#they have a very specific iris that looks like a burst of red

[percexe]

messy thing trying to figure out how i wanna do haimas physical changes after withers drags their ass back to life in act 3. they may look 40% more dead (and might actually be a little undead) but hey bhaals gone

[cattlemons]

hi :)) a bit of a personal request but could i get wanderer comfort for a fem or g/n reader? (your choice) i have a...difficult relationship with my father. when he's sad/angry/upset he usually takes his frustration out on me by yelling at me and calling me names and other hurtful things. then when i cry he tells me that I'm pretending to be a victim, and blames me entirely for his feelings. i just had a sitution like this earlier tonight so its on my mind :) anyway, could i get wanderer comfort for a situation like this? or if this is too specific maybe where reader just doesn't get along with their father? thanks sm <33333

A Salve For Unhealed Wounds

TW: Toxic dad, name calling by a parental figure, emotional distress and familial conflict, crying in public, there's a swear word in there, 1,5k words

a.n. Nonnie, sorry for the wait :( I had an exam and couldn't be on here at all (also left you a short message at the bottom)

It happened again. 

The man you were supposed to trust with your life yelled at you again. Your heart aches at the implication that the weight of his love for you changes depending on the emotion reigning his mind and heart. Your mind crumbles when it recollects the words he spat out so easily when red paints his iris. 

It wouldn’t have hurt as much if he’s always this way. It hurts because you’ve seen the smile that escapes his guarded heart on rare occasions. You’ve also heard him say good things and do good deeds the way an honorable man would–when he’s not mad that is.

It’s unfair that he can’t always be that way with you.

You took off towards the Puspa Cafe, hoping the bustle of Sumeru evening would be the cooling salve you need to soothe your battered mood. 

Yeah, that’s a good idea.

Entering the establishment, scents of coffee and spice filled your nostrils as ease settled between the spaces of your bones. The balmy yellow and brown hues greeted your weary state as the inviting warmth of the cinders burning in the oven beckons you to rest. You made the right call to come here tonight.

Or, so you thought.

Despite being on good terms with the otherwise lonesome man, you did not want to see the infamous hat guy; not tonight. It’s less about his presence and more about yours. The dynamic between the two of you is akin to that of a flying serpent and a scorpion. You’d take frequent jabs at each other, flinging teasing remarks and poking fun at one another but somehow, in a very weird roundabout way, there’s always a sincere sort of care behind it all. 

Right now, however, you don’t think you have it in you to take what you know he can dish. You did get lucky and got a secluded seat, you just hope he does not notice you here. 

“What are you doing here, prickly bush,” he called out to you just as your train of thought chugged away to somewhere beyond the oak doors of the cafe.

Right, so much for peace of mind.

You turn towards him, the frown that began dissipating moments ago returning in full force. Grumbling before speaking, you let out, “Not today, please, I’m not in the mood.”

“Oh yeah, someone’s definitely a prickle bush right now.”

You were at a crossroads between telling him to leave and bursting into tired tears when he asked, “What’s wrong?”

Your eyebrows scrunched as he sat across you. You looked at him but his eyes were trained away from you, staring at some other patron sitting at the wooden bar just a bit away from the both of you. 

Since when was he a caring man?

Your thoughts and confusion settle into a prolonged silence. You half expected him to grumble out an insult along the lines of “Are your ears clogged” or “Need help finding a hearing aid” but he, surprisingly, sat still; eyes now hopping over to a woman by the door having a conversation with a balding man. 

Is he patient now? What kind of patron-saint bullshit is he pulling?

Not that you’re complaining, though. You much prefer this despite the weirdness of it all; or rather the newness. 

“I’m fine–”

“Don’t lie, if you can’t lie,” he interrupts as he points at your fingers curling in on each other. 

He sure is perceptive when you don’t want him to be.

Silent gathers the both of you in its arms once more as you think of a response to give to him. He’s being kind right now but you don’t feel like divulging everything to him. Your friendship is just beginning to stand on two feet. It’s taking baby steps at best. You don’t want to scare him away by dumping all your shit on him. By the abyssal name, he probably carries more baggage than you and you don’t see him throwing them around.

“You don’t have to tell me, don’t get all constipated just because I asked,” he said before continuing even softer, “You seemed down, just thought it’d be helpful to ask.”

Though you did not notice it at the time, your heart slowly began to lay down the walls you raised from the events that transpired earlier under the roof of your father’s house. 

Perhaps, he can help.

The wanderer was about to take his leave when you whispered with a certain weariness he found familiar, “My father isn’t always a nice man.”

He sat back down as quickly as he could. He probably sat on one of the ornate hanging detailings of his hat or on that long sleeve of his but he couldn’t be bothered by it. Though his eyes look past you, you know his focus is solely on what you have to say.

So, you told him. At first, you tried to be as close to the baseline as possible, choosing to speak of the basic details but soon you choked up and told him everything. Your thoughts, your fears, even your longing for a better version of the father you wanted to look up to, bubbled out of your tired heart. As the night sky grows darker outside, you find yourself slightly teary-eyed as your long story comes towards its end. 

Your eyes were still on your hands that laid on your lap, palms now sweaty from excessive nervous rubbing. You stole a glance at him and, just like you, he barely moved from his previous position. He’s still not looking at you, almost like he’s not listening at all but you know he is. 

It took a beat or two, almost like he was waiting to see if you had more to say before he opened his mouth to speak. 

“You’re kind, you know?”

What?

“I don’t get it. What do you mean ‘I’m kind’?”

“Just that. You’re kind, maybe even too kind.”

You fully looked up at him now to see that his eyes were already on you. 

“I listened to you tell me about the horrible things that man says to you and, yet, you still call him by a title he doesn’t deserve,” before you can question him, he answers, “A dad.”

You’re silent as he continues, “This cruel world decides to give him something so precious and he decides to lie and say all these shitty things. He’s not a good man but he’s dumb too if he’s got something so precious and decides that the best course of action is to call it untrue names. Does he not realize the power a name holds?”

Wet droplets stain your hands and lap as tears fall from your eyelids, lungs heavy, and muscles sagging. 

Taking a look at his surroundings he sighs before taking his hat off and placing it on you.

“I’m sure you don’t want anyone seeing you like this and speaking about it tomorrow, here.”

The tenderness of his voice and action winds your heart up as more choked sobs gurgle out of your throat.

Your neck tightens in protest as you try to speak but you fight the pain of your contracting muscles as you force out, “On a good day I… I know that he's lying… but sometimes I can’t help but think he’s right,” you sniffled and let a wave of uncontrollable sobs pass you by before continuing, “I mean there’s only so much… so much… I can deny before something false starts feeling real.”

Your admission broke the puppet's imaginary heart as he wills himself to hold back his instinct to swing insults and fists at your father. Instead, he chose to let what he supposes are comforting words drown your sorrow. It’s rigid and almost primal the way he tries to soothe your sadness but it's tender and warm in its own way, just as he is. 

“Are you… are you sure he’s wrong? How can you… you be so sure?”

The staccato of your unsure question is met with unwavering eyes as he nods. 

“I’m sure. I wouldn’t have said what I said otherwise.”

You hid your face with your hands as your back slumped forward. The wanderer could see the heaving of your shoulders and he could only comfort you by repeating his praise for you. Much like a devotee chanting his faith, he whispered kind words in hopes that by repeating it, you will believe this too. He hopes he’s done enough to override the names your father engraved into you with angered frowns, at least temporarily. The road to recovery winds away and is far from linear but he's ready to accompany you if you want him to.

As you continue to let out the emotions you thought dried up years ago, you hear him say, “Even if you forget again, just tell me and I’ll remind you that you’re nice, you’re smart and you’re so, so kind.”

Nice, smart, and kind huh? 

You don’t think you can believe it right now but slowly, you hope you will.  

To Nonnie, I'm sorry you have to go through this. I hope this little piece of fiction brings you some comfort, even if it might not fully capture what you're feeling. If there's anything more I can do to help or if you just need someone to talk to, please let me know.

[crystalelemental]

Unit Teambuilding - Shauna

We got wind of this quite a while ago now, but turns out Shauna is real.  And she got Chesnaught, as is just and proper.  Now let’s see if they did Chesnaught right.

General Overview They did.  They did a good job.

Chesnaught is a support, which is nice.  Moreover, Chesnaught is an atk/crit buffer that can cap at 1/5.  MP Burst means she recovers 1MP of her moves on first sync.  This is huge, but comes with the drawback of her needing to take first sync.  Which...support.  She should.  It also means freed up energy, SS Kris style.  Shauna’s starting off strong.  Mini Potion All is fine, Vine Whip is a nice 1-bar spam, and Spiky Shield is a neat Piers-esque shield that damages foes, and with her passives, buffs all allies’ defensive stats by 1, and charges gauges by 3.  It’s also an attack, with unspecified damage numbers but hey.  We’ll see.

What’s limiting about Shauna is that she’s fairly slow, and doesn’t cap offenses until after first sync, which can be a problem.  Being Psychic-weak is a pretty painful weakness as well, given Gauntlet’s love of Psychic types for more difficult matches.  But hey, Shauna’s solid, and a very, very welcome addition to the general pool.

EX and Move Level? Supports are the most consistently good ideas for EX.  They’re almost always your frontline tank, so the stats are essential, and the double sync buff is magnificent in every game mode.  I can’t say Shauna is a bad pick for this, given her strong defensive profile and outright need for first sync.  As for move level, Shauna...is unusual for a general pool.  She can get away with 1/5.  Unbending is a nice tool against something like Cobalion or Azelf, preventing the defense debuff.  2/5 gets Attack Trap on Vine Whip, which can inflict the coveted Trap condition on an opponent, which is downright essential for Cresselia Phase 1 and Uxie’s later phases, though her Psychic weakness hinders overall effectiveness.  And 3/5, she gets built-in Vigilance.  And Endurance.  Which is like...the holy grail of passive effects on a support.  I’m a fan.

Team 1: Shauna, Dawn, Masked Royal In the interest of avoiding “Shauna is Hop but with some different tools” and having a billion teambuilding considerations, let’s start with some things she can do fairly specific.  Dawn, despite being support, has some good damage and a solid sync nuke with Pecking Order.  Shauna can cap her attack and crit, while Masked Royal can cap team speed and debuff the needed attack and defense.  What’s unique to Shauna is theme skill matching to Dawn for a ton of extra HP.

Team 2: Shauna, Mallow, Nanu/Kukui Mallow is another big recipient of Shauna’s buffs while having theme skills.  Nanu and Kukui debuff the needed defense.

Team 3: Shauna, Grimsley, Barry Experimental, will test.  But Anti-Cresselia.  Grimsley needs Shauna’s offensive buffs, and Shauna has one particular skill that seriously alters the game: Trap on Vine Whip.  Trap completely shreds Cresselia’s phase 1, getting you through the buffing quickly and efficiently.  Barry has Full Heal to remove the paralysis that spreads.  Remove it from Grimsley and Barry, but not Shauna, in order to block the later Toxic effect.  They’ll still be fast enough to handle it, and once you’re out of Bar 1, special moves can deal real damage.  I imagine this is super reliant on Shauna being able to MPR her Spiky Shield.  Because Psychic-weak.

Team 4: Shauna, N, Volkner/SST Red if you must Full disclosure: I was looking for a 4-bar spam unit to pair her with and bring up that Shauna needing to take first sync means DPS units are her best friends, and came up with N, best known for sync nuke exploding stages and having a 5/5 grid with perfect self-sufficiency anyway.  It was this or NY!Lisia.  I feel like most 4-bar spam units are...pretty self-sufficient.  Also mostly special.  I blame Hyper Beam.

Team 5: Shauna, C!Iris, C!Elesa/Masked Royal So let’s take a look at the other side of the coin: if Shauna’s role is to top off, and her intended partner doesn’t need full support, then she doesn’t need to take first sync.  C!Iris is a great example, being able to give herself +2 attack and +1 crit, perfectly complementing Shauna without the need for extra MP.  C!Elesa remains the ideal C!Iris partner with the spectrum debuffs, though Masked Royal gets speed buffs for better DPS between sync.  I will note though, C!Iris and C!Elesa have -1 sync cooldown on their trainer moves.  And Shauna has built-in Vigilance.  She could run Head Start 1 and get early first sync with this comp.

Do note that the general structure of this works for any unit with at least some ability to self-buff attack or crit.  Gordie, Courtney, Lodge Silver, and Nessa to name a few who now only need 1MP, or units like Lodge Serena, BP Sophocles, or Bruno who can buff them separately but still need the help.

If going the Head Start route, partners with -2 cooldown are solid picks, though not always playing optimally.  For instance, Dojo Gloria gets -2 cooldown, but doesn’t need Shauna’s buffs.  Same with Lysandre.  What she can do, though, is make a decent partner to Anni Raihan, who can fill in as Propulsion Sandstorm support while she buffs the third ally handling most of the damage.  Her trainer move also tops off Raihan’s crit, and he buffs up enough special attack to do okay as supplemental DPS.

Final Thoughts I’m sorry, I know I usually have more, but Shauna’s pretty much...Hop.  Sonia.  Aaron.  You know, those ones.  While Spiky Shield is interesting, I’d really need to see what it does in damage before considering it of any utility.  2-turn moves slow down access to sync, they’re usually ill-advised.  Shauna at least blocks damage, but type-reliant damage is far less valuable than, say, Piers’ -2 defense debuff.  And to be honest, Shauna is far worse off than Sonia, who got so many tools it’s ridiculous, and isn’t quite as versatile as Aaron either.  But I will argue she’s better off than Hop.  Her main draw over them is the combination of Vigilance and Endurance on grid, and the lack of any MPR concerns.  But her weakness is that she doesn’t have quite the utility of Aaron or Sonia, and is hard required to take first sync, meaning in CS she operates best with DPS allies instead of sync-based damage.  And her trap condition on Vine Whip is nice, but it’s far too inconsistent, and is primarily useful for Psychic-type stages, which she’s weak to.  It’s a situation where Shauna feels designed to have good tools, and then counterbalanced a little too hard.  We’ll see how she shakes out though.

[stacks-and-stacks]

Chat headcanons because I've been thinking about it & I feel like typing it up

Note: this isn't everyone, just the ones I came up with naturally

I imagine everyone has a "chat" that follows them around & only they can see/hear. What exactly each chat looks like depends on the person/ their personality.

Tubbo: Bees. I've seen people with this take before and I wholeheartedly agree

Jack Manifold: Rain clouds. Whether or not they're actually raining on him / flashing with lightning depends on what he is doing.

Captain Puffy: Little tiny sheep. They follow her around and change colors depending on their mood. Also, when it it's arson time, they burst into flames

Eret: Hearts. They float around him and shift through different colors (more often than not the colors of different pride flags)

Tommy: Ghostly silhouettes of people. I've seen art of this and I absolutely love the idea.

Technoblade: Eyes. Red & black vertical eyes that are around him like an outline (or halo). Black with a red pupil/iris normally, red with a black pupil/iris when Blood for the Blood God starts up

Fundy: Foxes. Pretty self explanatory, they follow him and nip at his heels.

Foolish: Totems of Undying. I love the mental picture of them just stiffly waddling behind him in a crowd

Philza: Similar to Tommy, silhouettes of people but more specifically children. His chat calls him Dadza too much for it to be anything else. (although I like the idea of the tts being through ravens or crows that follow him around)

Ranboo: Enderman particles. They are always floating around him, that or endermites

Quackity: Little ducklings. This one's the one I'm the most unsure of, it fits but I don't know if it truly embodies his chat.

Awesamdude: Redstone particles. He's the redstone king of the server, I couldn't not. (Also maybe a creeper follows him around sometimes, because of his mom watching occasionally)

Ponk: Ghosts. More stereotypical Halloween ghosts rather than completely humanoid ones. A very recent development but I feel like this fits with the depth of his character

Punz: Exp particles. Fits with his mercenary way of life, he's in it for the level up

Wilbur: Shadows. It took me a while to figure this one out. They're anchored to his heels and sometimes come off of his actual shadow. Usually humanoid

Niki: Words. The newest one I've figured out but it leans into her saying chat is her journal. One or two word phrases, nothing too long.

Hannah: Navi-esque fairies. They would be a red/pink and maybe leave a trail of rose petals instead of sparkles

I have additional headcanons about the chats and how they work but that's for another post. Also I'd love to hear it if anyone has ideas for the people not on this list!

Sapnap: Sparks, or small clouds of smoke. It's his brand man.

Karl: Potion effect spirals. The spirals usually continuously change color but they are automatically black in the In-Between and white in the Other Side.

[thepoisonjackal]

NIGHTWINGS [Rainwings] [Icewings] [Mudwings] [Seawings] [Skywings] [Sandwings] [Silkwings] [Hivewings] [Leafwings]

Headcanons about Nightwings! My favorite tribe to draw tbh.

BODY Nightwings in general are a very average-sized tribe. Their most distinct body features are their muscular shoulders and necks, and their arrowhead tail. They also have a sort of “beak” look to their face, with spikes of varying size on their chins. Nightwings are very emotional and expressive when they aren’t pretending to be stoic and oh-so powerful in front of other dragons. Their ears, spines and faces become extremely animated, which is somewhat hard to see with the darker scales, at least that’s what the other tribes think. Nightwings sometimes seem to have a language all their own, just communicating through subtle face movements, like a form of sign language.

COLORS Nightwings can be any dark color. The most common is a sort of charcoal grey, but hints of red, green, and purple, or even a combination of a few are seen often. If I drew them more detailed they would appear pure black in poor lighting, but in the sunlight their scales would shimmer with all sorts of colors. But I actually want to finish drawings so I don’t draw it like that. Nightwings tend to have a dark back and light belly scales, but this can be swapped. Their noses are always very dark with a light face, though. Their claws are usually dark but they can also rarely be white.

WINGS Nightwing wings tend to have a long “arm” and short “fingers” with the entire wing being longer than it is wide. Relatively, the membrane is thinner than other tribes. The stars can take on any appearance and pattern. Nightwings are pretty average fliers, but they do tend to do better over longer distances than some other tribes, excluding Skywings. They’re also known for having a quieter flight than any other tribe.

POWERS The type of power that a Nightwing has can be told through their eyes - a normal nightwing has a near-black sclera with a colored iris and slit black pupil. Mind readers have a silver tear drop scale near their tear duct. Future seers have white pupils, and when they are giving prophecies, the sclera becomes colored, and the iris becomes very large and the eyes start to glow. Fun fact: Clearsight’s eyes would almost constantly be in the “prophecy” state, unless she forced herself to not look at futures. And of course, dragons with both powers get both types of eye traits.  RECESSIVE TRAITS Spot-Scale: Larger, tougher scales grow on the face, shoulders, and thighs. Can be lighter or darker than the body.  Bat-Eared: Large and ribbed ears like a bat. It’s just so cute! Star-Scales: The star pattern that is usually on the underside of the wings appears on the entire body.  All of these recessive traits are just cosmetic and don’t really have an impact on how you’re treated, though bat-eared Nightwings are somewhat known for being made fun of when they are younger.

FIRE Purple fire! Because why not. A sulfur fire to be more specific because of how much time they spent in the volcano. So maybe the nightwings of the past and the near future have a different color of fire. Or maybe it’s purple because purple fire is really cool and aesthetic. Nightwings are already over-the-top, why not go all the way? Nightwing fire is hotter than Mudwing fire, but not as hot as a Skywing’s fire. Probably around the same as a Sandwing’s fire, maybe just a bit hotter. The fire also tends to come out in big “bursts” instead of controlled streams like Skywings have.

