#also give him a halo just to sell the look

[kosmic-neptune]

So Sonic turned into a werehog, Shadow can now transform into an octopus, now all we need is for Silver to painfully transform into some type of creature.

[navybrat817]

All Dressed Up

Pairing: Biker!Bucky Barnes x Female Reader

Summary: Bucky visits a gallery to support his best friend and unexpectedly meets the girl of his dreams.

Word Count: Over 2.3k

Warnings: First meeting, mild dirty thoughts, instacrush, swearing, Bucky Barnes (he's a warning, okay?).

A/N: Okay, lovelies. A new AU. I'm sorry. @targaryenvampireslayer @tavners @starlightcrystalline @whisperlullaby @sgt-seabass @vesearlee , I feel like you all either heard me screech, encouraged, or helped me, and I appreciate you. ❤️ Not beta read and written on my phone, so any and all mistakes are my own. Edit by the beautiful @nixakimbo and divider by the incredible @firefly-graphics . Please follow @navybrat817-sideblog for new fics and notifications. Comments, reblogs, feedback are loved and appreciated!

Bucky didn’t dress up for most people since it wasn’t his style. He would do so for any of his brothers though, especially Steve. His best friend since childhood, and his club’s president, he always had a love and talent for drawing and painting. And after working his ass off on his exhibit it would’ve been a crime for the vice president not to show up.

Steve promised if there was ever a day when Bucky’s writing became published he’d be by his side to celebrate too. As much as they liked to give each other shit sometimes about art and how they created it, the support was there through and through. The only catch for tonight was that he had to dress nicely to get into the gallery. So, instead of the usual leather jacket or vest he wore and jeans, he went with a plain black suit and white button up shirt.

He refused to wear a tie since it wasn’t a wedding. He had to draw a line somewhere. No one paid him any mind though as they walked around the gallery, and he was more than fine with that. This wasn’t his night.

“You should be proud, punk,” Bucky said, looking over the art lining the large wall, each piece crafted with care.

“I am proud, jerk,” Steve smiled. He hadn’t worn a tie either, and it made Bucky feel a little better. “And you know you don’t have to stay the whole time.”

Bucky knew that. He also knew members and prospects would be trickling in and out throughout the evening. “Not needed at the bar tonight, so I can stay as long as I want. But I might cut out early since I see your face enough between that and the club.”

Steve chuckled. “Still haven’t sold the place, huh?”

The brunette sighed. It wasn’t the first time Steve asked if he was going to sell the bar to focus more on writing. “Where the hell would you all hang out if I sold the place?” He liked the bar. It wasn’t just a great hangout for the club, but for his other regulars, too.

“There are other bars,” Steve teased. He said that, but he loved the bar, too. “You know I just want you to-”

“Follow my compass. I know. You’ve said that so many…” He stopped talking when he saw an unexpected angel walk into the room.

Well, angel was the word that came to mind since you were wearing a white dress and the light over your head illuminated you like a halo. But as his eyes swept over you, he wondered if there was a bit of a devil in you. He wouldn’t mind bringing that side out of you if you gave him the chance.

And here he used to think love at first sight was bullshit.

“Hey. Do you know her?” Bucky subtly nodded in your direction as you spoke to another woman, jealousy flaring up for a second at the thought of his best friend knowing you and not telling him. And if you knew Steve, that was that before things even started. While the blonde didn’t have much game growing up, he came into his own after his growth spurt, and everyone adored or wanted him.

Steve shook his head. “No, I don’t,” he said, making Bucky’s shoulders slump in relief before his friend scrutinized him. “Jesus, are you eye fucking her? You are, aren’t you?”

Bucky wasn’t the least bit ashamed. “And I’ll keep doing it ‘til she looks at me,” he replied, wishing you’d at least spare him a glance and get a look at him in his nice suit. Maybe you weren’t into guys with tattoos and piercings, but he was certain he could change your mind if that was the case.

“How long has it been since you’ve been on a date?” Steve asked. “Just introduce yourself like a gentleman and see where that goes.”

“A couple of months? Something like that.” Tearing his gaze away to glance at his inked hands, he chuckled. “You think I’m a gentleman?”

He could be dangerous and downright dirty when the occasion called for it, but just because he rode a motorcycle and covered himself in tattoos and piercings didn’t mean he treated others poorly. He was raised better than that. Even with his ex-girlfriends, things never ended because he didn’t treat them well. They just weren’t the one.

“We both know you are. Sometimes,” Steve answered, smirking as a beat passed. “And she’s looking your way.”

Bucky’s head snapped up to find you looking right at him with a curious stare. You had the prettiest eyes he had ever seen. Which was nothing compared to your smile. It was like watching the sun slowly rise to meet the day.

Fuck, he was being sappy. You ruined him with a single stare, and he wanted to ruin you in return. Make it so you wouldn’t want another man.

You whispered something to the woman beside you before she nudged you forward and he realized Steve pushed him to move, too. It only took three more steps before he was right in front of you, the gentle smell of your sweet perfume filling his nostrils. Need slammed into his body as you smiled again, and he actually felt the blue of his eyes shrink as his pupils widened.

If Steve thought he was eye fucking you before…

“Hey,” he said, his voice raspier than usual.

“Hi,” you said. It was a voice he could listen to for hours and he wondered what it would sound like when you said his name.

“I’m Bucky.” He took a smaller step closer, trying his damnedest to block out any other man around him so you’d keep those pretty eyes on him.

You introduced yourself, too, and it was a name he would never forget. “I like your tattoos,” you added almost shyly. Almost.

If he had his way, you’d see the rest of them soon enough. “Thanks,” he smiled, holding one hand up to show you. “Dressed like this, I bet you think I’m part of the mob.” After getting dressed and adding the gold jewelry, even he thought for a split second he looked like a mobster.

“Are you or is that information I can’t be privy to?” you asked, making him chuckle. You didn’t skip a beat, and he liked that.

“Not part of the mob, but I am part of a motorcycle club,” he replied. He wore his patch with pride and that didn’t seem to scare you, which was good. “I also own a bar.” He didn’t know why added that part. You didn’t ask and he didn’t want to brag, but there he was.

“So, you ride a motorcycle, and you own a bar?” You glanced back at your friend to ask her, “Do you mind if I…”

“I’m good. You two talk,” your friend smiled, giving Bucky an encouraging wink. He looked back to find that Steve walked away, too.

You smiled as you faced Bucky again. “Well, I’m happy to hear more about either of those things if you have time.”

“Yeah.” A lopsided smile appeared before he could stop it. “I got time,” he said. All the time in the world.

Over the next hour, the two of you stayed close together and talked in between looking at Steve’s pieces. He told you he was there to support Steve and talked a little bit more about the bar he owned. A hole in the wall kind of place he fixed up. While he wasn’t a big drinker, he loved making them for his regulars, and his profession allowed him to get away with all the tattoos.

“I’ll have to stop by sometime,” you smiled before it faltered. “If that’s okay.”

He didn’t want to get his hopes up, but his heart raced, and he wanted to see you smile again. “I’ll hold you to that,” he teased. “What about you? What do you do for work?”

You told him that you were a blood bank nurse and still fairly new to the area. While you didn’t have too many friends nearby, you liked your neighborhood and the one friend you had made invited you to the gallery since she was an art enthusiast. You also let it slip that you were single upon your move here, which he was happy to hear since he was, too, but he didn’t miss the note of sadness in your voice.

He could help fix it if you were lonely.

“I’m not seeing anyone either,” he stated.

You raised an eyebrow in disbelief. “You don’t have an old lady?” His eyes went right to your lip when he bit it. “That is the correct term of endearment, right?”

“That’s right,” he said, his eyes soft. “Both of those things are right.”

You bit your lip again and he wasn’t sure if you were purposely trying to entice him, but now he wanted to bite your lip. “So, do you do anything for fun outside of riding and work?”

He almost groaned when you said “riding” and he had to shake his head to keep his mind from drifting. He couldn’t think of you being on his bike with your arms wrapped tight around him or you riding him or anything like that. “Well…”

He explained that he wrote a bit in his spare time outside of work and the club. It was a hobby mostly, but it would be a dream come true to get his work out there one day. If not, that was okay, too, because he had a decent life and didn’t need much. His bike, his brothers.

But to have an old lady…

“Maybe I could read…” you frowned when you saw the time. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize how late it was. I should get going,” you said, disappointment filling both of you.

“Oh.” He scratched the back of his neck. The two of you were having a nice talk, and he hadn’t had a chance to ask about your hobbies yet. “It’s still kinda early. Do you really have to go?” he asked, realizing just how desperate he sounded. God, if the prospects could hear him right now… He just didn’t want the night to end.

“Yeah, I do. I’m actually working a blood drive tomorrow and could use the rest,” you said, smiling sadly. He felt like an ass for asking you to stay when you had work to do. “I don’t know if you’ve heard anything about it, but you’re welcome to stop by if you want to donate. I always have this fear that people won’t show, which I realize sounds ridiculous.”

Bucky mentally kicked his ass for not knowing about a local blood drive. He was usually more on top of those sorts of things. “Where’s it at?” You gave the location and time, which was all he needed. “I’ll be there,” he promised.

And every single club member would be there, too, if they knew what was good for them.

“Really?” you smiled, your hand bumping his when you turned to face him. “You’ll go?”

He let his fingers brush yours and he smiled to himself when he felt the light shiver. “Of course, doll.”

“Doll?” you giggled. He hoped he didn’t offend you. “I hope you show,” you added in a small voice, your gaze focused on the ground.

