#said Beloved got up just after I drew it so I could show her this gif

[awoomint]

Got Sonic Frontiers as an early b-day gift! Learned I could kinda draw with the Cyloop and immediately drew a heart for my Beloved~

Well, okay, I drew the heart after immediately drawing a dick first but close enough-

[cumulo-stratus]

A New Years Kiss

Pairing: Spencer Reid x gn!reader

Summary: You and Spencer share a New Years kiss at Rossi's house to celebrate

Warnings: kissing, fluff fluff fluff

A/N: just a little Drabble I wrote at like 2 am on new years <3 hope you enjoy!!

“You know this is our one year anniversary-” Spencer said with a chuckle, pulling you in by the waist. You chuckled and looked up at him, because Although you were tall- you weren't Spencer Reid tall. 

“It is this time last year I kissed you for the first time- you're a very gentle kisser you know”. Your tone had a joking tone to it, but was still just as loving and caring as you always were when talking to your beloved Spencer. 

The pair were so wrapped up in the world moment together they either didn't hear or chose to ignore the sound of Derek whistling at the intimate moment between the two members of the BAU team. 

Penelope jogged, well more like shuffled over in her 5 inch heels, towards the couple and handed them each a flute of champagne.

There were 5 minutes left till the ball dropped on the tv in the center of the living room of David rossi's house. 

He had pulled out all the stops for the BAU and their friends and family- all were invited. Haley and Jack, JJ and Will, Emily, Derek and Penelope showed up together, and of course you Spencer. The BAU’s Cutest Couple™.   

You pulled Spencer in by the waist , and he leaned his head on your shoulder, the warmth of your neck drew Spencer in, not letting him leave. You just smiled, loving Spencer's docile nature and loving mannerisms. Before you could even realize what was happening a very Emily Penelope Garcia flashed a camera in front of you and Spencer's face, capturing the adorable moment.

“You guys are so cute! Ugh- I wish I had that!” Penelope spoke with a pout, jealous of you and Spencer's cute couple-ly-ness. Penelope's comment elicited a laugh from both you and Spencer. 

The trio was drawn from their conversation by Morgan yelling at them to pay attention, it was New Year's Eve after all. “Kids! Come on we got thirty seconds- their showing the ball drop!” Derek motioned for the trio to come over to the couch while he spoke, urgence in his voice. Penelope decided to sit next to Morgan, and he placed his arm around her neck and she leaned into his shoulder- in classic Garcia and Morgan fashion. 

You however opted to stand in front of your boyfriend, his arms wrapped gently around your waist, holding you tightly against his chest. Spencer was practically a full head taller than you, and because of that he was able to rest his chin on your scalp. 

The group began to Count down together, almost chanting. “5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Happy New Years!” Everyone cried out in unison. After the chanting finished, everyone cheered and clinked their glasses of champagne together and took small sips. You Spencer however? You were doing something else entirely. 

As soon as the countdown ended you turned around in Spencer's arms and grabbed his face. You held his cheeks and pressed your lips to his, they were chapped- Spencer lips were always chapped in the winter, and in the summer. At first Spencer was startled, but he soon leaned into it, placing his hands on your cheeks as well. His fingers were cold on your warm cheeks, Spencer had chronic doctor hands- they were always cold. But you didn't mind, as long as your lips remained pressed together. 

It was only when air was absolutely necessary did either one of you pull away. Morgan gave a wolf whistle and you chuckled. Spencer's cheeks just flushed even more red than they'd been before. You leaned back in for one more peck on Spencer's smile, this kiss much more chaste. 

Spencer had a bashful smile on his face when he asked “what was that for?”. You looked at him with a sly smile, before answering “new years” with a shrug and a chuckle. He looked confused for a second before asking “how is that of any significance?”.  You couldn't help but laugh at Spencer's cluelessness of many classic traditions of romance, such as kissing your partner on New Year's Eve. “It's a romantic tradition Spence, couples kiss on New Year's Eve, and I wanted to kiss you-” when you winked, Spencer looked away, blushing profusely.

“Oh,”

“I wanted to kiss you too”

Spencer couldn't look you in the eyes as he spoke, but you could still hear the love and adoration in his voice. 

The End

[a-very-sparkly-nerd]

i'm grateful you're my daughter more than anything

Post 6x09, Runaan finds Rayla as she takes care of Callum. She's changed, and he couldn't be a prouder father.

Felt cute might put up on ao3 later :b

The first moment they had alone was in the dead of the night, moon high above the Nexus. It felt fitting, almost full-circle.

On his way down the hall to the library, to get parchment to send a letter to Ethari explaining what could never truly be explained, at least not fully, Runaan spotted Rayla slipping down the hall, footsteps light and quick as a true assassin's, despite how opposite of one she was, a steaming teacup on a little plate in her hands.

She looked up when she heard him, smiling a little as her low ponytail swung. "Runaan. ...Hey." She cleared her throat. "How- how are you feeling?"

He shrugged in the enormously oversized nightshirt the lumberjack human, Allen, had lent him. It was off-putting, being out of his form-fitting, safe garb, especially in this strange, unknown place he should very well have felt relaxed in- a full moon, at the Moon Nexus, but all Runaan could feel was... odd. "As good as one can, I suppose. How are you, though? How is your human? Clem- Camel? Stop me when I get it right-"

She laughed, and it wasn't a snarky one he'd grown so accustomed to. "Callum." A smile ticked her lips upwards at his name. "His name's Callum. And he's-" Rayla looked away to the wall, the little table she elected to set the tea down on, anywhere but him. "He's okay. I think. Mostly in shock. But he'll get through it." The unspoken words hung in the air, a truth both of them hated knowing: What other choice does he have?

"He's got you," Runaan offered, drawing closer. "That's pretty damn good."

She laughed again, a real, merry one, despite the bitter undertones. "Yeah. Some cuddles and tea are all I can do until morning. Bright and early, we go to Katolis." She made a face, and at least that was the same- her utter hatred of mornings.

Just like that, Runaan found himself relaxing just a little more into her presence. No longer a little girl he felt the need to protect- Well, she would always be that, his beloved daughter once he started acting like it, but someone he trusted to have his back. Even with how much she'd changed, not everything had.

"I will be up with the sun," he promised, and she looked away. That had just been one more thing setting her apart from the rest back at the Silvergrove, during training: her adamant refusal to awaken at the crack of dawn for early-morning runs and sparring.

Good. Please, let her never be like the Silvergrove, Runaan prayed now, just as he had so many moons ago with Ethari after Lain and Tiadrin left. Let her never have the hardened heart of an assassin, the only ones the community would spare the time of day. She had an out, and one look at her and Callum was enough for Runaan to know that she'd take it and never look back.

"Well, I should get this to Callum," Rayla said awkwardly, stilted, moving to take the cup, but Runaan stopped her with a gentle touch to her wrist. "Rayla, wait." Gentle, the way he'd be with Ethari. Because this was his daughter, not a member of his troupe or someone under his jurisdiction. His family.

She pursed her lips slightly and shook her loose bangs out of her eyes, and Runaan couldn't help but remember back to her parents. She was the perfect combination of them, with Lain's braids and horns, Tiadrin's nose and face shape, and her lavender eyes unique only to her. Setting her apart. "Yeah?"

He drew his hand back. "I've never seen you like this," he said, admittedly curiously.

Rayla tilted her head, questioning kindly rather than the abrasive, aggressive way she'd always done before. "Like what?"

"Giving," Runaan said, because that was the first word that came to him. Rayla had always been kind and generous and loving, no matter how she'd hated to show it. "Kind. Loving. Happy."

She took a hesitant step closer, reaching to rest her gentle, small hand on his upper arm, blinking furiously.

"It's a good look on you." He blinked his own tears away as she bit back a sob-ridden laugh. "The best one."

Rayla ducked her head, bangs swinging with the motion. "Thank you. That... It means a lot. So much."

Runaan clasped her hands, drinking the sight of his daughter in. So small physically, but larger than life. So, so loved and gorgeous, inside and out, and he was sure her human made sure she knew it, too.

"You have a beautiful heart, Rayla," he said eventually, softly. "The most gorgeous I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. My worst regret is trying to burn it away instead of nurturing it. And for that..." A hand found its way to lay over his heart, bringing a sniffling Rayla’s with it. "I am truly sorry."

"Runaan..." She shook her head, reaching up to wipe away his tears, and they were the softest fingertips Runaan could remember, his own and Ethari's so calloused and rough. And here was Rayla, giving and gentle. The daughter he'd always dreamed of but never deserved. "Don't," she said firmly. "It was my choice. My choices. I had to find my way here on my own. In the end..." She glanced back down the hall, to the closed door that the boy she loved more than life rested behind. "I like where it got me. I'm glad I'm here."

"Rayla..." Runaan tucked her hair behind her ears, pressing their foreheads together. "I don't know what it means to you, but I am so proud of you. I love you, Little Blade. You are my daughter. I only hope you'll let me be your father."

Rayla threw her arms around him, sending him stumbling back in shock, immediately holding her back. "Of course. I'd forgiven you a long time ago, Runaan. I'm so glad you're my father. You always will be. I love you."

And he'd already said it tonight, but Runaan had spent far too much time hating and killing, and not nearly enough loving. So he hugged her back, whispering, "I love you, too."

[totheblood]

Hi, can you do hc’s of ellie having a crush on/dating a friendly and outgoing girl ❤️

a/n: hey, im taking time today to get to my inbox and write for ellie my beloved… i feel a lot more confident now given that i am just ab finished with part one of the game but still, reserving my time for writing! so send requests, i have a few but still 🫣 anyways, thank u anon ilu

ellie is such an ambivert so whenever she’s around someone more introverted she’s determined to pull them out of their shell, but when she’s around you, an obvious extrovert, she can feel herself drawing inwards

she first noticed you on her first day in jackson and found herself dumbstruck as she watched you tell what seemed like an interesting story to a group of people your age. they all seemed so entranced, and ellie couldn’t lie, she was too.

she felt like such a stalker after that day, writing down your name in her journal with small doodles of your face and side profile. the way you so effortlessly drew people in, how you made everyone feel welcome and included, everything about you left her in a daze.

quickly after arriving she fell in with dina and her group of friends so she would find herself sneaking out at night to drink and play games in dina’s basement.

to her suprise, you were there. not to her suprise, you were there with a guy, and whatever hope she had of ever being with you was crushed. you didn’t even look like you liked the guy, she thought, as she watched you subtly push his hand away from your face.

later that night ellie cornered dina to ask her about you, the one drink in her system showing itself suddenly.

“what do you know about yn?”

dina snorted. “what, do you have a crush on her?” it was meant to be a joke, at this point ellie had not made it clear that she was into girls, but when dina saw the way her face faltered she completely changed her tune.

“oh shit, you do!”

“shut up, i do not.”

“well, get in line.”

“you have a cr-?” ellie was confused.

“what?! no, but practically every guy here does, she never pays them any mind though.” she said gesturing to you, again as you looked completely uninterested in the guy in front of you.

“oh.” was all ellie could say.

from that day on she interacted with you infrequently, occasionally having short conversations with you during class where her cheeks would burn a bright red whenever you laughed

plus, her crush went away for a while when she had a fling with cat. but as soon as that was over she was right back to stealing glances at you at community events

so here she was, harboring a four year crush on someone who didn’t even know who she was, it felt pathetic

it all came to a head when she started getting assignments around the town and was paired with you in the stables

she was shocked when you greeted her with a wide smile on your face

“hey! ellie, right?”

“yeah,” ellie let out a breathless laugh “you know my name?”

“town’s not that big, ellie.” you laughed as you watched her cheeks grow red like they always did when she spoke to you

since you could talk to a brick wall it was no shocker that you and ellie talked throughout your entire assignment

everytime elle would make you laugh she would feel so accomplished even though a part of her knew you were just being nice

after that day ellie practically begged maria to put her on the stables with you, even going as far as to say she would take two assignments a day if she just got to do the one with you

you were so good at making her feel comfortable, and a part of her felt like you were flirting with her half the time, but her insecurities got the best of her

soon enough you were inviting ellie everywhere… to secret parties, to show her a flower you found growing behind the stables, and even just to get a sandwich with you at the tipsy bison

ellie knew that you were nowhere close to hers but she couldn’t help but get jealous when she would see how well you interacted with others… she knew it was your nature but it still burned

whenever she would see you laugh a little too hard at a joke she wanted to turn around and throw up, but she didn’t… the sound of your laughter was peace enough

one night she decided to walk you home and after she had finished saying good bye you reached up and kissed her

she was so dumbstruck that she just stared at you, and how beautiful your eyes looked with the snow catching on your eyelashes. she was so wrapped up in your beauty and by the taste of your lips still on hers that she didn’t even recognize the horror that was painted so clearly over your face

“shit.. ellie i am so sorry, i don’t know why i did that. i thought there was something between us but i so clearly misread that and i shouldn’t have assumed just because of cat that you would like me. god i feel so dumb especially since this has happened to me where people think just because i’m nice to them they can kiss me or something but i should have nev-“

you were cut off by ellie pressing her lips to yours again, her hand gripping the back of your head

you couldn’t tell how long you had been kissing but when she pulled away her lips were swollen and you were dizzy

“you didn’t misread anything.”

“obviously.” you laughed.

after that the little invites you gave ellie began to feel more and more like dates, especially since they almost always ended with your hands down her pants

when you became official, ellie knew she had to find a way to be secure with you

she knew you wouldn’t do anything to hurt her, but it wasn’t you she didn’t trust. it was the people who often took advantage your kindness

so she would be extremely protective over you, everytime you two were at a party together she would have her arm wrapped around your waist, her fingers brushing the top of your hip

she would occasionally pull you in for a sloppy kiss whenever she would notice someone staring at you for too long. even though she hated PDA she felt it was necessary when being with you so people knew exactly who you were with

even though it made her nervous she would never ask you to change. it was just who you were and it was one of the things that made her fall for you in the first place.

whenever you would get antsy at a party because you wanted to go and talk to large groups of people she would gently push you towards them with a “go fly, my little social butterfly.”

she was more than happy to take a backseat and watch you thrive

[justiceforskywarp]

Tbh my opinion on dead cells immortalis is just wasted potential. Now this is just MY opinion, and doesn’t reflect how the fandom itself feels, but to me? Yeah, I did actually just want an animated series that illuminated the events of canon. I didn’t want a whole ass new plot with ocs and a butchering of the queen’s character. And why? I’ve heard it said that a retelling of the canon would be boring, but in my mind, not really. The lore of dead cells is such that you see only what has happened afterwards, and you piece things together from the broken shards of the vase you find. However, you will never see the vase in its true glory and you will never have all the pieces. In my opinion, an animated series illuminating that could have fixed plot holes, answered questions, and provided perspective on the characters before the malaise. Let’s be real—how would it be to see the horrifying court drama of the king going crazy as his kingdom dies? We could have seen the Queen being dragged off to become a homunculus, the time keeper plotting to begin the time loop, the hand slaying and executing the giant as well as the civilians rising up against the king. We could have seen the scarecrow going crazy and the concierge mutating into a monster. We could have seen the collector discovering cells and deciding to use them on the king, only for him to become, well, the beheaded. And we could have seen the beheaded waking up in this new ruined world and beginning his plight to find his body, with animated battle scenes of all the bosses. Hell they even have an ending baked in—they could show us the beheaded slaying the queen to escape the island, or the true canon ending of dead cells—or maybe they could combine the two, with the beheaded getting off the island AFTER he retrieves his body, leaving behind a burned ruin of an island.

