#I love my magic box of doom

[condense-fanpage]

arafef is a ship for lesbians who just want to be happy in life with none of that doomed yuri crap

[divine-crows]

🎨✨️Art Magic✨️🎨

Uses, Forms of it, and Why I Think Everyone Should Try it at Least Once.

Foreword

Right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, I had been trying and failing to rekindle my flame for magic work. No matter what I tried to do I just couldn't get back into my studies and I was reaching a point where I was convinced I lost my spark and was doomed to live an empty life. Then it all changed when a YouTube Channel challenged how I thought about everything: Molly Roberts. That's when I was opened to the possibility of art magic, and I'll now share my love of it with anyone willing to read on.

What Is Art Magic?

A means to utilize art for spellwork, raising magical energy, or for exploring your magical subconscious. It encapsulates multiple different types of art and is generally not confined by conventional expectation (unless that's what you prefer).

You can utilize art magic by. . .

Using traditional art methods

Digital art methods

Collages

Music composition

Jewelry making

Embroidery

And much more!

How do I know if Art Magic is Suitable for Me?

There isn't a specific thing that'll indicate this form of magic is perfect for you, however I have some anecdotes from my personal experience as both a witch, and a regular artist that form a sort of idea on what could denote this being perfect for you!

First off, craving freedom from personal restraints was a big factor that pushed me towards blending my craft with my passion for art. If you want to run from the monotony of life, if you feel trapped by the social construction of boxes, or if you simply want to challenge your own mental restraints... then this idea might resonate with you.

Challenging yourself with a new form of magic, similarly, can also be a good enough reason to try. I'm the type of person who loves to constantly learn new things and I unfortunately get bored really quickly if I can't get new source materials. Using Art Magic has proven a fun challenge for me that allows me to explore a lot more topics you can't just open a book to find.

For those that may not be able to safely perform a lot of traditional style spells, this form of magic provides a discreet way to practice witchcraft. Most people wouldn't really question someone if they picked up the hobby of making art, and even if they did there's plenty of reasonable excuses out there.

How you prefer your spells to manifest themselves can also affect if this journey is a good idea or not. I find that Art Magic is really good when it comes to subtle spellwork that is more longform (though depending on how you construct them you can definitely create a spell that's the opposite).

Catalog aspects of your magical journey. Imagine a grimoire filled with pages of drawings, each one telling a story of something you experienced or learned as a witch. This especially may be more beneficial for visual learners.

You could use it as a means of meditation, sometimes art can be calming and it can open the door to your mind (so-to-speak). Especially if you're like me and struggle with staying completely still while trying to clear your mind, this may be helpful for you.

Trying to better understand archetypes, deities, types of entities, or even your own self can also be a big part of this. I've used art magic as a way to embody the "energy" of something before so I could better understand it. Especially when you're trying to seek knowledge that isn't often written on, it can provide a great way to explore more.

How Can I perform an Art Spell?

I have a step-by-step process that can give you some insight on how you may approach it:

1) Think of the intention you want. I like to close my eyes and meditate on it for about a minute then I write down if my mind wandered to any specific imagery or ideas.

2) Think of visual symbolism and colors that can help you capture the mood you want. Perhaps you need a warm color palette to invoke positive feelings, or maybe there are specific objects or animals you can include on the composition that represent something.

3) If you feel it fits your composition, you can include sigils, symbols of significance, and include shapes that have certain associations. It doesn't even have to be obvious either. You can use a circular composition to convey something endless for example, or a triangular composition to show priority over something.

4) In general follow what your heart tells you. This is a little cliche, but ultimately follow what seems best to you. Art isn't about boxing yourself in and my guidelines are just general ideas for anyone who's lost!

Why do I think that everyone should try it at least once?

From my experiences as a witch, I find that a lot of paths to be followed are quite rigid. By no means am I implying that a rigid structure is bad-- it creates a foundation from which we can work upon. I myself am exploring rigid, 'traditional' (for lack of a better term) ways of working magic. Art magic pushes you out of your comfort zone in a safe way. It makes you consider how you associate things. It makes you create new sigils and makes you research new symbols you previously wouldn't have used.

So next time you're lost on a spell, or you've lost your way in your Craft and you don't know what to do, think about maybe giving Art Magic a try. I hope my guide was a helpful starting point for anyone interested in the topic!

[a-flaming-idiot]

So remembered an animatic that said every Ladybug holder was destined to abandon their Black Cat and they'd never see each other again. So I quickly threw together a set of curses for all the Chinese Box.

Ladybug - They are destined to always die alone with their goals unaccomplished

Black Cat - They are fated to always be abandoned by the person they hold closest

Fox - They are fated to always destroy the person they love most

Turtle - When it counts most they won’t be able to protect those they hold most dear

Bee - They are fated to drive others away at their most vulnerable

Butterfly - They are fated to have their good intentions twisted sour

Peacock - They are fated to put their faith and love into the wrong person and destroy themselves

Snake - At the end of things, they will always end up alone

Dragon - They are fated to never have the strength they most need

Bunny - They are destined to see the worst fates of their friends repeat over and over again with no chance to save them

Tiger - They are destined to always squeeze too tight and break those they love

Pig - Their kindness and desire to help will be their downfall

Mouse - They are fated to feel the weight of every task and eventually be crushed by it

Ox - They are cursed to be destroyed by their own growing doubt

Horse - They are fated to always be a moment too slow and be ruined by it

Monkey - Their happiness will come at the cost of the misery of others

Goat - They will be consumed by their passion and desires

Dog - They will devote their lives to a goal and only in their last moments realize they were wrong

Rooster - The people they hold closest will be unreachable

My rough idea is that the Miraculous of the Chinese Miracle Box are so powerful that their magic naturally backlashes onto the user in the form of a curse. So if someone wears a Miraculous for too long, they will be doomed to the curse even if they take it off.

[kalena-henden]

Destined With You has me intrigued. There are things I like about it (mostly Rowoon and the mystery), things that annoy me (the bad co-workers), and things that confuse me. After 4 episodes, I finally feel like I'm starting to understand what the writer is trying to do.

However, Netflix strikes again with a generic drama title that is very confusing and doesn't capture the depth or meaning of the Korean title in the slightest. (Thank goodness Viki got Doom at Your Service first cause that title is fire, even if it's not literal. I'm still shaking my fist at Netflix naming very accurate Korean title, Forest of Secrets, the boring and bland non-specific Stranger. Just why?!)

The Korean title is 이 연애는 불가항력.

The first part 이 연애는 means 'this love'. But the final word is the Korean translation of the French law terminology 'force majeure' (aka major force) which they translate as 'irresistible force'. It's a clause that is commonly used in contracts that negates some or all of the terms of a contract when an 'act of God' occurs, like a natural disaster, which would make one or both parties unable to fulfill their responsibilities. This is interesting as it gives the real title multiple meanings.

The most literal translation would be 'This Love is a Force Majeure' referencing Shinyu's profession and him being a stickler for adhering exactly to the contract terms, including verbal contracts like the ones he has with the Hongjo.

The next translation is 'This Love is an Irresistible Force' which implies that this love is almost against their will. They can't help but fall for each other. Currently, we have a quite literal interpretation of this with Shinyu accidentally drinking the love potion and now having unwanted thoughts and emotions regarding Hongjo.

Another potential translation extrapolated out of force majeure is 'This Love is an Act of God'. This implies this love is outside of human control, like destiny created by God or gods, depending on your religion. This is where I think Netflix got their generic 'destined' title. Unfortunately that 'destined' title completely negates that this writer has our leads intentionally playing with words. Not only on a banter level but also testing the letter of the law with their verbal contracts, some which are intentionally made and others they've made unknowingly. Words carry weight in this drama; not just through their emotion or meaning but in a magically binding way.

What if casting the spells isn't enough to activate them? What if the spells need words of intent to activate them?

Even though Hongjo doesn't believe it yet, she is a shaman or witch. Her words alone opened the lock on the box that held the spell book. They weren't just any words; they were words that had deep intention attached to them. After day dreaming her crush was there for her in a time of need when she was home alone, she half pleads, 'Please, can you come?' A few days later, Jaekyung has moved into the first floor of the house she rents.

When Shinyu drinks the Love Potion, nothing happens. He treats her the same way he's been treating her when she barges into his office to try to take care of the person who ran into the flowered-potted median. Any discomfort he's showing can be attributed to the fact that he is the culprit who ruined the median she is ranting over. It does however remind him how dangerous his illness has become triggering his urgency to cast the Disease Curing Spell as soon as possible. It's not until after he sees that the Love Spell is missing from the book and tells her, 'Because if you get a boyfriend, it's thanks to me.' that he has his first heart-fluttering sign of love when she tries take the book from him. He doesn't seem to have any moral issues with her using the love spell and is even trying to take credit for it since he gave her the box. After he discovers that he mistakingly drank the love potion, he's only upset that he's the one who drank it instead of her intended target. But what if drinking the love potion wasn't enough? What if it needed to be activated by his words of intention? His intention was for her to get a boyfriend.

Old Shaman to Shinyu: 'You killed her. The owner of the bloody hand that caresses your cheek. Karma will swallow you and you will struggle in horrible pain. But all the pain and curses will end. Finally, the owner of the wooden box showed up.'

Now back to our title, 'This Love is a Force Majeure'. The longstanding family curse appears to have been caused by Shinyu killing someone in his past life and curses can be considered a contract that binds people to their bad fate. If a contract is made in perpetuity, maybe the only way out is a force majeure happening. Note that 'will swallow' and 'will struggle' are future tense, they hadn't happened yet. Karma definitely seemed to swallow him whole when he unknowingly drank the love potion. It's also interesting she said he will struggle in horrible pain. We've seen him in physical pain due to the curse, but what if mental and emotional pain are added on top of this due to the love potion. The majority of this show will likely be showing him struggling through these trials as he unpacks his past life to save his future. (Hopefully... *crosses fingers and side-eyes Heartbeat*)

It's unlikely that the Disease Curing Spell is enough. It might be able to cure him of the disease but only once the magical curse has been lifted. So both spells always needed to be cast in tandem to break his curse. It's not a coincidence that Shinyu was in extreme distress when he ran into the median that Hongjo had planted the flowers on at the exact same moment she was casting the Love Spell. It caused a ripple in their fate. The beginning jumpstart of their love which needs to grow strong enough to cause a force majeure to break the curse or curses. Since Hongjo may not just be lonely, but cursed with loneliness. The signs are there. Her family is all dead. She doesn't have a boyfriend. She doesn't seem to have close friends even though she's quite friendly. Shinyu suggested that she's the reason she is alone. The Old Shaman also pointedly laments that her god wouldn't allow her to be in a relationship. This story becomes richer if Hongjo has a bad fate to overcome for herself, not just to help the male lead overcome his, but one that must be overcome together.

I'll end this with a little poetic fun from Google translate and deleting the last Korean word in the title one syllable at a time.

이 연애는 불가항력 - this love is irresistible

이 연애는 불가항 - this love is inevitable

이 연애는 불가 - this love is impossible

이 연애는 불 - this love is fire

[strayheartless]

genesis has eye bags because he always stays up late and he’s insecure about them

Hi! I am extremely sorry this took sooooooo long to answer. I have no excuse, i genuinly forgot it was in my drafts for so long🫠. Apologies, I am a useless worm!

***

If you ask Angeal and Sephiroth - hell even Zack!- They will tell you that Genesis always looks annoyingly good. In all the time Angeal has known Genesis he can't ever think of a time where Genesis didn't look completely perfect from top to bottom, and Angeal has known Genesis for a long time. There is no point is asking Cloud because he's always of the opinion he's dating literal celestial beings, and therefore cannot be trusted to give an accurate observation of how his fireiest partner looks. At least not one thats grounded in reality at any rate.

The reason being is that Genesis would rather be burned at the stake than admit he was self concious about the dark circles that perpetually sat heavy around his eyes. He would quite literally sooner be squewered by Sephiroths sword ( no he doesn't mean that in the fun way.). The problem is, it's not always easy to hide them. He's tried every technique in the book and While his lovers may be easily hoodwinked, Genesis knows they are there.

And he hates them.

The simple answer would be to go to bed earlier, get more sleep, maybe look at his computer screen less instead of typing out whole thesis worth analysis of LOVELESS at two o'clock in the morning. Alas as much as Genesis has every intention of doing those things... he never does. Instead he leaves his paper work to the last minute, gets pulled into a paralysing state of doom scrolling, or simply stares at the cieling as the world passes him by while he listens to music and detatches himself from reality for a little bit.

If he didn't have to work this wouldn't be a problem. if he could convince his brain that the day wasn't ruined for any other kind of productivity when Lazard dismissed them, then maybe (just maybe) he could do things in a reasonable way.

instead he's stuck in the endless cycle of thinking staying up late will keep tomorrow far away from him...

Goddess he's fucking tired.

Gen Reaches for his make up box by the sink. He hasn't slept again of course. He was too busy arguing with some idiot online who thought Act three of LOVELESS was a puritanical critisim of sex before marriage, when it very clearly wasn't. By the time four o'clock had rolled around it had felt like a waste of time to go to bed. So instead, Genesis had made some coffee and kept on scrolling in search of another argument.

Now, as he realised he had no foundation or concealer left, he was regreting his decision.

