#I just realized Shadow and Jojo would be siblings

[kaylatoonz]

I really want them to be friends ok😭

If Shadow is still alive by the end of the movie and his scene with Amy remains intact, I'm going to be mad if they don't do anything with their relationship after that. 😤

Let them be friends (or siblings) dang it!

I can see them having sleepovers with each other when one of them is feeling down or they just want to talk.

(Amy would live with Wade by the way)

Sonic often pops up in conversation (mostly cause of Amy) rather they ranting about him (mostly shadow, he may respect him but he doesn't have to like him) or Amy gushing over Sonic.

Shadow disapproves of the possibility of Amy getting together with that idiot faker.

Shadow would basically be Sonic's Rachel (it would be even funnier if he lives with Rachel and Randall).

Sonic: is this karma for crashing her wedding isn't

Shadow and Rachel:😡

Tom: Sorry Buddy😬

Sonic:😅😞

[uraniumnm333]

bouta hit you w the polysho fantasy AU that i will try to turn into a fic.

okay so first of all, i would like to let everyone know that i have been listening to classical, or in some way medieval/classical coded songs including Cendrillon, Servant of Evil, and Karakuri Peirrot (clowns) so this shit gonna go hard as fuck and ALSO TSUKASA TENMA

anyways. btw tsukasa's story is kind of based off servant of evil so

tsukasa and saki live together in the castle and are used as a sort of puppet for a shadow gov't. tsukasa believes that he and saki aren't related but saki knows. so the plot is to use saki as a sort of scapegoat to collect more resources from the people and eventually dispose of her when they don't need her by posing a rebellion. tsukasa overhears them plotting this the night before and tries to evacuate saki. he does this (yippee !!!) but the advisors (which are the people coming up w the plot) catch on. they present him as the one who was actually raising all the taxes, clearing saki's name but dirtying his in the process. also he learns they were siblings. in some sort of pirates of the caribean fashion, he escapes the day of his execution. i'm talkin bro JUST avoids that axe and sword fights some people.

so tsukasa gets the hell out of york. and bro has some major trauma at this point yknow. he's trying to hide out and figure out what the hell he's supposed to do next, because he's by all accounts supposed to be dead, and WHERE THE FUCK IS SAKI ??? and. bro accidentally summons mystical being Hatsune Miku. i have this in my mind as he's hiding out in the bushes, and bro is just. so done. he's camping out for the night and he's at like the breaking point. and he goes through the couple of things he still has (which is really not much) and breaks out a little heart shaped locket he has. and it's a picture of him and saki and he's looking at it and it HURTS because he misses her !!! and as soon as he learns that they're siblings ans that's his fucking sister she gets !!! taken away from him !!! and tsukasa just breaks down. just sobs man. and he's curled up and sad and he feels this tap on his shoulder and it's just "this is the end. someone found me i'm going to die." and he's about ready to because everything he lived for has been taken away from him !! and he looks over hsi shoulder and it's not a guard it's Hatsune fucking Miku, who is a god because why wouldn't she be.

n miku like. leaves him w wxs miku like "here's your guardian angel or shit ykyk. anyways gotta blast your god's favorite BYE !!!" and now he sees that along w his little heart locket of saki he now has a star shaped locket and when he opens it he can summon wxs miku. like she's a jojo stand. so he's still traveling and trying to stay undercover and bro kind of looks like shit. but he also knows he needs food because HOO BOY he's hungry. so he does the normal thing and starts going through people's trash bins. and he gets to The House That Probably Gives Out Full Sized Candy Bars (or the fantasy equivalent of that) and starts going through the trash and who walks out to see him but emu ! and she drags him inside and the ootori household is like "why the hell is this dirty stinky man who looks like he just crawled out of hell sitting at our dinner table ???" but they listen to him and he tells them that he's an experienced adventurer [lie] and he's out adventuring [lie]. and so they let him get cleaned up, he realizes his hair has grown out a bit, and they send emu along w him when he leaves. like. he's about to walk out of the door and say his thank yous before emu just starts dragging him along in the silliest way possible.

so emu and tsukasa hit the road !! yippee !! tsukasa's like spending the whole time a lil scared like "WHAT IF SOMEONE FINDS ME" and emu is just havin a good time. it turns out emu is a quirked up wizard girl and sends little letters to her family. and eventually she asks tsukasa about the locket n he shows her miku. yippee !! they also make money by running errands for other people. so they're runnin around the world and tsukasa is still trying to find saki AND stay as far away from people as possible. i'm talkin bro barely talks to the people he's workin w emu does all that shit.

so THEN they find this old ass tower and emu's like "let's sleep here tsukasa :D :D :D" and tsukasa's like "i would rather FUCKING DIE but okay. whatever." so they go in and spring like five different traps at once because those two are talented in being silly. and YOULL NEVER GUESS WHO rui comes out to investigate the two clowns he caught. and he's like "who the hell are you." as any normal person would question.

but of course he cannot resist the sillies and he's like "okay you can stay." and he shows them around and i'm taklin bro has the kookiest room imaginable got that clock hallway gears everywhere n shit you know how it is. and he tells them that he's an alchemist + cool mechanic guy. and emu is just falling in LOVE with his little robots. honestly who wouldn't i think they would be cute

and of course rui, magic man extraordinaire, senses the power of Hatsune Miku comin from the locket and he's like "lemme see that locket" and BAZOINGA !!! HATSUNE MIKU !!!

and while emu didn't know miku bc she was kind of like. a local thing. rui recognizes her IMMEDIATELY it's like if you were idk atheist or smth and Allah just appeared from your friend's neat rock he found. idk man i'm trying to draw a comparison. but the thing is while emu knows that there's some prince who's supposed to be dead from the country over, rui doesn't know that because he's a shut in. so they're both kind of missing information n neither of them can come to the conclusion that tsukasa is wanted for misuse of power tax fraud and tyranny. so rui's trying to figure out miku and emu's just happy she has friends and tsukasa is just havin a good time. they have a little sleepover thing in rui's room because normal.

rui being the first person either of them have really connected with in a while, they all hang out for a while longer have some fun you know. and then nene comes back !!! basically nene is a shapeshifter who usually shapeshifts into shadows because yeah. neato. and she also will go out for a while to make some money by selling rui's stuff. and she hears stuff and at this point word has really gotten around that people are looking for tsukasa !! there's a bounty on bro's head !!!

so she comes inside n only sees rui and he's about to tell her about tsukasa and emu but then she tells him first that theres a dangerous guy running around who is wanted !! and not in the good way !! and rui connects the dots and goes into Thinking Mode. and as soon as nene finishes this who comes into the room but Mr. FUCKING WAR CRIME HIMSELF !!!

so so rui emu and nene are all validly concerned about this and tsukasa's like "okay. listen to this. miku get over her" and tells them all about saki and evil shadow gov and almost dying and how he needs to keep looking for her. and miku clearly knows this but she does it in the silliest way bc tsukasa's over here sobbing his eyes out about his possibly dead sister and she's like "yeah !!! and THEN he almost died !!! isn't that wild !?!?!"

and yknow eventually they come around n clear his name or whatever and do some crazy theatre production. idk man ive been writing this forever eeby deeby yaba daba doo

[cheemers-writing-archive]

Nothing Else Like It: Chapter 7

It was another peaceful boat ride, and Jotaro yet again had the task of telling Yorokobi that they were about to arrive at their destination. This time, however, he couldn’t pretend to push her off of the boat, because they were below deck, and he didn’t want to anyway. He knew what would happen if he provoked Yorokobi.

Not that he would have a chance to come up with anything else to mess with her, anyway. Her and Kakyoin were chatting happily together, and anything he tried to do would be spotted before he could carry it out.

“Hey, you two,” Jotaro walked up to them, “we’re gonna be in India pretty soon. Get your stuff ready.”

Yorokobi gave Jotaro a nod before going back to talking. Really, the only thing that changed between the two of them was Yorokobi addressed Kakyoin as Noriaki now.

“Okay, if you get left on the boat, I won’t be sorry,” Jotaro said.

“He’s right,” Kakyoin sighed. “We should get going.”

“Okay, okay,” Yorokobi replied. “Then let’s go, Noriaki.”

Kakyoin had a light blush as they walked down to the dock.

The moment the crew left the boat, they were bombarded with a large crowd.

“No, thank you!” Joseph yelled. “I don’t want any medicine!”

“Get your grubby hands off of my luggage!” Polnareff exclaimed.

“Thank you for your kindness, but we already have a hotel ready,” Avdol said.

Yorokobi found herself standing by Jotaro, and the two of them had lots of little kids surrounding them.

“If you don’t give us a tip, you won’t go to Heaven,” one of the kids said.

Yorokobi looked at these children, with their big eyes staring up at her, and couldn’t help but feel a little sympathetic when she noticed their torn up clothing.

“Don’t give in, Yorokobi,” Jotaro warned. “They want you to feel bad.”

“But what if they aren’t faking this?” Yorokobi asked. “I can’t just let them go hungry.” she reached into her pockets, but realized something very quickly.

“Jojo?”

“Yeah?”

“My wallet was stolen.”

Jotaro chuckled. “Good luck finding a way to give those brats money, because I’m not doing it for you.”

When Jotaro looked back at his sister, she shared the same expression as the kids around them. While she looked down at the children, trying to communicate that she was sorry, Jotaro sighed.

“You owe me one.”

Yorokobi turned to Jotaro with a wide smile as he took some money from his wallet and tossed it down.

“Thank you, mister!” one of the kids said before they all rushed off.

Jotaro met eyes with Yorokobi again, who was still smiling.

“That definitely wasn’t worth it,” he grumbled, hiding his face behind his hat. “Next time you want to give in to those little brats, don’t expect me to help.”

“Sure, sure,” Yorokobi chuckled. She looked around to see if she could find anyone else from their group, when she saw a waving hand. Avdol’s hand.

“Hey, everyone’s waiting for us.” She yanked Jotaro’s sleeve, and the two walked to the rest of the group.

