#and i only had to wait 13 years for a solution

[servospawn]

so i tried out the dxvk hack to make my game run smoother and let me tell you.. i never thought it was possible to avoid the dreaded error code 12 (maxed memory) issue but i've had my game open for hours and it's been coasting on a steady 2.3MB. the downside to this was having to update reshade to the most recent version because nothing else worked. luckily most of the legacy shaders were available and wasn't too much of a hassle to get something to my liking (still tweaking though).

[hoe4sports]

How this ends p3

Alexia Putellas x reader

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 4

Thank you to @karsonromanoff for giving me inspiration and ideas for this part.

A note from the author: This is the third part of how this ends based off of Lewis Capaldi’s how this ends. Read the part’s chronologically. I have changed the age of them becoming a pair to 13, in order to make the story make more sense. Part four coming soon.

Also, fuck me, this was really shit.

Warnings: A lot of talking.

Summary: It’s been a few months since Alexia broke up with you and you handed over your promise ring to her. You and Frido make plans for the summer.

-

You found yourself sat in Frido’s spare bedroom, but by now; it was practically your bedroom. The thing about Fridolina was that you met her ages ago. Frido had been in the room when Alexia had told you that she had to miss out on an event she had promised to be a plus one to. It made you feel sad, but as the good girlfriend you were; you kept it inside. Fridolina had then suggested that she could tag along, which you happily agreed to. It was your first time being invited to such a big prestigious event so having someone familiar there was a big safety thing for you. The event was an invitation only charity event by the Red Cross. To your luck, Fridolina had actually volunteered for the organisation back in Sweden which lead her to be your first reserve.

The pair of you instantly hit it off, and from that moment; you were inseparable. She was what could’ve been described as a soul sister, the kind of friend that just gets you.

It had now been 2 months since you walked out of your Alexia’s apartment with everything you ever knew packed up in cardboard boxes that was shipped off to a storage unit until you could figure your life out. You hadn’t seen Alexia, not that you had made much of an effort. It felt like an emptiness, that slowly had started to close. The costs of it were clear, you stayed away from her part of the town. More so, you had avoided going to the places she would usually go.

Being the girlfriend of a famous athlete wasn’t for everyone, and you sure felt the statement in your bones. You see, you and Alexia had been together since you were teens. She had promised you a ring, a big white wedding, kids and a real house. Instead you got 10 years worth of waiting, a cat and an apartment not suitable for children. People had made up competitions based off of when Alexia would purpose to you, when you would have kids or what your next pet would be. The plans you had were now placed on the back burner.Life had just spun out in the worst possible scenario, but Frido was on a mission to help you heal.

“Y/N! Are you awake?”

You huffed and covered your head with the fluffy pillow hoping she would go away.

“Ugh, you are taking to long. Hide your titties, I’m coming in!”

You looked over at the door which a second later had Frido barging out of it. You giggled at her silly little manoeuvre. Her face showed off a surprised grin before she walked to the window and pulled the curtain apart to let sunlight in. She then turned around and laid down in the big bed next to you, while you kept looking at her.

“How are we feeling today, Y/N?”

“Like shit”

“Y/n..”

“Okay, fine. I’m feeling a bit less empty. More like, half full than half empty actually.”

“Do I sense a sliver of positivity? Have I just discovered something we thought was extinct?” Frido teased with a fake surprised grin, and you playfully shoved her shoulder while staring up at the ceiling.

“Honestly? I don’t know. I’m not sure where to begin. What to do about my job, you know? My job is social media, sadly built on being the girlfriend of a famous footballer”

“I have a solution”

Frido looked mischievous, and you could see the trouble a million miles away.

“Oh god, now what?”

“Until I can find a way to become keen on women so I can wife you up, then I’m sure some of the girls on the team would be happy to bag you! How about Jenni? Cata? Ona? Or, I think I even have the phone number of Leah Williamson and Mary Earps!”

Frido fished the phone out of her pocket and demonstrated by going through her contact list loudly. You just rolled your eyes at her again before giggling.

«Oh, Mackenzie Arnold! No, wait, she’s dating that aussie Girl»

«Okay wait, Ada Hegeberg? No, no. She’s straight and old.”

“Maybe this is the one! Lucy Bronze! No, that would be so weird”

“But, what about Alana Kennedy or Claire? You’d get to hang out with the Mathildas and I’m sure mini’s wife would love a extra set of hands”

“Wait, no, girl! Here, Jessie Fleming! She’s hot, and I’m pretty sure she likes all the photos you post!”

Frido was ass deep in her phone which made you smile at her. You loved her silliness. It always seemed to bring some joy into your life. Her suggestions were out of pure love and you could spend forever listening to her.

“Fridolina, I appreciate the effort but unless you are about to turn gay, then I think I’m taking a break from the whole dating a football player thing; didn’t seem to work out for me”

Frido stuck her tongue out playfully at you, before looking down at her phone again.

“How about that rugby player from the Olympics?Ilona Maher! Oh, wait. Straight. But then, what about the rower from Germany?”

You playfully smacked her in the back of her head with a pillow before Frido put her phone down and sighted. Frido dramatically threw her hands in the air while gesturing dramatically.

“You are gonna be alone until you turn 50! That cannot happen! I wanna be your bridesmaid, i wanna be a moster!

“Well, you might have a chance now since I’m not with alexia anymore. She wasn’t planning to purpose anytime soon, and she was for sure not having kids within the next 5 years. She’s gonna die alone with a bunch of cats while refusing to retire”

You looked at Frido; Frido looked at you while holding her head up. There was a silence before a smile appeared on both of your faces. You both broke into a laugh and laid down next to each other again.

“How about we go to breakfast? I’ll treat you”

You smiled. If there was anything you loved, it was to go out for breakfast. You hadn’t gone out for breakfast since you and Alexia were at least 2 years younger. The truth was that you missed it.

“I haven’t gone out for breakfast in forever. Alexia didn’t want to because of the calories”

Frido furrowed her brows in annoyance of Alexia.

“Fuck the calories, Fuck Alexia, I work hard to be able to have them”

You let out a chuckle.

“I think I have had enough of fucking Alexia for a lifetime, babe”

-

You found yourself sat down by the window in this beautiful little cafe. It had an almost magical view of the park with a river slithering through it and a view of the little playground. The sun was beaming outside, and it was peaking out from the lace curtains hanging from the ceiling.

The coffees you ordered arrived, and you took a sip of yours before breaking out in a disappointed grin. The grin on your face caused Frido to giggle, nearly spilling out the contents of her cup. She looked at your cup, and back at hers before pushing her cup towards you. You took a sip and instantly felt satisfied. Your eyes were practically seeing stars. Frido smiled before accepting your cup as hers. The gesture made your heart swell with pride of your bestfriend. Alexia hadn’t done anything like that for you since you were teens.

“You know how they say that women see it coming? I honestly think that I did see it coming, and that’s why I’m doing okay. It’s weird, but she was spilling away for years. She forgot all dates and dinners, and she would tell me that i could just go to be because she was gonna be home late. Like, it feels like the love died before our relationship did.”

“I get that, isn’t it like an intuition thing? I’m pretty sure i saw a tiktok about it from a psychiatrist earlier.”

“Intuition? Interesting. I guess you could say that, I mean, I’m sad of course. Anyone would be. But then again, I’m okay with her decision. I’ve come to terms with it. If she didn’t love me anymore, then it’s better that she ended things.”

“It’s just so odd, Y/N. I don’t understand why she ended things with you. She makes it seem like you weren’t together for over 10 years.”

“That’s actually funny, she never gave me a reason! Perhaps I didn’t do her laundry well enough or maybe my cooking is shit.”

You frowned a bit when things about all the things you probably did wrong. Frido raised an eyebrow before letting out a short laugh.

“What are you even on about, you mad woman! Your cooking is elite. You have better housewife skills than my mom. Gud, if i ever encounter the woman then i might have to end her.”

You laughed softly at Frido until you noticed that the server was coming over with two steaming plates. She sat them down in front of you and you looked up at Frido who were grinning from ear to ear.

“This looks delish! Devine! If I were out on the deathrow, this would be my last meal.” Frido joked while studying her plate.

“Let me take a quick story of you and the food, pretty please?”

Frido raised her brow at you in confusion. The worry in your pit appeared, but was quickly erased by Frido’s reassuring words.

“Babe, you don’t have to ask. I’ve already said that! You support my work by coming to games, even Sweden games. I support your work by appearing on your socials. Alexia really did rearrange your head, is that why she suddenly never appeared on your socials?”

You nodded before raising your shoulders. Your phone was grabbed from the table and Frido did a wink to you when you turned the frame in her direction. You placed down you phone before stabbing the pancake with your fork and dipping it in the Canadian syrup. The meal went on, and you talked about everything from your work to when Frido’s next international match was going to take place.

“The match is set for July 11th, it’s a home game at first before the return in Ireland.”

You nodded eagerly while having strawberries filling your mouth.

“I’m planning to head out a few days earlier. You know, to see Morsan and Pappa. My grandparents have also been missing me.”

You swallowed down the berries before taking a sip of coffee.

“Oh, how are things with Simon now? Is he still busy being needy?”

“Haha, I guess I didn’t tell you! I ended things with him, it just wasn’t working out”

You raised your brow in confusion before putting your fork down.

“But you were so in love just a few months ago go? What happened?”

Frido shrugged her shoulders while leaning backwards to her chair.

“It wasn’t really love, more like a friendly kind of love. I don’t really think I ever felt in love with him, you know. The butterflies kind of love?”

You nodded at her while giving her a sincere smile.

“Hot girl summer it is then!”

Frido laughed at you before smiling widely. The pair of you started eating before Frido’s head suddenly popped up towards you.

“Girl, you should come with me to Sweden! You can meet my family, I can show you my childhood memories and you can join me to Ireland! Wouldn’t that be fun?”

You looked at her, slightly skeptical.

“Are you sure? Not to be a party pooper, but have you asked the team?”

“I’m sure they’ll just be happy to have a social media specialist joining us! Besides, there are some pretty good looking girls on the squad.”

Frido winked before you giggled again. Nobody could make you laugh like Frido.

-

A few weeks later you were sitting in your temporary bedroom at Frido’s while editing some content for your social media. It was an event you did a few months prior with an organisation that has volunteers who cleans the beaches. It was all done as a part of their summer campaign, and the deadline was creeping up on you. The issue was that Alexia had tagged along on the event, and you watched clips of you filing vlog style while other clips were filmed by a crew.

The clips made you feel numb, but this was work and it was already a done deal. You had already signed it, and Alexia had agreed to it earlier. You made a mental note to send Alexia a text about the video coming out before it was live. It was the last content you had of the pair of you together and quite a few of the huge amount of followers you had, had started questioning it. You had always been all about transparency, but this time it was different. This was personal, and it was something that needed time. At the same time, you felt like the fans deserved honesty from you.

You write down in your book to talk to your PR adviser about how to address it in the meeting that was coming up in a few days. But what was also coming up in a few days, was your trip with Frido. The excitement has finally started blossoming when she got the green light from her national team, and the trip could’nt have come at a better time.

“Y/N, hide your titties, I’m coming in!”

You giggled as Frido walked in with her hands over her eyes.

“You are all clear babe, no titties out. Besides when have I ever had my titties out?”

You asked in a sassy tone. Frido peeked through her hands before looking at you innocently while shrugging. She flopped onto your bed right next to you and pulled out her phone. She sat for a moment while you edited before she broke the silence.

“So, Alexia came to practice today”

You could feel your stomach drop to the ground. Your suddenly good mood turned into clouds and thunder.

“Good for her”

“Well, yes. But that’s besides the point. She asked about you.”

You felt yourself becoming protective and hostile when her name was mentioned. How dare she ask about you when she broke up with you? It made your blood boil, and your cheeks rushed with blood. You closed your MacBook before looking at Frido.

“What did she want?”

Frido looked at you.

“Do you want me to tell you the truth or what you want to hear?”

“The truth”

“She asked if she could come over to talk to you, and she handed me this. She said it belonged to you, that you forgot it behind.”

You looked at Frido with anger in your eyes. It was building up rapidly, like steam was about to come flying out of your ears. You couldn’t form a sentence, not even say a word. Frido looked apologetically at you.

“I’m sorry babe; but this is all yours. I’m gonna hop into the shower, i have dinner with Cata and Caro soon”

She moved to stand on her knees in the bed before she kissed the top of your head and walk out of the room, closing the door behind her. You looked at the box Alexia had sent with her, and you wanted to burn it up. You wanted to destroy it, to throw it off a cliff and to hand it in to a charity shop. Whatever was left in the box was something that you had been perfect without.

You sat and stared at the box for a good 30 minutes debating on whether to open it or not. The decision ended up on leaning into your natural curious side. You pulled the lid of the box before closing your eyes and holding the box infront of your face.

Your eyes opened up with a squint, scared to see what was inside.

The first thing you pulled up was a picture of your cat. Gosh, you thought to yourself. I’m going to get him back.

You reached into the box and found a picture of you and Alexia. It was taken at a water park when you were 14, and your families had decided to do a shared vacation.

Then your hand found a little box.

You picked it up and shook it.

You immediately knew what was inside.

The lid was pushed off.

There it was.

In all its shining glory.

The band of Alexia’s promise ring.

You instinctively closed your eyes.

You picked it up and turned it around to face you while having your eyes closed.

You flipped it around towards you.

You opened your eyes in agony.

Wrong.

It is your promise ring.

Or.

It was your promise ring.

[silenzahra]

My first Super Mario fankid: Violet "Violetta" Fiorella 💜✨

Surprise! 😄

(I know I'm VERY late jumping on the trend of Super Mario fankids, but I'm afraid I'm a very slow writer, and also, I've been incredibly busy lately, but hey, better late than never I guess!)

Even before I lost my old blog, I came up with the idea of my very first Super Mario fankid, and since Luaisy are my favorite couple, of course they had to be the parents! 💚🧡

Since I can't draw, I've used a couple of picrews to create my girl, both as a little child and as a teen, and you'll see that I actually really liked the second picrew as I just couldn't stop creating more and more outfits for her 🤭 (There are actually a couple that I haven't included but I'm always happy to show them if you're interested because she looks so CUTE).

I've been working on this little girl for a couple of months now and I couldn't wait any longer to introduce her to you all at last! Besides, today is the perfect day because it's her birthday, so I hope you're ready to meet Luigi and Daisy's first daughter! 😄💜 (in my lore of course!)

Special thanks to my beloved big sister @vulpixfairy1985 for helping me out regarding some of the nicknames for my beloved Violet! I owe you big one 🫂💖

@bberetd @megamagimugi @peaches2217 @oh-my-gosh-its-j0sh @pepperycar

@kelbreyworshipper @keakruiser @dragon-fly34 I thought perhaps you'd be interested in meeting this little girl 😊 Also, @itsavee4117, you might find a little surprise regarding this post 🤭💖

You'll also find hints to two of my stories, Green, Orange and a bit of Purple and Biggest fear, as well as my own headcanon posts: Mario and Luigi Musicians, Luigi the Bookworm and Luigi serenades Daisy. Also, here are the picrews I used: this one and this one.

Without further ado, let's-a go! ✨

✨💜 Violet "Violetta" Fiorella 💜✨

Violet: age 5 - age 13

Violet Fiorella is Luigi and Daisy's first daughter. She was born at dawn on the first day of autumn, being a late baby, as she was expected five days earlier. She inherits Daisy's facial shape and Luigi's slim, lanky body. Her mouth and nose are like her mother’s, while her eyes and hair, she got them from her father. Her skin is tanned like Daisy's, and her cheeks, rounded like her uncle's, are dotted with freckles.

Her name was chosen not only because of the flower, but also because it alluded to her mom's favorite color, purple. Her dad wanted to add a middle name reminiscent of flowers, but in Italian, his native language, so that his daughter’s European roots would be important in her life from the very beginning.

Early years

Almost from the moment she was born, Violet proved to be a very sweet and giggly child. She’s always smiling and showering everyone with hugs, and as soon as she learns to give kisses, it becomes her favorite way to interact with others. Her father holds her in his arms? Kiss on the cheek. Her mother tucks her in to sleep? Kiss on the forehead when Daisy leans into her. Aunt Peach and Uncle Mario bring her a new toy to add to her collection? She hugs and kisses them as she laughs nonstop, and of course, they melt.

Violet is brave, daring and very curious. She wants to explore the world on her own, no matter how dangerous it can be or how small she still is. Everything catches her attention. Her dad's mustache, which she starts to pull almost every day as soon as she learns to grab things. Her mom's freckles, which she traces so enthusiastically that more than once she’s been about to stick her tiny finger in Daisy's eye. Uncle Mario's hat, which she doesn't hesitate to steal from him every time she’s with him, which gets a few laughs out of Mario, especially when he sees how big the garment is for his niece. Aunt Peach's brooch, so bright and shiny that she can't help but try to take it off. Always so practical, Peach finds the perfect solution: she gives Violet a small pendant with the same type of jewel embedded in it, so that aunt and niece match.

Because of the adventurous spirit that runs through her veins, Violet is not afraid of anything. From the instant she starts crawling, she starts wandering around her home on her own, taking advantage of the slightest occasion when her parents look away from her, even if it's only for a mere second. This makes Luigi and Daisy twice as vigilant, especially when she starts to walk. They’re forced to take certain measures to make their house completely safe for their intrepid little daughter, such as covering all the sockets or putting fences in the most unexpected places.

Violet learns at a very early age that, when she wakes up, it’s better not to cry, but to climb the bars of her crib, so that she can escape to explore on her own without her parents' supervision. Luigi and Daisy, exhausted after watching over her safety and dealing with her inexhaustible energy during the day, receive no warning that their daughter has woken up and thus they must be alert again. Also, because their little girl is so active, Luigi and Daisy often fall fast asleep after putting her to bed and sleep very soundly, so Violet knows that every morning, she has precious time before either parent wakes up and the fun is over.

Fortunately, from the first time this happens, Polterpup is quick to come to the aid of his new little friend. As soon as he notices that Violet has climbed out of her crib, he rushes to her side. Luigi and Daisy usually leave their bedroom door open so that Polterpup can comfortably get in and out during the night instead of walking through the walls, which is why Violet has no trouble reaching the stairs. Polterpup barks at her, worried that she might hurt herself, but since the toddler won’t stop exploring, the dog lunges forward just as she jumps up and the girl falls onto his back with a loud laugh that turns into a squeal of excitement.

