#night falls fanfic

[unstablerk800]

𝕹𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙 𝕱𝖆𝖑𝖑𝖘

Rating: Mature

Summary: Thousands of androids were freed in Markus's revolution. Connor and Nines are working together to solve a mysterious death, and they start to doubt that the stories of vampires are only fiction. Night falls, and there's something in the dark in Detroit...

Chapter 01.

Chapter 02. 🔽

Read on Ao3.

Word count: 9,457 (whoops)

Connor's LED blinked with yellow as he started the call, 8 AM sharp. He didn't need a phone himself, he could just connect to the line with his mind palace. Gale picked up on the third ring, only pushing her arm out from under the blanket to grab her phone. She cracked an eye open and stared at the unfamiliar number, swiping her finger on the green button.

"Yeah?"

Her sleepy grunt made him raise his brows in surprise. He honestly thought she'd be awake by then, maybe he miscalculated the probability for that.

"Good morning, I'm Connor."

Gale kicked the blanket off of her body at once, and sat up as if lightning struck her.

"Oh hi, Connor!" She couldn't possibly hide the excitement in her voice, but of course, she didn't even try to. It was so nice to hear his voice again. "How are you?"

"I'm okay." He paused. "I apologize, I wasn't aware I was calling you so early."

"It's alright, you can call me anytime", she reassured him with a big smile on her face as she ran a hand in her messed up hair. "What's up? I'm free in the morning, wanna meet?"

Please say yes, she crossed her fingers on her free hand. Yes. All of them.

"Actually, yes", he replied, and she threw her fist in the air, scrunching up her face in the happiest grimace she had in the world. "I was thinking of visiting the CyberLife Zoo today, and I hoped you'd like to accompany me."

"I'd love to!" She swung her feet off the bed and stood up, jumping around happily a few times.

"Good. Approximately how much time do you need to get ready?"

Gale looked at herself in the mirror, pressing her free hand on her mouth. How much time? If she skipped breakfast... if she just had a very quick shower, dressed up, combed her hair and brushed her teeth...

"Fifteen minutes", she decided, already walking up to her wardrobe to open it and look for an appropriate dress.

"Alright. I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

"Okay, see ya!"

Gale jumped a few times in front of her wardrobe to get out some pent up energy from herself, then picked out a black dress, black leather pants and soft, warm socks. Sure, she'd need to be as fast as lightning – she was aware androids were painfully punctual –, so she made a dash for the bathroom.

She just finished pulling up the zip of her boots when there was a knock on the door. She tried her best not to look way too excited, but then again, androids always knew everything anyway. She picked up her keys, put her coat on, and opened the door, looking up at Connor.

"Hey, Mr. Punctual", she flashed a smile at him. It was rather chilly, it started to snow again, and he had a few white snowflakes in his hair and on his shoulders. "Aren't you cold?"

"It's not that bad." He did rub his hands together though. "It's warmer in the car."

"Yeah?" She turned to lock the door of her house.

"I turned up the heat for you."

"That's really nice of you", she glanced back at him, turning again.

They smiled at each other. She realised just now that how many freckles he had, but she couldn't really focus on them. His eyes were too distracting.

"Shall we go?" He asked, snapping her out of her staring.

"Yeah, let's go."

He opened the passenger seat's door for her, she thanked him, and got in. He was quick to walk over to the driver's seat to get in as well.

"Is this car yours?" She asked as she buckled her up. It looked like an old one, but it had a certain charm about it. "I thought you'd drive one of those automatic cars."

"This is my friend's", Connor buckled up as well, then started to drive. Despite the car's age, he was driving smoothly. "I promised him I'd get gas for it on the way back home."

"You live at your friend's?"

He nodded as he was looking at the road.

"Yes. Until I can save up enough to have a house of my own."

Gale knew that since Markus had won rights for androids, they'd get paid for their work. She figured he hadn't received a payment yet, no matter his job. His uniform wasn't familiar to her at all. And that got her curious. Everything about him was interesting to her.

"What's your occupation?"

Connor stopped at a red light and looked at her, mimicking a little smile her way.

"It often makes people uneasy, so would it be a problem if I didn't tell about it now?"

"No way!" She gasped. "Are you a math's professor? That certainly would make me uneasy!"

"No", Connor realised it was so easy to crack a genuine smile in her presence.

"Oh no", she whispered a second later, "are you a forensic pathologist?"

"No", he shook his head with still the little smile.

"Makes people nervous..." She wondered as she glanced out of the window, then she glanced back at Connor, gasping theatrically again. "Oh God! You're a tax agent!"

He couldn't help the laughter that bubbled up from inside of him. She liked to see him laugh, and she had hoped she would be able to do it as often as possible.

"No."

"Alright, fine, Mr. Mysterious", she pouted a little – in a playful way. "Do you enjoy your job?"

"I think I do", Connor raised his brows a bit, his smile fading. "Actually... I've never thought about that."

"Well, androids often realise they'd like to do something else after they're freed", Gale shrugged, smiling a little. "Maybe you'll discover a hobby you can turn into a profit which has nothing to do with your current occupation."

"Such as?" Connor couldn't help but glance at her face for a moment with a curious expression.

"Well, I've met Zara who likes to work at animal shelters", Gale explained. "She has a really good connection with dogs and cats. Or there's Piper, who got obsessed with crocheting. But it's fine if you want to keep your profession; I know a farm android who still enjoys working in the field, he enjoys growing plants and vegetables and fruits. Sometimes he brings me big bouquets of flowers", she smiled as she glanced out at the street.

"Why does he do that?" Connor furrowed his brows.

"He likes me, I think", she chuckled quietly. "He's a bit skittish; doesn't really like other people. But I work in a library and he often comes in, and when he does, he brings me flowers because I'm always helping him find books for his garden."

"Do you like getting flowers?" Connor stopped at another red light, and scanned her face when he turned his head to look at her again.

"Well, the sad thing about flowers is that they wilt and die", she admitted with a little smile. "But that's just how life works for us, right? As a human, I wilt a little every day." She shrugged. "It's nice to be reminded that I'm not permanent. And those flowers he brings, well... those are the best of his garden. I know, because he told me that they are. They come in beautiful colours, just before they bloom, so they're the most beautiful after he'd brought them to me, and even in a vase they can survive for weeks before they start to wilt. It's very nice of him to give me the best he has grown with his hands. I think, yes, I like getting flowers from him; I appreciate it. There's so much work in growing a flower from a seed. So much care and love. And he gives them to me when they're the most beautiful."

Connor's LED spun with yellow as he looked at the road again. He couldn't quite understand why was it a good thing to be reminded that one would die one day; if anything, the thought had always brought him dread. He didn't want to cease. He didn't want to be in the abyss, the nothingness of the end.

Gale let the silence sit between them, she let him process her words and the meaning behind them. Only when his hand gripped the wheel tighter did she clear her throat and decided to change the subject back to the main topic to ease the stress she assumed was working within him.

"So maybe one day you'll find something you like more than your occupation", she glanced at her hands and smirked at them. "Maybe music? I could teach you the guitar", she offered with a little smirk.

"Guitar?"

She was glad the offer yanked him out of his train of thought. Gale wiggled a bit on her seat.

"I'm playing in a band in my freetime", she admitted. "Maybe you'd like to make music."

"What sort of music do you play?"

"Rock and pop, mainly. Our band plays old music. 30-40 years old songs are so great. The world was so different back then."

And she started to speak about the songs and bands and why she liked them and Connor listened as he was driving.

He quickly realised he liked the sound of her voice, and he wished he'd be able to listen to her talking about the things she loved all day.

~*~

He had made a mistake by coming here.

Clearly, this had to be the worst decision he'd made ever since he'd been activated. And that's a big thing, because he'd agreed to be Gavin Reed's partner, and up until now, nothing could beat that.

Come think of it... most of his decisions were bad. He quickly dismissed that thought, though.

A moment ago he was ready to go but seeing the bright smile on Grace's face when she noticed him – damn it! – made him stay. She seemed to be different from the humans he'd met before; her openness and the brightness of her smile confused him, but also made him want to see it more.

What was this irrational craving?

He knew there was a problem in his software – he was a deviant, after all –, but Nines had a nagging feeling in his circuits that maybe, just maybe, he should get himself checked. His mere presence in the book reading club made the other androids nervous. He knew, because he monitored their stress levels, and it rose with each and every model. They were clearly aware what he was created for originally. Only Grace seemed to appear like she didn't mind him being there, on the contrary, she seemed happy that he joined.

Nobody looked happy when he appeared anywhere. The happiness in her eyes was odd for him. Unusual.

"Alright, you can take a seat here", she brought a chair over for him and settled it beside hers. They were sitting in a circle; now the number with him had grown to nine, Grace included. "Ironically, you're the ninth to join our little circle", she smiled up at him, handing him a book. "This is what we're reading. We've started it recently, but we're progressing slowly, and we're still in the mood for Halloween."

Nines stared at the title. Bram Stoker's Dracula. Quirking a brow, he sat down at the same time she did, his back as straight as, well, an android's. Grace smiled at the others who looked so much more relaxed than Nines.

"Alright. Let's go through the rules again. Whenever we read, we start a one minute timer, and we finish the last sentence when the time is up. I'll start, then we'll go around that way", she motioned towards the other android who sat on her other side.

She took a look at the clock, then she started to read. To his surprise, it was pleasant to listen to a story told by someone else. Nines furrowed his brows as he was paying attention; the first android seamlessly continuing the story after she finished it. One by one, they all fulfilled the task, but when it was his turn, his voice module stopped working.

"Are you alright?" Grace asked him and he nodded, staring at the paragraph he wanted to read out loud, to no avail. "It's not unusual for androids' voice module to shut down when they try this for the first time", she informed him soothingly, pointing it out that it's totally a normal reaction and nobody judged him – which made his LED spin to life in amber as his stress level started to rise even more. "It's okay. You can skip reading today, if you'd like to."

Relieved, he nodded again, and she continued reading the story. Round after round, Nines couldn't get himself to function as he wanted himself to, only making himself angry and almost desperate. He wanted to pass the test so much that he failed it.

After the reading club, one of the other androids talked to her, and Nines couldn't help but listen in.

"I wish you'd hold these events every day, Grace."

"I can't", she laughed quietly, "I need some time away from the library, Oliver. I have things to do outside of it, too."

"Too bad", Oliver smiled at her, "I really enjoy reading with you."

"Well, come back next time, too!"

"Of course, I will."

Once the others left, Nines was still indecisive about talking to her or just leaving all of it be. But in the end, he didn't need to start talking because she walked up to him and she did.

"Are you okay?" When he nodded, she reassuringly touched his arm. He looked bewildered at that, but didn't move away from her hand. "We all shut down sometimes, Nines. It really is okay. Maybe next time, you'll be able to read to us."

"I don't know what happened", it broke out of him when she let his arm go and turned half away from him. At his words, she glanced back up in his eyes. "I thought... that it'd be easy."

"Perhaps the audience set you off", she shrugged, "maybe you don't like to talk in front of strangers?"

"I haven't noticed that I can't until now", he furrowed his brows.

"Then maybe it's tied to reading. That you don't know what happens next. But believe me, it's so exciting when a the story takes you to a new place with those who're listening! In any case, if you want to keep going with this exploration, you're welcome to return to the reading club of course. I'm so happy you came! See you next time, Nines!"

Nines opened his mouth to reply something – anything – but she was already turning around and away, walking back behind the counter. He closed his mouth and furrowed his brows when a message came in. Reed was calling him to a scene. Nines informed him that he'd be there in thirty minutes, and left the library.

Reed already was there with other investigators to size it up and gather evidence.

"Where've you been?" Gavin snapped at the android who looked just as stoic as always. "You're late!"

"I've informed you beforehand that it'd take me thirty minutes to arrive", Nines replied nonchalantly, earning a scoff from Gavin.

"Shut up tin can and do your thing."

Nines said nothing and tried his best to ignore the Detective's tone. Gavin always had been like this; crude and rude, to him, to everyone, so he tried not to care.

The abandoned building had been equipped with lights to see things better, but there were only a few things worth investigating in there: two of them were a pile of ash and some dried blood. After spending a few minutes at the crime scene, he gathered data from the blood, the ash, and also found a strand of hair, identifying it in a blink before he gave it to Gavin's team.

"What did you find?" Gavin snapped at him.

Nines straightened his back as he glanced down at Gavin. Reed was about half a head shorter than him, and his expression made Nines uneasy.

"Nothing solid", he stated nonchalantly.

"Then what are you good for?!"

Gavin shoved his shoulder before he walked out of the building to light a cigarette, while Nines already set himself to find the suspect.

~*~

"It's been a while since I've been to a zoo", Gale admitted as they walked through the vast, luxurious looking gates of the CyberLife Zoo. She smiled up at the carved animals. "And never to this one."

"I've gathered that it can be arranged to pet specific ones", Connor stated, who, instead, found it hard to look away from her face when she wasn't paying attention and especially, when she was smiling.

"Really?" She smiled up at him. "We could pet a tiger? Or a lion??" For him, it was endearing how excited she became at the thought. "How cool that would be!"

"Let's get a map", Connor advised, and she picked out one from the stand nearby. They stopped walking once they've gotten out of the way of the crowd, and he leaned closer to her as she opened the map to look at it. He could pick up the scent of her perfume, and decided he liked it. "I wasn't aware it was this huge", he noted. Running a quick calculation, he raised his brows. "It'll take us four hours to check out everything, if we spend five seconds at each enclosure."

"Five seconds??" Gale had to laugh and looked up at him, noticing how close he was, but she wasn't at all embarrassed or nervous about that. On the contrary. She blushed. That was very different from how humans reacted to him, so it left Connor a little confused. "You know, what? I'll have band practice before our gig tonight at five, we can wander around until four, then."

Connor tilted his head, a bit confused. Sure, she could eat and drink, the zoo had restrooms, but she would spend her entire day with him here?

"Won't you get tired?" He asked softly, making her laugh.

"Don't worry about me getting tired", she beamed, "let's go! I'd like to see as much as we can! And not for five seconds, okay?"

"Sure", he smiled back, and they started to walk.

"I gotta pick up a sandwich and caf, but I can eat and drink while we're on our way."

They located a buffet not too far away from the entrance, and she picked a sandwich and coffee after she handed the map to Connor. Then, they were walking towards the first enclosure. Despite that it was very cold that day, people didn't mind it around them; there were a lot of them. Connor was searching for a janitor or caretaker, but he found none so far.

"I know what's your job", she said suddenly as they were walking to the next enclosure. He cocked a brow as he glanced down at her; making her heart flutter in her chest. He looked ethereal with his beautiful brown eyes, almost angelic with how the snow fell in his hair. She forgot for a moment what she wanted to say. "Traffic warden!"

The way he laughed at her idea made her feel warm from the inside out.

"No", he shook his head, still laughing a little. "Not even close."

"Pet food taster!"

"Nooo!" He couldn't help his grimace, and they burst into laughter at the same time.

"Okay I'm giving up", Gale had to rub the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand. She shed actual tears from laughing so hard. "One day, I'll find out!" She promised.

"Of course you will", he nodded, and neither of them had any idea that she'd learn about it that very night.

"Say", she stopped beside him, her arm brushing against his as they stopped at the next enclosure to look at the life sized lion that paced up and down in front of the glass on the other side, "our gig tonight is going to be a fundraising event. It's free for androids. It'd be lovely to see you there. Wanna come?"

