#i can't find it online so I'll have to scan it when I get back to my apartment after winter break

[asurrogateblog]

do you have any recommendations on how to get into The Doors lore?

(cheesy smile) I'm so glad you asked :)

this sounds kind of counter-intuitive, but I would actually recommend starting from The Lies and working your way backwards. the movie The Doors (1991), for instance, will provide you a great overarching lore framework as long as you understand going in that its not very accurate on the details (except for the concert sequences which are almost scary). after you watch it, you can research what it gets right and wrong, and get a clearer picture than you would from just doing that in the first place. if you're a big reader, the same goes for books like 'no one here gets out alive' (a classic) and 'light my fire' (ray's rpf autobiography).

the best place to get a real accurate picture of things (imo) is the guitarist robby krieger's autobiography 'set the night on fire'. of the three remaining doors after jim's death, robby is definitely the most reliable narrator, and in the book he goes out of his way to tell the "real" story to the best of his ability and dispel a lot of myths. but like I said, it kind of helps to know the myths beforehand.

you can find pdfs of all three books I mention here in my resources folder (along with jim's poetry if that interests you). robby's book is also on audiobook on spotify and its very well done.

[bi-bard]

The Angel, The Demon, and the University Student They "Adopted" - Aziraphale & Crowley Imagine [Good Omens]

Title: The Angel, The Demon, and the University Student They "Adopted"

Pairing: Aziraphale & Crowley X Platonic!Reader

Word Count: 2,071 words

Warning(s): headache, mention of break-up

Summary: In which a struggling college student stumbles upon a demon and an angel, who agree to help in any way they can.

Author's Note: to celebrate the announcement of the release date... and give a little comfort to those who are having a rough time in college right now.

----------------------

I had gone to that small bookshop for something to work on a paper.

I had been looking for it online, but nothing was affordable. My best option was going to be to find a small bookshop that didn't charge as much. I simply had my fingers crossed that it would work out.

I must've been walking around with my eyebrows furrowed for a little while because a man walked up to me. He was wearing a beige suit with a-little-too-perfectly white hair. He seemed friendly enough though.

"Can I help you find something," he asked. I paused for a moment. "Sorry, I'm the owner. I can tell you where everything is."

"Oh, okay," I chuckled. I pointed at a part of my paper where my potential sources had been scribbled down. "Um, yes. I'm looking for this... it's for a school paper."

"I see..." he muttered. "Wait here."

I nodded.

I watched him walk behind a set of shelves. There was maybe a minute of waiting before the man walked out again with the book in his hands.

"Oh, you are a lifesaver," I said excitedly. "Thank you! How much?"

He hesitated, staring at the book. As if he grabbed it without thinking about it but now was realizing that he was going to have to part with it.

"How about a deal," he offered after a few moments. "Once you're done with your paper, bring it back here in largely the same condition. No charge and you have no additional clutter to take up space in your home."

I grinned. "Sounds like a deal."

"Well, then, I wish you luck on your paper," he handed me the book

"Thank you," I said. I only took a few steps toward the door before stopping. "I didn't get your name."

He hesitated for a moment before replying, "A.Z. Fell."

"Oh, I thought... Sorry, I assumed this place had been open for a while, so I thought the name on the front was your father or something."

"Afraid not."

"Well, thank you again. I'll see you in a few days."

Which I did.

A few days later, my paper was done, and I walked back into the little bookshop.

"Mr. Fell," I called.

He rounded the corner. "You're back."

"I'm here to return your book," I held up the book as evidence. "Perfect condition."

"Thank you so much," he said as he grabbed it from me. "I hope you get a good grade on that paper of yours."

"Me too," I chuckled. "In all honestly, I don't think I've read it without just a little more of my brain frying."

"Oh no," he mumbled. "I... I could read it over for you. If that would help, of course. I won't force you to give me your paper."

"I... I can't ask you to do that."

"Well, that's precisely why I'm offering," he grinned at me.

I grinned back. "Okay. When would you like me to bring it by?"

"Do you have time now?"

"Um, yeah, sure."

"Here," he led me into a corner of the shop with a small table. "You get your paper put together and I'll make us some tea."

"Okay," I nodded.

As he walked out, I sat down and unzipped my bag, grabbing the binder that held my paper. I also grabbed a red pen just so it was more convenient.

When he came back, he placed a mug in front of me. I grinned and thanked him.

"You can go find a book to enjoy if you'd rather that than watch me read..." he looked at the paper in front of him. "(Y/n)."

"Thank you."

I took his advice. I took the mug of tea and started pacing around the collection of books. I was scanning the spines of the books when the doors of the shop slammed open.

"Angel!"

I jumped at the sound, looking over at whoever had stormed in. Another man, dressed in all black, sunglasses sitting on his face.

"Who are you?"

"(Y/n)," I said. "Who are you?"

"I have told you to not run in here shouting like that," Mr. Fell walked out of the corner that he had been hiding in.

"Who is this," the other man pointed at me.

"I just told you my name," I replied.

"How am I meant to trust you?"

"Why would I lie about my name?"

"Don't know, you tell me-"

"Stop it," Mr. Fell cut him off. "This is (Y/n). I am reading over a paper that they wrote for school."

"Why?"

"Because it's kind," he turned back to me. "(Y/n), this is... Anthony."

"Nice to meet you," I nodded to Anthony.

"Yeah, you too," he muttered, barely paying me any mind as he spoke to Mr. Fell. "We need to talk."

"I am busy-"

"Do I look like I care?"

"I can come back later," I spoke up.

"No, no, please, I promised to read your paper," Mr. Fell stopped me. "Anthony will simply have to wait."

"Excuse me," Anthony snapped.

"You heard me perfectly well," Mr. Fell mumbled. "Please, stay. I'll finish this paper."

Anthony glared at me as Mr. Fell turned around and went back to the table he had been sitting at.

If you had told me that day that the little bookshop was going to become such a place of comfort for me, then I am not sure that I would have believed you.

But it did.

I continued going to that little shop whenever I had the time. I would study, read, or just help with whatever I could help with. Mr. Fell was not a fan of me doing "so much" work around the shop, but I insisted. He had given me a safe space. The least that I could do was help him maintain it.

I grew closer to him as time went on. I even grew closer to Anthony.

Or Crowley, as I soon learned.

I still chuckled from time to time over how they told me their real names. I had been sitting at the table, scribbling notes for one of my courses.

They both stood in front of me silently until I noticed them. I raised an eyebrow at them. That's when they confessed that their names were fake.

When they told me their real names, I felt bad for chuckling. They both looked a bit confused.

"I'm sorry, but... your fake name just used your real name as a last name," I pointed to Crowley and then to Aziraphale. "And yours was your real name with a couple of letters taken out."

"Alright, we get it," Crowley grumbled.

"Thank you for telling me," I added. "I mean it."

"You're welcome," Aziraphale replied. Crowley didn't say the same until Aziraphale looked over at him with a somewhat grumpy look.

The three of us were only closer after that.

It was nice. Having that small support group that I could turn to.

Aziraphale was always ready to help. As soon as I opened the door of the shop, he was ready for whatever assistance I asked for. A hug, an extra set of eyes on an assignment, a quiet place to read a new book.

Crowley acted cold, but I could tell that he cared.

I came in one day with one of the worst headaches I had ever experienced. Aziraphale was gone, but Crowley had been waiting for him. I walked into the building with the heels of my hands pressed into my eyes. After grumpily explaining what was happening, I walked off to put my bag down and hide in the corner.

He waited for a moment before following me.

"Come here," he said.

"What," I asked.

"Come here," he repeated, holding his arms open.

I kept my eyebrows furrowed as I stepped forward. Once I was close enough to him, he grabbed my arm and pulled me forward into a hug.

"Oh," I mumbled before slowly hugging him back. "This is nice."

"Don't call me that."

I chuckled. "I didn't call you nice."

"Oh...," he muttered. "Well... don't get any clever ideas."

"Yeah, sure, whatever you want, Crowley."

I closed my eyes for a minute, holding onto him a little tighter.

I don't know what happened, but I could feel my headache slowly fading away as we hugged. It felt like it was there one minute and gone the next. I let out a sharp breath when it was gone. It felt like a weight had been lifted off of my head.

"Thank you," I said after a while.

"Yeah, whatever."

That may have been the closest I ever got to a you're welcome with him and I was okay with that. For the time being.

I don't know if I truly realized how much Crowley and Aziraphale cared for me until I walked in crying.

I felt like a child. I was crying as I walked down the sidewalk.

When I made it to the shop, I almost sprinted inside.

Aziraphale jumped at the force I used to open the door. Any scolding died as soon as he saw me.

"Oh, dear," he muttered, walking over to me. "What happened to you?"

He pulled me into a hug as I cried. I hid my face in his shoulder, clinging to his suit a bit as I did. I saw Crowley walk out from around the corner.

"What's going on," he asked.

I stepped back. I went to speak but nothing came out.

"Come on," Aziraphale guided me to my normal corner, guiding me to sit down. I dropped my bag on the floor and wiped my eyes. "Take your time."

Crowley sat in the spot next to me while Aziraphale stayed standing.

"There's... There's this guy," I explained. "I... We were seeing each other for a little while. We went on a few dates. I thought... I thought it was going well. And then, he just... changed. And he sent me this."

I tossed my unlocked phone on the table. Aziraphale grabbed it first. I heard a disgusted sound escape him.

"That is just... despicable," he muttered, placing the phone down.

Crowley reached out and grabbed the phone. I saw his face twist in disgust as a reaction.

"I think he sounds like a waste of time," he said as he placed my phone down. "It's stupid to waste an ounce more of your time on him."

"Crowley!" Aziraphale was fast to scold him.

"What?"

"Now is not the time to insult (Y/n) about their relationship!"

"I'm not! I'm only insulting them if they decide to spend any more time on this person. What I did was just an example of bluntness."

Aziraphale gave Crowley a look before turning back to me with a soft grin. "I am going to make you some tea. You just relax. And Crowley..."

Crowley smirked at him, an eyebrow raised.

"Be nice."

"I am not nice."

"Well, maybe now is a good time to try."

Aziraphale turned around and walked away from the pair of us.

There was a pause between the pair of us before I could speak up.

"Do you actually think that I'm stupid for wasting time on this guy," I asked quietly.

Crowley let out a sigh as he sat up a little bit straighter, tilting his head so he was looking me in the eye. "Not as stupid as he was for leaving you."

I felt a grin form on my face. He leaned over and kissed my head before standing up.

"I'm going to get you something a little stronger than tea."

"I don't drink-"

"And I clearly meant chocolate."

I chuckled and shook my head. "Thank you, Crowley."

"You're welcome."

He walked out of the little nook in the corner.

As he did, I leaned my head on my folded arms on the table. I felt my eyes slowly shutting. I felt bad because of what the pair were off doing, but I couldn't help it. It had just been such a long day. I couldn't help it.

As my blinking got slower and slower, I found myself thinking about how lucky I was to be in that situation.

I had never felt as safe as I was when I spent time in that little bookshop.

I would never be able to thank Crowley and Aziraphale for that.

But I would never stop trying to do so.

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Navigation Guide

What I Write For

Some Original Characters

[breadandblankets]

Duke is a man of science and a man of questions. This leads him down many rabbit holes but most specifically printing out dozens upon dozens of business cards.

Gothamites are by and large, smart people, so not many people scan the little code even if it was put in their hands by Gotham's very own daytime hero. But it only takes a couple to get #SignalSurvey trending.

Duke doesn't find out (even though he has been trawling social media for days) until Babs shoots him a text in his Econ class (which is honestly a snoozefest anyway).

