out of frame. There's a shrieking scream and Steve shouts, "EDDIE?" followed by the skittering clank of things being dropped onto the concrete floor.

The view changes to a static shot, from a camera set up behind them. It shows Eddie bend down, setting the flashlight in front of him, before he screams. He leaps--fully leaving the ground--into Steve's arms. Steve catches him easily, dropping his phone, so he can brace Eddie against his chest in a bridal carry. Eddie's arms wrap around Steve's neck, his face buried against the other man's collar.

Steve laughs. "You okay, Eds?"

Eddie responds, but it's not picked up by the mics. It makes Steve laugh harder. "There was a rat, huh? I think I can take a rat."

"Don't make fun of me," Eddie grumbles. He peels his head off Steve's shoulder and the camera just catches the corner of his flushed face and his bashful grin.

"I would never," Steve shakes his head. "You good to get down now?"

Their gazes meet for a few long seconds. "Definitely," but Eddie's voice shakes.

Steve puts his friend on his feet, but takes a second to push some of Eddie's hair behind his ear. "You okay?'

"Yeah, yeah, it was nothing."

"You sure?"

Eddie scowls. "I knew it!"

"Knew what?"

"You're making fun of me!"

"I am not!"

They miss the chair rocking on its own behind them.

👻 Investigation 15 👻

Steve digs through a backpack before spreading a sleeping bag over the scratched wood floors. Eddie films on his phone.

"Okay, Stevie, this is the first investigation where we're staying over night. How you feeling?"

"Fine," he responds. He doesn't look away from his task.

"Fine? We're staying overnight, where there are ghosts, and you're fine!?"

"Well, sure, Eds. I've faced worse than ghosts before."

"How are you not freaking out right now?"

Steve turns to the camera, a tiny smile on his face. "Because I'm not freaked out?"

"Ugh!" Eddie flails his hands which makes the image shift and blur. "It's like you don't even believe in this shit."

"You know that I do." Steve takes a few steps forward, reaching out to grab Eddie's elbow. "It's just that. They're ghosts, you know? They can't hurt us. Not really. And you know I'll protect you."

The angle changes to a static shot from behind Steve, giving full view of the soft and adoring way Eddie watches the other man.

👻 Investigation 15 ~ 2:03-3:45am 👻

The camera shows Steve and Eddie in their respective sleeping bags, both snoring. A time lapse captures the way they shift and shuffle in their sleep, until they're curled against each other on the floor.

It also captures the distant sound of an unintelligible voice and something clank in another room. Eddie flails, twisting and turning.

"Steve?" He says. "Steve!" He pushes out of the sleeping bag. "What the fuck was that?"

Steve sits up, his hair standing on end around his head. "Eds? What's wrong?"

"You didn't hear that?" Eddie's eyes are wide and panicked.

"No. What was it?"

"I heard like, voices or some shit. Maybe something falling over?"

Steve squirms out of his sleeping bag, grabbing a flashlight and starting recording on his phone.

"What are you doing?" Eddie grabs Steve's forearm.

"Investigating?"

"Aren't you--"

Steve cups Eddies cheek. "No, babe, I'm not scared. Let's go look, yeah?"

Steve walks out of frame, and Eddie stands frozen, until he slowly lifts a hand to trace where Steve touched against face. "Babe?" he whispers

👻 Investigation 22 👻

"Well, we're staying the night again." Steve says. "How'd you feel about the last time, Eds?"

"At least we're investigating a hotel and get a bed. Last time was terrible," Eddie frowns. "You were so calm."

"So, it wasn't terrible because we spent the night on the floor in a haunted place, but because I wasn't scared?"

"Pretty much."

"Shouldn't it be a good thing that I'm brave and strong and protective?"

Eddie gags. "Gross, man."

"What? Look at these muscles--I could take a ghost out." Steve flexes.

"You're not allowed to fistfight the ghosts, we've talked about this."

"Aw, c'mon, you don't think I can take a ghost?"

"Absolutely not, Stevie. You've never won a single fight."

Steve's mouth drops. "Excuse me. I've won at least one of them"

"Not a great track record."

"This is cruel. You're being cruel to me. After I've saved you from rats and from ghosts and from--"

"Yeah, yeah, my hero. C'mon, let's get moving."

Eddie's being sarcastic, but Steve's face still flushes a bright pink.

👻 Investigation 22 ~ 1:45-2:17am 👻

They fall asleep with the EVP still between them. Like before, the distance between their bodies closes as time passes until Steve is tucked close around Eddie, his arm draped over Eddie's waist.

It's sweet, peaceful until Steve starts to twitch. The mics pick up unintelligible murmuring until it becomes something close to short yelps and bitten off screams. Steve whimpers a long, heartbreaking sound and his body starts to shake, his hands grasping at his own face.

Eddie snuffles, is quiet for a second, before he realizes something is wrong. He twists to Steve, grabbing his shoulders. "Stevie, baby, oh my god, what's wrong. Steve!"

The other man wakes with a heaving gasp, flailing and shouting Eddie's name.

"I'm here. I'm right here." Eddie rests his hands against Steve's face, but pulls back, looking at his hands with wide eyes. "Why are you bloody, sweetheart?"

"What?" Steve reaches up, gingerly touching his cheeks. "What the fuck," Steve hisses. "What the fuck."

A flashlight flicks on, illuminating the long but shallow scratches across Steve's left cheek. "Jesus, baby. What happened?"

"I--" Steve is trembling hard enough his voice shakes. "I thought I was dreaming? I heard this voice and then this shape walked towards me from the bathroom." Steve points. "He--it reached for me, and I knew I shouldn't let him touch me, so I fought, but--" He's shaking too hard to continue.

"It's okay," Eddie 's voice is soft. "It's alright, sweetheart. It's over, yeah? I won't let anything bad happen to you, promise."

"I thought--Eddie, I thought--"

"I know, I know, sweetheart. It wasn't, though. We're okay."

"I'm scared, Eds," is barely heard through the mic.

"It's okay. I got you, yeah? I'll always have you."

Eddie starts singing something, soft soft, so only the melody catches, still too faint to make out. He holds Steve tight, cards fingers through his hair until the shaking stops.

"Not so brave now, huh?" Steve asks, giving a little wet chuckle.

"Baby, you are the bravest person I know. This doesn't change that. Not for an instant."

"Liar." Steve presses his face harder against Eddie's neck.

"To you? Never."

They sit in silence a little longer before Steve moves. Eddie caresses the man's face, lets his thumbs graze over his cheekbones. He knows affection is spilling out of him, overflowing, swallowing everything, but there's nothing Eddie can do about it anymore.

"Eddie?" Steve asks.

They close the lingering distance between them on some unspoken mutual agreement, lips slotting together like they'd been doing this for years and hadn't condemned themselves to a lifetime of quiet yearning.

Steve brushes his tongue against Eddie's mouth, and Eddie lets him in, their tongues meeting in a wet tangle. They kiss and kiss and kiss, lost to the moment, cameras and ghosts and the world forgotten for each other.

They part, staying close enough to share air. "Hey, Eds?"

"Yeah, sweetheart?"

"I have a huge crush on you."

Eddie's nose wrinkles before he erupts in a sweet laugh. "Well, thank god for that. I'm fucking gone on you, baby."

"Yeah?" Steve whispers now.

"You're sort of everything, Steve Harrington."

"Fuck," Steve buries his face into Eddie's neck. "Is now the time to say that I think you're it for me? Cause--"

He doesn't get the rest of the words out, the force of Eddie's kiss sending his mind to outer space.

When they pull apart again, Steve quietly says, "thank you, ghosts," and Eddie giggles.

#steddie #steve x eddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #ficlet #oneshot #sort of a buzzfeed unsolved au #steddie paranormal investigator au #modern au #but the upside down still happened #mutual pining #fluff #ghosts #hauntings #first kiss #getting together #steve thinks he's been vecna'd #it's just a nightmare #but maybe it's ghosts? #eddie posts music on tiktok #he thinks them ghost hunting is hilarious #so metal #idiots hunting ghosts #steve harrington's fist fighting ghosts agenda

[swannieluv]

｡ﾟ･The Bold Mendacity – 𝟒. Reflex

✦⸼࣪⸳ 𝐆.𝐈 𝐕𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 (𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜) 𝐱 𝐆𝐍!𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 <3

✦⸼࣪⸳ 𝐖𝐜: 1,7k

✦⸼࣪⸳ 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆!!: Drowning, derealization (?)

✦⸼࣪⸳𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨: ♡

✦⸼࣪⸳ A/N: It's heeeere, double update. <3

If someone ever asked you which of your experiences facing death was the worst, you would definitely choose that one.

Drowning would definitely enter your list of "Worst ways to die" in one of the highest positions. The feeling of agony as the water forcefully enters your body and the shortness of breath that felt like someone forcibly removing your lungs.

You felt like you were dead, you knew you were, the same feeling as when you first died. It was as if the commands given by your brain were not respected by the rest of your body, which remained motionless.

Underneath you, you could see a kind of starry purple hole. At its epicenter was an eternal void. Water was being drawn into it, but it was impossible to ascertain whether it was actually flowing out of it or not.

You thought that by crossing it, perhaps your end would finally be decreed. Or you would just be reborn again into a life doomed to failure.

Your arms, which were involuntarily stretched forward, would be the first to make contact with the darkness. But contrary to expectations, as soon as they touched the blackness, they passed through it, out of your field of vision.

'What?' Your face contorted in confusion. 'Wait, wait, wait-'

Before you could say anything else, your body passed straight through that obscure screen. Suddenly, everything began to take shape, and that immense sea gradually disappeared.

With every blink you gave, something different appeared in the landscape. One blink and a tree appeared. Another, and buildings formed out of nothing.

The only apparent color was a monochromatic, lifeless gray. Even if things shaped themselves, they remained static, lifeless. There was no sound or movement. Not even the birds that flew overhead moved, they were completely paralyzed in the air.

"It's like I'm inside a newspaper photo." - Crossing your arms, you gradually turned around, trying to take in your surroundings.

Your feet touched the grass below you. It didn't seem to be real, but synthetic.

"Is this some kind of post-mortem that I didn't know about...?"

Running back and forth through the city streets, trying to find some answer to where you were and what had happened to you, that same light reappeared. Its glow flew from side to side as if it wanted you to follow it.

"Right, right... you basically made me stop here and you really want me to trust you again?" - You complained. It wasn't as if you were going to believe the same thing that got you killed. "Don't think I'm going to fall for your dirty tricks again, rascal."

On the face of it, the flash wasn't even that flashy. You must probably have been lured in because you're in a childish frame of mind.

'That's so ridiculous-'

With a face slightly red with embarrassment, you continued to resist the insistence of the glare, which began to swirl around you.

"I'm not going, there's no point in insisting-"

Suddenly, a force pulled you, causing your feet to take several steps forward. It was that damn spark that had somehow managed to accomplish such a feat against you.

"I don't..." you were already turning to go wherever your feet took you, but the illustrious little thing blocked your path. After what seemed like an eternity of painful stares at the light, you gave up.

You ran a hand over your head before replying, "Well, I'm already dead anyway. It's not like it could get any worse... I hope."

"Come on! I've been walking for over an hour, man!" Bothered by the situation, you stopped in the middle of the lawn.

"I'm stuck here because of you! Can't you at least give me some peace?" Your feet kicked a small stone along the path. "It's simply pointless following you at this point."

Sighing, you turned around and decided to go the other way. However, the little light had no plans to let you go so soon and pushed you back in the original direction. It was becoming quite an annoying game, where you could only do what it wanted.

Seconds, minutes, even hours had passed since you started your walk towards nothingness.

Nothing seemed real, as in a painting painstakingly painted to resemble the reality exhibited in the finest museums possible. But for some reason, the ground beneath you seemed more real as you walked. Before, it was as if you were a ghostly apparition wandering through an immense void imitating the city of Fontaine. Now everything seemed more real, but still monochrome.

You didn't even make a point of looking ahead, focusing only on your feet and how you wanted answers from that mysterious person. What is this place? Why is everything frozen in time? It seemed like every second a new question came up to confuse you even more. From your list, there were already more than 25 to ask.

'What a thing... I think I'm going to have to accept this damn place one way or another.’

Your walk took you to a terribly familiar place: the infamous Lucine Fountain, right in front of the Opera Epiclese.

"Oh..." You averted your gaze only to the fountain, and with a pale face and a heart in the throat, tried to completely ignore the building in front of you. That building brought back bad memories, very bad memories.

'Why does this kind of thing keep haunting me? I've already died... there's no reason to keep torturing me like this.’

You sat on the edge of the fountain, completely ignoring the idiotic spark that flickered around you. You just needed a moment to get your thoughts in order.

"Ah... I've died again and this world is my divine punishment...?" You let a nervous laugh escape your throat. Perhaps joking about the situation was a good way of pretending to be normal when you're stuck in what seems to be an alternative Fontaine reality.