So to me, the fact that what we got was a bunch of ocs and a completely different story with altered designs and virtually no one I actually cared about in it…yeah I have to admit, I watched along because I love dead cells, but I didn’t really come away from any of the episodes feeling especially in love with any of the characters. And I wasn’t glad that they butchered the character of the queen and just turned the horrifying twist of the homunculus experiments into basically a shitpost. The malaise being a curse is fine, it doesn’t really change anything, and it’s one of the few things the series helped explain, but it still doesn’t clear anything up from the games, since in game the homunculus experiments were a response TO the malaise. Also, while the beheaded’s character is fine, there’s just…I came here for my beloved dead cells favorites. Who is this? She looks like a Sypha Belnades rip off they stuck a ponytail on after taking one character design course and deciding that her silhouette NEEDED to be recognizable.

So. I haven’t gone into any of the writing choices or the story or what because frankly I don’t want to. I just didn’t care enough about it to want to write an analysis. My opinion is literally just that the show is wasted potential. Dead cells is a beloved game and maybe some of us DID want to just see an elaboration of the canon, actually, because it’s that story, not the immortalis one, that captivated and drew us in. So forgive me for being disappointed in how the animated series handled everything (ESPECIALLY the character of the queen. God forbid)

[xtarmanderx]

I genuinely haven’t touched this fic in years, but I do want to finish it. Fun fact: I’ve been over halfway done either the next chapter for ages and just had zero motivation. But I think about it constantly and decided maybe posting a snippet would gain some interest again. So here’s part of the next chapter of my beloved Thiam season 6 soulmate rewrite where Theo is human.

~

“I was serious, Nolan. Get to class.” Theo said, flashing his best attempt at a smile. “Gabe and I can handle this.” Getting his DNA on the body would suck, but he knew how to take precautions. He crossed the room to the first aid kit hanging on the wall and opened it, pulling out a couple of pairs of gloves. Bringing them to Gabe, he tugged on a pair and took a shallow breath. “Where are we taking him?” He asked.

“Not far. We can get across the hall to the boiler room and then after school we can…” He trailed off, cutting a look at Nolan. The other boy scurried off without another protest, wiping hastily at his eyes as he made his escape.

“You didn’t have to do that for him.” Theo said quietly.

“I kind of did. Nolan’s on thin ice with her. And she’ll kill him, man. She’ll kill all of us if we don’t fall in line.” Gabe whispered, his voice shaking. “I’ll do whatever it takes to protect him.”

“Admirable, but committing murder is a pretty serious offense.”

“So is being an accessory to one,” Gabe said. Theo tipped his head to concede his point.

“After the boiler room, what else will we do with Edgar’s body?” Theo asked.

“I’ll show you…”

-

Liam paced the floor of the safe house anxiously, crossing his arms stubbornly over his chest. He didn’t like this plan. It was too risky. If something happened to Mason, Liam would never be able to forgive himself. As he spun back on his heel and flicked his gaze toward Scott and Argent, he heard a loud groan. “Liam. For the love of everything, take a seat.” Josh groaned from where he was sprawled on top of their sleeping bags.

“I can’t.” He ground out, heart racing. As he started up again, Josh stuck out his leg and sent him stumbling to the floor. Snarling, he dropped his fans and turned on the chimera who was sporting a cocky grin. “What’s your problem?!” He roared, surging forward onto his knees and dragging Josh up by his shirt. The other boy chuckled, dark eyes glittering with amusement. “You’ve got a death wish.” He said, sinking back onto his heels and staring at him. His features shifted back and Josh shrugged one shoulder, prying Liam’s fingers from his shirt.

“Did you really need to put a hole in this?” He asked, frowning down at the material.

“You wanted me to kill you.” Liam whispered.

“Don’t be stupid.” Josh’s heart skipped a beat and Liam felt himself shaken to the core. Before he could work his mouth open to say anything, Scott’s hand squeezed his shoulder and drew his attention up.

[baldurs-gape]

My beloved @faetxlity has done some incredible (adulting) things and I promised a reward. They requested some Karlach and Astarion cuddling which I was over the moon to provide. I hope you enjoy it, beloved friend.

Hot, Cross Bums

The annoying thing, according to Astarion, about Waterdeep was the fact that it had seasons. Proper seasons of hot summers and cold winters. The warm summers were a wonder, there was nothing better than lying on the sun warmed stone benches after dusk and bask in the ambiance of the surroundings. If someone ever tried to capture the essence of happiness, Astarion on summer nights was it.

Alas, good things almost always had an equal and opposite bad. In this instance, it was winter and the cold it brought. Sure, the nights were longer so Astarion could be out and about more if he so wished, but to leave the warmth of Gale's tower was to faze the biting cold. Wrapping up wasn't an option, not for Astarion at least. While Gale was basically his own heat generator and could trap the warmth with the layers, Astarion had no such luxury. The best he could do was boil a couple of eggs and pop them in his pockets to warm his hands. And, if Gale was with him, they also served as a rather nice snack when he got peckish.

To add insult to emotional injury, Gale wasn't always around to warm up against. It just wasn't the same to huddle by a roaring fire in a warm room, Tara in his lap, Astarion craved body heat almost worse than he craved blood. Sadly, only one of those problems could be fixed by descending into the basement, and there wasn't a bit of heat to be found down there.

As the winter term at Blackstaff drew closer, Gale wound up working more, trying to help students wrap up their end of term assignments. It kept him away from home, and Astarion, for longer hours. Even though they knew this was going to be the case, Astarion didn't waste a single opportunity to bemoan this. Something had to change.

That something was a knock on the door and Astarion ventured down to see who it was.

"Fangs!" Karlach's booming voice was enough to knock him back just as much as the tackle of a hug bowled him over. "Magic man said you'd be home!"

All grumbles were melting in Astarion's throat as he basked in the heat his friend exuded. It was divine. Nothing else mattered for the moment, not the open door letting in the cold and the weak sun, not the breeze, not even that people walking past could see them. Finally feeling warm for the first time since Gale left their bed was all Astarion could think about.

"Hells, you're freezing. Come on, show me your favourite napping spot."

It just so happened to be the couch by the fire, big and soft enough to pretty much swallow Astarion whole like a loving, vegan mimic. Karlach flopped down on it with a "whoop" as she wriggled around for optimal comfort then tugged Astarion down next to her. Doing his own shuffles to get comfortable, he accidentally poked cold feet against Karlach's thigh. Usually, that got Gale yelping which, in turn, made Tara look at them with disdain. Instead, Karlach gave a throaty moan.

"Fuck, I forgot how damn good you can feel." She eyed him up with a grin. "Heads up, soldier! Incoming!"

That was all the warning Astarion got before the world tipped and turned. The next moment he was sighing as heat seeped into him from cheek to toes as Karlach settled him on her chest where they lay.

"One more thing!" Deft as ever, she dragged the throw from the back of the armchair down and spread it over them. Within a minute a wonderful heat surrounded Astarion and he groaned in appreciation. Even when Tara hopped up to settle on the small of his back, he didn't grumble. Warm, well fed and content, he actually slipped into a trance withouth meaning to.

Coming out of it, the first thing he heard was Gale and Karlach talking. There was drool under his cheek and his ear felt rather creased and numb as it drooped from where he'd been lying on it.

"Wha-?" It wasn't his most eloquent moment but Astarion didn't yet have it in him to care.

"Hello, my love." Gale smiled and reached to wipe his cheek with a thumb. "You look like you needed that rest."

"Fangs, did you know you snore? All 'snorkmimimi' like a kitten."

"Do not." Astarion was warm, comfortable and not in the mood to deal with being teased. So he took the simple route to avoid it all. Turning to mash his other cheek against Karlach for warmth, he indulged in trancing some more despite not truly needing it.

[weirdmarioenemies]

Weird Mario Enemies Presents: A Chris Pratt Carol

‘Twas the night before April, when all through the flat,

Not a creature was stirring, except for a Pratt!

Chris Pratt couldn’t sleep, after such a long day,

For his movie premiere was just five days away!

“I’m so excited”, Pratt thought, with a grin on his face,

“For my role as the Mario, I’m definitely an ace!”

But just as Chris had thought those thoughts with his brain,

He soon heard the sounds of a rattling chain…

A scary ghoul appeared right before Pratt’s eyes, 

And its face looked familiar, much to his surprise!

The ghost was Bob Hoskins, it was clear to see,

As he was cast in Super Mario Bros. (1993)!

“Why are you here?” pratted Chris, with a fearful tone,

And the specter replied with a ghostly groan,

“I’m here to warn you, so hear my plea,

If you carry on like this, you’ll end up just like me!”

“This cannot be! Don’t take me for a fool!

Even Miyamoto-san thinks I’m so cool!”

“So it may be, but take a look online...

As the voice for the plumber, they all wish you’d resign!

Anya and Charlie, and Jack Black too,

Not one of them receives as much hate as you!

You’ll be visited tonight by three Mario ghosts, 

From them you must learn, or your career is toast!”

First came the Ghost of Mario Past,

At his brilliant white glow, Chris Pratt lay aghast!

The room was illuminated by his ethereal light, 

Though he was a pro wrestler, he came not for a fight!

The ghost showed him visions of an old cartoon,

In which Mario danced to a familiar tune, 

 The live-action plumber was a certain Paisano, 

Portrayed only by the legend Lou Albano!

“Bah! Humbug!”, scoffed the Pratty Chris,

‘You come to my home just to show me this?’

But despite his attitude, Pratt really knew,

That he didn’t have as much Pasta Power as Lou…

‘Hey paisano, lemme give you a clue, 

Super Mario’s Italian, through and through!

Your bland voice acting just makes me sigh,

At this rate you’ll go to hell, before you die!’

The Ghost of Mario Present arrived as due,

He was heard all through the house, with a resounding ‘wahoo!’

With a torch in his hand and sitting upon a heap of food,

This jolly ghost could only spread his good mood!

The ghost brought Pratt to a world of Wet-Dry,

To a small home with a family that struggled to get by,

The ghost gestured to the window to peek, 

For there Pratt would find a situation most bleak.

A poor uncle and niece shared one measly dish,

But the frail young Spikina held only one wish,

Her beloved Super Mario, she wanted to see,

On the big screen, going ‘yahoo’ and ‘yipee!’

Were she to hear Chris, she’d soon be let down,

Hearing her hero so dull would just make her frown!

If her illness got worse, we’d surely know why,

Chris Pratt would be to blame if she were to Die!

The Ghost of Mario Yet to Come was last, but not least,

For he took the appearance of a demonic beast!

Even Pratt could only tremble in fear,

As this frightening new apparition drew near.

Just as the silence was making Chris choke,

The ghost opened its mouth and spoke, 

“Where is god when you need him?”

And this left Chris Pratt feeling quite grim.

Chris didn’t really know what the spirit had meant,

But he was left with a feeling, a need to repent,

And though it hadn’t spoken of the future at all, 

Just its presence had made Pratt want to bawl!

“O spirits of Mario, I ask that you forgive!

I won’t voice another cartoon, for as long as I live!

I now understand the depth of my sin,

I’ll no longer voice Mario, I simply give in!”

With that, Chris scrambled out of bed with a start,

He dashed to his window with a beating heart. 

From his flat he saw a boy standing outside,

With a small hint of hope, Pratt leaned out and cried:

“You there! What day is to-day?”

“To-day? Why, It’s April Fools Day, sir!”

“April Fools! That means I haven’t missed it! Wahoo!” said Chris Pratt, as he flipped his turtle with joy!

He had no further intercourse with Spirits, but lived upon the Total Abstinence Principle, ever afterwards; and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Mario well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! 

And so, as Tiny Spikina observed, Mario bless Us, Every One!

[rev-glut]

Paradise in Purgatory 

Track One: The Greatest Show Unearthed 

A collaborative fic written by @rev-glut and @raelwrites. (Thank you for being part of this, beloved, it's been amazing.)

Summary: On Halloween you meet a kitten, “princess”, and werewolf who saw you perform and really dig your vibes and would like to buy you a drink. So you take them up on the offer and flirt a little bit, make some friends, join a band. You may kiss one of them later. Or two. Maybe all three. Just once. Until your little group gets disrupted. 

Notes: No Powers AU, Band AU, takes place during college years. Matt gets called kitten, Foggy is briefly called puppy due to his costume but is later called cream puff and other nicknames with puff in it, Karen is called princess. R is pagan. Matt's ginger. POV changes quite often? Elektra appears in the end. 

Disclaimer: Neither of us consent to the usage of our work for AI, in any capacity.

Masterlist AO3

A star, that was what you were. 

The low lit venue smelled of sugar, pumpkin and apple, along with sweat. While the jack-o-lanterns dotted the tables and fairy lights wrapped around the counter, you stood in the brightest spot. 

And you were incredible. 

Foggy’s apple cider was momentarily abandoned to watch you.

You were a natural up there. Working the crowd between songs, your voice drew people in, moving around the space as you played your guitar, your fangs gleamed in the light. Your costume wasn’t the most eye-catching nor was it the fanciest. And yet, even before your performance, you stood out from the other costumed performers.  

Applause took over the venue as you bowed, some far more enthusiastic than the polite claps. You took the mic again to thank everyone, particularly the venue itself and wishing everyone a happy Halloween before stepping off the stage. 

He couldn’t take his eyes off of you, even as you stepped away from the spotlight to fade into the crowd. 

“We should go talk to them.” Foggy said, as the next performer was getting ready. Karen glanced to where you were putting your guitar away. “And I’m not taking no as an answer for this one.” 

“Well then you should go talk to them.” Matt lifted his cup towards Foggy, tilting his head, a small, infuriating smile playing on his lips. “You’re the most charming out of the three of us.” 

Karen nodded in agreement, a smile that mimicked Matt’s light one gracing her features. 

“Sounds like a job for that Nelson charm.” 

His two friends were teasing him. Foggy was more than aware of that fact. He just couldn’t believe that they had the exact same expression when they did so. He really shouldn’t have introduced them to each other. They got along like a house on fire, and he was the singular water bucket that could somewhat calm them. 

“You know what? This is a job for the Nelson charm.” He huffed out, before downing his glass of apple cider. Maybe it was the singing in his blood after seeing such a good performance or maybe it was his high of being away from studying for the night. Either way, he was feeling… very confident. He was going to go up and talk to you. “I’m going to catch them before they leave.” 

“Good luck, Fogs.” 

“Bring us some good news, Foggy!”

He nodded determinedly before walking to where you were slinging your guitar bag behind your back. 

Although it was clear that your performance was very well received and there were many that seemed to show an interest in talking to you, the area around you was… surprisingly sparse. And Foggy couldn’t believe that he was the first one to come up and talk to you after your performance. 

In a way, it made sense. You were different off of stage than when you were on it. Whilst your smile didn’t leave your face on top of that stage- and under the spotlight- your expression now seemed a little more guarded. A little less approachable. 

“So, uh.” He offered you his hand to shake. “I like your fangs.” 

You stared at him. He stared back at you, his hand still hovering mid-air. He contemplated dropping it, but- 

You smiled at him, those fake fangs glinting under the dim light similar to the way they did under the harsh light of the stage. And you took his hand. 

“Thanks. I like your claws.” 

Claws? Foggy looked down at his hand. Oh. Right. Matt chose a costume for him, he chose a costume for Karen, and she chose one for Matt. And he was a werewolf. Which was not a bad costume at all, especially not when he wasn’t the one to put on cat ears. 

“Can they break through the skin?” 

You blinked at him, your hand still in his. Your hold was firm and certain. And even without Matt’s slightly better sense of touch, he could feel the calluses on your fingers and could tell that you had put in a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into your art. 

Like Karen with her drums. Like Matt with his bass, and like himself with his keyboard.

