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totallyjustabunchofhocuspocus · 3 months ago

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Fic: Something to Sink Your Teeth Into 12/?

Pairing: Buck/Tommy

Vampire/Witch!AU

CW for this chapter: animal death

“Missing? What do you mean he’s missing?”

“I mean he’s missing—Howie and someone else in their coven tried a locator spell?” Tommy shot a questioning look at Evan, who just nodded in understanding. “And it apparently couldn’t focus on him, whatever that means.” Evan didn’t look away from the road, but Tommy saw his eyes widen. “What?”

“It’s, ah, it might be nothing. There’s ways to block locator spells.”

“I’m sensing a ‘but’ in there somewhere,” Tommy said, wariness already creeping up the back of his neck.

“It’s hard,” Evan admitted. “Especially if you don’t know someone’s performing one. I mean…if Jon—Greenway was paranoid about his coven finding out what he was doing, he could’ve taken precautions.”

Tommy raised a silent eyebrow, waiting for the other shoe he could just sense hovering in the air. Evan’s shoulders slumped slightly.

“But, those kinds of spells take a lot of energy, and I can’t imagine his coven wouldn’t have noticed.”

“So, if he didn’t block the locator spell, then why wouldn’t it be finding him?” Tommy asked, and was pretty sure he already knew the answer.

“Either he’s already outside the radius of the spell—not likely, unless this Howie guy is, like, thirteen. Or, um, or there’s nothing to find.”

“Fuck,” Tommy muttered. “All right. Howie and Sergeant Grant are going to his house to see what they can find. He asked me to try and see if he’s at the temp agency offices he’s been volunteering with.”

Evan’s hands flexed on the steering wheel, and Tommy heard his heartrate kick up a little. Tommy rubbed his jaw, silently considering. As much as he hated how wary and mistrustful Evan still was—and he did, against all sense and reason, he really did hate that Evan didn’t trust him…it felt so wrong, somehow—he did understand it. Unfortunately, he knew the only thing that might actually prove he was being sincere was to let Evan go. And somehow, he hated the thought of the witch actually leaving hi—leaving just as much as the thought that he didn’t trust him. It was rapidly becoming obvious, though, that this situation was becoming more dangerous by the second. Reluctantly, he came to a decision.

“I can’t make you come with me,” he said, his voice quiet in the cab.

“Yes, you can,” Evan countered immediately, and Tommy dipped his head in acknowledgement, even if he wasn’t entirely sure it was true. He was still unsure if he’d have been able to put Evan under his thrall if the witch hadn’t been panicking and unable to concentrate properly.

“All right, I could,” he said. “But I’m not going to. Get me to the office, or at least close—” He trailed off a moment, trying to understand why it felt so difficult to say what he wanted to say, the sense of wrongness just increasing at the notion of letting Evan leave his sight. “Do that, and you can leave. It’s still going to be safer for you if you leave the city entirely. But I won’t stop you.

Evan frowned, that same puzzled look from before taking over his handsome face. “Just like that?” he asked cautiously.

“Just like that,” Tommy confirmed.

“Won’t you, uh, won’t you get in, in trouble or something?”

“Yes,” Tommy said bluntly. Then he chuckled, his smile shifting into something a little sharp. “But I am almost a thousand years old. There’s not actually much Alonzo can do to me.” He leaned back against the headrest, staring out onto the streets of LA. “I won’t lie, it would be helpful if you came with me. If I’m going in there, I wouldn’t mind having a witch at my back…and I know you’re a damn powerful one.”

Evan was silent for a long time, guiding the Jeep past the exit for the highway and turning onto a new route. Tommy didn’t question it, content to give Evan as much time as he needed to think about it. As they continued driving, he turned the situation over and over in his mind, trying to figure out how all the pieces fit together. If what Evan said about locator spells was true, he wasn’t holding out much hope that they would find Greenway alive. Still…

“A witch selling out other witches to vampire covens would have to be stupid not to have an escape plan,” Tommy mused out loud, tapping the screen of his phone with his thumb. It wasn’t outside the realm of possibility that Greenway had realized that whatever he intended to happen to Evan hadn’t happened and he immediately booked it. Especially if he’d known how Gerrard tended to…retaliate when things didn’t go his way. Except.

“Okay, now I’m sensing a ‘but’ at the end of that sentence,” Evan said tiredly.

“But,” Tommy acknowledged, “the more I think about it, the more I don’t think Gerrard realized you were there. That you’re a witch, I mean.”

“Huh?”

Tommy sighed and rolled his neck back and forth, the familiar tension flooding him at the mere thought of Gerrard. God, how he hated that asshole. “If Gerrard knew what you were, he would’ve had you chained up on display, not serving cocktails. He would’ve made a spectacle of it, would’ve made everyone watch while he drank from you. Even if he didn’t know which one of the workers was a witch for some reason, he wouldn’t have just let you wander around the party where anyone could claim you as soon as the—uh—the main event started.” They had pulled to a stop at a red light, and Evan turned horrified eyes on him. Tommy gave him a grim, humorless smile. “Evan, I get why you don’t trust me—I really do. But I wasn’t kidding when I said anything I offered was better than what would happen to you at that house.”

Evan’s mouth worked soundlessly for a moment, before he snapped his attention back to the road in front of them. “How…how do you even know this guy? If, if, if you’re so different, why do you know so much about him?”

Tommy chose to ignore the sarcasm dripping from the phrase so different.

“Vincent Gerrard—the coven master of that party—he’s one of the major players in LA. Has been for decades. His coven’s one of the most powerful in the state. He’s a fucking monster. Even for one of us, he’s…he’s awful. Always been awful. He and I were turned around the same time. By the same vampire. I had to share a coven with him for centuries.” His voice dropped, and knew that his face had gone stone cold blank.

“I didn’t think vampire coven bonds were like ours,” Evan said, an almost reluctant curiosity coloring his words. “I thought they were more like political alliances? Couldn’t you just leave?”