Once they were finally out of the large crowds, the six of them took a breather at a restaurant.

“Man, talk about culture shock,” Joseph sighed.

“You really have to watch your back, or you can lose all of your money in an instant,” Kakyoin added.

“Or you could lose it from your sister’s pitiful little face pouting at you,” Jotaro muttered.

“I was not pouting at you!” Yorokobi frowned. “I was pouting in general because I didn’t have anything to give to those kids.”

Jotaro made a tch sound. “Well, you would have been pouting all day.”

“Don’t complain. Like you said, I ‘owe you one’.” Yorokobi finished her sentence with a bad impression of her brother.

“I don’t sound like that.”

“Do too.”

“Both of you, stop fighting,” Joseph said. “Our menus are here.”

Yorokobi stuck her tongue out at Jotaro and pulled her lower eyelid down before turning to her menu. Before she could open her mouth to order, Polnareff slammed open the bathroom door.

“A Stand!” he shouted. “Where’s the user? Where?” After he scanned the room, he ran outside. Confused, the rest of them followed suit.

“Where are you going?” Joseph asked.

“The Stand user who uses mirrors attacked me!” Polnareff replied. “The one Jotaro heard about, the man with two right hands, who killed my sister. I’m going to look for him and take his life!”

“Wait, Polnareff, calm down,” Yorokobi said. “Think this through.”

“Calm down?” he shouted. “Calm down?! The man I’ve plotted revenge against for years is right here, waiting for me, and you’re telling me to calm down? If someone killed Jotaro and they were waltzing about on the street, would you not go after them immediately?”

Yorokobi didn’t pay much attention to what happened afterward. She was too busy in her head trying to think of what Polnareff should do. Sure, an indescribable amount of anger would definitely overwhelm her if Jotaro was killed, and she would absolutely go after that guy, but at the same time, Polnareff wasn’t in his right state. But she wouldn’t be either. It was a complicated question, and in the end, she decided that Polnareff was old enough to make his own decisions. Of course, by the time she zoned back in to reality, Polnareff had left, and everyone seemed really disheartened.

“On a completely unrelated note,” Yorokobi said, “I’m going to go on a small walk.”

“Oh, not alone, you’re not,” Joseph replied.

“Why not?” Yorokobi asked. “I can defend myself against anyone I need to!”

“Not against a Stand user,” Joseph scolded. “You won against the guy at sea because you were very lucky. Luck may play a part in our Joestar blood, but don’t bet your life on it.”

“I’ll go,” Kakyoin said. Yorokobi gave him a slight smile until Jotaro shoved him out of the way.

“I know you two want to be around each other all the time now, but I have some important things to talk about with Yorokobi,” he replied. Kakyoin nodded.

“Hey!” Yorokobi exclaimed. Jotaro yanked her back, and the two started walking.

“What do you have against me and Noriaki walking together, jackass?” Yorokobi snapped.

“Nothing,” Jotaro replied. “It’s just that if the Stand user following us attacks, I’d rather you watch me die than Kakyoin.”

Yorokobi tilted her head.

“I’ve felt someone’s presence following our group ever since we arrived in India,” Jotaro continued. “Kakyoin’s Stand isn’t great for upfront combat, so it makes sense that I should keep the only non-Stand user of our group safe.”

Yorokobi grunted, but continued walking in silence. Jotaro was right, after all, she felt the presence, too. After the two had been walking for a couple of minutes, Jotaro suddenly stopped. He pulled Yorokobi behind his back, and summoned Star Platinum.

“Come on out,” he said. “If you wanted to avoid conflict with me, then you wouldn’t have followed Yorokobi and I out here.”

A man slowly appeared from an alley. He had light brown hair, tan skin, and a confident look in his eye.

“Well, you found me,” he shrugged. “But that won’t stop me from winning the battle.”

The enemy’s Stand sent a fist straight toward Jotaro’s stomach, but Star Platinum blocked it. At least, it should have. The Stand’s fist not only phased through Star, but extended to phase through both Jotaro and Yorokobi’s stomachs. When the fist pulled back, both had fainted and were laying on the floor. The man looked down at the two, then walked off.

“They’re in for quite the surprise when they wake up,” he muttered to himself.

***

When she finally came to, Yorokobi grunted and attempted to lift herself off the ground. Although she knew that the Stand’s attack hit her, she felt no pain or injury. That was usually a bad sign. Now she needed to know what really happened to her.

“Jojo, are you okay?” she asked. Oh, no. For starters, her voice was insanely low. Lifting herself off the ground, she noticed how far away the earth was from her eyes. She also noticed her shadow shape. It looked far different than it usually did, for some reason. It didn’t help that there was something that looked like the rim of a cap blocking some of her vision. From what she could see, it looked a little like…

“I’m fine,” Jotaro winced. He did a double-take. Since when did his voice get so high-pitched? As he got up, he brushed off some dirt that clung to his clothes. Except… these weren’t his clothes. The clothes on him weren’t even his style, let alone the clothes he wore every single day. In fact, this body shape wasn’t his, either. This shape looked a lot more like…

No.

The two siblings immediately started examining the body they were in, patting themselves, turning in weird ways to see more of themselves, and grabbing pieces of clothing. Jotaro grabbed long strands of hair, and Yorokobi grabbed a chain attached to a black school uniform.

“Jojo?” Yorokobi said.

“What?” Jotaro replied.

“I’m scared to look at you.”

“Well, we’ll have to face it eventually, if we want to repair this. We turn around on the count of three.”

“Okay.”

“One,” Jotaro said. He let out his final moments of panic.

“Two,” Yorokobi continued. She squinted her eyes shut.

“Three!” they both shouted at once. The moment the two turned around, all of their fears were confirmed. Jotaro looked up at his body, while Yorokobi looked down at hers.

Jotaro and Yorokobi had swapped bodies.

The two stared at each other for a moment longer, until Yorokobi screamed.

“My God, Yorokobi,” Jotaro went to pull down the brim of his hat, but instantly realized the problem with that and put his hands in his pockets. So the rumors were true, girl’s pockets really were that shallow. “Stop making a scene. You’re attracting unwanted attention.”

“Stop making a scene?” Yorokobi griped. “What part of this isn’t clicking with you? I’m you! You’re me! Do you not see the problem?”

“I see the problem crystal clear, but unlike you, I’m making sure that you don’t look like a fool in public,” Jotaro huffed.

Yorokobi balled her hands, teeth grinding together, until she noticed something that most people wouldn’t.

“You’re sweating.”

“What?”

“You’re just as freaked out about this as me,” Yorokobi said. “You just don’t want to admit it. But I can see you sweating. You always sweat when you’re in a really stressful situation.”

Now it was Jotaro’s turn to ball his fists, but it went away much quickly. “At least I’m not screaming about it.”

“You want to.”

“Shut up. Screaming won’t fix anything. Finding the Stand user and beating the living daylight out of him will.” Jotaro jerked his head forward. “Let’s go. I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

“As if I couldn’t throw you to the other side of the city,” Yorokobi muttered, then said at a normal volume, “Where are we going?”

“To find the user or one of our friends. Whichever one comes first.”

“Okay,” Yorokobi shrugged. When she finally took a step, she cringed. Jotaro groaned.

“What’s wrong now?”

“Your… I…” Yorokobi tried to say, “I’ve never felt something in between my thighs before.”

Jotaro clenched his teeth together as a light blush dusted his cheeks. He once again went to grab his hat, but quickly changed it to look like he was stretching his arm. “Good grief.”

While the two of them were walking, Jotaro spoke again. “Hey, there’s some cigarettes in my coat pocket. Can you get one out for me?”

“Are you kidding?” Yorokobi said. “Do you know what’s in those things? I’m not letting you inhale literal smoke in my body.”

“As if some measly smoke is more dangerous than being held underwater, getting heat stroke, traveling from Japan to Egypt with enemies constantly on our tail so we can go fight a vampire, and other things.”

“The fact that you can’t wait until we’re back in our normal bodies means you’re addicted.”

“I never said I couldn’t wait.”

“Then wait,” was the last thing Yorokobi said before the two of them went silent again. Neither wanted to talk very much since their new voices threw them off each time they opened their mouths.

After a while, Jotaro sighed. “Fine, if you won’t hand me a cigarette, I’ll get one myself.” He suddenly lunged at Yorokobi and reached into his coat pocket to get his packet.

“Hey, back off!” Yorokobi yelled. She attempted to pry Jotaro off of her, which, surprisingly, ended in success. With much less effort than she was used to, she elbowed Jotaro off and he rolled a little as he fell to the ground.

Yorokobi looked down at her hands, then back at Jotaro, laughing. “Guess who’s the stronger one now?” she taunted.

“If you try anything, I’ll pay it back ten times as hard when we’re back in our own bodies,” Jotaro threatened through gritted teeth.

“I know, I know,” Yorokobi rolled her eyes. It was true, she knew Jotaro would hit back, but something about the fact that she was the stronger one now made her heart override her head, and she gently nudged Jotaro with her shoulder. Of course, it put a lot more force on her brother than she was used to.

“Oops,” she grinned.

Jotaro glared at Yorokobi, and nudged her back. To his dismay, it did next to nothing. He let out a little grunt, and tried again, but harder. Still nothing.

“Is that all you got?” Yorokobi taunted. Now, both of them had stopped in the street, Yorokobi waiting for Jotaro’s next move.

Jotaro hmphed, then faced forward. “We don’t need to waste time, we need to find the enemy,” he said, and continued walking.

Yorokobi grumbled. “I’m not letting you go down without a fight,” she argued. “It’s a disgrace to everything I stand for, and right now, you’re me.” She shoved Jotaro’s head, and he growled as he went to shove Yorokobi back. However, his head was suddenly caught in front of a huge hand that pushed him back and made him tumble to the ground yet again.

“Good,” Yorokobi nodded. “I was afraid you weren’t gonna play the part there.” However, as Yorokobi started walking again, she tripped and fell. Behind her, Jotaro laughed.

