#time to watch at least... for the 24th time and wonder what the hell was going on when the writers wrote the saber-toothed tiger scene

[campbenji]

they're defrosting...

[noitsbecky127]

rebecca watches ds9: prophet motive

why am i watching quark get jerked off

oh god the self-sealing stem bolts. i vaguely remember those from s1. i still don’t know what purpose they serve. i’m not certain anyone does.

well this lady clearly does. she’s not telling though

“i’m a very unusual ferengi” no you’re just horny

guess maybe it’s unusual for a ferengi to be so horny it wins out over money

oh lord the capitalist space pope is here

time for an episode of ferengi chaos i suppose!

what the hell is a wardroom

wtf is going on. is it julian’s birthday or something

ok no he’s confused so it’s not his birthday

why would you throw him a congratulatory celebration before you actually told him about the nomination

or did he just not check his email or whatever the 24th-century equivalent is

awww they’re all so proud! they like him! my heart is full

i remember when no one could stand him

jadzia ily but i feel like you should consult someone before submitting their name for award nomination. granted i say this as someone who has never won an award or been nominated for one or nominated anyone else for one. so what do i know lmao

biomolecular replication. i’m gonna trust that those words put together mean something

he left that celebration awfully quick

ah. yeah if it’s supposed to be a lifetime award then julian is probably not gonna win. still a big accomplishment to be nominated at all!

“i won’t mention it again” - woman who is definitely going to mention it again

oh wow I wasn’t expecting her to do it IMMEDIATELY

back to the ferengi chaos!

millipede juice. of course that’s a thing.

looks like the capitalist space pope is a terrible houseguest. i’m assuming all this mess is from zek at least

rom idk what that thing is but you probably shouldn’t be sticking it in your ears

oh nope it’s just rom’s mess. shows what i know

nog’s visiting his grandmother. is that maternal or paternal? i’m guessing maternal since quark said “his grandmother” and not “our mother”

oh god rom’s stealing from quark. awkward!

why is zek here anyway? and why is he using quark’s quarters? surely there’s places for guests to stay on ds9

i wonder what a ferengi childhood is like

hell yeah quark get your place back

or, um. have rom get it back for you i guess!

zek’s in a very good mood

as it turns out, the capitalist space pope is indeed a terrible houseguest!

fym you rewrote the rules of acquisition. you can’t do that. the pope can’t rewrite the bible. i don’t think he can anyway. i’m jewish

these are very different from the last rules of acquisition!

i think the capitalist space pope needs excommunicating

is he infected with some alien virus or brainwashed or being impersonated or what

“what does that mean brother? 👀” “IT MEANS… ☝️ ABSOLUTELY NOTHING”

i don’t think this thing is a code

yeah this seems genuine. which leaves the question of why

and so quark continues to be stuck with 14k self-sealing stem bolts

zek’s assistant (can’t remember his name) seems very distraught by all this

who’s playing darts?

julian and miles! branching out from racquetball i see

why does everyone keep insisting on talking about this award. is it not clear that julian does not want to talk about it.

is miles just doing this to win at darts

julian discovers he can sabotage his opponent too

where did all these ferengi come from

Quark I think you might be permanently relocating to Rom’s place

what the FUCK is going on here. there’s gotta be something behind all this

of course they have a sacred marketplace

julian can’t find anything wrong but that doesn’t mean much. star trek characters are always encountering fun new issues that don’t show up on medical tests

you know it’s bad when the assistant is supporting breaking and entering

ah. mysterious box. i’m guessing that’s the source of all the issues

ohhh it’s an orb. don’t they give you visions? i bet zek had some vision that prompted this new outlook

wtf does quark’s vision even mean. this is just chaos

“HOW DARE THEYYYY 😡…who are we talking about”

can the orb directly change your beliefs like that though?

i bet the ferengi future looked really bad so zek decided it was time for radical social change

hi odo! are you going to get involved with quark’s nonsense somehow

nope you’re gonna hang with julian. i’m down for that! i don’t think we’ve seen them interact much

odo has friends outside of the main cast???

i guess he does!

tbf it’s smart of julian to write an acceptance speech no matter how slim his chance of winning is. on the off-chance it does happen he doesn’t want to be caught with no speech

time for a ferenginapping

zek seems pretty chill about being in a sack

it is not normal to be that chill about being ferenginapped. if we didn’t know smth was wrong before we certainly do now

oh yeah the wormhole aliens do the form-you’re-comfortable-with thing

oh ok so they did directly do this to him. i’m in favor of the outcome but that’s still not ok

quark convincing them to reverse it has “dormammu i’ve come to bargain” energy. annoy the opponent into conceding

julian looks so uncomfortable watching this announcement

no carrington for him. not yet anyway

everyone just sort of awkwardly leaves

“you seem to be handling this well” “believe me, i’m not” he’s just like me fr

we’ll make a businessman of you yet, rom!

[urrockstar-xe]

looking at lights - marauders x gn!reader

posted december 24th, 2022 4:52 pm

this is very muggle like lmfao. hints of wolfstar <3 I also couldn't find a gif for this one - xo

masterlist

word count: 0.5k

“Bloody hell, that Santa inflatable is fucking massive!” you heard from the backseat. Laughing, James turned up the car radio to listen to the holiday music as he drove. 

“I fuckin’ love rich people,” You said, watching all the glittering lights hanging from the big houses. “This is the only time of year you can get away with saying that, darl” Sirius responded in a joking tone, the lights illuminating his face as he spoke. 

“I wonder if this whole neighborhood is in contact with each other, that’s like the seventh time I’ve seen that snowman,” Peter said, leaning closer to you to see out the window better. “Probably just a really expensive rich people decoration,” “probably.”

“When Prongs and I are known as the greatest quidditch players of all time, I’m gonna buy an entire street so that way we can all live no more than a sidewalk away from each other” Sirius smiled. “We can go half and half, pads” James added before the two boys in front high-fived. 

“Only if you guys agree to do super huge and outrageous decorations every year” You joked, “I’ll make waivers for everyone to sign” Remus replied, “wanna be roommates, Y/n?” 

“Absolutely not, moony is my roommate,” Sirius said pointing a finger at you. “You sound like a history book, Padfoot” Peter smiled when the car full of people laughed at his joke.

“Whoa, look at the house out my window!” James Exclaimed catching everyone’s attention as they all turned to look at the colorful display outside. “Merlin, that must be at least, what? 50 thousand lights?” Sirius said, pulling the sunglasses (that he insisted went with his outfit) over his eyes. 

“No, I’d say more than that,” James responded, “its bloody perfect,”

“Do you think they made those cutouts themselves?” You asked, “if not, I want the information on who did,” Remus said 

“Hey! Look at that, they have a little archway to take pictures in! Let’s go” James pointed out, wasting no time in pulling over and unbuckling his seatbelt. 

The 5 of you stumbled out of the car, making your way to the little archway before Remus cast a quick spell to take a picture of all of you together.

Sirius stuck his tongue out while making a rock-on sign and kneeling on the ground in front of his four friends, James put up bunny ears behind you and Remus while smiling, Peter stood with one hand in his pocket and the other flipping off the camera as he laughed at Sirius, Remus put up a peace sign but couldn’t keep himself from looking at Sirius’ pose with a smile. You opted for finger guns and an exaggerated pout, earning more laughs from Peter and James.

“Okay. we took the picture, get the fuck back in the car I’m freezing my tits off!” Sirius all but screamed as he rushed back to the passenger seat. 

“I told you to wear more layers” Remus responded, calmly making his way to the back seat. James threw his arms around you and Peter as you followed wolfstar, laughing as Sirius defended himself with “the sake of fashion”

[isnt-that-wizardd]

Please, give us some Christmas headcannons I beg you! They are freaking adorable and I have butterflies in my stomach reading them 🥺

omg hell yeah i'll give you some christmas headcanons!!

wille has never been a huge fan of christmas because at the castle it usually means a lot of press and events and always getting stuck wearing uncomfortable clothes. the only part of christmas he ever did enjoy once he outgrew the childhood wonder was sneaking away on the 24th to exchange gifts with erik

simon LOVES christmas. he gets in the spirit on november 1st and doesn't let it go until well into january 

the christmas after the video was the worst one either of them have ever had. they were both utterly miserable and wallowed and grieved the entire day. after getting back together and discussing how awful it had been for them both, Simon declared that it didn't count and they should get a do over. the next weekend, wille went over to simon's to find his boyfriend's room turned into a christmas wonderland and they spent the whole day watching children's movies, wearing warm sweaters, drinking a saved bottle of christmas soda, and exchanging gifts. it's the happiest wille has ever been on a christmas, even if it wasn't the actual holiday

simon buys them matching ugly sweaters. wille tries so hard to be nice because of how excited simon is about it but looking at the thing honestly makes him want to tear it to shreds, it's so awful. it has pompoms and bells and lights that work. he wears it every time simon asks him to and when the season is done he puts it protectively in the back of his closet

they both struggle like crazy to get each other a gift. wille doesn't want to get something that makes simon freak out about how much it costs and simon knows he can't spend as much money as the types of gifts wille might be used to. they both freak out about it until on two separate occasions, felice smacks them upside the head and tells them to just do something meaningful and sweet

in the end, wille writes simon a lengthy letter about how happy simon makes him and how much he loves him, pairing it with a framed print out of simon's favorite photo of them. simon lands on doing a handful of recordings of him singing some of wille's favorite songs which he thinks sound really bad but make wille cry. both of them struggle to stop smiling for D A Y S

simon makes it look like the holidays threw up in wille's room. he walks in one day to find tinsel everywhere and handcut snowflakes hanging from the ceiling and a soft candycane blanket on his bed and snowmen EVERYWHERE and he has never regretted leaving simon alone in his room more. even still, he doesn't take down a single thing and enjoys the way simon's eyes light up when he sees that wille left it all

since wille has to be at the castle for the 24th, he does a celebration with the eriksson family on the 22nd before he leaves. linda cooks a feast and wille insists on helping her out while simon and sara are both in the living room, shouting updates about what's going on in the overly cheesy christmas romcom on tv. it's so warm and comfortable and happy that wille practically forgets why he doesn't like christmas in the first place

wille still buys erik christmas gifts. on the 24th, during the late afternoon as it always was, wille sneaks into erik's room to put the gift in one of the now emptied out drawers. he's pretty sure most of the staff knows he's been doing it, but none of them say anything and the gifts are still there the next time he's in the room

even though he’s not a christmas guy, wille really does love winter (one of the reasons he allows simon’s decorating a pass). he’s the cheesy one who buys them both hot chocolate and drags simon on a stroll through the middle of town while snow drifts down around them. when simon starts getting too cold wille wraps simon in his own scarf and lets simon stick both his hands in wille’s coat pockets for extra warmth. at least five times he can’t resist the urge to lean in and kiss the tip of simon’s nose. it’s like something straight out of a movie and the next day, there’s pictures on the internet of the crown prince and his boyfriend huddled together as snow falls from the dark night sky and besotted smiles take up their faces

simon is an extremely skilled snowball fighter from years of doing them with rosh and ayub. wille has never had a snowball fight in his life but is determined that he will beat simon. the game has been going on and off for weeks now. they’ve both recruited classmates for sneak attacks on the other and now nearly every other first year is involved. it has become a war. there is no ceasefire in sight. chaos reigns on the hillerska campus

[koulakoukoula2003]

Winter on Paradis

Pairings: Levi x y/n x Erwin, Hange x Moblit, Eren x Mikasa, Marlowe x Hitch

Genre: Fluff, Comedy

Summary: (AU where nobody dies in the Battle of Shiganshina) Everybody is more than excited to find everything covered in white outside the Survey Corps HQ. The Winter Holidays are closer than ever, and you can't wait to spend them alongside your husband, and your brats in your Special Operations Squad.

Warnings: Swearing

A/N: This takes place after the Battle of Shiganshina. Moblit and Hange are married. You and Levi are married. BASICALLY EVERYBODY'S HAPPY, WE NEED SOME HAPPINESS IN THIS FANDOM GODDAMMIT😭😭

Enjoy! 🥰

The next morning, everything was white outside. Everybody was way too excited. It was the 24th of December. And tomorrow was her beloved husband’s birthday. (Y/n) had to think of presents, but all she could look at now, was the whiteness that spread all around them. The snow looked puffy. Only for Connie and Sasha to step right in and destroy it's immaculate beauty. They dove right into the snow, throwing snowballs at each other, and Jean soon joined, playing like five-year-olds.

A snowball landed on Marlowe’s back and he turned, only to be met with an even larger one landing on his face and Sasha with Connie laughed their asses off.

“Aw man, look at that mess,” Hitch approached her boyfriend wiping the white snow off his face. They were all dressed in their pyjamas. They hadn’t even bothered to throw on a cloak or a jacket. Armin had barged right into the barracks, notifying them all that everything outside was covered in a thick, beautiful veil of white and everybody just had to run outside right away.

“No worries, Hitch. I’ve got this,” Marlowe cracked his fingers before he leaned down, picking a large handful of snow and tossing it in Connie’s way. Connie’s laughter ceased as the throw was so powerful, it knocked him down on the snow and Sasha only pointed down at him laughing even more.

Hitch threw another snowball, knocking Sasha down beside Connie. Hitch laughed throwing a fist in the air. “That’s what you get for sneak-attacking my boyfriend!”