"Fuck," he muttered, feeling the panic rise into his throat and choke him. "Fuck Fuck Fuck, no no no no, this can't be right." He drags everything out of the bag in seach of some magical new bottle, but there isn't one. He can't hide the circles under his eyes without them, and he doesn't want to deal with the lecture he knows he'll get when 'Geal see's them.

he starts crashing around the bathroom, desperatly looking for something, anything to help cover them. He Checks Sephiroths make up supplies, but its just eyeliner and some dark eyeshadows.

Cloud had a Cover stick in his bag but when Gen opens it, it is A.) three shades too pale, and B.) literally worn down to the dreggs and possibly out of date. Fuck.

The crashing around seems to be heard from the next room, as Gen hears footsteps aproach the ajared bathroom door.

"Gena?" comes the croaky croon of their resident puppy.

Genesis has to pull back from the urge to lunge for the door and slam it closed.

Zack stands in the entry way, blinking tiredly and looking concerned. his hair is endearingly messy. Maybe a year ago that would have grated on Genesis, but now it was one of the things he loved most about mornings with Zack.

"Babe, what are you doing up?" he asks, clearly only half awake.

Genesis doesn't look up, nor answer. If he does he knows Zack will see his eye bags. If he does he knows he will likely start crying. neither option is preferable, so he continues to stare at the floor.

The footsteps come a little closer. Zacks slightly scarred feet come into his field of vision. Genesis vaguely notes he's still wearing the nail polish Genesis put on his toenails a week ago for fun. Zack had never ben one for self conciousness. He could be annoyingly upbeat about everthing; his looks included. If someone complained about his fashion choice, he would grin and wear the clothing anyway. If his hair was a mess, he'd brush it off by saying he wouldn't die from it.

It was terribly annoying, and made Genesis seeth with envy sometimes. He wished he could be that Blazé about his looks.

"Gen, you okay?" Zack touched his shoulder. He became a little more concerned when Genesis flinched at the touch.

"Hey its okay," he said kneeling by his partner. "Whatever it is we can solve it together,"

Genesis tilts his head away as Zack ducks to try and catch his eye. He was hoping his hair was casting enough of a shadow to hide the offending bruises.

Zack reaches out however, turning his face towards him so he can get a clear look and check theres no tears. There isn't but its a close call. Maybe it was just better if Genesis admit defeat. This wasn't some deluded fan after all, it was Zack.

He lets his chin be led to meet Zack's gaze, wincing as he waits for the judgement to be cast.

"There's that pretty face," Zack coo's obnoxiously. He's obviously trying to make Genesis laugh but it falls flat, so again he asks, "Gena what's wrong?"

"I-" Gen's throat feels sticky. "I could not rest..."

"Okay, but why are you crashing round the bathroom? did you have a nightmare or something?"

Genesis tried to turn away again but Zacks hand was still on his chin. he looked down instead.

"I was... looking for my concealor,"

"At four in the morning?" Zack puzzles. "What for?"

"Can't you see the dark circles that have marred my face?"

Zack tilts his own head a little. The resemblance to a confused Alsatian puppy are truly startling as his mused spikes flop with the movement. Genesis feels a surge of unreasonable irritation at the sight.

"Oh for goddess sake Zachery," he snaps and jabs at the bruises under his eyes. "There! are you blind?! They are entirely impossible to miss!"

"I see them dude," Genesis grits his teeth at the casual nickname but Zack either doesn't notice or doesn't care He persists. "I guess I'm just wondering why its an issue?"

Genesis Rolls his eyes. Of course! Of course Zack would be so blindly uncaring about these things. After all, if it were his own face he wouldn't care. But Genesis cares, which is why he shoves at the younger man growling:

"As foreign a concept as it may be to you my love, some of us have insecurities!"

Zacks expression shutters a little as his own annoyance flares. He had always found Gen's outbursts difficult to handle the most out of all of them. Despite loving him fiercly, it was simply the mark of inexperience that meant Zack reacted more to Gen than the others did. Angeal had known him long enough to know how to handle his temper, while Sephiroth and Cloud were used to handling people who's ire was easily triggered. Zack, by comparrison, was the odd one out.

That being said, he most be learning, because he did not rise to the bate as he normally would.

"I have insecurities Gen," he speaks calmly and evenly, taking purposeful breaths to sooth the irritation. "I get that your upset, but I'm just trying to help,"

Genesis deflates a little at that. Goddess he really was exhausted.

"I'm sorry," he mutters, "Just go back to bed its fine. I will be fine."

"I'm not leaving you to stew on the bathroom floor birdie,"

"I'll be fine,"

Zack lets out an aggravated sigh.

"Look," He shifts a little so that Genesis is facing him properly. "I get that you feel self concious, and I'm not saying its stupid cause its not. God's know I know what kind of lecture Angeal will probably give you about staying up late, but Gen I'm on your side okay?"

It was Genesis' turn to look confused.

"I get not sleeping." Zack elaborates. "you're looking at the king of late night thumb twiddling here sweetheart. I don't sleep most nights, I know I have dark circles and yeah, Gen, I feel self concious about them a lot of the time,"

Genesis blanched a little in suprise.

"You do?"

"Yup," Zack nods. "But I'm not the only one either. Angeal may be all high and mighty about sleep schedules but he'd have conniptions if he knew that none of the rest of us sleep properly. Cloud's usually awake until three most nights; Seph's only asleep right now because he's been awake for the past week and finally crashed, and me? I'm admittedly awake because you are but I'm usually lying in bed trying not to fidget so much because my brain's still wide awake,"

He sighs and rubs at his eye's like he's the one thats been up until four.

"I haven't had a proper night of REM sleep in weeks dude." he grumbles, and Genesis can see them now, the rings that sit heavy around Zack's own eyes like he's been punched. They mirror Gen's own, and its almost... comforting to know he's not alone.

"I apologise puppy," he reaches out and rubs a thumb under Zacks eyes. "I believe I have some eye masks that can help reduce them if you like?"

Zack snorts and catches the hand to kiss it. Genesis softens considerably at the move.

"Tomorrow, right now you're coming to bed,"

as they pick themselves up and return to the bed, Genesis thinks about the how he has been handling this insecurity of his. He feels a little lighter knowing that its something he'd not alone in, but there is also a little shame in realising he has been hiding it from the people who are supposed to love him in spite of his flaws.

He wanted to think this was a turning point in his feeling's of inadaquacy surrounding his appearence. Maybe it was, but he also knew that tomorrow he would go out to buy more Concealer before his press conferance on tuesday. He wasn't quite ready for the world to know that he was a mess underneath his fair facade.

But maybe a baby step was all he needed to stumble down the right path.

Sighing he turned over to cuddle into Zack's side as the other man moved to get comfortable. He craned to lay a kis on Zacks neck and got a forehead kiss in return.

[linkiscool333]

Hey, guys, I am going to attempt a month-long Whump challenge. I have pulled prompts from previous challenges instead of using June of Doom. I will list it as Month of Whump instead.

1

Time Loop (Time, but everyone else dies at some point)

2

Stumbling/Magic exhaustion/Passing out/Carried to Safety/Won’t regain consciousness or unresponsive (H & L)

3

Kidnapping/ “Say goodbye.”/Impaled (H & Dink)

4

Torture/Came back wrong/no anesthesia (H, L, & Wa.)

5

Head wound/ “How many fingers am I holding up.” (Wild & S) HURT SKY

6

Nightmare (L, Marin, Hy, Ti., & Wa.)

7

Goodbye Note (S)

8

Ritual Sacrifice/ “I’ve got a pulse!” (H, Wa., & L)

9

Explosion/ “Stay with me.”/ Friendly Fire (Wild & H)

10

Touch-starved/Touch averse/Sensory overload (S & H)

11

“No one’s coming.”/ “They don’t care about you.” (H & Dink) Cont. 3

12

“Good. You’re finally awake.” (H & L) Cont. 2

13

Seizures/Fever (H & L)

14

Delirium/Hallucinations (H & L, Everyone is there) NOTEBOOK

15

Legend POV of 14 NOTEBOOK

16

Failed rescue attempt (Chain minus H) Cont. 11

17

Self-done first aid/ sutures (H, Pre – Lu)

18

Poison/Going into shock (H & L)

19

Infection/ “I don’t feel so good.” (L & H)

20

“I love you.” (Legend and Wa.)

21

“Who did this to you?”/Coughing up blood/Repeatedly passing out/Bleeding through bandages/ “You will regret touching them.” (H, L, Wa.) Cont. 16

22

Drunk (Wind & Wa.)

23

“You have to let me go.”/Flatline/ “Please come back.” (H, L, & Wa.) Cont. 21

24

Can’t Pass Out (Twi & Wild)

25

Lab Rat/ Transformations (L & Tw.)

26

Hypothermia (H & L)

27

“You weren’t supposed to get hurt.” (War Trio)

28

“You’re safe now.”/Soft words. (H & L) Cont. 23

29

CPR/ “They’re not breathing!” (Wind, Four)

30

Recovery (S, Tw, Everyone) Cont. 7

See a prompt that you want tagged for? Please pop into my ask box to make sure I get you!

To the regular people I tag for Rulie fics, this is your chance to opt out of tagging for the Month of Whump fics. Tagging will resume as normal after the challenge if you choose to opt out.

@la-sera @baileyboo2016 @winterfen @peepthatbish @awildsilver

@life-in-winter

[f-oighear]

Fanfic writer interview!

tagged by @ashenaura. Merci bien ! ;)

How many works do you have on AO3?

145.

Your top 5 stories by kudos/likes:

I'll Follow

Where The Heart Is

Your World

Everything and More

Brittlest

(... yup, it's all SAU and those numbers will never not shock me)

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Of course. It might take me forever (my inbox is staring at me dead in the eyes), but I will respond. It means the world to me and if anyone makes the effort, they deserve a response. Easy.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I need happy endings with my angst so... yeah. I think... Yesterday I died (tomorrow's bleeding) is quite sad.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

I guess the SAU has the happiest ending. Everything And More's last chapter is literally sunshine and calmness which, yk, is needed after the whole thing.

Do you write crossovers?

I've just gotten into it! I didn't see the hype before but um that was because I never tried to mash together the right verses I think. The Arkham Horror x Black Clover crossover is very dear to me.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

*touching wood* Nope.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I've written steamy but never full smut. Well, I've written bits. But they're unpublished and I don't think I ever will publish them soooo yeah.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge, no.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! Someone translated Her Most Precious Memories in Russian (Её самые драгоценные воспоминания).

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Just like crossovers, I'm just getting into it. And just like crossovers, I'm absolutely loving it.

@kalolasfantasyworld knows. We've written that Olympics Swimming one, Silver Scorching Interdimensional Slash: the Magical Medley Relay of Doom, and we're writing the most wonderful Formula for a Crush.

What’s your all-time favorite ship?

All time favorite... royai probably.

it's just the angst... it's just the sillies... it's just the war criminals... there's a dog... they're both so stupid... i love them...

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

fhjfhds all of them. If I start a wip it's that I want to see it finished (because I want to read it). Sadly, I often don't have the motivation to. The wip list is ever growing.

What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue and internal monologues, I think.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Besides everything syntax and grammar-related because what even is English, I'd say description, especially of action scenes. It takes me forever to even dare put down a few words and I always feel like I'm describing like a 7yo would (no shade to 7yo but surely with 20 more years on this planet I should be able to do better).

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I did it in Formula for a Crush for Vanessa and Helena because Helena typically does it so it felt normal to As long as it's one word or one expression I don't really mind. (my Italian is non-existent and my Spanish is uhhh not good so, there's that.).

In my own work, I prefer to keep it in English and italicize. Less risk to completely fumble a whole language.

(I just realized that Zora doesn't even utter one word in French in FFAC and I'm French [I dare think I can speak and write the language relatively well]. so it's less down to messing up a language than personal preferences in writing ig..? I never really thought about it.)

What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

Nothing comes to mind. Rarepair Week was a great occasion to tick some of these boxes too.

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

I've had this question ten thousand times and I think I reply differently every time dhjfdjskj. It's a tough one.

Right now I'm having a lot of fun with Formula for a Crush (nah, you can't tell with how much I'm talking about it).

what even is football anyway will always be very dear to me and I'll probably say it's this one.

Blue Hours (and its sequel, I might even like the sequel more simply for the rant about the dishes) is special because I loved the concept and I experienced a bit with the narration.

Thicker Than Blood because it's a longer one and it was a really non-pressure kind of fic (I expected no one to read it so I really had fun)

Yesterday I died (tomorrow's bleeding) and posing questions to a silent universe (my very thoughts a curse) for some nice Mia angst.

Lost in a storm, It’s a big office, chief, for some nice Phoenix angst.

Tell Me About Cruelty means a lot to me.

(you might realize: I cannot choose. I'm looking at the 145 fics and I'm like. they're all special to me in some way. even those I wish I could erase from the face of the earth I'm like. I like that line, that scene, that hug. it's terrible and it's wonderful.)

--

tagging (no pressure, do it if you want) @kalolasfantasyworld (because ofc I'm tagging you), @wildflowerwoodsworld

[sol-consort]

Yeah, hi me again, dragon age girl. Unfortunately I have to tell you that I think I wanna squirt straight on that bald dude's head, even though I'm 128% sure it's gonna end badly because I was watching edits of them (and accidentally spoiled myself I'm pretty sure😐) and they're all angsty so I think he's gonna betray me in some way. But oh well, I love a doomed lovers moment. I can't wait to complain and cry about it later.

"I wanna squirt straight on that bald dude's head" - Anon, 2024.

When I tell you this line alone convinced me to go install the game and try it out because there is no way boiled egg of a man could ever pull this tremendously

And oh.