No answer.

Of course, they would never come at you that easily. That person said you'd need to look for a "gift", but didn't give a hint. It was as if they really were playing a game of chess with you, trying to complicate your moves at any cost.

Placing a hand in the grayish still water, a reaction happened unexpectedly. Like an explosion, the colors suddenly returned to the scene. But it wasn't just the colors, everything came back.

The streets began to move again. Melusines patrolled with happy expressions on their faces. They seemed happy with what they were doing. Children played around, running from place to place as if their lives depended on it.

You called out to them with a smile, getting ready to interact with someone new in such a long time. Even more so with someone who must have been around your age. One of them seemed to have heard you and came towards you.

"Excuse me, could you tell me..." the boy walked past you as if he hadn't heard your voice.

But he was still looking at you with the other children. It was strange, as if you were there but at the same time you weren't.

Looking back at the water of the fountain, where the child was standing in front of it, you could see a reflection. But the person mirrored was not you, not in this life, not in the next. It was a completely different person, someone you had never seen before in your life.

Long gray hair that flew in the wind and blue eyes with a touch of gray adorning them. That face didn't resemble her appearance at all. It seemed to be around nine or ten years old and angelic in appearance.

The reflection stretched its hands forward, manipulating the water in the fountain to create living water from what looked like hydro. You hadn't commanded it, but the body did.

"Hey! ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀! How can you do that without one of those shiny stones that make people strong?"

A younger girl hugged you, but you didn't feel any kind of physical sensation at her touch. As if the body had ceased to be yours. In fact, it wasn't even your body to begin with.

"It's no big deal." An unfamiliar voice left your lips automatically, a youthful voice, but not so childish. You were sure you weren't answering the child.

"It's called a vision, my parents told me." The boy from before crossed his arms proudly, in a way that looked as if he had just solved the greatest reason in the world.

The other children looked at him in bewilderment, amazed at how much he knew. But the "you" of this body just laughed and stopped doing what he was doing before, letting all those elemental illusions burst like bubbles.

"That's because they're ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀, of course."

They looked shocked at what another person had just said. But what reached your ears was something incoherent again.

When you touched the reflection of the water, the light disappeared. Everything started to become picturesque and confusing. Houses became abstract and distorted and even the natural noises from before sounded like agonizing noises.

"¿ʇǝʎ ʇı punoɟ ʇ,uǝʌɐɥ no⅄"

The voice sounded heavy, entangled with noises coming from all corners. The atmosphere was extremely confusing, as if you were at a loud party.

"˙ʎǝʞ ǝɥʇ puıℲ"

A purple blur covered his senses. It seemed to contain thousands of stars inside, the starry sky in front of you. But the admiration didn't last long.

At the same time as it was fascinating, it was deadly. There was no way to breathe. Just emptiness no matter how many times you tried to inhale the air.

"Wa..."

"Wake..."

"Wake up!"

A second voice joined the previous one. The two intertwined in unison. Just like two songs being placed on top of each other in perfectly aligned verses.

And in the snap of a finger, something like a thud went through your body. There was no more dark, mythical or monochrome scenery. Just the familiar blue sky you were used to.

However, the sun's rays were blocked by something, by someone: a blond child with blue eyes, he looked older than you and he was soaking wet. Drops of water from his hair fell gently on your skin.

"Uhm... Are you okay?" he looked embarrassed, a worried expression adorning his face.

There he was, the boy you were looking for.

#fontaine #genshin fontaine #genshin impact #genshin platonic #genshin x reader #freminet x reader #The Bold Mendacity

[kneexcutter]

“I’m death. Straight up.”

Gaz x reader (Kinda🦭)

. Uhhh surprise?

INSPIRATION: Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

I watched the movie again...

Codename: Death

“Task 141. The dangerous ones without guns, a secret force that hides in the shadows and takes down enemies far and wide… and yet here we are, like a cat on its last life.”

Price narrowed his gaze, taking in your presence was one thing. But speaking with you directly was a different matter entirely; it was like being in the presence of death itself.

And what you were / are Death. When it was to your advantage, you were cold, cruel, brutal, and at times empathetic. You were frequently kept under close observation since you had a reputation for making a statement, but that didn't deter you.

"Do you find this amusing?" Price inquired sternly.

“Very,” you mused.

“Why’s that?”

“Because, your standing in here with me alone with no backup.”

Price hummed, crossing his arms, a powerful bodily movement he knew wouldn't bother you, but he needed to get control of the situation. You were both aware that you had the overwhelming advantage, as you always did. This was body language to catch your attention, and you enjoyed a good test.

"Captain, why are you here?" You chuckled. "I can't imagine the strings you pulled to stand in a room with me; are you sure you don't want to smoke one of those cigars?"

“No,” Price leaned to the side and took out a little piece of paper and a pen. He set it on the table and slid it halfway to you. You took the paper and read it as you looked at him, mystified. Your sneer, on the other hand, never wavered. As you tap the pen against the table, a small chuckle escapes your lips.

“What’s this a permission slip?”

“You could say that, yes.”

You hummed as you leaned back in your chair, your gaze scanning the Captain's face, which was solemn. Without a doubt, serious.

"I'm flattered, believe me, but why me? You have Ghost don't you? Say how is Simon doing? Is he behaving himself? And how is Kyle? Still attractive?"

Price nods, “They’re fine.”

“Mmmm, so what’s the problem captain? Tired of your life flashing before your eyes?”

“Then I wouldn’t be good at my job, so here’s the deal- I want you to join my task force, your a powerhouse and from I’ve gathered a lone wolf, even lone wolves stray from packs yeah?”

“Correct.”

“I think it’s time we put that line wolf back with a pack, what do ya say?”

You began to snicker, “That was a cheesy analogy Price but, not to shabby, let me explain something to you, a wolf who distances themselves from the world is called a traitor but one who stays is called a deceiver.”

“That so? There’s a fine line between right and wrong, if the wolf becomes a deceiver and a traitor what do you make of the pack…”

“They meet death.”

“I see… so then do we all know death?”

“Only when it comes to you,” you say with the tilt of your head. “Even the strongest of us Captain will always live a life of fear.”

Price stood up and walked out of the room, where Kate stood on the other side. Price let out a rough sigh and shook his head, one more minute with you in there and it was a wrap. He lost.

“Well,” Kate hummed, “what they say?”

“Bloody bastard didn’t give an answer…”

“I told you.”

“I know…”

“They’ll come.”

Price turned to Laswell his expression was unreadable but she could tell he was irritated. “What makes you so sure?”

“Known Death for a long time, shows up when your in distress… don’t worry to much captain, they’ll show.”

…

The mission has gone to complete shit, Price didn’t know if this was a set up from the get go. Gaz had gone missing and Soap managed to tackle someone out the window and got shot at the same time. Ghost tried to contact Gaz for at least thirty minutes now but the only thing he got back was static. Price searched high and low but each trail of blood he followed they all lead to different bodies, but never Gaz.

Soap: Price how copy?

Price: Copy, report?

Soap: No sign of Gaz, just different bodies

Ghost: He may be unconscious somewhere

Price: That means we have a chance, cover more ground under.

Soap leaned against the wall getting ready to shoot the target unaware of everything about to unfold. He found Gaz the second Price said those words, Gaz was unconscious like Ghost said but, he wasn’t alone.

There was someone else nearby, and they were whistling?

Soap cringed slightly at the tone of the whistle it sounded creepy and off putting yet fascinating. The whistle came closer as Soap peered around the corner seeing the person standing directly over Gaz, Soap placed his finger in the trigger of his gun aiming at them.

“Relax comrade.”

Soap stepped out of his corner fully seeing that you had a blade directly in front of Gaz’s face inches away from inserting it.

“Excuse you?”

“I’m one of you,” you chuckle before standing up fully, you held eye contact with Soap as you got closer to him, “Go on, pick him up.”

Soap stared at you unsure, he wanted to call Price or Ghost, you stood on the side of him now glaring at him. “Pick. Him. Up.”

Soap kept an eye on you while moving quickly towards Gaz, he checked his pulse then began to lift him up placing his arm over his shoulder before turning back to you. You were gone. Without a sound.

Soap managed his way with Gaz and finally reaching it to the others and setting course for base. Soap didn’t say anything the whole ride over, his mind was racing of the thoughts of you, who were you? What were you? What did you mean one of them?

Once landed they all made way to see Laswell, where she stood outside her door waiting for them with a file in her hand. “How’s he doing?”

“Alright, doctor says he should be awake within the next hour or so,” Price answered he tone sounding relieved.

“Something the matter Johnny?” Ghost asked as the two began to head over to see Gaz in the infirmary.

“I don’t know how to explain it, it was so- bloody weird,” Soap says through his confusion. “Did Price mention having a new recruit?”

“Not that I’m aware of,” Ghost hummed.

Ghost opened the door to the infirmary stopping as he stared inside, Soap peered in the room seeing you again. Right by Gaz’s side. You had your hand on his forehead and you were whispering something to him. In which Gaz began to react to it, his chest moved up and down as if he was chuckling, and he was. His eye fluttering open being met with your piercing gaze.

“Y/N…” Gaz muttered giving you a small smile.

“Rise and shine sleeping beauty, how are feeling?” You say as you look up at Ghost and Soap entering the room. You waved at the two of them, “Ah there you two are, was starting to think you wouldn’t show.”

“Y/N…” Ghost said almost in disbelief.

“Simon,” you greeted with a smile. “You’ve seen better days.”

“Are you the new recruit?” Ghost asked.

“That I am,” you replied. “Soap right?” You said fixing your gaze on him.

Soap nods, “Bloody hell are ya?”

“ Death.”

“Death?” Soap chuckles, “As in what?”

“Not any other fancy way, I’m Death straight up.”

#x reader #cod price #john price #simon ghost riley #soap cod #task force 141 #x you #call of duty #female reader #gaz mw2 #kyle gaz garrick #gaz #cod mw2 fanfic #john price x you #ghost cod #gaz x you #gaz x reader #task 141 #kyle garrick #modern warefare 2 #141 reader #captain price #soap mw2 #gender neutral y/n #141 x reader #fanfiction #kate laswell #price x reader

[chiarrara]

Kagurabachi Chapter 3

first panel and I'm already obsessed with her. I love her vibe, I love her character design (I love her hair). She definitely falls into some 'girl in a shonen' trope but I love a cool girl, so I'm rolling with it.

This manga is reminding me so much of JJK right now and I'm not sure why. I think it has something to do with the art style--the high contrast deep blacks, the smaller panels with thick almost scribbly lines--and probably the tone too. Dunno.

I love how many sides of Chihiro we're seeing right away. He's so soft and considerate here in contrast to his cold, emotionless demeanor before, and in contrast to his dangerous looks and how ruthless we've seen him be before.

It's very easy to make the connection in these panels that he's compassionate towards Char because he's relating to what she's going through. It doesn't have to be said explicitly, the structure of the storytelling leads you to that conclusion pretty easily. I like that kind of subtle storytelling.

After one chapter with her, I absolutely adore Char. I think it's because she talks so much like a real kid. Just saying random things as they pop into her head, irrespective of proper conversational structure. She's cagey the way a young kid is about things they're scared to talk about. She's transparent but inscrutable. She's like, the most authentic child I've seen in fiction in a long time.

I love her little "I thought this soba was to seal the deal!" Like she just made an assumption to fill in the gaps of the adult world around her that she can't fully understand, but didn't bother to tell anyone she came to that conclusion. That and, "If someone were to ask me if it was yummy, I would say...'yes!'" on the page before. She's just talking out loud to herself just like grade school age kids do. It's so charming!

My favorite thing, is that Kagurabachi is just so much fun to look at. The panelling is so dynamic (that also probably reminds me of JJK), and it pulls your eye so effortlessly across the page. It creates movement and pace with your eye so the art doesn't feel static. And the art is so beautiful. There are so many two-page and one-and-a-half page spreads. It really makes me want to read it in print instead of on my phone to get the full experience. It's so much fun to read. I could stare at these two pages for hours.

And bonus: The mangaka knows how to draw black people! Very exciting.

#kagurabachi #mangacap #kagurabachi manga #manga #chiamangacaps #kagurabachi 3

[purplexing-writing-and-concepts]

{Am I…a God? Neat!}

-Chapter Three: The Stars Align Once More-

A simple meditation was all Aether wanted. A quiet moment to gather himself after the events of the Dvalin confrontation that went array. That abyss mage's whinny voice was still ringing in his ears like a faint bell but that wasn't the main thing he was worried about. The static like noise that rung out in his head a few moments ago when he was at the Adventure's Camp near Dragonspine was his main concern. It sounded so familiar and the aura that came with it was unmistakable.

