#this was nonsense of course. The Cat is safely at home

[meowww-ffxiv]

The thing was, Meowdred was a nearsighted person. He also got lost easily.

Theodore, a born and raised resident of Ishgard whose family was lower nobility but whose home was deep in its bowels and not sky-facing, had excellent urban sense of direction.

Theodore in this prolonged vision watching his cat just trundle around a strange city THOUSANDS OF YALMS INTO THE AIR while everything around him is blurry:

[gojo-mochi]

Softy I see you’re doing requests and I thought about it long and hard but the only thing I can think of would be sending Sabo a spicy text at a meeting >.> idk if you can do anything with that but the gloved man came to my mind

<33333

OMG I imagine it's a Meeting with Dragon too, a serious meeting at least. That requires all of his attention and focus…You can read this as a modern AU or in canon where they have cell(snail)phone that can text and send pictures etc

TW: Slight Voyuerism, Sexting

Usually at these sorts of meetings, no one is supposed to be on their phones, but Sabo tends to get bored when the older people go on long tangents during their spiel. So during the slow times of meetings, Sabo would secretly go on his phone under the desk. 

Pretending to keep all eyes on the speaker while actually just scrolling through Twitter or messaging you about how boring this meeting is. Dragon is the only one who notices when Sabo isn’t paying attention, but he doesn’t mind it since Sabo can pull his own weight when push comes to shove. 

You and Sabo were texting back and forth for a bit about mundane things when an idea popped into your head. You were getting bored waiting for him to come back home, so you decided to be a little cheeky today and send him a little bit of motivation~

You had to prepare your treat, so you left Sabo on hold for a bit, which he did not like. Sending you sad pictures of cats, increasing in volume with every minute you were gone. The latest sent picture is somehow sadder than the last cat. 

You come back to your phone notification going off, rolling your eyes at his antics. You text him to calm down and that you needed to go do something, while Sabo retorts back with that nothing is more important than alleviating his boredom. Then he quickly adds that unless you got hurt, someone broke in, or the house is on fire, then please feel free to ignore me until you are safe and healthy again. 

You smile at his message, sending him a quick “<3” and then posing on the bed to take a selfie. It took a couple of tries, but you finally got the right angle, lighting, and pose all in one. You quickly sent it over to Sabo before he sent another barrage of sad cat memes. 

Sabo, at the time of receiving that picture, had been called on by one of the other members at the meeting. They sought his opinion on the topics they had just discussed. Luckily for him, Sabo was good at lying and manipulating; he just sprouted out some fancy nonsense with enough charm, and mostly everyone would believe him. 

The other members all nod their heads and murmur agreements before moving on to the next topic. Sabo sighs under his breath and checks his phone, noticing that you sent a picture. Curiosity gets the better of him, and he opens it up without a second thought. Finding you posed on the bed, sitting on your knees with your legs spread, wearing only his dress shirt. Which was opened, revealing everything underneath in a tasteful manner, of course, a tease if you will. 

You were giving the camera a bashful look, making straight eye contact with the lens, so it would look like you were looking directly at Sabo when he opened up the picture. All your hard work paid off handsomely, as Sabo immediately felt his pants tighten. He curls his fist in as he breathes in heavily, trying not to show on his face that he has a hard on right now. 

Dragon silently quirks an eyebrow his way, but Sabo ignores him as he sees another text coming from you.  

“Miss you so much… could you please send me something back too, love?” 

The message was followed by a sad cat meme, almost causing Sabo to laugh out loud, but he quickly caught himself. Should he send something back? He can’t ask to excuse himself to go to the bathroom since this is somewhat of an appointment meeting. 

His heart started to pound a bit faster as an idea popped into his head: he could just take the pictures right now, under the desk, where no one would be the wiser.

So he does just that, slowly straightening out his back and flexing his fingers as he tries to focus on whoever is speaking. Sabo begins to slowly undo his belt buckle and unzip his pants, suppressing a groan as he shimmers down his pants to expose more of his boxer. He could feel the wet spot forming on his tip as he pulled down his boxer just slightly to expose some curly blonde pubes. 

He takes a few photos as best he can, just giving you a little tease of what's to come. He sends them over, and soon after, you reply with another set of your own photos. A shot of your chest, a shot of your dripping cunt, and one last shot of you playing with yourself. 

Sabo bit his lips hard upon seeing them, deciding to go even further as excitement and arousal started to heat up inside of him. He slips his gloved hands under his boxers and fully pulls out his throbbing cock. The cold office air hits his leaking tip, instantly causing Sabo to shiver. 

A member notices this and asks Sabo if he is alright. Sabo replies back smoothly. 

“Ah, don’t worry, it's just colder here than I expected.” He smiles at everyone and adjusts his coat. The members resume their chatter. 

Sabo softly sighs to himself and avoids looking at Dragon for the rest of the meeting. Still, he was determined to get one last set of pictures to you, if it was the last thing he did. He lets a few more minutes pass before going right back to his cock once more, wrapping his glove around his length. His hands were too shaky to get a stable photo, so instead he decided to take a video instead. 

The video starts off staring at the floor, slowly panning up Sabo’s leg until he finds the right angle to perfectly capture the full view of his cock. His other hand still on it, pristine leather now covered in precum, as he rubs his thumb on his tip. The precum almost seems to make the leather glove shine in the video, as he uses it as a makeshift lube. 

Stroking up and down on his length, his hands were trembling more and more with each stroke. Causing the video to shake heavily as he almost reached his climax, stopping himself by squeezing his shaft almost painfully tight so he doesn’t paint the underside of this table white. He cuts off the video there and sends it off, quietly shimmering his pants back up and zipping it close, not bothering to redo his belt though. 

The meeting ends soon after, and Sabo stays behind to wait until everyone else leaves first before he gets up. Dragon is the last one to get up before Sabo, as he gives Sabo a heavy look and shakes his head, murmuring to himself about how the youths of today are getting crazier with each generation. 

Sabo ignores all that, hurrying home to you, as he needs help cleaning off his gloves after today. And he knows what your tongue can do to help with that.

[scoringeffects]

nonsense mattyjo Because one day i will write something terribly romcomish regarding them but today is the day for this

Jo knows he’s rambling. Knows Matty can’t possibly give a shit about the prequels. But he’s still talking, and Matty’s still listening. He’s pretty drunk though, flushed and swaying with it. Jo could feel bad about effectively taking advantage like this, but the more he talks, the more Matty leans in, and Jo feels awfully addicted to the way Matty's eyes blink at him.

“And the CGI is pretty goofy, right, even for the early 2000s, but I think it adds to the ch–”

“You’re really pretty, Joey, you know that?”

“What?” Jo says through a laugh, to give Matty his chance to clarify what the hell he’s talking about.

“Like you have your eyes and your hair and,” he reaches out clumsily, “your sticky-out ears, and your smile, Joey, holy shit bro.”

“Matty–”

“Joey–”

“Matty, bud, I think it’s time we get you home, yeah?”

“No,” Matty pouts, and Jo desperately wants to kiss his bottom lip, red and slick, but they’re in a bar and Mitch is close enough that he certainly heard all of that and is certainly pretending that he didn’t, rambling rapid-fire to Auston about the PK, or something, and Matty probably didn’t even mean it in a gay way, because he’s not. Gay, that is. 

“Yeah, bud, we should, I’ll close the tab and get an Uber to JT’s place, okay?”

Matty pouts some more, mumbles something about surviving two years of college well and good, but goes easily with Jo when he hauls him out the booth.

“Woller, I’ve got the tab, don’t worry, just get him home safe,” Auston calls to him, breaking out of whichever spell Mitch had him under for just a second.

“Aye aye, Cap,” Matty answers for him, and earns an eye-roll from the table for it.

“Yeah, yeah, funny guy,” Jo mutters under his breath to him as they leave. Matty’s fucking heavy, but he mostly holds himself up until they’re outside, and then lets himself be propped up against the brick when they’re outside, leans on Jo a bit. The crisp air might do something to sober him up, the huddle of smokers a couple feet away from them might not.

“You think I’m funny?” Matty asks, while Jo’s trying to get an Uber to accept his request.

He’s a little distracted, still tipsy, when he answers, a little too honest, “‘Course I do, bud, you know you always make me laugh.”

Matty nudges his head against Jo’s, like a cat, “Everything makes you laugh,” he mumbles, frowning a little, “but you think I’m a funny guy?”

“You wanna be special, Matty?” Jo teases him, tipping his head back. Matty’s hair is terribly greasy, but his cheek radiates warmth, and the rest of his body, pressed tight against Jo’s shoulders through hips through knees and ankles, is solid, dense, and burning hot.

“Hey, can we go to your place?” Matty asks, sticking his nose in Jo’s phone and blinking at the pending Uber request, “I’ll buy you breakfast in the morning.”

“I’ll make you waffles,” Jo counters into Matty’s greasy head, cancelling the request for Matty’s place and putting his own instead.

“Real ones,” he demands, pulling away from his phone, speaking clearer than he’s been for the past hour, “not the protein ones.”

“Picky,” Jo elbows him, instead of saying something insane like, yeah, bud, always, anytime you want.

[chapel-of-rizztual]

Would you please share more Copia/Phantom thoughts? 🥺 They’ve captured my heart

I love these two so much they have fully taken over my brain <3

Copia was use to ghouls sneaking into his bed at night. It happens so often that he doesn’t even wake up half the time, just sleepily cuddles into whoever had decided to make his bed their home for the night and discover who it is in the morning. 

Like right now, Copia felt the bed covers shift and a warm body wiggle it’s way under the sheets and press themselves against his back. He turned over, blinking onto the darkness as his eyes adjust only to find two purple eyes glowing back at him. 

“Phantom?” His voice his scratchy from being asleep. “What are you doing here? Did you have a nightmare again?” He wraps his arms around him, pulling the ghoul deeper in his embrace so that his head is resting on his chest. 