Which, at last, causes her parents to wake up, and as they rush out of their room, they find Violet riding on Polterpup and laughing happily while the puppy, barking enthusiastically, carries her back and forth through the house as if they were in the middle of a race. It is here that Luigi and Daisy realize that they must do something if they want to prevent their daughter from getting hurt and their poor ghost dog from having to babysit her.

While Daisy was pregnant, Luigi acquired the habit of reading for some minutes every night before bedtime, not only to her as it’s become their custom since they started dating, but also to their baby. He has vivid memories of his mama reading to him and Mario when they were little, and he wants to keep this beautiful tradition. He used to stand cross-legged next to Daisy, holding a book in his hand while stroking her belly with the other, and Daisy used to fall asleep to the soft cooing of his voice. After Violet was born, Luigi continues to do this, this time carrying his little girl in one arm while Daisy, after breastfeeding her, rests at his side. Both mother and daughter fall peacefully asleep listening to Luigi, giving him a few minutes to enjoy the warm presence of his two flowers without interruption.

Because of this, as she grows older, Violet proves unable to rest without her dad's goodnight story, which fills him with pride and joy. As soon as she learns to grasp things, like a good curious child, Violet begins to take her father's books away from him to glance through them and examine them herself, observing them as closely as if they held all the secrets of the universe. Luigi has to hold back tears of emotion when he realizes that his beloved little daughter will be a bookworm like him.

In Luigi and Daisy's home, music is never absent. It was key during their courtship and continued to be so after they got married, and of course also when they welcomed their first daughter. In fact, soon after returning home from giving birth, Daisy gets into the habit of taking her baby in her arms and gently rocking while sweetly singing and cuddling her, and Violet giggles with delight. Luigi often joins them, sometimes even grabbing his ukulele to improvise some tunes, as he used to do for Daisy.

This way, Violet begins to adore music and dance from a very young age and falls completely in love with her dad's instruments when he uses them for her for the first time, especially his guitar. She grows up surrounded by notes, chords and dances, and learns to keep time almost at the same time as she learns to clap her hands. Music and dance are in her blood, and her parents couldn't be prouder.

Since Violet is named after a flower, Luigi takes her to his garden when she’s only a few months old and begins to show her the plants and flowers and tell her about each one. To no one's surprise, as soon as Violet discovers the beautiful flowers with which she shares a name, she begins to feel a special fondness for them, and as soon as she learns to express herself a little, she asks to always wear something purple in her outfit, preferably with a flower pattern. Luigi teaches her how to braid flower crowns, and him and Violet together, they create a series of different crowns that she then gives to Daisy under Luigi's attentive and moved gaze.

Given that both her father and uncle are of Italian descent, they often speak in their native language to the girl ever since she’s born. Luigi, moreover, often calls her Violetta, the diminutive form of her name in Italian, and she adores it and always showers him with kisses whenever her dad addresses her by that nickname. She also loves that Uncle Mario calls her by her middle name, Fiorella, or that he uses some of the affectionate nicknames he’s given her, such as Fiorellino or Petalo, both words that refer to flowers in Italian. After all, as Mario always tells her, she is his favorite flower of all those that exist in the world.

Daisy, for her part, usually speaks to her little girl in Spanish. Most of the songs she sings to her as a baby while rocking her in her arms are in her native language, many of them written and composed by Luigi, Daisy's favorites. The princess also buys tales in Spanish for her daughter, and joins her husband in reading them to her, with Luigi narrating and Daisy playing the characters, gesturing in an exaggerated manner to make Violet laugh. Besides, Daisy calls her Violeta, the Spanish version of her name, but she does so with a different intonation from Luigi, which makes Violet always able to differentiate the way her name sounds in her parents' respective languages. Daisy often chooses to call her “florecilla” or “mi pequeña flor,” which brings the most radiant smile to the little girl's face, and she doesn’t hesitate to hug her mom and shower her with kisses.

Besides being very active and curious, Violet is also very imaginative. The stories Luigi tells her prompt her to ask him many questions in search of other ways in which this or that story could have ended, and Luigi always encourages her to invent the ending she likes the most. And Violet does: with her eyes sparkling with excitement, she tells him how the evil witch or the ruthless ogre is defeated by a brave warrior in shining armor who defends and protects the princess before anyone can harm her. Many times, she even draws the scenes she invents with her colored pencils. Luigi treasures each of her drawings with all his affection, but Daisy worries that they have almost no room left on the fridge to hang them.

From a very young age, Violet shows a great affinity for sweets that becomes excessive over time. She is often discovered by Daisy or Luigi in the kitchen, climbing on the counter with the help of Polterpup and stealing cookies, and this scene keeps repeating over time even after her parents start to devise new hiding places for the cookie jar. Also, when Luigi and Peach prepare a cake together, they can't leave it unattended for a second, especially if it's chocolate, Violet’s favorite flavor, or else they'll run into the toddler attacking the cake with her tiny fingers and devouring the cake frosting before going for the sponge cake. Just like her mother.

Over the years, her parents try hard to teach her to be patient and wait for the cake or cookies to be served during tea time, and, of course, they set her limits when it comes to sweets. For, on more than one occasion, Violet has been sick to her stomach for having such a sweet tooth and disregarding her parents' advice and warnings.

One thing she’s inherited from Uncle Mario, besides his adventurous spirit, is his stubborn side. Even though Violet is usually a quiet baby, on very rare occasions she throws tantrums that cause her face to turn as red as her uncle's cap and Luigi to seriously fear for the endurance of her lungs. Fortunately, Daisy soon discovers that, as in Mario's case, it is Luigi and Peach who can get little Violet to calm down as quickly as possible.

As she grows up, Violet’s stubbornness continues to show up, although, fortunately, not very often, as the gentleness inherited from her father is stronger.

Family

Luigi and Violet often have fun gardening, singing together around the house and going to the children's section of the library or bookstore. The girl already has her own bookshelf in her room, and Luigi is more than happy to help her expand it so they can read her new addition together. As his daughter slowly grows up, Luigi develops the habit of telling Violet stories at any time beyond bedtime: while feeding her, while dressing her, while bathing her... And Violet is always spellbound listening to him. It is, in fact, thanks to Luigi that Violet develops a love for reading and stories and, indeed, she ends up becoming a bookworm like her father.

Since becoming a father, Luigi has composed numerous songs for his daughter, many of them created half-heartedly with Mario, who also melts with love for his niece. Often, Luigi grabs his guitar and starts singing to Violet, who promptly joins him in clapping her hands and singing the lyrics in unison. This is how many mornings tend to pass in Luigi and Daisy's home, and it isn't long before Violet asks to attend a concert by her dad and uncle. Unfortunately, she’s too young by then (four years old), so she still has to stay at home.

When Violet is one year old, her parents try playing a movie for the first time, and find that the girl seems entertained, but, halfway through the film, Violet suddenly gets up and asks her parents to go out into the garden to run and play a bit. Daisy almost melts when she realizes that her daughter has inherited this from her, as she needs to do exactly the same thing every time she sits down to watch a movie with Luigi. Little Violet's energy is just as inexhaustible as that of her mother.

It's thanks to this that Violet and Daisy start to go out into the garden to run and climb trees together as a way to let out their endless adrenaline. They also have a great time dancing around the house and improvising karaoke sessions that delight Luigi. Daisy encourages her daughter to unleash all her energy and bring out her wild side, no matter what anyone says. Not only does she not scold her for wallowing in the mud after the rain, but she joins her and they end up laughing together in the middle of a mud puddle, with Luigi shaking his head resignedly, but unable to erase the loving smile off his face.

Eventually, moreover, Daisy begins to teach her daughter how to fight, not only as another way to let her adrenaline loose, but also so that she can stand on her own two feet. At the same time, she shows her the different dances typical of the four kingdoms of Sarasaland and encourages her to continue cultivating her mind in the company of her father. Thanks to Daisy, Violet becomes an excellent warrior, as well as an expert in the original dances of the empire over which she will one day rule.

Aunt Peach loves to organize tea parties with her niece, and Violet has a great time playing princesses with her and all her toys. Peach also loves to do her hair and sew her not only clothes, but also stuffed animals, and she often takes her niece shopping. Violet doesn’t have a specific preference for one type of clothing, but likes everything: dresses, skirts, pants, overalls, blouses, shirts... And the same goes for colors, although she has a certain inclination for blue, purple and pastel shades.

So she loves it when Peach surprises her with new dresses or a trendy jeans and blouse outfit, clearly influenced by the culture Mario and Luigi come from. Peach and Daisy often get together for snacks and shopping and take little Violet with her, whether it's to buy her clothes or books, treat her to ice cream or take her to the park to play. And she has a great time going out with her mom and aunt.

Later on, moreover, Peach decides that she should start teaching Violet how to behave in court, because, after all, her niece is the heiress of the Sarasaland empire. Luigi, despite not being an expert in the matter, joins her whenever he can, imitating his friend's gestures to make sure he instills them in his daughter, but Peach is the main one in charge of telling Violet about the best way to run a country and about the importance of diplomacy to establish good relations with other kingdoms.

With Uncle Mario, the girl has even more ways to release all her adrenaline. He always encourages her to play active and fun games that make her run around the house or the garden and laugh out loud, so that when it's time to go to sleep, she usually falls asleep right away, which both Luigi and Daisy appreciate. Mario has a great time playing tag with his niece, playing hide-and-seek, or pretending to be a huge monster that wants to catch her to tickle her. Other times, on the other hand, he happily pretends that she’s a brave and fearless heroine who valiantly faces the monster and takes it down with the same weapon: tickling. Mario himself often sleeps like a baby after spending an afternoon in the company of his niece.

Just as Daisy begins to teach her daughter how to fight, Mario does the same. He teaches her different techniques from Daisy's, so that Violet knows a variety of ways to defend herself if necessary, and he’s also the first one to show her the power-ups. With Luigi's permission, Mario starts with the simplest one: the mushroom, which makes Violet laugh hysterically as she looks much bigger and taller than she is. Later, both brothers show her the Tanooki Leaf, with great enthusiasm from both of them, although Luigi can’t help but feel a bit nervous and even fearful for his daughter’s safety. For the Fire Flower though, they decide to wait until she is older.

Violet loves alone time with each member of her family, especially her father, but she loves it when they all go out together to enjoy a picnic or shopping at the Coconut Mall. This gives her the opportunity to sing and dance with them all, to play her craziest games with Uncle Mario, and to take her favorite plushies for her and Aunt Peach to take care of together.

From a very young age, Violet loves to be dressed like Peach and Daisy, with long and beautiful dresses and wearing on her head her own “little princess” crown, a gift from Aunt Peach for her eighth birthday, when she also gives her this nickname. This is a custom that Violet never loses, as she’s very aware of her role as future heiress of Sarasaland, and wears her dresses and crown with pride, always feeling comfortable in her princess attire.

Even though she has dresses of all colors and for all tastes, her favorites are those in her parents' signature colors, being the ones that remind her of her uncle and aunt the second ones in the list. Of course, Violet loves to give them her own distinct touch with her light blue or lilac stockings, always with floral patterns.

On the other hand, she also loves to wear overalls and pretend to be a great plumber like her dad and uncle, and she continues to wear these garments as she grows up, as she finds them very comfortable and manageable. And both Luigi and Mario are unable to hide their excitement at the sight of their beloved Violet wearing an outfit so similar to their own, even when she’s no longer a child.

Violet loves to combine her parents' colors in her outfit and mix them with the blue of her overalls or the purple and orange of the flower crowns she often wears in her hair and that her mother gladly lends her. Her favorite overalls are dark blue, similar to her father's, although she also has some lilac ones that she adores dearly. She also loves the striped socks that Luigi usually wears, though in Violet's case, she prefers to wear them green, orange or yellow. Sneakers are her favorite footwear, comfortable and perfect for running, dancing or fighting, and she has them in several colors.

Mario and Luigi's family adore little Violet with a passion. Mia and Pio are always over the moon when her parents bring her to Brooklyn, and they often go out together as a family to show her where her dad and uncle grew up. Mia also sews tons of clothes for her granddaughter, often agreeing with Peach to combine their skills and create a lovely outfit for Violet between the two of them. Pio loves to take her out and play with her and is incredibly proud every time he discovers that his granddaughter has inherited some of his traits.

Violet loves devouring the delicious pizzas at Punch-Out Pizzeria and running around Central Park chasing the ducks, especially after hearing the story of the vampire duck that attacked Luigi the first time he and her mom went out together. Also, when Luigi first takes her to his favorite bookstore in Brooklyn, she falls in love with it at first sight.

In the Mushroom Kingdom, as the niece of Princess Peach and her consort husband, Violet is treated with all the comforts and luxuries, as befits a little princess. She’s adored by all the Toads, court, palace guards and ordinary citizens alike, and they keep greeting her and giving her gifts whenever Luigi and Daisy take her for a visit. Mario and Luigi's best friend even proclaimed himself as little princess Violet's new best friend from the day he met her, and she always has lots of fun going on picnics with him or embarking on a new and not at all dangerous adventure together. Like spotting squirrels around Peach's castle or hanging on to the legs of a bramball for at least five seconds without getting a puncture. Besides, Toad tells the best jokes and always knows how to make his little friend laugh.

In Sarasaland, of course, Violet is treated with all the honors that the future empress deserves. King Crisanto is delighted in his role as grandfather, and all of Daisy's other parents also shower her with attention and make sure to remind Daisy of all the fighting techniques she learned with them so that she can pass them on to her daughter when the time comes.

Pre-adolescence

At age thirteen, Violet is a happy child who has a multitude of hobbies and skills and who knows she’s loved and adored in her family. Despite her young age, she’s well aware of her future responsibilities as the ruler of such a large and immense country and has made an effort to learn all about the different cultures native to each kingdom. She’s visited them many times with Daisy and Crisanto, and thanks to Luigi, she’s able to recite the history and customs of each of them without a moment's hesitation. Of course, the values and knowledge that Peach has instilled in her make her a very educated and intelligent little princess.

Violet loves to read. Usually, shortly after returning from school and after spending some time with her parents, she usually locks herself in her room to read and is absorbed by the stories she consumes in exactly the same way as her dad. Even so, the restless and energetic nature she inherited from Daisy requires that, after a couple of hours, she switches from reading to a more lively activity, such as dancing or going out into nature to run with Polterpup and climb trees. Daisy often joins her, and the two feel as connected as they did when Violet was a girl.

Despite this, there are times when their characters clash. Violet is still as sweet as the first day, but when she gets angry she’s more prone to have an argument with her mom, who tends to get angry very easily. That's when Luigi intervenes: alone or with Peach's help, he prepares a delicious cake and leaves it, on purpose, in the middle of the living room, so that both mother and daughter are attracted by such a delicacy and end up attacking it together, with their bare fingers, just like Violet did when she was little. It is during this little moment that they begin to talk and end up making peace, after which Luigi comes out of his hiding place and hugs his beloved flowers tight, satisfied that he achieved his purpose. Fortunately, these discussions don't happen very often, or else not only Violet would get sick, but Daisy as well.

Thanks to Uncle Mario, Violet is quite an expert on all the types of power-ups that exist, and Luigi and Daisy have made sure to extend this knowledge to her as far as Sarasaland is concerned, since, as Mario well made sure to teach her, not all power-ups can be found with the same ease everywhere. Her favorite is, without a doubt, the Tanooki Leaf, as there’s nothing that matches the feeling of flying and freedom that this power-up gives her. However, she also loves how powerful throwing fireballs or ice balls makes her feel and has no qualms about admitting that she loves seeing her dad and uncle transformed into cats. She often giggles hysterically before she starts chasing after them to cuddle with them, something she’s done since she was a little girl.

At last, after much insistence, Violet has obtained parental permission to attend Luigi and Mario's concerts. In the reserved area set aside for their families, Violet stands against the fence, with her arms resting on it, screaming and jumping up and down during the concerts. She considers herself her father and uncle's number one fan, and knows absolutely all their songs by heart, whether they are in English, Spanish or Italian. Violet speaks all three languages fluently and has no preference when it comes to singing or communicating.

Shortly before her twelfth birthday, she began attending royal receptions in the company of her parents. At these times, Luigi encourages her to remember everything that Aunt Peach has taught her, and Violet proves that she’s very good at handling herself in court. Maybe even better than her parents, as she seems to have inherited it naturally from her grandpa In addition, she usually dresses very stylishly, especially thanks to her aunt, who always takes her wishes and opinions into account when it comes to giving her new dresses or sewing them herself. However, as a rule, Violet usually wears leggings under her wide skirts, mostly influenced by her mom, who insists that she should always be prepared for a fight and therefore as comfortable as possible. Peach supports this decision and even starts sewing her own leggings for Violet as well.

Violet is an expert in the specific care that each flower and plant needs to grow. Even though she has many interests, being surrounded by nature is what she’s most passionate about in the world, so she’s decided that while she must become the empress of Sarasaland someday, she wants to have her own corner full of beautiful flowers just for herself. Her grandfather has immediately made sure to set up a beautiful greenhouse on the grounds of Sarasaland Castle and has ordered seeds to be brought in from all over the empire so that his granddaughter will feel right at home every time she comes to visit.

Crisanto never hides how proud he is of his granddaughter and how much he adores her just the way she is. Violet loves spending time with him and listening to him talk about the plants native to the different kingdoms of Sarasaland, and often Luigi and Daisy join them and add a few details. Luigi also brings some seeds from Earth for his daughter, and with Peach's help, they grow them together in the Sarasaland greenhouse.

Mario and Daisy continue to train her daily and give her new challenges and tests, both with and without power-ups, to further reinforce her strength and defense skills. At the same time, Peach and Luigi educate her in manners, culture, history and other important subjects for her education and future.

Thanks to Luigi and Peach, Violet knows how to be the perfect princess.

Thanks to Daisy and Mario, Violet knows how to be the perfect warrior.

EDIT: Adding here the links to the beautiful drawings made by some of my incredibly talented friends!

-@bberetd's sketch of Violet Fiorella (+ Daisy + NES Peach). -@itsavee4117's fanart of Violet, her family and his fankiddos. -@megamagimugi's drawing of Toddler Violet and Polterpup. -@bberetd's idea/headcanon of little Violet. -@smokszyvverstar's fanart of Violet and Luigi. -@bberetd's doodle dump of Violet and her parents. -@dragon-fly34's drawing of Violet and a hint to her OC Laura. -@megamagimugi's comic adaptation of Boma's idea (sketch here).

Thank you all so so much! I'm truly so blessed 💖

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

This is a really short AITA but: AITA for encouraging my sister to relocate?

