#Anyhow! I have Several more of these planned but for now I'm just happy I finally have this one :D

[sysig]

Betty’s Wish (1/?) (Patreon)

It’s definitely weird that Betty, with all her Magical abilities, never met a Wishmaster, right? I think so

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[clovers-housetree]

Activities for Regressors Without Caregivers! (or just fun regression activties!)

(Although you're always welcome here if you'd like any form of comfort anyway! ^w^)

This one's kind of a long one, after the few tips I list, I've mentioned an app I use called Finch, which will be talked about below the cut.

Since that's the case, I'll put my little ending message here instead:

Knowing how to take care of yourself can take a lot of work and practice, but I believe it's worth the effort, because then you'll be a happier and healthier you! Especially if you can find ways to make it fun!

I'm more than happy to be here for you and offer my support in any way I can, anyhow! I'm proud of you for doing what you can, I know it can be very hard.

I myself don't have a caregiver for when I regress, so most of the time I end up taking care of myself! Here are some fun activities and things I do when I regress to keep myself calm and happy! ^w^

Paci mentions/pics not long after the first section for those of you who'd rather not see 'em.

♥ Arts and crafts! I absolutely LOVE coloring and making bracelets with beads, something not too complicated for little hands, but also something fun!

With coloring, you can buy coloring books, or draw something of your own to color in- even printing out a page you find online, coloring digitally, or tracing over something to color in could work! I prefer coloring more than drawing personally because I don't draw all the time, but I bet I could learn a little thing or two from the artists around here!

For bracelets (and other jewelry), strings can be hard to knot with little hands (at least they aren't those small, slippery clasps!!), but the beads shouldn't be too hard to handle if you're careful! Even just planning out patterns is fun!

Here are some My Little Pony bracelets I made, and the decorations I did for my pacis!

♥ Making playlists! Dancing is fun, and a good way to get the zoomies out, but you can just make playlists for any occasion! I have playlists that help me pet-regress, songs with sounds I like, adventure playlists... (Well- a lot of these are still in progress, but- you get the point!)

I also love those playlist videos on YouTube! Animal Crossing, Super Mario Galaxy, Minecraft and music box music are typically my go-to to help me settle or just make for comfy background music! Here's one of my favorites, shadowatnoon has lovely Nintendo music mixes!

♥ Playing with your plushies! You can take them on adventures, or make your own!

Like Toby, climbing The Great Pillow Mountain!

(This is Toby by the way, he's one of my best friends and a VERY good hugger!)

You can play games with them, too! Toby's REALLY good at hide and seek... Maybe you can find him for me? :0

♥ Finding shows to watch! I really like Paw Patrol and Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at the moment. Plus, you can look at agere content and fics from shows you like! People make really cool stimboards and moodboards, for example, and I like reading through all the fun stories people write!

Here's a silly picture of Rocky I found! :3

Finch

Finch is a self-care app where you take care of your very own little bird friend by taking care of yourself!

You can set daily goals, or for each day (or more specific ones as well I think.). By completing these goals, you give your bird energy to go on adventures! They usually come back with a funny little story or silly questions, because they're learning, too!

Through completing these goals (or daily, at least), you can get Rainbow Stones, which you can use to buy clothes for your bird, make them different colors, or give them furniture for their house!

They're also LGBTQ+ and disability-friendly!! :3

This is my little bird, Honeydew! You're welcome to friend me as well if you'd like, my code is: Z3E2T7VRK6

It's helped me learn a lot about taking care of myself and keeping track of my goals, and I get little rewards for it! I've used the app for several months now, and it's helped me out a lot!

"Fluttershy protects this blog! SFW interaction only, please and thank you! ^w^"

"Wouldn't show a kid? Doesn't belong here!"

[thotsforvillainrights]

absolutely scrambling to get a request in im so hyped!!

can i request something with Redestro where his step-child (reader or nondescript) comes home from college for the holidays? and perhaps their college is out of the country so they dont visit often?

happy holidays to you and the baby!! 💕

(Happy holidays!!!! Dude you got it in just in time! I was shocked to see the box filled up to like 30 asks in the span of 2 days lmao. I'm thankful for it because now I get to write more about my favorite big bads!)

~Dad!Rikiya Kid Home for the Holidays~

*I love him and his big ass noggin uggggghhh*

headcanon|scenario|imagine|match-up

-There are lots of things in this world that can make him happy, and a pretty good amount that can make him jump for joy. There is a very small amount that will make him drop whatever he's doing in sheer excitement. You would think he heard that they outlawed quirk discrimination by the way he dropped his book and smiled widely. However, what he was told instead was that his child would be coming home for the holidays from college. It's hard to understand why he'd gotten so happy from this. Did he think you were just going to stay overseas and not see him at all? It was your second semester/year in college and you told him you were coming home. I suppose he just couldn't contain his excitement regardless of knowing it was going to happen anyhow.

-Suddenly anything else didn't matter. Unfortunately his poor assistant would have to take the grunt of the work considering he was already halfway out the door of his office for the day. He immediately went straight to shopping and picking up a few things he thought you would need/want in the coming week while you were home. Even though you were an adult now, he still got the same snacks you liked since you were 5. He also picked up a few more presents for you despite having several beneath the tree already. He'd informed the others of your return and planned a massive Christmas dinner. Obviously they'd mostly proclaimed themselves as being your unofficial uncles and aunts (except Skeptic who opted for acquaintance, and Geten who would technically be like a brother to you considering he'd been taken in by ReDestro at a young age).

-No matter how relaxed and low-key you'd prefer your return to be it didn't matter in the least bit. You still returned to find tons of confetti, decorations, food cooked, and a very happy dad waiting with open arms. You can only roll your eyes and laugh at the thought of how much effort he put into this as though you'd been gone for several years. You thanked the kind Detnerat employees that took the time to bring you home from the airport and even invited them in to eat with you since let's be honest...there was no way you'd be able to put a dent into the feast he'd prepared for your arrival.

-The two of you spent the better half of the night discussing all the things you'd learned and achieved since being away for college. You fessed up to failing a class of two but he assured you things would be fine so long as you retook them and redeemed yourself. He was so proud of you and it showed in the way he stared at you as you talked about your experience. He was awed by the new friends you made (not particularly too fond of any love interest you may have found), excited to hear what your plans were for the next year, and already planning your graduation ceremony despite it being far off into the future for now. He eventually let you settle down and rest but not before bringing you a rather large box.

-Opening one gift early on Christmas eve was a tradition of sorts around your home.

-The next day you got to spend some time catching up with the other MLA members as well. You got a little help for your computer and I.T class by sitting and listening to Skeptic (even though he offered to hack the school and set your grades to A+ instead). Of course Trumpet and Curious only added to your already large set of gifts to open. You had to remind them these likely needed to be shipped back overseas to you. It was also very nice to have a minute to catch up to you official/non-official little brother Geten and see what he had going on for the moment. Of course you asked him if he wanted to join you at some point since he'd only opted last year to pursue his G.E.D essentially. He denied your offer but you could only hope he'd change his mind eventually. You had high hopes for him and knew he could achieve anything he put his mind to.

-Everyone sat down for a nice dinner together after you finished opening far too many presents to count at this point. There were a few holiday games played, and a couple of small tears shed (mostly by Rikiya at the thought of you having to go back in a few days). It was a nice reminder that you were quite loved by the people in your circle. How lovely to have a family like this!

[clearlyacollectortragedy]

Hi guys, it’s me (again) with some thrilling news (not really).

So, one thing about me is that besides Buddie, I'm fucking obsessed with zombies. Like, it’s a really unhealthy obsession. The point is, and I’ve been dying to tell y’all, I’ve had enough of not having a Buddie Zombie Apocalypse AU.

Now, there are a few out there, but as you may know my fellow fanfic readers, there just aren’t enough fanfics about this.

So, this might be all over the place because I’m going to tell you how I (a person who has never written fanfiction before and has severe commitment issues) have decided to write one of my own. Let’s rewind a few months: if you’ve seen what I’ve reposted and all that, you might know that my very first repost on this app was a GIF prompt by a creator called “bilosan” (that was the username; if I knew how to tag, I would, but I’m a grandma with these things, sorry). It was literally everything I dreamed of and more, so obviously, I became obsessed with the idea.

I had hoped that someone would have made a fanfic about this already, given the various people who liked the post. Anyway, the point is... I FOUND NONE. Not a single new fanfic (aside from the ones already posted on Ao3) about this AU.

So, going back to the present, I’ve started writing one. And I’ve got to tell you, it’s definitely NOT EASY. Genuinely, my most sincere apologies and gratitude to all fanfic writers because, how do you do it?!! I already have over five thousand words and I’m not even halfway through the story, and I’ve been working on it for a WHOLE WEEK.

And mind you, I’ve got no friends who understand my obsession enough to be beta readers, so because I’m a genius, I recruited ChatGPT to help me beta-read everything. I’ve been erasing and rewriting entire paragraphs because I don’t feel like they’re good enough.

Also, my first language is NOT English, and genius me decided that writing the fic in English was the best option. Like, duh, right?

