#whomp whomp

*Opens computer* *Opens first bookmark tab*

Me- Starring at the same matinence screen, just now bigger because I opened ao3 by instinct.

Something stupid for the new year- I think Waterboy crashing out is one of my favorite things to animate (Can you tell he’s my favorite) I was lowkey just messing around and thought it was funny lolll

(I know for a fact my dude does not play about his grandma.)

Anyways-

Synopsis: Voxtek is developing a new camera, and Vox has the bright idea to let Y/N test it

TW: n/a (that I’m aware of…)

A/N: I have this titled in my doc drafts as “smile like you gotta shit🗣️‼️” rlly goes to tell you my thought process

TV, Sharks & Moths Masterlist

Main Masterlist

The conference room in V Tower during the day felt like a place meant for compliance. The table that sat surrounded by the walls of Shok.wav's expansive tank stretched long and unforgiving in the center. And seated at the table were plenty of Voxtek staff who all looked tired to say the least.

Everyone knew that working under one of the Vee’s was like selling your soul (quite literally), except the only difference was that you’d actually sell your soul and lose yourself in the process whether it was through being one of Valentino stars, Velvette’s model or an overworked and underpaid employee at Voxtek Entertainment.

And all of these sinners who sat at this table fell into that last category.

The doors to the conference room creaked open and the CEO himself, Vox, stepped inside. His screen glowed a dim blue, matching the dimly lit conference room. He didn’t have to say a word as all his employees turned to greet him.

Just behind him was his assistant, Ethan, who looked like he hadn’t slept in days. He clutched a Voxtek tablet to his chest and stayed a noticeable distance from Vox, almost like he was trying to blend into the background.

And while every Voxtek employee at the table thought the meeting would be underway in just a few minutes, Vox’s partner, Y/N, came bouncing into the room with a cold frappé in her hands. She looked out of place when compared to the dark aesthetic of the meeting room, as she wore something bright and sparkly.

“Dibs on sitting next to Vox!” Y/N childishly exclaimed as she rushed over to the table and placed herself just beside Vox’s chair, where he sat at the head of the table.

Vox adjusted his suit, more out of habit than actually needing to as he greeted everyone at the table.

“Good morning. I trust that everyone here understands the value of their time.” He said before briefly pausing to add, “and more importantly—mine.”

A few employees nodded while Ethan stood just behind him, clutching his tablet like a lifeline.

“Today’s meeting is not routine. We are not here to discuss quarterly projections, ad revenue or sales. We are here today because Voxtek is on the verge of releasing a new product that will make it easier to engage with a younger demographic.”

Vox flicked his wrist as numerous holographic screens appeared in front of him, each one displaying something slightly different, but still essential to the product—a camera.

“This,” Vox began, “is Voxtek’s newest venture into personal media capturing. A camera that is not only designed to capture moments, but to control them.”

A few of the screens flickered to show off different demonstrations of what this camera could do.

One showed a smiling sinner taking a selfie with beauty filters that automatically applied.

And the other was of a candid shot that was instantly edited and enhanced to perfection.

“This camera will have real time image correction, built-in filters and will be automatically integrated into Voxtek’s systems.” Vox explained, “every picture will be uploaded into our database. Trends, behaviors, preferences—it will all be shared to us.”

One employee shifted uncomfortably.

“People are already obsessed with documenting their lives. We’re simply ensuring that what they document benefits us.”

One of the screens flickered to show off a 3D model of the camera that spun around slowly, while another screen showed off the various different colors that the product would be available in.

“Oh my god!” Y/N squealed, happily pointing at the pink model. “That is so pretty! You know, I have an outfit that would match that camera perfectly too!”

Vox smirked and stood up. He walked behind Y/N and set his hands down on her shoulders, leaning in just close enough to her.

“That’s wonderful, my dear. You can wear that outfit while you test out the product.”

It took Y/N a moment before she really registered what Vox said.

She turned her head to face him. “Wait, I get to test it?”

“Of course.” Vox nodded as he pulled back and gestured for Ethan to retrieve something. “You’re young at heart, Y/N. You’ll take the device and use it as intended.”

Ethan walked over with a sleek black box and Vox silently gestured for her to open it, and when she did, Y/N squealed in delight.

