#(update: apparently he moved here when he was 12???)

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

 book 7 chapter 12 part 3 thoughts!

***THIS POST CONTAINS MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR BOOK 7 PART 12 OF THE MAIN STORY!!*** This spans part 269 to part 294, focusing on Riddle.

Please note: this is NOT meant to be a summary or a translation; these are only my initial thoughts on the events that roughly unfold. There may be details overlooked or misunderstood in this post, so PLEASE do not use this as a translation.

They land in a new location! New assets and everything. Trey identifies it as Crimson City in the Queendom of Roses.

This update opens with Silver showing the first signs of fatigue. (He audibly sighs; Ortho shows concern.) Silver insists he is fine but advises they avoid battles.

Cater laughs at Trey’s expense. He has never heard him scream so loud!! They should go to an amusement park in the waking world together. This is ironic xhsnsvekakw because these two technically did go to Playful Land together 😂

Trey begins to worry about where his glasses have gone. Apparently they fell off while they were hopping to Riddle’s dream. Idia says searching for lost items in a dream can be difficult but Trey would have perfect vision if he thinks hard enough about it. (Me, sitting here: this is a dream. Can you not literally just conjure up a new pair by imagining it.) Trey’s vision is so bad (he’s squinting just to see people’s faces) and he’s had glasses since preschool, so it’s hard for him to do that.

Ortho suggests using S.T.Y.X. tech and data to make Trey new glasses. But then Ace interrupts and announces he snagged Trey’s glasses. He saw them while falling and brought them to himself using magic; they aren’t damaged. The others, even Leona, praise him. (… but I don’t, because what is this time wasting nonsense 😭 MOVE ON ALREADY…) For a first year, his magic control is very good. Is it because he’s dexterous from basketball?

In exchange for saving the glasses, Ace asks for a cherry pie at the next unbirthday party.

LMAO apparently Ace got to practice using magic precisely because of being in Heartslabyul. Changing the color of the roses + other unbirthday party prep is done with magic. Ace also quickly learned how to clean up using magic to avoid Riddle’s wrath when the dorm leader patrols.

UHHHHH a police car starts chasing them?? It stops and a policeman exits, pulling… R rIDDLE?????!!??!?!?!

THE HE c K Is tHIS… CAtER MiSTAKES HIM FOR a CUTE giRL OR A MAGICAM INFLUENCER (IN thE FULL bODY MODEL YOU CAN SEE FisHNETS ON HIS leGS)

He calls the police officer an “old man” and speaks in a different cadence than usual. Higher pitched and more childlike. UHHHHH RIDDLE USES RUDE SLANG TOO… It’s not slang I understand; Adeuce identify it as exclusive to the Queendom of Roses

Errrrrrr, so Riddle was arrested for singing in the streets. He says he doesn’t see why people have to follow the rules 😱

Ah, Chenya’s in this dream!! He was in the cop car as well.

vdkabsjsvsusbkxks OH MY GOD Trey’s sounding like a concerned father 👨 Riddle spots Trey and gets all excited; the animation of the live 2D models also implies Riddle is grabbing and clinging to Trey’s arm.

Riddle and Chenya got arrested for starting a “surprise live” in front of the police station. (A “surprise live” is a spontaneous musical performance done in the streets or in public; they’re common in Japan.) They’re in a 2-man band! Riddle is the vocals and Chenya plays bass. It’s hard to keep members because Riddle keeps changing what kind of music they play. He says it’s boring to play the same thing every day.

Riddle doesn’t recognize everyone else so they reintroduce themselves. xhdvsjwbwkw Leona is smart enough to just call himself by first name; the last name might have given away that he’s royalty. (Typically, giving only your first name is a sign of familiarity or casualness in Japanese culture, but I don’t think that was the intention here.)

Riddle asks them to play with him in his band. H needs a guitarist, drummer, and keyboard player! Backup dancers and composers are also welcome, but even if not experienced.

Cater coming in clutch again… He volunteers to play guitar and changes into his Pop/Light Music Club uniform.

THIS iS SO WEIRD… Riddle calls Cater “Cay-kun” and “nii-san” 💀 Cater is freaked out by this too, even though he told Riddle earlier it was okay to call him “Cay-kun”.

Cater lies and says everyone else with him is skilled at playing too. For example, Leona is as good as a professional at drumming!! Leona starts to protest but Cater shuts him up. They need to do this to investigate 🎵 I continue to be baffled at how active Cater is in this dream and the last two. Holy hell, leave some crumbs for the rest of us…

DROPS TO KNEES AnD WEE PS OTL LEONA CHSnges tO HIS DIRM unIFORM AnD DAYS SoME CORNh shIT AbOUT HoW hEmMa SkILLED At DRUMS (lying bitch) THERe’A SpArKLE EFFDcts AnD EVERYTHING

Adeuce and Grim bring up their VDC experience (+ how Rook gave them 100 points in beauty)! Ortho volunteers his synthesizing abilities. He also can do lighting and video production. Sebek has been playing violin since he was little because he admires Malleus (erm, though Harveston Sledathon showed us Sebek sucks at playing it sooooo—). Silver says his farther showed him how to play the ocarina.

Riddle is so excited to have so many different people joining him. No matter how many times he invites Trey, he doesn’t join the band. Cater teases Trey and says his singing for their dorm’s events isn’t bad.

Riddle suddenly invites everyone to his house for tea?! This alarms Trey, but Riddle insists his mom will be happy to see him.

Trey worries the strawberry tart he brought with him from his own dream will get them in trouble. Cater and Grim offer to eat it in case of emergency!

L ch avajGqian SRBRk 😭 He says Riddle’s mom can’f be anywhere near as fierce as Malleus’s mom…

Leona starts to say something but doesn’t finish the thought.

Aaaand here we are at the Rosehearts residence!! Look at all the family photos. (This is not what the home looks like irl; there aren’t this many photographs, probably because Riddle implies that his parents don’t have a happy marriage 😢)

WhAT YhD fuKKKJKKk

Riddle’s mom speaks in a much higher pitched voice and sounds so caring. (We don’t get to see her; it’s just a voice since she’s speaking from the kitchen.) She calls him “Riddle-chan” and is happy he brought so many friends.

Chenya notices the strawberry tart Trey brought in. Grim tries to eat it but Riddle explodes on him, saying that it is HIS. Riddle’s mom is okay with this 💀 and Riddle confesses he has tarts twice a week, even when it is not his birthday.

Riddle goes to have his mom slice the tart up. As soon as he leaves, Trey releases a HUGE breath. He was so nervous about Mrs. Rosehearts losing her temper. Ortho senses his vitals shooting through the roof and recommends he sits down.

They start looking at the photos on the wall. Oh, Riddle’s dad is there too. Ace comments that the focus of the pictures if Riddle while the parents’ faces are blurry. (Is it because Riddle cannot imagine what his parents’ happy faces look like 😭) One of the pics is 6th grade sports day (an egg balancing on a spoon race), another is them swimming, Halloween, etc. Riddle was able to have a happy childhood with Chenya and Trey; their families hang out too.

Lore about family photos time?? Cater’s sisters and mom of course love to take them. Ace’s mom shows baby photos in the house. Sebek’s dad wants to take pictures more than his mom does. Deuce’s mom uses her phone. He has the framed photos in the closet in his rebellious phrase but wants to take them out when he wakes up. Lilia has an instant camera and uses it to take pictures once a year on Silver’s birthday. The Shroud parents have family photos at their work desks. Ortho regularly sends them photos and videos of school events.

Leona’s special cuz he’s a ✨ prince ✨ A newspaper has a photographer assigned to the royal family. He’d take pics without permission and the public relations officer had to confiscate them. Leona naturally hates family reunions that are arranged just to enhance their image. They’re not fun and people just pretend to be friendly.

dbjsbsjwjens Leona doesn’t really have photos of himself when he was young but his mom and Kifaji would take casual pics. He hates when he gets pestered for photos… like his Ceremonial Robes vignettes! Apparently they want the pictures to decorate the private dining room, Mr. Kingscholar’s hospital room, etc.

Ummmmmmmmmmm… Trey ain’t lookin’ so hot…

He says he has no memories of what is in these photographs. He + Chenya only played with Riddle for a month or two before the tart incident, and Riddle went to a private school whereas he + Chenya were public.

Riddle drops 5 sugar cubes into black tea, plus plenty of milk and honey. Leona makes a snide remark about how it’s rude for the host to not take the guest’s preferences into consideration to serve them OTL (you’re so right, king—)

Riddle offers everyone a chiffon cake and butter cookies his mom made. But… hm? That’s weird. They taste strangely hard and aren’t very sweet. Trey automatically identifies the ingredients; they must be the healthy ingredients Mrs. Rosehearts actually uses irl, because Riddle’s imagination is pulling from memories of his mom’s cooking.

Chenya can use magic but… Riddle can’t?! His dad is a novelist who writes stories with his son as the protagonist and his mom is a housewife full time. Neither can use magic.

Riddle becomes upset that they’re whispering to each other. They should speak up at his tea party!!

HUHHHHHHHH Riddle says be didn’t go to school?????? And he hates studying?! Deuce shouts that he uses to hate school and studying, but at NRC his dorm leader and the teachers taught him well. dhsvsjjww Riddle hates books without illustrations, but Sebek counters that there are books that will suit his taste.

Riddle doesn’t want to read??? His dad will tell him stories orally while Riddle plays with toys. And he works from home, so Riddle can ask him whatever he wants whenever he wants.

Cater brings up play croquet at their dorm.

Uuuh Riddle becomes fed up with the topic and demands it be changed. No problemo, cuz Ace was gonna talk off the cuff anyway. People start to consider leaving the band due to Riddle’s inability to read the room and his lack of ambition.

Riddle gets mad and starts raging. In seeps the darkness. We try to leave but Riddle prevents them. The entire room they’re in becomes like… locked? So they cannot leave.

A simple color palette swap makes this look like a scene straight out of a horror game.

A bunch of tea rushes in from another room and everyone works together to close it. They dream form change out of their tea-Soaked clothing.

They deduce that the room itself is the NPC and it must have been pretending to speak in Riddle’s parents’ voices since no one ever saw them. The room where Riddle’s dad works produces a flood of manuscripts, whereas the kitchen is a torrent of black tea. Suddenly, a hand emerges from the tea…! IT’S RIDDLE’S MOM TRYING To DrAg ThEM IN

They hear humming and Chenya appears! Leona threatens to turn the house to sand BUT HE GETS COLLARED 💀 Trey tries to overwrite the collar with his own UM but gets collared too. “Anyone that tries to escape the house will be beheaded”, according to the dreamer’s will.

It’s hard for them to locate Riddle; the space keeps twisting and turning and the magic formula governing it keeps rewriting itself.

ERRRRRR the black tea in the room is increasing even if nothing is gushing in from the kitchen anymore… This truly is one big horror movie now OTL

They try to climb onto/into stuff to keep afloat. Then we hear someone crying… Riddle? His tears are what’s filling up the room. He says, “I want to get out…” UM???? Of your living situation????? (Not me laughing around Leona saying in his most insincere voice “We’ll help you, so show yourself”…)

Leona compares Riddle to a rose with thorns, hurting people indiscriminately. (Okay, oddly poetic when you’re on the brink of death but sure, pop off)

Trey begs dream!Chenya to please show them the way to Riddle. The other card soldiers speak up and talk about how strong and admirable of a leader Riddle is. Finally, Chenya agrees to show them a shortcut.

ERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

We cut away to Idia’s dream?? He is preparing hacks and such for the final battle against Malleus. But um?? Is struggling to reconnect to Ortho and the others to provide support.

Suddenly, knocking at his door! Idia wonders if it is S.T.Y.X. staff???? UH-OH IT’S MALLEUS AND HE DEMANDS TO BE LET IN (he realizes Idia is awake)

We don’t get to see what happens to Idia; we cut back to the second layer of Riddle’s dream. It’s a ruined rose garden…

Ortho realizes the connection to Idia was dropped…

Riddle is berating some mobs (rule 372: if a red mushroom grows, the roses must be white). He has dream!Adeuce send them off to a punishment room where they have to write down rules 300 to 500.

Dream!Cater overhears some mobs whining. He and dream!Trey remind everyone Riddle is always correct and they should salute and follow him. Riddle has an evil laugh… and then has a smile as he says his mother was right all along.

Seeing this, Trey wonders if this is the future that would have happened if he didn’t get “lucky” and overwrite Riddle’s magic that one time.

Oh???? Silver says his father told him magic originally was a miracle birthed from a strong desire in the heart. He says that it was, then, no mistake that Trey’s Paint the Roses trumped Riddle’s magic. It was Trey’s own strong desire to stop Riddle that allowed him to turn the rose bushes into playing cards.

Chenya reappears and offers to show us more. He sneaks over, pulls on Riddle’s cloak, and makes him fall over?! Which pisses him off, obviously.

Riddle blows away the bushes we’re using to hide and is shocked to see doubles of his students. Leona gets fed up and confronts Riddle about how this is all a dream.

LMAOvvvvvsnbabzgajavaowkw Dream!Trey tells Riddle to not listen to Leona… LEONA IS A CORRUPTING FORCE AND A BAD INFLUENCE 💀 I want to argue, but… he sort of has a point…

Riddle commands we be captured and taken to the punishment room too. The mobs start to praise Riddle for everything he has done for them, including (for some reason) lowering their tension and giving them a reason to live????

Leona tells Riddle’s it’s empty and meaningless to be cheered on by an illusion. But Riddle insists he is happy this way. THIS IS SAD, he’s equating fear, respect, and love… What the fuck does this say about his own feelings towards his mother??

A bunch of Heartslabyul students descend on them. Without help from Idia, we can’t defend!! We tear off into smaller groups and run into the rose maze.

This is fr so sick and twisted 💀 Riddle is starting to wake, but dream!Cater and Trey tell him not to think of painful things. If he wakes up, everyone will hate him and he will be alone again—and Riddle doesn’t want that, right? So Riddle agrees, no one should be able to leave the world of dreams.

Okay so group 1 is Yuu, Grim, Sebek, and Ace. Group 2 is Leona and Deuce. Group 3 is Silver and Cater. Group 4 is Trey and Ortho.

Their phones don’t work so they cannot text or call each other.

Rule 63 is this: those who upset the queen in her court will be chased in the rose maze by card soldiers. If you try to climb or jump over the trees, they will attack you. In Diasomnia, there are thorns under the drawbridge that have a similar protective function. Though now, Malleus has a protective barrier around the dorm.

They hear Deuce calling out to them and Ace is suspicious. He tells Sebek, Yuu, and Grim to be quiet and let him handle this.

Ace goes up to Deuce and “reveals” himself to be darkness. Deuce is relieved and reveals himself to be darkness too. Ace, pretending to be darkness, tries to convince dream!Deuce that the real Deuce and Leona went “this way”. Unfortunately, Sebek concludes Ace was actually darkness and intended to betray us. So Grim breathes fire, melting away the wax (?) Ace was using to disguise himself as darkness and he realizes their mistake.

dbsjbsjw THERE’S a SiLLY TRUMPET SfX TO suMMON THE oTHER CARD sOLDIERS

They beat back dream!Deuce, but now too many soldiers are swarming them. Sebek accepts the onus for not trusting Ace and jumping to conclusions; he uses Living Bolt to clear a way for Yuu, Ace, and Grim to run away while he stays behind.

Now let’s bounce to Leona and Deuce! dgshevkw Deuce thought he was with Ace, Yuu, and Grim… but nah, it’s Leona! Leona tried to run off by himself, like in the opposite direction of the loudmouth Sebek www Instead he’s stuck with Deuce…

LEONA syING hE’S GONNA SMSvk RIDDLE

Omg Vargas Camp canon to main story??? Deuce talks about a sports club camping trip to the mountains led by Vargas.

Ace shows up acting relieved he found Deuce and Leona. REALLY starts glazing Leona up too, talking about how strong he is and how he could easily overpower Riddle if they act as bait. Deuce becomes suspicious because Ace wouldn’t say stuff like that, even if he thought it. He demands to know what Ace’s dream was—but Ace cannot answer, so Deuce knows this must be darkness?

Leona tells Deuce he will turn some bushes to sand; he should sprint through them quickly.

nuuuUquUUYYR hE CALLS bdeuCE A GOOD BOyYYYTG OTL (like, loyal dog/follower of his dorm) AnD HE DIESNmF DiSLIKE THAT OTL

Leona claims to be a kind prince LOL uhhh he does The Plan and Deuce escapes! Leona is left behind to fight off dream!Ace and his heart suit goons.

Silver and Cater run into what I assume is dream!Trey. Cater wants he and Trey (who are familiar with the ever-changing maze) to split up and search for the first years, but dream!Trey wants to stick together.

Cater asks Silver if he ever gets tired of fighting the darkness. How does he do it?? Silver confesses he almost gave into it many times but his friends were always there to pull him out of it.

Oh, Cater’s dad has been transferred for his job less as of late, so now he is able to have more long term relationships. Cater also reveals he used to room with Trey prior to third year (where they have separate rooms).

Lore drop, Heartslabyul is the second oldest dorm.

Cater tells a story about how he pitched the idea of transferring to Scarabia with Trey, which dream!Trey agrees with. Turns out, it was a bait laid out by Cater to test of this Trey was real—and dream!Trey fell for it! He admits that he started to suspect Trey was fake when Trey wanted to stay together rather than split up. Trey, who is an older brother, would always prioritize the safety of the first years!

AHHHHHH they’re being overwhelmed and they’re running short on magic :<

Last group to check in with is Trey and Ortho…! Trey shares more about the plants in the garden. They’re magical and must be grown by hand. Some of the plants move if you command them to, bur some others are stubborn. In spring, they have a concert with the flowers. Ortho says the trees in Pomefiore are raised similarly to the Heartslabyul plants.

OKAY SO. Pomefiore is the oldest dorm, then Heartslabyul, THEN Diasomnia. This all but confirms a fan theory that the age of the dorms corresponds with each dorm's irl film inspiration release date. From oldest to youngest, that would be

Pomefiore- 1937

Heartslabyul- 1951

Diasomnia- 1959

Octavinelle- 1989

Scarabia- 1992

Savanaclaw- 1994

Ignihyde- 1997

Aaaaah here comes the dream!Cater. He claims he escaped alone.

Trey discusses Cater’s magic and how it’s like casting 2-3 spells at once since Cater has to use magic to manipulate each clone. Thus, the power level of Cater and his clones goes down. Meanwhile Riddle’s UM can impact multiple people at once and he can spellcast quickly.

HUUUUH Cater applied to duel Riddle not too long before his third year? Wait no, that’s a lie Trey came up with to entrap dream!Cater! Trey knew it must be a fake because he doesn’t see Cater as the kind of guy to leave others behind and escape to safety on his own.

Trey tells Ortho to escape without him…!

That leaves us with only Adeuce, Ortho, Grim, and Yuu able to escape. They regroup and find their captured allies tied to rose trees. Trey begs Riddle to wake up.

Deuce suggests to use his UM to defeat Riddle, and Ortho volunteers to be Deuce’s shield (~10 seconds) while he aims, since Riddle’s UM does not work on Ortho.

Rare moment of development for Yuu??? They have dialogue options and can express that they feel useless, constantly being protected and not able to help.

Ortho asks us to protect Idia’s tablet. And Ace is entrusted to protect Yuu and Grim!

dbjsnsksks Deuce’s plan doesn’t really work out. Riddle starts spamming spells that throw Ortho off; Deuce can’t get his aim quite right.

Grim tries to scamper out to fight but Ace holds him back. Ace becomes increasingly frustrated that he keeps being protected by others (Sebek, Deuce, Ortho) and can’t do anything to help.

AhHHHHHH Ace has his own little depression flashback moment 🥺 calling himself pathetic, lame, useless… unable to save anyone at all. But then words start coming to his head…!! He disrupts Riddle just as he’s able to collar Deuce!

“I’ll take your best/most precious treasure. Joker Snatch…!”

HE COLLARS RIDDLE :000 Deuce uses his UM and shovk Riddle awake… I can’t believe the class 2E boys both got physically beaten into submission 💀

WOW Cater NYOOMS to Riddle and hugs him?!.?:’snwkgelek

Sebek offers to carry Ortho, but Ortho is super heavy.

UHHHH here comes the darkness… Adeuce rush over to help Riddle, even though he commands them to go to someplace safe. (SEBEK CALLS ADEUCE BY THEIR NAMES AND NOT "HUMANS"!!!) Riddle commands Trey and Cater to remove Adeuce and they do as he says; we of course follow after Riddle as he sinks.

Riddle has his moment squaring off against his Phantom. It's quite interesting; his darkness exclaims that he must hang onto the seat because he has nothing else. Everyone loathes him, so he has to do everything he can to cling to power. Riddle calls himself out for the tyrant that he is and expels that darkness.

Rule 1 of the Queen of Hearts: to stay where you are, you must run with all of your might. From now on, Riddle says he will do just that.

He resurfaces in his home and is approached by his mother, who claims he fell asleep while reading about crocodiles in the Nile River? (Wh-Why is the Nile River canon in Twst when that’s a real world location that should not exist in this one...)