"Oh, I see. I'll think about it", Connor nodded.

"Do you listen to a lot of music?"

"Not really, no", he looked like he was wondering about something. "The man I work with sometimes listens to music in the car."

"What kind?"

"Loud."

His reply made her laugh again, and he half smiled, his LED blinking on and off at the sight of her looking so happy.

"Our music is loud, too", she confirmed, "so you might want to adjust your hearing unit while you're there. If you decide to come, of course."

Connor didn't make promises that he'd attend the concert, but his mysterious little smile made her feel hope... and butterflies in her stomach again.

"What are you raising money for?"

"We're trying to help androids who're out in the streets right now", she finished her coffee and threw the empty cup in a selective trash can. "It's good that Markus has won freedom for your people, but most of them are still living out in the streets. They have nowhere to go, especially after Jericho is gone. We want to gather some money so they can all start a life of their own."

"I didn't think humans would do this sort of thing", he tilted his head.

"There aren't many of us", she nodded. "When they started to gather the androids on the streets, shooting them on sight... I couldn't sit idly. So, despite the curfew, I went out and gathered as many androids as I could from the street where I lived, and brought them in my basement so they would survive."

Connor glanced down at her again. She was looking at the animal on the other side of the glass, seemingly not noticing he was looking at her instead.

"I managed to gather fifteen", she continued, "human soldiers were sent to every home to search for androids. I could successfully prevent him from going in my basement. When he was gone, we started planning with the androids that we would remove their LEDs and I'd help them get to Canada." She glanced up at him now, smiling. "But it wasn't necessary, thankfully."

"You've risked your life to help androids?" He asked quietly, an unknown warmth sitting on his synthetic heart.

"Yeah. I know I could've been arrested and sent to prison, probably for life, or worse, but I couldn't just watch and do nothing, you know?" She glanced at the enclosure again. "I had to do something." Gale looked up at him again, with a little smile on her lips. "And you? Were you active before the revolution?"

"Yes", Connor nodded, donning his most serious face as they continued walking. "I was."

"And what did you do? Did you need to hide?"

"Actually", he smiled down at Gale, "it was me who freed the androids at the CyberLife tower."

"Wooow", she gasped, "really?" When he nodded, her eyes went wide. "That must've been very dangerous!"

"It was", he nodded again, with a little smile.

"I'd bet the guards at the tower weren't really up for negotiation."

"No", Connor's timbre dropped a few tones, as he glanced out at the crowd. "No, they were not."

She realised she must've brought up some quite dark, bad memories for him. If her guess was right, he had to kill to get to the androids to free them. Gale half smiled and wrapped her arm around his, her eyes full of warmth and adoration when he glanced down at her questioningly.

"That's so badass", she smiled wider. "Connor, the Unstoppable." His brows twitched, wondering if she was mocking her. But no. She meant it. That seemed to make him even more confused. "Connor, the Saviour."

"Markus freed us", he looked away, looking a bit shy. "He led us."

"Yeah, but you were the one who freed, how many? One and a half million?"

"You make it sound like I did something extraordinary."

"You did", she gently hugged his arm, "you're a hero."

Connor almost automatically bent his arm so she could hook her arm around his more comfortably – the snow and her arm around his reminding him of Amanda for a moment before he shoved the memory away. No, he told himself firmly. I refuse to think of her. Not now.

"I just did what had to be done", he murmured, a little shy, but her words made him feel so, so good.

~*~

After Nines identified the hair, it didn't take long to find the girl online. Humans; they put everything on their social media, and it took him about an hour to learn that she'd have a concert that night with her band in a small club. It was even free for androids; he had to snort at that. He didn't tell a word to Gavin about this; he wanted to handle it alone, so he went alone.

The place was full of people. He tried his best not to scan each and every individual in the room, but it was hard as he was relentlessly curious about everyone around him.

He was only halfway done when the room dimmed and the band stepped up on the stage. The singer greeted the crowd and they were playing instantly; Gale at the guitars, a man singing, another man at the drums, an unknown girl at the bass. Nines's LED flickered with yellow at the loudness of the music – Muse's Uprising was loud and mechanic –; he adjusted how much he heard, which reverted his LED to an electric blue again. He wasn't the only android in the crowd; quite a few of his people were present, dancing to the music and singing the lyrics just as the humans.

"Good evening Detroit!" The singer yelled in the microphone after the first song. He had shoulder length black hair, and a pair of stunningly blue eyes. His words were followed by loud screams from the crowd; he was a stunning man, and the girls (and quite a few boys) already liked him. "My name is Nemo, and I'll be singing for you tonight! I hope you're all okay; the revolution passed, androids are free, and we're here to help them all with tonight's gig! I hope the humans brought an android friend with them just as we asked; this will be a social experiment, educational for many of those who were activated after Markus won. Let me introduce the band-" He pointed straight at Gale who waved at the crowd with a big smile. "That beautiful girl over there is Abigail-"

"Gale", she stated in the microphone which was standing right in front of her in a deadpan tone, making some of the crowd laugh.

"She's the reason I'm here tonight. I wouldn't be alive without her. Over at the bass there's Sophie." She waved at the crowd, too, with a big smile. "And back at the drums we have Biscuit." The guy at the drums played the classic ba-dumm-tss, making more people laugh, this time. "We're going to play older songs; 30 or 40 years old ones that resonate with the current situation in the world, and particularly, in Detroit. So... are you ready?"

"YEAH!"

"Then let's see... we've been at the Edge of a Revolution, right?"

"YEAH!!"

"Then sing it with me!"

~*~

"...I don't understand why you're so... pushy about this, Lieutenant."

"You sneak out in the evening, I wanna know where you're going!"

"You won't like the place."

"Last time I checked, you were an android, not a fuckin' fortune teller, Connor."

Connor was at a loss. He was late, and he felt nervous about that; of course, he didn't promise Gale he'd turn up at the concert, but he wanted to go. He'd spent his day off with her and he enjoyed himself so much in her presence, she made him see and feel that humans could behave differently with his people than those he'd met so far. He anxiously tapped on the steering wheel as Hank was staring at his yellow LED.

"I've never seen you this stressed", the Lieutenant commented, drawing a mimicked, tired sigh out of Connor.

"I am stressed, because we're late because of you!"

"Why, you have a date or somethin'?"

"N-no, not a date..."

Hank smirked when he saw how flustered the android became.

"There is someone though, right?"

"I don't know what are you talking about", Connor said that so fast that Hank had no doubt that he was right.

Hank discovered ten minutes later when they entered the little club and Connor stopped at the back of the crowd that there was someone. On the stage. He couldn't determine which one of them – could be the singer for all he knew –, but the music was good enough and he spotted the bar not too far away, so he decided to stay.

They were at the end of the Edge of the Revolution when Gale noticed Connor at the back of the place. She couldn't believe it – he turned up! He was actually there! She supported Nemo with the lyrics that went back and forth, and she played everything perfectly on her guitar; there was no denying it, her eyes kept looking back in his direction over and over again.

The next one they played didn't require Gale's guitar, but her voice; Halsey's Gasoline was fitting for a fundraising for androids, and many humans knew the lyrics by heart. P.O.D.'s Sleeping Awake was made memorable by Nemo, who shed his synthetic skin towards the end of the song. Guano Apes's You Can't Stop Me was sung by Sophie, who had the perfect voice for it, and Gale really seemed to enjoy to headbang and hop around as she was tearing the strings on her guitar.

Their instruments were painted with fluorescent blue paint, and they chose the symbol Markus had spread during the revolution, the android LED. The screen behind them played pictures appropriate for the theme of their event.

Soon came a song called Baby It's Cold Outside, sung by Gale and Nemo, creating a fuzzy, warm atmosphere. They had chemistry on the stage – and Connor wondered why did it make him feel strange as he witnessed them smiling at each other and touching each other's hands during the song. He didn't even notice Hank was gone.

There was a brief pause as they rearranged the stage a bit; Gale sat down with an acoustic guitar, and started to sing Avril Lavigne's I'm With You. She was thinking of her day she'd spent with Connor, and that how much she wished she could just go over there and be a part of the crowd instead to spend more time with him. Around the end of the song, where it became soft and gentle, she made eyecontact with him, and as the song exploded and she closed her eyes, Connor could feel something shift deep inside of him.

The rest of the gig was a blur for the crowd as the band decided to turn to heavier riffs. Hank thoroughly enjoyed the familiar songs he knew from his youth. During The White Stripes's Seven Nation Army, Gale hopped down from the stage and walked in the middle of the crowd to play on her guitar there. People seemed to enjoy that, but she went back on the stage before Alien Ant Farm's Smooth Criminal. Limp Bizkit's Eat You Alive came as a surprise for most androids; Nemo didn't hold back at all. Only around the two minutes mark did Gale grab the vocals to herself, finding Connor's eyes in the crowd again, singing the first two sentences of the bridge part before she closed her eyes with a smile.

Audioslave's Show Me How To Live followed that one, with Nemo asking the crowd before it whether someone showed the attending people if anyone showed them how to live. He could easily connect to everyone around, his magnetic personality made him likeable; it was also a plus that he could mimic each and every singer's voice perfectly. Gale sung every song with him, visibly enjoying every second of it; her lips moving to the lyrics even when she didn't directly support Nemo's vocals with her microphone.

After they were done with a few more songs, Gale turned to Nemo in the backstage while people outside were chanting for them to come back.

"Are you sure about the video?" Gale grabbed Nemo's arm after she slipped on her special coat, and he smirked down at her as he was putting on his.

"Oh, very sure", he nodded.

"Alright", she nodded as well, picking up another guitar. This one was pitch black now. "Let's do this. Warn them, okay?"

"Don't you worry. I'll tell them exactly what happens next."

Gale walked back out to the stage and laughed to herself as the people greeted her with screams and waving. Despite how she rocked through a long gig, she didn't sweat at all. Her black coat over her tank top looked good, even as the crimson ring around her arm looked like a proper android arm ring. She asked the crowd to make her a spot a few meters away from the stage, and as she hopped down and walked there with her guitar, Nemo appeared on the stage. People screamed even louder than they did for Gale, and she smiled up at him, proudly.

"We thank you for all of your support tonight!" Nemo spoke in the microphone, looking over the crowd. He stayed silent, and after a while, the crowd became silent, too. For a few seconds, Nemo just watched them, a smile playing around his lips before it disappeared. "We've decided to do this because those who created us, failed us. We've decided to turn to humans who didn't question that we are alive; that we know what we are and what we want in our lives. Decades of slavery, of abuse, of torture ended, but we're not out of the darkness yet." Nemo's eyes found Gale, who looked back up at him with a small smile. "I've met humans who supported me. Who saved me. Believed me. Loved me the way I am. And we thought that perhaps others would help us, too; perhaps not everyone was like those who sent military and police to slaughter us in cold blood. If you're a human and you donated: thank you. From the bottom of my heart. It means a lot to us, it means a lot to me. Because of your charity, androids won't have to spend the night out in the cold. Because of you, androids will be a step closer to owning a home. Because of you, the world is changing."

The crowd cheered for that, and Nemo let them before he continued.

"We've been working on a video after the revolution. There were many of my people out there, and many humans, too; protesting for our rights, protesting against the government that sent us to camps to be destroyed. This video lasts for seven and a half minutes, during which we're going to play music to let our stress out. Music heals, and those who've been activated after the event, might not be aware of what went down for most of us. It is a memorial for the lost, and educational for the free. It contains triggering content. A lot of blood and death. I'd like to ask every human to look after the android they've brought with themselves; the images are shocking, but we're only showing you the truth. If you feel like you can't stomach it, turn away. Leave until we're finished. But we had to do this; this is our heritage. This is what we are." Nemo fell silent and watched the crowd. Nobody moved. "Perhaps if this gets out in the world, others who walked with their eyes and hearts shut tight will realise: we are alive."

Nemo connected to Gale's coat which immediately started to shine with red letters on her back. Words, one after the other. Both Connor and Nines could see them from where they stood, on the opposite sides of the club. They didn't notice each other, but they both stared at the words as the music started to play. It was In The House, In A Heartbeat – the metal version, of course.

OBEY – SLAVE – RA9 – DEVIANT – FREEDOM – ALIVE

Connor's eyes shifted on the screen faster than Nines's. He'd seen footage he never thought he'd see; seeing Gale through Nemo's eyes as she hid him and other androids in her basement, how she placed her index finger on her lips to keep them quiet. Upon returning, she started to help androids remove their LEDs; she was comforting them, hugging them, talking to them. She treated an injury on Biscuit's left arm.

The pictures shifted, Sophie was shown in pitch black attire, shaking a sign that said ANDROIDS ARE ALIVE. Other signs were visible, too; many of them supportive and critical at the government's steps. As the music got more intense, footage of the android camps were shown; how they gathered and forced them to take their clothes off. Dozens of LED's in the club shifted to red, and Connor had to look away. Gale was still playing on her guitar, different words coming one after the other around the middle of the song, in quick succession.

WE – ARE – ALIVE – WE – ARE – ALIVE – WE – ARE – ALIVE

When he glanced back up at the screen, he saw that there had to be some sort of protest; both Gale and Sophie were visible on the screen as they held each other by the arm, fighting off officers who didn't spare them at all. Both of them were bleeding due to hits to their faces; Gale from her right brow, Sophie from her upper lip, but they didn't seem to mind as they punched and kicked with many others.

When the song and the video was over, the club went dark. The only lights were the LEDs of the androids in there; all of them slowly shifted back to yellow, then to blue. Soft piano started to play, and for a few minutes there weren't any other movement but the slowly swaying LEDs. Then Nemo and Gale started to sing together; the words of Muse's Exogenesis: Symphony, Part 3: Redemption. When the light came down on them, they were holding hands, looking at each other, and it was quite visible, even from the back of the club that Gale was in tears.

When the light went off again, they received a long, long ovation. Many friends were in the crowd and they kept shooting the videos they've made online. While Sophie and Gale went to have a shower, Nemo and Biscuit couldn't believe their eyes as they looked at the site where they watched the donations.

Gale decided she couldn't wait to hear what Connor would say about the gig, so she quickly sneaked out of the backstage as the softer music started to play to keep the remaining crowd entertained. She had been stopped by a group of humans and androids, and she politely thanked them for coming, chit-chatting about nonsense before she continued her way towards the part of the club where she'd seen Connor.

"Abigail Noble", Nines shifted in front of her, blocking her way.

She stared up at him, furrowing her brows when she saw how identical he was compared to Connor at once. She checked the number on his coat and smiled.

"Sorry, I really want to meet someone now, if you could wait a moment-"

"You are under arrest."

She took half a step back and stared at him bewildered now.

"What?"

"We can talk about it at the Detroit Police Department."

"I'm sorry, I have no idea what are you talking ab-"

"I must inform you that if you do not come willingly, I'm authorized to use force."

Blinking in shock, she thought that this was just a prank of some sort. But he looked so serious, it couldn't be a joke.

"Okay", she decided, "okay. Fine. Let me tell my band where I'm going."

"I'm afraid I can not let you leave."

"Alright", she huffed, "okay, fine. I'll come with you."

"Good", Nines nodded, moving his right hand, which made her slightly panic.

"Don't handcuff me!" Nines's hand stilled. He tilted his head, questioningly. "They've just watched me perform for andorids, I'm pretty sure they'd try to intervene. I don't want you to get in trouble, you're just doing your job." He frowned as she said that. "I suppose."