Phantom shakes his head, tracing a finger along the scars on Copia’s chest.  “No, I just- I can’t sleep.” Copia can hear the pout in his voice and let’s out a little chuckle. 

“I was sharing a bed with Dew and Swiss.” Phantom let’s out a long drawn out sign. “But Dew is a blanket hog and Swiss snores so loudly, so I couldn’t sleep.” 

Copia let’s out another light laugh, knowing from experience what it’s like to share a bed with Dew and Swiss.  “And you thought you’d be able to sleep here with me?” 

Phantom hums and nods.  “Warm. And safe. Smells like you.” The hand that was tracing over his scars begins kneading at his chest, the movement reminding Copia of a cat. 

“Yeah? You feel safe here, piccolo?” Copia runs a hand down the ghouls back, rubbing nonsense patterns into his skin.

Phantom hums again, a purr kicking up and vibrating through his chest. “Always feel safe with you, daddy.”

Copia hums himself, carding his fingers though the ghouls hair and presses a kiss to his forehead. “Good. I always want you to feel safe, piccolo.”

Phantom chuffs, giving Copia’s cheeks a little lick before pulling back to look at him, his eyes glowing in the darkness. “Daddy?”

Copia hum in reply, fighting to keep his eyes open at this point.“Can we sleep now. I’m so tired.” As if on cue Phantom yawns.

“Of course, baby. You want to sleep like this or do you want me to spoon you?” Phantom curls up even smaller against him, his tail wrapping itself around the man’s thigh. “Like this please.”

Copia doesn’t reply, just pulls Phantom closer to him, letting the sound and feeling of Phantom's purr vibrating though him lull him off to sleep. Phantom is still kneading at his chest as he drifts off.

[blog-moved-lol]

The Lighthouse (Batfam: Dick)

"Even in our darkest hours, the Bat-Signal is there. Acting as a lighthouse to guide us home."

Dick wasn't really sure when Scarecrow had decided to step into Blüdhaven. All he knew was that one night everything was fine, and the next he was getting reports of people crazed on fear gas running through the city. Of course as Blüdhaven's hero, it was his job to deal with the villain, even though he really didn't want to. Scarecrow was one of Dick's least favorite villains to deal with, a sentiment shared by most if not all of his family. Jonathan might not have much physical strength, acrobatics, strong weapons, or any of the things most Gotham and Blüdhaven villains have.. But he does have fear gas. Fear gas that seeps into your bones, warps your perception, shows you your greatest fears. It's exhausting to have to deal with, and Dick was already not exactly on stable ground with all of the nonsense happening in Gotham recently. In fact that was why he had returned to Blüdhaven in the first place, he was hoping to take it easy for a few weeks while still helping the people. Either way, now the job falls to him..

————

Nightwing stumbled out of the warehouse, head swimming with dizziness and pain. Gas spills out the doors and over the ground like a mist, making Blüdhaven's streets seem far more ominous then usual.

Damn it. He got away.

Dick thinks, gritting his teeth against the fog in his brain. He's trying to ignore it, he really is. He knows the visions aren't real, this isn't his first time on fear gas.. But that's the point, isn't it? It gets into your head, makes you see things that aren't there, makes you believe that it's real. It's not real, right? Or is it. What if it is? No, it couldn't be. These things would never happen in the real world. Bruce would never say this (Or would he?). It can't be (It is.). Dick makes a noise akin to a growl, clutching his head. The sense of confusion and panic that the gas brings on is something he'll never get used to, no matter how many times he's exposed to it. His head snaps up to the darkened sky, filled with black clouds. Not a star is visible through the fog, and the air smells of rain and storm and anger. It brings about a sense of hopelessness. Dick's body shudders. Is he bleeding? He can't tell. He doesn't remember getting hurt, but he could swear there's blood dripping from his nose. Is that a gash in his suit? God his head hurts. He hears a rumble like that of thunder, but whether or not it was real or in his head he can't distinguish. He eyes rise back to the skies, as the clouds part. Darkness, darkness, and more darkness.. But then-

A sign. A sign of hope. A sign of safety. A sign of.. Comfort. There, projected on a dark cloud, high within the skies, is the Bat-Signal. Glowing yellow, bat in the middle, shining brightly as if it were meant to be there. As if it were meant for him. Dick, despite his head swimming with confusion, fear, and hurt, knows that sign better then he knows himself. It means he'll be okay. It means this isn't real. (IT IS!) None of this is real. (NO!) He's.. Okay. He stumbles forward, still unsure of how bad his injuries are, but now with a mission. Scarecrow might have gotten away tonight, but Dick was stupid to try and take him on alone anyway. Fear gas is a scary thing, and he wasn't in the right headspace to deal with it. He needs.. To go home. To see Alfred, and Bruce. Jason, Tim, and Damian. Alfred the Cat, Batcow, Titus.. His family. He needs to get patched up, eat some of Alfred's cooking, talk to his brothers. He needs to be safe again.

And there he will be.

[dustofwarfare]

Random facts I did not put in the fic (yet)

Here are some weirdo random things not yet found in Salt and Vinegar:

Graves plays Sudoku but he also likes crosswords, except he cheats on the crosswords and sometimes writes nonsense words to fill it out

Makarov has a nice singing voice (nod to Mr. Kostov, who sings!) but no one knows this except Andrei, who once heard him singing along under his breath to a song on the radio while they were in the car. He is smart enough to mention this to no one, until he hooks up with Wraith. Katya immediately tells Graves, of course.

Makarov calls his mother on Mother's Day, and has a recurring order for flowers to be delivered to her on his birthday (the day his father died, in my version of the story anyway)

Graves has one brother who got out of their awful town and got his life together. He's happily married and has a daughter. He knows his brother is Phillip Graves because he saw the congressional hearing. He didn't tell a soul except his wife.

Katya (Wraith) decorates her Konni rifles with unicorn hologram stickers. She gives one to Graves, who really wants to put it on Makarov's tac vest as a fun surprise but restrains himself (barely).

Makarov was very good at debate in high school, but he was very bad at being on a team so he had a short-lived debate team career. He also got in trouble for refusing to curtail his natural dominance during debates, which was against the rules. Young Vladimir thought it was stupid to arrange a contest around arguing and not let the participants use whatever tools were at their disposal, which is how he's always thought of his dominance.

Masha did some modeling when she was younger, but had no patience for the industry so she left fairly early into her career.

Makarov's parents are named Ilya and Sonya. His father was a sub and his mother is a dom, but Ilya Makarov was from the school of thought that politicians/government officials worked best if they were submissive-aligned.

Graves's biological parents were both submissives, but he's the only offspring who is. His brothers (all doms) are also his biological brothers, his mother left after Graves was born. Makarov will offer to find her, but Graves declines and they will never meet.

Makarov might remind Graves of a cat, but he's a dog person. Graves likes both, but prefers cats.

One day, far in the future, Vladimir Makarov will meet with John Price at a park in London. They're both much older, retired, and will have a mostly civil conversation about their long-standing enmity that ends in a handshake. They will never speak again.

People make sexual advances at Makarov all the time, and he never notices. Graves always notices. Makarov does, however, notice every single time someone flirts with Graves. It then becomes well-known among Konni if you want a promotion or any hope of being in the Inner Circle, don't flirt with the Komandir's submissive.

Oz and Katya become good friends, and often share intel about contracts for Shadow and Konni.

Graves never does wear anyone's uniform but his, even if he's helping out with a Konni op. He has put on a Konni uniform in private for Makarov, who likes it so much Graves only ever does it on special occasions, when he's fucked up, or when he wants something.

Makarov notices that Graves always says "Be safe, love you" when he leaves on an op/mission/shady business trip, but hardly ever says it to him. Neither of them admit they both know why - it's superstitious soldier shit, as Graves would say, because the first time he texted him that, Makarov came home safe and sound.

[edwinoutofhell]

🔄 + 🩹 @rocksteadydeadboy

The problem about Charles is—

Edwin paused, scrapped that thought, and stuck his hand more firmly inside the unending bag of mysteries Charles kept.

The problem with Charles is—

No, he didn’t like that either. Charles was not a problem, not really. But there were… issues. Issues that could become problems. Or that were problems. Or at least they were obstacles.

There, Edwin thought as his fingers wrapped around the edge of the lantern handle. Here it is.

The problemS pertaining to Charles began and ended (well, if they truly could end) with how incredibly stubborn he was.

(Pot to kettle? Edwin thought but only for a moment)

“I need more light.” Edwin said and turned on the lantern ‘so he could read’ and then if he turned on a record he pretended not to hate…well, at least one of them liked it.

Edwin was never certain about touching Charles after something like this—when one or the other of their ghostly skins failed for just a moment, burned, and then snapped back. In the moment just past? Sure. Of course.

But home again. Safe again. Would it be welcome? Probably not. This was deeper than just a cat scratch or post iron recovery. Neither of them liked acknowledging feelings certain cases brought them. No, Charles had already smiled and brushed everything off. Oh I’m great—what a load of nonsense.

So Edwin did not try to hug Charles once back in their office. He did not tell him to talk—that hardly ever worked. Instead, Edwin turned on a familiar light and some music and sat down next to him.