Riddle summons his magic and collars his mother, making her melt away into nothing. He gets a really cool line...! "I refuse to stand in front of a door that won't open anymore. Even if the opening is as narrow as a keyhole, I will pry this door open with my own hand and move forward. I will walk forward, on my own path!"

THIS IS REALLY FASCINATING BECAUSE ALL THE WAY BACK IN THE EPISODE OF HEARTSLABYUL MANGA... THEY USED A DOOR AND KEYHOLE IMAGERY TO DEPICT RIDDLE COMING OUT OF HIS OB

Right as Riddle regains his senses, he crashes through the floor of his dream and... somehow lands where Idia is?! He's busy programming.

There seems to he… maybe a reference to Idia’s Bloom Broom vignettes??? Idia’s best subject is Summoning and he seems to have summoned Riddle to him? And Riddle says that he has read Idia’s research papers before; this was also mentioned in said vignettes (Riddle expresses an interest in his papers).

Idia tells Riddle that the Final Boss, Malleus Draconia, is waiting on the other side of his bedroom door...!

THAT'S IT, THAT'S WHERE WE LEAVE OFF???????? WE'RE DEFINITELY NEARING THE END, BOYS...

Okay, so first major thought I had!! Riddle’s dream confirms many of the thoughts I have ha about Trey and his feelings toward Mrs. Rosehearts and his own role in Riddle’s trauma. I have legitimately NEVER heard Trey sounding this panicked or scared, not even when Riddle was about to OB. Trey hurriedly rushes to put away the strawberry tart out of fear, just waiting for Mrs. Rosehearts to start shouting hysterically at him. Ortho even comments about Trey’s vitals rocketing. This definitely reads to me as Trey being traumatized by that whole incident 💦

BIG BRo CATER CONTINUES… Him making up the lie about Leona being a great drummer was so dumb but it worked!! And then he cares so much about Riddle when he finally wakes… would never run off on his own and abandon his friends… 😭 HNNNNGH CATERRRRrrRRRRR WhEN i CmgEFt MY gaNDS ON YOUUUUUuUUU

And holy cow, there was SO much symbolism in Riddle’s dream 😳 dream!Mrs.Rosehearts’s sweets looking good but is insincere and tasting terrible, as opposed to Trey’s tart which looks terrible from the rough travel but is made with care and tastes good… Riddle wishing for a happy family life so his house is crammed with photos… parents that are always emotionally available for him… not having the pressure of being a mage or having a legacy to live up to… the house being a place that locks them inside (because it might feel like a prison to Riddle)... Not just symbolism for Riddle's desires too, but also tons of Alice in Wonderland references!! ASFIHBAYOSFPADFIA I'D WASTE SPACE IN THIS POST LISTING THEM ALL OFF, BUT JUST KNOW THEY'RE THERE AND THEY WERE AMAZING FOR ME TO EAT UP AS AN ALICE IN WONDERLAND STAN

It’s interesting how Chenya here serves as sort of a helpful NPC to us, similar to Kifaji. His actions are a lot more dubious here; he’s not strictly good and spends most of the dream siding with Riddle. Chenya only swaps sides when we convince him. I wonder if he, too, represents some self-aware part of Riddle??? Since Riddle was later shown trying to maintain the dream world even when he learned it was fake.

They tried to recapture the glory of book 6 by having the characters split up. I'm not sure if it worked as well (since each was kind of short and repeated a lot of the same lore about the Heartslabyul rose bushes), but it served its purpose. The best part was definitely how the Heartlabyul students used what they knew of each other to figure out the fakes. It's a very effective but subtle way to show how they've become more familiar with one another. I feel like this update overall was very lore-heavy. We learned new stuff about the dorms' ages, their protective measures, their plants, etc.

It was interesting to have a rare moment of character development for Yuu? They barely get anything in way of characterization, so that surprised me. I wasn't expecting ACE to get his whole Depression Arc in the middle of Riddle's dream either--but I guess whining hard enough works, because he finally FINALLY got his UM!! Still not sure how it works yet. It seems to let him steal/borrow or copy other's UM??? But Sebek describes it as "it seemed like you and Riddle swapped magic". We have to wait for more details to drop in a later update. Can't say I like the name for his UM though; it makes me think of him stealing a clown's wig. ASDULBIADBSPSAB So proud of Ace; with this, we now have the UMs and chants for every one of the NRC students!

Overall, Riddle really surprised me. His dream ended up being roughly THREE TIMES LONGER than the average dream 💀 Not sure if I like that pacing, but at least this was fun to dissect. I like that they seem to have put extra effort into this portion, especially since the game is called Twisted Wonderland. It feels like a homage to the original story, especially since that novel ended with Alice waking up. I loved that Riddle has an inner child that he represses, but that even his desires are "held back" by knowledge he doesn't have... like his parents' happy faces or what his mom's homemade baked goods might taste like. It made me feel for him. ASDIUBASDASBDBPASIqryrqp I kind of feel like a proud parent reading his cool line about finding his own path at the end. It's very different than himself earlier in the dream, ignoring difficult topics and actively denying reality, where he fears he will be left sad and alone OTL Ndhdiwjekw Not sure if I care for his actual childish behavior though… Slightly grating to me.

THE HORROR STYLE PRESENTATION WITH MALLEUS REALLY UNNERVED ME. I would shit bricks if I was Idia too, dang... I'm on the edge of my seat for the next installment. S-Surely book 7 will have to wrap up soon, right? RIGHT?????

[luciferlightbringer]

Love in a Hopeless Place

Chapter 11

Chapter 10|Chapter 11|Chapter 12|Updated through Chapter 12

Lucifer x prostitute fem!reader Word Count: 5.8k CW: Slowburn, Angst, Prostitution, Hurt/comfort, trauma, fluff, depression, anxiety, insecurity, sexual tension, kissing, light teasing smut

Lucifer laid up in his bed the room up in the apple shaped penthouse that was made just for him at the upper left side of the hotel. He had made this room thinking he was be here more often, and then he stopped coming. The last few weeks may had been more tolerable if he had been here... Oh well, too late for that. Now he laid there thinking of the things the hotel people had said about you and him. Could there really be a way of fixing this?

Lucifer sighed, he was really trying not to get his hopes up. He wanted to be able to get a chance to fix things with you, pick things back up with you, if you would let him, he was willing to do practically anything to make things right with you. He'd fight 100 Adams and Alastors at the same time just for the chance to hold you again. But all he could do was lay there, in his bed, wondering if Charlie and Angel were talking to you. Would you be mad? Would you give him a chance to talk to you again? Would the report back from this exchange be the last he ever hears about you?

After what felt like hours, he heard a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Lucifer called out.

"Dad, it's me! Can I come in?" Charlie called from the other side of the door, Angel next to her and you a few steps back.

Your heart was racing, and hearing his voice on the other side of the door made it so much worse.

"Ya!" Lucifer yelled back, still staring at the ceiling. Charlie entered his room followed by Angel, you stayed outside of the door just out of view. "How did it go? Is she ok? Was she mad?" Lucifer asked Charlie and Angel, the pain laced in his voice was apparent. It broke your heart to hear it, but it made you feel less anxious to hear him prioritize concern for you. Care... as always.

"It went well, Dad, so well in fact... that we have someone here to see you," Charlie said, turning to the doorway.

Lucifer froze as he heard another pair of footsteps enter the room. He slowly sat up to meet your gaze, those beautiful (e/c) eyes, so full of their same gentleness and care, but also indescribable pain.

"(y/n)", he whispered, as if we was afraid that saying you name too loud might make you disappear.

You smiled, "Hi Lucifer," you said softly in return, his name sounded like music dripping from your lips. No malice, no anger, something... soft and beautiful, like you had been holding your breath for years and in saying his name you finally felt like you could exhale.

All you could do was stare at each other and take each other in. Charlie and Angel smiled at each other, then looked at you both as they started to back up.

"We'll just... give you too some space to talk," Charlie said, and then closed the door behind her and Angel. They pumped their fists with a quiet "Yes!" before running downstairs to tell the rest of the hotel crew what was going on.

You and Lucifer were now alone.

The air was tease and silent, neither of you knowing who should speak or make the first move.

At the moment you started to open your mouth, Lucifer moved to slip off the bed and onto his knees on the floor, hands on the ground in front of him and forehead pressed against his hands... bowing to you?!

"(y/n), darling... I... I'm sorry, I'm so... so sorry... Please... please believe when I say I don't remember what happened that night. I was drunk, I was nervous... I- I can't forgive myself for whatever I could hav-", Lucifer rambled as he started to shake as he kept his deep bow on the floor.

"Lucifer..." you say softly cutting him off, he jumped up a little, your voice suddenly being much closer than her expected. He looked up to see you on your knees in from of him, tears also starting to well in your eyes.

"You didn't hurt me that night," you said, tears starting to fall.

"I- I didn't?" he said through tears.

"No!" you cried, "I thought I had mad you mad and that's why you didn't call for me."

Lucifer's eyes went wide, "What?! No, of course not! I was so scared, I couldn't remember what happened that night and then I got a call from the Lounge that you were calling our appointments and I was banned from seeing you!"

"No! No, Lucifer I never banned you. You never hurt me, I- got scared, I was worried, you weren't acting like yourself, you were so drunk... you told me something... and I... I- I didn't know what to do... so I just ran! I ran and I disappeared for a little to figure things out. I came back and I waited, I waited and their was nothing! I thought you hated me and were done with me!"

"No! Never, never! Hells, Duckie, I've been a mess without you! I need you!" Lucifer cried. You and Lucifer were both a mess of hysterical tears at this point, and you collapsed into an embrace as you cried, reassuring each other through heavy sobs that you were not mad or upset at the other. It was a deep cry that you had both deeply needed in the arms of the other.

After several minutes, both of you started to calm down, tears still falling but now they were able to talk without heaving as hard through their sobs.

"So... what happened, exactly? Tell me your side of it all, please..." Lucifer finally choked out. You took a few more deep breaths before starting.

"You... you showed up at my apartment... you were drunk, stumbling, had a hard time teleporting. You were sweet but very touchy, you got more drunk and touchy as the night went on. I thought you were having a really bad day, then I thought you were nervous about may wanting to try being intimate again. But then... you told me something... something I didn't know how to respond to... I was scared about responding to it the wrong way, especially because you are the King and I am just a prostitute... I didn't know if you actually cared about me, even though it always felt like you really did, and the power dynamic was just so... confusing... so I pushed you away. I ran, I disappeared on a trip for a few days to think about things, to give us space in case... well, in case I had upset you... You were supposed to be told I was just on vacation for a few days... but it sounds like you were told something else... something to split us apart," you explained, looking down at Lucifer who was snuggled back into his old position in your lap. Lucifer nodded as he listened to your explanation. "I came back, and I waited for you to schedule... and you never did. I had no way to check in with you... and I didn't want to overstep in your life by expecting a real connection if I had just misread things, or going to the hotel to ask Charlie, especially because I wasn't supposed to tell anyone... I was just so confused."

Lucifer tightened his fists in his lap, what is it that he had told you that made you so scared? That would make you run but that had also apparently not hurt you. "I'm sorry I made you keep this a secret for so long, I didn't realize how much it was hurting you... both of us... I guess I just let my pride really get in the way, and that was stupid," Lucifer paused, "Whatever I told you that night... was it bad?" Lucifer asked looking up at you.

You took a deep breath, "It's ok, I understood why you wanted it to stay quiet, I never held that against you. And...no, not bad, but it did scare me. I didn't know what to think of it."

"Can... can you tell me what I said?" Lucifer asked with big worried eyes.

You thought for a moment, this was the part you were most scared of at this point. This is where everything could fall apart again. "Can you tell me your side of things first, before I do?"

Lucifer swallowed hard, not liking how you were dodging the question, but he nodded.

"Ok," Lucifer started, "I... was really nervous that day, for a while... I'd been wondering how much of your care was real versus an act. It hadn't felt like it had been fake for... well I mean it really had never felt fake. I remember... I wanted to ask you or tell you something related to that. I had talked to a friends about that earlier in the day..."

"Asmodeus?" you asked.

"Yes! Did I say something about him? About that conversation?" Lucifer asked.

"You said he started dating someone, but not to tell anyone. I never have," you replied.

'Wow, why was that the point I had brought up? I really was out of it,' he thought.

"Well, anyways, he encouraged me to talk to you, but I had a drink to calm myself down because I was so nervous, but one became two, became four became... way too many..." Lucifer continued sheepishly, "And then I couldn't remember the rest of the night, I woke up the next morning with a crazy hangover, trying to jog my memory, and then I got the call from the Lounge. They did tell me that you were on vacation... but then added that "the truth" was that you had put me on your ban list, that you had come back saying you "couldn't take this shit anymore" and that you were a good actor, that you were a heartbreaker, that you would "even break the King's heart if you had the chance".

You gasped and more tears welled up in your eyes, "Lucifer, it's not true! You have to believe me," you hugged Lucifer tightly in your lap, "That's not who I am, yes I can act, but I swear I haven't ever once lied to you!"

Lucifer held your face, "I know."

You stared down at him as tears rolled down your cheeks, "You do?"

He nodded, "I didn't in the moment, when the call happened, but the others did. Husk and Angel. The whole damn hotel sat me down to have an intervention to set me straight. I was still hesitant, but between your reaction now and them... I believe you. You do care about me, you always have."

"Yes, of course I care about you!" you say holding his face with one hand. Lucifer smiled and nuzzled his face into your hand.

"Lucifer, the person you talked to on the phone. Do you remember anything distinct about them? Their voice or the way they talked," you asked earnestly.

Lucifer thought, "I remember it was a feminine voice, very hissy ssssss sounds the entire time they talked."

You saw red, that was all the proof you needed.

"Cynthhhhia," you snarled. Lucifer's eyes widened, he had never seen you mad before.

"Who is Cynthia?" Lucifer asked, an edge in his voice.

"She is the biggest bitch at the Lounge, the girl I always talked about cutting down to size? That's her. She was on phone's that day as a punishment for hurting me the night I ran back to the Lounge," you seethed, "Larry must have stepped away and she must have a had enough time to slip you that lie..."

Lucifer sat up more in your lap, eyes turning red, "You think this Cynthhhhia bitch lied to get us apart? Why?"

"Yes... she always hated that I was getting paired with more "high rollers" as we would call them, well-off powerful people, she hated that I was more popular with customers than her... she must have taken the opportunity to sever our relationship to make me suffer..." you stopped as Lucifer got up from your lap stepping a few feet away from you breathing heavily with his hands balled into tight fists, "Lucifer?"

You watched as the air seemed to shake around him, his wings snapped out from his back and started to flap, his eyes burned with blind rage as this horns and tail erupted from his body, a flame appearing above his head, his claws growing large and sharp. Flame escaped from his mouth as with a demonic voice Lucifer bellowed, "HOW DARE THAT BITCH SEVER YOU FROM ME?! HER LIVE IS FOREFIT. I WILL GRIND HER BODY TO DUST. I WILL BEAT THE AFTERLIFE OUT OF HER. I WILL RIP HER APART WITH MY BARE HANDS AND FEED HER TO THE CANNIBALS. I FASHION HER FLESH INTO BOOTS. I WILL..."

You ran up and wrapped your arms around Lucifer's waist, the air stopped rumbling, his body started to relax, his flames dissipated, and he looked down at you with a softened eyes, still glowing.

"Lucifer please, I'm mad too... but please stay with me. She's not worth the energy! You can turn her into snake jerky boots tomorrow!" You say, clinging to him tightly, "I need you here now..."

Lucifer blinked back to his regular red eyes before letting himself drop back to the ground, wrapping his arms back around you, "I'm sorry, Duckie... I'm just so mad that one lie over a phone call caused so much pain for you and I..." he pulled away a little and cupped your face with one hand, "I just want to make her pay for what she has done to us."

"I do too," you say carding your fingers through his hair, "I'm sure the others would too, I'm looking at you readers, but... how about we ruin her day tomorrow. Ok? Let's not let her ruin this, she's not worth it."

Lucifer hummed into your touch and closed his eyes, allowing himself to revert back to his normal soft appearance, "Ok... on one condition," he said opening his eyes again to look into yours.

"What would that be?" you ask nervously.

"Tell me what it was that I told you. Please?" he asked with bright eyes.

You looked away briefly and then met his gaze again, you felt your face grow hot, "You sure? You're not going to get mad?"

Lucifer gave you a confused smile, "Why would I be mad at you for telling me something I said to you? Just... tell me." Lucifer still held you in a close embrace, looking into your eyes.

You breath deeply, and look down at Lucifer, "You... you told me that you loved me."

Both of your faces turned bright red as you starred at each other in tense silence.

'Are you shitting me? I told her I loved her while I was shit face plastered?! Fuck, ya... ok her reaction makes sense now' Lucifer thought.

"Oh... golly... haha... I can see why that might make you uncomfortable" Lucifer said looking away from you with a nervous laugh.

You look at Lucifer, noticing deep blush running across his pale cheeks, and smiled. You steeled yourself for the next question.

"Did you mean it?" you asked.

Lucifer looked up into your eyes, studying your face. This was the moment he had wanted so many weeks ago, this was how it was supposed to feel. Vulnerable, terrifying, but the only place he ever wanted to be. This was the moment that would change everything, but now, he knew she cared, this would not be the end of everything.

"Yes, (y/n), I love you. I've loved you for months."

You heart swelled with joy to hear him say it this time, and with him being sober and so nervous, all of your worries from the past didn't matter now. You couldn't keep your eyes from welling with tears of joy. You moved your hands up to Lucifer's face to hold his soft cheeks.

Lucifer sat in swirl of emotions as he watched you react to his statement, 'Does she... feel the same?'

"Well..." Lucifer got out, before freezing up, trying to figure out what to say.

You laughed, "I... I love you too, Lucifer."

Lucifer's eyes go wide, taking a moment to process your words, before he moves without thinking, pulling you in closer and pressing his lips against yours.

The kiss sent waves of electricity through both of your bodies. You had kissed a lot of people for work, but nothing had ever felt like this before. You felt gripped by a want to fuck Lucifer in a way you had never wanted to fuck someone before, you ached for him, you ached for only him. In that moment you were ruined for watching to touch another soul ever again. Your tongues explore each other's mouths, passionate and desperate, as if you both relied on the other to breath.

After a few minutes, you both break the kiss, pressing your foreheads together, breathing heavily.

"Fuck..." Lucifer heaved, "That was amazing... You are amazing."

You laugh, tracing a finger down Lucifer's chest, "Just wait til, I get me hands on the rest of you... If you want that... of course."

Lucifer's eye glazed over with pure lust as he looked you over, "Oh, Duckie... I have wanted nothing more than to rip your clothes off and take you to Heaven since the day I met you... but I don't want to be selfish and I feel like I would want to be. I want you to be mine, all mine, only mine," he purred into the skin of your neck. You tip your head back and let your eyes roll back with the pleasure of the sensory.

"Then you can, have me," you say. Lucifer gives you a look.

"I'm all yours, I'll quit the Lounge, move into the hotel like I wanted, and I will be only yours, if you'll have me," your eyes looked with Lucifer's.

He smiled, putting his forehead against yours, "I accept, you will be mine and I will be yours. Tomorrow, we will go down to Lounge, give them your 2 minute notice, and then... we make that little bitch Cynthhhhia rue the day she ever messed with us." Lucifer planted another long passionate kiss on your lips.

"But for now... I get the feeling that we may have some people downstairs that want to see the results of our conversation. What do you say?" Lucifer said, offering you his arm. You smile and take his arm, going out the door and making your way downstairs to the hoops and hollers of your hotel friends, especially when Lucifer kissed you again in front of all of them.

You spent the rest of the night partying and talking with the hotel crew until you grew tired. Then, Lucifer picked you up and took you up to his room in the hotel, where you and Lucifer fell asleep in either others arms again, the way you would every night from then on.

______________________________________________________________

The next morning, you wake up, tightly snuggled against Lucifer's chest, and you look up to see him unabashedly looking down with love filled eyed at you and running his fingers through your hair. He smiled warmly as your eyes met his.

"Good morning~" he cooed as he dipped his head down to kiss your lips. Your bodies moved closer to each other as you kissed, starting to get drunk off of the taste of the other. Your face and chest grew hot and red, until eventually Lucifer broke the kiss you hold your face, staring into each other's dilated eyes. Lucifer was pleased by the love drunk look on your face.

"You know, if I didn't know any better, I would take you as a pent up, untouched virgin instead of a seasoned sex worker with the way you're reacting to a simple kiss," Lucifer says smugly, taking in the deep red tone of your cheeks and the glazed look of your eyes.

"Well... I mean... I may have had plenty of physical intimacy... but it's always been for money, survival... this, however~" you says as you pull him in for another deep, desperate kiss, hand running down the side of his body before stopping on his thigh, releasing him from the kiss while keeping your lips as close to his as possible without touching. "This is something completely different entirely... unbridled desire like I've never felt in life or death... and I'm famished," you whisper.