“It’s pink!” She gasped, “how did you know I wanted the pink one?!”

Vox smirked, trying to act like he hadn’t selected the pink shade to be the prototype color on purpose. “Are you up to the task—?”

“Of course I am!” Y/N quickly said as she picked the camera up out of the box and turned it on. She held the camera up and looked at the screen, turning it around to get a good look at the quality. “Ooh. It’s in high definition too. Hey, if I take a picture—,” she turned to face Vox again, “does it make that really satisfying click sound?”

Click!

Vox blinked, a little dazed by the bright flash the camera set off once Y/N had snapped a picture.

“It does!” She exclaimed, looking over the picture she had taken. “Ya know, the camera quality when I died was good, but this is sooo much better. Technology really has come a long—.”

“You’ll have the product for a week before returning it,” Vox stated, “after that we will have a—.”

“Mhm. That’s nice,” Y/N waved off as she snapped a picture of her drink.

•••

Voxtek was never quiet. Even outside of meetings, there was always the sound of distant typing, overlapping voices and the hum of servers hidden behind the building's structure.

Ethan moved with purpose throughout the halls like he always did with his tablet in hand. He had a schedule and deadlines to meet, and he had approximately twelve minutes to get from one side of Voxtek to the other before his boss would notice his absence.

Click!

Ethan flinched, but didn’t turn around.

Click!

It seemed like ever since Y/N had gotten her hands on that prototype camera, she had been using it left and right. While he was sure that she had used it to take pictures of other people and other random scenes, Ethan wondered why he was subjected to babysitting her to begin with.

“Yeah, just like that.” Y/N nodded to herself as she snapped another candid shot of him walking.

Behind him was the aquatic Overlord herself, holding the small pink camera up to her face with one eye closed as she tried to line up her next shot. Y/N’s shark tail lazily swayed behind her like she wasn’t actively ruining his day.

“Miss Y/N, must you take so many pictures?” Ethan asked, “you have taken fifteen of me so far.”

“Sixteen,” Y/N corrected as she lowered the camera as she ran up beside him. “And what’s so wrong with that? Do you think you’re not photogenic or something? Because let me tell you Ethan—you are adorable!”

“Thank you for the compliment, but I have work to do,” Ethan said. “Work that my boss will kill me for if I am even a second late.”

Y/N turned the camera off and slipped it into her bag, which was shaped like a jellyfish today.

“I can call Vox and ask him to give you the day off,” she suggested. “That way you’re in no rush and I can take more pictures of you!”

“While I do appreciate it, Miss Y/N, I’m afraid I’d have to decline your offer—.”

“Does Vox even give you time off?” She interrupted, “you look like you haven’t gotten any sleep in days.”

“I assure you that I am—.”

“Have you tried wearing contacts?”

“I—.”

“I think your glasses are cute. You don’t see red ones down here often.”

“Thank—.”

“So you’re an eel, right?”

“Y—.”

“Could you electrocute me if you wanted to or would it not work?”

•••

Click!

“Sweetheart, did you just take a picture of me?”

“Mhm!” Y/N happily nodded as she turned her head downward to look at the photograph. “Candid shots make for the best results I feel like.”

“And you took a photo of me shirtless…why?” Vox asked, raising a brow as he slipped on his night shirt that may or may not have read: “I FW SHARKS!”

“Because your torso is adorable!” Y/N admitted, like it was the most obvious thing in Hell. “Val and I adore your big chest, and your little gills on the side are—.”

“What are some other things you’ve taken since having this camera?” Vox asked, his screen overlaid with a cyan shade.

“Oh! Let me show you!” She perked up as Vox sat down on the bed beside her.

Y/N began to flip through the images she had taken so far. The photos consisted of selfies, random shots of drinks and snacks, a few of his pet, Shok.wav, and her own pet sea lion, Bubbles. There were plenty of blurry shots in between pictures of his assistant and random shots around V Tower, as well as a few of him.

“You should give Ethan a raise, ya know,” Y/N rambled as they stared at one of his photos. “He makes for a really good model.”

“I’m not giving him a raise because you tell me to, Y/N.”

“Well, it’s something to consider,” she hummed.