[ace-malarky]

Hello here is a lot of words and also some pictures by the delightful @tracle0 and a tiefling character creator and also a song that is very important to this story

and because I can't help myself, a further story about its creation lmao

So, picture this; a year ago, a young(er) Ace at their second social engagement of the day, not including work. BG3 has just been released on the xbox so they have (understandably) been abandoned by their flatmate, who fully forgot that there was a party she'd been invited to. It might actually have been after midnight but they hadn't slept yet so like. Definitely still the 9th They have decided that it is Late and they must leave this party bc there are no buses left and it's like a half hour walk back to their flat (no, the thought of a taxi didn't cross their mind. the thought of a taxi never crosses their mind) Enter @kat-writes-things, whose house party it is. She doesn't want Ace to leave but accepts (eventually) that they ought to. Laments that they no longer work together because of Circumstances. Suggests a Bit about them being high fantasy protags torn apart by the cruel world. Star Crossed Lovers are mentioned. So are swords and wings. For the bit, you understand, Ace says their goodbyes and kisses Kat's hand because it is, they announced earlier, the beginning of their slut era (it was like stupid hot in Kat's flat and I was down to my vest mkays). Kat, not to be outdone, does the same and makes Ace promise to get home safely and they'll try and see each other again soon. Ace, as is the way their brain works, starts to write a scene on the way home. Super safe <3 Unable to let the bit go, it uh. It Expands somewhat and here we are!!

I know a little bit more and have written barely any consecutive (or even finished tbh) scenes

transcript of the slides under the cut!

Everything is in comic sans, black text against white

Slide 1; Shapeshifter WIP by Aces Malarky. That story I've been inconsistently yelling about for a year. Happy one year anniversary babe!! You only got sadder in the interim. But also please I beg you get a name it's been a year. I'm taking suggestions /jk (... maybe). *Almost everything in here is subject to change I'm still working it out lmao there have been. Distractions. (it's me I'm Distractions)

Slide 2; World?

Please. Please we're making this up as we go along

Furry-lite bc sometimes. Having wings 'n' antlers 'n' shit is just. rad af you know?

Kinda-sorta-mybe high fantasy but like. There's technology also.

If it pleases me to have, it's there essentially! And what pleases me right now is handwavy fantasy nonsense bc actually we're about characters in this household and I have never thought a day in my life <3

Slide 3; Plot?

Star crossed friends-to-lovers!

Close friends that jokingly flirt on the whole "babe/oh best beloved" kinda thing. Everyone assumes/is taking bets on their relationship status

No one gets to collect tho ahahaha

There is a war looming! They're spies! They're torn apart by their own decisions!

Of course Syn volunteers for going undercover. Ain't no spy like a spy that can't be identified for shit

Halliel is Less than Impressed but my god is she going to throw herself into it just as much

So starts a fraught game of "in over our heads", "who are we without each other", "surrounded by people but so alone", and the real kicker "what (who) am I willing to sacrifice"

Side of Betrayal that perhaps could have been seen coming! They attempt to save each other!

Slide 4; Characters? Those I can do you!

[img one; a person in waistcoat and trousers with purple hair and antlers. They have their hands clasped in front of them and are smiling slightly]

This is Syn

- they/them

- Gender; mischief

- In it for the bit

- Early mornings, late nights, no coffee

- Has a cat named Trixie

[img two; a person in black trousers and shirt with suspenders. They have their hands on their hips and are scowling. They have scales across their face, red horns and a tail]

This is also Syn

- AKA Lance

- Gender; bodyguard

- Less bark, trying not to bite

- Serious business sucks

- Friends? Never heard of 'em

[img three; a person in a white tunic and trousers, a black embroidered scarf around their neck. They have yellow glasses covering their eyes, dog-like ears and a tail]

This? Yeah, that's Syn

- AKA Vale

- Gender; touch starved

- What's another fake identity on top of everything

- It's about the longing

- A Soft and Mournful Reprieve

Slide 5; Also, Halliel is here!

We love Halliel, she has a sword

And wings

And manages to put up with Syn, somehow

Coping by throwing herself into work and taking on more responsibility

Trying to keep a semblance of normalcy

Doesn't want to admit she's struggling just yet

[img; a picrew of a lady with peach coloured wings wearing a green shirt. She has auburn hair to her shoulders and glasses]

Slide 6; Other Characters; Verial Edition

Not-Work Friends!!

Conly - She/her - maned-wolf, leggy, Halliel's greatest enabler

Kit - he/him - fox-formed, owner of the betting pool

Peri - he/him - bear formed, needs them all to be a little less energetic, please

Hail - she/her - hyena, always up for the bit

Gil - she/her - monkey, most likely to believe whatever the fuck Syn is saying now

Work Friends!

Caria - she/her - cat formed, Syn's greatest enabler

Ketch - ze/zir - lizard form, makes like all the plans

Gry - he/him - sika deer, trans lad!! For some reason looks up to Syn

Maj - she/her - angelic, most likely to keep them all on task

Bora - he/him - cat formed, #1 cause of drama

Darraeth - they/them - dog formed, voice of reason but also a slight pushover

Most of them knew Halliel first! Maj & Caria are in both groups. One of them is a surprise bastard for later :3

No of course I don't have pictures, what do you take me for? None of them have names until two months ago

Slide 7; Other Characters; Sallen Edition

Don't - don't ask why they have pictures when the others don't

Bryn!

[img; an older lady with yellow curved horns and a yellow tail, with yellow scales across her forehead and cheekbones. She has white hair and is wearing a white blouse under a brown cardigan and has thin glasses]

- Dragontouched grandmother to the masses

- Communiy lynchpin

- Plays the piano

- Here to help, but your business is your own

Jaiel

[img; a man with short blonde hair, wearing a green shirt and a gold necklace. He has dark brown wings and looks unimpressed]

- Crown prince

- Bit of a dick, really

- Just like casually moneyed and careless

- Picks Lance for his bodyguard bc dragontouched are rare

Neryd

[img; a lady with a tight blonde bun and antlers. She's wearing green and gold armour and is glaring]

- Jaiel's other bodyguard

Kinda Intense

Like, really loyal to the crown

Pissy about Lance being hired, sees it as a comment on her ability

Probably there will be others but idk yet

Slide 8; Further Vibes

Featuring such hits as;

The inability to ask for help! Maybe don't spill all the beans but my god are you allowed to make friends while on the job

- Maybe not all the friends. Pls be wary of some of the new friends. Consider that other people might have the same job as you

Sexual awakening at sword point

Requited love but my god you could have chosen a better time to realise you are both fools <3

Sometimes, choices suck

- And that time is always

Identity Crisis! Is it an Ace Malarky WIP if there isn't at least one? We may never know

Slide 9; Wait when you say Star Crossed-

Yeah about that it uh. It does not end well for our leads lmao my bad

Choices have to be made and, well:

Syn has a self-sacrifice streak a mile wide

Halliel has a burn-the-world-down-for-my-people streak also a mile wide

Do you see the problem here

Aw gee I wonder which one will win out!!

Sldie 10; In Conclusion;

Fucking wild that I have a plot at all, actually

This is a story of two friends, everything else is incidental

I just really wanted shapeshifter shenanigans I did not intend for it to get sad but alas

The Suckages struck

Also I found this song about two months before this wip started and oh it is the whole thing actually

[img; the album cover for Cast the Bronze by Raynes, which features an insect with wings made out of shapes in various browns]

(Syn's edition. I should find a Halliel song also tbh)

[winter-dayz]

Old Wives' Tales

Pairing: Choi Yeonjun x Reader Werewolf AU Genre: Fluff Words: 1963 Warnings: strong language

Masterlist | Fictober Masterpost

Taglist:  @soobin-chois

You’d heard the stories. ‘Little Liam never made it home after he wandered in after dark… The Donnelsons’ cat was found shredded to bits at the treeline… Old Man Ben tried to expand his fields only for his entire harvest to end up withering…’

You’d heard the old wives’ tales. ‘Children and pets end up dead, eaten up by something much larger… Women go missing, taken as the devils’ brides…’

You’d heard the warnings. ‘Don’t go in the woods… It’s cursed… Monsters.’

You had never listened very well.

The tales and stories were generations old, superstitious nonsense that had wormed its way into the town’s history and become “fact”. But, personally, you didn’t believe in superstitions. The warnings were just a way for parents to scare their kids away from getting lost in the national forest.

You should have listened better; you should’ve heeded their warnings; and you definitely shouldn’t have entered the woods after dark.

It’s well past when you expected to be home. After going for drinks with a coworker at the dive bar on the outskirts of town, you should’ve just called a cab.

Your “friend” decided to head back to her place with some guy she’d been flirting with the whole night, and you were not in the mood to accept a ride from his creepy friend, so you were left to find your own way home. With money as tight as it was, and your house not being that far of a walk, you figured it would be fine. You just thought you could shorten your stumbling if you cut through the forest… You really should’ve just called a cab.

“Fuck!” You whined, tripping over another fallen branch. It hadn’t seemed so dark when you’d left the bar. Then again, you didn’t know how long you’d been wandering… Every direction seemed the same, and your drinks had started to catch up to you. You slumped back against a tree with a huff. Maybe you should just rest for a bit, sober up some, and try again.

But then you heard the first low snarl off to your left. Your eyes popped open, desperately trying to see through the brush and shadows, but you couldn’t make anything out. You slowly, carefully, made it back to your feet and backed away from the direction of the sound.

You walked backwards for a while until you deemed it safe to take another rest. And, again, a growl sounded, this time a little closer from your right. Fear gripping that an animal was stalking you as its prey, you decided the best course of action was to bolt in a single direction and pray that you popped out of the forest.

That isn’t exactly how it went though, as you started walking swiftly away, you could just make out the sound of leaves rustling while the animal followed. You’d speed up to a jog, and the sound of movement increased along with you; you’d make a sudden turn and a snarl would have you whip around the other way. Eventually, as you felt yourself near passing out, from the full sprint you were running and the terror of being chased, you broke through the tree line… Right in your own neighborhood.

You stumbled a few more yards away from the trees before scanning once again for any sign of what had been chasing you. And found… nothing. Whatever had stalked you, decided leaving the cover of the woods to pounce wasn’t worth it. And for that you were thankful.

🎃

You really were an idiot.

One test of the validity of the old stories wasn’t enough to keep you from entering the dark woods. No… you needed to be taught a lesson twice apparently.