Anyway, I’m going to finish it because, in my opinion, it’s coming along decently, and I've become attached to it. It’s definitely not a work of art like The Ones from Ao3, but I guess it’s not dog poo either. So if anyone (REALLY ANYONE) wants to see how it’s going and give me REAL HUMAN opinions, really, you can write me or something, I'll be more than happy to get your help. (I love you, ChatGPT, but you’re still a bot programmed to tell me beautiful things so I can upgrade my plan with you.)

That’s all, folks. Thanks for reading again; you’re all really such angels for doing so. Don’t worry, once the fic is finished, I’m going to post it here if you're interested (not sure if I should post it on Ao3 too because, you know, I’m not that great), but anyhow, I hope when it’s finished and published, you like it, even if it’s just a tiny bit.

Have a great day, night, or whatever. Kisses and hugs and all that (still don’t know how to end these kinds of posts).

[doonarose]

Fuckity fuck. We all knew I was gonna crash hard after a couple of weeks of absolute madness and, in particular, the five days of running this big deal clusterfuck well with constant adrenaline and four hours of sleep and too much alcohol.

So the last two days I've taken afternoon naps and yesterday I only left my little solitude den to walk around the block and grab food.

And now I've of course woken up at 5am, bored out of my skull which bodes well for tomorrow's 5.30am Doctor Who.

And I cannot make up my mind what to do.

Because it's a direct eight hour drive to my parents (where dog is at so priority) but I won't do that because the drive is awful.

There's several scenic routes which take more like twelve hours, including one I've not done before because it's over the top of Australia's biggest mountain (not actually that big) but that would add more hours.

My dad's big family christmas party is tomorrow and I beholden to show up because i) I can and ii) I always do. But the logistics of who is driving who and when and how are messy and I kept threatening not to make it because I finally kind of have an excuse this year.

And also Doctor Who tomorrow morning... which might be devastating, to be honest, but last week's episode and then my five hour drive immediately after were hysterically happy and blissed out. Like i will remember those six hours fondly for decades just because of how happy I was. So watching it at my parent's house and then having to deal with them sounds awful...

But then if I don't go all the way home I have to spring money on a motel somewhere... but then I can watch DW in peace and drive quite a bit afterwards and still make the christmas party...

Fucking hell, I'm overthinking this. You should have seen my brain right after the conference. Eight of us got together at one of the airbnbs for a BBQ and I could not switch it the fuck off. Like every minor mishap I was coming up with plans and contingencies and solutions and everyone around me was looking at me like I'd grown a second head. I was so decisive and definite which I rarely am, and not loudly or in quick succession.

Anyhow, this is a spiral post. I'm grabbing my mountain of dirty clothes (almost three weeks on the road now) and checking out and getting a coffee and a hashbrown and driving to Jindabyne.

[ca-8]

Yakko x Reader Scenario: When You First Meet

'This is it. The beginning of the end.' 

Gripping on the straps of her backpack, (Y/n) exited the bus and stared up at the water tower that displayed the famous Warner Bros. logo. As expected, it emitted a smug aura onto the entire area; however, surprisingly, there was a slight twinge of mystery to it as well. But she didn't have time to ponder about it, so she only gave it an uneasy look and headed straight for the entrance.

Her heart stopped. She knew the place was going to be busy, but it was like an entire New York City packed in one section! So many writers, producers, actors, large men carrying heavy sets, every type of person working in film was scattered all over the place. It was like an ocean, with the people as marine life doing what they're designed to do, and (Y/n) being the puppy that was abandoned at sea.

The moment it all settled in, an involuntary realization invaded her thoughts. 'I don't belong here.'

The young girl reminded herself to breathe and rushed over to a vacant wall, then pulled out her phone. She had already sent her mother about a thousand messages telling her she was here, but since she hasn't responded, a few more shouldn't hurt. Fingers rapidly typing away, she bit her lower lip, already wishing she had stayed on that bus.��

"Oh, you're just gonna love it!" Her mother's squealing voice had already filled her skull. "You're so talented, I know you're gonna fit right in."

'Yeah, standing around all day with a bunch of people I don't know while doing something I suck at is exactly how I wanna spend my summer.' She let out a soft sigh. 'It's fine. Just shut up and make her happy, (Y/n).'

Several attempts of calling and texting later, no response. (Y/n) sighed again, and her eyes wandered over to the bustling crowd. 'No way. Absolutely no way.' But if she wanted to get the day over with, absolutely yes way.

First, she walked up to a lady looking down at the clipboard in her hands. "Um, excuse me," (Y/n) said. 

The lady's head snatched up. "KYLE!" she yelled, her eyes now ablaze with fury, "YOU IDIOT! THAT GOES IN THE WAREHOUSE ACROSS THE STUDIO!" And like there was nothing but a breeze behind her, the lady stomped off to the poor soul that had to face her wrath.

The breeze took a step back and ran around the corner. 'Maybe I'll find someone else instead…!' (Y/n) stopped and spotted a man sitting on the steps that lead to the entrance of a small building. She swallowed whatever was left in her mouth and reluctantly approached him. 

"E-Excuse me, sir?" she stuttered, hoping her voice was louder than the last time. As she got closer, (Y/n) noticed he was chuckling, and his gaze was glued onto a small piece of paper. 

"I...I did it…!" he said. She yelped and shrinked back when he suddenly jumped to his feet. "I FINALLY DID IT! WE'LL SEE WHO'S REGRETTING THE DIVORCE NOW, MARGARET!" And with a manic laugh, the man dashed into the building. 

'...Or maybe I'll just find it myself.'

It wasn't too long before (Y/n) got herself lost. Despite the help of maps that were stuck to some of the buildings, all of them seemed exactly the same. It was like a maze, and with each passing minute, she was more and more convinced that there was no finish line. Even worse, her mother was too busy to respond to anything she sent her. 

'Oh, what should I do?' (Y/n) thought for the thousandth time. No matter how hard she pinched or held them, her arms refused to stop trembling. Not too long ago, the outside of the studio became deserted and she'd hate to walk in a warehouse and possibly interrupt something important, so asking for help again was out of the question.

...Or, perhaps it wasn't. 

A tiny, hopeful smile crossed (Y/n)'s face when she heard the sounds of frustrated grunts around the corner. It was the first time she was so relieved to see a stranger. 

And thank god that stranger was a security guard. Though she wondered why he had a giant net in his hand, she shoved the curiosity as far in the back of her mind as she could and reached up to gently tap his shoulder. 

"Um, excuse me sir?" she asked as loud as she could. 

His head whipped around, revealing angry eyes and a scowl that said he was ready to kill. But right as his gaze landed on her, it changed within an instant. 

"Oh, hello!" he said with a bright smile. 

(Y/n) blinked, cocking her head. ‘What was this guy up to?’

"I'm sorry to bother you, but do you know where (M/n) (L/n) is filming? I'm her daughter, (Y/n), and I'm trying to look for her. She's not answering her phone either."

His joyful expression slowly melted into a confused one. "Uuhhh…(M/n) (L/n)?”

“Yes. She’s a part of Animal Kingdom? Do you know where that’s being filmed?”

“Oh! I know there’s a zoo around here called Animal Kingdom! I don’t think you’ll find it in a film studio, though.”

(Y/n) frowned. “...No, I mean the show. Aren’t they filming in a warehouse today? Do you know where that is?”

“Who’s ‘they’?”

Her eye twitched, and she was just about ready to drown the entire studio in the nearest ocean. “N-Nevermind, I’ll just-”

As if the universe wasn’t satisfied with tormenting her enough, the security guard suddenly launched up into the air and flew into the sky. Right before her eyes, the heavens were coated with explosives of every color that ever existed. 

“Oh my god!” (Y/n) yelled. ‘Who strapped fireworks on that guy?!’

“Oh, I knew you’d love it!”

Her eyes were ripped from the loud fireworks show as she was immediately smothered in a hug. “It’s so nice that another girl’s here! All the other ones here are either too busy or just keep shouting about a restraining order for some reason. I dunno, but anyway, I just know you're gonna love it here! Anyway, my name’s Princess Angelina Louisa Cantessa Francesca Banana Fanna Bo Besca the third! But since we're friends now, you can just call me Dot.”

This confirmed it. This was a trap set up by her mother to deliberately drive her insane, because how else can someone explain the nut jobs and talking dogs in pink dresses? 

A combination of those two things happened to be clutching her head and digging her face into hers. “...Huh?” (Y/n) mumbled.

‘Dot’ jumped off of her and smiled widely. “Sorry about Ralph by the way. I figured out you were coming at the last second and I really needed someone for your welcoming gift.” she said.

(Y/n) glanced up at the sky where the fireworks were slowly dying down. “Um...Is he gonna be okay?” she asked.  

“Of course he will!” her backpack said.

The teen screamed and threw her bag on the ground. A hand popped out and unzipped it with impossible ease, then a taller boy version of Dot jumped out, pulling up his long brown pants and flashing a grin. 

“H-...H-H-How did you…?!” (Y/n) stuttered, pointing at him. 

“What? Never heard of cartoon logic?” he said, approaching her. “And Ralph’ll be fine. His skull’s so thick, concrete’s the last thing that can kill him.”

“What-?”

“Anyhow,” he walked over to Dot and put an arm over her shoulder, “The name’s Yakko, this here’s my beloved baby sister Dot, and this is-” He stopped, staring at the empty space to his left. He leaned into Dot, whispering, “Say, uh, you don't mind looking for Wakko, do ya sis?”