“They are for the most part. I mean, we’re bound to our covens, but it’s a bond we choose to make between us and our coven master, something that can be broken on either side at any time. And yeah—now I could just leave my coven whenever I wanted to. Alonzo isn’t my maker. There’s a certain—connection between you and the vampire that made you. Depending on how strong your maker is, sometimes they can use that connection to keep their turns bound to them. Almost like our thrall. But the more turns you try it on, the harder it gets and the easier it is for them to break that connection. That’s why our covens are mostly alliances, especially these days. My maker kept his coven relatively small for a very long time, so I was…stuck.”

His memories of his days in the bastard’s coven had never faded the way his other memories had. They were still as sharp and clear as the day he’d experienced them, and he didn’t think he’d ever get over quite how unfair that was. Evan seemed to sense the darkness in the turn his thoughts had taken.

“There are kids in Jonah…er…Greenway’s coven, right?” he said suddenly. Tommy blinked at the non sequitur, and Evan clarified, “I saw them in that picture of Greenway your friend sent.”

“Ah. Yeah, at least a few, I think. Howie’s partner Henrietta Wilson has a son. Grant’s got a couple kids. And there’s a relatively new guy—Diego or Diaz or something. Howie’s mentioned he has a kid. Why?”

Evan just shook his head, a small furrow between his brows deepening. He pulled the Jeep onto the street in the address Howie had texted him right after they ended their call, a boulevard lined with office buildings. None of them were the towering skyscrapers of downtown LA, but they were tall enough that Tommy was pretty sure there would be enough shade on the street for him to stick to the sidewalks for the most part. To his surprise, though, Evan drove them to a public parking garage, taking the lane that would take them underground rather than the upper levels.

“We can get to an art gallery up top from this garage. It’s right next to Greenway’s building, and there’s a covered walkway between them,” Evan said, and Tommy looked up sharply.

“We?” he repeated. “So you’re—”

“I want to help,” Evan interrupted. He didn’t look over at Tommy, sitting up ramrod straight in his seat and clutching the steering wheel in both hands. “If—if LA is as close to coven war as it sounds like…I want to help.”

The relief that Tommy felt at Evan’s words was outsized. He knew that, and yet he couldn’t help feeling it. “Thank you,” he said, trying to push all of his relief and sincerity into the words.

Evan gave a short, sharp nod and climbed out of the Jeep, stepping into the shadowy, echoing garage. “So, so, so what are we looking for? What’s the plan?” he asked, pointing towards the building exit they needed to take and falling into step beside Tommy with only a slight hesitance.

“Right now, Grant just wants to know where the hell Greenway is. Assuming he’s still alive and just blocking Howie’s spell. If he’s here and trying to go on the run, I’ll stop him. But otherwise, we don’t need to engage. If it comes to a fight, you stay behind me. Cast whatever you need to cast, but I’d appreciate a heads up if you’re about to set anything on fire.”

He thought he saw Evan’s lips twitch at that, but couldn’t be sure. They made their way through the parking garage and up a flight of stairs, exiting into a brightly lit art gallery filled the kind of colorful, modern art and sculpture that Tommy had never really been able to get into. His only exposure to art of any kind had all been religious iconography for the longest time…he didn’t think he’d seen a painting or sculpture that didn’t feature Jesus, Mary, or some saint or angel until almost a century after he’d first met Sal. To his surprise, a couple of the gallery workers greeted Evan by name, their eyes flicking to Tommy curiously.

“Who’s your friend?” one of them, an older Hispanic woman with a thick braid of iron-gray hair hanging down her back, asked coyly. She looked Tommy up and down, her dark eyes sparkling with mirth.

Evan ducked his head, hiding his briefly panicked look, before shrugging one shoulder. “This is Kin—uh, T-Tommy. We’re just hanging out, Maria.”

Even stumbling over it, Tommy’s name sounded very nice in Evan’s mouth, he decided.

‘Maria’ looked Tommy up and down again and winked at Evan, who ducked again and hurried off with a quick wave, his cheeks turning a pretty shade of pink. As Tommy followed the witch, he heard Maria lean over to her co-worker and whisper in Spanish, “Damn it, I didn’t even realize my grandson might have a chance!”

Tommy caught up to Evan easily, amusement sparking through him despite the possibly dire situation they were walking into. “You’ve got a fan club,” he remarked, and Evan made a strangled little noise in the back of his throat.

“She’s been trying to fix me up with her neighbor’s daughter for like three months,” Evan mumbled, heading for a pair of glass doors that did, indeed, open up onto a covered walkway lined with potted topiary. “The temp agency’s closed on Sundays, but they share a floor with a nonprofit that usually has people in on the weekends,” he continued. Tommy nodded and followed him out into the warm LA afternoon.

As he always did whenever he was outside in the daytime, he looked out through the spaces between the potted trees at the sunlit streets—frustratingly close, and yet forever out of his reach. If he were to step out into the sunlight, he would no longer immediately burst into flames (a fact he’d discovered in about sixty of the most terrifying seconds of either of his lives sometime in the late 1800’s when a feral vampire he and Sal had been hunting down as a favor to a local coven had somehow gotten the drop on him in the barn they’d chased it into). But sunlight was no longer the kiss of golden warmth he could only barely remember if he closed his eyes and concentrated very, very hard. It wasn’t instant death for him at his age, but even the briefest seconds of exposure were agonizing. Like his skin was being burned by pure acid.

Tommy wasn’t even sure if his memories of the sunlight were true memories, or just constructs he’d made up from poems and stories he’d heard over the years. He just knew he missed it. Missed it like he missed his mother’s face and voice, missed it like he missed the satisfaction of a good meal after a hard day’s work, missed it like the touch of a lover. Missed it like hundreds and thousands of other things that he could no longer experience, but more intensely.

He tore his eyes away from the sun-drenched street and followed Evan into the building that housed the temp agency Jonah Greenway had apparently been volunteering at. The lobby was completely deserted, but if the nonprofit Evan had mentioned was the only business in the building currently open, that wasn’t entirely surprising. Temp agencies and nonprofits were not typically known to require (or be able to afford) 24/7 security and reception services.