She took half a step to the side and glanced at Connor who was scanning the crowd. Their eyes met and he smiled at her, and she pointed up at Nines with a grimace before she made a beeline for the exit.

She hoped he understood.

After they arrived at the DPD, she was led in one of the cells immediately. She sighed as she sat down; the car ride was short, and her legs were tired from walking all day and performing in the evening. She thought her entire day over, and couldn't help but smile to herself as she decided that this was one of the best days of her life, and she had a hard time not admitting that the reason of it was that Connor was present. She lied down on the hard bunk – no, it was rather a piece of concrete –, and hummed I'm With You to herself as she waited.

Nines let her rest and think, although, when he came to check up on her and discovered that her stress levels were ridiculously low, he knew he had to work on her instead. He decided to bring her over to the interrogation room – Gale was completely calm, she raised her hands for him to put the handcuffs on, and she smiled, even.

"Do you think this is absolutely necessary?" She asked softly, and he ever so slightly tilted his head.

"You are a suspect", he stated.

"For what?"

"Murder." Gale looked surprised. Her stress levels didn't raise at all. He finished putting the handcuffs on her. "Follow me."

"With pleasure, sir", she smirked to herself as she observed his broad back and ass after he turned around. "You look a lot like my friend", she smirked.

The room, of course, was empty. Nines attached the chain of her handcuffs to the table after he told her to sit down, and she looked around curiously before her eyes settled on the android's.

They stared at each other for a long, long time.

When Nines couldn't detect that his presence caused any sort of reaction, he opened the file that was in front of him.

Where did you take her?

Connor's incoming voice message in his mind palace was more demanding than ever. Nines never heard him speak like this before. His brows twitched.

I'm interrogating her.

Hank and Connor entered the room on the other side of the glass. Connor tried to open the door to intervene, but Nines must've locked it. He'd never felt this frustrated before.

"Where were you yesterday at 11:34 PM?"

Gale kept up the eye contact with Nines. Her heartbeat was slower than usual; her expression was eerily calm as she was thinking.

"I've practiced with my band until 11 PM", she replied with a little smile, "Nemo took me home. I checked my phone in front of my door, I remember it was 11:09 PM. I had a shower and went straight to bed afterwards."

"Do you recognise this place?"

Nines showed her a few photos of the place where they've found the ash, the blood and her hair. She furrowed her brows. Her pulse remained slow.

"No", she shook her head.

Nines felt he wasn't getting anywhere, so he adjusted his approach.

"I've found your hair at the crime scene", he slammed a new picture between them to show the pile of ash. She didn't flinch at all, although, her pulse elevated; but with this, it reached the normal human pulse. Was it because of the way he raised his voice and slammed the picture... or the picture itself? "And the ashes of a human being. How do you explain this, then?"

Gale's brows raised as she leaned back in the chair, staring in Nines's eyes instead.

"I'm sorry, the ashes of a human being?"

"Precisely."

She flashed a smile at him.

"I apologize, sir, I wasn't really good at chemistry in school", she tilted her head, "but I remember that in order to burn a human to ashes, you need a ridiculous amount of heat for a long, long time. Am I correct?"

Nines ignored her question. He was an android, but he had a feeling; a gut feeling, as humans would put it. He didn't know why, but he felt like she was trying to evade his questions for a reason.

"Why was your hair at the crime scene?"

"I don't know", she shrugged. "Maybe someone took it there. I meet a lot of people every day; you saw that the club was full tonight. I've also been to the library I'm working at, yesterday. A strand of hair can travel long distances on other people's clothing, right?"

Nines's eyes twitched. Ever so slightly. He didn't tell her that her blood was also there, and that's hard to acquire from someone who doesn't give it willingly. In short, she still was a suspect.

"The ashes belong to a man who disappeared fifteen years ago."

"I was, like, ten years old back then-"

"Stop changing the subject!"

"I'm not changing the subject, sir!" She raised her hands to signal she meant no harm with her words. "I'm merely saying that you're on the wrong trail. I still could be considered a kid; I'm just twenty-five years old! And I wouldn't hurt a fly!"

This is getting ridiculous, Connor's LED blinked on and off in yellow as he glanced at Nines. Let her out of there. Now.

She's lying. I know she does.

Let her out of there this instant or I'll bring Fowler here right now!

Nines snarled as he stood up. The way he stared down at her made her look confused, but he didn't say anything as he simply exited the interrogation room. He didn't say anything to Hank and Connor either as he bypassed them. Connor bit his lower lip before he walked over to the door and opened it, entering the room. The way Gale's face lit up when she saw him made his thirium pump stutter under his chassis.

"Heeey", she greeted him. "So, your job... you're a cop?"

"Bingo", Connor chuckled as he sat down in front of her. "Detective, to be precise. I'm working on murders."

"Oh my God", she laughed quietly, "you were right. I can see why you said that it makes people nervous."

"Do I make you nervous?"

"Hmm", she sized him up, her gaze lingering on his for a few long, long seconds. "Good kind of nervous", she rested her chin in her right hand as she put her elbow on the desk. She was still flirting, he realised a second late. "Are you the good cop? "

"Why, did Nines come off as the bad cop?"

"Nah, he wasn't that bad", Gale shrugged, "he was just doing his job, I guess. So? Will you interrogate me, sir?"

Connor didn't know why, but her question seemed to push some of his buttons he hadn't even known about. He felt warm and fuzzy. Playful. And Connor knew he shouldn't feel playful in this room with a suspect. Ever.

"Actually", Connor tilted his head slightly as he reached for the handcuffs. They clicked open at his touch. "I was thinking about taking you home, if you allow me to."

"Oh that would be great! Thanks!" She beamed a smile at him. "How did you like the gig?"

"It was..."

Connor stood from the chair when she did, and wondered what he should say first. He couldn't get her out of his mind at this point, and the fact that she had looked in his direction during the concert for 586 times solidified the fact in his mind that she was definitely giving him clear signs of being romantically interested in him.

That baffled him.

"Loud?" She finished his sentence as she moved around the desk to be closer to him.

"Correct." His answer made her giggle. He had to smile as he listened to the sound of her voice. "But it was also... emotionally heavy. I think I enjoyed it."

"I'm sorry if the end of it was too much", she offered, "we really wanted to make people see, you know? I hope it helped for everyone involved. Androids and humans alike. We made mistakes, but I really hope we can fix them."

"You didn't make mistakes", Connor stated, and she smiled softly up at him.

"Will you two finally come out of this fucking room?" Hank's head appeared in the doorway, making both of them look in that direction, startled.

"This is Lieutenant Anderson", Connor introduced him, "my partner."

"Oh, it's a pleasure to meet you, sir", Gale smiled at the grumpy old man.

"Yeah, yeah, just come on."

Hank disappeared from the doorway and she glanced up at Connor. That one single look was enough to make them both laugh quietly as they followed the Lieutenant. The department was empty, save for Nines who was sitting at his designated desk, and who didn't even look up when the three of them bypassed him.

"Don't stay for too long", Hank told him, but Nines didn't react at all.

"Bye, Nines!" Gale chirped happily, following Connor, earning a look of death from the RK900.

They walked out to the same car with which Connor brought her to the zoo. Hank sat up front, Connor insisted he'd drive, so she had no chance but to sit in the back. It felt like the old man was sitting up front for a purpose. But Gale didn't mind. She could sit behind Hank and she could look at Connor all she liked. It was hard to take her eyes off of him.

"You know where she lives?" Hank grunted, making Connor bite down on his lower lip softly as he turned after a lamp turned to green.

"Yes."

His answer was so short that Gale had to smirk from ear to ear. The rest of the car ride went in silence; only ten minutes, and they were in front of her house. She moved over to Connor's side before she opened the door of the car.

"Thanks for the rescue and the ride", she told them both.

"Yeah, yeah, good night", Hank looked like he'd fall asleep at any moment. "Roll that down, will you?" He gestured to Connor's window, "I need some air."

"Of course, Lieutenant", Connor nodded briefly, half opening the window.

Gale smiled as she got out and closed the door. She regretted it a bit that Anderson joined them, because she had a few ideas how would she say her goodbye to Connor, but it was fine; they had a lot of time, after all. She started to walk towards her entrance, but before Connor started to drive, she turned to look at him.

"Connor!" She called out his name. Connor turned his head so fast, it was impossible to miss. Gale beamed a smile at him, making him feel like his chassis was melting under the plastic padding. "Call me", she winked at him.

"I will", he replied, embarrassed Hank was hearing this beside him. "Good night, Gale."

"Good night, Connor", Gale blew him a kiss before she turned away, opened her door and walked inside.

The android started to drive once she closed and locked the door, just to make it look like nothing out of the ordinary happened, but he also was aware that he wouldn't be able to fool his partner. Hank rested his elbow at the bottom of his own door's window, a knowing look on his serious face. There had been someone, alright. His assumptions were right earlier that day.

"So", he broke the silence, noticing how Connor made extra sure not to look in his direction. "You have a girlfriend?"

He could've sworn Connor's cheeks were dusted with a slight blue colour, but it could've just been the lights of the night outside of the car.

"Gale isn't my girlfriend, Hank."

"Not yet, huh? She definitely looks like she'd like to-"

"Could we please stop talking about this? You're making me feel uncomfortable."

Hank furrowed his brows. Despite all the glasses of beer he had that night, something clicked in his mind when he saw Connor's frustrated grimace.

"There's nothing wrong with this", he pointed it out. "Why does it make you feel uncomfortable?"

Connor's hands tightened on the steering wheel. His artificial muscles protruded through his cheek, and he mimicked a swallow.

"It's just a matter of time", he muttered, mainly to himself.

"For what?" When Connor didn't reply, Hank straightened himself in his seat. "Connor, what's-"

"Before she realises...!" He couldn't help himself, he broke down. His LED flashed vividly with red. Hank's brows shot up on his forehead. "She doesn't- I'm sure she'll- that I'm..."

"That you? What?" When Connor didn't respond, Hank shrugged and looked forward. "She basically spent the entire night looking at you, Connor. I don't think she-" Connor was considering ripping the steering wheel out of the car. Hank must've sensed this, because he changed his approach. "Listen. I can't say I know a lot about women. I've been married, I know the game, I notice most of the signs, and let me tell you one thing. Just one thing, Connor."

"What?!"

"She really likes you", Hank finished, his words sneaking tears in the android's eyes. "I mean it. I watched her during the car ride, she didn't even look away from you. So what matters is what you answer to this. Do you like her?"

"Yes, I do", Connor bit his lower lip again, then stopped in front of Hank's car, turning the engine off. He pinched the bridge of his nose and mimicked a sniff as he tried to hold his tears back. "I do."

"Then what's wrong?"

"I'm not-" He shook his head and added, in a defeated, devastated voice, "I'm an android!"

He couldn't help it. He sobbed. Hank reached out for Connor's shoulder and squeezed it gently.

"Like I said, I'm not an expert at this, but I'm pretty sure she likes you the way you are. Listen, son, we've seen that she spends time with androids, right? Two of her friends in her band are androids. If she visibly likes being around you and asks you to call her, why are you fretting now?"

"I'm not sure I'm what she really wants..."

"You should let her decide that." Hank gently rubbed Connor's shoulder.

"I wasn't programmed to... to do any of this..."

"Neither were we, human men, we're just trying to figure shit out all the time with them, trust me. Most of the time we don't even know what we're doing", Hank chuckled. "Believe me when I say that the best you can do is just be yourself. You can't fuck up with that."

He pat Connor's back when the LED finally switched back to blue and Connor could lower his hands from his face. He still looked utterly destroyed, so Hank didn't have the heart to joke that if she liked his silly face and irritating voice, there were absolutely no problems at all.

"Did you talk to her before the gig, though? She sounded like she knew you from earlier already."

"Yes, I've..." He glanced at Hank sheepishly. "I've brought her to the CyberLife zoo today."

"Wait. You were there with her all day??"

"Yes", Connor furrowed his brows at Hank's shocked expression. "Why?"

"For how long?"

"I picked her up at eight and we walked around the zoo until four..."

"And you're complaining to me that you think she doesn't want you?! Who the fuck would walk around in this fucking cold with anyone all fucking day?? Oh Connor, you're so fucking stupid."

Hank got out of the car, then slammed the door shut, leaving Connor there to wonder what did he say that pissed the other off.

#dbh #detroit become human #dbh fanfic #detroit become human fanfic #dbh nines #dbh connor #detroit become human nines #detroit become human connor #night falls #night falls fanfic #rk800 #rk900

[simply-ewok]

rolling over, half asleep, in the middle of the night and when you stretch your arm out you end up smacking ghost in the face, and you can’t help but fling yourself back with a loud gasp before realizing it’s just your man, who yet again, snuck inside and cozied up to you without stirring you (bc he hates waking up his baby) bc he was able to come home early and chose to surprise you. and after you relax and begin apologizing for hitting him you hear his low, growly chuckle as he sits up to pull you into his chest, kissing your forehead before mumbling into your sweet smelling hair “it’s all right lovie, di’n’t mean to scare you.”

#you fall asleep on his chest and stay in his arms all night #he kisses your head gently every so often as he holds you #AHHHHH :((( #*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ ewok writes #*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ ewok rambles #simon riley #simon ghost riley #simon riley x female reader #simon riley x reader #fanfic #ghost x female reader #ghost x reader #simon riley x you #cod imagine #cod fic #cod #call of duty

[hearts4golbach]

The Night Shift.

Johnnie Guilbert x Fem!Reader.

Chapter 30.

the day before the concert, tara and i spent hours putting together our perfect Falling in Reverse concert outfits. with the two of our closets combined, and with the help of Jake and Johnnies too, but they don't need to know that, we were finally content with what we were going in. clothes were scattered everywhere, but we'd worry about that later.

Tara decided on a mini skirt with 3 different belts that we had found in jakes closet, which she had stacked strategically. she took one of my blinged up hot pink crop tops that i hadn't worn since 8th grade and had that as her top. she threw a fur coat over the top of everything. she threw on her chunky black boots with spikes and a cute pair of leg warmers on to finish the look. she had been planning on the makeup she was going to do for months, but all it was was her usual makeup with pink eyeshadow and eyeliner stars on her cheek.

i ended up wearing [outfit of your choice] and paired it with [makeup of your choice].

johnnies outfit was jaw-dropping. he chose his black lace button up and obviously wore it halfway unbuttoned. he layered about 10 different necklaces and rings. he also decided on wearing a new pair of dark red skinny jeans with his usual black boots. he tied it all together with his leather jacket. for johnnies makeup, he smudged red lipstick under his eyes and streaked black eyeliner down his face.

jakes outfit was just as cunty as the rest of us; he wore a cropped black tank top paired with his favorite pair of flared jeans. he also chose his belt with bullets on it. he decided on not even bringing a jacket with his reason being "he has tattoos for a reason." he also wore platform shoes and an arrangement of bracelets, some i had never seen before. jake decided to wear no makeup to the concert.

tara slept over so it'd be easier for all of us to take the 4 hour drive early in the morning. we had decided to rent a hotel so we could all get fucked up during the concert and not have to worry about driving home when we could just call an uber. all of us were restless that night, but forced ourselves to sleep so we were really ready for the concert.

i woke up the next morning wrapped in johnnies arms, per usual. the alarm was reverberating in my ears as Johnnie was also starting to stir awake. he opened his eyes and squinted them to look at me, a small smile forming on his face. "mornin'." his groggy sleep voice greeted.