Sauron: I'll keep your secret.

Galadriel: dont u dare skew my data

Sauron: I would Never

Galadriel: yes u would

Sauron: little birdy has been a good boy so he may live.

-

Young people, who were reckless enough with their online safety (and knowledgeable enough to actually Use the thing) are the first to complete Duke's little experiment.

The answers start pouring in, with Red Hood well in the lead. The comments include things like "wet blanket" and "lame" which makes Duke laugh his whole ass off.

It's not until older internet savvy people get a hold of the link that the results become Fascinating. Nightwing begins to pull ahead, the comments are filled with: "please please less puns they're terrible" and "can't stand him but he's adorable so I forgive him".

Memorably: "Nightwing rescued me from a hostage situation one time. He talked the whole time and at the end I wanted to go back to my kidnappers. You're my hero Mr. Nightwing but Please."

Duke does actually get some votes for himself (included for sake of completeness) and he's not going to lie, shit hurts. Although some of the comments are just to the effect of "Bright :(", which does make him laugh.

There are plenty of votes for Batman (expected), Spoiler/Batgirl (expected but he's mad about it), the Robins (Fair), and a handful for Batgirl/Batgirl.

(Those seem to mostly be from goons complaining about her efficiency and how scary she is, Duke thinks they may have missed the point of the survey.)

-

At the end he compiles it all, gleefully makes a powerpoint, and bounds into Family Saturday Dinner™ with a ultra short throw projector and a dream.

The noise of the dining room doesn't dim even as Duke clears his throat, typical. It's when he starts speaking, clear and even, that people stop waging their personal wars.

"Most Annoying Bat, as voted by the people of Gotham," Duke anounces.

"A vote? By the people of Gotham?" Jason says, his voice strangled. "You mean the thing that killed me?"

"Number three: Batman."

It's here that all hell finally breaks loose.

[screamingforests]

Hello hello I hope your weekend is going well!! May I humbly request more cat shifter!Reader? What happens after they run out while sick?

It went very well and my birthday is today so I'll be having fun :) and absolutely you can!

Part 2 of Catshifter au

~

You collapsed. Your sick body couldn't continue on running, too drained of energy. Your energy had been sapped during the rapid shift of the previous night and the restless sleep hadn't helped.

You had just barely managed to slip under a dumpster before falling, so you were out of the rain. Small mercies.

Meanwhile, the boys were worrying like crazy. First off, they hadn't been expecting you to be a shifter thing. They were military. Of course, they had heard about the shifter experiments, but they never expected to meet that one escaped experiment.

Price was on the phone, talking to Laswell. He was trying to get more information on it all, why the program started, how you had escaped, and what he needed to expect. He needed some form of control - this time it was knowledge.

Soap and Gaz had gone out on foot, calling out for you. Hell, they didn't even know your name. They were just trying to find you. You were sick and they had bleeding hearts. The questions could come after they knew you were safe.

Ghost was browsing missing persons lists online, trying to place your face. Trying to get a name for you, even if he knew it would probably be a dead end. He had also readied the guest bedroom, somewhere safe for Soap and Gaz to put you.

Hours later, you were out wandering again, this time in human form. You needed to get to your apartment to get some medicine. Well, the few dollars you had were going to go to the cheapest medicine you could find. Then you could curl up in cat form and sleep.

What you didn't expect was to run into Gaz as you tried to enter the small corner store, money bills crumpled in your hand. Eyes hazy with your bad fever. You hadn't even recognized him at first, your cat eyes being colorblind, but it was the hat that gave him away. You could easily spot that same blue in both forms.

So, you ducked your head and pulled the worn coat closer, just trying to ignore him.

Gaz wasn't having any of that. He recognized your worn, sick look right away. And your face was recognizable from the pure shock of when he first saw it.

He reached out and grabbed your elbow, "are you okay?" Worry clouding his eyes.

You froze for just a moment. Eyes flicking about. Your eyes were the exact same shade as they were in your other form, he knew it was you and you couldn't deny it.

"Why don't you come with me? We'll help you, promise." Gaz adds on, voice earnest. Your eyes scan his face. "No going back, we'll keep you safe."

You hold his gaze for a minute, then two, tension dragging down the atmosphere. Even people around you were uncomfortable. But then, almost imperceptibly, you nod.

His smile is blinding.

~

So that's how you found yourself back at their house, mostly shellshocked. Gaz had been quick to whisk you away after grabbing medicine, which he didn't let you pay for when you silently offered your crumpled money.

Ghost was on the defense and wrapped you tightly in a big blanket. christ, it was to be thrice the size of a normal king blanket and sat you on the couch where they could watch you. Soap clanked around in the kitchen, trying to make a soup, but he didn't know if all foods were safe for you or not.

Price was sat in front of you, his blue eyes glued onto your face. You stared back at him, just as unblinking. It reminded you a lot of the scientists stares. You didn't like it.

So you really couldn't stop the small growl building in your throat. Even if you didn't like talking, you had no problem using your cat-like vocals to voice your dislike and annoyance of his stare.

Price clears his throat and looks away, momentarily looking at Gaz. Something passes between their gazes, something you can't decipher, but it puts you on edge.

"Eat, rest, we'll talk when you feel better," Price states before getting up and walking down the hallway. You watch him go.

Soap brings out a big bowl of soup, which he hands to Ghost. Ghost sits next to you and holds up a spoon.

He was feeding you.

The thought makes you bristle for a moment, but your hands were well and truly trapped in the blanket. So you just pull a face but let him feed you silently.

Being so warm and belly full of the best meal you've had in months, your pupils blow out and a small purr bubbles out of your throat. Ghost looks satisfied at that and helps you finish off the soup before leaving.

Soap takes up the rear where Ghost leaves, and he guides you to the guestroom. The scot talks a mile a minute, which you struggle to keep up with. You weren't used to so much attention, attention that didn't hurt. Soap is gentle as he helps you get in bed, tucking you in more.

You just look at him and shift into your cat form and go beneath the bed instead. You miss the small pout on his face.

But even with the tense moments, this was the safest you had felt in a long time. That comfort helps you fall asleep.

[pseudoartistpostsstuff]

Yandere time and hyrule headcannons

I'm not sure if you've seen the hype around sky being in his undershirt and being ✨pretty✨ in the recent update, but could I please request reader fawning over Yan!sky in his undershirt or some general hc's for him?

Thank you both for requesting!

Notes: I wasn't that online on tumblr around that time, so I only saw it now lmao.

Anyway, I did both headcannons and a oneshot, hope you'll like it!

Also, yes, I merged those two requests since headcannons can be piled into the same post.

I'll probably sound redundant in a lot of these, simply because I didn't write this at one go and when I got to it again I may have forgotten that I wrote it before. My memory is not the best, forgive me.

There are more headcannons for Time because he's my favorite, sorry.

I need a master list, seriously.

Edited before sleeping, I'm sleepy and probably messed up one or two paragraphs of this.

The oneshot in question.

TWs: Yanderism, Mentions of food and bad eating habits and a little of my fairy/fae brain rot.

Don't mind grammatical errors, please!

Headcannons for yandere Sky, Time and Hyrule.

Yandere! Lu! Sky x Reader

For starters, Sky is sweet, but he is very manipulative.

Therefore, don't be surprised if you notice you stopped doing many of the things you used to do when you first got through the portal.

Most of the time it's not even bad things!

He might team up with Hyrule and Wild to take care of your main health, like eating habits. If you're a picky eater then expect Sky to slowly transition you into eating a little bit of everything, in no time you'll be eating like Wild does.

Then again, he'll also make sure to get the ingredients to the foods you do eat without struggling, also getting Wild to make a separate meal for you, should you not eat that one specific recipe Wild made for dinner.

You'll probably be getting help from him when it comes to self-care habits as well, like, the max of skin care and hair care you can get at Hyrule. He will make the effort to talk to people who know more about your skin and hair type, those who have it and take care of it well.

But, we can't ignore the genuinely bad things he will try to influence you into doing...

Privacy? Gone.

Not only will he be around you most if not all of the time, but he will also always be paying close attention to you and what you're doing.

So if you believed keeping a journal in your language would help you keep some things to yourself, then think again. The privacy of using your language instead of hyrulean to write in your jornal will soon turn into a mere illusion. Despite being more quiet and seemingly the less imposing of the Links, Sky has already gone, and will keep going through lengths for you, which includes learning the language you use.

Of course he noticed you kept a private journal, and despite you trying to lie about the contents of it, it's only a matter of time until he is skillfully scanning through the pages with his eyes like he's reading his favorite book. Memorizing any and all information he can find about you.

As manipulative as he is, he is also delusional, he doesn't have any idea of what he is doing, he simply doesn't know that what he is doing is wrong on so many levels.

He's not doing anything on purpose, he's just trying to protect you and get you to like him, like a normal guy!! At least, Zelda liked it when he did this with her back then, just how different are you two?

Genuinely, Sky would have a hard time figuring you and your emotions out. You're a human being after all, and he respects that those things are not supposed to be easy to figure out. In fact, he highly respects and appreciates that you're complex.

Not that he'll respect boundaries, nope, no way.

You're a puzzle he's very much looking forward to figuring out. Honestly, the only puzzle he'd ever want to figure out.

So, I'll probably elaborate this later, but the chain as Gods. Sky would be very much a Thor. That means silly blonde lightening man.

Imagine hylians from Sky's era used matching earrings alike engagement rings, like, Sky just randomly inviting you to an overly nice picnic, just to hand you blue earings just like his.

And if you don't have your ears pierced anywhere it'd be even better in his eyes, since he'd just adjust it to be a "normal" ring.

It was actually an engagement ring, but you didn't know that, or any of the other Links, really, since this tradicional custom got lost in time.

Yandere! Lu! Time x Reader

I think pretty much everyone knows Time is a teasing bastard.

Don't get me wrong, he can be pretty mature, but trust me, it's not really common for him to act like that.

Time is used to pretending, he used many different masks to become different races in his journey, that was needed from him at the time, the same way that being the mature one is being needed from him right now.

Just because he is deeply traumatized emotionally and physically from his job as a hero doesn't mean his personality is lost as well.

It didn't change that much since he was a child, not really.

He is addicted to making you flustered, so if you get flustered easily I'm sorry for you.

If making you blush is a challenge then I'm just as sorry for you, because Time isn't quite known for giving up easily.

And he's good at making people embarrassed, too.

The amount of women who were in love with him is everything I need as proof.

But the worst part? He doesn't have bad pick up lines.

Look, Time is a toucher, so yes, his love language is physical touch, that makes sense to me.

That doesn't mean only cuddling, of course, it can mean cuddling and hugging when you're alone, but do expect a few more things.

I was gonna say hand holding in public, especially in crowded places, but you know what? Guiding you by holding the back of your neck is simply easier to him, and a lot more obvious "back off!" to strangers who look at you for far too long.

Also, randomly leaning against you, the two of you may be just walking and suddenly you feel a large mass lightly leaning against your own body, almost making you stumble. you might just be standing in front of the dinner table, reading a recipe book and once again you just feel that familiar presence right behind you, but instead of hugging you from behind he's just there, like he is reading the book along with you.

Remember how you were reading that one recipe book? Well he might give it a try and help you make something in the kitchen just to spend time with you. Like, you're just pouring ingredients in a bowl and he's there "helping" you by wrapping his arm around your waist to give you "emotional support", as he calls it.

He is, in reality, just standing there watching you cook, trying his best to resist the urge to distract you and simply annoy you, because he is still trying to make it seem like he is a mature, grown man, and definitely not one who is eyeing the flour in his reach and thinking about launching a handful of it at you.