He automatically shifted in front of Evan to take point, faintly surprised when Evan immediately allowed it, falling into step just behind him. He was even more surprised when he realized how comfortable he felt with the witch on his six (to use the modern terminology). It was no small thing—he had been particular about who he would trust at his back before he’d been turned, and the centuries had only heightened that tendency. There wasn’t even any good reason to trust Evan behind him. The witch said he wanted to help, that he would assist Tommy in preventing the coven war that was brewing over the city, but Tommy had no particular reason to believe him.

He did, though.

He believed Evan easily. Completely. The same way that letting Evan go off to fend for himself, letting him leave Tommy’s side and his sight felt wrong this…this felt right.

They avoided the elevators, taking the stairwell instead. “I don’t suppose there’s anything you can do about the security cameras?” Tommy asked as they made their way up several flights. Josh would be willing to get into the building’s system and erase any footage of him and Evan, but he’d make Tommy pay for it. Somehow, some way, he’d make Tommy pay.

“The stairwell and the lobby are blind—none of the leases want to pay for building-wide security, so everyone’s just responsible for their own floor. I’ve heard a bunch of employees talk about how they go up and smoke on the roof during their lunch breaks. I can fry the cameras on the temp agency’s floor, but it’ll probably trigger an alarm.”

“So hasty exit. Check.”

As they closed in on the sixth floor, though, Evan suddenly halted on the stairs. “Wait—” he said, and when Tommy turned back to him, the witch was staring up towards the door one flight above them.

“What is it?” Tommy asked, sniffing the air curiously and straining to hear anything. Evan shook his head.

“Magic,” he said. “Someone’s been using magic here.”

Before Tommy could voice the question that sprang to his lips, he caught a familiar scent on the air and stiffened. “And I smell blood,” he said grimly. Evan sighed.

“What do you want to bet we found J—Greenway?” he asked rhetorically.

“I don’t take sucker’s bets,” Tommy said. “Remember, stay behind me.”

They hurried up the remaining stairs, the coppery smell of freshly spilled blood growing thicker by the second, and soon Tommy could feel the staticky charge of magic in the air as well. He listened intently at the door leading onto the temp agency’s floor, narrowing his eyes when he picked up on the watery, rasping breath of someone bleeding out on the floor. Fuck. If Greenway was alive, but injured, things had just gotten even more complicated.

He heard Evan mutter the same word he’d screamed in Gerrard’s mansion, and when he looked back over his shoulder, a ball of fire was dancing in Evan’s palm, He gave a slow nod of approval, and threw open the door.

Jonah Greenway was very, very dead.

The witch was lying on the tiled floor of the bland, featureless hallway that the stairwell let out on, surrounded by a small pool of swiftly cooling blood. His throat, wrists, even his thighs were torn and bloodied, flesh shredded like hamburger meat, barely clinging to the bone in some places. His eyes stared blankly up at the ceiling, his face a rictus of pain and terror.

About ten feet down the hallway, near the bank of elevators, was the source of the ragged, gasping breaths.

Tommy knew that coyotes were not unheard of in the less populated areas of LA, out toward the hills and the desert. But he’d never expected to see one right in the middle of the city.

“Oh no,” Evan breathed out, his voice thin and shaky. There was a soft whump of air as the fireball in Evan’s hands dissipated, and—contrary to what Tommy had just fucking warned him about—the witch darted around Tommy and raced for the coyote, skidding to his knees on the floor beside it. “Hey, hey, what happened? What can I do?” he asked frantically.

Greenway’s familiar, Tommy realized with a start as he raced forward, coming to a halt just at Evan’s shoulder. Of course, this had to be Greenway’s familiar. The creature was dying; Tommy could see that at a glance. Its belly had been ripped clean open, blood and viscera spilling out across the floor as it panted and twitched. Its muzzle and paws were stained scarlet, defensive wounds all over its body—the thing had put up a hell of a fight.

W—witch? I…I know…your…scent…

The animal didn’t speak. Tommy wasn’t entirely sure he heard the voice with his ears. And yet, it echoed around them, wheezy and full of pain.

“I’m Evan. I—I knew Jonah,” Evan said, gently laying his hand on the creature’s head. “I don’t…I’m not good at healing spells, but I can—”

Too late….too…late. N-nothing…nothing left…anyway. My witch…my witch betrayed…b-betrayed…I didn’t…didn’t real…realize. I thought…I thought…

“It’s okay,” Evan said, his voice soft and kind. “It’s okay, you didn’t know.”

Sh—should have…stupid…sh-should have k-known…too…late…

“Listen, Athena Grant sent us. You can still help make this right. What was Jonah doing here?” Evan asked urgently.

Athe…na? She…she knows… The coyote blinked hazily up at Evan. You—the w-witch my Jonah…sent…you lived… For a brief moment, the strange voice was filled with grateful relief. Jonah…he came for…h-hid the ev-evidence…here…get…Athena, get it…

“Whatever it is, I’ll make sure your coven leader gets it,” Evan promised. “What am I looking for?”

Hid it…th-they came for…I hid…the pl-planter…be-between… The coyote shuddered, a cluster of frothy, bloody bubbles spilling from its mouth. Evan pressed his lips together, gently stroking the creature’s head. Be…tween… the familiar’s voice whispered again.

Then it went still.

Tommy looked wildly around them, his eyes zeroing in on a set of decorative plastic ferns sitting in bronze-plated planters between each bank of elevators. “Is that what it was talking about? What are we looking for?” he demanded, standing up and stalking over to the nearest planter. He plunged his hand into the decorative gravel that lined the pot, sifting rapidly through it, only to find nothing. “Which one? Between what?”

“Not between something,” Evan said slowly, getting to his feet after gently closing the familiar’s eyes. “In the between.”

Tommy stared at him blankly. “What?”

Instead of answering, Evan walked over to the planters and stood in front of each one, peering straight forward before walking to the next one. After a moment, he paused by the next to last planter, and when Tommy followed the witch’s line of sight, he realized the planter was angled slightly so that its reflection appeared in the polished, stainless-steel doors of the elevator across the hallway from it. To his utter confusion, Evan started walking straight towards the elevators, keeping his body at the right angle so that his wavery, blurred reflection appeared in the elevator doors as well. As soon as he did, he paused, adjusting his position and holding out his hand so that it looked like it was hovering just over the planter in the reflection. Then he muttered a short phrase in the musical, lilting language of all his spells and closed his fist over empty air.