Meanwhile, Jean and Eren had been glaring at each other with snowballs in their fists, waiting for the right moment to throw them. Mikasa and Armin were just watching as Jean and Eren did nothing but stare intensely at each other as if they were trying to curse at each other with just one look. Armin raised an eyebrow. Wait a minute…

“Are you guys making a staring contest?” Armin pointed out but the two didn’t answer. They were too busy with trying to keep their eyes open.

Mikasa groaned. “Seriously?! What are you guys? Five-year-olds?!”

The two ignored her and tried to keep it up for as long as they could manage. Eren was the first to give in. “AAH! MY EYES!”

Jean threw a fist in the air. “FUCK YEAH!” And then he tossed the melting snowball that he had in his hand towards his friend. He grabbed another snowball tossing it at him, and another. “Can Mikasa stop me from turning you into a snowman?!” Jean cried out.

“SHUT UP, JEANBOYYYY!” Eren launched at him and they both came crushing down on the snow, beating each other up.

By the time the veterans walked out, it was a mess. (Y/n) had chosen to put on that one thick coat that she had for such circumstances. It was brown, way too big for her small body, but quite cosy and warm due to the fur embroidered on the inside of it. Of course, she had hurried to the barracks to catch all those coats of her squad’s stuff that she recognised. She had washed those coats before. She passed all six of them around her arm and she hurried outside.

Connie, Sasha, Marlowe and Hitch were locked in a thunderous snowball fight. Mikasa and Armin were cheering for Eren whilst he fought with Jean. (Y/n) sighed and she just shook her head. Those kids were going to catch a cold, that was for sure.

“L- Lieutenant (Y/n)-” Marlowe tried to say as he stopped throwing snowballs and turned at his superior, only to be knocked down by a powerful snowball from Connie.

“HELL YEAH!” Connie cried out.

“High-five!” Sasha raised her hand only for Connie to give it a smack.

Hitch growled as she gathered all the snow she could. “You little-”

“Time-out! Time-out! Unarmed person passing by!” (Y/n) cried out as she walked between the two groups. She caught Marlowe’s hand helping him up.

“Thanks, Lieutenant,” Marlowe said as he dusted off the snow from his shoulders. (Y/n) passed his coat around his shoulders and she messed his hair pushing the snow away.

“What have I asked you to call me?” (Y/n) grinned as she settled the coat closer around him.

Marlowe started giggling like an idiot. “(Y/n)?”

(Y/n) gave him a smile. “There, there, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” She handed Hitch her own coat. Hitch had just joined the Survey Corps, and she with Marlowe were making a pretty good team already.

“Thanks, Lieu- er- (y/n)!”

Connie let out a loud sneeze as (y/n) approached him and she cringed. “Oh dear,”

“It’s nothing, (y/n), seriously,” Connie said as he rubbed his red nose.

(Y/n) raised an eyebrow “Sure,” as she passed his own coat around him, and then she did the same with Sasha. “You guys continue,” She grinned. “The team who wins gets to share an entire tray of cake,”

Sasha’s eyes widened. “IT HAS TO BE ME!”

“OVER MY DEAD BODY!” Hitch growled as their hands reached for all the snow she could get.

“SO BE IT!” Connie cried out and the fight continued. (Y/n) giggled as she watched them. She’d never get to make that cake. Those kids would be bedridden by afternoon with an unbearable fever and an undoubtedly sore throat.

Erwin let out a sigh as he watched (y/n) scolding Jean and Eren to death before tucking them both in their coats and then setting over to do the same with Armin and Mikasa. But then he realised he wasn’t the only one staring. An invisible smile spread on Levi’s lips as he tucked his hands in the pockets of his black, thick trench coat, and then another contented sigh came from Moblit. All three men stared at that wonderful woman whilst she mothered the fifteen-year-olds that were making a mess of the street.

Moblit received a painful smack on his shoulder, and he knew of only one woman whose hand was so damn heavy. He turned and he saw his wife. “I get it for those two idiots, but why are YOU SIGHING AND STARING AT HER?!” Hange cried out furiously and Moblit cringed.

“I- I- I wasn’t staring at her!”

“YES, YOU WERE!”

“NO, I WASN’T!”

“FUCK YOU, MOBBY! …and then fuck me too,”

Those two were kissing and making out before they knew it. Levi groaned and rubbed his forehead and Erwin rolled his eyes. Both men turned their attention away from the loudly kissing couple, and they tried to ignore Hange’s moans and Moblit’s groans. Levi clicked his tongue in utter annoyance.

I’m never standing around those two ever again.

Time Skip

“H- Hey, (y/n)?”

“Yes, darling?”

“Y- You don’t happen to have a... twin sister, do you?”

(Y/n) choked back a laugh. Connie’s fever was bringing the wildest hallucinations she had ever seen in a patient with fever. “No, darling,”

“Who brought that goat in here?” Sasha mumbled as she pointed at Hitch who was lying on a bed across from her. No matter her fever, Hitch’s eyebrow twitched in frustration.

“I know for a fact that Sasha’s not hallucinating!” Hitch growled.

“Jeez, can y’all like… shut up?" Jean cut in. "And no, Sasha, that’s not a goat, that’s clearly a unicorn,” Jean pointed out in as-a-matter-of-factedly tone in his voice. (Y/n) cringed. Oh boy. Jean was hallucinating too.

“Speaks the horse,” Eren’s voice came from the bed across of Jean’s and Jean shut his eyes and groaned. Eren was the only one not hallucinating and maybe his titan-shifting abilities had something to do with that. Still, Mikasa was beside him, tending to his fever, and Armin was all around trying to help (y/n) all he could.

“You… son of a b-” Jean tried to say but (y/n) cut him.

“Guys!” She said strictly, catching everyone’s attention. “Let’s just deal with your fever and then you’re all free to skin each other alive, how about that?”

Eren sighed as he let his head roll back on his pillow and Jean groaned. “Fine!”

(Y/n) reached Marlowe. He wasn’t hallucinating either, or at least she thought as much. He was sitting there, quietly on the bed across Connie’s dealing with his fever.

“Hey, honeybun,” Hitch caught Marlowe’s attention. His bed was beside her own. “Do I look like a unicorn to you?”

Marlowe looked at her for a moment. His own fever-induced hallucinations weren’t helping him form an honest answer. “N- No, my sweetiecake,”

“Those are like… the lamest pet names I’ve ever heard of,” Jean commented.

“It’s not like you have a big experience with the ladies and pet names,” Connie grinned. (y/n) couldn’t understand how he was able to tease even though he was in a very high fever.

“Me?” Jean chuckled. “If anybody’s got experience in here, it’s me,” Connie, Sasha and Eren started laughing and a bright blush graced Jean’s cheeks. Jean frowned deeply. “YOU GUYS, SHUT UP!”

“Oi, Jean… I wasn’t talking to you. I was talking to your twin brother,” Connie said as he let his head roll back on the pillow. (Y/n) tried her best not to laugh. There he is.

“Ooohhh," Jean nodded casually. "Alright, dude, no problem,”

A/N: Thanks for reading!!! Lemme know if you like it!!! Feel free to reblog and comment below!!! 🥰

[roxytonic]

I think we joined the fandom around the same time, what the hell, I thought you'd been around for like at least a year if not since 2020 😭

were you on any other platforms before tumblr? your blog archive goes back to August 2021 (i joined a few months before) 👀

anyway i've consumed some MCYT content and derivative works in 2020, yeah, but i wasn't properly in the fandom. i sometimes wish i joined a little earlier, but i just never heard or cared much about it until...

October 24th, 2020: the topic of MCYT comes up in the friend group Discord server

nonny (pseud): "dream team erotica is hilarious"

khan (also a pseud): "i didnt know you read dream team erotica"

me: "hi everyone. my clown ass really thought "dream team" referred to mario and luigi dream team and not the minecraft dream team. i will now be heading down a dream team erotica rabbit hole. [nonny], send me the AO3 link, i'm too boomer for this."

October 26th, 2020: another friend sends nurpo's DNF fanfiction list (the original one) which i read through. so fun!

November, December 2020: on twitter, i follow two of my artist friends who were making MCYT fanart and intersect with mcyttwt a couple of times (like stupid argument in trending page). the friend that sent nurpo's DNF fanfiction list sends a link to georgesoot's tumblr, which was called dreamwasfound then. skimmed it for about 5 minutes, uncomfortable with the unusually critical tone--but was grateful it existed, since Dream's following seemed to be growing more dangerous and difficult to deal with.

January 2021: dreamwasfound moves the URL to georgesoot and i realize that i may have to make a Tumblr account to try and keep up if they change their URL again. (georgesoot has been georgesoot since this change. currently, georgesoot2 is the original georgesoot.) i do not make a new account.

i don't remember what happened between January 2021 and April 2021 in terms of mcyt. i might've still been poking at mcyttwt's asinine arguments occasionally.

April 2021: i am still curious about georgesoot. i make the roxytonic account and see that he has been deactivated. (legal troubles, i heard. 😉) still, i wonder if he was a part of some larger group of people dedicated to being critical about CCs.

April 19th, 2021: i rename this tumblr account "roxytonic" and venture into mcytblr. i search up about georgesoot, find some lore about their group, and speculate that the more critical blogs (at that time, i knew of georgesoot, warpedfungusonastick, and fruityranboo/gaypilled) are in a federation that interact with each other but are not necessarily united in a personal group. (when i said i thought they were colleagues, this was a cautious estimation, as i had no idea what was happening behind-the-scenes and only looked at their workplace-esque interactions online.) it would be months later that i learn that these three blogs--and others!--were actually in a friend group together.

the rest is history from there. but i still wouldn't say i was ever a "proper" part of the fandom even with this blog because i just never invested much time into watching the content and the streams.

[patchwork-panda]

“I won’t do anything. Probably.” (BSD OdaSaku x Reader. Part 1/3)

Title: “I won’t do anything. Probably” Genre: Comedy/Romance/smut Rating: Part 1 is sfw BUT Part 3 will 18+ (aka nsfw) Reader-insert is written as afab/femme/shorter than OdaSaku and 20+ Plot: You are a member of the Port Mafia who has been sent on a “cleanup” job with Oda Sakunosuke, who you have a crush on but won’t admit it. You don’t finish the job until very late at night, at which point, you’re forced to check into a hotel. But there’s just one problem: There’s only one room left. And only one bed.

Mini Fic is written in 2nd person. AO3 link for fic: HERE

Inspired by the [OdaSaku] art of Tsumugi (@tumugi1 on Twitter). I saw this picture and my brain latched onto the whole, “I won’t do anything. Probably.” bit. And wrote a whole fic for it as I was falling asleep on the 24th and amazingly, KEPT writing it when I woke up on the 25th. So, here it is. Call it a belated Xmas gift bc it feels almost like Old Saint Nick dropped it into my head like a filthy piece of coal.

“You’re kidding me.”

The guy at the front desk shakes his head apologetically.

“I’m so sorry, ma’am,” he mumbles, clearly looking every bit as remorseful as he sounds.

He shoots another nervous look at the gun holstered on your hip before catching himself and quickly looking back into your eyes.

He gulps.

Audibly.

“But there really aren’t any more rooms.”

You sigh and take your arm off of the counter. You’d considered draping it over the receptionist’s monitor in an effort to look more intimidating, but when you’d realized your arms were a little too short for that, you’d settled for the counter instead. Luckily for you, though, that one simple motion had been enough to reveal your gun.

Even now, the receptionist looked like he was going to pee himself, but even though your intimidation attempt had been successful, it still hadn’t gotten you the results you wanted.

Oh, well.

At least Nakahara-senpai would be proud of the way you’d conducted yourself just now.

The man you were with, however...

“Well?” you call out, tilting your head back slightly to look at him. “You heard what he said. What do you think we should do?”

You frown.

“Oda-senpai?”

The tall redhead looks up from his phone at last.

“Well, that depends,” he said, sliding his phone back into his pocket.

His sapphire-blue eyes find yours.

“How tired are you?” he asks.

You stop stifling your yawn immediately.

Today was a weird day. Even by your standards. And you were a teenaged runaway who’d gotten picked up by the Port Mafia several years ago.

Ever since that fateful day when you’d made the stupid decision to steal from that convenience store (how were you supposed to know a dump like that was a front for the Port Mafia?), they’d taken you in, given you a place to stay and a purpose. And that purpose was “doing whatever the hell it was they wanted you to do.”

Today, that was one of their infamous “clean-up” jobs.

You’d been on these sorts of jobs before so you didn’t think of it as a big deal at the time. But then they’d handed you the list. Which was a lot longer than it usually was. And then, they’d given you the location.

You hadn’t been sent this far out of Yokohama since that one time Nakahara Chuuya himself had requested you for backup. And even then, it had been an exception. Unfortunately, unlike that time, today’s job wasn’t quick. In fact, it had taken far, far longer than you had expected and you’d ended up working until late into the night.

So late into the night that all the trains back to Yokohama had long since stopped running.

And then it started pouring.

You are now effectively stranded for the night.

You sigh.

There was one bright spot...

You eye the man standing across the lobby, who takes his phone back out one more time in hopes of locating a cell signal.

At least they’d sent Oda Sakunosuke along with you.

“I’m okay,” you say, ignoring the fact that you’d just been yawning not two seconds ago. “Really.”

“Uh-huh,” Oda responds, his bright blue eyes flicking away from his phone once more to scan your face. “So you’re not here to see if you can find a place to rest for the night? You just wanted to get out of the rain until the first train comes?”