Frowning a bit, he wondered if you didn’t believe him. Did someone let you down before? “If I say I’ll be there…” He lifted your chin, so you’d look into his eyes. He needed you to see the truth in them. “I’ll be there.”

You exhaled, staring deeply into his eyes. “I’ll see you tomorrow then,” you whispered.

He grudgingly released you, knowing he had to. Besides, if he kept touching you, there was a good chance he’d pin you against the wall and show you what a work of art you were. “Good night,” he whispered, watching you go back to your friend. She linked her arm with yours as you glanced back, keeping your eyes on Bucky until you were out of sight.

He exhaled, mentally kicking his ass again. Why the fuck didn’t he ask for your number? You two hit it off, and you wanted to see him at least in some capacity beyond the blood drive, right?

Steve made a beeline for him as he stayed rooted to the spot. “It looks like you two hit it off. You know you didn’t even say hi to Chris or Sam or-”

“We’re going to a blood drive tomorrow,” he cut in. He hoped people would show, but he gave you his word he’d be there, and the club was all about giving back to the community.

The blonde’s eyebrows pinched. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Blood drive. Tomorrow. Everyone,” he said, giving his friend a hard stare. “You’re the president. Make it happen.”

“You’re the vice president, which means you supervise plans for club events or gatherings. That includes last minute things,” he pointed out, his eyebrows shooting up as Bucky got his phone out and typed quickly. “You’re serious about this?”

“Is it too much to say, ‘You better fucking be there or you’ll pay for it later’?”

The blonde grinned. A shit-eating, knowing grin, and he wanted to smack him. “This is all for her, isn’t it?”

Bucky sighed. He hadn't expected to meet someone so perfect tonight. “She’s a nurse and I wanna help. Besides, it’s good for the community and you’re all about that shit.” And he had to make a better impression after not asking for your number. “Will you at least promise you’ll be there?”

“To watch my whipped best friend fawn over a pretty nurse? Hell yeah.”

“Beautiful,” he corrected him. “She’s beautiful.”

And while Bucky would fawn over you tomorrow, he also hoped he’d get your number.

So, what do we think so far? Part of this writing style was slightly different for me, but I like how it turned out! I still need to give this reader a nickname and the AU a name, but this is a start. I can't wait for the whole club to show up at the blood drive. I also have something silly and cute planned for these two. ❤️ Love and thanks for reading! ❤️

Masterlist ⚓ Bucky Barnes Masterlist ⚓ Ko-Fi

[weebsinstash]

As much as I strongly dislike when a series kind of "cages" the self insert/OC potential of its audience, it's becoming pretty clear that there's a certain level of pre-determined-ness to Sinners and their appearances, almost to the point it's vaguely implied entire sections of Pentagram City are like, ethnically/visually distinct and that every character we see fits into some sort of category and resembles other people. There's an Overlord who's a giant raptor dinosaur and there are other dinosaur Sinners (and also she's like the club/rave based overlord and even has a business, Klub Kaiju, interesting). Valentino is a moth and there are other moths and different bugs like spiders. In the most recent episode showing flashbacks of Hell in Alastor's past, there was a past female Overlord who had the same multi-toned angular swirling hair as Velvette does. In Vox's studio in episode two, he has members of staff that are visually similar to his own aesthetic. Even up in Heaven, Angel's sister Molly still has her spider aesthetic with a halo and cherub wings

so, i guess, to go where I'm ACTUALLY going with this post.... Moth Reader who winds up catching Valentino's eyes because "oh wow we're both moths, isn't that cute" and it escalates into him seeing you as his property, ESPECIALLY if you also have weird drugging/pheromone powers like him

Like can you imagine it? You smack down into the city while he's like having lunch at a cafe or his limo is parked at a light and you're standing up all confused and helpless and cute, hugging yourself as you look around this loud violent scary new place, and you two wind up making exact eye contact and he can tell you're crying and scared, easy prey. Could you picture Reader's equivalent of his coat being that you're in a little hoodie or jacket or shawl and it just unwraps while you're sitting with him. Idk. You accidentally inhale some of his smoke and just give a cute little sneeze and your antenna and your wings are all just poofing out, you basically just equipped that shit from your inventory. On the fence if Reader would have chest fur but maybe your hair hair is really big and long and silky

Moth Reader having eye spots on their wings that can lull someone into hypnosis, or you have some sort of pheromone that makes people weak to your demands, maybe even horny for you, like some mind controlling queen bee ordering her drones. Val's in the bathroom and some creep grabs you and all of a sudden your antenna twitch and his face gets hit with a little puff of 'dust' and suddenly he's letting go of you, "oh my gosh sweetie I am so sorry, here, take all the money in my wallet, you deserve it, I'm so sorry queen, I'm gonna go jump into traffic, sorry queen, sorry, sorry, im a worm, sorry, sorry"

Valentino having unique reactions to your "pollen" as another moth or at least an addict with a tolerance. He buries his face in your neck so you "poof" him on purpose and he's just hotboxing your scent and getting high and horny while you're struggling and squealing. He forces you to use your powers on him and others so they can feel happy and high. At some point he may even force you to keep producing the powder so he can sell it as a drug or a product and at that point you're BIG INCOME for him, he might as well carry you around like his personal vape pen

Like. Can you even imagine "oh yeah Im super lucky enough that i have these powers to protect myself and potentially manipulate others" and you think you're safe and untouchable and this man is like using his fucking credit card to shift your powder into lines to snort it like a rail of cocaine. You can turn "normal" Sinners into your helpless pawns but it loses effectiveness the stronger the person is and this man is like HOTBOXING your shit, all but passing out on the couch with you in his arms in pure drug seeking unrestrained bliss. And then he fucks ya cause I mean, it's YOUR fault he's all hot and bothered now isn't it?

Just Reader not even knowing how much danger they're in because you just got here and have no idea who this guy is and you're just spinning around looking at your new appearance and flapping your little wings and maybe you can even float or fly a little bit, all happy, big big smiles, being all "oh my gosh this is so cool, I feel so cute ^^" and you don't even realize you're practically modeling yourself on a runway to one very, VERY interested customer...

[things-arent-what-they-seem66]

Garden of Adam

Adam remembers when he first woke up in Hell after getting stabbed. He was lost for a very long time and absolutely upset about the situation. No matter how hard he prayed and tried to contact heaven, he couldn't get through.

He was on his own.

It wasn't until he got a glimpse of himself in some window, did he realize how different he looked.

His halo was gone, long black and gold horns in its place. His once light brown hair was now a dark brown, so dark it was almost black. His golden wings were now the colors of black and red, same as his outfit. His skin was more gray, the only thing that was the same were his golden eyes.

Adam had to steal some new clothes, his were torn and covered in blood and dirt.

He also couldn't risk any of these freaks recognizing him, he had heard horror stories of angels that fell into Hell and were left at the demons mercy.

They showed no fucking mercy.

Now he wore loose fitting pants, a shirt and hoodie. Anything to keep him on the down low.

When Adam was walking down the street, he came across a huge dilapidated building that was sandwiched between two thriving stores. A demon was locking the place, looking sad. "So long old friend, we had a good run." He threw the key in Adam's direction and the fallen angel caught it.

What luck.

Adam waited until the guy was gone until he went inside. No wonder he was leaving it behind. It was fucking filthy!

There was only one chair in the room and it looked to be hundreds of years old. There was dirt, dust, and cobwebs everywhere.

He slumped, knowing that the only person who was going to clean it would be him. Adam got to work cleaning the place up.

Once all the filth was gone it didn't look too bad, just needed a coat of paint.

Being in Hell, he knew he'd need to have money to make it. He could use the space to sell something but at first he didn't know what.

It took him until the end of the week to realize he had powers to manipulate and grow plants, it took another two before he figured that was what he could sell.

Who doesn't like flowers?

That's how his garden center, named Eden was born. A garden that would not be destroyed and be all Adams.

That had been two years ago.

Business was booming, apparently flowers brought many demons, especially sinners a lot of joy. It reminded them of earth and when they were alive.

Adam started collecting souls for employees six months into having the place. It started off with just one or two to give him a helping hand.

He really didn't know what to do with souls, but he didn't let that stop him.

Now he owned over fifty souls, with some more locations that he branched out to get more business he was considered an overlord.

Whatever the fuck that meant.

So of course things wouldn't stay the same and Adam couldn't just love his somewhat happy life in Hell with his flowers and other plants. Today was the day everything changed.

Adam was doing up the weekly center piece to draw people in, it was a large bouquet of flowers that were on sale that week.

The door chimed, Adam stepped away and wiped the dirt off his hands onto his apron. "Welcome to Eden, how can I-"

"Adam?"

Adam felt the blood in his veins grow cold. Oh no. He turned to look at the group that entered his store and the one who addressed him was front and center. "Lucifer?"

[jymwahuwu]

I said I'm not interested in AU but this is what popped into my head… HSR retro AU. No more space technology.

Basically you are a college student 🙈🙈🙈 Depending on whether you are an extrovert or an introvert, you may go shopping and play with your friends during the holidays, have a party, or stay comfortably at home listening to music with MP3 and cassette tapes, or reading novels on the subway.

You use a bulky computer to click on the Windows XP system, and spend hours downloading music and opening chat software. Your MSN friends list is as follows:

Jing Yuan:

Your mysterious neighbor is much older than you. You have never understood what the Xianzhou Alliance is. It is said that he kept a lion named Mimi in the yard, but every time you passed by, you thought it was just a cute cat. He'll stuff you with sweets and prepare you milk and afternoon tea, giving you advice. Well, he can also write ancient poetry. You shamelessly gave this old man your homework.