When he turned to face Tommy again, he held out his hand and opened his fingers to reveal a flash drive cupped in his palm.

Tommy couldn’t keep the surprise off his face. “Well. Never heard of that before. That’s handy.”

“Wonder what’s on it?” Evan said quietly. He handed it over to Tommy without protest, and Tommy tucked it safely into his front pocket.

“Something worth dying over, apparently,” Tommy said, and Evan flinched a little, turning to look sadly at Greenway’s body. “Come on, I don’t hear anyone else on this floor, but we should get out of here. Can you do your thing with the cam—what?”

Evan had frozen, his eyes going wide. “Jonah kept a silencing spell on his office. All the time,” he blurted out.

As if to emphasize the implications of that, Tommy became aware of footsteps. They seemed to appear mid-step, as if the person simply appeared out of thin air. Or stepped out of an office with magic fucking soundproofing. Several footsteps, all of them different in cadence and tone…several people. And Tommy wasn’t dumb enough to think they didn’t belong to a witch or a vampire. Without preamble, he grabbed Evan’s elbow and hustled him over to the nearest elevator, jabbing at the call button and hoping against hope that one of the cars was already on this floor.

No such luck. Because of fucking course.

The office door swung open, and an unfamiliar vampire stepped out of the temp agency’s lobby. Followed closely by at least two others. Even across the room, Tommy could feel the power rolling off them, the strength that only came from drinking witch blood. It appeared they had found Greenway’s killers.

The lead vampire, a tall white man with hair so pale his buzzcut almost made him look bald and the air of someone who had been used to violence long before he was turned, froze at the sight of them for a bare instant. Then his gaze sharpened, zeroing in on Evan. A nasty smirk twisted his lips.

“Well, well, well. Looks like this job just got even easier, boys. Someone brought our last loose end right to us, special delivery.”

#911 abc #911 tv show #mywriting #buck x tommy #evan buckley #evan buck buckley #tommy kinard #bucktommy #shameless self promotion #firepilot #firebeast #tevan #tevan fic #kinley #kinkley

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sparklecarehospital · 1 year ago

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Collection of information about Nightstars for reference until I have a proper FAQ set up

The AU centers around the fact that Barry and Uni grew up in the same town. It is NOT a typical "high school AU", it's using a canonical fact to create a plausible realistic alternate route their lives could have theoretically taken (with some small things changed for narrative purposes).

They are both seniors in high school in the AU, but they met in Kindergarten. The AU's working title was "Barruni Howial AU" because it was a similar scenario to Howie and Ally meeting in Kindergarten.

They are not in a relationship yet when the comic starts. You'll learn more about this as you read.

Due to the nature of it centering around specifically Barry and Uni living in the same town growing up and it not being a general high school AU, the other Sparklecare cast (besides their parents) does not appear in the AU and never meet these two.

Despite the fact the other canon characters aren't in the AU, there are new fun characters that you guys will enjoy too! If you like the personalities and relationship dynamics of the kids in Cometcare you'll definitely appreciate these guys and the shenanigans they get up to.

The AU takes place at the start of the year 6008, so a lot of the things you see including general culture and environments will have a very distinct 2000s vibe to them! Barry and Uni also have different hatchdates in order to make them the same age and in the same grade at this point in time.

Barry and Uni have no siblings in this AU to avoid spoilers for canon family dynamics.

This AU, similar to Cometcare, is relatively slice of life and fairly lighthearted compared to the canon comic but that doesn't mean there won't ever be anything negative or bad happening.

#text #nightstars au

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strtravels · 3 days ago

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The crisp air of an afternoon in autumn filled his lungs and – he had to admit, he enjoyed this more than he would have admitted at first. Just a short trip. Just Howie and him, as well as the horses. They had left this morning to attend some business at the outskirts of the dukedom and now were returning to his residence; taking the direct route through the small forest, that soon would open up to wide land overlooking the sea. Perhaps he missed this sometimes – the simplicity of travelling by horseback, and how much it reminded him of the days when he had been young and carried less weight on his shoulders. Oh, he was thinking about the old days so much lately, wasn’t he?

“ – It shouldn’t be long now.” He turned his attention to his nephew, with a hint of a smile on his lips. As he had never been blessed with children of his own, he quite enjoyed having his family over. His nieces and nephews. Howie, in contrast to the others, had taken up somewhat permanent residence now, too. He couldn’t complain. It was nice to have more life willing the stone walls – And there really wasn’t a boring day with Howie, was there?

“ – perhaps then you can tell me about your newest idea over some dinner.” | @earthdcfended

#earthdcfended #[edward; verse eight] ʟᴇᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴀɴᴅ ᴘʟᴀʏ ᴀ ᴡᴀʟᴛᴢ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴍɪsᴄʜɪᴇғ [royalty au]

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birdmitosis · 1 year ago

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Fanmix-slash-playlist for Slay the Princess! Song list under the cut. There’s 96 songs on this fanmix/playlist, and it’s about 6 and a half hours long.

Some of the songs were not available on Spotify, and they will be linked to on YouTube below. (Some artists have 2 songs on the playlist; aeseaes, The Crane Wives, Hozier, and Stars each have 3 because they were just too perfect. Also, some songs are definitely on here because of other people's fanvids or even just suggestions, and I've made note of and credited all of those!) (All fanmixes/playlists are a perpetual WIP.)

aeseaes - All Things Devour

aeseaes - Semantics

aeseaes - Tongues

AG - Terrible Thing

t h e . a i m s - Violence & Blood

The Airborne Toxic Event - Poor Isaac

Alanis Morissette - Everything (friend suggestion)

Amanda Palmer & The Grand Theft Orchestra - Trout Heart Replica

Amber Run - I Found

The Amazing Devil - The Horror and the Wild

The Amazing Devil - That Unwanted Animal

Andrew Bird - Imitosis

Andrew Bird - Sisyphus

August Greenwood - How To Let Go

AURORA - Your Blood

Baby Storme - This City is a Graveyard

Band of Horses - No One's Gonna Love You

Beth Crowley - Monster

Blindside - Withering

Bring Me the Horizon - Deathbeds

Camera Obscura - Fifth in Line to the Throne

Caravan Palace - Avalanches

Charming Disaster - Ouroboros

Chonny Jash - The Soul Eclectic (inspiration)