Oh.

Was I wrong.

I never thought I liked assertive passive-aggressive men until now...damn. The way he so causally takes your hand and does what he does. No explanation. Eggboi kinda hot.

But then, out of the corner of my eye, I glimpsed the most amazing perfect pair of tits to ever exist, and my brain did a complete factory reset.

FORGET BALDIE BASICS I WANT HIM I WANT TO SUCK ON HIS—

God. What a big juicy personality. I bet his heart is just as massive. They're staring at me, I just can't stop looking. Don't ask me what colour anything is idk man his eyes were purple maybe uhhh milk

BUT ALSO...also there is the hot ruggish knight woman whom I want to protect me and carry me to safety in her arms <3 also let me ride her thigh, the armour stays ON during smooch sex.

Lastly, my toxic trait is that I simply cannot play a game without creating the most gorgeous barbie-esque doll of a character. Pretty ladies all around! Brown hair my beloved. I clearly have a type but shhh

LOOK AT HER MY HEART CAN'T TAKE IT. My pretty doll! My bratz girlie!! A snotty noble human who's completely ignorant of the way of the world but thinks she knows it all + doesn't want to be here and would rather be back home in her privileged cushy life sipping on margaritas in pool parties, but forced to be the hero against her will. So she pretends to care and says what others want to hear.

I plan for her not to take anything seriously until the realisation of how dire this situation is, all the deaths and tragedies, make her have a change of heart and actually tries to help and save others. Becoming more jaded with time and losing that innocent naivety and arrogance.

Oh and double blade rouge bc dagger go swoosh swoosh aka she doesn't wanna carry a sword (it might break a nail) and never cared much for bows (splinters might make her fingertips calloused) and can't do magic for shit (magic?? HERESY! BURN THE WITCH NOW <- most normal aristocratic family teaching)

Sp daggers/theif bc she may or may not have used to lock pick her mother's sweets box as kid to steal candy, but we don't talk about that...or how the dress she's wearing rn is her older sister's, she took it from her closest without permission. Aka, why the blood splatters are okay with her.

[blueskiesandstarrynights]

I've come to the conclusion that Ezekiel has some kind of inherent luck charm. This came to me from @angelwiththeblue-box who gave me this concept when I first saw the show and I just had to add on and it's now part of my personal canon so.

The first episode I think we see this in is And the Apple of Discord. when he gets the apple nothing actually happens to him??? and the explanation is that he's already the worst version of himself which feels like such bs?? sure, he can be annoying at times and he's a thief, but the narrative never frames this as some sort of moral failing, especially when we find out later on his steals helped a lot of people so this never made any sense to me, so luck charm (obviously this is not the moment that prompted this theory, I'm just going chronologically and this is just one piece in the overarching theory)

In And The Fables of Doom he turns into a fairy tale archetype just like everyone else, but also he kinda doesn't?? at the end of the episode when everyone describes how odd and different their experience was and Ezekiel points out he doesn't feel any different, he just says, "Yeah. Well, everybody tells me I can't do what I want, can't rely on luck, but when a magic spell turns everybody into heroes of legend, who did it turn me into? Me!" I think the story book sort of enhanced the luck to make it more obvious (hence the quarter rolling up a flight of stairs through a hallway) but I think it's clear there's something there from the start.

Less of a compelling fact, but I also want to note how Ezekiel was the first one pulled into the dollhouse in And the Heart of Darkness aka the first one being pulled to safety. It's a little thing for sure, but I wanted to toss it into the ring.

In And the Curse of Cindy I always found it odd Ezekiel was the only one not affected by Cindy's love curse. Yeah, they try and explain it away with the fact that he was already in love with her, but that doesn't make sense since he didn't really remember her, he just kinda went "huh she's kinda familiar" throughout the episode before making the connection later on, and to me, luck charm feels more like an explanation.

And then we have And the Steal of a Fortune. The episode that sparked this whole thing in the first place. In an episode where every character has comically bad luck, Ezekiel is so weirdly immune to it. He's lucky and successful against Fortuna's goons and it's fascinating because even the narrative calls out how odd it is Ezekiel isn't affected-

Eve: How come it isn't affecting you!

Ezekiel, clearly guessing: I guess I broke the spell when I hacked the [slot] machine ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Jake: How the hell do you hack a fight?!?

They could've left Ezekiel's explanation as good enough, but by having Jake question it, it's the narrative telling you to question it, yet it's never brought up again. Plus, it's not like they needed a character to be immune simply to win, like a minute later Eve comes up with a loophole to try doing the opposite thing and it works. I'd also like to point out that this luck of his beats out the luck of Fortuna, who is the goddess of luck. She's not just some creature of the week, she's a goddamn goddess.

I'm sure a lot of this probably wasn't intended to lead to the conclusion that Ezekiel has some sort of inherent luck charm, but it's just something I've noticed while watching the show and have incorporated into my personal canon. If you've got some other thoughts/evidence please add on, I'd love to hear them!

[sailtomarina]

Puppy Punch Love

“Hermione, over here!”

The unexpected call came just as she was about to settle in next to Harry, and she peered over the sea of heads to clock one very excited Fred Weasley. Nothing good could come of the twinkle in his eyes, nor from how his grin spread from ear to ear the longer she stared at him.

”What’s he want?” Harry asked, also having noticed the call.  Surprising, really, given how he’d been totally absorbed in his conversation just moments prior.

”I’m sure it’s nothing,” Ginny piped, leaning around the wizard to nudge Hermione. “Go on, then.”

In hindsight, it should have been obvious to Hermione that Ginny was in on the plan. Not only was she a Weasley, but she also happened to be particularly close with Fred. There was no reason why she’d normally steer Hermione towards certain doom.

”Let me scoot over for you,” Fred said as she approached, practically shoving Lee into Parvati’s lap to make room.

Hermione nodded and gingerly sat, leaving a sliver of space between the two of them which he immediately closed as he slung an arm conspiratorially around her shoulders.

”What’s this about, then?” She knew better than to listen to the butterflies erupting from his warm embrace.

”I couldn’t help but hear about a certain witch’s birthday that I missed.”

Her breath caught at the comment, but she corralled it into place. “Yes. What of it?”

A box materialised in front of her wrapped in pretty gold paper and crème ribbons. Her name adorned the label in a flowing script.

”I’d be remiss to ignore my favourite witch’s special day.” He winked as he pushed the box closer. Hermione’s chest absolutely did not seize at the adorable way his cheeks bunched up when he smiled at her.

”It’s already past, though,” she said, her voice weak. 

“Consider this a gift as well as an apology and accept it?” Now he pouted at her, his lip jutting out dramatically.

”Fine.” She didn’t even try to hide her smile from him. 

Because as much as she tried to put on a competent face for everyone else, Fred could always pick out her true feelings. It’d been like that nearly from the start of their unlikely friendship, started as early as third year when Harry and Ron had ignored her over another surprise gift. Then, like now, Fred had hailed her down and made it his personal mission to get Hermione Granger to laugh and forget about her troubles, even if only for a short while.

When she pulled the ribbon loose and carefully peeled back the paper, a nondescript box with a red ‘W’ gave her little indication of what lay inside. Fred continued to stare at her, his closed lips turned upwards in a gentle curve.

It wasn’t until she’d started to pull open the lid that his eyes flickered over and widened in realisation. “Wait, Hermione—“

The warning came too late to save her from the gloved fist that popped her right in the nose, followed by a brief flash of light. She’d later have to stop herself from socking Colin in a similar fashion when he shared the photo he captured of the moment, complete with her eyes crossing at the moment of impact.  But that would be in the future, and this was the present. Leaning forward in excitement as she was, the punch struck her with particular force, resulting in a popping sound and a wet sensation.

”Oh, shite! Hermione, I’m so sorry. Are you okay? This wasn’t supposed to happen; the boxes must have somehow gotten mixed up.”

She lifted her eyes to take in Fred’s panicked expression. His hands fluttered in the air, first gently gripping her chin to lift her face, then moving to push her hair back behind an ear. Any irritation she might have felt faded away in the warmth of his concern.

”It’s okay, Fred.”

”No, let me make it right,” he said firmly, pulling out his wand.

It was a testament to her level of trust in him that Hermione didn’t flinch away. This was one of the infamous Weasley twins, after all, where a flash and a bang were natural assumptions when magic was in the mix. Except, Fred had never done so to her prior to this mishap, and she had a feeling he never had the intention to in the future.

She closed her eyes as his wand twirled, only biting her lip as the broken bone snapped back into place. Another tingle of magic later, and she felt the blood coating her lower face vanish.

“There we are!”

Fred’s eyes swam into view as she opened her own, the clear blue sky of his irises searching–for what, she didn’t know. As she gazed back at him, she couldn’t help but trace the freckles across his nose and cheeks.

“What’s so funny?” he asked, head tilting to the side.

She hadn’t even realised she was smirking until his question. “If you connect the dots just so,” she traced a finger against his cheek, feeling the change of soft to rough as she crossed stubble, “I can just make out Centaurus.” She punctuated the constellation name with a tap against the tip of his nose, nearly giggling as his eyes crossed to track the movement.

Before she could fully pull her hand back, she found it wrapped up in both of his own. Warm, callused, and secure, he pressed them against his chest.

“Fred, what are you–”

“Not only did I miss your birthday, but I somehow swapped your gift for a boxing telescope and got told I have Firenze on my face.” Gone was the smile, in its place something far more frightening: a serious Fred Weasley. His brow furrowed as he looked down on her, and his hands tightened as he cradled hers against his chest.

“That’s not what I sai–”

“What do you say to going on a date with me to Hogsmeade this weekend, Hermione?”

She gaped at him. Those weren’t exactly the words she’d expected to fall from his lips. Far from it, actually. She’d thought he’d tease her back in kind over her own freckles. 

Then she nearly choked as Lee leaned around Fred and lobbed a spoonful of something into her open mouth. The twin swivelled around to pummel his friend as Hermione coughed and scrambled to get a drink.

“Aw, c’mon! You can’t tell me that wasn’t funny–hey!” Any further protests from their fellow Gryffindor were lost to Fred’s whispered threats and the sound of gurgling as he held the other boy in a chokehold.

“Fred, that’s enough. I’m okay now.”

She found her face held once again in the palm of his hands as he forgot about his friend to check on her, eyes scanning until they focused on her lips.

“Are you sure? I’ve got some prototypes I can make him swallow in apology.”

“No,” she laughed, already picturing Lee in a variety of embarrassing transformations, as she continued, “how about you take me to my real birthday present instead? We can talk about Hogsmeade along the way.”

His hands spasmed against her face before he leapt up from the table. He held an elbow out to her in a convincing display of the extraordinary gentleman that he was. “My lady?”

She stood to take his arm, making sure to swing her bag around with enough force to shove Lee face first into his plate of mashed taters. “Thank you, good sir.”

With a skip to their steps and twin grins on their faces, Hermione and Fred set off through the Great Hall. They didn’t know it yet wrapped up in excellent company as they were, but the cheers that followed were for them. Some clapped thinking the witch would distract the prankster from future mayhem. Others clapped in hopes the wizard would soften up the no-nonsense Prefect. The few who didn’t approve knew what they were witnessing was the birth of an unstoppable force far too clever and powerful for one castle, or even one country, to contain.

None of that mattered, however. For now, they were just him and her and a bubbling cauldron of possibilities.

1372 WC

Posted on FB, Tumblr, and AO3

Written for the Facebook group Lauren's Kitchen for Fred and George's birthday month wheel prompts.

Product: Boxing telescope; Trope: Prank gone right; Setting: The great hall; Extra Character: Firenze

Okay, so I might have cheated with the extra character of Firenze...or did I? You can tell me what you think.

I also left the timeframe of this scene ambiguous. It could honestly take place before or after the Battle of Hogwarts. Just know that in my mind Fred lives either way.

[marketfreshfics]

Hi my beautiful fellow Tom girlie! ❤️

Requesting a poem from Tom’s POV where he’s struggling with his complicated feelings for a girl. Like, he enjoys her company (and fcking her lol) but because he can’t feel love, he’s having a hard time identifying his feelings and it’s making him angsty !

Work your magic bby I love you! 😘

Terribly, she tells me that she loves me, and instead of asking, 'Why?' I ask, 'How?'

I cannot tell if the sun is rising or setting, for I have never seen the swell of it bloom across the horizon, to sunder evergreens in dawn’s blaze, nor have I watched it dredge twilight forth.

If I wait any longer, well…

can the heart forfeit, what cannot be seized? can the masquerade of fondness, supplement the starvation of longing?

I have held her, oh yes… our bodies meshed, made sense of one another, and even now, I long to live it again, the breaths given and taken with bliss…

but from what does that longing manifest?

what do I offer, besides pleasure of the flesh? what is made then, if not love?

what becomes of hearts beating in sync, if incapable of connecting? have I doomed hers to blacken to pitch, quite like mine?

is she aware that I am poison ivy amongst box elders, a viper amongst garters, a capsule of cyanide amongst placebos?

this was not always vacant space, prior occupancy apparent; the stain of yesterday’s coffee, crescent rings where placed, a blanket unfolded, the warmth offered a past necessity.

in the garden, fruitless harvests litter sun-bleached soil; seeds hopelessly sown with rot in their pods, no reason to root, nothing to nurture.

love never lived here, no; it peered through the window and promptly departed.

being born solely from mimicked affection, cannot foster the culmination of anything, good intentions with damned souls.

this is cryptic prose spoken out of earshot, without a legend to decipher its meanings;

something created with careless cause, perfection does not make it so.

but to stand on this bridge, and watch her passing, will she witness me?

what dispels the longing of homesickness, to arms that have never held someone dearly?

this is no fear of missing out, but fear of losing self.

when does it end? the constant craving, the misplaced nostalgia, the wistful ache?

oblivious, her heart throbs in the cradle of ribs, skips beats with my mannerisms, and wrenches from my misdemeanours, how feeble an organ;

wise to protect it, especially from my bloodied grasp;

unaccustomed to gentle touch, there is no respite or remorse, in the cathedral of calloused, clasped hands.