(I have received permission to send this AITA. This has been co-read and approved by my sister)

I live in country A, my sister lives in country B— she moved there about seven years ago. My sister has always struggled with mental health, as have I. Her 20s were the worst: locking herself in her house, cutting off all her friends, verbally attacking anyone who would try and help, and even impulsively boarding trains/buses and disappearing for a week or two if anyone pushed too hard or tried to arrange something like an intervention, along with other more self-destructive tendencies (let me be clear: i have never approved of interventions, I think they’re disgusting, ableist, and only do worse for the people involved).

After moving to country B, she met a guy and had kids. They waited a bit before having them because she wasn’t sure if she would be capable of raising kids, but the guy encouraged her to go to therapy and find ways to cope. After about four years, she was doing MUCH better and had found a good system of coping mechanisms.

She started relapsing (is that the right word?) about a year ago. She says it’s getting worse, and she says she no longer knows if she can act as a parent to her two kids (ages 13 and 9).

Her proposed solution to this is to move the family back to country A, where the rest of her family would be able to pitch in. (Her husbands family is unavailable for raising, she’s never met them. Apparently they suck). Her husband and kids are against the idea, especially the kids, who have friends in B and do not know A’s language very well.

My sister says that if they stay in B, they will only have one parent (her husband, who works a lot more than she does and is therefore less present at home) that’s able to be present in their lives, while in A they will have an entire family structure of uncles, aunts, grandparents, and family friends to pitch in when she isn’t mentally capable of caring for the kids.

Another complication: our parents are a little judgemental. They’ve never had a bad word to say about any of the little ones in the family (they spoil all their grandkids and grandnephews rotten, both the young and the adults), but are not above nagging their own kids or badmouthing their partners. And they do not like my sister’s husband. At all. (I don’t either)

She asked me for advice, and I encouraged her to go through with the moving-to-A plan because I genuinely think it’ll be better for the kids in the long run. After months of begging, her husband has agreed to move back. Everyone in A is elated, my sister is relieved, her husband is irritated, and her kids are furious. She usually calls me for mental health related issues since we’ve had similar experiences, but I have no partner or kids of my own (and intend to remain that way), so maybe I wasn’t the right person to give advice in this situation. The kids are young and will learn the language quick, and won’t risk neglect. However, moving from one town to another is scary enough, so I understand why her kids are upset about having to move to a country that speaks a different language. In addition, her husband will be in a family unit where most people are cautious at best and actively dislike him at worst

(Disclaimer: my sister is not handing the responsibility of raising her kids to the rest of the family. She will still be trying to raise them, but there is only so much she can do when her health/life is at risk)

[badkitty3000]

You Can't Go Home Again

Chapters 1 and 2

Link to Chapters 3 and Four

All Five wants to do is rest. But when yet another apocalypse threatens to doom them all, he doesn't have that luxury. This time, the only solution for the Hargreeves to try and save the world is to unite Five with another, alternate version of himself.

Five starts to spiral when he is faced with the alternate life that he could have had, if only he hadn't gone and ruined everything. But maybe, just maybe, there's still time for him to obtain the happy ending he deserves.

An alternate season three rewrite for a request I received.

Warnings: None

More chapters will be posted as I continue writing this multi-chapter fic. Enjoy!

Chapter One: The Other You

So much for being their ringer, Five thought bitterly as he stewed about the day’s earlier events. Lying there in his shitty bottom bunk bed like he was actually 13 years old, and waiting for Klaus to get back with his scotch, he tried to think of what to do next. Everyone was waiting on him, like he knew the answer to everything. It was damned if you do, damned if you don’t with this family, because no matter what Five said someone wasn’t happy with him. He sighed and flopped a pillow over his face, trying to drown out Diego and Luther’s arguing. At this point, he wished that Cobra Girl, or whatever the fuck her name was, would make him hallucinate he was on a tropical island with a fruity drink in one hand and Dolores in his other.

God damn it, he was tired.

Maybe this was for the best, though. Maybe they could just live here and be normal for once. After all, it didn’t seem all that bad. They just needed to avoid Dad’s merry band of Mega Assholes, but that should be easy enough. They could even keep the briefcase. He didn’t really need the reminder of that part of his life, anyway. The more he thought about it, the better it sounded. This was just what they all needed to start over.

Wait, where are all the lobsters? Fuck.

************************************************************************

“I swear there was a great vintage clothing store around here somewhere,” Klaus muttered to himself as he walked down the busy street, a few blocks from the hotel. He stopped and looked around, shading his eyes from the sun. He let out a frustrated groan. “The one time I could actually benefit from Ben being up my ass all the time. That jerk was like freaking Magellan.” He chuckled. “No wonder I’ve always been bad at directions. I usually just followed him.” Klaus caught the side-eye of a woman hurrying past him. “Aaaaand…now I’m talking to myself. Wonderful.”

As he stepped off the curb to try the other side of the street, he stopped dead in his tracks. Coming out of the café across the road, was an absolute dead ringer for Five. Well, an older version of him. But not like his real, 60 year-old version. More like the correct version, if the correct version had been allowed to age normally with the rest of his siblings.

It had to be him. Same dark hair swept to the side. Same lean build and sharp facial features. Same aggravated look on his face.

The one thing that was clearly wrong, besides the fact that he was roughly 30, was that he had two small children in tow, with one of them holding his hand. Then Klaus almost passed out when he saw a very pretty woman follow him out, putting her arm around his waist and kissing his cheek.

And Five just… smiled at her. Like it was the most normal thing in the world.

“What the…” Klaus started to wonder, before almost being run over by a delivery truck that came zooming down the street. “Shit!”

He stepped back onto the curb just in time, as the driver honked his horn and yelled obscenities at him as he drove past. But Klaus barely registered all of that. He couldn’t stop staring at his brother’s doppelganger, trying to figure out what to do about it. Would he even know Klaus? This was probably a completely different version that grew up here, in the Sparrow’s timeline and would have no idea that the Umbrella Academy even existed.

“Five!” Klaus yelled out, not even thinking.

The older version of his brother stopped and turned, looking for who might have called him.

“Fuck, it really is him,” Klaus muttered. “Five! Over here!” He waved his arms in the air, catching Five’s attention.

He watched as Five squinted across the street, then looked at the woman next to him, shrugging. The small girl holding his hand gave a sharp tug to get his attention, and Five let her pull him along down the sidewalk, taking one last confused look at Klaus over his shoulder.

“Fuck…now what?” Klaus said, one hand on his hip. “What would Ben say? He’d tell me I should not follow him and just go back to the hotel and tell Five. So…yeah, I’m going to follow him.”

Klaus stayed on the opposite side of the street, and hung back a little, but he followed Five and his family for a few blocks. As he paused behind a telephone pole, trying to hide for a few seconds to widen the gap between them, he was engulfed in a flash of blue light before being thrown against the side of a building, the front of his shirt clutched in someone’s hands, and a snarling voice speaking to him.

“Who are you and why are you following me?”

Klaus looked into the familiar green eyes of his brother, whose other version he had just recently been reunited with. There was no doubt it was Five now. Even without the spatial jump and the physical assault. When Klaus’s eyes dropped down to the fist that was clenching his shirt, he saw the tattoo that matched his own.

“Holy shit! Five, it’s really you!”

“How the fuck do you know my name? Who are you?” Five demanded again, pushing Klaus further into the brick wall.

“It’s me…Klaus! You know, your brother?”

Five paused, but didn’t loosen his grip at all. “What are you talking about?”

Klaus held his hands up in surrender, while also showing Five the inside of his left wrist. “See? It’s me! Numero Quatro. Remember?”

Five took a small step back, his eyes wide, but he still held tight. “Klaus?”

Klaus laughed. “Yeah! Hey buddy, how the hell are you?”

After a few more seconds of staring blankly at his brother, Five let him go and Klaus smoothed his shirt down. “I don’t understand. How are you here? This isn’t your timeline.”

“I know!” Klaus giggled. “It’s a LONG fucking story, one which my brother…well, you, actually, can explain much better than I can. But after a couple failed time travel attempts, here we are! And Dad was NOT thrilled to see us, let me tell you. Do you know he has a whole ass other family now? And Ben! He’s alive…or a version of him is alive. He seems like a real dick. But then there’s you, and look at you! All grown up and with a family? That’s so great! But how did you get here? How are you not a Sparrow?”

Five pinched his nose between his thumb and forefinger and sighed before smiling at his long-lost brother. “Klaus, it is really good to see you, but please, give me a minute here. I need to think.”

“Right. Sorry.”

“So, how did you time travel here? With what resource?”

“To this particular timeline? A magical briefcase. Before that, it was just you.”

“Ignoring whatever the hell a magical briefcase is, do you mean you used my powers to time travel?”

“Yes, but with varying success.”

“Ok. So, there’s a version of me with you now?”

Klaus nodded. “Yes. And you are ADORABLE.” He saw Five’s frown of confusion. “You’re thirteen. Well, not really. You’re actually 58, since you got stuck in an apocalypse for 45 years and then messed up your own time math on your return to 2019. So, yeah, you’re super cute but, wow, are you ornery.”

Five thought for a moment before quietly mumbling, “So you must be from an alternate Umbrella Academy timeline where I still time traveled at thirteen, but with a different outcome.”

Klaus nodded. “Sure, that sounds about right.” Then he tilted his head in confusion. “Hang on, if you’re here and the same age as me, and you still have the Umbrella tattoo, then how did you get here and how are there two of you?”

Five frowned. “Again, I’m going to speculate, because I can’t be entirely sure. But from what you’re saying, it sounds like there were at least two original timelines where the Umbrella Academy and us and the rest of our siblings existed. I decided to defy Reggie and jump to the future in both of those timelines, except that’s where things went differently. It sounds like in your timeline, that version of me got stuck in the future with no way back. In my particular case, I jumped and instead of going forward in time, I went sideways and got stuck.”

“Sideways?”

“Meaning, I jumped to a different, alternate universe with the Sparrows, but the time remained the same. So, I grew up here, in this timeline but without good old Dad to raise me.”

“Oh right…” Klaus said, nodding as if he completely understood. “So, you’re not the same Five that rubbed hot chili oil in my underwear in retaliation for stealing your sandwich when we were twelve?”

Five looked taken aback, but then he gave a short laugh. “No, but I did dare MY Klaus to touch his junk after cutting up a habanero pepper, then proceeded to take his picture when he started screaming and pouring milk down his underpants.”

“Man, you really are an asshole in every timeline!” Klaus laughed. “Poor me.”

With a grin, Five shook his head. “It really is good to see you, Klaus. The last time I saw any of my siblings I was thirteen. I’m glad to see you made it out and are doing well.”

“Well…I wouldn’t go that far, but I made it out anyway. And what about you? So, you landed here and then what? I didn’t see you with the other assholes who were beating the shit out of us in our own home.”

“Oh, the Sparrows? Yeah, they are a special brand of dickheads, that’s for sure. Even as teenagers, they sucked. Which is why—”

Just then, a pulsing wave of…something…washed over them and the entire city block, only for it to reverse itself and disappear the way it came. As Klaus and Five stood there in shock, a lady that had been walking on the other side of the street screamed loudly. When they looked over, they saw her holding up a dog leash attached to an empty collar. She pivoted in place, scanning all around her while she called out “Winston!” in a panic.

“Well, that’s probably not good,” Klaus observed; head tilted to the side.

“Yeah, no shit,” Five snapped. He glanced down the street, where his family was waiting for him on a bench. They appeared to be intact and he let out a sigh of relief. “Listen, I have to get back to my family. I don’t know what the hell that was, but if I had to bet, I’d say it had something to do with Reginald. So, as much as I’d love to sit here and catch up, I have to go.”

“Oh,” Klaus said sadly. “Yeah, ok. But don’t you want to come meet the rest of the gang? We’re all staying over the Hotel Obsidian, if you know where that is –”

“You’re staying there?” Five asked incredulously.

“Yeah, why?”

“That’s Dad’s place. He owns it. Didn’t you know that?”

Klaus shook his head. “No, I had no idea. Are you sure?”

Five rolled his eyes. “Yes, I’m sure. I’ve been tracking Reggie since I was a kid. That place is basically his evil lair, and even if I haven’t been able to figure out what is going on in there, it’s a safe bet it’s in nobody’s best interest except his own.”

“Sounds about right, actually,” Klaus mused. “But, hey! He’s not there now, and our siblings would love to meet you, I’m sure. And OUR Five…he’s such a little shit gremlin, you should see him…you…well, you know what I mean. Don’t you want to meet your other self?”

“I’m sure there are terrible consequences to that, actually.”

“Oh, come on…just for a minute…”

“Klaus! A mysterious, dog-eating, energy wave from hell just passed over the city and you want to start planning a family reunion? They aren’t even my real family, anyway! So…while this has been fun, I have to go. Good luck with everything.”

In another flash of blue, Five was gone; reappearing at the other end of the street where his wife and kids were still waiting. Klaus watched in fascination as Five hugged them, and then continued down the street in a hurry, keeping them close to him for protection.

“Well, this is some weird-ass shit, even for us, right Benerino?” Klaus closed his eyes and sighed when he realized he was alone again. “Damn it. I keep forgetting.”

************************************************************************

Five was helping himself to the large selection of booze the hotel bar had to offer, trying to find just the right single malt to drown his sorrows and help him forget the happenings of the day. He decided that things couldn’t really get worse, so he might as well get plastered. He rattled off the earlier events in his head as he tipped back a bottle of Japanese whiskey and swallowed down a large gulp.

Lila tried to kill me. BOTH fucking briefcases won’t work. Lila tried to kill me AGAIN. The Commission is dead and the world is soon to follow. My old, one-armed ass died in front of me without giving me one single piece of useful information except “don’t save the world.” Jesus, what an asshole. And now this kugelblitz shit. He took another swig, grimacing as it slipped down his throat and burned his stomach. Oh yeah, let’s not forget that I’m still stuck in this prepubescent body, which is all sorts of fun. Although I think I spied one single hair on my nuts this morning, so things are really starting to look up.

“Fuck,” he muttered before laughing sardonically at himself and taking another pull at the bottle. “I should have listened to you, Dolores. I should have waited until I was one-hundred-percent sure of the math, just like you said. But you know me, always impulsive. I’m glad you’re not here to witness this, my dear, because I really stepped in it this time.”

“Five! Holy shit, I’ve been looking everywhere for you!

Klaus came running up to the bar, out of breath and smiling. Five frowned before taking another sip of whiskey. “Well, I’m not sure where you’ve been looking because I’ve been right here for the last hour.”

“Well, yeah…I mean I just got here. But, still, I have big news!”

“I’m on the edge of my seat,” Five said dryly.

“I met you!”

“Excuse me?”

“You! Well, another you, but it was still you! But like, older, you know? But with the same Umbrella Academy tattoo and surly attitude. And let me tell you…I was right because you did grow up to be hot. So, never fear little bro, you are one smoking piece of ass once you get past this awkward phase.”

“Klaus,” Five said, running a tired hand down his face. “What in the fuck are you talking about?”

Klaus took a deep breath. “I was walking around, trying to find this store I used to like, when I saw you. Another version of you.”

Five set the whiskey bottle down with a hard “thunk.” He crossed his arms on the bar top and leaned in toward Klaus, his eyebrows drawing together. “Come again?”

“You, Fivey!” Klaus repeated, gesturing wildly to his confused, smaller brother. “And get this…you have a family! An adorable wife and two precious little children. You should have seen yourself in absolute domestic bliss.” Klaus put a hand to his chest. “Oh, it was precious.”

Five slow blinked a few times, trying to understand what his moronic brother was babbling about. The whiskey was slowing his processing speed and he needed to catch up. “Hang on,” he squinted, trying to keep things in focus. “You saw another version of me? And you talked to him?”

Klaus nodded. “Yes!”

“This is…” Five muttered, picking up the bottle, but then setting it back down again with a frown. “This is not good.”

“That’s what he said! Well, not those exact words, but pretty close. I tried to get him to come here and meet everyone but—”

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Five barked.

“What? I thought he’d like to see the other versions of us, since he comes from a different timeline, apparently. This you didn’t get stuck in an apocalypse, he just landed here instead. I don’t really understand everything and we didn’t have time to get into specifics before the scary energy tsunami killed the vibe.”

“Energy…what? Damn it, Klaus, I’m too drunk for this.” Five sighed heavily, dropping his head onto his arms before raising it again. He passed a hand through his hair, sweeping it out of his eyes. “Ok, listen carefully. Do NOT, under any circumstances, interact with my other self again. Understand?”

Klaus pouted. “Why? Aren’t you curious about this you?”

With a sorrowful look in his eyes, he shook his head slowly. “It doesn’t matter if I am or not. What matters is keeping us safe. You and our siblings. We can’t worry about anyone else right now, and that includes any other versions of ourselves that may be walking around. We just don’t have that luxury.”

“But…your kids…”

“They are not MY kids, Klaus! They’re HIS!” Five snapped, much more harshly than he had intended. He backed down a little. “I’m sorry. There’s too much at stake. Not to mention I can’t be trusted if I’m around another version of myself.”

“Oh, right…the psychosis thing. Yeah, Luther mentioned you went a little..” Klaus made a cuckoo bird noise and circled a finger next to his head. “I forgot about that.”

“Yeah, well I haven’t. It’s not exactly a great feeling to want to scratch your ball sack off while your doppelganger tries to murder you. You tend not to forget those things.”

“Point taken, mon frere.” Klaus grabbed a shot glass from behind the bar and poured himself some of Five’s whiskey. After throwing it back in one go, he looked around. “Alright, I have to go find everyone else and tell them the news. They aren’t going to believe this.”

As Klaus walked away, Five knew he should stop him. He needed to tell him about the kugelblitz, especially since it sounded like maybe he had already experienced a wave of it. But he had just been thrown some very heavy news and he needed time to think. It didn’t help that his brain was foggy with booze and he had already been in a maudlin mood even before Klaus had dumped this on him.

There was another version of himself walking around that city right now, not that far away. Another version that grew up in a normal world. That didn’t spend decades in a lifeless hellscape, scrounging to stay alive and slowly going insane. One that hadn’t fucked up his life, not once, but twice, with shaky math and a too-cocky attitude. And one that had a real family.

That was what Five kept circling back to. Klaus had seen him with a wife and two kids. Just the thought that there was an alternative life for him out there that included a real family nearly sucked the air right out of his lungs. A wife. A real wife that he presumably loved and that loved him in return. Children of his own.