City and Colour - Little Hell

Coldplay - The Hardest Part

Coldplay - Square One

Collective Soul - The World I Know

Cosmo Sheldrake - By Being With You

The Crane Wives - Curses

The Crane Wives - Hollow Moon (inspiration)

The Crane Wives - Tongues & Teeth

Crystal Castles - Suffocation (inspiration)

David Bowie - Changes

The Echoing Green - Starling

Electric President - Some Crap About the Future

Elizabeth & the Catapult - Do Not Hang Your Head

Elizabeth & the Catapult - My Goodbye

Ellie Goulding - Salt Skin

Eurielle - Hate Me

The Feeling - Mr Grin

fin - Ship in a Bottle

Florence + The Machine - Kiss With a Fist

Florence + The Machine - What the Water Gave Me

Forgive Durden - A Dead Person Breathed on Me!

Foxtails Brigade - Long Route

Foxtails Brigade - Nun but the Lost

Ghost and Pals - DEATHBODY

Ghost and Pals - In Iolite

Gregory and the Hawk - Boats & Birds

Hannah Fury - Angels & Absinthe

Howie Day - Collide

Hozier - Francesca

Hozier - In the Woods Somewhere

Hozier - Who We Are

IAMX - Bernadette

I Monster - Who Is She?

Jack Conte - Kitchen Fork (inspiration)

Jack Stauber's Micropop - Choice (inspiration)

The Jezabels - Hurt Me

Jhariah - Flight of the Crows

Journey to Bethlehem OST - We Become We

Kate Nash - Paris

Kiltro - Softy

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Magenta Mountain

lasah - taixu (inspiration)

Lisa Hannigan - Oh Undone

Little Dragon - Twice

The Lord Dog Bird - The Shedding Path

Ludo - The Horror of Our Love

Madilyn Mei - Knotted Constellations

Meredith Brooks - Bitch

MGMT - Little Dark Age

Michelle Branch - Everywhere

Mili (feat. KIHOW) - In Hell We Live, Lament

Mirah - Don't Die in Me

Mirah - You've Gone Away Enough

Moulettes - Bird of Paradise, Pt. II

The Mountain Goats - No Children (inspiration)

The Mountain Goats - Sudden Oak Death

Mr.Kitty - After Dark

múm - Prophecies & Reversed Memories

The Nor'easters - 715 — CRΣΣKS (inspiration)

Olivier Bibeau - Better Run, Better Hide

Passion Pit - Seaweed Song

PEGGY - Villains Aren't Born (They're Made)

Perfectly Human - Bad As

Perfectly Human - Fly Again

Racoon - Took a Hit

Rainbow Kitten Surprise - Devil Like Me

Reinaeiry - When the Sun Loves the Moon

Ricky Montgomery - This December

RIProducer - Fruiting Bodies

RIProducer - What Gave It Away?

Sarah Blasko - Bird on a Wire

Satin Puppets - Bad Moon Rising

Seeming - Someday Lily

Sharon Van Etten - It's Not Like

Shayfer James - Boots Worn Through (inspiration)

Sheena Ringo - la salle de bain (inspiration)

Sleeping At Last - Mind

Sleeping At Last - Taste

SNAKE POOL - FIGURE IN THE BACKGROUND (inspiration)

Snow Patrol - Open Your Eyes

Solas Composer - He Who Devoured the Dark II

Southwest Statistic - Fairy Tale (friend suggestion)

Stars - He Dreams He's Awake

Stars - The Night Starts Here

Stars - No One Is Lost

Subsignal - The Bells of Lyonesse (inspiration)

Sunset Rubdown - For the Pier (and Dead Shimmering)

Talking Heads - And She Was

Trespassers William - I Know

TV on the Radio - Stork & Owl

Will Wood - Vampire Reference in a Minor Key

Woodkid - Ghost Lights

#slay the princess #stp #fanmix #playlist #i am probably going to add to this a lot #and it's already loooong #but man so many songs make me think of this game #can an entire game be a blorbo?#I JUST ADDED ANOTHER ONE IMMEDIATELY #i am beyond parody #eta 12/11/24 added even more!!

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lithopsy · 10 months ago

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thinking about how batshit i thought howie’s amnesia ending was before i played poe’s route… looking back, it’s still crazy but it’s not, like, “my uncle that got turned into a poodle by an evil magician has decided to remain a poodle in the afterlife because he likes it actually” crazy

#606.txt #fictif #fictif roadkill #poe colestead #howie yan #had a terrible night and decided to replay the amnesia ending #which i still think is the better ending tbh #it didn’t fix me or make me worse but a secret third thing #the party ended two years ago but he’s still here and it’s me analyzing fictif endings when the game is defunct

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seven-thewanderer · 26 days ago

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Okay I may not be drawing rn, but I wanted to add some things for my Strayed! AU:

Since Sun in my AU is a femboy, I still wanna add even though he enjoys dressing more femininely at times, he’s still a guy So he doesn’t want to be a girl, he just likes occasionally dressing ‘like a girl’ :3

ALSO

ALSO ALSO ALSO

I was just gonna leave it at the previous thing about Sun but then I remembered this thing I decided while I was gone and I really really wanna share that and I cannot believe I almost forgot it so let me just actually get to the point and stop quick-rambling:

In the Strayed!AU, I kinda wanted to go Stitchwraith route with Dazzle (or like. Whatever that other canon FNAF animatronic is with the multiple kid souls in one body)

So… Dazzle isn’t only Evelyn… but all of the kids :T

Huey, Howie, Jamie, James, and Jackie. All 6 of em

And they didn’t realize this until after Moon did his scan & made Dazzle (specifically Evelyn) a body, so they still had to put all of them into that one body as Moon had to then make 5 more bodies.