In your drunken stupor the night prior, you’d lost your phone in the woods. You remembered having it at the bar, pretending to text but secretly playing a puzzle to keep the creeps from talking to you. And, you remembered still having it when you entered the woods, using it as a flashlight for a while. So during one of your stumbles or falls, you must’ve dropped it.

You can’t, for the life of you, remember why you wouldn’t have picked it up immediately. If it was so dark, surely you would’ve needed it. You vaguely remember feeling panicked, but you brushed that off as needing to get home before your dinner came back up.

So, you’d entered the forest once more, this time at least with enough mind to go while the sun was bright in the sky. Although, you didn’t have much choice, since you needed to find your phone, and you’d never be able to see in the pitch of night. And yet, as you wandered further into the trees, the sun dimmed and a twilight-esque darkness surrounded with only the faintest hints of light breaking the foliage.

Which is how you found yourself, once again, being chased through the woods. Every time you swerved, you swore the animal switched sides behind you to snarl and keep you running in a straight direction; you didn’t tempt fate to turn and check though, and instead practically allowed the beast to control your movements.

Spotting a break in the trees ahead, you felt yourself pick up speed and hoped it wouldn’t follow you out. Instead, as you reached the clearing, you tripped.

Like the girl who dies first in a fucking horror movie, you tripped.

You crawled away from the clearing edge, listening for the telltale growls of the animal or even a branch snap to indicate where it was. But you heard nothing, just the eerie silence of the forest.

As you continued to shuffle backwards slowly, your hand slid over something cool and metallic. Tearing your eyes away from the treeline, you glanced down to find your phone in perfect condition and… fully charged? Shouldn’t it be dead by now, having been used all day and then at the bar and then left in the woods with the flashlight on?

Your thoughts were broken as the animal stepped through the treeline. A massive wolf, fur so dark it seemed to absorb all light around it with onyx eyes to match, inched towards you. You froze in fear, hand clutched around your phone but all thoughts, and hopes, of escape long gone.

You were certain the wolf would kill you. Tear into you and enjoy you for dinner. But it stopped just inside the clearing.

The wolf dipped its head to the ground and nudged something towards you.

A… ball? A bright orange, rubber ball rolled to your feet.

Your gaze slowly traveled between the ball and back to the wolf, whose head remained low to the ground, backside in the air, and tail… wagging leisurely.

The wolf wanted to play. A giant, black wolf wanted to play with you? That’s why it had been chasing you?!

You were hysterical.

You fell backwards and curled into the fetal position, laughter ripping through your chest and adrenaline plummeting so drastically that you began to sob.

The wolf whined.

You sat up suddenly, surprising yourself and the wolf, who had inched even closer and held a tilted head to inspect you. “Do you want to play?” You whispered into the quiet.

You were still hysterical. Wide-eyed, red-rimmed and glistening. Unbelieving. But if playing fetch with a wolf—one way too big to be normal—would save your life, then you were definitely going to do it.

The wolf’s tail wagged harder, and it huffed.

“Alright then… Let’s do this.” You shook your head, making your way to your feet and grabbing the ball. You tossed it out of the clearing, the wolf immediately sprinting away to chase it. In record time, the wolf had leapt back towards you, toppling you over to the ground and dropping the ball onto your lap.

“This is…” You laughed to yourself, “by far, the weirdest thing I’ve ever done…”

🎃

It kept happening.

Like a magnetic pull, you felt drawn to keep entering those woods.

And so easily you trusted a wild animal, and it trusted you.

So for the following weeks, every Friday night you’d walk through as a “shortcut” on your way home, and every Friday night, you’d be accompanied by a massive wolf to guard you. Then on Saturdays, if the weather was nice, you’d meet your wolf friend at the tree line once more and spend the day together.

One of the early Saturdays you’d spent in the clearing, you had brought your laptop to get some work done but was distracted by an Overwatch match with some friends. The way the wolf had perked up at your favorite character had helped you decide what to call him.

Reaper never left your side when you were within the trees. He would stay close to you when you were simply walking, and if you were settled in the clearing, he would curl up against your side, while you ran your hands over his head and neck, occasionally scratching his ears or belly.

Most Saturdays, Reaper would bring the ball along, and the two of you would play fetch or run and chase one another through the trees until it was too dark for you to safely adventure. Some days, he would even bring you little gifts.

You’d arrive at your clearing, him by your side to protect you as usual, where you’d find flowers or pretty rocks in a pile where you’d first rediscovered your phone. Reaper always pranced in and jumped around the presents to you, so proud of himself for the smile on your face.

You had stopped questioning the strange behavior of the wolf. It was obvious he was no normal animal. Too intelligent, too attached, and too large to be a regular wolf.

You had your suspicions, but you didn’t want to express anything… It would just confirm that you were insane… But maybe the old wives’ tales held a bit more reality in them than everyone realized.

🎃

Today was different from your normal Saturdays… Today, Reaper didn’t greet you at the tree line, and when you arrived at the clearing, he was nowhere in sight.

You sighed, glad for the large blanket you had wrapped around you, as snow began to fall.

It was magical.

The first snow of the year. Untainted by cars and muddy footprints. Shimmering on the tree branches and floating softly around you like glitter.

You spun around like a kid, forgetting momentarily about your missing wolf friend, and fell backwards onto the ground that was now dusted with a thin layer.

Just as you finished making a snow angel, barely visible because of the lack of coverage, you heard the telltale twigs snap from the clearing entrance.

“Reaper, is that you?” You giggled, doodling in the fresh powder. “You didn’t walk with me, I was worried…”

It wasn’t Reaper.

Your eyes met a man’s instead. Dark strands fell into even darker eyes, skin pale but with plump, pink lips. He was handsome. So handsome.

Your eyes widened, and your gaze followed his movements as he bent down, setting an orange rubber ball on the ground.

The man leaned back up, holding your curious stare. “My name is Yeonjun, actually…” You continued to stare, only a little bewildered. He looked away, cleared his throat, and promptly thrust his palm out for you to shake. “…And, I’d really like it if I could know yours too?” 

A light pink blush dusted his cheeks, causing your eyes to widen. The sight so beautiful it rivaled the snow you had marveled at. Slowly, you lifted your hand to meet his, soft and warm, and his eyes met yours with a pleased gleam. “Y/N.”

[kissorkill16]

Halloween Talk: A Hello Neighbor Fanfic

By JJ

Summary: Just a couple of friends talking about Halloween.

Aaron, Mya, Lucy, and Nicky were walking home from school. While Nicky was in his own little world, the other kids droned on about their own thing.

"Last Halloween was a fucking blast. I was thinking about going as Satan next year, and not because I'm like Satan at school.", said Aaron.

Lucy giggled. "Well that's going to be really awkward, because I wanted to be an angel next Halloween.", she said. Mya looked at her. "What? I figured since I'm such an adorable angel, I could go as one."

Mya rolled her eyes playfully, "Yeah, keep playing innocent as you hang out with us.", she said. "I was thinking that maybe since Mom calls me Mouse, I could go as a mouse.", then she had another idea. "Or maybe I could go as a cat!"

Aaron tapped on Nicky's shoulder, "What about you, Nicky? What do you think you'll go as next Halloween?"

Nicky didn't answer. Aaron tapped on his shoulder again. This time, he turned his head to him. "Hm?"

"I asked what you were going to dress as for next Halloween.", said Aaron. Nicky didn't look at him, just stared down at his shoes.

The kids stopped walking for a moment to look at Nicky. "What's the matter?", asked Lucy.

"Is it super embarrassing?", asked Mya. "It's okay if you don't have an idea yet, Nicky. You still have a whole year."

Nicky shook his head. "It's not that.", he said. He sighed and explained his situation.

"I was never allowed to go out on Halloween.", he said. "My grandmother believed that if I went anywhere on that day, I'd be consumed and possessed by evil spirits. So she just kept me locked up in our house while my parents passed out candy to other kids, and she shooed off any kid who dressed like a demon or vampire or werewolf or zombie, anything that looked deadly or demonic, and she always said it was to keep me safe."

His friends looked at him like he just said a bunch of alien nonsense, it sure sounded like that in their ears. Aaron rubbed his temple like it hurt. "Of course, it's that old bag.", he mumbled.

Mya took Nicky's hand in hers, "Nicky, you were absolutely miserable before you met us. You weren't even allowed to go out on the most fun holiday of all time!", she said. "But I promise you that next Halloween, you're going to have the bestest time of your life."

Lucy nodded, "And if that old meanie doesn't like it, then she can go suck a lemon."

Nicky smiled, happy that he had such great friends. They continued to walk home together.

That was a year ago.

Nicky walked through the halls of Raven Brooks Middle school, awaiting his time at his after school club, The Inventor's Club.

He made a lot of friends throughout the year, even reconciled with his past bullies, Finch and Delroy. He laughed at the thought of Finch's previous costume of him in an unbuckled straightjacket, and how she said she was going to toss it aside and go as Zoro instead.

It may have been offensive to him at first, but it was fine to talk about now.

Halloween was coming up in a few weeks, and a lot of frightening stuff was starting to happen, and him and his friends were going to spend a lot of time investigating it.

He opened the door and walked in.

[kitkatt0430]

Now imagine Hartley getting ratsurrected, Selina Kyle-style... (Eowells pushed him out of the window? I don't know thh, just the visuals without any specific idea what exactly happened)

So I'm definitely gonna have to write a full fic for this at some point, but...

Hartley's always had a connection with rats. Since he was a kid and bonded with his third grade class' pet rat and won the right to keep that rat when the school year ended. He's always been kind to the rats on the streets, leaving them cheese or other safe things to eat and whatever soft bedding he could find when he'd happen upon a nest. They weren't bad creatures, they just... were misunderstood.