YOUNG/EGGS Young Nightwings are the biggest of all tribes. They also have big ol ears. They learn things very quickly, as per the custom of Nightwing culture. The eggs are very rounded and when they are hatched under no full moons, they are pure black. One moon creates a very dark steel color, two moons is a lighter silver color, and three moons creates a nearly white egg. 

I didn’t have too much to say about Nightwings I guess, other than I love them lots. They’re pretty straightforward in my mind, nothing too crazy.

[descendantofthesparrow]

Bad end rewrite concept - Arwen

-

Fae are a fickle type of being, once they turn 18 they have a yearly “mating” season that lasts from a day to a full week (similar to a period but once a year) only activated once the fae finds their “mate”. in the case of Mal, who is a dark fae and has yet to meet her “mate”, has never had her “mating” season. 

both light, dark, and “regular” fae all have this “mating” season after they turn 18 and find their mate, but unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, FG and Jane were unaware that Jane had found her mate in Gil, so when the young fae turned 18, and that time of the year came around, she wasn't exactly...prepared for what was happening.

FG had explained once about the fae mating season to jane, but...faes usually don't know they’ve found their mate until they reach the once a year “mating season” and her mating season ended up being only just a week after her 18th birthday.

as both Jane and Gil were unprepared for the situation, along with them both being pretty much unknowledgeable about sex.ed and Gil wanting to get rid of the pain Jane was under(less painful more just really uncomfortable), had unprotected sex. and around two months later, Jane noticed her period was late...and she hadn't had one the previous month. panicked she quickly confided in Evie and (y/n), who calmed her down and (y/n) went out to get her friend a pregnancy test.

minutes after Jane took the test, Evie gently showed her the stick, with two pink lines.

Jane was pregnant as a result of the mating season.

while she was terrified of both her mothers and Gils reaction, with the support of her friends she told them both. Gil was ecstatic, but knew that they were both very young and having a child might not be the best idea at the moment. her mother was just as supportive, blaming herself for not properly preparing her daughter for fae mating season.

another month of talking between Jane, Gil, and her mother, the two young adults decided to keep the unborn child that was growing within Jane. FG was ecstatic that she would soon have a grandchild and did her best to help jane through her pregnancy, even though she had never gone through it herself she was a fairy godmother, not just a fairy.

six months later, out came a red cheeked little girl, to which the two new parents named her Arwen. they soon discovered while Arwen looked completely human, she had inherited her mothers fae genes, her eyes, while normally honey brown like her fathers, became iridescent when she was tired, and then when angry, like when they saw Arwen's first temper tantrum, glowed and turned blue with purplish pink magic flowing through her iris, her pupil turning to a thin pink slit. her teeth, specifically her canines and lateral incisors, where fangs, sharp enough to rip through skin if she wanted too. she was a sub-type of fea known as “wild fae” who had connections with nature and life 

her magic burst forth wildly when she was only two months old, Jane staring wide eyed as her ,not even a toddler, child hovered her father upside down in the air in front of her, clapping happily as her father stared at her in shock and awe. it was almost effortless for Arwen, doing things even fully grown faes had trouble with sometimes, such as lifting an entire human into the air with no incantation. 

FG was just as perplexed, in the end only suggesting that those born of true love/between a fae and their mate, had extremely powerful magic. an example being Maleficent herself, while she was a dark fae she had been born from fae mates and therefore had powerful magic, sometimes not even needing a verbal spell to cast her spells. 

content with FGs answer but still in shock, Jane and Gil did their best to raise their magic rampant half fae child.

but one day...a bit more than one year after she had fled Auradon in shame of her failure, Mal returned. with vengeance.

she quickly took control of Auradon and the isle, spelling Jane and killing Gil with the Ember Mal had stolen back from her father, upon learning about Arwen, she ordered the newly spelled Jane to bring her daughter to her, what she would do with it she didn't know, it all depended on how powerful Arwen was. 

Jane obeyed, taking the hardly over a half year old Arwen to Mal. but as she looked into the iridescent eyes of her only child, Jane was freed for a moment, and in that moment she raced off to the other edge of the enchanted forest, and left her child in a bush. in tears she left Arwen in her peach baby blanket with a spell to keep her warm and fed, along with a note.

-to whoever finds Arwen, please please take care of her and protect her. Mal wants her, and i cant bare to let my child into her clutches, i cant let her die. tell Arwen her mother loves her and to be strong.

-thank you, Jane-

just as Jane entered the castle that Mal had taken, the spell Mal had placed on Jane returned. Mal was confused, the baby wasn't with jane, so where was she? Jane took Mal to where she had left Arwen, only for her to be gone.

the two faes stood unaware that a woman that was thought to be dead already had the child, and she vowed that she would protect Arwen with her life.

(y/n) took Arwen away from Auradon and to a nearby country, luckily finding a cabin the middle of a forest, she rebuilt it and raised her friends child alone in that forest, waiting for the day that Auradon and its people would be freed from Mal’s clutches.

four and a half years later, Arwen is 5 years old, she knows her parents loved her very much, she knows her mother was forced to give her up to protect her from the evil Mal, she knows her father died to protect her, she knows that she loves her auntie (y/n).

she knows she is powerful, she knows she controls the forest around her, she knows she commands the animals before her.

she knows one day she will get her mother back and avenge her father. but for now, she is only 5 years old, and her auntie wants her to have a happy childhood before she gives it up to war.

so she will, for now.

-

yep...Arwen! so i posted this concept art for bad end rewrite and with the addition of Arwen, the timeline and story of this concept change. this is the original timeline and story which originally started around the end of D3 and took maybe a couple months for the timeline to run through, but now starts a bit more than a year after D3, and spans over a good couple years, im debating on weather or not to have it go to where Arwen is a teen and fights along side (y/n) and the others or too have her still be 5 when Mal is defeated. depending on what i chose the story will be changed, so ill decide on that later.

her magic is pretty nature like in concept, she can control nature and command animals, and when she was a toddler she “tamed” an entire wolf pack that now waits on hers and (y/n)s command.(her favorites are Artimus and TC)  when she uses more of a...physically? visible? magic it flows like water and smoke, colored like her eyes when she is tired (aka its iridescent) 

again she has very sharp teeth (and at the moment is missing one of her front teeth cuz she's five) and i added a new eye thing for her, when she gets angry, her eyes turn blue with purple/pink glowy stuff and her pupil becomes slanted and glows pink/purple

more of her info can be found on the other concept art i posted of her so ill just stop here  cuz its 5am and im tired~

Again inspired by the Dream smp and @disneyfan50​ “true defender” fic, and also thanks to disneyfan50 for helping me find a name for Arwen 

[samanthalightning]

She's Got A Date-EoWells X Allen!reader- Part VI

*The GIF is not mine. All rights to the owner*

Part V

Summary: You went to the hospital to tell Joe and your Brother about your relationship. But it seems you weren't the only one with the same idea.

Warnings: Make out sesh?

***

You did not have the best idea, you knew that. Your adoptive father is in the hospital after he almost died and now, you decided you will give him a heart attack.

Wells made it very clear that there is a time to do this, specifically after Joe gets discharged. Much to his dismay, you pleaded the man non-stop. He gave in eventually.

Now, walking down the busy hallway of the hospital to go to Joe's room, it became more and more evident that you were really going to regret this. The nervousness you felt was nauseating. Your hands were cold and sweating like crazy. You felt bad for Wells; he was holding your hands the entire time.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked for a tenth time that night.

"Yeah totally. I mean— he's already in the hospital— what could go wrong?" You chuckled nervously.

He grimaced and pressed his lips in a thin line. That says it all. Bad idea.

Approaching the room, you let his hand go. You don't give it away and be able to explain properly.

You took a deep breath, preparing yourself. You stepped inside to find Iris there with Eddie by her side. She was saying something and hugging a bedridden Joe. They look like they just arrived as well.

These two are rarely in the same room with Joe around, and you have a feeling that they might be both here for the same reason as you do. But hopefully, they don't, because in this situation two is definitely not better than one.

"Got more room for one?" All heads turned to you. You walked towards Joe and went in for a tight hug. "You gave us a scare there, old man."

"Can't get rid of me that easy," he chuckled heartily, as you let go.

"What are you doing here, Dr. Wells?" Barry's brows furrowed.

Wells gave him a small shrug. "Just want to wish Joe a speedy recovery."

Among other things.

"Thank you, Doctor,"

The whole room shifted. You even started fiddling with the hem of your coat. Tense, awkward. You all had turned quiet as you exchanged nervous glances, uncertain how to break it to the man on the bed without him going ballistic.

Barry, knowing what Iris and Eddie are here to do, cleared his throat. "I'll let you guys talk." He turned to leave, not before signaling to you to do the same thing.

"No. Stay, Barry," Barry shot you a strange look, but stayed nonetheless, putting his hands in his pockets, shifting on this leg awkwardly.

A jolt of fear rushes through your body. If it felt so bad earlier, right now it's even scarier. You sucked in a breath, glancing over to Wells for support and approval. He nodded sternly, eyes staring back ever so assuring. This is really it. You turned back to Joe, letting go of your breath and spoke,

"Dad, we have something—"

"Joe, we have something—"

Both of your heads whipped, sharing a look.

"You go first," she gestured to you.

You shook your head rapidly. "No, you go first,"

"No-"

"Okay," Joe grunted, sitting up. "I know y'all dating."

Your heads quickly whipped to Joe froze. You were both mortified.

"I know,"

"You do?" Iris blinked, stunned. Everyone was.

He rolled his eyes in disappointment for no one in this room giving him enough credit. "I'm a detective, remember? You are lousy liars." You all laughed, knowing it's true. He looked at Wells, finger pointing to him accusingly. "And you, Wells. You think I didn't see those hickeys? You showed up with them and my baby girl was limping— you think I wouldn't put two and two together?"

You groaned, burying your face in your hands to hide your blush. You were not just embarrassed, but deeply guilty.

"So, you're not mad?" Eddie inquired.

"Oh, I'm mad. If the doctor hadn't confiscated my gun, we'd be having an entirely different conversation," Joe told him.

The poor man paled, the smile wearing off his face. He gave Iris a nod, and turned to leave. You knew it's time for a family meeting.

"Hey babe, meet me in the car?" You turned to Wells, eyes hinting what's about to go down. He quickly got the gist, and excused himself.

When both men are out of earshot, Barry and Iris gave you an incredulous look. "Wells?!" They both exclaimed.

"What?"

Joe was shaking his head, eyes looking on you and Iris, clearly displeased. But obviously not hell bent. "You girls and your taste in men will be the death of me."

You moved to his side, you placed your head on his shoulder, hugging him. Iris did the same thing. Not that he was very willing to admit it, but you and Iris have him wrapped around your fingers, and you know how to always convince him.

"Please don't be mad," you cooed to him, nuzzling to him and holding his hand.

"But I am. A cop and the man who blew a hole in the city," he sighed heavily.

"It's not so bad," Iris appealed.

"Yeah right," he scoffed.

You both try to make him feel better about the situation, but it occurred to you that this one will definitely take time to get accustomed to. You both went behind his back, and that's something.

You have to leave since Wells is waiting for you in the car. Barry offered to walk you, and you know there's an underlying agenda to that. But he hasn't said anything since you entered the elevator, didn't even dare look at you. He's walking on eggshells, always been.

"So, are you mad?" You broke the silence, fiddling with the sleeve of your coat.

"No. Just surprised." You thought that was perfectly understandable. Then he turned to you and snapped. "I mean, Wells? How? When?" He bombarded you with questions with his hands in the air.

"When you were in a coma. 6 months ago,"

"6 months?! Why didn't you tell me?!" He exclaimed. Your face scrunched up.

"In case you forgot, you just woke up from a coma, and the last thing I want to give you is another reason to be in one again," you explained. "You got powers, and meta-humans appeared."

He sighed, nodding. He put his hand inside his pocket, before asking, "Does he want kids? Can he have th—"

Your cheeks went warm, blushing red. "We haven't had that talk yet," you interrupted.

"Right." Barry mumbled, realizing how awkward his questions were. "Do you love him?"

You nodded, a small smile formed on your lips, cheeks warming up. "Yes."

Barry didn't say anything anymore. You know he's still trying to take it all in. His baby sister is dating his mentor, who is almost the same age as their Dad. It's quite a shock.

"Is it weird?" You cocked an eyebrow.

Barry snorted. "Yeah." You bursted out laughing.

The elevator dings, reaching the underground parking area. The door slides open and you step out. When you got to your car, Wells was waiting there for you.

Barry stood there, he and Wells were having a stare off or something. For a second, you panicked. He's not a totally violent person, but it doesn't mean he can't get angry.

But Barry just stifled a curt nod at Wells. "Take care of her," he said.

"I will,"

He turned and walked away, back to the elevator. You helped Wells get in the car, before climbing in yourself. You started the engine and drove out of the hospital's parking lot.

"Should I drop you off at the lab?" You asked him.

He shook his head. "No. I think a night in with you tonight would be very nice,"

You looked over to him and shot him a smile.

"Okay." You muttered.

Despite the fact that Barry was the one who kicked Nimbus' ass, but your muscles were sore and tense. In your defense though, it was one hell of a day. You just want to sleep and cuddle with Wells. You are so glad that you have the rest of the weekend to doze off.

You came out of the bathroom and stepped inside of your bedroom after a warm, relaxing, well-needed shower.

Wells was already sitting on the bed, tucked in, already halfway through a book. You love how he can lose himself while having a read. His brows furrowed slightly, eyes focused solely on a certain page, then quickly moved quickly to the other page. He reads a book faster than anyone you know, aside from Barry.

You slipped in the sheets, sitting up beside him. You peeked at what he was reading to see which one of literature and philosophy finest books has captured his attention again. Your eyebrows scrunched up, puzzled at what you are reading; it's written in Latin.

"What are you reading?"

"Julius Caesar," he replied, flipping to the next page.

"I thought you read that already?" Your tone changes, subtly hinting him that it's time for bed.

"I did," he answered, not even taking his eyes off it.

You glared at him in disbelief and huffed. Perhaps it was too subtle.

"So, maybe you can ditch that and let's go to bed?" You inquired with the same tone.

He glanced over to you, not showing any sign of expression at all. He stared at you and you know this means to let him finish the book he read over a hundred times before. So you stood your ground, and hardened your stare.

He sighed in defeat. "Fine." He closed the book shut, took his glasses and set it on your nightstand.

"Thank you,"

You were ready to lay down and sleep for the next 24 hours, but he spoke suddenly.

"I booked us a table tomorrow night to this fantastic restaurant midtown,"

Your head snapped to him, a surprised look immediately etched in your face. He said so nonchalantly. "Wha—" you were speechless, sputtering words, your mind processing what he just said. You try to form coherent words, but all that came out from your mouth was a laugh, bewildered. "A-are you taking me out on a date?"

He grinned, clearly amused with your reaction. "Yes. It's time we have some decent steaks, don't you think?" You swatted his chest, shooting him daggers, while he laughed. You swore to God if you perfected cooking steak, it'll be the death of him.

"I mean it." He ceased laughing, taking a hold of your hand. "I have a lot to make up for. And I'm gonna start by treating you like a queen. My queen." He planted a kiss on your knuckles.

You cupped his cheek, narrowing your eyes at him. "You're lucky I love you," you murmured, leaning into him.

"Oh, I know." He chuckled.

You giggled, capturing his lips, and kissed him sweetly. He deepened the kiss, slowly getting passionate. His tongue roamed inside your mouth, you tried to fight for dominance, but surrender to him eventually.

His hands moved up and down your body, then settled on your boyshorts clad bum. He caressed it with his long fingers and squeezed it tightly, before he slapped it, the smacking noise resounded in your room, startling you a bit. You couldn't help but moan, you feel pleasure alighting in the pit of your stomach. Your hand palmed his chest, bunching up his shirt tightly. You were getting carried away, and he as well. You pulled away gently, catching your breath.

"I just wanna cuddle and sleep tonight," You murmured, running the pads of your thumb across his cheek.

"Is that why you didn't wear pyjamas, Miss Allen?" He teased and squeezed your bum once more.

"What? They're comfy," you grinned.

"Right," he chuckled. "Okay." He gave you a last peck on the lips, before turning off your lamp.

You both lay down, he wrapped his arms around, protectively. Your tense and tired body relaxed, as you snuggled up against him. Like a small child, you felt in his arms; a sense of security and the feeling of home washed over you.

You looked up to him and saw that he was in some sort of daze, caught up in his own world and yet aware of his surroundings. His eyes were gazing up to your ceiling. There isn't really anything special on the ceiling, except mold. You pondered what he was thinking about. Perhaps how much of a rollercoaster ride the last 24 hours was?

"I am so glad we worked everything out today," you began. "I don't know if I can sleep tonight if we didn't talk,"

"Me too," he replied, rubbing his thumb against the skin of your shoulder, absentmindedly, didn't even glance up to you.

"I was scared, you know, I thought I was actually gonna lose you," you added in a whispered voice.

He exhaled. "So did I. I'm sorry I made you feel that way,"

"S'okay. I'm sorry I snapped at you." You couldn't take it anymore, your eyes were feeling heavy and they fluttered close.

"It's alright. I understand,"

You nuzzled your head on his chest, hearing his faint heartbeat and the rise and fall of his chest, slowly lulling you to sleep.

He kissed your hair softly, then murmured. "Good night,"

"Good night,"

You can feel yourself falling deep into sleep in a matter of seconds.

You both slept in until 11 am, and you were more than glad that you were able to get him to stay. You didn't even have to plead.

It wasn't until you were having brunch— he cooked, which was for the best. Apparently, he saw you cook eggs before— that it occurred to you that it's really happening. You're going on a date. Tonight. An actual date. You repeatedly told yourself a hundred times today, still not able to wrap your head around it.

You were nervous. Although, you played it off.

You didn't want him to know you were nervous more than you were excited in fear that he'd cancel. And you didn't want to miss out on a highly possibly great date with a great man. You literally fought for this. You can't chicken out.

It's just that your experiences with dates were, well, not so much—the men you went out with were not so much. They tend to turn out pretty boring, pointless and often self-centered. They ditch you or you ditch them. It was a restless cycle and it exhausted you. So, you just never go to one. And it's not like you're going out with some random dude. It's Harrison freaking Wells!

So as soon as he left your apartment after brunch to go home, you panicked for a certain amount of time, then called someone who could help you.

You stood in front of the mirror, staring at your reflection, while holding a dress over your frame. You tilted your body left and right, face scrunched up, obviously not pleased with the dress. It's too skimpy, too tight, too short for your liking. You don't even remember buying this dress.

You huffed loudly. "I look like a stripper." You threw the dress on top of a pile of clothes on your bed. You and Iris have gone through your entire wardrobe collection, and no perfect dress is turning up.

"How about this?" Iris walked to you with a bunch of hangers in her hand, showing you a particularly bright red dress. The last thing you want was Wells to look like he's your sugar daddy.

You shook your head. "Too bold." She threw the dress. Underneath the red dress was a long, ruffled sleeves dress, which you knew you only bought from a thrift shop, because it was so cheap. The color faded, at some point you were convinced that it was from the 1940s, although it's still pretty decent

"Yeah, if I want to look like Grandma Esther," you snickered.

She sighed exasperated as yet another piece of clothing was added to the pile. Iris held out what seemed to be the final dress she had. She raised an eyebrow, eyes were basically pleading you to choose it. You can't blame her. You are one picky girl.

