#[listen I just really REALLY love this game okay?]

[goldfades]

hiiii idea popped in my head seeing joey on the phone but like imagine he’s away and trying to help y/n get kids to bed but it’s hard since he’s away 🥰😭 sorry i have to share the imaginings happening :-))))

no, baby i love when people share their cute little ideas!!! i hope you enjoy this one<3

The second Joe’s face popped up on FaceTime, Hayes let out a dramatic gasp—like he had just seen a celebrity in the wild.

"Dada!"

You winced as his little voice echoed through the house, far louder than necessary. "Hayes, baby, inside voice," you reminded him, but it didn’t matter. The damage was already done.

From down the hall, you heard the unmistakable wail of your youngest, jolted awake by his big brother’s sudden outburst. You closed your eyes for a brief second, sighing, already bracing for the next half hour of chaos.

Joe must have heard it, too, because his face twisted in sympathy. "That bad, huh?"

You turned your attention back to the phone, where Joe was sitting in his hotel room, half-smiling, half-wincing, freshly showered with wet curls sticking to his forehead.

"That bad," you confirmed, shifting Hayes further onto your hip. He had his tiny fingers fisted in your shirt, but his eyes were locked on the screen, grinning so big it made his dimples pop.

"Hi, buddy," Joe said, his voice warm and fond.

"Dada, when you coming home?" Hayes asked, tilting his head.

Joe’s face softened. "Couple more days, bud. But guess what? We have a game tomorrow. Are you gonna watch?"

Hayes nodded enthusiastically, kicking his legs in excitement. "I wear my jersey!"

"You better. Gotta match me, right?"

Hayes nodded again, his little hands now gripping the phone like he could somehow pull Joe through the screen.

It wasn’t the first time he had gone through this phase. As you liked to say, Hayes had his "favorites"—rotating obsessions that switched every few months. Sometimes it was dinosaurs, sometimes it was a specific pair of socks he refused to take off for days at a time, and sometimes, it was Joe.

This was one of those times.

For the past couple of weeks, everything had been about Joe. Hayes only wanted to watch football, only wanted to play "catch" in the backyard, only wanted to FaceTime his dad 24/7. If Joe was around, you were nothing—completely cast aside.

Which, really, you didn’t mind. Because the way Joe lit up every time Hayes showed even an ounce of excitement over football or his job in general—it was worth every second of being ignored.

What you did mind, however, was getting him to sleep without Joe here.

"Okay, buddy, we gotta say goodnight to Dada," you said, shifting Hayes in your arms.

"No!" Hayes protested immediately, curling his little fingers into fists. "Not yet!"

Joe chuckled. "C’mon, H, listen to Mama. You gotta go to bed."

Hayes pouted. "Don’t wanna."

"Yeah, well, I don’t wanna deal with a grumpy toddler tomorrow, so you kinda have to," you muttered under your breath, earning a soft laugh from Joe.

"How about this?" Joe offered. "I’ll stay on FaceTime while you get in bed, and I’ll tell you a story, okay?"

Hayes perked up immediately. "A story?"

"Yeah," Joe grinned. "But only if you’re in bed."

Hayes was already wiggling out of your grasp before Joe had even finished his sentence, making a beeline for his room. You sighed in relief, grabbing the monitor from the counter before following behind.

By the time you got to his room, he was already under the covers, clutching his stuffed tiger, eyes bright with anticipation.

"Alright, let’s hear it, Burrow," you said, settling into the rocking chair, phone still in hand.

Joe laughed, then launched into one of Hayes’ favorites—something about a football-playing dinosaur that you were pretty sure Joe had made up on the fly one night, but Hayes had loved it ever since.

It took a few minutes, but eventually, Hayes’ blinks got heavier, and his tiny body started relaxing into the mattress.

By the time Joe reached the end of the story, his voice had dropped to barely above a whisper, and Hayes was out.

"Thank God," you sighed, carefully tucking the blanket around your son before stepping out into the hallway.

Joe was smirking when you looked back at the screen. "See? Easy."

You rolled your eyes. "Yeah, ‘easy’ because you get to do the fun part. Try dealing with the bath time tantrums before you get cocky."

Joe laughed, rubbing a hand over his face. "I miss you, though. And I miss Hayes."

Your heart clenched. "He misses you, too."

"I’ll be home soon, I promise."

"I know."

There was a beat of silence before he spoke again, voice softer now.

"You’re doing such a good job, you know that?"

You felt it—the warmth spreading through your chest, the way your shoulders relaxed at his words.

"Thank you," you murmured. "Now hurry up and win so you can get back home to your biggest fan."

Joe grinned. "I think that’s you."

You huffed out a laugh. "Not even close. That title officially belongs to your tiny clone."

Joe laughed, shaking his head. "Fine. But you’re a close second."

And somehow, that was enough.

--

Joe had barely stepped foot through the door before Hayes came barreling toward him, arms wide, cheeks flushed with excitement.

Joe barely had time to drop his bag before scooping him up. "There’s my boy!" he grinned, pressing a kiss to Hayes’ chubby cheek. "Missed you, bud."

"Missed you too," Hayes said, but before Joe could even savor the moment, Hayes was already wiggling out of his grasp.

Joe blinked in confusion as his son ran right past him and straight to Maisie, who was lounging on the couch, scrolling through her phone.

"AUNT MAISIE!" Hayes shouted, climbing into her lap like she was his long-lost hero.

Maisie barely looked up, smirking. "What’s up, little dude?"

Joe stood there, stunned. Mouth slightly open, arms still mid-air from where he had just been cast aside like a used toy.

You were trying so hard not to laugh.

Maisie shot Joe a cocky look, ruffling Hayes’ curls. "Told you. I’m officially the favorite now."

Joe scoffed. "That’s not possible."

You snorted. "Oh, it’s possible. It happened while you were gone. Apparently, Maisie’s the ‘cool’ one now."

Joe crossed his arms. "I thought I was the cool one."

Maisie let out a dramatic sigh, adjusting her sunglasses (which she was still wearing inside, for some reason). "You had a good run, but the people have spoken."

Joe turned to Hayes, genuinely confused. "Buddy, what about football? What about watching game film with me? What about—?"

"I like Aunt Maisie’s music better," Hayes cut in, matter-of-factly.

Joe looked genuinely offended. "What’s wrong with my music?"

Maisie let out a loud laugh. "Oh my God. You’ve been replaced by Taylor Swift and the Encanto soundtrack."

Joe’s face dropped. "That’s not fair. Encanto has bangers."

"You don’t even know the words to ‘We Don’t Talk About Bruno,’" you pointed out.

Joe gasped, pointing at you accusingly. "You’re enjoying this too much."

"Oh, absolutely," you grinned.

Joe groaned, rubbing a hand down his face. "Unbelievable. Gone for one week and I’m completely irrelevant."

Maisie patted his shoulder. "It happens to the best of us, man."

Joe sighed, finally giving in. "Fine. But just so you know, he’s gonna want to play football with me again in, like, two weeks."

Maisie smirked. "We’ll see."

And honestly? You weren’t so sure. Because the way Hayes was currently clinging to Maisie’s side, giggling at whatever TikTok she had just shown him?

Yeah. Joe was gonna have to work really hard to win back his title.

[sweetbans29]

Back to You (2) - CC Series

Pairing: Caitlin Clark x Reader

Summary: Who knew Indianapolis would feel so small...

Warnings: little pains

Word Count: 2.1k

Part 1

Back to You Masterlist & Sweetbans Masterlist

2.5 YEARS LATER

Moving to Indiana was not your first choice. It also wasn't your second or third for that matter but here you are.

You stand in your new apartment, looking around at all the empty space you are going to have to fill. You hate filling space.

"Yo, where are you going to want this?" Kate comes walking in holding a lamp.

"Well considering there is no furniture here yet, I'd say the middle of the living room floor should do," you say sarcastically.

"Ha ha ha, very funny," she says as she places it on the kitchen counter. Claire comes through the door with a small box and places it next to the lamp.

"Okay, once the movers get here with the hauler I will have them working from the bedroom out. We will need to go to Target and a few other stores to get all the smaller stuff," Claire says. You are beyond glad that she is here to help, also that she has an eye for filling space.

"I think that is my queue to go grab food," Kate says as she picks up her keys and shuffles her way to the door.

You shoot Kate a glare but know that you can't go without food for much longer.

Over the next few hours your apartment slowly starts to look inhabitable. The following few hours are spent shopping for things that you know are just going to collect dust but don't say a word about because Claire seems to be really enjoying herself.