Dot glanced at (Y/n) for an uncomfortable moment and suddenly shot her brother a glare. "I've got eyes all over this studio, Yakko," she warned, slowly stepping away.

Now (Y/n) certainly knew she didn't see pairs of eyes appear around every inch of her sight. 'Oh god, I didn't breath in drugs on the way here, did I? Actually, that would explain whatever the heck's going on.'

Yakko smiled as he watched his sister leave and turned to (Y/n). He walked closer to her, and she realized that his half-lidded eyes had a strange glint in them. “Sooo, your name’s (Y/n), right? A pretty name for a pretty girl.”

(Y/n)’s face heated up. ‘First I get lost, then see a guy get blown up, and now some other guy’s flirting with me? ...To be honest, this is still better than what Mom had planned for today.’

“So what brings ya’ here?” he asked.

“O-Oh, well, my Mom was supposed to give me a tour of the studio, but I’ve been giving that to myself all day. I tried finding her, but I’m pretty sure I’m nowhere near it by now.” Her eyes wandered over to the ground, but a realization made them perk back up and over to Yakko. “Hey, do you happen to know this place by any chance?”

“Know it? Please, my sibs and I live here, we know this place by heart and soul!” He mumbled something else, along the lines of “Basically made our hearts and souls”. 

Her heart jumped; finally, a piece of good news. “Really?” she said, a smile spreading across her face.

He nodded. “So where do ya’ need to go?” Before she could answer, he pulled out a piece of folded paper and moved in so close, their shoulders were smooshed together. Yakko unfolded it, and it turned out to be the biggest map (Y/n) has ever seen. “Well, from here, you’re gonna need to take a right and continue straight until you get to the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts exhibit. But be careful, I heard some of them escaped, and if anyone asks if you’ve seen any of them, don’t tell them I gave one to Dot as a late birthday gift. Anyway, you take a left from there, then a right where you’ll see the lot where they used to shoot Game of Thrones. Now this is only a rumour I’ve heard, but I think some of the producers are still on that set. If you happen to see them, do not, I repeat, DO NOT mention season eight, or maybe just don’t mention the show at all. Actually, don’t even look at them. As a matter of fact, you probably shouldn’t even go there at all, just keep heading straight until you get to the D.C. Universe lot. Then you just take left there, then a sharp right over over, then you keep going straight until you get to here, turn up over there, turn right there, and then you’re there. Did ya’ follow all that?”

(Y/n) stared at his face, which was practically radiating with enthusiasm, and she felt her eye twitch again. “...No,” she said, shaking her head.

His smile dimmed, but it became just as bright as the sun again a split-second later. “Ah well, maps are gettin' old anyways,” he said, throwing the map over his shoulder. “WAKKO!!”

And, low and behold, another anthropomorphic dog popped out of nowhere, and (Y/n) was starting to question if there was an army of them hidden somewhere. But she had to admit, it was pretty cute how this one was dressed in an oversized blue sweater and red hat. 

“Tablet, please,” Yakko said politely, holding out his hand. 

‘You're not gonna walk me there-?'

Wakko suddenly held his head back with his cheeks puffed out, then leaned into Yakko’s hand as he forced out a small object from his mouth. After an incredibly uneasy moment, a tablet glazed in spit was in Yakko's grasp. While he praised the little guy, (Y/n) forced back the urge to vomit.

“E-Ehhhh…?” She couldn’t say anything else while her gaze frantically went back and forth from Wakko and the regurgitated tablet. 

“Oh! Where are my manners?” Yakko said. “(Y/n), this is my dear little brother, Wakko. Wakko, this here’s our new special friend, (Y/n).” 

“Hello!” Wakko greeted, who was suddenly in her arms. “You’re really pretty!”

“Ehh? Thank you? I guess??” she said apprehensively, and finally managed to make eye contact. Despite his...quirks, he's actually a little adorable... She let herself grin a little.

The moment of semi-peace was ruined when she took notice of Yakko’s narrowed eyes. “ALrighty, (Y/n)!” he said loudly, grabbing his little brother by the collar and gently setting him on the ground. “Animal Kingdom, right? Let’s get ya’ right over there.” He moved right beside her and taped the screen a couple times. 

“Um, what’re you doing exactly?” she asked.

“Doing what every person does to get somewhere nowadays.” He grabbed her waist and pulled her against him, and (Y/n) flinched from his touch. “Please keep your arms, legs, and personal items inside the tablet at all times.”

Just when she was about to question him for the hundredth time, he pressed the screen again, and her vision became nothing but white. Her body felt like it was launched into a tornado; a strong force of wind thrusted her back, and somehow, the boy’s arm kept her from flying off from his side. A second later, her feet were back on the ground, the sky was where it needed to be, and reality was back in place. 

Except for (Y/n)’s mentality. 

She stumbled around, trying to find her balance as the world unbearably whirled around her. Finally, she shook her head, and quickly turned back towards Yakko, whose face tried to tell her whatever happened was perfectly fine and normal. 

“What was THAT?” she yelled, staggering towards him and gripping his shoulders.

And he still had the audacity to have that 'why-are-you-freaking-out-so-much-we-do-this-every-Friday' smile. “Thank you for attending Warner’s Travel Tours! I would say my Agent Ralph’ll take your bags, but I left him alone with my sibs, so he’s probably in the middle of the Pacific Ocean by now.”

(Y/n) could only stare at him. Her mind was twisting and turning, trying so hard to make any sense of what happened but only making her headache grow larger and larger. And then, her thoughts just went blank.

She smirked. Then giggled. And a few seconds later, she had burst out laughing whilst holding her stomach. (Y/n) looked back up at Yakko, wiping a tear from her eye. “Th-Thank you…” she said, catching her breath. 

His smile had grown and she thought his white cheeks were red for a moment. Yakko had opened his mouth, but whatever he was about to say was cut off by a net suddenly covering his entire body. Ralph was behind him, his skin and clothes burnt and ears practically smoking. “You’re coming with me, Warner!” he said.

And yet, Yakko only grinned. Like physics was his enemy, he disappeared from inside the net and appeared sprouting from the security guard’s back, cheerfully waving at (Y/n). “I’ll see ya’ around, yeah?” he said, then ran around the corner with Ralph sprinting right after him.

(Y/n) giggled and reached for the straps around her back. But when she only felt the (f/c) fabric of her shirt, her smile dropped, and a deep sigh escaped her lips. “Great…” she whispered.

“(Y/N)!” 

She gasped as a pair of arms squeezed the life out of her. Her mother spun her around to face her gleaming smile, which was immediately replaced by an apologetic frown. “I’m so sorry I didn’t get your texts! That scene took forever, but I’m glad you found your way here! You’re so smart! Anyway, I know we don’t get as much time now, but there’s still so much we’ll be able to see!...”

She rambled on and on and on and on. Her daughter’s shoulders slumped and she followed her to where she wanted her to go, but the frown on her face didn’t last long when she remembered the fun she had just a few seconds ago. ‘Maybe this summer won’t be that bad.’

[nmoroder]

Crowns and Revelations

There's a small story I came up with in 2021 and was even planning on illustrating the whole thing, but it lacks details world-wise so I'm dumping it now as it is. It revolves around the AU where Klogg was sentenced to living on the Pin Island (check out my askblog posts that are based on the same idea!) and involves several of my OCs, one of them driving the whole plot. The whole idea was more of a character development process, not something lore-filled, so yeah that's what to expect here.

This post contains info about the story and the characters involved, as well as some illustrations - only 10 per post, sadly, because I have much more. Well. Let's dive in!

OCs

Keep in mind that this story only includes OCs created by me, so stuff like 'this detail is unique for him' takes place cuz it's unique among my characters, so on - the fandom is so vast and creative on OCs behalf, nothing is truly unique nowadays.

Maleeh and Shuffle (far left, left) were created next to each other and are almost complete opposites; while Maleeh is mostly a normal Neverhoodian (a cheerful easygoing pal just eager to have fun), Shuffle acts unnaturally serious all thanks to the shoulder patches he got upon creation. He considers them a sign from above that he needs to stay by Hoborg's side all the time and provide any support he requires - all because he's the only Hoodian with the patches detail. He's distant compared to other Neverhoodians but he's mostly neutral or positive towards them, although not really invested in the whole 'having fun' thing; the only Hoodian he really loathes is Klogg - cuz Hoborg hasn't given up on him but in Shuffle's opinion it's just a waste of time and mental stability. Sly (middle) is also supposed to be a part of this OC trio but he comes from Maleeh's side, and Maleeh does his best to ensure Sly doesn't hinder Shuffle's progress anyhow; Sly is the 'little seed' cuz he was the last one to be created and his seed had the least Klay left - so he's a bit smaller than other Hoodians.

Alto and Glenn (right and far right) played a lesser but also important role in the plot; Glenn is the local equivalent of Da Vinci with his insane inventions that are impossible to recreate in Neverhood but that doesn't stop him from trying. And Alto is the Hoodian that was created after him and is just happy to vibe along, though he doesn't really understand Glenn's complicated talk.