It doesn’t quite come across as sarcastic but you’re really not sure what else to call his tone. Humorless, perhaps? It’s hard to tell. Oda is pretty stoic on a normal day and you’ve almost never seen him smile. For one wild moment, you begin to wonder if he’s actually teasing you.

But then you remember you are talking to Oda Sakunosuke.

This is nothing more than a simple, honest question.

He puts his phone away and approaches the counter.

“Either way, walking into this hotel wasn’t a bad idea,” he says, reaching into one of the many pockets in his pale, yellow coat. “I wasn’t exactly looking forward to camping under a bridge in this weather.”

You note the big, muddy footprints his shoes leave in his wake.

The receptionist behind the counter can clearly see them but he looks like he’s still too scared to say anything about it.

Oda leans onto the counter next to you.

“I think we should stay here,” he says. “There’s no way we’re getting back to Yokohama any time soon and besides...”

He lets out a massive yawn. You think you can see a tear glistening in the corner of his eye.

“I’m tired too.”

“But you heard what he said,” you press, as the receptionist jerks away from you (and your gun). “There’s only one room.”

“Yeah, so that means there is a place we can take a nap here,” he says, already pulling out his wallet. “And the fact that there’s only one room here means we can save some money. I know what it means for those of us who get sent out on jobs like this.”

He picks out a card.

“It means we can stand to save a few bucks. Anyway, don’t worry about it.”

He lays the slate-gray piece of plastic against the counter.

“I’ll pay for tonight, okay?”

For a moment, you’re struck speechless.

“Th-that’s not the problem,” you stutter.

Oda just looks at you.

“So, then what is?”

You wonder if one of the hits he’d taken on today’s job had actually done something to his brain.

How could he not see it?

Having a man pay for your hotel room was already bad enough. But the implications of a tall, broad-shouldered, sexy man like Oda Sakunosuke paying  for a shared a hotel room with you??

You swallow dryly, hoping against hope that your cell phone wasn’t bugged and that if it was, there was no signal here.

If word got out that you spent the night in a cheap hotel with Oda Sakunosuke, a man who had the kind of rugged charm that would put Clint Eastwood to shame, you would never hear the end of it. You could already see Ozaki Kouyou smirking at you from behind one long pink kimono sleeve the minute you got back to headquarters.

And “I’ll pay for it tonight” he says?!!

As if this whole thing couldn’t SEEM any more suspicious!

You shoot a menacing glare at the receptionist, as if to say “don’t you dare get any ideas.” But the message appears to go right over his head when he sinks just a little further below the counter in abject fear.

“The problem is,” you elaborate, stunned that you even have to say it out loud. “That we’d be sleeping. In the same room.”

Oda continues to just look at you.

“So?”

You make up your mind to ask the Boss to check Oda for brain damage when you get back tomorrow. Mori used to be a doctor, right?

Oda sighs.

“Listen,” he says, sliding his card towards the receptionist, nodding kindly to the young man as if he were a timid baby bird instead of a grown human being. “I know what you’re thinking. And I thought about it too.”

He what?!

Without meaning to, you flush but Oda doesn’t appear to take any notice.

“But it’ll be fine. No matter how you look at it, we’re clearly just a couple of colleagues--”

“Clearly??”

“--who got stranded away from home while out on a business trip,” he finishes, taking his card back from the trembling receptionist. “So, like I said. It’ll be fine. I mean, we’re just sleeping right? We’re both responsible adults. I think we can handle just sleeping next to each other in the same room.”

He looks at you.

“Don’t you?”

You stiffen. Your eyes dart to the key card on the counter that the receptionist is now inching further and further away from. You’d think it was radioactive from the way he was acting...

“I--”

Oda raises an eyebrow.

“Unless...”

Oda inclines his head back towards the windows, where you can now see the rain lashing against the thick glass in the gale.

“You want to camp out under a bridge? Because if you do, I can go with you--”

“No, I definitely don’t,” you tell him, sweeping the key card up in one hand.

Out of the corner of your eye, you watch the receptionist take another step away from you as you move. You roll your eyes.

“Let’s just go. It’s late, it’s raining, we’re both tired and you know what, you’re right. As long as you stay in your bed, on your side of the room, I don’t think we’re going to have a problem.”

And as you march down the hallway towards the elevators, you suddenly hear the receptionist calling after you.

“Ah, wait!”

The young man suddenly sounds alarmed.

“There’s only--”

“Hah?”

You turn and shoot him a look and he immediately clams up again, quailing behind the counter.

“N-never mind,” he mumbles, twiddling his fingers as he tries (unsuccessfully) not to look at your gun.

He shoots you a watery smile.

“H-Have a pleasant stay...”

[wrctings]

Pre-serum Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes | Let your heart be light

fandom: Marvel Univers characters: Pre-serum Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes summary: Where Steve and his mom spend Christmas Eve’s at the Barnes’s, Bucky takes a nap and Steve draws him. word count: 1.7k 

writing a christmas one shot in february isn’t too late, right? i missed 30s steve and buck so of course i had to write some fluff <3

New York City, Christmas 1935

When the two boys slid their shivering frames through the doorway, shaking off the snowflakes caught in their hair and coats as they took the latter off, the first thing to welcome them was the delicious waft of food which had enveloped the entire apartment, the perky jingling of cutlery that emanated from the kitchen accounting for the fact that an active cooking activity was indeed taking place in there. Their cheeks rosy from the piercing cold and their breath short from having spent the afternoon out in the snow, they untied their shoes, leaving them in the corridor, and proceeded to the living room, where the warmth radiating off the crackling fireplace eased the prickling of their skin at once.

“Mom, we’re back!” Bucky announced, heading for the kitchen, Steve in his wake. “How are you? It smells so good in here!”

“We were wondering when you boys would come back and give us a hand,” Mrs Barnes gave them a smile, shaking her head. “It’s all fine. We should always make joined Christmas dinners, it’s a lot less exhausting than doing it yourself for the whole family,” she added gratefully, glancing at Sarah, who nodded in approval.

“Are you okay darling?” The blond woman caringly asked Steve, who reassured her with a light-hearted nod.

“If there’s anything we can do, we’ll be glad to help,” he then assured voluntarily, earning an affectionate look from the two women.

“Actually, I have a feeling you’ll cause more trouble than anything…” One of Bucky’s sisters retorted humorously.

“That may not be wrong…,” the brunet boy conceded sheepishly, eyeing all the culinary supplies suspiciously.

“Maybe you could dress the table, how about that?” Mrs Barnes proposed an alternative. “It’s a little too early now, but we’ll call you when it’s the right time. For the time being, why don’t you go put some records on?”

“Sure!”

“Steve, stay close to the fireplace!” The other boy’s mom called after her son as Bucky and Steve took off, shaking her head fondly as the blond promised that she didn’t have to worry (although he had barely recovered from a cold). “Kids…” Sarah muttered, sharing a knowing glance with Winnifred, who could only chuckle. “But at least they look after one another.”

“Thank God,” the brunette woman laughed, rolling her eyes. “Sometimes I wonder whether that causes less or more trouble.”

Meanwhile, Steve and Bucky set to complete the task that they had been asked to undertake. Rummaging through the music collection of the Barnes with great care, Steve selected a record which Bucky then placed upon the turntable, sparking up the soft whirring of the record player while he was cautiously manipulating the needle. A few seconds later, the merry tune of a Christmas song erupted from the device, taking over the far-off clattering and voices coming from the kitchen with smooth notes of jazz that swirled through the room.

“There we go,” a satisfied smile played upon Bucky’s lips, the young man letting himself tumble on the nearby couch with a deep sigh. “I feel like I could take a nap just now…,” he breathed out, lazily stretching out his arms while letting his head fall backwards against the backrest.

“Tired already?” Steve raised a daring eyebrow, teasing his friend with his usual playfulness.

“Shut up,” without even looking, Bucky grabbed a pillow and threw it toward the other boy’s voice, but missed the target. “How the hell do you still have energy?”

“I don’t, I just pretend,” the blond actually confessed, shrugging as he laughed. He never had to play pretend with Bucky, who always accepted him the way he was, no matter whether he caught Steve on a painful day of suffering from sickness, had to come to his rescue in a fight or simply met with him to hang out. Plus, his best friend had seen him in dire straits one too many times to unnecessarily play tough. “Alright, you take a nap, I’ll get my sketchbook.”

“Wake me up if I happen to actually drift off,” Bucky mumbled, momentarily straightening up just so he could cuddle up to the cushion set in the corner where the armrest and the backrest formed an angle. Through half-closed eyelids, he noticed Steve taking a seat on the floor and flick through the pages of his sketchbook, the flames happily waltzing in the chimney behind him sending glimmering beams across the young man’s shirt and skin, their reflection playing in the golden strands of hair that brushed his forehead as he craned his neck, concentrated on his sketch.

Lulled by the gay rhythm of the music and the regular, soft sound of his friend’s pen scraping a piece of paper, Bucky feared that he in truth might just doze off, the both peaceful and jolly atmosphere of the room exacerbating his body’s will to rest. However, there was no way he was going to leave Steve alone on Christmas evening, especially since they spent it together this year, so Bucky fought sleepiness back by trying to keep his mind awake. Just a few minutes, he told himself, I’ll rest for a little bit, then I’ll be ready to celebrate.

Since the early December evening had already dawned, the room would’ve been bathed in darkness if not for the chirping chimney and the bright lights that had been turned on, making it easier for Bucky not to let his thoughts succumb to the strain of his body. He wondered whether his family would like the gifts he got them, but especially if Steve would — since Bucky had more money, he always tried to get his friend a present that he would be particularly fond of for Christmas, and he knew that Steve would also do his best to offer him something nice in return, though with more limited means. But most importantly, Bucky was merely glad and excited to spend the 24th of December surrounded by everyone he loved most, especially since Steve and his mother were joining them around the table this year. In the end, gifts mattered little.

“Why the hell didn’t you wake me up?” Running a hand over his face, Bucky groaned while blinking several times, struggling to adjust his clouded sight to the lighting of the living room. It turned out that keeping oneself awake was quite a difficult task, even when one might tell themselves that their lively thoughts would keep their distracted from the lure of slumber. “What time is it?”

“Don’t worry Buck, it’s only been fifteen minutes,” Steve reassured him distractedly, still hunched over his drawing. “It’s nearly seven.”

Pushing himself away from the armrest of the couch, Bucky’s fingers tangled in his hair as he tried to make it sit properly, pushing loose brown strands off his forehead.  Only fifteen minutes, that was acceptable. He yawned into the back of his hand, stretching his back, then swung his legs onto the floor and bent forward, trying to get a glimpse of Steve’s doodles — his gaze landed on the outline of a sofa, on which he recognised his own silhouette.

“You know I’m gonna become famous too if you do, right? I’m your number one drawing reference, at this point.” He joked, but the soft glow of his eyes, from either remnants of sleepiness or fondness, made it seem like he was actually both touched and impressed.

“It’s not my fault if you fall asleep on my watch. What do you want me to do? For once, something stays still while I’m sketching, I gotta make most of it.”

It took Steve another few minutes to come to end of his sketch of a sleepy Bucky, fixing the shadows playing in the folds of his friend’s clothes as his pencil adroitly glided across the paper. Bucky, still towering over the blond, kept on watching him draw above Steve’s shoulder, having always been fasciated by the way his friend could so beautifully make images come to life out of nothingness — no matter how much the other boy would get frustrated over a doodle that he struggled with, Bucky knew that it would still be infinitely better than anything most people could come up with. Seeing the curves and edges of his own body forming such meticulous shapes under Steve’s fingertips, the brunet felt like he had caught his own self plunged in a slumber; as if time had turned back to just minutes ago, and he could witness his reflection laying on the couch.

“Alright.” After one last stroke of a pen, Steve held the sketchbook up, analysing the outcome. Bucky could tell that he wasn’t disappointed with the result as the young man put it back down, not getting another hold of his pencil either. “You’re not still sleepy, are you?” He then turned around to give Bucky a quick smile, emerging out of the state of concentration that had taken over him while he was drawing.

“No, I’m not. It’s time for celebration now!” His friend retorted energetically, alluding to the festive Christmas tree that had been set in a corner of the room, the few colourful decorations tangled up in its branches and the golden star at its top gleaming as light ricocheted off them.

With a brief glance at the window, Bucky noticed that the snowfall had grown even stronger, thick and fluffy snowflakes coating the entire street and delicate flowers of frost already starting to spring upon the panes, adorning them with whimsical motives.

“Boys!”

Before Steve and Bucky had time to do anything else, Mrs Barnes’s voice reached them from the kitchen, rising above the music that had continued playing.

“Boys, come and set the table!”

“On it!” Her son shouted back, not a single trouble weighing his heart down as the only think he could focus on was this special night, full of the joy and warmth of sharing it with all the people dearest to him. “Shall we?” He took a look at Steve, unable to suppress a wholesome smile that he just couldn’t contain. And he didn’t want to.

“We shall,” his friend agreed, smiling back. “First to get to the kitchen wins?” and, before Bucky could answer, the blond was off.

“Steve, you have asthma!” was all that Bucky could yell after him, laughing as he trailed behind, however catching up fast.

“But I’m winning!”

A very merry Christmas indeed.

[abraxos-is-toothless]

Home for Christmas

This is my fic for the @aftgexchange winter round for @andreil-minyasten

I had so much fun writing this and I really hope this lives up to what you wanted! I actually had an idea for a part 2 to this from another bit of your prompts. If you want me to write that for you, feel free to message and ask, I’ll be quite happy to do so:)

Enjoy!!<3

--------

December 22nd

“What the hell do you mean that you aren’t going to be here for christmas, Andrew?”

