#ala in all it looks pretty good :)

[critterbitter]

THEY ARE ELECTRIC STARTER BUDDIES NOW.

Emmet and tynamo become partners! With a buddy in his pocket (literally), Emmy’s becoming bolder by the day.

Plus a bonus Ingo. (He has not found a starter yet. Here's his feelings on that.)

For more, check out the submas masterpost!

[luvsavos]

big ol kitty stretch

[sskk-manifesto]

And so the big sskk shortage begins (no sskk for the next 15 episodes) (and the sskk episode coming after kind of sucks)

[deus-ex-mona]

my five surviving braincells when something remotely good happens:

[safyresky]

Scrimbly Jacqueline 44/52: Halloween scrimbly! Jack and Jacqueline are gonna kill it at the Legend-Legate Halloween Party because yes, Jacqueline did indeed get Jack on board...

All he had to do was dare her to cut her hair for it! It went a little like this...

🎃👻🍷🥳✨

It started, (as most things did for her, weirdly enough) with a sprite sleep.

It wasn’t out of the ordinary. Especially this close to Spring’s approach. Work ramped up for Jacqueline and like, nine out of ten times Dite would be startled by a large thump out in the atrium, only to see her girlfriend COVERED in snow laying face down by the pond.

“Long day?”

“SO long and I am SO tired. I can’t even make it to the bedroom. What EVER will a cute LIGHT AS A FEATHER sprite like me do~”

Apparently, roll over, throw the back of her hand over her forehead and pout with really big cute eyes right at Dite.

“Well it’s a GOOD THING your fluffy, tall, and VERY strong girlfriend is here to rescue you.” She knelt down, picked her up bridal style and flew the pair of them right to her rarely used bed.

“Boop!”

“Hehe. Boop.”

A finger came up, booped her nose, and in seconds Jacqueline was passed out, a welcome chilly presence against Dite’s side.

They stayed cuddled like that for a while. Dite amused herself in the meantime. Stole Jacqueline's phone and scrolled through the tag she had for stuff to show Dite later. Let her brother know where she was, threatening him under pain of death should he try to wake his sister up and bring her back out into the field (he promised he wouldn’t and said he, too, was in hiding and Winter was who they had to watch out for). Checked in with Elle, since, y’know, Jacqueline’s phone was RIGHT THERE and Dite knew her url. Napped for a bit.

But when it became apparent that Jacqueline’s sprite sleep was just that, and would last more than half a day, Dite wriggled her way out and shifted to watch mode.

It was quite fun, really. Keep up with her notifications, place sweets on the bedside tables to see if they’d rouse the sprite (and they did but Dite always missed it by THAT MUCH, only knowing Jacqueline had eaten the treats based on crumb distribution), re-tuck her in every so often, cuddle when Dite decided sure, why not, she could totally sleep for a bit! You know, that sort of thing.

And while keeping vigil at her side, Dite booted up her PS4 and played her very favourite game possibly ever: Hades.

She lost count of how many runs she did. But she got a fair way along in the storyline by the time Jacqueline woke up. So much so that she didn’t even notice the sprite rouse and slowly make her way to the edge of the bed. And she must’ve been there for a hot minute because it wasn’t until Dite had dealt the final punch onto Learnie that she realized her girlfriend was awake and watching, and NOT because she had noticed calmly while button smashing. No.

It was because the moment Learnie exploded, Jacqueline made a noise that may have been a purr? And said, “Mm. That's hot.”

Right in Dite’s ear.

Needless to say, Dite was startled. So much so her flight and fight response kicked in and she shot into the air, longbow drawn, arrows ALREADY LAUNCHED before she realized what had happened.

“Oh! Oh no! Jacqueline! I’m so sorry!”

“It’s okay, it’s okay!” Jacqueline pulled an arrow out of the bed, feathers flying about. “It’s fine! I scared you! My bad. I knew you were in the zone but didn’t realize how in the zone you really were—hhh.”

The breath escaped the sprite as Dite grabbed her in a very tight hug. Emphasis on the tight.

“Dite. Dite. I need to breath—” the top of her head was wet. Why was it wet? Was Dite—

“I’m s-s-sorry!”

“Oh, sweetheart, you don't have to cry about it!” Wiggling out of Dite’s grip (a challenge in itself), Jacqueline managed to throw her arms around the goddess’s neck and squish her nice and tight. “I’m okay! Really.”

She pulled back and held onto Dite’s face, wiping the wet off her cheeks and immediately booping noses.

“Boop!”

Dite laughed. “You’re so cute.” sniffling, she wiped the rest of the wet away, fanning her face. “Whew. Okay. Okay. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Positive! It’s just a couple arrows.” She pulled another one out of the bed. “And I’m slippy.”