Lucifer swallowed hard, blinking hard as his own face burned red and he felt himself get more dizzy and love drunk on your words. "Fuck... oh, Duckie... I want to do... so... many... sinful things to you. I have for months... but I do think we should prioritize taking care of your status at the Lounge... and that bitch... Because I don't know about you, but..." Lucifer rolls on top of you, pinning you to the bed, lowering his head to be next to your ear, "when I finally get to fuck you... I want you to be mine. Only... mine... Don't you agree, my Apple?" he planned a soft kiss on your neck.

You're breathing was ragged, your heart pounded in your chest, you had never been so turned on in your life. You couldn't even speak, all you could do was nod.

Lucifer looked down at you, committing the image of your body beneath him to memory before sighing, chuckling a little, giving you a kiss on both checks and then on the lips before getting off of your and getting up to start getting dressed.

You had to take a minute to let yourself breath for a minute before getting up. Lucifer smuggly looked at you over his shoulder as he buttoned up his vest, "You doing ok over their~?" he cooed.

"Shut up," you say playfully. 'Fuckkkkkk', you thought, how was this the same man that wanted to be dominated so desperately the first night you met? Should have known he was a bratty switch. He was really proving his status as the Sin of Pride with that smug ass attitude this morning, and goooooodddd was it hot.

Eventually you did get out of bed and got dressed for the day, Lucifer giving you a longing look as you did. Before long, it was time for you and Lucifer to head to the Lounge, together. Others from the hotel had learned about the reason for the miscommunication and lack of contact with you during the celebration the night before and many people wanted to come with to watch the confrontation unfold. So soon, you, Lucifer, Charlie, Angel, Cherri, Niffty, and even Alastor, much to Lucifer's dismay, were ready to make your way out to the Entertainment District. Husk and Vaggie also wanted to go, but someone needed to stay behind and man the hotel, so they just asked for a play by play of the events when everyone returned.

"Ready everyone?" Lucifer called out before tapping his cane on the ground, opening a portal right in front of the Lounge. Lucifer offered you his arm, which you took before stepping out of the portal onto the street in front of your place of work, followed by all of your friends. Immediately upon stepping out onto the street, onlookers started to look, whispers, point, and take pictures as they saw the King with you on his arm, followed by the Princess, a famous Porn Star, and the Radio Demon, with Niffty and Cherri tagging along.

Lucifer opened the door to the Lounge and walked in, striding up to the front counter with you on his arm. Larry turned around to greet the new customers just to find himself facing the King of Hell and company.

"Y-your highness, with (y/n), and the Princess, Angel, t-the Radio Demon, and... uhhh," Larry stopped looking down at Niffty.

"Hi! I'm Niffty!" Niffty gave a sharp smile while waving a knife in her hand. "And I'm Cherri Bomb," she added.

Larry blinked looking at Niffty before looking back up at Lucifer, "Right... uhh... Your Majesty," he bowed, realizing the should have done that the first time. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit? And with one of my girls," he said shooting you a quick 'What the hell is happening here?!' look.

"Haha, well! You must be Larry! Let me introduce myself to you my fine man. Hi," Lucifer says extending his hand to Larry, "I'm Lance", Lucifer said, darkening his eyes.

"Oh!" Larry said shaking his hand before the realization kicked in, "Oh..." he looked at you, then Lucifer, back to you, then back at Lucifer, "OOohhhhhhh...." Larry let go of Lucifer's hand, his body starting to shake a little.

Lucifer smirked and wrapped an arm around you, "We were wanting to talk to you able a... troubling customer service issue that miss (y/n) and I experienced a few weeks ago that interrupted my services with her... if you have the time that is..." Lucifer said with as smile in his face that did not reach his rage filled eyes.

Larry panicked, "Uh.. uhh yes! Of course! Uhhh... would you like to come back to my office or..."

"Oh, no, my good sir, out here is just fine," continuing his sharp smile, looking out at the sea of girls and customers watching the interaction with growing interest.

"O-Ok, ya sure," Larry clears his throat, "So, uhh... what seems to be the issue?"

"Well... you see... your associate here and I had not scheduled any appointments for the last few weeks due to a... concerning miscommunication issue. You see, while this one was out on her much deserved vacation, I was called and told that she was out for a few days... but then they corrected themself and told me I was banned from scheduling with her again... but that I was free to utilize the services of other girls," Lucifer said distain slowly slipping into his voice, his smile starting to strain.

Larry's expression changed from fear to frustration, "Oh... that is troubling, I can confirm that (y/n) did not express any desire to ban you, sir. I apologize... I had no idea that happened... You... wouldn't happen to know who it was that you talked to that day, would you?"

"I didn't catch a name, but it was someone with a feminine voice and elongated "S"s.... kinda... serpentine sounding. You... wouldn't happen to know of anyone on your staff that would fit that description... would you?" Lucifer said, his smile now fully flat with half opened, unenthused eyes.

Larry balled his hands into fits, "As a matter of fact, your highness... I do... I'll... be... right back..." Larry made his way to the back to find the girl that matched the description, the sea of people parting as he lumbered through.

Lucifer looked up at you and winked, "Showtime" he mouthed to you. You smiled back at him as you started to hear the familiar screams of Cynthhhhia as Larry dragged her up to the front lobby, tossing her on the floor in front of Lucifer and you.

"AAHHHHH!!! Larry what the fuck! I wasssss in the the middle of a sssssession! What's the big ide-" Cynthhhhia finally looked up to Lucifer and you standing in front of her, glaring down at her, with his arm around your waist at his side. "Ohhhhh! Y-your highness, itssssss and honor, w-wha-what is thisssss all about?" She tried to smile at him, here eyes darting to you and to the others watching around the room.

"Apparently, a few weeks ago, you had a little of a communication issue with Mr. Morningstar here, or should I say... Mr. Lance... Care to explain, Cynthhhhia?" Larry hissed through clenched teeth.

"Lance, wha-" Cynthhhhia finally remembered, she now looked at you, then Lucifer, back to you, then him. Then she looked back at Larry, then around the room, to Charlie and Angel, then back to Lucifer. In that moment, she didn't not understand how this happened, but she knew she was absolutely fucked.

"Well... I feel like you already know... but I'll just ssssay it. I lied, I lied to Lanc-Lucifer... about (y/n)'sssss vacation, I had no one around ssssso I told him he had been banned, he didn't ask any questionsssss and didn't try sssssscheduling another appointment... Ssssso I reported that I had called and that he would call back to ressssschedule... I thought I was in the clear..." Cynthhhhia said looking at the ground, then looked up again, "I guess there were sssssome factorsssss that I didn't not account for.."

"Ya! Like us!" Angel added.

"Like her developing friendships and bonds during her time with my dad that cared to ask why she was not around anymore, and we figured out that these two had two very different understandings of why they were not able to see the other," Charlie said with a triumphant smile, gesturing to her dad and you.

"Cynthhhhia, why would you do this?" Larry asked coldly.

Cynthhhhia hissed, "For the same reason as alwaysssss, I hated her sssssuccesssss! I saw a chanccccce and I took it. The real question issss, why did you all care sssssso much. She's is just a ssssstupid, ssssselfish, fake, whore!"

In an instant, Lucifer's demon form emerged, horns, wings, red eyes, tail and all, and he flicked his sharp tail to her neck, lifting her head to meet his gaze, "Because my dear, ssssssweet, idiot," he spat, "She is actually none of those things. She is the kindest, sweetest, warmest, most loving, and selfless woman I have ever met, and because of that... I fell in love with her."

The room gasped, including Cynthhhhia and Larry. "You're little stunt simply caused us to be apart before we could talk it out. Thanks to my daughter, we figured it out, we figured you out. So now... my question for both of you is... how do we rectify this.. little problem? This certainly caused myself and my love much grief over the last few weeks, and it sounds like this putrid snake was causing my dear problems long before that at this establishment... and I simply cannot let that stand," Lucifer said, starring daggers into Cynthhhhia's soul.

"Well uhhh... as far as I can control... Cynthhhhia is fired from my establishment and will be backlisted from every brothel and porn studio in the Pride Circle effect of immediately, she will be kicked out of housing with us, and I will turn a blind idea to anything that becomes of her outside of this establishment... Does that seem fair?" Larry asked. Cynthhhhia seethed on the ground.

Lucifer smiled, "A good start but not enough, there is more I will require, and I have a list of demands."

Larry shifted uncomfortably, "Of course your highness, what would those be?"

Lucifer looked at you and smiled, "I request the release of (y/n) from her work contract here, as well as her housing contract," Lucifer looked back at Larry, "She will not be needing to be here anymore now that she is with me."

Larry made a displeased face, and looked at you "Is this what you want Babydoll?"

You nodded, "It has nothing to do with you, Larry, you have been good to me..." you look to Lucifer and the others, "I just finally found where I belong... and I need to see where this goes."

Larry nodded, "Consider it done. I'll miss you, kid."

Lucifer nodded, "Well..." he clapped his hands, " I guess we are done here then! Duckie, I will have your stuff taken out of your old room and moved to the hotel. As for you," Lucifer said looking down at Cynthhhhia, who was on the floor trying to crawl away, but froze in place when addressed, "We are not quiet through with you." Lucifer wrapped his tail around her waist and pulled her along as he walk out the door, followed by the other hotel crew and some interested patrons and girls.

Cynthhhhia screamed as she was dragged and tossed out onto the street in front of Lucifer and the others.

Lucifer looked to you with a slight bow, gesturing towards Cynthhhhia, "My darling, would you like to do the honors?" he purred.

You shrugged, "I don't really wanna touch her, but I'll start her off," you say stretching your arms as you walked towards her.

Cynthhhhia cowered and pleaded with you, you wound up your arm and slugged Cynthhhhia in the face, sending her flying back several feet. You were met with a crowd of cheers and yelps, Lucifer nodded approvingly at your punch. Lucifer next rolled up his sleeves and pummeled her into the ground a few dozen times before getting up staying he had enough. Cynthhhhia was still conscious, but barely.

Lucifer then offered the chance up to the rest of the crew. Niffty ran up and gave her a few quick stabs, then to your surprise, Alastor stepped forward with a sinister grin on his face. You and Lucifer gave each other a confused look, then looked back at him.

"Now Cynthhhhia, darling, as much as I enjoyed seeing how much torment your little stunt caused, I do say I that I am not very fond of how it impacted the overall morale of the hotel, and I simply cannot have that," Alastor said as his horns and body started to grow larger and more sinister, his face turning more into the radio face you had seen it become before in battle. "I'm sorry, my dear, but I'm going to need to make an example out of you, to show everyone what happened when you mess with the Hazbin Hotel and it's residents. And besides! ...my radio broadcast has been in need of some new screams!" Alastor laughed maniacally before engulfing Cynthhhhia in his mystical black tentacles and carried her off to be ripped apart and have her screams added to his collect on his broadcast.

You and the other's starred off after Alastor in horror as he took of with Cynthhhhia. "Wow..." you said, "That uhhh... that was not the ending to her I expected. But I'll take it!" You smiled looking at Lucifer who smiled and rolled his eyes. He then grabbed your waist, pulling you into a dip and kissed you deeply for all of Hell to see.

"Come on," he said breaking from the kiss, "Lets get you home."

Home.

You liked the sound of that.

______________________________________________________________

One last chapter I think! And IT.WILL.HAVE.SMUT. xoxo, dany As usual, leave a comment if you want added to the taglist so that you can get notifications when future chapters drop! xoxo, dany (OMG there are so many of you!😍 Please let me know if the tag isn't working for you) Taglist :(red names are not tagging for some reason 😢) @froggybich @wonderlandangelsposts @glowinthedarkbones1150 @marydragneell @crescent-z @superdinosaurnacho @jam0001 @kyo-kyo1 @so-get-this-sammy @lilzebeth @kelppsstuff @loquacious-libra @pinkhoneydrop @luleck @writer-girl99 @lavenz @stormz369 @littleladydemon @soujiswife @melday0105 @luluxx118 @sseleniaa @futureittomainn @cktkat @zaneyyyy @uravitsy @liecoris @starlitvenus @hannahrose130 @elleofdragons @butch-medusae @concentratedconcrete @erosamasan @stranger-chan @aquaamethyst96 @lxkeee @holyspacething @hulyenl @leximus98 @lu-ferri12 @mixplara @katnisspeetaprim @rebecca-hvnstn @roboticsuccubus83 @nekemewlita @femboyfatalle @thelethex @cryptidghostgirl @snowlotr @bangchansdirty-slut @glowymxxn @mcueveryday @hotvillianapologist @oneiric-rotaerc @wolfdaddyalphasworld @sleepypottersworld @wisterialagoon @theredviolets @theperfectmangovoid @lemonmoonmochi @sapphireravensworld @ezi0724 @undertalephanjackandmark-blog

[vodika-vibes]

It's My Choice

Summary: Echo is in recovery at a GAR medical facility on Coruscant after being assumed KIA. You want to see him, more than anything, and you hope he knows that he's your choice.

Pairing: ARC Trooper Echo x F!Reader

Word Count: 1190

Warnings: reader is described as having hair long enough to style, and as a supermodel.

Tagging: @trixie2023 @n0vqni @imabeautifulbutterfly

A/N: So I had an idea, and I decided to run with it. It might not flow well, simply because I'm very sick and have been for the last two days, but I'm happy with it. (Also, pardon any typos/grammar errors, I typed this while not wearing my eyes.)

You lean back in the hard, uncomfortable chair of the GAR medical facility, your gaze drifting to the ceiling as you wait for an update on Echo. The chairs really are terrible, but then the clones were never meant to have worried family you suppose.

Jokes on them. Echo has you.

You allow the back of your head to thump against the wall behind you and you stretch your legs out in front of you and cross your ankles.

You've been here for almost 12 hours now.

Fives contacted you as soon as the Resolute landed on Coruscant and informed you that Echo was alive and was being treated for his injuries here. He mentioned that you didn't have to come, but clearly he's lost his damned mind.

As if you'd be anywhere else.

Of course, you probably should have taken the time to make sure that you fixed your hair and washed the extreme make-up off…and changed out of the six inch stilettos you had been forced into for work today.

But, whatever. Echo's alive. Nothing else matters.

Even if your agent has been blowing up your com for the last six hours. And even if General Skywalker has been side-eyeing you like he thinks you're trespassing. 

Your comma chimes again, and you absently lift it over your head to read the message. And then promptly deleted it. Your agent will just have to deal.

A door at the end of the hall opens, and you tilt your head to the side, before you sit up straight as Fives steps into the hall and walks over to you.

He takes in your carefully styled hair —artfully tousled, your stylist called it— the dark make-up, and the impossibly high stilettos and he huffs out a laugh, “You come here right from a shoot?”

“Echo’s more important than any photo shoot. Besides, I had already finished when you called.” You reply as you kick your heels off and scramble to your feet, “Can I see him?”

Fives smiles at you, “Yeah. Follow me.” He waits for you to scoop your heels, and your bag, off the ground before he starts walking, “I should warn you…he looks bad.” Fives says quietly as he stops next to the door.

You lift your chin and glare at him, “Contrary to what you, and apparently everyone else, believes. I'm not dating Echo because of his pretty face.”

“Okay, okay. Sheathe your claws, kitten. I just wanted to warn you.” Some of the offended tension drains from your shoulders, you didn’t mean to snap at him, but it wouldn’t be the first time someone made an assumption about you and your choice to have a relationship with Echo.

Fives opens the door and moves to the side to let you into the room, and your breath catches when you see him.

Like Fives said, he looks bad. Thin, too thin by far, and so pale. The prosthetics and cybernetics are new, but honestly, you’re only bothered by them because you’re sure that they must have hurt.

“Echo,” You step into the room, and set your heels and your bag in a chair, before you move closer to his side. There are tears in your eyes, but they’re happy tears, “Welcome home.”

Echo blinks at you, twice, and then he slowly slides up in the hospital bed, “Cyar’ika…when…how did you know I was here?”

“Fives commed me and told me. I’ve been sitting out there for hours.” You look around and then huff out a sigh, before dumping your stuff on the floor and moving the chair next to the bed. You lightly take his prosthetic in your hand, a scomp, rather than a hand.

You hope that it was his choice, rather than one made for him. 

He tenses, but he doesn’t pull away from you, “You didn’t have to.”

You smile at him, “Echo. You’re here, and you’re alive. Where else would I be?”

His gaze flickers across your face, and then over to the heels lying on the floor, “Well, judging by the height of those heels, a photoshoot.”

“Not half as important as you.” You reply dismissively.

He shifts and slowly sits up, properly, before reaching out and pressing his flesh hand against your cheek, “Cyar’ika…” Echo hesitates, and then flashes a wry, self-deprecating smile, “I don’t think I’m pretty enough for you.”

You bite your tongue to stem your immediate, and loud, disagreement. Instead you reach up and press your hand over his, rubbing your cheek against his hand. “Why would you say that?”

“Why-? Cyare. Look at me!”

“I am looking.”

“Then I shouldn’t have to explain-”

“Would you like to know what I see when I look at you, Echo?”

“Not really.” You tilt your head, and he sighs, “Tell me.”

“The man who, after meeting me, an actual supermodel, invited me to go to a bookstore with him.” Echo flushes, and it’s obvious due to how pale he is, “A man who overheard me mentioning to my agent that I was worried that I wasn’t going to be able to meet my favorite author and made sure that I arrived on time.” Your smile widens, “A man who learned who my favorite author was, simply so he could read the books too, so he’d have something to talk about with me.”

Echo averts his gaze, “We talked all night.” He murmurs.

“We did. And I got in so much trouble the next morning because I had dark circles under my eyes, and you got in trouble because you were late to formation…but we did the exact same thing three nights later.”

Echo laughs softly, “I thought Rex’s head was going to explode.” He admits.

You release his scomp hand and reach up to press your hand against his cheek, “I see the man I fell in love with. The man who looks at me and sees more than the dumb supermodel that everyone expects me to be.” You scan his face, almost anxiously, “And I’m hoping he still loves me.”

He looks at you, something soft in his gaze, “You still want me-?”

“Always. Forever. Until the stars go cold.”

“Your agent is not going to approve.” Echo warns as he lightly tugs you off the chair and onto the edge of the bed.

“I cannot emphasize enough how little I care about my agent’s opinion.” You admit quietly, “If I have to choose, I know who my choice will be.”

Echo exhales slowly, and slowly tugs you in until your forehead lightly bumps against his, “I love you.” He whispers, “I never stopped loving you. Even when I could barely remember anything, I still remembered your smile and the smell of your lotion and the feel of your skin under my fingers.”

“Charmer.” You whisper.

“Mean every word.” Echo whispers right back, and then he tugs you once more and catches your lips in a kiss that’s soft and loving enough that it nearly brings you to tears.

You have your Echo back. He might look a little different, but he’s here and it’s all you’ve ever wanted.

[concretejunglefm]

Poltergeists: Chapter 14.

Chapters: Prologue, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Bonus Chapter, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Bonus Chapter, Chapter 6, Bonus Chapter, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Bonus Chapter, Chapter 9, Bonus Chapter, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Bonus Chapter

Pairings: Noah Sebastian x Reader, Nicholas Ruffilo x Reader, possibly more BO members.

CW: Missing person, elements of supernatural horror, mentions of blood and possibly violence, unreliable narrator, implied smut. will update as it goes on. Heavy trigger warning for mentions of alcohol use, ptsd and panic attacks.

WC: 1.5k.

AN: This series will be told throughout a variety of flashbacks and present day, all which will be marked.

Divider: Silent-stories.

Tagged: @enemiestolovershoe, @fadingangelwisp, @littlepeachwhispers, @concreteangel92, @deathblacksmoke, @1toreyouapart, @lacy1986, @chaoticwineaunt, @ichoosetenderomens, @baddestomens, @blade-dressed-in-red, @halfalgorithmhafdeity, @geminigirlfromfinland, @fuck1ng-queen, @collisionofyourkissmakesitsohard (if anyone else wishes to be tagged lmk)

PRESENT DAY

“Will you just let me pass so I can go with her!” Detective Green, or Detective Douche as I like to now call him, is keeping me back as the paramedics wheel her out from the house on a stretcher and into the back of an ambulance.

She wasn't pronounced dead on their arrival, which was a good sign, but the bruising around her neck raised some questions, not only from the paramedics but myself.

Nick is barely saying anything, keeping himself back, even as I continue to argue with Detective Douche about me going with them.

“I’ll take you down to the hospital myself but right now you need to be checked over.” He explains, but I refuse the help which comes my way from a small blonde yet hesitant paramedic, who's hand I swat at the moment she tries to reach for me to check me over. 

“Can’t we do this down at the hospital?” I argue and Kit relents, stepping back as he allows me to move forward and toward the open back doors of the second ambulance. I climb up and in, with Nick following silently. He can barely look me in the eye at the moment but my concerns aren't with him, they’re with the ambulance which already has a head start on us.

There were a lot of questions which came with apparently being missing for a year.

Missing. That was what they called it. Missing or dead. The latter somehow didn't scare me as much as it should've, perhaps because where I was felt enough like heaven that being dead was the last of my worries.

Detective Green was the one who questioned me, though even he seemed to have no understanding as to how I'd appeared out from the closet in our own home and unharmed at that. 

All that blood and there was not a mark on me.