After you drove away from Caitlin, you did everything you could to make it seem like nothing had changed. To everyone around you, nothing had changed - they had no idea your world had just been torn apart and run over. The only thing that has changed is you stopped going to basketball games. You came up with every excuse in the books to get yourself out of sitting in a stadium where everyone was cheering on your girl - who used to be your girl.

It took Kate halfway through the season to figure out what had happened and when she did - she ran straight to you. It all started to make sense in her mind, why you weren't at games and never really around anymore. She never suspected anything because Caitlin seemed so normal.

When Kate confronted you about Caitlin - you broke down in front of someone for the first time over the girl you loved. She sat there and listened to every word you said and she was infuriated but she never left your side. She had every intention of confronting Caitlin but you begged her not to. It was already hard enough to pretend like you haven't been struggling to survive.

Ever since then, you made Kate swear that she wouldn't let what Caitlin did to you get in the way of her relationship with her teammate. And Kate kept her promise - even if it took her a while to look at Caitlin the same again. Kate did an above and beyond job at maintaining both of your friendships and it is because of that ability that you consider her your only real friend.

After getting back from all the shopping and taking orders from Claire on where to put everything you got all around your apartment, the three of you collapsed on your couch.

"I don't know how I could ever thank you both for helping me with all of this," you say.

"It was my genuine pleasure," Claire says with the biggest smile. You smile back and hear Kate groan.

"I am never doing that again," Kate says, causing Claire to hit her shoulder.

The three of you laugh all sharing in the fact that Kate did the least amount of work. You all fall into a comfortable silence and it begins to hit you. You are now living in the Caitlin Clark center of the world.

Over the next few weeks you settle into the new city, doing everything you can to avoid Gainbridge Fieldhouse even though you know you will be there sooner or later considering that is now your new place of work. If you had a choice, you would be working for any other WNBA team building out there - hell, you even looked into every NBA building option. But you didn't have much say when your executive director said they wanted you in Indiana, that is where you were forced to go.

Aside from it being home to the one person you try your best to avoid, the job you are stepping into is one of your dreams. You worked day and night to get to where you are and you are super proud of how far you have come in the short time after college. Becoming the Director of Player Relations for Gainbridge Fieldhouse, you knew you would only be able to dodge Clark for so long.

You have settled into your office and have made your rounds to introduce yourself to your new team. You have even started connecting with the Fever players which has been quite eventful. You first met Aliyah Boston and connected immediately. You tried not too but ended up fan-girling over her TikTok's. She tried to get you to join one but you refused, not wanting to be the cause of her losing followers due to your horrible dancing.

You then got some time with Natasha Howard and Kelsey Mitchell. Both of whom loved your intentionality and vision for how management can support the players.

You have met the rest of the team, minus a certain someone, in passing making sure to figure out a time to connect. At this point, you assumed that Caitlin knew you were in the building but haven't seen her yet to confirm.

Today's the day that all changes. At least that is what you are telling yourself since it is the first game of the season.

After getting to Gainbridge, you planned to take some time in your office before heading down to the floor but the second you walk in the door you are swept to do 20 different things. Before you know it, you are on the floor as the team runs out for final warm-ups.

Walkie in hand, you do everything in your power to stay busy the second you have a moment to breathe. As much as you want to breathe, you don't want to see that girl plastered all over this arena. You keep your head down and find your shoes uncharacteristically interesting.

A hand graces your shoulder and you peek up to see your assistant looking at you with soft eyes and in that moment you feel like you are back in college - broken and hiding.

"Hey Ben, what's up?" You ask, trying to shake the pit in your stomach.

"One would think after a few seasons this would feel normal," Ben says as he looks around at the crowds.

"This will never be normal, it will always be special. Trust me," you say. It comes out just above a whisper. Ben smiles at you and you smile back, shifting your eyes from Ben to the court for the first time. With the amount of people in this place you are certain you will blend into the background.

Big mistake.

As your eyes hit the court, they are met with all too familiar brown ones. Your smile fades as your eyes lock on hers. Both of you froze in time. It feels like your eyes are locked for hours but in the 5 seconds of gripping despair your breath is taken from you and you feel the air sucked from your lungs. You turn away and take a hold of Ben's arm.

"I left something in my office, I have to grab it" you say as you begin to walk towards the back.

"I can go get it, you should be here when they announce the players - it's thrilling," Ben says with a smile.

"No, no, I got it," you insist and continue walking. You feel like you are suffocating.

When you get to your office you close the door and turn the lights off. Back against the door, you sink to the floor and bring your head to your knees.

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

You sit there for who knows how long. When you feel your heart calm and your breath steady - you stand. Even after 2+ years of not seeing her, she still controls your heart. You grab your walkie and head back out.

You have no idea how much of the game has passed. As you are walking back out the tunnel an arm grabs you and pulls you into a small room.

"What the-", you begin but shut up immediately when you are met face to face with Caitlin.

She is looking down at you, hand still on your arm. Her fingertips brush the exposed skin on your forearm - a gesture you both were all too familiar with.

Neither of you say anything, not knowing what to say. You have imagined this moment every day since getting to Indy and now that you are here and alone for that matter, nothing comes out.

Caitlin hesitates but unlike your last meeting she brings her free hand up to brush her fingers against your cheek and her thumb against your bottom lip. You want to pull away but you lean in ever so slightly - she is too familiar.

Your eyes close as you feel your heart break all over again.

Caitlin can't take her eyes off of you. This feels like a dream, she has thought time and time again of how different things would have been if she cared more about you and less about the world. Cait continues to rub her thumb against your bottom lip until she feels a wet sensation meet her fingers. Her eyebrows furrow then ease when she realizes it's a tear.

She opens her mouth to say something, not that you had any reason to listen but she had to try. Before she can, the door opens and Steve pokes his head in.

"The second half is starting," Steve says and leaves right after.

Before Caitlin can do anymore damage, you step away from her. You don't look her in the eye - you can't. You see Caitlins hands grip the bottom of her jersey, just like they did the last time the two of you talked.

The last thing that Caitlin wants to do is walk away from you right now but she knows she doesn't have a choice. You watch as she makes her way to the door, stopping right before it and leaning her head against it.

You don't know why but before you stop yourself you find yourself reaching out and brushing one of her fly away hairs. It is now her turn to close her eyes. You pull her headband down and smooth some of her fly aways back before sliding it back onto her head. You bring your hands to her shoulders, giving them two squeezes like you would before every game to regulate her thoughts.

There is a soft knock at the door and you know Caitlin really needs to go but she doesn't move. She finally opens her eyes and you know she is doing everything she can to keep herself together.

She doesn't deserve your comfort. Both of you know it.

"Go," you say. It comes out softer than you intend - not that it was intended to be harsh.

She nods and reaches to open the door. Before letting herself out, she speaks.

"I would do anything to go back to that night," she says.

"Cait stop," you say, not wanting to do this right now. Not when she has to go out and finish a game.

"No," she says and turns to face you again. "That was the biggest mistake of my life and things are different now-"

The door opens and Caitlin is cut off.

"Clark, get your ass back out on that floor," one of the coaches comes in, grabbing her and dragging her out. You go unnoticed as you watch Caitlin be pulled out mid conversation.

Different? What could possibly be different now?

You have blocked her out of your life so much that you have no idea what is going on in hers. You shake your head - nothing has changed. This moment changed nothing. She is still the Caitlin that blindsided you and you did not spend the last two and a half years rebuilding your life to be broken again.

You grab your walkie and head back out, lighter than you have felt in a while.

The Fever lost that night and you can only hope that you had nothing to do with it.

AN: Part 2 in the books. Let me know what you think! And as always, thank you for your love and support 🤍

[gingerteafairy]

𝐚𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐧'𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 + 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞

𝐝𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐰𝐬𝐤𝐢 – 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡

Dave would have nearly all the love languages, but these two fit him best. As Kick-Ass, he would go out of his way to solve conflicts in your life, often being a bit nosy. If he found out someone made you cry, that person could expect a serious conversation (a real talk—he couldn’t actually fight them). He loves hugs and never misses the chance, even when you’re busy. He adores studying and gaming with you on his lap. "Would you mind sitting on my lap? It's for my exam. Really important, okay?" #1 PDA king.

𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐞𝐢 𝐯𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐤𝐲 – 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡

Alexei would be the biggest fan of long night walks and picnics, where he could admire you and take in every detail of your world, from the sound of your laugh to the subtle way your breath deepens when he gets too close. If the conversation faded, he’d simply trace his fingers over your face, memorizing the texture of your skin and every hair in your brows, cherishing even the tiny imperfections you hated. "If you ever change, i fear that stars will fall with me to the ground. you're perfect this way."

𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐞 – 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐬

He loves holding hands and kissing, yet he’s not a fan of being overly clingy and prefers other ways to show affection. He’d write songs for you, teach you how to play bass, and share headphones with you. He’d love when you visited the shop but wouldn’t let you help with the heavy work—he didn’t want you to get overworked. "You can help the cashier. You're good with numbers, right? Always thought you were smarter than me."

𝐭𝐨𝐦 𝐫𝐲𝐝𝐞𝐫 – 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐬

Tom is used to being praised, he loves having his ego stroked. This carries over into how he handles romance, where he’s quick to compliment you without overthinking it. “That’s really good, you’ve got talent.” “You look great today—did you do something with your hair?” Random gifts? Absolutely. Part of it is because he had the money and liked showing off, but deep down, it was because he loved seeing your surprised smile. “This? Oh, just bought it on sale.” (5K dollar jacket.)

𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐱𝐢𝐦𝐨𝐟𝐟 – 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞

Pietro is impulsive—his actions tend to come before he fully thinks things through. If someone upset you or made you insecure, even if it was in the past, he’d probably end up in a scuffle. Too tired to go grocery shopping? In a flash, he’d grab everything you need. Forgot to thaw the meat for dinner? No problem, he’d use physics to handle it in no time. "You saw that? Only for you, baby."

𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 – 𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Because his job is so unpredictable, Tangerine prefers to show affection when he’s with you. He’d sit you on his lap and listen to you talk about what happened while he was gone. It was his way of forgetting all the work chaos and focusing on how normal life could still be. He even taught you how to trim his mustache just to have you close. And of course, he’d always compliment your talents, beauty, and everything you did—with that signature dirty mouth of his. “Shit, darlin'. You’re so fucking good for me. love ya."

masterlist

[tunastime]

47 and ethubs?

OOOH anon, you know I always want to write Ethubs :3 lets see what song it is!

OOOOOH. Man oh man. This was SUCH a fun song for them, and I really had to listen to it a few times to get the feeling that I wanted to convey. This was a top song of mine either last year or the year before, and my band of ALL TIME. I'm so glad I got my friends into them <33 anyway, here's ethubs! (595 words)

Bdubs has kept a very close eye on Etho. It's hard not to—he. He has to keep himself on a very short leash around Etho right now because/ Well. He's red. Etho is being nice, but he's Etho, and there's something just under the halting laugh of his tone when he tells him he has to stay on one side of the base that threatens as much as it does soothe. 

He's Etho. 

What does Bdubs mean by that?

The obvious answer would be that Bdubs loves him, much too much and much too easily at that. He has loved Etho for a long time, much longer than Etho has loved him. Much longer than the clouds continue to grey and much longer than the mushy snow walls they've encased themselves in will last. Whether or not Etho knows that is not the focal point of this discussion—it's almost irrelevant, actually, to the weight of his decisions.

Bdubs is spinning in his mind all the possibilities of his survival. Less so than, he thinks, Etho is. Etho’s survival hinges on Bdubs’ death—or it at least hinges on Bdub leaving him to his own devices. Bdubs’ survival hinges on keeping himself alive, obviously, and in the arms of someone who’s safe. For that reason, Bdubs keeps his eyes on Etho. He can’t help but wonder though.

It would be so easy for Etho, to press the sharp tip of his sword into his chest and split the skin. Would he let him? Would he even yell? He'd have to draw the sword against him. Bdubs knows he won’t. He can't kill the thing he loves even if it bites him. And Bdubs bites him, even when he doesn't mean to.

Maybe he does mean to.

Bdubs presses his forehead against the lip of the small window in the closed room he’s been telling all these secrets to. The stone is cold under his skin, but he can’t tell if it’s the abnormal heat of him or the weather outside that makes it feel so icey. Does it really matter?

Right—where was he again?

He has to keep an eye on Etho. Half because he loves him far too much, and half because Etho might kill him just to save himself. He’s still trying to figure out if he’s okay with that.

(When it comes down to it, Bdubs will still be upset. Because as much as Etho promised him that he would live, he never got anything out of it in the end. Etho plays a game that keeps people at arm's length. Or maybe they’re not playing the same game at all.

That’s what Bdubs will learn, but not today.)

Bdubs steps out of the room that feels more like a confessional feeling significantly more thirsty for blood. Etho turns as he notices him from the corner of his eye. His eyes crinkle playfully.

Jumpy.

“What were you doin’ in there?” He asks, tilting his head. Still Etho, afterall. 

“Schemin’,” Bdubs grins, shaking off his anxiety. “What’s it to you?” 

Etho snorts.

“Nothin’,” he says lightly, turning back to the fire he’s building. The sky is getting orange around the edges. If Bdubs squints, he thinks he might be able to see stars. Beside Etho’s foot rests a battered metal teapot with a short piece of rope tied through the handle. “I was just curious.”

“Right,” Bdubs says. He tugs his cloak a little closer to him. “Aren’t you always?”

Etho laughs.

Bdubs pretends like it doesn’t make the words clam up in his throat.

(send me a number from 1-100 and I'll try to write a fic!)

[lilligantpicaro]

The L&DS Guys playing "Adoration and Shallowwaters"

Adoration and Shallowwaters: A [fictional] mobile romance ARPG for male audiences

Xavier

He primarily focus on the combat aspect of the game, which he's an absolute beast at. For a f2p player, he doesn't do too bad for himself. If he had to pick a favorite character though, it would probably be the beautiful and stoic childhood friend/doctor Zara. He finds her to be a sophisticated kind of cool, unlike the domineering Sylvia clad in leather who he thinks is kind of cringey. He also just happened to draw the most of Zara's combat cards, so he utilizes her a lot in battle as well and grows fonder of her with time. He probably logs in quite often for the first few week, but it dwindles down once he picks up a new show or game.

Zayne

He doesn't manage to log in often, but when he does, his lovely and cozy hunting partner Xanthe is there to greet him after a long day at work. As embarrassed as he is, her soft and kind messages telling him that it's okay to rest cleanses his soul. He's almost never partaking in the combat aspect of the game unless it's necessary to unlock features or accessories specifically for Xanthe. Usually, he just stays in the "Fate Café" and interacts with his favorite space girl there. He definitely utilizes the calendar feature and smiles when she reminds him of scheduled events.

Rafayel

He's interested in the overarching story and really likes the character designs, but the first three LIs introduced just didn't intrigue him at all. If anything, he found Rachelle insufferable, and Xanthe and Zara were both cold and boring. He mostly focused on the overarching story and customization features until he was introduced to the authoritative and mature leader of a certain faction of the mysterious "M109 Zone." Sylvia was a game changer, and he's officially obsessed with her. From her design, to the patronizing pet names she would call him, to the moments of tenderness...he was whipped for a video game character. That being said...his eyes have been wandering recently with the announcement of formerly-deceased childhood friend, Caylee entering the scene.

Sylus

He logs in the least, and when he does it's to specifically play "puppy cards" with Xanthe or Rachelle. He likes their reactions the most, especially when they're losing. Other than that, he doesn't really pay attention to any story or lore. He might interact with them in the Fate Café in that he taps on Xanthe's shoulder until she gets annoyed and turns away from him, or he might listen to Rachelle's heartbeat to make her embarrassed. Other than that, he doesn't really do much with the game, and probably forgets about it after a while.

Caleb

He will actually spend quite a bit of time on the game when he's not busy, and he's pretty into the different minigames, customization options, and the side stories. He's a Rachelle-guy all the way. A bratty little firecracker whose also needy beyond belief? Adorable, literally his ideal woman. He's definitely dropped a few pennies on the game to dress her up, which is another one of his favorite things to do, and get limited edition 5-heart cards. It's when he starts seeing things in the real world that remind him of Rachelle that he realizes he needs a break. "These seashell earrings...I wonder if she'd like them..."

[autisticshadowthehedgehog]

A Cluster of Burning Stars - Chapter Two

in which Tails hacks into government systems

{ao3} {tumblr}

Over the last few years, Shadow had gotten used to the sound of Sonic’s zoom. He didn’t even flinch at the sudden noise, and didn’t even glance back at the blue blur that slid beside him. “What did you do?” 

“My dear Shadow.” Sonic said in a faux offended voice, gasping dramatically and putting his hand over his heart. “What makes you think I have done anything?” 

“Because you’ve always done something. Now spill, before we both get in trouble.”

Sonic sighed, before jumping onto the edge of the desk. “Okay, so, like, they wanted me and Amy to do some kinda test together, but I didn’t want to, so I hid in the vents for an hour.” 

“Wrong.” Shadow said. “You can’t stay still anywhere for an hour.”

“I can if I’m running around the vents! You wouldn’t believe the places we could go if we just traveled through there more often. Also, did you know we have a lot more bombs onboard than they told us about? Those are definitely some kinda hazard.” 