“Oops,” he grinned.

Yorokobi gritted her teeth, but let that sneer turn into a smile. “Touché,” she muttered.

After a little more walking around, Yorokobi spoke again. “So, what do we do for bathroom breaks?”

“I’ve just been holding it,” Jotaro shrugged.

“Yeah, but I can’t hold it any longer,” Yorokobi replied.

Jotaro groaned. “Okay, fine, we’ll find a restroom. Just don’t make it awkward.”

“I’m more worried about you.” Yorokobi gave Jotaro a half-smile, but it didn’t get rid of the tension in the air.

Once the two found a restroom, they stared at the sign of the door they were about to enter. They gulped, then turned their heads to each other.

“Good luck,” Yorokobi said.

“This is a bathroom break, no need to act like we’re going to war,” Jotaro replied. “But good luck to you, too.”

Both doors opened and closed, and in a few minutes, they opened again. The siblings both had a war-torn expression and a very heavy blush.

“Never again,” they said to each other.

After getting through the terrifying experience she just had, Yorokobi started thinking about their whole situation. She was starting to get used to Jotaro’s body, and she kind of liked it a little bit. She liked the wind hitting her neck, the build of the physique, and even the low voice. She started to think that she liked it better than her body.

“You know, Jojo,” Yorokobi said, “if we don’t ever find that Stand user who swapped our bodies, it wouldn’t be so bad, would it?”

“Are you kidding?” Jotaro replied. “I’d rather die than stay in this body for the rest of my life.”

“Y-yeah,” Yorokobi laughed. “Me too.” She looked down at the ground and stuffed her hands in her pockets.

“Luckily, we won’t need to worry about that, because I just saw the Stand user,” Jotaro pointed over at the man that the two saw that morning. The man gasped, then ran in the other direction. However, he didn’t go long before running into Joseph, Kakyoin, and Polnareff, then falling to the ground.

“Star Platinum!” Jotaro called out. He ran over to the man and pummeled him until he was only punching the ground. Finally taking a look, he saw his own clothes back on his body, and he sighed with relief.

Yorokobi stood back, watching Jotaro beat up the guy, until she was suddenly right in front of the rest of the group. She patted down her body, then shouted back at Jotaro, “It worked!”

“Yeah, I noticed,” Jotaro said as he rolled his eyes.

The others stood with open mouths, trying to understand what happened. The group exchanged their stories, along with the sad news of Avdol’s death, to catch everyone up.

“I’m just glad that I’m in my own body again,” Jotaro sighed. “Right, Yorokobi?”

“Huh?” Yorokobi snapped out of her thoughts and quietly answered, “Oh, yeah, I’m glad I’m back in my body, too.”

That was a lie. Right now, she was trying to hold in all of the feelings she had. She was sad about Avdol, but she was even more sad about being in her own body again, which only made her feel guilty about what she was sad about. It didn’t even help when Joseph pulled her and Jotaro aside to tell them that Avdol was alive.

Why is this bothering me? She thought to herself. I’ve never hated my body before. Why is this happening now? As the five of them all went to sleep for the night, Yorokobi stayed awake, pondering. In the end, she told herself that it would go away soon, and let her medicine drift her off to sleep.

[paintalyx]

hey can you maybe recommend some of your favourite fics please!!

aaaah, i'm a little behind on asks because of college but i saw this and i couldn't help but scramble to respond as soon as i found the time!!!! i'm super flattered that you're asking me for fic recommendations, but you didn't specify any fandoms or genres so i can't guarantee that any of these will be your cup of tea (feel free to shoot me another ask if you'd like to elaborate though!!!!). i'll try to be as diverse as an unapologetic angstlord can be, so here we go:

(note: while i did my best to add cws, it's still possible that something slipped past me, so please be mindful. as a rule of thumb, i'm not going to add warnings for stuff that's already depicted in canon material)

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campfire in your chest (haikyuu!!, canonverse, tsukkiyama-main & kagehina-side)

Kei realizes in their second year of high school that he's probably been in love with Yamaguchi since they were ten. However hopeless he might be in handling that situation, Kei prays he's at least not as hopeless as Hinata and Kageyama. But he just might be.

four tags for you: pining, slow-burn, friends to lovers and unresolved sexual tension. this one's a classic, an old favourite of mine. i remember reading it on lunch breaks in high school while daydreaming about my crush and getting frustrated with tsukishima because "dammit, at least one of us needs to get it together and that won't be me anytime soon". also, once your done with reading this, please do yourself a favour and spare some time to check out the companion piece to this fic, "stay, stay, stay", which can be summed up simply as "meanwhile, kagehina".

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a soft place to fall (jojo's bizarre adventure: vento aureo, canon divergence, narancia/trish); cw: major character death

“This is my wound, too,” Narancia softly says, eyes shadowed by so many dark lashes. He presses down over her pulse, and Trish’s heart jumps to meet it. “And this is my heartbeat. I can be brave because you’re brave.”

In the ten days between Corsica and Sardinia, Trish learns about her new power, reflects on the past, and finds her reasons.

this deserves so much attention!! i love the writing style, the character interactions— everything just feels special and different! it's been a hot minute since i watched part 5, but i have distinct and fond memories of reading this fic. it really did trish's character justice and, as a sweet bonus, it successfully got me hooked on this adorable pairing.

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count the days until they blur, then keep on counting (mob psycho 100, canon divergence, gen); cw: torture, child abuse, imprisonment, starving

What Teruki wanted was power, right? What he wanted was to hurt people? Even if he didn't, he's got it now.

okay, this *may* seem bad, but it's hands down one of my all time favourite reads, not just as a fanfic. it has a happy end (worry not!), reigen being a reluctant disaster dad and teru— god, i love the way he thinks, feels, *copes* and changes as a person over the course of this fic. it shows all sides of him, the good, the bad and the ugly. he tries, he struggles, he relapses and recovers. some works just stick with you forever, and i'd be lying if i said that this one didn't change my life. like, i thought that it was the bee's knees the first time i read it and i was so mad that it had to end that i talked my friend's ear off about how unfair it was (though upon re-reading, when i was older and capable of understanding things a little better, i decided that the ending was perfect as it was). it's definitely not a work that i would recommend to someone sensitive, but i think i've established myself as someone who enjoys meaningful angst.

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storm shelter (genshin impact, canon compliant, gen); cw: animal death

Three different times, over the years, Diluc and Kaeya are trapped together in the snow.

i'm a sucker for unconventional sibling dynamics and messy, conflicted feelings and this fic *provides*. it's clear that diluc and kaeya care for each other deeply, but they're both stubborn dumbasses about it (mihoyo, let these two talk again, i'm begging you). though the scenario in each snippet is somewhat similar, pov shifts to kept things fresh and prevented the story from becoming repetitive.

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being a wingman is a full time job (genshin impact, canon compliant, chiluc)

“What are you doing in Mondstadt?”

“You didn’t show up this week!” Childe says. “Aether brought Hu Tao instead. She really handed it to me, but it just wasn’t the same.”

“You…” Diluc stops. “You came all the way to Mondstadt just because I didn’t show up?”

Oh?

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Kaeya discovers Diluc has a crush and, despite not being on the best of terms with his estranged brother, takes it upon himself to be the ultimate wingman.

this isn't among my favourite pairings for either party, but rumour says that if you say "oh, chiluc is just a crackship" enough times, you'll start shipping it for real so here we are. boy, where do i start?? a lighthearted, humorous fic every once in a while is good for the soul, basically a requirement. obvious idiot/oblivious idiot is a trope that i don't think i'll ever get tired of, but making the entire story be told from wingman's pov adds some extra spice to it.

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a cheap imitation (durarara, canonverse, shizaya); cw: graphic depictions of violence and gore

“Attached to your neck is a collar that will inject a poison into your jugular vein two days from now. Forcibly removing the device will also trigger the poison. Somewhere on this island is the antidote.”

His hands reached up to his neck and he felt the cool metal of the collar.

“Live or die. Make your choice.”

god. these two are so disgusting and problematic, i love them. this fic pulls no stops. the author really looked at these two dumbasses and said "yeah, the only way they'd ever get along realistically is in a life or death situatio— wait," and we gotta appreciate that. well-thought-out survival stories are a very specific niche that i've always enjoyed, so adding familiar characters into the mix can only get me more intrigued. author also snatches all my uwus for appealing to my inner neat-freak and consistently finding different ways to give the boys hygienic products. if you want drama, tension and survival with some humour sprinkled in for the ~flavour~, this is a perfect read!

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i admit i got a little carried away, but honestly??? who wouldn't when talking about something as wonderful as taking something that someone has poured their heart and soul into adding onto it out of love and passion??? i'm totally setting myself up for psychoanalysis with these recs, but tastes are subjective. i hope you'll find something of interest!! ^^

[willowistic22]

I saw that your requests are open so I was wondering if you might have any ideas as far as jomike and/or newsbians maybe with the group playing truth or dare.

I’m sorry this took so long hehehehe. it’s also fairly longer than my other requests (and i mean it this time) so uhh... oops? I am also trying to work on those other requests ppl don’t worry i didn’t forget them! Anyways, unpopular opinion: brotp jojo and kath pls let that sink in :) mentions of alcohol btw but it’s just them drinking and having fun and that’s abt it (i’ll still put a tw in the tags just in case) 

send in some requests!! Or not i’m not the boss of you lol

It sucks sharing an apartment with two other people and being the only single one out of the bunch. At times his roommates would schedule a date night on the same night, which would leave Jo Jo all alone. It has happened more than once, believe it or not. Well, Jo Jo isn’t exactly salty. He’s fine being single. What he doesn’t like with his situation is the part where he’s left behind in their empty apartment. 

These are one of those nights. But Jo Jo pushes through the lonely feeling and searches for company. It’s a good thing his good friends, Kathrine and Davey lives just a floor below him. They usually have movie nights together and wouldn’t mind with another friend crashing in. 