I shudder at the memory of that night. I remember everything, as much as I wish not to. Sometimes it would play as a loop during the dull moments of the limbo I resided in.

Other times it would plague me as a literal repeat of events, taunting me as I yelled and called for bubs, only for my fate to always be the same.

My favorite moments were always those by the lake. Our spot.

I knew it was never her, but when the creature came to visit me disguised as her, wearing her skin as close to her image as possible, I could convince myself that I was happy here. 

Because it told me I should be.

“You’re free to go Mr. Seb—”

“Where’s Bubs?” I cut Kit off the minute he lets me go free from being observed, from being questioned, from everything, jumping up from the hospital bed as Nick reaches out as if to hold on and steady me.

“A room down the hall, but be warned Noah. It's not… she’s not in the best state.”

The warning is one I ignore, already half way through the door before heading down the hallway, questioning a nurse I pass on the way and following her direction.

I come to a stop as I reach the door, peering in at her through the glass before taking a step inside. I don't know what I'd anticipated seeing; perhaps the sight of her hooked up to a monitor and a machine or two, but there were tubes and wires everywhere.

Steadily approaching the bed, my fingers ghost along the blanket which lays over her before meeting her fingers. They’re warm but there’s no movement. There’s nothing. She looks as if she's sleeping and peaceful enough that I could be convinced she’s an angel.

From behind me I hear footsteps and when I turn my head I catch Nick standing in the doorway, his lip between his teeth as his brow furrows in worry.

There's a tightness in my throat as I go to speak and  I attempt to hold back the emotion wishing to push free.

“What happened?” 

FLASHBACK

DAY OF NOAH'S DISAPPEARANCE

You've been down at the station all day answering question after question. They didn't hold you. You don't think you're a suspect, though they treat you like one.

You can't remember the things you were asked, or what you said, all you know of that you kept repeating yourself with the same four things; you weren't awake when he was yelling, it was too dark for you to even see anything, you don't know where the blood came from, you don't know anything.

You don't know anything.

Except you do, but don't know if what you know is even real. Your mind has been playing so many tricks on you these last few months that even now, nothing feels real. You feel as if you're living in a daze, everything around you is hazy except there's no lightness, only a heaviness in your body and a thickness to the air which makes it difficult to breathe.

"Are you sure you want to go back in there?" Nicholas asks you from the drivers seat.

"Yeah, bubba. We can grab some stuff for you if you want?" Folio chimes in from the back. 

Everyone had taken shifts throughout the day to wait for you to be released from questioning after making their own statements. Nicholas had been there all day waiting for you, while Folio had been the last to come out and told Matt and Jolly to head home.

You haven't answered. You sit silent, looking out the passengers side window up at the house. It feels daunting to enter, but you know that have to.

"You can stay at mine." The feel of Nicholas' hand on your knee pulls you back from the drain of thoughts you'd been circling, your head snapping in his direction.

"No." You finally answer, your voice is horse from all the crying you've been doing. You're out of tears now, you think. "I... I'll be fine." Your voice isn't assuring, not even to yourself. "I just really want to be alone right now."

From the corner of your eye you can see Folio attempting to reach for you and stop you as you open the passengers side door, before he retreats. You know he's just worried about you, but he doesn't protest your wish to go back to the house or to even be alone.

Nicholas doesn't even voice his own concerns about you being left to your own devices when in such a clear vulnerable state but you realize why when you hear another door opening and as you step out, you turn to see Nicholas has followed your lead in climbing from the car, offering the keys to Folio who's climbing into the driver's seat from the back.

"Nick."

"No. Noah wouldn't want you to be alone right now and I definitely don't want to leave you on your own."

Tears prickle at the corners of your sore eyes once more. You believed the well to have run dry, only to be proven wrong. You don't have it in you to argue and you nod, turning and allowing Nicholas to lead you up the pathway to your home.

Yours and Noah's home.

When you enter you almost expect him to be sat in the couch playing a video game, or over by his desk working on something new, or to come bounding out from the kitchen and greet you, but the house is empty.

It feels as empty as it looks. It feels cold and menacing, like a beast which has now gone to lay dormant after a feast. Because that's what happened, wasn't it?

You sound stupid to believe the house took Noah from you, but it did. You know what you saw. At least you think you do.

Nick's voice doesn't reach your ears as you walk towards the couch, picking up Noah's hoodie which lays over the back of it. You slip it on and it feels like a warm embrace from him. It still smells enough like him that it provides a slight comfort, as if he'd worn it earlier that day.

Exhaustion is quick to hit you the minute you crawl onto the couch and you curl yourself up as small as you can, cocooning yourself in the safety of Noah's hoodie.

You can't bear the thought of going upstairs, of going to your room and where it happened. You know that the police have no hand in cleaning up the aftermath of any incident. Not even one where there's a pool of blood staining the floor and splashes of it coating the walls.

You want to pretend that none of this is happening, that it isn't real and that you haven't just lost your best friend, your boyfriend, in the most inexplicable way.

You hear Nick in the kitchen, cooking or tidying up, you have no idea, but you choose to ignore his presence and close your eyes, until you realise that having him here is perhaps a slight comfort after all. With your eyes closed you can almost convince yourself that it's Noah and that he's not gone at all.

[starberry-cupcake]

I don't think I have a lot to update today because life got in the way of me reading as much as I wanted, but if I don't note things down, I'm gonna forget, so here we are. I'm not sure if I'll be able to update tomorrow, but I'll be back as soon as as I can, more for my own peace of mind than anything else.

previously, in harrowlicious the ninth:

this happened

also, I may have or may have not been slightly spoiled about a thing because people in my dash don't use the tags available to us mortals, so I'm gonna have to sprint if I see any semblance of skull make up in my dash

close the tab immediately

close my eyes and cover them for good measure

currently, chapters 12 & 13:

we are training how to...kill planets, I think

basically, I think we're killing a planet and killing the thing that comes out of it when it's killed

this is what the care bears taught me not to do when I was a kid

actually, I think they even made a new one in the new re-design thing specifically to make the point even clearer than in the 90s

this new one

that's the opposite of what these people are doing rn

so harrowbean is training with mercygirl on how to be environmentally unconscious

if I am understanding the dynamics correctly, you kill the planet and then you chase the planet's soul aka beast through the river and kill that too

if the ones they're escaping from are bigger than these, they must have fucked up massively with whatever they destroyed

when I started reading gideon, I thought the houses were like planet-coded

you know, nine houses and all that

the ninth is now a hypothetical mysterious ninth planet

but back when my astrology lesson was sailor moon

the ninth was pluto

and in that mindset, the ninth would be setsuna meiou, which checked out with some of the harrow aesthetics, I mean

a mix between these two looks???

I went on a tangent, anyway

I moved on from that idea later but, in any case, these people must have destroyed some fucking huge thing to make the mess they're in now

so, basically, in order to chase the planet's soul (which they call beast, but I think that's disrespectful), that's where the cavalier comes in

the slurped cav is meant to keep the lyctor running through that process, so that their body doesn't collapse

and it's meant to have their instincts kick in to do the final push and use the sword they were trained to use

if mayonnaise uncle had not done what he did, he would have probably been good at this part

but he was obliterated

by hubris

so, harrow cannot do this

WHICH IS GREAT

for us, at least, because it's more hope for the "gideon isn't gone" theory that keeps us together

I speak in plural, as if you didn't know exactly what's happening, but you get what I mean

in my mind, we're like this, waiting for gideon to come back

so augustine calls harrow "diet lyctor"

he should call her "lyctor lite"

mercygirl gives harrow crap for not being able to sustain herself due to her lack of cavalier-ness

augustine makes fun of her for her lack of cavalier-ness

and I'm here like...you guys are the ones who started this mess?????

it's not up to a teen to save you in a couple months from something you haven't been able to fix in 10k years????

maybe you deserve it????????

what is this, evangelion????

harrow, coming back from the training and planet killing

harrow visits yandere twin in her new designated room

yandere twin has a room with a lot of nudes

"life sized nudes in languorous attitudes, generally in oils, and all of the same two persons. They were enthusiastically executed. The duo posing held a variety of objects both likely and unlikely."

so...which lyctor ordered a ton of nsfw fanart of themselves and their cav or whatever????

I'm assuming it's a portrait of one of them and it's this kind of situation

yandere twin apparently likes the nudes, so they're staying there

harrow doesn't like them

I think it's A Lot tbh, but it's not my lyctor room, so I'm not telling her what to do

who has the room with the ceramics collection? because I call dibs on that

anyway, yandere twin is having a hard time with this too

both of them are having a hard time with doing it, not with the ethical or moral implications of what they're doing or why johnny john john is asking them to do these things

harrow can kill the stuff faster, but she can't be trusted to be able to stay alive after

harrow was never very good at not getting physically damaged at all times

yandere twin has a hard time making chad cooperate

who would have thought

imma assume it's a problem you might encounter when you slurped your cav against their will

which is what we think happened, idk, we found him stabbed in the back so

and also it's chad

chad complained about everything all the time

harrow tells her it's psychological

the mental health care plan of the lyctors looks like this

also, harrow suggests yandere twin to cut her new arm if it bothers her

I mean, that's one solution, I guess

it's a very harrow solution

yandere twin points out that harrow is the emperor's favorite

that sounds like a very bad thing tbh

she also asks harrow to make her own arm grow back again and harrow says no because she's not good at the fleshy bits

"the fleshy bits"sounds like something cursed that comes with cereal in a magnus archives episode

but you get the idea

we end the chapter with harrow appreciating yandere twin's company because, when she found her after she had stabbed not!dulcinea's corpse, she said "wish you'd taken off her arms"

I respect that too

again, no camilla yet

well, this wasn't as long or entertaining but I'll come back whenever I can...life needs to let me read this book

[brbsoulnomming]

Tell Me Sweet Little Lies Part 17

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | AO3

-----

Eddie wakes up with his face smooshed against Steve's bicep, which, honestly, is not a bad place to be. He lifts his head up a little, blinking bleary eyes, and sees they've both migrated towards the center of the bed. Steve's rolled over onto his stomach, face buried in his pillow. Eddie's still on his back, but he'd shifted a little, leaned in towards Steve, and they're pressed together all along their sides.

Steve moves, which Eddie is guessing what woke him up in the first place, and turns his head to look at him.

"Morning," Steve mumbles, all rough with sleep.

It's not the first time Eddie's heard him like that, yeah, but it is the first time that Eddie's been this close, that he's been touching this much of him, and it makes his brain shut off.

"Doesn't it hurt sleeping like that?" he says, like an insane person.

Steve huffs out a little laugh. "My back's all torn up too, man, it kind of hurts sleeping like anything."

Shit, right, Steve'd gotten dragged over the lake bed in the Upside Down. Eddie has a vague memory of red streaks like road rash all up his back before he'd put on his vest.

Eddie makes a noise, quietly distressed, mostly because he doesn't know what to say to that, and he gets to watch the way Steve's eyes go all soft up close.

"I've had worse," Steve says.

It makes Eddie snort. "You keep saying that, but it's not as reassuring as you seem to think it is. Will you at least let me take a look at it later?"

Steve smiles. "I look after you, you look after me?"

"Something like that." Eddie ducks his head. "Come on, I'm starving."

They take turns in the bathroom. Eddie borrows more of Steve's clothes - another pair of boxers, the same track pants and a dark gray sweatshirt this time. Steve abandons the attempt he'd done at jeans yesterday, opts for navy sweats and a green sweater.

This time, Eddie lets Steve help him downstairs, even gets set up in a chair at the kitchen table so he can watch him cook breakfast.

They're halfway through eating a massive stack of pancakes when the walkie flares to life, and a time is agreed on for everyone to come over.

Turns out Steve hadn't been kidding about an invasion.

There's everyone in their little Vecna fighting mission, of course, Robin and Dustin and Erica arriving in Nancy's station wagon with her. But a Surfer Boy pizza van comes up alongside of it, Max and Lucas and Mike Wheeler spilling out of it along with Jonathon Byers, a pair of kids that Eddie's going to guess are El and Will Byers, and a dude that Eddie's pretty sure he's never seen before.

He's Argyle, apparently, owner of the van and the guy who pointed out that Eddie was not a girl, Jonathan's best friend from California.

Also brand new to all of this, which makes Eddie toast him with his second mug of coffee, from where he's pretending he needs to lean against Steve for support to stand up but he's also mostly using him as a shield because both Dustin and Mike look like they're ready to tackle him any minute.

Someone must have updated the California crew on what went down in Hawkins, because no one asks Eddie why he's standing in Steve Harrington's kitchen wearing Steve Harrington's clothes.

Steve stops working as a deterrent for Dustin about two minutes after the introductions are done, and really, Eddie's kind of surprised it took him that long to come over and hug them both. He's reasonably gentle about it, at least, so Eddie guesses he can't complain much.

"Hey, buddy," Steve says, ruffling his hair. "We're still okay."

"Still alive and kicking," Eddie chimes in, slinging one arm around Dustin and giving into the hug.

Mike looks - sullen and uncertain, like he's not really sure of his place here and he's unhappy about it. For a moment, Eddie considers ignoring it until he absolutely has to do something about it, but, well. He's kind of ignoring a lot of things right now, and he really doesn't want them all to come back up at once.

So he stays in the kitchen as everyone else trickles out into the living room, plops down at the table and makes significant eye contact with Mike, raising one eyebrow. Sure enough, it works, and Mike stays behind.

He doesn't say anything, just drops down to sit at the kitchen table with him and looks mulish.

It reminds Eddie of himself, actually, and he wonders if this is how Uncle Wayne felt sitting across from him when he was fifteen. Shit, he owes that man so much. Eddie's still got some coffee left, though, and he can wait this out, taking slow, lingering sips.

"You weren't supposed to get involved with all of this," Mike says finally.

Eddie raises an eyebrow at him. "Yeah, well, Vecna disagreed with you."

Mike scowls. "You were supposed to be safe. Everything was supposed to be done, or I never would have-"

He cuts off, but Eddie knows exactly what he was going to say.

"Or you never would have left," he finishes for him.

"I wouldn't have!" Mike insists, looking up at him with a fire in his eyes. "Joyce left, and she took Will and El and Jonathan, and Nancy said she wouldn't have left us alone like that if the gate wasn't closed and we weren't safe. Once November passed and nothing happened, we thought we were good."

Eddie sets his cup on the table, the hand that isn't all splinted up running absently over his knee. "That's a lot to unpack right there, Wheeler."

Mike groans. "Whatever. The point is, people who get involved with this because of us die. And it wasn't supposed to be you."

"Aw. Almost sounds like you care," Eddie says, batting his eyelashes at Mike, who scowls harder at him. "Mike, none of this is your fault. I didn't get involved in this because of you, I got involved in this because Hawkins is a shithole and Vecna is a jackass who targeted a girl I knew. Being friends with you guys is the only thing that got me out of this, okay?"

Mike scoffs. "You mean Dustin and Lucas got you out of it."

Eddie raises his eyebrows at Mike, because really, is there jealousy happening here? "If we're going to be technical, Nancy was the one who figured out the Creel connection, and Robin was the one who figured out that music was the key, and Steve got to Max in time and-"

"Okay, okay," Mike grumbles. "I still should have been here."

Ah. Not jealousy - or at least not entirely jealousy. It's the paladin thing, being upset with himself for not being there when his friends needed him. "Mike," he says, pitching his voice a little gentler. "You can't be everywhere at once, you know that. When the party splits, you have to pick which group to go with, and from what it sounded like, you were right where you needed to be. El and Will needed their paladin, didn't they? And we had Steve."

The cloud over Mike's face had been lifting, and he even got a smile when Eddie said that El and Will needed him, but it drops back into a scowl when he mentions Steve.

"Steve's not a paladin," Mike retorts. "If anything, he's a barbarian."

That's not the point, Eddie knows it isn't, but he can't help but consider that, thinking about Steve bare chested with blood and grime all over him for probably a moment or two too long. "All right, yeah, I can see that," he admits. "But what gives, I thought you guys all thought Steve was a badass?"

Mike whips his head around, looking out the kitchen door, then slouches down in his chair. "That was before you knew him! I just didn't want you to like, pick a fight with him when he picked us up, because he's already had too many concussions."

Eddie raises an eyebrow. "Uh-huh. And how many of those concussions did he get saving you little assholes?"

Mike pulls a face that Eddie is going to assume means all of them. "That's not the point. I just - are you and he -"

Oh, shit. Somehow, Eddie had completely forgotten their shenanigans over the walkie yesterday morning. He fights the urge to fidget, and instead gives his best stoic, you'll never get it out of me face. "And what if we were?"

Mike slumps down even further. "You don't have to yell at me. Jonathan already got there, I'm not going to say it's gross. It's just - I was gone for like a week! You kept insisting that he was an asshole, and wouldn't believe Dustin and Lucas, and now you're staying with him?"

All right, well, when he puts it like that - Eddie scrubs a hand over his face. "Kind of hard to hate someone when you watch him rip up demobats and then he carries you out of the Upside Down."

Mike rolls his eyes, but he looks a little less like his world has been completely shaken. "Oh. Yeah, Steve does that. So you're not-"

"No," Eddie says, because he can't keep talking around it, and saying anything else would be a lie. There's a pit in his stomach that says no is technically a lie, too, because Eddie's pretty convinced that Steve is his soulmate, but he can't let that trip him up. "I mean, we're definitely friends now, but he's letting me stay here because I've got nowhere else to go."

"They told us," Mike says, his scowl back. "We'll figure something out. Nancy and Jonathan got Hawkins Lab to release a story about Barb, and all of Starcourt got covered up. We'll get your name cleared."

It's a great sentiment, but Eddie's not sure he can believe it at the moment. He clears his throat, nodding towards the living room. "You better get back out there."

Mike stands, though he pauses to look at him quizzically. "You're not coming?"

Eddie holds up his cup. "Just finishing my coffee, I'll be right out there."

Fuck, he knows as soon as he says it that it's a lie. He'll just have to hope that Steve is too busy with the gremlins to check what just got written on him.

Mike apparently doesn't believe him, either, because it's only a few minutes after he leaves that Robin comes into the kitchen.

"Your turn to check on the new guy?" he asks her.

She scoffs. "Awfully self absorbed of you, Eddie. Maybe I just came for leftover pancakes and coffee."

He raises an eyebrow at her.

"Okay, I mostly came for coffee," she relents, pouring herself a cup. "But also to check on you. Hey, though, bonus, you're not the newest guy anymore."

"Thank you, Argyle," Eddie mutters as Robin comes to sit next to him.

"So," Robin says, taking a long drink from her cup. "Are you going to give me something that's a reasonable approximation of the truth so I can not lie when I give a condensed report back to concerned parties, or are we just going to sit here for a while and make this awkward?"

He huffs out a little laugh. "I don't know, Buckley, I'm pretty awkward and you're definitely awkward, I don't think we have much of a shot of this not being awkward."

She smiles at him, wide and amused, but that doesn't stop her from taking another pointed sip of her coffee as she looks at him over the brim of her mug.

"How come I have to be the one who's always getting checked in on?" Eddie bitches. "I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one not doing okay."

"Because you are the new guy," Robin says, though not unkindly. "Everyone else has been through this enough that we kind of know how they're going to react, and what to look for that means things are getting worse. They did it with me, too, after Starcourt."

Eddie hadn't actually been upset, just a little ruffled by the fact that so many people are this concerned over his well being, but if he had been, that would have soothed it. "Steve told me a little about the aftermath of that, about the song you taught him."

Robin laughs a little. "There you go. I had Steve singing that for me just about every night for a while. That's mine - my brain gets itself all worked up with hypotheticals and possibilities, and things that could have happened but didn't will just start spilling out until I have a hard time sorting them all out from what actually did happen. Some of the others have gotten pretty good about knowing when to let me talk myself through it and when to cut me off and distract me."

It's shockingly vulnerable, especially for sitting in Steve Harrington's kitchen with a huge group of people just on the other side of an open doorway, and Eddie appreciates it more than he can say.

"I hyperventilate," he blurts out. "I get trapped in my head and I can't get words out. It gets worse at night and when I wake up, but Steve and Dustin have kind of figured out how to talk me down. I'm sure some new terrible way of not coping will probably come up, but that's me right now."

Robin nods, looking thoughtful. "Has Steve had a nightmare yet?"

"No," Eddie says. "I don't think so. He said he does better with one of us there, so we've been sleeping in the same room."

He isn't expecting it, but that makes Robin light up, looking at him - almost like Steve does, when Eddie did something for one of the kids, and Steve smiles so warm and open at him.

"Thank you," Robin says, toying with the handle on her mug. "My parents wouldn't let me stay over until they knew for sure I was okay, and I just - yeah, that's him. He goes into protect mode when he wakes up from a nightmare, and he needs someone there to tell him that we're all safe."

Eddie gives a little smile, trying not to give into the way his stomach does a stupid, lovesick little flutter at that. "Protective mode fits him so much better than that you're all so beneath my notice thing he did in high school."

Robin barks out a little laugh. "Right? I couldn't believe it when I actually met the real Steve and found out how dorky and sweet he was."