…so that does lead to Strayed!AU Sun trying to be a Father of 6-

But yeah I still haven’t designed them all yet, since I don’t know much about those other kids yet, except for the occasional info from the Eclipse and Puppet show…

But here’s kinda what I got so far (for when they get separate bodies btw):

Evelyn’s body is still tiny deer

Howie’s a fox (because he was close to Foxy in EAPS I’m pretty sure)

and I’m still stumped on the rest of the kids, because I’ve been trying to use the LAES July 16th Video (around the 12 min mark), the SAMS July 16th Vid w/ Dazzle (around 7:12?) and some videos on EAPS to figure out each kid that was close with an animatronic, but I keep getting confused

Cus I think James might’ve been close with Monty, and I think Jamie was close with Lefty? But I wanted to make them similar animals cus they’re twins (according to SAMS Sun) and idk if an alligator is close enough to a bear and then also I can’t find stuff about Huey and Jackie on EAPS, and also Sun never mentions Jackie on SAMS if I heard him correctly? He mentions Jackie’s name on LAES when he lists the names, but on SAMS I heard him say ‘Kid’ and use ‘he’, so if Jackie was called Kid and was a boy then okay, but other than that I couldn’t find any Jackie info, and then I also just couldn’t find stuff about Huey either? And then I think Howie was the one close with Foxy so I made him a fox, which I feel like fits him being quiet, and Evelyn’s obviously a deer.

But yeah I had that idea, but now I’ve just put myself in confusion…

#random post #TSBS AU #Strayed!AU #Strayed! July 16th #Strayed! Dazzle #Strayed! Dazzle the Deer #Strayed! Dazzle Deer #Strayed! Sun #I’m sorry this was gonna be a short post #but now I’m just left in confusion #I’m probably just gonna make everything Sun said about ‘Kid’ apply to ‘Jackie’ cus idk who Kid could even be…#also I’m not sure cus I just made this up right when I was about to press Post Now:#I could make Huey a monkey?#cus Huey likes hero stuff and I feel like a monkey could be a hero idk it gives me hero vibes #also if Huey’s energetic I can picture him sometimes yoinking things with his tail or something #Idk I’ll make a more certain list when I find out…#Again sorry this post is such a mess XD

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ramblings-from-the-ether · 1 year ago

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Read your EE Prohibition AU Intro. 10/10. Nice work on translating Naven, & I fear for what's going to happen to Giovanni. I wonder, how is Howie doing in all of this? And since Prohibition is eventually going to end, how would Naven prepare for that? (On an unrelated note, you can just ignore the 2nd Evil Genius ask I sent. Now that I look back on it, it kinda sucks.)

Our thanks.

On Giovanni's count, his boys in yellow are hired or convinced to act as grunts or support staff for Naven's operations. He himself is a surprisingly capable team leader with the nice ability to raise morale conveniently (like for example with Molly) for Naven in terms of 'loyalty costs'. Giovanni does not have much access into the deeper workings of Bliss Ocean so keeping him around is a low cost positive.

Howie is the contracted engineer/repairman who is at most an external (of the illegal business) associate. Very reliable no matter the job.

Naven actually started out as an apple farmer who sold apple cider on the side until it became the more sought after good. And even without the alcohol money, his connections around that corner of the country plus commissions for the cross-border logistics routes with Canada have made him a prohibition magnate ready to go into bigger opportunities (he is afterall a big fish in just one city).

#epithet erased #epithet erased au #giovanni potage #howie honeyglow #mafia au #prohibition au

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adamwatchesmovies · 6 months ago

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Little Monsters (1989)

While I didn't enjoy this film, that doesn't mean you won't. No matter what I say, the people involved in this project did it: they actually made a movie. That's something to be applauded. With that established...

I can’t believe this is the third time I’ve seen Little Monsters. The first time was in 2012. I didn't like it but my review was too short so I re-watched it AGAIN in 2016. I didn’t like it then either. In fact, I gave it a 0 score. Is the third time the charm?

After moving to a new house and new school, Brian (Fred Savage) is miserable. His parents (Margaret Whitton and Daniel Stern) are always fighting, he’s getting blamed for every random thing that happens around the house and his brother Eric (Ben Savage) keeps bugging him about monsters living under his bed. Then, Brian discovers there IS a monster living under the bed. His name is Maurice (Howie Mandel) and he loves to pull pranks.

The worst part of this movie is Howie Mandel. His character is so annoying you’ll reach for your torch and pitchfork seconds after he appears. He’s always talking, always trying to make you laugh, always moving and gesticulating. I won’t blame the actor. I’ll blame director Richard Alan Greenberg, along with writers Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott. The mantra must’ve been “If someone isn’t talking, the audience won’t be laughing”. They couldn’t have been more wrong. This film only contains one funny joke and to give credit where credit is due, it’s from Mandel. Nonetheless, you can’t stand him. He’s playing this imitation Beetlejuice - one of many we saw starting in 1989. I’ve only ever seen two fast-talking outlandish supernatural sidekicks that worked - The Genie from Aladdin and the aforementioned ghost with the most. Everyone else you want to beat to a pulp with a shovel before burying them in the backyard.

With the main draw being as pleasant as a dental exam, Little Monsters was instantaneously doomed but the problems don't stop there. This film is so mean-spirited you’ll wind up cheering for the villains and hating the heroes. Case and point is an extended scene in which Brian and Maurice travel from one house to another, pulling pranks on children while they sleep. They paint the walls, put plastic wrap on toilets, peanut butter on phones, etc. That doesn’t sound so bad but they shave a cat off-screen and then take revenge upon Ronnie (Devin Ratray), a bully who tormented Brian and his brother earlier. They put cat food in his lunch and replace his apple juice with urine. I know kids pretend that any yellow liquid is piss all the time. The difference is that in this movie, we see Maurice gulp down all Ronnie's juice so he can turn around (away from the camera) pull out his blue monster dick and fill Ronnie’s bottle. the movie goes too far, particularly since we get to see Ronnie attempt to wash down the taste of the cat food with it the next day.