Aether opened his golden eyes to glace over to Paimon as she floated near him devouring a chicken-mushroom skewer. Even she'd heard and felt the sensation, so Aether knew he wasn't losing it. To think that just maybe his guardian was alive after all these years provided the young man some comfort. Because if they were here, they'd know where Lumine is and who the Unknown God was that attacked the two. He released a sigh as he slightly hardened his face into a frown.

'Why Dragonspine of all places Cosmi...?' He thought to himself. The mountain was unforgiving and he with all honesty hated traversing it. From the sheer cold feeling too much like the day Cosmi died to the near constant stream of enemies that all but always used the environment to their advantage.

Paimon sent a worried look over towards her blonde-haired companion. While she was used to him being semi-mute the silence was normally comfortable, but this silence was nerve racking. She still can't comprehend there being a god this old and strong being connected to Teyvat let alone having created it. Though to be fair before Aether went silent, he commented a bit on what the feeling meant and reassured her that everything was fine.

"Paimon thinks we should head to the peak as soon as possible...Did you hear Iris mentioning seeing the Fatui pulling out of the area and adventures cheering about a lack of monsters as well? This may be our only chance to get there was very little resistance..And besides we shouldn't keep them waiting this tugging sensation is getting stronger...."

All she got in response was a nod the blonde still seemed to be not talking seemingly lost in thought. She decided to take this time to fill the tense air with her chatter and question to hopefully make Aether relax a little or at least get some more answers from him. "So, Aether what are they like?" He paused his movements for a moment scanning the snowy area for a bit before humming," Cosmi was....is the most understanding yet unfeeling being I've known...They seem distant but there's a fondness and closeness that always told me I was loved...when my sister and I would travel the world's they created they'd always give us this knowing smile and some items that would help us on our journey in that world..."

Paimon nodded her head processing the information," Hmm they sound pretty great--Wait what is that?!" Her gray eyes caught sight of a weird creature that was floating near them. It was mainly a mint green with blue. It looked similar to a seelie and slime mixed together. It had what appeared to be two large bulbous arms that weren't connected to it but moved in tandem with it. The creature floated closer slightly closer raising one arm like a covering one's eyes from the sun before releasing a sharp chirp like sound and all but charging in their direction.

The white-haired child released a squeak as she zipped behind Aether who took a protective stance pulling out his sword. The creature then stopped a few feet in front of them. Close enough that They would clearly see it but not close enough for Aether to swing his sword and attack. It waved its arms in an excited motion twirling happily and overall appeared to be dancing. "What the heck is that?!?!"

"I'm not sure, but at least it appears friendly...?" Aether said quietly. He wasn't too sure of his claim but was at least semi confident he could take it out if it came down to a fight. The creature then released a soft jingle as it floated around Aether seemingly trying to communicate. The blonde's face held a mild smile as he tried to hide his confusion and concern though his eyes betrayed him. Paimon's face suddenly lit up and her small halo gained a soft golden glow as the stars turned white.

As the lights dimmed bit Paimon seemed to gain a smug smile to her face as the creature then began to give a series of jingles and she began to nod her little head. She then placed a hand on her chin eyes closed in apparent contemplation before she smirked a little as she spoke," He said his name is Polaris and he can help us get to the peak...he says someone named (Y/n) tasked him with gathering all the creatures of the mountain to the peak as well..."

"Wait isn't that the all-creator? What do they want with hillichurls and slimes?" Paimon asked curiously. The creature now known as Polaris, released another set of jingles causing the floating child nod again as she spoke," Yeah that makes sense...He said that the (Y/n) wanted to personally introduce themselves to the inhabitants of Dragonspine and also get a head count of every being that lives on the mountain..."

Aether's expression suddenly dropped hearing this," So I will have to wait to speak with them then..." He was a bit miffed at the thought of having to wait to see his parent again especially since he knows where they are, and he has no clue if they really know of Lumine's disappearance or not. The boy decided it would be best to focus on something else, so he began to speak, "Well how are you going to help us reach the peak? It's blocked off by a barrier of pure cryo energy..."

At his question Polaris waved his gelatinous arms in apparent glee before wrapping them around both Paimon and Aether as it glowed a soft golden color. "Hey, wait what are you?!" Paimon attempted to screech as the golden light blurred their vision before fading showing a large exit of a cavern with a waypoint statue nearby. There was an unprecedented number of enemies from slimes and whooper flowers to the cryo hypostasis and lawachurls. To say it was unsettling to be around such strong creatures and so many at that would be putting it lightly.

Polaris then let go of the two as it then shot into the air towards a figure that was floating above the ruins. Its soft jingles could be heard though faintly, Aether looked over at Paimon for a possible explanation as to what it was saying but the girl just gave her own unsure shrug turning her attention back towards the creatures that were all now definitely staring at them.

Aether nervously stopped himself from grabbing his sword before his thoughts were drawn towards a figure that was casually approaching the two. His eyes slowly adjusted to spot the unmistakable figure of arguably the most important being in his life next to his sister, standing (Well relatively speaking they were still floating a bit off the ground) in front of him that same calm and gentle smile on their face. Though looking at their eyes he knew they were exhausted.

The young man wordless charged towards them as they opened their arms embracing their son. "Oh, Aethereal it has been many a nova since we last saw each other hasn't it...I've missed you as well..." It was at this point Paimon decided to cut in, "Oh wow so you're the all-creator? It's nice to meet you! Paimon has been taking good care of Aether while you were away! Does Paimon get a reward?"

(Y/n) did their best to hold back a chuckle at the small child's words. Rubbing their son's back as the young man was still clinging onto them, they spoke," Just a moment Paimon...Though I thank you for giving my dearest starlight a reliable companion in such a difficult time in his life..." While they meant what they'd said they soon regretted speaking it out as Paimon all but seemed to glow from the praise.

At seeing the little fairy puff up in pride (Y/n) turned their attention back to their son," Aether dear I'm not going anywhere you can let me go..." Though they tried to pry the blonde's arms from them it did little to stop Aether from hugging tighter as he began to shake. The tears he was shedding having barely settled. This drew a sigh from the older being as they gave him a tired smile softly pressing a gentle kiss to the top of his head.

"You were always the more sensitive one of you two...Oh how this reminds me of when you were little..." At the start of the sentence Aether moved his head a bit trying to hide his embarrassment releasing a small whine of protest. "Oh, it's nothing to be embarrassed about Aethereal~" They teased as the boy then moved a bit letting go of the hug but still clinging onto the sleeves of (Y/n)'s shirt.

(Y/n) took the silence that grew over everything as an opportunity to speak freely," I know where Luminous is, but it will be difficult getting to her as I am now...I'm sorry there isn't more I can do...being dormant for so long as drained much of my power for regeneration..." Aether seemed to shake his head a bit before softly speaking fearing his voice would betray him, "Cosmi...It's fine as long as you know where she is I-...I'll be okay.." Taking a moment to wipe the young man's tears (Y/n) gave another soft smile.

"Now Paimon about that reward of yours...hmmm" The ancient being closed their eyes for a spilt second before sticking a hand towards Paimon in a giving motion. For a moment nothing happened until the halo upon the floating child's head glowed a soft gold once more before the light faded," There that should be adequate enough..." The white-haired child tilted her head confused," But Paimon doesn't feel any different...?"

Her reaction caused (Y/n) to release a small chuckle," Try thinking of something you want most little one" They said as they held an amused look. Paimon seemed to think for a moment," Paimon could go for some sticky honey roast right about now..." At the child's words her halo glowed the same soft gold as before as a plate suddenly appeared floating in front of her. On it a plate of sticky honey roast sat as if it were pulled fresh from the oven.

The floating child's eyes seemed to pop out of her small head as she didn't know how to react to the dish's sudden appearance. "Oh, and one more thing little one...use this little gift wisely while it may be tempting to use all the time too much and you'll tire yourself out..." Paimon nodded her little head so fast Aether was sure it would fly off before she dug into the roast that was oddly still warm despite the chill of the mountain.

"Back to more important matters now...Aethereal you'll have to introduce me to your new friends I'm quite interested in meeting them. And as far as the issue with Dvalin goes I will assist in curing him..." Aether's mood seemed to greatly increase at that, "Of course Cosmi...and I'm glad you're back..." The old god smiled as they spoke, "Me too little star...me too"

#am i a god? neat #creator is gender neutral #creator is old #creator is the twin's parent #genshin impact #sagau #genshin impact sagau #this is heavily self indulgent #traveler is aether #cryo slime #Cosmi means Parental Figure #(I needed something gender neutral that made sense.) #Yes its just a shortned version of Cosmic #I'm bad at giving titles bruh #I gave Aether and Lumine longer names because I wanted them to have nicknames #The creator measures time in supernovas

[huffle-dork]

Swap into the CrystalVerse Chapter 23: Horror Septics

Co-written with @crystalninjaphoenix 

Read Swapboys | Read Horror Septics | AO3 Link

Prologue | Switch | Stitched | PNPT | Septicheroes | Fantasy Masks | Horror

Taglist: @brokentimewatch @di-diwata  

What follows is about an hour of frenzied activity while the doctors take Alt to the emergency room and examine him. True to their word they let Chase stay in the room, though Mag and Jack have to wait nearby and observe through a window. After all this, the doctors conclude that Alt is very injured and lost a lot of blood, but will recover from it all eventually. The highest priority is the cocktail of unidentifiable drugs in his system. He'll need at least one night for his system to detox--not to mention get some good rest. So they take him to a room in the recovery ward and hand Chase some paperwork to fill out.

When he asks about the fee, one of the doctors from earlier takes him aside and quietly tells him not to worry about that. "We get some of you... sometimes," he says softly, and then hurries away before Chase can ask for elaboration.

After what feels like forever, the whole group is squeezed into a private hospital room with a wide window and a small TV in the wall.

Alt is finally sleeping somewhat peacefully, bandaged up and hooked up to IVs and monitors. Chase hates seeing him like this.

Mag has turned into his cat form and is hiding in the corner of the room, watching the shadows for any movement.

Jack has not said a word since they left Notarzt's home.

Chase looks to Jack and smiles at him tiredly. "Hey... Jack? Uh... t-thank you so much for helping us... but um... are you okay? you.. you don't have to stay here anymore... if you don't want to. We'll... we'll be out of here... soon hopefully."

Jack stares at Chase wordlessly for a second. Then, suddenly, the TV turns on, showing nothing but static.

Chase jumps at the TV turning on. Alt seems to curl up, holding a hand against his ear to stop the noise.

Jack quickly jumps up and rushes over to turn it off.

He breathes a sigh of relief and walks back over. “I want to stay,” he says quietly. “But I don’t know if I can. I…” He pauses. “Do you remember what Alt said about not being able to glitch? Maybe… that’s my fault. I-I told you that the thing hunting me uses technology. I-I don’t know much about Alt’s powers but… they seem… similar. Maybe… it blocked his powers. But maybe… if I go, it won’t be able to.”

The hero leans in close to listen, his eyes widening. "...Why... Why would it be messing with Alt's powers? Just because they're similar...? ...I dunno if you going would do anything though... it sounded like this happened while that freaky doctor bitch had him. ... what if this is just to lure you back out? I can't have that thing dragging you away!"

"Heh." Jack smiles. "It... means a lot to hear that. But you guys have to leave eventually. And I think we know we can't fully defeat them, even if we may be able to... work around them. For a while. As for why it would happen in the first place... I have no idea. Maybe it's just jealous of there being someone else out there who can mess with tech." He shrugs. "If... you don't want me to leave... I won't." There's hope in his voice, but also trepidation.

Chase looks at him with soft eyes, "...I don't want you to go. You... you really helped me here... even though you didn't have to. ... I can at least repay the favor for as long as we're still here."

Jack takes a shaky breath. "...thanks," he whispers. Are there tears in his single visible eye? He looks away quickly so Chase can't really see. "I really hope you guys don't come back here, but on the off chance you do, I... I hope you remember me."

Chase looks concerned, "...why wouldn't we remember you? ... i mean Mag might not care but he's an asshole so don't count him." Chase tries to laugh, "But... of course I'll remember you."

Jack smiles sadly. "Think of it like... a curse. It's hard for me to stick in people's minds." He leans back in the chair and sighs. "But... anyway. You should rest. I think your seat reclines."

Chase looks more worried at this. But, Jack has a point. He is really tired. He looks for the recliner part and then laughs when he finds it. "Oh hell yeah! Fancy~!" He smiles at Jack and then gives him a softer, more concerned look. "...try to rest too Jack... okay?"

Jack nods. "I will." To demonstrate, he closes his eyes. But he doesn't like to sleep. He doesn't like to risk having dreams. So he stays awake for longer than he should.

The night passes peacefully, and soon the sun is rising again. Jack wakes up around this time, but everyone else takes a couple more hours.