Jo Jo passes a few doors before he arrives at his destination. He knocks on the door, fully expecting Davey to be answering the door. If it’s movie night, he’s sure Kathrine is wrapped up in a blanket on the couch with no desire of moving a muscle. 

The door was answered, but not with who he initially expected. The other Jacobs sibling, Sarah, who just so happens to be Kathrine’s girlfriend. The optimism nearly fell off of Jo Jo’s face but he quickly picked it up to avoid giving the wrong impression. 

“Sarah! I didn’t know you were here!” Jo Jo tried to cover up his disappointment. 

“Well, Davey’s out so Kath invited me to join her for movie night!” 

They didn’t turn away their lonely friend. Though, third wheeling a couple was not what he was looking for. It just makes him feel more lonely. But the couch is big enough for the three of the to cuddle. The feeling of the fabric against Jo Jo’s skin is a little rough but the orange comfy cushions makes up for its roughness. 

Jo Jo bounces a bit on the couch before settling under the huge pink fluffy blanket with the couple. It’s big enough for Kathrine and Sarah to be cuddling on one side of the couch and let Jo Jo be an outcast on the other. 

He tries to ignore the fact that Kathrine has her head laid on top of Sarah’s chest. The occasional small kisses Sarah gives Kathrine and the butterflies from the pit of their stomachs they express through small giggles. The apartment is dark so the visual can be easily ignored by hyper focusing on the TV screen. Though, Jo Jo can’t shake away the feeling of its presence. 

The movie that Jo Jo can’t recognize, moved on to a passionate kissing scene. As if tormenting him with his two friends beside him is already doing the kissing themselves isn’t enough. He hadn’t realize he sighed out too loud when Kathrine sat up from where she was lying down. 

“Oh, Jo Jo, I’m so sorry! We didn’t mean to left you out of the cuddling!” 

Kathrine proceeds to shift closer to Jo Jo, wrapping her hands around his torso to give him an apology bear hug. Jo Jo didn’t turn it down and hugs her back, hearing Sarah giggling behind. 

They let go and moves a little to the center of the couch. Sarah shifts closer too so they can snuggle up with them and they concentrate back on the movie. The only things is, the movies sucks and is boring the hell out of them. 

“Why’d you even pick this movie in the first place?” Jo Jo asked after the two girls expressed their boredom. 

“I don’t know, I just picked a random movie hoping it isn’t bad” Kathrine confessed. 

“Okay... so now what?” Sarah asked the others. 

So there’s the new problem that emerged from the shadows as Kathrine turn the lights on and Jo Jo stops the movie. No other activity came to mind. Not even picking another movie since the girls already spent nearly an hour watching some lame movie. 

“I know!” Sarah suddenly chirped up after a few moments of silence. Kathrine and Jo Jo looked at her hopefully, “A game of truth or dare perhaps?” 

“I’m not interested in doing any dares right now” Jo Jo replied. 

“Then... let’s make it a game of truth or truth!” Sarah continued on. She shifts a little closer to the two but kept her gaze fixed on Jo Jo with a grin painting her face, “If you could date one of us, who would you date and why?” 

So it appears Jo Jo is up first. Not exactly sure when did they decided it though. He squints his eyes at the girl and tilts his head in confusion. 

“Ignoring the fact that we’re all gay here. Of course you wouldn’t date either of us but if you had to choose, who’d it be?” 

Since there isn’t anything else for them to do, Jo Jo plays along with this game of truth or truth. Half an hour asking others questions, real spicy ones too, they were having a blast in the end. 

Kathrine opens up the beer stash she and Davey keeps, but if they’re being real: Kath is the only one that really needs that stash. Sarah shares a bottle with Kathrine and Jo Jo passes the offer. 

“Tell me, Jo Jo: why are you still single?” it was Sarah’s turn again to ask Jo Jo a question. A fitting one as well, since the reason he came here is to not be lonely while his two roommates are out on their respective dates. 

He rolls his eyes before diverting them back to where the other two girls were, still sitting in the same position they were the whole time, “I just haven’t found the right one yet!” 

“So Mike’s not the ‘right one’ for you?” Kathrine plainly asked, as if it wasn’t suppose to be a secret he was keeping with a few other people. 

His eyes Kathrine down with silent rage. Sarah’s eyes widen and her jaws dropped to the floor. She was laughing breathlessly when she heard her friend having a crush on another friend she hadn’t expected. 

Jo Jo isn’t up to argue with her so he just slouches back in the couch with a pout and a loud sigh. Sarah’s laugh and Kathrine’s cheeky grin at him is infuriating. It’s quite hard to ignore it too since they’re both up on his face. God, he wishes he has the heart to punch the light out of them. 

The bullying only lasted for a minute or so. Sarah stops laughing as soon as she noticed the visible pout on his face. But she couldn’t hold back the grin. 

“Alright, alright, stop it you two!” Jo Jo said, before slouching again with his hands crossed. 

A few seconds of silence to wait for Sarah and Kathrine to come down from their high. Once Sarah caught up with her breath, though the excitement was still verbally there, she speaks up, “So how’s that going on?” 

“What?” Jo Jo gazed at her confused for a second. Not that he didn’t understand what it meant, but rather at the fact that she doesn’t understand the situation, “You think I’m the kind of guy that can make the first move?” 

As much as Jo Jo loves his friend, Sarah is out of her mind to think Jo Jo can make any form of progress. He doesn’t know what Mike’s reaction would be if he does. Hell, he wouldn’t even know where to start!

“I mean, easiest way to do it is by talking to him” Sarah added on, “You never know till you try!” 

“I wish this was truth or dare. I would’ve given you a dare to go talk to Mike right now” Kathrine commented. It’d be a very fitting dare since Mike lives with his twin brother Ike just a few doors down. Though, she’d expect Jo Jo to chicken out and switch to a truth. 

Regardless of the unfortunate circumstances, they keep playing. Sarah, being the only one who isn’t entirely in the know of Jo Jo’s crush, kept asking questions about it in between turns and sometimes she makes it her question to him. Kathrine already knows because Jo Jo often talks about it to her. 

If you ask him, Jo Jo doesn’t even know how he’d gotten his feelings tangled with his friend in the first place. It suddenly happened and it hasn’t left his system ever since. If he could, he’d do something about it. But Mike’s far out of his league, he’s sure of that. Plus he’s probably already busy with someone else. So what’s the point in trying? 

A knock on the door brought their laughter to a sudden stop. It couldn’t be Davey, since he’d already have the keys to enter his own apartment. As Kathrine recall, her roommate didn’t left his keys at home. Even if he did, he’d call Kathrine beforehand. 

The three observes the door quietly, bodies frozen in place and simultaneously thinking of the same thing. They exchange looks to each other before focusing back to the door. 

Jo Jo stands up from the couch and tip toes to the door. His movement are careful as he gets his hand closer to the doorknob. There was more knocks, since it’s left unanswered for quite some time, followed by a familiar voice calling from the other side with a familiar voice that makes his heart drop, “Davey? Kath? It’s Mike!” 

He could not have such bad timing than to come knocking on the door right now. What can be so important that the next morning couldn’t wait?  

Jo Jo twisted his head back to face the girls who are now smiling widely, visibly trying to hold back a laugh. They gestured him to go open door but Jo Jo refuses, frantically shaking his head with a look of horror behind his eyes. 

“Hello? You guys home?” Mike called out again with a few more knocks. 

Jo Jo starts to sweat. His legs glued to the floor, unable to escape his problem. Kathrine rolls his eyes with an annoyed sigh, getting up from her seat to get to the door. Jo Jo isn’t sure what she’s going to do but it was too late to stop her before she realizes she’s opening the door for him and proceeds to hide herself behind it. 

Mike froze for a moment, surprised to see the boy’s face, “Jo Jo? Wh-what’re you doing here?”

Jo Jo couldn’t answer quickly, his brain not being able to pull him away from the sudden act Kathrine just pulled on him, “Uhh... hi” 

A slap can be heard in the background. Jo Jo can feel the disappointment from Sarah’s distant facepalm. He hears a silent sigh from behind the door, Kathrine deciding to step in and save the day with a huge smile on display. 

“Hey, Mike! You need me to return that cooking pot?” 

“Oh, yes! I need it for tomorrow” Mike answered, moving his focus to Kathrine. 

“I’ll go fetch for you but it’s gonna take some time” Jo Jo is slowly realizing what Kath’s up to and he can’t do anything about it, “In the mean time...” 

A big shove from the back made Jo Jo’s feet obey to the movement since his brain isn’t registering to what’s happening yet. Mike, being confused as to what’s happening, didn’t move an inch which resulted into Jo Jo crashing into him. The door shuts behind them and they’re left in the front hallway of the apartment. 

Jo Jo didn’t move at first other than moving his head back to get a better look at what’s happening. His head is inches away from Mike’s, chests’ pressed up together, and limbs getting tangled. Both faces show obvious confusion and a hint of embarrassment at the situation they’ve gotten themselves. 

They stammer at their words, head scrambling all over the place as they try to figure out what’s the next move. Mike takes one step back with an awkward smile, an unnatural thing for him to do since he’s always so fun and relaxed.  

“I... wasn’t expecting to see you in there tonight” Mike tried to ease away the awkward tension. 

“Yeah, I just... I was looking for some company” Jo Jo explained. 

“Being single sucks, huh?” 

“I mean... not necessarily. I’m fine but it can get a little lonely” 

Mike nods along, returning to his easygoing demeanor, “Yeah, I get it. Ike basically leaves me stranded in our apartment when Hotshot comes to pick him up” 

Jo Jo just nods silently. 

So new information of the day: Mike is single. Jo Jo’s brain starts to get excited. But he knows better to shut that thought away with the knowledge of needing to consider in more factors. 

Mike coughs, taking this chance to look away. The moment is slowly getting awkward. The two boys not knowing what to do other than rocking themselves on their own pace to ground their nerves. 