Neil was beyond, angry. He was pissed. Their holiday plans had been decided back in November. Andrew would come to Neil in Boston from New York and they’d host Aaron, Katelyn from the twenty fourth before they’d meet Nicky, Erik- who were spending Christmas with Eric’s family in Germany -and the rest of the foxes down in South Carolina to spend New Years with Wymack and Abby.

But apparently, that was all going to shit, now.

“I’ve tried Neil, but flights are delayed and there’s a storm coming in. I don’t know if I’ll make it, the Mas definitely won’t.” Now he was beyond consoling.

“If you had come two days ago like you said you would, this wouldn’t be a problem. We haven’t seen each other since September.” He missed his partner, missed soft touches when they’d reach for one another in the night, he missed laying his head in Andrew’s lap while the other man read one of his newest books. Overall, he just missed Andrew.

“How many times do I have to tell you that it was Kevin’s fault I couldn’t come out when I had planned?” Neil scoffed.

“What Kevin wants has never stopped you before. Whatever, Andrew, I’m going to bed.” He ignored Andrew’s reply, hanging up and flinging his phone onto his bedside table. He was so tired of everything. Neil carried out his nighttime routine quite aggressively, flinging back the duvet with force, ignoring the constant buzzing of his phone. Tonight, the bed felt uncomfortable, lumpy and cold, so awfully cold. It had been three years of this, of the long distance, scheduling time to see each other, of having to be without one another for the majority of the year after spending four years attached at the hip while they were at PSU. The two of them, being how stubborn they both were, had sworn that the distance wouldn’t be an issue. Neil had to play with the Bobcats for two years minimum, considering it was the best contract he could get straight out of college and the closest to Andrew’s team.

Everything was great at first, wonderful even, they saw each other on as many weekends as they could, called and texted every day, and Skyped at least twice a week. But then shit went down hill. Practice built up and up if the team’s performance declined, promotions and photo shoots and team signings started taking up their free time. It was shit, they knew it was shit but, what could they do? He hated this, he hated everything about it.

His sleep that night was fitful and restless, and he was wide awake when the sun rose the next morning, yellow and orange rays of light hitting the empty spot beside him.

December 24th

Neil hadn’t spoken to Andrew since he abruptly ended their phone call two nights ago. There were several missed calls from the blonde on his phone, and many unread texts. He saw them as they came through, sometimes just his name, sometimes they asked if he was alright and ‘why won’t you pick up the fucking phone, Abram?’

Every part of him wanted to, fucking god, did he want to, but he had no idea what his brain would spout from his lips. He was terrified that the anger, the hurt of the separation, would come back full force and he’d say something awful that he’d most likely regret. That was his personal default when he was mad, finding exactly what to say that would hurt and hurt hard. So, no, he didn’t pick up the phone, he just left it alone and listened to the odd buzz as it vibrated against the kitchen counter. It was almost 8:30pm and Neil was making, or hoped to be making, cinnamon sugar cookies that would with any luck, still be warm and not burnt by the time Aaron and Katelyn arrived. They were apparently Kate’s latest pregnancy craving and he wanted for her to have them on hand so Aaron wouldn’t have to leave at some ungodly hour to get store bought ones.

There was flour everywhere and he was pretty sure there was some cinnamon on his forehead somehow, on top of that, he’d used more bowls than were actually needed for the ingredients the recipe called for but he wasn’t exactly surprised. Anything to do with cooking or baking was Andrew’s area of expertise: Neil just liked to watch, a giddy smile on his face whenever his partner whispered ‘staring’ without even looking at him. Shaking his head before he started to wallow in his own self pity, the timer to the first batch went off just as the buzzer to the apartment did. Quickly pulling out the baking tray, he placed it on the side, barely taking note of how the shapes he cut out now resembled blobs as he rushed to the door and pressed the button for the speaker. “Hello?”

“Neil! It’s Kate, Aaron is just sorting the bags and told me to come up first.” He smiled despite his somber mood for the past week.

“Come on up, I’ll buzz you in. Do you want me to wait outside the elevator for you?”

“No, no, I’ll be fine!” He agreed and let her in, wiping his hands before propping his front door open and waiting for her anyway. Before long, he was greeted with an eye rolling Katelyn, but there was a grin on her lips nonetheless. “You’re nearly as bad as my husband, I’m surprised he even let me come up on my own, but thank you.” She said, as he held out his elbow for her to take. She had begun to waddle a little now with how big she had gotten. Neil supposed that having twins made the whole process a little different.

He helped her settle into the armchair in the living room and asked, “can I get you a drink?”

“Water would be great, thanks. Also, is that cinnamon I smell?” He felt his cheeks go hot and knew he was blushing.

“You mentioned at one point on the phone that cinnamon cookies are your newest craving and so I made some for you. They’re still warm if you’d like a few?” Katelyn nodded excitedly, murmuring how grateful she was at the thoughtful gesture and he hurried off, placing a few questionable looking snowmen and coming back into the other room just as the buzzer went off again. He left the pregnant woman to devour her food and admire his sparkly Christmas tree and went to let Aaron in. When the elevator opened up on his floor once again, he was met with a ruffled Minyard twin who was surrounded by bags.

“What the hell do you bring with you?”

“Shut your mouth and help me carry this shit, would you?” Neil kept his mouth shut and hefted a couple of bags into his arms. Most went into the spare room where the couple would be sleeping and then Aaron unloaded a big bag of presents to sit underneath the tree while he went back to put more cookies in the oven, and to load a few more onto Katelyn’s now empty plate. When he came back and sat himself on the couch, Aaron seemed out of breath, hugging as he lay on the wood floor.

“I’ll ask again, how much did you bring?” The woman stuffing her face giggled as her husband giggled and replied;

“We have your presents and Andrew’s presents from us, mine and Aaron’s that we’ve gotten each other, and we brought all the gifts for when we see the others next week. Also our clothes and my hospital bag even though I have about two and a half months left.” He nodded, though he was confused on the amount of clothes. They only lived an hour away from him and could go back for more clothes before they headed to South Carolina. Neil was about to mention just that when Aaron interrupted.

“Where is my brother anyway?” Ah yes, he’d forgotten to mention that. He let his face go blank as he told them what had happened. That Andrew kept pushing it back until he couldn’t come, that they’d argued and that they weren’t currently speaking. Katelyn had something akin to pity on her face and Aaron looked as though he was angry on behalf of Neil. “What the fuck? He’s seriously going to miss Christmas with his family, with you?”

“Looks like it.”

“But since when has what Kevin wanted ever mattered to him? Unless it benefitted his own needs of course.” It was weird slowly becoming friends with Aaron and seeing that occasionally, they could be on the same wavelength and agree with each other. It was a little bit dangerous, in his opinion.

“That’s what I said.”

“Is he still going to come to Palmetto next week.” He didn’t know what to say, because Andrew could still turn up at Abby’s despite not being here now. He also hadn’t spoken to him, so he hadn’t got the chance to ask. Neil stayed quiet. Aaron looked like he was about to press for more when Kate suggested that they watch a movie together and started setting up the tv without waiting for either of them to reply. Twenty minutes into the movie, Katelyn had picked A Christmas Carol because it was a classic, Neil got the final batch of cookies from the oven and cleared down the kitchen for tomorrow. Another ten minutes after that, Katelyn disappeared to put on pyjamas and Aaron grabbed him and Neil a beer from the fridge. By ten o’clock they were debating on watching one more film or going to bed when the apartment door opened and closed loudly.

The three of them half jumped out of their seats, turning violently to see Andrew Minyard standing in the doorway, and Neil’s breath caught in his throat. He was bundled up in a thick black coat, the collar pulled up around his neck, and his black knitted bobble hat Neil had brought him last year was pulled down over his ears that he just knew would still be adorably pink at the tips. One of his hands was tucked into his pocket and the other held a large duffel bag.

“Well well, look at what the cat finally dragged in.” Both Neil and Andrew glared at Aaron, who only rolled his eyes in response to their annoyance. Turning back to Andrew he gave him one last once over before standing slowly.

“Why don’t you go and sort yourself out,” he pointed to the bedroom where their en-suite was, “I’ll be in there in a minute.” Andrew gave a curt nod in confirmation and disappeared down the hall, bedroom door shutting softly. Katelyn was speaking to him, saying that she and Aaron were going to head to bed, kissing him on the cheek and pulling her husband along. Neil’s first instinct was to run to the bedroom, wrap his partner up in his arms, kiss him until they were breathless and then never let him go again but he was still mad at him. So, he cleared the few empty cans from the coffee table, and took Kate’s dirty glass and plate to the kitchen and dumped them in the sink. He locked the door and the windows out of habit and switched off all of the lights and slowly walked to his bedroom where he knew Andrew was waiting.

When he reached the door, he froze with his hand on the handle, closing his eyes and breathing deeply several times before he forced himself to step inside. As he suspected. Andrew was now in a pair of grey sweats and, he noticed with some satisfaction, one of Neil’s long sleeve cotton shirts. This one was a navy blue and Andrew had never looked more beautiful than he didn’t now, in soft clothes, hair ruffled and his nose and cheeks still a little pink from the cold air outside. He tugged on his withering self control and stopped himself from climbing over the other man and just holding him. His mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. Taking that as a cue to start first, Andrew spoke, though Neil never expected for those words to ever come out of his partner’s mouth. “I lied to you.”

“What?” The blonde looked down at his hands, sighed, and then stood, walking and walking until he was a mere few steps away from Neil. Before, before there would be no need for that distance, because they’d healed and grown together and barely used ’yes or no’ unless it was a bad day or they were trying new things. Fuck long distance relationships.

“I lied. Kevin was never the one to keep me back in New York the first time, and there was no storm coming in to stop me from coming this time.” He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t fucking breathe.

“What the fuck? How could you lie, you swore you’d never lie to me. Why didn't you want to come, and why turn up at the last minute?” Andrew did step into his space then, on hand gripping his hip and the other linking their pinkie fingers together.

“Because there was something I was trying to sort out but those god damn stickball coaches are a pain in my ass.” Neil blinked, and then blinked a couple more times, before he was led to the bed where Andrew let go of him to dig out a stack of papers from his duffel bag and handed them into his scarred hands. “Merry Christmas, Junkie.” Okay, now he really was confused as he stared at the item in his hands with a furrowed brow. His anger was still there, but dying out slowly. He flicked through page after page eyes widening and mouth dropping open before he looked back at Andrew whose lips were quirking at his dumbfounded expression.

“You’re serious? You join the Bobcats when the new season starts?” His lover nodded.

“I’m tired. I’m tired of being away from you, of all the fighting. I’ve been working with your coach and mine to trade me with your goalkeeper, Angie. They hated it at first but I got there in the end. That’s why I’m so late, they were still hesitant about signing the damn forms.”

“So you started yet another fight with me?” In one swift movement there were hands on his cheeks and words were being breathed against his lips, sending pleasant, incredibly missed shivers down his spine as he wrapped his arms around Andrew’s waist.

“Not my finest moment, but I was trying to surprise you. Clearly, I’m not very good at it.” Neil chuckled wetly, and pressed their foreheads together.

“This is really happening?” He whispered gently.

“Yeah. I’ve still got to move all my stuff out here and things like that, but it’s real, Abram.”

“Then kiss me, you asshole, and make me forget your very bad surprise.” Andrew laughed then too, walking him backwards and pushing him down onto the bed, straddling his waist. They kissed for what seemed like hours, wrapped up and lost in one another. When they finally pulled apart, his lips felt tingly and his breathing came in pants.

That night, he fell asleep to warm sheets, a soft body behind him and cradled in a strong pair of arms. Despite the rocky start, Neil thought this might have been his best Christmas yet.

-------

I really hoped you liked it and if you do want that part two, I’ll be more than willing. I’m actually quite happy with the idea:)

[conaionaru]

Hi so I have a request, so a modern reader from like 2020 (no COVID) get thrown back in time the the Viking era and meets the Ragnar, Auslaug, and the Ragnarssons. And reader explains what Christmas is in modern time. Thank you for your time.

Vikings Christmas request

Christmas carol

I wanted to post yesterday (on the 24th) but I was running on three hours of sleep and two servings of potato salad. So here is my "masterpiece".

I don't own the gif.

(Y/N) loved wintertime: the pretty white snow, the songs, the cookies, and hot cocoa. Everything was so beautiful and nice.

Even Christmas was fun, although she had to spend it alone. Her parents couldn't come this year, so she was all by her lonesome.

It shouldn't be so bad, they will video chat the whole evening, and then after some movies, she will go to sleep.

She wished for things to be like they used to when she still believed Santa bought all the presents. It was magical back then; now, it was mostly tradition and force of habit.

(Y/N) put on some music while putting the last finishing touches to her tree. It was small and fake, but it was pretty nonetheless.

Her coffee pot was nearly done heating her water, and in time, the video chat would start. So all she had to do was pour her tea and sit on the couch.

"AAAAnd done." The red tree deco looked okay enough to let it slide. "Just the tea and some cookies. I am thinking of cinnamon. What do you think, Petunia?"

Her three-year-old mops looked up from her spot on the couch and yawned. "I take that as a yes. Or is my face boring you?"

The dog yawned again and laid down back to sleep. (Y/N) watched the lazy dog with a deadpan expression, rueing the day she let the pup get lazy like this. The dog is always like the master anyway. This way, they have at least something in common.