“Would you like to find out, puppy?”

The Nelson charm was failing spectacularly at the moment. Well, your own charm was overtaking his and he found himself being the one charmed.

“I uh… No?” Your grin seemed to widen as he fumbled slightly with his words. “I mean- not now?”

“Later, then?” 

“What?” Foggy shook his head, trying to get rid of the heat in his cheeks. “That’s not why I came up to talk to you.” 

“Oh?” You furrowed your eyebrows slightly and released his hand. “That’s a shame.” His train of thought came to an abrupt stop at your muttered sentence. But he pulled himself out of it when you cleared your throat. “Then why did you come and speak to me?” 

“I- My friends and I watched your performance and we really dig your vibes. We were wondering if we could buy you a drink? And maybe talk about you possibly being the last puzzle piece for the band we’re planning on making?”

🎶

“Should we go and help Foggy?” 

Matt tilted his head towards the general direction in which he had heard Foggy go off in. Karen tapped her finger against the glass of her own drink, making a soft, rhythmic ringing sound that distracted him from the other background noises of the party. 

Due to the slightly better senses he had to compensate for the blindness, he didn’t do well with crowds or places that he wasn’t very familiar with. He had only agreed to join in on tonight’s outing because he needed a reason to procrastinate his assignment. 

“Why?” 

“He’s looking a little red right now.” Matt wondered what exactly had happened for Foggy to go red enough for Karen to worry a little. Before he could ask for her to guide him over she spoke up again. “Well, it looks like we won’t have to decide, he’s bringing them over here.” 

Focused on finding Foggy’s familiar footsteps between the new performer and the sounds of people moving around until finally he could hear his boots, and what he assumed was your own. Close enough that he caught part of your conversation. 

“-lin’s what my mom calls me. Foggy’s good!”

How red was Foggy for him to sound like that? 

“Hm… I think puppy suits you more.” 

Your voice follows his. Smooth, friendly, he can hear the smile in it as you respond. Matt could hear his friend choke slightly, and he smothered his own grin. 

“And these are my friends!” 

You introduce yourself, Karen doing the same. 

“Handshake?” you ask him. 

He extended his own hand, and yours easily slipped into it. He could feel the rough calluses littered about your fingers and palm. Similar yet different to the ones that he had on his. Whilst playing the bass was the main cause of his own, a good chunk was due to his experience in boxing. 

“Matt.” 

“Matt.” You rolled his name in your mouth, and Matt decided that he really liked your speaking voice. You spoke his name with a friendliness that he liked. There was a slight purr in your voice that made his breath lodge in his throat. “I hear you’re looking for the missing piece of your band.”  

You released his hand and Matt could only assume that you were offering your hand to Karen. 

“Bands usually have a guitarist,” Karen supplied.

“And a singer,” Matt chimed in.

“No singer?” you asked, your curiosity, tinged with apprehension, was clear. 

“We have one.” Foggy’s hand curled around Matt’s shoulders. Despite the teasing, he felt the tension in Foggy’s body. He wasn’t kidding when he said he wouldn’t take a no from him and Karen on this. And for good reason too. “He just hates it.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that. More like, would rather not be the lead singer. I’m fine with my bass.” 

“You shy, kitten?” Oh. That’s why Foggy was red.

Thankfully, Matt was better at handling these things. But only slightly. He fidgeted with the top of the cat ears he was wearing. According to Foggy, the color of the ears matched his hair quite well. 

“Not particularly. Well, maybe a little bit.” 

“Well, I’d love to hear you sing anyways.” Matt imagined the fangs he heard Karen mention earlier are on full display. “A bassist too. And you, princess?” 

“Uh, drummer. I like hitting things.” Karen said, her dress rustling as she shifted slightly. Matt could tell that you had managed to slightly fluster her by the way her tone took on a subtly shier note. 

“What about you, puppy?” 

“I uh- I play the keyboard.” 

“Hm. I figured. You have keyboard hands.” 

“Keyboard hands?” 

Matt knew what you meant. He couldn’t quite explain in words what made Foggy’s hand different from the others, but they were different. He nodded along. 

“You can tell a lot from a person’s hands.” You said, an amused note apparent in your tone. “For example, I can tell that princess here is an avid writer, and that kitten either currently boxes or has had a lot of boxing experience in the past.” 

Oh. You were good. You were observant. 

“Oh my god.” Karen muttered, and Matt heard the rustling of fabric as she rummaged through her pockets for something. The slightest smell of chemicals told him that she was reaching for her lipstick- which was apparently a very blue-ish lilac color to fit in the costume she was wearing. “You’re almost as good as Matt when it comes to figuring us all out.” 

“Karen.”

“Oh?” Your voice sounded intrigued. “The kitten has hidden claws.” 

Matt heard you take a small step towards him and he caught onto the smells clinging on you. He had to sift through the air of sweat and artificial sweetness to pinpoint what else he could gather on you.

But to his surprise, you were an enigma. 

And that intrigued him.

🎶

Karen stifled a laugh at the way Matt tilted his head at you. With the ears on his head, he truly looked like the cat he was dressed up to be. There was slight trepidation and curiosity that was glaringly obvious even behind the pair of black sunglasses resting on his face. 

“Well, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. He’s a sweetheart,” Karen said, reaching over to adjust Matt’s ears. Matt was fully capable of biting and scratching, but it wasn’t ever targeted to just anyone. And you were far from just anyone it seemed. 

“So, why was it that you came up to speak to me anyway?” You asked, a small smirk curling at your lips as you arched an eyebrow towards Foggy. “I thought it was about you all making a band and wanting me to join it.” 

Ah. Right. Karen, like both her friends, had been too distracted by the allure that was all but dripping from you. You, with those cheap fangs that shouldn’t look that attractive. In that dark cape that swished behind you with every small movement- 

“It is.” Foggy looked a little expectant. “Your answer?” 

You fiddled with your plastic fangs in a slightly thoughtful manner as you shifted your guitar bag slightly. 

“Well…” You pulled your hand away from the fake fangs and instead picked at your fingers, in what she could pin as a slightly apologetic manner. “I’m a little bit of a lone wolf, you see. Especially when it comes to music.” 

Karen saw the way Foggy’s shoulders drooped, and you must have seen it too, because the small, self-assured smile on your face dropped and you waved your hands around slightly in a frantic manner. 

“It’s nothing to do with any of you. It’s just that I have a very specific form of music I would like to make and I’ve never met anyone who could help me with that-”

“You’ve never seen us play.” Karen interjected, her voice firm. “You can’t make that decision before you’re given all the evidence.” 

“She’s right,” Matt easily agreed, his hand gripping onto the white cane. 

“Yeah! Who knows, we might be the people that could help you with your music, just like you’re the guitarist we’ve been looking for.”

“Puppy, I don’t know…”

Karen reached to grasp your hands and felt how warm they were. You blinked at her. 

“Come see us play. Please. Just once.” She offered you a smile. “You can choose if you want to join us or not after that.”

“What if I still decide to not join your band?” 

Karen’s eyes were sharp. She was more analytical than her other two band mates, quite possibly due to her major, but that keen eye of hers didn’t just apply to reading or investigating. And that eye of hers told her that you were lonely, despite your claims of being a ‘lone wolf’. You longed for a tight knit group of friends. 

Just as she had, once upon a time. Before Matt and Foggy took her under their wing. 

“We can be friends, regardless.” 

You squeezed her hands. 

“I- Okay.” From the corner of her eye, she could see Foggy pumping his fist and as Matt grinned. “I’ll give you my number. Text me the details of your next gig and I’ll be there.” 

“You won’t be disappointed, we promise you that.” 

“We’ll see, princess.” You took your hands away from hers and instead grabbed the phone Matt eagerly pressed into your palms. You tapped at the screen. “We’ll see.” 

🎶

It had been a while since Karen felt this nervous. And she wasn’t the only one. Matt kept fiddling with the strap of his bass. Foggy was faring a little better but his nervous energy was clear to Karen. She herself was fighting to not bite at her fingers or try to find you in the crowd every second. Foggy’s gentle voice suddenly cut through everything. 

“Look guys, we’re going to go out there and blow everyone’s minds. Whether that really hot guitarist is here or not. And if they are, they're going to hear us play and want to be our guitarist.” 

“Or, they’re going to hear us play and not want to be our guitarist.”

“You’re not helping, Matthew.” 

“Yeah, Matt.” She said, twirling her drumsticks in an effort to calm her jittery nerves. “You’re making things worse.”

“Let’s think optimistically! They’ll like our music, and they’ll join us!” Foggy pressed his hands onto both her shoulder and Matt’s. His touch alone was enough to soothe the nerves that had overtaken her. From the way the tension that coiled at Matt’s forearms loosened, she could tell that it was working on him too. “We just have to show them everything we have, just like we do during every performance.”

He was right, of course. The three of them bonded over their shared love for music and performing. Although forming a band was a dream that she shared with Matt and Foggy, it was never the end goal. The end goal was always to enjoy sharing with others the joy of music. 

To cherish every performance- to play as if it was the last. 

And she had a feeling that you wouldn’t be even tempted to join them on stage if they didn’t treat it like any other performance. 

“Foggy’s right. We’re great, so we’re going to do great. Show them that we know what we’re doing and that we were right to invite them here, and to the band. We’re going to show all of them.” 

They might not know a lot about this, but they knew enough to know they weren’t bad at all. And that you would fit right in. 

“That’s the spirit!” 

“Alright, fine.” 

“Sing your heart out, Murdock.”

“Yeah. Show them that angelic voice of yours, Saint Matthew.”

“Alright, let’s do this.” Matt smiled and stuck out his fist vertically. Foggy tapped his on top, followed by Karen below Matt’s. “Let’s blow them all away.” 

“No prayers this time, Murdock?” Karen teased, poking fun at the prayer he would occasionally mumble when he was particularly on edge for a show. “Our potential guitarist and lead singer is out there, looking at us.” 

The grin that graced his features was sharp. Biting, almost. 

“I’m not on edge, Karen. I’m excited.” 

And honestly, she felt the same. There was the jittering in her blood, and she couldn’t resist the urge to hop up and down to get rid of the excess excitement. 

“Shall we get going?” she asked, as she pulled her fist away.

“Yeah.” Foggy said, as he too, pulled his hand away to crack his hands. “Now or never, yeah?” 

Matt shifted his tinted glasses so that they were more firmly on his face. There had been an incident in which they fell off, and that was quite the scare, considering the damage the stage lights could do to Matt’s vulnerable retinas. It was a habit now. 

“Let’s go.”

🎶

When the slightly long haired blond guy walked up to you after your short performance at the party on Halloween night, you really hadn’t expected to end up here, at one of their gigs at the local indie band scene. 

You weren’t judging of course. 

You too, often lurked at scenes like these. Hell, you’ve played some gigs with failed band members in the past. The indie scene was brutal at times, and whilst most bands were able to have their debut stage, not many survived long enough to get a second one or a third. 

You sipped at the cool beverage in your hand. The icy sensation of the liquid spread inside of your mouth, a direct contrast from the heated, sweaty air clinging onto your skin. There was a flush right under your skin. A heat warming up your body- and it was distinctly different from the warmth of the air in this cramped space. 

You tucked your hand -- the one not holding onto your drink -- into your pocket and pulled out a packet of snacks that you had brought along with you. You thumbed at the packet thoughtfully. 

Foggy was the name of the guy who had fumbled slightly with his words, a cute blush on his face as he offered you a smile and a request for you to meet the other members of his band. He truly did look like a puppy in that werewolf costume of his. 

He was sweet. And anyone else would have brushed over the sharp, clever tint in his eyes. But not you. Never you. 

You were a loner, first and foremost. You liked to stand back and observe others when you weren’t on stage. 

Foggy was a clever, clever man. And that small, almost unnoticeable glint in his eyes was what made you follow him as he offered to introduce you to his friends. Well, you guessed that you did also like the way he flustered at you half-joking flirting. 

The friends he took you to were as attractive as Foggy himself was, but in a distinctly different way. 

Whilst Foggy was charming in a deceptively soft way, Matt was charming in a more… dangerous manner. Rugged and hard in a more explicit way. The smile that he had offered you was sharp and more teeth than a genuine smile. 

And although you had figured out that the guy was blind from both the white cane he had been clutching in his hand as well as the pair of sunglasses resting on his face.

You couldn’t pin him as accurately as you could pin down Foggy or Karen, mainly because you couldn’t see his eyes. 

Logically, you knew that he wore those tinted glasses to stop his retinas from being damaged but… you couldn’t help but think that maybe he wore it to hide himself- defend himself in some manner. 

The eyes were the windows to the soul, after all. 

He was more kitten than Foggy was puppy. Matt did seem to exhibit behaviour one would assign a cat. Puffing up fur, hissing- albeit in a more human way by using tone instead- and tensing up. 

The guy -- you gently tore open the packet of your snacks with your teeth -- was quite possibly the hardest one to get to warm up to you.

If you decided to join their band, of course. 

Karen was… Karen was hauntingly beautiful, and you couldn’t figure out if it was because of the Corpse Bride costume she had been wearing or if it was because of the way her features and eyes hardened with a weight that was not often found in others her age. 

The same sort of cleverness that had glinted in Foggy’s eyes also was found in hers, but…

Whilst Foggy studied you, Karen picked you apart. Piece by piece until nothing but your bare soul was left for her to investigate.  

She wasn’t a princess in the typical way. She wasn’t fragile. She was no damsel in distress. No. She was a princess in the steady way she held herself. In the way she commandeered attention, and in the way she demanded respect. 

All in all, they were an interesting group of people, and you’d be lying to yourself if you said that their initial attractiveness was not part of the reason why you agreed to come here and think about their offer more in the first place. 

You wondered what type of music they leaned towards. The three of them all looked to have different… tastes in genres and frankly speaking, you didn’t understand how they decided to form a band in the first place. 

Making a band with friends didn’t turn out well the moment the whole thing turned into something less fun, and more serious. You had way too much experience with friend groups breaking up because the band didn’t work out.  And well. Look at Oasis. 

“-Habeas Corpus!”

Habeas Corpus? You rolled the name in your mind. It was a weird name for a band. You were fairly certain that there was a meaning to that, and that you had heard the term somewhere, but you didn’t know what it meant. 

The roar of the crowd startled you slightly. 

Hm. It appeared as though this band of theirs was a bit of a big name in this particular scene. 

You tore your mind off of the arbitrary, less important thoughts and instead focused on the stage as one by one, the people you had met on Halloween stepped onto the stage. Out of the darkness and into the light. 

Karen took her place behind a large set of drums, twirling her drumsticks around as she grinned at the crowd. Momentarily, her eyes locked with yours, and you let your lips curl upwards in greeting. 

Foggy wriggled his fingers and rolled his shoulders back. You saw him smile brightly and say something to the other members on stage with him. 

Matt stepped to the centre of the stage and grasped onto the microphone and nodded at the direction of the keyboard. He fiddled with the strap of his bass and grinned. 

Tap. 

The sound of Karen’s drumsticks tapping together alerted you of the fact that the band would start playing soon. She was setting up the tempo for the others. 

Tap. 

Your heart thrummed inside your ribs. You knew the thrill of being up there, under the spotlight- people listening to the songs you poured yourself into. And in a way, you envied them for sharing that thrill with each other. 

Tap. 

You watched as Matt -- whose hair seemed to glint crimson under the lighting of the stage -- opened his mouth and- 

Oh. 

Matt had a good voice, you knew that when you had first spoken. But the way he sounded when he sang was something different and it was quickly accompanied by the instruments. 

His voice and all the instruments intertwined together, quick and smooth. They all knew how to play in a way that stood out but worked so well together. So much like who they were as people. 