[indelen]

Alright, I'm hideously behind and the world is awful so I’m just going to blitz through to the end because the next readthrough is starting soon and I'm not even done with this one, like what is this, high school English? So ....

This is my reread of the Lockwood and Co. Books, organized by @blue-boxes-magic-and-tea, I'll make a general summary of several chapters and then post bits and pieces that jumped out at me.

I go into a longer analysis of Fairfax and Annie’s relationship and how it relates to Lucy but I do want to say kudos to Stroud for portraying such a realistic unhealthy relationship. This is a young adult book and he could have easily made Annabel Ward a saintly abuse victim, but she wasn’t. She was in a complicated toxic relationship with a powerful man, she feared him but wanted his love and approval, she acted in ways that provoked him, which obviously was not smart but abused people do not act in relatable, logical ways. Abuse victims fight back, act in toxic ways, return to their abusers and do any number of seemingly illogical things and I think that it says a lot about Lucy that despite all her baggage, her young age, her “not like other girls” tendencies, her inability to relate to the life Annie had, she still felt an enormous amount of empathy for her and it was that empathy that saved them in the end.

Part IV, Chapters 23-24:

Lucy’s family and her past in Cheviot Hills is fascinating because she never speaks about them except for the very succinct and detached way at the very start and these small moments throughout the books that indicate they mean a lot more to her than she would ever admit to anyone. The fact that she keeps some kind of memory box far under her bed, the fact that she sees her sisters as concussed visions alongside Annie Ward and Lockwood who, for very different reasons, currently occupy her mind quite a bit, shows the family she left behind still has a huge hold over her.

I love George so much because he sasses and analyzes everything in front of him from literally the moment he regains consciousness.

Never going to be normal about Lucy using this sort of imagery about Lockwood. She’s reaching near Victorian levels of Beautiful Death prose. Lockwood is always ethereal, otherworldly and doomed. Too good and beautiful for this sinful earth. What’s interesting is that in literature this sort of imagery is usually reserved for the hero describing the heroine. It’s one of many times the “hero” and “heroine” tropes between these two that are pretty regularly subverted.

Fairfax is like Combe Carey Hall itself in that at night he transforms and the posh and valuable facade recedes to reveal a grotesque and horrible true nature underneath.

Fairfax is an abuser who cannot understand that his toxic relationship with Annie is entirely of his own making. From the beginning their relationship was not that of equals. He was of a higher social class than her and never did anything to bridge that gap because it would threaten his precious inheritance and he never viewed acting or this part of his life as permanent or worth preserving. He was just partying and having fun before he settled into living a rich man’s life. He hid his relationship with Annabel and Annabel, naturally, resented the shit out of being treated as someone’s dirty secret. She sensed how disposable she was to him and got jealous, manufactured conflict and fights, flirted with other men, all to get attention and to provoke a reaction from Fairfax. And he rewarded her for this behavior. He was obviously controlling and his lavish gifts were meant to pacify her. They also normalized their unhealthy dynamic, the locket explicitly referred to the toxicity of their relationship as romantic. You can’t write “my torment, my bliss” on a jeweled locket and give it to a girl and then be surprised when she kinda thinks you’re ok with the torment bit. And so round and round it went until … frankly I’m not even sure that one fight was any worse than all the others. Fairfax never saw Annie as a person, he saw her as beneath him, and disposed of her, out of possessiveness and anger sure, but also out of pragmatic convenience. As long as Annie lived she was a liability and posed a risk to his reputation and name. He can try and pitch their relationship as mutually toxic and harmful all he wants but the truth is only Annie was ever in danger in it.

And here is where I put my tinfoil hat on.

Because my theory is that Annabel Ward was drawn to Lucy and formed such an empathetic bond with her specifically because she saw Lucy as being in the same situation as her. Ghosts seem to have limited capacities and see things on a loop and devoid of context. To Annabel’s spirit the story of meeting a dashing young man through work, work both are passionate about and work that brings them intimately closer together, but he is of higher social class and is financially better off and also he holds a significant amount of power over her is, on paper, very similar. Lucy might not think Annabel is much like her, but Annabel’s ghost sees things in Lucy’s mind she recognizes. Her hidden emotions, the desperate besotted love she feels for a magnetic, powerful person in her life and the feeling of inadequacy and desire to be seen as good, as valuable to him are all familiar ones Annie latches onto. And while Lucy is too young and repressed and traumatized to recognize any of this, I think she still learns a lot from Annie. It’s not a coincidence that the biggest conflict between Lockwood and Lucy is that of inequality and disbalance of power. Lucy, from this point onward, will grow to dislike that Lockwood does not share anything with her emotionally and that he overrules or does not consult her opinions professionally. And to some extent I think it’s her learning from poor Annie Ward.

Yea OK this is where I have trouble buying the “killed instantly” story Fairfax tells to everyone including himself. The human neck is not made of LEGO bricks and it’s hard to kill a fully grown adult with a single blow. So unfortunately, and this is NOT A NICE MENTAL IMAGE so like, skip to the next point if you don’t want to read something that describes grievous bodily harm, abuse and murder, but unfortunately it’s very possible Fairfax very badly injured Annie but she did not die instantly. Like, he may have broken her spine, but while that would inacapitate her, it would not necessarily kill her. If this is true then she died a much slower and more terrible death. And a few things in the above section support this. Annie repeating she’s “cold” but not understanding why. The manifestation of sounds and how they overlap - the hammering that entombed her, tapping of a finger on plaster, the slowing beating of a heart. Did Annie die on some level aware that her lover was disposing of her even before her last breath? Ghostlock was not enough. She should have eaten him.

Very early on we get these hints of just how much of a capitalist nightmare Fittes is and how it slowly swallows up smaller agencies and clearly aims to become a monopoly and discards kids they have no use for. And also how many of those kids clearly fall through the cracks and end up in criminal organizations or doing the dirty work of wealthy unscrupulous magnates.

Book Lockwood is pretty violent in these low key, concentrated and brutally efficient bursts and it’s one of those things that remains enigmatically unexplained. It’s not just fencing too, it’s all sorts of stuff. In the next book he folds Ned Shaw like a tablecloth. Did Gravedigger Sykes teach him? Flo? Unexplained! Very hot though. You 100% can see where Lucy is coming from.

Smile counter is still at 9 since there was nothing much to grin at in these chapters, but I want to give a shout-out to George for chasing after Percy, a grown man armed with a gun remember, alongside Lockwood. Like that's good guts, George doesn't like action, he doesn't live for it like Lockwood does, but he doesn't shrink away from it either.

[gabriel-xander]

Don't Forget

[Sans x Female!Reader]

42: All the Goons are Gooning-Gooning

A/N: Happy Valentine’s Day!

♪────✿⁠(⁠✧◕⁠ᴗ⁠◕✧⁠)✿⁠────♪

You had a very funny dream when you took that nap with Sans.

You were some teen boy in the kitchen, doom-scrolling on a social media app. You were getting up to go to your room to sleep, but then your dad stopped you.

“Son,” he said, “before you go to bed…”

You replied, “Yes, dad?”

“Change the coffee filter.”

*Vine Boom Sound*

“Okay.”

And then you woke up.

Dang, you didn’t get to change the coffee filter before you woke up…

You’re a terrible son.

Hm, wait. You’re sure you went to bed Big Spooning Sans, but he’s not here now.

How strange that he woke up before you did. How late is it? You couldn’t have slept for more than an hour or two, right? You checked the time before sleeping, it was barely noon when you got back.

You sit up on the bed, stretching lazily as you are in no hurry to become a functioning member of society.

Damn, you’re still sad you never got to change the coffee filter…

You get up and slip on Sans’ pink slippers because you don’t feel like finding your own. They’re really comfortable, too. It’s a little chilly, so you grab your jacket that you left on the dresser. After that, you dig out the box that was still hiding in there.

You don’t know where to really put it… Maybe you can ask Sans for a place to keep it or something. For now, you’ll leave it on the dresser. You’re not trying to hide things from Sans, and he’ll end up finding it eventually anyway.

Leaving the room, you already hear the speaking voices of Sans and Papyrus downstairs. You try keeping yourself quiet, listening in to their conversation.

“-ood as it could’ve been. we met another version of you, too.”

“WOWIE, REALLY? WAS HE COOLER THAN ME?”

“it’ll be a warm day in snowdin before anyone becomes cooler than you, bro.”

“AS PER USUAL, THAT IS TO BE EXPECTED. AND WHAT OF YOUR MISSION? DID YOU AND [Y/N] FIND WHAT YOU WERE LOOKING FOR?”

“yup. it was a little rocky at first, but we managed to get the job done,” You hear the cheekiness in his tone, “[y/n] made sure we all put our back-bone into it.”

“UGH, I’M GLAD I DIDN'T GO.” Papyrus huffs and crosses his arms, “IF THERE WAS ANOTHER VERSION OF YOU, THAT MEANS ONLY DOUBLE THE TERRIBLE JOKES.”

“speakin’ of, this wasn’t the only time we’re gonna do this. [y/n] and i might go on another trip in a month or so.”

“IS THAT SO? SO, YOU TWO WILL BE DISAPPEARING AGAIN SOON… HM?”

You lock eyes with Papyrus on your way down the stairs. Man, you were trying to sneak up on Sans but there was no helping it the taller one was facing your direction.

Papyrus beams like a thousand Suns, getting those sparkly anime eyes that he does sometimes. He runs to you with his arms spread; you feel so fucking loved.

“[Y/NNNN]!!”

“PAPYRUSSSS!!”

Papyrus lifts you into a hug, arms tight around you while you reciprocate the gesture.

You’re starting to get used to the slight weight on your soul that is Blue Magic. Papyrus will often use it on you whenever he lifts you up to make sure he never drops you. You never realized how subtle it's always been, but it’s obvious now due to experiencing it from the others.

Baby boy baby.

“I’VE MISSED YOU DEARLY SO, [Y/N]!!” Papyrus tells you with love, “IT WAS SO INCREDIBLY LONELY WITHOUT YOU!”

Sans puts his hands on his hip bones, “uh, what about me?”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“I GUESS I MISSED YOU, TOO.”

Brotherly love at its finest.

Papyrus sets you on your feet, making sure you’re stable before releasing the slight hold on your soul. He puts his hands on his sassy hips, smiling at you wholesomely.

“SINCE THE HOUSE WAS UNBEARABLY QUIET, I’VE SPENT MOST OF MY TIME WITH UNDYNE. IN FACT, I JUST RETURNED HOME TODAY SINCE YOU BOTH HAVE LEFT.”

☹️ Baby…

You purse your lips with pity, “Awe, I’m sorry, Papyrus. But how are you feeling now? You said this is the first time you’ve been back?”

“OH, I’VE BEEN FINE OTHERWISE,” As he talks, Sans walks over to regroup with you both, “I MORE OR LESS HAVE BEEN SLEEPING OVER WITH UNDYNE. TRAINING, JUST HANGING OUT, HAVING COOKING LESSONS. SHE HAS BEEN TIRED ALL DAY FOR SOME REASON, SO I THOUGHT I SHOULD COME BACK TO LET HER REST.”

Sans snorts, “bet you tired her out being over there all the time.”

You laugh too, “That’s true. You have a lot of energy that is hard to keep up with. Not in a bad way! You know I love your energy so much, Papyrus.”

“OH, I KNOW, I KNOW. UNDYNE IS MY BEST FRIEND, TRUE, BUT YOU ALWAYS SEEM TO MATCH MY ENERGY THE MOST, [Y/N],” Papyrus poses dramatically, “IF ONLY HER OPINION ON HUMANS WEREN’T SO… MURDERY. I BET YOU TWO WOULD GET ALONG GREAT!”

…Yeahhh. Sure. You love Undyne’s character in the game, but if you met her in reality…

Oof, you fear your personalities would clash too much. Especially your ideals…

“Maybe one day, but for now, ‘tis only a distant dream,” You put a hand to your chin in thought, “You know what, though? It has me thinking…”

“about what?”

“Sans, you told him that we’ll be doing this again, right?” At his nodding, you continue, “I don’t feel good leaving Papyrus here all alone. That means we should get a pet! Something to keep us all in company for these reasons!”

“uh…” Sans rubs the back of his skull, “we’re all out of the house now-a-days, though. then we’d have to get two pets to make sure they’ll always have company. but even then, we wouldn’t be able to take care of dogs with how sparse our time is.”

Papyrus scrunches up his face, “I MUST, UNFORTUNATELY, AGREE WITH SANS HERE. (“unfortunately?”) HE CAN BARELY KEEP HIS PET ROCK FED. WHAT HOPE WILL WE HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF A COUPLE OF DOGS?”

“I love dogs, don’t get me wrong. I had a big puppy back at my parents home, but that’s not what I meant.”

“??? huh?” You grin, “I was thinking of something more– independent.”

“???”

“Cats!”

