#I can't even bring myself to put this in the pitch perfect tag

[harleyshahas]

[5 comfort characters and 5 tags]

I was tagged in something!!! Holy shit, thank you @heartlessfujoshi !!

So uh... there's been so many characters over the years it's hard to narrow down to just 5! But there are ones that I always find myself coming back to for one reason or another so we'll start with:

Sora (Kingdom Hearts) - My son. My sweet baby boy. My beautiful sunshine boy. This kid makes me cry every single time I play these games, without fail. I know a lot of people latch on to Riku for one reason or another, and I know there was a lot of Sora hate when Two came out, but I have grown up with Sora, and I love his drive, his commitment, his optimism. Hes not afraid to rely on his friends, and he's been able to find the light in the dark every time his circumstances spiral, and there's been so many times in my life where I've needed that, and I just appreciate it so much in him.

Sly Cooper (Sly Cooper/Sly Raccoon) - this one's a little embarrassing, but I can't make this list without him. If there's one game I go back to more than KH, then it's the Sly series. In the words of Kevin Miller, he's cool, he's calm, and he has a sexy voice. It's a game I love to play on a rainy day, and I love watching Sly grow into himself as both a thief and a person, learning to rely on his friends, living up to his family name, and then learning to let it go when the time finally comes. He's wonderful and I adore him.

Yugi Muto (Yu-Gi-Oh) - oh boy. He's sunshine and sweetness and adorable, and I won't hear a bad word about him! YGO was my very first fandom. It introduced me to online spaces like forums, DA, LJ, and ffnet. Once again, here is a character who's not afraid to rely on his friends, who can find light in the dark places, and is incredibly driven (I'm sensing a theme here...). He wants nothing but the best for the people around him and I just love him so, so much.

Eggsy Unwin (Kingsman) - He's just... He's a near perfect character! Kingsman is easily one of my top two favorite movies, and Eggsy is such a big part of why it's a great movie. His family is broken when he's a kid, he grows up in a terrible environment but still recognizes that his mum did the absolute best that she could for him and he loves her regardless. He loves his baby half sister and wants the best for her, but because of his circumstances he can't provide that for her. Even after he's offered a way out, he still has trouble getting over his flaws, with reconciling who he's been and what he wants to become, and he's willing to put forth the effort to make the changes he needs to make to become that better person. He's kind, he's determined, he's a snarky shit, and he's great.

Jack Skellington (The Nightmare Before Christmas) - if there's one movie I've seen more than Kingsman, more than any other movie I've ever watched, it's TNBC. Jack is someone who is just... tired. He's so tired. He's tired, he's bored, he's done with everything, and everyone around him. He's lost his drive, his spark, his reason for being. He's the embodiment of depression. People like to give this movie a lot of flak, and I get it, but it's a simple movie with a simple story, and it's this one guy trying to validate his reason for being. And along the way, he loses a little bit more of himself. He doesn't even see that it's happening, but the ones closest to him? Zero and Sally, they try to help him see, they try to bring him back, but Jack's so blinded by this new shiny thing that he can't see that he's losing more than just himself. It's not until it's too late, until he's put himself and Zero into harm's way that he finally realizes that he needs to better himself, for himself, for his friends, and for his town. He learns to recognize he's in a depressive spiral and resolves to do better, to be better, and see what he's had all along.

Some runners up include: Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, Jim Hawkins, Danny Fenton, Vlad Masters, Pitch Black, Jack Frost, Dipper Pines, Stan Pines, Hiccup Haddock, Seto Kaiba, Garrus Vakarian.

5 tags: @creamsodaprince @gilly-moon @ashgunnywolf @bunnimew @dennyz-backroom

[becasbelt]

the bellas as @chloebeale's wildest anons

Beca: ever wondered if you might have some narcissism? serious question, i sometimes wonder if i have some.

Chloe: some people have sex injuries, and some people, let’s call them me, have a fapping injury which flares up from time to time.

Aubrey: Remember, it’s better to walk in on both of your parents doing it than just one of them.

Emily: You ever wonder how long it took Adam and Eve to figure out what went where? Like what was that process like, did he put it in her nose, or her ear, or under her arm, before finally figuring it goes in the vag? These are the things I think about…

Fat Amy: 69’ing is overrated. The 96 is where it’s at. That’s an upside down 69, where y’all’s arses lay on the back of your partner’s head. Farting is optional.

Stacie: help! stuck in horny jail and need to raise money for bail!

Cynthia-Rose: If they started making donuts that taste like vajay, would you try one?

Flo: Did you know that when men are captured by cannibal tribes, just before they boil them, the tribal leaders show the men pornographic images so that they get an erection and there’s more meat on them?