Alt wakes up a bit before Chase does. And, he notices the medical equipment around him and immediately starts having a panic attack. The monitors beeping- the iv in his arm. Even if he's not strapped down- the bandages feel like how the straps felt- and that's more than enough to send him further into panicking. He starts to hiccup and gasps for breath, sure that Notarzt is right around the corner, about to inject him again.

"Whoa, hey!" Jack immediately stops pretending to be asleep. "Hey hey hey. Alt, right?" He stands up and walks a bit closer--though not too close, in case that would make all this worse.

Alt snaps his head over to Jack at the voice. And for a second- he almost thinks... It's his friend Jack from home. But... it couldn't be. Now that he's looking- there's no way.

"You're safe now. Look." Jack points to the window. There were no windows in that... maze of hallways and operating rooms. "Outside. This is a normal hospital, not that thing's fucked up pocket dimension."

Alt does listen though and looks towards the window- and seems to relax, breathing a little less rapidly. He shudders and then really tries to look at this guy. "... w-who... who are you?" He whispers, as if afraid to raise his voice too loud.

Jack sighs. "Uh, well... I'm ħĨ¦¶Ÿ, but your brother's been calling me... I-it's funny, I wonder if he thought I was your friend Jackie, so he called me, you know, a shortened version of that." He pauses. "That was probably a long explanation, uh... a-anyway. I know you guys are from some other world. I'm from here. I've... I can relate to what you're going through right now..." he says softly.

"Shortened... Jackie...?" Alt asks, brain feeling scrambled. "...Jack... ha... I.. for a second... y-you kinda reminded me of my f-friend Jack... back home...." Alt smiles shakily at him.

Jack smiles sadly at the mention of a friend back home named Jack. could it be...? Well, he doesn't have time to dwell on it.

Then. Alt blinks and seems to remember, "oh...! You... you helped me- back in... in that place... You helped Chase and- ... and Mag was there too." He furrows his eyebrows at this and makes a face. "...why was Mag there...? and... w-where's Chase?" As he asks this slight panic raises in his voice.

"Yeah, I was there. I-I said I'd help Chase find you. As for, uh, Mag... that's a longer story..." He doesn't get to tell the story himself, though.

A hand comes to hold Alt's and even though he startles slightly he relaxes as Chase smiles at him. "H-Hey hey... I'm here- I'm awake...!"

Magnificent rises from his slumber too, but stays lurking in the shadows, watching the others carefully.

As Chase appears Jack decides to let the two of them have that moment. The TV flickers on for a moment. Not long enough for anyone to notice.

Alt blinks and then smiles at Chase and almost immediately starts to cry. "C-Chase-"

Chase is scooping him up into a hug, IV and equipment be damned. He buries his face against Alt's shoulder and tries to hide the way his shoulders are shaking and his voice is cracked with emotion. "I'm so sorry we took so long Alt- I tried to find you as soon as we could! I'm... I'm so sorry I left you- I'm so sorry that thing got you...! I'm sorry... I'm sorry...!"

Alt blinks and then goes to wrap his arms lightly around Chase, letting his own tears fall quietly. He wants to tell Chase it's okay... but he'd be lying. ...none of this was okay. But, he doesn't want Chase to blame himself. "... you found me in the end... that's what matters, okay...?"

Bro nods and then slowly lets Alt go, quickly wiping at his face. "Yeah... yeah... h-how are you feeling?"

Alt laughs a bit, "Like complete shit... I... don't know how else to describe it.... like- like a cut up sausage I guess-"

Chase finds himself chuckling at that.

"Hah..." Jack smiles a little. He can't help it--there's something so absurdly accurate about that comparison, from what he knows about Notarzt. "Well... I'm pretty sure that it won't be coming after you. It... let us get to you, so I-I think it's done with you. Don't worry. You won't have to deal with that again." Doesn't mean they won't have to deal with other stuff while they're still in this world, but he's not going to say that.

Alt looks relived at this, nodding to Jack with a small smile.

Again, the TV flickers, the speakers letting out a hint of white noise.

Once the tender moment is over, Magnificent slinks from the shadows and turns back into his human form, baring his teeth slightly. Mist clings to his feet. "Alright- enough of this frivolity. We need to leave this place now. Alt- can you feel your powers-"

He doesn't get to finish his question before the tv speakers let out noise. And Alt immediately tenses and covers his ears, curling in on himself.

Jack spins over to the TV with wide eyes. He hurries over and makes sure the TV is off again. It is. But that's not good enough. He finds the plug and pulls it out, letting out a sigh of relief. "A-anyway. Apparently Mag is an asshole, from what I've heard, but he's right. If... you can go... you guys should. A-any universe would be safer than this. Probably. How'd you get here anyway...?"

Alt lowers his hands and then panics slightly patting his pockets to see if he still has the TRVLR.

He does. When he sees if he has enough power to turn it on, he does--though the jump button is grayed out. He must not have given it enough power for that yet. The red warning bubble in the middle is still there. Tapping it reveals the same message that he saw when he first arrived here:

WARNING

Lethal ALTRs detected in Current Location: (!)UA-1031019HS. Please jump as soon as possible.

Alt seems to relax as he finds it and powers it up- but not nearly enough it seems. He curses. Then goes to answer Jack, “We… we used this thing. I can supply it with enough energy with my magic- but.. I guess I’m still kinda drained…”

Chase narrows his eyes and tilts the screen to read the warning. He pales. “Ah Jesus… t-that would have been nice to know!”

“I… I didn’t know- I think we picked this one by mistake,” Alt comments quietly, “I tried to call you to warn you right away but then that’s when… when it-“

Chase’s face softens and he pats Alt on the shoulder. “…it’s okay Alt.” He then narrows his eyes at Mag. “you heard him, cat bitch. Not enough magic to jump yet-“

“I’ll give him some of my magic!” Mag argues.

“Oh hell no! I’m not letting your freaky magic touch Alt anytime soon bitch!” Chase snaps back.

"You know, I did just say you should leave, but I don't think it's uh... a good idea to introduce any... foreign power to Alt's systems... right now?" Jack says carefully. "Look, uh, le-let's give it a little bit longer, okay?"

He looks at Mag. "I know you're worried about Cait Coill. But it can take years for it to collect sometimes. You pissing it off doesn't guarantee it's going to show up at any moment."

Magnificent bares his teeth at Jack for calling him out. But, he doesn't say anything more.

Jack looks back to the brothers. "Anyway. Alt. I noticed your clothes got, uh... wrecked a little. I noticed an outlet store nearby. One of us could... go get something for you?"

Alt blinks up at Jack and then moves the blankets to see his ripped sweatpants. Bro also holds up his shirt and Alt's face falls. "...oh... uh... y-yeah that'd be... really nice actually..."

"Your jacket is okay though," Bro reassures him, handing it to him. Alt smiles slightly and takes it, holding it in his arms.

"Okay," Jack says quietly. "I could... um, if you gave me your sizes and some cash, I could head over really quick." He glances at the TV nervously. "I won't be long."

Chase blinks and then looks through his bag, pulling out some cash and handing it to Jack. "Here- Alt's a medium."

Mag huffs and goes to sit in one of the chair.

Alt glances at the TV nervously too. "um.. t-thanks Jack..."

The TV is quiet. Of course it is, it's unplugged. What are you expecting?

"Thanks." Jack gives them both a small smile. "I'll be right back. I'll try to get something like your last stuff." And with that, he stands up and heads out.

Alt smiles warily as he watches Jack leave.

Chase sighs and sits back down, but he does hand Alt his phone. "Oh yeah- I found this outside. How the hell does yours still have battery? I swear mine was dead when we got here."

The glitch shrugs with a light laugh, "I dunno- maybe me using my magic to jump charges it."

"Why the hell didn't mine charge then?"

"I dunno man! I can't control that! Maybe you just need a better phone!"

"...isn't yours stolen?"

"nooo- this was from Jackie i think-" Alt comments lightly. He flicks it on- it's very close to dying but not yet.

As soon as he turns it on, he gets a text notification. The banner disappears unusually fast--too fast to even see a preview of the message.

Alt blinks in confusion and opens up the message.

It's from a number simply listed as "Unknown." ÑñŜ§ŬţġöēŴHelloĴŝêśįģųÝåþŦÚń¨«ĩÄìĽãÊij íźĔīĆvisitorIJĭęúÇ£ĥŲıħăËūùÏŋ* ĻŇňÛ¶Őďŗ¼®ėŽņĖYouŕÎõě©żŖóĘőķŊæ ¾»ŷĀĤareŢ¿ŤŨáŁ×ĶŹĝāŪèŶůâ´ÉĊĞŃlikeÐĐʼnü·¤¬meðŭ¥ëř

"The fuck?" Alt mutters under his breath, "How am I still getting spam across dimensions?"

As soon as Alt exits his messages, there's another one. This time the banner lingers for long enough for him to read.

ê¸×üšĝřÖĪŰĊ¥NotĸŷŃŬŊď¨Ă奄ßĈspamŶťġ¹ŵáŝıΪ

And then another soon after that.

Alt

Alt's stomach drops as he sees the message- he... he could see other words amongst the nonsense. Not Spam He gasps slightly as he sees the text with just his name. He drops his phone and scoots back.

Wait- if he noticed something in there then- He checks the first message again.

You're.... like... me

Now Alt really chucks his phone and this causes Bro and Mag to react.

Chase is by his side in an instant, "Alt? What's wrong?"

"M-Message-!" Is all Alt can try to say through his panic.

The TV turns on again.

Alt cries out and covers his ears, curling up and then looking up at the TV in fear.

Bro stands up and looks at it with confusion. "W-what? Didn't Jack unplug that??"

He did. In between the bursts of static everyone--even Alt with his ears covered--hears a voice that sounds like their own, distorted and twisted.

"¢ñŶÅPlayingŘľĬwithïĢŒmyĴÊĠtoys?üÝöĭ ľĬÔŎI ņ®ōdon'tÓŞūlikeĊõ¨Ś¾toğ±´Żshare.ĸÑÌ ĘŖ·SeeÚěìyou¦âðśsoon.ŪĿŽÚ"

And then, abruptly as it turned on, it turns off again.

Alt shakes in the bed, curled up tight into a ball as he chokes on a terrified sob.

Bro backs away from the TV, eyes wide. "W-What the fuck...?"

Magnificent stiffens and then glares at the tv with his teeth bared, power pulsing in his eyes.

Even once the the TV turns off, nobody moves. All they can hear is Alt's panicked breathing.

Minutes pass. Five. Ten. Nothing happens.

Bro and Mag relax after the first few minutes of silence. Bro tries to walk over to Alt to comfort him, but the glitch refuses to uncurl. He just keeps thinking about that message. You're like me.

Magnificent flicks between watching the shadows and glancing at the tv. ...whatever that thing that threatened them... looks like it had nothing more than just scary words.

More time passes. Fifteen minutes total since the message. Twenty. Twenty five.

Then there’s a knock on the door. “Hey guys?” It’s Jack. He slowly pushes open the door and steps inside. He’s carrying a paper bag from the nearby clothing store.

The instant he steps in he realizes something is wrong. “What happened? Did you see something else?”

Chase is still trying to get Alt to calm down but he can't seem to get him to relax. He jumps slightly as Jack comes back and then he sighs, "H-Hey... I... I don't know- Alt was acting weird with his phone- and starting freaking out about a message. And then- the TV turned on- even though we didn't plug it back in! There was a ... a voice- in the static."

"Said something about how it didn't want to share its toys," Mag adds in a flat voice.

Bro nods, "But... nothing since then... but Alt is still pretty spooked." He gently tries to shake Alt's shoulder again. "Hey its okay dude... nothing's comin' to hurt us- look, Jack's back! It's okay..."

Unfortunately Jack's reaction to this news does not help calm Alt down. The paper clothing bag falls out of his loose hand as he immediately goes white as a ghost.

"We're going," he says. "We're going, we're--I know we probably have to check out of the hospital but there's no time, we're going somewhere else to wait for Alt to recover--ow!" His hand flies to his eye-patch, pressing against it.

Alt now looks at Jack with wide terrified eyes, “W..what is this thing? W-why did it say it was Iike me?!”

Bro looks between the two of them in confusion. “wait what? We can’t just-“ Then he starts to connect the dots and he turns pale as well. “that thing- that hunted you. Okay- okay just- grab whatever you can!” He hurries to grab his bag and then starts to see how he can get Alt unplugged from all the monitors.

Jack picks up the paper clothing bag again, trying to take deep breaths. "I-I told you earlier that I understood how you feel--it's because I was stuck with one of those things for a--" He laughs. "--a long, long time." He rubs the bandages covering his neck. "I-it uses technology. M-manipulates it. I-I-I guess it doesn't like having someone else around who can do the same thing."

Alt shudders and looks at Jack with a mix of sympathy and terror.

As soon as Chase has Alt mostly unhooked he hurries over to the window. They're on the first floor and the window opens. That's probably a bad idea, but this is a small hospital. "Come on. When you can."