“What’s the pot for?” Jo Jo blurted out, now fully realizing the awkwardness between them is slowly getting intolerable. 

“Oh, our parents are visiting tomorrow. We’re gonna make dinner for them” Mike answered, “And it’s Ike’s chance to introduce them to Hotshot so he wants things to go as smoothly as possible” 

Admittedly, Jo Jo has never felt the nervous feeling of introducing someone special to someone as important as parents, but he’s sort of associating it with what he’s feeling right now. The context is not the same yet he somehow understands the feeling by just standing here. 

“And... you’re not inviting anyone?” Jo Jo timidly asked, “I mean, I know you said you’re single but... there just have to be someone out there... right?” 

Mike scoffs with a smile and Jo Jo swears on his life his eyes just twinkled, “No point in asking them, we don’t even talk” 

Jo Jo laughs a little and scratches the back of his head, “I guess you’d be moving things a bit too fast if you did that” 

More awkward silence envelop the two. Jo Jo is praying for Kathrine to return with the pot. Although, he knows Kathrine is taking her time on purpose. But finally, the door opens again only Kathrine wasn’t the one walking out. 

“Eavesdropping to you two are going to be the death of me so I’m going to interrupt the conversation!” Sarah said, standing in between the two boys griping the pot with both hands. 

“Even from behind the door, I could sense the sexual tension and you guys have to do something about it or I’m about to throw hands!” Sarah continued on, “Admit it! Like literally just admit it: you like each other any dumbass can tell you that! Now kiss!” 

Sarah jots the pot in between her upper arm and her side so she can grip both of their shoulders and shoves the two forward. Somehow, they were able to capture each other’s lips perfectly. The boys’ eyes widen from the sudden act. Despite Sarah’s hand are no longer gripping their shoulders, they linger in the kiss for a few seconds because of the shock their brains are experiencing. 

The finally found the realization to pull away from each other, recollecting their scattered minds and steadying their breaths. Jo Jo is refusing to believe this is reality. He did not just kiss his crush right then and there for no reason!

“Now that we’ve established that, here’s your pot Mike!” Sarah shoves the pot towards Mike. He fumbles with the pot as he hasn’t fully has his feet back on the ground, much like Jo Jo, “Alright, see you later!” 

Sarah drags Jo Jo back in the apartment and shuts the door. She turns to a still shocked looking Jo Jo with a smile, “See? Progress right?” 

Jo Jo cocks his head to face Sarah, stuttering a few of his words before finally blurting out, “Not like that!” 

Kathrine watches the two from the couch, now occupying the newly popped popcorn, “I mean, that was kinda funny but I think you just ruined his chances now” 

“Well, I’m sorry. I just got annoyed from the pining!” Sarah exclaimed. She returns to her spot next to her girlfriend on the couch, leaving Jo Jo where he’s frozen in place and still trying to process what just happened. Sarah turns back to where Jo Jo is, “And for your information: I wasn’t lying. I know for a fact that he likes you!” 

Kathrine and Jo Jo gives her a questioning look. To which, she answers, “He admitted it himself” 

Jo Jo’s jaws drop and his eyes widen once again, tilting his head in wonderment, “WHAT?!” 

[brief-candle]

ʜᴇᴀᴅᴄᴀɴᴏɴꜱ - Victor Frankenstein

last............................... one................................................

and it’s code: realize so looks like i’ll still be here for the next 53786432 years, sorry to disappoint!!

but now, finally, at quarter to eleven on a friday night, i might start something new before i force my non-weeb friend to watch the grinch (in late january but the grinch is timeless so it’s fine) and jojo’s bizarre adventure

game: code: realize ~guardian of rebirth~

notes: yandere, getting cockblocked by victor

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

victor frankenstein:

it's a cruel world out there, victor knows this. he's experienced the cruelty first-hand, being forced to work in a lab all day every day to being branded as a criminal to the nation when he flees from such a life. so for you to show kindness to him, no matter how slight, even with those (false) accusations plastered everywhere... it's strange. you bond rather quickly with him, especially after being convinced of his innocence, and spend a lot of time together.

it was so quickly that you decided to trust him, and victor was shocked. people were so suspicious of others, and he was one of those people, so for you to cast aside what was declared by the queen so soon was strange to him. don't get him wrong- he truly appreciated that someone believed him, but such a quality was surely going to be taken advantage of by others.

little did he know that it was actually mostly due to his baby face and cute voice that made you decide to trust him. 

it started off small, such as fussing when you left the house even when with any of the others or, when you'd decided to go alone, immediately offered to go with you. he wouldn't take 'no' for an answer, either, which would have frustrated you if you hadn't been so close to him. even though he was an outlaw whose face was posted on almost every wall around the city, that came second when your safety was in question. even when it wasn't in question, really.

you could just be walking outside to get a bit of fresh air but oh, what's this? none other than victor, worried that you'll just get whisked away without a word or trace at any moment.

you couldn't even interact with anyone else in your harem without him coming in and ruining the atmosphere! damn you victor, ruining my chances of stealing the thief's heart with your big smile and big heart and even bigger hugs!!

he always excused his strange behaviour, both to you and himself, by saying that you were like a younger sibling to him. after all, it's only natural for an older brother to be worried if their younger sibling may be in danger, isn't it?

though his intentions were indeed pure, that didn't stop them from escalating. and escalate they did.

it got to the point where he had to accompany you around the damn manor, and where the only place where you could be alone was your room. but, you had wondered as you stared at the ceiling from your bed, how long will that last? how long had any of this lasted, now that you'd thought about it? when, where and why had it all began?

the more you thought on that night, with sisi nestled nearby and fast asleep, the more angry you had gotten. both with yourself for letting this carry on for as long as it had, and with victor. you could take care of yourself, and had done in the past. you weren't so helpless that you could't even walk around the manor that you lived in with five other people (excluding victor) without being constantly followed everywhere. he wasn't your shadow!

initially, you'd resolved to solve it in the morning. but no matter how much you tossed and turned, sleep never came. all you could focus on was your thoughts, and the hooting of a distant owl. once it became clear that you weren't going to be sleeping anytime soon, you sneaked out of the bed so as to not wake your fluffy companion and crept out of your room into the hallway.

you didn't make it far though.

not when victor was sitting right next to your bedroom door, eyes wide as the owl you heard before and a cup of tea that you could tell was ice cold in his hands. for a moment you just stared at him, dumbfounded, tired and unsure of what to think of this. until you were sure of what to think, and none of the things that you thought were positive.

a frown soon settled onto your face as you grabbed him by the arm and began to drag him down the halls. he made a brief sound of surprise before becoming silent again. and it was a good thing that he did, else it would've been yet another thing to feed the flames of anger that kept you awake.

eventually, you'd managed to get you both into the garden. you let go of his arm soon after, walking a few paces away from him before turning on your heel and proceeding to glare at him. he flinched, recoiling from your icy stare. your arms were crossed and you were crabby, moody, annoyed beyond words and in complete and utter disbelief.

"care to explain?" you asked, tapping your foot rapidly as you did so. the worried look didn't leave his face, and he seemed just as tired as you, though was still clearly in shock from what had just happened.

"well?" your temper was beginning to flare up, something that none of the residents had come into contact before. at least, not until now. and victor certainly wasn't lucky to be the first one to bear the brunt of your wrath.

"w-what do you mean?" nervousness crept into his voice to join the audible confusion. you would have scoffed at it, had you not been more confused in return.

"i'm sorry?" you said, baffled behind his question.

he fumbled with his words a little, most likely the lack of sleep and stress from the situation fogging victor's usually sharp and clear mind. finally he found the words: "i'm not quite sure what you mean."

"huh?!" you were very glad that you'd chosen to have this conversation outside now, as the volume of your voice there would have probably woken the entire house. and you certainly didn't need them butting in on this- victor was in enough trouble with you as is, never mind with the rest of them on his back (though it would all be for good reason).

this confrontation led to the revealing that victor had no idea that he was going so far in his actions. he was under the impression that he was trying to protect you, which did not go down very well when coupled with his behaviour, much like an older brother would. and while that confession truly warmed you heart, it didn't do so enough for you to excuse his actions, especially those of that night.

after all, what older sibling camps outside of the bedroom of their younger siblings, no matter how 'protective' they may be??

perhaps it was your lack of knowledge of what a family was like, having spent most of what you could recall of your life alone with only yourself to call company, that led you to feel sympathetic towards him and what he'd done. or it was just exasperation and the exhaustion kicking in. either way, you weren't as harsh on him as you'd originally convinced yourself that you'd be. you did blame it on his excuse of being like an older brother though, because how could you not feel warmly towards such a thing when you'd had no family before?

that didn't mean he was off the hook, though! not by a long shot! you certainly tugged his ear about what he was doing and made him promise to tone down the- almost paranoid- overprotectiveness in the future. it was unnecessary, especially as there were so many people now that you could trust and rely on, victor being one of them. however that didn't mean that you couldn't look after yourself either (though for the most part, you couldn't really), and you certainly let him have a piece of your mind in that department.

you resolved to keep an eye on him in the near future, so that this sort of thing couldn't pop up in the future and be an issue again.

however if you took your eye off him for even a moment, the cause of these tendencies would fester and grow once more. but for the moment, you were blissfully unaware of this, and went back to bed with a happy conscience that led to a steady sleep.

[uppastthejelliclemoon]

Ghosts

a bittersweet little short inspired by @dcjelliclequeen33 and a wonderful idea that she had

Hestia hadn’t noticed him at first. 

She didn’t notice the cool breeze that always seemed to brush past her when she was particularly sad on a certain day, or how the air seemed to fill with a warm scent that somehow smelled of home, even though it never smelled like the Junkyard. 

She didn’t notice him until she was out for a walk after visiting Jubilee.

Hestia had just been about to turn down the alley that led to a shortcut to the Junkyard when she saw him. 

A grey tom with mismatched eyes, watching her intently from around the corner. 