Plot summary

It's been four years since Neverhood was successfully populated and Klogg got sentenced to living on the Pin Island. Throughout all those years he'd been visited every other day by Hoodians, sometimes Willie Trombone and even Hoborg himself, bringing food, news and stuff to occupy himself with. Hoborg's tactics consisted of tryng to teach Klogg what he'd missed thus fixing his mistake of giving an uneducated child freedom of will; it sort of works because Klogg's attitude dies down a bit, changing towards a rather passively waiting one. He's still a power-seeking little misbehaving shit tbh but at least he had a lot of time to process his wishes and environment - now he's waiting for a second chance to gain what he deserves. Nevertheless Hoborg is happy with the progress they've made.

Slowly but steadily, they even come to an understanding with Hoborg to a point of the latter no longer leaving his crown to a trustee upon visiting the Island (or giving it to Shuffle who often accompanied him). It came so far that in a talk that once occured, Hoborg even admitted that if he ever had to leave his crown to someone permanently (in case he dies or suffers grave injuries anyhow, which is unlikely in the Neverhood but still possible, right?) - he'd choose Klogg as a successor. After both Shuffle and Klogg recovered from shock dealt by these words, he explained that he'd like the crown owner to be a creator and most Hoodians are not - except for maybe Glenn but they've discussed it and he refused.

The topic died quickly but, as you'd expect, Klogg wouldn't forget something as loud as this promise, and it resurfaced a while later when Hoborg decided to take another trip for the Klay mountain (yay Hall of Records lore). This time he decides to take a companion along and Shuffle eagerly agrees - there's nothing else for him to do, anyway. Klogg is rightfully unhappy about this idea cuz the crown he was promised is leaving somewhere for unknown period of time, but there's little he can do anyway. So the duo leaves, and the Neverhood is peaceful again for another four whole years... until Klogg wakes up one day in cold sweat, sensing clearly that someone else has put on the crown.

Here's also something worth mentioning - the crown headcanons:

all creatures who's ever worn the same crown can feel its presence subconsciously - like a beacon;

all creatures who's ever worn the same crown can feel it being put on by someone (but not being taken off its current owner) - it feels roughly like being thunderstruck, a sudden realization;

the creature who is the last to wear the crown can feel the intentions of someone who holds the crown at the moment; it's not really mind reading, more like a subconscious awareness, and if that other creature actually puts on the crown - it becomes closest to their mind and intentions so reading them becomes easier as well. The best example I can give from canon is Hoborg actually sensing Klogg's intention to put on the crown, not just take it away, when he stole it from the creator.

So where are we? Klogg's dead sure that the crown is no longer safe - that means something happened to Hoborg as well, and with that he tries to talk the Hoodians into letting him explore space and find their creator (and his idiot companion, too). They're not so eager to believe Klogg's words about sensing the crown's location, about him also feeling it being put on by someone else, etc etc, and the biggest red flag is him claiming that Hoborg promised him the crown himself (and there's no one to prove it cuz both witnesses are gone from the Neverhood). Some Hoodians suggest that Shuffle could be the one taking advantage of the crown, and Maleeh with Sly defend him fiercely, saying that Shuffle would rather die defending the crown and the creator rather than lay his hands on them.

Then Glenn steps in and announces he can help Klogg on this noble quest - he can assist in building a spaceship that'll bring him to final destination way faster, seeing as it's been four years since Hoborg left and he may be quite a distance away now. But Glenn puts forward a simple arrangement: he helps with the ship, and Klogg brings back their creator safe and well. That's a dangerous thing to bargain upon, but ultimately they make a deal. Despite Glenn's intentions to help build a ship, in fact he's almost finished building one - he's just letting Klogg use it once it's ready, and Klogg takes interest and actively helps finish buiding the structure; seeing how he's not weaseling out of anything and not even trying to kill anyone while being out of the Pin Island, Hoodians ultimately decide he's honest in his intentions. The only fly in the ointment is Klaymen announcing his wish to join Klogg on the ride, claiming that Hoborg wanted him to accompany Klogg if a situation like this ever happens. Sure thing, Klogg ain't happy about that, but Glenn advises him to take Klaymen along cuz they could take turns in piloting the ship and get there twice as fast, maintaining the course. For Klogg himself it's gonna feel like watching over a kid whose parents left for theatre or something because unlike Hoborg, Klaymen wasn't really trying to talk to his predecessor that much and they're still pretty much strangers to each other.

Here's where the Badly Written Lore Part kicks in! Yeah, I've only got basic thoughts about how the boys boldly went through space, the two major events occuring when they ran low on fuel and had to land on a planet. During their first landing, they saved the planet from a local hostile creature and when local people asked them to literally sign their sanctuary as a thanks, Klaymen agrees and Klogg later reprimands him saying 'you just gonna follow everyone's order of good will? ah yes, you did so with Hoborg and look where you are now'. Nevertheless, it gives Klay a treat in form of a ray shooting weapon which he stores in his chest for later use. And during their second landing they landed right in the middle of a military conflict; their arrival was viewed as a sign and the generals asked the aliens what should they do. Klogg sure as hell advised them to attack and they did so - and they won, making him another high general among their own, and while it was honoring and scratched the itch, Klogg wasn't planning on staying on some weird planet when there's a crown waiting for him, so one night he talked Klaymen into deserting and stealing back their ship along with some more fuel. He miscalculated the amount though and they had to throw out some fuel in order to ever take off, almost losing Klogg as well - they barely took off with him hanging off the entry hatch.

Overall the boys spend six months in travels and it helped them learn more about each other than those four years of calm and leisure. Klaymen was still a weird silent straightforward guy, not really talking much, but it was still better somehow; the most impactful conversation they've had was about Klay's intentions while holding the crown at the end of canon game (with Klogg offering him a choice). Klogg would've mentioned that, when it happened, he felt that Klaymen hesitated and didn't choose Hoborg's side at first (the third crown headcanon comes in play here). Klay answered simply that he was really heartbroken over his friend's death and wanted to put on the crown to fix it and revive him, but then he remembered that Hoborg's experience must be fuller and that he's the rightful owner of the crown after all. The very fact of Klaymen wanting to own the crown not for power, but for saving someone surprised Klogg to a certain degree.

All in all, the beacon in Klogg's head finally starts feeling heavier and clearer, and they land on a planet that is supposedly the source of crown calling. The planet looks quite similar to Neverhood but also retains some parts of the planets they've passed by and even stopped at during their journey; even local creatures look similar to Hoodians, although smaller in size and different in color. It's also that Bad At Lore Building part here, but overall the locals believe there's some creating force behind their world, although no one has ever seen it or them and some don't even believe in its/their existence. The beacon leads Klogg underground into some sort of facility, and right on the first floor an audio message greets them in a familiar voice - it's Shuffle, sounding a little battered but alive and asking to let him out of some trap he's led himself into. He explains that he doesn't remember what happened but he appears to have locked himself in for some reason, and the only way through is to solve some puzzles. Klaymen is content with that but Klogg enters his usual bickering with Shuffle, changing the overall mood very quickly.

The further they go, the worse Klogg's behavior becomes - not just because of Shuffle leading the way and helping with puzzles, it's mostly for the beacon signal getting stronger with every step. Before on the ship, he told Klaymen that wearing the crown filled some cavity inside of him, and while off the head of its current owner (if it's not Klogg himself), it itches his mind and urges him to come find it and put back on, to take it back and own it again. The closer to the crown, the more unbearable he gets; and sadly Shuffle isn't giving off good vibes as well, not answering questions and mostly telling it off as 'you'll find out soon'. So they reach the last room where Shuffle is supposed to be locked and Klogg notices how the beacon calls him downstairs, not behind the doors; they enter the room anyway and see Shuffle face away, staring into a window. Klogg calls him out on being a coward and prompts him to turn around.

Klogg is immediately enraged, realizing that those Hoodians who suggested Shuffle to be the cause of trouble were actually right; their relationship wasn't very nice to begin with and now all formalities and pretty faces are gone - Klogg engages him into a fight. To his surprise Shuffle overpowers him very quickly and drags him to the window he just stood at, holding him high above ground. Klaymen has a chance to use his hidden gun and he takes it; his choice is to either wait until Shuffle chokes Klogg to death or to shoot and give Klogg at least some chance of surviving if there's some ground under him - so he shoots. Shuffle obviously lets go of Klogg but manages to pull out a couple of small cardlike objects and hand them over to Klaymen before dying.

Soon enough, Klogg comes to his senses and climbs back up to the same room, and together with Klaymen they listen to a recording left by Shuffle - judging by his voice, he was already corrupted by that time. He's telling the whole story that happened to him and Hoborg in their travels: they've been attacked by wild beasts on this very planet and he managed to carry Hoborg away and to conceal their place deep within underground caves. Shuffle's wounds were bearable but Hoborg was very close to death and he kept trying to find any possible way to heal his creator, all to no avail - on the fifth day he returned from his searches and found Hoborg unconscious and fully unresponsive. Shuffle remembered that putting on the creator's crown on someone else was supposed to freeze him, to put him into a deep comatose-like sleep and probably stop his ongoing decay as well; he knew full well it's going to change him forever, but for Hoborg he was willing to do anything - and he did.