Laughing, Dite pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. “Okay! If you insist.”

“Which I do. You’re playing Hades? That game you've been telling me about for like. GOD. Two years at this point?”

“Yep!” Chipper, Dite floated back down to the bottom of the bed, picking up the controller and popping Zagreus up to the next level. “It was a fun way to spend the time while you slept. How long have you been watching?”

“I woke up to a you died screen. Very disorienting. But then I got to watch you go through the underworld! Nyx is hot. So is Achilles. Like, everyone in that house was pretty hot.”

“If you think that, just wait! There’re a bunch of characters that weren’t in the house during that run! Wait until you see Thanatos. You’re gonna think he’s so hot”

Grabbing the blanket and wrapping it around herself like a cloak, Jacqueline picked up her phone, plopping down to sit beside Dite as she continued her run.

“It’s been a while since you played it.”

“It has! I got busy and I’d beaten the main plot. Now I’m doing the epilogue plot! And I’ve added some heat to make it harder, which is why I died so soon! One of the bosses was given a chariot and a MACHINE GUN. I think. And I was NOT ready for it.”

“Why did you pick it back up again? Had the urge?”

“All MONTH actually! They announced a sequel.”

“They did?”

“Yeah! It looks super cool! Here, let me show you the trailer.”

Pausing the game, she pried Jacqueline’s phone out of her hand, pulling up the Hades 2 sneak peek. Jacqueline watched with rapt interest, eyes going big.

“Woah. That looks dope.”

“Right? And it looks like it has a LOT more gameplay and I am SO EXCITED! I can’t wait until it goes into beta! I’m hoping I can play it during pre-release. I think you’ll really like it, too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah! The protagonist uses MAGIC! AND she’s trying to rescue her family! She’s Zagreus’s little sister.”

“Oh, cute! Maybe I’ll keep tabs on it then, if you think I’ll like it. And also, magical little sister. LOVE that.”

Dite giggled. “I thought you would. Wanna try playing the first one?”

“Maybe later. For now, I am perfectly content sitting right here and watching you play.” Pecking Dite’s cheek, she grabbed her phone back and opened it up, catching up on messages.

“What did you do to my recent emojis?”

“Don’t worry about it!”

🎃👻🍷🥳✨

It had also started small.

After their brief chat, Jacqueline didn’t really show any more interest in the game, though she was happy to start her own save and do a run or two or five. Which Dite had expected, of course! Jacqueline always liked up close combat and was a big fan of button smashing (you had to be when you played Super Smash Bros with her younger siblings. They were FAST—but Jacqueline was faster and Dite, even faster!) and Hades was full of button smashing.

And incredibly hot characters, according to Jacqueline. Dite took her word for it.

At any rate, Dite was not prepared for the ensuing love the sprite ended up having for the game’s sequel. Not until she got back from work to...WAY too many missed texts from Jacqueline.

DITE IT ENTERED EARLY ACCESS

I gotta pay for it? WHACK.

GUESS WHAT I JUST DID

OH GIRL IT’S DOWNLOADING

I can't find my ding dang controller

I STOLE YOUR BLUE ONE! SORRY BABE XOXO

Oh girl. GIRL. It’s so cool

Oh it’s so FUN

Okay. Just got my ass whooped.

OKAY WOW YEAH super different mechanics but like, really fun. She has this cool thing that I think replaces Zag’s cast basically? But it’s like a big sigil looking thing and it KEEPS THE LIL GUYS FROM MOVING ABOUT! I love it

NEW GODS

THEY’RE HOT

SOME OF THEM LITERALLY

I don't wanna give you too many spoilers but lmk if you’re free tonight? I’ll bring my laptop! And return your controller. Maybe. Idk it’s my favourite shade of blue, so...😈😈😈

There was a brief gap, according to the timestamps. Enough for a couple of runs, Dite guessed. The messages continued after, borderline unintelligible (Dite thanking the gods for small miracles like autocorrect as she read on).

Oh

Oh NO

DITE

DITE SHE NEVER GOT TO MEET HE R BROTHER

SJVHUHVUI

VUUEAKCJWNE

ASDFGHJKL

I’M SO SAD AND HEARTBROKEN OMG

SHE DIDNT GET TO MEET HER BROTHER? NOW SHE HAS TO GO SAVE HIM? SHE’S NEVER GOTTEN TO MEET ZAG?? I THOUGHT THEY HAD LIKE SOME TIME TOGETHER BEFORE CHRONOS BUT APPARENTLY NOT???

OH SHE’S SO CUTE WHEN SHE’S LITTLE I’M 🥺😭🤯

Another bout of silence before the final string of texts.