He continued to prattle on, and Shadow glanced around their room. It had been his room for the first several years of his life, but Maria had helped them set up a triple bunk when the other hedgehogs moved in, and now the area was, well, very clearly all of theirs. Amy’s art lined the walls, in bright colors and decorated with hearts and stars. Sonic’s books were scattered all around, unorganized unlike Shadow’s perfectly-lined shelves, and scuff marks lined the floor from when the blue blur slid to a stop too soon. Shadow probably should’ve minded the mess, he was a bit of a perfectionist, but… well, it made the room look a lot different from the labs. So it was alright. 

Shadow held up a hand to halt Sonic’s ramblings. “So are they looking for you?”

“Naw, they gave up.”

“Are you sure?”

“Pfft, I’m not you, Shadow. They don’t care what I do.” 

He slid off the desk, immediately stretching out his arms. Shadow rolled his eyes, and muttered, “So long as we don’t get in trouble for it.”

“It’ll just be me, you know it will be. And Amy’ll get complementary chocolate for having to deal with my bullshit.” 

“Language.” Shadow said instinctively.

“Amy’s not around, we can say ‘shit.’” 

“If you get used to saying it, you’ll let it slip around her. Then she swears in front of someone important and we all get yelled at.” 

“You’re so uncool.” 

Shadow leaned back in his chair, smirking. “Says the hedgehog who cries on poetry nights.”

“So do you!” 

“Yeah, but I hide it better.” 

They both jumped, then, as the door opened, and then relaxed considerably when only a young girl skipped in, pulling her blonde hair back into a ponytail. “And what’re you up to?”

“Maria!” they both cheered. Shadow leapt from his chair, hugging onto her legs, as Sonic began to run circles around her.

“Mari-ri!” Sonic called. “Did the new book shipment come in? Did the new tapes? Can we listen to a new story? Or read one? Or–”

“I finished our schoolbooks for the week!” Shadow said, looking up at her excitedly. “So we can play at any time! They were really cool, and Grandfather said there’s a sequel to Oz, do we have it? I wrote a little if you want to–”

“Slow down, my boys.” Maria giggled. She knelt, then, running a hand over Shadow’s head and scratching his ear.

“I don’t slow down! Ever!” Sonic declared, before flopping onto the ground and kicking the air. “Never ever ever!” 

Shadow overdramatically rolled his eyes, and brightened when that succeeded in making Maria laugh. She hadn’t been laughing a lot recently, and it was a sound they all loved to hear. 

“Well, I just came in to see if you want to meet with the botanists to learn how to play a new card game.” Maria said. “Amy’s bothering Dr Bailey for a new dress, so it’d just be us three.”

“And all the botanists.” Shadow said hesitantly. He bit his lip, considering. “I don’t think they like us very much.”

“You’re just anxious. I promise, they think you’re the shit.” 

Sonic leapt to his feet, pointing triumphantly. “See, Shadow? She says it!” 

Maria laughed again, and Shadow turned to punch Sonic in the stomach. Sonic dodged, running to the other end of the room, and so Shadow began to give chase, a smile cracking on his face as he did. 

---

Shadow stood at the window, glaring out at the morning sky as the conversation carried on behind him. 

“–we may not need to deal with finding the Master Emerald at all. According to Shadow, we solely need to gather the seven Chaos Emeralds.” 

“So we got three already.” said the voice of the bat. “One from me, one from you, and the one Shads swiped on the way.” 

Shadow flinched, his ears flickering, and he said a little too loudly, “Don’t call me that.” 

Rouge didn’t seem to notice his tone, as she just laughed. “Relax, kid. Anyway, Doctor ‘botnik, I can get you some pretty nice, shiny emeralds. I’ve been trying to track them forever, so if you could just give my tracker a little boost…”

“I can do far more than that! It’ll be unbreakable by the time I’m done with it.”

“Wonderful.” she hummed.

Shadow looked up at the clouds. They’d never seen clouds like these on the Ark. They’d seen drawings, and blurry photos in grays and browns, but seeing them in real life was… strange. He hadn’t realized that they could be so many colors. 

Amy would love it. So much. 

He remembered her fascination with Maria’s arts and crafts hour. Dumping all the paint onto a table, slapping her hands into the splatters, ignoring the brushes and just dragging her fingers over the paper. Shadow used to think it was immature, as he sat across from her with his finely-pointed brushes and careful lines. But as he looked at the Earth sky, he realized it looked so much more like her paintings than he’d ever thought. 

Shame it wouldn’t last long. But if Amy was gone, then that sky should go, too. 

---

“Okay, Tails,” Knuckles said, walking into the workshop and immediately putting his head in his hands, “What the hell just happened?”

For a second, Tails didn’t even look up from his computer system. The workshop hummed with electricity, both from some kind of automated project on one end and from the computer circuitry from the other. Finally, he turned around, raising his goggles slightly. “You’re gonna have to be more specific.” 

“Tails. I don’t have time for jokes.”

“Since when do I? Do you wanna know about the military base, the ‘botnik drones, or the–”

“The hedgehog, obviously! I didn’t even know people could do that kinda stuff.” Knuckles walked up beside Tails, then began punching the air absent-mindedly. “The teleporting, the chaos energy blast–”

“Okay, good, so you recognized it as chaos energy, too.” Tails nodded. “If I got it wrong, I’d have to redo all of these calculations.” 

“So? What do you know?”

“Not much. Robotnik seems to have released him from that GUN facility, and their files are hard to hack into.”

“So?”

“So it took me about ten minutes. But even then, everything on what they called ‘Project Shadow’ was heavily encrypted. Thankfully, it seems Robotnik decrypted it before us, so I’ve got some of those on this screen.” He gestured to one of his multiple monitors, which was scrolling impossibly fast through some kind of document. “It’s still processing, but it seems that he was a GUN-sanctioned experiment. Hoping to create a living weapon.” 

“They did a good job. That guy sure packs a punch.” Knuckles smirked, then. “Not as much as me, but–”

“Yeah, yeah. There were three prototypes reported to GUN. Technically four, but the first one ended quite quickly, if these notes are any sign. Something about a big lizard.”

“There are three of those things?” he stiffened. He could probably beat that first one if he had time to prepare, but three at once would be… difficult.

“Easy, Knux. I’ve already gotten into the system that held his cryo-pod. It looks like it doubled as an escape pod from the lab that created him. Labelled ‘Space Colony ARK,’ so they had that shit floating up above the atmosphere. These four monitors over here are all trying to track similar energies from the pod. It let out a specific frequency at the time it must’ve opened, and I think that frequency might’ve been a call to the pods of the same link.” 

“Tails,” Knuckles said very slowly, “I need you to remember that I don’t know how computers work.”

“Any escape pods from the same colony would’ve been linked together,” Tails rolled his eyes. “Since it was common back then for the landing coordinates to be a bit off, it serves as a tracker for where any pods might’ve gone. If the ARK still exists, we can’t get into it, obviously, but I might be able to get into the tracking system and find the other pods.” 

“You think they exist?” 

“I know they do.” Tails waved at one of the screens. “GUN reports that all three prototypes were sent to the planet. They only found Shadow because his pod defaulted to the lead scientist’s home coordinates. But the others must’ve gone off-route, and are still unaccounted for.”

“How long ago was this?”

“Fifty years.”

“Fifty years?”

“In cryo, he wouldn’t have aged physically or mentally,” Tails waved his hand. “So to him, this all happened, like, half a day ago. You know how people act when disaster strikes. Explains why he’s so pissed.” 

Knuckles nodded. In the last several years he’d been fighting Robotnik, he’d seen… a lot of disaster. It was jarring, going from a peaceful but isolating island to all the chaos that the badnik army caused. Sometimes it seemed like it was endless, like they’d never be able to push back the robots enough to get the planet back to its natural state. He didn’t want to think about how there were probably several villages– hell, maybe entire islands– that would never be recovered. He didn’t like to think of anything as a lost cause. If he started thinking of things as lost forever, he’d never get out of the hole that would put his mental state into.

“So you think you can track the other pods?”

“Much better than GUN.” Tails smirked. They’d butted heads plenty of times with the government agency in the past; despite the fact they should all be battling Robotnik together, GUN didn’t like when these renegade mobians got in their way. Knuckles, meanwhile, didn’t like any form of government, and Tails didn’t like anyone at all. 

Knuckles bit his lip, thinking for a second. “How about Angel Island?”

Tails minimized a window on one of the closer monitors, before opening another that showed a blip on a map. “Still mid-Pacific. My shields and defenses are still online. Hasn’t been found yet.” 