The (h/c) haired girl run past the couch to get to the kitchen when she tripped on the rug and face planted the ground. "Fuuuck mee."

"When you are asking so nicely." (Y/N) groaned at the teasing male voice. She was in no mood for mockery at Christmas.

Her head snapped up when her brain finally realized there was no one to talk back to her other than Petunia. And the female dog definitely didn't sound like a man. Or talk at all!

She looked at the man before her dressed in strange clothing with flaxen hair tied in braids. "Who the hell are you?"

"We could ask you the same. You are the one who fell in through the door."

"Not that we are complaining."

"Shut up, Hvitserk." (Y/N) observed the three men, all dressed in medieval clothing with braided hair.

"What are you boys doing?" A woman asked, walking into the big hall from behind a curtain. She was prettier and more graceful than any woman (Y/N) ever saw.

"She barged in." One of the boys spoke up. One of his eyes was strange and looked like a snake eye.

"I am sorry. I have no idea what happened. I was just decorating my Christmas tree when I tripped. Next thing I know, I am here." (Y/N) looked around confused as Hvitserk helped her up.

"Christmas? What is that?" The snake-eyed boy questioned.

"Christ. She must be a Christian!" The voice belonged to another boy; this one crawled next to the graceful lady.

(Y/N) shook her head rapidly when she saw the boy pull out an axe. "Christmas. You know, the holiday in winter? Gifts, fish, and decorated pine trees?"

Everyone watched her in wonder and confusion; the youngest seemed psychotic. The door opened once again, and another man walked in. This one was older and looked like the oldest of the brothers.

"She is crazy. Broke in and talked about some weird things!"

"Shut up, Sigurd! No one cares." The mother frowned at her son, and halfheartedly scolded him.

"She mentioned something called Christmas," Ubbe explained to his father, who nodded in understanding.

Ragnar walked to (Y/N) and introduced himself. "Christmas is a Christian holiday. Like Yul, but they celebrate their Jesus."

"Is this true? So you are a Christian then." Aslaug murmured and looked down at her in contempt.

(Y/N) smiled awkwardly and shook her head, trying to defuse the tension. "It is not only celebrated by Christians. Some people just give gifts to each other and spent time with their families. Eat and drink while listening to music. Not everyone goes to churches."

The family nodded and invited her to sit. They didn't think her a threat anymore. Her strange clothes and English accent were more interesting. But there were some things about Christmas that interested them more.

"The songs?"

"Yes! Are they good?"

"They are great. Some singers make Christmas themed songs. Some are catchy, others annoying. But the traditional ones are very good." Sigurd grinned at the knowledge and toasted to her words.

"What else do you Christians do?" Ivar spat. Out of all the brothers, he seemed the most annoyed with her. He hated her all the same, even if she didn't tell him what faith she had.

Ragnar found her amusing, like a child with a new puppy. Aslaug didn't trust her much while Ubbe and Hvitserk kept flirting with her. At least Ubbe wasn't so blunt about it, other than Hvitserk. He kept on suggesting showing her their traditions in bed and how good he was at them. Sigurd was cautious and Ivar hateful.

But all her talking of Christmas was making her sad. More than anything, she wanted to go home and see her parents and Petunia. Not play teacher for a bunch of Vikings. No matter how attractive they all were.

"My family used to play games to pass the time. We sang songs and told stories." (Y/N) smiled a sad smile at the memories.

Aslaug left to pray to the gods for answers. She wanted to find out how to send (Y/N) home. Ragnar left his sons with the foreigner to get ready for some sacrifice they would hold for Yul.

"Do you have some traditions that are more fun?" Hvitserk teased, leaning closer into her personal space.

"Ehm... Kissing. We kiss under the mistletoe."

Hvitserk smirked at that and ran off to find some of the plants, not giving up on his chance with the (h/c).

"You seem sad. Why is that?" Ubbe asked, watching her in confusion.

"I miss my home. My parent too, and my dog."

Ubbe and Sigurd left as well, bored by her already. Ivar was the last one left and kept glaring at her in silence. The boy made her uneasy.

He reached into his pocket and threw something at her. "My necklace?"

"You dropped it when you arrived. It has a picture in it." (Y/N) opened the necklace; inside was a photo of her with her parents when she was younger.

The (h/c) trailed her thumb over their faces, tears gathering in her (e/c) eyes. "They must be so worried. I was supposed to call them, and now I have been here for three hours."

Ivar frowned at her sentiment and left her alone too. (Y/N) sat in the hall alone, crying silently over the photo.

"Protection runes to keep you safe and return you home safely," Aslaug announced, handing the girl a wooden carving.

"Thank you." The Queen smiled at her and stalked off to start the ritual that would bring her home.

Ivar returned as well, handing her an item too. "You said you play games. Play Hnefatafl with me. And stop crying; it's annoying."

So she played with the youngest son of Ragnar Lothbrok. The boy may say what he wants, but her happiness bothered him more than he let on.

After her eleventh lost game in a row, she had enough of his teasing. "Thank you very much, Ivar. It was fun. Even though you crushed all the pride and confidence, I had."

Ivar smirked in victory, but his smile froze when he felt her kiss on his forehead. "You are nicer than you seem." He opened his mouth to tell her off, but she wasn't there anymore.

Hvitserk barged in, breathing heavily with mistletoe in his hands. Ivar ignored his annoying complaints and touched his forehead in wonder.

When he prayed to the gods for Yul to be different, he didn't imagine them sending a girl from the future. He looked down at the Hnefatafl board and smiled. He got his wish anyway.

(Y/N) woke up on the carpet to Petunias barking in her ear. The tea cattle whistled on the stove, and her phone rang loudly.

"I am home." When the words caught up to her brain, she jumped up in glee. "Petunia, I am home! I bet I was just dreaming. That's all. Just a dream from my concussion."

She walked around her apartment to turn off the cattle and pick up the call. The whole time she didn't notice the wooden carving covered in runes—the only proof of her adventure.

[bokunoheroanalysisforthefuture]

Chapter three! I already skimmed through it and just. Holy fuck I’m falling in love with this series all over again, and this is just the opening arc, how the hell is this so good??? I’m genuinely just in awe and fuck is it making it hard to decide where to have a cut-off point for this chapter. I suppose we’ll just have to see what fate decides.

(Also, the temptation to just paste in all of the last three pages of the chapter is so incredibly strong, you don’t understand.)

[No. 3 - Entrance Exam]

We start off with some exposition: UA’s hero course is designed to give students all they need to go pro, and is the toughest and most popular hero course in the country, with only a 1 in 300 acceptance rate. Discounting the four slots that are recommendation students, that’s 36 slots a year, which is about…

Yeah. That’s a lotta applications, and that’s just for the hero course! 

Several alumni are mentioned: All Might, who declined the people’s choice award; Endeavor, who’s stopped more crimes than anyone else in recorded history; and Best Jeanist, who’s won the Best Jeanist award eight years running. (One of these things is not like the other~ One of these things just doesn’t belong~) The exposition suggests that graduating from UA is basically a requirement for becoming a great hero - something which we’ll learn soon enough isn’t quite true.

But yeah, Endeavor with the record for crime handling, even above All Might. Quite the impressive hero, though that face…

Not precisely reassuring.

So yeah, Izuku here mentions the date of the exam - February 26th. I figure that this has to be a Sunday, for the simple fact that Japan has a slightly different school schedule than us. Most notably: Japanese schools (some of them, anyways) have 5.5 day school weeks. Yes, that means the first half of Saturday can still be a school day. 

While I couldn’t confirm for sure whether this is more common among the higher end schools, I feel like a school like UA, with its ‘Plus Ultra’ motto, would definitely be a school to have a half-day (or even a full day) on Saturdays, and since they also have to accomodate for middle schools that have Saturday morning classes, I figure that it would make the most sense for UA to schedule this exam on a Sunday. 

The benefits of this, as we’ve already seen, is that we can then narrow down the timeline for the rest of the series, just based on that single, confirmed date. We know from the last chapter that the Sludge Villain had to happen on a Thursday or Friday of the first week of school (April 14th/15th), with the first training session two days later (the 16th/17th). But what this also gives us is when Izuku’s first year of UA starts, AND the possible years it could start on. 

Since we see the glowing baby is in a modern hospital, we can assume that’s correlated to about our times. Give it a few generations, and we can guess that we’re in the 2200s or 2300s for the current era. Based on that assumption, we get the following years that have February 26th on a Sunday:

23rd century potential years: 2204, 2209, 2215, 2226, 2232, 2237, 2243, 2254, 2260, 2265, 2271, 2282, 2288, 2293, 2299

24th century potential years: 2310, 2316, 2321, 2327, 2338, 2344, 2349, 2355, 2366, 2372, 2377, 2383, 2394, 2400

As a side note, when I got into the series, my brain weirdly latched onto the idea that this had to all be happening in the year 2317. I don’t know why I decided on that number, but that’s what I rolled with, and hilariously I could be RIGHT about the year the current manga arc is happening in, provided Izuku’s first year is in 2316. Sometimes you just know, ya know? I know at least one other friend made these calcs independently of me and chose to run with 2237, which is totally valid! Probably makes more sense to be in the 2200s, but there’s room depending on how much time one thinks has passed.

As for when Izuku’s high school school year starts, we know that Japanese schools start on the second Monday of April. Since we don’t know if this is a leap year or not, we’ll end up with two dates, but that’s fine!

Feb 26 (Sun) -> Feb 27 (Mon) -> March (6/5, 13/12, 20/19, 27/26) -> April (3/2, 10/9)

Therefore, Izuku’s first day of classes (not counting the orientation, which I’ve seen a few other timelines assume is on the Sunday before classes start) is April 10th (or the 9th if a leap year)! I know this is all in the future from this chapter, but still, I wanted to share this at some point and figured now was as good a time as always.

Math!

Sorry, I’ve just wanted to share this math I did for a while now, I put a lot of work into it and I am very proud of it. Let’s get back to the chapter.

So Izuku lives a 40 minute train ride away from UA, and has made it just in time for the exam. Apparently, this is only the practical portion? Or well, that’s the part that gets focused on in this chapter, with no mention of the paper exam. I would imagine they’d be the same day, though? But I suppose one can do whatever they like with it.

He’s standing there looking at the school, thinking about how he didn’t have a chance to test the power, while the other students head in-

Excuse me, Toga?? I know that hairstyle is just a bit off, but… ???

...right, anyways. Izuku is wondering whether the hair really did anything (also, it was apparently sour, which, ew.) Katsuki comes up behind him and tells him to move aside.

Truly a flattering image. Izuku panics a bit and greets him, but Katsuki just walks by without another word or gesture, leaving Izuku confused as he watches him head on into the building. The narrative notes that since the villain incident, Katsuki hadn’t bothered Izuku, while the unnamed characters in the background apparently recognize Katsuki from the ‘sludge’ incident (well, not shocked how the fandom held onto that name). 

Izuku notes that he’s gotta stop flinching instinctively, and then tries to hype himself up, noting that it’s not like before, and think about the past ten months while taking a wobbly step forward- and then tripping over himself.

I’m sorry Izuku just has so many fantastic faces in this chapter I am crying trying to limit myself to just a few. But yeah, that little derp as he realizes what’s happening is adorable, especially while Ochako gently sets him back on his feet. She mentions that it’s her quirk, and apologizes for using it, but that it’s a bad omen to trip and fall. (I wonder if that gets played with again during later parts of the series… will have to check to see.)

While Izuku freaks out over talking to a girl, Ochako notes that the exam is nerve-wracking, and then heads off while wishing both of them luck as Izuku stares after. 

This fucking kid. I love him so much. His flustered excitement gets him some weird looks from the others still outside.

We transition to a new character (Present Mic) who immediately shows off his performative side by calling for a ‘hey!’ which… is met with silence from the crowd. He doesn’t let this throw him off, instead letting them know that he’ll present the guidelines for the practical, followed with a ‘YEAH!’ that gets met with an even heavier silence.

Izuku and Katsuki are seated next to each other, with Izuku descending right into excited muttering over Present Mic and how he listens to his radio show every week. Also with the assumption that all the UA teachers are pro heroes, which I mean, true, but still. Katsuki tells Izuku to shut up.

Present Mic explains the test: ten minute long ‘mock cityscape maneuvers’, with the applicants split among seven arenas, labelled ‘A’ through ‘G’. With more than 10k applicants total, that’s about…

Yeah, more than 1500 per arena. Fucking hell, no wonder the robots deplete so quickly in only a few minutes. Also of interest:

“Bring along whatever you want.” So technically, if Izuku were able to procure the tech and training to handle the robots, there would be nothing keeping him from getting into UA quirkless… though I imagine any kid who gets in mostly on tech probably gets side-eyed… though if said kid made their OWN tech, they might also get an offer from the Support department.

(AU where Mei accidentally took the heroics exam and got a shitload of points, but she ended up taking the offer for Support instead despite setting the record for most points in said exam. Katsuki forever wants to fight her. Izuku and her are good friends.)

Also, another thing I love is how Katsuki just told Izuku to shut up a moment ago, and then:

He’s the one to initiate conversation on the details of the test, basically agreeing on the reasoning behind dividing up the students between arenas. Katsuki is annoyed at not being able to crush Izuku, which has Izuku awkwardly silent. 

Also mini-Mic.

Poor, poor Mic. He just wants audience participation. Anyways, he continues on to explain the points system, with the help of cute little Mario-themed silhouettes. There are three kinds of faux villains, with different points awarded for defeating each based on their difficulty levels. Also, attacking other examinees is prohibited!