──

Papyrus had rushed to his room to change into something that is “fit to find some kitties.” You and Sans are waiting for him in the living room, sitting on the couch together.

“Hey,” You tap his arm, “why didn’t you wake me?”

“you looked too peaceful, i couldn’t bring myself to do it. ‘sides, i did try waking you, but you were dead asleep,” Sans chuckles, “it was pretty impressive ‘cause that’s usually my job. still, i figured that if you were out cold, that just meant you needed it.”

You check the clock on the far wall, wincing at the time. It’s fucking passed 5 pm, you napped for 5 fucking hours. Damn, you were a lot more exhausted than you originally thought. Or maybe the magic of the DJ machine had affected you more than you thought. You should tell Sans about that, but not now.

“Hm, we should go out to eat with Papyrus for dinner,” You look over at the skeleton, “I don’t really feel like cooking today.”

“that’s a good idea. anything in mind?”

“As long as it’s a place that won’t give a fuck about me looking human, I’m fine with anything. Other than Grillby’s, of course. Your bro isn’t a fan of that place.”

“i think i know a place in the capital. wanna get dressed before we go?”

You smile at him, teasing him and poking his arm, “You saying I look too homeless to go out?”

“no way, hot stuff. ‘m asking just in case since we’re going out for dinner.” Sans bone brows twitch, “uh, crap. i-i didn’t mean it like that, swear. i was just-”

“-I know, I know. You were just being considerate,” You look down at the slippers you stole from Sans, “Do you need these?”

Sans looks down at his own shoes: blue and white with untied laces. He doesn’t wear shoes over his slippers often, but that spontaneous change worked out for you.

The only reason he switched it up now was because your slippers were still packed away in his Void, and he didn’t want you walking around with no shoes.

“nah, they look better on you, anyway.”

You shrug, “Then nah, I don’t need to… change…”

Sans raises a brow, looking over to where your eyes had suddenly moved to. In doing so, he felt a strange dread settling in his metaphorical gut. Your shoulders are shaking from trying to contain your laughter.

How could you be laughing in a time like this?!?!

Papyrus is jumping down the stairs with a new shirt over his battle body. It’s a black shirt with a white print that says “BOY”. Written on top with white marker was the word “CAT” in a classic Papyrus font. It looks really recent.

CAT BOY…

You cover your mouth with your hand, trying so fucking hard not to laugh because poor Sans looks mortified. You lean over to whisper in his acoustic meatus. (A/N: Yes, I had to look that up. Don't expect me to use that ever again, that name is so unserious)

“The internet would have a field day seeing him like that,” You snicker.

“don’t you–” Sans light heartedly pushes you away, “shut!”

“I’M SO EXCITED!” Papyrus bounces in place, “I HAVEN’T SEEN ANY CATS HERE IN SNOWDIN, BUT I HAVE DEFINITELY SEEN ONE OR TWO IN THE WATERFALLS.”

“actually, paps. before that,” Sans pats your leg and stands up, “wanna head to the capital to get something to eat?”

The younger monster tilts his head, “GO OUT TO EAT? I COULD ALWAYS COOK SOMETHING UP FOR THE THREE OF US! I HAVE NOTICED THAT [Y/N] HAS BEEN THE ONE MAKING US FOOD SINCE SHE MOVED IN. I THINK IT’S TIME I HELP OUT AS WELL.”

Hell fucking no. You’re not about to do all that. There has been an obvious reason you’ve been the cook and you’re not letting that change.

Fuck, you really need to find a day soon to tell Papyrus the truth.

“Nope, sorry,” You firmly shake your head, “I don’t wanna clean today or tomorrow. Honestly, I just want to eat out today.”

“UH… OKAY…?”

Papyrus just shrugs it off because he’s a fucking Giga Chad like. Papyrus fucking strikes a pose suddenly, one hand on the hip and the other pointing in the air. Then he twirls really fast, and suddenly the shirt is nowhere to be seen.

“That was really impressive,” You say honestly, your expression mirroring your feelings, “How’d you do that? Magic?”

“LIKE I NEED MAGIC FOR SOMETHING LIKE THAT,” Papyrus rolls his eyes… somehow, “I CAN MANAGE THAT WITH MY SHEER WILLPOWER ALONE.” You legitimately believe that. Like actually from the depths of your soul.

“are you ready then?” Sans asks.

“YEP!”

“cool beans. then we gotta take a lil’ shortcut. we gotta hide [y/n], remember?”

“I SUPPOSE SO. BUT UNDYNE IS MOST LIKELY SPENDING THE REST OF TODAY IN HER HOME.”

“still…” Sans eyes flash with something like concern when his gaze casts to you, “you don’t know who would recognize [y/n] as a human and spread the word. we’re lucky enough no one in snowdin is saying anything, but we can’t be too careful.”

Wait, that just reminded you of something. The fucking cameras. There are cameras all over the Underground, isn’t there? Sans must know about them as well, there’s no way he doesn't. Maybe he’s forgotten about them after all this time (you certainly have).

But if that’s the case, surely Alphys should already know about you by now. So why hasn’t she said anything to anyone? Or maybe she told Asgore, but even then, why hasn’t it been brought up? Unless Alphys is rooting for you the way she roots for Frisk.

Another thing you need to discuss with Sans.

Man, there is a lot you need to talk about with this guy.

Still, you’re not bringing this up since you don’t want to ruin the vibes. This isn’t something anyone needs to worry about right now.

Papyrus’s voice brings you out of your thoughts. “GOOD POINT, BROTHER. IN THAT CASE, SURE, WE CAN USE YOUR FUNKY LITTLE SHORTCUTS.”

“now, i wouldn’t say little.”

“YOU SHOULD KNOW SIZE DOES NOT MATTER, SANS.”

“…wait, what?” Sans narrows his eye sockets, “what’s that supposed to mean?”

“YOUR HEIGHT IS SHORTER THAN THE AVERAGE IN SOCIETAL STANDARDS.”

“…”

You tuck in your lips to hide your smile. Sans gives you an unimpressed look, the expression awkward since he’s still keeping up his smile.

The Comic huffs and crosses his arms, “are we going now, or what?”

“Yeah, yeah. Lead the way, bone boy.”

“READY WHEN YOU ARE, BROTHER.”

──

Sans ends up taking you both to a hole in the wall in the Capital, a small pizza establishment by a huge yellow, triangular monster. His head was a triangle and so was his body.

He called himself Top Chef and said shit like: “Mama Miba!”

Hell yeah.

You three were getting weird looks admittedly, but that was only because you all were playing with your food. The cheese was so cheesy and you managed to pull the cheese at a long distance before it finally snapped!

None of you gave a shit though, you were all having fun with each other. It was only a few days, but you did miss your Papyrus.

After you all had your fill, you’ve boxed the remaining pizza to take it to go. You paid for it since you’re fortunate enough to have your own Gold now without needing to rely on someone else.

Ah, that reminds you that you need to talk to Sans about paying rent again. You don’t think he’ll be open to it anymore since you’re his girlfriend now, but you need to find a compromise anyway.

Anyway, after the pizza dinner, Papyrus gives Sans some directions to a place in Waterfalls. When he short-cuts you all to the location, it looks unfamiliar to you.

It’s quieter yet you can see more houses along the road in the middle path. There’s a hill to the left that curves upward and to the right, leading somewhere else. There is a right path that leads to fewer houses, and the middle path seems to head towards a very quiet neighborhood. The glow stones here are smaller and more sparse as well, giving it an abandoned feeling.

“i haven’t been here in a while,” Sans whistles lowly, looking around with you.

“THIS IS A LOWER PART OF WATERFALLS, AND RATHER ANTISOCIAL, TOO. THE MONSTERS IN THIS AREA TEND TO KEEP TO THEMSELVES. IT IS NOT VERY LIVELY DESPITE BEING POPULATED, SO REALLY, UNDYNE WILL HAVE NO REASON TO BE HERE FOR WHATEVER REASON,” Papyrus poses with a firm nod of his head, “IN FACT, MOST MONSTERS HERE AVOID HER BECAUSE THEY’RE INTIMIDATED BY HER BOISTEROUSNESS.”

What the hell is that word? Is it even a real word?

“OUT OF RESPECT, UNDYNE AVOIDS THIS PLACE TOO AS LONG AS THEY DON’T ACT OUT OR CAUSE REASON FOR HER APPEARANCE.”

Huh. That’s neat to learn about the world. This is obviously another inaccessible part of the game that you can walk around freely now.

Undyne is such a hero for these monsters, huh? Even if she’s rude, she does everything for their sake and respects them deeply. Even if they’re scared of her, the monsters respect her as well.

It would be really cool if it wasn’t so dangerous and hypocritical towards you. 

You grin appreciatively, “You really put a lot of thought into this, huh? I don’t give you enough credit, Papyrus. But your consideration and thinking ahead like this is really admirable.”

“wow, yeah…” Sans blinks in realization, smiling widely, “you really thought this out. even though the surprised adoption hunting was out of the blue, you thought it out while we were out.”

Papyrus, though he tries to play it cool, blushes red. He clears his throat and looks ahead, posing dramatically as his cape flows in the wind.

“HMPH! WHAT, LIKE IT’S HARD?” Papyrus isn’t bothering hiding his self-satisfied grin, “DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THE GREAT PAPYRUS!”

What a cool guy!

Papyrus does his cool anime-girl transformation twirl, his Cat Boy shirt appearing once again.

“I’M SURE I’VE SEEN AN ORANGE CAT, AND A BLACK CAT. THEY NEVER STAY TOO LONG IN ONE PLACE BECAUSE OF THIS LITTLE WHITE DOG THAT COMES BY OFTEN,” Papyrus looks back at the hill that leads up, “IT WILL BE BETTER IF WE SPLIT UP.”

Sans grimaces, “uhh…”

You shrug, “It’ll be fine, Sans. If anything happens, I’ll scream bloody murder. You’ll be able to get to me and find me with your cool shortcut bullshit.”

Hesitation is clear on his face. Looking between you and his brother, he sighs and sags his shoulders.

“alright, alright. if we find anything, let’s meet back up here,” Sans gestures to the area, “cool?”

“RIGHT-O!”

“You got it, boss!” You point to the right path, “I’ll head this way.”

Papyrus points up, “I WILL SEARCH THE AREA ABOVE.”

Sans jerks his thumb to the middle path, “guess i’ll go this way.”

“Alright!” You clap your hands, “Let’s move out, team!”

Papyrus gives you an enthusiastic cheer while Sans only weakly pumps his fist in the air. You three split up from there and begin your separate search.

Just to be on the safer side, you made sure to stick to the shadows and cave walls. There were only two other houses down this way, then it starts to branch out into a wider path.

You do, in fact, make sure to pluck a few glow stones from the walls. Not many, only two but those were pretty big, Hopefully it will be enough for the skin products, you can have Sans and/or Papyrus try them out with you!

Eventually, you reach a deadend. It’s a large field of Echo Flowers that surrounds a pond of the pretty cyan water. There are lily pads and Water Sausages in the pond, but not many.

You love the marsh, the Waterfalls are so nice.

There isn’t anything here though, you should head back and find Sans or Papyrus...

“It is peaceful here, is it not?”

“WAH!!”

You look around but immediately realize that it was literally in your head. Moreso, you recognize the voice and the laughter that is now following it.

Oh, brother! This guy STINKS!

“Sorry, I did not mean to startle you. I suppose I hadn’t made my presence known before I spoke.”

You sigh, “Geez, man. I was this close to tweaking out…!”

“…Tweak out?”

You snort, “Anyway. Yeah, this is–The Waterfalls were always my favorite.”

“Mine as well. Whenever I needed a place to think, or work something out on my own, I would venture deep in Waterfalls. There is an abandoned, lonely dock not too far from here. I would stand there, and stare into the nothingness. It was… It was always humbling.”

An abandoned, lonely dock, huh? It reminds you of Goner Kid…

“How are you talking to me like this?” You ask Gaster, “I don't even have the fragment with me.”

“I suppose it is enough already that you have found it and brought it back here to our original universe where the other piece of me is. It won’t be for long, unfortunately. I suspect after this talk, I would have exhausted too much energy. I won’t be able to communicate with you for another while.”

“So then. Will you finally tell me how this is at all possible?”

You hear some hesitation in his tone. “Alright, but you can’t get mad at me.”

Bruh. Be so fucking for real. He's such a child.

“I am not in your head, not necessarily. Well, I AM, that is how you can hear me, after all. But that is not WHERE I am. More precisely, I am with your Soul.”

…What?

Gaster must sense your anxiety as he immediately follows up with a more in depth explanation.

“I am not possessing your Soul, nor am I IN your Soul. Instead, think of it as… I am riding atop it. Simply latching on for the ride, but never in control.”

You scoff, “And you expect me to accept that explanation? How do I know that’s true?”

For a moment, you feel cold. A stark chillness that overtakes your entire body and soul. Your legs are moving–that’s not you, you’re not doing that. Your body is walking against your will, all on its own. Your body stops near the pond, sitting itself down by the cyan water.

Then, that feeling is gone. Your entire body shudders and you’re in control again.

“That,” Gaster says, though you feel some guilt that you know is not yours. That guilt you’re feeling, it belongs to Gaster. “That was me possessing your Soul and controlling it. Have you felt that at all before just this moment?”

“No… No, not once…”

“Exactly. If I were to ever take control in any way, you will know it. But I do not desire that. In truth, it is the fact that your Soul is so strong in the way that it needs to be, that I was able to hold onto it at all in the first place.”

