Xuebing Du
JVL
I'd rather be in outer space 🛸
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YOU ARE THE REASON
One Nice Bug Per Day
art blog(derogatory)
Product Placement
we're not kids anymore.
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Discoholic 🪩
Peter Solarz
Aqua Utopia｜海の底で記憶を紡ぐ
NASA
pixel skylines
Noah Kahan
hello vonnie
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wallacepolsom
blake kathryn
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@buriedribbons
Hi! Welcome! This is a side blog for my character(s) in The Waylay (@/waylay-managment-2) More might be added soon if/when I get courage to put my characters out there.
Below the cut is a list of all my current Waylay’d characters and masterlists for their associated asks. You’re free to send an ask towards any of them here!
Note: if I can’t tell if the ask is directed at anyone in particular, Amber will answer it. Also basic “don’t be weird” rules apply here.
Oh this sweetheart. He cannot let them down now.
“Of course, kiddo.”
The words slip out before Freyr can remember that this isn’t his Amber. That this isn’t the kid that’s used to him being more of a parent than a ringmaster.
And as such, he sounds so much more affectionate and calm. Like a parent.
Freyr freezes a moment later, blinking several times in quick succession. That… hopefully won’t fuck everything up…
“O- oh. Um. I- I mean… you’re welcome. A- Amber.”
-Freyr 🎪
Amber freezes.
A million and one thoughts rushes at them at once. But a single answer rings out inside their head.
That’s why he knows me so well.
That other me took him in as a dad.
Was it forced? It had to be. Why else would I ever do that? Why would I choose to forget-?
They look akin to a cornered animal, with big eyes and an ever-so-slight trembling to their limbs, as if getting ready to bolt once more.
“Th.. thank you,” they bite out, it now sounds painfully forced, and they get up immediately.
“I’m-! I’m gonna-“ they take a breath, it’s methodical as they try to cover the sudden wave of fear and nausea, “I’m gonna go see the others.”
They turn to leave.
“Uh…?”
The voice, while somewhat artificial, still manages to sound confused. A face framed by long hair follows the arm at the bottom of the screen as whatever this individual is tries to see what’s going on.
“Hey, do you need help?”
They call out, mimicking the motions of leaning forward. It looks like they’re using the edge of the screen as a ledge to lean on.
“I could… brighten my screen…?”
-🖥️
Tess turns at the sound of the computer's voice, and stares at the new screen. She is very clearly distrusting of the new technology.
"fuck.. that's- fine. Just don't overdo it. I do not need any of these boxes catching aflame."
She pauses for only a moment, a mix of curiosity and urgency crossing their face. A million and one questions behind their glasses, before he turns away and starts searching for the current paper on nearby cabinets.
*makes Amber able to float in the air for a few hours*
"Woah!!" Amber flails for a few minutes as they try to get used to the feeling of weightlessness, "aaa!!"
After the initial shock wears off, Amber spends the rest of the time throwing plushies into the air and catching them while floating.
That is until the magic wares off and they suddenly fall onto their bed.
*summons a plushie of Carrie in Tess’ room*
While searching through one of the countless boxes in her room, Tess comes across a small plush toy of Carrie.
Ah, huh.. "hm? Tess, is something happening?" the text has.. found something, "in your space?? I thought you already looked through everything!" Apparently the story has not..
He gently holds the toy, disbelief in his eyes as he look it over.
"Well, what is it?" it's.. simply a toy. Might've been left by whoever used this room last, "awh! that's sweet at least!" Yes, it is.
Tess brings it over to their desk, and stares at it for a few minutes.
Guess the story has a new favorite item.
*Willow!*
*Willow Willow Willow Willow! That’s who they- that’s who he is! That’s the name that was chosen for it!*
*How could he have forgotten…?*
Ah! Carrie! You’re… back!
*Willow exclaims, shaking its head a few times to dislodge the last of the fuzziness. Thick molasses still pulls at the edge of his mind, but… as long as it focuses this should be fine.*
*It’ll fade.*
S- sorry, I drifted for a second! You were getting snacks, right…?
-Willow
Yes, yes! Willow, cute lovable Willow, "wh.. Tess what happened?" ... the story's rewrites of the script can be.. easily forgotten when not actively in view.