It was beautiful. Your eyes lit up at the sight of itl; beige, knee-length and made of silk— with frills. Exaggerated as this may sound, but as if on cue, the angels sang with their angelic voices the moment you laid eyes on it.

"Perfect," you mumbled.

"Oh thank God," Iris groaned. She picked up a pair of heels by the edge of the bed. "I picked out these shoes for you; they'll match with that," she added, handing it both to you.

You dashed off to the bathroom to put on your outfit. As soon as you came out, you checked yourself out in the mirror. You were right; it suited you so well. You still feel sexy wearing it, but it wasn't screaming at your face. You still retain a respectable, elegant demeanor.

From the side of your mirror, you saw Iris standing behind you, arms folded, watching you fondly.

"What?" You broke her out of her reverie.

She smiled softly. "Nothing. You look amazing,"

"Anything else?" You raised your eyebrows, looking at her through the mirror, knowing there's more to it than she says.

She shrugged, shaking her head. "I just can't believe it— you're dating Harrison Wells," she sounded as shocked as she was yesterday.

If you were being honest, you can't quite believe it as well.

"Yup. Much to Joe's dismay," you chuckled, although you couldn't help to frown. Iris quickly saw it.

She walked to you, wrapped her arms around you from behind and rested her chin on your shoulder.

"Ignore him. He'll get it over it,"

He will, you are certain of it. But it doesn't mean it wouldn't be nice if he was fully supporting it. He didn't say anything to discourage it, he probably isn't going to say anything about it ever, but you know he's not a fan of it.

"Yeah. Hopefully soon," you murmured.

"Although, it is Harrison Wells," she started. You rolled your eyes and groaned internally. "I'm not even done— I just mean, it's something that's going to take time for people to warm up about this. He blew up a hole in the city and he's much older than you,"

"I know that, Iris," you exhaled audibly. You didn't need a reminder of that. You tell yourself that everyday for the last 6 months.

"I know you know that. My point is that this relationship is gonna go through a lot of tribulations, and I just want you to prepare yourself for it. I just don't want you to get hurt, okay?" She sounded so motherly, locking eyes with you.

You frowned, but nodded. You understand her point, you really do. Joe, Barry and the rest of the team, you know they genuinely care for you. But this is your relationship, and you know when it comes to love, it has it's own challenges and pain and it's something you have to deal with.

Abruptly, you heard multiple knocks all the way from the living room.

"He's here," you whispered.

You both quickly shuffled, you grabbed your purse, making sure you got everything you needed inside. Iris fixed your hair, tucking in some strand that stuck out.

Then, there's your pile of clothes on your bed that's not gonna clean itself. You panicked for a second there. Wells was outside, and you're pretty sure you're both gonna crash here after.

"Go! I got this!" Iris ordered you. You hesitated, because you know she's not going to do it. But Wells knocked some more. Much to your surprise, Iris already started hanging the dresses. So you leave it all to fate— and Iris—, and head for the door.

You took a deep breath, taking it all in. This is it. This is really it.

You opened the door, putting on a shaky smile. "Hey," you mumbled.

He cleaned up well. You don't know what it is with a suit minus the tie, but you absolutely love it on your man.

His eyes raked you up and down, mesmerized by you, jaws dropped. He looked at you with those blue orbs, glinting in the way that is so not good. He just never saw get dressed up before. All the time you just wore your normal, often coffee-stained clothes.

"You look absolutely ravishing." The way those words rolled off his tongue made you weak to your knees and you flushed slightly.

"Thanks. You're not so bad yourself," you said shyly.

He helped out his hand to you, lifting an eyebrow. "Let's go?"

You nodded, intertwining your fingers with his.

You closed your door, as you stepped out of your apartment. And as you walked down the hallway, your heart was thundering like crazy, so nervous and excited.

God, you hope this date turns out well.

***

How do you all think the date will turn out? Anyway, I'd appreciate it if you share this and give it some love. Thanks!

Part VII

[backtothestart02]

Hazy - 7/? | westallen fanfiction

A/N: Not totally sure where I’m going with this, but I think I’ve got enough of a handle on it to figure it out. ;) Enjoy!

Commissioned by @andie1223

...

Chapter 7 -

The soft, steady beep coming from a hospital monitor woke Barry sometime later. He found he was laying in a hospital bed with an oxygen running through tubes into his nose and that everything hurt. His face, his ribs, his gut…it was as if he’d been beaten up a thousand times over. He knew Eddie had hit him a few times and that he’d gone unconscious due to it, but he didn’t think it had been that bad.

Maybe he was dreaming. He could be dreaming. It could be a nightmare. Hell, this whole thing could be a nightmare, one concocted from the remnants of dark energy swarming through him during his time in the speed force.

But he knew he wasn’t that lucky.

A slight knock on the door, and a doctor walked in. Barry’s brows furrowed. He didn’t remember seeing this man at all. And it was dark outside from what Barry could tell through the windows, so it had to be nighttime. Yet he couldn’t recall any time passing.

Where was Iris? Was she okay? Eddie hadn’t sounded happy when he stormed into the loft calling her name. He hoped Eddie wasn’t abusive in this timeline. He really, really hoped he wasn’t.

Barry tried to sit up slightly but found himself experiencing an excruciating, sharp pain across his middle.

“Whoa, whoa, there, sonny, take it easy now.”

The doctor came over to him and eased him back down.

“You took quite a blow, several of them actually. Nothing’s broken, but you’re pretty bruised just about everywhere. Can you tell me what happened?”

“I…”

Should he tell the doctor about Eddie’s punches that he remembered? Would Iris hate him forever if he pinned even what he couldn’t recall on her husband? Yet, it’s what he knew, so wouldn’t it be helpful in finding out the culprit if it wasn’t Eddie?

Before he could answer, Iris burst through the door. She was just about to reach for him when she clearly remembered how injured he was. She stopped abruptly.

“You’re awake!” A tear dripped down her cheek. “I thought…I thought we lost you.”

Barry’s eyes widened, and he turned to look at the doctor.

“We couldn’t wake you when you first arrived, and your breathing was very shallow. The only thing that assured us you were still alive and kicking was the painful moans you gave whenever anyone tried handling you on and off the stretcher.”

“Scariest moment of my life.”

Barry winced as he lifted his arm to grasp her hand.

“Oh, Barry, you shouldn’t-”

“Relax. My hand’s not broken.” He paused, then looked at the doctor. “Right?”

The doctor chuckled.

“If you’re moving it without pain, then it’s not broken.”

Barry smiled tentatively.

“You see, Iris. No pain, no problem. Hold my hand.” He pushed his head back into the pillow. “Please?”

“Better do as he says, Miss.” The doctor smirked.

Then, sensing some tension between the two, he took a step back and told Barry he’d come back later and to press the red button on his remote if he needed a nurse to come into the room.

Barry nodded, and Iris thanked the doctor, before the older man left and closed the door behind him.

Immediately following his exit, Iris pulled a chair up to the bed and sat down, taking Barry’s hand again. She ran her thumb over his fingers and then pressed the back of his hand to her face, letting tear after tear melt into his skin.

“Iris,” he tried to soothe. “I’m okay.”

She scoffed. “You are not okay.”

“Well, I will be. I’m breathing, I’m awake, and this doctor will take good care of me. I’ll be up on my feet again in no time.”

She snorted in disbelief.

“This is all my fault,” she said, and Barry wondered then if she somehow knew.

“What are you saying?” he asked, after an extended moment of silence.

She licked her lips. “What do you remember, Barry? What’s the last thing you remember?”

He hesitated. “I’m afraid to tell you. I don’t know if you’ll believe me.”

The hurt stretched across her face cut through him, but it was the truth. She was a loyal best friend, but she was an even more loyal wife. Regardless of what had happened, if Eddie hadn’t told her what he’d done, would she have trouble believing it?

“I’m your best friend, Barry,” she choked.

“And you’re Eddie’s wife,” he countered.

Her eyes widened, and she released his hand.

“No…” She stood up and walked away. “No. No. No.”

He said nothing.

“It couldn’t!” She spun around. “Not-”

“Okay, Iris, not Eddie,” he said, aggravated and wanting to run his hand through his hair if only it wasn’t in a sling. He wondered why that was if it wasn’t broken. Was it sprained? Had he moaned about that specifically? Why hadn’t he noticed it till now?

This was all too much. He wanted to be unconscious till now.

Iris took a breath and approached him again.

“Tell me what you remember,” she requested again, taking a seat and holding his hand. “I promise I won’t interrupt this time.”

He sighed. “Why would this time be any different than last time?”

She frowned. “I interrupted you. Maybe you weren’t going to say…what I think you were.”

“I think I was, Iris.”

“Just- tell me. From the beginning.”

“Fine. Eddie jumped me.”

“Barry.”

“I’m not lying, Iris. I didn’t even get the chance to turn all the way around and Eddie was right there saying how he knew I couldn’t be trusted and punching me until I was knocked out. The last thing I remember hearing was him calling your name as he stomped into the loft. Then everything went dark.”

She swallowed. “He saw us at the gala.”

He blinked. “What?”

She sighed. “What you’re saying is right, at least about how he came into the loft.”

“Iris, I’m not lying about-”

“He felt bad about our fight earlier, so he got dressed up and went to the gala late, hoping to apologize. But when he arrived, he saw the two of us dancing, looking very ‘in love’ from his viewpoint, and he lost it. He stormed out, got drunk and came home an hour later…right after you had left.” She bit her bottom lip. “Barry, do you really think he could’ve done this to you?”

Barry sighed. The Eddie he knew wouldn’t have gone that far. But this Eddie? He had no way of knowing. He’d only seen him on two occasions that he could recall experiencing, and on both he’d punched him.

“It could’ve been…someone else…too.”

“Too?” she asked, eyebrow raised.

“I know what I felt, Iris. Your husband punched me until I blacked out.”

Her lips thinned.

“But…he only punched me a few times. Not enough for…” He looked down his body and gently shrugged one shoulder. “All of this.”

Iris looked visibly relieved.

“I knew it. I knew it couldn’t be him. He would never…”

“Iris,” he said, by way of reminder that Eddie had at least been partially responsible.

“I need you to not say anything, Barry.”

He blinked. “What?”

“He could get suspended. Or sued. My dad would sue him, I’m sure of it. And he’d ask for an amount we can’t pay. Hell, Eddie could lose his job over a charge like aggravated assault to an innocent civilian. And he did it while under the influence…” She shut her eyes. “Promise me, Barry. Promise me you’ll say you don’t remember.”

“Iris.”

“If someone else-”

“Finished the job?”

She winced. “Well, if someone did, there’s no need to drag Eddie into this. I’ll convince him to go to anger management training, or…something, I don’t know. But he can’t lose his job over this. He can’t. Especially if he’s not guilty.”

“He is guilty!”

“Not for all of it!” She released his hand again, then clutched her hands firmly in her lap. “I’m sorry, Barry. I’m sorry. I know it’s wrong for me to ask this of you, especially in your condition, but please just…consider it?”

He stared at her, not saying a word.

She swallowed, then stood up, stepping away from him.

“I’ll tell my dad you’re awake. But…don’t tell him either? What you told me? Because if you tell him, he’ll tell the doctor for you, and-”

“Then don’t send him in, Iris,” he said, deadly serious as he stared her down.

Iris’ lips parted, and he could see she was fighting with herself to say something else, but in the end she didn’t. She left the room and closed the door, and Barry hit the button for the nurse to request pain meds before he drifted off to sleep before another encounter.

…

By the following afternoon, Barry had evaded the doctor’s questioning a grand total of three times. It was just lucky for him that the staff had more or less concluded he’d been attacked and not run over by a car or a train, the latter of which would’ve likely killed him. Also, doctors were very busy with making their rounds and the like, so if Barry wasn’t awake when he came around, chances were he’d just come back later instead of forcing him awake.

But Barry knew he couldn’t keep this up forever. They needed an official diagnosis, and for that they needed a cause, and not just by speculation either.

Barry was dreading the time he’d really have to say something. Because of course he didn’t want Eddie to lose his job, but he had beat the crap out of him and potentially come back to finish the job, so…

“Hey there, handsome.”

Barry turned to see who had come through the door. It wasn’t Iris, and it wasn’t anyone he had expected. Looking fresh and clean and sober, Linda Park came waltzing into the room and sat in the chair Iris had occupied the night before.

“What the hell happened to you?” she asked, crossing one knee over the other.

He wanted to laugh.

“If I could tell you, I would.”

“That bad, huh?”

He nodded. “And then some.”

She blew some of her dark locks off her face.

“Well, I guess that blows the dinner plans I was hoping to have with you at the restaurant Scott occasionally frequents.”

Then he did laugh.

“Yeah, Linda, I’m kinda in a predicament right now.”

“Too bad.”

He snorted. “Is that the only reason you came? To make me feel guilty about-”

“No, no, of course not!” she was quick to say. “I was actually hoping you could fill me in on what happened to me last night.”

“Ah.”

“And to see how you were doing, of course.”

“Of course.” He smirked.

She waited.

“Well, what’s there to say? You encouraged me to make up with and dance with Iris, so I did. I danced with you once and then rejoined Iris. By the time the event was closing up you were drunk and hanging off Scott’s arm.”

She grimaced.

“I got him to take you home by convincing him to be a gentleman first and an employer later. Not sure if you’ve still got your job or not though. Getting drunk at a company event and all that.”

She nodded once.

“Noted. I shall beg for mercy and forgiveness when I go in tomorrow.”

“Without flirting,” he reminded her. “I think you need to be a little more subtle going forward.”

She laughed. “Without flirting, got it.”

They both smiled for a bit, and then Linda ventured forth with genuine concern.

“So, how are you and Iris by the way? Can I assume all is well or is she responsible for your injuries here?”

He winced as he adjusted himself slightly in the bed.

“She’s not responsible, but things between us could not possibly be worse. Although, maybe I shouldn’t say that. Things can always be worse.”

“Oh, no. What happened?”

“Let’s just say…I really, really hate that she’s married to Eddie, and not just for the usual reasons.”

“Oh boy. What are the unusual reasons?”

“Oh, how I wish I could tell you… But Iris made me, well demanded I promise-”

“And did you?”

He frowned. “No.”

“Well then tell me. You can’t tell Joe, because he’ll take your side first, since you’re the injured party and he sees you as a son. Plus, from his point of view Iris and Eddie never should’ve married. He is most definitely the guy to have in your corner.”

“But I can’t tell him.”

“Right, because then you’ll be betraying Iris. Even though you never promised her anything.”

“I think it was implied.” He pinched the bridge of his nose.

“But I’m an objective party. I can keep a secret. Iris is my co-worker. We’re work friends at best, and at a distance at that since we write for different parts of the paper.”

“So? You and I aren’t friends either.”

“But we’ve interacted more, and on a friendlier level. As more than acquaintances but less than friends.”

“Which still makes us not friends.”

“My point is…you can trust me.”

“Until you get drunk again and something slips.”

She sighed. “You have to tell somebody. Who else do you have to tell that isn’t me?”

He thought about it, and realized she was right. In this timeline, Cisco and Caitlin didn’t even know him, and neither did any version of Wells. Iris was his only friend, and she was compromised at the moment, maybe indefinitely.

“Why do I have to tell somebody?” he tried.

She rolled her eyes. “Because it’ll eat you alive if you don’t.”

Okay, she had a point.

Maybe he should tell her about everything. Being a speedster, losing his speed, Iris returning his feelings and being his fiancée, his mother’s murderer being his evil nemesis…

Or maybe not. She’d probably think he was crazy.

He could start with his immediate problem.

“Okay, I suppose I could tell you what’s up with me and Iris.”

Linda smiled brilliantly.

“Fantastic!”

He shook his head at her, but he was smiling.

“I think Eddie did it,” he said at last, after going quiet.

Her smile faded slowly, then she blinked dramatically.

“What? You’re kidding. Eddie’s the one that put you in the hospital?”

“There could’ve been another person, but he’s definitely partially responsible. I remember him hitting me after I dropped Iris off at their place.”

“Enough to put you in this predicament though?”

“Yeah, that’s what I don’t know. But who else would’ve come back later to finish beating someone up?”

“Was your wallet gone? Anything of value?”

He shook his head. “And if it was a mugger, surely something would be, don’t you think?”

Linda bit her lip.

“Okay, let’s just keep this between us. You want to be careful accusing a police officer when you’re not 100% sure they did it, especially one you know.”

“I know, but the doctors keep asking me if I remember anything… Am I supposed to lie straight to their face? When it might help me get better sooner? I can’t stay here forever.”

“No, of course not. I know!”

“What?” His eyes widened.

“Leave it to me,” she said, folding her arms. “I am your girlfriend in training after all. The least I can do is get my beau out of the hospital.”

He winced. “Please don’t say beau.”

She laughed. “I’ll take it under consideration.”

...

*will be posted on AO3 and FFnet when beta’d.

[someonefantastic]

I'm Gonna Give You All My Heart Can Give

Welcome one and all to the first day of psychmas! Find the prompts here. I had fun writing this one, I always love doing narratives and especially ones on Juliet. Hope y'all enjoy! Summary: Juliet O'Hara has spent four Christmases with Shawn and Gus since moving to San Fransisco. Each one is memorable for different reasons. Prompt: Gifts also on ao3 ___

The first Christmas since moving to San Francisco is quiet and calm. It’s just her, Shawn, and Gus. All three of them had traveled to Santa Barbara a few days before to have a Christmas party with the Lassiter’s and Henry and as much fun as that was, she’s thankful to be spending Christmas alone with her fiancé and his best friend.

She’s the last one to get her gift. Gus had gone first, receiving noise-canceling headphones from her and pretending not to see Shawn’s smug face or hear his comments about needing them later. Shawn had given him a detailed map of all the best food places in San Francisco along with the promise that he’d drop anything and go with him whenever he asked.

Shawn had absolutely loved the shiny wrapping paper that she used, spending more time playing with that than actually opening up the present but she didn’t mind. The look on his face as he unwrapped a black hoodie with the words “psychphrancisco” written in red was more than enough to make up for it. And he nearly cried at Gus’ gift, a signed certificate from both Chief Vick and Chief Lassiter thanking them for their consulting services over the past eight years.

Finally, it’s her turn. Gus hands her a small red wrapped box and she bursts into a huge grin upon opening it. It’s a small framed photo of the three of them, plus Carlton, taken during one of their first post case celebratory hangouts. Their faces are younger, less worn by time and stress but the signs of friendship and that underlying bond is very prevalent.

And then Shawn silently slides her another box. The wrapping screams “Gus”. It’s blue with white snowflakes, a gold ribbon down the middle, tied into a bow. The edges are neat and straight and she can barely see the small bits of tape holding the package together. But the gift inside is clearly from Shawn.

It’s two pictures, side by side on one sheet of paper, she and Shawn drawn out in beautiful detail and adorned with watercolor. In one they’re standing in front of their old house in Santa Barbara and the other in front of their loft’s entrance in San Francisco. Her hair is longer in the second picture, a sign of time past but their smiles are all the same, just happy to be together. Below in beautiful letters, swooping and scrawling- a skill that she knows he picked up from his dad- is written: “Home is Wherever You Are”.

Her breath catches in her throat, tears pricking in the corner of her eyes and they threaten to spill over when she notices the glinting ring on her left hand in the second picture. It’s a little artist’s touch- after all the real ring had been stolen- but it makes her heart swell with emotion.

Shawn places his hand on her knee, squeezing slightly and she beams at him. He gives her a lopsided grin and she notes just how cute he is. She’s so glad to be engaged to him.