...girl I'm hooked.

I'm OBSESSED

I need the full game SO BAD

MELINOË 😭🥺😭🤩🤩🌨😭🧜🏻‍♂️

That seemed to be the end of it. Dite giggled to herself, quickly typing a few replies.

Well the good news is now, you own the full game! Yay💕💕💕! We should share Steam libraries if we haven’t already! 😘😘

So sorry for the late replies, blue eyes! 💙💙 It's high season for me! But I'm home now and yes, absolutely free.

What do you want for dinner? I can grab something or make something and we can hole up here for the night! Just you, me, and the sequel to critically acclaimed god-like, rogue-like dungeon crawler game Hades 2! 💙💖⚔

Also the controller is your favourite shade of blue because I got it for you, silly! 😘💕

The replies were instantaneous.

Is for me? YAY! 😁😁😁

I’ll be right over!

Can we do Za from that place by the tower of Pisa? 🥺🥺🥺

🍕🍕🍕🍕

Dite laughed.

Sure! I’ll grab it and meet you back here?

😎🆒

And that was Jacqueline for yes.

🎃👻🍷🥳✨

It was obvious once she’d returned with the pizza that Jacqueline was absolutely ENAMOURED with the game. The love radiated off of her in waves as she talked about it!

And talk about it she did. The pair of them spent the entire evening and well into the morning taking turns doing runs, guessing story beats, and trying to see who could make it farther out in the runs each in-game night.

By the time the sun rose down below them, Jacqueline had unlocked the path up to Olympus, and BOTH girls had squealed in excitement (enough to upset several cherubs as they flew away angrily. One even hissed).

They’d called it there, then. Angry cherubs made for a bad time.

But that certainly didn’t stop Jacqueline.

🎃👻🍷🥳✨

Whether with Dite or on her own, Jacqueline could not get enough of the game. It was like Dite said; she was enamoured with it. She loved it on its own, and she loved how much fun she had when playing it alongside Dite.

And maybe, just maybe, she felt a bit for Melinoë.

Whatever the case, it fast became one of her favourite games and was very much on the mind when talk of the Legend-Legate Halloween party came up once more.

For the last almost fifteen years running, Santa had been joining the festivities given that he now had a Legate of his own.

And for the last near fifteen years running, Santa and Charlie had won the costume contest every. Single. Time.

So when July came around and Halloween hit the shelves, talk of the costume party came up once more amongst Jacqueline and her Legend, the Big Bother himself.

It’d become a regular lament around this time of year.

See, she and Jack had won the contest since their first year both attending post reunion. They had held onto the trophy for a couple of sweet, sweet years when Charlie got his Legate status and he and Santa swooped in and managed to steal the trophy every goddess damned year.

“And I am tired of it, Jacqueline! I mean, the only reason they’re winning is because they have  SEVERAL departments FILLED with costume experts, I mean, come on. It simply isn’t fair!”

And sure, maybe Jack had a point. But like, they were using the resources they had at their disposal so like. You know. Why not.

Jacqueline had said as much, only for Jack to grumble and glower and tell her to stop defending the enemy.

“In fact, you should stop fraternizing with the enemy, too! No Charlie hangouts until after Halloween.”

Jacqueline had bit her tongue. Swallowing her laughter, she cleared her throat.

“Okay, but like, if I do that…how will we know our enemy? We can’t defeat them if we don’t know them, you know?”

“No, I don’t know! Good point! Okay, fine. Keep fraternizing. We’ll see who fraternizes last.”

Jacqueline snorted. “What the frost does that mean?!”

“I’m having a moment, Jacqueline! You think I know what the things I say mean when I’m having a moment?!?! Honestly. Where’s the support!”

He’d gone on for another good twenty minutes, much to Jacqueline’s amusement. Finally, though, he had eased off, and chit chat returned to the regular gossiping and bitching as they made sure to keep the snowcapped mountains…well. Capped with snow.

Of course, before finishing for the night Jack had once again reminded her to start thinking of a costume that would beat the Calvin-Claus duo once and for all.

It was distracting her something fierce that evening. She’d already lost two death defies to Chronos! TWO! And that hadn’t happened in like, the last ten Underworld runs. Goddess above, the costume thing shouldn’t be bothering her that much.

Finally getting the last hit in on Chronos, Jacqueline sighed. She piloted Melinoë around the decrepit House of Hades, really wishing the game was fully out. She was dying to see how gameplay would work re: saving the rest of Melinoë’s family. She also really, really wanted to reunite her with Zag! She couldn’t WAIT to see the plotlines and the arcs and the—

Oh. Now there’s a thought.