(You lie on his lap and sleep, breathing quietly.)

Aventurine & Ratio:

These two live together, are also your neighbors, professors, friends... You are not sure what their relationship is, but they quarrel every day. Aventurine is a high-level executive in IPC. Every time you visit a department store, you will whisper in your heart that this is also an IPC. He takes the bill in your mailbox every month and pays it off, very weird. His car is the most talked about in the community.

Ratio is your college professor...he is very strict about grades and academic performance. You cursed him one time and he heard you and he took you back to the office for an OTK spanking...unfortunately, it was legal. You have since become his target in class...

Sunday & Robin:

They still have halos and wings, share the same MSN account, and even the same pager. They have no privacy from each other. They are well-known brothers and sisters of the Xipe Church. They are very popular and eye-catching, attracting people's attention wherever they go. So if you are an introvert, the difference is even more pronounced haha. But both of them will approach you, in the name of kindness, with a look of concern on their face. Robin picks out clothes for you and lends you homework to copy. In return, you agree to go to church on the weekend… and help her sell cookies at the church charity sale.

Sunday provides insight into your life and schedule in the name of "for your own good". You don't know why you wrote your schedule in a notebook for him… He shows up in front of your house and listens to music with you (using the same MP3 player). You share with him a few things you learned in the sex education class, and he says that he has signed the commitment card (you: ? what is this). Promise to remain chaste until marriage… That card has an inexplicable printed pattern, with a photo of a couple holding hands, leaving you speechless. But you don’t know why you signed this commitment card under his supervision…

Dan Heng:

Your nerdy college classmate, with dragon horns (don't ask me why). He reminds you of class and exam times and lends you notes, leaving you with the last piece of cake. You always tease him until he blushes and gets angry.

Dan Feng:

Dan Heng's brother. He seems to be very traditional. You haven't seen him much and you only added him as an MSN friend.

Blade:

The mysterious old man. He seems to have a grudge against Dan Feng and Dan Heng. One time you were playing cards with Yanqing and Dan Heng. He suddenly broke into the yard, said something incomprehensible and then started fighting with Dan Feng. This scared you to death. Kafka appeared to stop him. You added Kafka friends to avoid being attacked by Blade.

Kafka:

The mysterious woman who can control Blade. You don't know who she is, but she seems to know you well and be gentle to you.

Silver Wolf:

Your college classmate has designed several computer games and won many awards at a young age, and occasionally plays cards with you. For some reason, she is very close to Blade and Kafka.

[dark-angel-of-muses]

Ravioli Good Omens AU

Been losing my kind over this with @breannasfluff haha

Legend is a tired, bitter angel who really doesn't want to give ungrateful people blessings

Ravio is a nervous, lonely demon that is supposed to sell cursed objects at a Needful Things type curio shop but keeps all his cursed merch off the shelves and runs a normal shop. Bad for customer retention when they're cursed whenever they buy from your shop, you know.

Ravio and Legend fudge their respective reports blaming each other for whenever their work doesn't get done. Oh, Ravio wanted to sell that cursed doll to someone, but the curse was removed by that Angel! Oh, Legend tried to hand out blessings, but they were siphoned away by that terrible demon!

Meanwhile they actually just live normal lives and ignore their divine/demonic ordained duties. Legend tends a small apple orchard. Ravio has a key to his his house and if either is asked how that happened they will dodge the question.

Ravio also has a "demonic familiar" bird that's actually just a normal bird he adopted. Hi Sheerow.

Ficlet under the cut!

"Um, Mr. Hero Angel sir? Excuse me? May I come in? I'd knock but, ah, your halo is right there on the door. I'm afraid I'd rather not be horribly burned?"

Link rolled his eyes. This demon. Link never even locked the doors anymore. He was being polite by asking to come in. But he was a demon! He didn't have to be polite! Besides, Link hadn't worn his halo in years, preferring to keep it as a door knocker. The remaining angelic power scared people, which meant he could reduce the number of visitors knocking at his door asking for blessings.

Link opened the door, fixing Ravio with a critical look. "I see you've brought a friend today."

Sheerow stared unblinking back at the angel. Ravio had taken him on as a pet after the little bird made a nest on his windowsill and refused to leave.

"Ah, well. You see, I needed to bring him along. I ask for a favor. Just a tiny one!"

Link groaned, swinging the door wide and letting the demon in. If it had been a human, he would have shut the door in their face, but Ravio was.... special. They'd been in each other's orbit since creation. Link was supposed to give blessings, Ravio was supposed to place curses. For a while, they did their jobs, occasionally getting in each other's way. Link would break some curses, Ravio would steal away some blessings.

Eventually, they made an agreement to stop interfering entirely. Link was tired of handing out blessings while his Bosses were thanked, and Ravio didn't much like giving curses. Made one a bit lonely when everyone they met encountered a horrible fate. If anyone asked, they were doing the same work they'd always done, since their output was about the same.

"You want tea?" Link walked to the kitchen to start the kettle.

"Ah, it's not holy water if _you_ boil it, right?" Ravio shuffled nervously, black wings fluttering.

"No. If all I had to do to bless something was touch it, I wouldn't hate blessing so much. Besides, it's not like when you boil pasta, the spaghetti becomes demonic." Link rolled his eyes at the thought. Ravio was so nervous about cavorting with an Angel. Link knew their superiors didn't care. As long as the status quo was maintained, a little rule breaking wasn't noted by either side.

"It's not like I'm cooking for anyone else, I wouldn't know," Ravio protested.

Link dropped the black tea bags into the kettle and left it to set as he flopped into his favorite armchair. "Alright, demon. What's the favor?"

"Could you perform a blessing for me?"

Link blinked. Was he being pranked? "Excuse me?"

"It's just, I've grown fond of this little guy," Ravio scooped Sheerow into his palm, holding the bird up with one hand and covering him with the other, "And I read that birds only live 30 years, and Sheerow was an adult when I found him! If you could bless him with longevity, I would be so grateful!" Ravio bit his lip, buck teeth showing as his nose twitched.

"You do realize if your people downstairs heard that question, they would smite you?"

Ravio blushed. "Look, if it's a no, we can pretend this conversation never happened. I just thought, since we already had a deal and all, you might help me out? I do promise to pay you back! Uh, if this conversation happened. Did it happen?" Ravio's primary feathers twitched and puffed.

Link rolled his eyes. "Pay me back? What, can you curse the mealworms rotting my apples?"

"Done! They'll be cursed with an affliction so they never desire to eat again! Starvation from apathy. Lots of suffering, I promise!"

Link stared. Was he serious? He had meant it as a joke, but Ravio's face was fully earnest. He... really wanted this. Wanted to get a blessing and fully willing to pay back in a way only he could.

"Well. alright. I'll bless your bird. After all, I can't just leave him in the hands of a demon unarmed, can I? If he lives long, maybe he can tempt you into good."

"Thank you so much! I'll make sure the curse lingers, no pest will ever touch your apples without suffering again!"

He was too good to be a demon. Then again, Link was pretty bad for an angel. Maybe they fit neatly together.

[aphidclan-clangen]

hey!! same anon that sent the novellas thing, and i’m here with dark forest concepts for all of them!! (and i will do this for the babs once they grow up!)

Pearlstar : 

mostly just shadows, BUT, his tail has a giant clam (not real) on the end!!! inside lies a delicate, shining pearl. he lures you in with it, you just wanna grab it. but by the time you get close you’re already under his spell. he and paradise are the king and queen of hell!!!

Firebeetle : 

a being made of flames and screams. he is a light far away. he draws you in, comforts you even, makes you feel welcome, at home, and than he burns you.

Blisswhistle :

she is pure light, like an angel, the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen. she plays an act. but his true form is an amalgamation of just... everything... you could never make out what she is, and rainbow would drive you insane just by presenting her true form.

Goldshine : 

sort of a bat-like creature, he stays away in the shadows most times. he can’t really fly, but star glides with his huge wings, they are wyvern-like. he looks ragged, and scrappy, but in order to draw cats in, he uses his voice, instead of showing himself.

Stormwhisper : 

he is literally a storm. his form is constantly shifting and whirling, you can see bits of teeth, bones, limbs, stars, and scraps of metal floating around. he quite literally sucks you into his trap, you can’t stop looking, and he makes sure of it.

Sparkspeckle : 

again, a storm, but she is more of a lightning storm. she is made of swirling clouds, lighting, thundering sounds, and glowing lights. she would look like a blessing  in the dark of night, but she truly is chaos in cat shape.

Icesheep :

made of ice and water, you can only see him when looking into a body of water. he appears as a sort of ice deer (ever seen xerneas?), and whispers things to you, pretending to be a Starclan cat, and it usually works due to his elegance and beauty.

Shadebreak : 

similar to bliss, shadebreak would be a light, surrounded by shadows to make themself look more... holy????? they usually work with goldshine to trap victims together. they have this sort of halo, which really sells the deception point.

Lilacpaw/flame : 

flowers on fire. she is flowers on fire. she is completely wilted, but the fire never goes out. her tail is a giant lilac bush/tree, and it attracts victims with is sweet scent, and vibrant colors. when they least expect it, but lilacs will set ablaze, trapping them.