He lifts his mug to her in a toast, draining the rest of his coffee in one gulp. "I'll keep an eye on him for you until your parents relent," he promises, even though it feels a little disingenuous because he was planning on doing it anyway.

She shoots him a grateful smile. "It was a lot easier after Starcourt, probably because it was so new and my parents figured I'd just sneak out and be over here anyway. This time they said they'd come find me, so, you know."

So she didn't sneak out, because Eddie was here and no one can know that, and he feels a stabbing of guilt.

Robin continues before he can decide if he should say anything, though. "We came to a deal, I'm home for a week and then I can come over and stay with you guys until they start school back up again."

Fuck, okay, then. Well, no, mostly not fuck - he's kind of excited about it, actually, the idea of staying with both Steve and Robin for a while is stupidly appealing - but it means he's only got a few more days to suck it up and tell Steve he thinks they're soulmates, unless he wants to do it with Robin there. Which, actually, wouldn't be the worst thing -

"Wait, start school back up?" he asks, his mind skipping and catching on that.

She grimaces. "Yeah, with the earthquake and the school still being used as a shelter, the school year's on hold. They made sure to inform us we'll have to make the time up during summer, but, eh. Gives us more time to make sure you're graduating."

He must look a little blank, because she rolls her eyes at him.

"You're one of us now. If you think Nancy and I aren't going to make sure you're right there with us on graduation day, then, well, you've got a little more time to get your head out of your ass before the mandatory study sessions start."

Oh.

He shouldn't have finished the last of his coffee, because there's suddenly a lump in his throat that he can't quite swallow past.

There's a little bit of a commotion outside the kitchen, though, saving him from having to say anything.

"Robin!" Dustin shouts from the living room. "Is Steve lying?"

"Nice try, dingbat, you know I need more than that before giving up any of the goods!" she shouts back without hesitation.

"He says there's nothing the hospital could've done for him if he stayed and let us look after Eddie!"

Robin pauses, like she's doing a mental catalog of something, and Eddie clocks onto what it is at the same time as she calls, "Not lying! Not enough to count, anyway."

His stomach drops, and he feels like the floor goes with it.

"You and Steve are soulmates." Eddie's not sure why he says it. It's obvious, and he doesn't really want to hear it confirmed, but - he's an idiot, apparently.

"Yeah, we figured that out during Starcourt."

Eddie - needs to say something, he knows he does, because Robin's looking at him in that searching way again, like she's seeing too much of him. But what the fuck is he supposed to say? Robin's his friend, how is he supposed to tell her that he'd wanted her soulmate to be his so bad that he'd almost tested it a few times, that he still wants Steve to be his, that he's angry at her and Steve and himself and the goddamn world, even though he knows he's the only one to blame for thinking he could have this? He can't even bring himself to look at her, gaze dropping down.

"Wait, you didn't know? I thought the gremlins told you."

There's a moment of silence before he hears a sharp intake of breath, and he can't stop himself from wincing.

"Steve and I have two!" she blurts out in a whisper-shout.

His gaze snaps back up to her face, and she's staring at him wide-eyed and frantic.

"What?" he asks, feeling a little wide-eyed himself.

"Soulmates. Steve has two soulmates, and so do I."

Oh.

Oh.

"Oh," he breathes out, his eyes darting to look back at the doorway, where he can just see the back of Steve's head.

"Yup. A platonic," she says, emphasizing the word way more than is really necessary for Eddie to pick up on what she's implying. Steve hasn't found his platonic soulmate yet - it could be Eddie. "And a romantic. So, you know. If you wanted to do anything with that information. It's there."

Eddie swallows, finally looking back at her to see the way her eyes are brimming with nervous excitement. "And you're… you'd be okay with that?"

She rolls her eyes at him. "If anything, I'd be relieved. It'll be a hell of a lot easier to navigate if it's someone who's been through the Upside Down stuff. I like you, Eddie, don't go getting a big head or anything, but you're pretty great."

And that's soft and sincere enough that it actually does make his head feel a little bigger - or at least his cynical heart, anyway, because he likes her, too. He's never been jealous of her before - watching her and Steve together has always felt good, made him all gooey and fond even when he refuses to acknowledge it - and he doesn't want to be jealous of her now.

He can do this, he decides. Steve might already have a romantic soulmate, but Eddie'd already resigned himself to having a platonic soulmate more than once. He can do it, if it means having Steve.

"Cool," he says, and resists the urge to make a face at himself. "That's, uh, yeah. I'll keep that in mind."

She raises one eyebrow at him, and he groans, leaning over to plant his face on the kitchen table.

"Just leave me here," he implores her, his voice all muffled.

Robin laughs at him, though not meanly, and pats him on the head. "No," she says cheerfully. "Suck it up and take your next dose of meds and let's go into the living room."

He groans louder, but he does get up and shuffle over to down his meds, not looking at her as he sets the bottle back down. "You're pretty great, too," he admits.

She doesn't say anything in response to that, until he finally looks up to find her grinning at him.

"I know," she replies smugly. "Now come on, potential soulmate-in-law, your solitary brooding time is up."

Taglist (always happy to add more!): @vampireinthesun @koibug @estrellami-1 @mentalcyborg @allbimyself26 @questionablequeeries @the-s-is-silent @whimsicalwitchm @a-gae-af-racoon @tinyplanet95 @n0-1-important @velocitytimes2 @swimmingbirdrunningrock @newtstabber @jcmadgirl @roblingoblin285 @lexyvey @paperbackribs @goodolefashionedloverboi @evix-syne666 @raisedbylibrarians @stxrcrossed186 @nightmareglitter @greekgeek24 @starman-jpg @crazyhatlady86 @imfinereallyy @manda-panda-monium @deleataecount @prideandsensibility @chaoticvictorianspirit @maydillydally @disrespectedgoatman @scarlet-malfoy @i-less-than-three-you @hbyrde36 @hallucinatedjosten @dragonsandgayships @arepaconchocolate @g4ys0n @novelnovella @bisexualdisastersworld @ghostofyourvampiregf @scarletyeager @pettrichore @nerd-and-nervous @hiimlevi @queenie-ofthe-void @cinnamon-mushroomabomination

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Part 18

[thevindicativevordan]

Waid on Superboy, North on Krypto and new Supergirl ongoing!

Wish fraction didn't get nabbed by Batman though

Anonymous asked: New Supergirl series by Sophie Campbell. Thoughts ?

Jorge... how could you tease us like this? I thought you were free... I thought you were coming home...

Well at least this might finally attract attention back to DC's mainline. Absolute has been a huge success but the mainline has been cratering in sales and interest. Zdarsky's Batman run ended up being a dud, and DC needs their boy to do well in order to prop up the rest of the line. While the back half of King -> Tynion -> Zdarsky broke the Batman title's streak of runaway success, this should get Bruce back on his feet. Welcome news to see Fraction is pivoting away from the endless apocalypses that have defined the title since Morrison took over.

Meanwhile over in Metropolis:

Or rather Midvale since that's where Kara will be setting up shop. I know nothing about Sophie Campbell, never read anything she's written, but seeing her cite Pre-Crisis as a big influence is no surprise. Waid is running the show whether he gets the credit or not, of course any new Superbooks are going to be inline with his tastes. Course it's not entirely Pre-Crisis, her new suit is a more tasteful callback to her 2000s era look. Rooting for Campbell to do a good job, I'm nervous about her writing and drawing, a monthly schedule doesn't make that feasible for long but she apparently pulled it off on TMNT if I understand correctly. Streaky showing up in the promo art is a win, I've missed that rambunctious cat. Going to wait for reviews before jumping on board.

Moving on to Smallville:

We all agree that's Tom Welling right? Warms my cold, cynical zoomer heart to see that show continue to have an influence. Funny how much it's influenced Waid in particular, what with Birthright and now this. Such a dumb move to put Waid on Action for 12 weeks of filler that soured people towards him (namely me), only to then bring him back to write Clark the way he's always wanted to do. Waid's at his best when he can write the characters in the status quo he wants rather than trying to adapt to the present day, but don't fooled by his claim of "updating" Smallville. This is going to be pure Americana wank straight out of the Silver Age, Waid couldn't even stand to let Jor-El be anything less than perfect, he's not going to tackle the reality of American small towns. If we didn't have Aaron gleefully sharpening his knives to gut that exact fantasy in Absolute Superman that Waid wants to indulge in here I'd probably be more irritated. Outside of the Legion (whom I badly hope show up here), I'm not a fan of Clark being Superboy in Smallville, but I'll check this out. It's offering something different from Williamson, Aaron, and Slott, and I am curious to see what Waid does.

Side note: Now I'm worried that since Bleeding Cool correctly predicted the Batman relaunch that means that the main Superman book is getting relaunched too. And if Taylor isn't taking over Action... oh Lord please spare me from this agony I sense waiting around the corner. I've been telling myself that was just Rich hearing about a new Superman book launching, namely Slott's, and thinking that was the main book but I'm worried. I'd still have Aaron and PKJ if all else failed but I dread the idea of Taylor getting the main book and a high profile relaunch to coincide with the movie.

Finally there's this furball:

Ryan North? Sold! Loved his F4, really regretted having to drop it for budget reasons. I'm not missing this, he's going to break our hearts I can tell.

[stu-dyingstudent]

third war continued/Sakura sent to war prematurely fic recs

Okay, I'll be completely honest, this is one of my ultimate favourite tropes when it comes to Sakura-centric fanfiction! Unfortunately, there really isn't too many of these out there and most are not completed, so if you know of any more then please send them my way. I'm begging.

Started: 2024.07.23

Last Updated: 2024.12.14

note: feel free to check out my master list which has a bunch of Sakura Haruno fic recs (all organized)!

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Your Move, Instigator (draw your weapon and hold your tongue) - Laysan_albatross || ao3|| third war extended AU || complete

“We are still under wartime policy,” the recruiter had told her parents. He had an envelope in his hand. He sounded sorry. “She has two parents who are successful ninjas. We would be remiss to overlook her potential based upon that alone.” The Third Shinobi War never ended. Konoha needs more soldiers, grabbing anyone who can fight, especially those who can't say no.

You guys, I love this one to death. It's definitely a darker take on the Naruto universe, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The civilian born shinobi are deemed as more expendable and thus thrown into war while the clan born remain sheltered. I found it quite interesting that the Uchiha were also lobbed into this group, but it was more done as punishment instead. Very raw and properly gets across the devastation that this brings.

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still waters by Vulpecula_et_Anser || ao3 || gen || M || Sakura sent to war early AU || one-shot complete

Sakura is twelve when she queues up in front a desk with a bunch of other equally-terrified looking shinobi. The ages range from younger than her to old enough to be her grandpa. The man sitting at the desk is stony-faced as he doles out assignments. Sakura obediently shuffles forward when it is her turn, and recites her shinobi identification number in a shaky voice when asked. When the provost marshal looks at her, looks down at his paper, looks back at her, and grimaces, Sakura knows it’s not going to be good. OR How Sakura survives the war, told in bits and pieces.

Canon-fodder! Sakura makes her shinobi debut on the front lines, forcing her to get creative in her means to survive. It's gritty, raw, and the clever use of seals is great! In most of the other works of this type, Sakura is placed on a team of sorts or has some "support" (kinda), but here she is all alone. She is forced to fight for her life, to keep going despite how she feels because ultimately, Sakura does not want to die. She does meet some people later on though and it was great to see. Y'all know this type of story is my personal guilty pleasure (also one of the best I've read thus far)...

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Find Your Place (whatever it takes) - Dovey || ao3 || third war extended AU || incomplete

The war lasts longer than in canon, and has only just ended. While most of the 'Konoha 12' are clan heirs and thus protected from having to go to war prematurely, Sakura is from a civilian family, with naturally advanced chakra control, and thus is thrown immediately onto the frontlines. Now she's on a genin team in peacetime, and she's struggling to figure out how to live when she's not constantly at risk of dying. Team seven bonds in new weird ways, The Uchiha are actually all dead except for Sasuke (including war-hero itachi) who's got a chip on his shoulder the size of Konoha, Naruto isn't the kyuubi container and he finds Sakura kinda scary. Sakura would just like to have a hobby.

Find Your Place (whatever it takes) is the og fic of this category as far as I am aware. The main difference to consider is that it primarily focuses on the aftereffects of the war and the impact that it had on Sakura as a person.

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team. - waterpllar || ao3 || gen || third war extended AU || complete

She’s under Neji's command, which apparently means she’s under the Hyuuga’s command. The Hyuuga’s role is on the frontlines, but Neji must be special for a kid from the branch family, because they mostly send him and Sakura out after the big battles are done, to pick off the wounded, and burn bodies. Sakura kind of wishes she had someone to keep her from the big fights, too. Her job is with Neji, taking back kekkei genkai and retrieving important people’s bodies, but she has other assignments, too. She’s given a dull kunai and told to go through the battlefield, dodging blows and jutsus from friend and foe, slashing at whatever isn’t wearing a Konoha headband.(the third shinobi war doesn't end, dragging on for years. konoha is running out of troops, and unimportant children in the academy with even a modicum of talent are snatched up to the warfront. sakura, unfortunately, is one of them. so is neji.)

Such a strong beginning, although, I gotta say that the ending was rather disappointing imo. There was so much potential, but the author admitted to not wanting to continue the story so it was cut short. Hopefully more works of this nature will come to light!

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Induction - Anonymous || ao3 || M || gen || third war extended AU || incomplete

in·duc·tion /inˈdəkSH(ə)n/ noun: induction 1. the action or process of inducting someone to a position or organization. enlistment into military service.   or; The Third War does not end soon enough. Children pay the price.

Definitely not my favorite take on this trope, but it fits the bill, so it's here! Anyway, tbh I never actually made it far enough reading to get to the actual war part, so I don't have too much to say.

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Ground Zero - TheIzzatron || ao3 || gen || T || third war extended AU || incomplete

Desperate times call for desperate measures. If this means forcing weapons into the hands of children, then so be it.

AHHHHH I'm praying for the day we get another chapter of Ground Zero!! I really appreciate how we actually get a training arc where we get a base of the characters and how this system works before they properly get dispatched. The characters and their emotions are so well done that you truly feel how unfair the situation is. They aren't heartless, they are children. Highly recommend.

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Control - Dragonist || ao3 || gen || no rating || Sakura sent to war early AU || incomplete

Kumo kidnaps a child of Konoha. Sakura graduates from the academy only a year after starting it. There's a war going on, and she's obedient enough to stay quiet and follow orders. Then the war ends, and it's unclear who is really giving them. (a mystery from a child's perspective)

I haven't read Control yet, but I really need to get around to it!

Ok I just noticed I forgot to add the link to this one, but that has been fixed!!

Edit: it seems the author deleted it 😭

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The War ate me and spat me back out - Faircrown || ao3 || gen || E || third war extended AU || one-shot complete

She was a child for a whole six years of her life before being forced to graduate early on and thrown into the war.

Sakura graduates early and is sent to war. On all of her placements she has been one of the only survivors to come out.

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your war heroes (are my war criminals) - silentpoints || ao3 || gen || E || third war extended AU || incomplete

A girl who was supposed to die young survives to see adulthood, and thus the Third Shinobi World War rages onwards with the odds stacked against Konoha.  Sakura, on the other hand, is one of the many children placed in the Academy's new "Accelerated Program" under the reign of the Yondaime Hokage, who is a man that cannot possibly be human—and she grows up to be really fucking angry, waging her own war against Namikaze Minato.

The fic isn't quite long enough for the story to have properly gotten going. Therefore, I don't really have any comments.

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The spines of trees we take for dead - FacelesssMoon || ao3 || gen || T || Sakura sent to war early AU || one-shot complete

Haruno Sakura is not special. A war goes on. She does not feel special. They tell her she is. She likes to lie.

Sakura it sent to war at a young age with the justification that she is "special." It is there she meets Minato and Kakashi and chooses to stick by their sides. Pretty short if you want something quick.

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Under All Anger is Fear - SheepiBoPeepi || ao3 || T || gen || Sakura sent to war early AU || ongoing

Sakura has always known that she's broken, unlike all the other kids. Emotions? They don't come naturally. Blood, pain, and loss don’t shake her. But the war breaks her in ways she didn't think possible.

Assigned to Team Four with Neji and Sai, Sakura faces more than just the external battles of the world. Sakura’s journey is a haunting exploration of what it means to be human — even if she isn’t sure she is one.

This is a story of survival, struggle, and self-discovery, where the hardest battles are fought within.

Basically, Sakura is kinda a weirdo to the point her parents feel it's the best decision to send her to the academy lmao. Anyway, she ends up being conscripted into the war where she later forms a team with Neji and Sai. It's actually really heartfelt to see how the three of them grow to cherish and rely on each other. The dynamic is truly great because they do not get along at first. With Neji as their captain he's stuck trying to deal with the bickering Sai and Sakura. It really makes them feel their age. It's also interesting to see how their growing reputations within the camp affects each of the characters. Definitely try this one out!

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Please send me more like these!!!!

[esther-lu-writes]

A Mile Past Glade Hollow

Journal Excerpt~ 1.7k words

TW: Discussion of struggles with anxiety and dissociation

Late Feb, 2025

My therapist is losing patience with me. He wanted to know if I’ve been adhering to his journal prompts (no) and if I would be willing to share what I have been writing (also no). I’ve also refused to discuss the underlying feelings around my resistance to share or cooperate. He believes my fear of “letting someone in” is mirrored by my so-called agoraphobia. I told him I leave the mill almost every day… he said walking alone in the woods doesn’t count, in terms of countering my social anxiety. 

Apparently it’s all connected- the anxiety, how I disassociate, my maladaptive daydreams. I’m sure that’s true. I just don’t have it in me to open up. I honestly thought moving back to Glade Hollow would help… getting out of the city, working from home at my own pace. It’s actually getting worse. I don’t want to tell anyone, but so-called easy things are getting harder. For example, I’m having a hard time leaving to go to the store. There’s enough to eat but I don’t have anything that’s fresh. I’ll get ready to go but then I get stuck in my mind. I start pacing, daydreams filtering in and out. Before I know it, an hour’s passed… then it’s dark… then it’s too late.

The shrink insists using his journal prompts will help. Okay… here’s a prompt. "Recall a recent situation when you felt overwhelmed by anxiety. What thoughts and emotions accompanied that feeling?"

I’m feeling anxious about buying fucking groceries! It’s ridiculous and it makes me feel pathetic! I have enough money, the store is right down the road… but guess what? I don’t like to drive anymore! Do I know how to? Yup! Can’t stand the idea of going out to the jeep and cranking it up. The battery might even be dead. It makes me angry. It means I’m eating jerky and canned beans for dinner… and probably breakfast too.

These prompts don’t help. They just make me upset. If I get too worked up, I’ll disassociate. Then I start to lose time… then I can’t remember what I’m doing. What helps? I know what helps. And no, I don’t like talking about it with people. I should probably try to talk about it. I know I need to find a way to open up. I don’t want to start all over again with another therapist, but I’m pretty sure this guy is going to drop me. I don’t blame him… I’ve been a complete ass to him. 

On a more positive note, Shay and Ravi are coming home tomorrow! This is excellent news. It’s definitely the kick in the pants I need to go shopping. I can’t let them see me going on like this, especially Shay. If he gets wind that I’m regressing, he’s liable to go into full-blown nurse mode. I love him to pieces but he’s nothing short of a mother hen when it comes to my mental health. I have no idea what I’m going to say to Ravi. I know he gets updates from my therapist. I’m sure I’ll have a lecture coming. But that’s about a thousand times easier dealing with than what Shay will put me through. 

It was clear I needed support after the “incident.” I still don’t have any memory of what happened. I had been camped out at a writing retreat outside of Montreal. I remember feeling stressed out. This was before I had any official diagnosis but I was cognizant of my anxiety and starting to realize how intersected with my depression. And yeah, then something inside me just cracked… lights out. Somebody realized I was missing. There was a search party and I was found about 2 and half days later in the woods. It took me a while to come back from my dissociative state. Thankfully, the hospital was willing to release me into Ravi’s care. It’s not the first time I was thankful one of my dearest friends was a doctor.

Shay immediately insisted I move in with them until I got better. Somehow, I was allowed the autonomy to refuse. I just can’t relax in other people’s homes. That meant Shay moved in with me for no less than 12 weeks. Practically 3 months of regimented eating and exercise, being bussed to appointments, insisting I carry a cell phone at all times, accompanying me on all of my walks. I know I needed it. I had reached a point where I couldn’t care for myself. But my god, the fussing! 

Naturally, I resisted all of it. Shay is a sweetheart and overly patient with my bad moods. But even he had his limits. Thanks to our 30 year friendship, he knew exactly how to put me in my place. Usually that meant trapping me on the couch and showering me with playful tickles. Shay would encourage me to lighten up, knowing the sensations freed me from my mind, bringing me back to the present. Though I’m loath to admit it, it worked like a charm. 

Unfortunately, I wasn’t in the best state of mind and there would be times when I pushed him too far. My age-old stubborn streak, the unwillingness to entertain sound advice, the determination to create distance between myself and everyone else. I know I can be impossible. I suppose I should feel lucky that my closest friend is even more stubborn than me. However, I didn’t feel particularly lucky when I would inevitably cross the line. No, that would be fear that flooded my brain. 