“I… I can’t lie and say I’m not nervous about you just casually with my Soul, but…” You scrunch up your nose, putting a hand on your chest to will your heart to stop fucking racing, “I guess if you wanted to, you would’ve done something already.”

“If you want, I can share MY Soul with you so you can feel my true intentions. That way, you will know I am not lying.”

“You know what?” You throw your hands up, “Fuck it. Yeah, lemme see that shit.”

Gaster laughs and it bounces (pleasantly) in your head. Next, you feel a heavy warmth that hugs your soul in your chest.

Sincerity. Openness. Honestly. There is no desire to hurt. No desire to deceive. There is confidence and perhaps some loneliness.

Something flashes before your eyes. Your eyes are still open and yet you can see blurry, vague images before you. It’s transparent as if there is a shitty projector right before you.

Blurry figures of a short and tall figure. They seem familiar.

Another image, the same figures. They feel like Sans and Papyrus despite only being unclear silhouettes. There comes a third figure. This one is completely shrouded in smoke and glitches, but it’s pulling the two skeleton brothers into an embrace.

Then it’s gone.

You feel Gaster separate his Soul from yours. Even so, you can still feel lingering emotions.

Embarrassment, sadness, shame, longing, and a yearning to reunite.

The feelings are so strong, you feel yourself involuntarily tearing up. And these feelings are not yours.

It’s quiet.

You were… You were not supposed to see that. Gaster was so willing to be honest with you to reassure you, but he accidentally shared his deep desires, right? Somehow, you just know that’s right.

“My apologies. I hadn’t meant for that to happen.”

Before, you could only hear his voice, and feel a small pressure in the back of your head. But now, you can feel these underlying emotions that don’t belong to you. Because of that, you know of what he just said–he is being sincere.

“What just happened?” You whisper.

“As I am not at my most complete, I don’t have the strongest control of my own Soul’s happenings. Your Soul is still kept to yourself, but I believe I have shared a connection of myself to you.”

He is being truthful.

“So, it's a one-way thing?”

“Essentially, yes.” Gaster sighs, voice tinged with embarrassment, “I guess it’s for the best. I don’t have anything to hide from you, and at least this way you will know I am being truthful. After all, the Soul cannot lie.”

Again, he’s being honest.

You rub at your temples, “Ugh, this is a lot… Is this how I was able to see your fragment, by the way? When the others couldn’t? It’s because you were legit with me?”

“Not ALL of me, of course, but yes. A small, minuscule piece of myself is now with you. With your SOUL.”

“Gotta be real with you, Gaster, I like my privacy.”

“It is not as if I spy on you. Only when I sense you thinking of me, or when I sense you to be alone, do I bother with ‘entering.”

“…Like a Pokemon…”

Gaster sighs, “Yes, [Y/n]. Like a Pokemon.”

Kekeke.

You wonder… “Can you hear my thoughts?”

“Only if you want me to.”

Hmm…

‘I want to French kiss your son.’

…

You try again, but this time you want him to hear. ‘I want to hold hands with your son.’

“Uhm… Okay? Go for it, I guess…?”

Yeah, it’s true. You felt as much when he said it to begin with, but you wanted to make sure. 

“It kind of feels unfair,” You admit to him, “That this emotional connection is only one-way, it feels unfair to you.”

“Do not worry. I truly have nothing to hide, and I am not interested in invading your privacy. If there is something you need for me to know, I will trust that you will tell me yourself.”

“So…” You purse your lips, staring out to the calm waters, “Is there any particular reason you showed up?”

“No, no reason at all. Answering your questions wasn't an issue, but really, I suppose I just wanted to say hello.”

He says that, but you felt that loneliness from earlier. And now too, you can still feel it.

Talking to you now has eased some restlessness within him. Even when you don’t reply and let the silence settle, Gaster feels better. Gaster feels at peace.

Being scattered across space and time, only have that 1 in a 1,000 chance to come across anyone, that must be lonely for anyone. And now that he’s with you…

You think if you were in his shoes, you wouldn’t want to let go. Even if it meant you couldn’t stay around as much as you wanted, you’d take any chance.

And now here you are, teaming up with his son just for the chance to put him back together. To bring him back “to life” and be known again. To be whole again, and to no longer just exist as a concept.

And here you are to give Gaster another chance to come back and to finally be with his creations turned children. Those two skeleton monsters who were originally created to be his assistance in his studies, but he couldn’t help but raise them with genuine love. With your help, he’ll finally get to be with them again.

It’s so hopeful and wonderful-

Ah, these aren’t your feelings. These are Gaster’s.

You don't think he's aware you can feel this. No need to tell him, you suppose.

You stay there for a few more minutes, basking in this moment. Unfortunately, you really do have to get going…

“Alright,” You speak softly under your breath, “I have to find a cat somewhere else. I wasted too much time sitting out in the open.”

As you stand up and dust yourself off, Gaster starts speaking.

“There are not many, perhaps only one or two. The cats are monsters, much like the dogs. However, they are far more domesticated than the dogs, and are willing to be taken in a home.”

“Oh, that’s perfect! I’ve had cats too growing up, so I know how to handle them.”

“You might have some luck near that guard’s house, Undyne. Since, you know,” You hear the cheekiness in his voice, “cats love fish.”

“Ughhh, okay. I guess I’ll check it out. Oh, hey!” You snap your fingers, “Can you be, like, a detector for me and tell me if she’s on the move?”

Gaster replies with confusion, “No…?”

“But you did that for me with Temmie back in UnderSwap!”

“That is only because they had my fragment, [Y/n]. And not to mention, I barely had the strength to control your Soul as a demonstration. What makes you think I can do anything else?”

You smack your lips, “Man, whatever.”

“You can simply regroup with them and tell them to find the cats for you. No need to pout.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got it, I got it.”

“I… I must go now…”

No, he doesn’t. In reality, he can spare the energy to stay around for a while longer. But he doesn’t need to say it to you.

You can feel his real reason why.

Gaster will be too sad to see Sans and Papyrus and not even talk to them. He refuses to control your body for any selfish reasons, but he is not strong enough to face them just yet.

That is why he only communicates with you. Even though Sans knows Gaster is around now, it’s just a step too far for Gaster to really interact with Sans in any way.

“That’s okay,” You whisper gently, “I’ll talk to you next time, then.”

“I–… Yes, Until next time, [Y/n].”

It’s quiet. That small pressure in the back of your head is gone now. You feel it in your Soul that the remnant of Gaster is still with you, but he’s intending to be dormant for the time being unless it’s necessary.

You… get the feeling you should wait to tell Sans. At least until the day he said he wanted to talk about everything in general. Again, assuming Gaster knows your grip about not wanting to hide things from Sans, he must be okay with you sharing this interaction.

Fuck, you should probably write down ALL the bullshit you need to talk to him about at this point.

You walk down the path to return from where you started from. To your surprise, you can already see Sans and Papyrus back at the meeting point. Sans seems to be carrying a super fluffy black cat. One of his hands is holding the cat by the scruff, and the other is holding the cat’s butt for support.

Do not let bro hold cats, what is he doing…

The kitty (it looks like a full grown cat) has warm brown eyes, though as you get closer, they appear more gold. The pupils are thin and it has airplane ears, the fluffy tail is curled up between its legs.

Poor baby. It’s not escaping Sans, though.

Sans smiles in relief when he finally notices you coming over. Ah, you see faint scratch marks on his skull.

“KITTYYYY!!” Life imitates art CaseOh, “You guys found one already!”

You hold your hand out to the cat, letting it sniff your hand first. Its ears perk towards you and start squirming in Sans’ hold. You hold both hands out, taking the kitty from your bone friend.

“this one was a pain,” Sans gladly hands off the cat to you, “it was friendly at first, but after i picked it up and walked away, it started getting angry.”

“Awe, but it’s just a babyyy!” You coo at the baby, cradling it in your arms. “Hi, babbyyy!!”

The cat meows, letting itself be held. You can feel it purring.

Papyrus huffs, “THAT IS ONE DOWN, JUST ONE MORE TO GO.”

“It might be good to check around Undyne’s area,” You hum, giving your attention to the cat, “Obviously I’m not talking about me. You two can look around.”

Sans might be jealous of the cat. “uh, why?”

“Fish.”

“…”

“…”

Papyrus shrugs, “IT CAN’T HURT TO TRY. LET’S GET GOING.”

With that out of the way, Sans escorts you to outside the Waterfalls that leads to Snowdin. And by escort, it was just a shortcut. Your home is down on your right, but you’ll be waiting right out here for the skeletons.

The black cat is by your feet, playing with the random stick you found and is waving around. It’s so cute and fluffy. Miraculously, the snow isn’t sticking to its fur. Maybe it's a cat monster thing.

“Hey, kitty. I’m going to take you home with me, okay?”

The cat meows, suddenly stopping to groom its fur.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

When the cat starts grooming further down, you have enough courtesy to look away. Unfortunately you did catch sight of a small lipstick, you didn’t look away fast enough.

Whelp…

At least you know he’s a boy.

You toss the stick in the snow, waiting idling for who knows how fucking long. Eventually, the cat moves and sits on your feet to escape the cold snow. He’s surprisingly light, and his little toe beans and body have a light brown tone.

So demure.

“wahh.”

…?? You look down at the cat at your feet, thinking it was him. But one, that didn’t sound like him, and two, he’s looking to the left with alert ears. You follow the cat's gaze and smile at the arriving Papyrus and Sans.

Woah, their clothes are fucking torn up. Is Sans limping?? Hello????

Papyrus is holding an orange and white cat with very short hair, dangling the poor cat and the cat is just letting it happen. The cat has a white belly, snout, socks, and a striped tail. You think you see pink toe beans. It also has airplane ears, the tail lowered as it flickers and puffy with irritation.

You can tell this one is a boy too, though most orange tabbies usually are.

You snort, “What the hell happened? Did the cat win?”

“YES.”

“yes.”

The orange cat meows again, but it sounds more like a “wahh” than a meow. The orange kitty squirms out of Papyrus’ hands until he manages to jump down. He starts trotting towards you–Actually, he’s coming towards the black kitty who is waiting patiently.

“wahh.”

The cats begin rubbing against each other, and you can feel them purr against your legs. Ugh, your cuteness aggression is rising!

“Aww, I think they were mad that we were kidnapping them from each other,” You state the obvious, watching them with awe, “It’s a good thing they’re reunited now. They’ll definitely stay with us willingly as long as we keep them together.”

The ginger kitty looks up at you with his round blue eyes, pupils dilated and his tail raised high.

“wahh.”

You obviously need to name the ginger cat Childe, there’s no other option.

You could be funny and name the other one Zhongli or something, or maybe not. You’ll think of something. Or, you can let the skele-bro’s pick a name.

“Come on, kitties,” You gently step away, walking towards the house, “You’re living with us now.”

The black cat follows you first, which prompts the ginger to follow. You’re almost positive the ginger cat could care less about following you, he’s just here for his cat companion.

You unlock the door and hold it open, watching the cats readily go inside. They’re probably going to love having a proper home to live in–a warm home to live in. Hm, you should give them baths and/or check for bugs and fleas.

Bathing cats is basically a death sentence, but you’re willing to do it for their sake. They’re so cute it’s definitely going to be worth it!

…

Meanwhile, Sans and Papyrus stay rooted to where they were, watching with defeat and amazement. The cats clearly favored you immediately, while they fucking nearly died just trying to get them to begin with.

Maybe cats just don’t like bones?

But little do they know that you’re just a natural pussy magnet.

Tags:

@adriixboo

@lemonboy011

@fetusbaconegg

@fluffyart5000

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

Alice 'Allie' Parkington is WonderSpider!

____________________________________

Miguel: One year and four months ago, I devised the formula for inter-dimensional travel, allowing me to open portals across the multiverse. I created an elite stri-

Alice: Oh, Okay! -

[Alice is the result of a 'Adapt-A-Spider' Challenge, where you adapt a pre-existing character into a Spider! You can see more of my fun Spidersona challenges HERE]

(Also HUGE THANKS to @fairytalespider who made the OG SpiderSnow!)

Gwen Stacy isn't the only blonde who knows about miraculously falling through wormholes.

Except Allie got sent to the universe with talking animals, and a maniacal queen with of taste for beheadings. Not that she's complaining. Not when the tea parties are so delightful~

At 7 years old Alice Parkington found a white waist-coated rabbit, on a hurry to who knows where -

And she followed him, fell down a hole, and never came back.

Origins:

[Alice's world is a mix of the book's portrayal, the cartoon's, and Tim Burton's (though I haven't seen the movies). Her story begins at the end of book - a similar ending to the cartoon movie, but instead she doesn't wake up.]

After losing a game of croquet to The Red Queen of Hearts, Alice is sent to the dungeons, awaiting her beheading on the Queen's orders. That is, until she finds an enchanted Spider in her cell, sent by an ally. When she's bitten, it gives her all the power of Wonderland - and binds her there forever. After escaping The Red Queen's Death Row, Alice was adopted by the woman who helped free her - The kind but exiled The White Queen or Marmoreal, aka Her Aunt Mirana.

Now The Blue Princess of Marmoreal, Alice is next in line for the throne, and the web-swinging protector of Tugley Woods, Wonderland. She spends her days fighting against the tyrannical and murderous rule of The Red Queen of Hearts, and The Court of Cards. With The Mad Hatter as her martyred Uncle Ben - Alice calls Wonderland her home, though she's always left questioning what's real and what isn't. At this point, she's accepted she'll never know the answer. So when she's recruited for Spider Society, it's just another rabbit hole to go down, and another adventure to fall into. On campus she's known as WonderSpider, and she's a lot more powerful (and ruthless) than you'd think.