“Hello.” Hestia said cautiously, moving forward. As soon as she took a step towards the tom, he turned, disappearing around the wall. For some reason, Hestia jumped forward, going to follow the tom, but found him gone as soon as she looked around the corner. She frowned, but the frown soon melted into a soft smile as she felt the breeze rush around her, feeling a strange sense of happiness and peace wash over her. 

She saw the tom again, this time in the Junkyard, when she was practicing her magic in her clearing by herself. She was dancing, since, much like her papa, it helped her to better control her magic. As she finished her dance, Hestia’s eyes opened to find herself staring into mismatched eyes, one red and one blue, and she froze. The tom stared at her, an unreadable expression on his face, and Hestia reached out. He immediately turned and slipped through a gap in the clearing, causing Hestia to run after him, only to find him gone a moment later. 

She didn’t tell anyone about the strange tom until her papa finally approached her, concern in his eyes. 

“What’s been going on with you, Essie?” Mistoffelees asked, sitting down beside his daughter. “You’ve been looking over your shoulder a lot lately. Are you okay?”

Hestia leaned against him with a sigh. “I think I’m seeing things. When I was walking home from visiting Jojo the other day, I went to take the shortcut, and I saw a tom looking at me. I felt like I had seen him before, so I said ‘hello’. As soon as I spoke, he rushed off. I tried to follow him, but it was like he had disappeared. The same thing happened the other day when I was practicing in the clearing. I finished my dance and there he was, but as soon as I reached towards him, he left.” Mistoffelees frowned, confusion in his eyes. 

“I don’t know who he could be, Essie.” he said softly. “But when you see him again, tell me, okay?” Hestia nodded, unable to shake the feeling that she knew the tom somehow. 

The third time Hestia met the tom was when she was out walking with Mistoffelees. They were returning home after visiting Bustopher, and Mistoffelees spotted him first. He stilled, narrowing his eyes slightly as the tom looked at him.

“That’s him, Papa.” Hestia said quietly, not looking away. “That’s all he does.”

“Why are you following my daughter?” Mistoffelees asked, paws crackling with magic. The tom turned and slipped through the crowd of humans, disappearing almost instantly. Mistoffelees blinked in surprise before glancing down at Hestia. “And he disappears?” The grey queen nodded, pressing against her papa. “Let’s go home, Essie. We’ll figure something out.”

Hestia finally got her answers the night of the full moon, when she was in her clearing practicing with Mistoffelees. Her magic always seemed to be the most powerful around the full moon, and Mistoffelees had been helping her grow in controlling it. As Hestia spun around, she caught a glimpse of grey fur, and she stilled, eyes locking on the now-familiar tom. 

“Who are you?” she asked, sitting down slowly. Mistoffelees was at her side immediately, and she focused on the tom with a welcoming look. “Please, we’re not going to hurt you.”

The tom still said nothing, but this time he stayed, sitting down across from Hestia. He was only focused on her, giving her such a soft, loving look that it was nearly painful to look at him.

“My name is Hades.” an echoing voice said, and it took Hestia and Mistoffelees a moment to realize that it was the tom who had spoken, even if his lips hadn’t moved. “I am one of the kittens that Macavity so cruelly killed. Unlike my siblings and my mother, my spirit has not been so willing to move on. I’ve been wandering through the city searching for my only living sibling, hoping to see her just once so that I may finally be at ease.”

Hestia’s eyes slowly widened in realization, and she stepped forward, studying the tom. “You, your siblings, and your mother were all killed by Macavity?” Hades nodded, and the young grey queen’s eyes filled with tears. “Are you my brother?” Hades gave her a warm smile that instantly made Hestia feel safe. 

“Hello at last, little sister.” 

His voice was quiet, but both Jellicles could hear the emotion in his words. Moving cautiously, she stopped right in front of Hades, slowly leaning forward until she pressed her forehead against his. The tom relaxed, nuzzling her gently, and Hestia bit back a sob. 

“Were you stuck here?” Mistoffelees asked softly, watching their interaction. 

Hades glanced up at him. “I do not know. All I know is that I needed to find my living sibling, to see that she was safe and happy.” 

“I am. I really am.” Hestia said earnestly, looking back at Mistoffelees happily. “I wish that you all were here with us, that I could grow up with you. But I’m happy. I have Papa and Dad, Jojo, Sek, Ares, and all the tribe.”

“That is all I need to know, little sister.” Hades said fondly. “Before we realized I would not be able to move on until I saw you, Mother gave me a message for you.” Hestia froze, staring at Hades. “She wanted me to tell you that she is happy for you, and that she couldn’t be prouder of the queen you’ve become.” Hestia beamed, tears in her eyes, and Hades turned his smile upon Mistoffelees. “Mother also wanted me to tell you that she is grateful for giving Hestia so much love and support as she has grown, and for keeping her safe.” 

Mistoffelees gave the tom a gentle smile. “She has nothing to thank us for. She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to Tugger and I.” 

“Do you have to go, now that you’ve seen me?” Hestia asked, and Hades glanced up at the bright moon. 

“I believe I do. But, if the Everlasting Cat permits it, I will try to visit again.” he told her, and Hestia nuzzled against his cheek again, and he kissed her forehead affectionately. “I love you very much, little sister.”

Hestia stepped back to Mistoffelees’ side, tears falling down her cheeks as she smiled. “I love you too.” 

Hades gave them both a final smile and turned, walking away from them and disappearing into the shadows. Hestia took a shaking breath, and Mistoffelees hugged her close. 

“Are you okay?” he asked softly. 

Hestia nodded against his fur. “I got to meet one of my siblings, and I know that my mother is proud of me.”

“Of course she’s proud of you, Essie.” Mistoffelees said, making Hestia laugh slightly. “Now, come on. Your dad is probably wondering what’s been taking us so long.”

The two Jellicles walked back towards the main stage area, where they approached Tugger, who was sitting with Sekhmet and Ares near him. 

“Where have you two been?” the maine coon asked, greeting his mate with a kiss as Hestia sat beside Sekhmet, snuggling into her older sister. 

“I’ve got a new sibling.” the younger queen remarked, making Mistoffelees laugh slightly. “We’re adopting him.”

Tugger cocked his head. “Okay... where is he?”

“Oh.” Hestia hummed, closing her eyes contentedly as Sekhmet wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “He’s a ghost.” 

“Cool!” Ares exclaimed. 

“I’m sorry, he’s a what?”

[kaimaciel]

My Favorite Books of 2018

The Archived  by Victoria Schwab

“Each body has a story to tell, a life seen in pictures only Librarians can read. The dead are called Histories, and the vast realm in which they rest is the Archive. Da first brought Mackenzie Bishop here four years ago, when she was twelve years old, frightened but determined to prove herself. Now Da is dead, and Mac has grown into what he once was: a ruthless Keeper, tasked with stopping often violent Histories from waking up and getting out. Because of her job, she lies to the people she loves, and she knows fear for what it is: a useful tool for staying alive. Being a Keeper isn't just dangerous—it's a constant reminder of those Mac has lost, Da's death was hard enough, but now that her little brother is gone too, Mac starts to wonder about the boundary between living and dying, sleeping and waking. In the Archive, the dead must never be disturbed. And yet, someone is deliberately altering Histories, erasing essential chapters. Unless Mac can piece together what remains, the Archive itself may crumble and fall.”

The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware

“On a day that begins like any other, Hal receives a mysterious letter bequeathing her a substantial inheritance. She realizes very quickly that the letter was sent to the wrong person—but also that the cold-reading skills she’s honed as a tarot card reader might help her claim the money. Soon, Hal finds herself at the funeral of the deceased…where it dawns on her that there is something very, very wrong about this strange situation and the inheritance at the center of it.”

Still Me (Me Before You #3) by Jojo Moyes

“Louisa Clark arrives in New York ready to start a new life, confident that she can embrace this new adventure and keep her relationship with Ambulance Sam alive across several thousand miles. She steps into the world of the superrich, working for Leonard Gopnik and his much younger second wife, Agnes. Lou is determined to get the most out of the experience and throws herself into her new job and New York life. As she begins to mix in New York high society, Lou meets Joshua Ryan, a man who brings with him a whisper of her past. Before long, Lou finds herself torn between Fifth Avenue where she works and the treasure-filled vintage clothing store where she actually feels at home. And when matters come to a head, she has to ask herself: Who is Louisa Clark? And how do you find the courage to follow your heart—wherever that may lead?”

Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty

“Could ten days at a health resort really change you forever? In Liane Moriarty’s latest page-turner, nine perfect strangers are about to find out... Nine people gather at a remote health resort. Some are here to lose weight, some are here to get a reboot on life, some are here for reasons they can’t even admit to themselves. Amidst all of the luxury and pampering, the mindfulness and meditation, they know these ten days might involve some real work. But none of them could imagine just how challenging the next ten days are going to be. Frances Welty, the formerly best-selling romantic novelist, arrives at Tranquillum House nursing a bad back, a broken heart, and an exquisitely painful paper cut. She’s immediately intrigued by her fellow guests. Most of them don’t look to be in need of a health resort at all. But the person that intrigues her most is the strange and charismatic owner/director of Tranquillum House. Could this person really have the answers Frances didn’t even know she was seeking? Should Frances put aside her doubts and immerse herself in everything Tranquillum House has to offer – or should she run while she still can? It’s not long before every guest at Tranquillum House is asking exactly the same question.”

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

“On 21 June 1922 Count Alexander Rostov – recipient of the Order of Saint Andrew, member of the Jockey Club, Master of the Hunt – is escorted out of the Kremlin, across Red Square and through the elegant revolving doors of the Hotel Metropol. But instead of being taken to his usual suite, he is led to an attic room with a window the size of a chessboard. Deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, the Count has been sentenced to house arrest indefinitely. While Russia undergoes decades of tumultuous upheaval, the Count, stripped of the trappings that defined his life, is forced to question what makes us who we are. And with the assistance of a glamorous actress, a cantankerous chef and a very serious child, Rostov unexpectedly discovers a new understanding of both pleasure and purpose.”