Sending Melinoë back to the Crossroads, Jacqueline sat up straight.

She knew exactly what costumes would give them the trophy this year.

🎃👻🍷🥳✨

“DITE!”

“JACQUELINE!”

“I JUST HAD A BRILLIANT IDEA.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah! I can trust you, right?”

Dite laughed. “We are literally dating, Jacqueline. Of course you can trust me! Why wouldn’t you be able to?”

“Because this isn’t your run of the mill Jacquie brand idea. This is serious stuff, Dite. This is...Halloween related.”

“Oh! You’ve thought of a costume for you and Jack? For the Legend-Legate party?”

“YES! And I think it’ll have a really good chance at winning the whole thing.”

Dite’s wings fluttered. “That’s wonderful! What’s the catch?”

“For this to work, there are two big things I have to do. The first one: use what I have at my disposal which is a literal goddess of a girlfriend.”

Dite flicked her ponytail. “Hedone is at your service!”

“I like that you added the sparkles.”

“You don’t think that was too much?”

“No! Not at all! I loved it!”

Dite grinned, hovering. “Yay! So what do you need from me?”

“Access to godly forages and godly resources.”

“Done! We’ll check in with Mom’s side of the family, they’ll probably let us do more nonsense than Dad’s side. So what’s number two?”

“I need to convince Jack to do it.”

“Why is that?”

“I think we should go as Mel and Zag.”

Dite brightened. “Oh! Oh, I love that idea! That’s so cute! We can make the weapons HERE and we’ve got TONS of reference material to get the fits JUST RIGHT and I can find some laurels for you both that’ll REALLY make the look proper godly, ou, it’s going to be SO FUN. I bet Jack’ll go for it!”

“I know if worse comes to worse I can guilt him about it but that’s not really how I want to go about doing it, you know? At least, not seriously.”

“Well, how about a PowerPoint?”

Jacqueline blinked. “Oh, shit! That is a great idea! I fucking love PowerPoints!”

🎃👻🍷🥳✨

And that’s how, months later, Jack found himself at Jacqueline’s recently-restored-forgotten-about-house, seated on the huge sofa and watching as Jacqueline set up a PowerPoint presentation on the TV, Dite grinning like a maniac beside him.

“And…there we go! Open up!”

The PowerPoint loaded.

“Why Jack and Jacqueline Should Attend the Legend-Legate Party as Zagreus and Melinoë from critically acclaimed, god-like, rogue-like game Hades and its sequel, Hades 2. That’s a bit of a mouthful, don’t you think?”

“But it gets the point across, right?”

“Jacqueline, I don’t even know who these characters are.”

“Well good news for you: The first half of this PowerPoint will make sure you know just that. We’ll start with the first game, because that’s where your character comes from: Zagreus, Prince of the Underworld!”

By some miracle, Jack actually sat through the entire slideshow, paying rapt attention and interrupting a minimal amount and learning quite a bit. Dite was more than happy to compare the game to both sides of her family in real life, much to Jack’s amusement. By the time Jacqueline made her way through the Hades 2 portion, Jack had a pretty good working knowledge of the characters and the game. Games, that is.

“So! In conclusion! Here’s why we should go as these two. One: they’re siblings, so are we! Two: they’re MAGICAL siblings. So are we! Three. They are INSANELY hot. Four: LOOK at how BADASS their fits are! Five: the big ass weapons are DOPE and WILL get us bunny votes. Six: I’ve gone ahead and pulled a Santa and Charlie and used the resources I have at my disposal.”

“Which are?”

“Ta-da!” Jacqueline grinned, presenting Dite. “Celestial girlfriend!”

“That’s me! AND I’ve gone ahead and gotten everything we need to get this going!”

“You know, Dite, technically you’re the enemy here too.”

“Hey! Jack! Be nice!”

“No, it’s okay babe! He’s right. But here's the thing. I love Jacqueline very very much and,” she leaned closer to Jack, her cheery disposition falling, determination taking its place, “I want to see Santa and Charlie go down just as bad as you two do.”

Jack looked surprised. Pleasantly so. “Really?”

“Really.”

“Alright then.”

“So? What do you say?! Please? Please Jack? Pretty please?”

Jack looked thoughtful for a moment, rubbing his chin and hemming and hawing.

“Need I remind you about the time you accidentally stabbed me and then left for fourteen hundred years?”

“You do not, thanks.”

“Okay, good. Just checking. So? What’s the answer?”

“Tell you what, little flurry. I’ll do this costume with you. But! If and only if you cut your hair as short as Melinoë’s for the thing. You know, authenticity’s sake and such.”

Jacqueline patted her hair which was, presently, very, very, very long. “My hair?”