This scene had been one you spent a long time in. Yet every punch and kick they seemed to deliver was something new. You were in awe with everything they showed off. Karen was a force to be reckoned with all on her own. Yet she never shoved too far, overshadowing the others. At her place she helped drive the high energy. They moved quickly and smoothly, it felt like running and flying all at the same time. 

You felt your body tune in, slowly moving along as they continued. They certainly knew how to start a set. There was something sparking in you, but for the moment you would keep it to yourself. This was only the beginning after all. 

Yet as they continued, that spark never left. They almost glowed under the light, likely the sweat, but you could see they loved being up there, loved the music, and they felt the music. Both total focus and letting things flow. 

And as they loved the crowd, the crowd loved them back. It shouldn’t have surprised you when the crowd called back as Matt sang, not after they yelled at their introduction, but it caught you off guard anyways. 

The three of them worked well together. They understood what they were doing and you wondered how you’ve never heard them before. It felt like your heart was beating in tune to their music, or like the music had decided to hijack your body. 

It was a well-known fact that people who did music together formed close bonds. But the three of them went above and beyond that. 

It was almost as though they were extensions of each other. When one of them deviated from the main melody, the other two fluidly followed. It was almost a euphoric thing to observe. 

You had to try not to get too far ahead of yourself though while you grinned and yelled with the crowd. You had too much experience with this to. But you really hoped this one would work out as they finished their set. 

You wanted to fit into what they had. You wanted to be a part of all that. And although you knew better, you couldn’t fully push away the optimism that bubbled within you.

🎶

It was always the roar of the crowd that made Foggy want to keep going. It was the shouts of more, the expressions of glee and the heated air of the venue that gave him heartache to sing. And although he had reassured Matt and Karen that he wouldn’t be disappointed if their passion-fuelled band didn’t result in anything, he knew that he was lying. Matt also probably knew he was lying. 

He liked music. He liked playing with his friends. And he wanted to do it more. Wanted to do more with all of this. 

Foggy grinned and waved at the crowd before following Karen’s footsteps to the backstage. 

“Phew.” He breathed out, wiping the sweat off of his forehead. “That was fun.” 

“I honestly think this might have been our best performance so far.” 

“It certainly is in the top five I think,” Matt said, agreeing with Karen’s previous statement. 

“I think you all did amazing!” 

Your voice made Matt startle which in turn made both himself and Karen jump. Fuck. Yeah, he had asked the supervisor of this whole event to let you access the backstage when their own performance had ended. 

Foggy opened his mouth to say your name, but paused when he saw the glint in your eyes. When he saw the awe on your face and the way your fingers reached out to clasp at his. 

Were his hands too sweaty? Too clammy? Too-

You squeezed at his fingers, a sort of giddiness apparent in the way you rocked on your heels and in the way you jerkily shook his hand. 

“So you like our music?” Karen asked, a little tentatively- and perhaps a little too quietly considering the fact that the next band started their own performance, as she had to repeat herself to you. 

“Like it?” You laughed. It was a wild, freeing laugh that made him want to join in. It was breathless but manic, all the same. “Sweetie, I loved it all!” 

Foggy couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed when you released his hand to whirl around and grab Karen’s. She smiled at you as you gushed about the performance that all of them gave. 

“I think that might be their agreement to joining our band, Fogs.” 

“Yeah, buddy.” Your eyes were bright with wonder and what he could say reverence, as you dragged yourself and Karen into conversation with him and Matt. Foggy cleared his throat. “So…?” 

You released your careful grip on Karen’s hand to instead latch onto Matt’s. Said man stiffened next to Foggy before easing slightly when you squeezed them. 

“I didn’t think I’d find any group that matched my musical… vision this much.” He shared a look with Karen. It had been a good idea to invite you to their gig, no matter how nerve-wracking the weeks leading up to this performance had been. “If you’re band is still looking for a guitarist-”

“God, yes.” 

“Foggy. Don’t be blasphemous.”

He opted to ignore Matt’s half-hearted jab to instead nod vigorously when you blinked at him, slightly bewildered but looking flattered nonetheless. 

“Welcome to the band-” he said your name, before offering you his hand again, this time in the form of a handshake. 

You took it with a bright grin. 

“I hope you all aren’t set with the band name.” 

“Why? What’s wrong with Habeas Corpus?” 

“It sounds too… nerdy.” 

“Nerdy?” Matt said, a pout playing on his lips. “It’s a law that prevents illegal imprisonment-”

“We can argue about band names later.” Karen intervened quickly. “First, we’ve got to get drinks! In celebration of our band finally being complete!”

“Josie’s?” Foggy asked. 

“Josie’s,” Matt agreed. 

With one arm linked with Matt and the other with yours, Foggy couldn’t help but think that this was the beginning of something good.

🎶

Even with the meetings you had before, Matt didn’t expect you to fit in so easily. But somehow you did. It seemed as though sitting on the floor of his and Foggy’s room with everyone was easy for you. As though bickering light-heartedly with Foggy whilst your legs were draped over both his lap and Karen’s came to you easily. 

And honestly speaking, Matt liked the fact that you fit into the tight knit dynamic everyone had with each other. 

Even if you kept calling him that infuriating pet name. 

“Kitten, your turn.” 

Matt brushed the pads of his fingers on the pile of cards to figure out what color and what number the previous card was. A green five. 

He grinned and placed down a plus four, cackling maniacally when he heard Karen groan next to him. 

“I’m changing the color to blue, by the way.” 

“Honestly, Matt.” Karen huffed out as he felt her reach out to grab a couple of cards. “They shouldn’t have introduced you to Uno. I don’t know how we ended up playing anyway.” 

“We were thinking about band names and trying to mess about with some of my songs to make some parts for the rest of you.” You said, your legs shifting slightly in his lap. Instinctively, he grasped at you to stop you from slipping onto the floor. “And then we got distracted.”

“Because you said you had Braille board games,” Karen said, a smile apparent in her tone. 

It was… thoughtful of you. Considerate. You were kind, even if you hid behind flirting and light words, the heavy, genuine care you had for the people around you was one of the reasons why you were able to lodge yourself into the very small friend group he had. You were like a missing puzzle piece he had never realized he needed. 

“I can see why people say friendships are ruined by this game.” 

“Pushing all that away, let’s talk band names again.” Foggy cut off, ignoring the little blind joke he made. Matt shrugged, all too aware of the fact that both he and Karen were used to him making jabs at his own disability. He did, however, smile at the little laugh you let out. “You’re completely against all law terms-”

“I’m not a law major. And if we managed to become big, people would search us up and the first thing they would find on Google would be a dictionary or some law related website.” 

“Or you know, future law majors looking up a law term and finding us instead,” Foggy pointed out.

“You’re so confident that we’ll make it big, huh?”

“Of course I am, princess.” 

Matt hummed contemplatively. He wouldn’t say that he was creative when it came to making up names. But then again, neither were Foggy or Karen. The name ‘Habeas Corpus’ had basically come from him and Foggy throwing out random words they had heard during lectures and seminars and Karen making them pause at the ones that stuck for her. 

“Counsel for Sinners?” 

“Let’s tone down on the Catholicism, Matty.” 

“So, I take it that’s a no on Decalogue?” He says with a grin. What he could only assume was one of the Uno cards was chucked at him, followed by your voice as Karen’s typing could be heard. 

“Less law terms, less Catholicism, kitten.” Your hand hits your notebook with a small thud. 

“Seems like you’re out of luck on that one anyways, Matt. It’s already been taken.” 

Matt frowned, letting faux disappointment grace his expression. 

“But you do have to admit that Catholic terms are metal as fuck.” Foggy mused, and he heard his friend tap at his laptop. “The Watchers?” 

“That sounds like shitty characters from a comics series. So that gets a pass from me.” 

“Dissonant Whispers?”

The sound of fingers typing away at a keyboard. 

“That’s something from D&D.”

“But it does sound cool.”

“Avocados in law.” 

“No law related names.” You said, tone indicating that you were annoyed -- but in an exaggerated way -- at Foggy’s suggestion. “Unless you’re meaning it in the ‘brothers in law’ kind of way.” 

“Put A Men.” 

“What?”

“We’re throwing random ideas, kitty.” He heard fabric shifting as you presumably shrugged. “Putamen’s a brain region. And it sounded funky.” 

“We’re all a bunch of nerds.” Karen said, sighing. “We can’t come up with something that isn’t related to academic work or a roleplaying game.”

“Kings of Drifting.” 

“Is that a Mario Kart reference, Foggy?” You sounded amused. “Cause if it is, we’re only adding onto Karen’s sentiment of all of us being nerds.”

A silence ensued as his friends presumably were thinking about band names. He didn’t think he could give good suggestions, considering the ban on Catholicism and law terms. 

“The sooner we pick a name, the sooner we can start playing shows. Though we still need to work on some songs for that too.” You said, the sound of your pencil becoming similar to Karen’s typing. Something that signaled one of his bandmates and friends were nearby and working on something. It felt nice. Sure, they had their own notebooks for these things, but you constantly had yours open. Like Karen did with her laptop. “I’ll send my schedule over too so we can plan better. It’ll probably be a while before we have anything concrete anyways.” 

“We are going on break soon too,” Karen pointed out. 

Foggy groaned. “God. Good food. Good free food.”  Matt could hear him shuffle. “What are you going to do?” He could only assume Foggy was talking to you. 

What were you going to do? You were local, he knew that. And you had an apartment near campus. He was pretty sure you’ve mentioned some family too. 

“I don’t know. Probably just what I usually do. Make some food, go into the city.” 

“You could come to my place! It’s not too far from here.” Just like Matt, and just like Karen, Foggy was quick to bring you in, like he had on Halloween. It was probably genetic if the way his mom practically took them in as her own was anything to go by. “My family runs a butcher shop so you know we’ll have good food.” 

“I don’t know, sweetie…”

“I’ll be there too,” Matt chimes in. 

“We’ll all be there.” Karen reassured you. “You don’t have to come, but it’ll be nice. A week away from classes, the campus, everything.”

“I’ll think about it and I’ll let you know.” You clear your throat, going through your notebook again. “So I was thinking…” 

Matt didn’t have a good grasp on you. Not yet. But the fact you fit in so well – there was a reason for it. That you were like them. That you wanted to really belong somewhere, have a home, people who really cared. And he really hoped you would come by. 

🎶

Honestly, for a while, you weren’t sure if you would come. You would have been fine in your apartment making a nice meal for yourself and sleeping it all off. But you had texted them two days ago that you would come. 

This whole thing was still in the new stages, but they still offered this to you. Something that was also new to you. Not that you didn’t have other friends, but none of them asked if you wanted to come home with them for the holidays or if you wanted to meet their family. Part of you was surprised that you had even agreed.

Maybe it was just the fact Foggy offered, and that Matt and Karen were quick to invite you too. Like they were really bringing you in and telling you now that they wanted this and meant it, that they wanted you.

By the time you actually got to the street the trepidation had mostly left. To your surprise, Matt and Karen were already standing outside, the blonde waving at you. 

“Princess. Kitten,” you greeted them with a smile as you stopped in front of the porch. 

“Glad you could make it.”

“I was promised the best food. Besides, I couldn’t miss a chance to see your pretty faces.” You probably should be on your best behavior in front of Foggy’s family, but you liked flirting and you liked teasing these three. They got used to it over the month but you could still catch them off guard. This wasn’t one of those times as Karen scoffed, the grin still on her face. 

“Let’s get inside. Foggy will be happy to see you and have us back to help entertain all his nieces and nephews,” Matt said, reaching for you. His other arm already linked with Karen’s.

You took his arm with a smile, curling your fingers around his forearm. 

“Lead the way.” 

Inside was loud. A kind of loud you had been familiar with growing up, but not like this. Foggy had warned you his family was big. There were people coming in and out of the rooms and at least seven different kids running around. 

Gracefully, Karen led you and Matt to the kitchen where Foggy was. 

“Foggy!” she called out.

Quickly he whipped his head up, a wide grin breaking out on his face.

“There you are!” 

“Here I am,” you said, biting back a teasing comment. It’d be better to not give anyone certain ideas. 

“Oh! You must be,” Foggy’s mom said your name with such joy that it took you a little off-guard. She abandoned whatever she was doing to approach you. “It’s lovely to meet you.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Nelson. It’s lovely to meet you too. Foggy talks very kindly of you and your skills. Your home seems lovely, thank you for having me.” 

The way she smiled at you gave you a feeling you didn’t feel very often. It reminded you of sparse moments at the home. 

“Please, call me Anna. You’re welcome here any time.” 

A timer beeping caught everyone’s attention. 

“We should probably let you continue with your cooking. Foggy says you’re protective of your kitchen.”

She grinned, with a look in her eyes that you often saw in Foggy’s.

“That’s how I make the food as good as it is.” Then she’s off to tend to the food. As you walk away, you can hear her say to Foggy, “I like that one. Keep them around, Franklin.”

“She’s going to be asking when you’ll come back now.” Matt says. “She asks about Karen too.”

“We’ll see, kit. She does seem nice.” You wouldn’t be opposed to coming back here over again. Especially if you were going to stay in their lives, and you really wanted to. Luckily for you, it seemed they wanted you to stay too. “So we’re on babysitting duty?”

“The more people looking after all the kids, the better. They’re… a handful.” 

Karen nodded before opening her mouth to speak.

“But for the most part they’re really sweet and adorable. They just figured it was best to divide and conquer. The less kids together, the less likely they are to do anything too bad.

They had both been right. Matt was practically tackled when the three of you entered. You had been stared down and asked several questions. When the kids had been satisfied with your answers the three of you had been tugged away to do whatever it was they wanted. 

It had been a while since you did this and it made you miss the kids a little. Still, you tried not to dwell on it too long. Especially as one of the girls put a tiara on Karen and a feather boa.

You caught her eye and even with the “don’t you dare” look in her eyes you couldn’t help but tease her a little as you played with the kids. Including calling her “your highness” as you held an invisible teapot for the fake tea party they were having.

A few hours later Foggy came to collect everyone. 

“Good to see no one’s bleeding or crying. No one is bleeding, right?” he asked, eyes flicking to every single one of the children and Matt.

One of the kids shook his head. 

“No blood, Uncle Foggy.”

“Blood bad,” one of the girls chimed in. 

“Blood bad,” Karen echoed, nodding. 

“Right, well, if we’re all good then we can clean up and calmly go to the table to eat.” 

With that the kids scattered to put everything where it needed to be while the four of you helped pick up everything.

“I hope they didn’t overwhelm you. I love those rascals but man, there are so many of them and they like climbing Matt,” Foggy said, as you and the rest of the group watched as the kids fled the room. 

You grinned. That was something you had witnessed, something that was both hilarious and adorable. Honestly, you would also climb him like a tree if he let you. 

“They’re great. They’re very lovable rascals.” Foggy looked relieved at your fond sentiment. “Besides, they put a crown on Karen, so they’re good eggs in my book.” 

Before Foggy could respond Karen grabbed your arm. 

“That’s enough out of you.” 

By the small smile she was fighting you could tell there wasn’t any real heat behind it. 

The praise and build-up was deserved, you decided as you took a bite. The food was incredible and you made a mental note to tell Mrs. Nelson so when you had a moment. Being the new addition, you had another round of questions to go through and people to meet. You didn’t mind too much, even as it continued after dinner.

Though you mostly stuck with your friends, even going with Foggy to grab more drinks and another piece of pumpkin bread. 

You watched Foggy grab some cream puffs and stuff them in his mouth while grabbing some more beer for a couple of his uncles and cousins. On the way to refill the cups of water you swiped a smaller piece of pumpkin bread. 