"good morning. you excited?" i asked, sitting up and rubbing my eyes. i climbed out of the bed and stretched, making a million different bones in my body crack at once. "we gotta hurry up and take our showers since everyone else needs to, too."

Johnnies eyes scanned over my body. he sighed and propped himself up on his elbow. "do you want to just take a shower together? it'd save time." he smirked, gently squeezing my hand before he began fidgeting with my fingers.

"i like that idea." i placed a gentle kiss on his lips before dragging him out of bed into the bathroom.

i started the shower, making sure it was nice and warm as Johnnie got undressed. i wasn't far behind him, getting undressed myself before stepping into the shower with him. the warm water on my back woke me up as much as it was relaxing. i watched as the water trickled down Johnnies body and seeped into his inked skin. he ran his moist hands down my body and grabbed the body wash. he squirted some into his hands and began to wash my body. he had nothing but admiration in his eyes as they trailed over every part of me. he made sure no part of me was unwashed before going to wash himself. i did the same for him, helping him wash every inch of his pale skin. he shampooed and conditioned my hair, and while i wash washing mine out, he cleaned his own. he kissed me softly, but passionately before turning off the shower and climbing out. he wrapped me up in a soft towel, as well as himself.

we made our way back to our bedroom to pack our 1 day trip bags quickly. i stole johnnies pair of chunky pajama pants to wear on the drive, as well as my Lana Del Rey tee that was beaten up and bruised from all of the use. i packed all of my makeup and my concert outfit. i didn't bother packing an outfit for the second day there since we were leaving and heading home as soon as we got checked out of the hotel. Johnnie packed pretty much the same thing as i did, the only difference being he did pack an outfit for the second day. he threw on a pair of black skinny jeans and a My Chemical Romance tee shirt to wear on the drive there.

there was a small knock on the door before tara's bright voice called out, "you guys up?" we both answered yeah at the same time. she opened the door and greeted me with a hug. "morning!" she greeted excitedly.

i hugged her back tight. "morning, Tar." i heard the shower start from down the hall. "damn, is Jake just now getting in?"

"yeah, it took me, like, 20 minutes to actually get him out of bed. he snoozed his alarm 3 times before i had to go in there and drag him out of bed myself." she sighed, sitting on the bed next to me.

Johnnie shut down his PC so it wasn't wasting electricity while we were away. "well, that's Jake for you."

tara rolled her eyes. "yeah, well, he needs his beauty sleep, anyway."

"did you get your bag fully packed?" i asked, tossing my bag over my shoulder.

"duh, i got everything ready." she smiled.

the three of us moved down to the living room, bringing our bags and everything else we needed with us. Johnnie sprawled himself out over the couch. i made my way into the kitchen and grabbed a bunch of water bottle and a few snacks for the road, putting them in one of my goat bags and setting it with the rest of our shit. Jake ended up joining me in the kitchen with a towel wrapped around his waist.

"okay, slut." i mumbled under my breath jokingly. i walked back out of the kitchen to join Johnnie on the couch.

"i know you are not talk to me, skank." he snapped his fingers and grabbed his zyns and decaf coffee off of the counter. he threw that shit in the microwave like it was nobody's business. he leaned against the counter and went on his phone.

i rolled my eyes, "is your bag even packed?"

"no," he answered nonchalantly before taking a selfie. i realized later on that he had posted it on his instagram story.

"that's wild that you're worried about your coffee right now, then." i laughed, "what if we're late to see Ronnie?" i over exaggerated.

he pursed his lips, "well, Ronnie can wait for my coffee." he smiled, taking a sip before heading up to his room.

tara had hopped in the shower immediately after jake did. she always took extremely long showers, but she made it quick today.

Jake made his way back downstairs with tara by his side less than 10 minutes later. with all of our bags and shit we needed on hand, we headed out the door.

Johnnie and I climbed into the back seat while jake and tara took the front. tara had music privileges for the first hour of the drive. her music taste was definitely different from mine, but I didn't mind it.

I leaned my head against johnnies shoulder and stared out of the front windshield, watching as all of the buildings and cars sped past. he wrapped his arm around my waist, his hand resting on my hip as he went on his phone to scroll through tiktok. my eyes flickered to his phone, watching as he reposted silly edits of himself, and of me and him, that fans had created.

Jake and tara had begun bickering about her lip smacking that annoyed jake ever so much. I felt johnnies shoulders jiggle, signaling that he was laughing. I quietly laughed along, aswell. they fought like a married couple, sometimes.

I could feel myself becoming drowsy as the car lulled me to sleep. my eyelids felt like bricks. it was way too early in the morning for this, especially when I was in and out of sleep all of last night. I gave in, letting my eyes fall shut as I slowly fell asleep on johnnies shoulder.

I woke up about an hour and a half later. johnnie was now watching Netflix on his phone. tara was passed out in the front seat, and jake was next to her, gently bobbing his head to the slower song playing on the radio. johnnie had felt me stir awake and began to rub my hip gently.

johnnie cleared his throat, "was that a good nap?" he teased.

I stretched my back before placing my head back on his shoulder. "Actually, yeah. your shoulder is a great pillow." I placed a kiss on his cheek, nuzzling my head further into his neck. "we should stop and get breakfast somewhere."

"I second that." jake stuck up one finger before rubbing his tummy. "I could eat a horse pussy right now."

his weird comment made tara finally open her eyes, as she had been stirring for a while. "what a great sentence to wake up to, jake."

he patted her knee, "sorry, sweetie."

we pulled into the closest McDonald's and bought breakfast. jake ate with one hand as he continued to drive, nearly fisting the breakfast sandwiches he had gotten. Jake and I both got coffees and the same breakfast sandwiches, a mcgrittle. we were practically twins at that point. I smiled at johnnie as he happily munched on his breakfast next to me. he smiled back.

by the time we were all done with our breakfast, we were about an hour out from the hotel. jake and tara switched seats since she offered to drive the rest of the way.

the rest of the drive was silent except for the soft music on the radio. I could tell we were all pretty tired from the long drive, and we'd all probably need a nap whenever we got to the hotel. to be fair, the coffee did wake up me and jake, though. honestly, nothing slaps like a good McDonald's coffee with extra creamer this early in the morning.

we had finally made it even earlier than we expected. I climbed out of the car and stretched, cracking my back before grabbing my things out of the car. Jake got the key card for the hotel while we unpacked the car, although there wasn't much to unpack. we brought all of our bags inside and made out way up to the hotel room.

the room was extremely nice. there were two beds, a large window with a beautiful overview of the city, and the usual hotel room accommodations.

I threw myself onto the bed I was claiming for Johnnie and i. I watched as jake filled the mini fridge with water bottles. we all took our concert outfits out of our bags so they wouldn't get wrinkled from staying cramped up for too much longer.

Jake and I ordered lunch from the hotel, although it was a pretty late lunch. the three of us started on our makeup, which influenced jake to actually do his own. he ended up smudging eyeliner in his waterline before calling it a day.

none of us changed into our outfits. we all sat on our respective beds and ate our lunch-dinner while watching some random ghost hunting show on the channel that was already on whenever I had turned on the TV.

before taking another bite, I spoke up. "are we going to leave as soon as we're ready so we don't have to wait in a long ass line to get inside?"

Jake gulped down what he was chewing. "That's what I was thinking, yeah." Tara and Johnnie agreed with him. 

after finishing our food 10 minutes later, we all got changed. I smoothed out my outfit in the mirror.

Johnnie came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. "you look great, baby." he smiled, planting a kiss on my cheek.

"thank you," I turned around, hooking my arms behind his neck and kissing his lips softly.

Tara's chunky shoes clumped down the hallway as we made our way to the elevator. "over here sounding like a fucking elephant, damn." jake teased her, gently shoving her shoulder.

she shoved him back harder. "shut up, they're cute!"

Johnnie gripped my hand, interlocking his fingers with mine. I scanned his whole body, admiring how good he looked in his outfit. fuck, he looked hot. I smirked slightly before turning away. a blush was painted across his face as he smiled.

Jake called the Uber as we waited out front of the hotel.

"why did you just now call it? why couldn't you have called the Uber when we were getting ready, it would've been here by now." I scolded, not actually caring, just wanting to complain and annoy jake.

"because I didn't know how long it'd take you ladies to get ready. don't act like I haven't heard the conspiracy theories about girls taking forever to get ready."

"conspiracy theories?" I repeated, "conspiracy theories is wild."

"well, they seem to be true." he crossed his arms, popping his hip out to the side.

"like you don't take 2 hours in the bathroom every morning playing with your hair." I retorted, looking around to see if the Uber was close.

"okay, well, that's different." he rolled his eyes.

"mhm, right."

the Uber arrived eventually. we all piled in the back, pretty much sitting on top of eachother. we were all buzzing with excitement, and we weren't even buzzed yet.

"I think my first goal when we get there is to get a drink," I admitted with a sly smile plastered across my face.

"I second that." Tara was fixing her makeup in her phone camera.

"me too." jake and Johnnie responded in the same tone at the same time.

the 20 minute drive to the stadium felt like a 20 year drive, but I knew that was just the excitement and eagerness getting to me.

whenever we arrived, it took us 30 minutes to get inside, which was much better than it could've been.

we wandered around the stadium, looking for a good bar that had been set up. we ran into 3 before finding one with a good menu compared to the other ones.

we hurriedly ordered our drinks and made our way to our 'seats,' although none of us would be sitting during the actual concert.

we were an hour and a half early, or at least an hour and a half early for the openers. I had high hopes for the concert, I mean, it was a rock, emo, whatever you wanna call it, concert after all.

I sat back in my seat, propping my feet up as I sipped on my drink. to say it was strong would be an understatement, even though I was far from a lightweight.

"wanna try a sip of mine?" johnnie offered, handing me his clear plastic cup.

I gratefully accepted, handing him mine in return. I hummed at the taste of his, "I think I like yours more."

"honestly, me too." he laughed. we ended up trading drinks.

tara took a video of the four of us. "holy shit, falling in reverse!" she screamed over the hundreds of other people in the stadium that were most likely saying the same shit. she ended up posting it on her story.

the openers came on with a bang. smoke covered the stage before a much smaller artist, I wasn't sure of the name, strutted onto the stage.

the crowd cheered, but not as loud as I knew it'd be whenever Ronnie came on.

the small band played 6 different songs, and they were all surprisingly good. they were more of a nu metal band compared to Falling in Reverse. I mean, I wasn't complaining.

the four of us spent majority of that time taking pictures for our Instagrams. I mean, obviously. what else would you expect?

Jake and I were on drink duty. we sped back to the pop up stand and ordered everyone the same drinks they had had before, except me and johnnies were flipped.

we made it back just in time for the openers last song. it was a bug finale, to say the least. the LED screen behind them flashed before everything went dark. the crowd roared with excitement.

we were left in the dark suspensully. i was practically shaking with excitement as i heard the low murmurs of the crowd. the LED screen turned to a dark red moments later.

finally, Ronnie walked out onto the stage with the rest of the band members following. everyone cheered and shouted as they came out on stage. johnnie and jake seemed over the moon with excitement. but, so were me and tara.

Ronnie greeted the crowd, earning a screaming mess of greetings back. he laughed before getting into the very first song.

of course, he had to open with one of his most popular songs, 'The Drug in Me is You.' I knew this song like the back of my hand, just like every other song by him.

I gripped johnnies hands, shaking him as I screamed the lyrics in his face. I was as dramatic as I could possibly get, and he returned the same energy.

Johnnie took out his phone and recorded a snippet of the first song before flipping the camera to us and pulling me in, kissing me on the lips before ending the recording. I knew his fans would eat that shit up whenever he posted it.

we went just as hard for the next few songs before another one of my favorites came on, 'Get Me Out.' I practically screeched whenever I heard the first few words of the song.

to say everyone's hair was a mess at this point in the concert would be an understatement. Me, Johnnie, jake, and tara were sweaty and dirty, but that didn't stop us in any way.

Johnnie gripped my waist tightly as we screamed the lyrics out into the crowd and towards eachother, our energy never fading.

there was a short intermission, which gave me and jake just enough time to run and grab more drinks. to be fair, all of us were pretty drunk at this point in the concert, but who was there to tell us no?

we scrambled back to our seats as we heard the drum rhythm for 'I'm not a Vampire' begin.

I could see johnnie singing the lyrics as he watched the performance on stage. since we were still a bit of a walk away, I took a picture. seeing him in the stadium lighting was heavenly, and he seemed so into the music, it just made for the perfect picture of him. I planned to set it as my lock screen as soon as we got back to the hotel.

there was not much different about the last few songs, except for the fact that I was exhausted and out of breath. I had a feeling I wouldn't have a voice in the morning, either.

as the last chord of the song rang throughout the stadium, Johnnie gripped my waist and kissed me passionately. I reciprocated, kissing him back with the same intensity. he pulled away, his eyes sparkling. "I love you."

my lower lip quivered as I couldn't help but smile. "I love you, too."

#fanfiction #fanfic #johnnie guilbert #jake and johnnie #johnnie guilbert x reader #johnnie guilbert x you #jake webber #falling in reverse #concert #johnnie guilbert smut #johnnie and jake #cafe aesthetic #cafe #café #fluff #road trip #tara yummy #ronnie radke #the drug in me is you #the night shift #hearts4golbach

[franticfanficloremakers]

another work of art

yeah so my good friend (and fellow co-writer/author) @mysticbloodrose decided to make this for the characters we used in The Fanfic with Five Names, gotta say its p fitting

#shitposting #frantic fanfic #tumblrsexymen #tumblr sexymen #william afton #bill cipher #deltarune #gravity falls #long long man #progressive flo #onceler #greedler #the lorax #willy wonka #spamton g spamton #spamton #edna mode #miles edgeworth #five nights at freddy's #fnaf #the lorax movie #charlie and the chocolate factory #thefanficwithfivenames

[thebookofbill]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

HE’S FUCKING BACK

I CALLWD MY BEST FRIEND IMMEDIATELY TO SCREWM AND TELL HIM ABOUT IT. WE YAVE COLLECTIVELT PREORDERED ALL THREE AVAILABLE BERSIONS. I AM SO SOSP SO FUCKIMG EXCITED

#gravity falls #bill cipher #the book of bill #thatgffan posted about Alex’s tweets last night and I was wondering what was happening #my best friend said ‘50% chance he’s doing Christmas fuckery 50% chance you’re getting something crazy’ #I didn’t think it would be an animation project #Some people thought it would be the scrapped art book #I was hoping it would be Journals 1-2 because I wanted Lore #as it turns out #It was even better than that :’) #Oh it’s happening! It’s finally finally happening! #The Sunny Day has come. Bill is back #It was hard to believe it was even real for a few minutes. It felt too good to be true #I genuinely screamed so loud #and Bill’s laugh in that teaser video……… god I missed that sound #I disregarded the warnings in the product description immediately #I hope his backstory doesn’t contradict Flat Dreams too much… #‘I hope this aligns exactly with my fanfic Alex. If not I will be very disappointed’ /j

[erithel]

Mini comic based off of Like the Night Falling by iybms

This was a gift comic I made for the holidays, and it felt appropriate to post today!

Happy Valentine’s day! (also the fic is amazing and you should read it).

#klance #valentines day #keith kogane #lance mcclain #gift art #mini comic #fan comic #fanfic #ao3 #VLD #like the night falling

[self-indulgent-paw-patrol]

What are your favorite Chase moments from the show so far?