Lilly: would you ever have sex in the woods? or a graveyard?

Jessica and Ashley: vanilla sex is the best sex 🥰

[vegandoughnut]

PART 5: Are You Kitting Me?

"You're good to go, Anekke" says Stephen, scribbling on his clipboard as if he were actually using it for something. Anekke frowns.

"I can't just finish the hour?" She presses, nearly pouting.

"Fine but make sure you clock out on the dot. I just don't have the patience this evening" Stephen says, voice laden with an exhaustion that doesn't even make sense. Anekke continues to spray some of the food prep surfaces with the natural mint scented surface cleaner and wipes with the cleaning rag.

Humbert hums in a whiny pitch as he adds the finishing touches to another serving of the Fall Special. Black anise waffles, vibrant orange pumpkin ice cream, chocolate chips and raisins, cat face drawn with chocolate or molasses. The ingredients seem to have plastered themselves all over Anekke's brain. She mutters them to herself as she cleans.

"What's that?" Comes Humbert's voice.

She ignores him, almost laughing with relief when Kitt joins them behind the counter. Kitt looks tired, with dark circles forming under her eyes. She flashes a smile to counter it.

"You need a coffee" Anekke says.

"You've never been more right" Kitt replies, picking up the staff french press off the ceramic hot plate, and pouring herself a mug of aromatic medium roast. "I have like five minutes to snag Gary Nygard's autograph but I just can't bring myself to. This is a once in a lifetime thing. Like. He's going back to Finland at some point. The band doesn't even tour anymore. Today literally feels like a weird dream and I don't know how to move. Like I'm walking through invisible cake batter or something"

"This is not a therapy session. You have a customer Kittie" says Humbert. Kitt sucks her teeth before turning to face the rest of the cafe to take a customer's order.

"You know we already have a supervisor and a manager right?" Anekke says through clenched teeth. Even if Humbert had said it to Kumlyun instead of Kitt, she would still jump in on the defense. She was getting tired of Humbert's antics, and was glad she'd be going home soon.

Humbert grunts and gets back to putting together a catering box.

"Wow" says Anekke, shaking her head.

A customer walks up to the bar holding Salem, the chill black cat purred softly in his arms. He orders an oat milk vanilla shake. She let's Kitt take that order, then goes back to cleaning, annoyed that earlier Kumlyun had implied the mess was made by her, when really it was probably Harper who was often sloppy with the food prep and forgetful of cleaning up. But at least she made Kumlyun look bad by implying she came in on her day off on purpose.

Finally some serenity blankets the cafe when all the customers are seated and eating, drinking or petting or feeding the cats they were paired with. Anekke quickly checks her pocket planner and crosses off a few things she remembered to do.

Memorize the recipe for the blueberry muffins by heart. Check. Disinfect the sink. Check. Renew library checkouts online. Check. Schedule a dentist appointment for next week. Check. Organize the discarded customer cards into her little file folder. Check.

"Anekke"

Anekke nearly jumps out of her skin when Kitt places a hand on her shoulder from behind.

"You scared me Kitt" she says, stealthily shrugging out from under her hand.

"I seem to do that for a lot of people" she says with a frown. "Anyway, what time are you leaving? so I know when to mentally prepare for the next few grueling hours behind this counter"

"Honestly just 30 minutes to go" says Anekke, taking a sneaky bite of the energy bar she hid in her half apron.

"Okay. Thanks" says Kitt.

Carl turns to look at the counter and smiles warmly when he coincidentally catches Anekke's eye. She smiles back quickly but goes back to her resting face just as soon.

"Hey Carl, want to cover for me real quick?" Kitt calls from the bar, undoing her waist apron.

Carl walks over immediately, and almost trips over a feathered pet toy but regains his balance without much embarrassment. Anekke watches intently. Still nervous, that one.

"You'll be working with the pretty blond, she should have no problem drawing in lots of orders so you can take a few pointers" says Kitt to Carl. Anekke's head spins upon hearing the strange sentence, and she wonders what Kitt was really saying. She had to force herself not to spiral into the whirlpool forming inside of her. What does she mean? What does that mean? Is it face value? Is there a joke or jab hidden in the arrangement of the words? Why does Kumlyun complain so much? Does Kumlyun whisper lies about Anekke to Kitt? Is Kitt trustworthy? Is Kitt priming Carl against her? She said "pretty blond". Maybe she should go to HR about Kitt. That'll make things make sense.

Carl and Kitt switch places. Carl ties a waist apron on and picks up a few beechwood mixing spoons. Why?