You did see his hand slowly reaching for the flour in the corner of your vision. He only stopped once you threatened to scoop out his remaining eye should even a speck of flour hit your face.

Yet, Time is a creative man, flour was only one of his plans.

He's got wandering hands and wandering lips. And he can and will make use of those just to distract you.

And that's how Time became banned from the kitchen when you were the one cooking, only being able to join you for cleaning later.

So yeah, his love language is physical touch, but it is also disturbance.

In that matter, he's not very different from Wind when you two are alone. If you ignore his flirtatious moves, that is. But he's quite different when you two are with the others, especially if you've done, or is doing something to annoy him, then he has to keep up that mature facade of his.

He believes the others won't take him seriously should he reveal his actual personality, so really, when you're around others you'll only get glimpses of it from time to time.

It is mandatory from the Links to be stubborn, but Time takes the cake.

Maybe it is his age, but he will never change his mind, ever. No point in arguing.

So when he is silly, he is silly, but when he is serious he is terrifying, no exaggeration.

The worst part is that older people have a lot of respect in Hyrule, so no matter what he says, his word is law.

Now, don't get me wrong, by now, pet names are just a thing Time always does with you, in a way you barely hear your own name coming from his lips unless he's being really serious about something.

But actual words of affirmation? Not his thing.

He'd much rather be as clingy as glue to you when you're alone.

But, not like Sky's soft, light cuddles. Time Will basically smother you.

Seriously, it may be his sheer muscle mass, but he'll drap himself over you in a way you'll feel yourself surrounded by him.

In fact, the first time he did it you probably almost suffocated.

You'll get used to it eventually, though. Hopefully.

He's pontual and very strict as well, he and Hyrule are probably gonna be bickering in most matters involving you, like, for example, "five more minutes" naps.

Don't even try to trick him, you'll hear stuff like "I was your age once" and shit, the man will act like he's a hundred years old or something.

Then again, he might be, after all, he is older in mind than he is in body.

He was forced to mature quicker and went through a lot of trauma, that, and he also had to go back in time a lot of times.

Now that I think about it, he probably lived for longer than your grandparents. Just saying.

Yandere! Lu! Hyrule x Reader

Don't get him wrong, Hyrule is very much full of love, really. He cares about everyone equally.

Yet, as corny as that is, your name isn't "everyone", you're not anyone, you're you, how could he even think about possibly treating you the same way as he treats everyone else?

You're put on a pedestal, everyone else is treated equally by him, except you, you are treated like you are divine and not mortal like he is.

So you'll feel like a toddler 24/7 around Hyrule, he is not as stubborn as Time, he's just… Persistent.

The other Links will find themselves teasing him for it a lot, even if deep inside they are just the same.

Play nice, walk on the line and you'll have a Hyrule at your beck and call. If you know how to do it right, you will be able to use his babying to your own benefit, because trust me, his persistence can work on the Links much more than yours, after all, they trust him for being another Link.

I feel like he'd also help you keep pets, it may be his fairy nature, but he is just good with animals, especially with forest animals. Be them small or big.

Although he definitely has a soft spot for smaller pets, even more if you're the one asking him to bring along a pet you found.

Surprisingly or not, Hyrule is probably one of the most protective Links if you happen to lean more towards the naive/vulnerable side of the spectrum.

It's a general fairy headcannon of mine, but since fairies take care of forest and the animals there, specially the smaller or more vulnerable types of animals, then it's not new for them to be also quite protective towards humans close to them.

Bonus points if they have those traits.

But then again, you're Hyrule's darling, you may be as strong and independent as a Link yourself, but he'll still see you as in need of his care and attention at all times.

That also may or may not be another reason why Hyrule treats you like a toddler.

So yeah, coddling. Lots of it.

Hyrule is also a fan of small things, trinkets. Natural or shiny... Precious or useless... In his eyes all are treasures.

Treasures you'll find your bags and pockets full of.

He is absolutely a rock, cristal guy.

Imagine, you're just walking to another village, and suddenly Hyrule stops walking for a few moments, just to speed walk towards you again just a bit later, cleaning something he is holding in his hands with the help of his sleeve.

Then he hands you a small, clear rock, grinning.

Better get used to this, it's probably gonna happen at least once every day.

So yeah, love language is gift giving and acts of service.

I feel like he's very awkward with words of affirmation, he didn't spend a lot of time saying or hearing those, after all. Like most of the Links.

[notgonnaedit]

Healer's Love

A Different Approach

Summary: Six months after Eriadu, the remainder of the squad struggles to be whole as they fight for their right to be a family.

Pairing: Bad Batch x Teen!OFC (clones being good brothers/dads)

Chapter summary: Omega, Crosshair, and Batcher make their way home.

Warnings: Canon-typical violence, feels, crying (If I miss a tag LMK)

Masterlist

Tags: @hugmekenobi @nottwonerdy777

@dreamsight73 @delicioustacocollector

@covert1ntrovert @clonethirstingisreal

Omega huffed as she stared at the crashed ship in front of her. "This will take forever to repair."

The top had been ripped off during their crash landing, and the engine was smoking. Batcher whined and jumped out, pacing the bare ground.

"No. There's no time for that," Crosshair said.

Omega turned to look at him. "We need to get the nav reader online to extract the coordinates to Tantiss for when we go back."

The sniper left the ship, backpack over his shoulders. "We're not going back."

Omega stood. "We left the other prisoners behind."

"And the Empire is going to be searching for this ship and us. We have to move. I scanned a spaceport a few clicks east. We'll start there."

Omega sighed. Her breath frosted in the air. It was cold on this planet. She jumped out and followed Crosshair, Batcher with them.

                        •°•°•°•°•

Omega held Batcher to her side as she and Crosshair hid behind a pillar from a few stormtroopers.

"Empire couldn't have followed us here that quickly," she whispered.

"They didn't," Crosshair told her. "That's a standard patrol presence."

The girl furrowed her brow. "Okay. So, let's find a way to send a message to Hunter, Wrecker, and Althea."

Crosshair looked at her. "We can't. They monitor long-range comms. It'll give us away. We'll have to figure out something else."

He took a step forward into the open, but Omega grabbed him. "Wait. We can't walk around like this." She gestured to their prison garb. "We'll draw too much attention."

"You're the one who wanted to bring the hound." Crosshair pointed out.

Batcher whined a nuzzled Omega. The blonde scoffed and scratched the beast's neck. "Don't listen to him. Come on."

Omega ran down the street, Crosshair following soon after. The girl snagged some clothes off a laundry line that were warm and would disguise them. Then, they went to the space port.

Crosshair wanted to storm the place, but Omega had a different idea.

"Hello." She approached the clerk. "We'd like two tickets on the next shuttle, please."

"Chain codes?" He asked.

"About that. We lost our chain codes," the girl lied.

"No chain codes, no passage."

Omega hummed. "Right. But you see, a problem for us could be an opportunity for you if, say, you knew of an alternate way–" she rubbed her fingers together. "–of booking passage without a chain code?"

The clerk leaned forward and lowered his voice. "Are you insinuating that I should take a bribe?"

"If that's what you want to call it." Omega smirked.

"I do. And that could be arranged... for 15,000 credits."

The girl blew out a breath. "For two tickets??"

"Per ticket. And it's nonnegotiable. You're lucky I'm not charging extra for the creature."

"Where do you expect us to get 30,000 credits?" Omega asked.

The clerk folded his arms. "Sounds like a you problem. Don't come back without the credits."

Omega sighed and turned around, walking back to Crosshair.

"Well, that went well," he said.

"Stow it."

                        •°•°•°•°•°•°•

Crosshair didn't know how Omega planned on getting 30,000 credits, but he sure wasn't expecting her to gamble for them. He definitely wasn't expecting her to actually get the money too.

But then an Imperial walked in. An officer. Crosshair coughed to signal Omega. The girl made no sign of acknowledgement.

She looked to the Trandoshan she was playing with, who was begging for another game. 

"I think I'll quit while I'm ahead," she said, gathering her funds.

But the Imperial walked over to her. "Leaving so soon?" He jerked his head at the Trandoshan. "You're in my seat."

He groaned and left. Omega eyed the new man warily.

"So, you think you're good at this game?" He asked. "Want to try against a, uh, real opponent? I insist."

Omega, realizing she didn't have a choice, conceded.

Batcher growled at the man, rightfully so.

"Your mutt don't seem to like me," he said as they played.

Omega didn't look up from her cards. "She's harmless."

"She's a distraction. Get rid of her."

Omega knew there was no negotiating with this guy. She nodded to Crosshair, who clicked his tongue to get the dog to come.

"Never seen you or your dad around before," the Imp mused.

"We're just passing through," the girl told him.

He laid down a card, and the crowd became more attentive.

"Looks like the captain is heading towards a victory," the bartender droid noted.

"Eh, I'll admit, you're not bad. But you seem to have misunderstood your enemy." The captain smirked.

"Did I?" Omega laid down three colorful cards. It was her turn to smirk.

"The three Eastern Stars," the droid announced. "That is game over."

"I'll take those 20,000 credits," Omega said.

A stormtrooper walked over, but the captain waved him off. "I concede. You beat me fair and square. Nicely played."

Omega smiled as he walked away. "Thanks." She scooped her winnings into her bag and walked over to Crosshair. They were home free.

Or so they thought. "Now, hang on a minute," the Imperial said, stopping them. "We're not done here. You haven't paid your fine."

Omega furrowed her brow. "What fine?"

"Gambling's illegal in these parts."

"What?" Crosshair snarled.

"The law is the law," said the captain. "Now, all you gotta do is pay the fine. And I'll be on my way."

"How much?" Omega asked.

"Ten thousand credits. Unless you prefer to be arrested instead."

Omega conceded, shoving the required money into his hand.

"Excellent. Consider your fine paid in full. Try and stay out of trouble."

Omega sighed as he walked away. "Let's get out of here."

Crosshair stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "How many credits do we have left?"

She checked her bag. "Thirty-five thousand. Enough for two tickets on the shuttle and a little extra."

                        •°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

They never did end up using those credits. The slimy Imperial had taken Batcher, and Omega refused to leave without her. In the end, they did Crosshair's plan and blasted their way out, stealing a ship in the process.

Omega piloted through hyperspace, Batcher sitting at her feet.

"The Empire will be able to track this vessel," Crosshair told her. "We need to ditch it."

The girl nodded. "We will. I'm heading to a remote location, and I sent a coded transmission for Hunter, Thea, and Wrecker to meet us there."

Batcher whined at her feet. A sinking feeling settled in Crosshair's stomach. "Omega," he said slowly. "It's... It's been months. You don't know if they're still aliv–"

"They'll be there." The determination in her eyes... She was so sure.

Omega dropped the ship from hyperspace, flying to a grey moon. On the surface was something she wasn't sure she would ever see again.

The Havoc Marauder.

She landed the ship and went out to the ramp. Then she saw them.

Wrecker and Althea stood in the door. The older teen's hair was shorter, but her eyes were the same.

"Now, there's a sight!" Wrecker shouted.

Omega couldn't hold back her tears. "Wrecker! Thea!"

They ran for each other, finally embracing. Wrecker scooped up both girls in the tight hug spinning them around. When he set them down, Althea held Omeha close.

"I wasn't even sure your message was real," she murmured. She chuckled tearfully, tugging at Omega's curls tied back. "You changed your hair."

Omega laughed, tears rolling down her cheeks. "So did you!"

Wrecker knelt down, pulling them all together.