Design and Personality:

Alice is a lot less sugar and a bit more spice, with her personality taking after the book (moreso than the movies).

Alice is bubbly and independent. She's as curious as a cat and as chatty as a bird. And she's all about asking questions and finding her own way in the world.

She's loves tea parties and foraging and making crazy experiements in the Hatter's workshop. And now that he's gone, she still finds herself in there, cooking up another magical sweet or Victorian style gadget. When she's not doing that, she's at The White Queens side, begrudgingly taking (literally) nonsensical etiquette classes. She isn't afraid to speak up for herself and others. And once she makes her mind up, it's settled.

Despite what some may think, she's isn't an entire lunatic. She's hasn't gone Wonderland Mad yet.

Even since a young girl, Alice has always been known for asking questions - trying to find the sense in nonsense before coming to a conclusion. She's great at picking up on details, and thinking outside the box. And she's always the one to keep a level head, no matter what the circumstances. Doom is not assured when reality is subjective. She's as logical as she is loopy, and although some may think there's nothing going on between her ears, they are sorely mistaken.

She always wears her glasses. She needs them to see.

Or rather, she needs them to see correctly. Having a cause of The Mads, taking off her glasses distorts her vision of the room into a psychedelic and disorienting wonderland version itself - which hurts. She keeps them on always. Though they can be knocked off during battle. Like other Spider-people - The lenses squint, blink, and emote. They have a permanent and consistently moving patterns and colors. Between blinks, the design may change, the swirls changing color or direction. Sometimes the words she's saying may flash over them for emphasis, and they can contain anything from exclamation points to tie dye.

Alice is a de facto genius.

An expert chemist, Alice has mastered dozens of recipes and chemistry formulas using the vegetation in Wonderland. She's cracked the code to rabbit holes, and has an amazing affinity for science and theoretical theory. And if she doesn't understand a certain law of physics or something, she can just choose to ignore it. Literally.

Powers & Abilities:

Hobie told Alice that laws are oppressive. She agreed, told him she hates the laws of physics - then started floating to the ceiling like a balloon. Needless to say, reality doesn't really work for Alice. And she cannot control it.

But no matter what her misfortune, though - She'll always say 'Oh, dear.'

Reality Warp:

Wonderland has side effects. Alice can grow and shrink at will, but once she's there, she can't go back. When she wants, she can manifest rabbit holes to Wonderland on any flat surface, but she doesn't know where they are - so she always falls into them. Her tears are huge, and they flood any room. And for some reason, she's obsessed with cookies. It she sees one, she'll eat it. It doesn't matter if it says 'Eat Me' or not. If you hand her something and tell her to drink, she will. It's the one thing she won't question, although she should know better. She'll read the label, and if it's not clearly labeled bleach or poison, she's drinking it. If it's not those two things, it must be safe right?

The Power of Imagination:

Like Spider-Ham has the Super-Slapstick ability, Alice has the Power of Imagination on her side. If she can make logic of it or believe it, then there is a random chance it will happen. If the team is looking for a way past a locked door, Alice may say 'If only there were a mousehole somewhere here. Mice are such scampers, they can get into anywhere!' There will probably be a 1/4 chance of a mouse running by, leading them to a cartoon like mousehole she can shrink and go through. However, Alice can't will it to happen. She can't be asking or hoping for it, and the thought has to be completely innocent and 'wonderous' for it to work. The ability can also be compounded, with multiple unlikely things happening rapid fire - however this is less likely and HIGHLY dangerous if done in other universes, and is likely to cause an anomaly. Plus everyone else involved goes a tad bit 'loopy' for a bit.

This ability only works outside of Wonderland, and it was discovered by Miguel.

When Alice met Miguel, she began to question his interesting suit, and so she asked. Miguel began to explain to her, but confused, Alice said 'Well, that's nonsensical. Surely you can't wear light like fabric. If that were true, I could pull this right off you.' - And then she did. And suddenly she was holding his suit in her hands as if it were made of fabric, and Miguel was there in his underwear.

Alice's response: 'Oh dear.'

Chesire Mode:

When surrounded by enough chaos or kinetic energy, Alice can go Chesire Mode, and really goes off the bend. She experiences full Wonderland Madness - similar to the Hatter, and gains the ability to unravel herself and turn invisible. Her voice begins to echo, creating a disorienting and hallucination-like affect. Doing this is known to cause madness, but it affects everyone in the room.

Equipment:

WebShooters: Alice uses mechanical Web-Shooters created by her and The Mad Hatter. Her webs are silly string and streamers. 'Bow'-nus Arms: Alice's waist ribbon is extendable like Mr.Fantastic's limbs, serving essentially as a second set of arms. However, when it's off of her, it's much more similar to Doctor Strange's cape, having a mind and personality of it's own. She can take it off and ask it do it, and it'll go off and (try it's best) to do it, just like a snake. It's name is David Bowie. She does not know who David Bowie is - it's just a coincidence: it's family name is Bow-ie, and David is a common name.

Random Facts:

Alice hangs out with a lot of the 'Eccentric' and Mini Spiders - She likes others from cartoons or fairytales, or anyone made for whimsy.

And she likes spending her time small.

She has a crush on Lego Spider-Man. She shrinks to be with him lol

He naturally finds her a little offputting, they're NOT a thing but she wishes (sis he's literal plastic)

Alice's best friends are SpiderPetal, SpiderSnow (@fairytalespider), SpiderFairy (@stardust948) and Spider-Ham.

Since they all live in either a woodland area, a cartoon, or both, those are usually who she's with

Though she only goes small around people she trusts - but never someone like Miguel. In fact, with Miguel, she does the opposite.

When Miguel is in the room, Alice prefers to grow 'full size' as in... taking up the whole room giantess style.

She says it helps, because 'It makes Mr.O'hara look like a little toy soldier.'

With the size of his lair, she can often grow taller faster than he can get lower - so he'll stay up there, and she'll grow to meet his eye.

She can decide when to stop growing or shrinking, just not when she'll turn back.

This power is transferable. Alice's wonderland powers still work elsewhere, and so her cookies and drinks do too.

Alice can only keep 1 cookie and 1 drink on her at one time, never more, it'll always be ruined.

She can use these to either extend her state, or have someone shrink or grow along with her.

But once she uses the one of each item, she can't get more until she returns home and makes more.

HOWEVER. HOWEVER - Alice is down for deals.

If you come to her world and ask for some cookies or potions, she'll give it to you. But there's a mandatory tea party involved, and the only payment she asks is that you bring sweets for the guests - Vegan please!!

(Her favorite is angel food cake, after cookies of course)

Those aren't the only ones - she has dozens of sophisticated concoctions for any need - floating and weightlessness, invisibility, even the ability to mimic voices perfectly -

And just the same, she's able to carry one of each when outside of Wonderland.

A frequent customer of hers is Hobie. He puts the potions to work - plus he makes the best vegan coconut macaroons.

Oh - also DO NOT Drink her tea though - it's made with Wonderland Tea Leaves....Great for a good time, horrible for bedtime.

Despite not knowing her specific age - Alice is a young adult - and she works at The Society.

Her Uncle Hatter was a master chemist, alchemist, magician, chef - and dozens of other things. And for years, Alice studied under him.

Originally, Miguel assumed all of this knowledge would be non-transferable nonsense, but - wrong.

Alice is one of the leading scientists at The Society - with a concentration in Multiversal Physics, studying everything from the visual styles of universes, the path between universes, and differences in time.

She'll often say something, only to get dismissed by Miguel.

But Lyla will cut him off, telling him that scientifically, Alice IS making sense.

It's just that because her world is totally backwards, the ideas she has to describe her thoughts are backwards too.

After a while, she becomes one of the main people to write the updates and programs for the watches, working with Miguel as her boss.

She's like a bop-it, full of weird and very useless quirks.

If her feet get wet, they make the duck waddle sound when she walks.

If she hits her head, it makes the TikTok 'Boink' sound. She runs and it makes the Flintstones noise.

If she stubs her toe or gets hurt on something tiny, she'll scream like Tom The Cat.

She burps bubbles (like the soap kind) and her sneezes sound like one of those party straw thingies.

Sometimes her Wonderland powers play tricks on her. She'll be like 'I'm outta here!!' then walk into a looney toons wall. And she's so embarrassed cause the cartoon noises make it so much worse fhgsuigdf

Sometimes when she tries to run she stays in one place for a second before the running kicks in (like a cartoon) - and Miguel just grabs her and she's like 'Dratz, I was trying to get away.'

She enjoys hanging out with Hobie, though she does not understand him at all.

Like, she's British too - did I mention she's British, cause she's from Victorian England -

But she has no opinion on his ideology because it's ???? lost on her

He's like 'This is a metaphor for capitalism' and she'd be like 'I don't know what that is.'

He's like 'count your blessings'.

But Hobie LOVES that Alice doesn't stick to the rules -

and that she gives the middle finger to the laws of physics by just existing

He's like 'That's so cool, what you just did. Real Metal.'

She's like 'I suppose I am just a container, filled with slowly decaying food - so in that way, I am quite like a fridge, which is cool and made of metal-'

And he's like 'what are you talking about-'

And they mainly hangout because they're both lazy.

Alice is tirrreeed of all these weird physics rules and new technology and non talking cutlery.

She'd much prefer to take a nap, or wander off, of have a tea party, or do ANYTHING that isn't work. Same girl same

And that's it! Most of it, I'll probably maybe maybe not write a post about her joining the society and how it completely warps her perception of reality because she's been trying to get home for so long, she doesn't even know if her home exists then there's this new society through ANOTHER wormhole but she still can't get home-

Oh and before I go, her intro art is inspired by Qveen Herby's single Abracadabra!

Yeah. If you made it this far THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME UR TIME! Thank you so so much for entertaining me I MEAN IT THANK YOU I KNOWI POST SO MANY OCS AND IT'S KINDA OVERWHELMING SORRY AAHHH MY BRAIN CANT STOP I CANT FOCUS HELP

Anyway I'm normal

HERE HOBIE

Bye.

[miss-tc-nova]

All Not Lost - Percy de Rolo x Reader

Ventured into Vox Machina and now I'm in love with a nerd. ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

Premise: After years under a mind control spell, someone finds it hard to return to a broken home

Words: 2,688

Music Inspiration: The Magic Music Box - Orchestral Music by Jojo Comps

~~~~~

               Getting used to the loss of five years was never going to be easy. I lived an eternity in endless pain, but at the same time, in the blink of an eye, I lost everything. It wasn’t just the final years of my teens but also my whole world. My parents, my siblings, the friends I had, the people I loved—all of them in my life one moment and gone the next. Now I’m here, in this new world and trying to figure out how to take another step when I’m so afraid of walking.

               A voice pierces my mourning. Lifting my gaze from the text I’d long since lost track of, I find Percival de Rolo. It was Percy and his friends that tore me from Delilah Briarwood’s hypnotic spell, dragging me through time to a world I’m not sure I want to be part of.

               There’s something concerned on his straight features. It easily beckons a smile to my lips, a deceit I had much practice with lately.

               “Sorry, were you talking to me?” I ask a bit tongue in cheek.

               “I was, in fact.” Arms fold as green eyes peer at my tome from behind spectacles. “Though you seem far more engrossed in…the destruction of existence as we know it.”

               “Huh?!”

               A gloved finger points at the page, underlining the text that speaks of poorly performed magic that could unravel the fabric of reality.

               “Not planning to doom us all, are you?”

               “N-No! Nooo.” The book snaps shut, leaving the immediately vicinity via its flight over my shoulder.

               One of those dark brows quirk. “Really?”

               “Yeah. I was actually looking at teleportation spells but I guess I just…got lost in my own thoughts.”

               “I see.” Percy retrieves the tossed tome and returns it to the table. “Well no need to take it out on a perfectly good book. Though maybe we should reconsider its return if it contains the secrets to destroying the world.”

               I laugh. “I’m sure not a soul in existence has the power to pull that off. Besides, this is mine.”

               “So I should confiscate it.”

               “Only if you’d like to continue walking everywhere.”

               “We have Keyleth for that.”

               My expression falls deadpan. “What was it you needed me for?”

               He eyerolls my abrupt change of subject. “We’re going out for a drink and there were questions as to whether or not you’d care to join us.”

               “Oh…”

               I can understand that—a festive drink in celebration of another day survived. That’s the way Vox Machina enjoyed life and I could never deny them that. But I don’t feel like I survived, nor am I in the mood for said merriment.

               “I think I’ll pass but I appreciate the invitation.”

               Standing, I collect my text and start for the hall of borrowed rooms. Before I disappear, however, I pause.

               I lost it all beneath the Briarwood’s rule, and that included Percy. Yes, he stands before me now, but I can no longer claim him to be the boy I served for all those years—the boy I befriended. Somehow, this truth hurts me more than if his life had also been claimed by those monsters. And I find myself utterly disgusted for thinking such terrible things.

               Again, there’s worry across his face that I can only smile at.

               “Are you certain?” The soft, low gravel in his voice grates at my resolve.

               “I’ll be fine. Enjoy your night, Percy.”

               In the instant my back turns, the smile slips away. With every step, my heart cries to go running back and spill my every misery to him. Had I not come to terms with the fact that he is not the person I once knew, I have no doubt that I would be on my knees, wailing and begging him not to leave me.

               The door to my room closes and the silence is deafening.

               Because I’m a fucking coward.