“If any of this survives to tomorrow afternoon do you want to take anything? My mom’s probably going to be trying to make you take some anyway.”

“I would love to take any of this back. It’s a shame you don’t have a kitchen in the dorms. You’re an incredible cook.” You set down the cups to grab a full slice of bread.

“God, I wish. A nice, warm meal every week that probably doesn’t have a health risk or sitting out for hours. A homemade Nelson dish.” 

“Well,” You said, approaching Foggy. Gently, you swiped at the corner of his mouth. “Maybe next year, cream puff.” You turned, licking the cream off your thumb as Foggy spluttered behind you. Grinning you picked the cups back up.

The Nelsons were nice people.

However, you were glad to have a moment of quiet with your friends in Foggy’s room. You had a pleasant buzz going as you passed a bottle back and forth with Foggy while you leaned against his side.

Karen and Matt had had their fill of food and alcohol and had passed out a little while ago. Despite the amount of food you had consumed, Foggy and Karen had still nabbed a container for you. They claimed they had to keep you pacified, just in case. 

And well, you couldn’t really argue with that. People had told you that you terrorized them when you were hungry.

“I like your family. They’re nice,” you whisper. 

“Yeah, my mom loves you. My dad too. I think they all do.”

“Thank you for inviting me.”

Foggy chuckled. 

“Well, we couldn’t leave you all alone all week. What kind of band mates would we be if we did?” 

You paused, before repeating yourself; 

“Thank you for inviting me.”

“As long as you come back. My mom’s going to be asking for you now.” 

Gently, you pulled away from him, shaking your head. 

“No, I mean…” You hesitated. Your tongue felt a little heavy in your mouth. “Thank you for inviting me into the band, into your group, your lives, your home.” You set the bottle down and gestured around you. “It hasn’t even been a month but… this is going really good. Really good. And I like you guys a lot. Things are feeling like they’re starting to make sense a little more, like this is right. So thank you for coming up and talking to me on Halloween.” 

The next thing you knew, you had an armful of Foggy. And what else could you do but wrap your arms around him? 

“You know, I told Matt and Karen we had to go talk to you? And I wasn’t taking no for an answer. Not for that. You were too damn good to just disappear.”

Thank the gods, you hadn’t scared him off that night. “I’m glad you did.” And that you said you were glad you went to see them. That they didn’t let you go.

Foggy pulled himself from your shoulder, his arms still around your waist. 

“And just for the record, we like you a lot too.” 

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

You were pretty sure you leaned in first. It didn’t matter either way. You and Foggy were kissing, his lips pressed against yours in a gentle manner. Your hands moved from his back up to his shoulders. 

And when you pulled away, he made a clearly displeased noise.

You chuckled at the half-disappointed, half-pleading look on his face. 

“You can find out if my fangs can break skin another time, puppy.”

Foggy groaned, resting his head on your shoulder again. 

“I think I like cream puff better.”

Gently, you moved him off your shoulder. 

“Well, cream puff, I think it’s time for bed.”

He sighed. 

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. I need to sleep all of this off.”

You didn’t miss the way he licked his lips before getting up.

🎶

“How long have we been up?” you asked, nursing yet another Monster as you glanced at Foggy. 

Your eyes were bloodshot and Foggy knew that he probably looked as bad as you. Or worse. Karen’s normally neat hair was all over the place too, locks of blonde sticking out as she shoved them out of her eyes, annoyed.

Foggy reached to tuck the annoying piece of hair behind her ear. 

“Thanks, Fogs.” 

Matt was in a T-shirt, and his headphones were resting on his shoulders as he rubbed at his ears in a frustrated manner. Right. Wearing headphones for that long whilst also wearing glasses probably didn’t feel good. 

“Can we take a break?” You asked, pressing your cheek against his shoulder. Foggy stiffened slightly, remembering the drunken kiss he had shared with you. But then he remembered that you had said that both him and you could pretend it never happened the next day. Both of you had been drunk, after all. “We’ve been at all this for the past…” You squinted at Karen’s phone screen. “Four hours.”

“It’s also nearing midnight, and we promised to pull an all-nighter together.” Karen said, rubbing at her eyes. “Let’s take a short break and go back to the nitty gritty.” 

“I need food.” 

“You get very snappy when you’re hungry.” Matt said, nodding slightly as he tugged his headphones off of himself completely. His friend stretched and clicked his tape recorder off. “We have to feed you to keep you happy.” 

“Like a crocodile,” Karen said sagely. 

Foggy couldn’t help but agree. One time, you had actually hissed at him for reaching for your bag of snacks. You were territorial over your food and him, Matt, and Karen all had been on the receiving end of your annoyance quite often. 

“I will bite you, princess.” 

“Is that a promise?” 

He snorted out a laugh at Karen’s flirty response as well as your wide eyes. You had always been the flirty, confident one. Foggy himself and the others? Not so much. Matt was marginally better than him and Karen in responding to your suave words though. 

Your expression soon smoothed into a more self-assured one. 

“If you want it to be, yeah.”

Matt made a small, tired noise and reached to grab at your Monster. 

“Uh, Matt, buddy, I don’t think you should drink that.” 

“I need caffeine, Foggy, and I can’t be bothered to brew a new pot.” You locked eyes with him, and shot him a shit-eating grin as you handed the can over to Matt’s outstretched hands. “Thanks.” 

You cackled when Matt took a sip to immediately make a face. 

“That is disgusting. It’s way too sugary.” A judgmental look crossed his face as he tilted his head towards where you were sitting. “Why would you drink this? It’s so bad.”

“Hey! Don’t be mean to literally the only thing that has pulled me through finals.” Karen took your Monster away from Matt’s hands and took a sip instead. “But considering your sensitive than most taste buds, it would taste too…”

“Loud?” 

Karen nodded at his suggestion. 

“Loud.” 

“I’m going to go find if there’s any tea somewhere.” Matt said, sticking out his tongue as though he was trying to make the taste of the Monster evaporate from his taste buds. “Wash it away.” He shifted to stand up from his chair. “Do any of you want to go to the deli with me?” 

You shot up and stuffed your phone into your pocket, discarding your work as your eyes lit up.

“I do!” 

“I might as well tag along.” Foggy said, stretching. “If I stay sitting for too long, I’ll actually lose my mind.” 

“If all three of you are going, I’m going too,” Karen said, as she too rummaged through her bag to find her wallet. 

“Who’s going to watch over our stuff?” 

“Foggy.” You said, eyes locking with his, a faux solemness gracing your features. “We are poor undergrads. Nobody’s going to steal our stuff. The most expensive thing I own is my guitar, and I left that at my apartment.” 

That was fair. Foggy knew for sure that his keyboard was also the most expensive thing he had. Matt’s bass wasn’t, but it was something that he cherished the most. And well, Karen’s drum set was steadily growing in size too.

“Sudden swerve in topic, but are any of you going somewhere for Christmas? My mom wants to know if any of you would like to join us.” He looked at Matt. “Matty, you’re invited as always.” When his friend opened his mouth, presumably to assure him that he and his family didn’t have to go out of his way, Foggy tutted and put his hands on his hips. “No. You aren’t a bother and you know how much my mom likes to have you over.”

“They have this mini-argument every winter.” Karen whispered loudly to you, a sly smile on her lips. “Matt doesn’t want to be a bother, but Foggy won’t let him be all alone during the winter break.” She cleared her throat. “I’ve got to visit my brother, so I’ll have to pass this year, Fogs.” 

Foggy said your name questioningly. His family had adored you when you came by for Thanksgiving, and he was sure his mom would like to feed you more. 

You smiled apologetically and shook your head as you fiddled with the ring on your forefinger. 

“Religious reasons.” 

“Oh?” Matt asked, his head tilted to the side curiously. 

“I had a trip to Greece planned for a while. Long before I was invited to join your band.” You scratched at the back of your neck slightly. “My flight’s on the day my last exam ends, so…” 

“What religion do you practice?” Karen asked, barrelling out the question for both his sake and Matt’s. She was ever the journalist, asking questions to sate her curiosity. 

“Ah, I don’t think we’ve ever talked about it, but I’m pagan. Leaning mostly to Hellenism, but that’s mainly because the gods and goddesses that called for me were from the pantheon.” 

“Am I allowed to ask you which deity you believe in?” Foggy asked, before backpedalling slightly. “I mean, if that’s an alright thing to ask, of course. If it’s insensitive-”

“You’re fine, cream puff.” You spread out your fingers, allowing both him and Karen to see the sun shaped jewel embedded on the golden band. “My main god of worship is Apollo. The muses too.” 

That… made a lot of sense. Foggy rummaged through his fairly sparse knowledge of the Greek gods, and remembered that Apollo was the god of music. And you did look like a star -- the sun, now that he thought back to the gig he saw you play at -- whenever music was involved. On stage, when you were discussing songs and lyrics, and when you were simply tuning your guitar- 

“Which part of Greece?”

“Delphi?” Matt suggested, and Foggy blinked at him. He… didn’t think the Catholic orphanage Matt grew up in would allow for- “Foggy, I can hear you thinking. I know about beings from all over the world. The orphanage wasn’t as isolated as you think it was.”

“You’re right. I am going to be staying in Delphi until the twenty seventh, so that’s why I have gifts for you ready. For Yule and-or Christmas.” 

Foggy looked at you questioningly. Now? Here? 

You locked eyes with him and grinned, sharp and conspiratorially. 

“Yep. Here. Now.” You clambered over to where your bags were and pulled out a couple of neatly wrapped packages and handed one over to Matt. “That one’s for you, kitten.” Then you handed one over to Karen. “This one’s for you, princess.” And then you gently placed a package onto his hands. “And last but not least, this is for you, cream puff.”

“I’m going to open it-”

“No! Don’t open it in front of me!” You hid behind your hands, peaking slightly through the gap of your fingers. “It’s embarrassing.” 

“Alright, alright.” Foggy gently held the package in his hands before slipping it into his bag. “We’ll open them on Yule and then shower you with praises of thanks and how much we love the presents.” 

“Mine’s soft.” Matt muttered, squishing at the package as he furrowed his eyebrows. “Squishy.” 

“Uh, shush, kitty.” You tapped at Matt’s hand lightly. “Not yet.” 

Foggy snorted at the pout on Matt’s lips. 

“Come on, you three. We’ve gotten way off track. Deli. We have to get snacks and drinks, remember?”

At her reminder, you all but shot off, before you excitedly returned to grab his hand and dragged him quickly out the door. 

Foggy grinned at the feeling of your callused hand in his as you hummed a song about what snacks you were going to buy. 

🎶

Karen huffed out in amusement as she found Matt and Foggy fast asleep on the sofa, mere minutes before the start of the new year. They were going to miss the countdown, which they had both wanted to see with her and you. 

But they were sleeping so soundly, after days of indulging Foggy’s cousins and nieces and nephews. Matt was in the cat hoodie you had gifted him for Yule, looking every bit as the kitten you so often called him.

Curled up around Foggy, with the eared hood up- He was really not refuting the kitty allegations. 

“Should we wake them?” you asked, gingerly placing your head on her shoulder. 

“No, let them sleep.” She pouted playfully. “I don’t have you all to myself often.” 

You blinked at her, looking slightly bewildered. She giggled at your expression. 

You were good at teasing but you fumbled slightly when either her or Foggy teased back. Matt, slightly less so. Maybe it was because he bit back with a flirting comment of his own more often compared to her. 

“Blueberry?” 

She cautiously took a single berry from the tub you offered her. You were possessive over your food, and never had you offered any of them your snacks. She absentmindedly wondered if this was a test of some kind. 

Karen popped the fruit in her mouth and watched as you turned your attention back to the window, from where the fireworks could be seen. One of the perks of living in New York City, she thought. Christmases and New Years days were never dull. 

“Can I have some more?” 

“Sure.” You handed her the tub entirely, and Karen knew in that instant that you really and truly considered her and the rest of the band a part of your inner circle. Your eyes flickered to her eyes. “I knew you would do those earrings justice, princess.” 

Her hand instinctively went to her ear to fiddle with the tiara shaped piece of jewelry and she felt her cheeks heat up at the sincere way you complimented her. 

This wasn’t the normal type of teasing and flirting she had gotten used to. No, this was earnest. And that flustered her far more than your joking teases. 

“Any resolutions for the coming year?” she asked you, as she dropped her hand to instead pluck a blueberry from the tub to put in her mouth. 

“I dunno. Date, maybe?” You shrugged. “Dating apps suck though. I don’t know how to connect to people, y’know?” 

“How about Bumble?” 

You made a face. 

“I tried it out once, but I felt as though I was hiding how passionate I am about my interests.” You smiled at her. “If I wanted to date based off of my interests, I don’t need Bumble. I have you and Matt and Foggy.” 

She cleared her throat, not knowing what to say, and stood up from the sofa, the tub of blueberries in her hands. What were you insinuating? You’d be willing to date one of them? Date all three of them? She was very inclined to the latter. 

Karen gestured for you to come and stand in front of the window with her. And you did so. 

Outside, people were counting down to midnight. 

“Three!” 

You took the tub of blueberries from her hands and placed it on one of the nearby surfaces. The feeling of your fingers brushing against hers felt… charged. 

“Two!”

Karen grasped onto your waist as if she were possessed when you took a step closer to her, her eyes flicking to your lips. Your lips, which quirked up into a small, gentle smile. 

“One!”

She didn’t know who leaned in first, but as the fireworks went off outside of the window, she found herself kissing you, eyes fluttering shut as she melted into it. Shouts and cheers celebrated the start of a new year, but that all sounded very far away from her. 

With your lips on hers and your hands resting on her waist, she couldn’t focus on the fireworks or the fact that it was truly a new year now. 

You pulled away from her -- a little too quickly for her taste -- and shyly smiled. 

“Happy New Year, princess,” you said, your voice slightly breathless as you kept your hands on her waist. 

She smiled back as she raised her hand to brush her fingers against her lower lip. 

“Happy New Year to you too.”

🎶

Why you had decided to take two classes back to back across campus, you weren’t sure. At least it gave you a good workout. Much to the amusement of Karen who you sprinted past. Thank the gods for syllabus week. It meant you could lay on Matt and Foggy’s floor at the end of the week and not worry too much about homework. 

You stared at your notebook before you rolled onto your stomach, crossing out a few words and writing something down. Maybe something else would work better? You wrote down what you could think of. Everything would be organized later. 

There must have been a look on your face since Foggy said, “What class already assigned you actual work?” 

“Dungeons and Dragons.” You replied. “I’m trying to plan our session for next Tuesday.” The whole year you were DM’ing for a group of friends. You have been since last year. When you looked up, Karen caught your eye. You knew that look. You've seen it enough it know. “Princess,” you started gently, “if you want to play I can see if we can set up a one-shot. One session to see if you’d like it.”

With the way she smiled, you knew you said the right thing. 

“That might be nice.

You would work on one, just in case. The more people you could introduce to Dungeons and Dragons, the better. 

“But right now I don’t think my brain can make any sense of anything for any session.” Flopped back down on the floor, shut your notebook, and switched it out for your other one and a bag of chips. “My brain wants music instead.”

Matt got up from his bed to join you on the floor, wearing his cat hoodie. You liked writing with him, with all of them. 

It was going as smoothly as you hoped when you first heard them. Over break you had sent over various voice memos to them. It had been nice to go to Greece and celebrate Yule, but it had also been nice to get out of the city for a while. 

And you got voice memos in return. Mostly from Matt and Foggy until Karen returned to the city, though she did have a beat pad. The bits of their lives in the background were nice too.