Gravel : 

a hollow entity made of quick sand. she let cats slip into her trap without even revealing themself. her true form is a huge desert personified (catified??) multiple cacti grow on her, and since most cat don’t know what it is, they’ll prick their paws on it, sealing their fate.

thats all :3

I love all of this! I love how you guys have caught on to my whole idea of dark forest cats being more,,,analog Eldritch horror-y, like monsters from a different realm entirely, twisted and terrible versions of who they were in life, and I love how that’s sparked so much creativity! I’m always happy to inspire other people, I think that’s really beautiful

(this is also really helpful because if I’m being honest I had ZERO clue on how I’d possibly give anyone else a dark forest form LOL)

Blisswhistle, Goldshine, and Icesheep are especially my favorites <3

[undreaming-fanfiction]

Just Your Voice...or something

This ficlet is for @stevethehairington's birthday, the best of celebrations to you, Mack!!! I was thinking for some time what you'd like and I was reminded of your small essay about the Little Mermaid. So...have a Little Mermaid Steddie AU.

The sea witch was supposed to be terrifying, that's what everyone kept telling Steve. He'd sell you potions that would destroy your mind. He'd find any loophole to make you do their bidding. He'd cheat, lie, promise the impossible and connect with the spirits of the deepest ocean to enslave anyone and anything.

The thing was...Steve really did need his help.

The second he entered the witch's cavern, he already felt like he made the worst mistake of his life. There was a huge bubbling cauldron, glowing with whatever toxic stuff the witch was brewing, and from the shelves carved in to the cavern walls, tens of tiny creatures were watching, waiting, following his every move.

"Well well well. Prince Steven himself. I should have cleaned."

Steve turned around so quickly his hair created a halo around his head. There the witch was, sitting on the ceiling with their tentacles wrapped around loose rocks, staring down at Steve, turning their head curiously to the side.

"Uh...what are you doing on the ceiling?" Steve asked, returning the questioning glance.

That made the witch chuckle. "Good question. Stretching. Also it gives me a new perspective."

"An upside down-perspective doesn't sound very useful, but whatever makes you happy," Steve shrugged. "Listen, uh...I came here with a request."

"Oh? A request from the prince himself? I will need a right side up perspective for that then." The witch bounced off the cavern ceiling and landed before Steve with almost staggering grace. Only then could he properly see what they - no, he - looked like. Long, flowy hair around his head, dark eyes and a mischievous smile that gave way more credence to the rumors. He too felt inclined to do whatever the witch asked of him. "Hi," the witch stuck his webbed hand forward, "I'm Eddie, the local witch and the perpetrator of every single bad thing that happens around here. Ever had a bad hair day? That was me."

Laughing, Steve took his hand and shook it. It was becoming more and more difficult to remain cautious when the witch was so charming. "Nice to meet you, Eddie. I'm...well, Steve. You alread know that."

"That I do." Eddie moved backwards and crossed his tentacles in a way that Steve often saw humans do with their...not-tentacles. Legs, they called them. "Well then, Steve. What can this measly witch assist you with? Not that I dislike visitors, but I don't get to see too much royalty around here."

Steve shook his head and rolled his eyes. Royalty, sure. As if he was anything special to his father, his only redeeming feature were his looks, the golden scales and a beautiful mane of sun-kissed hair, that was it. "Funny. Uh, look. I need legs. Also to breathe up there." He pointed vaguely upwards to the distant surface.

Eddie blinked. "Uh. Sure, legs. Dare I ask why? A pretty lady or something in the land above?"

The prince snorted. "Yeah, no. Look, it's not like you care, but there's this kid up there, he almost drowned. Name's Dustin, I think, and I...shit, this sounds way more stupid than I usually do, but I want to make sure he's okay. He didn't look too hot when I dragged him to the beach and his mom was going crazy with worry. So...yeah. That's why."

"That..." Eddie opened his mouth, then closed it. "That's so sweet I might barf."

Steve shrugged and pointed towards the cavern entrance. "Be my - well, your guest, but you might want to do it outside. So. Legs. How much for a pair of legs? A temporary one?"

Eddie grinned at him, twirling his tentacles some more. It was almost hypnotizing. "Oh, I don't know. Pretty difficult, those pesky legs. All those toes, ten of them, that's a full day's job. I'd say the price is...your voice."

Ah, there it was. The evil streak everyone was talking about. Steve just closed his eyes and nodded, resigning himself. "Fine. Take it."

He expected pain, maybe. Or something touching his face, at least. What he didn't expect was a loud fit of laughter invading his ears, reverbating through the cavern.

"What?" he asked Eddie, annoyed.

"You..." wheezed Eddie, wiping at his face, even if any and all tears would dissolve in water instantly, "you really thought I was serious? That I'd do some evil crap like that? Ah, man. My reputation has to be way worse than I assumed."

Steve's scowl sent him into another fit of giggles while the prince searched for a reasonable response that didn't include punching the witch. Just a little. "Okay then, so what do you want?" he snapped.

One mighty sweep of tentacles and Eddie was next to him, hand over his soulders. His black scales were smooth and surprisingly pleasant to the touch. "Geez, Stevie, calm down. Contrary to what you might believe, I'm not that bad."

"Yeah?" Scanning the walls of the cavern, he noticed the scared eyes of the tiny creatures around. "Care to tell me if those poor, unfortunate souls moved here voluntarily?"

Eddie just snickered and crooked his finger at one of them, inviting it closer. It wiggled in the water a little before slowly descending into his palm. He touched its forehead with a long finger and muttered an incantation. And just like that, in a puff of colorful swirls, floated Chrissy, with her golden hair and forest green tail. "So, Chris," drawled Eddie, "care to describe to prince Steven here how I kidnapped you and forced you to live here with me?"

"I..." Steve was at loss of words. "I thought you left? Or disappeared?"

Chrissy snorted and moved closer to Eddie, finding comfort under his arm. "Yeah, I did both. Because Jason wouldn't leave me alone. I came to Eddie for advice on where I could go, but he let me stay here, in a changed form...for my own protection. Just like the others. Really, Steve, prejudice doesn't suit you." Turning back to Eddie, she nudged his side. "Hey, Eddie, can you change me back? I'll take a brief nap."

Ruffling her hair, he touched her forehead. "Sure thing, Chris. Off to the bed with you." And just like that, she was a tiny octopus again, floating to her shelf.

"Oh wow," breathed out Steve. "I feel like a huge asshole. That's...that's actually really nice of you."

Eddie shrugged, returning to his cauldron. "What can I say. The rumors are useful, it keeps the rich and mighty assholes out. Except for this asshole," he pointed at Steve with one of his tentacles, but there was no venom. "So, legs. Can do, a small spell and you'll change when you exit water, you'll have your tail back when you re-enter it. Just a small warning for you - you'll want to get covered when you get up there. There's going to be...something...where the front of your tail is and humans don't like to see that."

Steve snickered at that. He definitely saw one of those during his trips to the surface and he absolutely didn't want to see that either. He watched as Eddie muttered something weird and deep that sent sparkles towards his tail. "Great, thank you. Uh. So, what about the payment? What do you want?"

Eddie rolled his eyes at him. "Whatever. You want to check on a kid, so it's not like I'm going to charge you something crazy. Two pebbles, a pretty mug for my cavern, whatever."

"Do you like anything from the world above I could bring you?" Steve asked, moving closer to the cauldron. "Since I'll be there. They have a lot of interesting stuff."

"Hmmm...maybe..." Look, mermen normally didn't blush, but Steve could swear Eddie's cheeks turned a bit darker. A strand of his wavy hair floated into his mouth and he started chewing on it nervously. "OK, so theoretically. If you were to find one or two. Apples? Do you know what those are?"

The shame in Eddie's face had Steve laughing, clutching his sides. He just looked adorable, trying not to ruin his cultivated image. "Sure, I know them. They float, but I'll get them down here. You've got a sweet tooth, huh?"

"Not a word, prince," the witch threatened, pulling more and more hair in front of his face. "No one will believe you. Now shoo, go check on your kid and find me some apples."

Steve saluted him. "Shall do, oh mighty witch!" With a single sweep of his golden tail, he was gone.

When everything quieted down, Eddie stayed hunched at his cauldron. He didn't really foresee this day going so...weird. Not bad, but weird.

"You like him."

He scowled at the tiny Chrissy creature that floated in front of him with a smug expression. "Oh shoo with you too. He's going to check on the kid and fall in love with a pretty lady or a princess above, or he's going to toss a half-rotten apple to me when he comes back and will never speak to me again. They always do."

She floated closer and nuzzled under his chin. "I don't know, Eddie," she sighed. "He seemed like a good guy. And he had those eyes. Just wait, I'm about to earn an I-told-you-so."

- - -

Eddie hated being wrong. But when, not even a day later, he found Steve waiting in front of his cavern, a satchel of apples in hand (well, above his head, struggling to keep it underwater) and a wide smile on his face, he thought being wrong wasn't the worst thing in the world.

"Welcome back, your highness," he invited Steve in. "So, how was your child friend?"

Steve beamed at him, his face bright even in the shadow of Eddie's abode. "He's doing well. A bit shaken, but recovering. His mom was really grateful, both to me and you. She sent you this...what did she call it. Token of appreciation from her garden. They should be one of the sweetest types." He handed Eddie the satchel and watched with fondness as the sea witch shoved his hand in, grabbing a beautiful red apple and taking a bite. The look on his face was pure bliss.

One crunch later, Eddie opened one of his eyes and looked at Steve. "Want one?"

"Uh, I..." Steve stammered. "They're your payment, I couldn't-"

Shaking his head, Eddie shoved an apple into his hand. "Don't give me that crap. You saved the kid, you deserve an apple. Now make yourself comfortable. Unless you're afraid to stay?"