It was too much. He couldn’t breathe and he furiously pulled at his necktie as if it were a noose tightening around his thin neck. Five pulled in loud gasps of air, but it still wasn’t enough. Grabbing the half-empty bottle of whiskey off the bar, he staggered towards the first bathroom he saw off the main floor. Panting with eyes wide, Five trudged to the old, grimy sink and stared into the mirror.

“Fuck you,” Five hissed to the skinny little shithead that was staring back at him. “You’re useless.”

He took a long swig from the bottle, his hand shaking on the way. As two small rivers of brown liquid seeped out of the corners of his mouth and down his chin, he lowered the bottle clumsily, hitting the side of the sink and smashing it into pieces. As shards of glass rained down onto the tiled floor, the pleasant tinkling sound echoing around him, Five laughed. It was a dangerous, demonic laugh that frightened even himself. He stopped abruptly, his hands clutching the sides of the sink, palms digging into the slivers of glass that had fallen there.

“You stupid asshole,” he snarled at the kid-version of himself. “You absolute piece of shit. Look what you’ve done. You’ve ruined everything.” He looked down sadly, then back up again. This time, instead of hate in his eyes there was only bottomless sorrow. “You don’t deserve that life. That’s why you ended up here, looking like this. Because you are the version that shouldn’t exist. You are the version that does not get happiness.”

Five’s cold eyes flitted down to the ground. There, lying next to his polished dress shoes that he had been so excited to complement his tailored suit, was a large piece of the broken bottle. The shard was long and tapered at the end to form a jagged dagger shape. Perfect for stabbing. Or slicing into a main artery so that someone, or yourself, would bleed out in a matter of seconds. Five stared at that piece of glass for far too long before slowly lifting his head again, facing himself in the mirror.

“I know. Don’t worry, Dolores…it was just a thought. Besides, that would be like drinking bleach while your car is flying off a cliff into a ravine. Why bother? Either way it ends the same.”

A few hours later, after cleaning the bathroom of any evidence, and composing himself back into a man in full control, Five found his siblings. It was clear that Klaus had filled them in on his discovery, and they all hushed as Five neared the group, although he noticed Klaus himself was missing. Pausing to grab himself a tumbler of scotch on the way, Five joined them. After stopping to take a casual drink, one hand in the pocket of his suit pants, Five gestured with his glass in hand.

“Alright, let’s hear it. I know Klaus told you, so let’s get this over with.”

“Five, you have a family! That’s wonderful!” Luther gushed.

“I guess I was wrong, maybe you do have a bit of domesticity in you,” Lila snorted.

Viktor shrugged with a smile and Allison rolled her eyes, neither of them saying a word.

Diego nonchalantly flipped a knife in his hand while eyeing Five up. “So now what? We have to deal with two of you? Because I can barely stand one of you.”

Five smiled his usual, acerbic smile. “Well, Diego, the feeling is mutual. But fear not; neither you nor I will be coming anywhere near my other self.”

“Why not? Klaus said the other you seemed perfectly nice after you stopped slamming him against a wall,” Luther said innocently.

Five sighed heavily, wishing for the umpteenth time that he didn’t have the sole responsibility of critical thinking skills in this family. “Because…” he began slowly, to make sure they were understanding, “Not only does it have the possibility of creating even more havoc to this timeline, there’s also the little matter of –”

“Oh!” Luther interrupted animatedly. “I remember! The paradox psychosis!” He turned to the rest of the family. “You guys missed it, but he kind of went a little…” He lowered his voice to a whisper even though Five could hear everything. “…psycho, if you know what I mean.”

“Jesus, Luther, I’m right here!” Five closed his eyes to try and regroup. “But, yes, paradox psychosis is the real deal. And there’s no way around that. So, let’s just focus on the task at hand, which is trying to get out of here before the world implodes with us in it.”

Five’s gaze landed on Lila, and he immediately knew she was up to something. “What the hell are you smirking at?”

She shrugged while sticking her hand up her short skirt and pulling out a small item. Five made a disgusted groaning noise. “God, please, whatever that is, I do not want it.”

“Oh, shut up, you little perv. Here,” she said with an eye roll, shoving the item into Five’s hand and forcing him to take it. “While you were having your little heart to heart with your freshly deceased corpse back at the Commission, I found this.”

Five peered down at his open hand. It was a syringe filled with a yellowish substance. On closer inspection, he could make out two words scrawled along the side, in what looked like his own handwriting. Paradox Juice.

“Paradox Juice?” he questioned out loud. He looked back up at Lila. “Is this what I think it is?”

She shrugged again. “Your guess is as good as mine. I assumed it was some sort of concoction to ward off psychosis should you ever have to meet with your doppelganger. The old, decrepit you probably made it during his time at the Commission.”

Five held the syringe up to the light and peered intently at the golden liquid inside. “Where did you find this?”

“On one of the tables in the bunker. When you so rudely had me leave during your existential crisis, I swiped them on the way out.”

“Them?”

“Oh yeah…” she reached up into her skirt again, revealing an identical syringe. “There were two.”

“How did you…where did you have those, because we just…I mean I’m pretty sure I would have found those when we were upstairs doing…what the hell?” Diego stammered; his dark eyes clouded with confusion.

“Don’t worry about it, honey,” Lila answered with a smile and a quick pat on his cheek. “Every girl has her secrets.”

“Well, regardless of this finding, there is no reason for me to make contact with my other self. I don’t see the benefit, and it could possibly do more harm, like speed the kugelblitz along,” Five explained while shoving both syringes into his inside suit coat pocket. He took another drink from his glass. “Let’s just forget it, ok?”

“Guys!” Klaus yelled as he rushed up to the group. “I have some bad news.”

***************************************************

Chapter Two: Homicidal Rage

As the seven of them trudged along the city streets, taking up the width of the sidewalk, and bumping into one another while grumbling and shoving each other in return, the sky began to darken. Another pulsing kugel wave washed over them and the surrounding buildings. They all watched in horror as every other living creature evaporated into ashes and blew away with the wind. In a matter of seconds, they were the only ones around.

“Fuck, this is not good,” Five groaned. “I really don’t see how finding my other self is going to help anything. Besides, for all we know, that wave right there just destroyed me.”

“We don’t know, but we have to try,” Viktor said. “Between the two of you, maybe you can figure out how to get the briefcase working again.”

Five looked dubiously down at the mangled black case in his hand. “I just don’t think my other self is going to welcome us into his home with open arms. I know I wouldn’t.”

“I’m telling you, Fivey, this you seemed much less ragey,” Klaus said. Five glared up at him. “See? That look right there, the one that means you want to rip my throat out? I didn’t get that from this other you.”

“Probably because that version is getting laid on a regular basis,” Diego murmured to Lila.

Ignoring his brothers, Five went back to his own thoughts as they continued down the street. When Klaus had told them Chet was kicking them out of the hotel due to “insufficient funds”, there was a moment of panic. They had no money and their only home was currently occupied by the world’s biggest assholes. Five glanced up at a giant billboard looming overhead featuring those same assholes, before looking back down at the ground. Fucking fuckers.

After a family meeting that involved more bickering and finger pointing, they had concluded that the only possibility, no matter how slim, of stopping the kugelblitz by returning to their correct timeline, was to track down the other Five and ask him for help.  Five had been the last hold-out in agreeing to the plan. He had no desire to find out what this other version was like. The one with the home and a wife and kids. Because he already knew the answer. He had everything and Five had nothing.

Allison, who had been leading the group, suddenly stopped, causing everyone behind her to cartoonishly crash into one another. She shoved Diego away from her with an irritated scowl, while continuing to look down at the piece of paper in her hand. She lifted her eyes to the building in front of them. It was a beautiful brownstone with magazine-worthy flowers and plants covering the front stoop; the gorgeous geraniums and petunias overflowing from their tasteful terracotta pots.

“I think this is it,” she noted.

“Damn, Five…nice digs. You must be doing well for yourself,” Diego commented after giving Allison a shove in return.

“Why do you assume Five is the breadwinner here? Maybe it’s his wife,” Viktor argued.

“I don’t. But Five is all smart and shit, I assume he’s probably some hot shot scientist or something.”

“Maybe his wife is a hot shot scientist,” Viktor shot back.

As the conversation quickly devolved into an argument among the entire group, Five remained silent. He peered up at the house in question. The one where the supposedly more successful version of himself resided. He stared at the flowers and the set of brick stairs that led to the front door with the cheerful looking wreath. He thought back on a time during the apocalypse when he and Dolores were scavenging for supplies. They had come across a destroyed row of brownstones just like this one, and he remembered finding broken shards of terracotta intermixed with the crumbling bricks. The odds that it had been this exact same house were pretty slim, but not impossible. Talk about fucking irony.

Five wiped the sweat from his brow and absent-mindedly scratched at his shoulder. Luther noticed and pointed his big meaty finger at Five.

“Dude! I saw that. You just scratched yourself.”

“Yeah, and you’re starting to sweat again,” Lila added, wrinkling her nose.

“I just walked several miles in a three-piece suit, of course I’m sweating. And people itch, Luther. Stop being dumb.”

“Denial,” Luther said, crossing his arms over his chest and nodding wisely. “Stage one.”

“God damn it! I am not…” Five started before scratching at his ass cheek, “…In denial, ok?”

“You do look a little weird,” Diego said, leaning in closer to Five in curiosity.

Five stuck his hand out, pushing his brother away with a palm to his face. “I do not look weird. Fuck, I need to take a piss.”

There were multiple grumblings around him, and Five was starting to suspect that maybe they had a point. He didn’t feel great. But…

“Hang on,” he said, glancing around and above him, looking crazier by the second. “This could be a trap.”

“How could it be a trap? He doesn’t even know we’re coming,” Allison reasoned.

Five whipped his head in her direction, eyes wide and manic. She took a small step backwards. “Because, dear sister…I am a fucking genius, remember?” He tapped his temple with his finger. “And I would anticipate our arrival. Probably set up some trip wires or something,” he mumbled, looking frantically around him.

“Ok, this is not going to get any better,” Luther told everyone.

Klaus nodded. “Yeah, Five, I think you need to take that shot of paradox juice.”

Remembering he had the two syringes in his jacket, Five took them out and held them up for everyone to see. “I’m not taking this, are you crazy? HE probably made these and poisoned them just to try and get rid of me,” he raged, pointing up at the house. “Paradox juice? You expect me to believe that I would come up with that lame ass name?” He turned to yell up at the windows facing the street. “I’m on to you, asshole!”

“Oh, for fucks sake,” Lila groaned. Mimicking Five’s powers, she blinked over to him, catching him off guard as she grabbed the syringes out of his hands. As Five began to protest, she looked over at Luther. “Hold him still, big guy.”

No stranger to taking orders, Luther immediately complied. Holding Five in place by pinning his arms to his side, he tried to reason with his struggling, smaller brother that it was for his own good. But that was like trying to reason with a cocaine-fueled raccoon, and Five snarled and hissed while trying to get away.

“Get your giant ape hands off of me! You tried to kill me before, I know you’ll do it again! LET ME G—OW! SON OF A BITCH!”

Lila sunk the needle of the syringe directly into the side of Five’s neck, pushing the plunger down and smiling gleefully while he writhed in pain.

“FUCK! FUCK FUCK FUCK…” Five screamed as Luther continued to keep him trapped.

“How long do you think it takes to work?” Viktor asked worriedly.

Lila shook her head. “No idea. Might not even work at all. Or I just killed him. But, you win some, you lose some, am I right?”

Everyone watched in fascination as Five slowly started to relax in Luther’s grip. His jaw unclenched and he stopped swearing. After about two minutes, the crazed look in his eyes left and he gazed at the concerned faces around him like a man waking from a dream.

“I think…I think I’m ok now,” he said weakly.

Luther leaned down, studying his face up close. “Are you sure? Because if I let you go and you kick me in the balls again, I am not going to be happy.”

Five shook his head. “No, really. I think that shit actually worked.”

Luther looked around for confirmation, and receiving nods of approval from everyone else, he let go of Five’s arms. Stepping back, he shielded his crotch from any unexpected backlash.

Five took in a deep breath of air and wiped away the last few drops of sweat that had been trickling down the back of his neck. Then he ran a shaky hand through his hair before straightening his suit coat and tie with as much dignity as he could manage.

“Sorry about that,” he told everyone, trying to regain his composure again. “If I said anything rude, I apologize. I was clearly not in my right mind.”

“So, no different than any other day,” Diego muttered under his breath.

Five shot him an irritated look, but said nothing. He turned to Lila. “Even though it was entirely unnecessary to stab me directly in the neck, you lunatic, thank you.”

“Happy to do it,” Lila grinned, slapping him hard on the back.

“Alright, then,” Five stated, rolling his shoulders back. “Let’s do this.”

As he took one step forward, the front door of the house swung wide open, revealing an older, and very sweaty and harried looking, version of himself. In his other self’s hands was a rifle that was trained directly at Five’s head.

“Don’t fucking move,” the other Five warned through gritted teeth.

Five paused, taking in the clearly psychotic version of himself before quipping. “Hey, asshole…the safety’s still on.”

As the alternate version lowered the weapon to check the safety, Five and Lila exchanged knowing glances with one another, before simultaneously blinking onto the porch. Appearing directly in front of himself, Five grabbed the rifle out of his doppelganger’s hands, while at the same time Lila stabbed the needle of the second syringe into his neck.

“AH! MOTHERFUCKER!” the other Five screamed, falling to his knees as he slapped a hand over the pinprick of blood that had started to seep out of the small puncture wound. “WHAT THE FUCK, YOU PSYCHO?”

Five threw the rifle down to Luther, who caught it in one hand, before turning to Lila. “Really? In the neck again? What is wrong with you?”

“I live for your pain.”

With a shake of his head, Five looked down at the panting, cursing version of himself. “Stop being a pussy. It’s not that bad.”

His alternate glared up at him. “Fuck you, Blue’s Clues.”

Lila laughed loudly. “Nice!” She held out her hand for a high five, but when she only received an icy glare from both men, she shrugged. “You’re too close to the situation, but trust me, that was hilarious.”

************************************************************************

“You have a lovely home, ma’am,” Luther said with an awkward smile as he sat scrunched on the couch between Klaus and Viktor.

The seven siblings, plus the older looking, alternate Five and his wife were gathered in the small living room. Five’s wife, who was introduced as Marie, sat perched on the arm of her husband’s chair, rubbing his back while he stared down his younger looking self.

“Thank you, Luther, that’s very kind.”

There was more awkward silence until finally Allison spoke up.

“Ok, so we obviously did not come here just for a friendly visit, although it is lovely meeting you two. However, we have a big problem. Our being in this timeline has caused a rift, so to speak, in the universe and now it’s trying to kill us.” She looked over at her smaller brother, who was standing with his hands shoved in his pockets, glowering angrily at his other self. “Five? Care to explain?”

Snapping reluctantly out of his stupor, Five faced his sister. “Right.” Then he addressed the other Five and his wife again. “So, as I’m sure you’ve noticed there are large energy waves pulsing over the city, erasing dogs and lobsters and now people.”

“Yeah, I have noticed. And I also happened to notice they started when Klaus here decided to follow me.”

Klaus started to protest, but Diego bumped him with his elbow, telling him to shut up. Five continued.

“Well, you are right about that. But it’s not Klaus’s fault, at least not solely. It’s all of ours. I thought we’d be able to remain here, just keeping a low profile, and live out our lives here. But, it seems the universe has other plans. So, we have accidentally created a kugelblitz and in a few short days it will destroy the entire universe.”

“Like a prolapsing rectum,” Lila added helpfully.

Both Fives looked at her with a frown and then turned back toward one another. The alternate Five set his elbows on his knees, leaning forward and steepling his hands under his chin. “So, you’re telling me that you group of assholes are the reason my family is going to be wiped out?”

Five nodded, actually looking a little sad. “I’m afraid so.”

“And you just came here to let me know, why? Just to give me a heads up? Mighty kind of you, thanks.”

Five gritted his teeth. “No, jacka—” He stopped mid-insult when Luther cleared his throat and gave him a look that said “Behave”. “No, that’s not why we came. We came…” He pushed a hand through his hair and he saw Marie bite back a smile as she recognized the same mannerisms as her husband. “We came to ask for help.”

“How am I supposed to help you? In case you forgot, James Bond, Jr., I AM you!” Marie gave him a pinch under his arm and the older Five jumped before looking just a tiny bit guilty. “Sorry.”

Five turned to his siblings, throwing his hands in the air. “See? I told you coming here was useless.” He turned to his doppelganger, leaning in with a caustic glare. “And just to remind you, shithead, I’m 28 years older than you, so watch your mouth.”

“Ok!” Luther jumped in, trying to salvage the conversation. “The thing is, Five,” he said, addressing the older version that was currently looking like he was considering punching his smaller self in the mouth. “We really do need your help. And you need his help. The two of you together are the only chance we have to stop this thing and get back to our correct timeline. Then you and your family, and the rest of the world, will be safe.”

“And how do you propose we do that?” the other Five said, tearing his eyes away from himself and turning to Luther. “My time travel math is just as shaky as his. I’ve been studying it my whole life, so it’s gotten better, but I still wouldn’t trust it. I certainly wouldn’t trust it with my wife and kids’ lives in question.” He placed a hand on his wife’s knee and squeezed it gently.

“Well, luckily, we won’t have to rely on just our powers,” Five explained, picking the black briefcase off the floor and holding it up for the other version to see.

“What the hell is that?”

Klaus piped up. “Remember I told you about the magical briefcase?”

The alternate Five nodded. “Yeah, I remember. So, how does it work?”

“Well, currently it doesn’t. Which is why we need you,” Five said.

The other Five took a skeptical look at the battered case. “How am I supposed to help? I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

Five sighed. “As it turns out, another version of ourselves created it, using our powers as its basic design. It’s one-hundred-percent reliable, unlike our blinks. That is, when the universe isn’t collapsing. Now, it’s a hunk of junk. That’s where you come in.”

“What makes you think I know how to fix it?”

Five’s mouth turned up at the corner with a smug smile. “Because, I know us. And I am willing to bet that you work in some sort of scientific field.” When he received no denial, he continued. “I am also willing to bet you have some sort of lab right here in your home where you’ve been working on time travel over the years, trying to perfect it.”

Marie laughed. “Wow, you are dead on with that. He’s made it his life’s work figuring out how to accurately time travel. Even when he was a teen, his mom said he was constantly in their basement working on it. She showed me pictures of him slumped over his desk, looking just like you actually, having fallen asleep while running his numbers. It was very cute.”

Five paused, thrown for a second by that comment. “His mom?”