Speaking of Ronnie, I feel like doing a bit of nitpicking. I mean, why not? This movie is mean. It deserves a bit of its own medicine. Here’s how his introduction works. Brian and his little brother are on the bus. After an argument (related to the mysterious pranks around the house), Brian tosses Eric's lunch out the window. That's when Ronnie enters. The lunch hit him in the head. Ronnie threatens Eric, Brian defends his little brother and after a quick verbal back-and-forth, Ronnie is humiliated and gets off the bus. Wait. What happened? Was Ronnie part of the route? Like was he supposed to be picked up by the sassy bus driver? Or did she just let him hop on randomly? Either way, I guess he walked the rest of the way. Eventually, the character returns for the final act when he is recruited as one of Brian’s allies against Boy (Frank Whaley), the monster world’s evil ruler. I know what the movie is trying to do. The idea is that Brian and his bully are setting aside their differences for the greater good. Maybe they’ll even become friends. Inside the movie though, this alliance means nothing. Ronnie doesn’t know Brian was responsible for the cat food and piss in his lunch. He's not "forgiving" anything.

I've become more invested than I should in a movie that doesn’t deserve to be remembered. Little Monsters is mean, gross and ugly. The monsters are unappealing and not even in a “they’re monsters, they should be kind of scary” kind of way. One look and you'll “No thanks”. In fact, you can skip the look. Just say “No thanks” to Little Monsters. (February 10, 2023)

#Little Monsters #movies #films #movie reviews #film reviews #Richard Alan Greenberg #Terry Rossio #Ted Elliott #Fred Savage #Daniel Stern #Margaret Whitton #Rick Ducommun #Howie Mandel #1989 movies #1989 films

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synergysilhouette · 2 years ago

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I miss Fictif, but it was far from flawless

I actually got into this series because of "The Arcana" (plus romance games don't often let you play as anything other than a female lead), but I found that even though I liked it's potential, it fell short a lot of the time, either romantically or story-wise. I'm obviously disappointed that I can't customize my character's appearence, but I think I'm in the minority with that one. Allow me to list my grievances and nit-picks with the app.

In general--Female routes are short and underdeveloped. I don't even romance women IRL, but this was just sad. Anika, Tess, Valentina, and Celia are the only female love interests to have solo routes while the rest are in one-route stories--and Valentina didn't even get a route before Dorian took over and effectively stopped updating the app!

"Two Against the World"--As much as I love Nicky, this story turned me off as a gay male player. The writing feels female-coded, and no acknowledgement of the stigma of two men being in a relationship in 1920s New York is ever mentioned. It'd make more sense if the setting was INSPIRED by 1920s New York, but in reality was a completely different location--but that wasn't the case. It felt like a big mifire in storytelling.

"Heir to Love & Lies"--I cannot overstate how much of a disappointment this story was. In both Sergio and Chava's route, Chava starts off very friendly and sweet before becoming aggressive and secretive. This doesn't really make any sense since he's your childhood best friend and (spoiler) he doesn't kill La Dama Rosa in either route. Plus in Chava's route, Aurora becomes very cruel and blames us for getting her family (re)involved with the cartel, even though in actuality she involved us--a point Chava tells us to let go, and then we apologize. For what?! And the end of Sergio's route is confusing, as you go through a dream sequence where he either kills you and takes your money or you get him arrested for killing La Dama Rosa. I think it's supposed to represent your fears and mistrust of him and symbolize how you need to let your concerns go if you wanna marry him, but it feels uncomfortable since it's not explained well at all. It felt like we just saw the future and we said "I don't care." Plus he asks us stuff about kids, our wedding, and where we'd live, and he took NONE of my decisions into account for the final chapter.

"Roadkill"--I was SO confused on what was the result of the wish and what wasn't. Did Douglas' wish create werewolves, vampires, and witches along with zombies? Or did they already exist before the zombie wish? If it's the latter, there's no need to involve zombies. Plus Howie's amnesia arc in the last chapter was rushed and unnecessary, while Poe came off as judgmental and snarky and Tess' route was short and rushed.

"Catch Me in Miami"--I couldn't get into Miguel because he was so obviously a bad boy and I don't do bad boys. Maybe if he was more coy about it like Nicky than being obvious about it, I'd be into him.

"For the Love of Gods"--Great potential, but rushed and I DESPISE how we're forced to romance everyone. Why can't I just choose how many people I'm interested in?

"Ghosted"--Probably my least favorite story. Jesse's ghost story does sound interesting, but his personality and how rushed it was ruined it for me.

"Hollywoodland"--Rushed, but it had great potential.

"Snow Falling in Love"--It felt like a waste not to tie this with "Roadkill" due to Sawyer's involvement, and Elise was CRAZY obsessed with us.

"Courting the Crown"--Beautiful Potential, but again, rushed, rushed, rushed.

"The Last Legacy"--Probably the best plot of them all, but Felix and Sage weren't my type physically or personality-wise; I'd rather go for Felix's dads.

I didn't include other stories because they either weren't finished or I didn't complete them.

#fictif #dorian #nix hydra #the arcana

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boyd-connors · 2 years ago

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— GUIDANCE

It was the first time Boyd had ever been asked to speak with Mattie’s teacher outside the regular, twice-yearly parent/teacher conferences. He attributed it more to his daughter’s nature than any outstanding parenting on his part, but Mattie had always been a good student — attentive, bright, and courteous. The only thing ever vaguely approaching concern from her teachers was that she occasionally lacked confidence, but all things considered, the feedback tended towards ‘whatever you’re doing, keep up the good work.’ As a single father who was often the youngest on ‘Bring Your Parent to School Day,’ he needed all the validation he could get.

But Boyd had a feeling he knew what the topic of conversation would be as soon as Mrs. Wheeler singled him out in the pick-up line. And it wouldn’t be to tell him he was doing such a great job...

“Mr. Connors, mind if we have a quick word?”

He’d expected to be led back to her classroom, to sit down at the tiny desk with Mattie’s colorful nametag taped up in the left corner, and be told what he already knew in an incriminating tone. ‘Matilda’s grades have been slipping. She’s struggling to keep up. Is something going on at home?’ And then he’d have to shamefully explain that no, nothing was happening, except that it was. That Mattie’s mother was back, and he hadn’t the nerve to tell her, but the girl was too perceptive not to know something was wrong. The very thought was humiliating, and it wasn’t as though he didn’t feel judged enough for his situation without being called a bad father on top of everything else.