"I knew you'd show up," Omega sniffed.

Wrecker pulled away, wiping his eyes. "We crossed the galaxy four times looking for you."

"Five."

Omega looked behind her brother to see another standing in the ship. "But you're the one who found us."

Omega took a step forward, then another, and before she knew it she was running into Hunter's arms. 

The tracker ran down the steps, skipping some to get to her faster. She collapsed into him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Hunter held her close, cradling her head against him. "We missed you, kid. We never stopped searching." He had to tell her. She had to know they never gave up on her. That their fruitless attempts were not for lack of effort.

Omega sobbed into his neck, her breaths shuddering when she finally pulled away. Hunter brushed her hair – which was now as long as his – out of her eyes. Her face was dirty, the only clean parts being the streaks from tears.

Hunter rested his hands on her shoulders. As happy as he was to see her, a nagging question rose.

"But how did you escape?"

Omega chuckled. "I had help."

Then, Hunter saw him. From the ship Omega arrived in stood a familiar figure. Hunter rose to his feet, his instincts screaming to get the girls behind him.

Crosshair had come too.

<- Previous

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[marshallpupfan]

Marshall Merchandise Update - Dec 2024

It's been a while since I last posted an update of my Marshall collection, but I've managed to find quite a number of interesting items over the last few months. Without further ado, let's get started!

I don't believe I ever showed this one off, but this is one of those mini figurines found in a mystery box. It's based on Rescue Wheels. Again, I was able to scan the bar code with my phone to find out exactly who's inside, so I got Marshall on my first try. :)

Here in the states, a store called "Spirit Halloween" always pops up around October. I decided to walk through one, which is when I seen this Halloween accessory, based on Marshall's collar and pup tag. I figured why not buy one? It's kind of cool!

Speaking of Halloween merchandise, I bought this around the same time, too. It was only $1, and it has some great artwork, so how could I resist? Sadly, the cover doesn't have Marshall...

...But the back does! If I display this book with my collection, I'll probably have it like this. Or, better yet...

I'll keep it open on this page, because I really, really like this artwork! Seriously, Marshall looks awesome in this costume! It's arguably one of the best he's been featured in. Ah, how awesome would it be to see him wear this in the actual cartoon??

I ended up getting this off of Amazon. It's another one of those Tonies, but sadly, I don't have a Tonie player to hear what stories are included with it. Still, it looks pretty cool, and I'm happy to include it in my collection. Honestly, I never expected them to make one based on Jungle Pups, but given I quite like that subseries, I'm glad they did.

This is something I've seen before, but like many items, it took me a long time to find one. It's a keychain! Although... it looks a little too fragile to keep on my wallet or something. The packaging says it's made of resin, which I think is a little like ceramic? It also looks to be hand-painted.

Found this at a Meijer. It's a foam bouncy ball, or something. I seen some pictures of it online last year, but it took until this year for one of my stores to finally get one. Funny how that happens sometimes.

Good2Grow unexpectedly made another one of these! This time, Marshall's face is see-through, just like that PEZ dispenser I showed off a few years ago. Unless I'm mistaken, I believe this is now the third one they've made - the first being Marshall with his fireman hat, and the second was of his Mighty Pups, Super Paws gear (season 6).

Last, an item I've had my eyes on for a while now, but I wasn't able to obtain one because, as usual, overseas shipping to the United States tends to be way too pricey. Yup, it's another import! From the UK, in fact. Shipping to the USA was only $8, so I jumped at the deal!

I'll show off the item below, but first... that's honestly some pretty cool artwork of Marshall on the cover! I usually throw away the boxes, but for this one, I might actually display it somewhere.

Wow, this thing's better than I expected (it's nearly ten inches)! All kinds of little items are supposed to hang on his pup pack (forgot to include them, sorry), and when you press down on it, Marshall leaps up (his hind legs stay firmly on the platform) and everything flies off, including his hat. It's an interesting toy! The downside, however, is that it feels a little flimsy, so I fear it might break easily. That's no problem for me though, since it'll remain on one of my shelves with my other items.

That's all for now! Say, this will likely be my last merchandise update of 2024, huh? It's been a fun year for collection items of my favorite animated pup, and I'm so looking forward to seeing what I can get in 2025! No doubt Air Rescue will likely be up first, but I can't wait to see what they make for Marshall when we get Fire Rescue merchandise! I'm going to have to clear a lot of room for those, no doubt! lol

(Oh, speaking of which, if anyone's curious, I haven't finished rearranging my entire collection yet. I got lazy and put it off, but truth be told, I wanted to wait and make room for my latest new items anyway. Maybe I'll finish it soon? Hopefully? lol)

[sk8termikey]

Chapter 18 of 21 Questions

better interface on wattpad + updated till chap 27

FLORIDA VERSUS TOUR SHOW (meeting)(plot is plotting)

Matt🍂

[2 attachments]

Hey, here are the tickets

I hope you'll have a great time tomorrow :)

Thank you so much<3

I'll never forget this fr

I'll repay you one day

And thank your cousin also

You can repay me by not hating me when you discover the truth…

Unsent

No worries

And yeah, I'll tell her it did end up useful for someone else

I'll try to take good pics for her!

That's very nice of you, can't wait to see them if they're as good as those you take of the world

“Damn you're so adorable Lily”, Alex said as she was reading the texts above her friend's shoulder.

“Well, it's thanks to a fellow fan that we can see the triplets again, so anything for her now!”

“No but for real, that was so sweet of Matt's cousin to give them out”. Alex side hugged Lily to show appreciation. “I really can't wait to meet them again”.

“Yeah same”, Lily agreed.

Thinking back to how everything happened so quickly, Lily was glad to have been able to trust her online friend. She knew she had every right to be weary of this, but she also wanted it to be true – which she believed to be. She didn't know how she could ever repay the favour to Matt, but she was set on finding something for him one day. Maybe this is a good situation to write that letter for him, he deserved it already but now even more… Lily thought as she smiled at her idea. Although they had never talked about it, Lily suddenly wished to meet Matt. She felt like their friendship was getting to a point where they could actually enjoy each other's presence in real life – they had called a few more times since they played Fortnite together a couple months ago but had never facetimed. None of them knew what the other looked like, but them being friends was solely based on their personalities and common ground so it didn't matter much. However, Lily's wish for an eventual meeting would happen sooner than she'd ever expect thanks to someone who wasn't as impatient – and it could even be said it had already happened though none of them was aware of it.

A day later and the two best friends found themselves in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Completely off plan – they had indeed wanted to go back to Spring Hill today but fate had it otherwise, Alex and Lily were now on the Southeast Coast. The weather was lovely as the girls parked near the venue. They hadn’t gone to their hotel yet but Matt – Alex had learnt from Lily – had apparently been kind enough to book a room for them not far from where the venue was, “an apology for this last minute plan” Lily had said. Obviously, Lily had refused to let him pay so Matt had only put his card for a refundable deposit and Lily would pay for the room when she and Alex would leave the city. As it was Sunday, the girls had decided that they would stay until Tuesday at most – they had been gone for a week and although Lucas and Jade didn’t mind being alone at the café, Lily and Alex felt bad that they were leaving them for so long. They were also missing their cat a lot, but would never tell their friend that their fake child counted more.

This was now it, the final show of the Versus Tour where Alex and Lily would be once again part of the wonderful atmosphere that were the Sturniolo Triplets’ shows. They had arrived later than they did for the other shows as they didn’t have the small talk nor the group pictures included in their tickets. This didn’t bother the girls though as they were simply ecstatic at the idea of seeing Nick, Matt and Chris for the fourth time. They saw that not many people were left outside as most of them were already inside the venue for the extras that were happening before the show. When they approached the queue, Lily unlocked her phone to get the tickets ready to be scanned. This was the moment of truth: had Matt scammed her or not? Damn, I hope not because I like the kid… Lily thought as it was their turn to enter the venue. When the security guard scanned the tickets, he let out a confused face – though unnoticed by the girls with how quick he composed himself – until he confirmed the names on his list and knew that what he was seeing was not a mistake. 

      Indeed, the tickets that Matt – Laura actually – had custom made for Lily were not meant to exist because they had never sold any GA tickets with only the backstage pass as an extra. The security guard eventually let the girls enter and as he signalled to someone else to take his place to scan the next people, he quickly went inside through another door where he knew that he could find who he was looking for. Fortunately, he was able to find her rapidly enough. He called Laura who was overseeing that the group pictures were going well and told her about the two girls he had checked in a couple of minutes ago. Thanking the man before he went back outside, Laura waited until everyone had gotten their pictures taken – luckily it was almost the end – and as she walked the triplets to the stage where they would soon be on for their show, she notified them about the girls who had arrived. Hearing this, Matt let out a sigh of relief he never knew he was holding and his two brothers patted him on the back to comfort him. She’s here, Matt thought. I’m actually gonna meet her, damn… The stress started getting to him and he knew he wouldn’t be able to relax until he saw that she was here with his own eyes. When they arrived on the side of the stage, the triplets found a small space behind the curtains where they could look at the crowd without being noticed.

“Do we even know who we’re looking for?” Chris asked as he had no idea which team colour the girls were supporting today.

“Well, she’s Matt’s girl so probably blue.” Nick replied as he tried to recognize the girl with whom he had gotten along a few days prior.

“Not my girlfriend…” Matt mumbled. “And she doesn’t even know that she’s here for me so I actually can’t say who she’s rooting for today.”

“I mean– I think I had told her to come in orange last time we saw her but I guess we can each look for our team colours when we’re on stage”, Chris suggested. “We might see better with the lights above us.”

“Good idea, let’s not be too obvious though.” Nick warned. It was now time for them to go on stage and start the show so he gave the final instructions. “We’re mainly searching in the last rows because she had General Admission; a brunette with possibly animals painted on her face accompanied with a blonde girl who’s most certainly in orange as she supported Chris in my memories. And remember, BE. DIS–CREET.”

Matt and Chris nodded as they understood their task. They would never jeopardise their last show but it wouldn’t hurt to confirm that their guests were here as they were literally in front of the crowd where said guests were. Hugging each other, the triplets were now ready to go on stage for the last time of their tour. It had been such a wonderful experience for them and they had found a way to make this last show even more special thanks to the partners they had chosen. Indeed, as their family and friends were present, the triplets had invited three of them to share the stage with them and it was now time to get them on as they were being introduced after the popular vote had happened – Matt won again, what a surprise!

The three teammates were therefore the triplets’ brother Justin, their best friend Nathan – or Nate – and their friend Tril who had travelled with them for a couple of shows to sing at the end. Nick then announced that the three would each pull from a box a friendship bracelet based on one of the teams in order to decide who they were going to partner with. After they all took out a bracelet, Nick made them reveal at the same time and the result was Nathan on team blue with Matt, Tril on team orange with Chris and finally Justin on team purple with Nick.

As usual, the first game was the painting competition which Nate had won, thus granting a second point to Matt’s team blue sharks. The next game was called Saved by the Bell where the teams would answer trivia questions. From the age required to enter the Hunger Games – twelve years old – to the number of moons Mars had – two, the three teams had to answer several chaotic other questions such as the temperature at which water freezes – 0°C or 32°F for y’all weird Americans – or the number of elements in the Periodic Table – a hundred and eighteen. They were now playing the third game which was called We’re Playing Basketball and thanks to Tril, Chris’s team orange deers was now in the lead before the fourth and last game that was Jenga Showdown started. Matt and Nate were closely behind and the Jenga game that Matt had lost a handful would be decisive. Indeed, the loser would have five points removed from his score, which is why it was essential for Matt to not lose again.