The other Five nodded. “I was adopted after I jumped here,” he explained offhandedly. “So, what you’re telling me is that if we can get this briefcase up and running again, you can return to your rightful timeline, the universe will correct itself, and my family will be safe?”

Still dwelling on the fact that his other self had been adopted by different people, Five nodded slowly before collecting himself again. “Theoretically.”

The alt Five turned to look at his wife. “What do you think, darling?”

“Five, they’re your family, even if they aren’t from your same timeline. You told me how much you’ve missed them over the years, and now here they are! They need your help, and I know you can give it to them.” She brushed a piece of hair out of his eye with a sweet smile. “This is what you’ve been working towards. To use your powers for something good and big.” She kissed him, placing a hand on his cheek and he closed his eyes for a moment. “You can do this.”

He nodded and then turned back toward the group. “Ok, I will do what I can to help.”

“Thank you,” Allison breathed out with a sigh of relief. “Thank you, so much.”

“Better go show him your lab,” Marie told her Five. “In the meantime, you must all be starving. The kids were just next door playing, but I’ll have them come back and I’ll make dinner. Sound good?”

“I know I could eat,” Luther said excitedly while Viktor rolled his eyes at him.

“That would be lovely, Marie, thank you. Can we help?” Viktor asked.

************************************************************************

As the two Fives made their way down the basement steps, neither of them said a word. Five was still reeling from the brief bit of information he had just received about his 30 year-old self. This other Five had been adopted by someone other than Reginald. And from the sounds of it, they were nice, normal people. He swallowed down the lump in his throat, trying to clear his head and focus on what he needed to do. But it was extremely difficult when all he kept thinking about was how this alternate version of himself had been given the chance for a normal life while he just kept getting shit on over and over again. It was maddening to think about, and if he let it fester in his mind, he was going to go crazy.

Fuck, he needed a drink.

As his other self flipped the light switch on at the end of the stairs, the overhead lights flickered on with a quiet hum. Five stopped on the bottom stair and took everything in. The space wasn’t huge, but every single usable square inch was filled with something. Long work tables scattered with tools and notebooks, empty coffee cups and paper plates filled with crumbs. The walls were lined with white boards; each one crammed with lines and lines of familiar equations and scribblings. It was surreal to see his own handwriting and obvious work in a place he’d never set foot in before.

As he scanned over the jam-packed computer desk against the far wall, his eyes fell to the framed picture sitting amongst the clutter. It was the other version of himself, with Marie and his two kids. It must not have been taken that long ago, because the two adults looked the same. The kids in the picture looked to be about four and six. A girl and a boy. The four of the them were on a beach somewhere, the sun shining down and making the water behind them sparkle. The girl was perched on her dad’s shoulders, a pink sunhat on her head. The boy was standing in front of Marie, grinning widely with a plastic bucket and shovel in his hand. The other him was smiling directly at the camera, while his pretty wife looked lovingly over at him. Five had never seen himself smile like that before. He had no idea that’s what he looked like when genuinely happy. It was off-putting, to say the least.

“You ok?” the other Five asked gruffly when he realized his older yet smaller self seemed frozen to the spot.

 Five cleared his throat. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. So what is all this stuff?”

“Well, I’m sure you recognize the equations and proofs,” he said, pointing to the white boards. He gestured to the tables. “I’ve been working on developing a type of time travel system, much like that briefcase. Some sort of object that could be programmed specifically to a certain date and time, so we don’t have to rely solely on our powers. Like—”

“A watch,” Five finished for him.

The other Five nodded. “Exactly.”

“I never did understand the briefcase,” Five mused. “It’s so bulky.”

“I assume it’s bulletproof, though?”

Five scoffed. “Don’t get me started.”

“Well, anyways, have a look around. Maybe something here can help, I don’t know. I’ve never really tried it in practical application before. It’s always been theoretical.”

“That’s ok,” Five said, setting the briefcase on top of one of the tables. “We have this as a guide. We can see if the inner workings of the case make sense in comparison to your work here. Then maybe we can piece things together to create a working timepiece.”

The alternate Five nodded thoughtfully again, studying his other self. “Hang on,” he said before striding over to the desk and opening the bottom drawer. He pulled out a bottle of single malt scotch and two glass tumblers. After filling each one halfway, he handed one over to Five.

“I recognize the need for a drink,” he explained with a tiny twitch at the corner of his mouth.

Five accepted the glass, trying to disguise the fact that he was practically salivating at the sight. Needing a drink was an understatement. He wanted the whole damn bottle. But he didn’t need to be getting drunk at a time like this. And he also didn’t need to be showcasing his shortcomings to this clearly sober, well-adjusted, life-is-just-peachy-keen version of him, either. The fact that he was a raging alcoholic with unhealthy coping mechanisms didn’t seem pertinent to the current situation. Instead, he lifted the glass in a toast and took as generous of a swallow as he dared. The whiskey was smooth and it tasted so fucking good, Five had to silently tell himself to not slug the whole thing back in one gulp. He watched as the other him took a leisurely sip from his own glass. He probably goes to church every Sunday, too. Fucking Mother Theresa over here.

“So, where do you work?” Five asked, trying to change the subject.

“Over at the university.”

“Physics department?”

“Naturally.”

Five nodded. “That’s where I always figured I’d end up, too. Just…didn’t work out for me.”

“Yeah, what happened? Klaus said something about a different apocalypse?”

Five paused, staring into his glass. “Let’s just get to work, ok?”

The other version shrugged. “Sure thing.”

[booksooks]

𝑳𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝑯𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝑳𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒓: 𝑫𝒂𝒚 3.1

Author's Note: I'm so tired I'll edit this when I wake up. There will be a day 3 part 2. For now, please enjoy 💙

Contents: Nothing that needs a warning <3

Word Count: 2153

Summary: Entering your second year at college, only a few months after being broken up with, you weren't expecting anything special. Especially not in the romance department. But then a quiet, but friendly-enough boy on your floor catches your attention faster than you would like to admit. And oh, boy, are you in deep.

Thursday was more boring than you’d like to admit. You woke up early, despite your first class being only at 2pm, and you spent those hours mindlessly scrolling on your phone. And then you realized you didn’t know where your class was, so you scrambled to get your school’s brightspace open to find it. 

You breathed a sigh of relief when you were able to find it; it was one of the rooms on the upper floor of the library. The rest of your free time was spent getting ready for said class, choosing an outfit and doing any other cosmetic needs, skincare and stuff. Music blared loudly from your phone as you got ready, hyping you up for the day as you danced around your small room. Hanami had left for her classes for the day, so you had the tiny space to yourself as Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry made you bounce on your feet and sing into your microphone (aka your lint roller). It was only mildly embarrassing behavior, and your door was locked, so you weren’t extremely concerned with anyone seeing you. 

After a few more minutes, however, you sighed and decided you couldn’t get away with putting off leaving any more. You slipped your shoes on and snatched up your backpack to head out the door, your music now playing through your earbuds. You had left earlier than you needed, because you wanted to grab a drink from the commons cafe before attending two classes, and you wouldn’t have enough time to get something between two said classes. So leaving early was the only solution. 

You didn’t want to brag, you thought to yourself as you made your way to class, but you looked pretty damn good today. Jean shorts with star patches sewn over the ass (which, while cute, were inconvenient because it meant no pockets), and a baggy green shirt, and black converse made up your outfit. Your hair was hairing to the max, and you just felt good in the way you looked, which didn’t happen often, so if you had a little more swagger in your step, sue you. Today would be good. 

You carried the sentiment with you all the way to the commons cafe, where the school had implemented an entirely unnecessary and complicated new system to ordering the food through GrubHub, for whatever reason. You sighed and ordered your drink, and the app notified you that it would be ready in… 13 minutes. “Jesus Christ,” you mumbled to yourself as you leaned against a wall. Next time you would just order before leaving your dorm. It wasn’t like there were even that many people in line ahead of you, only three according to the GrubHub app. You rolled your eyes and checked the time, anxious to be on time with the added thirteen minutes to your schedule. You would be, thankfully, and spent the rest of your time waiting just scrolling through your phone. 

How much time did you spend on your phone anyway? Probably too much, you decided, going back to the messages between yourself and Shigaraki and Toga in the group chat last night. You hadn’t even used it for its intended purpose of scheduling a study session, but you figured you could blame it on Toga - wait, no, you couldn’t. You had asked when a good time to study was in her private messages. Oh well, it gave you a chance to text Shigaraki without Toga’s prying eyes. You had seen the way she looked at your hand on his elbow yesterday, a flicker of mischief and something a little more devious sparking in her eyes. You had your suspicions that she had left you two behind on purpose, but she had only just met you, so what reason would she have to try and get the two of you alone? 

Then again, she did seem like the obsessive type, with her little comment about stabbing people. And it wasn’t like you minded, per se. Shigaraki was an attractive man, the more you thought about him. Or more accurately, he was your type. He was tall, and his arm had felt so solid and warm beneath your hand yesterday, muscles taut underneath your fingers. You swallowed down the saliva pooling in your mouth, because yeah that was enough of that train of thought. 

Your mind didn’t stray very far, however, because you remembered his eyes and how damn pretty they were. Deep-set and a bright, ruby red, they sparkled with a less-than-hidden ferocity in the shadows of his pale blue hair. It was more than a little intimidating, the intensity in his gaze and how he seemed to be able to take in any information and store it away for later, to be pored over when it’s convenient for him. All in a few seconds of eye contact. 

You nearly jumped out of your skin when your phone buzzed in your hand, indicating that your order was ready and oh shit did you think about Shigaraki Tomura for a whole 13 minutes straight? That certainly wasn’t concerning, nor was it something you would let yourself think about for any longer as you grabbed your drink and made your way to class. Macroeconomics, ugh. Microeconomics had been hell last semester, but unfortunately it was a requirement for business majors, and there you were, a business major, which… Sucked to suck. 

You sighed quietly and shook off any and all thoughts about sucking and Shigaraki, and sweet Mary molasses you should not have thought about those two words together in the same sentence. What was wrong with you today? You decided it could be a problem for later, as you pushed open the door and greeted the professor, a sweet looking middle-aged woman before you sat down. This would be a long class. 

You were right, the class had been incredibly long, and incredibly boring, and you had taken to counting ceiling tiles to even stay awake. But the class was over now, thankfully, and you hopped to your feet to go to your next and last class, which was a calculus course. Fuck calculus. You pulled up your phone to double check the classroom number, knowing that the building it was in was right across from the library. 

The classroom was empty when you got there, save for-

“Shigaraki, hey!” 

The man looked up from his computer as you said his name, bright red eyes glancing at your mostly bare legs before meeting your gaze. “Hi.” 

“Are you in this calculus class too? That’d be so cool if we had two classes together.” You exclaimed, sitting at a desk next to him. He nodded and typed something out on his computer before shutting it, giving you his full attention, which you appreciated. 

“Yeah.” 

You nodded thoughtfully, wanting to keep the conversation going but unsure where to pick it back up. “It’s kinda early though, I mean, I’m 15 minutes early and you were here before me. What class did you have before this one?” 

Shigaraki said something about a computer science class, bringing one of his hands up to scratch at the base of his neck, an area of skin that was normally hidden underneath his sweater. Your eyes zeroed in on that little patch of skin, now scratched red and raw, and you had to physically blink to realize that not only had Shigaraki answered your question, he had asked you one of his own. 

“Uh, sorry I zoned out,” you admitted sheepishly. “What was that?”

“I asked what class you had.” 

Oh, right. That made sense. “Macroeconomics,” you mumbled. “It’s so boring I almost fell asleep.” 

Shigaraki’s lips curved into a sly, quiet snicker. His expression was marked by a subtle twitch at one corner, pulling your attention to the small scar that lay over the edge of his lip. A mole rested just beneath the other corner, adding a touch of asymmetry to his face that was prettier than it should have been. As he smiled , and God help you it was adorable, the wrinkles around his eyes deepened. “Falling asleep on the second day?” he mused, with a hint of mockery. “That’s no good.” 

Get a hold of yourself! You sang in your head. Where did his sudden, teasing confidence come from? 

You managed to smile sheepishly and avoided his gaze, shrugging. “Not my fault it’s a boring class.” 

Shigaraki had stopped pawing at his neck, instead tapping his fingers against his mouth and drawing your attention to it. His lips were cracked and dry, and looked to be honestly rather painful. “Can’t be that boring if you’re there.”

“W-What?” You chuckled softly, trying to figure out whether or not… was he flirting with you?

“You heard me,” he said, turning to face away from you and stare at the door. You blinked at him rapidly, and then shook your head. There was no way he was flirting. 

To distract yourself, you pulled out your phone and checked the time. 3:35pm. “Hm.”

“Hm?” Shigaraki parroted. 

“Hm, it’s five past and no one’s here yet,” you explained, pulling up the syllabus to double check you were in the right room, the right building. Yep. Room 221, Greens Hall. “Are we in the wrong room, do you think, or…?” 

Shigaraki frowned. “Could be.” 

You blinked at your phone, double and then triple checking your phone, just in case. But your eyes were not deceiving you. “Maybe everyone else is just late?” You asked hopefully. You knew it wasn’t true, there was no way no one else hadn’t trickled into class by now. 

“Let’s just,” you paused, “wait a few more minutes.” 

“Okay.” 

And so you did. Then a ‘few more minutes’ turned into ten, which turned into 15, and then 20. Not once had Shigaraki opened his computer back up. He had chosen to, instead, pull out his phone and fiddle around on it, and although you couldn’t see the screen you had to assume it was some sort of game by the way he held the device, thumbs poised over the edges of the screen. 

After 30 minutes of sitting in silence, you spoke up. “We’re definitely in the wrong room.” 

Shigaraki glanced up, briefly, and then looked back down at his phone. “How? We’re in the room that’s named on the syllabus.” 

“Iunno,” you mumbled, shrugging as you stood up and hoisting your backpack over your shoulders. “I’m gonna go back to my dorm and email the teacher from there. Wanna come with?” 

He nodded after a moment’s hesitation, sliding his stuff together and haphazardly shoving it all in his backpack. You watched, a little disturbed at the lack of organization, but didn’t comment because his backpack was already over his shoulder, and so was yours, and he was at the door quickly, holding it open for you. 

“Thanks,” you chirped, scooting past him and into the empty hallway. 

Shigaraki “mhm’d” in that soft, raspy voice of his, and soon enough his long legs were matching your stride. You both made your way out of the building in silence, trading off who opened doors for who automatically. You inhaled deeply when you got outside, the air cooler now that it was in the late afternoon, loving the feeling and the smell. 

The walk back to your dorm building was just as quiet, the both of you enjoying the sounds of other people walking or catching up with friends. Soon enough, however, you were on the little deer path that connected the academic part of campus to the living part of campus, where it was less chattery and was more welcoming to the cries of birds or squirrels barking. 

You broke that silence. “So uh, are you doing anything later?”

Shigaraki didn’t say anything for a moment. “No, don’t think so, why?” 

“Uh, well,” you started, hoping you didn’t sound as awkward as you felt. “I heard that they’re playing a movie on the front lawn of Briggs, and I wanted to go but I don’t wanna go alone.” 

You saw Shigaraki nod minutely in understanding. “What movie are they playing?” 

“I’m not sure,” you muttered. “An action movie, I’m pretty sure. I didn’t see though, on the flier. It starts at eight, though. If you want to come, no pressure.” 

You were rambling, God did you ever shut up? It was like you were determined to stick your foot in your mouth or make him uncomfortable. 

“Sure, I’ll be there.” 

“Oh, okay cool!” You said, your tone brighter than you had intended. 

The rest of the walk was quiet, and you said your ‘see you later’s in the hallway just in front of the staircase. It wasn’t until you were back in your room that you realized that, not only had you asked Shigaraki to go watch a movie with you, he had agreed. Oh joy.

End Notes: Thank you for reading <3!

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ABSOLUTELY NO ONE HAS MY PERMISSION TO REPOST MY WORK TO ANY SITE.

[hearted-anon]

Tickletober Day 13: Soft

Words: 1022 Note: I like hyunsung T/w: Angst Lee: Hyunjin Ler: Jisung

“Hyung-ah, what’s up?” Jisung mumbles as he stumbled into the backstage, realising Hyunjin had made a retreat to the behind the scenes faster than Usain Bolt. Most people would assume that the older was just tired, probably desperate to catch up on some sleep after the rigorous schedules he has been put through, but it was something deeper than that, Jisung knew. Maybe it was just because of their years of experience just arguing that made the younger think this way, and either way he needed to know what was going on. 

“Nothing, just under the weather.” Hyunjin huffs, creaking open the door just a little bit too forcefully to be considering his gentle nature, making Jisung frown in concern. He follows the ferret around like a fish to a bait, pestering the taller with question after question until he feels like he’s on his wits end, throwing himself onto the couch with a groan. 

“Please, tell me what’s wrong,” Jisung insists, and that’s when Hyunjin cracks. Tears begin to well up in his eyes pathetically, grabbing the younger like he was a sponge to soak up his tears. Heaving a long sigh, Han wrapped his arms around Hyunjin’s waist, silently listening to the quiet whimpers and hushed sobs that exited his mouth. A part of him saw this beforehand, how Hyunjin’s lips pursed into a thin line ever so slightly every once in a while, or how he drummed his foot against the floor almost anxiously when Chan stood on stage to give his ending speech to STAY. 

“Am I just visual to STAY? Just a pretty picture?” Hyunjin uttered under his breath, like a soft caress to JIsung’s ears that doused him in sorrow at the hear of his words. He knew exactly what the artist was referring to, how he had gotten made fun of for his haircut, the short hair being largely hated among the fan base; and now that he had the courage to grow his long hair back out did fans start to cheer for him louder and prouder. The rest of the members could only watch on in pain, knowing Hyunjin would just push them away whenever they tried to interfere. 

“Of course not, you’re pretty, inside and out,” Jisung tries to reassure the sobbing ferret, but it looks to be futile as tears continue dripping down his face. Usually Hyunjin wasn’t one to give into his emotions, wanting to keep an expression of happiness that STAY would enjoy to the very end. However, once he turned his head to look up at the quokka, his eyes were a bright red and lachrymose, sniffling every few seconds with a red nose too; as if he was doing a poor attempt at cosplaying Rudolph. 

“But- But the way STAY cheered for me that day, a-after our Maxident era…” Hyunjin protested, although the response was meek, and drained, like he didn’t want to say what he had. Just as he began to refuse the compliment, tears began welling up in his eyes yet again, making Jisung panic. He had to fix this somehow, the gears spinning in his head for solution; before a cartoon light bulb clicked above his head. 