He was correct about 'freezing' part - it did stop Hoborg from dying, but it was also the only positive thing about putting on the crown for Shuffle. Right after it settled in, he immediately lost all other thoughts he had and seemingly 'entered a creator mode' - he transformed the whole land around them into a new world, and even created a race similar to his own. The crown made him create against his will, and it took him almost a month to come to his senses and remember why he put on the crown in the first place. So he retreated underground, sealed himself and Hoborg off and waited desperately for someone to come down and help him out of this situation. His best shot would be Klaymen because, well, that's Klaymen, he's a cool guy and strangely effective at solving problems; at the end of his speech, Shuffle apologizes again for having to live through this but also thanks the listener for putting him out of misery. Klogg listens through all this with a lot of scepticism but Klaymen seems to believe Shuffle and lets the record finish - it tells them the code to one final room downstairs, under the platform Klogg fell onto a while earlier. They enter the room together, too, and see what they've been chasing for so long already.

This crown is real, Klogg confirms, having the beacon reasonating at its fullest. They realize Shuffle was indeed not lying, that Hoborg was injured and that Shuffle never needed the crown at all - he locked it away with the creator in hopes for someone to find them; untouched by all that, Klogg simply takes the crown he 'deserved' but doesn't put it on right away - he mutters something about Shuffle's talks on how the crown made him create things against his will and that he wants to leave this planet first, maybe it's just anomalous. But before they leave the room, Klogg takes out Klaymen's blaster that he picked up earlier and shoots comatosed Hoborg without any resistance - Klay doesn't even have time to react. Klogg explains that it's the least they can do for him now; there's no way they could help their creator in this condition, and the journey for the crown is over - so be it. The last thing Klay does before leaving is to drag Shuffle's body downstairs, put it near Hoborg and to destroy the code panel for the room doors, effectively locking their bodies out forever. They don't say anything suspicious to the natives and just set the course back home, not really caring what's going to happen to this planet now.

They don't talk a lot on the way back. Both also kinda dread the moment of coming back to Neverhood because Hoodians are waiting for Hoborg to come back and certainly not for Klogg with his crown. As they see, though, him putting it on, they start resenting about how he's trampling on the bones of their creator, but what they don't expect is that the first ever thing he does as the crown owner is... to revive Shuffle of all people. Corrupted, yeah, from his latest state, but it's still him occupying the body. The second thing Klogg does is... yeah, take a wild guess - he revives Hoborg too. And this is when Klaymen realizes why exactly Klogg had to shoot their creator back there - to give him another chance at home, but still... why?

When I wrote a document about this whole thing back in April'21, I left myself a trailing off note saying 'I'll probably figure it out' and guess what, I haven't. I guess my thoughts originally were going around 'Klogg went through MORE character development and is now even less of an asshole, who could've thought'; I just like thinking that experience really gave him more to think about and to develop himself past the 'I just seek power cuz I like power' model.

There was also something headcanonish Sly's author came up with (Sly isn't my OC, he was created by @victavare, give her art some love btw) - and it's about using additional clay to change one's appearance if you're a creator (handling a crown, in this case), and Hoborg would've talked Klogg into giving Shuffle his old appearance by shaping him back to a pre-corrupted form. But yeah, that's like... post-canon or something, though still neat-o!

If you've reached this point... wow, you're truly a hero! Or truly interested, in both cases - thanks for reading! It's a silly story but still a heartwarming one, so putting it to words for you feels a little better now.

[angelsswirl]

Petrichor

Six

"Thought I saw your shadow under the door. Just a trick of the light I've seen before. I can never tell what's real anymore. Anymore. Anymore."

Irene broke into the apartment with a huff. She scowled at her drenched umbrella. She placed the offending accessory into Jisoo's shoe. That's what she gets for not opening the door.

She intended on telling her just that, as she trudged further into the living room.

"Do you know what the word 'petrichor' means?"

Irene yelped.

She turned to Jisoo. The alpha was dramatically staring out the window. Watching New Yorkers scramble to get away from the torrential downpour.

"...What in the late 90s, early 2000s music video is going on here?"

"It's the smell that comes after it rains." Jisoo is still staring out the window.

Irene has never tried harder not to laugh at something in her entire life.

"What's wrong, Jisoo? How long have you been standing there?" Irene looked around the room for a camera. She was surely being punk'd right now.

"I feel like petrichor." Jisoo said as she continued to stare out the window.

"What does that even mean!?"

"She called me. I tripped over myself trying to get to my phone. She asked if I wanted to have sex with her like she didn't know that I have never wanted to do anything more in my entire life. And then she hung up."

Irene sighed as she took a seat on the couch. She crossed her arms, mentally preparing herself for Jisoo's definitely impending meltdown.

"A little odd, but not seeing a problem yet."

"She asked if I wanted to have sex, and then we didn't."

"That was the most assholish thing you have ever said to me. And that's saying something because you talk a lot. So, I'm going to let you rephrase that before I punch you in the face."

"No. You don't get it. She didn't have sex with me because she was doing it with someone else. And then she came over here like she didn't." Jisoo finally turned to look at Irene. Irene is sure Jisoo would have a 5 o'clock shadow if she possessed the ability to grow one.

"Well, did she come over to rub it in your face?"

Jisoo's eyebrows furrowed, "...No, she came because I asked her to, Lia wasn't feeling well and I needed her help...but it felt like she was rubbing it in." Jisoo pouted.

Irene chuckled softly, "You're so oblivious. Anyhow, I'm sure I don't have to tell you, she can fuck who ever she wants."

Jisoo stomped her foot petulantly, "But why couldn't she want to fuck me?! Why am I always second place?"

Irene sighed, her lips forming a deep, concerned frown, "Where is this coming from, Chu?"

"Jihyo's getting married."

"Oh."

"Yeah. And it shouldn't be that big of a deal, but she's the mother of my child, we coul-could've worked it out. Been a family, but no. I'm never anyone's first choice." Jisoo sat down on the couch next to Irene, her face cradled in her hands.

"Are you sure you would've wanted that. To be mated and married to Jihyo? You said the next morning you barely remembered her name, and she had told you it twice like a minute before."

Jisoo uncovered her face and thought about it for a few moments, "No. We'd probably kill each."

"Exactly, so how could you be first place if you never even put yourself into the race?"

"I think I liked you better when you were mean to me."

"You like me anyway you can get me."

They both laughed softly.

"I'm still mad. She could have told me she couldn't come over."

"She's an omega and you told her a child was sick. What was she supposed to do? Five bucks says she completely forgot where she had been ten minutes earlier as soon as she got here."

"Could you just let me hold my grudge that is heavily justified in my head?"

"If you want to be single for the rest of your life, by all means, hold that dumbass grudge, but don't come crying to me when she kicks you in the crotch."

"Why are you here anyway?"

"Oh yeah! I wanted to kick your ass in PUBG. Seulgi's pregnant and she's mad at me, so I ran away. " Irene jumped up to find Jisoo's laptop casually.

"Seulgi's pregnant!?"

"Yeah. Must be in the air or something." Irene shrugged nonchalantly.

"...Something's wrong with you."

"Pot. Kettle. Black."

~•~

"How do you keep getting in here? Don't I have security?" Rosé made a mental note to fire someone later.

"Have you made up your mind?" Joy asked, completely ignoring the previous questions hurtled her way.

"Hello to you, too." Rosé rolled her eyes. She came around her desk to sit on top of it, her arms crossed at her chest.

"Answer the question, Chae."

"You walked into my job and demanded that I mate you. And then when I said 'Hell no' you told me to think about it. Now you're back, asking if I made up my mind. Did you think you were going to get a different answer?" Rosé had to hold back a laugh at that. Surely, Joy didn't think she could be manhandled into mating her.

They had broken up months ago. It was mutual, or so Rosé had thought. They were headed in two different directions in life and would probably never end back up on the same path. But all of a sudden, Joy was pushing it.

"So, what are you trying to say?" Joy huffed. Her giant loop earrings swinging as she did so.

"I don't want to mate you. I don't want to court you. I want you-"

Joybgasped, "I want you too, Rosé!"

"-OUT OF MY GODDAMN OFFICE!" Rosé seldom raised her voice, it mainly happened during a meeting with the CEO of Spectrum. He was an asshole, and very talkative.

Outside of that, Rosé could count on one hand how many times she had yelled at someone, including this one.

Normally, she felt bad afterwards. She was an alpha and most of the time when she yelled, people noticed, people felt it, especially omegas. But even as Joy whimpered and crocodile tears formed in the corner of her eyes, Rosé couldn't bring herself to care.

"But why not?!" Her bottom lip jutted out and her arms crossed over herself.

"Because I love someone else!" Rosé actually surprised herself there a bit. She didn't mean for that to explode from her mouth and into the expanse of her office. But that didn't take away from the fact that it was true. She just hadn't planned on admitting that yet.

"You do?" Joy asked with a slump of her shoulders.

"You do?"

Both Rosé and Joy startled. Rosé glanced at the space that was between her and Joy before pulling away.

"Y/N? What are you doing here?"

"Yeri...she let me up. I came-I came to bring you lun-you love me?" Your thoughts are running a mile a minute. You can't keep your sentences in order. And your hands are sweaty. It's taking every ounce of dexterity you have not to drop Rosé's lunch on the ground.