Back to our two girls in the crowd, they had been enjoying every minute of this last show. Per Chris’s request, Lily had showed up with an orange tank top and deers drawn on her face by Alex, who was also wearing orange. Although Alex would be over the moon if Chris won this show and therefore the whole tour, Lily was actually awaiting his defeat as she was really curious regarding the tiebreaker that would decide the winner between Chris and Matt as Nick announced that he had a great one planned already. Only time would tell and it wouldn’t be too much waiting as the game finally began. The tension was slowly building in the venue along the Jenga tower. After what was unusually long compared to other shows, the tower eventually collapsed when it was Nate’s turn, thus making Matt’s team lose five out of his nine points. Matt’s loss thus meant Chris’s victory of not only the show but of the entire tour, which sent the crowd in a frenzy as everyone was screaming – one part was actually cheering on the youngest brother while the other was just screaming for fun as one does during a concert whenever the artist on stage does something as simple as breathing.

Now that the show was ending, each team received their medals and as the lights were on, Matt took that as an opportunity to check the crowd for a certain face. He tried to make his brain work its hardest ever and searched for a smiling brunette of whom he had a faint memory. As he stilled for a second, Matt thought he had seen her and when he tried to keep looking at the back of the venue for this particular person, he was nudged by his friend Nate who made him notice that he would end up seeming weird on stage. Nate and the two other teammates did know why Matt had spent a couple of times during the show simply watching the crowd – they had been notified along with the triplets’ parents about Matt’s chaotic plan – and so their role had been to prevent each of the triplets to creepingly stare at the fans too much. Finally, the coronation ceremony happened and Chris received the Versus Tour trophy before everyone left the stage for Tril’s last mini concert.

Unbeknownst to them, Alex and Lily were being observed by three similar-looking people who were watching the fans until they recognised those they were searching for. The show had been over for a little while and so the two girls were currently waiting in the queue leading to backstage as the tickets they had been given by Matt allowed them to meet the triplets after the show. Although they had been trusting Matt, they were still relieved to get the confirmation that they indeed had access backstage when they had first entered the venue a few hours earlier – though it was Laura who had notified the staff beforehand that those two specific girls had a “special treatment” due the ticket combo that wasn't supposed to exist.

As the girls were simply talking about the fact that Chris had won the show and therefore the tour – which Alex was over the moon about, her being a Chris girl, they didn't notice someone from security coming towards them. Exchanging a glance of uncertainty, Lily and Alex were surprised that the bodyguard was asking them to follow him somewhere else in the venue. Questions raised in the girls’ minds but they complied and went with the man. They didn’t understand at first and were just confused that they were being dragged out from the queue.

“What the fuck is happening?” Alex whispered to Lily as they were still walking in the corridors of the venue.

“I DON'T KNOW!” Lily whisper-yelled to Alex. “It's scaring me, like have we been scammed?”

“I hope not bro, they’ll probably give us an explanation.”