At that point, no amount of bargaining would stave off his bear hug, pulling me into his broad chest. Pretty much everyone has the size advantage on me, including my husky friend. Despite my poor behavior, his voice was overly kind. “I’m sure you didn’t mean to say those hurtful things, did you?” 

Of course I didn’t. I was being reactive. I’m not used to sharing my space. I can’t stand all the extra attention. I don’t want to be cooked for and cared for. It makes me uncomfortable… I don’t like it!

“Really?” His Irish accent intimating that his care and attention were non-negotiable. “Well, let’s try to make you more comfortable then.”

I would be pulled into his lap, a brawny arm easily pinning both of mine behind my back. This was usually when I would regain my senses, highly motivated by self-preservation. It was way too late to backpedal. 

“Why do you sound so nervous? We’re just having a little conversation.” His free hand would start stroking my bare tricep, softly, slowly. His fingers would lazily dangle under my arm and gently flex against my skin. 

The tenderness was nothing short of criminal. When he wants to, Shay can make his touch excruciatingly soft, knowing full well what that does to me. Up and down, fingers gently spidering under my trapped arm, the threat that we had only just begun looming overhead. 

“You’re sorry? Don’t be… you were just being honest. It’s okay if you don’t want me to cook for you. We can just sit here and relax.” 

His hand pulled my tank up just enough so my sides were exposed. Shay worked with his hands. He was a brilliant mechanic and a talented potter. Hands that looked like they could bend steel had the touch of a jeweler. Large calloused fingers slowly kneaded my flesh, administering the most delicate of pinches, drawing meandering shapes before heading back up towards my armpit. 

I dug my heels in, trying to twist out of his arms. Wrong move. His big hand started squeezing my thigh, resulting in shrieking that I’m embarrassed to call my own. I could practically hear the smile in his voice, “No more wriggling. Sit still so we can talk this through.”

Clearly, this was personal. He paused to switch out his arms with the intention to work over my other side. I took the opportunity to reason with him, barely suppressing a whimper. “L-listen… I’m sorry! I know I’ve been acting like a jerk. P-please, no more!”

“No more of what? Could you be more specific?” His free hand started a new assault on my fresh side, just as slowly as before. The strongest hands I know barely grazing the surface of my arms, large fingers practically feathering my armpit. 

It was unbearable. My stomach was fluttering so hard it felt like I was free-falling. I remember pleading as best I could between bursts of giggles. His touch was too soft to drive me into full blown hysterics. It was just slow enough to create unceasing anticipation, an agonizing feedback loop of what was happening and knowing where he was going next. I was stuck in a giddy frenzy, unable to sink into the oblivion of pure tickle hell, hyper aware of how sensitive I was and my incoherent babbling. My only hope was gaining his pity.

Unfortunately, Shay had been putting up with my nonsense for days. My pleas fell on deaf ears. “What are you going on about? What’s too soft? You can’t take it? I have no idea what you’re trying to say. If you refuse to make pleasant conversation, maybe you can help me decide what to make for dinner.”

His hand drifted to my ribs, fiddling with each one, collectively caressing them, massaging them, carefully wiggling every single one before starting again. There went my grasp on the English language. I couldn’t even understand myself anymore. It was somewhere between useless begging, desperate laughing, pathetic mouth sounds and trying to articulate the first food item that popped into my head.

Shay finally paused, “Oh, you want potatoes? I could probably whip up a shepherd's pie. How does that sound to you?”

I gulped in air. He finally let go of my arms and made me turn to face him. I was both embarrassed by how badly I treated my friend earlier and my thorough defeat. “Y-y-yes, please! I’m s-sorry for b-before.”

“Oh, were you acting poorly earlier? I’m not sure I even noticed.”

I stared at the ground, feeling quite unworthy of his relentless friendship. “Thanks for t-taking such good care of me. Um, c-can I help with the food?”

Shay’s hazel eyes twinkled. I could tell I was forgiven. He touched his forehead to mine, his auburn curls framing both our faces. “No, you just stay out of my way… unless you want to have another conversation.”

[she-karev]

The Pregnant Resident (Andrew DeLuca x Alex Karev’s Sister Imagine)

Previous Chapter Here

Age Rating: 12+

Chapters: Two of Four

Fandom: Grey’s Anatomy

Ship: Andrew DeLuca x Amber Karev (Alex Karev’s Sister)

Canon Episode: Season 19 Episode 2

AN: Happy Fourth of July guys! I hope you have a good day and enjoy this chapter. The final two chapters will be posted tomorrow and Saturday.

Warning: Some smut in the end.

Summary: Amber works at the pit where she finds it difficult to do her job while pregnant but persists and gets annoyed by Yasuda who was sent to help her at Alex’s request. At lunch she and Andrew go to the on-call room to have a moment alone.

Words: 3118

September 12th, 2022

Amber moves her feet around as she stands due to how swollen they are but focuses on the patient in the bed with a bandaged ankle. She examined the injury and is about to diagnose it to the young lady.

“Okay the ultrasound shows no broken bones so it’s your standard sprained ankle.” Amber groans a bit putting her hand against her own back as it flares up.

The woman looks at her concerned, “Are you okay? You look ready to have a baby right here.”

Amber nods, “Yeah, I’m fine. Already your just gonna ice it for the next 12 hours, be on bed rest for the next week and take ibuprofen for the pain, I’ll write you a prescription and send it to the pharmacy of your choosing.”

Amber pulls her pen out of her front pocket, but it falls with a clatter to the floor beside the bed. The youngest Karev sighs knowing the task ahead of her and how much she hates it. She bends down to reach for the pen, but her giant belly makes it impossible for her to reach. The patient looks on not knowing what to do since her ankle is sprained. Amber stands back up with a sigh.

“Forget it the pen lives there now.”

“I got it.” Alex Karev bends down with ease and picks up the pen handing it to Amber who quickly writes the prescription, hands it to the patient and walks away with her brother next to her.

“You know that is exactly why I carry at least 10 pens with me, show off.”

Alex chuckles leaning against the nurse’s station with Amber who updates the chart, “Most people would say thank you.”

“When have I ever striked you as ‘most people’?”

“Never.”

“Exactly and what are you doing here? I don’t remember calling a peds consult.” Amber’s mind jumps to a theory, “Did my husband send you down here to spy on me?”  

“I wouldn’t dream of getting in the middle of a fight between you two.” Alex states flatly, “Altman has me here to observe Hunt while he does procedures.”

“I thought you had three surgeries for today?”

Alex groans, “I do but apparently watching Hunt while he suffers and Teddy smiling at it takes precedence. It’s either me or having the patients complain about the happy couple fighting again.”

“Lucky you.” Amber says sarcastically.

“Yeah, tell me about it.” Alex sees Amber stretch her neck clearly tired and in pain, “There’s this thing called maternity leave, you should look into it.”

Amber rolls her eyes, “There’s too many patients and not enough residents, I’ll take my leave in a couple of weeks.”

Alex nods but is still concerned for her, “Are you sure your okay?”

“I have to pee every five minutes; my breasts feel like their gonna explode with one poke and the baby only sleeps when her daddy reads one of my thrillers to her.” Amber coldly states before smiling and flipping her hair back like a model, “But I am glowing right?”

Alex grins, “Radiant. I’ll come back to check on you later.”

“Please don’t.” Amber orders before her brother leaves to observe Hunt.

Alex knocks outside the door of the exam room and sees Owen Hunt and Mika Yasuda helping a man on the bed while Teddy Altman is observing.

“Hey, I thought I was gonna observe him?”

“I’ll take you over Dr. Altman if that’s an option.” Owen bitterly states, causing Teddy to glare at him.

“Do I need to remind you why I'm here, Dr. Hunt?” Alex and Mika look uncomfortable from the ensuing fight.

Owen retorts back as he preps the ultrasound, “Well, it's been about 10 minutes since the last time, so, sure, knock yourself out.”

The patient Harold looks at all of them confused, “Are you all doctors?”

Owen addresses his wife, “Teddy, this is just an ultrasound.”

“So then it should go quick.” Teddy approaches the patient and his wife, “Hi, I'm Dr. Altman.”

Mika answers Harold’s question, “Yes, we are all doctors.”

“And you're all necessary?” He asks causing Alex to speak up.

“I’m not I gotta get back to the peds floor.”

“Sorry my wife wasted your time.” Owen says obviously to insult Teddy causing Alex to walk out of the room quickly.

Mika rushes to Alex after excusing herself from observing Dr. Hunt who is treating a patient while Altman observes and belittles him. She had enough of it as she looked for a way out and saw it when Alex walked in.

“Dr. Karev?”

Alex stops and looks at the young intern, “What is it Yasuda? Make it quick.”

“I can't work for Dr. Hunt because it means you're also working for Dr. Altman, which means you're working for velociraptors.” Mika elaborates to Alex’s annoyance, “They're vicious, can snap in an instant, but there is a mind-game component going on between those two that is so deep, it might destroy all of civilization.”

“You call that quick?”

“Can I be on your service instead of Dr. Hunt’s?” Mika pleads.

“No, I already have a resident.” Alex turns to leave when an idea goes off in his head that might be good for his sister who is clearly suffering in silence. He turns back to Yasuda, “You can’t be on my service, but you can be on my sisters, Amber DeLuca.” The intern looks hopeful, “You’ll be by her side and help her lessen her load by taking half her patients and going to her if you have questions.”

Mika sighs in relief, “Thank you so much sir.”

Alex presses his lips together knowing his sister too well, “Don’t thank me yet Yasuda. Go to the pit I’m sure the Hunt’s won’t notice if you’re missing.”

Yasuda runs straight to the pit where she finds Amber sitting behind the station working on charts on the desktop. She hurriedly approaches the pregnant resident already looking forward to working with her instead of Owen Hunt.

“Hi Dr. DeLuca, I’m Mika Yasuda the new intern here.”

“I know who you are.” Amber tells her blankly from her spot not bothering to look up, “What do you want? I’m busy in case you haven’t noticed.”

“I’ve been reassigned to your service.” Amber looks up with narrow eyes that intimidate Yasuda who clears her throat, “Your brother told me to help you in case you were struggling. Which I don’t think you are you seem very competent even at your state. Not that pregnant women are weak I think all pregnant women are strong and protective and glowing and-”

“Stop.” Amber orders and Mika closes her mouth obeying, “If I give you an assignment will you stop this rambling that is grossing out my baby?”

“Yes ma’am, I mean doctor.”

“Fine.” Amber holds up the almost empty Tum’s bottle, “I bought this on my way to work this morning, I need you to get me more antacids, so my chest doesn’t feel like it’s on fire and my stomach doesn’t feel so tied up.”

“I don’t think you’re supposed to take that many.” Amber glares at her causing Mika to gulp, “But what do I know? Antacids it is, anything else while I’m out?”

Amber thinks for a moment, “My lunch break is about to start, and the baby hates the cafeteria food. Go across the street to the Mexican food truck out front and get us chicken tacos, beef tacos and three meat tacos with lots of onions on the side.”

Mika looks alarmed, “I don’t think street meat is gonna help with the indigestion.”

Amber clasps her hands together and gives Yasuda a look that makes her take back her words, “Lots of onions got it.”

Yasude moves to exit the pit as Amber yells out, “And a ginger ale!”

“Got it!” Amber exhales content in her chair and sees a nurse giving her a look that pisses the pregnant woman off.

“What?” The nurse looks away when being called out, “Yeah that’s right lady no fetus, no opinion.”

Lunch

Andrew watches in shock as his wife chugs her ginger ale with a plate that once had three tacos empty after just five minutes of them sitting down. Amber soundly gulps her drink not noticing Andrew’s face in their two-person table in the corner of the cafeteria. After finishing the soda Amber loudly exhales content and full.

She sees the wide eyes on Andrew’s face, “What?”

“You just devoured an entire plate of tacos in less than five minutes. I don’t if I should be impressed or scared.”

“Hey when your baby wants street meat she demands street meat.” Amber reaches over and picks out a French fry from Andrew’s tray and eats it, “At least there’s one good side to having an overbearing brother who assigns an intern just to babysit you. Maybe I can get Yasuda to set up the nursery next.”

Andrew grins amused, “How’s the new job going?”

“Oh, so good I’ve already got them peeing in their scrubs.”

“I bet. How’s the baby?”

Amber sighs rubbing her pregnant belly, “She’s fine, she’s having a great nap while I treat patients who are more concerned about me going into labor in front of them than being treated for their injuries.”

“Can you blame them? The scrubs don’t exactly hide it.”

Amber grins at that, “So I heard that one of the college roommates are patient zero for an unknown illness. Are you working that case?”

“Yeah, I’m trying to go over similar cases over the years and sent Dr. Riley a list of the symptoms and pictures while the interns get deep into the books. I mean I have seen strange things in this hospital but septic shock due to bad rice is something new.”

“It makes me wish I was assigned to the OR instead.” Amber wipes her mouth with a napkin before deciding to change the subject, “Okay let’s get to the on-call room while we’re still on our break so we can have sex.”

Andrew is taken back by the sudden change and looks at Amber with wide eyes, “Where did that come from? I’m not complaining but that was a lightning-fast change from how you were five seconds ago.”

Amber shrugs, “The stupid hormones change my mood by the minute. One minute I’m hungry and the next I’m horny, it’s best to just ride it out before it passes.” Amber stands up, “You coming?”

Andrew eagerly nods, “Yeah absolutely yes.”

Amber walks away as Andrew takes a big bite of his sandwich before following her to the nearest on-call room where she shuts the door before turning to her husband and pulling him in for a kiss. Andrew holds Amber’s hips as he kisses her while her gorging belly stands between them, but it doesn’t stop them from going at each other like animals in heat.

Andrew moans against Amber’s mouth as her hands snake under his scrub top grazing his torso, “God I love the stupid hormones.”

Amber pulls back with a smile, “That makes one of us.” Amber resumes kissing him before taking his scrub top off exposing his rippled physique to her that she explores with her hands while kissing him deeply. She then pushes him to lie back in the single bed where he smiles in lust as she climbs up on top of him.

Andrew handles her very carefully holding her hips as she kisses him while straddling him. Their tongues overlap each other while Amber’s hands travel from his face to his neck and gradually trail down his torso causing him to moan at her gentle hands brushing against his skin. She finally reaches his bottoms ready to untie them when a knock on the door causing them to groan at the interruption and break apart.

Mika Yasuda’s voice is heard outside the door, “Dr. DeLuca I need you to come with me so you can observe Dr. Hunt while he diagnoses Mr. Peters while I observe him diagnosing him. Can you come out?”

Amber frowns at the annoying intern and faces her husband who looks pained by the bad timing, “Ignore her, she’ll go away.” Amber whispers to him.

“I was thinking the same thing.” Andrew whispers back before pulling her back toward him to kiss her and moans more softly as she unties his scrub bottom waist string. He is about to help her take them off when another knock interrupts them and another voice is heard.

“DeLuca, I know you’re in there Yasuda saw you go in two minutes ago.” The couple register it as Owen Hunt who sounds annoyed, “I hate to do this to you, but I need someone aside from my wife to interfere in my work and you annoy me less so come on out!”

“I am gonna kill him!” Amber says frustrated before getting off him so she can handle the intrusions.

Andrew tries to call her off to no avail, “No Amber wait.”

Amber ignores him and opens the door wide open causing Hunt and Yasuda to look on in shock at who answered the door and DeLuca on the bed shirtless sitting up on his elbows clearly embarrassed.

Amber ignores the stares and gets to the point, “No Hunt, Dr. DeLuca cannot observe you while you do subpar procedures because he is busy trying to give his pregnant wife an orgasm. So go find Altman, suck it up and stop bothering us or your gonna have another angry blonde to deal with during work, got it?!” She slams the door in their faces before they even answer, and she turns to face her husband who looks at her frightened and slightly turned on.

Amber exhales before calming down and asking her husband, “Where were we?”

Andrew pops his mouth, “I think you were about to take off my pants.”

“Right thanks for the reminder.” Amber resumes kissing her husband as she straddles him while he gently holds her above him.

Thirty Minutes Later

Simone Griffith stands outside the on-call room waiting for the door to open so she can use the room to sleep. She rolls her eyes at the couple in there who are clearly using the room for private time evident by the male and female moans coming from the other side as well as the thumping.

Lucas Adams and Benson Kwan walk up to her also looking for some rest but the sight of her outside makes Blue groan.

“Don’t tell me.”

“It’s locked.” Simone answers.

Lucas looks up at the ceiling, “Well are they sleeping or…?” The sounds of Amber and Andrew moaning inside answer his question, “Do people ever just sleep in there?”

“After maybe.” Simone sighs.

“Who’s in there anyway?” Kwan asks.

“The DeLuca’s.” Kwan looks confused causing Simone to explain, “The pregnant Dr. DeLuca is married to guy Dr. DeLuca.”

Kwan looks perplexed at another married couple in the hospital, “I know we don’t have lives outside this hospital but so far I’m wondering if there’s a wedding chapel for the doctors here based on how many of them are married to each other.”

“And how many rooms they occupy.” Simone bitterly says before giving up, “Forget it the chair inside the supply closet is comfortable. Let’s go before she catches us and makes us do scut until she gives birth.” The three of them walk away from the outside of the door.

Later

Amber stretches her neck in satisfaction as she sits up under the covers in her black tank top while Andrew jumps off the bed in his underwear and pulls up his navy scrub bottoms. Despite their recent powwow both spouses are ready to head back to work.

Andrew smiles at his good fortune today as he pulls up his pants, “Have I mentioned how much I love the hormones?”

Amber grabs her scrub top from the floor still sitting on the single bed, “You mentioned it and I secretly lashed out at you for it because you’re not the one growing a person inside your body and feeling more disgusting by the minute.”

Andrew grins at that, “You look beautiful. We wouldn’t have done what we just did if I didn’t find you as sexy as I did six months ago.”

“Six months ago, I could still see my feet.” Amber reminds him as she puts her top on and grabs her bottoms from the bed while her husband sits next to her holding his scrub top. He looks at her concerned knowing despite her bravado she’s tired.

“You know I can get Qadri to take over the pit while you rest. I’m sure you need it after the marathon we just did.”

Amber pulls her bottom on and raises an eyebrow at her overbearing husband, “You’re not looking to rest either.”

“Yes, but I’m the only one in this room who can see my feet.” Andrew teases causing Amber to playfully smack his arm, “Seriously I’m sure Qadri and Parker wouldn’t mind giving you a few hours to nod off. It’s the perk of you being the chief resident.”

Amber pulls out a beef jerky stick from her bottoms and chomps off a piece chewing as she speaks, “Being the chief resident means you never take a break unless you want your interns to kill people and you get blamed for it. And with this class the odds of them causing an accidental overdose while I look away for five seconds are alarmingly high. You wouldn’t understand because you had me as a resident when you were the chief, and I was practically a god send.”

Andrew grins at that, “Well aside from you I had not so god sent residents to look after. It took everything in me not to drown myself in the paperwork or be sent to jail for murdering Schmitt.”

Amber slowly gets off the bed and stands up with a groan, “And now the baton has been passed down to me I gotta get back to the pit before Hunt and Altman use the patients as human shields for their next fight. And don’t worry I have Yasuda to help until she pisses me off and I send her home crying.”

Andrew sighs putting his top on as he stands in front of Amber, “Promise me you will call a resident to take over once you feel like passing out. Please.”

“I will now I have to go; I’ll see you at the pit.” Amber kisses her husband before waddling out of the room while her husband watches her in worry as she closes the door behind her.

Next Chapter Here

[cherryy-slushy]

Okay here me out, Yandereish reeader and JD where they are like really close and kind of flirty and then JD meets Veronica and Reader loses the absolute plot and you can choose what they do (but unhinged shit xo)-💃 (that’s my new emoji for requests 😜)

Omg I’m so here for this!!!

So I’m gonna let you, reader, choose a JD for this because I’m not sure which one the requester wanted 😘

(UPDATE: IM FUCKING STOKED! IM WRITING THIS LITTLE NOTE ON THE 25TH OF APRIL IM NOT SURE WHEN ITS GONNA BE FINISHED BUT WHILE IM WRITING THIS ITS LITERALLY LIKE 12 HOURS UNTIL IM GOING TO SEE HEATHERS IN DUBLIN ON THE 26TH! IM SO FUCKING STOKED!! WISH ME LUCK![if I get any photos with cast I’ll post them under the story but I’m scribbling my face out 😘 I don’t want any of my friends seeing this 👍)

I AM DAMAGED

*first person pov*

I’ve known Jason for a while now. We met in elementary and our dads are business partners. We basically spend every last second together. So when we found out we were moving again we weren’t too upset. I mean, yeah, I made friends. Jason however, not so much. I was sad to leave them but I’ll have JD with me.

*3rd person pov*

Y/N started to unload a moving truck outside her new house.

“Y/N? Where are you”, her dad shouted.

“Outside, dad!”, she shouted back.

“Ah, there you are. The Deans will be here shortly. I’ll give you a hand with those”, says her dad.