“Good.” he didn’t like being away from home for so long. It wasn’t really like he had a choice, though. “When this is over, we’ll check it over again. Maybe I can finally convince you to relax in a chao garden.”

Tails rolled his eyes. “Not going anywhere without wifi.” 

“Maybe you could build a defense around the garden. That’d keep you entertained.” 

“We have to get through this first. Other than Shadow, the only thing missing from GUN’s database is a chaos emerald.”

“No surprises there.” Robotnik kept trying to use those for whatever reason. 

“I’ve already sent the Chaotix after one in their area. One’s in a museum, so that should have security, but you know human security. It sucks. I’ve already got a message towards Seira to put that thing on lockdown, and I’ve sent the rest of our contacts off with a tracker to find the other two.” 

“Any ideas on what Robotnik’s plan is?”

“Knowing him, Death Egg.” 

“Do you know that for sure or is that a guess?” 

Before Tails could answer, a specific, long beep sounded from a far monitor. Tails’s ear perked up, and he sat up swiftly, kicking against the desk to roll his swivel chair over to the computers. He typed at an extended keypad, paused, and then said, “We’ve got one of the pods.”

“Holy shit, you’re a genius.”

“I am, aren’t I?” the little fox finally smiles. “And I can see why it took GUN so much trouble.” He pulled the map back, and gestured to it as he spun around, letting Knuckles see. “That’s Christmas Island. Been abandoned for decades, reeks of chaos energy. That’d be interfering with any and all homing devices. But with the neutralization energy from my Master Emerald systems, and the amount of times we’ve worked with the other emeralds? That shit’s child’s play.”

“Awesome.” Knuckles punched his palm. “What about the other pod?”

“No sign yet. I’ll leave the computer running, we gotta get to that island before Robotnik can. Not that he’d be good enough to track these things, but maybe Project Shadow has some kind of homing lock on the other prototypes.” 

“Like a hivemind or something?”

“No idea. Again, most of what they have on Project Shadow is either encrypted to high Heaven, or completely wiped from their systems. It really did not end well.” Tails rolled back to his normal station, gesturing again at a screen of text. “Seems it was too powerful for them to contain. So, of course, their response was to put it on ice until they found a way to control it.” 

“Even though that ‘it’ was alive?” Knuckles bristled. 

“Come on, Knuckles. We already knew the government sucked.” 

“I’m moving to the woods with Sticks when this is all over.” 

“Just lemme know if you ever want me to blow ‘em sky high.”

“Tails, we’ve been through this. We’re not doing an international war.” 

“For now.” Tails got out of his chair, stretching his arms, before swinging out his sore tails. “Get in the Brontide. We’re going flying.”

---

Knuckles liked flying. It made him feel closer to home, being up in the sky, near the clouds, seeing everything down below as something small. If he unfocused his eyes, he could pretend anything he saw on the land beneath had nothing to do with him. Shapes and colors that weren’t bothersome. He could pretend he was still on his island, on the top of a ruined temple or on the edge of a cliff, looking over at the world outside and wondering why anyone would want to go there when Angel Island had everything already. 

Of course, he wasn’t on Angel Island. The plane made sounds loud enough to pierce through the headphones Tails gave him to stop him from complaining so much whenever they took off, the metal beneath him was cold and lifeless, and he had to be belted in to “ensure his safety” or whatever Tails said. It felt like being trapped, which was a sharp contrast to the sight of the world around them and the feeling of wind pushing against his spines. It was like being halfway out of a cage, one foot in and one foot out. Or being chained to a tree in an open field. 

One of Tails’s tails brushed against his face, his signal to Knuckles that they were about to land. Knuckles resisted the urge to reach forward and pet the fluffy tail– that would get him drop-kicked into the ocean– and instead pounded his fists together, straightened his shoulders, and began bouncing his sleeping leg so that it wouldn’t feel so numb and tingly when they landed.

He was so focused on that task that he didn’t look over the side of the plane to get a look at their landing zone until the plane’s wheels had already hit sand. He shut his eyes, in case anything flew up into the air, and then turned to look at where they’d ended up.

“Oof.” was all he could say.

“Yeah. See why GUN didn’t wanna hang out here?”

The beach itself was relatively normal. Beyond it, though, was what appeared to be a completely decimated, open field. It may have been a woodland once, considering the occasional stump that could be seen, but it was mostly filled with choppy rocks, slim sticks and slabs of wood that might’ve been trees once, and piles of dirt that was somehow the wrong shade of brown. 

“What happened here?”

“Not a lot of knowledge on it. But again, reeks of chaos energy. Probably some kind of emerald explosion. The pod probably landed aboveground but might be under some levels of earth by now.” Tails pulled out his Miles Electric, tapping on the screen for a second. “I’ll get us there, and you dig.” 

“Finally. Been a while since I’ve been able to tunnel.” Knuckles said, trying to find some optimism as they looked at the grim views around them. 

Tails flew his way out of his seat, while Knuckles struggled with the seatbelt for a while, before giving up and letting Tails unbuckle it for him. (The fox had expressed distaste for Knuckles snapping it in two the first few times that had happened.) Then Tails hovered just a little above the ground, following the slow beeps of his tracker as Knuckles kept near him. He kept himself stiffened, eyes darting around the decimated land for any kind of approaching threat. The good news about being in such an open area was that there was nowhere for enemies to hide. The bad news was that it gave them nowhere to hide, either.

It took about twenty minutes of silent walking before Tails held up his arm to stop Knuckles. He then directed them down a slope to a slight valley. As Knuckles slid down to a stop at the bottom, kicking up dirt and stones, he finally spotted what appeared to be some moss growing from the ground. Finally, a part of the island that was healing. He knew the signs of life returning had to be somewhere. He let his shoulders relax slightly as he smiled at the moss, before returning to attention as Tails called for him.

“Okay, Knuckles. See this rock-pile?”

Knuckles turned, glancing up and down the pile of stone that seemed four times as big as he was. “Looks like an avalanche nobody cleaned up.”

“I’ll trust you on that. Pod should be somewhere down here. Probably a little below surface-level. Try not to break it.” 

“What’s the plan once we get it?” 

“We play keep-away until we got the Doc and his new friend under control. Now hurry it up.”

Knuckles sighed, cracked his fingers, and then leapt headfirst at the ground. 

Tunneling was always nice, but the dirt here really did just feel wrong for some reason. In this place, it felt less like building a nook and more like getting the earth as far away from him as possible… despite surrounding himself in it at the same time. Ugh, things were so confusing when he wasn’t home. Everything made sense on Angel Island. And everything was quiet. His hand found stone, but with a swing of his fist, it shattered in front of him. Tails had told him multiple times that his strength was something unusual, but that was something else that always seemed normal when he was alone. He was the only one there, so everything he did was normal. It was just him, the chao, the critters, and his Emerald. And the sky.

How long had it been since he’d been there, anyway?

After what seemed like ages of pounding, he felt something metal ahead of him. Instead of shattering it directly, he tunneled up, marking his position, and then tunneled around, tossing the dirt into the air to make an indentation around the pod. He only spared it a glance or two– he usually had his eyes shut while burrowing– and it was just enough to establish to himself that, yes, it was some kind of pod, and that it had definitely seen better days. A dent in the top, cracks in the glass, and that rust probably wasn’t supposed to be there either.

When he finally had enough of a break in the dirt to consider the pod “unburied,” he got to his feet and whistled. Tails flew his way down and began inspecting it, letting out a whistle. “Old tech, but effective. Even with all this damage, the cryo’s still active. The interior must’ve been prioritized over the exterior.” 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. What do we do with it now?”

“Carry it to the beach. I can hook it to the Brontide and we can fly it back to one of my labs. I’m sure this won’t be a problem for you– shit!” 

Tails tripped over some of the scattered stone, landing with a thud on the side of the pod. Knuckles ran to him to help him up, then jumped back as something shot open on the pod’s side. He raised his fists, waiting for an attack. “What’s that?”

“It just opened a keypad, Knux. You know what those look like.” Tails groaned, rubbing the side of his head. 

“Keypad?” 

“Ugh, hold on.” Tails began kicking the smaller stones away from him, watching as they flew over the horizon. “Yeah. You need a password to unlock the pod. GUN records show they didn’t even have the password til Robotnik poked it in.” He kicked another flurry of stones; apparently the motion made him feel better. “‘MARIA,’ apparently. Guess the head scientist was Catholic or something. Nobody cares.” He did a spin and sent another batch of rocks into the air, watching intently as they landed high on the piles Knuckles had left behind.

Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

Tails’s shout was far too late, as a hissing sound began emitting from the pod. Knuckles, who’d been poking at the keyboard, instantly leapt back, fists raised again. 