The second Christmas in San Francisco is a little larger and a little crazier. The Lassiters, Vicks, and Henry all cram into their loft, Christmas music playing and conversation ringing throughout. She loves having a big Christmas, after all, it’s what she grew up with, but a small part of her mourns the loss of it being just the three of them. She also wishes she was actually married this Christmas but that’s something she’ll never tell anyone.

The gift exchange is hectic, with multiple people scrambling and opening their boxes. There’s a lot that she can’t quite recall but she will never forget the look on Iris’ face as she unwraps Juliet’s gift. A soccer ball. It’s white with pink and black stripes and nearly takes out a lamp or two but Iris makes her pinky swear that she’ll take her to go play a match sometime.

This time, Shawn’s gift to her is wrinkled, the wrapping paper sticking out on the edges and massive pieces of tape holding the whole thing together. He clearly wrapped it and the image of him wrestling with paper and tape is enough to make her smile. It’s a small heater for her office as she’d been complaining about the cold atmosphere for weeks now. She’s touched that he would think of something to make her life a little better but that’s just who Shawn is, always listening and meeting her needs. (She’s a little disappointed, however, that it’s not an engagement ring.)

Juliet would never consider herself a resentful person but by the time the third Christmas rolls around, she’s a bit peeved. Her and Shawn are no closer to being married. In fact, he seems to actually be going backwards in their relationship. She’s caught him a few times slipping and calling her his “girlfriend” instead of “fiancée” and she’s spent way too much time wondering if he’ll ever actually be ready to be married. She loves him regardless and thinks that if he ever decides that he doesn’t want to get married, she’ll stay but it’s exhausting having no clue what he’s thinking.

They go to Santa Barbara for this Christmas, spending it in the Lassiter’s house along with Henry and Gus. (The Vick’s decided to spend Christmas in Detroit with Karen’s family.) Shawn makes a joke about sneaking off into his old bedroom and she has to gently remind him that that’s now Lily’s room and there will be no sneaking off tonight.

He pouts for a minute and then Carlton announces that they’re opening up gifts and his attention is elsewhere. She loves it when his eyes light up like that.

He bagged his gift this year. It’s a plain red bag with way too much tissue paper but he’s smiling so big that she’s very distracted from the packaging anyways.

Inside is a hair dryer. The exact make and model as the one on her Christmas list. It’s sweet and practical and exactly what she wanted. And yet… there’s a small part of her that is a little sad. She’d grown so accustomed to his thoughtful gifts that were slightly out of the box in his own quirky way. But she later reprimands herself for thinking that way. At least she got a gift from him. At least he was so kind as to get her something she wanted. At least she has him. It’s not too bad, and sure it’s no engagement ring or mindful gift but having him should be enough. So why does she feel like she’s nearing her breaking point?

Their fourth Christmas together is much, much different. It’s just the three of them again but this time… this time there’s a silver band on her left hand, the diamond glinting every time it catches a stream of light.

She had worried for weeks leading up to December that this Christmas was going to be just like the last ones, another year of engagement with no ring, no sign of commitment from Shawn. But he had surprised her, like he always did, with the best gift of all. They had done it, actually gotten married, standing on that pier. She was bruised and battered, they hadn’t slept in hours and their officiant was a criminal. It was unconventional all right but she wouldn’t change it for the world.

This Christmas she was spending it with her husband. The word still made her giddy and she didn’t know if she’d ever grow tired of referring to Shawn as that. She certainly hoped she wouldn’t.

They’re huddled around the Christmas tree, all three of them decked out in matching red flannel pajamas- Shawn’s idea. Gus comments for the third time that day (and probably the twentieth time since they got married) that he’s going to move out soon, give the newlyweds some space but she just shakes her head, placing a hand on his knee and telling him that he can stay as long as he needs. He is family after all.

Shawn nearly chucks his gift at Gus who in turn shoots him a dirty look. The expression quickly falls, however, when he unwraps it. It’s a beautiful portrait of the three of them sitting on the couch and laughing at a movie. Shawn grins, nudging Gus’ arm, and tells him how even when he moves out, he’ll always be family and more than welcome. She wholeheartedly agrees.

He grabs her gift next, it’s small and flat but a grin bursts across his face as he opens it. A Wonder Woman comic sits in his hands- the first comic they ever bought together- its cover signed by Gal Godot herself. She doesn’t tell him that she waited three hours in line to get that signed or went to 18 different comic book shops to find that specific issue. Inside is a note card from Juliet telling him how much she appreciates his friendship and Shawn has to gingerly take the comic book away from him before he bursts into tears.

And when he hugs them both, she doesn’t mind his sobbing or the slight awkwardness of the embrace. Instead, she thinks that part of her is going to miss living with her husband’s best friend- no- her brother-in-law.

Gus’s gift to her is equally as sweet. It’s a coin, carved with the words Detective Juliet O��Hara-Spencer, and she wonders when he had time to add that last bit or if he had known all along. Regardless, she’s just thankful to share something so special with him.

Shawn slides her his gift after she finishes thanking Gus, a small dopey smile on his face. The wrapping is neater this year but it still points out at the occasional odd angle and too much tape was involved. She gasps as she unwraps it, revealing a green snuggie- the perfect excuse for warm cuddles. It’s soft against her skin and she immediately slips her arms into it, allowing the fabric to encase her small frame. It’s a bit large and he waggles his eyebrows as he tells her it’s made for two. Even if it wasn’t, they’d surely find a way to share it.

Hours later, when they’re all piled onto the couch watching Gremlins, the snuggie wrapped around her and Shawn, she thinks this is the best Christmas in San Francisco yet.

[softsweetsuffering]

OC LIST (New)

Trey:

Has an ability to mimic or amplify abilities/powers of others, as well as telekinesis

Was previously part of a group of people who also had abilities, however after mistreatment and other issues within the group, he left.

He's got a good wealth behind him.

Extremely gentle

Handsome ;)

Loves photography

Has lavender hair

Respects all

'Secretly' Plays violin

Lowkey a sugardaddy

Hamrish Benat:

Has four eyes!

Pink and blonde hair

He loves parkour (as in climbing buildings and leaping around in gyms)

Has PTSD (There are two AUS of which I default as to how he obtained it)

Ready to deck a bitch

Trained nurse

Loves teddy bears and fuzzy pink socks.

Also goes by Hami/Hayden

Andy peters:

Strong, kind.

The quiet Big Type, doesn't always talk, but his heart is in good places.

Wishes he could do more

Buff + Tall

Wears a pair of dogtags.

Has red streaks in his hair for the fun of it

Is extremely brotherly to Adrian

is friends with Hami

Adrian Géarán:

Nervous Malnutritioned anxiety filled tired mess

Has emotionally linked fire abilities (does not like having them)

likes to make little robots!

Easily bullied

Missing an arm

Struggles with normal life

Blames himself for Andys death

Looks unintentionally vaguely like Fry from Futurama

Chris:

Leader of a summer camp for kiddos

Huge fan of the outdoors

Loves to garden

Red head with freckles

Healthy!

Good build, a little on the below-average male height

Likes to hike

Loves kids

Strong but pacifistic

Great smile

Surprisingly a little shy around other adults

Bisexual

Himbo energy

Douglas Connelly:

Just a regular chubby guy

His chub is only important because this man gives some of the best hugs, he's like a marshmallow

He is outwardly confident about his size, even if it sometimes worries him internally

He loves music, loves to groove in the kitchen while making snacks

Always open for roommates and new friends (one of his roommates is a hot bartender called Donovan)

A bit awkward but he tries his best.

Tucker:

Badass

Bunny hybrid (ears :3)

White hair

Likes to wear denim jackets

Fast runner

Has had experience working in the force

Izekiel Iris:

Bruised and abused in a facility

Was turned from human into A being of made of Paint (Useful? no. Fun? yes. Rainbow blood anyone?)

Loves painting

Wallflower

Easily anxious

Loves to draw on his own arms

Matthew Libelle:

Aka Matty Very delayed development wise as well as Autistic

Very much a texture lad, soft blankets are his thing.

Doesn't like loud sounds ( who does honestly).

Tries his hardest to function normally but it's hard.

Watermelon colours are his fav. Green hoodie is his fav.

Has watermelon pink hair.

Gale:

Eldritch bab

Was cursed by a group of guys who were messing with magics they didn't understand

Did in fact murder said group of guys and is traumatised by the idea he has become a monster

hears voices

Has Tendrils that have burst out of his back

Has the ability to move from this realm to the Eldritch planes and back. (is terrified of said planes)

Doesn't have a home

Black curly hair- frizzy- shimmers like Slick oil

Shy type kinda, tall Pale. cold.

Kinda wishes he could just go back to normal.

Would really like to eat some fresh warm bread.

Rowan maverick

Was abandoned as a teen

Also known as Rogue/Red.

Lost some of their tongues making them mute

Trained Assassin.

Previously part of a cult

Addict to painkillers (Caused by the mental issues from the cult and the loss of tongue.)

Bad with Physical affection

Could use a friend

Jace

Cop/Ex Cop.

Laid off after an incident

Has a pubby called Otis

Likes the occasional beer

Dad energy

Issac Merewen

Was previously a Teacher - grade 11/12s

Kidnapped and kept Drugged the hell up.

Was given the new name: Jess/Jack. AKA The Jester

Now has Amnesia problems .(Anomic aphasia)

Was stored Cramped in box.

Needs glasses. (Long sighted. Cant see Infront of him for shit without glasses. He specifically likes round ones :3)

Natrually Blonde

He was very inspired by the Chitty Chitty bang bang scene, “Doll on a music box”.

- He naturally has two different coloured eyes :D

-He likes podcast n occasionally audiobooks. Its good for learning/remembering words, and way easier than straining his eyes. Although it is upsetting occasionally when he can remember more of a book/podcast he’s into more than real words or real-life things.

Tyrone Li

Incubus.

Wise, Patient, caring.

Brown tattoos wind up his hips and torso, curling around his chest around his heart, and around his back, flaring at his neck.

Glasses.

Loves plants and flora

Sex lost meaning when he was younger. He wants true intimacy again but he wants to find the right person..

Glamors hide the following features:

Tail, brown that gradients into Green, Leaf like tip.

Horns, curled. (green tipped :0)

Glamors break usually after a certain period of time regardless of feeding, however, during bad situations/fight the body may unglamour to reserve the last of its energy.

Caspian:

Basically immortal but can die (Reincarnations)

Not a pacifist, but not instantly into violence

He was blessed by the Heart of the Ocean (Shes wonderful <3)

Can control water, can do minor healing with water

Can make water bubble/ boil when angry

Glowy veins when powers are active

He has had many many lives

Soft..caring..Doesnt remember alot of his past..

Doesn't know how many times hes died

Doesn't have alot of family or friends

Goes on many adventures

Elio Solren.

Nickname: Sunshine

Good lad.

Is a shapeshifter Dealt with being told he was happy and always upbeat. People leaving or ignoring him whenever he wasn't started building this sense of need to be happy all the time for others.

Lots of struggles with self image. Being perfect. Appeasing everyone. Poor self body love/self body image.

Is scared about The hate from humans about shifters. The jealousy and fear about them being able to hide behind other faces.

Smiles to hide the pain

Punk/hipster vibes

Intricate golden tattoos

Doesn't open up easily

Doesn't like to admit to being in pain

Kotori

AKA Corey

Owl lad!

Bright yellow piercing eyes. But is totally blind. (Face scars)

Loves music.

Plays the uke.. hums..sings sometimes.

Big wings- like barn owl.

Likes to perch in trees

Jeremey Caulfield

Winter baby

Was left bleeding in the snow at some point

Father Lovely old man (John)

Mother died (Ellie)

Birthday December 23h

Blue eyes

Black hair

Russel

Box boy

Glasses

Red hair

Real sweetheart

Really needs more dev ; ;

Jules

Loves tofu n chicken

Touchstarved

Stubborn af

Kicks ass!

Has Sass

Wears binders/sports bras for Lotsa running n such

Black hair big messy pigtails

Dark brown eyes.

Has a navy bear sleeps with it ‘doesn't care’ about it but does

Gymnast/kickboxing. Bandages around hands

Loved swinging bars since being a kiddo

Trampolines!!

Participates in Underground fight ring to make easy money

Sleeps on just a mattress

Has a laptop for study work but she's slowly giving up on bothering.

(She's not one originally but Werewolf Jules is one of my fav things)

Miles

Part mole, part orphan

Lives underground

Very light-sensitive

Is colourblind

Absolute nerd

loves tinkering with things

is scared of humans

very foggy memories of his parents.

Leilah/ Lei

Can make/control shadows.

Owns a Magic skull(Speaks to it)

Lives in the woods

Wears a skull to spook off people from her woods

Has Tattoos that are shadow/absorb shadows

Kinda bad at maintaining friendships

Emotionally Distant

Wears a cloak.

Bao Ketsuyki

Blood magic bab

Short

East Asian.

Pink/red medium length hair

Big pretty red flower scar from blood magic use on her shoulder/ back.

Little bit foolish, little bit reckless.

Has almost died a few times from her magic use.

Oran Audun

Pale

Punk

Irish

Plays Guitar

Writes in journal, occasionally song lyrics, occasionally little messy ink drawings.

Easy to aggravate (On edge) however is trying to learn how to meditate and be calmer

Covered head to toe in scars but still tries to find confidence in himself. He doesn't find it unattractive, but he feels like others have no need to witness his scars.

loves wearing leather/fabric wrist bracelets

Unwelcome hands have used his body as a research object

Very very against physical contact, needs to break into it.

Ray

Social worker works mainly with kids.

Has a Shy guy tattoo.

His family consists of a Good ma, younger sister, and super baby brother

Dad died but dad was good.

Dirty blonde hair, kinda messy

Short, 5’

Socks the pupper is his helpful lil buddy (hes so round and white and fluffy)

Super dad vibes.

Owen

a hockey player n gymnast.

His mother died when he was about 9.

has an older brother who is a bit of a big jock type

quite protective and caring of his two much younger siblings.

ended up in a nasty scuffle though at some point during his more competitive years in Hockey

This leads to following his passion for Gym

Pole vault, the rings, trampoline.

Still plays hockey among mates or strangers on the weekends in the cold months tho

Ends up taking a position as a gym teacher for kids after taking a childhood course since he was so good at it.

actually a really sweet guy

Soft but likes his sport and jokes.

He can hold his own somewhat more than he appears.

has blue tips/stripes in his blonde hair.

He often wears varsity jackets or baseball tees. As well as a couple other sport wear shirts. (A. Good few are from his bro ofc. Free merch)

He's short but he's got a fairly decent build on him.

He's got a surprisingly good tackle if you aren't careful. And a good grip strength.

Nohea

but everyone calls him Noah.

Works at a Boba tea cafe..

likes to surf.

has an Epic board.

Back and shoulders all littered with lines and tic tac toe-like scars.

he's the type to brush off any questions and change topic while smiling. But not super bubbly. Just. Go lucky.

has a few friends who like to hang out at the cafe

Was in a surfing accident that involved a lot of rocks.

Ila

4’8 Soft. Short.

Ready to protect.

Loves to bake!!!

Smells like a vanilla cupcake most of the time

Isn't afraid to fight although isn't trained

likes Yoga ( and yoga pants)

Needs glasses but doesn't wear them (tsk tsk, unless tryign to read recipes)

Dyes hair silver/white

Jake

Homeless

Snake hybrid can transform his lower half from human legs to tail

Also has fangs, and therefore venom

He's got a lot of sass

Can be a bit of an asshole but soft around the right people

Isn't used to kindness

doesn't cry easily

Steals food

Mac Hiato

Also known as Caf

5’6

Very Grumpy.

Very often has bags under his eyes.

Hoodie is life

Insomnia has serious trouble sleeping.

Has nightmares of strangulation

Occasionally sufferers sleep paralysis

Scared of dark- night lights

Owns a mouse called Bean

Does freelancing webdesgisn/coding as job.

Sits like a gay.

Lives on coffee

Minorly Lactose intolerant

Has One bad eye

Neema

Egyptian

Mechanic

Her dad's a mechanic and used to bring her to work all the time

dead mum: which affected her ability to emote.

Works part time at the garage

Dad likes to bring gifts on their small catch-ups that happen every once in a while.

Sheeee. Suffers a bit of resting bitch face.

she's kinda stunted emotionally because she was raised by her dad, who, isn't great with emotions himself being a man's man and all.

She's very much a tomboy gal. Doesn't exactly get dressed up. because she finds it tiresome and not "her".

Also if she did/does have friends the nickname Nemo 100% crops up because it's sadly alll too fitting but also kinda sweet.

She's actually really into cars and mechanics. Which is one of the few good reasons her dad and her are close.

She's hard to get to know, very quiet. And if you're someone who dominates the conversation she won't speak up much, but you'll be surprised to how much she's listened.

Just because she looks tired and done doesn't actually mean she feels that way.

Samson (Lemonade boi)

His name is Samson, but he prefers Sun/Sunny. (Other more affectionate nicknames include Lemondrop and Sunflower.)

He really likes going out to markets and stuff like that, little stalls or knick knack shops to find the odd kinda items.

He also really likes wandering big forests. (Hes got some o that fae energy) He collects various cool stones/rocks/plants from some of them. He also has some small vials from waterfalls and ponds he’s encountered)

He wants to practice magic to become a witch! He loves the candles and rocks and other cool things that come with the craft. (He inherited things from his father)

He really likes loose fitting shirts too, like flowy things, ones with sleeves that drape past your fingers, or has extra fabric on the bottom that dangle down past hips. (Sometimes they come from the ladies section just because they’re softer and have more variety. Others from op shops and other niche little stores.)

He bought a cologne from a witch that looks cursed but the only curse is that it makes the one who puts it on smell like citrus..so not much of curse. (The bottle looks fuckin neato tho)

He looves fizzy drinks. Doesn’t mind his alcohol either, however it takes a surprising amount to get him on his ass despite looking like a serious lightweight.

He’s pretty average in build, bit of muscle in his arms, some fat on his thighs. Slight pouch of a tum (cause no ones flat and thats unrealistic :<)

He’s about 5′4. So not tall, but not the shortest of the short.

He kinda likes to backpack about. Not staying in places long if they get boring. Which means he is kinda jack of all trades when it comes to work, offering to fix things for pay, lots of casual work doing various things.(One of his favorites was helping a little old lady run a paint shop.)

He occasionally snorts when he laughs and tries not to.

He has his ears pierced, and he has a little yellow gemed stud in his nose.

The ring around his neck he found in the middle of a patch of mushrooms.

He has a couple other tattoos. One of them is of bubbles up his wrist :3 He also has some stars on his ankle, and a sunflower on one of his fingers on his left hand.

He’s not super in to gardening but he does have his lemon tree. He also wants to grow some mandarins

His eyes look silver in a lot of lights, but occasionally there’s some strange hints of yellow, and other times blue.

He has freckles!!!! that look alot like bubbles ;)

He has a twin brother called Fraser.

Scrunches his nose

Hides his laughter behind his hand

[bthenoise]

The Best Of 2020 As Picked By Members Of Underoath, The Amity Affliction, August Burns Red, Neck Deep, Movements and More

Okay, we know what you’re thinking: Isn’t it a bit of an oxymoron to list the “best” things to come from such a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year? 

While yes, we completely agree with that statement, we would be remiss not to shine a light on all the wonderful things that helped us survive one of the most challenging years in recent memory -- you know, like best album, best song, best movie, etc.

So, as a way to help you count down the end of this miserable year (22 days, 7 hours and 52 minutes to go as of this writing), we’ve completely turned our year-end, best-of list over to the artists we cover on a daily basis. Because let’s face it, as we’ve noted in years past, their opinions are the ones we all really care about, right? 