Frankly, it's impressive that Willow is still here at- "you didn't tell me this?!" Carrie you were a background character! It was expected that you already knew about this! "I.. I didn't.. I thought he'd be like me," ...Carrie.
"I- I did bring snacks!" she moves past the tension, "I don't know what you exactly like though, so went with what sounded best!" she hands Willow a colorful bag of sweet candy, "if uh.. you want something else we can go downstairs together?"
... you can't just accompany it every- "Tess, I am begging you, do not finish that sentence."
“If he tries I’ll personally find him.”
That’s not even a threat. It’s simply a completely factual statement.
The sky is blue, cats meow, Freyr will hunt down the Ringmaster if he tries to reverse the changes that he’s made.
It doesn’t matter if they’re universes apart. Freyr will find a way.
“There’s no performances happening. Never again.”
-Freyr 🎪
Amber softly nods, the way Freyr says it is so confident it almost hurts.
Amber should have more faith than this but it's been so long with no signs of change-
They shake their head, trying to clear the last of their doubt, and vaguely succeed. If this switch up can happen, then anything can, including Freyr actually succeeding in breaking the curse.
The kid nods again, more firmly this time, before sitting up. There's dirt in their hair and in the remnants of their Circus outfit. But there also something else in their gaze.
Hope, genuine pure hope and not phoned in as an effort to stay sane.
"th.. thank you," Amber almost whispers, more than a bit worried of tearing up.
It almost feels like Freyr's looking at their own kid again.
“Oh, don’t worry about that.”
Sumire’s head lifts back up, a weary smile on his face. The expression on his face looks more pained than kind.
His hand waves through the air as he replies. The bright scars glint and reflect in the dim light, the Comet’s wrist a bit too floppy to be normal.
“You being a decent person is more than enough. Just… don’t burn me. O- or anything like that.”
Sumire sighs and glances down to the ground. His feet scuff softly, smoothing down a section of dirt. He doesn’t look back up for quite some time.
“…it was… nice meeting you. I suppose. I should probably go find my friends now…”
-🖋️💫
Once again, Yew's gaze is stuck on Sumire's scars.
He gave those to people, people he didn't even know the name of. It was an accident every time but does that even matter if this was the outcome?
They tear their sight away, staring at the ground like Sumire just was. Their acid dripping slightly as they scramble to catch up to the other's words, "Yes, of course- that- that would be for best.
Despite your sentiment though, just know I'm in your debt for now," he tries to smile for a moment although he knew it'd be shaky-
He can't.
They forgot they couldn't smile.
He coughs again, "your friends surely miss you, I hope the wind chimes will guide your way to them."
"Yeah grams helped me dye it, I'm Zu- Wait.... She said not to.. uhm..!"
They think it over for a bit, squinting in thought.
"...I'm Zuri! There! Now we're not strangers no more!"
With a firm nod, Zuri holds out their left hand for Yew to shake. Their eyes are wide and innocent, unflinching at the Thespian in front of them.
"You one of em nice ones, right?"
This kid knows about stranger danger but not of forest dangers? Better yet they're actively going against what they know when facing down a real- no, no he can't be thinking about this right now.
Yew promptly shakes Zuri's hand, making sure there's a fair amount distance between them, "you're right on the money there, Zuri!" they chuckle, their tail once again swishing behind them, and their acid shifting to look like flowers.
"I'm fairly new, still learning the ropes! It was very lucky of you to run into me, the others can be quite harsh with new folks," he has no idea if that's true, but it might help Zuri to trust him more.
They have a strong urge to just tell the kid to go home. But if they're already here, it's far too late to actually help them, "say, it's really impressive that you made it here! I have to ask, did you come here with anyone else? Or did you accomplish that all on your own?"
Sorry for the prank, Amber.. *gives them a bunch of sweets outright this time with no bells or tricks*
"hm..." Amber hesitates, "hmph,” but does take the sweet bribe, albeit it very reluctantly.
They still continue to pout at you however, “don’t trick anymore people! It’s not nice,” they state while immediately eating one of the candies.
Hey Amber! Take this! *hands them scissors with wavy blades*
"Ooo!! Pretty!" Amber happily takes them from you, opening and closing them a few times before looking for items in their room to cut.
It only takes about an hour for them to lose interest in the item, however in that span of time their entire room seemingly becomes shorter and wavy.
Including their own hair, as they've given themselves a new wavy haircut. But beyond the length change the difference is incredibly negligible, as they already had wavy hair to begin with.