Rosé glanced at Joy before walking around her and towards you slowly, "I-you don't have to say it back, but yeah. I love you. And you probably think it's too soon, but I do. A lot."

There were about ten different emotions playing across your face. The most prominent being surprise, maybe? You're a bit difficult for Rosé to read.

"I-I-you love me?" It's just a whisper this time. The suprise morphing into disbelief and confusion more than anything else.

Rosé nodded and Joy huffed.

"Oh." You mumbled softly. Rosé pressed a gentle hand to your cheek, and you let her, "Oh." You mumbled again, this time with a slightly different inflection in your voice.

~•~

You didn't know what you were feeling. You were happy and sad and excited and mad and confused and terrified and glad and guilt-ridden all at the same time.

It made you sick to your stomach.

You're sitting alone in your apartment. It's been three days since Rosé. Your phone sat idly in your hand. Waiting patiently to be used.

You needed to call someone. To talk to someone. But you're not sure who would understand any of this.

You eventually decided on Jisoo. Because why not make this even more hard on yourself?

After several rings it went to voicemail. Which, hurts to say the least. You can't help but think Jisoo is screening your calls.

But, you're nothing if not a masochist.

You called again. It goes to voicemail again.

After the first call, it hurt. After the second call, it hurt even more. After the third call, it pissed you off.

You're mad now.

You: At least let me know you're alive, you giant gaping asshole.

Jisoo turned her read receipts off to spite Irene, so unfortunately, you will never know if she sees it or not that way.

About three minutes later your phone lit up with a notification.

It's an Instagram notification. It's Jisoo's Instagram notification.

You rolled your eyes, but opened it anyway.

It's a picture of Lia with Jisoo's friend, Kai. Lia does not seem to be enjoying herself.

The caption is only one singular emoji:👶🏻

You blew out a puff of air, at least you knew they were alive.

You scrolled a bit into the comment section. It's mainly just viewers saying how cute Lia is. But there's a couple that caught your eye.

You should do another video with Y/N!

Yeah, but where's Y/N?

You might accidentally on purpose like that second one. It's a question you needed the answer to too. And maybe once they found out, they could tell you.

[acepanromcloudstrife]

I'm thinking that Cloud, however much he denies it, has a fear of Hojo.

[he absolutely, 100% does. and since @pickpocketarc has already confessed to being this anon, all of y’all can blame her for what your about to read. It’s about Hojo, so general creepiness and vague but bad medical stuff abound, so if that bothers anyone, i’d suggest they stay away.]

He was 14 years old the first time he met Professor Hojo, completely accidentally, in the research laboratory's medical wing.  He was in the Shinra building to apply for SOLDIER, and part of the process involved a physical exam.  It made sense--the military would want all their potential new recruits to attain a certain standard of health and well-being, especially so with the elite SOLDIER program.

But no one had informed him that he would be there for hours on end, or that there would be quite so many exams.  He was poked and prodded in nearly every area of his body, had blood drawn twice, had been hooked up to wires that monitored his heart, and had filled out so many questionnaires, he'd literally lost count of them all.

Right at the end, as he was nearing the end of his final set of papers to sign, the door to the exam room he was in opened.  A middle aged man with long black hair pulled back in a ponytail entered the room, too busy looking at the file in his hand to notice that the room wasn't unoccupied.

"Beckett, call back that last candidate--Wilson, I think it was?  There are some sight abnormalities on his blood panel that could exclude him, but--"

"Excuse me, Professor," interrupted Beckett, "I'm with someone right now.  You'll have to ask Martin."

The older man looked up from his papers and noticed Cloud for the first time.  He studied him for a long minute.  Cloud felt scrutinized in a way that hours and hours of testing couldn't even begin to compare to.

"You're joking, surely," was all the man said.

"No," Beckett confirmed.  "I'm not joking, sir."

The Professor (who looked vaguely familiar to Cloud, but where could he have known him from?) scoffed and picked up the packet of papers that had taken all afternoon to compile.  He flipped through them quickly.  "Family history?"

"Relatively good, sir.  Grandfather died young of heart failure."

"And his heart?"

"Chest x-ray and EKG were clean.  Still waiting on lab results."

"Mako-erythrocyte reactivity?"

"Fingerstick test seemed okay, but like I said, the labs are still running, sir."

The man let out a short, disgruntled sigh and rolled his eyes.  "Send the file to Heidegger.  Public Security at best."

He turned on his heel and left the room.  It wasn't until Beckett shook his head and muttered, "Fucking Hojo," that Cloud put two and two together.

***

He was 16 the next time he met Hojo, broken and bleeding and barely alive.  He'd been nervous and excited in turn for this mission.  Nervous, because he was going home to Nibelheim, but excited because he was going to be working with Zack.  And Sephiroth.  He'd finally gotten the chance to prove himself to his idol, and--

And it had all gone to shit in the absolute worst way.

He was drifting in and out of consciousness.  He remembered being lifted onto a stretcher and escorted out of the reactor, and then the next thing he knew, he was face down on a cold, metal table, being held down by far too many sets of hands, and there was a sharp, stabbing pain deep in his pelvis.  He tried to scream, but the sound refused to leave his throat.

"Anaesthesia and paralytic's wearing off," someone said.

"Vecuronium," replied a disinterested, somewhat familiar voice.  "If he keeps moving, the samples will be contaminated."

A moment later, Cloud felt his muscles relax and, to his horror, stop responding altogether.  He couldn't move at all, no matter how hard he tried, but he still felt everything that was being done to him.  He couldn't speak or scream or even whimper.  All he could do was cry.

"Subject is still exhibiting reactions to pain stimuli," another voice said.  "Blood pressure is skyrocketing.  Heart rate--"

"We're almost done."

"But sir--"

"We can't give him anything else for this procedure.  He's scheduled for anaesthesia and narcotics when he returns to the submersion tank."

And that was, apparently, the final word on the subject.  He couldn't say how long he laid there.  It seemed to go on forever, the pain making every passing second excruciatingly long.

When the procedure was over, they took him back to his tank, and he was suspended once again in mako, still conscious, still in pain, still unable to move.

***

The final time he ever saw Hojo, he was 21 years old, full of rage and ready to kill.  Three of them stood against him, Cloud and Vincent and Tifa, and as the vengeful old man's body once again melted and reassembled thanks to the Jenova cells he'd spliced into himself, Cloud thought about how this form finally matched what a monstrous individual he'd been all along.

When they eventually wore him down, Cloud pinned him to the ground with his sword and yelled at Vincent to take his shot.  He aimed his weapon with the speed and precision one expected of a Turk and pulled the trigger twice in succession.  Two bullets landed home in what was left of Hojo's chest, directly to his partially exposed heart as it pounded wildly.  Whether it was from the exertion of battle or if he was simply frightened at the prospect of his imminent death, Cloud didn't know.  

And frankly, he didn't fucking care either.  Hojo was a madman and a menace, an ugly, egomaniacal bastard, and the world was immediately a better place now that he was no longer a part of it.

The three of them stood there for a few minutes, just watching the corpse, ready to jump back into the thick of it if needed.  It didn't move, but with Jenova cells, there was always a lingering uncertainty.  

Finally, Tifa broke the silence.  "I think...he's really dead."

Cloud felt himself relax slightly.  He noticed Tifa cradling her left arm gingerly against her chest and dug a potion of his pockets for her.  He figured Vincent needed a moment by himself anyhow.

As they readied themselves to move on, however, Cloud felt an overwhelming desire to have the last word, as it were.  He walked over to the mass of disjointed and disfigured flesh that had formerly been Hojo, but he couldn't decide what he wanted his last words to this despicable man to be.

In the end, unable to think of anything more articulate to say, he just spat on the man's corpse and growled a spiteful, "Fuck you."

***

He was 24 years old the final time Hojo directly interfered in his life, and even though Vincent had been the heavy-lifter this time, Cloud and the rest of AVALANCHE had done everything in their power to help him.  When it was over, Vincent told them everything, the whole sordid tale, start to finish.

No one had known what to say.  There really wasn't anything that seemed right.  The room was quiet and awkward for several minutes as they all digested the story of how Hojo had copied his consciousness into a computer system, cheating death for 3 years until DeepGround was ready to put their plans into action, how he took over the body of Weiss in order to try and bring destruction to the Planet once again.

The solution to their silence, someone decided, was alcohol.  They all drank more than was good for them that night, happy to be alive at the end of so much violence and anxiety.  He stumbled upstairs into his bed, and for the first time in over a year, he had a nightmare about Hojo. He was 16 again, floating in a mako tube, paralyzed, unable to scream, and in so much pain his body felt like it was on fire.  He was alone this time, the tank besides his empty and broken.  Zack had escaped and left him there alone to be the sole target of Hojo's sick, twisted science.

He must have been talking in his sleep, because when Tifa shook him awake, she asked him if he was okay.  He felt wetness on his cheeks almost immediately, but the first sob didn't escape him until Tifa had already wrapped her arms around him.  She was warm and soft and comforting, radiating a calming energy he'd come to associate with home and with safety.  Her fingers combed through his hair gently as she cooed soothing nonsense into his ear.  He was relatively calm within a few minutes.  

"Better?" she asked.