Jack nodded. “Yep! Off it goes. Right up past your shoulders.”

“...done.”

Jack sat up in shock. “Really?”

“Yeah! I’ll cut my hair for this. But you HAVE to go as Zagreus. No take-back-sies, especially after my hair cut.”

Jack smirked. “Done.”

🎃👻🍷🥳✨

About a week before Halloween, Jack popped by to visit the fam only to find Jacqueline with very, very, very short hair.

“Wow,” he said, pulling out his seat and helping himself to the coffee time spread. “You really went and did it.”

“Yep! I told you I would! And also, you dared me to."

"Ah yes! Right. I did, didn't I?"

"Yep. And Jacqueline Frost does NOT go back on a dare."

"Evidently."

Dite brought the costumes by earlier, by the way. They’re done and just about ready to go! We’ll need to try them on and make sure they fit well and all that jazz but then we’re good to go!”

“Weapons, too?”

Jacqueline grinned. “Yep! Actual, FUNCTIONING weapons! I was playing with Lim and Oros earlier, holy heck. If that’d been my loadout during the piracy? I’d have conquered the piratical world, Jack.”

“Well it’s a good thing it wasn’t! There’s be no living with you then, King of the Pirates.”

🎃👻🍷🥳✨

Halloween week rolled around and with it, the Legend-Legate Costume party.

Jacqueline stood in her room, all dressed up, admiring the freeze job on her left arm. The ice was thick enough to give her arm an almost ghostly look about it underneath; close enough to Melinoë’s ghostly prosthetic of sorts to work for her.

Grabbing Lim and Oros and taking a few practise swipes, she tumbled out of her room,

“JACK! You ready? We gotta GO!”

“Chill out, would you?”

Across the hall, Jack’s door opened. Out he walked, in his Zagreus costume—huge sword and all.

“AH! You actually DID IT!”

“Of course! You actually cut your hair, and I am a man of my word.”

“Woo! Yes Jack!” In her excitement, the sprite was hovering a bit, the north winds filling the halls. “We’re gonna kill it today! That trophy is as good as ours.” Landing, she swiped through the air with Oros.

“Yes, just one little detail we need to fix.”

“What?” Jacqueline landed. “What detail?”

“Eyes. Quite literally. I have a little spell that may work, but it won’t do eye colours we don’t have in our genes.”

“So instead of one red, one green, it’ll be one blue, one gold-ish?”

“Bingo. I thought we may be able to do the red what with our favourite uncle and all,” (Jacqueline snorted), “But wen I asked Dad, he told me that the only reason his eyes were that dark was because of all the negative magic and whatnot that he used. Something like that.”

“Really? I always thought they were identical except for the eyes and hair.”

“Nope! Same eye colour too!”

“Damn. I do NOT envy Gran.”

“Nor do I. Anyway, hold still, would you?”

“You remember which side is which, right?”

“How could I not? With how informative your presentation was and how you haven’t stopped talking about the game?” He sniffed. “Please.”

There was a pull of magic in the air. Jacqueline looked down at the ice on her arm—yep! Two-toned eyes.

“Ou, that’s banging.”

“Banging?”

“You know darn well what I meant to say. Let’s bounce so I can go swear.”

“And so we can win that trophy! The look on Santa’s face when we take it from him will make my Christmas. I won't even ask for anything else! Except for maybe a framed picture of the exact moment we're announced as the winners.”

“And if we don’t get it, we have WEAPONS. We can take it,” Jacqueline smirked rather devilishly, stabbing the air with the dagger. She spun on her bare foot and ran down the stairs, weapons trailing magically behind her.

🎃👻🍷🥳✨

It was Cupid and Dite who were hosting this year.

Their villa was done up, lights flashing, the smell of good food wafting down their way. Decorations were put up, and it looked like some of the other gods were hanging around as well.

They made their way into the atrium, the party in full swing as they looked for this year’s hosts.

“Jacqueline!”

“Dite!”

“Ou it looks so GOOD ON YOU!!”

“And look at YOU!?!?!? Are you NEMISIS?!”

Dite giggled, flaunting the armour and standing very tall. “Sure am, Princess.”

“Oh, I love it! Why Nem, though? She’s so rough and tough with Meli and you for SURE can’t do that with me, your cute and lovable girlfriend!” Tilting her head and smiling sweetly, she folded her hands under her chin, Lim and Oros in her grasp.

“Dad was inspired by you two and had this great idea—”

“I sure was! I'll take it from here, kiddo." Cupid finally appeared, floating towards them. "Hey! Jack! Ya made it! And Jacqueline, look at you two! Lookin’ good.”

“You have got to be joking me. Really Cupid? Really? THESEUS?”