Lily agreed and a couple of minutes later, the two girls found themselves in a huge room with several couches and drinks on a table. They got told to stay here until someone would come back for them later. They both were so stressed and although they had snacks as well as beverages to pass the time, Lily and Alex were shitting themselves.

~~~

Half an hour later and the girls were still alone in the room. While they had been wondering about what was going to happen to them – their assumptions were being killed or abducted, the actual backstage was close to being over. Due to confusion still being present, Alex had suggested the first good idea of the evening and told Lily to text Matt.

“Damn, we should've thought about that earlier. I hope bro has a good explanation!”

Matt🍂

Hey Matt, please can you tell me what's going on bc Alex and I have been waiting for so long. We don't know what's happening and it's kinda scary so if you could text me back and explain wtf your cousin was supposed to do at the show, that would be nice

Lily was hoping that although Matt wasn't the one initially going to the show, he could still give her an explanation as to what was going to happen to them. However, as soon as Lily hit ‘send’ on her text, she and Alex heard a notification sound in the same room. This clearly raised more confusion in the girls’ minds. They thought it was a coincidence but were still suspicious of the fact that someone's phone received a message right as Lily had sent hers. As if it couldn’t get worse, the door suddenly opened and three people casually walked in.

“Honestly, it's such a Matt thing to forget his phone on the other side of the venue.” The voice of a man could be heard. “Don't think we needed to immediately bring it to him though.”

“You have to understand him sweetie,” a woman replied to him. “He's really nervous about today even though we spent a while reassuring him before the show. And he might need it to text his friend. I don't know, it might be useful.”

A second man agreed with the woman while Alex and Lily were watching the scene with widened eyes. They couldn't believe what they were seeing: the triplets’ parents, Mary Lou and Jimmy, as well as their brother Justin were currently standing in front of them. As the woman noticed the girls, she stopped talking and nudged her husband then her oldest son to make them notice.

“Hi there!” Mary Lou said with the nicest tone. “You must be my son's friends, right?”

“Wha–” Lily was the first to reply as she had no idea what was going on.

Seeing their confusion, Justin quickly understood that the timing had been completely off.

“Mum, I think we might be early…”

“Oh god!” Mary Lou exclaimed in surprise. “He told us he would notify you before we arrived.”

“I'm sorry, but…” Alex took Lily's place in wanting to know the truth as the brunette was now lost. “Who was supposed to notify us of what?”

“OH MY GOD! WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING?” The voice of a young man yelled as he ran into the room and started rambling. “Dad came to get me. Damn, I leave you guys for an hour and you can't wait ten more minutes. Fuck, sorry I shouldn't curse at you and I know I said that thing about my phone but I was about to come get it and now–”

Matt stopped talking as he turned to face the two confused girls still sitting on the couch. His dad, Jimmy, had left his wife and first son to try finding Matt before the situation would get more chaotic than it already was. He had stumbled upon Matt, Nick and Chris who were coming back from backstage as the show was definitely over, which led to the middle triplet running to the room his dad was coming from as he started panicking as soon as Jimmy had explained what was happening a few corridors away.

“Hey,” Matt said to the girls with a soft voice to not frighten them. His gaze was mostly on Lily before he spotted his phone and unlocked it. “Oh, you texted. Sorry for the confusion, I swear I can explain everything.”

What the actual– the fuck he means? Lily wondered. I texted? Like– I'm so fucking lost… She tore her eyes away from Matt as she saw Chris, Nick and Jimmy entering the room then going to stand next to Matt who was trying to calm down.

“Ok so… I know you must both be very sceptical about everything but please listen to me.” Matt almost pleaded as he was scared of how Alex and Lily would react. “Hmm, well… Hi, I'm Matt.”

As he said his last sentence with a small wave, the girls were still not understanding.

“Yeah, we know that”. Lily replied with a nervous laugh. “That's why we came to see y'all I guess.”

“No yeah, sorry. I mean like– Matt, your Matt?” He sounded almost unsure as he saw that Lily was still not completely getting it. He then had an idea and went to his conversation with Lily to show her what he meant. “Wait a second…”

Matt quickly typed a message and sent it to Lily, which made her phone's screen light up.

Matt🍂

Hey, please don't hate me

Both Lily and Alex looked down to read the message, the latter almost having a light bulb appearing above her head.

“Oh fuck I should've known! I knew it!” Alex semi-shouted.

It's true that the blonde had had suspicions a couple of times when Lily had told her that she was texting a guy named Matt who liked Pokemon, Fortnite and had several brothers. They were probably a thousand guys on Earth like that but at that time, it had been the only Matt she could think about.

“Oh…” Lily finally knew what he meant. “Oh… I was absolutely not expecting that.”

“Yeah…” Matt was still afraid of what would happen next. “If that's ok, I just want to properly do introductions?”

Lily nodded as she and Matt were still holding eye contact for the past several minutes. When the girls both stood up and approached the Sturniolo family, Matt got even more nervous and Nick took that as his cue to take charge of the situation.

“Hey, Nicolas here but call me Nick! So we have Matt obviously and Chris who you both know, I mean we all met but let's reset everything. Then it should've been later but improv I guess so I want you guys to meet our mum Mary Lou, our dad Jimmy and our brother Justin.”

“Hi, I'm Alex.” The blonde said as she could feel her best friend was in a sort of shocked state. “This is Lily, my best friend and Matt's friend then?”

Everyone nodded and as an awkward silence was almost forming, Mary Lou let her bubbly personality shine to brighten the mood.

“Okay boys, why don't we just relax and enjoy the snack while getting to know those lovely ladies? Matt darling, go talk with your brothers as I take your nice friend with me. You guys will have all the time in the world later on.”

Mary Lou walked towards Lily and gently grabbed her arm to then go sit on another couch in the room, further away from everyone else. The rest of them scattered in the room as Chris decided to join Alex – they had gotten along well the few times they had seen each other – while the other brothers stood with their dad and chose to pour themselves some drinks.

While Alex was talking with Chris and reminiscing about their victory together, Lily found herself in a conversation with Mary Lou whom she thought was the sweetest woman ever. After Matt, well Nick in all honesty, had introduced her to his mum – a bold move from him to have her meet him AND his whole family at the same time, Mary Lou immediately shooed her son away as she wanted to properly get to know his new friend. This is why Matt was currently with his brothers Justin and Nick. The two oldest were discussing what they could do the next day around the city, which Matt was half listening to as he was stressed regarding what his mum and friend – friend? Acquaintance? More than that? Less? Yeah, friend is good – were talking about. However, as he dared to glance in their direction, Matt found Lily's eyes already on him. She quickly diverted her gaze back to Mary Lou but as she still felt observed, Lily looked back to Matt. They then shared a soft smile across the room and as if it was magic, both were suddenly feeling at ease and fell back to their respective conversation. They'd only had a two second interaction as the Matt and Lily they both knew, but it was like they were turning back into their usual selves when they would text each other.

“You do know you guys are kinda obvious, right?” Justin asked his younger brother.

“Wha– what do you mean?” Matt was confused, although he somehow already knew what this was about.

“Matt come on”, Nick sighed as he dragged out his brother's name's vowel. “I'm pretty sure you didn't listen to what we've been saying because you're only thinking about her.”

“And looking at her like a lost puppy”, Justin added. “She should be the one panicking, yet here you are.”

“I don't look at Lily like a lost puppy…” Matt mumbled. “Just making sure Mum isn't overwhelming her. Can't believe she gets to talk to her before me, she's my friend!”

“A friend who probably made her live the most stressful experience ever,” Nick retorted. “I think today was confusing for everyone so let her breathe for a minute and you can go talk to her after.”

Matt and Justin agreed with the blonde, then tried to trust their mum to make Lily feel better.

Speaking of the devil, the girl was actually enjoying her conversation with Mary Lou, who was telling her about Boston life.

“It sounds great, I hope to go there one day.”

“Maybe if my son keeps you in his life – which I would be glad about, you'll have the opportunity to travel there”. Mary Lou said as she put on her kindest smile.

“Yeah, I hope he does too.” Lily replied with some awkwardness in her voice. “It's still weird to me that he was the one I was texting this whole time, but I really want us to become friends in person now. Not that I want to take advantage of him simply because I know who he actually is of course, please don't think bad of me! But, I–”

“No worries my dear, if Matt trusted you enough to reveal himself to you, then I trust you as well”. The woman reassured the girl sitting next to her. “He's a good boy, so please take care of him.”

“I– yeah I will, I'll do my best to make this friendship work”.

The two exchanged a smile and kept talking about their respective lives: Mary Lou telling Lily about her and Jimmy while Lily told Mary Lou about the café she was working at with Alex.

They had been talking for a good dozen of minutes until Matt – who had been motivated by his brothers – finally decided to join them.

“Hi”, he waved again at Lily – seems like it was his current go-to move when feeling nervous. “Mum, I'm gonna steal her from you – if that's ok with you Lily obviously – because we need to talk now.”

Mary Lou kindly agreed and nudged Lily to stand up. As the girl was expecting the conversation to start now, she was actually surprised when Matt asked her to follow him outside. They both left the room under everyone’s curious stare and Matt took her elsewhere in the venue in order to be far enough for anyone who could walk by. When he found what seemed like a good spot, Matt looked back at Lily to silently ask her if it was ok. As she nodded, he opened the door and they were now on a balcony that was overlooking the parking lot behind the venue.

“Sorry, it looks kinda sketchy but I'll feel better with some fresh air.”

“No yeah, I get it.” Lily agreed with Matt. “I think I needed it too.”

“So…” Matt started as he was fidgeting while leaning on the railing.

“Yep…” Lily whispered as she was doing the same awkward movements.

None of them felt like holding eye contact as they were both extremely nervous. Knowing that he was responsible for all of this, Matt eventually started talking:

“Ok first, I have to apologise for everything. I put you in a very uncomfortable situation and it was a shit move.”

“It's okay… Well it was not completely ok but I understand where you come from so I can forgive you.” Lily smiled at Matt as she was feeling less awkward now that they were actually talking about it. “Never forgive you for not liking sushi though.”

“Damn,” Matt let out a laugh at that. “Can't believe you still hold that against me.”

“Yep, always I guess…” Lily chuckled too and let a now semi-comfortable silence start until she interrupted it with the most important question. “How long have you known?”

“Hmm?”

“Since when have you known it was me like– I was me?”

“Oh, well… when you posted those pictures,” Matt explained. “I was ninety-nine percent sure of you coming to our shows and the last percent was when I texted you.”

“Ok ok,” Lily nodded. “And your first reflex was to make me come to another one?”

“It seems weird but yeah actually,” Matt confirmed as he was actually surprised of himself being so honest. “I was a bit in denial at first because it felt crazy that the person I'm texting is literally a fan – although you are my friend first and foremost – but when I talked about it to Nick and Chris, the first thing that popped into my brain when we agreed that you were Lily was that I needed to meet you again, but properly this time.”

“I'm glad you thought that because I wanted us to eventually meet and I'm happy it's you.”

“Yeah?” Matt asked as he felt relieved that Lily wasn't hating him.

“Yeah, it's just sooner than expected but in a good way. I'm grateful for our friendship Matt.”

“I'm grateful for that too Lily.” Matt had a soft smile on his face. “You wanna meet my other friends/come see everyone else now?”

“Hmm,” Lily hesitated. “Can we stay here a bit longer? Just the two of us…?”

“Yeah, okay.” He agreed. “We can do that, fine by me.”

Basking in the silence, the two newly acquainted friends were enjoying this moment of peace. It would be the first one of many, but for now, it felt like a necessity to take their time as they were now slowly starting to navigate their friendship.

Thank you for reading. Votes and comments are always appreciated if you like this story :) The story is co-written w @/little_grapejuice on wattpad

[chronicallyuniconic]

I woke up today really overwhelmed & I guess scared(?) with the events that have gone on

I can't trust any bodily feeling, I almost can't tell anymore if it's hunger, bellyache, nausea, anxiety, etc etc

Like yesterday I couldn't tell if I was gonna throw up or pass out so I just went and lay down for 5 minutes & it's like as soon as I lay down my body is regulated straight away & I can get back up again

I thought it was a seizure warning, but nothing

This ebb & flow of anxiety is draining me & I don't think anything can prepare you for the extra unpredictability of life & extra lack of control you now possess, plus the long list of things you're no longer allowed to participate in

I might not get answers from all these scans & tests which I know I'll find harder to deal with should it come, but mentally preparing myself

Then there's the flip coin of, wait what if they do find something, oh maybe they'll be able to fix it but wait what if its untreatable. Have they been telling me for 20 years I'm just depressed but actually, it's been epilepsy? Or is there a tumor just living in me I don't know about & finally it's presenting?

So many questions. Very few answers

There's the good & bad of looking online, seeking advice is one thing but coming across people's stories, experiences & lives adds another layer of ugh my god I've got all this to come too, maybe

I know there are people who get it & it's comforting whilst I'm sad for us

Need to try & do something to keep my mind off it all for a bit but how can I when I'm always so tired

Back to bed then(?)

[thessalian]

Thess vs Raintrace

Welp, did it again. Managed to avoid any and all actual main quest. And the side quest I was really aiming for. And the collecting bits I logged back in to do in the first place. Because sometimes I am Like That.

Okay, I am going to head in a Talanah-ward direction. I could just fast travel to that campfire I picked up near the meet-up point, buuuuut I'd really like to get a few more campfires in the area. Maybe pick up that black box on the way. Also ... the map says there's something up there, and the interactive map online says it's another black box and I don't know if I have it or not. So I'll start there.

Well, either the interactive map is lying to me or I somehow got this black box already. Because there is not one there. However, there is a chunk of greenshine. Not much, but made scaling the mountain worth it.

And gliiiiiiiiiiding down--ofuck.

Apparently my stealth armour is not yet so good that things don't notice me when I drift by. Really need to hunt a frostclaw or two at some point. Anyway, I can just hide in this bush until the Clawstriders go away.

Yeah, I checked the hunter bunch but it wanted me to do too many specifics that weren't "target it in its weak spots from hiding until it's dead". I am, however, going to scan and kill that Tremortusk because I understand I'll be seeing one as part of main quest and I want practice.