"Yeah," was all he managed.

"You wanna talk about it?"

"No."

"Okay."  She kissed his temple and gave him a squeeze.  She didn't need to say anything else.  He knew that she was there for him, and if he wanted to tell her what his nightmare was about, she would listen.

After a moment, he said only, "Hojo."

Tifa kissed him again and hummed against his skin.  "I'm sorry."

He eventually fell asleep again like that, curled against Tifa, tucked securely into her arms, his undisturbed tears dry on his cheeks.  The next morning, he would have one hell of a hangover, and it was just as well that he had another excuse to stay in bed for the rest of the day and feel bad.  

For now, though, he could only pray that Hojo didn't enter his dreams again.  Cloud didn't need reminding twice in one night that, no matter how long the man himself might be dead and gone, Hojo would never, ever leave him be.  He had scars from his time with Hojo that would never heal.  He'd always be right there under Cloud's skin, taunting him, tainting him, slowly but surely.  

Fucking bastard.

[har-rison-s]

absolutely smitten

Request: Hey, I was wondering if you could do a teen!tony x reader were the reader is the new to his high school and he somehow is the person to show her around. But it’s like a love at first sight thing. Kinda based off of Absolutely Smitten by Dodie. If you don’t mind. Thank you!!💖💖 can’t wait to read it

A/N: Oh my GOOOD the song is so cute, I can totally imagine young tony with it. sfsdjfhbsfhdsbdhs i'm having very warm feelings. Robert, you make my heart do flips. I love this. And I love Tony. Currently watching “Restoration” which is in my rdj's film list in caps because he's got long hair in this movie (sfjsbh). Happy reading! (this gif screams “i'm going to allow that”)

main masterlist

mcu masterlist

Warnings: extreme cuteness and sickening love-at-first-sight stuff. Read at your own risk!!

Am I really lost on my first day?

The question slips through her mind several times as her desperate eyes search for something to point her in the right direction. There's no sign, no nothing. And no people around, as well. How is she ever going to find the counselor's office if she doesn't know where it is?!

Y/N begins to walk towards the end of the hall she has not yet discovered. Couldn't go wrong walking here, she thinks to herself. But suddenly, out of the silence and loneliness, she hears footsteps. Lousy, loud as well, probably belonging to a guy. She stops, hoping he's one of the students and can tell her where to go.

It is a guy, indeed, and he wants to tap her shoulder with his pointer finger to alert her with his presence, but she's already turning around. He's a bit late to withdraw his hand and it hangs in the air as he stares at the completely breathtaking stranger.

“Wow.” He says and raises his eyebrows. Y/N eyes his hand warily and furrows her eyebrows. The guy immediately retracts his hand and lets it fall by his side. 

“Wow what?” She asks, straightening her posture and taking a small step back from him. She does this every time she meets someone new because she is a bit afraid of every stranger. But this stranger... well, his good looks certainly earn him first-impression trust.

“Wow you.” He says. “You, I found you, I was looking for you. And now I found you, and I said... wow.” He speaks in a fast manner and Y/N has to take a short while to figure out what she heard. 

“Okay, um,” she starts to say, “wh-why were you looking for me?”

“I am to,” he starts now, and bends a little, extracting his arm to her, in an old-fashioned polite manner, “show you around your—obviously—new school.” 

She laughs and he lingers on how it looks. A spectacular apparition, her laugh and smile. And that he's caused it—miraculous. He stands back up and straightens his jacket, smiling sheepishly at the girl. She's the most charming girl he's ever seen, he's sure of it. Her charms seem to be quite unplanned and natural. And her smile. Oh, her smile. 

“Thank God.” Y/N says. “I thought I was lost on my first day already.” She offers him a nervous smile and he gives her a wider in response. Though when she sees it, he narrows it down to a polite smile. He's shy. He's shy? Tony Stark's shy? Of a stranger? A damn beautiful one at that. “Hello? I don't know your name, but you seem to have drifted, so—”

“Yes, we're going.” He says and starts walking in the direction Y/N was already headed to. “I should probably tell you who I am.” He says it in a way that makes her think she should know his name, know who he is. As if it's a fact. “I'm Tony. Tony Stark.” He extends his hand towards her again and this time, she shakes it. Even if she is unsure of the horrid formality of his gestures. 

“I'm Y/N.” She says in response and realises she doesn't know his name, even if she's supposed to. It's not that obvious to her. “I would say my last name, but since yours is much more brighter and cooler, I won't.” She admits.

“Ridiculous!” Tony says. “Although, thank you, I know it's cool. Or whatever.” He takes it as a compliment, due to his arrogant ways. Back to my own self, at least, he thinks. Y/N feels a bit awkward from his comment, so she says nothing. 

“Where are we going?” Y/N asks quietly, filling the silence of footsteps and their echoes in the hallway. 

“To the office, sweetheart.” Tony replies. “You'll get your schedule and since you're with me, and since I'm—well—me, I'll show you around the school and no teachers will complain that you're absent!” He says, a bit too excitedly maybe, and Y/N has to look at him to be sure that he's really that giddy. Because of her?

Surely a guy like him wouldn't be affected in any way by her. She's just not that... what he would want. Anyhow. Would she miss the first lessons? But would it be so bad? Passing one day to spend with him? This incredibly handsome stranger Tony. 

How could she actually say no to him? Well, she couldn't, that's the thing. She couldn't deny him, and that's her weakness. Pretty strangers make her succumb, and it's not always a good thing. But, alas, this is not a bar, and he's no creepy guy, so there should be no problem. 

“Okay, but if I fail this semester because I've missed a lesson today, I'm blaming you.” She points a mean finger at Tony, which he moves away and leaves them both standing closer than just-met strangers would. Y/N blinks a couple of times, lost in his eyes.

They're a beautiful shade of brown. A raging, anxious, active, but comforting, deep brown. Beautiful. And he got lost in her eyes, as well, what a coincidence. They're anxious, like his, he sees, and finds comfort in that. But they're calming, too. The orbs are understanding and look like the deepest ocean.

“I'm sure I can take the blame.” He says, talking quieter than before, the foolish smile gone from his features. A blush invades her cheeks and she looks down, looks away from Tony. He closes his eyes for a second, but then turns and starts walking again down the hallway, Y/N following him soon after. She's shy now, they've both gotten shy. Tony doesn't speak a thing. How strange for his usual behavior that Y/N knows nothing of. “So, uh, any plans for the summer?” He asks.

“Tony, it has just ended.” Y/N says to him and Tony almost faints. The way she says his name. So innocently, so purely and shyly. He's ready to give her his heart. “Summer's next year.”

“Still, have any plans already?” He repeats his question. Tony's realised his clumsiness but tries to make it better, still tries to keep up a conversation with the beautiful creature. 

“No, I don't think so.” She responds. “Probably sleeping. I get very tired during the school year.” 

“From all the studying and working hard in the late hours of the day?” Tony asks, a knowing grin on his lips. 

“Quite so.” Y/N confirms. “What about you?” She looks at him, wicked and interested eyes looking into Tony's. 

“A year's the same all around for me, hon.” He admits sorely. “But I would like to join you in sleeping some day.”

Y/N can't stop the playful scoff, although full of shock, that leaves her mouth. She feels it's impolite to Tony - if he was either way horribly joking or trying to flirt. But he enjoys it, hearing and seeing her laugh. But he was serious. 

“Show me around first, then we'll talk of possible, uh, sleeping.” Y/N says to him, patting Tony's shoulder. That's strange, he's never had someone playing with him like that. Everyone is always serious and modest towards him. 

“I'll strongly take that as permission.” Tony tells her. She only laughs quietly, more to herself than Tony. And she shakes her head. He's unbelievably sure of himself. 

Even though they are faintly flirting and catching glimpses at one another, as well as knowing there's some kind of attraction to each other, they don't otherwise speak of it out loud. That would be a crime! They've only known each other for two or three minutes, not known, but met. 

But they know, they knew from that moment, that they were undeniably and absolutely smitten by each other. 

Permanent taglist: @v0idbella @inlovewithmiddleagedcelebs @works-of-fanfiction @destiel-stucky4ever-loki-queen @stfxlou @ur-gunna-h8-ths @one-taylor-one-vision @empressdreams @betweenloveandfire @but-legendsneverdie @deardeacy @mavieesttriste16 @fvckyeahbenhardy @thewinchesterchronicles

A/N: Forgive the ending, it sounds like a corny teen movie's beginning narration. Also, I finished watching Restoration and I have exploded because o h my god. my kink is actually men with long hair. i mean, i've already fallen in love with downey, but this look,,,, W O W. Have a good night!

[pretty-boys-book-club]

Quick update

As I’m sure you can tell from the lack of updates to my fics, I’ve been experiencing a severe writer's block for the past few two or three months.

I don't mean the type of writer's block where I can’t think of nothing original, but the type of writer's block where my mind flat out refuses to form a cohesive sentence any time I sit down to try and write.

And I’m sure it’s something that has happened for many of you. You hit a wall. You’re have no idea what to write about. You try to look at the same topic from another angle, but there’s something wrong that you can’t quite figure out and you don’t have the inspiration you had before to do so. So you stop writing for a day, two days, then a week, then a fortnight and suddenly there’s been months where you didn’t post anything new. So questions start to pop up, the most dreadful of all: is anyone reading what I’m writing anyhow?