The next day she spent it with Valentino in his studio. With her trusty pink camera in hand, she snapped a variety of pictures—sex shots, candid shots of his main star, Angel Dust, Valentino smoking a cigarette, Valentino yelling at someone, and so much more. During their lunch break instead of eating, they had an impromptu photoshoot in his office.

Why eat when you can eat on camera?

The day after that she headed over to Velvette’s department and took some pictures of her place. She took pictures of some of her models, a few seamstresses working, assistants running around and a few candid shots of Velvette.

Velvette may have ordered for the candids to be trashed, but she demanded that Y/N send her the photographs of her and Melissa.

By the end of the week, the camera was full of pictures, and Y/N was brought into Vox’s office almost like she was being interrogated. The man in front of her wasn’t her shark loving boyfriend, but rather the CEO of Voxtek himself.

“Let’s begin, shall we? Over the course of a seven day period, you engaged with the device for a total of sixteen hours a day.” Vox said, “which is rather surprising considering it is just a camera.”

“A fun camera,” Y/N corrected. “I didn’t run out of storage.”

“Yes, that is one of the functions that will set this product apart from its competitors—.”

“Why are you talking to me like that?” Y/N frowned, “I don’t like CEO Vox.”

“I’m just gathering data.” Vox said, “this is merely an evaluation to gather data on the user’s experience.”

“Is this like a personality test?” Y/N curiously asked, “cuz I’ve always—.”

“Were the filters easy to apply and navigate?” Vox asked, raising a brow.

“Hm? Oh! Yeah. There was one that made everything sparkly. I used that one a lot.” She admitted, “and there was even one that had that fish eye effect? It made Ethan look so—!”

“That is irrelevant, Y/N. We are talking about the camera’s functionality,” Vox interrupted, “focus.”

“I am focused,” Y/N insisted. “It worked when I pressed stuff and that’s the most important part, right?”

Vox sighed. “Continue…”

“The camera button was soooo satisfying.” She added, “like the click? Obsessed! Ten out of ten. Would click again.”

“Did it ever lag, freeze or fail to capture an image?”

“I had a bunch of blurry shots, but that was because I was moving when they were taken. But even when I clicked the button like click click click click click click click click—.”

“I get it.”

“Mhm! Well, I didn’t run out of storage either,” she continued. “Which is crazy because I took a shit ton.”

“I’m aware,” Vox muttered. “You took exactly seventeen thousand, four hundred and thirty six images.”

“You looked at them!” She beamed.

“They are automatically uploaded into the Voxtek database, remember?”

Y/N shook her head ‘no.’

After several more questions, the evaluation had come to an end.

“Can we get ice cream after this?” Y/N curiously asked, “or maybe milkshakes? Ugh. A milkshake sounds so—.”

“Y/N, I will need you to return the camera now.”

Y/N stared at Vox for a moment before loudly and dramatically gasping as she held the pink camera close to her chest.

“What?! I’m not giving it up!”

“That was part of the deal.” Vox said, “you test the product, have fun, and return it at the end of the trial period.”

“I don’t remember that.”

“I do.” Vox replied, “besides, that camera was just a prototype to see what does and doesn’t work. You’ll get a real one when it—.”

“But I like this one.”

“You already have a similar one.”

“But I like Pearl.”

“Did you—?”

“Name her? Yes.” Y/N pouted, “that means we’re bonded for life.”

“…You named it…”

“Yes,” Y/N firmly replied as she clutched the camera tighter. “I named her Pearl because she’s pink, shiny and mine.”

“It is not yours. It is Voxtek property,” Vox corrected.

“I’ll fight you for her,” Y/N warned.

“You are not fighting me over some prototype camera, Y/N,” Vox flatly said.

“But you’re trying to take her away from me..! After everything me and her have gone through together!”

“You had it for a week.”

“We bonded over this week.”

Vox’s screen glitched, irritation on his screen. “You will return the camera to me.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“I don’t want to.”

“I will make you.”

“Nu-uh.”

“Y/N, I swear to god—.”

“But all my pictures will go with it.”

Finally, Vox sighed. “You know what? How about this?” He began, “you will return the camera and in exchange you will get the SD card.”

A silence fell between the two before Y/N tilted her head to the side.

“What’s an SD card?”

So, I’ve been wanting to explain exactly where the hell I went for a year in 2025 and why there was so little activity. Also some Missingno Arc details at the end ;]