Right. 

To check out what members of Underoath, The Amity Affliction, August Burns Red, Neck Deep, Knuckle Puck, Movements, Counterparts, Hatebreed and more have all been obsessing over for the past year or so, be sure to see below. We hope you enjoy this final list as much as we do and wish you all the most peaceful and positive holiday season.

Enjoy!

SPENCER CHAMBERLAIN - UNDEROATH 

Best Album of 2020: Tame Impala - The Slow Rush Best Song of 2020: Foster the People - “Lambs Wool” Best Music Video of 2020: Sir Sly - “Material Boy” (also one of the best songs of 2020) Most Underrated Album of 2020: The Chain Gang of 1974 - Honey Moon Drips Best Movie of 2020: Onward Most Binge-Worthy TV Show of 2020: American Horror Story Favorite Internet Moment of 2020: Metal Kenneth Copeland had me cracking up Best Concert You Attended/Played/Watched in 2020: I really enjoyed playing Lost In The Sound of Separation in full for the first time ever and it was our first ever live stream so it was super special and something I’ll never forget The Thing(s) That Helped Get You Through 2020: Writing tons of music, my lady, hiking/working out and my great dane Snoopy 2021 New Year’s Resolution: Put MORE art into the world

AHREN STRINGER - THE AMITY AFFLICTION

Best Album of 2020:  Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher Best Song of 2020:  Spiritbox - “Holy Roller” Best Music Video of 2020:  Architects - “Black Lungs” Most Underrated Album of 2020: Lost For Life - We All Share The Blame Best Movie of 2020: Palm Springs Most Binge-Worthy TV Show of 2020: Queen’s Gambit Favorite Internet Moment of 2020: Donald Trump’s Twitter account. Concert You Attended/Played/Watched in 2020: Europe tour with Beartooth right before the pandemic. The Thing(s) That Helped Get You Through 2020: Drawing and painting 2021 New Year’s Resolution: Start smoking more

JB BRUBAKER - AUGUST BURNS RED

Best Album of 2020: Hum - Inlet Best Song of 2020: Sir Sly - “All Your Love” Best Music Video of 2020: NOFX - “Live At Red Rocks” Most Underrated Album of 2020: Sea Wolf - Through A Dark Wood Best Movie of 2020: The Social Dilemma  Most Binge-Worthy TV Show of 2020: Queen’s Gambit Favorite Internet Moment of 2020: https://youtu.be/0JPRvxTjfOk Best Concert You Attended/Played/Watched in 2020: Best show I played this year was our Thrill Seeker 15 Year Anniversary livestream, though I hope that we one-up that show on Dec 12th when we do our Christmas Burns Red show. The Thing(s) That Helped Get You Through 2020: The return of live sports, specifically baseball and especially football. Fantasy sports have been my 2020 escape. 2021 New Year’s Resolution: I’d like to look on the bright side more. 2020 has been an easy year to focus on the negative. I don’t want to be that way next year (or ever).

KEVIN MAIDA - KNUCKLE PUCK

Best Album of 2020: Tie between HAIM's Women In Music Pt. III or Owen’s The Avalanche or Slow Pulp’s Movey

Best Song of 2020: “Me & You Together Song” by The 1975

Best Music Video of 2020: Faye Webster’s “Better Distractions” or Phoebe Bridgers’ “I Know The End” or HAIM’s “Man From The Magazine”

Most Underrated Album of 2020: Burst by Snarls

Best Movie of 2020: Dang, what movies came out this year? Each year, I gauge the movies I saw by recounting seeing them in theaters, but  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I really enjoyed Portrait of a Lady On Fire though and I saw Uncut Gems on New Year’s Day this year, so I’m counting that as well.

Most Binge-Worthy TV Show of 2020: I’m really bad with keeping up with contemporary television, but I am always watching The Sopranos on a loop. I've had so many people tell me this year that they started watching Sopranos because of all the extra time at home, so I loved living vicariously through others watching it for the first time. I’ve also been binging 30 Rock for the first time and it is simply a delight.

Favorite Internet Moment of 2020: Phoebe Bridgers and Maggie Rogers’ “Iris” cover album art.

Best Concert You Attended/Played/Watched in 2020: Back in February, we played at Beat Kitchen in Chicago with Heart Attack Man and One Step Closer to begin the only tour we would do this year. We hadn’t played there in years, but it felt so good to be back in that venue’s atmosphere again.

The Thing(s) That Helped Get You Through 2020: My girlfriend, staying connected with my friends and family, riding my bike around the city, having time to somewhat enjoy summer at home in Chicago and revisiting favorite movies of mine.

2021 New Year’s Resolution: Be kinder to others and kinder to myself.

PATRICK MIRANDA - MOVEMENTS

Best Album of 2020: Punisher - Phoebe Bridgers Best Song of 2020: Too many to pick just one Best Music Video of 2020: “Popstar” - Drake/DJ Khaled Most Underrated Album of 2020: Marigold - Pinegrove Best Movie of 2020: Borat 2 Most Binge-Worthy TV Show of 2020: The Mandalorian Favorite Internet Moment of 2020: Cranberry juice skateboard guy Best Concert You Attended/Played/Watched in 2020: LDB Fest in Louisville Kentucky 2020, BC (before Covid) The Thing(s) That Helped Get You Through 2020: Video games and comfort food 2021 New Year’s Resolution: Let’s be honest, I’m not sticking to any resolutions

BRENDAN MURPHY - COUNTERPARTS

Best Album of 2020: I haven't even heard it yet, but I'm pretty sure it'll be the new Seahaven record. Band fucking rocks and I've been waiting like 6 years for new music.

Best Song of 2020: The 1975 - “If You're Too Shy (Let Me Know)”

Best Music Video of 2020: It's a tie, but I'm gonna have to go with “Spirit Halloween Theme Song” and the follow up “Unleash Your Spirit” both by Nick Lutsko.

Most Underrated Album of 2020: Chamber - Cost of Sacrifice

Best Movie of 2020: I don't think I've watched any movies that came out this year other than the new Borat, so I guess that's my pick by default. It was VERY NICE!! I wish I could marry the movie so the movie could be MY WIFE!! Get it? You get it. We all get it. It's great. 

Most Binge-Worthy TV Show of 2020: Again, I've been slacking in terms of newer movies/tv and honestly, I just kinda alternate between watching The Simpsons seasons 3-9 and then watching Kenny Vs Spenny from beginning to end. If you haven't seen KvS, the entire series is on YouTube so please just watch it. I promise it's the best thing to come out of Canada... me being the second best.

Favorite Internet Moment of 2020: When we released the embroidered NLTL hoodie and everyone filled their diapers with shit.

Best Concert You Attended/Played/Watched in 2020: Tough call, but it's gotta be either the Chainsmokers concert in the Hamptons or the biker festival in Sturgis that Smash Mouth played.

The Thing(s) That Helped Get You Through 2020: Alcohol, adopting my cat Kuma and finally being diagnosed with ADD so I could get a Vyvanse prescription.

2021 New Year’s Resolution: Play a single show LMAOOOOOO

OSHIE BICHAR - BEARTOOTH

Best Album of 2020: Bring Me The Horizon - Post Human: Survival Horror Best Song of 2020: Bring Me The Horizon - “Parasite Eve" Best Music Video of 2020: Bring Me The Horizon feat Yungblud - “OBEY" Most Underrated Album of 2020: Silverstein - A Beautiful Place To Drown Best Movie of 2020: Tenet  Most Binge-Worthy TV Show of 2020: The Mandalorian     Favorite Internet Moment of 2020: Baby Yoda memes Best Concert You Attended/Played/Watched in 2020: Beartooth drive-in show in Oshkosh, WI The Thing(s) That Helped Get You Through 2020: Call of Duty: Warzone  2021 New Year’s Resolution: Stop spending so much money on Star Wars toys

TRAVIS MIGUEL - ATREYU

Best Album of 2020: Insect Ark - The Vanishing Best Song of 2020: clipping. - “Say The Name” Best Music Video of 2020: Billie Eilish - “Everything I Wanted” Most Underrated Album of 2020: Thundercat - It Is What It Is Best Movie of 2020: The Social Dilemma Most Binge Worthy TV Show of 2020: The Mandalorian Favorite Internet Moment of 2020: Any of the “My Plans for 2020” memes Best Concert You Attended/Played/Watched in 2020: Atreyu - Melbourne, Australia @ Max Watts, Feb 2020. Things that helped you get through 2020: Guitar, video games, hanging with the wife and cat, finishing an album, Atreyu “Carry the Fire” livestream and lots of junk food. 2021 New Year Resolution: Gonna try to have more of that PMA.

MATT BRYNE - HATEBREED

Best Album of 2020: Napalm Death - Throes of Joy In The Jaws Of Defeatism

Best Song of 2020:  See question #1.  Pick any song from it.  

Best Music Video of 2020:  I don’t have one. I miss the infant days of MTV when music videos were new, fresh and hypnotizing. I used to sit for hours and wait for the Van Halen “Jump” video to come on.  So, I’ll go with that music video for this question. Can I do that?

Most Underrated Album of 2020: Hum - Inlet

Best Movie of 2020: The Mandalorian series.  I rarely watch full movies anymore. It’s all about getting sucked into a TV series.  

Most Binge-Worthy TV Show of 2020: Can’t choose only one. The Queen’s Gambit, The Mandalorian, Living With Yourself, Dead To Me…

Favorite Internet Moment of 2020: Anything posted on kookslams. I could surf that Insta account all damn day!!!

Best Concert You Attended/Played/Watched in 2020: None. We have all been stuck at home. So, best attended/played/watched is me, myself and I crushing it on my basement practice jams. Or falling down the rabbit-hole watching drum solos or drum clips on youtube.  

The Thing(s) That Helped Get You Through 2020: 1- I got married in May so that was a huge event that we made happen and enjoyed, given the current craziness. Couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day. 2- Our dog, Ziti. He is a constant source of entertainment. 3- Yoga. 4- Ripping around on my mini-bike.

2021 New Year’s Resolution: Drink more water.  Spend less time looking at my phone.  Get back to playing shows again!!!

SAM BOWDEN - NECK DEEP

Best Album of 2020: Haim - Women In Music Pt. III

Best Song of 2020: Seaway - “Big Vibe”

Best Music Video of 2020: The 1975 - “The Birthday Party”

Most Underrated Album of 2020: I don’t really know what’s underrated and I’ve not listened to a bunch this year but Knuckle Puck 20/20 is a great album that people should go check out if they haven’t already.

Best Movie of 2020: The Trial of the Chicago 7

Most Binge-Worthy TV Show of 2020: Schitt’s Creek. Although this wasn’t strictly all released in 2020, the final season was and I hadn’t seen any before this year. It was amazing and I definitely binged the whole thing. Final season is a tear jerker for sure. Best Concert You Attended/Played/Watched in 2020: Well like most people in music we didn’t get to play a show this year, however, I did attend a Counterparts show in Feb at Rock City which ruled! Static Dress were also on the tour so was great getting to finally see them!

The Thing(s) That Helped Get You Through 2020: Call of Duty - Warzone. Can’t say I’m proud about this one but It helped pass time if nothing else. More serious though, I bought my girlfriend a kitten a few months ago and he’s been a bundle of joy for us. 2021 New Year’s Resolution: Enjoy the little things. This year took a lot of normality out of life and it’s given me a lot of time to reflect and look back on things I’ve done and we’ve done as a band. It’s easy to get caught up and just be thinking about what’s next and not really live in that moment, so next year I’ll be savoring every moment and every show we get.

NICK VENTIMIGLIA - GRAYSCALE

Best Album of 2020: This is so tough but I think Deftones’ Ohms is my favorite album of the year. 

Best Song of 2020: I really don’t know if I can pick one but my most listened to was “The Spell of Mathematics” by Deftones

Best Music Video of 2020: I absolutely loved the Bring Me the Horizon video for “Parasite Eve.” But also, the “Ohms” video by Deftones was unreal as well.

Most Underrated Album of 2020: There really are a few I believe. It was a very weird year to put out a record so I think a TON of albums flew under the radar which is a bummer because there was so much great music put out. I think Four Year Strong's Brain Pain was amazing and their best album to date. I think Hundredth’s Somewhere Nowhere was unreal. Rich People put out Harmony in August and I absolutely love that record and those boys. The Killers put a record out called Imploding the Mirage that has some absolute heaters on it as well. The Ghost Inside made a wild comeback with Aftermath that makes you want to go ape shit front to back. Finally, I’d say The Used made an amazing album that caught them right back up with making great music. Not that they didn’t on the previous records, but it feels like they found themselves again. They pushed a lot of boundaries on Heartwork and had some insane songwriting on that record.

Best Movie of 2020: To be honest, I didn’t really watch many new movies this year. The Social Dilemma was super eye-opening and very true. If you dig creepy thrillers, The Devil All the Time was probably top for me. A ton of great actors and just such an eerie vibe in the cinematography.  

Most Binge-Worthy TV Show of 2020: I feel like the easy answer is Tiger King, but I really dug The Queen’s Gambit and The Undoing as of late.

Favorite Internet Moment of 2020: I hate the internet really, there is just so much bullshit overload that I can’t even process it all. With that said, when Joe Exotic threw on his EMS jacket when his employee got her arm bit off by a tiger, THAT was UNREAL. I was crying laughing. This man had this jacket for a moment like this. He is wearing this EMS bomber with king tight white jeans, a true fashion icon. The memes that followed were priceless. The “I am never gunna financially recover from this…” memes. So great.

Best Concert You Attended/Played/Watched in 2020: I would have to say the best show I attended this year was the Dashboard Confessional anniversary shows in Detroit. It was back to back nights where Chris played 'The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most’ and ‘A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar.’ in their entirety. He did some older stuff as well off of the ’So Impossible' EP and ‘Swiss Army Romance’ which rocked. Best show we played would have to be on our headliner earlier this year. We played The Observatory in Santa Ana, CA and it was unreal. Best watched show was probably the Puscifer live stream or the Underoath stream. 

The Thing(s) That Helped Get You Through 2020: I think it was the ability to write more than we usually are able to and kind of tighten up the behind the scenes aspects of Grayscale that people don’t often see. Beyond that, being able to spend time with loved ones and family has been great. It’s been a great year for self reflection as well and I feel like that’s always a good thing when you can get a fresh perspective on life when things get shaken up. I’ve been super thankful even more so this year for the people I have in my life and the opportunities I’ve been given. Those are some of the big things that got me through.

2021 New Year’s Resolution: Honestly, I am not much of a resolution guy, but I’d say just give my all to everything I am passionate about and treat everyone with love. Playing shows in 2021 would be absolutely ideal for a resolutions well.

JULIET SIMMS

Best Album of 2020: Starbenders - Love Potions Best Song of 2020: “You About To Lose Your Job” Best Music Video of 2020: In This Moment - “As Above So Below” Most Underrated Album of 2020: Creeper - Sex, Death and the Infinite Void Best Movie of 2020: Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey Most Binge-Worthy TV Show of 2020: Queen’s Gambit Favorite Internet Moment of 2020: Ocean Spray Fleetwood Mac guy. Best Concert You Attended/Played/Watched in 2020: uhhhhh - welcome to hell. I attended exactly one concert this year and that was a live stream for BVB. The Thing(s) That Helped Get You Through 2020: Music, YouTube, good shows, my babe, my pets and staying busy. 2021 New Year’s Resolution: To get the fuck out of the house 😂. On a more music related note - put my album out ✨

OLLIE BAXXTER - BROADSIDE

Best Album of 2020: Into the Raging Sea by Broadside Best Song of 2020: “Watermelon Sugar” by Harry Styles Best Music Video of 2020: “Parasite Eve” - Bring Me The Horizon Most Underrated Album of 2020: Into the Raging Sea by Broadside Best Movie of 2020: Palm Springs Most Binge-Worthy TV Show of 2020: 90 Day Fiancé Favorite Internet Moment of 2020: Anything involving our EX president Best Concert You Attended/Played/Watched in 2020: *one long sigh* The Thing(s) That Helped Get You Through 2020: My miniature dachshund puppy and books 2021 New Year’s Resolution: Never take seeing someone's whole face for granted again

VINNIE CARUANA - I AM THE AVALANCHE // THE MOVIELIFE 

Best Album of 2020: Songs For The General Public - The Lemon Twigs Best Song of 2020: “War” - Idles Best Music Video of 2020: I haven’t seen any Most Underrated Album of 2020: DIVE - I am the Avalanche Best Movie of 2020: On the Rocks Most Binge-Worthy TV Show of 2020: Jeopardy on DVR. RIP ALEX TREBEK Favorite Internet Moment of 2020: Four Seasons Total Landscaping Best Concert You Attended/Played/Watched in 2020: Constant Elevation/ Rule Them All @ Max Fish NYC The Thing(s) That Helped Get You Through 2020: Jon Oliver, beer, weed, whiskey, Liverpool Football Club, friends, family, music. 2021 New Year’s Resolution: To spread more joy than ever

ALEX MAGNAN - YOUNG CULTURE

Best Album of 2020: Folklore by Taylor Swift Best Song of 2020: “How Big Is Your Brain” by Super American Best Music Video of 2020: “The Birthday Party” by the 1975 Most Underrated Album of 2020: Women In Music pt. III by Haim Best Movie of 2020: Tenet Most Binge-Worthy TV Show of 2020: Ozark Favorite Internet Moment of 2020: Pretending to break up my band Best Concert You Attended/Played/Watched in 2020: Playing Tampa, FL back in March The Thing(s) That Helped Get You Through 2020: Zoom calls 2021 New Year’s Resolution: Be the best live band when shows come back

MAX BREMER - KINGDOM OF GIANTS

Best Album of 2020: Man there’s a few really good ones that make it so hard to choose. I really enjoyed Loathe’s I Let It In And It Took Everything but I gotta shout out Like Moths to Flames’s No Eternity in Gold and Bring Me The Horizon’s Post Human for sure.

Best Song of 2020: Another insanely hard question! I guess I’m gonna say “Teardrops” by Bring Me The Horizon but again I’m gonna also shout out “Animals” by Architects

Best Music Video of 2020: “Teardrops” by Bring Me The Horizon. If you couldn’t tell I’m a big fan of them haha

Most Underrated Album of 2020: Idk if I’d say it’s underrated but I absolutely loved Make Them Suffer’s How to Survive a Funeral

Best Movie of 2020: I haven’t even seen it yet, but I know it’s gonna be Tenet

Most Binge-Worthy TV Show of 2020: Lovecraft Country

Favorite Internet Moment of 2020: There’s so many it’s hard for me to retain any of them. I can’t keep track.

Best Concert You Attended/Played/Watched in 2020: Well my band sold out every show we played this year which was only one haha but for real it was an awesome time and I love hearing our lyrics screamed back at us.

The Thing(s) That Helped Get You Through 2020: My wife, our new daughter, Indi, and our album PASSENGER 100%

2021 New Year’s Resolution: My wife and I just had our first daughter so it’s gonna be to be the best father I can possibly be and write as many songs as possible until we can rip shows again.