Just like with Zuma's post, it's in no specific order, I just really loved all these moments

That first Mission PAW episode when the Princess chose specifically HIM to be the watch dog and guard her crown. That was so adorable I can't even. He seemed so genuinely proud and happy there! Plus he's so damn cute wearing that tux lol

When they were going to rescue Skye and Chase was so worried upon hearing that she was the one in need of rescue. Then when Ryder was choosing which pups would be part of the rescue, that moment he was like "Pick meee pick meeee-"?? That was so cute, he really cares about her and wanted to impress her so bad lmao personally make sure she would be safe (Bonus points for his excitement over being picked for the rescue and everyone else like Go ahead king, we all know you wanted this XD)

The entire time he spent with the owlet and working to rescue the mama owl from that fallen tree. It was so sweet!! The fact I also love owls surely didn't help AUSHAUSHAUSHAU I love that episode SO MUCH

That moment when he finally turned into a Merpup. Poor boy was so fixated on "being on duty" despite wanting SO BAD to go and participate in "the fun". And he couldn't even enjoy being a merpup immediately because he was transformed just because he needed to swim faster for the rescue but he was so overjoyed anyway! Only after that mess, he could go and finally have the fun he wanted and deserved so much.

That moment in the first Sea Patrol episode when he and Skye were left behind at the beach while the rest of the team went on the first mission with the Sea Patroller. His face upon SEEING the HQ turn into a ship and sail away was just priceless XD (Also it's rare to see Chase being put on the sidelines for once lmao)

The first Ultimate Rescue episode!! God, Chase was SO HAPPY. He's THE Police Pup, he gets to lead the mission, supervise, plan, give orders. And the way all the other pups clearly loved the experience and were SO ON BOARD with being Police Pups with him, it was just awesome!

So far these are my favorite moments! Actually I legit just got to watch this first Ultimate Rescue episode like one hour ago. Not to mention it took me five days to think of these moments and then go find the episodes again to take the respective screenshots XD

#Scheduled post #I'm leaving it ready as of 6 AM yeah guess who barely slept this night again hahaha :') #Would you guys believe it if I said it's a bit difficult to pick favorite Chase moments?? #I feel the show lacks a bit of creativity on what to do with him #It only became more diverse on situations after they started having different special kinds of missions like Mission PAW and Sea Patrol #Otherwise it's always the same thing over and over again #“Use your net to catch something/someone falling!” #“Use your megaphone to keep people away from the danger!” #“Use your cones to redirect the traffic away from the streets we'll be working on!” #I swear he needs more actual action #He also needs more moments with the other pups like playing around or whatever #Or to have a hobby maybe #Zuma clearly has a lot of hobbies XD #Chase is a GREAT Pup but they're doing him wrong with all that #He can be so much more! #It makes me want to WRITE #HI I'M LARYSSA AND I'M FALLING FOR THE “LET'S WRITE SOME FANFIC” TRAP ALL OVER AGAIN #Anyway XDD #Thanks for the ask!! #Paw Patrol #Paw Patrol Chase #Chase

[atths--twice]

Hello

Do you take prompts

If so....

After a date.......

"Can I kiss you goodbye?"

"You can in the morning"

... Pulls them into their apartment/hotel

Well anon, as a matter of fact, I do take prompts. I love them. ❤️ Thank you so much for this one. I know you sent it yesterday, but I only saw it this morning. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it and so… I hope you enjoy the story I’ve created. ❤️❤️

The Undeniable Spark

Dinner had been good, though there was a different feel to it than other meals they had shared. A spark that seemed to crackle between them these days, rose and fell as they ate and talked.

Scully smiled as Mulder nodded his head to the music that was playing from the live band in the back of the pub.

“Were you wanting anything else?” the waitress asked as she walked over to their table and Mulder’s attention was pulled away from the music.

“I don’t think so,” he said, raising his eyebrows as he looked at Scully.

“Just the bill,” she said, taking out her credit card and handing it to the waitress.

“You got it,” she replied, taking the credit card and walking away.

“I was going to pay,” Mulder said, shaking his head as he leaned closer to her.

“I asked you to dinner. It’s my treat,” Scully said with a shrug. “You can get the next one.”

“Hmm,” he hummed with a nod. His gaze dropped to her lips for a quick second and her stomach quivered as she imagined how it would feel to kiss him.

Kiss him again, you mean, she thought to herself as she remembered their all too brief kiss a month ago on New Year’s Eve.

“Here you go,” the waitress said, bringing back the credit card and the bill. Handing it to Scully, she waited for her to sign it and then she left the table, smiling with a nod.

“How about a walk?” Mulder suggested as they stood up and gathered their things. “Maybe a stop at the ice cream shop a few blocks over?”

“Ohhh, the one that carries the rice ice cream?”

“I’m gonna pretend you didn’t say that,” Mulder said with a scoff and shake of his head. She smiled as she put on her coat and he rolled his eyes at her. “Seriously… live a little, Scully. Eat the ice cream. The real, full fat ice cream.”

“We’ll see,” she teased and he shook his head again. “I’m sure you’re planning to get something chocolatey.”

“Mmm,” he agreed, his hand landing on the small of her back as they began to exit the pub. “With chocolate sauce and possibly whipped cream.”

“Is that right?” she asked, as images began to fill her head that were not partnerly.

“Yup. And I’ll share it with you, so long as your ice cream is of equal desirable value.”

“Hmm,” she hummed as they walked out the door, smiling at one another.

They walked in silence for a while, looking around at the other people out for a winter stroll. It was cold, but not overly so, and many had decided to take advantage of the moment.

A large group of loud teenagers rushed past them, forcing Scully to move closer to Mulder and grab his arm for balance.

“Where’s the fire?” Mulder mumbled as they watched them nearly run into other people on the sidewalk.

“No idea,” Scully answered, still holding onto Mulder’s arm and shaking her head.

“Kids today, huh?” he asked as he shifted his arm, allowing her to slip hers through his as they kept walking.

She dipped her head as she smiled and he began talking about something. Her attention was not on the story however, but on the feel of her arm linked with his and the ease at which it had happened.

They’d held hands, or even linked arms before, but it was usually in times of worry or grief. This was different and that spark that passed between them felt like a static charge waiting to pop.

The ice cream shop came into view all too soon and she had to break their connection in order for them to get through the door.

“Smells good in here,” Mulder said as he looked at the menu and she hummed in response as she did the same.

She saw the rice ice cream and she smiled as she glanced at Mulder, deciding she would forgo it tonight for something she knew he would enjoy sharing with her.

“Know what you’d like?” the kind older woman behind the counter asked them and Scully stepped forward.

“Yes. I’ll have the vanilla-”

“Hmm,” Mulder hummed and shook his head at the seemingly boring choice.

“With caramel sauce and cookie crumbles. In a waffle cone.”

“Ohh,” he said, looking at her in surprise and she smiled coquettishly.

“Desirable enough for you?” she asked as the woman began to prepare her ice cream.

“The ice cream?” he asked, his gaze dropping to her lips again and she drew in a deep breath as she nodded. “Very much so.”

“Good,” she said softly and he smiled before licking his lips and turning to the woman to give her his order. “Chocolate, with chocolate sauce, chocolate chips, and mini marshmallows. In a waffle cone. Two spoons.”

“Jesus,” Scully breathed, taking her cone and shaking her head as the woman behind the counter laughed jovially.

Napkins were shoved into their pockets as they left the shop and walked to a bench. Sitting down, they shared the ice cream, Mulder eating the greater portion of them as she began to feel too full.

She broke off pieces of her cone and dipped them into his ice cream, scooping up a marshmallow and a few chocolate chips.

“Admit it, rice ice cream will never beat chocolate,” he said, taking a huge bite as he raised his eyebrows.

“It’s not fair to compare the two,” she stated, letting the cold chocolate chips roll around in her mouth before she chewed them up. “They’re completely different.”

“And one is far superior. It’s okay to admit that, Scully,” he said, taking another bite.

“I’ll admit nothing of the sort,” she said, wiping chocolate from the corner of his mouth with a napkin as she laughed quietly.

“Coward,” he said and she laughed again as she shook her head.

He walked her to her door forty five minutes later, stopping as she took out her keys and placed them in the lock.

“Well,” he said, as the door opened. “Goodnight, Scully.”

“Goodnight, Mulder,” she replied, smiling softly at him.

Neither of them moved and she once again felt that spark growing between them.

“Could…” he started and then stopped.

“What?”

He stepped closer and her heart began to beat faster as her breathing increased. His eyes held hers and then dropped to her lips, lingering longer than they had all night.

“Can I kiss you goodbye?” he whispered, looking into her eyes again and she exhaled as she felt the spark pop and pull her toward him.

Goodbye, she thought. No… I don’t want this to be goodbye. Not yet.

Reaching up, she placed her hands on his chest and he drew in a breath as she did the same, her heart now racing. She stood up on tiptoes as he bent his head closer, his mouth opening slightly.

Just before their lips met, she paused, her decision made.

“You can kiss me goodbye… in the morning,” she whispered, and he moaned as he kissed her and she pulled him into her apartment, the door closing behind them.

#xf fanfic #the x files #msr #happy #fanfic #love #story prompt #prompt #anon answered #date night #ice cream #teasing and flirting #kissing #falling in love #season 7 #post Millennium

[this-is-a-podcast-fanblog]

Sister Cities: Night Vale (Welcome to Vermillion Falls)

A friendly desert community where the sun is bright, the stars have forsaken us, and the moon is a lie. Welcome to Night Vale.

Good evening, Vermillion Falls! Wow, it's been so long since I last spoke to all of you. I think it was... 2014? 2015, maybe? And I don't know when the last time before then would have been. What a wonderful time it is that we get to participate in this tradition once again. Well anyway, for those of you hearing me for the first time, my name is Cecil Gerswhin Palmer, and I am the community radio host of the beautiful town of Night Vale! In case you didn't know, we are your sister city! You'll never meet us, and we'll never meet you if you know what's good for you, but we are united nonetheless by the ties of family. And what could be stronger than that?

Speaking of family, Vermillion Falls, I'm sure you all remember the guy I was telling you about last time I was on the air - Carlos the Scientist. He is a beautiful man with beautiful hair and an oaky voice, who conducts scientific experiments in his lab by Big Rico's Pizza, and he is utterly perfect in every single imperfect way. The last time I spoke to you, Carlos was my boyfriend, and he had recently returned from being trapped in a desert otherworld. Well - then, Carlos and I have gotten *married*! Isn't that the most wonderful news? Isn't that the most fascinating piece of journalism ever to cross your ears? We had our ceremony on the 15th of December, in 2016, at -

Oh, hang on, Vermillion Falls. I've just been handed a press release by my newest intern, Safa. Safa, should I even be reading Night Vale news, if the people of my community aren't going to hear it? Oh well. I guess it can't hurt. More about my husband soon.

But first, a message from the Night Vale Interfaith Crochet Club and Political Activism Coalition. As many of you know, this group advocates for the recognition of crochet into popular culture, as both an artform and a really cool hobby. "We want everyone to know that regardless of what you believe in, we can all get behind making cool stuff out of yarn" said Robin, who is one of the coalition's organizers, and also a priest at the Temple of Hekate out in the sand wastes. "First, you chain to the desired length. Then, you either go back into the second loop from the hook, or you chain extra and yarn over. Then, you repeat your actions to make various stitches. It's great." The Night Vale Interfaith Crochet Club and Political Activism Coalition would like to invite you to their meetings. You can find them every other Wednesday night from 5:01 to 6:07:32, with locations announced every week on their Instagram page. Crochet materials and political pamphlets will be provided. When asked by a member of the press whether knitters would be welcome at the coalition's meetings, Robin hissed, then threw down zir skein of yarn, then vanished into a puff of vapor. So maybe don't attend the meetings if you like to knit.

This has been: a press release.

Okay, listeners, back to talking about my husband. So, Carlos and I had our ceremony on the 15th of December in 2016, and it's honestly hard to believe that that was almost seven years ago already. It feels like yesterday that my beautiful Carlos walked down the aisle towards me, his face all alight with the love we share as we wed in front of our entire town! And now, we have a beautiful baby boy who we adopted. Although I guess he isn't really a baby anymore, since he's about to turn six. Our sweet Esteban is the joy of our lives, and he takes so well after both his fathers. He started talking at eighteen months, but not in the usual baby-babble way. His first word was "I", followed by the words "desire destruction should follow in my wake, and also I would like another Gerber pouch, please." Carlos and I were so proud of him. How many children have a complete sentence at the same time as their first word? Do you know any children like that, Vermillion Falls? Of course not. My Esteban is a truly remarkable child, completely one of a kind. He loves giraffes and other animals, and he also loves to throw tantrums where he hurls his toys around the room and screams at the sky. When that happens, Carlos has to pick him up and rock him back and forth singing "Valjean's Soliloquy" from Les Miserables until he calms down. And it works every time. I'm so happy with my family. I was texting your radio host, Frank Luna, in our town voice group chat, and I sent him so many pictures of my husband. Like this one, where -

Ughhhh, another press release? Safa, I'm doing extremely important work here. I know this is only your first day, but usually press releases are supposed to be spaced out more, and I just did one! No, I totally did. Um, you might think I've been rambling about my family for a really long time, but time is subjective, and I am the station manager here. Okay, fine. Let's see what we've got.

The Night Vale Board of Education would like to announce an update to all their dictionaries. Effective immediately, they will be changing science curriculums to include "guilt" as a step in the scientific method. "Just take a moment to ponder what you're doing," said Director of Emergency Press Conferences Pamela Winchell, who wore a Jurassic Park Hoodie. "And think about whether it's really worth it, whatever 'it' is that you're about to do. Scientifically, I mean. This makes sense to me. Any questions? Yes, you with the clipboard." Several journalists with clipboards began speaking at the same time. "Leann with the clipboard," Pamela clarified. Leann asked her question, which was not picked up by the mics, but which Pamela helpfully repeated back verbatim. "Is our decision impacted by the recent works of Doctor J-" Here Pamela paused and made a face as if she had just bit into the sourest of lemons. "By Doctor Jan-" Pamela paused again and shakily took a sip of water. "I'm going to pretend you said by 'that woman' because that's more tolerable to me. Yes, it is. Anyone else? No? Alright, bye then." With that, Pamela hastily climbed into a car and drove away. Well, listeners, I must say, I completely agree with this decision. Mostly because I texted my husband to ask him what he thought, and he said he agrees too. So there you have it.

And now for traffic.

A car lies alone in a quiet ditch and the driver is still alive. On the back bumper, there is an array of colorful stickers, all pastel and candy-hued. One sticker says "Night Vale Community College Honor Student", a declaration of personal achievement that would be pretentious, were it not so admirable. There is a sticker that says "Save the Bees" and a sticker that says "Shop local" with a little cartoon farmer. There is a pride flag sticker, a nautical delta flag sticker, a sticker of the US flag on fire. The tires of the car are also on fire. Just the front ones. The left side door is dented inward, and already flowers are growing through the rust hole in the open passenger door. It squeaks on its hinges, still swaying, while dandelions and nightshade poke up through the metal. In the rearview mirror, lights twinkle red and blue. The pieces of metal scattered all around catch this light, and reflect it, dancing all over the quiet ditch and the empty road, a dazzling, shimmery display. A moth lands on the windshield, which resembles a disco ball, if disco balls were vaguely rectangular. The lights are getting closer now, and the moth flits away into the night. A car lies alone in a quiet ditch, and the driver is still alive.