Each piece that was given to you in return always made sense. Writing with them was easy, but it was also exhilarating. It was exactly what you wanted with a band. 

Currently your guitar sat next to Foggy’s keyboard, the little Slurpuff-cream puff keychain you had given him for Yule hanging off of his keyboard.

Karen and Foggy followed Matt and sat down with you. You smiled, it was going to be a good night. You could feel it. The same way you could feel it when you sat with your things and worked until your hands hurt a little. 

Though this wasn’t the first night you had all sat down together to brainstorm and let the music flow, it felt different. It felt easier somehow. Karen’s laptop served as her drums, a program that sounded close enough since the real ones were still in her apartment, and a more organized version of everything you all were doing. 

Until you and Foggy decided dinner was needed which came in the form of cheap ramen packets. Now you all laid on the floor, your phone was on one of the beds playing music. 

“I’m pretty sure the cards are still in my bag.” You said.

“Next time.” Matt smiled. “I liked playing.”

“And kicking our asses in the game?” Foggy asked from the other side of Matt.

“That too.”

Next to you Karen suddenly gasped. She sat up and grabbed Matt’s arm. “You have to come dance with me.” You and Matt both tilted your heads. Your ears picked up the sound of Whitney Houston. That would explain it. 

“Right now?” 

“Right now,” she confirmed. 

Matt moved to let her pull him up. She pulled him over to a part of the room with more space and took his hands, guiding him. To your delight, she also started softly singing along. 

Foggy nudged you. 

“Come on, I’m feeling a little left out.” 

“Alright, cream puff.” You stood and turned the music up a little before you took his hand. Foggy dragged you over to Matt and Karen, grabbing your other hand. Soon he joined Karen in singing along. Both her and Matt laughed. 

At some point Foggy switched you out for Matt as you took Karen. 

“Hi princess.”

“Hi.”

You were probably loud enough to get a noise complaint, given the hour. But you couldn’t really care too much. Maybe you should invite them to your apartment soon. That would be nice.

🎶

Matt fiddled with the hem of his hoodie. It was the one that you had gotten him, and he had only really worn it to appease you, but the fabric that it was made of was… soft. Not scratchy or uncomfortable against his sensitive skin. 

Where had you gotten this from anyway? He wondered if he could ask you to tell him the store-

His train of thought skidded to a stop when he heard the now familiar sound of your footsteps against the ground. 

“Matt?” 

He hummed softly as he pulled his fingers away from the braille book he was skimming. He heard the room of the classroom click shut behind you as your footsteps grew louder as you approached him.

Columbia was a great university, but all the libraries were crowded, and their thirty minute rule was just annoying. Nobody would be able to get anything done in that short of a time. He needed peace and quiet to focus, but the campus made it difficult for him most of the time. 

“Squatting here for the evening too?” 

“Yeah. I love Foggy, but I need some time to do stuff on my own.” He stretched languidly and closed his book. “What are you doing in Hamilton this late?” 

“I have some things I need to get done too. And I wanted some company while I did it.” He felt you take a seat next to him. “I asked Karen where you were.” 

It wasn’t often that he was alone with you. Most times, you, him, Foggy, and Karen were a package deal. Where one went, the other three followed. 

“And I can see that you took a liking to the hoodie, kitty.” 

There it was. The nickname you had given him on that fateful Halloween party. It had annoyed him in the beginning, but now, he was more than used to it, and found himself responding pretty easily to it. Much to his chagrin and the infinite amusement of Karen and Foggy. 

“It’s soft.” He said, rubbing absentmindedly at the fabric. “Where did you even get it?” 

“Why? Do you want me to get you more?” He pursed his lips, and you seemed to find some sort of hilarity at his expression because you laughed. “I could, if you want me to. Think about it, Matt. It’s a win-win situation for both of us. You get soft, comfy hoodies, and I get to see you in cat ears.” 

“Why do you want to see me in cat ears anyway?”

“Matt. Kitten.” He felt you gingerly hold his hands. “You can’t see yourself in the mirror, but believe me when I tell you that you look really good in them.” 

His blindness didn’t bother him much. Not after living with it for over a decade. Not after he now spent more time without his vision than with it. But occasionally, he wondered what the people he cared for looked like. 

Matt knew what Foggy and Karen looked like theoretically. They had both let him trace their faces with his fingers and had told them the color of their hair and eyes, where each freckle was, as he memorized every dip and curve of their faces. 

He had yet to ask you if he could do the same. Not because he didn’t want to, but because he could never find the time to catch you on your own. To him, figuring out how the people he cared for looked like was an intimate action. And not something he was comfortable with doing with prying eyes around him. 

Matt wet his lips and said your name. 

“-can I touch your face?” 

“Sure.” 

And like that, your permission was given to him without question. Without hesitance. Without caution. 

His hands were still in yours, and he felt his breath catch in his throat when you slowly guided his palms to your cheeks. 

He took his time slowly tracing the groove of your cheek, his fingers soon dipping to trace your chin. He cupped your face in his palms, as he attempted to figure out the general shape of your face. 

“Careful, kitten.” You said quietly, as his thumb brushed below where he assumed your eye was. “Don’t poke my eye.” 

“I’ll be careful. Promise.” He let his thumb run down your cheek again, feeling the blemishes of your skin. “Tell me what color your eyes and hair are, and if you have any freckles.”

Matt tucked the information you gave him into his mind as he traced the shape of your lips.

He grinned when he heard you take in a sharp breath. 

“Oh, shut up, you.” 

“I didn’t say anything.” 

A comfortable silence ensued as he got his fill of you. Letting every detail he could feel enter his memory. Drawing an image of you in his mind before he pulled his hands away, a little wistfully. 

“Can I touch your face too?” You asked, making Matt tilt his head confusedly at you. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you without your glasses, Matt. If you’re comfortable with it, could I see them?” 

Matt pursed his lips. 

His eyes were a sensitive topic for him. Before he got used to wearing the tinted glasses, the other kids would tell him how weird his eyes were. Apparently, they were clouded and white, as though all color had been drained from them, not leaving behind any trace of the dark brown that had been passed down from his dad. 

It really didn’t help that there were light- but still noticeable- chemical scars on the surrounding skin around them. 

But eventually, he nodded and let you pull the glasses away from his face. He closed his eyes instinctively when your fingers gently brushed against his face. He didn’t dare to open them as the pads of your fingers curiously brushed against the corner of his eyes and traced the slightly rougher skin of the scars. 

“Open your eyes for me, kitten.” 

Your voice had an effect on him. One that made him more inclined to listen to your requests. 

He opened his eyes. 

“...You’re pretty, Matt.” Your hands moved to cradle his jaw. “Very pretty.” 

Matt was pleasantly surprised when he felt your lips on his. And it didn’t take him more than a second to kiss you back. Moving closer to you as he felt your hands leave his face to tangle your fingers through his hair. 

When you pulled back, he found himself chasing after you as you laughed slightly breathlessly. 

“I thought you had work to do, Murdock.” 

“I thought you had to do some things too.” 

Matt grinned and settled himself onto his chair, opening his book again to start brushing his fingers against the Braille letters once more, but he couldn’t find it in himself to pull his thoughts completely away from you. 

The feeling of your lips against his still lingered, after all. 

🎶

Karen tapped on her laptop, grinning in a satisfied manner as she finalized the excel sheet for the schedule of the coming couple of weeks. It had been a grueling time, adding and editing the songs that you had made yourself as well as the ones her, Foggy, and Matt had created. 

“Look at how gorgeous this looks.” She said, proudly presenting her friends with the screen. “We have more gigs than before, and I honestly think it’s all thanks to you-” she said your name. 

You shook your head in what she could now identify as a bashful manner. 

“No, no, she’s right.” Foggy agreed with her, his hand reaching to grasp at yours. “Honestly, I thought you were a star the moment I saw you on stage, but you really are one.” 

“A lucky star.” Matt mused, a smile curling at his lips. “Our star.”

“Stop it, all three of you.” You lightheartedly slapped Foggy’s hand away. “Flatterers. We all got requested for more gigs because all of you are pretty.” 

“Let’s not forget our songs.” 

“Oh yeah, that too.” You said, jokingly rolling your eyes at her amused words.”My voice is angelic and alluring. Like a siren.”

“Basically.”

“Yep.” Foggy paused slightly and looked to Matt. “Not that your singing is bad, Matty. It just fits better as our star’s backing vocals.” 

Said man shrugged and made a face that indicated his agreement. 

“Yeah.” 

“I was joking. That was a joke.” You cleared your throat and squinted at the screen of her laptop. “Also, we should do something about the name of our band.” She too peered at her screen and noticed the name of the file. “We can’t be ‘insert cool band name here’ officially.” 

Matt coughed out a laugh as Foggy groaned. 

“We’ve been procrastinating the band name for so long, and we can’t put it off forever.” Karen said, diplomatically, as he glared at her balefully. “Come on, Fogs. Do you really want to be ‘Insert Cool Band Name Here?’”

“I know you all said no Catholicism, but…” Matt licked his lips. “How about Paradise in Purgatory?”

She rolled the name in her mind. It was… a good name. The concept of Paradise and Purgatory were widespread enough to not put people off-

“Oh, I like that.” You said, eyes glittering with excitement. “Paradise in Purgatory. It kind of has that feeling of hope too, you know? Finding a Paradise in the shallowest circle of Hell- according to Dante, of course.” 

“Will we be called PIP for short?” Foggy mused, but Karen could tell that he liked the name too. “Peep.” 

“It’s cute, cream puff.” You looked at her. “What are your thoughts, princess?”

“It’s edgy, and fun. I like it. Matt always comes to save us from our predicaments, I swear.” She nudged his side, to which he jokingly grimaced at. “Like some hero.” 

“When’s our next gig?” He asked, ignoring her words. But Karen wasn’t offended, not when his cheeks were slightly tinted in pink. Both you and Foggy snorted at Matt’s clear swerve away from the topic. “Fuck off.” 

Karen could feel the anticipation -- the excitement and the sheer joy -- bubble in her veins. She had always felt jittery with anticipation before every gig, but this time it was different. This was the first time the band felt truly complete. And it was the first ever gig they would play together. 

The roar of the crowd was something she was so excited to hear with her bandmates. Her friends. 

🎶

You were unwinding from the electric experience of playing on the stage with a band you could fully call yours. Even though this was the fourth gig in the span of a month, the excitement that you felt whenever you were up there with the three of them didn’t die down. 

Tonight’s gig was a little low key, as the band -- Paradise in Purgatory -- had played at Josie’s, as per the owner’s request. This bar was where the three of them first decided to form a band with each other, and Matt and Foggy literally had a shared tab open. They apparently visited frequently enough to have Josie notice them. 

Playing with the three of them on the stage was… amazing. It was almost as though you could feel the music circling within you. 

Like the god you believed in was in the room with you. And…

Your bandmates were your muses. Or, at least in your eyes, they were blessed by the muses just as you were favored by Apollo himself. Music was a part of all of them, in the same way it was a core part of who you were. 

You sipped at one of the non-alcoholic drinks Foggy had ordered for you. You had been using your vocal chords and alcohol was bad for them. You pouted when Foggy glared at your attempts to snatch Matt’s glass. 

“Kit-”

“Hello.” A low, feminine voice purred out, cutting you off from your attempt to call Matt. You shifted your attention and saw a woman. Dark hair and dark eyes. A sort of desire that somehow put you on high alert showed in her very posture. “Darling.” 

She wasn’t speaking to you, no. Nor was she speaking to Foggy, who was nearer to her, nor was she talking to Karen, who was sitting next to Matt. 

Oh no. 

Her greeting was targeted to one person, and one person only. 

And that person -- with his tinted glasses, and his red tinged hair -- straightened his back and tilted his head at her. 

“I’m Elektra.” She said, stepping closer to Matt as she ran a hand down his chest. “And you strike me as an interesting man.” 

You shared an uneasy glance with Karen and Foggy as you saw Matt’s Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed. 

You could tell that this Elektra was bad news, but unfortunately, it seemed as though Matt was enamored by her.

[elliethecat]

Zora May post three let's fricking go bfbdbdhshd

Zora May is hosted by @prisiidon, and the prompts I used were "Sentimental" (from 2023), and "Tears"

(This is one of my shorter fics, but it's fine :3)

It was late at night, and most everyone in the domain was asleep. Sidon couldn't sleep, however, as whenever he closed his eyes he was overcome with horrible nightmares. Nightmares about the night The Calamity struck Hyrule and killed the champions; no, killed his sister. Sidon was overrun with the memory of the day he found out that his sister died.

It made him feel weak, like he was a failure because he was still grieving the loss of his beloved sister. Sidon didn't want anyone to know that he was still grieving his sister's death after one hundred years. Muzu's to blame for this fear, because of course he is. Muzu would get angry at Sidon if he so much as cried when around him.

Sidon couldn't sit here like this, so he gently let go of Link—who was happily sleeping by his side—and slipped out of bed. The King quietly tip-toed around the palace, and once he got out to the domain, he turned to go to Mipha Court. He never went anywhere at this time of night, but he needed to.

Once Sidon arrived at Mipha Court, he walked up the steps to where the statue of Mipha was held. Each step felt like it took a million years, and Sidon felt like he was going to crack at any moment. Kings shouldn't cry is what Sidon thought as he walked up to the statue, though he was very wrong. Everyone cries sometimes, and being a king doesn't mean that you cannot show your emotions.

The statue of Mipha was beautiful—the moonlight made it even better. It captured the beauty of Mipha perfectly. Sidon gently ran his hand over the smooth stone of the statue. It lacked one thing: the warmth of Mipha. No one would feel her warmth ever again, as he lost it the day Waterblight Ganon killed her where she stood.

“Mipha,” Sidon whispered, “I'm so sorry that I wasn't there for you. If only…”

And with that, Sidon burst into tears. If only I was the one who died, is what Sidon was going to say. Sidon knew that both King Dorephan and Muzu loved Mipha more than him. She was perfect, or as perfect as a Zora could be, and Sidon wasn't as perfect as her. Sidon had to wear a mask to appear comparable to Mipha, while in reality he wasn't anything as wonderful as she was.

Sidon sat there for a while, crying and mumbling to the statue of the late Princess Mipha. Then, the King of the Zora heard the sound of boots clicking on the stone. Sidon turned around, and his lover—Link—was standing there. Link quickly rushed to Sidon's side, throwing the King into a hug.

“Sidon! Are you okay? What in Hylia's name happened?!” Link said, his voice filled with concern.

Sidon didn't say anything, all he did was sob into Link's shirt sleeve.

Link, with no other options, just let Sidon cry in his arms. No matter what the hell was happening to Sidon, Link would take care of his king and make sure that he was okay no matter what. Link patted Sidon's back and gently rubbed his cheek, before he softly kissed Sidon's crest. Even though Sidon was still an emotional wreck, Link could tell that Sidon's sobs got lighter with the kiss. Link even grabbed Sidon's tail and gave it a little nibble, which drew a small laugh from Link's king.

“I'll ask again, what happened, Sidon?” Link asked after Sidon calmed down enough.

“It is just that… I miss Mipha, and I know that everyone would be happier if she was here instead of myself…” Sidon mumbled.

“What?! No! I wouldn't be happy if she was here instead of you! You're amazing! She was amazing too, yeah, but I wouldn't trade you for anyone!”

“But what about Trello, Muzu, and the other old Zora?”

“They can fuck off if they say anything like that! You know what? I miss Mipha too, but saying that everything would be better if she was here and you weren't? That's insane!”

Sidon smiled slightly, and in response Link squeezed him tightly.

“C'mon Sidon, I'll make us some food.”