“You said you needed the password to unlock it!”

“What did you think that meant?”

“Unlatching it from the ground! Like unlocking chains?” 

“You blockhead, it’s unlocking the system! It’s gonna open now!” 

“It’s what?” 

“Shit, shit, fuck–” 

Knuckles raced in front of Tails, pushing the fox behind him as the pod door slowly, slowly, began to rise. Tails let out a huff of indignation, and said something about how he could defend himself fine, but Knuckles wasn’t going to take any chances after seeing what the first Project Shadow could do. 

“We can probably still shut it down, let me get to the keypad–”

Steam rose from the pod, as air rushed inside for the first time in fifty years. Knuckles watched as Tails ducked under his arm, scampering to the side of the pod. Knuckles ran after him, grabbing his shoulder and pushing him back as another cloud of steam burst out, blinding them for a second. 

After several seconds coughing and blinking rapidly, they looked up, and saw a silhouette of something sitting up in the pod.

“Aw, fuck. Too late.” Knuckles muttered. 

The silhouette turned to face them. For a tense moment, Knuckles raised his arms, hunched his shoulders, and let out a warning growl. Tails, meanwhile, pulled one of his multiple guns from wherever he stored them (Knuckles didn’t care to ask) and aimed.

The silhouette stood. And then fell face-first onto the ground.

“Ah!” came the creature’s pained cry. “Dang it! What the… ow!” 

Knuckles lowered his shoulders, confusion overtaking his prior fear. “What?” 

Tails hesitantly lowered the gun and stepped forwards as the steam began to clear. He stopped in front of the creature, and then slowly put the gun away.

“Ow, shit. What the…” Knuckles heard the sound of claws scrambling at dirt, and then falling back down to the ground. “Ow, ow, ow. My legs huuuurt.” 

“Well this one’s… less intimidating.” Tails said carefully. 

Knuckles made his way over, just as the thing looked up at Tails. “Wha– who are you?” It scrambled back, hit itself against the bottom of the pod, and let out a string of curse words, reaching up to grip the back of its head. 

Knuckles squinted at it. It sure looked like Project Shadow. Nearly identical, in fact. The same hedgehog shape, though his larger quills went down instead of up, same hedgehog nose, and very similar shoes, though these were a dark brown and lacked the shining rings that their first opponent had. But the dissipating steam soon showed that he was a very different color– a faded blue, with a light brown chest, as opposed to Shadow’s black-and-red quills and white fluff. He was skinnier, and with less muscle mass, at least from what Knuckles could tell. 

The two adventurers shared a confused look, before Tails let out a sigh, knelt down, and said, “Are you okay?” 

The hedgehog looked up, and Knuckles was surprised to see his eyes were a stunning, forest-green. Not the angry red he’d seen before. 

“I don’t think I have a concussion?” the blue creature said. “But my legs feel heavy.”

“You’ve been in an unstable cryostasis for a long time. A lot of systems would have gone to keeping the stasis in effect, but it may have had the cost of your conditions being suboptimal upon awakening. Your legs should be fine once they adjust.” 

“Right, right.” The hedgehog sighed, content with that answer, and shut his eyes, leaning his head back against the cool, metal pod.

Then, after a second, his eyes shot open, he sat upright, and he screamed.

“Holy shit, Maria!” 

He tried to launch himself forwards, only to fall again. This time, Knuckles grabbed him, helping him up.

“Whoa, whoa! Calm down, bud. He said you still needed time to adjust.” 

“No, no– maybe there’s still time! We need to…” he glanced between Tails and the pod. “Where are we? We need to get back to the ARK. GUN’s gone insane, but we can- there’s still- there has to be a way to get to her– what the fuck is that?” 

It took Knuckles a moment to realize what the hedgehog was pointing at. “The… sky?” 

“In the sky!”

“That’s… that’s a cloud.” 

“That’s what clouds look like?”

“Oh, we got a dumb one.” Tails muttered. 

“I’m not– I…” the hedgehog took several deep breaths, then slowly turned his face back towards the ground. He turned it from left-to-right, his eyes darting around at first, and then slowly focusing. Like he was trying to take in everything he saw. “Holy shit,” he finally said, eyes wide. “Am I on Earth?” 

“Uh, yeah.” Tails said. 

“I’m… I’m…” he took several more deep breaths, before turning around to look at Knuckles. He jumped. “Oh, you’re like me, too.” 

“Like you?”

“Mobian, I mean. There weren’t really any others on the ARK… we need to get there, we might still have time–”

“Knuckles, sit him down.” Tails said.

When the duo went to disaster areas, Tails was usually in charge of the shell-shocked civilians. Not because he had better social skills than Knuckles– far from it– but because he’d read enough psychology books to understand the correct things to say. Usually, they’d bring one of their more people-friendly teammates, such as Mighty or Vector, but when it was just the two of them, Knuckles defaulted to Tails’s knowledge. It was something he did in a lot of other situations, too.

Knuckles sat down, carefully positioning the hedgehog beside him. Eventually, he leaned on his shoulder, letting the red echidna hold him up with his arm. He looked down, and said, “Whoa, your hands are far out.” 

“‘Far out?’” 

“Off the hook, really.” he reached his hand upwards and ran his fingers over Knuckles’s spikes. “What’re these?”

“Do not touch them.” 

The hand retracted extremely fast. “Sorry! I’m sorry,” he said, even faster. “I didn’t know, I… sorry.” 

Tails sat across from the hedgehog, and waited until he looked him in the eyes. “Hi. I’m Tails. This is Knuckles. What’s your name?”

The hedgehog looked between them. Knuckles spotted a fear in his eyes, which he realized with a jolt was from his earlier warning to leave his hands alone. Did he sound that scary? Or was the hedgehog just gaining his mental processes back, and remembering whatever happened before he was trapped in cryostasis? Because surely it couldn’t have been good.

“I’m…” he took a deep breath, and put his hand against Knuckles’s forearm instead. “I’m Sonic.”

“Sonic. Okay.” Tails said. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

“Maria.” his voice broke slightly. “Please. She got hurt. We can still save her, if we get to the ARK…” 

“Sonic,” Tails said slowly, “What year do you think it is?” 

Sonic froze over so completely that for a moment, Knuckles thought he’d stopped breathing. 

“No,” Sonic shook his head. “No, no, no, no, no…” 

“I’m sorry.” Tails said. He reached forward, putting his palm over Sonic’s; now both of them were grabbing onto Knuckles’s arm, which he chose not to mention to them. 

“No, no, no. She’s not gone. She’s okay. They have to have… she’s okay.” And, surprising Knuckles once again, he realized the hedgehog had started to cry. His voice shook, as he turned to Tails and asked, “I was out for a long time?” 

“Yeah.”

He took a breath, as if hoping that would slow the tears. It didn’t. “H-how long? Do you know?”

Tails squeezed his hand. “Fifty years.” 

“No. No, no, no. This is a bad dream. This is a shit dream. I need to wake up. I need to get to Maria. She’s okay. She has to be okay–”

“Sonic, take a second.” 

“She’s okay!” 

With the cry, something sparked against Knuckles. He leapt back, releasing the hedgehog, fast enough to see a blue flare rise from the hedgehog’s quills. A burst of something. Knuckles steadied himself again, remembering a similar glow from Shadow as he’d teleported– chaos energy. He grabbed Tails, again pulling him to the side, but Sonic didn’t seem to be preparing to fight.

Instead, the flares dimmed, and the hedgehog dropped to the ground and began to violently sob.

---

{ao3} {tumblr}

[starkissedmallow]

I’m not sure if this counts as a request or if request are still open but I wanted to try messaging and seeing what do you think the MHA guys would feel about getting rejected because their crush as a chronic illness (not terminal so it’s not going to kill them but it really interferes in their day to day even though they want to be a hero) if you can do the Baku squad (and shinso if possible as well) id greatly appreciate it. I hope I did this correctly I still don’t know how to do these things

The Bakusquad + Hitoshi Shinsou with a Love Interest who has a Chronic Illness

A/N- Thank you so much for the request, anon! I hope that you enjoy.

KIRISHIMA-

- Kirishima is the first one to step up and be a helping hand for you

- He’s patient, kind, and understanding

- Kirishima is always ready with a kind, welcoming hug and a shoulder to lean on

- He makes sure that you know that you’re not alone in this and that you’ll be taken care of

- “We’re here for you, no matter what!”