“Thanks, dad”, she smiled.

*time skip: 20 mins*

*knock knock*

Y/N goes to answer the door.

“That’s the Deans kiddo!”, her dad lightly shouts.

She opens the door and is greeted to Big Bud and Jason.

“Hi Y/N/N, your dad in?”, Bud says.

“Yep. Kitchen. Down the hall”, she says with a small grin.

Bud steps into the house and down the hall.

“Hey! Rory! How are ya?”, Bud says. It’s the last thing she hears before they close the door.

“Wanna small tour?”, Y/N turns to JD.

“I’m down, m’lady”, he says jokingly, bowing down to Y/N and sticking his hand out for her to grab.

“Why let’s go, kind sir”, she replies, grabbing his open hand and leading him into the house.

“Living room”, she says pointing into the room. “Hallway”, she walks up the stairs, JD trailing behind, still holding her hand. “Bathroom”, they walk towards another door. “My room, dads room and Thomas’ room”, she said, pointing to each door as they walk by.

Thomas is Y/Ns younger brother. He’s about 6 years younger. She’s 17, he’s 11.

“Here, follow me”, she smirks, grabbing his hand and pulling him to her bedroom.

“Look, window goes onto the kitchen roof. We should sneak out sometime”, she grins.

“I’m so down”, JD says with joking sternness.

“So”, she sighs plopping onto the bed. “First day of school tomorrow”

“Yep, dreading it. Westerburg high. I’ve heard some rumours”, he groaned.

“Oh yeah? Did you hear the one about the 2 dudes who are practically date rapists?”, she groans back.

“Nope. Heard about the heathers. 3 of them. All called heather. They’re, apparently, absolute bitches,” he complained.

“Yippee! Goodie gum drops”, she says with sarcastic excitement.

“Wanna ride in on the motorcycle?”, he asks, plopping down next to me.

“As long as you don’t kill me, sure”, she laughs.

They stay quite for a minute. Y/N turns to look at him. He’s already looking at her. She smiles awkwardly.

“Welp, i better go wake up Thomas”, she says while standing up.

“Oh yeah, I’ll come with ya”, Jason says following her.

Time skip (September 9th)

“GET UP KIDS”, Rory, Y/Ns dad yells.

“Ughhh”, Y/N groans while stretching to get up. “Fuck this shit I don’t wanna go to school”, she mumbles, dragging on the ‘ol’ at the end of ‘school’.

She starts to get dressed, brushes her hair, washes her face and brushes her teeth, and finally, gets breakfast.

“Someone seems happy to go to school”, Rory says, laughing at Y/N.

“Dont even start, dad. I’m already suicidal and I haven’t even gotten there yet”, she groans.

“Goodmorning!!”, Thomas says, skipping down the hall.

“Now, that, that’s excitement”, Y/N laughs grabbing her toast from the toaster.

Rory laughs. “Hey Tom, excited for your first day?”

“Hell yeah! I already met a boy who lives on this street whose in my class! He said I can hang out with him and his friends!”, he says excitedly.

“Time?”, Y/N asks.

“Quarter to eight, you better get heading”, Rory says, turning to look at Y/N.

“I will. When Jason gets here anyways. I’m going with him today”, She says, checking the window for JD.

“Alright, go wait in the living room”, Rory says.

She goes and sits in the living room and starts checking to make sure she has everything.

*Knock knock*

“JDS HERE! BYE DAD. BYE TOM. LOVE YOU BOTH”, Y/N yells, getting replies of “love you too” and “have a good day honey” in return.

“You ready to go?”, Jason asks, as Y/N opens the front door.

“Yep, let’s motor”, She says heading to the motorcycle.

She holds on to Jason’s torso as the fly through the little streets of Sherwood, until they arrive at the school.

“Come on, give me your hand”, JD says holding his hand out to Y/N.

She takes in a deep breath and takes Jason’s hand as they start to walk into the school.

She feels like everyone’s staring at her, but in reality, nobody is.

They go to the main office.

“Ah hello, you two must be Jason Dean and Y/N L/N, it’s lovely to meet you both”, the secretary looks down to their hands, “awh, are you two dating? That’s adorable”, she smiles.

“No, we’re just really close friends”, Jason laughed. Y/N laughed too.

“Awh what a shame, you would look lovely together. Anyways, your first class is the same. Both in Ms Flemings english”, she says while handing the pair their timetables.

They both mutter a ‘thanks’ and wish the secretary a good day and start to walk to class.

“She was funny”, Y/N says.

“Hah, yeah, she was”, Jason replies.

They walk into the class.

They’re early.

Ms Fleming is already there. Y/N and Jason introduce themselves.

“Ah! I’ve heard about new students! It’s so amazing to meet you two!”, she says happily.

‘She’s gonna be fun’, Y/N thinks.

“Sadly guys, there is a seating plan. So, you are gonna be away from each other. Jason you’ll be sitting here”, she says walking down to a seat near the middle in the 3rd row. “And Y/N you’ll be here”, she says walking to another seat a bit further back, in the 5th row, at the very edge, next to a window.

“Dont worry, I put you next to our best, nicest students. Jason, your next to Veronica, and Y/N your next to Jamie”, she says, clapping her hands together.

The bell goes off and in seconds the class starts to fill with students.

Y/N and Jason take their seats.

*Y/Ns first person POV*

After I sit down a boy takes the seat next to me.

That must be jamie

He looks at me weirdly, clearly trying to see if he’s seen me before.

“Hey”, he says.

“Oh, hi”, I say back returning a small smile.

“You new here?”, he asks.

“Yup, just came today”, I reply.

“Awh cool, you want me to help you around?”, he asks.

I completely forget about Jason and say: “yeah, that’ll be nice. I don’t really have anyone to help me around anyways”

“Ah! We’re gonna be best friends. I already know”, he smiles.

I smiled back.

He’s really nice

I look over towards Jason and see him talking to the girl next to him. That must be Veronica.

She’s really pretty….

WOW CALM DOWN Y/N HES YOUR BEST FRIEND HELLO?? YOU DO NOT HAVE A CRUSH ON JD STOP.

Jamie and I talk and laugh for a bit resulting in a few dirty flares from JD.

After class, Jamie and I walk out and I see Jason running up behind us.

I feel his arm wrap around me. “Hey”, he whispered into my ear. Wow.

“Oh, JD, hi! This is Jamie”, I said, smiling and pointing at Jamie.

“Hm”, Jason says, giving him that look.

“Well, hello to you too”, Jamie says with mock anger.

*time skip to lunch*

JD and I didn’t have the same classes after English. I had math with Jamie though, and Veronica was in my class. She kept glaring at me? It was very strange.

“Hey hey hey”, Jason says walking over to me. “Good first part of the day?”, he asked.

“Not to shabby. What about you?”

“The works”, he says.

“Hey, slushies after school today? On me”, he asks. “I’m down”, I reply, smiling.

“Hello Jason Dean”, I look up and see Veronica Sawyer smiling down at JD.

“Greetings and salutations”, He smirks.

I mentally cringed.

“I must say you’re very good in English”, she says sitting down next to him.

OKAY HELLO? WE WERE HAVING A CONVERSATION, BITCH.

“The extreme always seems to make an impression”, he somehow smirks even more.

“You busy after school”, she asks.

I want to shout at her saying he has plans with me. But I don’t.

“Nope, none”, he says.

What.

I sigh, not loud enough for him to hear.

I look around to see if I could go anywhere else. I see Jamie smiling at me, he sees i de him and waves me over.

Fuck it.

I get up and walk over to him. He’s with one other girl. She seems nice.

“Y/NNNN!”, Jamie yells.

“Hey”, I say, placing my bag down next to Jamie. “Y/N, this is Carrie, Carrie this is Y/N”, Jamie smiles.

“Hi, nice to meet you”, I say to Carrie. “Nice to meet you too! Welcome to Westerburg!”, she smiles.

I smile back at her.

I think this place is gonna change things..

[A/N] SO I POSTED THIS A MONTH AFTER HEATHERS… BUT I MET JACOB FOWLER, BILLY BOWMAN AND VERITY THOMPSON AHHHHHH

This will definitely have a part 2 btw! I needed to upload something so.. PART 1!!!

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

Hello fren :D. How are the baby kittens doing? Well, them and their moms (and that one uncle just chilling lol) also how are you? Have a good day! ( I hope you don't mind me always saying that lol, it's sort of a habit xD)

Hi! Sorry for the kitten update delay, it's been busy around here, especially since the baby babies are finally getting big enough to do, well, anything. xD

Maraly's kittens are two weeks old! They're getting so big and fluffy, they can hear and their eyes are all open now! They have started clumsily trying to play with each other, clean themselves, and toddle around. They're absolutely precious and they look like baby Ewoks.

^That is Gray, the firstborn and, apparently, first at everything! She (pretty sure it's a girl) was not only the first kitten born, but the first to open her eyes and (along with her sibling, Four) the first to start toddling! She also might be the first kitten to genuinely start to like me. xD

And this^ is one of the little black ones. All Maraly's babies are over 11 ounces now! Gray, as of today, was 12!

Leeli's babies are also doing well, though we've had to keep a closer eye on them. The littler ones sometimes struggle to gain weight with their three bigger, fightsy siblings! I've been taking away the three biggest ones when I weigh them and putting them on a blanket and/or heating pad outside Leeli's box (still in her pen, she can hear them and see them if she sits up) and letting the three smaller ones eat alone for a bit before putting the bigger three back to help them.

Leeli's babies have started to open their eyes too! This is one of the little ones, it's hard to tell them apart (sometimes the only way to do it is by their weight) but I think this is the runt!

^those three are from last week when Leeli's were littler, but they're so stinkin' cute I couldn't not include them. <3

Maraly and Leeli are doing well! They are very good, VERY attentive mamas! Maraly RUNS to check on either litter of babies if she hears them cry and has started the classic mama cat thing of snatching the baby back and carrying it to safety if she feels it's in distress. Which can be difficult when I'm weighing the babies. xD Leeli somehow looks better after giving birth to and feeding six kittens than she did on the streets, which is a testament to the care and love we've been giving her.

(skip next paragraph if you're sensitive to animal death)

Leeli did have a seventh kitten that was stillborn. It was not born alive, because it had never moved from the fetal position. Leeli took SUCH good care of it, not only had it been thoroughly cleaned, but my mom said that when she found it in the morning the kitten was tucked in with the others and it was warm. So it was simply not meant to make it.

*end skip*

OH and KALMAR! Kalmar is neutered now!!!! So he shall stay the sweetest, happiest little guy. He was traumatized by going to the vet for a few days, but he's recovered from that and he's back to being his happy, purry self. <3

Alright, well, that's enough for now, I think. Here's a picture of Leeli and her littles snuggling from the other night:

And I hope you have a good day too!

[dk-wren]

Buddy Daddies Headcanons (pt. 2)

Apologies for having to split this post into two parts, but this is how Tumblr works apparently. If you missed part 1, click here. Enjoy the remaining hcs!

8. While being one of Rei's main teachers/mentors growing up and when training, Satoru Kaji had a soft side that he would sometimes show to a young Rei. In certain ways, Satoru acted as more of a father figure to Rei than his actual father. On his 20th birthday, Satoru gifted Rei a knife and anklet band. Satoru explained to him that Rei should always be prepared and have a backup attack/weapon for his backup, and he hoped that this knife would be of use one day and save his life. It just so happens to be the one Rei used to fight him on top of the cargo hangar at the docks.

9. Somewhere in the Kurusu-Suwa-Unasaka household, there's a shadow box that was made after Miri's first Sports Day, filled with all sorts of mementos. It includes Miri's gold medal, the family photo Miss Anna took of the three of them, the scrap of paper that has "かずく" (family) written on it, and once she outgrows it, Miri's cap. After moving out of Rei's apartment, it sits on a shelf for some decoration in their temporary home. But once Kazuki, Rei, and Miri move into their new home above the Diner Nest, it begins to travel from Miri's room, to a hallway, and eventually down to the actual diner. Whenever a customer compliments or asks about the shadow box, Kazuki or Rei will break into a big smile and begin telling that person all about that day and how it truly solidified their relationship to each other as nothing less than "family."

10. At the beginning of the epilogue, the photo of Miri and Misaki is shown framed and sitting on Miri's desk. In that first year they spent all together, Rei and Kazuki never mentioned or showed Miri that photo. It's only after Miri leaves with Misaki (between ep. 10 and 11), that Kazuki brings it back out and puts it in a frame, reminding him and Rei of all the good times they had with Miri and how her returning to Misaki's care is for the best since she can grow up happy (and presumably away from danger). The framed photo is put away once Miri returns to living with Rei and Kazuki, and she is finally given it when they reveal the truth to her of Misaki's passing.

11. The first time Miri sneaks out of their house, she is immediately caught. Kazuki and Rei aren’t necessarily mad at her, just concerned about her safety (getting in and out, as well as while away) and why she needed to be secretive in the first place. Kazuki may or may not also have a slight panic attack that Miri has entered her rebellious phase. Just wanting to meet up with friends (after she’s supposed to be asleep or studying), Miri decides to enlist the help of Uncle Kyu to distract her papas and/or cover for her while she’s away. He does this by paying Rei and Kazuki a visit, calling them, giving Miri tips on how to make it look like she’s still in her room, and on the rare occasion, driving her to and from where she needs to go. While Uncle Kyu gets to be the “fun uncle” in these moments, he loves Miri and knows how much Kazuki and Rei care for her, so even if she doesn’t call on him to help out on one of her escapes, she promises to always text him updates as she leaves her place, meets up with people, and returns home. This goes on for a while before Kyutaro is caught by Kazuki and Rei as he is talking on the phone with them and they overhear Miri’s voice in the background as she gets in his car.

12. Even though they left the organization and that world behind, Kazuki and Rei know they should be on alert for any potential attacks for the foreseeable future. After moving to their new home, above their family diner, and Rei has grown accustomed to mainly using one arm to do stuff, he asks Kazuki if they could get up early one morning and practice sparring with each other. Understanding that it is a way for Rei to build/maintain his stamina, and still unsure if the organization has truly left them alone, Kazuki agrees. They grab some mats and push their couch and coffee table to the side, giving themselves plenty of space to move around. At first, Rei practices his punches and doing reps, then, he and Kazuki begin to spar. Kazuki tries to go easy at first, not wanting to hurt Rei, causing him to complain and tell Kazuki that he can handle it, even after Rei is beaten multiple times. After several more weeks or months of periodic training, Kazuki thinks he's about to pin Rei down again, but Rei surprises him and flips their positions. It's the first time Rei has won one of their fights and they both couldn't be prouder.

Bonus: (This is bonus because I personally consider it more of a musing than a headcanon)

What if the house that Kazuki, Rei, and Miri move into after the main events of Buddy Daddies but before the epilogue, and is featured in the 4th audio drama, was Kazuki's original place (or at least the one he was staying at in the 1st audio drama). Perhaps this wouldn't be the most logical since the organization likely knew where Kazuki lived, especially if Kazuki and Rei were concerned that the organization might eventually come after them. But it's just a thought since it's mentioned in both how much smaller of place Kazuki's apartment was compared to Rei's. I also like the idea of Kazuki finally being able bring his family into this space, somewhere he'd probably given up on that dream.

Kyutaro helped to secure the apartment, not going into too much detail with Kazuki and Rei about how it happened, simply telling them not to worry about it. In reality, Kyutaro quietly let it slip to the former residents that a member of the criminal underground lived there before them, but was forced to flee the apartment after a shoot out, and who knows if there are still people after them, looking for them, and thinking this apartment was still a hideout. Now frightened of what they might have fallen into by staying in this apartment, the residents packed and quickly sold the place. Rei and Kazuki eventually catch word of this and are a little unsure of how to respond. While not completely untrue, and appreciative of finding a new home fast, they both feel a little bad for the unintentional panic and fear they probably caused the former residents.

After settling in for the most part, their neighbors stop by to introduce themselves and welcome them to the building. They inform Kazuki and Rei about what they heard from the previous tenants before they left and to be careful. Both of them laugh and try to convince their neighbors that it is nothing to worry about. In reality, they both know exactly what happened, but are now a lot more prepared should anyone, from the organization or a common criminal, try to enter their home or harm any of them.

[not-sure-what-im-feeling]

alright so I was just goofing around and then I thought "man I want to make a tumblr dash simulator" so now here's what I think tumblr would be like if it existed in the ivory isle.

SPOILERS FOR THE IVORY ISLE! (even unwritten chapters!)

local-gay34 Follow

hey guys, so an update on the crush situation: we're gonna move in together! we're moving across the isle, and we're gonna get jobs as some local officers! i can't wait!

local-gay34

he snuck a criminal into our house and has been housing a fucking harpy for i don't even know how long

local-gay34

APPARENTLY THEY WERE DATING???

5 notes

#guys i really don't know what i'm gonna do #axel speaks #the crush situation #gay #HIS BOYFRIEND IS A FUCKING CRIMINAL HARPY WTFFFF

flowerboy Follow

Hey guys! Reminder that my boyfriend (@notahuman) doesn't want to talk about his curse here, but we'd be happy to have a conversation with anyone who really wants to know in this cave over here! Don't worry, we won't hurt you!

notahuman Follow

Babe, I love you, but you need to stop threatening people

flowerboy

But I'm not threatening them! I'm just offering a chance to have a little chit-chat in a definitely not foreboding cave ;D

notahuman

:(

54 notes

#boyfriend shenanigans

birdboy Follow

Oh gods apparently I'm a "criminal" in all six kingdoms but I'm fine

23 notes

#also my boyfriend's best friend might be trying to kill me but we ignore that #actually no i'm on the run now #this kinda sucks and my boyfriend i think is in jail

andre-the-guy Follow

Hey y'all! so I just got out of jail, thanks to my lovely boyfriend! I'm gonna be leaving the kingdoms, so catch y'all later!

local-gay34 Follow

Andre no! Come back please!

andre-the-guy

Uh yeah no thanks. I love you but like. You tried to kill my boyfriend.

12 notes

#sorry tumblr i typically try to keep drama off here but oh my gods #axel btw you're gonna get blocked if you interact again #drama

rene's-corner Follow

Reminder that if you bring someone back against their will, that's not necromancy that's just being a prick. Real necromancers respect the dead.

104 notes

#necromancy #necromancy etiquette #totally legal tips #this has been a psa

dead-girl-walking Follow

Y'all ever just forget you can breathe?

Edit: Guys I am Actually Dead

Edit 2: I'm not kidding. This isn't a bit. I fucking died.

Edit 3: I will get my necromancer friend @rene’s-corner to verify to if I need to.

Edit 4: I'm not a ghost. Gods, just read my pinned post

10,978 notes

#lmao i just remembered i can do that #apparently people are freaked out when people don't breathe i guess #dead #percy's talking from beyond

[femmeleatherface]

Spooky Movie Marathon 2024: Week 2

Day 6: The Black Cat (1934) - "suggested" by the Edgar Allan Poe short story of the same name (according to the credits, humorously)

Day 7: Encounter with the Unknown (1972)

Day 8: Bijo to Ekitai-ningen (AKA The H Man) (1958) - American cut, English dub

Day 9: Witchcraft (1964)

Day 10: The VelociPastor (2018)

Day 11: The House on Haunted Hill (1999) - remake of the 1959 film of the same name

Day 12: Mary Reilly (1996) - adaptation of the novel of the same name by Valerie Martin, which is itself a parallel novel to Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

oh boy, where do i even begin... i would love to include sub-bullets to be organized, but tumblr is terrible. so second bullet list i guess:

The Black Cat: was not expecting to love this as much as i did. i knew i would at least like it becaue it has béla lugosi and boris karloff in it, but i was not expecting the sheer brutality of the subject matter or the amazingness of lugosi's performace. going to have to move it above his performance as ygor in son of frankenstein as my favorite performance of his, because wow. also the cinematography oh my god... i only watched this because i needed a really short movie and remembered reading about it in a book on the impact of ww1 on horror films in the 20s and 30s and thougt it sounded interesting, and it REALLY delivered.

Encounter with the Unknown: a big disappointment... i only had this saved because it has rod serling's name attached to it, which honestly is probably how it's suckered a lot of people into watching it, so well played on the marketing people. the music and editing were so bad, which i do try to be more forgiving of in older/indie/directorial debut films, all three of which this movie is. but then the movie had the gall to spend the last ten minutes re-telling each fucking story all over again with the second non-serling narrator just yapping blandly like he was reading a textbook to me. if it had been serling he would have at least made it sound cool and poetic, but as is, i walked away from the movie feeling like it had wasted my time. but to end on a kind note, i really liked the middle story about the mysterious hole. it was sufficiently eerie, even though the music refused to shut up.

Bijo to Ekitai-ningen: i do always prefer and try to watch original cuts for things when i can, especially non-american films, and go for subs instead of dubs, but the version of this i had saved was the dubbed american cut. i looked it up and aparrently the original japanese cut had 9 extra minutes, primarily centering around the drug dealing subplot. i'll have to try and track it down sometime, but for what it was, the version i watched was fun. it was like a crime thriller version of the blob, which apparently came out very shortly after this? in so close a timeframe that it seems unlikely there was ripoffery involved. not sure what was up in 1958 to result in 2 movies about killer slime, but i'm here for it.