He gets the whole being misunderstood thing quite well.

When Hartley discovers the flaws in the accelerator, he documents and brings them to Harrison Wells attention. Harrison's response to the initial email is to request an after house meeting and it's not exactly unusual, especially when Hartley's brought this to Harrison's attention so late in the day.

Harrison has them go outside on one of the little terraces set up on the roof 'because if he's going to have such bad news then he needs the aesthetic' or some such nonsense. Hartley's preoccupied with explaining what he's found - of course he hasn't told anyone else, Harrison, don't be ridiculous - and so it comes as a great surprise to him when his most trusted friend and employer neatly shoves him off the roof of his place of employment.

Hartley lands hard, next to the dumpster, and Eobard can see from the top of the building that Hartley's definitely dead. To far of a fall and his neck is at a bad angle. Relieved that's taken care of, Eobard goes down to the security station, wipes the entire building's cameras for three hours backward and deactivates them - all using a brute force hack so it can't be traced back to him - wipes down any prints that might look incriminating and even a bunch that wouldn't just to make it look like someone who obviously didn't belong at STAR Labs killed Hartley and took files from Hartley's office and left.

And then Harrison leaves, heading straight home. And because he never checks on Hartley's body, he never learns what happened to Hartley next.

The Ratsurrection. (I love that so much, that's what Hartley thinks of it in his head.)

Cats, of course, have nine lives. So they have life to spare. Bringing a human back to life is much simpler for them. Still difficult which is why they so rarely do it, even when they do truly like the deceased human in question, but still. Human lives are big compared to rat lives or cat lives - not necessarily fuller, for a rat could live more in their very short lives than some humans did in eighty - but Hartley's kindness had saved the lives of so, so many rats over the years. Rats that survived winters in bedding made warm with the soft scraps Hartley gave them. Rats who didn't starve because of the food he shared. Babies that lived in relative safety because Hartley chose to be kind to such small and often reviled creatures.

There wasn't a single rat in the city who hadn't at least heard of Hartley, the human with the kind heart. And so as the evening passed into true night, rat after rat came scurrying to the dumpsters of STAR Labs to return to Hartley the kindness he had given them. And, little by little, the life taken from Hartley Rathaway was restored.

When he woke up, Hartley was surrounded by the rats and... somehow he knew. Somehow he just... he knew what they'd all done for him. No one had ever cared so much about him as these little rats had and he knew they'd changed him. Permanently. This kind of thing - this ratsurrection - wasn't something he got for free.

But still, he couldn't just stay in the alleyway hair matted from blood, looking like death warmed over. So he invited the most at risk of the rats to join him in his car, and took them home with him. His pet rats were freed from their cage - Hartley could make them understand now where was and wasn't safe to go in the apartment - and then set out plenty of food for his now much larger rat-family. He got something for himself too - a lot more cheese heavy than he'd normally pick - and considered what to do.

Harrison had murdered him. That couldn't be allowed to stand.

Hartley considers his options carefully. And decides to risk going into work the next morning to see what Harrison had done after he left to cover things up.

He arrives at his usual time - a little earlier, actually, but not so early as to be odd for him - and discovers the police already there investigating the 'break in' that led to several hours of internal security footage and data, including badge usage, to be lost. Hartley manages to avoid the worst of the hubub and goes to check his office. He finds a number of files missing - not just from the projects he managed, but also everything he'd compiled on the accelerator's flaws. He logs into his work computer to find every email concerning the accelerator's flaws to be missing too. And the plan he'd formulated in the early hours of the morning, surrounded by the rats who cared for him so much... crystalized.

He heads out of his office and down the hall where he interrupts Harrison talking to the police about finding out who hadn't shown up in the morning.

Now Eobard's already been a bit disturbed that morning to find that not only was Hartley's body not by the dumpsters that morning, but there was no trace of any corpse. Nothing. Not even blood. Like it had been cleaned away. (And it had, by the rats, at Hartley's request.) So when he sees Hartley standing in the doorway to his office, he can't help the way he reacts.

"Hartley, what are you doing here?"

"I think I know what the break in was about," Hartley replies calmly, and then adds, "are you okay Harrison? You look about as bad as I felt yesterday."

"You... I thought you'd stayed late last night," Eobard manages to say.

But Hartley shakes his head. "No, I had a migraine remember? Felt like my head was splitting right open. I barely managed to make it to my usual time to clock out, I'd have never lasted past six. Really... are you sure you're okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Of course Dt. Joe West wants to know what Hartley discovered and so Hartley says that while he's not sure how much is missing, some of his project files are gone and his personal notes on the accelerator. His personal notes could have been misplaced, he supposed, but the project files never left his office for any reason. So he's fairly sure they've all been stolen.

Hartley's office thus becomes a crime scene and Eobard wonders if he's finally lost it. So close to his goal and this is what breaks him?

Of course any evidence of Hartley staying late is gone because Eobard over-erased the cameras so he can't say that Hartley didn't leave early, that he didn't just... imagine shoving Hartley off the building, even though his cover up afterward was clearly real. It just doesn't make any sense.

Eobard never had this problem when he could do the vibrating-hand-of-death maneuver.

Meanwhile Hartley is having a blast. He's lost that obsession he used to have with being perfect and has become noticeably a bit scruffier looking. Nothing bad - it's a good look on him - but it's weird. Especially with him being nicer to people. Like Cisco and Caitlin. Ronnie floats the idea that Hartley's unwound because of that cute CSI he spent the day flirting with and apparently scored a date with. Allan something?

And while Hartley is now casually dating Barry Allen - unknowingly contributing to the ways he's now making Harrison Wells' life hell - he's also setting up an abandoned warehouse as a sort of safe haven/paradise for rats who want to live somewhere nicer and safer than the streets and working on his new alter ego, the Pied Piper. He really just doesn't care anymore about the social expectations about not doing good deeds that are technically illegal. So as the Pied Piper, why not do those things anyway? All while having told the police - and Barry - about how his personal notes held information about some odd power fluctuations in the accelerator he'd been investigating.

He lets them think he was further back in the actual investigation than he was and how of course he doesn't know why anyone would want those. Odds were he was just on the trail of bad wiring, worst case scenario is likely that he was on the trail of something that might set back the accelerator a few days. It couldn't possibly be anything serious and of course he'll keep the detectives apprised of his progress on re-investigating the accelerator. He even enlists Cisco, Ronnie, and a few others to make the investigation go faster.

Harrison is politely encouraged to keep his nose out of it, Hartley making it sound like there was a wild theory that the break in was staged by Harrison to keep any flaws in the accelerator from being found. Which was surely a ridiculous idea, but better safe than sorry when it came to safeguarding their beloved employer's reputation.

Planting the seeds of doubt - both in Hartley's fellow employees and the CCPD investigators - in Harrison Wells' innocence when (Eobard utterly helpless to stop the flood now) it turns out there is a big flaw in the accelerator and it's not a few days worth of delay. It's a 'rip it all out and start over' kind of delay.

Eobard continues trying to salvage the situation, but it's rapidly spun out of control. And he still has no idea if he actually murdered Hartley or not. If he murdered Hartley then who the fuck has been walking around in Hartley's dead body??? All while romancing Eobard's personal nemesis!!! In fact, Eobard is so distracted by his jealousy over Hartley dating Barry Allen (utterly seething with rage and how dare the traces of that leaking out cause Hartley - or not!Hartley - to just smile a little wider every time???) that he doesn't see the arrest coming until he's being marched out of STAR Labs in hand cuffs. It's not a murder charge and Eobard's lawyers are confident they'll beat it, but... his reputation is going to suffer.

Meanwhile Hartley? Hartley's getting lauded as a local hero... both as the guy who discovered STAR Lab's fatal flaws and as the Pied Piper who was improving the lives of both Central City's rat population and Central City's homeless human population. Admittedly, the latter identity was also wanted for questioning by the police, but Hartley just... doesn't care about that.

He cares about lives. About improving lives and saving lives and showing his gratitude to those who cared about his life in particular. And about trying every single cheese in the world. If he gets the chance.

[dandelionsprout42]

Quick summary of Apple Arcade games I've played thus far

All games were played on the Apple TV 4K 128GB model, most with Dualsense, while games that support Siri Remote used the remote instead.

Sonic Dream Team: The maingame (except the contrived red-coin system) is a masterpiece, and the first Sonic platformer I've ever completed. The postgame(s) got weary on me, however.

Easy Come Easy Golf: Plays pretty good for a non-motion-controlled golf game. Could need to have far more courses far earlier in the game, as meaningful variation is practically none even at rank 8.

Way of the Turtle: Very good from the 25〜90% marks of the game, where it's a better Crash Bandicoot game than a lot of actual Crash Bandicoot games. But the endgame levels are brutal to the point of feeling like they weren't worth it.

Alto's Adventure: Honestly a fairly good game. I recommend it to people who've just bought an Apple TV and who are learning how the remote control works.

Amazing Bomberman: Complete rubbish. I could count the framerate on one hand, and that's on the newest Apple TV model.

Gear.Club Stradale: Kept crashing to desktop all the time. And I mean all the time. I was only able to complete 1 race on 5 attempts at starting the game.

Rayman Mini: Severely outdated. No one wants autorunners anymore, and certainly not autorunners that mangle the Rayman Legends timed missions.

Taiko no Tatsujin Pop Tap Beat: Safe to assume that Apple told the devs to make the game less weeb than most other TnT games, which is a good thing. The Power of Love is a nice touch, and the evergreen Cruel Angel's Thesis, the Touhou Song (Night of Knights), and Funiculi Funicula (a.k.a. the Spider-Man 2 pizza song).

Tetris Beat: Weeb stuff. Gave up after 10min because I hadn't heard of any of the songs.