NICK ANDERSON - THE WRECKS

Best Album of 2020: Punisher - Phoebe Bridgers Best Song of 2020: “Dying Breed” - The Killers  Best Music Video of 2020: Nothing But Thieves - “Impossible” Most Underrated Album of 2020: Color Theory - Soccer Mommy Best Movie of 2020: The Go-Go’s Most Binge-Worthy TV Show of 2020: Dave Favorite Internet Moment of 2020: Four Seasons Total Landscaping  Best Concert You Attended/Played/Watched in 2020: :( The Thing(s) That Helped Get You Through 2020: Pro Tools 2021 New Year’s Resolution: Spend more time outside of the studio

CAMM KNOPP - NEVER LOVED

Best Album of 2020: It’s hard to pick one, but a few I really enjoyed are Father Of All… by Greenday, Ugly Is The New Beautiful by Oliver Tree and RTJ4 by Run The Jewels Best Song of 2020: There has been so many amazing songs released this year it feels impossible picking just one Best Music Video of 2020: Any Oliver Tree music video from his recent album Most Underrated Album of 2020: Watchito Rico by Boy Pablo Most Binge-Worthy TV Show of 2020: Tiger King Favorite Internet Moment of 2020: Tiger King memes were pretty great Best Concert You Attended/Played/Watched in 2020: Probably the Sugar Ray livestream The Thing(s) That Helped Get You Through 2020: Zoom parties, friends/family, writing music, netflix, and lots of self care 2021 New Year’s Resolution: Getting back on the road!

SHARPTOOTH

MATT HAGUE 

Best Album of 2020: Purity Ring - WOMB Best Song of 2020: “Headlights on the Parade” - The Blue Nile Best Music Video of 2020: “When Doves Cry” - Prince Most Underrated Album of 2020: The Hot N’ Heavy - Drop Dead, Gorgeous Best Movie of 2020: Joker (shit was crazy bro) Most Binge-Worthy TV Show of 2020: Devs Favorite Internet Moment of 2020: Trump getting COVID Best Concert You Attended/Played/Watched in 2020: The only band I saw this year was Single Mothers. Their drummer is very handsome. The Thing(s) That Helped Get You Through 2020: HBO’s Oz 2021 New Year’s Resolution: Get yourself together. Move to Philly. Buy a loft. Start a noise band. Get 6 or 7 roommates. Eat hummus with them. Book some gigs. Paint. Smoke cloves. Listen to Animal Collective. Start some type of salsa company. KEITH HIGGINS

Best Album of 2020: Endless Twilight of Codependent Love - Sólstafir Best Song of 2020: “Oh Ruthless Great Divine Director” - Lingua Ignota Best Music Video of 2020: Hot Gospel or Cane Hill Most Underrated Album of 2020: Grave of a Dog - Sightless Pit Best Movie of 2020: Color Out of Space Most Binge-Worthy TV Show of 2020: The Mandalorian Favorite Internet Moment of 2020: Trump getting COVID was top tier Best Concert You Attended/Played/Watched in 2020: LOL The Thing(s) That Helped Get You Through 2020: Destiny 2, dogs and a lot of repressing things 2021 New Year’s Resolution: Turn my brain back on and be a person again hopefully

LANCE DONATI

Best Album of 2020: Underneath - Code Orange Best Song of 2020: “Boss Bitch” - Doja Cat Best Music Video of 2020: “Swallowing The Rabbit Whole” - Code Orange Most Underrated Album of 2020: I Disagree - Poppy Best Movie of 2020: Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan Most Binge-Worthy TV Show of 2020: Mandalorian Favorite Internet Moment of 2020: The fly landing on Mike Pence’s head Best Concert You Attended/Played/Watched in 2020: Darkest Hour  The Thing(s) That Helped Get You Through 2020: Writing music for the next album.  2021 New Year’s Resolution: Get the next album process set up. 

PETER BRUNO

Best Album of 2020: Poppy - I Disagree. While critics might write this off as a unique, albeit kitsch blending of genres, this record is one of the more satisfying emotional journeys I’ve been on in quite some time. Poppy is able to capture a strange sort of sadness within these songs, that ironically, is often read as mere jouissance. Best Song of 2020: Poppy - “Sick of the Sun” Best Music Video of 2020: Run The Jewels - “Ooh La La” Most Underrated Album of 2020: Sound VVitch - Becoming. Imagine taking something like Chelsea Wolfe but leaning more into an experimental direction that is both sonically beautiful and grotesque. Best Movie of 2020: I’m Thinking of Ending Things, directed by Charlie Kaufman. It’s a shame that a lot of movies got pushed back this year. I think because of this, I didn’t wind up watching many movies from 2020, instead I used the pandemic to try to catch up on films from the past that I never seem to find time for. Still, I’ve come to really appreciate the journey that Kaufman seems to always insist on taking me. Most Binge-Worthy TV Show of 2020: Admittedly, I also haven’t watched a ton of new TV shows this year. But, there were both new seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Eric Andre Show, which always finds a way to make me happy. However, in terms of 2020 itself, I did finally watch The Sopranos for the first time and it completely lived up to the hype. Just an incredible TV show all around. I also binge watched all of Tim Heidecker’s On Cinema at the Cinema, which is quite the ride. There’s a whole cinematic universe for that TV show, it’s insane. I give it five bags of popcorn. Favorite Internet Moment of 2020: Conner O’Malley’s video where he learns how to communicate with trains got me pretty good. Best Concert You Attended/Played/Watched in 2020: I thought the Code Orange live stream acoustic set was pretty neat. The Thing(s) That Helped Get You Through 2020: Marijuana and Magic The Gathering. 2021 New Year’s Resolution: Try not to die.

LAUREN KASHAN 

Best Album of 2020: 1. High Road - Kesha. Basically, Kesha wrote an incredibly intense, emotional and fucking hilarious album about living her truth and telling all her haters to eat a dick and that’s really all I’ve ever needed in life.

2. “WAP” burned twelve times onto a CD-R from Best Buy. This one fucking song is a better album than 95% of anything I’ve ever heard and I’m a huge fan of anything related to black women kicking ass and taking names, sex and kink positivity, and insanely clever and funny lyrics. Plus, ANYTHING that makes weak, sexist, insecure men as BIG MAD as this song did is literally my kink.

Best Song of 2020: “My Own Dance” - Kesha.
 Best Music Video of 2020: “Say Nothing (In The Absence Of Content).” Fuck anyone who disagrees, that shit is iconic. Second runner up goes to “The Gray” because Peter made that whole fucking video himself and it’s POWERFUL and I still cry every single time I watch it.
 Most Underrated Album of 2020: Vagina Witchcraft’s self titled record. If you didn’t already notice, I’m pretty fucking done with listening to cis straight white dudes be ANGERY for half an hour; so this album is SUCH a breath of fresh air in a genre that’s become incredibly boring and derivative as of late. Listen to Vagina Witchcraft for sonically inventive, sludgy hardcore, bone-chilling vocal delivery and lyrics that are simultaneously calculated yet raw, and that ACTUALLY FUCKING SAY THINGS THAT ARE IMPORTANT AND RELEVANT AND SO FUCKING URGENT RIGHT NOW. 
 Best Movie of 2020: Miss Americana - The Taylor Swift documentary. One of the most validating things I’ve ever watched in my life and I ugly cried though the whole thing. I fucking love that woman. Most Binge-Worthy TV Show of 2020: I don’t watch TV… Does a YouTube series about voice actors playing D&D count? If so, my answer is Critical Role. Don’t try to binge it though, each episode is like 4 hours and there’s over a hundred episodes.
 Favorite Internet Moment of 2020: Hardcore twitter taking my band way too seriously and as a result of their own hubris, accidentally blowing up our music video and record release, and getting us exponentially more attention than we would have if those losers would just finally learn to fuck off and leave us alone! NICE GOING MOTHERFUCKERS I OWE YA ONE! *blows a kiss* Also, everything Lizzo did. DID YOU SEE HER “FLY IN MIKE PENCE’S HAIR” COSTUME?!?!

Best Concert You Attended/Played/Watched in 2020: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA GOOD ONE. 
I think the only live music related thing I even went to was a Drum & Bass show back in February in Brooklyn with Dimension, Sub Focus, and Culture Shock. I danced with my friends and drank Bright Fox. It was a simpler time.
 The Thing(s) That Helped Get You Through 2020: D&D, getting a suet feeder to watch birds outside my window and my bootcamp, Launch Academy, with all my brilliant and incredible Boston 30 Cohort-mates. Also, the warm weight of knowing that this coming year, a lot of terrible, evil, abusive people in the world are gonna finally get their comeuppance and I’m making popcorn with EXTRA salt.
 2021 New Year’s Resolution: Ohhhh I’m not going to spoil the surprise for you! But let’s just say I’m planning on using my new superpowers as a full stack software engineer, combined with my old superpowers as a vindictive and enraged bitch who hates rapists, to make the world a safer and more just place.

READ MORE: HERE ARE THE TOP 150 SONGS OF 2020

[itcars]

First Look: The McLaren 620R - A Street-Legal GT4 Race Car

McLaren has announced the 620R, the first car in its class to offer true motorsport credentials in a fully road-legal package. The limited-edition coupé – just 350 will be built – evolves the competition specification of the McLaren 570S GT4 to deliver a race-car experience on either track or road.

McLaren has enjoyed significant GT race success with Customer Racing teams and in recent seasons the 570S GT4 has been instrumental in adding to that record of success. Since the customer debut in 2017, the car has become the most successful GT race car built by McLaren, achieving more race wins and podiums than any other to date; in 2019, the 570S GT4 has competed in championships on four continents. Now, as the ultimate track-focused, track-ready but roadgoing McLaren Sports Series model, the McLaren 620R – a car destined to be both rare and collectible, thanks to its strictly limited production run – celebrates the achievements of the 570S GT4.

The McLaren 620R is a unique proposition, delivering a pure motorsport experience in a road car with authenticity: it looks like a race car, handles like a race car, performs like a race car and feels like a race car. The result overall is a seamless transition from race to road – and vice versa. Exclusive and extreme in equal measure, the McLaren 620R retains the DNA of a fully homologated track car yet is free from the restrictions that race regulations apply.

A high level of commonality with a 570S GT4 race car has been integral to the development of the 620R from very outset. They have the same, single-piece carbon fiber Monocell II chassis providing the foundations for the strength and light weight of the car, with a targeted lightest dry weight of 1,282kg. This carbon fiber core – a McLaren signature that in different guises features in every car in the company’s range – also underpins the dynamic precision and composure for which McLarens are renowned. These characteristics have been enhanced in the 620R by the inclusion of the GT4’s adjustable aerodynamic elements, race-derived suspension components and powertrain recalibration to increase power and performance.

The 620R has the same M838TE 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged V8 engine used in the GT4 car, but with a significant difference in power output; freedom from racing regulations has allowed the engine ECU and turbocharger management to be reconfigured to achieve 620PS (610bhp), making this the most powerful Sports Series car yet. The engine also develops torque of 620Nm (457lb ft) and even with lap times more important than sheer top speed, the combined outputs helps to deliver benchmark performance figures of 0-100km/h (62mph) in 2.9 seconds and 0-200km/h (124mph) in 8.1 seconds. Maximum speed is 322km/h (200mph).

The use of stiffer powertrain mounts reduces drivetrain forces under acceleration, minimizing the effect of inertia under high load, while the 7-speed Seamless Shift Gearbox (SSG) delivers super-fast shift times, further aided in Track model by McLaren’s Inertia Push technology, which converts built-up flywheel energy into a momentary burst of torque on upshift. For added drama on the road the driver can select Sport mode and hear the upshift ‘crack’ created by a split-second cut of the ignition spark during a gearshift.

Fitment of the GT4’s two-way manually adjustable coilover motorsport dampers, which feature 32 clicks of adjustment per corner to allow a driver to tailor compression and rebound rates to suit their driving style and track conditions, adds to the 620R’s motorsport credentials. The dampers also help to bring weight down overall, being more than 6kg lighter than the regular Sports Series units.

The suspension which features lightweight aluminium wishbones and uprights and stiffer anti-roll bars and springs than fitted on a regular Sports Series model, is further enhanced by swapping rubber top mounts for solid stainless steel alternatives to provide noticeable improvements in steering control and feedback, above and beyond the very high standards enjoyed in all McLaren cars.

Stopping power comes from McLaren’s latest lightweight braking system, which in the track-focused set-up on the new 620R comprises carbon ceramic discs (390mm front, 380mm rear) and forged aluminium brake calipers all round, with improved pedal response, modularity and resistance to fade even after repeated hard-driven circuit laps.

The braking performance is unsurprisingly also extremely impressive on the road, where the 620R runs as standard with Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R semi-slick tyres, but drivers who swap to the optional, full-slick motorsport tyres when they arrive on circuit will experience a whole new level of braking. Specially developed for McLaren by Pirelli’s Motorsport team, the slick tyres are optimised to complement the motorsport brakes and race-derived suspension of the 620R. They unlock a contact patch 8% larger than that of the road tyre, increasing lateral G-forces and enabling quicker lap times.

This is the first time that a road-legal car with 19-inch front wheels and 20-inch rear wheels has been engineered to be able to run on slick tires without the need for additional mechanical adjustment. This means that if weather conditions allow, owners can on arrival at a circuit either fit a second set of wheels or change tires and go straight out on track without further delay.

High levels of mechanical grip are an essential part of the 620R’s track parentage, but it is the car’s aerodynamic performance that elevates it to the status of a road-legal GT4 racer. The adjustable carbon fiber rear wing is the same component fitted to the 570S GT4. Raised 32cm (12.5in) into the cleaner airflow above the vehicle to increase downforce while minimizing drag, the wing is road legal thanks to its newly incorporated third brake light. Customers will receive their cars with the wing set to the least aggressive of its three available angles, optimizing front/rear balance for road driving. The more aggressive angles – which can be set by a McLaren retailer – increase rear downforce still further, contributing to a maximum of 185kg (408lbs) and enabling even quicker circuit-running.

While the rear wing quite literally stands out as an obvious distinguishing feature on the 620R, it is not the only component adapted from the GT4’s aggressive track specification to meet road homologation standards. The front bumper, splitter and bonnet have been redesigned – the splitter retaining pronounced aero blades and cut-out – while the carbon fiber bonnet has twin nostrils to aid downforce and clean up the airflow over the top of the car. Downforce at the front of the car is further increased by dive planes that create vortices of low-pressure air at track level and help accelerate airflow along the car’s sides, as well as significantly aiding brake-cooling. The dive planes contribute up to 30kg (66lbs) of downforce as part of the 65kg (143lbs) delivered by the full frontal aero package.

The performance, feel, feedback and handling characteristics of the 620R will leave a driver in no doubt that it is a race car at heart, but there are other obvious clues that are apparent before the engine is even started. The interior clearly and immediately stands out as track-inspired - any GT4 race driver will feel instantly at home. As with any serious circuit car, it is as much about what has been stripped out as what has been included - the 620R does not have a floor carpet or a glovebox. Air-conditioning, IRIS Navigation and an audio system are also missing from the standard specification, although all can be selected at no additional cost. A lightweight Bowers & Wilkins upgraded audio system is also available, as a cost option.

Driver and passenger are secured in super-lightweight carbon fiber racing seats by six-point racing harnesses, fitted as standard. Key ‘track touchpoints’ include the red 12 o’clock mark on the steering wheel and door pull straps to aid door closure when a driver is held in place by the harnesses. Structural carbon fiber elements such as extended shift paddles, steering wheel spokes and center console enhance the sense of being in the cabin of a race car.

A McLaren Track Telemetry (MTT) system is standard and is displayed on a center-mounted 7-inch touchscreen. If buyers specify the optional MSO Roof Scoop Upgrade Pack, which features the striking scoop first seen on a Sports Series at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 2018, the MTT system can be upgraded to include the three-camera system that is also available as a standalone option.

Each 620R features a dedication plaque on the center console with numerical identification (1 of 350; 2 of 350, etc). As with every McLaren road car, each 620R can be configured to be distinctively individual. Single elements, for example the color of the brake calipers, can be chosen as a solus specification; alternatively, buyers can opt for upgrade packs such as the Gloss Finish Visual Carbon Fiber Exterior Pack, which adds visual drama to everything from the side intakes to the door mirror casings. McLaren Special Operations (MSO) provides further personalization choices, with a range of MSO Defined Exterior options that includes a titanium SuperSports Exhaust with Nano Black Exhaust Finisher and MSO Defined interior upgrades that incorporate a choice of harness colour.

All three exterior colors available as standard on the 620R are inspired by GT4 race cars – McLaren Orange (with white racing stripes), Silica White (orange stripes) or Onyx Black (orange stripes) – and each can be optioned with race number decals and/or partner decals. Further body colors are available in the MSO line-build palette. An even more exclusive decal livery inspired by the McLaren Senna GTR is also available.

620R production will be limited to just 350 customer orders, all hand-built at the McLaren Production Centre in Woking, Surrey. Production will begin in January, with each car costing from £250,000 including taxes (UK); for buyers purchasing in Europe and the USA, the price includes a Pure McLaren Track Day, with expert driving tuition at a race circuit

[se7enforse7en]

NBTM | Two — Propositions

☾ synopsis : Love and tragedy has always had a way of being connected, that connection usually held by the red string of fate. A red string that destined two soulmates to be bound for eternity. No matter the circumstances, fate would tie two individuals to meet, to not disrupt their long awaited destiny. In the world of more than five billion people, the red string had made it’s mark plenty of times, going back to perhaps the start of it. The folktale disappeared into obscurity & into believer’s hearts. In the lives of fourteen individuals in the 21st century, their lives seem to be an unfinished puzzle. Some strangers, some friends. Some blissful, others tragic. All unaware of the soon-to-be outcome years in the making. They’ll find it to be entrancingly painful. The red string of fate wasn’t just pretty.

☾ pairing : jinyoung x fem!oc

☾ genre : drama, romance, angst ??

☾ warnings : strong language, rambling from an ass author (I had to), very much angst ur honor, kinda ooc jinyoung, e2l

☾ Parts : one / two / three / four / five

JIHYE CONSIDERS HERSELF TO BE AN INSPIRATIONAL PERSON. Or rather, she usually thinks herself to be inspired. Normally, she had no problem coming up with a concept to paint. The canvas would create itself and she’d feel a bit of completeness. She’d be drawn to the brushes and her extravagantly expensive colors. They’d call out to her, urging her to pick them up and begin yet another masterpiece. Their hues should’ve created a clear image in her head, but they didn’t. Nothing’s happening. Not a damn thing.

She stares at the long, white canvas ahead of her. It’s blank nature taunts her in the face. It dares not to move, nor does it help her inability. She’s sure that there’s new wrinkles in her skin just from the blatant staring she’s doing. It sets an infuriating feeling in her. She’s tempted to throw one of the brushes at the canvas, the thought permeating the main centers of her brain. Alas, a doorbell brings her out of her thoughts. Her eyes fly to the door with a sigh. She reluctantly gets up, her body sluggish. She quickly opens up the door, only to be welcomed with the face of the one and only Jong Minji. She rolls her eyes and lets the door swing open. He scoffs as she beelines for her kitchen.

“So great to see you—oh, it really is!” He mocks the lack of interaction as she pulls out a chilled Dr. Pepper. He strides in, setting down a big, brown paper bag on her marble counter. He squints his eyes, noticing something’s off. She’s characterically cold as per usual, with none of the sassy energy in it. It’s something he’s grown accustomed to in the last seven years. She appears out of her element, even in the silent sigh that flows from her mouth, resulting from the promising liquid full of sugar. He takes a seat at her counter, his eyes quickly finding no paint on her wrists. He cocked an eyebrow at the sight. “Finally one of your white shirts isn't ruined,” he comments.

She looks down, realizing not a single stain of color had tainted it, a rarity indeed. “Yeah,” she whispers as she takes another thirst-quenching sip. Her sleeves are rolled up, preparing for an activity she felt like giving up on. Her eyes drift to the paper bag. She raises her eyebrows. She looks between him and the source of her curiosity.