"Break a leg" Anekke tells Kitt who walks carefully towards Gary Nygard. Kitt flashes a confident cheese smile before heading straight for the Special Guest, the charming gothic rock star who had been in the cafe since before noon.

Anekke had thought he'd looked familiar, then realized he was a member of a band that had been really popular back when she was in high school. Yuck, she thinks, picturing those cringey teenage years in her mind with distaste. It was hard to imagine Kitt was one of the spooky kids who were obsessed with vampires and fingerless gloves, but who would've imagined that "pretty blond" Anekke was a nerd with no friends? The one who, even if she tried to make a joke, it came off as awkward or distasteful? Why were these things bothering her so suddenly?

20 minutes pass. Two customers came. Carl had watched eagerly when Anekke operated the waffle maker which she hated completely. The waffles would sometimes have holes in the outer pockets around the edges if the batter didn't spread perfectly. That's why she hated it.

"See you guys on Thursday" Anekke says, gathering her khaki trench coat, personal mug and backpack. It was without really looking at anyone in particular.

A few co-workers say bye in friendly voices. Why so friendly? Do they think she's stupid? Childish?

Then Carl says, "thanks for the tip about the waffle maker. I'm sure people prefer a perfect waffle over the skeleton of one" he says with a warm smile, trying to make her laugh probably. Anekke nods then goes out the door, relieved beyond words.

Kitt pulls her fingers through her dreads, which were the color of fallen leaves--- the characteristic Autumn hue between plum and red. She felt just slightly embarrassed to meet one of her teenage rock idols looking like a millennial-barista-spoken-word-slam-night-attendee-who-keeps-a-million-potted -succulents-around-their-house person, but so it goes. Some of teen-life's craziest caterpillars emerged from their cocoons as less stand-outy butterflies.

But there he was. Gary Nygard looking exactly the same, though less dressy, as she remembered during the heyday of Finnish metal's popularity in her generation. Jetty curtains of hair. The cozy cat skull sweatshirt over the pants with the boots. Gosh his legs were so perfectly thin. Kitt shakes her head.

"Darling" Nygard's voice steals Kitt's attention as he strokes just under the fuzzy siamese cat Sandra's chin. He is smiling slightly. "Is all well?" he says nodding towards her, like he could sense her trepidation, "this is a lovely place, beautiful really. Tell your boss, see, to keep doing whatever he or she is doing to keep it going. The cats are so dear, and you, all of you, have been lovely hosts"

He's so sweet and down to earth and candid and Scandinavian and beautiful and what inspired that song.... and will the band ever get back together and what does he do now that the band is... omg stop brain, stop it.... Kitt thinks.

"How long has the place been running for? It seems like a very hip sort of thing, an import, from Japan maybe... lovely country, Japan. They're very nice there" he continues as Sandra squirms and scratches at his sweater. But Gary Nygard is on to the silly cat, trying to distract her by scratching behind her ears while her head is turned in the opposite directions.

Kitt's mouth opens and closes. She blinks a mile a minute yet there's no wind in her face.

"Just a few years" Kitt responds, finding her composure again and holding onto it for dear life. "Yeah cat cafes, well, themed cafes in general, seem to be way more popular over there. This is kind of a knock---"

"A knock-off, but very nice" he finishes for her with a chuckle. He scratches his head then throws back the last of his green smoothie, Sandra sitting snugly nuzzled into his side on the velvet highback chair. Kitt watches the bob of his Adam's apple as he swallows the drink, the pale white of his throat exposed and blinding.

Suddenly she forgets that she can language, and just clasps and un-clasps her hands.

"It was lovely. Truly" he says, getting up from the chair. All 5'10 of him. Sandra scampers off across the cafe to bother some of the other kitties. "Kittie? Was that your name? Good girl" he mutters, pulling on his faux fur jacket. Kitt stands there dumbly.

She is frozen as he crosses the room towards the front door. She pretends to go fix tables near there then discreetly says, "wait. Sorry just a minute"

He stops and turns to face her, pulling a dark grey beanie over his hair and looking more and more like a mysterious pedestrian, becoming less and less real at the same despite. He was crossing the threshold of Kitt's world, reality, back into the far away world of teen angst nostalgia and dreams come true and old fires doused.

"I was a big fan when I was high school..." she says, quietly, softly, only he could hear.

He grins. A warm and genuine smile that touches his eyes that turn up slightly at the outer corners, like a cat's. He hands her his VIP customer lanyard and tag with his name and personality notes on there in his real life, almost-neat handwriting. The one thing customers usually toss.

"Thank you for today, Kittie" he says, with a brief, too light pat on her shoulder.

Then he's out the door.

Just like that.

A dream.