Samba de Amigo Party-to-Go: On the entirely opposite end of the scale, and in fact has too many dance-pop songs. I do give positive shoutout to that its version of Macarena use the actual lyrics, and not the ones with the teenage girls chatting.

Riptide GP Renegade: Practically unplayable with Siri Remote, so I never tested it with Dualsense out of spite. Never got past the tutorial.

Pocket Card Jockey: Tested to see how far I could bruteforce my way through the intro with a Siri Remote, far past the alleged "Connect a controller" prompts. I miraculously managed to get to the first main level, at which point I felt that I had done my duty and never played it afterwards.

Frogger and the Rumbling Ruins: Managed to be less controllable than Pocket Card Jockey even with a Dualsense. Couldn't get past the very first section.

My Little Pony Mane Merge: The "Merge" genre is by itself the worst new game genre in several decades, but Gameloft clearly can't possibly have played even one puzzle console game in their lives, judging by how they mangled the controls beyond recognition.

Kimono Cats: Hardly has any activities in it that count as a game, and the few small remnances that are there are either weeb or Daily Challenges.

Disney SpellStruck: A good concept and is fun to play early on, but dear lords does it get repetitive. Not to mention the word validation system rejecting a lot of common words while accepting nonsense. The cameo of Tinker Bell's house from her titular movies is a nice touch, but a very short touch.

Warped Kart Racers: "We already have Sonic Racing Transformed at home" vibes. Additionally, the battle mode system is the worst in the history of car games. Yes, worse than that of FlatOut 3.

Squiggle Drop: Incomprehensible career progression, not helped by puzzles that start to make no sense after the circa 25th one.

JellyCar Worlds: If you've played 10 levels or so, you've essentially played them all.

Marble It Up Mayhem: Roughly half of the point-to-point levels were reasonably good. The "Collect spheres in a zone" levels were pretty boring.

Beyond Blue: I refuse to believe that any professional livestreamer scuba diver would willingly want to use a suit she described as itchy.

Ballistic Baseball: Seemingly impossible to hit the ball, and the English commentator has the least enthusiastic voice I've ever heard in my life.

[6okuto]

🍙 for @satorisoup from my fruits basket :3

Long Post. but i (Rlly) summarized the questions for viewing ease 🫡

1) life & school

i Am nervous about school hbdfhbg i’m a sociology major!! ^^ love soc but i switched to honours so i have to keep my gpa up, and most of my classes this year are really reading/writing/presentation heavy.. plus i'm trying a full course load for the first time so doing my thesis next yr will be easier, but i'm already easily stressed and burnt out.. lol.. ;; it's probably fine though

life’s getting busy.. and i’m not sure my cosplay will get here in time for my con but it’s ok tbh! the good outweighs the bad for those things. i wish i had money for the con outside my grants/loans but LOL that's life 

2) celebrating my birthday with keiji :3

tmi maybe. i haven’t had a great birthday since i was 15/16 to be honest FBHBDJ i'm so burnt out and depressed in dec that the past few years i haven’t done anything at all LOL but hearing this,, keiji makes it his mission to give me a good one ^^ ! 

he takes the day off and makes sure the day is just for us! practices making heart shaped pancakes and cooks breakfast.. i walk in on him in the kitchen super focused and accidentally scare him LOL he wanted it to be a surprise but it’s ok!! i watch and talk while i wait

it’s usually cold so i don't go anywhere ;; but we still have fun!! it’s nothing crazy,, we just talk, put on a show while we work on a puzzle or bake… play some co-op games.. order dinner.. yeagh

if it isn’t awful outside, we might make a little snowman or snow angels at the park nearby :]

he gets birthday gifts separate from his christmas ones.. since they're so close my birthday’s kinda overshadowed & i tell people to get one gift or none but keiji refuses!! he writes a long heartfelt letter, commissions art of us & our cat, and buys custom matching necklaces + little crochet accessories + ribbon 🙂‍↕️ (also macarons. i rock w macarons.)

3) favourite aki scene :3

his morning routine changed my life. they didn’t have to do that (not in the manga) but they did… my beautiful domestic soft morning dreams… it’s so Aki… and then i think about how he’d include u in his routine when ur together the way he does with denji and power… ouh..

4) art app + ur new stylus :0

looks down and kicks rocks. krita user over here. not that anything’s wrong with krita. i just feel lame when i see brushes i want because of course they’re never for krita. but it’s cool! how's ur new pen!! bro sometimes krita’s pressure sensitivity doesn’t work on start-up and i didn’t realize i could just restart the window settings . i kept reinstalling it. it’s fine but Wow i was miserable for so long (Months. like a stupid poopoo head)

5) Secret Art Opinions.

olivia wilde nodding gif. smoking duck gif. no one knows what i know no one’s seen what i’ve seen. BEAUTIFUL!! PERF!! i love his smile and jewelry (🤯) and hair and EVERYTHING!! your art style is SOO lovely cutieful lene!! and a 17 layer max seems nonsensical?! HELP.. how big is your canvas.. what app are you using bc isn't there ones made for what u want to try.. I believe in U!! no matter what i’m sure it will turn out awesome!!! he would be so flattered. his lips would wobble and he'd gasp/whine and hug and kiss u like WHAT!! FOR HIM..?..!!! yeah.

6) akaashi and i’s song :00

wanna say i will by mitski but that’s gonna be in every self-ship playlist of mine. maybe home by reese lansangan.. hesitate to say it’s Our Song but it’s a good one!!

My bones are safe / And my heart can rest / Knowing it belongs to you / My world is changed / And it's cradled by / The comfort that is you

7) monster lover post + ones i like

i wish i had good specific hear me out's but i don’t consume a lot of media with them so the ones i can think of are super basic and boring… i’d need a list in front of me so i could smash or pass. (if u have any in mind let me kneow.) but

the teacher from the girl from the other side. Like it’s my fault. doting adoptive self-sacrificial father figure DON’T TALK TO ME. also i must mention tokoyami. + shirou from BNA if he counts

tai lung from kung fu panda just once. the plague doctor (scp-049) obviously

probably some transformers. i like bumblebee 🩷 THE PACIFIC RIM JAEGERS . gipsy danger of course. striker eureka of course. gipsy avenger & november ajax & valor omega (Sorry.). azure defiant omgg PILIPPINS! 🇵🇭🇵🇭

i can usually get behind a “hear me out” if it isn’t like.. super slimey(?) or spikey. they could all hurt me but anything Very sharp/spikey i’m like nooo owwww ouchie nooo..

8) JJK since hell started on earth (+ lenoso!)

I Have been keeping up. unfortunate for my happiness. but Dear God. finding that out two hours after a comm and on FORTNITE is CRAZY? I’m so sorry. I get it. there’s like 3 vids and 6 pics of me crying. …did u at least win the fortnite match. i thank god every day my main thing is HQ because i just watch guys play volleyball. the manga.. a bit exciting.. hoping for an Ok outcome… maybe if gege has love and megan thee stallion in his heart

9) demon slayer opinions (+ genya specifically)

i watched the first season of kny but dropped it after hebfhsbjb nothing against it, just not rlly my cup of tea!! but i know quite a few deaths and the manga ending.. i don’t have a fave demon though.. i liked tanjiro + giyuu + sabito (predictable x3). also fond of rengoku (predictable) and mitsuri/obanai (predictable). Is akaza awesome and beautiful. i don't rlly know genya but i’ve seen him and his brother!! I will like him In Ur honour!!! ur friend reporting u for an edit is crazyehsbfjhb STAY STRONG… GENYA! i’m sure he’s fantastic!!

10) bnha + izuku thoughts!

Who’s calling izuku ugly. ☹️ i get u btw Like it’s my fault i’m always fond of the main characters and want the best for them. i don’t usually read stuff for him bUT i fr see the appeal, and he can be soo super interesting/fun to write and read about!! AND HE’S NOT UGLY!! ☹️ he’s very cutieful handsome. grown up deku… vivid and beautiful in my mind… 

11) favourite food, drink, etc. :3

rice . LOL i don’t think i have a favourite food but i love pinoy chicken dishes! my mom's adobo + caldereta + niligang manok. also been eating chorizo de cebu lately.. yummay..

sweet drinks.. frappes & taro boba… i need to expand my palette but y'know. and my fav soda is crush

i said this but i Love Macarons. you give me a plate of macarons i’m inhaling that shit like kirby. also sapin sapin and cheesecake! a great cake in general is so yummayyy

big hazelnut creme chocolate fan. I Love hazelnut chocolate. started when i was a child with kinder eggs and purdys chocolate hedgehogs and here i am

fav cereal is kellogg's krave. obvious chocolate fan here

SUSHI VIBES IS SO INTERESTING i’m pretty sure i’ve never had a piece. like ever. i do like fish… do u have any fave sushi.. i doubt i’ll be trying any soon but for future reference!!

12) anything and everything else ^_^ (mammon + mlp ment.)