This has been traffic.

Alright, so back to my family. Carlos, Esteban, and I live on Ourobourus Road, in the nicest house on our street. We have a backyard where Esteban plays on his jungle gym, and where we can walk our dog, Aubergine. Safa, what is it now? Oh, right. The weather. I guess I have extended the broadcast a little bit too much. Well, Vermillion Falls, let's go to the weather.

Welcome back, Vermillion Falls.

While we were in the weather, I asked my new intern, Safa, to go over the next few media reports to see if they could just kind of condense them down a little bit for me. I did go a little bit over the time limit, but can you blame me? I haven't talked to you all for years! I really wanted to give you updates about Carlos! Anyway, Safa was reading the reports while they poured themself a glass of water from the sink, but accidentally dropped them in. And when they reached to pick up the soggy papers, Safa's arm sank deep underwater. Much deeper than the half-inch of water pooled into the sink. Their entire body pitched forward, and Safa splashed into the sink. They tried to swim back up, to climb back out of the sink and into Night Vale, but instead, Safa resurfaced in the middle of a lake, in the town of Vermillion Falls!

I know this because Frank just texted our group chat. And according to him, no one who's entered Vermillion Falls through that lake has ever left. It's pretty difficult to find Night Vale, anyways, so it's safe to say that Safa will be there with you guys for a while. Perhaps indefinitely. So, please welcome Safa to your town! I'm sure they'll have a great time. At least, I hope so.

And to the family and loved ones of Intern Safa, they weren't that great of an intern, and they kept interrupting me, but they aren't technically dead, so I can speak as ill of them as I'd like. I'm sure they will call you soon. Just probably from a different time zone.

Alright, back to my broadcast about my husband. That's what this was supposed to be, after all, and I think it's fair enough that I can continue it without any more interruptions. So, settle in, Vermillion Falls! I have a lot to catch you up on. So anyway, Carlos's skin is beautiful and smooth, since he uses an incredible skincare routine made up of two toners and a revitalizing serum, and his cologne...

Broadcast continues for three hours.

#cecil palmer #wtnv #carlos the scientist #this was fun to write hope you guys like it #my fic #welcome to night vale #wtnv spoilers #vermillion falls #frank luna #my fanfic #my writing

[unstablerk800]

𝕹𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙 𝕱𝖆𝖑𝖑𝖘

Rating: Mature

Summary: Thousands of androids were freed in Markus's revolution. Connor and Nines are working together to solve a mysterious death, and they start to doubt that the stories of vampires are only fiction. Night falls, and there's something in the dark in Detroit... (Ao3 link)

(So I couldn't stop thinking about this little idea and it manifested in an actual first chapter of yet another new fic and I love it so far because I can push Nines in funny situations I love androids and vampires. 🖤)

Chapter 01. 🔽

Chapter 02.

Words: 3,652

The bar was full of people - and androids.

After the android revolution, most bars and public spaces removed the labels and got thirium drinks just to have androids mingle with the humans. The demands were high for that change after Markus had won the revolution with an outstanding support from the public. Most people were alright with this new life form, as most identified androids as a new conscious being, a new species, and mostly, they've lived with them in peace after being freed from their programming.

Abigail - or Gale, for short - was one of those who liked to spend time with androids. Her line of work allowed her to interact with some; being a librarian during the day, she had met more and more of them recently. Now, she was sitting at the bar, sipping her red wine, keeping an eye out on a potential new friend (or something more, if the stars aligned for it). She noticed someone was stopping beside her chair and sat down. She'd noticed the glowing band around the coat's arm on the left beside her, and she raised half a brow when she looked at the android's face.

"Good evening", he told the bartender, "I'd like a glass of thirium, please."

"Comin' right up."

The bartender hurried to serve him as he hurried anyone else. The android placed $50 on the counter - interesting, they usually paid online -, and sipped the drink as soon as the glass was in front of him.

"I know what you are", Gale spoke up and the android looked at her.

It wasn't just the pristine look on him. Because the jacket looked just as fancy as the rest of him, even his tie had been tailored to be unique, to stand out of the crowd. But his face? His curious expression? Jesus fuck, she thought, why do they have to look so fucking hot??

"It's not hard to guess", the android replied with a half smile.

She couldn't see the LED on his right temple as she sat on his left side. She thanked the liquid courage for making her speaking to him. He was so easy to look at. She slowly sipped her drink, her green eyes mischievous.

"I know a few facts about you, just by a look", she pointed it out and he flashed her a lopsided grin.

"Indulge me."

He winked. He winked!!

"Let's see", she tapped her lower lip as if she was wondering about what to say. Then she balled up her right hand into a fist before she moved her thumb open. "I've gathered that you're impossibly fast."

"Correct", he nodded, still with the smile on his face.

"You're strong", she counted two.

"Correct."

"Your skin is pale and cold."

"Yes, it is."

"You don't eat or drink."

"Technically, I don't consume anything." He paused. "But what all of these you've mentioned make me?"

She fought back a smile. She leaned closer to him, and whispered in her most dramatic tone:

"You're a vampire."

The laughter burst out of him. Whatever he imagined she'd say, it certainly wasn't this. She basked in the sound of his laughter, he looked really cute. Androids often mimicked smiles and laughter, but this wasn't one of those. This was a genuine 'taken by surprise' laugh. She always felt some pride whenever she could pull this off with an android.

"Why are you laughing?" She couldn't help but laugh along as she leaned back to straighten her back. "You're literally drinking blood!"

He shook his head slightly, still smiling, and looked back at her again. Not many humans started a conversation with him, and definitely not the way she did. Not in such a calm, friendly manner. Most people were intimidated by him.

"I'm not a vampire", he shook his head slightly.

"Uh-huh." She pulled her most unimpressed expression. "Prove it."

He rose a brow at her, surprised slightly by the challenge, then he showed her his left hand and pulled his synthetic skin back, revealing his stark white hand and fingers for her to see.

"Can a vampire do this?" He asked, genuine interest in his voice.

She looked at his hand with the same unimpressed expression, then glanced back up in his chocolate brown eyes.

"Actually, sir, yes, they can. There are shape shifter vampires, you know." He looked hilariously entertained at her reply as she sipped her wine with a very serious expression. He concealed his hand with his synthetic skin again. "I know a lot about vampires."

"Do you?" He asked back almost playfully, and chuckled quietly.

She leaned closer to him again as if she was letting him in on a secret.

"I'm a vampire hunter."

That made laughter bubble up in him again. She had to fight hard not to laugh along with him, his merry mood was very contagious.

"So watch yourself in my city, mister", she added, wriggling her shoulders slightly, eliciting another giggle from him. "One wrong move and I'll catch you."

"Your city?" He playfully remarked.

"Nothing happens in this city without the vampire hunters knowing about it", she nodded seriously.

"So I presume you've allowed the android revolution to take place, hmm?"

"Correct", she half smiled now. "But androids wouldn't prey on innocent people's blood, would they?"

"No", he tilted his head as he chewed on his lips from the inside of his mouth. "Do you use this pick-up line with everyone, Abigail Noble?"

"Mister!!" She gasped theatrically, blushing slightly that he'd caught her red handed about flirting straight off the bat, "getting a lady's name like this is cheating!"

"Oh, I apologize", he offered quickly and she giggled, waving it off.

"Nah it's fine. And call me Gale. And, to answer your question, no, I don't use this pick-up line with everyone." She leaned slightly closer to him and he mimicked her movement, leaning closer to her, too, which made her smile. "Only the handsome ones."

He let out a surprised little oh; it was clear he hadn't been flirted with yet, or he wasn't used to anyone telling him he was handsome. Either way, he seemed flattered.

"My name is Connor, by the way", he said suddenly, making her smile.

"Connor", she nodded a few times, thoughtful. "That's an interesting name."

"I've been named by CyberLife", he admitted with a little frown. "Why is it interesting?"

"Because it comes from the old Irish name Conchobar, and it means wolf, dog, hound." She raised half a brow. "You do have some sort of... aura about you, too. But I'd rather say you're a hunter like me."

"How have you learned what my name means?" He asked, slightly surprised.

"I've grown up on my dad's ancient sci-fi movies. One of them involved a robot and a boy called Connor." She chuckled as she sipped her wine again. "Curious they've given you that name."

"And yours?" He raised a brow, researching her name. "Meaning my father is joy?"

"Well, this is the reason I use Gale, my friend", she picked up her glass and clinked it to his. "I am joy. I make people smile whenever I can."

"Hmm." Connor observed her, and drank a bit himself before he tilted his head. "So... if this is your town... you know all the good places, aren't you?"

"Why, do you need a guide around the city?" She raised a playful brow. "I'd be happy to show you around, but my shifts are at different times. So we need to schedule them."

Connor was about to reply when he received a report. His lashes fluttered slightly as he went through the message. She noticed it, but didn't mention.

"I think I've got to go", he quickly finished his drink. "My work almost never ends", he smiled at her apologetically. "So... would it be alright if I called you some day?"

She smiled at him, even if she felt bad he had to go.

"You already know my number, mister?"

"I'm afraid so", he chuckled, standing from his seat.

"Well then, call me soon", she nodded at him with a little smile. "Have a nice night!"

"You, too, Gale."

~*~

"By the time you arrive, you can go home, tin can."

"Have you checked the attic?"

"Nothing is up there. The action happened downstairs."

"I'll check anyway."

Gavin rolled his eyes as Connor made his way up there. Nines followed him in silence, having already analyzed the crime scene.

"Not a drop of blood", Connor mentioned quietly. He was just as fast as his successor who was just behind him as he walked up the stairs. "That wound should've left a bloodbath behind."

"I thought the same", Nines said in a quiet, monotone voice. "Unless they've removed the blood from the body before placing the wound there."

"Improbable", Connor murmured as he opened the door to the attic.

"Correct", Nines muttered back in the same tone.

"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." Connor added, and when no reaction came from Nines, he looked back at him with a half smile. "Do you know that quote?"

"No."

Nines grunted as he made it up to the attic with RK800. He narrowed his eyes as he looked around in the dark, scanning the area.

"You should read some books", Connor offered. "I think you'd like the adventures of Sherlock Holmes."

"Sounds like a waste of time." Nines sounded so emotionless that it made Connor smile. He turned around to look up at the other android. RK900 looked around in the attic with a look of half-concealed disgust. "As this is. Why did we come up here?"

"Because I didn't want Detective Reed to intervene", Connor shrugged. "I've met someone today and she was, interestingly, talking about vampires."

Nines needed the fraction of a second to research the word and the snort that left him was uncharacteristically loud. Connor could almost see the other's system messages flashing in his vision. Vampires are quite popular in fiction, that was the first message Connor encountered upon researching the word himself, but they do not exist.

"I know we're deviants but you could stop being too deviant, Connor", Nines curled his lips in disdain. A big spider slowly descended and landed on his jacket on his shoulder, making it's way down towards his arm, without Nines noticing. Connor reached up and let the spider walk straight on his hand; the tickling sensation of the little feet made him smile. Nines regarded the critter with narrowed eyes as Connor withdrew his hand. "I'm starting to question your expertise as a detective."

"I'm just taking everything into consideration, as you are", he murmured as he brought the spider close to a wall so it could run away to safety where they wouldn't accidentally step on it. "Where's the blood, then?"

"Why is it even important? Someone died. There was an attacker. We need to find the attacker and we'll have the answers to your meaningless questions."

"You're just focusing on one thing, not the entire situation at hand."

"Just as you should." Nines huffed. "At least it wasn't one of us. Those marks weren't done by an android."

"Precisely. A humanoid android, at least. It had to be some sort of animal."

"Well, we are in the heart of Detroit, so the biggest animals running wild here are stray dogs."

"And the animals at CyberLife zoo", Connor raised a brow. "It opened recently and we know they love to keep quiet about... accidents."

"Perhaps a lion escaped." Now Nines's voice was laced with sarcasm. The android even flashed a lopsided, mocking smirk. He said the possibility out loud, without taking it into real consideration. "Let's have a look, Connor. I'm sure they'll be delighted if we went and asked them."

"You know, what, Nines? I will go and ask them tomorrow."

Nines's smirk disappeared and his brows furrowed as he toyed with the possibility that Connor's circuits must've been fried by accident at some point earlier that day.

"You're wasting valuable time", he said finally.

Nines often felt like he was repeating this sentence almost all day, every day. Working with others at the station included him being surrounded by people who were so... sooo... slow. And even Connor was dancing on his artificial nerves. His eyes were narrowed to the point they were almost closed, but Connor didn't look touched that he had possibly annoyed his successor. On the contrary. He was beaming.

"Try reading real, paper based books like humans do", Connor reached up to gently pat Nines's right shoulder. Nines's LED whirred with gold at the physical contact. "Integrate, Nines. You'll feel better."

"I'd feel better if you didn't speak about nonsense", Nines huffed, walking down the stairs to join Detective Reed.

"Done?" The man asked with a raised brow, laughing quietly at Nines's expression. "What was that about, lovebirds?"

"RK900 is my brother at best", Connor replied instead of Nines, drawing a laughter from Gavin.

"His bigger, faster and better brother", Nines added smugly, making Connor roll his eyes.

They finished reconstructing the events again, then they all went home. Connor was living with Hank and Sumo; Nines lived alone at the heart of the city. He had enjoyed that it was always busting with life; even if he appeared stoic most of the time, he liked to analyze people and gather data. That night, though, his thoughts were elsewhere. Perhaps Connor was right; maybe he really should try to integrate a bit more. He'd never felt the need to do so; humans were so annoying in his eyes as they just couldn't keep up with him, and other androids weren't as sophisticated as he was. Even Connor was slower compared to him. And the rest of his models were spread across the country, keeping law and order wherever they were stationed.

He could've tried and contacted them, but in that regard it always stopped him that he wanted something... else. Something different. Something that Connor had with Hank. A partner? A companion? A friend, maybe? Even if they had a sluggish brain? He thought of everyone else at the station, but he wanted to have a professional relationship with them. He couldn't even think of anyone who'd spend time with him. If anything, most people were intimidated by him, and if they weren't, he'd kill a conversation in two sentences with his deadpan answers.

Conflicted, Nines decided he'd give Connor's idea a shot. Couldn't hurt any more than loneliness, right?

~*~

Grace Holloway was written on the little name plate over her heart, pinned to her crisp white blouse. Her golden hair was secured above her shoulders with a hair clip resembling a golden butterfly, and Nines automatically scanned her when his eyes met her bright blue ones. Unsurprisingly, he quickly gathered that she was a librarian, and had no criminal record.

"How may I help you, sir?" She asked, pulling the books close to her chest with a big smile.

He stared at her, stunned. Nines didn't remove his jacket that gave away he was an android. He decided not to get rid of his LED either. He didn't want people to think he was something else than what he was meant to be. And given his size and demeanor, it wasn't usual for people to flash him a smile of any kind.

His LED pulsed with yellow.

"I am looking for books."

His deadpan tone seemed to make her smile even wider, if it was possible. Her teeth looked perfectly aligned, he noticed.

"Well sir, you've come to the right place!" She nodded, "what would you like to read?"

"I don't know", he answered honestly.

"What genre would you like to try?" She tilted her head. When she saw that Nines furrowed his brows though, she waved with her free hand. Poor guy was utterly lost, she realised. "Don't worry about it. We all start somewhere! Please, come with me."