Cupid laughed, doing a loop-de-loop on the way over. “Yeah! Did it with you in mind! I’ve played my fair share of Hades, so when Hedone told me you and Jacqueline were doing Zag and Mel, I thought, hey! You know who annoys the shit out of Zag? THESEUS! And so, ta-da!”

He floated back, arms outstretched, lights catching onto the costume.

“I can’t even be mad anymore, Cupes. I’m simply impressed.”

“Ha! That’s the spirit, Jack. Anyway, c’mon in! Mind the crowd. Some of the more laid back family members are here—and some of our Greek cousins, too. Dionysus and Bacchus are in the house. It’s gonna be a PARTY TONIGHT! HAHA!”

“I saved you some treats! C’mon!”

Dite pulled Jacqueline away, the sprite grinning up at her as they disappeared in the direction of the food. Jack smiled, watching them go, content.

“I gotta say, Jack. I’m surprised you agreed to this.”

Jack quirked an eyebrow as Cupid floated closer to him, at eye level with his fellow Legendary Figure.

“Oh?”

“Yeah! I never thought you’d go for something like this,” he gestured to Jack’s Zag outfit, “for a costume.”

“Jacqueline was very excited about. She insists it’ll knock Santa and Charlie right off their pedestal.”

“Oh, I think it will. You’ll never guess who they’re here as.”

“Mario and Luigi?”

“Nope.”

“Scooby and Shaggy?”

“Ha! That’d be funny to see. Nope! Wanna guess again?”

“Not particularly.”

“Buzz Lightyear and Woody. From Toy Story.”

Jack laughed. Out loud. “Really? THAT’S the costume they went with?!”

“Oh yeah! So ah, between you and me, Jack…” the god floated closer. “I think you and your sister got this.”

“You and Dite have a good shot too.”

“Ha! Are you kidding? We don’t enter that shit.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Hedone gets a little too competitive so I ah, try to avoid competitions as much as possible. Seriously, it’s terrifying. You should see her playing board games. Risk? Monopoly? Yikes. She brings even the greatest strategists to tears. Minerva hasn’t been the same since the last board game night. It’s bad, Jack.”

“It’s funny you mention that. When Jacqueline gave me her presentation on the world of Hades—or at least, this iteration of it—” he gestured to himself. “She got very…intense when I asked why she was helping.”

“Yeah. You’d think love was enough, right? Nah. That coupled with beating someone at a competition? Yeesh. You’re lucky you made it out alive, let me tell ya.”

Jack snorted. “The night is still young and this sword is very, very real. Or so I’ve been told. It’s lighter than I expected.”

“I think Heph did that on purpose.”

“I’m not sure whether to be thankful or offended.”

“Eh, when it comes to these guys, it's usually a bit of column A, column B. Regardless, I think you guys have a good chance at winning tonight! Helps that I’m hosting too. We gods are a vain bunch. And I don’t think I could stop them from voting even if I tried.”

“Ou. Then I can tell Scott that I got the godly vote.”

“Ha! You’re gonna be insufferable all year! More so than usual.”

“Only if you’re Scott.”

“Is that why you agreed to the costume?”

“Cupid, please. You know damn well why I agreed to it.”

Cupid smiled. “I do, yeah. I just wanna hear you say it.”

Jack tried very hard to look annoyed but it did not work. He bit back his smile.

“Well, you know how it is. You do very silly things for the people you love.”

“Ha! There it is! You betchya!”

“And you know…there’s no big, huge, grand gesture I can do to make up for everything I did to her,” Jack continued, finding himself watching their Legates in the distance.

Jacqueline already had chocolate on her face, Dite fawning beside her as they helped themselves to some drinks, talking animatedly with Tinkerbell and Peter Pan—ah. Roy’s kids, Jack realized. Olivia and Myles. The pair of Legates were admiring Jacqueline's weapons while she shoved an entire cupcake into her mouth, Dite showing them how to wield the set.

Jack smiled softly. “And while there may not be some grand gesture I can make, there’s all sorts of little things I can do to make up for it all. And this is one of them.”

Cupid chuckled, clapping Jack’s back. “Attaboy! C’mon, let’s get you a drink.”

[apolohgy]

hello beautifuls, i got a job offer last week in [redacted] and i’m so grateful and excited to be… making money again! and to finally have my own place and fix it up to my taste and get 2 cats 🥹 there’s a job in [redacted] w the same exact salary range and i’m really hoping i get it bc it’s a much more desirable hot girl walkable city. my final interview for that job is next wednesday send hot girl city job offer vibes my way pls

[iiboronii]

okay so i went on a walkie (my body needed to go on one, remember to take care of yourselves and listen to what your body needs btw!!!!) and i'm outside again and. i just. i am so enthralled by the beauty that is all around me. the clouds are slightly tinted yellow as the sun goes down. the leaves are glowing in the evening sun. the contrast of the light and darkness depending on where you look on the tree is so beautiful. i love being alive and experiencing the small joys of nature. i love the warm weather. i'm wearing shorts out here!!!! life is so beautiful.