“Oh look at you, so pretty even with tears, let’s change that shall we?” Jisung interrupted the taller’s constant babbling, fingers beginning to wiggle against his sides ever so tantalisingly. For once, he was grateful for Hyunjin’s over sensitivity to even the slightest touches, relishing in the loud squeal the older let out at the new profound feeling.

“Wahahait wait Ji!” Hyunjin whined, immediately rushing to bury his head all the way back in Jisung’s shoulder. The younger didn’t even try to pull him out, his intention was heading into somewhere more…soft after all, instead of the usual teasing self that the members were ever so fearful of. But being truthful, they were fearful of any of the members that were in teasing moods, it just came down to who was the scariest. 

“And let you suffer? I’d rather not, Jinnie~” The quokka cooed, melting Hyunjin’s heart with the sweet nickname. It only worsened his situation when the fingers squeezed and scratched his sides gently, causing high pitched giggles to flow out of the older’s mouth. His hands bunched Han’s shirt into crinkled balls, the once smooth shirt that was made to look flawless on stage now looking like he’d wear this to stroll around the dorm. 

“I cahahan’t! I cahahan’t!” Hyunjin pleaded breathlessly, pouting through his laughter when he heard the quokka giggling along, having noticed the older’s ears begin to catch its own flush. His fingers pounded gently against Jisung’s poor back, weakly begging for mercy as he shook his head in rapid succession. However, the ace didn’t let up in the slightest, continuing his loving assault all over the artist’s sides, his nails working in tandem with his sweet words that were just made to fluster Hyunjin. He had long forgotten his worries and insecurities, only able to think about how unbearable Han’s hands were all over his waist. 

“Will Mr Hyunjin stop being so worrisome then?” Jisung hummed, giving a glance of adoration to the tomato that he’s made of the taller, how he looked like a happy puppy receiving all the belly rubs in the world. Hyunjin nodded desperately, beginning to kick his feet as he smiled into Han’s shoulder in a flustered manner. Finally, he let go off the older’s waist, letting him catch his breath while he deflated like a balloon in his lap. 

“Aha..ehe..” Hyunjin babbled in a daze, almost drooling as his brain was practically in a short circuit; just what the ace wanted from him. Pulling him off his lap, JIsung carried the taller bridal style into his room, wrapping his arms warmly around Hyunjin for a cuddle. Nothing could wipe off their giddy smiles staring at each other, eventually turning into a night of loud snores and limbs tangling with each other. 

As much as Hyunjin was appreciative of the gesture, he was very much planning his revenge in his head, even in his dreams.

[cookies-and-music]

Ghost. - part 13: Lost Boy

My suggestion for this chapter is Lovely by Billie Eilish, who, apparently, fits perfectly into this fanfic.

Part 1 here - part 14 here

PAIRING: TVA!LokixOC

RATING: ALL

TAG LIST: @kats72 ; @mischief2sarawr

SUMMARY: Loki meets sombody at the TVA he once knew. Unfortunately she doesn't seem to remember him.

Midgard, 1994

Lydia was in the scientist's study, or perhaps it was some sort of laboratory, in 1994. Soon, the room filled with people. Her friends, as Loki had called them.

Apparently, the woman, the doctor, was the one she trained with at the TVA gym, and she had engaged in a friendly competition with the jet ski salesman, who was also an analyst, whatever that meant, on who could solve more cases in the same amount of time.

Lydia had never seen them before and Loki's stories were just that. Someone else's stories.

"So, you're some kind of cop?" the man asked her.

"More of a secret agent" she replied.

"How secret can it be if you're telling us?" the scientist/writer asked.

"Forget it," Loki emerged from a time door, interrupting the conversation. "It's better if you go back home."

Lydia exchanged a confused glance with the doctor.

"What do you mean, forget it?" the woman asked.

"You need to go back home, I was wrong," he sighed.

"No, wait" the jet ski salesman interjected "First, you tell us the fate of the world depends on us, and then... nothing?"

"I'm sorry, I was wrong, I just…" Loki glanced at Lydia, it lasted only a moment before he lowered his head, shaking it "wanted things to go differently. You need to go back to your place, it's right this way."

"No, it's not." A blonde figure emerged from a time door.

"Sylvie…" Loki widened his eyes.

"The branches are dying. If we don't hurry, there might not be a home to return to, for any of you."

Lydia observed her, but she wasn't familiar either. She sighed, feeling her fingers tingling, she looked down but didn't see her fingers, just filaments.

"Loki" she managed to call and gave him a terrified look before disappearing.

Loki saw that scene three times before he got a hold of his abilities and went back in time. And back to the TVA.

Several centuries later.

Loki watched with tears in his eyes as Timely managed to load and send the range multiplier onto the frame. Loki cheered for a moment before the frame collapsed again. It was the billionth time he had tried. He glanced at Lydia, who had a mournful face, it was the billionth time he had seen that too. He thought back to what she had said to Sylvie when they had argued. Lydia was right, it all started with the death of He Who Remains; that moment had marked their destiny.

Loki went there and spent several years there. It took a long time before he could truly talk to He Who Remains, and when he did, he realized that everything, everything, had been a waste of time.

He was tired, disheartened. He had to find another way to fix everything but was starting to run out of ideas. He had promised Lydia that he would find a solution, for centuries he had clung to that promise because finding a solution would mean saving her life and all his friends'. But he was wavering. The loneliness he felt was destroying him.

Midgard, 2073. Temporal Branch 39,618

The house was empty at that moment, but someone, many people, surely lived there. He climbed the stairs and went to the only lit room. There lay an old woman in a bed, under layers of blankets.

"Did you remember my coffee, Liam?" The old lady turned to him.

"I'm afraid not, I'm sorry" Loki said to announce himself.

"Well, what are you doing at the door? Come in."

Loki took a few hesitant steps towards her, who pointed to the chair near the bed. Loki sat down and looked around. The bedside table was full of medicines, and there were a couple of oxygen tanks in a corner.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm eighty-seven, dear, it's already strange that I'm still breathing" she tried to laugh, but the laughter quickly turned into a cough.

He kept his gaze low.

"You seem lost," the woman observed.

"I think… I am" Loki looked at her thin arms and knotted hands resting on the blankets.

She looked at him with the tenderest look Loki had ever seen.

"You know, young man, you remind me of someone" she began "He too was very lost when I met him and had a truly terrible character" She managed to drag Loki into a little chuckle, but seeing how she suffered through the laugh, Loki's eyes immediately saddened.

"He had mournful eyes, just like yours, and I fell in love with him. Not right away, but for a lifetime."

"Where is he now?" Loki asked as his eyes moistened.

"Oh, he's very special, you see, he doesn't age like me, and he doesn't have time to deal with a dotty old lady."

"He should be here" Loki lowered his gaze.

"Oh, no," the old lady covered his hand with her knotty one "he must protect the world, I would never want him to be here watching me wither away. I've had a good life, I've saved the world many, perhaps too many times, and I've had a family."

"But you're alone" tears filled his eyes.

"You're here."

A few tears streamed down his cheeks.

"Why are you crying, boy?"

"I don't want to be alone, Lydia" he said with a broken voice, wiping his face with his hand.

"My dear, you needn't worry about that" she squeezed his hand with the little strength she had "you have great power. You're altruistic, generous, and kind. And good people never stay alone; they just have to trust others and welcome them into their hearts."

"What should I do?" he said, sniffing and taking a breath, trying to calm down.

"Oh, I don't know about that, but I know you'll figure it out, and when you do, just remember one thing: you must not be afraid. You are very loved, and when you are loved, there is nothing to fear, Loki. Love gives us courage." She laughed lightly between coughs as she transformed into filaments between his fingers.

FINALLY I GOT BACK! Soo... sad ain't we? Well, this last part was written way before the hole chapter, it was so clear in my mind and so teary, unfortunately. Let me know if you wanna be added to the tag list. Next chapter will be the last related to canon events, but the ff is not over. We have around 6 more chapters. A special thank you to @mischief2sarawr who's a lovely supporter and also added me to their public reading list. Check out their blog for amazing reading suggestions!

Cheers everyone.

[nautiscarader]

What the hecking heck happened with me - THE UNNECESSARY (and kinda boring) SEQUEL

So you might have noticed I have been absent for the past 2.5 weeks. So, where have I been? What has happened to me?

Well, you see, I got this magical music box, and when I opened it, I was transported into a different world full of talking frogs, toads and-

Wait, I've done this bit already.

....

Yeah, got into hospital. AGAIN.

Same warning as before applies, regarding medical stuff. Especially if you are eating.

Chapter 13: Wednesday Night's fever

So around three weeks ago I found myself really sapped of strength. Well, as you might recall, I basically had a fall and got wounds on my hip. Or to put it in another words:

Well, something from those wounds got infected or something and started affecting my whole body. The effect? Pretty much daily ~38C (~100F) fevers that drained me of energy.

No, buddy, the solution is paracetamol.

That was helping me daily when I was in hospital while getting some long-term antibiotics.

So, yeah, not to blow the trumpet, it was pretty much that: drips, pills, drips, pills, gastroscopy, drips, pi-wait, what did I say AND WHAT IS THIS THING-

Chapter 14: Gastroscopy

So I had to have gastroscopy done, which, in case you don't know is basically a tube with camera being inserted into your esophagus and-

Yeah, not pleasant. But the whole thing lasted only about 10 minutes, and the worst part was the first 30 seconds. So, no biggie. Now, let's talk about....

Chapter 15: Neighbours

Because they were really an odd collection.

First one was just an old dude who hated when I asked to open windows (and of course just as I was admitted spring temps have arrived)

Second one was a detective! In fact he has just solved a murder mystery that happened in the adjacent room! And the murderer was his roommate!

... yeah, he was pretty out of touch with reality, they took him after a day.

And then comes our star: Typical Janush, or Ordinary Janusz, as the Polish meme goes (don't worry if you don't get it)

This absolute unit of Polishness with huuuuge beer belly, bald spot and moustache has brought with him in his bag of holding:

coffee and sugar (nothing spectacular tbh)

TWO different chocolate waffers packs,

two strawberry chocolate bars,

Toffee sweets,

coffee sweets,

TWO different types of sausages,

home-made chicken wings,

and a jar of pickled mushrooms (fereality-indy DNI)

What else did he have in it? I don't know, and frankly, I am scared of the possibilities. This guy could give Mary Poppins a run when it comes to that bag.

He cursed like a sailor when he watched the news - and he watched all the news, he was funding the TV, so he might as well get what he's paid for.

He was also... really kind. He helped me with everything I couldn't do, sometimes faster than the nurses. Really awesome dude.

And the last one who was admitted JUST as I was leaving, was a 96-year old grandpa with some gastric problems. What problems? I don't know, but imagine a cat coughing up a furball... at a volume of a small steam locomotive. At 2 a.m. Every half an hour.

i only had to deal with him for a day.

He also brought... a flask with him.

The one they usually sell spirytus in. Now, it did NOT contain alcohol, just lemon-flavoured water.... but you had to see the nurse's reaction when he was seen casually drinking from it :) He was politely told to use other vessels.

And as a bonus, there was a guy in adjacent room who sometimes visited us and wore a curious t-shirt.... you know the "how do you do fellow kids" meme, right?

and how they just wrote "music band" in order to avoid problems with AC/DC copyright?

Well, his T-shirt had a generic basketball and words "Basketball Team est. 1992". And that's it. No other allusions to, say, Chicago Bulls, or any other team. Just that.

We have reached singularity, people.

Chapter 16: In conclusion, it was mostly boring

Yeah, I have to admit, this stay wasn't that eventful, which I guess I should count as blessing. What else to add... Oh, all the nurses were h*cking cute!

One even recognised me from my first visit!

So, yeah, now I've done the unpacking, and oh boy, you always collect lots of stuff you then forget about.

Like-

Wait, the heck is that?

It... it looks like I have written a 4k Glitch Techs G-rated fic... on my phone! Which has non-existent keyboard! Wait, that can't be right...

It's mostly done, but not finished... Still, it's a shame if it got wasted, right?

[obsidiancreates]

One Undead To Another (Chapter 13)

“We can’t just charge people blood as payment, Shawn!”

“Why not?! Gus, it’s so much more ethical than any other way to get it!”

“What about finding someone who’s not desperate for help to donate it?”

“What, like you? Gus, I’m pretty sure I’ll need some every day, you can’t handle that!” And Shawn’s not sure he’d be able to stop at one bag, one pint. The blood bag is still laying on the floor, the fridge door is still open, some of it is still lingering in his mouth, and yet already he can feel the tight, twisting sensation taking hold of his insides, the slight dryness in his throat. It’s not too bad– he might be spot-on with thinking he’s gotten used enough to their… scents? Tastes? To them, being around him, and being used to them helps, but the temptation is still there. He thinks if he got a taste of Gus’s smooth, comforting, important blood, he wouldn’t be able to stop until he had every. Last. Drop.

The thought is so strong, so enticing, that Shawn actually has to reel back from it, as though he can leave it hovering where his head had been. He can’t. It follows. He clears his throat, swallowing the iron-tainted saliva (or whatever it is now) to try and soothe the new dryness. It doesn’t work. “Besides, that’d just be weird. You guys are my friends, not an all-you-can-eat-buffet.”

“You guys? Uh, newsflash, Spencer, I never offered.”

“I didn’t either.”

“Good! Then you agree the blood payment thing is the right option!”

“No, it’s still creepy,” Lassie says matter-of-factly. 

“And a little like they’re making some kind of evil deal with you,” Jules says with an apologetic wince. 

“Not an evil deal. A supernatural one, yes, but I’m clearly a good vampire. Like that angsty guy in Buffy.”

“Angel?”

“No, Gus, the guy in the trenchcoat, looks like he was made out of all square bones.”

“Yeah, Angel!”

“They named the trenchcoat wearing brooding vampire Angel? … Wow. Point is, I figured out a solution! … Kind of. I’m still not sure how often I’ll need this, I guess. So far it seems… a little dependent on a few things.”

“... Like?” He can’t tell them. If he tells them they’re apart of it, they might leave. He’s already on thin ice as it is, it was thin before he was a vampire and now he’s basically only above the water because he’s clinging to some kind of branch of his own making above him. Maybe a big kite? Could be a low-flying helicopter, but then the water would be all choppy– what was he thinking about again?

Right, thin ice. He knows he’s been just barely clinging onto deserving them all these years, he knows, and now…

He can’t tell them. He can’t.

“Like getting hurt,” he blurts out. “I uh– I dove out of the way of a car earlier and it hurt, and that’s why I was suckign the bag down like that when you came in.”

“You dove out of the way of a car? Spencer what the hell did you–”

“Look, I caught a kidnapper for a guy who told me without any prompting, that he’d give me the blood from his veins to catch her. That is a direct quote! He offered first!”

“Where is this kidnapper now?”

“The station, probably the holding cell.”

Lassie and Jules share a look, and finally fully put their guns away. Lassie points at Shawn. “We’re checking your story,” Lassie warns. “Guster, do you think you can handle keeping an eye on him?”

“Please.” Gus pulls a cross made out of two taped-together pencils from his jacket.

Shawn’s entire body tenses, and he finds himself lurching backwards with a hiss. The moment passes as suddenly as it comes over him, and before the hiss is even done leaving his throat he slaps his hand over his mouth and looks at Gus with wide eyes.

For a long, breathless second, nobody moves. Gus stares at Shawn with his mouth agape and a low squeal leaking out of his throat. Lassie and Jules are frozen in place, slightly hunched, waiting for Shawn to pounce. He doesn’t. He’s as frozen as the rest of them, hand over his mouth and keenly aware that his heart isn’t beating in his ears. He didn’t know he could miss the sound of his own organs so much. Muscle? Gus said something about the difference once. Maybe Shawn should’ve paid more attention when Gus talked about how squishy inside parts worked.

It seems to stretch on forever. Shawn is the first to break the moment, clearing his throat again and pulling his hand down to his jacket pocket. Lassie and Jules reach for their guns. Gus’s hand holding the cross starts to shake.

“That… was involuntary,” Shawn says, sniffing and nodding at nothing. “That uh– that was bad, I’ll own up to that one. That was creepy.”

“No kidding.” Gus doesn’t lower the cross. His voice is garbled and strained, like he’s holding back from throwing up. Again. Shawn starts looking through the cabinets for an antacid, maybe a Ginger Ale.

“Please tell me you have more than just that on you,” Jules whispers. It’s weird to hear whispering sound so loud, so clear. There are qualities to it that make it obvious she’s keeping her voice quiet and low, but to Shawn it’s as easy to hear as if she’s shouting it. He pretends he can’t hear it for her sake. Maybe he should be hurt by her suggesting Gus need weapons– okay, maybe he is hurt– but he also understands.

That was a lot. The instinctual lurching away, the hiss, he’s pretty sure his eyes went red again just based on a feeling– he’d want to make sure Gus had a way to protect himself too.

“I’ve got a bunch of really sharp wooden pencils in my desk,” Gus mumbles back. Would those work? Shawn’s not sure if he hopes they do, or if he hopes they don’t.

“Carlton, do you have an extra gun in your car?”

“I’m not giving Guster a gun.”

“Besides, guns can’t kill vampires. Unless they had silver bullets.”

“I thought that was werewolves?”

“Vampires too.”

“Gus.” Shawn finds the antacids and tosses them Gus’s way. He misjudges how much force he puts into it. The bottle hits Gus in the chest hard enough to knock him back and take the wind out of him.

“Crap! I’m so sorry man, I–!”

“I’ll grab the gun.” Lassie leaves and comes back in the time it takes for Jules to help Gus into his desk chair and make sure he’s okay.

“I’m fine,” Gus wheezes. “We need to kick Shawn off the softball team, though.”

“What?!”

“You almost threw a bottle of medicine through Gus’s chest!” Jules opens it and hands Gus a tablet, which he accepts with a slight whine and grateful nod. “Shawn, you could kill someone with a pitch!”

“I’ll get a handle on it! This whole vampire powers thing has been a little spotty is all! I’m sure I’ll get used to it!”

Lassie hands the gun over to Gus, with no small amount of hesitation or visible emotional turmoil. “If I get that back in anything less than perfect condition, Spencer won’t be the one you have to worry about.”

“He doesn’t have to worry about me in the first place!” He does, he really does, Shawn can’t even close his mouth all the way because he wants to drink up every bit of their smell-tastes he can he loves it he loves them he wants them around forever–

He shakes his head, trying to make it seem indignant by throwing in a huff. With one last concerned (and suspicious) look his way, Lassie and Jules head out to check on his… alibi? Story? Excuse? On what he told them, at the station.