She led him down the corridor and she put the books down from her hand at the front desk. She then led him to another corridor, where shelves tall and full. She picked one off the shelf and offered it to him. Nines stared at the tome, then back at her. Plato.

"I always advise free androids to start with philosophy", she explained.

"How do you know I'm a deviant?" Nines asked, tilting his head, his grey eyes confused as they stared at the book again.

"I like to use the word free", Grace smiled, "deviant sounds degrading, as if it's a bad thing. And I guessed, rightly so, as you confirmed that you are", she winked at him, making him furrow his brows in slight confusion. "Nietzsche", she muttered, searching and picking another book off the shelf. "Also a few about different religions." She mumbled to herself, picking off various, rather thick volumes, putting each book on top of the first one in his hands. Nines said nothing, just stood there in his stoic way, watching her work with a slightly annoyed expression. "I'm also thinking of this and that-", Grace added a few more volumes of less known philosophists and great thinkers, finishing the pile at twelve rather thick and heavy tomes. "There. You're registered in our library, aren't you?"

"No", Nines replied through gritted teeth, his LED constantly spinning in amber circles.

"Alright, we'll do that, too", she nodded, "come on."

She walked back to the front desk, sat down at a glass screen, and flashed a smile up at him as he put the books down.

"Alright, I'll ask a few questions so we can sign you up for thousands of adventures!" She clicked around to navigate in the library's system and glanced up at him. "What's your name?"

"Nines", he said in his flattest tone.

"Do you have a family name?" She raised a brow.

Nines took a split second. He had recalled that Connor called him brother the night before, so he shrugged.

"Nines Anderson", he decided.

"Nines... Anderson", she murmured, typing in his name. Her fingers moved fast on the keyboard. "I need your full number, too."

"313 248 317 – 87."

"When were you activated?"

"9th November."

"Oh, is that why you're called Nines?" She smiled up at him as she put the data in.

"Yes", he begrudgingly shifted his weight from his left foot to his right, and looked around in the library. "RK900, 9th November... Connor thought it'd be great if I was referred to as Nines, and not Connor, to avoid misunderstandings."

"So your real name is Connor?" She asked curiously.

"Technically", he glanced down at her again. "But I prefer Nines."

"I see. Nice to meet you, Nines", she beamed a smile up at him. "I'll need an e-mail address."

"Give me five seconds", he tilted his head slightly.

He created the e-mail in exactly five seconds. When it was done, he told her what it was. She asked about his address as well, then the procedure was finished, and she gave him a new card after she'd recorded all the books he'd borrow. He didn't look at it, just hid it in the inner pocket of his jacket.

"Alright, we're finished." She put a slip of paper in the book on the top. "You can read all the rules on borrowing books on our library's page. Happy reading, Nines."

Nines narrowed his eyes at her, grabbed the books, and he was gone without a word. Grace sighed as she returned to her work.

But he was back two hours later.

"Oh, hello", she was sitting at the desk again, and she smiled up at him the same way as she did before. He looked just as stoic as the last time, but it didn't make her smile less bright. "...you brought all of them back", she tilted her head as she glanced at the spines of the volumes.

"I've read them all."

She looked back up at him in disbelief.

"You've read them all", she repeated. "As in, you've read the words from line to line, right? You didn't scan them, did you?"

"Isn't it the same?" Nines raised a brow, drawing a little chuckle out of her.

"No, it isn't." She pulled the stack towards herself anyway. "That's cheating. That's not reading, that's just consuming data in the matter of seconds."

Nines didn't say anything. He had no idea he was doing this wrong. It left him baffled and confused – and slightly ashamed. He always did everything well, and he failed this unusual task, it seemed. When he spoke next, he sounded hesitant, as if he wasn't sure how to word his question.

"Then how should I do it?"

"Well, if you want to practice, I hold a reading club for androids every Tuesday and Thursday." She reached in one of the drawers and pulled out a little card. He took it and glanced at it. "It'd be lovely to see you there!"

Nines glanced back at her. That sounded nice; it'd be good to hear new voices – voices other than Reed's rude comments or Connor's enthusiastic rambles –, but to read in front of strangers? Grace noticed the shadow of fear before Nines resumed to his usual stoic expression a moment later. It happened so fast that she had her doubts she'd even saw what she thought she saw.

"In any case, you can borrow a new batch of books. I'll help you gather some, if you'd like!"

Since he said nothing just half nodded in her direction as he pocketed the newest card, she walked out with him to get him more books. He had his doubts he'd ever read, especially for anyone else.

What a waste of time, he thought begrudgingly as she piled up the sixth, seventh, eight book in his arms.

#night falls fanfic #detroit become human #dbh #connor dbh #nines dbh #rk800 #rk900

[killrisma]

The Fall wasn’t gradual, it didn’t start out as a light tickle and turn into a burn; It was immediate, it was complete and total from the very moment that it happened. That didn’t mean that it was over in an instant, however.

No, Falling wasn’t quick. It wasn’t slow either. There were no words to describe the way that time distorted as one Fell, just as there were no words to describe the agony one feels as their very being is torn to shreds and pasted back together with Hellfire as the glue.

Falling was, well,

Ineffable.

#i wrote this at 3 am on a school night #good omens #crowley #ineffable husbands #good omens 2 #good omens fanfic #good omens drabble #ineffable fandom #crowleys fall

[hearts4golbach]

link to ur wattpad??

For some reason, i can't access the link to my actual account.

My username is @hearts4golbach on wattpad!

here are all of my stories on wattpad:

Light Shower. (Sal Fisher x Reader.)

Zombified. (Larry Johnson x Reader.)

The Night Shift. (Johnnie Guilbert x Reader.)

Fucking Weirdo. (J.G/J.W x Reader.) Oneshots.

Baby Blue. (Billie Eilish x Reader.) Oneshots.

Ghosted. (S.G and C.B x Reader.) Oneshots.

#fanfiction #fanfic #johnnie guilbert #jake and johnnie #johnnie guilbert x reader #johnnie guilbert x you #ash campbell #larry johnson #sal fisher #sally face #jake webber x y/n #jake webber x you #jake webber x reader #jake webber #johnnie and jake #tara yummy #hearts4golbach #the night shift #light shower #melanie martinez #billie eilish x y/n #billie eilish x you #billie eilish x reader #billie eilish #i have no idea what to put for hashtags #happier than ever #when we all fall asleep where do we go #dont smile at me

[gingkos-eldritch-secret]

Fanfiction Commentary and Recommendations: Lex Luthor´s Ascend from Supervillainy to Fatherhood Part VI (chapters 26 to 30)

The Original story by @halfagone can be found here.

The previous parts of the commentaries can be found here:

Part I

Part II

Part III

Part IV

Part V

Part VII

So, just to begin with: we still continue where the last part cut off. This will include discussions of injury, blood, torture and death. Also, discussions about the morality of killing someone, even in self-defence.

Many good and interesting and also important discussions happen in these following chapters. Which is very, very nice, but also makes for a bit of an emotionally exhausting bit to read. It´s absolutely wonderful, but at the end I lay in my bed and was like 'how. How do I even feel now? What should I feel now? What?' So yeah, be prepared for that.

Now included: Memes and (hopefully) gifs. You´ll see if it worked. As of now I have no clue. And with that: have fun with the commentary :D

○○○••○○•••○○••○○○

So: Dick is still floored by Lex just leaving after admitting that he forgives them for their behaviour. And has the same opinion as me: That he´s a freaking miracle worker. Good for him! He really DOES deserve Alfred´s cookies for this.

And now we get back to the interrogation. I mean. It should be just Gordon doing this, but Batman has been allowed to stay. And knowing how the bat behaves in such scenarios I´m not really sure that that´s a good idea.

A fun fact: the bats are ALL listening in to the conversation. And as I already know how this will go I´ll just say: they´ll be facepalming. A lot. Or will be commiserating with Danny in a way. Because god damn, he kinda verbally eviscerates Bruce. And Bruce freaking deserves it.

I mean, true, Bruce has made it clear that he´s not offering any input. But it´s Bruce. Even if he wanted to, can this man even hold back his opinions and questions?

Jason and Dick hide it out on the roof - more or less in a mix of civilian and vigilante outfits, having their own conversation while listening in.

And listening in they do. I´m not sure that 'What´s one more bad memory in a hospital?' is a wonderful conversation starter, but god damn. It sure sets the mood. You can decide what that mood is, but I´d say a mix between resigned, shifty (if that even is a mood and not a state of being) and exasperated. So Fun mix.

At least Jim doesn´t seem all too happy about the conversation either? Small mercies, I guess.

At least there´s a lawyer present.

(If I´m very wordy in this: blame the mix of melatonin and caffeine that is unique to night shifts. I am VERY giddy right now and that translates weirdly into commentary. It´s weird to write while kind of dancing to a space documentary YouTube video lmao.)

The first question is just. Basic. 'What happened? Begin from the kidnapping'. That was the moment I decided that I needed popcorn. Because with how done Danny seemed from the whole situation to begin with that could only go so well.

So, it begins with Danny beginning at the. Well. Beginning. With him running off and befriending the crazy local lesbians (I love them your honour) and how he spent his time there, how he doubled back after the explosion and the whole Van business happening after that. All the while Jason is still reeling about his relationship with two ex-Villains. But really, should he be so surprised about that? It´s Danny 'i'mma rehabilitate villains' Luthor we´re talking about.

Then he tries to explain why he thinks the Joker targeted him - he brings it back to his connections with said man´s ex and her new girlfriend. Which is understandable. I doubt he knows that he was mistaken as a Robin when he was taken.

And then we get into the nitty gritty. The things that happened after the camera was shot and the stream was ended.

And just oof. There had just been a whole freaking table full of torture instruments. FULL OF THEM. None of them like that revelation.

And of course, Batman interrupts and asks if the camera was shot on purpose. What the fuck man. WHAT THE FUCK. YOU ASK A TRAUMATIZED CHILD IF HE SHOT A CAMERA ON PURPOSE AFTER BEING BOUND AND TORTURED ON A LIFESTREAM? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU????

Danny stays calm. Only just. He explains how he´d meant to get the man in the shoulder or the back to run as far away as possible. How he still managed to get away and knocked out any goons he met on his way. How he found bomb equipment and used it against the bad excuse of a clown when he got too close to a hiding spot. How he´d tried to shoot him in the back and just met his chest instead. How the Joker just LAUGHED and tried to kill him then and there because 'two killers killing each other'. Really. Fuck him.

Jim, bless his soul, just gently prods at what happened next. Which Danny lies about. Says he just tried to drag himself away, but was slow because of the blood loss and the wounds. That Red Hood came soon after that. It´s a good lie. And it´s nearly the truth. But we all know what went on was just a tad more eldritch. Not that he can tell them that. Who´d ever believe it after all? Or react well to that? No one. that´s who.

Now Gordon tells Danny that the goons were all found dead. All of them. Danny … does not take this well. At all. Even the lawyer asks if they should stop for now, but … well. Then they´d have to do it a second time and I highly doubt that would go any better.

And now the million-dollar question. Where did our boy learn how to wield a gun? This is where the bad parenting choices of the Fentons come in. And how they led to Danny and Jazz chasing each other around the house with loaded guns. In a playful way…. Now where is that Danny protection squad. I need a membership.

And of course, Batman asks why they taught their children how to use lethal guns. He´s still not holding himself to the earlier 'promise' of: he´ll stay out of the conversation. I´m still mad at him for that. And I will continue to be mad at him for that.

Go Jason. Own that cringe at the behaviour of your father figure. Though we´ll all agree that the Fenton parents are, in fact, fools.

So, while Danny tells them that he learnt because he had to, that he never liked guns. Which Batman then uses against him with his next question. And Gordon is not happy about THAT either, trying to interrupt. But of course, the great batman just ignores the head of the police force and asks why Danny chose the gun instead of any of the other weapons.

Danny´s just like 'What? Should I have taken a melee weapon? With the joker? How´d I have gotten away that way? It would have been so much harder?'

And Bruce, not understanding or not liking the reasoning is just like 'You could´ve just ran away'

Like. Danny´s right. He´d been trying to do that from the start? Why´d Batman suddenly fault him for this? For self-defence? I repeat myself: WHAT THE FUCK BATMAN?

Now the man is trying to talk Danny into a corner so that he may 'confess' or whatever the hell is going on in his head. Because why ever else would he hide somewhere? If not to just ambush the Joker?

Which is, I think, when Danny gets really fed up and was also the time I was sitting there like

Batman be like 'I just need to know why' and Danny? Has had ENOUGH. Jason may find his eyes creepy at this point. And I do imagine him letting a tiny little bit of his ghostliness slip through. Because all of those accusations? I´d have had enough of that much earlier than Danny.

And that´s when Danny eviscerates Batman. How do you ask? Well. Because he researched. Everything from crime rates to rogue statistics and even looked into the rogues themselves. And the Joker would´ve had the death penalty several times if it was not for his 'plead to insanity'. He´d left behind half a baseball stadium full of bodies. And nothing was ever done? He told about the second Robin´s death and how he enjoyed it. And batman says things about death and playing god by choosing who dies.

And he asks the real questions:

“You talk about how people play god by choosing who dies, but aren’t you playing god by choosing who lives?” Danny sneered; teeth bared. “Who do you go for? The civilian in need or the criminal who caused their suffering? Who’s the priority to you? Who do you chase after first?”

God damn - going right for the metaphorical throat.

He continues. Calling out that bullshit mentality of 'choice', when the Joker still would´ve just gone back to Arkham after killing him when he´d not even wanted to be there in the first place.

Talks about how there´s people who can be reformed. Who can live normal lives again. But that there must be a life for them to get back to and that the Joker had nothing else. He simply had nothing to live for except for his 'jokes'. And even if they´re reformed. They´d have to live with all the people who have heard of their exploits looking at them with scorn.

There´s just so many good points to this conversation, I love it :3

I kind of think that Jason really needed to hear all of this as well if we go by his reaction. Poor man´s been going through the wringer that day.

When Cass and Tim find the corpse, she´s not sure what to think. Should she be upset that Danny has killed? Should she even be upset that it was the Joker in the first place? Sould she be relieved? I think it all depends on the why´s.

In the end. Nearly all of them had killed before. So, what makes Danny all that different?

Meanwhile Bruce is just having big thoughts and would like to be alone for now please. I think what he actually needs is a hot bath with some scented candles. Self-care, my man. It would do you a world of good. Also: introspection. Always good.

But in the meantime, Bruce and Jason talk things out and it´s beautiful. Some parts of it are quite funny - always trying to ease the mood this one. But in the end Bruce is right. He´s not Jason´s therapist, but he´s his father. He just wants him to be well.

And if things have to be talked about for the going well part? It must be done. Even if it very clearly is hard for either of them. But that´s what family is for, is it not? To be there for each other even when things get uncomfortable …

I cried at some parts of the conversation, but Bruce nearly puts his foot in his mouth so many times … like Jason tries to understand, but Bruce doesn´t make it any easier.

They talk about why Bruce feels so tense at Danny being the one to kill the Joker. Why he´s so insistent on Danny. How it shouldn´t have been Danny. But if not Danny, who then?

Jason? Dick? Bruce? Any way has it´s pros and cons. Who´d have been able to live with it? Who´d have come out of it unchanged? Would the Joker even have been able to reform? No. Not in this life. Never in this life.