But instead they took an unfamiliar route, stopping outside a door with a placard proclaiming it led to the office of Howard Katcher, Guidance Counselor.

Boyd stepped in like a child being sent to the principal’s office, expecting a stern-faced man behind an intimidating desk, all dark wood and leather in way that reeked of scholarly excellence. He’d never had to see either the principal or the guidance counselor in his own schooling career, so his expectation was based largely on what he’d seen in movies, the high school dramas of his youth where any authority figure was an automatic threat. Instead, the room was pleasantly cozy, a small desk tucked in the corner while the majority of the room was left occupied by a group of comfy-looking chairs and sofas. The man he could only assume was Howard Katcher, Guidance Counselor was hunched over his desk, but looked up and approached brightly as soon as he heard the door open.

“Mr. Connors! Nice to meet you. Please call me Howie,” the man greeted, and even if Boyd hadn’t been meeting him under these precise circumstances, he would have immediately guessed this was the sort of man who worked with children for a living. Though he must have been in his late 50′s at least, Howie radiated youthful energy, his wispy hair and sweater vest rumpled in a way that set forth a sudden, vivid image of an exasperated wife who sent him out into the world everyday knowing all her hard work to make her husband presentable would go completely to shit the second there was a kid in need of cheering up. Despite himself, Boyd immediately liked the man, and found himself responding, “call me Boyd” as they shook hands.

The three of them — Boyd, Mrs. Wheeler, and Howie — all sat facing each other in the collection of couches, Boyd feeling like an island sat on one all alone. He looked between the two educators, wondering who would start, or if he was expected to ask before they began.

“Mr. Connors,” Mrs. Wheeler started, her face kind, but impassive. “Boyd,” she ventured again, and he felt his stomach swoop. It had seemed like the polite thing to do, to offer up a more informal greeting, but it sounded wrong on her tongue — like she was only saying it to soften a later blow. “I’m sure you are aware that Matilda has been struggling in class. Her test scores have dipped, but more troubling, she’s having difficulty focusing during lessons. She’s stopped participating and, at times, it seems as though she’s not paying attention at all.”

She paused, allowing this information to sink in. Boyd felt the sudden urge like he needed to defend his daughter, and himself by extension. “It’s- been a weird time. I mean, the holidays and... I should probably be better about enforcing her bedtime, and some mornings I’m too tired to make her a proper breakfast...” It sounded as lame to him as he was sure it did to them, and he petered out as he watched them exchange furtive glances.

“Boyd,” Howie said, his face full of sympathy — and okay, he took it back, Boyd didn’t like him at all... “We’re not here to point fingers. In fact, we believe we may know what’s the cause of this behavior.” Boyd’s face no doubt looked stricken as he imagined for a moment Nadia storming the school, demanding to see her daughter. Would she really be so bold? But no, Nadia didn’t seem to care nearly enough, and surely the school would have call him immediately if she had. But he didn’t put it past her to try something more insidious, and the thought put him even more on edge...

“As you may know, we’re required to do routine audiology testing,” the guidance counselor continued. “Matilda was tested last year, but in light of her recent performance, we thought it best to test her again. I’m sorry to say, there’s evidence of significant hearing loss.”

Boyd had been so wrapped up in his thoughts of Nadia, expecting this conversation to go a certain way, that the words significant hearing loss hit him like an unexpected freight train. “I’m sorry — h-hearing loss?” he stuttered.

“We can’t say for certain until you’re able to see a specialist — we have a list of wonderful audiologists we can refer you to — but given everything we do know, we have reason to believe this may be the root of it.”

“Hearing loss,” Boyd repeated, the words echoing dully behind the sudden thud of blood rushing through his ears. “Like, you’re saying that she’s deaf?” Mattie, his Mattie, she couldn’t be deaf — he talked to her all the time. She was perfectly healthy...

“No, not exactly,” Howie replied. “Certainly not now, and I’m not qualified to know to what extent it is or may one day be. I can only tell you that there are signs, and it’s my recommendation that you get her in to see a doctor as soon as you’re able.”

“Are you serious?” Boyd asked, the words coming out on a disbelieving chuckle. He still — it didn’t make sense to him. Mattie was fine. She’d been distracted lately, but that was his fault.

“I understand this may be hard to process, and we’re only at the beginning of a potentially long road. We can give you some resources to look over, set a time to discuss once you’ve had a chance to read them. Our focus is getting Matilda the support she needs. I’m sure we can all agree that’s our most important goal.”

We... Our... Boyd got the distinct sense he was being pyschologized, and if the inclusive language was supposed to make him feel better, it did anything but. He was the one who would have to deal with the fallout — and with everything else going on, he wasn’t sure he could handle anything more. A child with special needs... It didn’t seem possible when not even an hour ago, Mattie had been perfectly normal.

“... Is Mattie gonna be okay?” he asked finally. He knew that perhaps these two wouldn’t be able to answer that question, but he asked it anyway. He felt too numb for anything else, and he needed that reassurance. As a father, he tried his hardest to protect his daughter from the worst that life could throw at her, but he couldn’t protect her from this.

“We have no reason to believe she won’t be. There will be an adjustment, but there’s lots of resources we have at our disposal.” Resources, Boyd thought, those would cost money. There wasn’t a price tag he wouldn’t pay for his daughter’s well-being, but he was strapped enough as it was. How would he be able to provide for her the way she needed? No doubt the concern showed on his face because Howie continued, “Boyd, it’s clear you love your daughter. That’s what’s most important. As scary as this is, it’s probably tenfold for her. We need to take this one step at a time. There’s no need to panic. Why don’t you take the material, read it over, and we can talk again soon?”

Boyd simply nodded, too afraid of what time come out if he tried to speak. Most likely it would be nothing more than a sob, and the last thing he needed right now was to completely fall apart. Instead, he numbly accepted the pamphlets that were handed to him, a tremulous smile the only acknowledgment as Howie said his goodbyes.

Mattie waited for him on a bench near the front door, her legs idly kicking out beneath her while she waited. Boyd didn’t say a thing, just scooped her up into his arms, holding her for as long as she’d allow.

“Ok, daddy. Time to go home now.”

#muse #tag: matilda #important #plot drop #hearing loss tw

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