The ache in his throat fades away a bit when they leave. Not totally, but a little. He sits at his own desk, watching Gus nurse a bottle of water. For a long time, neither talks.

And then Shawn sits up. “Dude, wait, we totally need to talk about the psychic thing!”

Gus blinks, and then sits up straight as well (with a small groan of pain as he does). “Oh my gosh! I totally forgot with everything else!”

“Dude, I’ve been psychic my whole life!”

“You’re followed around by the ghosts of people we solved the murders of!”

“I totally have visions and psychic intuitions! I thought they were just gut feelings, and-and a good imagination!”

“You’re walking proof the afterlife exists!”

“My grandma was psychic!”

“Wait, what? Your grandma? The one who was in the car with us?”

“No, Gus, my other grandma. Yes, that grandma!”

“You do have another grandma, Shawn. Your mom has a mom.”

“Oh yeah. … I don’t know if I’ve met my mom’s parents. They were never really interested in meeting me.”

“Wow, and with how involved your mom is that’s such a surprise.”

“Whoa, whoa! Why would you say that, man?”

“Sorry. I’m just kind of freaking out!”

“You are?! I’m the one who’s realizing my entire life is a lie! And then a truth, but I thought it was a lie, but it’s not!”

“Have you had any more visions yet?”

“A bunch!” Shawn flings himself out of his chair, picking up a ball toy from his desk and tossing it between his hands. “I felt my grandma and asked her something and she gave me visions of her being psychic, for one.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously! Oh my– Gus, does this mean my dad knew she was? Has he been hiding that from me this whole time?!”

“He probably didn’t believe her. But you should ask him.”

Shawn feels the phantom pain, the dryness, the hunger. He swallows. “Maybe another time. I still gotta process this, man. I don’t even know what’s psychic and what’s not.”

“Now that I can help you with. One hundred percent normal brain, at your disposal.”

“Gus, we both know that’s not true. If you weren’t black and I wasn’t a chatterbox we’d both have been diagnosed as Autistic ages ago.”

Gus nods a little. “Alright, fine. But it’s still a non-psychic brain, so it’s better than nothing.”

“... Okay, uh… do you see thing highlighted when they’re important?”

“What?”

“Like, you notice a detail and it highlights. Gets a little glowy, stands out, maybe lifts up a little in your vision like someone cut it out of a magazine?”

“Shawn.”

“Yeah, now that I say it out loud I know that’s not normal. But is that psychic or eidetic hyper-observant whatever else? I have too much stuff going on up in here, man! I can’t pick it all apart!”

“Okay, try something easier.”

“Okay, okay, uh… do you zoom in on things you notice? Like if you see something across the street, can you zoom your vision in?”

“Like a camera?”

“Yeah! Okay, so that’s nor–”

“Not even kind of normal, Shawn! You could do that before the vampire powers?! Okay, I’m starting a list.”

“Better pull out a couple of pages, buddy. I have a feeling it’s going to be a lot.”

“A psychic feeling?”

“Man, you know I can’t tell if it is or not! … It might be. How many days off did you take?”

“I blocked out my whole week.”

“... Maybe make it two weeks. Just– you know. Just in case.”

[starchildren220]

Phoenix Chapter One

♡

Phoenix Masterlist

♡

Homelander x OC

Black Noir x OC

Soldier Boy x OC

♡

Your parents worked in the labs at Vought, working on a better, more powerful version of compound V they tested it on multiple children including their own. The only one to survive was you, your parents finally understanding the cruelty of what they were doing they abandoned testing. Vought didn’t want that to they pressed for the research notes when your mother didn’t give them up they disposed of her. Before they could get to you or your father, your father took you and ran far away. He found an abandoned area in a dense forest and started to build self sustaining home. Teaching you how to work the farm, to work with the animals, how to cook and clean, to make your own clothes and entertainment. He also taught you to control your powers. Though it felt like it was quite difficult with the amount of them. Your dream was to be a superhero but your father didn’t let you leave a perimeter around the house. Until one day when you were nine he left, he told her he would be back soon, you’re now 22 and he hasn’t returned. Deciding enough is enough you decide to follow your dream of helping people and become a superhero.

I based the powers on Jean Grey from X-Men.

♡

The house smelled like syrup and pancakes. You were making your dad a big breakfast for father’s day, just like every year. He came trudging down the stairs as you put the last pancake on his plate. While bringing him the plate you notice a large backpack on his bag.

“Where are you going?” You ask him, your excitement replaced by confusion.

“Daddy has to leave for a few days, don’t worry he’ll be back soon.” He ruffled your hair. You giggled before extending the plate to him.

“Eat, I made it for you.” He frowned in turn making you frown and pull the plate back.

“I can’t, I’ll be late.” He smiled before offering a solution. “How ‘bout you save it for me, for when I get back.”

“Ok daddy!” Placing the plate down on the table you run and jump into his arms. “I’ll miss you, don’t be gone for too long.”

“I won’t pumpkin.” What you couldn’t see was the tear escaping his left eye. Pulling back you turn around fast enough to not see his tear. You grabbed the wrapped box from the table, circling back you handed it to your dad.

“You can’t not open your present before you leave.” He smiled at you before undoing the bow and carefully ripping the paper surrounding it.

It was a leather bracelet, carved into the other side was the words ‘I love you’. On the ends that tightened it were blue colored beads.

“I love it pumpkin.” You beamed. He put it on immediately, hugging you again before finally leaving. You watched him leave from the front porch, not moving from your spot until you couldn’t feel him anymore.

♡

It had been two weeks, the pancakes had stayed there cold the whole time. Whenever you had free time you worked on your powers or you waited on the front porch for him.

♡

Two months had gone by and the pancaked started to go bad. Forced to throw them away you started to make fresh ones every morning to keep them ready for him.

♡

Years had passed and new pancakes had switched out with old ones every morning. You had grown quite a lot, but the most you had grown were your powers. Easily using them and pushing them hard everyday, even starting to work on physical training and fighting styles.

♡

It had been 13 years and you finally had enough. Packing a couple of bags you set out for any other place.

Soon enough you found a bus stop and with some cash you made with your powers you paid for a ticket as far away as the bus could take you. You ended up falling asleep.

When you came to the bus driver was nudging your shoulder.

“Come on honey it time to get out.” She told you. You grabbed your bags and left the bus. Before the doors closed you turned around.

“Where are we?” You ask, the busy streets were loud.

“Manhattan.” You nodded in thanks. After walking a little bit holding your bags got tiring so you made them disappear. Slowly a headache started, a quiet mumble in your head started to get louder and louder.

Groaning you hold your head, random words started popping up in your head. ‘who’, ‘huh’,‘bitch’. Then sentences.

“Look at that weirdo.”

“What a slut.”

“Can he just shut up.”

You scrunch your eyes tight, you thought back to what your dad had told you. ‘You need to Breathe.’ He had told you when his thoughts were too loud for you. ‘focus on turning it off.’ You did just that and just like that the voices stopped.

All the focusing made you hungry. You saw a diner to your right. Pushing through the door a bell went off. You notice a table top and sit there. A waitress approached you and spoke to you.

“What will you be having sweetheart?” You look down at the menu in front of you, choosing a classic cheese burger with fries. She wrote it down on her little note pad before leaving you alone.

You survey your surroundings. There was a cute 80’s vibe to the place. An old record player quietly playing old tunes. It was pretty busy but it was nice until it was interrupted by masked men who barged into the place. One held up a gun and fired into the ceiling. Screams were heard.

“Everybody get down on the ground!” One yelled. “Cash and Jewelry into the bag and no one gets hurt.” The other one walked around with a black bag holding it out to people to fill. ‘Perfect.’ You thought. It’s a perfect time to practice being a superhero.

“You!” The one giving commands points his gun at you. “Put your shit in the bag right now.”

“Don’t got ‘nothin” You told him, it was technically the truth.

“Don’t lie to me.” Then he pulled the trigger. You easily stopped the bullet in midair shocking the two robbers. Turning the bullet around you flung it back landing it into his dominant shoulder. He yelped in pain dropping the gun and clutching his shoulder.

“Bitch!” The other one yelled going the throw a punch. You ducked before punching him back square in the nose. He got knocked back and fell into a table knocking him out.

You made a rope and wrapped the robbers up. After tying the knot, everyone cheered. Crying children gave you hugs and people asked for pictures. After a few minutes of that someone bursted through the wall.

Some guy in blue and red with an American flag cape. “Homelander!” People around you yelled, so you guessed that was his name.

“Seems like y’all don’t need anymore help.” He chuckled. Truly he was annoyed, he had the chance to boost his ratings. Everyone rushed him except for You. You stood by the robbers arguing with them.

“Please! Let us go!” The conscious one begged. “We have a family, our daughter’s sick please!” You felt bad for them, you thought about letting them go. A red leather clad hand rested on your shoulder.

“Well done.” A voice said from behind you. “Let me take these guys from you.” You turned to him, it was the Homelander guy.

“We should let them go, they were doing it for their daughter.” A laugh came from the man.

“You’re funny.” He wagged a finger at you.

“I’m serious.” There was no smile on your face. From that his smile fell slightly before being replaced by his forced smile.

“No.” His smile was threatening. “I’m bringing them in. Try and stop me.” His pupil started to glow a bright red and the hand on your shoulder tightened. He was trying to scare you. You decide to use his own tactic.

“I wasn’t asking.” The loose stuff around you floated along with your hair, your iris started to glow golden and glowing golden cracks started forming on the outside of your face and up your neck. He felt heat through his gloves for as his hand stayed it got hotter and hotter it actually started to sting which caught him off guard.

Whispers started and people started to record the interaction between the two of you. When Homelander noticed his eyes returned to normal and he laughed.

“Settle down tiger.” He lifted his hands up. You stopped and everything dropped. “But there isn’t a discussion here. I’m a hero, we take people like them and we punish them.” He decided to take a talking approach rather than a violent approach.

“Fine but promise me you’ll take care of their daughter.”

“Yes, yes. I will, promise.” He laughed and bent down to grab the two men by the rope. ‘the fuck I will.’ He thought.

“Fucking liar.” You whispered under your breath. He heard it and stopped his movements before leaving.

♡

[lilacmuffins]

"could you be my best friend?"

[oc-tober (day 6) - past]

did a little writing piece about april and kaia while they were still online bffs and not physically together or dating!! (title of this post is based on the song "online love" by conan gray, btw,,)

art below was commissioned by me from my best friend ever @muxhroom-marx-markiplier like two years ago, it's still my favorite drawing of them that i have on my computer!! (also shoutout he still does commissions and his art is wonderful go look at his post about that)

>> kaia hexum & april lang

i made these two in 2018 or something, back when i was forced to draw vocab word comics for my english class. they had this whole thing going on, and they were extremely in love with each other. they wear each others' colors because i only had like 4 colored pencils at my desk when i rushed through drawing the original comic,, then i kept them and used them for short story assignments and various other ELA things throughout middle school.

i love my girls, they've gone through so many cringe little phases of my life with me but they're still in love and that's what counts!! i don't give these two nearly enough attention as i should but shh it's ok i love them so so much still <33

little one-shot & prompts below the cut! lowkey the writing is not great but it's ok i wanted to get the idea out--

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

When Kaia was a child, her mom didn’t have a lot. After her dad died, they lived paycheck to paycheck, scraping up money for food and some nights not getting enough. Kaia always ate, though, and she was raised by the family Windows XP computer that sat in the living room. The thing was on its last legs, but it still ran YouTube and Skype. That’s how she met April, originally stumbling across a “Reading Tarot for Beginners” video. It looked like it had been filmed with a microwave, and the girl with red hair looked like she was 13 (a year older than her). Kaia loved the energy of the video, watching the girl’s face light up as she talked about her tarot cards (they looked custom ordered, with cats and oranges being a major aesthetic). She left a comment under the week-old video, one of only three. “XxApril_WitchxxX”, the YouTuber’s username, had a lot of cute videos without many subscribers. Only nine, not including Kaia. It was like fate when April responded to the comment and DMed Kaia, asking if she had a Skype account. The two of them talked about April’s videos, getting closer when April started to do “lets plays” along with her other content. Even when she couldn’t afford to play, Kaia would watch and commentate in voice chat, just to have her new friend’s company.

Eventually, they started to talk about more than videos too. Kaia talked a lot about her friend, Tove, and her mom. She started to learn coding, with her awful computer. She learned how to make games that she could watch April play, games that would stump her and she could get playfully mad at her friend as she refused to give her the solution to the puzzles. They continued to get closer and call often until they were 16, four years had passed in the blink of an eye. Ms. Hexum knew April almost as well as she knew her daughter, at this point. One night, at the dinner table, she sighed and shook her head.

“Kaia, sweetheart, I don’t think I’ll be able to afford to pay the internet bill anymore. It’s getting too expensive.” She spoke. Kaia stared at her mother for a moment, not knowing what to say. Her little part-time job couldn’t pay it either, and April’s parents weren’t being very generous anymore with their divorce on the horizon and their daughter “refusing to get a real job”.

“Wait, so… I-I won’t be able to call April anymore?” Kaia asked, her voice cracking. It seemed impossible after these four years, even overseas the two were inseparable. Kaia’s mom put her head in her hands, she wasn’t sure what to say. Kaia didn’t blame her, of course, she knew it was hard. Still, she pushed her dinner to her mom, mumbling something about how she could eat extra tonight and walked to her room so she could call April (the computer had been moved to her room three years ago, or something like that). The two talked for hours about what to do, if Kaia could afford a phone so they could at least use Discord to text each other, but it was no use. A few days later, they said their goodbyes and the internet was cut off. Kaia cried to Tove, she thought she’d never talk to April again. That one day she would move on, start her life and forget about her. It took two years for Kaia to save up to the point where she was able to buy a terrible phone. As soon as she got past setting it up and kind of learning how to use it, she spent hours desperately trying to find April’s current Discord account. Her mobile data hated it, and her bank account hated the international call fees even more.

“Kaia?” April’s voice came through the speaker, crackling and not quite right. She sounded relieved. “How are you calling me?”

“April, I’m coming to Florida in a month. I have a ticket, it cost so much money. Mom helped me save up.”  Kaia explained, rushing to get it all out. She was hearing her best friend’s voice again after so long, it made her want to cry. “I can’t stay on the phone for long, it costs more money.”  She sniffled and reached up to twist one of the curls of her now blue hair around her finger.

“Oh! A-A month? I’ll have to get everything ready then.” April laughed, sounding just as close to tears as Kaia was. “I’m so happy to hear your voice, you have no idea.” She added. Kaia hummed in agreement.

“We can still text a little too, between now and then. No calls though, we’ll be together soon.” The blue-haired girl explained. They chatted for only a little while longer, and before Kaia knew it, she was up late packing her few belongings into a purple suitcase. This was the start to a new era of her life, and she was so ready to have April be there as a part of it. Only a month until she could see her and give her the hug she’d wanted to for so long…

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Prompt List:

[ask-carmenpondiego]

Chapter 12: When the past comes back to haunt

The child, no more than 14, watches Carmen from behind the topiary, still cloaked in a pseudo invisibility. This ability made it look like he was part of the background, not just transparent, as if someone painted him. The effect moved with his body, so he stayed rather successfully undetected by normal folks who were not paying attention. Carmen kept her gaze on him and reached out her hand, “Hey, its ok, I won’t hurt you..” As soon as her hand got too close, the child darted off, easily lost in the crowd with his camouflage. “Blendin! Wait!” She cries out, reaching for him. “I just wanted to see you..”

Tears welled up in her eyes as she sat back down at her cafe table, the letter blowing off the book and onto the cobblestone. She picked up the letter and wiped her eyes, opening the wrinkled envelope. She sat and read the letter, written in teenage chicken-scratch handwriting. It read that he read all her letters that she had sent, and that he still keeps in touch with his sister at Warehouse 13. He does not understand why it is taking so long for her to come get them, and that Adora is having a hard time accepting that Carmen loves her at all. He goes on to write about how he got a job as a junior Librarian and he will be training for his own missions in a few short years. He looks forward to all her letters. He even wrote about Adora’s 16th birthday. She keeps the small obsidian dragon statue Carmen had sent still in the box, half opened and left in a corner in her closet.

Carmen frowned slightly, dismayed at how much her daughter sounds like she hates her. Blendin however still has hope to see his mom again, he writes. And maybe she will be able to answer all their questions. He hopes they can be a family again. Carmen smiles at the letter and folds the letter carefully, keeping it in her book as she closes it and makes her way to the alley with the portal. M met her on the other side with crossed arms, “You went over your time, you’re lucky I fuckin kept it open fer ya.” Carmen looked up at him and had a wide smile he hasn’t seen in years. “I saw Blendin. He came and visited me. He knew where I was and met up with me..” she handed him the letter. “Well, not officially, he was hiding from me but he was bold enough to give me this letter and I saw his eyes! He got his special talent I think!” M looked at the letter with mild interest, “Oh yeah? Horse powers or changeling powers?” She punches his arm, “He was invisible but.. not. He used camouflage like a cuttlefish! I barely saw him in the first place! It was amazing! Oh I don’t know anything about him but I’m so proud!” She swoons over the letter, and goes to one of the storage rooms to find a picture frame for the letter. “I need to save this! Ooh I wish I still had some of their baby drawings!”

Over the course of the next month, she kept with her letter sending schedule, but have not been able to spot her son since. One night, as she lays in bed, she starts venting, “He’s getting older, I’m getting older.. Did he think I was too old to be his mom?! What do you think? Did I screw up my only chance to see him?” The covers rustled and down from below her hips, Lekir’s head popped up, licking her muzzle, “Maybe you’re reading too much into it. Relax, babe, let me take your mind off of things.” Her head disappeared under the covers again, Carmen blushing and squirming a little with soft moans. She lifted her head, “What if he’s in trouble? What if I get so old that I can’t protect him?!” A disgruntled sigh came from the covers and a thin ring of ice grew around Carmen’s muzzle to get her to stop talking, Lekir’s head popped back up, the sheet falling over her shoulders. She placed a finger on Carmen’s hard clit, rolling it around idly. “Carm, if you really are that paranoid about aging, I have a solution that won’t make you younger but it will extend your current youth for at least a few more centuries. That and it could make you stronger and possibly give you elemental abilities if lucky.” She gives the little nub a flick, before slipping two fingers in deep, curling upward to her g-spot, grinning as she hears the thief moan and writhe. “So there you go, problem solved and now… I need you to cum.”