[viperwhispered]

I kept on talking about it, now I finally did it: put together a few outfits for Emi to wear outside the school uniform - once she has the reason to start filling out her wardrobe in Twisted Wonderland, at least.

Ngl, these pull heavily from what I wore at that point in life, with a dash of wish-fulfillment for extra pizzazz.

First of, the casual - when she doesn't feel like dressing up and is just throwing something on:

Add an extra hoodie or something for colder weather.

The strappy - feels a bit extra but like... she would:

Also works with a dramatic blouse with some flowy sleeves (think Morticia Addams).

(There's also a variant of these two known as the "the boyf's not here and I miss him" with one of Jamil's hoodies, probably the one with the flames that he wears with his school uniform. Particularly prevalent during Emi's third year, when Jamil’s away doing his internships.)

Dressing up, tartan edition:

Dressing up, waist corset edition (prob with the prev shoes, I couldn't bother with repeating elements):

Also works with some long, flowy sleeves and thicker tights.

Also like... feel free to throw in spiked wrist bands and belts and things in there, they're definitely part of the assortment, too.

And like, not to say these are the only things Emi has (there's definitely more of like, basics in her wardrobe too, and cozy oversized things to get wrapped up in), but I feel like these gets the general vibes across, especially for the more standout things she likes to wear.

So yeah, it's like... You can often hear Emi coming just from the clatter of chains, especially when she's taking a seat, lol.

Tagging @scint1llat3 @diodellet @moonyasnow @bibi-cha

If you'd like to be tagged for Emi things, just let me know!

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Books of 2024: THE WAY SPRING ARRIVES AND OTHER STORIES, edited by Yu Chen and Regina Kanyu Wang (feat. first daffodils!!)

I've been pining after this one since the hardback released, but I'm more of a paperback person so I Waited, and in my Waiting I missed the seasonal alignment to start reading it (come on: I can't be expected to read a collection with this title any time except at the very beginning of spring, right??). But! Guess what!! Spring is once again Arriving, and things are starting to bud and bloom, and I love that!

[pynkhues]

https://64.media.tumblr.com/a0ddc7b541ab75f0eed9aca684fc5691/a9ae287f8349782f-f0/s540x810/b6bd5d4bfcc32f989541abb6fa718ee93ee68075.gifv

I haven't watched the newsreader but wow, his eyes are heartbreaking here

Dale 'wettest eyed man alive'' Jennings walked so Lestat 'weeps at the beauty of falling leaves and also all the horrors' de Lioncourt could run!!

[arolesbianism]

Doodle of my boy

[ereborne]

Song of the Day: February 25

“Watermelon Crawl” by Tracy Byrd

[sweet-beezus]

I've always liked the idea of choices and how they change the narrative, so for this day of @khoc-week we'll be poking around one of each's most impactful choices that could have changed everything!!

This'll be like... AU 2: Electric Boogaloo, except it's a different flavor of course.

They're all very angsty, so no one wins this one, alas.

Day 6 - One Choice, New Life

Iris:

Ohhhh yeah~

Right out the front gate we're starting strong!

Since Iris, thanks to poking around in places she shouldn't, ends up getting smited before the Keyblade War even began, imagine if she kept her nose out of things just long enough...

She gets to know everyone that Alto got to meet, and finds herself having even more things to add to her list of suspicions as time goes on.

She finds out about the Dandelions, about the weird happenings and disapperances, about the fact that the Foretellers are hiding more than they are letting on.

Things start to get more tense, more stressful. Iris grows a resentment for the Union leaders and those they associated with, as the days lead to competition that grows ever more violent.

Her final straw was when Aced dared to strike down Alto, who just wanted to spare two wielders an otherwise fruitless fight near the fountain square. She denounces her Union involvement, essentially going rogue all to keep a protective eye on Alto.

She turns down a spot on the Dandelions only because Alto did, despite her efforts to plea with him so they could leave safe and sound. But she respects his choices, so together they will face the music head on.

Eventually, the Keyblade War swings around. Even though it's a free for all at this rate, she still teams up with Alto to stay close and keep them both alive no matter the cost.