A student (cough Tenya) raises their hand to ask a question, going on to note that the handout sheet appears to have four varieties of villain, and that such a blatant error (if it is one) reflects poorly on Japan’s top academy. He then spins around and points at Izuku, calling him out for his muttering and how distracting he’s been, and that ‘if this is some sort of game to you, then please leave immediately!’ 

Is that… Mineta seated behind Izuku? I can’t find another panel that disproves that theory, so. Whelp. If you ever for some reason want to have Izuku accidentally deal with the grape early, he’s right there. 

Anyways, Present Mic brings the convo back to the initial question/comment, noting that the fourth villain is worth zero points, and is more of an obstacle. He then brings up Super Mario Brothers, the old retro game, and compares the Zero Pointer to a thwomp. There’s one per site, serving as a gimmick that’ll rampage in close quarters. Tenya thanks Mic and apologizes for the interruption. 

And so we get our final words from Present Mic:

??? either he's referencing the original guy (which I think would be a misquote because I doubt OG Nap ever noted anything like that) or some French hero or the like who took on the name.

Discord offered this to me while putting together the post:

So there you have it. Tentatively confirmed.

Those EYES man, dude’s got the Rinnegan going on.

Honestly, I have to end on this panel just because of that last line from Present Mic. Like, look me in the eyes and tell me this isn’t the exact point to end on. 

The discord’s takeaway from this:

[thefilmsimps]

Evangelion 3.0 + 1.0: Thrice Upon a Time (dir. Hideaki Anno)

-Jere Pilapil

I can’t describe how satisfying an ending (for now…?) this movie is for Neon Genesis Evangelion. I’ve watched the TV series, watched the movie that revised the ending, read the manga (by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto) and watched the Rebuild of Evangelion series. In some ways, fans have watched these characters live through hell 3, maybe 4, maybe more times. And I think creator/director Hideaki Anno is trying to express something that’s hard to express, each time he returns to the series.

The end of the TV show gets deeply abstract in its last two episodes, mostly featuring the characters talking in circles, analyzing each other. Really, it feels more like Anno is trying to sort out his thoughts for himself, using the characters to bounce his contradictory thoughts and emotions off each other. Compared to the show that preceded it, it’s at least jarring and kind of gives up on the characters in favor of making his point. The animation is deeply limited: often repeated images of the characters speaking with a black background while flashes of text prod the characters, asking questions and offering contradictions. Throughout, we see some shots of an empty theater setting (stage, lights, curtain). Shinji gets a happy ending here, but it feels weird and unearned. I can see why fans were critical of it. (The anime Bakemonogatari made these episodes its entire aesthetic.)

The End of Evangelion gave Anno another opportunity to end the series, and this one makes things much clearer, both in terms of what happened with all the giant robot shit and easing the audience into Anno’s philosophical questioning. The first half picks up where the 24th episode of the series ended and actually writes a reason for Shinji’s perspective to become abstract (to get deep into the details would both be a spoiler and require too much explanation). Here it becomes clear that some of the approach in the series was not, as rumored, a budget issue: Anno tears away the artifice of film with shots of empty and full movie theaters, a live action intrusion on the animated movie. Some parts of it feel like it’s wagging a finger at the audience that rejected the original ending. The ending is more ambiguous, tonally, but more satisfying than that of the TV show.

So Evangelion 3.0 + 1.0: Thrice Upon a Time (it’s 1.1 on Amazon due to minor revisions again between the Japanese and international releases. Art is never over!) ends the series once again. And in some ways, the three preceding movies diverted greatly but wound up in the same place: this is an abstract investigation on what it means to be human and to know humans. It’s about what it means to need a community and to know that proximity leaves you open to pain. But much like an musician revisiting an old song or Walt Whitman republishing Leaves of Grass, time gives the creator new understanding. Hideaki Anno was in his 30s at the time of the TV series and is 61 now. He’s a different person now, it would seem (and I would hope). That extra time gives this revision a gentler, more serene tone than the previous endings.

It’s a wonderful, open-hearted work. All of Neon Genesis Evangelion is, really, wearing its scarred, depressed, anxious emotions on its sleeve at all times. But this one winds up in a place that’s so much more poetic, straightforward without dumbing it down for the audience at all. As much as the mythology (the spears, Lilliths, Adams, Impacts, Instrumentality) can be confusing, emotionally, the series has always told the audience exactly what emotions it’s trying to convey in exact language. It’s just that there’s always been so much that it sometimes doesn’t leave room for much else but a torrent of words and ideas.

But that’s just the end. The rest of the movie is incredible, too. Following up from the end of 3.0, Shinji, Rei and Asuka spend the first hour of the movie living in an idyllic village. The world has near-ended a few times over at this point, so life isn’t easy. But the villagers our protagonists meet are so sweet and optimistic, I almost wish this movie could have been 2.5 hours of these characters living in tranquility. The giant robot fights are the hook, but Neon Genesis Evangelion has always done slice of life, small stakes interpersonal drama so much better. Of course, the giant robot fights accentuate and inform the quiet emotions of the smaller moments.

In the context of this movie, the action is a little more chaotic; in some bad ways a later setpiece it reminds me of The Rise of Skywalker, lacking in gravity (both literally and metaphorically) and feeling “epic” of the sake of “being epic”. But it’s also a love letter to the Evangelions - one last shot at choreographing some fist-pumping, ultra-cool moments for our pilots. And they lead directly into revelations and send-offs for some characters, fitting and beautiful and tragic all at once. It’s not perfect, but I get it.

The end of the movie, though. I’ve been thinking about it all day. It made my hear swell, soundtracked by a perfect Hikaru Utada song. Evangelion 3.0 + 1.0 works as a fitting “goodbye” to a beloved series, sure, but it’s also a tribute to the power of time to mature and clarify. Beautiful.

[nightwitchwriter]

Christmas Chapter

To those that have been reading my story, I apologized for being so late with my recent works. I managed to finish the other two on Christmas and this one before New Years. So, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Nick’s POV

I walked into the kitchen to be greeted by a giant basket filled with pears and a box filled with pear based foods, like pie, cobbler, juice, even jelly beans, which Molly was stuffing herself with.

“Where did the pears come from?”

“Faye bought them!” Molly, mouth stuffed of jelly beans

“She did?”

“Both her and her father.” mom, who came from the next room. “Molly, leave some for the rest of us.”

I stared at the packages, uncertain about its products.

“Why pears?”

“Why don’t you ask?” mom asked playfully before walking into the kitchen.

The next day, I went to the Black Cat Cafe, carrying a bag. When I walked in, it was semi-busy, with many of the tables full.

“Hello Nick.” Mrs. McCalmont, from behind the counter.

“Hi, Mrs. McCalmont. Is Wil home?”

“No, she’s helping me with a delivery. Is something wrong?”

“Uh, no, um, here.” I handed her a bag of apples. “Mom says thanks for the pears.”

“Oh your welcome. Thank you.”

As she took the apples, I struggled to ask my question, even though it may sound rude.

“Uh, what are the pears for?”

“For the 12 Days of Christmas!” Faye jumped from behind the counter, surprising me.

“12 days of Christmas? As in the song?” I questioned “So, in the place of Christmas?”

“Oh no we celebrate Christmas. Think of it as a Christmas tradition. It gets everyone in the Christmas spirit.”

“Does everyone on Arcanos do it?” Looking around, making sure no one heard me.

“You can talk about Arcanos. There’s no rule about it not talking about it. Watch. ARCANOS!”

Everyone in the cafe turned to look at us.

“Faye, stop that.” scolded Mrs. McCalmont. “If it makes you feel better, we can go into the kitchen?”

I nodded and followed them into the cafe kitchen, where I saw stuff moving by itself. The food was cooking and wrapping themselves. I saw tiny fairies flying around the kitchen as well as multiple ovens and stoves, six at least. I could smell bread baking, chocolate melting and meat roasting.

“Wow.” I looked at the whole room in amazement. One of the fairies came up to him and landed on his shoulder. She looked at him curiously.

“I hope the fairies aren’t a health code violation.” I joked

“Those aren’t fairies. They’re pixies.” explained Faye “Fairies are much bigger.”

“I see.” I looked back at the kitchen. “It’s like Merlin’s spell from the Sword in the Stone.”

“It's something similar.” Mrs. McCalmont answered, putting the apples in the center table. “It makes work a bit easier.”

“So how does the 12 days of Christmas work?” 

“Well, like the song, it lasts for 12 days, from the 12th to the 24th. For each day of Christmas, we gift that theme of the day. Like, a partridge in a pear tree.” she explained

“So, like you give out pear based presents?”

“Exactly. When I married my husband, we carried the tradition to his family, then decided to use it for the cafe as well.”

“Wow. So, if yesterday was pears, then today would be-”

“Doves!” exclaimed Faye

“Doves? Like turtle doves?”

“Uh-huh. Last year, my aunt gave me actual turtle doves.” she bragged

“Really?”

“No, she didn’t. Don’t tease him like that, or you won’t get any presents from Santa.” Mrs. McCalmont scolded

 I chuckled to myself. Felicity is the same age as Faye, but doesn’t believe in Santa anymore. “You still believe in Santa?”

“Of course I do. Why should I not?”

“Because your getting older.”

“These pixies are real.” she pointed out. “So why shouldn’t Santa?”

She had me there. I glared at the pixie on my shoulder giggling at me.

“So for the second day, what should I give?”

“Why? You want to give my sister a gift?” Faye grinned  “On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…” 

“What? No! I just saw Wil give something to Maddy today and yesterday. So, I was wondering, since its Christmas season.” For some reason, my cheeks were getting warm. Am I blushing? Why am I blushing?! Why does

“So what should I give her? And Maddy?”

“Well, the most common gifts would be turtle candies, dove chocolates, dove products or ornaments.” answered Mrs. McCalmont.

“That’s it?”

“Well, unless you have enough money to get her actual turtle doves…” she smirked “Oh, speaking of which…”

She went to the fridge and took out a paper bag. She gave it to me and I looked inside to see individually wrapped chocolate turtles inside.

“No one in your family is allergic to pecans right?” she gently asked

Christmas may be the time of generosity, but this is surprisingly generous.

Will’s POV

For the past couple of days, I’ve been getting presents. Not that it’s a bad thing. It’s Christmas season of course, but…

“Maybe you have your own Santa Claus?” questioned Maddy

We were walking through the downtown area of the town, in Arcanos. Like in Harry Potter, many of the lights and lighted ornaments were floating in mid-air.

I’ve been getting 12 days of christmas presents, but they aren’t from anyone I know. Why? Because I’ve been finding them, somehow in my locker. The same happened with Maddy, but the gifts were different. 

On the 3rd day, she got 3 hen and chicks succulent plants, while I got French perfume. 4th day. She had a birdhouse, feeder, braille book and birdseed ornaments delivered to her house. I got cell phone accessories, including a diy phone case. 5th day. Five donuts were at Maddy’s desk. I got 5 rings, two hoops and a ring. 6th day. She got a recipe for eggnog, while I got chocolate creme eggs. By the 6th day, enough was enough.

“Like a Secret Santa? No way. Who would want to be secret Santas with me?” I questioned her

“Speaking of which, does Santa really exist in Arcanos?” she asked

“In a manner of speaking, yes. He’s more of a spirit now, than an actual person.”

“Wow, that’s amazing.”

“And you know those snow globes from the movie Rise of the Guardians? There’s actual snow globes like them?”

“Really? That’s so cool!” Maddy thought for a minute. “So you really don’t know who’s been giving you those gifts?”

“I have an idea.”

“Nick?”

And this is why she is my best friend. 

“Yep.”

“Why?”

“Remember that bet we made on my birthday? He’s trying to romance me, like he does for Heather. I saw him giving her an “early” Christmas present. A plush reindeer.”

“So you aren’t upset that he’s courting you, even though he's dating Heather?”

“Not really. It’s not so bad.” I winked at her. “Plus, we're getting free stuff out of it right?”

“Hm. Good point. But are you going to get him something?”

“Oh, don’t worry. I got some ideas.” I grinned evilly

“Ooh, can I help? He gave me stuff too.” Maddy volunteered. I grinned.

“Hmmm, fair enough, alright. Come on, let’s come up with some ideas.”

On the 7th day, which was for swans, I left something in Nick’s locker, before quickly heading in the direction of mine. I turned the corner and waited until Nick came. Maddy stood next to me. After a few minutes, Nick came in with his group of friends.

“Is he here yet?”

“Yeah. Shh!”

We, well I, watched as Nick opened his locker, and a giant, white inflatable pool swan blew up in his locker. I used big magic to make it bigger. It bursted the door opened, surprising them and everyone else in the hallway. It kept growing and nearly filled the whole hallway. And here’s the best part. It fell right on top of Nick. I could barely contain myself.

“What happened?”

“It fell on top of him.”

Maddy started to chuckle too.

“Come on, let’s go.”

We hurried away to our lockers, then classes before anyone noticed.

Nick’s POV

I. Am going. To kill. Her. I don’t care what type of magic she used, I know she put that stupid swan in my locker. I even got in trouble with it. Twice! It made me late for class, since it took 15 minutes to deflate it.

What the hell?

I was trying to be nice and give her presents, and Maddy too, not because of that stupid bet, because its Christmas! Aren’t you supposed to give presents to each other on Christmas?

Fine. If she wants to be naughty, I’ll show her naughty. Ugh. That did not sound right.

Later that day, I watched Wil as she got closer to her locker.