KAMINARI-

- Kaminari would try and lighten the mood a bit

- He would crack jokes and get everyone to laugh to ease the tension

- Kaminari makes sure that you have fun and that you’re stress free when dealing with your chronic illness

- He comes up with a tough nickname for you

- Hoping to make you laugh and ease your mind

SERO/MINA-

- They would organize fun hangouts for the group

- All while helping to accommodate your needs as well

- They plan lowkey movie nights, and, cozy game sessions where you can all just relax

- They’re both super thoughtful

- Making sure they have everything needed if you need to rest or take a break for a while

HITOSHI-

- Hitoshi is the one who truly listens to you and your needs

- He takes the time to understand you and what you’re going through

- Hitoshi offers a safe space for you if you need it

- “It’s okay to feel overwhelmed.”

- “I’m right here if you need to talk.”

- Hitoshi’s calm demeanor would help you through tough times

[yep123]

Blue lock headcannons for reader who HATES soccer!?!?

(Authors note~ I was just following the order of the wiki! I know ya’ll wanted yoichi first!)

A/N! I would have posted earlier but I was grounded for a month!

Blue lock 11~

🐻Gin Gagamaru (my fave)🐻

I feel he wouldn’t push you to like it but he will still try to show you trophies or tell you about wins so you can tell him you’re proud of him!!! I think he also pushes the soccer ball in your face and just stares at you…like :-/

💖Jyubei Aryu💖

He’d probably just show you how ✨glam✨ soccer really is. You’re not interested in the slightest but that’s okay! He still loves you. Probably.

👀Ikki Niko👀

I don’t think he’d mind at all! As long as you’re into anime and that sort of thing! Ikki is pretty manipulative though…I think

🐆Hyoma Chigiri🐆

He’s not mad but he’s not happy either….like he tore his dang acl and still plays the game!!!! It would be nice if you still came to his games to cheer him on! Like go to the Blue lock vs. U-20 match please!?!??!! Sit with his mom and sister!

🕶️Kenyu Yukimiya🕶️

I headcannons he could be a bit upset you don’t like soccer…he very passionate about it. He wouldn’t force you to like it but he’d try his best to get you interested! Give it a chance…for him?

🌊Tabito Karasu🌊 (he’s scared of water…idk?)

He’ll be a little confused….I mean what’s not to love!? He probably would force you to like it! He loves you and all but get with the program dude!

🕹️Seishiro Nagi🕹️

He really doesn’t care. He only started playing 6 months ago, he doesn’t care. But try and play some games with him or something…I mean if you don’t even like that then why’re you together?

👹Meguru Bachira👹

Why don’t you like!? I mean who doesn’t like soccer!? Like seriously, what’s not to love!? He might cry when you tell him you don’t like soccer….like my guy is having a full on breakdown…

🥷Eita Otoya🥷

As long as you’re hot he doesn’t care what you like…he’s deeply shallow~ (wicked reference) he’s more interested in your looks and body than what you like…sorry not sorry

⚽️Rin Itoshi⚽️

Yeah he might ghost or avoid you for a while…don’t be mad at him…do you know all he’s been through?

🏟️Yoichi Isagi🏟️

He’s fine with it. He had his respective opinion…and a few words to say….but he, um, how should I put this….? Doesn’t care….he would be a normal boyfriend with a partner who doesn’t really have an interest in the sport. Sounds a little weird, but I’m sure it’s relatable somewhere.

🫏Shoei Baro🫏

He’s confused and angry….ya’ll might not talk for a while….don’t take it personally but he might break up with you….hopefully not but you never know

🤑Reo Mikage🤑

He literally tries to force you into liking it. Like….you probably have to fake being interested because he’s putting so much pressure on you. Toxic right?

👓Zantetsu Tsurugi👓

He doesn’t understand. Jk! He doesn’t really care…he would love if you came to his matches! Like anyone would! He’s pretty easy on that note….but overall….he has his interests. And you have yours

👾Yo Hiori👾

I think he’s relieved. His parents have always pressured him and I think he’s glad that his partner won’t do the same…won’t be counting on him….as long as you like gaming though!

⭐️Nijiro Nanase⭐️

He whines….why don’t you like it again? You tell him it’s not your thing…he slumps…you cheer him up with kisses and cuddles….he’s fine everything’s fine….I hope and pray for you…

💪🏻Aoshi tokimitsu💪🏻

He stares at you blankly for a bit with his huge round eyes then he breaks down in tears. Why? Because he thinks you won’t come to his matches. Will you? Well…possibly

🦁Jingo Raichi🦁

He bold faced yells at you. You punch him. The anime punch. He straitened up, gets in his knees, and apologizes. AS. HE. SHOULD.

🦈Ranze Kurona🦈

He asks you a bunch of questions like why? And if it ties to something else. If it does he listens. If it doesn’t he understands.

[offbookkeeping]

What's the origin of your blog title?

In the beginning of ep 271 of Off Book, Kisses to my Critics with Tim Murray, they chitchat for a minute about tour dates and live shoes and stuff and then they do a weird almost Swedish Accent and Jess goes "okay is there any other off book...keeping?" and Zach goes "I think that was the Offbookkeeping" and when I made this blog I was like oh that's such a good name. And now that's my name

OTP(s) Shipname:

I never know ship names so I'm just going to list ships. Donna and Laura from Twin Peaks, Marina and Zelda from The Magicians, Dee and The Waitress from IASIP, Mac and Dennis from IASIP, Nadja and The Guide from WWDITS, Quention and Elliot from The Magicians, Magenta and Columbia from Rocky Horror, all the jkeu couples lol, Patti Lupone x ME!!! MEEEE!!

Favourite colour:

Green (it's a sign that that question is green)

Favourite game:

I don't really play games but I played Portal once that was fun

Song stuck in your head:

Angel - Fleetwood Mac

Weirdest habit/trait?

I have to always have my hair off my neck when I'm not at school or out and about. Unless I have guests over or I need to look good my hair is in a claw clip. I sleep in a claw clip. It makes my hair curly though that's a plus

Hobbies:

Listen to & collecting music, reading, keeping a diary, blues fusion dance, organizing, watching movies, photography, writing letters

If you work, what's your profession?

Im unemployed atm but Im going to be a librarian someday

If you could have any job you wish, what would it be?

Actor. Or late night talk show host. Or archivist

Something you're good at:

Photography and gift giving. Not to aound vain but like I'm REALLY good at gift giving

Something you're bad at:

Math, cleaning, drinking a healthy amount of caffeine

Something you love:

My dog Olive

Something you could talk about for hours off the cuff:

How everything in comedy is entwined, jazz history, which muppets are my favorite, Bobs Burgers, actresses I like, just music in general, my family history, catholic saints, drag queens, Little Edie Beale

Something you hate:

the word slurry, bananas, chalkboards

Something you collect:

Vinyls, cds, teeth, deer themed stuff, leather jackets, stevie nicks merch, rosaries, Joan Didion book, art of myself

Something you forget:

What day it is! Constantly! Also what I look like

What's your love language?

Tense sapphic staring, and gifts. Also casual intimacy and like touch kind of. Like I will give a sensible kiss on the cheek and a lingering hand on a shoulder or something but that's it

Favourite movie/show:

atm my favorite movies are Clue, Grey Gardens, WWDITS, and The Royal Tenenbaums. My favorite shows are PIBE, Arrested Development, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Bobs Burgers, and American Horror Story: Coven

Favorite food:

Ravioli

Favorite Animal:

Deer

What were you like as a child?

Annoyingly nerdy and ugly and precocious. Adults liked me and I NEEDED their approval

Favourite subject at school?

when I was a kid, english. Now, history

Least favourite subject:

Math and science

What's your best character trait?

I'm very thoughtful and an excellent conversationalist

What's your worst character trait?

Extremely forgetful and short tempered

If you could change any detail of your life right now, what would it be?

Ngl I'd have a different face but that's depressing

If you could travel in time, who would you like to meet?

Well... she's alive but Patti Lupone or Stevie Nicks. Otherwise, Leonard Cohen

Anyone who wants to join can! I'm too tired to go and see who hasn't been tagged

Get to know your mutuals!!!

cheers @stevie-marigold for tagging me!