Chase is quick to help Alt up, slinging his shoulder over his. Alt limps towards the window with Chase’s help.

Alt knows they need to hurry so he grabs Jack and then Mag too and closes his eyes. In a quick burst of static and pixels, Alt glitches them outside. But, then he slumps against Chase, breathing heavily- still having trouble glitching. But at least they’re out of the hospital room.

Magnificent shakes himself off like an offended cat and eyes their surroundings.

“W-Where to now?” Chase frantically asks Jack.

“Somewhere with less tech,” Jack says, frantically looking around. “I-if we can’t make it to the edge of the city we can find a park or something—fuck, I’ve never been here before, I don’t know—aagh!” He stumbles, pressing his had to his eye-patch once again. When he lifts it, blood trickles out from under the patch.

Chase hurries to look over at Jack as he stumbles then looks at him with mounting horror. “J-Jack- your eye is bleeding…!”

“I know, I know, and it’s not a good sign!” Jack shakes his head, pushing past the pain. “Just go! Hurry! Come on!” He starts running down the street, picking a direction at random.

Chase looks back at Alt and then, despite his protests, picks him up and runs after Jack. Magnificent stays close behind.

They run for a few minutes, with Jack constantly looking around for some sign of anything.

There’s nothing.

Until they reach a construction site where the sidewalk and street are all torn up, big empty pipes sitting next to holes clearly meant for them. The site is empty. Unusual. It forces the group to a narrow strip of intact sidewalk, a high wall to one side and a hole to the other.

At once, all the phones the group has let out a squawk of static that sounds like laughter. Up ahead something appears. Glitches into being is probably the most accurate way to describe it, but it’s not like Alt’s glitching. There is something more visceral about the sound and the movement.

The boys all stagger backwards, Mag holding out a hand filled with magic at this thing while Chase holds Alt close. As soon as the sound started Alt had curled up and covered his ears again, shaking like a leaf.

The thing is shaped like a person… in fact, it’s shaped like Jack. But with wide green-sclera eyes. But a second later it shivers and shudders, blasts of static noise filling the air one after another. KRCHT Now it looks like Alt. KRCHT Now it looks like Chase. KRCHT Now it looks like Mag. KRCHT Now there is something of all of them in it, jittering pieces forced together, green eyes and blood in the seams where they meet.

Alt stares at the thing with terrified eyes and then shouts at it, “No no! G-Get the fuck away from us!!”

Its smile splits its face in half. All of a sudden it’s in front of them, without any moving at all—without even the blink of teleportation. It lunges forward, static getting louder.

Jack cries out and instinctively tries to push the others behind him— And then it is gone. Right before it reached them it vanished like it had never been there at all. But the static lingers.

“Keep going keep going keep going!” Jack urges.

Chase staggers back then breaks out into a sprint, holding his trembling brother in a vice grip against him.

Magnificent tries to keep up, split between running and teleporting as he shouts out, “What the hell is that thing?!”

“I don’t know! It’s another one of those things!” Jack shouts. He’s running as fast as he can, but is lagging a bit behind the others with their powers and magic. “It’s strong, though! It can—”

But then, abruptly, he stops talking. Stops running, too, coming to a sudden halt. His visible eye is wide, his muscles are trembling, and more blood leaks from behind the patch. “No,” he breathes. “No, not—” Again, he stops. He relaxes abruptly, head lolling, swaying on his feet.

Chase skids to a stop and whips around. “J-Jack?!”

Magnificent shivers and steps back, eyes wide and magic sparking at his fingertips.

Alt feels like he can’t breathe.

"Ì sińg t̢h̕e ͝body ͡el̡èćt̛r̨ic̕.͞" The voice comes from Jack's throat, but also from their phones, popping and fizzling with white noise. Jack's mouth grins wide and then his body lurches forward, lunging for whoever's closest.

Alt in his panic tried to glitch away- but whether it’s his still messed up powers or the gravity of whatever this thing is- he ends up right in the things path- disoriented.

“NO!” Chase tries to yell-

The hands grab Alt, arms wrapping around him. Jack's body is moving so fast that the two of them go toppling to the ground, on the edge of the hole in the road.

"Bad luck, bad luck," Jack's voice says, his face still grinning. One hand wraps around Alt's throat while the other reaches into Jack's pocket for his swiss army knife. The blade flicks open.

Alt is panicking hardcore, unable to breathe. He tries to kick and fight Jack but he’s still weak and in a lot of pain. “D-Don’t! Please S-Stop…!” Alt croaks out, trying to get himself to glitch but he can’t.

The other react fast- Magnificent yells out and tries to wrap up Jack in strings.

Bro rushes forward to see if he can grab Alt away-

The strings yank Jack's body away just in time for Chase to grab Alt. It shrieks and struggles.

Chase backs away quickly with Alt, afraid both of them will fall in the hole. Alt clings to Bro’s shirt like a lifeline- but he refuses to look away from Jack.

More blood leaks from behind Jack's eye-patch and he stops, clarity for a moment. "I-I can understand it," he whispers. "Neurons and nerves. Guys, it can't--" But then his mouth snaps shut.

Alt’s eyes widen as he hears Jack- “Neurons and nerves- what does that mean?!”

Jack’s hand flips the blade around and cuts through the strings holding that arm. His body presses against the strings, growling, somehow gathering enough force to snaps some of them as the hands reach for Magnificent.

Magnificent growls and whips out another hand and sends a shock of green electricity at the thing before it can grab him.

Jack screams as the electricity hits him, spasming and slumping. But he’s talking as soon as the scream is over. “I-it can’t reach you so it’s stuck with me. Disrupt its con—”

Alt’s eyes widen, his thoughts racing. Break the connection-!

Jack’s warning is broken by laughter. His body jumps forward, breaking the last of the strings, going for Bro with the knife.

As Jack dives at Bro with the knife Alt screams out and then in a quick flurry of glitches disappears into Jack’s body.

Abrupt silence.

Jack’s body drops, completely limp. The knife clatters to the ground.

Alt feels everything that Jack feels, sees everything that he sees as if this is his body. But something is off. Jack’s consciousness is there, battered and tired and worn thin. But there is something else there as well. A parasite, wrapped up in Jack’s nerves, hissing like organic white noise. And yet there is something familiar in its presence. Like your reflection in a funhouse mirror.

{He’s mine,} it says. {Not yours. Get out.} {No!} Jack’s consciousness squirms. {Alt, please! Help!}

Alt panics for a second, trying to understand what is happening. Then he tries to dive into kinks in the nerves, trying to send out his own current to disrupt the flow. {This body isn’t yours! Get out!}

The entity digs its claws into Jack's mind. Alt's current causes it to spasm and stretch but it won't let go yet.

{It is. And so is the mind and soul. Will you take it from me? Make it yours instead?}

{Alt wouldn't do that!} Jack protests.

{Why not? He is like me. I can feel it.}

Alt falters then pushes harder in anger. {No! I’m not like you! I’ll never be like you!}

{But you are,} it says. {We are similar. Your cat is like our cat. Your misery is like our misery. This mind knows. This mind has suspected ever since your misery mentioned a friend with a red hood.}

A memory flashes through Jack's eyes--Chase's freakout in the radio tower when he realized Jackie often wears a red hoodie. But that memory flash brings something to light.

Alt feels himself freeze, slow realization flooding through his body like cold dread. “No! Cuz there’s… t-there’s so way that thing is Jackie! There’s no way that m-monster is my best friend!“ Chase says in the memory.

These things… these horrors- they’re supposed to be them.

As Alt is distracted by the parasite's words, it is sinking deeper into Jack's brain.

Outside the mind, his body trembles, eyes rolling back in his head. Alt can feel pain in Jack's right eye.

Chase has crashed down next to Jack’s body and is trying to shake him awake. “J-Jack?! Alt!!” Mag steps back- but pulls Jack’s arms behind his back with his strings. Cant be too careful…

Alt feels himself want to scream- no no no! He’s not this thing! He’s not a torturer- he’s not evil! He gets distracted from his spiral at the flare of pain in Jack’s eye. He feels panic trying to take over him. But- that must be the connection!

Alt tries to act quickly, racing into the nerves by the eye and putting more of his magic in to stop this thing from spreading further.

It's like slowly pulling apart taffy. The parasite wants to stay, clawing and biting into the membrane of Jack's soul. But Alt's power stretches it, pushing it away until-- SNAP!

It's gone.

All that's left is the shadow of a power. Jack's body stops shuddering and he lies there, breathing heavily.

{Thank you...} It's just a thought, but Alt can picture tears of relief.

Alt's being shudders once the connection is snapped but he lingers long enough to hear the thank you- and feel the relief flooding through the both of them. {...anytime.}

Chase shakes Jack's body more, getting worried. "J-Jack?? Alt??"

Jack's body shudders and then- glitches break off his form almost like a copy of him. Then, Alt snaps back to himself right next to Jack, but he can't stay up long. His eyes roll back in his head and he slumps forward- but luckily Chase catches him. "Alt!"

The glitch shudders and shakes in Chase's arms, his eyelids fluttering and electricity sparking bright in his veins. But- not as bad as it was in the last world at least...

Mag watches carefully- but he does release the strings on Jack.

Jack breathes heavily. He sits up slowly and looks around. "I think... I think it's gone." For now. He knows it will keep trying to find him. But Alt seems to have driven it away temporarily. "You guys... are you all okay? I-I didn't hurt any of you, did I? Or... it didn't?"

Chase seems to relax as he sees Jack get up, "W-We're okay... I.. I think..."

Mag relaxes somewhat too but he eyes around them. "... we shouldn't linger here- we should try to find another safe spot..."

Chase nods and gets to his feet, holding Alt against him again. "Uh- first off let's get away from this big hole thing- freaks me out..."

"Yeah..." Jack breathes. He stands to his feet, staggering as he gets used to controlling his own body again. "Maybe... maybe now that it's gone we can go back to the hospital. O-or we could try to find a park or something. That'd be nice. I don't know. What do you guys think?" The group starts to walk away from the construction site.

"Park is good..." Chase mumbles, "I... I don't want to risk drawing that thing again..."

Alt pants slightly and mumbles a bit against Bro, his shoulders starting to glitch and pixelate. Chase seems to perk up at this.

"Alright." Jack nods. "Let's see if we can find one." He doesn't want to walk too much. Just having that thing in his head pushes him to exhaustion. It always uses all his strength at once, unable to feel the effects of such effort.

Luckily, they find a park soon. It's rather small, square in shape and fenced-in. But there are a lot of trees and planted flowers, and a small man-made arm-wide creek cutting across the center. Jack sits down under a large willow tree, liking how its drooping branches give him privacy. "This is good."

Chase looks around and laughs slightly, "Y-Yeah wow... this is really pretty actually." He sits down next to Jack and sets Alt down to lay with his head in his lap.

Mag studies this and then disappears to go sit on one of the branches above them.

Chase looks up and squints, ".... can't you be normal for once?"

Mag grins, "Nope~"

Bro rolls his eyes and then looks over at Jack, "...you okay dude? That was... that was super intense..."

Jack pauses, unsure how to say this. "I've... been through worse," he says slowly. "With that whole... situation, too. What just happened." He looks up into the tree. "You're right. It is pretty." Nice to know there were still beautiful things in the world.

Chase gives him a sad smile.

"Alt. Are... you okay? You were in my head, I-I kinda knew what was happening. There was a moment there... just, are you okay?"

Alt slowly blinks open his eyes and seems to relax a bit more at taking in the fresh air. He winces for a second before glitching to sit upright, giving him and Bro a bit of space- and so he can see Jack properly. He meets Jack's eyes and Jack can see the flicker of fear in them. But, he looks away and tries to say, "Yeah.. i'm..." Then, he pauses and he swallows thickly, tears starting to brim in his eyes. "...no actually- im... i'm not okay..."

Chase looks confused and worried, "W...What happened?"

Jack sighs. "Do you remember... when we first met? After Sangria left, I made some comment about what if you have a friend in a red hood, and you freaked out?" He pauses. "I had the thought back then, but... if you were so sure I didn't think I should question you. But what it said to Alt while they were both in my head... it implies I was right." He pauses. "Wondering about yourselves in this world... is pointless. We've met them."

Chase's eyes widen, "Wait... no that... that can't be-"

"It is," Alt says in a wavering voice, "These... these horror things- they're us. This is another parallel universe... but one where all of us are fucking horror monsters...! I'm that- g-glitchy thing- it called you Misery, Chase. And It said ours cats were the same."

Mag stiffens but then sighs and looks at the lingering fog, "... i guess that makes sense."

Alt laughs a bit through his tears, "... Notarzt... m-must be Schneep right? The accents... and... Sangria is Jackie... but I... I guess I'm the worst of them... t-that's why Notarzt got scared-" He bites his lip as it wavers and he holds his knees close to his chest.