“Uh, Nick?” I turned around to see Dylan. “What are you doing?”

“Shhh!”

I motioned him over, and we watched as Wil opened her locker and then- boof!

A small explosion of black power and black feathers covered Wil and some parts of Maddy!

“Wh-what the?”

“What happened?” asked Maddy

Me and Dylan quickly went behind the wall before we were spotted. We could barely contain our laughter.

“Holy Shit!” laughed Dylan

“How’s that for a black swan?”

“Are you out of your mind? You just pranked the Wicked Witch of Willow High.”

“I know. Just a little payback.” I turned to look at him. “Want to help me out with the next one?”

“Oh heck yes.”

The next few days continued as followed: on the 8th day, Wil got pelted with milk balloons, while Nick smelled like camebre cheese, after finding them in his pockets every five minutes. The 9th day, Nick’s locker was filled with ballet items, while Wil was scared by red dancing shoes. The 10th day, both found frogs and toads in their personal items. Wil in her book bag, Nick in his pants while in the bathroom. On the 11th day, Wil was scared by a sudden piercing from a recorder while in the bathroom, and the same goes for Nick while answering his phone. On the 12th day, Wil was woken by the sound of drums from metal rock, while Nick was kept up all night because of it. 

Wil’s POV

“That’s it! No more pranks!” scolded Mom. I was keeping the pranks on Nick a secret from her, but she managed to find out. “It’s Christmas Eve! Now make up and give him a present as an apology and a sign of actual good will.”

“But mom,...” I didn’t want to, but… I really don’t want to.

“Do it or no Christmas.” threatened my dad

I groaned. Missing Christmas is one of the worst things that can happen to anyone. I know there are thousands of people who have no choice but to miss Christmas, but its not fair for me either.

“At least call a truce for Christmas.”

I sighed. “All right. No more pranks.”

“And give him a present he’ll like, nothing cheap!”

The night before Christmas, and all through the night. Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. And it was freaking cold! I got Nick’s stupid present, but I couldn’t give it to him at school. I wanted to drop it off at his house and that’ll be it, but my parents would not accept it. Dad even threatened to call them on Christmas, just to make sure I gave him the present. So, I’m here on my broom, at his house, at night, in the freezing cold! I clutched the present closer to my chest, debating whether this a good or bad idea. Groaning, I lowered myself towards his room window.

Also, if you all are wondering how I knew where Nick’s home or even his room is, thank Dalia, due to her mischief.

I knocked on the window with the curtains closed.

“Nick!” I quietly yelled, to prevent anyone seeing me.

I didn’t hear any movement, but the lights were on.

“Nick!”

Nothing. I reached into my pocket, and took out a hag stone. A hag stone is a stone that has a natural hole inside them. Depending on how or where the stones were formed, by looking through the holes, you could see various things. The one I have is similar to the one in Coraline. So think of the had stone as x-ray vision goggles.

I looked through it and could see past the house walls. I saw Nick in his bed, sleeping.

I knocked on the window again.

“Nick!”

Seeing that he wasn’t waking up, I tapped the window lock twice. 

“Tick tock. Break the lock.”

The window unlocked and opened itself, and I climbed in.

His room is surprisingly clean, for a high school boy. I saw him in his bed and walked over to wake him. His snoring is as loud as a high school boy. I shook him as hard as I could.

“Nick! Nick! Niiiccckkkk!”

After some groans, Nick managed to slowly open his eyes. His eyes widened quickly when he saw that I was in his room.

“Holy freaking crap!” he yelled as he scrambled away from me. I just smiled.

“Merry Christmas!” I smirked

“What are you doing in my house?! How’d you get into my house?!”

“Magic. Duh.”

“How’d you even know where I live?”

“Dalia. Duh. Anymore questions?”

He was silent for a moment, before asking, “What are you doing here?”

“Come outside.”

“It is freezing outside. And it’s Christmas Eve. If this is another prank, can it wait until morning?”

“It’s not a prank. My mom wants us to call a truce for Christmas, so truce?” I ask while holding out my hand.

Nick looked at my hand, suspicious and hesitating for a bit, before taking my hand.

“Fine, truce.”

“Good. Now come outside. I have a present for you.”

A few minutes later, we were both outside in the cold. After explaining that I got him a gift, it turns out he got me one too. Then we both stood there awkwardly for the next few minutes.

“So, want to open them now?” Nick asked

“Ehhh, it kind of goes against my tradition of opening presents before Christmas. You?”

“Not my tradition.”

He quickly went to open his present.

“Woah, a toy motorcycle. Cool.”

“Press the button.”

He looked confused.

I took the toy, pushed the button, then put it on the street and stepped back. Moments later, it quickly grew in size to a rideable size. The look on Nick’s face shows that I gave him the right gift. 

“I heard from Felicity that you got your motorcycle license, so I got you this.”

Remember the boat from Ponyo? There’s a toy company in Arcanos that makes toys inspired by the film. Cost a lot, but not as much as a regular motorcycle.

“What do you think?”

The next thing I knew, he was hugging me. An actual, no hesitation hug. 

“Thanks.” he whispered

Turns out, he was saving money for a motorcycle, but wasn’t close yet. With this, he doesn’t have to save anymore. But for some reason, he now didn’t want to give me my present. He tried to take it back, but after some tugging, I won. I decided to leave before he tries to take it again, but before I did, I showed him how to make it small again. Before I flew away, I watched Nick go back inside and shut the window I opened. 

The next day, on Christmas, I opened Nick’s present first. It was a ugly Christmas sweater, with a witch in a Santa dress and hat, on a broom, with a bag of presents behind her, flying through the night sky. A ugly Christmas sweater that's witch themed. After opening the rest of my presents, it was the only thing I didn’t have anything to say about. But, I wore it on the first day back at school. 

[sxpernovagirl]

💭 ( love )

When/Where: Throughout Nova's life / Auckland & Santa Monica

About: Nova's memories surrounding love.

Triggers: Depression

January 1999 (Storge)

“I love you, mama!” Nova was two years old, it was the first full string of a sentence that she didn’t stumble over. She had scurried over to her mom and hugged her leg so tightly before the girl could head off to school. Seon-Hee froze in her tracks and smiled a watery smile, scooping up her toddler and holding her tightly. Sure, it may have made her late to school, but it was worth hearing those three words from her little star. It was Nova’s first experience with unconditional love.

August 2001 (Pragma)

Nova silently giggled to herself as she learned to play Christina Aguilera’s Genie in a Bottle on piano. With each note she was surrounded by a smoky swirl of turquoise, blue, and a lime green. She would sing along to see a trail of smoky gold leave her own lips. It was her own little secret, but one of the reasons why she loved music so much. While the world around her was so colorful, music added its own flair to it. From the greens and blues of Genie in a Bottle to the bright reds and blues of Jumpin’ Jumpin’ by Destiny’s Child and the pinks and yellows of Mariah Carey’s Fantasy, her life would always be filled with color. She loved it so much that she wanted to just be like the pop greats, to make her own music and connect the colors together, to create her own rainbow.

So when Seon-Hee asked little Nova what were the giggles about, the little one could only turn around and shrug.

“I just really love music!”

December 2004 (Storge)

“The day I fell in love with you was the day you shared your ice cream with Nova, who was no more than two and a half at the time. She didn’t ask for it, but you just offered it to her and her whole face lit up. It was like, you knew what she was thinking…and it was like you knew right then and there what to do…”

Nova eagerly watched Seon-Hee and Oliver say their vows, their eyes were watery and their voices slightly shaky. It was like a fairytale. Her mother was in a beautiful white gown and her now, father was in a suit only seen in storybooks. Her eyes sparkled at their first kiss as husband and wife and all little Nova could think was how she wanted a fairytale just like her parents. It was beautiful, it was magical. Everyday she would wake up and see them both in the kitchen gazing at each other with love in their eyes.

June 2013 (Mania)

“I’m in love with you, Nova!”

Nova’s heart dropped to her stomach at the phrase. This wasn’t what love was. It wasn’t fighting outside after school in front of her house. It wasn’t mascara running down her face in frustration. This wasn’t what it felt like. She didn’t feel the world slow down or her heart soar. She felt angry, dejected, hurt.

“No you don’t!” She fired back in between sobs. “You don’t love me, you don’t know what you’re talking about. You don’t just make me feel like shit and then say you love me, that’s not how it works!” She called out to her boyfriend—well soon to be ex.

“Well what do you know, anyways?!”

“I know that we’re done, that’s for fucking sure!” Nova yelled at the top of her lungs.

June 2014 (Eros/Philia)

“Nova, what if I said that I—“

“Please don’t.”

“But I—“

“No you don’t.”

Nova slid her shorts back on as she was getting ready to leave. The guy that she had a spring fling with had definitely caught feelings and with him catching feelings meant the charade would be over. It sucked, he was really great and knew what he was doing and what she liked, but…she couldn’t pursue anything further. Maybe because of the fact that there wasn’t that romantic pull towards him. He was shallow and vain, often thinking more of himself than he did other people. Somehow, she managed to get him to open up, to see past the facade, but she sure as hell didn’t expect for him to fall for her. Either way, it was over.

“So what does this mean?” He asked.

“It’s gotta end. We can’t continue down this road because your emotions will just keep getting in the way and I just don’t see us together romantically.”

“Thank you for being honest, Nov.”

She nodded with a small grin and grabbed her sneakers and made her way out of the room, dignity intact and all.

January 2017 (Storge)

“I don’t love myself enough!” Nova had snapped in front of everyone between her friends and her parents. She had spent the last few weeks isolating herself, completely shutting everyone out. She had stormed off, tears in her eyes and while some of them tried chasing after her, Seon-Hee held everyone off to catch up with her daughter.

Depression was one hell of a thing that would take hold of Nova like a snake strangling its prey. She would feel stuck and suffocated, the light from her eyes would dim…but this time, her eyes were completely void. It was the lowest she had ever been and those who really knew saw it.

Seon-Hee held her daughter tightly trying to keep the 20 year old from completely crumbling. Reminding her that she was loved and sometimes, there would be days where she wouldn’t be too proud of herself, but that no one loved her less on the days where she couldn’t love her own self.

October 2020 (Philia/Philautia)

“I really love you guys,” Nova slurred drunkenly. It was her 24th birthday and she was surrounded by her friends, well, her family as she called them. While her glitter was smeared now and appeared that she had been crying glitter, she felt happy. This was what love felt like to the young woman. It felt warm and comforting, just like home as she tried to pull everyone into a group hug…and at least sucker someone into carrying her because there was no way she would be able to walk on her two feet without looking like a baby deer just learning how to use their legs.

As she was being hauled out of the bar, she stopped in front of the reflection and smiled. “Hey hey wait wait wait,” She slurred, flailing her hands. “I look so prettyyy!! Oh my gosh! I didn’t know I looked so pretty tonight! Did anyone tell me I was pretty? It’s okay, I know I’m pretty. Go Nova, you a baddie,” She giggled, blowing a kiss to her own reflection before being hauled out once more. If there was anyone who had enough self-love for themselves, it was definitely Nova…especially after a few drinks.

July 2021 (Eros)

“Hey google, what is love?” Nova asked, her voice raspy and heavy with exhaustion. It was 3am and her parents were away for the evening catering for a wedding.

“Love is an intense feeling of deep affection.” Her Google radio responded back.

It wasn’t enough for Nova and she huffed. All she could think about was what Soo and Mimi had said…

“It may be more than a simple crush Nova, sometimes when you really know the person, and they know everything about you…those feelings grow more into something like love.”

"Love is a strong word though. And it's not always what you might expect."

She should’ve asked them that night what it felt like. Suddenly, she wasn’t sure what she felt. She sat in front of her laptop with a pen and her journal open as she tapped nervously, reading through every meaning of love. From the Greek meanings of the different type of love, to philosophers, authors, and poets.

“What does it feel like?” She wondered aloud. Romantic love. Was it all consuming? Was it feeling your heart skip a beat? Was it the way your whole chest burst into a flutter or an electric tingle up your spine?

She wasn’t sure what love was anymore…but she felt all of the above.

[folkloreguk]

❄️December 17th

A/N: I hope everyone is having a good day!!! It’s already the 17th aaah we’re so close to Christmas! I’ve got more ideas for the advent calendar than I can probably write until the 24th...but I might just write them either way and just post them as individual scenarios later on...Also thank you for anyone who sent me ideas for scenarios!

genre: fuff, comedy?, optional bias (male), H/N= his name

words: 1.5k

“Are you nervous?” your roommate asked, watching you run around the living room in panic.

“Is it very obvious?” you asked, worried he would notice. Why would you be nervous, you may ask? You were about to go on a date with the guy you had been in love with for an entire year.

“Honey, you look like you’re about to burst of stress,” she said, not exactly making you feel better. “It’s gonna be okay, he likes you too.”

“What if he realizes he wants to stay friends with me instead of dating me?” you asked, hectically searching for your purse in the wardrobe.

“He wouldn’t have asked you out if he had wanted to stay your friend!” she exclaimed. 

“He asked me-,” you said, running towards the bathroom, “Because you dared him to go on a date with me…during truth or dare!”

“So what? Didn’t you see his face when I said it? He’s so crushing on you,” she shouted from the living room. Hastily, you brushed your hair for what felt like the tenth time that day. After checking your makeup, you ran back towards the living room.

“Have you seen my-,” you started, but you were never able to finish the sentence. Because that moment you tried to round the corner, you hit your toe on the doorframe. Hard. A painfilled noise came from you, as you jumped around on one leg, waving your hands in the air like it would have made the pain go away.