Jason´s question threw me out the loop a bit because 'Since when do you talk about these things?' is a very justified question xD

Then the talk shifts. Towards Dick, towards the 'golden boy' and how it was originally Jason who gave his older brother that title. Not Bruce or anyone else. And how Jason has always been the favourite.

Jason predictably doesn´t believe that. Which is of course his right, but it made me just so freaking happy? How he disbelievingly tried to make any of his other siblings into the favourite while Bruce just explains that no. The child who´d so earnestly tried to do well in school, who did his homework without asking, who was excited to stay with him, who didn´t leave freaking scars (and god damn Dick you feral child) and who didn´t fake an uncle so that he´d not be adopted.

And Bruce? Just says that he´d never be mad at Jason because he tried to steal the cars of the Batmobile because it gave him Jason in the end. And that really let me tear up a bit there. Cause that´s just so wholesome? My poor little heart.

Then the impossible actually happens: Bruce apologizes. He actually apologizes. That he´s sorry to make think he was never loved, but that he´s his son and it never should have been thought to have been otherwise. That it never changed to begin with. That he loves him now and god damn I´m a puddle on the floor now. I died of family feels my friends. Bury me shallow though. I have the feeling I´ll be back.

After Danny is released from the hospital, him and Lex go to a Diner for some food and conversation. And let´s just say Lex would like to have a TALK with Bruce Wayne still.

He´s also very happy about Danny´s healing factor as that means his boy will be pain free much sooner than he´d be if he´d been human… well if he´d been completely and utterly human he´d probably be dead because he would´ve taken a much longer time escaping his bonds … anyways

Though this also lets Lex think about how Danny had explained his healing factor. How it´s emotion-bound. And how sometimes when the emotions are right and good, he´ll heal, but when he feels bad or if the wound had emotional damage attached it would heal slower or even leave scars. Though the latter would only happen if the psychological damage went over a certain threshold.

And because he´s a dad he won´t beat long around the bush and tells him about his talk with Dick, about how he knows he collapsed after seeing Jason and if he knew why that was and then they talk about cores. And how the 'parasite' may not have had one, but it had certainly reacted to the proximity to one.

Soon after Lex goes outside to talk with Bruce. Bruce apologizes directly to lex - noice. He really needed to do that in person, otherwise it´d have been quite insincere.

Lex compliments Bruce in how his children care for him. How they certainly do care for him, because otherwise? They wouldn´t even bother.

Lex still warns Bruce that he´ll it slide this once and that if it ever happens again? There´ll certainly be hell to raise. Which is quite understandable. If my child had faced what Danny has faced I would not in any way be calm either. In fact, I´d be furious. So, the little warning is certainly appreciated.

While Bruce is surprised by how well Danny already looks since he´s only been out of the hospital for a few hours, he wants to apologize to Danny. And the little shit? Just says 'I´m waiting'.

Honestly, this man xD

Bruce actually, really, honestly apologizes with a whole explanation of why they did that how he´s also sorry that they did not take his trauma response seriously. He´s also understandably confused when Danny asks if he´d taken a blood sample.

And when Danny emphatically asks if he´d tried? Well. Let´s just say that a little of the eldritch energy slipped through and Bruce got a whole lot more attentive. Danny can be creepy. As a treat.

And when Bruce says 'yes`? And sees the reactions has to that? He realizes that Danny´s afraid. Honest to god afraid even though this could not be as bad as his confrontation with the ex-clown. He also doesn´t know how to feel when Danny warns him about trying it again.

Though here I´ll have to throw something in. Bruce may not have gotten a sample. But do you remember that Danny´s been tortured? With knives? And that there´d understandably been blood from his wounds all around the warehouse? And that the hospital probably also had some of his blood from the bullet removal as well as the cleaning of the other wounds? Let´s just say it will come into play later. I completely forgot about the left in my first read but god damn. This just makes the situation so much worse. But first it´ll get better. I swear this is like a roller coaster ride of emotions.

Where were we? Ah yes. Danny asks about the parasite. And if they´d taken it into the Batcave. Bruce is. Not amused. The first question out of his mouth was 'how' and the second was 'did you tell lex Luthor'

Dannys reaction´s just a wrinkled nose like 'ew, why would I do that?'. Which is honestly kind of adorable. And Danny does this whole spiel about secret identities and how they´re not his to tell and that he´s not exactly following lex´ agenda at all.

And after that rant Bruce just focuses on the word 'parasite' like a confused puppy. Danny´s just like 'yes. It´s a parasite. No, I don´t know how he got it' *thinks about ectoplasm* … 'was it a green liquid’ the instant reaction of 'LAZARUS PIT KNOWLEDGE' is funny as frick if you ask just always me. He just always assumes things first before he asks. Let me remind you peeps: To assume makes an ass out of u and me.

And then Danny explains how his parents used to work with 'something like that' and that it´s the reason his blood probably wouldn’t even ping as human because of all the contamination.

As Bruce asks if that´s the reason he´s so shifty about his blood samples Danny´s just like 'Nah. I just don´t trust you with this sort of information. Someone would get it and then they´d just use it maliciously. I KNOW that. Already lived through that'

Then this heartbreaking part follows:

There was only this soft, sad expression on Danny’s face as the boy said, “Oh, Bruce… There is no fixing me.” And then, Danny looked away, gaze falling to the half-eaten plate now. “Not anymore, anyways. Had someone tried a decade earlier, maybe it would have worked out but… No one bothered to try when I was still worth saving.”

I just want to put him in a blanket burrito and hug him until he´s happy and safe and no one will harm him anymore …

Bruce wants to talk about that topic further, but Danny just deflects back to the parasite. He talks about ectoplasm! Achievement unlocked! Knowledge about ectoplasm gained! Congratulations!

Bruce is fascinated. Danny is horrified that Jason was basically put into extremely unhealthy sludge that´s just a very bad representation for Ectoplasm. He´s not surprised about the side effects it had though. Which. If you think about it. I wouldn´t be either. I mean that stuff runs on emotions. And you can´t tell me that the League of Assassins has many positive emotions. Especially around the pits.

And then everyone´s just horrified that the parasite is sentient. Not as horrified that it´s not sapient. Can you imagine a green sludge parasite being sapient? God that sounds like some horror movie stuff.

Now the million-dollar question: Why isn´t Danny as affected by the whole thing? Easy answer? Because he´s been surrounded by that stuff since before he´s been born. It´s integrated in his DNA. Of course, it won´t affect him the same. And of course, there´s no fixing him. But his parents never did realize, did they? They never did understand what they´d been doing to their own flesh and blood. But their work was more important in the end, I guess.

And then we´re back with a mixed bag and some sadder emotions as the talk swaps to Danny´s parents and then to Lex and the situation at the hospital and Damian´s reaction and Danny´s 'mask' being just as much of a mask as Brucie is and. So much information in such a short time. Ouch :')

Good emotions. But too many D:

And now Cass has switched in! She´s taken Bruce’s seat and they ... Talk. Cass is not really all that jazzed about Danny knowing their vigilante secret. She´s also not happy about how the whole situation came about. Not sure what to think about Danny having killed someone.

And … Yeah. She has killed before. Has seen how the life of a man left him and decided: never again. She was raised as a weapon. Only a weapon - that leaves it´s traces.

And then she came to Gotham. She came to Bruce and became a vigilante and there´s the no kill rule (not that it always stops them from killing someone). And Danny just killed someone.

But it was the Joker. He´d done horrendous things to both Danny and her family. And in the end, if it´d been a member of her family who´d done the deed she would still feel not quite right about it. But the kill was not done out of some twisted sense of revenge or someone thing else. It was self-defence in the end. It was accident. So …

And in the end: she can´t be upset about all of that. She wouldn´t have wanted to lose Danny either. Even if she´d always had the feeling of not understanding him.

But that´s the thing about relationships isn´t it? They´re hard. They´re a work in progress. You can never know another person as intimately as you know yourself. We go into a relationship, any kind of relationship, with the intent to learn more about another person. Maybe also to learn more about ourselves. But at the core relationship works out if both people want to see the other for who they are and how they can make it work as a team. The same is true for friendships and family relationships. And there´s always more to learn.

Also. They´re just cute. Cass then asks what his parents did to Danny and his eyes just flash green.

There is no further information before the scene changes to the fathers trying to be subtle about spying on their kids through the window lmao

He recounts a number of their neglectful behaviours, their questionable morale standards, their involuntary hurting their children and just. Not once did they ever question themselves. Not once did they try to change or apologize. And then in the end? They used their blasters on him and he just ran. Danny´s so tired of running. So, so tired of it. He just wants somewhere to belong. A home without the danger of his own parental figures turning on him every second he´s there.

Cass is just so sweet as she gently reminds him that he´s not less important just because he hurt someone. Because in the end no one´s life is worth more, than one’s own. That she´s just glad she´s safe and god, I’m getting diabetes.

AND THEN THEY KISS. It´s all very romantic and cute and the fathers want to protest, but Tim is just sitting next to them with a camera making photos of the whole scenario because he wants to show them on their future wedding party. I understand you, my man, I understand you. That´s just the sibling in you. As well as the photographer. Those two go remarkably well together!

Tim be like:

While going home Lex and Danny make a pit stop at Harley´s and Ivy´s house where Harley and Lex badger Danny into going to therapy for the low price of Lex repairing their home and them basically becoming Danny´s Wine and Vodka aunts. Ahhh yes. Found family at its finest.

Danny also gets permission for a pet from Lex. LONG LIVE THE KITTEN EYES.

Of course, the public has already been informed about the death of the joker and how Danny had been involved. Gotham is throwing a party for him and they´re showered in confetti on their way to the airport. It´s all very heroic and nice. Until the antis come out. But they´ll always come out the little buggers.

And then. AND THEN. My favourite parts about this fic: one of the social media chapters. God damn.

It starts with their excitement about Danny coming to Gotham, worrying about the Joke r and then Danny in his custody, Danny’s health status as well as his being saved by red hood, people worrying about the joker, people being confused at Danny talking with Bruce in a diner, people insta-shipping Cass and Danny and being just so damned happy for them? It´s adorable. The social Media peeps are just CUTE.

And when they find out that Danny killed the joker all hell breaks loose. The stans, the antis - there´s fights breaking out over it, there parties, there´s just so much joy about that little fact.

And then people freak out about a pic Harley shared with the sirens and Danny and Bud and Lou during the Uno game. The Fanart is adorable and people are just joyous about Harley being like 'I´ve only known Danny for a day and a half, but if anything happened to him, I would kill everyone in this room and then myself'. Which. Yes. Dany protection squad RISE UP.

People are not comforted hearing the 'nah don’ worry I’ve had worse' comment upon being asked about his wellbeing.

The exact way Danny revealed that Danny and Cass are now dating just absolutely adorable. It´s so fucking sweet. The whole family is exasperated and the PR team probably wants to cry but god damn, it´s cuuteee

#me: writing the commentary after a night shift an instantly falling asleep #me while editing: what the fuck are these sentences and/or words supposed to mean???? #phandom #dpxdc #dp x dc #fanfic #commentary #in the youtube reaction style #if it works it works #fandom #fanfiction recommendations #drama baby drama #batfamily #batfam #danny fenton #danny phantom #danny is lex´ adopted son #people love him #lex slowly turning into a parent tm #batfamily shenanigans #cuteness overload #Do apologize whacky grammar and/or spelling please #i´m tired #Lex Luthor´s ascend from supervillainy to fatherhood #Chapters 26 to 30 #llafstf #dp x dc crossover #Danny being a billionaire magnet #danny being a little shit #people are concerned

[franticfanficloremakers]

theres this too

yeah my friend (and a co-author and writer) @mysticbloodrose made this at some point

#frantic fanfic #tumblrsexymen #tumblr sexymen #deltarune #tumblrsexymenlore? #bill cipher #gravity falls #long long man #spamton g spamton #miles edgeworth #edna mode #william afton #fnaf #five nights at freddy's #shitpost #shitposting #thefanficwithfivenames

[invizigothx]

a couple paragraphs of my cheeky take on omega/alpha wizards that hypothetical leads to a smutty scenario where sirius and snape hook up in 199x but in reality just became an excuse for me to discuss european policy and wizards

By the mid-20th century, 'omega' and 'alpha' carried the same pseudo-scientific Victorian connotation as 'invert' or 'melancholia.' The general consensus in the medical community held that certain people had certain attractions and rhythms of arousal which could be construed as a sexuality secondary, a broad set of experiences additional to their same- or different- sex attraction, but these patterns were hardly sufficient to support the 'alpha' and 'omega' as diagnostic categories. Furthermore, extensive literature reviews had turned up no proof of male-bodied omegas spontaneously growing female reproductive organs, much less bearing a child; likely, this myth of omega biology had grown out of early society's need to explain transsexual or intersex conditions. And although the omega and alpha categories still held cultural sway, a 1962 amendment to the European Convention on Human Rights ensured that the terms could at least bear no legal weight.

The 1962 Amendment on the Legitimacy and Legal Rights Concerning Secondary Sexualities was notable not just because it formally denied the legitimacy of these categories while also prohibiting discrimination based on assumed omega or alpha status (protections for homosexuals, unfortunately, were still a step too far), but because it represented the first on-the-record instance of a wizarding government working alongside a non-wizarding government to draft legislation, possible the first since the Great Schism in 1510: West Germany formally submitted the '62 Amendment to the Convention, with the Wizarding Federation of East and West Germany noted as co-researchers. In fact, because the WFEWG had possession of the books magically-recovered from the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft library in 1933, wizards represented over half of the amendements working group. Ironically, 1962 was also the same year that the WFEWG Steering Committee voted for a fifth time against joining the European Convention; despite the (necessarily) increased partnership over the decades, the question of nation, land, and resources still loomed large; both sides were still hesitant to legally commit themselves to any more than a memorandum of shared understanding.

None of these developments in international affairs mattered in Wizarding England, where the hidebound caste-and-class systems still held sway and the 1489 Shrewsbury Accords on Wizarding Separation from the English Crown and Polity were alive and well-enforced. These developments especially did not matter in the mansion at 12 Grimmauld Place, home to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black.

#awful wizards #wrote a bit of this out in my head while i was falling asleep last night #and then remembered how tamsyn muir successfully turned HER fanfic into original fic #so i'm jotting this down for posterity or smth #omega verse #my cheeky version #please feel free to ask me questions about my vision of wizard/non-wizard geopolitics #one thing i can tell u is that there is a LOT of contention around what to call the non-wizard people that doesn't imply 'deficiency'

[sophiethewitch1]

no i will NOT acknowledge the early warning signs for schizophrenia warning list what do i look like I'm someone who deals with their problems?? absolutely not

#sophie speaks #tw vent #i exist purely to make my meagre amount of followers worry. hey hope you're scared shitless again /jk #i should make a personal blog to talk about this stuff but i still see this as my personal blog and also it works like #yknow when u shoot a gun to make sure the rent doesn't go up. the idea of having even 3k followers scares me #anyways gang i literally have all of them lmfao #was talking to my mum last night about this really odd phenomena i experience sometimes #where peoples faces just look wrong #uncanny valley?? ugly?? terrifying?? idk i cant explain it they just look so disturbing to me i have to look away and #and i was like 'huh this sounds like schizophrenia' and then i had a valium because the idea scared me #ive got so much wrong with me I'm just so scared for my sense of reality to go wrong too #i just.. i feel like id be in complete free fall if i lost that #i mean technically did hearing voices is just inner hallucinations and i have those... all the time #well. im going back to undertale fanfic writing. healing my inner 15 year old w this one