Steve laughed and floated closer to Eddie, taking a bite of his apple. "Of you, Eddie? Never."

The crunching of apples was loud in the cavern, but not enough to drown out the quiet "I told you so" from the highest shelf.

(also, I forgot to mention this, but the cauldron? It was soup. Eddie is feeding a full cavern of runaways so of course he needs to cook in bulk)

[campbell-rose]

Helluva Fucking Rant: S2 E6 

OKay I’m a big fat liar and my pants are burning my ass rn, I know I said I’d do Rwby designs next but then the whole leaked episode drama happened and now it’s out and I need to complain. 

*Off the bat, I’m not going to talk pacing mainly because I have little experience with dealing with pacing (having never written anything more than comic strips lol). The episode didn’t feel too fast but anyway 

I’m going to organize this based on gripes I have per character. 

Fizzarolli: He is my baby. He's like kind of babygirl if that makes any sense. “Maybe I could burn the milk this time” 

I adore Fizz as a character. He’s not babified or infantilized like a lot of Viv’s other gay men. So far. Who knows, the writers have proven how adept they are at contradicting and retconning characters. But uhhhh what the fuck was he doing in Greed? Am I stupid? Like, it’s never spelled out. Is it for pr? Is it a deal with Mammon type thing? Is he promoting something? If he had somewhere to be why did he let his dogs run him all over creation??? Like, bit of an issue there as it’s only vaguely mentioned that he was practicing something. 

His backstory is like... acceptable I suppose. Not what I was expecting. I was expecting like, what we got, and a combination of some other theories I had personally. See, my issue is the fire and how imps have been shown in previous episodes to be, ya know, IMMUNE TO FIRE. Imagine if, and bear with me here huge stretch I know, imps are immune to fire and hellfire – but not holy fire. Like, shit straight from the angel’s burning halo type fire. That would make sense, since hellfire is a thing in pop culture and biblically accurate angels are all gold and flames! 

I do like the idea that fizz’s entire body is white from scars, however I think his scars need texture for the idea to sell. Maybe in full costume it’s covered with makeup, but come on people he was lit on fire, you ever seen a healed burn? Fizz being scared of the flames legit made me sad, I love him so much. However they’re trying to show he’s got like ptsd (maybe not exactly but still) from it, but it feels inconsistent to me for some reason. On a final note, he never should’ve forgiven Blitzo in any way, shape or form tbh, I would’ve preferred what Barbie did just straight up, I don’t like you, I can’t forgive you please leave me alone.  

Asmodeus: This cemented for me how much I fucking hate his design. His stupid head is so tiny and his body is built like a brick shithouse like, it’s so unbalanced and weird looking. I like his character here I suppose. No noticeable inconsistencies from his first appearance. His va is killing it tbh, love him so much what a king. 

I’m fine with his character, what I’m not fine with is the weird consent angle their going with. Like... he is the SIN of LUST??? Valentino is more of what I’d expect as the sin of Lust compared to Asmodeus. Also, the WEAKEST and most NON THREATENING SIN??? KESHADOG IS RIGHT THERE 

Crimson: He should’ve been hired by Mammon to get back at Asmodeus. Maybe Asmodeus has an unpaid debt with Mammon and has been shirking him so Mammon is like ‘i have your fucktoy now, give me my money or you won’t get him back’ 

Like his little video chat could’ve been context, like “You don’t know me, but you may know my employer – Mammon?” 

The paperwork would make sense then, Mammon is sending over contracts and bullshit Asmodeus has to sign. The importance of reading the fine print would be even more present because Asmodeus is dealing with someone on his level who can actually fuck him up, not some nobody imp he could kill with a glance! Crimson’s motive could be that Mammon offered him a share of Ozzie’s stock and would let him run some shit because Crimson has become a prominent member of higher society despite being an imp, which is the only reason Striker is partnered with him. 

Striker: Striker baby doll, please just fucking kill Fizz. Like, stop fucking standing there, kill the fucker. Omg I was so annoyed with his lack of action this episode. Both Fizz and Striker are incredible agile and snake like characters, this whole distraction song should’ve been a mix of striker trying to kill Fizz/Fizz avoiding him and Crim’s gang being just flabbergasted by the bullshit they’re witnessing. It’s been shown before that Crimson ony ever sits on the sidelines while his goons get killed so like????  

Anyway, Viv can try as hard as she wants to paint Striker as in the wrong and a bigot, but it won’t work on me. He’s completely in the right because imps are literally the slave/working class in this caste system. Fizz is (to imps in the slums and less fortunate) probably the epitome of a pampered lapdog plaything of the upper class. ANd that could’ve been something interesting to explore. Why not show the perspective of other imps that think like Striker, maybe have them be antagonistic to Fizz because he’s Asmodeus and Mammon’s pet, or maybe Fizz finds out that’s what people think of him and he’s horrified and that’s why he’s mad Blitzo calls him a whore. But no, because Striker is an evil bigot who sides with the evil woman Stella so nobody else thinks like he does. 

Also, his new va has the sexiest voice i've heard since live action Buggy or sub Crocodile so I'm not complaining about him taking up screen time

Him all disheveled is straight up working for me

Blitzo: Once again he gets away with being shitty and stupid and awful because he’s a woobie. Why the fuck was the crux of their hatred based on a birthday cake and the miscommunication trope??? I hate this so much.  

Was Blitzo in love with Fizz? Is that what that blink and you’ll miss it letter was? I’m getting very tired of this show having blink and you’ll miss it plot beats. That isn’t showing not telling, it’s like sweeping shit under a rug. Its like they think just because it was on screen for a frame the audience will catch it and be like ‘omg it happened’ or feel smart for catching something. Stolitz making up through text shouldn’t be a pause the video and read moment for fuckssake. 

I’m finding it very ahrd to tolerate Blitzo. On the topic of him though, I saw the leaked episode. WHY was Barbie taken out of the final flashback???

What the actual fuck???? Like... once again the women in this show are just shoved away and forgotten this is like Naruto level female character writing guys. Naruto had one good female character and she was still sidelined half the damn time. 

Also i fucking hate how this show can't be serious for more than five seconds like when Fizz and Blitzo hug and Blitzo is like 'haha wanna make out' i hate this but it isn't as egregious as having dildos during an abuse scene

Conclusion: Animation was amazing (also one of my fav animators KittenSneeze is an animator for Spindlehorse now like i love them so good for them), plot was whatever, characters are where the story falls, this won and I can’t anymore. 

Actually no, not conclusion. You know what really makes me hate Helluva Boss? It isn’t fair. I know that sounds childish and stupid, but who cares I’m childish and I’m stupid. Why is it that someone like Viv, who consistently doesn’t take criticism and is just a shit person all around gets rewarded for doing dogshit all the time. Yeah it’s a bit step for indie animation or whatever but she literally has Alex Brightman in her fucking pocket I don’t wanna hear it. Lackadaisy has earned it’s time in the goddamn spotlight, not Viv and her stupid creations. It’s so unfair. She got popular off of happenstance for her kesha sparkledogs and now she’s off bastardizing demonology and writing borderline backwards gay and female characters and she’s getting praised as the patron saint of queer rep and indie animation. Like, she doesn’t deserve it. Genuinely. I wish I could just post my demon story and people would just flock to it like flies to shit and shower me in praise and protect me from any criticism. But that’s not how real life works, but for some reason it is for Viv. Its just... I hate it. 

Anyway, baby rant over. This episode was like 7/10 tbh. It wasn't amazing but for Helluva Boss it was good. Sarcastic Chorus made a video about it that I'm gonna watch because honestly his takes could convince me this show is on Arcane's level lmao. Bye bye <3 

[honeii-puff]

Would never belong to angels

In which Callum and Ezran visit a bakery Read on ao3!

Callum loved Juno and Scout more than he loved himself most times, but he was glad to have a small break from the little terrors that were his two-year-old children.

He wished Rayla was with him, though. It’s been a while since he, his wife, and Ez hung out like old times.

He hoped they’d be able to do that again soon.

Callum found his brother after a bit of walking around Redwaterm near the edge of one of the streets and accompanied by Corvus and two other members of the Crownguard that he didn’t recognize.

“Callum!” Ez called out, grinning before running over to hug him. He was sure that he had gotten taller since they last saw each other.

Callum grinned back at his brother before pulling away from the hug, giving a small wave to Corvus and the other two Crownguard. Corvus waved back, but the others only gave a small nod of acknowledgement.

“How long have you been here?” He asked Ez, glancing around at their surroundings.

“Not long. We got here this morning and decided to look around.” Ez looked at the shop they were stood in front of. The sign was made of a dark wood, with light blue letters painted onto it, reading out The Dragonfly in swirly letters.

“Oh, yeah.” Callum started, looking back at Ez “The guy who owns the inn– Blauder, told me about this place. Apparently his friend runs it and they sell jelly tarts.”

Ez’s eyes brightened.”Really?”

He nodded. “Also this thing called Banther Claws. No idea what those are though.”

“Regardless, we should go.” He grinned at Callum before pushing the door in. A small bell rang above the door as the five of them stepped in. The bakery was brightly lit from the sunlight streaming in through the windows. The smell of fresh bread wafted through the air as they looked around the small bakery.

“Welcome to The Dragonfly.” A girl smiled from the counter. She was an earthblood elf, with curved ram horns peeking out from her dark green hair. “You guys new in town?”

“Just stopping by for a reunion.” Ez answered, looking at the display case.