“Oh my god, what happened?” your roommate came running.

“My toe,” you whined, holding your foot in your hand. “This can’t be happening right now!”

“Come on, sit down for a moment, I’m sure it’ll go away quickly,” your friend assured you, helping you to the sofa. “I’ll get you some ice.”

So you sat down, freaking out because your date was less than ten minutes away, and your toe felt like someone had dropped an elephant on it. A minute later your friend brought you a pack of frozen peas, making you hiss when she held it onto your little toe. But soon you realized, the longer you waited, the worse the pain seemed to become.

“Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh-“ you panicked.

“Is it really that bad?” your roommate asked. “As much as I know you hate it, I think we should go to the hospital if it’s not getting better.”

“I’m supposed to be at this restaurant in ten minutes and I’m already late,” you said.

“Do you really want to go out to eat now, with a possibly broken toe?” your friend looked at you like you were crazy. Maybe she was right. “I’ll drive you to the hospital. You can call him on the way there. You can meet another day.”

Feeling bitter at no one in particular, you nodded slowly, without liking the idea. After putting on only one of your shoes, you let your friend help you get to the car in front of the house. The second you had sat down, you pressed your pack of frozen peas to your toe and fiddled around in your bag. Finally, you had found your phone.

“He won’t be upset, stop worrying so much,” your friend tried to cheer you up.

“It’s not even that…I was just so excited,” you admitted. “He’s not picking up.”

“Maybe he’s turned his phone on silent,” your friend said. “It’ll be fine, just send him a message.”

So you did. Throughout the entire ride to the hospital, you checked your phone over and over. You were so focused on it, you almost forgot about the pain in your toe for a while. But even when you pulled up into the parking lot, he hadn’t replied. Your roommate helped you out of the car and lead you inside.

“Watch where we’re going and stop staring on your phone!” she reminded you. The emergency room was fuller than you had expected. When you checked in and talked to the lady taking your information, she told you to simply take a seat and wait.

For a while you sat with your friend, not talking too much and taking in the atmosphere. Even though you couldn’t see them, there were at least three children crying somewhere, almost every seat around you was taken, and Christmas music was playing lowly. And he still hadn’t replied. You thought you were going mad.

“I need the restroom, just wait here, okay?” your friend said.

“Like I could go anywhere in this state,” you joked. While she walked away, you pulled out your phone again. The more you stared at the screen without any notifications, the more worried you became. What if he was sitting in the restaurant, thinking you stood him up? Once again, you dialed his number, trying to reach him.

“Y/N?” you suddenly heard a familiar voice. Clearly, it was him – but the tone had not come from your phone. You looked up, and saw him coming towards you.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

“I could ask you the same thing,” you said. “I’ve been trying to reach you because I thought you’d be in the restaurant…alone.”

He sat down in the empty seat your friend had used before.

“I was on the way there, and slipped on ice,” he said, holding up his hand. “I tried to block the fall with my arm, and I guess now my hand might be broken.”

“Oh no, I’m so sorry,” you said. “I can’t beat your story. I literally just hit my toe on the doorframe.”

He only now seemed to notice your foot which was propped up on a bag on peas. When you bent down to pick it up, he started to laugh. Slowly realizing the irony and coincidence of the situation, you couldn’t help but join him.

“Do you need some ice?” you offered him the peas. “Though, they’re not exactly frozen anymore.”

“At least you’ve got a snack, if you need one,” he joked. “I haven’t eaten in forever because I knew the restaurant would serve big portions.”

You genuinely debated whether you should have opened the pack of peas.

“I’m so sorry,” you apologized again.

“What for?” he asked. “If only one of us had hurt themselves, we would have not seen each other tonight at all. And that would have sucked. So thank god we’re both clumsy.”

“Should I be honest? I was running around at home because I was so excited to see you…that’s why I hit my toe,” you said. He grinned as if you had complimented him. “Does your hand hurt badly?”

“How flattering. You’re definitely the first person who broke their toe for me. That shows commitment. I like it,” he said, making you laugh. “And no, actually since I saw you I’ve kind of forgotten about the pain.”

Now you weren’t only laughing, you were also shy at his words. But you found truth in them. You, too, didn’t seem to notice the agony you had been in earlier. Even though you had been friends for a year, he had never really flirted with you, making you even more flustered that he did now. And you noticed, talking to him was easy. Usually, you talked with a group of friends, and barely ever alone. Now you finally did, and even though you were nervous, he made it clear he was happy to see you too, making you feel more comfortable.

Only a few times you thought of your roommate, who had been gone for around half an hour. When you checked your phone, there was a message from her, reading “I’ll be back in a bit.”

You had no idea what she was doing, but you were too busy admiring H/N’s lovely smile and laughing at his lame jokes to even wonder. Only when you hear her voice suddenly, you turned in her direction.

“One extra large pizza for two,” she sang, holding a box as if she was a waiter at a restaurant. She placed it on your lap, and you gave her a puzzling look.

“What?” she asked. “I saw H/N and couldn’t stop laughing so an old lady asked me if I was okay…anyway that’s besides the point. I thought I’d leave you guys alone and instead get you something to eat. That’s what you had planned to do tonight, after all. And now I’ll go somewhere else again, and you’ll call me when you need me, okay?”

She was looking at you with the same smug smile she had given you when she had dared him to go on a date with you.

“Thank you,” H/N said, smiling at her and then grinning at you.

“My pleasure,” she replied. Then, she spun around, and walked off. You couldn’t help but laugh, and so did he.

“You’ve got yourself one hell of a matchmaker as a roommate,” he said. And that was the story of how you ended up having an unforgettable first date in the emergency room of the hospital. And even though you both had a broken bone, the date was a successful one, you may add.

[cdyssey]

Miscalculations

Summary: The toll of being in the multiverse for too long finally exacts its price on Olivia Octavius. A/N: I've been babysitting for family friends these past two days, and the little one made us watch *Into the Spider-Verse* five times over, so I wanted to write something.

AO3 Link At the end of Olivia Octavius’s world, there is blood, so much of it, too much—staining her shirt dark around her midsection where old incisions are prying themselves loose, and dribbling warningly down her mouth in a thin line.

Cellular decay.

Accelerated decomposition.

As her erythrocytes continue to implode upon themselves, her organs will shut down one by one until the lack of oxygen finally squeezes upon her tired heart like a vice.

She was out of her own dimension for too long.

If you stay in this dimension too long, your body’s going to disintegrate. Do you know how painful that would be, Peter Parker?

She thought she could have control of the multiverse if only she could stabilize her body with exposure to gamma radiation, theorizing that the treatment would do as it had done for the infamous Bruce Banner and reinforce her cellular structure—but she miscalculated.

And Olivia never miscalculates.

No, that isn’t true, an awful voice in her head says, right here and right now, on her fucking death bed. Her conscience has always gloated rather than informed. You miscalculate all the time.

“No, goddammit,” May Parker growls. “You do not get to leave like this.” 

Surprise jolts through her unpleasantly considering everything that is happening to her body; with an effort that isn’t minimal, the physicist opens her eyes to see a familiar shape kneeling by her side, pressing gnarled hands to her stomach wounds, desperately trying to staunch the bleeding.

But there is so much of it, too much.

Out of the periphery of her eye that isn’t blackened, she can see the shadows of the various Spider-Fools simply standing a few feet away, watching. For they understand, better than maybe most, that there is nothing to be done, no more fight to be had.

May Parker’s hands are vivid with her blood, drowning in it.

“What?” Olivia attempts a bloodied smile that doesn’t quite cut through the pain in her eyes. “You want me to walk away in cuffs? Cheeky, cheeky, May Parker. I thought you were oh-so-straight-laced.”

“Shut up,” May snarls, and the scientist is startled to see that there are tears in her cornflower blue eyes, threatening to spill over, to leak, to pour.

And then she knows.

She knows, she knows, she knows.

That May Parker still loves her, too.

That maybe she never stopped.

And the realization of it takes her breath away, what little of it is that is left.

“May,” she says, her voice surprisingly soft, even though her shivering hands are firm as she slowly brings them up to rest upon the other woman’s. “Cellular decay. Multisystem organ failure. Within a few minutes, I'll likely go into cardiac arrest. It will be quick, maybe even painless.”

“No,” May mutters. “No, no, no. We could get you to a hospital, offset the worst of your symptoms until we can regenerate cellular life in you. An ambulance is coming. ETA five minutes.”

“You’re thinking with that big, ‘ole heart of yours again.” The thing Olivia loves and hates most about the old bat—how much she cares. It’s sickening. It’s stupid. It’s wonderful. “I’ve lost too much blood, and my exoskeleton implants are compromised, which—“

But May cuts across her with an explosive swear.

“—likely means that your spine is also compromised,” she finishes, eyes closing in horror. 

Liv smiles weakly, a gesture which ends in her coughing up phlegm and blood.

“Correct.”

Doc Ock’s comeuppance has finally arrived, both decades late and years too soon. It is quieter than she imagined it would be, less of a kaleidoscope of many colors than it is a coagulated darkness. She can see black beginning to edge upon her vision, eradicating the excess, eliminating anything that isn’t May Parker.

How fitting.

“I went to twenty-seven different dimensions, May,” she whispers, “and they were all so beautiful—vivid, unique, and extraordinary, each a fully realized universe unto its own...”

When she closes her eyes, she can conjure them even now, the shapes of them, their textures, their scientific impossibility... and it is with awful reluctance that she pries them open again. The darkness is so soft and inviting. Oblivion isn’t as scary as she had imagined it to be.

Maybe she can explore its expansive confines, understand it in the same way she does quasi connectivity in dimensional warping.

Or maybe Olivia Octavius can simply rest.

That might be a nice change in pace.

“Liv...” May whispers, though, and it’s more than enough of a reminder for the sole reason she’d ever stay if she had a choice.

(She doesn’t have a choice.)

“And in every world, I did what a scientist just a tiny bit full of herself would naturally do. I searched myself out. In every dimension... and I asked myself, damn, do I really look like that? In eighty-nine percent of the worlds, I had a bowl cut, May! A godawful bowl cut!”

“Is this really what you want to talk about?”

“Yes—I mean no. No.” Olivia’s dark brow furrows as she herself tries to remember the point of bringing up the twenty-seven universes and the self-exploration and the bowl cuts. Her brain’s a little wonky at the moment, dull and heavy, like a rock sunk in a lake.

But then it hits her.

Realization and remembrance.

Dimension 24. Earth C-432.

The cats. The apartment in Brooklyn. The cozy sweaters. The peace.

“In the 24th iteration of Earth I visited, I looked a lot like I do now—geeky, foxy, big hair, and less than enviable eyesight... I was intrigued naturally, and so, when I found out where I lived, I paid myself a little visit.”

She knocked politely on the door before not so politely letting herself in, tentacular extensions swarming.

She always did like a dramatic entrance.

Fuck, Olivia J. Octavius moaned. I invented inter-dimensional travel again.

May E. Parker looked up from her mug of coffee and simply raised an unimpressed brow.

Well, at least you didn’t smash the door this time.

“I'd... she’d never gotten the implants, so she was paralyzed from the waist down... do y’know what that means?”

Of course May does.

Beneath Liv’s hand, her knuckles tense, the ridges warm against her cold palm.

“We never separated then,” she rasps, her voice strained, a hundred emotions thick. “I must have taken you home from the hospital, like I told you I would.”

“Yeah.”

A single tear leaks out of the corner of Olivia’s blackened eye, dripping down her cheek and falling away. If she'd been able to, she would have tried to wipe it away before May Parker could see.

“Were we happy, Liv?” She whispers, and she looks guilty about it. She has never cared much for hypotheticals, while Olivia built her entire career upon them—a delicate balancing act, always doomed to collapse one day.

She just never wanted to admit it.

Indeed, she just wanted to see how high she could go.

She didn't want to touch the stars.

She wanted to rip open the fabric of the fucking universe.

“We have two cats, one called Marie and the other Curie... and we live together in an apartment in Brooklyn. Nice place. There’s a Dunkin’ Donuts just around the corner. Parker visits at least three times a week unless he’s busy saving the city or the world or whatever the hell else he has it in his mind to save. He has a kid—a boy named Ben, but everyone calls him Fox because of the hair.”

We like to beat each other at Scrabble, even though we’re both sore losers. Four times a week, we head up to Columbia to do guest lectures on particulate matter and cellular structure and quantum physics. You’ve organized all of our medicines in alphabetical order, and I tease you about it because of course I do. Once a month, we replace the flowers on Ben Parker’s grave and have a picnic in the cemetery. We’re thinking about moving to a tiny house on Long Island that’s more wheelchair accessible, and we can hear the ocean every time we wake up in the morning side by side. There are wedding bands on our fingers, simple, understated, even though I'm pretty fucking sure they're made of anti-metal. In a different world, in an entirely separate universe, we are together forever, as long as we both shall live.

“I think so. I think we were happy,” she finishes quietly, “but I didn’t stay long enough to know for sure.”

“Too bad,” May Parker finally says, her tears falling freely now.

With the last of her strength, Olivia squeezes her hand.

“I... I heard myself say one thing, though, right as I was leaving.” 

By leaving, she left a gaping hole next to their door just for the hell and spite of it. 

“I chose correctly, it seems.”

In that warm apartment, May E. Parker laughed bluntly before she returned, quite dryly, You never miscalculate, do you?

“Never.”

Always.

Olivia Octavius miscalculates all the time.