Heart of Iron (Heart of Iron #1) by Ashley Poston

“Seventeen-year-old Ana is a scoundrel by nurture and an outlaw by nature. Found as a child drifting through space with a sentient android called D09, Ana was saved by a fearsome space captain and the grizzled crew she now calls family. But D09—one of the last remaining illegal Metals—has been glitching, and Ana will stop at nothing to find a way to fix him. Ana’s desperate effort to save D09 leads her on a quest to steal the coordinates to a lost ship that could offer all the answers. But at the last moment, a spoiled Ironblood boy beats Ana to her prize. He has his own reasons for taking the coordinates, and he doesn’t care what he’ll sacrifice to keep them. When everything goes wrong, she and the Ironblood end up as fugitives on the run. Now their entire kingdom is after them—and the coordinates—and not everyone wants them captured alive. What they find in a lost corner of the universe will change all their lives—and unearth dangerous secrets. But when a darkness from Ana’s past returns, she must face an impossible choice: does she protect a kingdom that wants her dead or save the Metal boy she loves?”

Our Dark Duet (Monsters of Verity #2) by Victoria Schwab

“THE WORLD IS BREAKING. AND SO ARE THEY. KATE HARKER isn't afraid of monsters. She hunts them. And she's good at it. AUGUST FLYNN once yearned to be human. He has a part to play. And he will play it, no matter the cost. THE WAR HAS BEGUN. THE MONSTERS ARE WINNING. Kate will have to return to Verity. August will have to let her back in. And a new monster is waiting—one that feeds on chaos and brings out its victims' inner demons. Which will be harder to conquer: the monsters they face, or the monsters within?”

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

“Our Dragon doesn’t eat the girls he takes, no matter what stories they tell outside our valley. We hear them sometimes, from travelers passing through. They talk as though we were doing human sacrifice, and he were a real dragon. Of course that’s not true: he may be a wizard and immortal, but he’s still a man, and our fathers would band together and kill him if he wanted to eat one of us every ten years. He protects us against the Wood, and we’re grateful, but not that grateful.” Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life. Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as falling to the Wood. The next choosing is fast approaching, and Agnieszka is afraid. She knows—everyone knows—that the Dragon will take Kasia: beautiful, graceful, brave Kasia, all the things Agnieszka isn’t, and her dearest friend in the world. And there is no way to save her. But Agnieszka fears the wrong things. For when the Dragon comes, it is not Kasia he will choose.”

Far from the Tree by Robin Benway

“A contemporary novel about three adopted siblings who find each other at just the right moment. Being the middle child has its ups and downs. But for Grace, an only child who was adopted at birth, discovering that she is a middle child is a different ride altogether. After putting her own baby up for adoption, she goes looking for her biological family, including— Maya, her loudmouthed younger bio sister, who has a lot to say about their newfound family ties. Having grown up the snarky brunette in a house full of chipper redheads, she’s quick to search for traces of herself among these not-quite-strangers. And when her adopted family’s long-buried problems begin to explode to the surface, Maya can’t help but wonder where exactly it is that she belongs. And Joaquin, their stoic older bio brother, who has no interest in bonding over their shared biological mother. After seventeen years in the foster care system, he’s learned that there are no heroes, and secrets and fears are best kept close to the vest, where they can’t hurt anyone but him.”

Obsidio (The Illuminae Files #3) by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff

“Kady, Ezra, Hanna, and Nik narrowly escaped with their lives from the attacks on Heimdall station and now find themselves crammed with 2,000 refugees on the container ship, Mao. With the jump station destroyed and their resources scarce, the only option is to return to Kerenza—but who knows what they'll find seven months after the invasion? Meanwhile, Kady's cousin, Asha, survived the initial BeiTech assault and has joined Kerenza's ragtag underground resistance. When Rhys—an old flame from Asha's past—reappears on Kerenza, the two find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict. With time running out, a final battle will be waged on land and in space, heroes will fall, and hearts will be broken.”

The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager

“Two Truths and a Lie. The girls played it all the time in their tiny cabin at Camp Nightingale. Vivian, Natalie, Allison, and first-time camper Emma Davis, the youngest of the group. The games ended when Emma sleepily watched the others sneak out of the cabin in the dead of night. The last she--or anyone--saw of them was Vivian closing the cabin door behind her, hushing Emma with a finger pressed to her lips. Now a rising star in the New York art scene, Emma turns her past into paintings--massive canvases filled with dark leaves and gnarled branches that cover ghostly shapes in white dresses. The paintings catch the attention of Francesca Harris-White, the socialite and wealthy owner of Camp Nightingale. When Francesca implores her to return to the newly reopened camp as a painting instructor, Emma sees an opportunity to try to find out what really happened to her friends. Yet it's immediately clear that all is not right at Camp Nightingale. Already haunted by memories from fifteen years ago, Emma discovers a security camera pointed directly at her cabin, mounting mistrust from Francesca and, most disturbing of all, cryptic clues Vivian left behind about the camp's twisted origins. As she digs deeper, Emma finds herself sorting through lies from the past while facing threats from both man and nature in the present. And the closer she gets to the truth about Camp Nightingale, the more she realizes it may come at a deadly price.”

[childrenofhypnos]

Chapter 28: Fenhalloween

I’d be able to sense a doppelgänger, Emery told herself. I would sense a doppelgänger.

She motioned to Wes to go around the left side of the staircases while she crept around the right. The dark figure straightened up and lashed out at something on the ground—the lamp that had fallen from the entryway table, now in pieces on the floor.

“Damn…lamp…boobytrap…”

Emery lowered her guns, though her heart still beat a million miles a minute. “Hypnos’s eyeballs, Marcia, how many times are you going to show up somewhere unannounced?”

Marcia froze with one leg in the air; Emery could just see the cord of the lamp wrapped around her foot. Her head turned to both of them, her expression hidden in shadow. “When have I shown up somewhere else unannounced? Ugh—nevermind. I didn’t think you’d actually be up here!”

“Why are you here? And why’d you set off the Fox?” Wes said. As he did, the Fox screamed again outside.

“I didn’t,” she sniped, tearing the cord off her foot. “My dad did. We were coming back from midnight dinner; he heard from some of the students in the Crossing that they saw you come up this way, so he followed. The Fox took him by surprise, so I came up here without him. The Fox won’t keep him busy for long. You need to leave. Now.”

“What’s going on?” Joel’s flashlight beam illuminated them through the twisting staircases.

“Your idea didn’t work, Jojo,” Emery said. “Coming up here was more suspicious. We have to go. Get all your stuff. Jackie! Kris, Lewis, Ridley! Let’s go!”

Sounds echoed out of the ballroom. The light inside the door went out. Kris, Lewis, Jacqueline, and Ridley hustled into the foyer.

“Go east,” Marcia said. “Don’t take the path back down. He might see you. Go east and come out near the dorms, then split up, go to your rooms for the night, and act like you’ve done nothing strange. I’ll stay here and keep him occupied.”

Marcia kicked the broken lamp off to the side and pushed them all out of the manor. Instead of going straight back down the path to the sports fields, Emery led the way east, into the thick crush of the Fenhallow Woods. The Fox’s screams still pierced the night, but they cut off every few seconds, like a strange stuttering siren. Faint shafts of moonlight crept through the canopy above to light their path. They prowled as quietly and quickly as they could through the underbrush, though Kris and Lewis weren’t known for their stealth, and the heels on Jacqueline’s boots had her stumbling every fifth step.

Emery allowed herself a breath when they emerged from the woods on the far east side of the administration building, closer to the upper-classmen dorms and the sleep research center. They sprinted the distance between the trees and the research center, hiding themselves in the long shadows it cast on the ground.

As soon as they were close enough to the roads between the dorms, Lewis didn’t need more prompting. He tugged on Kris’s sleeve and pulled her toward the sidewalk. Emery gave Joel a quick kiss and said to him and Jacqueline, “I’ll text you later. We can’t go back up there now, he’ll be suspicious. Keep your phones on and I’ll let you know.”

Then she grabbed Wes and started toward Kirkland. Ridley followed tight on Wes’s heels until she’d stepped on them enough time that Wes glared at her. She said a quick goodbye and skittered off.

“I didn’t think he’d find us so quickly,” Wes said, fists clenched and jaw tight. “If we’d had more time, we could have practiced more. Could have tried something else—maybe even gone inside, after a few nights of work.”

“We got somewhere, though, and I care more about that.” Emery checked the line of the trees over her shoulder. What leaves were left on the trees rustled gently in the night. “If even one of us can open a gateway, that’s enough. We’ll go through.”

“Whether or not it’s safe?” he said.

“Nothing’s safe if my doppelgänger is active,” she replied. “Fenhalloween is in two days. If Ares doesn’t come for us after he searches the manor, we go through and find this thing.” They reached the front doors of Kirkland. Emery pulled Wes to a stop.

“And screw waiting,” she said. “If we find her, I’m killing her. I don’t care how long it takes.”

~

Ares didn’t come for them that night or the next day. While the day and night division students both got caught up in costumes and creepy decorations, Emery texted Joel, Kris, and Lewis, and told them to lay low for a week and not to do anything suspicious—Wes had already said the same thing to Ridley. Then Emery texted Jacqueline and told her to come to Emery’s dorm on Fenhalloween night, half an hour before the festivities were supposed to start, when their classmates would be heading up to Fenhallow Manor.

Emery waited in her room, watching from her window as crowds started to funnel out of the dorms and make their way toward the path through the woods. The Fox was already screaming, and the sky was going dark. Purple lanterns had been set up on metal poles along campus roads to give the school an eerie glow. She’d spent the last two days convincing Joel she didn’t want to go out for Fenhalloween, and it was fine if he went with his soccer friends. She caught him walking down the sidwalk, dressed as a fairytale prince, with a crowd of other boys who looked more like fairytale pirates. Joel looked toward Kirkland as he passed by, but Emery sat behind her curtains and knew he couldn’t see her.