Before Tess can get too close to turning the power off, the screen brightens and begins to flicker. A sudden, rather panicked voice rings out from the speakers of the old computer.
“Woah woah woah! Hey! Hi! Please don’t do that!”
As the voice calls out, a hand waves at the bottom of the screen. It’s heavily pixelated and rather small; the movement blurs from the speed of the motion.
“Please don’t kill me, stranger!”
-🖥️
Oh MY god you're alive?! "TESS-!?" Shit-!
The power in Tess's room goes out all at once. Tess's computer doesn't sputter this time, and simply goes dark. The only remaining light being from the foreign computer in front of him.
"Fuck! Okay..! Okay- you wait a second, the text- I need to get the program back up and running again!"
Tess hurries to get up and back to their desk, feeling the surface in front of them for fresh ink to indicate the page the story left unfinished.
After just under a minute, Tess has scanned the entire desk, and no such paper is on it.
"god, I can't see a thing- did I not have the current page on my desk?? What the fuck was I thinking?!"
*tries to lure Amber away with a trail of chocolates (at the end is a bell)*
"Oo! Choco-lates!" Amber follows for the first few sweets, happily taking the bribe.
However the moment they notice that it's a trail, they frown, "You're trying to trick me aren't you!" it's not a question, they immediately accuse you of it, "you meanie! I just wanted snacks!"
Amber pouts, looking genuinely hurt by this, before dragging their feet back to their room.
Today is a completely average, perfectly normal day. There is not a single sign that anything at all is out of the ordinary.
Tess’ room is exactly the same.
Until it isn’t.
Right there in a corner of the room is a computer. A large, clunky, rusty old computer with a battered exterior. Like it had been left in some abandoned building to decay for years on end.
Except it still works; the power button is blinking softly and the screen is dim but on.
This is a working device.
And it had not been there before.
-🖥️
The Narrator does a double take, then rubs their eyes, in complete disbelief at what they're looking at.
Uh, Carrie, can you give the story a moment? "Oh! Erm, okay? Is there something happening?" The text is.. figuring that out, "..what??"
She gets up from her chair and hears her joints pop, grimacing slightly before bending down to check the device. He almost looks hopeful for a moment, but that emotion quickly drains away.
God damn it, no branding, no notes, and this thing looks ancient... "Tess?" Hold on Carrie! ...the higher ups don't know anything, so who the hell sent this??
The Narrator scans the screen for any notion of activity, before hovering their hand over the power button, hesitating.
"Hiya! I think I'm uh.... Lost."
A small child has suddenly run in front of Yew, wearing a cloak with a collar so tall only their eyes show.
"Oooohhh, you look cool!"
Yew startles at the young voice, "Ah! Oh- hello there, young one!" he softens very quickly, crouching to meet the kid's eye level. While his tail swishes behind him ever so gently.
"Thank you, that's very kind of you to say," they look cool? Kids find them cool?? When they look like this??? "you're cloak is very nice as well, very pretty colors!" Yew follows up, a slight smile to their voice.
"My name is Yew, now, may I ask for yours?" he is not freaking out over a kid finding the Circus, he isn't, not at all.
*Puts a lit cigar into Yew’s acid.*
"NO! DON'T TOUCH-!" you successfully place the cigar into their acid without getting hurt, the item sinks a bit but doesn't immediately disintegrate.
Yew stares at you completely befuddled, "..what did- ACK!" he suddenly crumbles, grasping his chest as he violently coughs. Smoke pours from his eye socket and beneath the collar of his cloak.
The moment they're able to stop coughing, they shove the cigar further into their mask and it disappears into the acid.
He painfully wheezes, small trails of smoke still emanates from him, "wha.. what the fuck was that for?!"
*sings Lost in the Cosmos (the Mechs) to Carrie*
Hm, the text does not know this song. Regardless, Carrie stands and sways to the rhythm of the lyrics.
She.. then starts to frown, and takes a step back.
Carrie you can leave if you- "I'm not crying again, I just don't like the song," uh, may the story pertain as to why that is? "it... reminds me of.. the program crashing," oh.
Well, luckily as soon as the song ends, the singer begins singing a brighter tune, um, "Just Be Competent" by russelbuck.
"thanks Tess," she mumbles with a small grin.