"You are not it, Alt," Jack says fiercely. "You may be parallels, but that doesn't mean you're the same. I know that because you saved me when it... it probably would've been easier to run away and leave me there. I can't believe that someone who'd do that is the same as the thing that... that tormented me for so long." He shakes his head. "If you believe that you're the same, then you have to believe that all of your friends are the same as the creatures here. Do you think that?"

Alt is quiet for a beat, letting his tears fall quietly. Then, he shakes his head. "no... no- I could never... even Mag doesn't seem as bad as these things..."

"Normally I'd be offended by such a statement-" Mag says haughtily. "... but I'm inclined to agree..."

Chase goes to put hand on Alt's shoulder and smiles at him, "I know it sucks... seeing a version of yourself that is just... completely wrong. It makes you doubt a lot of things... but you are you, Alt. You don't act like these things do... you're good, baby bro. I can promise you that..."

Jack nods. This feels like a moment he shouldn't interrupt.

Alt takes a shuddering breath but does his best to nod to the others. He doesn't know what else to say... because even if he felt so disconnected from the other Antis he's met... in some ways- he felt... exactly the same. And that scares him more than anything. What if who he used to be- is just his default? Is he gonna turn into an awful person who hurts others for fun? What if this is something he can't change? Every universe they go to just makes him more and more convinced- even if he wants so desperately for it to be different.

Chase looks at Alt sadly and then sighs, leaning back. "... at least... that is a mystery solved... even if it sucks balls to hear. Hard to imagine that weird house demon thing was- me I guess. Seems far off if you ask me!" He tries to laugh.

Jack shrugs. “If there’s a multiverse, it’s probably infinite. Anything can happen.” He pauses, then gives a small smile. “But out of everything that could be, I’m glad it all came together so I could meet you two.”

Chase and Alt smiles warmly at Jack. Chase beams, "Ditto! You're a neat dude, Jack! I dunno if we would have even made it without you."

The smile disappears again. “How are you feeling… physically? I don’t know how easy or difficult possession is for you.”

Alt takes stock of himself and shrugs, "...m'still kinda weak- achy... but its hard to tell if its different from the wounds or not. I feel like I have some of my energy back though so... i guess those drugs are finally wearing off."

"Should hope they are, you were going through detox all night at the hospital," Jack mutters. "Anyway, glad to hear it. Maybe... maybe you just need a little more rest. Then you guys can get out of here."

"Yeah... possessing stuff does tire me out so... probably need to wait a bit more..." Alt mutters.

Chase looks around, "Hey- maybe we can get you changed into those better clothes now. ...so it doesn't look like we just kidnapped a hospital patient." He laughs.

"Oh shit, yeah." Jack had dropped the bag during the possession at the construction site, but luckily he'd had the presence of mind to grab it again. He passes it over. "Hope it's alright. It might be a bit big, I wanted to err on the side of caution. But I think I chose good options. Maybe a little cheesy." That last comment is directed at the T-shirt, which is black with Out Of written on it, then a picture of the control key on a keyboard.

Alt blinks a bit and takes out the t-shirt to look at it. He laughs, grinning wide. "heh... it's perfect. Thanks, Jack."

Bro laughs, "You nailed his style dude! He has like a million of those kinda shirts at home!"

Alt flushes at this but he does laugh, "Tech pun shirts are just fun, what can I say?"

Alt soon hurries off to find a place to change, eager to get out of the hospital clothes.

Luckily the park is empty. There are no real constructed buildings here, but the trees are clustered close enough together to provide adequate cover.

When he returns, Jack is slumped back against the tree trunk, eyes closed, messing with the eye-patch but not removing it. The drying blood is irritating.

Alt comes back, pulling his jacket on over his new shirt and jeans. He looks a lot more comfortable now, even if he's still limping on his right leg. He glitches to sit back down with everyone and then flops onto his back, sighing a bit in relief. Chase smiles at him. Magnificent is lounging on the branch, watching them all.

Jack opens his eye. "Heh... you look great, Alt. That really does suit you. Well, then... I guess we just sit here and relax, then."

Chase settles to sit against the tree trunk, closing his eyes.

Alt turns his head to smile at Jack, "Thanks dude-" He lays back down and tries to snap his fingers- seeing if he can feel his powers a bit better.

...Yes, in fact. Alt's powers respond quickly. Not quite as quick as usual, but much faster than just a few minutes ago. Maybe pushing away that... that creature... did undo some sort of block. It's worrying that it was able to block his powers in the first place, but they won't be here for much longer, anyway.

Alt sits up in a bit of excitement at feeling more of his magic. He pulls out the TRVLR and tries to see if he has enough to finish powering it up.

It responds instantly. The jump button is no longer grayed out. The warning button is still there, of course, but that's probably going to stay there until they leave this universe.

Where would they go next, anyway? If Alt scrolls through the universe list for a bit, he sees more UA prefixes than U or UF. What did they mean, anyway? UA brought them back to a modern setting, but it also brought them to a place with dangerous monsters. Maybe... maybe play it safe this time. None of the U universes have that little warning exclamation mark next to them. Even if something goes wrong, they wouldn't end up somewhere dangerous if they aimed for there. Here. U-1227118IV. When they're ready to go, that seems like a good place to start.

Mag hears the sound of the TRVLR and appears down next to Alt in a burst of static. "Is it ready?"

Alt jumps and glitches in place, holding the TRVLR up in the air away from Mag, "Jesus Christ!" He glares at Mag and then sighs, "Yeah- it's ready... I think i found one that... wont kill us at least- if it's not home."

Chase blinks open his eyes and smiles before looking back at Jack. His and Alt's face falls as they look back at him.

"...we should probably go," Alt says quietly, "...just in case."

Bro goes to lightly touch Jack's arm, "...are you gonna be okay?"

Jack laughs. "I'll live. By god, I'll live. Fuckers aren't gonna take me down." The laughter fades, but a small smile remains. "I think... meeting you all has helped. Yes, even this guy." He gestures at Mag. "Picturing a world without things out there hunting down people gives me a little bit of hope. That... somewhere out there, people are alright. Even if they have to deal with other shit. You know? And... like I said, I hope you guys don't come back here. But I'll remember you. And that means something."

Chase grins wide and lightly punches Jack in the shoulder, “Hell yeah dude! I’ll remember you- I swear I will.”

Alt smiles softly, “Yeah… I got something that’ll make me think of you now. …never let these fuckers wear you down, Jack. You’re hella strong for getting this far…”

Mag makes a face at Jack but- he doesn’t look like he hated hearing that.

Alt sighs and then grabs Mag and Bro.

Bro makes sure they have everything and then two finger salutes Jack. “Give ‘em hell, Jack!”

Alt smirks and nods. Then he clicks the jump button.

The three of them fall again, and then they are gone.

Jack stares at the spot where they were. He sighs a little. Though it sucks to be on his own again, he'd rather they be safe than with him. And god only knows this world isn't safe. Not for the people in it, much less people from elsewhere who aren't used to it. He'll remember them. Even if they forget him like everyone else, he'll remember them.

He tilts his head back and stares up into the branches of the trees. Sunlight filters through. Everything is green and yellow and blue. There are birds chirping.

That's nice.

#SITCV Horror #swap into the crystalverse #horror septics #alt anti #the end! #super fun to see horror anti interacting with alt :) #totallly not gonna fuck with his head at all nooo #i also love how nice jack was to alt and bro #a good lad :) #tomorrow is our last world!! #and- a familiar one :)

[bluuff]

gurl sub loid. Like I can't explain it! Just y'know playing with his cock, pants down, green stripes suit open?

𖤐 NEW PROPERTY. loid !

🗯️ :: masterlist. reblogs are appreciated.

warning : loid ⊹ gn!dom reader, blowjob, use of drugs (aphrodisiac), hints of degrading, cum swap.

ty for requesting! i love loid lol

loid opened his eyes only to be met with a faint light coming from a little bulb above him. and with much confusion, he took a glance around the room. he had no idea where he was… could it be that he was kidnapped? traded? he doesn’t wanna know, all he wants to know is how to escape this dark stinking room. his thoughts were interrupted as the door creaked open, revealing the wealthiest, famous, lovely.. you. what were you doing doing here? no, no what was he doing here?

then it hit him hard, the limousine that pulled up right infront of his doorstep, those males that ran inside his house to look for him before aggressively cupping his face with a chloroformed handkerchief on his mouth. your goons had also force fed loid an aphrodisiac pill, just like you ordered them to. yeah he really was kidnapped, but for what reason? “wait.. (name)..? what are we doing here?” he mutters out.

“you’ve caught my eye, mr. forger.. and your company was nice enough to hand you to me. now that i own you, i could all the things i want to you~”

“wha– h-hey!” you shush him off as you hastily unbuckle his waist belt, but slowed down your movements once you saw the big bulge that imprinted through his boxers. you place a hand to the band of his unders before pulling it down to expose his the amaranth tip of his cock leaking pre-semen that trails down to his base. how nasty of him, you weren’t supposed to see it. he was so embarrassed.. but what he didn’t know is you purposely made it him feel like this.

“god.. such a slut, you horny boy.” your voice trail off, bringing your fingertip to touch the nib of his length, giving it little rubs that made him watch in shame. he’s so sensitive and you barely started making your baby feel good, all worries and nervousness evaporating to the air as he felt how warm your mouth feels sucking off his flesh. he feels lightheaded about everything, adding the hotness that he felt inside him.

you could clearly see the pill had worked on him. loid easily turning to a whimpering mess, wailing about how you can’t claim him as yours since he is already married, but it seems as if you’re deaf and without care, you lick a stripe on the slit in, before bobbing your head real fast.

“s-stop, ooh-! nng.. bad bad bad b-bad!” his body suddenly jolts at the feeling, lost in pleasure that he did not not notice that he was thrusting his hips up to match your movements. everything that’s happening is wrong, he is wedded to a wonderful woman, he doesn’t need you.. he kept thinking again and again but at the time, all he can think about was you. you still kept pleasuring him, licking the sides of his cock while stroking his base slowly, deepthroating his length to the point it hits your uvula.

his body reacts to your movements as if he’s only thinking with his dick, turning into a dumb mess of a man who can’t help but squirm and be jittery from feeling too much, too affected that his knuckles are turning white as he grip the chair, while his legs are threatening to close.

“p—ple- wuh- god p—pleasee.. ‘m gonna—” he cuts his own sentence off with a static and high-pitch moan, turning into a crying mess once he comes back to reality and realize what he just did. help him from how loud he is crying, cursing you over and over again since he knows himself that you are starting to be his weakness. but you let it pass for now because he surely will forget all of that once he turns himself to you and be at your will.

you push all your thoughts to the side, shifting your gaze to the drooling man above you before standing up a lil bit and facing him really close. you put one finger to his lips before prying it open, leaning in to give him a peck before forcefully passing his own cum pass his throat. such actions caused him let out an oh! in awkwardness but you took your time to push all of the liquid past him before drawing back and telling him to “swallow it.” and his figure told him to do as you please, so he followed.. trying his best to gulp down the remaining nasty gunk, claiming him as yours.

“i own you now, and there’s nothing you can do about it. be at my will and i’ll treat you like a good person would or do the opposite and be punished for life.”

#★ : glo’s works ! #🏵️ luv spy x family. #sub loid #sub loid forger #sub spy x family #spy x family smut #loid smut #loid forger smut #loid x reader #loid forger x reader

[script-a-world]

Submitted via Google Form:

I'm not exactly sure if this is a world building question but I am having problems making it a more primitive world where they rely on the stars to travel. But it's kinda half assed when I can't really build an constellation system and use that, but making up nonsensical star movement and alignments that are literally implausible/contradictive also doesn't sound very nice does it. Especially if it fails to align with how I describe the planet's rotation, tilt, seasons, etc... So, that's the practical bit. Second is culture. A population that relies on the stars is going to have astrology and assign lots of meaning to stars in culture. This is the most important reason on why I actually want to describe stars and constellations. The navigation is in fact secondary. But I'm not exactly sure how much I have to build or describe that doesn't upend the facts that I'm telling you when certain constellations appear in the sky and what beliefs people put on it. But then completely make a right mess of those when I they start not making any actual sense when you try to actually picture it. I do understand most people may not necessary notice when something in nonsencial, but there are loads of implausible science problems out there where people literally make up what they want. Well, I have no doubt a real expert is probably going to start shitting on my story but I don't want to sound like I completely blundered my way at it with basically zero knowledge of what I'm doing. I'm not sure where I go from here?

Tex: Unless this is a very critical component of your story that’s highly visible, readers are probably not going to pay too much attention to it. You mention that a world’s navigation by the stars is secondary - that means you can crib a few notes and still have a functioning world. One thing you can do is take the constellation system you already know of - Earth’s - and do the equivalent of file off the serial numbers. Instead of Leo, call it a different name, but maintain its place in the sky and maybe switch around some of the top characteristics.