Lene i have stuff to talk about at all times and will overshare every time

YAGH! mammon is the avatar of greed and 2nd eldest brother of 7 in Obey Me: One Master To Rule Them All. i actually didn’t like him at first (I’m sorry.) but he grew on me real bad. it’s serious. he's very tsundere which is Not my type but. something happened. He's a softie.. he cares about you and everyone So Much.. he's very empathetic and emotionally intelligent even if he struggles with being vulnerable.. he can generally control his emotions better /gets angry less than his brothers… he gets teased/mistreated a lot.. he loves money and hates working but he loves U even more So Of Course He’d do/give up Anything 4 U.. he's insecure and has called himself worthless on his own Which Devastated Me So Bad i love this guy so much Let’s All Just. oh man.

i Did like MLP. i stopped watching at some point but i want to go back and watch it all.. predictably obsessed with princess cadance and shining armor. I wanted to be her and I wanted him. Predictably. i cried over BBBFF when i was little btw /pos but hm.. my fav show was gravity falls maybe. so good.

we finally fixed what was wrong with the water in the one bathroom in the house that has a bath tub. exciting because i’ve never taken a bath… want to see what it’s like… perhaps use a bath bomb 🤔..

don’t think i’ve processed we’re going to have another person living with us. wow

been thinking about p5 akira a lot. my stupid beautiful loser sopping wet cat idiot handsome prince guy. Do u think 13 year old me would be surprised i still like him or that my bff likes goro or that i ship akeshu. i have 150 ss's from the p5 vn. and when i say he's written like my version of akaashi keiji.. hah......

might deactivate at some point tbh. saying this because i don't think people will read this far so it's like a little secret convo but i feel like i've overstayed my time / don't rlly fit anywhere bshdjsd i'll click delete account and just Stare for a while. like at some point u think about it so much it's like.. girl stop clinging on and just do it. but i don't want to lose my stuff so it won't happen until i put it all somewhere else. which won't be soon because i'm lazy as shit so. that's life i guess. 🤷🏻‍♀️ def won't until i finish my event.. will see if i can at least make it to my blog anni if not my birthday 🤔 would probably come back at some point anyway. also my users... can't lose 6okuto r u joking...

been rocking with pleasure delayer by between friends & rock-paper-scissors by katzenjammer lately.

broken 3 nails this week and may unfortunately break a 4th. my stupid baka life. might just cut the rest and restart... they were all Even. 1/2 cm long bro.. why does this happen to me...

excited to call and ask about my joke bear plate in a few days. i'm 100% sure i didn't do an even number of coats for everything and it'll look wonky in places, but i think that's part of the appeal. the nia 6okuto joke bear brand

thank u for joining and asking lene!! 🙆🏻‍♀️🩷🩷 i like 2 talk so do not worry. would u like some q's back.. a similar amount.. less.. more.. let me kneow. meow

[nancypullen]

A Day That Will Live in Infamy

It’s been a minute since I’ve posted, but it’s been for a good reason.  Shortly after my last post Matt flew in from Minneapolis and a few days later the Edgewater gang came over.  Everyone camped out here until after the 4th and we had some big fun!   I have some of the most adorable photos of the grandgirl, but of course I can’t share them here. Boooooo.  Her parents are spoiling all my fun.  Anyway, the last person left on the 5th, we spent the 6th recovering, and today is our anniversary.  Thirty-nine years of  marriage and we’ve never been the lead story on the evening news. Bravo to us!   Last night we’d gone to bed and as I got comfortable on my heating pad and Mickey wrestled with the tubing of his CPAP,  I realized we were a long way from our wedding day.  I said, “Just think, thirty-nine years ago at this hour you were at Carmichael’s Academy of Cultured Anatomy with your groomsmen. Look at us now, livin’ the dream.”  We laughed it up, moved a cat off the bed, and went to sleep.  Crazy kids.    Seems like just a few years ago we said “I do” and now my hair has turned white and his beard is gray.  We’ve raised two amazing sons, and made homes from Barrow, Alaska to south Florida.  We’ve definitely had our ups and downs, but never considered divorce.  Murder, maybe, but never divorce.  It’s nice to know that the story that started with a cocky young trooper and a teenager from North Pole has a happy ending.  I mean, not that it’s over yet (fingers crossed), but after 41 years together, 39 of them married, I think it’s gonna’ stick.

Gee, we’ve hardly changed.  Except for the white hair, gray beard, creaky joints, and the fact that we spend more money on bird seed and ibuprofen than we do entertainment - why, we’re those same lovebirds.  He’s still incredibly romantic, I’m still a goof, we still laugh a whole lot more than we bicker, and we can have a full conversation with a single look.  Instead of those two youngsters that would dress up and go to Night Town to dance til the wee hours, now we’re Grandpa and Grancy and if we’re not in bed by 10 o’clock you’d better check on us.  Four decades together changed us in a number of ways, most of them for the better, so no complaints from me. What a trip it’s been! That’s it from me.  I think I’ll go give my sweetheart a smooch for putting up with me for so long.  I’ll be back tomorrow to share some nonsense. Sending out loads of love tonight grab some if you need it.

Stay safe, stay well. XOXO, Nancy 

[bowandcurtsey]

When y/n is unwell (haikyuu) 

Been watching the Haikyuu Anime again because I've been back to playing leisure volley. hehe. Also it's the le kuroo hubby's birthday in a week's time! yay!

Kuroo | Tsukishima | Akaashi | Atsumu x f! reader

Post timeskip

Kuroo Tetsuro

Suddenly becomes the househusband and does everything in the house. Well he's not superb at everything but he makes sure that everything still runs smoothly. or Kinda.

There is a possibility that he'll use the wrong bowl for the cat. Or he may mistake the softener as detergent.. But it wouldn't be anything major.

He'll make sure you're tucked in nice and snug and if you're cold he'll put on them night socks for you. If your temperature gets too high he'll grab a towel and do a cold compression for you.

He gets kinda worried actually seeing how fragile and unwell you are. And when you start muttering nonsense like "am I going to die.." He'll shush you and give you extra kisses on your forehead.

he'll pat you to sleep before he carries on doing other things. Yes he'll slack off a little and watch some volleyball vids on youtube or social media.

He'll buy you some soupy meal because god bless, this man can not cook that well. He'll feed you of course, very gently and blowing at your food before putting it to your mouth because you're his queen.

Well, when you're finally feeling slightly better and you find the strength to get out of bed, you creep out to your living room to find your hubby napping on the couch with the animals. awww.

Tsukishima Kei

He doesn't really know what to do actually. You seldom fall sick and are usually independent so it's really a rare sight for him to see you vulnerable like this.

He even took a day's leave from divisional training just to take care of you.

"Am I dying?"

"Well at least you have the strength to make dumb jokes like that." your husband is as savage as ever.

He disappears for awhile and then he'll come over with some warm water and some asprin. He'll help you get up to take your meds before tucking you in again.

You'll wake up and find those cooling patch pasted on your forehead and water right beside your bed. He came in to take your temperature.

"Good. Your fever went down. Are you feeling better?"

Whether you said yes or no, he'll bring you to see the doctors, to be safe. He was actually really worried about you, while you were sleeping, he constantly came in to check on you, stroked your hair and pressed a kiss to your cheek.

And when you were feeling much better, he would definitely tease you about it.

"Maybe you should fall sick once in awhile, you're more sweeter and less naggy."

Of course you knew he was kidding.

Akaashi Keiji

Your Akaashi was Mr perfect husband. He knew exactly how to take care of you. He would totally apply to work from home and take care of all your needs.

From cooking some hot soup or porridge, to making sure you were properly tucked in, Akaashi took care of you well.

He made sure you always had warm water to drink and he gave you a water bottle with a straw so you could drink without using much effort.

He constantly changed your cooling patch on your forehead and sponged your body with a cold towel to keep your temperature down.

Bokuto was banned from coming over because he was "too noisy and would disturb your rest"

When you took your meds, he would bring in some gummy so that the meds weren't too bitter for you.

He would also make you something yummy and healthy at the same time, like a berry smoothie so that not all your food were too bland. He would let you cheat a little and eat some ice cream too, because a happy mindset keeps the body healthy as well.

Would keep you in his sight 24/7, works in the same room as you with a mask on and a tiny lamp turned on while you were resting.

You should also take this time to ask your husband for anything you want, he'll probably agree because you looked so vulnerable and sad, he'll do anything to make you feel better.

Miya Atsumu

Actually, He's probably sick together with you. But hey in the case that he isn't, he's panicking.

He calls everyone. Osamu, his mom, Sakusa... Even Bokuto and Hinata. Well, initially you had doubts when he called Bokuto but he was the only one that suggested ice cream so you were glad he did.

Well he runs out to the supermarket after leaving an ice pack over your head.

He comes home with BAGS of stuff. Different types of medicine, more ice packs, all kinds of healthy food- fruits and vegetables, and yes, ice cream.

He feeds you some medicine and pastes the cooling patch on your body as well.

He then proceeds to make a lot of noise in the kitchen and tries to make you some fruit salad or some sorts and some miso soup or something that has chunks of fish and chicken inside.

When your fever does not go down by the end of the day, your husband calls 911. Yeap. He tells the person that it's an emergency..

You had to drag you sick ass to your husband and grab the phone telling the person over the phone that you're okay and that your husband is just a little panicky.

You end up telling him to just bring you to see a doctor.

"Oh yeah baby! why didn't I think of the doctor!"

[archies-litterbox]

Home

Summary: Some times when Douxie called the castle his home, and one time Merlin realized his son saw the castle as his home whether he was ready to process that or not (and he wasn’t).

Words: 2000

A/N: I got this done! I actually challenged myself by making sure each little segment of the fic was EXACTLY 500 words, and I had a lot of fun! hope you like it <3

[CW: Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Nightmares (there’s way more softness in this than the CW makes it look I swear-)]

--

The typical chatter of the marketplace was overshadowed by Hisirdoux’s skipping steps, and those were overshadowed by the moppet humming a little tune to himself that Merlin couldn’t make sense of. It was one of many things about the little apprentice that didn’t exactly make sense, but when Merlin brought the boy along to finish an errand, what he truly dreaded was that the boy would be insufferable and get distracted at every turn. So, really, endearing -

- “Endearing to who?” Merlin asked in response to his own internal monologue, because the humming from the boy, a sure sign that his apprentice was content at the very least, was most certainly not endearing to him -

- So, really, definitely-not-endearing humming of silly, nonsensical tunes was a more-than-adequate alternative to that insufferability and distraction, Merlin was sure.

“Getting that potion ingredient was easier than I thought!” Hisirdoux said happily, the spring in his step ever-present, “The merchant wasn’t even cross with me, like usual - like when I come here by myself.”