What's the origin of your blog title?

doccy who! plus me mum always used to say i have telescopic arms. personally i think they're a normal length

OTP(s) Shipname:

johnlock, i will forever be a johnlocker no matter which version of those freaks we're talking about

Favourite colour:

orange <3

Favourite game:

factorio! i greatly enjoy the spagetti of it

Song stuck in your head:

antmusic by adam and the ants

Weirdest habit/trait?

darling everything i do is deeply weird, couldn't do something normal if i tried

Hobbies:

writing, reading, nuisance making, music enjoying, getting in the way, and various wool-related crafts

If you work, what's your profession?

im the imp who sits in your camera and paints the pictures for you (im out of blue btw)

If you could have any job you wish, what would it be?

id invent hexopostcards, which are hexagonal postcards and only have pictures of six sided things on. if a thing has more than six sides than you've got to have the seventh+ side(s) off the edge of the postcard. if it has less than six you have to draw where the rest of the sides could feasibly be. then id retire

Something you're good at:

answering questions truthfully

Something you're bad at:

eating dog food

Something you love:

doing jigsaws

Something you could talk about for hours off the cuff:

doccy who. i just do that anyway

Something you hate:

jigsaws that have too much sky so its all just blue (doesn't include my starry night puzzle)

Something you collect:

vinyls, posters, things ill use someday, names, ideas of things to write

Something you forget:

my best friends birthday. i have it written down and i still forget consistently

What's your love language?

circular gallifreyan

Favourite movie/show:

oh theres so many. doccy who and torchwood, sherlock, merlin (im really from a specific time going by those answers) loads of films too but, to say an obscure one to make me sound cool, mcfarland usa

Favourite food:

the souls of the damned. failing that pasta

Favourite animal:

@zelda-wheelz

What were you like as a child?

weird nervous about everything and a nerd

Favourite subject at school?

maths! don't ask me to remember a single thing from my alevels though

Least favourite subject:

drama. hated acting in front of all those eyes

What's your best character trait?

i like to think im quite nice

What's your worst character trait?

asking @zelda-wheelz the answers for half these questions

If you could change any detail of your life right now, what would it be?

id move

If you could travel in time, who would you like to meet?

george michael, so long as i can bring my mum

tagging: @captainfairygodmother @b1uetrees @by-gray

[arcanegifs]

cmon you guys stop it with the garen hate smh his lines with Kat in LOR are so fucking funny ksdjfksdjfksdjfks

If you really want more lesbiabs in League you can also watch/read Leona and Diana!!!!!!!

DOOMED YURI SAVE US ALL

[s-ccaam-era-crepe]

i loovoooove infodumping woowoaow

[soupmanspeaks]

you ever wonder if the Glamrocks's face tracking acts up when they look at Glamrock-Freddy, like they'll look at his face, and the recognition will register as Freddy, but their systems for whatever reason or another think that there is a face overlapped on Freddy's do you think they see two small squares next to him, at his side, roughly child sized, but no one is physically there.... right...?

[hassianlovebot]

sorry i haven't posted much lately! tbh i've been feeling kind of burnt out and massively unmotivated with palia. don't get me wrong, i still really love the game (especially the characters and the worldbuilding) and i have tried to log in and play but tbh the game itself just isn't keeping my attention rn.

i don't blame the devs at all since i know they're going Through It rn what with the massive layoffs, california fires, and losing money. that being said, the little story progression, constant game breaking bugs every update, and Way too high prices for things,,, it got to me. it sucks because i do really love this game and i Want to devote more time to it but i've lost the motivation to do that.

i'm hoping that i'll gain at least some of it back with the elderwoods update but i also can't help but feel some trepidation at the thought of the release getting pushed back and what kind of bugs will inevitably come with it.

anyway, ik i don't have to explain myself or anything, but i just wanted to let you guys know i guess? i Do still love the game and i anticipate future updates (and hopefully getting sucked back into it) but for now, i'm not devoting a lot of time to it. i'm thinking of doing some art for the characters just so i don't lose interest completely but the game itself is taking a massive backseat :/

[gingerteafairy]

𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐧'𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 + 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞

tate langdon – physical touch and quality time

Even when you were just getting to know each other, random touches were common with Tate. He just loves feeling close to you—whether it’s holding your hand, fixing your hair, resting his head on your shoulder, or giving you a hug. His favorite thing to do is cuddle up while watching a movie or stay wrapped up together while playing games. No matter what you’re doing, he just wants to be touching you. When he feels extra needy, he just shows up by your side, even if you're busy with something: "Positive education. Wanna cuddle now or when you finish? You win in both options."

kit walker – physical touch, acts of service, and gifts

Kit covers a lot of love languages, but these are the core ones. As a hardworking man, he likes to save money to buy you something special you mentioned wanting. Even when he’s exhausted, helping you with tasks makes him feel good, and he appreciates when you return the favor whenever you can. Physical touch is crucial—it’s how he reconnects with you after a long day. Sometimes, he just wants to hold you in silence or listen to you talk. "My day? Boring, just work. How about yours? You did somethin' new today?"

frat!kyle – quality time and acts of service

Being a dedicated student, Kyle’s idea of a date is often a study session together. He’s always happy to help with a tough assignment, and you’d do the same for him with your knowledge. If he had to be away for a trip or exams, he’d constantly text to ask "how you’re doing", "how your day’s going", "did you have your breakfast today?" In his free time, he’d join you at parties or stay home to hang out. He’d never let you wash the dishes—it was his way of thanking you for spending time with him. "You can do something for me later, okay?"

zombie!kyle – physical touch and words of affirmation

At first, Kyle wouldn’t quite know how to express what he felt, but he’d quickly fall in love with giving you bear hugs. Kisses all over your face would become common, but when you did the same to him, it felt extra special. Over time, he’d learn to communicate his feelings, blurting out things like, “You’re really nice,” “I love being with you,” or “Can I have a hug?” at random moments during the day.

jimmy darling – physical touch and acts of service

At first, Jimmy might be hesitant to touch you, worried you’d find his hands strange. But once he got past that, it was like his fingerprints had super glue for you. His favorite pastimes would be giving you massages, hugging, playing with your hair, or holding hands as you walked around—feeling bold and accepted. He’d also take any time spent fixing up the trailer, house, or meals with you very seriously. Can't go out without you. "Wanna join me for a ride after cleaning? I was thinking about buying something for the show and having some ice cream. It's freaking hot today."

james patrick march – words of affirmation and quality time

James has no filter when it comes to compliments—they’re grand and meaningful. Anytime you did something extraordinary, he wouldn’t hesitate to shower you with over-the-top praise like, “Darling, that’s fabulous, stupendous, bravo!” or “Indeed, my muse, how radiant my queen is today.” He adores spending time with you, especially if you join in on his strange hobbies. If you weren’t into hunting, he’d settle for a dinner date or a tour of the hotel, sharing its secrets and stories about its residents.

kai anderson – words of affirmation and quality time

Although physical touch is a constant in Kai’s life, he expresses his emotions best through words. Rare as they may be, his compliments are always intentional—"you're very intelligent, you know that?", or even changes in your hair or appearance "liked what you did in your hair, looks healthier". Quality time is another strong expression for him—whether watching movies, talking about his plans, or venting about how the world is falling apart and how you seem like the only one sane person next to him.

austin sommers – words of affirmation, physical touch and quality time

As a writer, Austin is most comfortable expressing himself with words. Though he enjoys physical affection, he values time together even more. Of course he loves to bury his head on your neck and nuzzle his nose after love bites, but there's something special about spending time with you doing nothing. He’d take breaks from writing just to go on walks with you, using the excuse that he needed inspiration when, in reality, he just wanted an excuse to admire you a little longer. "You wanna go back home? Nooo, I just had a new idea in my mind. Let's keep it for a while, hm?"

masterlist part two

[shima-draws]

Rewatching a playthrough of Danganronpa and it actually shocks me how chill Monokuma is. Even when Kyoko goes around stealing his shit and he finds Makoto with it later he's like. Yeah okay. I don't hold it against you or anything it's cool. LMAO

He has every available opportunity to just kill everyone whenever, especially when they break the rules, but he never does. I really love villains who stick to their own rules so it's fair for everyone else :")

[clumsyclifford]

thanks for tagging me @4thbrighteststar

rules: shuffle your On Repeat and let people pick their favorite from the first five songs!

here goes fingers crossed y'all get normal songs

lemme tag @igarbagecannoteven @allsassnoclass @kaleidoscopeminds @burstingsunrise anddd @daydadahlias

(commentary on each song under the cut)

wish you were sober: i had a moment with this song several years after everyone else did

chemicals: had a moment with this ALBUM.

stuttering: god okay i don't know WHY this is still on my on repeat except for, i assume, that every time it plays when i listen to my on repeat it self-reinforces its position. i WAS listening to it, and them, a lot, back when i saw them live earlier this year, no shame, but its time is frankly up

kissinginacarcrash: surprised to find this on here! i'm studying for a telltale concert im going to with my friend. this is one of their better songs imo

bet on it: ...i was afraid this would happen. my sister and i jammed out to all three hsm soundtracks on a long drive earlier this week. there is nothing like belting out bet on it and scream in a car with your sister. so then i kept listening to those two songs. scream is also in fact on this playlist right now.