As with all worldbuilding, you can sample the most pertinent characteristics of a particular aspect of your world for the purposes of your story’s narration, and leave the rest on a master sheet of notes for you, the author, to reference. This will be useful when it comes time to edit, so you have something for yourself to look back on and compare your writing for consistency in background details.

Wootzel: You mention star movement and alignments, and I’m a little lost about what you mean. If my explanation seems a little basic I apologize, I’m just not sure we’re on the same page. 

Space is so vast that most stars don’t appear to move to us, at all. They do not change position relative to each other. The exceptions are planets in our own system, and a handful of wandering bodies like comets, because they’re close enough that we can see them moving around relative to the more distant stars. Everything else is so far away that it appears static in the sky. 

So, all you really need in order to keep your stars consistent is decide where they are relative to each other and the horizon from any particular place on your planet, then see how your axial tilt will make them seem to move around when the seasons change. If you keep Earth’s tilt, you have an easy example to work from. Some stars will always be visible from a given hemisphere (like the Big Dipper in the northern hemisphere) and ones that tend to hang out closer to the horizon will probably wander in and out of visibility with the seasons.

Thus, if you mention that X constellation appears one month after Y constellation in the winter, just keep that consistent. Keep track of what you determined to be near what else, and you won’t run into any nonsensical star movements :)

#google submitted #planets #stars

[countlessrealities]

@statiicstag from HERE

A voice. Dreamlike, it carries across the room and through the ruin; the words drift to his ears which twitch with acknowledgement. Alastor himself sits slumped against his desk in the mess that remains of his radio tower, a bloody heap.

It would appear that this voice in particular will always be able to snap him into some state of consciousness, even now. How unfortunate.

Crimson eyes creak open, and though his grin widens the emotion he feels is a far cry from joy as he takes in the face in front of him. If this is how and where he expires for good, he would rather do it alone, and not under the watchful eye of . . . someone he does not know how to put a name to. He will blame blood loss on the lack of ability to come up with a proper term.

Radio static crackles around them, permeating his voice in his weakened state and making it rather hard to understand the words that attempt to slip from a mouth that drips blood.

❝ Is that so? You've a rather fine opportunity to do so now, then. ❞ Alastor replies, somehow still having the ability to muster up some cheek as he moves his arms to his sides. The movement exposes the severity of his wound and just how much crimson drips from it, a trail leading from what remains of the door to him.

He's not truly offering himself up. He knows good and well Vox won't take the opportunity. If that were the case, he'd had already done so.

❝ It's rude to keep a man waiting, you know. ❞

Vox scowls at Alastor's comeback. It doesn't surprise him, of course, because the crazy motherfucker always had to be the one on top of the situation...even when he obviously was not. It's annoying as hell, just as the taunting in itself. It almost makes him regret his decision to leave the Tower and risk getting caught in the mess that surrounds what's left of the Hotel. Without even grabbing his jacket.

Why in the seven Rings does he like this guy again?

"I wouldn't call it a 'fine opportunity'. There's no satisfaction in striking down someone who's already dying on their own," the Overlord scoffs, making a show of rolling his eyes even if his rival probably can't see that. "You look like shit and I have more class than that."

Of course, things are much more complicated than that. For as much as he enjoys seeing the Radio Demon getting his ass kicked and reduced to this sort of pitiful mess, he doesn't actually want him to meet his double death. For reasons he'd rather not dwell on.

The static echoes unpleasantly through his speakers as he steps forward, crouching down in front of Alastor to better assess the damage. He can't fully see the wound with the clothes in the way, but it's obvious that it's bad, and the amount of blood the bastard has already lost is all the confirmation he needs.

Vox's eyes dart around, scanning their surroundings. There's no way there could be anything sort of first aid kit in that wreck, assuming that Alastor has something of the sort to start with. Well, shit. He can see only one working option left there.

"But since you don't like to be left waiting, you leave me just one choice..." He starts again, standing up.

His voice trails off, purposefully leaving the other hanging so he can grab him while he's distracted. Under other circumstances, daring something like that would probably get him killed, but he's confidence that the other is too weak for that right now.

"You're paying for my dry cleaner," he announces. properly adjusting his arms around the Radio Demon, one hooked under his legs and the other holding his back. "Blood is a bitch to wash off."

#[ threads :: Vox ] #&& Alastor || statiicstag #[ v. Trust us with your future! ; main verse :: Vox ] #statiicstag #[[ this is the longest run for popcorn in the history of Hell xD ]] #[[ Vel & Val be like 'wtf did he go harvest the corn himself' ]]

[an-otterly-adorable-being]

Well, y'all told me I should post my random little snippets, so here's one of em. I didn't really know how to end it but yeah. Enjoy!

Untitled Alastor Snippet

"...I'm sorry?"

"Ohoho, you heard me Alastor, I've got all your little contracts now, took control of 'em because you couldn't manage them yourself."

"Oh, Vox, you seem to be confused. See, if you had done that, I'd turn you into a pile of circuits underneath my heel."

"Feel free to, it won't bring them back to you."

"You little-"

"If you'll excuse me, I have actually important things to do today. But hey, Alastor, guess what."

"...What?"

"I win."

     Vox's voice cut out, leaving only static to fill the space. Alastor stood in his tower overlooking Pentagram City, at the Vs' tower glimmering in the distance, pondering this development. Vox had told him that all his owned souls belonged to that overrated, pompous triumvirate. Vox wouldn't say exactly how, some loophole he found in Al's contracts. But that was impossible, they were airtight, right? What could Vox, that conniving snake, done to make that happen. Alastor tried to summon his contracts but he couldn't. Vox was telling the truth. No, there had to be something Alastor could do, something he could-

"Alastor, behind you."

     Alastor looked behind him to see Husk leaning on the door frame. He had his arms crossed with an odd look on his face. Alastor couldn't place it. Almost like a mix of anger and confidence. Smug while still being indifferent, kind of.

"Ah, Husker, just the man I wanted to see. Vox took over my radio show and told me that-"

"He owns you're contracts?"

"Yes. How did you-"

"I'm gonna talk now, and you're going to listen, understood?"

"Husker, I-"

"Understood?"

     Husk had gotten more stern, clearly not willing to back down from this. And without the contract for Husk's soul, it wasn't like Alastor could do much. And so, he stood silently.

"Vox is right, all of what you owned is his now, and that includes me. I'm the one who helped him in the first place."

"Husker, your mediocre humor is not what I need right now."

"Good thing I'm not joking then."

"Husk, you wouldn't."

"I did."

"Then I should turn you into a stain and make your fur a rug for my room."

"Oh yeah? I'd love to see you explain that to Charlie and her dad. Lucifer would make any of your fancy threats seem like a joke."

     Husk hadn't moved from his spot, but Alastor had. The threads of his demon form had begun revealing themselves. The stitching, the antlers, the distant cry. Alastor was towering over Husk at this point, but the only movement Husk made was to stop leaning and stand upright, defiantly.

"Face it Al, if you were gonna do anything you would've by now. But you haven't, and you never will, because you can't afford to lose the respect of anyone. You can't stand the idea of someone not liking you, and to be honest, Charlie's the only who tolerates you being around here. Act high and mighty all you want, but without Charlie's support, you're the same emotional mess you were when you left the city."

     Alastor, seeing Husk refuse to back down and having his bluff called, began turning back into his normal form as he talked.

"Husker, I just don't understand, I thought we were friends."

"We were never friends Alastor, if you didn't see that, then you're just as blind as Vox says you are. All I was, was a trophy to prove how incredible you were."

"Do not bring Vox into this."

"Why not? He owns me now, and quite frankly, I've got a pretty good deal. I'll have to work away from the hotel sometimes, but I'll be compensated, which is more than you ever did for me. Plus, it'd let me keep a closer eye on Angel."

"Ah yes, how could I forget you're little fling."

     At that comment, Husk stood up straighter, and began moving towards Alastor. Alastor tried to stand his ground but quickly found himself backpedaling.

"You know, I was tempted to come up here and beat your ass, but Angel told me not to. He said you didn't deserve that much of my time, and he was right. Look at you, the big bad radio demon, scared of being confronted on equal footing."

"Husk-"

"Here. My last drink for you, ever. Don't talk to me again, got it?"

     Husk turned and left leaving a bottle of cognac in Alastor's hands. As the door closed behind Husk, the radio demon found his anger bubbling. He quickly smashed the bottle of cognac against a wall, before wrecking anything he could get his hands on.

#hazbin fanfic #hazbin hotel husk #hazbin hotel #hazbin alastor #hazbin hotel alastor #snippet #hazbin vox

[2fox2furious]

A Glitch in the System Part 8

In terms of finding Francis, the token was a lifesaver, but his footprints were something else entirely. Stanley walked besides them, quickening his stride to match what he imagines Francis's must've been to get footprints that far apart. It was the sort of progress he secretly believed he would never get.

The further along the trail he went, the stranger the footsteps seemed to get. They were still... human. Or at least enough to trick him, he wasn't exactly well versed in this sort of thing.

But, as a human, he knew the marks accompanying those footsteps were not normal. Each step left behind those sort of markings you'd find when lightning strikes wood. The name alluded him, he thought it started with an L perhaps. Whatever. The name didn't matter. What mattered was finding Francis.

And he was on his way.

"Francis?" He called out repeatedly, voice growing stronger each time. "Francis?"

He didn't notice the faint noise at first. It was barely audible over the creaks and groans of the trees, or the whistling of the wind, or that static sound that only got louder with time. But, it kept happening again and again, until finally, he heard it.

"Stanley?"

It was quiet, and it was distant, but it was there. He was there.

Stanley ran in the direction of the voice, arm outstretched as if the noise was something he could grab if he just reached far enough.

"Francis? Where are you?"

"Stanley..." Francis's voice was louder then, but no more clear than before. If anything, the static grew in volume too. "Stanley, you need to turn around and go back. Please."

Those words only made Stanley run faster. "I'm not leaving without you! I told you this," he called out, drawing in deep, gasping breaths.

Stanley burst into a clearing and there he was: Francis, stood like a deer in the headlights. He was in his glitched out form, complete with all the clock faces and lines and yellow glow that came along with it.

"Stanley...I told you to go. It's not safe, and—"

Stanley cut him off. "You always say that. Do you want me to go because you don't want to see me?"

"No, of course not!"

"Okay." He held out his hand. "So let's get out of this thing together."

Francis took a hesitant step forward. Then another. And another. Stanley watched those little cracks shoot through the ground in fascination, tracing over them with his mind as Francis got closer.

But the cracks only got bigger.

There was practically no warning before the ground split between them, dirt and rocks crumbling down into the river of nothingness below. Blinded by a bright yellow light, Stanley stumbled back, gripping for anything he could use to steady himself.

"Stanley? Are you alright?"

Stanley straightened up, coughing out dirt and dust. "Yeah. You?"

"Yes. Yes, I'm fine." Francis stepped close to the edge, staring down at the abyss. The world had stopped shaking but every movement sent a little more of the ground tumbling down into the nothingness. "Goodness Stanley, what are we going to do about this?"

Stanley didn't hesitate. "Jump."

"What? No, no I'm not going to jump. What are you talking about?"

"You need to get over here. Simple. Jump. It's not that far."

"It's not that—" Francis stopped himself with an exasperated breath. "Can't I just go around?"

Stanley stared at the dirt slowing trickling down into the pit. He was afraid to move a muscle. "Be my guest. See where that gets you."

Francis was silent for a moment, before he let out a sharp breath. "Fine. Fine, you're right. And what if I do jump? What then?"

"Well...either you make it or I catch you and pull you up. Simple."

"Wh—no, not simple!" He spluttered. "If you try that it'll do nothing but pull you down with me."

"Eh."

"Eh? Stanley, you are—" He pressed a hand to his forehead. "Goodness, I don't know how you do it. Fine, fine. Stand back please."

Stanley obliged, taking the slightest step back he could, eyes trained on Francis. He watched the way he moved back, the way he took in a steadying breath. And the way he jumped.

They both knew it was a stupid idea. But it really looked like Francis was going to make it. The gap wasn't horribly wide, and Francis had gotten a good leap.

And yet, out of all the things that could've gone wrong, neither of them accounted for the glitch.

Stanley saw what was happening a second before it happened. The air crackled as Francis's body shifted, his skin cracking with a bright yellow glow. And he froze. Partway through the air, his momentum stopped, and he just hovered there, unnaturally suspended in a burst of light.

"No! No no no." Stanley looked around, mind rapidly assessing the situation. If Francis unfroze where he was, he'd fall. If his momentum continued, he'd probably make it, but was that worth the risk?

Stanley swore, inching closer to the edge. If he could just...reach forward and pull him closer. He didn't think it would take much force, he just wasn't sure if he could get close enough without falling. That wouldn't help either of them.