Now, ideally she would get taken away with Alto to the digital Daybreak Town and the two would continue to suffer towards the end of the world, perhaps both finding themselves on a journey to reincarnate in Scala ad Caelum, however the newly uncovered, very hostile Foretellers of the Apocalypse have other plans.

Despite Igni being an angel of the battlefield, at least in the eyes of the wielders she saves, for very interesting reasons never really disclosed she just leaves Iris to die, or rather finishes the job herself. Either way, Iris does not make it out, at least not in an ideal state.

Nobody in the future gets to learn who Iris is despite Alto carrying her memory with him, he had forgotten her just as much as he forgot everyone from that time.

Her Chirithy got to her just in time before she was whisked off to sleep, and she now resides in the Realm of Dreams as a Necho Cat, assisting in keeping that realm and the other lost wielders safe.

♡♡♡

Irene:

Irene also had a strong case of sticking her nose where it doesn't belong, which later ended in an act of martyrdom for two boys that barely gave her the time of day.

This time around, despite her heart telling her to act, she kept to herself and followed along blindly alongside the other castle staff (loyalty to Master Ansem and all that), where it eventually lead to her witnessing all of the horrid experiments happening within the castle walls.

She ends up involuntarily becoming a Nobody, Nexier (it's just Reixen backwards lol), with a healing element, one of if not the only passive member of Organization XIII. While not branded as an official member, she is given her own infirmary quarters in the Castle That Never Was, where the other members are sent to receive mending and care, most likely a hint to all that remains of who she was.

When she's returned to wholeness, she's confronting Sora on his final trek to confront Xemnas. It's more of a mercy upon her granted by Sora, but part of her seems so far gone even when recompleted. She will never be the same, now jaded towards her place of work, yet she stays because where else does she have to go? She needs to be there for the others who also suffered the same fate...

All we have is hope that maybe she could find healing from all this.

♡♡♡

Iliana:

I thought of two for her, so I'll share the less dark option first!

When she takes up a roost with her uncle after the fall of her world, a pivotal point was her choice to leave and seek closure in the depths of space. Here, Russell managed to talk her down from persuing what isn't there, so she doesn't take off on a fruitless chase for answers. Instead she takes up work as Russell's apprentice at his shop, biding her time until she can handle the journey on her own. Or with friends-

She ends up in Sora's mess here anyway, just with less death on her end this time around. Unfortunately, destiny has it out for her either way-

The second option was from before she left her home world.

She had already been actively packing to leave by now, a slow process considering she had to swipe many things from under her parents' noses. Unfortunately, finishing that task couldn't have come fast enough.

During its final day standing as the world was crumbling to pieces, she had tried returning to her home city to grab her brother, the last thing she needed in order to go. The only thing holding her back was swarms of Heartless and, well, the world actively falling apart.

Originally, she realized she was outmatched and decided to flee, since she knew fighting her way through would mean certain death, and with certain death it meant no one would be able to go back and save it later, nor could anyone escape that hadn't tried already.

It was devastating to leave her brother behind, but it was necessary to make sure she wouldn't lose him completely.

This time around, however, she continues to persist, battling through hoard after hoard to reach the city gate... only for the city to totally sink into darkness before she could make it there. Her way back was starting to crumble as well, so she was all but completely trapped.

Of course, Heartless are an inconvenience, so on her furious trek back she nearly makes it to the ship, but! Comes up short as she is taken with the broken pieces of her world to the Realm of Darkness.

Her persistence kept her from being swallowed completely -unless she totally gives up which is possible- nevertheless she ended up finding herself wandering this new realm aimlessly for a couple of years, maybe bumping into Aqua-nort and her mildly unhinged gf, Myst, while she's at it, until by pure happenstance she may be rescued...

By Sora, of course. She can never avoid him-

She doesn't come out of this herself anymore, in fact she's far from the person she may have been, left now to take her time relearning how to be human, and her recovery monitored in Radiant Garden while the Guardians of Light are actively hunting down where Terra ended up.

♡♡♡

Oh, how I love me some angst!

The most heartbreaking part is that if this is all part of one timeline they never get to meet, with the exception of Iliana and Irene I suppose, but they won't click in the same way they do now. Maybe they learn to heal together, but it's so strained that it's best to let them handle themselves separately.

Iliana would also have no reason to take the Mark of Mastery until way later this way, if at all, so she'd never meet Dreameater Iris, alas.

Anywho-

Wowie zowie, we're almost at the end, just one more day!!

I'll see y'all tomorrow for Day 7!!

[wrestlezon]

:I

[seilon]

surprise fuckin HAUL bro 💕💎♾️

[ethosiab]

pov you threatened his pet raven (she is immortal and he's being dramatic)

[pls click for better quality tumblr hates everyone <3 also sketch under the cut as per usual]