~~~~~

               Groaning, I pry my face from my pillow. The pain of spilt tears stings at my eyes, but I force them open all the same. Darkness rules the room, the lantern on my bedside table has long since flickered out. Silver moonlight filters through the curtains to give some semblance of bearings.

               Again, the knocking rattles my tranquility, though this time, a voice follows.

               I should let him go—let him think me asleep and wander away for I know I’m at my weakest and Percy deserves so much better than for me to drag us into the past.

               But I’m at my weakest.

               The worn blanket clears my face before I stand. In my stride to the door, I straighten out my appearance. Though rationale yells at me to stop, emotions pull open the door.

               There he stands, surprised, perhaps thinking I wouldn’t answer.

               “What’s wrong?” I hate how broken I sound.

               “I’m sorry, did I wake you?”

               “I wouldn’t really call it sleep. Did you need something?”

               The well-dressed man straightens up, as if he’s rehearsed this a dozen times over.

               “Yes actually. I need you to come with me.”

               “Isn’t it late?”

               A smile cracks his lips, cracking at my fractured resilience. “We don’t have bedtimes anymore, do we?”

               My gaze adverts. “I suppose not…”

               “Just trust me.”

               A glove extends to me in offering and I somewhat retreat into my room.

               “Please.”

               Following that arm, my eyes find his face again and, for a moment, I see the boy from my past and there’s nothing I can do to keep from taking his hand. Percy hesitates not even a second in pulling me towards the front door, the warmth of his palm lulling me into acquiescence. My bare feet skim the stone floor, muted by the soft click of his boots. The utter silence of the building cautions the slumber or absence of other callers. Only we—as we creep through the dormant shadows—stir in this silent night.

               Even as my guide draws open the door, I follow without question. No, I only think twice when he steps towards the black steed harnessed to a small carriage. Even so, all I find in my glance is an encouraging smile.

               Gesturing to the uncovered cart, Percy lures me towards the steps. I don’t even have the words to respond, my hypnosis convincing my feet to climb the steps instead. Once I’m comfortably seated, Percival climbs into the driver’s seat and sets out.

               Whitestone, in all its destruction and desecration, rolls by as the carriage wheels creek through deserted streets. Seeing the present whilst remembering the past only brings back the ache I earlier tried to escape. My once proud and thriving home is naught more than a pile of rubble with its citizens scrounging on the edge of starvation. Each passing corner draws me closer to tears. Yet I somehow remain composed, trusting in the man that brought me here.

               There’s not much else he could take from me anyway.

               The excursion eventually leaves that battered city behind, climbing the gentle slopes that used to bring a bustle of travelers from across the realm. Nearing the top of said slope is where the horse’s hooves begin to slow, pulling the cart to the side of the road. The carriage driver dismounts his seat, strolling to the side where he, yet again, offers his assistance.

               “We’re here.”

               Cool grass rustles beneath my toes, soft against unprotected skin. A whisper of a breeze moves the air, careful not to cause unease in this comfortable atmosphere.

               “Where’s ‘here’?” I ask, my voice barely able to break the quiet.

               Percy waves away from the carriage. “Why don’t you see for yourself.”

               It takes my weary soul a moment to sum up the energy to take those few small steps. As I do, the grand ruins of Whitestone revel in the valley below. At its heart, the damage took its toll, but gazing down upon its corpse, the city breaks me. Knees give, bringing to me to the ground, trembling hands trying to contain the grief from pouring out.

               Through the mounting misery, a gentle hand meets my back. “It’s alright.”

               “How can you call this alright?!” My words come out louder, but I can by no means call them strong. “Our home is in ruins! We lost everything!”

               “So that’s what you see.”

               Breath still quivering in my chest, I peer up at Percy. His expression is that of contemplation.

               “I suppose I should have expected as much. When I first returned, that’s all I saw too. Nearly everyone I knew is dead and my home is in shambles. I’d given up hope that Whitestone could ever be prosperous again.” That smile returns ere long. “But the Briarwoods are gone. Those that are still here choose to rebuild and the people are in good hands. From what remains there’s potential. Whitestone can be great again—maybe even better. There’s an entire city down there just waiting to grow anew.”

               Looking back to my home, I consider his words. I can’t say that I’m entirely convinced, though I can no longer see just doomed remains. Some of those sentiments sooth the pain enough for me to clear my eyes.

               “Besides, I wouldn’t say we lost everything.”

               From my back, his hand slips beneath my fingers. His thumb softly strokes against my skin. I’m now unsure whether the hiccup in my chest came from my ebbing sorrow or my heart.

               “We’re here, aren’t we?”

               Percy waits patiently as I gather my words to respond. From his touch, my hand retreat as the rest of me tries its best to hide from him.

               “So much has changed from what I remember. To say that the people we were survived would be inaccurate.”

                “I agree that people change over time, but surely there’s still part of us that always remembers who we were, don't you think?"

               From the corner of my eye, I see Percy reach into his coat. Curiosity gets the better of me. In his palm sits a small ornate box. Silver embellishments flourish across ebony paint, a small silver latch securing the lid. Into my hands, he pushes the trinket. I warily turn the box in my fingers, noting the detail and craftmanship of the item. It appears to be not new but in good condition and not quite perfect. Barely noticeable, a hole in the side blends into the design. Easily, the box opens to show me its secrets. A bundle of mechanical parts is wound together inside yet I understand not its purpose. The metal cylinder is riddled with bumps sitting beside a comb with narrowly spaced teeth while a spring runs the length of the small container.

               Before I can ask, Percy extends his hand again. A silver chain tumbles across his palm, twisting and turning in on itself. At its heart lies a small, silver key. The peculiar charm has no teeth, but a hole at its end and, as I pick it up, I understand.

               Inserting the key into the side of the box, I’m met with some minor resistance. It clicks with each turn until, after a few turns, it moves no further.

               The moment I release the key is the moment the world stops spinning.

               The cylinder turns, those bumps brushing against the metal teeth of the comb with a chime. Each sound on its own is simply senseless noise, but as it continues to turn, it recreates a melody etched deep into my heart. A bright room adorned with golden decorations and luxurious drapes gleams beneath an elegant chandelier. The finest dresses and shoes skim the polished floor in tempo to the orchestra’s magic. People weave together before pushing apart, only to retwine themselves in elegant dance.

               Most importantly, he stands before me. Trauma has yet marred his face, pure innocence left behind that bashful smile. Naivety leads our steps yet allows us to indulge in our blissful youth. We had no fear for we knew none. Our lives were whole. And we were happy.

               “You remembered,” I whisper.

               Percy’s expression holds softer as he too remembers that simple dream. “It was your favorite song. How could I forget?” His gaze wanders the stars above. “You would go about your chores humming that song every day since that dance at my sister’s eighteenth birthday. It was as if you never wanted me to forget.”

               I stare back down at the singing box. “Because I never wanted to forget.”

               “See.” He snares my attention again. “You may not be who you were, but there’s still some semblance of the person I knew in there.”

               Percy stands, pulling me up beside him. Carefully, he takes the box and winds it once again before replacing it in my hand. This time, however, his fingers carefully cradle mine as the box sings its little tune.

               Wistfully, he says, “I can only hope that part of who you saw back then still exists in me.”

               Without warning, Percy pushes me back. I stumble, but the arm at my back keeps me balanced. It occurs to me what he’s doing and the second movement is far smoother. Into memories he leads me, through our childhood and into our teenage years. We spent so much time in each other’s company—in casual conversation, in fervent discussion, sometimes even in silence. It was Percy’s presence that always brought me peace, even now in this new broken existence. And I would dance with him until my last breath if the world would only let me.

               The notes teeter out, the music wheel eventually coming to a stop. Slowly, our feet also cease to move, our reminiscence at an end. Percy’s arms drop and I hold the music box close to my chest.

               “Thank you, Percy. I needed this.”

               It’s hard to see in only the moonlight, but a tint of pink dusts his nose. “Think nothing of it.” He reaches forward, carefully draping the silver chain around my neck. “After all, it only took me five years to finally give it to you.”

               “You got this for me?” A flutter in my chest begins to smolder.

               “Technically, I made it for you.”

               “You made this?”

               “Of course.” At the simple gesture of brushing the hair from my face, Percy ignites those embers. “Because I never wanted you to forget.”

               His touch is careful and soft, as though I might break. However, I need only the smallest sign to lean into his caress. Even the press of his lips to my forehead speaks of his caution, but I see the longing burning in his eyes. For us, it’s been far too long and yet no time at all. Percy is a different person and yet he’s still the same. I suppose not everything has been lost to me.

               Fingers curl around Percy’s coat, my head tilting back. My consent is clear and his head dips a second time. It’s like being blessed with new life, filling my chest with hope I dared not have before this moment. It’s soft and deliberate, meant to relay all we’ve weathered and all we will weather. But this one thing between us will stand through it all.

               Just as it began, it ends though the significance of it all hangs in the air. In his embrace, I soak in his presence. While I have his warmth, however, the night has grown ever late and from my mouth escapes a yawn.

               His voice is reluctant to break our serenity. “We’d best get you back to bed.”

               Rather than answer, I press tighter against him. In response, Percy slips his arms beneath me and whisks me back to the carriage. Sleep nearly takes me in the time it takes to return to our temporary residence. Again, it’s Percy’s strength that returns me to my bed, but it’s mine that keeps him there. I’m not ready for him to leave me again, no matter how short the night may be. He grants me that plea and it’s in his arms that I finally find the shattered pieces of my heart in peace.

~~~~~

Nova’s Other Masterlist

[thewiddershinsme]

Finished Anastasia by Sophie Lark! Random thoughts with full spoilers below:

-you can definitely tell the author likes the 1997 animated Anastasia movie, there are some elements that feel inspired by/paying homage to that film (Damien/Dimitri similar sounding names, him calling Anastasia “Anya”, the music box, Rasputin’s greenish hue at times, and my favorite the white bat called Bat (Bartok!)). Even the illustrations bring that movie to mind.

-this is not a historical retelling by absolutely any means whatsoever (it is about as accurate as My Lady Jane - which is actually a good comparison cause that show also creates a magic filled alternate reality and the main premise is a doomed historical figure survives), but there are obviously real places and people mentioned which sent me down the Wikipedia and YouTube documentaries rabbit hole. So despite this being a complete fantasy novel, I actually learned a bit by looking up the real world history on my own! I’m embarrassed at how long it took me to realize that Felix was a real person (and it was his Wikipedia entry that made me suspicious about the novel’s ending)

-I never was crazy about Damien himself (though his death touch was nice and angsty and added a whole new layer of obstacle to their romance) but I liked him and Anastasia’s relationship (even more post Revolution) I just wish had a few more moments and interactions when they were growing up together in a show don’t tell way. But I was so so looking forward to the complete grief stricken angst and breakdown as regret when he found out about Anastasia’s “death”; and it happens in the time skip! I love that trope, and was so annoyed it happened off screen.

-Anastasia’s relationship and interactions with her family was well-done. It really showed that even though her family was extremely flawed and in the wrong, they all desperately loved and protected each other (which I think is part of the tragedy of the last Romanovs, that they were well known to be a close and loving family but absolutely terrible autocratic rulers. They would’ve been happier not being the imperial family).

-the big spoiler: time travel solves (mostly) all. I suspected this was gonna happen when historical figures that are known to survive the Revolution were all killed off in the first timeline. In all honesty, I didn’t mind it. This was a fantasy story, the time manipulation element has been part of the plot from the beginning so didn’t come out of left field, and the foreword directly stated Anastasia was going to have her happily ever after. And as mentioned above, the more I read the more I realized in order for her to have a happily ever after, she needed both Damien and her family. I actually had more trouble accepting that Anastasia became Tsarina. I mean, it was a big thing that the girls could not inherit the throne, that was why Alexei having hemophilia and being sickly and likely to die was SO MAJOR politically, cause her dad just couldn’t “decide” to give the throne instead to one of the daughters….except that is exactly what happened. And not even Olga, the eldest child, but the youngest daughter! That part (weirdly enough out of all lol) broke my suspension of disbelief for a bit, but after some time I realized that it was the best ending for the AU to give the throne to the person that had lived the terrible alternate future and could lead Rusya to peace and prosperity for all (since no Revolution happened in the new timeline). I just had to headcanon it that it got passed through the Duma due to Anastasia’s time walking capabilities (which the heir was always supposed to have but she was the only one of her siblings to inherit). And I did like the symmetry of Damien (who was supposed to Attaman) leaving to become the Rusyan consort, while Alexei (who was supposed to be Tsar) instead becoming a Cossack. And you know what, it is still bittersweet that Anastasia lost the version of Damien that she first married, and all the moments and understanding and memories they had built together.

-so, this book felt like a fanfic, and I mean that in the best possible way. There were illustrations (which were gorgeous) and a soundtrack (with tracks interspersed throughout the novel so you know what part each song corresponds with). It does not replace the Anastasia 1997 movie in my heart of hearts (which will probably always be my favorite Anastasia retelling) and did not ignite a new obsession (which was kinda hoping it would). But this was very obviously a passion project, and I enjoyed reading it, and have already lent my copy out to someone else. In a couple years will definitely re-read it again.

Edited to add: I forgot to mention that Rasputin being a vampire was a twist that completely took me by surprise but I thought was a very clever fantastical take on Alexei’s dependence on his “healing” powers