“That’s nice to hear.” She smiled. “Mr. Lissdin isn’t in at the moment, it’s his daughter’s birthday.”

Callum grinned. “Well, happy birthday to her. How old is she?”

“Ten!” Both Callum and Ezran jumped slightlyas the saw a smaller girl pop up from under the counter. She was a Skywing elf, with long, pale blue hair a few shades lighter than her baby blue skin, and two white horns that encircled her head like a halo. “I’m Leda.” The girl– Leda– smiled, moving to come out from behind the counter.

“Who technically shouldn’t be here.” The green-haired elf said playfully. Leda stuck her tongue out at her.

“Well, it’s wonderful to meet you, Leda.” Callum smiled at her before looking at the Earthblood elf. “We were hoping to get some jelly tarts, miss…”

“Gaia.” she supplied. “And yeah, I could get a few of those ready for you. How many?”

“Thank you.” He glanced at Ezran. “Me, you, Rayla, the twins will split one– Do we want to get some for Aunt Amaya, Janai, and Gren?”

“Yeah. That’s seven.”

“I’ll get those packaged for you.” Gaia smiled warmly before ducking under the counter.

The bell on the door rung behind them, catching Callum and Ezran’s attention. Looking back, Callum saw the two other Crownguard stepping outside.

Huh.

——————————————————————

Erin grabbed Jakob by the shoulder “Are we sure about this?” He hissed.

“You heard what she said. Lissdin.” Jakob shrugged his hand off.

“Maybe its a common surname?”

“Its a Katolin surname.” He corrected. “The surname he took on after he became captain.”

“Maybe you’re forgetting something.” Erin tried to reason. “Wouldn’t King Ezran recongize the surname of someone who’d been on the council for two years?”

“I’d rather check and be wrong, Erin.” Jakob looked back at him. “He’s still wanted for deserting his post.”

“There’s a statute of limitations on that!”

“During peace, yes. His was within the 30-day period of Katolis burning, which counted as an act of war. Desertion during war doesn’t have a statute of limitations.”

Erin’s face turned to one of bewilderment “You can’t be serious.”

“I’m captain. It’s my job to be serious.” Jakob narrowed his eyes at him before shifting his gaze to behind him. “Hey, Leda?”

He turned around, seeing the young elf girl looking back at them.

“We need to ask your dad a few questions.”

[corn-fanfiction]

can you do a damien karras x reader where he takes you out for a good soup on a winter day

Omg anon this is about to be so fluffy it’s insane 🩷🩷🩷

Know it's for the better (Damien Karras x GN!Reader)

rating: T

word count: 1,809

tags: fluff, a deep and profound sadness, probably poorly translated Greek, mentions of religion (duh), some language

-·=»◆‡«=·- ♡ -·=»◆‡«=·-

Picture it: Georgetown, 1970. It’s midwinter, near freezing, and your furnace as died. Again.

You’re bundled up in an undershirt, a button up, a sweater. Doubled socks. You pace your living room shivering. Can't even think straight. You called your landlord and it went to voicemail again. It's at times like this that you regret being a penniless writer than can only afford shitty housing by campus.

A knock at the door. Your heart leaps at the idea that when you open it, a shiny new furnace, haloed by heat, will waddle its way inside.

Are hallucinations a symptom of hypothermia?

You open the door and, instead of a furnace, a Jesuit priest stands on the other side, rubbing his arms under a thick long coat. Snow dots his black hair and you get the urge to brush it away.

"Damien! Get in. Did you walk? Why the hell are you out in this weather?"

He steps in, but not before knocking the snow from his shoes against the doorframe.

"I took a cab. We're studying, remember?"

You groan inwardly and close the door behind him. Damien has been helping you with some Christian history for a novel you're working on. You've been floored by his intellect since you met at Georgetown.

"Shit. I'm so sorry- I forgot. My furnace went out yesterday and it's all I've been thinking about."

Damien's eyebrows furrow in immediate concern.

"You've been in this cold since yesterday?"

The chill in your bones is immediately replaced by a heavy guilt at worrying him.

"Yeah, but I'm fine! Lots of blankets and coffee."

Your teeth chattering don't help your case. Damien shakes his head.

"Alright. No studying-"

"But-"

"We're going to get you a space heater, then we're going for soup."

"Soup?"

"Soup."

-

Another cab and Damien pays. You beg him not to but he has a crumpled bill thrust to the driver before you can fish for your wallet. You're both poor, there's no arguing, but he also has the professor's salary, so it's ever difficult to argue with him about money.

You and Damien have grown...closer since you started studying together. Not in any particular way you can, or care to define. But you care for him, and he clearly cares for you. You also know it's foolish to think about it any further than that.

"Where to?" The cabby asks.

"Anna's Restaurant on 3rd."

You look at him.

"They sell space heaters?"

"Do you want to lug a space heater around a restaurant?"

You bob your head back and forth. "Alright, doctorate. You know best."

He rolls his eyes at you. You smile at the gesture.

The ride is short but sitting so close to Damien is dragging time through quicksand, or, rather, the heavy snow outside. Your shared body heat, the way your thighs are forced to touch, the mere smell of him- it all sends you a little dizzy. Even during your study sessions when you both share a couch, you've never been this...intimate.

You swallow thickly, your throat suddenly dry, and the driver pulls up next to a small unit tucked between two other shops, the blue lit sign reading 'Anna's' in slanted lettering. You and Damien both exit, and you know he's irritated you didn't let him get your door for you. He gives you a look, you smirk, and he does too. He makes a point to beat you to the front door and you allow him this small luxury and step inside.

Even with the heating in the cab, the warmth of the restaurant is everything to you. Damien closes the door behind you and while you wonder if it's a self seating situation, he stops at your back, and suddenly that's all you can think about.

And then there's a hand on the small of your back.

"Pick a booth," he says, and your feet move automatically just to shake the moment. It's too weird, too confusing. You're friends. Colleagues.

You sit at a booth with cracked vinyl seats. Well, most of the seats are cracked. And the veneer is peeling. Something about this tells you the food is going to be good.

Once you sit and remove your coats, a waitress comes over with a notepad.

"Can I get you something to drink?" she asks, and you can hear by her accent that she is, herself, Greek in some capacity.

"Coffee, for me, please," you ask. She nods and looks to Damien.

"Black tea for me, thanks," then, "Échete kanéna frésko Avgolémono?"

The waitress's eyes light up and she smiles.

"Sígoura échoume. Dýo bol?"

"Nai, parakaló."

The waitress is beaming and smiles at you before leaving to get your drinks. You smile in wonderment at Damien.

"What did you say?"

"I asked her if they have something specific right now. They do."

You never forget how smart Damien is, but you can forget what all he is capable of.

"What is 'thank you'? In Greek?"

"Efcharistó," he says. You repeat the word back as the waitress approaches with your mugs. You smile up at her.

"Efcharistó," you say. She chuckles, likely at your accent, but nods.

"Kalós írthes."

She leaves again and you smile at Damien, proud of yourself, as if to say 'see?' like you really did anything at all.

"That was a decent attempt."

You take a moment of silence to sip your hot drinks and you relish in the way it slides down your throat and warms your stomach.

"How's your mother?" you ask. Damien sighs and clasps his hands around the mug.

"She's been better. I worry about her during the cold months."

You nod. Mrs. Karras lives alone up in Brooklyn in a building that could be better cared for. Damien has spoken on rare occasions about how he misses her, then even rarer about how he feels guilty for leaving her.

"Well, if you ever wanted to take anything up to her, like a space heater-" he chuckles. "Or need some help with handywork, I'm happy to lend a hand."

He watches you, his brown eyes boring into you and his smile falters, only for a brief moment. You can't decide why. You think, you hope, that it is a moment of clear sight. Of who you are beneath the person he donates his time to between all he does with the church and the school. Of who you are to suggest such a thing and know him how you do-

Oh.

You blush and focus your attention on your coffee.

"How's the book?"

You roll your eyes at him.

"Is that a joke?"

"I think you might be projecting, a little."

"Do I have to make the doctorate bit again?"

"Alright, fair enough. So no new inspiration?"

"No, nothing new."

Same old, same old.

You're afraid for a moment that he sees you a little too clearly before the waitress brings you two large bowls of pale yellow, creamy broth. You can identify chicken and some other spices. You both thank the waitress again and you dip a curious spoon into the soup.

"This smells amazing. What is it?"

"Avgolémono," he says, taking a spoonful and blowing on it lightly before putting it in his mouth. He takes a moment to process it, then smiles and hums in appreciation. "And it's perfect."

You take a bite. Lemon and dill light up your tongue immediately, along with a wide variety of spices not instantly identifiable.

"Oh my God!" you squeal. "This is amazing."

"It really is. Rivals my mother's."

"It'll be our secret," you joke quietly. Damien smiles.

You'd gladly freeze your ass off every day if it means having this soup and seeing that smile.

-

One bowl and space heater later, Damien is walking you back up to your apartment. You've tried to think of a hundred and one ways to prolong the day, but came up empty. You know he's already spent more time than he normally would on any standard study session.

He holds the heater while you unlock your door (but you had carried it in the store and up the steps, so you beat him there). You take the heater and set it inside, then linger in the doorway.

Invite him in. Tell him you need help setting it up. He won't believe you, but maybe he'll do it anyway.

But you don't say anything. You just brace a hand on the cracked wood of the door and stare at him for a moment. He stares back, that knowing look returning to his eyes. He's silent.