“Okay Link, thank you so much…”

Link helped Sidon off of the ground, and he walked with him to the main area of Mipha Court. Sidon and Link sat down by the campfire, Link lit it, and quickly kissed Sidon's crest again. Link then went to catch some fish while Sidon was embarrassed as all hell. Once Link got back, he put a pot on the campfire, put some sort of oil in it, threw the fish and some salt in the pot, and started to cook. It was a simple meal, but Link was making it, which made it way better.

Once both of them were done eating their fish, Link took the pot off of the fire and jumped into Sidon's arms. Link accidentally pushed Sidon to the ground, but Sidon didn't mind one bit. Link nuzzled Sidon's neck as they laid on the ground, and Sidon let out a soft chuckle. Eventually, both Link and Sidon got prtry tired, so they decided to just fall asleep right there.

“Good night, Sidon,” Link said, a soft smile on his face.

“Good night, my precious pearl. Sleep well,” Sidon responded, his eyelids becoming heavy.

The two then fell asleep, cuddling in each other's arms while they laid in the grass. Sidon's slumber was filled with thoughts of Link and happy memories of Mipha. Although Mipha was gone, Sidon had stories of her from Link and his father, and he had his own happy memories of her.

[alasse-earfalas]

This takes place after the Little Prince book and serves as a kind of bridge to the comic book series.

~~~

Death felt strange. 

The snake’s bite did its job, but it didn’t feel the way he’d expected. He’d thought it would hurt, and it did, for an instant—but then the pain was gone, and he could feel his body rushing through the space that separated him from his rose, from his asteroid, from sunsets and volcanoes and baobab seeds he needed to remove. 

And then he woke up. 

And he felt older. 

He sat up, still the same Little Prince, and it was still the same asteroid. This was B-612 alright, but then why did everything feel… new? He watched the sun rise. 

“Little Prince?” said a voice, from the other side of his planet. “Is that you?” 

“Rose!” The Little Prince lept to his feet, meaning to go to her, but his legs felt longer and he lost his balance. “Ow,” he said, rubbing his face where he’d fallen on it. He stood up again—more carefully this time, for the pain of falling had reminded him to be careful—and walked around his planet to his beautiful rose. 

“Oh my,” she said, “but you’ve changed, Little Prince. I don’t remember you being quite so tall!” 

“My legs don’t either,” he said with a chuckle. “I don’t think I’m too tall, though. I’m definitely not as tall as the Aviator!” 

“Who?” asked the rose. 

“The Aviator!” he said with a wide smile. “He tamed me, while we were in the desert. Here, I’ll show you!” He reached into his sash—now why was he doing that?—and pulled out a sketchbook. Huh… Had he always had this? “Did the Aviator give this…? Never mind, let me show you the little lamb he drew for me!” 

“A lamb doesn’t sound quite as tasty as a chicken,” said a voice. 

The Little Prince gasped. When he turned around he saw his old friend, the fox. “Fox!” he exclaimed, “But how—? Did the snake get you, too?” 

“A snake?” said the fox. “I don’t like snakes. Did one sneak up on you?” 

“Well, no,” said the Little Prince, thinking some more. “I suppose I did ask him to send me home. And he wasn’t a mean snake, just crafty.” 

“They often are crafty,” said the fox. 

“But what are you doing here?” asked the Little Prince, and his rose began to sulk for his lack of attention to her. 

“I had a run-in with the hunters,” said the fox, who scratched his ears. “I figured I’d pay you a visit. Maybe even stay a while.” 

“I’d like that very much,” said the Little Prince.

“Hmph,” said the rose. “I wouldn’t. I don’t feel safe around such a big ball of fluff.” 

“But I’ve tamed him,” said the Little Prince. 

“You may have tamed me,” said the fox, “but your rose is still just like any other rose in the world to me.” 

“Hm,” thought the Little Prince. He snapped his fingers. “I’ve got it! Fox, why don’t you stay on the other side of the planet, but then join us for sunsets?” 

“I think I would like that,” said the fox.

“Hmph,” said the rose. “I suppose I can tolerate you for that long, at least. If it means so much to you, my dear Little Prince.” 

“It does,” he said, and knelt beside her. “Thank you for being so patient, my Rose. I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed you, being away for so long!” 

His rose blushed. “I’ve missed you too, Little Prince. You were about to show me your new drawing of a little lamb?” 

“Yes! Except the drawing isn’t mine, the Aviator drew it for me.” And the Little Prince spent the next very long while telling his beloved rose all about his adventures, and the fox joined them whenever the sun set. 

[heartinajarofpickles]

Dinner Is Not Over

Part 6

I really wanna draw the line!, when you wanna keep me out of my mind, you want to put me down until I'm fine

Things have never been more interesting, although the state in which Crowley was, was far from ideal, the peaceful (and boring) sleep had already finished, ever since he woke up he had kept on moving, the demon was on the road and nothing was stopping him. It wasn’t a good thought the one the angel was having, but it was not like he was going to tell anyone about it, after what felt like a zillion years of repeating their actions something was finally happening, of course he felt guilty about enjoying this, but the demon dancing around earth brought him so much pleasure, he just couldn’t hold back, so he indulged one more time for old times’ sake.

As good as it was to have him back the angel realized that everything he had purposefully interfered with one way or another drove the demon into madness, fist that goodbye which leaded him to steal and drink viciously, then the messages on the voicemail, that made him destroy his beloved old machine, and finally not watering the plants became the starter for the destruction of the flat in the hands of its owner, somehow even after all that, after all the mistakes the angel had committed, he still jumped to his Bentley and drove to the library, even after everything he had messed up Crowley still went to him when everything was crashing down.

Aziraphale couldn’t pay as much attention as he would’ve wanted, it was his little secret after all, so he watched her get in the coffee shop when Uriel came and scolded him for not having things ready on time, so he had to pretended to fill out a solicitation form, and while he looked away just for one second, when heaven once again stole the angel away from the demon, Crowley got hit by the car, once his attention drew back to the dark figure on earth he observed it there laying on the ground.

Thankfully for both of them, as one couldn’t stand the pain and the other couldn’t stand seeing him that way, Muriel came out of the library and helped her get back on her feet, doing what Aziraphale so desperately wanted to do.

It wasn’t just a detail that looked different, absolutely everything have changed, even just by taking a look at the entrance the angel felt like he was going to faint. Since he saw Muriel selling the books 3 years ago Aziraphale refused to take a look at his shop, instead of paying attention to his business he focused all of his energy and thoughts to the demon, vigilating, watching over his dreams praying that they wouldn’t become nightmares, keeping vigil on their soft vulnerable state; So to see such a minimalistic place with all the books in metal shelves with bright white lights and those funky chairs, stole all the breath from Aziraphale, his space on earth, the one that he had rightfully owned from many many years was deformed, twisted in the hands of what was assumed to be his successor, change wasn’t wrong of course but no one really asked Aziraphale if these changes could be done. Not that it mattered, first because the only time they asked for his opinion was as a way to show support, he was always part of the statistics never the leader of the campaign, on a second note he would’ve said no; If anyone asked him for permission to change things up he wouldn’t have let them as the bookshop was already perfect as it was, this probably being the reason why no one asked him.

As he was staring at the screen everything slowly became prettier, the harsh image dissolving, the absurd colors mixing, the world was blurry now, a shield his body crated to protect him from his new sad reality, so he embraced it, he let the tears run through his face, play on his cheeks and land on the floor, first one by one but then allowing others to join many of them came and once they arrived it became impossible to make them leave, the only way they left was when they landed on the papers scattered on the ground, but instantly being replaced with a new one that had emerged from that holy eye, just as this was happening Michael came to retrieve the solicitation forms Uriel had sent Aziraphale earlier, when they saw the archangel in an awful state.

— “What is your problem?”

Nothing, Aziraphale wasn't registering any information around him, for once the world was quiet, heaven hell and earth for an instant shut up, they left the angel there, all alone, so he could grieve, grieve the space he lost and his favorite guest there, tears holding onto the past and incredibly terrified of the future.

All of this was wrong, and he couldn’t do anything but watch, that’s what he has been doing all along right? Just watching, watching how Crowley invented those beautiful stars, watching how Crowley tempted those humans all through history, in order to instigate curiosity, to make them made choices, freeing them or dooming them, the ways in which he made sure they live their lifes, that they could exploit their humanity and push them through the edge so that they could break their fragile minds and understand more, ask more, want for more, all of that just using her mind, perhaps putting them a few inconveniences on the way, he was a demon after all, but never doing anything that would truly hurt them, in the end his chore was to observe the humans, to accompany them, and Crowley was a being of word, he would stay there for them. But what had Aziraphale done in that time?, besides enjoy all of the earthly pleasures without giving the humans something in return, of course he was nice, but that was his nature, the sword too but that was so many years ago and he was created to be nice, a few miracles here and there, sometimes not even being committed by him, he was perfect because that’s the way it was intended to be, he was an experiment gone right on every single way; unlike Crowley that put so much effort into defying all the ideas others imposed onto him, that it became incredibly tiring for everyone, especially for herself, if only they inverted that time into being actually evil, they would’ve been Satan's voice already.

If it wasn’t clear before Aziraphale aspire to be like Crowley, but Aziraphale never had to hide, perhaps because of their agreement, but they were equally involved, so if they discovered them (like they did years ago) they would still have the other, but that’s not what he wanted, he wanted to be wise, he wanted to know, he wanted to ASK, he craved the skill that the demon have developed for thousands of years but that he wasn’t able to explore without being punished for, so he could only stare at pages full of knowledge and the demon by his side.

The glimpse of a light ceasing to exist pull him out of his string of thoughts, as he was watching around he realized Michael was standing there and that the earth between them had disappeared.

— “WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM AZIRAPHALE?” Michael repeated yelling.

— “Please put it back on” came out of the angel's throat in a desperate attempt to keep feeding his soul with torment.

— You are not on lookout duty, that's for the angels below, but of course you aren't making your job, are you? I'll be surprised the day you do something! Just look at you, you pathetic excuse of an angel, the only thing you have done is stay in that little store of yours, you have committed more sins than the whole building and word says your faith is as weak as that friends of yours, do you want to end up like him? It would be ridiculously at this point that you would go against any of this, any of us, all the power you hold is thanks to us, everything you have has been given to you by heaven, including that demon you follow around like a puppy, and this is how you repay us? Wasting your time fixated on that screen looking at him, we have been generous but if this continues we might have to do some adjustments.

With each word Michael get closer and closer to Aziraphale’s face, until their noses met their eyes did too, although the archangel eyes were staring deeply into Michael's, Michael was nothing but a white and gold mass in Aziraphale’s crystalline eyes, he was there, but his soul was still on the image trying to rebuild it to its old state of glory, his consciousness was becoming incredibly small to search between the atoms, and then too big to be sorting through galaxies in order to find a glimpse of hope through all this mess. The yells from the most experienced angel make him weak, he wasn’t feeling good and his environment just made him feel worse, he fell into the ground and just like before everything went quiet, Michael was still shouting, or at least that’s what it looked like, their face was moving cheeks all blushed up veins popped and little drops of liquid emanating from their forehead but even like that Aziraphale wasn't listening, he stared in amusement and fear seeing how the universe kept moving but left a passenger behind.

[rathockey]

so how's criminal minds going so far?

gimme any thoughts on the characters, episodes etc <3

oh i have many thoughts hee hee and im super supposed to be asleep right now since i have to get up at 530 for hockey but i can’t sleep so you get them all

i am on season 3 about midway through so post gideon (and i do miss gideon even though i think he was my least fave of the squad, i still really liked his character, i think i just wanted more)

i now kind of get the obsession with spencer reid he is a very fun character and i enjoy him a lot but i don’t think he’s my FAV character. but he IS my favorite guy to be put in a situation. more situations for him

penelope garcia my absolute beloved answering the phone like an absolute queen and doing it like nobody else. love her.

jj i am in love with you. enough said.

hotchner i really did not expect to like but i am super into him actually, i think its the eyebrows.

derek morgan my other absolute beloved, probably my fav character (him or garcia) my man is so full of compassion and care and he is funny and hot and honestly what more could you want. icon.

emily prentiss is still kiiiinda new to me but i enjoy her. no real interesting thoughts or opinions so far

gideon, as stated previously i feel like i wanted more from him but idk how or what. very interesting character and well played (ofc shout out mandy patinkin)

rossi is also still too new for me to have a real opinion but i’m intrigued

i really liked elle when she was around but i didn’t love her exit, i feel like it could have been better

EPISODES okay any episode where reid goes through it is a win in my book so the revelations episodes are good, I enjoyed the episode after penelope got shot as well (hm maybe i do just enjoy when these guys are put in situations)

overall i’m very much enjoying it I think its a pretty good show even if its not my usual style of procedural and i do get a lot of mileage out of my own personal game of “omg where have i seen that guy before” a game where almost every episode i recognize someone who was in an episode of house/spn/teen wolf/nancy drew/etc one time to the point i really should have the criminal minds imdb page bookmarked (i am exceptionally good with faces and terrible with names)

also morgan and garcia should be together forever and i stand by that forever thank you

[fumikomiyasaki]

Oc Families part 2

Part 1

Content warning for some abusive parents here... also gore and violence mentions on Rachels parents, Focusing on main dorms for now, Emmas mother I drew for the story, others are dead or other reasons I didn't show them.

Jade and Ophelia Von Loketon (Rubinas Parents)

Jade being a strict opera actor who is quite harsh to his daughters as well as demanding… to him they are not worth if they don't keep up the family legacy as well as he often threw cans if them if they denied his demands. Ophelia meanwhile made sure both Rubina and Saphirra looked at their best and mixed manipulation with compation…. she is also the one who suggested the arranged marriage thing… as well as she is the reason they both had the Tori blood. She was a Famous Romance movie actress but retired so she lives her dreams through her daughters

Opalon Grey (Rubinas Uncle)

Opalon Grey is a single man, Dectective at work and the only reason Rubina is still sane really... he often showed her around cases and gave her some normalcy in her life... she one day wants to be like him. And well her Sister Saphirra I mentioned at a former post before

Yui and Tadano Chunya (Pekos Parents)

Pekos proud parents who often support her merch concerts and are her biggest fans in general… they may spoil their daughter and often shelter her a lot from things but they mean very well… Yui is ignoring questions about that time her cells were stolen by a lab but if she were to meet Bolt she probably would accept him like a son, but her blue eyes are the reason why he has them too. Yui works in a clothing store while Tadano works in construction… Technically Yui could also be classified as Bolts mother cause from her cells he was created.

Suzy (Gregories former Caretaker)

A Jolly friendly woman who was the reason Greg grew up pretty happy and fine... after his parents left him on the streets Suzy found him and took him in, however one day he was forcefully taken away from her for Experiments... he hasn't met her again since then however among the teachers Miss Fumiko often reminds him of her.

Felicia and Yula Nerington (Tylers Family)

Felicia is Tylers biological mom while his dad is alive but divorced her cause of losing interest in her, so Felicia instead got married to Yula... a sickly but sweet woman that is the main reason why Tyler started with Sewing and making clothes... they both are very sweet and supportive of him but know he pushes himself too much for them.

Terry and Troy Nerington (Little Brothers)

Little gremlins, one hyper, the other a bit more held back but often repeats what his brother said... both have a faible for bugs and love collecting them-

Clive and Anjun Fuchsia (Rachels parents)