But Francis's hand, mid-jump, was outstretched. And Stanley took it.

Immediately, it felt like he was being shocked. Stanley immediately recoiled from the familiar pain, but he caught himself before he let go. No, he could put up with it for a little longer. He tightened his grip, gritting his teeth as he took a step back, dragging the still frozen Francis along with him. Every second he kept a hold on Francis the pain just worsened, going from a light prickling to a sharp jolt to something he didn't even have words to describe.

But Francis was moving. Step by step, he floated closer to the edge, until suddenly, his eyes snapped open.

And he fell.

Stanley gave him one final tug, and Francis flew into him, knocking them both to the ground. It felt like there were knives stabbing into Stanley's skin, but he still wrapped his arms around him, too afraid to let go.

"Francis," He said, voice muffled from the pain he was trying to restrain.

Francis groaned, one taloned hand moving to rub at his eyes. "What—what happened?"

"You're okay Francis. We're okay," he choked out. He shifted out from beneath him, heaving as the electricity left his skin.

"I don't know—"

Stanley pressed a finger to his lips, and compared to the pain he'd experienced moments prior, this light prickling felt almost pleasant. "I'll fill you in later, okay? We need to go. What are we looking for?"

Francis pushed himself up until he was sitting as comfortably as he could. "I think...the doors are our best choice still."

"And what do they look like?"

"Stanley, goodness it's been so long, well...it was made of dark wood I think. Yes, I liked that material back then."

A dark wood. He'd seen that before, he was sure of it. But...

"Francis! I know where that is!"

"You do?"

Stanley hadn't felt the lightness he'd felt then in a long time. "Yeah, yeah I think so! I—" he laughed "—I tripped over it on my way to find you."

"And you didn't just go through and go home?"

"Of course not. I said I wasn't leaving without you. Now come on." When Stanley reached for Francis's hand, it was normal again, the skin warm under his. He smiled. "I don't know how we're gonna find it but...we will."

"I know." Francis picked something shiny off the ground, before dropping it into Stanley's hand. "Here, don't forget this."

It was the token. It must've fallen out of his pocket when he'd fallen. "Francis, can this take me to locations too?"

"I'm unsure. It did so back in the parable, but never as reliably as when trying to find a person, or a recognizable object. And, well, this isn't the parable."

He nodded, frowning. Okay, so not locations. He hadn't gotten this far to risk something on chance. Well, again. No, he needed something else... something specific.

He froze. He knew what to do.

Francis recognized the wild look in his eyes. "Stanley...what are you thinking?"

Stanley held the token up to the light. "Take me to the consolation bucket."

#the stanley parable #tsp #tsp narrator #the stanley parable narrator #tspud #tsp stanley #fox's writing #tsp fanfic #tsp au

[thoselethalarts]

A couple of those ask things I'm curious about

2. Is it easier to draw someone facing left or right (or forward even)

4. Fav character/subject that's a bitch to draw

7. A medium of art you don't work in but appreciate

10. Favorite piece of clothing to draw

12. Easiest part of body to draw

14. Any favorite motifs

30. What piece of yours do you think is underrated

2. Is it easier to draw someone facing left or right (or forward even)?

You know, I haven't really thought about it much before 🤔 I feel like left vs right is about the same difficulty level for me to draw, both for 3/4 view and for profile view. Though 3/4 view is probably easier for me to draw of the perspectives. Front-facing is fun too to see a facial structure from a different perspective- literally!

4. Fav character/subject that's a bitch to draw?

WEAPONS! Dear god I am AWFUL at drawing weapons, all of them. Guns, knives, swords, bats, whips, spears, crossbows, morning stars, brass knuckles... I am absolutely dogshit at drawing weaponry without some kind of direct reference to trace over, which really sucks because I love weapons and think they're super cool! I have so much respect for people that design their own weapons, especially the ones that have to work with time period-specific limitations (lookin at you, Vinland Saga)

Also as a side note: fuck shoes. I can't draw shoes (or feet) for shit. Every time I draw a shoe I hope ya'll know that it took me at least 5 different references and a 3D model in order to make that happen.

7. A medium of art you don't work in but appreciate?

Pixel artists and animation, ESPECIALLY animation. I simply do not have the patience for any of it, especially hand-drawn animation; I took a class for it in high school years ago and while I did just fine in the class it made me realize that I do NOT have the patience for the medium. 3D animation was a little easier for me but I'm still not skilled enough at timing and distortion to satisfy my creative image.

Also I have so much respect for pixel artists you wouldn't believe. I used to use Fireworks to fill out pixel art bases on DeviantART over a decade ago and while I did have fun with what I did and could still theoretically do it now, it'll never look as nice as I want it to look in my head 😔

10. Favorite piece of clothing to draw?

Jackets and sweaters, but also I LOVE drawing things like scarves and capes that can billow in the wind and shift with the movement of the wearer, cuz it adds a whole new dimension of action to what could otherwise be a static pose!

Also also I'm a sucker for fishnets 😊

12. Easiest part of body to draw?

So fun fact about me- I actually LOVE to draw human anatomy. Whenever I draw a character I always start by fully drawing out the character's physical anatomy, and then I draw the clothes, hair, and faces on top of that! Here's some sketches from the Soul Archive to show my semi-chaotic workflow~

So I guess the answer is anything that isn't feet is easy for me to draw lol

14. Any favorite motifs?

Repeated phrases/symbols that initially appear to have no meaning but then the meaning becomes abundantly clear in hindsight as it's revealed throughout the story, or alternatively a phrase/symbol that has a specific meaning that's relevant only to the initial introduction of it which changes over time to mean something entirely new, symbolizing the growth and evolution of the character/identity that uses it, or the shift in tone/focus of the overall story.

EX: "It's eternity in there." and "Longer than you think." - Emesis Blue "One of us must die." - The Doomstar Requiem additionally: The Open Hand - Army of the Doomstar / SOS - Dethklok

30. What piece of yours do you think is underrated?

Oh, EASY. My slipknot-inspired TWST piece I'm still incredibly proud of (even if I've redesigned Phobos since then)

#soul speaks #ask game #ask meme

[codenamehazard]

InFAMOUS Headcanon: Winter Woes

Hey guys! For those of us who's winters are cold, dry and chock full of static, you know the struggles. Hair frizzing more readily, socks and sweaters clinging to each-other for dear life after a tumble in the dryer, carpets, fuzzy clothes and doorknobs seeming to conspire against you and things are sticking to you more than you'd like... And this is just the stuff in the home going on. Outside, it's cold, sometimes it's icy and slushy, sometimes the winds are vicious and bitter and while the fluff white snow is a mostly welcome sight during the holiday season, after that, it's a slushy grey sloppy mess that has overstayed it's welcome.

But all this has got me thinking... What would Cole MacGrath feel about the grief that winter likes to cause?

So in honor of being shocked a little too much from metal doorknobs, here's my thoughts on the Electric Man and how he would deal with the static nightmare that is winter.

As stated before in a previous post I made, if Empire City's climate is anything like the city it was modeled after, than Cole MacGrath is no stranger to crap weather, including snow.

Though while Cole has a love/hate relationship with rain and thunderstorms, he strongly dislikes snow. The only thing it's good for is getting him days off if it's really bad and even then he has mixed emotions on it because, most likely, if he doesn't work that day, he doesn't get paid. Which isn't a good thing.

When he's getting ready to make his rounds, his brows would furrow and his lips would curl into a sneer if the forecast shows that the weather was gonna be shit. Rainy days he could tolerate, yeah they're wet and miserable and the roads are a bit on the slick side, but it's bearable.

Winter weather was a whole 'nother animal.

Even bundled up as much as he could, thermals and all, the wind as he rides and the cold fury of Mother Nature tears through the protective layers of clothing. Chilling him to the bone. Even the warmth produced by his movements is negated by the sweat that comes from exercise. It's even more hellish when he's stuck standing still for any reason, but the reason for his irritation is the roads.

Wet roads you can see, icy roads you often can't.

Black ice everywhere, making every road and bridge a potential death-trap for cars, literally metal cages on wheels. Can you imagine how dangerous those same conditions would be for a lone man riding a bicycle? It also doesn't help that, for some damn reason, people drive like idiots in snowy conditions. Making the roads all the more dangerous for Cole as he goes about his job.

Even on his proper days off, the snow and cold are nuisances. Parkour is dangerous enough, even with as seasoned of a practitioner as he is, icy rooftops and slick poles make things even too risky for him.

I guess he could go out with Zeke and Trish for sledding shenanigans, but knowing both Cole and Zeke and their tendency towards mischief, there's probably a lot of making ramps out of snow and a lot of yelling from Trish about the two guys (mainly her daredevil of a boyfriend) launching themselves airborne with the ramps.

On the whole though, all MacGrath wants to do is stay indoors as much as possible, be it in a bar with Zeke, curled up in his bed, escaping the cold with a nice warm shower/bath or all snuggled up on a couch under a cozy blanket with Trish watching "Home Alone."

His relationship with the cold worsens after the blast.

Now we don't really get to see much of what goes down in the year between InFAMOUS 1 and InFAMOUS 2 aside from what we see in the InFAMOUS comics, but I can imagine that the winter for that year was an absolute nightmare for the Demon of Empire City.

Everywhere he went, the air felt charged and buzzing. Sparks seemed to jump off him at random. Even after getting his powers under control, the dry air seemed to be the perfect storm for people to be zapped by accident. Touching him was like getting zapped by a doorknob, he was even more likely to accidentally fry electronics. Clothes and small light objects like plastic bags, thin pieces of paper and the like clung to him incessantly. It seemed like no matter how many times he'd discharge his body to get things to stop sticking to him and to make it so that he's not zapping every doorknob, shocking damn near every rando on the street and short-circuiting every piece of tech he wants to use, it's almost like the cold, dry, static-y air would just charge him back up again and he's back to fighting rogue sweaters and marauding foil decorations.

It also doesn't help that his main mode of getting around involves him zooming around on wires or the third rail of the train, friction from the wind and the electricity from the wires charging him up even more.

The parkour issue may have been resolved thanks to him not getting hurt from falling, but I'd think that landing wrong would still suck. His attacks probably have more punch too thanks to the added charge, but other than that, there were more negatives than positives in regards to being a living battery in the winter time.

Even indoors, Cole's powers cause issues for him. The constant charge of power makes him antsy, so being cooped up inside is irritating, when he and Zeke are on somewhat better terms, grabbing a beer has it's issues of being surrounded by bodies and those bodies are most likely gonna get a zap, electronics are still wigging out... Sleep has become an elusive thing, so he can't really enjoy being in his bed. With Trish gone, being under the covers on the couch feels just as cold as the winter air, he can't even find solace in the warm waters of a shower or a bath as the water would kill him and sponge bathing just doesn't cut it.

Cole MacGrath may have never been a fan of the winter weather, but after the blast, his feelings towards the ice and snow has turned from a strong dislike to straight up loathing.

He couldn't wait for warm weather to come and winter to be over.

#xeno's headcanons #xeno rambles #infamous 2 #InFAMOUS #InFAMOUS headcanons #cole macgrath #winter weather

[acrazybayernfan]

hello lise <33333 for football ask i would like to chose tiki-taka, offside and stadium

Hello Iz <3333 and thank you for the ask !

Tiki-taka : What style of football do you appreciate the most ?

I like offensive football (okay very offensive football) with a hight-defensive line, intense pressing, a lot of movements of the ball and of the players, players positioned between the lines, not a lot of touch to accelerate the rhythm, possession but not static possession, total football with the implication of everyone in the offensive tasks and in the defensive tasks, rather quick offensive actions but still constructed something between just quick transitions and long slow repetition of passes.

Off-side : Are you for or against VAR ?

I'm against it mostly because, for me, it cause an epistemological problem. With VAR we consider that image gives a better access to truth and reality and than live witness, it's as if we consider that one knows a country better if he sees a postcard of it than if he travels there. Of course an image can enlighten some aspects of the reality but it can't give a complete access to the reality. Sometimes the aspect enlighten by the images of the VAR is useful to determine what is fair but sometimes it's not. For example slow motions makes a lot of contact looks much more important than they really are. And there is no way to determine before hand if the image will enlighten the right thing or not. Of course I understand that people want to make football more fair but I don't think that in the last years football was fairer than before. Without talking about the errors made by the VAR, sometimes a strict application of the rule isn't just, for example I don't think that judging if a player is offside or not for a few centimeters is fair because the defender didn't really acted to make the opposite player offside while the offensive player was really trying to be onside. There is so much to say about that but I will stop here or this will really be too long : )

Stadium : Is there a stadium that you want to visit aside from the stadium of your club ?

The Signal Iduna Park, the atmosphere and the experience looks really unique.

#thank you so much for taking the time to send me these questions #sending you a kiss my dear #ask #football ask