You both present with small smiles that carry with them a well hidden sadness. Any passing strange could take one look and know exactly what's happening here.

Even if you ask him in, he'll have to get back to the church for an appointment. If he calls about visiting his mom, you'll be busy that day. Who knew such strong magnets could find ways to repel each other so well?

So you tap your fingers against the door and he looks at the ground.

"Well," he says.

"Thank you. For the heater and...everything. You know."

He does know, you can see it in his eyes.

"Well, thank you, too."

You tilt your head. "For what?"

"Everything else."

You could cry. You might, once he leaves. Why, you have no real, concrete idea, though you can guess. It's just the cold. The stress of your work. The soup was just that goddamn good.

Or you love him. That's also a possibility.

"Need help setting that up?"

Your knees go weak and you tighten your hold on the door. You wish in this moment that you weren't so strong, that he were stronger. Even if nothing happens today, tomorrow, or ever at all, you cannot live with yourself if you entertain the prospect of crossing that threshold.

"I think I can handle it. Besides, don't want you to be late for five o'clock mass."

He checks his watch like he doesn't know what time it is.

"Oh wow. Didn't realize it'd gotten that late. Well, if you're sure..." he gestures vaguely towards the door.

No, I'm not sure. Tell me I'm wrong. Come in.

You smile and nod and bite back the words fighting against your teeth.

"Alright. Well, have a good night. I'll see you around. Next week?"

If he's dejected, he hides it very well. He heads for the steps.

"Yep, next week."

You don't close the door until he disappears down the stairs, giving you a final smile. If he's dejected, he hides it well. You begin to open the box of the space heater and your vision grows blurry. Maybe you made the wrong choice.

Go, go get him. You're making a mistake letting him go.

No, you know, it's for the better.

-·=»◆‡«=·- ♡ -·=»◆‡«=·-

So... I did not set out to make this sad I PROMISE anyway thanks for much for being the first req <3 Hope you enjoyed!

[kit-williams]

⭐️ Director’s Cut: Is there any particular section of a fic you’re writing that you really want to talk about?

So the Fics I really want to talk about involve Perturabo & Penelope but if I gush too much about them I'll probably spoil their plot

But another Fic I want to talk about "Against the Kitchen Floor" the part I REALLY want to talk about would be me giving away it's ending.

SO the fic I'll actually talk about is Death Guard Legion Mother: The Moth and The Butterfly (And about my writing process)

Female lead is named Isolde she's a perpetual (As anyone who isn't a follower of Nurgle has to be around the leading males) ((LOOKING AT YOU TYPHUS))

I'm kind of excited for this fic as it's really going to be me deep diving into Mortarion but just as I'm excited to showcase what me studying up on a Primarch can do I'm just as nervous. Mortarion is not one of the Primarchs I would go to writing easily like I do with Perturabo, Sanguinius, or like Konrad (Though I feel like I could do him better)

So a bit on why I put so much effort into studying up on them; it comes from my Halo days actually as I read Most of the books (Original series, Grey team, Forerunner saga, Kilo-five, I've read new blood don't think I read bad blood, I've read Last Light I believe... basically if it was published 2015 and earlier I've read it) ((basically 20 out of 35 books)) And I was really into sticking close to canon but having my own twist. Which lead to a lot of smaller AUs kind of like what I do now. I like to get a vibe of a character to be able to play with them in the ways that I do because otherwise I could easily just make an OC; Warhammer is large enough that I could and make a Space Marine Demon Prince be just as interesting as a Demon Primarch; I could have easily done the Perturabo and Penelope storyline with a Iron Warrior OC that could have been Perturabo in all but name.

However, I take great pride in being able to write Canon Characters in a compelling manner. So Mortarion is basically going to be a collection of vibes I got while studying him because I'm not selling my soul and free time to reading all the books on these guys (maybe one day). What other thing I'm excited about is that I get to flex more of my body horror writing style because I for some unexplained reason have a soft spot for Insectoid men (I'm gonna blame power rangers on this) so this will also be a lot of me just going on in detail why Mortation is horrifyingly handsome/beautiful.

The Part I'm excited for (Without giving away details) is the part where Isolde sees Mortarion in all of his grotesque beauty and of course she is disturbed by the fact that he's fallen/promised himself to Nurgle but she can't help but still be enamored by him. She still loves him and of course when she whispers his name on accident his eyes look over at where she is and they meet even across the distance. Then of course she has to get away from him because she's trying to not let people die around her.

I hope this was a nice look into an upcoming fic and about my writing process

[cottoncandythetrashpanda]

The Wonderful World of Dollies and Crafting, Chpt 1

Words: ~1k

notes: this au is inspired by my friend @aslitheryprinx's old Ragdoll AU, as well as Toy Story, and my own eclectic doll collection. Also note that there will eventually be shipping (haven't decided which ships yet) and all hermits will be present with no particular "main character" across later chapters. Asks are always welcome if you're curious about the characters or world! Enjoy!

Cleo hummed to herself, putting the last few stitches on the little doll-sized suit jacket she'd been working on. Making the clothes was the final step in the weeks-long project, and she was glad to be near finished.

Not that she didn't enjoy her work, of course, but it had taken a while, longer than she'd expected- what started as a simple test of her skills with epoxy clay, to see how well she could add a bit of muscle mass and tone to a doll, turned into a full customization project complete with repainting and accessories, starting when she accidentally sanded the chest down a bit more than she intended and, rather than try and re-enhance the bust with the epoxy sculpt, decided she was changing directions and making it into a male doll now, too. It spiraled from there.

But here she was now, finally finished- she put the jacket on the doll, and grinned at her finished product. A well-muscled doll, wearing a nice suit- with missing, "torn" sleeves, like he'd flexed them off-, a red tie, painted with scars (to make him look tougher), and a halo affixed to his head with a wire (because why not). She picked him up.

"Hmmm." Most of her customs were quickly listed and sold on Etsy, but this one... She liked him too much. She didn't think he'd sell, anyways- he didn't scream "mass appeal" and she wasn't the most popular doll customizer- not that she really wanted to be. Her Etsy shop was titled "Hermit's Crafts" for a reason. "I think I'll hold on to you."

She looked around the room, her workshop/study/display room, for a place to put him. She spotted an empty place on a shelf, in between an action figure she'd bought at a dollar store and a Heath Burns from Monster High- both items bought with the intent to give them a 'glow-up' at some point, both projects never quite started. Maybe someday.

"I guess I need to settle on a name now, if I'm keeping you." She muttered to herself- well, to the doll. But it's not like he was going to talk back, it was the same as talking to herself. She had been thinking about names while working on him, and she had a shortlist- they ranged from silly to plain, and you know what? She was feeling a bit silly today. "Alright, I christen you... Skizzleman." She smiled and set him down on the shelf. "I'll take photos to post later, working on you tired me out."

She took another look at Skizzleman, admiring her own work just one more time, before stepping out of the room.

The door shut behind her and her footsteps faded down the hall.

"... Okay, looks like she's gone, I think we're good for now." a large action figure standing across the room said in a posh British accent that didn't quite match his armored appearance. He wasn't quite life-sized, but he was tall enough that he was stood on his own on the floor, and definitely wouldn't fit on any of the shelves.

Skizzleman looked around, turning his head for the first time in a while. He'd hardly had time to move at all while Cleo was working on him. All across the room, he could see more toys, more dolls, doing the same as him- looking around, stretching, starting to chat with their friends.

"Hey! Hey, dude, you okay?" He jumped a little and turned to see the action figure he was stood next to, looking at him with mild concern.

"Uh?" Skizz responded.

"Oh, sorry, didn't mean to scare you." The action figure adjusted his position- which Skizz could tell was no easy task, he didn't have much articulation- to face Skizz. "Just wanted to check on you, that was a pretty intense custom job she did on you."

"Oh, yeah, it was." Skizz shook his head. "It didn't hurt or anything, though. Felt a little weird when she wiped my face off, but she painted the new one on pretty quickly, so it wasn't that bad."

He heard a sigh of relief from behind him- he turned to see, of course, that Monster High doll. "Everyone always says that, but it's so nice to hear. The idea of being worked on like that still makes me so nervous."

The action figure laughed. "You worry too much about that, Tango. It's been years since we got here, she's never going to do anything with us."

"Tango?" Skizz said, a bit confused- he'd seen dolls like that across the aisles at the store, he hadn't gotten to talk to one, but he was pretty sure the name on the box was "Heath".

"Yep, that's me!" The Monster High doll, Tango apparently, replied, "The name I came with didn't really, fit, I think? So I just picked my own." He raised his arms in something like a shrug.

The action figure nodded. "Yeah, Cleo still calls him Heath, but we all know he's Tango. It's the same with me, Cleo never really gave me a name and my box didn't say anything either, so I go by Impulse now."

"No, the box said something, it just said, what was it? "Super Cool Hero Man"?" Tango was clearly barely keeping himself from laughing.

"Oh, shut up," Impulse waved him off, trying to keep his tone lighthearted, but clearly a bit embarrassed. "Anyways, yeah! Nice to meet you! Cleo called you, uh, Skizzleman? Think you'll stick with that?"

Skizz thought for a second, then nodded. "Yeah, I think I will. It suits me."

Impulse put his hand out and patted Skizz on the back. "Alright, well hello, Skizzleman! Welcome to the Hermit's Crafts family! Remember your spot on the shelf, because Cleo will. You can move around wherever, just make sure you're where you're supposed to be when she gets back. She seems really nice, but, you know-"

"Yeah, I know, you can't let humans see you move."