(I do love it when their weak spots are, like, bigger than I am.)

Right. Black box. And... Why are there Apex Stalkers fucking everywhere right now?!? What did you Oseram lunatics do?!?

Yeah, you can have the missile launchers but I KEEP THE STEALTH FIELD GENERATORS. Okay? Okay. ...Wait. Wut.

So off I go to chase after a guy who was in turn chased by a Thunderjaw. I mean, I get that those buggers can be persistent, but ... what was one even doing here? As we can plainly see, those things crunch the everloving shit out of the ecosystem.

Oh, hi, GAIA. ...Cauldron this way, you say? Well, I'll keep an eye out but I might well end up with a Thunderjaw up in my business soon, so--

Oh. Thunderjaw is dead. But so is Oseram dude. Poor Oseram dude. Aaaaaaaaaand he doesn't have the key on him. ...Okay, either he threw it somewhere as a weapon or something with manual dexterity pickpocketed him--

Yep. Fuck. Clamberjaws. NO I WILL NOT USE THE DISC LAUNCER THANK YOU. Poonk time is now.

One ... and two ... and three right off the damn wall. I rule. Now. Do any of you little fuckers have the key? No. Guess I'll have to go to your nest or whatever. Because of course I get a climbing montage.

...Okay, this is not their nest, but I have a feeling that the approach of the main door of Cauldron: CHI is going to involve, "You can't get in that way; find another entrance" and "another entrance" will be this perfectly triangular hole in the cliff face. But there's no way to climb past it so up the other way.

Key! Okay, back we go.

...Okay, via a couple of campfires and-- Aaaand that rebel camp.

"You're gonna make me work for it, aren't you?" Yeah, well, making you come to me is compensation. You jackasses spread across the camp and I generally kill you all from such long range that I underestimate how far away you were and then spend fifteen minutes looting your corpses. Nice to have one of you close for a change. *silent STRIKE* Also melee is for chumps unless you're absolutely sure where your target is. kthnxbai.

Right. So, back to Danur via a couple of campfires, a rebel camp-- And that question mark.

That question mark is ... a Sunken Cavern, patrolled by Watchers and an acid Clawstrider. Yaaaaaaaaaay. Maybe I'll come back another time.

Here you go, Danur-- Ah, yeah, none of you are in shape for scavenging. Yes, I can do that.

Behemoths? No problem. There's the stomping grounds for one right over there and--

Oh. You want ... different Behemoths. A long way away. Right. Anything a little closer?

Well, you're sending me underwater fairly close to where I have to be to help a friend of mine, so ... yeah, okay.

But first I'm going to go settle down in that shelter. Night is falling in-game, night has fallen out of game, and there is a rebel camp ripe for the picking just across what used to be a highway from my spot. I could probably shoot about half of them without getting out of what passes for bed. So it'll be a nice little bit of hyperfocus-plus-wakeup in the morning.

And then I am going back via the salvager guys because there's a greenshine slab not far south of there and I need it to upgrade a new bow. I have a Sharpshot bow that fires Plasma arrows and Tear arrows. The Tear arrows I might use. The Plasma ones ... meh.

...See, this is why I never really get anywhere. There's always one more thing I need. I need the greenshine slabs. I need that Frostjaw up north. I need bass bits. I need carp bits. I need moonfish bits. I need duck bits.

(Okay, to be fair, I no longer need duck bits. Spent a lot of my jungle time shooting ducks out of the sky for feathers and wishbones. It's a thing.)

Anyway, yeah, the collecting and the crafting is Zen and kind of my jam. Just there are so many kinds of Zen-jam for me in this. Hunting ducks and owls. Hunting machines. Systematically picking off rebels in their camps with them wondering where the fuck the arrows are coming from. Just ... I shouldn't Zen out so much that I don't get the actual story quest done.

This is how I do, apparently. And now I will wind down with, like, Logic Town or House Flipper 2 or something.

[tetranymous]

In a strange twist of events that 99% of pc users will never encounter it's looking more and more like I'm actually going to have to DOWNGRADE my cpu.

No matter what I do I CANNOT get the temps down. I've cleaned the vents, cleaned the fan, repasted with the best stuff I could find, changed the power settings, disabled turbo boost, looked into tpFanControl but backing out since it has the potential to brick my BIOS (hasn't been tested to work with my model. Maybe when this isn't my only decent pc), trying lenovo's heat management utilities (vantage was extremely unhelpful and the older versions won't install on win10, they're straight up blocked by the OS despite being signed), and it STILL idles at 80°c at night while only having the hardware monitor open (and maybe doing a maintenance scan in the background). Yes, it's sitting on an additional fan. Yes, I've debloated Win10 and am looking into Linux once I can afford or even find a big enough msata drive for it.

The only things I've yet to try is tinkering with the BIOS (for some reason the f key shortcut when booting doesn't work :/), brute forcing my way through the power manager install (there's a way to do it that I haven't tried yet) and hunting down the xtreme edition cpu manager that actually works (may be a dead end since the thinkpad forums mentioned that you can't unlock the cpu for tweaking). If none of that works my only options are reducing the wattage of the CPU and/or plumbing the thang into extended intake/exhaust pipes, which I can't use if I have to take it anywhere (rare, but if I have an assignment where I have to create a video it's far better at it than my other options).

Worst part is that it WASN'T always this hot, it used to max out at about 70°c, but I can't remember when I got those numbers during winter or not. Most people with this model usually ask about upgrading their CPU, but mine came with the upgraded option, so a lot of the stuff I've found online hasn't been particularly helpful. I guess on the plus side I'll actually get more than an hour on my battery alongside the better temps if I do downgrade (battery is practically flawless with less that 3% capacity loss. Doesn't matter too much since its rarely on battery anyways, I usually just treat it as a desktop with a huge UPS. It would be nice though to get through a whole movie without having to go grab the power brick in the last 25 minutes).

Was really hoping to max out the RAM and put some additional drives in it first, but I really have to deal with these temps before I cook something. Anyways, any fellow toasty thinkpad owners want to weigh in?

[md3artjournal]

1/12/2023. So I've been working on this drawing since 1/8/2023. Started as an analog doodle in my sketchbook, then scanned, and have been using it to practice/learn how to work with vectors in Krita.

And I've learned a lot! I feel like I'm finally starting to get the hang of digital drawing!

---even though I still don't have a proper stylus. x_x; I can't see what I'm drawing behind my cheap stylus's giant nib, but using it whenever I can still saves my hand from pain. My laptop actually came with a stylus, but it uses AAAA batteries, that ran out, I can't find them at any of my usual stores, and I'm still a chicken about buying things online. x___x;;; I've never even bought anything from Amazon, to this day, for goodness sakes! x~x;;;;;;;

But my problem right now is that despite feeling proud of the progress I've been making, learning vectors and Krita, it's still not completely satisfying or fulfilling. I feel like I have a strange, unsatisfied itch in my hands from not drawing since 1/8/2023. I mean, what I've been doing digitally for the past few days should count as drawing, but my hand muscles feel like I haven't been drawing at all. Whatever I've been practicing, it's completely different from the need to draw that my hand muscles need.

So I've been considering ending this drawing at this state. Back when I decided to turn my analog doodle into a chance to practice digital drawing to my fullest extent, I told myself I'd practice all the details that I barely do anymore in my analog drawings, because I draw too small, I've been too focused on finishing a doodle everyday, I run out of time, etc. But drawing digitally allows me to make my tiny sketches large enough to add shading, highlights, and other details. So I wanted this drawing to be my chance to practice that. I wanted to be able to take my time, come back to a single drawing, multiple times, and really WORK it---adding onto it, adjusting it, modifying it, waiting for all my ideas to surface, instead of just rushing to get it done. But I don't know how much longer I can hold out not drawing in the way my hand muscles need.

But after writing that out, I guess the clear solution is to concurrently draw a bunch of analog stuff for my hand muscles, while keeping this digital drawing as a work in progress, until after I've added all those details I said I'd practice. I guess that's what I'll do.

Feel kind of bad for not posting it yet though. Because even at this state so far, I like it. But that's what I have my art journal blog for: work in progress pics and random art venting.

[katzirra]

Aggressively rubs my face, complaining about anything in life feels so tedious compared to what's going on in the world. World events and disasters and genocides and just fucking everything make you feel so small and worthless. Like god damn I feel guilty for thinking how stressed I am because HAHAH COULD BE WORSE, BITCH. WHICH is kind of a weird thing the internet really uh, perpetuates. Which is kinda what people get at when they say take care of your mental health.

Like I'm staying as up to date as I can but it's... wow it's hard to stomach, and it's hard to know what to do when you're in a financial spot lmao... Fucking god damn. Like carrying on like normal is really hard because there's that thought in the back of my mind right now about how upsetting it is realizing so many people can't do that. Will never do that again. It's like tv static in my head lately low key saddening me more and more.

But yaknow that just sounds like I'm complaining about a world event, but it's not. It's just...a profound sadness. Saturating things. I find myself just kinda sitting lately unsure what to be doing that feels... productive in this time. Not really feeling, uh, creative or happy. I dunno. Low simmering fear as well tbh.

That wasn't the topic I was planning to post about uh... FRIVOLOUS UPDATES I GUESS... I USE TO DO THOSE, YEAH? IDK WHO CARES ABOUT MY PERSONAL LIFE THESE DAYS TBH LOL

Taking a break from Xig because I'm just ..out of it and need the expectations off me for a second.

Having anxiety even checking my art blog because people weirdly correcting me/giving me a compliment that's shorter than a correction and making me come off rude telling them I'm not wrong makes me anxious as hell :))) so I end up avoiding my own haunts!!! How fucky is that.

I am almost done with my small sketchbook?? I was fixing a few pages up before hitting a few dried out Copics, which lead to me checking all of them to see who I needed to fix/replace and uh... relocate them in my office. Which became redoing my pen pouches and seeing if those got fucked up. Hopefully I'll finish that and start scanning. 2018-2023... with huge gaps in there lol...

I miss doing art I liked. Its kinda stagnant atm so I might take the rest of the year to do studies on angles and shit tbh. I need something. It all feels same same.

Uhhh figuring out some dental stuff - bought myself a bougie electric toothbrush and I think my old one's timer was fucked up and making me brush too long?? Which is bad!!! So this new one already has my teeth feeling better 👏 mom's genetics have me terrified!! My teeth feel better after two brushes??? insane.

Getting bloodwork done Thursday so hopefully figuring some shit out about my weight and health :))) I'd like to lose the like 20-45lb I mysteriously seemed to gain over the past few years??? Uhhh??? And figure my periods out, money has just been BAD since Hannibal's surgery....

Having panic scares about if my job is going away in December or not and hating every job listing I see online so I gotta look for whatever listing sites exist outside indeed. Also something this decent with the same pay :)))))) so that's on my todo list... again.

Box spring is busted on my bed, so hopefully I don't have to replace the mattress just yet because of the previous point AND THE FACT I JUST STARTED GETTING TO SAVE FOR MY PC..... first world problems but fuck, dudes. Vakarian is fucking suffering sometimes... :(( but we'll see because MATTRESS PRICES.......!!!

I cleaned my office and room and that made me feel like I've accomplished something for myself so that's... something.

Trying to focus on things. Depression cocktail is going on..... money, job, housing, health, the world... it's all so much all the time, man.

[saiacross]

Bonds Unveiled

Supernatural FanFic : 2032 Words : First Work : OC

Bonus Chapter 2 (After Chapter 3.5) OR Stand Alone One Shot

A Secret Boyfriend?

Sam, Dean, and Saia have settled back into the familiar routine at the Bunker after a few days of being home. The Bunker itself is a vast underground complex, a combination of living quarters, a library, and a fully equipped hunting arsenal. It serves as the Winchester brothers' headquarters, their sanctuary in the supernatural world.

In the library, Sam sits at a large wooden table with multiple books spread out in front of him. The room is bathed in a soft glow from the overhead lights, casting a warm ambiance. Bookshelves line the walls, filled with ancient tomes, research materials, and supernatural lore. The sound of Sam's fingers tapping on the keyboard fills the air as he diligently searches for a new case to work on.

Sam's attention is fully absorbed by the screens before him. His hazel eyes are focused and intense, scanning through various websites, databases, and online forums dedicated to the supernatural. His laptop displays an array of open tabs, each containing information on urban legends, local folklore, and reported supernatural occurrences. Occasionally, Sam furrows his brow in concentration, his brows knitting together as he dives deep into the vast realm of the internet.

As Sam dives into his search for a new case, Dean walks in carrying a plate with a sandwich. He saunters over to Sam's table, giving him a playful smile.

 "Hungry, Sammy? Thought you might need some brain fuel."

Sam looks up from his laptop, a grateful smile appearing on his face as he accepts the sandwich. "Thanks, Dean. Appreciate it."

Dean takes a seat across from Sam, his eyes scanning the room before focusing back on his brother. "So, what's up, Sammy? Find anything interesting?"

Sam takes a bite of the sandwich and swallows before voicing his concern. "Actually, Dean, I've noticed something lately. Have you noticed Saia going out a lot more? Like, without telling us where she's going?"

Dean pauses for a moment, his brow furrowing as he tries to recall Saia's recent activities.  "Hmm, now that you mention it, she has been out quite a bit. But I never really paid much attention."

Sam's worry begins to show on his face as he continues the conversation. "It just feels strange, you know? After the demon attack at the bar, I can't help but worry about her safety. She's been through so much."

Dean's expression softens, a flicker of concern crossing his eyes despite his attempt to hide it. "Yeah, I get what you're saying, Saia's tough, but we've seen how world can mess with people.”

Sam's mind starts to wander, considering different possibilities. "I mean, it could be nothing.” Sam pauses as he sits back in his chair and crosses his arms “but what if she has a secret boyfriend or something? Someone she's keeping from us?"

Dean's disbelief is evident as he raises an eyebrow. "Come on, Sammy, really? Saia having a secret boyfriend? That seems far-fetched."

Sam's voice grows more confident as he lays out the evidence. "Think about it, Dean. The guy at the bar who helped her when the demons attacked. What if they hit it off?"

Dean's eyes widen in realization, his skepticism fading. Both brothers sit in stunned silence, the idea sinking in. The room seems to grow quieter as they contemplate the implications.

Just as the brothers are stunned into silence, a voice echoes through the corridor outside the library. It's Saia, calling out to them: "Hey, guys! I'm heading out. I'll be back later!"

Sam and Dean's eyes widen in realization, their hearts pounding in their chests. Without a moment to waste, they jump up from their seats, pushing their chairs back in their haste.

"Saia, wait!” Dean calls out.

"Saia, hold on a sec!" Sam’s voice echos.