I haven't experienced something like this before and it's honestly just really messing with my self esteem and my anxiety. And to be quite honest, it’s not just my fanfics. Lately I feel like it’s my entire life, as if I'm under-performing everywhere. To be completely honest with you, I’m struggling even to write this post, too. (You’ll probably find some typos. But writing this serves as an exercise for me right now in terms of just letting words flow). Overall, an activity I used to love and would come very easily to me feels extraneous and stressful at the moment, and I’m taking that as a sign that I just need to give myself some more time.

I struggled with burnout in the past, so I’ve pushed myself past my limit plenty of times and it’s left me mentally exhausted before and I don’t want a replay of that. I’m currently up for a promotion at work and trying to save as much money as I can for an upcoming trip with a couple of friends on November, so real life has been pretty demanding and stressful. I’m also currently facing a couple of health related issues (thankfully, none of them are quite serious) so I’ve been spending time going to my doctors office, seeing a nutritionist and working on my physical well being. I’ve been also working hard with my therapist on allowing myself to truly rest during my free time (I haven’t taken a vacation from work since the pandemic began) and being more present, so being alone in my room writing is not that beneficial to my healing at the moment. I get how writing can be therapeutic for many (and it has helped me tremendously over the years, don’t get me wrong) but currently I don’t feel like it’s beneficial for my mental health to spend long periods of time by myself or inside my own room. I hope you understand that.

So I’ve made the decision to extend my break from trying to write for an additional few weeks or even for a couple of months. I’m not exactly sure how long this will last, but I think it’s what’s best for me. I might publish something during this time but don’t expect any sort of consistency in terms of schedule or frequency. I’m hoping taking the pressure off my mind will help get the creative juices flowing and just be more mindful of my current limitations. I’ll be spending this time reblogging content that makes me happy, likely brainstorming what I want to do with this space, seeing my friends and family, trying to get back at reading books (a habit also lost due to mental exhaustion), prioritising my mental and physical health and, of course, rewatching Criminal Minds (which I still adore).

I’m sorry for being so absent lately and I hope you’re doing well. I feel grateful for all the loving interactions I’ve had on the Criminal Minds fandom and plan on continuing to interact with all the amazing people I’ve met.

Much love,

Cat

Hi everyone!

Inspired by @safespacespence, I'm going to do a little announcement of a project I have coming up!

My next work "Let your heart be light" will be posted tomorrow (Thursday, February 03rd).

I'm VERY excited to be sharing it with all of you as this particular fic has been in the works for about two months and I think a lot of you will enjoy it. It's going to be a two part, and it's heavily inspired by the movie Holidate - I think it makes a lot of sense to publish it so close to Valentine's Day.

I also have a few personal messages that I want to get out, but I don't want to spam anyone's dashboard with them, so please, find them below the cut.

Thank you so much, sorry for the long post ahead and I hope all of you are feeling well!

So, hi.

If you've read this far, it means you care. I appreciate you for taking the time to read about how I've been.

(tw: mental health talk, covid mentions)

I believe in being honest so I think that honesty should start with me.

First of all, I must warn you: this is going to be a bit long, but just writing it down is being cathartic to me, so bear with me for a moment. I promise I will do my best not to bore you.

I’m doing okay. Not great, certainly not bad, but just… okay. I feel like things might look brighter in the future, but for now? I just have an overwhelming sense of stagnation and emptiness. As if I’m on Groundhog Day, every work call and video chat blurring into one big pit of blah.

I'm a young professional, one of those "lucky ones" who managed to graduate from college in December 2019, months before the pandemic hit. I actually had my graduation ceremony on March 2, 2020. Looking back, I was so anxious about finding a job straight out of college.

Hours before my graduation ceremony, I had a job interview at the office of one of the largest banks in my country and I was super nervous about landing the job. I would learn a few days later that I got it, and my first day at the office was set to be March 17, 2020.

I had experienced corporate life before, as an intern, but I was so excited about finally diving into the routine of being a young person navigating their career and love life in a major city. I wanted to be like one of the girls from The Bold Type or maybe even Jess from New Girl.

That was not the case. It felt different after I became a full-time worker. The training wheels were off.

On the day I started to work there, I went to the office, had a nice lunch to get to know my boss, collected my work laptop and got my employee badge. I got home, took a shower and, as I used to do frequently, went to the living room, to talk about my day and watch some news with my mother. As we saw the first few cases in my country being confirmed, I knew I would not return to the office anytime soon. Ever since, I’ve moved jobs twice and I still haven’t set foot in an office.

Either way, that meant that I didn’t have much time to adjust to my first job, as I wasn’t really familiar with the idea of working a 40-hour week, nor had I any experience working from home. By December 2020, I got a very attractive job offer from one of the major PR agencies in the country and I changed jobs.

I’m really glad for what those experiences taught me, but the fact of the matter is, working from home, while a delight to some, has been very tough for me.

Having been thrown into a remote working schedule from the start, it was very hard trying to find my footing without physically being close to my coworkers. It was also hard to understand exactly what was expected of me, and I fell too many times into the trap of losing time with assignments because I misread some social cues or didn’t have the courage to ask multiple questions to my boss or clients. Still, as the little overachiever inside of me pushed me to do, I gave it my best shot. I pushed through harsh feedback and constant calls from clients, and found myself, by the end of 2020, exhausted.

I think it was part of the reasons for me to start this blog, in fact, wanting a little escapism from the daily grind and just wishing to go back to simpler times, when face-to-face interaction was the norm.

And even though I don't want to get into all the details, that meant that something very significant happened to me: I started to spend all of my working hours and my free time online. But sitting alone in front of a screen for the past two years has really done a number on my mental health. I can’t deny it, nor do I feel ashamed of admitting it. For months on end, I stopped seeing my families and relatives, while accepting without question the idea that I should not stop working or being productive. I stopped going to movie theaters and restaurants, but not once did I log off.

By July 2021, I discovered I was severely Vitamin-D deficient, I had insulin resistance (due to having PCOS), low iron levels and found in these symptoms an explanation for why experiencing constant fatigue. As someone who has struggled with IBS for years now (hi @eldrai, thanks for listening to my rambles about it, friend), I chalked it all to be because of stress due the pandemic, but I’m not so sure now.

By November, work took a turn for the worse, the client I was consulting for had a few internal crisis, and I was sometimes working over 12 hours per day. I started to feel my attention span plummet, I started to engage in a lot of negative self-talk, I started to doubt myself, I had constant insomnia and sometimes I even forgot to stand up and go to the toilet during working hours.

I was pushing myself to the edge, and while I'm not exactly sure if I'd classify what I was feeling as a proper burnout (my therapist is still helping me to navigate these feelings), my mental health definitely took a massive hit.

It's not an excuse, but I do a lot of content production for my day job, so sometimes I really don't feel like staring at a computer screen during my free time. Then the holidays hit, I got carried away by hitting a few follower milestones and wanted to do a lot of Christmas fics, even though I only managed to do a few of them by the end of the year. Of course, part of me felt very disappointed, I was very bummed out by not being able to reply to all of the nice requests I got, but I'm trying to focus on what I can do for now.

Now, at the beginning of 2022, I took a few days off for myself and did a lot of thinking about the direction to which I want to take this space. I also just started a new job (inside the same company, but for a different account - which I'm very very excited about!) so, as of right now, my personal life is taking the front seat.

As more and more people get vaccinated, economies recover and the prospect of post-COVID life becomes more tangible, there’s some light on the end of the tunnel. But we're not on the other side just yet. As we confront the soon approaching two-year anniversary of the pandemic hitting across the world, I’m feeling like I have finally somewhat adjusted to our current reality. But all this that I’ve just told you might explain why I have been on such a long break from writing.

I decided that I want for this blog to be a beacon of positivity, and I can't do that if I'm not feeling a 100% myself. I'm also going to take this moment to let you all know that, just as I’ve already been doing, I will keep spacing out my writing for a bit. I want to focus on pieces that really make my heart sing and to take all the time in the world with them, because I want to publish something I, as a reader, would also enjoy consuming. I want to make it clear that I have ABSOLUTELY nothing against blogs that publish on a regular or semi-regular basis (I really admire you! I could never have that sort of discipline and/or focus), but it's just not something possible for me, at this life stage. I don’t what to ever publish something out of peer-pressure or because I feel like I need to keep the blog active. It's easy to fall down the rabbit hole of wanting or feeling like we need to be the most influential blog or have a certain number of followers/notes and that's just not what I want for me.

In that sense, I really want to take a moment to acknowledge all that has been happening in the fandom for the past few weeks. I have seen all the posts mentioning supporting smaller accounts, so if you see a fic that you think I would enjoy reading, feel free to tag me and I will, on my own time, read it and comment on it. I don't promise to be super engaged all of the time, but I'm always lurking on here.

If there's something I would like to say to any young or aspiring fic writer that might be out there, it's to remember to smell the flowers once in a while (thank you @sideblogforcrimpy for reminding me of it back then!) and to take care of yourselves.

I want to thank each and every single one of my followers and mutuals. You mean more to me than you might realize.

With love,

Cat