Impulse nodded. "Yeah. Just seems like a bad idea. So, be careful, I'm sure you can figure out the rest. How about I show you around and introduce you to everyone?"

Skizz smiled. "That sounds good."

Impulse smiled back.

Skizz got the feeling he was going to like it here.

[ageless-aislynn]

Okay, I’ve made myself whittle my Mass Effect: Andromeda Playthrough #1 Romance Options down to three:

Jaal. ZOMG, Jaal has joined the crew and he’s even more my type Sara’s type than I was expecting! He gives off slightly tortured soul vibes to me, kinda blunt, funny but reserved, not the sort to give his trust easily but once you have it? Woooooo boy, he is There For You™ no matter what. Also? Shoulders for daaaaaays. 🔥🔥🔥

Suvi. Only an option for Sara, not Scott. Honestly, I think she’ll get a playthrough of her own with Sara even if it doesn’t turn out to be this one. I just like her, what can I say? I love that she’s managed to reconcile being both a woman of faith and of science at the time. There’s a slightly sad sweetness to her, like she’s been waiting for somebody to really see her for a while now and that she has a lot of love to give to the right person.

Peebee. Sassy and funny but i get the feeling there’s a lot more to her than what she likes to show on the surface. Also an option for Scott, so if she doesn’t get a Sara playthrough, then she’ll probably get one for him. However, every time she and Sara interact, I feel like Sara goes

(imagine screechy dial-up noises to really sell the feeling, lol) when she looks at her, so there’s that. 😂

Also, did you notice? Ya gal got her game capture working! This weirdly wasn’t as easy as it’s been to capture Halo footage. 🤔 The fact that Andromeda is more like ONE GIANT MASS of a game instead of having levels like each of the Halo games makes it much more difficult to note what scenes are coming up or to go back and get cutscenes again. And for some reason, it’s recording in a HUGE size, much bigger than Halo’s, so there’s no way I can just capture the whole game without needing TBs of storage space. 😬 So I doubt I can capture enough to make a ton of GIFs, much less to vid it. Though once I’ve played it through a few times, I may know when to target capturing for certain scenes. 🤷‍♀️

You know, I tell myself that I don’t HAVE to vid every fandom I love but, well, I’m a vidder at heart, what can I say? I like to have the option open at least! 😁👍

Oh, before I forget, I’m about 99% certain that Vetra is going to end up with Scott, so my Turian sweetie WILL get a romance, if not with Sara, then with her bro. Cora is also definitely getting a whirl with Scott. Oh and I thought Liam was an option for either but nope, just for Sara, so I’ve got to give him a playthrough, too! I’m hoping that what I’ve heard is correct, that if you just basically stick to the main missions, you can get through the game in about 10 hours, so that’s not a huge time commitment and will let me get my romance options on both as Sara and Scott a couple of times!

1,000+ hours on the MCC makes 10 hours sound like not a huge time commitment, yep, lol! I’m at 18 hours or so now for Andromeda and while I wasn’t expecting to do much if any of the side quests, I’m actually really enjoying them! It’s nice to have something I can tackle and resolve in a much shorter time than, you know, finishing the entire game. 👀😉

[/end mass effect andromeda update of updateyness] 😛😂💖

[zedecksiew]

Three Clerks

Last week I tweaked my back. It hurt. A lot. As I recovered, I found that sketching with pen and pencil was less strenuous than writing on keyboard. So that's what I did.

Sketched characters from an adventure I am currently writing for Colin Le Sueur's We Deal In Lead. It began as a homage to Wisit Sasanatieng's tomyamgong western Fa Thalai Chon / Tears Of The Black Tiger.

+++

SHIN SUL SHAP, SHRINE CLERK 4 Grit 10 STR 10 DEX 10 HRT Switch (d4)

Face hidden by a broad-brimmed bonnet and veil. Patrols the lines of pilgrims; like a schoolmarm she thwacks anybody chit-chatting. Piety should be silent!

A waif snatches a lead token from her pouch, and bolts. A chase ensues. He begs your help. If Sul Shap finds him, she will sell him to captive takers.

+

Sul Shap is a clerk at the Shrine To The Headless Sun: a bare plaza; a marble pavilion; a golden man, with an ever-burning flame where his head should be.

The Headless Sun is patron saint of the Admiralty, whose laws now govern both Ocean and Sea. He was its founder. The kings of old captured and beheaded him. He overthrew them anyway.

+++

References for Sul Shap were basically Buddhist nun robes (mainly for the volume of fabric), plus an European bonnet.

Initially I'd imagined a conventional broad-brim hat---ie: her veil would be a cylinder around her whole head. But as I sketched I thought the bonnet made a more interesting shape? Also its rear was an opportunity to create a crest / halo of sun-rays. Religious iconography!

Alms bowl, because giving is a virtue. But the Headless Sun values ego-death, not asceticism---so colourful beads and gold amulets and pouches full of lead tokens (money).

+++

RIS SHAY NAM, RECORDS CLERK 2 Grit 10 STR 10 DEX 10 HRT Swung typewriter (d4)

In a wheelbarrow, pulled by a servitor, typewriter balanced on her belly, pockets filled with banana fritters. Greasy fingerprints on any document she works on.

Shay Nam thinks herself a moral soul. Will side with abolitionists and revolutionaries, with justice—until her own skin is at risk.

+

Shay Nam works at the Hibiscus Court. Princess Khur San, distancing herself from the old order, surrendered this palace to bureaucrats.

Clerks have filled its once-airy halls with shelves. By sympathetic sorcery, all contracts in the province manifest copies here. Rumour has it that this magic works both ways.

+++

This was my first sketch. In pain and bored I just started drawing.

No references, and it shows? Skirt and stockings and boots because these were the easiest for me to do. In my mind Shay Nam was an archetypal overweight NEET. Here she looks to be a sassy layabout. I like her better, now!

Also: a servitor is an empty body. Created when you ritually touch a shrine-stone to the Headless Sun---your soul is obliterated. What is left behind is mindless, hence the harness and reins.

+++

KHAN YUL MIN, COURT CLERK 4 Grit 1 DEF 10 STR 10 DEX 10 HRT Sabre (d8)

A university grad and former marine. But his townhouse sits below Rose Hill, on Merchant’s Row, beneath the old families' notice.

Yul Min means to change this. He has his eye on the Widow Gon. He will hire ruffians to waylay her palanquin—then swoop in, to rescue her. Elaborate theatre.

+++

Yul Min, like all these characters, live on the Sea of Sorrows, whose waters are literally the souls of the dead.

Roses always bleach within sight of it; to retain their colour they must be shipped in glass, then kept in arboreta—never once sharing air with the Sea.

Those who can afford red-rose gardens tend them on the south end of the city, where streets begin to climb Mount Go, in compounds walled like fortresses.

+++

Drew Yul Min last night. Had tabs open for "Thai traditional clothing" & "military uniforms 18th century" & "krabi" & "Vajiralongkorn".

Given my inspiration, I think the referencing of Mainland Southeast Asian material culture is appropriate. Maybe a little to obvious, though? Ie: the visual forms haven't been composted well, into new and more imaginative shapes ...

Still: very pleased with the proportions and details.

I liked how the hamsa-esque icon of the Headless Sun developed over the course of these sketches. I would not have discovered it, otherwise; it's one of those details, too small for words.

Drawing is an intrinsic part of the writing process, I guess!

+++

[bloodgulchblog]

Even as a Halo 4 enjoyer I really appreciate your measured thoughts on the game. I've always liked what the writers were trying to do, especially Chris Schlerfs channeling of the loss of someone close to him in the way he did into Cortanas death

But I can easily see how it's only one way to look at how that character was handled. Especially around handling a central female lead and not bothering to engage in other potentially thematically interesting approaches to handling her and A.I. (which they backpeddled on all that anyway so wtf)

Killing Cortana also puts John in a bit of a weird vacuum that's really difficult to fill *gestures to current state of Halo* even Weapon sometimes feels like a roundabout way of solving that character problem.

All this to say, you are so so brave for taking all this weird garbage canon on the chin

Mad respect as always Z

Aww thanks Ty!

Yeah, finding out that the writing of Cortana in Halo 4 was heavily inspired by the lead writer's experience with a very personal loss did soften my stance on it a little. And honestly, that's often the case with writing because... I feel like most people do not set out with the most uncharitable reads as their goal. Most of the time I do believe people are trying to write something that has at least some kind of meaning to them.

It has to be especially hard writing for a big IP with so many people who have written for it and what seems like a creative revolving door. I get the sense that there have been directions people wanted to go, but they didn't get the chance to finish thoughts. That's been the story of 4, 5, and Infinite really. And it leaves characters, but most especially the Chief, in a weird state of limbo where nothing ever feels resolved.

Infinite has a lot of problems, but I appreciate that it was at least trying to give this character friends again. Blue Team is very important to him but they've never touched the games outside 5, which didn't sell them well and... well. The other problem with Blue Team is that they're John's subordinates and fellow Spartans. They don't really work as a voice with an internet connection for him, they're as completely absorbed into the UNSC outlook as he is, and if something happens and Blue Team is there it doesn't make sense for them not to be with him.

Cortana's friendship with the Chief was special because she just talked to him in a way nobody else in his life did. The Weapon and the Pilot also do that, and work well as supporting characters that make sense with the structure of having other characters help direct where the player is going via voicelines.

.....I'm getting sidetracked.

Anyway the point is I value your respect as a Halo nerd peer and I hope I continue to be cool to hang out with re: Halo topics.