A Seed Will Grow With Time

SIDE A: In order in-text music on one convenient disc!

SIDE B: Additional songs to expand the atmosphere, compiled in an order most suited to the story arc!

BONUS FEATURES: You can find color coded dots easily conveying who is singing/represented by each song! White for Annette, Red for Alastor, and Black for both!

GET THE LONG ANTICIPATED FIRST-ACT PLAYLIST WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!!

Youtube

𖤐⭒๋࣭⭑⌖𐂂⌖⭒๋࣭ 𖤐

"I'd like to note you've seemingly raised no objections to Rosie's surprise invite." He pointed out, wagging a finger at her like he was calling her a hypocrite.

"That's easy," Annette hummed, seductive and teasing and mean as she propped a finger underneath Vox's screen and pushed his head up to gape up at her. She tilted her chin, examining him, and then with a little pout of false sympathy replied, "He's not nearly as pretty as she is." Vox's face pixelated so severely she'd worry he was going to fry himself - if she actually cared.

For those who love the Horror:

"Annette Lace," The demon crooned back, mockingly exasperated. "Do you ever stop getting yourself into trouble?"

Was this how a moth felt?

"Not ever." She answered with wicked promise. No. A Moth needed, biologically hardwired and fueled by blind instinct.

Annette answered that dragging gravity for something much worse. For Want. Her curiosity was unloving and blasphemous. It set her path knowingly into the beast's mouth, if only to learn what being consumed would feel like.

Kneeling, blood on her hands and bruises under her skin, before a monster who wished her harm. Who spared her not out of kindness but a desire for entertainment. It was becoming a bit of a habit.

For those who prefer the Fun:

"I love this [song]." She murmured wistfully, tone warm enough to rival the steel percolator in her hands. "I know." Not-Niffty answered. Eyes flying open and head whipping around with a snap she blinked at Alastor standing smugly next to the lowboy. Alastor. In the staff kitchen. In pajamas. What the fuck?

If I post now we'll have two scenes that feel a little displaced as their own chapter, but if I wait to finish the other planned scenes for the theme (I name my chapters based on the theme of them) it's likely that the end result will be a chapter at least 12k and definitely not out until next Monday at the earliest.

So the question is, to the three of you who see the tumblr posts and one of you who cares enough to vote, if you would prefer a chapter today/tomorrow morning, or to wait for a longer chapter that fits better in the structure of the story as a whole - which also gives me more time to edit and blend these scenes into the next four better.

(If you choose to wait, I can post a sneak preview instead and give you the thematic chapter title.)

𖤐⭒๋࣭⭑⌖𐂂⌖⭒๋࣭ 𖤐

"Well," Gone was the easy going tone dripping in a charming accent, instead replaced with something melodic and sinister - predatory, "who's this? The appetizer or the dessert?" "Now now, he's not for eating." Alastor correct quickly, though his humor was clear. "Alastor would surely pout if you do," Annette agreed, "This is Alastor's new pet. Meet our dog, Vincent. Vincent, speak!" "Ha ha," Vincent deadpanned, digital face pulled into something lightheartedly sour. And yet it couldn't hide the slightest vibrational tremor crackling from his screen. Peering over her shoulder she found his eyes locked onto Rosie's and wondered idly if it was the endless voids she called eyes or the casually snapped neck that bothered him more. "You're very funny, sweets." "I know." Annette agreed with a coy smile, before turning back to their host. "Don't worry, Lady Rosie, I've got a leash in my bag in case he acts out."

𖤐⭒๋࣭⭑⌖𐂂⌖⭒๋࣭ 𖤐

When she reached him she pressed a gentle hand to his chest and pushed him back an inch. It was only when the hand slid up to wrap around his throat that he realized they had become talons. For the first time he looked nervous. With fluttering, seductive lashes, Annette smiled broadly up at Vincent. There was no mistaking it for anything but a baring of teeth. The joke she had made was long since sour on her tongue. She’d tear this building down with her own two hands before she allowed him to replace her. His nervous grin was charming, but not enough to stop her claws from digging into the flesh of his throat. Annette considered reprising her performance of on-air slaughter, this time with a musical backing.

For those of you interested, however, I have just posted an edited version of Chapter Thirteen. I've kinda hated it since I posted it, so I ended up editing it for quality and added nearly 2k to it. Anyone who doesn't feel up to rereading it at the moment can rest easy though, as no actual plot content was changed.

𖤐⭒๋࣭⭑⌖𐂂⌖⭒๋࣭ 𖤐

Alastor had, of course, always been the crown jewel of her Favorites. Oh so fun, and the only man worth dancing with when the beat got hot. A few of her costars and fellow Starlets had also managed to secure themselves on the short list throughout her life, less remarkable and definitely still owning a heartbeat up above. But Vincent? Vincent was more like a particularly entertaining book. It was fun to flip through his pages here and there, dig out a few reactions or a new insight to the odd mystery that had seemed to hang as heavy as a death-knoll behind him, but at the end of the day she was content to stick him back on the shelf to forget about for another year or so. He could think himself special all he wished for his obsession with her, it wouldn’t make it true. Alastor may find him interesting now that he was dead, but they had both been content to pat him on the head and get on with their days once upon a time. She wasn’t inclined to change her own opinion simply because he had also taken a life or two.

𖤐⭒๋࣭⭑⌖𐂂⌖⭒๋࣭ 𖤐

“Come now, I wasn’t trying to start up a rhubarb. I just love to see you all riled up.” Annette cooed, sidling up to him and wrapping a confident hand around his tie. Shocked by her audacity Alastor stayed perfectly still as she hauled him smoothly down and placed a smacking kiss against his cheek. It was a shocking upset of their usual boundaries, a step outside any pre-set lines in their interactions. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the red bleed black in his eyes, pupils glitching to radio dials not from rage but as a startle response. Brushing her ears was the quiet stuttering flick of radio channels emanating up his throat without any conscious decision.  Cute.

Team Alastor

NIFFTY | ROSIE | HUSK

Ito ‘Betty’ Miyoko | Benvida Aviana Raina | Daniel Graves

Team Redemption

BAXTER | ANGEL DUST | CHERRI BOMB

𖤐⭒๋࣭⭑⌖𐂂⌖⭒๋࣭ 𖤐

"Human nature.” Queen Lilith mused, something flickering behind her eyes. Neither pleasant nor unpleasant, just heavy for the first time. Like something could actually touch the moving art sat elegantly across from her. She took a long silent drink before setting the porcelain down with a sharp clink.

“Would you consider yourself a hedonist, Annette Lace?”

She smiled, slow and heartfelt and simmering with sin, breathing out, “Oh yes.”

“Bigger, better?”

“No.” Annette corrected, a tiny wrinkle between her brows even as she smiled, “More. That’s what I want - what I’ve always wanted.”

𖤐⭒๋࣭⭑⌖𐂂⌖⭒๋࣭ 𖤐

The Radio Demon sat across from him now with everything Vincent wanted in his gloved hands. It made that place in his brain twitch, anger hot in his chest. Envy was a familiar feeling, but he wasn’t strong enough to deal with it the usual way. Not yet. He wanted- “It’s quite funny. The irony of demon forms,” Alastor said offhandedly, instead of following where Vincent had led him, “Of course the head of a television company would end up with a television head. Worth a chuckle, isn’t it?” Vincent’s pixilated face flinched at the reminder of his sick fate. Alastor noticed. His smile grew.