Witchcraft: surprisingly good considering i only had this saved because lon chaney, jr., was the top-billed actor and then he barely showed up in it. excellent black and white cinematography and well-executed spooky mood. in true lon chaney, jr., fashion, he constantly looks like a shivering wet dog of a man whenever he's onscreen, and i love it.

The VelociPastor: i love... aaaaa. this movie's humor is exactly the nonsense i go for so i had fun. i will not call it a perfect movie because i raise my eyebrow at the portrayal of china and the chinese a bit, but it was a movie i really enjoyed overall. the editing was also. impressively good. mesmerizing, even. definitely was not expecting that in a movie about a priest who turns into a dinosaur and eats catholic ninjas.

The House on Haunted Hill (1999): this movie is so much fun. it's in that vein of horror remakes like the 1988 blob movie where it updates the genre of the original film to the way it is contemporaneously. in the blob it was updating the film from a fifties teen movie to an eighties teen movie, and in the house on haunted hill it's updating a fifties midnight movie to a nineties one, complete with ballyhoo in both. this makes the 1999 house on haunted hill much more EXTREME! and EDGY!, in true nineties horror fashion, but it still feels like the same genre, just evolved with the times--which if you're going to remake something, is a smart way to do it. i think between the two i like the original better because it's a lot more unique that there's no actual ghosts and it's just two concurrent scooby doo masquerades for elaborate murder plots, and the cheap special effects are a lot more endearing and feel a lot more intentional considering the final plot twist. plus, vincent price is in it, and he's a tough act to beat. maybe if the 1999 movie had given jeffrey combs more scenes and let him combs it up a bit more that might tip the scales a bit, but weirdly enough this movie barely let jeffrey combs do anything, which is A CRIME.

Mary Reilly: i am. definitely not the target audience for this movie. strange case of dr. jekyll and mr. hyde is one of my favorite books and henry jekyll was my high school blorbo, so needless to say i am very pretentious about it and have very specific interpretations of jekyll as a character that i am unfortatenly very rigid in. i read mary reilly in high school during the peak of my strange case hyperfixation and really did not like it, so i was not expecting anything much from the movie and... yeahh.............. it does all the strange case adaptation tricks i despise, like making it a jack the ripper story and focusing all the themes of victorian repression on sexual repression (rather than. repression in general. brought about by years spent in a repressive culture and not suddenly meeting a hot young woman you want to fuck one day). strange case was published in 1886 and the ripper killings were in 1888, i promise every single person adapting the book that it is NOT about jack the ripper and can we please move onto other things oh my god. the closest connection the book has to the ripper killings is that there was a stageplay adaptation running during the time and the guy who played jekyll and hyde was so good there was a crack theory running around london for a while that he was secretly the ripper. that's it. and speaking of the guy who played jekyll and hyde... john malkovich is one of the worst jekyll and hydes i've ever seen. he did a good physical performance as hyde at first, being sufficiently creepy and menacing, but then he started talking and no. no, no. you also know your movie is in trouble when your hyde looks wayyyy too much like tommy wiseau. BLECH. also!!!!!!! the movie did not have mr. utterson in it and i am pettily mad about it!!!!!! but also utterson was presented as an absolute jerk in the mary reilly novel if i remember correctly, when in strange case he's an emotionally repressed (in fitting with the theme not being all about victorian prudishness)/awkward old dork who loves his friends and makes bad puns. so maybe it's for the best he was excluded from the movie (like he is from basically every single strange case adaptation ever despite literally being the main character in the book oh my god. this man is the vice president of forgotten fictional characters more important than hollywood thinks. the daroga in phantom of the opera is president). definitely not my movie or take on strange case, but i'll give it this: jekyll's cabinet looked really good! the sets in this movie were lovely all around and that one in particular was excellent. julia roberts was also very good and made me care about mary much more than the book ever did. so good for her.

by god that was a lot of text. anyway. until next week. i'm going to watch return to the house on haunted hill for sure, as well as something i know i'll like tonight to wash out the vitriol that mary reilly left me with. but we'll see how it goes. i like infusing randomnes and spontaneity into this marathon, it keeps things from getting boring.

rankings, ratings, and lists thus far:

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) (duh)

The VelociPastor (2018)

The House on Haunted Hill (1959)

The House on Haunted Hill (1999)

The Black Cat (1934)

Witchcraft (1964)

Lyle (2015)

White Settlers (2014)

Bijo to Ekitai-ningen (1958)

Prometheus (2012)

Mary Reilly (1996)

Encounter with the Unknown (1972)

congrats to mary reilly for not being at the bottom of the list. encounter with the unknown was unfortunately much more frustrating.

[starspatter]

Heroes and Thieves, Ch. 24

Title: Heroes and Thieves Fandom/Universe: BTAS, pre/post-RotJ flashback

Summary: A story about second chances, healing, and having hope.

Rating: PG-13, for references to character death, child psychological torture and trauma.

Genre: Romance/Family/Friendship/Hurt/Comfort

Word Count: 3,040 Previous Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23

Also on ff.net and AO3.

For the nights I won't make it through, I spend beside you, while holding onto your hand Telling me I will and I can, I pray every night that days like this will never end Painting colors vivid and bright I see every time I go ahead and close my eyes Just what should I do so everything remains the same?

-Kenshi Yonezu, "Eine Kleine"

————————–

Now.

Tim was bored.

The heat of midsummer had settled in, and things had gone back to… well, as “normal” as things could be for them, considering.  It had been a few months since Steph found out.  Since he’d said all those things to Bruce and walked away, never hearing from him since.  …Since he’d proposed.

Tim rolled over on the bed and buried his visage in a pillow in embarrassment, still hardly able to believe he let such a thing slip from his lips.  There was no taking it back now though, as Steph was keen on constantly reminding him in confidence, whenever they were alone.  …Still, they managed to keep up the appearance of “regular students” on the surface at least.  They – all four of them – made it through the rest of the semester, survived finals; even Steph and Conner successfully scraped by without requiring remedial lessons, thanks to intense tutoring combined with cramming in the last couple weeks.

The latter was now living with Cass in their own place, so that left Tim moving back to the loft by himself until fall.  Dick had warmly welcomed his brother back, saying his room was always available anytime he needed to crash, but Tim still couldn’t help but feel like he was intruding.  With little else to do to kill time during the dull season’s doldrums, he found most of his days were now spent looking (desperately) forward to a phone call or text message, inviting him to hang somewhere, or even simply just to talk.

…

He wanted to see Steph.

She had replied to him this morning though stating she was “busy” today, apologizing complete with cute emoticons.  …Or so he thought, but right at that moment his mobile buzzed again, and he greedily grabbed the device, scanning the screen for updates.  Apparently her plans had freed up for the afternoon, and she was wondering if he’d like to come over now.  Fist pumping, he fired back a rapid response, before dashing for the door – nearly bumping into his brother on the way out.

“Whoa, where are you off to in such a hurry?”

“Just over to Steph’s house.”

“…Ah.”  Dick regarded him with an odd look for an interval.

“Something wrong?”

“Nothing, it’s just…  I wanted to say…”  Dick massaged his neck, before sighing.  “Nevermind.  It can wait.  Go, have fun on your date.”

Tim cocked his head in mystification, but nevertheless acquiesced.

“Okay…  See ya.”

“See ya.”

He cast one more curious look back as he descended the steps, and Dick simply smiled and waved.  …It might have been his imagination though, but the other’s expression seemed just a tad strained.

…

When he arrived and rang the doorbell, Stephanie’s mother was the one who answered.  Tim shuffled in the entryway as he greeted nervously, still self-conscious around her presence.

“Ah… Hi, Mrs. Brown.  Steph called and asked me to come over.”

“Of course, dear.”  The woman beamed as she stepped aside to allow him in.  “It’s always nice to have you here.  She’s right this way, in the kitchen.”

She led him towards the unit, which was strangely dark for some reason.  As soon as he entered the room though, the lights suddenly switched on, and three voices (well, more like two shouts and one mental whisper) all cried out in unison:

“Surprise!”

Tim blinked as he took in the image of Steph, Conner, and Cass all crowded around the table, where a large cake was laid out, confetti and streamers simultaneously raining from the ceiling onto his shoulders.

“What’s… all this?”

Stephanie bounded up to him, brushing colorful strands off his hair before planting a peck on his forehead (since she was already standing on tiptoe).

“Silly, don’t you know what today is?  Don’t tell me you forgot.”

Tim ran hastily over a list of important dates in his mind, trying to figure out what she could possibly be referring to.  It couldn’t be something related to their relationship, could it?  They hadn’t even been officially “dating” a full year yet, and besides why were Cass and Conner here then…?  It had to be something personal, something specific…

…Then it struck him.

July 19th.

His Birthday.

“Conner told me when your Birthday is.  You’re not… mad, are you?”

She gripped his hand, a little worriedly – and he glanced towards Kon, who was also anxiously awaiting a reaction.  He grasped back in reassurance.

“No, I’m not mad.  Thank you, for doing all this for me.”

Relieved, she steered him to a seat and gestured eagerly towards the candles.

“Come on now, make a wish.”

Tim thought about it for a bit.  …There were a lot of things he might’ve wished for, once.  But, gazing around at the smiling faces of his friends – people who cared about him – accepted him despite everything…  He realized that the thing he had dreamed of most since then had already come true.

…

Later, as Stephanie was serving slices and chatting up a storm, she casually turned her concentration to Conner as well.

“By the way, when’s your Birthday?”

Both boys stiffened, eyeing each other and the single elder in the room surreptitiously.  Although the revelation of Tim’s past had made it easier for the others to come forward with their secrets, Steph’s mother was the only one not in the know now.  Still, Stephanie’s question stood sincerely.  As far as her mom was concerned, all three of her daughter’s college-mates just so happened to be orphans from a young age, and she would ensure they each received proper loving attention and care while in her home.

“I… don’t actually know.”

Conner admitted, poking at the frosting with his fork, and both hosts’ hearts broke a little bit.

“You mean you’ve never even had a Birthday party?”

She shot a sharp glare towards Tim, who shrank into his chair.  Sympathy for his “circumstances” had run out by this point it seemed – at least when it came to ignoring others’ needs as a result.

“It’s okay, really.”  Conner hurriedly leapt to his pal’s defense.  “It’s not a big deal.”

“It is a big deal.”  She clenched her fist determinedly.  “We’ll just need to pick a date to celebrate then.”

“March 21st.”

Cassandra spoke up softly all of a sudden.  All four stared at her in surprise.

“Eh?  But that’s already passed!”

Cass fixated firmly on Conner though, and so Steph nodded.

“March 21st it is then.  We’ll just have to have a belated celebration.”  She enthused with a grin, growing more and more excited as she already began scheming, rubbing her hands together gleefully.  “And make it a big one.”

…

After the festivities died down and Cass and Conner had politely taken their leave for the evening – in order to give the pair of “lovebirds” some privacy – Steph ironically had to search the house for said lover/Birthday Boy, who had somehow managed to disappear during the farewells.  Scratching her skull in puzzlement, an idea eventually occurred to her, and she headed up to her bedroom, waltzing over to the open window and poking her head out.

“There you are.  Thought I might find you up here.”

She exclaimed upon twisting around to spot a familiar shadow crouched overhead.

“Guess you can’t keep a Robin off the roofs after all,” he shrugged.

“Or him from ninja-vanishing all of a sudden,” she rolled her irises, climbing out to come join him.  “Didn’t know ‘hide-and-seek’ was on the games roster for entertainment tonight.”

“I wasn’t… hiding,” he sulked, scooching aside to provide her space.  “I was just… remembering something.”

She scanned his hunched form, reaching out for his hand as she gently laid a palm on top, imbricating digits like the tiles beneath.

“Sorry.  Was it too much?”

“No, it’s not that.  Everything was great.  I really appreciate it.  It’s just…”  He exhaled, examining the stars above, half-envisioning witnessing a bat-shaped silhouette against the moon’s bright backdrop.  “Getting to wear the suit – officially – and go out on patrol for the first time was the first Birthday present Bruce ever gave me.  …The best, most awesome gift in the world, I thought.”

Her spirit sank again as she squeezed his fingers, and he shared the grip.

“For the longest time,” he continued spitefully, “I hated the fact I was even born.  I never even wanted to think about it anymore.  I mean, why the hell did God – or whoever – put me on this earth, just to take everything I ever loved away from me?  Hurt everyone I’ve come in contact with?  First my mom, then Dad, then the very thing I had worked so hard to achieve…”

His gorge corked with a wounded choke, capping speech.  Vision lowering, he rotated slowly towards Steph, who was watching him with wide, wet pupils, overflowing with compassion and concern.  At length, he managed a comforting smile.

“But, for the first time since then – I’m glad I was born.  …Because I got to meet you.”

She beamed back, and flung her arms around him in an abrupt embrace, nearly knocking him off-balance just like a certain someone did all those years ago.

“Hey, careful!  Or we’ll both fall.”

“Please.  It’s not like we can fall any further than we already have, right?  That means things can only start looking up from now on.”  (…And besides, if they did fall, at least they’d fall together.)

Tim couldn’t help but chuckle mildly, reciprocating the gesture.

“Man, where do you get all that optimism from?”

“Definitely not my father,” she retorted, snorting.  “I only inherited his hair.”

She leaned those golden locks against his breast, closing her eyes as she listened to his heartrate, confirming that there was, indeed, a life still beating inside there.  A life she promised to treasure from now on, honor and protect no matter what – even if the rest of the world had forsaken it.  A life that deserved to live.  …And to love.

“By the way, that reminds me – I still haven’t given you your Birthday kiss yet.”

“Eh?”

She grinned, and clutched his T-shirt collar, pulling him down into a powerful, passionate kiss – nearly a minute long.  At first he seemed to awkwardly ache to avert away as usual, but after the first thirty seconds his brain just went totally blank as he stopped flailing and let her keep going, melting into her mouth.  She smirked inwardly in satisfaction, aware this could probably be considered more of an assau- er, “present” to herself; a “reward” for all her patience.  Knowing he’d never actually take this kind of forward initiative on his own unless she prompted him.

As they separated at last, Tim gaped at her in marvel, still reeling.

“Holy cow.”

“Some present?”

Perhaps she couldn’t compete with costumes and crimebusting, but she did take pride in being able to render him speechless at least.

“I, uh- wow.”

Stephanie giggled as she jabbed a teasing poke at his chest.

“Congrats, you’re a real man now.  Which means you’ll take responsibility, right?”

“Yeah…  Wait, what just happened?”

Steph could hardly suppress her snickers as it seemed her poor “prey” had lost all capacity for reason – in essence mentally regressing to a shutdown state, even though he was supposed to be a fully trained “detective”.  …Her laughter faded though as a vision of said “victim��� – mute and confused – crossed her consciousness, and a gnawing sense of guilt for letting her selfish impulse run rampant overtook her conscience instead.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to force you…  I’m not trying to put pressure on you or anything…”

Detecting her regret, Tim shook his head.

“No, no, it’s okay.  I don’t mind.  I… like that spontaneous side of you.  Besides,” he scratched his scruff sheepishly, recalling his own rash declaration of devotion, “…We’ve been doing this all out of order anyway.  And, to be honest, I’m kinda relieved you took the next step.  I know you’ve been trying to be considerate, but… You don’t always have to hold yourself back around me either.  I told you, I’m not a kid – so you don’t have to keep treating me like one.”

She relaxed as he clasped her wrist consolingly, standing up with a wink.

“Even so, I doubt my mother would approve of us staying up here and making out all night.  Come on then, Boy- sorry, Man Virgin, let’s get back inside.  Before Mom sees us together up here and throws a fit.”

…

When Tim returned to the loft, he could hear the T.V. on upstairs.  Checking his watch, he was rather impressed that his brother wasn’t already out at some bar right now.  Tiptoeing up to the higher level, Dick swiftly swiveled around upon perceiving his passage, shutting off the box before his lil bro could see.

“Oh hey, you’re back.  Didn’t hear you come in, you’re getting pretty good at that stealth thing again.  Have you been practicing?” he babbled, clicking his teeth in commendation, but seeming extremely tense for some reason.

A shrug.  “Just a bit, I guess.”

“So, uh, how was the party?”

Tim startled.  “You knew about it?”

“Conner called and told me beforehand,” he confessed, “just in case anything went… unexpected.”

It was then that Tim noted the number of alcohol canisters on the table…  Yet none of them seemed actually opened.  The keys to the cycle were also laid out beside them, and Dick’s eye flicked towards the target of Tim’s sight, attempting not-so-subtly to retrieve and replace them back in his pocket.

“…You could’ve come too, you know.”

“Nah, figured you’d probably want to spend it with your friends.  …I got you something though.”  He fished for a small, square package, thinly wrapped.  “I know you don’t usually like to celebrate, but I figured it’s as good an opportunity as any to give you this.  …Happy Birthday, Tim.”

Tim bewildered as Dick handed him the packet, and he tore it open cautiously to reveal a CD case – the very same one he had broken back in autumn.

“This is…  How did you find this?  I looked everywhere online to try and get you another, but they were all out of printed stock, and no one else was selling it – not even in digital format for download…  Plus, you should be the one to have this…”

“I have my resources,” Dick murmured mysteriously.  “Anyway, don’t even try to give it back to me.  Keep it, it’s yours.”

Tim swallowed, but gratefully received the gift.

“Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.  What are big brothers for?  Although…”  Dick’s tenor lessened a little.  “I guess you don’t really need me to look after you anymore.  I mean, you’re practically an adult now.  With a fiancé and everything.”

Tim blushed as his inescapable humiliation was once again brought up.  He was never going to live this one down, was he?

“Look, that was just something I blurted out in the heat of the moment.  You don’t… need to take it too seriously.”

“Are you kidding, you two are gonna make a great husband and wife couple.”  Grayson gleamed, goadingly nudging an elbow into rather conveniently located ribs.  “You’ll get married, move out, and have a bunch of adorable ickle egghead kiddies so their Unkie Dick can spoil them rotten.”

“Oh my God, stop.”

Tim’s complexion flushed a full tomato tone as he punched insistently at Dick’s shoulder.  The older male kept sniggering despite the pain though, and as revenge, Tim snatched the remote from the sofa.  Dick’s eye enlarged in alarm as he endeavored to wrest it back, but Tim triumphantly held it out of his range, possessing the current high ground advantage.

“So what were you watching before I came in anyway?  I bet it was something really dirty…”

He mused mockingly as he turned on the tube again, aiming to find out just what the guy had been hiding – figuring it was probably porn or some shit.

The footage that flickered on wasn’t what he anticipated though – it was an old, black and white film.  A young man and woman were singing together (horribly out-of-tune) amidst hydrangea bushes, the latter dressed in what appeared to be some kind of bathrobe.

“What is it you want, Mary?  What do you want?  You want the moon?  Just say the word and I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down.  Hey.  That's a pretty good idea.  I'll give you the moon, Mary.”

“…It’s a Wonderful Life?”  Tim raised an astonished eyebrow.  “In the middle of summer?”

“You’ve seen it?”

Dick rejoined, equally amazed.

“Bruce always made me watch it with him on Christmas.”

“…Did he really now.”

“Yeah.”

There was a beat of brief silence between them, as an old man on the monitor berated the boy for his woeful efforts at wooing.

“Why don't you kiss her instead of talking her to death?”

“Want me to kiss her, huh?”

“Ah, youth is wasted on the wrong people!”

Tim finally cleared his throat.

“…You mind if I join you?”

“You sure?”

Dick glimpsed uneasily at the monochrome motion picture.

“Yeah.  It’s fine.  …It’s a good flick.”

Tim came around the couch as Dick obligingly shifted over to offer a spot on the cushions.  He also picked up a can and passed it towards Tim.

“You… do realize I’m still underage, right?”

“Consider it an advance on your next couple Birthdays.”

Tim took it, and the two concurrently cracked open their drinks and downed a shot.  Dick looked down at the remaining liquid, swirling sullenly.

“You know, Christmas was kinda lonely this year.”

“You mean you didn’t bring some chick back to your place?”

“Nah.  Didn’t seem like the right mood.”

Tim studied him for an extensive interim.

“I hope you know…  No matter what, you can always think of the two of us as family.”

Dick’s lid batted once as he heard his own words echoed back at him, followed by a light thump on his backside.

“Us guys, we gotta stick together, right?”

Dick lifted, and radiated wryly as he ruffled his younger sibling’s scalp.

“Heh.  You really have grown up, haven’t you, huh?”

Tim smiled back, and hoisted his beverage, connecting to his comrade’s with a clink.

“Here’s to survival, old chum.”

————————–

In the moment I was born, I wouldn't stop screaming Saying that I wanted to fade away and disappear Ever since the day I stopped, I had always been searching, For the one I'd someday meet, For the you that has to leave With this endless pain in my heart, tearing me apart, but also you beside me Can't you see how happy I'd be? I'd smile and I'd say, "It was all for the best you see" As the world in front of me melts and fades away, I only have one thing to say: These miracles flooding me won't make it go away Because I can still hear your voice calling out my name