A knock came at her door. She checked the clock as she got up from her perch. “You’re like fifteen minutes early, Jackie, we need to wait until the building is emptier—”

But it wasn’t Jacqueline at the door.

It was Edgar.

“Joel said you weren’t coming to Fenhalloween.” Edgar was dressed like cowboy. Of course. “Do you feel okay? Is—um—is your—dop—”

“I have cramps,” Emery said.

Edgar’s flushed bright crimson from the collar of his shirt to the roots of his hair.

“Oh,” he said, but still didn’t move. “Um. Do you need anything? Grandpa says heating pads help. Or, um, medicine? And watching movies. We could watch a movie.”

Persistent, caring little monster. Emery tapped the brim of his cowboy hat. “No, but thank you. You should go with your friends.”

Edgar shifted on the spot, saying nothing. He picked at the hem of his shirt, which must have once been tucked into his pants but now hung loose. Emery realized what she’d said. They always went to Fenhalloween together, and Edgar had always followed her around all night, quiet and out of the way, a little shadow.

“Morris is going, isn’t he?” she said.

“Yes.”

“So go hang out with him.”

Edgar shrugged. Emery nudged him in the shoulder. “There must be someone you can hang out with there.”

Edgar looked up, eyes wide. “Is Wes going?”

“Uh…maybe. You should go find out.”

“You don’t know?”

“I don’t talk to him about everything.” Emery checked the clock again. She needed to get Edgar out before Jacqueline and Wes showed up.

“And…medicine won’t make it better?” Edgar said.

“What? Oh—no. Edgar, look. I’m not always going to be around for stuff like this. If you go out and talk to people, you’ll make more friends, and you won’t need me.” Even as she said it, she felt a sharp pain in her gut. She hadn’t thought about the words before she’d said them, and now they felt like she’d stabbed herself. Edgar’s face fell and his blush deepened.

“I didn’t mean it like—it’s just—” She couldn’t be sharp with Edgar. She couldn’t be dry. She couldn’t lie to him, and she couldn’t shut the door in his face.

“What’s Edgar doing here?”

Emery stiffened. Jacqueline came down the hallway, slipping her phone in her pocket and reaching up to tie her hair back. A moment later Wes appeared at the top of the stairs at the far end of the hallway. He paused, looking between Emery and Edgar; Emery tried to think of a hand motion that would mean Pretend you’re going to Fenhalloween and get out of here right now.

“Are you guys doing something?” Edgar asked.

“No,” Emery said before either Jacqueline or Wes could answer. It came out sharp. It was a lie.

Edgar turned to her and she watched both of those things register in his expression. For as strange as he was, and as worried as he could be, he had never taken long to put the pieces together.

“It’s your doppelgänger, right?” he said. “The picture. It wasn’t a picture. It was real.”

“No, Edgar—”

“That’s dangerous. You shouldn’t do that. You shouldn’t fight for it. You shouldn’t fight it without Grandpa and Mom and Dad.” His thin shoulders heaved, his breaths drawing short and close together, his hands balling in the fabric of his jeans. His voice got louder. “It’ll hurt you. It’ll try to hurt you. You can’t go.”

Emery grabbed his head. “Edgar. Breathe. We’re not going after my doppelgänger. No one’s going to get hurt.”

“You’re lying.” His eyes glazed over, but he looked too petrified to cry. “You found out more from the Sandman and you didn’t tell me. You’re lying.”

Emery resisted the urge to squeeze him. “Because you would have told Grandpa.”

“So? It would have been better—”

“We can’t know that. I want to tell him, Edgar, I do, but he could tell the rest of the State. I could be served my termination papers. I don’t want to be on a deadline to kill this thing. I don’t want to have to train to fight it, because that’ll just make it stronger. I want to take it out on my own terms. Okay?” She held on to his face; his cheeks were hot, his eyes two blue skull-fires. “What I need you to do right now is go to Fenhallow Manor with everyone else and act like everything is normal. And don’t talk to Grandpa Al.”

“But you can’t go—”

“I can.” She said it with as much force as she could muster, and his eyes widened. She released him and moved back inside her room. “Go away.”

She may as well have slapped him; he reeled back, pulling the hat off his head, and shoved his way past Wes and Jacqueline to flee back to the staircase. The three of them stood motionless until he was gone.

Emery swore.

“I’m so glad I don’t have siblings,” Jacqueline said, fixing her hair and stepping into Emery’s room.

Wes followed after, frowning as always. “Is that going to be a problem?”

“I hope not,” Emery said, closing the door. “But let’s not push it. Jackie, open the gateway.”

Jacqueline cocked an eyebrow. “You waste all that time in student council meetings and now you want to cut to the chase?” But she rubbed her hands together and planted her feet apart on the floor, focusing on open air in the middle of Emery’s dorm room.

“Test run first,” Wes said. “I don’t want to get stuck inside. I’ve been practicing in my room—just a little at a time, enough that the denmother wouldn’t notice—and I should be able to open a gateway, too, if we need it.”

Where previously the room had been untouched by the Dream, now pressure began to creep in on the edges of Emery’s senses. She formed armor over her clothes and breathed evenly. The pressure gathered before Jacqueline, the size of a soccer ball, invisible but so absolutely there that Emery felt sure she would be able to kick it through the window. Emery pulled her Peacemakers off her bracelet and shoved them into their holsters. Wes took his hammer from its chain and enlarged it.

“Test run,” Jacqueline said, and shoved her hands into the air before her. She pulled her gateway open. Two great horse statues suddenly occupied Emery’s room, making her bedframe crack against the wall. Lightning crackled within the dark portal.

“What’s it like inside?” Jacqueline said.

“Weird,” Emery replied, holding out her hands. Jacqueline took one, Wes the other. “Hold on really tight. We have to end up in the same place. Ready?”

“Ready,” they both said.

Holding as tightly to them as she could, Emery pulled them through the gateway.

There was darkness, and the rush of falling, and Emery could still feel both Jacqueline’s and Wes’s hands in hers, though she also felt other fingers there, fingers trying to worm their way in and pry apart her grip. She gritted her teeth and held on tighter.

She landed on soft nothingness like she had last time, and the Dream reached for her mind as soon as it could, tearing at her memories. She held her grip and squeezed her eyes shut and thought about her father and his Irish mythology, her mother and her long black hair; she thought of the clock ticking behind Grandpa Al’s desk and the look on Edgar’s face before he had run from her.

“Emery. Emery, come on.”

Hands pulled at her. Wes and Jacqueline stood above her in No Man’s Land, the cracked and barren plain of the Dream, with dream windows forming and dissolving around them. Purple clouds roiled overhead.

Emery let go of their hands and sat up, rubbing the ache from her forehead. “That’s really the worst.”

Wes’s frown deepened. “Klaus was right. The Dream reacts differently to you.”

“What do you mean? What was that like for you?”

“It felt like we stepped through a gateway and now we’re here,” Jacqueline said.

“For me it felt like falling for a second or two, then landing here,” Wes said. “It’s disorienting—it doesn’t feel like the waking world, and the pressure is overwhelming for a second. But only for a second. You looked like someone was shoving an ice pick in your head.”

“Ugh. We’ll figure it out later. Jackie, open the gateway back.”

Jacqueline was already focusing. This time, instead of concentrated pressure of the Dream coalescing in front of her, it felt like a release, like a hole where the pressure could escape. It happened quicker than before, and Jacqueline opened the gateway with ease. Two large horse statues now stood in the middle of No Man’s Land, the portal between them a welcome way out.

“We can go out and you can deal with all that coming back in nonsense,” Jacqueline said, “or we can just stay in and do what we came to do.”

“Stay in,” Emery said, at the same time Wes said, “Go out.” She shot him a withering look.

“I don’t want to deal with that pressure again,” she said. “I’ve already got a headache. Let’s go find this thing.”

“And, um,” Jacqueline looked around. The windows were coming closer. “Where do you suggest we do that? There aren’t exactly any signs pointing us the right direction.”

“It’s my doppelgänger. My doppelgänger will be made from my dream. If we have to start anywhere, it should be there.”

“We don’t exactly get to choose which dream windows show up near us,” Wes said.

“Dream windows appear in similar locations as their dreamers,” Jacqueline said matter-of-factly. “Did neither of you read anything in the book I brought to the manor? This place might be cuckoo-bonkers nonsense, but the dream window of someone in China isn’t going to show up here. All these windows are of people who live nearby. Probably on campus, or in the city. So really, your dream window should be pretty close at all times, since you’re right here. Or at the very least, you should be able to summon it.”

“Summon it? Like a demon?”

“Just think about it real hard.”

“I don’t even know what it looks like.”

“What do you dream about?” Wes asked.

Emery eyed the approaching windows warily. The faster they could get inside her dream, the faster they could avoid going through hours of other people’s dreams and nightmares. “Like, once a month, what do I dream about? You really expect me to remember that?”

“It doesn’t have to be your exact dream that you think about,” Jacqueline said. “Think of yourself. Think of your own mind. Think of stepping inside it.”

“Is there like a dreamseeker gene for visualization or something? Is that why you’re all supposed to be good at this?”

“Shut up and do it.”

A window passed close to Wes’s right side. Emery fought the urge to grab both Wes and Jacqueline again. Instead, she thought about how she’d like not to move at all. Then she thought about retreating inside herself. Then she thought about how if retreating inside herself was the way to keep herself from moving, she would do it. She would crawl right into her own mind and stay there. She’d barricade herself in with memories of her family and her friends and she’d make herself safe.

She felt the brush of a window shudder at her back, like a friendly hand on her shoulder. When she turned, there it was: almost like a gateway in its unwavering solidarity, a lone opening in the great stretch of No Man’s Land. Visible through it were snow-swept lawns and the many burning lights of a faraway palace.

Emery knew it was hers like she knew her own hands, and she grabbed Wes and Jacqueline and took them inside.