“Have you considered,” Merlin started, “That she’d been cross because of your notorious slight-of-hand? And your pickpocketing and street tricks has rendered her wary of your possible antics?”

Hisirdoux shrugged, rubbed the back of his head in obvious sheepishness, and turned his gaze elsewhere, “Mayyyybe-”

His face lit up in excitement, his eyes widening as his mouth formed an “O” shape when he saw something off to the street’s side.

“Ooooh! Look!” He turned a little to the side, bringing his hands up as he started to wander to a stand selling some sweet treats, “They’re selling-”

Merlin put a hand on his shoulder to still the boy, who was already a handful without the added hyperactivity of sugar.

“Nothing of importance, Hisirdoux.”

He turned the boy forward again, put his hand on top of Hisirdoux’s head, and turned it forward again as well.

“Awwwh.” Hisirdoux whined.

“We have what we came down here for, and Wizards are many things, but they are not frivolous.” he said as he kept walking, a slightly-pouting moppet walking alongside him, “We’re heading straight back to the castle. There are better pastry bakers there, anyway.”

Hisirdoux’s disappointed pout left his face.

“Right, right.” he said, as if he were reminded of how happy he was just to be out here, on what he probably thought of as a beautiful day, although Merlin was rather impartial to the sunny weather.

 “Let’s go home, Master!”

...Home?

Did he mean the castle?

Though he kept moving physically, putting one armor-plated foot in front of the other, Merlin’s mind froze as he looked down at the joyful, beaming moppet. To hear Hisirdoux refer to the castle as his home… 

Well, Merlin knew he should have expected it at this point, considering the boy’s utter lack of a permanent roof over his head before, but he still didn’t know what to make of it, if there was anything to make of it.

So, he sighed.

“The castle isn’t that far away.”

--

The dark circles under the boy’s eyes looked darker in hue than usual today, but of course, that was only due to the contrast against the unusual paleness of his face. Said eyes looked up at Merlin with a rather lacking amount of cognizance as the Master Wizard stood over the moppet. Stripped of his bulky leather hooded vest in favor of keeping on only his trousers and tunic, so he didn’t overheat, Hisirdoux’s deep breaths through his mouth were only interrupted by a brief, pitiful sniffle of his nose.

“Mathter, ‘th thith… plague?” He was hoarse from coughing and nasally from his awful congestion. To this, Merlin only huffed - of course, leave it to his ever-dramatic apprentice to leap to the most dire conclusion possible, even though he couldn’t even rightly walk down to the throne room in this state.

“Not unless a rather nasty cold has become the new plague of Camelot.” he answered, “you should have come back sooner from your last errand, Hisirdoux, before it started to pour.”

Hisirdoux groaned, either out of his achy, miserable condition, or frustration with hearing the old man lecture him, or both.

“I know, I know-”

A wet cough cut him off, making him curl up before he flopped back down on the bed.

“Ugh, ithn’t there thome…” he swallowed, as if to clear his throat of sickly gunk as best he could without another hacking, “I dunno, “thickness begone-iuth” thpell, or thomething?”

“I won’t use magic to alleviate your sickness, if that’s what you’re implying.” Merlin denied, “Although unpleasant, your condition is far from serious, and your symptoms should alleviate in a few days, at the most. If I use magic on something so mere, your natural immune system will weaken, and a dependence on magic to maintain your health is dangerous, so-”

“But Mathter-”

“Don’t “But Mathter” me.”

Hisirdoux sighed, a shaky, ugly-sounding thing, too exhausted to even spare a laugh at how Merlin imitated him.

“Magic ithn’t a permithible shortcut…” he started, but he trailed off and punctuated the statement with another little sniffle.

It seemed, remarkably, Hisirdoux remembered a few of Merlin’s teachings, despite his low-grade fever.

Which reminded him…

The Master Wizard sighed and conjured a cold, damp rag, enchanted to not dry out or get tepid. Making sure it was properly folded, he laid it right onto Hisirdoux’s forehead.

“Oh, ‘th nithe…” he mumbled, “thank you…”

“Your plans for today are postponed, of course.” Merlin declared, “You’re to stay here and rest.”

“But-” Hisirdoux’s eyebrows furrowed, “I wath thupposed to go out and do that… that thing… and get the thing… from the plathe…”

Of course, it must have been harder for the boy to think sensibly and make sense than usual.

“And that will wait until your condition improves.” Merlin finalized, “Am I clear?”

Hisirdoux, resigned, nodded.

“Yeth, Mathter… thtaying home it ith, then.”

Before Merlin had anywhere near enough time to be surprised at that word, “home”, Hisirdoux fell right to sleep.

--

Merlin couldn’t remember a time when he’d felt like this before; when he couldn’t tell if he was more terrified or furious.

But he couldn’t be bothered to try to figure that out - not when, after hours of Hisirdoux being late coming back to the castle, a shoddily-written ransom note made its way to the desk of the Master Wizard’s study.

Thankfully, Hisirdoux’s familiar could trace it by it’s unpleasant scent. Merlin followed Archibald as the cat-dragon followed the scent trail to some disgusting hovel in a forest clearing, with some deplorable men hanging around it’s outside.

When Merlin laid eyes on them... he leveled them with any spells he could remember through his rage at them all; at their audacity.

Of course, it had been some incompetent group of bandits, but only a fool equated incompetency with harmlessness; just because these idiots didn’t know what they were doing didn’t mean that Hisirdoux was safe.

So, he shifted his focus on finding his apprentice, even if he had to reduce every board of this blasted cabin to splinters.

But it didn’t come to that; the second Merlin stepped in, he saw him.

Hisirdoux was curled up in a corner, sitting on his heels with his hands bound behind him, his arms bound steadfast to his torso, and a piece of cloth tied between his teeth. He was unharmed, but terrified.

Hisirdoux’s muffled cry that came out when he saw Merlin shattered the old man’s heart.

He never ran faster in his life.

A small, very precise blast from Archie made the bonds around Hisirdoux’s wrists and torso come loose, and when Merlin got to him, he pulled the cloth gag out as fast as he could without hurting him, letting it lay around his neck.

The instant his arms were fully free and Merlin was close enough, Hisirdoux hugged him, clinging to the Wizard for dear life and crying his heart out against his armored shoulder.

“Are you hurt? Did they do anything to you?”

Merlin felt Hisirdoux shake his head. He could tell he was swallowing to try to get some moisture back in his mouth. It had probably been dried out by that blasted gag, and who knew if they’d given him any water?

“No, just-” he gasped, “Scared.”

Those bandits would soon forget the very meaning of mercy.

For now, Merlin focused on rubbing soothing circles against the boy’s back, seeing that his ankles were bound. Merlin didn’t even notice before, and Hisirdoux was so hasty - so desperate for comfort that he didn’t even wait. He didn’t even seem to care.

Archie started cutting them loose.

“I-” Hisirdoux hiccuped, “I wanna go home.”

The shattered remnants of Merlin’s heart melted.

Home.

His son wanted to go home.

He sighed, moving one of his hands to cradle the back of the poor boy’s head, passing his fingers through his un-bunned hair.

“Please,” he whined, “take me home.”

Merlin nodded, the side of his head rubbing Hisirdoux’s.

“Right… right.”

--

It was long past nightfall, and the castle was quiet, so Merlin tried to tread the corridors lightly so his armored feet wouldn’t clank against the floor and wake anyone; the last thing he wanted was for any particular moppetish apprentices to stir.

That boy… he had already gone through so much he hadn’t deserved, and for what? To what end? Merlin presumed that before he’d found him in that alley, he’d been treated poorly for being not only a street rat, but a magical one at that. And now, even though he was the Wizard’s apprentice, that treatment hadn’t truly gone away; no, it only shifted onto new grounds: the grounds that... he was the Wizard’s apprentice. Now, much of the animosity sent his way was truly meant for Merlin; directing it at Hisirdoux merely amplified it. Strengthened the blow.

And that blow was strengthened today.

Merlin remembered the note’s creases under his fingertips as it trembled in his shaking hand; the door creaking open with a shriek in its hinges and showing Merlin his apprentice, bound and gagged and terrified in the corner of that hovel; Hisirdoux wailing against his shoulder; the trembling of his son in his arms. He remembered it all.

“Hisirdoux…”

He passed the sleeping boy’s door… and sensed magic from behind it. Unusual magic for this hour. In the little gap between the door and the floor, he could see the blue glow of his magic, too. Unmistakeable.

“...Hisirdoux?”’

He stopped at the door and pushed it open, only to be met with a fretful sight before him (not nearly as bad as the last time he’d pushed a door open to find Hisirdoux today, but it was rather close.)

The boy was thrashing in his sleep - tossing and turning in his blankets to the point where they’d started to tangle around him, which only made his obviously-nightmare-induced thrashing worse. Magic thrummed from his hands as he fought back against… something, and even Archibald, who had curled up on his abdomen to soothe him to sleep earlier tonight, couldn’t quell his night terror.

Merlin knelt down at the boy’s bedside and put a hand on his shoulder, shaking him lightly, “Hisirdoux!”

“N-no! Stop!” he pleaded, thrashing harder to get the hand off him, “Get away! Leave me ALONE! Let me GO!”

Merlin shook him harder.

“HISIRDOUX!” he shouted.

Finally, the boy’s eyes snapped open, and he gasped.

For a moment, he just breathed as lucidity seeped back into him. After realizing he was in the realm of the conscious, he put his hands to the sides of his head.

“Master…” he squeaked, “Where-”

“It’s alright, Hisirdoux. You’re safe.” he assured, “You’re home.”

Honestly, the words just slipped out, for Merlin, shocked by himself, doubted that he would have ever said them otherwise.

And with now-even-wider eyes, Hisirdoux looked just as shocked.

… Well, no good rescinding it now. How could he, really?

“You’re home.”

Hisirdoux nodded, a shaky smile on his face.

“...Home.”