They race through the corridors, their footsteps echoing against the concrete walls. Each step is filled with a mix of urgency and frustration, their voices carrying a sense of desperation. As they approach the metal door leading to the outside, they see it closing slowly, sealing their fate. Their pace quickens, their voices growing louder as they call out to Saia. But their efforts prove futile as the door clicks shut, sealing off their chance to catch up with her. The silence that follows is heavy with disappointment and frustration.

Sam and Dean look at each other, their expressions mirroring a mixture of concern and regret. They exchange a silent understanding that they missed their opportunity to confront Saia, at least for now.

Dean and Sam return to the library, their faces etched with determination and concern. Dean had a simple solution to their road block and he was trying to get Sam on board as he paces back and forth.

“Come on Sammy, we can't just let her go off on her own like that. Something's not right, and we need to find out what's going on."

Sam, still wrestling with the ethical implications of tracking Saia, furrows his brows in contemplation. "Dean, I get that we're worried, but it feels like we're crossing a line here. Saia deserves her privacy, and tracking her phone? It doesn’t feel right."

Dean stops pacing, locking eyes with Sam as he makes his case. "I get it. Privacy is important, but remember what happened at the bar? We can't just let her wander off into potentially dangerous situations. What if this guy is a total creep!"

Sam sighs, realizing the weight of Dean's words. After a moment of silence, he reluctantly nods. “Alright, I see your point. But just promise me that you’ll respect her boundaries once we find her."

Dean gives a small nod. “Deal. Let's track her location and make sure she's alright. Once we find her, we'll figure out how to approach this without overstepping." Dean already had his phone out and had started tracing Saia's location through her cellphone before he even finished speaking. The tension in the room mounts as they watch the signal blip on the screen, indicating her whereabouts.

“Looks like she’s at…. the rec center in town?” Sam questioned as he looked over Dean’s shoulder.

“Sure hope that isn’t his idea of a first date.” Dean scoffed. Sam look at his brother questionably.

The brothers grab their weapons and hastily make their way towards the Impala, the engine revving to life as they speed towards the motel where Saia's signal leads them.

As they drive, the silence between them is filled with a mix of anticipation and worry. They both understand the importance of finding Saia and ensuring her safety, but they also recognize the delicate balance of respecting her autonomy.

Sam and Dean exit the Impala and step into the rec center parking lot, their eyes immediately drawn to Saia's car parked nearby. They exchange a look of uncertainty, unsure of what they might find inside. Taking a deep breath, they enter the building.

Dean glances around, searching for any signs of Saia's presence. He spots a set of double doors to the right of the main entrance and notices a faint sound of music coming from that direction. Curiosity piqued, he nods towards the doors. "Hey, Sam, let's check out that gym area over there. Sounds like something's going on."

Sam follows Dean's gaze and notices the double doors leading to the gym area. They approach the doors, standing just outside, observing the lively scene inside. The room is filled with energetic women, focused on their kickboxing routines. Classic rock music blares through the speakers, adding to the atmosphere.

Dean spots Saia among the participants, her focus and determination evident in every move. He turns to Sam, gesturing towards her. "There she is, Sam.” Dean pointed her out. “Looks like she's really into it."

Sam watches Saia closely, a mix of surprise and admiration on his face."Huh,who knew Saia was into kickboxing? She's really giving it her all."

Dean nods, a small smile forming on his lips. “Yeah she is.”

They position themselves near the doors, leaning against the wall, patiently waiting for the class to conclude. The music and movements fill the air, creating an atmosphere of energy and determination. As the final notes of the song play out, the instructor leads the class in a cool-down session. Dean and Sam exchange a look.

As the kickboxing class comes to an end, Saia gathers her things and wipes the sweat from her brow. Ready to head out, she turns towards the double doors, only to be met with the sight of Sam and Dean leaning against the doorway, their faces adorned with cocky, teasing smiles. Saia lets out an exasperated groan, already anticipating what is to come.

"Seriously? What are you two doing here?"

Dean chuckles, pushing himself off the wall and taking a step towards her. "Well, well, Kickboxing, huh? Gotta admit, it's a sight to see."

Saia rolls her eyes, a mix of annoyance and amusement on her face. "Don't start, Dean. It's just a hobby I picked up to blow off some steam. Now, what are you guys doing here?"

Sam steps forward, a supportive and encouraging smile on his face. "We were a little worried, Saia. You've been going out a lot lately, and we just wanted to make sure everything's okay."

Saia's expression softens, understanding their concern. "I appreciate it, Sam. I'm fine, really. Just needed some time to clear my head, you know?"

Dean nudges Sam playfully with his elbow, a mischievous glint in his eyes. However before he could say anything else the group was approached by a few of the ladies from the kickboxing class.

"Hey, Saia! Who are these good-looking guys?" A woman with blonde hair asked.

Saia lets out a sigh and introduces Dean and Sam to the ladies. "This is Dean and Sam, my friends. Guys, meet Sarah, Lisa, and Emily."

 "Wait a minute... Dean and Sam? The famous Winchester brothers? Saia, you weren’t wrong." The women noted as Lisa said with a smirk as she looked the brothers up and down. This earned a smile and chuckle from Dean and caused Sam to straighten his stance, showing his full height.

As the ladies excuse themselves, one of them winks at the brothers while another playfully slaps Sam on the backside as they walk by. Sam jumps in surprise, his cheeks turning a shade of red.

"What was that?" Sam asked Saia after he cleared his throat.

Dean looks at Saia with a mixture of amusement and curiosity, clearly wondering what she's been telling others about them. "Saia, care to explain what you've been saying about us?" he asked with a raised brow.

Saia laughs and shrugs, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “It’s not like I’ve said anything bad or about hunting” Saia made sure to include that last part for good measure.

As they enter the bunker, Sam and Dean can't help but express their curiosity and concern.

"Saia, why didn't you tell us about the rec center? We were worried." Sam asked.

Saia looks at them, her expression earnest yet slightly defensive. "Sorry, guys. I just thought it would be good for me to get out and do something different. Plus, maybe make some other friends."

Dean smirks and adds a touch of humor to the conversation. "Oh, so Sam and I aren't enough for you anymore, huh?"

Saia rolls her eyes, brushing off Dean's comment. "You know that's not what I meant, Dean. It's just that sometimes it's good to have a change of scenery and keep my mind busy."

Sam, understanding Saia's perspective, nods in agreement."I get it,finding something that helps distract you and brings some normalcy is important."

Saia smiles gratefully at Sam, appreciating his understanding. "Yeah… It's been helping me stay grounded and focused." Sam and Dean knew what Saia was referring to without it having been said aloud.

Dean interjects, lightening the mood with a teasing tone. "You know, for a moment there, we thought you were sneaking out to see some secret guy. Got us all worried."

Saia gives Dean a playful shove. "Please, Dean. You and Sam are more than enough. No secret boyfriends here."

End Chapter

[beautifulinsaniity]

I'm shifting to Once Upon a Time, figured I'd do a little introduction of my Storybrooke DR.

My name is Hannah Swan, fraternal twin sister to Emma. We grew up together until 3 when we were separated.

I show up to Storybrooke the day of our birthday - 10/23 - and decide to stay for a week to celebrate my birthday. After seeing some weirdness around town and running into Emma and seeing her get setup I decide to stay and put my travel plans aside. I rent an apartment over the Daily Mirror (which is now located on main street if it wasn't before) from Mr. Gold & end up getting a job at the paper as an Inventory Control Specialist (I scan old newspapers and files into the online system and restock the newspaper vending machines in the mornings).

Emma & I end up becoming friends, and therefore Mary Margaret and I become friends. I overheard Henry talking Operation Cobra with Emma and can't help but feel some kind of correlation between the weird things I've seen and felt and the possibility of Storybrooke being under a curse and everyone being fairytale characters. It sounds crazy but things just seem...too coincidental for me to just write it off, so I do what I do best, research, observe, and connect patterns. I keep a little notebook on me and Henry pulls me into Operation Cobra and gives me the run down of his suspicions while I notate my own (who in town could be which fairytale character) and we wonder what my role in all this could be. Once August rolls into town and the book changes, my story is now in there, tied right in with Emma's.

My first full shift should take place during season 1 episode 10 when the storm rolls into town. I have shifted here once before but it was the middle of the night before the morning I'm supposed to wake up and I shifted back immediately. The plan is to wake up, freak out that I shifted, brush my teeth, grab a cup of coffee from my coffee maker, answer the door to let Mr. Gold in - he's going to have me tape the windows and prep the apartment for the storm and give me advice on what I need to get - then head to Granny's to meet Emma and Mary Margaret for breakfast! From there (after much more freaking out about being at Granny's and meeting everyone) I'll go to the store, prep the apartment, then go for a walk and go down to the beach and watch the storm roll in.

I'll end up having the Captain Swan ship happen with me rather than Emma, and Graham isn't going to die, just fall into a coma until the curse is broken, from there it's up to Emma to find her true love. Sexuality is more realistic, and polyamory isn't taboo or looked down on. I do have magic, it's easy for me to use and learn and doesn't come with a price, the price was the last 28 years of my life WAS the payment. I will be going up the beanstalk in season 2 and going through the Enchanted Forest but I think the plot starts changing pretty drastically in season 2 so we'll see what happens from there.

I'm shifting to this Storybrooke Reality for a full day by 7/7/2023 so I'll post updates as I get them!

[outerspace-iiinnerspace]

2025 Book Bingo

My to-read list is a mile long so I thought this would be a good way to knock a few things off! Posting for accountability - the original list/prompts are from @batmanisagatewaydrug. Thank you for putting it together!

Literary fiction: The Lost Garden by George C Foster. I don't actually know if this is literary fiction, but it's in my to-read list with no notes and I can't find a thing about it online other than the fact it exists. This intrigues me. I don't know that it's not literary fiction. If it turns out to not be literary fiction, then I'll read Adam's Breed by Radclyffe Hall.

Short story collection: The Terminal Beach by J.G. Ballard. This is maybe cheating because I've already read about half the stories in here individually. If it is cheating, then Uncle Boris in the Yukon and Other Shaggy Dog Stories by Daniel Pinkwater because Pinkwater is one of my favorite authors of all time and I've somehow never read this one?

Sequel: This Woman by Pietro di Donato. This is the sequel to Christ in Concrete which was one of the best books I read in 2024. The reviews seem to say it isn't as good as the first, but that's such a hard act to follow that I'm not worried.

Reread childhood favorite: A Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbotson. This book gave me so many complexes in middle school and I have never reread it yet sooooo…

20th century speculative fiction: 334 by Thomas Disch. It takes place in 2025 which makes it a good choice to read this year!

Fantasy: I don't have titles because they're all in boxes but I picked up a ton of C.J. Cherryh stuff at a library sale last year and I'm pretty sure at least some of it is the Fortess series. If I'm wrong, then The Time of the Dark by Barbara Hambly.

Published before 1950: Symzonia: A Voyage of Discovery, author unknown, published 1820. I'm such a sucker for hollow earth stuff and this is so formative to hollow earth stuff that I have no excuse for not having read this yet.

Indie publisher: Pact by Wildbow aka John McCrae. Do webnovels count as indie? If not, then Disappointed: The Code Word for Annihilation by Michael Wolff because holy shit I didn't know Pierce Elevated was a sequel. I have to read this. I have to read this SO BAD.

Graphic novel, comic book, or manga: Elfquest: The Final Quest by Wendy and Richard Pini. I'm actually in an Elfquest reread right now, so if I get close to Final Quest by New Year's this will be an excuse to take a break so I can read it in 2025. In either case, this will be an incentive to actually finish the reread this time because I remember Final Quest being pretty frustrating. But I still want to finish it. If rereads don't count, The Last Delivery by Evan Dahm because I love Dahm's stuff and haven't gotten to that one yet.

Animal on the cover: I'm going to go to the used bookstore sometime next month and browse for this one. If I'm picking a book based on the cover I wanna REALLY pick it based on the cover.

Set in a country I have never visited: The Last Children of Schewenborn by Gudrun Pausewang. I have desperately wanted to read this for YEARS but it is IMPOSSIBLE to find the English translation. I KNOW there is an English translation. There are THREE English editions, published in 1988, 1989, and 1990. I know the publishers. I know the translators. I know the frigging ISBNs but they are IMPOSSIBLE to find. There aren't even scans! This is the year I either track this down or the year I dig out my German/English dictionary and translate it myself. If that doesn't work out, then The Baghdad Villa by Zuheir El-Hetti.

Science fiction: Raven Strategem by Yoon Ha Lee. Ninefox Gambit was SO damn good but I never got around to the second one.

2025 debut author: I'm gonna wait to pick this one until 2025. See what comes out.

Memoir: Four Days with Kenny Tedford by Kenny Tedford and Paul Smith, because I bought it back when it was published and never read it. Also, I've only met Kenny like twice but I am technically friend-of-a-friend with him so I really should read his damn book huh.

Read and make a zine: I've got a friend who makes zines so whatever they come out with next year :3

Essay collection: Starboard Wine by Samuel R. Delaney. I forget exactly why this is on my list, but I have a hunch it's the Heinlein essay. Anyway I love literary criticism.

2024 award winner: The seventh volume of Blacksad apparently got three Eisners which I guess is my cue to get caught up!

Nonfiction: Under a White Sky by Elizabeth Kolbert. My sister really wants me to read this one! She's already offered to lend me her copy and if I read it she's gonna read The Sheep Look Up as a trade. I also want to read Adverse Events by Jill Fisher and Survival of the Richest by Douglas Rushkoff.

Social justice and activism: How to Blow up a Pipeline by Andreas Malm. Another friend recommendation.

Romance novel: Rebel Sutra by Shariann Lewitt. This has been on my bookshelf since high school.

Read and make a recipe: Something from Vic's Big Little Burger Guide by Victor Bell. Vic is my dear friend and I have never actually cooked a hamburger, so this is my opportunity!

Horror: The House Next Door by Anne Rivers Siddons. I had this recommended after I read Rosemary's Baby and if the vibes are at all similar I cannot wait.

Published in 2000-09: For the Emperor by Sandy Mitchell. Al told me to read this back in 2019 and I still haven't done it and I really think I should.

Historical fiction: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. I actually read the first 20ish pages of this a couple years ago and I really want to finish it sometime.

Bookseller or librarian rec: The Library Book by Susan Orlean. I am a librarian so a lot of my recs come from other librarians, but this is about libraries so it feels appropriate for the slot!