The Fuchsias married not for love but for Benefit... they were both keeping the lineage of this horrid family resulting in Rachel... Clive is a cannibalistic Yokai while Anjun is moreso eating souls... making them a duo to lure people into their palms and ruin lives... almost wiping out a whole village in their schemes... they are a business partners living in the mountains among a shrine... teaching their daughter to continue their morbid practise.

King Domenic and Queen Nephenee Ravenor (Gabrielle and Tesadelles parents)

The Royal King and Queen were beloved by the kingdom however the Queen wanted to make sure her daughters are proper ladies... things went different as Gabrielle had more intrest in sparring with her father and grew more and more a good warrior like him... and so her focus shifted on Tesadelle after Gabrielle proven she won't agree to an arranged marriage in a duel... They mean well but Nephenee is a bit too demanding of her kids as well as just wanted to continue the monarchy tradtion of the kindom while the king wanted to more let his daughters have fun.

Eldwin Ravenor (cousin)

In a universe where Gabrielle and Tesadelle have partners away from the kingdom, probably both of the sisters actually go with their partner… then who will be there to rule the Grimstone kingdom… another cousin who could manage the throne for them… he often was seen like a Twin brother to Gabrielle even if they are not brother and sister… Eldwin is a strong determined man in a similar age that Gabrielle who would make sure be to be a vigillant king.

Puretia and Fernand von Yltan (Andrews Parents)

Birthparents and Merchant aristocrats doing backdoor Deals to whipe out smaller Noblehouse, manipulating people around them for their gain. They are the sole Reason Louis family is gone... as well as see their many sons just as a supply... to at least keep one heir alive and loyal to them to take over.

Anslie and Huxley Renous (Aidens Parents)

Both from a rich family… however only those who could fight their way to their praise and authority were worthy… Aiden was the black sheep so… he foten had his mom yelling at him and his dad looking down at him in dissapointment… his Mom also often had the most insane ideas to push her children to the limit of sucess… hence everyone in the family wears suits cause she wanted them to become sucessfull and look clean.

Alfie, Ethan and Hunter Renous (Aidens Brothers)

Cruel towards Aiden since childhood… Hunters scar is from a fight he and Aiden had… Alfie always made sure to expose him when he did his stuff with his bad friend, Ethan was always like: "nobody will ever love you." Hunter was actually the least mean to him but still very judgemental but… he might be the most that still is regretting some stuff.

Daitan and Chitose Chealean (Media's parents)

Daitan was formerly a shinto priest who took his work very seriously while Chitose was supportive… at first they hoped Eleafy would grow up to be a good sucessor to their dad but after the kidnapping both grew paranoid and overprotective of Media… yet still they wanted Media to continue the work however Daitan was more understanding… stepped down one day from his job and let Media stop the Priest work cause he never really felt it… Chitose was less understanding of that choice of her husband and son but still wanted to support them… it however still leads sometimes to arguments between them.

As Media brought Aiden home Chitose also was Highly against adopting him but got sway by Daitan with the argument of "With our Original child we would have had two to take care of anyways… let him stay… he seems like we could get him on a better path in life… like we did with many in the past"

If it wasn't for Media his parents could have ended in the cult Ronnie had and Eleafy would have no chance of coming back… but i would see… the day Eleafy returns… Chitoses cold heart and paranoia would finally melt… and she will be much more loving again. Daitan is gentle and proud of his son Media though… he is the one calming his wife each time.

Osamu and Noboyuki Brawzer: (Teneras parents)

Noboyuki was a single dad for a while but after finally leaving the temple with Tenera he met Osamu, a former Samurai who been hurt too much in his life and just needed a gentle soul to guide him, which Noboyuki did well… the two went from close friends that care about another to lovers and Tenera herself also had the hope to find such a love without judging where someone came from on how they look as long as they love is real.

Noboyuki is 6800 years old at this point while Osamu is… technically a 2100 old being part of a species that lives long but not as long as his lover

Theodore Albright (Sindrens Dad)

Sucessfull business owner and famous among the Media, mister Albright hid from his daughter that his wife and her brother moved away after the scandals and instead told SIndren they died to protect his own shame... he does make his role as her dad well and does spoil her but... has it hard to face his problems

Fernando and Isadora Cenov (Mythras Parents)

They actually both got Mythra very young so they also still look much younger for being Parents… but also they keep their beauty well… Fernando is a passionate dancer, especially good at tango while Isadora excels more at Hip hop and also wishes once they got more money she can get more nicer clothing.

Urania and Galos Ferres ( Tarons parents):

Urania is an Alien and Galos a Fairy… resulting in the combo Taron is… they are the ones who build the space station and Urania similar to her brother unosis often makes small shows on the station… Taron hid from them about thier old mistakes about the past to not make them worry or dissapoint them… however they do know something bothers them… they are supportive and only want the best hoping they take over the station one day. (Bearbeitet)

[argonianprince]

I've officially given up on trying to play Nancy Drew: Mystery of the Seven Keys.

I really wanted to like it, so badly. I tried not to have too many expectations. I bought it because I saw a lot of people saying it wasn't like the old ND games, but it was still "a step in the right direction."

Honestly it feels more like a cop-out, and a bland stab at keeping the company open. If it hadn't been an ND game I would have put it down after 20 minutes. I made it a couple hours in.

There were too many little problems and quality issues to list. The main issues though:

Nancy's new VA didn't do a good job. She sounds so bored and like she doesn't know why she bothered to come into the studio to record lines. She did a bad job in Midnight in Salem as well, and a bunch of fans were like, oh just give her time to adjust, she did better in another game, don't be discouraging, show her support. Well.. I think it's insulting that she brought such low energy and no enthusiasm or real skill to the second game in a row. She's obviously not a good fit for this role. Find someone who cares about bringing this beloved character to life and doing her justice.

The music is so generic and unfeeling. The music in older games was so beautiful, distinct, memorable, it gives me happy chemicals immediately when I hear the music from specific favorite games. Nothing like that to be found in KEY.

The hint system is BORING AS FUCK and doesn't even provide hints for half the confusing, counter-intuitive nonsense in this game. The recurring side characters insisting on being reached only by text and not being able to phone friends was cheap and boring and disappointing.

I hit a glitch 40 minutes into playing, which is SO unacceptable for a 30+ dollar game. If not for being able to switch movement types and then switch back, I would have had to start all over.

HerInteractive has apparently decided that there needed to be lots of non-interacteble NPCs all around. Which is a huge departure, but fine. Except that said NPCs were all obvious repeats of the same ~7 character models. So the opening plaza and cafe would have like 4 versions of the same very distinct human standing around. It was distracting and felt insulting to my observation skills.

The non-Nancy VAs did a good job, excluding the really bad fake accents, but the dialogue was so weird and boring and stilted that the talent couldn't make up for it.

The game didn't tell me directly that you could press the shift key to sprint, I learned that from a random loading screen, so I spent most of the time at a crawl.

I had to stop using the "classic" movement mode. It was poorly implemented and didn't allow me to actually look closely at everything I needed to. Then the new free-move mode is the exact kind that gives me motion sickness, which limited my play sessions drastically.

There are so many things that made the game seem poorly thought out, like they didn't bother finding professional writers to plot out events and conversations. It also seems like they didn't find outside beta testers, because again, the number of major and minor problems was just through the roof and it was not fun to play for me. Most of the separate components that make up the game feel almost amateurish.

This is one for the minor complaint category but it bothers me so much. Just.. The obvious lack of effort. A ton of the self space in this cafe/bookstore in the starting location was just EMPTY. Like a quarter of a shelves. Nothing. Not even small cute decorations to compensate for the absence of books.

I was happy to support the company when we got the game, but after experiencing it, I'm sorry to have wasted the money on a game company that doesn't deserve it.

As my girlfriend just pointed out: HerInteractive fired the voice actors (including Nancy's iconic VA), fired the writers, fired the artists and programmers that made the old games incredible and memorable and special. Is it REALLY HerInteractive as we knew it anymore? No.

I'm sad that fans are cutting this game so much slack. If it weren't a Nancy Drew property, there would be no question that it's a mid game at best, and definitely not worth 32$USD. I think it's okay not to support this company anymore. As long as the old (good) games are available to play, maybe it's time to admit that someone else would be a better fit for creating Nancy Drew PC mysteries. The HerInteractive we knew and loved is not around anymore. I'm going to try to come to terms with that, and mourn the loss.

This shell of a developer that still exists doesn't deserve our money, or our collective benefit of the doubt. They are trying to sell us sub par products, while wearing the mask of a game series that was, and still is, important and foundational and cherished by so many fans.

I'm really glad that the old games still exist so we can have an amazing time re-playing them, until someone who actually cares creates another top-tier point and click mystery series

[pastara-cell]

DAY 13 💪💪💪

Jomies headcanons! (Maria included, 10 head canons for each of em! I’ll try not to do repeats of past head-canons I’ve shared)

——————-

Lets start off with good ol jakey boy!

-Jake definitely has imposter syndrome, 100%

-His pink tips are natural!! Like how people’s hair colour may fade when they get older, his pink tips are actually just the last bit of pink hair thats faded out as he’s gotten older. He had a full head of pink hair in his baby photos!

-I have adhd and I’m officially diagnosing him with it, mhm, yup. Its canon now/silly

-shakes his leg under his desk to stim

-really likes mac n cheese. Like, REALLY likes mac n cheese. Would eat it every day if his mum didn’t force him to have variety in his diet

-He has Eczema, As well as being super reactive to rashes. Avoid poison oak at all costs

-Is a big dog person, but used to own two canaries when he was younger named Jimmy and Lizzie (/ref)

-His favourite colour is Yellow!!

-freezes up when overstimulated

-He does makeup occasionally, golden shimmer eyeliner i’m looking at you

Next is Liam!!!

-he’s a scene kid at heart

-Based on @lettuce-theory ‘s first theory, I’m a whole-hearted believer that Liam did NOT, amd will not forgive Jake after the drake fight.

-Liam and Stacy are great friends on Instagram (gachagram, was it?) and stacy constantly dms him to stop liking her mums pictures. He does it purely to piss her off and plays along with the bit, even with the jomies, so well that he’s convinced everyone except for stacy that he’s actually got a thing for her mum

-His yee yee haircut is quite beautiful, he just never fucking styles it so his bangs part farther apart than drew and jake after episode 10.

-guys. He doesn’t have brown hair…He’s just a really dark red head.

-The most chill guy ever, you could tell him you murdered someone and he’d just be like “…So…You need me to help you hide the body? Orr….”

-Has an older sister, Doesn’t really remember her. She ran away when Liam was 4. He doesn’t really feel anything towards her, but he looks a lot like her. He thought for a while, after he learned about it, that he was his parent’s replacement for his sister, so his parents often reassure him that they love home for being him, and that he’ll always be their liam. Unless he deadnames 👍

-As you can probably tell by the last headcanon, his parents are wonderful people trying their best to keep liam happy and stay stable. They’re middle class, both teach at the local community college, and have a small, nice house. They’re supportive of everything he likes and does. They do miss their daughter, but they’ve put it behind them and do their hardest to focus on liam

-I suppose the last two are more or so just random character story bits I made up, not headcanons, so actual headcanon: He has a calcium deficiency 100%

-he rollerdisco-skates guys you can trust me im his yee yee ass haircut

Then Drew Ofc

-He’s left handed! (pretty sure this is canon because Dosh said so and everything that dosh says is canon, but take that with a grain of salt cause I may be wrong)

-he stops henry, liam, and jake very often to fix their shirt collars or pull down their sleeves. Just a pet peeve of his

-Drew goes to country clubs, He tried bringing henry and liam, but they got kicked out for running next to the pool and knocking a lady in. Jake, on the other hand, is beloved by all the elderly women, who sit around and listen to him talk about whatever. Drew has to drag him away

-small waist, (Put this in my drafts and came back and rosypenguin’s thing came up, Good to know other people agree LOL) but is incredibly insecure about it, cause yknow, slight internalised misogyny.

-Not gonna diagnose him with anything, Especially BPF since I don’t know how to properly portray it accurately to peoples with BPD’s experiences, however, I think he shows a lot of signs of BPD from my research

-has definitely had/is having sal thoughts. In the past, they were more intrusive, but after the drakeup and with what happened with zoey, I think he’s really hanging onto Drew and Henry at the moment.

-He has indeed taken a drink or two out of his parents alcohol cabinet while henry and liam and jake were over. Drew’s clingy when he’s tipsy, but he has terrible full-body migraines during hangover, so he hasn’t done it in a while

-had a bayblade collection when he was younger. Keeps it in his closet now, but he’s super fucking proud of it

-Completely immune to poison ivy, poison oak, And poison sumac.

-Used to be apart of a boyscouts troop, left after he figured out he wasn’t allergic to poison oak by accidentally eating it

Henry my BOYYYY

-Rewatches the entire original Pokémon series atleast 3 times a month

-His teeth were so crooked as a child that he couldn’t talk. He had headgear (Braces that go all around your head) on up until 7th grade, he started in 3rd grade.

-Bruises super easily on ththe slightest taps. Has had to explain to cps multiple times that his parents are not mistreating him

-wanted to learn how to skateboard, could indeed not skateboard

-listens to the living tombstone, Ghost and pals, and Jack stauber

-Had a raging fnaf phase when he was an early teenager

-Adhd as well, Very visibly shakes and gets overwhelmed

-can quite literally read liams mind, same with liam reading his, they finish eachothers thoughts.

-His love for lettuce is genuine, because he grows his own lettuce in his backyard. Lots of lettuce.

-His eyes are actually NOT light green, they’re continuously shifting through every visible colour on the spectrum

Lia!!

-like jake, MASSIVE imposter syndrome.

-Regrets leaving hailey, too deep in to go back.

-she’s got a lovely tenor singing voice, But doesn’t sing. She’s not interested in it

-Can do card tricks

-Half of her skirts are stolen from Zoey, which zoey doesn’t mind as long as they get washed properly

-She listens to Olivia rodrigo 100%. Sour album specifically

-Her favourite colour is purple!

-Her favourite flowers are alliums and lilacs, although she hates the smell of both

-Very frequent user of bath and body works’s cherry blossom fragrance

-other than olivia rodrigo, she listens to Pink pony club and ONLY pink pony club. No other songs

Zoey >:)

-her pink tips are not natural, they’re dyed by Maria!

-Her family Is rather middle class, but they’re still not always there. She has two older sisters who give her advice on high school. She greatly misinterprets that advice

-she’s into crystal/gem collecting, mostly because they’re pretty!

-She and drew once bought a couple geodes and spent 3 hours breaking em all open as a date, she’ll never admit it, but it was her favourite one.

-Got the gold digger mindset from social media (probably TikTok and instagram), as well as misinterpreted advice from her older sisters (such as “High school is hard, you dont have to spend it in one relationship.”)

-However, despite getting the mindset from social media, she was too deep rooted in it to feel anything but sorry for herself when she was caught, not for drew. She knew it was wrong

-Does love Lia and Maria though, and very often would take them on girls days with drew’s credit card. This included spa days, and grabbing coffee, and probablya bit(LOT) of shopping

-her favourite character in mean girls is Gretchen

-Her favourite drink is Shirley temples!!

-Went through a horse phase as a child

Maria!!

-Canadian!!! 🇨🇦 🍁!! Moved to the US when she was 8.

-She used to live in Québec, so they can speak french canadian!

-Dyes zoey’s hair tips pink for her, uses the leftover pink dye on her own hair! Her hair is light enough that it tints the bottom pink ^^

-Befriended Zoey in Preschool, but they’re just friends, not best friends.

-Big believer in Rosianity

-Tomboy!

-Uses She/they pronouns

-Can skateboard, learned it just because she wanted to rub it in henry’s face (he hates it)

-Listens to Chappel Roan 🔥🔥🔥

-has drew saved as ‘My wive’s boyfriend’ in her phone. Zoey doesn’t question it