“It’s not a bomb, sheesh.” He reaches for it, rapidly opening it. He pulls out lazily shoved in fries and several wrapped up burgers, ones she knows too well. She instantly groans at the sight of it. Her rolls her eyes yet again, her annoyance a bit more recognizable. She can practically smell the grease and fat oozing just from the sight of it. She gives an agitated look to him. His shoulders become slumped. “It’s been forever since we’ve had a fast food day - “

“Because it’s shitty processed food. I literally got food poisoning last time.” The mere thought of it makes her groan.

“That’s not exclusive to all fast food.” She sighs at his words, resorting to the remainder of her chilled soda. He pushes one of the three burgers in front of you, quickly unwrapping his own. He expects her to do the same. She casts her gaze down, looking with disdain. She thinks on how she’d have to soon be in the obvious limelight due to the inability of escaping any & all promotions as an artist. She lightly pushes it away, much to his dismay. He instantly frowns as he lowers the overly greasy away from his mouth. “Did something happen?” He knows she’s one to care about her health, but something’s up, he’s sure.

She licks her dry lips. She wonders the same as her friend. Being stuck is one thing and not knowing why is another. The unstableness of her hands is not normal, nor is the blank stare she has as she looks at the burger with disgust. Her eyes slowly float to the blank, not forgotten canvas behind the almost oblivious Minji. Even without eyes, it burns through her soul. The void with what had endless possibilities of what it could be struck a nerve in all that made sense in her mind. There’s nothing that evokes that usual fire of creativity. No color that manifests. No image inducing that familiar burst of whatever she’d call her creations. Children? Sometimes. Art? Somewhat. Perfection? She wishes.

She mutters a quiet “fuck” underneath her breath. It’s unnoticed by the younger of them two, Minji’s focus more concentrated on why she seemed out of place. He shakes his head and picks up the burger once more. He finds it near impossible to even fathom a specific reason at the moment. He bites into the excessively oily food. It’s unhealthy contents explode in his mouth with flavor, an experience not akin to the ever so observant Jihye. Her eyes scan his delighted face. Splendid noises of satisfaction spurred on by the heavy contents of In-N-Out Burger. It’s overloaded with onions, tomatoes, and pickles. ‘Horrid combination,’ she thinks to herself. She shakes a head a bit, taking another prolonged sip. Minji looks to her in confusion, breaking away from his captivated state of momentary bliss. She gives a small wave, hoping he just gets back to his sodium death. He shrugs. With another bite into the burger, he lets his mind wander to how great his taste buds feel and whatnot. Whatnot being a bit more complex than what Jihye may think.

Elsewhere, in a much more tense space, Park Jinyoung wonders if he makes purchases in his sleep. He sits across from an old-styled book, one with a nicely made leather cover and pages as sharp as a knife. They’re a beige worthy of the sands of Persia. The leather front is adorned with gold ends and little flurries of designs resembling that of strings. It shines in the light of his living room. It catches his eye, a quirked eyebrow in the direction of the blasted mystery. He runs his fingers over the forepart. It’s smooth, incredibly so. He finds it to be like a fairy tale book. He expects it to be full of tales, perhaps starting with Cinderella and ending with the Goblin.

However, he has no recollection of ever ordering such a book. His own little mini-library consists of more popular stories, rather than chronicles that fit a children’s shelf. His hands grip the pointed ends, placing the cover on the left. His eyes widen in surprise, his expectations now shattering as a result. That very first page…

It’s blank. Entirely devoid of any color or words, it stares back at him in a mocking manner. His eyes search the pages for any kind of indentation or mark to see if he’s merely tired. It’s not the case as he’s sure nothing gets past his somewhat worn out eyes. All he can find is a small scripture in the corner of the other side of the cover. It’s ink is a mix of gold and red, it’s shiny luster apparent. He squints his eyes. The scripture is written fancily, like an old tale. He can almost barely make it out. The edges are too fastly written and the ink is scarce in some spots.

“The Prince and...The Princess,” he warily reads outloud. “Opposites do not always attract.” He raises an eyebrow at the text. “For those of the likes of the cold-hearted prince and the ice princess, such was a mantra. One of tragedy and love. One of sacrifice and heartbreak as well.” He scoffs at the text, his doubt seeping through his features. He makes a judging face at the book.

“The hell?” His eyes dart to the right of the book. His eyes catch a glimpse of moving letters. His eyes widen a bit. He shakes his head, only to see the expanding ink once more. He tightens his grip on the book. The words fill up the entire first page, moving onto the second, third, & so forth. His eyes carefully scan the words, his heart about to burst out of his chest. He’s suddenly nervous. Just like most slightly cynical young adults, he was a firm believer of genuine logic. And genuine logic is nowhere present in the mystery Park Jinyoung is faced with. He scans the words, thoughtfully, absorbing whatever fever dream is gracing him at four o’clock sharp. His confusion grows by the second. He finds numerous superfluous words and fantastical details too true for a fairy tale. The beginning is a fated mess, such words coming from the old paper.

His iris’ finally land on two words, two distractions.

Prince Jinyoung.

Hi, if you read or checked this out, tysm !! I’d rlly appreciate it if you could reblog or like this post. I’d love to hear what ppl think so a comment is awesome too. This is a work of fiction and for entertainment purposes.

[thewalkingfanfictions]

Decimal 70.4 The Fawn (Spencer Reid)

Imagine Spencer finding you curled up on the floor between bookshelves at his local library.

Decimal 70.4 The Fawn -- Spencer Reid x genderqueer!reader

Description: Spencer just wanted to grab a few books from his local library on the way home, instead he found a fawn sitting in his favorite spot, reading his favorite books.

Warning: absolutely nothing, its all fluff

Genre: Fluffy fluff with a cute uncomfy boi

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Genderqueer!oc/reader

A/N: not my gif, credit to the creator. This shot was made specifically for an oc, guys, so sorry if you'd rather read an x reader. All of the dewey decimal series is gonna be with an oc, unless I lose inspiration. You'll see the others soon enough.

and awaaaaay we go

Words without A/N: 2031

Masterlist

<—————————————>

He knew he needed sleep, that was obvious. After a week of stress, hunting down a mentally ill redneck with anger issues and one hand, and very little sleep, he knew he should be home, sprawled across his bed with a half-read book on his chest. However, on his way home from finally hitting the ground at the airport, he realized his dire need to find some new books to devour.

However impressive his bookshel(ves)f might be, you could still bet that he'd read every single book twice, thrice, and then some. So, here he was, walking through the front doors of the public library that he frequented. He visited this one so regularly that the Librarian could probably write an biography on him.

Waving at said librarian, (her name is Grahilda, she's a sweetheart) and sharing a few hello's and how are you's, he made his trek towards his very favorite part of the library, hidden under the decimal 70.4. He had memorized the paths so well that his feet took him towards the place he loved so dearly without him even having to command them too, and took him nearly all the way around the corner before he made them stop on a dime.

Mumbling. Soft, warm mumbling. Coming from his spot.

Quietly as he could manage, he leaned around the end of the bookshelf that he hid behind, his bobbly hair bouncing with his head as he peeked. At first he was almost upset, for some of reason. He had no right to be. It wasn't really his spot, technically, but in his very core he felt an odd jealousy of someone sitting there. How dare they take his-but-not-really-his spot.

However, that feeling of unrealistic jealousy was quickly washed away as he layed eyes on the object of his problems.

Sat right in the middle of the floor, cross legged with a pencil in their mouth, was a very intriguing looking person. Though he couldn't quite figure out why they appeared so quizzical to him, he knew he unreasonably enjoyed it.

Brown hair tucked into a turquoise slouch beanie, big, purple and black rimmed glasses were pushed back up their face by a hand hidden in the sleeve of a purple sweater that had to be at least three sized too big. Legs crossed like kindergartners are told to do, with an absolutely monstrous book laid in their lap, one small hand gripping the cover like it might run away at any moment, one curled up by their mouth, pressing the fabric of their sweater against a mouth that mumbled the words that they read. Black skinny jeans leading down to mismatched high top converse (one a checkerboard of green and purple, one grey with sharpied-on red markings), he couldn't help but think that they were absolutely adorable. Around them was a ring of books, some stacked four high, a nest of literature completely encircled their small frame. They couldn't have been more interesting, he decided.

However, one small problem came to his mind as he watched the beanie-clad figure read aloud to themselves. They were sat right in front of the section of books that he needed to get too, and there was absolutely no way he would be able to ask them to move. The thought of just talking to them alone was enough to have his chest contract with anxiety.

Screw you, social anxiety.

He could deal with psychopaths and murderers and monsters all day long, but a cute little fawn sitting in his spot was too much for him? Wow.

Only then realizing how creepy it was for him to be staring at the poor soul like he was, he pulled himself back behind the edge of the shelf again, and ran a soothing hand through his hair. Genuinely debating just leaving, he almost turned around right there and escaped. But, knowing he'd hate himself if he went home without the distraction of a good book, he chose to try and deal with it.

It's just one person, right? They wouldn't bite, c'mon, Reid!

Taking a deep breath, he stepped forward around the shelf — only to immediately pull himself back again the second his eyes landed on their small body once more. A dramatic face palm, and a quick breath later, he actually did start to turn away like he initially planned, only to be stopped by the softest, warmest voice he'd swear he'd ever heard.

"Ya know, it's not generally nice to creep around corners like that. Especially not while a guy's busy reading."

However much the being caught made him blush, the sound of the humor in their voice was enough to bring him finally around the corner.

Blushing stupidly, he bashfully glanced at the person, a small, timid smile coming across his face as they grinned encouragingly at him.

"I, uh, sor- sorry, I, uh, I wasn't meaning to stare or, uhm, anything– its just that you're in, well not technically my, but, uh, see I like to thin- no, um, I-I-I-I mean, I uh... I'm just making this worse, I'm sorry, I'll just—" he tripped all over himself, blushing furiously and refusing to look up, only to be cut off by a cute, lilting laugh.

Unsure whether they were laughing at him or not, he quietly glanced up, expecting to see them making fun of him somehow. Instead, what he saw only furthered his flustered-ness. Their eyes were wrinkled up at the edges with their laughter, one small, sleeve covered hand coming up to cover their mouth, the other reached out towards him, its easy to say that he had no idea what to do.

"N-no, no, don't go, you're precious," the fawn giggled wholeheartedly, trying to wrangle down their laughter enough to form proper sentenced. Their compliment only served to make him flush even brighter, he resisted the urge to turn around and leave before his head exploded. Not, uh, literally, obviously.

"S-sorry," they finally calmed down enough to speak semi-normally. "Sorry, its just, your stutter is absolutely adorable, and lookit how flushed you are!" They promptly burst into another set of giggles, which only served to make him even more red.

Once they calmed down once again, there was an odd silence that hung in the air as Spencer took to staring at the ground, whilst the little fawn sitting in his place simply stared at him with a stupidly bright smile on their face.

"Heh," he cleared his throat lightly, unsure where where go next, "uhm, so, uh..." trailing off, he realized he didn't even really know what he was going to say in the first place, and he suddenly wished he had the power to just melt into a puddle and disappear beneath the bookshelves.

The unnamed giggler giggled softly once again, before speaking.

"I'm guessing you're here 'cause you want something in this section?" they assumed, scooting over a bit to make room inside of their nest of books, "well come on over then, lanky."

Smiling encouragingly, they patted the seat beside them, staring up at Spencer. Almost wanting to say no, he finally looked up at them enough to make eye contact, only to immediately agree and have his body start moving towards them without his command. Something about the innocent way they looked at him, the soft smile on their face as their startlingly blue eyes stared into his... He was stepping over the ring of books and sitting awkwardly beside them before he could really figure out what happened.

Oddly enough, though Spencer usually despised holding eye contact with a person for more than a socially necessary amount of time, ("the eyes are the windows to the soul, you know," his mother would always say) he found himself nearly unable to break the contact with their eyes, there was something in them that just mesmerized him. Be it the amused wisdom that hid behind them, or the odd, central heterochromia that shown bright in their stunning iris's, he did not know, and at that very moment, he decided that it didn't really matter, he just liked them in general.

A godawful wheeze came out of Spencer at the thought, and he immediately flushed dramatically again, quickly turning his head away. Stewing in uncomfortable silence again for a moment, they fawn decided to speak up, trying to break the odd spell that had come over the both of them.

"So, Mr. Legs, what's your genre?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spencer really didn't know where all of the time had gone. One moment, it had been five in the afternoon, and he had been coming into the library to pick up a few (ten) books and leave, and the next it was nearly ten o' clock at night, (Grahilda, upon seeing her two favorite customers both finally looking genuinely happy for a change, had taken pity on the two and had stayed open a few hours later than usual just to let them keep talking, bless her soul) and he was still carrying on the most interesting conversation with the person he had only just met that afternoon.

They had swapped stories, and talked about the things that they enjoyed, and ranted about work (and school, it turned out the fawn was a literary major with a thing for fantasy) and everything in between. He had learned that their name was Milo, and that they were genderqueer and living on their own now, that they had a huge love for anything alien related, and had had a very not-so-nice relationship with their parents before the move. They had learned about his mothers disabilities, about his occasional struggles with work and the escape that he found in reading. For a guy who very rarely spoke all of his thoughts, he found that he had spoken more tonight than he thought he had in weeks, and all simply because of his new comrades smile. He wagered it could melt even the baddest of baddies into blubbering blobs of "awes" and "cutes".

Now, a few hours later, (eleven thirty-seven, to be precise) the two were still amiably chatting away, walking down the road with a pile of books in both of their arms.

"—and that is why I strongly believe that it is a soup, and people are just too stubborn to want to see it!"

For the last several minutes, the fawn had been going on some tangent about how they strongly believed that cereal was, in fact, a soup.

"See, I would agree with you on all of those points, except, what about the mindset? You couldn't possibly eat cereal when in a soup mood, and you would absolutely *never* eat soup whilst in a cereal mood. So, how can they possibly be the same thing if they bring such different emotional responses?" Spencer stubbornly argued.

For nearly an hour more they argued and talked and discussed and gossiped, and, to both's surprise, by the time the midnight bell had begun its ringing, neither of them really wanted to separate. Both doctor and student felt a sad ting as they neared the doors of Milo's apartment building. Standing outside a moment, the two looked for the stars in a sky filled with light, before sadly glancing down. Setting both piles of books down to rest their arms, the duo both found themselves shaking the tired muscle out lightly.

Turning towards each other once again, neither really knowing what to say now that their little adventure had come to its end, they simply stared into the inky blue vastness of each others eyes. For a good few moments they did nothing but stare, before Spencer's eyes flickered down a touch. Knowing he was staring at their lips, the fawn couldn't help but wetten them, unsure what to do next.

They had only just met that evening, though stranger things have happened to newly-met people. Nonetheless, the two took a tentative step forwards at the same time, glancing into each others eyes for a moment more, Spencer finally broke the tension.

"Can, uhm... can I kiss you?" So shy, so timid, how could they not say yes

[midnightmoonkiss]

First Kisses

Todoroki Shōto X Reader

Summary: After an encounter with a rude first year, Todoroki is thrown in a downward hazy spiral of PTSD and depression. Will his s/o be able to snap him out of his thoughts with a confession and a kiss?

WARNINGS!: Contains angsty thoughts and self hatred but ends in extreme fluff

Category: Angst to Fluff

Word Count: 2k

Season: Winter

Just to Clarify: 

‘These are Todorokis thoughts’

( c ) = color of your choice

The sound of soft footsteps landing on pristine floors and the wide array of voices seemingly all blurred together into one sound, a buzz similar to that of a fly as it annoyingly keeps chasing you around. It was almost as if any and all sound entering through his ear came straight out the other, but leaving a distant and distorted sound in its wake. His legs moved on their own, numbly down the not-so-crowded hallway.

Todoroki Shōto was lost in the never ending dark chasm of his mind of which was filled with nothing but thorns and bitter wind. Lost in the sound of his mother’s once sickeningly sweet words of comfort, lost in the seemingly forgotten but never ending feeling of his stomach and throat burning from excessive vomiting due to being horrifically overworked. He sucks in a quiet yet desperate breath as he feels the walls begin to close in on him, a slight watery burn to his scarred left eye.

The memories all creep back up on him as soon as he thinks he’s forgotten them, it was as if a bucket of Arctic cold water was poured on him. 

Can he ever escape the depths of his mind?

It’s too much to take, he can’t think straight.

Was he even truly thinking at all?

The distant sound of his name catches his drifting attention.

Oh, how soft and delicate it sounded rolling off whomever’s tongue.

It was as if his name was a piece of thin glass, beautiful yet fragile and easy to break.

Perhaps that glass were him, and not just the name,

“Shōto?”

His heterochromatic eyes blink wildly, searching for the familiar voice, snapping himself from his muddled and violently aggressive thoughts.

A soft hand lands on his freezing tensed right arm,

“Hey..Shōto..?”

Finally, his eyes land on you, unknowingly softening his once distressed gaze.

(Y/N).

Your (E/C) eyes hold a certain warmth to them, breaking away at the frozen murky watered shell he was once encased in. 

He then notices how your delicate brows are furrowed with worry, beautiful pink lips turned down into a frown.

‘Why do you seem so upset..?’

“Are you alright, Shōto ..?”

His eyes widen, a sudden wetness appearing on his face. He lifts his hands, grimacing at the feeling of hot tears. He didn’t know he was crying. How embarrassing, here of all places? In front of his lover, no less.. ‘God, I’m  pathetic.’

You then slowly move to stand directly in front of him, lifting up your soft (S/C) hands to gently wipe some of his stray tears away. Your knuckles were slightly bruised and red from a mixture of combat training and the chill from outside of which creeps its way through the hallway window glasses.

He shyly glances away, a barely-there blush appearing on his ivory cheeks. Even though you’ve been a couple for two months now, he still wasn’t fully used to the delicate touches you would give him. Hell, you haven’t even kissed yet. Other then the bashful forehead kisses of encouragement.

“It’s okay, Shōto..” You whispered, a small yet comforting smile etching its way on your smooth lips.

This happened often. “Not as often as it used to, thanks to you”  Shōto would always mention after he snaps out of his subconscious attacks. It takes time for PTSD to pass, sometimes it never does. How cruel the mind can be. You can never truly escape it’s chilling grasp. Oh, what a horrible man his father was to do this to him. 

He’s always been good at hiding it. Hiding the cracks, covering them with frost to appear perfect.

You flicked away the now cold tears on your fingers, bringing them back up to rest on Shōto’s soft face. His eyes were glazed, not only with tears but with fear.

Fear..

Ah..

This particular scenario occurs from time to time. Not only does the stress of one day becoming his father, which will never happen, get to him, but so do his insecurities. More specifically, his scar. Most days it doesn’t bother him, it’s almost as if it wasn’t even there, but on some rare occasions it does. Like today, when a student from 1-D openly cringed and made a crude remark about it. How else was he supposed to feel? It sent his typically calm and collected emotions spiraling downwards. Despite being given the title of ‘best looking guy in class 1-A,’ his fear of people secretly being disgusted by his appearance ate away at him. More specifically you.

‘I couldn’t live with myself if you despised me too..’

Rugged red skin served as a grim reminder that his left side looks like his father. Out in the open. Right where people look the most. Perhaps that’s why he will become him. Even Inasa pointed it out, his eyes being the key, so surely- ‘No’, he thought, ‘stop’. He scrambles to find his reasoning for telling Inasa off back then. What was it that he had said..? ‘Damnit..!’