The next day, after some well needed rest… and clean-up, Carmen sits in her office, going over the recent mishaps and redirections from the previous heists with M, since he was the expert in such accidents. “It don’t make sense Red, we went over these top to bottom and fuckin sideways. How are these changes happening as soon as we get there? We don’t give any hints of where we will hit.” Carmen rubs her temples and tries to look at any consistencies. “I doubt we have a mole, we’ve had the same team for years now and I’ve given no reason for anyone to double cross.” M shakes his head, “It aint a mole, everyone is clear from day one. I say it may be something bigger, but what I don’t know. There doesnt seem to have any connections, its all individual targets from what I could tell.”

Ninoga knocked on the doorframe and peeked his head in, “Hey, is it cool if I have a friend crash with me on the couch for the afternoon? He just wanted to rest while he was on this long trip finding his family.” Carmen sighed and shut the book she was looking in. “Yeah, thats fine. Let me start up the oven for whatever snack you two may want. I think a well needed break is in order anyway.” Carmen makes her way to the kitchen and starts preparing a rather large snack tray, knowing Ninoga’s appetite, they may need refills in just under an hour despite the tray size. She was just on the stepladder in the dry pantry, reaching for a dried slab of meat to slice for the meat board, when a voice from behind her made her freeze in her tracks, “Hello? Ninoga said someone was preparing food.. Is there anything I can help out with?”

The mare turned to look over her shoulder, unable to believe her ears… or her eyes. “Are.. you.. Wally?!” She turned too quickly on the ladder and stumbled to the floor. The pale blue stallion had caught her before she had fallen too far. “Its ok, I gotcha!” He looked in her green eyes and grinned, his own blue eyes admiring her from behind his glasses. She gripped his striped sweater and looked back at him, blushing. “Hi, my light. I made it home..” Carmen immediately started sobbing and clutching him tightly, sinking to the floor. They both knelt in the dry pantry what felt like hours, Wally stroking her hair as she held him as if never to let him go ever again. She lifted her head and put her hands by his face, cupping it and caressing out of disbelief. “It really is you… you’re alive! And you’re home! Oh Wally, don’t ever leave me like that again! I was told you were dead!! They took the kids and threw me in this asylum just to get rid of me!!” Wally’s eyes went wide, “Who did that?!” Carmen shook her head, “I don’t know but the kids are at the Warehouse and Library like we planned if something happened to us. After the fire, the police arrested me for it and my past warrants and took the kids away.. and-“ before she could finish, tentacles had grabbed Wally from every limb and thrown against the wall outside the pantry. Wally winced and was immediately punched in the face bare knuckles by M. “You fuckin dirty lying cunt! You were alive all this time and you just now fuckin show yer face?! You fuckin had 15 goddamn years to even call!” M gave a couple more punches before letting him go. Wally staggered and chuckled, wiping some blood from his mouth. “Yeah.. I deserve that. My bad.. I didn’t mean to be away this long. I just need some help and I’ll leave after that if you want me to.”

Carmen rushed past M to Wally’s side, “Here, lets clean you up, and you can tell us everything.” She showed him to the bathroom, giving a glare to M. Ninoga poked his head in, “Heeey so, is everything ok? I didn’t know he knew you guys.” Carmen and M just look at Ninoga, then to the family photos that have been hanging up in the hall that show Wally and the kids, and then look back at Ninoga. “This is a neat place, you have a lot of art replicas here, doncha? I remember you always liked the arts…and Marehem! I didn’t know you knew Carmen! Thats a neat surprise!” Wally chimed in, trying to be cheerful. M groaned and rubbed his face, “Fuck.. theres two of them now.. Moron, you specifically told me to watch over her if something happened to you. And I did, thinking you were fuckin dead!”

Wally laughed and shook his head, “I wasnt dead, silly! I got knocked out in the fire and had amnesia for a little while!” Carmen frowned, “How long is a little while??” Wally thought a moment, “That depends…What year is it?” M growled, “You’ve been gone for 15 fuckin years! Where the hell were you?!” Wally blinked, “Wow, thats a long time.. I was at this cute little commune in the woods with this sheep leader, it was a little weird but they treated me well. They kicked me out when I got infected by something… which is why I need your help.” Wally took of his striped sweater and small clusters of sores littered his back and chest, from the sores, looking like dark green crystals growing out from beneath the flesh. Some looked like they were broken off and others grew around it.

Carmen tapped her glasses frame to magnify what she was looking at. She took some tweezers and plucked a shard out, with slight yelp from Waldo. “This is Vivianite.. it’s the only crystal known to grow on corpses. Wally, did you see what infected you?” He shook his head, “It’s just been growing non stop, and it’s from deep inside too, I can feel it in my muscles. It still lets me move, but it does hurt after a while. I think it’s called Vivian’s Burden or something. I’ve had it for about a year, I think I may have maybe three years until it’s too late to cure.” Carmen sighs and cleans each sore and takes out as much crystal as she could, “M, have you seen anything like this in the changeling cultures?” M just stood on the doorframe, cross-armed, “The fuck I look like? The village medicine man? I ain’t seen shit like that. Not everything black and green fuckin associates with me. I just like this fuckin color scheme.”

Carmen deadpan looks at him, “I wasn’t going by color, dumbass. I was going by the crystal’s natural matrix and place in geology. This crystal pretty much originates near a bunch of ancient changeling hives, does it not? Changelings used to hunt and gather food, sucking the life and emotions from its victims, leaving a nice environment for the crystals to grow.” Ninoga peeks in again, “You know your pretty rocks.. but if they grow on corpses, are you sure he’s not a zombie?” Wally pats himself over and feels for a pulse, “I don’t think I’m a zombie. Should I test it out when we go to the grocery store? Maybe I need to eat a brain?” There was a resounding “NO!” From the three of them towards Wally.

[ladyniniane]

For the Writblr Ask Game: 5, 7 and 13 💕

Please and thank you

End of the year writeblr ask game

Hello 👋 and thank you for the questions ✨!

5) What is your favorite book/story/poem you read this year?

Lauren Groff's Matrix! I don't know if it's my favorite, but it's certainly one of the best things I've read this year. (I don't rate books 5 stars on Goodreads that often).

It has medieval women in all sort of roles: nuns, administrators, visionaries, artists, queens, warriors... Women building their own community and being self-sufficient. A narrative with sorority at its core. And gorgeous writing to boot.

7) What are three songs you put on your WIP-playlist this year?

I tend to associate my characters with Florence and the machine songs and this year was no exception.

First: Seven Devils. My characters aren't usually people you would want to cross, but it especially reminds me of my Shadow and Bone OC, Marya. She can be ruthless and is a fearsome presence on the battlefield.

"Holy water cannot help you now / Thousand armies couldn't keep me out / I don't want your money / I don't want your crown / See, I've come to burn your kingdom down."

Next is Only if for a night. Ismene, the protagonist of one of my WIPs, has just lost her mother. This song about being visited in a dream by a dead relative was perfect.

"And the only solution was to stand and fight / And my body was bruised and I was set alight / But you came over me like some holy rite /And although I was burning, you're the only light."

Last is Shake it Out. I associate it with another of my characters who lost herself, hit rock bottom, but is determined to find her way in spite of her suffering.

"All of his questions, such a mournful sound /Tonight I'm gonna bury that horse in the ground /'Cause I like to keep my issues drawn /But it's always darkest before the dawn"

13) How did you change as a writer?

I learned many positive things and I improved my writing, but one thing I've learned was to handle disappointement.

In January, I posted my Fire Emblem Three Houses fanfic on AO3. I put a lot of work in it. It's a novel-length story, I created 4 OCs, with their backstories, their personalities... Since this game has a lot of dead or invisible mothers, I gave them a face and a story. I expanded on some of the game's lore.

And clearly, I was disappointed by the relative lack of interactions. I'm not writing for clout, but I'm also posting my stories in the hope of connecting with other people. But that wasn't really the case on AO3. I had to wait 8 months before getting my first comment.

Of course, it still had some interactions, so I don't want to sound ungrateful. I don't want to be internet famous (especially since there are cases of harassment against authors in this fandom). But the thing is that I hoped for...more. And it felt like screaming in the void, especially after having put all this work.

Then, I published my Shadow and Bone fanfic and the response was very different and heartwarming. This made me realize that the problem wasn't probably with my writing or storytelling, but mainly with the fandom. This fandom doesn't seem to want what I have to offer (I wish people would step out their comfort zone and stop being this wary of OCs. Maybe I will elaborate on this later).

Furthermore, the people who read this story enjoyed it. And I had fun writing it. So I chose to focus on the positive side of this experience and I will keep writing about my characters because I believe in their potential.

[2n2n]

Hanako kun killed Tsukasa, but it was ruled a suicide for both of them, so we can't be sure if the parents also died voluntarily after finding the twins dead. They could be already dead or the mother could have gone crazy and decided to commit family suicide by killing her husband and then decided to kill the twins when they got home, failing to kill both of them and accidentally dying, or Tsukasa trying to protect Amane killed her, thus showing your true power. Can you tell me your theory?

It's all spectulation more than theory ya know, we have so little to go off of! But I'm glad you're thinking about all the angles and possibilities, it could be any order of events. There's a lot of pieces on the board ....

Personally, I like to keep the parents fairly 'separate' from the kids, and would rather they commit on their own after the Yugi are gone (and the weight of that not being a factor in what the Yugi did, or why they did it). I like to think the shinjuu was wholly about Amane and Tsukasa, only, that they weren't thinking about anyone else. A decision Amane made, enacted, for them-- wholly about his control, his usurping of Tsukasa's fate. I would feel sorry for him, if it was less, perhaps. That poor covetous guy...

That said, it sure would mess up Amane if something happened, suchas their mom trying to hurt Tsukasa, etc; if he had neglected something, and if he had to carry that sense of failure-- and also-- the sense of ah, wanting to administer the final killing blow himself. I could see something like that creating real urgency, "it has to be me" or, "if it's going to be like this, then...."

However, I'm a little fixated on Amane's obsession with "stopping time", and the shinjuu's auspicious date-- the boys die right before summer vacation …

I wonder if there was something about to separate them, if Tsukasa was meant to spend the next semester somewhere else, or do something … ? If there was some sort of, summer, event, imminent? Something like that could drive Amane to want a 'solution' in a hurry.

This concept of ah … 'limited time' …. it's in Narisokonai Snow White, which shares a lot of various details and themes with JSHK. In that story, there is a point in time the twins, Rasphard and Estelio, will live separate lives, as Estelio is moving into the royal family's castle, while Rasphard will spend more years languishing in their abusive family's estate. In that story, Rasphard, the twin to be left behind, has a psychotic break, and poisons his brother-- though, his reality is blurry, and he hallucinates his brother as himself (so, his urge and action is suicidal, even though the accidental target is not himself, but his mirror-twin brother).

I think the date of the shinjuu, whatever the case, is likely important -- it's sometime after July 22nd. That's actually about the time the Far Shore shenanigans happened, so it's possible Nene-chan's offering of suicide to Amane, happened at the same time as the twin's shinjuu? Calendar time, I mean. Not year, obviously....

End of July is when Summer Vacation starts in Japan...

The Severance happens just before Summer Vacation... meaning this happens around then, too:

I've thought a lot about Tsukasa attempting to commit suicide at 13. Since Nene-chan attempts to commit here, that would be an interesting "we're the same" moment for Tsukasa-Nene.

I think as an instigator of Amane's protectiveness (protecting Tsukasa from... himself? his own autonomy, his own volition?) ... Tsukasa trying to 'leave' him would be interesting. This also happens in Narisokonai Snow White .... Rasphard commits suicide in many endings, abandoning Estelio, his guilty and lonely twin who struggles with what he wished to happen, between them.

What would Amane do, if Tsukasa attempted to 'leave' him? If Amane had failed to convince Tsukasa to 'stay'? What reason is there to stay with Amane? Why not die again?

Tsukasa is waiting for Amane to give him a reason to stay here...

What was Amane's 'reason' to do all he did for Nene-chan? Why does Amane do anything? Why should Nene-chan be forced through so much effort, to live,

if that's not what she wants? Who is she living for? For the sake of living, only? "Because Amane wants her to"?

Living, all for its own sake, is not what Tsukasa wanted, either.

Tsukasa and Nene-chan both do want a confession out of Amane before they die, after all....

He doesn't give it to either of them, though.

In the story, takase-bune, which Amane is reading from here...

two brothers suffer hardship and struggle to survive, together. One brother becomes chronically ill, and can no longer help with the living expenses, placing all of the burdens onto his healthy brother. Guilty for being dead weight, that brother attempts to commit suicide, but fails. His brother comes home to find him mute and agonized, suffering one the edge of death, but not dead … and ultimately, his brother chooses to follow through, as there is no better option (there was no way to remove the implement from his brother, or get him help…)… and kills his long-suffering long-ill brother. He's seen doing this by a neighbor, and it's assumed a homicide, which he accepts, and he then contentedly is exhiled to prison.

By the way, in various Narisokonai Snow White endings, Estelio catches his brother dying on the floor, and depending on your choices-- since it is a VN with many endings-- he either chooses to save him, or simply leaves him to die on the floor in pain & agony....

Overall… JSHK has this thing, where, characters do assume someone would be better off without them. Tsukasa already attempted that with Amane-- dropping himself down the well is, for all intents and purposes, a suicide, and Tsukasa chose that at age 3.

Aoi is also choosing suicide, when she refuses to let Akane rescue her on the far shore.

Sumire is also willing/ready/encouraging of her demise, ready to be done with things here. But of course, in the end, it is Hakubo who KILLS her, a sort of new spin on this whole thing.

And then of course, Nene-chan chooses suicide as a means of staying with someone, unlike everyone else, a CONTRAST, in fact! Suicide can be something characters do to 'free' someone from them, or escape, or, it can be something characters do to desperately remain together, to prove devotion.

I think the ah, 'jibaku' in the title, that wordplay on suicide-bomb, probably is endemic to a kind of running motif, of suicide. Given the twins are (somehow..) our 'main characters', I imagine the 'main event' so to speak, the shinjuu, probably really but really has a lot do with all that, and might marry together a lot of concepts we've seen bits and pieces of across every other pairing ...

So ah... I guess that's me saying, my speculation is that Tsukasa might ultimately be a suicidal person, who needs 'a reason' to stay alive, and Amane couldn't give him that ... he won't give Nene-chan a reason, either. If Amane could only tell them both, "because I love you", maybe we could do something , for eachother.

[yumeko2sevilla]

FILE LABEL | 00

Date_8/13/XXXX

[Log In... Successed.] Log 02 From: Amaterasu 'Shinonome' To: XXXXX

Mother used to tell me a story far long ago.

I can still remember it vividly, that shows how much Mother loved that tale very. Even more than her own children. I liked that story too. It sounds nice.

The story was about a Memories Witch and her precious Dawn Maiden.

《Once upon a time, far from human society, there was a Witch who held Memories. The Witch lived in a forest where nobody could touch, where no mortals could afford to go inside.

The Witch lied inside her gallery, watching humans while writing her tales. The tales of humans, the tales of society, the tales of history,, She wrote many of them all. But oh, please don't say that she is cunning. For those who luckily have met her, always said that she was the epitome of sloth.

And then, when the Festival of the village she watched over came, they offered her a dance toward the Witch of Memories as a thanks for blessing them over these years. The maiden stood on the stage, dancing undernearth the dawn that was going to be sunrise soon. Her beautiful blue hair moved fluidly along with her elegant moves, soon has captured the Witch's heart.

She then later knew her name as Shinonome. Who the villagers often called 'Maiden of Dawn.', as they sacrificed her to the Witch.

'Maiden of Dawn.. That fits her.' The Witch thought, and she has fell into the agonizing yet passionate trap of love.

From that day on, the Witch and the Dawn Maiden lived together in the forest. She told her many stories, while dramatically recreated the character's funny actions as she laughed loudly. Her laughs as if had magics or something, the echoing laughters made the forest brighter everytime.

The Dawn Maiden didn't lose at all, she often poked her cheeks when she was sleeping sneakily. And when she woke up, she saw her Maiden laying on her thights, snoring quietly like a child.

The Witch couldn't help but felt warm.

She felt something was about to come. Soon.

The Memories Witch hated her feelings sometimes.

The next few years, the village was ruined rapidly: Over hundred people died, the houses were burned until there was nothing more but ashes, children fell ill to a weird pandemic.

And then it hit them: The Memories Witch has been nothing but bringing chaos to them. And so, a solution was created: To burn the Memories Witch alive, as an apologize to God.

The Memories Witch agreed, but she hided her Maiden. She waited until she was asleep, and headed toward the villagers's gift. A cross with straws under the end.

Shinonome could only scream when it was too late. The execution has started.

".. .-. . -. .! Don't leave me, please!" The Maiden rushed toward the burning witch, but was stopped by the villagers.》

I have never heard Mother told this to my siblings, Tsukuyomi and KAFU. But I found this fine to endure. After all, the story Mother has told me, I won't say this to anyone...yet.

From: XXXXX To: Amaterasu 'Shinonome'

.-- …. .. .-.. . / - …. . / … - --- .-. -.-- / …. .- … / . -. -.. . -.. / …. . .-. . --..-- / .. - / .- -.-. - ..- .- .-.. .-.. -.-- / .-- .- … -. .----. - / - …. . / …- . .-. -.-- / . -. -.. .. -. --. .-.-.- / - …. . / - .- .-.. . / .-- .- … / .-. .. .--. .--. . -.. / .. -. / - .-- --- .-.-.- / - …. . / -.. .- .-- -. / -- .- .. -.. . -. / .-- …. --- / .-- . -. - / .. -. … .- -. . / .- -. -.. / - .-. .. . -.. / - --- / .-. . .-.. .. …- . / …. . .-. / .-- .. - -.-. …. --..-- / . …- . -. / .- ..-. - . .-. / .--. --- .. … --- -. . -.. / .- -. -.. / -.. .. . -.. .-.-.- / .-..-. -- .. … … .-.-.- .-.-.- / .- -. .- … .- -.- .. ..--.. .-..-. / .-..-. -.-- . … --..-- / .. - .----. … / -- . .-.-.- / .-.. --- -. --. / - .. -- . / -. --- / … . . --..-- / … …. .. -. --- -. --- -- . .-.-.- .-..-.

《Kizuna Rank, Unlocked: The Memories Witch and The Dawn Maiden.》

@anxious-twisted-vampire @writing-heiress @achy-boo @yukii0nna @abyssthing198