Squeezing his eyes shut, he balled his hands into fists as he tried to calm his erratic heartbeat.

He breathed out a cloud of cold mist, using his quirk to cool down his overheated body.

He reopened his eyes, leaning into your touch and solely focusing on you, desperate to escape the reach of his despair.

But he couldn't help but flinch when your thumb grazed over his scar. Not that it hurt. No, he was just afraid you’d come to your senses and leave him like all the other important people in his life. How could you bare to look and be with damaged goods..?

‘I’m disgusting..’

“I love you..” You whispered.

His eyes widened in shock and disbelief, cheeks now fully flushed.

His heart bursts with sunshine and a happiness he’s never felt before. An entire symphony plays in his head, wiping away the icky grime with its melodic and soothing notes.

“W..what..” He stutters. Perhaps those words were a mistake? ‘Surely, surely she didn’t mean it.?’ 

His inner thoughts were disproved once again as you repeat yourself, giggling at his cute dazed expression, “I love you, Todoroki Shōto..!”

He smiles a dazzling smile, his lips part slightly, revealing a glimpse of shimmering white teeth. 

Just as he’s about to respond, a drawn out “Awh!” was heard behind them. As to who the student was, well, who knows? Certainly not you. It seems you’ve both forgotten that scattered students still walked these prestigious halls.

 Todoroki slapped a hand over his face, covering his blush, bashfully grabbing your arm and pulling your frozen body with him.

You gazed out the large windows lining the wall, fiddling with your ( c ) scarf as Todoroki dragged you to who knows where. Beautiful, fluffy snow fell silently outside the slightly frosted windows. Howling winter wind occasionally whipping the delicate snowflakes around. Winter. What a beautiful season it is.

Todoroki pulled you into a secluded corner a little ways away from the cafeteria, promptly stopping and turning your way once again.

He stared silently at the ground, holding your hands in his. Finally, he whispered in a soft voice, “I love you too, (Y/N)..”

A large smile overtakes your, in his opinion, already angelic features. Blood rushes to your cheeks as he bring your hands up to his mouth, placing a feather-light kiss on each hands’ bruised knuckles. Such a gentleman.

He smiles shyly at you, waiting for a response.

Your mind recalls the previous fear in his eyes from before, no doubt due to his insecurities, as you now realize due to the flinch from before.

Looking into his eyes, the fear is still visible. 

The fear that perhaps this was all just a dream, or perhaps that this was a cruel and sick joke. Perhaps it was just a game to you, spending all this time with him, getting his bloodied heart in your clutches just to squeeze what little life it has left out of it to bring you satisfaction.

After all, how could he, a man born from a brutal and abusive father, a man he resembles, ever be loved? How could someone with a scar covering ⅓ of their face ever find love?

‘I’m too ugly..’

Even then, after both confessions, he was still worried.

You remove your hands from his, placing them on his neck, promptly dragging him away from his wretched thoughts again. He was like an open book to you.

You pulled the tall teen down towards you, he none-the-wiser as to what you were doing. What an oblivious cutie. Though, his eyes widened, mouth falling slightly agape as you press a kiss to his forehead, his silky hair tickling your face. It was a light, shy kiss. Though these have been exchanged before, it still shook his very being whenever they occurred.

“You’re so handsome..”

You whispered, then traveled down to kiss his button nose, 

“So stunning..”

A kiss to his pretty white eyebrow, as strange as that may be,

“Charming.”

One to his right cheek,

“Unbelievably gorgeous.”

To his jawline,

“Adorable.”

You continued these kisses all over his face, purposefully avoiding his left upper face, which he noticed, whispering heartfelt compliments as you continued to pepper kisses all over his face.

But just as he thought you were done, “Close your eyes, Shōto..” You trailed off, staring intensely at his turquoise iris. He obeyed, albeit hesitantly. He sucked in another breath when he felt your slips kiss the part of his forehead of which held the scar. You didn’t stop to compliment him as you once had, instead you pressed a multitude amount of kisses all over his scar. The last on you gave was to his eyelid. 

Pulling back, you rested your forehead against his as his eyes flew open to see your staring intensely into his,

“Breathtaking.” 

A tear dripped down his ivory cheeks yet again, but this time not of sadness and despair. More of an immense feeling of happiness, one that only you could bring forth. He had never felt this way before. Butterflies galore gathering in his stomach, breaking free and traveling throughout his body, leaving tingles in their wake.

Though he was stuck, unsure of what to do next as he just lovingly gazed into your sparkling eyes.

He gulped when he accidentally looked down at your glistening plump lips. He quickly moved his eyesight back up to your eyes, but he noticed they were staring down at his own lips.

He stood motionless as you pressed your now quivering lips against the corner of his own, and then to the other corner. He found himself subconsciously leaning in and closing his eyes. 

Your own breath hitches when his lips met yours, you weren’t expecting him to make that leap first, but he always did have a way of being unknowingly dominant.

This was undoubtedly both of your first kisses. Not just with each other but first in general.

Todorokis cold lips brushed together with yours again, testing the waters. Once he found no resistance he amped it up best he could, shoving his mouth against yours.

Teeth clacked together accidentally, both parties giggling at that. Awkward mouths met once again, this time softer. Todorokis hands fell to rest on your hips, pulling you closer as your hands came to rest on his shoulders. Anxiety withered away and was replaced with adoration for each other.

The sweet yet clumsy kisses soon subsided for loss of breath. 

You bit your lip as you both pulled away, looking lovingly into one another's dazed eyes.

 It was then that you realized you’d been standing on your tiptoes the entire time.

Todoroki couldn't help the small smirk that formed on his now semi-kiss swollen lips as you sank back down so that your feet were flat. Sometimes he forgot just how short you were compared to him. It was, in this situation, exhilarating. 

“Did you get the picture..?!”

Both his and your ears picked up the hushed voices from around the corner, immediately recognizing who they belonged to.

He chuckled when your groaned, shoving your burning face against his chest as to hide it.

“Midoriya, Uraraka, what are you doing?” He asked monotonously, staring off in the direction where he heard the voices.

Two squeaks were heard as they both popped out from their hiding spot.

“U-uhhmm..!” Deku began, but instead of forming a sentence, he looked over to Ochako.

“We we’re trying to find you two so we can all walk to the train station together! What a coincidence that we found two star crossed lovers kissing~” She teased, the blush on her face increase from the embarrassment of being found out and watching such an intimate moment.

He nodded his head, “Please send me the picture.”

“Shōto..!!”

[mostweakhamlets]

Fic prompt: Warlock tracks down Aziraphale’s bookshop and swings by.

Thank you so much! This was much longer than I expected it to be, and it took a turn I wasn’t expecting. 

Warlock was always curious about what happened to his nanny and the family’s gardener. They had left only a week apart--first, the gardener and then Nanny Ashtoreth--and had always seemed… close. 

It took a year after they left for him to realize that they were weird. It took a year’s worth of odd looks by his parents when he mentioned “sister slug” or when he casually brought up nanny’s lullaby. It took a year’s worth of therapist appointments his mother made him go to. 

They were weird. 

But he still remembered them fondly. 

By the time he was 15, he was too curious to not do anything about it anymore. He searched high and low for Nanny Ashtoreth’s presence anywhere online. There was no resume, no LinkedIn, no business number, not even any social media. He moved on to sneaking into his father’s office in the middle of the night, rifling through drawers and filing cabinets to try to find any shred of evidence that Nanny Ashtoreth or Brother Francis even worked there. But there was nothing. No contracts, no business cards, nothing. 

Warlock had began to wonder if he had hallucinated the entire thing. But how could he make up Nanny rocking him to sleep and tucking him into bed? Or Brother Francis showing him a deer that had wandered into the garden early one morning, both of them holding their breath so as not to startle it? 

How could he make up the morning Nanny left? When she hugged him and told him to be whomever he wanted to be? She had wiped his tears by the front door because he cried so hard. She was never necessarily tender, but that morning she was cupping his face and whispering to him. She had also promised, though it turned out to be a lie as far as he knew, that she would see him again.

Warlock grew from being curious to bitter. His teenage angst increased with the mystery and the feeling of abandonment. 

Most of his childhood, he realized after more thought, was weird. His eleventh birthday was weird, though he enjoyed it. And not long after that there was the weird weather and news stories coming from England while his family was abroad. And what was with that weird guy that smelled like poo? No one talked about the summer of 2018 often. It was something that most people wanted to put behind them because it was… weird. 

Warlock decided to start embracing weird to find weird and fell down a deep rabbit hole. 

There was a magazine. New Aquarian. It had gone out of business for a few years but began publishing new issues online in 2018. Warlock read through the conspiracy theories of the 2018 apocalypse, the reports of people seeing aliens, the articles detailing the M25’s fire. There were interviews from people who claimed that their homes had been destroyed but suddenly repaired themselves when they woke up one Sunday morning. Everyone talked about that one Sunday morning. 

There were two interviews from Soho that Warlock poured over. The first was of a woman who seemed fairly normal for being in that magazine, but Warlock thought that maybe the reporters were the only ones who would listen to her. 

She worked across from an old bookshop--a very old bookshop, she specified. It had caught on fire, which was a tragedy since it had been there for over two hundred years, and she had watched as it burned down. The owner wasn’t there, fortunately. But then a man appeared in sunglasses (which didn’t appear out of the ordinary at first) and walked right in despite the firemen telling him to stay out. When he came back out, she swore his eyes were different. She swore they were yellow with slits instead of pupils. No one else seemed to notice but her. He drove away so fast there was no time for anyone to. Maybe it was contacts, she had pointed out, maybe it was part of a costume. 

The next day, the bookshop was fine. It looked just as it had for the past two centuries. She watched the owner stop outside in the street, looking up at it. She had described him as a polite man that always wore a pale suit with white hair, though he didn’t seem to be quite old enough to have such white hair. She had met him only a few times. She had wanted to see him that Sunday. She almost walked out to meet him in the street, but she thought better of it. 

“This poor man lost his entire shop--his entire home--and then it was there again with no explanation. I thought maybe he needed some time alone. Heavens know I would.” 

She said that everything went back to normal after that. The bookshop returned to its normal hours (as normal as they had been, she supposed). Business went on as usual. 

The second interview was about the same bookshop. The interviewee seemed more appropriate for the magazine. He talked about how he had been in the shop before, how the owner was polite but somehow not pleasant, how he seemed old and had worked there for years but never seemed to age past his mid-to-late 40s. 

The man fixated on the 0wner for a while. Warlock didn’t care. A lot of people aged well. A lot of people were eccentric. Then, he fixated on this man that was always in the shop. He always wore sunglasses. Looked the same age as the owner and didn’t age, either. Dressed equally eccentrically but in black with flaming red hair. 

But the man started talking about the fire as well. How he came by after the fire was out, looked at the charred sign that had read “A.Z Fell & Co.,” stood by the crowd who shook their heads in sympathy. The owner wasn’t anywhere to be found. Rumors were beginning to go around. There were other fires through London that no one could explain, but some people wondered if the owner had burned the shop himself for the insurance money. Since the owner came back the next day when it was magically repaired, the interviewee doubted it was an insurance scheme. 

He blamed supernatural beings. Warlock ignored that part. 

Warlock printed out the articles. He felt like a conspiracy theorist himself, underlining and highlighting anything that he thought looked important. He made notes and found the address and phone number of the shop. This was, to be fair, done mostly out of procrastination. He had a mountain of homework to do that weekend, but his research was more fun. And he supposed that any research would lead him somewhere--maybe not to find his nanny, but to put together some sort of logic for what happened four years ago. 

It was approaching early morning. His eyes itched. He thought about calling it a night and curling into bed. There wasn’t much left for him to do besides hang up his notes on the wall and connect them with red string. 

He used blue highlighter for the descriptions of the shop owner and his friend. He circled the line about yellow eyes and made a note: “what does this mean?” Were his irises yellow? Did he just have jaundice? Maybe he had light eyes, and the flames were just reflecting off of them. Maybe he had green eyes and the lady was colorblind. And the slits could be anything. Warlock had a friend who had a pupil that dipped into her iris. David Bowie had one large pupil. 

Warlock used his colored pencils to doodle in the margins of the paper after he listed every possibility. He drew eyes with pupils that slipped down to the bottom of the iris. He drew irises that were pale green, very light hazel, and green with flecks of hazel. He drew little martians in the corner that were beaming cows up into the spaceships. 

After his martian break, he went back to his laptop. He closed out the directions to the bookshop and pulled up a new window for fresh research. He typed in: “slit pupils.” There had to be a medical condition for it. 

Warlock scrolled through a page of pictures of cats and the burst pupils he had seen in his friend. Then, he froze. 

Among the pictures from medical websites and cat blogs, there was one of a snake with a bright yellow eye and a long, thin pupil. 

He had seen snakes before. Obviously. But none with yellow eyes (snakes at the zoo always had muddy brown or red eyes) and not when he was trying to imagine them on a person. 

He leaned back in his chair. He could perfectly imagine the snake’s eyes on a human face, framed by red hair. Red curls, specifically. It seemed almost familiar. 

Whatever. He was just tired. 

Turning off the lights and shutting his laptop, he crawled into bed. It was silly. The interviewees probably just missed renovations. The fire probably wasn’t as bad as they thought. If it was an old shop, it must have some sort of recognition and protection by the city. They probably had people come by as soon it was over to start replacing the sign and windows and door. The inside could still be burned for all anyone knew. Maybe that was why the owner came back the very next day. 

The familiarity of the eyes had to have a logical explanation as well. There was probably a movie with an actor with red hair that had snake eyes. A horror movie or something. That had to be it because the more Warlock thought about it as he began to fall asleep, the more he could make out a woman’s face. Her jaw was square. Her cheekbones were sharp. Her hair was styled and perfect, curls resting across her forehead. She was middle-aged, and Warlock could only imagine her in a modest black outfit. 

Warlock’s chest tightened. He sat up, turned the lights back on, sat back down at his desk. 

He could remember, somewhere deep in the farthest reaches of his memory, being five and sitting on Nanny’s lap in the garden. They were roughhousing, as they often did. He had squirmed too much as she grabbed him in a ticklish spot. He was laughing when she fell back into the grass, taking him with her. Her hat fell off. And so did her sunglasses. They slid down her nose and one stem fell off her ear. 

He had stared at her eyes for the brief few seconds she was too flustered to compose herself. They were yellow and here pupils belonged to an animal, not a human. She quickly closed her eyes and righted her glasses. 

“Nanny--”

“I think it’s time to go inside now.” 

He had never brought it up again. He had forgotten about it by that evening, his childish mind moving on to something more exciting. 

Warlock wrote a note to his parents: “Ground me when I get back. I’m going to Soho.”

He called an Uber and ate a couple handfuls of cereal as the sun was rising, too shaken (and perhaps excited) to be tired at 7 am. He gave the driver the address and five stars 20 minutes later when he stepped out of the car. 

He read the sign on the front door, shaking his head at the absurd description of hours. It seemed the only way to know if they were open was to check if the door was locked. 

“Young man, I’m terribly sorry, but we’re not quite ready for customers yet--”

The owner stood behind the front counter. He was everything the articles described him as. White hair, maybe in his 40s, pale suit. But he stared at Warlock, then, he smiled. 

“Actually, I suppose it might be time to open,” he said. “How can I help you?” 

Warlock walked forward, running a nervous hand through his long hair. “I don’t know.”

He looked so familiar. 

“I think I’m looking for someone,” Warlock said. “Or maybe a couple people.”

The owner wrung his hands together and looked ready to speak before a voice cut him off. 

“Is someone actually here at 8 in the bloody morning?” 

The man in sunglasses stepped out from the back room. His hands were shoved in his black jacket--not the only black item of his ensemble. When he looked at Warlock, he didn’t react for a few seconds. Then, he stopped and stared just as the owner had. 

“He’s looking for someone,” the owner said with a tight smile. “He appears to be lost.” 

The man in the sunglasses didn’t say anything. The owner recovered. 

“We can call your parents, young man,” he said, picking up the receiver of vintage phone. “Tell them they can meet you here.”

“I’m not looking for my parents,” Warlock said. He made eye contact with the sunglasses. He nearly shivered thinking about what could be behind the dark lenses. “I’m actually looking for… my nanny.”

“Well, we can call her. It makes no difference.”

Warlock didn’t say anything. The owner sighed and put the receiver down. 

“What’s your name, kid?” Sunglasses asked. 

“Warlock Dowling.” 

The owner shook his head at Sunglasses. 

Sunglasses took a few more steps forward. He was tall, but Warlock had grown to reach his chin--his square chin that was a painful giveaway with the sharp cheekbones. 

“I can’t imagine your parents are happy that you’re here on your own,” he said. “Soho isn’t the place for kids to run around by themselves.”

That wasn’t true by any means. The parents part, maybe. But Soho was perfectly safe. 

Warlock stood his ground. “I’m just looking for my nanny. Their name is Ashtoreth. Or that was at least their name.”

Sunglasses smirked. He looked back to the owner who gave him a disapproving look. 

Warlock’s heart pounded. 

“I heard weird things have happened here a few years ago,” he said, trying to soldier on. 

“Weird things happened everywhere a few years ago,” Sunglasses said. 

“But… weirder things happened here. And I had a weird nanny.” Warlock took a deep breath. “And I read this article that there was a man here that some lady saw with yellow eyes.”

Sunglasses paled. The owner stepped out from behind the counter. 

“And I think that my nanny also had yellow eyes,” Warlock said. “And I think you might have been my nanny. I just want to know what’s going on.”

“I really think it might be time to call someone to collect you,” the owner said. 

“Stop it, Aziraphale,” Sunglasses snapped. 

Sunglasses took Warlock by the shoulder and lead him to the back room. Aziraphale trailed behind them. 

“Have a seat,” Sunglasses said. 

Warlock sat on the only sofa there. Sunglasses paced. 

“Alright,” Sunglasses said. He turned to Aziraphale. “Can we wipe his memories?” 

“Wipe his memories, Crowley?”

“Yeah.”

“No! Not from 10 years ago! You should have distracted him when it happened. And who is this other person?” 

“Look, I won’t tell anyone,” Warlock said, beginning to think that he had made a mistake because maybe people with snake eyes and snake face tattoos that went by Crowley weren’t the nicest. “You don’t have to fight about it. It’s not a big deal.”

“We’re not fighting, my dear,” Crowley said. 

My dear. Warlock hadn’t heard that since he was a kid. 

“And this is a big deal,” Aziraphale said. 

Crowley sat next to Warlock. 

“Here’s the deal.” He made a face. “I was your nanny when you were a boy--”

“Crowley.”

“And I was there when you turned 11. It’s a very, very long story. We dragged you into something you didn’t need to be involved in, and as soon as we could we got you out. You wouldn’t understand any of it.” 

“But I can try.” 

Crowley sighed. “There are things that you shouldn’t be involved with. It’s better to not know anything.”

Warlock shook his head. “I want to know. Something happened when I was a kid and something happened in 2018. I think I deserve to know about it all.”

Crowley looked at Aziraphale. Warlock crossed his arms. 

“I know that this shop burned down one day, and I know that you were here, and I know that someone saw that you have snake eyes, and I know that the next day everything was fine. I also know that when I was five, I saw you without your dumb sunglasses on and you--”

Crowley pushed his sunglasses to the top of his head. Warlock felt like ice water had been dumped over him. 

“We can talk,” Crowley said, “as long as you swear none of this gets repeated.”

Warlock nodded. 

“And as long as you don’t call my sunglasses dumb again.”